Post by johnreiter902 on Feb 12, 2023 20:19:32 GMT
I think I've mentioned that, inspired by Speed Demon and Coyote on Earth-S, I'd like to someday create a Mexican superhero modeled after Speedy Gonzales, who I called Rapido.
Roberto Gonzales was a poor young man who worked as a houseboy for the wealthy José Álvaro Meléndez in Guadalajara. At the age of 18 he develops the power to move at superhuman speed, and his exploits become legendary all over Guadalajara, and Mexico as well (he is even sometimes found north of the border, in Texas and the southwestern USA). Rapido is a good man, who always stands up for his friends. He is usually happy to help the authorities, though he cheerfully ignores laws he finds unfair. He enjoys wine, women (lots of women) and having a good time.
Here are some of the adventures I came up with for Rapido. All are adapted from cartoons
Rapido #1
Rapido is running an event at a festival where people can try to shoot him to win a prize. His friends complain about the sky-high price of food, so Rapido helps them steal food from an Ajax factor over the American border. The factory is guarded by a mercenary called El Gato (the Cat), who is a cunning and deadly adversary using cat-themed equipment. This is their first of many battles
Rapido #2
Rapido is doing a Mexican hat dance at the cantina while his friends hold a party to celebrate his successes. Two of his friends, Pablo and Fernando, get smashed, and Rapido follows along behind them when they stagger home at 3 o'clock, to keep them out of trouble. He foils several attempted muggings
Rapido #3
The men in Guadalajara are unhappy that Rapido is getting all the attention from the girls. Some of them pool their money and hire El Gato to come and chase him out of town. It fails
Rapido #4
During Cinco de Mayo Rapido is playing ping-pong with himself, when the fiesta is attacked by a flying bandit called the Vulture. Rapido stops the Vulture's raid and brings him to justice
Rapido #5
Rapido decides to have some fun by mocking two thugs, who then try to eliminate him. They target his cousin, Jose "Slowpoke" Rodriguez, but he is a deadly shot
Rapido #6
In a city on the gulf coast, dozens of men are starving because of high food prices. One of them has a sister, who is one of Rapido's many girlfriends. She calls Rapido, who runs across Mexico and helps her brother and his friends steal food from a dutch food ship in the harbor. This brings him into battle with El Gato again, who was hired to guard the ship.
Rapido #7
ACME experimental labs in an isolated village in Mexico is kidnapping experimental subjects off the streets. The factory is guarded by El Gato. The mayor asks for volunteers to rescue the prisoners. One man has his sister Carmella (another of Rapido's girlfriends) call Rapido to come and help them. He frees the prisoners, beats El Gato, and shuts the factory down
Rapido #8
Two of Rapido's friends are down-on-their luck again, when they are hired by the Mayor of Guadalajara to help with his campaign for re-election. They call in Rapido to help them.
Rapido #9
A villain called the Pied Piper is using a magic flute to kidnap people in Guadalupe, but Rapido learns about it and comes to stops him
Rapido #10
Rapido's cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez visits, just when El Gato rolls into town seeking revenge. Gato targets Slowpoke, and Rapido tries to protect him, until they discover that Slowpoke has developed superpowers of his own, which allow him to control minds. In the end, he saves Rapido's life from El Gato, and erases all knowledge of Rapido's true identity from the mercenary's mind. Too lazy to be a hero, Slowpoke keeps his powers a secret.
Rapido #11
Rapido does an exhibition of bullfighting, but Gato uses this a chance to try and get revenge again
Rapido #12
Rapido helps his friends smuggle food out of the Guadalajara Food Processing Plant, and gets the best of Gato again
Rapido #13
Mexico is in a civil war. Rapido is recruited by the dictator of Mexico to deliver a message to one of his key generals in Acapulco. The last ten have been intercepted by Gato, who has been hired by the rebel faction. Rapido delivers the message, but becomes disgusted by the blatant corruption of the dictator and his generals. In the end, he steps aside and allows El Gato to assassinate them, so that the rebellion can seize power.
Rapido #14
Gato attacks Rapido with a robot assassin. Rapido defeats the robot and his arch enemy
Rapido #15
When one of the greatest robbers in all Mexico descends on the largest bank in Guadalajara, Rapido recovers the loot and brings him to justice
Rapido #16
Gato hires a professional assassin called the Falcon to help kill Rapido. Both of them are defeated
Rapido #17
Gato has a nervous breakdown and hires an expert on super-advanced assassination technology to try and destroy Rapido. This also fails
Rapido #18
Gato tries twice to kill Rapido at Cinco de Mayo
Rapido #19
Rapido holds a race with Speed Demon in Texas, and Coyote helps protect them from El Gato
Rapido #20
Rapido is stranded on a deserted island when his plane crashes. Although he can run on the surface of the water for a while, he doesn't know where he is, and needs to use his brains to find a way off the island
Rapido #21
Rapido sees a wealthy man whipping beggars on his estate, and decides to teach him a lesson in generosity. This is his first encounter with his other major enemy, the wealthy and evil businessman Daffyd Drake (although, unbeknownst to Rapido, Drake was secretly the man behind the assassination company that Gato hired back in issue #17)
Rapido #22
Daffyd Drake buys up all the wells in an arid region of Mexico so he can charge high prices for water. Rapido is there visiting friends, and helps them steal all the water they need.
Rapido #23
Daffyd Drake moves to another area and tries establishing a food monopoly, charging people high prices to avoid starvation. Once again, Rapido steals the food from his factories and feeds the people.
Rapido #24
Rapido is celebrating his birthday, and forces Daffyd Drake's radio station to provide good music at low cost
Rapido #25
Daffyd Drake tries to railroad some of Rapido's friends off of land they have owned for generations. Rapido stops him
Rapido #26
Daffyd Drake tries to deport the beggars off his property, but they call Rapido for help
Rapido #27
A mad scientist named Dr. Crazy builds a robot to try to destroy Rapido. He reveals that he sold his first robot to El Gato as a test, back in issue 14. Unknown to Rapido, Dr. Crazy's experiments are secretly financed by Daffyd Drake.
Rapido #28
Rapido meets a witch who is trying to avoid being forced to work for Daffyd Drake. She turns Rapido into a double for her so that she can escape. In the end, he defeats both of them and is restored to his true form.
Rapido #29
Rapido is camping in a cabin on Popocatépetl, and tries to borrow firewood from a neighbor, only to find his neighbor is Daffyd Drake! He not only helps himself to the firewood he needs, but ruins the millionaire's vacation.
Rapido #30
Rapido wins a yacht race to Hawaii, defeating a bunch of cheaters, and winning 6,000 pesos.
Rapido #31
The corrupt mayor of Hangtree, Texas hires a gunslinger to kill Rapido when he learns he is about to be exposed for his criminal activities
Rapido #32
Rapido has invested his winnings in setting up his own nightclub, which his notoriety helps make popular. However, he ends up needing to use his superpowers to keep from getting closed down due to poor management decisions
Rapido #33
El Gato is exposed to a chemical accident while working for the Continental Catnip Corporation of Chihuahua. A scientist at the Guadalajara Medical Center has to tell him that he is mutating into a human-cat hybrid. Going mad, he tries to destroy the factory, blaming them for the accident. Rapido is seeing a doctor at the Guadalajara Medical Center, due to concerns about how his superpeed is affecting him. He learns of the attack and stops Gato for the last time, saving the factory. Information he discovers, combined with the doctor's report, leads him to suspect that the source of his powers may have been an earlier chemical accident that was covered up
Rapido #34
Daffyd Drake has been ruined by lawsuits, and is hunting Rapido for revenge. Rapido's nightclub has failed due to his poor management, and he is begging and living on the streets
Rapido #35
A secret society of obsessed hunters decides to make Rapido their number one prize. He defeats them all
Rapido #36
Rapido is gainfully employed again, and has formed a band. He meets a famous movie star trying to recover from depression, and cheers him up. The star invites the band to perform in Palm Springs.
Rapido #37
A company in Mexico invents a formula to massively increase health and strength. Rapido is hired to deliver it to the production center, but a spymaster named Mr. Brains and his agents try to steal it
Rapido #38
Rapido helps his friend Miguel hunt for gold, and stay ahead of claim-jumpers
Rapido #39
Rapido is recruited by Harvey Hassenpfeffer of Colossal Studios (due to a good word dropped from the earlier movie star) to star in a movie
Rapido #40
Rapido stows away on a ship to Hawaii for a vacation, and annoys Daffyd Drake (who is also vacationing there) for fun
Rapido #41
Rapido's friends are throwing a fiesta for his 30th birthday, when Daffyd Drake tries to blackmail the country with a weather control machine. He is finally sent to jail.
Rapido #42
Rapido is hired to provide security at a construction site which his suffered a number of accidents
Rapido #43
Rapido is accidentally sent back to 65 AD by a scientist's experiment while is band is performing nearby. He returns to the present, but accidentally brings Nero with him, and then has to return him
