FAQ
Are there going to be JP events outside of US?
Kate: Tangentially, yes. Quite probably in side material.
I have a question about the science behind the use of superhuman abilities, or the general laws of the universe–
Ally:HOLD IT!
While we’ve created some laws through which superpowers operate, the abilities themselves are still fundamentally a bit magical and can’t be explained by actual science. Just roll with it, guys.
And now that we’ve made that clear:
Can you have “Superanimals”, so as to speak?
Only Zeus, the Palladium Superdog.
But yeah, no.
If a human gets a superhuman transplant or transsfusion would he reject it (ie. even if it is otherwise compatible). If not, could he gain superpowers?
Ally: Whatever biologically differentiates humans from superhumans (currently unknown in JP universe) seems to have no impact on sharing blood/organs–it’s not a marker that seems to have an effect on compatibility. It’s not a major antibody situation, otherwise a human wouldn’t be able to give birth to a superhuman child. Basically, unless the person in question is an outed superhuman (and “are you a superhuman” is a question on the donor survey, by the way–most lie, some don’t) a superhuman could donate without anyone knowing they aren’t actually human. This has lead to some controversy with regards to superhumans being blood/organ donors and under what context it’s allowed/disallowed. Superhuman blood/organs are typically reserved for superhuman patients (another box to check off, another place where people lie), which can cause problems when a superhuman is otherwise a perfect donor for a human patient. Many now-outed superhumans claim that they’ve been giving blood for some time now without consequence, so there shouldn’t be any restrictions, but the law has been pretty firm on this issue. Until science determines what makes a superhuman different, it will stay this way.
A human could not gain superhuman abilities based on a transplant/transfusion.
Since when do dated superpowers exist?
Kelsey: Terms like “superhuman” and “superpower” were not coined until the late 19th century, and they have most likely existed as long as regular humans. The earlier record of said existence, however, is from a 17th century Spanish article about a “colony” of superpowered individuals. Whether this article was entirely true, it did bring the nature of these people to a public light.
Can a superhuman get a disease contradictory to his power?
Kate: Yes – it’s possible for superhumans to have disorders which their powers don’t compensate for. So, for instance, a healing mental with a debilitating disease could exist. They would be considered Tame – we’ll expand on this as it becomes more relevant in the comic itself, but for now I’ll give you the basics. Powers fall on a spectrum – some superhumans have more control than others. By and large, superhumans fall somewhere in the middle, but there are examples of the more extreme ends. Those who display these more extreme traits are labelled – Wild (where the superhuman is either unable to or seriously struggles to have any control of their powers) and Tame (where the powers are difficult to actually access).
Are superpowers hereditary?
Kelsey: Possibly. As stated earlier, the exact “thing” that causes a person to be a superhuman has yet to be pinpointed. There has been evidence of certain traits or abilities being passed along a family, but that hasn’t been the case for everyone.
What do the characters do for fun?
Kelsey: Well, it’s already kind of obvious that Izzy plays Pokemon and watches cartoons. Dwayne does the same, with the exception that he also likes to go outside and exercise. Keira trains, mostly, as does Jo, though I think Jo also likes going out to bars some evenings. Angel does a lot of research and reading in her free time. Syren also reads, takes an interest in some major television shows, and has a deep interest in music.
Is Syren’s shipperface/adorable face habit connected to her powers or is she just cute like that?
Kate: No matter what Syren’s powers were, she’d still get all excitable and make faces. Her empathic tendencies do make her slightly better at picking up on things, but other than that they’re pretty much unrelated.
What brand were Matt’s former shoes?
Ally: Prada. Matt likes ‘em fancy.
What was Izzy’s backstory before the final version?
Kelsey: There were a few versions of it – it changed a couple times before its reveal. Originally, she was actually born in Paradise and the entire event between Charles and Jiang Shi occurred there, but then I realized that it would make more sense if Izzy were put into hiding and changed her name after her parents’ deaths. That was when she was moved to Austin. At that point in time, Charles had been made into an investor who also lobbied at the capitol for superhuman rights. He was going to be some bigshot in the movement, but we decided he needed to be downscaled to a local level. Ally suggested we make him the mayor of another small town (I think we chose Pampa) and wrote up a new backstory from that, but I didn’t want him in politics anymore, so I wrote what we currently have.
Can Matt fly?
Ally: No. He can propel himself forward/backwards/etc by beating his wing/arms, but since he’s not a proper bat, his wings are about proportionate to the length of his arms, and as such are too weak to lift him, much less sustain flight.
Who created which character?
Ally: I created Angel, Matt, and Damien, of the characters we’ve currently seen. I also adopted Jo after her creator, Eva, left—well, technically Kelsey was supposed to, but then I stole her. XD
Kelsey: I’ve got Izzy and Dwayne. Izzy was based partly on me, whereas I’m pretty sure I pulled Dwayne out of thin air.
Kate: I created Syren, initially as an idealised-self-insert Sue, but luckily she’s evolved..
Nat: And that leaves me with Keira! I initially created her as a girl version of Robin from Teen Titans with earth powers, but thankfully, she too has evolved. And keeps evolving!
Ally: Angel wasn’t intended to be like me, but little bits of me ended up slipping in. (in bed) It makes sense, though, since Reasoning Mentals as a whole ended up developing a thought process and logic similar to mine—which isn’t me stroking my ego about my intelligence, I swear! It’s just easier to write intellects by basing it off of what you find most intelligent or logical about yourself.
When are we going to see Angel fight (or any other elemental alchemist)?
Ally: Soon! They’re exploring what they think is the Evil Lair, after all, so there’s bound to be some action around the bend! Everyone will get a chance to fight.
Has Angel had other teams before?
Ally: She may have. But she won’t tell.
Are Angel’s boobs real?
Ally: Yes. Yes they are. On the subject of Angel’s body type, I consider her a more toned version of Christina Hendricks—she has a body type that can be described as amazonesque and takes good care of it through training.
Would Syren be useful in a combat situation (through her telepathic powers)?
Kate: Yes and no – she has some influence over actions and is getting quite sneaky about taking shortcuts. She also has her telekinesis, although she isn’t as adept with that. And no because…well…she’s a bit of a coward. Or rather she’s easily scared, and presumes she’s more vulnerable than she is.
Can Jo only fight with a naginata?
Ally: No, but it’s her most effective fighting style. She could pick up other weapons and fighting styles with relative ease (particularly pole weapons), and separated from her naginata she’ll be fine. She’s just naturally better at fighting (and, frankly happier) with her naginata.
Does Jo have a name for her naginata?
Ally: Nat actually expressed surprise that Jo would name her naginata, since it’s not something she pictured Jo as doing. She’s technically right—Jo wouldn’t name her electronics like we do with ours. But a weapon is basically an extension of a Fighter’s arm, leg, or their being in general. It has a personality of its own, and it basically completes her. So as a result, she named her naginata “Sheva,” which is the Hebrew word for the number 7 and also means “to swear an oath.” She hasn’t shared her logic behind that name with anyone. Though I can tell you right here: the name is also in honor of her creator, Eva.
Will the secret of Jo’s scar be revealed, or was she just a sloppy fighter at some point?
Ally: Yes, the secret will be revealed! All I’ll say is that there’s the version she tells, and the real story. Make of it what you will.
How do I pronounce Silicis? What’s up with that name anyway?
Ally: Sil-ee-sis. Or in IPA for those who read it, sɪl.’i.sɪs </ nerd>
Nat: If I had known we would have this pronunciation problem, I would have gone for something else, but I basically went into a Latin translator and picked the coolest-sounding translation for… Ground, or rock, or something. Clearly more thought should be put into superhero names. Learn from my mistakes, kids!
Dwayne OBVIOUSLY has a thing for Izzy. Does she know?
Kelsey: Nope. Blissfully unaware. Always has been.
What is a redhead party, exactly?
Ally: …I’m sorry, do you have red hair? If you don’t, you don’t get to know.
…if you do, I’m STILL not telling you.
Just how big is Angel’s appartment?
Kelsey: Small. It’s a studio apartment which means that what you guys have seen is pretty much all there is. There’s a kitchen, which we’ve seen a bit of, that’s off in the corner, and a bathroom off to the side of the main door. It’s a bitch to draw.
Ally: That’s entirely my fault. XD What, you thought I’d make it easy for them? I like the idea of a bunch of people living in a cramped space, particularly when they have conflicting personalities. It ups the stakes, after all. I wish we got to play in there a bit more, but Kelsey doesn’t like drawing it. We do have an entire chapter taking place there in the near future, though!
When did the characters kindle?
Kelsey: It’s most common for superhumans to kindle in their preteens-to-teens, though there are cases of it happening earlier or later. Izzy and Dwayne both kindled around the age of fifteen.
Ally: Angel kindled in two parts: she was born a Reasoning Mental, which is typical. Her Elemental Alchemy showed itself years later, at about thirteen. Jo, like many Fighters, kindled early in life but didn’t realize that she was a Fighter until she first picked up a weapon at age 11.
Kate: Syren kindled around 14, starting off with empathic telepathy which broadened by the time she was 15. Her telekinesis emerged around her 16th birthday. That was a messy party.
Nat: Keira’s earth powers kindled when her parents were killed, and she caused a minor earthquake. She was likely born an agility mental, but she was never aware of it until she got in her first fight at sixteen.
What’s up with all these dudes and their eyebrows?
Kelsey: I LOVE. BIG. EYEBROWS. Eyebrows make the man. In order to get on the team, you have to have the eyebrows for it.
Ally: Just for that, I’m going to write a male character with the girliest eyebrows. I will specify: “This dude waxes.” And Kelsey will deal with it.
Kelsey: He’ll be the ultimate enemy.
Kate: Eyebrows are the bastion of manliness. One guy wanted to join but he had really tiny eyebrows so he tried to stick caterpillars on his forehead but they wriggled away ;_; (…that is…a wicked lie…but…it could happen? No. No it couldn’t.)
Is the JP a closed group or can others come into it eventually?
Kelsey: YOU BET IT’S NOT.
Ally: It’s just hard to recruit new members while walking through a creepy warehouse.
Kate: They considered an X Factor style contest but nobody wanted to be Cowell. Stupid high trousers.
Nat: That said, no fan characters will be in the JP, sorry. We love that you like the comic enough to send in your characters, but the story and characters have been a longtime work-in-progress (we’re talking nearly a decade, guys, and wow does that make me feel old) and we can’t work fan characters into the team roster. We’re more than happy to include them as side characters, however!
Ally: (Shush you I’m the oldest anyway) We’re actually already planning on making some of your characters have prior relationships with individual team members, which will be reflected in their appearance—and don’t worry, we’ll run it past you first. So it’s very easy to showcase your characters, just not as long-term as making them full team members, sorry!
Do the characters get paid? By whom?
Ally: Typically, a superhero or superhero team will be paid by the city’s government, report directly to the mayor, and act as the city’s protectors and spokespeople. That, of course, is only in the case for “legitimate” teams, which the JP is not. A new team will generally take a gamble and work as heroes without being paid in the hopes that their exploits will gather enough attention for them to be hired by the city. Some wealthy individuals will also patron a new hero or team to ensure that they’re financially secure while trying to prove their worth—as well as provide technology to make their efforts more efficient—this is generally considered less admirable than making it on their own since there’s a sort of sketchiness about being on a private individual’s payroll rather than the city’s. A hero or team could also technically freelance and be hired by individuals for specific purposes, but this has always been viewed as someone mercenary behavior and tends to reflect poorly on their public image. Most superheroes try to avoid being contracted in this way as it may affect their ability to become a city’s “official” heroes. (As a side-note: the mercenary issue is why Jo doesn’t trust Matt.)
Do the PJO have people outside of Port Jupiter?
Ally: Yes. The general organization is referred to as the Outcasts, with headquarters in many cities—they’re limited to the United States, though the organization has also looked to spread beyond the country’s borders. The Outcasts were started in Port Jupiter back in 1957, where they were just known as the Outcasts. It was only when they started sending representatives to other cities in the late 60s/early 70s that they added “Port Jupiter” to the title so as to clarify each branch. The most well-known branches are in Port Jupiter, New York, and San Diego (Damien Voss is the acting leader of the SDO), though the Outcasts also have a large presence in Chicago, Houston, St. Louis, and Boston, and a smaller one in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Las Vegas.
What is the US’s policy towards Superhumans? The UN? The EU?
Ally: Without going into excessive detail about the history—there’s a time and a place for that, and that’s not now—overall, superhumans had little-to-no rights until the modern era, and even then many nations still repress superhumans. Within the scope of human rights in general, superhumans have had a hard time getting respect because for the longest time, most of the world refused to see them as human. Even the United Nations was a bit late in including superhumans to their policies: they were ultimately ignored by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), as nations couldn’t agree on the subject of the “humanity” of superhumans. Superhumans are now technically protected under point VII the Helsinki Accords (1977), though while many nations agree to that provision, it took longer for them to begin truly practicing it in reference to superhumans.
The United States was one of those latecomers to universal human rights. Even after the Civil Rights Movement, many laws existed that denied superhumans of their basic rights. While the public had already begun to see superhumans as a positive force through the existence of superheroes, many Americans still feared what superhumans were capable of, and took the presence of superhuman gangs as justification for their discrimination. This was aggravated in 1982, when a massacre in Austin, TX led by a group of radical superhumans caused the country to go into a panic. Surprisingly, while this caused for a spike in hate crimes and civil injustices towards superhumans, it also led to the rise of a greater, more effective superhumans rights movement. In 1996, while many people in the country still greatly mistrusted superhumans, the first Superhuman Rights Laws were passed, giving superhumans the same civil liberties and human rights as every other citizen. In practice these laws are not always applied, and injustice certainly still exists (see: the number of superhuman slums like Lowtown), but superhumans are still protected by universal human rights.
All nations within the European Union have universal human rights, as it has become a prerequisite for joining the EU. And I’ll leave the rest of this to Kate, as she’s the one who devised much of this but has to add her part when she’s awake. 
Kate: Ally is a wonderful ladygirl who is very kind to me and lets me…well…be asleep/at work XD
Within the UK there are moves to regulate superhumans – that is, there is an organisation run by the government (creatively known as The Agency – it had a real name, The Hero Education Agency, but is only really known as The Agency) which exists primarily to educate and train superhumans (or, as they’re known in the UK, Heroes). At its inception it acted only for children and teens (covering education from four to eighteen – it follows the National Curriculum with added classes designed specifically towards certain powers and general combat) but as time went on they opened an adult-education unit.
Much as the UK is acting mostly on its own (…as it tends to do…), other countries in the EU are considering it something of a pilot scheme. If it proves successful it’s likely that other countries will follow suit – some branches of The Agency have some international pupils (currently only accepted within the European Union).
There are moves to create a specific council within the European Union for superhuman affairs, although this is very much only in the pipeline and is quite likely to get caught up in bureaucracy foul-ups – at present each institution is cultivating some sort of superhuman policy.
Is this comic an action story, a good old detective story or some form of romance/get shipped ASAP story?
Kelsey: ALL OF THOSE THINGS. And I’m actually not kidding. It leans more on the mystery side with action sequences throughout. We also like to make sure you get to see a more personal side of the story, though, with slices of life and some romance.
Ally: Right now the personal elements are a bit more “getting to know you” sort of thing, but this will change in future installments.
Kate: I like to think of it as slice of superhero life.
Nat: I would love it if it was just a comic about these kids I ship, but for some reason, Ally insists on there being a STORY.
So … what’s the deal with all the shipping, anyway?
Ally: Shit, you think we could work on a story for 8 years without thinking about who’s going to hook up with who? We still get surprised by someone suddenly developing feelings for someone else as we write. It’s AWESOME. And if I had my way, you would see people making out ALL THE TIME.
Nat: There was a particularly funny instance of this just recently, in fact, and it’s really a testament to how you can “know” a character for years and still be surprised by how things turn out. And, to be perfectly honest, most of the reason I get into any fandom at all is ships, so to come up with something like JP and NOT have any shippy stuff… It was basically impossible.
Kelsey: I can’t not plan all the lovin’ ahead of time. It’s like Dragon Age, except I can make them get back together after they break up. PROTIP: Dwayne/Eggnog is canon.
Ally: So basically, we’re all shippers, deal with it. *coolshades*
Is someone in the JP or PJO going to die (not from old age LOL).
Ally: Being a superhero is a dangerous line of work, so casualties are definitely possible. This is even more true in the PJO, since … well, gangs are also quite dangerous. So basically, yes. People might die. People on both sides WILL die in battle. It’s just a matter of when.
Are you scared of copyright infringement? More specifically: are you scared of crossing into some other comics line, which just so happens to have a better copyright lawyer?
Ally: No. And here’s why:
Jupiter Palladium started out as a fan role play based off of DC Universe, specifically Teen Titans. Long before we even decided that we wanted to publish this, we started developing an independent world for our original characters to live in, one where the idea of superhumans or superpowers are a genetic reality rather than being a random thing where people wake up knowing how to fly, or are aliens from outer space, etc. The resulting story is something that was born completely of our minds and years of figuring out: what kind of world would be suit the story we’re telling? What would logically occur in response? Does what we have now still remind us of our roots? And most importantly, how can we structure our ideas to make them unique?
A concern that we had in the development process was that one of the concepts may be too parallel to the ideas of mutants in X-Men, but I’m sorry, if Marvel Comics has a monopoly on the discrimination of people born with superpowers then that’s just SILLY. You can’t copyright the idea of someone looking at someone who is different than them and saying: “You’re a freak and I hate you for it,” and if anyone tried to call us out on it, I’m pretty sure they’re ignoring the fact that if a superhuman were real, that is exactly what would happen. And besides, it’s just a fragment of the story we’re telling, which is actually about the lives and struggles (both public and personal) of superheroes in a major American city.
So no, I’m not scared, because we’ve been conscious of our predecessors in developing our story and universe. I’m proud of our final product, and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it.