|
|
THE ORIGINS OF THE LEAGUE
The secret history of the so-called League of Extraordinary Heroes, government assembled groups of exceptional individuals called upon from time to time when their unique services are required, can be traced back to the early days of the nineteenth century. Though there would not be an official team assembled for nearly eighty years, the origins of the League could be found in troubled California in 1820, when three flamboyant adventurers joined forces to combat the threat of Spanish aggression. Only one of these individuals, special agent Jack Stiles, was a United States citizen, but his partners (Mexican nationals Tessa Alvarado and Don Diego de la Vega) certainly shared an American sense of freedom and heroism. These three, their true identities hidden from enemies by masks, would often operate under the direction of Stiles’ English born wife, now settled with her husband in the USA.
In the days following the Civil War, too, there briefly arose a loose-knit group comprised mainly of Southern loyalists...obviously not affiliated with the recognized government, but whose actions were ultimately directed towards the common good. Records of this time are hard to come by, but four individuals have thus far been associated with this unusual group:
“Wrangler” Jane Thrift, a gunslinger who would later be stationed at the ill-named Fort Courage; John Gray, a celebrated war hero who rode in a customized locomotive that he used to startling efficacity; Jebediah Duke, an expert marksman with the bow whose fiery horse (named after Confederate General Lee) was reputed to be the greatest jumper in the nation; and Nathaniel Reynolds, a bitter soldier who, upon losing the war, turned his unarguably brilliant mind to the budding field of aeronautics. Using his family fortune to create a unique flying machine of his own devising, Reynolds boldly proclaimed to his Northern enemies. “Steal my home and burn my land, but you can’t take the sky from me.” One hopes he had the good sense not to pass this rebellious attitude on to his children.
The last unofficial incarnation of the League came in 1880 when Federal agent Brisco County, civil war veteran Aloysius Hunter, and powerful hammersmith John Henry formed an alliance with special agents James West and Artemus Gordon to defend the small town of Copper Creek against an attack by infamous science-villain Miguelito Loveless. The town was saved, but John Henry lost his life protecting it’s citizenry from Loveless’ nearly unstoppable steam-driven battle drone (This story has been grossly skewed in popular retellings). The great steel driver would not be avenged for some twenty years.
It was in 1898, when West and Gordon were murdered by the renegade Loveless, that the government sanctioned the first fully official League to be formed. The order came straight from President William McKinley, who only the previous year had met with British Prime Minister Plantagenet Palliser, who bragged to him pompously of his country’s long celebrated ‘League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’, an organization some say date back to the seventeenth century. When Palliser chided McKinley for not yet having a similar team, the President is said to have replied, “Americans aren’t gentlemen, mister Prime Minister. They’re heroes.”
The following are the founding members of this first, historic League: Brisco County Jr., son of the great lawman and League alumnus; Dixie Cousins, the younger County’s most capable female companion; Lucas McCain, a shootist whose prowess with the rifle was only exceeded by his bitter sorrow over the loss of his teenaged son the previous year; Bret Maverick, a gambler and confidence artist, whose inclusion to the team raised many an eyebrow; Janos Bartok, a scientific mind on par with Loveless whom the government fortunately lured away from the Legendary adventurings he was engaged in; and to lead this group, a most unusual choice, especially for the time...doctor and frontierswoman Michaela Quinn, herself a widower like Mr McCain. This selection was met with initial resistance, but the aging Quinn soon earned the full respect of her heroic entourage. They set off in a heavily modified locomotive once used by the late West and Gordon, now tasked again in search of the villainous Loveless. Pushed beyond it’s capabilities by the League’s engineer, a fellow of some repute named Jones, this fantastic train helped the inaugural League save many a life at the end of that great, violent century.
It was a September day in 1901 when the League (accompanied that day by their sometimes collaborator, the black-suited man known only by the appelation ‘Paladin’) had their final confrontation with Loveless in the small California town of Angel Grove (a red flag location even to this day). Using increasingly fantastic technology, some of his own devising and some stolen from the criminal John Bly during a brief alliance years earlier, Loveless took forced command of the town’s protectorate (always distinctive by their brightly colored uniforms) and pitted them against the League in combat to the death. This appalling situation was thankfully cut short by the timely intervention of an individual who, and we must digress for a moment from the narrative, is of no small concern to the United States intelligence community.
As yet without concrete identification, only ever offering claims of being a physician of some sort by way of introduction, this ‘individual’ has supposedly had interaction with every incarnation of the League to date. I say supposedly, because the individual almost never looks the same from one appearance to the next. Many argue that it is in fact a team of persons operating in tandem, while others still reasonably argue the very fact of this ‘Doctor’’s existence. Some intelligence claims that one such iteration of this man was affiliated with a United Nations task force in the 1960's, working closely with that era’s British League, known as the Quatermass Group.
At any rate, whoever appeared that day turned the tide of the struggle, cutting short Loveless’ attempts to launch a takeover of the Country itself from the beachhead of Angel Grove. The combined skill of the remaining heroes defeated Loveless’ army of automatons, although ironically, it was none of the League who gave the criminal mastermind his much deserved reward. No, his end came when one of his robotic inventions threatened a passing herd of cattle. The enraged trail boss, a man called Yates, immediately began firing, ending Loveless’ lifelong murder spree then and there in a hail of gunfire.
The retribution came with a heavy cost, with only three Leaguers surviving the day. Two quickly retired from active duty, departing together to explore the ever expanding American frontier. The last survivor, Mister Maverick (whose infamous luck held out one more time) continued on in surreptitious government service for many years to come. Another League would not be formed until 1938.
The California Group, 1820 (left to right): Jack Stiles, Emilia Rothschild, Don Diego de la Vega, Tessa Alvarado.
“special agent Jack Stiles”
Jack Stiles, aka the Daring Dragoon, starred in JACK OF ALL TRADES.
“Mexican nationals Tessa Alvarado and Don Diego de la Vega”
Tessa Alvarado was the secret identity of the QUEEN OF SWORDS. Don Diego de la Vega is, of course, the legendary ZORRO.
“Stiles’ English born wife...”
Stiles was paired with brilliant and gorgeous British agent Emilia Rothschild in JACK OF ALL TRADES, on the remote island Pulau Pulau. Somewhere between the end of the series and 1912, they must have married and relocated to America.
“Wrangler” Jane Thrift”
Wrangler Jane was a regular on F TROOP.
“the ill-named Fort Courage;”
Also from F TROOP, the name fit poorly as most of the men stationed there were devout cowards.
“John Gray, a celebrated war hero who rode in a customized locomotive that he used to startling efficacity”
Johnnie Gray was Buster Keaton’s character from the 1927 silent film THE GENERAL. Keaton plays a would-be soldier who uses his train to thwart a planned attack by the North.
"Jebediah Duke, an expert marksman with the bow whose fiery horse (named after Confederate General Lee) was reputed to be the greatest jumper in the nation;"
Possibly an ancestor of the car-jumping good ol' boys THE DUKES OF HAZARD. They had a penchant for using the bow and arrow while driving in their car, the General Lee.
“Nathaniel Reynolds, a bitter soldier who, upon losing the war, turned his unarguably brilliant mind to the budding field of aeronautics. Using his family fortune to create a unique flying machine of his own devising, Reynolds boldly proclaimed to his Northern enemies. “Steal my home and burn my land, but you can’t take the sky from me.” One hopes he had the good sense not to pass this rebellious attitude on to his children.”
Nathaniel Reynolds is a retcon character, seemingly an ancestor of future independant fighter Malcolm Reynolds of FIREFLY. After being on the losing side in a galactic civil war, Reynolds buys a transport ship and vows to live free in the skies.
“Federal agent Brisco County,”
Brisco County was the father of Bruce Campbell’s title character on THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR.
“...civil war veteran Aloysius Hunter,”
‘Teaspoon’ Hunter was a fixture on THE YOUNG RIDERS.
“...powerful hammersmith John Henry”
John Henry is a folk hero, a giant of a man who could hammer steel better than any man or machine.
"special agents James West and Artemus Gordon"
James West and Artemus gordon were the heroes of the WILD WILD WEST.
“the small town of Copper Creek”
Copper Creek was the setting of the sitcom BEST OF THE WEST.
“...infamous science-villain Miguelito Loveless”
Loveless was the recurring villain on WILD WILD WEST, often clashing with West and Gordon.
“John Henry lost his life protecting it’s citizenry from Loveless’ nearly unstoppable steam-driven battle drone”
According to legend, John Henry died of exhaustion after besting a steam-powered drill in a contest.
“It was in 1898, when federal agents West and Gordon were murdered by the renegade Loveless”
The deaths of West and Gordon were never recounted on the show.
“British Prime Minister Plantagenet Palliser”
A character from Anthony Trollope’s Palliser novels, this is a wink and a nod to Moore’s LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, in which Palliser is PM.
“...his country’s long celebrated ‘League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’, an organization some say date back to the seventeenth century.”
In Moore’s LOEG, the British League extends back to the late seventeenth century, when a team led by Prospero existed.
“Brisco County Jr., son of the great lawman and League alumnus;”
The lead character in THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR., the younger County takes on his father’s mantle after his murder.
“Dixie Cousins, the younger County’s most capable female companion;”
Brisco’s girl in the series.
“Lucas McCain, a shootist whose prowess with the rifle was only exceeded by his bitter sorrow over the loss of his teenaged son the previous year;”
Lucas McCain, aka THE RIFLEMAN, could shoot his rifle faster than others could shoot their pistols. A single father raising a son, it’s unknown how his boy died in the LOEH universe.
“Bret Maverick, a gambler and confidence artist, whose inclusion to the team raised many an eyebrow;”
BRET MAVERICK was a travelling con man and professional card player who was out for profit more than adventure, though he found more of the latter than he wanted.
“Janos Bartok, a scientific mind on par with Loveless whom the government fortunately lured away from the Legendary adventurings he was engaged in;”
Bartok was the genius behind the real-life adventures of fictional Nicodemus Legend, in the series LEGEND.
“...doctor and frontierswoman Michaela Quinn, herself a widower like Mr McCain”
The star of DOCTOR QUINN MEDICINE WOMAN, Doctor Mike married her longtime sweetheart Sully in the series later run. It’s unknown how or when he dies in the LOEH-verse.
“They set off in a heavily modified locomotive once used by the late West and Gordon”
West and Gordon’s personal train, the Wanderer, was outfitted with an array of fantastic devices and carried them from mission to mission.
“...the League’s engineer, a fellow of some repute named Jones”
This may be the legendary engineer / folk hero Casey Jones.
“...their sometimes collaborator, the black-suited man known only by the appelation ‘Paladin’”
Paladin was the hired gun of HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL.
“...the small California town of Angel Grove”
Angel Grove is the base of operations of the interdimensional do-gooder called Zordon and his teenage assault force, the MIGHTY MORPHIN’ POWER RANGERS.
“...the criminal John Bly”
John Bly was a criminal from the future who travelled back to western times, and was responsible for the death of Brisco County sr. Brisco Jr. later killed Bly, avenging his father.
“...the town’s protectorate (always distinctive by their brightly colored uniforms)”
This would be the aforementioned Power Rangers, who each wear a costume of a solid bright color (ie: pink ranger, red ranger, etc.)
“As yet without concrete identification, only ever offering claims of being a physician of some sort by way of introduction, this ‘individual’ has supposedly had interaction with every incarnation of the League to date. I say supposedly, because the individual almost never looks the same from one appearance to the next. Many argue that it is in fact a team of persons operating in tandem, while others still reasonably argue the very fact of this ‘Doctor’’s existence”
This is reference to the travelling timelord of the BBC series DOCTOR WHO. Never offering a name other than ‘The Doctor’, whenever he dies he is regenerated into a new and different body, hence the changing appearance.
“Some intelligence claims that one such iteration of this man was affiliated with a United Nations task force in the 1960's”
The third incarnation of Doctor Who was earthbound, and became special scientific advisor to the United Nations Intelligence Task Force, aka UNIT.
“...that era’s British League, known as the Quatermass Group”
Bernard Quatermass was an adventurous scientist who battled Martians and other threats in the QUATERMASS series beginning in 1953. It’s unknown as yet who else was in his League.
“The enraged trail boss, a man called Yates, immediately began firing...”
Rowdy Yates was the ramrod on RAWHIDE, driving his herd of cattle across the country.
Send any feedback to visitorium@hotmail.com
Back to The League of Extraordinary Heroes