I could not have been more pleased with the excellent turnout for the "Dinomarines" contest, you all really outdid yourselves. And I appreciate Jack Zegler reminding me of one of my favorite Calvin & Hobbes panels, proving some ideas are timeless:
One of the challenges when I came up with this idea was that I didn't have any particular origin or overall theme in mind for just what in the heck a "Dinomarine" was. It was immensely gratifying, therefore, to see a number of great ideas along those lines, but one in particular stood out and I think should be the "official" backstory to our team. It's from Galactic Ketchup and explains who these guys are and why they exist:
The Dinomarines are the result of a government operation to create an elite unit of warriors capable of winning the war against the Shadow Nation, a mysterious island which came to this world through an interdimensional tear in the fabric of the universe, which completely destroyed the island of Hawaii when it opened before spewing forth the Shadow Nation, who then declared war on the USA by completely eradicating the state of California.
Your mission now, Intrepid Reader, is to vote on the following recruits to the Dinomarines, hoping to assemble an elite cadre of enhanced warriors to battle the Shadow Nation. Vote for as many as you like, and click on an image to see it larger. The top vote getters will form the actual team, with the top vote getter serving as overall leader (and earning its creator a prize of either any item, or a portrait, to be included in HeroMachine 3).
Good luck everyone!
