I’ve had fun recently working towards an original (though obviously heavily-inspired) superhero team, the Mighty Justicier League. Originally just one of the thigns I let my mind churn up when I need to write as relaxation, therapy, or to break writer’s block, working with Jacob Blackmon on a couple of character designs (he did all the art on this page, and more) has pushed this towards actually becoming a “thing” (And he and I are working out what that will come together as.)

There’ll be more to this, but I thought it’d be nice to have everything I have now in one place. So, this is a rundown of what I have said about these heroes, and the 80 years of comics I’m pretending they have behind them.

HUNTSMAN

As a child, Huntsman’s billionaire family explored a “lost” hidden culture. Their inept trespassing got them killed from bites of local huntsman spiders. Huntsman was saved local doctor saved him with an experimental antivenin, giving him spider powers.

Huntsman dedicated his life to making up for the damage his parents had done, and turned over 99% of his fortune to charitable foundations. He trained through childhood to become a well-equipped costumed hero, to tackle threats beyond the reach of the law.

Some of Huntsman’s major villains (sometimes called “Huntsman’s Nemesis League”) include:
Grimaldi Goblin: Fell-into-acid-vat sadist genius with “Grimaldi’s Grin” gas bombs and a jetpack.
Manhunt: A clone of Huntsman, wants to destroy him, claim his fortune, and live in luxury at any cost.
Also: Aunt Asylum, The Black Bat, Clayman, Crimespree, Doc Croc, Doctor Zodiac, Gecko, Doctor Hugo Fate, Lady Passerine, Pallas Cat, Riddle Master, Spider Wasp, Swordfish, The Toadie, Tarantula Hawk, Tomb-Face, Two-Step, Weaver, The Web of Spies, Autarch, Doctor Syn, Feathertop, Harpy Eagle, Hodmedod, Jimmy Da Ooze, Mega-Fauna, Obtshak Council, The Parafoiler, The Punster, Rokkaku, River Monitor, Saint Assassin, Shock Jock, Skunk Ape, Queen Gale, and the Ultra-Nationalist.

That said the “Classic” Awful Eight group that are comprised of Huntsman’s Nemesis League is Clayman, Doc Croc, Green Ghoul, Grimaldi Goblin, Manhunt, Pallas Cat, Spider Wasp, and Tarantula Hawk (Lady Passerine has been a member, but she’s better when she’s running her own group.)

I still love the classic Huntsman storylines.
The Hunt: Year One
The Awful Eight
How Green My Ghoul
Siege at Sedgefield Sanatorium
Huntsman — Hunted!
Duty of the Family
Arachnarok
Cat, Spider, Wasp
SpyWeb Wars

STORMHAMMER

And, lo, then did come Ragnarök, but Thor and Sif defied the wyrds that declared all Aisir would die, and placed their son Vænn in a ship made of wood of Yggdrasil, and sailed him to Midgard, though a babe, that he might survive Asgard’s destruction. In Midgard’s he came to the farmer family Morven, who raised him honorable and true. Powerful beyond mortals, he became the hero Stormhammer, the rune Úr on his chest to mark his name, Vænn, meaning Hope. Only shards of shattered Mjolnir weaken him.

My favorite classic #Stormhammer villains are:
Trillionaire genius Dexter Duncan
Berzerko, the Antihero of Ragnarok
Járngreipnoid the Iron Warrior (powered by a sliver of Mjolnir)
Lord Sunstorm of the Elder Gods
Helalok, the Last Vanir
Seidhriac the Machine Shaman (who wishes to absorb all Norse magic)
Ms. Ratatoskr, denizen of the Wyrd Dimension,
Nidhogg the Magic-Eater
Ægishjálmur, the Giant Emperor

I’m NOT a fan of The Eschatologist, and it was B.S. to create a new villain for the “Death of Stormhammer” storyline.

But I *love* the “Storm On A Farm!” story where we discover Tanngrisnir came on Vænn’s ship as a cute kid, moved into the Morven farm, and no one knew he was Asgardian for 20 years because no one ever shot lasers at a small Wisconsin farm! The “Goat of Thunder!” stories rocked!

I still love these classic #Stormhammer storylines:
Last Son of Asgard
Mjolnirite Nevermore
Will of Iron
Storm on a Farm
Only Human
The Saga of the Stellar Seven
The Herokiller
Valhalla Comes

Also, “Gardenbound World of Álfheim,” where we discover a tiny acorn of Yggdrasill survived, and when Stormhammer saves it, it turns out to be growing into a new World oak, but it’s currently tiny, and it has a single one of the old Nine Realms in it, but currently also super-tiny.

And, especially, the classic Rainbow Bridge saga, when Stormhammer had to confront his own death and rebirth in order to understand that the loss of his powers was due to his fear of what mortality and resurrection meant. (h/t to Jim Milligan)

WORLD”S MIGHTIEST HEROES

And, of COURSE, the first #Stormhammer and #Huntsman teamup, “World’s Mightiest Heroes,” which is often seen as a prequel to the formation of the #MightyJusticierLeague

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