The Silver Age

THE FASCINATING FOLKHEROES

By the mid to late 1960s paranoia against Superheroes gave way to a new resurgence of costumed heroism, aided by fantastic leaps forward in science and experimentation of a super powered counter culture. While Freedom City and other East Coast locales saw a huge upswing in the  superhuman population, Emerald City remained fairly untouched by the Silver Age of Superheroes. The only superhumans active in Emerald City at the time were a number of counterculture notables collectively coined the Fascinating Folkheroes by the local newsppaper, The Courier Express. The F.F., as they were more commonly known, did not fight crime or dress in traditional costumes. Instead the majority of them lectured, peacefully protested, supported local bands and responded to weird events that signified superhuman activity in Emerald City in the sixties and seventies. The Fascinating Folkheroes didn’t even consider themselves to be a team, rather a free collective of like minded intellectuals drawn to freakish happenstance in all forms. During their time the F.F. defended Emerald City from attacks by giant monsters, extra dimensional invaders, the god Ardhanarishvara and a particularly mutative form of brown acid. The Folkheroes’ membership included:

• DR. SPECTRE II (Karlton Kovack): Son of the original Golden Age hero and gifted with similar abilities, the Silver Age Dr. Spectre was also an accomplished magician and dimensional traveler. Dr. Spectre investigated crimes with unlikely causes, particularly those that law enforcement refused to follow up on. It is believed that he died banishing the god Ardhanarishvara from Magic Hill Amusement Park.

• MISTER NORMAL (Bob Normal): A mystic guru known for his aphorisms on the evils of the modern world and the salvation to be found in supernatural living. Having renounced the material world Mr. Normal lived off anything he could get in exchange for his words of wisdom. Mr. Normal’s career, if you could call it that, ended in controversy over a porn film shot in 1974 called Down in Flames that he starred in with the Fairly Fur-covered Freaks. His whereabouts today remain unknown.

• THE EXPANDED MAN (Paul Bunyon): Nearly a hundred years since his legendary adventures as the Giant Lumberjack, Paul Bunyon returned to Emerald City with a new persona, a size shifting war protestor called the Expanded Man. Bunyon stood out among the Folkheroes in his choice of spandex costume but his attitude was clearly counter culture. Expanded Man was at the center of drug experimentation on the West Coast, attracting rock musicians, hippies and alternative chemists to Emerald City in droves. He even occasionally fought crime, including apprehending the notorious masked villainess Madame Joy who had been active along the West Coast since the 1940s. Eventually he was implicated in a domestic terrorist bombing and disappeared again before being apprehended by the federal authorities.

• PACK RAT (Benjie Carver): A teenage urban explorer known for popularizing the Undercity beneath the normal sunlight streets of Emerald City. For years Pack Rat and his gang of meddling kids disrupted weird goings on inside of the maze of subterranean structures. It is believed he is still down there today.

• DRAGONEYE (Larry Chin): A little known Chinese immigrant hero who spent much of the 1970s working against the Golden Dragon Society crime syndicate. By modern day Larry has died and his mystic dragon infused abilities have transferred into his child, the new Dragoneye.

• THE STEPDAUGHTER OF SATAN (Lily Ether): A teenager who waged a secret war against the shadows of Emerald City for decades. Eventually she would fund her nocturnal mission by hosting horror movies as the overtly sexualized Madame Macabre, an alias we would eventually adopt in her battle against the Devil. She hasn’t aged since the early seventies, retaining her youthful beauty to this day.

The Red Scare

The 1950s were a bad time for Superhumans. In 1947 several UFOs crashed landed in the western United States. While most hit New Mexico one craft fell into the Atlas Mountains. The ships belonged to a red skinned alien race known as the Grue. The ship in the mountains above Emerald City was never discovered. The New Mexico crash was originally contained by Freedom City heroes and their army allies. Only a few weeks later the Grue succeeded in infiltrating, eliminating and secretly impersonating many of the Golden Age heroes from the 1930s and 1940s as well as their military allies. After their Hidden Invasion was discovered, public perception turned on heroes, chaos reigned and the heroes of Freedom City barely thwarted an attack from space. The aftermath of the Red Scare saw a witch hunt waged by the government against real heroes, most that were never involved in the Hidden Invasion. While most of the conflict took place on the East Coast, Emerald City was not untouched by the invasion or the hysteria it caused for years after. During all this Emerald City was protected by the most unlikely heroes:

THE SUNSET HILL IRREGULARS

While heroes fought heroes in Freedom City a small number of Grue invaders infiltrated Emerald City looking for their lost ship. They were intercepted by a ragtag group of regular townsfolk led by a middle aged high school science teacher. Their efforts ended the Red Scare in Emerald City almost before it began and even managed to expose and defeat a Grue impersonating the Golden Age hero the Dreadnought. The Sunset Hill Irregulars membership included:

• THE PROFESSOR (Patrick Hughes): A normal, if brilliant, high school science teacher who formed an unlikely resistance against aliens after a student of his, Copernicus Oliver, brought him a Grue raygun his father wrestled off of an alien. By reverse engineering the technology Hughes and Oliver were able to create devices that allowed the Irregulars to identify and resist the Grue in any form they took. After the Red Scare the Professor eventually retired to a nursing home on Sunset Hill where he still lives today.

• THE BIG BRAIN (Copernicus Oliver): The bespectacled bookworm that secretly saved Emerald City. Copernicus used a helmet that enhanced his already impressive intellect to out maneuver the Grue invaders and eavesdrop on their telepathic communications. After the Red Scare Copernicus found brief national fame as a televised quiz bowl champion, until it was discovered he cheated to win.

• CANNERY CARL (Carl Oliver): Copernicus’ father was a dockworker and bare knuckle fighter. He didn’t share Hughes or his son’s genius but he made up for it with alien powered boxing gloves and a iron backbone. Carl died in the fight that stopped the Dreadnought and ended the Grue siege on Emerald City.

• BLONDIE (Natalie Nelson): The Olivers’ next door neighbor and high school cheerleader. Natalie turned out to be a skilled shot with a raygun. Her time with the Irregulars attracted the attention of the military. Eventually Natalie was recruited for the new organization called AEGIS as one of their first female agents. 

• NEWSIE JOE (Little Joey Nelson): Newsie Joe was a twelve year old kid with a knack for getting into trouble, an obsession with outer space and a paper route. Newsie Joe used a modified flying bicycle against the Grue and loved every minute of it. Rumors say Joe went on to be a masked vigilante.

THE TRILLSEEKERS FROM OUTER SPACE

The lone Grue spacecraft that crash landed in the Atlas Mountains did so with a little help. The ship was a prisoner transport carrying troublemakers from a dozen different worlds. In the space battle that ultimately led to the Grue falling to Earth a handful of these prisoners escaped their containment tubes and overpowered their Grue jailers causing the ship to fall out of formation with the others and crash prematurely. The four juvenile delinquents that escaped immediately went to explore the city below them. Looking for fun these Thrillseekers from Outer Space quickly learned that humans were unaccustomed to alien visitors and that the crash of the Grue ship unleashed other alien criminals into the Atlas Mountains far more ruthless and bloodthirsty than their irresponsible quartet. Ultimately the Thrillseekers did their best to recapture the other escaped prisoners and repair the Grue vessel. Eventually they headed back out into space leaving behind a few dozen undiscovered containment tubes. The original Thrillseekers were:

• CAPTAIN MASTERMIND (Lorik-Nor): The runaway crown princess of the Lor Republic, a collection of hundreds of united worlds. Lorik-Nor is a blue skinned member of the Lor race who possesses prophetic sight similar to her mother, the reigning High Prophetess of the Republic. While on Earth Lorik-Nor gained a fondness for greaser culture, sockhops and drag racing. Eventually Lorik-Nor returned to Lor space as Captain Mastermind, reluctant leader of a rebellion against the Imperium her Republic becomes.

• KARESS: A catlike androgynous humanoid kleptomaniac from the planet Zulstar. A slave on its home planet, Karess marvelled at the freedom and opportunity that the Terrans of Earth experienced. During its time with the Thrillseekers, Karess was the main motivator for recovering the more dangerous criminals released in the crash. Eventually Karess would join the Starknights’ nemesis Blackstar as one of his cosmically powered Blackguard warriors.

• THUNK WHIR: A defective robot fugitive from the mechanical planet of Xor. Thunk Whir was a peacenik from a race of transforming kill machines locked in a millennia old war. While on Earth Thunk Whir was moved by Terran machines and their ‘love’ for squishy humans. After the Thrillseekers left Earth Thunk Whir left behind a proto-module that would eventually grow into a new Terran raised Xorian.

• SQUINN: A chameleon skinned defector of the Grue Unity. Squinn never fit in with his scheming Gruen brothers and sisters and was considered a reject and traitor as a result. Squinn quickly became obsessed with early television programs of the 50s and would often shapechange into characters from his favorite shows when interacting with Terrans. It is unclear what happened to Squinn after the Thrillseekers left Earth. It is possible he remained in Emerald City.

• GREEN KNIGHT (Barney Bridge): The first Terran met by the Thrillseekers. Soon after their initial encounter Barney and Lorik-Nor began dating. Ultimately he helped the Thrillseekers repair their Gruen spacecraft and left Earth behind for greater adventures in space. Eventually Barney became the first Terran Starknight, protecting the Milky Way galaxy as the Green Knight for decades to follow.

The Golden Age

THE VICTORY SQUADRON

While their fame never rivaled that of the world-renowned Liberty League, the Emerald City-based Victory Squadron was nonetheless a vital component in protecting America’s home front from Golden Age Axis agents who learned to greatly fear the sound of the team’s “V for Victory!” battle cry and accompanying two-raised-fingers sign. The Squadron first came together in response to the June 24, 1942 attack upon Fort Breckinridge, at the behest of the Nightwatchman, they remained together as a team throughout World War II, becoming celebrated heroes. The Squadron’s membership included:

• THE NIGHTWATCHMAN (James Holland): A wealthy crusading attorney by day and well-known radio commentator and playboy by night, he somehow found time to use his superior wits, fighting prowess, and arsenal of gadgets to battle injustice. He served as team leader and sponsor, and tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to resurrect it after the war until his death in a mysterious plane crash in 1950.

• DREADNOUGHT (Michael Dunn III): A brilliant engineer, inventor and dwarf, Dunn’s grandfather was a Civil War era hero-turned-villain called the Ironclad. Like his ancestor, Dunn employed a suit of powered armor, battling Axis tyranny in an attempt to redeem his family name. Unfortunately an aging Dunn was replaced by a Grue during the Red Scare and ultimately died in disgrace much like his grandfather.

• COLUMBIA II (Phoebe Dorin): Michael (the Dreadnought) Dunn’s longtime girlfriend who wielded a special flaming-torch weapon of Dunn’s design in her Statue of Liberty themed costume. She was brutally murdered by the Crimson Katana during World War II.

• BLAZE (Mary Grindstaff): A teenager who gained flame-based powers after being accidentally caught in the explosion of an experimental Japanese weapon in 1944. The team’s sole surviving member, after the war she capped off a colorful and semi-famous life by penning a candid book about her experiences.

• THE UNKNOWN (Alonzo Cheney): A seemingly superhuman master of disguise who kept his true identity and gender hidden throughout the war, striking from the deepest of covers to defeat Axis agents and acquire their secrets. He is presumed dead, but his fate is (fittingly enough) unknown. Ironically, this man of secrets is one of the team’s more famous members today, as he was outed as a bisexual after the war and is now honored by Emerald City’s gay community for his wartime service.

• DR. SPECTRE (Tom Kovack): A formerly mundane man who was in involuntary contact with the spirit world, and could temporarily channel it to gain supernatural abilities. Years after the war he was eventually driven mad by his abilities and died in the Bethlehem Heights mental hospital.

• MADAME CROSSBOW (Karla Miller): A bored socialite who wielded a crossbow that fired special trick bolts. Throughout the war, she managed to keep her costumed adventures secret from her husband, then retired for good after the war to raise a family.

• ATLAS (Michael Forest): A circus strongman of who used his incredible physique to battle the Axis menace. Forest died of a heart attack in 1949.

• THE SCARLET CYCLONE (William Schallert): Operator of an incredible armored submersible autogyro christened the Albatross, the Scarlet Cyclone was instrumental in defeating the Japanese submarine menace on the West Coast. He was assassinated by Green Dragon Society ninja after the war.

• #1017 (Takei Hosato): A highly honor-bound Nisei, Takei regarded the interment of his people as such a dishonor he only answered to the prisoner number assigned to his family until he could vindicate their name. Trained in the ancient arts of the ninja, Takei used his lethal abilities to aid the Allied cause until he fell in battle with the Hinomaru.

Before The Ages of Heroes

The mountains that surround what is now Emerald City have always been a source of mysteries and there has been strange sightings from as far back as the time of the Hekawi Indian tribe. Legends of serpent creatures, gemstones that grant mystical powers, beast people, forsaken figures from myth and legend all stretch out for centuries in the forests surrounding Mt. Stanley. The most well known of these remains:

• THE GIANT LUMBERJACK (Paul Bunyan): A Emerald City folklore legend said to have possessed great strength and the ability to grow to an immense size. It is believed his powers were granted during a rare winter of ‘blue snow’ in 1846 and that he spent many years fighting all manner of fearsome creatures all throughout the Northwest frontier. Paul reemerges in Emerald City many times, never having aged.

• BIGFOOT (name unknown): The legendary beast person that is half man and half ape existed in the region well before the coming of Western settlers. A great number of origin stories claim to explain its presence in the Atlas Mountains. It has been called an alien, a missing link, an unhuman monster and even a cosmic presence. While its truth remains unknown, sightings of the creature often correspond with times of great upheaval and challenge for Emerald City. What role it plays in these events remains a mystery.

Welcome to Emerald City

(from the official website of The Honorable Amanda Talbot, Mayor of Emerald City)

WELCOME TO EMERALD CITY, City on the Red and White Rivers, City of the Three Hills... a city of everyday heroes. Emerald City is a thriving Pacific Northwest metropolis, a port city known as a home to hardy pioneers for well over a century and a half. The people of Emerald City need their pioneer spirit, too, since the city has also become the focus of world-changing events.

Emerald City has been called “The City of Victory” and it certainly seems like we are poised to win over the rest of the world. All you need to do to know that is look out across the Albian River towards our world famous waterfront: See the newly renamed Vanguard Tower? That’s is the headquarters of the city's new costumed protectors, the Vanguard for Victory! I know what you are going to say, a world class super hero team in Emerald City? But that is the old Emerald City. The new E.C. embraces superhumans! Heroes are here to stay!

And that isn't the only change to our city, you might not know the day-to-day Emerald City I know and love so much. From the bustling shop stalls of the Cannery and afternoons strolling along the Riverfront, to fine dining on Royal Hill or the exotic food and culture in Jadetown. From visiting the famous Yellow Brick Row, to cheering the E.C. Bulldogs on to a win at USNet Stadium. From the Southern Shore to the shores of Lake Valley or hiking in the Elysian Forest, Emerald City is a city of diversity, opportunity, and prosperity as well as destiny.

We haven’t always been—it has taken a lot of hard work to make Emerald City into the modern
metropolis it is today. From the earliest days of the city’s logging and mining industry, to its role
as a modern high-tech center for software, electronics, aviation and cutting edge super science advancements, Emerald City has grown and prospered through the work, hopes, and dreams of its people.

The same persevering pioneer spirit that settled three hills alongside the Albian River nearly two centuries ago is found here today. It is what allowed Emerald City to weather our encounter with Inverted Earth and what followed—not only weather it, but continue to thrive. It is this spirit that welcomes the Vanguard, men and women that have chosen to use their gifts for good and seek to help those still struggling throughout the globe. It’s that spirit of Victory that makes Emerald City the place it is today and what makes me proud to call it home.

So, whether you are here just for a brief visit or here to stay, let me be the first to welcome you
to “The City of Victory”! You may discover Emerald City has something special in store for you!