Well, we’re down to the last week of the patronage project. The project has been funded by 11 awesome patrons, but there’s still room for more if you want to get in on it. Silver Age patronage can be had for $10 and gets you your name in the final book as a Silver Age Patron and a special e-book containing golden age comics and a preview illustration from the final book along with a hand-written note of thanks. Golden Age patronage is $20 and gets you the above, plus your name included in the mini-setting in the game book and you get to vote on which heroes are illustrated for the book. Remember, the final product will be a free, open content PDF and a print-on-demand book sold as cheaply as possible. It will include old school rules for comic book hero adventures – character generation, fighting rules, dozens of super powers and a mini-setting and introductory adventure. The patronage project is to purchase some kick ass artwork.

When the time limit is up for the project (Oct 12), I’ll be sending ballots to all Golden Age patrons to vote on which heroes are to be illustrated by Joel Carroll (that’s his work on top of the post). Once the votes are cast and the patronage money drops into my account, I’ll make the official commission and get this ball rolling! When the heroes are drawn, I’ll send out the patronage packages to everybody.

So far, we’ve covered the ubermenschen, elementals, tough guys, patriotic and occult heroes. Today we look at the Science Heroes. Science Heroes are those who get their powers through scientific gadgets and the like.

The King of Darkness is radio engineer Bruce King, who stumbles upon a way to use radio waves to create beams of cold and beams of darkness, as well as an anti-gravity wave for good measure.

The Masked Marvel – identity unknown. Headquarters – glass-domed mountain headquarters. Operatives – ZL, ZR and ZY. Gadgets – zepplin, telepathically-controlled plane, paralyzation ray gun and a televisor that allows him to see everywhere in the world. He can also lift dinosaurs over his head, so he has that to fall back on when he runs out of batteries.

Sandra Knight, daughter of a senator, fights crime with a blacklight ray (no, not for looking at groovy posters) that creates darkness and makes her invisible. And yes, if she gets the nod her name will have to be changed to avoid trademark entanglements.

When Shannon Kane’s chemist husband Harry is killed by agents of a foreign government, she takes his formula for “spider-web glue” and becomes a heroine. She uses bracelets to fire the substance, which is even strong enough to swing on! I can’t imagine why somebody didn’t recycle such a novel idea and make a fortune with it.

Yes, Fletcher Hanks rears his head once again (see Fantomah of the occult heroes). Stardust the Super Wizard lives on a private star (the air conditioning bills are murder) and travels about fighting crime using “tubular spatial accelerated supersolar light waves” and repulsor and attraction rays. He’s very big in the ray business.

Really no update on patronage this week. The project is now 109% funded, and any patronage the project attracts now will go to commissioning more art for the game. If you’re interested in being a $10 Silver Age patron or a $20 Golden Age patron, by all means click the link to the right and check it out.

Patriotic heroes are the focus of today’s post. Mystery Men! uses golden age (and public domain) heroes, and it is just about impossible to separate the Golden Age of comic books from World War II. Dozens of costumed heroes and heroines donned the red, white and blue to fight America’s enemies overseas and at home. The patriotic hero that Joel Carroll will illustrate for Mystery Men! will be chosen by Golden Age patrons from the five below.

Chase Yale (as opposed to Flee Princeton) was a war correspondent who decided to get into the action by donning the costume of Commando Yank and slapping around Nazis. Commando Yank had no super powers, relying on his fists, knives and guns. I like the low-tech and olive drab vibe of this guy.

Daniel Lyons was another lucky guy who almost died near a reclusive scientist’s laboratory. Nursed back to health by the scientist, Daniel discovers he now has super powers, and decides to use them to fight the Axis. You have to have chutzpah to show up on a battlefield dressed like this guy.

Joan Wayne (she gets points just for the name) is a stenographer in Washington DC who grows disgusted by the political corruption. She decides to fight corrupt politicians as costumed hero in league with the FBI. I know the idea of political corruption in our nation’s capitol sounds crazy, but hey – it was comic books!

Reed suffers from infantile paralysis, and though possessing Herculean strength in his upper body is confined to a wheelchair. Humiliation in front of a woman eventually drives him to build up his legs and become a champion athlete. A rich playboy, he decides to put his new found skills to good use and kick some Nazi butt. Who says sexual frustration never leads to anything positive?

Yankee Doodle Jones is an artifical human created by an unnamed scientist from the body parts of three crippled war heroes (yes, WTF). When Nazi agents kill the scientist in an attempt to steal the formula, Jones and the scientist’s son, dubbed Dandy, go after the agents and then stick around to fight the Axis. Patriotic frankenstein, folks. ‘Nuff said.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have backing. The project is now 109% funded with the addition of three more backers (for a total of 11): Jonathan Davis, Matthew Schmeer of Rended Press (who put us over the top!) and Andrew Kane. Thanks to everybody who has become a backer, and to everyone else thinking about it – dive right in. We have 15 days left, and the more funding the project gets, the more art I can commission for it. Don’t forget to check out the alpha document every so often to see my progress on the rules and setting – and feel free to chime in with your thoughts and suggestions.

Last update, I previewed the elementals who were up for a vote on who gets illustrated by our artist, Joel Carroll (that’s a sample of his work above) and included in the book as sample heroes. This time, we’ll wander into the world of the occult.

Danny “Paddy” Sullivan (yes, an Irish cop – they were breaking new ground with this strip), upon being killed in the line of duty, discovers that he is now an “earth-bound spirit”. Instead of sneaking into girls’ locker rooms, he takes the high road and fights evil (Prof. Evil, in fact).

What kind of internet nerd would I be without including at least one of Fletcher Hanks’ creations. Fantomah is a god-like being who protects the jungles of Africa. When she “gods-up” she turns blue and her face becomes a skull – nothing strange about that.

John Force has a magic coin that he uses as the Magic Agent to fight communism. Without his coin, he’s still a trained secret agent, with all the butt-kickery that involves.

An egyptian generald named Amron, he is accidentally revived by an incantation read by a bandit leader. Amron now fights injustice as the Phantom Sphinx with the help of sorcerous powers and a magic carpet.

A police scientist killed in an explosion, he discovers that as a ghost he can continue to fight crime. He eventually discovers Ghost Town and its famous residents like Captain Kidd, Robin Hood and Johnny Appleseed. The only person who can see or hear Sgt Spook is a teenage kid named Jerry. And yes, I know, not that different from the Duke of Darkness above, but I loved the art and the name and just had to include him in the competition.

Remember – no need to vote your favorite now, as the official ballot will be sent out when the project finally ends in October.

The project now has eight backers, with Sean Wills of Bite the Bulette, Lou Goncey of the Purple Wurm and Scott Morrison of – well, I don’t know actually – Scott, if you have blog, let me know – throwing their hats into the ring as Golden Age patrons (well, Mr. Goncey actually pledged for no reward, but he still pledged at the Golden Age level. If that was a mistake and you want your reward Lou, let me know!)

The project is now 76% funded with 22 days to go – if you’re considering becoming a backer, check out the Kickstarter page HERE. Remember, the more money we gather, the more art we can afford and the better this project will look. I’ve also put some more work into the alpha document if you want to check it out.

Last update, I previewed the tough guys who were up for a vote on who gets illustrated by our artist, Joel Carroll (that’s a sample of his work above) and included in the book as sample heroes. This time, we’ll look at the elementals, heroes whose powers are based on natural forces – electricity, fire, water, etc.

Ray O’Light (a grand old Irish name if ever I heard one) is an electrical worker who gets zapped on the job. Luckily, a passing scientist saves his life and in the process endows him with electrical powers. Dig the translucent helmet!

Bob Blake discovers that being friends with a brilliant chemist can cause problems, as he is accidentally doused in a formula that Harry Thurston accidentally discovers (hmm – lots of accidents here). Donning aviator goggles and a handy pair of tights, Blake turns lemons into lemonade and becomes Hydroman.

Young Bob Sanders gets caught in a cyclone in his home town of Windy Gap and, obviously, comes out of the experience with super powers.

No, his powers don’t come from being smeared with radioactive vapo-rub. Vapo-Man is scientist Bradford Cole and was caught in a lab explosion caused by Nazi saboteurs (I hate those guys).

Carol Vance is orphaned by a forest fire, but given powers by the god of fire after he rescues her (so he’s not such a bad guy after all). Adopted by the Martin family, she puts her divine powers to work smashing Nazi spy rings and generally making the lives of criminals more interesting. Also – girl in a bathing suit with a flaming battleaxe!

Remember – no need to vote your favorite now, as the official ballot will be sent out when the project is funded. Thanks to everyone who has put money into the project so far!

The project now has six backers, with Mike Davison of Swords of Abandon joining the project as a Golden Age patron. The project is now 57% funded with 24 days to go – if you’re considering becoming a backer, check out the Kickstarter page HERE. Remember, the more money we gather, the more art we can afford and the better this project will look.

I’ve put some work into the alpha document, and I am now about 25% finished with character creation. I still need to do some work on the classes (adventurer, sorcerer and scientist – only minor differences between the three, mostly in how powers are purchased) and then work on all of the powers – that will likely be the lion’s share of the project.

Last update, I previewed the ubermenschen who were up for a vote on who gets illustrated by our artist, Joel Carroll (that’s a sample of his work in the upper right corner) and included in the book as sample heroes. This time, we’ll look at the “tough guys”.

Tough guys are mostly non-powered heroes who rely on their fists, guns and wits to stop crime and punish evil-doers. The category includes “dark avengers” as well as the archers that loom large in comic books even to this day.

Tony Quinn was a district attorney scarred by acid thrown at him by an angry criminal. Blinded in the attack, he gets a new set of eyes in a transplant that allow him to see in the dark. A true dark avenger type, he carries twin .45s and leaves a bat-shaped scar on his victims.

John Perry is a gossip columnist who puts on tights, cape and cowl to, surprisingly, wage war on crime. He is assisted by his ward, Chuck – AKA Kid Fury. Wonder where they got that idea?

Wrestler Bob White and this teen-aged manager Terry Wake enjoy pounding criminals in their off hours. Nothing weird about that. He later got a less frightening costume – a move you just know has “angry moms” written all over it.

Rick Raleigh is an assistant district attorney who fights crime with athleticism, fighting skill, a keen red gun and trained bees, one of whom is named Michael. How can you not get behind a trained bee named Michael?

Dianne Grayton is a millionaire playgirl who dresses up like a witch to fight criminals. She has a thing for another hero called The Raven, and uses trained spiders in her crusade against villainy.

Golden Age patrons don’t need to vote now – if the project gets funded I’ll email you a “ballot” to handle all that.

The project now has five backers – with Wendy Stater (who may or may not be my wife – Hi honey!) and old friend and fellow blogger Tom Feeney joining the project as Golden Age patrons and Trey Causey, architect of the The City, becoming a Silver Age patron. The project is now 47% funded with 26 days to go – if you’re considering becoming a backer, check out the Kickstarter page HERE.

I’ve made a minor update to the google doc – taking a few spare minutes this morning to write about ability score generation. Nothing too exciting yet, as this month is dedicated to producing NOD #5, PARS FORTUNA and a secret project I’m working on.

Now, part of the community involvement in this project concerns which heroes are going to get the nod and be drawn by our artist, Joel Carroll (that’s a sample of his work in the upper right corner), and included in the book as sample heroes. I’ve gone through about 300 golden age, public domain heroes and whittled it down to 35 heroes in seven different categories – Golden Age patrons are going to get to vote on which hero from each category makes the cut. Today, I’m featuring the five heroes competing in the Ubermensch category.

An ubermensch is a hero based on the prototypical hero – flight, super strength, invulnerability and a few extra powers stuck in to avoid a copyright violation. Our ubermenschen are …

Golden Age patrons don’t need to vote now – if the project gets funded I’ll email you a “ballot” to handle all that.