AI
03-31-2006, 12:30 PM
"What is a super hero? The Oxford English dictionary states that a super hero is '... A man, or woman, of superior strength and stamina... Who fights for the good of a common goal or objective.'. If this is truly the case - Then history has been littered with super heroes, and villains, since time began. Indeed, many historians have speculated that everyone from Jesus Christ, Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin and even Harry Houdini were super humans to a lesser or greater degree. I, however, find this definition to be fundamentally flawed.
To discover the truth behind my reasoning, we have to look back to when the term 'Super Hero' was invented. All the way back to March 1941, when a great longboat sailed out from a mysterious, blue-grey smoke-screen, docking at Liverpool and bringing with it, what I consider to be, the first recorded super hero in existence. He had long, golden hair and eyes that sparkled like the glaciers of the land he had departed from - With bulging muscles that would put the most adamant body builder to shame.
Did he adopt a normal, good old fashioned British name? Did he do his duty and answer the call of the draft? Was he among the millions slaughtered in the battlefields of World War II? No! He was more than that! He became more than that! Possibly unwittingly starting a grand tradition that would be adopted by all super heroes that were to come after, Captain Iceland didn't just become a fancy moniker and costume. He became an icon.
So no, a man superior to all others who fights for the good of a common goal is a hero... Those who do the exact same in a funny costume? That's a super hero."
-- An extract from 'What Is a Super Hero?', an essay by Professor Stanley M. Lieber.
The year is 1999 and superhumanity walks the earth like normal men. Wescorp and CKW fight an eternal battle of trade and industry, while men in lycra briefs duke it out with catastrophic powers in the sky. Dark things lurk in the shadows, spinning machiavellian plots, while the champions of truth, justice, and the Neo-English way defend the long-suffering populace from their ill-conceived designs.
Ninjas, Mutants, Space Aliens, Myths, Legends and Demons work 9 to 5 and take to the streets at night to duke it out in the names of good and evil. Robots, vampires, and worse run rampant, but above all, Corporate Power hangs omnipresent, owning even the most heroic of the world’s myriad defenders on little more than a whim. Their prime creation? The Sensational Secret Reserve.
Lutonopolis
It has been theorised that Lutonopolis, in it's current state, shouldn't exist. And by those, more cynical souls, that it shouldn't exist at all. There’s an old saying about Lutonopolis. It’s a town that should have died. It should have been subsumed as a minor, crime-ridden district of London. It shouldn’t even have made the jump from quaint market town to trading centre, let alone industrial and financial power-house, yet thanks to amazing levels of artificial investment, industrial growth and population influx, it has reached the level of dominance it has today, standing astride Neo-England like the Sword of Damocles: Saviour or Doom of a nation, the difference being but a silken thread.
Not only is it home to both the sprawling, multi-national corporation Wescorp and it's main rival CKW Enterprises, but it has also become somewhat of a mecca for super heroes and villains alike. Habitual breeding ground for two generations of Sharpe assassins and the main base of operations for the SSR and Chaos King's Warriors alike, it is also home to several solo heroes and villains.
Lutonopolis is generally a city of contrast, and it seems that wherever Wescorp leads - The city follows. Nowhere have the consequences of the Corporations actions been felt more than the wretched blight on Lutonopolis, the Inner-City however. While it can be argued that it has been in decline for decades, due to increasingly outdated facilities and increasing competition and cheaper labour rates overseas - One of the key nails in the sectors proverbial coffin was the departure of Wescorp's holdings to their new, out-of-town complex. While some pessimists attribute this as the sole reason for the state the Inner-City is in today, it was mearly the acceleration to a problem that has been snapping away at the edges of the sector like an angry bull-terrier for years.
The fact of the matter is that the inner-city is the rotten core, to what some would say, is an equally rotten apple. In a city of a thousand faces, it's where most of the ugly, malformed ones can be found. There's little to be found there aside from abandoned offices, factories, warehouses and blocks of flats. Rumoured to be a hive of crime, super villainy and the odd bit of mad scientist - It cannot be denied that it is an easy place to hide, for people from all walks of life. Wether some of the hidden return from the inner-city, however, is another matter.
Yet, civilisation still touches the fringes of the city. With the museum of delicate objects (the more popular name for the Lutonopolis National Heritage Museum), a converted Victorian factory.As well as the main studios and offices for FreeMedia Entertainment, abandoned buildings purchased from Wescorp and CKW Enterprises at a low rate and converted into appropriate facilities. Wesley Dean III has also stated an interest in returning the Inner-City to former glories, placing considerable pressure on Commissioner McAndra to increase security there - And if not, putting the Wescorp Security Corp on patrol there... A notion that has made many very nervous indeed.
Outside of the Inner-City, the rest of Lutonopolis is a towering beacon of hope - Well befitting the financial capital of Neo-England. From the towering monoliths that rise up and pierce the cities skyline, such as the Secret Reserve Head Quarters, The Rumour Mill and the various CKW Enterprise holdings to the rolling plains of the Wescorp Municipal Park that flirts with the cities borders and the crystal clear waters of the River Lea that flows directly through the city - It seems serene, peaceful and quiet... Inbetween attacks from killer robots, tyrannical weather working super villains and alien demi-gods from another dimension, of course.
Lutonopolis is a hive of super humanity - A close association that was forged in the early sixties and has lasted ever since. It's said that super humans are as common to Lutonopolis as mutants are to Dunstable, with sightings and reports marginally higher than anywhere else in the world. Despite this unique trait, however, it is still a place for normal people to live and work - And there is plenty of opportunity for that. Wescorp and CKW Enterprises provide bountiful jobs for the people in the city, and the booming tourist trade that has spawned from the creation of the SSR has only helped the cities economy, even if many residents aren't happy about the high prices and over crowding their foreign friends bring.
The government of Lutonopolis is, needless to say, patchy. Being an all too familiar target for any two-bit super villain spoiling for a city, national or even global domination - The town hall is demolished on a regular basis. Many have critisied the constant rebuilding of it, while others state that it is a matter of principle - Either way, it often throws the local government into disarray and goes some way to explain how the corporations have secured as much influence as they have. The police are often seen as something as a joke, as well - Much to the frustration of Commissioner McAndra. However, as he often states, 'The wee bastards (super humans) cannae be everywhere! An' ah ken as well as ye do, that somebody has tae clean up the wee things in life - Specially given the damned mess they make!'.
The outskirts of the city are fringed with many major transportation arteries, and the Lutonopolis Inter-link suspension bridge, which leads on into Dunstable and beyond. Jutting out from what remains of the countryside, like something from an industrial nightmare, is the Wescorp Industries Complex. Home to much of Wescorp's manufacturing capacity within the city, many of their offices and homes for their workers - It also served as the former home of the Reserve. Other than this, the only significant feature of the outskirts is the Grassy Knoll Power Plant and, it's rumoured that there is a secret military base lying just beyond the city - But they lay largely unconfirmed.
To discover the truth behind my reasoning, we have to look back to when the term 'Super Hero' was invented. All the way back to March 1941, when a great longboat sailed out from a mysterious, blue-grey smoke-screen, docking at Liverpool and bringing with it, what I consider to be, the first recorded super hero in existence. He had long, golden hair and eyes that sparkled like the glaciers of the land he had departed from - With bulging muscles that would put the most adamant body builder to shame.
Did he adopt a normal, good old fashioned British name? Did he do his duty and answer the call of the draft? Was he among the millions slaughtered in the battlefields of World War II? No! He was more than that! He became more than that! Possibly unwittingly starting a grand tradition that would be adopted by all super heroes that were to come after, Captain Iceland didn't just become a fancy moniker and costume. He became an icon.
So no, a man superior to all others who fights for the good of a common goal is a hero... Those who do the exact same in a funny costume? That's a super hero."
-- An extract from 'What Is a Super Hero?', an essay by Professor Stanley M. Lieber.
The year is 1999 and superhumanity walks the earth like normal men. Wescorp and CKW fight an eternal battle of trade and industry, while men in lycra briefs duke it out with catastrophic powers in the sky. Dark things lurk in the shadows, spinning machiavellian plots, while the champions of truth, justice, and the Neo-English way defend the long-suffering populace from their ill-conceived designs.
Ninjas, Mutants, Space Aliens, Myths, Legends and Demons work 9 to 5 and take to the streets at night to duke it out in the names of good and evil. Robots, vampires, and worse run rampant, but above all, Corporate Power hangs omnipresent, owning even the most heroic of the world’s myriad defenders on little more than a whim. Their prime creation? The Sensational Secret Reserve.
Lutonopolis
It has been theorised that Lutonopolis, in it's current state, shouldn't exist. And by those, more cynical souls, that it shouldn't exist at all. There’s an old saying about Lutonopolis. It’s a town that should have died. It should have been subsumed as a minor, crime-ridden district of London. It shouldn’t even have made the jump from quaint market town to trading centre, let alone industrial and financial power-house, yet thanks to amazing levels of artificial investment, industrial growth and population influx, it has reached the level of dominance it has today, standing astride Neo-England like the Sword of Damocles: Saviour or Doom of a nation, the difference being but a silken thread.
Not only is it home to both the sprawling, multi-national corporation Wescorp and it's main rival CKW Enterprises, but it has also become somewhat of a mecca for super heroes and villains alike. Habitual breeding ground for two generations of Sharpe assassins and the main base of operations for the SSR and Chaos King's Warriors alike, it is also home to several solo heroes and villains.
Lutonopolis is generally a city of contrast, and it seems that wherever Wescorp leads - The city follows. Nowhere have the consequences of the Corporations actions been felt more than the wretched blight on Lutonopolis, the Inner-City however. While it can be argued that it has been in decline for decades, due to increasingly outdated facilities and increasing competition and cheaper labour rates overseas - One of the key nails in the sectors proverbial coffin was the departure of Wescorp's holdings to their new, out-of-town complex. While some pessimists attribute this as the sole reason for the state the Inner-City is in today, it was mearly the acceleration to a problem that has been snapping away at the edges of the sector like an angry bull-terrier for years.
The fact of the matter is that the inner-city is the rotten core, to what some would say, is an equally rotten apple. In a city of a thousand faces, it's where most of the ugly, malformed ones can be found. There's little to be found there aside from abandoned offices, factories, warehouses and blocks of flats. Rumoured to be a hive of crime, super villainy and the odd bit of mad scientist - It cannot be denied that it is an easy place to hide, for people from all walks of life. Wether some of the hidden return from the inner-city, however, is another matter.
Yet, civilisation still touches the fringes of the city. With the museum of delicate objects (the more popular name for the Lutonopolis National Heritage Museum), a converted Victorian factory.As well as the main studios and offices for FreeMedia Entertainment, abandoned buildings purchased from Wescorp and CKW Enterprises at a low rate and converted into appropriate facilities. Wesley Dean III has also stated an interest in returning the Inner-City to former glories, placing considerable pressure on Commissioner McAndra to increase security there - And if not, putting the Wescorp Security Corp on patrol there... A notion that has made many very nervous indeed.
Outside of the Inner-City, the rest of Lutonopolis is a towering beacon of hope - Well befitting the financial capital of Neo-England. From the towering monoliths that rise up and pierce the cities skyline, such as the Secret Reserve Head Quarters, The Rumour Mill and the various CKW Enterprise holdings to the rolling plains of the Wescorp Municipal Park that flirts with the cities borders and the crystal clear waters of the River Lea that flows directly through the city - It seems serene, peaceful and quiet... Inbetween attacks from killer robots, tyrannical weather working super villains and alien demi-gods from another dimension, of course.
Lutonopolis is a hive of super humanity - A close association that was forged in the early sixties and has lasted ever since. It's said that super humans are as common to Lutonopolis as mutants are to Dunstable, with sightings and reports marginally higher than anywhere else in the world. Despite this unique trait, however, it is still a place for normal people to live and work - And there is plenty of opportunity for that. Wescorp and CKW Enterprises provide bountiful jobs for the people in the city, and the booming tourist trade that has spawned from the creation of the SSR has only helped the cities economy, even if many residents aren't happy about the high prices and over crowding their foreign friends bring.
The government of Lutonopolis is, needless to say, patchy. Being an all too familiar target for any two-bit super villain spoiling for a city, national or even global domination - The town hall is demolished on a regular basis. Many have critisied the constant rebuilding of it, while others state that it is a matter of principle - Either way, it often throws the local government into disarray and goes some way to explain how the corporations have secured as much influence as they have. The police are often seen as something as a joke, as well - Much to the frustration of Commissioner McAndra. However, as he often states, 'The wee bastards (super humans) cannae be everywhere! An' ah ken as well as ye do, that somebody has tae clean up the wee things in life - Specially given the damned mess they make!'.
The outskirts of the city are fringed with many major transportation arteries, and the Lutonopolis Inter-link suspension bridge, which leads on into Dunstable and beyond. Jutting out from what remains of the countryside, like something from an industrial nightmare, is the Wescorp Industries Complex. Home to much of Wescorp's manufacturing capacity within the city, many of their offices and homes for their workers - It also served as the former home of the Reserve. Other than this, the only significant feature of the outskirts is the Grassy Knoll Power Plant and, it's rumoured that there is a secret military base lying just beyond the city - But they lay largely unconfirmed.