Thread "Heroes: Universe" in forum "HA Stories"

Posted at 10:02AM, Feb. 15, 2013

Hello everybody, this is a new kind of project I’m experimenting with and I wanted to get some feedback.
You see Heroes Alliance is a very well working machine that allows several various individuals to contribute their talents in order to create a greater whole.
However, there are limits to our skills. We can’t all be Fukujinkaze, and even if we have great ides a lot of times it’s possible for our ambition to outpace our skills.
This is not to put a shot out against our amazing artists, who can do incredible things on a computer screen and printed page, but there are human limitations and sometimes it can be hard to deal with that (as seen with the recent HU delays)
However, I believe I have formulated a way around these limitations.
Taking inspiration from the seminal communal Comic 52, as well as collaborate prose works such as Wild Cards, I propose Heroes: Universe.
The idea is simple, we collect a handful of writers whose ideas currently can’t be put into the main comics and then collaborate together to formulate a master plot.
We then take rotating turns composing prose chapters, releasing them periodically in turn on sites such as fictionpress for example.
Not only could this act as way to insert backstory, concepts and world building that just can’t fit into the web comic format and schedule, but as a “Gaiden” to the main comics, it would allow seeds to be sown for story plots in the main comics for the issues to come.
Akin to 52 and Wildcards, rather than be a single narrative focused on one character, it would function as a universe showcase, shifting perspective and characters as we delve deeper into the greater constructed HUniverse. One half, TV series, one half DND campaign, each writer would meld and work in their ideas into a cohesive continuum.
Ideas started in past comics could be picked up on, backstory not currently written down but struck with “head canon” could be codified and the text overall could act as a “sourcebook” that could introduce newcomers and inspire oldies.
I’ve talked with Abt_Nihil about this and due to his responsibilities running HA; his “editorial” would be pretty hands off. As is, I’ve proposed that I handle the logistics, giving him periodic summaries and updates to ensure synergy and make sure everything goes along smoothly.
I’ve posted in the storylines thread and I want to know if anyone thinks this would be for you.
Any loose story or plot ideas you have that you don’t think could be efficiently put into the main comics? Have a concept you want to introduce beforehand before putting it in the comics?
If successful, Heroes: Universe would be a pilot , a sourcebook, a universe manual or just an engaging story and the idea is to supplement the preexisting comic based scape in ways that can’t be done in a weekly web comic format to create a greater whole.
To get to the nitty gritty, just going off what I know of my own writing capabilities, with three or so people, we could have it working along the same pace as an upper-tier fan fiction; even if each person only writes a chapter a month that’s still an incredible flow of content.
So feel free to post here. Hard ideas aren’t really needed just a genera feel that you have more to offer the HUniverse than can be done in the comics and you think you could form a pretty good mosaic of the Shared Universe with others, why not see what you can do?