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Post by dans on May 2, 2022 11:43:03 GMT
This story has such a great silver age feel Thanks, John! I try for the Golden/Silver age fun stories, rather than the Dark Ages dark stories that followed. When the good guys won, and had fun hanging around together...
I wish there was an easy program to produce comic book art. It takes a lot of words to describe juggling tanks - but I think that whole sequence could be done in maybe 4 panels.
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Post by dans on May 3, 2022 11:45:21 GMT
Dr. Electra - Rightful Emperor of Earth
The show was over, eventually. The tag game ended in a tie - and not because one or the other player threw the game, but Captain Truth's superior flying precision just offset Captain Marvel Jr.s' superior speed. The skywriting went well - Truth's 'handwriting' was neater than Marvel's. Cap Jr. barely stopped himself from writing "Surrender, Dorothy!", but he WAS the guest here, not the star. Together they wrote a nice tribute to Thunder Water, all the people who had donated, and all those who had helped make the event so successful - and then Captain Truth had broken from the script and added a personal message to all the orphans - who were cheering enthusiastically from the stadium section reserved for them. Both heroes signed autographs for all the Thunder Water kids (and staff!) who wanted them, relying on their super speed (not to mention super stamina in their writing hands), rather than a Dupli-Writer, to provide individual souvenirs for all.
Captain Truth realized that he had really enjoyed performing in front of thousands of people - although he also realized he'd probably be just as terrified the next time, and the time after that, and the time after that. As the happy crowd was filing from the stadium, he had flown down to the the infield to confer with the stadium maintenance crew to confirm tomorrow's appointment to help re-sod the stadium. And then an alarm started blaring from somewhere near the stadium entrance.
He flashed up and out of the stadium and then curved back down to the entrance lobby, accompanied by Captain Marvel Jr. Just before they landed, the doors exploded outward! A blood red ray lanced through the explosion and when it touched the two heroes, there were more explosions, and they were thrown backward and across the facing street. Captain Marvel Jr. smashed through an electric pole, tearing down the wires, while Captain Truth was blasted halfway through a brick wall in the building across the street.
Captain Truth cautiously extracted himself from the wall, relieved to see that doing so wouldn't cause the instant collapse of the building. For the moment, Captain Marvel Jr. was busy dealing with the live electrical wires, so Truth would have to deal with this danger himself. Which was actually the way he preferred it - whatever this was, it was disrupting HIS festival and he wanted to end it himself! Whoever was throwing explosions around was going to regret it - and pretty darned fast!
A man stomped through the smoke, a large, bald man with a strangely flat-topped head, wearing a three-piece suit and a curious apparatus like a pair of headphones with antennae sticking up slightly above his head from each earpiece, and connected with a heavy wire to a box that hung from a strap around his neck. There was a button on top and a dial set into on the side of the box, and on the front what appeared to be a zoom lens for a camera. He was holding the box in his right hand, and when he spotted Captain Truth, he pressed the button, and the blood red ray lanced out again, and exploded against the front of the hero!
With an instant to brace himself, Captain Truth wasn't blasted through the air this time, but he was still knocked on his can and it HURT!
"Ah, Captain Truth, 'Canada's Hero'!" the man sneered. "I was hoping to encounter you! How better to prove the power of Dr. Electra?!" He shifted the aim of the box. "Have another taste of my dreaded... Atom Ray!"
Truth was startled - the man's voice was familiar, and that finally triggered recognition! Dr. Electra was Ned "Knuckles" Socco, another orphan who had once resided at Thunder Water. He was about 4 years older than Ken Elliot, and he was always in trouble, He was a genius inventor, but he never used his inventions for good. Still, Ken had idolized him and was following in his footsteps as a troublemaker when Knuckles had finally been expelled from the orphanage... he'd returned, only a few days later, to try and blow up the orphanage, the event that had revealed that Ken had super powers, in fact. Away from the bad influence of the older boy, Ken had turned his life around and soon began his career as Captain Truth.
His instant of startled hesitation gave Dr. Electra the chance to attack again. Electra spun the dial with his thumb and the red ray lanced out and struck Captain Truth - and though he felt an instant chill, nothing else happened. Electra stepped forward and led with a punch from his left hand, which slammed into the side of Captain Truth's head, spun him around, and knocked him down. In the five years since he had mysteriously gained his powers, nothing had hurt him that bad, not even blows from his powerful teammates. Truth felt even more pain when he hit the ground, and suddenly he realized...
'The Atom Ray has somehow neutralized my powers!'.
Dr. Electra stepped closer and launched a kick at his head. Truth wasn't able to dodge. Electra's ankle cracked against the side of Captain Truth's jaw and he rolled backwards and stopped moving, unconscious.
"That was a cowardly attack!" came a voice from above. "How brave are you against someone who can fight back?" Captain Marvel Jr. asked coldly.
Dr. Electra didn't bother to reply. He flipped his hand and the ruby-red ray slammed into Marvel again and an instant later, he fell from the sky. Another kick, and he, too, was unconscious.
The two awakened, and quickly realized they were in the bottom of a row boat, bound together with heavy chains. Dr. Electra was standing over them, gloating.
"As always, my plans succeed, even beyond my expectations! The orphanage will fail without the donations, my revenge for being expelled, and I will become famous as the man who killed Captain Truth - with Captain Marvin thrown in for good measure! My men are going to sink this boat, and without your powers, neutralized by my mighty Atom Ray, you two won't be able to escape! And your last thoughts as you choke helplessly and painfully on the water filling your lungs will be of the mighty man, soon to be the Rightful Emperor of Earth, who defeated you like the two children you are!"
"It's 'Captain Marvel'!" Cap replied, with his fingers crossed. Would Zeus even be able to hear him in another universe? Would the lighting restore his powers, or simply turn him into the even more powerless Freddy? Zeus was listening, even in this parallel universe: the magic lightning flashed from the sky, but it fizzled harmlessly away before it reached him.
"My Atom Ray projector produces a field that blocks lightning!" Dr. Electra crowed. But this display made him a little nervous. He hadn't known that Captain Marvin could call lightning bolts. Of course, lighting couldn't hurt him as long he had the Atom Ray projector, but who knew what else this Marvin kid could do? He kicked Captain Marvel Jr. in the head, knocking him out.
"I take my leave. Today, I'm the already-awesome Dr. Electra, but soon, using my incredible genius and fabulous inventions, I will take my rightful place as Electra the first, Emperor of Earth!" He stepped out of the boat and onto the ladder hanging on the side of a rum runner which was alongside (a long, low, powerful-looking boat, often used for booze smuggling during Prohibition), pulled out a pistol and fired two bullets through the floor of the wooden rowboat, then climbed aboard the speedboat and sped away.
Even with the water rising fast, Captain Truth kept fighting, but he quickly realized it was useless. He shrugged mentally. 'I always wondered if this would work, but I never needed the power before...'. Out loud, he shouted as loud as he could:
"Ka-BANG!"
A different flavor of magic lighting flashed, and a figure appeared in the sinking rowboat, floating an inch above the already ankle-deep water. A figure we've seen before, the awesome genie Yama Lama of Ka-Bang! "I am the Yama Lama of Ka-Bang. You have just summoned me, Ken Elliot! What is your wish?"
"I'm in a bit of a fix, here, Lama. Can you give me powers like Bingo, just for a while, just this one time?"
"Certainly, my son, certainly! You are his equal in all respects." A slight pause. "...Although I perceive that you are much more modest than he. It's a fault that is going to lead to trouble for him. I've tried to talk to him about it, but you know how he is..."
Captain Truth had to turn his head and spit out water. "We don't have much time, oh mighty Lama. The powers, please?"
The genie looked abashed. "Certainly!" he snapped his fingers. "It's done - you have powers equal to those of my master, Bingo the Wonder Boy, for an hour. When they fade, your natural powers will be restored." he snapped his fingers again, and was gone.
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Post by dans on May 4, 2022 15:31:01 GMT
The Return of Captain Truth
Captain Truth felt his strength surge, and easily but carefully broke free of his chains. Out over the water, he could see the speedboat throwing up spumes of water as it circled the sinking rowboat at high speed. Dr. Electra was the only person aboard - apparently Dr. Electra wanted to watch the show! The speedboat's name was written large across both sides of the hull: Sovereign. When he saw Captain Truth sit up, Electra hurriedly aimed the Atom Ray and the ruby ray blasted out again, and the rowboat exploded violently in a cloud of steam and wooden splinters.
Captain Truth and the shackled, unconscious Captain Marvel Jr. appeared in the meeting room in Philadelphia. "Lost his powers, knocked out by a kick in the head, take care of him! He'll probably be back to normal in an hour," Truth hastily told his teammates and disappeared again. He wasn't worried about Marvel - his teammates would easily free him, and the Legion had on-call access to some of the top medical professionals in the country.
He popped into the park near Niagara Falls, and pushed himself to the best speed Bingo's power would provide. He couldn't tell right away if Bingo was faster than he was, but any difference wasn't significant right now. It took a lot of zooming back and forth over the Eastern end of Lake Erie but eventually, from a mile away, he spotted a boat that must be the Sovereign, zooming towards the New York coastline of the Lake. It was hardly inconspicuous, the bow high out of the air with a high, long rooster tail of frothing white water and mist thrown into air behind it.
So far he hadn't been spotted again. 'I can't risk getting hit by that ray again! Not sure how I'd get even MORE powers on short notice!' he thought. 'Gotta take him by surprise and get the Atom Ray away from him. Hope Bingo can hold his breath for a long time!' He got behind the boat, still a long way off and dove into the water, then pushed himself to the highest 'flight speed' his powers could generate. It wasn't long before he reached the turbulent wake, and then he slowed - he didn't want to overshoot!
When he could see the propellers, he braced himself. When he'd first gained his powers, he'd discovered that there was often no good way to test his invulnerability in dangerous situation without just 'doing it'. He'd just have to trust Bingo's powers (which hadn't let him down so far). He reached out stuck his hands into the propeller blades... and they shattered! (And even more importantly, they didn't hurt him...)
At the best speed he could muster, he popped up out of the water and flashed forward into the speed boat's cockpit. Dr. Electra had been standing behind the large helm wheel when his boat instantly lost most of its speed, and he'd crashed forward into the wheel, and then tumbled over onto the console, and currently his feet were pointing at the ceiling. There was no way he could react before Captain Truth reached him and easily crushed the Atom Ray generator into junk. He then turned back to his foe to check him for injuries. The wheel was bent and mangled, and the console was crushed where his head had struck - but Dr. Electra was climbing to his feet, seemingly uninjured!
"Fool! Even without my Atom Ray, I am as invulnerable and immovable as you!"
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Post by dans on May 4, 2022 23:49:42 GMT
Indestructible Plastic Skin... Yawn!
Dr. Electra (Knuckles Socco) stepped forward and slammed a powerful punch to Captain Truth's jaw. He hadn't earned his orphanage nickname as Knuckles Socco for nothing. By itself, that blow would have knocked out almost any normal man, and it was somehow enhanced to the point where Captain Truth actually felt it! It felt as if he had been hit by a fist covered in something as hard as diamond, and it stung mildly, about like a mild sunburn. He was a bit shocked - was this somehow related to Bingo's powers rather than his own? Knuckles followed up with a punch to the solar plexus and again, it stung mildly - but it didn't really hurt. Truth punched back, pulling his punches as he normally would with a regular human - he didn't want to kill his foe, after all. And was shocked again as Knuckles simply shrugged them off.
"My invention saved me! A flexible, though indestructible plastic. I'm coated with a surface that cannot be penetrated! Once I've disposed of you, I'll build a new and better Atom Ray - and rule the world!"
It was a strange fight. The hardest blows Knuckles (Dr. Electra) threw stung Captain Truth a bit, the villain's punching power slightly enhanced by the invulnerable, diamond-hard covering on his fists. But merely human strength couldn't really hurt Captain Truth. But his own punches, even when he unleashed his full strength, even when he used his speed to deliver dozens of blows in a second, didn't bother Knuckles either. If Truth had enjoyed fighting as much as some of his teammates (notably Bingo and Super Ann) the fight might have gone on until Knuckles dropped of exhaustion. But his super powers gave Captain Truth other options.
"Don't go away, I'll be right back," he quipped. Where would Dr. Electra go from here, anyway, on a damaged boat a couple miles offshore? But before Electra could snarl a response, he was being wrapped in the Sovereign's docking lines. "You may be invulnerable, but you don't seem to be any stronger than anyone else. I'll bet you can't get loose!" And he was right. "And now - let's turn you over to the Mounties."
The proceeds from the stadium sales were recovered and delivered to the Mounties along with his prisoner, and Captain Truth popped back to Philly. It was time to vote on membership in the Legion of Super Teens for Captain Marvel Jr.
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Post by dans on May 5, 2022 1:02:02 GMT
Sorry, but...
Captain Marvel was seated in the small waiting room outside the Legion of Super Teens meeting room for a LONG time while the Legion discussed his initiation and voted on his admittance. A LOT longer than he expected, whether they were going to accept him or not. He hadn't 'won' any of the tests, but he felt like he'd acquitted himself well - though he was a bit embarrassed about Dr. Electra managing to neutralize his powers. But it could have been he who called on Bingo's powers, with a little luck. Maybe they would hold that against him - but what was taking them SO long? There was a TV in the waiting room, and a lot of magazines and some books, but none of them held his interest. What could they be talking about?
Finally, Super Ann came to get him. She wouldn't tell him anything, but she looked furious. In the meeting room, nobody looked happy. Nobody wanted to talk - but it was Wonder Boy's job, so he finally started.
"We all apologize for keeping you waiting so long, Cap. Every one of us was impressed with your performance in our tests. You showed courage, power, skill - and most importantly, you always acted like a hero, and a teammate. All of us would be incredibly proud to have you as a member. But..."
Everyone groaned, and none of them would meet Cap Jr.'s eyes.
"But... our constitution specifically states that every member must have a unique power. Your powers are very impressive, in fact, you may be more powerful than any one of us. But all the powers you HAVE exhibited - super strength, super speed, invulnerability and flight are already duplicated by at least one other of our members. Even your wisdom, and your ability to call magic lighting - all impressive abilities, but not unique. By our rules, we cannot offer you membership. We're all very sorry, Captain Marvel Jr."
Marvel's mind raced at the speed of Mercury, to no avail. They were right! He'd never felt more miserable.
'I wonder if I'll ever see any of these guys again,' he thought sadly. 'The've already told me that if they don't induct me, the communiporter magic will stop working once it returns me to my own Earth. I'll really miss them. It has been super awesome hanging out with kids my own age who have powers like I do!' He suddenly perked up a bit. 'Hey, wait - I can get back here by going to the Rock of Eternity first. Even if I'm not a member, I can still hang out with these guys occasionally.' He stood up and prepared to say 'Au Revoir' to his new friends, sad but no longer despondent - and then a thought struck him with a jolt as strong as his magic lighting had ever delivered!
"The ROCK OF ETERNITY!" he yelled. "I DO have a unique power that none of you guys have. You need to use the magic gems in your Legion insignia to reach my universe, but I can get from there to here, or go the other way on my own power! None of you guys have the power to travel between universes by yourselves - but I DO!!!"
Holy Moley! He was IN!!
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Post by dans on May 5, 2022 16:12:19 GMT
So, the Legion of Super Teens on a world I am calling Earth PD is available for use as new toys for our sandbox. Earth PD may or may not have been destroyed in the Crisis in 1986, but it was one of the universes the Anti-Monitor 'practiced on' earlier and it was originally destroyed and reconstituted in 1946, although generally nobody but the Legion remembers the event. The Legion is the first generation of publicly known super heroes on Earth PD. There is a largely unknown spirit for good on Earth as well, his name is Mr. Justice.
Before the Crisis, none of the Legionnaires knew each other, but after the Earth was restored, they sought each other out. There may be other current members of the Legion who weren't featured in this story. It seems likely that there are international heroes and maybe a number of them had other commitments at the time of this story. And maybe their name cards were in storage so Cap Jr. wouldn't be intimidated by such a large group... in fact, maybe they selected only those Legionnaires most like Cap for their initial meeting with him, and the members with more diverse powers sat out the initial meeting.
So far, the Legion is based on the Legion of Superheroes with some Justice Society themes thrown in as well. It might be fun seeing a story similar to the LSH story that took place in the 40s where all the members of the Justice Society were steampunk versions of the LSH, also a story about inducting Mary Marvel might be fun. I'm kind of thinking that Cap Jr. took a portrait before he returned home and told Mary all about them, so when the girl members show up and try to prank her like they did to Jr. she will turn their pranks around on them.
As well, just because the current members of the LST are the first publicly known super heroes, that doesn't mean there aren't some earlier heroes who never became well known - or that there aren't more heroes around who are still on the journey to fame.
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Post by redsycorax on May 6, 2022 0:34:17 GMT
What about their rogues gallery? Given its teenage provenance, are they going to face a similarly organised antithesis, equivalent to the Injustice Society or Legion of Super-Villains in their context?
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Post by dans on May 6, 2022 1:04:50 GMT
What about their rogues gallery? Given its teenage provenance, are they going to face a similarly organised antithesis, equivalent to the Injustice Society or Legion of Super-Villains in their context? I tried to use PD 'super' villains who might have had slightly different histories on Earth PD than they did in the comics, but were recognizable to readers of Golden Age stuff, just to fit the theme I was working to. But I had to combine 2 Nelvana villains, Dr. Electra and Knuckles Socco, to get a 'Golden Age' Canadian super villain.
They have a nemesis organization, the Axis of Awful, and it's implied that some of the members of the AoA are: Red Reaver, about whom nothing is known, Rubberman, whose skin has been turned to rubber and he has bouncing powers (a PD villain), whoever is controlling the robot Black Mail, plus the robot Black Mail, the Beard (who was the only known foe of Bingo and a chemist) and Boss Silky (who was a doctor who stole prescription meds to sell to junkies, and a foe of Dynamic Boy).
And Crystal Queen and Dr. Electra might be members or they might be independent. They might make a good team, too... And then there's whoever set the Cuyahoga River on fire...
Anyway, if anyone wants to write the next Legion of Super Teens story, the villains are up to her (or him...)
I would really love to see some Axis of Awful stories!!!
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Post by dans on May 8, 2022 22:47:46 GMT
Here's some potential members for the Axis of Awful, with quick description and issue of first appearance. I would swipe their name, powers and appearance, while giving them appropriate backstories rather than being tied to their published stories...
This guy may be the leader of The Axis of Awful Genius: 1940, Science Comics, #3 (Fox) a genius who inveted a special gun
Green Ghoul: 1943, America's Best Comics v2n2 (Standard). The Green Ghoul has a ring made from the eye of an Incan idol which conveys various power. Wears a green costume with a skull mask.
Frost: 1940, Wham Comics 2. (Centaur). An ice-encased villain who gets his powers from pills. He is not only encased in ice (though he has complete movement and can use a pistol), it also freezes things around him. His mere presence can cause frost-bite, freeze doors shut, and freeze ship motors.
Lady Serpent: (Better). This murderous female fought Black Terror. She had hypnotic powers and loved gems.
The Night: 1947, X-Venture #1 (Victory Magazine). Masked female criminal mastermind
Princess Hsu-San: has a sonic mind control machine
Countess Sylvia the Robot Master: 1940, War Comics #1 (Dell) controls an army of super powered robots: The robots have television pick-ups for eyes and microphones for ears so she can see and hear what they do. They can generate great heat and can set fire to what they touch. They seem to be capable of independent action as well as being remote controlled. With realistic masks, they can also pass as human.
Skeleton Key: 1945, Key Comics #3 (Consolidated). never appeared in a story
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