Houses of the Heroes
An unpublished series proposal for DC Comics by Alan Moore
There are eight major “Houses” of heroes. The Houses of Steel and Thunder face each other across the United States, New York to Los Angeles, and everyone else picks up the pieces in between.
- The House of Steel
- Superman dominates the eastern seaboard with Wonder Woman, and their children, Superboy and Supergirl. Superman is morally troubled with the kind of authority figure he has become. “We see the genuine and powerful love between [Superman and Wonder Woman] in the face of the perils of the world surrounding them and the desire to do what's best.” Wonder Woman now calls herself Superwoman.
- The House of Thunder
- Captain Marvel is the patriarch of the House that rules over the west coast. He has married Mary Marvel, but only to provide himself with the same kind of clan-authority that Superman has over the east. Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. are having an affair behind the Captain’s back. This clan and the House of Steel are about to be joined: Mary Marvel Jr and Superboy are about to be wed, through no desire of their own.
- The House of Titans
- Nightwing, still living in the shadow of Batman’s myth, heads up the remnants of the Teen Titans, the “younger” heroes who had nowhere else to go. Including Raven, Cyborg, Hawk, and Changeling, they are certainly a powerful house. But Nightwing lacks Batman’s depth of character, and the death of Starfire—caused when aliens were forced off of the earth many years past—hasn’t helped. But the Titans may not have long to last as a House: Changeling is hiding more and more in animal form, some of them creatures only of his imagination. And Raven is looking toward the House of Mystery.
- The House of Mystery
- Baron Winter’s Georgetown, DC, mansion is the headquarters for most of DC’s supernatural, magical characters: Jason Blood, the Spectre, Zatara, Dr. Fate, and Deadman (living in Baron Winter’s body since Baron Winter’s mind was burned out in psychic battle). The House of Mystery tends to ignore the rest of the world, and doesn’t vie for control of physical territory.
- The House of Secrets
- Not magical at all, this House consists of the few surviving supervillains, the ones who survived the Justice League purge. With Luthor, the Joker, Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, Catwoman, Chronos, and Star Sapphire, what they lack in physical power they can certainly make up in cunning and technological brilliance. They tend to keep to themselves, protecting the area around Nevada, which “is just as well-looked-after as the places controlled by the heroes, whereby hangs some sort of moral.”
- The House of Justice
- Along with the Titans, the most important of the ‘lesser’ Houses: Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Flash, Slipstream (a female Flash), Captain Comet, and the female Dr. Light. With two Flash-level speedsters, the cosmic power of Captain Atom, and the technowizardry of the Beetle, this House is likely to be extremely powerful, especially as it appears to be much more stable than the House of Titans. Note that Aqualad now calls himself Aquaman, and Wonder Girl is Wonder Woman.
- The House of Tomorrow
- All the time-travel exiles have banded together to try and get home again. With Rip Hunter, part of the Legion of Superheroes, Jonah Hex, Tommy Tomorrow, Space Ranger, and possibly even Barry Allen and an earlier Time Trapper, these folks are not to be messed with. However, they are trying not to influence events around them, and thus attempt to stay out of everyone’s way.
- The House of Lanterns
- There was a House of Lanterns, but it’s been shattered. The Lanterns, as agents of an alien power, were exiled along with the rest of the aliens during the earlier anti-alien purges. They now reside on one of the moons of Mars, or rather, within one of the moons, as it is riddled with caves. They’re conspiring with other alien powers, such as the Ranns and Thanagarians, to take over the Earth! The problem is that the Houses of Thunder and Steel are about to be joined through the marriage of Superboy and Mary Marvel Jr. If the new Super-House takes over the Earth, might they not set their eyes on the stars? Most of the various Lanterns who have been on Earth in the past are here, including the Kryptonian Lantern, Sodal Yat.
