In a day and time that sometimes seems overburdened with negativity and pessimism, it is always nice to see people working to make things better for our future. The Superhero Outreach Program - a special committee set up by the Superhero Licensing Board - does just that. In addition to visiting local schools, hospitals and community centers, the Outreach Program targets gifted youth for the special attention they require.

The prime directive of the program, originally the concept of the Superhero Licensing Board’s Jack Featherbie, is to seek out super-powered youth from all origins and backgrounds and give them the guidance they need to stay away from a life of crime. “Basically, we pair up kids with heroes of similar archetypes,” Mr. Featherbie explains. “Putting an indestructible kid with a guy who shoots fire out of his eyes wouldn’t make much sense, so our screening process is very thorough. After the initial phase the hero works with their sidekick one-on-one to develop the youngster’s powers, learn the laws pertaining to superheroes and reach out to the less fortunate. These super-kids are learning the value of good deeds at an early age, and we at the S.L.B. believe that is critical to insure they grow up to be great superheroes.”

Beholder staff reporters were unable to reach any of the participants of the program for comment. Obviously keeping the identities of these costume-clad kiddos is of the utmost importance, so even the names of veteran heroes participating in the program are kept under tight wraps.

I felt fortunate to spot this patriotic duo while combing the warehouses of my favorite hero spotting site, Kings Row. Unfortunately, when I tried to approach them mid-fight, the young lad quickly shooed me away with “Hey, Hey!! No autographs while the MAN is working.” He then ran off on the heels of the blonde behemoth shouting at the top of his lungs, “Booyah!! Whatcha gonna do when we go patriotic on you?!”

This program is a growing bright spot on our fair city and it’s a real blessing to see today’s heroes taking an interest in the heroes of tomorrow. Be on the watch for the Superhero Outreach Program making its rounds to a neighborhood near you.

The Outreach program benefits both young and experienced heroes.

Kings Row found itself the venue of a wild hero party that organisers declared a "smashing success". Heroes could be seen dancing in the streets and were involved in several competitions before the party was broken up by security forces.

The Summer Party was jointly hosted by Paragon Radio (www.paragonradio.com) and Element Zero (www.ez-guild.com) and attracted heroes from all over Paragon City. Enough heroes arrived in Kings Row to take part in the event that a second Kings Row sub-dimension needed to be activated to create enough space.

At the centrepiece of the event was a Best Costume contest that numerous heroes involved themselves in. At the end of a gruelling process, it was judged that the Best Male Costume was worn by Full Spectrum, Best Female by Lady Cin and Best Creative by Clown of Thorns. Other winners included Chicken of the Sea (Male), Killer Whale (Creative), Icesis (Female) and Fiery Angel (Female).

The Party was ended prematurely by City officials who claimed that the event was "causing dimensional shifts and lag".

Dancing in the streets at the Summer Party

Heroes lining up for the costume contest.

The weather forcast over Paragon City is for fine and pleasant conditions - no rain or snow, no excessively hot days, just a pleasant median temperature. This just isn't natural.

Despite many heroes and villains claiming to have control of the weather, their abilities are usually limited to a small area. The occasional scientist-turned-blackmailer (such as the Weatherman in 1971) has held the City to ransom with a large-scale weather machine, but usually these creations greatly unbalance the weather, rather than improving it. The cyclones and / or torrential downpours these machines create only last a very short time (mostly thanks to the work of heroes), consume a lot of energy and things quickly return to normal once they get shut off.

The current weather forecasts show none of the signs of being such a villainous plot, but certainly aren't natural in origin. In recent memory there have been no rain clouds spotted and no temperature spikes either up or down - heroes suffer no discomfort whether wearing the thickest of armour or shortest of skirts.

Some commentators have speculated that it may be the Rikti forcefield technology that may be keeping the weather at bay. Scientists do not completely understand how forcefields let some things through and not others, and it is very possible that the current shield settings are effecting Paragon City's meteorological conditions.

One conspiracy theorist (who, unsurprisingly, didn't wish to be named) believes that Crey are behind the current wave of perfect weather. "It's obvious when you think about it - the weather reduces the effectiveness of certain hero types, especially those who use temperature-based powers."

"No-one wants to hang out with ice or fire heroes since they just really change how pleasant the surrounding weather is. Before long, these heroes will leave the City, making Crey's job of dominance easier!" he claimed.

Plus, I know for a fact that Crey is about to launch a new line of SUV's - it's hard for people to believe they are damaging the environment when the weather is so damned perfect all the time!"

When asked to comment on this issue, Paragon City Hall indicated they had greater concerns to worry about then a pleasant spell of weather.