Writer: Carolyn Stephenson
Artist: Lynda McKenzie
Acknowledgements for Sinemet Man;
Everything has a beginning. The concept of Sinemet Man began on November 3, 2000, as a BrainTalk Communities Parkinson’s Disease forum thread. Michael7733 opened the thread at 2:34 a.m., and wrote a short beginning to a fictional adventure and challenged forum members to continue the story line. Many did just so – JimM, pegleg, lc_lil, Jo Ann, eternal hope, lavenderlou, sue, Carolyn217, Delmar Kidd, Frances O Sullivan, Brendybows. The last reply to the thread was submitted by Carolyn217 on June 11, 2001, at 6:13 a.m.
As we all know, many forum threads just end when they end. But the concept of Sinemet Man survived in the mind of Micheal7733 who wanted to see Sinemet Man come to “life”. Because of Micheal7733’s commitment, The Amazing Adventures of Sinemet Man And His Troop are now coming to life in print. A big thanks to Michael7733 for not loosing sight of his vision.
Introduction
Below is a description of the city that the heroes and villains live in. You will also find a brief description of each of the four heroes and four villains. We are not divulging the description of the alter egos of the heroes…we want to surprise you !! You will just have to wait until the June 2002 issue of Virtuality for the real fun to begin. We don’t want to give too much away about the group.
The City
There may be many cities and towns in PD Land, but there is only one Parktopolis. It is a city with just the right number of people living there. There are parks and clean streets, a town hall and a newspaper, The Topolis Times, an elementary school, a middle school and a high school, churches, and all the other places and sites you usually find in a city.
The Heroes;
Herman Hatfield aka Sinemet Man
Herman is a quiet, unassuming man, living alone in a small inner city flat in Parktopolis. He keeps to himself and is not well known by his neighbors. His only close companion in life is his canary, Sweetie, whose cage sits close to a window with a view of the top of a tree and the street below.
Herman is the history teacher at the Parktopolis Middle School. He is in his mid-thirties, has a receding hairline and wears round lens glasses. It is very typical to find Herman wearing and oxford shirt, bowtie, suspenders, khaki pants, argyle socks and brown loafers. No matter the occasion, he always dresses the same.
Herman rises each school day to the same routine. He loves the morning hours. The first task of the day is to remove the night cover from Sweetie’s cage. Together they greet and discuss the morning view from the window; the usual neighbor walking the dog, the weather, etc. The next morning task is for Herman to get ready for the day and prepare his brown-bag lunch. Once ready for the trip to school, he bids Sweetie a good day.
He then goes into the building hallway and places his lunch and satchel into his bicycle saddle baskets. After carrying his bicycle down the front stump to the street, he begins his journey to school. If the weather is inclement, Herman takes the city bus to school. But, he favors his bicycle as transportation. By riding the 10 blocks to school, he is able to marvel in the city smells, atmosphere and the diversity of its’ people.
Once arriving at Parktopolis Middle School, his bicycle is parked in his personal parking space in the parking lot of the century old building. The school is located across the street from a wonderful park that spans a city block. The front lawn of the school is intersected by many sidewalks, and at this time of the day the lawn is occupied by many students.
As Herman, known to students as Mr. Hatfield, walks along the sidewalk to the front of the school, many students greet him. Mr. Hatfield is well loved by the students in the school, as well as the other teachers and the parents of the students. His presence in a room naturally brings about a feeling of quiet and peace. He is an unassuming man, always doing what is right for all.
Molly Marlow aka Mirapex Maiden
Molly is a confident, outspoken person in her mid thirties. She is the assistant principal at Parktopolis Middle School. Because she is very particular about how she dresses, at school you will always find her dressed in a suit and smart pumps. Outside of school she is always stylishly casual.
As the assistant principal she has great influence over the teachers in the school. Her ability to apply the rules of the school fairly is respected by everyone. Even though the more difficult students give her a hard time, you will find respect for her under those rough teenager shells.
At school, throughout the day, the teachers seek her expertise. She oversees staff meetings and monitors the hallways between classes. From time to time she meets with parents and students, usually because of the problem with the student
The end of the school day brings Molly to her mid-size sedan, which carries her home to change clothes and jog five-miles. Her favorite part of the day is dusk. A river runs through Parktopolis and Molly tries to reach the edge of the river just as the sun is setting. Just before the sun drops from sight she is on her way back home to her vegetarian dinner.
Molly lives in an old brown stone. Her home reflects her sensibility. It is neat, tidy and uncluttered, and her shelves are filled with books. Her favorite place in her home is the overstuffed chair adjacent to the fireplace, where she spends many hours reading.
(There is a complicating factor to Molly hero-life. She has a suave, gorgeous boyfriend.)
Charlie Chumley aka Comtan The Inhibitor
Charlie lives with his wife of 20-years, Margie, in an inner-city first floor flat that has a small backyard. When not at school, Charlie spends most of his time in the backyard working out, or working with his wife on their beautiful gardens. Few people know about the Chumley’s gardens.
Charlie always jogs to school, even in the rain. He says jogging each day makes him feel wonderfully energized. Along his way to school each day, or anytime that he is on the street, he stops to help ladies across the street, picks up trash and tosses it into the trash bin, things like that.
In the hallways of the school and in the gym, there are many sounds of pride in the sports program. Charlie is the Boy’s Physical Education Teacher and helps coach sports programs.
(By the way, Charlie’s wife has no clue he is a super-hero.)
Suzie Shoemake aka Celexa Cheerful
Suzie is in her mid-twenties and lives with her mother. She has never lived on her own, even while attending PDLand University. She commutes to school from the suburbs in her small 10-year old sedan. When she is at home you can find her reading, sewing or cooking. She also enjoys going to the park and playing with the neighborhood children.
She is a perky young woman, with a perky short hair cut to match her personality. Where ever she goes there is electricity in the air. Her normal attire is a cute jumper with a bright flowered blouse. On her feet you will always find brightly colored tennis shoes with frilly socks.
At school she is the apple of the math teacher’s eye. Marvin Mathews tries hard to get Suzie’s attention, but never succeeds. Suzie helps in the lunchroom as a monitor, which is not her strong suite. She finds the lunchroom to be a major frustration for her. The kids who pull lunchroom pranks on her easily intimidate her.
(Nope, you didn’t guess it. You will have to wait and see about Suzie’s mom.)
The Villains
Sammie Smith aka Shakes The Shyster
Shakes is very elusive. He simply appears just about the time that someone begins to feel poorly. He sneaks around, hiding behind bushes and trees, in closets or trashcans, under beds, or any other place he can find to hide. With his fellow villains, he finds enjoyment in causing discomfort in the sick. His specialty is causing Dystonia.
Kenny Kates aka Knurly Gaits
Knurly is a young man who became intrigued by Shakes as teenager. Shakes is his idol. While Shakes may be his idol, he frustrates Shakes with his distractions to music and the girls. Knurly’s specialty is causing walking disturbance and freezing.
Richard Raney aka Rigid Rapscallion
Rigid is in love with himself. One of his favorite past times is looking at himself in any mirror or reflective window. His specialty is causing rigidity, especially in the hands.
Doris Downey aka Depressant Demon
Demon doesn’t like anyone. People bother her a great deal, and that can include her fellow villains. She has a military background, which comes in handy from time to time. Demon’s focus is on depression.