I just watched an awesome documentary about superheroes and their rise from comics in the 30's and 40's to radio shows, tv serials, lunchboxes, etc. Teens, artists and writers, basically made the industry over night and some even worked in bullpens almost sweatshop like conditions in NYC. It was their escape from the Great Depression and dozens upon dozens of superheroes were created and bought with sticky dimes and lunch money for ten to twenty-five cents an issue. I don't want you to make just a hero, you don't even really have to if you don't want to, you can ask another accepted player if they'd want an inker, writer, colorist or aritst. Basically you'll need to create a character, and then the comic that they're trying to sell regularly. At this point in time only Superman and Batman were big and the two biggest archetypes with everything after falling in between. Make a comic creator and create your own hero or join a gang of boys in the bullpen on the creation of one and list your goals as a creator. Most of these kids would get paid about $3-$5 a page a year for 13 issues of a comic [one a month with an annual issue as well] depending on the size of the book [22 page, 30, 48, up to 100 pages]. Goals as a creator would be for the character you helped bring to life jumping off the page and becoming a tv serial, radio show, or merchandising juggernaut like Superman became with his S showing up on everything. Or to even grow as a creator and do more yourself, create a second superhero later on maybe after the next three big archetypes are introduced in Captain Marvel/Shazam [which made a kid become a superman], Wonder Woman [the first big superheroine that wasn't a sidekick or girlfriend of another hero], and Captain America.[which was the first super successful patriotic character w/ties to the war and fighting Nazi's].

Basically we're in the publication company/workshop/studio and its a lot of young kids, mostly boys, and it was like a highschool with creators competing with each other while becoming friends. Older creators came into the game as well and you can go that route. Batman already introduced the teen sidekick and changed the game as well as the first arch enemy with the Joker.

Character Sheets should include:

Name:
Age:
Occupation: [writer, penciler, inker, colorist, letterer]

Character you wish to create: [make an original, and go into it in the RP, but don't go modern day nuts with the super powers. It wasn't called telekinesis by everybody back then, it was just moving stuff with your mind, gotta really dumb stuff down for a younger audience...]

Experience: [Just 3-5 months here, we're all aspiring to be the next Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster pair]

Goals: do you want to remain with the one character/job, do you want to see the character become a tv serial or radio show, movie, or merchandising sensation?

Brief Creator Bio: This doesn't have to be much, describe your home life, if you knew somebody in the war related or not, that kinda character building thing. You can even enlist in the military yourself at some point like several creators did [Stan Lee, Jerry Siegel, Joe Simon, etc...]

Notes: Any juicy details we should know from the start?

Not sure how this will take off but I'll make a CS myself asap. Should this have been in advanced?

~KL~

My CS, use it as more of a base for what I'm looking for...

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Name: Thomas 'Tom' Sweeny
Age: 17
Occupation: writer/artist

Character you wish to create: Nightmare [guy in black with a hood and cape, and pale skull like face], who's a hero returned from the grave.

Experience: Tom has three months experience with the industry working for United Publications [United Publications will be the studio we're all working out of]. He began lettering a Tom & Jerry type comic before introducing Nightmare to the editor. He was challenged to come up with more material and he got two 22 page issues in the can doing everything but the lettering himself. He's working on his third issue now and the Nightmare will soon show up in Dark Comics #7 with his first issue worth of material being featured in the 48 page monthly [w/two 22 page features and a 4 page back-up]. He's currently trying to get the hero his own name on the cover, Nightmare Comics as he doesn't like the other characters/creators featured in the Dark Comics books. He also hopes to get others' help with some of the art like inking and coloring now that he's introduced the character in full color and depth himself.

Goals: Of course Sweeny wants Nightmare to be the next Batman, but right now he'd be fine with graduating out of Dark Comics and getting his own Nightmare Comics so he doesn't have to share work space and pay percentages with his rival Dark Comics creators.

Brief Creator Bio: Sweeny has one older sister who moved out when he was 10 who he doesn't see much, a mom who's already close to her 45th birthday, and a father who's over seas in the war. In 1940, Tom and his Irish family dealt with poverty and racism until Mrs. Sweeny's son brought home $44 after selling his first original character's 22 page story to Dark Comics' editor.

Notes: This RP will be about a bunch of us basically doing what I do with my fellow RP'ers in titanpad chats all day, discussing creating heroes and writing about a fictional creator as well. These kids would work tons of hours trying to make the $5 a page like the bigger names who's characters had been around a couple years now [Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Bob Kane], and when falling asleep at the drawing board some of these kids, many of them imigrants, would talk smack [we just won't go racist]. Some had agendas and just wanted a guy to get somebody fired and psyche them out, but many of them became better creators and friends.

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~KL~

...bump.

~KL~

EPIC

Name: Robert Renolds
Age: 17
Occupation: Writer

Character you wish to create: Captain Snake. [A man wearing a black spandex suit with a black mask. He has eyeholes over his eyes, a mouth-hole, and an Snake painted on his back. He has the ability to Slither around, spit poison and slither really fast like a snake]

Experience: 5 months. He was originally a helper with writhing other comics but he was given a chance to right his own,

Goals: His goal is to create a whole universe of Characters.

Brief Creator Bio: He was born in New Orleans in the middle class. He was not in the best financial shape but not the worst. He has always loved animals so if he ever makes more characters they will probably have animal abilities.

Notes: Hansom.

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