Over the last three years I've essentially been building up my own superhero universe through short fiction released in different collections and through digital literary magazines. This began thanks to "Generation Dead #37: Why I Won't Eat At The Food Court," which From Beyond Press published in their mall horror anthology Escalators To Hell. Though retroactively, this will include the heroes who appeared in "To Do Good," my first published story released in What's Left? by Arledge Comics.
DNA Comics (formerly known as "Dan & Ann's Comics" in the 1940s) combines the concepts of 90s superheroes with 90s horror. Set primarily on Earth-1990, with some stories featuring Earth-1989 and Earth-2003. Below is a list of the established heroes and hero teams who've already appeared, have been mentioned, or are going to appear at some point.
AMERICA'S ADJUDICATORS: When the U.S. government demanded representation in the 90s superhero community, they decided to revive heroes who fought and died during WWII and the Cold War. The heroes they brought back were disgusted by the government's corruption and would've been brainwashed had they not been liberated by the magical MOTHER HUBBARD. Now YANKEE JONES, JOHNNY REBEL, KITTY KELLY, and the SPIDER HAG OF THE OZARKS are living in Hubbard's haunted mansion in the small town of Chesler Corners waiting for a chance to save the rest of their resurrected brethren. (NOTE: These heroes were created by Chesler Comics in the Golden Age and are now public domain)
FREEDOM FRATERNITY: Once the premiere superteam of the 1940s. Most of its members disappeared, having been captured inside a film reel by the Vaudevillain. They've since been liberated in the 90s and have semi-reformed, while some of its members are also helping Guts & Glory. The full roster includes PARAGON, SUNFALL, HONOR, JACK RABBIT, THE BLANK PAGE, AGENT PUCK, JOLLY ROGER, BANKSHOT, ACROBAT, MEDIEVAL, SUPER-AMERICAN, WASP WITCH, EARTHBOY, TONIC-MAN and BIG DADDY MOJO. They were sometimes assisted by sidekicks CLOUDY, now DAWN, and STRIPE, now SCRATCH.
GENERATION DEAD: The sole survivors of grotesque experiments conducted at the now destroyed Area 52, these five college students were killed and resurrected with incredible powers. While attending class at Roswell Falls University, POSE, RAINBOW, WINTER, AIRGUN, and SEATTLE are trying to protect the world from human and inhuman threats to existence. Or they might just kill each other. It wouldn't be the first time!
GENERATION UNDEAD: Lucretia Pine, a.k.a. the Stump Woman, swore revenge on Generation Dead when they escaped her Garden of Sin. She created her own team of monsters by killing and burying seven college students in her garden. An unexpected eighth resurrection thanks to the Goddess of Silence ended up saving Gen Dead and their attackers. Now free from Lucretia's control, ACE, DJINNKO, GISELLE, MEDJED, COTTON, MANXIE, and CRUNCH are led by SILENZIA.
GUTS & GLORY: If you don't have the guts, you don't get the glory. The premiere superteam for the 90s, an organization of gun toting badass heroes. No one's quite sure who's on the Guts team and who's on the Glory team. Led by WARDEN and SUPER-AMERICAN, G&G's most well known members are BUCKSHOT, RHYTHM, and JETSTONE.
THE HALLOWEEN GIRLS: The town of Shephard's Falls is more well known as Slaughter Falls, due to the alarming amount of serial killers the town's birthed every October. However, in recent years, a group of six have emerged to counteract the inevitable autumn deaths. GRETA, ALICE, SERENA, ROXANNE, PRISCILLA, and DANIELLE don blonde wigs and terrible masks to try and save the youth of Slaughter Falls. But is that really such a good idea?
HERO WATCH: No one told them life was gonna be this way. This eclectic team of 30-somethings are all trying to navigate adult life and the perils of being a superhero. Consists of SWEETHEART, THE JERSEY DEVIL, MAGIC LAMP, QUEEN RIMA OF THE GOLDEN CITY, BRAXTON, and OSPREY.
THE JUSTICE NUNS: Exactly what their name implies. These super sisters have taken it upon themselves to fight against those who would corrupt the sanctity of belief and those who exploit the word of God for their own xenophobic, fascist desires. They include THE GOTHIC ROSE, MOTHER SUPERIOR, MAGDALENE, MESSENGER, CANDLEMAS, LOURDES, SOL SISTER, and THE RUBY RULER (no relation to the Ruby Scimitar).
THE LI'L GUTS: A training program for Guts & Glory, and also a sort of halfway program. These children and teenagers survived horrific encounters with ghosts, aliens, monsters, and otherwordly creatures, and it left them transformed for better or worse. When they graduate, they have a choice to join the Guts team or the Glory team. Some of its members include BACON, BUZZ, CHAMPION, HARROW, and the robotic twins SHOCK & AWE. Former teammate TADPOLE left them recently.
MISS MERRIWEATHER'S SCHOOL: A special school built for those designated a "spellchild," someone born with a miraculous power. Miss Merriweather's is so big it's hard to keep track of all the students and student squads, such as THE ODDBALLS, consisting of CALIFORNIUM, CANDY DOT, JETLAG, OKRA, and SOCKS.
THE POWER PALADINS OF THE 33RD CENTURY: What started as a book club for teens who love horror became the most prominent super team of the far future. Roland Wheaton, Cissy Wahlgren, and Gray Milder were inspired to use their powers to do good after they accidentally saved the life of the greatest hero the world will ever known. Taking inspiration from their favorite Stephen King books, they became GUN KING, PROM QUEEN, and FUSE DUDE. Over the years their ranks have grown to include the likes of LAWN BOY, ROSE WITCH, AUTO LAD, PETSHOP BOY, PONY BOY, FROG PRINCESS, and HOME GIRL (a.k.a. PERENNIAL).
STARRY RIVER: A small American town where almost everyone is either a superhero or a supervillain. One of its most well known residents is WOMBAT WOMAN, a semi-happily married woman raising two sons and trying to look after her elderly mother in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Others include AMERICAN SULTAN, BLACKJACK & CHIP, BOUFFANT & DOTTIE, THE BUTLER, CARROT CAKE and POOL BOY, CRUDERELLA, JITTERBUGS I-II and JITTER, OVERCAST, THE PLATINUM PLUNGER, SHROOMSTICK, SNOWPEA, and TULIP.
STEEL-SUITED MAGNOLIA SQUADRON: An armored squadron of five young woman whose base of operations is located under a kitschy hair salon in the Southern United States. They defend the world with their giant robots against the alien menace of BADDIES UNITED TO TERRORIZE SPACE, all the while unsuspecting their supposed dead sixth member was reborn as the amnesiac metal warrior PERDITA.
THE TERRIFI-TEAM: Formerly the Terrifi-Teens, these former teen sidekicks have now finally reached their 30s after four decades and have taken on adult identities as fully realized heroes. But after all these years, you'd think SCRAPPER, GILL MAN, TIM TORNADO, ATALANTA, and THE RUBY SCIMITAR could get through the week without breaking up and reuniting. The Ruby Scimitar's got enough on his hands trying to raise his daughter JEWEL.
THE VAGABOND CLUB: A mismatched misfit assortment of superpowered kids and teens from different eras and different universes, travelling across time and space on a magic train that takes them where they need to be. Those currently riding the rails are ABEDNEGA, CORONIS, SWAT BOY, PHANTASMIA, and GEORGIA PEACH (a.k.a. BINDWEED)
X-TREME GENES: Five college students attended an archaeological dig with their history professor and found hyperintelligent aliens sleeping deep within the Egyptian pyramids. The aliens unlocked hidden abilities within their x-treme genes, and now VANITY, CHINDI, UMBRIEL, WIPEOUT, and HOURGLASS are gonna kick some x-treme butt!
Assorted Solo Heroes: COOL GUY, MARDUK, MOLLY PITCHER, PURPLE TIGRESS, RICH THE WITCH, STAIN, TARANTULO
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Hello, my messy iguanas, we are back with the first 10 chapters to our magnum opus. This story is something we have been working on for over a decade. It has gone through a lot of changes since but this version, I have a good feeling about. So please enjoy a story about a bunch of teenagers trying to survive the Zombie Apocalypse set in the Summer of 2000. This is for the young Gen Xers and Elder Millennials and for those of us who didn’t see the late 90s and early 00s through same rose tinted glasses others might.
Stay Messy. And check back here every other Friday for updates.
Rating: Mature
Genre: Zombie Apocalypse
Summary:
The tales of the survivors of Pandora, Washington during the Great Apocalypse of 1999.
A pack of parentless teenagers.
What could possibly go wrong?
Updates Every Other Friday!
Alex I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Ember I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Kayla I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Ronnie I [Tumblr] [AO3]
CJ I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Rick I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Bryan I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Macon I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Aurora I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Devon I [Tumblr] [AO3]
Substack (Chapters 1-10)
And it can also be found on Patreon!
For my next fan fiction experiment I'm going to try to create an expanded universe with all of my favorite pairings.
I don't know if I want to start with a "Everyone has superpowers" universe or a supernatural/modern fantasy universe or expand upon a fic I wrote set in the zombie apocalypse (which is also somehow a 'some people actually get superpowers' fic).
The latter is only on there because I have like one fic idea where Lena Luthor is, for lack of better word, a technomancer. And I think it would be neat.
This also means that I get to make my favorite thing in the world when it comes to writing.
The crack, sizzle, and pop was a welcomed sound. One they'd miss when it was gone. Health concerns aside, they loved everything about smoking. They loved the ritual of it. Slapping the top of a pack against their palm. Ripping off the cellophane. The smell of unburnt tobacco. Hell, even the ridiculous practice of "flipping a lucky." And of course the first drag of a cancer stick. They loved everything about it.
And when this pack was gone, that was it.
While losing coffee and hot sauce had been an emotional blow, when their last cigarette was smoked, then it'd all be real.
This was truly the end of the world.
Honestly, it should have been real when the dead rose in hordes. But that didn't make it real. That made it the worst episode of Black Mirror to date. With an entire index of zombie lore, when the dead rose, it was like "Well, 2020 was weird enough, this might as well happen."
They had been hoping for an Eldritch Abomination. But fine, fuck it. Zombies were the next best thing, they supposed.
They sighed and the toxic smoke escaped them in a large white cloud. This was it. 6 left. Now the question did they enjoy these cigarettes like it was Pre Day Zero or she did ration them out. Savoring each one like it was a lifeline to a simpler time, when cancer and heart disease were their chief concerns.
As the cigarette dwindled down, they wondered if things would have been different would they have finally quit or would they have clung to it out of some sense of romanticized nihilism?
"Where did you get cigarettes?" a voice sounded.
"Sweet fucking zombie Jesus!" they exclaimed, nearly dropping their cigarette. The walking dead didn't speak. They didn't think. The carriers did. But they were still alive and didn't want to bite people. So they were safe, just rattled.
"You know that's less funny now that there are actually zombies." Their compatriot joined them on the wall.
They passed their pack without thinking. "Yeah -- well -- it makes you wonder -- were the Romans just being dicks or were their trying to prevent an outbreak? Because dead things should stay dead."
"Blasphemy aside, where'd you get the cigarettes?"
"Yesterday. We were finally able to get into town. Found this on a gas station cashier. They're stale but they get the job done."
"Title of your sex tape."
They shrugged. "I'm still doing better than 99% of everyone."
The morning air of Day: One Hundred and Ninety was warm; even in the hours just before dawn. The promise of a hot day. But Alex was still shaking, his teeth chattering audibly as he watched the group of four descend the hill toward the old church. In about twenty minutes all hell was going to break loose, but the quartet seemed unphased. Devon was even smiling. Charlie was cracking a joke. Ronnie was aloof. And as always Bryan looked calm if not slightly confused by Charlie’s antics. Alex didn’t understand it. If he was going down there he would have been a giant puddle of fear-induced urine. He supposed that was why he was up here. And they were going into the viper pit.
He took a deep breath and let it out.
Fifteen minutes until they unleashed hell.
“The enemy gate is down,” Alex whispered to himself. “The enemy gate is down.”
“What are you mumbling about, Sergeant?” someone asked.
“Ender’s Game. It’s a quote… it’s something…” Alex paused when he noticed the handful of blank stares thrown his way. “For fuck sake… Read a book.”
“Staff Sergeant!” Ethan’s voice carried over the group and Alex cringed because he knew he was in trouble. “Is there a reason you’re ordering my soldiers to read?”
“Nerd Rage, sir,” Alex confessed. “It won’t happen again… Today… Probably…”
“Focus it somewhere useful, Staff Sergeant,” Ethan ordered.
“Yes, sir. Let’s Take Back the Knight all over these fuckers’ faces!” Alex affirmed. “But like Knight with a K. ‘Cause like —you know — Batman and stuff.”
Ethan grinned. “Get some, Sergeant.”
“Sure thing, sir,” he replied. “But only if there’s enough to go around.”
Generation Undead: Teenage Wasteland, Alex Chapter: Day 190
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Excerpt from Generation Undead: One Second ‘Til Midnight
MEET KYLAR WOLFE
Day 14
The horde rolled and barrelled forward like a wave of corpses. There wasn’t another living soul in Times Square. The soldiers had already retreated from the barricades. And they hadn’t seen a survivor for at least a day. But the streets of Manhattan were crowded with a lifeless mob of animated corpses, who shuffled along, roaming the roads in search of living flesh to infect.
“So are you just going to stand here and take in the sights, or are we going to have some fun, Kylar?”
Kylar Wolfe lifted his head; an unlit cigarette hung lazily between his lips. He looked the tall, athletic girl, who stood near the ledge of the building. She glanced at him, dark lips curling into a playfully dangerous smirk. Her dark eyes lit up with a mischievous glint, as her gaze shifted from him and the horde.
“What’s the verdict?” she asked.
He lit the end of the cigarette before he replied. “We have our orders, Brynn. We’re supposed to observe. Not engage.”
She laughed. “I won’t tell Alpha if you won’t.”
“You’re not going to let this go are you?” he asked her, already knowing the answer.
Brynn shrugged and reached over to take the cigarette from his lips, careful not to touch him. Despite how much they play, she was always careful when it came to things like that. She took a drawn out pull from the cigarette and exhaled slowly. “Kapp, it’s the end of the world as we know it. It’s time to start enjoying life’s little pleasures. Like ripping into a horde of lifelessly corpses without fear of being arrested or worse captured.”
Brynn inched toward the edge of the building. They weren’t that far up. Only 20 or so stories. It would only take a few minutes to get to street level if they took the shortcut down.
“Brynn… we shouldn’t…”
“Don’t Kye. We already get that enough from Al. I don’t need you parroting back his orders,” she sighed, looking at him one last time. “Are you coming with?” When he didn’t reply she smirked. “Suit it yourself. See ya back at base, Kapp.”
And then she jumped... right off the edge of the tenement building.
Kylar rolled his eyes but couldn’t fight the smile as he said to himself. “I’m going to marry that woman.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 27/?
Fandom: Original Work, Generation Undead
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Characters: Bryan Levitt, Alex Royce, Veronica "Ronnie" Marsh, Ember Reynolds, Galen Mistol, Macon "Mac" Thompson, Chandler Fredrickson, Devon Marlow, Adler Grayson, Aurora Noland, Seth Mackenzie, Gregory Reznik
Additional Tags: Zombie Apocalypse, Dystopia, various pairings - Freeform, Multiple Pairings, Coming of Age, Social Experiment, POV Multiple, We probably need more tags, Tags Are Fun, Tags Are Hard, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Teenaged Wasteland, Mental Illness, Where are their parents?, Multiple Pov, Teenagers are Monsters, Our Monsters Are Different, Fluid Morality, Beware The Living, Feels, Child Death, Murderers, Violence, Rape Aftermath, Aftermath of Torture, Explicit Language, Original Character Death(s)
Summary:
"In the not too distant future...
"The dead rose and life as we know it ended.
"Zombies.
"Everyone thought it was a joke or Bath Salts. Everyone was wrong. Dead wrong (no pun intended).
"The dead rose and consumed the living. It was like something out of a movie. The real World War Z. The muthafrakin' walking dead. Some George A. Romero sh... stuff. Without the social commentary and the message of hope. Instead we were looking down the barrel of mass extinction.
"The population went from seven billion to... well there weren't enough of us left to keep count.
"If you stayed in the cities, you doomed yourself to die. If you were smart, you got out, found some place, some weapons, some food, someone you trusted, and if you were lucky, you survived to struggle another day.
"It was the birth of a new generation. A generation of survivors and warriors.
"Welcome to...
Generation Undead..."
--Cadet Staff Sergeant Alexander Royce; General George S. Patton Military Academy
“OW! DICK!” Ember shouted as Aurora pulled out another large piece of glass from her shoulder. “God-dammit!”
“Hold still,” Aurora said.
“You fucking hold still!” Ember shot back. She heard Sarah laugh. “Yeah, fuck you too, bitch!”
“I’m having second thoughts about this,” Temperance said, nervously. “What is the downside of keeping foreign matter under your skin?”
“Infection. Sepsis. Death,” Aurora replied.
“So... nothing as bad as this,” Winston jested.
“Everyone can go suck a big-o-bag of dicks,” Ember told them. Aurora took another piece of glass out of her arm. “FUCKING SON OF BITCH!”
The Wolf Pack, after taking down a tank zombie (Generation Undead: Book One)
No matter how badass you are getting glass removed from your body still sucks.
btw: This is an excerpt from a novel I'm working on with my literary partner in crime. Book One in the Generation Undead Series.
