It’s time for Leona Powers – a.k.a. Dawnender – to tell her story.
We’ve seen Leona’s story told by Icon Powers and by Lyon Powers, but now we get to see it through Leona’s eyes. We get to hear it from her perspective. And we see why she is so obsessed with revenge.
Plus, Galatea resumes her day job, and another member of the Guardians of the Dawn joins Project Prometheus!
The Task Force is being hunted. Cardinal Syn is under arrest, and KDave is next! Hard Justice is on the run. And the mysterious Sundown continues his own quest to find the missing police chief. How will the Task Force continue to go after the corrupt cops? The story continues with Issue #6!
In the debut issue of “Galatea Powers”, our titular heroine gave a quick synopsis of her life, done in the narrative style that was best used by a certain group of live-action superhero shows that aired on the CW Network.
You know the ones. The ones that all started with “My name is…”
Well, it was time for Galatea’s “twin” to do the same. After all, if Galatea can do it, why not Leona?
And so we have the opening panels of “Galatea Powers” #2…
This is the first time we really get to see Leona, aka Dawnender, tell her story as she saw things. How her life turned out as seen through her eyes, how she saw her imprisonment, her “liberation”, and her eventual fall.
Of course, as this is a series about Galatea, we will also show what she’s been doing, as Galatea continues to balance her day job working for S.E.R.A.P.H. as well as be a superhero. This includes recruiting another member of the Guardians of the Dawn to Project Prometheus.
Who is this hero? Well you’ll have to wait another week to find out.
Today is Free Comic Book Day, the day when people check out new comics at their local comic book store.
A lot of big and not-so-big publishers, including Image and DC (Marvel said no this year), have special free issues to share, from new collaborations to returning characters from TV shows like “Supernatural” and “The Greatest American Hero”.
Well, we here at Battlerock Comics have nothing but free comics! Mostly because we’re not allowed to charge for the comics given the rights owned by the various source materials.
But today is a good opportunity for us to give an update about a comic series that was on the back burner for several years.
When Jason Knight and the other members of the Guardians of the Dawn started going after the corrupt officers of the Paragon City Police Force, they had no idea how far up the corruption went, nor did they know just what those corrupt officers would do for retaliation. By Issue #3, Jason Knight was presumed dead and framed for the brutal murder of one of those corrupt officers.
But Jason didn’t go without setting up contingencies. His sidekick, Cardinal Syn, would soon pick up where he left off, creating her own task force of various heroes, including new heroes like Artema, Ally Kazam, and Streetangel, and with established heroes like the Elite Ice Queen, KDave, and the hero formerly known as Street Justice.
The Task Force assembles! (“Task Force Twilight” #3)
The series paused after Issue #5, with Cardinal Syn being taken into police custody after being supposedly betrayed by one of their own.
So the question is… what happened after that? Did the Task Force prevail? How did the conflict with the corrupt cops end?
Unfortunately circumstances forced us to pause the story for a few years, and by the time we were able to get back into “The City”, we were unable to bring back all the material we had previously set up. A big reason had to do with the new official licensing of City of Heroes Homecoming with NC Soft, which meant a lot of characters and bases had to be shelved and everything restarted new.
So the decision was made to finish telling the story, but only in text.
Starting with Issue #6, “Task Force Twilight” will be continuing as text-only backstories to the new “Galatea Powers” series, starting with “Galatea Powers” Issue #2 and continuing until Issue #5. Each backstory issue will continue the story as they were meant to be shown in comic format, but with words instead of images.
There is actually a history behind this. If you’ve ever read the first issues of “Action Comics” back in 1938, you’d know that Superman was only the first story. Beyond that were other stories, including those of Marco Pollo, “Pep” Morgan, and Tex Thompson, along with several text-only short stories. “Action Comics” back then was more of an anthology series than just focusing on one hero. Eventually, though, that changed, and Superman soon became the sole star. But the concept of anthology comics continued for decades after that, with one of the most famous of them being “Heavy Metal Magazine”, and DC even dabbled with anthology comics a few times with “Action Comics”.
But here, we’re using the opportunity to finish telling the tale of the events in Paragon City from 2017 to 2018, showing what happened to the heroes of Paragon City during that time between “Task Force Twilight” #5 and “Galatea Powers” #1.
“Galatea Powers” #2 is still in production, but stay tuned for updates on its release. In the meantime, be sure to visit your local comic shop and pick up the free comics they have to offer.
So it’s been two weeks since the release of the first issue of “Galatea Powers” and the reviews have been largely positive.
Some people have expressed their pleasure at the return of a City of Heroes centered comic. As longtime readers of our comics know, we used to have a whole group of comic creators that banded together to create comics, with one of them actually having his custom character becoming part of the City’s lore. When NCSoft officially shut down the game, a lot of those creators moved on.
So some of the longtime players that have enjoyed the game and came back now that it’s operating on an officially-licensed server are happy to know that at least one of those comic creators is back and still creating stories in the City.
Sadly, not everyone liked the comic. The City of Heroes Reddit thread had one person that sabotaged the karma on this release.
To which, I take exception to. It’s not a “faux pas”. AI is a tool. Yes, some publishers like DC have said they will not use it for their art or stories, and I have no problem with that. I used it to create a cover that stands out for the first issue of a comic series. They have the luxury of being able to pay artists and writers and to get paid for their releases.
It’s no different than the foil covers that Marvel inundated readers with in the 90’s for all their “first issue” releases. No different than the “scandalous” and “provocative” cover pose from “Spider-Woman” #1 in 2014. No different than when independent publishers come up with “nude variant” covers. It’s a tool. Nothing more.
And, as I’ve said previously, I have no plans to use it to make future covers. There was an opportunity to come up with the image, and I took it. I’ve spent years creating covers for my comics using in-game content. That won’t change, as you will find out with the next issue.
Speaking of, it looks like the second issue will not be out until the start of 2026. There is too much going on in the real world for me to work on the next issue. A lot of it is related to the loss of my number one supporter, who passed away back in May, and whose estate I’m still helping to settle.
So keep checking in, keep checking the socials, and see when the next issue will be coming up.
Galatea Powers is back in the city where it all began for Battlerock Comics!
For years, Galatea Powers has worked as a proud member of the Guardians of the Dawn, working with friends and family, defending both the city and the world from threats abroad and from space.
But now she faces a new challenge from her dark past, and this time she must face it without the help of her fellow Guardians!
Here’s an exclusive peek at the debut issue of “Galatea Powers”.
According to writer/creator David 2, the first issue serves as a re-introduction to the character and also to the series.
“It’s been a few years since we’ve been to Paragon City. Some of the longtime readers could benefit from the catching up, and, for the new readers, this is a quick way to get to know the characters.”
“Galatea Powers” #1 has a few firsts. This is not only the first solo title series set in “The City”, but also being the first series to have an AI-generated cover.
“We’ve played with AI for backgrounds in ‘Future’s Guardian’,” said David 2, “but this was the first time we used AI to create a photo-realistic cover image of Galatea. It took a few tweaks but I was really glad with how it turned out. It really captured Galatea’s look for 2025.”
While David 2 enjoyed working with AI, he says he has no plans on using it regularly.
“It’s a good tool, but it’s not perfect, and it doesn’t give the same look as the in-game images that I’ve been using all this time.”
Other publishers, such as DC Comics, have officially said they would not use AI in either their images or their stories, continuing their reliance on writers, editors, and artists to tell their stories.
“Galatea Powers” #1 will be online on Saturday, November 1st.
Hey everyone, this is David 2 of Battlerock Comics.
I just wanted to apologize for the really long absence. It’s been a really challenging string of months.
My mom, otherwise known as Patt Matt in the MMO world, had been suffering a series of health problems in these recent years. Just after this past Christmas, she suffered a major stroke. While the doctors were able to remove the clot in her brain, the damage was still severe. She was intubated and put on a feeding tube.
I spent every possible day with her at the hospital and the first critical care facility for her, with the hopes that she would recover and be strong enough to eventually come home. Unfortunately her progress plateaued, especially when she was moved to another facility on the other side of the state, which prevented me from seeing her. She ended up going to the hospital multiple times for various problems.
Finally the doctors discovered that she had suffered a second stroke. In addition, the bleeding in her brain from the first stroke resumed. With all the complications that were going on, she finally succumbed to them and passed away at the end of May.
Needless to say, it has been very challenging for me. First, with spending available time with my mom at the hospital and first care facility, and then working on keeping the house going and bills paid while getting updates from nurses when I couldn’t see her. Every so often I could come up with some side project, but working on comics was hard to do.
My mom was a source of strength and encouragement for me as a multimedia creator. She was a sounding board for my works. She was curious about the MMO world I was so interested in, which was why she had a presence in City of Heroes, Champions Online, and even in Star Trek Online, even if it wasn’t a large one.
In addition to getting her affairs in order, I will also have to find a new home. This means there will still be more delays in getting works out, and there have been several projects planned, including a return to the City of Heroes now that “the secret” is no longer one.
I hope that you will be patient with me as I work to get things in order and eventually return to creating the comics you have enjoyed reading. I will provide updates when possible, and I thank you all in advance for your patience and understanding.
It’s been a tumultuous time here at Battlerock Comics, both in the pages and behind the scenes.
The “Negatea” story was wrapped up, with Millennium City getting a new hero, only to see her seemingly perish. But, in the end, we learn she survives.
Meanwhile things have been challenging here in the real world. Making comics take time and energy, and sometimes personal responsibilities take those things away. It would be one thing if Battlerock Comics were a full-time money-making publication. Then there would be plenty of time and energy to work on issues. Sadly, the very nature of this publication doesn’t allow money to be made, at least not without support from the very MMORPG world that inspires the comics.
So we thank you for your patience and support as we struggle to bring issues to you for your enjoyment.
With that in mind, we go back in time to when a certain undead caretaker ended up saving Christmas.
This is an audio drama from 2021 featuring Aaron Nile from the pages of “Battlerock Comics Presents”. A morally questionable rogue who died centuries ago and returned as an undead agent of vengeance, Aaron finds himself in an interesting situation when an old anarchist shows up at a holiday party to threaten someone he was charged with watching over.
“The Holiday Spirit” – A Champions Online audio story by David 2
Happy Holidays everyone, and may we all have a prosperous New Year.
Markman Gold and the corporate giant ARGENT have made their claim on Negative Galatea, and now Galatea Future and Major Cross must fight a different battle to uncover the secrets of the super-powered android and find out who or what killed its creator.
Plus, Agent Vipra makes her move with Negative Galatea’s “brother”, the homicidal KI113R, in Vipra’s new attempt to reclaim Negative Galatea for VIPER.
(Galatea Future in the Renaissance Center to celebrate 15 years of Champions)
On September 1st, 2009, the world of superhero MMORPGs expanded with the official debut of “Champions Online”. Based on the pen-and-paper game “Champions”, the online version lets players create a superhero to fight crime and save the day in Millennium City, getting help and missions from members of the iconic superhero group “The Champions”.
This month marks fifteen years of the MMORPG, which quickly went from subscription-only to free-to-play with purchasable items, and it still continues today.
Players will often get free items to celebrate anniversary of the MMO. In the past these include free freeform slots, pets, costume pieces and even vehicles. There are also rare challenges, and regular celebrations in the Renaissance Center featuring Champions hero and pop singer Sapphire singing her top hit “We are Champions”.
Galatea Future, the alternate-timeline version of Galatea Powers from the world of “City of Heroes”, joined the world of Champions Online in 2011 with “The Lost Adventures of Galatea Future” #1, and she has since called this universe her home. She has since made a name for herself, not just as a superhero, but also as a best-selling author.
Speaking of our resident Guardian…
(Preview of “Future’s Guardian” 28)
Work is progressing with Issue 28 of “Future’s Guardian”, which will be the climatic conclusion of the four-part “Negation” storyline. What will happen now that the terror cult VIPER have their hands on one of two androids capable of killing Galatea Future? And what will be the fate of the other android, Negative Galatea, aka Negatea? Can our hero keep Negatea away from the manipulative Markman Gold?
“Future’s Guardian” 28 has a tentative release date of September 27, but feel free to catch up on past issues of the series at the “Future’s Guardian” page.
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