THE ADVENTURERS
HISTORY
The Adventurers were a team of "Mystery-Men" (and Women) that operated in
Superior City and Paradise
during the 1940s. The group formed in early 1943 when the cities' heroes teamed up to stop the Axis villain team
Vendetta from sabotaging the shipyards in Paradise. The team stayed
together for the rest of World War II, combating both enemy agents and home-grown menaces. For part of 1945 the
Adventurers performed special missions for the War Department in the Pacific Theater, until Patriot left the team
to join the front line troops in Europe near the war's end.
After the war's end the team came together less and less frequently, though most of its members continued to
fight crime around Superior City. In 1951 a team of villains led by Brain Wave and the
Iron Mask, and calling themselves the
Legion of Doom, attacked Superior City. The villains threatened
to destroy the city if they were not paid one billion dollars (an astronomical sum at the time). Facing incredible
odds, the Adventurers joined with the Justice Society to stop the Legion of Doom's plans. The combined teams were
able to stop the villains, but at great cost to the city and the Adventurers. Of the members of the Adventurers
present only Renegade survived the final battle, and he was permanently crippled. This was the end of the Adventurers,
but a hero team calling themselves the New Adventurers has appeared
in present-day Superior City. This new team is mentored by Cooper MacBride, the Golden Age Renegade.
RENEGADE
PERSONAL DATA
- Alter Ego: Cooper MacBride
HISTORY
Newspaper publisher Cooper MacBride, sickened by the reports of crime and corruption in Superior City he was seeing,
decided to do something about it. In 1939 he created the costumed identity of Renegade, inspired by the outlaw vigilante
of the same name that had operated in the city in the 1880s. As the
Renegade, Cooper focused mainly on combating organized crime in the city, though he soon expanded his efforts to include
Axis saboteurs and fifth-columnists. Renegade also fought his share of costumed menaces, his most notable and persistent
opponent being the Iron Mask. It was Renegade who uncovered the Nazi plot that brought the Adventurers together.
After the war Renegade was one of the Adventurers who remained active as a Mystery Man, continuing his efforts to bring
down the organized crime figures in Superior. During the battle with the Legion of Doom in 1951 Renegade appeared to have
been killed while rescuing children from a collapsing building. In reality he survived, but the severity of his injuries
meant he would never walk again. The battle marked the end of Cooper's career as Renegade, and of the Adventurers as he had
been the only one to survive the conflict. A despondent and desperate Cooper spent the next two decades, and most of his
considerable fortune searching in vain for a way to let him walk again. In the end he was forced to sell the last of his
stake in the newspaper and used the money to open a combination antique store and pawn shop that specialized in super-hero
memorabilia.
A few years ago a new Renegade appeared in Superior City, catching Cooper's
interest. Cooper eventually befriended the new Renegade and his team, the Enforcers
of Justice. Cooper also helped assemble, and mentors, a team of heroes operating in Superior City who call themselves the
New Adventurers. Recently Cooper's store was destroyed but he has started a new job running the Superior City-based franchise
of the Warriors super-hero theme restaurant.
POWERS & WEAPONS
Cooper was, and still is, an accomplished detective and has a knack for designing the kind of specialized equipment he used
as Renegade. In his prime he was a skilled acrobat and hand-to-hand combatant, though these skills have atrophied because of
his injuries. Though nowhere near as good as he was during his days as Renegade, Cooper is still considered an expert marksman.
As Renegade he wore a pair of anti-glare goggles and carried a pair of customized .45 automatics which fire an array of specially
designed "trick" bullets. His primary means of transportation was a modified Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Cooper still
has much of his original equipment but does not use it unless an emergency arises. After years of painstaking work Cooper has
managed to design and build a partial exoskeleton which has given him back partial use of his legs.
ATLAS
PERSONAL DATA
- Alter Ego: Maximillian Swift
HISTORY
Out camping one evening in early 1941, geologist Maximillian Swift spotted a meteor falling near his campsite. Rushing to where
he thought the meteor had landed he was shocked to find a strangely-garbed man lying in the center of the impact crater. Max climbed
down to help the stranger, who was obviously very badly injured, perhaps even dying. When the strange man saw Max he smiled and Max
heard a voice in his head, the stranger was speaking telepathically! The man said he was pleased that there was intelligent life on
the planet. He said he was from another world and had been in a great battle to protect the Earth from a powerful menace. He had won
the battle, but was dying. The stranger told Max that the fate of the Earth now rested on his shoulders, then the man faded away in
Max's arms.
Max returned to the city the next day, believing that the previous evening's events must have been a dream. Over the next few days,
though, Max learned otherwise. He began to grow taller and stronger, a lot stronger. Taking the dying man's words literally he donned
a costume and began fighting crime as Atlas. Eventually he joined with Superior City's other heroes when they formed the Adventurers.
Atlas died during the battle with the Legion of Doom in 1951. He was killed while using his powers to hold back Brain Wave's
artificial earthquake long enough for the other heroes to evacuate much of Superior City's downtown area. Atlas held back the quake
until the last possible second, leaving no time for him to escape. His efforts are believed to be the reason that a large section of
the old city was buried intact, eventually becoming the core of the Dark City.
POWERS & WEAPONS
Atlas was superhumanly strong and tough. When in contact with the ground his already prodigious strength would increase and he was
nearly immovable when he wanted to be. During the battle with the Legion of Doom, Atlas was seen hold back seismic waves with his
bare hands, which seems to imply he also possessed some kind of geomantic abilities as well, but the nature of these new powers (if
they existed at all) remains unknown.
RED BEE
PERSONAL DATA
- Alter Ego: Richard Raleigh
HISTORY
The Red Bee was Richard Raleigh, Assistant District Attorney for Superior City. Wanting to do more in the fight for law and order
than he could in his position, Raleigh adopted the identity of the costumed Mystery-Man called the Red Bee in 1940. In his first case
he brought about the conviction of Boss Storm, who was behind much of the political corruption in the city. A member of the All-Star
Squadron, the Red Bee joined the Freedom Fighters, an affiliate group of Mystery-Men led by Uncle Sam that operated in Washington DC.
He left after the team's first case when he was badly injured by Nazi super-agent Baron Blitzkrieg. After his recovery, Raleigh again
resumed his activities as the Red Bee and joined the Adventurers.
By 1951, Raleigh had shifted his efforts to end political corruption by working inside the system. He was a city councilor, and
planning to run for mayor, when the Legion of Doom threatened the city. Raleigh brought the Red Bee out of semi-retirement to join
with his teammates and the Justice Society to combat the threat. Red Bee was killed when the Iron Mask, furious over his failure to
kill Renegade, broke the helpless hero's back.
POWERS & WEAPONS
The Red Bee was a skilled athlete, fighter, and detective. He was also an expert on bees and carried a swarm of trained bees he
could unleash on opponents.
LADYHAWK
PERSONAL DATA
HISTORY
Ladyhawk is an enigma, her real name and origin were never known. She appeared in early 1942 battling crime in the Paradise Cities.
She soon became a regular sight in the skies above those cities, and of nearby Superior City. She battled a wide range of strange
adversaries, including Devil Woman, the Salamander, Night Cat, and the Leprechaun.
Ladyhawk disappeared during the fight with the Legion of Doom in 1951. She was never seen again after the battle and her fate remained
unknown until recently. At the time of the battle in 1951, the immortal villain Vandal Savage
had recently returned from exile off-planet. Arriving near Paradise, Savage discovered that Ladyhawk was the latest incarnation of
something known as the Heart of Reason. During the chaos in the aftermath of the Legion of Doom's
battle with the Justice Society and the Adventurers, Savage was able to ambush Ladyhawk and trap and kill her.
The Paradise Cities have had a string of winged/bird-themed female protectors over the last 120 years. In addition to Ladyhawk, there
was The Nightengale in the 1880s,
Sparrowhawk in the 1960s, and most recently
ArcAngel.
POWERS & WEAPONS
Besides the ability to fly with her wings (which were apparently real), Ladyhawk also possessed keen hawk-like senses and the ability
to create energy "talons", which let her lift heavy objects. As an incarnation of the Heart of Reason, Ladyhawk would have had
access to some mystical abilities but it is unknown if she was aware of them or ever used any of them, or if her known abilities were in
any way related to being the Heart of Reason.
PATRIOT
HISTORY
Patriot was a hero lost in time. Originally from the future (the present day to be more accurate), Patriot had been a member
of the first Enforcers of Justice. On a mission with that team through time
to 1941 he became trapped in the past. With no idea of how to return to his proper time, Patriot settled in Superior City. To earn a
living Patriot adopted a "secret identity" as Paul Anderson, a part-time instructor of military history at Superior City
University. This gave Patriot his first taste of the "real" life denied him as a genetically-engineered super-soldier. He
continued to fight crime as Patriot, though he added a mask to conceal his new civilian identity. Patriot joined with the other
heroes of Superior City to form the Adventurers and stayed with that group until 1945. At that point Patriot chose to go to Europe
to fight on the front lines as Allied forces advanced on Germany.
For full details on Patriot see the entry under Vanguard.
