Why Guardians of the Galaxy?

A movie finally came out in the US today.  It's a modestly anticipated sequel to a quiet little picture about a team of lovable archetypes that eventually find each other as more than just friends.  In the end, they're family.  There's also a bunch of stuff about some kind of purple gem, a wrinkly blue guy in a chair, and Glenn Close leads a corps of space pilots who are not all that great at space piloting.

Our prompt this week is, of course, The Fast and the Furious Guardians of the Galaxy.

I've been going back and reading some of the early stories featuring the original incarnation of the team.  There's some really great stuff by Gene Colan, Steve Gerber, and Sal Buscema.  But, if you're more inspired by Star-Lord and Gamora than Vance Astro and Martinex, so be it.

Post your script in the comments.  We'll see you next week.

Why Page Turn?

This is kind of a weird prompt, but one that is vital to comic writers everywhere. It’s the art of the Page Turn. Or rather, which panels we end our pages with to try and compel the reader to flip to the next page. The essences of the technique is to end a page with some minor cliffhanger: a question seeking an answer, a reaction needing a reveal, or a missing piece to a puzzle. It functions as a little suggestion to the reader that if they want to know more they’ll have to keep going on. Every page is an opportunity to push a reader away or pull them in deeper. The page turn is a physical manifestation of that opportunity. 

Why is this week’s prompt weird? Well, because we only write one page. Meaning you’ll be able to setup the page turn, but you won’t get the reveal. Still, take this opportunity to practice your setups and leave your reader wanting more.

Why Batman Beyond?

If not for The Zeta Project, Batman Beyond might be the redheaded stepchild of the DCAU that ran through Batman: The Animated Series to Justice League Unlimited.  It's a weird mish-mash of Spider-Man and Iron Man in a Batman shell.  Bruce Wayne's an old man and some punk kid gets to be Batman instead of Dick Grayson or Tim Drake?  And then The Return of the Joker.  And Epilogue.  It's a lot to take in.

But when Terry McGinnis faces off against the Jokerz, there's a comforting parallelism there.  Someone who has suddenly inherited a mantle he doesn't necessarily want going to war with a gang of idiots hellbent on emulating ideals they don't fully comprehend.  Themes that haphazardly deepen until Terry eventually faces The Joker himself.  Kind of.  There's also Shriek, Inque, a new incarnation of The Royal Flush Gang, and a handful of other villains that nicely fill some gaps in The Dark Knight's extended rogues gallery.

And that's what we're going to try and tap into this week. Because for every episode about Spellbinder, there's Terry's Friend Dates a Robot, or Heroes, or half a dozen others.  Stories that explore, however briefly, just how freaking weird it must be to live in Gotham, a city that was by all accounts a terrible place to live even before sixty plus years of elevated, bat-themed vigilantism.

Why Invader Zim?

Invader Zim may well be one of the great examples of Black Humor at it’s finest.

The protagonist is a villain – not a sympathetic villain, not a villain with a heartbreaking backstory, not a redeemable villain, not even a villain who’s motives you can understand. Zim is a straight-up evil alien intent on taking over the world because that’s his job (Well, technically it’s not, but that’s another story…) – and it’s a job he loves.

It’s setting is a universe that takes a super pessimistic view of life, where Earth is largely populated by idiots and misery is the status quo, held in check by what are realistically meaningless superficial distractions.

It’s a series where the narrative really only works because the average intelligence is below average. Even Zim himself is such a doofus of a screwup that he’s caused more damage to his own species than he has to Earth. And even the one guy who’s even aware of what Zim’s up to (in spite of the fact that Zim is realistically not that well hidden) gets frustrated enough that he questions why he even bothers sometimes.

And it works. Because while triumph makes for great inspiration and drama, failure makes for terrific comedy, and there’s nothing like laughing at the failings and shortcomings of others, especially when those failures are a good thing. It helps that the whole thing is served up with well-prepared writing that includes no shortage of ridiculous and bizarre humor that spares no effort in going over the top without shame.

Comedy. It’s a funny thing.

Why Sidekicks?

Once upon a time, the sidekick was an unsung hero (or villian). Just a tacked-on entity that occassionally popped up to help. Nowadays, the sidekick enjoys many perks, including individual fanbases, promotions to full fledged heroes, and even their own syndicated TV shows. They've come into their own.

But writing a sidekick is no walk in the park. They need to embody the essence of their mentor while at the same time giving them support. They are their own person but pursuing a similar goal as their mentor, for their own individual reasons. Often this causes a clash with said mentor. That can be challenging to write. You need friction and conflict, but at the end of the day they still need to be able to reconcile.

Chances are if you write a hero at some point you'll have the difficult duty of writing their sidekick. This week, pick a sidekick and explore their role in the story.

Why Musicals?

No. Just... Just no.

Historically, comics and musicals have had a... tumultuous relationship, but they are undeniably intertwined.  From doodled fan art to full-on productions, there's a whole gamut of double-niche entertainment out there, and this week, we're throwing in.

If you're inspired by Annie, or Li'l Abner, or You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, go for it, but let's not limit ourselves.

Haven't seen Singin' in the Rain or West Side Story?  You really should!  They're awesome!  But maybe you want to go a little weirder, like Little Shop of Horrors, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, or The Phantom of the Paradise.  There is an infinite number of productions to visit or revisit.  ()  And there are even more stories to tell.  Just like comics.

Strap in.  We're warming up for a kick line.

Why The Ancient One?

Mostly, it’s because I realized that we forgot to do a prompt for the release of Doctor Strange a few weeks back and, with Strange himself already having been chosen, the Ancient One seemed the next best choice (which should be a fairly evident thing if you’ve seen the movie. And if you haven’t yet for whatever reason, can I recommend that you do?)

It wouldn’t be quite accurate to say that everyone needs a mentor. Tony Stark got by without one, and for all his issues, he does relatively fine for himself all things considered.

But making this far easier? That’s something that having a mentor unquestionably does do. Someone to pass along their knowledge, someone to point you in the right direction when you’re accidentally heading down the wrong path, someone to be there to answer your questions when you’re lost and confused.

Learning the mystic arts – or how to be a doctor – may take years of studying and practices, but it’s made far easier with the assistance of someone who actually knows what they’re doing, that person who already has those years of study and practice behind them. And in whatever form they may come, The Ancient One is that to Doctor Strange.

Plus, if you dare to take on the movie version? You’ve got yourself a character with a largely untouched on back story. Hints and details may have been given about her existence before the movie, and there’s always a possibility said details may be filled in more in future movies, but for now? It’s potentially a very fertile space to work with.

Why Evil Twin?

Why should we write an Evil Twin story?

The concept is timeworn and reoccurring. The evil other-half has been present in literature since at least Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Sometimes it’s purely metaphorical, the concept of a reflection of ourselves that is nefarious in nature. Sometimes it is a little more literal, such as the evil crewmembers from the Star Trek episode Mirror, Mirror. Even The Simpsons has done it. And the concept of an evil twin is not at all foreign to comics, what with Bizarro, the existence of Earth-3, and other more obscure occurrences. If you write in serial, you'll likely encounter the evil twin. 

So this week, don your goatee, practice your maniacal laugh, and think to yourself "What would an evil twin do?".

Why Beetlejuice?

For years, Halloween has come and gone with nary a blip on TB’s radar.  Things start to get a little spookier in tone, sure, but not necessarily subject.  This year, we’re shaking things up.

As a self-proclaimed bio-exorcist, THAT GUY is kind of a dud. The movie ends with the Maitlands and Deetzes living together in a kind of grotesque harmony after all.  But there’s a lot more to him than getting rid of the living.  Some might say too much more… And they’re probably right.

It turns out, toning down his… ahem… proclivities and cranking his trickster figure underpinnings up to 11 as they did for the animated series, doesn’t seem to change much.  Even sanitized, THAT GUY is still very much himself.  A weird little nuisance who revels in the not-quite-right with a penchant for worms and spiders and the stereotypically macabre.  Just with slightly softer edges.

So, this week, in celebration of Halloween, we’re turning to inspiration from The Ghost With The Most.  The one.  The only.

Beetlejuice...

Beetlejuice...

Beet--

Why She-Hulk?

Before Deadpool, there was Jennifer Walters, AKA the Sensational She-Hulk.

It’s not as an absurd comparison as it might first seem. Both got their origins from very similar pre-existing characters. Both were played seriously at first before developing into the more light-hearted versions that we know and love today. Both take massive amounts of punishment and keep on going. And of all the characters at Marvel, they’re by far the best known for their habitual breakage of the 4^th wall.

Odds are that if Thought Balloons existed decades ago instead of now, it might well be this ‘Why?’ instead of Deadpool’s that would be written in-first person.

On the other hand, Deadpool’s managed to headline multiple titles at the same time to the point over oversaturation, his own video game, makes regular appearance in animated Marvel works, and even has a unexpectedly popular movie.

She-Hulk…less so. But hey, no analogy is perfect.

But I digress. The point is that for a character that started out so connected to the original Hulk, Jennifer Walters has come a long way into her own, where oftentimes the connection between Hulk and She-Hulk is an much an afterthought as anything. She’s got a well-established on-again-off-again career as a lawyer, has been on at least half a dozen different teams, has an infamous reputation surrounding her love life, and when you get right down to it, probably runs circles around Deadpool when it comes to actually breaking the 4^th Wall – Deadpool merely acknowledges his existence as a comic book character more often than not. Jen? At her best, the darn thing might as well not even exist.

Ultimately, she’s a highly versatile, highly fun character with lots of potential. So lets put some of the potential to work, shall we?

Why? Luke Cage.

With the forthcoming Netflix series starting later this week—let’s take a look back at what makes this character so sweet.

Created by Archie Goodwin, John Romita, Sr, and George Tuska; Cage was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. While in prison he was a part of an experiment that helped him gain superhuman strength, unbreakable skin, and accelerated healing factor. His wife is Jessica Jones and he frequently partners with Iron Fist, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing.

In the era that he was created Cage was the source material for some controversial ideas mostly from Blaxploitation and kung fu film craze that happened in the 1970s. Cage and Iron Fist have become unique characters only recently with the work of Brian Michael Bendis in Alias and New Avengers, and the recent Power Man and Iron Fist series by David Walker and Sanford Greene. I like the latter quite a lot—it has a Skottie Youngish feel to it with well-choreographed action sequences. It has a cartoonish, friendly style.

Why don’t we see what we can do with Mr. Cage?

Why Don't Hug Me I'm Scared?

Where to begin?  Hmm.  Well, it's a kids' show.  Kind of.  But do not let your kids watch it.  I mean it!  Unless you don't like your kids?  Like Roy.  Roy certainly doesn't like his kid.  ...I've said too much already.

Across its six episodes, DHMIS seeks to educate its audience about creativity, time, love, technology, healthy eating, and dreams.  And it does.  Sort of.  Except that those lessons aren't always as... honest as they appear.

In case I haven't made it entirely clear, it can be difficult to express what DHMIS is really about to someone who hasn't watched the series, and the series itself is by no means an easy watch.  If you've given it a try and not found it to your liking, these might encourage you to try again.

TLDR: The theme this week is education, the corruption of education, the decisions made by those doing both the educating and the corrupting, and the repercussions thereof.

Why - Donald Trump

You may love him, you may hate him.

You may think he’s literally a reincarnation of Hitler himself, or you may think he’s the best thing to happen to America in a long time.

You may think he’s saying what needs to be said but that no one else has the guts to say, or you may think his words have no place in polite society.

You may think he’s playing 4^th-Dementional Chess, or you may think he has absolutely no idea what he’s doing – if he’s not out to deliberately sabotage himself.

You may think he signals the downfall of the country, or you may think he’s the candidate American needs.

But if there’s one thing you can’t do, especially if you live in the US right now, it’s ignore him.

Business mogul, reality TV star, and now, political candidate for United States President.

Whatever else he may be, Donald J. Trump is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining or terrifying – or maybe even both - people to run for office in a long time.

Which, of course, is exactly the kind of person who’s perfect fodder for writing inspiration.

Have fun!

Why Parenthood?

I’m on my fifth book about birth and being a birth partner/expectant father/dad—I’m about two weeks away from that being physically true.

The fifth book is Home Game by Michael Lewis (Moneyball), I’ve read so much about being a new father and what to expect from the birth process that I’m going into a graduate school-fuque state. The best way to describe that symptom is, I guess, book overdose. I’m done. I don’t want to read about the subject anymore. The information is all the same at this point. But Lewis’s book is funny and hilarious and a journal to raising his two girls, and I’ve been keeping the same thing. Notes, questions, funny situations leading up to Tiny Human Press’s birth.

Am I worried about being a father? No—it’s why I became a writer, so I could be home with my future kids. Am I a fool? Probably. Will I even find time to write? Who knows. But if I'm absent from here for the next few weeks you all know why. What prompted this week’s theme is this article my wife sent me by David Roberts on Vox. In it, he writes that our day-to-day choices about being a parent have very little to do with our kid’s adult success—it has more to do with the environment in which we provide for them and paying attention to moments. How does one write about parenthood without being a parent? I don’t know, perhaps one could write about a funny situation with a parent, or just what you think parenthood looks like to you. Feel free to join us in the comments. I’m psyched to reading your parenting pages!