PS238

created by Jet-Poop

(place) by Jet-Poop (6.3 min) (print) ? (I like it!) 5 C!s Sun Mar 13 2005 at 5:19:28

A comic book created by Aaron Williams. It's currently published by Do Gooder Press.

Imagine you live in a world with superheroes. If they're anything like the ones in the comics, they're always falling in love with each other and sometimes even getting married to each other. Every once in a while, one of them will have a child. So what do you do with an eight-year-old with the power of an Asgardian thunder god? Send 'em to a school where they'll eventually end up incinerating their classroom in a temper tantrum over not getting to use the green crayon? No, you send 'em to PS238, the School for Metaprodigy Children.

Constructed three miles beneath a normal public school, PS238 is designed to teach superhuman children how to use their powers and how to maintain a secret identity. Since many of their classes are taken alongside normal children and teachers, the kids are required to pretend to be perfectly normal kids. For some, this requires only a change of clothing -- others need elaborate holographic disguises. When it's time for Metahuman-centric classes, the kids are transferred by high-tech conveyors to the subterranean facility, where, on an ideal day, the kids learn a little more about what it means to be super. Of course, on most days, simple mayhem breaks out.

Faculty members at PS238 include Principal Alfred Cranston, a former holder of high office who resigned under mysterious circumstances to head the school; Cristina Kyle, formerly known as Micro-Might, the only teacher at PS238 to have teaching experience prior to the opening of the school; Vashti Impiria, who used to be known as the magic-wielding Spell Syrin; Herschel Clay, the school's director of maintenance, who used to be a powersuit-wearing hero named Mantium; and gym teacher Maximilian Krutz, a big, rocky guy who used to be known as Rockslide.

Some of the notable students include Captain Clarinet (Ron Peterson), a shy but immensely strong kid who would prefer to spend all his time playing his clarinet; Suzi Fusion (Suzanne Finster), a bespectacled six-year-old who throws radioactive temper tantrums; Zodon, an evil genius whose countless schemes have prompted the school to fit him with devices that, among other things, convert his tirades of profanity into rousing show tunes; Tyler Marlocke, a completely normal kid whose superhero parents are solidly convinced that he'll be manifesting powers any day now (and who, despite his lack of powers, is now fighting crime in secret as the football-helmeted Moon Shadow); Bernard Brenner, an eight-year-old Hulk clone; Emerald Gauntlet (Kevin Kramer), a seven-year-old Green Lantern; Prospero, a stranded alien who loves shooting people with his ping-pong-ball gun; Murphy, the ruler of the dreamworld who accidentally turned himself into a little kid; and Hestia, pint-sized goddess of the hearth.

So far, the students at PS238 have participated in only a few superhero-level crises, including saving an airliner in trouble, foiling a plot by Herschel's dead ex-hero wife, patrolling the city with a vigilante named Revenant, and stopping a rampage by a giant robot. Most of the students' adventures have revolved around typical school activities. Of course, most schools don't have class president elections that revolve around two kids who are competing to become America's next national hero. Most schools don't have field trips that take them to the moon. Most schools don't assign history reports that require time travel.

So far, the comics are very light-hearted and fun -- Williams has a pretty good grasp of what makes kids and superheroes funny, and he does a great job of combining the two, as well as crafting interesting and distinct personalities for the major characters. The kids aren't written as short adults -- they're children, through and through. Zodon acts like the most mature of the kids, but that's because he's hyper-intelligent, evil, and makes cutting remarks about everyone. The rest of the kids freak out when they lose their capes, get afraid of heights, look forward to macaroni pie day in the cafeteria, and try to make friends with older snooty kids. Trust me, if Superman and Spider-Man were eight years old, they'd act just like these kids do.

Of course, even comedic superhero schoolkids eventually have to face superhero-level threats, and there are rumblings on the horizon that danger and crisis may be looming for the teachers and students at PS238. Will the government crack down on the school? Will deluded former students try to shut the school down? Will the Revenant's foes take revenge on the students? Will Zodon finally manage to take over the whole school? Will Tyler Marlocke ever manage to manifest his own superpowers? Only time will tell...

printable version
chaos

Leaked AOL memo about hackings and how to handle press	Mistakes are for losers, write in pen	Dork Tower	Candles should be burned, not dusted
Sandman	Green Lantern	Comics titles and characters	Superhuman
Secret identity	Moonshadow	Uranium 238	1077
Murphy's Rules	General Motors	children	Tank Girl
Time travel	field trip	revenant	giant robot
Hestia	Prospero	The Incredible Hulk	profanity

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