Epilogue Page 1

Neilsama on May 5, 2010

Remember, thousands of analogues of our crew–including other Mindmistresses—were killed by the Smiling Man. She, at least, cannot leave herself so unprotected again.

Years ago, Roy Thomas did a comic called ALL-STAR SQUADRON, which was a team of teams—all the heroes of Earth-Two, including other groups, like the Justice Society, the Seven Soldiers of Victory, and others were included within the larger group. In the “Some Thoughts on the ‘group’ of CROSSOVERLORD” thread in the forum, I discussed a “Crisis Corps” I once contemplated for DC. This is sort a combination of all of that, with just a dash of the Defenders, with its rather loose and impromptu roster, and the Exiles, with its interdimensional setting. (Except they're the originals, not variations of familiar Marvel characters…bopping through endless variations of Marvel's reality…)

I'm setting the stage for any sequels. No time soon–probably at the very least six months down the road. The CROSSOVERLORD is winding down, with only a few pages of goodbyes coming up. But I want to leave the door open to further crossover gatherings when needed. Ringo won't run the group, but he will be in a kind of “senior advisor” position. (Think the Watcher.) He still has a lot of knowledge about the multiverse, even if his mind sometimes wanders a bit, like Merlyn in SWORD AND THE STONE. It needn't be the same heroes, either, although I predict Mindmistress will be part of it for a while. Still, SHE won't lead either. A “people person” she isn't. She's more a Merlin than an Arthur, more a Kissinger than a Kennedy.

Oh, name-dropping time. The Evil Overlords United are the instigators of the Crossover Wars. The dimension-savaging Q'Arth demons played a pivotal role in the genesis of the superteam MAGELLAN. The Tour de Force? The Doppelganger Gang? You may find out…someday.

In panel three, we see three familiar faces, who have appeared here before–Therm of SPECIAL SCHOOL, who's been doing a side-story concerning the Smiling Man's plans; everyone's favorite boy-turned-magical-girl/Norse Chooser of the Slain SPARKLING GENERATION VALKYRIE YUUKI, one of ANT's particular idols; and SIDEKICK GIRL.

In panel 5, MM mentions Debbie's unnamed superteam, which was featured in her comic, INDEFENSIBLE POSITIONS (Skeeter was a particular favorite of mine), the Icons super-team that appeared in POINT GUARDIAN, the HEROES UNITE team of mostly Drunk Duck heroes that Dasien has worked with before, and her own connection to the already-mentioned superteam MAGELLAN. (See the “Buying the Stairway to Heaven” storyline in both MM and Magellan.)

Jenny Everywhere, Ringo's messenger, major-domo, and many others things has of course, appeared before, but we have to say this: “The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.”

In panel seven, the blonde on the upper tier is the ever-delightful NEW GIRL; the daughter-and-mother superheroine duo on the second level (with the Cyclops-like visor and the helmet-head, respectively) are LADY SPECTRA AND SPARKY–Sparky's the one with the visor, Lady Spectra has the helmet; the blonde guy in black is SPARK–no relation to Sparky.

All were involved in the interdimensional war the Smiling Man waged against Ringo. And if ANY of them need help against some sort of interdimensional threat, they just need to press the button on the magic multidimensional eight-ball, and they can alert everyone else who has one, in any reality–and if need be, they can gather in Ringo's dimension. A “Neighborhood Watch” for realities…where each of them can help the others.

It needn't be limited just to superheroes, either, although that's where the emphasis is this time. We can imagine someday a guild of swordsmen and sorcerers from various fantasy webcomics working with the rest…however, that's another story.

Now, if we could just agree on a good NAME..