1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

While recognising that this thread is a bit of a monologue, here is some more stuff, for those who are interested.

 

I've decided to drop the "Supergirl", 1950s sub-setting. It just makes life too complicated. From now on, it's a strictly 30s and 2006 thing.

 

I've decided to officially give it the name I wanted to from the very beginning.

 

Welcome to: "Wonder Boy and the Superhero Club".

 

"Wonder Boy" is obvious enough. There are published characters called Wonder Man, Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl, but no Wonder Boy. It could be a bit tricky when Wonder Boy grows up, but eliminating the 1950s slot means that I don't really have to worry about it, except, as a historical footnote. Yes, he probably did become Wonder Man. Eh.

 

The name "Superhero Club" is from the cover of the LSH's first appearance, where Superboy was all stressed out about them not allowing him to join their club. http://superman.ws/tales2/lsh/

 

There is also a sign saying "Super Hero Club" on their clubhouse. This is on the same page as a reference to the "Legion of Super-Heroes". I'm quite happy to use the less common reference as an in-joke.

[OddHat]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Don't forget the Space Canine Patrol Agency.

 

I guess no Supergirl = no Legion of Super Pets.

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

I guess no Supergirl = no Legion of Super Pets.

 

Well... it is a homage universe, so there is wriggle room if I want it.

 

I would like to have a Krypto homage, if only for the "Krypto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" jokes.

 

Other super-pets are entirely possible.

[csyphrett]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

There was a wonder boy in the forties. I don't think he was super powered though and hardly anyone else will know.

CES

[OddHat]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

In the end, it's pointless to worry too much about duplicating names. Most simple names and power sets have been used if you dig deep enough.

[ParagonAlpha]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

I found this on the (insert sarcasism) Al Gore-Internet (end sarcasism).

 

Here's a list of the Silver Age Legion, when they were introduced, and what planet they were from.

 

http://www.hoboes.com/pub/Comics/Annotations%20and%20Information/DC%20Comics/Legion%20of%20Superheroes/Official%20Legion%20Roster%201%20of%203

 

Please hope the link works.

[csyphrett]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

In the end' date=' it's pointless to worry too much about duplicating names. Most simple names and power sets have been used if you dig deep enough.[/quote']

 

The only reason I remembered was WB got shot by a nazi agent in a game I am in.

 

Are you going to include other 30 type heroes like Hop Harrigan and the Sandman, Assault?

CES

[David Johnston]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

If you were going to let a player run Wonder Boy then I'd suggest having his daughter be Wonder Girl in 2006. Assuming he's 16 in 1930 at the start of the campaign then he'd be a mere 76 in 1990, and even a normal human male can father a child at that age. What happened to Captain Wonder so he isn't around in 2006 and his daughter is left to be raised alone by her mom? It was

very heroic of course but we still avoid talking about it just in case Wonder Boy will hear and have to suffer under the burden of predestination. It was Captain Wonder's last wish.

[John Desmarais]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

There was a wonder boy in the forties. I don't think he was super powered though and hardly anyone else will know.

CES

 

 

First Appearance: National Comics #1 (Quality Comics, July 1940)

Powers/Abilities: Superhuman strength ("1000 men"). History: Wonder Boy was a youthful alien who came to Earth and decided to use his superhuman abilities to fight the Nazis and crime in general.

Source

 

In theory, DC probably owns the rights to him - but I've never seen him in a modern comic.

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

The only reason I remembered was WB got shot by a nazi agent in a game I am in.

 

Are you going to include other 30 type heroes like Hop Harrigan and the Sandman, Assault?

CES

 

Actually, I did know that there had been a published Wonder Boy, but I decided that he was so obscure that it didn't matter. And then I promptly forgot all about him. And someone else remembered. I guess he wasn't obscure enough.

 

I won't be including characters from outside the Superboy/Superman/LSH mythos, except maybe some Batman mythos characters. Not all such characters will make an appearance, and those I do introduce will all be homages. I will be making no attempt to follow any continuity except my own.

[OddHat]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

I may mention it a bit often, but I have a timeline on my page that does something similar to this. You might find it interesting.

[csyphrett]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Actually, I did know that there had been a published Wonder Boy, but I decided that he was so obscure that it didn't matter. And then I promptly forgot all about him. And someone else remembered. I guess he wasn't obscure enough.

 

I won't be including characters from outside the Superboy/Superman/LSH mythos, except maybe some Batman mythos characters. Not all such characters will make an appearance, and those I do introduce will all be homages. I will be making no attempt to follow any continuity except my own.

 

Still that does give you a huge swath of material to deal with.

 

Lex Luthor, Criminal genius. Lana Lang, the Insect Queen. Krypto. The Fatal Five, The Dark Circle, Sun Eater, Pete Ross secret helper/honorary legionnairre.

 

Maybe some legacy heroes to span that time. Karate Kid's teacher was a hero at one point.

CES

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

If you were going to let a player run Wonder Boy then I'd suggest having his daughter be Wonder Girl in 2006. Assuming he's 16 in 1930 at the start of the campaign then he'd be a mere 76 in 1990, and even a normal human male can father a child at that age. What happened to Captain Wonder so he isn't around in 2006 and his daughter is left to be raised alone by her mom? It was

very heroic of course but we still avoid talking about it just in case Wonder Boy will hear and have to suffer under the burden of predestination. It was Captain Wonder's last wish.

 

I like the name Captain Wonder, and will use it.

 

Of course, Wonder Boy is actually a place-holder. I envisage that there will be a PC filling that legendary inspiration role, and I will leave a lot of the details up to the player.

 

As far as it goes, though, I see him as being 15 in 1930, and disappearing during the Temporal Anomaly in 1986. The date is a Crisis homage, of course.

 

I'm not going to have an explicit Supergirl homage, but I am going to have a plot arc called: "Who is Mystery Girl?"

 

That's an old Legion theme which dates back to the Sixties. It was also used post-Crisis in the "Who is Sensor Girl?" plotline.

 

Of course, depending on the player, it might end up as "Who is Mystery Lad?", but hey.

 

I have a couple of other plot arcs and scenarios named, but not yet detailed. So far I have:

"The Derringer Gang" aka "Fast Cars and BARs" (as in Browning Automatic Rifles)

"Little Hideout on the Prairie" (return of the Derringer gang)

"Krypto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore"

 

I'll add more as I think of them.

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

I may mention it a bit often' date=' but I have a timeline on my page that does something similar to this. You might find it interesting.

 

Hmm. I've been reluctant to be too detailed in my timeline writing. In fact, I've got a Temporal Anomaly (read Crisis!) in 1986 that appears to have messed up history in a major way. Even people's memories appear to have been affected!

 

Think about it: what if some people remember fighting in a war and other people denied it ever happened?

 

Post-1986 history is more reliable, though.

 

And yes, I do kind of know what really happened. But I'm not telling.

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Another plot arc:

 

"The Biggest Geek in Littleton" - introducing Rex Reuther.

 

Rex, of course, is such an obvious Lex Luthor homage that I should be able to scam the players with ease.

 

In fact, he might even be a contender for being a PC. After all, Wonder Boy will need some other PCs to interact with in the 30s, and how many other potential superheroes are there in Littleton?

[OddHat]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Another plot arc:

 

"The Biggest Geek in Littleton" - introducing Rex Reuther.

 

Rex, of course, is such an obvious Lex Luthor homage that I should be able to scam the players with ease.

 

In fact, he might even be a contender for being a PC. After all, Wonder Boy will need some other PCs to interact with in the 30s, and how many other potential superheroes are there in Littleton?

 

Sounds good.

 

One of the better Tom Strong arcs featured a heroic Paul Saveen, echoing the classic Heroic Lex Luthor arcs.

[David Johnston]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Rex Reuther? Might be better to give him a name that really exists, rather than just the Scooby Doo pronunciation. Rex Reuter? Rex Randall?

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Rex Reuther? Might be better to give him a name that really exists' date=' rather than just the Scooby Doo pronunciation. Rex Reuter?[/quote']

 

Reuther is a real name. Google it.

 

The Scooby Doo pronunciation would be Ruthor. I made the minimum necessary change to get a real name from it. The pronunciation is a little too different for my tastes, but oh well...

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

One of the better Tom Strong arcs featured a heroic Paul Saveen' date=' echoing the classic Heroic Lex Luthor arcs.[/quote']

 

Of course, even if Rex is a PC, he isn't necessarily a good guy, or going to remain a good guy.

 

Or, if he's an NPC, he may or may not be a bad guy. Just because he's a Lex homage doesn't mean that he's the one behind the mad science plots. Or he may be.

 

I did mention scamming the players, didn't I? Misdirection is fun.

[Arac-4105]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

I love the idea! A dawning of the Superhero Age in the 1930s, an unrestrained Superhero Corps in WWII ending it in about a month (or less), and continued superhero influence into the 'future'. It'd make sense that if scientists can analyse and examine superheroes, things like flying cars and transparent steel and flight belts/rings would be present in the early/mid 21st century.

That's just my two cents, though.

[McCoy]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Another plot arc:

 

"The Biggest Geek in Littleton" - introducing Rex Reuther.

Rex Reuther?

 

And I'll bet he would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those medding kids!

[assault]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Rex Reuther?

 

And I'll bet he would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those medding kids!

 

Now that you've suggested it, I could include some Scooby Doo influences... I've fused them with the Super Friends in the past.

 

More broadly, silly names are part of the source material. They were one of the techniques used to fictionalise the real people who appeared in various stories.

 

Rex is a little unfortunate, perhaps, but I rather like my name for Public Enemy No 1 - Joe Derringer. From John Dillinger, of course.

 

Alternatives to Rex: Dex(ter), Tex, umm... that's about it. I suppose I could use some other random alliterative name. Whatever. I actually like the "Rex" part, although I'm less fond of "Reuther".

[David Johnston]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Rex Randall

Rex Rosenberg

 

Heck just about anything alliterative, just as long as it doesn't just sound you are saying "Lex Luthor" with a speech impediment.

[casualplayer]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Maybe the reason Scooby can talk is that he was created by....Rex Reuther!

[ParagonAlpha]

Re: 1930s Superboy and the 21st Century LSH

 

Hmmm Rex Reuther is rather blatant.

 

How about Richard "Rex" Rather. It has a sense of the 30's action hero nickname.

 

You could even work into Rex's background that he was an avid sportsmen, champion race car driver, daring adventurer, Ivy-League scholar and man about town. Almost an homage to Doc Savage.

 

But with the advent of actual superheros he gets forgotten by the press and it fuels his revenge against WB and the Wonder Family.