With "Reality" Television actually a somewhat NEW concept, I had the idea to combine super-heroes and asinine TV challenges. (Again, this was 12 years ago, so don't be too harsh.)
The concept was "Superme Being", in which 12 super-heroes who couldn't make it big on their own competed to win their own city to protect. (Along with a hoard of awesome items specifically designed as per their theme.)
To ensure fairness, I actually put together a randomized character list to determine which characters would go home, when they would be eliminated, and who the ultimate winner would be.
The contestants were...
1.) Skulljack, the gritty vigilante.
2.) Mason, the armored billionare.
3.) Slab, the dapper rock-man.
4.) Gangrel, the romantic vamp/wolf.
5.) Bouncemaster, the demented stretching loon.
6.) Old Soul, the teen with cosmic powers.
7.) Aftershox, the techie earthquake-master.
8.) Model Citizen, the perfect female soldier.
9.) Seafish, the mer-woman.
10.) Blastress, who explodes a lot.
11.) Demonique, the "bad girl".
12.) Volume, the loudmouth with the really loud mouth.
I ended up creating not only a full roster of characters for the first 12-issue arc, but also 12-character rosters for several more installments... leaving me with a little over 100 Supreme Being characters... :takataka:
Check out these awesome covers by Mike Penick...
Volume about to be set upon by a gator-man.
ROAD TRIP!
Each issue would follow a formula. The characters are surprised by the demented Zombie host (Indestructa-Bill) and given a seemingly simple task, like "find the Supreme Being token... in the Grand Canyon", then whomever completed it recieved immunity. From there, the "real" challenge began, like working through a sewer maze full of gator-men or finding a (cough) bomb in the (cough cough) World Trade Center.
Again, this was 2000. Hello, FBI. Hello, CIA. Welcome to SlimeBeast, where we love America and any comments saying otherwise are lies. (Also I will provide you with their personal information.)
Here are the only pages that exist:
HEY KIDS, TIME TO WATCH CHRIS FAIL.
First impressions.
The contestants learn they have to walk home.
You know, from the bottom of the Pacific.
Not scripted: Nipples all up in ya grill.
So what happened, you ask?
Well, I started out pooling together several illustrators to work together on the project. However, Mike's work was so stellar that I agreed to make a go of approaching publishers as a duo. In the end, I didn't think far enough ahead. Mike's fee for work was well above anything I could pay, and I realized that a publisher wasn't going to foot the bill, either.
Responses from publishers were mixed. Some were positive, other included "it can't work with no main character" and "no one will ever buy a comic about a reality show."
The latter is a (loose) quote from someone at DC.
In relation to that quote, it may warm you to know that Supreme Being's final nail in the coffin was when, about three years after I hacked out the premise, Wildguard came out with almost the exact same premise.
-- And the first issue sold out.
BONUS!
You'll be able to see some of the Supreme Being characters (like Old Soul) recycled in the upcoming Project Breakthrough!