The Black Terror

The Black Terror is a character that dates all the way back to Exciting Comics # 9, published in January 1941 by Nedor Comics. His secret identity was pharmacist Bob Benton, who formulated a chemical he called “formic ethers”, which gave him various superpowers. He used these powers to fight crime with his sidekick, Tim Roland, together known as the “Terror Twins”. The character proved popular enough to survive until 1949 and his distinctive costume made for some truly memorable covers. After the Golden Age, the character eventually fell into the public domain – which led to a whole host of publishers reviving him for various projects. Over the years, he’s appeared in books published by AC, Eclipse, Wild Cat, Image, Moonstone and, of course, the Reese Unlimited imprint of Pro Se Press. I first wrote the character for Wild Cat back in 2008 as part of a book called Legends of the Golden Age and later used him in a couple of stories for The Peregrine. More recently, I’ve gone further back into his continuity to incorporate him into my Lazarus Gray stuff. Because his “later” appearances were written first there are a few discrepancies in how he’s portrayed.

In my universe, we first see The Black Terror in 1934 and learn that he’s the creation of a United States military operation overseen by General Arbogast and a scientist named Kenneth Butler. The Black Terror was, in fact, a plant-human hybrid — he had literally been grown in a tube. His memories (all the “facts” from the Golden Age comics) were implants designed to create a backstory that would make him a better soldier for the United States government — Jean Starr was there to give him a woman to fight to get back to and Tim gave him a sense of family. Neither actually existed, except in his own mind. When Bob found out the truth, he broke free and went rogue — but his programming was strong enough that he decided to continue fighting as The Black Terror. In 1936, this led him to Sovereign City in search of a man named Maxwell Schmidt. The German was running Omega Solutions. In conjunction with another product of the same government program that created The Black Terror — a man named McIness that was codenamed Titan – Schmidt hoped to transform himself into an entity dubbed Prometheus. In the end, Schmidt died for his hubris and The Black Terror was forced to kill Titan, the only other entity like him in the world. When all was said and done, The Black Terror used the technology that had created him to grow versions of Jean and Tim — he implanted similar memories into their minds and gave them life. All of this was recounted in “Making of a Hero” from Lazarus Gray Volume Two.

The next time we see Bob is in 1938, nearly two years after the previous story. The Black Terror was now well-known as a scourge of the underworld and this brought him into conflict with two superhuman criminals: The White Worm and Cassandra, the witch. During the events dubbed Gotterdammerung, The Black Terror confronted these two and learned that something greater — and more dangerous — was at play. Bob didn’t have much of a role in the affair beyond that. This was shown in the Gotterdammerung novel.

Three months after this (still in 1938), Bob is approached by Assistance Unlimited and offered a spot with the team. With Tim’s encouragement, he accepts and begins splitting his time between an apartment he shares with his young ward and a bedroom at 6196 Robeson Avenue. Jean gets a job as secretary to the new Sovereign mayor, Mortimer Quinn. Bob becomes the team’s scientific expert and also serves as the muscle in most battles. He forms close friendships with the team though he struggles with Eun’s homosexuality. Over the course of 1938 and 1939, The Black Terror aids Assistance Unlimited in battles against Princess Femi, The Librarian, Nemesis, Mr. Death, The Torch, Heidi Von Sinn and El Demonio. These stories are told in Lazarus Gray Volumes 6 & 7.

The Black Terror’s growing penchant for violence leads to him spending more and more time with his teammate, Eidolon. The duo begin sneaking away throughout 1939 and 1940, conducting their own crime–busting exploits. This eventually leads to Lazarus Gray drawing a line in the sand and demanding that they follow his rules about violence — The Black Terror agrees but Eidolon quits the team at this point. Later in 1940, The Black Terror encounters a woman known as The Golden Amazon and the two are highly attracted to one another but when push comes to shove, Bob remains faithful to Jean. Not long after, The Black Terror joined The Fighting Yank, The Golden Amazon and Olga Mesmer in forming a Manhattan-based team known as The Heroes (late 1941). The Heroes are considered a spinoff organization of Assistance Unlimited and Bob began splitting his time between Manhattan and Sovereign. The Heroes are known to have battled Doctor Satan and Lady Satan before uniting with the rest of Assistance Unlimited to battle Phasma in early 1942. All of these tales are depicted in The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Volumes 8, 9 and 10. The Black Terror was also a stalwart member of Assistance Unlimited during their battles against Woland, The Puzzler, and a revived Doctor Satan (Volumes 11 and 12).

During all of this, Tim often accompanies his mentor on adventures and the two (dubbed “The Terror Twins” by the press) develop a reputation beyond Assistance Unlimited.

In 1943 Bob is asked by Project: Cicada to go on a mission behind enemy lines – he confronts a Nazi scientist that is trying to recreate the Formic Ethers (“Terrors,” The Peregrine Omnibus Volume Two). While this is happening, Tim is approached by The Flame and Madame Masque – they say they need his help with some sort of emergency and he departs with them (“The Ivory Machine,” The Peregrine Omnibus Volume Two and retold in slightly different fashion in The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Volume 12).  Once Bob finds out that Tim has gone missing, he becomes more violent in his dealings with criminals and is briefly wanted by the authorities for his actions – he breaks off his association with Assistance Unlimited during this period, as he is obsessed with finding his partner. He is finally reunited with Tim in 1946 and aids The Claws of the Peregrine team (along with The Flame and Madame Masque) in defeating the threat of Rainman and Dr. Gottlieb Hochmuller (“The Ivory Machine, The Peregrine Omnibus Volume Two). In the aftermath, Bob and Tim are offered a place with the Peregrine’s Claws team and they agree to aid them when possible.

Bob next appears in 1964 where he’s serving as chief chemist for the now global version of Assistance Unlimited – though we don’t know the exact circumstances, they’ve obviously reconciled in the years since he left the group. We learn that The Black Terror adventured throughout the late Forties and most of the Fifties. It’s revealed that Tim has recently become the new Black Terror though it’s also stated that Bob occasionally still dons the costume to get in some action. No mention of Jean is given at this time.

I really like my version of Bob — he’s a solid, steadfast hero that occasionally gives in to his baser instincts. He’s sometimes troubled by his non-human origins but he’s too well-adjusted to dwell upon them.

Outstanding mysteries – Did he ever have any follow-up encounters with the agency that created him? What becomes of Jean after 1946? It should be noted that the Tim of 1946 doesn’t look much different than the Tim of 1936, implying that these plant-human hybrids may not age the same as normal humans – indeed, the Bob Benton of 1964 is described as still being quite youthful looking but it is suggested that Tim has finally moved into what appears to be adulthood. Also, The Black Terror of 1946 doesn’t seem very familiar with The Peregrine, despite the fact that Assistance Unlimited and The Peregrine were allies. Is it possible that The Black Terror we saw in the 1946 story (and possibly the 1943 one) is actually a second version, grown at a later point? Or is it simply a case of an author writing stories out of sequence and screwing up?

Only time will tell!

Our artwork today was produced by Anthony Castrillo and was commissioned by yours truly.

Random Stuff!

Saw the new Guardians of the Galaxy film and loved it. If you had told me twenty years ago that someday I’d be in tears over a Rocket Raccoon live-action movie, I would have thought you were insane… but there I was.

On Netflix, I’ve been really enjoying the Supergirl series that ran on the CW a few years back. I’m in season three currently and I’m a big fan. I’m also enjoying Community, a sitcom that I’m also watching for the first time.

I’ve been selling comics and trades on eBay for awhile now and I’ve just begun to list some of my pulp collection. If you’re a fan of the Moon Man, check out this one.

The current work in progress is a little over 30,000 words at present so I’m about halfway done… then I’ll be working some more on Lazarus Gray volume 15, which looks like it’ll be the first one to feature a cowriter. Don’t worry, it’ll still have that usual Reese madness but it’ll also have some chapters and plot ideas from someone that knows the series almost as well as I do. Stay tuned.

May Is Here

Today is the first of May. I had hopes at the beginning of the year of making 2023 something special, given that it was the 20th anniversary of my becoming a professional writer. Unfortunately, we’re almost halfway through the year and I haven’t had a single release so it’s beginning to look like this year will be like most of my recent ones… a bit slow. Of course, I’m writing a ton, it’s just a long process to get through the Pro Se editing and publishing schedule. The company has so many great writers and titles that it’s very competitive.

Right now I’m working on the fourth Dark Society novel, which you probably won’t see in print until 2025 or 2026! After this, I have a few ideas… one of the things I’ve thought about doing is releasing a series of stories right here on the blog. That would allow me to get some timely feedback, which is something I’ve been sorely lacking. It’s not like I make a ton of money off my writing as it is — so I might be willing to trade the royalties for feedback!

Angel (Icons Writeup)

Angel
aka Warren Kenneth Worthington III

Prowess 4
Coordination 6
Strength 5
Intellect 4
Awareness 4
Willpower 4

Stamina 9

Powers
*Flight 6
*Damage Resistance 7 (Limit: falling damage only)
*Supersenses 1 (Eyesight)
*Healing 8 (To use this power, he must bring his freshly-shed blood into contact with the target’s injuries. The potency of Angel’s blood is such that he can raise the newly dead.)
*Regeneration 4

Warren is sometimes able to tap into the Archangel powers and persona originally created for him by Apocalypse. When in Archangel mode, he has techno-organic metal wings and blue skin. His wings have Blast (neural disruption) 6.

Specialties
Aerial Combat (Master +3 bonus), Leadership

Qualities
*Wealthy! Like, really wealthy.
*Loves the ladies.
*Joins a lot of teams.

Background

 Borrowed from Classic Marvel Forever:

Heir to the Worthington fortune, Warren Jr. learned to hide his mutation early. However, a fire at his private school dormitory led him to use his flying power to rescue his fellow students. To conceal his identity, Worthington wore a long, blond wig and a long nightshirt so he looked like an angel. The rescue was successful, and Worthington became a costumed adventurer in New York City under the name of the Avenging Angel, which brought him to the attention of Charles Xavier. Xavier made Warren one of the first five X-Men, though the true nature of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was kept secret from Warren’s wealthy parents. During this time, Warren tried to woo Jean Grey, but she chose to date Cyclops instead. Following the deaths of both his parents and the recruitment of the “new X-Men”, Warren left the team and went to the West Coast with his girlfriend Candy Southern. There he used his fortune as head of Worthington Industries to finance a super-team called the Champions. He was also a sometime member of the “non-team” known as the Defenders.

Warren later helped the X-Men infiltrate the Hellfire Club, in which he held membership, just before the emergence of Dark Phoenix, and fought with his teammates in the futile effort to save her from the Shi’ar. He stayed with the X-Men for a while after Dark Phoenix’s death, but was constantly irked by Wolverine, whom he regarded as an unstable psychotic. Finally Warren left in disagreement over Wolverine’s remaining with the team, and returned to his business dealings.

When the real Jean Grey was found in Jamacia Bay, Warren called his old teammates together and founded X-Factor, a team of purported mutant hunters who in reality captured mutants in order to train them to use their powers without harming people. They also operated as the “X-Terminators,” supposedly outlaw mutants who did the jobs X-Factor couldn’t.

During the Mutant Massacre, Angel was ambushed by the Marauders, and his wings were impaled by Harpoon. Although his wings might have been salvageable, Warren was betrayed by his friend Cameron Hodge, who had them amputated. Angel was so distraught that he attempted to commit suicide by crashing his jet. At the last moment, however, Angel was approached by Apocalypse, who offered him his wings back in exchange for service. Angel agreed, and was transformed into Death, Apocalypse’s fourth and strongest Horseman.

After a pitched battle with his old X-Factor teammates, Warren broke free of Apocalypse’s control, and returned to X-Factor as Archangel. During this phase he had razor-sharp techno-organic wings which could be folded into various configurations, and whose feathers could be thrown. The feathers were coated with a paralyzing nerve toxin. Angel has always had extremely keen eyesight, comparable to that of a hawk, as well as a unique physiology with hollow bones and an enhanced musculature that allows him to fly. Much later, during his escape from the X-Mansion, Sabretooth viciously slashed the metal wings, and Warren was out of commission for a while.

Some time later, Warren went into some wracking convulsions, and suddenly, his original feathered wings returned, as if they broke out of the metal wings. What impact this will have on his life as a hero is unknown, as is his status vis a vis Apocalypse, who may have engineered this from the beginning. Warren has retained the blue skin from the Archangel transformation. Angel basically left the X-Men after his wings returned, in order to convalesce. However, her returned to save the Mannites from Death III at Phoenix’s request.

After that mission ended, he returned home, but when he was attacked in his own home by a doppelganger who turned out to be a Skrull, he and his girlfriend Psylocke rejoined to X-Men to hunt down Death III, whom it turns out was really Wolverine. During the fight with Logan, Angel became more and more ruthless, until he was overcome by a transformation that left him with glowing wings and hair as well as psionic abilities. He used these abilities to track down War I, who had once again become a parapalegic. Meanwhile, he fought off Logan, who had broken his brainwashing but was still very angry. Warren explained that he had become the embodiment of hope, and then used all of his psionic power to heal War I. The extra power that Apocalypse had allowed him to have then dissipated. Warren then spent a few months splitting his time between running the business empire he inherited and part-timing with the X-Men teams.

After breaking up with Psylocke and her subsequent leaving the X-Men with the team hunting for the Destiny Prophecies, Warren again joined the X-Men full-time. With Professor X’s revelation to the world of his mutancy and the re-starting of the Institute, Archangel has also taken a more public role in his CEO persona, speaking to the G8 summit about mutants in the world economy as well. However, Warren still goes on missions with the team, and has taken a greater leadership role. On a recent mission, Warren was captured by a mutated Black Tom, who drained the mutants of their life energy. Somehow, this effected a genetic change, and Warren’s skin turned white again, erasing the last vestiges of his servitude to Apocalypse… More interestingly, Archangel’s blood now contains a transferrable healing factor, which he used to save Husk’s life when she was wounded by Maximus Lobo and a community of mutant werewolves. Maximus Lobo fought the X-Men and nearly killed Worthington and the junior X-Men member Husk. The two barely escaped and only survived from the brink of death with the help of Worthington’s healing powers. Maximus Lobo revealed that he was involved in the murder of Worthington’s father, in part so that he could create a dominate subspecies of mutant werewolves operating out of Lobo Tech. Maximus Lobo ultimately defeated himself by allowing Lobo Tech to explode rather than concede defeat to the X-Men.

The Marvels Looks Pretty Neat in its First Trailer — Henchman-4-Hire

Our first look at The Marvels is here! The first trailer/teaser debuted today and it looks to be something of a hoot. Mostly I’m here for Kamala Khan to start interacting with the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I’m also here for all of it. As a teaser, this is a nice look at what […]

The Marvels Looks Pretty Neat in its First Trailer — Henchman-4-Hire

Brief Update

Started working on a new Dark Society novel – this will be # 4 in the series. I have no idea if there’s a market for a modern-day superhero series with strong Bronze Age vibes or not, but I guess we will see, won’t we?

Got the completed cover to the 14th volume of Lazarus Gray from artist Gilbert Monsanto. It’s gorgeous! I hope you’re ready to see Lazarus go toe-to-toe with Fantomas!

Fyre (Icons Writeup)

Fyre
aka Kelly “Tech” Kane

Prowess 3
Coordination 5
Strength 4
Intellect 4
Awareness 3
Willpower 3

Stamina 7

Powers
Fyre can transform herself into an alemental body. In her normal form, reduce all physical attributes to 3 and Stamina to 6.

*Detection (Pollution) 7
*Element Control (Fire) 7 (Extras: Aura, Blast, Flight)

Specialties
Science, Technology (Expert +2 bonus)

Qualities
*Champion of Mother Nature
*Bad Luck
*Peacekeeper by nature

Background

The Urth 4 series featured the adventures of a team of elementals created when Ms. Mystic was injured and called upon the Earth to help her. In response, the Earth gives Dwight Good, Kelly Kane, Baron Cotter, and Dennis Swan the powers of the four elements. At first calling themselves the Elementalists, they later choose the name Urth 4. The members of Urth 4 are Fyre, Watr, Ayre, and Urth. Urth 4 are charged by the Earth to protect the environment from those who would harm it. The stories in their four issue series had Urth 4 facing off against strip mining companies, a garbage monster, and pollution from an automobile plant.

Fyre was the one that most often tried to mediate disagreements among the quartet. Known as “Tech” by her friends, she allegedly was good at repairing and working with technology though we rarely got to see that in practice.

Watr (Icons Writeup)

Watr
aka Dennis Swan

Prowess 4
Coordination 5
Strength 5
Intellect 3
Awareness 4
Willpower 3

Stamina 8

Powers
Watr can transform himself into an alemental body. In his normal form, reduce all attributes to 3 and Stamina to 6.

*Detection (Pollution) 7
*Element Control (Water) 7 (Extras: Aquatic, Blast, Flight)

Specialties
Science

Qualities
*Champion of Mother Nature
*Irrational Attraction to Protecting the Waterways

Background

The Urth 4 series featured the adventures of a team of elementals created when Ms. Mystic was injured and called upon the Earth to help her. In response, the Earth gives Dwight Good, Kelly Kane, Baron Cotter, and Dennis Swan the powers of the four elements. At first calling themselves the Elementalists, they later choose the name Urth 4. The members of Urth 4 are Fyre, Watr, Ayre, and Urth. Urth 4 are charged by the Earth to protect the environment from those who would harm it. The stories in their four issue series had Urth 4 facing off against strip mining companies, a garbage monster, and pollution from an automobile plant.

Watr travels by riding a spout of water and he frequently reminds people that water can, over time, destroy even the most powerful of foes. He frequently spars with Ayre, whom he thinks is often insensitive.

Ayre (Icons Writeup)

Ayre
aka Baron Cotter

Prowess 4
Coordination 4
Strength 5
Intellect 3
Awareness 4
Willpower 3

Stamina 8

Powers
Ayre can transform himself into an alemental body. In his normal form, reduce all attributes to 3 and Stamina to 6.

*Detection (Pollution) 7
*Element Control (Air) 7 (Extras: Blast, Flight)

Specialties
Aerial Combat, Science

Qualities
*Champion of Mother Nature
*Egotistical
*Ladies Man

Background

The Urth 4 series featured the adventures of a team of elementals created when Ms. Mystic was injured and called upon the Earth to help her. In response, the Earth gives Dwight Good, Kelly Kane, Baron Cotter, and Dennis Swan the powers of the four elements. At first calling themselves the Elementalists, they later choose the name Urth 4. The members of Urth 4 are Fyre, Watr, Ayre, and Urth. Urth 4 are charged by the Earth to protect the environment from those who would harm it. The stories in their four issue series had Urth 4 facing off against strip mining companies, a garbage monster, and pollution from an automobile plant.

Ayre is possibly the most unlikeable member of the team – he’s arrogant, makes inappropriate jokes, and considers himself to be a ladies’ man. Baron is the first to call out Urth when he feel that Dwight is taking himself too seriously.