LogFAQs > #909423084

#1 - Mephisto's Contracts Created by: Wickle

Mephisto wants to defeat Trigon, sending some souls after him

Mephisto (by command)
Ghost Rider
Spawn
Blue Devil
John Constantine
Daimon Hellstrom

I think I knew from the moment this team was nominated that it would be the roster and concept that won. I immediately saw the vision for this group, and not only that, I wanted to write a book like this. I see Mephisto sitting on high, the Chief, the Professor X of this group, commanding a collection of comic's most famous Faustian bargain buyers to suit his own agenda. The group is forced to work towards achieve the pursuits and ambitions of a villain and yet you can see that every step of the way, they will try to work around the directives at every turn. Much like the last title, there is a cold war within this group. This time, however, it's clearly Mephisto vs. the team. Mephisto's goals would be simple: claim souls in the name of Mephisto himself. And the group, all individuals who have faced the raw end of the soul-selling racket, would be loathe to manipulate or cajole someone down that route. The series would clearly open with a little nod to Sandman, as Mephisto steps in to usurp the reign of the hells of a full multiverse. You could set up Lucifer as a great occasional guest star who, in retirement, has no horse in the race. Instead, from time to time, the team members might seek his assistance by posing to him "thought experiments" where, if he was tickled by the proposition, Lucifer could occasionally provide aid by suggesting how to beat him were HE the devil.

The team will spend time not only regretting their own decisions of soul-selling thanks to this fate where they have to physically carry out the will of Satan, cursing their respective weaknesses that led them down this route, and in point of fact, it seems on the surface that there's really nothing they can do to override the commands of Mephisto. But, and I think this would happen at the end of the first major story arc, John Constantine would eventually reveal to the reader that his deal with the devil was made null and void in Dangerous Habits. But Mephisto isn't omnipotent, and he likely didn't realize that the deals Constantine made with three different rulers of Hell effectively ruled each obsolete, leaving his soul free. So Constantine can walk a dangerous line of foiling Mephisto's plans while also protecting his extremely dangerous secret. Now the group would have just enough of an edge that they could start playing the deadliest game imaginable - quietly combating the greatest threat in the history of the known multiverse.

I love the interactions we could get. Constantine is almost a man amongst monsters, and the rest of the group would have their individual quabbles with one another. Every personality is different here, and while there's a supernatural element to every character, they are all visually so dynamic and in terms of personality varied. Meanwhile, Mephisto will sit atop the throne of Hell and continue to keep the stakes of this series urgent.

Consider the potential for this team. Will they attempt to corrupt the soul of young Billy Batson for Mephisto? How do you tempt the Dark Knight to turn away from his potentially dangerous investigations without playing your hand? Will you regret carrying the soul of a murderer like Bullseye to Hell?

Throw in the Trickster as a consistently recurring character who has incurred the wrath of the devil by tricking him once before, and I think you have the sort of unique, exciting series that would bring in a dedicated readership. This is a story worth telling, a tale of morality plays patched in and among a chess match with stakes not unlike The Seventh Seal, all of it with a handful of souls hanging in the balance.

Good stuff.
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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful