And...here we go! John Q Public is the "first stage" of a pastiche character in my little universe who serves, at various points in his career, as an homage to:
Two-fisted Private Eyes
Will Eisner's "the Spirit"
Jon Carter
And Voltron
Yes...and Voltron.
Some of his (greatly summarized) history can be found...here:
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Some time ago, on the distant planet Voltarrus, a decision was made that would change the very fate of the universe.
The Gates of Galactron, the Warp-Doors that allowed travel within and between the galaxies, had become corrupted by the End, the rogue servants of the anti-entity known as the Ravager. (Saga of Voltarr #100, Tales of Voltarrus backup story "The End Has Come!")
In order to prevent the End from using the Gates to bring their master into the universe, the decision was made to not only shut the Gates down, but to make them inoperable until the time was right.
So, the Queen of Voltarrus sent her only son through the Final Gate. The boy had a special connection to the Gates, and it was this connection that made the creation of the Final Gate possible.
However, the Final Gate was not yet completed, and forcing someone through with such an open connection to its power would not only close the Gate behind that person, but it would cause a devastating feedback through the entire system, rendering all of the Gates inoperable, possibly forever.
The sacrifice was dear, but it worked. The Galactron Gates were shut down, and the End failed in their mission to summon the Ravager. However, the damage was done: the Galactron Force was now scattered, each Galactron left to defend their own galaxy in isolation, and without even the Gates within their own domains to help them traverse their territories.
Meanwhile, the toddler-age son of Queen Voltarr arrived at the still-unfinished endpoint of the Final Gate: a planet in the Milky Way galaxy known as "Earth."
As its last act of functionality, the Scout Pod carrying the royal child delivered its charge to the steps of an orphanage behind hiding itself deep beneath the planet's surface.
This child was raised at the orphanage, and was never adopted. When he reached the age to go out on his own, he struggled, but eventually succeeded in starting his own business, as John Q. Public, Private Investigator!
John ran his P.I. business for several before having a fateful encounter with Dr. Anton Nielos and his Nega-Bomb. John wasn't sure why he felt so drawn to interfere, or why he felt so certain that he was the right person to stop the bomb, but he did so anyway.
When John was "reborn" as the Good Samaritan, he discovered he had the power to enter any door within the limits of a city he was bonded to, and then emerge instantly from any other door within that city!
Soon enough, he found that he could do so between any of the cities he'd ever bonded to, and as the years went on, discovered that he no longer aged, and that as long as a city he was connected to still stood, he could not be killed permanently, either.
One day, on an adventure that took deep into a cave system far beneath the Earth, John discovered a strange alien craft. He was wounded, and the craft seemed to call to him. Not seeing much choice, he answered the call, and climbed within the ship.
In a flash, the ship unearthed itself, left the planet's atmosphere, and activated a one-time only secret program hidden deep within its circuitry.
This program activated a Demi-Gate, an experimental version of a Galactron Gate that could only be activated once, and had almost no real chance of functioning. With John's stabilizing presence, however, the Gate functioned perfectly, and in the blink of an eye, he was looking down from orbit on the planet Voltarrus!
Strangely, John found that his "doorway power" did not work here on Voltarrus as it did on Earth. He could not "step" between distant doors on this new planet, but he could enter any door in the city of Voltera (the capital, and home of Castle Voltarr), and emerge from any door on planet Earth!
Using this connection, John spent years hopping between Earth and Voltarrus, eventually finding love on Voltarrus and spending more and more time there.
Eventually, John discovered the legend of the Galactron Force. He then found out how the Force was disbanded, and how the Galactrons were put away until such time as the Force could be reunited.
When that time came, John, who had taken the name John Voltarr in recognition of his rediscovered heritage, reactivated the Galactron on Voltarrus and recruited a team of Galactic Sentinels to operate the Galactron units with him.
Once Galactron Voltarr was back in action, it was time to take the next step. John used his special connection to the Galactron Gates to awaken them one at a time, visiting each galaxy and reactivating their Galactrons, then sending the new recruits out through more Gates, until all of the Gates were open once more, and the Galactron Force lived again!
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The character sheet attached would represent John Q Public at the peak of his "Private Eye/ The Spirit" period, right before he becomes "The Good Samaritan."
John Q Public.pdf (95.51 KB)