Father Time was meant to be a one off, based on a vague musing, turned into a different version and then sort of back again but kindof not.

I'll explain. I am a huge comics and history buff and I find that, as a writer these two interests give me plenty of scope for inspiration. Recently I was thinking about the golden age of comics and modern retroactive stories set in the second world war. I have enjoyed these from Marvel and DC as well as a bunch of other companies.

DC had the All Star Squadron with the Justice Society of America (the first golden age hero team, created in 1940. Genuine Golden Age), Freedom Fighters (created in 1973 but set in WWII), Seven Soldiers of Victory (1941) and a mix of their old golden age characters and those from other companies that DC had absorbed into their universe. Set in 1941/1942 All Star Squadron was written in 1981!

Marvel created The Invaders in 1975 - it was set in 1941/42, by the same writer (Roy Thomas) who later wrote All Star Squadron. In the last decade Marvel started reviving very obscure 1940's characters - a series called The Twelve deliberately chose some of the most obscure ones ever! I loved that series because it demonstrated something I believe in strongly - that a good writer can make even bland throwaway characters interesting with a little effort.

Back to my recent thoughts - in an even more up to date but sadly never finished mini series called All Winners: Band of Heroes, Marvel revived even more obscure characters and among them was Father Time, who to be fair had, had a mention or two before in comics from the 70's and 90's. He was a background character in the mini though.

Occasionally I like to redesign/revamp characters from book/comic universes and a thought popped into my head. A hero like Father Time whose continuity life showed him (complete with bad costume) existing from 1941-1945, but no recorded stories thereafter was ripe for a rethink. An issue of Captain America circa 1991 had the titular character encounter a version of Father Time (with improved costume) that had a white beard, but it turned out to be Hawkeye in disguise (or a cosmic being messing with time - its a confusing tale!) - the official handbook of the Marvel Universe explained that although the real Father Time hadn't been seen in any recorded story taking place after the 1940's, his reputation lived on onto modern times.

So what if Father Time had, had a secret history on the fringes of the Marvel Universe? The 1940's version was a smooth faced 20 something so my imagination took hold - I figured that he wouldn't even hit his peak for maybe the first few decades of his crimefighting career, eventually developing into a grizzled old veteran of not just WWII but probably other conflicts like Korea and Vietnam. Eventually he would have white hair and a beard, like the traditional (non Marvel) version.

The idle thought passed and so did a week or two. Then a writing challenge I've done since 2015 (first on a now defunct site called WriteOn and since March 2017 here on Wattpad) presented a perfect prompt and I wrote FROM THE ASHES.

I wrote a version of Father Time that was meant to be my version, not the Marvel one (though I incorporated the thoughts about an aging soldier) and I wrote it in a deliberately over the top macho action hero adventurer style, invoking an 80's action movie sensibility (Rambo, Commando, Terminator, Cobra etc) mixed with an equally over the top early 1990's comic book style (Think Cable, X-Force, Rob Liefield, Image Comics etc). It was a world where the heroes had biceps the size of footballs, hefted guns bigger than most humans in one hand, wore their hair long in ponytails and puffed on ever present cigars as they rode around on Harley Davidsons in Expendables like action. Oh and everyone had stubble and gold hoop earrings and wore leather jackets and were mercenary soldier adventurers.

And that was it ... so I thought. But to my surprise, I had multiple requests for more. The second story took place a year after the first in the present, but as I was encouraged to write more, I started jumping around Father Time's erhem, timeline in the style of Robert E Howard (who wrote his Conan stories out of chronological sequence) - to Vietnam, to WWII, to the late 1940's etc.

Gradually I began to tie in my version of Father Time with the Marvel one, but in such a way that I could keep ownership and have him be, my separate character ... unless one day I pitch him to Marvel and they allow me to write him in their continuity!

For the meantime I am utilizing one of three techniques that allow a writer to use characters connected to another universe/continuity/company.

You can use either:

1. Parody - This allows you to directly reference characters/concepts but it has to literally remain parody/satire.

2. Fair Use - Similar to parody, your use is restricted - this method allows you to use other companies characters in a very limited way within your own greater story/continuity. So for example if you had created a superhero story using your original character Ultimate Man, you could do a hero crowd gathering and have one character in red and blue turn to another in black and say 'Hey Batman, you going to Wonder Woman's party later?' The other character replies 'Sorry Clark. I told Green Lantern and Flash I'd meet them for cards.'

What you can't do is center a story in the Ultimate Man universe around Superman, Batman etc or you're going beyond parody/fair use and infringing copyright. Robot Chicken, Family Guy and the youtube How It Should Have Ended, are good examples of the above 2 methods.

I use the third method.

3. Implication. You can imply a character's presence without directly or fully naming them or even give them another name, while hinting who they are to your audience. If I had a tall dark haired reporter with glasses called Clark show up, I could imply its Superman without showing him in costume or using powers. In my serial adventure Mythlands: The Heist, the cast are mainly public domain but there are a few characters used under fair use or Implication.

Fair Use - Loony tune characters. Used in very minor ways and never referred to fully by name. These include a stuttering pig that's described as being a bit porky, several 'loonies' including one that runs fast and emits a meep meep noise - called The Runner. Etc.

Parody and changed - The Mouse. Heavily implied he is an evil corporate bastard version of Mickey but never directly referenced. Said to live in a 'magic' kingdom and has a business partner called Walt.

Jessica Bunny - a voluptuous redhead formerly married to a Mr B Bunny (who ran off with his hunter friend Elmer) and formerly married to a Mr R Rabbit, is The Hare's (non cartoon) girlfriend and a major character. Of course everyone knows who she's based on but the character goes off in other directions and is not THAT character although she is ... familiar in some ways!

So when you read the Father Time stories, look out for certain references (and the occasional picture - ok as long as its only published here and not on a future Amazon version).

Each Father Time story also comes with carefully selected mood music to play while you're reading. Thank you to my commentators who encouraged this collection and thanks for reading. All votes and comments gratefully appreciated. :)