Now for you writers out there we have some overall plotting of the entire story line. For those of you who can make associations this will be easy, but for everyone else this might be stupid hard. We’ll take it nice and slow and see if you can get it. The path of the hero, when boiled down, has the same basic story elements no matter what type of hero you have. According to Joseph Campbell the path of the hero is cyclical containing four nodes (much like a compass pointing North, South, East and West).

Every hero starts off at the top node as a normal human being, even the X-Men who are born with their powers live a normal life until they receive their powers during puberty. This point is known as home because it’s where we all start and come from this is also know as a call to adventure that makes the character choose to strive to be a hero or perish.The second node is a road of trials in which involves the hero getting to know him or herself pretty well. The bottom node is known as Achieving the goal or “boon” which typically results in important self-knowledge and is usually signified by a representation of rebirth (i.e. Jean Grey in X-Men gained the power of The Phoenix, but she never gained control of it until after she died and the Phoenix Force resurrected her). The fourth node is known as the return to the ordinary world where the hero must learn if they can succeed or fail at returning and assimilating themselves into regular society. At this section they must decided whether or not they can return home. Finally the hero applies the “boon” meaning that the hero uses their new found power for the greater good, which is represented by the top node as well, completing the circle.

With that knowledge lets jot out a few ideas for the rough draft of the first issue of this comic. OK now lets get out or notebook and a writing utensil:

1. We have your character, what kind of place does he start off in? How does he start off? What is his “home?”
2. We know his/her home, now lets think about his/her call to adventure. What kind of trials do they face? What kind of decisions do they make?
3. No, achieving the goal/”boon” how do they change, how do they become a new them? How are they reborn?
4. Now lets think about their return home? Do they want to return home? Can they return home? Are they having trouble with this dilemma?
5. Now, if we can, we jot out a few ideas about the application of the boon. Do people want this person back? Is he or she accepted? How do they use their power, if they use their power or even have a power?
6. Now that we have several ideas, look at the ones you are most proud of. Try putting them together. Do they work together? Do others work better together? Is the story unified and coherent?

Remember: Having a few ideas readily available never hurt anyone.