The Chicago Star, 12 February 1938 wrote: COSTUMED CLOCK CATCHES CRIMINAL COUNTERFEITING CARTEL COLD
… the illegal operation was completely shut down upon the apprehending of the criminals involved… suspected to have connections with the Chicago mafia… officers discovered the trademark business card at the scene of the crime reading “The Clock has struck”… fifth arrest by the Clock in a fortnight… eyewitness sightings of the Clock describe him as “impeccably well dressed” and “covering his face with a black veil”… admiration for this “costumed hero” appears to be skyrocketing…
The world is Powered Dominion. This is a world of superheroes and supervillains, a throwback to the Golden Age of Comics.
The Morning Sun, 18 September 1939 wrote: UNION-SUITS SLIP SOVIET SOLDIERS STRAIGHT INTO POLAND
… led by a pair of brave union-suits into battle… bright costumes and superior combat skills managed to overwhelm the Polish soldiers... no significant losses to the Soviet forces… “simply extraordinary fighters, I’ve never seen anything like it” enthused one young soldier…
The concept is simple. Utilise public domain characters and settings to build myself a new universe to play in.
The Daily Blade, 27 November 1939 wrote: COUNT ONE COSTUMED CASUALTY – FIRST FRUITY FIGHTER FALLS
… gunned down by the heartless enemy soldiers… his proudly patriotic jacksuit torn to pieces... not the last to fall” warned our war commentator… proof that the two-fisted adventurer is not going to tip the scales of a battle just by being there… flesh and blood, these are normal men serving their nation, and dying for their nation…
Some of the public domain characters will be used as is, following their comic biographies, and beyond, into their old age. Some of them will be reinvented from the ground up using their original characters as a canvas of inspiration.
The Chicago Star, 8 April 1941 wrote: CLOCK CAUGHT, KILLED BY CRIMINAL CARTEL – CORPSE CASTRATED IN COMMUNITY COURTYARD
… brutal discovery in the early hours of the morning… the costumed corpse was identified as none other than Brian O’Brien, well known district attorney... “absolutely mutilated, I’ve seen Mafia killings before, but this is at a whole new level”… earned the enmity of the organized crime syndicates by capturing many of their associates and putting a halt to many highly lucrative operations… Chicago in mourning for the masked hero, now being labeled as the “masked martyr of justice” and the “father of costume vigilantism”… brings into question whether conventional law enforcement is sufficient… “I believe this tragedy will only cause the public to side more strongly with those who risk their lives to stop these criminals. Public reception to costumed heroes has been lukewarm at best, but now”…
Why not just write more for Comix? Truth is, I still intend to, if and when the muse hits me for that verse. Lord knows I have unfinished stories I want to tell, and I fully intend to continue participating in that universe.
The Evening News, 11 August 1945 wrote:JAPAN REFUSES TO SURRENDER – ATOM BOMBS WON’T STOP US, EMPEROR DECLARES
However, for quite a while now I've become enamoured with the public domain characters of yesteryear, and frustrated by the sheer mass of Comix, as well as the issues that a collaborative universe can bring. Like all of us, I disagree with some aspects of it, and I find that those aspects are slowly building up.
The Daily Blade, 7 January 1946 wrote: BEYONDER PRESENCE ON WESTERN FRONT INCREASED
… this latest era of the war… the increasing numbers of beyonder soldiers on all sides of the conflict… seeing constant improvements in battlefield technology, from dissolvorays to imperbestos shields… Allied beyonders mysteriously disappearing at an alarming rate on the battlefield...
Another issue is simply the restrictions placed on me by Comix. Not having complete freedom to do anything with the universe is a factor, I admit, when I come up with stories and ideas I want to be able to follow them fully rather than being hamstrung. When I find ideas that do work without conflicting canon or being too unpalatable to other contributors, I'll throw them into Comix. Otherwise, it's over to Powered Dominion.
The Atom, 13 November 1952 wrote: ATOM CITY OFFICIALLY OPENED, RIBBON CUT BY ATOMIC HERO, AMERICAN CRUSADER
… this new post-war era… economic prosperity for individuals, though the overall economic situation for the country is poor after the drawn out war… capturing the destructive power of the atom for the benefit of the nation… cutting-edge city of scientific advancement and research…
Really, one of the things I most enjoy about the concept of Powered Dominion is the angle of reinvention. As most of you may know, I love game remakes, movie remakes, cover songs, anything that takes something and puts a new twist on it. This is the appeal of Powered Dominion to me, reinvention of existing characters. Which is not to say there won't be any new characters.
The Star, 15 June 1956 wrote: AMERICAN DEFENDERS SOCIETY SPLITS OVER MCCARTHYISM ACCUSATIONS
… this nation’s most iconic team of overmen … contentions over recent calls by Senator McCarthy for all costumed heroes to unmask themselves... “those who refuse to unmask must have something to hide”… esteemed scientist and overman Doc Strange yesterday called Senator McCarthy’s challenge to unmask or be seen as Communist to be “against the very idea of privacy, and patently absurd at that”… the last great collection of overmen from the war period, as many heroes have simply hung up their masks in response to the public’s growing dissatisfaction with hidden heroes…
The feel of Powered Dominion is likely to be schizophrenic, based on the time period I'm writing about and the perspective. For instance, sometimes you may get a complete Golden-Age look at something, with simple heroes doing their thing, big cheeseballs giving kids lessons for life, unbounded optimism, disconcern for continuity or explanation in favour of fun, and the like. Other times you'll have war-rationing, economic depression, atomic angst, Cold War politics, whatever. And then there are the occasions I just throw in whatever is cool to me.
The Sydney Times, 12 May 1957 wrote: ATOMIC BOMBS EXPLODE OVER EUROPE, SUPERVILLAIN CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY
… unchallenged by heroes, Doctor Death detonated the bombs over major European locations… no reason behind the act, no ransom demands or negotiations with the government… senseless destruction and murder of hundreds of thousands, if not millions… fallout expected to irradiate most of Europe… evacuations proceeding, but at an alarmingly slow rate…
At first it's likely that this universe will expand in much the same way as Comix, with bios and factoids and similar, but given the nature of most other 'verses on this site I don't see it as an issue.
The Metropolitan Times, 1 April 1965 wrote: NO JOKE, AMERICA COMMITS TO WAR IN SOUTH VIETNAM – MUST STOP SENG’S MADNESS, PRESIDENT DECLARES
… the Mongol Emperor, Seng I, has invaded South Vietnam in an attempt to expand his territory… the exhausted nature of the other two superpowers after World War II means that Seng’s China may pose a grave threat... condemns claims that this new conflict “could escalate into World War III”, stating that this does nothing by incite hysteria and paranoia…
However, I will be trying to turn my focus more to one-shot fiction pieces, rather than the ridiculously drawn out and thus never-completed works I usually conceive of. More in the vein of Golden Age comics, I want to aim for concise, enjoyable, playing hard and loose with my own established canon.
World Tribune, 3 March 1979 wrote: NUCLEAR BOMBARDMENT WIPES OUT AMERICAN EAST COAST, ALLIES SURE TO SURRENDER
… the long war of attrition will surely end resoundingly after Emperor Seng’s Mongol Empire successfully performed a bombardment of nuclear weaponry against the American Eastern Seaboard… American Crusader was able to protect Washington DC, but he lamented afterwards ... “even a superhuman is still just one human, I couldn’t be everywhere at once”… New York completely destroyed, along with… Seng has demanded unconditional surrender, and we are in no fit state to refuse his demands… global dictatorship will be formed when Emperor Seng cements the United States as his new seat of power…
Any questions, feel free to raise them. I'm throw a few more bits and pieces up in this thread as I go, since I have a lot more jotted down than just what's here, but for now... this is Powered Dominion.
The Moscow Bugle, 5 March 1979 wrote: ABANDONED
… Black Terror has declared his intent to leave humanity to its own devices to sail the unknown seas… declared the last 65 years to be “the worst of humanity, worse than I ever imagined, I can’t stand it any longer”... was hoped that the renowned anti-authoritarian figure would lead resistance against Seng’s plan for a world empire… Flash Furnace, the Atomic Superman and symbol of hope, optimism and the good future, as well as the mayor of Atom City... disappeared after being seen attempting to intercept and stop nuclear bombs during the recent bombing... has not been seen or heard from since... possibly killed in the bombardment, vapourised by atomic forces greater even than his... American Crusader, the nation’s icon, has vanished… letter left at his home stated that “I have become disillusioned with the American way, and the ideals we hold”… “this charade of world leadership by a nation too exhausted to stand on its own two feet, this nation that I and other equally exhausted individuals must support on our backs”… “do not blame myself for not being able to stop more of the bombs, this was an act of humanity’s evil nature and I cannot stand by and support Seng’s empire”… “so tired of the fighting”… the greatest of heroes have left us to our own devices, what hope does the world have against the might of Emperor Seng’s Mongol empire?