Super heroes are celebrities on par with movie and sports stars. Tabloids cover the (often fictionalized) personal lives (and diet secrets) of super heroes (and even villains) alongside actors and pop stars. In the US, here are two basic cable channels (one run by Fox, the other by Disney) and a half dozen weekly magazines dedicated to covering news and special features related to super heroes.
Very few super heroes maintain a secret identity. If heroes achieve enough success to attract media attention, they rarely can maintain their secret identities for long. Corporate sponsors are unlikely to sign a hero who has not publicly divulged her or his identity. Only those heroes who eschew the corporate system or who have been blackballed (typically because of legal problems, ethical violations, or a poisoned reputation) even bother to have a secret identity.
Federal, state, and local governments contract out to private security agencies to provide super powered support of traditional law enforcement agencies. Those who cannot attain contracts with one of the "Big 6" have to contract with a small, independent firm, join one of the few government-sponsored teams, or become rogues. These unauthorized, unsanctioned vigilantes lack the legal backing, resources, and support structure of contracted heroes.
The corporate security firms provide personal management, liability insurance, legal services, and medical benefits for the superheroes. Contracted super heroes receive yearly salaries (with signing bonuses, performance-based incentive packages, and other perks), but the real money is in endorsements and sponsorships. There are always strings attached to contracts, and heroes may find themselves torn between their public image, the demands of their sponsors and managers, their personal lives, and their own consciences. Super teams run by the US Marshals and US Marines are not allowed to have third-party contracts. The state-run Texas Rangers do have private sponsors, but only from Texas-based companies.
Each team has one manager assigned by the firm. The team manager takes care of the day-to-day scheduling, paperwork, and bureaucracy for the team so the individual members can concentrate on fighting crime, making public appearances, keeping in shape, and meeting contractual obligations (not necessarily in that order). The manager is also the team's representative, spokesman, and firewall when dealing with the corporate hierarchy. High-profile teams have large staffs of support personnel including trainers, coaches, administrative assistants, and public relations experts. For the small-market teams, all these fall onto the shoulders of the team manager. Many super heroes also have their own personal agents, trainers, etc.
Each firm has a number of regional teams and teams in smaller markets act as a farm system for larger markets. The most successful heroes are transferred the highest profile teams, where chances for bigger and better endorsement deals are much higher. Trades of personnel between corporations are also common. All teams are assembled by corporate committee whose goal is to distribute resources to optimize crime prevention, balance the abilities of each team, generate team synergy, create a pro-active image, and maximize market appeal (not necessarily in that order).
San Angelo has contracted with Pacific Security Consultants (PacSec), which also has notable teams in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Seattle. The team's headquarters is a converted warehouse in the Riverfront district. The base includes living quarters for four, a fitness room, communications center, reception area, manager's office, and hangar for the team's vehicle, Sentinel One, one of those amazing hovering aircraft only found in comic books. While residence in the headquarters is not mandatory, all members are expected to spend the majority of their down-time there for quickest response should an incident break out. The vast majority of incidents do not require Sentinel interference. In fact, since PacSec charges are based in part per incident response, the government does not call the Sentinels unless the threat is major and cannot be safely handled by local, county, and state law enforcement.
The standard team colors are blue and white. All members have a small earphone/microphone that works as a two-way radio and voice-activated cell phone and other personal equipment as appropriate.
The following organizations and superteams were defined by Matt. Notice that San Angelo does not appear--I added it as part of PacSec. Most of the franchises are in need of team names.
Notice the NYPD and the State of Texas also have their own teams; the former out of necessity and the later because its Texas.
Military supers are officially part of the Marine Corps, thought they often work in conjunction with other branches of the military. The US Marshals Service commands the high-profile goverment supers. Other bureaus and branches (FBI, ATF, Secret Service, etc.) also have supers on their payroll, but they do not have a public profile. If the CIA, NSA, and other intelligence organizations have supers on their payrolls, they aren't saying.
| Sponsor | Franchise | Home Base | Territory | Staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defenders of America, Inc. | New York City | 38 | ||
| Defenders - Atlanta | Atlanta | AL, GA, TN | 6 | |
| Defenders - Charlotte | Charlotte | NC, SC | 4 | |
| Defenders - Chicago | Chicago | IL, IN, WI | 6 | |
| Defenders - Detroit | Detroit | MI, OH | 4 | |
| Defenders - Houston | Houston | LA, TX | 4 | |
| Defenders - Minneapolis | Minneapolis | IA, MN | 4 | |
| Defenders - New York | New York City | CT, NJ, NY | 6 | |
| Defenders - St. Louis | St. Louis | AR, MO | 4 | |
| Great Western | Denver | 24 | ||
| Albuquerque | AZ, NM | 2 | ||
| Billings | MT, ND | 2 | ||
| Denver | CO, WY | 6 | ||
| Kansas City | KS, MO | 4 | ||
| Oklahoma City | AK, OK | 4 | ||
| Omaha | NE, SD | 2 | ||
| The Posse | San Antonio | TX | 4 | |
| Justice Foundation | New York City | 22 | ||
| Freedom's Four | Philadelphia | PA | 4 | |
| Liberty Legion | Baltimore | DE, MD, VA | 6 | |
| The Minutemen | Boston | MA, NH, RI, VT | 6 | |
| The Patriots | New York City | CT, NJ, NY | 6 | |
| New York Police Dept. | ||||
| Pacific Security Consultants | San Francisco | 21 | ||
| Honolulu | HI | 3 | ||
| Los Angeles | so. CA | 6 | ||
| San Francisco | no. CA | 6 | ||
| Seattle | ID, OR, WA | 6 | ||
| Solaris Corporation, The | Los Angeles | 24 | ||
| Dallas | TX | 6 | ||
| Las Vegas | NV | 3 | ||
| Los Angeles | CA | 6 | ||
| Miami | FL | 6 | ||
| Pheonix | AZ | 3 | ||
| Southern Cross | New Orleans | 18 | ||
| Birmingham | AL | 2 | ||
| Jacksonville | FL | 3 | ||
| Lexington | KY, WV | 3 | ||
| Little Rock | AK | 2 | ||
| Nashville | TN | 3 | ||
| New Orleans | LA, MS | 5 | ||
| State of Texas | ||||
| Rangers | Austin | TX | 6 | |
| U.S. Marine Corps | ||||
| U.S. Marshal Service | ||||