The First Ever Writers Deathmatch

After the enormous success of the Artists Deathmatch (congratulations Steven "Sash" Scott!) we thought a Writers Deathmatch was the next logical step.

While the basic idea is ours, the rest is up to you. You get to create the characters’ gender, affiliation, powers, race, and creed. You invent the setting for your characters while dealing with the themes and tone of the series. Please pay close attention to the rules and guidelines. The main point of this contest is to create NEW CHARACTERS. Use of previously existing characters is prohibited (please, no Spider-Man or Hellboy) as is the use of unoriginal fictional settings (Gotham City and Tatooine are definitely not allowed). That being said, let's get right into it:

"A famous superhero is imprisoned in a maximum security facility after years of loyal service to their community". It is up to you, the writer, to establish who the “superhero” is, why they are imprisoned, back story, characters and where the story goes from there. Welcome to the first ever Writers Deathmatch!

The contest will consist of four rounds of voting. Each round of voting will present a new aspect of the story for the writer to create.

Round 1. After we provide the writers with a very basic plot outline, the first round will consist of the writers creating character profiles and descriptions for THREE main characters; the protagonist and two other main characters (who are up to the writers’ discretion). Please write one short paragraph for each character. DUE MONDAY, MARCH 12.

Round 2. Plot synopsis, giving further details on characters. Discuss themes, tone, back story and basic plot outline for the first issue. Please write one paragraph for your Issue One synopsis. DUE MONDAY, MARCH 19.

Round 3. Tell us your overall idea for a 5 issue mini-series. Go into detail regarding characters and plot. Please write one paragraph for your overall idea for your mini-series. DUE MONDAY, MARCH 26.

Round 4. The final page of the final issue of your “comic” (complete with full scene description and dialogue). Please write one page for the final page. DUE MONDAY, APRIL 2. 

The winner of the contest will get an interview on the Illumi-Nerdi blog, promotion of your work and, hopefully, your page of script fully illustrated!

We're preferably looking for people who have written before. If you're interested in participating in the Writers Deathmatch, contact the Illumi-Nerdi at Extras2124@gmail.com 

March 1st: Creator Owned Day

On March 1st, I woke up and noticed something wonderful on my twitter trend. March 1st was declared Creator Owned Day. It's a day that Indie artists and writers have the opportunity to celebrate their work and the works of those that influenced them. Thanks to Jimmy Palmiotti, I leaned that Newsarama, IGN and Comic Book Resources did not do an article on Creator Owned Day. I thought, "Here is our chance (The Illumi-Nerdi) to make a name for ourselves". As I started writing this post, I realize it was not about us. Instead, it's about the hundreds of Indie writers and artists who spent their hard working money to ensure that their dreams saw print and made it on the comic stands. Many of these hard working creators don't yet realize they inspired 100s of fanboys/girls to become comic book writers and artists. This post is not only a  dedication but a thank you letter for all your hard work. Here are a few teasers for books that were shared with everyone on Twitter.

Beast Legion

Xeus: Art by Jazyl Homavazir

Follow Jazyl Homavazir on Twitter

TriggerGirl 6: Creator Owned Heroes

Beginning in June, Creator Owned Heroes will be shipped monthly by Image Comics. The creators of this book are Jimmy Palmiotti, Steve Niles, Justin Gray, Phil Noto, Kevin Mellon and Bill Tortolini

American Muscle

American Muscle is another story within Creator Owned Heroes, which is written by Steven Niles. 

One of the covers for Creator Owned Heroes

This is a mystery project created by Krista Brennan

Created by Tom Taylor

The Deep is a story about a multi-ethnic family of aquanauts that live in a submarine. 

Oh my God......

A sneak peek to Morning Glories #17

Morning Glories is Lost meets Runaways. Nuff said. It's published by Image Comics and written magically by Nick Spencer and drawn brilliantly by Joe Eisma

Hip-Star

Hip-Star is the team leader in the comic book titled Culture Shock, created by Josh Adams

Were there any Creator Owned Projects that didn't make it on our post? If so, post them in our comment box. 

Which creator owned title are you  most excited about in 2012? Let us know. 

Check out our own Creator Owned Project: http://theillumi-nerdi.blogspot.com/2012/02/chapter-1-in-which-illumi-nerdi-present.html

Follow us on Twitter 

Chapter 1: In Which The Illumi-Nerdi Present to You the Synopsis.

We at the Illumi-Nerdi truly appreciate the support and viewership we have received on this blog. Our initial idea for the blog was a means to introduce our comic book to as many people as possible. The blog kind of spiraled out of our control as we enjoyed focusing on critiquing and discussing Nerdi culture and we strayed from our initial intention. But after a few months of your incredible devotion and patronage we are finally ready to present to you, our loyal followers, our synopsis.

Our comic book is structured like a TV show. It will have season premieres and season finales. The first season is broken into 6 issues (much like a BBC series). Our character’s abilities originate during World War II. Nazi occultists and scientists formulated a serum that was meant to create a breed of extraordinary new warriors. Their apparent failure resulted in the “Extras gene” being inserted into the test subjects' DNA without a catalyst. Seventy years later the descendants of the test subjects begin to develop remarkable powers. Meet the Extras: a jock using a different kind of performance-enhancing drug (Matt Dunham), an abused troublemaker (Alex Reese), a schizophrenic cheerleader (Viola Proctor), the oft- ignored secondary character (Dave Johnson), a depressed bookworm raised by an alcoholic (Mary Carter), and the token black guy who actually isn’t the first to die (Ron Darius).This ragtag group of teenagers come together, but it isn’t to fight an impending evil. It’s out of necessity and need for each other. However, this group will not last. Not long after, they will fight one another, die in each other’s arms, and betray their surrogate family and their own morality. These are deeply flawed, realistic characters without any discernible, clear-cut path. All of the characters constantly struggle between the allure of the light and the temptation of the dark while developing their own unique abilities. Each issue ends with a flashforward of 10 years later. The flashforwards explore our characters’ adult lives and their failure to cope with their abilities and the disillusionment of the family that The Extras provided. In the future, one character fakes their death, one completely over-embraces their powers, another is institutionalized, one tries like hell to ignore their powers and one tries to kill themselves with a mix of pills and alcohol (oh, and quite a few of our beloved characters are already dead by this point). In our comic book, true heroes do not last, despite how desperately they really are needed. 

Don't forget to vote on our Artist Deathmatch Poll. http://theillumi-nerdi.blogspot.com/2012/02/artist-deatmatch-round-three-vote-for.html