PS238

PS238
File:PS238 Trade No Child.jpeg Tyler gets a lift to school in the third collected edition
Publication information
Publisher	Do Gooder Press
Creative team
Written by	Aaron Williams
Artist(s)	Aaron Williams

PS238 is a comic book that follows the lives of both teachers and students at an elementary school for metaprodigy children, or children with super powers. Issue #0 was published in November 2002. PS238 is written and drawn by Aaron Williams and published by Do Gooder Press. Until issue #20 it was published by Dork Storm Press and Henchman Publishing. In December 2006 Aaron Williams started posting the comic page by page on his website. The online version is now updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Aaron Williams also writes and draws Nodwick and Full Frontal Nerdity. He co-wrote the title Truth, Justin and The American Way with Scott Kurtz. Hero Games created a PS238 role-playing game using their Champions game system.

Story overview

Aaron Williams, creator of PS238, at Gen Con Indy 2007.

PS238 is a school only recently founded, three miles below the seemingly normal Excelsior School, with many of the teachers having little or no experience teaching. The reason for their lack of experience is that most of the teachers are former superheroes. Part of the school is made from the old satellite headquarters of the Union of Justice, a superhero team whose members founded the school. The reason why a superteam should choose to found a school is initially a mystery, but is revealed as the series progresses.

At the beginning of the series the protagonist is unclear; issues #0-#2 each follow different main characters. In issue #3, we are introduced to Tyler Marlocke, who becomes the central character. Tyler is a strange case as he has no super powers. His mother and father are two of the most powerful metahumans on Earth and cannot come to terms with the fact that their child is not "gifted" like the other students. Tyler's parents have gone to great lengths to get his powers to surface; throwing him off buildings, for example. Though the school was at first opposed to letting Tyler attend because his safety could be at risk, after some observation, they determined that Tyler would actually be safer at the school than left to his parents' devices. Tyler is assigned a tutor of sorts in the form of The Revenant, a Batman analogue; as The Revenant has no superhuman ability himself, it's hoped he can steer Tyler in the right direction ... or at least keep him alive. Tyler possesses a very keen sense of self-preservation, which leads him to outfit himself with every kind of gadget he can when he is assigned a field training session with the Revenant, who comments that Tyler couldn't even move with all that weight on himself, and after a pause, wonders if that was intentional. Occasionally, and only when the situation merits, Tyler assumes the identity of Moon Shadow, Revenant's Robin-like sidekick. Toby, Tyler's clone, proclaims himself his twin brother. Cecil Holmes is Tyler Marlocke's best friend. Ambriel, Angie, Julie, Malphast and many others also become friendly with him. Only Zodon, of all PS 238 students, is hostile to Tyler - and Zodon is hostile to everybody. Tyler is so popular that he was once elected class president.

The Rainmaker Program

File:Ps238cover14.jpeg

What will the original Rainmaker think of PS238?

The original Rainmaker Program was a US government project to study superhumans, with the aim of finding out how to give people superpowers (or take them away). The project started in the 1960s and focused on one boy, Harold Nelson, who had the power to make rain start and stop. The government had become increasingly insecure about metahumans and a boy who couldn't fight back with super-strength was an appealing research subject. For 6 years, Harold was put through tests to try and find how his power worked, but with little success. The scientist working on the project started to get worried about the lack of results and resorted to drastic measures. Enlisting the help of Dr. Irons (an imprisoned supervillain in a robotic body) they tried a new machine of Dr. Irons' own creation. The machine was actually made to enhance Harold's power, not to study it, and with a torrential downpour of rain, the lab wall was broken. In an ensuing explosion, Dr. Irons lost his body and Harold made a run for it carrying away Dr. Irons' still-functioning head. It is not known what happened to the Rainmaker Program after Harold's escape.

The modern day Rainmaker Program was started when PS238 was opened as an alternative program geared towards those with super powers deemed unfit for superheroics. The program is very similar to that of the rest of the school except that the Rainmaker children don't participate in activities like combat training. Those in the program include:

• The Earthly incarnation of Hestia Goddess of the Hearth.
• Uther, a boy who can make anything into an edible substance.
• Zachary, a kid who can dig through any kind of soil or rock. He is one of Moon Shadow's biggest fans.
• Lyle, a boy who can deduce probable events from patterns around him.
• Kathy, a girl who can rebuild any object from its remains, and repair any damaged machine (including Dr. Positron).
• Vera, a girl who can see the past of any item or area by looking at it or touching it.
• Alec, a boy whose drawings come to life.
• Orchid, a girl who can accelerate and intensify plant growth.
• Steve, a boy with musical powers.
• Marvin, who can put anyone to sleep instantaneously. He looks very much like Dr. Newby, and is probably her son.
• Vern (see below).

Characters

File:Ps238cover15.jpeg

The Revenant fights crime with Moonshadow a.k.a. Tyler Marlocke

Many characters in PS238 are analogues, homages or outright parodies of heroes from other publishers. One of the pleasures of older readers is spotting the sometimes obscure references that will elude (hopefully, in some cases) younger readers. Other characters correspond to familiar superhero archetypes: they may or may not be direct references to heroes in other media.

Heroes

• Atlas came to Earth from the planet Argos, crashed in Iowa and was raised by an old farmer who had no children of his own. Atlas is vulnerable to Argonite, and at one point, had a pet superdog named Argo. The Superman parallels are obvious: Krypto/Argo, Kryptonite/Argonite, etc. The biggest difference is that Argos, unlike Krypton, has not been destroyed. Atlas thought most of his life that it had been, but in issue 42 he learns this was either a misconception or a deception. His Argonian name is Ul-Ron, and his Earth civilian name is Ron Peterson, Senior.

• The Revenant is, as stated before, much like Batman; he has no superpowers and instead relies on detective skills, gadgets, wealth, intimidation, physical and mental prowess in his war on crime. He is quoted as saying, "Sometimes I think access to money is the greatest power of all." The Revenant is a character from a Michael Stackpole short story, “Peer Review”. Mr. Stackpole donated the Revenant to the PS 238 project. Moon Shadow, Cecil Holmes, and The Flea are disciples and sidekicks of the Revenant.

Several heroes are members of the team known as the Nuclear Family:

• First Strike, team leader.
• The Atomic Pile.
• Mental Nucleus, mad inventor.
• Plutonium Saber.

Faculty

The faculty of PS238 includes:

• Alfred Cranston (the school principal, whose mental powers are apparently immense if not constrained by the headband he now wears. The circumstances seem to revolve around his having used his telepathy to become President of the United States at some point, as indicated in the American Eagle-Patriot Act arc).
• Herschel Clay (who teaches shop class and used to fight crime as the armored hero Moon Mantium).
• The robotic Doctor Positron.
• The mystic Vashti Imperia, code-named "Spell Syrin."
• Coach Rockslide. Similar to Benjamin Grimm, aka The Thing.
• Cristina Kyle (based on Aaron Williams wife, Cristi). Her code name as a super hero was "Micro Might."

Of these six, only one (Principal Cranston) was not a member of the Union of Justice, and only one (Ms. Kyle) had any teaching experience before founding the school (unless you count Vashti tutoring her younger self in Magic). The others merely got a simulated Crash Course in teaching via one of Herschel's machines.

Students

Other than Tyler Marlocke, all the children at PS238 have super powers:

• Victor Von Fogg (a nod to Victor Von Doom). He is the son of would-be world conqueror Doctor Philippe Von Fogg, whose name and face are suspiciously similar to those of cartoonist Phil Foglio, friend and colleague of Aaron Williams. The Von Fogg family lives in a huge armored Zeppelin (perhaps a reference to Castle Wulfenbach, a city-sized airship featured in the ongoing webcomic Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio).
• The Emerald Gauntlet (who has powers similar to The Green Lantern). These two have a particularly contentious relationship as The Emerald Gauntlet (senior), is the parole officer for Victor's father. The Junior Gauntlet's real name is Kevin. He is Moon Shadow's biggest fan.

Also on the rolls are:

• Ambriel, code-named Guardian Angel.
• A blue Hulk-like child named Bernard.
• Murphy, a child version of Dream (a.k.a. Morpheus) from Neil Gaiman's Sandman.
• Zodon, a genius gadgeteer who has a "Barry Ween" chip (replacing profanity with such terms as "Finland!" or "Gurgling piece of pot roast!", and larger strings of profanity with Rodgers and Hammerstein show tunes), a rivalry with Von Fogg over who will be the greater supervillain and a very vocal distaste for Tyler (centering around his lack of powers - and the fact that Tyler, of normal intellect, always outsmarts supergenius Zodon). Bald, abrasive and sarcastic, Zodon appears to be an underage version of MODOK. He also has a lot in common with Gizmo, a nasty young techno-villain in Teen Titans.
• Malphast. Similar to an entity in Preacher. He comes from the Realm of Order and Chaos. His best friends are Tyler Marlocke and Cecil Holmes.
• Tom Davison, a time-traveler who resembles the Fourth Doctor, only a lot younger.
• American Eagle and USA Patriot Act, respectively Democrat and Republican patriotic heroes. Each one aspires to be the successor to Freedom Fighter, the equivalent of Captain America.
• Alejandro Torres, code-named The Flea. A junior version of Spider-man, he aims pranks and zingers at the villains he fights.
• Julie, code-named "84," The 84th person with the standard FISS (flight, invulnerability, speed, strength) powers. Like Atlas, she is affected by Argonite. She is friends with both Moon Shadow and Tyler, but does not realize they are really the same person.
• Poly Mer, a girl with powers like Plastic Man and Mister Fantastic. Julie's best friend.
• Angie, a mad inventor and Techie. Good friends with Prospero and Tyler.
• Prospero, an alien.
• Suzi, a fearless little girl with superpowers of radioactivity.
• Toby Marlocke, also known as Ultimate Powers and Junior Powers. Basically a clone of Tyler, but with DNA also from various superheroes. He considers himself Tyler's twin brother, and Tyler's parents have accepted him as such. Angie, Victor, the Cherub and the Imp all had a hand in creating Toby. Besides superpowers, there is another difference between the "twins": Tyler is left-handed, and Toby is right-handed.

Excelsior School, located 3 miles above PS238, has provided several characters, most notably:

• Cecil Holmes, conspiracy buff, best friend of Tyler Marlocke, disciple of the Revenant, good pals with Alejandro Torres the Flea and with Malphast. He has the ability to detect those with superpowers, and originally thought they were aliens. Oddly enough, he sensed Ron Peterson who is the son of the alien Atlas.
• Satori Deacon, a girl who can see ghosts and spirits, and communicate with them.

The rival Praetorian school, headed by the Cyborg supervillain known as The Headmaster, includes in its student body:

• Charles Brigman, a teleporting bully, extortionist, kidnapper, terrorist, and thief.
• Ron Peterson, son of Atlas. Previously known as "Captain Clarinet," Ron has the new code name "Argonaut." His greatest weakness is not Argonite, but his lack of self-confidence.
• Alexandra Von Fogg, Victor's sister.

The Realm of Order and Chaos, home of Malphast, includes some recurrent characters:

• Balagan, Lord of Chaos. His name means "chaos, confusion, disorder, mess," in modern Hebrew.
• The Determinant, Ruler of Order.
• A Great Lady Demon of Chaos, mother of Malphast.
• A General of Seraphim, Warrior of Order, father of Malphast.
• The Cherub, agent of Order.
• The Imp, agent of Chaos.

Last but not least, the Healers:

• Dr. Newby. A skilled professional MD, as well as having metahuman Healer abilities. Her patients include Murphy, Principal Cranston, Tyler, and Toby. Marvin is probably her son.
• Vern, the most powerful Healer since Jesus. The Revenant and Ambriel are his notable patients.

A Medical Doctor with Metahuman Healer powers is called a Meta-Physician - not to be confused with a Metaphysician. (See PS 238, issue 40).

Glimpse of the Future

In the episode "Time After Tyler," we see Tyler 15 years in the future. He still has his Alter Ego as Moon Shadow. He is now working on salary for the Revenant, doing such important work as answering the telephones.

Glimpses of the Past

• One episode takes place in a mythological medieval Europe, where Dragons and magic-users exist. This was the time and place of origin of Vashti Imperia. Nodwick and his colleagues have a hilarious guest turn.
• Zodon, while traveling through time, barely escapes being electrocuted by the truculent Native warrior, Cloud-Splitter.

Similar works

William Stronghold (performed by Michael Angarano) from the movie Sky High closely resembles Tyler Marlocke as a child with no superpowers born to superparents and sent to a school for superpowered kids. There was considerable controversy among Williams' fans about whether "Sky High" was plagiarized from "PS238." So far, no evidence that this was the case has come to light. The two schools are structural opposites: PS 238 is miles below ground, Sky High is miles above ground.

The made-for-TV "Up, Up, and Away" was released by Disney in 2000 (therefore predating PS238) also had a similar plot line, though without the school setting. Another similar feature, "Zoom", was released in summer 2006.

Graphic Novel collections

• With Liberty and Recess for All
• To the Cafeteria... For Justice!
• No Child Left Behind!
• Not Another Learning Experience!
• Extraterrestrial Credit
• Acts of Senseless Tourism
• Daughters, Sons, and Shrink-ray Guns

References

• Long, Steven S, The PS238 Roleplaying Game(2008) ISBN 978-1-58366-109-3

External links

• Aaron Williams' webpage
• PS238 Website