Input wanted (research for webcomic)

[dburkhead]

I am the author/artist of the new webcomic "Cold Servings."

Some years back, Mark Hamill et al, put together a comic miniseries, published by Dark Horse, called The Black Pearl. In a TV interview, Hamill said that part of the purpose of the comic was to show how the "superhero
concept" doesn't work in the real world. Of course, in fiction, you don't really demonstrate anything but the assumptions you put into it. And if you assume that it doesn't work, then the result will be that it doesn't work.
Kind of like real life only more so.

Ever since that time, I've had in the back of my mind the idea of doing a counterpoint to it--a piece taking the position that something at least recognizeably similar to the comic book "costumed crimefighter"* concept
"working" to some extent. It was only recently, with my discovery of webcomics, that I found a venue to present it.

(*"Costumed Crimefighter" rather than "superhero" because a "real world" treatment automatically eliminates super powers from the mix.)

Thus was born "Cold Servings." My main character has, for various reasons that will be explained later, decided to don a disguise and "fight crime." A significant part of the story is the main character facing various problems that come from his "hobby" and my coming up with some way to overcome them.

Some of the problems I've already identified are:

- Why do it? If someone wants to fight crime, there are plenty of conventional outlets: becoming a police officer, joining the DA's office, running for office, organizing a neighborhood watch, that kind of thing.
- Finding crimes to fight. Think about it. How often have you encountered crimes where you were in a position to intervene? I've only had one time in my entire life where I was the putative victim of an aggravated assault.
There's nothing magical about putting on a funny outfit that will suddenly put you at the right place at the right time to intervene in crime. (Which leads to one question appropriate to this forum: how often will a police officer, in the course of a patrol encounter a "crime against persons" under circumstances which actually allow them to intervene while it's in progress?)
- Dealing with the police. In the comics, real "superheros" with extraordinary powers "paved the way" for acceptance of costumed crimefighters--once you've got Superman, The Flash, Dr. Fate, etc., Batman becomes a lot more acceptable. In the real world, the guy in the costume would be seen as one more criminal, not for being a "vigilante" per se (I searched the Indiana criminal code, and the word "vigilante" doesn't appear anywhere in it) but
for the things one does--trespass, (aggravated) assault, illegal restraint, what have you. And if you're caught, they're not going to let you keep your identity secret any longer. The mask comes off. Fingerprints get taken. Etc. This, actually, may be a practical reason (never mind any moral reasons) for a "code against killing"--if you just beat up bad guys caught in the act, your "criminal" status may be more of a nuisanse. If, however, you start killing people, catching you becomes a much more significant priority.
- Criminals are often armed. In the comic books, characters are usually able to avoid being shot/stabbed/clubbed/whatever by the bad guys. Real world people are a lot more vulnerable. And real body armor just doesn't work as the skin-tight circus outfits you see in the comics. Kevlar doesn't stretch--if Nightwing's costume were made of real world kevlar (as suggested in the comics) he wouldn't be able to move.

Anyway, the specific input I'm looking for is on other problems that my main character will have to overcome. Suggestions in this area will be treated as "general research." And I may well have gotten the same suggestions from other sources. I'll try to give people who provide, what I think are particularly good ideas a public acknowledgement or maybe even a Tuckerization, but beyond that I can't promise anything.

[dburkhead]

Oh, this is also just a starting point. Since a number of returning characters are going to be LEO's (kind of have to be, given the subject matter) I expect I'll have a lot more specific questions as the series progresses.

[Toeknee112]

Uh, wuh?

[txinvestigator1]

Uh, wuh?

+1 :confused:

[dburkhead]

I seem to have generated some confusion. At least that's how I'm interpretting "uh, wuh."

Are we talking "not understanding what I'm asking" type confusion or perhaps "don't know where to begin" type confusion or perhaps something else?

[txinvestigator1]

How about, WTF?

[GoDirectly2Jail]

I think the confusion stems from the fact that we are REAL people involved in REAL law-enforcement jobs and while some of us may have enjoyed a good comic book over the years, that in no way means that we have ANY insight into a fictional character's motivations to become a vigilante, and don a costume (ala Batman) to "fight crime".

Perhaps a writers forum is what you are looking for, or perhaps a comic book forum.

[dburkhead]

I think the confusion stems from the fact that we are REAL people involved in REAL law-enforcement jobs and while some of us may have enjoyed a good comic book over the years, that in no way means that we have ANY insight into a fictional character's motivations to become a vigilante, and don a costume (ala Batman) to "fight crime".

"Real people involved in real law enforcement jobs." Yes. That's why I'm asking.

I'm not asking for solutions to the "problems" within the story. As the writer, that's my job. The things I listed above, like motivation, were presented as examples of the kinds of problems I'd already considered.

What I was asking for is insite into what problems the characters are likely to run into.

Perhaps a writers forum is what you are looking for, or perhaps a comic book forum.

I have been made to understand that the treatment of law and law enforcement in fiction has generally been truly awful. I know that a lot of what passes for "science" in fiction (my own "day job) is excerable. A large part of that is due to the "inbreeding"--writers talking to other writers or, worse, emulating what they see in other writing.

I had hoped to avoid some of that problem by going to the original source, as it were. Law enforcement is going to be a large part of the story. Law enforcement officers are going to be major characters. I'd rather portray them accurately than rely on something like, oh, say, Beverly Hills Cop or maybe Lethal Weapon (to pick two particularly bad examples). In much the same way, I queried on medical forums for information on things like treatment of gunshot wounds and descriptions of blunt trauma from gunshots that are stopped by body armor.

When you want accurate information, ask the experts. Of course, sometimes the experts don't want to talk to you and that's there perogative. If that's the case here, well, I'll just do my best with what I can find elsewhere.

[TheDoghandler]

When you want accurate information, ask the experts. Of course, sometimes the experts don't want to talk to you and that's there perogative. If that's the case here, well, I'll just do my best with what I can find elsewhere.

Perhaps if you were to be more specific in what information you want or ask specific questions instead of the general stab in the dark questions you have asked in your post. Personally I can't see how working LEO's can assist your research into superheros saving the world, but then no doubt that's why I am in LE and not a writer.
By the way WTF is a tuckerisation :confused:

[dburkhead]

A Tuckerization is, in written fiction, what a "walk-on cameo" is in TV and movies. Basically a bit-part in the story.

I suppose part of the problem is the rather open ended nature of what I'm looking for at this stage: If someone were to disguise himself and attempt to stop/apprehend criminals in something close to the real world and if that person were not going to take a "Death Wish" approach and just kill the criminals, then what problems will he face? Some of them are obvious, not the least of which is that much of what he will be doing is illegal. I was hoping for some thoughts on problems that he might run into that I might have missed. An example of a response I got from another forum is that in many jurisdictions simply wearing a mask to conceal one's identity is illegal. I hadn't known that. This led me to research Indiana's laws on the subject (the story is set in Indianapolis).

Incidentally, "superheroes saving the world" is not a terribly accurate description of where I'm headed. My first "rule" for the story is "nothing that cannot be done in reality," which, of course, means no super powers. That also eliminates just about every "non-super powered" costumed character in comic books to since even without "super powers" they do things, or have gadgets, that are just impossible in the real world.

[Kimble]

A Tuckerization is, in written fiction, what a "walk-on cameo" is in TV and movies. Basically a bit-part in the story.

I suppose part of the problem is the rather open ended nature of what I'm looking for at this stage: If someone were to disguise himself and attempt to stop/apprehend criminals in something close to the real world and if that person were not going to take a "Death Wish" approach and just kill the criminals, then what problems will he face? Some of them are obvious, not the least of which is that much of what he will be doing is illegal. I was hoping for some thoughts on problems that he might run into that I might have missed. An example of a response I got from another forum is that in many jurisdictions simply wearing a mask to conceal one's identity is illegal. I hadn't known that. This led me to research Indiana's laws on the subject (the story is set in Indianapolis).

Incidentally, "superheroes saving the world" is not a terribly accurate description of where I'm headed. My first "rule" for the story is "nothing that cannot be done in reality," which, of course, means no super powers. That also eliminates just about every "non-super powered" costumed character in comic books to since even without "super powers" they do things, or have gadgets, that are just impossible in the real world.

You may want to talk to some bail enforcement types (aka "bounty huntersBail Enforcement") as these people like to imagine themselves as vigilante-esque superheros out to save the world from bail-jumpers.

While the concept you imagine is unique, I don't think the LEOs here (myself included) will be of much help to you unless you come with more specific questions. If you ask, "what legal ramifications would Batman face in the real world?", you have to understand that there will be different laws/ordinances/policies in different jurisidictions/agencies/divisions/etc. Try to formulate some more specific questions, particularly in regard to location, and you may get some more informative responses.

Another consideration is to give your email address for contact after posting some more specific questions. While this is a forum related to LE, it is also a professional forum for those who are in or are pursuing LE as a career field, so it may not be in the forums best interest to accumulate a ton of posts like (i.e. helping fiction writers). Not suggesting that people here don't want to help, but then it's not taking up the forum's memory if answers to your questions are sent via email. Just a thought...

[MOCOP]

I think the confusion stems from the fact that we are REAL people involved in REAL law-enforcement jobs and while some of us may have enjoyed a good comic book over the years, that in no way means that we have ANY insight into a fictional character's motivations to become a vigilante, and don a costume (ala Batman) to "fight crime".

Perhaps a writers forum is what you are looking for, or perhaps a comic book forum.

So what your saying is.......The new cape I bought will probably be a no go?


Awwwwwww Damn it! :(

[cecilVA]

So what your saying is.......The new cape I bought will probably be a no go?


Awwwwwww Damn it! :(

You saw that in Gall's too huh? How does it fit? Machine washable?

[TheDoghandler]

Another new word for my vocabulary then
I am not sure of the laws in the US but over here we call these "masks" balaclavas and they would tend to be used by the less then law abiding citizens or paramilitary organizations, more often than not during the course of post office robberies or bank raids. The concept in these parts would be a non starter.
Probably the nearest we have is criminals disguising themselves as police to carry out crimes........not the same really :(

[Cat_Doc]

As you can see from the above two posts, real-life law enforcement officers have a dry sense of humor. :D

Don't forget to point that out in your stories.