Thread "Possible Rewrite of Plastic Bullets." in forum "Discussion of the comic."

Posted at 12:05AM, May. 25, 2011

I had been reminded of a thought process I've had for some time. I rather regret making Plastic Bullets with borrowed characters. At the time I thought it was an awesome idea to have my favorite characters facing off in one of my favorite sports. However as time progressed I realized a few flaws to this. A. Copy-write problems, I can't market the comic at all, though the story, plot, and a few of the characters are mine, the borrowed characters make it impossible for me to really claim the series in anything. it's simply a fan work.

This also leads to it not being able to ever be featured, as one of the requirements for it to be so, is 100% original (The plot is, a few of the characters. Not so much.)

It's kinda depressing to put so much work into something, only to not be able to reap much of the benefits. Even fan-art is simply art of existing characters. Unless it's of Zoey, Chuck, Cross or the tournament staff, it's really just fan-art of whatever series they came from.

So my question I ask is this, should I rewrite plastic bullets with all Original Characters? The story would not be the same of course, it would be far to tedious and boring to rewrite it without throwing in new things, the overall plot would be the same, but events would change. Teams would change, and most likely Cross will go without the lovely facial scar.

Lets get a discussion going on this, I really want to hear your opinions.

Posted at 8:05AM, May. 25, 2011

Honestly, I would still read Plastic Bullets if you made all OCs. You're a great story writer, and this comic has really caught me, I'm an action junkie and this has a ton of it.

It is fun seeing what borrowed characters you toss in, but it really isn't what keeps me coming back. I'd have a blast seeing what OC's you'd come up with, and how they'd impact the story, for better or worse.

Posted at 9:05AM, May. 25, 2011

I would still read. I'm with @CharlieKat that its the story and fight scenes (which are yours) that make the comic great. Also I'm a big fan of Cross but he's on OC so that's a Pro. But since reading PB I've been trying to get my friends to actually start playing airsoft (Not moving very productively because couple are whining about money).

I would say the only Con's for me are that the story has to restart and I enjoyed watching Sakura and Kakashi fighting.

Posted at 6:05AM, May. 26, 2011

Like the other two said, I could take or leave OCs. But if this is something you would really want to market (or be a feature) I would go with the OCs.

Posted at 11:05AM, May. 26, 2011

I know I've said this before on AIM (which you should stop being lame and not using, btw), but I'd love to see this made with OCs. Honestly, I do enjoy the story as is, but I don't even know the shows where some of the borrowed characters come from and, well, it's just easier to connect with OCs in the first place. Plus, there's the whole marketing thing that you've always worried about.

Although… That would mean Cross losing that badass scar. :(

Posted at 9:05PM, May. 26, 2011

I believe I posted on the first comic you mentioned this on, but my opinion remains the same. I would still read the story with all OCs, but I honestly do like the variety the borrowed characters add, and it is interesting seeing the ways they interact.

Also, I believe you may be looking at this too much in a negative light; there have been many successful fan-fictions and comics that revolve around unoriginal characters, some so successful that the actual companies become involved in the licensing. And trust me my friend, you are not the only one who has done this kind of thing; your story is original, as are your main characters, rest assured, but the inter-series tournament idea has been used unto death. As long as you give credit where credit is due, I believe you can make it work.

On a personal note, I don't think having original characters in place of Yoruichi and Kallen would create quite the impact they have in the story, even if you shifted events around or made new ones. And keep the scar, chicks dig scars.