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CAW13-11 The Benefactor

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The world needs superheroes. But the actual superhero profession isn't exactly all that lucrative. Sure, maybe if you're one of the top tier names, you can coast by on endorsement deals, or by setting up an exclusivity gig with some well-to-do area that keeps their protectors on a retainer. Otherwise, it's tough getting by merely on people's thanks & hearty handshakes.

That's where the Benefactor comes in.

While his identity really isn't much of a secret, he prefers that applicants & recipients only refer to him by his self-imposed "code name." It makes him feel like he's a superhero too after all. Making his substantial fortune on the commodities market, it wasn't until a brush with his own mortality that the Benefactor became a bit eccentric & started revisiting his childhood love of superheroics. Old & enfeebled by illness, he's famously said he knew he very well couldn't do the amount of good they could do with their powers, but still wanted to find a way to give back to the superhero community somehow. And thus, the Global Defenders Trust was founded.

Any hero or heroine is free to apply, but they are subject to an immediate & rather harsh approval process where only about three applicants typically get approved each year. Extensive NDAs forbid any of those who experienced the process firsthand to go into much detail about it, but given the results, it's pretty plain to see what it entails. The general perception is that the gruff, old Benefactor & his board of yesmen will only throw their financial backing behind a very narrow view of what a superhero should be. Namely wholesome, clean-cut, patriotic, square-jawed, cape-wearing, basically the very generic ideal. The Benefactor will often build an applicant a brand new identity, often playing on a theme, trait, or to put it less kindly, gimmick that he (& usually he alone) sees in them, even if they're an already a pretty established name. Few women tend to make the cut. Rumor has it, they often find it difficult to meet the  Benefactor's standard of sexiness. As a result, several hush-hush sexual harassment cases have been settled out of court. The few recipients that do make it are obligated to maintain their new squeaky-clean image or otherwise find themselves in breech of contract & thereby open themselves up to some pretty serious litigation. And while they might receive a fairly generous stipend & per diem, with all their expenses covered, all rights & residuals of their identity belong solely to the Benefactor & the board, in perpetuity. Beyond all that, there's the unshakable sell-out reputation most recipients end up with as a result of their dealings with the Benefactor, often making them little more than a day-saving punchline. 

The funny thing is, whenever a tell-all is printed or a special report is conducted on how the Benefactor conducts his business, some evil robot will suddenly fly out of control or a massive alien invasion will conveniently commence, only to be stopped by the Benefactor's new hero of the week, thusly stealing the headlines. This also gives a bit of validity to the rumors that the Benefactor might be secretly bankrolling a few villains & criminals here & there too, just to keep things interesting.






Inspired largely by a director in a special guest starring role a while ago on a show I like. Mostly in terms of the temperment & personality. But I ended up going that way with the look too a bit. I also threw in a bit of this local TV guy that came into my office at work recently. He had a Walken meets David Caruso vibe about him. Then making this guy a redhead got me thinking about maybe making him seem like an older version of Jimmy Olsen or Rick Jones or something. That made me want to make him a little more over the top & that's when I got the idea to give him a shinier suit, which might've turned out a bit better if I spent more time on it. But I'd rather move onto the next & keep this pace going. There's also a wee bit of Vince McMahon there too. I mean when you boil it down, I think it's pretty easy to see the correllation of superhero comics & pro wrestling. This guy is just like an underhanded promoter in the superhero world.

The funny thing is, I keep coming up with character ideas that work in a superhero context. Maybe not so much that I've posted thus far, but down the pike. It's the one type of thing I don't really have any desire in doing right now. I'm not saying there won't be a time maybe down the road. The more I read of books like Michel Fiffe's COPRA & some of Joe Casey's stuff, that might all change & make me want to give it a whirl. But for now, I'm sticking with mostly doing Scifi. Problem though is in terms of this character thing, I'm feeling like I'm doing a lot of characters that have the same kinda things going on. Like here's another old guy with a cane after I just did that two characters before. Next one down the pike involves a guy with similarly crazy hair. I don't think these are quirks I have where I'm going to have 600 other variations on that theme, but it's just odd that these are the ones I'm getting done first. As I go through, I'm definitely going to look into varying up the silhouettes more. Maybe it's the standard pose I'm doing them in but they're all feeling pretty samey. Anyway, I'm rambling.
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