Author notes

Chapter 2, Page 1

Neilsama

on July 21, 2008

Name-dropping time:

The original HERO BY NIGHT (David Day), the trans-dimensional group of mystics that he joined called The Secret Society of Shadows, including the mysterious Dr. Nowhere, are all created by D.J. Coffman, and used with his permission. It's only natural that the Secret Society of Shadows would be called during this, since their very function is to wander the realities, guarding them from mystical threats. And time is variable across different realities—hey, haven't you ever read the Narnia books? (Which means, no matter how long this story takes, our heroes can return very close to the time they left.) Which is why it's the original Hero from the forties/fifties.

FLICKERFLAME is my other webcomic, besides MM. Flicker's a con man and the anti-hero's anti-hero—the only thing heroic about him is that he's trying to betray the evil group he joined—and their mysterious host has a special reason for summoning him, which I'll eventually tell in Flicker's own comic. (Flicker does NOT live in MM's reality.)

GENOCIDE MAN is a new creation of Remus' Shepherd's, who created Dead Debbie and INDEFENSIBLE POSITIONS. He'll be appearing later this year, Remus promises.

Yaoi Boy is our own creation (specifically, Remus', I believe) and you just MIGHT hear of/see him again.

Therm is a superhero from SPECIAL SCHOOL, the often-hilarious story of a school for government sanctioned superheroes in upstate New York, and used with the permission of Andy Mason, Special School's creator. You can find out more about Therm (under "Julian 'Coach' Harper") at the cast page.

SPARKLING GENERATION VALKYRIE YUUKI is of course, the delightful tale of a boy who is a big fan of "magical girl" manga/anime (very similar to A.N.T.) …until he gets transformed into one. A Valkyrie, to be precise. Yuuki is used with the permission of Kittyhawk, Yuuki's creator.

Of course, there are many other heroes here in this Gathering, and we'll get around to mentioning them over the course of this story. Their host is simultaneously appearing and talking to a lot of the groups, all of whom will have their own assignment.

And yeah, it's a bit of a homage to the initial gathering of heroes in CRISIS OF INFINITE EARTHS…somehow, it's hard to make a trans-dimensional gathering of heroes without being reminded of Wolfman and Perez' excellent, pivotal series…but as you'll see, we'll have our own spin on it. I mean…Yaoi Boy wasn't invited to THAT gathering….