Golden Age British Supers?

[Agent X]

I have just updated Fire-Watcher from the Kingdom of Champions to 5th Edition and I am going to get a write-up of Lady Lightning that is mentioned in 5th Ed. Champions Universe. Any ideas what other Supers (Names, Themes, Power Concepts, Write-ups even) the UK would have had circa 1940?

 

The Campaign centers around a group of American Heroes who have joined a "special unit" of the British Military with strong though secret contacts with the American Government. This is, of course, before America fully joins into the war effort.

[Rage]

There was Miracle Man who had people on his side like Miricle Lad and Lass and Miracle Girl.

 

Hs powers were kinda like Captain Marvel except space based and not Magic

[Agent X]

Originally posted by Rage

There was Miracle Man who had people on his side like Miricle Lad and Lass and Miracle Girl.

 

Hs powers were kinda like Captain Marvel except space based and not Magic

Thanks. I beleive he's also known as Miracleman here in the States. Can anyone confirm?

[Rage]

Originally posted by Agent X

Thanks. I beleive he's also known as Miracleman here in the States. Can anyone confirm?

Yeah but he was originally written for Great Britain, the guy who edited the Illustrated Companion to Comicbook's is the one who made him up and he did it for GB during the golden age.

["V"]

Try "The Rocket" aka Stephen George. He was a sort of train-themed combo Brick/Speedster who took a long time to get up to full speed, but then specialised in devastating collisions (Move Throughs). Character-wise he was pretty unsophisticated, but a down to earth "country gent" type who smoked a pipe and drank beer in the local pub.

 

Actually he was around in the 1930s, but no doubt would have come out of retirement to harrass the hun- "Full Steam Ahead Fritz" would have made a nice battle cry as he plowed into the side of a Panzer.

 

Jimmy Riddle was an annoying boy-genius type who in a real British school would have been drowned in the toilets by the first playtime. He had a utility backpack from which he'd pull appropriate gadgets ("tinkertoys") at the appropriate moment. His name reflected the fact that most of his adventures involved entangling complex clues.

 

There was another chap called Lord Midnight who was a member of the landed gentry in his Secret ID and had a VERY haunted country house. He tended to stumble into adventures accidentally (week in, week out) and each week a different ghost from his house accompanied him and helped out. How you'd model that in Hero I have no idea... the chap himself had very few powers of his own, but since no one else could see the Ghosts everyone thought he did... perhaps the Ghosts could just be a "special effect" for a VPP?

[Crimson Arrow]

First, are we talking about actual comic characters from that era, actual comic characters portrayed as being from that era (but might not have been around at the time), or ideas for Golden Age characters?

 

If it’s either of the first two, then you have Union Jack and Spitfire (Marvel) and Shining Knight (DC – although I believe he might not have been DC at the time, my comic history of pre-Silver Age stuff is very vague).

 

If you want to know what British comics portrayed at that time, there is a great site about British superhero comics throughout the ages, at http://www.internationalhero.co.uk . As you will see, there's a lot on this site, but the bit you want is in the UK secton under comic book characters. There is a page specifically about 40s heroes. In the 80s section, there is a big feature on Zenith: Phase 3, which had cameos by dozens of British heroes and some of the 40s characters were drawn (altered where necessary) and you might get an idea of what they might look like, even where there is no image in the 40s section itself.

 

If you just want possible ideas, then I’ll cite a scenario for Golden Heroes, which referred to some British heroes from that era, but did not give you details of their powers. There was John Bull (my guess is a mid-level brick, but possibly more Captain America), Howitzer (nicknamed Big Bertha, so possibly a brick also, but might have had energy projection powers) and Triplex (could split into three people). There were three more, but my memory fails me, although I am fairly sure one was a witch. I have a vague recollection than one of those other three had survived to the 80s (when the scenario was produced), but can’t for the life of me remember any more.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by "V"

Try "The Rocket" aka Stephen George. He was a sort of train-themed combo Brick/Speedster who took a long time to get up to full speed, but then specialised in devastating collisions (Move Throughs). Character-wise he was pretty unsophisticated, but a down to earth "country gent" type who smoked a pipe and drank beer in the local pub.

 

Actually he was around in the 1930s, but no doubt would have come out of retirement to harrass the hun- "Full Steam Ahead Fritz" would have made a nice battle cry as he plowed into the side of a Panzer.

 

Jimmy Riddle was an annoying boy-genius type who in a real British school would have been drowned in the toilets by the first playtime. He had a utility backpack from which he'd pull appropriate gadgets ("tinkertoys") at the appropriate moment. His name reflected the fact that most of his adventures involved entangling complex clues.

 

There was another chap called Lord Midnight who was a member of the landed gentry in his Secret ID and had a VERY haunted country house. He tended to stumble into adventures accidentally (week in, week out) and each week a different ghost from his house accompanied him and helped out. How you'd model that in Hero I have no idea... the chap himself had very few powers of his own, but since no one else could see the Ghosts everyone thought he did... perhaps the Ghosts could just be a "special effect" for a VPP?

Thanks!

[Agent X]

Originally posted by Crimson Arrow

First, are we talking about actual comic characters from that era, actual comic characters portrayed as being from that era (but might not have been around at the time), or ideas for Golden Age characters?

 

If it’s either of the first two, then you have Union Jack and Spitfire (Marvel) and Shining Knight (DC – although I believe he might not have been DC at the time, my comic history of pre-Silver Age stuff is very vague).

 

If you want to know what British comics portrayed at that time, there is a great site about British superhero comics throughout the ages, at http://www.internationalhero.co.uk . As you will see, there's a lot on this site, but the bit you want is in the UK secton under comic book characters. There is a page specifically about 40s heroes. In the 80s section, there is a big feature on Zenith: Phase 3, which had cameos by dozens of British heroes and some of the 40s characters were drawn (altered where necessary) and you might get an idea of what they might look like, even where there is no image in the 40s section itself.

 

If you just want possible ideas, then I’ll cite a scenario for Golden Heroes, which referred to some British heroes from that era, but did not give you details of their powers. There was John Bull (my guess is a mid-level brick, but possibly more Captain America), Howitzer (nicknamed Big Bertha, so possibly a brick also, but might have had energy projection powers) and Triplex (could split into three people). There were three more, but my memory fails me, although I am fairly sure one was a witch. I have a vague recollection than one of those other three had survived to the 80s (when the scenario was produced), but can’t for the life of me remember any more.

I'd love whatever anybody can give me. I have a genre fiend in the game so original ideas would be great. Of course, he lurks on here a sometimes but I can't help that. Thanks!

["V"]

Sorry about this one...

 

How about a hulking but impressive looking iron robot with a multi-valve computational brain that specialises in solving mysteries.

 

"Stately Holmes."

[Agent X]

Re: Sorry about this one...

 

Originally posted by "V"

How about a hulking but impressive looking iron robot with a multi-valve computational brain that specialises in solving mysteries.

 

"Stately Holmes."

AAAaaaaaargh! (Oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth) AAAaaaaaaaargh! did I mention, "AAAaaaaaargh!?"

["V"]

Good grief, that was quick. Are you trying to tell me something?

 

On a more serious note... just as an idea seed.... something that would be very true to the genre in terms of both harking back to the idyllic England of yore (etc etc) and the plucky 'all pull together' spirit that seemed quite genuinel to exist at the time, how about a team comprising some local "Lord of the Manor" type (probably as a Patriot archetype) accompanied by members of his estate. You could have the local Blacksmith as the team Brick, the happy go lucky Poacher as a stealthy marksman type etc.

 

Sorry the idea's not worked out in more depth, but I think the "feel" would be appropriate.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by "V"

Good grief, that was quick. Are you trying to tell me something?

 

On a more serious note... just as an idea seed.... something that would be very true to the genre in terms of both harking back to the idyllic England of yore (etc etc) and the plucky 'all pull together' spirit that seemed quite genuinel to exist at the time, how about a team comprising some local "Lord of the Manor" type (probably as a Patriot archetype) accompanied by members of his estate. You could have the local Blacksmith as the team Brick, the happy go lucky Poacher as a stealthy marksman type etc.

 

Sorry the idea's not worked out in more depth, but I think the "feel" would be appropriate.

I suppose just as long as I didn't go with a Lady Chatterley's sort of angle on the manor.

["V"]

"Lady Jane, does yer 'ave ter be so Obvious?"

"Oh Mellors, I just wanted you to know I was Accessible."

"Shut up milady, just Focus."

 

(works best with broad Yorkshire accent and familiarity with dialect... rest assured this is a hilarious gag even if it seems otherwise... ).

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by Crimson Arrow

If you want to know what British comics portrayed at that time, there is a great site about British superhero comics throughout the ages, at http://www.internationalhero.co.uk

Wow! That's an interesting site. It had lots of characters I hadn't heard of, like Captain Magnet and TNT Tina. Beautiful picture of Ace Hart, too.

[Doug McCrae]

V: Loved Lord Midnight - a different ghost every week! Where did you get those characters from? Are they originals?

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by Agent X

Any ideas what other Supers (Names, Themes, Power Concepts, Write-ups even) the UK would have had circa 1940?

Okay, I've had a look at the excellent website Crimson Arrow mentioned. The ideas you can use depend on how period-appropriate you want to be. Just how knowledgable is the genre-fiend in your game?

 

If you're prepared to include Roy Thomas retro stuff like Spitfire and Union Jack then you can pretty much do whatever you want.

 

Assuming you want to be more 'period' than that, British superheroes of the early 40s were quite limited. There were Tarzan ripoffs - Morgyn the Mighty and Halcon - and an Aquaman ripoff called Argo. There were several really big robots. Most were used for evil but one was a school teacher! They were - Iron Warrior, Iron Teacher and Crusher. I can't stress enough that these were *big* robots. Iron Warrior looks as tall as three men. There were several do-anything wizards who didn't wear costumes.

 

More promising as source material are:

Flaming Avenger (33). Wore a suit of armour (not power armour) but of modern design fitted with a flame-thrower, which he'd constructed himself. I think this is a great character, a proto-superhero and not quite like anything I've seen before. He'd have been fighting crime for a while by 1940 and would probably now be helping the war effort in some capacity. There's a nice picture of him at

Very similar is...

Night Hawk (30s) He also wore a suit of modern armour, this time outfitted with wings. He had a sidekick named Sparrowhawk. If these two inventors got together, they could make a dragon!

Round about 1939 there were a bunch of Beano characters with various powers - strength, cold, magic pipes - all but one were children though. The exception was Ping the Elastic Man who was very similar to Plastic Man.

The Bat (40). Like Batman but sources I've read hint he was a vampire.

Garth (43). Mysterious individiual. Originally an amnesiac who washed up on a beach. He had great, maybe superhuman strength. He travelled thru time in later stories. Garth didn't wear a costume so wasn't really a superhero. He's a cool character, though.

Mr. X (44). Gained superhuman stength thru a fitness regime.

Mr. Muscle (45). Gained superhuman strength from drinking 'the essence of strength'.

 

So I would say the most genre appropriate types would be:

1) Strongman

2) Inventor in a suit of armour, with one or more gadgets built in. I would strongly recommend you don't make the armour powered as it gives it much more of a period feel. These days everyone and his dog has powered armour.

3) Big robot that looks like this -

4) Wizard

5) Like Batman only more supernatural, and darker and grimmer, if possible.

6) Humour character a la Plastic Man but with perhaps less extreme abilities.

 

In the late 1940s there were lots of Superman, Captain Marvel and Flash ripoffs. Most of them derived their powers from atomic energy, some were aliens.

 

Marvelman or Miracleman, one of the three most important British superheroes, came a lot later, in 1954.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by Doug McCrae

Okay, I've had a look at the excellent website Crimson Arrow mentioned. The ideas you can use depend on how period-appropriate you want to be. Just how knowledgable is the genre-fiend in your game?

 

If you're prepared to include Roy Thomas retro stuff like Spitfire and Union Jack then you can pretty much do whatever you want.

 

Assuming you want to be more 'period' than that, British superheroes of the early 40s were quite limited. There were Tarzan ripoffs - Morgyn the Mighty and Halcon - and an Aquaman ripoff called Argo. There were several really big robots. Most were used for evil but one was a school teacher! They were - Iron Warrior, Iron Teacher and Crusher. I can't stress enough that these were *big* robots. Iron Warrior looks as tall as three men. There were several do-anything wizards who didn't wear costumes.

 

More promising as source material are:

Flaming Avenger (33). Wore a suit of armour (not power armour) but of modern design fitted with a flame-thrower, which he'd constructed himself. I think this is a great character, a proto-superhero and not quite like anything I've seen before. He'd have been fighting crime for a while by 1940 and would probably now be helping the war effort in some capacity. There's a nice picture of him at

Very similar is...

Night Hawk (30s) He also wore a suit of modern armour, this time outfitted with wings. He had a sidekick named Sparrowhawk. If these two inventors got together, they could make a dragon!

Round about 1939 there were a bunch of Beano characters with various powers - strength, cold, magic pipes - all but one were children though. The exception was Ping the Elastic Man who was very similar to Plastic Man.

The Bat (40). Like Batman but sources I've read hint he was a vampire.

Garth (43). Mysterious individiual. Originally an amnesiac who washed up on a beach. He had great, maybe superhuman strength. He travelled thru time in later stories. Garth didn't wear a costume so wasn't really a superhero. He's a cool character, though.

Mr. X (44). Gained superhuman stength thru a fitness regime.

Mr. Muscle (45). Gained superhuman strength from drinking 'the essence of strength'.

 

So I would say the most genre appropriate types would be:

1) Strongman

2) Inventor in a suit of armour, with one or more gadgets built in. I would strongly recommend you don't make the armour powered as it gives it much more of a period feel. These days everyone and his dog has powered armour.

3) Big robot that looks like this -

4) Wizard

5) Like Batman only more supernatural, and darker and grimmer, if possible.

6) Humour character a la Plastic Man but with perhaps less extreme abilities.

 

In the late 1940s there were lots of Superman, Captain Marvel and Flash ripoffs. Most of them derived their powers from atomic energy, some were aliens.

 

Marvelman or Miracleman, one of the three most important British superheroes, came a lot later, in 1954.

This genre fiend posts on this forum as the SuperSkrull and is the mightiest comic book genre fiend I have ever met. Thanks for the information.

["V"]

In response to Mr McCrae, yes I'm afraid these creatures are my responsibility alone. I'm quite taken with the idea of the changing ghost theme myself but I'm baffled as to how to write it up.

 

And I must agree... the International Heroes site is truly magnificent. As someone who enjoyed Zenith Phase III when it first came out, seeing that someone (else) has been fanatical enough to identify all the old British comic heroes who made cameos is very refreshing.

 

I guess that's a good way to deal with a genre fiend... throw in enough obscure little references that they get a real kick from spotting them, without actually obscuring the plotline of the scenario. Then when they think they've got a handle on what you're doing, hit them with a sudden twist...

 

I love being a GM. The insane sense of power is invigorating.

[wcw43921]

Originally posted by "V"

There was another chap called Lord Midnight who was a member of the landed gentry in his Secret ID and had a VERY haunted country house. He tended to stumble into adventures accidentally (week in, week out) and each week a different ghost from his house accompanied him and helped out. How you'd model that in Hero I have no idea... the chap himself had very few powers of his own, but since no one else could see the Ghosts everyone thought he did... perhaps the Ghosts could just be a "special effect" for a VPP?

 

What occurrs to me would be to use Telekinesis and Clarisentinence, with the special effect being that the ghosts push stuff around or trip up the bad guys, or peer through walls or into enclosed spaces and tell the hero what's there. Of course he would have the Distinctive Feature "Talks To People Who Aren't There."

 

There's other Power possibilities for the effect--I'll leave it to you to work out the details and do the math--I stink at math.

[JmOz]

With Golden AGe characters you are looking for a layer of well aged cheese, so I present :Bulldog

 

Micro Brick (Str 30-40)

Smelling powers (Tracking, analyze, targetting?)

Able to talk to dogs

A small Fisticuffs MA Package

&

Pup his kid sidekick with similar powers

[Agent X]

Originally posted by JmOz

With Golden AGe characters you are looking for a layer of well aged cheese, so I present :Bulldog

 

Micro Brick (Str 30-40)

Smelling powers (Tracking, analyze, targetting?)

Able to talk to dogs

A small Fisticuffs MA Package

&

Pup his kid sidekick with similar powers

What a wonderful aroma, thanks.

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by "V"

And I must agree... the International Heroes site is truly magnificent. As someone who enjoyed Zenith Phase III when it first came out, seeing that someone (else) has been fanatical enough to identify all the old British comic heroes who made cameos is very refreshing.

That, and Alan Moore's Captain Britain, was my introduction to most of those characters. I was really intrigued and wanted to find out more. Some of the unnamed ones in Zenith areparticularly hard to place. The site even has the original for Hotspur!

 

Who do you think Mister Why represents?

[Tim]

A British themed Super for WWII for you. My own creation, even.

 

Warwolf

Lord Robert Charles Weyrlund

 

In the early 1500s the Duke of Weyrlund was cursed by a witch to become a Werewolf. The curse was also to be inherited by the eldest of each generation. He went to several mystics to get it removed, but she had done her work to well. The best that any could do, was to give him and his decendents control as long as they helped the people of Britian.

The latest in the line, Robert, first changed during school finals in 1934 when he was 15. (It seemed that the first change came at somepoint during puberty) The war broke out in 1939 while he was attending Oxford. He deicded that the patriotic thing to do was to enlist. He was sent to OCS and while there revealed his secret to his high officers. He was sent to the fledgling British Supers Agency, taking the name Warwolf. Being still, a soldier, he joined the SAS/SBS when it was launched. So he fights side by side with other allied heros, and also goes on Commando raids and secret missions for British Intellegence. He is well known to not let any soldier who goes in with him be left behind.

 

Robert is very affiable, and has little of the stuck-up nature of many British Nobility. He loves the reaction people have when they see him sipping tea in Werewolf form. He has meet the King and Prime Minister Churchill, and been asked to demonstrate his transformation to both. This embaressed him as he had to take off his uniforn Jacket and shirt so as not to tear them.

 

______________________________

 

Hope you like him, I created him as a background to a teen hero in modern day who is his granddaughter.

 

TimS.

[JmOz]

My world had The Watch as a team of WWII Brittish heroes:

 

Big Ben, growing Brick, team Leader

BullDog

Avalon (a character from that enchanted isle, think DC's Shining Knight with a Horse sized dragon instead of a pegasus)

Resistance (a French woman with regeneration powers)

Spitfire: Flight, and lots of it

[Doug McCrae]

The Black Flyer AKA David Kaufmann

 

The Black Flyer is a criminal genius, inventor of the 'aero flyer', which he used to commit daring sky robberies. Clearly no supporter of free speech, his peculiar craft was also employed to break up a peaceful rally of Mosley's British Union of Fascists in the East End of London. The Black Flyer was finally arrested in 1938 by the celebrated Inspector Brooks of Scotland Yard. Following the outbreak of hostilities, the War Office issued orders for Kaufmann's release, much to Inspector Brooks's chagrin, to assist in Operation Magic, Military Intelligence's investigation into 'super-powers'.

 

The Black Flyer is for the most part, cheerfully immoral. He'll happily lie and steal but he would only injure or kill those he feels deserve it. He is very curious, particularly interested in all the werewolves, ghosts and superstrong dog-men he regularly comes into contact with at Operation Magic.

 

In addition to the 'aero flyer', the Black Flyer uses a personal short-range rocket pack and a knockout gas of his own invention. In his spare time he works on a very big robot but it's nowhere near completion.