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| Known Background: Shortly after 'Nam, Reginald Johnson found himself back "home" without a job, unable to associate with his family, and still in shock from all of the death and destruction he had seen in the war. While he had been born and raised in the ghettos of New York, he quickly hit the road in search of a friendlier environment. The only thing that he had learned to like was the beauty of nature, which took him north to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. While the townspeople didn't like the strange black man trying to make a home there, Johnson soon found the Blackfoot Reservation and fell in love with a young girl named Eagle Feather. After proving himself to the elders as being worthy, Reginald Johnson became an honorary member of the tribe and married Eagle Feather.
Several years later, a baby boy was introduced to the tribe and was named Running Stag. While the children of the tribe accepted him as one of their own, outsider children and adults alike were fast to point out the fact that he was a "half-breed." Instead of allowing himself to be discouraged, though, he began to take pride in both of his heritages and pursued knowledge of their history as he got older. He learned of the traditions of his Indian heritage, growing in skill as both a storyteller and hunter. By the age of ten, he was making clean kills between the eyes of a deer from 100 yards. While his father had developed an distaste for America, he was more than happy to tell him all about his Black history and the struggles for freedom that were fought. |  |
| As Stag reached the trial of manhood, he had no problem passing the tribes ancient tests and was allowed to start down his own path. His desire was to further his education, and requested permission to attend school in Calgary proper. Once again, he excelled in learning, and soon found himself presented with a full scholarship to University of Toronto. As he learned about the "outside world", he maintained regular contact with his home and made regular trips there for visits and ceremonies, as well as to continue to hone his hunting skills. | |
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It was the values he was brought up with and said skills that came into play in the winter of his fourth year pursuing his bachelor's degree. While out in the woods along the U.S. / Canada border, Stag stumbled across a group of drug smugglers coming across the border. Once he realized the nature of the men, he set out to track them to their base of operations. Using his archery skills, he took out the entire drug cartel. Soon afterwards, the press on both sides of the border was covering the story of the mysterious bowman.
A few weeks later, Stag was on the college campus when Professor Jacques LeCrux, a science professor with a reputation for strangeness, confronted him. The professor was quick to deduce that Stag had been the archer and, after a long conversation, convinced the young man that he should continue to pursue a life of crime fighting. With LeCrux's help, Stag created a costume for himself, along with a assortment of trick arrowheads to broaden his arsenal. Less than a month after his initial adventure, Stag was hitting the streets as the hero Longbow. |
| In the years that have followed, Stag continued his education, recently getting his doctorate in Archeological Studies and gaining a position with Huron City University. He continues to fight crime as Longbow. LeCrux still aids with gadgets and weaponry while Stag has taken the martial arts taught to him by his father and expounded upon them to include fighting with his reinforced bow. While his main base of operations was Toronto until his recent move, he has been known to take cases around the country given some notification, and was recruited to join the Champions of Justice. | |
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Personality: Longbow is a very serious and dedicated man in all that he does. This doesn't keep him from having a good time, but when it comes time for action, he's all business. He pays very close attention to detail and is more likely to pick up on the nuances of the situation than some of his other heroes. He is also very devoted to his teammates, making sure to have their back in any situation and will be among the first to come to a person's aide. Knowing what it's like to be an outsider, even among his "own people," leads him to try to accept everyone for who they are.
Powers/Tactics: Longbow's greatest weapon is distance. His skill with a bow is unparalleled, being able to shoot with accuracy at distances well over 300 yards. It is occasionally joked that he can pick the wings off a butterfly from a football field away. With his hunter instincts, he will often look for the best vantage point to monitor the entire battlefield and rain arrows down on his foes from a distance. His wide array of gadget arrowheads also provides him with a weapon for almost any occasion. If forced into close-quarter fighting, however, he is also a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and has been known to toss arrowheads if shafts are not available or necessary. |  |
| Appearance: Longbow is 6'2" with an athletic build: muscular but not huge. His African-American heritage is evident in his skin tone, lightened only slightly by his mixed breeding. His close-cropped black hair is often concealed, but his piercing brown eyes are always scanning the surrounding area. His original costume was a variation on what he was wearing on his accidental first adventure in the woods: a green pullover and pants with fur-lined boots, a scarf and gloves. As he has become more comfortable with the idea of superheroing, however, he decided that he needed a costume that was more in the style of classic heroics, leading him to add color and accentuate his build, still holding onto the roots of being an "emerald archer" while stepping away from "all that green." | |
Longbow was created, designed and played by Jim Caswell.
© Copyright 2001, 2024 - James E. Caswell
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Last updated on 24 March 2024