Manga Collaboration

[Robozo]

HI, I'm a young aspiring American mangaka. I'm still in high-school, but I love writing, especially dark-themed battle manga. I've been writing for a long time now, and I write because I enjoy it. I've always had the philosophy to "Do what you love, and the money will follow"

The project I hope o start is called Dhampir King, and here's a brief plot skeleton:


In the distant past, the kingdoms of Humanity and Demon held a great war. To instigate peace, the Vampire King Johann Dracula Faustus and the human Princess Alice of Gaul wed, and bore a son, Aleister Alucard Faustus III, the Dhampir King. The young Aleister is bound to his human nature by Seven Chains, of which he has found only three: his Worming Eye (a demonic spell that disintegrates weaker enemies), the Sword of Amaymon (a sword that commands the shadows), and his Human Heart. Retreating to the Manor of Ferr after his father’s murder and the subsequent chaos in the Demon World, Aleister must find the remaining four Chains before Heartshield, a murderous demon cult dedicated to his honor, destroys them to release his full vampirism and lead a conquest against humanity, and protect his Devil Heart from Count Skelton, a vampire hunter. At Ferr Manor is Schwartz, a viciously protective and loyal as well as powerful phantom who serves as a Faust family butler, Gepetto, a young and dark minded inventor who specializes in the creation of Devil Toys, and Irina Iverwellar, the Iron Maiden, guardian warrior maid of Aleister. Together, and under the leadership of the Horseman War, they are Noire Sorcier, protecting humans from demons until Aleister can gather all seven chains and come to both thrones and bring peace to both worlds.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (?) allies of John D. Faustus and Chains, Aleister seeks them out for help. Famine, Conquest, War, and Death.


Characters [primary/good]

1. Aleister A. Faustus III - Dhampir King/Sword of Amaymon. A typically cool and level-headed (in-light of his situation) teenager, he is a veritable swordsman and has complete mastery of his demonic powers. He is very trusting and fun-loving, but is very capable of hate and anger.

2. Irina Iverwellar - Iron Maiden (Hammer User, see Sucellus and D. Gray Man Lavi), fiercely loyal to her king but she uses the term “Prince” rather sarcastically, because she still thinks Aleister is immature and stupid. A tsundere.

3. Attila Kerberos – A punk rocker-looking demon (appearing to be small, about 13). Wears big headphones, sports jacket, bicycle shorts, black boots. He is a braggart and is obsessed with keeping his hairstyle, he is superhumanly strong. Smokes

4. Wendy Allardyce - charm crafter and potion brewer, dojikko

And a third guy, a priest, to be introduced later in the series

There are also secondary good characters and several bad guys


Systems

Demon Ranking
Aliquam (low level) - Cerbe (mid-level) - Magna (powerful) - Basileus (Kingly)

Heartshield - pro-Demon radicals

VH - Vampire Hunting, an anti-demon organization


What I Look For in an Artist
I want to find someone who is young, because I am young, and also because I don't want to be taking time away from a job or being the sole-source of income. I want to find someone who enjoys drawing and is willing to have fun while still being serious about the project. Qualities in art I ask for:


- backgrounds
- battle scenes
- demon/monster themes
- creative
- does not overuse screentones
- have fun with characters and angles
- ink drawing
- please draw in a Gangan style (i.e. Soul Eater/Full Metal Alchemist)

Income
I hope to post the manga onto www.mangamagazine.net, where, based on the quality of the piece, I hope to become Featured. At this point, income will appear in:

- A share of the monthly featured pool that we pay to our featured authors based on the amount of traffic you drive to our site.

- Ability to sell items through the online store

- Support with eBook publishing on a case by case basis

- Support with setting up book publishing on a case by case basis

If we become even better, we can become Premium, and then look to show the manga to American publishing companies (Dark Horse, Viz).


If you would be interested in gong more than 2 people, please feel free to apply! Inkers, editors, background (just so that the artist isn't so stressed)

I'm willing to communicate via email (jottie22@yahoo.com) or Skype. Thank you!

[Robozo]

Also, if you read this and are not interested in being an artist, please feel free to still leave a reply with your opinions of the project

[K-cho]

(I'm not offering to be your artist, but since you asked for opinions here goes:)

"Humans vs. Demons" stories (including ones with protagonists that are half human and half vampire/demon/whatever) can be cliche, but from what you've said here it seems like you have some interesting ideas, so this seems to me like a story that could turn out to be promising and something that I personally would read. I have one question, though: Maybe this was in the description and I missed it, but is this story set in the past or in the present? (This is something that potential artists will probably want to know too.) Also, the main character seems like he could be headed towards being a bit too perfect (a "Marty Stu", if you will), since you describe him as being very cool and powerful, even though he's just a teenager. However, obviously I don't know too much about him or the story from just the little bit you've put here, so maybe he could turn out to be a compelling character after all if you handled things the right way.

My other piece of advice to you is to not set your hopes too high with regards to getting really popular or making money. Comics are a whole ton of work even for professionals, and it's really unlikely that a couple of young people who are just starting out will be able to hit it big on their first try. Just enjoy your comic for itself, and use it to practice so that maybe you can achieve your goals some day.

[Robozo]

(I'm not offering to be your artist, but since you asked for opinions here goes:)

"Humans vs. Demons" stories (including ones with protagonists that are half human and half vampire/demon/whatever) can be cliche, but from what you've said here it seems like you have some interesting ideas, so this seems to me like a story that could turn out to be promising and something that I personally would read. I have one question, though: Maybe this was in the description and I missed it, but is this story set in the past or in the present? (This is something that potential artists will probably want to know too.) Also, the main character seems like he could be headed towards being a bit too perfect (a "Marty Stu", if you will), since you describe him as being very cool and powerful, even though he's just a teenager. However, obviously I don't know too much about him or the story from just the little bit you've put here, so maybe he could turn out to be a compelling character after all if you handled things the right way.

My other piece of advice to you is to not set your hopes too high with regards to getting really popular or making money. Comics are a whole ton of work even for professionals, and it's really unlikely that a couple of young people who are just starting out will be able to hit it big on their first try. Just enjoy your comic for itself, and use it to practice so that maybe you can achieve your goals some day.

Thanks for responding! I planned on introducing a psychological battle to scar the protagonist (the struggle of choosing what's right in the face of the immeasurable demonic power at his fingertips). The story, I planned, was to be set in what I call "fluctuating time vacuum," in which elements from varying eras and cultures be intermixed liberally with fantastical components so that no specific historical doctrine must be followed. A good example is Rave Master, Soul Eater, Appearance of the Yellow Dragon etc. where you have knights fighting gunmen.

The majority feeling however, especially among Noir Sorcier, would be Victorian era

[SpiralPen]

Firstly, let me say that this sounds great. When I first started reading, I thought it would be pretty cliche'd stuff, but as the above poster said, you have some awesome ideas and your character concepts are all very entertaining and interesting. I can definitely see this being well-received.

I must say, though, I personally don't think the "fluctuating time vacuum" is the best fit for what you described above. Obviously, I'm not you and I don't have all the insights and understanding of the story you do, but from what you've shared it seems to be a bit inconsequential to the narrative. Sometimes you have to cut ideas that sound great or fun for the sake of a story, believe me, I've had to do it countless times. I'm not saying I think you 100% should, nor do you have to listen to me. In my opinion, though, this story carries itself beautifully in a fictionalized Victorian setting or a Victorian/Modern blend similar to Dragon Ball's blend of Chinese Folklore/Modern.
I absolutely love Rave Master (and Hiro Mashima in general) and I know working with such a setting is liberating and fantastic. Sometimes, however, it doesn't benefit the material. Rave Master's story isn't nearly as heavily "themed" as yours and that's why it's broad, surreal fantasy setting works without a hitch.
Your story has lots of Victorian, late European, and Gothic/Horror influence and while you could definitely blend those into a "temporal vacuum/anything goes" setting, it might not be the best decision when taking into account the overall feel and theme you want the comic to carry.
Building a world and drawing the boundaries for that world can be very nuanced and difficult, but don't be afraid to lay down the law every now and then!