FORGOTTEN AGE HEROES

These are the heroes that operated during the period between the end of the Golden Age of super-heroes and the Modern Age that began with the arrival of Superman.

Contents

A to C • D to F • G to I • J to L • M to O • P to R • S to U • V to Z •

A to C

The BACHELOR and CRYSTAL

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

The duo of the Bachelor and Crystal were a pair of costumed crimefighters that operated in the twin college towns of Calvin City and Ivy Town. They were part of a fad of people choosing to act as super heroes or super villains and go up against each other, inspired by a surge in retro nostalgia for the Golden Age of Mystery Men of the 1930s and 40s. The pair would go on patrols and deal with petty crimes or other minor incidents they came across. They earned a cult following, with the Bachelor calling himself "The swingingest super-hero around". The pair would engage in public confrontations with the members of their community who had decided to act as super villains. A frequent opponent was the group that called themselves the Fraternity of Fear. The fad eventually faded and the pair retired their costumes to get on with their lives. Crystal would marry and have a daughter, who would later become a super-hero in her own right as Prism.

POWERS & WEAPONS

The Bachelor and Crystal were in good physical shape and skilled in a variety of athletic endeavors. They were both trained in martial arts and primarily used a combination of acrobatics and martial arts when battling their opponents.

CAPTAIN ACTION

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Clive Arno was a widowed museum curator and archaeologist who discovered a chest full of mystical coins in a buried city, each coin bearing the likenesses of gods of various pantheons. The coins would grant Arno powers similar to the deity whose likeness appeared on its face. Using these coins Arno became an adventurer who the media often referred to as Captain Action, occasionally accompanied on adventures by his teenaged son who also made use of the coins and was dubbed Action Boy. They frequently face off against Clive's father-in-law, who had been driven mad in an accident that also deformed his appearance and who the media took to calling Dr. Evil. Clive eventually retired from adventuring and the coins slowly lost their power, but he continued his archaeological work, later being killed in an accident on a dig. Clive's grandson would eventually take up the coins, which regained their power, and act as the adventurer called Pantheon.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Captain Action made use of the magic coins to battle evil. Each coin bears the likeness of a deity belonging to one of the many pantheons of gods on Earth and is imbued with a fraction of that god's power. By wielding a particular coin, Clive gained the power of that god. While he was not able to carry all of the coins with him, Captain Action would try to choose the ones that would be most useful on a particular adventure.

CRUSADERS

A west coast of team of heroes.

D to F

FLOWER CHILD

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Flower Child was a dryad, a nature spirit from the Green, who decided to come to Earth out of curiosity. She became involved in the counter culture, travelling back and forth across the United States. Though she did not seek out action, she would frequently find herself in conflict with the forces of decay. Some of these were mystic beings serving the Grey, the antithesis of the Green, while others were mortals who threatened nature through pollution or widespread destruction. Flower Child eventually had a daughter with a human and her heroic activities lessened some as she raised the girl on her own. When the daughter reached adulthood, Flower Child finally chose to return to the Green, seemingly for good. Flower Child's daughter has followed in her mother's footsteps, travelling the country facing unusual threats as Flora.

POWERS & WEAPONS

As a dryad, Flower Child had the power to communicate with all forms of plant life. She could talk to the plants and could also command them. Under her power plants could grow, shrink, or even move around. Flower Child also had the ability to cross between the Earthly plane and the Green as long as she was in an area with enough plant life.

FREEDOM BRIGADE

HISTORY

The Freedom Brigade were a team of powerful heroes who fought crime for many years. They often dealt with unusual threats like mad scientists, aliens and would-be world conquerors. A frequent opponent of the team was the ex-Nazi Swastika and his team Vendetta. The Freedom Brigade never formally disbanded, but the members all eventually ended their heroic careers in favor of settling down and raising families. The children of the Freedom Brigade would later form their own super team as adults.

MEMBERS

G to I

ILLUSIONIST

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Todd Johnson was an accountant who moonlighted as a stage magician and illusionist in is spare time. Fascinated by illusions and the mind, Todd began studying spiritualism and transcendental meditation. He achieved a breakthrough in his efforts, opening his Third Eye and gaining true powers of illusion. Todd decided to use his abilities to help people and donned a costume to become the heroic Illusionist. As Illusionist he started out helping fight small-time crimes in Midway City, but eventually found himself dealing with more esoteric threats. His mental powers let him see through many of the glamors that magical creatures used to hide their natures, so the Illusionist was frequently drawn into adventures involving these beings and their servants.

These encounters gradually took their toll on Todd's sanity and he was briefly institutionalized. After receiving therapy Todd was released and he retired his Illusionist identity permanently. Todd returned to life as an accountant and eventually married and started a family.

POWERS & WEAPONS

With his spiritually enlightened mind the Illusionist could see through illusions and glamors that hid the true nature of a being. He could also read auras, which helped him discern hidden dangers and truths. Illusionist could also project believable visual illusions of his own making which he would use to trick his opponents. Through intense concentration the Illusionist could levitate himself and fly. Todd Johnson was a competent financial accountant who specialized in long-term investments.

J to L

JUSTICE EXPERIENCE

HISTORY

The Justice Experience were a team of masked heroes that operated on the East Coast, including Gotham City. The individual members had started out as solo heroes but were organized into a team by the Acro-Bat. They mostly dealt with small-time crimes, or fought against the new generation of masked criminals that had emerged with the resurgence of costumed heroes. Their perennial archenemies were a team called the House of Pain. When an innocent woman was killed after getting caught in the crossfire of one of the battles between the Justice Experience and the House of Pain the woman's boyfriend vowed vengeance. Called Dr. Trap in the media, this man hunted down and murdered the members of the Justice Experience one by one, with the Bronze Wraith being the only survivor.

MEMBERS

Very little is known of the individual members of the Justice Experience with the exception of Acro-Bat, who was the father of future DEO agent Cameron Chase; and the Bronze Wraith, who was in reality the shapechanging alien J'onn J'onzz, the future Martian Manhunter.

M to O

MIRACLE MAN

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

George Stewart was a researcher at a physics lab when he was exposed to exotic radiation that gave him super powers. Inspired by the appearance of other masked heroes across the East Coast, the New Yorker created an outfit of his own and started patrolling the rooftops of Manhattan as the Miracle Man. Miracle Man fought crime for several years, occasionally teaming with fellow New York City heroes Sting and the Tarantula. Like the other two, Miracle Man was murdered by the killer Dr. Trap on the latter's crusade against masked heroes and villains.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Miracle Man possessed superhuman strength, durability and agility. He would use his strength and agility to perform superhuman jumps and acrobatic feats when battling opponents.

MR. AMERICA and LIBERTY LASS

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

With the resurgence of masked heroes appearing, starting on the East Coast, the US government felt they needed some suitably patriotic heroes to wave the American flag. The government temporarily reactivated the assets left over from the World War II era Project M, then held by Task Force X, and tasked them with creating a pair of American superhumans that would meet their needs. A pair of veteran intelligence officers were selected as test subjects and were subjected to a variety of experimental procedures. The effort was successful and the two developed superhuman powers, though there would be long-term complications.

The agents, a man and woman, were given the costumed identities of Mr. America and Liberty Lass and they would operate primarily in Washington DC and Baltimore, and occasionally in Metropolis. They usually battled costumed super villains, at least some of whom might have been plants by the government to provide positive press for the heroes. There were legitimate threats, and Mr. America and Liberty Lass often battled Soviet super agents Hammer and Sickle. After operating as the heroes for a few years, the two learned that their powers were actually killing them; the strain the powers had put on their bodies had resulted in them developing aggressive cancers. The two were quietly retired and placed in a military hospital where they eventually passed away.

POWERS & WEAPONS

The government experiments gave Mr. America superhuman strength, the power of flight, and the ability to shoot energy beams from his eyes. For Liberty Lass, the process gave her telekinetic abilities which she would use to remotely lift and throw objects as well as to fly, and could surround herself in a protective force field. Both Mr. America and Liberty Lass were veteran field agents for American intelligence agencies with the skills that experience would entail.

MR. FIX-IT

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

As a child, Aaron Wilkerson idolized the Mystery Men heroes of the 1930s and 40s. He dreamed about becoming a super-hero himself, but he realized that he could not count on finding a magic lantern or finding out he was a reincarnated Egyptian prince. Instead young Aaron dedicated himself to his studies, learning math and science and engineering. Graduating with multiple degrees while still in his mid-twenties Aaron turned his attention to making himself into a super-hero. He began work on a series of inventions with the intent on working his way up to being able to create the kind of arsenal of technology that would let him fight crime just like his heroes.

Almost as an afterthought Aaron patented many of the breakthroughs he achieved while working towards his goal, and this had the unexpected bonus of making his work self-financing within a couple of years. At the age of 29, just as a wave of new heroes began appearing on the east and west coasts of the United States, Aaron was ready to make his own heroic debut with the first generation of his super technology. He chose an old nickname from university, one he had received from making money on the side by repairing his classmates' broken electronics, and soon Mr. Fix-It made his first appearance in Superior City.

As Mr. Fix-It, Aaron would patrol the city looking for crimes to stop or disasters where he could provide assistance. He developed an archenemy in the form of a mad scientist named Doctor Cobalt. Over the next few years Mr. Fix-It would upgrade his equipment time and time again in order to deal with the escalating weird science threats of Doctor Cobalt until the villain was finally captured and locked away, seemingly for good. For Aaron the intellectual challenges of having to counter Cobalt's latest schemes had become a driving force, and with his archenemy behind bars Mr. Fix-It appeared less and less. When several heroes were murdered by a revenge seeking serial killer, the last remnant of Mr. Fix-It's c hildhood hero fantasy died and he retired the identity.

With no challenges left in his life, Aaron Wilkerson became cynical and withdrawn. Out of sheer boredom he started teaching shop classes at a local high school and this occupied his life for the next several years. When Doctor Cobalt got out of jail after serving nearly two decades the villain sought out his old enemy to get revenge. Feeling he was too old to become a hero again, Aaron instead started mentoring a new group of young teen heroes who would take on his old enemy. Due to his experience, Aaron has now become the Industrial arts instructor at Superior City Academy.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Aaron Wilkerson is a brilliant inventor and holds the patents to several revolutionary breakthroughs in computers, electronics, and mechanical engineering. As Mr. Fix-It he used a variety of high tech equipment of his own design, which he constantly revised and updated. At the core was his Tech Suit, which evolved into a modular power armor which he would equip with the latest versions of whatever offensive, defensive, or utility equipment he thought might come in handy for a given situation.

NIGHT RACER

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Ever since he was a young boy Joe Dalton had liked to go fast. With few outlets for a young man of limited means, Joe got his speed kicks from street racing. By his mid-20s he had a reputation around the Superior City scene as one of the best racers in the city. One rainy night the treacherous road conditions resulted in many of the cars crashing, one resulting in some downed power lines. Joe had avoided a crash, but many of the racers were trapped in their cars with electricity crackling around them. Without thinking Joe got out of his car to help, only to get caught in an errant arc. Despite the current racing through his body, Joe felt more alive than ever. With a jolt he was thrown clear of the street down into a ravine. Come morning Joe woke still lying in the ravine, soaked to the bone. He couldn't really remember what had happened the night before, but his first thought was that his car must still be on the side of the road up there so he had best get to it. Thinking he'd need a fast pace to get back up the steep incline to the road Joe started running and suddenly found himself shooting up the incline and launching into the air, arcing over the road and down into the ditch on the other side. Confused at first, Joe soon realized that he could move at superspeed and his life changed.

Once it sank in that he could hit speeds on his own two feet that he would never be able to do in a car, Joe realized his car racing days were over. He announced to the community that he was done, saying it was because of what had happened that night, but not elaborating on the details so they assumed he'd gotten scared off by the crashes. Joe stayed in the community, but now as a mechanic. His connections meant even under the hood instead of behind the wheel Joe was in demand, so he never lacked for work. So during the day he worked on engines, but once it got dark he donned a costume and hit the streets of Superior City as the Nightracer.

At first in it more for the thrill at being able to move faster than he ever had before, and helping people or stopping crimes he came across as just a side thing, Joe soon came to realize the good he could do as Nightracer. As time passed he became more focused on the hero side of being a super-hero. He enjoyed a fair amount of success and helped fight both regular and super-villain crimes. Unfortunately, nothing he had encountered prepared Nightracer for the obsessed costume-killer Dr. Trap and the hero became another victim of the murderer.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Nightracer could move at superhuman speeds, regularly achieving supersonic velocities. His powers also included superhuman reflexes and reaction times, as well as a special aura that would protect his body from harm when he was moving at high velocities. Joe was a talented car racer and mechanic.

P to R

QUARREL and SCATTERSHOT

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Child of privilege, Kyle Strickland focused on leisurely pursuits and gravitated towards hunting and tracking. He became an expert marksman and would go on hunting safaris all over the world, though the wilderness around his home in Superior City was always a favorite. Over time he sought more challenges and switched from using a rifle to a crossbow. His attitude changed after a hunting excursion near home; while tracking some animals he found himself hesitating to take the kill shot. Something about the animals he was observing resulted in Kyle coming to believe it was wrong to hunt for sport. With his primary pastime no longer satisfying, Kyle at first tried to replace it with wilderness photography but it did not provide the same satisfaction.

Around this time the crime rate was rising in Superior City, and the first wave of new super-villains were appearing alongside the rise of new heroes in the area like Shadow and Sparrowhawk. Kyle had an epiphany one night when he realized he could become a hunter again, and that his new prey would be the criminals that plagued his city. He vowed he would not kill, but he would put his hunting and tracking skills to the task of taking down those who preyed on others. Kyle designed an outfit and customized crossbow with special varieties of non-lethal ammunition and set out to on his first hunt, choosing to name himself Quarrel after said ammunition.

Quarrel soon became a feared figure in the Superior City criminal world, the twang of his crossbow striking terror into those that hear it in the night. Besides more common criminals and the soldiers of the organized crime groups, Quarrel found himself frequently tangling with costumed villains as well. One of these would become a perennial foe, the mad candyman Mr. Peppermint. A couple of years after beginning his crimefighting career Quarrel took an interest in a young street kid who showed an uncanny aim with anything he got his hands on. The youth had begun trailing Quarrel, and after the boy helped save the hero with a well-placed slingshot hit on a would-be assassin Quarrel took him under his wing. The teen, Paul Hawkins, underwent training under Quarrel for several months before making his debut as the hero's new sidekick Scattershot.

The duo continued to fight crime for several years until it came to a brutal end. The murderous Dr. Trap had vowed vengeance on all costumes, heroes and villains alike, and was crossing the country killing all his could. When Dr. Trap arrived in Superior City the perpetual hunter Quarrel realized too late he had become someone's prey. Lured into one of Trap's death traps, Quarrel was killed, his body left for Scattershot to find. The youth abandoned his own costumed identity, though he would continue as a force for good first as a law enforcement agent for the US government and now as a member of the super-hero support organization Sidekicks Inc.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Quarrel was an expert hunter and tracker and a marksman with several ranged weapons, notably his trademark crossbow. Though he honed his tracking skills in the wilderness he transferred them to hunting prey in the urban jungle of Superior City. Quarrel wore a costume that included armored padding for protection and he carried a variety of custom designed crossbows, including a pair of handgun-sized cross-bow pistols as well as a more conventionally-sized bow. He carried a variety of specialty bolts that could be fired from his bows, including simple blunted hard-tipped ones but also more exotic ones that could explode in a smoke screen or tear gas, or ones that contained acid or high heat producing phosphorous-based ones for cutting or melting through steel, and some whose tips were packed with compact explosives to deal extra punch when he needed. Scattershot carried a hand-crossbow as well, but his preferred weapon was a slingshot, enhanced to give extra range. The young hero had a wide variety of ammunition he could launch with his slingshot, most of which mimicked the exotic armament of his mentor.

S to U

SHADOW

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Shadow was the first new super-hero to appear in public in Superior City since the last appearance of the original Adventurers in the 1950s. He came on the scene during the wave of new masked heroes that had started on the East Coast but was now inspiring similar appearances on the West Coast. Norman Holt was a biomedical engineer who was testing an experimental electromagnetic medical scanner when a power surge caused by a lightning strike caused it to emit a burst of radiation that struck Norman. The accident enhanced Norman's natural bioelectric field, which he discovered he could now manipulate to produce a number of effects.

Inspired by the heroes of his youth, and the reports of new masked heroes out east, Norman donned a costume himself and stepped out to fight crime in Superior City as the Shadow. Shadow was active as a crimefighter in Superior City for a decade, but decided to retire after the murder of fellow local heroes Quarrel and Nightracer. Norman continued with his regular life, rarely ever using his powers even in secret. Over the years his powers eventually faded until they were a fraction of their previous levels.

Years later ,when the Dominator Gene Bomb was detonated at the end of the alien alliance Invasion of Earth it had a devastating effect on Norman. The bomb caused Norman to lose his memory and it rejuvenated his powers. He became homeless, wandering the streets in a confused state until he found his way to the Dark City beneath Superior, where the residents accepted him into their ranks. All he could remember of his previous life was that he had once been a super-hero, so the people of the Dark City have taken to referring to him as the Veteran.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Shadow had a powerful bioelectric field he could manipulate for a variety of effects. His greatest feat was using the field to alter the frequency of his body's molecules which let him phase through solid objects. As a side benefit doing this to his molecular frequency also let Shadow fly by affecting how his body interacted with the air. By modulating the electric field generated by his brain Shadow could project his thoughts, and a sensitivity to similar fields could let him read the surface thoughts of others. With concentration Shadow could also affect other electric fields, which he would use to dampen or enhance nearby sources of electricity. His powers faded as he grew older, but the effects of the Gene Bomb rejuvenated them and they are just as strong now as they have ever been. Norman Holt had degrees in medicine and electrical engineering.

SPARROWHAWK

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Sparrowhawk was another in a line of mystery women who served as the defender of the Paradise Cities region. Her true identity is unknown, and she was first seen when appeared from nowhere to help rescue people from a high-rise apartment fire. After that she was a frequent sight in the skies over both Paradise and Superior City, always vigilant for threats she could help deal with. There was some suspicion Sparrowhawk was a member of law enforcement due to her exhibiting some skill in criminal investigations, but nothing was ever proven. Over the next several years she would battle with both conventional criminals as well as supervillains, and even the occasional more esoteric threat, on more than one occasion helping defend Paradise against strange mummy-like beings that would threaten the populace. Sparrowhawk disappeared around the same time as the villain Dr. Trap was in the area and had murdered the heroes Quarrel and Nightracer, so for many years it was believed she two had become a victim of the killer, but years later it was discovered she had in fact been murdered by the immortal tyrant Vandal Savage.

Like several of her predecessors and successors as defender of Paradise, Sparrowhawk was actually an incarnation of the Heart of Reason, though she may not have been aware of this fact. Whether she was aware of not, it was the reason she was hunted down and killed by Vandal Savage.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Sparrowhawk could fly and possessed enhanced eyesight like a bird of prey. Her gloves were tipped with razor-sharp claws. In addition to her powers, Sparrowhawk also showed indications of at least a familiarity with investigative and law enforcement techniques. As an incarnation of the Heart of Reason, Sparrowhawk had access to certain mystical abilities but it is unknown if she ever tapped into them or was even aware she had the potential for them.

STING

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Sting was a New York-based hero during the era a couple of decades before the modern age of heroes. He was Larry Johnson, a reporter for the Daily Globe-Leader newspaper who typically worked on the crime beat. While following a lead on chemical dumping by a Mob-connected insecticide company Larry was caught and tortured to learn how much he knew. What they found out led the mobsters to believe Larry knew too much and decided to kill him. Not wanting to attract attention, they attempted to make it look like an accident. Larry was drugged into a stupor and released into one of the apiaries the company used to raise bees to test their insecticides on. Chemicals were pumped in to drive the bees into a swarming frenzy and Larry was stung multiple times. Going into anaphylactic shock, Larry was then abandoned in a public park where the mobsters hoped it would look like he got high and wandered into a bee swarm and was stung to death.

By sheer luck a passerby stumbled onto Larry almost immediately and called for help. When EMTs arrived on the scene Larry had stopped breathing and gone into cardiac arrest. They administered epinephrine and then used a defibrillator to shock his heart. The treatment worked and Larry's heart restarted and he began breathing again, but as the EMTs watched Larry disappeared in front of their eyes. The EMTs searched the area but found no sign of Larry, so they reluctantly left the scene. The next morning Larry awoke and was shocked to discover that although he was alive, he was also only about an inch tall. While he tried to get his bearings he was approached by a curious squirrel, which towered over the tiny Larry. The reporter reacted instinctively and was surprised again when a bolt of electricity leapt from his hand to send the squirrel running. Further experimenting showed Larry that he could return to his regular height and shrink again at will, and that at his small size he was still just as strong as he was at his full height. Once he got the hang of his powers, Larry decided he could now fight crime instead of just report on it and adopted the costumed identity of Sting.

Larry would use his reporting efforts to track down criminals and would then take them down as Sting. He made combating organized crime his focus, but also fought other common criminals and the occasional costumed super villain. Sting would sometimes team up with fellow New York-based hero Miracle Man and few years later he would also occasionally team up with the recently debuting hero Tarantula as well, though the latter considered Sting more an annoyance despite Sting having years more experience. This ultimately proved to be Sting's undoing, as the hero was killed by Dr. Trap when he tried to save Tarantula from the murderous villain's clutches.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Sting had the power to shrink to one inch in height and could fire electrical blasts he called his stings. At the shrunken height, Sting still retained his normal strength and as such could propel himself through the air and glide on air currents. Larry was an accomplished investigative reporter.

SWASHBUCKLER

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

A fan of the swashbuckling genre since he was a child, Simon Page had seen every Errol Flynn film multiple times before he was 12. Musketeers, pirates, and anything involving fancy swordplay and swinging on ropes were his bread and butter. As a teenager Simon competed in fencing, and studied acrobatics and theatre; everything he felt he needed to become a proper swashbuckler. Simon wanted to go to Europe for his university studies, believing it would give him more opportunities to practice his swordplay for some reason, but his parents would only agree if he took a practical degree program. Simon compromised and so studied physics at Heidelberg University in Germany, later switching to computer science, and spending an awful lot of his spare time participating in the traditional fencing duels of the student clubs there.

Simon graduated and returned to California just as the new wave of heroes began emerging on the East Coast of the country. Inspired by this, Simon donned his own mask and costumed and set out into the streets of San Francisco to fight crime as the Swashbuckler. He mostly dealt with street-level crimes, but his flamboyant nature attracted much media and public attention. When masked super criminals began to appear, the Swashbuckler had to up his game. He leveraged his more scientific skills, plus access to some of the advanced technology being developed at Silicon Valley companies that he sometimes did freelance work for as Simon Page, and developed a high-tech version of his sword that made it more effective against super-powered foes he was starting to have to deal with.

The Swashbuckler battled evil in San Francisco and sometimes nearby Pacific City for several years until he became yet another victim of the mask killer Dr. Trap. The fate of Swashbuckler's unique weapon is not recorded, but it is possibly the same weapon as is now used by the villain Corsair.

POWERS & WEAPONS

The Swashbuckler wielded a special sword that was modified with a system that caused the blade to vibrate rapidly when activated. This gave the weapon far greater power than a standard sword without requiring additional effort from the wielder. The sword could also project force blasts of vibratory energy that could shatter stone. The Swashbuckler was a skilled swordsman and fencer, as well as a gifted acrobat.

TARANTULA (II)

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

Jonathan (Jon) Peter Law's career as a costumed hero was short, but had major consequences for years to come. Jon was the son of the original Tarantula and had inherited his father's interest in costumed heroes. When new heroes started to emerge on the East Coast for the first time since the heroes of the Golden Age retired in the 1950s Jonathan took a keen interest, albeit a more academic one to start. So for the first few years Jonathan made the new heroes his area of study, intending to follow in his father's footsteps and publish a book about them. As time went on though, much like his father before him, Jonathan felt he could actually be one of the heroes.

It was a slow process, but eventually Jonathan decided he would become a hero himself. He wasn't stupid, and knew he'd need some help getting ready, so Jonathan sought out some of his father's old teammates from the All-Star Squadron, most notably former boxing champion Wildcat, and got them to train him. When Jonathan thought he was ready, though not all of his teachers agreed, he went to his father and asked permission to take up the Tarantula mantle. The senior Jon Law was unsure at first; his son was married and had a child on the way whereas he had been single back when he started. In the end his father acquiesced and the younger Jon Law became the new Tarantula.

As Tarantula, Jon started patrolling around Manhattan stopping any crimes he came across. He even tackled the occasional masked criminal, sometimes getting some help other New York-based heroes like Miracle Man and Sting, though Tarantula tended to find the latter hero annoying. Unfortunately for the new Tarantula, he had begun his heroic career just as the murderous Dr. Trap was beginning his vengeful quest to eliminate all masked heroes and villains. Trap eventually came for Tarantula, murdering the inexperienced hero and also killing Sting, who attempted to intervene. The death of Tarantula and Sting would prove to be the last murders committed by Dr. Trap on his killing spree. Jon's murder drew the Justice Society out of retirement and the veteran super heroes tracked down and captured the villain, who would be convicted and sent to prison for his crimes. Jon's wife would take their infant son and cut off all contact with her father-in-law, blaming him for encouraging her husband in his decision to become a super hero and thus resulting in his death. Years later the young Jonathan Peter Law Jr. would learn the truth of his heritage and eventually adopt the Tarantula identity himself.

POWERS & WEAPONS

The Tarantula had no powers, but was in good physical condition and was trained in martial arts and acrobatics. He used his father's costume and weapons, including the web gun that let him launch grapple lines to swing from or nets to entrap enemies and the special suction pads on the costume that let him adhere to any surface like his namesake spider.

V to Z

WYVERN

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

When Derek Greymount returned home to Empire City after serving several tours with the US Army he found that his old neighborhood had deteriorated greatly. Hunter’s Gate had been a working class area for decades, and Glennhaven had been an impoverished but still decent neighborhood when Derek was growing up, but now it was a crime-ridden area of mostly abandoned and crumbling old homes and tenements. Derek vowed to help the people in the neighborhood, and thanks to veteran’s assistance he was able to go to college and earn a teaching degree. He applied for a position as math teacher at his old high school, which was desperate for people and so accepted him immediately.

As a teacher, Derek tried his best to keep his students on the straight and narrow, but he saw how drugs and gangs were taking more kids than he could help. One day when Derek was visiting his mother and sister there was a home invasion at their house. With his military training Derek was able to drive off the attackers, but two days later the house was burned to the ground, Derek’s mother and sister barely escaping with their lives. The incident made Derek even more determined to do something about the crime in the neighborhood, but he knew he had to find a way that would not draw reprisals. Finally, inspired by the Mystery Men of the 1930s and 40s Derek decided he too would become a masked vigilante.

Derek designed a costume and started patrolling the neighborhood. After stopping several drug deals and taking down a few of the smaller gangs, his activities began to get noticed. So far his actions had been in the shadows and mostly anonymous, but Derek saw that people were starting to piece together that these had all been the actions of one man. Realizing that he needed an identity, something that would focus the attention on it and give enemies and the curious alike a target so they would not look further, Derek modified the costume to be more striking and distinct and started calling himself the Wyvern, taking his name from the mythical winged beast that was on the logo of his old Army battalion.

The plan worked and people stopped trying to find out who the mystery vigilante was, because they now knew it was the Wyvern. For the next several years the Wyvern worked tirelessly to root out crime and helped to rehabilitate many of the worst parts of Hunter’s Gate and Old Town, including Derek’s old neighborhood of Glennhaven. Eventually all the wear and tear took its toll on Derek’s body and he had to retire the Wyvern identity, but his actions had made a difference. Derek kept teaching and today has re-entered the heroic game, though still as an educator, by accepting the position of principal of Superior City Academy.

POWERS & WEAPONS

The Wyvern had no powers, but was in excellent physical condition and prior to enlisting Derek Greymount had been a track and field athlete in high school. His military background meant he was trained in a variety of armed and unarmed combat, as well as small-unit tactics and other aspects of infantry warfare. Having had to deal with guerrilla soldiers during his tours, Derek was also familiar with unconventional warfare and urban combat tactics. Initially the Wyvern used little to no equipment, relying mainly on his athleticism and martial arts, but over time he slowly built up an arsenal. By the end of his heroic career the Wyvern had added ballistic armor plates to his costume, night vision lenses to his goggles, and carried tools like grapple lines for climbing. He carried a variety of offensive and defensive weapons as well, including small throwing blades, heavy blunted throwing discs, and several different kinds of grenades from smoke and tear gas to flash bangs and conventional explosives.

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