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rate herself from her privileged beginnings, Madonna’s eldest daughter by her third husband

Leslie LaForge , is a respected journalist and on-air news anchor for New Jericho’s most-watched station, KMWR. Her import and influence on the impressionable New Jericho youth is not lost on her, and her position as journalist and arbiter of taste for her peers is definitely not lost on her. Here is a woman that craves attention and the limelight just as her moth er does, but has the wherewithal to take her responsibility seriously. Deadbolt of the Redeemers has got a thing for her, but she feels that the electricity she feels from him is a manifestation of his paranormal abilities and not an honest attraction for him. Suspecting, rightly, that the Redeemers are super-powered shams, she constantly is trying to turn up evidence that the menaces they face are not true dangers but merely pub licity stunts designed to keep The Redeemers in the public eye. There’s nothing like stopping a bank robbery and an appearance on the nightly news to drive up sales of Redeemers T-shirts and increase fan club appli cations. Her relentless drive to expose the Redeemers’ crass commercial ism often puts her in direct conflict with Louis St. Louis , part government agent, part Hollywood agent, and all ponytail. Louis is in charge of babysitting the Redeemers in the field, mak ing sure that their promotional appearances go as planned. When things get out of hand, Louis can call on elite government WALL troops. WALL stands for Watching After Life and Liberty. They are a gung-ho band of armor plated, bazooka-carrying "problem solvers." They don’t put much stock in these nancy-boy super-heroics. There’s nothing they can’t solve with a few well-placed shots, if only Louis would let them. Washed out of WALL (and Louis’ former college roommate for three semesters) Shankar has found himself in the employ of The Great Vargas. Perhaps because he was not ever one of the first chosen for kickball at recess, too, Shankar has developed a fierce loyalty towards The Great Vargas and shields him from the vagaries of life as well as from the unthinking com ments of neighborhood children and the incessant calls from telephone solicitors so Vargas can continue his work in robotics. Shankar feels Vargas’ jealousy and mistrust of Saturn Red (who, after all, took his "rightful" place as leader of his father’s band of super-heroes) is a bit unfounded. But like Androcles and the Lion, Shankar would defend Vargas against the world, even though that path might lead him to madness or frustration. Shankar’s great aunt and her best friend are Sophie and Mary Ellen , two of New Jericho’s most colorful characters. These two old ladies, in their dotage, are omnipresent at any happening of import in the city. They are a voice of silliness in the book, and are large ly included for tension release and comic relief.

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