I filled out most of the Hero Registration forms on the bus. I still needed a name, a handle, an alias, whatever they call them. My thoughts were buzzing. Excitement. Anticipation. And now that I was on the way, just a touch of uncertainty. Sure, I’d been dreaming of this all my life. It was what I wanted. The propaganda sounded good. “An entire city and its beleaguered citizens are in desperate need of heroes.” I had the power. I had the talent. I had the heart. I was a hero. And like the paper said, “Paragon City was calling for me.” But I couldn’t help but wonder, could I measure up to the standards set by the great heroes of Paragon City’s golden age? Did I have the right stuff? SERAPH thought I did and they were the professionals, right. Things would be great. I could do this.

I got off the bus and went straight to the Icon store. I’d been doing my hero thing in jeans, a hoodie, and a simple black plastic mask back in AA. That wasn’t going to cut it here in the big time. I had to look the part when I showed up at SERAPH. I’d been thinking something bold. Primary colors. Something that shouted ‘HERO’ to the world and made the villains cower. But after looking at costume ideas and speaking with one of the image specialists, Serge, I realized there is a lot of that here in the city and not all of it is well done. Apparently, not all of the heroes here are willing to listen to the advice of the professionals. I didn’t want to be one of those.

I didn’t have a symbol or a logo or even a decent alias, so there wasn’t much to start with. I knew I wanted traditional, and traditional means tights. You’ve got to be a real man to wear tights. So that’s where we started. And I’d always hated that mask, just makes it hard to see. So the mask was out. I liked the vandal design and Serge convinced me that earth-tones could be heroic. When I walked out of there I had a costume and a name, Vandal Blast.

The costume is the latest in technology and materials. Some sort of polymer microfiber or some such. They tell me it can take just about any kind of abuse without ripping, tearing, or wearing through. It won’t burn or freeze. It’s some pretty impressive stuff.

The name, well, I hope it’ll be known city wide soon enough.

Here’s a peek at the new threads.I couldn’t have put it together without Serge, so I want to send out a shout to him and all the good people over at Icon.

Um… Hello. I’m Vandal Blast. I mean, that’s not really my name, or rather I wasn’t born Vandal Blast, but rather chose the name as my alias for fighting crime and heroing. My birth name isn’t important for the purposes of this project. I need to maintain a degree of anonymity to protect my family, my friends, and my privacy. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to go grab a burger without being swamped by folks with cats caught in trees, people needing help opening jars, and the insane criminal-types that wait in your apartment to kill you. Not that I live in an apartment… or do I? Anyway, this is my blog.

I’ve recently moved to Paragon City to start my career in the city that is synonymous with super-powered heroes. Birthplace of Statesman. The center of the super-powered hero universe. I’m what they call a ‘blaster’ basically what that means is that I generate and propel from my body bolts of energy. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s back up a bit and start at the beginning.

I don’t want to go into how I got my power. Suffice to say that it was an accident, it was painful (but not hospitalization worthy), and it got me thrown out of the University of Michigan. I’ve been reading stories about the world’s great heroes since I was, well, as long as I can remember. Watching them on TV. Hearing about them on the radio. So when I realized that I had super-powers I wasn’t shocked, or scared, or confused. I was ecstatic. This was something I’d dreamt about all my life. I knew what I needed to do. I needed to become a superhero. Look out Ann Arbor.

I had the talent. I had the heart. I was a hero. And my off campus activities soon garnered the appreciation of local law enforcement and then attracted the attention of S.E.R.A.P.H. (the Scientific Experimentation Research and Application to Paranormal Humans organization). So when the call came from S.E.R.A.P.H. offering to sponsor me, I heard my future calling.

The package came in the mail three days later: one bus ticket, one Icon Tailor coupon, and one Paragon City Hero Registration form. And I was off.