09 – Vigilance by Beausephus
CHARACTER NAME: Vigilance
DATE OF CREATION: (Visual) 1995, (Story) 2002
CONCEPT: Vigilance is a street level vigilante known for bludgeoning “evil-doers” into submission… or is he?
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Once again, the Batman and Moon Knight influence is undeniable. Â The character that became Vigilance was a doodle in the margins of notebooks but not really a full fledged character until I rediscovered him when I was going through some old sketchbooks.
Looking at the character so far removed from the initial idea that spawned it, I looked at the character objectively. Â There’s nothing groundbreaking about the design of the visual impact of the character…in fact it’s quite un-dynamic. Â So what’s the point of a mediocre character? Â Well, what if the character in question was not the main character in his own story?
I played with the idea…what if Vigilance was the object of the story not the protagonist. Â In fact the idea I had is very similar to what Greg Rucka is doing on the recently relaunched Punisher series at Marvel. Â What if Vigilance was everything that Batman is supposed to be – an urban myth, a phantom of the night with no real evidence of his existence?
So here’s the pitch – Police Detective Adrian Bask is convinced Vigilance exists and is hurtling towards obsession on the matter. Â he’s on the edge, and the appointed task force he is heading up is on the verge of falling apart because no one can find real proof that the supposed vigilante exists. The beaten and bloody street thugs attest to a tattered cape and glowing white eyes, but so what? Â Is Vigilance real? Â Is Det. Bask going crazy? Â perhaps the link between the two characters is closer than Bask would like to admit?
I’m imagining a POWERS meets ALIAS take on the spandex creature of the night with the Spandex character at the forefront of the storyline but not the main character.
Thanks for checking my stuff out.
-Beausephus
About the Author (Author Profile)
Teacher, Playwright, Performer & Superhero Enthusiast. My first crayon drawings were of Superman and Captain America. I always wanted to draw comics but never followed that passion beyond some self-published zines and forays into early internet comics. I've worked in various aspects of graphic design and fooled around with a spray can at various stages of my life, keeping my pen busy and full of various inspirations for the doodles in the margins of my notebooks. Inheriting an iPad changed my productivity with the ability to draw, edit, color and post onto the internet via one device in the limited time I have to mess around with my doodles and drawings. My 5-year-old son is my biggest fan and the main reason for my artistic renaissance. He's the reason I'm drawing more often and the person I draw the most for. For the 30 CHARACTERS challenge this year, he is my co-conspirator and collaborator. His excitement and innocent love of superheroes and drawing has kept my inner cynic/critic at bay and we are having a blast this year making up a whole new universe of heroes, robots and monsters for the internet. -updated Oct. 2012Subscribe
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It sounds like this would be an interesting story concept to try out. I’d be interested to see how something like this works.
” I’d be interested to see how something like this works.”
Thanks, me too.
The ultimate question is can the medium convey what I want to story to be…or rather, can I use the medium to form the story? Given the spandex factor I think it has to be sequential art, but more along the lines of Bendis & Maleev’s DARDEVIL or Brubaker & Phillips on CRIMINAL. I think the key would be a dynamic shift in art styles if the POV changes, something akin to what JH Williams does so beautifully in the BATWOMAN series.