Year in Review

Year in Review for 2001

Another year has passed and to say that the last 12 months have been very up and down would be something of an understatement. Major life changes were once more the order of things.

Muskateer accepted a job transfer and moved out to California. Finally, his wife joined him in the fall. I had yet another job change in store for me and was in the enviable position of being able to work on the website while at work! Many of the files from this year were primarily written while I was on the clock. It was certainly nice to be paid for my efforts while it lasted.

Things changed in early October when the situation evaporated and I ended up being laid off. To be honest, it didn't come as a surprise. I saw it coming days before it actually happened. This situation had been slowing down for many months, so it just wasn't something that came from out the blue or was directly related to September 11th. In fact, I had expected to be unemployed way back in March, so I have no complaints on making it to October. We'll see what happens from here. Tune in for next year's Review file for more of the days of our lives!

Because of the months I was able to write while at work I was able to churn out quite a few files. Including many that didn't make it to publication for 2001. Needless to say, I've got quite a jump for the 2002 posting year! Lots of good stuff coming!

The biggest change for the site was our moving to our new location! Special thanks for that goes to Muskateer for hosting us. Since we were moving and no longer had to spread the website out over multiple user names, we were able to do some remodeling, some tweaking, add much more art, and create the various handbooks and galleries. And an extra special thanks for everyone for putting up with the long transition period between the sites.

Now on to the Year in Review! Unlike last year, all of the entries below were pretty much written shortly after the file itself had reached first draft stage. If the entries seem a bit disjointed, it's because of that. For instance, the entry for Scarlet Sabre #7 was written in January of 2001 as that's when the file was finished. Scarlet's #8-10 were done in July/August as that's when I finished the first draft for those particular files.

In spite of not turning out everything we wanted, I feel that this was one of the strongest years as far as quality of files goes. Some of the Awards for this year are downright hard to pick as there are so many worthy choices! The results should be very interesting.

File Review:

Overview:

The Avengers are the premiere hero team in our universe. The team's regular membership includes: Black Diamond, Muskateer, Firestar, Enchantress, Supreme, Lightburst, Nightingale, Texas Ranger, Huntress, & the Thing. Guardian Angel guest stars.

Issue #29 "Tailing the Dragon"

Plot: In the wake of the beating taken by the Huntress from the White Dragon, several Avengers and friends of the Huntress go out to settle the score. The Enchantress is captured by Lady Darkness.

Villain: Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan, Chameleon, & the Dragon Lords

Guest Stars: Scarlet Sabre, Night Owl

Notes: I got a taste of my own medicine with this issue. There have been numerous times where I've taken files written by Muskateer and split them into two separate files because they were growing so long. Finally he did the same to me. In hindsight it was the correct thing to do. At the rate I was going, this issue was going to be even larger than the double-sized Huntress#25 which the storyline continued from! A few scenes ended up being switched around as what I conceived as a two issue storyline suddenly became three. For instance, the capture of the Enchantress was supposed to be at the end of the next issue while the White Dragon storyline was going to be resolved in this issue. It was nice to focus on some of the more underused characters like Supreme, Texas Ranger and the Thing. I also like how neatly the situations with the Enchantress and the Thing spun out of the Huntress storyline. Each had already been in place for a long time, but having the Huntress storyline serve as a catalyst just tied everything together even better.

Issue #30 "Retribution!"

Plot: The Avengers close in on the White Dragon while Firestar and Guardian Angel grapple with Ladybug.

Villain: Ladybug, White Dragon & the Dragon Lords, Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan

Guest Stars: Scarlet Sabre, Night Owl

Notes: As noted above, much of this issue was supposed to occur in the previous one. The encounter with Ladybug by Guardian Angel and Firestar was not originally part of the storyline. When the story grew beyond my expectations it was added to help pad this issue and give those heroines something to do. Ladybug had been mentioned before and we just picked up on those plot strands here. All in all, it was nice to give all three characters a chance to shine. The combat with the White Dragon pretty much went as planned. Did anyone expect Tex to be the one to finally get his hands on the Dragon? Or that Muskateer, of all people, would be the one to pull him off? On the whole, an action packed issue.

Issue #31 "Things Change"

Plot: Muskateer searches for the Enchantress while the Thing begins to change.

Villain: None

Guest Stars: None

Notes: Yeah, I know. Bad one on the title. Just wait until the resolution of the Thing plot- "The More Things Change"! Bruce should be happy that we tried to get some background on Jeeves in. Too bad he was interrupted. Maybe next time. Nothing about this issue was really normal on our end. We knew that Musky's and the Thing's plot lines were going to dominate the issue and started there. I wrote all of the scenes that spun out of the Thing's predicament, while Musky did most of his portion. Later on, the two were combined into a coherent issue with the scenes with Di & Supreme among the last to be written. Just a case of us having to get certain situations accomplished in this issue and then using what space remained for other opportunities.

Issue #32 "The Breaking Point"

Plot: Muskateer's search for the Enchantress continues as emotions are running high.

Villain: Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan

Guest Stars: Dr. Angelique Marin, Sorceress, Scarlet Sabre, Felina Kirby

Notes: This was another issue that was written in a very unusual manner. Since we've been far ahead of schedule most of this summer, I've been able to indulge myself more than I normally would. Meaning, that if I had the urge to write something and even if it wasn't going to come up soon, I could. Several scenes in this issue just fell into place and I wrote basically 60% of the issue in just one day. The remaining portion were the scenes with Muskateer. I pretty much just did set up on those and later Muskateer filled those in or did a rough outline for them that I fleshed out later on. We probably spent more time talking about the scene between Musky & Di than it took to write it. As mentioned above, I got the ball rolling and Musky started to get into the scene. I got a phone call asking what Di would do next. A few minutes later, we were both online trading online messages trying to iron out the rest of that scene. Some of the actual dialogue was lifted from our OM's. We spent nearly two hours talking about this one scene. Weird how some of this stuff actually comes about! Hopefully, the scene at the end of the issue caught everyone by surprise.

Overview:

This series focuses on a young heroine trying to make her way in the world of super-powered folk as a 3rd generation hero. In addition to the Huntress, her mother, Felina, is a series regular.

Issue #24 "The Dragon's Fury"

Plot: The Huntress is lured into a trap by the White Dragon.

Villain: White Dragon & the Dragon Lords

Guest Stars: None

Notes: Yet another case of things not going as planned. A long time ago when I was plotting this stuff out, back around issue 17 or so, I had a single sentence describing this issue. "Lured into trap by White Dragon and badly beaten." Sounds simple, doesn't it? They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, well that one sentence translated into over 10,000 words and two issues! The events in my plotted out Huntress #24 ended up covering issues #24 & 25. Likewise the events of the plotted #25 became issues #26 through #28. Combat is one of those areas that I find harder to do. Muskateer can whip up a fight right off the cuff while it takes me some work. I was actually already writing the file before some of the pieces of the story came together, specifically the type of ambush and the type of deathtrap that would be used. I came up with a wide range of those, but given the low-key nature of the villain, had to come up with something that fit his profile. Hopefully, I came up with something that fits his sadistic nature.

Issue #25 "The Hunt Ends"

Plot: The Huntress escapes the White Dragon's trap only to be beaten by the villain.

Villain: White Dragon & the Dragon Lords.

Guest Stars: Black Diamond, Muskateer, Texas Ranger, Thing, Enchantress, Nightingale, Dr. Brinton, Nurse Chang

Notes: As noted above, this was not what I had intended for the 25th Anniversary issue. In spite of that, I feel that it was a worthy anniversary issue that held more than its fair share of surprises. The long review of past events during the escape was added to help it feel more like an anniversary issue. Yep, the White Dragon is one MEAN SOB! I wrote the first two-thirds of the issue right after completing the previous issue, so there was no lacking in intensity. Naturally, the method of escape was figured out at the same time as the trap was conceived. Even better, it showed previously used elements. Don't you hate it when a hero solves some problem by pulling out some gadget that had never appeared before? Felina actually attacked someone for the first time in any of our stories. Of course, she was very justified in her actions, and probably a bit merciful. Good thing she didn't aim lower! The title is in reference to the first issue of the Huntress - "The Hunt Begins" and this issue closes the first chapter in our heroine's life. Will there be a second chapter? Stay tuned!

Overview:

Lost Heroes focuses on a future version of Muskateer and the horrible events that have forever changed his life. Molly "Starshine" Berkowitz and Sandra "Ladybug" Anderson are regular characters.

Issue #5 "Very Long Ride"

Plot: Muskateer encounters the Downtrodden on his way back to his base.

Villain: Donwtrodden - Charcoal, Fry Daddy, Wild Thing, Truck, Zap, Shades, Ears, Voodoo, etc.

Guest Stars: None

Notes: Very long ride indeed! This issue was a very long time in coming. Some elements of it having been written almost a year before it was released. Muskateer's lack of time was the main culprit in delaying this one. There were also some issues on the storyline that needed to be resolved as well. Anyone surprised to see the LH version of Charcoal show up? This story just sort of died on the shelf when the Downtrodden appeared. Not sure why, but everything else seemed to come before finishing it. Once the fight got started, the file was completed much quicker. This was one file that just never cooperated.

Overview:

Muskateer focuses on the solo-exploits of the sword-swinging Avenger. The Enchantress is a regular guest star.

Issue #22 "Friends and Lovers"

Plot: Muskateer spends the day with the Enchantress and attends Helena's party.

Villain: None

Guest Stars: Scarlet Sabre, Huntress, Felina, Firestar, and Terra Fire

Notes: This was the file that almost wasn't. Traditionally, Muskateer tries to have a new Musky file for the time around this birthday. The way things were going, it didn't appear that it was going to happen. We talked and it was decided that I see what I could do for this file. The basic file outline came out of our discussions and I wrote much of the framework. Muskateer then came back and tailored things to his tastes and finished off a few of the scenes that I had left hanging. All in all, this is probably our most collaborative effort of the year. They say that art often imitates life and this file is an example of it. Some of the scenes that happen between Gwen and Steven are things that happen between Musky and his real life wife. The walking on his back bit is one of them. There have been other such instances in other files, but there are many of them in this file. It's a very personal file in that sense. We also wanted to highlight their relationship before everything goes really bad to help the readers sympathize with Muskateer's fury once the Enchantress is missing.

Overview:

This title focuses on the Scarlet Sabre, the computer whiz from the Freedom League. As the League isn't much of a normal hero team, Scarlet often adventures with other heroes or by herself. Scarlet's cybernetic alter-ego, Jaime, is her constant companion.

Issue #7 "The Tale of Silver Arrow"

Plot: Scarlet recalls a past exploit of the retiring Silver Arrow.

Villain: Conquerors - Neutron, Arc, Wyvern, & Ankylosuar

Guest Stars: Freedom League - Microwave, Speedster, Rad, Brute, FIST, Silver Arrow, and Resonator.

Notes: I started writing this file with a scene where Jessica is getting ready for her first day on the job. It never made it into the file. My original concept was to cover both Scarlet's job and Silver Arrow's retirement. The later pushed the former into the next issue. It was Muskateer's suggestion to make use of the Conquerors for our flashback tale. I then came up with a scenario that would bring all these elements together.

Issue #8 "The Corporate Life"

Plot: Jessica's first day as an executive and she attends the pool party.

Villain: None

Guest Stars: Sheryl Campbell, Ms. Henrietta Von Drotte, Donald Henderson, Georgio, Huntress, Felina Kirby, Black Diamond, Muskateer, Enchantress, Nightingale, Supreme, Thing, Texas Ranger, Firestar, Terra Fire, Night Owl, Kor Hunter, & Willow Witch.

Notes: The scene mentioned under the previous issue is the one that starts this file. This issue lightly touches upon some of the things going on in the Wild Cards mini-series. Not totally surprising as this issue was primarily written after the Wild Cards mini. All in all, not a whole lot of action going on here. Finally got to see Scarlet's take on the pool party, the first half of it anyway. The rest of it will be covered in her next file.

Issue #9 "First Strike"

Plot: Robots attack CII!

Villain: Fuergeson the Great

Guest Stars: Sheryl Campbell, Tom Braden, Enchantress

Notes: Yet another unusually written issue. I wrote the beginning, the ending, and then the middle. The middle here being all of the attack. Part of the problem was that I wasn't just sure what the fighting was going to involve at first. I wanted to put some action into this issue after several relatively quiet issues. My first thought was the one I ended up settling on. Writing in the first person is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you primarily have to deal with just one character and their views. At times you can gloss over things with simple narration as opposed to doing a full scene. On the downside, every scene involves the main character. There are no cut away scenes or interludes. You're only shown what the main character sees. In this instance, the fact that Fuergeson the Great was behind the attack and exactly what his motives were are unrevealed.

Issue #10 "The Perfect Mate"

Plot: The forces of Fuergeson the Great attempt to kidnap Jessica Flynn

Villain: Fuergeson the Great & his goons

Guest Stars: Tom Braden, Kyle Sherwood, Sheryl Campbell, Microwave, Starguard

Notes: This issue was a lot of fun. Finally gave Jessica some interesting men to play off of! Just who is Starguard and what are his motives? That's a mystery that will play out in the files to come. Whatever they are, they're probably a whole lot more appealing that being chased after by the demented Fuergeson the Great! Observant readers may find the names of some of Fuergeson's goons' familiar. Regular posters on our Message Board have been immortalized as part of the goon squad! As Muskateer noted, "That's not much of a reward." Hey, it's the thought that counts!

Overview:

The adventures and misadventures of Spectrum and his siblings are covered in this series. Now that he's the leader of X-Factor, there hasn't been as many solo adventures. Impact, Whitney Parks, and Stephanie Sculley appear frequently in this title.

Issue #29 "First Steps"

Plot: Spec relaxes in the aftermath of the raid of the VIPER's Nest.

Villain: Titania, Chaos

Guest Stars: Whitney Parks, Icicle, Morning Star

Notes: This one was a long time in coming. Almost sixteen months had gone by since the last issue of Spectrum. Since I write both X-Factor and Spectrum, its easy to present their adventures in a linear manner. X-Factor spent all of last year in VIPER's Nest, which didn't lend any time for Spectrum to do his own thing. Plus the events in this issue took place after all the VIPER stuff which made it necessary to put it off until much later. This is a practice I do want to try and get away from. Make each series more independent instead of dependent. The title, "First Steps", refers to both Spectrum's writing career and Icicle's rehabilitation. This issue was also part of the 'Up Close and Personal " cycle of stories that focused on the private lives of the members of X-Factor.

Issue #30 "The Empress' New Clothes"

Plot: Spectrum battles Titania and Chaos, while the Empress seduces Impact.

Villain: Titania, Chaos

Guest Stars: Whitney Parks, Morning Star, Impact, Sabre, Empress

Notes: The stuff with Jim and Whitney was a lot of fun. Of course, you just knew that he was going to mess up somewhere! But you gotta give him credit for trying. The fight between Spectrum, Chaos, and Titania was a lot of fun too. And yes, both are quite the lightweight when it comes to superpowers. We do have a character arc in mind for Titania that should be quite entertaining. The situation with the Empress and Impact is going to have long lasting repercussions. The "Lady, a plastic surgeon couldn't make you look good" line that Spectrum says to Titania ranks as one of our favorite zingers of the year. The fact that Angie and Bryan dated in high school may or may not have come as a big surprise. If it was a surprise, go back and check out the beginning of Spectrum #27 with this in mind.

Overview:

Troubleshooters is our anthology series featuring a variety of characters and situations.

Our first mini-series revealed the fate of Captain Valor, a plotline that dated all the way back to Avengers #0.

Issue #16 "Stranger in a Strange Land"

Issue #17 "Familar Faces in Different Places"

Issue #18 "In the Hands of the Spirits"

Plot: Captain Valor finds himself stranded on the world of Terra Nova.

Villain: Friza, Vilsimbra, Misc. Slavers

Guest Stars: Kaloni, Lyndah, Robert, Kristine, Sargon, Hunter, Katrina, and Captain Jess

Notes: You requested it and you got it! Captain Valor was the winner of our poll on just whom should star in the next Troubleshooters mini-series. Wonder how many people were actually expecting any of this? Seriously, the world of Terra Nova did appear a little in our old stuff. The Enchantress had two rather long adventures there in her own title, one of which involved a different set of vaguely familiar Avengers. Captain Valor's involvement here is all new. Some of it is lifted from D&D games that I and others have run. Most of it is brand new. Captain Valor never made it to Terra Nova in the old stuff. Instead, he got drawn back to Earth from being stuck in limbo. When it started to become clear that Captain Valor was going to win the poll, Muskateer and myself had a brainstorming session on what to cover in the mini-series. Many of the ideas we had didn't make it into these three issues, unfortunately. But, we do have more than enough stuff to do a sequel! For the curious, we never planned on bringing Captain Valor back to Earth, at least in these three issues. Several other things need to occur before he can return. I know that many readers voted for Cap so that we could reveal his fate which was left hanging in the Avengers. I wonder how many ever imagined that Hunter's mysterious fate would be resolved as well?

Our second mini-series focused on the Heroes for Hire Organization of the Wild Cards.

Issue #19 "My Day with the Sword of Justice"

Plot: The Wild Cards protect a museum exhibit from PLUNDER.

Villain: PLUNDER - Sleeper, Phobos & Deimos, Silver Dragon, & Terastar

Guest Stars: Patricia Eisenhart, Ms. Henrietta Von Drotte, Green Avenger

Notes: I imagine that many of you are wondering just how the heck we managed to churn out two Troubleshooters mini-series in one year. It just sort of happened. Originally, the elements of this mini-series were to show up in our other New York series but primarily in the Avengers. With everything going on in the Avengers something had to give and it was the Wild Cards stuff. Since this is happening the same time as events in the Avengers, but has no real impact there, making it a Troubleshooters mini-series seemed like the way to go. The ideas were tweaked a bit and there you have it. It was during a lull between the X-Factor and Young Champions arcs that this series was written. Muskateer was editing other files, and was a way on a business trip for half a week as well. So, I needed something to do and the Wild Cards sparked my interest. The entire mini-series was written, first draft anyway, in ten days. PLUNDER is a group that we've both wanted to use for a long time. It's a bit ironic that this here was the first time we've ever used the entire group in anything. All in all, this was a nice issue and it does set up the Super Temps program and that they are looking for members for the Wild Cards.

Issue #20 "The Ghost and the Spectre"

Plot: The secrets of the Silver Spectre are revealed.

Villain: None

Guest Stars: Muskateer, Sharon Dobson

Notes: Unlike the Captain Valor mini, I'm doing issue by issue comments for the Wild Cards. While there are some plotlines that tie all three issues together, they are primarily three single issue stories under one umbrella. With this issue, we begin to show that maybe not everything is as it seems with the Wild Cards. The focus of this issue was the mysterious Glitter/Silver Spectre. This issue also reveals just who Ghostfire's mysterious twin was, mentioned way back in Avengers #0. Spectre is a very interesting, if not very confusing character. I loved her line at the end of the prologue. Sums her up perfectly! (So that you don't have to go back and look it up, the miner she rescues asks if Spectre is an angel. Her reply is, "Not by a longshot, pal.")

Issue #21 "Recruiting Drive"

Plot: The Wild Cards gain new members while Psi-Queen's true identity is revealed.

Villain: Lady Darkness, Thermax, Ogre, Dark Seraph, and other Ryker's Island inmates.

Guest Stars: Thunderstrike, Poltergeist, Night Owl, Kor Hunter, & Patricia Eisenhart.

Notes: Some plot strands from the Avengers are touched upon here as we see what happens next to the construction worker who was sucked into the 2nd vortex. He became Thunderstrike. Poltergeist was a last minute addition to the team, while we had planned on Night Owl and Kor Hunter joining for a very long time. I bet no one foresaw Psi-Queen's secret, nor expected the scene with Lady Darkness at Ryker's Island. I did say that the Wild Cards mini was originally supposed to appear in the pages of the Avengers. Virtually every issue tied in to things that happened in past Avengers issues. The mini should have also asked far more questions than it answered as well. Don't you hate that?

Overview:

X-Factor is one of the newest hero teams around, comprised of mostly new heroes with one veteran. This is an offbeat look at the team concept starting with a group that doesn't have any equipment of their own. Membership includes: Spectrum (Leader), Morning Star, Sabre, Shockwave, Mockingbird, Blizzard, and the Empress. Regular guest stars include SIMON, Icicle and Spinnerette.

Issue #15 "Up Close and Personal"

Plot: The members of X-Factor relax after their raid on VIPER.

Villain: Black Paladin, Lady Bale, Lord Abyss

Guest Stars: Jackie Carter, Silver Avenger Jospeh Gray, TJ Jr.

Notes: A nice change of pace issue after all the VIPER issues. We finally got to focus in on each of the team in their private lives. By popular demand, we showed what Black Paladin had been up to as of late. This was the first issue of an arc of such stories, that covered several issues of X-Factor & Spectrum.

Issue #16 "A Puslar on the Hollywood Walk of Fame"

Plot: Pulsar attempts to kidnap Shiela Grace.

Villain: Pulsar, Hammerhead

Guest Stars: Jackie Carter, Sheila Grace, Adam Grace, Starbolt, Tj Jr.

Notes: The banter between Pulsar and Sheila Grace has to rank up there among the funniest stuff written for this year. Yep, Puslar is quite the unsophisticated swine. Ironically, that was the first thing I wrote after completing the Captain Valor mini-series. Hmmm... Sabre's involvement was quite enjoyable as well. No idea where the notion to do Dirty Harry came from, but it worked. I know I certainly won't look at marbles quite the same way ever again! Another nice issue where we continued our focus on the team. In spite of what Mockingbird thought, that was Starbolt appearing at the end of the issue, not Feur.

Issue #17 "Caught Between a Hammerhead and a Hot Place"

Plot: Mockingbird gets caught in the middle of a battle between Hammerhead and Starbolt.

Villain: Hammerhead

Guest Stars: Starbolt, Impact

Notes: Quite a bit going on with this issue. We have the full introduction of Starbolt to Los Angeles, the continuation of the Thugmaster's Elite storyline, and the first person to leave X-Factor. It was probably not a big surprise that it was the Empress. But Blizzard not leaving with her probably was a surprise. I know it was to me and I write this stuff! Musky has plans when it comes to Blizz. We'll have to see just how those turn out.

Overview:

Young Champions focues on a bunch of supers in training. The series is set on Sanctuary and includes island staff and many superpowered guests. Members of the Young Champions include: Gladiator (Leader), Archangel, Terra Fire, Tempest, Nemesis, Sapphire, Tigress, and Turbo. Sanctuary Staff members include Charcoal, Peacekeeper, Pooka, Metalla, Dr. Angelique Marin, and Hyperion. Firestar and Nightingale put in frequent appearances.

Issue #19 "Searching High and Low"

Plot: The Jade Princess continues on towards its destination while the Young Champions go in search of their missing teammate.

Villain: Howler, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon

Guest Stars: None

Notes: With this issue we start the sprint towards the end of Howler's quest. Yeah, I have to agree: It's about time. I never imagined that it would have gone on this long! At any rate with this issue we were past the halfway mark. Tempest's situation continues to spiral out of her control as her loyalties continue to be severely tested. Daigon got to show off her sadistic side.

Issue #20 "Cat and Mouse"

Plot: The Tigress goes on the offensive while Howler uncovers the directions to the Tribes of Azkan.

Villain: Howler, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon

Guest Stars: None

Notes: This issue could have very easily been called "The Tigress Kicks Ass". This was one of the odder issues written this year as I would literally write a little bit, send it out to Muskateer to get the Tigress' reactions and what she would do next. This happened at least half-a-dozen times before the file was even finished. It was almost like a PBM game!

Issue #21 "The Ancient Way"

Plot: Howler locates the lost realm of Azkan.

Villain: Howler, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon

Guest Stars: None

Notes: This one was another of the oddly written files of the year. Once more, it was sent back and forth for Tigress dialogue. Some of it was even done online via Instant Messages! At one point, there were two separate files for this one issue. Musky had the first part and I had the urge to work on the second part and so started a separate file to handle the last 60% of the issue. Somehow it all came together into single file that you saw on the site.

Back to the Awards Page

Issue #29	"Tailing the Dragon"
Plot:	In the wake of the beating taken by the Huntress from the White Dragon, several Avengers and friends of the Huntress go out to settle the score. The Enchantress is captured by Lady Darkness.
Villain:	Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan, Chameleon, & the Dragon Lords
Guest Stars:	Scarlet Sabre, Night Owl
Notes:	I got a taste of my own medicine with this issue. There have been numerous times where I've taken files written by Muskateer and split them into two separate files because they were growing so long. Finally he did the same to me. In hindsight it was the correct thing to do. At the rate I was going, this issue was going to be even larger than the double-sized Huntress#25 which the storyline continued from! A few scenes ended up being switched around as what I conceived as a two issue storyline suddenly became three. For instance, the capture of the Enchantress was supposed to be at the end of the next issue while the White Dragon storyline was going to be resolved in this issue. It was nice to focus on some of the more underused characters like Supreme, Texas Ranger and the Thing. I also like how neatly the situations with the Enchantress and the Thing spun out of the Huntress storyline. Each had already been in place for a long time, but having the Huntress storyline serve as a catalyst just tied everything together even better.

Issue #30	"Retribution!"
Plot:	The Avengers close in on the White Dragon while Firestar and Guardian Angel grapple with Ladybug.
Villain:	Ladybug, White Dragon & the Dragon Lords, Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan
Guest Stars:	Scarlet Sabre, Night Owl
Notes:	As noted above, much of this issue was supposed to occur in the previous one. The encounter with Ladybug by Guardian Angel and Firestar was not originally part of the storyline. When the story grew beyond my expectations it was added to help pad this issue and give those heroines something to do. Ladybug had been mentioned before and we just picked up on those plot strands here. All in all, it was nice to give all three characters a chance to shine. The combat with the White Dragon pretty much went as planned. Did anyone expect Tex to be the one to finally get his hands on the Dragon? Or that Muskateer, of all people, would be the one to pull him off? On the whole, an action packed issue.

Issue #31	"Things Change"
Plot:	Muskateer searches for the Enchantress while the Thing begins to change.
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	None
Notes:	Yeah, I know. Bad one on the title. Just wait until the resolution of the Thing plot- "The More Things Change"! Bruce should be happy that we tried to get some background on Jeeves in. Too bad he was interrupted. Maybe next time. Nothing about this issue was really normal on our end. We knew that Musky's and the Thing's plot lines were going to dominate the issue and started there. I wrote all of the scenes that spun out of the Thing's predicament, while Musky did most of his portion. Later on, the two were combined into a coherent issue with the scenes with Di & Supreme among the last to be written. Just a case of us having to get certain situations accomplished in this issue and then using what space remained for other opportunities.

Issue #32	"The Breaking Point"
Plot:	Muskateer's search for the Enchantress continues as emotions are running high.
Villain:	Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan
Guest Stars:	Dr. Angelique Marin, Sorceress, Scarlet Sabre, Felina Kirby
Notes:	This was another issue that was written in a very unusual manner. Since we've been far ahead of schedule most of this summer, I've been able to indulge myself more than I normally would. Meaning, that if I had the urge to write something and even if it wasn't going to come up soon, I could. Several scenes in this issue just fell into place and I wrote basically 60% of the issue in just one day. The remaining portion were the scenes with Muskateer. I pretty much just did set up on those and later Muskateer filled those in or did a rough outline for them that I fleshed out later on. We probably spent more time talking about the scene between Musky & Di than it took to write it. As mentioned above, I got the ball rolling and Musky started to get into the scene. I got a phone call asking what Di would do next. A few minutes later, we were both online trading online messages trying to iron out the rest of that scene. Some of the actual dialogue was lifted from our OM's. We spent nearly two hours talking about this one scene. Weird how some of this stuff actually comes about! Hopefully, the scene at the end of the issue caught everyone by surprise.

Issue #24	"The Dragon's Fury"
Plot:	The Huntress is lured into a trap by the White Dragon.
Villain:	White Dragon & the Dragon Lords
Guest Stars:	None
Notes:	Yet another case of things not going as planned. A long time ago when I was plotting this stuff out, back around issue 17 or so, I had a single sentence describing this issue. "Lured into trap by White Dragon and badly beaten." Sounds simple, doesn't it? They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, well that one sentence translated into over 10,000 words and two issues! The events in my plotted out Huntress #24 ended up covering issues #24 & 25. Likewise the events of the plotted #25 became issues #26 through #28. Combat is one of those areas that I find harder to do. Muskateer can whip up a fight right off the cuff while it takes me some work. I was actually already writing the file before some of the pieces of the story came together, specifically the type of ambush and the type of deathtrap that would be used. I came up with a wide range of those, but given the low-key nature of the villain, had to come up with something that fit his profile. Hopefully, I came up with something that fits his sadistic nature.

Issue #25	"The Hunt Ends"
Plot:	The Huntress escapes the White Dragon's trap only to be beaten by the villain.
Villain:	White Dragon & the Dragon Lords.
Guest Stars:	Black Diamond, Muskateer, Texas Ranger, Thing, Enchantress, Nightingale, Dr. Brinton, Nurse Chang
Notes:	As noted above, this was not what I had intended for the 25th Anniversary issue. In spite of that, I feel that it was a worthy anniversary issue that held more than its fair share of surprises. The long review of past events during the escape was added to help it feel more like an anniversary issue. Yep, the White Dragon is one MEAN SOB! I wrote the first two-thirds of the issue right after completing the previous issue, so there was no lacking in intensity. Naturally, the method of escape was figured out at the same time as the trap was conceived. Even better, it showed previously used elements. Don't you hate it when a hero solves some problem by pulling out some gadget that had never appeared before? Felina actually attacked someone for the first time in any of our stories. Of course, she was very justified in her actions, and probably a bit merciful. Good thing she didn't aim lower! The title is in reference to the first issue of the Huntress - "The Hunt Begins" and this issue closes the first chapter in our heroine's life. Will there be a second chapter? Stay tuned!

Issue #5	"Very Long Ride"
Plot:	Muskateer encounters the Downtrodden on his way back to his base.
Villain:	Donwtrodden - Charcoal, Fry Daddy, Wild Thing, Truck, Zap, Shades, Ears, Voodoo, etc.
Guest Stars:	None
Notes:	Very long ride indeed! This issue was a very long time in coming. Some elements of it having been written almost a year before it was released. Muskateer's lack of time was the main culprit in delaying this one. There were also some issues on the storyline that needed to be resolved as well. Anyone surprised to see the LH version of Charcoal show up? This story just sort of died on the shelf when the Downtrodden appeared. Not sure why, but everything else seemed to come before finishing it. Once the fight got started, the file was completed much quicker. This was one file that just never cooperated.

Issue #22	"Friends and Lovers"
Plot:	Muskateer spends the day with the Enchantress and attends Helena's party.
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	Scarlet Sabre, Huntress, Felina, Firestar, and Terra Fire
Notes:	This was the file that almost wasn't. Traditionally, Muskateer tries to have a new Musky file for the time around this birthday. The way things were going, it didn't appear that it was going to happen. We talked and it was decided that I see what I could do for this file. The basic file outline came out of our discussions and I wrote much of the framework. Muskateer then came back and tailored things to his tastes and finished off a few of the scenes that I had left hanging. All in all, this is probably our most collaborative effort of the year. They say that art often imitates life and this file is an example of it. Some of the scenes that happen between Gwen and Steven are things that happen between Musky and his real life wife. The walking on his back bit is one of them. There have been other such instances in other files, but there are many of them in this file. It's a very personal file in that sense. We also wanted to highlight their relationship before everything goes really bad to help the readers sympathize with Muskateer's fury once the Enchantress is missing.

Issue #7	"The Tale of Silver Arrow"
Plot:	Scarlet recalls a past exploit of the retiring Silver Arrow.
Villain:	Conquerors - Neutron, Arc, Wyvern, & Ankylosuar
Guest Stars:	Freedom League - Microwave, Speedster, Rad, Brute, FIST, Silver Arrow, and Resonator.
Notes:	I started writing this file with a scene where Jessica is getting ready for her first day on the job. It never made it into the file. My original concept was to cover both Scarlet's job and Silver Arrow's retirement. The later pushed the former into the next issue. It was Muskateer's suggestion to make use of the Conquerors for our flashback tale. I then came up with a scenario that would bring all these elements together.

Issue #8	"The Corporate Life"
Plot:	Jessica's first day as an executive and she attends the pool party.
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	Sheryl Campbell, Ms. Henrietta Von Drotte, Donald Henderson, Georgio, Huntress, Felina Kirby, Black Diamond, Muskateer, Enchantress, Nightingale, Supreme, Thing, Texas Ranger, Firestar, Terra Fire, Night Owl, Kor Hunter, & Willow Witch.
Notes:	The scene mentioned under the previous issue is the one that starts this file. This issue lightly touches upon some of the things going on in the Wild Cards mini-series. Not totally surprising as this issue was primarily written after the Wild Cards mini. All in all, not a whole lot of action going on here. Finally got to see Scarlet's take on the pool party, the first half of it anyway. The rest of it will be covered in her next file.

Issue #9	"First Strike"
Plot:	Robots attack CII!
Villain:	Fuergeson the Great
Guest Stars:	Sheryl Campbell, Tom Braden, Enchantress
Notes:	Yet another unusually written issue. I wrote the beginning, the ending, and then the middle. The middle here being all of the attack. Part of the problem was that I wasn't just sure what the fighting was going to involve at first. I wanted to put some action into this issue after several relatively quiet issues. My first thought was the one I ended up settling on. Writing in the first person is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you primarily have to deal with just one character and their views. At times you can gloss over things with simple narration as opposed to doing a full scene. On the downside, every scene involves the main character. There are no cut away scenes or interludes. You're only shown what the main character sees. In this instance, the fact that Fuergeson the Great was behind the attack and exactly what his motives were are unrevealed.

Issue #10	"The Perfect Mate"
Plot:	The forces of Fuergeson the Great attempt to kidnap Jessica Flynn
Villain:	Fuergeson the Great & his goons
Guest Stars:	Tom Braden, Kyle Sherwood, Sheryl Campbell, Microwave, Starguard
Notes:	This issue was a lot of fun. Finally gave Jessica some interesting men to play off of! Just who is Starguard and what are his motives? That's a mystery that will play out in the files to come. Whatever they are, they're probably a whole lot more appealing that being chased after by the demented Fuergeson the Great! Observant readers may find the names of some of Fuergeson's goons' familiar. Regular posters on our Message Board have been immortalized as part of the goon squad! As Muskateer noted, "That's not much of a reward." Hey, it's the thought that counts!

Issue #29	"First Steps"
Plot:	Spec relaxes in the aftermath of the raid of the VIPER's Nest.
Villain:	Titania, Chaos
Guest Stars:	Whitney Parks, Icicle, Morning Star
Notes:	This one was a long time in coming. Almost sixteen months had gone by since the last issue of Spectrum. Since I write both X-Factor and Spectrum, its easy to present their adventures in a linear manner. X-Factor spent all of last year in VIPER's Nest, which didn't lend any time for Spectrum to do his own thing. Plus the events in this issue took place after all the VIPER stuff which made it necessary to put it off until much later. This is a practice I do want to try and get away from. Make each series more independent instead of dependent. The title, "First Steps", refers to both Spectrum's writing career and Icicle's rehabilitation. This issue was also part of the 'Up Close and Personal " cycle of stories that focused on the private lives of the members of X-Factor.

Issue #30	"The Empress' New Clothes"
Plot:	Spectrum battles Titania and Chaos, while the Empress seduces Impact.
Villain:	Titania, Chaos
Guest Stars:	Whitney Parks, Morning Star, Impact, Sabre, Empress
Notes:	The stuff with Jim and Whitney was a lot of fun. Of course, you just knew that he was going to mess up somewhere! But you gotta give him credit for trying. The fight between Spectrum, Chaos, and Titania was a lot of fun too. And yes, both are quite the lightweight when it comes to superpowers. We do have a character arc in mind for Titania that should be quite entertaining. The situation with the Empress and Impact is going to have long lasting repercussions. The "Lady, a plastic surgeon couldn't make you look good" line that Spectrum says to Titania ranks as one of our favorite zingers of the year. The fact that Angie and Bryan dated in high school may or may not have come as a big surprise. If it was a surprise, go back and check out the beginning of Spectrum #27 with this in mind.

Issue #16	"Stranger in a Strange Land"
Issue #17	"Familar Faces in Different Places"
Issue #18	"In the Hands of the Spirits"
Plot:	Captain Valor finds himself stranded on the world of Terra Nova.
Villain:	Friza, Vilsimbra, Misc. Slavers
Guest Stars:	Kaloni, Lyndah, Robert, Kristine, Sargon, Hunter, Katrina, and Captain Jess
Notes:	You requested it and you got it! Captain Valor was the winner of our poll on just whom should star in the next Troubleshooters mini-series. Wonder how many people were actually expecting any of this? Seriously, the world of Terra Nova did appear a little in our old stuff. The Enchantress had two rather long adventures there in her own title, one of which involved a different set of vaguely familiar Avengers. Captain Valor's involvement here is all new. Some of it is lifted from D&D games that I and others have run. Most of it is brand new. Captain Valor never made it to Terra Nova in the old stuff. Instead, he got drawn back to Earth from being stuck in limbo. When it started to become clear that Captain Valor was going to win the poll, Muskateer and myself had a brainstorming session on what to cover in the mini-series. Many of the ideas we had didn't make it into these three issues, unfortunately. But, we do have more than enough stuff to do a sequel! For the curious, we never planned on bringing Captain Valor back to Earth, at least in these three issues. Several other things need to occur before he can return. I know that many readers voted for Cap so that we could reveal his fate which was left hanging in the Avengers. I wonder how many ever imagined that Hunter's mysterious fate would be resolved as well?

Issue #19	"My Day with the Sword of Justice"
Plot:	The Wild Cards protect a museum exhibit from PLUNDER.
Villain:	PLUNDER - Sleeper, Phobos & Deimos, Silver Dragon, & Terastar
Guest Stars:	Patricia Eisenhart, Ms. Henrietta Von Drotte, Green Avenger
Notes:	I imagine that many of you are wondering just how the heck we managed to churn out two Troubleshooters mini-series in one year. It just sort of happened. Originally, the elements of this mini-series were to show up in our other New York series but primarily in the Avengers. With everything going on in the Avengers something had to give and it was the Wild Cards stuff. Since this is happening the same time as events in the Avengers, but has no real impact there, making it a Troubleshooters mini-series seemed like the way to go. The ideas were tweaked a bit and there you have it. It was during a lull between the X-Factor and Young Champions arcs that this series was written. Muskateer was editing other files, and was a way on a business trip for half a week as well. So, I needed something to do and the Wild Cards sparked my interest. The entire mini-series was written, first draft anyway, in ten days. PLUNDER is a group that we've both wanted to use for a long time. It's a bit ironic that this here was the first time we've ever used the entire group in anything. All in all, this was a nice issue and it does set up the Super Temps program and that they are looking for members for the Wild Cards.

Issue #20	"The Ghost and the Spectre"
Plot:	The secrets of the Silver Spectre are revealed.
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	Muskateer, Sharon Dobson
Notes:	Unlike the Captain Valor mini, I'm doing issue by issue comments for the Wild Cards. While there are some plotlines that tie all three issues together, they are primarily three single issue stories under one umbrella. With this issue, we begin to show that maybe not everything is as it seems with the Wild Cards. The focus of this issue was the mysterious Glitter/Silver Spectre. This issue also reveals just who Ghostfire's mysterious twin was, mentioned way back in Avengers #0. Spectre is a very interesting, if not very confusing character. I loved her line at the end of the prologue. Sums her up perfectly! (So that you don't have to go back and look it up, the miner she rescues asks if Spectre is an angel. Her reply is, "Not by a longshot, pal.")

Issue #21	"Recruiting Drive"
Plot:	The Wild Cards gain new members while Psi-Queen's true identity is revealed.
Villain:	Lady Darkness, Thermax, Ogre, Dark Seraph, and other Ryker's Island inmates.
Guest Stars:	Thunderstrike, Poltergeist, Night Owl, Kor Hunter, & Patricia Eisenhart.
Notes:	Some plot strands from the Avengers are touched upon here as we see what happens next to the construction worker who was sucked into the 2nd vortex. He became Thunderstrike. Poltergeist was a last minute addition to the team, while we had planned on Night Owl and Kor Hunter joining for a very long time. I bet no one foresaw Psi-Queen's secret, nor expected the scene with Lady Darkness at Ryker's Island. I did say that the Wild Cards mini was originally supposed to appear in the pages of the Avengers. Virtually every issue tied in to things that happened in past Avengers issues. The mini should have also asked far more questions than it answered as well. Don't you hate that?

Issue #15	"Up Close and Personal"
Plot:	The members of X-Factor relax after their raid on VIPER.
Villain:	Black Paladin, Lady Bale, Lord Abyss
Guest Stars:	Jackie Carter, Silver Avenger Jospeh Gray, TJ Jr.
Notes:	A nice change of pace issue after all the VIPER issues. We finally got to focus in on each of the team in their private lives. By popular demand, we showed what Black Paladin had been up to as of late. This was the first issue of an arc of such stories, that covered several issues of X-Factor & Spectrum.

Issue #16	"A Puslar on the Hollywood Walk of Fame"
Plot:	Pulsar attempts to kidnap Shiela Grace.
Villain:	Pulsar, Hammerhead
Guest Stars:	Jackie Carter, Sheila Grace, Adam Grace, Starbolt, Tj Jr.
Notes:	The banter between Pulsar and Sheila Grace has to rank up there among the funniest stuff written for this year. Yep, Puslar is quite the unsophisticated swine. Ironically, that was the first thing I wrote after completing the Captain Valor mini-series. Hmmm... Sabre's involvement was quite enjoyable as well. No idea where the notion to do Dirty Harry came from, but it worked. I know I certainly won't look at marbles quite the same way ever again! Another nice issue where we continued our focus on the team. In spite of what Mockingbird thought, that was Starbolt appearing at the end of the issue, not Feur.

Issue #17	"Caught Between a Hammerhead and a Hot Place"
Plot:	Mockingbird gets caught in the middle of a battle between Hammerhead and Starbolt.
Villain:	Hammerhead
Guest Stars:	Starbolt, Impact
Notes:	Quite a bit going on with this issue. We have the full introduction of Starbolt to Los Angeles, the continuation of the Thugmaster's Elite storyline, and the first person to leave X-Factor. It was probably not a big surprise that it was the Empress. But Blizzard not leaving with her probably was a surprise. I know it was to me and I write this stuff! Musky has plans when it comes to Blizz. We'll have to see just how those turn out.

Issue #19	"Searching High and Low"
Plot:	The Jade Princess continues on towards its destination while the Young Champions go in search of their missing teammate.
Villain:	Howler, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon
Guest Stars:	None
Notes:	With this issue we start the sprint towards the end of Howler's quest. Yeah, I have to agree: It's about time. I never imagined that it would have gone on this long! At any rate with this issue we were past the halfway mark. Tempest's situation continues to spiral out of her control as her loyalties continue to be severely tested. Daigon got to show off her sadistic side.

Issue #20	"Cat and Mouse"
Plot:	The Tigress goes on the offensive while Howler uncovers the directions to the Tribes of Azkan.
Villain:	Howler, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon
Guest Stars:	None
Notes:	This issue could have very easily been called "The Tigress Kicks Ass". This was one of the odder issues written this year as I would literally write a little bit, send it out to Muskateer to get the Tigress' reactions and what she would do next. This happened at least half-a-dozen times before the file was even finished. It was almost like a PBM game!

Issue #21	"The Ancient Way"
Plot:	Howler locates the lost realm of Azkan.
Villain:	Howler, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon
Guest Stars:	None
Notes:	This one was another of the oddly written files of the year. Once more, it was sent back and forth for Tigress dialogue. Some of it was even done online via Instant Messages! At one point, there were two separate files for this one issue. Musky had the first part and I had the urge to work on the second part and so started a separate file to handle the last 60% of the issue. Somehow it all came together into single file that you saw on the site.