So obviously the main reason for giving myself a presence beyond a twitter account with a propensity for live-tweeting shitty movies and talking about the sandwich I had or how I need to go for a run (which I actually do need to go do later) is to give myself a sort of base of operations from which to work on my new project. Said new project is pretty well into the planning/creating stage, but alas! I can’t do it on my own because I spent art class in grade school talking with my friends and trying to flirt with girls instead of learning how to draw. Now I’m old and lazy and can’t draw to save my life–but I can write reasonably well, or at least I like to think so. This is, then, as much of a call for aid as it is an announcement (with further details to come).
Anyway, the thing I’ve spent the last six months or so hammering into shape through a series of different permutations (it started as a VN, shifted to CYOA book, and landed on…) is a comic book series.
No really, I’m serious. Come back. GET BACK HERE.
“Hive,” I can hear you ask, “why the fuck are you trying to make a comic? Print comics are dead, and anyway you’ve only ever written VNs before as far as we know!”
Which is a good point, really. But I like comics an awful lot, and there’s a surprising amount of overlap in scripting a VN and scripting a comic. Not only that, but the whole reason I wrote for KS in the first place was to try something new and different, and writing a comic would be something I haven’t done before.
None of this should really come as a surprise to y'all, as I’m assuming that anyone following this either came from Twitter or the IRC, and I haven’t exactly played this close to the vest. If you somehow got here by other means, then hello, this will all be very new to you.
So here’s the elevator pitch:
It’s a comic. More specifically like an adventure comic. Even more specifically: The continuing adventures of The Vanquisher, fighting crime and corruption in 1930s Chicago.
So much for elevator pitches. Here’s more details:
25 page black and white issues every couple of months (I originally thought that every month was a good goal, but then I realized I didn’t know how long it would take an artist to draw 25 pages of good-looking comic book–so I’m hedging my bets for now. More on this later). Why black and white? Because I like black and white (and it’s cheaper to produce), and moreover it fits with the pulp/noir stylings of the setting.
So far, I have complete scripts for the first two issues and have rough outlines for the next four roughed out (production on writing scripts has been put on hold while I try to throw some freelance writing work together, because daddy needs beer money).
Oh what’s that? You want character descriptions? Well, I guess I can do that.
Esther Cane/The Vanquisher (24):
Esther is a young lady who happens to work as a file clerk in a police station. She’s cheerful and performs her assigned tasks with a level of efficiency and attention to detail which keeps her out of trouble with any supervisors. In the office, Esther’s personality is hard to pin down–when speaking to people she will shift parts of her personality on the fly (if this means playing the damsel in distress in order to get what she wants, she’s more than willing to do so). Outside of the office, Esther is downright outgoing, although not so outgoing that she tells everyone what she does at night. She was a bit of a partier at college, falling into the flapper lifestyle which seemed to agree with her a little too well. She’s college-educated, which is still a slightly unusual trait to have, and her education comes out in her vocal opposition to Prohibition (she thinks it fails to solve any real problems) and an awareness of the shifting political landscape. Esther likes to help those in trouble, and will occasionally get into arguments at work regarding how little the CPD seems willing to do to help some of the people who come through its doors.
As the Vanquisher, Esther’s personality is far more aggressive. She exhibits a penchant for mocking her opponents during fights, as well as a habit of talking aloud to herself when she’s trying to figure something out. While the Vanquisher is certainly out to right the wrongs and protect the innocent, etc etc, it’s also sometimes disturbingly clear how much Esther enjoys the act of fighting in and of itself. When interrogating, Esther is very willing to break fingers, kneecaps, anything that will get her the information she needs (and she’ll joke while she’s doing it, for the extra element of fear she’s seen it inspire). Of course, should information-gathering require a lighter touch, Esther can come off as joking, friendly, and even flirtatious. At the core of her character is a belief that her actions are necessary and her drive to protect the innocent is a legitimate one, but there’s a constant danger that she’ll go too far. As a rule, she avoids using guns and tries not to kill anyone, but she has not always been successful in that goal.
Jade Brownlee (17):
Jade has a talent for both machines and medicine, and serves as Esther’s sidekick when the situation requires it. Jade’s a clever girl and, (sometimes frustratingly) is well aware of the fact. She thinks Esther’s doing a lot of good but is always vaguely worried about the illegality of their activities–until the fun of ginning up a new gadget or tinkering with the Vanquisher’s car gets a hold of her and she pushes her doubts to the side. Jade serves as the voice of reason for Esther, always there to counsel taking a break or spending a little more time assessing the situation before charging off to punch everything in sight (and if assessing the situation means Jade gets to come along for the ride and join in the more adventurous parts of the whole crime-fighting gig, so much the better, but she mostly serves as the driver). Esther is very protective of Jade, because obviously Jade’s father doesn’t know about any of this and Esther would just as soon not have to explain to him that she got her daughter killed by putting her into a dangerous situation. Jade also has a fair amount of street smarts–she doesn’t live in the best part of town (her dad’s black, her mother was Asian, so she gets to deal with that) and her forays out with the Vanquisher have given her plenty of views on how the world works. She’d never admit it, but secretly Jade wants to take over as the Vanquisher when Esther retires, although she doesn’t have the same fighting skills as Esther.
Detective John Leavitt (35):
Leavitt is a newly minted detective (he had some trouble getting there, because as a street cop Leavitt had trouble knowing when to leave cases alone–he solved a case which all but forced a promotion, and that’s the only reason he’s up there). John is well aware that most of his fellow officers are crooked, but there’s not a lot he can do about it. Every time he’s tried to take a stand it’s ended badly–and so apart from doing his best to help the folk caught on the wrong side of a corrupt cop, eh hasn’t taken any bold stands. Despite this, he possesses a good eye for detail and will see things that others miss (or sometimes outright ignore).
Nina Smith, aka Nina Nightengale (27):
Nina is a jazz singer who learned a long time ago that sometimes getting ahead means breaking a couple of laws here and there. As a result, when faced with the loss of her singing gig at the local jazz bar when Prohibition hit, Nina helped to convert the place into a speakeasy and even helped set up the routes for their supplier of alcohol from over the border. She’s not bad, really, but she also doesn’t hesitate to align herself with less-than-savory elements if it means protection for the club and (more importantly) protection for her job. Because she’s supposed to flirt with the audience, Nina passes messages here and there, and will occasionally put the right people in touch with one another in order to make a deal happen. Sometimes this involves putting people in touch that she knows are going to kill one another, but that’s the cost of doing business, and Nina keeps herself well removed from it. Despite this, Nina does have a soft spot for folk down on their luck–the crash of the stock markets and looming specter of the Great Depression (not to mention all the members of the Lost Generation still recovering from the first Great War) has made things hard, and Nina believes her singing (and the club’s alcohol) provides a certain succor for these poor souls. If she thinks there’s a chance that someone can be used to her advantage, Nina will doubtless provide what help she can–a favor for a favor. Occasionally, however, Nina allows sentimentality to rule her actions, and if she genuinely is fond of someone she’ll help out for free (this happens about once in a blue moon). She helps the Vanquisher both because the Vanquisher is a useful tool (what’s that? The guy you’re looking for happens to be part of an operation that’s making trouble for my bar’s smuggling crew? Why what a coincidence) and because Nina’s got a thing about girls in suits.
INFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (‘CAUSE NOBODY HAS ASKED THEM YET)
So the Vanquisher’s a lady?
Yes. Everyone needs a hook, and seeing as how there’s a dearth of pulp adventure heroines, making the Vanquisher a lady is as good of a way to stand out as any. So why not?
Who are the villains?
If I just came out and told you it would ruin the surprise. Suffice it to say there are DEVIOUS VILLAINS a-plenty.
Will the Vanquisher get a chance to punch Nazis like a proper pulp adventure hero?
Maybe. I’d need to get beyond 1930 though! There’s a long-term plan to take the Vanquisher all the way through to her retirement, but that really depends on a lot of factors (namely whether or not life permits me to make it that far).
Is this affiliated with 4ls at all?
Inasmuch as I am a member of 4ls and this is a thing I am doing, yes.
Do you plan to release digitally? Or are you just going to release print editions?
As much as I’d love to only release print issues, I realize that a lot of folk (myself included) buy their comics digitally these days. So I’ll do both.
Nobody pays for digital comics, you dumbass
Hey, I pay for digital comics! It’s nice to support artists so they can keep doing cool shit! As for pirated versions and all that stuff, who knows? The guy reading the pirated version might decide to give me money anyway. I don’t worry too much about piracy.
Will any of this be free?
There will be free stuff. But the issues will always cost money, because I am a greedy fuck. Probably later on the early issues will wind up being free though (the digital editions, anyway).
I am an artist and I don’t know why the hell anyone would want to do this.
Well here is a neat list of reasons for you, asshole:
1. Discipline! Working on a schedule can be great for productivity and it makes you look hella professional.
2. There’s a lot of badass architecture from 1930s Chicago. There’s cool clothes and shit too! You’d get to learn how to draw all that. It would build your skills, which I’m told is a good thing.
3. It’s a professional long-term project that will make you at least a little money while also being something that you could point to when going after other freelance jobs (and unlike KS you don’t have to be like 'just ignore all the parts with tits’).
4. Did I mention that there would be actual money involved? For like as long as it was up and available for people to throw money at, money would be yours. Even if it is not a whole lot of money, wouldn’t it be cool to still be getting cash for a thing you drew months ago because some new dude got intrigued and dropped money on back issues? THAT IS THE GREATEST FEELING EVER, or at least I think it would be.
5. The setting is totally sweet. So are the characters! I’m super excited about all this AND YOU SHOULD BE TOO.
Your argument has persuaded me.
Really? Wow.
I wish to be an artist for your comic. How about it?
If you’re actually interested, shoot me an email (thehivemindsemail at gmail dot com) and we’ll discuss it–I’ll give you physical descriptions and a sample bit of script and we’ll see if it’s a good fit. We’ll also discuss financial compensation, because of course any money this thing makes is partially yours.
It needs to be pretty good art, and you need to be willing to make the sort of commitment that working on a comic series for (possibly) YEARS AND YEARS would require. But there are worse things to do in your free time, right? And hey, if we get rich and famous* then you don’t have to get a 'real’ job.
*Note: You will not get rich off of this. People might want to pay you money to do stuff as a result of this, though! It all depends on how good of a job we do and how much people like it.
What do you mean “has a thing about girls in suits?”
I dunno
Alright I’ll let that go for now. When does this all kick off?
Well, that depends entirely on me finding an artist! I’d like to think the first issue could be ready to roll out the door within a couple months once an artist is obtained, but I can’t be more specific than that!
Why didn’t you wait until you had an artist to announce this?
Because I need your help to find an artist, of course! Plus I got really excited about the whole thing and wanted to tell everyone about it. But mostly I’m hoping this might help me find an artist! I’m looking on my own, of course, but I can only put up with Deviantart’s shitty website for so long before I want to kill myself. Plus 'crowdsourcing’ is very in right now. So source me an artist so I can go back to writing scripts, damn it!
I am not an artist but I can edit your scripts for you
Thanks, but I already have someone doing that. I might need someone to help me put together a website for the comic later on though, because the last website I full-on coded was on Angelfire in 2002.
So that’s what I’ve been up to. Aren’t you all excited? I’m pretty excited. If you have anymore questions, or just want to tell me what a terrible idea this is, use the ask box. More to come (hopefully) sooner rather than later!
