Multi-talented comedian/actor Patton Oswalt made some waves in 2011 by releasing a couple of quirky pitches from a few years back. The one he had less confidence in, "J," seems to have been refused as "esoteric and pretentious," but it strikes us as the more compelling:
The Joker once again breaks out of Arkham Asylum, and Batman - along with the Justice League - tears apart Gotham to find him. And who feels the heat the worst when the League is cracking down hard? Gotham's criminals. And because Batman works his way up from minor street thug, higher and higher on the chain, it's the "C" list criminals who suffer first. Barely escaping a beatdown and capture, The Cluemaster (who I'm going to make a much younger, inexperienced criminal) gathers a literal "C"-list of other, frightened criminals - Crazyquilt, Crime Doctor, Calendar Man and Copperhead - to hunt the "J". What follows is a desperate night search through Gotham's underworld, during which our protagonist - The Cluemaster - sees firsthand the effects of crime (Calendar Man's failed, broken life; The Crime Doctor's past victims and wasted potential; Crazyquilt's petty "goals" and Copperhead's pointless savagery). It all comes to a head when they confront The Joker - who personifies every awful quality of his teammates. He stops them from killing "J" - they each have their reasons for wanting The Joker dead - and then leaves the "team". The last page shows him leaving one last clue for The Batman - the location of the loot he stole earlier that night. Like I said, maybe a little too esoteric. But I wanted to put Batman and the other big, colorful superheroes into the world of one of those low-stakes, early 70's noirs, like The Nickel Ride or Hustle.
Odds Of Being Good: 95%. Oswalt's existing comics work includes JLA: Welcome to the Working Week, which is packed to bursting with fun ideas. Odds Of Being Published Someday: 5%. Oswalt at least has some history with DC, but this project never got past the pitch stage.
T Campbell has written quite a few online comics series and selected work for Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop. His longest-running works are Fans, Penny and Aggie-- and his current project with co-writer Phil Kahn, Guilded Age.
