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.
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.
It’s hard to believe that it has been twenty years that the gates opened up and the City of Heroes were open for heroes young and old.
The City of Heroes opened on April 27th, 2004. At the time it was the first superhero-themed MMORPG that allowed users to create their own hero and go on adventures to save the city from villains. Users were given an ever-expanding list of costume items to personalize their characters, eventually given the means to change outfits, and even make more customizations with aura effects and power shadings.
As the years progressed, “The City” evolved and expanded to include the “City of Villains”, giving players the means to create villains that would go on their own infamous adventures and build their notoriety. Then they went further and created “Going Rogue”, where an alternate universe was opened up and the heroes they once knew were evil versions and a middle ground was created that allowed players to swap between hero and villain sides, or to be something in between.
Where once it was solely a subscription game, eventually a unified City of Heroes became free-to-play with the means to pay for extra features, following a trend set by similar games such as Champions Online and DC Universe Online.
Sadly, despite a publicized plea to stay open, parent company NC Soft made the decision to cancel the City of Heroes, with the final shutdown happening in 2012.
But “The City” itself did not die. It carried on with private servers operating in secret, funded by the users themselves. Not only did they keep the game going, they even managed to expand on the game on the own, finishing details on zones such as Kalisti Wharf that were still in the development stages at the time of the official shutdown.
The City of Heroes will always hold a special place for Battlerock Comics and David 2, as it was here that the idea of not-for-profit comics could be made using characters and settings from the MMO. One of the first unique characters was Colonel John Battlerock, also known as Battlerock X. But long time comic readers of our site would probably recognize characters such as Galatea Powers, Ryder Lightning, MidKnight X, and Captain Paragonna, all of whom were heroes in Paragon City, and, thanks to fellow residents of “The City” and NC Soft, are still there today.
Galatea Powers on Talos Island
So congratulations to the City of Heroes for twenty years of capes and adventures, and here’s to hoping this city will go on being free forever.
To start off the new year, we’ve brought back the Cryptic Messages.
The Cryptic Messages are an homage to the “chalkboard” messages in the DC Universe, where cryptic messages reference certain events that either have happened or will happen. The readers are then challenged to figure out what each message means.
Here at Battlerock Comics, the Cryptic Messages first appeared on chalkboards seen in “Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight”, but would eventually appear in other message boards throughout the other comics based in the City of Heroes MMO.
It’s been difficult to incorporate such a chalkboard in the world of Champions Online, but thankfully that isn’t the only medium available.
Having said that… we bring you the latest version of the Cryptic Messages… The Cryptic Screen.
As with the Cryptic Chalkboards, each message in the Cryptic Screen makes reference to something that either has happened or will happen in the pages of Battlerock Comics.
Notice there’s an entry that says “THE STORIES REPEAT” that is crossed out. That is a reference to a scene in “Battlerock Comics Presents” #4.
So the question is… what do the rest of the messages make reference to?
Keep checking with the Battlerock Comics website and find out as we soar in 2024!
It’s Halloween weekend, and we here at Battlerock Comics would like to share in the scary festivities with a look at comics past.
CITY OF HEROES
Our first venture involves a hero who isn’t a witch in the beginning, but later learned by some of the best.
Courtney Hart started as a frumpy teenager who got her hands on a cursed spellbook and became locked into being eternally beautiful and with fire-based superpowers. She adopted the codename Coeur Du Feu(or “Heart of Fire”).
As a member of the Guardians of the Dawn, Courtney earned the respect of both her fellow heroes and also some of the more powerful mystical members.
In her debut in “Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight” #9, Courtney went toe-to-toe with The Cabal, the biggest collection of witches and wizards in the world of the City of Heroes to retrieve a cursed object before it could kill the one that possessed it.
Coeur Du Feu getting “fired up” to go to work.
Eventually her powers would develop to where she would need to train with the famed Stonehenge Coven, the premiere coven on the planet.
In “The Guardian Powers” #9, we are introduced to Tessa Romanna, the mother of the teenage Pyrogurl. Even though she’s now an executive with Hero Corps, Tessa is still someone that you do not want to cross when it comes to her daughter.
As members of the private Crey Police Force discovered the hard way.
In what was aptly titled “Galatea’s Bad Day”, our favorite superhero started her day with an Armageddon nightmare, followed by a siege involving a minor deity…
… to the reanimated flesh-monsters known as the Vahzilok…
Of course in the world of Champions Online, there are plenty of mystical forces as well.
In “Future’s Guardian” #5, we are introduced to Elite Ice, a young ice-based mystic who lives up to the arrogance of her name.
Of course she does end up delivering what she promises.
Finally, of course, we have our “Reaper of Evil” himself… Penitence.
In the debut issue of “Battlerock Comics Presents” #1, we are introduced to the man who is not alive but also not dead as he tries to sit out the annual Blood Moon event.
But, of course, he is called into action, and he is forced to unleash his ultimate power.
One has to wonder what else will await our heroes… and not-so-heroes… during this season of witches and zombies and monsters.
In a city full of superheroes, sometimes the tribulations of one can go ignored.
Martin Keys, the once-and-former Street Justice, was one such hero.
A friend of Galatea Powers, Martin earned the respect of the other members of the Guardians of the Dawn when he answered the call for help during the “Time and Changes” story in “Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight”. He even carried the shield that was originally supposed to go to Captain Paragonna.
Sadly, Street Justice was one of thousands who were in Galaxy City when it was devastated in a Shivan meteor shower. Although presumed dead, he and over 2000 others were saved through the efforts of his fellow Guardians.
But his time away was not easy for him or the other “lost” heroes. His one-time girlfriend was critically injured by a teammate during an accident. Enraged, Martin went after the one he blamed for the accident, only to end up losing both his arms to frostbite.
Since then, Martin has struggled with trying to adapt with new cybernetic arms. As we will learn in “Task Force Twilight” #3, the loss of his human limbs has not only sidelined him as a hero, but it also affected him as a tailor.
“When we see Martin again, we find he’s struggling to find work,” said writer/creator David 2. “Tailors are known for their creative minds and their hands, so when you lose your hands and you have to re-adapt with prosthetics, you can’t just pick up where you left off.”
But something causes Martin to leap back into action…
“This is a man who is loyal to his friends,” said David 2. “He can’t just sit back and watch things happen. Especially when it involves someone he knows. He wants to help. He wants to feel he still can contribute, and not just for emotional support.”
“There is still a hero in Martin Keys. And you’ll see what kind of hero he becomes.”
“Task Force Twilight” #3 goes online on March 30th.
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