State of the Union- After years as the American's teenage sidekick, The Union Kid, it was only inevitable that John Montgomery would grow up to become his own hero. Powered by the same superserum that flows through the American's veins and tempered by years of super and military action, State of the Union is a grizzled veteran at only 22 years old. He is agile and strong, a brilliant strategist, and is truly an inspiring hero. Proficient in seventeen forms of martial arts, his melee prowess are only dwarfed by his keen mind and nearly unparalleled aim. Unlike most former sidekicks, State of the Union remains a source of pride for his former mentor and is the kind of leader that is not afraid to lead by example.
Bombshell- Molly Mackenzie is the daughter of a supermodel and a brilliant geneticist. Bent on creating a genotype that would remake human society where diseases and weaknesses of any kind were a thing of the past, Molly's father thought nothing about experimenting on his own daughter. He was more successful than he thought. Immune to all diseases and most physical harm, his tests on the child made her exponentially strong, to the point that as an adult, it is impossible to measure how strong she really is. Removed from the toxic influence of her father, Molly grew up by her mother's side and followed in her footsteps as a model and eventually actress. Becoming a hero (her publicist's idea) has only helped her career and she has found more fulfillment in heroics than she ever had through fame.
Gold Shield- Clark Richards always wanted to be a cop like his father and uncles. Growing up in the poor neighborhoods of Detroit, he always looked at cops as the true heroes of the streets, so there was never a doubt in his mind what he wanted from life. When Clark was fifteen, he and his little brother stumbled upon his father taking a bribe from a local crime boss. The pair ran away to an abandoned factory with their father and the local crime boss on their heels. Clark tried his best to hide his little brother but the crime boss' goons found them. Clark's dad took a bullet meant for the boys, but managed to fall into a piece of machinery that caught fire and exploded. Mr. Richards and the mobsters were killed in the blast, but Clark and his brother survived. The blast exposed Clark to chemicals that should have killed him, but instead gave him wonderous powers. He found he could fly, was stronger and tougher than the average boy his age, and could create a forcefield around himself and others. His little brother, protected by Clark's body, was only superficially hurt by the blast. Clark managed to find his way into the Trust Fund under the name Prodigy, and at twenty, joined the Detroit Police as their first supercop, Gold Shield.
Sorority- Even as a little girl, Erin Stewart was able to move things with her mind- big and small, heavy or light. it never mattered. The problem was, despite years of trying, she had very little control of her abilities and was something of a klutz. Accident prone and super-powered was never a good combination. Luckily, Erin became the roommate of a girl named Rebecca Stone. Rebecca moonlighted as the Falcon's sidekick, Sparrow, and brought Erin to the Nest where she could learn to control her powers alongside the Trust Fund. Rebecca always treated the unpopular, clumsy, bookish telekinetic as a sister, claiming they would be their own sorority. So when Sparrow died facing Tempest, Erin gave herself the name Sorority to honor her friend.
Sparks- Danny Davidson was a video game fanatic. He owned every console on the market and worked two jobs after school just to support his game addiction. Danny was smart and athletic, but his ADHD made it very difficult for him to be a success in school. But one fateful night, while his parents were out at a movie, a fifteen year old Danny was playing his Gamestation while a battle raged above his neighborhood between the villainous Hellmage and the legendary hero, Thunderbolt. During the battle, Hellmage deflected one of Thunderbolt's lighting bolts into the suburbs below. The magically altered lightning bolt slammed into Danny's home, and into the boy through his Gamestation controller. In the days after the event, Danny woke in a hospital room with none other than Thunderbolt waiting for him. Danny had developed super-speed abilities and Thunderbolt had arranged with his parents to bring him to the National Trust where he could learn to deal with his growing abilities. Danny thought it was the best day ever.
Sledgehammer- Joel Michaels always wanted to be a superhero like Thunderbolt, Downtown, the American, even Lightray. When he was a kid, he would draw his own comic books making costume after costume in the hopes that one day he would have to make a real one for himself. But as the years dragged on, there was no alien race coming to bestow great powers, or radioactive waste to dive into. Even struggling to learn martial arts and stay in good shape was far from enough for the teenager to transition to tights. Joel had all but given up on his dreams of heroism by his early twenties only to be surprised by a power hidden within. Nose deep in a comic, Joel's attention wasn't where it should have been when he was hit by a car walking to one of his classes at Centennial University. To his shock, Joel was completely unharmed; in fact, his body had become sheathed in metal and he had manged to damage the car rather than the other way around. Instinctively, Joel rushed to the driver side and ripped the door off the side of the car in order to save the unconscious driver within. He turned his body to shield her in the nick of time as the car blew up in a great ball of fire. The newspaper reports of his accidental heroism brought State of the Union to his door only days later.
Art by Bryan Bretz
