Your Pitch Meeting...

Okay, so here's the premise of the following discussion:

Paragon Studios has decided to put out an official comic book line for the City of Heroes franchise. However, instead of staying with a single title they are going to emulate the big boys and create multiple titles all housed in the Paragon Universe.

So Statesman, Positron, Sister Psyche and all the rest have their own individual comic titles as well as Avengers-style team titles for Freedom Phalanx, Midnighter Club, etc.

Here's the twist... they are also going to release a smaller number of titles based entirely on player-created characters. The marketing department figures this will generate public interest in these titles and likely score them some free publicity from various websites and (hopefully) a blurb mention in television media. It may also attract people to the game who hope to get their own creations published someday.

So... you now get to try to pitch one of YOUR heroes/villains for comic book glory. Keep in mind that the character's name should be catchy... you may adore your FlyPaperBoy69 but chances are that title won't sell issues. Also there needs to be a solid through-line that a comic book reader can relate to/have interest in...

Pitch us your characters!

Here's a couple of mine...

Mistress Monolith and the Valkyrie Vanguard: A young girl discovers she is a mutant when her parents are in a horrible car accident and she alone emerges not only alive but completely unscathed. Paragon City decides to make her a ward of the state. She becomes the first such child to be raised in an orphanage specifically geared towards the training of super heroes. When she reaches adulthood she becomes head of the program; which is where the comic book starts. She is in charge of the girls' program.

Re-Stitched: A Crey experiment in the science of wormhole technology goes horribly wrong; resulting in the title heroine not only watching her fiance sucked into some alternate dimension but also becoming the home to a moderately unstable Singularity. The presence of fluxuating gravitational forces inside her own skull has caused her face to rupture, held together by heavy staples. She is a hero fighting against Crey and desperately seeking any sign that her love is still alive somehow. She has a deep dark side and twisted psyche; the results of months of useless reconstructive surgery and Crey's later assertion that SHE was the cause of the accident in an experiment that was never sanctioned in the first place. This is a dark comic where the line between good and evil is blurred and the main character is constantly fighting to hold on to the moral code she had prior to her fall.

Iron Corps: Jonathan Fury was the son of a beat cop who grew up on a diet of gritty justice and a world view with little rose-shading. When he discovered his own mutant powers he still went forward with his plans to join the force. The PPD welcomed him with open arms and, knowing of his father's sterling reputation, had plans in mind for him even before he joined. He now heads up the PPD special division known as Iron Corps; a highly trained team of super powered cops who take the grittier and less glamorous assignments beneath the notice of their spandex wearing counterparts. This is a super team without the autonomy; subject to all the politics and beaurocracy of any police division. Think X-Men meets Hill Street Blues.

Okay, I'll bite. Here's two;

1) War of the Gods: In the ancient past, the tribes around the Nile mistook Kheldian explorers led by Ra for gods and created a religion around their battles with the Nictus Set and his allies. Ten thousand years later, Set has escaped and returned to Earth for some mysterious purpose, with Ra and Hathor in pursuit. As they take on new hosts (the viewpoint characters of the story), the ancient war between the "gods" begins anew on the streets of Paragon.

2) Erinyi: Erin Yin was your typical resident of Paragon, until she was kidnapped by the Circle of Thorns. As part of an experiment to increase the magical potential of their hosts, the Circle grafted the essence of various entities to their test subjects. Though rescued before the Circle could take her soul, Erin was grafted to that of a spirit of vengeance known as a Erinyi. Drawn by that essence she now seeks vengeance on behalf of those whom mortal justice has failed. Chief among her foes is the mad sorcerer Carnevean (whose experiment created her) and his Cambions (human/entity hybrid hosts).

Got one of my older ones:

Larry Sumanga traveled to Africa with the Peace Corp. in hopes of finding the lost tribes of his ancestors. After six months, Sumanga discovered the lost tribe of the M'Banti people. They lived as one with nature and had developed a mystical bond with the creatures of the jungles and plains. Sumanga had found his people and lived among them for several years until one day, returning from the hunt, Sumanga found the village burned to the ground and its people lay dead or missing. He searched the ruins and found the dying chieftain, who told him of the modern men who had come seeking the source of their magics. Upon his death, the chieftain manifested the Mystic Shield of the M'Banti. This native shield of wood and animal skins was a nexus of the spirits of the great beasts of Africa. The shield gave Sumanga the strength of the mighty gorillas and the speed of the Cheetah. The shield also imparted the "Soul of Darkness" giving him the ability to invoke fear in the hearts of men as the African Spirit!

Here's another:

Cathrine Spector is the current wielder of the Shard of Cthulhu, a mystical amulet said to possess a portion of the essence of one of the mystical God-beings know as the "Great Old Ones". The amulet is an object of great power and is know to corrupt it's user as it did the former wielder Richard Spector, Cathrine's father and the villain know as Old Castro. With strength of will, the shard can be a powerful force for good, and is capable of great feats of healing and even ressurection. There was an incident in 1992 in which Old Castro attempted to open an interdimentional rift between this dimention and that of the Cthulhu himself while under the influence of the Shard. Old Castro battled several powerful mystical heroes. At the height of the battle, Spector regained control of his senses, tore off the amulet and threw himself into the rift, sealing it behind him. To redeem her fathers name and honor his sacrifice, Cathrine has become the Spirit Mistress, Keeper of the Shard of Cthulhu!

The bio for The Lounge Crooner has a lasting story arc built into it!

The Magical Adventures of Sakura Tenshi!
Despite the cutesy title and the main character being a magical girl (even from Japan), Sakura is not another Card Captor or Bishoujo Senshi, indeed, she has been fighting the forces of darkness from the time she was eight years old (19 by the start of the series), is the sole survivor of the Hana Tenshi of Japan, veteran of the First Rikti war, and has bore witness to horrors that allow her to relate to the most shell shocked of War veterans.
Follow Sakura through her adventures in Paragon as she meets other Japanese heroes, American All Stars, explore her memories and past with her brutal past of a childhood spent on the battlefield, and her unflinching resolve to carry for those fallen and create a path for those yet to come.

Lots and lots of post modern deconstruction would be used, combine with dangerous levels of genre savvy, and at least three lampshades hung up an episode.

Alternatively...

Red On His Back, Red On His Hands
Alone against the world, a pair of knives in his hands and guns in the holsters, they call him Redcoat. It's the only name you will ever need to know.

Focused on my main villain, heavy pulp and noir elements with the more over-the-top elements of the City of Universe getting a coating of zeerust and light cheese to keep with the overall feel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

Hmmm.....

The Extraordinary Armored WarMain When wealthy industrialist Arno Stone's wife is killed in a mock confrontation between Crey's Paragon Protectors and the Freakshow, Arno goes on a quest for revenge. Join Arno on his journey from vigilante to hero to vigilante again as he comes to terms with his grief, helps the world at large and realizes that sometimes even heros have to make the hard choice.

The Battle Hardened Palatine The scion of a wealthy french family, Renaud Bayard is kidnapped by an industrial spy ring and converted into a cybernetic assassin against his own family. Recovred by his father, follow the exploits of Renaud as he is rehabilitated from killing machine to human hero.

The Nachtgiest Left orphaned by the supradine fueled rage of his father and taken in by the hero Night Fox, follow the adventures of capped crusader of King's Row on his mission of mercy andf justice.


The Astonishing Ghoshawk Follow the adventures of Lucas Silos as he uncover's his mysterious past and meets his destiny in Paragon City.

more to follow...