webboysurf

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

Well we're almost a week into the IC and already on our third page so out of curiosity, what are the driving factors and influences in your story?

@Lord Wraith

A lot of my personal influences on the Captain America story aren't necessarily as rooted in the comics, as I just never really followed his solo outings. That being said, the influences on the character that I've been working on have been a cross between the initial idea behind his run in Ultimates and the current MCU depiction by Chris Evans. I want to toy with the idea of a Captain America that is much more a proper "soldier" who uses lethal force against threats and follows orders, but for the character to start coming into his own in the way MCU's Cap does. While I don't believe I'll be telling these sorts of stories, I love the complications and development of Steve Rogers in Englehart's Secret Empire storyline, Gruenwald's "No More!" run, and of course Brubaker's "Winter Soldier" run.

In the larger, grand-scheme of things, a lot of my non-comic inspiration from the character comes from war films from the 1940s to the present, while also tossing in the flavor of spy dramas for good fun. I find placing Cap in a world where he just punches Nazis isn't as fun as placing him in a world filled with mysteries, conspiracies, and moral grayness. I don't want to list off some of the films I'm using as inspiration, as they may give away the plans for this first arc and subsequent arcs.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

_{30,000 ft. above the Atlantic Ocean - April 29, 1945}

Issue 1.01.2: The Cruel Sea

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_{Interaction(s): None}

Previously: Issue 1.01.1: Army of Shadows

Steve grunted as his back impacted against the ground in the large open cabin of the HYDRA war-plane. Baron Heinrich Zemo’s joyous expression was hidden by the cloth mask permanently affixed to his face. The HYDRA operative turned his back on his enemy as he returned to the pilot’s chair to ensure the success of his mission. Steve heard the bomb doors open underneath him as he struggled against the metal girder that pinned the lower half of his body. With a few deep breaths, Steve Rogers struggled and grunted as he forcefully lifted his makeshift restraint just enough to move it aside and free himself.

Captain America was able to pick up his kite shield just in time as Zemo noticed the disturbance behind him and began firing. The bullets impacted against the steel shield, instead of American flesh. It only took a moment for the distance to be closed and for Cap to lift his shield into the air to bring down on his enemy. Zemo was able to move his head out of the way just in time. Sparks flew from the control panel as the shield broke into the cockpit’s frame, yet the Nazi found himself pinned in place. Zemo tried to push Rogers away, but it was no use. Cap’s eyes darted across the various instruments, and noticed a small countdown timer. There was only about a minute to spare. Cap left the shield in the console and grabbed the Nazi by his collar. A quick yet forceful throw, and the glass of the cockpit shattered as Zemo began his rapid descent towards the raging ocean below.

Cap immediately made his way to the pilot’s seat, and did his best to try and take control of the craft. But the seconds were ticking away, and Steve Rogers was running out of time. If he didn’t act quickly, New York would be destroyed by some sort of atomic weapon that HYDRA had developed. Steve took a quick look around the plane, taking note of his shield and a window overlooking the wings and engines. He knew what to do. With a windup, Steve was able to launch the shield with enough force and with the proper angle to rake the shield through several engines by “threading the needle” through the window. Two of the engines detonated, and the third was smoking. The plane rattled and began its downward descent. There wasn’t long left before the bomb would be launched.

Steve looked towards one door with a large sign over it in German, a language he regrettably wasn’t familiar enough with to understand. It looked like a potential exit, and hopefully had a parachute or something. Steve tried the door, but it wasn’t budging. He was able to force it open and stepped inside. It was some sort of experimental escape pod, which Steve only realized as he pulled the door closed and slammed the large red button on the side. The metal capsule launched into the air, and Steve was able to look out and watch as the plane dove into the artic water. He expected an explosion, but one never came. A few parachutes were able to catch the capsule and it gently floated towards the ocean.

As the capsule touched down in the Artic, Steve tried to open the door but found it had somehow sealed itself. Steve did his best to try and bash against the door, but doing so only made things worse. A hairline fracture in the porthole of the capsule would doom the good Captain’s fate. It sunk to the ocean floor, water slowly leaking in. Cap tried harder and harder to get out, but the despair at the situation and the deep chill in his spine ended up forcing the hero to resign. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of taking in a large gulp of seawater after holding his breath. He had accepted death. But death hadn’t accepted him apparently.

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Next Chapter: Fury

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

<Snipped quote by webboysurf>

So the way I'm doing it is I'm writing a post... then spending another day adding too it. @Lord Wraith pointed out I could be making my posts longer, whereas in the past I've typically written one scene at a time I'm wanting to push myself as a writer and actually write the scene transition. That said, maybe two posts a weeks optimistically? Depends on how my time works out.

@Sep

I'm keeping things "bite sized" for a few reasons at the moment. I've been rather swamped with general life, so it's just easier to write a scene at a time and polish those for posting. Spacing things out also allows for references to be made to other characters and posts within the timeline. For example, I plan to include a reference to the events in Trasnia in a future post because that's something going on in the world that I would not necessarily be able to reference if I didn't break posts up and see how the world is. Transitions are important, but I am framing the Cap scenes as if they are parts of the larger narrative of Absolute Comics, but are also capable of standing alone and within it's own continuity.

Don't know if any of that makes sense, and quite frankly is kind of just auxiliary bullshit covering up the fact that I'm just trying to keep myself at a consistent pace, and keeping things to one or two scenes is just easy to manage at the moment.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

I’m doing my best to pace myself. That said, I have the next 3 posts written and they’ll be out over the next week and a half.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

_{Vatican City - 3 Months Ago}

Issue #1: Army of Shadows

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_{Interaction(s): None}

Previously: None

The sound of gunfire and screams always managed to send a chill down Steve’s spine. He found his back pressed against a stray police car that had pulled into the square upon a call of open gunfire in the public space. The officers didn’t even last a minute upon their arrival. In the middle of the square, terrorists were pressed up against concrete barricades that had been set up for an event the following day. The bodies of civilians, law enforcement, and a few hostiles littered St. Peter’s Square.

Cap readjusted his shield on his left arm before pulling a sidearm from its holster with his right. After a taking a deep breath, the super soldier rose to his feet and raised the shield to cover himself. Bullets impacted against his vibranium shield with metal pangs. Captain America responded with a few gunshots of his own, and his aim was near impeccable. One by one, their numbers began to dwindle. The gunfire slowly came to a halt as the three who remained rested behind their cover.

In a swift motion, Cap managed to holster his gun and switch his shield to rest in his right hand. It remained at the ready as he dashed forward at a full sprint. They barely had time to react as the super soldier vaulted over the barricade and threw his shield into the chest of the one on the right. The force was enough to make the armed terrorist fall unconscious as the metal disk flew towards his ally only a couple feet away. With two men down, Cap clenched his left fist and the shield changed course and slide onto his forearm just in time to aid in the blocking of fire from the remaining terrorists. Steve Rogers was able to draw his own sidearm to put down one of the two who remained so that he could concentrate his attention on the last one standing. He was able to walk straight towards his enemy and knock the weapon out of his hand with a casual swipe of his shield. The super soldier grabbed his target by the collar and lifted him off the ground without so much as a bead of sweat dripping from his brow. ”I recommend you start talking, fat-head.”

The masked figure seemed to squint quizzically, before his expression slacked and his eyes stared ahead blankly. Cap sighed and tried to set the man on his feet, but his entire body seemed to have gone limp. The agent rested the dazed man against the concrete barrier and pressed his the commlink in his right ear to activate the headset. ”Carter, it appears the target is-“

There was a flash of red out of the corner of his eye, followed seconds later by a trembling boom that seemed to rock the very earth. Steve’s eyes widened in horror at the sight. The UNN Aeneid, one of the many Helicarriers in SHIELD’s fleet, was now a smoking fireball in the sky. It grew smaller and smaller in Steve’s vision as it lost altitude quickly and plummeted towards the Tyrrhenian Sea. Before he had much time to react, a black van shot up into the square, and the passenger door was pushed open from the inside. His handler, Sharon Carter, was inside and screaming for him to get in. But Steve couldn’t hear a thing as his mind wandered back to his last mission of the Second World War.

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Next Chapter: The Cruel Sea

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

For the love of God please choose Codpiece

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

So, since some people(read: all of you) remain obstinately untalkative:

Is there anyone's run you're particularly excited for in this game, besides your own?

@DocTachyon

Honestly, I'm pretty stoked for @Saint Maxx's run of the X-Men. The Sample Post has me excited to see a lot of team banter and growth for the core mutant team. Of course, I'm also excited to see @Star Lord's Wonder Woman run, for the simple reason that I see that character acting as a sort of foil to the Captain America run I have planned. From what I've gathered so far, Wonder Woman is a hero who is pushing for demilitarization in the hope of attaining World Peace. Admittedly, the Cap I'm writing leans more in the direction of having a strong military presence (especially with SHIELD) to eliminate threats to security and freedom as they pop up (and cue people telling me I'm writing Cap wrong). Beyond collabs, I see that being a particularly fun story to keep an eye on.

Of course, I'm excited to see a lot of these runs. It'll be hard to keep up with all the stories, so I might not have time to appreciate all of them when things kick off here... but I'm excited to see a lot of really good character concepts so far.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

I decided to look at some other sheets before working on my sample post and saw Batroc mentioned in the Nemesis sheet. Does anyone have any ideas of someone I could use to replace him in mine? Any decently skilled b to low a tier mercenary would do other than Taskmaster as if I were to use him it'd be for something bigger.

@alexfangtalon

If you don’t mind, I sort of plan to use TaskMaster, as he’s one of the Howling Commandos for now. Once he becomes a proper villain, I’d be more than happy to let him loose.

X-Men: The New Era

Nikolai "Demo" Markov & Nathan Caldwell

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Location: Avalon

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Interactions: Each other, Drake Edwards @Marrok, Cleo @Damo021, Aya@c3p-0h

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Mention: The Monster @Almalthia

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If Nik could physically explode, he would have in that moment. His fingers seemed to crackle with red energy as his eyes darted towards his roommate. He seemed to stand still for a few moments, his mind trying to process the blind rage that was fueling him. Una... with a vampire? How did she...? Where is she? I'm going to k-

Nathan, similarly, was seething. The blood weapon in his hand seemed to grow larger and more jagged. His rage was more tame, but he too was angry. He already had Nik to worry about... now some random stranger had taken Una from right under his nose. He was going to have to have a long talk with Una after this. She got out of hand tonight, and these were the consequences. She never should have come here.

Nik's questions seemed to have an answer with Aya's arrival. His hands still crackled with raw power as he rushed forward, hopping over the railing on the side of the dance floor. The crackling energy seemed to arc towards the surface, lighting up as most things Demo activated with his power. His feet rested against the small metal frame, and it detonated after but a moment. Nik went sailing over the dance floor and towards Aya, ducking into a sloppy roll that ended with him sliding a little on his butt directly in front of his fellow classmate. He didn't seem to acknowledge the pain or embarassment of the situation as his eyes intently glared towards Aya. "We're going to find her. NOW!"

Viva la Vida: The Price of Freedom (Closed)

I apologize that I'm going to have to formally drop from this RP. If you want to use my character as an NPC, feel free to use him as you wish. There are just some personal things in my life that have sort of taken me by surprise. Good luck!