Hero: Dead Eye

Dan was a born leader.  Growing up in suburban Pulp City, he found that other children were drawn to him and did the things he suggested.  Tall and lanky, blond and blue-eyed, he excelled in all things at school.  As a student, he got all A’s; he was prom king and class president; and he always had the prettiest cheerleader for a girlfriend.  But he was most distinguished as an athlete. He was a four letter man in all four years of high school (in football, basketball, baseball, and curling).  All the top universities recruited him for their teams and tempted him with full scholarships and unwritten bonuses offered by rich alumni.  But Dan rejected them all and took a full academic scholarship to the prestigious University of Pulp City (he scored 1599 on his SATs, so he’s not as perfect as he seems).  At UPC, he concentrated on football, where uncanny ability as quarterback to call the right plays at the right time, the pinpoint accuracy of his passes, and his strong right arm earned him the nickname “Dead Eye.”  In his senior year, he led the “bar codes,” as the UPC teams were unofficially known, to a national championship, defeating Ohio State in the Lysol (“Keep Your Toilet Fresh”) Orange Bowl.  Taken first in the NFL draft, he negotiated a trade to the Pulp City Pirates because he loved his hometown.  In his rookie season, he lived up to his nickname, breaking all the records for pass completions, touchdowns, and yards passing. Dead Eye’s future as the greatest quarterback ever seemed assured.

That is, until that fateful day in his second season that the corrupt team owners approached Dan with a deal.  For years, the owners had made a fortune betting against their own team, and now they saw the opportunity to win more.  With the local boy-hero filling the stadium and with his reputation as the most accurate and strongest passer in the game, the Pirates might actually start turning a legitimate profit as they won more and more games.  But if they lost games the gambling odds makers said they should win, the owners would win more if they bet on the Pirates’ opponents.  Thus they went to Dan and offered him part of the action.  He refused, and continued to refuse to throw games just to enrich himself.  So the owners decided on a different course.  In the most important game of season, the one that would determine which team would be the division champion, the owner’s laced Dan’s Pulporade with a drug that would drain the strength in his right arm.  Dan felt something wrong but his will was so strong that he overcame the numbing effects of the drug, and Dead Eye passed his team to victory.  Enraged, the owners increased the drug for the next game, but the Pirates still won.  This continued through the rest of season and into the playoffs and up to the Super Bowl.  The dose for the Super Bowl would have killed an ox, but Dan’s magnificent, last second, seventy-five yards-in-the-air pass, just before he collapsed to the ground, saved the game.  Furious owners had Dan tested for drugs, and when the results came back positive, the NFL banned Dan for life from the game he loved. 

Completely dishonored and labeled a traitor in the Pulp City Planet, Dan feared to walk the streets of Pulp City.  Moreover, the drugs continued to weaken and wither Dan’s arm, killing the nerves and destroying the muscles.  Then a mysterious sponsor (claiming to be behind at least a couple of Supreme “rebirths”) offered Dan redemption.  He could equip Dan with a bionic arm that would be even stronger than his real one.  Dan jumped at the chance and promised to use his arm to battle the corruption that destroyed his life. “Dead Eye” as he was known from then on never speaks about the details of the deal but his deeds tell the story.

Alone, Dead Eye, slightly disillusioned but gritty and nigh on indestructible, wields a massive array of power. Faster than ever, strong and witty, the name of Dead Eye strikes fear in the hearts of all alien threats to Pulp City (and in other parts of bodies of those who have no hearts). He is at his best in leading a team of Supremes who know the true story and trust Dan limitlessly.