Happy New Year! We start with the hero that basically inspired most of this even though he no longer stars in the series as I had originally intended. The original golden age Black Terror will star in the story briefly but play a crucial role in the series of events that sets up the story. Pharmacist Bob Benton was being harassed for protection money. After he convinced the goons to give him one more day, they stormed out - knocking down teenager Tim Roland on the way. Feeling bad for Tim, Benton hired him as his assistant. That evening, Benton and Tim were working on Bob's secret project - trying to develop a formula to help "run down people," as Bob puts it. Tim accidentally adds formic acid, which comes from red ants. The resulting "formic ethers" gave Benton super strength and invulnerability. He decided to use these powers to fight crime, starting with the goons who were hounding him. He sent Tim to a costume shop and then became the Black Terror. I will simply call him the Terror in the story though. He originally debuted in Exciting Comics #9 (1941) and was created by Richard E. Hughes & Dan Gabrielson
Amanda Amazona is the daughter of the original mighty woman from 1940. In the vast cold reaches of the far north lives Amazona: the Mighty Woman of unsurpassing strength and unmatched beauty. She and her people are the last survivors of a super race that perished during the period of the last ice age. When she meets a handsome explorer named Blake Manners who accidentally stumbled upon their citadel after surviving an ill-fated expedition, she becomes infatuated with him and follows him back to America. She debuted in Planet Comics #3 (1940) and was created by Wilson Locke. I specifically want her in the story for the characters similarity to Wonder Woman. Although visually I’m borrowing a little inspiration from my favorite Bill Everett creation Namor: The Sub Mariner.
Silver Streak is the same golden age hero and still active. He has aged slowly despite his metabolism being sped up. A taxi driver was hypnotized by a swami who enjoyed building race cars. The swami's best race car, the Silver Streak, seemed to be targeted by someone or something, for every time someone drove it, they were attacked and killed by a giant insect. The taxi driver was attacked and killed, but the swami brought him back to life and put him behind the wheel of the Silver Streak to find the bad guy. Then he became a costumed hero with a "secret fluid" in his blood which allowed him to defy gravity. He first debuted in Silver Streak #3 (1940) and was created by Jack Binder. Streak will serve as the elder statesman of the group since the disappearance of Atoman and the golden age Terror’s death during the 1940’s.
I’m also developing several other assets for the United Earth Heroes to use. Such as vehicles and a few animal sidekicks. Here is Atomika’s vehicle codenamed “The Rocket”. It will be a full on spy car / mobile command center with gear and gadgets. But more about that at a later date.
That’s it for this update. The holidays sorta sidelined my original schedule. While I’m running a little behind we are still on track with my original idea to have the book complete in 2 or 3 months. But I still have a bit more legwork to do before production begins in earnest. Currently maybe April or May of 2019 if all goes according to plan. Please continue to follow my blog for future updates as well as info on my other projects Dark Meat and the Rogues Radio Podcast.