Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Comic Books >

Pitching to Epic

Page: 1 2(3)4 5 6 7 8... 10

21:21 / 03.04.03

I've got seven words for you: Mother-Fucking Red Ghost and His Mother-Fucking Super-Apes (the precise title I'll be using in my pitch, BTW). I'll be playing with the fact that Kirby's Red Ghost looked retarded by actually making my Red Ghost retarded. Lotsa laffs and trenchant social commentary. Just like Two Gun Kid, dontcha know...

15:29 / 04.04.03

What is this fucking obsession with taking the piss?

It's not big and it's not clever.

17:27 / 04.04.03

I think I've just stepped on the toes of a Red Ghost fan. Apologies, mesire...

18:27 / 04.04.03

I think Proud's main fault is in confusing EVIL with the mentally challenged.

Care to explain where you're coming from, Bobossboy?

Matthew Fluxington

02:33 / 05.04.03

I really like the idea of Allison Blaire keeping the streets of Williamsburg (well, at least the streets along Bedford Avenue...) safe from the likes of an evil mutant version of Larry Tee.

08:11 / 05.04.03

I like the idea of War Machine fighting vampires since they are from two totally different genres.
It also makes me laugh.

09:09 / 05.04.03

No, not a Red Ghost fan. Know bugger all about the Red Ghost. Just think the high concept that he's a retard is dull, uninteresting and obvious. Sorry about that.
But my real problem, to address your question moriarty, is the preponderance of silly "aren't these characters ridiculous" posts. I ask you, who fucking cares? I dealt with my superhero guilt at thirteen.

09:21 / 05.04.03

With Runce really. If you're pitching the fun to be had is in taking this little venture seriously and trying to write a bloody entertaining story.

09:24 / 05.04.03

Oh yeah, Runce has written a bloody entertaining story.

14:01 / 05.04.03

I suppose it wouldn't be on to post actual pitches where we could read them online, eh? I mean not until they were safely published and whatnot.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

19:17 / 05.04.03

I was going to be taking the piss...now I think it could actually work as a story.

Too bad I can't draw for shite.

21:18 / 05.04.03

Hey, what's this shitting on other people's fun? What's it to you if people enjoy some mild humor about silly superheroes? And back to this sellout issue for a sec, isn't this a shot to have fun with a character you've always wanted to do something cool with without getting your ass handed to you by Marvel myrmidons?

Where's the love, people?

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

21:23 / 05.04.03

anyone want to draw a really cool script im working on based on Angar The Screamer?

15:36 / 06.04.03

I suppose it wouldn't be on to post actual pitches where we could read them online, eh? I mean not until they were safely published and whatnot.

I know. I'd love to read these, and am envious of the submissions ed.

Not done anything myself, and may not, but I'm knocking around a Vance Astro/ Guardians of the Galaxy idea in my head.

The Photographer in Blowup

15:42 / 06.04.03

Not done anything myself, and may not, but I'm knocking around a Vance Astro/ Guardians of the Galaxy idea in my head.

That's the most original idea i've read for Epic so far.

yawn - thing's buddy

21:07 / 06.04.03

ARE YOU A WRITER, BUT HAVEN'T ATTEMPTED COMICS BEFORE?

What we're looking for at Marvel are writers with serious skills! Show us that you understand structure and character development by sending us a play, screenplay, teleplay, short story or other original writing sample of a non-comic genre that best exemplifies your writing talents (no novels please, we don't have that kind of time). We'll read it, and if you have what it takes you can become a part of the Marvel team

this was found here

anyone know what its referring to? Epic? is it an ol press release?

eh?

23:17 / 06.04.03

Here's the cover letter I sent to Vertigo May 24, 2000. I'm wondering if I could tell the same story with different characters. But here was the original pitch

Imagine a Make-A-Fuck Foundation.

Did he beat or rape them? Does he even recognize these girls? Why would the ghosts of little girls haunt a man?

These are the questions John Constantine must answer when he decides to help Robbie Hart, an old friend of a friend, in my proposed Hellblazer story. Robbie is anything but cooperative, and John senses something is wrong. To John's horror, he discovers by the end of the story that the wealthy parents of terminally ill young girls had paid Robbie large amounts of money to have the girls fall in love with him. These parents hired Robbie to fulfill their daughters' storybook dreams of romance. But Robbie had soiled the girls' childhood dreams, and took the relationships into dirty places, robbing them of their innocence. When John finally discovers the secret he must turn his back on Robbie, and Robbie is left to the vengeance of the ghosts.

I believe the best format for this story would be a 22 page story in Hellblazer. I have enclosed 4 pages of script and a SASE. Thank you for your time.

00:04 / 07.04.03

That's the most original idea i've read for Epic so far.

Really? It's not terribly thought through, but I'd love to do a ridiculously o.t.t. sci-fi story with Vance as narrator.

He's a thousand years old! The most powerful mutant ever! He lives in the 31st century!

Could be interesting.

03:54 / 07.04.03

No, not a Red Ghost fan. Know bugger all about the Red Ghost. Just think the high concept that he's a retard is dull, uninteresting and obvious.

Gee. I thought I gave myself away with the part about Two-Gun Kid being filled with laughs and trenchant social commentary (when it is, in fact...dull, uninteresting, and obvious. Must be more sledgehammery in the future when taking the piss about taking the piss, it seems).

Really, though, I think that any one of these pitches (piss-taking or no) could work. It's all about the execution.

The Natural Way

08:59 / 07.04.03

Yeah, I think Bos is just slightly irritated by the sheer number of people that want to take the piss (and if there's shitloads of them at the 'lith, then there's shitloads of them elsewhere and the submissions editors are just gonna shove them all on the pile with the "these are my favourite superheroes in a big team and fighting!" stuff). It does smack of a lack of ideas. So, yeah, I think if you ARE gonna do a retarded Red Ghost, it'd be cool if it actually came off as funny and not as the dirty stink of comic-fan-spanking-his-own-arse. It may be HILARIOUS, but I'm just sayin'. Grant's MODOK idea (regardless of whether or not he pitches it) is FUCKING funny. But I'm not feeling the head enough..... There IS a great deal of emphasis on the size of his head? Grant?

16:50 / 07.04.03

Well, the idea is that he's a "villain" because AIM made him ugly, right?

So of course he's really sensitive about the head-size thing. And the transformation scene when the senator gets turned into/possessed by MODOK, that'd definitely be about the size of the head. The growing head. The immense and monstrous flying head.

18:49 / 07.04.03

My current Pet Theory regarding Epic:

Your script proposals will not be read.

Or most of them won't, anyway. The open call for submissions is a publicity stunt - so that when the already-determined Epic books hit the shops, every single shitty fanboy wannabe-writer who sent in a proposal will go get them, so they can see just what was "greenlit" instead of their ideas.

"But - but - MY Ghost Rider proposal was MUCH better than this! What were they thinking??!"

Just a theory. I have little to back it up, save for the knowledge of a couple of Epic books already in the works.

The Photographer in Blowup

18:55 / 07.04.03

Really? It's not terribly thought through, but I'd love to do a ridiculously o.t.t. sci-fi story with Vance as narrator.

I meant the choice of characters - The Guardians Of The Galaxy.

But if i remember the stories correctly, Vance Astro has to grow up and become this sort of important guy in the future: i think that has content for some good stories too.

The Photographer in Blowup

19:01 / 07.04.03

Here's the cover letter I sent to Vertigo May 24, 2000. I'm wondering if I could tell the same story with different characters. But here was the original pitch

I assume you never received an answer???

Just a theory. I have little to back it up, save for the knowledge of a couple of Epic books already in the works.

If i'm not mistaken, so far only Millar's Trouble is in the works, uh right?

19:10 / 07.04.03

Hah hah hah... that's awesome. If this is a stunt, it's a beaut.

04:20 / 08.04.03

>>>If i'm not mistaken, so far only Millar's Trouble is in the works, uh right?<<<

That's the only one that's publicly announced. I've heard of others.

Regrettable Juvenilia

07:45 / 08.04.03

You know, despite what I said in response to Jack, this thread does worry me a bit. Just the enthusiasm... we'd get the same response if I started a thread for people to talk about the comics they're writing/planning that are based on their own ideas rather than old Marvel concepts, right?

Right?

The Natural Way

09:21 / 08.04.03

Well probably not, 'cause, y'know, that would hang on self-publishing. I'm certainly not in a position to do that. And then there's the problem of finding an artist.....etc.

The best thing to come out of this? It's got me writing again....and, groovily, I don't think I'm going to stop. Just a good kick up the arse, really. And I've found that it's easier (at least for me) to start with someone else's property.

09:31 / 08.04.03

Hang on a recond isn't one of the things about the new epic that once a writer has a script green lighted the writer has to find his or her own artist, inker, letterer, colourist etc.

Regrettable Juvenilia

09:46 / 08.04.03

Indeed. I think self-publishing sounds a lot more daunting than it is - at the most basic level, all you need is either a) a scanner and somewhere to host some pages online or b) a photocopier. It's no different to making a zine. Of course, this isn't going to make you a Big Famous Comics Star overnight, but then that's not why anyone wants to write comics, is it? More to the point, I think it's a very good idea to be at least slightly cautious/sceptical about Epic. It sounds *so* easy - Marvel might just accept your script, they do all the boring practical stuff, and then before you know it, hey presto! Your little projects's sitting there on the shelves next to the new Mark Millar - you're a proper comics writer... Well, maybe.

I'm not saying don't do it, I'm not ruling it out, I'm not trying to piss on anyone's fire - I'm just saying: there are other ways to get started, and there are potential drawbacks to this approach.

But if it kickstarts people into writing comics: fantastic.

The Natural Way

10:19 / 08.04.03

I think Marvel team you up with the Epic artist of yr choice or something, Sleaze. They've got drawing krunts pitching too.

And, yeah, while I understand that it's not all that hard to self-publish, the problem of finding the right artist is a bit of a bugger....blah.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

11:01 / 08.04.03

Not to mention that fact that out of the twenty or whatever artists they pick, the three ones that might actually be good and original enough for you to want to work with are probably going to be snatched up instantaneously. And probably not by you. I was thinking about submitting my best-idea-ever Longshot proposal and probably still will, but i'm sure that I'll get much further with my thanks-to-an-out-of-nowhere-massive-donation full color Genre City #1. But, fuck it, I still want to write me some X-Babies.

13:01 / 08.04.03

Well, I'm completely cynical about the whole exercise, but I'm going to have a pop, for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that it's good exercise. I'd prefer to be doing my own stuff rather than a "re-imaging" of a Marvel character, but it's a nice little project that might earn a couple of quid and something different for the writing CV at most. I've never tried writing a superhero character so it'll be interesting on a personal level as well.

13:10 / 08.04.03

Runce, if Epic's got you excited about writing, that's great - but I wouldn't be fooling myself if I were you: your chances of telling your stories are much improved if you undertake to self-publish.

Personally, I'm not sure I understand why anybody would think throwing your pitch in among a sea of similar submissions to an editing body with vague requirements (do we know what the Marvel guys really want to see here?) so that you can take some cash, pick an artist (who has to go through a similar process) make a book, and give it to them for printing is any easier than self-publishing.

That, and assuming you make it, you don't end up owning any of it.

I can definitely see the pros as well as the cons - mass distribution, a serious publicity machine, a great opportunity to "get inside", for instance. But easier? No.

The Natural Way

13:56 / 08.04.03

You don't actually make the process itself sound difficult though, Ray.
A large part of the Epic thing involves me sitting on my arse at the computer and farting out Spiderman, as opposed to:

Putting up my own money

Sorting my own distributors

Promoting my shit generally

Coming up with my own shit

Printing the stuff (assuming I don't want to use the sodding Xerox machine)

Finding my own artist

Blah

Yep. Easier. Unlikely to amount to anything...but easier.

And while we don't know what exactly what Marvel wants, we can make a pretty good guess at what they're gonna get looooooooads of.....

Y'know, I'm really not learning anything new from all the naysaying. Is anyone? Or is this just peeps blowing off steam?

Page: 1 2(3)4 5 6 7 8... 10