Year in Review

Year in Review for 2002

Another year has slid on past and it's time for another year in review! 2002 was a great year for the site. We had more files this year than in either of the past 2 years! (33 this year versus 26 & 28 respectively.) My goal is about 30 or so files per year, so we were just a bit ahead of that goal. We also had the 25th Anniversary issues for Muskateer, Troubleshooters, and Young Champions as well.

The other big thing that happened this year was the opening of our new forum! This was lightyears better than our old message board. Far more interactive and that led to much more dialogue. So much dialogue in fact, that I don't really have a whole lot more to add to this review. Much of this and many other things have been covered on the forum.

Like all the previous Year in Review files, the file entries were written around the same time as the files themselves were written. Sometimes before, but usually afterwards. If the entries in a series seem a bit disjointed, it was because they were not written one after the other. For instance, the entries for X-Factor #18 & 19 were written in the spring, while X-Factor #20-22 were written in the fall. In fact, the entries for the Huntress files were written for the 2001 Year in Review, but since those files didn't make it up in time, they were transfered to the 2002 file!

All in all, a very strong year for the files. Lots of interesting choices for our voters this year. As proof of this, Muskateer and myself only agreed on 1 of our catagories! To find out which one that was, you'll have to vote!

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 #33 "A Touch of Darkness"

Plot: Assisted by the Guardian Angel, Silver Avenger Jake Koweleski, and Jaime the Avengers reclaim Ryker's Island. The Darkness gains control of the Enchantress & Lady Zee.

Villain: Darkness, Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan, Chameleon

Guest Stars: Scarlet Sabre, Silver Avenger Jake Koweleski

Notes: This file has the dubious honor of taking the longest before appearing on the site. It was written in July of 2001 but never appeared until August 2002! This was the case of being in-between issues of other series I was working on at the time and the elements of the file simply coming together. The events of this issue play off of those in Muskateer #23 and that's the file that took a very long time to finish, thus prevent Avengers #33 from going up. Once we finally did get into doing series work on Muskateer #23 I ended up doing some re-writing on this issue. There were actually two different re-writes, one based on our discussions for Muskateer #23 and then another after that file was actually finished to make sure the two tied together properly. It was a minor thing, but in essence the file we put up was not identical to the one I wrote a year earlier. I wrote all the Enchantress stuff first, and then went back and filled in the rest. We also got to finally learn the big secret about Lady Darkness. Her costume isn't a costume at all, but rather a sentient ooze of some type! Talk about creepy!

Issue #34 "A Pinch of Evil"

Plot: Firestar and the Texas Ranger go assist the Scarlet Sabre at the Carrington Estate, while the three Lady Darkness's return to Terra Nova.

Villain: Darkness, Lady Darkness (Ashley, Enchantress, Lady Zee), Ogre, Thunderbolt, Mechassassin, Lightburst, Thermax

Guest Stars: Scarlet Sabre

Notes: While this one was not written as far ahead as the previous issue, the Lady Darkness portions were written before Muskateer #23 was even completed. At one point this issue was going to be quite different from what it ended up being. Ironing out what was going to happen in the Muskateer files was what led to the changes. Originally it had been my hope to do the fight at the Carrington Estate and wrap it all up in Muskateer #24. Didn't work out that way. Based on that, I realized that I was going to start the file with the Avengers arriving to help mop up. Once more logistic problems ended up changing things. I had forgotten the small bit in Avengers #33 where Firestar and Texas Ranger had been sent ahead of the rest of the team to help. That coupled with the way Muskateer #24 end up turning out, shaped the file into its final form. It was nice to have 'Star and Ranger shine on their own. Lady Darkness' little army of supervillains was pretty much broken up with this issue. We needed some of these folks in other places anyway!

Issue #35 "A Dash of Malevolence"

Plot: The Avengers secure the Carrington Estate and start to uncover information about their foes.

Villain: Darkness, Lady Darkness (Ashley, Enchantress, Lady Zee), Ogre, Mechassassin, Lightburst, Thermax, Blaise Morgan, Mira, Ratana, Katara, & Bethena

Guest Stars: Scarlet Sabre

Notes: And finally we get the wrap up on the Carrington Estate Raid. Many of the mysteries from the past few years were answered and explained. Such as what was causing the strange vortexes to form for instance. I didn't cover as much ground with the Avengers themselves as I had hoped to. More stuff for the next issue. Meanwhile the plans of Lady Darkness continue to advance and the new converts get some helper elves to aid them in their plans. Not a whole lot happening here, just the advancing of the plot.

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 #26 "Shattered Dreams"

Plot: Helena discovers that a formula was used to boost her father's abilities.

Villain: None

Guest Stars: Dr. Marin, Black Diamond, Nightingale, Texas Ranger, Night Owl, & Willow Witch

Notes: This issue takes the Huntress storyline into its home stretch. These are the events that everything since issue #1 has been leading to. As noted above, the ending of this issue was where I had intended to end issue #24. Hopefully, it'll come as quite a shock to everyone out there. This issue was another one that was written out of sequence. Typically, I write an issue in the exact same order as you would read it. Start to finish. But this time I wrote the things that had to occur in this issue first. For the curious, the visits by Ranger, Night Owl, & Willow Witch were the last written. Had I needed more material, I could have added visits by Scarlet Sabre & Muskateer as well. The appearance of our swordspersons was not as important as their visits can easily be covered in their own series. So, Bruce was this a big enough change for you? Ironically, this was another issue written well ahead of when it was going to appear on the site. Almost five full months. Just another case of where my whims led me to working on something else for a bit. I wrote this one in just two days. Back when I mentioned on the Message Board me finding it odd to actual write new stuff for Black Diamond and Guardian Angel, it was in reference to this file. (And Avengers #32 as well. Both were done within days of each other.)

Issue #27 "Claws"

Plot: Transformed into a human/feline hybrid, an out of control Helena stalks the city streets!

Villain: None

Guest Stars: Black Diamond, Nightingale, Muskateer, Texas Ranger, Guardian Angel, Firestar, Supreme, Copperhead, and Aquiline

Notes: This issue, and the next, were some of the more offbeat issues of the year. I mean, how often do you write things from the point of view from a giant feline? Seriously, this was one of our old stories that I wanted another crack at as I felt I could do a much better job with it. With this issue the mystery of Helena's seeming lack of powers is laid open. This is what had been planned all along. Of course, the revelation of the source of Felina's powers is revealed for the first time. As I mentioned on our message board, Felina plays a role in the power change in Helena, just not quite the one everyone was expecting. (I believe a blood transfusion was mentioned.) Another unusual thing was some of the comments that came in for last year's awards voting. There were comments about how nice it was that the Huntress was not chemically mutated, or words to those affect. I believe it was Leslie who added those comments. When I read those, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Sorry, Leslie, but that's going to change during the next year". When this is all over with, Helena will be just below her parents in abilities on average. Better in some areas, less in others. For the curious, we nicknamed the full feline version of the Huntress the Were-Huntress (which technically means Man-Huntress. Oh well.).

Issue #28 "Destiny of the Huntress"

Plot: The Avengers close in on the transformed Helena while a cure for her condition is sought.

Villain: None

Guest Stars: Black Diamond, Nightingale, Muskateer, Texas Ranger, Guardian Angel, Firestar, Supreme, Jennifer Hamilton, Lady Victory, Hyperion, Rush, Lady Britannia, Scarlet Sabre, Night Owl, Willow Witch, Terra Fire, Dr, Marin, Dr. Brinton, and Aquiline

Notes: And finally the extra-length conclusion of our epic. I do have to admit that the method used to de-feline Helena was not the one I originally came up with. The concept just presented itself when I was putting the file together and it tied in perfectly with past campaign history. I decided to include all the scenes at the end for two reasons. One, it served to basically wrap up many of the on going plot lines and resolve various situations. The next issue can start off fresh without any major baggage from this storyline. Two, I got to reveal the new costume for the Huntress this year. Muskateer had been playing around with the idea of a new costume for Helena near the end of 2000. Everything came together for him in January of 2001 and so I encouraged him to draw it. (Mainly to get it out of his system so that he could go back to working on other things!) He was quite pleased with the results and wanted to know when it was going to go up on the site. My answer was next year, meaning 2002. Naturally, he wasn't happy about that and so I shaved some time off this way and you all got to see this great pic much earlier than expected.

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 #6 "Sudden Curve"

Plot: Muskateer returns to his base just in time for Mechanon to arrive.

Villain: HPA Goons, Mechanon

Guest Stars: None

Notes: For the time being Muskateer has decided to simply plot the LH issues and I would write them. Then he would go through them, make the necessary changes and adjustments to suit his tastes. This is not the first time we've done this, but it's a first for LH. Anyway, we ironed out the basic outline by E-mail with each adding different ideas to the final product. The scenes were written, sent out to Muskateer for tweaking, and then finalized. Ideas for what happened in this issue came from both sides. Having Jaime hidden inside a Mechanon robot was something we conceived a long time ago. In fact, it was this idea that led to the notion of having backups of Jaime hidden in Hunter's Lair. This was mentioned both in Scarlet Sabre #4 & Muskateer #23. A case of our regular series setting up something to be used later in Lost Heroes!

Overview:

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

Issue #23 "The Search For the Enchantress"

Plot: Aided by the Scarlet Sabre, Muskateer hacks into the Ryker's Island computers for information.

Villain: Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan, Chameleon, Esper, Dark Seraph, Deathsinger, Ogre, Thermax.

Guest Stars: Scarlet Sabre, Sorceress

Notes: If you've read the entry for Avengers #33 then you know some of the story behind this particular file. The opening for this file (the part leading up to the first video sequence) was written in September 2001, right on the heels of writing Muskateer #22. Then it sat there for many months for a variety of reasons. Finally, there was renewed interest in June of 2002. The video sequences were added at that point. Then Muskateer added some notes, comments, and some lines of dialogue. The rest of the file was written in July of 2002 and was finished shortly before being put up on the site. This issue is one of those connect the dots issues where many past events are tied together. Lots of Editor Notes in this one!

Issue #24 "Raid on the Carrington Estate"

Plot: Muskateer raids the Carrington Estate in his search for the Enchantress.

Villain: Blaise Morgan, Frost, Deathsinger, Ogre, Thermax, Thunderbolt, Sparkler, Lightburst, Mechassassin, Arrowhead, Power Crusher

Guest Stars: Scarlet Sabre, Sorceress

Notes: While the previous issue was mostly problem solving, this one was straightforward action! As noted in the text, the villains were not their normal frisky selves due to the mind control they had been under. In game terms their DEX & SPEED were lowered a bit from normal. What was really surprising was how this issue ended. Our original plan was for Lady Darkness to simply escape with Gwen and be done with it. Unfortunately, as I was writing the file and re-reading the files leading up to it I realized that keeping the heroes in the dark about the existence of Terra Nova was going to be almost impossible. It could have been done, but too many things would have had to happen that would have seemed suspicious. For one thing, the Scarlet Sabre was already aware of Terra Nova having been told about it by Kor Hunter in Scarlet #8 during the pool party. Once the heroes located the Portal Device and the notes that went with it, that would have been another method. So instead of trying to prevent the discovery of Terra Nova at this point, we just went with it. The method that we used-- the Sorceress attempting to duplicate the teleportation spell was determined and our hero was off to Terra Nova!

Issue #25 "Strange New World"

Plot: Muskateer pursues the Enchantress to Terra Nova.

Villain: Kester & an army of undead

Guest Stars: Sorceress, Lord Garmer, Miriam, Max, and Priestess Vestra

Notes: As you might've gathered from the above entry, having Muskateer pursue the Enchantress to Terra Nova was not part of the original plan. The circumstances just led up to it being a logical thing for the character to do. So, that threw something of a monkey wrench into everything. You see, we know how this whole Enchantress thing is going to play itself out. This little side trip was something unexpected. So the trick became to allow it to happen but not mess up what's going to happen in the future, but at the same time have something meaningful happen. Not the easiest of tasks! To solve this problem we ended up bringing some things that were going to be revealed in the future and brought them forward. The meaningful event being what the mysterious link between the Enchantress and Muskateer is. Hopefully, it was something that no one was expecting!

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 #11 "A Night on the Town"

Plot: Jessica and Kyle go out on a date.

Villain: None

Guest Stars: Microwave, Kyle Sherwood

Notes: If someone would have told me that I could have spent an entire issue just covering Jessica's date with Kyle, I would have thought they were nuts. But alas, best laid plans go awry and that is exactly what happened. The entire issue was related to Jessica's date with Kyle. I used the getting to know each other process to reveal some of Scarlet's backstory that had yet to be mentioned, specifically details on her immediate family and where she grew up. All in all, I thought it came out rather well. Definitely one of the more offbeat issues of the year!

Issue #12 "Infatuation"

Plot: Jessica can't get Kyle out of her mind.

Villain: Minions of Fuergeson the Great

Guest Stars: Kyle Sherwood, Tom Braden, Roma Asheland.

Notes: Yet another offbeat issue as Jessica spends most of the issue pining for Kyle. A few sub-plots are advanced, but most of it deals with Jessica's crush on Kyle. Has our heroine finally found true love?

Issue #13 "The Bride of Fuergeson the Great!"

Plot: Jessica is kidnapped by Fuergeson to become his bride.

Villain: Fuergeson the Great

Guest Stars: Kyle Sherwood, Starguard

Notes: I've used the term offbeat several times, but it seems to best cover this entire arc. I mean, the Scarlet Sabre hasn't actually appeared since the 9th issue! In this one Jessica is faced the prospect of becoming Fuergeson's bride. Kyle is used as leverage against her and she really doesn't have a choice. Marry Fuergeson or her love gets harmed! Starguard shows up once more and manages to make things even more confusing. Is Kyle really Starguard? Stay tuned!

Overview:

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

Issue #31 "The Morning After"

Plot: Stephanie is surprised to discover her powers remain, Bryan figures out that the Empress is cheating on Blizzard with him, while Spectrum visits X-Factor's new base.

Villain: None

Guest Stars: Icicle, Morning Star, Sabre, Empress and Lt. Franklin

Notes: We finally get around to showing if Stephanie still has her powers or not. It'll be interesting to see just how her situation plays out. The reference to Catalyst and the Emerald Citizens is a nod to a story that Gordon is planning on writing for the site. Otherwise, not a whole lot to talk about here. Some nice scenes with all the main characters and their current troubles. And for a change, Jim isn't the one having the problems!

Issue #32 "Who Called the Destruction Crew?"

Plot: Half of X-Factor takes on the Destruction Crew.

Villain: Destruction Crew - Bulldozer, Sledge, Pile Driver, Buzzsaw, and Airhammer

Guest Stars: Icicle, Morning Star, Sabre

Notes: I've had the idea to use the Destruction Crew in something involving X-Factor for a very long time now. Pretty much since we came up with the Destruction Crew. The trick of it was that they are not a particularly powerful-- or very smart-- group. Eventually I hit upon the concept of a sudden emergency where only part of X-Factor was available for a quick mission. Having it be Icicle's first was a bonus. I've always been inspired to write by reading. I had read three complete novels in three days before starting this file. (I can read at an almost ungodly speed if I find something interesting.) If it seems a bit more visual than some of the other stuff, that might be why. All in all, it was a fun file. Yes, the Destruction Crew could have been a lot smarter in their robbery attempt. But as I noted, they are not the brightest bunch of thugs around.

Overview:

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

Our first mini-series featured those heroes from Texas, the Superior Six.

Issue #22 "If An Eye Offend Thee"

Issue #23 "A Dark and Stormy Knight"

Issue #24 "Showdown at the Ranch"

Plot: The Superior Six are attacked on a multitude of fronts.

Villain: Janissaries, VIPER, Black Paladin, Lady Bale, and the Rat Pack (Phoenix, Atomic Kid, Flex, Wild Wind, & Psi-Lad).

Guest Stars: DUKE

Notes: The Superior Six have always been one of my favorite NPC teams who would occasionally show up in other tales. For the first time we actually wrote something with them as the stars! The basic concept for the series came around late August/early September 2001. There were discussions going on about the Janissaries and they ended up in our story. VIPER is a big time team hunted and I wanted to make use of them in the story. The Sorceress has had past conflicts with Black Paladin and Lady Bale, so once those two hooked up it was only a matter of time before they headed to Dallas to even some old scores. Lastly, I wanted to touch back upon the situation in El Paso to set up future events. Yep, look for the Rat Pack to appear in future issues of Young Champions! Quite a tall order for one mini-series, but I think it was pulled off rather well. This one is pretty much wall to wall action, with just a bit of character development. Judging by how the mini came out, you can tell which of the Six are my favorites: Maverick, Captain Lightning, and the Sorceress. I still have mixed feelings whenever I read Issue #23 as it was the one I was writing on September 11th. It didn't get finished until several days after that.

Issue #25 "The Ladies of Magic"

Plot: The Sorceress recalls a past exploit with the Enchantress and the Purple Phlox.

Villain: Ansara.

Guest Stars: Enchantress, Purple Phlox, Peter Ramsey, & Snowball.

Notes: This one came about in a peculiar way. I was quite prepared to have completed the Superior Six mini-series with the end of Issue #24. Next up would have been the next Captain Valor mini-series. That's when I realized that the first issue would be the 25th Anniversary issue and wanted to do something special. (The Superior Six files were labeled as Six1, Six2, & Six3 on my word processor, not as TS22, etc.) And so I picked up on a few threads left over from the S6 Mini to do this special flashback issue. I found the idea of using the Sorceress, Enchantress, and Purple Phlox all in one tale to be very appealing. It also suggested the story title. There had been discussions for one of our regulars to write a Purple Phlox mini that sparked my interest in her again. The basic plot was ironed out with the first draft written during late September through early October. Hopefully everyone enjoyed this unusual and very long tale.

Our second mini-series focusing on the adventures of Captain Valor on the world of Terra Nova.

Issue #26 "Devil from the Deep"

Issue #27 "Dangerous Waters"

Issue #28 "The Hidden City"

Issue #29 "The Gift"

Issue #30 "In the Name of Love"

Plot: The Windsabre and her passengers try to make it to the main land. Friza is hunted by one of her own kind while a deranged mage has plans for Lyndah.

Villain: Vina, Vilsimbra, Lady Darkness, Warlock

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

Notes: This was another mini-series that grew dramatically as it was being written. It was originally conceived as being 3 issues long, but ended up being 5. Rather than cut corners, I just let the series take as much space as was necessary. All in all, this was a very fun series to do. Captain Valor is a fun character to write and I'm quite fond of Friza. I guess I've got a thing for bad girls! Using a different language for the Ectolians was introduced in this series. But in most cases, it was used in such a manner where the reader could figure out at least the type of word being used, if not necessarily the exact one being used. I will give you a hint that all the words are real words in a different language! However, not all the translations are exact and in some cases I choose the word because I liked the way it rolled off the tongue. A series I very much enjoyed doing. As I was writing this mini-series, I started to fill in the pieces of what will most likely turn out to be the next two mini-series featuring Captain Valor and the Avengers of Terra Nova. Something to look forward too!

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 Icicle. Regular guest stars include SIMON, Impact, Empress and Spinnerette.

Issue #18 "Moving In"

Plot: X-Factor moves into the VIPER base.

Villain: Kilbots

Guest Stars: Silver Avenger Joseph Gray, Lieutenant Franklin

Notes: Another quiet issue with quite a bit of personal development. I wonder if anyone realized that the security system Shockwave & Mockingbird started to work on in XF #17 was going to catch what Impact and Empress were doing at the end of Spectrum #30? All in all, not a whole lot to comment on. I remember when I sent this entire arc out to Muskateer for editing his comments on the files were something to the effect of "Okay, looks good." The problem is that from our perspective all the personal developments that occur in this particular arc were things that we had already discussed at great length. Indeed, some of it several years ago from our perspective. So it was simply a matter of going with our own outline. Not much new or unexpected here from our perspective.

Issue #19 "Scavengers"

Plot: Kilbots raid LawTech.

Villain: Kilbots

Guest Stars: Sheila Grace

Notes: Pretty much the same comments as above. What we have worked out is how the personal relationships among the group are going to unfold. For the most part, I've been coming up with the action, while Muskateer has been concentrating more on the personal relationships. For instance, we know how the Blizzard-Empress-Impact triangle is going to end up and other such small details. It should be fun to see how all of this plays out in the files to come. All I can see is that there are going to be more than a few relationship changes!

Issue #20 "Changing of the Guard"

Plot: The Guardians disband, the Freedom Squad gets a new base, and Heroes for Hire tangle with Foxbat, Shadow Queen and the Thugmaster's Elite.

Villain: Foxbat, Shadow Queen, Lightwave, Dash, Dragonfly, and Brother Basilisk

Guest Stars: Sheila Grace, Gyro Jim, Freedom Squad (American Eagle, Black Phantom, Hardhat, Dimension Man, Jo-Tan, Goshawk, & Victrix), and the Guardians (Hornet, Spinnerette, Density, Warlock, Lazerblast, Duplicator, and Sidewinder.)

Notes: There's a great many things going on in ths issue. So much happening that the members of X-Factor are more like supporting characters. The break up of the Guardians was something that happened the first time around as well. As for why it happened, all I can say is that you can pick up a few clues from things mentioned in the Avengers. Likewise, we always intended for the Freedom Squad to remain together. The classic modual "VOICE of Doom" is still in their future, so you can see where that is all leading. We finally got around to bringing Foxbat and Shadow Queen back and we're nearing the end of the Thugmaster's Elite subplot that has been running for a while now.

Issue #21 "Graduation Day"

Plot: The graduation ceremonies for the current crop of the Thugmaster's Elite begins.

Villain: Thugmaster's Elite (Dark Knight, Dash, Lightwave, Brother Basilisk, Chaos, Titania, Hammerhead, Annihilator, Dragonfly, Black Hole, Powerhouse, & Rainbow), Terror Unlimited (Scorpia, Shamrock, & Mind Slayer), Terror Incorporated (Professor Muerte, Giganto), Nest Leader, VIPER Agents, Shadow Queen, and Foxbat.

Guest Stars: Sheila Grace, Satara, Revenant

Notes: Much like the previous issue, a whole lot of things going on! The Thugmaster subplot has been running for a long time and this is its conclusion. The switching around of villains and the new recruits had been planned for quite a long time, as was Titania being kicked out. (Although the way it happened was changed from the original plan.) This change is what also opened the way for Revenant to make her debut. This issue pretty much covers all the changes and introduces everyone. That stuff hits the fan in the next issue!

Issue #22 "Showtime!"

Plot: X-Factor, the Thugmaster's Elite, and Viper forces find themselves in the middle of the war between Terror Incorporated and Terror Unlimited.

Villain: Thugmaster's Elite (Dark Knight, Dash, Lightwave, Brother Basilisk, Chaos, Powerhouse, & Rainbow), Terror Unlimited (Scorpia, Shamrock, Black Hole, & Mind Slayer), Terror Incorporated (Professor Muerte, Giganto, Feur, & Dragonfly), Nest Leader, VIPER Agents, Hammerhead Titania, Annihilator, Iron Maiden, Mentalla, Shadow Queen, and Foxbat.

Guest Stars: Satara, Revenant

Notes: Its been awhile since I ran a fight of this magnitude. There were nearly thirty different superbeings involved in one form or another. Of course the major conflict was between Terror Incorporated and Terror Unlimited. This was just a taste of what is to come as this conflict comes to a head in X-Factor #25! Shadow Queen continues with her typical ways and dumps Foxbat this issue. Don't tell me you expected that to last? Mind Slayer lived up to her name once more as she offed Dragon Fly. So much for that villain! Also we get a taste of the mystery surrounding Revenant. Who is she? Heroine or villianess? And what's her connection to Terror Incorportated? Stay tuned!

Overview:

Young Champions focuses 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 #22 "Into the Lost Realm"

Plot: Howler and Tempest explore the mysterious island while Daigon's true agenda is revealed.

Villain: Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon

Guest Stars: Howler

Notes: Finally, we head into the home stretch of the Howler's Quest story line. I learned my lesson from the Huntress fiasco when it came to 25th Anniversary issues. In the case of the Huntress, I ended up using the material for the Anniversary issue in Huntress #28. Back when I was plotting out the previous YC Arc (issues #19-21) I figured I could wrap this story up in Issue #23, maybe #24, which meant I needed something else for the Anniversary Issue. I did come up with something, but that'll be the storyline after Howler's quest. Anyhow, I fought back that notion and simply decided to make #25 the end of Howler's Quest. Having said all of that, when it came time to write this particular arc, I wrote up an outline and broke each of the four issues down. I deliberately underplotted the story so that it would fit the allotted issues. Turns out that I didn't need to worry, as I filled the space up pretty quick. In fact the ending I plotted for this issue ended up being the end of the next issue! (Where the YC team locates Daigon.) So that just goes to show you how fast things can change. The story basically has parallel storylines going on. One track is Howler & Tempest, the other Tigress & the Young Champions. I wrote the Howler & Tempest portions of this file first. In fact, I had them written as far as Issue #24 before coming back to do the Tigress portion of this file. I also took the time to re-introduce all the main characters to the readers. For our regulars it had been nearly 7 months between issues so some refreshing of events was needed. It also helped fill out this particular issue.

Issue #23 "The Island that Time Forgot"

Plot: The Young Champions arrive at the island and Howler explores the alien spaceship.

Villain: Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon

Guest Stars: Howler

Notes: Much like the previous issue, the Howler/Tempest parts were the first written. The main Young Champions stuff came last. Back in the early days of this storyline, I approached Muskateer about Tigress getting a pet. (The sabre-tooth.) He didn't go for the idea, so I changed it to Jennifer getting the pet. It seemed to play out much better that way. Maybe Snuggles was attracted to the Tigress' feline smells? Also, the name Snuggles refers back to a pet an NPC had in one of my old D&D games. You'll learn more about that in a future Muskateer Gallery exhibit!

Issue #24 "Rumble in the Jungle"

Plot: The Young Champions take on Daigon and Carlson's goons.

Villain: Zanthar, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon

Guest Stars: Howler

Notes: Finally, we get to the big battle issue! The parallel storylines continue and as per the previous issues, the actual Young Champions stuff came last. This was yet another case of the file filling up fast as the story unfolded. Howler's secret was revealed at last as well. I wonder if anyone realized that there was something actually inside her amulet directing her all this time?

Issue #25 "Quest's End"

Plot: Howler tries to stop Zanthar from destroying the lost realm while Tigress and Daigon go at it.

Villain: Zanthar, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon

Guest Stars: Howler, Azkan

Notes: And finally we get to the end of the story! After the ninth issue of Young Champions I found myself having no idea on what to do next in the series. I had exhausted all of my initial ideas. There were other storylines I had in mind, but more time needed to pass before using those. So, I gathered up my Champions books and started to page through them looking for inspiration. Just about everything from that hunt has driven the series since that point. After that I wrote up a 9 or 10 paragraph outline for the entire storyline. There were changes here and there after input from Muskateer, but for the most part it went off as planned. It was at the time that I came up with the notion that Howler was being manipulated by her amulet to do the thing she was doing. The concept fit in very nicely with her base write up and I expounded upon it in our version. That's also when I noticed that her powers had been changed. Particularly that her Desolidification and Regeneration had been removed in the 4th Edition version. This storyline was set up to free Howler from her influences and restore her lost powers. She's no longer a villain and neither is she a heroine. Thus you can see why I specifically placed her in the Normals and Neutrals Handbook. Howler will probably continue to be a background character in Young Champions.

Back to the Awards Page

Issue #33	"A Touch of Darkness"
Plot:	Assisted by the Guardian Angel, Silver Avenger Jake Koweleski, and Jaime the Avengers reclaim Ryker's Island. The Darkness gains control of the Enchantress & Lady Zee.
Villain:	Darkness, Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan, Chameleon
Guest Stars:	Scarlet Sabre, Silver Avenger Jake Koweleski
Notes:	This file has the dubious honor of taking the longest before appearing on the site. It was written in July of 2001 but never appeared until August 2002! This was the case of being in-between issues of other series I was working on at the time and the elements of the file simply coming together. The events of this issue play off of those in Muskateer #23 and that's the file that took a very long time to finish, thus prevent Avengers #33 from going up. Once we finally did get into doing series work on Muskateer #23 I ended up doing some re-writing on this issue. There were actually two different re-writes, one based on our discussions for Muskateer #23 and then another after that file was actually finished to make sure the two tied together properly. It was a minor thing, but in essence the file we put up was not identical to the one I wrote a year earlier. I wrote all the Enchantress stuff first, and then went back and filled in the rest. We also got to finally learn the big secret about Lady Darkness. Her costume isn't a costume at all, but rather a sentient ooze of some type! Talk about creepy!

Issue #34	"A Pinch of Evil"
Plot:	Firestar and the Texas Ranger go assist the Scarlet Sabre at the Carrington Estate, while the three Lady Darkness's return to Terra Nova.
Villain:	Darkness, Lady Darkness (Ashley, Enchantress, Lady Zee), Ogre, Thunderbolt, Mechassassin, Lightburst, Thermax
Guest Stars:	Scarlet Sabre
Notes:	While this one was not written as far ahead as the previous issue, the Lady Darkness portions were written before Muskateer #23 was even completed. At one point this issue was going to be quite different from what it ended up being. Ironing out what was going to happen in the Muskateer files was what led to the changes. Originally it had been my hope to do the fight at the Carrington Estate and wrap it all up in Muskateer #24. Didn't work out that way. Based on that, I realized that I was going to start the file with the Avengers arriving to help mop up. Once more logistic problems ended up changing things. I had forgotten the small bit in Avengers #33 where Firestar and Texas Ranger had been sent ahead of the rest of the team to help. That coupled with the way Muskateer #24 end up turning out, shaped the file into its final form. It was nice to have 'Star and Ranger shine on their own. Lady Darkness' little army of supervillains was pretty much broken up with this issue. We needed some of these folks in other places anyway!

Issue #35	"A Dash of Malevolence"
Plot:	The Avengers secure the Carrington Estate and start to uncover information about their foes.
Villain:	Darkness, Lady Darkness (Ashley, Enchantress, Lady Zee), Ogre, Mechassassin, Lightburst, Thermax, Blaise Morgan, Mira, Ratana, Katara, & Bethena
Guest Stars:	Scarlet Sabre
Notes:	And finally we get the wrap up on the Carrington Estate Raid. Many of the mysteries from the past few years were answered and explained. Such as what was causing the strange vortexes to form for instance. I didn't cover as much ground with the Avengers themselves as I had hoped to. More stuff for the next issue. Meanwhile the plans of Lady Darkness continue to advance and the new converts get some helper elves to aid them in their plans. Not a whole lot happening here, just the advancing of the plot.

Issue #26	"Shattered Dreams"
Plot:	Helena discovers that a formula was used to boost her father's abilities.
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	Dr. Marin, Black Diamond, Nightingale, Texas Ranger, Night Owl, & Willow Witch
Notes:	This issue takes the Huntress storyline into its home stretch. These are the events that everything since issue #1 has been leading to. As noted above, the ending of this issue was where I had intended to end issue #24. Hopefully, it'll come as quite a shock to everyone out there. This issue was another one that was written out of sequence. Typically, I write an issue in the exact same order as you would read it. Start to finish. But this time I wrote the things that had to occur in this issue first. For the curious, the visits by Ranger, Night Owl, & Willow Witch were the last written. Had I needed more material, I could have added visits by Scarlet Sabre & Muskateer as well. The appearance of our swordspersons was not as important as their visits can easily be covered in their own series. So, Bruce was this a big enough change for you? Ironically, this was another issue written well ahead of when it was going to appear on the site. Almost five full months. Just another case of where my whims led me to working on something else for a bit. I wrote this one in just two days. Back when I mentioned on the Message Board me finding it odd to actual write new stuff for Black Diamond and Guardian Angel, it was in reference to this file. (And Avengers #32 as well. Both were done within days of each other.)

Issue #27	"Claws"
Plot:	Transformed into a human/feline hybrid, an out of control Helena stalks the city streets!
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	Black Diamond, Nightingale, Muskateer, Texas Ranger, Guardian Angel, Firestar, Supreme, Copperhead, and Aquiline
Notes:	This issue, and the next, were some of the more offbeat issues of the year. I mean, how often do you write things from the point of view from a giant feline? Seriously, this was one of our old stories that I wanted another crack at as I felt I could do a much better job with it. With this issue the mystery of Helena's seeming lack of powers is laid open. This is what had been planned all along. Of course, the revelation of the source of Felina's powers is revealed for the first time. As I mentioned on our message board, Felina plays a role in the power change in Helena, just not quite the one everyone was expecting. (I believe a blood transfusion was mentioned.) Another unusual thing was some of the comments that came in for last year's awards voting. There were comments about how nice it was that the Huntress was not chemically mutated, or words to those affect. I believe it was Leslie who added those comments. When I read those, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Sorry, Leslie, but that's going to change during the next year". When this is all over with, Helena will be just below her parents in abilities on average. Better in some areas, less in others. For the curious, we nicknamed the full feline version of the Huntress the Were-Huntress (which technically means Man-Huntress. Oh well.).

Issue #28	"Destiny of the Huntress"
Plot:	The Avengers close in on the transformed Helena while a cure for her condition is sought.
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	Black Diamond, Nightingale, Muskateer, Texas Ranger, Guardian Angel, Firestar, Supreme, Jennifer Hamilton, Lady Victory, Hyperion, Rush, Lady Britannia, Scarlet Sabre, Night Owl, Willow Witch, Terra Fire, Dr, Marin, Dr. Brinton, and Aquiline
Notes:	And finally the extra-length conclusion of our epic. I do have to admit that the method used to de-feline Helena was not the one I originally came up with. The concept just presented itself when I was putting the file together and it tied in perfectly with past campaign history. I decided to include all the scenes at the end for two reasons. One, it served to basically wrap up many of the on going plot lines and resolve various situations. The next issue can start off fresh without any major baggage from this storyline. Two, I got to reveal the new costume for the Huntress this year. Muskateer had been playing around with the idea of a new costume for Helena near the end of 2000. Everything came together for him in January of 2001 and so I encouraged him to draw it. (Mainly to get it out of his system so that he could go back to working on other things!) He was quite pleased with the results and wanted to know when it was going to go up on the site. My answer was next year, meaning 2002. Naturally, he wasn't happy about that and so I shaved some time off this way and you all got to see this great pic much earlier than expected.

Issue #6	"Sudden Curve"
Plot:	Muskateer returns to his base just in time for Mechanon to arrive.
Villain:	HPA Goons, Mechanon
Guest Stars:	None
Notes:	For the time being Muskateer has decided to simply plot the LH issues and I would write them. Then he would go through them, make the necessary changes and adjustments to suit his tastes. This is not the first time we've done this, but it's a first for LH. Anyway, we ironed out the basic outline by E-mail with each adding different ideas to the final product. The scenes were written, sent out to Muskateer for tweaking, and then finalized. Ideas for what happened in this issue came from both sides. Having Jaime hidden inside a Mechanon robot was something we conceived a long time ago. In fact, it was this idea that led to the notion of having backups of Jaime hidden in Hunter's Lair. This was mentioned both in Scarlet Sabre #4 & Muskateer #23. A case of our regular series setting up something to be used later in Lost Heroes!

Issue #23	"The Search For the Enchantress"
Plot:	Aided by the Scarlet Sabre, Muskateer hacks into the Ryker's Island computers for information.
Villain:	Lady Darkness, Blaise Morgan, Chameleon, Esper, Dark Seraph, Deathsinger, Ogre, Thermax.
Guest Stars:	Scarlet Sabre, Sorceress
Notes:	If you've read the entry for Avengers #33 then you know some of the story behind this particular file. The opening for this file (the part leading up to the first video sequence) was written in September 2001, right on the heels of writing Muskateer #22. Then it sat there for many months for a variety of reasons. Finally, there was renewed interest in June of 2002. The video sequences were added at that point. Then Muskateer added some notes, comments, and some lines of dialogue. The rest of the file was written in July of 2002 and was finished shortly before being put up on the site. This issue is one of those connect the dots issues where many past events are tied together. Lots of Editor Notes in this one!

Issue #24	"Raid on the Carrington Estate"
Plot:	Muskateer raids the Carrington Estate in his search for the Enchantress.
Villain:	Blaise Morgan, Frost, Deathsinger, Ogre, Thermax, Thunderbolt, Sparkler, Lightburst, Mechassassin, Arrowhead, Power Crusher
Guest Stars:	Scarlet Sabre, Sorceress
Notes:	While the previous issue was mostly problem solving, this one was straightforward action! As noted in the text, the villains were not their normal frisky selves due to the mind control they had been under. In game terms their DEX & SPEED were lowered a bit from normal. What was really surprising was how this issue ended. Our original plan was for Lady Darkness to simply escape with Gwen and be done with it. Unfortunately, as I was writing the file and re-reading the files leading up to it I realized that keeping the heroes in the dark about the existence of Terra Nova was going to be almost impossible. It could have been done, but too many things would have had to happen that would have seemed suspicious. For one thing, the Scarlet Sabre was already aware of Terra Nova having been told about it by Kor Hunter in Scarlet #8 during the pool party. Once the heroes located the Portal Device and the notes that went with it, that would have been another method. So instead of trying to prevent the discovery of Terra Nova at this point, we just went with it. The method that we used-- the Sorceress attempting to duplicate the teleportation spell was determined and our hero was off to Terra Nova!

Issue #25	"Strange New World"
Plot:	Muskateer pursues the Enchantress to Terra Nova.
Villain:	Kester & an army of undead
Guest Stars:	Sorceress, Lord Garmer, Miriam, Max, and Priestess Vestra
Notes:	As you might've gathered from the above entry, having Muskateer pursue the Enchantress to Terra Nova was not part of the original plan. The circumstances just led up to it being a logical thing for the character to do. So, that threw something of a monkey wrench into everything. You see, we know how this whole Enchantress thing is going to play itself out. This little side trip was something unexpected. So the trick became to allow it to happen but not mess up what's going to happen in the future, but at the same time have something meaningful happen. Not the easiest of tasks! To solve this problem we ended up bringing some things that were going to be revealed in the future and brought them forward. The meaningful event being what the mysterious link between the Enchantress and Muskateer is. Hopefully, it was something that no one was expecting!

Issue #11	"A Night on the Town"
Plot:	Jessica and Kyle go out on a date.
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	Microwave, Kyle Sherwood
Notes:	If someone would have told me that I could have spent an entire issue just covering Jessica's date with Kyle, I would have thought they were nuts. But alas, best laid plans go awry and that is exactly what happened. The entire issue was related to Jessica's date with Kyle. I used the getting to know each other process to reveal some of Scarlet's backstory that had yet to be mentioned, specifically details on her immediate family and where she grew up. All in all, I thought it came out rather well. Definitely one of the more offbeat issues of the year!

Issue #12	"Infatuation"
Plot:	Jessica can't get Kyle out of her mind.
Villain:	Minions of Fuergeson the Great
Guest Stars:	Kyle Sherwood, Tom Braden, Roma Asheland.
Notes:	Yet another offbeat issue as Jessica spends most of the issue pining for Kyle. A few sub-plots are advanced, but most of it deals with Jessica's crush on Kyle. Has our heroine finally found true love?

Issue #13	"The Bride of Fuergeson the Great!"
Plot:	Jessica is kidnapped by Fuergeson to become his bride.
Villain:	Fuergeson the Great
Guest Stars:	Kyle Sherwood, Starguard
Notes:	I've used the term offbeat several times, but it seems to best cover this entire arc. I mean, the Scarlet Sabre hasn't actually appeared since the 9th issue! In this one Jessica is faced the prospect of becoming Fuergeson's bride. Kyle is used as leverage against her and she really doesn't have a choice. Marry Fuergeson or her love gets harmed! Starguard shows up once more and manages to make things even more confusing. Is Kyle really Starguard? Stay tuned!

Issue #31	"The Morning After"
Plot:	Stephanie is surprised to discover her powers remain, Bryan figures out that the Empress is cheating on Blizzard with him, while Spectrum visits X-Factor's new base.
Villain:	None
Guest Stars:	Icicle, Morning Star, Sabre, Empress and Lt. Franklin
Notes:	We finally get around to showing if Stephanie still has her powers or not. It'll be interesting to see just how her situation plays out. The reference to Catalyst and the Emerald Citizens is a nod to a story that Gordon is planning on writing for the site. Otherwise, not a whole lot to talk about here. Some nice scenes with all the main characters and their current troubles. And for a change, Jim isn't the one having the problems!

Issue #32	"Who Called the Destruction Crew?"
Plot:	Half of X-Factor takes on the Destruction Crew.
Villain:	Destruction Crew - Bulldozer, Sledge, Pile Driver, Buzzsaw, and Airhammer
Guest Stars:	Icicle, Morning Star, Sabre
Notes:	I've had the idea to use the Destruction Crew in something involving X-Factor for a very long time now. Pretty much since we came up with the Destruction Crew. The trick of it was that they are not a particularly powerful-- or very smart-- group. Eventually I hit upon the concept of a sudden emergency where only part of X-Factor was available for a quick mission. Having it be Icicle's first was a bonus. I've always been inspired to write by reading. I had read three complete novels in three days before starting this file. (I can read at an almost ungodly speed if I find something interesting.) If it seems a bit more visual than some of the other stuff, that might be why. All in all, it was a fun file. Yes, the Destruction Crew could have been a lot smarter in their robbery attempt. But as I noted, they are not the brightest bunch of thugs around.

Issue #22	"If An Eye Offend Thee"
Issue #23	"A Dark and Stormy Knight"
Issue #24	"Showdown at the Ranch"
Plot:	The Superior Six are attacked on a multitude of fronts.
Villain:	Janissaries, VIPER, Black Paladin, Lady Bale, and the Rat Pack (Phoenix, Atomic Kid, Flex, Wild Wind, & Psi-Lad).
Guest Stars:	DUKE
Notes:	The Superior Six have always been one of my favorite NPC teams who would occasionally show up in other tales. For the first time we actually wrote something with them as the stars! The basic concept for the series came around late August/early September 2001. There were discussions going on about the Janissaries and they ended up in our story. VIPER is a big time team hunted and I wanted to make use of them in the story. The Sorceress has had past conflicts with Black Paladin and Lady Bale, so once those two hooked up it was only a matter of time before they headed to Dallas to even some old scores. Lastly, I wanted to touch back upon the situation in El Paso to set up future events. Yep, look for the Rat Pack to appear in future issues of Young Champions! Quite a tall order for one mini-series, but I think it was pulled off rather well. This one is pretty much wall to wall action, with just a bit of character development. Judging by how the mini came out, you can tell which of the Six are my favorites: Maverick, Captain Lightning, and the Sorceress. I still have mixed feelings whenever I read Issue #23 as it was the one I was writing on September 11th. It didn't get finished until several days after that.

Issue #25	"The Ladies of Magic"
Plot:	The Sorceress recalls a past exploit with the Enchantress and the Purple Phlox.
Villain:	Ansara.
Guest Stars:	Enchantress, Purple Phlox, Peter Ramsey, & Snowball.
Notes:	This one came about in a peculiar way. I was quite prepared to have completed the Superior Six mini-series with the end of Issue #24. Next up would have been the next Captain Valor mini-series. That's when I realized that the first issue would be the 25th Anniversary issue and wanted to do something special. (The Superior Six files were labeled as Six1, Six2, & Six3 on my word processor, not as TS22, etc.) And so I picked up on a few threads left over from the S6 Mini to do this special flashback issue. I found the idea of using the Sorceress, Enchantress, and Purple Phlox all in one tale to be very appealing. It also suggested the story title. There had been discussions for one of our regulars to write a Purple Phlox mini that sparked my interest in her again. The basic plot was ironed out with the first draft written during late September through early October. Hopefully everyone enjoyed this unusual and very long tale.

Issue #26	"Devil from the Deep"
Issue #27	"Dangerous Waters"
Issue #28	"The Hidden City"
Issue #29	"The Gift"
Issue #30	"In the Name of Love"
Plot:	The Windsabre and her passengers try to make it to the main land. Friza is hunted by one of her own kind while a deranged mage has plans for Lyndah.
Villain:	Vina, Vilsimbra, Lady Darkness, Warlock
Guest Stars:	Lyndah, Robert, Kristine, Sargon, Hunter, Katrina, Friza, and Captain Jess
Notes:	This was another mini-series that grew dramatically as it was being written. It was originally conceived as being 3 issues long, but ended up being 5. Rather than cut corners, I just let the series take as much space as was necessary. All in all, this was a very fun series to do. Captain Valor is a fun character to write and I'm quite fond of Friza. I guess I've got a thing for bad girls! Using a different language for the Ectolians was introduced in this series. But in most cases, it was used in such a manner where the reader could figure out at least the type of word being used, if not necessarily the exact one being used. I will give you a hint that all the words are real words in a different language! However, not all the translations are exact and in some cases I choose the word because I liked the way it rolled off the tongue. A series I very much enjoyed doing. As I was writing this mini-series, I started to fill in the pieces of what will most likely turn out to be the next two mini-series featuring Captain Valor and the Avengers of Terra Nova. Something to look forward too!

Issue #18	"Moving In"
Plot:	X-Factor moves into the VIPER base.
Villain:	Kilbots
Guest Stars:	Silver Avenger Joseph Gray, Lieutenant Franklin
Notes:	Another quiet issue with quite a bit of personal development. I wonder if anyone realized that the security system Shockwave & Mockingbird started to work on in XF #17 was going to catch what Impact and Empress were doing at the end of Spectrum #30? All in all, not a whole lot to comment on. I remember when I sent this entire arc out to Muskateer for editing his comments on the files were something to the effect of "Okay, looks good." The problem is that from our perspective all the personal developments that occur in this particular arc were things that we had already discussed at great length. Indeed, some of it several years ago from our perspective. So it was simply a matter of going with our own outline. Not much new or unexpected here from our perspective.

Issue #19	"Scavengers"
Plot:	Kilbots raid LawTech.
Villain:	Kilbots
Guest Stars:	Sheila Grace
Notes:	Pretty much the same comments as above. What we have worked out is how the personal relationships among the group are going to unfold. For the most part, I've been coming up with the action, while Muskateer has been concentrating more on the personal relationships. For instance, we know how the Blizzard-Empress-Impact triangle is going to end up and other such small details. It should be fun to see how all of this plays out in the files to come. All I can see is that there are going to be more than a few relationship changes!

Issue #20	"Changing of the Guard"
Plot:	The Guardians disband, the Freedom Squad gets a new base, and Heroes for Hire tangle with Foxbat, Shadow Queen and the Thugmaster's Elite.
Villain:	Foxbat, Shadow Queen, Lightwave, Dash, Dragonfly, and Brother Basilisk
Guest Stars:	Sheila Grace, Gyro Jim, Freedom Squad (American Eagle, Black Phantom, Hardhat, Dimension Man, Jo-Tan, Goshawk, & Victrix), and the Guardians (Hornet, Spinnerette, Density, Warlock, Lazerblast, Duplicator, and Sidewinder.)
Notes:	There's a great many things going on in ths issue. So much happening that the members of X-Factor are more like supporting characters. The break up of the Guardians was something that happened the first time around as well. As for why it happened, all I can say is that you can pick up a few clues from things mentioned in the Avengers. Likewise, we always intended for the Freedom Squad to remain together. The classic modual "VOICE of Doom" is still in their future, so you can see where that is all leading. We finally got around to bringing Foxbat and Shadow Queen back and we're nearing the end of the Thugmaster's Elite subplot that has been running for a while now.

Issue #21	"Graduation Day"
Plot:	The graduation ceremonies for the current crop of the Thugmaster's Elite begins.
Villain:	Thugmaster's Elite (Dark Knight, Dash, Lightwave, Brother Basilisk, Chaos, Titania, Hammerhead, Annihilator, Dragonfly, Black Hole, Powerhouse, & Rainbow), Terror Unlimited (Scorpia, Shamrock, & Mind Slayer), Terror Incorporated (Professor Muerte, Giganto), Nest Leader, VIPER Agents, Shadow Queen, and Foxbat.
Guest Stars:	Sheila Grace, Satara, Revenant
Notes:	Much like the previous issue, a whole lot of things going on! The Thugmaster subplot has been running for a long time and this is its conclusion. The switching around of villains and the new recruits had been planned for quite a long time, as was Titania being kicked out. (Although the way it happened was changed from the original plan.) This change is what also opened the way for Revenant to make her debut. This issue pretty much covers all the changes and introduces everyone. That stuff hits the fan in the next issue!

Issue #22	"Showtime!"
Plot:	X-Factor, the Thugmaster's Elite, and Viper forces find themselves in the middle of the war between Terror Incorporated and Terror Unlimited.
Villain:	Thugmaster's Elite (Dark Knight, Dash, Lightwave, Brother Basilisk, Chaos, Powerhouse, & Rainbow), Terror Unlimited (Scorpia, Shamrock, Black Hole, & Mind Slayer), Terror Incorporated (Professor Muerte, Giganto, Feur, & Dragonfly), Nest Leader, VIPER Agents, Hammerhead Titania, Annihilator, Iron Maiden, Mentalla, Shadow Queen, and Foxbat.
Guest Stars:	Satara, Revenant
Notes:	Its been awhile since I ran a fight of this magnitude. There were nearly thirty different superbeings involved in one form or another. Of course the major conflict was between Terror Incorporated and Terror Unlimited. This was just a taste of what is to come as this conflict comes to a head in X-Factor #25! Shadow Queen continues with her typical ways and dumps Foxbat this issue. Don't tell me you expected that to last? Mind Slayer lived up to her name once more as she offed Dragon Fly. So much for that villain! Also we get a taste of the mystery surrounding Revenant. Who is she? Heroine or villianess? And what's her connection to Terror Incorportated? Stay tuned!

Issue #22	"Into the Lost Realm"
Plot:	Howler and Tempest explore the mysterious island while Daigon's true agenda is revealed.
Villain:	Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon
Guest Stars:	Howler
Notes:	Finally, we head into the home stretch of the Howler's Quest story line. I learned my lesson from the Huntress fiasco when it came to 25th Anniversary issues. In the case of the Huntress, I ended up using the material for the Anniversary issue in Huntress #28. Back when I was plotting out the previous YC Arc (issues #19-21) I figured I could wrap this story up in Issue #23, maybe #24, which meant I needed something else for the Anniversary Issue. I did come up with something, but that'll be the storyline after Howler's quest. Anyhow, I fought back that notion and simply decided to make #25 the end of Howler's Quest. Having said all of that, when it came time to write this particular arc, I wrote up an outline and broke each of the four issues down. I deliberately underplotted the story so that it would fit the allotted issues. Turns out that I didn't need to worry, as I filled the space up pretty quick. In fact the ending I plotted for this issue ended up being the end of the next issue! (Where the YC team locates Daigon.) So that just goes to show you how fast things can change. The story basically has parallel storylines going on. One track is Howler & Tempest, the other Tigress & the Young Champions. I wrote the Howler & Tempest portions of this file first. In fact, I had them written as far as Issue #24 before coming back to do the Tigress portion of this file. I also took the time to re-introduce all the main characters to the readers. For our regulars it had been nearly 7 months between issues so some refreshing of events was needed. It also helped fill out this particular issue.

Issue #23	"The Island that Time Forgot"
Plot:	The Young Champions arrive at the island and Howler explores the alien spaceship.
Villain:	Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon
Guest Stars:	Howler
Notes:	Much like the previous issue, the Howler/Tempest parts were the first written. The main Young Champions stuff came last. Back in the early days of this storyline, I approached Muskateer about Tigress getting a pet. (The sabre-tooth.) He didn't go for the idea, so I changed it to Jennifer getting the pet. It seemed to play out much better that way. Maybe Snuggles was attracted to the Tigress' feline smells? Also, the name Snuggles refers back to a pet an NPC had in one of my old D&D games. You'll learn more about that in a future Muskateer Gallery exhibit!

Issue #24	"Rumble in the Jungle"
Plot:	The Young Champions take on Daigon and Carlson's goons.
Villain:	Zanthar, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon
Guest Stars:	Howler
Notes:	Finally, we get to the big battle issue! The parallel storylines continue and as per the previous issues, the actual Young Champions stuff came last. This was yet another case of the file filling up fast as the story unfolded. Howler's secret was revealed at last as well. I wonder if anyone realized that there was something actually inside her amulet directing her all this time?

Issue #25	"Quest's End"
Plot:	Howler tries to stop Zanthar from destroying the lost realm while Tigress and Daigon go at it.
Villain:	Zanthar, Daigon, Panda, and Raccoon
Guest Stars:	Howler, Azkan
Notes:	And finally we get to the end of the story! After the ninth issue of Young Champions I found myself having no idea on what to do next in the series. I had exhausted all of my initial ideas. There were other storylines I had in mind, but more time needed to pass before using those. So, I gathered up my Champions books and started to page through them looking for inspiration. Just about everything from that hunt has driven the series since that point. After that I wrote up a 9 or 10 paragraph outline for the entire storyline. There were changes here and there after input from Muskateer, but for the most part it went off as planned. It was at the time that I came up with the notion that Howler was being manipulated by her amulet to do the thing she was doing. The concept fit in very nicely with her base write up and I expounded upon it in our version. That's also when I noticed that her powers had been changed. Particularly that her Desolidification and Regeneration had been removed in the 4th Edition version. This storyline was set up to free Howler from her influences and restore her lost powers. She's no longer a villain and neither is she a heroine. Thus you can see why I specifically placed her in the Normals and Neutrals Handbook. Howler will probably continue to be a background character in Young Champions.