Monday, July 28, 2014

MOON JELLY MONDAYS #5 - "Bloodwar X-Treme X-ecution Squad 20XX."


Today's Moon Jelly Mondays, I'm going to talk about Bloodwar Extreme: X-ecution Squad 20XX.

Bloodwar Extreme X-Ecution Squad 20XX is a send-up to the EXTREME COMICS of the 90's. I'll admit: I grew up on those comics. The 90's X-Men, the 90's Teen Titans, and a lot of titles from early Image Comics were things I grew up on. (I also grew up on Valiant, but they were doing things a little bit different from the whole "extreme" trend.)

To give you guys some context, before the 1980's "dark age," comics were these serialized, pulp adventures. They were mostly lighthearted and fun.

However, in the 80's, you got a bunch of stories that changed that tone. With Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, Alan Moore's Watchmen, and Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, comics were now shown to be able to tell any kind of story. The tonal shift in these three in particular were most notable in that they were much darker works.

Flashforwards to the 90's, and you got a bunch of people who tried to replicate these type of stories, but sort of missed the mark. They were vulgar, crude, and had a lot of "attitude." Despite being marketed as "mature" comics, they were definitely not "mature." Sure, they had "adult" themes such as hyper-sex and hyper-violence, but the stories themselves were still a bunch of pissed off looking dudes, yelling and punching at each other in their underwear.

I'm going to stop with the history lesson here because there's plenty of great websites that can do that for you. Just google "Rob Liefeld," and you'll find all you can need.

Moving along, here's Bloodwar X-Treme X-Ecution Squad 20XX.

Do want to note: This is a supposed to be a purposely dumb comic.

THE PLOT

Being as this is a send-up to Rob Liefeld (particularly his "Youngblood" comic), the super team, The Blood Warriors, are much like the team in Youngblood being as they are put together and endorsed by government sponsorships. I wanted to take this concept much in the direction of a Nascar race car driver where these superheroes are controlled to every last bit; from what they wear and what they are told to say to the public. Of course, while the conflicts in these stories would come from external forces, the overarching conflict will be over this simple question: Can justice be bought? Who do the superheroes serve; the people, the government, the advertisers? These are all questions I'd like to address if I were to make this a series, while still keeping it fairly light and "tongue-in-cheek."

It's not supposed to be too deep. It's just supposed to be a really dumb comic about dumb things.

THE CHARACTERS

Zachariah - The leader of the group. Has a giant "Z" on his mask. . .  just in case if he forgets his name. Noble, but can be a goofball. His name is chosen just 'cause it sounds like it's biblical in nature. This was a thing that was overdone in 90's comics.

Doctor Kill - A time displaced being from the future, and is the team's doctors. He is actually not much of a fighter. His name and appearance alone tends to get people terrified. A recurring joke for this character is that he looks likes he is committing horrendous and violent attacks to a patient when he is actually healing them.

Johnny Fatale - I did not create this character, but rather my friend Kasatka did. On the team, he deals with the more paranormal aspects. He can talk to the dead. He can travel between dimensions.

The Boarman - The standard "big guy" on every team, ala The Thing, The Hulk, or Badrock. He is actually big cosmetically. He is a mood swing-y junkie. (Just to clarify: this is not the same Boarman from the other Boarman comic I do: Boarman 1960's.)

Hawx Klaw - Obvious Wolverine ripoff. Everyone had claws in the 90's. Also has a giant H in his chest . . . just in case if he forgets his name.

Chastity - Chastity is a super-powered, Amazonian-esque woman. I actually want her to have this origin where she gets her powers from a demon, but became too powerful for the demon to control.

Dick: THE HARDEST MAN ALIVE - This guy is like Colossus in which he can harden into a metallic form. Those "chin balls" are grenades, but of course, they're just there for comical imagery.

Cryclops - This guy fights with his dreaded "cry beams." His powers are tied into his emotions. He's like an "emo Hulk"; The sadder he gets, the stronger he gets!

As you can see, not much thought was put into this, but if I were to make this into something, it would definitely be a fun book to do.


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