MNU3

Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 2
Kickers Inc. .......................................................................................................... 18
Foes of the Kickers .............................................................................................. 27

Credits: “Football is like life. It requires perseverance, self-denial, hard

Written and compiled by Dennis Hill and Keith A. Kilburn work, sacrifice, dedication, and respect for authority.”
Taken from the writeups of Dennis Hill at Technohol.com
Art from the finest Marvel Comics money could buy. –Vince Lombardi
Layout by Steve Jolly

Dedication:
To Archie Goodwin and Ron Frenz for showing us how to play
the game and giving us something to look forward to on any
given Sunday.

All characters featured in this book and the distinctive names and likenesses thereof, and all related indicia, are trademarks of Marvel Characters,
Inc 2021. This book was originally distributed in and hosted by Marvel Super Heroes - The Unofficial Canon Project on Facebook. If you are in
receipt of this book and wish to share it, you must do so strictly on a non-profit basis, and credit the original source. If you’re aware of copies in any
format made available for sale, please contact Marvel Super Heroes - The Unofficial Canon Project via Facebook Messenger.

1
 INTRODUCTION
A word about Kicker's Inc., or things you learn when you are looking for information on an
obscure comic series from the 1980s.
It is funny when you look into this series, you find out that
it started off as a completely different creature. For
instance, Kickers Inc. started off as a pastiche of the
Challengers of the Unknown, with the group traveling
around in the off season (yes, they were still football
players) in the Magnificentmobile exploring dinosaur
filled islands, finding underground civilizations, and
exploring the depths of the seas. Archie Goodwin had
come up with the idea and when pressed to pitch
something by Editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, suggested his
idea of a crazy, adventure filled team of off-season
football players. Shooter listened and decided that he
wanted the series for the New Universe and then
promptly made them active football players.
Goodwin, who along with Ron Frenz, knew nothing about
football and that was the whole reason in the original
pitch the team were 'off season' players. Archie Goodwin
tried to take back the pitch, suggesting that it really didn't
fit the 'realistic, world outside your window' viewpoint
that Shooter was hoping to accomplish with the line of
books. You know, the line that wasn't supposed to have
aliens (Star Brand), Extradimensional beings (Justice) or
magic (eventually, Nightmask) and was supposed to be
reflective of the world 'outside your window', grounded in
realism and more science oriented with more thought
being put into the origins presented in the comics. Yeah,
2
I'm talking about the New Universe, a line of comics
created for the 25th anniversary of the creation of the
Marvel Comics.
So, the idea was to create a line of comics, that didn't
relate to the Marvel Universe...thus competing against
the very product that was bringing money to the table to
begin with. Combined with this was that the powers that
be at Marvel had originally given Shooter $125,000 to
create these comics, then cut the budget to $80,000
before calling him back (from over the weekend) and
telling him the budget was now $40,000 ($12,500 was
spent on developing the series 'Speedball', which never
ended up in the New Universe to begin with...) before he
was finally called back and told not to spend any money at
all. What they ended up with was getting volunteers to
write and draw all of the series with no royalties for their
work. So, if Shooter would have listened to Archie
Goodwin, we wouldn't have Kicker's inc. to vaguely
recollect.
Personally, I want someone to polish this one off and
resubmit it as it was originally pitched...
Keith A. Kilburn
 New York Smashers
Illustrated
Kickers Inc. story index
Compiled and written by Dennis 'Firebomb' Hill!
Issue 1: This Legend Born!
Our story begins in the midst of a football game between
the New York Smashers and some unnamed team. The
hero of our tale, one Jack Magniconte, is struggling to pull
a last-minute win out of his hat along with 'Dasher'
Corbin, 'Brick Wall' Wohl, and 'Suicide' Smythe. Thanks to
a lot of quick thinking and excellent teamwork, the
Smashers indeed achieve a winning touchdown as the
clock ticks down to nothing. After some post-game locker
room hijinks, Jack went with his wife, Darlene, to visit
Steve at his nearby laboratory, where Steve told him
about his newest breakthrough, the so-called Intensifier
device, which could dramatically increase a body's muscle
mass and reaction time. Theoretically speaking, of course,
though it hadn't appreciably helped him or any of his test
subjects as of yet.
Agreeing to be its most recent test subject the next day,
Jack left with Darlene and spent some time with her in
New York's Central Park. There, the two discussed Jack's
experimental Intensifier, as well as the potential health
risks involved. As they left the park, though, Jack and
Darlene bore witness to the so-called White Event as it
affected the earth, and the curious energies deeply
affected Jack. Finding himself disoriented by the energy
display, Jack made his way home with Darlene, though he
felt fine by morning, when he returned to Steve's
laboratory to participate in his Intensifier experiments.
Something went wrong with this particular use of the
Intensifier, however, as when it was activated, it crackled
with unanticipated energy, and zapped Jack Magniconte
something good. By the time Steve and Darlene removed
3
Jack from the Intensifier, they saw that his hair had
turned white, and he had swelled with dramatically
increased muscle mass. Though he claimed he was mostly
fine, Jack wound up feeling sick all night, and upon the
dawn of the next day, he went for a simple jog through
Central Park to clear his head and, hopefully, to feel
better for the exertion. Things didn't go smoothly,
however, as several joyriding punks drove their car onto
the jogging path that Jack was using and splashed him
with a nearby puddle of standing water as they passed
him. Enraged, Jack ran after the car, and found that he
could keep up with it - even though it was going over forty
miles per hour! Furthermore, when he grabbed the car's
bumper, he pulled it off!! Returning to Steve's lab, Jack
had his brother run more tests on him, though the
scientist couldn't determine exactly what had happened
during his experiment. Nonetheless, Jack found that he
had indeed attained apparently superhuman strength,
and he wasn't too concerned about how he got it... he
was just thrilled that he had, indeed, gained an
exceptional edge in his football career. When Jack left for
the day, however, we find that Steve is in serious debt
with one Mr. Sloan, a money lender of ill repute. He asks
Steve about the money he owes him, though he doesn't
put any pressure on the man yet; after all, Sloan saw
Steve as an investment, what with him being the brother
of one of the best quarterbacks in the league. A wise
choice, especially given how things were about to change.
You see, that Sunday, Jack found out exactly how
advantageous his newfound strength and speed were,
even though he hospitalized his pal Dasher with an

exceptionally hard throw - one that cracked his ribs! Over
the next couple of weeks, Jack continued to use his 'edge'
to help the Smashers gain dominance over every team
they faced, making him and his pals ideal for pricey
product endorsements and such. Over time, though, Jack
4
grew bored with the whole thing, as
he'd lost the challenge he felt when
he was simply a regular football
player, and it started to show.
Furthermore, Mr. Sloan was starting
to lean on Steve more, trying to get
him to convince Jack to maintain a
specific point spread in the Super
Bowl - since the Smashers had made
it there thanks to Jack and his secret
'edge'. Steve wouldn't do it,
however, and when Jack and the
Smashers bowled over their
opposition, Sloan's men came to pay
Steve back for his lack of results -
inadvertently shooting him fatally in
the process. Arriving at just that time
to visit his brother, Jack saw Sloan
and his goons standing over Steve,
and he went totally berserk, trashing
the criminals up but good - though it
didn't help to bring Steve back.
Confiding in his wife and three good
friends from the Smashers, Jack
explained what had happened, and
tried to reproduce the effects of the
Intensifier on them, but to no avail.
Nonetheless, Jack had decided that
he wanted to use his newfound
powers for more than just scoring
touchdowns, and as such, he
intended to help people in need - by
founding a paranormal investigation
firm! Liking the idea, Jack's pals (and
his wife) signed up for the long haul,
christening themselves Kickers, Inc.!
Issue 2: The Robot in my Rose
Garden!
This mystery begins as the members
of Kickers, Inc. appear on the Tonight
Show, with Johnny Carson, to plug
their new group. As they do this, one Mrs. Mirano is
watching the show, but is interrupted by... something
that's prowling around her neighborhood, terrorizing
everybody within. That next day, as the various Kickers
return to their headquarters - formerly Steve's building -
she calls them. Traveling to her home in the Bronx that
next day, the Kickers listen to her story in person (her call
had been handled by the legion of telemarketers the
Kickers had hired to weed out more... mundane
problems). Checking out her back yard, they found odd
tracks there, tracks that drove right over Mrs. Mirano's
fence, though Suicide found something more... realistic
than the robot Mrs. Mirano claimed to have seen. Sharing
his find with Brick Wall, Suicide explained that he'd found
some sort of gang emblem, and while Jack and Dasher
went to talk to the police, they started asking questions.
The gang emblem, a sort of fist patch, didn't seem to
inspire anybody to talk, though they did get someone's
attention. Several someones, in fact, all of which were
rivals of these 'Fists', the Broken Skulls! Suicide and Brick
Wall talked to the punks, and managed to avoid getting
hurt in the process, convincing them that the Kickers
aren't cops, and definitely aren't out to 'move in' on their
territory. With that, they left in peace, continuing their
search for these 'Fists'. Soon after, a street informant got
a hold of that same group, and told their leader, Fist (go
figure), what was going on.
5
Sounding in conversation as though they were a part of
some... international conspiracy, Fist and his cohorts
discussed the situation, and vowed to make the Broken
Skulls pay for their interference in Fist's plot (whatever it
may be). That night, the Broken Skulls' hangout was
attacked... by something big and metal! Worse than that,
of course, was that whatever it was, it was armed with
automatic machine guns! That night, the leader of the
Broken Skulls decided that he needed help dealing with
the Fist and his flunkies, and called Kickers, Inc., as a
result. Arriving on the scene, the team found the hangout
to be riddled with gunfire and smashed all about. Once
the 'metal creature' was mentioned, however, Jack was
overwhelmed with curiosity, and asked the Broken Skulls
to lead him to the thing. His gang took the Kickers there,
but they had to journey through a nasty sewer tunnel to
get to the Fists' headquarters. Sneaking in beforehand,
Jack and the Skulls' leader discovered a huge arsenal of
destructive weaponry, but were captured before they
could alert the authorities to the danger that they were
in. Fist and his men then started to beat on Jack and his
'friend' mercilessly. While Jack was in no real danger,
thanks to his 'edge', his companion was not so lucky, so it
was a good thing that the rest of Kickers, Inc., along with
the Broken Skulls, broke into the
Fists' base just then to rescue
their friends. In the melee,
however, Jack got himself shot
by Fist, at which point he found
out he was relatively bullet
proof, in that the man's shot
bounced right off his skin!
Seeing this, Fist called in his
heavy hardware, at which point a
large robot, moving on two large
tank treads, rolled through the
wall! Looking like an eighty’s
movie reject, the robot had a gun
for its left arm, which it used in
its assault on all the Fists'
enemies! Before it could kill
anybody, however, Jack
managed to disable the gun-arm
with a powerful punch - even if it
did hurt his hand severely. Able
to look more closely after the bullets stopped flying, the
Kickers discovered that the thing wasn't a robot, so much
as it was a curious mini-tank, and that it was occupied by
at least one pilot. Knowing this, Jack tried to disable the
vehicle further, and after leaping atop the thing, he
managed to at least get it out of the cramped quarters of
the Fists' home base - he took the fight outside! However,
Fist armed a self-destruct mechanism in the robotic mini-
tank, hoping to take all these interlopers out in one fell
swoop - he's not a very nice guy, you know. Before it went
off, however, Jack managed to disable the thing with an
electrical line, a fire hydrant, and a judicious amount of
property damage. He even managed to pull the drivers
out of the mini-tank before it, and Fist's base, self-
destructed. While Fist and his chief revolutionary cohorts
managed to escape justice, Kickers, Inc. did manage to
make a significant difference in the neighborhood -
especially since the Fists were now disbanded. Of course,
knowing that the police wouldn't buy their story, the
team beat feet before the cops could show up, though
they managed to miss a sickeningly sweet happy ending
by doing so. These things happen, though...
Issue 3: The Witches of Westchester!
This tale begins with the Master of Ceremonies, an occult
figure, holding some sort of ceremony (go figure) out in
the woods of upstate New York. He begins by condemning
one Michael Courtney for betraying the group to
outsiders. Before he can even protest properly, the
Master of Ceremonies condemns the man's soul, and
suddenly Michael falls to the ground with a scream - right
before the Kickers are discovered! Figuring they'd lost the
element of surprise, the team attacks the Master, though
he managed to escape by hitting Jack in the head with
some sort of 'magic ball', one that apparently draws forth
several demonic monsters that wanted to rend him limb
from limb. While Jack and Dasher deal with these things,
Suicide and Brick Wall chase after the fleeing Master,
though they lose him quickly in the woods. They find two
other fellows hanging around, though, and these guys
flattened poor Suicide before he knew what hit him. Of
course, they determined that Suicide wasn't with the
party they were looking for, and as such, the two thugs
split before Brick Wall could show up to help his friend;
they chased after the Master of Ceremonies together,
yeah, but Brick Wall's somewhat slower than his
6
compatriot. Collecting Suicide, Brick Wall returned to Jack
and Dasher's position, by which time the duo had dealt
with the monsters left to take care of them. Of course,
they simply faded into non-existence, instead of being
actually defeated, leaving Jack at a loss as to what he'd
actually seen. Since Dasher looked woozy, and couldn't
recall any 'monsters', Jack decided to drop it and take the
Kickers back to their building.
There, the team talks with their current client, Michael
Courtney - who apparently had recovered from the attack
that had supposedly condemned his soul. There, he retold
the story of how he got involved with a local college
coven, one that had been perverted by this Master of
Ceremonies, who tempted the group with 'real power',
and demonstrated his ability to summon monsters from...
elsewhere. This caused one of his fellow dabblers in the
occult to commit suicide, and this then caused Michael to
seek help in the matter from Kickers, Inc. More than
interested in the mystery, now, the Kickers vowed to
indeed help Michael in his plight. Of course, they had to
discuss the matter at length first, and they couldn't get
right on it as they had to do their jobs as professional
athletes first. After dealing with Coach Kirby and a rather
rough practice session, the Kickers went to Trace
University, where Michael was introduced to his
mysterious coven by one of his instructors, Professor
Jordan. The chemistry guru was less than pleased with
being asked about the whole occult mess, and threw
them out of his classroom. On their way off campus, the
Kickers were accosted by those goons from the woods.
After a bit of talking, it was determined that they weren't
out to get the Kickers after all, and once they apologized
for the misunderstanding, their boss wanted to talk to
Jack. Jack found out that the man behind the thugs was
an Italian businessman, one Mr. Cannelloni and the father
of the coven student who killed himself. He wanted Jack
to lead him to the cause of his son's death... so he could
deal with him.
Jack refused, of course, not wanting to be a party to
murder, and knowing the police would eventually deal
with the responsible party anyway. Leaving the odd lunch,
Jack rejoined the Kickers, who then journeyed to a
location provided by Mr. Cannelloni, to dig deeper into
this occult mayhem. When Jack and Brick Wall entered
the derelict building, they were gassed unconscious by
the Master of Ceremonies! When they recovered, the two
football players were bound to a sacrificial altar, and after
the Master threw 'magic powder' on the duo, Jack and
Brick Wall started seeing 'spirits' flying over their heads.
Before the Master of Ceremonies could sacrifice them,
however, Suicide and Dasher broke in to rescue their pals,
and all heck broke loose! Naturally, however, the Kickers
won this fight. After the dust settled, it was determined
that the Master of Ceremonies was none other than
Professor Jordan - who would've gotten away with it if it
weren't for these meddling football players...! However,
Jordan befuddled the Kickers with his legal mumbo
jumbo, and they left him in despair, believing that nobody
could bring the man down. All save for Jack, of course.
Seeing those two goons hovering nearby, Jack went ahead
and told them that Professor Jordan was the man that Mr.
Cannelloni wanted to 'deal with', and then left with his
compatriots - knowing that Jordan would at least meet
some kind of justice. Even if it was a justice that wasn't
necessarily morally fulfilling, ethically sound, or even
legal... but he felt that it was the best he could do at the
time...
Issue 4: Cry Vengeance!
This episode in the lives of Kickers, Inc. began several
months after the team's last escapade, right before the
Smasher's first exhibition game. Looking for his jock strap
(?), Suicide Smythe walked in on Jack, who was working
out with over a ton of dead weights, trying to exhaust
himself; you see, Jack felt that if he played tired, his 'edge'
would bring some challenge back to the game.
Questioning the common sense of this, should his 'edge'
either wear off or he suffers some serious injury in his
tired state, Suicide left Jack to his own devices. Soon after,
Jack joined him in the locker room, where Coach Kirby
had some bad things to say to the team, as coaches
typically do to psyche up their players. After that was
done with, the game was on! Playing on their home turf,
the Smashers were up against the Austin Wreckers, a
team of rather surly ball players who tried to use
intimidation to disorient their opponents. The Smashers
didn't fall for this, though they didn't account for the
team's unbridled savagery and rules-bending, and their
linebacker in particular, one 'Ugly' Mack Thornton, was a
force to be reckoned with. On a late tackle after a
Smasher touchdown, the man managed to injure one of
the Smasher's new kids, one Billy 'Hawk' Hawkins, an
injury that turned out to be a permanent one. When the
Wreckers started
laughing over this,
Jack lost his cool and
went after Thornton,
though he got
thrown out of the
game as a result. This
didn't help Jack's
mood any, either...
he was fuming.

Weeks later, Jack

was still having bad
dreams and episodes
of anger regarding
the incident, which
wasn't helped any
when, on the
practice field three
weeks later, Jack was
given a mysterious

7
message, in the form of a football burst with a bullet from
on high! He didn't figure out that that was what happened
until later, however, when he received another message
in his locker. A message from Fist himself! Jack tried to
downplay the incident when Brick Wall discovered the
little Smashers 'voodoo doll', but the man insisted the
Kickers talk about it after they left their locker room.
Heading to a rock and roll bar with Dasher Corbin and
Suicide Smythe, Jack and Brick Wall talked about the
mess, and agreed not to tell Darlene about the mess, so
she wouldn't worry. That night, Jack noticed that Dasher
was having issues of his own regarding guilt over Billy's
injuries, and with some of his usual charismatic talk, he
managed to bring the man out of his funk - if not his own.
As the Smasher's next, regular season game against the
Wreckers drew near, Jack was contemplating some
payback against 'Ugly' Thornton, though Darlene tried to
talk him out of it. Again, though, the Fist's threats were
clouding his judgment, causing him to continue his
fuming. Eventually going for a drive to clear his head, Jack
went to the Kickers, Inc. building, where he found
Thornton's file, which his secretary had acquired for him a
week or so ago. Reading it, he managed to put a face on
the life of the man he wanted to kill, which caused him to
drop his rage.
Jack still planned on getting even, though. Sending
Thornton a message that ticked him off upon his arrival in
New York City, Jack tricked the man into heading to a
nearby gym, where he demonstrated his superior
strength and ability to 'Ugly', mostly in an attempt to
scare the snot out of him - which was essentially the same
bullying tactic the Wreckers use against their own
opponents. It worked, though. That next day, during the
Smashers - Wreckers rematch, Jack was on the man like
an angry freight train, smashing him again and again until
he could take no more. Almost irrational with fear,
Thornton begged for mercy, though Jack said it wasn't
him that 'Ugly' needed to beg to, but Hawkins, who was
sitting on the sidelines in his wheelchair. Quitting the field
right after a terse apology, Thornton fled the scene, never
to play football again... and Jack didn't have to resort to
murder to achieve his goal, either... made him feel all
warm and fuzzy inside, you know. After the game, feeling
rather good about himself, Jack found that he was no
longer scared of Fist, for when the man left yet another
8
calling card, Jack simply shrugged it off. Having dealt with
their football duties for the time being, the Kickers were
ready to take on some more oddball, paranormal
mysteries... paranormal being the operative word, for
three days later, the Kickers, Inc. telemarketers received a
curious call from a small child in Wisconsin, who claimed
that his mother had been missing ever since she was
checked in to a 'special' hospital...
Issue 5: Freaks are for Fighting!
After an action-packed splash page, we join Darlene 'Doll'
Magniconte as she manages affairs in the Kickers, Inc. call
center, going through various calls the facility had
received. Most of them seemed rather mundane, save for
several U.F.O. sightings near Pittsburgh (possibly due to
Ken Connell's activities), though before Darlene could
make any decisions, she was nabbed by Jack! Giving her a
big bear hug, he was quickly admonished for manhandling
her in the office, and after apologizing, the two got to
talking in Jack's exercise room. There, Darlene told Jack
about the call the center received last issue, and how
much she wanted to help the little boy. Of course,
without receiving a call from one of the kid's parents,
there wasn't much that the Kickers could do...
Meanwhile, in a Wisconsin trailer park, we find seven
rather odd paranormals going about their daily business,
mostly the makings of grilled burgers and such for lunch.
After the meal concluded, one of the paranormals,
Stephanie Harrington, described how horrid she felt
about not being able to talk to her kids, since her husband
was keeping her from doing so - he was scared of her
paranormalcy. When yet another attempt to get through
fails, this time due to the interference of her mother-in-
law, Stephanie is only encouraged by her pals after they
tell her about Kickers, Inc., a group of 'paranormal
investigators' who help people that have no one else to
turn to. After taking their call, and dealing with their
duties as New York Smashers, the Kickers made their way
to Wisconsin. Listening to the stories of the seven
displaced paranormals, the various members of Kickers,
Inc. talked about it in private later that night, and
eventually agreed on a course of action. While Darlene
talked with the ladies of the bunch, the rest of the Kickers
made their way to the Clinic that the seven paranormals
were so afraid of, and talked to the head of that place,
one Philip Nolan Voight. There, the four football players
were bamboozled by Voight's superior wit (and of course,
his assistant's psychic powers), and were made to believe
that the seven displaced paranormals they were trying to
help were highly dangerous. Remembering that Darlene
was hanging out with them, Jack blew a gasket, and after
grabbing his fellows, made for their trailer park hideout at
breakneck speeds!
Insane with worry about his wife, Jack confronted several
of the paranormals there, and when he couldn't find
Darlene amongst them, he got belligerent. This quickly
escalated the situation, and before long, the male
members of Kickers, Inc. were involved in a nasty brawl
with the displaced paranormals - a brawl which,
incidentally, they managed to lose - a lot. When Darlene
returned from a walk with the three females of the
paranormal bunch, she saw Jack in a dreadful state, and
naturally freaked out herself. Of course, Stephanie
managed to use her healing powers to put Jack back
together, though before everything between the two
groups could be ironed out, the seven displaced
paranormals bugged out, expecting Voight to send more
thugs after them. As they left, Darlene berated her
teammates for their testosterone-filled ways and vowed
that even though the Kickers lost this fight, they'd
ultimately help the kid that first got her involved in this
case. That next day, she sent the guys after Stephanie's
husband, and once they found him, Jack and the guys told
the man that he would let Stephanie talk to her kids - or
else they'd be back. Meanwhile, Darlene herself talked to
Stephanie's kids, and let them know that even though she
couldn't see them, since she was on the run from the
Clinic's goons, she still loved them and all that. She also
reassured them that their mother could now talk to them
on the phone, since her teammates had dealt with their
dad, and that everything would be fine from there on out.
It was almost a happy ending...
9
Untold Tales of the New Universe: Kickers, Inc.
Kickin' It in Hell
We begin our tale in Hell itself, watching Jack Magniconte
and friends during their potentially eternal torments. But
how did our heroes get in this predicament, you ask?
Pazuzu and Balkenzarik, our diabolical announcers at the
Infernal Stadium, relay the origins of Kickers, Inc.'s woe. It
all began when the team was summoned to help a young
girl who claimed her sister fell into a portal whilst
practicing witchcraft. Promising to rescue the girl's
wayward sister, the team leapt through the portal, only to
find it much more intense than described. At that point,
Professor Jordan began to gloat at them from the other
side of the dimensional doorway, standing alongside the
girl who they came to help in the first place. Realizing it
was a trap, the team tried to get back... only to be split up
by Hell's machinations. Jack was faced with his wife, Doll,
who seemed to be tempted away by a non-super-
powered version of himself. Brick Wall was tempted by
lustful delights until one of his new 'friends' turned out to
be his mother. Dasher and Suicide were horribly merged
into a singular entity. It looked bad for the team, at least
until Jack's dead coach came to him and gave him a pep
talk to help him get over his Hell-inflicted funk.
Rallied, Jack snapped Brick Wall out of his terror by
knocking out his apparent mother - though it was only a
demon impersonator. Once he was squared away, the
two split up to collect the others, with Jack pulling his wife
out of a make-out session with a demonic doppelganger
of himself, and Brick Wall collecting Dasher and Suicide -
though this was easy, since they were (literally) in the
same place. Facing down the guardian keeping them out
of the doorway home, Jack charged through its body,
burrowing a horrible hole through Sephelchuris Krosk,
allowing Mr. Magnificent and his friends to make it back
to the earthly plane. Enraged, the team pitched Professor
Jordan and his strange accomplice through the portal,
causing them to face down the same threats that they squabble about Jack's continual excuses about his lack of
were forced to endure only moments ago. As the two control regarding his powers, and other sundry items.
villains cried for help and/or mercy in the distance, the
five members of Kickers, Inc. tried to recover from their Heck, once they were moving again, the two even
ordeal. Dasher and Suicide were luckily returned to their quibbled about directions to the airport! Meanwhile, we
usual, individual selves (though their 'break up' caused cut to the rest of the Smashers, as they prepare for their
them both to be ill), and the rest ruminated on the game in Washington D.C. There, as the other three
horrors they'd seen in that realm of torment. Meanwhile, members of Kickers, Inc. wonder what happened to Jack,
the two diabolical announcers implied that things would we find that Coach Kirby is rapidly working to push Bobby
go badly for the team soon... Note: this nine-page story 'Bullet' Baker in as his replacement - at least for this
was a sequel of sorts to issue 3, wherein Professor Jordan game. Back in New York, we see that Jack has run out of
strikes again to gain vengeance upon those meddling gas, since he was sure he knew how to get to the airport
football players in Kickers, Inc. Where precisely it takes and wound up getting lost.
place in the Kickers, Inc. chronology is somewhat up for After more arguing, he ran to
grabs. You see, it must occur after issue 3 (of course), but the nearest gas station - a
before issue 9, as it refers to Jack being the quarterback of good six miles - and picked up
the Smashers - and he got canned in issue 9. The folks enough to get himself and
currently responsible for the Official Handbook of the Darlene moving again - with
Marvel Universe have placed this tale after issue 5 of the his impressive speed, it was
regular series, and after a thorough read-through of it and easy. Once they got going,
all twelve issues of Kickers, Inc., nothing stands out as they even got a police escort
contradicting this (as was the case with the Untold Psi- to the airport - even if this
Force tale). As such, we'll be placing it at this point in was totally unnecessary.
continuity as well. During football practice in
Washington, as they got
Issue 6: Out of the Blue ready for the game, the
After a nice splash page with Coach Kirby, we see him quarterback directly behind
whining to the owner of the Smashers about Jack Jack in the team lineup
Magniconte's recent performance and Kickers, Inc. wound up breaking his
moonlighting. After being talked down by her, one thumb. This, of course, meant
Christie Chase, Kirby finds out that there's apparently that Baker would have to
some special deal involved with Jack about to come down, start up as team quarterback
which settles the matter for him - at least for the time after all, as Kirby wanted. This
being, at any rate. Once he stalks out of her office, we cut all took place as the team still
to Jack and his wife, Darlene, as they return from a false hoped that Jack would make
alarm that Darlene talked him into checking out with her. it to Washington in time to
Of course, things aren't all good between the two, as play in the game. As Jack and
they're arguing about the results of their trip, which has Darlene got in their plane,
caused Jack to be somewhat late for his plane ride to the they tried to make up, but
next Smashers game, to take place in Washington. were assailed by one Sally
Suddenly, as they're sniping at each other, their left Rothman, a little girl who just
passenger side tire blows, and in an effort to grab the loved Jack on television. To
wheel, Jack accidentally smacks Darlene upside the head try and get rid of her at least
in the process. As she put herself back together, and while for a little bit, Jack gave her
she helped Jack change the tire, the two continued to his jersey, though this just
made her latch onto the

10
couple even more. Soon enough, to get her out of his hair,
Jack arranged to have her see the cockpit.
Shortly after he got her up front, however, one of the
flight attendants went nuts and decided to hijack the
plane. After announcing a new destination for the plane,
she shot at a large woman who was playing her music too
loud and shattered a window, thus causing the plane to
lose cabin pressure altogether. In the mayhem that
ensued, Darlene tried to stop Sally, the flight attendant.
This almost got her killed, though when the co-pilot came
to check out what was happening, Susie shot him, instead.
With the cockpit door open, Susie made her way in, taking
Sally and everyone else inside hostage. When Susie
decided to shoot the kid, Jack had to act, even though it
meant he might expose his 'edge', and accidentally killed
her when she fired her gun. The bullet bounced off him,
see, and into her. Once the plane landed, Jack explained
what happened - sort of - to the feds, though he was
detained unnecessarily by a bad cop who'd bet fifty bucks
on the Washington Centurions, and wanted to delay the
man as long as he could. Once in the stadium, Jack took
his normal place, but not having worked out before the
game, he had too much energy. Still functioning at peak
strength levels, he wound up doing more harm than good
to the team, and by the time he finally got his act
together, the game was over. So, even though he saved a
plane full of people, he couldn't win one of the Smashers'
most important games. However, this was the least of his
worries, as a man working for the CIA saw that things
didn't add up regarding this incident. At least, as far as
Jack's story went. So, he started digging...
Issue 7: Clowntime is Over
Our tale begins with a bum on the run, fleeing from the
scene of a horrible crime. Of course, it was not him that
committed the crime, but instead a feral, animal-like
young woman... and she knew that she'd been seen in the
act! However, our wino friend did indeed make it to the
police before she could get to him, too, and told them
everything he'd seen. Not that they believed him, of
course. Since the local cops weren't helpful, the wino
went to call the President for help, but when he saw an ad
for Kickers, Inc. in the phone book, he decided to call
them instead... Meanwhile, during their quarter-final
season game, the football-playing Kickers are discussing
11
Jack's 'edge', and how it seems to have caused more
trouble than it was worth lately. They were interrupted by
Coach Kirby, however. Getting back out on the field, the
Smashers then trounced upon their current opponents,
the L.A. Runners. Soon after, feeling like celebrating,
Suicide tried to get his fellows to go celebrate with him,
since he managed to score the winning touchdown, but
nobody was feeling up to it. So, he wandered off on his
own, and wound up at the Kickers headquarters, where
he ran into Darlene and her new secretary. Since he was
bored, he decided to investigate a mystery call the team
had received, from some guy in Jersey about a bizarre
murder at a circus. Showing up as the place was packing it
up in preparation for a move, he found the wino who
called Kickers, Inc. earlier, and listened to the man's story.
Playing along, Suicide patronized the man until he found
the corpse of an exceptionally large woman packed in a
box. After calling the cops, Suicide was waylaid by She-
Man, one of the circus' resident freaks, who beaned him
upside the head with a baseball bat. S/he managed to
hide the unconscious Kicker when the cops arrived to
investigate his call, though they didn't find the body that
Suicide did; you see, they fed the impressively large
corpse to Whitemane, an albino lion belonging to the
circus.
However, all was not lost, as one of the policemen
investigating Suicide's call tried to get ahold of him via the
Kickers' 1-800 number, and when they determined
something was amiss, the rest of the Kickers assembled to
find their pal. Arriving on the circus scene as various
members of the freak show planned a museum robbery,
the Kickers found Suicide locked up in Whitemane's cage!
Of course, Idget (the show's resident short person)
injected the lion with a drug cocktail to make it extremely
violent, and since Suicide was in its cage, he was in a bad,
bad way. Trying to save their pal, the Kickers fought their
way through Idget, She-Man the half-man / half-woman
blade master, Nip and Tuck the trapeze twins, Felina the
cat-lady, and Senor Leon the lion tamer to free him. After
his pals got trounced, Idget threw the keys to the cage
into the cage, so Jack had to reveal his powers yet again in
order to get in there and save Suicide, though he
accidentally killed Whitemane in the process. After this,
the Kickers got the cops back there so they could arrest
these goons, they went home, though Jack was feeling
bad about killing that lion. Still pining about his lack of into the owner's office, in order to badger him about his
control, Jack totally exhausted himself over the next talks with the football commissioner. Kirby went into a
couple of days, so his edge wouldn't cause him to injure bizarre, patriotic ramble about moms, apple pies, and
anybody else while on the field. So, once their final team responsibilities, while the owner, Christine Chase,
season game was on, that being the Smashers vs. the griped at him about how the doctor who tested Jack
Chicago Comets, Jack didn't hurt any of his teammates, or earlier wanted to see her right away.
seriously screw up any plays thanks to his super strength -
though he did hurt one of the Comets. Jack didn't realize Going into her office with the owner and Coach Kirby, Jack
this until after the game, however, and when he found found out that the tests he took showed extremely high
out, he was despondent with grief. As such, he decided levels of 'pseudo steroids' in his blood, most likely a by-
that he wanted to make sure that he didn't hurt anybody product of his paranormal powers, and that the story of
else when playing football, so that night, he chose to go 'Ugly' Mack Thornton - who was there also - added
talk to the NFL football commissioner about his 'edge' to evidence of irregularities, irregularities which could be
some extent; he didn't tell him about his superpowers, so solved by a second round of tests - tests Jack refused. He
much as his brother's 'intensifier' treatments... felt he was being railroaded, as did Coach Kirby. However,
he had made up his mind, and decided that he wasn't
Issue 8: All or Nothing going to play in the Super Bowl after all, much to the
Wanting to make sure there were no illegal substances in chagrin of his teammates - and Darlene, too. In fact, Jack
his bloodstream in the face of his revelation to the practically vanished off the face of the earth over the next
football commissioner, the league had Jack go through a week, and when the Smashers played the Wreckers,
battery of tests to make sure he wasn't on steroids (or nobody could find Jack anywhere. He was watching the
crack or some such). While a league doctor took blood game from the stands, you see, in disguise; nobody
and urine samples, the rest of the Kickers were having a seemed to notice that he was there, in fact, save for one
much better time, doing commercials for Kickers, Inc. Of Scott Templar, that CIA fellow who'd been looking into
course, while they were making commercials for their the weirdness surrounding Jack's story on that hijacked
non-profit organization, the pro ball players were making
serious charitable contributions of their own, mostly to a
group that worked for disabled children - a bunch of
which were there to meet the Smashers. As the Wreckers
finished up their own television spots (they'd be playing
the Smashers there in the Super Bowl), Jack finally
showed up. After meeting the kids present, including Sally
Rothman (who was apparently disabled as well), Jack told
Darlene what he was up to that day, which only ticked her
off even more. This, of course, was because she'd been
telling Jack he needed to do something about his lack of
control with his powers - not pass the buck on to others,
like the football commission. Their discussion escalated
into an argument, and by the time they got to their hotel
room, Jack wound up smashing some hotel furniture in
anger after more shouting... proving Darlene's point more
than anything she could say herself. Thinking her right,
Jack went to think things out, though he didn't come up
with any magical epiphany by the time the next Smashers
practice session was due. While the team worked out
their strategies for the game, Coach Kirby dragged Jack

12
plane - and the rest of his life, as of late. Needless to say,
though, without Jack in the game, the Smashers lost the
Bowl to the Wreckers. In the fallout of the loss, Coach
Kirby went ballistic, cussing up a storm at everybody in
the locker room, even Darlene when she came looking for
Jack. Of course, Jack wasn't there, as he decided to go
through with that doctor's second round of tests after all.
The bad part about that, though, was that the man
seemed to be rather... happy to check Jack out... doing so
with an almost sinister look in his eye...
Issue 9: May the Best Sport Win
This episode in the lives of Kickers, Inc. begins with the
team looking over various Kickers investment
opportunities - all of which happen to be shameless
scams. Discarding the lot of them, the team is stunned to
get a singing telegram from the owner of the Smashers,
one Christine Chase, who is holding something of a press
conference about the future of the team. Of course, being
obsessed with her high society lifestyle, Christie, or C.C. as
she likes to be called, doesn't bother to be on time for the
thing; instead, she settles in for a tennis game against her
best friend, and betting on the outcome with her,
manages to win a cool $50,000. However, she receives a
subpoena soon thereafter, one sent because she hadn't
paid off her extreme gambling debts yet. Meanwhile,
having waited over a half hour for the lady to show up,
the Smashers find that the reporters waiting for C.C. to
show up have gotten rather uppity, with one Arnie Beaker
being particularly acidic. After throwing several nasty
questions at Jack regarding his 'drug problem', Brick Wall
prepared to throw Beaker out of the conference, but C.C.
showed up at just that time. She then announced that she
was selling the Smashers to a group of Los Angeles
investors, who planned on moving the team out west.
This caused quite a ruckus from the assembled press in
the room, though C.C. blew them off like they were
beneath her, being so obsessed with her 'blue blood'
status and the like. She then left abruptly, leaving
everyone in the room stunned by her news. That next
week, at a banquet honoring the owners of various
football teams, a crazed Smashers fan tried to kill C.C.
with a old, rusty looking knife for her plans to sell the
team, though Jack, having been invited as the Smashers'
star quarterback, managed to save her life. When C.C.
13
asked what she could do to thank him, Jack simply asked
her to explain why she was selling the team off.
She then invited him to her home the next day, so she
could do so. Though he was suspicious about her aims,
Jack nonetheless showed up, only to find out that she was
selling the Smashers to settle her excessive gambling
debts. That, of course, was when C.C.'s gigolo, Len
Dawson, offered a wager between Jack and C.C. to
determine the ultimate fate of the Smashers - a wager
over a tennis game! Jack didn't like the idea, as he'd never
played tennis before, but if he won, C.C. would keep the
Smashers where they are. He grew to further dislike this
idea when, after C.C. left, Len told Jack that he'd lose his
job if he didn't throw the game. However, Jack decided
that he owed the fans this victory, even if it cost him his
job - his very career, even! As such, Jack agreed to the
wager. As such, when the game was on, on cable
television no less, Jack gave the game his all, having been
practicing with Darlene over the last week. Though he was
far less skilled than C.C. in tennis, his 'edge' more than
made up for the difference in training, and giving the
game his all, Jack managed to royally trounce the blue-
blood snob at her own game, humiliating her on national
television. Of course, after ditching Len for offering the
silly idea, C.C. then fired Jack from the Smashers once he
left the stadium where the tennis game took place. She'd
decided to get even with the man no matter what it took,
you see, and was planning on ruining his life. She even
pulled up to his house in her limo to watch his face upon
reading that 'you're fired' telegram... she's that nasty...
Issue 10: Deadly Force
After an experimental F-20 aircraft crashes in the waters
of San Leandro, a small Caribbean isle, the CIA has to act
fast in order to find the craft before it can be salvaged
by... unfriendly nations. However, they need to do so in a
way that keeps their hands clean, and in a way that won't
waste any of their highly trained operatives. As such, they
decided to use Kickers, Inc. to do their dirty work. As such,
after they concoct a story about the pilots of the plane
being simple importers of Caribbean folk-art items, they
have one of the pilots’ wives - one Barbara Diaz - play
along in order to get the Kickers to help them out. Falling
for the story, as well as the weeping wife of one of the
missing pilots, the Kickers decide to help the lady out,

even if it means they have to go into a hostile foreign
nation to do so. Of course, knowing how dangerous it
would be, Jack told the rest of the team he was going
alone - he was the only one with superpowers, after all.
The other Kickers wouldn't have any of that, however,
and insisted on going along. Jack saw how things were
going, so he agreed to let them come, though he made
them promise to stay on the airplane for the duration of
the trip. That went over swimmingly, as well.
So, knowing that they were going into exceptionally
dangerous action, and that they weren't going to keep
that promise to Jack about staying on the plane, the non-
paranormal Kickers put on Kevlar vests under their team
uniforms. On top of that, they acquired special stun rods
for use on the island - they weren't about killing folks,
after all, so they wanted a non-lethal means to take down
14
any would-be foes. All except for
Suicide, of course, who didn't trust
the 'wimpy' devices, and used his
underworld contacts to acquire a
fully loaded Uzi 9mm hand cannon.
He didn't tell the others about this
weapon, though, and snuck it on to
the plane to San Leandro.
Regardless, after the Kickers' plane
got to the small island, Jack hopped
off and quickly managed to locate
the missing pilots. When their
interrogators were out of the room,
Jack broke through the barred
windows with his enhanced
strength, collected the airmen, and
split. Once it was discovered that
their prisoners were gone,
however, the military men in charge
of their captivity went looking for
them - and it just happened that
the other Kickers landed on the
beaches of San Leandro at that
exact point in time. Within minutes,
the team had been captured, with
Suicide taking several shots in the
process; luckily, his Kevlar vest
saved his life, even if it did smash
up his ribs. Shortly thereafter, Jack
realized that his well-meaning
teammates had been caught, and devised a plan to rescue
them. Breaking into the small military camp's medicine
cabinet, he took a lot of tranquilizers and put them in the
water supply.
Most of the men on the base fell victim to his ploy,
making it much easier for Jack to break in and save his
pals. He did so easily enough, though ultimately escaping
their foes meant Jack had to fire at the men - when he
did, with a stolen gun, he only shot at their legs. However,
he still felt rotten about the whole deal, even if he did
manage to save the rest of Kickers, Inc. from an ugly
demise. Matters got worse when, after the team started
for their plane, they were assaulted by a boat full of San
Leandro men. Seeing Darlene in mortal peril, especially
after the locals shot their own pilot, Jack opened fire on
the guys, filling them and their boat full of lead. This
especially mortified the man, though he got his act
together enough to get moving and get those rescued
pilots on his own craft. They started to take off, but
another boat showed up to menace the Americans.
However, the Kickers and their rescued pilots - who
wound up saving their own bacon in turn - made it to
safety at last... though not before Jack spied the crashed
F-20 plane in the bay below him. That was when the man
put two and two together at last... and he was less than
thrilled about the whole thing. Later, after being
debriefed at the Pentagon, Jack was forced to reveal the
location of the plane to the CIA, even if he was rather
unhappy about it, what with his being used to locate the
thing and all. However, Jack made it clear that he wasn't
amused, and that he and the Kickers wouldn't put up with
such trickery in the future. Little did he know, though,
that other CIA folks were looking into his life...
Issue 11: In ? We Trust
This tale begins with Jack throwing an angry game of darts
at home, with Darlene trying to talk to him about the
disastrous events of last issue. Jack was too mad to think
about it, though, and didn't want to talk about it. In fact,
he's so adamant about it that Darlene had to hop right in
front of his field of vision, which almost got her a dart in
the head for her troubles. This just made Jack angrier,
though. After he stalked off in a huff, we cut to the
Kickers, Inc. headquarters, where we find one Benigno
Feliciano, the new janitor, who seems to be rather jumpy
when he's spotted by Brick Wall in Jack's office. It seems
that he was just dropping off a ball for Jack, a gift from his
son, but Brick Wall thought his sudden jumpiness - as
compared to his usual behavior - was kind of odd. This
feeling of wrongness was amplified when Benigno freaked
out upon discovering that Brick Wall'd signed a supply
invoice for the company he worked for, Saniserve.
Thinking a mystery to be afoot, he started following the
man, though from a discreet distance, and was present
when Benigno accidentally ran over Suicide, who was still
nursing his wounds from San Leandro, with his trash cart.
In the wreckage that ensued, several packages of cocaine
were splayed about the floor, packages that Brick Wall
discovered as Benigno helped Suicide deal with his
suddenly amplified chest pains. Thinking it time for a
15
serious talk, Brick Wall dragged Benigno (and Suicide once
he could walk again) into his office. There, he heard
Benigno explain why he was doing this dark deed. You
see, he had been forced to flee, with his family, from his
country as it fell to disrepair at the hands of a vile
dictator. Making his way to America on a ship of ill repute,
he and his family were then forced into virtual slavery at
the hands of the guys who brought him here. Benigno's
specific job was to transport drugs for the thugs holding
his family, under the guise of their Saniserve cover
company. Vowing to end this now, Brick Wall and Suicide
told Benigno they'd free his family that night and called
Jack to let him in on the plan. They only got Darlene,
however, who went along with the plan, and left for the
Kickers, Inc. Building right away. The problem was that
the duo had to allow the scheduled pickup of the cocaine
to proceed as planned, so the thugs holding Benigno's
family wouldn't know what was up. As this occurred, Jack
showed up at the building, and Brick Wall tried to explain
the situation. This just set Jack off, who was having
problems trusting anybody lately, and he went berserk.
Brick Wall and Suicide tried to stop him, but he flattened
his pals in the process, and then locked them in an office
while he went after the guy in the garbage truck who was
picking up the coke.
He tried to catch the guy, but he drove off too fast.
However, Jack did manage to pull up a cement abutment
and disable the truck by throwing the thing into its tire.
This, though, caused the thing to careen out of control,
and it almost hit a minivan full of people. Seeing this as
she arrived on the scene, Darlene used her own vehicle to
deflect the garbage truck from the van, jumping out at the
last minute. Before Jack could catch her or the others,
who'd since got out of the office Jack locked them in, the
police showed up to question him. Seeing his wife and
friends drive off with a man he felt was going to set them
up, Jack then ran after, leaving the cops in a daze. He lost
them in traffic, however, and the two football players
went to Benigno's apartment to grab his family before the
goons got to them. They got there at the same time as
Manny 'the Boss' Scampetti, though, him being the low
life that was running that immigrant slavery operation.
Brick Wall and Suicide tried to fight their way out, but
they only took out half of the goons on them before they
were in turn beaten. Luckily, though, they were saved by
Jack at the last minute, who was finally brought around by
a desperate speech by Darlene. In the end, these four
Kickers managed to bring down Scampetti's ring of
unspeakable crime, and at the same time made the lives
of a whole lot of people much better. Furthermore, the
bizarre rent in their friendships that had occurred as a
result of their previous mission seemed to have been
repaired, leaving Kickers, Inc. ready for action once again -
having reaffirmed their mission to help others in need!
Issue 12: Watch Your Step
The final Kickers, Inc. issue begins with the team at
Runyans, a bar in Manhattan, where they've managed to
get into a fight with an entire Canadian hockey team!
They brawl for a good ten minutes, by which time the
cops show up to drag everybody involved into custody -
including Jack and his compatriots! It takes a good long
while, of course, but the police manage to bring
everybody downtown. Of course, as the Kickers are
processed by the Man, we find that one of the patrons of
the bar was busy taking rather detailed photographs of
Jack's activities in the bar, and did so for Scott Templar, a
CIA operative that had been looking into Jack's... special
abilities for quite a while. Of course, he wasn't done with
his photographer, Meyers, who he had go to where Jack
was being held. Once Darlene showed up to bail the rest
of the Kickers out of jail, Meyers waited for tempers to
flare again between the Smashers and their Canadian
counterparts, the Icecutters, who had choice things to say
about Jack since he was fired from the team. When the
atmosphere was correct, he suggested a relay race
between the two teams, for charity, to prove who was
best once and for all.
Mounting media pressure and their own, personal
vendettas caused both teams to sign up for this, and soon
enough, Kickers, Inc. showed up in Alberta to run this
race, one that trekked through the wilds of that Canadian
province. The race started after more bickering between
the two groups of pro sports players, with Dasher going
against Iggy, one of many obnoxious hockey players out
to get the team. He took a route alternate to Iggy's, one
that was slightly longer but not quite uphill, though he
found that the bridge he needed to use had been
sabotaged. Using quite a bit of innovation, he managed to
get across the river before him, and made it to the first
16
check point before his opponent - though he showed up
covered in muck and river ooze as he handed the race
over to Brick Wall. Taking Dasher's advice, Brick Wall took
the alternate route on his leg as well, though he found it
similarly blocked to his progress. However, he smashed
his way through the various barriers before him and made
it to his own checkpoint only seconds after his opponent -
who wasn't quite as exhausted, since he'd actually
followed the path Brick Wall cleared on his way there! He
handed off to Suicide, who again took the alternate,
'scenic' route on the race, but was caught in an avalanche
that he could've sworn was triggered by somebody on top
of the rocky hill where it came from. The rockslide caused
him to fall into a ravine somewhat, but he refused to
climb down and lose time on this race; he's too stubborn
for that, so he climbed back out the hard way, and beat
his opponent.
Handing off to Jack before his opponent made it to the
final checkpoint, Suicide gave Jack a significant lead, and
that, with his 'edge', should've made winning the race a
cinch. However, on his way to the finish line, Jack saw
several bright lights moving in the sky above him. That,
and the large, simian footprints he saw in the track before
him, caused him to wander off the trail in search of
answers. Soon enough, he ran into that 'reporter',
Meyers, being abducted by silly green aliens, and dragged
into a cabin that rested under a swarm of U.F.O.s.
Breaking into the place to save Meyers, Jack found
himself face to face with a bigfoot-like monstrosity and
tried to clobber it. It was insubstantial, however, and
disappeared as soon as the cabin caught on fire. When it
did, Jack leapt for safety out the back door. Overwhelmed
by the sheer amount of weirdness he'd uncovered, Jack
raced to the finish line to collect his fellow Kickers, though
the race was already over by that time. Blabbering on
about all the stuff he'd found, Jack didn't manage to
convince the team of anything, and when they went to
check the place out the very next morning, the Kickers
only found a burnt-out cabin. No aliens. No bigfoot. No
Meyers. They then left to go home at that point, feeling
frustrated with Jack for ruining things for them yet again,
and also believing firmly that he'd ate something
containing lots and lots of hallucinogens. Jack didn't get it,
however, and followed behind in a stupor, barely missing
Meyers and Templar exiting a small bolt hole in the
basement of the former cabin, film in hand...
Post-Series Summary
A few months after the events portrayed in the last issue
of Kickers, Inc., we find that Scott Templar finally decided
to make his move and tried to recruit Jack Magniconte
into the CIA He failed to do so, however, in that Jack
decided to dodge the CIA by joining up with the Army - a
move he figured would have to save him, what with there
being a Draft going on in the wake of the Pitt disaster.
Naturally, this put a dent in the operations of Kickers, Inc.,
what with Jack being their principal paranormal muscle.
However, since folks with weirdo powers were coming
out of the woodwork these days, the team would
definitely have enough business to go around. In fact,
they'd have enough to keep themselves busy - and in the
money - while Jack was with the Army. The Army was
more than glad to have him, what with his previous
military experience as a reservist, and of course his
paranormal powers. The Army spent several months
training him in the proper use of his powers, making him
much more than a bumbling, super-strong idiot. In fact,
their martial arts training made him like unto a living
weapon, one they christened the All-American. He was to
serve not just as a leader of the Army's Paranormal
Platoon, you see, but as an example of a patriotic
American serving his country with pride. Unlike all other
paranormals drafted of late, he was given a special,
almost comic book-like uniform with which to serve as the
Platoon's leader. He filled this role until Major Kathy
Blizzard was brought into the program as team leader.
Jack would still be the field commander, though, and was
forced by Blizzard to don a 'standard' Army uniform, not
that Captain America inspired tripe. Once he did so, Jack
and the rest of the Paranormal Platoon were put into
action, as the government believed that they had
identified the paranormal who created the Pitt, a
madman in Africa who demonstrated startling powers on
a video tape. And, of course, claimed responsibility for the
17
Pitt devastation. As such, the Platoon was sent to Angola
to wreck the place up and find this guy, though they
quickly discovered that the whole deal was a hoax that
various racist South Africans perpetrated in order to
disguise their use of nuclear weapons against their ethnic
neighbors... that's right, they were really unpleasant
people. Jack and company then acted to stop this plot,
though it was discovered (after their use) that nuclear
weapons worldwide had been somehow rendered inert,
and as the engines of war rolled across the earth, the
Starchild appeared to end all these armed conflicts once
and for all. This was a good thing for Jack and his Platoon,
as it covered their escape from Angola as things went
truly bad for them.
After he got back home, Jack continued to serve with the
Paranormal Platoon for years, on the request of President
Voight, though he eventually reverted to his role as the
All-American, being a patriotic hero for a country that
needed him. He did so up to the point where he was
recruited by Nightmask to save the world from a
nefarious invasion from a parallel earth! This invasion,
perpetrated by the evil Starblasters, intended to get ahold
of the nigh-invincible power of the Star Brand, and woe
be anybody that got in their way. Banding together with
about a dozen other heroes from his world, Jack fought
these aliens on their own ship, which turned out to be the
techno-organic entity known as Skeletron - and were
ultimately beaten by heroes from the Starblaster's
timeline. They'd mistakenly identified these folks from
Jack's world as minions of Skeletron. This battle turned
when Skeletron fought with the enigmatic Stranger,
however, a fight that ended when Jack's world pulled into
Skeletron's timeline, and Skeletron was in turn stranded
in the now virtually empty timeline where his world once
rested. Their world was then sealed off from the rest of
this new (to them) universe. Jack's fate since then, as well
as that of the other Kickers, has yet to be revealed.
 Kickers Inc.
After he manifests impressive physical abilities,
paranormal Jack Magnicote continues to play for his
professional football team, fighting crime and ending
threats to freedom all the while - though not alone, as he
adventures with... Kickers, Inc.!

18
 Real Name: Cpt. Giovanni 'Jack' Magniconte, Ret.
Occupation: adventurer, former pro football player,
former military man
Legal Status: American citizen with a minor criminal
record
Marital Status: married
Alias(es), if any: Mr. Magnificent, the All-American, John
Magniconte
Group Affiliation: Kickers, Inc., formerly the US Army

Height: 6' 2"

Hair: white
Eyes: blue
Weight: 250 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none.

Known Powers:
Body Armor: Good (10) vs. Physical and Energy.

Lightning Speed: Good (10) ranked power, allowing him to

move four areas per turn, or at sixty miles per hour, when
running.

Talents: Guns, Leadership, Martial Arts A and B, Military,

and Football (+1CS to thrown objects, charging as well as
football trivia, and knowledge of the game.)

Contacts: In his time as a football player, military man,

and super-heroic adventurer, Jack has assembled a large
array of friends that he can rely on in any given moment
of need. Naturally, he's on good terms with his pals in
Mr. Magnificent Kickers, Inc., as well as his friends in the Army's
Paranormal Platoon. In addition to extra contacts given to
Jack Magniconte him by the military, Jack has also met (and sort of
befriended) Nightmask and some of DP7.
F: Rm (30)
A: Ex (20) Role Playing Notes:
S: Rm (35) Jack is a charismatic, high-spirited fellow that tends to
E: In (40) encourage trust and friendship in those around him.
R: Gd (10) Furthermore, since he gained his paranormal powers, he
I: Gd (10) has sought out a means by which he can truly challenge
P: Gd (10) himself - and do so responsibly. To this end, he has
pushed himself further and further into a more
Health: 125 adventurous career, one that allows him to best use his
Karma: 30 abilities to help others.
Resources: In (40)
Popularity: +20

19
History:
Jack Magniconte was an up-and-coming quarterback for
the New York Smashers who was making use of a special
vitamin cocktail produced by his brother, Steve, who
makes a living selling such products to various sports
leagues. One day, after a narrow victory on the field, Jack
stopped by Steve's building with his wife, Darlene, only to
find that Steve had supposedly had a breakthrough in his
field. This breakthrough came in the form of the
Intensifier, an odd device Steve had built to increase
human muscle mass and reaction speed. Jack agreed to
let Steve try his device out on himself, so he could gain an
'edge' on the football field, though the trial wouldn't
begin until the very next day. That night, however, as he
discussed the Intensifier with Darlene, the White Event
occurred. While most folks were unaffected by the blast
of strange, brilliant energies all around them, Jack found
that the White Event had made him quite dizzy. As such,
Darlene helped him home so he could prepare for Steve's
experiment the next morning. When Steve eventually
strapped Jack into the Intensifier and activated the
machine, it exploded with strange, crackling energy,
energy that forever altered Jack!
It seems that the combination of the White Event's
energies and the Intensifier's manipulations had acted to
significantly add to Jack's muscle mass, and even changed
his hair color to bone white! Of course, that wasn't all, in
that Jack found over the next couple of days that he had
experienced a dramatic increase in strength - he could lift
ridiculous amounts of weight - and he'd become rather
resilient. Using his newfound 'edge', Jack went on to
dominate pro football with the Smashers, and his closest
friends, Beauford 'Brick Wall' Wohl, 'Suicide' Smythe, and
Dallas 'Dasher' Corbin received lots of big-money
promotional deals as a result. However, towards the end
of the season, Jack found that he no longer cared about
football, if only because his tremendous abilities removed
all the challenge from the game. As such, after his brother
Steve was accidentally killed by an irate, less than
scrupulous moneylender, Jack decided that he wanted to
use his powers responsibly, in order to actually help
people that have nowhere to turn - like his brother Steve
had apparently been. To that end, he founded Kickers,
Inc. with Darlene and his football buddies, a group that
would look into all kinds of bizarre mysteries.
20
Jack acted in this capacity for over a year, helping the
helpless deal with all kinds of inexplicable issues across
the country - and beyond. However, he was eventually
menaced by a CIA operative that had figured out what
Jack was and wanted him to join 'the Company'. Jack
refused, and after learning that the Draft had been
reinstated in the wake of the Pitt, he re-enlisted. Jack had
been a reservist before getting into pro football, you see,
and was able to enter the armed forces as an officer as a
result. Furthermore, due to his exceptional physical
abilities, he was entered into a special training program
that would give him full mastery of his powers, thus
allowing him to serve the government as a sort of
paranormal super-soldier: The All-American! Since the
Army needed a charismatic fellow to lead their forming
Paranormal Platoon, however, Jack was chosen to head
up that group before being put into patriotic action. He
led the group through its formative stages, and even
assisted his superior, Major Kathy Blizzard, in heading an
operation into Africa that caused World War Three
(though it wasn't their fault, of course).
After the war, Jack served with the Paranormal Platoon
for a time, though he eventually returned to his role as
the All-American, fighting crime and injustice for America
until he was summoned by Nightmask to help ward off an
invasion by cross-time thieves bent on stealing the Star
Brand. Jack fought with the heroes Nightmask assembled
until cosmic forces intervened in the battle. You see, the
earth itself was drawn into the timeline from which the
invaders issued forth during the fight, and after the so-
called Stranger defeated the chief villain in this scheme,
Skeletron, Jack's world was trapped there. Furthermore, it
was sealed away from the rest of this universe by the
Living Tribunal, a cosmic entity from that plane who didn't
want the Star Brand's energies to contaminate his realm.
Jack and his heroic cohorts were returned to his earth in
the process, though his current activities since this
cataclysm took place have yet to be revealed.
 Contacts: Since he's a member of Kickers, Inc., Dallas can
Dallas 'Dasher' naturally depend on his teammates for aid should he
Corbin need to; they are Jack 'Mr. Magnificent' Magniconte,
Darlene 'Doll' Magniconte, Beauford 'Brick Wall' Wohl,
and Thomas 'Suicide' Smythe. Of course, Dallas is also one
F: Gd (10)
of the New York Smashers (as are most of the Kickers), so
A: Gd (10)
he can probably rely on various members of that football
S: Ty (6)
team in a pinch, too.
E: Ex (20)
R: Gd (10)
Role Playing Notes:
I: Ty (6)
Dallas is something of a peacock, in that he's always
P: Ty (6)
fussing about his appearance one way or the other. He
wears exquisitely tailored clothes, designer colognes, and
Health: 46
thousand-dollar shoes - all to impress the ladies. This
Karma: 22
causes him to react quite negatively when something
Resources: In 40
messes with his fragile self-image, otherwise despoiling
Popularity: +5
his 'perfect' look... which makes him a perfect target for
Suicide's pranks!
Real Name: Dallas Corbin
Occupation: adventurer, pro football player
History:
Legal Status: American citizen with a minor criminal
Like his fellow Kickers, Dallas is a college graduate, though
record
the exact nature of his high-level education has yet to be
Marital Status: single
revealed. Unlike Brick Wall and Doll, who use their
Alias(es), if any: none
business and finance acumen on a daily basis for the
Group Affiliation: Kickers, Inc.
team, Dallas only seems to bring his high fashion sense to
bear on adventures. Most likely, keeping his attitude in
Height: 6' 1"
mind, he probably didn't go to college for a degree. You
Hair: black
see, Dallas seems to live for the glory he gains on the
Eyes: brown
football field, and the adulation of his many fans. As such,
Weight: 175 lbs.
he likely used his time in college for the express purpose
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Dallas tends to wear
of getting into the NFL. At any rate, he succeeded in
the classiest, yet flashiest clothing he can get his hands
getting a place on the New York Smashers due to his
on.
excellent performance on his college football team, and
as such met up with Jack 'Mr. Magnificent' Magniconte.
Known Powers:
None
Becoming good friends with the man, alongside Thomas
'Suicide' Smythe and Beauford 'Brick Wall' Wohl, Dallas
Equipment:
hooked up with those three Smashers when they,
Kevlar Uniform: Typical (6) vs. physical.
alongside Jack's wife Darlene, formed Kickers, Inc., a
paranormal investigation firm that would look into weird
Stun Baton: Excellent (20) Stunning damage upon an
problems that people can't solve for themselves. Of
opponent when Dallas strikes him or her with it.
course, Kickers, Inc. was also a vehicle for Jack to use his
powers responsibly. You see, after the White Event, Jack
Talents: Martial Arts B and Football (+1CS to thrown
became super-humanly strong and as such, needed
objects, charging as well as football trivia, and knowledge
something to do with his time besides football - the game
of the game.)
wasn't challenging after he began to outclass everybody

21
in the league. Shortly after Kickers started looking into
weird issues, Dallas did make one significant contribution
to the team - he designed the group's signature blue and
white look.
While the group resisted the idea of a uniform at first,
they all eventually came around to it, even Suicide. At any
rate, the group functioned well as a team for about a year
and a half, after which time Jack had to join the Army to
avoid a clandestine attempt by the CIA to recruit him into
their ranks. Though deprived of their primary paranormal
muscle, the remaining Kickers went on without him. Not a
quitter by any means, and enjoying the tax breaks that
Kickers, Inc. provides him, Dallas likely stuck with the
group after Jack left, and presumably remains a member
of the group to this very day. Of course, knowing the man,
he's likely done some work on the group's public image, in
that the team's look is, like, so eighties. Then again, that
just might be fashionable once more.
Darlene 'Doll'
Magniconte
Height: 5' 8"
Hair: brown
Eyes: brown, later white (if prematurely)
Weight: 105 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none
Known Powers:
None
Equipment:
Kevlar Uniform: Typical (6) vs. physical.
Stun Baton: Excellent (20) Stunning damage upon an
opponent when Darlene strikes him or her with it.
Talents: Business / Finance and Martial Arts A and B.
Contacts: As one of the five members of Kickers, Inc.,
Darlene can easily rely on her fellow investigators of the
bizarre for aid should he need it; they, of course, are Jack
'Mr. Magnificent' Magniconte, Thomas 'Suicide' Smythe,
Dallas 'Dasher' Corbin, and Beauford 'Brick Wall' Wohl.
Overseeing Kickers, Inc.'s more mundane, day to day
operations, Darlene also has several friends in the
company's support staff.

Role Playing Notes:

F: Gd (10)
Darlene is a smart and savvy businesswoman - that's why
A: Ty (6)
the rest of the Kickers needed her, after all. She takes care
S: Pr (4)
of the mundane side of the Kickers enterprise while they
E: Gd (10)
play football, and she does it well. Darlene isn't one to sit
R: Gd (10)
on the sidelines, however; she's a strong, confident
I: Gd (10)
person who isn't afraid to tell people what she thinks -
P: Gd (10)
and is willing to act on her opinions!
Health: 30
History:
Karma: 30
Darlene is a rather ordinary young businesswoman, when
Resources: Rm (30)
you get down to it, save for one exceptional fact: she's
Popularity: +5
married to the one and only Jack Magniconte! More
commonly known as Mr. Magnificent, this pro football
Real Name: Darlene Magniconte
player is a quarterback for the New York Smashers, an NFL
Occupation: adventurer, business executive
team showing serious promise. Of course, one wouldn't
Legal Status: American citizen with no criminal record
think that all too weird, since football players are people,
Marital Status: married
too. The trick, though, is that Jack developed incredible
Alias(es), if any: none
paranormal powers in the wake of the White Event,
Group Affiliation: Kickers, Inc.
powers that set him above and beyond his peers. After

22
growing tired of football, since his 'edge' was removing all
of the challenge inherent to the game, Jack decided that Thomas 'Suicide'
he wanted to use his powers to help the little guy, folks
who had oddball problems and couldn't turn to anyone Smythe
else.
F: Gd (10)
A: Gd (10)
He may have decided this after his brother was killed by
S: Ty (6)
mobsters, in a Spider-Man style epiphany, but Darlene
E: Ex (20)
was nonetheless there to help him out. She helped Jack,
R: Ty (6)
along with several of his football buddies, to form Kickers,
I: Gd (10)
Inc., a non-profit group that would go around and look
P: Ty (6)
into oddball mysteries and such. Of course, Darlene
wanted in on the action, so she joined them on their
Health: 46
investigations. While Kickers, Inc. did their thing in helping
Karma: 22
others, Darlene was also helping Jack to cope with his
Resources: In 40
newly found abilities and the dramatic effect they were
Popularity: +5
having on his life - and the lives of those around him.
Eventually, though, all good things come to an end, and
Real Name: Thomas Smythe
after the CIA found out that Jack was a paranormal, he
Occupation: adventurer, pro football player
joined the Army to avoid their clandestine clutches.
Legal Status: American citizen with a minor criminal
record
Though their main paranormal muscle was now gone,
Marital Status: single
Darlene and her fellow Kickers continued on in their
Alias(es), if any: none
mission to help others in need of assistance against the
Group Affiliation: Kickers, Inc.
bizarre, and with paranormals ever increasing in number,
they were likely to have their hands full for a very long
Height: 6'
time. As far as one can tell, Kickers, Inc. was in business at
Hair: black
least until the hectic events surrounding the War. After
Eyes: brown
that, Darlene was reunited with her husband, Jack, who
Weight: 165 lbs.
went on to serve for a time in the government's
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Thomas seems to
Paranormal Platoon before going solo as the All-
frequent the tanning booths often, as his skin tone
American. Darlene's fate, as well as that of the other
changes from light pink to a dark brown often. Also,
members of Kickers, Inc., has yet to be revealed.
Thomas wears a short, braided 'tail' in his hair.
However, since her world was destined to suffer
increasingly strange occurrences, it's likely that Darlene is
Known Powers:
still one of the Kickers!
None

Equipment:
Kevlar Uniform: Typical (6) protection from physical
attacks.

Stun Baton: Excellent (20) Stunning damage upon an

opponent when Thomas strikes him or her with it.

23
Uzi 9mm: Typical (6) damage when firing a single shot,
+1CS in a semi-auto burst, and +2CS in a fully automatic
spray. 3 area range, ROF: 1/3/5, Ammo: 20.
Talents: Criminology, Guns, Martial Arts B and Football
(+1CS to thrown objects, charging as well as football trivia,
and knowledge of the game.)
Contacts: As a member of Kickers, Inc., Thomas can easily
rely on his team-mates for assistance in a pinch - and he
does so often while out on some adventure or another.
Since he's also on the New York Smashers football team,
Thomas presumably has several pals on that team that
can help him out if he needs it. Finally, Thomas seems to
retain some criminal contacts from his past, who can get
him illicit goods when necessary.
Role Playing Notes:
Thomas comes across as a wise-mouthed, practical joking
sort. He's friendly enough, of course, but can't resist the
urge to make his friends' lives miserable now and then -
especially Dasher's. He enjoys investigating mysteries with
his fellow Kickers, but he does have a few skeletons in his
closet, and he tends to get really cautious when
something on a current adventure reminds him of them.
History:
Thomas didn't start out with a squeaky-clean past like his
fellows. No, his early years saw him getting involved with
a less than ideal crowd, one that wasn't on the up and up.
Exactly what Thomas had to do with these folks has yet to
be revealed; he may have been a gang member as a
youth, involved in various illicit activities, or he might
have just been friends with kids who were. Regardless,
Thomas eventually cleaned his act up, and went to college
after he graduated from high school. There, he got into
football big time (as opposed to the simple high school
play he took part in before), and eventually got himself a
nice, cushy job as a running back for the New York
Smashers, an up and coming NFL team that was going
places. Things were definitely looking up for the man.
Jack developed paranormal powers and decided to use
them to help others in need, they decided to team up -
with the addition of Jack's wife Darlene - to form Kickers,
Inc. This group was set up to investigate bizarre mysteries
and paranormal occurrences, mostly for those who had
nowhere else to turn - and being a non-profit
organization, it made a great tax shelter as well. Thomas
mostly went along for the ride, enjoying the bizarre
adventures the team got mixed up in, though one such
mission looked to be a little too dangerous for Thomas'
tastes.
As such, before he went into action on this foray into a
hostile foreign nation, Thomas hooked up with a couple of
his youthful contacts, and got his hands of a fully
functional, Uzi 9mm machine gun. Oh, sure, the Kickers
had acquired several non-lethal stun rods for use on the
job, but these didn't quite seem to cut it for Thomas, who
knew what angry men with machine guns would likely do
to them if they were caught. The gun wound up being
useless to him on that mission anyhow, and Thomas
decided to abandon it afterwards, sticking to the Kickers'
simple stun rods. Of course, things would change soon
anyhow, since Jack - the team's main muscle - had to join
the Army to avoid a clandestine CIA recruitment attempt.
Liking the idea of helping those in need, Thomas stayed
on the team even without Jack's help. Presumably, he's
with Kickers, Inc. to this very day.

Thomas got along rather well with his teammates and

became particularly good pals with Jack 'Mr. Magnificent'
Magniconte, Beauford 'Brick Wall' Wohl, and Dallas
'Dasher' Corbin. They were such good friends that, after

24
 Talents: Business / Finance, Occult Lore, Martial Arts B
Beauford 'Brick and Football (+1CS to thrown objects, charging as well as
Wall' Wohl football trivia, and knowledge of the game.)

Contacts: As one of the five members of Kickers, Inc.,

F: Gd (10)
Beauford can easily rely on his fellow investigators into
A: Gd (10)
the bizarre for aid should he need it; they, of course, are
S: Gd (10)
Jack 'Mr. Magnificent' Magniconte, Thomas 'Suicide'
E: Ex (20)
Smythe, Dallas 'Dasher' Corbin, and Darlene 'Doll'
R: Gd (10)
Magniconte. Beauford is also on the New York Smashers
I: Ty (6)
football team and has dozens of pals in that organization
P: Ty (6)
that he can call reliable contacts.
Health: 50
Role Playing Notes:
Karma: 22
If there's anything that Beauford is not, that would be
Resources: Rm (30)
your stereotypical 'dumb jock'. He's smart, savvy, and
Pop: +5
more cool and collective than all of his fellow Kickers
combined. In addition to his football skills, Beauford
Real Name: Beauford L. Wohl
brings a high-quality college education to the team,
Occupation: adventurer, pro football player
something the rest of Kickers, Inc. seems to lack, thus
Legal Status: American citizen with a minor criminal
allowing him to be the team expert on various oddball
record
subjects when needed.
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
History:
Group Affiliation: Kickers, Inc.
As opposed to most of his fellow Smashers, Beauford is a
man that really has his act together. Having gotten a
Height: 6' 3"
football scholarship in college, the man actually took full
Hair: bald
advantage of the academic facilities. Of course, he's one
Eyes: brown
heck of a football player, too, so when he made it to the
Weight: 280 lbs.
NFL, Beauford had a full education, one primarily focusing
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Beauford tends to
on business and finance, to back him up after his pro
talk in an exaggerated southern accent - unless he's
career. Over time, Beauford came to be good friends with
talking money, at which point he sounds all Wall Street
Jack 'Mr. Magnificent' Magniconte, as well as Thomas
(so to speak).
'Suicide' Smythe and Dallas 'Dasher' Corbin, three of his
fellow Smashers. Beauford was such good friends with
Known Powers:
this trio that, when Jack developed startling paranormal
None
powers, his so-called 'edge', he joined up with Jack, Jack's
wife Darlene, and the other two to form Kickers, Inc.
Equipment:
Kevlar Uniform: Typical (6) protection from physical
The purpose of this group was primarily to serve as an
attacks.
outlet for Jack's sense of personal responsibility, so he
could use his incredible powers to help others in need -
Stun Baton: Excellent (20) Stunning damage upon an
not just to score touchdowns. Of course, Beauford and his
opponent when Beauford strikes him or her with it.
fellow Kickers would help him to do so by accompanying
him on investigations into the bizarre, assisting people in
the resolution of problems no one else can solve. Of

25
course, Beauford had more to offer to this group than his
mere physical power; you see, he came up with the idea
of running Kickers, Inc. as a sort of non-profit
organization, thus gaining the football players one heck of
a tax shelter. While they made no money doing their
Kickers, Inc. adventuring, Beauford and the guys saved
tons of money on their taxes, which more than made up
for not getting paid.
For over a year, Beauford and his fellow Kickers went on
one bizarre adventure after another, encountering robotic
mini-tanks, would-be sorcerers, paranormal outlaws, and
more. However, a particularly pesky CIA operative
26
determined that Jack was more human than human and
tried to induct him into the CIA's sphere of influence.
Refusing, Jack decided to join the Army to serve his
country in a way that he chose. This kind of left Kickers,
Inc. without their primary paranormal muscle, but with
paranormals popping up like crazy at about this time, it's
likely that the team had more than enough odd jobs to
keep them busy. So, despite the lack of Jack, it's most
likely that Beauford stuck with the Kickers, Inc. ideal along
with Darlene and his fellow Smashers, helping those in
need to this very day!
 Foes of the Kickers
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: The Fists

Height: 6'
Hair: black
Eyes: brown
Weight: 160 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Fist wears a thin,
distinctive goatee.

Known Powers:
None

Limitations:
Fanatic: Fist is devoted to his cause and has no qualms
about killing, or breaking laws. Should he disregard his
crusade, Fist must make a Psyche FEAT at -2CS.

Equipment:
Pistol: Typical (6) damage with a single shot, Good (10) in
a semi-automatic, clip-burning barrage of lead. 3 area
range, ammo: 18, ROF: 1/3
Fist
The Manned Mobile Unit
F: Gd (10) The Manned Mobile Unit, or MMU, is a strange device
A: Gd (10) that was apparently being tested in the eighties by the
S: Ty (6) United States Army for use in urban warfare. It is a hybrid
E: Gd (10) machine, in that it is half tank and half robotic
R: Gd (10) exoskeleton; essentially, it's a white robot, about twelve
I: Ty (6) feet tall, that moves about via two large tank treads (with
P: Gd (10) a curious vertical profile). The MMU has these vehicular
statistics and capabilities:
Health: 36
Karma: 26 Control: Gd (10) Speed: Ty (6)
Resources: Rm (30) Body: In (40) Protection: Rm (30)
Popularity: -5
Armor Plating: the MMU is covered from head to tread
Real Name: unrevealed with thick armor plating that is proof against small arms
Occupation: terrorist fire. This armor itself is built from Incredible (40) material
Legal Status: citizen of an unnamed country likely wanted strength metals, though the treads are only built from
in the US for various terrorist acts Excellent (20) materials. Overall, this offers the MMU
Marital Status: single Remarkable (30) armor vs. Physical, Good (10) vs. Energy.

27

Grasping Arm: the MMU's right arm is equipped with a
fully functional hand, which can be used to manipulate
objects in its environment. It has an equivalent Strength
Remarkable (30), which can be brought to bear either in
lifting, grasping, or even melee attack. Its small parts are
less armored than the rest of the MMU, however; give it
-1CS protection from attack.
Gun Arm: the MMU's left arm is fitted with two fully
automatic machine guns. These twinned machine guns
inflict Excellent (20) Armor Piercing damage per burst, the
latter functioning at +1CS - and is normally used against
vehicular opponents.
Sensor Suite: The MMU's head has been fitted with
infrared sensors and a complete radar imaging system,
both of which will function at Remarkable (30) rank.
Tank Treads: Typical (6) speeds, which translates into
approximately 45 miles per hour - at full burn. The MMU
travels at 15 miles per hour when in combat, though.
Talents: Guns and Psychology.
Contacts: Fist has numerous foreign governmental
contacts and is likely supported by various terrorist states
28
like Libya - though his foremost contact in this regard is
his unnamed homeland. Furthermore, the man has all
kinds of underworld, criminal style contacts, contacts he's
used to build a small army within New York City's poorer
neighborhoods, a street gang he calls, of course, the Fists.
Role Playing Notes:
The man known only as Fist in the United States seems to
be a highly motivated individual, sure of his personal
mission and definitely assured of his own righteousness.
He seems to prefer the planning of nefarious operations,
leaving the dirty work to various underlings. If he must
sully has hands and do his dark deeds directly, he gets
rather agitated... and thus unpredictable.
History:
Very, very little is known regarding the background of the
man known to us only as 'Fist'. He seems to be something
of a revolutionary who, instead of fighting for freedom in
his homeland, instead thinks he can attain his goal by
causing trouble in the United States. Perhaps he has the
irrational belief that his nation is under the control of the
American government somehow? It's hard to say. At any
rate, Fist's first documented activities in the States saw
him setting up a large street gang in the Bronx, aptly
named the Fists, which was armed to the teeth with top-
of-the-line military hardware. Somehow, Fist even got
ahold of an experimental mobile manned unit - a sort of
robotic mini-tank, a device he used to keep the people
living in 'his' neighborhood in line.
Eventually going too far when his robot ran over an old
lady's rose garden, Fist found the amateur adventurers
known as Kickers, Inc. on his case when the lady in
question, one Mrs. Mirano, called them in to investigate.
They looked into the matter, and after finding his
headquarters, Fist had to deal with them. He sicced his
goons on the would-be heroes first, and when that failed,
used his robot! Not counting on the sheer power that Mr.
Magnificent had, Fist saw his robot meet an untimely end
at the pro football player's hands and had to flee his base
with his fellow revolutionaries before the proper
authorities could arrive to detain his august personage. Of
course, he wouldn't forget this insult to his crusade, and
deigned to get even with these... Kickers... no matter the
cost! To that end, he started waging a personal war
against Jack 'Mr. Magnificent' Magniconte,
using various intimidation techniques to get
the man totally afraid of his coming
retribution, until he went too far again,
causing Jack to lose his fear in the Fists. After
this, Fist faded into obscurity, either dropping
his revenge kick, returning home, or even
being captured by the authorities.

the Master of
Ceremonies
F: Ty (6)
A: Gd (10)
S: Ty (6)
E: Ty (6)
R: Rm (30)
I: Ty (6)
P: Gd (10)

Health: 28
Karma: 46
Resources: Ex (20)
Popularity: 0

Real Name: Professor Jordan (first name

unrevealed)
Occupation: college professor, military chemist
Legal Status: American citizen with no criminal
record, possibly deceased
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: his unnamed Coven of
'witches'
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Professor Jordan Equipment:
wears a pencil-thin moustache at all times. Ceremonial Blade: Remarkable (30) material and can be
used to inflict Typical (6) damage.
Height: 5' 11"
Hair: black Hallucinogenic Compound: this drug has two delivery
Eyes: brown mechanisms: gaseous or liquid, it causes frightening
Weight: 175 lbs. imagery, unless an Incredible (40) Endurance FEAT is
passed.
Known Powers:
None

29
Scepter: Made from Excellent (20) material, this item can
be used to inflict Good (10) Blunt damage.
Sleeping Compound: this drug is delivered in powder form
at an opponent who must pass an Endurance FEAT 1vs.
Remarkable (30) rank or succumb to the sleep.
Talents: Chemistry, Education and Occult Lore.
Contacts: Naturally, Professor Jordan has several contacts
in his former occult Coven, even if it was dispersed in the
wake of the Kickers' investigation into his activities and his
subsequent disappearance. However, should the man still
be alive, he can most likely rely upon his former students
for assistance in a pinch. Furthermore, Jordan has several
high-level government and military contracts, folks he
used to work with.
Role Playing Notes:
Professor Jordan is something of a haughty, arrogant
man, full of himself and the so-called merits of his work.
Though he is a scholar at heart, he has few scruples, and
feels no remorse when breaking the law to further his
research needs. The odd thing is that Professor Jordan
seems to truly fit into his role as the Master of
Ceremonies and comes off as a sort of wanna-be, Bond-
style villain.
30
History:
Professor Jordan got his start as a government technician,
one contracted by the military to devise all manner of
chemical weapons. His particular area of expertise, of
course, is the concoction of hallucinogenic compounds,
chemicals that cause people to experience sensory events
that are exaggerated - or even wholly non-existent. He
was good at his job, too, except that he apparently didn't
produce results. Not on a time-table suitable for
government work, that is. Eventually, Jordan saw his
military research funding terminated, but he truly
believed that his non-lethal weapon system was a viable
concept, so he sought a means to continue his work. He
would need funding and test subjects for his experimental
drugs, both of which weren't all that forthcoming in the
early eighties. As such, the man devised a scheme by
which he could get both - legally! Essentially, Professor
Jordan founded a coven of sorts, a group of 'witches'
amongst his students, who got together and dinked
around with occult frippery for fun. Over time, as his
charges got used to the idea, Professor Jordan then
appeared to them as the Master of Ceremonies, a 'wizard'
of sorts who offered them real power. By exposing the
would-be wizards to his experimental chemicals,
Professor Jordan caused them to experience specific,
monstrous hallucinations. This caused most of the occult-
fascinated youths to become even more interested in his
coven, thus increasing his test subject base - and the
increase in coven membership fees more than covered all
of the Professor's monetary requirements. Agent Scott
However, when one of his quasi-brainwashed minions Templar, CIA
committed suicide because of the 'demons' he'd helped
F: Gd 10
to unleash upon the world, the paranormal investigators
A: Gd 10
known as Kickers, Inc. decided to look into the Professor's
S: Ty 6
coven. While checking out their compound, two of these
E: Ty 6
Kickers fell to the Professor's knockout gas and were
R: Gd 10
almost 'sacrificed' by the man before their pals saved
I: Ex 20
them. Even though they'd uncovered his plot, though,
P: Gd 10
these amateur adventurers couldn't legally stop him - and
they knew it. That's why their leader, Jack Magniconte,
Health: 32
told the father of the suicidal coven member who was
Karma: 40
responsible for his untimely demise. A mob boss of sorts,
Resources: Ex 20
the man sicced his goons on Jordan right after the Kickers
Popularity: 0
left the scene. And the Professor disappeared after this
encounter. Though he survived, Professor Jordan lost the
Real Name: Scott Templar
use of his legs as a result of this ordeal. Confined to a
Occupation: CIA operative
wheelchair, Professor Jordan vowed revenge, and found
Legal Status: American citizen with no known criminal
the instrument of his vengeance in a young girl who could
record
seemingly open doorways into Hell itself. Whether she
Marital Status: single
was an actual sorceress or merely another paranormal is
Alias(es), if any: none
unknown, but the Professor knew just how to get at his
Group Affiliation: the CIA
foes.
Height: 5' 10"
Having her call the Kickers, Inc. hotline, Professor Jordan
Hair: dark brown with grayed temples
had this mysterious girl tell them her sister fell through a
Eyes: brown
doorway into another realm while practicing witchcraft,
Weight: 170 lbs.
and the team readily leapt to her aid. Arriving on the
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Scott wears a
scene, they entered the portal to find this wayward
moustache at all times. Also, he's something of a chain
spellcaster, only to be gloated at by Jordan moments
smoker, and almost always has at least one cigarette in
later, who explained that he'd tricked them into going to
his mouth when encountered.
Hell for payback. Professor Jordan had underestimated
the members of Kickers, Inc. however, and they managed
Known Powers:
to not only shake off the Hellish torments they were
None
subjected to but escape back to the real world. Furious
after what they went through, the Kickers threw Professor
Equipment:
Jordan and his accomplice through the portal to Hell
Pistol: Typical (6) damage from a single shot, +1CS in a
themselves and washed their hands of the mess.
semi-automatic burst. 3 area range, ROF 1 or 3, Ammo:
Professor Jordan's fate remains unknown. He may have
18, He carries at least 1 spare clip.
ultimately escaped with his newly found 'friend' to plot
vengeance another day (she can make dimensional
Talents: Detective/Espionage, Guns and Law Enforcement
doorways, after all), or the demonic fiends of the Hell he'd
intended to kill the Kickers may have done him in once
Contacts: As a card-carrying member of the Central
and for all...!
Intelligence Agency, Agent Scott Templar can naturally

31
rely on his organization for assistance in a pinch, Magniconte out of the CIA's reach for the time being,
especially if he's in the process of completing a vital what with the whole paranormal Draft going on at about
mission for the group. However, it should be stressed that time. This turned out to be a good thing, however, as
that, in espionage work, he may be deemed 'expendable' Jack went on to practically save the world during his time
on any given mission, and thus disavowed if captured or in the Army, doing so in the course of the Third World
killed. War. Of course, considering Scott's tenacity, it's likely that
Jack hasn't seen the last of Agent Templar!
Role Playing Notes:
Scott seems fascinated by the bizarre and feels that he
needs to know more about it - if not for the security of
the United States itself, then at least for his own, personal
satisfaction. He seems to have the will - and the clearance
- to check these things out on US soil, which is somewhat
extraordinary by itself. He hasn't been too successful so
far, but the man doesn't give up easily.

History:
Scott Templar is something of an oddity in the Central
Intelligence Agency, in that he wasn't quite assigned to
the organization's paranormal research department, but
he nonetheless looked in on such matters as a general
matter of course. This wasn't an official assignment, mind
you, so much as a simple matter of curiosity, in that he
just found these matters downright fascinating. You can
imagine Scott's surprise when he found evidence that Jack
'Mr. Magnificent' Magniconte, the all-American star
quarterback for the New York Smashers, had superhuman
powers. Quickly becoming obsessed, Scott started looking
into the man's activities with Kickers, Inc., a sort of
'paranormal investigation' firm that the football player
founded to help people with bizarre problems. After
several months, Scott felt he had enough information to
launch an official investigation and did so when Jack and
his Kickers pals went to Canada to run in some marathon
against the Icecutters, a hockey team that had a bone to
pick with the football players. Once there, Scott tricked
Jack into revealing his powers with a projection light show
and several guys in odd, 'little green men' suits.

Before Jack could figure out was up with all that, Scott
tried to recruit the man into the CIA, hoping to get him to
use his impressive physical powers in the service of the
United States government. However, Jack wouldn't have
any of that, what with his previous, rather negative
experiences with Scott's organization, and as such, he
hooked up with the US Army to spite them. This put

32
If you liked the material found in this book, then you should explore Denny Hill’s (aka Firebomb)
website, Technohol 13! If you think that playing in the New Universe would be new and exciting,
check out his information and stats for these additional worlds, all with Marvel Super Heroes
stats!

Additionally, his webpage is where a large portion of Keith Kilburn’s

Golden Age of Heroes sourcebook originated from, and he even has
his own custom rule systems, some based around the classic
FASERIP system!
Brought together by friendship and bad science, these five
heroes banded together to battle some of the strangest foes
the world has ever seen. Adventure used to have one name,
now it has a whole team... Kickers, Inc!