Tjack

It did, actually, but the voice unit went out. I tried to get it fixed, but I couldn't find any quantum mechanics.

If the GPS in your VW Quantum has the voice of Dean Stockwell telling you where to go would that make it a Quantum Leap?
 

If the GPS in your VW Quantum has the voice of Dean Stockwell telling you where to go would that make it a Quantum Leap?
 

If the GPS in your VW Quantum has the voice of Dean Stockwell telling you where to go would that make it a Quantum Leap?
 

A penguin is driving through rural America when his car breaks down.  The tow truck drops him off at the nearest place to get his car fixed, a combination gas station, auto repair shop, and convenience store.  The penguin is wandering around in the convenience store while he waits on his car, and finds a freezer with ice cream bars in it.  He is hot and hungry, so although he has never eaten ice cream before, it seems appealing, so he buys one and starts to eat it.  He isn't wild about the flavor, but the cold creaminess is nice, and he enjoys it even though he makes quite a mess, getting it all over his beak and face.
He has just finished the ice cream when the mechanic comes in to tell him about his car.
"Well," the mechanic says "it looks like you blew a seal."
The penguin quickly replies "Oh, no, it's just ice cream, I swear!"

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.  Gopher, Netscape with frames, the first Browser Wars.  Searching for pages with AltaVista, pop-up windows self-replicating, trying to uninstall RealPlayer.  All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain.  Time to die."

Because I’m sorry to say, cruel and stupid never goes away.  It may change its address, wear different clothes and skin colors and speak a new language, but it never goes away.

I remember that book. Written by J.M. Strazcinski and drawn by John Romita jr.  It had a solid black cover and it featured all the Marvel characters native to Manhattan.   And they took some flack from people who said it was in bad taste.

Can't remember if I told this here before, so if this is a repeat, I apologize.
 
I was running a Champions campaign based in New York City when 9/11 happened.  My game world was very much real world history with supers added.  I thought long and hard about how I was going to handle 9/11.  I didn't want to be disrespectful of the first responders who gave their lives trying to save others, which I think would have been the case if the PC heroes just saved the day and stopped the planes from hitting the WTC.  I also thought it would be sucky of me to have the PCs' efforts all be for naught as they tried to prevent the disaster. 
 
So I decided they weren't there that day.  They were at Sanctuary (the pro-supers island in the south Pacific), with the NYC teleport portal being in the basement of the WTC North Tower.  And when the first plane hit the North Tower, it also shut down the portal, so the PC heroes couldn't just teleport back home and save the South Tower.
 
There was another (NPC) superhero team in NYC in my world: the Guardians.  I decided they were caught by surprise when the first plane hit the North Tower and were helping to evacuate the North Tower when the second airliner came in.  A few Guardians were outside and tried to stop the plane but were unable to do so.  In the end, all but one of the Guardians died either trying to stop the second plane, or were killed when the towers collapsed.  (In later game sessions, I had an adventure where the PC heroes helped that NPC hero get over his survivor's guilt, though to be honest I don't really recall the details of that.)
 
Meanwhile, on Sanctuary the heroes saw the news about the first plane hitting.  They couldn't teleport to NYC, but there was a teleport portal in LA, so they went there, and then started heading across the country to get back to New York to help out however they could.  Along with pretty much all the supers who were at Sanctuary at the time.  As they crossed the country, they were joined by other supers from cities across the country (both heroes and villains).  Old animosities were set aside for the greater good.  When they got to Manhattan, the supers did what they could to search for survivors, help the injured, and so on, alongside the police, firefighters, and other people.  
 
It may not have been the best possible way to handle it, but I think it was at least respectful of those who lost their lives and those who responded to the tragedy as best they could, without making the PCs be completely ineffective.

"No! You fool! You foolish fool!"

"YOU FOOL!"

The most recent picture of the Russian Navy's Black Sea flagship:
 

There have been more than enough comic book movies made by people with no respect for the genre.
If any of these characters ended up in some Champions sourcebook I believe that they would have better filled in backstories and explanations of their powers.

There have been more than enough comic book movies made by people with no respect for the genre.
If any of these characters ended up in some Champions sourcebook I believe that they would have better filled in backstories and explanations of their powers.

In my old "Seattle Sentinels" campaign, I wrote occasional "news of the world" handouts about what other heroes and villains were doing, including taking current events and "superizing" them. What Steve Long described is pretty much how I handled 9/11: It happened as in the real world, but superheroes (and not a few super-criminals) responded to help pu;ll pweople from the wreckage of the towers. Because as in the real world, for a brief moment old rivalries didn't seem to matter.
 
I absolutely would *not* have PCs get involved in the Ukraine War *directly.* That would be in appallingly bad taste. But Putin's government has shown its unbridled villainy. There's a long history in comics of superheroes fighting supervillains who explicitly work for hostile and evil governments. Putin's government now qualifies. Putin has also said repeatedly that he views NATO and the West in general, and the US in particular, as his real enemy. Just as Golden Age comic book characters fought Axis villains, it does not seem out of line to me for PCs to fight Russian supervillains sent by Putin to cause trouble in the PCs' home countries.
 
(Though players' mileage may vary. I would still recommend asking first where they want you to draw the line between reality and fantasy.)
 
Dean Shomshak

So I feel the need to re-post this... 😁
 
 
(To the tune of JoDee Messina’s ‘Bye-Bye’)
 
Bye-Bye Seeker
 
Boy it sure looked rough
KO’d on all the covers
Sinkin’ in the muck
 
You could have used a little
Fifth Edition
Combat Luck
 
All you needed was a little time
Just a little more time
For a new write-up, but Steve’s mind’s made up
 
Bye-bye, Seeker, don’t you curse
There’s a reboot on the Champions Universe
And a bunch of heroes torn out
And they ain’t never comin’ back
And that’s a fact
 
I tried all I can imagine
I argued and pleaded in true fanboy fashion
Steve said ‘No dice, the ninja’s gotta take a hike’
Bye-bye, bye-bye Seeker bye-bye
 
Don’t think that silly grin is gonna keep you in
Like it done before
You better sell that sword
Swing from the chandelier
And land out the door
 
I don’t know what you’re expected to do
Keep on searchin’ for the truth
Maybe find the final answer
Then become a dancer
 
Bye-bye, Seeker, don’t you curse
There’s a reboot on the Champions Universe
And a bunch of heroes torn out
And they are really truly gone
Just like you, Don
 
There are others like Professor Muerte
He sank down in the ocean sayin’
‘Que mala suerte’ **
Steve said ‘No dice, junior D has gotta take a hike’
Bye-bye, bye-bye Seeker bye-bye
 
Out of the game I guess
Couldn’t pass the test
And I think it’s sad
But it’s Ironclad
 
Bye-bye, Seeker, don’t you curse
There’s a reboot on the Champions Universe
And a bunch of heroes torn out
And they ain’t never comin’ back
And you can count on that
 
I tried, oh, I tried Mr. Morgan
Said I’d write a source book
Or donate an organ
Steve said ‘No dice, the ninja’s gotta take a hike’
Bye-bye, bye-bye, my Seeker bye-bye
 
Bye-bye, Seeker, don’t you curse
There’s a reboot on the Champions Universe
And a bunch of heroes torn out
And they ain’t never comin’ back
And that’s a fact
 
I tried all I can imagine
I said ‘Don’t turn your back on Watchers of the Dragon’
Steve said ‘No dice, the ninja’s gotta take a hike’
Bye-bye, bye-bye Seeker bye -bye
 
Bye-bye, bye-bye my Seeker bye-bye.
 
 
** (Que mala suerte = What bad luck)

Libraries have the best signs.