Seasoned Scripter looking for artist (Not paid)

[Ruyei]

Ruyei here. I'm a prose writer and amateur scripter who is about to have two of his short stories published in two journals. However I also love making comics, which I'm been work on off and on with comics for five years. I've been experimenting with multiple genres, from a superhero comic (http://supercosmic212.blogspot.com) to a dark brooding suburban fantasy (http://davidandthedark.blogspot.com). I've also written a mystery comic centered around movie director Todd Browning (Of Dracula fame) as well as a jungle girl comic, but they have yet to be drawn as of yet. My most recent drawn work is an abstract crime comic called Hacking Human http://hackinghuman.blogspot.com/. I'm currently working on sending that work off to publishers, but in the meantime I'd like to take a little break and develop a short comic just for practice and for further experimentation. I'm gunning for a 10-15 page story that could serve as a stand-alone or a beginning that could stand alone. I'm open to artists of all styles, from noir to manga, most of all I want to work with someone both passionate and new to me. I am willing to work with an artist's own ideas, but here are a few of my own. If you want more contact me at robert-finch@comcast.net. If you want more ideas I have an uncanny knack for coming up with new ones, and I've been praised for the multitude and quality of my story concepts. I'm particularly good at developing ideas based on an artist's own art style. Anyway, here's a list of concepts I've come up with over the years. Some of them are particularly geared towards a short concept, but I have some long concepts that we can create simply as an introduction. I'll put them here and if any appeal to you, or simply my creativity or style appeals to you, be sure to contact me.

Short comic ideas

Ideas for short comics

1. A girl grows up with a horrific scar like birth mark on the right side of her face. Throughout her life from childhood on she faces ridicule, ignorance, and even fear from her fellow peers. However despite her disfiguration she meets a friend, a girl with a stutter who is similarly an outcast. Throughout the story she struggles to see herself as beautiful. However when she reaches high school she decides to adjust her clothing to a punk motif to complement her birth-mark. She suddenly finds herself attractive, meeting many new people and for the first time finding herself with admirers. But she finds that this sudden attention is superficial, that these people are only after her looks and not after who she is. She sticks to hanging out with the friends she already has. She meets a young, skinny bespectacled boy who is always ridiculed for his shortness and small figure. Feeling compassion and empathy for the boy, she asks him out to a school dance. The story ends with the two dressed up and waltzing together in the school gym amongst other couples.

2..A young boy goes to a speech therapist to lean how to speak. He can read, write, and understand language, but has remained mute. However it is slowly revealed that when the boy speaks it affects the world around him. If he says "Boat" he finds himself at a marina with his parents. If he says "Airplane" he is in an airplane traveling to visit his aunt in Memphis Tennessee. Each time this happens it is only the boy who realizes the change. Throughout the story the boy learns how to use this power to his advantage and avoid the awkwardness that comes with bending reality.

Long comics

1. 1. Gunslinger Jr- In an alternate Earth during the Civil War, a war fought with mobile armored soldiers literally fired from cannons behind enemy lines, the United States is hard pressed to find able bodied soldiers to staff its armies what with the death toll and the manpower needed for reconstruction (Northern supervision of the South's reorganization away from Slavery). The situation has become so dire that women were accepted for the first time to fight for their country in the last year of the Civil War. Some even saw combat. With unrest in the "wild west" the government struggles for manpower and sends in fresh military cadets to serve as marshals. Many die, unprepared, but many more rise to meet their responsibilities. The story follows Smith Nest, a young cadet who finds himself thrust into a violent world where his virtue and wits are tested. Seeing his potential, a home-grown peacekeeping organization known as the gunslingers recruit young Nest. Out of contact with Headquarters and with new responsibility, Nest travels the west with the initial goal of saving the lives of his fellow cadets and preserving justice where he can. (Although ethical quandaries are a major part of this comic, gunplay fills a major role with new and exotic weapons adding a strategic component to action scenes. This comic has no script currently written, but some concepts have been "sketched out")

2. Real World- A young teenager moves from a rather laid back school for special needs students to a strict parochial school due to his intelligence surpassing the constraints of the former schools curriculum. His world is much like ours, save that each person has a "quirk", an aspect of their personality that is expressed visually. This can range from having a parrot on one's shoulder to having ones speech contained in bubbles. These quirks allow a person to purposely or inadvertently express themselves. The teenager's former school encouraged individuality and celebrated one's quirks, while his new school preaches conformity and teaches its students how to control their quirks and become as "respectable" as possible. The teenager has trouble adjusting to this new philosophy, used to quirks and individuality being appreciated not scorned. Along the way he meets new friends and has new experiences as he struggles to adjust to his new environment (I've written a sample outline for this, but besides that no script. Still something I'd love to flesh out)

3. Sum of I (Working title) Shawna is a girl who is disillusioned with her life. The responsibilities of school work, the drama that is other people…all serve to give her the feeling that life is not worth living. During the latest among many bouts of running away from home, she comes upon an old church that she finds has the ability to bring her to other dimensions, different worlds in which she can live different lives and/or go on fantastical adventures. In her efforts to run away, she comes to understand the reasons she had for leaving. Only then will she be ready to go home. Sum of I is a world hopping adventure in which Shawna as well as other characters travel to other worlds based on their own wishes. Although the main character is Shawna, the comic is quite character focused and revolves around the nature of desire and of obtaining it. (This has a sample script for it available on request)

4. Land of the Sun and Moon- Humans have been deceived of the nature of the afterlife. When one dies, one is reincarnated into an animal based on their personality, and thrust into a world divided by species, territory, and politics. The story follows a young fox kit who comes to this world two years after his mother does. He begins to search this new planet for her, accumulating a host of companions as they search not only for the kit's mother, but for the meaning of this strange reality. The animals are slightly anthropomorphized, for example, some animals have opposable digits, but many do not have this advantage, prompting species to work together, combining strengths and weaknesses for a common goal although there is often a tenuous relationship between prey and carnivore species. (Script written as well as short stories completed that establish the world)

5. Living in Miniature (Working title)- Whenever a baby laughs for the first time, a fairy is born. However the new fairy mortality rate is high, with only the strongest and smartest surviving to brave a world where despite their intelligence they are at the bottom of the food chain. After the birth of s*xtuplets six fairies are born, all surviving. Curious yet wary of the world around them, these siblings point fun of their giant cousins and take solace in each other. (This idea is in its infancy, but I've been known to develop projects quite quickly. The focus of the script is comedy and the theme is family, but there is some drama. If anyone expresses interest I'll get to work on this).

6. On the planet ROCK in the far future a group of sportsmen sponsor war games as a spectator sport.  Although the games are relatively unknown, the military world knows it well, using the games as a testing ground for cutting age weapons both biological and mechanical.  Zei Chamb has lived on ROCK all her life as a mechanic.  Trained by her father, she is an expert at bringing together unrelated parts and taking the best qualities of both to create new mechanisms.  She is a self professed tinkerer, using her meager funds to create top class mechanical weapons.  However the sunset of machines has begun, with more adaptable and longer lasting biological weapons becoming more and more popular, threatening to eclipse and overshadow the strength of metal and electricity.  Attached to a small team of mercenaries looking to make a name for themselves, Zei strives to find a way to make mechanics competitive in the coming age of bio-technology and above all?  Make lots of money.

I know there are a lot here, sorry for the long post. You can contact me on robert-finch@comcast.net

Sincerely,
Ruyei/Robert

[eternalscrap]

Hey,

I'm a writer myself (not an artist. sorry) and always interested in what people are working on. Here are some comments I have on the ideas.

1. This idea is just weird to me. I get the theme and it can be strong, but a scar looking birthmark is strange. Why not just give her a scar? Also there needs to be some triggered even that turns her into a punk. She can't just be like "I have a scar that makes me look punkie. Might as well dress like one." She has to be driven to it otherwise its kind of silly.

2. I think you're on to something here, but it needs to be tweaked. The physics have to be worked on with his perception of reality and whats actually happening. If handled correctly this could be an interesting short story.

Long comics

1. This is also a strange concept. What exactly makes this an alternate reality? I get there is a cannon that shoots soldiers behind enemy lines (that's kind of silly by the way), women that fight and special advanced weaponry, but is that it? Other than those things there doesn't seem much to set it apart. There needs to be a bigger hook.

2. A strange and interesting concept. But it has the capabilities of getting too kooky. I think with the right artist and handled carefully this could be a nice story.

3. I don't see much that sets this apart from other dimension hopping stories. Also "Sum of Me" flows better off the tongue.

4. Again, another interesting concept that if tweaked and handled right could be good. I would get rid of the anthropomorphic angle and just do straight animals. Also I would get rid of the whole "humans have been deceived about afterlife" aspect. Deceived by who? I think dealing with that will take away from the story. I think it should be abandoned and just deal with a spiritual world (possibly different from our own) where that aspect of life and death is accepted. It would then allow for more interesting interactions between humans and reincarnated animals.

5. Kind of silly, but if its a family comedy it could work. Needs to be more developed though before any serious criticism could happen.

6. This seems like a typical war games on alien planet kind of story. But you have an interesting angle with the whole "machinery is being overcome by biology." Its usually the other way around. If you build that aspect of the story and make that the theme it could set it apart from similar works.

Hope any of this helps.

[Ruyei]

Thanks for the advice eternal scrap. I was horrified at first that my concepts were being taken apart bit by bit, but it's nice to see an outside view from time to time. I also will respond to the response step by step.

Short comics.

1. I agree, the whole idea of her simply becoming punk because she has a birthmark is too unrealistic. However the reason that it's a birthmark rather than a proper scar is so the main character can't blame a particular event or cause. I'd rather she see herself and be seen moreso as different than damaged goods. Maybe it's possible that the birthmark of malformation could be something other than a scar, and maybe a rash. Still, the idea of the main character having a burn mark or an actual scar is appealing, I'll have to think on it.

2. I agree it isn't very well developed, but if I find someone who wants to work on it it'll become more developed.

Long comics

1. I've had this complaint before, that an idea seems too similar to something that's already been done. Gunslinger Jr. is inspired greatly on westerns and anime mimicking westerns (like Trigun particularly) and I myself will admit that the wandering protagonist adminst a wartorn battleground (not unlike in the Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) is a very good format. I can't really defend the idea more than that, I just love the idea of working with a western environment and making commentary on the civil war haha.

2.I agree it has the capability of it getting kooky, but I'm glad you see promise in this idea. It has a special piece in my heart because if I ever developed it it would be VERY autobiographical.

3. Sum of I is a very early work that other artists have almost picked up. I think it's because the idea of a girl running away from home and slowly discovering why through meeting new people and exploring far off places is very poetic, the whole concept is about belonging and the concept of home. It was written however when I was a lot younger and more antagonistic to the concept of family, so it's interesting how each time I revisit the piece it changes.

4.I developed this story for an artist who could only draw good animals, but I think I did good work on it. Yes, the whole being shocked that they are animals thing would not be a major plot point, but still I don't see how a world with humans and animals would make sense. The whole point of the concept is that people have become more animilstic in death and that therefore there is a new status quo. The animals would be very animialistic though, just some would have opposable thumbs is all.

5. Yes this isn't very developed, next time I suggest it I'll put more work into it.

6.I wrote this idea on a whim and everyone I've explained it to loves it. The idea was inspired primarily by Zoids and the whole war planet ideal common in some anime, except I wanted to do it my own way by injecting some interesting sci-fi elements and characters. It's probably the newest of all the ideas listed so I'm not yet sure what I think on it though.

Thanks for your comments eternal scrap. I didn't understand what you meant by "weird" but I'm guessing you meant "doesn't work". I wish you luck in your writings as well!

[eternalscrap]

Well you're welcome. And allow me to respond to your reponse.
Short comics.

1. Well you can have a scar without having the event be significant in one's life. She could have just fell when she was a baby. She doesn't remember it. It wasn't dramatic. Just an average everyday occurrence. You could always go with some other natural deformation, but just make sure its not some crazy deformity like the elephant man or something.

Long comics

1. I'm actually a big fan of sci-fi westerns (which this seems to be). They just need to have something that sets it apart plot or character wise. As it stands its too generic.

4. This was my favorite of all your ideas. The world won't be "of animals and humans." Once the animals are born they have to separated from the human world. It wouldn't be our world so you have to envision a new world with a different set of cultural norms. Princess Mononoke is a good example of how it could work.

6. I really don't love this idea to be honest. There are tons upon tons of stories that follow this format of a planet conducting war games. It's just the machinery vs. biology element could give it an edge. That's all.

By weird I just mean strange or odd. Exactly what the word weird means. Doesn't mesh well.

[Ruyei]

I see. With Gunslinger jr I can kinda see what you mean, but I still like it Same with ROCK, the idea with the war games. I just like the base ideas and want to work in that particular ballpark. As for the comic involving the animals, the whole thing about all the animals being reincarnated dead souls is a VERY important plot point in the story. The story does focus on the different nations and how the animals get along with each other, but the protagonist is a newly dead soul searching for his mother who had died two years previous. I guess I could change the main plot, but I'm hesitant to.

Anyway thanks for the feed back eternal scrap.
Sincerely,
Ruyei

[eternalscrap]

No. You misunderstood what I meant. I want the animals to be reincarnated people. But what you originally stated was the people don't know that. I want the people to know and be aware that they are going to come back as animals.

[Ruyei]

That certainly is an interesting way to go about it, but the problem is that at least in Western society the idea of a "heaven" is quite prevalent. Though the comic wouldn't really cover people's shock too much, it would recognize that another life as an animal isn't what people were expecting.

-Ruyei

[Ruyei]

I'm going to make my final decision at Friday august 2nd at the latest. I still willing to look at an artist's portfolio, and do note that if you have not done a comic before I am willing to provide a script for you to practice and hopefully impress me. I'm open to all styles, both mainstream comic stuff to stuff outside the mainstream. If in doubt apply!

Sincerely,
Ruyei