There are infinite alternate universes – altiverses – in the multiversal construct called Ninespace. One such altiverse is tagged 023SG by the Sentinubal that tracks and protects Ninespace. Like many of the altiverses, there is a planet called Earth in 023SG, and like a smaller but still significant number of those altiverses, there are people with special powers and abilities on 023SG who fight to make a difference… or fight to make the world their own.
These enhanced beings — mystery men, heroes, metahumans, super guys and gals, call them what you will — first began to appear in the 1920s. At first, they were — mostly — normal human beings with the discipline, intellect, will, and gumption to make a difference while hiding behind a mask or wearing outlandish clothing. People like the Golden Swashbuckler, Spycracker, Solitaire, Six-Gun Sam and the All-American Lad protected their homes, against crime… and as the 1940s dawned, against the enemies of Freedom.
But there is a universal constant in 023SG… as there are in so many of the altiverses like it. As time passes, entropy increases… and so does absurdity. And as the first enhanced humans began to appear, absurdity rose with them. World War II saw the first surge in the metahuman population, and those metahumans put their new powers on the lines to fight in the war, and fight for what they believed in. Heroes like the aquakinetic Wave, the explosive Lieutenant Blockbuster, and the blur known as the Quick fired the imagination as quickly as they took down their enemies.
And then… as the 50’s passed… those heroes seemed to fade away.
But absurdity always increases. And as the world becomes more absurd, so too do the days of super guys, super gals, and super gender-nonspecific-folks return. And if the world is stranger… well, that comes from absurdity as well. It all started in Unfortunance City, Rhode Island, when an Elder God from the depths of Florid Poetry stood up from the waters, and a shining beacon of hope appeared, gleaming with golden scales, to oppose it and inaugurate the Age of Heroic Intent.
That said shining beacon of hope was a fish seems beside the point, really. But then, absurdity always increases.
The Home Front
Stories of the Mystery Men who
came before, and the first generation
of heroes who followed them
- My White Plume: The story of the Golden Swashbuckler — the very first mystery man who had also been the last mystery man — and the last act of his heroic career.
- Spycracker and Torpedo: An interview with Torpedo — the former junior partner of the tireless defender of freedom called Spycracker — and their greatest triumph! But stories don’t end after victories, do they?
- Diamond in the Rough: Not everyone who fought to protect the home front was male. And not everyone who fought to protect the home front was white. This is the story of Ellen Nakimota, the Japanese-American girl who suited up as Diamond — the junior partner of the female ‘mystery man’ ironically called Solitaire. This is also the story of the Liberty Brigade which brought the Mystery Men together for a good cause, and how Ellen Nakimota learned the difference between being a hero in 1944… and being Asian in 1944.
- Homecoming: Ongoing: The age of mystery men rose in the twenties but came to its zenith in World War II… but as tireless and brave as the mystery men were, they could hardly compete with people who could blow up tanks with a gesture or swamp battleships with waves, at least in the eyes of the public. But for Len Davis — the All-American Lad — the end of the war didn’t mean the end of protecting his city. But when the high flying human tank called Lieutenant Blockbuster came home to his city as well… was there even a place for the All-American Lad? And could the Lad even compete, when the crooks could suddenly lift cars and didn’t even notice bullets?
- Part One
- Part Two
- Part Three
- Part Four Coming Soon!
Project Corrigendum
Stories of the reclassification
of heroes from active figures
to mythic ones… by any means necessary
- Soon to come, we hope!
The Age
of
Heroic Intent
Metahumanity had been closeted
for decades — the province of comic books,
movies, and documentaries.
But absurdity always increases.
This is the age of good versus evil.
It’s unreasonable to expect it to always make sense.
- The Goldfish: The first of the heroes of the Age of Heroic Intent. Mystic paragon of virtue. And a fish. Did we mention she’s a fish? Also the story of Max Santiago, who brought her into existence completely by accident, which depressingly is the smartest thing he’s done to date.
- Rise of the Icthyomancer #1
- Rise of the Icthyomancer #2 – coming soon!
