Dave's ASH Archive - Coherent Super Stories

Last Updated: 8/28/10

CSS #23 added.

From left to right: Dragonfly, Ladyhawke, Brightsword, Fantom.

An "reprint" series along the lines of Marvel Triple Action, although the stories are actually new. Meant to cover stories from the 20th Century, although the main focus will be on characters active in the Second Heroic Age. Written by Dave Van Domelen, contains various stylistic experiments attempting to evoke aspects of older comics.

Featuring Dragonfly: Set in the early 1970s, this arc fleshes out the Second Heroic Age.
1. Taking Flight: Introducing Dragonfly and Ladyhawke, and how their careers and fates are intertwined with that of the mad robot Antiochus V!
2. The View From Here: Snapshots from the high times of the Second Heroic Age, with guest appearances by Powerhouse, Don Quixote, Delta Rose, the Fantom, Brightsword and the original Lady Lawful!
3. Turbulence: The Second Heroic Age didn't officially end until 1976, but most people will point to the end of October 1975 as what hastened its end...and Dragonfly was right in the middle of it!
4. Hard Landing: Things look bad for the end of the Second Heroic Age...but is history fixed in stone, or can it be changed? Either way, Dragonfly's not getting out of this one unscathed! (Note: after you read this, go read Time Capsules #10 for the other side of the story!)
One-shot:
1. "Lighting the Torch" featuring Brightsword and Jiang Sheng: Set at the dawn of the Second Heroic Age, this story is written in full script format. Brightsword has his origin story, while Jiang Sheng opposes the schemes of his father, the insidious Dr. Huang Sheng!
The End Times: A series of stories set on or around July 6, 1998, featuring characters who had been active in the Second Heroic Age.
1. "Immortal Evil" featuring Jiang Sheng: Having retired to a life of monastic contemplation under San Francisco, Jiang finds that even when you don't go looking for trouble it tends to find you, and some family ties can never be broken.
2. "Drifter" featuring Chuck Morse: The former "Weapons Master" gets in over his head in the Cascade Mountains on the last day of the Third Heroic Age.
3. "Reunion" featuring Ladyhawke: At last, the creation of the Barrier as seen by one of the people who gave their lives to make it!
Invading The First Age:
- Mega-Sized Coherent Super Stories #1 - "Gilded Age" featuring the Freedom Alliance: In the vein of Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, the First Heroic Age as seen through the eyes of the Second! The true origins of Johnny Angel, the Gauntlet, Centurion and the enigmatic Minuteman!
1. "The Secret Origins of Lady Lawful" featuring Lady Lawful I and II: Spanning the First and Third Heroic Ages, the first outings of both Ladies Lawful are revealed, finishing off the origins of the classic Freedom Alliance lineup! By guest writer Andy Burton.
2. "Aunt Jane's Bible" featuring Red Widow: It's 1946, the First Heroic Age is winding down, and a flash-in-the-pan retired Mysterywoman gets sucked back into the life by, of all things, a bit of filthy "fan fiction"....
3. "Minutes of the Man" featuring Minuteman and Black Opal: It's 1938. It's 1983. Two men put on the same mask in order to protect the weak, but their motivations and experiences are rather different.
Tales of the Weird West featuring White Hat:
1. "Legend of the White Hat": To most people, the White Hat was just a second-string movie hero, but what if there was an element of truth to his tale? And how far can a dead man's cries for vengeance carry you?
2. "The Murders on Main Street": White Hat meets the weird Newton Sisters in Laramie while on the trail of one of Abe's killers, and finds his strangest foe yet!
Brightsword Family Misadventures:
1. "The Idiot Plot" featuring Brightsword I: Presenting the original script for the lead story of Brightsword #26 (November 1970), can Brightsword's strong arm and flashing blade help him stop a plot to scramble the brains of America's atomic scientists?
2. "Mixed Media" featuring Brightsword II: One blond female patriotic hero finds herself in the stomping grounds of another, and discovers that maybe Chicago isn't even a nice place to VISIT.
Before There Were Blogs:
1. "Confessions of a D-Lister" featuring...a D-Lister: In a somewhat rambling missive to posterity, a D-list paranormal leaves a warning to those who might dismiss people like him.
2. "Dear Diary" featuring the Forgotten Man: A reprint of a 1930s pulp story written in the form of diary entries in which a woman encounters that most mysterious of mysterymen...the Forgotten Man! Written for High Concept Challenge #1.
3. Coherent Super Stories #18 - "The Black Buddha of Bhutan" featuring Jack of All Trades: Jack Ripley's travels in search of the odd and unexplained have taken him to an obscure corner of China where darkness dwells.... Winner of High Concept Challenge #4 and the "Favorite Single Issue" RACCie!
More Flummoxed Flagsuits
1. Coherent Super Stories #19 - "IMP in the ARPANET" featuring Brightsword I: Why is Brightsword swimming through a sea of daffodils, what is that chocolate bar he's carrying for, and will any of this get Brightsword closer to answering the mystery of his origins? Featuring the script of the lead story from Brightsword #21, June 1970, and winner of High Concept Challenge #6.
2. Coherent Super Stories #20 - "Flag Line" featuring Rechtigkeit II: When "flagsuits" clash, it's often global politics in microcosm, but what if one of them isn't an official representative of her government and the other is more interested in making love rather than war? Might that be even more like global politics than usual, come to think of it? Written for High Concept Challenge #8.
3. Coherent Super Stories #21 - "Prisoner of the Red Planet!" featuring Brightsword I: Darkshield's finally found a way to get Brightsword out of his hair for good...or has he? Written for High Concept Challenge #9.
(No theme yet)
1. Coherent Super Stories #22 - "In Vivo, Veritas" featuring Balder: When you're a superhuman, you just don't get colds or the flu, so it takes something rather more potent to put you under the weather. Written for High Concept Challenge #12.
2. Coherent Super Stories #23 - "Device Not Found" featuring LU-62: When you're not even organic, human diseases aren't a concern. But you get your own set of maladies, and sometimes there's nothing you can do but crash. Also written for High Concept Challenge #12.

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