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I think I should title this... because I have...
“One man’s take on the Shifter.”
I’m facsinated by this character. To simply say that I’m obsessed wouldn’t be enough. I think constantly of her and the ideas she holds. She’s adaptable to any person, any taste, any direction. Every person on the planet can know who she is and be thinking of a different character.
But she is so much more than a girl wearing goggles and a scarf.
In my seemingly endless brainstorming, it was not her adaptablity or her natural iconism that caught me. It was the concept of her existing in a multi-verse. Sure the idea of multiple realities is not a new one, but never before have we had a character that exists within them the same way as Jenny does.
Imagine what it would be like, having literally infinite versions of yourself in existence and being able to know what they know, think what they think, feel what they feel? Quantim theories have more or less proved that multiple realities MUST exist, there are any number of people that are “me” within a multiverse. Yet I’m me, and unless my dreams are some limited gateway, I have no access to any other versions of myself.
There are a limitlest number of sotries that could be told about any one Jenny (which I’ve come to call Nodes), but what about the whole of Jenny? A stream of conscienceness that we could never properly imagine. What amazing stories are held within that concept.
I look back at Watchmen a lot, because it holds many unique visions. The one that is most important her is the narrative structure of issue 4. Alan Moore managed to give us a glimpse of what it would feel like to have knowledge of the past and future that was just as real as the present. Dr. Manhatten literally exists within all time and he knows it. Think what Jenny must feel like.
This character is so much beyond simply fighting zombies or doormen. Now don’t get me wrong, those were great stories, but I’m trying to show that there is another option. In fact, there are literally endless options. Given enough thought behind it, a Jenny Everywhere story could achieve what no other story could. The Shifter is primed to break rules, both of writing and art. She could hold the key to really opening up the industry to the outside world.
And the important part of that is her status as open-source. Everyone that could think of something to do with her is allowed to. She could serve as the icon for the 21st century that really sparked new creative directions. I truly hold to that. Imagine what a god of story like Moore or Morisson or Gaimen or King or Kaufman could do with this character if they tried.
I’ve said above that I think Jenny is truly the next Superman, the next Spider-Man (since I feel both of those characters atribute for the majority of the creativity that has fueled comics for so long). I dream of a world where every company has at least one Jenny title under it’s belt. I dream of a world where Jenny is the spokesperson for major projects. I dream of the day that a big-budget Jenny Everywhere movie opens the same weekend as an independant thought provoking Jenny Everywhere movie does.
But why stop with our lovely Constant? Why not more open-source characters using her as a model. As I’ve mentioned above, I think this would be an incredible experiement in creative expression. Think of a world without copywrites that last a hundred years. Do you know that I will never be able to legally create and sell my own ideas for Spider-Man in my life-time? No one but the creators within the company will ever be allowed to do anything with Superman.
That’s not a creative venue. No matter what someone might do down the road to “mess” with present status quos, within a three years those rules will be back in place. And companies like Marvel and DC will keep pushing the same characters on the market place over and over again. Is it any wonder why manga is getting bigger? They actually DO stuff within their stories. And they aren’t pushed under the table like the independant market seems to be.
Picture what would happen if DC open-sourced Superman right now. Sure there would be things that would suck, but there would be ideas presented that never would have existed before. I mean for crying out loud, except for a couple of changes here and there (that never last all that long or change all that much) Superman’s costume hasn’t changed since he was created, and that was 66 years ago.
It’s time for a revolution, and I think Jenny is the starting point.
I know that this isn’t going to happen tomorrow (but that would be really cool). I simply feel as though more can be done. I hold that the collaberation process is to blame. I put up notice for my need of an artist weeks ago, I’m asking for jsut 6 pages, and yet I can’t get anyone to respond. Anytime I actually manage to get an artist for anything I write, they disappear on me long before we get started. But I digress, that’s a whole other issue in the industry.
I just feel like I have to get these words out. Get them said in some form or another to see if anyone feels like I do, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m the only one.
I wanted to share two things with you, since I’m typing this and I’m in the mood to do so.
The first is a basic framework of sorts that I’ve created for working on my numerous Jenny ideas. I call it the “6 Degrees of Jenny Everywhere” and it reads like this:
1 - Stories that revolve around a single node. Also, anything on the official site, since it is the orign point of the character (in most respects).
2 - Any story revolving around more than one Jenny. Since we are talking all realities, and all possibilities, this would occur on an infinite level.
3 - Any real world product with Jenny on it. T-Shirts, stickers, posters, movies, shows, etc.
4 - Any story where Jenny travels through time. Time has been theorized as nothing more than our perception of traveling from a dimension representing a single moment to another dimension in some sort of logical fashion.
5 - Any story with a child Jenny (i.e. the children’s book that my wife and I are working on )
6 - Any story that explores the whole person of Jenny Everywhere. Exploring any of the other degrees, but doing so in a fashion where reality and time are not important.
The other thing that I want to give at this point is my own open-source character. As I said above, I would like to see an extensive library of these characters. The trick would be making them as adaptable as Jenny. One other “rule” is that they should be able to travel through other dimensions in some way, again to allow them the openness of Jenny.
I call my character The Ideal. It is an abstract being that can travel through dimensions and take any form. It exists as a void untill someone desires for an ideal (i.e. an ideal doctor, an ideal date, an ideal garbage man... hey, it could happen), then it can choose to take that form and do whatever is neccesary. No matter what form it takes, it has two different colored eyes for some level of iconism.
It may not be the greatest character, but that’s why I’m open-sourcing it:
The character of The Ideal is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving The Ideal, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.
If anyone wants to do it better, now they can. I’d be interested to see if anyone does.
-sigh-
I know this has been long, and I know that I have little to show for all the talk above, but I am working on a Jenny/Ideal story. Of course once I get it done, I have to find an artist. 
I’m going to shut up now and see what if any discussion comes from this post.
Later.
-Ben Christensen. |
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