The recent cold savaging me has me laid out for a few days, so instead of a Hero Beat article, which required way too much thought for my mucus drenched brain, I decided to go with something different this week around.

I have two main inspirations for superheroes. The first is a given… comics. I read comics and figure out what I would have done instead or what I enjoyed reading. The second is music, and I concoct battles and superheroes in the sweep of songs. Music is very important to me, and there’s nothing like blasting Two Steps from Hell or Hans Zimmer on the open road, letting my mind drift to scenes of superheroes and villains. I even put together albums for players when I can, and the following are some of the songs I burned for my players based on the Heroes without Borders campaign.

SMALL CHANGE HERO: The Heavy

I heard this song when I first started watching the show: Strike Back. It seemed perfect for a superhero campaign that was showing what would happen when you mix superheroes and social media and the idea behind the Internet becoming the new baseline for fame.

GHOST: VNV Nation

The campaign began with the death of one of the last Able-Class Metas, someone who fought during WWII. This song was his eulogy in a way and mean to signify the death of a generation of heroes.

NERO: Two Steps from Hell – Archangel Album

This piece embodies both a short comic that I want to write for Heroes without Borders, and it fits perfectly for me the idea of Prodigies, the children of metas who are born into their powers. It also hold a special place for me because when I first heard it, it also embodied a tribute I would love to have done for the MMO City of Heroes.

I COME WITH KNIVES: IAMX

This was never on the original hero album, but in some ways, I can’t help but see the villain Bangarang in this song. So it’s become his theme song in my own head.

LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND: Blackhawk Down Score by Hans Zimmer

This powerful piece by Hans Zimmer is from Blackhawk Down, and it perfectly embodies the group Heroes without Borders themselves. These heroes do not embody a single country’s values, but an ethos of compassion regardless of religion, politics, culture, or creed.

NEMESIS: VNV Nation

A more action oriented piece that’s a bit of the theme song for the vigilantes… metas who use their power to pursue and punish the bad guy. It perfectly embodies taking the law into your own hands and the frustration with the current legal system that drives many metas to met out justice.

NEW FUTURE WEAPON: Billy Idol

I loved Billy Idol ever since I heard White Wedding, and I respected him when he released his “Cyberpunk” album. While not one of his best, New Future Weapon it’s perfect for a superhero campaign, especially for thrill jockeys in powered armor suits or flighted blasters.

MACHINE GUN (16Bit Remix): Noisia

So dubstep isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy elements of it. In particular, what I can only describe as Transformers-in-battle music is actually perfect for New York’s Armor Mobile Police force, a mechanized police force that apprehends and enforces the law among metas.

NO CHURCH IN THE WILD: Jay Z & Kanye West

Okay, so say what you will about Kanye West, but I first heard this song in conjunction with the accompanying video and its powerful imagery. To me, the song embodies a new type of metahuman, the libertarian who doesn’t fall into definitions of superhero and supervillain, but rather embodies the rule of self-governance and activism. The song also influenced the first page of the webcomic itself, with Anarchy Blaze and Riot Act fighting at the Zuccotti Park Riots.

ART OF CONFLICT: VNV Nation

This was the theme song for the War College. The fact that is was interspersed with Sun Tzu quotes seemed highly appropriate for the academy dedicated to training metahumans to be responsible members of society.

DECEPTICONS: Transformers Score by Steve Jablosnky

This was the villain’s theme, and while my heroes had yet to encounter him/her, they started seeing his/her influence.

THE HUMBLING RIVER: Puscifer

I first heard this song when the Transformers: Fall of Cybertron trailer premiered to this song. I fell in love with it and used The Humbling River as the “End Credits” song for my campaign. It seemed like a good end of battle, end of a long road piece.

And just because I loved the Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Trailer and the accompanying song so much, I’ll post it here.

Individual Suites

My go-to for theme music and combat music in general tends to be Two Steps From Hell and composers like Thomas Bergersen. Sure, I do go to Hans Zimmer when his pieces don’t ramble too much (as well as other movie composers), but the Two Steps crew have consistently nailed my preferences. If their music sounds familiar, it’s because they started with trailer music for games and movies, and the first time I heard them was for the Star Trek Reboot with their song: Freedom Fighter. Since then, they’ve been the lynchpin of my campaign scores from Fantasy, to Superheroes, to Steampunk.

FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Two Steps from Hell – Invincible Album

PROTECTORS OF THE EARTH: Two Steps from Hell – Invincible Album

TO GLORY: Two Steps from Hell – Invincible Album

This is one of several go to combat pieces I listen to when I’m daydreaming. It’s also triggered ideas for superheroes that end up in my books and campaigns.

DREAMMAKER: Thomas Bergersen – Illusions Album

RADA: Thomas Bergersen – Illusions Album

ARCHANGEL: Two Steps from Hell – Archangel Album

I’ve found few songs that embody flying more than this song.

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL: Two Steps from Hell – Archangel Album

A suitably epic piece for a mass superhero battle.

STRENGTH OF A THOUSAND MEN: Two Steps from Hell – Archangel Album

Crisis music, or that’s the scene that plays in my head, as innocent lives are stake.

I wanted to thank you one and all for the wonderful support we’ve received for our Webcomic. It was a great launch in 2015, and we have so much more planned for 2016. There will be no Hero Beat today because of New Years Eve prep, housecleaning, work for the office, and me being sick, but I leave 2015 and you with a sneak peek at some of the things we have planned.

Happy New Year, one and all! May your 2016 be all and more than you expect and deserve.

One of my lifelong hobbies is organizing things and, when I can, helping people out. My earliest attempts at putting stuff together go as far back as my mid-twenties, when I organized 1-day gaming conventions using university classrooms; or when I created Mordred, a pen-and-paper Amateur Press Association; or when worked with the guys at Protoculture Addicts to create one of the first anime magazines in America; or… I’ve probably forgotten a bunch of things I’ve done along the road.

About 2 years ago, with Lucien and artist Ghislain Barbe, we attempted a weekly webcomic (Get Stuffed) which, unfortunately, did not last. Around the same time, I helped Normand Bilodeau (Henbe) put together Dungeon Sweet Dungeon (http://www.dungeonsweetdungeon.com), which is still running strong. And more recently, with Lucien, we put our resources together to create the comic you’re now reading–Heroes Without Borders. I can say I’m really proud of how it’s turning out and hope you’ll enjoy the art and stories that are ahead.

But Mozaik Comics isn’t just something I’m doing for Heroes Without Borders. I want this to be a place where aspiring comic creators can come and benefit from a hassle-free hosting service. There are a lot of hurdles when you want to create a webcomic: creating the site itself, setting up accounts & accesses for members (if required), interacting with the hosting service in case of trouble, managing backups (& restoring them when all goes wrong), setting up advertisement & revenue streams, promoting the comic, etc. Without tooting my own horn, I’m starting to know a bit more what it’s all about and I can help.

So if you or someone you know is in need of a hosting service, I can probably help you out. I’m already paying for a hosting service and I’m not using all of its resources, so if you want to start your own webcomic, contact me. I can help you make it happen. (I can’t help you with the content itself, that’s your job–but I can handle everything else.)

Just thought I’d put it out there. Mozaik Comics is there for you. Email me.

Jean C.

As you may have noticed, we’re starting to fill in the backstory of the world and the mythology of the comic. I will add more information in the weeks and months to come. I want to turn this world and website into a campaign resource for tabletop gamers, and the fine folks at Green Ronin Publishing have kindly allowed me to use their Super-Powered License to stat up the characters using Mutants & Masterminds. I’m totally stoked that I get to offer a webcomic in this fashion and I can’t wait to share the story with the rest of you. A major thank you also goes out to Chris Pramas, Nicole Lindroos, Steve Kenson, and Jon Leitheusser for this wonderful opportunity to share with you my two loves of superheroes and gaming.

I have two loves in life. Horror and superheroes. Well, I have more than two loves, but when it comes to writing, those top my list. I read comics as a kid, pretty much anything I could get my hands on in Saudi Arabia. That generally meant Spiderman, Superman, Green Lantern, or Archie (with Betty & Veronica blacked out with a marker when they wore swimsuits). When I’d visit family in Beirut or in Rome, I’d get my hands on bande dessinée like Asterix & Obelix, Tintin, Spirou, Lucky Luke, etc. Tintin was my favorite, especially with the creepy visuals and horror of mummified Incan king, Rascar Capac in The Seven Crystal Balls. That’s another discussion, though.

I loved superheroes in the way most kids do, but my transition came when I was living in Houston, Texas in 1982 and I found that first issue of the Wolverine miniseries in the comic rack of a convenience store. I was already playing D&D, and finding that comic with an unmasked Wolverine, beckoning to me with a finger and a grin marked my first encounter with the more adult-themed comics and that approaching demarcation point that separated Bronze Age and Modern Age comics. That moment alone introduced me to the badass, the anti-hero, the outcast.

I collected hard and furious to satiate my habits. I was a Marvel guy: X-Men, Avengers, Spiderman, Rom, Micronauts, Dr. Strange, the Defenders…. I broke the budget of small nations for my collections, and sadly, I stole money from my parents, marking one of the darkest points in my relationship with my mother and father. I rebuilt that trust eventually, and never broke it like that again.

My love of comics continued, however, and remains with me to this day, though not with the same fever. I left comics when the annual summer events turned story into spectacle. I was seduced back by Mark Waid’s and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come, and courted more serious titles and went beyond the spandex with Transmetropolitan, Sandman, Hellboy, Y the Last Man, The Walking Dead. I wept reading the Pride of Baghdad and I Kill Giants graphic novels. I played the MMO City of Heroes from nearly launch to the closing of the servers and continue to dream of flying in Paragon City’s skies.

I love heroes and heroines. I love supers not because they are untouchable, but because they endure so much and survive.

Heroes without Borders has been a project bouncing around in my head for the last several years, and it’s been born from my love of comics. It’s my take on a heroic universe, one where I avoid the tropes, or what I call: “What if Superman and Batman were: Evil, Lovers, Communists, Insane, etc.” I try to put a spin on heroes in a world much like ours, short of the governmental abuse of metahumans or the public’s hatred of them. There is no magic and no aliens in this world. This is entirely a genetic-fueled universe, and in the weeks and months to come, I hope to share more with you about the world and its heroes.

Welcome to Heroes without Borders. I hope you enjoy your stay.

Lucien Soulban

This project officially started a year ago when I returned from San Diego Comic Con, but it was something on Lucien’s mind for longer than that. I’ll let him tell the background at his convenience, but for my part, I wanted to see if we could get something mainstream started just for fun. Art is by Daniel Martins Oliveira, a talented Argentinian artist I met over the internet (ain’t the web a wonderful thing?).

So without further ado, enjoy HwoB. Leave comments, we live for that stuff!

Jean C.