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A long boring post where I create 20 superheroes
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A long boring post where I create 20 superheroes Please send all your hate mail for this post existing to SuperBJ c/o of the Merry Widow . There’s a couple different ways to categorize super-type-people but for the purposes of this exercise we’ll use the Healy system which breaks them down into four categories ; Bio – A hero with powers that are a result of their biology whether it be natural or the result of an accident or experimentation , your mutants and enhanced and super soldiers and the like . Skill – A hero without any powers who’s just super dope , world class athletic skills , military training , computer hacking , stunt driving , exemplary love-making and so forth . Tech – A hero without any powers inherently but who utilizes technology to achieve the same kind of results via super-suit or pharmaceuticals or grav-belt or what have you . Mystic – A hero who gains their abilities through the study or use of magic whether it be by actually casting spells or through a connection to a mystical realm or by possessing a relic or runic item of power . Obviously there can be overlap – the Batman for instance is both Skill and Tech . Forge is a mutant (Bio) whose power allows him to invent (Skill) technology that he uses to do his stuff (Tech) . The Scarlet Witch is a mutant (Bio) who also learned magic (Mystic) . You get the idea . I’m envisioning an ensemble type super-team at the city level , as opposed to your global or cosmic type super teams . And the first idea that pops into my head is that the team is actually made up the survivors of two different teams that both lost several of their members in some kind of cataclysmic battle . Tech heroes are fairly common , and becoming more so due to the popularity of Marvel Studios Iron Man , but Tech teams are pretty rare so one of the former groups will be a Tech squad . For a fun contrast their main antagonist will be a Mystic based , the whole science versus supernatural angle . The other team will be more of a standard mix of hero types but I think their hook will be that they share and origin story and I’m thinking that it will be that they discovered a crashed alien starship and that resulted in all of their powers in one way or another . The first character will be the city itself . They just recently re-launched West Coast Avengers which made me think of the short lived Great Lakes Avengers . They were the worst – which is probably some kind of meta-commentary on the Midwest aka the Flyover States . It kind of annoys me when “coasties” rip on the Midwest all the time , and it annoys me that I care even a little . Anyway , the backdrop will be the fictional Midwest city of Eden which will be in the area where Cairo , Illinois is in the “real” world . It was a trade hub back in the day and a rival to Chicago and has stayed relevant in today’s world with strong early investment in fintech and medical supply manufacturing . It is the 5th largest city in the US and has an undeserved reputation for political honesty compared to dirty corrupt Chicago . The second character will fit in with the law enforcement piece of puzzle – which every superhero story needs be it as ally , enemy or both . I never cared much for Nightwing but one thing I did like is that Dick Grayson was a police officer as his day job/cover identity . That is brilliant and if you want to be realistic about super-people (which you don’t) is the only job superheroes should have . If you care enough about fighting crime to dress up in a Halloween costume and run around karate chopping poor people by night you should also be working for justice by day . Plus it solves the biggest issue with “realism” with masked vigilantes – how do they find the crime to stop it ? That was one of the best things about Spider-Man Homecoming to me , he wanted to find crime but wandering around “on patrol” all he did was stop a bike theft . If you’re work for the police by day though you know where the shit goes down . Or at least you can find out . Maybe . So this character will be Detective First Grade James Naismith (no relation) who is the partner of one of our super-people whose day job is a police detective . When the series starts he already knows the deal with our hero and how that happened will be explored in a flashback . He does his best to help said hero but has mixed feelings about people with superpowers – about 40 issues in a rift will develop between them when the mayor demands a crackdown on super-types . And who is the partner ? Let get to some protagonists here . Detective Third Grade Danielle Romero , whose parents are ethnic Japanese Catholics from Brazil . Did you know that Brazil has the highest Japanese population outside of Japan ? I did . You know that Brazilian Ju-jitsu that dude-bros always have a huge hard on for ? That’s where that came from . When her mom was pregnant with Danielle they tried to immigrate to Japan due to the financial crisis in Brazil but were denied as Brazilian Japanese people are treated as non-Japanese by those on the mainland so they came to America instead . Danielle Romero was the leader of the tech-squad before the two groups merged . Her super-identity is Condessa Coma (in honor of Mitsuyo Maeda) in which she fights crime by enhancing her expertise in Brazilian Ju-jitsu (wicked brah ! ) with iron-reinforced ceramic armor of her own design along with advanced heuristic fighting algorithms that feed information directly into her brain via a neuro-link . She also has some minor wired reflexes and the like . Many people assume that she has some form of cyber-armor but she’s actually just incredibly tough on her own due to advanced body hardening training and a<b> sheer </font></b>iron will . And actually let’s get to the tech-squad . I’m thinking that the team was the brainchild of an army engineer during the Cold War (of course) let’s call him Kenneth Hallock Greenvise Jr . He was involved in a project to create super-soldiers via biological means in the 70s but became disillusioned by the terrible side effects and the many failures of that project . He pushed instead for trying to enhance combat capability through exo-skeleton technology but his project was eventually shut down due to the cost – tens of millions of dollars for one suit ? No thanks . Greenvise continued work on “super-suits” on his own to little success until after the fall of the Berlin Wall when he was joined in his work by former East German Dr. Anrea Ewald who was working on a similar project for the Soviets . The irony there is she was forced to work for them but they ignored her work on account of her being a woman . Those crazy communists . Ewald and Greenvise were able to make great strides together until their research was stolen by a costumed super-villain who sold their designs to a wicked arms manufacturer . Deciding they need to do something to prevent their work for being used for evil Greenvise and Ewald decided to create a team of operatives . They called their team Trans Atmospheric Response Team not realizing the acronym was TART . There will be a “funny” flashback about a dude calling them up to try and order an escort . Another one of the tech-squad will be BAST , Biological Advanced Striking Techniques – a martial arts exercise robot built by Ewald and Greenvise to train their potential squad . When BAST was defeated by Danielle in its first outing it was put into mothballs until The Event at which point it became inhabited by the deceased spirit of one of the other tech-squad members who died in the conflict . Let’s call him Andrew Freesov . He was a mid-sixties mechanic who worked for Greenvise who was pressed into duty piloting a super-suit due to the critical nature of that conflict and was killed in action . How and why he is inhibiting BAST drives the other tech-folks insane because it makes no scientific sense , I mean he’s essentially a robot-ghost and they’re always putting out theories on what is going on . Andrew is simultaneously happy to have a new lease on “life” but has trouble adjusting to his new robotic reality . Speaking of let’s talk about The Event – the thing that happened that led to the death of many members of both teams before the merge . This will have happened before our story begins and for quite a while it will be known in reference only . Around issue 17 there will be a flashback that will reveal some information but it will be a while before the whole story is told – let’s say issue 100 will just be that . So we don’t need to know a lot about that right now , other than it was a deal and both teams tried to address it without being aware of the other and paid the price big time . Let’s give some love to the other team while we’re on the subject . The “normal” people finding an crashed alien ship by accident has been done many times so let’s go the other way – these people were actually looking for said ship . As we all know there’s a secret branch of the United States Air Force Security Forces dedicated to finding downed alien craft . So these people were them . They traveled covertly to King William Island to investigate a possible crashsite near Gjoa Haven . When they were “changed” by their experience and knowing what would become of them in the caring hands of the US government they decided to go underground . Luckily for them while they were on said mission their part of the program was scrubbed and disavowed and buried in red-tape to the point where when no one could find them there were just listed as KIA and the whole thing was snowed under . Or first squadmember will be Senior Airman Nicole Elizabeth Jonsdottir . She was not a member of the alien retrieval squad by choice and was actually a few months away from leaving the service when she encountered an EBE (extraterrestrial biological entity) and was transferred . She was the first to enter the King William Island craft and was pierced by a swarm of nano-robots that infused her with alien fluid and partially re-built her biology before become inert – a process that was horrifically painful and still gives her nightmares . At first this resulted in her taking on a feral animalistic form and she spent several weeks in the icy wilderness before learning to control her powers – it was during this time she was called Tuunbaq by the locales which she has taken on as her hero name . In human form Nicole is has mildly enhanced senses , agility , endurance and the like – but it is when she transforms into her monstrous configuration that she gains her true super-powers . Which yeah is like the Hulk but the Hulk is just a Jekyll and Hyde rip-off so whatever . Said form is a demonic amalgamation of polar bear and elk with some other craziness tossed in for fun . To this day they don’t know if the nano-robots were a defense mechanism or a malfunctioning medical protocol or what . So far we have two chicks (and one robot) we need to get some dudes in here to keep this from turning into whatever the opposite of a sausage fest is . So the next member of this squad will be Airman First Class Benjamin Buchanan . Buchanan touched an alien (obvs) crystal while on board the KWI craft and was “infected” with a colony of micro-organisms that manipulate his body’s processes on the micro-scale . As such he never gets sick , never tires , doesn’t need to sleep , can eat anything he wants and can quickly recover from almost any injury that isn’t instantly fatal . His body operates at peak human capacity and them some . Since developing his powers he has become steadily more vain and arrogant – which has been exacerbated by the death of alien squad leader during the Event who Buchanan looked up to as a mentor . Oh right , he needs a hero name – Apex . The third survivor of the alien force team will be civilian attaché William Clerke an alleged “xeno” biologist of dubious origin . The rest of the team thought that he was actually a CIA “spook” attached to the team to spy on them but once they went underground they found out he was actually a member of Skywatch an organization of private interests that attempt to collect alien artifacts that was blackmailed into joining the team by its former handler . Clerk never entered the KWI craft but while attempting to get a sample of the leaking fuel (glowing of course) he was exposed to an unknown form of radiation that granted him his powers . Which will be limited flight (takes energy , like running so he can only do it for a few minutes) the ability to bend and manipulate light (including lasers) and various other minor attributes , doesn’t need to breath , isn’t effected by pressure changes etc. Speculation is that these are characteristics of the species of origin of the craft . And hero name , um , Xenos . And lets finish off the tech-team survivors . I don’t want to go straight-up super suit so let’s go with some minor cybernetics . Not enough to be a full conversion “borg” but enough to be super . She’ll have implants in the brain that stimulate neurological , chemical and glandular activity to increase endurance , speed and strength along with attuning mind and body increasing reaction time and alertness . This also result in uncanny targeting and aiming – can hit the bullseye on a dart board from 60 feet away after just glancing . She’ll wear a skintight yellow “speed suit” that will be vaguely S&My (of course) and her standard weapon will be energy emitting collapsible baton ala War Machine’s “war hammer” . It is able to emit concussive force on impact and looks vaguely like a bum paddle . Her name will be Isabelle Playa , a Mexican-American former soccer star who volunteered for TART and the experiments of Ewald as a way to recapture the “rush” of competing at the highest level . A bit of an adrenaline junkie who’s always pushing herself to the limit . Oh right , and we need a hero name . Hmm , Peloton . So what will the merged team be named ? The New Justice Team is already taken but I want something fairly innocuous and “mainstream” , I mean when the Doom Patrol came out didn’t you think they were bad guys ? Of course you did , they were patrolling FOR doom but you know , people didn’t get it . You know I’m drawing a blank here – if you have any ideas let me know . The standard team is 4 , sometimes 5 , but I wanted an equal number from each defunct group and I wanted more than 4 . So we have ; The Leader , Condessa Coma The Lancer , Apex The Trickster , Peloton The Strong Guy , Tunnbaq The Heart , BAST And the Sixth Ranger , Xenos So now we need some lessor villains for them to mix it up with in the early issues and then later when we need to do one-shot issues that don’t touch the meta-plot . Blue Hair – Is an alien who looks to human eyes like an elderly woman but that’s actually just what her species looks like naturally . She has just the baseline abilities of her species but compared to the human/galactic norm that makes her super-strong and super-tough . Obviously her shtick is masquerading as a helpless old lady and then wailing on people hard . She drives a tricked out caddy with various James Bond style gadgets that she took from a minor villain she killed when she first came to the planet . A recurring joke will be that she’s a terrible diver , you know , because she’s an alien . She’ll have some patsy that she uses as her front wo/man for her criminal enterprise will who become romantically involved with one of the heroes , try to go straight and pay the ultimate price . This will happen at the point where we’ve seen Blue Hair defeated enough that we start to lose respect for her as a threat to the heroes to remind everyone that she’s an evil alien murder who doesn’t care about human morals . Rey Lucha – A former luchadore who wrestled for years under the name El Goal Consado , mostly in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean , Manuel Mando found an Aztec mask that contained powers granted by the Ahuiateteo , the five gods of excess and pleasure . Hmm , would it be too much of a stereotype if I made him a drug kingpin ? Instead let’s say that he’s into the illegal import of luxury items – elephant tusks and things like that – along with gambling and staging bloodsports with exotic animals . And I MEAN exotic , like chupacabras and genetically created velociraptors and shit like that . The typical storyline for him will be one of his fighting animals escapes and wreaks havoc and after subduing it the team tries to bring him in . Let’s do one more “B” villain . We need one who tries to reform and kind of helps the team but it never really works out and they’re kind of a tragic figure . We haven’t done much with Skill type people so that’s what he’ll be . An analytic and mechanic genius Rory Calhoun lost his job and his reputation at Baron Corp due to a smear campaign by his former boss Maximillian Devlin . After his wife died and his twin daughters were discovered to rare a rare genetic disorder Rory took on the identity Strong Zero and began ripping off Baron Corp facilities by Macgyvering and Sherlock Holmsing his way to victory . Once Baron Corp put out a contract on him and he was nearly killed by the murderous group of big game hunters he had to turn his attentions to less deserving targets . His arc will be as a thief in the beginning once he’s caught and reformed he’ll be an ally of the team for a while before being forced to revert to his villainous ways by his ’s worsening health where he sets up “The Shop” using his skills to make gadgets for other criminals and bringing him into conflict with the heroes again . So now the big bads . We already know we need a mystical group to be the hold-over nemesis from the tech-group . Usually these things have a long historical pedigree , the Hellfire Club being a popular choice , so let’s go the other way . This group was born out of the “Satanic Panic” or the 80’s . These magic groups are usually also people with rich folk so let’s flip that too . A woman in the back country of Kentucky was obsessed with all the false information about Satanist being floated as a and became similarity entranced with the idea of real magic . She came across Candomblé which demands that each person is required to fulfill his or her destiny to the fullest regardless of good or evil . She started having dreams that her destiny was a dark one , but one full of power . Let’s call her Lynne Kellerman . Her dreams attracted the attention of an entity from the Deep Astral , a psychic vampire that feeds on misery and pain . This being is the source of Lynne’s powers – all her “spellcasting” is pure mumbo-jumbo , a fact of which she is unaware . Taking the name Cheva , a variation of Chevo Man the mystical goatman of Kentucky , she recruited others into her league and “taught” them some of her powers , spreading the astral entity’s influence like a virus . This group started committing acts of violence and mayhem along the east coast until being chased out of the area by local superheroes and moving their act to Eden . They call themselves the Chaos All-Stars which many people find silly – and they hate being laughed at . The so-called All-Stars were not directly responsible for The Event but they were a triggering factor in it . They’ll be used as kind of a villain of the week with a new mystical menace coming up and being defeated by Cheva getting away in the process to vex them another day . That group is a holder over from the previous history though – we need a big bad for the new group . The name Caliban comes to mind but that’s already taken . Caliban is the of the devil himself and Sycorax . Let’s just mix that around and call him Scorax – that has a nice villainy ring to it . His background is that he’s the of a Rosemary’s Baby type situation but was abandoned when “they” discovered he was merely a freaky monster demon rather than THE antichrist . He was found and raised by some old school religious types but their daily beatings didn’t turn him into a good person . He bailed at an early age and came up on the streets . In his younger days he ran with gangs and got involved with organized crime but he realized that the real way to win was by being a criminal “broker” or middleman . Scorax has his hand in almost any job that goes down in Eden one way or another , even if it’s just in being paid “tribute” . He is the criminal prince of Eden . For the most part he doesn’t have his own power structure – relying on those who owe him favors for the most part , but he does have a couple loyal minions who he calls his “Hounds of Justice” . We’ll call one Ceely . He has a qusi-mystical rifle that is keyed to its target's genetic structure and cannot be avoided or deflected by energy ; it only stops when it strikes its target , or a close blood relative thereof . A hit from one of these shots can kill or seriously injure the target . A person who survives finds their neural pathways burned out and unable to move . Next we have Revan , a full blown a cyborg . Her limbs are mostly artificial and this makes her superhumanly strong . She is largely immune to telepathic intrusion and attack , even from very power telepaths . And rounding out the minion/bodyguard trio is Kross , a mutant with telepathic and telekinetic abilities . Well there you have it . Was this my worst post ever ? You be the judge . Also yes . Yes it was . Putting first by putting employees first, immediately after prioritizing fiscal responsibilities and leveraging profitability towards exceeding by empowering our employees to put (and themselves) first, in a diverse and respectful environment of only those that come first, first. |
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If you read this whole thing that means something Putting clients first by putting employees first, immediately after prioritizing fiscal responsibilities and leveraging profitability towards exceeding by empowering our employees to put clients (and themselves) first, in a diverse and respectful environment of only those that come first, first.
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Damn, no one will ever accuse you of over stating the long post. I think my eyes are bleeding.  " I refuse to belong to any organization that would accept me as a member" Groucho Marx
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This was not your most boring post ever but I think it was the longest. And still - I won't get any hate mail cuz everyone loves me. Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation bangs on the door forever!
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Uh... I read the whole post and I thought it was fun. Then again, I am a bit of a nerdette and I was curious to see where you were going with the character development. By the way, my favorite was Xenos. His powers are pretty badass.
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I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the whole thing but the first half seemed well thought out. How does one break into the business of script writing for comic books?  
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