Of Alternate Realities and Artistic Challenges

[BentonGrey]

C'mon guys, I know there are others of you who want to try this out!

[GGiant]

C'mon guys, I know there are others of you who want to try this out!

How about Hourman?!

[BentonGrey]

Why not!  If you've got an idea, feel free to describe it, or since you've been skoping lately, you could skope a mesh for him.

[UnkoMan]

Did you ever get an evil Plastic Man for this?

[BentonGrey]

Nope, no Plastic Man analogue yet.

[GGiant]

Why not!  If you've got an idea, feel free to describe it, or since you've been skoping lately, you could skope a mesh for him.

All the tries of ideas for it went all down. :(

[UnkoMan]

Sweet. All I need now is a spiked belt to put onto the Plastic Man mesh. Riiight? Or should I use the morph mesh? That one turns into a wall and has a fly swatter hand. Man, the choices.

I've got the costume though. It's based on the golden age Daredevil, which also harkens back to Plastic Man's first appearance.

[GGiant]

Sweet. All I need now is a spiked belt to put onto the Plastic Man mesh. Riiight? Or should I use the morph mesh? That one turns into a wall and has a fly swatter hand. Man, the choices.

I've got the costume though. It's based on the golden age Daredevil, which also harkens back to Plastic Man's first appearance.

[threadjack]There is a spiked belt on the Golden Age Daredevil mesh, and Saracen has given permission to skope his meshes, I think.[/threadjack]
Err.....sorry. ^_^

[BentonGrey]

Awesome, sounds like you've got a solid idea there Unko, I can't wait to see it!

[UnkoMan]

Sweet! Thanks!

[alberik]

I have an idea for Halfface.
Former Thief Harvey Dent lost the half of his face when he was cought in the act by Ultraman.
Ultraman burned off the right side of Dents face as a punishment. (he want to steal something what belongs to the CSA)
Now Halfface wants revenge and joined the force of the Good.

(Boah it would be easyer if i could write it in german  :huh: )

[BentonGrey]

That's a solid idea Alberik, but what about him being a mob boss in the employ of the C.S.A., but after a run-in with rivals, this thoroughly vicious man's suppressed personality emerges.  It turns out that "Goody-Two-Shoes" Harvey was driven under the surface because of vicious teasing when he was a boy, forcing a ruthless, violent personality to take the forefront.  Now Harvey has taken up the cause of justice, turned into a crusader for good, but darkness and light still war within him.  I sort of like the idea of naming him...Dichotomy, or Binary.

[Gremlin]

This thread is so totally my cup of tea.  You have no idea how happy I am now. :thumbup:

I like Dichotomy.  Sounds really cool.  The mob boss backstory is awesome.  And I really like the idea of Ultraman burning half his face off with Ultravision--how vicious!

Another thing: a quick Google search brought me to this page, where I found info on the various counterparts.  I'll search more later, but I did find that the alter-Robin is called Talon.

Sorry if I throw out ideas that are already canonical, but I can't find a definitive list online of antimatter counterparts anywhere.

Scarecrow: The Bogeyman.  Professor Jeremy Crane was a bully as a kid, using his natural brawn to intimidate others.  However, as he grew up and persued scholastic endeavors, he left his life of bullying behind him.  Until one day when he visited Arkham Asylum as part of his psychology class.  There he found one of his childhood victims undergoing intensive therapy to cure him of the traumas in his childhood, traumas caused by Crane's severe harrassment.  Horrified at what he had done, Crane strove to find a cure for his former victim.  His discoveries on the chemical nature of fear would've revolutionized psychotherapy forever, but the university wasn't interested in it.  They tried to get him to create a chemical weapon that would enduce terror, and he did, not knowing their foul intent.  Now a professor, he was at his lab late one night, trying to synthesize not only the fear toxin, but its counterpart, a chemical hope stimulator.  He was nearly finished with his work when a gang of goons busted in on him.  Acting quickly, he poisoned the room with fear gas and subdued the thugs.  Upon interrogating them, he discovered they were acting on orders from the university dean himself.  Donning a cloak and gas mask, he sought the dean.  Using his fear toxin, it was easy to stop him and discover the plan...Owlman himself wanted the use the fear toxin in his own arsenal, and wanted Crane to make it for him before he was killed and the formula stolen.  Crane fled, vowing never to let his formula fall into the hands of the dastardly criminal, and to oppose him at every turn.  Now, he wanders the streets of Gotham as the Bogeyman, terrorizing Owlman's lackeys wherever he can and bringing hope, whether true or chemically stimulated, to the ordinary citizens.

I'm thinking a black cloak and hood with black underneath, with red glowing eyes.  Is there a mesh out there where the cape enfolds the body and makes the whole character look like a wraith?

Parasite: Leech.  Once a lackadaisical slacker, Randy James worked for S.T.A.R. labs (or whatever the counterpart is) as a janitor, but was viewed by several scientists as a prime candidate for a highly dangerous experimental mutative procedure.  They tricked him into receiving a hefty dose of radiation poisoning, then had him rushed to the emergency medical unit where they implanted a series of powerful "battery" glands that drew energy from surrounding sources.  However, the batteries interacted with the severe radiation in a bizzare way: they began pulling energy from any source around him and turned his skin a bizzare shade of dark reddish purple.  After he woke up, the scientists tested him and, concluding that his powers were more dangerous than they'd imagined, they prepared to execute him.  When they came to pump his IV full of strychnine, however, James saw their armed guard and recognized something was up.  He inadvertently killed the group who'd come to kill him and escaped from the labs.  Vowing vengeance, Leech has dedicated his life to bringing down the corrupted research center any way he can so that nobody else has to suffer as he once did.

Regular Parasite, more humanoid, and dark reddish purple.

Bizarro: Freak.  Ultraman has always longed for power, but even with his Kryptonite superpowers he can't be everywhere at once.  So he decided to create perfectly loyal, slavish clones of himself in an effort to spread his power.  He found an adult male, name unknown, with Down's syndrome and sought to replicate the procedures that gave him superpowers.  Needless to say, he didn't do very well.  The poor soul, subjected to hideous amounts of torture, was driven mad; he began to perceive everything in opposites.  Once Ultraman saw how worthless his duplicate was, he tried to kill him (he was alerted to this when Ultraman came up saying, "C'mere, I'm not going to hurt you...").  The duplicate, terrified, ran away.  Ultraman is now always on the lookout for his freakish doppelganger, who only wants to be left in peace.  All memory of his former life was erased in the pain of the procedure, and he knows himself only by the name given to him by Ultraman when he first glimpsed his grotesque face--Freak.

Probably doesn't have a reversed Ultraman costume...I think maybe just whatever rags he could scrounge.

General Zod: Captain Xod.  Once, long ago, a planet named Krypton stood as the Sodom and Gamorrah of the galaxy.  Yes, it was so bad that one planet was BOTH cities :P Anyway, there was one man who stood against the moral depravity that had swept the planet: Dru-Xod, who was one of the few non-corrupt members of the Kandorian police force, the only position he could attain after being dishonorably discharged for insubordination--when he refused to do any further testing with a vibrational weapon intended to cause massive earthquakes because he saw how quickly they would lose control.  When mysterious quakes began appearing without explanation, Dru-Xod recognized that the planet would soon be torn to pieces.  He went to prominent scientist Jol-Er, who was working on ways to expand Krypton's influence to other planets in an interstellar empire.  But Jol-Er refused to help him, and when he tried to steal a spacecraft, he was caught and imprisoned in the Phantom Zone.  Years later, when Ultraman searched in space for more Kryptonite, he found an ancient portable Phantom Zone gateway.  Taking it back to Earth, he inadvertently released Xod from captivity, who quickly found that the yellow sun granted him superpowers on par with Ultraman's.  Seeing the depravity of Earth nearly approached Krypton's own, he vowed to never allow his surrogate home to be as corrupted as his dead world.

I have no idea at all what his costume would be.  None.

[BentonGrey]

Wow Gremlin, you've got some great ideas there.  I'm glad you like Dichotomy, I rather like that idea myself.  I hope we see him get made.  Yeah, info on the anti-matter universe is pretty spotty.  Talon has been made though, by Kissaints, so he's out there.  Feel free to throw out all the ideas you like, since the DCUG isn't following DC canon exactly anyway, it won't be a big deal if you come up with a character that already exists....especially if your version is better! ;) 

I really like the idea of a good Scarecrow, especially one with "hope gas," that's pure comic genius right there.  Great story too!  I sort of feel like his eyes should be another color...yellow perhaps, but that's hardly a big deal.

Ahh, Parasite as a slacker, that's good stuff, and I like the idea of him targeting S.T.A.R. specifically.  Maybe it can be named.....M.E.T.E.O.R....we'd just need to come up with a name that fit the acronym. 

Freak has a great story, wonderfully tragic.

Zod as a hero of the people of Krypton....very interesting.  He'd have to end up in the Phantom Zone to keep from messing up the balance of the forces.

Great ideas man!

[UnkoMan]

I like your ideas Gremlin. Here's a couple suggestions from my hat.

Scarecrow: The Bogeyman. I'm thinking a black cloak and hood with black underneath, with red glowing eyes.  Is there a mesh out there where the cape enfolds the body and makes the whole character look like a wraith?

I think it might be cool to give him a sort of gas mask shaped head, too. For one, it's utalitarian, but also it's always been a pretty freaky look. Bearded's goth mesh might be a good starting point.

Parasite: Leech. 
Regular Parasite, more humanoid, and dark reddish purple.

Can't do much different there, but... maybe outfit him with a bit more coverage. Or something sort of Martian Manhunter-esque, sans cape.

Bizarro: Freak. 
Probably doesn't have a reversed Ultraman costume...I think maybe just whatever rags he could scrounge.

Actually, I think something resembling Ultraman would work. More like a homemade costume, put together with bits and pieces. Maybe just an old t-shirt with Ultraman's symbol, and some tattered long johns. That sort of thing.

General Zod: Captain Xod. 
I have no idea at all what his costume would be.  None.

This one could be sort of a future space police officer. Combine a bit of the newest Zod with the original. Like that one piece jumpsuit thing, but retaining the police captain's hat.

[BentonGrey]

Good design ideas Unko, I especially like the gas-mask for Scarecrow.

[Gremlin]

I really like the idea of a good Scarecrow, especially one with "hope gas," that's pure comic genius right there.  Great story too!  I sort of feel like his eyes should be another color...yellow perhaps, but that's hardly a big deal.

Oh yes, yellow would actually be really cool.  And the gas mask.  Is there a mesh with a gas mask where the head and the mask are separate pieces?  That way you could make tiny points of light behind the mask for eyes.  It would be neat.

Ahh, Parasite as a slacker, that's good stuff, and I like the idea of him targeting S.T.A.R. specifically.  Maybe it can be named.....M.E.T.E.O.R....we'd just need to come up with a name that fit the acronym.

Actually, he already was a slacker janitor at S.T.A.R. labs, but I just made it so his powers were forced rather than accidental.  He'd make a terrific tragic hero figure; striving to do good with powers that do nothing but hurt people.  Maybe he could learn to channel energy into others as well?  There's nothing saying he can't in the DCU, he's just never tried.  Had no need to.

I tried to come up with another name but nothing came to mind.  I tried finding an acronym for S.U.N. that fit.  M.E.T.E.O.R.--starts with Military!

Freak has a great story, wonderfully tragic.

Yeah, I love Bizarro as a tragic figure.  That's why he's so great in the Timmverse.  He's more malevolent in the regular canon, but that's what the antimatter universe is for!

Zod as a hero of the people of Krypton....very interesting.  He'd have to end up in the Phantom Zone to keep from messing up the balance of the forces.

Actually, he hates Krypton and everything it stands for.  Not a hero at all; he gave up on them.  That's why he tries so hard on Earth; because he never wants his new home to resemble his old.

I saw on the Wikipedia article there was a version of Zod that became Earth's Superman in an alternate canonical reality.  It was cool.

Quote from: Gremlin on February 18, 2008, 02:40:23 PM
Scarecrow: The Bogeyman. I'm thinking a black cloak and hood with black underneath, with red glowing eyes.  Is there a mesh out there where the cape enfolds the body and makes the whole character look like a wraith?

I think it might be cool to give him a sort of gas mask shaped head, too. For one, it's utalitarian, but also it's always been a pretty freaky look. Bearded's goth mesh might be a good starting point.

HECK YES.  I loves it.  So creepy.  Kinda like classic Sandman almost.  He might use a gun to shot his gas, too.

I was also thinking--classic Scarecrow isn't afraid of anything.  What if Boogeyman was horrified of everything (due to overdosing when he used the gas against the goons for the first time, perhaps?), and is addicted to his hope gas?

Quote from: Gremlin on February 18, 2008, 02:40:23 PM
Parasite: Leech.
Regular Parasite, more humanoid, and dark reddish purple.

Can't do much different there, but... maybe outfit him with a bit more coverage. Or something sort of Martian Manhunter-esque, sans cape.

OOH!  He wears clothes to cover him so completely so nobody accidentally touches them.  He doesn't want to hurt people, so he tries as hard as he can to avoid them.

Quote from: Gremlin on February 18, 2008, 02:40:23 PM
Bizarro: Freak. 
Probably doesn't have a reversed Ultraman costume...I think maybe just whatever rags he could scrounge.

Actually, I think something resembling Ultraman would work. More like a homemade costume, put together with bits and pieces. Maybe just an old t-shirt with Ultraman's symbol, and some tattered long johns. That sort of thing.

Maybe Ultraman threw on some kinda jumpsuit for him to wear while he conducted the experiments?  It would have the U logo on it, since he's so arrogant and egotistical.

Quote from: Gremlin on February 18, 2008, 02:40:23 PM
General Zod: Captain Xod. 
I have no idea at all what his costume would be.  None.

This one could be sort of a future space police officer. Combine a bit of the newest Zod with the original. Like that one piece jumpsuit thing, but retaining the police captain's hat.

I don't like the hat idea.  He'd want to shed any connection to Krypton, the exact opposite of Zod's current goal to turn Earth into a carbon copy of his home planet.

So, Xod would still be hurt by Kryptonite, since the laws of physics are constant through the universe.  Would he be hurt just by being near Ultraman?

[BentonGrey]

Right Grem, I follow you about Zod, I just meant that he tried to save Krypton, instead of trying to conquer it.  Hmm....Military Experimental Terror Economic Operations Refining?  I don't like it much, but that gives us something to start with.......I like the idea of M.E.T.E.O.R., because it's a shooting star, or a FALLEN star.

[Gremlin]

Right, right, okies.  Maybe M.E.T.E.O.R. labs: Military Experimental Technologies & Engineering Operation for Research?  I don't like research; sound awkward...hmm.

And a whole lot of Earth 3 info here.

Okies, now I'm going to go through the Batman villains...

Joker: Jokester (he's all over the place in Countdown)
Riddler: Quizmaster
Scarecrow: Boogeyman

Clayface: Mudman.  Max Geyman was a relatively successful actor in commercials and daytime dramas until his car careened over a cliff and into a muddy river below.  Unbeknownst to him, Thomas Wayne Jr.'s WayneCorp had been dumping noxious chemicals into the riverbed for years.  The chemically altered clay seeped into his cells, replacing every molecule in his body with the goo.  When he emerged, he was horrified at what he'd become, and dedicated his life to destroying WayneCorp.

Looks like standard, maybe with bits of garbage sticking out of him?  I can see him as an environmentalist hero.

Poison Ivy: Eden.  Irene Oakleigh was always outspoken in her concern for the environment.  She lived for her work, trying to breed plants that were particularly hardy, quick-growing, and difficult to destroy.  She worked alongside Alex Hammond, but was repulsed by his belief that the natural world existed only for man's benefit.  After one particularly heated argument, Hammond beat her halfway to death.  Fearing he would be discovered, he buried her body outiside the laboratory in Oakleigh's private garden and left for Louisiana as quick as he possibly could.  Unbeknownst to him, a) she wasn't quite dead when he'd buried her and b) the changes in the plants mutated her body into a bizzare plant/human hybrid.  With newfound abilities, Oakleigh strove to right the injustices done to the world that she could not protect before.

Normal costume, probably.

Um...those both suck.  I'm going to think some more.

[Cyber Burn]

I finally had a chance to re - skope FLASH_22798's Amazo character, the Anti - Matter Ivodroid. If anyone is interested in skinning it, let me know.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

A new idea

Toyman/Playmate based on the TAS Toyman, which I think is the intent anyway.

Bud Mannheim was the wealthy owner of Intercorp, a large investment firm, and also a kind and generous man.  When he men Winslow Schott, a man with a desire to build a toy factory, he helped fund and encourage him.  Unknown to Bud, Winslow was a sociopath and a serial killer, preying on and torturing children using ingenious, and evil, killer toy contraptions.  Bud did eventually figure this out, and when he went to confront Winslow, he was forced to defend himself and kill the murderer.  Bud then discovered the man's son, William Schott, who his father was torturing into a twisted image of himself.  Bud took the boy and raised him as his own.  Many years later, Ultraman went after Intercorp for aiding and protecting his enemies and killed Bud.  This caused the now adult William's mind to snap, reverting to a childlike state but with his father's genius with toys.  Declaring himself to be Ultraman's "playmate" William has plagued him ever since with inventions powerful and clever enough to give even Ultraman a hard time.  While Ultraman has apparently killed him more than once, Playmate always survives and returns to "play" with Ultraman again.

[BentonGrey]

Alright Gremlin, I hadn't seen those.  M.E.T.E.O.R. is perfect, great job!  I like 'Eden' too, there is a lot that could be done with a 'good' Ivy. 

I want to see that Ivodroid, CB, why don't  you post in the DC Request Thread if you don't get any nibbles here?

Ohh, that's a GREAT idea Cat, Playmate...haha, I can already see the stories that could spawn.  You know, DC should really put out an antimatter book.  I'd even be tempted to buy it.

[Gremlin]

There was a JLA collection awhile back called "Syndicate Rules" that was pretty snazzy.  I loved their take on Solomon Grundy; an aristocratic elemental zombie.  It rocked.

SO.  Question.  Brainiac?

In JLA: Earth-2, where the modern CSA was introduced in the antimatter universe, Brainiac was "evil" (technically they said Brainiac was neutral morally, but completely egocentric, so he's not really evil), but organic.

Ultraman killed him dead.  But now that it's post-Infinite Crisis, and it's your universe anyway, how do you wanna handle him?

I like the idea of keeping him evil, myself, or at least morally neutral.  I love Brainiac, but I've never been able to peg his motivations and I don't know how he'd translate into a heroic character.  Thoughts?

[Cyber Burn]

For Braniac, I picture a version similar to the animated JLU series.  A 'keeper of the knowledge' of sorts.  Not heroic per se, but on the more ethical side, wanting to preserve what he finds.  In my opinion, what would make him an enemy of the CSA, is that during Braniac's data collection on their Earth, he finds information that could destroy the CSA (weaknesses, identites, secret hideouts, etc.).  This puts him on the run from the Syndicate while he continues to collect the information about their planet.

Also, I just finished a skope (my own) of "The Nucleus". Ray Palmer had been experimenting on nanotechnology that he had planned to use to assist him with his research on miniature white dwarves, when the lab caught on fire. during an esnuing explosion Palmer was fused with the nanotech and the miniature white dwarf he had kept in his lab.  Rescued by Ultraman, Palmer was given the name Nucleus and is used to spy on foreign governments as well as other members of the CSA.  I'm attempting to skin him, but I don't think it's turning out very well.

[Gremlin]

Not a bad idea.  Living Wikipedia that wants to keep stuff around, preserve it, so he can continue monitoring it.  Hmm.

What were his motivations in the comic, anyway?  He always seemed like a generic Supes villain.  I mean, he's awesome, because he's Brainiac, but it was never well explained just why he was so frelling evil.

[Cyber Burn]

Here's where I am so far on The Nucleus.  He still needs a lot of work (or even a real skinner).

As to Braniac, my only real familiarity with the character was the cartoons, so I can't explain the comic version.  Sorry.

[BentonGrey]

Howdy guys!  Okay, first to your question about Brainiac CB, I think you've got an excellent point.  I don't see him being "good" no matter what.  He's just such an emotionless FORCE, you know?  What if we just reverse his motivations instead of his morality (or lack thereof)?  So, in the DCU, Brainiac seeks to possess all knowledge, and therefore destroys all sources of NEW knowledge (i.e. living beings) after he has collected everything they know.  What if the anti-matter Brainiac simply despises knowledge and seeks to eradicate ALL of it, preserving nothing?  Think of him as a biomechanical space-Nazi, burning books on a galactic scale. ^_^

Ohh, I love the idea for Nucleus as a spy working for Ultraman, a toady, and a small man in all the ways that Ray Palmer is great.  I love that design too, very awesome.  If you post in my request thread, Hoss might take a crack at it since you're having trouble.

[Cyber Burn]

Doctor Speed (Name a work in progress):   Wanting revenge because the Golden Age Johnny Quick stole the formula for the Speed Juice  from his father,  Hunter Zolomon creates a new formula and dons the costume of the reverse Johnny Quick, doing everything in his power to make the current Johnny Quick burn through his supply af speed juice until the addiction kills him.

The costume should be the exact same with just the opposite colors, yellow as the main color, and red as the secondary.

[Deaths Jester]

Howdy guys, this may be a tad unorthodox, but I have a suggestion for a contest of sorts.  As most of you know I've been working on my take on the DC Universe for some time.  I'm nearing the end of my first stage of production, and should have the beta ready before too agonizingly much longer (we'll see), but while I'm at work, the wheels in my head are usually grinding along with various story arcs and adventures for the 'comics' I want to release.  Today I had an idea for a JLA story arc involving Per Degaton and the Crime Syndicate of Amerika...well, I won't say too much more, but suffice to say that I would really love to include a broader look at their peculiar world, and not just their modern era either.

What I'm proposing is that we have a contest to redesign DC heroes (from any time except the Legion's) as anti-matter counterparts of themselves.  This can be actual skins (which I'd like, since I could include them), but also drawings, sketches, paintings, all art forms are welcome.  I'd encourage all takers to come up with a back story and power set for their characters, as the winners will be added into the DCUG mod for use in this future story...or just for anyone with a penchant for kicking the tar out of anti-matter duplicates. 

To get your wheels turning, there is a mention in the modern comics about a few different characters:

Dr. Noon=Dr. Midnite
White Cat=Black Canary
Spaceman=Starman

Also, a few suggestions have included the Venusian Womanhunter, etc.  Also, feel free to experiment with 'good' versions of DC villains, like the Justice Underground.  You can find some material to help you along here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_Syndicate_of_America

Okay everyone, I hope y'all are as excited about this as I am, I love the creativity of this community, and this is a chance for it to really shine.  Please post your character titles and ideas if you want to get involved.  Seeing as the actual mission that this would be part of is many moons away, this contest can stay open as long as there is interest.

Have fun!

:EDIT: Also, if you don't particularly feel your artistic talents up to the challenge, but want to contribute, fire off an idea or two, perhaps you'll inspire someone.

Seeing as ye are already taking on some of Car and mine Nazis for another mod, I guess I can give a new spin on DC too.

-DJ

[Cyber Burn]

I know Johnny Quick has been skinned before, but I wanted the colors to more closely match his 'reverse' character.

I'm also still working on an idea for Grundy and Star Saphire.