SuperFogeys 20 and The Comic Book Challenge
Commentary for SuperFogeys, Episode 20
I love this strip. I think this is the one where you get the best sense of the relationship between Captain Spectacular and Jerry. The first panel alone–I think if the entire strip were just that panel, I’d be happy. I don’t think anyone else laughs at that first panel (That’s not where the joke should be!), but I do. Every time.
What the rest of the strip is suggesting is a little risque, but it works for the characters. I’m very careful to have heroes be heroes and villains be villains. That even extends to the sex jokes. Still, we’re closing in on the line of acceptability and I knew it. Chapter 2 would see this type of humor almost completely absent.
The Comic Book Challenge
As promised, here is my tale of pitching THE MOST BRILLIANT IDEA FOR A COMIC BOOK…EVER to the judges at the 2006 Platinum Studios’ Comic Book Challenge. Out of thousands of entries, I was one of the 50 semifinalists. Still a loser, but I got to spend a lot of gas money gaining my beta status, and that makes me special, right?
Anyway. This was written last summer, less than a week after the whole thing went down. If you detect some bitterness…well, I guess I kind of was. No one likes to lose. Bear in mind that this entire experience–in June of 2006–predates even the creation of the SuperFogeys. I had no idea good things were just around the corner for me. Enough with the preamble.
***
We arrived in Downtown San Diego at 7am. The “secret location” of the pitching was the NBC Studios at 225 Broadway. Big building for a local affiliate. At around 8am all the semifinalists were outside and waiting for someone to take charge and tell us what to do.
At 8:30am we all signed in and were randomly assigned a number that told us what order we would go in. We were number 4. I knew that by 9:30 that morning it would all be over. We weren’t first, that was the important thing.
With cameras ready the pitching began. The whole operation took place outdoors, under some canopies that had been set up. It was hot and I was glad we got to go early if only so we could avoid all the weather drama. The first few people kind of stumbled due to mic issues. Third guy sounded pretty good–he knew his stuff. (Future Brock Editorial Note: The third guy? Yeah, that was eventual winner and creator of Hero By Night, DJ Coffman.) However, I knew that no one (so far) had as polished a presentation as I had.
The night before, Alan and I must have run through the pitch a dozen times or more. The first time I did it it was 5 minutes long. I had to get it down to 2.
I got it down to 1:53.
I took my mark (only one of us was allowed to pitch) and a guy named Dan announced, “This is Brock Heasley from Fresno, CA.”
“Hi, Brock,” replied the judges. Sitting in front of me were Scott Mitchell Rosenberg- Chairman of Platinum Studios and former owner of Malibu Comics; Marc Silvestri- Head of Top Cow Studios; Gale Anne Hurd- Producer of Aliens, Terminator 1, 2, and 3, X-Men and many others, Chris Marlowe- Entertainment Correspondent for the Hollywood Reporter; and Oliver Jones- Correspondent for People Magazine. They all had pleasant smiles on their faces, even that People Magazine guy who looked a little too hip and snooty for the whole affair.
In my hands were two posters. I held up the first one and read the text from memory:
“What if you could unlock the lives of the people around you?
What choices would be most important?
Who would you save? Who would you bring to justice?
What would you do with your life if you knew what was going to happen from start to finish?
And what if things… went wrong?”
(I swallowed hard, shoved aside my awareness of my own body and posture and launched into it:)
“The story of The Two Hundred and Fifth is the story of McKay Stevens. McKay is [seemingly] an average 18-year-old boy who is in reality thousands of years old. When McKay dies, his life starts over again from the beginning and he has all the memories of his previous lifetimes intact.
“McKay is friends with Josh. Josh is your typical teenager from Anywhere U.S.A. He’s brash, impulsive and young. Why would someone like McKay be friends with someone like Josh? Why would Josh be friends with McKay? At the heart of the Two Hundred and Fifth lies that story–the story of the friendship between Josh and McKay, something which will be explored through flashbacks and throughout the events of the day of this first story.
“I know you all have read the synopsis and seen the preview art that we submitted, but if you’ll allow me to take you a bit further into the story…
“When McKay and Josh leave the Junior High School, McKay tells Josh his true nature. He tells him about how he repeats his life over and over again. Josh doesn’t believe a word of it, a response many of us would have. He starts asking McKay some hard questions and he says, ‘If you know so much, then tell me about my future. I bet you don’t know anything about what’s going to happen to me. I bet you can’t even tell me what I’m gonna do tomorrow.’
“McKay looks at Josh and responds, ‘No, no. It’s not how you think. I can’t tell you about your tomorrow because…’
(Cue second poster.)
(The judges looked surprised. Some of them nodded in approval.)
“And this is when we begin to understand the true scope of the Two Hundred and Fifth. The scope lies within its themes. Death, Love, Faith, Revenge, Hope, Redemption. Friendship. The idea that someone could repeat their life over and over again is really just a device to wrap the human drama around.
“McKay Stevens hasn’t always been a good person. He’s been a criminal, he’s been someone you really wouldn’t want to know. But now he’s past all that. He’s a good person. The Two Hundred and Fifth is the story of the journey he takes as that good person and what happens when he tries to do something different and things go wrong.”
Yep, believe it or not I did all that in 2 minutes. There was an awkward pause as I stopped talking and waited for the judges to respond. I had no idea what kinds of questions they might ask. I just hoped their smiles would continue. Finally, one of them spoke…
In the next blog: What the judges said and a video of the entire pitch (which I have never seen; we’ll se just how good my memory is).
The Two Hundred and Fifth Copyright 2006 Brock Heasley
May 30th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I remember this- being along for the blog-ride from the beginning… but I still think you got cheated.
I can’t wait to see the video!
May 30th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Thanks, Heidi. Whether I got cheated or not (which I’m not really so sure that I did. I think the finalists were certainly deserving), there was no way I was gonna beat Hero by Night. 205 just isn’t quite as flashy as that, even though I do think it’s better as a potential TV series than “Hero” would be.