1927 AD
The Red Spider makes his first appearance in Chicago, becoming the first costumed crimefighter or "mystery man". Others soon emerge, including the Dark Knight, the Crimson Crusader, and the Phantom. They fight gangsters and rumrunners; the most famous battles include Red Spider's pursuit of Bonnie and Clyde and the Phantom's long vendetta against lady crime boss Orchidia.
1929 AD
The stock market crashes, ushering in the Great Depression.
Doctor Arcane makes his first public appearance.
1932 AD
Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeats Hoover for presidency of the United States.
The Wraith becomes the first female costumed crimefighter.
1933 AD
Hitler comes to power in Germany.
The Ace of Shadows uses his high-speed monoplane to fight bootleggers in the Midwest.
1934 AD
Mister Mystery fights corruption in Seminole Beach, Florida.
1935 AD
Nazi Ubermenschen program initiated, eventually developing the first "super-soldiers": Schwartzadler (Black Eagle), Blitzkrieger (Lightning Warrior), Nachtwulf (Nightwolf), Totenkopf (Deaths Head), and Kapitan Swastika (Captain Swastika).
1937 AD
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to complete an aerial circumnavigation of the world.
Crimson Crusader vanishes.
1939 AD
Germany invades Poland. World War II begins.
The Wraith is captured by the FBI and sentenced to twenty years in prison.
1940 AD
U.S. begins supersoldier program called Project Myrmidon.
Germans invade France and conquer Paris. British supersoldiers Lionheart and Yeoman battle Captain Swastika and Nachtwulf on the beaches at Dunkirk.
The Phantom captures Orchidia and, presumably, retires.
1941 AD
Ubermenschen make "terror raids" into Britain and battle Lionheart and Yeoman. Ace of Shadows joins fight against Nazis, joining Lionheart and Yeoman to form "the Allies."
Amelia Earhart is shot down during the Battle of Britain after becoming a triple ace.
Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. U.S. enters war against the Axis.
The Red Spider is killed battling Nazi fifth-columnists.
1942 AD
Germany invades Russia. Ubermenschen fight on eastern front.
Crimson Crusader arrested for murdering the family of a Japanese-American man he claimed was a Japanese spy.
1943 AD
Kapitan Swastika captured at Stalingrad.
1944 AD
America's Spartan Team (consisting of Captain Courage and his sidekick Private Plucky as well as The Arsenal and The Ranger) joins with the Allies during the Normandy invasion. They fight the Ubermenschen, killing Nachtwulf. The other Ubermenschen escape.
Spartan Team and the Allies team up with Soviet super-soldier The Bolshevik to raid the Fuhrerbunker, which is defended by the Ubermenschen. Hitler commits suicide. Schwarzadler escapes, Blitzkrieger is captured by Spartan Team, and Totenkopf is killed.
Germany surrenders.
1945 AD
Atomic bombs dropped on Japan. WW II ends.
1946 AD
Mister Mystery retires.
1950 AD
The Korean War begins.
Thomas H. Warden, aka the Crimson Crusader, is executed for murder in the state of California.
1951 AD.
Captain Courage is killed during Inchon invasion.
1958 AD
Pres. Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which establishes NASA as a civilian space agency and the U.S. Military Rocket Force as its military counterpart, comprised of former Air Force, Navy, and Army elements.
1959 AD
Project Myrmidon in the US is cancelled.
1961 AD
President Kennedy authorizes formation of SPARTAN Group, a team of super-soldiers who are to be used to fight Communist activity around the world.
1962 AD
Russians deploy Eskadra Rus, their version of SPARTAN Group. In the U.S., Eskadra Rus is generally referred to as "Red Squadron".
1966 AD
Costumed vigilantes appear in New York City and elsewhere. They include Avenger, Captain Freedom, Black Liberator, Mister Marvel, and a host of others. The press dubs these colorful paranormal figures "superheroes".
1967 AD
Avenger battles Gargoyle atop the Brooklyn Bridge.
Mister Marvel deactivates Time Lord's tachyon bomb atop the Empire State Building with the help of some mysterious heroes from the future.
1968 AD
SPARTAN Group utilized in Vietnam. It consists of Patriot, Monitor, Sentinel, and Minuteman.
Captain Freedom defends protestors at Democratic national convention in Chicago from rioting police.
1969 AD
Apollo XI lands on the moon.
1971 AD
After a savage fight with the NVA, Monitor becomes MIA in Vietnam.
1972 AD
United States Aerospace Command (USAC) formed as a separate arm of the U.S. military. This takes over the responsibilities of the U.S. Military Rocket Force created in 1958.
SPARTAN Group returns from Vietnam.
1973 AD
President Nixon resigns in the aftermath of Watergate.
1977 AD
SPARTAN Group battles Eskadra Rus in Afghanistan. Patriot killed. Winged hero American Eagle joins the team.
1980 AD
SPARTAN Group fails to rescue hostages in Iran.
Black Eagle and his Overmen take over the United Nations building for 48 hours. New York City superheroes Avenger, Black Liberator, and Mister Marvel unite to drive them off, calling themselves the Freedom Fighters, but their assault on Black Eagle and his henchmen causes $17 million in damages and six deaths. Black Eagle and his men escape.
Senate Committee on Paranormal Entities (SCOPE) formed and holds televised hearings on the Black Eagle Affair.
VOID established to control costumed vigilantes with super-powers.
1981 AD
Costumed vigilantes testify before SCOPE. Captain Freedom retires, Mister Marvel disappears, and Avenger and Black Liberator are unmasked and jailed.
President Reagan signs the Hawkes Act of 1981, making government development (but not recruitment) of super-soldiers illegal.
1982 AD
The international terrorist organization Phalanx begins a bombing campaign that targets the headquarters of airlines, insurance companies, and research universities.
Flare uses her flame-projection powers to conduct a series of daylight robberies in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, melting armored cars and police cruisers deployed to pursue her.
1984 AD
The Peacekeepers are formed after Pres. Reagan signs the Hurley-Santiago Amendment to the Hawkes Act. It consists of Liberty Girl, Mr. America, and American Eagle (a former member of SPARTAN Group).
SPARTAN Group is given stronger congressional oversight and allowed to train new agents.
Sentinel and Minuteman retire.
1985 AD
Megaman is billed as "The World's Strongest Man!" when he makes his first appearance
The core membership of the Orchid Club makes its first appearance, including Hunter, Dragonfly, Beast, and X-Offender. After the resulting battle, Megaman is deputized by VOID Director Louis Freed.
The Department of Defense announces that SPARTAN Group agent Monitor is presumed dead.
Jonathan Challenger founds Starport International, a high-tech development firm.
1986 AD
Raptor appears in Phoenix City, Florida.
Raptor prevents new villainess Atlantis from destroying Grissom Base.
Megaman defeats an invasion of mercenaries led by new villain Tempest who is trying to take over New York City.
VOID issues the first edition of Villains and Vigilantes, its annual report on paranormal vigilantes and criminals.
1987 AD
Technostar makes first appearance at a Technocorp press conference; he later captures Phalanx agents who attempt to steal high-tech equipment from a Technocorp testing facility.
Spartan Group operations limited to training (no operational control) after an incident between several of its new agents (Flying Tiger, Grunt, Tunnel Rat, and Destroyer) and the Peacekeepers. Ernie Chan of CBS News covers the battle, which took place outside of Atlanta, and the footage airs on Nightline.
Spartan Group agent Destroyer quits the organization and turns to crime.
1988 AD
"Superhero Update" with Ernie Chan goes on the air, with filmed footage of a battle between Megaman and Spoilsport, a new energy-manipulating villain.
1991 AD
Spartan Group agents Fury, Flying Tiger, Tunnel Rat, and Marksman are assigned to special operations during the Persian Gulf War.
The Communist government of the U.S.S.R. falls.
Soviet superteam Eskadra Rus splits; four members form "the Hardliners" while the remaining three become the "New Squadron" or Eskadra Novy.
The new Yeoman appears in London, battling a villainous mastermind calling himself the Great Beast who attempts to kidnap and sacrifice former Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher in an obscene ritual. He is assisted by Rhymer, a magician of mysterious origins.
Former costumed hero Black Liberator -- real identity Jonah Jefferson -- is released from prison and disappears.
1992 AD
Aerobat appears, battling members of Orchid Club.
The Federal paranormal criminal incarceration facility (aka "Super Pen") outside Oklahoma City is completed.
New villain Outrage wreaks havoc in Syracuse, New York, before being defeated by Megaman.
1993 AD
The new Patriot appears in Washington, D.C., providing evidence of the systematic bribery and extortion of elected officials by a mysterious figure known only as the Pharoah.
SPARTAN Group disbanded as a result of budget cuts. Flying Tiger and the Fury become vigilantes; other agents become mercenaries and supervillains.
Tempest and his War Dogs conquer the small Central Asian republic of Aztakistan; Tempest declares himself the President of the Aztakistan Democratic Republic.
1994 AD
The Fury appears in New York City. He is challenged by Hunter of Orchid Club and defeats him in a rooftop battle in Greenwich Village in Manhattan.
Darkman appears in Chicago.
Danger Girl appears in Los Angeles and fights Captain Carnage in a shopping mall.
Sentinel, a retired Spartan, is killed by Cossack. The Fury battles the Hardliners in Phoenix City, Florida, with the aid of the new Patriot. Cossack is captured, Novator is killed. Bolshevik and Tokamak escape.
Detector appears in Los Angeles, in a running night-time battle along the freeways with Destroyer that airs on the evening news locally and on "Superhero Update" nationally.
Successful test launch of the S-25 Starhawk-class space plane from Grissom Base in Phoenix City.
Starport International, a well-known high-tech corporation, opens a regional office in Phoenix City.
New villain Alchemy appears; steals $500 thousand worth of Renaissance art and historical documents from the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.
Cossack is convicted of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in Super Pen.
Flying Tiger battles Outrage in Buffalo, NY. The villain escapes but is prevented from robbing a bank.
The Mysterious Intruder strikes at a number of Technocorp facilities; Technostar vows to bring the thief to justice.
Patriot prevents the assassination of newly re-elected Sen. Claude Porfiliot (D-Va.) by GANDALF terrorists led by Klansman.
VOID officially lists Phoenix City superhero Raptor as "inactive, presumed retired" in the 1995 edition of Villains and Vigilantes, its annual report on paranormal "superheroes" and "supervillains".
1995 AD
New hero Nova appears in New York City; he is an energy-projecting flying hero who rescues 10 people from a burning building.
New villain Fireball battles Nova inconclusively in the skies above Manhattan.
Special Enforcement Activities Reserve (SPEAR) formed by Department of Justice to assist VOID, the FBI, and state and local police agencies in fighting paranormal and super-powered threats.
Detector captures the Mad Bomber, leader of the Phalanx cell responsible for the string of bombings begun in 1982.
Peacekeepers deploy to Bosnia to assist NATO forces in implementing peace treaty.
SCOPE holds hearings on the deputization by VOID of four New York City-based superheroes.
1996 AD
The Fury defeats small time thug China Cat in New York City.
Orchid Club Pheonix City opens, run by Hamilton Barco.
New hero Black Liberator appears in Phoenix City; his relationship to the 1960s Black Liberator is unknown.
New heroes Electra, Horus, and Chronomancer battle GANDALF terrorists headed by Klansman and steal a high-tech dimensional portal from VOID agents attempting to take possession of it at the scene of the battle.
Horus protects an art gallery from the depredations of Alchemy.
New vigilante Killer Clown appears in Phoenix City.
Outrage fights Nova in New York City.
Four New York City-based heroes (Megaman, Aerobat, Paladin, and Technostar) announce the formation of the Defenders, a hero team dedicated to protecting the world from villainy and crime. The Defenders use Megaman's Megabase as their headquarters.
The Peacekeepers battle Fireball, Battlestar, Outrage, Shrinker, and Ebony Flame at Grissom Base. Shrinker escapes, the others are captured.
Mr. America, Chronomancer, and Horus save an orphanage from Storm Troop and a team of GANDALF survivalists.
China Cat shows up in Phoenix City.
1997 AD