Manufactured Heroes

Manufactured Heroes blends elements of Cyrano de Bergerac and Spider-man, to create a love triangle between an egotistical superhero, the insecure nerd who writes his banter, and an artistic fangirl. In this world, a Council secretly finances superheroes, paying for the technology that gives the heroes powers and for the support staff that allows them to operate. In return, the Council retains merchandising rights.

The story’s protagonist, WILL, works as the voice for ACE, a hero with waning popularity due to hipster disinterest. A voice is responsible for writing the hero’s dialogue and plays a keep part in defining the hero’s persona. AMOS, takes over their operation and threatens to retire Will (i.e., fire him and imprison him so he cannot reveal the Council’s secrets) unless Will helps increase Ace’s popularity. At the behest of IKE, Will’s best friend and Ace’s quartermaster, Will proposes that Ace start a relationship with a girl next door type.

Will meets and falls for Ike’s cousin, ELLIE. But when she is imperilled, Will is forced to stage a rescue by Ace. Thus begins his bizarre courtship of Ellie, via Ace, and the escalation of his frustrations.

With the help of Ike, Will arranges for Ace to disgrace himself on national television by feeding him misogynistic and inflammatory dialogue. This causes Amos begin the process of retiring Ace, locking him out of the building and dispatching a team of heroes to subdue him. Ace retaliates by abducting Ellie and secretly contacting Will, telling him he will release her if Will procures equipment from Ike’s lab and aids Ace in starting a life of crime.

Will seeks the help of Ike who tells him the only way he can rescue Ellie is by becoming a hero himself. He injects Will with the same chemical cocktail that he uses on Ace and equips him with a flight suit and energy based gun. Will goes to fight Ace and, when he manages to temporarily disable him using the gun, frees Ellie. Ace recovers and traps Will while Ellie runs and hides. Ace lures Ellie out into the open by promising that he’ll let them both go free. After admonishing him for not getting to know her well enough to know she wouldn’t fall for his Bond villain level theatrics, she pulls the energy gun on him. Instead of blasting him, she shoots the chains entangling Will, freeing him. As Ace charges at Ellie, Will catches him and drags both of them underwater, sacrificing himself to drown Ace and protect Ellie.