Manga Comic Idea(s)

[ColourDeaf]

I've wanted to do a comic for Cthulhu knows how long, and I feel that it's about time that I started one...or two...or three....
Anyway, I've made a futuristic world (based on our own), and what I might do is make three mini-comics based on the three main areas, Europe, Japan and Old America.
Firstly, here's the world (I'll post the comic Ideas when and if I have time)

without much further ado...

[b]Future History[/b]

2003 New whale species found in Japan
Japan contemplates sending troops to help US "Peacekeeping" in Iraq
25 killed and 400 injured in a bombing on the British consulate in Istanbul

2004 Korean suicide bombers destroy US embassies in Korea, the UK, France, Italy and Japan
George W Bush authorises nuclear attack on Korea. UN is ignored
Private groups in Iraq begin work on AI routines, instructed by a man calling himself Blaze
Japan decides against sending troops to Iraq, provoking US enmity

2005 Terrorist attacks globally increase in regularity and severity.
Nuclear attack on Korea prompts talks in Helsinki between the leaders of most eastern countries. 2 assassination attempts made, both fail. Talks last one week, videoconferencing continues for two months. Helsinki pact becomes first international agreement to be signed electronically. Copies sent to all countries. The pact states that the participating countries will pool all research regarding technological progress for the betterment of all member nations.
Church of New Zion founded, founders claim to have referenced all major religions in history and have amalgamated the results into a structured communal belief system.

2006 First official retaliatory strike against the US. Highly organised strategic assault on occupying US forces in Iraq wipes them out to a man. Other "Coalition" forces left unharmed, but warned to leave immediately
Coalition withdraws; America begins moves for all-out war on Iraq
Tony Blair assassinated. UK withdraws support for US action
War Declared. US denied passage through airspace of European countries. US Launches long-range attack on Iraq, despite certainty of horrendous civilian casualties.
World War Three officially declared

2010 British navy seals succeed in infiltrating American military installations. several weapons research facilities destroyed.
US forces firmly entrenched in mainland Europe. US navy carriers begin massing armoured vehicles in Portugal for coming offensive
"Blaze's" AI routines compiled and sent to Russia.
US starts work on the Trinity Macro nuclear weapon
US launches conventional nuclear attack on Russia. Missile intercepted by unknown means
Church of New Zion bases itself in India, and is welcomed as the second official religion

2020 US forces charge across Germany, entering Russian soil. Russians test latest weapons system: the OGRE, and reveals that the prototype was what intercepted the US nuclear attack 10 years earlier. US Attacks repelled
US Launches Trinity missile
Trinity Macro nuclear missile impacts in Australia. Impact crater throws up millions of tons of dust that are vaporised in the macro nuclear explosion. Australia scoured of life
World War three ends with a stalemate. no official ceasefire is declared, and all sides begin amassing weapons and continuing weapons research.

2021 Funds poured into the Trinity program force US government to declare bankruptcy. Several high-interest auctions take place to balance the economy by selling off the US infrastructure. Private buyers purchase chunks of the government and found new companies using their technology. These corporations, with a haphazard mix of governmental power and corporate financing, are the first "Megacorps"

Asimov robotics buys NASA and purchases a 51% share in Microsoft, ousting Bill Gates as head and voting in someone sympathetic to them

Infomaster systems purchases most major American ISPs, and quickly buys up the smaller ones - as well as buying almost all governmental records - Monopoly and competition laws waived in favour of the US government getting money. a large portion of the internet goes down for three months as major restructuring is done.

Metazyne systems and Darwin Biotech try to outbid each other on the contents of military facility Delta-17, a.k.a. Area 51. They reach an agreement whereby Metazyne and Darwin biotech each have access to relevant technologies. This technology is commonly referred to as "Warehouse 23 technology"

The US Military is bought out by various Megacorps as private armies. Private investors who start up mercenary organisations buy other parts.

Military blueprints are bought by various individuals and companies, some of which sell them to the USSR

US Nuclear arsenal deemed to be part of the Military, and is quickly bought up by mercenary corporations

Church of New Zion priests buy various undisclosed items from facility Delta-17 and take them to India

Japan puts the samurai class back into the social structure of the country. Man protest, and civil war erupts, the new founded "Clans" (many owned by one megacorps or another) start a small war against the rebels, now known as the Yellow Scarf Rebellion.

2022 50% of American states are bought up by several Megacorps, and become official, independent countries in their own rights.

Catholicism is officially declared a dead religion.

Africa bands into the "Nubian Republic." It is now the world's biggest economic power.

2025 The United States is officially disbanded, becoming many Megacorps owned private countries.

The last of the International records is ended the 1st July 2025.

No one knows what the year is anymore?


[b]The state of the system[/b]
All right, for this comic I have split the world into three possible locations, and I'll give a small synopsis of the state of each one.

[b]Old America[/b]: The Megacorps have completely assimilated the remnants of the former world superpower. They have covered almost all the landmass of the continent, with cities such as New York and Washington having to build up to get more room. Hackers plague the new information superhighway, with computers that plug straight into their brains. Organised crime syndicates own private armies, and a few of the former Midwest states are embroiled in a small war. Crime is at an all time high, the police force has turned to an almost fascist regime, owned by Smith and Wesson they are one of the few non-profit international organisation left on the planet. Let's take a look at an average city, New York, now owned by Babylon Electronics. The rooftops, miles above sea level, the world is bathed in heavy sunlight, a permanent high noon. From all the pollution from the great Age of construction, the ozone layer above America has disintegrated, to a point that to go an hour in the direct sunlight will have a 85% chance of getting skin cancer. This is known as the Noonhieght, the place where the movers and shakers rest their heads. Going further down, the space between buildings is a canopy of walkways and looping roads, where cars speed in great herds and young pups swing from cable to cable in death defying games of tag. This layer blocks most light from reaching the bottom of the city, while itself has little to love on. This is the Duskheight, where the middle class, the well off but not quite well off enough live out their grey little lives. And lastly, there is the bottom of the barrel, the Voidheight, where the masses live out their lives is perpetual darkness, almost never seeing the sun. The lighting is completely artificial, and numerous drones scurry or roll around, calling out to "Eat Recycled Food" or "Conserve Heat, Group Together." Gangs are a common sight, but these aren't your father's gangs. These are gang followers of dead Gods, street cults. Many of the broken down, rejected members of society turn towards a common goal, something that they can live for, and I mean really live for. They turn to the old books, those that survived the Great Fall, the bombing of Europe, the selling of the USA. They find the names of the Elder Gods, such creatures as Tzenttch, the Wyrmgod, Aslaan, the Grandfather, and Cthulhu. They take these archaic, barbaric idols as their new parents, and forsake he rest of humanity. Some of these zealots go to an even more extreme length to show their faith, and go to Chopdocs and illegal Biotech practitioners to change their appearance to that of their masters. This bottom is a living hell of dead Deities and their twisted followers.

[b]Japan[/b]: Geographically, very little has changed in the Land of the Rising Sun, but socially, it has made a step backwards, returning to the days before the West changed it, to a time where honour and one's family was the most important thing. The Samurai rule supreme, from the highest Daimyo to the lowest of the Ronin, they are held in equal respect and fear of not only their political and social power, but of the secret Arts they hold. The Gun Karta, the New Bushido, the Bullet Fist. The Martial arts have lost their grace, but gained an incredible amount of sheer brutal efficiency, turning them into pure killing arts. The main clans, The Crane, Rat, Tiger, Dragon and Wolf have the best weapons, training and even housing. They are masters of all they see. Except the hearts of those in the Yellow Scarf rebellion. These individuals, many even from the minor Samurai clans, despise the supreme power the Major Clans hold, and fight them tooth and nail. They hold the secrets to the old Martial arts, and the secrets that only the working class know, the secret back alleys, the sewer systems, and the safe houses. They strike the Clans with the precision and sharpness of a scalpel, slowly but surely trying to bleed the Samurai dry. But where the Samurai lack the ability of being able to launch guerrilla strikes upon the Rebellion, they have small armies willing to give their lives to the Clans, elite guard who specialise in catching those that try to sneak in the shadows, and the deadly and mysterious threat of the Ninja, an organisation rumoured to be brought back. Bombings followed by brutal city block assaults, harsh interrogations of entire apartment buildings retaliated by swift strikes to the power plants. These are common activities, and have brought the Rebellion to a grinding but always present stalemate. All either side need is a small push to throw the entire war off this knife's edge, and in their favour...

[b]Europe[/b]: More specifically, France, but it's moot point. It all looks the same, grey and lifeless. No one in Europe is too sure when it happened, but sometime in the year 2043 American launched the second Trinity Missile. The huge explosion, centred in Germany, and the ensuing huge cloud of dust that was thrown into the air, choked all of the life out of the entire continents, except those few humans that managed to escape it by going underground for months. When they emerged, the only thing they saw was a huge sea of grey dust, dotted by the skeletal remains of cities. The Europeans were quick to adjust to this new lifestyle, and now survive on a type of grain that is grown in vast underground fields. Many of them scour the lands for any sort of scrap that can be turned into something useful by the Junkmen, a group of individuals that have a great knowledge of engineering using bare resources, in return for a hot meal, a bottle of Second Best, an alcoholic drink made using the multipurpose grain, or even a chance to get a ticket off the continent, to England, which had the least bad effects of the Blast, and last few existing planes in London. There are only 2 types of people that live in Europe, those that have no choice, and those running from something. People who go to Europe for a certain amount of time are declared legally dead, and for good reason; Again no one is quite sure of the exact date, or even the year, but at some point Russia decided that they were going to use Europe as a type of testing ground for a new type of warrior, a drone. These come is innumerable shapes and sizes, but all have one program, search and destroy. Although the Russian's experiment in the drones is long since abandoned, the drones still roam the "countryside" killing all they see indiscriminately. It is for this reason that most travel is restricted to either going on land trains the size of oil tankers, or by the few vehicles that remain. But there are those that travel by foot, and they become living legends, the Wanderers. People such as the Musicman, the Undertaker, and Dronerunner are myths, things that may or not exist, but are living proof of the tenacity of the human spirit, and that nothing can defeat a determined man with a gun.

Comments? Opinions?
Cheers anywy

[SilverCyclone]

Wow...pretty in depth...sorry to say, its not really my kind of reading, but I know several people who would like it. So I cannot really post criticism. Meaning I just wasted your time.......*takes own life with sword*

[ColourDeaf]

[quote name='SilverCyclone']Wow...pretty in depth...sorry to say, its not really my kind of reading, but I know several people who would like it. So I cannot really post criticism. Meaning I just wasted your time.......*takes own life with sword*[/quote]

As you should, time waster ;) .
Well, anyway, here's the first idea for a comic, set in Old America. Oh, and I also want to say that this is a "comic" not a "manga," as I don't feel my style's quite anime (some might argue that it doesn't really matter or whatever, but I just want to say...sorry for being facetious)

[B]Templar[/B]

[I]Religion is the opiate of the masses? Nah, I'd say it's more like a bad acid trip..."[/I]

Alexi Redgrave, squad leader of the "Necropolis Peacekeeper's," is a jaded young fighter who spends much of her day in the depths of the Voidheight quelling an would-be Religious crusade. One day, her and her squad is beset by the followers of the god Nhetfas, an apparent plague daemon. Their numbers are slowly pulled down one by one as the pox-ridden wretches claw at them, until only Alexi is left. She hears a cry, and the sounds of blade hitting flesh, and a man erupts from the ranks of the plague-zealots, wielding a rusted, notched sword and wearing archaic and battered armour. Upon his chest is a crudely painted cross, the symbol of Christianity, the dead religion. He screams prayers in the name of Jahweh, and goes about the brutal buisness of dispatching the zealots with grim efficiency. As the remmants of the Crusade flee, the stranger coughs wildly and hoarsely, before stumbling off into the darkness of the Voidheight.
The is the story of Gregory Charles, the last of the Templars.
In this comic I'm going to have Alexi Redgrave try to unravel the past of the heroic, insane figure, from his terrible fall, to his penitence and to the modern day, all the while showing Gregory's struggle with the plague-deamon Nhetfas.

Anyway, that's just one idea.
Comments?

[Shadow Guardian]

From your last description it seems that your comic would be quite graphical. Hehe.. :D A bit not suitable for those faint hearted ones maybe?.. :devil: But it would make a very interesting comic. Oh yeah it would be nice if you can post some character sketches or artwork soon :D

[kemushi]

"...Oh, and I also want to say that this is a "comic" not a "manga," as I don't feel my style's quite anime ..."

Let me clear this up for you.
Manga does not mean japanese, animation type drawings. 'Manga' is the japanese word for comic. Just like "sushi" is the word for raw fish, and "tsunami" is the word for a big wave. For someone reason people have gotten the idea that "manga" means big-eyed anime style.

WRONG. ><; Just cuz its japanese, and its a comic doesn't mean it's anime.

Saying that it is a comic and not a manga, is like saying "its a japanese traditional soldier, not a samurai" or "these are cherryblossoms, not sakura".

Just because its not japanese, doesn't mean that its wrong to call it manga. Its just another adopted word like sushi, sakura, kamikaze, and tsunami, et cetera.

^_^; I can't stand the misuse of japanese terminology. :tasty:

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

[QUOTE=kemushi]"...Oh, and I also want to say that this is a "comic" not a "manga," as I don't feel my style's quite anime ..."
Let me clear this up for you.
Manga does not mean japanese, animation type drawings. 'Manga' is the japanese word for comic. ...
^_^; I can't stand the misuse of japanese terminology. :tasty:[/QUOTE]


Well in the U.S. the word "manga" still has a certain connotation. Most likely, in Japan Superman comics would be called Superman manga (although perhaps they'd say something like komikkusu when talking about completely foreign comics; it seems possible to me but I don't know anything about it myself). But here, even most "otaku" know what you're talking about when you say "comic books" as opposed to "manga."

When I ask someone if he/she reads manga, he/she doesn't say "yeah, in fact currently I'm reading the latest Green Lantern TPB." He/she says "no, but I do read comic books." The definition of "manga" has been transformed somewhat in the U.S. is what I'm saying. I think here it [i]does[/i] pretty much mean Japanese comics (or comics that don't look at all distinct from the collective of Japanese comics).

***
Anyway, that comic idea is pretty interesting. I like the fact that you've thought through the history. That always adds a lot of depth to the world and its characters, and it makes it easier to come up with "logical" plot development and character interaction. I always try to come up with some sort of history for a world that I put my fictional characters in . It helps a lot with making up cultures and societies and the rules they live by.

The Dronerunner is cool-sounding. Come up with some concept art if you can, cause I'd want to see him walking the desolate fields.

Anyway, I didn't read everything too thoroughly because it's 2 a.m., but it looks good so far. Keep it up, and give us some more story on the templar and Alexi.

I'll tell ya, this is some good stuff for an RPG.