Ok, I'm not even sure I'm going to do this but I thought I should throw it out there to see what you guys thought.

In theory, I really like a webcomic jam. In practice though, they tend to be so random and without direction that they're boring to read. So what I was thinking was getting a bunch of writers, and a bunch of artists and a bunch of writer/artists together to do webcomic jam that was actually worth while. Instead of having everyone make up their own page entirely from scratch provide things such as basic character sheets and a story outline that they would have to follow.

So instead of leading the story in one direction and then randomly changing gears so now it's a comedy/action instead of a suspense/drama comic, we have basic characteristics of the storyline mapped out before hand. Specific dialouge and action would be left up to whoever was doing a specific page but it would be limited by a general idea of what the story is supposed to be about and where it should go.



I don't have any specifics in mind quite yet. I don't have a story or even a genre in mind. I imagine that the number of pages each person would be responsible for would entirely be based on how many participants we have, but I'm guessing it'd be about two pages per person.

Really, what do you guys think about doing something like this. Would you be interested and have the time to work on it?

I'm interested. Especially as a writer. I love working with several characters and weaving a coherent story out of general trajectories.

So I'd do it, yes :)

I'll write too, if you need me!

Well I imagine I'd need more writer/artists to actually complete pages than just straight up writers to help fleshout the outline.

I think the best idea for the outline would be for everyone who's going to participate on a topic and/or a genre and than have one or two of us take a pass at the general story (because most of the details would be worked out by the artists.)

I think what would be cool is that, you know when you're doing your own comic and theres certain pages that are just boring to do, but you know you need to do them because they're nessecary to the story, well there wouldn't be any pages like that in this because everyone would only have a couple pages, and they'd have the freedom to make it fresh. The best of both worlds, really.

I'm with the king' 'til the end of time!

Just tell me what to do when you officially get it underway.

Ok, i'll do whatever you need done!

you have the best community ideas, Kingsnake

I'm interested as a writer/artist!

Writer/artist here.

You've gotten me interested in this idea.

Whelp I haven't really started working on a story outline yet. I figure I'd need around 20 people doing 3 pages each to make this worth while. So far we have 7, but thats definately a start, we're almost halfway there.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what the story should be about? Or what kind of story you guys would like to do? Right now the stoyline is a totally clean slate, so I'm open to just about all suggestions.

We'll probably have a better chance of interesting more artists once we have a good story outline in place.

Do you guys wanna do comedy, or action, or romance, or drama, or mystery, or some sort of combination? I don't want this to be a “I write a story outline and you guys draw it” thing. I'd rather have everyone's input, and just be the guy that does the work to put it together.

i'm having terrible writers block at the moment.
so I'll draw, you jerk.

…jk, you're no jerk King :P

you just dont know me well enough ;)

kingofsnake
Do you guys wanna do comedy, or action, or romance, or drama, or mystery, or some sort of combination? I don't want this to be a “I write a story outline and you guys draw it” thing. I'd rather have everyone's input, and just be the guy that does the work to put it together.

Intriguing! I might give it a go…with two pages hehe. Although, the whole “I write a story, u draw it” mentality really works best for me because I'm a horrible writer! So any direction would be well-received :)

**edit: uh yea, I forgot to indicate “artist” in my post, if you hadn't already noticed :P

I guess I should start trying to put a story outline together…

This seems like the kind of project that more people will want to be a part of once it's already started…

I'll PQ everyone with the first rough outline I can slap together as soon as I can.

This will probably be a real long term project… really only one artist will be able to work on their pages at a time.

Ok everyone I've jotted down the first batch of possible scenario's I've come up with. Let me know which ones you'd be most interested and least interested in working on. And if you have any other ideas or want to add to a story outline let me know!

Possible scenario’s for web comic jam:

Sci-fi
Our main character is part of the first wave in an attempt to colonize mars. He is an elementary school teacher. He left all his family and friends behind in order to travel to mars. The Martian settlement is much like a small town, with a population of only a few hundred. There are only a few students in his class.
—
Main character is a cargo ship captain that transports information from near-future earth to a secret corporation owned scientific testing facility that specializes in genetic experiments. These experimental creatures are placed in a large environmental biosphere where they are allowed to interact with each other in an attempt to see which ones are best adaptable to survival.

Superhero:
Secret government program kidnaps boy in late teens and via experimental surgery coats his individual muscle fibers with a metallic substance. This makes him both strong and durable, but also extremely heavy. Hulk-like strength but small in stature. After escaping he attempts to use his new powers in a heroic way, with mixed results (superhero spoof)
—
Man has electrical powers, based on enhanced nervous system. Does not want to be a super hero, tries to lead a normal life but often is forced to or accidentally uses his powers. Energy enhancers such as caffeine and nicotine make his powers go off uncontrolled.

Crime:
Middle aged hitman must kill his girlfriend when it’s discovered she’s a police informant. Her death becomes a catalyst for him to examine his own life. He has been trained to feel apathy about human death, but recognizes that it’s the type of experience that should make him reflect on things. When her younger sister comes into town for the funeral, his developing relationship with her makes him question his personal worth and his apparent faking of human emotion.
—
Former getaway driver now in federal protection program is found by the people he has testified against, and realizes his only chance to live a normal life is to eliminate the people after him.

Other:
Mans life is passing him by due to obsessive nostalgia. Psychologist attempts experimental new procedure that makes him enter a dream state wherein he experiences past events in his life but as if in a lucid dream. He finds this to be heaven until things start to go wrong
—
When a young woman dies she discovers the only way she will be allowed to be reborn is if she helps advance a spiritual experience in another human being. She is sent back to earth with a target who she must help.

OK, I reviewed the responses I got from everyone and it looks like the story we’re going with is:

Superhero/spoof
Man has electrical powers, based on enhanced nervous system. Does not want to be a super hero, tries to lead a normal life but often is forced to or accidentally uses his powers. Energy enhancers such as caffeine and nicotine make his powers go off uncontrolled.

It’s the one that got the most positive feedback and the least negative feedback. However Tantz was awesome enough to draft up some more scenarios. So if anyone is adamant about not doing the selected storyline or really excited about one of these, please let me know. Otherwise I’m putting a call out for writers to get together and kick some story ideas around. We need to have a rough non-specific outline of four acts and character descriptions of the protagonist, antagonist, and the supporting cast before we can get started on the art portion of the jam

Fantasy:

Girl/boy runs away from home, for some reason that seems non-consequential or capricious (won’t marry in arranged marriage, has been called to do so in a weird dream, is convinced by perusal of obscure –and maybe of questionable credence- documents that she/he should go away and find someone or something). She/He is forced to go through a dark and ominous forest where she/he meets allies and enemies and learns of danger about to plague the land, including her/his town/village.
——-

Example:

Girl forced to marry a really wealthy, shrewd man of twice her years, find by accident in his huge library a set of documents that point to high treason about to happen, selling out her traders’ fortified city to another imperialistic traders’ nation that is dreaded but so far kept at bay. She escapes at night to run away into the forest, where legend has it that assistance of some magical sort may be found.

OR

Modern day fantasy/ steampunk

Young boy/girl at school becomes the target of some sort of gang prank and expresses magic of some nature to get away or make the prank stop. Now he/she can feel that not all students (and teachers) in the school are normal. Some are going to be allies, some are going to be enemies, and the school will turn out to be a melee (with several substories or arcs) for some ultimate purpose, in which the non-arcane students will be fodder for the darker side and liabilities for the lighter one. The existence of Sorcery (its covert existence) can be a mystery in itself, and as its expression becomes more and more frequent, it may prove to be a preparation for the ultimate war between Light and Darkness.


Vampire/Werewolf:


Fledgling vamp/werewolf has to get to know the rules of his/her new status while being called to solve a mystery around his/her death (and maybe others, too) which could unfold to be something big scale, from a scientific experiment to control vampirism/wolfism to the typical war between vampires and humans, with the occasional traitors on each side thrown in.
—-
Example:

A young man/woman dies in a mugging incident, only to wake up to the arms of her boyfriend/ his girlfriend, informed that he/she is now a vampire, like him/her. The boy/girlfriend introduces the fledgling vampire into the Fold, where he/she realizes that the mugging incident was not chance, but in truth a plot to have him/her murdered and make it look like an accident. Now he/she has to find out who wanted her dead, and why.