Robert E. Wronski, Jr.

Robert "Rob" E. Wronski, Jr. (November 18, 1972 – ), who also used pseudonyms including Jim Wright, Bobby Wronski, and Bob Wronski, was the American creator of Powerman, the first of the great comic book superheroes of Super Comics and one of the most recognizable of the 20th century.

Robert E. Wronski, Jr.
Robert E. Wronski, Jr. in 2011
Born	Robert Edward Wronski Junior November 18, 1972 Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer
Pseudonym(s)	Jim Wright, Bobby Wronski, Bob Wronski
Notable works	Powerman, Super Comics # 1
Fiance	Jessica Wierzbowski

Early life

The son of a factory worker and a waitress, Wronski was the oldest of two children. His father Bob Wronski was a factory worker and encouraged his son's artistic inclinations. Wronski's parents divorced when he was eight. Wronski was a fan of movies, comic strips, and especially science fiction. He became active in what would become known as fandom, corresponding with other science fiction fans, including the young future author Phil Sheridan. In 1978, Wronski published what might have been the first SF fanzine associated with Super Comics, Adventures of Other Worlds, which he produced handwritten with a notebook and advertised by word of mouth. He published several other issues over the next few months.

Siegel attended Mahar Regional Junior-Senior High School in Orange, Masachusetts and worked for its weekly student newspaper, The Red and Blue Revue. He was a shy, not particularly popular student, but he achieved a bit of fame among his peers for his popular character, "Ratman." At about age 7, while at Dexter Park Elementary School, he befriended his later collaborator, Phil Sheridan. Wronski described his friendship with the more charismatic Sheridan:

“

We immediately became partners in crime.

”

The writer broke into comics with his own landmark Super Comics, debuting with Super-Bob, Little Bobby, Animal Town U.S.A., Waterman, and Bobby the Kid (Nov. 1979).

Powerman

Wronski created a crazy alien hero named "Krazy-El," bent on understanding human nature. He appeared in the short story "Krazy-El" from Adventures on Other Worlds #1, a science fiction fanzine that Wronski published in 1978. The character was not successful. Tossing and turning in bed one night in 1979, he came upon the more familiar version of the character. Wronski then began to self-publish with co-publisher Deborah Skowronski. Titling it Super-Bob, Wronski chose it as the cover feature for Super Comics' Super Comics #1 (November 1979). The following year, Wronski initiated the syndicated Super-Bob comic strip. Wronski also created the humor strip characters of Little Bobby and Animal Town U.S.A., the western hero Bobby the Kid, and the aquatic character Waterman during this same period.

Doctor John Grandly

Doctor John Grandly

Created by Robert E. Wronski, Jr.

Real Name:  John Grandly

Current Occupation:  Inventor (though it's possible he is retired or deceased)

Parents:  Unknown

Siblings:  None

Spouse:  None

Children:  Jim Hawkins (creation)

Group Affiliation:  None

Place of Birth:  Unknown

Current Place of Residence:  Unknown

First Appearance:  Super Comics # 23, September 1981

Biography:

Doctor John Grandly was a scientist whose expertise was robotics and artificial intelligence.  He had previously worked with inventor Ted Lawson.  In 1981, Grandly actually created a robot that looked like a six year old boy.  He was able to pass the robot off as a real boy.  He named him Jim Hawkins after the boy from his favorite book, Treasure Island.  Though the boy had some trouble initially adapting and learning, he soon began to feel like a real boy.

Two years later, Grandly upgraded Hawkins into a 16 year old model.  Unfortunately, Hawkin's new personality programming worked to well as Hawkins became rebellious, as teens are towards their parents, and exposed himself to the public for who he truly is.  This brought him to the attention of a music promoter who was putting together a rock band whose gimmick was that all band members were teen super heroes.  Hawkins toured for a year with the band, until their fame faded and the band broke up.

Eventually, Hawkins would get Grandly to implant him into an adult body around the age of 26.  Hawkins went off on his own, trying to live a normal life while committing acts of heroism from time to time.  


Grandly's activities since 1988 are unknown.


Comments:


Grandly was a supporting cast member in the "6 Year Old Robot" feature that ran for 10 issues in Super Comics from 1981 to 1982.  


Grandly appeared in Super Rock # 1 (as part of the premise for Hawkins joining the team).


He was mentioned a few times throughout the 12 issue run of Super Rock.


In Super Spotlight # 76, December 1988, Grandly appeared in flashbacks.  


He has not made any appearances since, nor has he been mentioned.

Robot

Robot

Created by Robert E. Wronski, Jr.

Real Name:  Jim Hawkins

Alias:  6 Year Old Robot, 16 Year Old Robot, 26 Year Old Robot

Current Occupation:  Hero

Parents:  Doctor John Grandly

Siblings:  None

Spouse:  None

Children:  None

Group Affiliation: Super Rock, Revengers

Place of Birth:  Grand Little, Minnesota

Current Place of Residence:  Unknown

First Appearance:  Super Comics # 23, September 1981

Biography:

Doctor John Grandly was a scientist whose expertise was robotics and artificial intelligence.  He had previously worked with inventor Ted Lawson.  In 1981, Grandly actually created a robot that looked like a six year old boy.  He was able to pass the robot off as a real boy.  He named him Jim Hawkins after the boy from his favorite book, Treasure Island.  Though the boy had some trouble initially adapting and learning, he soon began to feel like a real boy.

Two years later, Grandly upgraded Hawkins into a 16 year old model.  Unfortunately, Hawkin's new personality programming worked to well as Hawkins became rebellious, as teens are towards their parents, and exposed himself to the public for who he truly is.  This brought him to the attention of a music promoter who was putting together a rock band whose gimmick was that all band members were teen super heroes.  Hawkins toured for a year with the band, until their fame faded and the band broke up.

Eventually, Hawkins would get Grandly to implant him into an adult body around the age of 26.  Hawkins went off on his own, trying to live a normal life while committing acts of heroism from time to time.  Recently, Hawkins fought alongside Earth's other heroes to defeat the New Power Organization.  He hasn't been seen since, but it was clear when last seen that his new life of heroism was just beginning.

Comments:

This was a character with only a few appearances, but over a long period of time.

"The 6 Year Old Robot" was a feature in Super Comics for a year from September 1981 to August 1982.  It was not a super-hero feature, but rather a simple, cute story of a robot child trying to learn to be human.

In 1983, when I created Super-Rock, which was a spoof of the New Teen Titans, I needed characters to take the form of the Titans.  I could have created new characters, but instead I felt it would be more fun to use already existing characters that would fit the mold.  So my Cyborg choice was the 6 Year Old Robot.  But of course, I had to upgrade him into a teenager for the part.  After the title ended a year later, the character went back into obscurity.

He did of course appear in the Crisis Within.  But every character I had created up to that point did.

He returned in December 1988 in Super Spotlight # 76.  This one shot was basically to update the readers on what the character has been up to, making him now an adult adventurer.  The appearance was meant to be a pilot for a new series, but there wasn't enough interest.

So the character appeared recently in Crisis, along with every character I've ever created up to that point.  He was no longer coping with trying to be human.  He has come to terms with who he is and embraces both his learned humanity and his robotic abilities.

Daniel "Blacky" Falkner

Real Name:  Daniel Falkner

Alter Ego:  Robber, Danny, Blacky

Current Occupation:  Police Detective

Parents:  Unknown

Siblings:  None

Spouse:  None

Children:  None

Group Affiliation:  (Earth B) Super Rock; (Earth 5) Heroes of Earth

Place of Birth:  Worcester

Current Place of Residence:  Worcester

First Appearance:  Mystery Comics # 1, September 1982

Biography:

Danny Falkner grew up an a very abusive environment in the city of Worcester.  His parents were criminals and drug users who were always either neglecting or abusing the boy.  When Danny was 12, he ran away from home and took on a life of crime himself while living homeless.  Danny started using the alias "Blacky" in his new career.  Though Blacky became a thief, he never used violence except in defense and never used or sold drugs.  That was the lifestyle he was escaping from, after all.

However, his new life only lasted a few months when he was apprehended by the vigilante known as the Unknown who caught him ambitiously and single handedly robbing the penthouse of a local millionaire.  The Unknown, rather than taking the boy in, instead heard his story, and feeling bad for him, took him in as his ward.  He also trained the boy to be his partner in crime fighting, and jokingly dubbed him "Robber".

The Unknown and Robber worked together for four years, until Robber nearly perished at the hands of the Trapster.  After that, the Unknown asked his friend, Private Eye Peter Lebane to take the boy in.

Blacky stopped operating as Robber, but would assist Lebane in his own crime fighting investigations.

It was also at this time that a music promoter thought up the gimmick of having a rock band consisting of teen heroes.  The band was called Super Rock, and Blacky was recruited as lead singer.  The rest of the band consisted of Princess Angela of Booer, the Rocket Kid, the 16 Year Old Robot, Changer, and Witch Woman.  Of course while on tour, the band also fought against super villains such as the Dragon, the Booers, the New Power, and the Legion of Doom.  The team was very effective as crime fighters, but though the band quickly rose in popularity, it faded just as quickly and the band was disbanded.

A few months later, a team of heroes called the Heroes of Earth arrived from an alternate universe called Earth-5.  Amongst the heroes was an alternate version of Blacky.  This Blacky shared the exact same history, except that he was never a member of Super Rock, which didn't exist on his world, and of course his membership in the Heroes of Earth.  During the Crisis in Infinite Earths, Earth-5 was destroyed, and Blacky and his teammates were stranded on Earth-B.  Allorin Vonski used his powers to merge the two into one being, with one shared history.  Thus after that Blacky had memories of both lives on both worlds.

After that, Blacky graduated from high school shortly after.  He dropped the "Blacky" and started going by Danny.  He enrolled in the police academy, and graduated, and within two years made detective and was partnered with Lebane, who had rejoined the force.

They spent much of the time for years assigned to catching a new vigilante called Justice (who was actually Danny's cousin Peter Falkner.)  After a while though, the two established a working relationship with the hero.

During the time when the mutant Adam became ruler of Earth, Danny was a member of NighTrain's underground resistance movement.  Following Adam's defeat, Danny returned to the force.

In recent years, Danny had started a working relationship with a new Justice (Michelle Wrigley), who has since retired.  Danny still works as a detective in Worcester as of this writing.

Comments:

Danny Falkner started off as a spoof of Robin, which is probably obvious, though his physical appearance and personality were modeled after John Stamos' character "Blackie" on General Hospital.

Danny's commonality with Robin continued with Super Rock, which was a spoof of the New Teen Titans. His change from working with the Unknown to working with Lebane was due to Lebane taking over the lead story in Mystery Comics.

The doppelganger from Earth-5 came from my desire to do a two part homage to the JLA/JSA crossovers.  Earth-5 was a world of nonpowered vigilantes and magic users.  Thus Blacky fit into that category.  But of course, Blacky was firmly planted in the main Wronskiverse (Earth-B) as the Unknown was a member of the Powerkid Police and Blacky had been a member of Super Rock.  Thus there were two.

The two merged after the Crisis just as Earth-1 and Earth-2 characters merged (such as Wildcat, for instance).

Danny stopped appearing regularly when Detective Lebane was replaced by Doctor Mystery in Mystery Comics.  Danny returned though with Justice # 1, and remained a supporting character in that series for years, until it ended in 1992.

He appeared again in the Timeline mini-series, and then recently returned again as a supporting player in the new Justice series, though now that Michelle Wrigley has retired and left Worcester, to be replaced by a new Justice (Holly Frost), who operates in Amherst, Danny has stopped appearing in the series, and is currently in comic book limbo, but is sure to return somewhere, somehow in the future.

Heroes of Earth

Heroes of Earth

Created by Robert E. Wronski, Jr.

Members:

Allorin Vonski

Doctor Deadly

Unknown

Peter Lebane

Danny "Blacky" Falkner

Doctor Mystery

Wonder Dog

Powerkid/Powerman

Angela, Princess of Another World

Zap, Master of Power II

Luke Devlin

Speed Demon

John Barstaman

Justice I

Space Hero

Phil Kowalski

Kristen Sherman

Captain Hero

Shon Crest

Volt Man

Powerwoman

Starfire

Lady Shiva

Animal Man Aquaman Atom Black Canary Black Lightning Blue Beetle Blue Devil Booster Gold Captain Atom Captain Marvel Elongated Man Doctor Fate (Eric Strauss) Firestorm Flash (Wally West) Green Arrow Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) Guy Gardner Hawkman (Hawkworld) John Stewart Martian Manhunter Metamorpho Plastic Man Power Girl Vixen Wonder Woman Zatanna Superman Guardian Thorn Batman Anarky Huntress Nightwing Robin Aqualad/Tempest Changeling Cyborg Donna Troy Speedy/Arsenal Ambush Bug Creeper El Diablo Geo-Force Peacemaker Peter Cannon Phantom Lady Question Ragman Richard Dragon Starman (Will Payton) Vigilante (Adrian Chase) Wild Dog

Captain Zippy


Barbara Van Helsing


Powerkid II


Zap, Master of Power III


War Child


Icicle


Green Flame


Super Guy


Hell Child


Devil's Daughter


Mouse


Marvel


Justice III


First Appearance:  Powerkid Police # 25, September 1984


Biography:


The team that has gone by the name Heroes of Earth has gone under a few different incarnations.


The first team actually began on an alternate world called Earth-5 by some.  Allorin Vonski (one of the cosmic ones of Earth-B, the main Wronskiverse) knew of an upcoming Crisis that would threaten all of existence throughout the multliverse.  He realized this other Earth needed it's own team of champions, much like Earth-B's Powerkid Police.  Unlike Earth B, Earth-5 is a world without super-beings, but in their place are magical beings and nonpowered heroes.  


The team Vonski chose consisted of Doctor Deadly, a hero whose mystical powers he used to protect the galaxy; the Unknown, a vigilante who operates in Worcester and was inspired by Vonki's brother the Great Unknown; Peter Lebane, a private investigator whose cases pit him against super criminals; Blacky Falkner, former sidekick of the Unknown and later parter of Lebane; Doctor Mystery, a very mysterious international adventurer; and Wonder Dog, a robotic dog who was a gift to Doctor Mystery from another vigilante who operated in a big city in the 1970s.


This team traveled to Earth-B to seek out the Powerkid Police, so they could join forces in the upcoming Crisis.  The Heroes of Earth were part of the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths.  While they were on Earth-B with the Powerkid Police their world was destroyed by anti-matter.  (Actually, that's not really true, but it was what they believed.)


They were present on the Monitor's satellite, and battled the Anti-Monitor on the moon of Qward.  


And they then joined with Earth-B's heroes to stop Doctor Deadly (the bad one) from destroying all reality.


In the aftermath, the Heroes of Earth found themselves without a home, stranded on a world where they did not exist.  In order to help their transition, he maxed his powers by altering reality so that these heroes had always existed on Earth-B.  


Following this, the Heroes of Earth, who had only joined forces for the Crisis, disbanded.  


Doctor Deadly retired, after having seen a world where his name is used for evil.  


The Unknown had the hardest time adapting.  Unlike the other heroes, the Unknown existed on both worlds.  Thus, Earth-5's Unknown was a duplicate.  He had no place.  He later joined a team called the Mystery Men and tragically died on a mission.


Peter Lebane also had a duplicate, but Vonski's spell had actually merged the two together since their lives had been so close to being the same (whereas the two Unknowns had a lot of different adventures).  Following this, Peter rejoined the police force.


Blacky also merged with his other universe version.  When he reached adulthood, he would join the police force.


Doctor Mystery and Wonder Dog had no counterparts, so their lives and history were fully integrated, though Doctor Mystery and his partner seemed to disappear for many years, not returning until the rise of Adam.


Just over a year after the Crisis, a new version of the team would form, which would be the most well remembered.  


In the fall of 1986, Doctor Deadly (the bad one) was at it again, with another attempt to conquer Earth.  Several heroes gathered together to defeat him.  Since the Powerkid Police had recently disbanded, Allorin Vonski proposed the forming of a new Heroes of Earth to fill the void.  Not all heroes involved in that adventure joined, but those who did were Luke Devil, Angela (Princess of Booer), Powerkid, Zap, and Speed Demon.  Shortly after, scientist John Barstaman was recruited, and then the new vigilante called Justice.  Three Space Heroes from the late 21st century came back in time to join the team as well.  The final addition to this version of the team was a new hero called Captain Hero.


The team moved into an underground section of the corporate headquarters of Allen Industries, owned by Matthew Allen, an alter ego of Allorin Vonski.  It was based in Hadenville, OH, which Vonski claimed was a mystical nexus.


In late 1988, the team went through some major changes.  Powerkid retired from heroing after hurting emotionally from the betrayal of society during the time when super heroes were banned in America.  Zap had lost his powers for unknown reasons (which were later revealed to be due to the death of his father, Zeus.)  Justice took a leave to focus on finding the headquarters of the New Power Organization.  And the Space Heroes had to return to their own time to deal with a threat from some evil (fake robot) Time Lords.


And then betrayal.  Captain Hero turned out to be an agent of Doctor Deadly, meant to infiltrate the team to steal the Universal Transponder, a device old as time that has the power to create or destroy.  Captain Hero did steal the transponder, but not before attacking Barstaman, where he ripped out his tongue and pulled off his arms and legs, which where all later replaced with robotics.


While most of the team left to Death Planet to retrieve the device, Speed Demon remained behind to help Vonski, who was distracted by something he couldn't reveal (which was actually a matter involving the near destruction of his race.)  That was when, Shon Crest the Speed Demon found himself face to face with Shon Crest the Speed Demon.  


It turned out that the person who had been on team, was not Shon Crest, but really his clone, who had also been called Jamie Crest.  Shon, who had been thought dead, was so outraged at the identity theft he killed his clone brother, who then just dematerialized, since he was a magical clone created by Vonski.


Crest then replaced his clone on the team.


In 1991, Powerman, Zap, and Volt Man were temporarily on the team, until Powerman "died" (he got better) and Zap and Volt Man lost their powers.  Then with the break up of Justice League International, Vonski saw a void to fill, and got international UN status for his team, and the Heroes of Earth then gained bases all over the world, with their main headquarters in Canberra, Australia.  They also gained a very large membership, as every hero on Earth was made a member of the team, so that any one can be called to service when needed.


But they still had a core team, which now had consisted of Allorin Vonski, Luke Devlin, Angela, and Barstaman.  Crest had left to take on his personal mission against the evil Master.  


But their core membership was added to by Starfire, former member of the Teen Titans, and the martial artist Lady Shiva.  They were also joined by a new hero called Captain Zippy, who was a heroic vampire.  Barstaman even helped him overcome his aversion to sunlight.  Also joining the team was Barbara Van Helsing, a vampire hunter who was watching Zippy closely to see if he was truly reformed.  And Powerwoman was a member of the Boor race who joined under the recommendation of Powerman.


In the summer of 1991, Maureen Wrigley went crazy and blew up the Canberra headquarters, and this led the UN to revoke the Heroes' international status.  The team was forced to move into a new headquarters...the home of John Barstaman's parents and five siblings (which included his sister Rachel aka Marvel).  It was crowded and chaotic to say the least.


Sadly, this new team was killed by the Powerkid Haters at the end of 1992.


Three years later, the mutant Adam rose to power and took over the world.  He reinstituted the Heroes of Earth as his personal honor guard.  The new team was the former members of the Champions, led by the new Powerkid and the new Zap.  The team served the evil Adam against their will due to his powerful mind control.  However, when Powerman returned from a self imposed exile, he was able to free the Heroes from Adam's control, and Adam was defeated.  The team was disbanded.


Two years ago, the classic team was reformed.  During the Crisis of the year before, the Cosmic Ones had to resurrect all deceased super-heroes.  Thus, Vonski, Luke Devlin, Angela, Marvel, Captain Zippy, Barbara Van Helsing, and the new Justice (Michelle Wrigley, formerly Powerkid II) joined together with headquarters back in Allen Industries in Hadenville.  Though Michelle has retired from heroics, the remainder of the team is still active today.


Comments:


When I first created the Heroes of Earth, this was my first ever two part story.  (I had done stories that later had sequels and stories that hinted at things to come, but never one story in two parts.)  Their first appearance in the Powerkid Police was an homage to the JLA/JSA crossovers.  I had no idea of course that the Crisis on Infinite Earths was coming and that this would unintentionally serve as a prelude.


Earth-5, the world they came from, was made different from my super-hero world by being the world of non powered vigilantes, detectives, and magic users.  


The next incarnation was inspired by Keith Giffen's Justice League, which came out of Legends.  This heroes of earth came out of a four month crossover event called Heroes, which took place in Doctor Deadly Vs., Powerkid, Vonski Presents, Star Patrol, Super Spotlight, and Heroes.  At the end, Heroes continued on as Heroes of Earth (after one issue in between titled Heroes of the People.)


This series lasted from 1986 to 1992.  They went international in 1991, as a tribute to the JLI that was going through it's "Breakdowns" storyline, and an homage to the All-Star Squadron, in that I allowed every hero on Earth to be a member.  It truly was the heroes of earth.


The destruction of their headquarters was actually part of a storyline going on at the time in Powerman, but for the Heroes, it had comical repercussions as a normal family had to share their home with a super-hero team.  (Perhaps funnier to me, since the Barstamans were based on a very real family that I was very close to.)


In December 1992, the team was killed as part of an event called Death of the Super Universe, which had a huge death count, but it's comics, so almost everyone has returned.


The four issue mini-series Timeline in 1998 was the next use of the name, but the team was very different.


And recently, I took advantage of the aftermath of Crisis to revive the Heroes of Earth as part of the Super Explosion.  And it's been a lot of fun to have the old gang back together again.

Maureen Wright

Maureen Wright (writer)

Maureen Wright (1955 – October 2009), who additionally used the pseudonyms Mozy Hassett and Mozy Wronski, was an American comic book writer for Super Comics.

Maureen Wright
Born	1955
Died	October, 2009 United States
Nationality	American
Pseudonym(s)	Mozy Hassett Mozy Wronski
Notable works	Super-Bob, Waterman

Biography

Wright began her career as a writer of comic books for her son, Super editor Robert E. Wronski, Jr.. According to writer Robert E. Wronski, Jr., Wright's work for Super appeared from 1979 to 1981, and included the Super-Bob and Waterman series in the late 1970s and 1980s period known to historians and fans as the Wronski Age of Comics.

Wright created two Super characters, the Shark and the Mad Vacuumer.

According to her own account, Wright loved to travel the country and wrote for free. Gradually losing her enthusiasm for comic books, she diminished her production of scripts and retired from comic book scripting entirely in 1981. Wright spent many years working with the mentally retarded. 

Wright died in the United States.

Homage

An homage to Wright and co-writer Robert E. Wronski, Jr. appears in the novel Man of Two Seas, which is set in the universe of the Heroes of Earth animated series. In the novel, a place in Orange City is named the "Wronski/Hassett Institute for Aquatic Studies".

Bob Wronski

Bob Wronski (born November 19, 1951) is an American writer for various comic books. 

Born	November 19, 1951 (age 59) Worcester, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer
Notable works	Super Comics

Early life

Bob Wronski was born in Worcester, Massachusetts to parents Edward and Isabella Wronski, who are of Polish and Swedish descent.

Career

Super Comics

At the age of 28, Wronski began selling stories to Super Comics, writing for Super Comics, beginning with Super Comics#1 (November 1979). Wronski created the Karate King, an adult superhero who operated during the martial arts fad of the 1970s.  

After his Super-Bob series ended its run in Super Comics, Wronski retired from the comic book industry. 

Preceded by Robert E. Wronski, Jr.

Super Comics writer 1979–1981

Succeeded by Robert E. Wronski, Jr.

Michael Bossman

Michael Bossman

Created by Robert E. Wronski, Jr. and Bob Wronski

Real Name:  Michael Robert Bossman

Alias:  Robert Edward Kowalski, Karate King, Boss

Current Occupation:  Would be world conqueror

Parents:  Edward (aka X-Man, presumed deceased) and Isabella Bossman (deceased)

Siblings:  Joe and Jack Bossman (status unknown)

Spouse:  Maureen (Hasser) Wrigley (ex-wife, deceased)

Children:  Christopher Kowalski (aka Powerman II)

Group Affiliation:  Interstellar Peace Organization, New Power Organization

Place of Birth:  Worcester

Current Place of Residence:  The new secret base of the New Power

First Appearance:  Super Comics # 1 (November 1979)

Biography:

Michael grew up the oldest of three children raised by a single mother.  Their father took off on them.  What they didn't know was that their father was a top secret government agent code named X-Man, who worked for the National Heroes.  He was last seen in Vietnam.

When Michael was 18, in 1969, one night he was witness to an alien about to shoot a strangely dressed human.  He intervened and saved the human.  It turned out that human wasn't so human.  He was Krazel, a Kookoorongian member of the Interstellar Peace Organization.  Michael's bravery in the face of encountering something extremely new to him impressed Krazel, who lobbied for the IPO to recruit Bossman, which they did.

Bossman became Krazel's partner, and the two were reassigned to the planet Hanguk.  There, Michael fell in love with a native named Min-Hee, who gave birth to his child a few years later.  They named the child Christopher.

Shortly after Chris' birth, an evil race of amazons called the Booers invaded Hanguk.  Despite the best efforts of the IPO, they could not ward off the invasion.  Michael tried to convince Min-Hee to come with him and Chris back to Earth, but she would not leave her home.  She did insist that Michael take Robert to safety.  Michael fled the warzone with his son, deserting his duties.

When he returned to Earth, to Worcester, he changed his name to Robert Kowalski as he feared the IPO tracking him down for desertion.  

Shortly after his return to Earth, Michael/Robert met Maureen Hasser.  The two quickly fell in love, and married.  Maureen adopted Chris, and Chris was raised to think Maureen was his real mother.  Neither Chris nor Maureen knew of Robert's real past or of Chris' alien heritage.

The family moved to Orange City, the better to avoid being found by moving from his home city.  In fact, Michael cut ties with his real family before he joined the IPO, and they thought he might be dead.

Six years after Hanguk invaded Booer, there were rumors abounding about a super-hero called Super Bob in Orange City.  Michael quickly surmised that his own son was Super-Bob, and upon confronting him, found out it was true.  Micheal not only didn't forbid his son's activities, but he kept his secret and operated as his partner, the Karate King.

Michael operated as the Karate King for years.  However, there were some things Chris/Super-Bob was not aware of.  When a criminal was captured, Michael stole their money and drugs for himself.  And at home, when Chris was not around, Michael was physically abusive of Maureen, something she kept from him.

In 1981, Michael tired of the secret life in Orange City, and returned to Worcester, where he began operating as an underworld figure known only as the Boss.  As the Boss, Michael quickly became a powerful underworld figure, though many of his operations were often thwarted by the vigilante called the Unknown and private detective Peter Lebane.  

While Michael was gaining a fortune in illegal funds, he began creating a "legitimate" business through those funds and by patenting technology that he had obtained during his time with the IPO.  

He became a billionaire in just a few years, running Bossman Enterprises.  While Bossman run his company, he used it to commit illegal activities of his own whim.  Bossman himself lived on the top floor of Bossman Enterprises, which was located in the center of Orange City and was the tallest building.  Bossman's apartment had a secret room that was a torture chamber where he would rape, torture, and murder women that he kidnapped.

Beginning in 1984, one of Bossman's projects was trying to get his son to work for him.  By this time, Chris has changed his alter ego name to Powerkid, and was no longer an urban legend but was now public.  

When Michael first revealed to Powerkid that he was his father, and tried to get him to join his empire, which Powerkid knew by this time may have evil motives, he flatly refused.  After that, Micheal felt he could brainwash his son using alien technology.  But to do that, he had to capture him.  Michael then went about hiring villains, some already in Powerkid's rogues gallery and some were given powers or technology by Bossman, to capture his son.  All failed.

After five years of this, Powerkid had had enough, and when he finally dug up enough damning evidence against his father, he apprehended him himself.

Michael Bossman was in prison for 18 years.  Because of his money and the fact that he was a very scary evil killer, he was able to keep control of his company from the inside, though officially a proxy ran things in his absence.  In 2007, Michael's legal team finally got his release, despite the fact her was in prison for several life sentences for murder, rape, theft, torture, kidnapping, false identity, ect.

Michael seemed to be reformed when he returned to society, and he tried to make amends with his family, which included a grandson, Connor, who he'd never met.  Chris did not easily accept his father's supposed reformation.  But the rest of the family was willing to take him at face value.

Michael resumed control of his company, and extended his good will by funding NighTforce, a team dedicated to taking down the New Power, and created a team called the Bad Guys, which consisted of reformed super-villains, like himself, all former enemies of Chris (whether when he was Super-Bob, Powerkid, or Powerman.)

However, this turned out to be all a ruse.  The Bad Guys discovered that Michael Bossman was in fact a member of the inner council of the New Power Organization, the very organization the NighTforce was dedicated to stopping.  In fact, he really funded the NighTforce to keep track of their activities, and created the Bad Guys not for the altruistic missions they were conducting, but in hopes of brainwashing them to do his bidding, which he failed to do.

Bossman went into hiding, where he plots for world domination as part of the inner circle of the New Power.  However perhaps he wasn't all bad.  As a clause that was kept secret until his evil was revealed, his company was left to his son and grandson.  However, his son too was in hiding, for different reasons, and his grandson was a minor, and so Chris' half sister became president of the company, and Connor's mother became vice-president.

Comments:

The character of Michael Bossman is inspired by my father, and his stories are a reflection of my own personal feelings during the time. 

At first, he was my hero, and then he left us, and became a villain in my mind.  As I got older and learned how he used to treat my mom, he became a monster.  Later, I came to have mixed feelings.  People tell me he's a changed man.  I'm not so sure.  And thus, Michael's reformation and relapse into evil.

I should point out that my father may have been a vain, self-absorbed, and abusive man with a pot addiction, but he wasn't the monster Michael became in the comics.  Michael was an exaggerated metaphor for my feelings, rather than a literal translation.  

In fact, if you notice for creation credits, my father co-created the original version of the character.  He came up with the idea for the Karate King as Super-Bob's partner.  

My reasons for returning him to evil are partially because of my still mixed feelings about my father, but also as part of the larger drama that creates good stories, and it fits in with my concept that the inner circle of the New Power are all evil businessmen from various past and present Super Comics series.

The Bad Guys

The Bad Guys

Created by Robert E. Wronski, Jr.

Members:

Michael Bossman

The Trapster

Karate Spears

Krusher

Man-Killer

Kitten Girl

First Appearance:  The Bad Guys # 1 (May 2009)

During the Crisis of 2008 - 2009, many super-villains were resurrected by the New Power, though in the end, the New Power was defeated.  But the many villains were free on Earth.

Michael Bossman, a former enemy of his son Chris Kowalski aka Powerman, recruited a team of Powerman's former foes, all of whom like him had reformed.  This team became a covert team secretly funded by Bossman Enterprises, travelling the world helping people in need.

Recently, the Bad Guys found that their leader, Michael Bossman, was really a member of the inner council of the New Power, and had formed the Bad Guys in a ploy to make them his mind controlled minions, a plot that failed.  Bossman went into hiding, and the team was left in a situation where they head to decide where to go now, with their formation a ruse, their leader a villain, and their funding in question.

The team decided that regardless of how they got together, the work they do is what matters, as they continue on the road to redemption.  The Trapster, who had already been the field leader, took leadership of the team.  Shortly after, their funding was resolved as Michelle Wrigley took control of Bossman Enterprises, learned of the Bad Guys, and decided to continue funding their missions.

Comments:

The Bad Guys was one of the Super Explosion titles following Crisis.  All the members were former Powerkid/Powerman rogues who had previously reformed.

Michael Bossman first appeared in Super Bob stories in 1979 as a supporting character/sidekick.  He became an enemy of the Unknown and Detective Lebane starting in 1982, then became a Powerkid foe starting in 1984.  He reformed in 2007, though as I've mentioned, it was just a ruse.

The Trapster was an enemy of Powerkid, the Unknown, Detective Lebane, and Doctor Mystery starting in 1982.  He reformed as revealed in 2008, and was given the job of head of security for Bossman Enterprises.

Karate Spears first appeared as a foe of Powerkid in 1982.  However, when Powerkid saved his home world in 1985, the villain turned over a new leaf.  This caused the people of his world to overthrow him, now that he was considered weak, and he was imprisoned for years, until 1994 when he escaped and came to Earth, operating as a super hero under the new identity of the Interstellar Ninja.  But in 2008, he (and I) realized how stupid that name was and he returned to his original one (given to him by his creator, Chuck Spears).

The Krusher first became an enemy of Powerkid and the Powerkid Police in 1984.  For years, the heroes would stop him by giving him amnesia, but eventually that stopped working.  In 2001, though, Krusher finally gained power over his power madness, and reformed.

Man-Killer was the quickest to reform.  She first became a foe of Powerkid in 1982, but a few months later, she repented and joined the Powerkid Police.  She actually died in 1990, but was resurrected by the New Power during the Crisis.

Finally, Kitten Girl first became a foe of Super Bob in 1980, later becoming a foe of the Unknown and Detective Lebane.  Eventually, she repented and joined the Powerkid Police.  She was vaporized along with all of Orange City in 1992 by a team of villains.  She was resurrected by the New Power during the Crisis as well.

The team's adventures are sort of inspired by the Suicide Squad and the A-Team.  And it's fun to write because all of these characters bring me back to my childhood.