1. Swamp Boy
I was born in a swamp. It is not something I am particularly proud of nor do I try and deny it. It wasn’t an active choice on my part. It is simply true. It’s a simple fact, I was born in a swamp. It is part of who I am. Born and raised in a swamp, I’ll never be able to wash it out. I’ll never be able to aspire to any other than this single factual beginning. It defines, even now so many years later, who I am, what I am.
In terms of comic book super heroes, it’s my origin story. It not only imbues me with whatever super-hero powers I may possess but also defines my flaws and weaknesses. It is even the creator of my nemesis, my personal, eternal and unconquerable enemy.
In about AD43 troops, under orders of the Roman politician and military commander Aulus Plautius, forsook the relative safety of the beaches of the known world and sailed across the open waters of a great ocean to mount an invasion upon a legendary island. After landing, they successfully subdued local resistance and rapidly expanded into the hinterland. Before long, they came to a wide river. It was slow moving but wide and tidal. Thick with estuarine sludge the inhabitants had dubbed it Tamesas meaning dark and muddy.