Southern Tribe

Membership: Odin's Raven, Apus, Raze, Fox

Purpose: To fight crime.

Affiliations: None known

Enemies: Terrorists

Base of Operations: New Zealand, c.2017

First Appearance: Southern Tribe (Corbeau Comics, 1995)

History: "In 1993, four pregnant New Zealand women were abducted by a group of aliens and their children were experimented on in utero. One of the women awoke during the process as her child was subjected to the Breeding Program, but her memory of the event was subsequently erased. The children had their psychic and physical potentials maximised by the aliens before the women were taken back to their homes.

Twenty four years passed. In 2017, New Zealand is under constant terrorist attack. The Police have so far been unable to discover the leader of the terrorists, nor a clear motive for the attacks, save that they cause chaos whenever possible.

Rising up to face this threat are Southern Tribe - a team formed by the leader "Odin's Raven" and comprising of the four altered children (the other three being Apus, Raze and Fox). The Southern Tribe team unofficially supplements the Police, using vigilante tactics. They are feared and respected by the public because of the damage they cause in battle and the lives they manage to save.

Southern Tribe first encounter the aliens that altered them in "Southern Tribe #1". The warrior-like aliens explain that they are fighting a desperate intergalactic war and are suffering many losses. They have travelled to other planets to enhance lifeforms to their ultimate potential and enlist them to their cause. The members of Southern Tribe have suffered abuse all their lives for being different and were branded as dangerous freaks. When presented with the ones responsible for what they have become, Fox lashes out. The aliens reply in kind and during the escalating fight, kill Raze. The aliens retreat, regretting having to kill one of Southern Tribe and teleport away.

Once they have gone, Raze is reincarnated into a new albino inhuman form. He tells them that his American Indian god has blessed (and possibly cursed) him with new life.

In subsequent issues, it is discovered that the members of Southern Tribe were not the only children experimented on, the enemy of the aliens crash lands in the mountains of the South Island of New Zealand and begins a search for dominant lifeforms, the Government reveals its ways of dealing with the genetic menace of enhanced humans, the true motives behind the terrorist attacks become apparent, plus the aliens return to see if Southern Tribe will aid them in their war."

Comments: Created, written, drawn and self-published by Craig Peterson - check his site here. Quentin Hansen did the lettering, Rachel Dimery did the speech balloons and Craig Schulz was the guest cover artist on issues 3 and 4. The series ran four issues, with a conclusion appearing in the Armageddon Convention magazine in 1998.

Craig kindly provided the detailed synopsis on the Tribe's background and powers given above. He also notes that "Southern Tribe was my first self-published work in 1995 and 1996. ...

Only four issues of Southern Tribe were created (with a print run of 1000 issues each) and went nationwide. A bonus four-page issue was created for a NZ comic convention magazine. The comics were black and white on the interior with grey tones and had full colour covers. No plans at this stage are being made to continue the series, but you never know..." He also provided the images used on this page of the Southern Tribe members. All images are copyright him.

These days he does a variety of things, making a living as an illustrator and web designer (check out his site http://www.mechazoic.com/ if you want any web designing done), as well as working on some new comics for the Japanese market.

New Zealand Comics website.

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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