The Unofficial Handbook Of The History Of Earth-Amalgam (v. 2)

by Carycomic

A continuation of Volume 1, utilizing a good number of public domain superheroes originally created by now-defunct Golden Age publishers like Centaur Comics and Fox Features Syndicate.

Oct. 1940: Loki of Asgard, secretly working with the Nazis, abducts Venus of Olympus by posing as her Uncle Pluto, Lord of Hades! He does so because he wishes to convince the rest of the Roman pantheon (without the goddess of love persuading them otherwise) that the Fascist Italian invasion of Greece will allow them to reassert dominion over the whole Mediterranean. So, towards that end, he imprisons Venus within the palace of the Sultan of Cassarobia. A Middle Eastern country wherein _all_ Olympians are rendered powerless! The result of a magic spell cast thousands of years earlier by an exiled wizard from ancient Egypt.

Apr. 1941: The Nazis invade Greece, as well. Impressing Mars, the Roman war god, so much that he decides to send a Vulcan-forged clockwork robot warrior to aid them! But, Vulcan (acting at the behest of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, in return for her help in getting his wife back) secretly misdirects the robot to the U.S. Army airbase in Dayton, Ohio, instead. There, it is confronted by Jack "Minute Man" Weston from Columbus, Ohio; and Athena's Americanized avatar, "Miss USA The Spirit of Old Glory."

The two of them, together, manage to delay the robot just long enough for swashbuckling archeologist Craig Carter to arrive and magically reprogram it using the legendary Ring of Solomon. The robot, now endowed with truly free will, pledges itself to the Allied cause and renames itself "Man of War."

June 1941: To keep her word to the Roman god of blacksmiths, Athena recruits a small group of special adventurers to raid the Sultan's palace, in Cassarobia, and bring Venus home. This group is comprised of Craig Carter; Brad "the Ghost" Hendricks; crime-fighting stage magician Mantor of Zanzibar; a gun slinging knight in bulletproof armor called the Blue Beetle; and Professor Grant Farrell, a teacher of electrochemistry at Gotham University.

The raid begins when the Ghost smuggles Mantor to the westernmost border of Cassarobia in his Ghost Plane (a modified Bell Airacomet). From there, Mantor mystically teleports himself to the banquet room of the Sultan's palace. Upon materializing before the startled Sultan and his equally astounded guests (half of them, German "diplomats"), Mantor flips his cape, and makes four shrunken men appear on the floor. Upon gesturing at them with his right hand, however, they instantly re-enlarge! With Craig Carter using the Ring of Solomon to turn Professor Farrell into the Earthly avatar of Thor.

Thor takes on the Sultan's palace guards, single-handedly; eventually leading the fight outside, where the rest of the Cassarobian army is quickly mobilized against him! This, in turn, provides the necessary distraction for Carter and the Blue Beetle. The latter's twin Colt .45 semi-autos keeping the "diplomats" and their own bodyguards at bay, long enough for Mantor to teleport all of them (Venus included) back to the Ghost Plane. As that area is outside of the ancient spell's influence, Venus' own innate super-powers are restored to her, almost immediately. Whereupon, once Thor has rejoined them, she teleports herself and all her rescuers back to the United States. Giving each one a peck on each of their facial cheeks in gratitude.

Jan. 1944: Taking a cue from her sister and Thor, Venus creates her own crime-fighting avatar. Inspired by the Blue Beetle, she becomes (through socialite Anita Morgan) the Purple Tigress!

May 1945: To celebrate the Allied victory in Europe, Girl Commando Penny Kirk (sister of Paul "Manhunter" Kirk) marries Rod "Firebrand" Reilly of New York City. Nine months later, they are blessed with a daughter... who is christened after their wedding date.

Sept. 1945: To celebrate the end of World War II, altogether, Patricia "War Nurse" Parker marries expatriate Englishman Alan "Agent 99" Douglas. With the couple symbolizing their union by legally hyphenating their surnames, together. Shortly after returning from their honeymoon, they settle down in Pat's hometown; Smallville, Kansas. There, Alan joins the local police force.

June 1946: The Douglas-Parkers are blessed with fraternal twin sons: Benjamin and Richard.

July 1947: Radio astronomer Dr. Saul Erdel begins picking up signals from the general direction of the constellation Corvus. Signals that he determines are too regular to be ambient space static! He therefore begins monitoring them on a regular basis.

Aug. 1948: Venus "retires" from crime-fighting to become an advice-to-the lovelorn columnist for Beauty Magazine.

*Apr. 30, 1899: The time-displaced criminal master of disguise known as "The Key" uses the time machine of Professor Zee to dispose of Zee's body (plus those of Wilfrid Doome and Per Degaton) in a sand pit near Woking, in Surrey, England. His research has shown him that a "meteor" crashed there, the night before May 1 of that year, creating a massive crater. He, therefore, hopes the impact will also obliterate the bodies beyond all hope of autopsy!

*May 5, 1899: Micro-biologist Nathaniel Essex teams up with Norwegian scientist "Malcolm Stromberg" and a French scientist named Moreau to asexually hybridize anthrax and streptococcus germs... for use against the invading "Martians". Meanwhile, on Mars, itself, Barsoomian scientists (led by a psionic half-Sorn/half-Thark named Jonn Jonzz) begin reverse-engineering something called an Infinity Gate. If only to prevent any more alien invaders (even worse than "the Molluscs") from coming through it!

Dec. 1949: Dr. Erdel gets a TV set, as a Christmas present, from his new research assistant; a young man named Henry Pym. The latter has found a way to communicate with crickets using a computerized helmet that can translate his thoughts into neuro-electrical flashes of light in International Morse! So Erdel has recruited him to help translate the signals.

Feb. 1951: With a pro-McCarthyist Congress having passed the Ban on Superheroics into law, Sean "Slugger" Dunn feels compelled to retire as Rod Reilly's bodyguard. Instead, he opens a small Irish-American pub in the Inwood section of Manhattan. And among his customers on Opening Day are two of New York's Finest; Sergeant Dan Garret; and Harbor Patrolman Seamus "Red" Riley. The latter turning out to be the long-estranged brother of "Emerald Ed" Reilly (Rod's father)!

Apr. 1951: Professor Darrell Dane (formerly better known as Doll Man) hires a new research assistant named Raymond Palmer.

*May 6, 1899: Nabu the Ancient One, seeing how eagerly Earth's governments are to adapt "Martian" weaponry for their own, decides to cast a magic spell that will induce a global case of amnesia concerning the recent invasion. Yet, as he does so, sunspot activity commences on the far side of Sol.

Nov. 1955: Sunspot activity begins, on the far side of Sol, during Dr. Erdel and Henry Pym's latest attempt to decode the signals from Corvus. Increasing amplification, in an effort to compensate for the interference, leads to an unexpected power surge. Followed by an explosion! When the smoke clears, Pym finds himself gazing at Erdel's body... and an equally disoriented Jonn Jonzz.

Dec. 1955: Jonn familiarizes himself with Earth culture via the television that Pym had bought for Erdel. The latter is secretly buried, following which the Martian impersonates him using telepathic hypnosis to alter other people's perceptions. On the night of the winter solstice, however, Jonn's telepathy allows him to sense Baron Wotan using the Serpent Crown to instigate the Atlantean invasion of the Delmarva Peninsula! Whereupon, the Martian telepathically contacts Dr. Fate who, in turn, uses wizardry to assemble an ad hoc group of defenders (see UHHEA v. 1).