Line #24 Literature/JusticeWing


1	''Justice Wing'' is a series of short stories, serials and novels (both WebOriginal and published {{Literature}}) by Creator/EricBurnsWhite. It is set in a {{Superhero}} universe and includes a significant amount of ComicBookTropes {{Deconstruction}}. Though the stories contain plenty of Superheroish action, they tend to focus more on the reality of being a super hero or villain (its most famous story, ''Literature/InterviewingLeather'', is literally a fictional magazine interview with a supervillain) as well as the increasing pressures between [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual parahumans]] and unpowered prosahumans. Unlike most {{deconstruction}}s of super hero fiction, Justice Wing takes the four color world of supers at face value (and its sequel ''Interviewing Trey''), but several other stories have been written in the setting. The stories fit together, but cover several different eras. While it's intentionally kept vague, stories seem to be set anywhere from the early 1980s through to the present day, and seem to correspond to different comic book eras: Emergence (roughly corresponding to MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, Halcyon Days (roughly the MediaNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks), the [[CrisisCrossover Apocalypse Agenda]] (a pastiche of Crisis-style events), and In Nadir (roughly the MediaNotes/TheIronAgeofComicBooks). Some of the stories are set in single eras, while some novel-length works span several eras.
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3	Current stories include:
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5	* [[https://banter-latte.com/2018/01/09/jw-emergence-1/ Justice Wing: Emergence]]: The origin story of Justice Wing and its related characters.
6	** [[https://banter-latte.com/series/motivation/ Justice Wing: Motivation]]: When Julia Kelly – the significant other of a superhero – is murdered by one of his enemies, her sister Emily and her fiancé Landon – aka the hero called the Artifact – have to try to put her affairs in order and find some way of moving on when the rest of the world seems fixated just on the Artifact himself, and how Julia's death affects his [[DisposableWoman motivation]].
7	* [[https://banter-latte.com/2017/07/07/vilify-5/ Vilify 5]]: Lady Velvet -- a retired SuperVillain -- attends a convention for fans specifically of super villains alongside some old pros and at least one new villainous retiree
8	* Literature/InterviewingLeather : A music journalist named Todd Chapman gets an opportunity to interview a C-list SuperVillain.
9	** [[https://banter-latte.com/portfolio/featured-interviewing-trey/ Interviewing Trey]]: Todd Chapman is kidnapped by one of the most notorious, deadly, and worst of all insane villains, the Jack O'Knaves -- ostensibly to write a book about the Jack, but the Jack always has a plan.
10	** [[https://banter-latte.com/series/forebears/ Forebears]]: Years before Leather gave her interview, her parents (lawyer Mandalora Hartley Shapiro and philosophy professor Evan Shapiro) had adventures and secrets of their own, set at the end of the Halcyon Days era, and then the end of the Apocalypse Agenda.
11	** [[https://banter-latte.com/series/becoming-leather-greenhorn/ Becoming Leather: Greenhorn]]: After a first tier supervillain takes an interest in Leather after her first arrest, Leather is recruited as a greenhorn thief in Anchor's Marines. But, with teammates who resent her, a profession where backstabbing is just part of the daily routine, and with the arch-villain Beguile taking an unusual interest in her, Leather has to prove her worth to the others during a huge heist.
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15	!!Trope Examples:
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17	[[folder:Justice Wing Emergence]]
18	* AlliterativeName: Many examples, including but not limited to Barbara Babcock, Cindy Calloway, Leonardo Lucas, Delilah Dare, Cordelia Chance, and so on....
19	* BadassNormal: Barbara Babcock is a normal reporter, but she [[spoiler: takes down a professional mob enforcer in seconds in #2]].
20	* BadBoss: Leonardo Lucas. [[spoiler: He berates his workers and literally imprisons one to play mindgames with him instead of asking him straight out about a potential planetary extinction event.]]
21	* BusFullofInnocents: Chad Keillor faces this in #1, when [[spoiler: a tractor-trailer jackknifes behind several stopped cars full of people, meaning all of them need to be saved within seconds]].
22	* TheCape: Chad Keillor, without any doubt.[[note]]From [[https://banter-latte.com/2018/01/09/jw-emergence-1/ Justice Wing Emergence #1]]: “I have been blessed with abilities. With or without those abilities, I have a responsibility to be a good neighbor to every one of my neighbors — and that means everyone on this planet. If that means bringing a guy’s pizza to his office so he can make an important phone call, that’s what it means. If it means exposing my abilities and potentially risking myself, that’s what it means. That’s non-negotiable. If that means we can’t live in the same apartment any more, I’m sorry. I really am. I love you and always will — you’re my best friend. You’re my sister as much as Kathy is. You’re the first person I ever loved outside my immediate family. But I will not let people suffer because helping them bothers you.”[[/note]]
23	* CaptainErsatz: Chad Keillor, one of the first protagonists, is clearly inspired by Superman. Similarly, Leonardo Lucas is inspired by Lex Luthor.
24	** Barbara Babcock is cut from the Lois Lane mold, and her partner Teddy Porter could arguably be a Captain Ersatz for Jimmy Olsen.
25	** Cindy Calloway could similarly be inspired by Lana Lang.
26	** ''Captain Prestige and the Power of ZEUGMA'' is a comic book character in the Justice Wing Universe. Kenny Kirkland can call down an exploding comet by shouting the magic word Zeugma, transforming him into the mighty Captain Prestige. This is a full Captain Ersatz of Captain Marvel/SHAZAM -- taking the public domain version of the character and changing the names to avoid trademark violation.
27	* CityOfAdventure: Crown City, Illinois seems to be a super heroic epicenter.
28	* ClarkKenting: Chad Keillor, perhaps predictably.
29	* CrimefightingWithCash: It is suggested that the Montreal family of Greystone City will fit this.
30	* DifferentlyPoweredIndividual: Project Tangent Swan refers to super powered individuals as 'expressed.'
31	** Generally people with super powers, regardless of source, are called 'parahumans.'
32	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Leonardo Lucas's base -- just called 'the Facility' -- goes at least nine levels below ground.
33	* EnergyAbsorption: Chad Keillor uses this to prevent sonic booms and air-compression fireballs, among other things.
34	* {{Flight}}: Chad Keillor can fly at incredibly fast speed.
35	* GadgeteerGenius: Mason Temple and Leonardo Lucas.
36	* InsufferableGenius: Leonardo Lucas
37	* IntrepidReporter: Barbara Babcock and Teddy Porter
38	* MilitarySuperhero: Lynette Hardesty was a United States Air Force officer before she joined Operation Tangent Swan -- her parahuman abilities were part of the reason she was selected for the program.
39	* MostCommonSuperPower: Cordelia Chance is implied to possess this.
40	* TheParagon: Chad Keillor. [[spoiler:To the point where his later superhero codename is literally ''Paragon.'']]
41	* SecretIdentity: At the start of the story, all parahumans are undercover.
42	* SecretKeeper: Cindy Calloway knows about Chad Keillor's powers [[spoiler: and argues that Keillor should be staying in hiding instead of using his powers even in secret]].
43	* SpyCatsuit: Cordelia Chance wears one of these in red. Lynette Hardesty admits to preferring these in the field as well.
44	* StockSuperheroDayJobs: There are a number of these in play
45	** Averted with Chad Keillor -- he works for a major metropolitan newspaper... as a fact checker. This lets him spend most of his time out of the office 'researching at the library' (he has a degree in Library Science) and gives him the chance to help people and still make a living.
46	** Mason Temple -- ubertech engineer
47	** Sophia Montreal and the rest of the Montreal Family are Busy Socialites.
48	** Astrid Bixby is an Attorney
49	** Lynette Hardesty and Lillian Tartikoff are both secret government agents.
50	* SuperHeroGods: Astrid Bixby dreams of rainbow bridges and Norse mythology... [[spoiler: and is known to be the goddess Freya in later stories.]]
51	* SuperheroesInSpace: Chad Keillor was trained by an interstellar organization called Interplanet which seems to fit this mold.
52	* SuperheroesWearTights: Even though he's not a public hero as yet, Chad Keillor wears a blue bodysuit when he's out helping people.
53	* SupermanSubstitute: Chad Keillor can fly super fast, is apparently invulnerable, can melt things, freeze things, is super strong ''and'' can lift up a car at super speed without snapping its axle off, apparently has super hearing and x-ray vision... there's really no question here.
54	* SupervillainLair: Even before parahumans are publicly known, Leonardo Lucas has one of these.
55	* WorldsStrongestMan: Once again, Chad Keillor.
56	* XRayVision: Chad Keillor has this.
57	[[/folder]]
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59	[[folder:Vilify 5]]
60	* BadassNormal: Fletcher Joan
61	* TheCape: Paragon -- the greatest hero on Earth... as the ex-villains know all too well.
62	** Refraction [[spoiler: retired from villany after being beaten by Paragon.]]
63	* ClarkKenting: Subverted -- one of the fans who attends Vilify 5 comes cosplaying as a blue-suited, glasses wearing mild mannered reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper.
64	* CodeName: Most of the ex-villains have these. Clinton Potifer -- aka the Cipher -- makes a point of insisting on his codename during the convention.
65	* TheCowl: The Nightwatch.
66	** Other codenamed ex-villains include Fletcher Joan, Madam Hypnos, Refraction, the Hook, Leathertooth, and of course Lady Velvet herself.
67	** Heroic codenames mentioned include the Beacon, the Centurion, Paragon, and the Nightwatch.
68	* CutLexLuthorACheck: Subverted -- Refraction had started out making money legitimately with his engineering breakthroughs, only a market crash and bad contracts for his patents left him near-broke, so he decided to go into crime instead.
69	** Lady Velvet is an alchemist. She started as a villain seeking wealth and luxury, but ultimately took to using her alchemical skills to make money -- largely through artisanal makeup, bath, and body products... but with a few extras on the side.
70	* DatingCatwoman: Lady Velvet and Nightstick, back during the brighter days of heroes and villains.
71	* FastestThingAlive: The Beacon.
72	* LeotardOfPower: Lady Velvet wears one of these in (of course) velvet, as does Janet Bailey, who staffs Lady Velvet's dealer room booth.
73	* MostCommonSuperPower: Lady Velvet herself, as well as her 'apprentice' (really her booth worker) Janet Bailey.
74	** Fletcher Joan is implied to have similar attributes.
75	* SupermanSubstitute: Paragon. He's such a Superman Substitute that the Jim Croce song "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" apparently has the lyric "You don't tug on Paragon's cape" in this universe.

Context Literature / JusticeWing