They could even focus on the psychological aspects of said malevolent being instead of hand-waving them as a token evil enemy.

Though I think a resurrection or deal with the devil plot would work best as an origin story.

‘In most cases, I think that action villains that cannot kill the protagonists are generally pretty unsatisfying.’ The only time I’ve actually found a program to be ruined by a character who you knew couldn’t/wasn’t going to die was in Doctor Who. Especially since the third act of the episode was watching how the doctor overcame the dilemma he was in. Not to mention if that particular actor was leaving you’ know because it would be mentioned online, on a chat show or in a newspaper.

‘Generally, I think the antagonists should be more rawly powerful than the protagonists’, So do I, especially since the main characters are around the thirteen to fifteen age group, and have been moderately sheltered from the war they’re about to enter. A fact that puts me in a bind about how young an age these character’s are going to be dying at and the fact they will find themselves in a position where they have to kill. oR a position where the kill out of pure rage…and one through channeling the powers of his spiritual beast with teeth around a fifteen year olds neck. I’m guessing my story is going to be quite dark.

As far as the death and resurrection of the main characters go, the resurrection process exists as long as they choose to connected to the power they have inherited. There’s only one character who I can see dying once again after the initial resurrection and that would in exactly the same circumstance as the lost their life the first time.

The latter set of powers for Lilly is a bit much…You can’t see her, you can’t hit her, so how do you find her and take her out? Unless the villain’s got a Deus Ex Machina on his side, he’s unlikely to.

In general, most of these abilities are too powerful without suitable weaknesses. Do they have any?

Basing characters on friends is generally a pretty bad idea. Sure, you care about them, but will the rest of us? Plus, it’s almost impossible to make them flawed because they’ll get mad at you – who wants to be imperfect? Self-inserts tend to be overpowered Mary Sues, and it’s difficult to avoid that.

- Wings

Thanks for the reply. I like a challenge.

Filler, is in every medium that’s popular and has a good budget. Or, webfiction in any form. What comics have filler, is not always clear. Till, you weigh in pacing, dialogue, fight scenes, advancing towards a destination (Biomega, is a good example), and whether or not it deviates from the plot arc.

You don’t always hear about it, cause people are more prone to picking filler out from adaptations. Movies, shows, anime, cartoons, etc – where it’s obvious that that story is deviating from the main plot or extending scenes for the sake of not going past the existing timeline for the main story arc.

In the case of Marvel & DC, a main story arc is only common to their mini arcs. Lasting, only so many issues. I don’t think these companies, are as brave to do much filler, either. I don’t really agree with your idea of What If’s or specials being filler either. As this, would imply Marvel does have massive plot arcs. In which, I’ve never really seen this before in Marvel either. Other then, the stand alone series they do, such as the Dark Tower.

But even this, has taken the filler out from the Stephen King books. I know, cause I read both. Still, not many fans think Stephen King is horrible for doing this. It, creates an emotional connection. And is done in a way, that may not necessarily be relevant to the plot but is connected to the characters and the world itself. However, the story would not suffer either, as the comics prove if material was removed.

Why I bring this up, is cause it’s only the stand alone series that often have a main story arc from the very first issue to the end, in Marvel and DC.

However, Archie Comics (Sonic the Hedgehog), Image and Top Cow does not necessarily adhere to this no filler rule. At least, there are times they seem to bend or break the rule.

And for the record, manga/manhwa, on average are released in chapters at 17-23 pages monthly on average. So, if you were right, they’d be out of business. Dragonball, would never sell much magazines back in the day, that you found them in. Correction, even today in North America.

For that matter, neither would Spawn by Todd MacFarlane. Which, does do filler at times. I think, you misinterpreted what I said. Thinking, it’s limited to overseas. Manga, perhaps seems different to comics because of it’s style and cultural references. However, they face the same challenges as any comic found in the world.

The competition is fierce. TV, games – seem more easily accessible, and depending on the needs of the consumer – potentially cheaper for the amount of content. This is a worry, for all comic writers/artists no matter where you are. So, using filler is a huge risk. And, not recommended.

Its better to stick to the main plot arc and push forward. However, in rare cases it’s not wrong to want to extend a dramatic scene, a fight scene, or some dialogue. And, it does happen. Especially with comedies.

In the case of webcomics (a small percentage do) as money makers, this also varies wildly. I know, it’s pointless to argue over the Internet. But, I guess it’s my hope that people don’t blindly follow every rule they come across. Not saying, that you will personally. There are times, you can break or bend the rules to potentially create a better story. Most of the time, it won’t. However, let proof readers and editors help make that decision.

Just as flashbacks are often frowned upon, in some cases people really enjoy them. They like the back story, if done right. I mention this, as an editor in a writer’s magazine made a huge deal about flashbacks. And there are cases, where many stories are better without them. However, there are some in which I can’t imagine reading the story without it.

It all depends on the story and characters. At anyrate, I’ll argue this point no more. If this were to become serious debate, on the net there would be no end to it.

Instead, I thank you for you comment.

Well, I think there are some distinct differences between mangas and comic books. Most obviously would be the need for compression in comic books. Given that most comic books are ~24-32 pages long I think filler would waste a lot of much needed space to advance your story. Readers may feel like they aren’t getting their money’s worth if pages were wasted with dragging fight scenes and superfluous dialogue and the story is hardly advances. To be honest I don’t think I’ve ever heard of ‘filler’ in comic book. Holiday specials and ‘what if’s’ maybe, but not filler.

Where I was going with the last paragraph, is limiting a power with great flexibility, like manipulating water. Or super speed only goes up to a certain speed (ex. not so bad, if the limit is 70 mph with risk of exhaustion or self injury). But, I would have removed that paragraph had I been able to edit it. Anyways, good article.