Publisher's Synopsis
The world's first non-costumed super hero, an underground pulp action Sensation - first time ever in book form!
"Nonstop action, thriller fans will love it." -Joe Vadalma, author of The Chronicles of Morgaine the Witch. Are you a fan of James Bond and Cotton Malone? Of "Maverick" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."? Of Modesty Blaise or Catwoman? Of Spiderman or Green Lantern? Of Doc Savage and the Spider? Then prepare to enter a world of adventure and danger, of a hero unequaled since the days of the movie serials, of Golden Age comic books, and the yellowed pages of pulp magazines, a world of memorable characters, of good and evil. Welcome to the Emperorverse! For over four decades, in dozens of privately published comic books and pulp magazines, Charles Lee Jackson II has produced a unique body of work set in what his fans hail as the "Emperorverse." Its central figure is The Emperor, a crusader for good with extraordinary powers, who doubles as the harassed head of a minor Hollywood movie studio. The Emperor is smart, swift, capable of amazing feats, all but indestructible, well dressed (prefers jacket and tie to flamboyant costumes), able to charm beautiful women with a single smile. Opposing him is Continent-Eight, the international Executive of Crime and its creator, Varan Haruchi, AKA The Black Dragon, whose exposure to arcane experimental chemicals has resulted in his long-lived youthful appearance. The Emperor also encounters a host of other evil-doers in his war against crime and destruction: Dr. Yalta, doctor and dentist once recruited by US intelligence for his resemblance to warlord Adolf Hitler, kept young by the same accident, who now supervises medical and scientific crimes for Continent-Eight. Maskman, a mysterious helmeted figure, whose true identity is unknown even to his partners in crime. Victoria Poten, The Jade Dragon, third generation Eurasian crime boss whose personal goals of crime often place her at odds with her partners. Horst Sterling Rosefeld, the mysterious and powerful leader of the Church of Nihilism, dedicated to the destruction of the human race, and ruthless enough to accomplish it. And a rogue's gallery of sinister figures, notable among them Johnny Rainbow, the Steel Skull, Xavier Xavier AKA Dr. Double X, the Eye, Alain Sarnov, the Dragon, Warhead, and Madame von Teufel. In his war against Continent-Eight, and other evils, The Emperor is aided by as memorable a group of allies in crime-busting as Doc Savage's fabled companions. His supporting cast includes Bill Mills, musician, stuntman, and adventurer who joined The Emperor to make motion pictures and stayed to fight crime; Max Decker, Federal Intelligence agent who met The Emperor in the field and worked for many years as a crime-fighter while masquerading as a criminal gang-leader, the Gila; the amazing Shanghai Lil, red-headed woman as skilled with a blade as her wits. Plus a host of costumed heroines and heroes, super and otherwise, among them Shooting Star, Solara, Nemesis, Cat's-Eye, Fireball, and the robot Titan. They are all part of the Emperorverse, an incredible assembly of international spies, space aliens, mad scientists, colorful villains, costumed heroes, secret agents, spacemen, and even the cowboys of yesteryear, all engaged in the wildest and wooliest adventures you've ever read. It's an amazing and unequaled creative tapestry, woven into a complex, interrelated web that snares the imagination. In this newest installment released to the public, the actions races from the silver mines of Idaho, to Hollywood and Malibu, to a slumbering volcano in the Cascades. The Emperor tackles a monstrous enemy so deadly that even the crooks of Continent-Eight join in the fight against him, a villain who plans not merely to subjugate humanity but to destroy it - at any cost. And because he's the only thing stopping this fiend, Our Hero becomes... The Emperor Marked for Death!
