Glorious

⬅ BACK
Glorious ➤
The Comic Book Series ➤
Character Traits of the Series  ➤
Background  ➤
Format  ➤

The Comic Book Series

Glorious is about a teen-age girl with superpowers that only work when she feels good about herself.  It’s also about a girl who had it all and then, through no fault of her own, lost it all. Through sheer force of will she rebuilds from scratch and creates a life more valuable, rich and authentic than the one she lived before. Glory is a 14 year-old straight-A, elite private-school student and teen socialite from a wealthy family. Her father is a brilliant inventor who worked for the advanced technology firm, The Id Corporation.

Due to a massive job move for cheaper labor in Pakistan, India and China, Glory’s father and thousands of other high-tech inventors, researchers and scientists found themselves without careers or jobs. With free time now on his hands, and to make ends meet, her father made moves to patent and cash-in on several of his own inventions. However, he was blocked and sued by his former employer who claimed proprietary rights to all intellectual property he produced while in their employ, even if the intellectual property in question was created during non-working hours.

This court battle went on for years and quickly drained the family of their wealth.  Now Glory and her staunchly proud family are living the lives of average working class Americans. And as the start of her freshman year in high school approaches Glory harbors a secret: she is a Supernatural, a woman miraculously gifted with superhuman abilities. Unfortunately for Glory her powers are empathic; they only work when she feels good about herself.  And starting her freshman year in high school in a new town and her first time ever in public school, Glory’s social norms and values are a lot different than the rest of the student body…this oftentimes amplifies her feelings of isolation and insecurity which short circuits her powers when she needs them most.

And Glory needs full use of her powers because she is charged with a grave purpose: she must prevent the manifestation of Set, god of all demons, from becoming capable of physically materializing on our planet.  To do this she must keep the positive energy on our planet vibrating at a certain frequency which will prevent Set’s Earthly materialization. This will take all her ability and skill to accomplish. Glory discovers that she cannot trick her powers into working by faking how she feels and that, the only way to feel good about herself is through honest self-evaluation, continued self-improvement, personal and academic achievement and the love of her family and true friends.  This journey will take Glorious through all four years of high school, into college and beyond.

Character Traits of the Series

Eating as a Family Once a week Nathan, Ashanti and Glory have dinner at each other’s houses.  At Nathan’s it’s usually pizza around the COMIC BOOK, At Ashanti’s it’s a backyard barbeque with her entire clan, At Glory’s it’s a more formal sit down with her nuclear family.  

During these meals there are pre and post dinner conversations that advance the plot, help our main characters bond with one another as well as with key supporting characters and familiarizes these three friends with each other’s worlds outside high school. As well, each of the three (Glory, Nathan and Ashanti) will typically eat breakfast and dinner with their respective families. The Valedictory Wall Glory and her friends attend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., High School.  

There is a wall in the main hallway of the school that displays the portrait of every graduating class’s valedictorian. The portraits go back to 1946 (when the school had a different name) and some of the valedictorians went on to become great thinkers, leaders and luminaries on the world stage. For every student in King High’s Advanced Placement (AP) Program getting on that wall is their most hallowed goal.  The AP Program contains only the most ambitious, motivated students in the King High.

They can be merciless in their jockeying to ascend to or maintain their standing at the top of the class; especially due to the fact that King High was given a grant to pay in full, the college tuition of the student who graduates at the top of his or her class.  For Glory’s, King High freshman class…let the games begin! The Multi-Magnets Martin Luther King Jr. High School is a multi-magnet school. A magnet school is a public school which offers specialized courses or curricula. The use of the word magnet refers to these schools drawing students from across normal boundaries as defined by school boards into zones that feed into certain schools.   King High is a multi-magnet school because it offers 3 different magnet programs.

They are as follows: The Advanced Placement Program Tract (AP), The International Studies Tract and The Performing Arts Tract. King High also offers generic tracts such as The College Preparatory Tract as well as the basic high School Diploma Tract.  *The Advanced Placement Tract: Each student must sign a pledge called The “A” Contract.   This means that they understand they will be graded on a higher scale than the normal 4.0. Their scale will top off at 5.0.  By signing this contract they also agree to do comprehensively more class and course work than the rest of the student body in order to qualify for grading on this scale.  

And lastly they agree that a “C” average in any one semester will effectively disqualify them from The AP Program.  –The AP tract is where every valedictorian from King High comes from and Glory and Nathan will be in this intense academic program throughout the series.

Background

The epic, universal battle between good and evil has extended to our world.  Set, the god of all demons is locked away just beyond or dimension, he exists in what is called the Negative Plane – others call it Hell.  Unable to reach into our world Set influences it through his emissaries, worshippers, disciples as well as hybridized demons able to take human form. His loyal following actively plans for the day Set can make his entry into our world. This cataclysmic event will set off the start of The Abattoir, also known as The Global Slaughterhouse; when demons inherit the Earth and wipe it clean of man.

One hero is assigned by the gods to stop him. She is a 14 year-old, brand new, high school freshman who is having a bad hair day and an even worse time of life.  Her father lost his job, was sued by his former employer and her family’s wealth and savings have been depleted. Her older brother died in the Iraq War and her younger, 9 year-old brother has retreated emotionally – once a bright, curious child who desired to be a doctor – he is now a sullen, angry lad who wants to be a gangsta rapper. Having known wealth all her life Glory now has to learn to make-do without.  Her gated, palatial-estate living and private school attending days are over as she now begins her first day ever at an inner city public school.

Once a popular socialite, now only nerds and outcasts want to be her friends. This is enough to throw the most even-tempered of girls into a state of disarray. On her first day of school Glory is asked to serve her country by the United States government Occult Crimes Task Force division. They tell her she is a beacon of positive energy, and that the powers she possesses are a gift. And that she is the only person in all the world who can prevent Set, god of all demons, from physically materializing into our existence…

It’s going to be a very long school year.

Format

Format The story of Glorious will be told in a comic book serialized format, with each issue involving a self-contained story while contributing to a larger storyline, which is broken down into 4 to 5 issue long story arcs marked by the rise and defeat of a powerful antagonist. The comic book series will blend different genres, including super-hero, drama, horror, martial arts, romance, melodrama, farce, and comedy. The series' narrative revolves around Glory and her friends who struggle to balance the fight against supernatural evil while navigating the academic and social rigors of high school.  

A typical issue will contain one or more villains, or supernatural phenomena that are to be met and defeated. Though elements and inter-personal relationships are explored and ongoing subplots are included, the series focuses primarily on Glory and her role as a teen superhero whose powers only work when she feels good about herself. The series also explores family, friendship, generational divides, and social class. The most prominent monsters in the Glorious series are the shape-shifting Reptilians, which are based on traditional myths, lore, and global conspiracy theories.  

Glory and her friends fight a wide variety of other demons, as well, including ghouls, sewer monsters, super-villains, and a host of morally corrupt human beings up to and including a group known only as The Vivisectors. Glory and her friends frequently save the world from annihilation through a combination of physical combat, Glory’s super-powers, and detective-style investigation.

They are further guided by an extensive collection of high-tech gadgets and ancient and mystical relics and reference books. Hand-to-hand combat is chiefly undertaken by Glory and to a far lesser extent by her two closest friends Nathan and Ashanti. As the series continues, Glory will be aided by other fellow Supernaturals in her quest to keep her high school, her city and the world safe from evil.

Glory
BIO ➤

BIO

Powers & Abilities: Glory’s brain has the ability to release large amounts of supercharged endorphins into every cell in her body. Her body then converts these endorphins into pure positively-charged energy.  This supercharge of positive energy gives Glory super-strength, super-endurance and the ability to quickly heal.  

Glory also has the ability of flight, and while there appears to be no direct correlation between her super-charged endorphins and her ability to fly it is most likely attributed to her brain’s sense of complete well being igniting psychic energies within it that give her localized telekinetic ability over her body. To allow her brain to produce such large amounts of endorphins Glory must practice positive thinking, maintain a positive mental attitude, a strong sense of self confidence and self-esteem as well as remaining in a constant good mood.  

This state of being has a positive physiological effect on Glory and gives her maximum strength, endurance, ability to heal and flight; also, the reverse is true.  When Glory is plagued with self-doubt, negative thoughts, negative emotions, anxiety and low self-esteem her ability to produce endorphins slows to a crawl and this all but diminishes her superpowers.  To sum it up, Glory’s powers either work or don’t work based on how good she feels about herself in a given day.

Glory struggles with issues of self-esteem, body image and class therefore it’s a constant fight for her to maintain her powers.  Her struggle increases daily as she’s just turned 14, is beginning her freshman year in high school and feels ashamed and embarrassed that her family was forced to sell their home in the upper middle class suburb of Lynn haven and move into the low rent housing district of New Frontier.  Her father, a brilliant inventor, lost his job, her mother, once a stay at home Mom is now back in the workforce for the first time in a decade; her parents argue about money, gender roles, and her little brother is well, her little brother.

Glory also has secondary powers.  She has the empathic ability to pick up both positive and negative vibes from other people.  Through touch, Glory can absorb positive vibes from others thereby unlocking her brain’s ability to produce the requisite amount of endorphins needed to ignite her powers and abilities.  Through physical touch Glory can also pass positive vibes and a sense of well being on to others thereby improving both their mental and physical state of being.  

In effect, positive people are like batteries for Glory and when she touches them she can regain vitality and strength; negative people have the opposite effect, but when Glory is at her most positive she can act as a charger of positive energy for them as well. Glory is a beacon of positive energy.  A vessel of God’s grace and glory.  Set, the god of everything negative and evil in this plane of existence is trying desperately to materialize on Earth’s plane.  

As a result every evil thing in the world is drawn to Glory looking to kill her so that Set can indeed materialize and The Abbatoir (i.e., the global slaughterhouse) can begin.  Glory is the only soul on earth standing in the way of Set’s materialization on the planet.

Glory’s Crew includes Leo, her Sage, Ashanti Rivers her BFF and Nathan Nance – smartest boy in school and BFF-2. Glory’s Rogues Gallery includes: The Socialites, The Nerdz, The Reptilians, Geronimo, Mr. Sebastian, Drama Queen, Despot aka Brett Stanley, Janitor Mathis and Spike the Sewer Monster, The Billionaire Boys Club, Belly, Patron, The Black Cats and Heiress.  All are pictured below.

Glory Concept Design 2
Glory Concept Design 2
Glory’s Battlewear

These are some of the initial character designs for Glory to give us an idea of what the character will look like. Her power only works when she feels good about herself and even though it’s a struggle Glory tries to maintain a smile, think positive thoughts and achieve academically in school.


Ashanti Rivers
BIO ➤

BIO

Ashanti Rivers is Glory’s best friend (aka BFF). She is the life of the party, slightly plus-size, but not very popular among the in-crowd at King High.

Mainly because Ashanti was obese as a child and thus subjected to a lot of ridicule from her classmates; most of whom she matriculated with to King High.

A stint spent at in fat camp helped her to lose weight and gave her a measure more of confidence. Unable to either find or afford fashionable clothes for her size Ashanti has become an excellent seamstress and makes all her own clothes.


Nathan Nance
BIO ➤

BIO

NathanNance is Glory’s best male friend. He has been a darling among the teachers and staff in school since elementary because he’s such a gifted and active student.

Conversely this has labeled him a nerd by his classmates – a designation that’s followed him right into to high school. Nathan has still been able to navigate the teen social waters of high school by being very down to earth, approachable, funny and a great dancer.

His earnestness, wit and charm give him passport into most social situations.


Lumumba Ekundayo Oswego (aka LEO)
BIO ➤

BIO

Leo is a witch doctor and U.S. Government agent for supernatural affairs. He becomes Glory’s chief sage and battle-strategist.

He was sent to King HighSchool by the Witches’ Council to act as chaperone and guide to Glory as she learns her duties as a Supernatural.  

Leo lives in New Salem, the Witches’ District where a vibrant but 19th century style city exists. New Salem is also an electrical dead-zone where no electricity is possible within or above city limits.


The Socialites
BIO ➤

BIO

The Socialites are the most popular girls at King High School.  Decisions on social norms, who’s hot and who’s not, who’s in and who’s out and placement on the high school social hierarchy is determined by them.  

Oftentimes they are foils to Glory’s powers as their treatment and constant criticism of Glory and her friends invoke self-doubt and insecurity which they have to fight internally to overcome.  

The Socialites are (from far left to right): Baby Jane, Wilhelmina, Juliet and Epiphany.

The Nerdz  
BIO ➤

BIO

The Nerdz are an evil genius team of teen-age Pygmies who vow to use their superior intellect to one day take over the world.  In the interim they flesh out their masterplan by trying to take over King High School in an effort to change the social order more to their liking.

The Nerdz are, from left to right: Boss Pee Wee (the leader), Erasmus(the builder), Kenton (the analytical sociopath) and Cookie (the killer chemist).

The Reptilians 
BIO ➤

BIO

TheReptilians are demon shape-shifters who walk the earth in the guise of humans.

Their goal is to infiltrate the earth’s human population seizing power and influence wherever they can, tirelessly helping to bring about the day their god Set is able to materialize on the planet Earth.

That also means stopping at nothing to kill Glory. Some of the teachers as well as students working in and attending King High School are secretly Reptilians…all are waiting for their chance to do her in.

Geronimo 
BIO ➤

BIO

Sometimes friend sometimes foe, Geronimo is a 10th grade, prizefighter-in-training who often barters or sells his skills as a would-be-warrior to the highest bidder.

He is a general malcontent, hostile to authority and very much a loner. However he develops a long-standing crush onGlory but his attempts to communicate that to her are often lascivious and rude.

 


 


Mr. Sebastian 
BIO ➤

BIO

Mr. Sebastian is the Advanced Placement U.S. and WorldHistory teacher who eats his students. Each night at the stroke of midnight he makes the very painful physical transformation into a ghoul.  

And, in order to resume his human form he must hunt and eat the flesh of a human.  As a normal member of society Mr. Sebastian isa brilliant educator.  He has been named teacher of the year five years running.

In class he is tough but his students respect love…as well he is Glory’s favorite teacher. She struggles with her high regard for him when she discovers his deadly secret.

 

 


 


Drama Queen  
BIO ➤

BIO

Drama Queen aka Diana Kinshasa, is the beautiful 10th grade Somali exchange student able to manipulate and impose her will on the emotional state of others for extended periods of time. Her favorite pleasure is in controlling the lust emotion in men and the jealous-rage emotion in women.

And knowingGlory’s powers only work when she feels good about herself Drama Queen delights in toying with the emotional state of Glory and her crew.

 



Donovan Despot  
BIO ➤

BIO

DonovanDespot is the starting varsity quarterback and most popular boy in school.  By day he is also a straight-A student andJunior Class President.  

But by night he quietly runs a vast network of teenage spies and henchman to achieve his personal aim: remaining popular at all costs.


Janitor Mathis and Spike the Pet Sewer Monster  
BIO ➤

BIO

Janitor Mathis is the mysterious custodian of Dr. MartinLuther King Jr. High. Years ago he discovered and became guardian to a stray sewer monster he named Spike.

Spike has to feed at least once a month and his favorite prey appears to be the students at King High.

 


 


The Billionaire Boys Club  
BIO ➤

BIO

The Billionaire Boys Club aka Better Educated Blacks akaTrust Fund Gangstas are a small group of boys whose fathers are all billionaires.

These boys pool their weekly allowances to purchase weapons of mass disruption and wreak havoc across the mega-metropolis of NewFrontier.  

They are wealthy enough to live out their wildest fantasies and most violent urges.  Those fantasies and urges usually include forcibly imposing their will on their environment.  

Led by Thomas Nickelodeon Thorn bird, the BBCis a constant pain in Glory’s side distracting her from her primary mission of stopping Set’s materialization into our plane of existence.

 


 


Belly  
BIO ➤

BIO

Belly is a human-demon hybrid who can eat and consume anything due to razor sharp, nearly indestructible teeth, strong stomach acid and an instantaneous metabolism.  

Belly is a bounty hunter and also runs a racketeering and gambling ring.  He has no problem going after Glory and her friends for money, sport or when they get in his way.

 


Patrón  
BIO ➤

BIO

Patrón is a street-level trafficker of stolen artifacts, precious metals, rare goods, illegal contraband as well as miscellaneous information.  

He usually has relics and arcane information in his possession that Glory often needs in her quest to defeat the minions ofSet.  It is too early to say whether he will be friend or foe.


The Black Cats  
BIO ➤

BIO

The Black Cats aka The Black Cat Gangstas are a 3,000 member street gang in the low rent district of New Frontier.  

They outnumber all the other gangs combined, two-to-one and are more ruthless and violent than all others as well.  About 130 Black Cats attend King High as students.

Some are good some are bad but most are loyal to the Black Cat name.  The Black Cats’ blatant disregard for authority, rules and fellow students tests Glory’s pledge not to use her burgeoning super powers against normal humans.


Heiress  
BIO ➤

BIO

Heiress is the youngest child of Lord Augustus Bane, one of the richest men in the world.  Heiress is the self-proclaimed princess of all teenagers and wants to rule the world one day as queen.  Heiress was given a magic wand on her 10th birthday by a witch in her father’s employ.  

The magic wand’s full capabilities are as yet unknown…but they are said to be formidable. After school and on weekends Heiress travels with a group of teen-agebody guards who are students at The Girl’s Fighting Academy (aka Girl’s FightHigh!)

 

Heiress is the arch-nemesis of Glory.  She doesn’t like the attention Glory’s super heroism takes away from her spotlight as a power-teen.  She also sees Glory as a threat to her throne as one-day queen of the world.  

Heiress’s immediate goal is to instill a monarchy in the teenage social structure in them ega-metropolis of New Frontier.


Phat Rat  
BIO ➤

BIO

Phat Rat is a teen-age, apprentice thief, and cat burglar-in-training who, seems to have remarkable luck. His forté is in ancient artifacts, relics and precious metals. He hires himself out to the highest bidder and does lots of contract work for Patrón.  Phat Rat is highly sought after by the authorities but he seems to defy capture.

Authorities have had him cornered in pyramids, tombs and even vaults…but when they were finally able to force their way inside, Phat Rat was gone without a trace.  Some witnesses have seen him leap off ten stories buildings and completely vanish when search parties scoured the ground to find him.  

Phat Rat has never left behind a fingerprint, a strand of hair or a footprint.  No one knows why he’s become a tomb raider but he is swiftly becoming one of the best.