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It's A SIMPLE PLAN with a comic book. I'd see that. Screw that -- I just might have to write it.

I see a few different genres: 1) Man finds the comic and is inundated with people claiming it's theirs until he gets one in particular instructing him to look inside for specific doodles and enhancements to the characters and drawings - and they're there. This is the man who put all the elements (his own additions at the time it originally came out) into the design of Superman et.al. as we know it today and someone bullied him and stole his ideas and came up with a whole new generation of comics and got rich from it and is known as the father of comics and it opens up a can of worms on the whole Comic Book industry. Who really created Superman and in whose likeness? what about The Avengers? Ironman? etc The person at the other end claiming to know all these things never reveals him/herself, but instructs the finder to contact so 'n so and look for such 'n such a comic and sends him on an Indiana Jones type quest for all the missing "doodle" comics that prove this person right. There's a trail that leads to a master collector (the doodle thief's grandson) who will stop at nothing to keep all these new revelations and accusations from being revealed. (could be Comedy or Thriller... or a Thrill-edy?) 2) Man finds comic and learns of its worth and debates telling his buddy who loaned him some of the money to buy the place in the first place. They're supposed to remodel it together and split the profits and be on their way to the next investment. Plain and Simple. then the movie takes two "what if" paths for a) not telling him and keeping the proceeds from the auction of said comic and becoming gloriously rich. Then the potential for ensuing destruction of friendship and possible lawsuit and losing all his earned money arises... or b) tell his friend and split it fair and square and continue with the friendship that results in forming a company together until one wants to branch off on his own and buy the other out. Then the issue of the comic comes up and how one wouldn't have been able to buy the house in the first place had he not gone in on it with him and now the company and friendship are in turmoil and they both lose money, etc... and then it flashes back to the guy sitting at the computer looking up the comic's worth and seeing the dollar signs and thinking on it for a while and something random happens that destroys the comic and we never know which route he would've taken... Enter "other" guy who sees the look on his face and has no idea why he's crying like a baby. So now it's "do i tell my buddy what i found and now it's lost and have him blame me for it being ruined? or do i just keep my mouth shut about the whole damn thing?" (definitely Comedy) 3) unlucky-in-love dude not versed in comic culture finds comic and, while investigating its worth, starts attending Comic-Cons. He gets excited about the potential millions the book would bring him and how it would improve his image and get all the chicks... when he happens to meet a mysterious nerdy cosplay girl at a comic event and they have a one night stand. She's super passionate about comics and their origins, etc. and he's kinda digging her so he lets it slip that he has a comic that's worth a million dollars and he's gonna be rich, but she suddenly backs off and tells him the comic is worth more than money and that he should keep it and bask in its glory. He blows her off and looks for the right auction house and starts shopping for mansions, etc, but she keeps popping up everywhere beseeching him not to sell it. He's interested in money and girls, *other* girls. Cosplay girl is bummed because she actually likes him and doesn't care about the money. Everywhere he goes to get interest in the comic, he's treated like royalty because they want dibs... so he gets a taste of the high life, but he can't get this quirky girl who won't leave him alone about the comic out of his head. He hits bottom when he thinks one of the hot chicks from rich comic collector's entourage disses him when she finds out he doesn't even have any money without the sale and doesn't know what to do. The idea of riches wasn't worth it and now he has to find Cosplay girl and ask for another chance. So he visits all these Comic Cons and has weird/funny experiences with other Cosplay girls of the same character (that aren't the original Cosplay girl) until he finds her again in San Diego. He begs her to forgive him and shows her the comic and they fall is lurve and have a totally rad cosplay wedding and live geekily every after with their million dollar comic book collection in a shack built for two. (RomCom(ic)) ok, that's enough stupid for one day.

sorry for lack of editing and punctuation... it was an all-out brain dump.

Let's raise the stakes. "He found a comic book amid old newspapers that had been used to insulate the walls." What if they only used comic books to insulate the walls and now instead of a little over $100K we're talking about millions. Maybe all the comics were Action Comics No. 1, so given more supply the price plummets and a lot of people are really angry.

Okay, so you've moved off my strictly a comedy mode. Let's see what other brainstorming we can. And as with all of the ideas I post in this series, if you like, it's yours. I make no claim over them.

You know what, this totally reminds me of a story that captured my imagination years ago, and it might just up the emotional ante. Back in the day, no one gave a damn about comic books, not even the people making them. That's why the old ones are so rare, everyone just trashed them (or recycled them-- VERY few comic books survive from the WWII era). But even the creators didn't know what they had. Someone asked Stan Lee if he ever kept the original artwork from any of the books that he worked on, and he said that once they used them, they just gave them away. Anyone who came to the office, he'd say "hey, take a couple of thee with you on the way out!" It was a tiny office, no room for that stuff, and there were more and more pages coming in all the time. And the original pages at that time were HUGE... maybe even movie poster size. And they just either threw it out or handed it to anyone who popped by. So imagine, you start back in the day, you have a kid, he's working in New York City (where the magic happened), he's a delivery boy, maybe too poor for school, can't even afford the dime comics, but he's delivering lunch to the office every day, and you have a young Stan Lee type saying "hey, thanks a lot, why don't you take some of these back with ya?" Even better, maybe he asks the kid's opinion on something, the kid suggests a change and Lee agrees, "have Romita do this page again, and do this, it'll REALLY make it pop!" And Lee gives the kid the artwork, and the kid saves it. Now fast forward to today: the kid's an old man, he's still got those wrapped in a bundle somewhere (treasured possessions, but he hid them for so long that he's practically forgotten about them) and that little change he suggested wound up being a pivotal moment in that comic book's history... and he has ALTERNATE artwork of it. That's BEYOND valuable. That's not just a rare issue, it's something that no one has seen before. No one even knew it existed. It's legendary. AND it's a direct connection to a character in a way that a mass-produced periodical can't be.

We're still in a comedy: Word gets out and they interview the guy who built the house. He says "Oh, yes, I cut a deal with the comic book company, it was cheaper than newspaper back then. I ONLY used comics in all the houses I built" House prices in the area go way up. And people start tearing the walls hoping they could find the "Superman jackpot"

Sort of a It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World spin...

-Maybe the guy who finds the comic books isn't the owner of the house, it's a contractor. And he won't tell the owners of the house, but they later find out. -The comic book was put inside that wall because it's not an ordinary comic book. A witch cast a spell that gives Superman-like powers to the owner if he uses his powers for good, and a curse that will kill him in a matter of hours if he uses them for bad. No previous owner has survived for more than a couple of days. -Remember A-ha's Take on me video? Or if you're younger, Jumanji. Well, something similar. This is a magic comic book. When you start reading it you have to fight the evil guys. If you are successful you return to the real world. If you're not - too bad, you're stuck there forever. -For Scott's dark comedy: please don't burn a comic book. What if in the end the surviving brother wants to cash it out, takes it to an auction house. The answer? Oh, this is worthless. It's a reprint from the 1970's. The size gives it away. How much did you paid for this? Faint.... -A lighter note. The house is bought by an orphanage that has money problems, they had to move from a larger and more comfortable house. This one is a mess. But when they find the comic book it is saved. -The dumb guys that find it can't decide if they should sell it now or wait some time. Their dumb solution to "split" the profit is to cut in in two, making it practically worthless. -The guy that discovered the comic book? He rented the house, he wasn't the owner. Ouch. -The house is Amish. Yes, where money shouldn't be that important. -The guy who found the comic book? He's an ex-con on probation. He needs the money badly. But a celebrity's copy of Action Comics #1 has been stolen - it's all over the news. He fears he will be back to jail if he tries to sell the comic book. -It is found by a very happy, recently married couple. They fight over what they will do with the money and end up breaking up. -Guess who found the comic book? The ghost of an old man that lived in the house. He tries to tell his family about it before they sell the house, but obviously, ghosts aren't able to talk to the living. Or are they? -And a last one: The comic book was contaminated with "Bacillus anthracis"- Anthrax. P.S. Writer-producer sound very appealing, interesting, fun and even profitable. I'd appreciate more details. Can you copyright just a pitch? I guess it would be better if you pay upfront the writer.

Unfortunately I haven't watched "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"... but yes, something similar according to what I have just read on Wikipedia.

That's great. And I guess he'll have a strong emotional attachment to them, so it would be really, really hard for him to sell them even if he needs money. Maybe his sons want to sell them for the money, but he doesn't. Drama/comedy potential.

Or a nice paradox: Action Comics 1 is from June 1938. What if the insulation on that wall was installed in 1920's. Years before the comic was printed. And some other walls show newspapers from... June 2038.

If you wanna go for the first idea, check out the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. They have tons of information about this kind of thing. And every time a big comic book movie comes out, you'll hear the family of some comic creator cry foul about it. So it's definitely an area worth exploring, but I gotta imagine that there's a couple people thinking that (I'm sure that the big landmark case for Superman in the 70s isn't a movie just because of, ironically, the rights for Superman). The whole unknown creator thing, though, is reminding me a of a story from about 10+ years ago, there was this story that someone at Marvel Comics had found, in their archives, all this art and material for a character in the 60s called "The Sentry," that had never seen the light of day and they were going to reintroduce him into the Marvel Universe, and give readers a fresh take of the silver age. It was, of course,a giant hoax, just the Marvel marketing machine at work and NO ONE likes the Sentry... but what if that story WAS real? Then you have a way in to that legal rights story. Your third idea-- I love the idea that an unlucky in love loser would try Comic-Con to pick up chicks, I've met so many gorgeous women there (and them instinctively posing when they see me is a superpower I should NOT have), and you hear all these stories about people hooking up and having sex there (I can't IMAGINE where, though)... I can see a guy doing that. Right there you've got potential. You know, I don't even know if you need the expensive comic book for that one, the idea of going to convention after convention to find this girl seems classically hopelessly romantic (my favourite kind of romantic). I'm going to throw you a couple thinks to look out for, though... and you definitely seem knowledgable about geek culture so hopefully these all go without saying, but better safe than sorry, right? 1: Comic-Con, especially San Diego Comic Con, is a nightmare to film at. Ask Mark Hamill. Half of the Comic-Con stuff in "Paul" was recreated later, just using the same tables in a new space. However, SDCC turns that WHOLE part of San Diego into party central, so there's tons of locations they can go to, not just the floor. You're so spoiled for choice when it comes to conventions, don't limit yourself to the sales floor. 2: Geeks seem to hate Big Bang Theory, but I think what they really hate is two-dimensional representations. They know they're complex, and they might be more complex than regular folks. These need to be full characters and all that is just one side of themselves.

Have you seen "Rat Race?" It's sort of the same conceit, all these comic actors racing to a finish line for a big cash prize. The cast in both are sort of like "The Avengers" of funny people.

Cool! Thanks for the info! I'm pretty nerdy, but I really know NOTHING more about comic culture than what I see in Marvel or DC movies. I mean I know who Stan Lee is, but... yeah... not much after that. I've only just recently come into graphic novels and the like because my 8 yr old son has discovered the Marvel universe and Thor, Ironman, Cap America, etc are (and have been) on repeat at my house for the past 2 months. I lived in SD a decade ago so I knew about Comic-Con then, but it was nowhere near what it is today. Now there's NerdHQ and Loki making surprise appearances in Hall H (whatever the hell that is) and people take dressing up very seriously. The only reason I know what Cosplay is is because I follow some pretty nerdy (and HILARIOUS) Facebook pages. I'm a fan of both Star Wars AND Star Trek (look out!) and was absolutely a fan of Firefly/Serenity (Joss Whedon in general) so I get that aspect of it, but beyond that (the comic/superhero part) I'm lost. I had no idea about geeks hating TBB. That's hilarious! I love that show, but I know it's just a funny take on nerds in general... it sorta made them 'hip'. A great ensemble cast helps, too. I think searching for love at Comic-Con is ripe with comedic potential and you're right about not even needing a million dollar book to boost it. I doubt I could do it justice as I'm so far removed from that lifestyle I wouldn't even know where to start. But if someone made it, I'd see it ;)

You have an outsider's perspective, that could be a huge benefit, you could see what everyone else doesn't! And that also helps you at the start, if the dude doesn't know what to expect at Comic-Con, then you're right in his shoes! And you can fall in love with it as he does, document your emotions, you could go on the trip WITH the character, how great is that? And how many writers get that chance? I went to SDCC during the transition, it ballooned like crazy, and really, the only reason I stopped going was that it became impossible to get tickets (due to volume and the fact that their ticket system is total garbage). And speaking about tough to get in, Hall H is IMPOSSIBLE. Freaking IMPOSSIBLE. That's where all the big movies are previewed, where the A-list talent gets on stage (that's why Loki is there), and you can't even see the ends of the room when you stand in the middle. They used to broadcast SDCC on G4 back when G4 existed, and I remember they built this stage where they would interview people and you could see all the people in the background. Nathan Fillion was one of the interviewees and he got a whole bunch of people who were cosplaying as Firefly characters to be his entourage as he walked up, You know, so many of the con regulars, the special guests, they're just so fun because they REALLY get into it, they love meeting all the fans and seeing all the cool stuff they do, and you can't help but run into them all the time (I was hanging out at this bar with a group of guys for thirty minutes before I realized one of them created the show Helix). Do you remember "Dodgeball," where Lance Armstrong makes that cameo? You have that potential out the wazoo with this premise, AND if your MC isn't into geek culture, he wouldn't even pick up on the fact he's having a drink with Mal Reynolds or asking Starbuck for directions (Wolowitz' fantasy girl in the green jumpsuit from BBT), or accidentally become the third man in a little routine with Pinky and the Brain The BBT lesson I would take away is that the comedic potential isn't making fun of the people, it's having fun WITH the people. These guys seriously know how to party, it looks a little weird on the outside, but when you get IN it, and you do stuff like the zombie marathon or a scavenger hunt around town or sword-fighting or competitive table-top gaming... there's just so many opportunities for activity on one of these weekends that you wouldn't need to fall onto character archetypes or go-to-geek shorthand like BBT to fill pages. You could give the guy a geek mentor, a friend who knows about this stuff (think Tom Lennon in "17 Again") who drags him along to the first convention to "get him out of the house" and winds up having to teach this dude everything he knows to impress a girl... never thought he'd live to see the day.

I almost misread that as "Paradox Comics No 1," and I got a flashback to Heroes, where Hiro finds that comic book that tells him what's about to happen with his own life.

He forgot about 'em, and finding them again just brings out all these memories, this flood of memories, and he falls in love with them all over again. Yeah, it's going to be hard to sell them. Lucky for him (and unlucky for the sons), they're so valuable that they're hard to fence (they belong in a museum). BUT the news makes the old fella a celebrity, imagine not just finding these things but getting a backstage pass, you're going on talk shows and get to go to the new bullpen and see what's going on, imagine being a nobody and a week later, you're ON the red carpet at the premiere for the FIRST Avengers movie, meeting the cast, having your photo taken. It's like you found the Golden Ticket as a kid and never knew it until now. Maybe a little more fairy tale and idealistic (and certainly not much a conflict), but sometimes you just want good things to happen.

Middle aged woman finds a Honus Wagner baseball card amongst her father's possessions and after it's authenticated, she sells it for $1 million. But, the card is in fact a fake, and the mysterious woman in reality a notoriously reclusive master forger. The whole story about her father a fabrication. She almost gets away with it, except for one man, a fence, who recognizes the forgery as her work and threatens to expose her, unless she agrees to team up with him and create other pieces he can sell. For a while they're successful. Throw in a ex-husband/rival forger, a gangland boss who was one of their marks and members of the FBI's art crimes division.

It strikes me this conceit goes right back to a movie like The Maltese Falcon where the object of contention or pursuit is pretty much a Maguffin -- "the stuff dreams are made of" as Bogie says in TMF. It's a narrative device to explore the dark aspects of characters' souls... @blueneumann: Thanks for all that info, good for folks who are working on stories in that arena. Re Comic Con: I was in San Diego for some of the K-9 shoot in 1988. One morning I woke up pretty hungover from a night hanging out with the crew. Stumbled downstairs in the hotel and was surrounded by all these people in Star Wars and Star Trek outfits. Truly bizarre because I had NO IDEA WTF was going on. Even though it began in, I believe, 1970, it was nowhere near what it is today back in '88.

imho, not just aspects of a character's soul, but the larger world they inhabit: for instance, comic book based stories not only deal with the protag's affinity, but the related affinities of the other characters that inhabit the protag's world. How much of a shorthand is handed down to a writer, and how much pipe laying can she avoid, by the simple act of the protag "collecting" or otherwise loving comic books, stamps, barbie dolls, exotic cars, wrist watches, wine, baseball cards, etc...?

I can't IMAGINE stumbling into that by accident. I've seen photos from that time and it looked crazy. And at the time, you literally could have just walked up, bought a ticket, gone in and explored. You might have met Ray Bradbury in there... it wasn't a lot of legends back then, but who knows who was on the other side of a hotel wall? Heck, they took footage from the original original Star Wars and showed it on a little projector in a hotel ballroom to these kids, maybe a year before that movie came out and took over the world. Imagine randomly walking in and seeing THAT. What would happen? What if you were there for a conference on how to operate your own business, but didn't know what to do? And you see this movie, find out there's going to be toys... you're in on the ground floor! What if you're a hack movie maker? You see this preview footage, and suddenly you're in a race to make your own Star Wars and put it out before that movie comes out!

Haven't watched Rat Race. I did watched "The Cannonball Run".