Rural Reign is quite honestly my longest running project. Since I was able to read well enough to write it has gone through several variations on the theme of a school of superheroes but finially I got it down.
Drawing influence more from Heroes, The Runaways and Darker Than Black than the likes of Teen Titans and the X-Men the focus is not so much on costumed fighting of evil than on the lives of people who just so happen to have super powers. Of course the evil fighting still happens, it is a superhero story after all.
Across Bruce County the schools have been contaminated by Nuclear Waste which gives many students superpowers. The Canadian Government is understandably concerned and sets up a blockade around the effected area. Radical movements by some of the superhuman teenagers show opposition to this and are preparing to strike back. Caught in the middle is James Connor, a non-powered teenager. Living in a pressure cooker with hundreds of walking weapons of mass destruction is pushing him to the edge. Just what might he do to be able to stand on equal footing with his peers?
If any of that sounded interesting to you please check out series written by myself and drawn by AteMozzeralla at http://www.drunkduck.com/Rural_Reign
I love that the main character doesn't have superpowers, Michael. Makes him accessible and gives the message that you don't need a hero to save you.
ReplyDeleteThat wasn't what I was going for at all. James does get powers later in the story but comes to them through some pretty dark means. He's not meant to be hero just a guy caught in a bad place.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an intriguing character. Flawed protagonists are a lot of fun to write. I look forward to checking out some of it when I've got a bit more time... and/or during the graphic novel segment of the group.
ReplyDeleteWhat I meant in my first comment was that it's an interesting decision to make a person the one guy who doesn't have powers. Why did you?
Your description immediately made me think about all the things you could explore through the scenario and what popped into mind was a character like Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who was alternately the bravest and most foolish of the Scooby Gang. And we loved him for that.
I wanted to show what the chaos of the standard superhero universes from powerless eyes.
ReplyDeleteEmphasis on just how terrifying living next to walking nuclear weapons would be for someone without anyway to defend themselves and to as the story progresses show the extremes the weaker oppressed (James and his sister Katherine) would go to so they can stand on equal footing as their oppressors. They both do some pretty questionable things for their own powers.