FROM THE BOOK OF HELIOS

"...And Zarael was cursed by the gods to live a life no longer than men... to succumb to the earliest death. To perish in youth. And his children will suffer after him. Father he lamented to great Zeus.

Why hast thou cast me from the light of your eternal splendour?

The gods of Olympus decreed silence. Your father is dead, Faunus. Weep well,

For it is you who have devoured him.

...The god Faunus died. And his children grieved. They turned to their sister Nekhbet.

And they told her to devour Faunus, for she was the queen of darkness, the soulless one.

And he, Faunus, the horned god of the animals, of fornication and chaos, would be reborn.

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Beast-Mode Sketches

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The demonic beast-modes were deliberately withheld to tell a story of young superheroes and their struggle to do good deeds. Aesthetically, the focus became primarily on their human sides, and not the nightmare creatures within.

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Be sure to check the Facebook page for character insights and "Corben's notes"!
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Vultura Character Sheet

Losing her sanity... and self... after a series of psychologically traumatic events submits her will to the team's morally questionable practices, Zoe suffers an identity crisis, modifying her costume to better suit her personality.

This physical change into what I like to call "Vulture Couture" occurs about halfway through the book, and represents a newfound confidence within Zoe, and her need for individuality. It also serves to foreshadow her destiny. This is Zoe's dark fairytale, so I needed something for her to really stand out, bold, with a hint of menace. I was inspired by Disney witches.

Cartoon cancelled for offensive content, TV Guide, March 1984

In an industry first for TV networks, a cartoon about superheroes who feed on human flesh has been taken
off the air by executives at NBC.
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Beastforce follows the lives of "five animal-morphing teenagers" as they struggle to cope with their
natural urge to eat human beings.
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"There were too many complaints. Frankly, I'm at odds as to how this got funding in the first place" NBC
Network Chairman Dale Rutherford said on Wednesday on the eve of the uproar.
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Parents and Children's advocacy groups have labelled the cartoon sick and distasteful, calling for a review
on the standards of acceptable content in Saturday morning cartoons.
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"Our children need to be sheltered from this violent, sex-saturated world we live in" says Marsha
Weinberger, president of the American Parent's League Against Sex and Violence on Children's Television
(APLASVCT).
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"After the show aired, my son started biting his sister, eventually taking out a chunk of flesh from her
arm. When I asked why he did this he said 'I'm hungry, like Beastforce. I want to eat people'. We just
don't need our children aspiring to be cannibals right now, it's too weird and disturbing."
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There have also been reports of adolescents engaging in inappropriate behaviour with their siblings after two
characters on the show who displayed sexual behaviour were revealed to be brother and sister.
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The show's creators declined to comment.

Above: A scene from the offending cartoon.

Extract from "Fairies and Boogeymen - A World of Children's Stories" by Jacinta Avery

Cave painting depicting the arrival of animal-men, Namimbia, roughly 25,000 BC

"...Perhaps most noteworthy of all bedtime stories in east Africa is this cautionary lyric of animal men, passed orally through generations, which children sing before sleep, supposedly to ease their nightmares. Similarly, like in several parts of the world, animal men are used as the figure of the boogeyman, of which this poem offers comfort from; the last lines chanting "we wait for them to die". This is almost identical to the Moroccan tale of the boy and the snake man, where the child waits for the beast to die, before cutting it's stomach open to free his father, who had been swallowed whole."

Bhimbetka rock painting of the Snake Man walking among men, Mesolithic Period, 12,000 BC

"We Wait" Old African nursery rhyme.

Nobody knows where the animal people came from.

Nobody knows why they are here.

They talk like a man, they can even sing songs.

Nobody thinks to fear.

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Nobody knows where they go at night.

Everybody hears them creep.

Run little boy. Hide inside!

Nobody knows who they will eat!

They eat and eat til there's nothing left.

They eat til you disappear.

They eat your bones, they eat your soul.

They will even eat your screams.

Nobody loves them, but they look for a mate.

We wait til they die.

We wait. We wait.

Nobody loves them, awaken, awake.

We wait til they die.

We wait. We wait.

Contemporary painting depicting an animal man dancing,

Niagara Art Collection, original oil on canvas

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Beastforce Character Designs

Each member of Beastforce is outfitted with a morph-suit, designed by Dr. Corben, which bonds with its wearer on a molecular level, allowing for expedient transitions into beast-mode. The Defence Gauntlets are constructed of titanium alloy, which possess an in-built video communicator as well as a repository for supressor pills.

The suits were modelled on the LZR suits of Olympic swimmers, and with the team working in the gym, I thought a lycra-based look was the best way to demonstrate fitness and uniformity. Dino was the exception who, like other alpha-grade were-people who become team leaders, need a suit of armour to act as a containment device, as they often lose control when allowed full rein of their capabilities.

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Abridged extract from "The Origins Of The Animal Gods" by Dr. Henry Corben

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.. The Seduction of Pasiphae

"It is understood that the god Zeus formed many bonds with mortals, most notable of all Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios, the sun god, with whom he shared a relationship of a forbidden nature. On one such occasion, Zeus is said to have taken the shape of a handsome white bull when he copulated with her, one of his many bestial conquests, and thus conceived an offspring, Minotaurus, the bull-headed god of Crete.

Pasiphaë and the Minotaur. Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, 340-320 BC. From Vulci

Crucially omitted from the books of man however was chronicled in the book of Helios, said to have been written by the hand of Zeus' brother himself... Within its pages the tome states that Zeus had a child with a daughter of man prior to Pasiphaë, and that this god was a wicked diety who bore resentment towards his father and the gods of Olympus. In some ancient scriptures he was said to have slain the god of Heaven himself.

Zarael, the young god, was a being of unimaginable power and, like his brother, Minotaurus, fed on the flesh of man to sate his hunger. Artefacts obtained predating the Hellenic Age found evidence that various Zaraellian cults demanded the slaughter of millions as blood sacrifice in his honour.

He has had a myriad of names throughout many eras of culture, from Pan, to Faunus, to the Zoroastrian Ba'al, or Ba'alzebub, whom many believe to be an ancient incarnation of what the modern age calls The Devil..."

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Dr. Henry Corben is a professor of Anthropology in Berkley, California

Beastforce Cast Announced

Hollywood was in a beastly mood yesterday at the San Diego Comicon, as another cast member of the Zack Snyder-directed Beastforce film was announced.

Gossip Girl's Blake Lively has been signed to play Beastforce's fiery team leader Liona.

She joins Ashton Kutcher, Megan Fox, Tyrese, Jeremy Irons, Chris Evans and Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter in a superhero movie ensemble cast about a team of superpowered teenagers who feed on human flesh to survive.

"I was fascinated with being the strong, female leader of such a fun team of characters." The actress stated yesterday. "These things are always so male dominated. I think everyone wants to see what a girl can do.

"They don't live past thirty. These creatures represent that careless, impulsive part in us that's almost childlike. It's the ultimate excuse for behaving badly. It reminds us how fragile youth is."

The actress also expressed enthusiasm in being reunited with her Green Lantern co-star Ryan Reynolds.

"We've switched! Now I'm playing the lead. He has a non speaking role in this. I hear his character plays a larger role in the spin-off."

The film is currently in pre-production and will start filming on location in Seattle on March 2011.

Beastforce Flyer Art

Keeping in theme with the "animation cels" stylised look.

Liona character sheet

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A descendant from the Tribe of Sekhmet, Goddess of War. The tribe's origins can be traced to ancient Egypt. Liona spent her life in foster homes with her younger brother Gavin, and was a small town pageant queen before becoming team leader of Beastforce.
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I basically tried to create a female superhero who behaved like a man with this character, hopefully to create a juxtaposition with her motivations in the end. Quite possibly the most tragic character in the story. But hey, she gets laid, a lot. She's one of the boys.

FROM THE COUNCIL OF ZARAEL

The Bodyslide Incident

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Resulted in:

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Numerous Human Casualties;

The fall of the Seattle Team.

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At fault:

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Seattle Team

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Summary:

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A plot to slaughter and feed on the corporate guests of its annual corporate Spring Ball was thwarted by the Miami team, but only after a confrontation with a genetically altered Dr. Henry Corben (see Corben, Dr. H).

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Intelligence concluded that his research unlocked the key to unnaturally long life for our species, The Children of Zeus. At the price of his humanity, Corben claimed that his genetically-altered seed, incubated by females of our kind, could create a new generation of Were-People, blessed with extended life spans; and that immortality among existing Were-People could be achieved by consuming the newborns of this new generation (see Altered Foetal Stem Cells).

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Seattle team leader Liona (Walker, Alison - deceased) revealed herself pregnant with one such child. Motives of either raising the newborn as her own, or consuming it to obtain an extended life span remain unknown. Her life was ended by her former paramour and team leader, Dino (Drake, Roger - deceased), in fierce opposition to the conception of the aberration, and general abhorrence towards our species (see Kindergarten Incident; Miller, Charlotte).

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Upon the obliteration of Bodyslide Gym, Seattle's base headquarters, and the elimination of Corben and his research, only one Seattle team member escaped the ordeal unscathed.

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Zoe Von Vorst was placed under the care of, and relocated to, the headquarters of the Miami chapter, in Daytona, Florida (see Pulse-8 Auto Salon). Joining the Pulse-8 racing team, as well as the hero roster, she fought against the criminal elements under the tutelage of William Chung, Nocturnus (deceased)

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She was quiet, and dilligent, marked by the tragedy and betrayal that befell her team mates.

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The events that occured in the preceding months were unforseen even by her closest team mate, Madison Wells, Tigris (deceased). Von Vorst is said to have vanished one night, never to be seen again.

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Until now.

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DOC # T13-547 - VULTURA

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Combat reports suggest that the supervillain Vultura is indeed Von Vorst, previously of the Seattle Team, and that, at 50 years of age, outliving her contemporaries by 20 years, she has somehow acquired and replicated Corben's process of life enhancement.

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Encounters with the superpowered terrorists known as The Children Of Vultura (see C.O.V., or "The Coven") confirm reports that the group have engaged in acts of cannibalism against other Were-People, unequivocally verifying them as the by-products of Corben's legacy.

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Satellite surveillance on her Virginia compound indicate that her new race of children are breeding, with unconfirmed reports speculating that her offspring are feeding on their own firstborns to acquire enhanced life spans.

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She is also said to be in possession of genetic material from the Seattle team, and is birthing cloned versions of her deceased former team mates.

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Welcome to the Beastforce Blog!

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That was all rather serious wasn't it. As serious as a story of that nature could be. I mean, if you were a teenage boy who could turn into a shark, you'd eat people too.

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There are a few issues which I need to explore, such as what became of Zoe, and how many tribes are there among the Children Of Zeus. And why was the book so crudely drawn? Seriously why can't I draw cars? It's quite baffling. Anyhoo I better learn. If that montage on page 118 is anything to go by, there'll be a lot of cars in the next book.

Will there be another book? I hope so.