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bigger: series description
JUST THE FACTS:
- TITLE:
"BIGGER"
- TAG LINE:
When a virus from the skies caught up to Raphael Riley, everything in his life took on a much larger scale.
- WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT:
An urban superhero story, BIGGER is about an average young man who literally stumbles into more power than he knows what to do with. It remixes the cliches of the past while poking a sharp stick at the conventions of the present, moving towards a new paradigm for a logical altruistic metahuman in the 21st century.
- WHAT THE STORY IS REALLY ABOUT:
Following the heroic arc, BIGGER shows the transformation of an average man into someone extraordinary. He is put through a crucible of pressures that neither his powers nor his life have prepared him for. Much like the flashes of insight he will have throughout the series, BIGGER will return to the simple lessons of family and personal responsibility for a collective good; taking an "at-risk" person and leading them to become a positive force in the world.
- CONCLUSION:
BIGGER is poised to satisfy the traditional superhero fan (with large scale melee combat featuring riveting, fully realized characters) and today's more discriminating comics reader (with well developed storylines, witty and interesting dialogue, and a realism that doesn't have to be gritty to relate to the real world.
SERIES SUMMARY:
Bigger is the story of a young Black man who stumbles into a great deal of power and takes the long hard journey towards being a hero. It takes place in a new and fresh milieu and follows the protagonist as he struggles every day with his situation. With the foundation of a solid upbringing, his choices go from selfish goals to doing no harm, finally arriving at being a hero.
Twenty-two year old Raphael "Ray" Riley has lived in Los Angeles for six years, but he's no closer to getting a grasp on his life than he was when he left the womb. He still dreams of being in the NBA, despite knowing his shot is nothing special and his height is far from a recruiter's dream. Completing a plumber's training course only taught him that he hates the wastes of others, and on the day he was fired from his seventh job, something happened to change his life forever.
Riley ends up on the business end of a murder charge in a tragic case of mistaken identity. This places him at Mule Creek prison when a victim of a mutagenic virus (one hooked into a larger continuity not really addressed here) is transferred there. Of course, chaos ensues when prisoners, guards and staff develop metahuman powers, and several prisoners escape, incluring Riley, who returned to the streets of Los Angeles. There he begins a difficult but empowering journey from man to hero. Along the way he'll tangle with the criminal justice system that unfairly imprisoned him, a celebrity culture that favors the flavor of the month just as long as it's new, and other people given extraordinary powers by both the mysterious mutagenic virus and less easily explained phenomena.
The concept, considered by some "Luke Cage Done Right," is a concept that's accesible and clear cut, one that benefits greatly from having a singular focal point for the narrative as well as literally scores of pop culture hooks to interest a wide demographic audience. The vastly underserved urban audience is hungry for a story that reflects their reality, even in fantastic terms. The existing comic book buying public is well known for purchasing books where a badass Black lead character kicks butt. This concept is able to merge those two needs into one coherent title that can make money inside and outside the Direct Market.
STORY ARCS:
BIGGER attempts to follow what's called "the heroic arc," a series of events that transforms the common man into the uncommon hero. The different story sections that constitute that journey are already planned out in steps, as shown below:
Book One: Breaking Out Of The Cage
- Fugitive Phase (3 issues)
(The origin story, including the false conviction, the jailbreak, the emergence of Riley's powers as he makes his way home, his fight with prison rival atop building, laying low in South Central LA, and dodging his old bad luck)
Book Two: Bulletproof
- Bodyguard Phase (3 issues)
(Riley is recruited by a high powered bodyguard firm, with him as the "freak" rookie. Firm mostly services musicians and politicians, and allows him a chance to disappear from his problems, as many of the other employees are doing. Atlanta setting)
Book Three: For The Love Of Money
- Celebrity Phase (3 issues)
(After several high profile moments and missing his family, Riley returns to LA. Superstrong bulletproof mystery man speaks to press and grins it up, beginning of the name "Bigger" being attached to him)
- "Hero for Hire" Phase (3 issues)
(Riley sets himself up as a "private protection agent," with bounty-hunter-like legal status, and straightens out legal worries with the help of a renowned and attractive female lawyer)
- Altruistic Phase (2 issues)
(Free from his legal worries when the real armed robber is captured, Riley is disillusioned by his lack of business. Finds out the police discourage his efforts because they hate to lose a collar, tried to "patrol" the neighborhood as a hero, ending up broke)
Book Four: Through The Fire
- Tempted-By-Criminal-Life Phase (3 issues)
(Approached by seedier elements in the community for his obvious talents, Riley turns them down after his mother shines a light on their shady hypocrisy)
- 9-to-5 Phase (3 issues)
(Riley tries a "normal" life, remembers that wasn't doing much for him before, still has a problem keeping a regular job. Partially because it's hard for someone who was famous to reintegrate into "normal" life without a lot of bumps along the road but more because Riley has made some powerful enemies, metahuman and not, in his climb and fall)
- The People's Champion Phase (2 issues)
(With the financial assistance of a guilty media billionaire who accidentally caused the death of a child in Los Angeles, Riley makes his living by protects his neighborhood and the world at large from menaces large and small. He also develops a support staff including the lawyer who helped him get his freedom and a classmate whose gone on to be a skillful financial planner)
The entire "heroic arc" story can be grouped into collections based on font color. Likewise, the "heroic arc" establishes the character for expansion and development as a hero in a wide variety of directions.
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