Relocating the Marvel Universe — Part 25 — New Hampshire

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Given its population, there’s not a whole lot of hero coverage in New Hampshire. Still, thanks to the era in which these heroes appeared, it has sort of a 1990s vibe to it!

MANCHESTER/NASHUA (Jewel/Jessica Jones)

Originally from New York City, Jessica Jones debuted as Jewel while attending college in the Manchester area. There she did her best squashing any superhuman threats that appeared — until a fateful encounter with the Purple Man. After that incident, Jones retired from active superheroing and moved to Chicago where she met and married Luke Cage. Though finished with heroing, she maintains an active “adventuring” life as a private investigator.

Notes: Gee, I guess I should have put this in the Chicago entry! Anyway, Jones still makes an appearance here now and again. She will also return here when it’s under threat, knowing it has few other defenders.

ROCHESTER/DOVER/PORTSMOUTH (Mechamage)

A sorceress with a mystic suit of cyber-armor, Mechamage generally serves as the protector of all of New Hampshire, but in particular her activities are focused on the Rochester/Dover/Portsmouth corridor. That region seems to be particularly plagued by recurring sci-mystic invasions from a horrific alien race of cephalopods bent on taking control of the earth and bending its citizens to their rule. This struggle has been largely unnoticed by the heroes of the world, though she often gets assistance from Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Gargoyle and a few others that are resilient to the cephalopods ability to warp human minds.

Notes: Dipping into the Cthulhu mythos here, but darn it, every superhero universe needs to be under the threat of otherworldly octopi. I also like the idea of the not-so-human and the not-so-human-anymore heroes teaming up.

Series Notes: Here’s just as a little insight to how I’ve made my selections and the procedure in which I do an entry:

  • I have fifty-two 3×5 cards (one for every state plus D.C. and Puerto Rico), then I went through every edition of the Marvel Universe Handbooks that I own (which, to my knowledge is all of them).
  • I read most entries and tried to assign heroes to states based on their characterization, names, backgrounds and history. I also tried to theorize what might cause a hero to appear in said state.
  • From there, I began looking through info on each state including its big cities and its own “character” and how certain heroes might match each city.
  • So with these base heroes assigned, I then started with these entries. As I write stuff up, I do further research at Marvel.com to find secondary characters. It (and Wikipedia) also helps me get as-current-as-possible info on each character while I’m writing. (More than once my plans went awry when I found out a character is dead, in outer space or transmorgified into an all new character.)
  • I started in Florida, and worked my way around the border states. I figured this let me cover lots of regions rather than focusing on one region at a time. All of New England is next, since every state up there is a border state.
  • Right now, I have all the other states planned out, with characters in every state.

What’s “Relocating the Marvel Universe,” anyway? Well, check out the series hub, which includes a complete list of states, here.

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