Superheroes – Once upon a Time in 1969 – Issue 20 – Special Section Villain Origins

This followed the main story of Issue 20.

Opening page: Where did our Quizzical Quintet come from?  Let us look at the circumstances that created these teen villains, perhaps some of them can be saved.  We will let the mysterious Riddle Girl be our guide.

In the first panel, Riddle Girl takes off her mask.  “Before I became Riddle Girl, I was Mary Ross, born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen, I am a New Yorker through and through.   But I earned a scholarship at Empire State Comprehensive and that was not easy.  But when I got there, did the other students appreciate my triumph over adversity?  No, they looked down on me for being poor.”  A panel of a young woman being bullied in a school corridor.  “But did I let that define me?  No, I struck back against the jerks that tried to lord over me. ”  Panel of practical jokes on people, mostly young men, in school uniforms.  “Soon, no one messed with me and I could focus on school.”  Panels of her studying, doing gymnastics, in a karate gi.  The next panel shows a newpaper with Vulpix on the front page.  “Then I saw Vulpix and how she treated other people in her school.  She did not deserve her fame, coasting on her family’s reputation, so I decided to take her down a peg, but I knew I would need help.”  A panel of Mary looking at herself in the mirror in her Riddle Girl costume.

Next page:  A young man reading a comic book.  “Arron Thorton-Burr loved comics and supers from as soon as he could read.  His family had money and indulged him.”  Panel of him in a superhero costume trick or treating.  “He also went to Empire State Comprehensive, where he was a star on the gymnastics team.”  Panel of him on the rings.  “And fairly smart.”  Picture of him with a stack of paper graded B+ and A-.  “It was easy to convince him to join me in harmless comic book crime, as Puzzle Boy to my Riddle Girl.”  A panel with both of them in costume.  “Though his love of absurd gadgets has proved less than helpful.”  A panel of him trying to put together some colorful, and impractical-looking, device.

“Singularity was our first recruit, I had read about a ‘ghost’ being seen from some of the subway trains.”  Panel of shocked-looking subway riders looking out of windows into the darkness.  “I went to investigate.”  A panel of someone with a flashlight searching in the subway tunnels.  “It took some time.”  A map of the subway with things circled and others crossed out.  “But I found her.  Eating rats.”  Panel of a shadowy creature hunched down and a dead rat at its feet.  “It took time, patience, and a lot of food.  But I got Singularity to come out and sort of live in the world.”  A panel with lots of empty take-out cartons stacked high.  The next features Singularity hovering next to Riddle Girl on a rooftop.  “I will never forgive Zodiac for ruining all of my efforts to rescue Songularity, I hope she is alright.”  [An insert with Puzzle Boy says, “I always thought of Singularity as an it.”]

“Stormson tale is a fall from grace,” continues Puzzle Girl on the next page.  “Max Thorvald was born in Minnesota and his musical talents earned him a place at Julliard.”  A handsome young man playing the violin is shown.  “He could always sense the weather but once he arrived in New York, he found that he could control it as well.”  Showing the same young man flying in the clouds.  “He tried being a superhero.”  Stormson blowing over a pair of robbers.  “But that was too much work, being a villain was easier and more fun.” Stormson flying away with a bag of money from an open armored car.  “Honestly, I think he is a bit of a jerk and we would not have worked with him if we were not forced to.”  Puzzle Boy adds, “He thinks he is the son or grandson of a storm god and he might be right.”

“Last is our youngest member, the Puppet Princess, Anna Saint Cloud,” the art style of this page is decidedly fairy tale inspired.  “Young Anna grew up in a huge house where her monther was the house keeper.”  A stately but isolated Victorian house is shown.  “The lonely house was full of dolls who were her only friends, that she talked to them was no surprise.  That they talked back was.”  A room full of dolls with Anna having a tea party with some that are obviously animated.  “Anna’s friends helped her and her mother keep the house up.  But when their employer died, leaving the house to them, they did not have the money to maintain it.”  Sad Anna and dolls around the house.  “Puppet Princess started using her friends to steal from nearby houses so they could get the money they needed.”  A doll crawling in through a window is shown.  “It was on one of these robberies, of Arron’s grandmother’s house, that we met Puppet Princess and convinced her to work with us in exchange for helping her and her mother with the money needed to keep up the house.”

Final panel. “We were going on our merry way with our plan to embarrass Vulpix when that creep Zodiac showed up and took over,” continues Riddle Girl.  “He actually mind-controlled everyone but me and Puzzle Boy, who he just threatened.  I hope he rots in jail.”  “Me too,” adds Puzzle Boy.

Next time, Issue 21.

Notes: It is important to have backgrounds for potentially reoccurring characters and it was fun to work on their origins.

Images: Upper picture from Pikist and is in the Public Domain. Lower photo from PeakPx used under a Creative Commons Zero – CC0 license.