LNH History

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 '''By Martin Phipps, Arthur Spitzer, and Tom Russell'''
 
 =Backstory=
 
 Back during the 19th Century, [[Net.ropolis]] was known as [[Babbagetown]].  Little is known of how far the origins of this city go back.  The history of the [[LNHQ]] is also rather murky.  What is known though is that the current LNHQ used to be the [[Net.ropolis Hotel Grand]].
 
 Sometime in the 1920s or 1930s, a hero by the name of [[Boy Lad]] formed the Legion of Net. Heroes.  During this time, he was the only member ([[Boy Lad Jr.]], his sidekick, wasn't allowed to join, due to the "no sidekicks are allowed to join" rule).  No one knows what ultimately happened to him although someone who claimed to be him made an appearance in the ''[[Omaha Project]]'' series.
 
 After Boy Lad disappeared, the [[Agents of P.U.L.P]], [[Classic Squad]], and [[Society of Wireless Heroes]] (A British based super group) took over the hero game in the 1940s and 1950s.  Some members of the Classic Squad would eventually become part of the current LNH incarnation like [[Old Comics Man]], [[Golden Man]], and [[Kid Yesterdaze]].
 
 During 1960s, the [[Net.astic Nine]] and the [[Challengers of the Abominable]] helped protect Net.ropolis and the Looniverse from destructive forces.  The LNHer [[Sig.Lad]] was formerly a member of the Net.astic Nine.  At the end of the 60's, a demon going by the name of [[Anti-Christ Lad]] controlled all of Net.ropolis including the LNH that was operating during this time period: [[The Legion of Net. Hippies]].  [[Self-Righteous Preacher]], after joining with the Legion of Net.Hippies helped free the LNH from Anti-Christ Lad's control and sent him back to hell.  A few Legion of Net. Hippies like [[Nudist Man]], [[Super Apathy Lad]], and [[Procrastination Boy]] remained with the current Legion.
 
 In the 1980s, [[The Legion of New-Wave Heroes]] arrived on the scene and quickly disappeared.
 
 [[Tantalising Teens]]
 
 [[L.E.G.I.O.N.]]
 
 =1990s=
 ==1992==
 
 Back in May '92, on rec.arts.comics, there were a lot of people who
 had a distinct net.personality.  Someone (who was obviously having a
 bad day) declared himself "[[Dr. Killfile]]" and threatened to killfile
 all of them.  Ben Pierce (aka [[Marvel Zombie Lad]]) responded by calling
 for all net.heroes to join forces against Dr. Killfile and his [[Legion
 of Net.Villains]].  At least forty-four people responded to this call.
 [[Craig Thomas Judd]] (aka [[Manga Man]]), however, chose instead to be the
 first villainous [[WC]]; he put it upon himself to collect the first
 forty-four or so posts together and give it a semblance of plot.  So
 was begun The [[Cosmic Plot Device Caper]].
 
 There are two versions of The Cosmic Plot Device Caper: the original
 version and [[Drizzt]]'s Post [[Cry.Sig]] version.  Neither were finished.
 Nevertheless, there have been a couple of stories that have alluded
 to the unrecounted conclusion of the Cosmic Plot Device Caper, namely
 The [[501 Blues]]: A [[Lurk of Faith]] (by [[Todd Kogutt]]) and [[Generation Y]] #0
 (by [[Martin Phipps]]).  Lurk of Faith established that [[Rebel Yell]] did
 not formally become leader of the [[LNH]] until after the Cosmic Plot
 Device Caper, despite the clear leadership role that Rebel Yell
 had in Drizzt's version of the Cosmic Plot Device Caper.  Generation
 Y#0, meanwhile, established that Rebel Yell was one of the LNH's
 founding members along with [[Lurking Girl]], Marvel Zombie_Lad, [[Kid
 Yesterdaze]] and [[Loquacious Lad]].  The extent to which the description
 of the LNH's origin as recounted in Generation Y#0 is canon depends
 on how good [[Bad-Timing Boy]]'s memory was, seeing as how the origin was
 given as part of a flashback.
 
 Two and a half months after the CPDC had stopped (as opposed to
 finished :)), Todd Kogutt (aka Rebel Yell) tried to find out who
 was still around out of all those who had originally got involved
 in the LNH; it turned out that only about a dozen of them were still
 active on the net (including [[Jef The KaTeFan]] [aka [[Cliche Dude]]],
 [[Tori Fike]] [aka Lurking Girl], [[Brian Perler]] [aka [[Obscure Trivia Lad]]]
 and [[Jeff Coleburn]] [aka [[Multi-Tasking Man]]]); the remainder were
 eventually considered "[[Public Domain]]".  Todd (who from here on will
 be referred to as "Scavenger"), decided to make do with what characters
 there were plus create some more ([[Typo Lad]], [[List Lad]], [[Allusion Lad]]),
 making himself the first person claiming multiple WCs.  This then
 became The 501 Blues: The [[Long Road to Nowhere]].
 
 With TLRtN having come out, the LNH was less of a joke.  New
 people came along with their own LNH stories: Drizzt (CRY.SIG),
 [[Dave Van Domelen]] ([[Sound of Clashing Metal]], etc.), [[Stephane Savoie]],
 [[Hubert Bartels]] and [[Doug Wojtowicz]] ([[Integrity Quest]]), [[wReam]] ([[Sieze
 Dangerous]]), [[Gary St. Lawrence]] (The [[Secret Origin of Sarcastic Lad]])
 and [[Jameel al Khafiz]] (The [[Comics Connection]]).
 
 Now, with about fourteen people involved in the LNH in one form
 or another (including [[Mark Friedman]] [aka [[Net.Lurker]]]), the LNH
 was just starting to get organised: Integrity Quest continued,
 The [[Electrocutioner's Song]] (by Jef, Scav., wReam and Dave) began
 and Drizzt, Gary and Jameel went on and did their own insane
 things.  Meanwhile, Scavenger decided to form a [[Council of Elders]]
 which included everybody _except_ the Integrity Questers, Gary
 and Jameel.  The latter were not considered "elder" at the time;
 the Integrity Questers were omitted for alleged political reasons.
 
 Ah, yes.  I refer you now to sections 4.1-4.2 of the FAQ where
 it refers to "explicit sex, profanity" being "frowned upon" and
 how "Porno stories' are NOT allowed."  Seems a reference to a
 certain part of the male anatomy being in an excited state was
 considered explicit, profane, even pornographic by... certain
 people involved in the LNH at the time.  This was the "[[Woody
 Scandal]]."  Thus were all of the Integrity Questers excluded from
 the ranks of the Elders, even though Doug was the only one actually
 guilty of pushing the envelope (at first).
 
 (An alternative view of someone who was around at the time: Doug threw 
 in a semi-explicit sex scene in the middle of what had been a good story 
 with no warning.  I wrote him a heated letter about it, he posted to get 
 the general feeling of the LNH on it.  Basically, most other people -- 
 wReam being the only exception that springs to mind -- didn't care.  
 Hubert objected on the grounds that [[Panta]] should be unattainable, the 
 story was retconned away, and the advisement about labelling was added to 
 the proto-FAQ.  Doug and I made peace, everyone went away happy as far as 
 I know.  Dunno why... certain people have to harp on this piece of LNH 
 history that was really nothing more than private email. -- Drizzt)
 
 
 In the interests in peace and harmony... well, actually because
 he didn't have enough time to finish it on his own... Drizzt got
 together himself, Stephane, [[Mike Caprio]], Jef and Gary to do THE
 [[FLAME WARS]].  It was significant in that it was the first multi-writer
 effort that had an actual plot that was worked out in advance (by
 Drizzt).
 
 By this time, it was actually becoming difficult to break into
 the LNH because the LNH already had so much history.  Thus along
 came a poor sap by the name of Martin Phipps who, being out of the
 loop so to speak, was doomed to face the wrath of... whoever might
 have a very strict view as to his own personal control over
 continuity.  At first he tried to play it safe by writing stories
 outside of regular continuity (i.e. [[Generic Man (tm)]]) but then
 the temptation to become part of regular LNH continuity became
 too great and [[Deja Dude]] was retconned into continuity with The
 [[Judas Handshake]], And Now The [[Good Guys (tm)]] and [[Deja HULK]].
 
 Then heroes started dropping like flies: [[Lost Cause Boy]] of the
 [[Net.Patrol]] (formerly the Integrity Questers) died in the [[Lost
 Cause Boy Special]] (by Doug), [[Continuity Champ]] died in [[Blaze of
 Glory]] (by Drizzt) and even Generic Man (tm) found himself
 in a state of discontinued life in Generic Man (tm) #7... only
 to return, miraculously, in Generic Man (tm) #8.  Any similarities
 between these stories and The Death of Superman is, of course,
 pure coincidence. ;)
 
 ==1993==
 
 Generic Man (tm) #7-8 was, BTW, only the second time Generic
 Man (tm) and The Good Guys (tm) met any of the LNH besides Deja
 Dude, namely Bad-Timing Boy, [[Doctor Stomper]], [[Sidewinder]], [[Super
 Apathy Lad]], [[Irony Man]] and [[Procrastination Boy]].  The latter two
 hadn't been used since their first appearance in The Cosmic
 Plot Device Caper; this fact was capitalised upon in [[In Pursuit
 of the Net.Villains]] in which these characters plus Deja Dude
 decided to singlehandedly go after the [[Brotherhood of Net.Villains]]
 (introduced during THE FLAME WARS).  It so happened that wReam's
 own plans involved having the Legion question the leadership of
 [[Ultimate Ninja]]... who was taking over the leadership of the LNH
 after the departure of [[Rebel Yell]] as a result of A Lurk of Faith.
 This then lead to The [[Leadership Crisis]] which had Ultimate Ninja
 officially assuming authority as leader of the LNH (and a _lot_
 of wrangling over continuity, BTW).
 
 The [[Crossover Caper]] (by Jef, Jameel, [[Mike Escutia]] [aka [[Pliable
 Lad]]] and Martin) was the first LNH mini-series since The
 Electrocutioner's Song to involve a storyline that ran over several
 different titles, notably [[Deja Dude / Master Blaster]] (by Martin
 with help from Gary amongst others), [[LetterinG MaN]] (by [[Charles
 Fitzgerald]]) and [[All Things Dark and Scary]] (by [[Josh Geurink]] [aka
 [[Occultism Kid]]]).  [[Jungle Cheesecake]] was the second: it originated
 in [[Ultimate Ninja (series)|Ultimate Ninja]] and crossed over into LNH (which is how Martin
 began to refer to his stories), LetterinG MaN (by Charles) and
 [[Tales of the LNH]] (by Hubert).  Meanwhile, Jameel, Mike and [[Andre
 Condon]] had their own continuity going in [[Particle Man]], Pliable
 Lad and [[Kid Chivalry]], respectively.  (Deja Dude / Master Blaster
 #6 featured, BTW, the climactic battle between [[Pocket Man]] and
 Master Blaster for the love of [[Organic Lass]] as well as the first
 appearance of Gary's [[Elvis Man]].)
 
 Summertime meant that fewer people were on the net: it also
 meant that those of us who were around had more time to write.
 Mike, Dave, [[Ken Schmidt]] (aka the villainous [[Tsar Chasm]]) and Jameel
 put out a considerable amount of stuff over the summer including
 Pliable Lad #2-6 (by Mike), [[Constellation]] #1-9 (by Dave), The
 [[Great Public Domain Caper]] and [[LNH Comics Present]] #1-6 + Special #1
 (all by Ken), The [[Three Day Lull]] (by these three plus Martin, [[Steve
 Hutchison]] [aka the [[Invisible Incendiary]]], [[Jeff McCoskey]], Steph, Andre,
 wReam and Gary) and [[Kid Kirby and Sing Along Lass]] #3-4, The [[LNH vs.
 Dimwiticus]] and Particle Man #3-8 (all by Jameel).
 
 As expected, Continuity Champ returned in THE FLAME WARS II
 (by Drizzt, Gary, Mike Caprio, Martin and Josh).  This then allowed
 for Continuity Champ appearances in [[Through the Looking Glass]]
 (LNH #58, a sequel to Martin's earlier story, [[Mirror Mirror]]) and [[Descent]]
 (LNH #63-67, a sequel to The Crossover Caper).  Meanwhile, Drizzt was
 putting together [[Continuity Champ & The Drizzt's Defenders]], his first
 ongoing title.
 
 What then followed were two more multi-writer storylines, namely
 the Universal Bureaucracy storyline which began in, of all places,
 the [[Wrath of the Administrator]] (by the [[NTB|Net.Trenchcoat Brigade]]),
 showed up in Constellation (by Dave) and crossed over into [[Easily
 Discovered Man]] (by [[Rob Rogers]]), Pliable Lad (by Mike) and [[Errand Boy]]
 (by [[Eric Sturgeon]])... and [[Looniverse Adrift]] (by Ken and [[Jeff McCoskey]])
 which crossed over into Errand Boy (by Eric Sturgeon), Constellation
 (by Dave) and [[LNH Triple Play]] (by Jeff).  Meanwhile, Martin's LNH was
 establishing itself as a flagship title with stories like Interlude
 (LNH #62), [[Deja Four]] (LNH #68), [[Acts of Violence]] (LNH #69-71),
 The [[Final Fate of Flameproof Lad]] (LNH #72-73), [[Peril Room Duty]]
 (LNH #74), [[Old Acquaintance]] (LNH #75) and [[PC or not PC]] (LNH #77) all
 serving to help resolve LNH continuity.
 
 ==1994==
 
 The [[Omaha Project]] (by [[Ben R. Pierce]], [[Russ Allbery]], [[Christopher J.
 Sypal]], Rob Rogers, [[David R. Henry]], Mike Escutia and [[Arthur Spitzer]]) had
 various Legionaires (Easily Discovered Man, [[Easily Discovered Man Lite]],
 Pliable Lad, [[Parking Karma Kid]] and [[Tour Guide Girl]]) being sent to Omaha
 to investigate an explosion. 
 
 Jeff McCoskey (with help from Ken, Hubert, Dave and Steve Hutchinson)
 wrote LNH Triple Play #3, the [[Valentine Ball]].  [[Saint Squad]] #2 (by Gary)
 then had Pocket Man propose to Organic Lass.  They were married
 in [[Giant Sized LNH]] #6 (by Martin and Gary with Rebecca Drayer).
 Meanwhile, [[Pencil Rain]] was working for the [[Waffle Queen]] (in Rob and
 Jameel's [[Breakfast in America]] crossover), robots were invading (in Dave
 Van Domelen, Arthur Spitzer, [[Robert Armstrong]], Rob Rogers and Mike
 Escutia's [[Robot Invasion]] crossover) and the [[LNH Registration Act]] had passed
 (a storyline that was resolved in Drizzt's Continuity Champ and
 The Drizzt's Defenders #12 and Martin's LNH #83).  Then, in LNH #85,
 [[Squid Boy]] (who had only recently taken up the identity of [[Squidman]]
 in Constellation #24-25) died from a mysterious virus.  Squid Boy's
 funeral took place in LNH #86 and Constellation #26.
 
 It was around this time that a lot of new blood was joining the
 Legion, specifically in [[Decibel Dude and Vigilantee Guy]] by [[Tick]],
 [[Swordmaster and the Load Island Renegades]] by [[Badger]], [[Glitch Girl and
 the Alt.ter.Net.tives]] by [[Marie Antoon]], [[Johnny Stomper]] by Josh,
 [[Coma Kid]] and [[Continuity Champ Junior]] by Mystic Mongoose and
 Generation Y by Martin.  Meanwhile, Squid Boy returned from the dead
 in Constellation #29; with his former mentor now having become a
 trademarked character, Squid Boy chose to continue on in the Legion as
 Squidman.
 
 [[Retcon Hour]] (by Jeff, Badger, Tick, Mongoose, Martin, Dave, Mike,
 [[Zagyg]], Hubert, Stirge and [[Paul Hardy]]) spanned July and August '94.
 In order to confuse the LNH, the [[Time Crapper]] was creating alternate
 timelines and allowing them to exist simultaneously.  This resulted
 in, amongst other things, multiple versions of [[Myk-El]] and [[Squalor]] to
 come into being.  In particular, these Myk-El versions ranged from
 good to evil since [[Acton Lord]] had apparently been responsible for
 Myk-El turning evil in the first place so it was easy enough for
 TC to create alternate Myk-Els, some good and some evil.  In order to
 stop TC, Entity arranged a [[RACCelestial Madonna Pagent]], one that would
 choose the [[RACCelestial Madonna]] who would gain the power to defeat
 the Time Crapper.  Knowing that he'd be defeated by the RACCelestial
 Madonna, the post-CRY.SIG version of the Time Crapper tried to prevent
 the RACCelestial Madonna Pagent but was defeated by [[Decibel Dude]] and
 Panta.  The pre-CRY.SIG version of TC was oblivious to all this: he was
 busy trying to coerce [[Contraption Man]] into creating a machine capable
 of shaping time as he saw fit.  Contraption Man was, however, under the
 influence of [[wReamicus Maximus]], having been kidnapped between panels in
 Jungle Cheesecake and brainwashed into being an Acolyte of DVANDOM.
 wReamicus Maximus reasoned that the LNH would try to recover the [[Ring
 of Retcon]] as a means of stabilising time and laid in waiting for that
 eventuallity: he told his Acolyte to play along with TC but stall rather
 than build his machine.  Sure enough, Continuity Champ Junior, working
 with his fellow GenYers, managed to retrieve the Ring of Retcon.
 wReamicus Maximus sent the [[Legion of Unliving Legionaires]] against GenY
 and stole the ring.  When wReam put on the ring, he started retconning
 continuity.  This then got the attention of the [[Rac.ctre]] who started
 gathering up heroes to defeat wReamicus.  Meanwhile, [[VAMMO Woman]] was
 crowned RACCelestial Madonna and teamed up with one of the variant
 Myk-Els to defeat TC I and II.  They then proceeded to join the other
 heroes in defeating wReam.  With wReamicus Maximus defeated, VAMMO
 Woman used her power as RACCelestial Madonna to recover continuity...
 with the stipulation that the divergent, heroic Myk-El remain in this
 timeline and be her consort.  Retcon Hour ended with the introduction
 of two new LNH subgroups, The [[Legion of Occult Heroes]] (by Paul Hardy)
 and [[Dvandom Force]] (by Dave).
 
 Mike Escutia wrote a great deal during the fall of '94, including
 Retcon Midnight (along with Russ Allbery, [[David Anastasion]] and Drizzt),
 The [[Crisis of Infinite Sidekicks]] (along with Marie Antoon and Tick),
 which ended with the death of [[Echo Lad]], and Pliable Lad #30 which
 described the wedding of Pliable Lad to Tour Guide Girl.  The death
 of Echo Lad apparently had a profound affect on Typo Lad who decided
 to spend less time in the public eye.  (Actually it was Scavenger  
 deciding to not let Typo Lad be used.  Whatever.)
 
 ==1995==
 
 Many new writers appeared during the year following Retcon Hour:  
 [[Campbell March]] ([[Guitarless Man]]), [[Saxon Brenton]] ([[Limp Asparagus Lad]]), [[Rene  
 Villareal]] ([[Dog Boy]]), [[Ben Rawluk]] ([[Kid Mysticism]]), [[Mike Friedman]] ([[Spite 
 Grrrl]]), [[Eric Gearman]] ([[Leftover Lad]]), [[Jamas Enright]] ([[Fan Boy]]), [[Jennifer 
 Whitson]]  ([[Misfits]]), [[Ian Porrell]] ([[Kid Kiwi]]) and [[A. Khosla]] ([[Refugees of 
 Net.ropolis]]).  Meanwhile,  [[Chris Gumprich]] had become the official [[RACC]]
 reviewer as well as, eventually, the  writer of [[R.E.J.E.C.T.s]].
 
 [[Crimes of the Brotherhood]] (by Jeff McCoskey, Martin Phipps,  Badger, Tick,
 Drizzt, Mike Friedman, [[Jaelle]], Rob Rogers and [[Scott Johnson]]) proved to be
 the LNH's most lackluster crossover in years with the Brotherhood of
 Net.Villains making ineffective attacks against the Legion.  The surprise,
 and somewhat anticlimactic, ending of the storyline came in Continuity Champ
 and The Drizzt's Defenders #22 which revealed [[Mr. Homage]] to be none  
 other than the Robbing Lie-fild.  With their leader captured, the remaining  
 members of the Brotherhood turned to [[Lagneto]] for leadership and relocated 
 to [[Asteroid L]].  Meanwhile, [[Sig.Lad]]'s funeral took place, Sig.Lad having 
 been killed in Dvandom Force #48 while doing battle with an evil Sig.Lad 
 from an alternate future.
 
 [[Catalytic Conversions]]
 
 [[Swordmaster/Legion of Occult Heroes]]
 
 [[Dvandom Force/Team Mecha]]
 
 [[Culinary Disasters]]
 
 [[Flame Wars III]]
 
 ==1996==
 
 [[Century Pact]]
 
 ==1997==
 
 In 1997 [http://archives.eyrie.org/racc/lnh/Series/Return.Tsar.Chasm/ Tsar Chasm returned] from the dead and it was revealed that he was posing as the LNHer Kid G.  In 1998, Dr. Killfile also returned with no explanation of how he had cheated death in the pages of [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.creative/msg/b9498507038dee7b?dmode=source&hl=en Teenfactor].
 
 [[NWO]]
 
 [[Evil's Last Stand]]
 
 ==1998==
 
 [[Savior's of the Net]]
 
 ==1999==
 
 In 1999 in ''[http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.creative/msg/13092d88cfa47778?dmode=source&hl=en Tales of the LNH #370]'', Panta was retconned out of existence, sacrificing herself to save the Looniverse from the Collector.
 
 [[Birth of a Villain]]
 
 =2000s=
 
 ==2000==
 
 [[Mutton Mania]]
 
 ==2001==
 
 In March of 2001, the city of Sig.ago was completely destroyed (it would eventually be restored). [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.creative/msg/6a5a38b21242e357?dmode=source&hl=en]
 
 In July of 2001, a number of LNHers were married including Deja Dude, Master Blaster and Sister State the Obvious, Innovative Offense Boy and Ordinary Lady, and Cheesecake Eater Lad and aLLiterative Lass [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.creative/msg/f8e400cca85fa446?dmode=source&hl=en].  Since then a few of them have become parents.
 
 ==2002==
 
 In 2002, [[Hexadecimal]] [[Lex Luthor|Luthor]] retconned himself into the President of the Loonited States. [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comics.lnh/msg/1702a738613dd862]  In 2004, he was re-elected. [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comics.lnh/msg/ee035e13f2a334a2]
 
 [[Jess Willey's Grocery List]]
 
 [[Flame Wars IV]]
 
 [[President Evil]]
 
 ==2003==
 
 [[Bride of C'Thulhu]]
 
 [[Flame Wars VI]]
 
 ==2004==
 ==2005==
 
 [[Just Imagine Saxon Brenton's RACCies!]] 
 
 ==2006==
 
 [[Just Imagine Saxon Brenton Presents the Raccies... Again!]]
 
 In the [[United States general elections, 2006|2006 Mid-Term Election]], [[Haiku|Haiku Gorilla]] won a seat as Senator for the "floating" city of Net.ropolis. [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.creative/msg/e30331ffc28dafae]
 
 [[Killfile Wars]]
 
 ==2007==
 
 [[Just Imagine... Saxon Brenton's RACCies on a Plane Filled with Killer Ninja Gorillas!]]
 
 [[Infinite Leadership Crisis]]
 
 [[Beige Countdown]]
 
 ==2008==
 
 [[Beige Midnight]]
 
 [[Category:LNH]]