Submitting Stories a bit differently

I understand the frustration in Barbara not being Oracle. >:(There is a funny story about that...
OK maybe not funny but in interesting behind the scenes tale!
I do highly recommend you check out the New Outsiders to see what's been done with Babs so far. I think you might just like the title! I sure as hell do!

So you think it's important that Oracle exists in the DC2 universe huh? ;D

Well my friend you are in luck! Now I am not know to push people into reading the Suicide Squad but....YOU GOTTA READ THE SUICIDE SQUAD. The mystery of Oracle begins in issue #1 and issues 4-6 focus on it in a big way!

Now tune in here coming up to see the sequel of sorts to the Oracle tale in the long delayed but upcoming SS Annual #1! It will be a huge story and won't disappoint!

Moonwing, I understand your frustation, but here is the deal - DC2 has an established continuity. This is really no different than DC or Marvel or whoever...they have an established timeline that they roughly work within. That doesn't mean changes cannot be made but you have to have a plan...and a REALLY good one to change it.

Frankly, your best options are to read the related stories and ask writers of those books where characters stand. It may well be your Babs as Orcale story is great, but if it cannot fit with continuity...AT THE MOMENT...then you might have to alter your idea or do something else. You also need to ask who is using what characters and what they are doing or already have in the works.

I've had to do this myself. City of Crime, my upcoming Batman special, was originally written with no continuity references at all. So for it to work in DC2 I had to make some changes. For instance, the first issue made references to Harvey Dent as Two Face....which doesn't work yet because Dent has yet to become Two Face. Do I think my original verison was better with Two Face in it? Yes, but that doesn't help because it has to fit into the contiunity of DC2. A couple of other minor changes and alterations had to be made.

As well, City of Crime is going to introduce a Batman character that has yet to be introduced in DC2. My original plan simply did not work within established continuity. So in talking with the guys currently writting Batman and Tec and a couple of other people - who will NOT tell anyone who the character in question is..lol - I revised the plan so it would work and frankly ended up being a better idea and one that will really have some juice to it both for City of Crime and for future Batman and 'Tec stories.

Also, City of Crime is set BEFORE most continuity is established, freeing me up a little. But even then I had to make sure read stories involving characters I was using the Penguin and Harvey Bullock. I had to make sure little things worked like why does the Penguin not like being called the Penguin? We see part of why that is by the end of City of Crime. How come Batman knows EXACTLY who Cobblepot is when they "first" met? Just how dirty a cop is Bullock etc...so I had to find a way to either foreshadow current developments -the Penguin being the most fun - so City of Crime really meshed with what was already done.

If none of that works, you can always go the elseworlds route.

Bottom line though, is that DC2 is a pretty flexible place, and everyone here is pretty open minded and can help you develop your idea or change it so it can fit within what is already there.

Believe me arcalian, it's DC2 that's happy that you're on board.

Believe me, I felt the same way at first, because naturally as a writer you want a level of control over characters, a control that you don't have when using someone else's work or someone else's continuity. I remember reading that the new Wonder Woman writer coming up has even remarked on that.

It's frustrating in one sense, because you're familiar with a certain idea that came from a certain circumstance or situation, and now you can put it into motion the way you want it. But it also challenges your skills as a writer to get around those walls by finding new solutions or new paths in your writing. Plus, who's to say that you can lead certain characters down to a similar path or even find another character who can take that role?

To answer your question, I think when I first came here I was looking for a more familiar continuity, the one I've grown to love at DC's, where Kyle is GL and Wally the Flash, etc, etc (for me those two are the biggest representatives of the generation of DC I grew up with). That would have been what I would have wanted changed. Since I love Wally and the Flash family, I probably would have wanted to start there and save a place for my name on the writer's slot.

Now, I'm used to it, and I see that there are possiblities that writers can lead them to that path if they access to them. Plus, I like to use more B or C list characters, the obscure ones that people don't think of too much, because that is a backstreet way of having more control over what you can do.

Plus, there's always Elseworlds! Do an Elseworld's based on what you want, and maybe an idea or plot might carry over into an idea for the mainstream!

lol I know it looks bad because we're all like "Get over it, you can still work" but it wasn't meant to be that way. Though honestly, for me, I was a bit frustrated when I started, so I was really telling you how I felt when I joined.

If I had to diverge before, I think I would have done like I said. Have had my favorite young adult heroes already where they were in DC. Now that I've been around a bit, I'm not sure what I would change since I'm used to the continuity. Having Oracle around would be great, like you said...Not sure what else...

That'd be me...

Moonwing....I know whatcha mean....my first DC2 story (NW #10) was submitted to Ellen...with Oracle. Barbara Gordon Oracle. So, I had to rewrite all of Bab's parts, which was immensely frustrating and consequently had to revise a few of the other character's parts. Now, I make sure that the character exists AS THE CHARACTER I MEAN and THEN write it...and that the character's available. I beg Mark and John to let me use Starfire, and Nocturna and Night-Thief... I haven't tried writing the elseworlds yet (though I've read many of Ellen's) but that might be a good route...

BTW...check out Locked and Lost;)

Given John's enthusiasm for your work, I think you'll do just fine....