Parallel Development

My friend and fellow blogger, the rather brilliant and rather British Tim Knight, has been working on a new campaign somewhat similar to my own.

While I revisit the universe of my ol' friend William Corpening's Champions campaign, 'The Age of Champions', Tim is revisiting his old Villains & Vigilantes campaign for use in a new campaign of his own. Hmm. Champions and V&V. I smell a DC/Marvel style Crossover in the making! Filing that in my mental archives for later consideration.

A recent post on his blog HeroPress describes the various incarnations over the years of his original character, The Acrobatic Flea. Tim frames each version of the Flea from the many and varied campaigns of yore (across multiple game systems) as being the Fleas of Parallel Earths. 

Parallel Earths are a classic comic book trope dating back to 1961 and DC Comics' 'The Flash of Two Worlds' in Flash #123.The concept is a favorite of mine as I've noted in several posts over the years.

This got me to thinking about the Parallel Earths we've visited, been visited by, and learned about in the assorted 'chapters' of the Age of Champions campaign, including those run by yours truly. Will had a very interesting way of cataloging and tracking each alternate universe and as such, I actually remember quite a number of them. 

It helped quite a bit that a former Player Character turned reoccurring NPC, Professor Christopher Crichton, aka The Legionnaire, was our world's foremost authority on Alternate Universes and Parallel Dimensions. His superpower was the ability to switch himself with any one of an infinite number of alternate selves throughout the multiverse. 

Professor Christopher Charles Crichton

aka The Legionnaire

Scientist, UNTIL Agent, Superhero

Crichton made plots and subplots involving Parallel Earth viable in a fashion similar to the way Cisco Ramon does on the Flash TV series. 

Here then, without further adieu, is...

The Barking Alien Guide to the Age of Champions Multiverse!

I've mentioned it in past posts but I will repeat it for clarity: Will has a very specific convention for naming and numbering the worlds of the multiverse. Each dimension is noted for it's primary team of superheroic protectors, the world that serves as the Trans-Multiversal Nexus Point (usually Earth), one or more code names (based on who GMed, created, or published that world), and finally a letter, number, or both. 

World's with similar designations are likely similar to each other. As the elements of the designation change and move further away from one another, the more differences the worlds will exhibit. 

So, as an example, the universe in which most baseline Marvel Comics titles exist would be:

Avengers (Prime Team) Earth (Nexus Point) - Mu (Marvel) -1 (the main one). Avengers Earth - Mu-1 would be the world you would be viewing if you grabbed the latest issue of Spiderman off the shelves at your local comic shop. Alternatively, since Marvel itself refers to it's own Earth as '616' you could go with Avengers Earth - Mu-616. 

Will's original, 10+ year long Age of Champions campaign took place on Champions Earth - Wilcox Charlie-1. The particulars of that world include:

• Aliens face prejudice like Mutants do in Marvel Comics
• History, especially 20th Century history, is slightly different than it is on Earth-Prime*
• Magic and the ability to use it is a very rare and powerful force. 
• The Prime Team, The Champions, don't exist throughout much of the campaign
• Superbeings are less common on Earth than they are in Marvel and DC.  
• Technology is slightly more advanced than it is in on Earth-Prime*
• The United Nations has more authority and influence here than it does on Earth-Prime*

On this Earth, Prof. Christopher Crichton is the superhero known as The Legionnaire until he goes on reserve status to further his research into Multiversal Dynamics.

UPDATED!

Big Brother Earth - Alpha Delta-Z

Identified as an Alternate Earth instead of a Parallel as the characters, history, and concepts seen on BBE-AD-Z are very different from those of variants on CE-WC-1. In fact, they are virtually identical to those of Earth - Zero-Prime until the mid-1980s, including showing no evidence of superhuman activity. All supernormal, supernatural, or similar unexplained phenomena were deemed fiction, hoaxes, or simply impossible to confirm. 

At some point in the mid-1980s, a group of four friends on a camping trip in Upstate New York became imbued with incredible superhuman powers due to exposure to some as yet unrevealed cosmic event. 

The four teenage boys had powers beyond the type and level seen on many other Earths with super beings. Although not truly how it works, imagine that all the heroes and villains of CE-WC-1 or CE-AD-A draw their powers from a single source. Now imagine only four people drawing from a source that same size and strength. 

Within a few years of obtaining their powers the four boys, calling themselves 'Big Brother', managed to strong arm the nations of their world into a global peace. Simply put they said, "Be good to each other, cease acting like a-holes, disarm your nukes, or we will do it for you. Then we will find you and take care of your lack of compassion permanently. We'll then give the job to someone who gets it."

Heavy handed as their methods were they worked, though not all that smoothly and not all at once. 

Eventually, one of the four created a device capable of viewing other Earths, including CE-AD-1 (or AD-A, or WC-1 - wherever we are running our campaign). They decided to 'help' this chaotic world achieve peace and traveled there to 'enforce utopia'. An artifact was created to grant powers to two additional people who would remain behind to run things when the four left for CE-AD-1. 

After numerous battles and arguments, the heroes of Project: UNITY and the villain Kineto convinced Big Brother that their approach would not work on CE-AD-1 (et al). Indeed they were causing more chaos and doing more harm then good. The four members of Big Brother departed for their home Earth, warning that this didn't mean they wouldn't be keeping an eye on CE-AD-1. Should its inhabitants pose a threat to the peace of BBE-AD-Z, they would be back.

Big Brother is Watching.

The Prime Team is Big Brother, consisting of The Anachronist (capable of manipulating time and the perception of it), The Harmonist (capable of manipulating emotions and thoughts through music), The Revolutionary (who can perform amazing physical feats and alter probability, but only when he cheats, lies, or otherwise cons or fools people), and The Whimsy (capable of instantly creating any object or creature from thin air as long as it doesn't already exist. The object only lasts until it performs its function or the next object is created, but the effects of these creations are sometimes permanent. The Whimsy can never create the same object twice, as once he has made something, it has indeed 'already' existed). 

The Whimsy created an item he called the Cosmic Coalescence Conductor that granted superhuman powers to two additional friends of the Big Brother group. Sadly I forget their names. One could perform physical activities and cause effects that while technically impossible for a human being, they are nonetheless common in movies and television shows. For example, if he shot a handgun at a car's gas tank the car would explode. He could fall from a great height and walk away with minor cuts and bruises. The second was able to cast magic spells, create potions, and similar fantastical feats provided he spoke in theatrical incantations, mixed eye of newt with dust from a ruined castle, etc. He needed to make it showy and he needed to believe it made sense. 

Christopher Crichton remarks that he does not have a doppleganger on this Earth, though it is possible he did and the man is deceased. 

C.H.A.M.P.I.O.N.S. Earth - Alpha Delta-1

This Earth has no superhuman individuals in the classic comic book sense. It does have individuals with amazing levels of skill, high-tech devices, and some super science. It is a world in which secret agents battle diabolical masterminds and criminal organizations in a perpetual cold war environment. 

Imagine this world as being governed by the tropes of James Bond movies and television shows like Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Avengers. 

On this Earth, Christine Crichton is the world's greatest spy, working for the Central Headquarters for the American Military Preparation, Intelligence, Operations, and Networking System - C.H.A.M.P.I.O.N.S..

Challengers Earth - Mu-AD1:

This Earth is a homage to Marvel Comics. It has all the Marvel tropes and the characters are clearly riffs on well known Marvel heroes and villains. The Prime Team is called the Challengers and resembles Marvel's Avengers. 

The Challengers consist of Favorite Son (Captain America), Tin Soldier (Iron Man), Raijin, The Thunder God (Thor), Big Man and Little Lady (Giant Man and Wasp), Sureshot (Hawkeye), The Apparition (Vision) and Sapphire Sorceress (Scarlet Witch).

On this Earth, Prof. Charles Christopher Crichton is known as Prof. Phenomenal, leader of the Phenomenal Four. 

Champion League Earth - Delta Ceti-AD1:

This Earth is a homage to DC Comics. It has all the DC tropes and the characters are clearly riffs on well known DC heroes and villains. The Prime Team is called the Champion League of Justice and resembles DC's Justice League and Justice League of America. 

The Prime Team consists of The Blue Bowman (Green Arrow), The Golden Ankh (Green Lantern), MaxiMode (Superman), Quark (The Atom), The Rook (Batman), Ultima (Wonder Woman), Zephyr (The Flash), and others. 

Here Chris Crichton is the mild mannered disguise of none other than the Man of the Future, The Man of Iron, MaxiMode! 

Champions Earth - Alpha Delta-A:

This Earth is virtually identical to Champions Earth - Wilcox Charlie-1 with the addition of characters, events, and ideas that occur after the end of the original Age of Champions campaign. This is the universe of my current campaign, Champions: REVIVAL. 

The PC heroes here are Hynagogia, Matrix, Pantheon, Too Fast, and Warfare. They do not, as of this posting, have a team name.

No team currently exists called The Champions. The main superhero team of this world, at present, is the UN sponsored Project: UNITY.

Crichton is as he is on Champions Earth - Wilcox Charlie-1 (CE-WC-1)

Champions Earth - Alpha Delta-1:

This Earth is virtually identical to Champions Earth - Wilcox Charlie-1 up to the Invasion: Earth War event. After that point the history of this world diverges as it follows new characters, events, and ideas introduced in my previous long running Champions campaign, The New Age of Champions. 
The PCs heroes here are Arcane, Ballistic, Night Knight, The Power, Professor Nth, and Revenant / Siphon

Crichton is as he is on Champions Earth - Wilcox Charlie-1 (CE-WC-1)

Champions Earth - Alpha Delta-2:

Inspired by DC Comics' Earth-2 and Earth-X, this world is identical to CE-WC-1 and CE-AD-1 up until the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Allied Champions prevent the bombings and World War II continues until 1955. 

The world's nations are divided up differently and a powerful Nazi regime still controls parts of Europe. The United Nations is referred to as the Alliance of Nations. The Prime Team is still the Allied Champions, though they are more commonly referred to as simply The Champions. The team membership is very different from the previously mentioned Earths. 

The Allied Champions consist of American Eagle IV and Winger IV (the latter being Bluejay on the Earths with a '1' or an 'A'), The Crusader, The Crimson Cowl II, The Mask of Freedom IV, The Phantom of Paris, and The Canadian Shield.

Here, a younger Chris Crichton is a 'boy genius' sidekick to the Allied Champions. He has a knack for building amazing devices out of found objects and junk (like a super-science MacGyver). 

Champions Earth - Alpha Delta-3:

On this Earth the heroes of CE-AD-1 are villains. This is the classic 'Evil Twin' Earth similar to the Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of Earth-3. There are a number of heroes here as well, all alternate versions of villains who have battled the PC's, but many of them were killed by the Champions of Evil. 

The good guys of CE-AD-1 put a major hurting on their criminal dopplegangers in the New Age of Champions campaign by getting assistance from their alternate selves from several other Earths.

The Prime Team, the Champions of Evil, includes of Ice Witch (Ice Queen), Macrocosm (Microcosm), Ominous (Omni), Overkill (Overload), Pulse (Pulse), Scaramangler (Christian Scaramangler), and many others. 

Doctor Christopher Crichton is a scientist who specializes in multi-dimensional physics and while he doesn't have any powers, he has several inventions that enable him to teleport, fold space, alter his physical dimensions, and other related feats.

Champions Earth - Alpha Delta-4:

AD-4 is an Earth noted for its relative lack of superpowered beings. There are only a dozen or so costumed heroes and villains in the world and the powers that be generally frown on superhero activity. 

Not much else is known about this Earth. 

This world was heavily influenced by Charlton Comics, The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Watchmen. 

Here Christopher Crichton is known as 'The Chief', and serves as the strategic and tactical specialist behind the Champions super team. 

Champions Earths - Alpha Delta-7, Alpha Delta-12, and Alpha Delta-23:

Little to nothing is known about these Earths other then they were destroyed and consumed by the multi-dimensional villainess Lady Disdain (aka Empress Ishtara Dys'Tayn).

Council of Champions Earth - Alpha Delta-1

While many identify this as an Alternate Earth, Prof. Crichton insists on logging it as a Parallel. He once stated that although it seems very different from CE - WC-1 on the surface, it shares many analog events, people, and concepts with that Earth.

Sometimes called Council Earth - AD-1, this is an Earth where magic is the primary power in the world. Science functions but is generally less effective and desirable when compared to the arcane arts. 

Imagine something somewhere between an out in the open Wizarding World of Harry Potter and a somewhat Victorian-Era Dungeons and Dragons setting. 

The world is protected by an group of powerful and wise wizards and witches from across the globe known as The Council of Champions. The planet is ruled by the Tribunal of Unity.

Little else is known about this world, including the exact make up and membership of the Council of Champions. 

Here, Master Kristoff of Croton, Son of Charles the Undamned, Archmage of the Eastern Rivers, Protector of the Hudson, and Banisher of Demons is a member of the Council of Champions. Kristoff specializes in spells and arcane knowledge dealing with demons, devils, and invaders from other realms. 

Force United Earth - Alpha Delta-1:

Identified as an Alternate Earth instead of a Parallel as the characters, history, and concepts seen on FUE-AD-1 are very different from those of variants on CE-WC-1.

Here the United Nations is paramount (even more so then on CE-WC-1 and its close parallels), with individual governments running the day-to-day goings-on of their respective countries but final say on all international and global matters falling to the UN. Much like CE-WC-1, AD-1, AD-A, and others, there is an international network of superheroes and superteams. Instead of UNITY, this world has The Force United. 

One member of Force United America, the superhero Excelsior, was blasted through a dimensional rift from this world to CE-WC-1. He remained there for several months until The Legionnaire could find his world's Quantum Frequency and send him home. Excelsior is considered an Honorary Member of CE-WC-1's UNITY New York (and presumably AD-1's and AD-A's as well. Wait...or was that an alternate Excelsior who...nevermind). 

The Prime Team, Force United America, consists of The Cheetah, Equinox, Excelsior, The Patriot, Spellbound, Talon Guard, and The Voyager. 

On this Earth, Prof. Christopher Crichton is one of the foremost authorities on the Meta-gene, Meta-genetics, and the biological science behind superhuman powers. 

Ravagers Earth - Alpha Delta-1:

Identified as an Alternate Earth instead of a Parallel as the characters, history, and concepts seen on RE-AD-1 are very different from those of variants on CE-WC-1.

In the recent past, a dark wizard supervillain cast a spell intended to raise an army of the dead. The spell was improperly cast and instead of summoning a hoard of shambling skeletons he slew one third of the world's population and those slain rose twenty-four hours later as brain-eating zombies. 

Old Glory, leader of the world's greatest super team, The Righteous, snapped after discovering what had happened. He proceeded to hunt down the necromancer and beat him to death on national television. Glory than issued a televised statement that he and his team would protect the living, destroy the undead, and make every last villain who had assisted the dark wizard pay dearly. He became obsessive and if you weren't with him, you were a danger to the very idea of good. He renamed his team, The Ravagers.

The Prime Team here, The Ravagers, are Gear Head, Miasma (former villain), Morning Star, Old Glory, and The Saint of Spades. 

The Christopher Crichton of this world died and was resurrected as one of the undead. He has the power to teleport by displacing himself with another person (basically they switch locations - only people in visual range). 

In addition to these worlds, I have seen a few Parallel Selves of Chris Crichton/The Legionnaire without knowing the Earth they came from. In the three and a half years I was part of the original Age of Champions campaign I recall encountering:

Charles 'Creek Charlie' Christianson, a ghost fighting gunslinger from a 'Wild West' Earth. 
Christopher CX1, an android/replicant type from a Cyberpunk/Blade Runner themed Earth. 
Krees, from an Earth where dinosaurs evolved into sentient humanoids. 

There are an infinite number of quantum realities and there is no way anyone could ever catalog them all, let alone visit them. Chris Crichton will keep trying of course. It's what he does and we're glad he's there to do it. 

Until next time,

AD
Barking Alien

*Our designation for our Earth, the Earth of the GM and players in the real world, is Earth - Prime-Zero, or simply Earth-Prime.

**Many of these Earths are my versions of ones William introduced in his campaign. Some are my own invention. Essentially, for each 'Alpha Delta' Earth assume there is also a 'Wilcox Charlie' incarnation.

After all, there are an infinite number of parallel worlds.

Yours is out there as well.

Kingdom Come

This weekend I picked up the fourth and final book in Green Ronin Publishing's Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition powered, DC Adventures Role Playing Game, thereby completing my collection of it and all things both DC and RPG related.

As I noted briefly in a previous post, this is not only the end of this particular line of superhero role playing products but in some ways, a beautiful and useful last will and testament to the pre-New 52 DC Comics universe.

Foregoing a direct attempt to define and detail a specific point in DC Comics seventy-seven year publishing history, Green Ronin set about describing the iconic and rarely changing elements of their characters, their worlds and their mythologies.

While the majority of the information is presented as close to the "current" incarnation of the DC Universe as possible as of 2010-2011*, many of the specifics of long standing characters are easily understandable to the reader even if they haven't seen the character in many years. In addition, a number of side bars and boxes explain some of the changes that have been applied throughout different incarnations (it is also in the background and flavor text for appropriate individuals).

While I did notice an error here and there, a few characters didn't make the cut and I would've loved a four book series just on the Legion of Superheroes, I think they did a great job. Really. That's big praise coming from me. Trust me.

Kudos Green Ronin. I tip my hat to you.

***

I starting reading the final book Saturday night but with being so busy with the Learning Center Sunday, I haven't finished it just yet. I intend to read Book 4 completely once, all the way through, and then go back over certain key points that interest me. Afterwards I will probably reread the entire series.

The 'Universe Book' details all aspects of the DC multiverse, from the Infinite Earths to Jack Kirby's Fourth World of the New Gods and onward into the past, the 'present' and the future. Detailed descriptions of the ficitional cities and countries that make up DC's "Earth Zero", or New Earth, which is essentially the world that replaced the erased parallel Earths at the end of the first Crisis (Crisis on Infinite Earths). In addition, the New Earth described appears to incorporate the Earth that followed Infinite Crisis. We also get the planets of the galaxy, the powers known as The Endless and all the cool legends created and complied over the course of seven decades of comic book creativity.

Reading through it, I am simultaneously inspired and saddened beyond measure. Alright, beyond easy measure.

As I peruse the pages of this powerful and poignant publication, I am struck solidly with the knowledge that I remember it all. Taking in this text in not so much a learning experience as a refresher course. This is my childhood, my high school and college years (minus a gap in the 90's). This data is not just stats and images. This was a part of my life from the time I was very young.

I had an older female cousin who read comics and among her favorites were Archie, Casper and Hot Stuff and The Legion of Superheroes. My uncle worked for a newspaper and magazine distributor who distributed, among other things, Mad Magazine and DC Comics. My favorite superhero was Green Lantern, partially because my father was a police officer.

This is all different now. Not only is my life quite different of course but the comics I read, the histories I know, the information in this book are different now. I hold in my hand over seventy years of professional work that someone two years ago determined doesn't matter. It didn't happen. It's not the first time either but it is so radically different in some instances this time around and, in my humble opinion, so poorly executed, that I long for the stories this book, this RPG book, is telling me. That is, reminding me of.

The wheels are spinning in my cape crusading brain, you can be sure of that. Ideas leap off the page at me at every turn. Each familiar face is a brand new challenge waiting to be sprung on my players, beings far less informed about this particular universe than I.

I've always wanted to update Time Commander. I've got a great idea for a plot with him and...Hmmm, Yellow Martians. Almost forgot about them and their connection to...Wow. St. Roch is a fantastic and different modern city setting. Perhaps I could...Ah yes, the Silent Knight. Always liked his look. Ooh! Ultra The Multi-Alien!

Where to begin...

AD
Barking Alien

*DC Comics was founded in 1934, originally holding the name National Allied Publications. It's publishing history therefore dates back 79 years, not 77 as I indicate above. I used the span of 77 years however because in 2011, DC altered its continuity to that of the 'New 52', which I do not enjoy. The DC Adventures RPG by Green Ronin only covers the characters, elements and history of the DC Comics universe up to 2011 and contains no New 52 information (although some of the images are from the time when the change over was first made).

Other related posts in the past on this subject that you might find interesting include:

Crisis on Infinite Crises
DC Adventures - Who's Who
DC Adventures - Identity Crisis Part 1
DC Adventures - Identity Crisis Part 2
DC Reboots Its Universe Again...Again.
The Original Universe
Where Legends Live

One final note...

In a recent and really interesting post on his blog, Zak Smith wrote...

"Like all RPGs and few horror stories, the characters are criminals. They break and flee the law."

The line fits perfectly with the post he made about a very particular style of weird horror noir. As is sometimes the case with me, I just have to totally disagree with the first part. Most RPGs. Popular RPGs even. Not my RPGs. At least not the best ones I've run and played.

Good night.

Elseworlds

I once said that aside from Star Trek, Star Wars may be the game I've run most often. Looking back, that may not be true. It may well be Superheroes if you consider the genre and not any one particular system. It was most certainly superhero comic books that got me into gaming in the first place.

Though I have never before run a Golden Age Superhero campaign, I have run a number of Superhero campaigns in non-standard settings. Recently, while I was reminiscing with a few friends about these old games, I thought it might may a fun post to mention them. Here are but three...

SUPERS: 1889

Using a heavily houseruled/homebrewed/kitbashed version of GDW's Space:1889 game, this short but memorable campaign focused on the first superhero team the world had ever known (a point of continuity I've kept throughout many later Supers campaigns). The team consisted of a number of unusually gifted individuals operating under Queen Victoria for the purpose of protecting the world from a German mad scientist and his army of steampunk robots powered by quasi-mystic crystals from Mars. The campaign's background was original though I borrowed librally from the Space:1889 game, Marvel, DC and other sources.

JUSTICE LEAGUE EARTH

Run with the DC Heroes RPG by Mayfair Games, this campaign was set in the 30th century of the Legion of Superheroes, my favorite comic book superteam of all time. The premise was, in celebration of the Earth's freedom from a Dominion invasion and to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the formation of its unified world government EarthGov, a reformed Vidar (aka the villain Universo) assembled a team of superheroes he called the Justice League of Earth. Vidar explained that the Legion has to protect the entire United Planets and that's not only a lot of work but they can't be everywhere which is how the invasion of Earth by the Dominion occured.

Vidar's JLE was designed to emulate the famous 20th and 21st century Justice League teams and consisted of heroes from all over the planet. From Japan, Talon Guard, the team's bird of prey themed Batman who resembled the heroes of Battle of the Planets/G-Force/Gatchaman. From Ireland, Balefire, a descendant of Alan Scott/Green Lantern and Jade who possessed mystical green flames he could shape into virtually anything. From Kenya, Radi Roho, 'The Lightning Spirit' who possessed the superspeed of the Flash but could also read the speed force to determine information about objects in motion. From an unknown African nation (a mystery to be revealed later in the campaign) came Nubia, whose physical abilities, combat experience and skill with melee weapons resembled none other than Wonder Woman. Finally, from the good old U.S. of A. came Maximum, a half-Daxamite, half-Human hero with a powerful secret who represented the one and only Man of Steel - Superman!

It was eventually revealed that Universo intended to use his mind control powers and hidden devices in the JLE's ear plug communicators to turn them into his personal army. Talon Guard figured it out and freed Maximum seconds before the latter pulverized the former. Maximum than used his secret weapon to reach the rest of the team and free them or fight them as needed with Talon Guard going after Universo himself (until the rest of the group could catch up). Maximum's secret? His Human side. Family name: Freeman. As in Freddy Freeman, Capt. Marvel Jr.. When Maximum says, "CAPTAIN MARVEL", a bolt of lightning and a crack of thunder transform him into Max Marvel. Plus Daxamite. Yeah baby.

THE LAST PROTECTORS

A Gamma World game originally run by a friend but which I took over half way through because he was starting to run out of ideas and had difficulty with 'where to go' with Gamma World. I've had this issue as well with Post Apocalypse settings. Sometimes its hard for story oriented GMs to find a focus or purpose to a Gamma World campaign.

My idea once I took over what my pal had already developed was that it seemed clear to me he was trying to determine who was at fault for the current state of the planet. I also thought he was hinting at some epic event as the cause or at least the catalyst. Furthermore, we had found an ancient device the was receiving messages from the Moon. So my thought was...

There was a Crisis on Infinite Earths and nobody won. Everybody lost. Gamma World is the way it is because an infinite number of parallel Earths merged and not quite correctly. Its also why mutants abound and many have superpowers. Our main enemy had been a robot mastermind who reminded me of Brainiac or Ultron.

I decided that the villain was indeed an arch-nemesis of the original heroes of one of the Earths who was the only real survivor from the time of the Ancients (i.e. the time of superhero comics). On the Moon, unbeknownst to the PCs, was the headquarters of 'The Protectors', the primary superteam of the old world. Its own AI was attempting to contact any member it could by communicator (and had been trying this for hundreds and hundreds of years). Eventually the PCs find the ruins of a 'Batcave' like base belonging to another long dead hero and use its intact rocketship/plane to reach the HQ on the Moon. There they are assumed to be various heroes by the base's damaged AI and healed and repaired by it, against their will and not completely correctly (new mutations, powers altered or adjusted, etc.).

Ever run an off beat Supers game? Tell me about it.

Up, up and away,

AD
Barking Alien

Infinite Crisis Management

Recapping our last session (this past Saturday) in the continuing saga of 'The New Age of Champions', Omni (Major NPC in charge of the UN sponsored superteam Project: UNITY) visits the heroes to get a sense of how they are doing. Everyone is really tired, low to without power (Endurance in HERO System speak) and well aware that the recently defeated villains (escapees from the setting's Super-Max security prison) were on their way to a meeting with whoever staged their premature release.

Omni spends quite a bit of time talking to The Power, the only one on the team who took any real physical damage. This turned into a heated debate over what the heck he was thinking, which turned into a heated debate between the Players and I when Marcus (the Power's Player) tried to turn it all around to make it look like the rest of us, especially one other PC, were grandstanding and showing off instead of rescuing him once they realized he was in trouble.

Now, he was mistaken but that is not what really got me and the others a bit miffed. It was that, simply put, if you make a dopey move, man up and say "Damn that was crazy. What a dopey move. Sorry gang." We all do stupid things in games. Own it and move on.

As it started to waste serious game time I eventually let the two players directly involved in the discussion, Marcus and Dave, work it out amongest themselves and, I am happy to say, they did. Meanwhile, Lee/Arcane and Ray/Professor N, refocused on a subplot/background issue that's been going on through the last few sessions. A dimensional disturbance that moves from plane to plane and parallel Earth to parallel Earth.

Professor N is something of a Reed Richards type character specializing in Dimensions and Quantum Reality Physics or some-such other odd super-science area of expertise.

Arcane is...well...hard to explain. It's my friend Lee's character and Lee sometimes (usually) over-thinks and over-explains his ideas, resulting in said ideas being harder to understand. The basics are that Arcane can control Electromagnetic Energy and Manipulate Weak and Strong Nuclear Forces. He can use these abilities to control energy, warp space, sense things through the Earth's magnetic field and a number of other tricks. He can also communicate* (sort of telepathically) with alternate Earth versions of himself who form a team to prevent evil Arcanes from forming or from travelling to a world where they can do serious damage. It's actually a very cool idea but one that comes with a lot of baggage and added elements that you have to sift through to reach this very cool concept.

If I sound like between the lines I am venting a little frustration I apologize, not just to my readership but to my players as well. The campaign is going great but sometimes we hit little snags that turn into bigger-than-they-need-to-be snags. Originally I had two or three players trying to tell a good story. Now I have five guys who, while telling a good story, sometimes like to push or one-up each other. That's fine and it makes for an exciting game but don't let it take over the session. Dig? Righteous.

So where was I? Oh yeah...

Anyway, with the help of dimensional sciences specialist NPC 'The Legionnaire', the PCs are able to better track the anomaly they'd been watching and soon discovered a second similar one. It appeared the two were on a collision course with the expected fallout placing the new anomaly on a path toward our dimension. And by fallout, anomaly and path I mean that a large and muscular, plane travelling humanoid entity was about to pierce the dimension barriers and crash at Mach 2 into a school in Arkansas.

Now Ray, normally content to be a less active, background or at least support character, really took charge in this scenario. He went from Prof. Reed Richards to Capt. Crisis Management in the blink of an eye. It was awesome. He called the right characters into play in the right positions, figured out exactly when and where the entity would fall and where he himself needed to be to be of maximum use and effectiveness.

As it turned out, the entity did not come into our dimension alone. A number of strange, salmon-pink, glowing imp-like creatures where attached to him or flying in pursuit, trying to drag him back into the infinite multiversal ether. Neat huh?

To be continued...

AD
Barking Alien

*I originally wrote that Arcane can 'control' alternate Earth versions of himself. That is not the case. He can communicate with them to gain advice and insight into situations that may have transpired already on their worlds. He knows that there may be differences in the events, participants and key details on these parallel Earths.

The Original Universe

Another of DC's promotional taglines was "DC - The Original Universe".

This one always bugged me because it was used quite some time after Crisis on Infinite Earths basically eliminated the 'Original Universe' of DC Comics.

I've always felt that DC Comics was either afraid of or terribly embarrased by it greatest asset; Its roughly 70 of years of comic book history. You get the feeling that their editors and writers are all sitting around at some reunion party, all cool, hip jet-setters, looking at old photos and saying, "Wow, can you believe we used to let Supergirl dress like that?" "Whose idea was it to have a villain called Crazy Quilt?" "Did I really have an issue with White Kryptonite that kills plants?"

Yes. You did. Don't ignore it like you would that nerdy girl who had a crush on you in high school. Don't pretend it didn't happen. And for the love of Pete, please don't create a company-wide crossover series to eliminate all those awesome, creative, gonzo ideas so you can retcon everything into the new, edgy DC. If I wanted a new, edgy DC I'd read Marvel. Or Krypto forbid, Wildstorm. -SHUDDER-

If you take a second look at that nerdy chick you'll more than likely realize she grew up to be pretty hot and you're going to kick yourself for ignoring her. Its amazing to me how short sighted professional creative people can be. Instead of destroying stuff or saying something didn't happen, just don't use it if you don't have any good ideas for what to do with it. I mean, did killing off the Question and making the character a latina, lesbian ex-cop really net you a lot more money than you were making with the classic Vic Sage version. Umm...my guess is no. So why do it? For the sake of doing it? Maybe because you don't have enough minority characters (an issue DC has always had that I will address in another post)? Than maybe make some new original ones.

My point is, only the concept of Hypertime really explained in well. In a nutshell, everything happened. Superman was Superboy in his teens and he wasn't. There are an infinite number of parallel Earths and there aren't. I want my dozen types of Kryptonite, the Inferior Five, the original Donna Troy origin and everything else someone at some point thought was cool enough to create and someone else thought to erase from continuity in favor of an idea that didn't last half as long in anyone's memory.

If you have what you think is a good idea, use it. If you can't think of what to do with an idea that already exists, leave it alone. Let the fans decide if you were right with their wallets.

AD
Barking Alien

Among The Spider-Verse

As I think I've said before, while I've always liked Spider-Man, he's never been my favorite Comic Book Superhero. He's definitely cool - great costume, interesting and unusual power set - but Spidey's down-to-earth-everyman nature, the very thing that makes him so popular, just didn't excite me. I was always more attracted to the larger-than-life cosmic adventure type characters, with my favorite comic books being Green Lantern and The Legion of Superheroes.

This all changed with the creation of Miles Morales and the Spider-Verse. In both cases, I'm talking about the Marvel Comic Books here, with Miles' first appearance in 2011 and writer Dan Slott's Spider-verse storyline that ran in The Amazing Spider-Man and throughout several tie-ins in 2014 through 2015.

Something about the character of Miles grabbed me in a way Peter Parker never did and honestly, I can't really say exactly why that is. Maybe it was getting in on the 'ground floor'; I saw his character emerge just as the rest of comicdom did. He was Spider-Man, a Spider-Man I suppose you could say, that was instantly familiar yet very different and definitely his own character.

With the Spider-Verse, well my love of that concept is likely unsurprising to anyone whose been on this blog for any length of time. I am fascinated by the idea of a Multiverse and the possibilities of Alternate Realities. Making Spider-Man the key to a saga about Parallel Universes was really engaging to a classic DC Comics guy like myself. 

In between these new additions to the Marvel Comics milieu, Margaret Weis Productions published the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game. In a demo of the game run at my friendly local game store I actually got to play Spider-Man and it gave me a new appreciation for the character. He was a fun character to play, to be for a time. Maybe I thought, he's more fun to read about and explore than I'd thought.

Fast forward to 2018 and the groundbreaking Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and my mind was blown. The movie was incredible, both narratively and visually. Absolutely incredible. With the recent release of the film's sequel, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, I was completely brought back to that moment of WOW I had seeing the first Spider-Verse movie. 

Over the decades, I have run and played a lot of Superhero RPGs and in a few of them we've had some variation of the character of Spider-Man. Now I'm not talking about someone simply playing Spidey in a game of, say, Marvel Super Heroes or Marvel Heroic. I'm talking about a PC designed to be an alternate version of the Spider-Man character. Between Alternate Earth one-shots and campaigns, a Champions campaign visiting a Parallel Marvel world, and a homage to the Spider-Verse films themselves, it turns out I've encountered quite a few Spider-Men. Spider-Mans? Spider-People?

Follow me on an RPG tour of the characters I've seen that dwell...Among The Spider-Verse.

Armored-Man (Peter Parker of Earth-GC82092)

Art by Midjourney AI and modified by me in Photostudio.

Secret Origin: Armored-Man was a pre-generated PC created by Villains & Vigilantes Gamemaster Mark Olsen for a two session run at the Gen Con Gaming Convention in 1992. The players chose their characters by blind pick and a young man got this one and ran with it. The Player created the character's backstory and I came up with the name when my own character, in-game, referred to him as 'The Amazing Armored-Man'. 

Peter Parker, a science prodigy and inventor, missed the infamous science exhibit where he would have been bitten by a Radioactive Spider when he was almost hit by a car! That car belonged to billionaire industrialist Tony Stark of Stark Industries. One thing led to another and Stark took on Parker as a intern, then an employee, and eventually a close confidant and friend. Parker helped perfect the 'Iron Man' Class Battlesuit that Stark was planning on selling to SHIELD. Unfortunately Stark never got the chance, as an attack of industrial sabotage left Tony Stark dead and destroyed the Iron Man Prototype. Only...it didn't. 

While Stark was indeed murdered, Parker managed to escape the burning facility using the Battlesuit and proceeded to track down and defeat the saboteurs. He turned the criminals over to SHIELD but kept the survival of the Iron Man Armor out of the report. It would turn out that Tony's will left a large portion of the company to Peter and the younger man continued to work on the suit in a hidden workshop below Stark Industries Headquarters. Sometime later, Uatu the Watcher would assemble a team of secret superbeings on this Earth to thwart the threat of a malfunctioning artifact known as The Cosmic Sphere. Parker was among the chosen and used his most updated suit for the adventure. Never intending to become a 'superhero' Parker simply introduced himself to his fellow adventurers by his real name. He received the name 'Armored-Man' from fellow hero Superguard.

The armor had many impressive abilities such as Repulsor/Tractor Ray Emitters, Super Strength, Computer Enhanced Senses, and made the wearer nearly-invincible to physical harm. One of its most clever features were the repulsor jets in the boots that enabled the user to fly but could also be reversed so as to pull things to him or him to things. As a result, Armored-Man could 'attach' himself to surfaces by tractor beams and walk on walls! 

The Black Spider (King T'Challa of Wakanda of Earth-71966-M)

Illustration by Me based on illustrations by Frank Cho

Secret Origin: The Black Spider, along with The Golden Age Spider Man (see below), was a PC created for a Superhero One-Shot I ran soon after seeing Into The Spider-verse titled 'Spiderpocalypse!'. This particular character was the creation of my good friend Arthur, a member of 'Dan's Group' with whom I run Star Trek Adventures and play our Hogwarts homebrew. Arthur's idea was to pose and answer the question, 'What if Wakanda's founding was tied not to the Cat God/Goddess Bast but instead the Spider God Anansi?'

King T'Challa is the ruler of the highly advanced African nation of Wakanda, a hidden utopia gifted with the blessings of Anansi, the Akan Trickster God of knowledge, stories, and wisdom. These gifts manifest in the form of massive deposits of Vibranium and a Heart-Shaped Herb that grants T'Challa the powers of 'The Black Spider'. The mantle of The Black Spider is a hereditary position passed down from the first kings of Wakanda onward to T'Challa in the modern day. The Black Spider, through a potion made from the Heart-Shaped Herb and Spider Venom, possess powers such as Super Strength, Super Agility, Super Leaping, a Danger Sense, and a number of Trickster abilities such as Merging into Shadows, Moving Silently, and an amazing ability to Disguise his voice and appearance out of costume. 

Speaking of his costume, The Black Spider's suit is a wonder of Wakandan technology. Lightweight and as flexible as cloth, the costume has Vibranium mesh and is highly resistant to attacks by kinetic/concussive force. The suit allows The Black Spider to Cling to Surfaces, generate Webs, and gives him retractable Claws in the fingertips of his gloves. 

Captain Spider (Steven 'Steve' Parker of Earth-BL2001-M)

Like the Action Figure he is based on,

I made him out of cut and pasted images

and repainted parts.

Secret Origin: Sometime around 2005, maybe earlier, I lived in NYC's Chinatown and everyday I would pass a particular store on my way to work. It sold bootleg and knock-off products - bags, shoes, toys, etc.. One day I saw this Action Figure...it had Spider-Man's head, painted blue, atop the body of a Captain America figure in inverted colors. A white spider sticker was placed on his chest as well as the center of a miscolored shield. Every day I would look at it and wonder, 'Who is this supposed to be?"

In my minds-eye this wasn't a bootleg figure but a toy representing the most popular hero of some Parallel Earth. He was, um, Captain Spider! I told my then wife about it and said, "It's only $5. If it's still there Friday, I'm buying it."

Selina, in her typical psychic fashion replied, "It might be gone." Gone? Who would buy something like that other then me? Fast forward to Friday and as you probably guessed, it was no longer there. Never saw it again. I like to think it wasn't purchased but rather it shifted back to its own dimension. 

My idea is that on Earth-BL2001-M, during the Second World War, a young army man named Steve Parker volunteered for an experiment to create the USA's first Super Soldier. A secret serum and some vita-rays later and...nothing. Nothing happened. The project was a failure...or so they thought! Some days later Parker is bitten by a spider and its venom reacted strangly with the serum in his blood. He becomes Captain Spider, the American Arachnid! The Star-Spangled Spider-Man! Give those Ratzis hell Spidey!

I got the chance to play a version of Captain Spider in our ol' Kapow! campaign with a new secret identity and slightly different backstory. 

Interesting, this independently devised backstory is remarkably similar to the one for my friend Leo's Golden Age Spider Man. (See below). 

Creepy Crawler (Eugene Enfield of Earth-WC871-M / Challengers Earth-Mu WC1)

Based on a Spider-Man illustration by Dave Williams

Secret Origin: Creepy Crawler appeared as an NPC in my friend William Corpening's long running Champions campaign 'The Age of Champions'. My specific encounter with him was in our 'Age of Chaos' era of the campaign. During a multi-part adventure titled, 'The Dark Trinity Event' (or something like that), our Champions campaign world - Champions Earth-Wilcox Charlie-1 - encountered the heroes and villains of two Parallel Earths: The DC Comics world of Champion League Earth-Delta Ceti-WC1 and the Marvel themed Challengers Earth-Mu-WC1. During this adventure, the big bads of three different Earths tried to merge their worlds and absorb the life energy of all those killed in the process of doing so.

Will likely created Creepy Crawler as a background element, a touch of local color to remind the players the universe they were interacting with was a Marvel type of universe. After all, a Marvel-like setting absolutely needs a Spider-Man. Of course with Will Corpening, nothing is incidental. No character is just an extra. Everyone you meet has a story, personality, and a reason to be there. 

At one point in the game my street level alternate character The New Yorker found himself on Challengers Earth-Mu-1 and saw a gaggle of six sinister supervillains beating up on one young hero. After falling about 20 feet onto the pavement from an aerial battle with one opponent, the black clad super-teen wasn't moving and New Yorker ran to his aid. Removing his mask, New Yorker found out he was 'just a kid', albeit one with some weird superpowers.

After a quick reassurance to the boy that everything would be alright, The New Yorker turned his attention to the six bad guys. By 'attention' I mean brass knuckles, a crow bar, hitting one with a car (driven not thrown) and a lot of face punching. I mean A LOT. Thanks to an upgrade/assist from a Champion League Earth-DC-1 hero named Fusion, the otherwise outclassed New Yorker unloaded a Yankee Stadium worth of payback on Creepy Crawler's assailants, forcing the still conscious ones to retreat. New Yorker than took the kid, who revealed his first name to be Eugene, to a nearby hospital. New Yorker waited while the doctors got to work even though Crisis on Three Earths was going on outside. The New Yorker was kind of a joke character but after this I, and the rest of the gaming group, starting treating him more seriously and with respect. 

Eugene Enfield was a sickly orphan kid from Staten Island who was raised by his Aunt and Uncle after his parents' mysterious disappearance. A genius fascinated by all things that crawled, skittered, slithered, and squirmed, Eugene collected and studied the biology of bugs, lizards, snakes, worms, and especially spiders. By the age of sixteen, Eugene was taking college courses in biochemistry, genetics, and hoped to develop a way to change his own medical conditions using the amazing advantages he'd found within the critters he loved that so many others considered icky. 

One night, while working in his home lab, a burglar broke into his family's house. His Aunt and Uncle confronted the crook who panicked and shot his Aunt. As she began to fade away right in his Uncle's arms, Eugene injected himself with an as yet untested serum that rapidly re-wrote his DNA, turning him into a hideous but powerful superbeing. While he managed to quickly and easily defeat the criminal, his appearance terrified his Uncle and Eugene was forced to run from the house with burglar in tow. Eventually he left the baddie webbed to a lamppost in a nearby town while he hid in a heavily wooded area where he tried to control his monstrous transformation. Eugene ended up passing out and waking the next morning seemingly back to normal. He returned home to discover his Aunt had gone to the hospital and his Uncle in dire straights. Believing Eugene had been kidnapped by either the burglar or the monster from the night before, his Uncle shed tears of joy upon seeing him. Then and there Eugene decided to use his new capabilities to protect the weak, defend the innocent, and scare the living crap out of the criminal element. 

Creepy Crawler is and very much isn't Spider-Man. His powers are similar: Super Strength, Super Agility, Wall Crawling, and Webs (which are biologically generated like Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man) but also near invisible Camouflage, Multi-Faceted Eyes, a Paralyzing Venomous Bite, Regeneration, and more. In some ways he's more like DC's Animal Man but limited to a group of thematic creatures. Changing abilities too quickly or too often under duress or stress causes Eugene to physically mutate, exhibiting such traits as insect eyes, lizard-like skin, and suction cup growths on his hands and feet for example. His largely black costume is designed to hide his appearance as much as possible.

That said, he sometimes purposely shows his lower face and mouth, takes off a glove, or something similar to reveal his frightening appearance when it manifests. In this way he is more akin to Batman, using fear to intimidate lesser opponents so he doesn't have to fight and hurt them. 

The Golden Age Spider Man (Benjamin 'Ben' Parker of Earth-82817)

Art by Kitbash and Modification n Photostudio 

Secret Origin: The Golden Age Spider Man, along with The Black Spider (see above), was a PC created for a Superhero One-Shot I ran soon after seeing Into The Spider-verse titled 'Spiderpocalypse!'. The character was created by my pal Leo, a member of both 'Dan's Group' and my Sunday Night Group. He plays First Officer and Chief Science Officer Mr. Solok in Star Trek Adventures, The Paladin in our Champions campaign, and as Arimus Bonaventure in our Hogwarts homebrew.

Daily Bugle reporter John Jonah Jameson and photographer Benjamin 'Ben' Parker were on assignment in Europe covering the activities of the Allies greatest heroes, none other than Captain America and The Invaders, during the height of the Second World War. A surprise attack on the Invaders left Jameson dead and Parker badly injured. In the instant an explosive device shattered their camp, Ben Parker flung himself to knock Captain America clear of danger, saving the First Avenger but at the cost of being fatally wounded and the loss of the life of Parker's long time friend J. Jonah Jameson. Captain America insisted on a blood transfusion to help save Parker, even though that might have unexpected consequences given the Super Soldier Serum in Cap's veins. Luckily, Parker lived and there were no unusual side effects. At least not right away...

Weeks later on a mission in a jungle environment, Parker was bitten by a venomous spider while tagging along with Capt. America and his team, continuing his role as wartime photographer. The spider bite reacted with the Super Soldier Serum giving Parker spectacular spider-like abilities! After a crash training course and the development of 'Web-Shooter' Pistols and a colorful costume, Ben joined the Invaders as Spider Man. 

[The Golden Age] Spider Man has the same suite of superpowers as the typical Spidey, though he seems physically stronger but slightly less agile. His pistol-like Web-Shooters can fire 'Web Bullets' that explode into a large web upon impact or he can hold the trigger to fire a long stream (for spraying or swinging for example). 

The Spider-Man (Eugene 'Flash' Thompson of Earth-AD6163-M)

Art by Midjourney AI and modified by Me in Photostudio

Secret Origin: This variant of Spidey was the creation of my friend Daniel Grant and myself as part of the backstory for his version of the Prowler [his PC in our 'What If?' Marvel Super Heroes campaign, The Sentinels.]. Dan knew he wanted to create a heroic Prowler and needed both an antagonist and a motivation for his character to become a costumed vigilante and fight crime. It only made sense, given the fact that Marvel Comics' Prowler is part of Spider-Man's rogue's gallery, to make Spider-Man the arch-enemy of Dan's character.

In the midst of bullying his classmate Peter Parker, high school jock Eugene 'Flash' Thompson was bitten by a radioactive spider on a field trip to a science exhibit, developing amazing superpowers such a Super Strength, Super Agility, a Danger Sense, and the ability to Cling to any surface. Flash intimidates Parker, a brilliant young scientist, forcing him to make Thompson a colorful costume and Web-shooters. With his new look and abilities, Thompson enters an Open Match Challenge to wrestle the Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Not only does Flash win as 'The Spider-Man' but a TV producer offers to make him a star. Moments later The Spider-Man thwarts a criminal trying to steal the profits from the wrestling match. Within a very short time, The Spider-Man is a media sensation!

Never learning the great lesson of Uncle Ben, Flash Thompson thinks, 'With Great Power Comes No Responsibility'. Flash quickly becomes wealthy, popular, and even more of a jerk then he already was. His popularity is maintained through real and staged crime fighting, talk shows, and endorsing various products. One night, The Spider-Man decides he's 'too busy' to help the police stop a serial burglar in the Bronx who ends up robbing and killing the father of engineering student Hobart 'Hobie' Brown. Brown, a teenage inventor paying for Engineering School with a Window Washer job, decides to expose The Spider-Man for what he is, an attention whore and no hero. Brown creates a special suit and crime-fighting equipment and the ironic identity 'The Prowler'. 

The Prowler's encounter with The Spider-Man reveals the latter's true nature on live television. Additionally the public learns he's been continually blackmailing Peter Parker to keep Parker helping him and not going to the authorities. The fight between Prowler and The Spider-Man begins an ongoing feud between the two, with The Prowler repeatedly embarrassing and thwarting Thompson again and again. The Prowler's activities earn him the attention and respect of the superhero known as The Patriot and eventually a spot on the SHIELD sponsored superteam 'The Sentinels'.

Nowadays when I think about this character I think of a crooked version of DC's Booster Gold.

Spider-Woman (Patricia 'Patty' Parker of Earth-SC9509)

Art by Shunya Yamashita of Kotobukiya, modified by Me in Photostudio

Secret Origin: My criteria for this post was that each character had to be an intentional variant or version of Spider-Man. This one is therefore a special case. This Pre-Generated Player Character was created for a Marvel Super Heroes RPG one-shot at a gaming convention in the Fall of 1995 (If memory serves). It was not intended to be an Alternate Spider-Man but rather the traditional, classic, Earth-616 Peter Parker/Spider-Man you all know and love. Thanks to the jumbled memory of a very creative and entertaining young woman, we got this instead. 

I was hanging out with some friends between events and I happened to overhear a Marvel Super Heroes session occurring at a nearby table. Pre-generated characters were chosen or handed out and after some discussion with a friend of hers, one of the two female players said something like, "it's fine, I'll take Spider-Man. But I want to play a woman."

This confused the GM and he asked her if she wanted to change characters. He quickly looked through his notes and materials for another character but the player said, "No, no. I am playing Spider-Man. A female Spider-Man." At first this clearly irked the GM but he changed his tune after seeing the positive reactions from the other players.

Throughout the rest of the game the female player, let's call her Kate, established the personality of this PC and it was great! She had the character using wisecracking quips volleyed against the villains to hide a lack of assurance and a heap of self doubt. At the same, Kate had a weird view of Spidey's powers. She would pantomime shooting her webs with her hand out, palm down, more like a superhero blasting a ray than the typical way Spider-Man's web-shooting is depicted. She would often suggest her Spider-Woman could fly or glide. When corrected, 'Spider-Man can't fly', she would respond, "OK. Why the 'Web-Wings'?" There were other odds bits: references to her origin, background, and other elements that made me wonder, "Does this person know who Spider-Man is? Or...".

By the end of the game, Kate had made Spider-Woman, who she named Patty Parker, the MVP of the team. She also revealed that she'd never read a comic and really only knew about Spider-Man from the 1967 Animated Cartoon. It also became clear from her description that she was mixing the Spider-Man cartoon with that of Spider-Woman and Web-Woman. Her attempts to reconcile the different stories in her head resulting in this weird gestalt superheroine.

Weird, wild, and absolutely awesome. 

AD

Barking Alien

I hate to end on a sad note but I must acknowledge a massive loss to the Comic Book Community and particularly to Spider-Man; John Romita Sr., the legendary illustrator who took over drawing The Amazing Spider-Man in 1966 from original artist Steve Ditko, passed away at the age of 93 on June 12th according to his son, John Romita Jr. (who is also a well known and celebrated Comic Book artist). 

Rest in Peace.