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http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm3dm5J5r0A

I've heard worse. Has a sort of retro-SF ring to it. Perhaps he could be a long-time veteran of superheroics, and a founder of the current group. Hope that helps.

That puppy doesn't look at all happy.

The Determined Men, or The Determined Seven (Kettei dansei, or Kettei Sebun)--Seven salarymen (office workers) who have taken up costumed crimefighting as a revolt against the constant pressure and severe regimentation of their workplace. That was the original idea--but things are about to change, and they are about to find themselves in over their heads. (All Japanese names courtesy of Google Translate, so if any of these are inaccurate--blame them, not me.) White Moon (Howaito Mun)--A huge fan of Gekko Kamen, he is the one most committed to the heroic ideal as he sees it--"Do Not Hate. Do Not Kill. Prevent The Crime." The only one with innate superpowers, he possesses a precognitive/telepathic ability that enables him to see crimes and identify criminals as they happen--or even before. (Think David Dunn's ability, but with greater range and clarity.) Lately he's been having dreams--nightmares, actually--of a great and vast evil approaching Japan. It's the reason he's gathered the Determined Men together--although he hasn't told them yet. He wears is a form-fitting white suit with a white hood which covers everything but his eyes, which are concealed by goggles. He also wears a red cape and a red belt, and white gloves and boots. Like his hero Gekko Kamen, White Moon rides a motorcycle, also in white. Monster Man (Monsutaman)--A big fan of horror movies, he loves nothing more than to scare the pocky out of people, and as a superhero he can do that to criminals, which gives it a certain air of legitimacy. He fights berserker-style, letting out a raging roar as he charges in to attack. His costume is a cross between Frankenstein and Wolfman, using prosthetic makeup to give himself pointed ears, a pronounced forehead, sickly green-gray skin, furred hands, claws and fangs. He also wears a tattered black jacket and pants, and a T-shirt with a different movie monster on it every time. Super Commando (Supakomando)--Has seen every Arnold Schwarzenegger movie way too many times--even Junior ("Funniest movie ever, even more than Kindergarden Cop!") He fancies himself an action hero in the Arnold mold, and trains himself extensively in bodybuilding and martial arts. His costume is a black tank top, camoflauge fatigue pants, black military boots and camoflauge makeup. He doesn't carry any weapons, much as he'd like to, on account of Japan's restrictive gun laws, which makes him envious of-- Space Champion (Supesuchanpion)--A fan of space adventure, he managed to come across an energy pistol that was lost by a supervillain during the course of a firefight between the villain and a team of heroes. The weapon had an inexhaustible power supply (Reduced END Zero END +1/2) and he took his finding it as a sign to become the magnificent space hero he always wanted to be. His costume is styled after Han Solo's outfit, but the vest and pants are in silver metallic fabric rather than black, and includes a silver cape and helmet. Red Baron (Reddobaron)--White Moon's best friend, the first to join him in the Determined Men. Proclaims as often as he can, "As the original Red Baron was the Ace of the Skies, I am the Ace of the Streets!" His costume is similiar to White Moon, but all in red (what else?) He rides a red motorcycle with a "comma" shaped tail fin in white bearing the German Iron Cross. Santo Amigo--A huge fan of Mexican masked wrestling, he considers himself "a champion of wrestling inside the ring, and a champion of justice outside it!"--even though he has never actually wrestled in competition. His costume is a silver wrestling mask with black-trimmed eye and mouth holes, and silver wrestling tights with black trim. He's usually bare chested, but wears a jacket in cold weather. He also wears a cape, but takes it off before going into battle, and will often use it to wrap around an opponent's head. Mystery Man, aka Agent 007 (Nazo no otoko, aka Ējento 007)--Fancies himself a cross between Philip Marlowe and James Bond, he's actually a very capable detective, not to mention exceptionally genre savvy. Between his skills and White Moon's precognitive powers, the Determined Men are much more successful at fighting crime than they have a right to be. Mystery Man's costume is a fedora, dark glasses and trench coat over a turtleneck shirt and dark slacks. Hope that helps.

I wouldn't call Dynamo a generic name--Len Brown was one of the best THUNDER Agents ever-- http://majorspoilers.com/2009/12/06/hero-history-dynamo/

Freelance Enclave of Radicals for Animal Liberation Hope that helps.

This was a theme of sorts in the various Star Trek series--every now and again they would come upon the ruins of some advanced civilization that had developed some exceptionally tantalizing piece of technology, but had never developed warp drive or any other form of FTL travel. Original Trek had "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (androids), "Turnabout Intruder" (mind transfer), "The City On The Edge Of Forever" and "All Our Yesterdays" (time travel)--and that's off the top of my head. Next Generation had "The Arsenal Of Freedom" (super-intelligent weapon system) and "Relics" (a Dyson sphere--but I doubt its builders called it that). I'm sure there were examples on the other Trek series, but I'm afraid they do not come immediately to mind. This is not to say that the civilizations in those episodes were "dumb"--although the Cherons from "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" could qualify as that. Only that they had not developed the technology to leave their own world, with the result being that their civilization expired without anyone else in the galaxy knowing they ever existed. The same fate could befall our own civilization--unless, like Commander Sinclair said on Babylon 5, we go into space and take it all with us.

The FISS superpower combo (Flight, Invulnerability, Speed, Strength as per PS238) would be good to have, and I would definitely use them to save lives as best I could--rescuing people from disasters natural or man-made, finding people lost in the wilderness, hunting down terrorists and criminals, and basically just being a comic-book superhero. Mind Control powers would be good to have as well--and while I would use my powers to help people, I would also be inclined to use them in selfish ways--like staying at the best hotels without paying, and getting lap dances from the likes of Kate Upton or Catherine Zeta-Jones. Super-powered Healing would also be great--like Claire Bennet I could use my blood to heal others, and it would come in handy in a fight--I can't get knocked out or injured, and I could punch the bad guys as hard as I wanted without having to worry about breaking my knuckles. It could also come in handy for Toughman competitions--no matter how hard the other guy hits, he can't knock me out. Eventually he'll tire out and I'll KO him--unless he has the same power. Actually the only superpowers I wouldn't want are those without an apparent positive side, like Acid Spitting or Poison Touch or Nerve-Gas Flatulence (the jokes just write themselves) or Mind Control: Only To Drive To Suicide. Those would suck--and not in the proverbial good way.

The cyborg could be called Metallic Man. Wears huge, heavy armor and likes to fight, like a robotic version of The Thing. The mentalist could be called Bright Angel. Abhors violence, prefers to fight by either telepathically stimulating the brain's pleasure center, rendering the target unwilling to fight, or the motor control center, rendering the target unable to move. Hope that helps.

Swedish Cinemas To Rate Movies For Gender Bias http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/swedish-cinemas-bechdel-test-films-gender-bias Would something like this be useful in combating sexism, in and out of fandom? Would anyone here favor such a rating system?

This is one of my favorite Golden Age covers-- See? Sidekicks are useful--and not just as human shields!

Thank You!

I think he should be called Saturn. It suggests power and adventure, being the name of the Roman god of agriculture and the second largest planet in our solar system. It's even somewhat patriotic, as it's also the name of the family of rockets that carried Americans to the moon. Hope that helps.

Here's another perspective on the Golden Age. Check out the robot with a gun and especially what the sidekick is about to do in the upper right hand corner--

Good Job. Way to represent HERO!

I believe it was on Deep Space Nine (the baseball episode) that it was established that Vulcans are three times stronger than humans. That, and their knowledge of pressure points (called Vulcan neuropressure) is what enables them to be so effective with the neck pinch. I don't remember a single crew member being able to subdue him through strength alone--either McCoy had to inject him with a hypospray sedative, or he had to be phaser-stunned. Hope that helps.

I would consider giving Kirk a level or two in Striking Appearance. Remember that Shatner was a very handsome man back in the day. Also, I believe Sulu pulled out some karate moves in the episode "Catspaw." Kirk beat him, of course, but that could be written off as Sulu having his mind clouded by the alien "sorceress" in that episode.

Like he's one to talk-- BUGS: "Them's fightin' words, Sam!" (Draws a line in the sand with his toe) BUGS: "I dares ya ta step across that line!" SAM: "I'm a'steppin'!" (Steps over the line and falls off a cliff) BUGS: "Sometimes it's just too easy." (Munches on a carrot)

Indeed. It seemed as though all you needed to fight crime back then was a cape, a mask, and a solid right hook. Nowadays, if you don't have any superpowers or supertechnology you need a black belt or the equivalent rank in half a dozen martial arts disciplines--at least--before you can even think about fighting the forces of evil. She was also Lamont's good friend, and Lamont had a conscience. Shiwan Khan had no problem clouding Margo's mind. One time many years ago my stepbrother brought home a recording of a Shadow radio show. I remember an exchange with a guy who had information the Shadow needed that went something like this-- THE SHADOW: "I am the Shadow!" THE GUY: "The Shadow? Where are ya?" THE SHADOW: "I cloud men's minds so I cannot be seen!" THE GUY: "That's what you're doing to me, huh?" Worked really well on radio.

Agreed--but you could still visit the "Mysterious Orient" and come back with all sorts of "mystic secret" powers--like walking through walls, or turning invisible, or "channeling physicality" to become as strong as ten men. Stuff like that.

"Don't enrage me! You wouldn't like me when I'm enraged!"

A number of examples of powered, "street-level" heroes can be found among the MLJ/Red Circle Comics line, most notably The Shield. The Comet, and Steel Sterling-- http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/a/archiecom.htm Later, when MLJ became Archie Comics, Archie and the gang became "street-level" superheroes themselves. ("I call upon the Power of my Pure Heart!") Hope that helps.

In the TV series--specifically Deep Space Nine--we had an Alliance between Klingons and Cardassians; the Klingons, as far as I could tell from their only appearance, were just as warlike in the Mirrorverse as they were in the Trek universe we know. (Mirror Worf was in charge of the Empire, by the way.) As for the Trek novels, I couldn't tell you. The Mirror-verse stories I'm familiar with from TOS, DS9 and Enterprise concentrate on the main characters and the differences in their Mirror counterparts. On DS9, for example, we had a Mirror Ben Sisko who was all swagger and bravado without an ounce of courage. Mirror Archer was a cold, calculating character who got outmanuevered at the end by Mirror Hoshi, who waited in the wings for her opportunity. Now the TNG episode "Parallels" put forth the possibility of infinite alternate realities--so if you're wanting to have emotional Vulcans, pacifist Klingons or Romulans, or altruistic Ferengi or even individualistic Borg--the potential is there. Hope that helps.

Superman, from the Golden Age to the George Reeves TV series, could be considered a street-level hero. Rarely--if ever--did he fight someone in the comics at his own power level, and certainly not in the series. The closest adversary I can think of to his own (Golden Age) power level were The Mechanical Monsters from the Fleischer cartoon of the same name. The fact that he was fighting normals led Frederic Werthram to label him as "Giant The Jack Killer"--but as I've said before Werthram can suck it until his gums bleed.

I was thinking they may be booster engines, capable of taking the Bus supersonic in they need to get somewhere in a hurry, or if they need a speed boost to evade incoming missiles. (That would make a nice tribute to The Incredibles, I think.) @Michael and Old Man--you have a point about the plane's aerodynamics, or lack of them. But I'm thinking that for this show, the Rule Of Cool trumps the laws of aerodynamics. And let me tell you. it's not easy making a cargo plane come across as cool.