POWERNAUT 1985!

I'm not calling Powernaut Comics a bunch of liars... but I do not remember this story happening at all. Perhaps it happened way over on a branch of Fractal Time. In some sense, I was a part of it. I think they got me right, aside from one major difference: how well I got along with the replacement Powernaut.

I kind of hope it's true somewhere. He was obviously an intelligent gentleman, who never raised a fist in anger - or indeed in *any* cause. But when I knew him, he always came up with solutions. That is still true in this story.

I've already mentioned all I know about Powernauts in 1985. Those solar creatures may have been involved in an incident in 1999... but otherwise I don't recall them any more than I remember the rest of this story.

I hear the Powernaut Comics have another commentator who can speak more to the 1980s. They should have him ready for next week.

If this story really happened somewhere, I didn't see it any more than S.O.S. did... but I did read it! By 1985 I had finally become mature enough to read comic strips, just in time for the latest Powernaut revival. It was featured in a comic fan magazine. It was popular enough that it led to a Powernaut movie, plus a new series which lasted through the 1990s.

You may think I should at least have found my own background to be familiar. But I'd blanked that stuff out by then. Still, this strip more than any other got me thinking about adventure... and we all know how *that* has worked out in my life.

Time for me to earn those big bucks people pay commentators on 1980s comics... I know a lot of this stuff from reading the comics fan press.

People might wonder why all these heroes from Power-Star Comics are fighting each other... One may recall Manly-Man setting out on a bear hunt in his comic. He found the Doom Bear, who tricked him into fighting everyone else.

One may also wonder why the story never got published. It was meant to be the Big Story for Power-Star Comics. But the line didn't survive that long. Powernaut Comics brought back the Powernaut to try to jump-start the line.

So, Power-Star Comics was trying to make a comeback alongside the Powernaut. We know that Powernaut Comics went on, with a reboot every decade or two. How about the Power Stars?

• Manly-Man: In a comic-book sense, Filmation (the publishers of He-Man) hounded him out of business. In a Real World sense... if he ever existed, he probably went back home and sired a son who is now known as Prince Manly-Boy.
• Hyper-Ninja Sewer Creatures: In a comic-book sense, they sank without a trace. Just like all the other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ripoffs. But in a Real World sense... They may have come from *our* world! Dunevoy Enterprises is known to have issues with toxic waste in the 1980s. Those issues were exposed after activist raids on their facilities - except the activists were never found. Afterward, well... they were ninjas. I don't track animal lifespans, but I would guess they don't survive here in 2005. But maybe they *weren't* sterilized by radiation, and they found mates from other toxic waste incidents. So, anything is possible.
• Solar Sail Roboto: In a comic-book sense, the concept has been revived in fan-fiction! That means, in a Real World sense, Solar Sail Roboto probably went Out There somewhere and got improved on. I've learned that all stories are real, somewhere. (Solar Sails Fan Fiction)
• Happy Bears: In a comic-book sense, Happy Bears did not appeal to adventure fans. But they thrived in the greeting-card trade. In a Real-World sense... Happy Bears were real, and they came to our world whenever they liked! The Doom Bear in particular was here a *lot* - until Ellipsis raised an squad of superhumans in 1991. That squad was (of course) Total Conversion. During one of the periodic Doom Bear incursions, they counter-invaded and killed him with great violence. Love those '90s!
• G.I. Gov: They were real and from our world! They must have licensed their portrayals to Power-Star Comics. But they dissolved after Ronald Reagan left office. (Perhaps their commander had made enemies in the U.S. bureaucracy.) Still, their members were highly valued. Most of them gave logistical support to the U.S. National Security Agency's Counter-Ellipsis Force. But Jill Stern instead worked for Ellipsis! Jill is now one of the senior superhumans of our world, and a valued colleague to lots of people including me.

That scene in the first panel is really exciting, if you know the background. Jill Stern vs. *any* Powernaut is not a foregone conclusion. She's got brick-crushing strength plus the best samurai training one can get. And her sword is not trivial. Later in this strip, one might notice it starting to *slice through the Powernaut's force fields*.

I've asked Jill if she remembers this fight. She says, she doesn't. But it seems accurate enough. And Jill could have won, if she worked for some Army which beheaded its opponents before they actually started fighting.

Jill's already said she doesn't remember this encounter. But if it really happened, it would be the first time she ever knew tranquility. And it came from Happy Bears.

Jill Stern, a.k.a. Stonewater Stern a.k.a. Stonewater, joined the superhero team Total Conversion shortly after they first encountered Happy Bears. This might be considered a really odd decision, because Total Conversion worked for Ellipsis - whom most of her G.I. Gov teammates had become dedicated to hunting. At some level of consciousness, Jill may have been trying extreme measures to regain that tranquility she once had.

I would have guessed Jill would be more of a match for Happy Bears, as would *any* elite military squad such as G.I. Gov. But it's no surprise to me that Jill might embrace tranquility when she finds it, especially at a young age. And the Powernaut *is* shown as reinforcing Happy Bears' power in this comic. And there's an urban/superhero legend about Happy Bear himself once issuing an overwhelming happiness attack while saying, "I'll MAKE Them Happy!" So, yes, this might have happened on some level of reality.

After this strip, well, we know there were more Powernaut comics 'cause we still have Powernaut comics here in 2005. There was some talk about having everyone else in a "Heroes of the '80s" series also. It actually made it onto TV, for about half a season in 1986! It was some prototype individual cartoons for each sub-team, plus one new cartoon every week. But the concept fell apart for about the same reason those creatures largely disappeared from the Real World.

In the Powernaut 1985 strip, I'm impressed by how *everyone* got to fight the Flying Sun Monkeys in their own manner. The Powernaut made a good choice in giving all the other characters his power. And having the Flying Sun Monkeys fight a *solar-powered* robot who can *split in five* and *sweep the sky clean*, was simply inspired.

heh, who am I to say? Well, we fanboys all said stuff like this at the time. Everyone had an opinion on what belonged in the story. For instance, Hyper-Ninja Sewer Creatures were unpopular - until people saw Simon the Sea Monkey taming a Sun Monkey. Happy Bears were unpopular throughout.

For me this is commenting on pop culture, not on history.