Discussed this month: The need for variety

I'm reposting the following from the Fanzing Forum with only a few edits.

I've been dwelling on this a lot, and I want to throw it out to see what you think.

David R. Black has commented on the dearth of Nightwing and Batman fanfic that we get. I've noticed that we don't have enough variety in our fiction to appeal to a broad number of readers. So here's what I'm thinking.

I'm not going to name any names. You know yourselves well enough to tell if you focus on a character more than any other. There's nothing wrong with running these stories so long as the end result isn't a magazine in a rut.

Thus, I lay down a challenge: Branch out.

You can still do Nightwing stories, but alternate with a story about the Omega Men, or an untold tale of the JLA's early days, or Challengers of the Unknown, or Damage.

You can still do Batman stories, but find time this year to do a Haunted Tank tale, or an Ambush Bug, or a classic Metamorpho story.

You can still do fiction about Superman and Wonder Woman getting married in the future (if you absolutely must), but after that one try to do a Space Cabbie or Adam Strange or Jonah Hex or the Metal Men.

Teen Titans fiction is fine (are fine?), but also submit a tale of The Question, Captain Comet, L.E.G.I.O.N., Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, Supergirl, Krypto or Chronos.

It doesn't have to be the lesser gems in DC's crown, either. JLA, JSA, Superman, Wonder Woman, Impulse, Stars & STRIPE, Martian Manhunter, Young Justice…all of them could use more exposure in Fanzing's pages.

And I'm just brainstorming here, but wouldn't it be cool to occasionally do a Green Lantern Corps story now that DC has killed off all the corps members? Given that this group had 3600 agents operating for a million years, I think there are still some past stories to tell.

This is also good training for anyone who wants to work for DC someday. Rarely do people get hired for their dream project with the characters they always wanted to write. You could submit a Batman story and get hired…to write Impulse. What do you do if you only write Batman?

This is meant to inspire you. I think there are some creative depths that aren't being tapped. In the last few days, Syl Francis has discussed her military background and some of the weapons that she is trained on, and I thought, "Dang! Why isn't this gal doing a Sgt. Rock story?"

To show that I'm not just all talk, I will undertake this challenge myself. Now that I've finished my Elongated Man story, I'm going to put him off-limits for a while and do something else. My first inclination is to do a Captain Carrot story.

Your thoughts?