Good idea for Elsa, DBM. I could see it selling if done well. The female audience in comics is a tricky one, and often times when they DO attach themselves to a property or title, it is unintentional. Ancedotal evidence suggests that while women don't make up a sizeable amount of comic book readers (although many do), more of them are into Manga and Anime. And "X-Men: Evolution", a show aimed at the usual 9-15 year old male audience, was a resounding hit with girls around that age-group. Considering that half the cast were women, and Rogue got a LOT of focus, it shouldn't have been a shock. Many fan-sites of the show at the time, including Beyond Evolution at Toonzone, were founded by, yep, women.
To tell you the truth, a lot of my "original" ideas have been posted already on this topic pages ago, so the most I have left to offer is a simple action thriller story starring two Marvel characters. It's the sort of mini that could likely be pushed out for X-Fans and expected to be made into a TPB. The plot is almost childishly simple. But I'm a believer that simple plots can still be satisfying if they entertain.
So, here goes with what I have left:
Taskmaster/Mystique
I don't have a working title beyond the two stars of the mini, Taskmaster and Mystique. When I read the TASKMASTER series from 2002, where Taskmaster seemed very adept at using his power and hologram emitor to imitate people, I instantly thought it would be very interesting if he met Mystique, the X-World's espionage fatale. Both of them make livings and operate by "becoming" other people, and by using traits from other people, and leaving themselves, seemingly, as "blank slates", forever adapting to their situation or stimuli. In the series, Taskmaster never removed his mask willingly, and I intend to keep that as a quirk; he never reveals his name or face not because of fears of reprisals, but because he feels his real self is a "nobody", an average Joe that he despises; he'd much rather be Taskmaster. Mystique, meanwhile, is such an actress and spy that many people are hard pressed to know where her true feelings end and the act begins. And while Taskmaster has the uncanny ability of "photographic reflexes", the insistance is that he is not a mutant.
As I said, the plot of the story is simple for a direct purpose; the real meat of the story is how Taskmaster and Mystique interact and operate in a situation where they need to rely on each other to live. And of course, to showcase some clever and spectacular collisions between the pair and their enemies.
Who are the enemies, and what is this plot? Like I said, simple. A mysterious old businessman, who claims to have been effected personally by Mystique's past actions as a mutant terrorist and nearing the end of his life, assembles a cabal of Marvel's deadliest non-mutant mercs and hitmen, and gives them a simple objective: $75 Million dollars for Mystique in a body bag. He claims that they can all operate individually, or form an alliance and split the hit; all he asks is that they murder her, and somehow are able to prove it to either him or his creepy lawyers (should he pass on before the task is completed). He even offers them each $1 million for expenses and claims if they take it, they are devoted to the job.
The group is basically an eclectic bunch I figured would be interesting, with the rule being "no mutants", as the man is a bigot who completely hates and mistrusts them. There are some A-Listers and likely mostly Z-Listers who are expendable...which is the point. Not all of them would be living. The group I had this far: Bushwhacker, Amazon, Blackout, Mongoose, Bullseye, Shotgun, Constrictor, Boomerang, Warrent, Americop, Answer, and MAYBE Foriegner and/or a Scourge. Many of them I plan to revamp and make creepier, more dangerous, and more efficient. The story is that many of them decided to become more focused on handling street-level crimes outside of NYC where most heroes are. They all have no attachment to Mystique and that is the point; many of them see her as a "challenge" and the sort of kill they could brag about. Mongoose would sort of be like a Sabretooth, only much stronger and with super-speed. But Answer, which his ability to gain any power that is "the answer" for a select situation, would be pretty potent.
Of course, the old man sent out an invite to another merc, who happened not to open that email that day because he was already on another mission; Taskmaster.
Mystique would be in the middle of an espionage mission to sabotage some company doing research she felt was anti-mutant. Taskmaster would coincidentally be stealing records from it for another company. The place, however, is rocked by explosions from some of "the cabal" sent after Mystique. The pair run into each other and breifly fight. However, the hitmen sent after Mystique have no qualms about icing anyone who seems to be "with" her, so Taskmaster quickly finds himself alongside this shapeshifter he never met.
Basically, Mystique offers to hire Taskmaster as her "bodyguard" in the official capacity, but in reality both of them are fascinated in some degree by the other. Sort of like a merc meets a merc comin' through the rye. Neither of them are superheroes; they are not merciful to many of their enemies, and the plan basically amounts to a climax where Taskmaster and Mystique are storming the building of the old man in hopes of killing him, with all his hired goons fighting them along the way. The crux of it will be Mystique being unable to believe Taskmaster is just a normal human and being puzzled by her lack of ambition (Mystique is a terrorist with an overall goal, after all; Taskmaster works for money and nothing else). Taskmaster, on the other hand, is attracted to Mystique unlike a lot of other guys she hangs with, and feels she would be happier if she "lightened up". Again, neither of them are superheroes; imagine a SIN CITY thing with two hired killers making out over a dead body; that's them. But of course in that fashion, while there is chemistry, there is also tension, as one can never be sure the other won't backstab them at the last moment.
And maybe that'd be the best way to describe this, a metahuman noir story set in the MU with two characters who, to the best of my knowledge, have never met.
