Freedom Brigade

Formed on Earth-Prime in July 1941 to protect Lend-Lease shipments from Axis saboteurs, the Freedom Brigade became one of the earliest (if not best-known) teams of Freedom City “mystery men.” Its most famous exploit was apparently its last, when the Brigade’s outraged leader, Commander USA, publicly declared the team was on its way to Tokyo to take revenge for the Pearl Harbor attack.
The Freedom Brigade departed on December 8, 1941 to great fanfare, but they were never heard from again. Missing and presumed dead, the Brigade was honored as the first of America’s costumed heroes to give their lives in World War II. As the war dragged on, memories of the team faded until even the Super Museum dubbed them “the Forgotten Brigade.”
Unbeknownst to all, Dr. Tomorrow used his time ship to intercept the Sea Hawk’s flying submarine over the Pacific and revealed the fate awaiting them. Their current mission would end with the team captured and mentally subjugated by Axis scientists. The Brigade would then return to Freedom City and murder scores of innocent people (including some fellow mystery men) before being killed themselves, their names forever disgraced.
Rather than inflicting serious damage on America’s morale and war effort, Dr. Tomorrow offered to transport them to another Earth, one without heroic mystery men and in desperate need of help to free itself from the victorious Axis powers. Like true heroes, the Brigadiers opted to go where they could do the most good. On Earth-Prime the team may be “the Forgotten Brigade,” but on Erde, it may yet save the world.

Structure

Commander USA

Right after boot camp, young Army draftee James Hendricks was assigned guard duty at a top-secret government research lab. One night, Hendricks spotted some Nazi spies attempting to make off with an experimental chemical mixture. Outnumbered, Hendricks did the only thing he could to keep the concoction out of enemy hands: he drank it.
The spies left the seemingly poisoned Hendricks for dead. However, he later regained consciousness and was honorably discharged for medical reasons. In time, he not only regained his former vigor, but he also found his body elevated to near the peak of human physical perfection. Even more incredibly, he found the experimental alchemical solution he’d swallowed had given him the power to transmute elements by touch.
Still angry at the enemy saboteurs hiding in his beloved country, but unable to re-enlist, the patriotic Hendricks donned a red, white, and blue costume and dubbed himself Commander USA, the WWII era’s first African-American “mystery man.” To better wage war against home front subversion, the charismatic Hendricks put together the Freedom Brigade, and he served as its leader when not pursuing a career as a neophyte industrial chemist.
On Erde, Commander USA’s character, charisma, determination, and courage fulfill the hopes and dreams of millions. He embodies the sort of patriotism America once fatally lacked and provides the inspirational symbol its people need to see their way to victory.

Doctor X

Freedom City University professor Dr. Jerry Xavier was a leading expert on electromagnetism and one of many researchers looking into ways of improving radar systems, vital to America’s defense network. One late night, a power surge triggered an overload in Xavier’s experimental cavity magnetron, bombarding him with powerful electromagnetic rays.
When he regained consciousness, Dr. Xavier discovered his body generated those same rays, and he could manipulate the Earth’s magnetic field and fly. At first, Xavier was unsure what to do with his newfound abilities, until he read of Commander USA’s call for costumed heroes to join him in fighting enemy agents in Freedom City.
Seeing an opportunity to use his strange gifts for the greater good, Xavier created the identity of Doctor X, Master of Magnetism, and became one of the founding members of the Freedom Brigade.
On Erde, Doctor X’s ability to disrupt the high-tech electronic gear carried by the Wermacht is invaluable. With the good Doctor’s aid, the under-equipped resistance forces can battle even elite Nazi forces on equal terms.

The Invisible Agent

Little is known about the man aptly known as the Invisible Agent. He claims his real name is Frank Raymond and his transparency comes from a secret chemical formula only he possesses. The invisibility solution works on contact, and Raymond wears a hooded cloak, mask, gloves, and other items of clothing saturated in the mysterious concoction.
Raymond is rarely visible, even around his teammates, but his mission is clear. The Invisible Agent is a true man of secrets, and that includes keeping America’s confidential information safe at home and acquiring that of its enemies.
While the Freedom Brigade is never sure of his comings and goings, the Invisible Agent always seems to be around when he’s most needed. It is speculated he spends at least some of his time operating behind enemy lines, because much of the information he passes along to his teammates could come from few other places.
The change of dimensions hasn’t diminished the Agent’s espionage mastery. On Erde, he’s still providing the Brigade and the resistance with critical intelligence needed to carry on the fight. For example, Lilith’s newly developed strategies for beating the Axis are based in large part on information supplied by the Agent.

The Magister

Assistant District Attorney James Carrott grew tired of watching Freedom City’s most notorious mobsters beat the rap time and again due to their illicit power and influence, and in time, he resolved to do something about it. By night, Carrott became the costumed vigilante known as the Magister, and driven by his thirst for justice, he began to stalk the criminals the law could not touch.
In a short time, the lawless grew to fear the very sight of the Magister and his mighty Gavel of Justice. The police were soon busy finding onceuntouchable criminals helpless in his Prison Bar snares, the evidence needed to convict them nearby. Eventually, lawmen became so grateful for the Magister’s help that they more or less stopped chasing his trademark jet-black 1940-model roadster.
With the mob on the run, the Magister began to dedicate his efforts towards rounding up enemy saboteurs, and he accepted the invitation to join the Freedom Brigade. On Erde, the Magister continues his fight against Axis fifth columnists, only the stakes are raised by the enemy’s attempted usage of weapons of mass destruction. In his civilian identity, his knowledge of a fair and impartial legal system–something unknown on Erde for three generations–is a tremendous asset to the resistance as it attempts to restore law and order in America.

The Mysterious Madame Radium

Samantha Luck had it all: looks, brains–everything but a rewarding career. Tired of her dead-end, thankless secretarial job, Samantha accompanied a group of friends on a long shot, get-rich-quick hunt for radium deposits.
During the trip, a cave-in separated Samantha from her companions and left her trapped inside a chamber full of radium uncovered by the collapse. By the time the land’s rightful owners showed up and rescued her, she’d been exposed to the rays of the wonder-element for several hours but showed no ill effects. It wasn’t until she returned home to Freedom City that she discovered she now possessed the power of radium itself!
Though still stuck in her boring secretarial job, Samantha drew upon the examples of Freedom’s other costumed heroes and became the Mysterious Madame Radium, the atom-powered crime-fighter. Sure enough, the life of a costumed adventurer was just the tonic for her formerly dull life, and it was only natural for her to take the next step and join the Freedom Brigade. From then on, boredom became the least of her worries, and Samantha wouldn’t have it any other way.
On Erde, Madame Radium is the bane of Nazi supers, who are predominantly mutants. Thanks to her ability to switch off their genetically based powers, no fascist super-squad has ever bested the Freedom Brigade in a stand-up fight.

Sea Hawk

When Katherine Cline inherited her family’s shipyards, she gained the financial security to do as she pleased. Running a boardroom didn’t appeal to Katherine, who was a thinker and a builder by nature, so she left the day-to-day business deals to some trusted subordinates and went back to building her prototype wonder gadgets.
Watching German U-boats “accidentally” sink ships and take innocent lives angered her, and she vowed to use her great resources and technical gifts to put a stop to their cowardly acts of wanton murder and destruction. She donned her distinctive garb and boarded her experimental flying submarine, with the aim of making the marauding Nazi wolf packs the hunted.
Dubbed “the Sea Hawk” by the press, Katherine’s costumed alter ego became the toast of Freedom City, hailed as a hero unafraid to take the fight to the Nazis lurking just off of America’s shores. Despite all the positive ink, Katherine soon realized she’d taken on quite a responsibility and welcomed joining the Freedom Brigade for its much-needed assistance.
On Erde, the Sea Hawk’s flying submarine provides the resistance with badly needed firepower as well as transportation for covert missions behind enemy lines. Her technical know-how is also proving critical in reestablishing America’s industries.

Type

Adventuring Party