My idea for a superhero comic.

[Green Lantern wannabe]

You know, when I was reading DC's IC, I noted that Conner Kent referred to Wonder Girl as his girlfriend, and that scene for some reason has inspired me to think about a comic book story that I have been mulling for some time.

I am thinking of a Peter Parker type hero, except that, while Spiderman was considered a vigilante and a villain, that's not the case here. My hero is a, say, Green Lantern who was given a ring and told by a Guardian to help fight crime. Well, he's just a newbie, and kinda scrawny at that, but he'll fight as hard as he can. But in my quasi Elseworlds story, Connor Kent is a boorish Flash Thompson type who gets the girl - Wonder Girl - who's just a social-climbing super heroine. Both they and Muscleman - the bully from Krypton - fight crime to the cheers of everyone, and they're not above using excessive force, and, after brutalizing the jay walker or shaking down some petty crooks to force them to give to charity, they look at themselves in the mirror to make sure their hair is still nicely styled.

My hero, meanwhile, is down and out, and he does his job awkwardly, to the sneers of the other superheros, but he refuses to give in and gradually earns the respect of the public, and he even wins a date with a nice superheroine, say, Black Canary, who is as nice in life as she is tough in fighting crime.

I've been wanting to do this because this does parrallel my earlier years, when I was a scrawny kid, until I got my black belt and became an instructor. I also was struggling in my business, until I got out of the rut and am now doing quite well in my neck of the woods, and the superstar heros in my profession have learned to fear my knowledge. So I guess this is just quasi-autobiographical.

Sorry to talk about myself, but I just wanted to let it out.

[Froggy]

Sounds pretty cool, IMO

[Green Lantern wannabe]

Sounds pretty cool, IMO

Thanks. :)


Try this fan fiction from me, and, if you all like it, I'll do some more.

"Why me?"

"Because you can be without fear, and you have the intelligence to be a Green Lantern." The humanoid was four feet tall, but he had an impressively well-developed cranium, and his blue skin was smooth and shiny. Somehow, Hal Jr didn't think this midget was helpless.

"Well, I ... I ... "

"I know you are afraid, but everyone is, even the beings without fear are afraid."

Hal wanted to say that was a contradiction, but he didn't pursue the matter.

"If anyone is truly without fear, then he would be dysfunctional," the Guardian continued. "The essense of being without fear is to conquer it, so you can bravely go about your task. That is, in fact, what life is all about."

That made sense, so Hal asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Take this," the Guardian opened his right palm to reveal a glowing green ring. "I will provide you with a lantern, and, every twenty four of your hours, you have to recharge your ring by putting it in the lantern and swearing an oath."

"An oath." Hal repeated.

"Yes, I will show you, don't worry."

Hal took the object and turned it over. It sent a soothing vibration through his fingers, and, somehow, it felt right for him. He put it in his finger, and saw that it adjusted its size and width to fit comfortably.

"How do I address you, sir?" He asked the being.

"Call me Ganthet."

[Froggy]

I like it. would his villains be jerks? or would even one of them be respectful of him due to being in a akward situation villainwise?

[Green Lantern wannabe]

I haven't thought that far - I was thinking more of the other superheroes being jerks, and him being of a low-status hero. I was also thinking of this being a YA story, with him in high school, and having to keep it a secret. The alternative is if he is an adult in a mediocre job, and having to face the same problems with pretentious high-society snobs.

What do you think?

[Froggy]

It could go great either way, but I prefer the adult angle

[Green Lantern wannabe]

Adult he will be. Here's the next installment. :)

The street was a shambles. Several cars were overturned and burning, with the acrid smell of burning gasoline in the air, and, in the distance, the sound of sirens were wailing.

"Move aside!" Muscleman snarled, as he pushed the bystanders away to take on the masked robbers, who quickly turned their machine guns on him. Their bullets bounced off him as he approached, and applied his heat vision to their weapons. They screamed as the molten metal turned liquid and dripped onto their hands, legs, and feet, as they dropped what remained of the sludge on the ground. He picked one after the other and tossed them to the side, as his face turned at their helplessness.

Another robber, creeping from behind Muscleman, hit the superhero with a crowbar, only to feel the crowbar bounce off his hands. A golden lasso descended on the criminal, as Babe Wonder descended.

"Freeze, creep!" the superheroine shouted, and, with the power of her lasso, her victim instantly became frigid. She struck him several times, and he collapsed.

"Good work, my woman," Muscleman said, as he brushed his shiny black hair back. "You are a credit to your aunt."

"Thank you," Babe Wonder replied, as she tightened her lasso on the robber.

The police then arrived, in several cars with flashing red lights. a black truck also pulled up to disgorge men in vests and rifles, who quickly took control of the situation. The two superheros, with their work done, flew off.

Hal looked around to see that the curio shop was miraculously untouched. Ganthet had told him to go there, where something would be waiting for him, and, in the meantime, he was not to intervene in any superhero activities - Hal was glad to oblige on that one.

He entered the store to see wooden shelves filled with dusty books, old tables with tiffany lamps, bronze cups, chipped porcelain pots, muskets, scabbards, and, at the far corner, a large grandfather clock with a pendulum slowly swinging inside. He was never into antiques, but he realized with a wry smile that these objects were as faded as his clothing.

"Can I help you?" The shopkeeper had a hat carefully pulled over to hide his eyes, and a blue cape with a high upturned collar, and a gold chain tied across his neck to keep the cape in place.

"Uh, yes," Hal replied, "I am looking for something ..."

"I have just the thing for you," the shopkeeper replied, taking out a bronze lantern. "And, since it's a nice day outside, there's no charge."

Hal was going to say that it wasn't a nice day, then suddenly realized that, in this store, the turmoil outside was non-existant - no sound of gunfire, no smell of burning gasoline. He decided to test the shopkeeper.

"I don't think I want the lantern," he said.

"Trust me, you do," The shopkeeper came and put the lantern in his hand. "Just take it with you, and you won't regret it."

"Why not?"

The shopkeeper smiled, "Because it's magic."

Hal knew when not to argue the point, and, as Ganthet said, more will be shown in time. "What's your name?"

"I have a nickname, which I use in this store, and I ask everyone to call me that."

"What is it?"

"The Phantom Stranger."

[Froggy]

I like I like, esp the bit with the phantom stranger

[invader]

good stuff

[Green Lantern wannabe]

Thanks, both of you. :) I have something in the back of my mind, which I would like to flesh out, and the Phantom Stranger is crucial to that, because he did do something like that in an issue decades ago, but I'm not sure I can do it, because of the complexity of the issue at hand, and, if not handled carefully, would seem hokey. But I'll continue with the story, because I'm not at that point yet.


Thinking about flying was easy; forcing the ring to do it was far more difficult. Hal had to focus his entire will to make it perform the task, and his concentration wasn't helped by him wearing an uncomfortable uniform of a green hourglass with black on the sides. And that was not as silly as his green mask, though, as he suspected, a green ring would require a green theme in its superhero. He still didn't know what the lantern was for, but he would find out. He had been practising at this isolated spot in the park, on this sunny day, and he wasn't having much luck.

"Halt!"

He turned to see Babe Wonder flying behind him, her lasso in hand. She glided effortlessly through the air, and he let himself down, awkwardly, until he hit the ground with a bump. She sailed smoothly to land and put the lasso around him. He noticed that, while his uniform was ill-fitting, her skin-tight red outfit shaped itself around her perfectly, revealing her shapely torso and chest.

"Speak the truth," she commanded. "Are you a superhero?"

Hal felt the ring generate waves of energy through his body, and he realized he could push her back if he wanted, but, somehow, he didn't want to. "I am a superhero."

"I've never seen you before. Are you new?" She demanded.

"Yeah, sorta."

"I thought so." She snickered. "You weren't flying very well."

He said nothing. He tried a weak smile, even as he made eye contact with her clear, blue eyes, and he noted, her skin was as smooth as Ganthet's, and much more attractive. But he had always thought she was nice.

"Where did you get your powers?"

"I cannot say," he replied - Ganthet had warned him against giving out any information.

"I command you to answer."

"I cannot say," he had heard that her lasso compelled the captive to answer truthfully, but he felt no such compulsion. He did, however, let her keep it around him, because he didn't want to upset her.

"I SAID I want you to answer." Babe Wonder repeated.

"I cannot do that," he repeated.

Babe Wonder shook her head in disbelief, then released him. "Well, I'll let you go this time."

He realized she was just trying to avoid the truth, that she could NOT compel him, but he didn't say anything.

"I have to go," she said, "But we will contact you."

She turned to fly off, then, on impulse, he said, "Wait."

She turned back to face him and struck a pose, with her hands on her hips.

"Uh, perhaps we should get to know each other, you know, so we can help each other fight supervillians." He did it - he actually asked her out.

She snickered, and he realized this was not the first time anyone had come on to her. She looked at him up and down, and walked around him, evaluating everything.

"You got money?"

"Some."

"What do you do?"

"I work for a major company."

"Menial or desk job?"

"Desk job."

She nodded, and he realized he had passed the first test. "You own or rent?"

"Rent."

"Sorry. I'm busy." She flew off, leaving him alone.

He felt a little sad, then ashamed, but realized that at least no one saw that. He shrugged his shoulders, then decided to walk the rest of the way. This was lunch hour, after all, and he did have to go back to that desk job - the one at Wayne Enterprises.

[Froggy]

nice way to startout.....I really felt sad for him when babe wonder turned him down

[Green Lantern wannabe]

It's nearly midnight, and I just got back from work, so I really appreciate the chance to relax and get some diversion. :) Would you prefer the cities to be Gotham/Metropolis or Chicago/New York?


Wayne Enterprises didn't pay him well, but the conglomerate paid him reasonably, enough for his one-bedroom apartment, his continuing education, and a little left over. As the Chief Executive Officer, Lucius Fox, said, they were tough, but they were fair. Hal's job wasn't interesting, but it wasn't boring, and there was always something to do in inventory control. Not only that, he was also sometimes switched to accounts payable and receivable, so that provided some change from routine.

But he had been noticing something unusual in both departments. For some reason, there was a spike in ordering certain strategic materials, which were almost never ordered because they were only used in special situations. And there was also an increase in the number of bills and invoices that he couldn't readily understand. The puzzle was not just in the number of those invoices, but also in what they contained, namely purchases of items that had nothing to do with the usual operations flow in Wayne Enterprises.

Hal was in his cubicle mulling over this, scanning the readouts, when he heard the sound of someone coming from behind him. He turned and blinked, as he recognized the figure of Bruce Wayne, billionaire owner of his employer.

"Good morning, sir," Hal said, getting up.

"Please, be seated," Wayne replied, gesturing to Hal's chair as he took another one.

Hal did as he was told, and he observed his visitor carefully. Wayne seemed amiable enough, and he looked quite casual in his designer suit - he certainly didn't seem to have the mental illness that the gossip mills had been claiming he had.

"I will be setting up a new department, but one that I would like to keep confidential," Wayne said.

"Yes," Hal figured that he would be given some sort of new position, though why the billionaire would personally come to him, he didn't know.

"I have some interest in astronomy, and my geologists will be looking for meteorites that have fallen to Earth some forty years ago. They will be cataloguing those samples, and I will need an inventory clerk to help them. Don't worry, your boss will also be assigned to this position, so you will have lots of help."

"Of course, Mr Wayne," Hal replied. The billionaire's decade of travels in the world must have piqued that interest, though no one really knew what Wayne did during that time.

"Good, I'm glad you're game. Your new job will start tomorrow." Wayne got up, as Hal did the same. Wayne was a six footer, had spent time and money honing his physique, and Hal seemed even scrawnier standing next to him.

"In the meantime, don't worry, about the inventory you have been dealing with. In fact, forget what you saw."

"Of course, Mr Wayne," Hal repeated, as he realized that the spike in inventory was real, and it really meant something.

[Froggy]

keep it coing, and how about Gotham/New york? any location would be good

[Green Lantern wannabe]

Thanks for the encouragement, bud. :) I'd like to re-write the story, to adjust it more in line with the DC Multiverse, and I have begun to figure out the angle and the theme I'd like to pursue. I've been wanting to write a sci-fi bug war novel about this, but I think I'll do it with superhero fan fiction instead. I think I'll use Gotham/Metropolis, because those are the names used by DC Comics. If I was writing about Spiderman, I'd use Chicago/New York. I have to be consistent with the main settings.

Admin! Any restrictions on posting a new thread with a re-write?

[Jaye]

Admin! Any restrictions on posting a new thread with a re-write?


Nope, go for it.

[Froggy]

Thanks for the encouragement, bud. :) I'd like to re-write the story, to adjust it more in line with the DC Multiverse, and I have begun to figure out the angle and the theme I'd like to pursue. I've been wanting to write a sci-fi bug war novel about this, but I think I'll do it with superhero fan fiction instead. I think I'll use Gotham/Metropolis, because those are the names used by DC Comics. If I was writing about Spiderman, I'd use Chicago/New York. I have to be consistent with the main settings.

Admin! Any restrictions on posting a new thread with a re-write? I look forward to reading more about Hal Jr, and Muscleman

[Green Lantern wannabe]

I'm very busy now with my work, but things are congealing in the back of my mind, and I'll get to it, promise. :)

[Froggy]

I'm very busy now with my work, but things are congealing in the back of my mind, and I'll get to it, promise. :)
cool stuff man!

[Green Lantern wannabe]

I'm ready to post my first scene again, which is a rewrite of these previous ones, but what should be the title? "Emerald Dawn" is taken, so I'm thinking of "Emerald Birth". Any ideas?

[Froggy]

I'm ready to post my first scene again, which is a rewrite of these previous ones, but what should be the title? "Emerald Dawn" is taken, so I'm thinking of "Emerald Birth". Any ideas?

Emerald Genesis?

[Green Lantern wannabe]

Don't forget this is a very different story from the Emerald Dawn universe, the way Batman: Year One is very different from the Batman TV series of the 1960's.

[Froggy]

Don't forget this is a very different story from the Emerald Dawn universe, the way Batman: Year One is very different from the Batman TV series of the 1960's.

O i won't forget that, I wont forget it at all