It was the best of times...

The year was 1988. "Die Hard" and "Rain Man" were big hits at the box office. Richard Marx, Bon Jovi and George Michael were big on the music charts. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "21 Jump Street" were all over America's televisions.

In Sacramento, California, a group of Champions gamers were meeting weekly for a campaign called "Forte". The game was run by K.C. Ryan, and the players were Tim Watts, Michael O'Connell, Kaye Dunham and Jeff Baumgardner. The G.M., K.C., when not busy putting together adventures for the team, was part of an "APA" (Amateur Press Alliance) called "Klordny", a fanzine dedicated to the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Most of his players had never heard of an APA before. It was a simple idea. You would get a group of people from around the country (or the world, in Klordny's case) who were all into the same thing. This group would become the membership. Each member would be required to contribute something to each issue. If, for example, your APA was about "Charlie's Angels", then one member might write a seven page piece of fan fiction about an Angels case. Another might write an essay comparing and contrasting the different hairstyles of the Angels. Another might be an artist, and might crank out a few Angels drawings. Whatever the contribution, this would be the member's "zine", or their section of the APA. They would print out their submission. They would then make a set amount of copies of the whole thing (the numbers depending on the number of members in the APA). They would then send these copies to the Central Mailer...or, the person in charge of putting the APA together. The Central Mailer--or "CM"--would get all these packages of copies from all the members by a set regular deadline (anyone who's ever been a CM just laughed at that sentence...). The CM would then collate all these copies, writing a table of contents to go with them and perhaps some APA news, create cardstock covers for the whole thing, and then staple together completed issues of the APA. Each member would then get, in their mailbox, the most current issue of "Angels Among Us", the Charlie's Angel's APA, and read away and soak up lots of Angels goodness. Then, in their next zine, they would write "mailing comments" to each of the contributors, commenting on the previous issue's material (Kelly's hair was SO much better! You're insane!). In this way, an APA was not only a collection of themed material, but dynamic and interactive as well.

K.C. and old gaming pals of his from college--such as Scott Burnham and Rex Joyner--had talked about the idea of a Champions APA for years. This idea sounded pretty good to college sophomore Tim Watts, who thought maybe it was time for someone to put one together. Why not him?

Clobberin' Times Founder Tim Watts (back in the day...)

With K.C.'s guidance, and with the help of co-CM Michael O'Connell, Tim set out to do just this. He placed an ad in the Comic Buyer's Guide, looking for Champions players interested in participating. The responses came slowly, but began. But wanting to at least get the thing started, Tim decided to just forge ahead and get a first issue out. That way copies could be sent out to interested members who might feel more encouraged to join if they saw an actual issue.

The cover to Clobberin' Times #1, September, 1988 (a very humble beginning)

So, in September of 1988, "The Clobberin' Times" Champions APA began. The Bi-monthly fanzine started with five members. K.C. Tim. Michael. And two Texans names Brian Perris (writer) and Derek Garrison (artist) who had answered the ad and gotten a submission in in time for the first issue. The issue was all of twenty pages. The first zines were mainly people introducing themselves, and a little bit of content (characters, some art, an essay from K.C. introducing people to the concept of APAs). It was small, but it was done, and they were proud to have gotten it started. And interested parties were starting to filter in, through letters and cards from around the nation.

By the second issue, membership, and content, grew. Suddenly, the 'Times was up to 50 pages (for you math majors out there, that's more than double the previous one!), and nine members, including guys like Chris Robb out of Tucson, and Ron Edwards from Chicago (a guy who ran a Champions game for John Ostrander. Seriously). There was more content, more art, and the little APA was looking pretty good.

By the fourth issue, membership was up to 15, and more people were getting interested. By now the 'Times had added the likes of Aaron Storck (San Diego), Brian Curley (Wisconsin), K.C.'s old gaming pals Rex Joyner and Scott Burnham (Michigan), Terry L. O'Brien (Indiana) and Sacramentans Kevin Jones, Jon Grimes, and Jeff Baumgardner (Kaye, the last of the Forte pack, would soon be joining too). Some zines were getting started that no one realized, at the time, would be going on for years. "Captain K.C.'s Comments". "Scorpion Tales". "The Ranger Report". "Gadgets and Gizmos".

A sampling of some of the zines to appear on the Clobberin' Times over the years. Captain K.C.'s Comments (K.C. Ryan), Tales from the Wolftrap (Brian Perris and Derek Garrison), Tomorrow's News (Joel B. Levy), Hyperspeed Headlines (Aaron Storck), Zine-o-Zoic Mail (Brian Curley), Status: Pro (Donald R. Nevills and Jon Wooley), Of Masks and Men (Jim McClain), Troy Hickman's All-Nite Late Show (Troy Hickman, often with partner Doug Lumley), and Second Too Nunn (Mike Nunn).

Issue five, however, was the harbinger of things to come. Only one more member was added (Martin Maenza straight out of North Carolina with his "World of Maenza" zine), but content had reached a point where the issue was too big to be stapled. It had to be broken up into two sections. After this issue, it would be years before a 'Times issue would be only one section again. Content was widely varied and great to read and look at. There were campaign reports. Gaming discussion. Vehicles and gadgets. Lots of great art from the likes of Tim, Derek, a guy named Jim McClain who would soon be a member himself, a guy named Aaron Thompson, who, too, was soon to sign on, and covers for the issue from Marvel favorite Ron Lim (inked by Tim). There was fiction. And loads and loads of characters, from people's regular PCs to newly created heroes to villains. And mailing comments. Loads of them. This group had gotten started talking, chatting about each other's material, about gaming, and soon just to be talking. Friendships were starting to form.

The covers to CT #5 (Ron Lim and Tim Watts) an CT #7 (Aaron Thompson)

And there were the campaigns. A Champions APA was the perfect place (and at this time, the ONLY place) to showcase your Champions campaign. People got to know Forte, thanks to K.C.'s, Michael's, Tim's, Jeff's and Kaye's zines. People were introduced to Aegis by way of Scott Burnham (and later by Jim McClain), the game that K.C. had started back in college that had just kept on going without him. Folks got to read about the Texan adventures of The Rangers in Brian Curley's zine. Aaron Storck introduced the MAGIC game, a game that included players Joel B. Levy and artist Ben Bellot, both of whom soon jumped on the 'Times bandwagon, where Joel introduced us to the Tomorrow League game. Ron Edwards chronicled his Shield game there as well, reporting on the campaign run by run. In this age before the internet, the only way to hear about other people's Champions campaigns was to talk to your buddy in town who also had a game going. This was new. This was a chance to learn about, and follow, vicariously, games from around the country. Members inspired each other, getting new ideas for their own games or characters after reading what other people were doing...or deciding to finally start getting character art done for their game after seeing the spectacular art others had gotten done...or just plain getting a kick out of seeing what came next in the someone's campaign, just like waiting for the next issue of a favorite comic to come out (ironically, one of the campaigns...'Times member Ken Wood's "The FIRM", DID become an ongoing 'Times comic for a brief time, written by Michael O'Connell and drawn by Tim Watts, who were players in the game).

Some of the campaigns featured in the 'Times, including (L to R, top to bottom): The Tomorrow League, Forte, Aegis, The FIRM, Shield and the Rangers

Yes, friendships formed in mailing comments. But they solidified either through letters, over the phone, or, most dramatically, at the first annual Clobberin' Con. Someone came up with the idea of meeting at the San Diego Comic-Con...getting as many 'Timers together as possible to enjoy the Con, hang out, and do some gaming as well. The first such meeting happened in the summer of 1990. Mostly west coasters were able to make it. Aaron, Joel and Ben already lived in San Diego, so this was simple for them. K.C., Michael, and Tim, along with fellow Sacramento 'Timer Greg Johnson, came down from Sacramento. And Scott made the flight out west to round things out. For four glorious days, the boys all did the Con thing, spent too much money, got too little sleep, and yes...played some Champions. One of the games was run by Aaron, and was called the "Clobberin' On Infinite Earths" game. It was an idea discussed earlier in the 'Times. What if a group of 'Timers could get together and play in a game, each of them playing their best-known PC? And so it happened, as Aaron GM'd for Phantasm (Tim), Dr. Jackal (Michael), Hologram (Ben), Radium (Greg), Vice Grip (Joel), Captain Comet (K.C.) and Psiren (Scott). The COIE game became a staple at Clobberin' Cons thereafter...as there would be one, every year, from that summer on.

Clobberin' Con I in San Diego, circa 1990. Attendees were (back row) Joel B. Levy, Greg Johnson; (middle row) Tim Watts, Aaron Storck, Scott Burnham, K.C. Ryan; (front row) Michael O'Connell, Ben Bellot

Clobberin' Con II in San Diego, 1991. (Left to right): Tim Watts, Aaron Storck, Michael O'Connell, Rex Joyner, Jeff Baumgardner, Kaye Dunham Bellot, Scott Burnham, Gary T. Washington, K.C. Ryan

Aaron Storck, at the '91 Clobberin' Con, decides that 'Times founder Tim Watts is both superstitious AND cowardly...

The friendships that formed in the 'Times were made to last. Members met within the pages of the CT and sometimes became friends for life. Members ended up as roommates. They ended up in each other's weddings. One pair, Ben and Kaye, even ended up married with a couple of kids thanks to membership. Beginning as just a place to share Champions ideas, the CT fast became a very social place. This started friendships, yes...it also led to friction as people got comfortable enough with each other to start being a little too honest, and there were periods of bickering as well. This came out strongest, possibly, during the issues-long debate about what "Champions material" was, and what should and should not be considered acceptable submission content.

A gathering of "The Gameboys", a group of the college student California CT members who starred in a piece of 'Times action-comedy fiction that featured them all as SHIELD agents. And just like in the fiction, getting them all together in a bar is just a bad idea... (Back row): Michael O'Connell, Joel B. Levy, Tim Watts and Aaron Storck. (Front row): Greg Johnson and Ben Bellot

But the 'Times survived the rough ride, and thrived. Issues were regularly three sections--and sometimes four--and hundreds of pages in length. Many a mailman dreaded having to carry that package to the front doors of members every two months. A slew of new members breathed new life into the already flourishing APA. Members like Will "Suffice" Geiger, C. Lee Graham, artist Gary T. Washington, "Sable", Donald R. Nevills, Jon Wooley, Karl Miller, John P. Moorman, Troy Hickman, Doug Lumley, Brian Jordan and Ian Williams. New faces weren't the only changes. Tim had to step down as Central Mailer, and co-CM Michael took over for a nearly two-year stint. Folks kept the quality, and the bulk, growing, seemingly trying to outdo each other. New experiments were attempted, such as "Judgment Day", the first Clobberin' Times shared-fiction project. In it, a story began in the first chapter surrounding the murder of a hero. The next writer on the list (anyone in the 'Times who wanted to be a part of it) would then take the next chapter and decide what happened next, generally creating complicated twists and cliffhangers for the next writer to have to deal with. Another new addition was added, an annual awards presentation called the "Grimmies". Each year, a ballot would be sent out, and members would vote on such categories as "Favorite Zine", "Favorite Hero", "Favorite Villain", "Favorite Artist". And there were more Clobberin' Cons. San Diego became a regular event, but 'Timers would also meet up in Chicago or at Gen-Con to pal around and do some gaming. Members did start to leave as new ones came in, either running low on time for such a regular project, going off to college (or graduating college) or a variety of other reasons. Tim finally left the APA he founded after issue twenty-four, having never imagined he'd started something that would go on for so long and, very literally, change so many lives.

Wraparound covers for CT #11, featuring popular member PCs, by Gary T. Washington and Tim Watts

The hardest departure, however, was the tragic loss of one of the 'Times members. Ian Williams, a young and talented artist, and one of Joel B. Levy's best friends, lost his fight with H.I.V. in 1994. He contributed his time and talents, and fantastic art, to the pages of the 'Times between '91 and '93. None of the membership had a chance to get to know him as well as they'd have liked in the few issues he was able to contribute to, but Joel made sure his friend was properly eulogized in the APA. That he wasn't around as long as some of the veteran members didn't matter. He was a 'Timer. He was one of them. He was--and is--missed.

An Ian Williams self-portrait

Times, and the 'Times, rolled on. People began to relocate, though most stayed in the 'Times as they did. Michael stepped down as Central Mailer, where K.C. took up the slack for three issues until new CM Brian Curley took over (the first non-Sacramento CM). The texture of the existing membership was changing in different ways. People were getting older, their lives changing. Some had gotten married during their stint in the times. Some had children. Some had started as college students and were now into careers. And there were other changes. People just weren't gaming as much anymore. Perhaps it was for lack of time, or for lack of players as established gaming groups went their separate ways. Or perhaps it was just that the membership was going the way of the industry. Role-playing was starting to falter. Collectible card games were the new up-and-coming thing. And the sudden PC explosion was making computer games suddenly a very big thing, and the return of the console games was giving people seeking some adventure a new place to put their money. It was getting to be rough times for gamers. For Champions players. For Champions itself. In the 'Times, few people (if any) were playing in regular, live games.

Covers for Clobberin' Times #'s 20 (Derek Garrison), 27 (Jim McClain), 33 (Chuck Wojtkiewicz), 36 (Jim McClain), 39 (Ben Bellot) and 51 (Duvall Stowers)

When Brian Curley stepped down as CM, it was K.C. Ryan who became the head cheese once more...and remained so from then on. Some fresh ideas were added the 'Times to liven things up a little. Among them were the shared universe fiction project. The first of these started with a few members joining together--K.C., Joel, Ben, Kaye, Michael and Jeff--and was called "ConTinuum". They came up with the idea at one of the Clobberin' Cons (which is where the "Con" in "ConTinuum" came from), of each of them picking a real-world city, and each creating a hero for that city. These would be the first heroes of this "real" world. Since all of the writers were living in different cities (or states), this would not be so much a campaign as a virtual campaign...an ongoing series of stories written by each creator, and put together in their own section in every other issue of the 'Times. The project began, and took off.

The heroes of "ConTinuum", the first 'Times shared world fiction project

It wasn't long before a 'Times-wide project was born, spearheaded by Aaron Storck. This project was called "Omniverse". Here, a small committee of members got together and decided the basic history and make-up of a fictional hero world. The broad strokes. And then, every member who wanted to participate would each create their own fictional city in the Omniverse world...a city that would replace an actual real-world city. The San Francisco Bay Area became Aaron's "El Dorado, CA". Martin's "Victoria, GA" replaced Atlanta. Jeff's "Silverado City, NJ" replaced Atlantic City. Each writer had to create their city, give it a hero (or heroes), and write stories about it in the every-other-issue Omniverse section, which alternated with ConTinuum. This did, in fact, bring some new life back to the 'Times for a time.

The cover to "Omniverse" #4, the second 'Times shared world

As did the new members that had come along with new ideas and enthusiasm. Members like Chris Avellone. James Davis. Loren E. Gartee Jr. Sue Grau. Bill Jackson. John Jacobs. Steve Long. Dave Mattingly. Mike Nunn. Sean A. Vierra. They all proved that there were still Champions players out there, and ones with plenty of new material to offer the aging 'Times.

Michael O'Connell and Joel B. Levy having a little too much fiesta, not enough siesta at one of the Clobberin' Cons

Kaye and Ben--having married at this point after meeting for the first time at the 1991 Clobberin' Con, hanging out with Michael in his hotel room at this Con

And speaking of aging...

In February of 1997, the Clobberin' Times celebrated its 50th issue. This monster, 500-page affair was a return to the APAs glory days, and was a fitting tribute to all that had come before. In it, Martin Maenza created the Clobberin Times Index, where he went through every issue and compiled a comprehensive listing of every zine, and every article/character/anything that appeared in that zine (and what issue it was in). And Ben Bellot, to mark the occasion, created the massive "Hall of Heroes", a section that highlighted every member of the 'Times to that date, with information on them (biographical info, their best-known character ("alter-ego"), favorite gaming moment, favorite soda, best-known quote, etc.) that he compiled through sending out questionnaires and making many late-night last-minute phone calls, as well as a piece of character art for each person's alter-ego...and if there wasn't one available, Ben went right ahead and drew it himself. Both of these tireless old-'Timers gave it their all for the occasion, and helped make the golden anniversary of the 'Times special and memorable for all.

And probably the last great hurrah.

Tim Watts, Joel B. Levy, Michael O'Connell and San Diego pal Russ Williams hitting "Dick's Last Resort" in the downtown Gaslamp Quarter, a Clobberin Con tradition

The material still came in, and it was great stuff...but there was less of it. Gone were the four-section monsters, the filled-up roster with a waiting list to get in. Now members started to miss MINAC (MINimum ACtivity...which in the 'Times was 3 pages every other issue), and some disappeared from the roster after they failed to contribute or communicate. The sixtieth issue of the 'Times came out in October of 1998, and marked the 10th anniversary of the APA. No slouch itself, this issue broke 300 pages, and included a photo retrospective by O'Connell and Storck called "10 Years of 'Timers" that collected pictures from all the different 'Times events over the past decade. The same pair (who were now roommates living in San Diego) also wrote up the game report for "Clobberin' On Infinite Earths IX: The Jericho Effect", the game that they co-GM'd at that summer's Clobberin' Con, a massive story that united eleven different heroes from four different well-known 'Times campaigns (Forte, MAGIC, Questors, Crusade). Events in that game also created a permanent dimensional passage between these four worlds...making crossover adventures much easier in the future (up to this time, excuses had to be thought up by GMs at these COIE games as to why these characters were all yanked out of their game worlds and into that summer's adventure).

The 1999 10th annual Clobberin' Con in San Diego. (Back Row): Joel B. Levy, Jeff Baumgardner, Rick DeWeis, Kevin Jones, Aaron Stock, K.C. Ryan. (Front Row): Ben Bellot, Martin Maenza, Michael O'Connell, Tim Watts, Aaron Thompson.

The guys doing the also traditional stop at Kansas City Barbecue near the Convention Center.

From there, the downhill slide was rapid. Issues grew smaller and smaller. Membership dwindled. K.C., the Central Mailer, expressed his concerns about this in the News section, encouraging people to contribute. But not much changed. Finally, Clobberin' Times #67 came out in January of 2000. After this, K.C. had to move, and the next issue was delayed. When he got where he was going, he sent out an e-mail that finally asked out loud the question that was in the back of everyone's minds. Did anyone want it to start up again?

An e-mail discussion began, and a proposal was made to create an online Clobberin' Times, to catch up with the digital world and graduate from all the staples and the trips to the copy store and the mailing costs. It was suggested that removing these steps could make contributing easier and more enjoyable, perhaps get people interested again. But the responses were not forthcoming to this proposal, and the silence spoke louder than words. It had been eleven years. Eleven years for an APA was not unprecedented, but it was damned rare. Together, they had created a fantastic work...thousands of pages of quality Champions content, of beautiful art, of fun discussions and great memories. They had something to be proud of. But its time had finally passed. Thanks to the internet, the age of the APA was over, and it appeared the age of the Clobberin' Times was as well. Perhaps it was because few were actually gaming anymore, except for summer Con games. Perhaps people were just tired of dealing with submission deadlines with so many other things going on in their lives, jobs and families. Perhaps they'd just outgrown it. Or perhaps eleven years was just plain long enough.

For whatever reasons, the Clobberin' Times ended at number sixty-seven, just as the year 2000 began.

The APA was gone, but the friendships were still there. Because of this, in the summer of 2000, Michael and Martin started up the Clobberin' Times Yahoo Group, and a number of old 'Timers got together there and used it as a chance to keep in touch. Everyone got on with their lives. Some even went on to make a splash in the geek world. Troy Hickman went on to make it big as a comic writer with his book "Common Grounds" (based on his mini-comic o' many years "Holey Crullers"). Michael O'Connell and Tim Watts much LESS famously created the online comic "The Nice Guy" that eventually went to print. Ben Bellot has been involved in many of the computer and video games on the market today. And a few 'Timers were/are wrapped up in game design. Ron Edwards went on to form Adept Press and create such games as Sorcerer, Elfs and Trollbabe. Others stuck close to the motherland. Charles Brown did "Demons Rule" for Champions. Chris Avellone did lots of material for Dark Champions. James Davis, the editor of the "Haymaker!" APA was one of the creators on "Enemies for Hire". Dave Mattingly has been the editor of Digital Hero for years, and started his own game company, Blackwyrm Games.

And Steve Long? If you know Hero Games, you MAY have heard of him. Like, seen his name on the front of one of your Hero books. After leaving the 'Times, he got tired of just writing for Hero. He went out, formed a corporation with some other folks, and BOUGHT the company. Nice. Steve has brought Hero Games, and Champions, back with a vengeance, with a whole new product line and a whole new chance to get a new generation started on the grand adventure of super-hero role-playing that brought the 'Times together in the first place.

The Clobberin' Times was no more, but the Clobberin' Cons went on. Here in 2002, 'Times members are living it up in downtown San Diego with former members of the Forte campaign. (Back Row): Aaron Storck, Randy Auer, Joel B. Levy, Adam Johnson, Russ Williams; (Middle Row): K.C. Ryan, Tim Watts, Martin Maenza; (Front Row): Michael O'Connell, Jim Kletzing, Jeff Baumgardner.

Joel and Ben, former 'Timers, former gaming partners, and former roommates...back at the gaming table again at a Clobberin' On Infinite Earths game

And as for the 'Times? After several discussions on the subject, some of the members of the Clobberin' Times Yahoo Club decided the time for talk was over. They got together and created the Clobberin' Times Online, a web site that hopes to capture the spirit and magic of the old 'Times, with all-new Champions articles, fiction, campaign worlds, hero art...just about anything super. Will it go on for eleven years? Well, time will tell. For now, the only thing the members are focused on is a few good friends hanging out together, creating some exciting adventures, and having grand time escaping the "real world" while doing it.

In other words...the same reasons for playing Champions.