My idea. (29)

This will be the opening ark to the series, probably like eight issues, which is necessary, I will type a script for (if needs be, of course. If it's not picked, I'll use the idea elsewhere, because I'd like to help with the writing, even if I only write a few pages.)



Well known company's building's networks seem to be taken out…taking just slight bits off information before rebooting everything back. However, no one knows what the relations of the stolen files are. However, Heroes Unite get on the case first (this is prior to the place where Bombshell works, which has information now missing and she told the Commander) and realise that something isn't right. They get in technical advice and specialist SHELL (Bombshell will ask him to come, like fukujinzuke wanted) and he tries to piece things together. Before he can do so, he suddenly gets an instant message coming from the government, and the same thing is happening again. Except the files are going missing and when tracked it is shown going to the Heroes Unite area. The Commander realises that other governments and company's across the world will soon find out (as this is happening all over the world) it's Heroes Unite's doing (even though it's not) and within a days, war threats will be made. being closely monitored by the government, the Heroes Unite kind of thing is limited. Acting quickly, the Commander gathers up the gang for the reason that they are not known with the heroes unite programme just yet and also are not well known by the public or maybe not liked. However, she can only grab a select few and gets the ones who can fight but also have good ideas and tactical advice. She will assemble the team (whoever is on it) and send them out to do things discreetly without other governments to know so they can enter buildings without being suspected as a spy or a threat. They do so and do a quick in and out mission, looking at some of the buildings and using SHELL to find out what the files were and then he gets all the details and pieces them together. He announces that it is actually beign sent to a certain Heroes Unite mechanism, not actually Heroes Unite itself. He says the project is something along the lines of “WARHEAD”, a secret robot weapon Heroes Unite would use only in an emergency (meaning they were getting ready for the battle with villains in the future where Titan came from.) Titan is shocked by this and says that building weapons in the answer. Bombshell admits that she knew of the robot, but didn;'t know why the data was going into it. Before Titan or any other member can say something, the wall blows up and in comes the company's security robots (they were built so no normal security guard would be harmed, they'll mention it when they break in, avoiding one of them). SHELL tries to disarm them and over-ride them but for unknown reasons, can't. He says it's like they aren't controlled by the comapny anymore. Suddenly, back at Heroes Unite Command, the WARHEAD weapon awakens, attacking the base from the inside and creating a big fight within the base with the agents and superheroes present. As some try to escape (as project WARHEAD is too good and agents have to be evacuated), the doors closed automatically, with a mind of their own, locking the commander and everyone else in. Meanwhile, the group fights the security robots, after one of the robots announces that they were set up and this was just the bait, the main things are happening at HU command. The team win and head over as fast as the can. Meanwhile, the WARHEAD project has defeated nearly every superhero (some heroes we have never seen before could even be dead, to show it was a big fight) and is heading toward the agents now. Before they do, the team breaks in and try to stop the robot. The robot has already taken quite alot of damage and then splits open after a short fight. However, within it and made out of some of WARHEAD's scraps and parts is MOTHERBOARD…saying she has already won the fight. She fights the team and takes them down, (she has downloaded most of WARHEAD's basic fighting stratergies (which we would mention before)). HU Commander asks her why she's doing it and Motherboard says it's all for revenge. Motherboard then says when EGO was defeated, she was taken by the Russian government. They brought her to life and tested her to make some weapons to defend theirselves…but the process of making the weapons was causing Motherboard great pain., but she luckily hot wired herself into company networks, getting what she needed. The Commander is confused by this, wanting to know why she is attacking the heroes unite for this and Motherboard says she isn't and that they were just in the way. SHELL then announces it, that all the technology she was stealing from the company's…all of it combined makes a nuclear bomb…which she installed into WARHEAD. Motherboard then fires the nuclear bomb, which is heading directly toward Russia. Some powerful members go to stop the nuke, some stay to fight Motherboard. Luckily, the heroes stop the nuclear bomb from reaching Russia, but are damaged from the explosion…and have to back as fast as possible, despite being weak. It takes a while, but eventually the assembled team takes down Motherboard, SHELL hacking into her and luckily stopping her from hacking into anywhere else and they arrest her. (She can always come back, that was as their main villain).
The war warning's go away and Russia destroy their weapons from the orders of HU, realising that they are all on the same side. HU Commander keeps the team assembled though, saying she needs them for covert operations as they proved their skills in the previous mission. They all agree. Somewhere in Russia, they lie and start building something else…which will lead onto series two, perhaps?


That's my two cents, hope you like it…because I think it made quite good sense too.

While I'm certainly not opposed to Motherboard appearing in the comic, it would be necessary to resolve your story with her current appearances in her home comic, Comet Kid, where her appearance is much the same as it was in H.U. Did she fix herself after the story was over and resume her previous appearance? Does this happens sometime after what's happening in Comet Kid?

mind_reader:

Whew - first off: I asked everyone to submit their ideas short and concise, because I couldn't process too many posts like this one.

Bringing Motherboard back is something we should definitely consider (I would also like to hear Hero's suggestions on this).

However, I don't think we should have an 8-issue pilot. Your story seems like a blockbuster, nice for a season ending, but I'm not sure it would work too well as a beginning (and it doesn't allow to be structured as a season arc). I'd like to start on a smaller scale. The threat can still be huge, but I feel we shouldn't start with an apocalpytic fight… but these are just my two cents, and we can put this to a vote.

Coincidentally I have a robot called WARHEAD (not HU-related though) slated to appear in Bombshell #2… really just a coincidence, I swear! :D

Not really involved in this but just giving an opinion for you to consider. (Titan will feature after all)

Within the next two chapters the dynamic of the HU comic will be changing. If you go down the route of this team being related to Heroes Unite initiative then you will continually be bound to the events that transpire over at Heroes Unite.

I think the route of a stand alone team will work better. Theres nothing to say that these heroes are not still HU members - they just commit to this team as well.

Yeah, like I said, I'm cool for bringing Motherboard into this project, but I'm not sure about having her kidnapped and pirated by Russia when I kinda already established that she was fine in my comic unless there's a really good explaination.

I could definitely see there being a conflict if she's manipulating the technology of technology based heroes like Relik or Shell. She could totally be on the Villains Alliance or what have you to counter their abilities specifically till the team finds a way around it.
You could always play with the fact that the Maria Magdalena is keeping the big megalomaniac techno-symbiote in check by convincing it to do small crimes instead of taking over the world and subjugating humans like it's instinct is to. Like what happens if it's personality becomes more dominant, what happens if something happens to her to make her lose control of it, what happens if it leaves her for someone less strong willed and finally gets to enact it's schemes?

Sorry, everyone, but it's impossible to cut this post any shorter! XD

@ Abt-Nihil:

- I didn't plan on it, but sure. Like I said, the prologue could expand into being a full-blown pilot episode, especially in two parts.
- Me as co-executive story editor? (Is that the correct term?) Sure, I'd be happy to do that. If there are no other candidates, that is?
- A reason for Virtus joining Bombshell? Well, I believe there are multiple factors…
1. He's just the kind of guy that can understand not following procedures to help people.
2. V feels that he could do more working with a team. But mind you, he keeps his secret identity under tight bonds, so he'd rather join Bombshell's team than having to take unnecessary risks with any of the bigger organizations.
3. And the factor that packs the most punch… A hot, older superheroine asking him to join a team? Heck, hard to say no to that. ;) A little crush wouldn't be wrong here. XD

@ Hero:

- I really like The Ancient character, and I can see him somehow being being able to carry the role as a pilot villain and as “glue” that holds the whole season together.
- The ‘Enviromentalist’ hero feels like something that could be squeezed in somewhere in the middle of the first season… Yes, I see great potential for such a character…

@ mind_reader:

- Phew! You certainly know how to make this head burst at the seams. XD Personally, I don't see Motherboard becoming a major player so soon… HOWEVER… I can see her pulling some strings in the background, possibly something that could lead into Season 2.

@ Nepath:

- I agree. We want this to be an independent spin-off for now, and I don't think we should put so much emphasis on making the first HA story a full-blown HU/HA crossover.

Once again, these are only my SUGGESTIONS of a structure, everything is still up for discussion.

Pilot Part 1: This could be entirely focused on Bombshell taking a leave of absence and her travel to find potential candidates for the new team, where she meets with diplomats to try and gather new heroes for her own team. Alternatively, this could be a regular HU recruitment drive that turns into Bomb's own affair after her mind begins reeling in the direction of rather starting a new team. This could be where entirely new heroes to the HU world (Such as Virtus) jumps on.
Midlogue: HU tie-in: Abt_Nihil expressed interest into writing up a confrontation himself between Bombshell and Commander over their differing views on BS starting a team of her own. I can see this as the place where the some of the old HU members decides to jump onto Bombshell's team. 5-10 pages or so would suffice, perhaps even less.
Pilot Part 2: This could be where the team first fully join together, and try to set things up for themselves, such as establishing a HQ of their own (Do we have plans for that?), with a few character interactions. Of course, this is where the villain (In which I would recommend The Ancient by Hero) is introduced to the reader. We can either have the first confrontation right here, or play around with it over the course of the season.

Rest of the season: In my opinion, we should have this be the “first steps” season for the heroes, dealing with all the troubles when a new team tries to establish itself. I'm not saying that we should have no supervillains for the season, but perhaps try to keep the number down to two or three and mixed out with some ‘normal’ villains. However, we could already begin to establish plot points that lead into Season 2 and beyond.

Fan service issue: Written by fukujuninzuke, this issue could play out already in the first season, since people are understandably eager for it. ;)

Multi-part ‘season finale’: Every season needs a finale, and I think we could work out a story that seems to have been brewing since the beginning of the season and where the events have varying impact on Season 2.

Someone
This could be where the team first fully join together, and try to set things up for themselves

I think we need to plan a few rivalries/love interests in the team to create more conflict among the group when they join up.

Someone
establishing a HQ of their own (Do we have plans for that?)

In Mr. Imp continuity, there's an observatory that comes out of the Puerto Rican Trench. Maybe there? It's owned by a Marine-Biologist called Hubble.

Wes_Nero123

Sebastian_Sandberg
establishing a HQ of their own (Do we have plans for that?)

In Mr. Imp continuity, there's an observatory that comes out of the Puerto Rican Trench. Maybe there? It's owned by a Marine-Biologist called Hubble.

An observatory? That might be cool. Although I'm not sure yet if we need an HQ. Say, if we do – how would the non-flying and non-speeding members get to where the action is?

Wes_Nero123
I think we need to plan a few rivalries/love interests in the team to create more conflict among the group when they join up.

Agreed.

The structure I'm envisioning right now is something like this:

Eps. 1 & 2: Pilot - We need to deal with the basic motivations for the characters, their individual backstories (just enough so the readers know who's who), why they're not part of HU, and a threat big and urgent enough for them to band together - plus establish a starting point for the season arc.
Ep. 3: The team settles into, well, being a team. This would be where they choose an HQ, if they need one. Choosing an HQ is just one of many things that have to be dealt with, I guess. This should be a more somber chapter, with a more quirky, weird and/or gimmicky villain who's not that much of a threat.
Eps. 4-6: Picking the pace up with more serious villains, but again not huge threats. Exploring relationships between characters & team dynamics.
Ep. 7: Foreshadowing of the season finale. If, say, the villain at the end were Darkseid, this is the episode in which Kalibak would come to Metropolis for the first time. This should be a team chapter, with everyone playing an important part.
Eps. 8-11: Again, more stand-alone chapters, with the occasional foreshadowing. The fanservice chapter might be the first here - a comic relief chapter after the serious #7.
Ep. 12: Our heroes find out who's been scheming behind the scenes all this time. This chapter ends with the main villain revealing himself and his evil plan. So this is basically “finale part 1”
Ep. 13: The climax - “finale part 2”. One huge long spectacular fight and an aftermath.

Of course, whether planning this way really makes sense depends on whether we can make this whole project work. And this is something we can only know after we started working on the pilot. Depending on how well the pilot works we can make the season shorter or longer.

Sebastian_Sandberg
Me as co-executive story editor? (Is that the correct term?) Sure, I'd be happy to do that. If there are no other candidates, that is?

You've got my vote. Which means: if the others don't object to it, you'll do it :D
I'll try to post my ideas for the pilot during the next few days so we can get started on it.

How and why Azumorph joins the team:

Bombshell (or whoever) approaches Azumorph to join the team, but Azumorph initial refuses on the grounds that he is perfectly fine to keep working for the government, and that vigilante groups end up causing more trouble than they’re worth. He quickly has a change of heart when he is reminded of how he helped out with the EGO incident despite not having any governmental backing and not even being from a NATO nation. He then might say something like “I guess we should worry less about red tape and more about saving the World”

Another thing about Azumorph, where Bombshell is all for changing the status quo, Azumorph is more about preserving it. He thinks that if the heroes get rid of all the villains, what happens next?

First of all, sorry for the really long story description there…I just hit a “moment” where everything comes to your head and you just have to keep typing…so I apologize.

I see what you all mean there. Maybe Motherboard is a bad idea and the story itself not good for a thing if we are trying to seperate heroes Alliance from the main kind of universe (if you see what I'm getting at.)…and the way you see the planning kind of works…but maybe perhaps more chapters in a series? That way we could have two parter arks sometimes in between (what are eventful, but actually the heroes win and it's not a big fight…just a small one what needs to issues). I can see what we are trying to get here now…I wasn't that sure at the start…so just give me a few days and I'll think up of something new which would work to your basic idea (AND make it small!!)

mind_reader
maybe perhaps more chapters in a series? That way we could have two parter arks sometimes in between (what are eventful, but actually the heroes win and it's not a big fight…just a small one what needs to issues).

I'm not ruling that out per se, I'd just like to play it safe for now and see how well things go with the pilot. We shouldn't just assume that because things went well with HU they will continue to do so. The main reason for why HU worked so well was because we could expand with every chapter. Its strength was its growth. Whereas the first few chapters of Alliance will probably have less contributors than the latest HU chapters had. At the end of the day the amount of contributing artists is what matters.

I guess this is the right occasion for me to say something about quality control.

One thing I need to insist on is that we should have around 30% of gorgeous art for each chapter, and another 30% of at least solid art. As an admin I need to make sure of that. However, the main reason for me to start Alliance was to be more open to new contributors - any enthusiastic contributor really. That may mean the quality might not be as consistent. Still, I need these benchmarks met or I'm likely to lose interest. And we know how webcomics, and especially community projects, are fueled by enthusiasm only. HU had incredible contributions so far. We've had MonkeyMafia right from the start. TheMidge28 in chapter 2. Then Tempest_Lavalle, legacyhero, fukujinzuke… etc. So I really need to see how well Alliance will be received and whether we can gain new supporters before I start to plan anything else.

mind_reader
so just give me a few days and I'll think up of something new which would work to your basic idea (AND make it small!!)

Just remember: Please mind the guidelines we've set up so far. An idea that is completely new is likely to be rejected if it doesn't go at least vaguely into the direction we're slowly converging on here.

Abt_Nihil
One thing I need to insist on is that we should have around 30% of gorgeous art for each chapter, and another 30% of at least solid art. As an admin I need to make sure of that. However, the main reason for me to start Alliance was to be more open to new contributors - any enthusiastic contributor really. That may mean the quality might not be as consistent. Still, I need these benchmarks met or I'm likely to lose interest. And we know how webcomics, and especially community projects, are fueled by enthusiasm only. HU had incredible contributions so far. We've had MonkeyMafia right from the start. TheMidge28 in chapter 2. Then Tempest_Lavalle, legacyhero, fukujinzuke… etc. So I really need to see how well Alliance will be received and whether we can gain new supporters before I start to plan anything else.

Maybe we should have a Issue #0, each page showing a short-brief history of the character, each with different writers and artists paired together. Post it out there and see how the community reacts to it -it could also draw more in.

7he_7ruth
Maybe we should have a Issue #0, each page showing a short-brief history of the character, each with different writers and artists paired together. Post it out there and see how the community reacts to it -it could also draw more in.

The Dc comics website has two page origin stories for its main characters,if we use that as a template to explain back stories of members I think it would be good.


Example:
http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/heroes_and_villains/?hv=origin_stories/batman&p=1

Wes_Nero123

7he_7ruth
Maybe we should have a Issue #0, each page showing a short-brief history of the character, each with different writers and artists paired together. Post it out there and see how the community reacts to it -it could also draw more in.

The Dc comics website has two page origin stories for its main characters,if we use that as a template to explain back stories of members I think it would be good.


Example:
http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/heroes_and_villains/?hv=origin_stories/batman&p=1

Exactly, get things rolling with that, if the people approve we can push on with more complicated things. But for now, just keep things simple.

7he_7ruth
Maybe we should have a Issue #0, each page showing a short-brief history of the character, each with different writers and artists paired together. Post it out there and see how the community reacts to it -it could also draw more in.

Except for Bombshell, as I haven't revealed her origin yet! Gah… so slow ^^;

Just in case I haven't made myself clear: We do have some new contributors as well as some great returning artists on board, I don't think we need anyone else for the pilot. Once the story is set we should get it rolling ASAP. I just meant we shouldn't be too confident that we can work with the same staff beyond the pilot (people come and go on community projects, that's only natural). And I hope once we're uploading the pilot, new people will catch on to the comic.

Having said that, doing some two-page origins would be cool too! Especially for those characters who don't have their own comic yet.

Important notice:

I just sent an outline for the first part of the pilot to Sebastian_Sandberg. Which means ideas for the 1st part won't be accepted any longer.

I don't want to post spoilers, but what I can say is:

My outline incorporates suggestions from Hero (P2 = The Ancient's arena Battle Royale), Sebastian_Sandberg (= Sweden & Virtus) and me (= Bombshell's role and several details which might evolve into the season arc), villains by Wes_Nero123 (Anarch), Hero (The Ancient) and me (Change), all of our main hero characters, a simple excuse for not directly reporting to the HU (another little detail I won't give away at this point), plus I think it has some nice settings and the chance for appealing visuals. Sadly I couldn’t incorporate fukujinzuke’s suggestions, but I’ll keep them in the back of my head. We should probably have something tying into “Energize: Hunted” once it’s updating anyway.

The 1st part of the pilot will lead directly into the big arena battle suggested by Hero. So what we need now is suggestions for this battle. How should it play out? Directly involved are: Vora, Comet Kid, Shell, Titan, Virtus, Bombshell, Relik and either Azumorph or Mr Imp (I think we shouldn't have them both in the arena, but I'm open to suggestions).

That's great news, Jo!
No worries about not using my brainstormed idea. That's what brainstorms are for: just to get ideas out on the table.

super gladiator battle idea

We can probably keep it simple. If we go with Hero's backstory on the arena/coliseum, then once that's explained on the first pages, the heroes (some of whom will recognize each other) can probably be held in individual cells/containment units within earshot of each other. This way, they can start developing a plan while the first two “gladiators” stall for time/create a diversion while the jailbreak is executed.

Someone
villains by Wes_Nero123 (Anarch)

I'm gonna tweak his design a bit. I'm also giving him another kind of ability, I have a bad habit of making single character too powerful ^^;. Just a heads up before I edit my post.

What Fukujinzuke said, mostly. A couple of heroes duke it out in the first round, it'd be neat if one of the heroes, like one of the shapeshifters or someone trained in such a manner could “play dead” as part of the plan in the first round, to get in a position where they would be unguarded and help the others break out while the second round goes on.

Hero
it'd be neat if one of the heroes, like one of the shapeshifters or someone trained in such a manner could “play dead” as part of the plan in the first round, to get in a position where they would be unguarded and help the others break out while the second round goes on.

If it helps, “playing dead” and getting onto a position to help the others is exactly something Azumorph would do. I could be a good moment to establish his character.

All right - so if there's no good reason for having two shape-shifters in the same story we'll take Azumorph and introduce Mr Imp later on. Wes_Nero123 will have one of his characters appear in the pilot either way.

The Heroes become the Villains?


for Peligroso joining…Secret :P

I like the idea about the golden age universe style storyline.

I kinda have this rough idea of story. Ok imagine a sick scientist creates a machine that re-animates the dead, and what would a sick scientist do with it? why not re-animate dead super villains and heroes, I mean that in itself is very morbid and dark, if Acrobat ever showed up in HA or anything like that, could you imagine him having to fight a mind controlled re-animated corpse of Blackhawk?

the other has to do with some hitmen trying to take everyone out and us trying to solve who is trying to kill us.

AzuJOD
How and why Azumorph joins the team:

Bombshell (or whoever) approaches Azumorph to join the team, but Azumorph initial refuses on the grounds that he is perfectly fine to keep working for the government, and that vigilante groups end up causing more trouble than they’re worth. He quickly has a change of heart when he is reminded of how he helped out with the EGO incident despite not having any governmental backing and not even being from a NATO nation. He then might say something like “I guess we should worry less about red tape and more about saving the World”

Another thing about Azumorph, where Bombshell is all for changing the status quo, Azumorph is more about preserving it. He thinks that if the heroes get rid of all the villains, what happens next?

My bad. This is where the update should have gone.

I have now sent a draft script for part 1 of the pilot to Abt_Nihil. Expect an update soon.

I feel really weird about this, but it's funny how some of these echo closely with my plans for Relik, and HU…!

(1) Relik - only it would be a preacher or self-help guru who actually DOES hypnotise with his own eyes (that rhymed!)

As Abt mentioned, yes I am currently in the process of planning and writing a ‘Villains Unite’ epic :P But I'm not currently sure if Nepath wants it for HU or if it could go here - if it's the latter then that would definetely be better as the length would fit better into a few ‘episodes’ than in one short-ass story. SO…

(2)The two roles of the supervillian and the scientist are reversed, but this is basically the plot for my HU chapter ‘Villains Unite’ (same goes for Idea 22 - but that's not to say there can only be one villain-group!)

Here's an idea…what number we at now? Anyway…

(30) A wizard conjures up the four elements that make up the world as ‘New Gods’. These towering behemoths of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind (think a really ticked-off hurricane) begin terrorizing all four corners of the Earth, splitting the team up to deal with them all at once, or together one at a time.

Dave

As far as I can see, Nepath doesn't plan on including Villains Unite in HU. So I'd be all for having it as a HA two- or three-parter. How about writing a short (!) outline for how you think you could split it up into two or three chapters (each between 15 to 20 pages)?

I'll tell you what, I'll do just that - but first I'll just PQ you the outline as I sent it to ‘Path

EDIT: Nevermind, forgot I already sent you it AGGGGEEES ago :P I’ll get right on the conciser-planning thing! *nods*

I like the idea about the elemental gods stuff since I am a Mytho's loving kinda guy. One idea I came up with (if we ever did a halloween arc in the future or anything like that), Involves some ancient evil that begins turning people into monsters and reviving the dead.

Well, someone had to breathe a little life into the forum again. Not sure if this is the correct place to do it, but I don't believe I have clearance for the the major updates thread.

So far, my script has been well-recieved by the big chief, only some dialogue input left to wait for from the creators, no big. The sooner this gets done and the first part of the pilot goes from scripting to production stage, the sooner I can start work on an outline for Part 2 without having to look over my shoulder. Alert me when you guys are done tweaking.

On the other hand, I've been in Finland and unable to check my mail for a week until I get back tomorrow, so I apologize if there already is stuff in my folder and I'm being unnecessarily naggy.

Sorry, I've been a bit slow lately, got several things to do at once. I hope I can get page assignments done until next week, so we can really get started.

I was thinking, are we going to be doing any sort of “chapter breaks” for Heroes Alliance? Because with HU Adventures ending (for now), we could use that story format for the “chapter breaks”. Alternatively, we could use that Origin Story idea posted earlier.