Star Comics

This is a metafictional game universe containing the various hero and villain characters I've created for MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS. (There was an actual Star Comics in the 80s, but there's no affiliation.)

Star Comics began as a small subdivision of the Constellation Publishing company in 1936. Their big breakthrough was the introduction of the hero Captain Invincible in THRILLING COMICS #3 in June of 1939. Other super-characters followed, such as scientist and gadgeteer Professor Hawk, the Arabic rogue Nasarudin, the Sea Goddess and Morpheus the Dimension Lord. As with all other publishers it pulled back on its superhero titles when the market went bust after WWII, but began reviving them in 1957, following the example of National/DC. Star Comics' parent company had strong overseas connections and did good business translating and exporting its material- including comics- to Europe and Asia, and to appeal to these markets many Star Comics heroes were given non-American backgrounds. This tradition has continued to the present and remains a distinction for the company, even though it broke off from Constellation when the publisher went bankrupt in 1983.(Star Comics re-organized during this time and launched a new, streamlined continuity following from the epic miniseries THE END OF TIME.)

The "Star Comics Universe" is one in which superheroes have been known to exist since just before the Second World War- Captain Invincible was the first to emerge, and during the War he led the team known as "Allied Justice." Some of the heroes from this period- the original Nasarudin, Morpheus, Sea Goddess and Blue Flame, among others- were trapped in a pocket dimension by the Nazi occultist Baron Mystico and effectively "removed from history", with none of the remaining heroes remembering who they were. Karmic forces worked to create new incarnations of these heroes, until the second Morpheus discovered the pocket dimension and helped the trapped heroes escape to the real world. (The originals went into semi-retirement and became the "Prime" heroes- Morpheus-Prime, Sea Goddess-Prime, etc.) [See STAR COMICS ANNUAL #2, "Hail! The Forgotten Heroes" by David Denham]. Meanwhile, the Earth had entered into its first interplanetary conflict, as the reptilian Vegans began to make raids on the planet, seeking human slaves to toil in their machine empire. It was then that Captain Invincible learned of his extraterrestrial origins, his powers introduced to him by the Deltans, a peaceful race seeking to contain the spread of the Vegan Empire.

The pre-eminent superhero group in this world is "Justice International," a coalition of heroes from across the world. The group was formed shortly after an attack by Mr. Midnight on an international scientific conference in New York, an attack foiled by the joint efforts of Captain Invincible, Professor Hawk, Nasarudin, the new Sea Goddess (from Okinawa), Nigerian hero Master Man and French crimefighter Lumiere. The group has the official backing of the U.N. to fight threats to world safety and security wherever they appear. They meet in an Antarctic base which was converted from a polar research facility (and is located strangely close to a chasm which leads to the subterranean realm of Jurassica.) Another major superhero group is Team Tomorrow, a group of four teenagers from the future whose advanced technology gives them super-powers. They operate from the campus of Kefauver University under the watchful eye of the elderly Professor Erickson. Finally there is the Secret Army, a less-formal counterpart to Justice International which keeps its very existence a secret from the public and from non-member heroes. Its membership rotates frequently, apart from founding member Morpheus.

Places of interest in the Earth of Star Comics include the sunken continent of Mu, hidden deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. Inhabited by a race of fish people, the nation is mostly peaceful except when angered by excessive fishing, pollution, or anything else which seems to be the fault of the surface dwellers. Jurassica is a subterranean jungle continent full of dinosaurs and other refugees from past geological eras. The Middle-Eastern nation of Uram is the birthplace of Nasarudin, who continues to agitate against the country's oppressive theocracy.

Powerful extradimensional forces frequently work on this world. The Order of Light, a secret society of mystics, is in contact with the Positive Plane, home of the angelic Shining Ones, themselves extra-human servants of an unnamed greater power. They continually work to guard against the work of the Negative Plane and its servants, the Lords of Shadow. Between these two great opposing poles lie countless strange dimensions with their own laws of nature and their own designs on Earth.

Heroes

• Captain Invincible (For M&M 2e)

• Jetman (For 2e)

• Lumiere (For 2e)

• Master Man (For 2e)

• Miniman (For 2e)

• Morpheus (For 2e)

• Nasarudin (For 2e)

• Professor Hawk (For 2e)

• Sea Goddess (For 2e)

---