Love Amongst Strangers
Timeline
1908 – Planet X discovered by Cambridge astronomers. As a result of this discovery, the Mortlake Collective is formed.
1946 – The Mortlake Collective, having received massive backing from left wing Labour Party MPs as well as under-the-counter support from the USSR, is eventually transformed into the United Kingdom Xenobiology Division.
1982 – Lam Kam Po is recruited into UKXD by Braithwaite.
1986 – Former Mister Oblique, Charles Atwell is murdered. Frere Lud becomes Mister Oblique (Rag and Bone).
1991 – Aimi Underwood’s father dies.
1996 – Night Bus
1999 – Time Again, Love Amongst Strangers #0, Love Amongst Strangers (original novel), Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot/Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)
2002 – Lam Kam Po reassigned to Mister Oblique’s department in London. Six months later he becomes Bai Qi’s bodyguard.
2003 – Séance, Training Wheels, Father Figure, Working Hours
2004 – Jeffery Carter recruited by Mister Oblique. Twisted, Careless Whispers
2008 – Countdown to… An Echo of the Way You Knew Me Under Foreign Skies
2009 – An Echo of the Way You Knew Me Under Foreign Skies ~ Love Amongst Strangers (Again)
2010 – Department Ɔ finally absorbed into UKXD. XI, Bounty Hunters, The Golden Myth, The Other Side, Backwards
2011 – Nowhere is Somewhere Sometimes, Cornelius, Underclass
2012 – Jubilee
2013 – Margaret Thatcher in Hell, England is mine, it owes me a Living, Peter Black
2014 – Hell’s Branch Line, _feeniks
A Brief History of Artifice Comics (Part I)
1786 – A British penal colony called Bristol is founded in New South Wales, Australia.
1823 – The first non-criminal British colonists arrive in New South Wales, Australia.
1841 – Bristol renamed Pacific City. Aristotle Licuan is born.
1910 – Charles Dexter Winters born.
1912 – Alhazred Asylum is founded and named in memory of the Mad Arab Abdul Alhazred.
1938 – Henry Burke III becomes Millennium Man. The first of an eventual armada of Millennium Men arrives in deep space from Earth #1.
1940 – Inspired by Millennium Man, Albert Weisz, having discovered an ancient Egyptian scarab that gives him the power to become invisible becomes the costumed hero Magenta the Magician in New York. In England, Charlie Winters, Frederic Shostakovich, Shirley Chambers and her younger brother Johnny become the Fightin’ Fist Four.
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1943 – In a bloody confrontation in the centre of Leicester Square, the Fightin’ Fist Four and Magenta the Magician take on Erlend Romanov/Anna Romanova in one of hir more horrific guises. The creature, still breathing, is confined to the lowest level of HMP Screwtape Downs whilst all villains formerly housed on the basement level and moved up to the higher levels. Romanov/a will remain without food, water or any human contact for the next 56 years.
1944 – The Mages of America (Magenta the Magician, Lady of Knives, Doctor Creep, Sparkfly and Deadboy Smith) form.
1955 – The Fightin’ Fist Four stop ageing. Charlie Winters and Shirley Chambers marry.
1960 – Henry Burke III and Layla Burke (née Miguel) move to Pacific City.
12th October 1963 – Michael Manly born to Frank and Rebecca Manly.
1968 – Victoria Eloise Burke born to Henry and Layla Burke.
1971 – The Mages of America disband.
1975 – Millennium Man faces Fireczar for the final time in the very centre of Pacific City. The conflict concludes with Millennium Man triggering a blast of energy that, in addition to killing Fireczar, unfortunately kills several members of the crowd that gathered to watch their fight.
1977 – The Fightin’ Fist Four visit Earth #746364 and witness the heroes of that world struggle against the evil Bowler. The heroes fail and, of the heroes from that world, only the New Mages escape. The Fightin’ Fist Four swiftly return to their home world and make plans for the Bowler’s arrival.
1978 – Johann Weisz born.
3rd September 1978 – Jeffery Scott Carter, born in Baltimore, Maryland to Michael and Elizabeth Carter.
1979 – The Fightin’ Fist Four become the Faustian Four and, after being declared supervillains by the British government, go underground.
1981 – Layla Burke abandons her daughter and husband.
1989 – Sparkfly is gunned down in a Boston gas station during a robbery. At the moment of his death, all of Sparkfly’s memories and knowledge are downloaded into the mind of his successor, who is now 11 years old. Several prominent members of the superhero community attend the funeral, including Magenta and Henry Burke III (Mysteria: Frozen in Heaven).
1997 – On his 19th birthday, Sparkfly’s successor is contacted by the remaining Mages of America. Taking the name Termin, he joins the Mages and fulfils Sparkfly’s plans of succession.
1998 – Shortly after the death of his mother, Johann Weisz visits his father in London and demands that he had the scarab over. Albert Weisz claims that he no longer has it.
1999 – Romanov/a is released from Screwtape Downs and enters into service for the British government. The Faustian Four unleash their armada of machines against Pacific City in their first stage of their plan to prepare for the coming of the Bowler. Millennium Man defeats the machines but not before Winters detonates the Ebola bomb that will eventually kill Henry Burke less than half a year later. Half of Pacific City’s harbour is destroyed in the process. In February, Cliff Jerrod, the former hero known as Olympus, is elected as mayor of Pacific City, having been a citizen of Australia for the past ten years. Following this, Michael Manly becomes the next Millennium Man, unaware of his predecessor (Artifice Comics Prelude).
2001
February – Jian Li Fong debuts as the Silver Shadow (Artifice Comics Prelude) whilst Millennium Man encounters ShadowWraith. During their struggle, ShadowWraith deals him a severe blow to the head (Millennium Man: Enter ShadowWraith), causing such damage that almost results in his death several months later. ShadowWraith is imprisoned in Alhazred Asylum.
- Whilst in London, Victoria Burke also encounters the enigmatic Erlend Romanov and Anna Romanova (Mysteria: Duality/Identity).
March – The Imperial Magistrate’s emissary, the Bowler arrives and murders Bruce Todd, under the impression that he is Millennium Man. The real Millennium Man is later defeated by the Bowler. (Millennium Man: All Dressed Up).
April – Albert Weisz gives Victoria Burke the scarab he once used in order to stabilise her powers (Mysteria: Born Entertainer).
- The Imperial Magistrate arrives, killing Frederic Shostakovich and Johnny Chambers as she pits Majestic Man against Millennium Man (Millennium Man & Mysteria: Shemhamphorae).
- The Silver Shadow confronts the mysterious Emma Randolph amongst the wreckage of Pacific City (Silver Shadow #4).
- During the Magistrate’s attack on the city, Michael and Elizabeth Carter are killed when their apartment building is destroyed. Jeffrey Carter mysteriously survives.
- Mysteria uses the scarab for the first time to ‘ascend’ and drives back the forces of the Imperial Magistrate. Millennium Man and Mysteria meet for the first time (Millennium Man & Mysteria: Shemhamphorae).
May – Millennium Man and Silver Shadow meet for the first time (Silver Shadow #5).
June – Transformed by the elder gods that first granted him his powers, ShadowWraith makes good his escape from Alhazred Asylum eventually confronting Millennium Man in downtown Pacific City.
July – Bush43 appears in Pacific City, preventing the mugging of a young couple in Bristol Park.
- Mysteria confronts Charlie and Shirley Winters and kills Shirley in cold blood. A beaten Charlie Winters is rescued by the unexpected appearance of the Silver Shadow (Mysteria: Precious Things).
- The Siege Engine is demonstrated to Mayor Cliff Jerrod, Commissioner Jorda
n and staff in the apprehension of Bush43 (Lansing: Actions).
- The Siege Engine defeats Charlie Winters, the machine is later defeated by Millennium Man. Mayor Jerrod dismisses Lansing of his position having recently persuaded Victoria Burke’s company to buy out Lansing Technologies. Meanwhile, Millennium Man is defeated by face the villainess, Venus Mantrap and is apprehended and quickly incarcerated in Alhazred Asylum where non-consensual electro convulsive therapy is administered in order to nullify his powers (Millennium Man #10 – 12).
- In search of a mysterious box containing several mystical statuettes, Tex Arkana and Bryce torture curio-shop owner, Alessandro Foster before discovering the box in the possession of Sheila Torrance and her younger cousin, Mikey Spenser. After a brief chase, both Sheila and Mikey manage to escape back to their homes. Later, Mikey, curious as to what’s inside the box, opens it up and reveals the form of the Emerald Dragon and the wounded Stone Golem. The tiny Emerald attacks, driving Mikey away before searching for food and a place to hide her damaged companion. As she searches, Arkana and Bryce reappear, taking Mikey and his mother hostage and demanding that Sheila met them and hand over the box. Sensing the presence of another talisman, Emerald, swoops down and launches into combat with Fenrir, a talisman given to Arkana in order to protect him. Emerald eventually kills Fenrir in a tussle in the Hillcrest Shopping Centre car park and Bryce and Arkana retreat leaving Sheila in possession of the box and its mysterious statuettes (Talisman: Sweet Dreams & Seeing Things).
2002
January - With the assistance of Victoria Burke’s butler, Alfonse Libatique, Bush43 manages to escape from Alhazred Asylum, inciting a riot as he does so, and then confronts Mayor Cliff Jerrod over his recent policies and gets beaten up. Then the Siege Engine shows up to beat Bush43 a bit more (Bush43 #7 – 8). Before the Engine can dispose of Bush permanently, Erlend Romanov returns and destroys Alhazred. Revealing himself as the asylum’s original architect, Romanov kills Venus Mantrap and Cliff Jerrod and also destroys the Siege Engine before assuming the position of mayor of Pacific City. (Millennium Man #13).
Omake
(“You’ll never guess what my surname is!”)