Took me longer than I thought, but I wanted to post this bunch of characters I’ve been working on for the last few weeks before we launch into a new year that’s profuse in empty promises.
The Story:
PAGE 1: This page is divided into eight panels, with the first and 7th panel taking up the entire width of the page, the 8th (and last) panel embedded in the seventh, and the rest arranged however works best.
Panel 1:
View from far on a southern island with an active volcano in a blue ocean, far away from any civilization.
Textbox in the left upper corner:
Prologue.
Textbox in the right bottom corner:
June, 6th 2012 – 04:30 am (UTC-5)
Savage Island (somewhere in the Bermuda-Triangle)
Panel 2:
From behind him we see a half naked man – only in a loincloth clothed – with his back to us crouching in the shadows of dusk on a big branch in a tree observing a goat that’s tied to a stake in a small jungle clearing beneath the man while the bushes around the clearing begin to move softly. (rustle)
Panel 3:
Breaking a little branch by stepping on it (crack) a Velociraptor (much smaller than in the movies and with feathers around his head and body) has partially emerged from the bushes and prepares itself to attack the goat. The figure in the tree has now raised a spear in his hand high above his head and is also ready to attack the raptor.
Panel 4:
Suddenly a shrill alarm echoes through the jungle (woop woop woop woop) and makes the raptor to run off frightened, while the figure in the tree looks surprised in the direction of the signal.
Panel 5:
Nothing more than a shadow between the trees we see the man rushing through the dense jungle.
Panel 6:
Still turning his back to us, the man bends over a steel hatch in the floor between two trees in the middle of the jungle and turns on a big wheel to open it. (crank)
Panel 7: This is a large panel that takes up a big part of the bottom half of the page and contains the following panel in its right bottom corner. The panel itself is presented as if through a camera on a wall.
We see now an underground room that looks like a mix of a cozy living room and a military command center. In the background we can see a steel ladder that drops down from the hatch into the space. On a large monitor on one of the walls we can see the computer graphic of a world map with several yellow glowing lights in different countries. Only one of the lights, which represents New York flashes bright red.
The person (still directed with his back to us) stands before it and looks at the smaller green glowing screen of an 80’s personal computer on a small table underneath.
Panel 8:
Zoom on the screen:
Anomaly detected!
Estimated time of arrival: 6 months, 2 weeks, 1 days, 8 hours.
Activate ‘Project Phoenix’? Y / N
In the front of the screen a keyboard can be seen, and a hand with its index finger hovering over of the Y.
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PAGE 2: This page is divided into five panels, with the fifth panel taking up the entire bottom half of the page, the third panel taking up the entire width of the page and the rest arranged however works best.
Panel 1:
View on the New York Harbor from far. Textbox in the right bottom corner:
5:00 am (UTC-5)
New York Harbor, USA
Panel 2:
An abandoned, rusty oil tanker in a dry dock shortly before sunrise. From a porthole of the loading space penetrates a faint green light.
Panel 3:
The interior of the cargo compartment, which was apparently converted into a science lab. In the dim light of the moonlight, shining in through the upper hatch, we can recognize thirteen man-sized glass cylinders in a row on one of the walls. The cylinders are filled with a greenish, bubbling liquid in which you can vaguely see the outlines of people. The green light is now recognizable as a blinking cursor on an old computer screen from the early 80s, standing on a lab table at the end of the row of cylinders.
Panel 4:
Zoom on the screen:
Project Phoenix activation code confirmed.
Initiate Lazarus protocols.
Process completed…50%
Panel 5: This is a large panel that takes up the entire bottom half of the page.
The view is now back on the cylinders, in which the liquid is now downright seething while it lights up bright at the same time. We can now see quite clearly naked men and women in the cylinders which carry oxygen masks and are packed with all kinds of probes.
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PAGE 3 This page is divided into four big panels arranged however works best.
Panel 1:
A dark, seedy alley underneath a highway. In the background we can see a homeless camp. In the alley we can see an apparently homeless woman in torn clothes, which is urged against a wall and threatened with knives by two youths (one white, one black) who have their jeans hanging just under the ass with their underwear sticking far out.
Textbox in the right bottom corner:
5 days later
Bronx, New York
Panel 2:
Suddenly appears with breakneck speed (whooosh) a silver blurred person which throws the attacker full tilt to the opposite wall (bang), while their knives are pulled along by the wind behind this blur as he is running by.
Panel 3:
The blur is now running in the other direction (whooosh) and the hooligans find themselves headlong into a rusty dumpster (clang), with their ​​lower bodies still sticking out so we can see that their jeans are now pulled down to the ankle and their boxers deep into their ass crack. (ouch)
Panel 4:
The silver blur with the contour of a man whizzes through a door in a semi-dark room where we can see the dark outlines of other people who have gathered around a large table.
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PAGE 4
SPLASH PAGE: Imagine that this shot is seen as if from a camera mounted on the ceiling.
We see a group of 13 people in fancy costumes standing around a long oval table with a paper worldmap on it in a large warehouse space with a big smudgy window in the brickwall behind the table. While The Clock is standing at the head of the table, the rest is evenly (and randomly) distributed around it. The silver blur has finally stopped next to The Clock and can now clearly be seen as a man in a red costume with silver stripes at the sides and a big logo with two stylized S on his chest. It is the Silver Streak now saying: “Sorry for the delay, I had to dispose of some garbage out there.”
At the bottom of this page is the title “Brave New World”, the credits are located beneath the title and next to each character is a small textbox with the following contents:
• SILVER STREAK:
Goes the extra mile for justice.
• ARCHER:
As straight as an arrow.
• THE SPIDER:
Don’t get caught in his web.
• THE CLOCK:
Ahead of you at any time.
• BLACK DEATH:
Can be a real plague.
• DDEVIL:
The man who dared the devil and won.
• RED BEE:
Generates a buzz when he shows up.
• MANHUNTER:
A prime example of doggedness.
• BLACK FURY:
Puts the cat in ‘catfight’.
• WOMAN IN RED:
All along dressed to kill.
• FLINT:
Always a sparkling nature.
• DYNAMO:
Has an electrifying personality.
• JOHN AMAN:
A really amazing man.
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PAGE 5
To be continued … 
Synopsis / outline:
In a world where superheroes were dismissed by common sense as fairy tales and supernatural abilities were believed to exist only in the realm of fiction, a group of masked vigilantes ​​with real super powers made quite a splash with their appearance and the bold statement that they were famous heroes who had fought in the 1940’s and 50’s until they were captured by a secret government agency only to awake 60 years later in a science lab without knowing what happened to them besides the fact that their powers and bodies were somehow experimented on.
However, there was the problem that apparently nobody ever heard of them before (let alone of any kind of real superheroes). So severeal questions arose: Who were those people, where did they really come from and what was their agenda? But this were questions that the confused heroes soon asked themselves while searching for answers, lost relatives, friends, and more forgotten heroes around the world – only to discover that not everybody of them is what they seem to be…
As usual from left to right and front to back:
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THE CLOCK Real Name: Brian O’Brien Origin: Brian O’Brien was once a wealthy member of high society and a former district attorney whith a background in college sports who decided that he had a stop to the crime in his city and took up the mask of The Clock to fight crime as the very first masked vigilante “The Clock”. At first he acted publicly and customarily left a calling card with the image of a clock-face over a domino mask and the words “The Clock Has Struck” or “The Clock Will Strike At…”. But after the tragic deaths of a man and a girl, who both wanted to help him in his fight, he decided to go underground and work from the shadows. Like many of the other heroes who were abducted by the secret government agency, he was was already a fifty-something in 1952 but had his youth restored to that of a thirty-something when he woke up in 2012. It is believed that this is related to The Clock’s newfound supernatural abilities. Original Powers: None. He demonstrated mastery of disguise and used clever gadgets such as a cane whose head became a projectile and a diamond stud that fired tear gas. Power Upgrade: When Brian woke up in 2012 he had gained the ability to manipulate the flow of time in his close proximity and around a specific target/person in various manners. He can accelerate, slow and/or stop and even rewind or loop time to others while he himself is still able to move freely. He can also view parallel timelines where different instances have occurred, look forward in time to see how every possibility will play out, and predict all possible futures.  Headshot: 
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ARCHER Real Name: Ralph Payne Other Aliases: The Arrow Origin: Ralph Payne was a member of a U.S. intelligence agency who felt that he could not effectively fight crime in his civilian guise. Frustrated that espionage and crime was rampant, he adopted the costumed identity of the “Arrow” so that he could use his archery skills to battle enemies of liberty in a way his civilian identity couldn’t. He believes that his former employers are behind his abduction in 1952 but he can’t prove it since they apparently ceased to exist by 2012. Original Powers: None. Arrow was a good fighter who primarily used his skill with bow and arrow to fight crime though he is good at fighting even without his weapons. Power Upgrade: The Archer’s eyes were replaced with bionic prosthetics and his brain was equipped with several technological implants, which grants him enhanced vision capabilities and advanced precision superior to any gold-medaled archer who has ever competed. Due to his technological upgrades and his supernatural aim he is near-impossible to miss a single or multiple targets.  Headshot: 
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BLACK DEATH Real Name: Robert “Bob” Benton Other Aliases: Black Terror Origin: Bob Benton was a pharmacist who worked with his assistant Tim Roland on a formula to help “run down people” when he was harassed for protection money by some goons. After he ingested the experimental drug, he gained super strength and invulnerability and put an end to the racket of his blackmailers. Together with Tim, who had reproduced the experiment and developed the same powers as Bob, he decided to use his powers to fight crime and became the “Black Terror” who fought threats both domestic and foreign during and after World War II with Tim as the “Terror Twins”. Ever since he woke up in 2012, he is looking for his friend and partner. Original Powers: Due to his secret formula, Bob achieved super strength and invulnerability Power Upgrade: After Bob woke up, he realized with horror that his touch was suddenly fatal for any organism and he had the power to kill almost anything/anyone by touching them. While being immune himself, he can generate any form of diseases and viruses, including mixing illnesses together or creating completely new ones.  Headshot: 
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THE SPIDER Real Name: Richard Wentworth Other Aliases: Blinky McQuade Origin: In 1933 the millionaire playboy and former Major in World War I Richard Wentworth, who lived in New York unaffected by the Great Depression, started fighting crime by donning a black cape with a slouch hat and calling himself “The Spider”. His goal was to terrorize the criminal underworld with The Spider’s brand of violent vigilante justice and so he soon developed a tendency to kill his enemies, leaving his seal – a red-ink “spider” image like a drop of blood – on the foreheads of the criminals he killed. He was aided by his longtime fiancé, Nita Van Sloan and his Hindu manservant Ram Singh as well as by his chauffeur Ronald Jackson and his butler Harold Jenkyns. When America entered World War II The Spider suddenly disappeared never to be heard again – at least that was until 2012 when he resurfaced with 12 other missing heroes from the Golden Age. Nobody knows what happened between his disappearance in 1941 and 1952 when the others were abducted and he himself is reluctant to talk about it, but it can be assumed that it has something to do with the ominous secret government agency responsible for the abductions. Original Powers: Wentworth had no superpowers but had a voice commanding enough to get many people to do his bidding and could also imitate other people’s voices. He was armed with a lethal, almost silent air pistol and carried a thin silken line (his “web”) which had a breaking strain of several hundred pounds. Power Upgrade: Thanks to manipulations in his DNA he obtained traits and abilities of a spider such as the ability to grow additional razorsharp ‘spider-legs’ from his back, agility and reflexes beyond that of a normal human, an extremely well developed sense of balance, the power to generate pheromones that have a variety of effects on others, enhanced strength, and the ability to adhere to surfaces unaided in order to climb and stay onto vertical and horizontal surfaces like walls and ceilings without falling.  Headshot: 
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DYNAMO Real Name: Jim Andrews Other Aliases: Electro Origin: While conducting an electrical experiment, the brilliant research scientist Jim Andrews became caught between two giant electrodes and afterwards discovered that the accident gave him the power to control electricity. Deciding to use his powers to fight crime Jim puts on a helmet and cape and vows to “defend humanity against the cruel ravages of criminals and war makersâ€. First calling himself Electro, he later changed his name from Electro to Dynamo, which he used for the rest of his career. Original Powers: With his ability to control electricity, Jim could project and shoot bolts of electricity from his hands and electrocute people by touch, create force fields to protect himself from bullets, and even fly through the air. When drained of his powers by overuse he was able to recharge himself by holding onto the nearest source of electricity like an outlet or railroad track. Power Upgrade: Jim has now the power to transform his body completely into electricity and vast capacity to expel electricity in various ways. He can can generate electricity at a rate of about 10,000 volts per minute, emit lightning-like electric arcs from his fingertips that have an energy of approximately 5 billion joules and travels at the speed of lightning (about 150,000 feet per second), manipulate all matter on a telekinetic scale through electromagnetism, control the electrical functions of technology, and even achieve control over thoughts, feelings, and movement of a body by redirecting the electrical signals between the brain and nerves.  Headshot: 
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AMAZING MAN Real Name: John Aman Other Aliases: Green Mist Origin: Orphaned by World War I as an infant in 1914, John Aman was brought to a secret city hidden high in the mountains of Tibet where he was chosen for his “superb physical structure” by a group of mystics known as the ‘Council of Seven’ to be trained to the peak of both mental and physical perfection and endowed with powers beyond the ordinary by giving him the ability to disappear into a cloud of green mist, earning him the secondary title of the Green Mist. In the late 1930’s, when he turned twenty-five, Aman received his final tests and the council decided he was ready to use his skills and abilities to fight crime in the outside world. Bequeathing a great fortune to him, they sent Aman to America where he combated injustice and more than once his nemesis, the evil telepath and disgruntled, exiled member of the Council of Seven called ‘The Great Question’ as the heroic Amazing-Man until he vanished years later not to be seen again before 2012. Original Powers: Amazing Man had superhuman strength, amazing control of his body, incredible mental powers, was invulnerable, and could disappear in a “cloud of green vapor”. Power Upgrade: Strangely enough none – as it seems…  Headshot:  As Green Mist: 
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MANHUNTER Real Name: Dan Richards Origin: After his girlfriend’s brother, Jim, with whom he had attended the police academy, was framed for a crime he didn’t commit, rookie cop Dan Richards created the costumed identity of ‘Manhunter’ to track down the actual killer and find the evidence to clear his friend. Assisted by his dog Thor, who would come to his aid with one blow of a super sonic whistle, he actually caught the perpetrator but continued his vigilante career as Manhunter after 1942 to fight crime with the help of his dog until they both disappeared ten years later. Original Powers: Absolutely none. He was good fighter, but that’s it. Power Upgrade: When Dan woke up in the science lab in 2012 he found his dog Thor in a separate room in a similar glass cylinder as the one he was in and freed him. But in the minute he touched his dog, they melded into one singular, werewolf-like being. He later learned that he could reverse and repeat this transformation into an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature at will. In his half human half canine form with fur, claws and fangs the Manhunter takes on several traits and abilities of a dog including enhanced agility, reflexes, senses, stamina, speed, etc.  Headshot: 
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SILVER STREAK Real Name: Steve Silvers Origin: In 1940 Steve Silvers was an ordinary cab driver until he met a mysterious swami who hypnotized Steve into working for him as a race car driver since all previous drivers of the swami’s race car had been killed by giant insects, sent by a mad scientist named Dr. Katan. As you could expect Steve was killed as well but the swami – stricken with remorse because he had tricked the poor man – used used his mystical powers to bring him back to life, after which he gave the resurrected driver an injection of a “secret fluid†that gave him super-speed and the power of flight. Motivated by a strong desire to help those in need and to do his best to make the world an ideal place to live in, Steve donned a colorful costume and fought against crime, Nazi spies, and The Claw, calling himself ‘Silver Streak’ after the race car he was killed in. He had changed costumes a few times over the years until he disappeared, but one detail that remained constant was the arrowhead-shaped emblem on his chest with the shape-fitting “SS†inside it. Original Powers: The “secret fluid” in his blood allowed him to defy gravity and gave him, despite his lack of aeronautic design, not only super speed, but also the ability to use it to fly. Also he later learned that anyone who receives a transfusion of his blood gains super-speed as well. Power Upgrade: Somehow the secret fluid running through his veins was extremely boosted and the Silver Streak gained the additional ability to manipulate gravity itself. He is able to create, shape and manipulate gravitation, and can bend gravity to make his environment very “heavy†or “lightâ€, causing objects to “fall†toward another object instead of the earth, flattening objects, and generating miniature black holes to compress objects into oblivion. He also can repel and attract matter and energy regardless of its mass or move objects in a manner similar to telekinesis.  Headshot: 
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BLACK FURY Real Name: Marla Drake Other Aliases: Miss Fury Origin: Marla Drake was a shallow, wealthy socialite who who discovered that another girl was wearing the same outfit to a party she was invited to. At the suggestion of her housemaid, Francine, and against the warnings of her friend, Albino Jo, she decided to switch to a panther skin which had previously been worn as a ceremonial robe by an African witch doctor and that her uncle had willed to her. Oddly enough the outfit fit her perfectly. However, Marla never made it to the party, because she got involved on the way in an adventure with an escaped murderer, she helped to recapture. Newspaper coverage of the event bestowed the name “Black Fury” on her but after a few weeks, she brought her superhero monicker in line and became Miss Fury. Having enjoyed her first case, Drake continued as a costumed crime fighter for several years until she disappeared in 1952, leaving her adopted son Darron behind, whom she now searches in 2012. Original Powers: Marla had no superpowers but was a skilled athlete, acrobat, climber, and fighter. She was also a smart amateur detective and very wealthy. Her supposedly enchanted panther suit had claws and she sometimes used the spiked heels on her costume as weapons in addition to using a whip. Power Upgrade: Since she resurfaced, Marla has shown the ability to gradually transform into a feline creature, gaining features of a big cat, including retractable claws, razorsharp fangs, increased flexibility, enhanced jumping skills, and heightened senses, but also a sometimes overwhelming predator instinct.  Headshot: 
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DDEVIL Real Name: Bart Hill Other Aliases: Daredevil Origin: As a child, during a trip to Australia with his wealthy captain of industry father, Bart Hill was witness to his parents’ brutal murder by thugs who were hired by his greedy uncle. The horror of the crime and the traumatic experience of being branded by the murderer with a hot iron, leaving a boomerang-shaped scar on the left side of his chest, rendered the boy mute and determined to eradicate crime. Orphaned, he wandered off into the Australian Outback where he was found and raised by Aborigines, learning their ways and how to wield the boomerang. When he returned to the United States to attend high school, he decided to use his marksmanship and take up a costume to wage vigilante vengeance and battle violent crime as well as corruption. Original Powers: Although he had no real superpowers, Bart was extraordinary martial artist and an extremely athletic and agile hero who could throw his steel boomerang with amazing precision and enough power to shatter rock from 20 meters away. But his greatest weapon was undoubtedly his determination and his fearless spirit. Power Upgrade: To his renewed horror, Bart emerged from the tank in which he was imprisoned, disfigured as some kind of demonlike creature with Superhuman strength, stamina, and durability as well as the ability to cause any individual who stares into his eyes to see and feel every bit of pain they have ever inflicted on anyone in their entire lifetime. As the DDevil he can also split himself into two separate, independant acting and thinking beings with different additional abilities. The Red Devil can generate, control, and project “hellfire” from within himself and release it from his mouth whereas the Black Devil is able to generate, absorb, shape and manipulate darkness for various effects, sizes, shapes and intensity levels.  Headshot:  Split: 
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BLACK BAT Real Name: Tony Quinn Origin: Tony Quinn was a successful district attorney who was angered at watching criminals continually evade justice. His career ended when an angry criminal threw acid into his face leaving him blinded and badly scarred around his eyes. Quinn vowed revenge and determined to gain it, Tony began to train his other senses and developed the necessary skills of the blind such as sharper hearing, more sensitive touch, a better sense of smell, etc. to a new level while training his body to to the peak of physical perfection at the same time. Then one day Carol Baldwin, the daughter of a small town policeman who was dying from a gangster’s bullet, told him that a surgeon was willing to restore his sight in a secret operation by grafting her fathers corneas onto Tony Quinn’s eyes. Shortly after the bandages were removed, Quinn detected that he could not only see normally but even perfectly in darkness too. Unhappy about all the criminals who slip through the law’s net on legal technicalities, he decided to work outside the law and to keep up the role of a blind man as a perfect cover when he created the costumed identity of the Black Bat, who would target those villains the law could not touch, meting out justice with twin .45s and using ruthless methods to bring his enemies down. As you can imagine, the authorities weren’t very pleased with his line of action, and the suspicious Captain McGrath often tried to prove Tony and the Black Bat were one and the same. Nobody knows if he ever succeeded, but the Black Bat vanished on the same day in 1952 as Captain McGrath… Original Powers: Tony had night vision which enabled him to see in the dark and possessed senses heightened to almost superhuman levels. Additionally he was a skilled brawler and a good shot with a gun. Power Upgrade: Since his return his eyes developed new abilities like X-ray vision, infrared sight, a vastly expanded field of view, and the power to invert the light absorbed in his eyes, allowing him to “see” his surroundings as darkness.  Headshot: 
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WOMAN IN RED Real Name: Peggy Allen Origin: Frustrated by the limitations of her job, policewoman Peggy Allen created the masked persona of the ‘Woman in Red’ to get around those pesky legalities that hamper crime fighters who allow their true identities to be known. She was the very first masked female crime fighter and distanced herself from her law-abiding colleagues by wearing a costume but exercised the police officer’s prerogative of packing heat at the same time. Using her detective and firearm skills as the Woman In Red floor-length coat, hood, and mask, she accomplished her crime-fighting goals without the restrictions imposed on everyday police officers until 1952 when she suddenly disappeared from the scene. Original Powers: Other than being an excellent shot, skilled detective, and proficient hand to hand combatant, Peggy had no special powers prior to 2012. Power Upgrade: Due to the treatment in her suspended state, the Woman in Red achieved the power to manipulate the rage, aggression and anger of people, animals and other creatures. She can increase, decrease, cause or chance rage as she pleases – in short: she’s acts on people like a red rag to a bull…  Headshot: 
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HYDROGEN MAN Real Name: Bob Blake Origin: In 1940 Bob Blake was accidentally doused with a large amount of a chemical substance that could convert human flesh into water causing him to disintegrate and become a pool of “living water” on the laboratory floor. Fortunately for Bob, his friend Harry Thurston, a young chemical engineer who had compounded the formula in the first place, found an antidote and poured it into Bob restoring him to human form. Bob soon discovered that he could now transform any part of his body into water and using force of will, he swiftly gained the control of his new powers. Deciding to put his new abilities to good use, Bob donned aviator goggles and tights left over from a costume party and took on the crimefighter identity of ‘Hydroman’ to battle an army of “oriental” invaders that was in fact run by Nazi fifth columnists. Original Powers: Bob could transform any part or all of his body into water and control its form and movement, to move through waterat high speeds, and to form various shapes using it. Power Upgrade: Bobs powers were tremendous augmented an he can now not only bodily transform himself, in whole or in part, into a watery liquid substance with a finer degree of control over his own fluid form and propel the liquid particles of his body at great pressure, but also gained mental control over any water or inorganic compound with liquid, gas (steam, water vapour), and solid (ice) states in his vicinity. He can shape and manipulate any liquid into solid objects and change them from one state to another and for example harden them as if they were ice hard.  Headshot: 
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MINIMAX Real Name: Maximilian “Max” Minahan Other Aliases: Minimidget Origin: Max Minahan was an ordinary Joe before he and a girl called Ritty were kidnapped by the mad scientist Dr. Anton Barmell who used a shrinking ray to permanently render them 6″ tall in order to use them as pawns in his scheme to kill his elder brother and two more relatives with a poisoned needle. The duo was finally freed by the FBI when the scientist blowed his lab and himself to kingdom come, but Max and Ritty couldn’t been reverted to their normal size. Making the best of their bad situation Max – now calling himself Minimidget – and Ritty became superheroes, eventually fell in love with each other and went on to have many adventures together until Max vanished in 1952. Original Powers: Max and Ritty were both permanently rendered 6″ tall, but they retained some of their respective mass/strength. To make up for their lack of powers they made use of tiny sports cars and miniature airplanes. Minimidget also carried a tiny sword and rode a trained rabbit called Bucky. Power Upgrade: Waking up in the glass tank he had been hold captive in, Max awoke at a normal human size but immediately began to grow to a size of 15 stories when he exited it. Astonished by the apparent reversal of his size, he instinctively tried to shrink back to normal size, but couldn’t stop the process he started until he arrived back at his accustomed size of 6″. He realised that he could now change his size between gigantic and tiny while retaining his physical proportions – but not to normal. At least for the moment it seems to be simply a question of either / or…  Headshot:  Gigantic: 
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FLINT Real Name: Jack Bradley Other Aliases: Fearless Flint, Flint Man Origin: Jack Bradley was a construction worker helping excavate a mountainside near Mount Rushmore when he was caught in an explosion and then an avalanche, covering him in a mysterious dust. Afterwards he discovered that he could transform into flint whenever he became angry or made contact with metal. From that moment on he was known as the superhero called ‘Fearless Flint’. Original Powers: As Fearless Flint, Jack had the power to temporary transform his body into flint whenever he became angry or made contact with metal which gave him the superhuman strength of ten men and invulnerability. Power Upgrade: Jack obtained the additional ability to pressurize and detonate the energy within any person or object to damage them from the inside and cause them to explode. The more energy the object or person has, the stronger the effect. He is also able to explode the energy within him without hurting himself, in order to repulse bullets and other nearby targets.  Headshot: 
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TNT Real Name: Cory Todd Other Aliases: TNT Todd Origin: As both an F.B.I. field agent and a chemist, Cory Todd was performing some tests when a strange purplish gas was released accidentally into his lab. Before he could escape he had inhaled large amounts of the gas and when he recovered it turned out that the gas had given him superpowers. Donning a bulletproof costume Todd became the superhero ‘TNT Todd’ – later dropping his last name in order to protect his secret identity. He was active until 1952 when he disappeared into thin air along with many other heroes that are now forgotten. Original Powers: Todd could fly and fire disintigrating beams from his hands. When a villain tried electrocuting him with high voltage wires, it only made Todd more powerful. Power Upgrade: After his powers were drastically increased, Todd can build up immense energy and pressure within his body, and then literally cause himself to explode while at the same time being able to vary the power of the explosion from simply blowing open a door to almost atomic explosions. When Todd detonates himself or portions of his body, they become vapors as they explode, then reform completely unharmed.  Headshot: 
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PHANTOMESS Real Name: Louise Grant Other Aliases: Blonde Phantom Origin: Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, Louise Grant was the secretary of private eye Mark Mason. Wanting to help her boss (with whom she was secretly in love) break cases, she clandestinely donned a black domino mask and a sexy, skintight, slit-leg red evening gown and high heels in 1946, and ventured out at night fighting crime as the mysterious ‘Blonde Phantom’ until 1952. Ironically Mason had a crush on the Blonde Phantom, but not on Louise. Original Powers: Louise had no superhuman powers but was an athletic woman, a skilled hand to hand combatant, an experienced detective, trained in martial arts, and a fine markswoman with the conventional handgun she carried. Power Upgrade: Louise gained the ability to become completey intangible. In this state she can pass through solid matter and move through objects ignoring most physical effects in her way by making her own atoms move between other atoms. The same way she can become invisible in the visible spectrum and render herself unseen by the naked eye unless she choose to be seen by certain people.  Headshot: 
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Wonderman Real Name: Brad Spencer Origin: Accidentally exposed to a sizzling voltage of a secret current, Brad Spencer found that he had super powers and used his new abilities to become the heroic ‘Wonderman’ who battled crime and/or evil, and even took on monsters while engaged in adventures in space. Working from his “Wonderlab”, he created the world’s most powerful telescope (of his time) and invented the “Vaccum Spiral” which allowed him to teleport great distances in a matter of minutes. Original Powers: Brad had superstrength and yould become “as hard as steel”, making him invulnerable. Power Upgrade: Brad discovered that he can now control and manipulate the density and solidity of both himself or any object he touches, whether living or non-living. When at a minimum mass, Brad becomes intangible, unable to be touched and can fly through the air weightlessly, whereas at maximum mass he becomes hard as diamond to the point that not even a nuclear missiles can harm him but is barely able to move at all.  Headshot: 
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THE SHIELD Real Name: Joe Higgins Origin: Joe Higgins was the son of Lieutenant Tom Higgins, a scientist who was working on a chemical formula for super-strength which the Nazis were after. But with success within his grasp, the elder Higgins was killed before he could finish the formula called S.H.I.E.L.D. by German saboteur, Hans Fritz, in the Black Tom explosion, for which Tom was framed. After Tom’s death, his son Joe continued to work on the formula while continuing his studies of chemistry and finally figured out the solution, which meant applying the chemicals to certain parts of the anatomy: Sacrum, Heart, Innervation, Eyes, Lungs, and Derma, and using x-rays. After being badly beaten by his father’s killer Joe managed to crawl back to his lab, ingested the formula and sealed himself into a special white suit that was exposed to “flouroscopic rays” for 12 hours. The process was a success and gave him superpower as well as the patriotic colors to his suit, allowing him to become the crime fighter ‘The Shield’, in order to to avenge his father’s death and protect the American way of life. As The Shield he joined the FBI to clear his father’s good name and became a “G-Man Extraordinary” who fought foreign agents and other threats to the US and whose secret identity was known only to FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover. When he vanished 12 years later, he left behind his adopted son and kid partner, Dusty Simmons, whose father had been killed by foreign agents a few years earlier. In 2012 Joe is desperate to find a clue to the whereabouts of Dusty but can’t find any evidence that he even existed. Original Powers: Thanks to his father’s formula, Joe had limited super-strength, superhuman stamina, invulnerability and was able to make great leaps, but he eventually lost his powers and could not repeat the process that gave him his abilities. He continued to fight crime without his powers and wore a costume that made him bullet and flame proof. Power Upgrade: When he woke up in 2012 Joe discovered that he not just regained his lost powers but that they were also boosted many times over. He is now able to lift heavier structures from battleships to massive aircrafts, capable to jump several miles in a single leap and run a mile in 60 seconds, and immune to almost all forms of conventional physical damage. He can coordinate his body with balance, flexibility, and dexterity and his agility as well as his reflexes work on superhuman level.  Headshot: 
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VICTORY Real Name: Joan Wayne Other Aliases: Miss Victory Origin: Joan worked as a stenographer for an assistant to the Secretary of Commerce in Washington DC in 1941 and grew tired of watching the corrupt politicians surrounding her. When she learned of a plot against a senator, she decided to help the FBI by taking action herself, using the identity of ‘Miss Victory’ in a tight-fitting, red-white-and-blue costume with a plunging neckline and a V emblem across her chest. Her remarkable fighting prowess and her inexplicable ability to survive explosions, break free of ropes, or knock down walls soon attracted the attention of the government and the military, and eventually she was trained and sent on missions, reporting directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States until her disappearance in 1952. Original Powers: Joan had a certain degree of superhuman strength and limited invulnerability or at least a high resistance to injury and was an unstoppable fighter who was also a good climber that carried a grappling hook with her. During World War II she proved to be both an expert with conventional firearms and an ace fighter pilot. Power Upgrade: Not much unlike ‘The Shield’, she showed an enormous boost in her known abilites and is now able to lift up cars to trucks, buses, and trucks of great size, run a mile in 73 seconds, and resist even close-range or contact shots with high-caliber bullets.  Headshot: 
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TARGET Real Name: Niles Reed Origin: Niles Reed, a metallurgist who doubled as a spy for the U.S. Army, designed a bulletproof costume with a bullseye on the chest and created the identity of ‘The Target’ to spring his brother Bill, who had been framed for murder and sentenced to be executed, from jail. Unfortunately his brother was killed in the fracas, but Niles avenged himself on those responsible for Bill’s wrongful conviction. Assisted by his friends and business associates, Dave Brown and Tom Foster, who had both been orphaned by criminals, as the ‘Targeteers’ with similar indestructible costumes, Niles then began to fight evil and help the military on the home-front until they were drafted into the Army, Navy and Marines, respectively. After the war they started their private investigation firm known as The Troubleshooter Agency which they run successfully until their disappearance in 1952. But only Niles resurfaced in 2012 and is ever since out looking for his lost partners. Original Powers: Niles had no special powers but wore a grenade- and bulletproof costume made of “indestructible flexible metallic fibers and carried darts in a hidden belt pocket, which he was able to throw with incredible speed and lethal accuracy. Power Upgrade: Niles acquired the superhuman ability to absorb kinetic energy and to metabolize it to either enhance his own physical strength, speed, durability, and stamina or to regenerate his body from severe injuries in less than a few hours. This makes him extremely difficult to defeat in battle, as every blow struck against him only makes him stronger.  Headshot: 
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LIBERATOR Real Name: Dr. Nelson Drew Origin: Dr. Nelson Drew was a weedy chemistry teacher at Claflin University who claimed to have discovered an ancient Egyptian formula called Lamesis that temporarily transformed his body into his “ideal” form, giving him superhuman powers. Despite the fact that the transformation would sometimes revert at the most inopportune moments and that each transformation was a painful experience as it rapidly altered his muscles and bones, Professor Drew decided to use his powers to fight Nazi saboteurs during World War II in his secret identity as the ‘Liberator’. He semi-retired after the war and apparently literally ceased to exist 1952. Original Powers: In his “ideal” form, Dr. Drew had superhuman strength, speed and invunerability, and could also hold his breath for an extended length of time. Power Upgrade: Additionally to the fact that he seems to have no more need for his formula, so he can now transform his body at will into his “ideal” form, Nelson showed the ability of shapeshifting. He was seen changing his appearance involuntary on several occasions. How strong this seemingly new ability is has yet to be clarified.  Headshot:  True Nature (heavy spoiler): 
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JACK STEEL Real Name: Jack Steel Other Aliases: Commander Steel Origin: Commander Jack Steel was an agent of the International Police Service, with superhuman powers which supposedly came from an an “Elixir of Power” that flowed in his veins, who traveled the globe and fought chiefly against Nazis during World War II. Details of his early life were kept secret from the public and in 1952 he seemingly went underground, only to misteriously resurface in 2012 without having aged a day. Original Powers: Jack had some degree of superhuman strength and though he could be knocked out by a blow to the head, he had some sort of healing ability that enabled him to immediately recover from breaking every bone after being thrown off a cliff. Power Upgrade: He hasn’t shown any new abilities yet, but his skin seems to be sometimes hard as metal…  Headshot (heavy spoiler):  True Nature (heavy spoiler): 
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COMET Real Name: John Dickering Origin: John Dickering was a young chemist who discovered a special gas that was fifty times lighter than hydrogen and could give a man the power of flight when into the bloodstream. Dickering injected himself, but soon discovered there was an unfortunate side effect, as his eyes began emitting uncontrollable rays that disintegrated whatever he looked at when he crossed the beams. The only thing that could stop these rays was ordinary glass, so he wore glass goggles to keep his powers under control and those around him safe. Realising that such a discovery could wreck humanity, Dickering destroyed the formula for the gas and decided to use his powers to benefit humanity. He designed a costume and adopting the superhero identity of the ‘Comet’. Despite his tendency to callously disintegrate gangsters or to drop them to certain death, the police who knows his real identity welcomes the Comet on the force rather than trying to stop his vigilantism, and his reporter girlfriend Thelma Gordon assists him by running news-stories about the Comet’s good deeds to get him in the public’s good graces. A while after he started his superhero career, he discovered that he could modify his gas intake, rendering him human when he wanted, so he could keep up a secret identity, but sadly for him that didn’t stop the henchmen of a gangster named “Big Boy” Malone, which he had recently put away, to track The Comet to John’s apartment and eventually kill him in front of his brother, Bob Dickering, who was thus inspired to become the brutal superhero ‘The Hangman’ himself in order to avenge John’s death. I quess you can imagine John’s surprise, when he woke up as fresh as a daisy in 2012. Since he learned of his brothers second career from fellow heroes he’s restlessly searching for Bob who seems to have never existed like so many other people from the heroes past. Original Powers: At first John could only achieve flying leaps, but after repeated use of the gas he could actually fly. Additionaly his deadly “disolvo-vision” could disintegrate any matter except glass and with practice John became skilled enough with the beams to shoot bullets out the air. Power Upgrade: Possibly the first superhero killed in the line of duty, John came back from the dead in 2012 and discovered that the functionality of his eye beams was considerably boosted. He can now also release beams of pure solidified energy that causes concussive damage, with effects ranging from slight push, hard hit, and knock-out, to minor or major damage and shattering objects. The maximum force of these new optic blasts is big enough to punch a hole through a mountain.  Headshot: 
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MANOWAR Real Name: Manowar Other Aliases: Dan Sanders, White Streak Origin: According to the android himself, Manowar was created centuries, maybe millennia ago, by an advanced, ancient civilisation, the Council of Utopia, and programmed to mete out justice on those murderers who prey on the weak — the warmongers. Having themselves been devastated by war, the Council entombed Manowar in a cave within an artificial hill inside an extinct South American volcano, to awaken when the world was again threatened with death by selfishness and try to prevent such destruction happening again. shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, the hill rose from within the now extinct volcano and Manowar was found by the American archaeologist Dr. Simms and his assistant, Ramón. His first act was to swiftly put an end to local dictator of Bolita, Don Ruizen, and his U.S. oil company backer, who had instigated a war with neighbouring Puzen. Manowar then relocated to the U.S. and after a few solo adventures he operated as an ordinary FBI agent for a short time by adopting the undercover identity of “Dan Sanders” and wearing a three-piece suit, disguising himself as a human after having his face altered via plastic surgery. But after a warehouse pier was sabotaged, Dan Simms was presumed dead and Manowar returned to costumed heroism and started to use his powers more openly once again, letting nobody except for his former boss know that “Dan Simms” was still alive. No one knows what really happened to him after his disappearance a few years later, but when he resurfaced 2012, he claimed that he was ambushed and deactivated by an unknown enemy only to find himself awakened from his slumber more than 60 years later in an abandoned warehouse in Shanghai. Original Powers: Manowar is an android with superhuman strength, limited invulnerability, flight, and the ability to fire knife-like electric beams from his eyes and hands. He could use those beams to attract or repel objects, write messages on walls, look through walls with x-ray vision, and to cover himself in protective electrons. Power Upgrade: In the digital age of 2012 Manowar showed the ability to “mentally” communicate with other computer systems, and to both control and manipulate machines and technology with his electric beams.  Headshot: 
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WONDER BOY Real Name: Unknown – he never so much as attempted to keep a secret or human identity. Origin: When Wonder Boy was spotted the first time, he looked like a parentless kid wandering around in the rubble wearing a suit that resembled a pyjama. Interviewed by the police he stated that he was the last survivor of the planet Viro which was destroyed when it “collided” with a star. Hurling through time and space, he escaped his home world’s explosion on a spaceship and crashlanded in the heart of Chicago. Of course nobody believed him and so he was taken to the local orphanage, where the sulking boy heard on the radio about a “Mongol” horde that was scooping Hitler by making Europe the opening shot of its attempt at world conquest. When he asked to be sent there so he could do something about it, the orphanage officials wouldn’t take him seriously for some reason, so he simply vaulted the 20-foot orphanage wall and swam the ocean without so much as a map to give him a clue where he was going. After putting a stop to the “Mongol” aggression single-handedly, the youthful alien who spoke perfect English decided to use his superhuman abilities for the good of earth and joined forces with Sgt. Crane of the Army Air Corps and began to fight the Nazis, Axis spies and big-city crime in general. Cheered by sweetheart Sally Benson, an earth girl, from the sidelines, fought many years without so much as attempting to keep a secret identity before he vanished into thin air. Original Powers: It is unclear as to whether his powers were natural Viran abilities or result of Earth’s unique conditions, but Wonder Boy had “the strength of a thousand men” as well as a degree of super speed. In any case, it hadn’t made him a very desirable playmate. Power Upgrade: When he was found floating in a huge glass cylinder in 2012, he looked anything but human, but when the other heroes released him from his prison he immediately changed back to his known but somewhat more grown up seeming human form. He explained this phenomenon with his previously hidden shapeshifting abilities that allowed him to hide his true alien physique in order to not disturb or even upset the humans with it.  Headshot:  Changing to his True Nature (heavy spoiler): 
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CAPTAIN TRIUMPH Real Name: Michael & Lance Gallant Origin: Michael and Lance Gallant were born as identical twin brothers in New York City of 1919 and both possessed T-shaped birthmarks on their left wrists. Remained close growing up, Michael eventually enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a pilot but died in his brother’s arms on their 23rd birthday when his hanger exploded through an act of sabotage. Lance, a rising young journalist, swore vengeance on the murderers and those like them and soon afterwards he received a shocking visitation from Michael’s ghost, who told his brother they were still linked together, and if Lance touched his birthmark the brothers would merge and gain superpowers as a result. Touching the mark a second time would separate them again. So Lance decided to become a crimefighter, calling himself Captain Triumph, and had many adventures until his disappearance in 1952. Original Powers: When Lance and Michael merged into Captain Triumph, they gained superhuman strength and endurance, flight, speed, invulnerability, invisibility, and the rarely-utilized ability to alter his physical appearance, shape and size, and change his voice at the same time. When the two brothers were separated, Michael (as a ghost) was intangible and could both move through walls and turn invisible, powers he would use to spy for Lance who always could see and hear Michael. With intense concentration, Michael was also able to communicate with, and influence the actions of, other people and creatures. Power Upgrade: When Lance first awakened in 2012, he was Captain Triumph but not able to separate himslef from his brother Michael or to communicate with him. Imagine his surprise when he finally managed to split up and found that they had suddenly switched places, making Lance the ghost and Michael the living. With some practice they discovered that they could switch places whenever one of them wants to – even when separated and miles away from each other. This new power, for instance, can comes very handy if one of them enters a locked room as a ghost and then changes back to human form in order to interact directly with his environment.  Headshot: 
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MIDNIGHT CAPTAIN Real Name: Captain Jim “Red” Albright Other Aliases: Captain Midnight Origin: Captain Jim “Red” Albright, was a World War I U. S. Army pilot and genius-level inventor who had earned the nickname ‘Captain Midnight’ after returning from a high-risk mission at the stroke of 12. After the war he worked as a private aviator until he was recruited to head the Secret Squadron, an aviation-oriented paramilitary organization fighting sabotage and espionage both within and outside the United States during the period prior to the United States’ entry into World War II. After the attack on Pearl Harbor the Secret Squadron’s duties shifted to fight the more unconventional aspects of the war in Europe, South America, the Pacific, and continental Asia. After the war and leaving the Secret squadron, Jim build himself a secret lab located somewhere in the desert of Nevada and started to work as an unofficial fighter for freedom. As the ‘Midnight Captain’ he battled injustice and fought criminals, communists, and even alien invaders until he vanished in 1952. Original Powers: Jim Albright had no powers but wore a skintight suit scarlet that had a “Gliderchute” (similar to a wingsuit) attached to the sides which allowed him to glide like a flying squirrel. He also used an array of gizmos such as the Blackout Bombs which released clouds of blinding darkness, an infra-red “Doom-Beam Torch” which he used to burn his emblem into walls and unlucky villains, and a projecting swing-line, the “Swing-Spring”. Power Upgrade: In 2012, after waking up in a science lab located in an mysterious, abandoned underground facility in New Mexico, Jim learned that he gained the power to fly without any outside influence.  Headshot: 
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BLACK OWL Real Name: Doug Danville Other Aliases: K the Unknown Origin: Doug Danville was one of those typical wealthy and bored playboys who put on costumes and decided to fight the criminal element hand to hand so as to give meaning to an otherwise pointless existence. He began his crimefighter career as ‘K the Unknown’ but quickly changed his moniker to that of the ‘Black Owl’ wearing an owl mask to his usual attire, a tuxedo, which he soon traded in for blue skin-tights, which made him fit in better with the other superheroes. After more than three years of crimefighting, and briefly being part of a team that fought against the Frankenstein monster, Danville finally decided to do something even more meaningful with his life and enlisted in the Army to fight in World War II. In 1943, Doug handed down the costume and identity of The Black Owl to Walt Walters, who fought side by side with his twin sons, Yank and Doodle, until 1947 when he had to retire from the hero business after being wounded by a bullet. At this time, Doug Danville had already returned from war, and so he decided to resume his fight against crime and pick up the mask and mantle of the Black Owl once again. Original Powers: Doug was a capable fighters, but had no other powers. Power Upgrade: Like his fellow superhero DDevil, Dan also had undergone a drastic physical transformation. He had taken on some of the traits and abilities of a real owl, including enhanced sensory acuity, predatory instincts, and most of all a hollow bone structure as well as huge wings, making him lighter, faster and more agile and allowing him to fly at great speeds.  Headshot: 
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MAN O’ METAL Real Name: Pat Dempsey Origin: Pat Dempsey was a foundry worker who had a freak accident and was covered in molten steel when a vat of white hot metal spilled on him. But rather than being killed an “inexplainable chemical reaction of the skin-texture” transformed him into a man of metal. Whenever he was exposed to heat or electricity his skin would become a blue, metallic substance, which gave off flames. Quitting his job, he became a private eye, solving crimes for pay and helping the U.S. authorities for free as ‘Man O’Metal’ whenever crime or spies threatened. Original Powers: Vulnerable as any other person in his normal human body, Pat became bulletproof and gained superhuman strength when he changed into metal. In his transformed state he could generate heat to melt bullets and grenades and burn his way through the thickest barriers. Power Upgrade: When Pat woke up in 2012 he realised that his metal state was now permanent and he couldn’t change back to his human form. But in turn he had gained a finer control over the flames he gave off to a point that he can turn them off completely, and also had the new ability to temporarily absorb any material and replicate its properties within himself. By these means he can bodily duplicate at will the physical properties of anything he touches.  Headshot: 
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SKYMAN Real Name: Allen Turner Origin: Orphaned at an early age by an airplane crash, Allen Turner was raised by his scientist uncle to become outstanding in mind and body. Thus, Allen grow up with great physical and mental abilities and became a brilliant scientist and golden boy who decided to use the the money he inherited from his late uncle’s will to join the eternal battle of good versus evil as ‘Skyman’. Working out of a hidden hangar/laboratory dubbed “The Skydrome”, he fought crime with his amazingly advanced aircraft “The Wing” which could hover motionless or, powered by Earth’s magnetic field, zoom at 800 mph. With a suspended cable he could swoop down on evildoers and use his strength and agility to take them out. Original Powers: Allen was trained to the peak of human perfection but had no real superpowers. Instead he carried two pistols; an Atomatic and a Stasimatic. Power Upgrade: Allen achieved the technopathic ability to generate a mental interface with electronics and computer data, which gives him control over any machine or technological device in his visual range and allows him to instinctively know and understand the potential and functional operations of any technological constructs, computers, robots, hardware and other devices that can be termed as “technology”. This power also enabled him to build a new, improved battlearmor with biomechanical wings based on the model of his old aircraft.  Headshot: 
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RED BEE Real Name: Rick Raleigh Origin: Rick Raleigh was an assistant district attorney in Superior City, Oregon, who wished to do more to combat crimals who could otherwise evade justice and created the costumed identity of the ‘Red Bee’. Equipped With both a “stinger gun” and his uncanny ability to train and control bees, and with the help of his favorite bee “Michael” which he stored inside his belt buckle for use in special circumstances, Rick battled both gangsters Nazis and gangsters until 1952 when he suddenly vanished into thin air. Original Powers: Rick was a superb athlete but had no super powers except for the ability to train and control bees. Power Upgrade: Not much unlike the Black Owl, Rick woke up in 2012 with a changed physique and the traits and abilities of a bee. He has huge organic insect wings that allows him to fly, a retractable poison sting in each wrist, insect eyes that gives him a vastly expanded field of view as well as the ability to see both ultraviolet and polarized light, and antennae which provide him with additional, enhanced sensory perceptions. And for the last time, no, he can’t shrink to the size of an actual bee…  Headshot: 
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