Doug McCrae

You've got me interested now. I take back what I said about them having to be hyper-popular.

Hammer horror films? Most of em are set earlier though, I think. And invariably in Transylvania.

Basau-Ne, an (imaginary) island in the South Seas, would make a perfect air base for island hopping. However the US Marines initial attempts to land were repulsed by the polyp-men who live there. The PCs are sent to take the place. Complications: 1) A Japanese force is heading for Basau-Ne with the exact same intentions as the PCs. 2) The polyp men are ruled by a 'white queen'. She is liable to become attracted to a male PC. 3) If anything should happen to the White Queen of the Polyp Men, they'll need a new leader and will select the female PC with the highest COMeliness. The story of the Gorilla God is well known. In 1933 this freak of nature, the Eighth Wonder of the World, was brought to New York but tragically escaped and had to be killed by the air force. It's stuffed body has since been put on show as part of a travelling circus. A voodoo witch doctor, in the pay of the nazis, brings the Gorilla God to life again as a zombie and uses it to attack US military targets. Can even superheroes defeat the might of the Zombie Gorilla God? Other events of 1942: 1) Stalin's eldest son, Yakov, was captured by the Germans. Rescuing him would be the sort of high risk, special forces operation for which superhumans are ideal. 2) On Feb 9th the Normandie (renamed Lafayette by the Americans) was destroyed by a fire in New York (Pier 88 on the Hudson River). It was the second largest passenger liner in the world, an important troop transport. Rumoured to be German sabotage though no evidence was uncovered. In your world this could easily be the work of superhuman Nazi agents.

I wouldn't include the ones created in earlier generations that are still popular, like the X-Men, Superman, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes or Hercules. Triple-X might almost count but he doesn't seem that popular to me. I could easily be wrong however. The reason I was asking in fact is all to do with the updating of the heroes previously mentioned. Such as changing Spider-man's origin to GM instead of radiation. I was thinking, instead of modernising a hero of the past, how about making a hero of modern times archaic? Changing their origin, trappings, whatever is necessary, to place them in a previous era. For example: Sunnydale, 1944. Patriotic teenager, Buffy Summers, discovers a gang of Nazi vampires, plotting to sabotage the town's munitions factory. A scientist gives her a strength-enhancing serum and a thorough training in gymnastics and boxing, which he also knows. Donning an unnecessarily skimpy red, white and blue costume, Buffy leaps into action as The Blonde Slayer! She kills all the vampire Nazis and saves Sunnydale but... her boyfriend, Biff, seems rather pale.

I mistakenly thought you were talking about that Japanese power armour/robot guy. I think he may be called Guyver. McGuyver is an inventor isn't he? The one beloved by Marge's sisters in the Simpsons?

Thanks, I forgot about Neo. By 'modern' I mean now. Right this second. I'm thinking here of the absolute most popular superheroes of our present era. Our time's equivalent of Superman, who was absolutely huge in the Golden Age, an icon. The average person (not the average sci-fi fan) will have heard of Harry Potter, Buffy, and the Matrix. He won't IMO have heard of Highlander, Dark Angel, Unbreakable and McGuyver.

I can think of only two who really stand out in terms of popularity. Neither one is a full on comic book superhero by the strict definition - they have powers but no codenames or costumes: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Harry Potter Can anyone think of any others?

Re: Why are bricks so popular? Not really. In my last superhero campaign the over-riding feature for a PC was that he had to have a punning name. I didn't ask them to, the players just seemed to think that's what you had to do for a superhero game.

The original poster seemed to be talking about the high defenses aspect of Bricks rather than the high strength. Although a Champions Brick has both high strength and high defenses it sounds like its primary meaning is hardness/toughness/invulnerability. At the moment I'm using the term 'strongman' for the strength archetype. After all there are some strong characters - Thor and Wonder Woman - that aren't invulnerable. Going back over the whole history of super powers, all the way back to Gilgamesh, I'd say superhuman strength is by *far* the most popular power.

The Order of the Yellow Sign From their base near Aldebaran, the Order of the Yellow Sign, each a member of a different, but always tentacled, amorphous or squamous, alien race, patrol the spaceways, keeping the galaxy safe for creatures without backbones. Prospective members are strictly vetted before being contacted thru dreams. They are taught how to summon the magnificent winged byakhee which will be their steed and how to brew space-mead, which nourishes them on long journeys thru the murky Stygian depths between the stars. Once their first and most dangerous journey has been completed, new recruits are given a talisman bearing the Yellow Sign, which is both their badge and the source of the Order's power. The radium-powered amulet projects a yellow ray which can either heal or hurt, according to the will of the wielder. Finally the new member learns the secret name of the head of the Order, which they must never reveal to anyone. The Order of the Yellow Sign. Leaving a loathsome slime trail on a planetoid near you. Soon!

I agree entirely. I've just been calling them the GLC cause I don't have a new name yet. Their power source will be 'cosmic lightning'.

Great ideas guys. An alternative explanation for the Skrulls could be that they were human-looking until they had a planet-wide nuclear war... using gamma bombs.

Aah! So that's why Irving would get along with Marble Archie. The reason why he came to life must be revealed some day, I feel.

Cool

I think for my new superhero campaign I'll have the main prejudice against aliens despite all that ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind propaganda. Robots and mutated animals are second class citizens but not really feared and hated. Mutants are just 'ordinary' superheroes really. Any lost race that is discovered - Atlantis and the like - will probably be disliked but not as much as the aliens. Humanity would have a terror of supernatural creatures and extradimensional aliens if it knew about them, but it doesn't. The Mighty Marvel Monsters of the late 50s and 70s are rightly villified. Well, they kept trying to eat Tulsa, didn't they? They are the only race that has a worse rep than aliens but they are mostly destroyed now or confined to Monster Island. Gods, I'm not sure about. The public probably won't believe they are really divine.

Another idea I had, but decided not to use, was to have two inergalactic police forces - the GLC and the Star*Guard/Darkstars. The relationship would be much like that popularly supposed to exist between the FBI and local police forces ie antagonistic rivalry.

I loved Day Tripper. The heroic death god sounds like a good concept, too.

Everyone: Thanks very much for all the advice. Loads of interesting ideas. Here's my preliminary proposal, which is by no means set in stone - Combine the concepts of the GLC/Krypton/Lensman/Heaven/Kherubim and chuck in a bit oif Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel mythos too (if I have room). The Oans/Kryptonians/Arisians are the universe's oldest civilisation. Over millions of years of evolution and scientific advancement they have developed incredible physical and mental powers (which vary from individual to individual - my million dollar getout clause) as well as miraculous devices. Since time immemorial they have waged war against the Demons/Kwardians, probably a fallen offshoot of their own race. There have been a number of such offshoots over the years, which have each gone their own strange way. In 1941/42, an Arisian/Angel came to Earth, using her fantastic powers and amazing gadgets (lasso, invisible plane, wings made of ninth metal) to help humanity. Like Krypton a whole complex back story of the history of Oa will be built up including early barbarism, possible periods of expansion/interference with other races, wars against other great powers of the universe like the Celestials/Galactus/New Gods/Skrulls, bizarre wonders, and criminal throwbacks imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. Wonder Woman may have been rebelling against the Oan authorities or she may just have been a bit more outgoing than most. Anyway for many years they have withdrawn back to Oa and these days prefer to act thru agents - the Green Lantern Corps. At some point no earlier than the 70s, Oa was destroyed. The Guardians died or disappeared. The GLC was either wiped out at once or slowly hunted down by their numerous enemies, grown bold. Their light has gone out from the galaxy, we shall not see their like again. Or will we? To provide a force for order and justice in the universe and to honour the memory of the old Green Lantern Corps, a new organisation has been created - The New Green Lantern Corps! The young men, women and sentient pools of slime that make up this organisation are determined and brave. But the New GLC is really just a shadow of the old. It is underfunded, hide bound by bureaucracy, its hands are tied by protocol and galactic diplomacy and the whole thing is probably secretly controlled by the Skrulls. The New Green Lantern Corps - Keeping the galaxy safe for you and your children/eggs/seedlings* *Please delete as appropriate

I got the impression that in DC's Silver Age, the GLC/Oans were *the* supreme power for good in the universe. Arguably surpassed only by the Spectre (and his boss). In my extremely humble opinion, they could kick Galactus's big purple-clad butt. Now I *could* have a lower power GLC but I kinda like the ludicrous power level of DC's Silver Age. I'd like it to exist somewhere even if it's only in the back story. You're probably right though that some of the coolness of the GLC - the uniforms, the standard weapons, the oath (my God, the oath, I'd forgotten about that! The oath is totally wonderful). You could still have all that, but you'd lose a bit. You'd lose their place in the cosmic order, in the history of the universe. The whole story of Oa, Krona, Kward and the anti-matter universe is (or was after Crisis) very important for the mythology of the DC universe. Also I really like the Big Green Lantern power battery on Oa. BTW in the Legion of Super-Heroes, had the GLC decided to stay clear of the Legion's stomping ground? And why?

It sounds like the Star*Guard do the same job as the GLC but on a much lower budget. Hey! Maybe that's what happened. The GLC weren't destroyed, they just had their funding slashed by the Galactic Government.

Quite a few I guess. 3600 doesn't seem nearly enough does it?

Well how about this? Everyone agrees the problem with Superman is the powers. But we like his stature and gravitas - the 'old man' of the superhero community. So the answer is - he's still around but he no longer has any powers. He lost them in 1986 to Gold Kryptonite as per Alan Moore's Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? He may be in hiding from his many remaining enemies but like all old people he won't be able to resist butting in on the new generation of heroes - the PCs - to tell them they're doing everything all wrong.

I'm doing the history for my new campaign which includes lots of analogs of stuff like Superman, SHIELD, etc and I was wondering if it's a good idea to include the GLC. They are a great concept and I also really like Qward, the evil version of Oa, but the problem it seems to me is that space, normally the source of lots of 'good' bad guys like Galactus and evil alien empires will be cleaned up if the GLC are around. The Skrulls will be kept within their borders, Galactus will probably be imprisoned, cured or dead. Damn those blue midgets! One thing I thought I might try is have the GLC destroyed (apart from the one remaining GL) a few years back in some sort of Crisis type event so the alien empires are just now beginning to expand with no one to stop them.

Here's the latest version, incorporating many of the suggestions provided. My original idea of the essential/useful archetypes for a hero history has changed rather into just trying to compile a list of every major concept that's appeared in comics more than once. So here goes. Heroes Strongman – Superman, Captain Marvel Avenger – Batman Avenger: Gun-toting – Punisher, Marshal Law, Lobo, The Shadow Avenger: Gun-toting: Cyborg – Cable Avenger: Ghost - Spectre Warrior princess – Wonder Woman, Starfire Patriot – Captain America Speedster – Flash Merman – Sub-Mariner Weaponmaster – Green Arrow Magician – Dr. Strange, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern Scientist – Reed Richards Scientist: Inventor – Tony Stark Monstrous hero – Thing, Hulk, Swamp Thing Anti-hero – Orion, Luke Cage Anti-hero: Animalistic – Wolverine Anti-hero: Hell-spawned – Spawn, Ghost Rider, Etrigan, Gargoyle Villain turned hero – Hawkeye, Wolverine, Thunderbolts God – Thor, Sandman Cosmic hero – Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock From an alternate future (mutants only need apply) - Rachel, Cable, Bishop Peacenik – Wonder Woman, Professor X, Dove Martial artist – Iron Fist, Karate Kid Martial artist: Ninja babe – Elektra, Psylocke, Zealot Power armour – Iron Man Non-American – Captain Britain Young Young: The Kid - Iceman, Kitty Pryde Young: Nerd - SA Spider-man Young: Hothead – SA Human Torch Angry black man – Luke Cage Wisecracker – Spider-man Version 2.0 – SA Flash Version 2.0: Legacy – Infinity Inc, modern JSA Imitators (contemporary) - Scarlet Spider Imitators (contemporary): Female – Mary Marvel, Supergirl, She-Hulk Imitators (contemporary): Sidekicks – Captain Marvel, Jr. Shapeshifter – Metamorpho, Martian Manhunter Shapeshifter: Shrinker – Dollman, Atom, Antman, Shrinking Violet Shapeshifter: Grower – Giantman, Colossal Boy Shapeshifter: Stretcher – Plastic Man, Mr. Fantastic Shapeshifter: Animals – Changeling, Chameleon Boy Mentalist – Professor X, Hyp Knox Schizo woman – Aurora, Rogue Cartoon animal – Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, Mighty Mouse, Howard the Duck Costume based on a playing card – Jack of Hearts Hero teams The GA team - JSA SA explorers SA teenagers – LSH, X-Men The SA team – JLA, Avengers SA outsiders – Metal Men, Doom Patrol, X-Men Agency – SHIELD 70s non-team Bronze Age teenagers – New X-Men, New Teen Titans Non-American team – Alpha Flight International team – New X-Men, JLI, StormWatch Image era gun-wielders – X-Force, Youngblood “What’ll we do tonight, Brain?†– Squadron Supreme, Authority Villains Evil version of a hero – Sinestro, Abomination, Titanium Man, Black Adam, Professor Zoom Catgirl – Catwoman, Cheetah Warped scientist – Lex Luthor, Dr. Sivana Robot – Ultron, Computo Wizard – Mordru, Morgan Le Fay Death worshipper – Darkseid, Thanos Pursuer of ‘forbidden knowledge’ – Dr. Doom, Metron Megalomaniac – Dr. Doom Megalomaniac: Extra-dimensional conqueror – Annihilus, Trigon, Dread Dormammu Enemy national – Red Skull, Titanium Man Militant - Magneto Monster – Fin Fang Foom Ruler of a hidden race – Mole Man Cult leader – Brother Blood Crimelord – Kingpin, Ras Al Ghul Mercenary Mercenary: Contract killer – Deathstroke the Terminator, Bullseye God – Loki Satan – Mephisto, Trigon Cosmic being – Galactus, Beyonder Psychopath – Venom Psychopath with style – Joker Destroyer – Doomsday, Fury, Seth Mind controller – Mr. Mind Time master – Kang, Time Trapper Prankster – Toyman, Mr. Mxyztplk Immortal – Vandall Savage Hunter - Kraven “You fool! Your energy blast only makes me more powerful!†– Parasite, Absorbing Man, Sebastian Shaw All the powers of a superhero team – Amazo, Super Skrull, Taskmaster (sort of) Super-gorilla – Titano, Gorilla Grodd Villain organisation International criminal conspiracy – Hydra, HIVE Alien shapeshifters – The Skrulls Theme team – Serpent Society, Force of July The Government - Sentinels, Dr Kriegstein (from the Authority), Force of July Other Hidden race – Inhumans, Eternals, Gorilla City Pantheon – New Gods, Eternals, Olympians, Asgardians ‘Shapeshifter’ (in Campbellian sense) – John Constantine, SA Namor The Rightwinger - USAgent, Guy Gardener

You could have made him an evil Hopi Indian clown.