The 23rd century. The world is inhospitable to anyone without superpowers. The combination of a thin ozone layer, lack of land and fear of an alien invasion - after mass sightings in the late 21st century - has forced the majority of the population into vast underground cities while those fortunate enough to inherit a strain of superhuman abilities live above and act as administrators, protectors and occasionally villains. The ever present threat of alien invasion and the fear of exposure to the Sun's radiation has kept the population of New Victoria content to let the status quo remain - though rumours exist of safe havens where the sun never shines long enough to harm you. Everything is kept in check, until one underground woman makes a run for it - setting into motion a tense thriller where she is hunted by superhumans, who swear they only want to keep her safe.
I originally wrote this as a short "Future Shock" intended for 2000AD (I met the some of the staff at a con and they were really cool), but I lost my nerve when it came to sending it as it's original 8 page format (it wasn't very good as a self contained story.) I'm currently writing an expanded comic script (as opposed to the jumble of notes and sketch books that I work from for Templars), which fleshes out the narrative into something more serial. I don't know if I'll ever find time to draw it but it would be a black and white comic, and told in 8 page bursts much like the old British comics were.
Here's another idea I had, which I think would work as a short story:
In a utopian society founded on the back of a great and noble leader's foundation hundreds of years prior, a Cadet steals a prototype and untested Time Machine and uses it to journey back to try and prevent the great man's death. However, the machine is unable to extrapolate any form of causality, rendering the cadet as a shimmering ghost out of the corner of the man's eye. Unable to speak or act, the cadet can only make rough gestures, which cause the leader to believe him a vengeful spirit, extracting a chilling confession about the evil deeds he committed in order to lay the foundations for the future utopia. As he finishes his speech, begging for mercy on his knees, an orbital strike wipes his palace off the map, forcing the time-traveller back to his own time. The entire story is told in the office of the leader, and we don't find out how important he is until the cadet arrives home, with everyone begging him to tell them what he saw.
