Universe Proposal: Powered Dominion

[Vagrant Orpheus]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

[Shroom Man 777]

And I see that the Yellow Peril totally won in this one!

Looks interesting, and the blend of Golden Age heroism with what looks like postapocalyptic themes and Watchmen-esque gritty grimness and postnuclear stuff is pretty cool. The newspaper clippings are nice too.

[Czernobog]

Really, really intriguing...post-apocalyptic superheroes?

[Vagrant Orpheus]

You can call it that. In many regions it may well continue functioning as a regular superhero 'verse, since I envisioned the Mongol Empire as being stretched a bit thin in the places it does control, and there are still places it doesn't control. The slums of Europe, Australia, parts of the Middle East and by extension most of Africa, possibly a good portion of South America too. Eurasia is controlled with an iron fist, aside from the nuclear slums, as is North America, which pretty much cements its power as a global empire anyway even if it doesn't totally rule every corner of the globe. This is one of those half-formed aspects though, just in my head at the moment, so could well change at whim or with a good argument.

[Vagrant Orpheus]

Long ago, when the world was young and mankind had yet to tread upon its surface, when the landmasses looked far different than they do today, creatures roamed the lands. Magical, unimaginable creatures of legend who existed in the chaotic and inhospitable world, and thrived on the disorder. When the lands still shifted and grumbled, and fire burst frequently into the stormy sky, ancient dragons burrowed into the hot rock, Cyclopes strode the plains and golems wandered, as yet unfettered by the spiritual chains of mankind. When the oceans still seethed and bubbled, scalding the flesh, the kraken lurked in the crushing depths, the hydra multiplied and the great Aspidochelone cruised the waves, so massive that plants grew upon its back and the more knowledgeable creatures did mistake for an island its form. When the sky still roared with constant crashes and booms of thunder and lightning, and dark clouds pressed so heavily on each other that they would crush a modern man the Roc sailed forever on great wings, never to touch upon the land during its lifetime, the phoenix trailed flame in its wake and the thunderbird nested in the stormclouds, flashing with horrible power.

Yet none of these beasts hold any significance to the great ones, the three Primordial Overlords. Ziz, the Primordial Bird, ruled over the sky dominion. Behemoth, the Primordial Beast, lorded over the lands and the surface dominion. And Leviathan, the Primordial Serpent, held domain over the oceans and the seas. Together, the three Primordial Overlords ruled the world in a delicate balance, each able to perform feats of amazing power, yet held in check by the other two Primordials. They ruled the earth for aeons, but eventually all grew tired, and as the birthling mankind strode feebly and unimportantly across Behemoth's domain, venturing out into Leviathan's domain in primative vessels, and gazed up at Ziz's domain in wonder, the three Primordials did make nests, and slumbered. Their great primordial powers vanished from the Earth as their spirits rested, waiting to awaken once more. And mankind spread, forgetting the great beasts that rested beneath them, ignorant of the power such spirits held, and unknowing of the power such spirits could bestow if one were to find a slumbering Primordial.

[Invictus]

I'm not entirely sure where this is heading, but the pieces you've posted so far look good.

[Vagrant Orpheus]

EL TERROR NEGRO

Alias: Porfiro Juarez Rivera

Occupation: Geneticist, bio-chemical engineer, crime fighter

Group Affiliation: The Terror Underground

Base of Operation: Mexico City

Birthdate: 2 May 1949 (age 36)

Origin: Porfiro Rivera was born in Mexico City, to a pair of hard-working and reasonably well-off parents, his father owning a small pharmacy that both he and Porfiro’s mother worked at. Though the pharmacy made a reasonable business, the outer regions of Mexico City were the territory of the gangs and the organized crime syndicates, and protection rackets were common enough that the Riveras were left with much less than they earned. Porfiro was a very intelligent child, and his parents put him through the best schooling that they could afford, hoping he would one day make a name for himself as an eminent scientist, as so many scientists were doing during the post-war boom period. Porfiro grew up in the time between wars, the tense moments of silence and psychological battle between the three great superpowers of the world, And during this time he grew to admire the many superheroes who defended their nations, their virtues and their concepts of justice. Amongst all the heroes that Porfiro grew up admiring, none drew his attention so much as the Black Terror, the dark pirate lord of the ocean. With strong personal morals, an outfit and persona that was undeniably attractive to a young boy and an anti-authoritarian bent that appealed to Porfiro, the Black Terror was far and away his idol and role-model.

Porfiro performed at the highest level academically, graduating his schools at the top of the class, determined and enthusiastic to learn, and ended up boarding at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, studying pharmacy like his father. Obtaining his pharmaceutical degree through an accelerated course, Porfiro then went on to study genetics and bio-chemistry, exciting new areas of study that he could be at the cutting edge of discovery with. He completed his degrees in genetics and bio-chemistry, and moved on to become a research scientist, working on medical solutions to long-standing problems. He was successful, wealthy and enjoying his life, when disaster struck one day during a return visit to his parents for the holidays. He was shocked to find that his parents were in a far worse financial position than they had been letting on in their letters and phone calls to him, the whole neighbourhood having noticeably changed in the six or seven years since he’d last been home. The neighbourhood was little better than a slum now, in the grip of the organized crime families and avoided by both the more affluent of society, the corrupt police, and the bureaucratically-mired government. During his stay with his parents, Porfiro had the misfortune to experience one of the monthly shake-downs of the pharmacy by goons for protection money. Whilst his academic knowledge was far greater than most people could ever hope, he was still a naïve young man with a childhood of superhero idols, and so he foolishly decided to try to intervene in the shakedown against his parents’ wishes, the end result being a brutal beating from the goons that left him hospitalized and comatose, with a broken back and complete lower body paralysis as reward for his actions.

When Porfiro awoke from his coma to find his life in ruins, he struggled to cope for a time, but found solace in his work, his research revolving around animal genomes and potential applications of the knowledge towards enhancing humanity, his own way of serving heroically like his childhood role-models. Soon enough, Porfiro turned towards animal genomes as potentially holding the key to repairing his body of the paralysis that plagued him, becoming fixated on the idea. He began to spend all his time researching and developing new treatment, becoming ever more depressed as each treatment failed. However, though depression began to consume him, the hope and determination he had held as a child continued to fuel him, and he began to make breakthroughs on a treatment that was derived from the genome of ants. His research, which had just begun to show promising breakthroughs, came to a grinding halt in 1979 as his life, and the lives of countless others, was changed irrevocably by the Mongol victory in World War III and the subsequent global dictatorship that settled across the world. Compounding on this was the departure of the Black Terror from the world as he set off to sail the misty and uncharted seas, disgusted by the overwhelming cruelty, suffering and inhumanity of the modern world. Like so many others, Porfiro keenly felt the loss of perhaps the world’s greatest hero, the beacon of hope whom so many assumed would lead a one-man war against the dictatorship of the Mongols, and he slipped further into his depression, his work now seeming to be hollow and pointless. The government began to place heavy restrictions on such research, and Porfiro was let go, his research halted and destroyed, except for what he took with him. Nonetheless, he kept working at it, if only to keep alive the barest thread of hope his life had become as the crime syndicates expanded under the absentee government that now operated in Mexico.

It was within a month of the Black Terror vanishing that the hollow and pointless work transformed, as Porfiro made a vital breakthrough with the ant research. By treating himself with a series of injections that altered his organic chemistry at a genetic level, Porfiro found that his body was beginning to reconfigure his musculature and construct a redundant nervous system, and he believed that when it was complete he would be able to work once more as the damage to his spinal column was bypassed. He waited, and the changes occurred, and nothing happened. The redundant nervous system wasn’t passing signals along the nerves, and he despaired once more, having come so close to success, yet failing once more. The night of that failure Porfiro contemplated suicide, but instead drank himself into a stupor, in which he experienced an odd fever dream. His subconscious continued to work at the problem and it came to him in a flash, jolting him awake in his sleep. The formic acid of the ants he was using as his genetic base, he theorized, could be used to reinforce the redundant nervous system and perhaps allow it to function fully. He carefully synthesized the formic acid into a substance he named ‘formic ethers’, and then breathed them in deeply, hoping against hope that his inspired theory was correct.

The results were beyond Porfiro’s greatest hopes, his nervous system sending signals along the new redundant network and around the damaged spinal column, allowing his legs to function once more, and allowing Porfiro to walk for the first time in years. However, that was the least of it, as Porfiro found that the formic ethers also pushed his restructured musculature structure and granted him super strength, as well a degree of enhanced durability and stamina. Overwhelmed, Porfiro found that his miracle recovery had ignited the flame of hope within him once more, and he decided to do his part to help out the troubled world. He elected to don a costume styled after the outfit worn by the Black Terror in honour of his great deeds, and to reflect the Terror’s parting words, “Someday perhaps I will return. It may be in the distant future, or perhaps sooner than expected, but if I do return, it will not be as you see me now”. Naming himself El Terror Negro, Porfiro burst into the spotlight, as the first of the new Black Terrors, to an oppressed world holding its breath for the return of the legendary Pirate King. Within a few days of his showing up and the global media seizing upon him as “the returned Black Terror” other Terrors began to emerge from the woodworks, some to challenge him for the mantle, others to challenge the Mongol rulers, and still others simply to do good deeds. Porfiro never once accepted the mantle of the returned Black Terror, asserting himself simply as a disciple and respectful follower of the Terror, but this did little to dispel the opinions and the hope as rumours began to spread that the Black Terror’s spirit had reincarnated itself into his body, leaving him unaware of his true nature. However, despite refusing to support the notion that he was the returned Black Terror, El Terror Negro was eventually one of the five Terrors who would found the Terror Underground revolutionary movement.

Porfiro soon encountered a problem with his newfound health and powers, as the formic ethers proved to be merely temporary, and when they faded from his body the redundant nervous system would go silent once more, returning Porfiro to his paralyzed state, confined once more to his wheelchair. At first Porfiro used this to his advantage to model a double life and a secret identity, but soon enough he began to find himself becoming psychologically addicted to the ethers, little by little, not being able to bear parting with his legs for increasingly shorter and shorter periods. Additionally, he found that extended use of the ethers began to alter his mental state as El Terror Negro, making him impatient, easy to anger and prone to violence in his blind rage. At first this issue was also manageable, until eventually it built up to the point where he was no longer able to bear the idea of breathing the ethers, but neither was he able to bear the thought of being paralyzed, and he was left in a dark and barren place. His fellow superheroes noticed the changes and intervened, seeking help for him. It took a year of therapy and treatment to get Porfiro to where he is now, but he has re-entered the field of crimefighting, doing his best to tread the thin line between his psychological dependence on the ethers and the lurking rage that the dependence brings, as well as working on accepting his life as the cripple Porfiro Juarez Rivera.

Equipment and Abilities: A brilliant geneticist, bio-chemical engineer and generally highly knowledgeable in the physical sciences, Porfiro utilizes his keen intelligence in battle and in his chemistry. The formic ethers that allow him to become El Terror Negro grant him the use of his paralyzed lower body, and also grant him a high degree of super strength, as he is able to lift up to 60 metric tons of mass, as well as limited super durability, able to repel bullets at any range, although high-powered penetrating weaponry can inflict some damage to him at close ranges. The increased super strength allows him to make great jumps, able to leap up to the top of a several-storey building with relative ease, and survive the impacts of such jumps unharmed. Unfortunately, the formic ethers have only a temporary effect, lasting for about six hours before wearing off and leaving El Terror Negro as the crippled Porfiro Rivera once more. El Terror Negro also carries a Luger handgun for times where hand-to-hand combat isn’t an option, and has relatively good skill with it, having trained with it for years since his injury.

The character himself is not necessarily so important at this point in the proposal as the little details about the 'verse and the history of it that it lets you guys in on. Not really anything the newspaper articles didn't cover, but a different perspective, which is important, I think.

[Malchus]

I like all the tantalizing hints provided by the "headlines" in the OP. Gives a pretty good verse overview for the proposal and fits the whole Golden/Silver Age comics you took your inspirations from. And, man, is this 'verse ever hard core despite said inspiration. Nukes are practically flying everywhere, starting with the assumed glassing of Japan during WW2. And even the patently ridiculous idea of a Yellow Peril evil overlord taking over the world is actually given some real menace.

Although, someone seems a wee bit enamoured with the Black Terror...

[Vagrant Orpheus]

He's a PIRATE LORD, and an inspiration for the masses. Despite being quite different in personality and power and everything, in terms of the importance he plays for the public, Black Terror is the Superman of Powered Dominion. Also, he gets imitators because between skull and crossbones (pirates, poison, hyperviolence, undead/unholy things), the name (Lovecraftian terrors, hyperviolent vigilantes, black supremacists, night-stalking crusaders) and the origin of "Drugs give me superpowers!" (Chemical accident, government program, illicit concoction, mystical potion, genetic engineering, BEHOLD SCIENCE, etc etc) he has the most different ways to spin off his 'public identity' so to speak into an array of individual but ultimately trivial imitators. Any other hero would just get imitators, Black Terror gets homages and shout-outs from a really pretty varied crowd.

[Shroom Man 777]

THE BLACK TERRORISTS!

They kind of remind me of the Batmen from Superman: Red Son. I can't wait for TIM!

It'd odd though that El Terror Negro, as scientifically brainy as he is, just uses his knowledge to get drugs to allow himself to beat the shit out of people. You'd think he'd use it to get rich, or cure paraplegics or something instead of hoarding it himself for the purposes of ass-beatery.

But maybe he's not exactly right in the head, since the drugs do have bad sideffects.

[Vagrant Orpheus]

And also his paralysis cure ends up turning people into superpowered beings. Whom later on also turn out to be massive rage serpents. Is a good thing he kept it to himself.

And if none of that makes sense to you, two words: Golden Age. Tell me one hero from that era who released his magical miracle concoction into the hands of the public. Or the goernment. Or a private corporation. Exactly

[Shroom Man 777]

Oh shit. Does this mean we can have stuff like Black Terror marrying TIM to gorillas and other feats of superdickery? SUFFERING SAPPHO!

[Vagrant Orpheus]

Nah, Tim is also reinvented. There are plenty of other heros with sidekicks that have just as awful Secret Names too though. Sparky, Mike, Domino, Stampy, Ricky, Buddy and Ace all seem like viable targets. In the 40s-50s of course. By the 80s they'd be all grown up and bitter about their sideline antics.

[Vagrant Orpheus]

Now, a little excerpt for the Powered Dominion redesign of Destiny.

It's a cold, miserable night, and here I am, huddled up over a rusted out drum, the meagre fire of the burning newspaper my only respite from the chilly midnight air. The alleyway is filled with rubbish, of the material kind and of the human kind. I am one of them, the homeless bums that hide in plain sight beneath the perception of the busy people rushing around, doing their jobs, living their lives. They don't see me, the scruffy, dirty man with the uncared-for beard, don't realise what I am, who I am. I am a superhero. I am Destiny.

Ah, the charmed life of a superhero, huh?

I wasn't always a hobo, and I wasn't always a hero. In fact it was the latter that caused the former. I know, I know, when most people picture heroes they don't picture someone who has been forced into homeless drifting by his talent, but I didn't really get a choice. It was my destiny.

Five years ago was when I first discovered my talent. Well, let's be honest, it was that damned magician who discovered my talent. Read my tarot and told me that I had a great destiny ahead of me. He calls this a great destiny, a man crouching over a burning rubbish drum. Well, he did say my destiny could be a truly villainous one, or a truly heroic one. Sometimes, on nights like tonight, I wonder if I made the right choice. Other times I wonder if I even had a choice. Certainly didn't seem like it at the time. I didn't believe him, of course, but decided to humour him and clear my mind. Looking back on it now, I have come to realise why it never happened sooner. I was always thinking about something, whether it be my girlfriend, my little house and my big mortgage, or any number of other things. I had a life back then, and like most people, my mind was filled with that little life. It wasn't a fantastic one, just eking out a living in the East End of London as a pawn shop owner, but it was alright. Some of my friends were a bit underhanded, minor criminals, but that wasn't unusual for anybody who lived in the East End. I spent my days at the shop, my nights at the pub, and it was all okay. Then I went to see that damned Nohzahl Zeezahl, and actually cleared my mind for the first time in years.

Soon as I knew it, I was somewhere else. I mean somewhere completely different. Clearing my mind had allowed me to appear in this place, this other place. That first appearing was where I saw the murder of 711 and spoke with his spirit. Seems I have a talent for talking to ghosts too, part and parcel of my destiny I guess. That was the first time I saw a murder, and I was compelled to track down the man who killed the former hero. Didn't take that long, eventually I apprehended him and handed him into the police. Then I set to the problem of where I was, after my appearing had vanished me from Zeezahl's parlor tent. Fortunately enough, it turned out I was still in London, yeah? I made my way back home and decided to put it behind me. Only that's a laugh, because look where I am now.

Five years and half a world away from my home. I've given up trying to settle down now, I soon enough found out the difficulties that arose from appearing in places with no paper trail, no record, no history and no identity after I appeared in South Africa whilst trying to fall asleep. In the ruddy, not a skerrick of identity on me, and no real way to get home. Been trying to get back for a long time, tried to focus my appearing, but it seems focusing is the opposite of the trigger for appearing. So I just keep blanking out and moving on, each time appearing at a new crime scene.

And ain't that the biggest joke of the lot, eh? My destiny seems to be to appear in the middle of groups of highly-strung, paranoid and violence-prone men. Me, a man with no combat training whatsoever and the muscles of a child. I would say it's a wonder I haven't been killed yet, but I only half believe that. Half of me feels vulnerable and threatened, half of me assumes that if I do have a destiny then I'll get there unharmed. Unless my destiny is to get harmed, I suppose. I try not to think about that too much. I try not to think about anything too much, thinking about my old life stings, thinking about what could be also stings, 'cause whenever I do manage to get a semblance of happiness the appearing happens again, and there I am, stuck in the middle of a crime in some place I have no idea of, where I'm a stranger to everyone. No, I tell you this, it's not a good life, but if my destiny is to have this cursed ability that I can't seem to control, then it seems my destiny is also to be alone.

Now leave me be, my fire's dying down. 'Less you have some change to spare so I can eat, I'd rather you just left. Forget about me, let me vanish from your mind. I'll have vanished for real by the morning, I can guarantee you that.

[Shroom Man 777]

Man, that's like Jumper, except as a compelled-to-save people who, by virtue of teleporting anywhere to save people, is now a miserable homeless man with no identity!

[speaker-to-trolls]

Well this is an interesting concept. I like the idea of a supervillain actually succeeding for once because, frankly, sooner or later it would happen. This has nagged at my suspension of disbelief about superhero series more than any of the other inconsitencies in the whole idea; superheroes are very, very frequently tasked with saving the entire world from (your threat here). Now there are lots of people with important jobs, and they all lose sometimes; cops fail to catch or convict criminals, doctors fail to stop diseases spreading, soldiers fail to defeat or stop the enemy from taking ground ro killing people. All of these things have dire consequences, but they still happen and the world goes on. Now if superheroes screw up, even once, on one of the big threats, then it doesn't.

So really it makes perfect sense that one of these people swimming in wealth and power who wants to take over the world will, eventually, by skill, power and fortune, actually do it.

And I for one welcome our new Mongol overlords *is shot for breach of the Excessive Memes Law of Just Now*

[Vagrant Orpheus]

The REAL Black Terror. This is perhaps one of the most major players of the Powered Dominion universe, both in terms of physical power and political/social impact.

[Invictus]

Are you planning to include the likes of Stardust the Super-Wizard?

[Vagrant Orpheus]

Absolutely. He is the traditional "threat from beyond the stars". This is my rough-up description:

Stardust the Super Wizard: Stardust is an alien being who possesses sufficiently advanced technology that is by most accounts indistinguishable from magic to regular people. He resides on a ‘private star’ and appears to be a distributer of space justice, having travelled around to stop criminals on many different planets. However, when he discovered Earth Stardust became unhealthily fixated with protecting America, easily dispatching many criminals within America. Whilst he was easily able to stop the criminals, people soon became uncomfortable with Stardust because he acted as judge, jury and executioner as well as policing America, quite often killing criminals for reasonably minor crimes, as well as severe collateral damage and loss of innocent lives, despite the fact that with his seemingly limitless powers he could easily use non-lethal means to stop any such criminals.

Additionally, Stardust seemed to be a highly reactive vigilante, rather than proactively seeking to stop things before they got to the point where disaster struck, such as when evil Martians invaded America with the assistance of the Axis powers. For these various oddities and amoral actions the government and people of America began to question Stardust, which he found incomprehensible and completely incompatible with his alien outlook on life, as he only saw himself as helping out those in need. Bemused and puzzled by America’s gradual rejection of his actions Stardust departed from Earth to resume his policing in space, becoming ever more violent in his courses of justice, eventually lapsing into total sociopathy and becoming a space dictator as war broke out over his oppressive and violent actions without regards for what the planets’ citizens wanted for themselves . Stardust has equipment providing surveillance on multiple planets to him at all times, as well as allowing him to read the thoughts of the citizens of these planets.

Stardust sports the ability to fly seemingly unassisted in space at speeds of half-lightspeed, as well as warping space through tubular spatial accelerated supersolar lightwaves for interplanetary travel. Stardust is essentially invulnerable to anything that could be thrown at him by Earth, and with the assistance of some of his devices his already gargantuan strength is enough to shift planets. Amongst other powers he can cause tidal waves and continental shifts, and shapeshift both himself and other creatures into animals, as well as being able to transform himself into a being of blazing energy, able to control his size in this form. He has telekinesis and the ability to turn invisible, and generate planet-sized illusions, such as hiding Earth as an empty region of space or generating a fake planet. It is known that his speed within Earth’s atmosphere exceeds 8000 kilometres per second.

Recently a great interstellar war has broken out and Stardust has lost vast quantities of power, much of his technology being destroyed, but by Earth standards he is still magnitudes stronger than any Earthbound being. For some reason, the sociopathic breakdown caused by this war and the loss of much of his power has caused Stardust to blame Earth for his current predicament, tracing it back to Earth’s rejection of his assistance, the first planet to do so, and he is currently streaking towards Earth to take his rage out on the people that shunned him.

[Siege]

I'm sorry for not commenting earlier, but I really, really like the concept behind this universe; particularly the "schizophrenic" (as you describe it) continuity. And of course the Black Terror! Immortal pirates are always a good idea, no matter the setting.

So, I've just gone ahead and created Powered Dominion for ya. I've also realigned the three comic-related universes to be sitting right next to each other, so hopefully you'll get some attention from people visiting Comix and Section 20, and vice versa.