In honor of the terrible recurring dreams I have about not making it to my finals or even knowing my schedule, we look at those super college students still matriculating! Welcome to Ten Things: Ten Super College Students!

Whooshman-Bicarbonate Films, in conjunction with An Amateur Comics Historian and Professor Martin Stein, Presents:

TEN THINGS: SUPER COLLEGE STUDENTS!

10) ALL-STAR

After discovering a powerful amulet known as the Star-Charm, Olivia Dawson found that all that glitters *is* gold, barring a few shooting stars, and got her game on to go play. Assisting the Justice League in battle against the Weaponers of Qward, she was given provisional League membership, only to freeze up in battle. She later regained her courage and faced Brainiac one-on-one, saving the League but destroying her powers in the process, returning to life as a regular college student. (Super-heroing was messing with her grades, anyways…)

9) ULTRAMAN GAIA

During a series of experiments with virtual reality, Gamu Takayama encountered and bonded with the giant Gaia. As Ultraman Gaia, he works/clashes another Ultra, Ultraman Agul, eventually teaming to save the Earth (which is to say, primarily Japan) from the evil alien Fundamental Destruction Angel Zogu. Having saved his world, Gamu goes into semi-retirement, returning to the boring life of a college student (albeit one who does not keep secret the fact that he saved the whole world, which is literally a whole new story.)

8) GOLIATH

After the death of his favorite uncle during the idiocy of the superhero Civil War, college student Tom Foster swore that he would personally find a way to harness Pym Particles and avenge Uncle Goliath. When The Hulk returned to Earth for vengeance on The Illuminati (UGH), Tom stole size-changing serum and set out on a quest for payback of his own. He fell in with Wonder Man’s Revengers and ended up in prison, but was later released on good behavior. It’s hard to accept him as a villain when everything he’s telling Iron Man and company is absolutely and completely true, as ‘Civil War’ is a truly, epically dumb story.

7) GEIGER

A student at Empire State University, Delilah Dearborn (known to her chums as “Dee”) was struck by a wave of gamma energy during an experiment. Transforming into a green-skinned creature of murderous fury, she was brought to justice by Doc Samson and She-Hulk, eventually returning to a slightly-augmented human form. Dee was one of the recruits of The Initiative post-Civil War (see above RE: Civil War was terrible) and trained at Camp Hammond before being assigned to the official super-team of New Mexico, while presumably continuing her studies.

6) FIREBALL

Talented college baseball player Josh Hawkins was lured into a local swamp by a series of strange glowing orbs, ending up transported into another dimension. When he returned, he had the power to hurl fastballs of pure foxfire, as well as flying/gliding and a killer headdress, all of which he put to good use as a member of the Mighty Crusaders (Impact Comics version.)

5) CYCLONE

The granddaughter of the original Golden Age Red Tornado, Maxine Hunkel developed coincidental metahuman aerokinetic powers. Super-intelligent, upbeat and bubbly, Maxine is a standout at Harvard who ended up joining the Justice Society of America at one of the darker periods of their history, what with the Nazis and the murder and such. She’s one of the more fun of the waaaay-too-many recruits the JSA had in the 2000s, even if there was some serious creative dissonance in her handling and visual depictions.

4) GEMINI PLUS

Siblings Bob and Steve Shayne are often referred to as twins, but they are in fact the surviving brothers of triplets, with their powers sometimes attributed to the “spirit” of their third sibling. College students who accidentally apprehended an incredibly powerful villain, they donned costumes to petition for membership in the Hero Alliance. Eventually, their malleable powers were locked down as super-speed for impulsive loudmouth Bob and forcefields for the more cautious Steve.

Sadly, both their haircuts were pretty awful.

3) FRICTION

A talented dancer and student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Charlotte Beck was affected by the strange empowering incident known as ‘The White Event’, which gave her the power to control friction. Though gifted with one of the more useful powers (especially as it lacked the physical disfigurement that marked so many of her fellow Paranormals), Charly hated her abilities and only reluctantly joined her therapy group in going on the run as D.P. 7. She eventually was given the option to give up her powers, but opted not to do so, accepting her lot in life.

This being comics, her entire world was annihilated some years later.

2) THE FREE AGENT

No one knows who this seeeeeecret masked man is, nor why he allies himself with the strange group of heroes who protect Modern City, LA, but he is clearly athletic, and seemingly invulnerable. Anybody who points out that he’s never in the same room as Joseph Hassenpfeffer, star running back of the Modern City Cutlasses, is crazy, as Joseph doesn’t wear a mask at all! #CrazyTalk

1) KYMAERA

The daughter of Namora, the cousin of the legendary Sub-Mariner, Namorita Prentiss shares her mother and uncle’s strange mutation allowing superhuman strength and tiny ankle wings allowing them to fly. (Just… go with it.) As a student at Empire State University, she encountered a group of other heroes and formed The New Warriors, who don’t deserve half the static that they get, eventually discovering that she is actually a clone, going through a grunge phase during which her skin took on the usual Atlantean tones seen here. Her current status is unknown, as she was killed in action but somehow restored through #TimeTravelShenanigans, only to drop off the face of the Earth.

I like to think she and Rich Rider are hanging out in South Dakota, being a normal couple where no one notices.

Thanks to Faithful Spoilerite @Nerdling365 for this week’s topic. Feel free to follow along @MightyKingCobra for more Ten Things madness on Twitter or check out the full Twitter archive here! As with any set of like items, these aren’t meant to be hard and fast or absolutely complete, if only because of Spider-Man’s extensive supporting cast and inability to ever age, combined with their tendency to get super-powers. Either way, the comments section is Below for just such an emergency, but, as always: Please, no wagering!

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