Thread: Manga Idea

Interesting idea it's a little different from what most mangas are doing in creativity of location and time. Go for it. If you post it up here I will read it. But be warned don't expect too many people to reply to your work. I have a fan fic here too and after the first part people just read it and give no response. Some people don't like it to have their work critized and some do. I'm one of the ones that does like it. Anyway if you want some ideas read some of the other fanfics here. My fanfic is Magical Detective Daisuke. Part 3 is just came out so feel free to read it. Solid came up with this weird crossover .hack/Daioh so read his manga too. Good luck with the manga idea.

Is this going to be and independently drawn manga? (in other words, is your "company" real?)

That story sound very awsome. I love stories about world war two. It always tends to grasp me in its overwhealming history and demographics. I think that your idea is the bomb. I hope that it will gain lots of attention and lots of readers.

This is an independant venture. I'm doing this solely because I feel like doing it, not because I think I can make money out of it.

I've still got a long ways to go before I actually feel confident enough to begin drawing, but the above is the gist of the story.

I've got a ton of these ideas sitting in my computer, but I just like this one the best. My hope is to tie in a little bit of actual factual history into the story while making it enjoyable not only to war buffs, such as myself, but also to shoujo fans.

I am, however, very open to any ideas and suggestions you may have because the only person who has actually be filtering through ideas is me, and with little outside input, I don't think that a comic that just suits my tastes would be very popular.

I have considered taking the story out of London and into the country, where factually most strategics and schools were, but I just like the setting of London, and the fact that it was heavily bombed throught the war and all the people who passed through London, just makes it a more interesting place.

I guess I'll just toss in a few scene ideas I've had. As I brainstorm, I often come up with scene ideas that I have no idea where they'll fit or where they'd be appropriate, but they're just awesome ideas that I really like.

For those of you who don't know, most Allied bombing raids on Fortress Europe were flown from England and into occupied territory. Being a bomber isn't exactly the best place to be because bombers don't have the agility of fighter planes and must maintain flight formation under all circumstances. Though, there were fighter escorts that protected bombers, fighters could not carry nearly as much fuel as bombers and often had to leave just as bombers crossed into heavily defended territory. When fighters or bombers would return from a bombing run, they would often be full of holes and injured crewmen, but when they arrived in English territory, they knew it. Why? Because of the White Cliffs of Dover. If any of you have listend to wartime songs, one song is called the White Cliffs of Dover. Pilots would see those cliffs and knew that they were safe.

One short scene idea is Dorian and Sarah swimming off the shore and watching the bombers return to base. It's a single page of the two of them swimming and bombers flying over head.

Like I said, I have no idea where these scenes would fit in, but they're just what I think are awesome.

If you have any suggestions like that, it would be most appreciated.

Ok, I sat down and worked out some character histories:

Dorian Snowe:

Son of Marten and Elizabeth Snowe of Guernsey Island. Dorian is the youngest generation of his family's line of farmers. As far back as the Snowe family tree goes, the first son has continued the care of the family farm. The farm is little more than 4 or 5 acres and is mainly a sustinance farm. Very little of what they grow is actually sold because most of it is consumed by the family. There is a lot of bartering between the farms and ranches, and the system has worked fairly well for centuries. Both his mother and father are illiterate and no little more than what is needed for farming. What little clothes Dorian had before moving to Paris were from the church donation box, as are his parents' clothes. Marten Snowe, understanding that there is so much more for his son than the simple family farm insists that Dorian move to Paris to live with his Uncle, Henry Snowe, a wealthy owner of a printing press.

Dorian, an only child, at the age of 10 already understands that his parents are giving up another set of hands and a potential heir to the family farm by sending him away. He feels a need to succede for his parents and the betterment of his family.

While in Paris, Dorian learns to read, write and do math by reading the books that are processed in his Uncle's press. He spends very little time in the actual city of Paris, using most of his days watching the press and learning the trade.

In 1935 Henry Snowe takes a business trip to Madrid in hopes of creating another printing press in Spain. Unfortunately he cannot escape Spain in time for the Spanish Civil War. Henry is caught in Guernica on April 27th 1937 (please note that in my first post I inappropriately had Dorian return to Guernsey in 1936, he will have returned in 1937) and dies in the bombing of the city.

A little historical note. April 27th 1937 is when Hitler, with authorization of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, tested his new bombers by firebombing the civilian town to the ground. The painting "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso was his rendition of the attack.

When Henry does not return two years after his departure, he is presumed dead and the Vice Chair of the company takes over. Seeing Dorian as a possible future obstacle, he sends Dorian back to the Island of Guernsey.

Back on the Island, Dorian discovers that his mother had died in an auto accident and that his father re-married to the widow of a neighboring farm. Angered that no news was sent of this extreme familial development, he storms out of the home and takes his bike to the port. By this time, recruitment posters for the British Army have begun to show on the walls as the impending war grows. He hears gentlmen in the teahouse talking about Chaimberlain and the appeasment of Hitler as a way to divert war.

Historical note: Before the actual declaration of war, steps were taken to accomdate Hitler's "need" for more land. The common explaination was that Hitler was simply retaking for Germany what was already Germany's. When Hitler later spread his legs into Chezchoslovakia the saying was Germany was, "merely entering its own backyard" or something to that effect. The idea was that allowing Germany to take over those smaller countries would prevent Hitler from taking a shot at the big ones. Of course, they were wrong.

At this point, Dorian is 13, going through puberty and, understandably, very emotionally unstable. Leaving the teahouse, he opens his purse (money pouch -- not a bag or anything) and realizes that he has a 10 pound note. Opening the billet he realizes that the money in that one billet is more than his family had ever had at one time.

Historical Note: At that time a 10 pound note was a LOT of money. Remember, the world was just coming out of an economic depression. In America, $100 was, occasionally, all you had to pay for a car... and a damn good car at that. People were very desperate at this time. On the New York Stock Exchange, people were carrying baskets of apples from the country side and selling them for a nickel.

Slightly more humble and remorseful, Dorian purchases a small bouquet of flowers as an alms for when he walks back home. When he arrives home he meets a young girl by the name of Sarah Waite who looks rather confused and bewildered standing outside Dorian's home. (This scene will be more in depth when when I do a script outline.)

The History ends here and the comic begins where the previous scene begins.

Sarah Waite:

Bastard daughter of Philip Bromley and Margret Waite. Philip was a colonel in the British Army and served in the First World War. He returned and wanted to marry Margret who refused his hand. Through some strange thing or other that isn't particularly crucial to the story, they live together anyway and have Sarah.

Being from the British Army, Philip used his prestige as a high ranking officer to convince the Governor of Guernsey to give him a small plot of land to farm. Philip knew absolutely nothing about farming and worked as a laborer on the dock while his quasi-wife maintained the small farm.

Having a small government pension from her father's service, the family manages to live slightly better off than the Snowe family. When Philip is called to the main island he often brings back new clothes and toys and other small luxuries that the Snowe's aren't accustomed to.

With her father away from home most of the day and her mother in the field, Sarah develops a serious inferiority complex and has bonding issues. She wishes to be close to someone, but always fears that they will leave her.

Sarah has a small comfort item in her possesion. It is a small red ribbon tied in a bow given to her when she was a child. The origins of the ribbon are a mystery as she was too young to remember from whence the present came. She does, however, have a strong emotional bond to it and refuses to part with it.

Unable to send her to school, Sarah's parents keep her at home to help in cleaning the house or helping occasionally on the farm if need be. This, however, renders Sarah legally illiterate. She can read and write, but at a level so low it will be of little use to her if at all.

In 1935 her father, Philip Bromley, joins the International Forces is Spain to fight against Francisco Franco.

Historical note: During the Spanish Civil War, Dictator Francisco Franco was allied with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in an attempt to halt the mainly communist rebels. Many countries, still reeling from from the First World War, refused to send their armies to Spain to defend the Spanish populus. What resulted was a large number of mercenaries from Russia and volunteers from England, France, Canada and America who came to fight against Franco and the fascists in Spain. Unfortunately they were beaten miserably and quite thouroughly.

Philip Bromley, 7 months after his departure from the Isle of Guernsey, is reported dead.

Unsure of what to do, Margret Waite speaks with Marten Snowe about selling her farm. Because Philip was killed in a war that England was not directly involved in, Margret gets no death benefits and no second income.

Seeing the predicament that Margret is in, Marten suggests that they marry and combine their farms (remember, this is AFTER the death of Elizabeth Snowe). The marriage is not out of love or caring, but out of sheer necessity, as are many marriages in these situations. Combining the two farms, Marten and Margret are able to survive on sustinance farming and what little else they can sell at the market.

Sarah, in her new surroundings, explores her new home and discovers that a room had been locked and bolted shut. Managing to enter through the room's window, she realizes that there is a boy who also lives with the family, Dorian Snowe. She lifts a photograph from a frame in the room and sneaks out with the image of her "playmate to be" kept close to her.

For one year she waits outside the door of the home for Dorian to return. Occasionally she lifts the small photo from her blouse to look at him and wonder what his life is like. She fantasizes about the young man in the photograph and when she finds a letter from him announcing his return to Guernsey, she pilfers the correspondance and keeps it for herself. She realizes that she begins to develop an emotional bond to a person she hasn't met and only understands that her aticipation and waiting make her feel happy. With so little else to look forward to, day to day, her hopes of meeting Dorian keep her focused.

Exactly one year after finding the photo, she meets Dorian for the first time.
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These are the Character Histories of two of my Characters. If you have anything you'd like to add to either of them, I'd be more than open to any suggestions you may have.

Perhaps later today I'll finish up the next two Character Histories and post them here as well.

Heidi vonBraun aka Melissa Beyley:

Born in Austria, Heidi is recruited into the SS because she matches completely the "ideal body." She has blond hair, blue eyes and strong birth giving hips as well as a more than ample bosom. While in the SS she realizes that she will probably sent to the birthing homes where women who met the ideal model would simply have kids... lots of kids.

Historical note: When Heinrich Himmler, Oberfuher of the SS, realized that many of his "ideal men" were getting killed in combat, he created an initiative to replace those men with new soldiers. To create this new breed of soldiers he commissioned women to breed with his best soldiers to birth more soldiers so that in time they would replace their fathers in the field. I believe the homes were called the "Fountain of Youth" and they were given priority over all other branches of the military. The German Army could have been starving and without doctors, but if it took away from the "Fountain of Youth" those soldiers in the field were expendable.

Realizing that she would just become a baby machine, she enlisted in Nazi Intelligence to become a spy.

Historical note: For the most part, German spies sucked. They were very ineffectual in England because at that time what was left of their communities was very closely knit and everybody knew everybody. If there was a stranger they were turned in almost immediately. But for the sake of the story, let's say one got in.

Heidi assumes the name Melissa Beyley and infiltrates the British Quartermaster Corps where Dorian works as "the bread guy." Being new to the Corps, she is assigned as a secretary to Dorian, "the bread guy." Not knowing that Dorian is only in charge of Bread Rationing she tries to extract information from him any way she knows how.

When she arrives in England as "a refugee" from Dunkirk and lives in the refugee camps along England's countryside.

Historical note: Dunkirk was the most humiliating moment for the Early Allies during the war. For those of you who do not know, after the First World War, the French built "the Maginot Line." It was a series of top of the line defense structures with a circut of tunnels and trenches and cannons to stop any possible German invasion. The line was raised all along the border between France and Germany. The only gaps in the line were the border between France and Switzerland, and France and Belgium. It made sense at the time. Why build a wall on a friendly border? Well the Germans figured this out and completely circumvented the wall, pushed through Belgium and then conquered France. In the largest retreat in history, tens of thousands of British, French and Belgian soldiers ran to the French Coast of Dunkirk where British war ships were ferrying soldiers and some refugees to England.

The only role of Heidi in the comic is the seductress. She will create the awkward moments and comical sexual situations and raise a lot of hell with Sarah.

Master Corporal James Maple:

Originally from Montreal, Canada, James moved to Vancouver when he realized that he spoke English better than he spoke Qubecois. Famous as a playboy and ladies man in Vancouver, a group of men devise a plan to get James out of Vancouver. They get him drunk off his arse and while he's drunk, they convince him to enlist in the Royal Canadian Army.

When James awakens from his drunken stupor, he finds himself on a train to a Canadian Bootcamp in Alberta.

Determined to get himself out of the Army, he hijacks an anti-air gun and starts shooting at the birds around the camp. When the camp's colonel finally arrives to stop him, instead of a repremand, he is given a promotion and sent to anti-air gunners school where he actually TEACHES soldiers to use anti-air guns.

Historical Note: The Battle of Britian began in August of 1940 when German Bombers attempted to conquer England by destroying its Air Force. The battle lasted for months and ended with over 500 dead pilots and London in near ruin. The first bombing raid was actually supposed to hit an air base in southern England, fortunately (or unfortunately) they hit London instead. Thought the city was hit fairly hard, the air corps was still mostly in tact.

At the start of the battle of Britain, Commonwealth soldiers are requested to serve in London to act as London's air defense corps. James Maple is sent along with the rest of his Canadian contingent to defend London. Sorely missing Vancouver and his "panty chasing" days, he frequents bars and clubs in hopes of regaining his reputation as a ladies man.
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These are another two characters in my story. Their histories are a bit shorter because they are minor characters and their stance in the story isn't really all that important and so doesn't require much in depth history to fulfill their roles.

Again, comments and suggestions are welcome and, in fact, requested. I really want to know what you think so if you have something to say, just type it. ^^