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It
starts one May night when a band of mercenaries invade the Alexandria, Virginia home of
Benjamin Edgewood, retired CIA analyst and U.S. Army Ranger veteran. Edgewood dies so his
wards and twin teenage grandsons, Jonathan and David, can escape.
But where can the twins go? Who can they trust?
Jonathan and David travel to Colorado to ask their grandfather’s best friend, entrepreneur and fellow Ranger Clu Challenger, to help them. Except Challenger has his own troubles. Mercenaries are paying a call on his estate when the twins arrive, intent on killing him, his adopted granddaughter Ajna, their gorilla Cymion (who not only can talk but has an IQ bigger than New York City’s area code), and three more teenagers, all grandchildren of Rangers who served with Challenger and Edgewood.
To quote Cymion: "What the heck is going on around this nuthouse?"
This series has its origins in the Korean War. Dr. Matthew Elder, a brainiac working for a secret government research agency called Delphi Division invented a nuclear-powered suit of ectoarmor that gives the wearer the invulnerability and firepower of a battleship. Tests with a prototype on a gorilla proved successful, but a field test behind enemy lines in North Korea proved disastrous when one of the suits exploded.
Because America had promised its allies not to employ nuclear weapons in Korea, President Harry S. Truman ordered a cover-up of the ill-fated mission and all evidence about Dr. Elder’s research destroyed.
Now, in the 21st century, the grandchildren of the six Rangers, and the descendant of Elder’s test gorilla, are exhibiting abnormal abilities, side-affects of DNA mutated by Elder’s suits.
Could these grandchildren and gorilla expose Elder’s research? Delphi Division is taking no chances. Its superiors have ordered that the grandchildren and gorilla…"These muties!"…be eliminated as soon as possible.
Brief Description: Delphi Division, an U.S. government research agency, would like to keep a 1952 experiment secret. When the grandchildren of the experiment’s subjects begin exhibiting incredible powers, Delphi Division has no choice but to eliminate any evidence of the experiment by eliminating the grandchildren.
Key Elements: Superhero, science fiction, young adult, adventure. Even though Delphi Division is a secret agency, and is operating without government sanction, its threat to the grandchildren gives this series a "conspiracy" overtone, too.
Association: X-MEN and ANIMORPHS are obvious comparisons. Not so obvious ones include Tom Clancy’s YA NET-FORCE paperback series and Clive Cussler’s DIRK PITT bestsellers (e.g., RAISE THE TITANIC, ATLANTIS FOUND). MUTIES is an YA science-fiction series with realistic characters involved with larger-than-life rather than outright fantastic adventures.
Format: MUTIES is a continuing series with characters rotating from adventure to adventure as the main emphasis of a storyline.
Additional: MUTIES is a unique series with original character. Nevertheless, it should not be ignored that Marvel’s popular X-MEN comics, and this summer’s 20th Century Fox X-MEN film based on this comic, have and should create a ready market for a series like MUTIES. The same should be true for the ANIMORPHS paperback and television series.
CHARACTERS
DAVID EDGEWOOD
(a.k.a. Trampus):
prep athlete with Olympic-caliber physical skills.
JONATHAN EDGEWOOD
(a.k.a. Tinkertoy):
a genius dwarf born without immunities.
AJNA CHALLENGER
(a.k.a Emp):
Amerasian girl with ability to generate electromagnetic pulses, the daughter of a
500-year-old witch named Haydee DeLa Bayre.
CHELSEA WINTERSET
(a.k.a. Tatterdemalion):
stillborn at birth, resembles a beautiful living corpse, and has empathic powers, can
control the dead, and manipulate people’s dreams
ACIE ARMSTRONG
(a.k.a., Hispeedscrambler):
a Jamaican with super-swift foot speed and ability to generate portals that allow him to
transport himself short distances.
ALLISON AYLWARD
(a.k.a. Miss Miracle):
a plain-Jane 16 year old who can transform into a beautiful 22-year-old superheroine.
CYMION:
descendant of Elder’s tests gorilla and genius.