Unlikely Heroes
"Vampires can't be heroes," Cameron said, shaking her head at Alex's concept for his latest comic.
"Why not?" Alex asked. He ran a gum eraser over the panel to touch up the stray lines.
"They just can't," she answered. "Don't ask me. It's just the way things work. The vampire's the bad guy. The monster. You know, Bella Lugosi with the grr, argh."
"Well, it's not like the Crimson Shadow is a vampire anyhow. He just has vampiric powers. You know, life drain."
"And weakness to sunlight. And fangs. And a slowed heartbeat..."
"Well, yeah."
"Call a spade a spade, Alex. He's a vampire. And vampires can't be heroes."
"There's been a lot of successful comics with vampires as heroes. As far back as the 70's, even. You heard of Morbius?"
"He started out as a villain, didn't he?"
"Yeah but... okay. Maybe not him. What about Blade?"
"Only part vampire. That's different."
"Vampirella?"
"Vampirella's a bimbo. She doesn't count."
"Whatever." Alex wasn't going to listen to his ex-girlfriend, anyhow. There was a reason she was ex - and that had primarily to do with the fact that everything he wanted to do was something she thought was entirely stupid. Like the whole indie comic business - she'd told him to grow up and get a real job. And wasn't he here, making a living at it? Well, more or less. At least he was trying. She'd dumped him anyhow, for a dull guy with a steady job who took her out to dinner every Sunday and brought her flowers on all the right occasions.
"Look, I have better things to do than to argue the point. You asked for my opinion, and I gave it to you. So if you want to keep on working on a stupid idea that no one will buy into, you just go right on with that. I'm outta here." With that, she gave him a perfunctory 'we're-still-friends' kiss on the forehead and flounced out the door.
As usual, he breathed a little easier once she was gone. He studied the concept drawings that he'd laid out around his studio, considered trashing them and starting again. Maybe The Crimson Shadow could be the vlilian of the story, and someone else could be the hero. Maybe Cameron was right. This could be a totally stupid idea. He reached for the first drawing, the one that showed the face of the Shadow from several different angles, and tried to ball it up. But he couldn't quite bring himself to do it.
"Maybe vampires can't be heroes," he said to the drawing, " but you're not a vampire. You're the Crimson Shadow. And I'm going to tell your story..."
The drawing, being a drawing, didn't answer of course. But Alex felt better about things than he had in a long time. He was doing something on his own intuition. For the first time since the breakup, he felt strong on his own.
"Why not?" Alex asked. He ran a gum eraser over the panel to touch up the stray lines.
"They just can't," she answered. "Don't ask me. It's just the way things work. The vampire's the bad guy. The monster. You know, Bella Lugosi with the grr, argh."
"Well, it's not like the Crimson Shadow is a vampire anyhow. He just has vampiric powers. You know, life drain."
"And weakness to sunlight. And fangs. And a slowed heartbeat..."
"Well, yeah."
"Call a spade a spade, Alex. He's a vampire. And vampires can't be heroes."
"There's been a lot of successful comics with vampires as heroes. As far back as the 70's, even. You heard of Morbius?"
"He started out as a villain, didn't he?"
"Yeah but... okay. Maybe not him. What about Blade?"
"Only part vampire. That's different."
"Vampirella?"
"Vampirella's a bimbo. She doesn't count."
"Whatever." Alex wasn't going to listen to his ex-girlfriend, anyhow. There was a reason she was ex - and that had primarily to do with the fact that everything he wanted to do was something she thought was entirely stupid. Like the whole indie comic business - she'd told him to grow up and get a real job. And wasn't he here, making a living at it? Well, more or less. At least he was trying. She'd dumped him anyhow, for a dull guy with a steady job who took her out to dinner every Sunday and brought her flowers on all the right occasions.
"Look, I have better things to do than to argue the point. You asked for my opinion, and I gave it to you. So if you want to keep on working on a stupid idea that no one will buy into, you just go right on with that. I'm outta here." With that, she gave him a perfunctory 'we're-still-friends' kiss on the forehead and flounced out the door.
As usual, he breathed a little easier once she was gone. He studied the concept drawings that he'd laid out around his studio, considered trashing them and starting again. Maybe The Crimson Shadow could be the vlilian of the story, and someone else could be the hero. Maybe Cameron was right. This could be a totally stupid idea. He reached for the first drawing, the one that showed the face of the Shadow from several different angles, and tried to ball it up. But he couldn't quite bring himself to do it.
"Maybe vampires can't be heroes," he said to the drawing, " but you're not a vampire. You're the Crimson Shadow. And I'm going to tell your story..."
The drawing, being a drawing, didn't answer of course. But Alex felt better about things than he had in a long time. He was doing something on his own intuition. For the first time since the breakup, he felt strong on his own.