The History of Superheroes in America: 1934

Edmund O'Hurley took a break from crime fighting during the winter of 1933 and the beginning of '34. Work at the shop had slowed considerably, and he was forced to look for work doing odd jobs where he could find them for half the week. It was an incredibly tough winter. There wasn't much to eat. The cold and sadness of the harsh winter was creeping in on the small family. They made it through to see spring, but not by much. Another winter like that and who knows where they'd end up.

Spring came, and with it came an increase of work back at the shop. But not by much. The machinery of the Great Depression was in full swing now, and there weren't many people worrying about cars in 1934. O'Hurley's boss, a man of great integrity, wanted to keep Edmund on as long as he could. He liked Edmund (as most people did) and knew his family would have a rough go of it with Edmund out of a job. But the way things were heading, there wouldn't be a way to keep anyone in a job.

But with the increase in work (for the time being), came the opportunity to don the armor again. The people of the neighborhood had grown used to seeing the metal giant striding down the sidewalks a dusk. It was a comfort to everyone to know that even when everything else was falling apart, there was one man fighting for the good of everyone. And this was Edmund's biggest motivation to continue his fight. By the time summer began to creep in, there weren't many fights to be had. But he continued his beat anyway, knowing what hope it brought to those around him.

Then, something incredibly significant happened. Of course then, it probably seemed like something rather ordinary. Plain, even. But an event that would change the shape and course of America as a whole.

A young man was walking down the street. As he turned the corner, he saw a child run off of his front porch and down the sidewalk. The child zoomed past him and kept going. The turned, finally seeing the object of the child's attention. O'Hurley. Or, rather, the "metal giant" as people in the neighborhood called him. The child ran up to the giant and knocked on one of the plates on his legs. The giant looked down and smiled at the boy, ruffling up his hair. At first the young man wasn't sure of what he was seeing. But after a moment, it all clicked. He realized what O'Hurley was, even more than O'Hurley did. He realized that this was the man that was going to change everything. That this was the idea that was going to save America. It takes a very special man to put things together like that. He was brash. He was unafraid. He was 21 years old. He was Cyrus Foley.

From Foley's autobiography, "Creating God":

"He sparkled in the sun. It's a queer way of putting it, but it's true. The light reflected off of all of those metal plates and he absolutely sparkled. He was like a brand new Caddilac, but the difference was, no Caddilac in the world was going to walk and talk and save the nation. That's right. Even then, even right then standing on that sweltering street corner in Queens, I knew that he was going to be the thing that changed it all. He was going to be the deal maker. With him, with this idea, with this whole package I was going to change the world and I knew it in an instant. I walked right up to him, looked him dead in the face (now mind you, he was a good foot taller than me, and I was no midget) and I asked
"Hey guy, you got a name?" He looked a little puzzled.
"A name?"
"Yeah. A fancy name to go with that fancy suit."
"Well...no, I guess I don't."
"Well my name's Cyrus Foley. And the first thing we need to do is get you a name.""

That started one of the most famous collaborations in United States history. Edmund O'Hurley and Cyrus Foley. Combining passion and precision. Brawn with brains. They would start something unlike anything the world had seen before. The business of superheroes.

It would take all the rest of that year to create and fine tune the plan for O'Hurley's arrival onto the world stage. It was to be a finely orchestrated affair, with every cog of the machine in it's perfect place.

But by late December, everything was ready. The suit had been reworked, cleaned, painted. There was a name. A mission statement. Press releases. Photographs. The whole plan was put together and ready to explode.

And explode it did.