This is shameless, I know. And I’m no stranger to shameless: One time, in D&D camp, I put 15 dodecahedrons in my, er, "pants of holding" to see how many natural 20s I could roll with…but I digress.
I wrote a comic book and I need your help. Once a year, Top Cow — the dudes who published Wanted (which got made into a movie with famous people in it) — launch a program called Pilot Season. They publish six one-shots, each from a different team about a different subject, in the beginning of the summer. Then, American Idol-style, people can vote online for the comic book they liked the most. The two books with the most votes go on to become full-blown comic series.
And here’s where I need your assistance. I wrote a book called Genius. The pitch is thus: "What if the greatest military mind of our generation was born an angry 17-year-old girl in South Central L.A.? And what if she decided to secede a few blocks of her ‘hood…through force?" And my team and I really want to win. This isn’t the kind of comic that usually hits the marketplace. It doesn’t feature flights or tights, isn’t a part of a massive crossover event; it’s a real-world story about real people who are desperate enough to take drastic, ill-advised action.
The reviews have been great, but I need y’all to head over to topcow.com and vote. Just one click could make the difference. (You can vote once a day, if’n you’re so inclined.) Here are the first five pages. Take a look. If you like what you see, come on out and vote. Don’t cost nuthin’.
Comments (1-17) of 17 Add your comment
I actually picked up this comic on a whim –the first comic I’ve bought in about 2 years– and been enjoying it immensely. I had no idea about pilot season. I might submit something myself.
Personally, this is the one book of the bunch I hope doesn’t make it. All it consisted of was murdering police officers over some displaced anger towards the “system”.
Despicable story, really, and the horribly inconsistent art didn’t help.
Yay for Pilot Season! And yay for Top Cow (Broken Trinity, what up)! I will vote, but I can’t promise I won’t vote for anyone else too.
Lame nonsense. Oh, and borderline racist just for fun!
“Hey, lets make a little hispanic girl murder cops in LA.”
Won’t that be a horrifying stereotype?
“uh…ummm…no, cause she’s like…a genius too…so there”
To be honest, I thought Twilight Guardian and Alibi had more fascinating premises than your comic, but Genius is a close third for me. It would probably be judged better as a full issue than a quick glance, since standalone images of a Hispanic girl gunning down cops for a few pages seems kind of exploitative. The other three were okay, but I probably wouldn’t buy them off the pilots.
One thing bothered me with the page uploads. What’s with the lower resolutions on the jpegs? It made the text hard to read, especially with Twilight.
I really found this comic contemptible. The dialog is laughable, and really perpetuated some stereotypes. It also just comes across as so nihilistic. Beyond that, though, it’s just not very well-written. I’ve been voting in the Pilot Season competition, but I’m splitting my votes between Twilight Guardian and Urban Myths, two really terrific comics that have the guts to show the POSITIVE side of human nature along with the rest. Imagine that.
What if the greatest military mind actually WAS brought up in violent surroundings? Wouldn’t this be the way they would react if they knew they could make a better way for themselves and “thier people”? True, the writing isn’t the best I’ve seen and the person who is obviously going to turn traitor on her is glaring. But I’m hoping Top Cow won’t let these flaws continue in the series, if it gets made into a series. Just imagine her taking over the entire city of LA, the west coast, or even the whole US.
“But I’m hoping Top Cow won’t let these flaws continue in the series”
Yes, but you could say that about ANY flaw in any of the Pilot Season comics. We’re not voting by what might happen if these comics suddenly became perfect; we’re voting by what we have in front of us to read. And this was easily my LEAST favorite of the bunch.
I think this is pretty cool, Marc. Spotlight from Wizard magazine? Way to go!
It looks like the subject matter won’t be for everyone, but I do think the premise is interesting. If given a shot, I think there is potential to develop into something really good.
Score one for violence!
I think the girl is black, not Hispanic.
Anyway, looking at some of the competition, here are my thoughts on the ones that look interesting:
Lady Pendragon- Waaay too much backstory, and explaining. I got bored after the second page. They are going for something grand and epic, but it’s coming off overblown and cumbersome. Beautiful art, though.
Twilight Gaurdian- The premise has become cliched or trite. (I’ve read or watched countless tales of wannabe superheroes or superheroes among us in the real world) I don’t see anything special about this. The art is amateurish, and the text is hard to read. The comic within a comic was a nice touch, though.
Urban Myths- This is my favorite. It’s got a Hellboy vibe but with a Greek Mythology twist. It feels the most professional, from the use of color to the clever use of characters. Pacing is perfect, and it drew me in instantly. But change the ho-hum title.
Genius- I hope to actually SEE some of this kid’s military genius, in the future
I read them all. Genius was totally blah for me. I forgot it two minutes after I read it. Lady Pendragon was OK, but I thought it was pretty standard fare for Top Cow. Alibi was all right, but it seems more like a single graphic novel than a series. I enjoyed Urban Myths quite a bit, though it was fairly “concept” heavy. The two I’ve been voting for are Twilight Guardian and The Core. Twilight Guardian is one of the smartest comics I’ve read in a long time (though I wish the print had been a bit larger, too). The Core was interesting and really well-designed in its artwork (although at times it became difficult to follow the plot, but not too much). I hope those are the two winners, though I wouldn’t be too upset if Urban Myths was in there, too.
Well, I know this isn’t for everyone, but what what i got from doin this was Marc & Adam were trying to convey that even tho she’s tactically smart, and rightfully angry, her actions ARE despicable. We get a lil numb to cops being shot and people with a handle on a gun blasting people away without consideration for life.
A lot of Geniuses have something compromised , common sense, social etiquette , in her case its compassion. She has no remorse for her vendetta. A lot of “under privilaged” folks who are in a hole don’t know why they’re there and why they can’t go anywhere. As soon as they do everyone either turns their backs on them or expects them to fail. Some work it out and others well, fight their way out. Angry for getting a different kind of justice.
hopefully next book( should it be voted on) i won’t be in such a rush and i’ll get to do this the way i know i can.
but all the other titles are great – check em out guys
cheers
Actually, Afua I enjoyed your artwork a great deal. I just didn’t care at all for the writing in Genius. I didn’t think it was up to the standards of the drawing you brought to the project. I didn’t see it as racist or anything. I just thought that not much happened in it, and I didn’t get a sense of why I should care about the main character. Just being a military genius isn’t enough to make me want to read about her continued adventures. Personally, I’d have liked to have seen you draw one of the other titles, like maybe Alibi. Or maybe something that you yourself created. It definitely wasn’t you’re work here that kept me from enjoying the comic.
Yes, yes, “misplaced” anger toward the system. Nothing bad has EVER happened to citizens of the LA underclass.
All great villains are heroes in their own head. It takes a hell of a writer to have the cajones to write the villain as a hero to sell the worldview.
First of all, being a good writer is about writing well, not having “cajones” (that’s why you’ve never seen Ron Jeremy or Evel Knievel winning a Pulitzer). Secondly, it doesn’t take any courage anyway. There are have been anti-heroes and “misunderstood” villains probably about as long as there have been heroes, and given the culture we’re living in these days, I could probably make the argument that it takes more guts to write about a real hero. Frankly, I don’t need any more Grand Theft Autos or 50 Cent. Give me someone who triumphs over their circumstances rather than uses them as a way of excusing their actions.
Well, I see your point, as there are no comic books or TV shows about people acting heroic in a manner acceptable to society. No cop shows, no fireman shows, no brave doctor shows, no comic books about self-sacrificing heroes with capes, no comic books about young people making moral decisions about the power they wield …
This is the point I’m making — Destiny isn’t a hero, she’s a protagonist. She is despicable, yet self-justifying. To write the villain as if she’s a hero in order to explore that dichotomy, and to invite the wrath of people like yourself — whose opinion is in the majority, by the way — is a bold choice. Whether you agree with it or not.
It’s not a bold choice to do something that we’ve seen again and again, especially something that’s hardly going to call down any “wrath” (calling disapproval of a comic’s scripting “wrath” seems a bit overblown, but perhaps that’s why you enjoyed this comic more than I did). You said it yourself; she’s despicable. If that’s your cup of bile, you’re welcome to it. More power to you. It’s not mine, though.