This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2008) |
PS238 | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Do Gooder Press |
Publication date | 2002 |
No. of issues | 51 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Aaron Williams |
Artist(s) | Aaron Williams |
PS238 is an American comic book written and drawn by Aaron Williams and published by Do Gooder Press. It follows the lives of both teachers and students at an elementary school for children with superpowers, which the comic calls metaprodigies. It was also adapted into a role-playing game by Hero Games, using their Champions game system. [1]
Issue #0 was published in November 2002. Until issue #20 it was published by Dork Storm Press and Henchman Publishing. In December 2006, Aaron Williams started posting the comic page by page on his website. The online version was updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
In the storyline, PS238 is a school only recently founded, three miles below the seemingly normal Excelsior School, with many of the teachers having little or no experience teaching, because most of the teachers are former superheroes. Part of the school is made from the old satellite headquarters of the Union of Justice, a superhero team whose members founded the school.
Each of the Issues from #0-#2 follow different characters. Issue #3 introduces Tyler Marlocke, who becomes the central character. Tyler's parents, two of the most powerful metahumans, refuse to accept that their son has no superpowers and manage to enroll him in PS 238. Though the school let Tyler attend, but only after they determined that he would actually be safer at the school than subject to his parents' attempts to discover any latent superpowers he might have. The Revenant, a Batman analogue and crime-fighter with no superhuman abilities, is recruited as Tyler's tutor and mentor. Reluctantly Tyler assumes the identity of Moon Shadow, becoming Revenant's Robin-like sidekick. Toby, Tyler's clone, proclaims himself his twin brother. Tyler makes friends with Cecil Holmes, Ambriel, Angie, Julie, Malphast and many others. Only Zodon, of all PS 238 students, is hostile to Tyler - and Zodon is hostile to everybody. Tyler is so popular that he was once elected class president.
Within the fictional history of comic, the original Rainmaker Program was a US government project to study superhumans, with the aim of finding out how to give people superpowers (or take them away). The project started in the 1960s and focused on one boy, Harold Nelson, who had the power to make rain start and stop. The government had become increasingly insecure about metahumans and a boy who couldn't fight back with super-strength was an appealing research subject. For 6 years, Harold was put through tests to try to find how his power worked, but with little success. The scientist working on the project started to get worried about the lack of results and resorted to drastic measures. Enlisting the help of Dr. Irons (an imprisoned supervillain in a robotic body) they tried a new machine of Dr. Irons' own creation. The machine was actually made to enhance Harold's power, not to study it, and with a torrential downpour of rain, the lab wall was broken. In an ensuing explosion, Dr. Irons lost his body and Harold made a run for it carrying away Dr. Irons' still-functioning head. It is not known what happened to the Rainmaker Program after Harold's escape.
The modern day Rainmaker Program was started when PS238 was opened as an alternative program geared towards those with superpowers deemed unfit for super heroics. The program is very similar to that of the rest of the school except that the Rainmaker children don't participate in activities like combat training. Those in the program include:
Many characters in PS238 are analogues, homages or outright parodies of heroes from other publishers. Other characters correspond to familiar superhero archetypes: they may or may not be direct references to heroes in other media.
The faculty of PS238 includes:
Of these, only Principal Cranston and Dr. Newby were not members of the Union of Justice. Ms. Kyle was the only faculty member who had any teaching experience before the school was founded; the others got a simulated crash course in teaching via one of Herschel's machines.
Other than Tyler Marlocke, all the children at PS238 have superpowers:
Excelsior School, located 3 miles above PS238, has provided several characters, most notably:
The rival Praetorian school, headed by the Cyborg supervillain known as The Headmaster, includes in its student body:
The Realm of Order and Chaos, home of Malphast, includes some recurrent characters:
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero; typically using their powers to help the world become a better place, or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime. Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books, as well as in Japanese media.
The Legion of Super-Villains is a team of supervillains who appear in comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes. They first appeared in Superman #147.
Nemesis Kid is a supervillain and former antihero in the DC Comics universe. He lives in the future, comes from the planet Myar, and is an enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
The Black Terror is a fictional comic book superhero who originally appeared in Exciting Comics #9, published by Nedor Comics in January 1941. The character was popular, and on the strength of the Black Terror's sales, Nedor made Exciting Comics a monthly magazine starting with issue #11.
Glorious Godfrey is a DC Comics supervillain who is part of The Fourth World series of comic books in the early 1970s.
Calculator is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Originally introduced as an enemy of the Atom, the character was later redeveloped in the 2000s as a master information broker, hacker, and tactical supervisor to other supervillains, and foil to Batman's partner Oracle.
Baron Bedlam is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Batman and the Outsiders #1.
Bomb Queen is an American fictional comic book character created by Jimmie Robinson. She first appeared in Image Comics' Bomb Queen Vol. 1, #1, and has subsequently appeared in eight limited series, four single-issue specials, and a crossover in The Savage Dragon #134.
JLA: Act of God is a three issue limited series published by DC Comics under the Elseworlds banner in 2000. It is written by Doug Moench and illustrated by Dave Ross.
Superhero fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction examining the adventures, personalities and ethics of costumed crime fighters known as superheroes, who often possess superhuman powers and battle similarly powered criminals known as supervillains. The genre primarily falls between hard fantasy and soft science fiction in the spectrum of scientific realism. It is most commonly associated with American comic books, though it has expanded into other media through adaptations and original works.
Kirt Niedrigh is a fictional character, a semi-reformed supervillain and former antihero in the DC Comics Universe. Created by Cary Bates and Mike Grell, Niedrigh is a former hopeful for the Legion of Super-Heroes under the guise of Absorbancy Boy. After being rejected from the team, years later he resurfaced as Earth-Man leading a group of supervillains calling themselves the "Justice League of Earth", which help to enforce a xenophobic agenda that Earth has adopted. He first appears in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #218, and reappeared as Earth-Man in Action Comics #858, the first part of the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc.
Lightning is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Not pinpointed with direct reference, Lightning first appears in the miniseries Kingdom Come in 1996, written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Alex Ross. The character is given official introduction in Justice Society of America vol. 3 #12, written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Dale Eaglesham in the Modern Age of Comic Books.
Silver Streak is a fictional superhero character created by Joe Simon that first appeared in Silver Streak Comics #3, from Lev Gleason Publications. He is believed to be the second-ever comic book superhero whose primary power is speed; All-American Publications' The Flash preceded him by two months. However, Silver Streak beat out National Allied Publications' Johnny Quick as the first superhero whose two powers were speed and flight. Silver Streak has a kid sidekick called "Mercury" ; he is also assisted by a falcon named "Whiz".
Lash Lightning is a fictional superhero character who first appeared in Sure-Fire Comics #1 from Ace Comics, which was renamed Lightning Comics with issue #4 to take advantage of the new character's popularity. Originally called Flash Lightning, the character's name was changed to Lash Lightning in issue #7 to avoid confusion with DC Comics' the Flash.
Hero.com is a series of superhero novels by English screenwriter, graphic novelist, and author Andy Briggs. The novels are published through Oxford University Press in the United Kingdom and various other publishers in other countries.
Jon Kent is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the son of Superman / Clark Kent and Lois Lane, he first appeared in Convergence: Superman #2. Jon is the newest character in the DC Universe to assume the superhero persona of Superboy, and later Superman. As Superboy and Robin, Jon and Damian Wayne, son of Batman / Bruce Wayne, have appeared in several Super Sons comic book series featuring their shared adventures. Jon later takes on the Superman mantle and stars in the comic series Superman: Son of Kal-El.
Dashiell "Dash" Robert Parr is a fictional character who appears in Pixar's animated superhero film The Incredibles (2004) and its sequel Incredibles 2 (2018). The character is voiced by Spencer Fox in the first film and Huckleberry Milner in the second film. Restless, relentless and curious, Dash sports a hearty sense of adventure and a boundless supply of energy. Born with the remarkable power of superhuman speed, he longs to be free to use his powers at his leisure, and chafes against the admonishment by his parents, in particular his mother, that his powers must be kept a secret.