Ultimate DC

[Darthphere]

ZOMG.

Darthphere = P0WNED.

I lost my 1337 status.

 

[Lt. Figgnuts]

I lost my 1337 status.

Yeah, you'll need to return your discount card and your members-only jacket.

 

[Art_of_Crime]

hey figgnuts where did you find your avatar? i was looking for a zelda. I was wondering if they had one where you found yours

 

[Lt. Figgnuts]

hey figgnuts where did you find your avatar? i was looking for a zelda. I was wondering if they had one where you found yours

I don't remember, honestly...I found it on a site a long time ago, the name of which has since escaped me.

 

[Art_of_Crime]

s'ok just thought i would ask.
thanks anyway

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

I wish the Ultimate DC concept was the real thing,its all so better than the All Star line.Damn,my take on it...

Superman
A infant sent from the crippled,yes..crippled planet of Krypton.Krypton did not fully explode,although most of the planet resembles Apoklips 90% of the Krypton people are dead.Jor-El decides to send his son to another world similar to Krypton,in hopes of a better life.Being found by Jonathan and Martha Kent,Clark..as he is named by his adoptive parents is abnormally intelligent,and powerful.Since the moment his body is exposed to yellow sunlight,he absorbes it,and slowly..slowly becomes stronger,faster and smarter.

A childhood friend,Lana Lang is very close to Clark.Clark tells Lana that he feels different,not like a normal person.Lana merly thinks Clark is feeling down,until Clark jumps into the air,and actually flies..poorly,but flies for her.She is speechless,so..with the help of Lana,Clark goes to his parents,for answers.The time has come,and Jonathan and Martha show Clark the spacecraft.

Learning he is from Krypton,Lana keeps what she learns a secret,but the major problem is how Clark is going to live.He cant have a normal life,but Clark decides to use his powers to help people.Martha is worried,but Jonathan says there is really no choice,Clark cant live in the shadows all his life.

Jonathan comments about Clark someday being a "Superman".Clark does not like it at first,but both Lana and Martha approve.Deciding to become a reporter after school,Clark secretly helps the people of Smallville during and after class.Soon word reaches a millionare,and meta-human hater Lex Luthor.Luthor dispises anything other than a human,similar to mutant hate.Luthor spreads distrust of heros and people with extra powers.

Clark soon bids goodbye to Lana and his parents,as he then becomes a freelance reporter for the Daily Planet.Hired by Perry White,Clark is paired with Lois Lane.Both object to this,but Perry wont change his mind.Using the perks of being a reporter,Clark..as Superman does many heroic deeds.

Lois eventually deduces that Clark is Superman,due to the fact that he is never around when something dangerious happens.Writing a paper on this,she submitts it to Perry White.Luthor,a old friend of White`s happens to be in his office when Lois hands White the report.Luthor and White are in a conversation,so she leaves it on a desk.

White offers Luthor a drink,when Luthor decides to read Lois`s report.Astonished to find Perry`s new reporter is the so called Superman being around Metropolis lately,Luthor takes the paper.Luthor does not report this information to the press,instead he instigates crimes all over Metropolis.

Causing Clark to be away constantly,Clark begins to wonder why so many crimes are happening recently,and Lois eventually tells Clark she knows who he is.Clark explains to Lois why he does what he does,and Lois agrees,not fully heartedly..but agrees.When Clark asks for her report,Lois says Luthor took it.

Clark and Lois then learn Luthor read it..and knows who Clark really is.So..Superman,with the help of Lois battles crime in Metropolis..with Luthor looming over him,Superman eventually finds a way to confront Luthor at his own game..the evils of man motivates Clark to continue with his fight against villinany.

 

[Tropico]

you must have had a really hard time in highschool if you need to attack faceless people on messageboards. tell me were you beaten up in the locker room? Did you ever go to your locker between classes only to find jocks surounding it, laughing at you, harassing you? Does it still make you sick? Did you in the back of your mind wish that you could exact some dark revenge on them? I bet when you see someone here that has a different opinion than you you find that dark corner of your mind and you let out some of that poison that sleeps there.

Hahahahahaha, on Psyche 101 they teach us that what u wrote is called projection.

 

[Art_of_Crime]

Hahahahahaha, on Psyche 101 they teach us that what u wrote is called projection.

or educated guesses. all of that hostility has to come from somewhere, and being that we are all here, guessing our collective backgrounds is not really that difficult. 3 years of psych.

 

[Tropico]

or educated guesses. all of that hostility has to come from somewhere, and being that we are all here, guessing our collective backgrounds is not really that difficult. 3 years of psych.

hahahahahaha, if you say so. your been to specific to be talking about some1 else but its always a freiend of a friend and never admit its you. LOL is so cool how I mention a class and now tihs guy almost has a degree. LMAO!!!!!!!!!1!!!up:

 

[Art_of_Crime]

glad you got a laugh out of it

 

[Artistsean]

OK,
Much like the way things in Ultimate Marvel got started (by Captain America and the Super Soldier program), things in Ultimate DC get started by the arrival of Superman on Earth.

In one way or another many inventions and super characters are connected to the last son of Krypton.

Using Clark's DNA Lex starts Project Gilgamesh, a project involving two branches of experimental research. the first branch involves using Superman's blood to create clones. Another branch is a super human formula branch, using the blood to creat a chemical that would give a human the powers of Superman.

Then a few years later Lex is kidnapped and forced to recreate Brainiac using Lex Corp technology. Brainiac was destroyed by Superman, but Lex was able to retrive all the technology used to create him. Using these remains Lex starts the third and forth branch, a branch located in the weapons and advanced technology wing of Lex Corp.
The third branch of Project Gilgamesh uses Brainiac's remains to create armor giving the person wearing the armor the abilities of Superman. The fourth branch uses the Kryptonian robot's remains to create cyborg like body parts.

Characters created, on purpose and on accident, by the Super Soldier Chemical "Venom" during Project Gilgamesh:
The Joker: In the Super Soldier formula branch, Lex tests the first stage on prisoners and mental unstable criminals. People who would never bve released from prison. All patients died in this stage but one man, (perhaps the next step involved brainwashing and training or something.) The chemicals didn't give the test subject Superman's powers but it did increase his intellegence, and increase his strength higher than the patient's was previously recorded. It is also possible that it further scrambled his already messed up mind. Other side effects included his skin becoming pale to the point of pure white, another effect was his hair turning a greenish black, his finger nails and teeth getting a yellowish tint, and his face forming a grotesque perminent smile.
The Creeper: Feeling lonely The Joker decided to create a friend. He kidnapped Jack Ryder, a news broadcaster who the Joker remembered watching in prison. Using various chemicals, trying to recreate the Venom used on him by Lex Corp, and various methods of torture and brainwashing, Joker turned Jack Ryder into a freakish version of himself. Jack's skin turned a yellowish color, his hair turned green, and his strength and intellegence was increased. But his mind was scrambled too much, Ryder became more like an animal. Somehow though Ryder knew the difference between good and evil, and aided Batman in taking down the Joker.
Bane: Stage two of the experiment, after the trouble with "the Joker" Lex pushed the Gilgamesh experiments underground. The next stage, using an altered formula was tested in Santa Prisca, a small island located in the northern Caribbean. Similar to before only a few patients survived, especially one patient code named Bane. The prisoner had a strange hatred for Batman even before Projecxt Gilgamesh. The chemical, code named Venom, tested well. While not giving its subjects the same powers as Superman, it did increase their strength but only for a limited time. This problem could be fixed in later stages of the program. Then the subject Bane escaped, blowing up the prison and killing all the doctors and test subjects in the process. Much like Joker, Bane focuessed his attention on Batman.
The Flash: While examining a murder scene in the lab of a former Lex Corp scientist Crime Scene Investigator Barry Allen was accidentally exposed to chemicals when the spilled chemicals met and cuased an small explosion. The chemicals, as his team would find out, were an attempt by the murdered scientist to recreate Project Gilgamesh in his own lab. The chemicals gave Barry super human speed, maybe even faster than Superman's.

Spoiler

Barry discovered that his grandfather, mother's father, Jay Garrick had been a super soldier for the Government during WWII. The chemical's must have woken up these powers somehow. Maybe the Government had experimented with Super Soldier drugs in the past, not just the present. While not exactly like Barry's speed powers, Jay could move and think fast. He passed down the ability to his children and they passed it to Barry. But it wasn't until the chemicals in Lex's lab that the ability really became powerful, making Barry the fastest man alive. Wearing an altered version of his grandfather's costume and the same name, or maybe not

Barry (with helpf from his CSI team) became the Flash.
Doctor Midnight: In a very bad part of the city a small time doctor, and former Lex Corp scientist, is exposed to a form of the super soldier chemicals when some gets in his eyes. The chemicals heighten his strength and agility, but blinded him during the day. He can only see more clearly during the night or in the dark. Using these powers Doctor Midnight protects the small run down area of his city, protecting his hospital and the streets. Making sure the patients get the medicane that had been denied them by the various gangsters and criminals on the streets.
Krypto: one of several test animals, used to test the various forms of "Venom" the super soldier formula created by Lex Corp in efforts to give humans the same powers as Superman. This test dog gained powers similar to, but not exactly like, Superman.
Streaky: Another test animal injected with "Venom"
Comet: a horse test animal injected with "Venom" by Lex Corp Labs.
Beppo: a test monkey injected with "Venom."
Hourman: Project Gilgamesh secretly went on, even after the Bane problem which luckily couldn't be connected to Lex. Lex's lab had seemingly perfected the chemicals after various failed tries. Testing these chemicals on animals and then people, the final stage was tested on trained Lex Corp guards. These men and women gained the strength, speed, and senses of Superman. They however did not gain flight, laser vision, or ice breath, and gained only near involnerability. However like with Bane the powers didn't last forever. These Lex Corp soldiers where codenamed Hourmen, and are called to duty by Lex. He uses them to aid Superman, make himself and his company look good, and to do covert missions.

 

[Artistsean]

The first branch of Project Gilgamesh created clones, during the stage various other characters in Ultimate DC were created:
Bizzarro: In the earliest stages of the cloning Lex Corp Labs created clones that had bodies that were either poorly developed or mutated. Most had inactive brains as well, they were bodies without minds. These bodies where used in various experiments. But a few had active brains, but very low intellegence. One of these clones was Bizzarro, a clone that escaped by Lex Corp. He was found by Superman and taken to Star Labs, where he lives now.
The next stages of cloning used not only Superman's blood, but also included Lex's blood. During this stage Captain Marvel was created, two scientists Dr. Beck and Dr. Parker took to calling him Billy. This clone aged to about the same age as Superman. He looked like a combination between Superman and Lex.
the next stage of the cloning went into effect, clones using Lex and Superman's blood were created. These clones where then brainwashed and trained to be ultimate soldiers and killers. two clones surpassed all expectations, they were code named Black Adam (a refference to Adam and Eve) and Power Girl (a named Lex used for Wonder Woman's Themysciran sister during his short lived Teen Titans project). The seemingly most powerful clone, whose powers matched Superman's exactly, Captain Marvel rejected most of the brainwashing but excelled in the training. While Black Adam and Power Girl followed orders without question and seemed to enjoy their missions, Captain Marvel rejected them and escaped seeking aid from Superman. He now lives in Star Labs, with his older brother Bizzarro.

The other branches of project Gilgamesh used brainiac's body:
Cyborg: the son of a Lex Corp scientist, Victor Stone's parents used their own son as a test subject when an accident left him almost dead. Lex had already started a project using robot parts as artificial limbs for patients. But When Victor needed almost his entire body recrerated Lex saw his chance. His body was remade into half machine, he was made stronger and faster, he was also given weapons and training and put on Lex's short lived publicity stunt Teen Titans. When he and his team rebelled against Lex Corp, and actually went on missions that mattered, the project was terminated. Lex tried to have Victor killed, but Victor escaped but his parents weren't so lucky. Lex had them killed. Along with his Teen Titan team mates, Cyborg/Victor, created the Outsiders. A team where they could actualy help.
Metallo: Using the Brainiac blueprints Lex Corp created a fully robotic body that ran on Kryptonite. They used a criminal brain as its test subject. While they put more fail safe programming into the body, in hopes of controlling him, Metallo still rejected his creators. Lex had programmed into Metallo, personally, orders to kill Superman. Not that he needed to, the human used had already had a strong hatred for Superman. Metallo could not be retrieved though, and like the other branches of Gilgamesh these experiments went underground.
A.M.A.Z.O. II: Before Brainiac Lex Corp attempted to create a robot that could copy the abilties of the JLA, an effort to make his company look good and supply the Government with an army of robot soldiers with all the powers of the JLA. But when Lex tested it against the actual JLA it failed and was destroyed. After Lex retreived Brainiac's body he was able to re-open the AMAZO project. The robot was enhanced, and sent out on various tests. He was a big improvement on the previous model, stronger, faster, able to think rather than fallow orders, and able to imitate the JLA better. but like the other AMAZO, he was defeated, but not destroyed. He was returned to Lex Corp where he is being improved on still.
Lex Luther's armor: Using the technology of Brainiac's body Lex had special armor created, armor that gave the pilot of the armor the abilities of Superman: strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, and super senses. He also attatched weapons, things like lasers, energy beams and so on. Lex created a police type force of officers that would wear the armor, but when flaws popped up the project was terminated. but Lex kept working on the armor, and made one for himself.
Steel: the head scientist on the Gilgamesh armor was Dr. Jonathan Irons, he quite when the police force idea showed flaws and he saw the corruption in Lex Corp and Lex himself. He is the reason the project was terminated, when he went public. Like Lex, Irons continued working on the armor until he had one of his own. He code named the armor Steel, and uses it to help Superman.

As a result of all this, limbs can now be replaced with robotic limbs, and police technology and armor is far more advanced. Illnesses are being treated using the chemical "Venom" and might be cured within a few years. Lex Corp's stock rose despite the possible connections to criminal activity.

The idea is that: If an alien came to Earth he would cause incredible amounts of change to occure, even if he didn't mean to.

 

[GL1]

I think the magic of the Ultimate Line is that it retells the origins, keeping true to the stories, while injecting loads of realism into, not necessarily writing purely alternate histories in the realm of Stan Lee's Just Imagine keeping only the names and motifs. A lot of the ideas I've seen concentrate on changing the basic storylines, which, ultimately, need only one or two tweaks.

The REAL thing that gets 'updated' in the Ultimate line is the relationships. How people interact, what their connections are and so forth are the major dissonances. Much else is intact. Carnage is still a shapeshifting monster, Dock Ock is still a mech-armed scientist. Peter Parker is still a geeky high schooler bitten by a spider. The storyline changes are minor, the relationship changes are the ones that can go anywhere. Create new ones if you like.

That too is where the All-Star "line" fails to capture the magic of the Ultimate Line (many people hate it... but many people buy it as well), it is giving us the SAME relationships with new art and dialogue as if that is going to be a big deal... changing the type of Batmobile or how soon Lois gets powers just isn't a biggie.

ANOTHER challenge is that it's hard to do Ultiamte DC without stepping on the toes of a typically EXCELLENT Ultimate DC already in motion called Squadron Supreme/Supreme Power

My Ideas so far, with an ear towards realism. (Which you may choose to shoot down if you like).

Batman
Bruce Wayne and his parents leave the Mask of Zorro (Antonio Banderas) and they cut through an Alley for reasons of Thomas Wayne's nostalgia. They get jumped. They all get shot in the head. Eight year old Bruce awakes eight months later, he was given a hemispherectomy of the right side of his brain. Even from here he becomes the dogmatically determined Batman we all know. From time to time, some girls almost pulls out his emotional side (which is still there technically, like in most hemispherectomies).

Flying through tutoring lessons and determined to be strong enough to protect himself in the future, he ends up travelling the country with Alfred, learning different things, Ted Grant, Zatara, and even pilot Hal Jordan among others. By the time he hits 16 he flies through college with a Master's in Criminology in four years and travels the world, dissappearing completely, with only occasional flashbacks to his travels and aliases.

Personality-wise: Bruce's deep anger and vengance puts as kind of an angry Wolverine pretending to be the debonair James Bond following the strict code of a Samurai while doing things the Jack Bauer way. He has a few levels to his psychosis and, while at first one may think his base is a hurt angry child, under that he is still the generally good natured, jovial and joking kid he was at 7 yrs.

Tech: Completely real world. Modified Swat Gear type stuff, custom coupe and enough assistance so that Bruce Wayne doesn't have to be an expert mechanic, competer scientist, engineer AND chemist. (Alfred's actually an engineer and medical doctor, and ex spy). Various non-lethals.

Becoming Batman: Somewhat similar to Begins, maybe even use Ra's (Ra's, NOT Ducard), and his plans for the city of Gotham, Spend Three issues on his training with the present as a backup story, the next three tie up the Ra's thing and go into a six issue Joker origin story setting up Gotham for an innundation of crazies. Booyah.

Others are harder, but they can done.

 

[blud_knight]

glad you got a laugh out of it

dude your not going to win, just let it go.

 

[Artistsean]

Thats why I didn't really try to re-tell Superman's origin or Batman's or any big ones. Because their story would be sort of the same with minor tweaks like you said. I like the idea that they were all shot in the head including Bruce, and that it might have some sort of connection to how he turns out. Plus I like the idea of real world tech.
What I was trying to do with my idea was make it somehow connected and sort of a smaller world, like Ultimate Marvel does. Some character's origins they change to connect it to another idea or to make it all connected, like with the whole Super Soldier Project connecting: Captain America, SHEILD, Spider-Man, Hulk, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and some others.

The only character I might change the story I posted would be Joker, who would maybe be robbing Luther Corp's Gothem based labs. He is confronted by the new hero of Gothem (who at this point is seen as more of a myth) the Batman. In a very short fight the man who becomes Joker, accidentally (and all because of his own actions and not Batman's) trips and falls into the vat of "Venom" made for the Gilgamesh Project using Superman's DNA. But this is the first version of Venom, and so it just turns the Joker into what he is now. His mind is sharpened, his body strengthened (to make his sort of capable to keep up with Batman) and now his grin wont go away. Maybe Joker and the other criminals where hired by a mysterious person to rob Lex Corp, and it turns out to be Lex Luther. He hired them to rob himself for some reason that would boost his company or the Gilgamesh Project. Maybe so he could charge more money from the Government because it puts him and his company at risk, or something along those lines.

The Joker was already a sick and deranged person, but the chemicals pushed him over the edge or at least gave him an excuse to push himself over the edge. He was also already a genious, well educated in chemicals and other sciences. The former comedian, and not much else would be known about him, turned to crime to pay the bills and let him let out his dark side.

Other than that I think I'd keep everyone's origins connected the same way.

 

[blud_knight]

i like some of the artwork shown here, but i really wonder if there is a need for these books.

 

[GL1]

Thats why I didn't really try to re-tell Superman's origin or Batman's or any big ones. Because their story would be sort of the same with minor tweaks like you said. I like the idea that they were all shot in the head including Bruce, and that it might have some sort of connection to how he turns out. Plus I like the idea of real world tech.
What I was trying to do with my idea was make it somehow connected and sort of a smaller world, like Ultimate Marvel does. Some character's origins they change to connect it to another idea or to make it all connected, like with the whole Super Soldier Project connecting: Captain America, SHEILD, Spider-Man, Hulk, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and some others...

Other than that I think I'd keep everyone's origins connected the same way.

Somehow I forgot about that draw of the Ultimate Marvel U. You are correct, a common origin gives a GREAT deal of cohesion to the Universe. And having everything revolve around Clark's crash is a NATURAL development... which is why the Supreme Power universe does it and that's what I was scared of duplicating... I'll have to think on it a bit longer...

Speaking to the need for these books: All good stories are of equal need, even if they are from different universes... and honestly, there is no "need' for any comic books, they are entertainment, and hence, not needed. This thread does show a desire for these books, which indicates a market... and the same question was asked of Marvel's ultimate line.

Hmmm...
Perhaps Jor-El was a GL, and he sent his ring with his son to Earth to find a replacement for his sectors. Perhaps the Greek gods (and/or Atlantians) were decended or WERE an ancient colony of Kryptonians. Perhaps the Flash is what happens when Humans are infused with Kryptonian DNA... what if the tech specs on Kal-El's ship contained plans that would become Metallo, Parasite, and contained Brainiac? Because of the nature of Batman, and his villains, I'd rather keep too much Kryptonian tampering out of Gotham... that said deriving Venom from Krypton and using it on a number of villains DOES have potential... especially if Venom has addictive properties and a street-drug reputation.

I'd like to see Lex in control for a while, since he would have patents on much of the Kryptonian stuff, perhaps until he outed superman's alien origin... interesting... Krypton could be pretty well developed... and perhaps an overriding mystery would be why do Kryptonians look just like us?

 

[BrianWilly]

i like some of the artwork shown here, but i really wonder if there is a need for these books.

Exactly.

Every other year we get one more retooling of someone's origins, and more and more Year One books are coming out. How many "Ultimate" Superman books like Birthright and Confidential and For All Seasons have there been by now? Four? Five? More? And how many Batman books? All the while people keep wondering, "Why isn't there an Ultimate DC?" Geez, there isn't an Ultimate DC because there doesn't need to be an Ultimate DC because they've already been making stories that accomplish the exact same purpose.

 

[STC]

i like Wizard's Ultimate DC concept.

 

[yenaled]

I would die happy if I never see those Wizard pics again.

 

[blud_knight]

^ slim chance of that. there will be another thread just like this in another week or two.
Next comes Ultimate Image. UUUggghh, I shudder to think of the ultimate Maxx

 

[Artistsean]

I'm actually making my own drawings of Ultimate DC characters. I'm working on Hawkman right now.
The problem I had with the Wizard pics was, in my opinion, they were close but not close enough to what I would have liked.
I am also drawing Ultimate Deathstroke, Captain Marvel (and the other Superman clones, and Dr. Midnight.
I have also done some sketches of other Ultimate DC characters on my own art thread.
If you want to check them out.

 

[GL1]

Exactly.

Every other year we get one more retooling of someone's origins, and more and more Year One books are coming out. How many "Ultimate" Superman books like Birthright and Confidential and For All Seasons have there been by now? Four? Five? More? And how many Batman books? All the while people keep wondering, "Why isn't there an Ultimate DC?" Geez, there isn't an Ultimate DC because there doesn't need to be an Ultimate DC because they've already been making stories that accomplish the exact same purpose.

Wow. You totally missed the point dude. Ultimate Marvel would be useless if it wasn't ongoing, and what world 'Confidential' is 'Ultimate' is simply beyond me... do these books share anything in common at all?

There doesn't need to be any DC books, by the way. Look up the word "need" in the dictionary.

 

[BrianWilly]

do these books share anything in common at all?

Yes. They are all of them retoolings of the characters' origins, without feeling the need to adhere to any mainstream continuity. How many different origins does Superman have now? How many times have we gone over Batman's first years? Even Hal Jordan has more than two origins, and he's got one of the most uncomplicated continuities of any DC character.

So what's this fixation people have with yet another retelling of the characters' origins? Just for the sake of having an alternate universe version of the characters? If that were the only reason, the All-Star universe should scratch that itch just fine.

Is it because people want a clean slate of continuity without all the complicated backstory that comes with a universe? That's a pretty deceptive reason, because after less than five years the Marvel Ultimate universe is hardly a paragon of clean continuity. If you don't believe me, let me ask everyone this: when did Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver first become members of the Ultimates? When does the Ultimate Galactus saga take place?

Is it because people want to see "updated" versions of characters, possibly grittier and more "modern" than their iconic true selves with radical reimaginings and racial differences? If that's the case then, well, I can't argue with personal preferences, but I personally think the talent at DC should have better things to do with their time than coming up with gangsta Batman and pop star Wonder Woman.

Or is it just because Marvel did it, so everyone wants to see what would happen of DC did it? 'Cause that's a pretty shallow reason.

I'm just trying to understand, here.

 

[Artistsean]

Marvel did it, they retold characters origins starting with a lean slate. These stories were retold with modern elemants and characters were given new costumes. Ideas were used that would never go over in the regular universe.
The stories were told without worrying about continuity and were light hearted and weren't too serious, they weren't set up as a different universe or anything, just a different version of the characters. Just a fun idea.

The thing I liked was that it did re do the origins with different takes on the characters, and different costumes, but didn't define itself as in continuity or a "what if" or even a different universe. It was just new and different.
Plus I like alternate universe stories like Earth X, Mutant X, Exiles, and What Ifs. They are cool.

Ultimate DC will never happen but its fun, especially for us fans, to retool the characters and stories to show what we would like them to look like in a series that is out of continuity so that it wont mess with what is already continuity. Like my idea that most of Ultimate DC starts because of Superman's arrival on Earth, or my ideas for Ultimate Marvel characters, or making up Avenger offspring for Young Avengers. Its just something creative and fun to do.