Alpha Centurion
48 - Marcus Aelius is born to a ruling family of Rome.
70 - 22-year-old Marcus volunteers for the Roman Legion.
78 - 30-year-old Marcus earns the rank of Centurion.
82 - 34-year-old Marcus is taken by the Virium as a weapon to be used against underdeveloped people, but his skill earns him the rank of Alpha, continually trained & unfrozen to be used against continually more advanced planets.
1 year ago - 44-year-old Marcus finally frees himself & the remaining Virium Weapons. He steals the Pax Romana & returns to Earth where he joins the fight against Mageddon. He returns to Italy.
now - 45-year-old Marcus is established as the hero of Italy, & takes several concubines.
Admittedly, Alpha Centurion was a bit of a one-note character, but it's a good note.
The idea of a warrior from history being stolen by aliens to fight their battles on foreign planets who eventually overcomes his captors is actually reminiscent of the David Weber novel The Excalibur Alternative, although he was actually invented seven years before the book was released. We tried to give a little bit of flavor from that novel to his story. Once he shows up on Earth, in the comics he basically just hangs out in Metropolis, which is probably the most pointless place for a superhero to be, given the fact that Superman really has that covered. We imagined that he would actually return to modern-day Italy, and have some sort of skyscraper penthouse modeled after a roman bathhouse filled with concubines, both male and female. Sure, the idea is a little outlandish, but it just feels weird and fun. It's an easy story for us to include, and it expands the texture of our timeline to have yet another character with a historical bent to them. |