by Clicker Cassidy
WASHINGTON — Superhero Helios once again defied President Reagan’s “humble request” to stay out of American affairs when he faced off against robots built by Zirconam, the military and aerospace contractor owned by controversial multi-millionaire Moses Maxwell. Around 10:33 PM on Monday, NASA scientists received an array of signals from the lunar colony construction project. Despite efforts to intervene, including Maxwell personally controlling one machine from his remote piloting pod, the robots were completely destroyed and incapacitated.
Fighting alongside Helios was a Japanese hero, Devil’s Voice. The Japanese government was quick to distance itself from the attack, disclaiming Devil’s Voice as a private citizen who only represented herself. Helios’s cooperation with Devil’s Voice represents the latest in a series of notable collaborations among the hero set, including several international team-ups. One of these, an unpublicized meeting between heroes representing six major nations including the US, prompted widespread speculation about a coming global superteam after it was revealed to the public in a bombshell News Worldwide report.
Assistant to the President for Press Relations Martin Fitzwater said in a Tuesday morning press conference “some response was warranted” to Helios’s actions, but that the White House was still “weighing all the options” for said response. The president and the globally-revered superhero have been frequent foes since even before Reagan’s election. Helios broke a long tradition of non-involvement in presidential politics to back sitting President Jimmy Carter in 1980, calling Reagan a “Klansman in the costume of a movie star.” That remark prompted Reagan’s running mate, George H.W. Bush, to say of Helios, “Maybe the boy’s head has gotten a little too big for his tights,” a comment that was criticized by many as crude and racist.
Helios, the first modern vigilante with supernatural powers and a longtime advocate for the civil rights of Black Americans, made his public debut in 1938. Prior to Carter, his only presidential endorsement was in 1964, endorsing incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson against Republican Barry Goldwater. Reagan’s animosity towards Helios has only increased in the years since, as the hero has spoken out against many of his policies and appointments. A recent Gallup poll shows that the public is split, with both the President and Helios holding approval ratings in the mid-fifties.
According to the same poll, only thirty-three percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Moses Maxwell, who in a press conference called Helios “a blight on the Earth, a blight on the Black community, and most of all, a blight on my good work.” He again called for Helios to be restrained or arrested, and vowed that if the government didn’t “deal with the problem” he would do so himself. When reached for comment on this, the White House declined to respond.
Maxwell also threatened a civil suit for the destruction of his property. Such legal action in the past has rarely deterred Helios; even in the event of judgments against him, benefactors have promptly paid on Helios’s behalf. Maxwell has long been a controversial figure across the political spectrum and among business colleagues. As the most prominent Black millionaire in the country, he angered many Black leaders when he allied with Reagan. Meanwhile, on the right, his so-called “libertarian” social beliefs have garnered controversy.
The attack itself, experts say, was a demonstration of Helios’s power and influence. In only six minutes, Helios and Devil’s Voice destroyed nearly one hundred million dollars of technologically advanced equipment and forced a near-total restart of the lunar project. Zirconam’s stock price fell precipitously as the news rolled in, dropping thirty points the day following the attack. Economist and business analyst Walter Donnerweel famously said in 1980, “No one has ever gone bankrupt betting on Helios.” It remains to be seen if that axiom will hold true.
For the past five decades, Helios has been an increasingly influential force in American life, with his cultural and economic influence rivaling that of many major industries and institutions. Despite passing fifty years as an active hero, he’s shown no signs of slowing down. Born Gabriel Lincoln in 1918, the source of his powers has never been fully explained to the public besides an ambiguous comment in the early forties where he attributed them to “divine intervention.” His civilian identity remained a closely-guarded secret for many years until it was revealed by legendary investigative reporter Marcie Mills in a 1975 edition of the Harlem Sword & Scabbard newspaper.
Devil’s Voice, Helios’ compatriot in the lunar attack, is a newer hero, who debuted in Japan just three years ago. Japanese authorities say they have growing concerns about the “hero complex.” Furthering those concerns, American firms and groups have rapidly begun establishing branches in Japan. Devil’s Voice herself is the chairman of “Oni Faction,” the Japanese branch of the Inferno Irregulars, the team formed by Madam Satan in San Francisco in 1960.
The Japanese government has broached the idea of creating a state-sponsored team of their own, but Japan observers say that the idea is likely to be bogged down in bureaucracy for the near-future. The Reagan administration has resisted calls from the right to take the initiative after the infamous end of the “Taskforce America” team in the early 1970s, who failed to apprehend notable US Army deserter David Mitchum and whose members perished in the Harlacher Island incident, when a privately built nuclear accelerator exploded.
Disaster and mass casualties were averted when Helios absorbed the resulting nuclear fallout in a spectacular display of his solar energy based powers before venting the excess radiation into outer space. Among the many honors given to Helios for his actions that day, the California State Legislature named the lifelong New Yorker the 1972 “Californian of the Year.” The honor was personally bestowed to Helios in a ceremony hosted by then-Governor, Ronald Reagan.