We at the Illumi-Nerdi truly appreciate the support and viewership we have received on this blog. Our initial idea for the blog was a means to introduce our comic book to as many people as possible. The blog kind of spiraled out of our control as we enjoyed focusing on critiquing and discussing Nerdi culture and we strayed from our initial intention. But after a few months of your incredible devotion and patronage we are finally ready to present to you, our loyal followers, our synopsis.
Our comic book is structured like a TV show. It will have season premieres and season finales. The first season is broken into 6 issues (much like a BBC series). Our character’s abilities originate during World War II. Nazi occultists and scientists formulated a serum that was meant to create a breed of extraordinary new warriors. Their apparent failure resulted in the “Extras gene” being inserted into the test subjects' DNA without a catalyst. Seventy years later the descendants of the test subjects begin to develop remarkable powers. Meet the Extras: a jock using a different kind of performance-enhancing drug (Matt Dunham), an abused troublemaker (Alex Reese), a schizophrenic cheerleader (Viola Proctor), the oft- ignored secondary character (Dave Johnson), a depressed bookworm raised by an alcoholic (Mary Carter), and the token black guy who actually isn’t the first to die (Ron Darius).This ragtag group of teenagers come together, but it isn’t to fight an impending evil. It’s out of necessity and need for each other. However, this group will not last. Not long after, they will fight one another, die in each other’s arms, and betray their surrogate family and their own morality. These are deeply flawed, realistic characters without any discernible, clear-cut path. All of the characters constantly struggle between the allure of the light and the temptation of the dark while developing their own unique abilities. Each issue ends with a flashforward of 10 years later. The flashforwards explore our characters’ adult lives and their failure to cope with their abilities and the disillusionment of the family that The Extras provided. In the future, one character fakes their death, one completely over-embraces their powers, another is institutionalized, one tries like hell to ignore their powers and one tries to kill themselves with a mix of pills and alcohol (oh, and quite a few of our beloved characters are already dead by this point). In our comic book, true heroes do not last, despite how desperately they really are needed.