Gamemaster:
Ralf Chalf

Timeframe:
1979-1982

Team members:
Dreadnought
Ice Avenger (leader)
Loup Garou
Para-man
Knight Watchman
Jack of all Trades
Shadow
Doctor Feldon
Mr. Mystico
Flasher
Kamikaze
Johnny

HQ

Not Secret. A large building downtown Mid-City.  Two stories, with a danger room and an extensive basement lab and infirmary. Secret passages led into the City's underground sewer and transit tunnels.  

Principal villains:
Inventor
Gargantuan
Pounder
Slither
Fire&lce
Bricklayer
Living Magnet
Rubber Band
Jim Jett
Skulpter
Stinger
Hypno
John Bishop
Typhoon
Kronus
King Ramud
Mechanon

 PLOTLINES:

Debut:

The very first AlertForce adventure occurred when the Inventor used his growth ray on a bunch of Mid-City Zoo animals. The animals went nuts, broke free from their cages, and were rampaging around the countryside. Although technically before the formation of Alert Force, most of the founding members were in attendance. Ice Avenger, Dreadnought, Loup Garou, and Shadow participated. Each of them hean:l the news reports, and went to investigate on their own. Ice Avenger and Dreadnought teamed up to defeat two giant serpents which were tearing down a building. Shadow inexplicably lifted an entarged elephant 100 feet in the air and dropped it, stunning the elephant and almost killing 30 bystanders. Loup Garou battled a huge bear, and was knocked out (the first in a long line of unscheduled naps on Loup's part). Ice Avenger and Dreadnought were eventually able to bring the animals under contro1, and get some good publicity in the process. This battle was an inauspicious beginning, but it was where three of the five founding members, and four of the first six members of Alert Force met.  Part of the initial adventure is chronicled (almost accurately) in the following original comic:

Alien Invasion I:

Insect-like aliens who deposited their eggs in the chests of humans through stingers invaded the earth and took up residence in the sewers of Mid-City, as well as various other nests all around the world. After several fruitless battles, Knight Watchman infiltrated the lair and returned with valuable data which enabled Dr. Feldon to create a spray poison, harmless to humans, which would kill the aliens. The aliens were defeated, but only at the cost of the life of Night Stalker, who was stung and killed while investigating an alien lair in Antarctica.

Alien Invasion II:

A second set of aliens, smaller in number, which resembled Octopi, attacked the Earth. Alert Force managed to board one of their craft and use it to drive away the others. Dreadnought was hailed by the local media as hero of the day for his valiant efforts against the invaders. Alert Force Imposters: Villain Jim Jeft recruited thugs to impersonate Alert Force in an attempt to destroy our reputation. Once the team was discovered by Alert Force, they were no match for our vastly superior team. Jim Jett's famed overconfidence did him in again. The battle was memorable only for Ice Avenger's first use of the dreaded charisma attack, against his counterpart imposter.

Mummy Battles:

Alert Force one day got an emergency summons to Mid-City Museum. Apparently, one of the mummies from the Egyptian exhibit had come to life and was trashing the joint. Dreadnought and Loup went to investigate. Ice Avenger got the call on his remote communicator, and decided to investigate independently, as Firefist (whom noone in Alert Force knew at the time). The three arrived at about the same time (which seemed to happen a lot in the early days). In his first attack, Firefist accidentally set the museum on fire. Dreadnought took this as a sign that Firefist was a villain, and promptly began attacking Firefist. Meanwhile, Loup, who had up until that point in Alert Force history been less than effective, took on the mummy alone. As the battle raged and the flames grew, the rags began to fall off of the mummy. They revealed a really pissssl villain with a powerful ankh staff, which generated a force field to protect him. He called himself King Ramud. After a fierce battle, Loup knocked King Ramud out with a tremendous martial kick to the midsection. Firefist beat a hasty retreat in the face of Dreadnought's onslaught, and Dreadnought put out the fire (and somehow managed to hog up all of the good publicity).

 Mutant Killers:

Super robots, known as Minutemen, developed by Cyberdine industries (the forerunner of Marx Corp), began seeking out and destroying all mutants. After an attack by the robots on Alert Force Headquarters, in an attempt to kill Ice Avenger and Knight Watchman, Alert Force sought out and destroyed Cyberdine's factory.

Gargantuan's Trial:

Gargantuan, an alien bruiser like Dreadnought, was inadvertantly awakened by Dreadnought when his ship strayed into Earth's atmosphere. Gargantuan, not evil by nature, had been exiled from his planet, where evil ruled. Gargantuan fell in with the wrong crowd, and was for a time a villain. He saw the error of his ways, and along with Slither, fought alongside Alert Force during the first alien invasion. Gargantuan turned himself over to the authorities, and several Alert Force members testified to his heroic deeds at his trial. Gargantuan was sentenced to oommunity service and eventually became an accountant.

Flasher faces the Skulpter alone:

The Skulpter used animated statues to attack a parade in Mid-City. Alert Force responded, but the statues managed to knock out Ice Avenge, Loup Garou, and Dreadnought, leaving Flasher to face the Skulpter and his creations alone. Flasher finally earned the team's respect by single-handedly defeating the Skulpter and his statues.

Vibron kidnaps Ice Avenger:

Vibron had been caught in a criminal act by Ice Avenger while IA was on a routine city patrol. Vibron knocked a wall over on Ice Avenger, and captured him. He imprisoned Ice Avenger in an unknown and impregnable location. Fledgeling team member Mr. Mystico used his ESP powers to glean the location, and came to Ice Avenger's rescue. Unfortunately, Mr. Mystico did not know the true extent of his own powers, and accidentally killed Vibron in the ensuing battle, by merging him into the floor using his matter manipulation powers.

Alien Invasion Ill:

An army from the home planet of Pounder and Gargantuan entered earth orbit as a prelude to invasion. Alert Force was sent up in a space shuttle to stop the invasion. After battling onto the bridge of the lead ship, Alert Force was stopped, but Ice Avenger successfully bluffed the aliens into retreating by telling them that the Earth had an arsenal of nuclear missiles ready to launch against the invaders.

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 MEMORABLE SUBPLOTS:

Ice Avenger Ice Cream:

Even though he has no taste buds, Ice Avenger made millions as the spokesman for his own brand of ice cream. The public loved his set of commercials featuring the slogan: "Ice Avenger Ice Cream: It's cool... It's cool."

Dreadnought charities:

Dreadnought saved the team's image and warmed many a heart with his frequent chanty appearances at openings, charity events, and children's hospitals.

Jack's Mob and Viper work:

Unknown to any of the other team members, Jack of all Trades led a triple existence as a hero, a high level organized crime lieutenant (to the mysterious Mr. Stellaconti), and as a super agent for the clandestine viper organization.

Dreadnought's answering machine:

Dreadnought bought an indestructible answering machine which somehow, despite all of Ice Avenger's best efforts, always answered the phone with : "Hello! You have reached the residence of Dreadnought and the D-team! Please leave a message at the beep and Dreadnought, the world's greatest hero, will get back to you as soon as he finishes saving the world!"

Dreadnought's sewer stairs:

Dreadnought also created a neon glowing Las Vegas style marquis set of stairs which lowered into the sewer, which Alert Force frequently used to get around. The staircase, of course, had "Dreadnought" in red neon at the top.

Johnny's Hair:

Dreadnought took in a young black child, orphaned in one of Alert Force's Battles. The child's name was Johnny. Strangely, each time we saw him, his hair had grown several inches.

Knight Watchman boxing the ears of every foe:

Knight Watchman had the most unique fighting style. His preferred mode of attack was to box the ears of all foes. He also once flipped off a robot while flying through the air, after being knocked back for 200 yards.

Jack's many John names:

As a super spy and detective, Jack of All Trades had many, many aliases. By complete coincidence, all of them began with "John." Go figure!

Knight Watchman Challenges Ice Avenger for leadership:

Knight Watchman challenged Ice Avenger to a battle in the danger room for leadership of the team. Knight Watchman defeated Ice Avenger. However, Knight Watchman changed his mind, and refused to take the position, leaving Ice Avenger as a dazed leader.

Dreadnought size changes:

After being hit by the Inventor's shrinking and growth rays multiple times, the effects began to be permanent on Dreadnought. At one time he was ten feet tall and remained that way for several months - very hard on the furniture. Dr. Feldon and Jack eventually devised an antidote, but Dreadnought was, for a while, in danger of bursting right out of his clothes.

Uncle Joe's Hoagie Shop:

Alert Force helped its neighbor to run a hoagie shop, which was located next to Alert Force HQ. It soon became a popular hangout among Alert Force members