Webcomic Plans

[Riley]

I have been planning my first foray into the literary works. And my biggest idea involves joining the ranks of Adam Huber and White Lightning Productions; I want to write a webcomic. But with a partner who will do the art. My drawing skills...Aren't good. They're terrible.

The premise is your classic "roommates up to shenanigans." Only with supernatural creatures and magic. More:

• The species' of my three leads. The Leader/Schemer is going to be a vampire. But I can't easily decide what the Dumb One and the Sane One should be. Should I make the Sane One human? Or would that lead to Unfortunate Implications? Should the Dumb One be a fairy or a Were? I may do the latter because I want to appeal to certain demographics.
  
• Should they all be girls? All boys? Two boys and one girl?
• Yes, I will steal stuff from other webcomics. Mostly the bad ones, so I can improve them.

 

[Judge]

The premise is your classic "roommates up to shenanigans." Only with supernatural creatures and magic.

Maybe a little too "classic". Potentially complex copyright considerations. That's already been done....come and gone with two television series on both sides of the pond. - "Being Human"

I must say, I loved the US series. Sorry to see it go on the SyFy Channel.

"Three twenty-somethings share a house and try to live a normal life despite being a ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire."

Being Human (TV Series 2011–2014) - IMDb

Being Human | BBC America

 

[Riley]

Those are dramas. Mine's a comedy. Besides: I'm not an original person.

 

[Judge]

Besides: I'm not an original person.

That's a risky premise to maintain professionally speaking. Where most of the creativity inevitably lies with lawyers rather than writers. I used to underwrite advertising and copyright liability. Messy stuff in terms of intellectual property rights. In the real world you can get hurt over such things. Or worse- financially ruined.

Though admittedly it doesn't stop Hollywood from recycling. I just wish they'd leave that to Waste Management.

 

[tree]

I think it would be fun if the Leader who is a Vampire is Dumb.

The Sane One should probably be, if not transgender or gay, some
AU sexuality from a place where 4 sexes (not genders) are required
for reproduction.

Dumb doesn't have to be limited to only one character.
The were/fairy character can still be Dumb, too.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Surely the human has to be dumb?

Supernaturals saving the human as he's so dumb.

 

[Judge]

Why not a Vampire motorcycle gang....where they hide behind the predators that they really are, but in plain sight but wearing their colors.

I bet Tom Savini got their first though.

 

[tree]

Biker Mice from Mars rip off?

 

[Judge]

Biker Mice from Mars rip off?

I dunno. Did the mice have exceptionally long fangs, turn into bats and lust for blood? Then again, extra terrestrial mice driving motorcycles would stand out a tad, whether they were vampires or not. No hiding in plain sight for them.

Though alien vampire movies have been around since I was a kid...

Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" did have one episode depicting aliens masquerading as bikers though. And then of course there's always the "Lost Boys". Yeah, maybe a little close to that premise. Or not. Vampires all riding dirt bikes. Not Harleys. And they had no colors. They probably wouldn't count with "one-percenters". LOL

 

[Riley]

I'm thinking a mish-mash of genres with occasional interludes inspired by the premise of VG Cats.

My characters could all, in some form, have similar behaviors. They'll be loosely inspired by Ed Edd n Eddy.

 

[The Midge]

Maybe a little too "classic". Potentially complex copyright considerations. That's already been done....come and gone with two television series on both sides of the pond. - "Being Human"

I must say, I loved the US series. Sorry to see it go on the SyFy Channel.

"Three twenty-somethings share a house and try to live a normal life despite being a ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire."

Being Human (TV Series 2011–2014) - IMDb

Being Human | BBC America

I thought you couldn't copy right an idea.

 

[Riley]

Also, another web-comic idea is me taking the concept from Drawn Together, but not the vulgar humor and all. It will be one of those 'parodies-but-not-parodies' of the respective genres.

 

[Judge]

I thought you couldn't copy right an idea.

That's what I meant by "potentially complex copyright considerations". Though like everything in the legal world, it comes down to the details and contractual negotiations. As with most civil issues one must be prepared to litigate such things to actually protect and defend their intellectual property rights.

As far as I know the US production of "Being Human" legally acquired the rights of the original television series broadcast in Britain.

 

[The Midge]

That's what I meant by "potentially complex copyright considerations". Though like everything in the legal world, it comes down to the details and contractual negotiations. As with most civil issues one must be prepared to litigate such things to actually protect and defend their intellectual property rights.

As far as I know the US production of "Being Human" legally acquired the rights of the original television series broadcast in Britain.

Yes. But if your comic has a different title and characters that happen to be teenage ghost, werewolf, vampire living in a flat then there is very little the makers of Being Human can do about it. As long as the writing and art work is original and doesn't copy all or part of the original. The tropes have been around and recycled a long time (particularly vampires, as they don't die). The genre is ripe for parody. Take this for example What We Do in the Shadows - Wikipedia I saw it on Netflicks. It was great fun.

Why not give them all autism?

 

[Bella Pines]

• The species' of my three leads. The Leader/Schemer is going to be a vampire. But I can't easily decide what the Dumb One and the Sane One should be. Should I make the Sane One human? Or would that lead to Unfortunate Implications? Should the Dumb One be a fairy or a Were? I may do the latter because I want to appeal to certain demographics.

• Should they all be girls? All boys? Two boys and one girl?

• Yes, I will steal stuff from other webcomics. Mostly the bad ones, so I can improve them.

Hmm. Vampire, werewolf and fae have been done a lot. It needs a reboot.

At a basic level I would put the vampire as cold and sane, the human as dumb. But no one will relate to this, give them skills like dumb but kind, or dumb and charmingly innocent.

Which demographics do you want to appeal to? teens, 20s, 30s, single guys, career girls? Whatever the demographics I would include men and women. The classic group of white men with a token female, the mexican and the chinese guy is getting old and tired. Mix it up in a real way, look around.

Then what about a new slant on the classic urban fantasy? Buffy brought about a vampire/slayer romance. Twilight, no matter how awful and cheesy, brought about vampires going to the local high school. Underworld mated a vampire and a werewolf. How about taking real problems like the klu klux klan or slavery and telling the stories via vamp/werewolf genre, or is that too heavy? How about something lighter then like a girl vampire falling in love with a male werewolf, but their families not approving. Though that sounds like it has been done a lot. How about then a new mutation, vamps, fae, werewolves and zombies having finally found peace only to discover the emergence of something completely new.... vipers, glass men, the sheep virus...

 

[Judge]

Yes. But if your comic has a different title and characters that happen to be teenage ghost, werewolf, vampire living in a flat then there is very little the makers of Being Human can do about it. As long as the writing and art work is original and doesn't copy all or part of the original. The tropes have been around and recycled a long time (particularly vampires, as they don't die). The genre is ripe for parody. Take this for example What We Do in the Shadows - Wikipedia I saw it on Netflicks. It was great fun.

Why not give them all autism?

It all depends on the circumstances and legal power you have to wage as a plaintiff versus the legal power one has to wage as a defendant. This is US civil law I'm talking about. Not criminal law.

Violating the copyrights of a weak, relatively unknown entity is one thing. Violating the copyrights owned by a publicly traded multi-billion dollar corporate entity, quite another. When it comes to this type of litigation, quite often it's more about the legal resources one has than anything else. No matter how much one "thinks" they are in the right.

Some corporations make it policy to legally crush anyone who violates their copyrights. Others, not so much depending on the circumstances. Beware of where you get your ideas. That's all. I once underwrote commercial liability for such exposures. It's rough out there depending on whose "radar" you end up on.

 

[VioletHaze_03]

characters: a fairy may be a good idea, but try a different sort of fairy then the conventional idea. werewolves are faaaaaaaaaar too cliche, don't go there. try to look up different mythological creatures for reference. in terms of gender, try including a gender-fluid or adrogynous character.these are a bit of a challenge to create and generate more creativity.

 

[HermanHesse]

Historically, werewolves were German worshippers of Satan and or devils. They conspired with dark forces to became wolf monsters and were sexually violent as well as doing all the other evil stuff. However, there are many other legends of faeries that can turn into different creatures.

I am quite good at researching mythology and lore and I would like to assist if possible.

 

[HermanHesse]

Hmm. Vampire, werewolf and fae have been done a lot. It needs a reboot.

How about taking real problems like the klu klux klan or slavery and telling the stories via vamp/werewolf genre, or is that too heavy? How about something lighter then like a girl vampire falling in love with a male werewolf, but their families not approving. Though that sounds like it has been done a lot. How about then a new mutation, vamps, fae, werewolves and zombies having finally found peace only to discover the emergence of something completely new.... vipers, glass men, the sheep virus...

How about Political Islam? I think it would be fun to have the a shapeshifting Jinn who is a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. What religion would you like your characters to have or is this more of a slice of life thing?

 

[megacomic]

I don't normally write immortal characters but when I do I write them with something called " immortal insanity." So while a vampires body might be immortal their brain may not be able to handle several centuries worth of experiences and remain completely intact and fully functional. So while they may have a millennia of wisdom it may come out all loopy and out of order. So while they have a near infinite amount of brain storage they'll tend to forget basic things that they don't consider important. So the vampire my be able to recite classic literature and poetry from memory and give well thought out analysis he probably doesn't know that toast comes from bread. I'm not sure how well I explained that.

If you want something original you can make your characters slightly mutated and not conventionally attractive as they are technically monsters.