What's going on with Take the Helm and Metahuman Press

Many of my regular readers may have noticed my sudden silence last month. I only managed to get three posts up for the month of May, and for any of my regular review readers, I apologize. But I did have good reason for my sudden silence. I have been working on a top secret project that debuts later this month at Metahuman Press! It is the culmination of a project I have been plotting for over a year.

Entitled Long Hot Summer, I will be unveiling more information about it over the next couple weeks. For now, I will just promise that it will take characters from pretty much every story I have produced at the MHP. As to who those characters are... well, that you will just have to wait and see.

This does mean that last month’s Living Legends and this month’s Out For Vengeance will bring each series to a close temporarily. Both will be back some time in the next year: Out For Vengeance sometime in late 2010 and Living Legends early next year. But in the mean time, check out Long Hot Summer and what comes in its wake.

Out For Vengeance 9 Notes

This chapter starts the build-up to our first year bang-up with issue twelve that will in turn set up the big bad to finally reveal himself later in the year. I think this one came together quite nicely with a few good character points.

Gasman, sadly enough, took more time to name than a lot of characters so far. I wanted a character with a gas gun, but it took me hours before the mildly painful name came to me.

Having only recently revived Rulah, Jungle Goddess in the pages of Timeline, I have brought back another jungle girl in this chapter with Rima. Rima is a rather unique South American jungle character. In the public domain for some years, she first appeared in W.H. Hudson’s 1904 novel Green Mansions. (Read it here.) DC Comics gave her a book in the seventies and will soon revive their version in the pages of First Wave, but I thought my more mystic take would be fun for this chapter of Out For Vengeance.

After writing this, I really wanted my own combat spider monkey. Anyone else?

Out For Vengeance 8 Notes

Honestly, this is a transitional chapter. It is all about getting from the first part of our story with Vengeance reestablishing ties to his past and in to the second part, where we start learning the mysteries of what exactly happened to him over the last several decades.

We have a few big clues building this month, but more will revealed in the next few months!

Be back next month as Vengeance and Rancor head to Brazil and meet a certain (and somewhat obscure) literary figure of the early twentieth century!

Out For Vengeance 7 Notes

Just a note: I am coming right along on Nanowrimo. I am at 8,400 words already, which puts me more than a day ahead so far! Wooo, me!

As for this chapter of Out For Vengeance, I think it came off really well. It does a great job of really building the mystery of who this Robert Benton may or may not be while also moving along his hunt for his identity.

Amanda will be popping up quite a bit in future chapters, as will several of the other support characters that have came and gone in the first few chapters. But Vengeance has a one track mind at this point, and we need to cover his quest before we can move on to the broader question of just what the hell is happening in New Salem.

Out For Vengeance 6 Notes

This issue I went a different route with two flashbacks, one starring the original Rancor, one starring Vengeance.

Several important elements get introduced in this chapter: the aforementioned original Rancor, Jack O’Lantern, Phoenix Fire, and the Flannery clan. All will play important roles in upcoming chapters, starting with Amanda Flannery next month.

Robert’s flashback concludes his battle with Kimiko in the past and establishes more of the history between the two characters. We will see a lot more of it pop up as our first couple arcs progress.

Andre is an interesting character. As a mix of an angry street kid and a would-be hero trying to do his father’s legacy proud. Over the next few chapters, he will form a reluctant bond with Vengeance and prove to be one of the series’ most important characters.

Next month, we will see Amanda Flannery make her first appearance and learn more of the mystery of Vengeance’s lost memories.

Tales of the Living Legends: The Green Lama

Tales of the Living Legends starts a new story today, this one featuring the Green Lama versus a gang of goons on the city docks.

I do not know exactly what it is that draws me to the Green Lama, but I do know I thoroughly enjoy the simply designed costume but utter coolness of the character. Back in the golden age, the Lama was a fairly popular figure. He first appeared in the pulps as a more powerful variation of the Shadow (albeit much happier) before transitioning both in to comics and radio. He lasted well in to the late forties before disappearing along with the rest of his ilk.

Jethro Dumont often plays second fiddle to a lot of golden age revivals, usually either to Black Terror or Daredevil. But while I have used both those characters in Out For Vengeance and Living Legends, I think the Lama may be the most versatile. His powers open up a lot of room for storytelling which is why I think his stories range so freely between Batman-style street violence to cosmic craziness.

Expect the Lama to pop up semi-regularly in the pages of Tales as well as in future chapters of Living Legends. He has a big future ahead of him in the Quadrant Universe.

Out For Vengeance 5 Notes

EMPIRE somehow makes its first appearance here. EMPIRE has been bouncing around in different story ideas of mine for years now, but this is the first time it has appeared in any of my super-powered fiction. They don’t have much of a role here, but they will continue to appear over various other stories (and maybe in Vengeance) in the future.

I love the term Humutants. How has no one used that before? Anyway, Phineas Moulton is my answer to the classic forties mad scientist villain. Beyond that, I do not want to give up anymore information about these flashbacks. They are all building to the reveal of Vengeance’s missing years.

More hunting rounds out the story. The hunting sub-plot will continue for a few more months, but expect a reveal before the serial finishes its last year.

Out For Vengeance 4 Notes

This chapter introduces us to two different plot threads that will play out in upcoming issues: the mystery of Nightbird and the new Rancor. I am not going to say anything else about either other than stay tuned!

I plan on using Mangle again fairly soon. I think I made an interesting villain with the character, but he feels somewhat flat in this chapter, as he really is only there to fill a plot point. We will get more from him later, I promise.

Not much else to say on this one. Next month, we will really start getting in to the meat of our tale as more of New Salem’s players come in to the spotlight.

Out For Vengeance 2 Notes

With this chapter I start to develop the strange design of New Salem. Inspired by a few fantasy elements I have read in the past, I was inspired to design a city that grows upward do the geographical features surrounding it.

I like the Citadel, shame what I did to it in this story. Don’t worry though, it seems like a hero such as Vengeance will have to establish a base of operations somewhere.

Don’t mess with the Dapper Gentleman. That’s one mean old guy!

The subplot with our mystery villain will be a slow burn, but I do plan on making Vengeance the first character I really develop a rogues gallery for. Expect several new characters to be debuting in the next few months!

Be sure to give thoughts on comments on the story here.

Out For Vengeance 1 Notes

Out For Vengeance is one of those ideas I have had floating in my head literally for years. The main inspiration behind it comes from Alan Moore and his utterly stunning twenty-or-so issue run on Supreme from Maximum Press and Awesome Entertainment. The idea of taking one of the basic archetypes of super-powered storytelling and turning it in to something new and vital... the concepts started flying willy-nilly after that.

I actually created the character of Vengeance in high school. Back then he was just a hodge-podge of the Punisher and Batman, and more than slightly based on the Ultraverse character Night Man. I took the name and a few supporting cast members and moved them in to New Salem. I left everything else by the wayside.

The concept of using both Black Terror and Black Fury as the basis for Vengeance came out of Living Legends. Of all the bigger name public domain characters, I had yet to find a roll for the Terror that worked for me. Finally it hit me how well the character would actually mesh with Vengeance. And don’t you worry, Tim will be on his way soon enough.

I rewrote A New Beginning multiple times. It still doesn’s feel like it quite gets done everything a first chapter of a serial should get done, but I think it serves as an intriguing introduction to our first two players. Amy Evans is going to play an important role in the future of this series, so keep an eye on her.

In the meantime, enjoy Out For Vengeance and let us know what you think here or at the forums!