Pitch a Direction: Africana Edition

[lemonpeace]

With Black History Month drawing to a close, I wanted to do a Pitch Me for our black heroes/villains. So here's the scenario; DC comes to you (because they ran out of ideas) and want you to take a black character (or characters I guess) and pitch how you would elevate them to top tier status. The idea is to create a premiere black character(s), not a token; DC's Black Panther so to speak. Who do you pick? How do you elevate them? Maybe you create a new character, how do you ground him/her in the universe? How do you get them up there in status?

[Korath]

Honestly ?

I would go with Naomi so far.

Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of the other Black heroes of DC (especially Duke Thomas and Wallace West). But most of them are actually hindered being part of an older and wider franchise (Batman, the Flash, Superman for Qteel - hell, even Black Lightning is often associated with The Outsiders and thus Batman).

Nzomi has the potential to carve out her own franchise, her own corner of the DCU, depending on how Bendis, Walker and Campbell play it and are allowed to by DC.

Based on what we saw, I would keep developing her ties to some sort of cosmic entity/realm, and display that she is both extremely powerful and really just a teenager whose best friend is an overweight white girl playing violin. That she gets the difficulties of black person (being the only one in her life for so damn long) but has also this kind of incredibly advanced kingdom to fall back, where she is accepted and not seen as an half-breed or something (unlike Aquaman).

My stories would revolve around her discovering her heritage, and then acting to branch it with the wider DCU. Have her be the undisputed champion of her people, the one whom, when interacting with Superman may be impressed by his storied history and powers, but backed by the strong belief that she's as strong as him and has a whole lot of people supporting her.

But of course, even more so than those general plots -natural considering we know so little about her corner of the DCU yet- is that I would make DC and WB understand that Black Panther didn't happen overnight and that they need to support Naomi and her book. So don't shelve it as soon as peoples scream and shout that she shouldn't be treated as an equal to Superman or something. If she can kick asses, she'll kick asses.

[iron chimp]

The had two great ideas in batwing and the terrifics but personally i thought the execution of both of them was an utter shambles.

It's dc's take on fantastic 4. Can't lose there surely. Team looks interesting... preview art looks superb... and it's totally unreadable unless you read the event that preceded it which i hadnt. No idea what was going on and was bored after 10 pages of the first issue.

Batwing.. ok this looks something different... and ben oliver is great... intrigued... let me read the solicit. Set in congo.. ok that makes a change..and he's fighting someone called Massacre... and im done before the end of the solicit. In a country that had a genocide followed by 50 years and counting of civil war... you make a character called massacre. It's like siberian hero fighting a villain called forced labour camp or a polish hero fighting someone called blitzkrieg. Oh and he uses a machete you say... you mean like the machetes that were used next door in rwanda to kill 100,000s just a few years ago? Just really bad taste and stupid.

Warlord meets elephantmen would be my lazy rip off pitch

[OBrianTallent]

Terrifics has actually been a very good read (and they have moved on from the Dark Metal business that brought them together.)
As far as other characters go, I would love to see DC actually put some development into Vixen. Give her a series of mini series maybe? Give her something, just get her some good stories and get her out there.
Others, I loved that they put Steel (Natasha) into Titans, hopefully if the book gets rebooted, she will still be part of the team. However, I would love to see her given a mini series to establish more of her world.
I wish DC would also do something with skyrocket. Either introduce her into the Justice League, bring back Power company or on her own. Bringing her in on her own would be wonderful, give her a mini series and establish her as an independent hero.

[skyvolt2000]

Honestly ?

I would go with Naomi so far.

Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of the other Black heroes of DC (especially Duke Thomas and Wallace West). But most of them are actually hindered being part of an older and wider franchise (Batman, the Flash, Superman for Qteel - hell, even Black Lightning is often associated with The Outsiders and thus Batman).

But of course, even more so than those general plots -natural considering we know so little about her corner of the DCU yet- is that I would make DC and WB understand that Black Panther didn't happen overnight and that they need to support Naomi and her book. So don't shelve it as soon as peoples scream and shout that she shouldn't be treated as an equal to Superman or something. If she can kick asses, she'll kick asses.

How about this?

Mr Terrific left his company to Jamal when he left for the that other Earth. What would he be doing why Holt was gone???

Rich black kid.... Lets see what happened the last time a rich black young adult was left alone. Oh yeah he trained himself to be a hero and got 5 others together. They took on some UNSTOPPABLE Villain but never got credit as that went to a GOD OF THUNDER via the media. They later got a series. They lead to 4 spinoff series (a 5th was planned before a certain bankruptcy) and he also got a tv show on a major network. They had 5 volumes and SHOULD have a tv show on Free Form with some rodent girl.

That guy was Night Thrasher and the team was New Warriors.

Why can't that be done? Jamal becomes Mr Terrific 3 and recruits Naomi, Jason Rusch, Hotspot, Natasha & the Shade Changling Man (yes he is now a gay black male). If not this version-Jamal, Naomi, Duke, Skyrocket, See More (Teen Titans Go) & a NEW Tattoo Man (his SON) or Natasha Irons' s Twin brother.

And address those complaints by certain folks-why an all black team-WHY NOT?
The PITCH? This team was made to address the complaints of WHY DON'T YOU PEOPLE ADDRESS YOUR OWN PEOPLE'S ISSUES? Done-you got a team. That will do that and will STILL help everybody. They will deal with the black folks who don't TRUST white heroes nor FEAR them like they didn't in Priest's Batman The MISSION.

The stories would be the ones where you don't want to go there with say Superman or others. I mean while a story with Superman protecting a child molester to make sure he gets his day in court-might get a NASTY reaction (see Donny Cates). You could get away with it if you use say Tattoo Man.

[MoneySpider]

Taking a page out of Tony Stark's book... who is Vixen?

Genius (if she mimics the intelligence of certain geniuses in the DC Universe, since humans are animals)

Billionaire

Supermodel

Philanthropist

Superhero

Animal Master

Animal Rights Activist

Businesswoman


She's down-to-earth and approachable but yet remains a woman of mystery. Her animal magnetism is off the charts. You'll do everything you can to keep her as your friend because you definitely don't want her as your enemy. She has a home base of operations but she also loves globetrotting. She can't be controlled. She comes and goes as she pleases. She's fiercely independent, strong-willed and stubborn; when she sets her mind on a certain course of action you have two choices: join her or move out of her way before you get trampled.

People who don't know her tend to underestimate her because at first all they see is a gorgeous face and assume she is an airhead. They only make that mistake once.

[OBrianTallent]

Taking a page out of Tony Stark's book... who is Vixen?

Genius (if she mimics the intelligence of certain geniuses in the DC Universe, since humans are animals)

Billionaire

Supermodel

Philanthropist

Superhero

Animal Master

Animal Rights Activist

Businesswoman


She's down-to-earth and approachable but yet remains a woman of mystery. Her animal magnetism is off the charts. You'll do everything you can to keep her as your friend because you definitely don't want her as your enemy. She has a home base of operations but she also loves globetrotting. She can't be controlled. She comes and goes as she pleases. She's fiercely independent, strong-willed and stubborn; when she sets her mind on a certain course of action you have two choices: join her or move out of her way before you get trampled.

People who don't know her tend to underestimate her because at first all they see is a gorgeous face and assume she is an airhead. They only make that mistake [I]once[I].

Sold sold sold!

[Vakanai]

More Duke Thomas, the Signal, because Batman sells and I like his costume. My pitch is any story Grant Morrison wants to tell with him, with art by Jim Lee and covers by Alex Ross, because make money money money! It'd be a 12 issue maxiseries, because even with that crazy popular talent on it can't guarantee it'll sell enough to support an ongoing series in today's market. I would also give him some of that outside media love usually reserved for Cyborg - have him show up in the NuDCAU DTV Batman movies, those DTV Justice League LEGO movies, some episodes of Young Justice, an appearance in the upcoming CW Batwoman show, and cameo appearances in both Superhero Girls (hey, boy characters have shown up too) and Teen Titans Go! I may also consider putting him in future seasons of the new streaming shows like Titans and Doom Patrol.

[LordAllMIghty]

With Black History Month drawing to a close, I wanted to do a Pith Me for our black heroes/villains. So here's the scenario; DC comes to you (because they ran out of ideas) and want you to take a black character pitch and how you would elevate them to top tier status. The idea is to create a premier black character, not a token; DC's Black Panther so to speak. Who do you pick? How do you elevate them? Maybe you create a new character, how do you ground him/her in the universe? How do you get them up there in status?

Who's the guy in the first block? John Henry (Steel), Bronze Tiger or Battalion…?

Anyway, I was thinking of this story where someone is taking inner city kids of Chicago and transforming them into monsters. Whatever is causing the transformation of the children is also ramping up the racial tension of the city...making it impossible for the JLA to handle the situation without causing a riot. Mister Traffic takes it upon himself to investigate the case and soon find himself fighting a ancient magical being that has been awaken by Felix Faust. To help him fight he calls on the aid of other heroes like Vixen, Green Lantern, Vibe, Icon, Onyx, Fire and either Black Lightning Light or Static...just for starters.

[lemonpeace]

Who's the guy in the first block? John Henry (Steel), Bronze Tiger or Battalion

Next to Manta? That's Holocaust from the Milestone universe.

[Killerbee911]

Justice League Black

Members

Mr Terrific and Martian Manhunter- Co Leaders

John Stewart
Cyborg
Vixen
Black Lighting
Atom
Batman
Hawkgirl


The Pitch

After failing to stop a major threat Martian Manhunter and Mr Terrific realize the Justice League needs a proactive team to stop threats before they happen and that team might have cross lines that regular Justice League can't. So they reach out to members of the Justice League that they are close with to join that is why the makeup of team looks like it does .Batman joins because he finds out because it is hard to keep secrets from Batman. It is a Black Ops style superhero book if you have watching Young Justice Season 3 basically this team like how Nightwing team operates on a larger more official scale. The name Justice League Black is also a pun because well obviously it has bunch of Black Superheroes .The actual team in book won't be named Justice League Black but Stormwatch because eventually you want it to be its own brand. Batman is reverse on the trope of other super teams always only having one Black Character. Mr Terrific would be the man in the chair, Martian Manhunter would be field leader/jack of all trades. John Stewart would be long range specialist or Artillery, Cyborg would be tech infiltration, Vixen, Atom,Batman would be infiltration specialists, Hawkgirl aerial support,etc. The nature of things being more stealthy they would deal things that Justice League would never end up dealing with like Street Gangs,Drug Cartels,Human Trafficking rings,Weapon tracking which is why most of the members are part of team.

Overall Goal

The overall goal is to have a counterpoint team to the Justice League I guess it is from watching Star Trek Discovery and their use of section 31 or the X-men use of X-Force. Now the goal isn't to make a murder squad for Justice League but to have a team is going to step over the line for good. Basically in a situation where they knew Lex Luthor is up to no good. This would be the team that invades his base to find bad that he up too while regular Justice league would back off or this would be the team to go into Kahndaq when Justice League can't legally go in. That said eventually the makeup of team would be "the kill if necessary or last resort" style hero which would probably be the fall out with Batman and some of the other members. I think this would work with a great creative team, I have added in all the little elements to cheat sales like Batman and Justice League Brand.

[lemonpeace]

Justice League Black

Members

Mr Terrific and Martian Manhunter- Co Leaders

John Stewart
Cyborg
Vixen
Black Lighting
Atom
Batman
Hawkgirl


The Pitch

After failing to stop a major threat Martian Manhunter and Mr Terrific realize the Justice League needs a proactive team to stop threats before they happen and that team might have cross lines that regular Justice League can't. So they reach out to members of the Justice League that they are close with to join that is why the makeup of team looks like it does .Batman joins because he finds out because it is hard to keep secrets from Batman. It is a Black Ops style superhero book if you have watching Young Justice Season 3 basically this team like how Nightwing team operates on a larger more official scale. The name Justice League Black is also a pun because well obviously it has bunch of Black Superheroes .The actual team in book won't be named Justice League Black but Stormwatch because eventually you want it to be its own brand. Batman is reverse on the trope of other super teams always only having one Black Character. Mr Terrific would be the man in the chair, Martian Manhunter would be field leader/jack of all trades. John Stewart would be long range specialist or Artillery, Cyborg would be tech infiltration, Vixen, Atom,Batman would be infiltration specialists, Hawkgirl aerial support,etc. The nature of things being more stealthy they would deal things that Justice League would never end up dealing with like Street Gangs,Drug Cartels,Human Trafficking rings,Weapon tracking which is why most of the members are part of team.

Overall Goal

The overall goal is to have a counterpoint team to the Justice League I guess it is from watching Star Trek Discovery and their use of section 31 or the X-men use of X-Force. Now the goal isn't to make a murder squad for Justice League but to have a team is going to step over the line for good. Basically in a situation where they knew Lex Luthor is up to no good. This would be the team that invades his base to find bad that he up too while regular Justice league would back off or this would be the team to go into Kahndaq when Justice League can't legally go in. That said eventually the makeup of team would be "the kill if necessary or last resort" style hero which would probably be the fall out with Batman and some of the other members. I think this would work with a great creative team, I have added in all the little elements to cheat sales like Batman and Justice League Brand.

That sounds pretty fucking dope, I'm sold!

[Shockingjustice]

I had an idea a while ago about taking Mal and Karen, giving them children to make them a full family, and treat them like The Incredibles mixed with The Secret Saturdays.

Full black middle class family going on Adventures that could appeal to all ages which could be focus on having fun adventure instead being a "low class breaking out of the Hood stereotype story."

[WonderScott]

I had an idea a while ago about taking Mal and Karen, giving them children to make them a full family, and treat them like The Incredibles mixed with The Secret Saturdays.

Full black middle class family going on Adventures that could appeal to all ages which could be focus on having fun adventure instead being a "low class breaking out of the Hood stereotype story."

I really love this idea.

[WonderScott]

I have an original character in mind that I'd add to the DCU and based on some racist and bigoted incidents that happens to them, it galvanizes a team to form around them that doesn't ignore issues of overt and everyday racism and bigotry and privilege in the DCU alongside the action and adventure of the team saving of the day and thwarting super villains.

The team would include:

- the original character
- Vixen
- Green Lantern
- Nu'Bia
- Mr. Terrific
- Bumblebee
- Guardian
- Onyx
- Steel
- Black Lightning
- Doctor Mist