The 2010 KBox "12 Ideas" Revivalfest!

[michaelpaciocco]

File this under "positive fandom materials for the forum".

The concept is very simple, a KBoxer picks a lackluster under-rated comic property that is currently not being published (i.e. Aquaman, She-Hulk, the New Warriors, etc) and every month, you need to contribute one idea as to what you would do with that property given unlimited power over it.

The inspiration for this is obviously that of fellow Canuck Chris Bird:

mightygodking.com/index.php/category/comics/i-should-write-dr-strange/

Now, the rules are simple:

-Once you have chosen a property, you must stick with it - no changes.
-Cannot be a currently published title - small supporting characters from a current title could work (i.e. if you have a killer Static or Nick Fury concept)
- At least one idea per month
- You cannot alter much outside the specific wheelhouse of that property - i.e. changing the very nature of the DCU in order to accomodate your new JLI concept (I'm looking at you Jesse)


And so we're all clear,

I'm calling dibs on Alpha Flight for obvious reasons - my first idea will be up in a day or two.

Michael

[paulpogue]

Black Alice. Surprise.

I have some notes from an old K-Box forum game -- I think it was "suggest a character for someone else to write" -- that I never actually posted. Time to clean them up and get to work.

[Mario Di Giacomo]

Do we reply here, or in our own thread?

And I call dibs on Aquaman. I've been thinking about him lately.

[michaelpaciocco]

Here is fine, but if you want to start your own thread ala Paul, nothing stoping you.

[paulpogue]

I'm all for whatever method works out most smoothly. Given K-Box's propensity for gigantic epic threads a la Dr. Who and OMD/BND, a single thread might actually be a better idea. Gives us all something to keep looking for as opposed to a mess of separate threads, now that I think about it.

[paulpogue]

Pogue's intro and January entry:



[Note: This approach picks up sometime after "Reign in Hell" and doesn't take into account still-unresolved events in "Secret Six."]

The setup:

Lori Zechlin, self-proclaimed Black Alice, possibly the most powerful being in the universe. Created as a vessel for the Spectre before THAT all went to hell in the Crisis, she now possesses the power to steal anyone’s magic, anywhere, anytime, from any distance, with the full knowledge of exactly how to use it.

The villains are scared of her. They should be. The heroes are even more scared. Same for them. The power to snuff out planets in the hands of a nihilistic teenager, one whom no one, NO ONE has even come close to beating in a fight? I’d be scared too.

But that’s not how Lori Zechlin sees herself. Black Alice is a persona created in her own mind, possibly in very early youth, to take refuge from a world that scares the hell out of her. She’s alone, friendless, growing up with the most boring, white-bread parents you could imagine: mother zoned out on antidepressants, father a bland company man. She wanted for little, save affection and attention.

She found it via magick, modern-day neopaganism, and for a brief time she was part of a circle that she felt thought the same way. But that all fell apart. So did her one boyfriend, a guy with a thing for goth girls but really just wanted to check off one more box in his quest for freak-seduction.

Then it all really went to hell when her mother, unable to take the living hell that was her half-life, ended up face first in a swimming pool with a stomach full of pills, and her father withdrew into near-nothingness.

Lori Zechlin. Black Alice. Goth teen, all alone in Dayton. She did the only thing she could: keep her head down and mouth shut and try to stay out of the way of the persecutors that infest high school, while in her mind she could imagine to her heart’s content how Black Alice would deal with the interlopers.

Until the day she woke up with the ability to steal magic. She didn’t understand it, she still doesn’t understand it, but there it was. And here she is, two years and several superfights later, going into senior year of high school. She’s been approached by three different factions: one wanted to imprison her, two wanted to use her. Even the Shadowpact, with whom she formed the closest bond, mostly saw her as a very advanced sword to be wielded in a suicide mission. Nobody cared about Lori. Everybody wanted Black Alice. Is it any wonder she has identity issues?

But now she lives in relative peace, mother resurrected, family together again, and all unmolested by supers of any kind – the heart-stopping fear she incites in the community assures that her “metas keep out” rule is strictly obeyed.

She’s changed. A lot. If with great power must also come great responsibility, what then does absolute power bring? Lori Zechlin is burdened with the greatest responsibility on the planet, and spends every second of every day keeping it under control. Even her fantasies of bringing violent revenge upon her enemies must be kept on a leash in her mind, lest they accidentally come to terrible life.

At night, in secret, she performs pagan rituals. Calling on everything from the mother goddess to pentacles to candle magic. None of it ever works. Because that’s the REAL tragedy of Black Alice – she loves magick, but NONE OF IT IS HER OWN. All she can do is take from other people. And though the gods and goddesses she tries to invoke do exist, none of them dare show themselves to her or give a little bit of power; they’re too afraid. Ironic; she’d be so happy if she felt she could so much as light a fire on her own, but she can’t. She tried to form a bond with the Birds of Prey, but that just didn’t click. She might have a family, or might not, with Misfit. She tries not to think about it.

On the bright side, everyone is leaving her alone. A combination of the terror her powers created amongs metahumans, and the fact that most of the magical community, from Blaze and Satanus on down, incorrectly believe her to be a shattered wreck. Precisely as she wants them to believe. Right now she’s still hiding out in Dayton, keeping a low profile, content with her life with her mother and father and no friends. It's quiet.

So far, anyway.

[paulpogue]

“I guess you could say I was a child of the me generation …”

That's how he introduced himself to her. The new kid, Preston. She tries to keep clear of new people, and generally prefers that they keep clear of her. But this one just wouldn't quit. She's not sure why. He seems fascinated by her, but not exhibiting a crush, either. Preston. Wears clothes about two cycles out of style, the very epitome of "whitebread," floppy blonde hair, has a vaguely elitist demeanor that belies humble origins. And despite herself, she finds him interesting. He's not after her power. He's not after her body. He's not after a relationship. He just plain likes her. Nobody's ever 'liked' her before.

Seems like a nice kid. Handsome in an awkward sort of way, and even inspirational. Everything about him should attract derision. Lori's a goth kid; she practically has a spider-sense for stuff that'll draw the ire of the mundanes. He's got it all in spades, but for some reason, he can command respect just by walking into a room. He never dominates or overarches. He listens. For real. And when he gives advice, it pretty much turns out to be right. A moral compass for a godlike being who's never had one before. He only ever gets upset if he thinks he's not being listened to. He has no power, but a deep understanding of responsibility. It's something his mother taught him, he says. She raised him in a trailer park, but always taught him that he could do great things. He could even be president. Cornball as it sounds, he believes it. And when he says it, others believe it, too.

Black Alice's best friend. Preston Rickard. His friends call him Prez.

[jensaltmann]

"- At least one idea per month"

I'm a bit vague on this: does that mean a completely new take on the character, or does it mean advancing/continuing the character's story as you've begun it in the launching thread?

For example, if I say I do Paladin as a freelancing James Bond, do I bascially plot out the first year of stories, or am I suppoed to examine the various directions I might take Paladin?

[jensaltmann]

Jan 5, 2010 20:37:45 GMT -8 paulpogue said:

Black Alice. Surprise.

I have some notes from an old K-Box forum game -- I think it was "suggest a character for someone else to write" -- that I never actually posted. Time to clean them up and get to work.

We could also try to revive that thread. Whose turn was it?

[michaelpaciocco]

Various directions - you have to make at least one post per month in this thread about your Paladin ideas. See the Dr. Strange thread I linked to for what I'm talking about.

[jarddavis]

TOYS:

Your cast: Rom. Acroyer. Raiden. Crystar.

Four border-line adults who play avatars in a Second Life style game where each assumes the persona of an old toy personified by cartoon version depicted in a comic they grew up with.

Over the course of the game they discover a conspiracy, which originally thought to be part of the game. (Personified by Wrath's.)

Turns out it's a real world conspiracy to change the face of the world as we know it. But what is it, and who's behind it?

[michaelpaciocco]

Alpha Flight Idea for January



The Weapon Plus program has had a long history of working in Canada, where the isolation (being hundreds of miles from civilization, and even then, "civilization" = "20 people in a village") and hostile environments served to help keep many of the projects a secret. Of course, the most infamous of these is the Weapon X (Ten) program, with dozens, if not hundreds of people tested and subjected to unusual treatments and enhancile protocols. All done under a veil of highest secrecy.

However, the problem with high levels of secrecy is that it makes the paper trails a bitch, and from time to time things got...lost. Nothing necessarily earth shattering - some test samples here, a failed prototype there - maybe even a few journals and lab notes. This happens even in an efficient public bureaucracy, nevermind a paranoid secretive one. After all, Johnny the security guard who just saw a prime test subject tear through the lab murdering half the staff might realize his chances of making it to retirement aren't great and decide to start selling off little things that no one would miss. These "retirement funds" as well as the occassional Weapon X survivors mean that there are still quite a few Weapon X (and maybe even some Weapon IX and Weapon VIII) data spread across the Canadian landscape - just hidden below the surface.

Which bring us to Kevin McEllroy of St. John's, Newfoundland.

Kevin was a rare case - a Weapon X test subject who was rejected, but was allowed to leave without any hassle. The Weapon X higher-ups didn't really know what else to do with him - he didn't manifest any abilities, and there were much more promising candidates for the more exotic enhancile projects, so they just paid him (handsomely) for his time (and silence) and cashiered him out.

Of course, it was some years after that Kevin discovered he had gained a rather odd ability - he was a biological Webhost and Server - not only could he wireless access the internet, he could create a chatroom/website and forum with full mod powers that was untraceable.

Hesitant to use this ability at first (and not really understanding the implications - Kevin's a good natured and simple sort), Kevin began looking for others from the Weapon Plus program, as well as evidence to try and understand what had happened to him and why. By chance, he began to connect with some of the survivors - not just those who had undergone treatment, but also low-level personel and technical staff and their families and loved ones.

That's where he got the idea for Forum X.

In addition to being a community where these people (Veterans, survivors, or just old-timers, depending on who you ask) can find a place to commiserate, share experiences, and gripe the way ordinary people on the internet are wont to, it's also a semi-useful hub of information, services and items for sale. Some examples include:

-If you want to hire a prankster in the area of Fort MacMurray Alberta, there's Owen Ulster, who has to warp the depth perception of anyone within 20 feet of himself.
-An old biker and ex-military man wanting to retire in Elliot Lake, Ontario, wants to sell his prize possession: 3 admantium bullets
-Robbie Kennison, son of one of the old techs, has some old data disks with the blueprints for the prototype of the bionic arms that Kane (weapon X) had.

They mostly keep the community to themselves - they don't often bring in new people and when they do, they take great effort to keep them civil and to keep them from trying anything funny or dangerous. The last guy who wanted to get some gear together for a robbery had his address, real name and photo discreetly email to a certain Weapon X alum who took care of that problem with finality

In all, these people aren't dangerous - individually they lack the expertise and resources to even create anything dangerous unless they were to pool their resources and even then it wouldn't amount to much without a major cash backing.

Which makes it all the more dangerous when some of the com's most beloved members start disappearing.

Kevin has a hard choice to make; most of the big gun Weapon X survivors aren't real 'people persons', and they're unreliable and dangerous. But a man has to look out for the only friends he has, so he puts in a call....

to Alpha Flight

[paulpogue]

Jan 6, 2010 11:54:40 GMT -8 jensaltmann said:

Jan 5, 2010 20:37:45 GMT -8 paulpogue said:

Black Alice. Surprise.

I have some notes from an old K-Box forum game -- I think it was "suggest a character for someone else to write" -- that I never actually posted. Time to clean them up and get to work.

We could also try to revive that thread. Whose turn was it?

I have no idea. This was during "Civil War," if that gives you an idea of how far back it was. Definitely in the KBox 1.0 era.

[paulpogue]

And then there’s Dr. Curt Calhoun. You know the type; he’s THAT teacher. That teacher. You know. The one who listens, the one who understands, the one who guides you on your way without pushing, always serving as an inspiration, the one whom you desperately do not want to disappoint. The very best kind of teacher.

Dr. Curt Calhoun, sociology and religion teacher, joined the Dayton Central High faculty not long after the New Earth Crisis and soon took an interest in Lori. She was an eager student of history and religion, and they struck up a good friendship. Dr. Calhoun was careful to keep the proper amount of teacher/student distance, but nonetheless he and Alice connected, particularly when he told her a bit of his life story: parents killed by violence, a lifetime dedicated to living up to their memory, traveling the world and educating himself as best he could. He knows an astonishing amount about an astonishing number of things, and Lori loves learning more about things she doesn’t know. Truth be told, she appreciates learning things on her own, because deep down she feels like stealing magic is cheating. She has more appreciation for an elegantly turned technique in silat than she does for all the powers of Shazam.

Curt Calhoun is the best thing that could have ever happened to her. He could have had tenure at a great university, but he prefers to use his talents to help out the next generation in a less staid environment – or to turns staid environments into open learning experiences. The sort of independent, free-thinking existence Lori can only dream of.

And like herself, he even sees himself as kind of iconic of his era: “I guess you could say I was a child of the love generation …”

Aside from Prez, Curt Calhoun is the only person in the world she trusts without reservation. He set up everything perfectly. Perhaps his only mistake was the choice of pseudonym, but then, Alice wouldn’t have gotten it anyway. Because Curt Calhoun was the name of someone from much earlier in the Heroic Age. Someone else took the name, though. They took his superhero name, and then his real name. The real Curt Calhoun died some time ago, and the man taking his place and name is better known by a name that inspires almost as much fear as does Black Alice:

Prometheus.

[michaelpaciocco]

Only two more days for you people to add in your first ideas for January - then it's onto Feb.