How I'd Have Done It: NEW GODS
Posted On January 30, 2008 Under How I'd Have Done It // 0 Comments //

There was an article in Wizard Magazine back in 2005 regarding a series writer Grant Morrison was going to start on called Seven Soldiers, where Morrison would tell a huge story with characters that had been re-imagined by him. The article mentioned that Morrison came up with these revamps of the characters as a creative exercise, and had dozens of notebooks filled with similar concepts.

This struck me as something that would be a lot of fun; however, every time I considered doing it, I talked myself out of it, figuring that it was nothing more than fan fiction, and it was better to leave that sort of thing alone. And, you know, how many people actually find fan fiction all that engaging? I rationalized that it'd be a waste of my time, and that was that.

Until recently, anyway.

See, ever since I decided to start writing whatever the hell I'd like instead of trying to write to please the masses, I've been writing a whole bunch of stuff that I convinced myself would be a "waste of time," and, frankly, it's been some of the best writing I've done in years. So, why not go back to this concept of re-imagining characters that I have a snowball's chance in hell of ever writing professionally? If it sounds like fun, I'm gonna do it, and nay-sayers and decriers of "fan fiction" can take a flying leap.

Of course, with any endeavor like this, there must be rules. And my rules are fairly simple:

  1. The most basic elements of the story must stay the same; Superman came from Krypton and fights for truth and justice, Batman's parents were killed in Crime Alley, etc.
  2. There must be a rational, compelling reason for the change; Spider-Man will not suddenly start drinking his enemies blood because it's "gritty and cool."

So, for the first in my series of "How I'd Have Done It," I present my ideas revolving around Jack Kirby's epic New Gods, who have recently been finding themselves being hunted by a mysterious killer in DC Comics' Death Of The New Gods.

Naturally, all characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics, blah-blah-blah, don't sue me, thanks so much. For character information, click on their name and get taken to their Wikipedia page.

Read On!