Common Grounds - Post 1

[icon_uk]

I love a good superhero slugfest, they can be very... cathartic (If they also feature cute acrobats or the like, so much the better, but it's not absolutely required)

However, I love the offbeat too, the "slice of life" stories which look at how superpowers impact ones life, and look at why some people become heroes and some people become villains, and why some people don't actually do much with their powers. The likes of "Astro City" and "DP7" examine this sort of thing, but there are others too. This is the first of a series about one title which did it very well indeed, IMHO.

"Common Grounds" was a 6-issue mini series from Top Cow Productions in 2004, created by Troy Hickman, with two stories per issue, and a rotating cast of noted artist telling one story each.

The premise is simple. In this world there exists a chain of coffee shops; "Common Grounds", whose purpose is to create a neutral environment for super-powered beings. Anyone is welcome (though "normals" tend to be intimidated) but the one rule is "NO FIGHTING". There's no truce magic, or power neutralising effects or the like, just mutual agreement. And it holds too, because even supervillains like somewhere to get a nice kruller and a cup of really good coffee. And anyone dumb enough, or psycho enough, to try something there would discover that A) Their bouncers are superpowered too, and B) All the OTHER heroes and villains who liked it there would be after you like a shot. You think Darkseid is bad, just wait until you see Bucky deprived of his coffee and morning Danish pastry... An eternity in the Firepits of Apokalips would be a refreshing spring breeze by comparison. (It's never stated, but one might assume that the Police don't intervene on Common Grounds property because if they're having a coffee they're not robbing a bank, and if you did try to intervene then it would get very messy very quickly.)

These stories are mostly 9 pages long (a few longer, a few shorter), which makes trimming to 1/3 a beast of a job, so I would thoroughly recommend checking out the proper versions of these stories (It's available as a TPB for those who can't find the single issues) as they do deserve a proper reading.



From issue 1, the tale of Speeding Bullet, who lives

"Beyond the Speed of Life"

(Approx 3 pages from a 9 page story)

Ed Franklyn is an up-and-coming writer who has managed to secure an interview with Speeding Bullet, the devil-may-care superspeedster superhero. Ed has always rather envied superheroes, he'd always imagined how cool it would be to have superpowers, as do many people who seem to have rather tame lives... They arrange to meet at a Common Grounds...





I like this guy.... Anyway, SB explains that he has no clue as to the origins of his speed powers, one day he was running to catch a bus in New York, the next thing he knew, he was in an Iowa cornfield. Being of that sort of a mind, he decided to use his powers to help people, made himself a costume, and promptly became Speeding Bullet, the sort of hero who runs into burning buildings to pull people out. Ed expresses his envy of SB, but SB says that it's not that simple...



Now there's something we never hear from Wally, Bart or Pietro, but it makes perfect sense.

He can only afford his food bills because for an hour once an month, he donates blood plasma. His body replenishes it in about 27 seconds, and he earns about $1800. He also gets a lot of freebies because of who he is, case in point....





Okay, now that's DEFINITELY not something I've even heard Pietro mention...

He liked reading, but is quite literally running out of books to read because he zips through them so fast.



Ed realises that this means all the Pauly Shore ones too, and commiserates. SB mentions that because he doesn't sleep anymore, when he's not actively helping people, he just keeps running, racing along the roads at night for something to DO. He also notes he thinks he has every billboard in the entire USA committed to memory.

He'd also like to help out in other countries, which he could reach quite easily, but he's basically barred from foreign travel, because his powers would make him the perfect spy.

Ed tries to cheer him up by reminding him of all the good he's done, but like most of us, SB tends to remember his failures more than his successes. There was a little girl trapped in a mineshaft which was slowly collapsing on her... He offered his help of course, but...



She died, her lungs filling with dirt whilst he was out getting sandwiches for everyone... There's no blame of course, there's nothing he could have done, but from his POV, he SHOULD have been able to, and that's what he remembers, as he starts to break down in frustration.



I love that last panel, it's nothing more than a man reaching out to make contact with another man so he knows he's not alone. It's not sexual, it's not even affectionate per se, it's just.... human.

SB gets himself under control, though he notes that he's not even sure most forms of suicide would work for him since he heals from just about anything at hyperspeed

SB then says he has to head out, and Ed tells him that if he ever wants to talk, for another interview, or even just because he wants to talk, to get back in touch..



So, your thoughts?

Comments

[dorksidefiker]

I love this series an absolute insane amount.

How much do I love this series?

Once upon a time, a long long time ago before my basement flooded, I had some of the original version. The black and white one that had an issue featuring the creators in universe.

[icon_uk]

Damn, I didn't even know that there was such a thing...

[arilou_skiff]

Common Grounds is love.

[auggie18]

Such a fun series. So much love.


Shouldn't he have aged to death by now, though?

[icon_uk]

I'd say his metabolism is so screwed up, it'd be hard to say what the long terms effects would be.

[blackruzsa]

I'm gonna need to put this on my list.

They pretty much put together what we thought about the backlash of super powers but never mention in mainstream.

[venatosapiens]

And the backlash is treated without the mean-spiritedness of a lot of other "realistic" takes on superheroes. I love it.

[crinos]

Yeah, definitely love this book. I actually did MnM writeups of the new Liberty Balance (Mental Midget, American Pi, Eternal Flame, Strangeness and Charm, and Coldspell). I even got a comment from the writer on my setting thread thanking me for including his work in my setting.

[ogrebear]

Could you provide a link to your work please as I would really like game stats for these characters.

[keeva]

I sorta dislike the journalist's choice at the end. (Speaking as a journalist.)

[icon_uk]

I liked it, though I can see why you might not. Ed had lost his objectivity by relating more to him as a person than a subject.

He could have written a non-judgemental human interest piece, but the revelations were so personal, and at odds with the public persona of Speeding Bullet, it would have been sort of hard to do without making life harder for him.

SB never asked for sympathy (perhaps he should) so making others feel sorry for him would seem... unfair.

[werehawk.livejournal.com]

Good choice to post scans of Common Grounds. With Hickman's current popularity, I had just pulled my run out of storage to read again.

[icon_uk]

I couldn't find anything else he'd written on s_d, what's his current popularity based on?

[ogrebear]

Common Grounds was fantastic!

I really liked the story about the Two kids who where the kids of a Supervillian they hated who found out their father was not who they thought him to be.

[icon_uk]

Strangeness and Charm, yes, that's another good one.

[pyrotwilight]

Well, I remeber seeing this before on SD, I'm guessing before the Great Disaster. Thanks for posting it again. I'm going to have to look into getting it. Been considering getting Astro City as well.

[point5b.livejournal.com]

Oh, do get some Astro City. It's lovely stuff.

[nightauditguy]

Regarding the sex with a speedster...

I forget whether it was West Coast Avengers or something else, but it was about Crystal and Pietro. They were about to do it and Crystal asked him if he could go slow this time.

[whitesycamore]

In the interest of fairness, I feel I must point out that friction burns are also a risk with guys who go slower but are a long time at it...

[irrelevant]

Yeah, I liked this one. Doesn't hurt that physically he could be Dickiebird Grayson's older bro, either. =P

[icon_uk]

Honey, that NEVER hurts! ;)

[blake_reitz]

Love this series. Posted some scans back in the day. Good stuff.

[icon_uk]

I was sure somebody had at some point, but that was two comm shifts ago I'm guessing.

[equinox216]

SB gets himself under control, though he notes that he's not even sure most forms of suicide would work for him since he heals from just about anything at hyperspeed.

Plenty would. Suffocation. Drowning and carbon monoxide poisoning, with sufficient supplies. Hard vacuum exposure. Lava. Even a prosaic exotic like geophagy. I know it's just an authorial handwave at the idea, but still.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, that's why I said "most", not "all".

[glprime]

Also a big CG fan, from back when I was on the City of Heroes forums and could actually PM Troy and tell him how awesome the stories were.

The newer Common Grounds trade was one of the first "correct" choices my folks made when trying to buy me comics as a present; the earlier attempts were just hentai. Getting porn from your parent at Christmas makes it almost impossible to put on the fake "it's great, I love it" face.

[icon_uk]

Oh my, suddenly my parents never quite getting what I saw in comics seems a whole lot better! :)

[arilou_skiff]

Common Grounds also features the most wonderfully puntastic character ever in the Acidic Jew.

[icon_uk]

Indeed, he and Deb-u-ton are next on the list! :)

[mcity.livejournal.com]

*sniff*

Fanmail from a Flounder

[troyhickman.blogspot.com]

Thanks, folks. I've been enjoying the conversation here. A few thoughts:

* Yes, you definitely SHOULD pick up the "proper" Common Grounds trade paperback, as I can only support myself so much from the KFC dumpster.

* Yeah, hopefully there will be new CG stories in the near future, as Starz Media has optioned it for TV, which, if it gets made, would almost certainly mean new comics.

* Yup (I'm a yes man here), Twilight Guardian is one of mine, and the fourth and final issue hits stands in two weeks. There will be a trade that collects those plus the Pilot Season issue. You can also join TG's Facebook page if you want to talk to her directly (no, I'm not kidding): http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Twilight-Guardian-Internet-File-TGIF/124566017605071

* No, I'm not THAT Hickman. But since I'm older than Jon and have been doing comics longer, I'm the original, dammit... ;)

* Yeah, Common Grounds was originally done in 1994-1999 as my photocopied mini-comic Holey Crullers, with art by Jerry Smith. In 2004 Top Cow took those scripts verbatim and had them redrawn by Dan Jurgens, George Perez, Sam Kieth, Angel Medina, Chris Bachalo, Carlos Pacheco, Mike Oeming, and Ethan Van Sciver (with covers by my buddy Rodolfo Migliari). And in 2005 it was nominated for two Eisners (Best Short Story and Best Anthology). And no, wiseguy, it didn't win (but we shared our Best Story loss with Neil Gaiman and lost Anthology to Michael Chabon, so you won't hear me weepin' like a widder woman).

* Besides CG and Twilight Guardian, yeah, I've done City of Heroes (which was turned into a game arc, which I love as a CoH player). Witchblade, Turok, and the Hulk in the ACTOR Comics Presents benefit book (as well as tons of mini-comics and indies). No, I haven't done too many yet; I'm working on it... ;)

* If you want the resolution to Speeding Bullet's story, you have to read the last story in the trade paperback, "Loose Ends."

* In the story I wasn't saying SB had attempted suicide or even thoroughly thought out all the ramifications, just that he was THAT down and worried that even THAT "refuge" might be denied him due to his powers. Yeah, I'm sure he COULD have gotten himself killed. He lives in a universe full of superhumans; if nothing else, he could probably "commit suicide by supervillain."

* Yes, buy Astro City.

* Regarding parents and comics, my mom has no idea what I do, and I believe she thinks I draw Marmaduke. My sig on message boards used to be a series of quotes from famous folks (Stan Lee, Guillermo del Toro, etc.) praising my work, followed by a quote from my mom: "What is it you do with these comic books? You type the words in the bubbles above their heads?"

Geez, I talk a lot. Thanks for bearing with me. And thanks to the folks who said kind words about CG. Good way to start my week... ;)

Troy

Re: Fanmail from a Flounder

[icon_uk]

Wow! Always a pleasure to here from the creator(s) of a title! Thanks for dropping by (I'd have invited you had I known how!) and the considered comments.

I was hoping to highlight a couple of other stories from other issues if that's okay with you? (We only ever permit 1/3 of a story length to be featured, so there's always more good stuff left out than included. If you'd rather I didn't, then no problem.)

I was deliberately planning on not posting anything from the final story (though I would have loved to include the explanation for the existence of CG, which is a lovely, lovely scene) so those who do by the TPB get a suitable "treat" for doing so. :)

SB's comments about suicide reminded me a little of the scene in Gaiman's Sandman, where the Element Woman (The female version of Metamorpho) went through the various options she'd considered for suicide, and why she was pretty sure none of them would work because of her metamorphic powers, so I was perhaps reading a little of that into the scene.

[proteus_lives]

Well worth the re-post.

It's important to realize that powers must suck sometimes.

It's too bad we can't PAD's one perfect Pietro page. It would make a good companion to this.