what exactly is the overall feel of the universe?
Essentially, the idea behind the SSU (Simplified Shared Universe) is to launch a new 'world' of characters that keeps in step with early Marvel or DC. IE: Experimenting within the realm of costumed heroes in a way that engages readers and makes them wonder where things are going to go.
Modern comics from the big two... you know that if a character dies, they'll always be back. You know that the next 'event' is probably going to take place in a ton of comics you weren't going to buy. Stuff like that.
We'd aim to be a bit different. Self-contained tales for the most part, with a general feel of "fun and adventure".
Even horror can be fun (look at Freddy Kruger's increasingly asanine quips) and adventurous.
No multi-comic cross-overs where you have to buy something you weren't following to find out what happens.
No story arcs that take place in a bunch of comics you have to drop your paycheck on if you want to have any hope of knowing what the heck is going on.
No characters who are really actually totally dead coming back alive, no rebooting a character to get back to the roots as opposed to just telling a good story that achieves the same effect, none of that stuff.
So essentially, I think the "feel" is akin to the "feeling" you got as a kid when you'd pick up a random X-Men comic at the drug store, read it, and get more than just a sales pitch for the next issue. (Okay, when *I* was a kid... most people here probably weren't born yet.)
So, "SSU". Simplified.
Judging from the characters presented so far as well as the characters from your heroes and henchmen site the primary feel of the universe is standard superhero fare.
As someone said (
) it does kind of seem like a "Stan Lee + Mike Allred" sort of thing, I guess.
Hip, oddball characters, from the starting point similar to "what if there was a man who had the powers of a spider?"
However I've noticed with characters like Sane as well as a few of the villians in the HH collection there is a undercurrent of horror that could be tapped and seeing as how Evan is primarily a horror writer it seems to me to prudent move to recognize and utilize those elements. This should also help distiguish us from the competition. This is however just my observation.
Indeed. Horror is a nice genre to tie in with super-comics.
Titles have touched upon horror, and I'm
sure there have been "Super-Hero Horror" comics. The Spectre comes to mind, but he's been involved in so many armageddon-like events within the cross-overs, etc. that I kind of feel like he's lost all semblance of meaning as a horror-based character.
If you look at Two-Face or the Joker, they easily skew "horror"... it's just a matter of them not being used like that. You can't read a Batman comic and *actually* be afraid that Two-Face will kill all the people he sets out to. I think people probably root for the Joker more than some random victim, as long as the murder is funny.
I suppose what I'm getting at is that while I do hope to incorporate horror (and humor, drama, a touch of romance, etc.) in some of these titles, it'll be important to avoid the place where "The Joker becomes lovable" and the hero saving everyone's life becomes a foregone conclusion.
Ghost Orchid will most likely catch Evil Eye, but it's not going to be "The Goddamn Ghost Orchid" who kicks him in the head until he shrugs and says: "Ya got me, but I'll be back!"
By that same token, The Quiz will solve mysteries, catch criminals, etc. but ideally you'll never see him swinging from rooftops or flying around on a jetpack because he's specifically not supposed to be that "type". As much as I want to bring "horror" to Ghost Orchid and the like, I'd also like to bring legitimate "mystery" tales for The Quiz that the reader can actually solve along with the hero.
