BSH MONTAGE PROJECT

BOOK 1

PLOT

Note: This entire story is a metaphor for our own struggle against the major comic book

publishers.

AG: Chibuzo (“God lead the way" in Igbo), the celestial guardian between the “Haves” and

the “Have-Nots,” wants to find a black hero and destroy his brothers.

AB: Chibuzo is a gigantic celestial guardian, standing between two spatial quadrants:

East and West. Each quadrant is occupied by several divergent realities, several different

versions of the planet Earth.

The Earths of the Western Quadrant are ruled by a privileged, elite class. Each

world is a shimmering paradise; a world where justice always prevails and the power

structure is never threatened.

The Earths of the Eastern Quadrant are largely inhabited by an oppressed

underclass, yearning to escape. These realities are neglected ghettos; worlds full of

forgotten heroes and untapped potential.

Chibuzo is the guardian of the Eastern Quadrant. On a daily basis, he sees the

discrepancies in opportunity and economic justice. He sees crime and corruption govern

his worlds. He watches as brave heroes fight and die and end up forgotten. But, worst of

all, Chibuzo has discovered the Great Syphon; a terrible device of Western design. The
Great Syphon is a massive tube, that literally draws energy, resources, and creative

thought from the East—feeding it to the West.

Chibuzo did not witness the Syphon’s construction. He only came upon it by

chance. But he has a good idea who initiated its design. Maelstrom and Dominion: his

older twin brothers.

Chibuzo comes to a fateful decision. He will bridge the gap between the two

quadrants, allowing Easterners free passage to the Western opportunities. He will even

out the playing field, so that merit—not inheritance, will determine a person’s success.

And, he will destroy the Great Syphon. It seems like a noble cause.

But, Chibuzo has another reason to bridge the gap. He has grown hateful of his

brothers’ cruel taunting and jealous of their prestigious station. He wonders why he has

been relegated to guard a second class people, while his brothers bask in the glory of their

prosperous worlds. Chibuzo’s ambition is clear. He will bridge the gap, then claim the

West as his own.

There will be challenges, however. Both Maelstrom and Dominion have powers

equal to his own. To defeat them alone, seems virtually impossible. Chibuzo will need

help.

BC: Chibuzo decides to call upon the numerous heroes of the Eastern realities. Among

them, there must be a champion worthy enough to fight at his side. He quietly merges

several, nearly identical realities in to one unified Eastern Earth. He then devises a test,

one that will weed out the lesser heroes.

Using his celestial powers, Chibuzo sends out a telepathic message, falsely

claiming that Maelstrom and Dominion are preparing to invade the East. He speaks of the
arrival of preliminary scouts, here in the East (in Jamestown, Virginia) to find the city’s

weakest spots. To make sure that the heroes come to Jamestown, Chibuzo encodes a spell

of aggression and paranoia in to the telepathic message. He figures that the heroes will

arrive, assume that the other heroes are Western scouts, and begin to fight.

He sends the message throughout the world, but these heroes are the first to

respond:

Omari: When he receives the telepathic message, Omari is in the middle of a battle with

a U.S. tank. It seems an insane veteran has stolen the tank from a local Army base, and

taken the tank in to the city streets. The tank is firing rounds, blowing up buildings, etc.

Omari rips the tank apart, and heads for Jamestown.

Oya: When Oya receives the message, she is in the Ile Ife or “Godspace,” a spiritual

dimension above our own. She is in the middle of short sword practice; her husband

(Shango) is her opponent. It’s a rough practice. The two combatants are using earth-

shattering powers against each other, when Oya abruptly stops. She has an uneasy sense

that something is afoot back in the mortal realm. So, with a kiss to her betrothed, she’s off

to investigate; promising to contact Shango if she needs any help.

Amazula: A group of criminals has just robbed a bank. They have murdered dozens of

people. They are dressed in full body armor, firing machine guns at the police. Amazula

arrives on the scene. She is dressed in a long overcoat that covers her costume. She

calmly walks in to the line of fire and orders the crooks to drop their weapons. The police

hold their fire for a moment. But the crooks fire their guns, riddling her body with bullets.

Amazula falls to the ground in a smoking heap. The criminals laugh—until she gets up.

Amazula tears off the now-shredded overcoat, and pulls out a large sword. She makes
very short work of the robbers, kicking one of their severed heads in the police’s

direction. Then, she heads for Jamestown.

Gravitas: William James Hall, aka Gravitas is teaching a class at a local University. One

of his students, a depressed young man named Melvin, excuses himself to the restroom.

He leaves his books and jacket at his desk. Professor Hall notices how depressed Melvin

has looked lately. He reminds himself that he should talk to Melvin after class.

Unfortunately, Melvin never returns from the restroom. When the class ends, the

Professor goes out looking for Melvin. Meanwhile, Melvin has entered the school’s clock

tower. He has ascended the staircase and stood up on the ledge. He is weeping now, ready

to end his own life. He turns around and lets himself fall backwards from the tower. Just

then, Melvin is held in the air by an enormous gravity wave. Gravitas has saved his life.

He lowers Melvin to the ground, and turns him over to the school counselor. Just then,

Gravitas receives the telepathic message. He flies away from the scene, riding a gravity

wave all the way to Jamestown.

Jaycen Wise: The immortal, Jaycen Wise is walking across a grassy field with

Apedemak, his feline companion. Chibuzo’s telepathic message travels through the air,

racing toward Jaycen. At the last moment, just as the message is about to hit him, Jaycen

turns around and blocks the message with a minor spell. He literally captures the message

with his hand, and encases it in a glass cube. Later, in his laboratory, Jaycen studies the

contents of the cube, watching the images like a wizard watches a crystal ball. He

suspects that this message is some sort of trap, but decides to pursue it further. Jaycen

arms himself, hops on Apedemak’s back, and rides off in to the sunset. Destination: the

Jamestown, Virginia.
 Thus, the stage has been set for an epic battle.

CD: That night, at the shipping docks of Jamestown, Virginia. Omari arrives on the

scene, where he meets Oya. They each assume that the other is a Western scout, sent to

infiltrate the Eastern Quadrant. Oya pulls out her sword and charges toward Omari.

Omari is impressed by the young woman’s speed, but he easily matches it. Oya smashes

the ground beneath Omari’s feet, setting him off balance. She takes the opportunity and

strikes Omari with her sword, inflicting some damage. Realizing that he’s hurt, Omari

gets serious. He scans Oya’s energy signature and fires beams of hard stellar energy from

his eyes. Oya tries to block the beam, but it sends her flying in to a building. Omari fires

another beam. Oya tries to dodge it, but it hits her. Oya is on the ground, struggling to

stand. Omari is about to finish her off when Gravitas arrives.

Gravitas sends a massive gravity wave in to Omari’s back. The wave knocks

Omari momentarily unconscious, and sends him flying straight up in to the air. Omari

splashes down in to the ocean, about a mile from the dock. Meanwhile, Gravitas is

helping Oya to her feet. They know each other from their team, The Challengers. Oya is

feeling better. But she is chomping at the bit to go after Omari. Knowing how impetuous

this young woman is, Gravitas tries to calm Oya down. Unfortunately, Amazula

interrupts their conversation.

Amazula pulls out her sword. She sees the rubble in the street and says, “Heh.

Fighting amongst yourselves? This should be an easy battle!”

Already pissed, Oya charges Amazula. The two women lock swords. Gravitas

enters the fight, helping Oya. The two friends quickly realize that Amazula can’t be hurt
through physical means. Every time they knock her down, she gets back up. Oya decides

to contact her allies in the “Godspace.” She knows several masters of telepathic warfare.

Oya is about to make inter-dimensional contact, when Omari’s eye beams burst up

through the ground, striking her. Omari follows the beam, up through the ground. He

immediately grabs Gravitas. Gravitas struggles, sending wave after wave in to Omari’s

torso. Now seriously injured, Omari picks up Gravitas. He begins to crush Gravitas’

armor.

Confused as to why these “scouts” are trying to kill each other, Amazula tries to

read Omari’s mind. Bad move. Omari senses her and sends a telepathic strike right at her.

Amazula stumbles in pain. Before she can recover, Omari throws Gravitas at Amazula.

Chibuzo smiles at the sight of this battle. He comes in for a closer look. He hopes

to find a champion among them. But, the arrival of one man turns Chibuzo’s smile in to a

cold stare.

DE: Jaycen Wise enters the dock area on the back of his faithful lion, Apedemak. He

dismounts and calmly approaches the battlefield. There, he finds Omari fighting

Amazula, Gravitas, and Oya. They have teamed up against him.

As Jaycen approaches, Amazula tries to read his mind. Jaycen quickly blocks her

probe with a mind cloud. She attacks Jaycen with her sword, but Jaycen anticipates her

technique and counters her moves (all the while telling her, “Your mind has been

poisoned. We are not enemies.”).

Jaycen moves on to Gravitas, who sends a gravity wave at Jaycen. Amazingly,

Jaycen uses the wave to his advantage; riding its edge to propel himself up and over

Gravitas’ head. Jaycen lands on Gravitas’ back, sending him face first in to the ground.
He puts Gravitas in a one-arm choke hold, and quickly removes the ring from his finger,

greatly reducing his gravity powers. (Jaycen continues to repeat, “Your mind has been

poisoned. We are not enemies.”)

Jaycen is choking out Gravitas (who is furiously fighting him back). Oya runs to

her friend’s aid. She attacks Jaycen with her sword, slashing him across the back.

Thinking that Jaycen is his ally, Omari defends him. He knocks the sword from Oya’s

hand and knees her in the torso. Oya falls to her knees. Omari apologizes for hurting her.

(“You left me no choice, etc.”)

Omari turns around to help Jaycen. Jaycen’s fist is right in Omari’s face. On his

finger, he is wearing Gravitas’ ring. Jaycen fires a gravity blast right in to Omari’s face,

knocking him to the ground. Jaycen repeats, “Your mind has been poisoned. We are not

enemies.”

EF: “That is your enemy,” says Jaycen as he points up to a partially transparent Chibuzo.

Chibuzo is standing behind some buildings, looking down at them. “He set us up to fight

his battles, against his brothers. We should be fighting him.”

The other heroes clear their heads. They see that Jaycen is right. They agree to

attack Chibuzo.

FG: Chibuzo begs them not to kill him. He reminds them that his brothers are a real

threat, and that the West probably will invade them at some point. The heroes have no

choice but to agree. They all know that Maelstrom and Dominion will eventually destroy

their beloved city (using the Great Syphon). If not now, then in the near future. In a

unanimous decision, they decide to help Chibuzo defeat his brothers, and close the gap

between the two quadrants.

Note: At this point, the heroes would confront Maelstrom and Dominion, attempting to

enter the Western Quadrant. The guardians will refuse them entrance, and attack the

heroes. The battle will break out at this point. I’m still not sure how the battle will play

out. I welcome all of your ideas.

Update: I may end the fight in a stalemate, with Maelstrom and Dominion calling

for reinforcements. The reinforcements could be fake Marvel and DC heroes.

Then, the black heroes would also call for reinforcements. The last two pages could

literally be the montage poster, with everybody’s characters together.

OR

The heroes could just beat up Maelstrom and Dominion really quickly (I’ve got 44

pages, total) and destroy the Great Syphon. How this ends is really up to you guys.