Only three new characters to finish up Adventure Comics #481, which isn't much, so I thought I'd give you some bonus content. Namely, what are the rules surrounding the submission of a character for inclusion? Well, it's not too far from the deals comics pros seem to make with DC all the time (click to embiggen):
DC covers all its bases in this typical contract. The characters are theirs. You get payment (a cool t-shirt). Writers and artists may change the characters in any way they see fit. If a character looks a lot like yours but is credited to someone else, well, that's just too bad, don't call us and we won't call you. They can use the character again without giving compensation. They don't return your original art. You have no rights, they have every right. It's Before Before Watchmen.
But if they WERE going to re-use your characters, could they? That's what this little series is all about.
Case 25: Adventure Comics #481
Dial Holders: Chris and Vicki
Dial Type: Watch and Pendant Dials
Dialing: No new information.
Name: Volcano (classic, if a little ordinary)
Created by: Fraser Cole, age 12, of Grand Haven, Michigan
Costume: A dead ringer for the original Kid-Flash, Volcano uses the same mask design and color scheme. The large arrow going upward on his torso is a highly designed volcano and he's got round pieces on his gloves, boots and ears... evocative of a volcano's mouth?
Powers: For a hero dresses in fiery colors, Volcano doesn't seem to have much in the way of heat or lava. He can control the earth, which manifests as the creation of rough stone structures that don't actually look like they're coming out of the ground. He creates them using an energy beam that also seems to be able to throw rocks as missile weapons. He can fly.
Sighted: In Fairfax harbor, allowing himself to be captured by the Aquarians so he can defeat them in their underwater base.
Possibilities: Volcano is the kind of elemental character that usually fits easily enough in a team like the Teen Titans or the Global Guardians (maybe make him a hero in a country known for its volcanoes?).
Integration Quotient: 15% (not the most coherent of designs, he would need a major costume and powers make-over before even getting a single Hawaiian island to protect)
Name: Stellar (while adjectives are good as book titles, they don't quite work at character names)
Created by: Omar Navarro Gutierrez, age 10, address unknown
Costume: Bit embarrassing. Stellar's black bathing suit features a flash of light at the crotch sending a star into her chest. I also dislike the mask, which is rather unflattering, and how it seems to turn her stylized hair into a horned helmet. The stellar flashes on her gloves, boots and bracelets are overkill.
Powers: Stellar controls air, which manifests usually as a blast of energy from her hand. She can fly, make enemies pass out from air deprivation, create localized tornado winds. and even propel a ship into orbit. She was also able to deflect an energy blast from an Aquarian ship using only air. So... what does any of that have to do with her name?
Sighted: In Fairfax harbor, allowing herself to be captured by the Aquarians so he can defeat them in their underwater base.
Possibilities: She might work as a mysterious figure from outer space, though her elemental link to the air would seem to say no. Fine, I'll make her one of the New Gods, defender of planetary atmosphere everywhere.
Integration Quotient: 5% (name and costume don't work, and they're half the game in this business)
Bonus Supervillain
Name: Largo (a perfect water-monster name)
Created by: Tom Douge, age 18, of Seatle, Washington
Costume: Largo doesn't wear much, just an orange strap with the seal of his people, and a belt to hold his gun. No shorts for Largo! But he has a distinctive reptilian look anyway, with green scales, a huge dorsal and facial fins, and a thick toad-like face and body.
Powers: While he's not a giant as depicted in the splash panel above, Largo looks like a tough customer anyway. He has access to Aquarian technology, including a two-barreled laser gun and a pimped-out submersible flying saucer. Before Largo took command, his people also proved able to create a devastating rain storm and turn a normal woman into a supervillain. Presumably, Largo and his people are naturally amphibious.
Sighted: In Fairfax harbor. After the Aquarians failed twice to make a show of force in the town so they could take Earth as their new planet, Largo the Invincible, their greatest warrior, took command with his own plan to first destroy Fairfax's resident superheroes. He fails miserably.
Possibilities: Largo and the Aquarians could return to pester Aquaman. Why invade all of inhabited Earth when you only really need its oceans? A base in the Florida Keys seems destined.
Integration Quotient: 20% (alien races come and go, but usually go)
Next ish, some of the coolest designs yet! (I know, the bar is set pretty low.)
DC covers all its bases in this typical contract. The characters are theirs. You get payment (a cool t-shirt). Writers and artists may change the characters in any way they see fit. If a character looks a lot like yours but is credited to someone else, well, that's just too bad, don't call us and we won't call you. They can use the character again without giving compensation. They don't return your original art. You have no rights, they have every right. It's Before Before Watchmen.But if they WERE going to re-use your characters, could they? That's what this little series is all about.
Case 25: Adventure Comics #481
Dial Holders: Chris and Vicki
Dial Type: Watch and Pendant Dials
Dialing: No new information.
Name: Volcano (classic, if a little ordinary)Created by: Fraser Cole, age 12, of Grand Haven, Michigan
Costume: A dead ringer for the original Kid-Flash, Volcano uses the same mask design and color scheme. The large arrow going upward on his torso is a highly designed volcano and he's got round pieces on his gloves, boots and ears... evocative of a volcano's mouth?
Powers: For a hero dresses in fiery colors, Volcano doesn't seem to have much in the way of heat or lava. He can control the earth, which manifests as the creation of rough stone structures that don't actually look like they're coming out of the ground. He creates them using an energy beam that also seems to be able to throw rocks as missile weapons. He can fly.
Sighted: In Fairfax harbor, allowing himself to be captured by the Aquarians so he can defeat them in their underwater base.
Possibilities: Volcano is the kind of elemental character that usually fits easily enough in a team like the Teen Titans or the Global Guardians (maybe make him a hero in a country known for its volcanoes?).
Integration Quotient: 15% (not the most coherent of designs, he would need a major costume and powers make-over before even getting a single Hawaiian island to protect)
Name: Stellar (while adjectives are good as book titles, they don't quite work at character names)Created by: Omar Navarro Gutierrez, age 10, address unknown
Costume: Bit embarrassing. Stellar's black bathing suit features a flash of light at the crotch sending a star into her chest. I also dislike the mask, which is rather unflattering, and how it seems to turn her stylized hair into a horned helmet. The stellar flashes on her gloves, boots and bracelets are overkill.
Powers: Stellar controls air, which manifests usually as a blast of energy from her hand. She can fly, make enemies pass out from air deprivation, create localized tornado winds. and even propel a ship into orbit. She was also able to deflect an energy blast from an Aquarian ship using only air. So... what does any of that have to do with her name?
Sighted: In Fairfax harbor, allowing herself to be captured by the Aquarians so he can defeat them in their underwater base.
Possibilities: She might work as a mysterious figure from outer space, though her elemental link to the air would seem to say no. Fine, I'll make her one of the New Gods, defender of planetary atmosphere everywhere.
Integration Quotient: 5% (name and costume don't work, and they're half the game in this business)
Bonus Supervillain
Name: Largo (a perfect water-monster name)Created by: Tom Douge, age 18, of Seatle, Washington
Costume: Largo doesn't wear much, just an orange strap with the seal of his people, and a belt to hold his gun. No shorts for Largo! But he has a distinctive reptilian look anyway, with green scales, a huge dorsal and facial fins, and a thick toad-like face and body.
Powers: While he's not a giant as depicted in the splash panel above, Largo looks like a tough customer anyway. He has access to Aquarian technology, including a two-barreled laser gun and a pimped-out submersible flying saucer. Before Largo took command, his people also proved able to create a devastating rain storm and turn a normal woman into a supervillain. Presumably, Largo and his people are naturally amphibious.
Sighted: In Fairfax harbor. After the Aquarians failed twice to make a show of force in the town so they could take Earth as their new planet, Largo the Invincible, their greatest warrior, took command with his own plan to first destroy Fairfax's resident superheroes. He fails miserably.
Possibilities: Largo and the Aquarians could return to pester Aquaman. Why invade all of inhabited Earth when you only really need its oceans? A base in the Florida Keys seems destined.
Integration Quotient: 20% (alien races come and go, but usually go)
Next ish, some of the coolest designs yet! (I know, the bar is set pretty low.)
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