Seniority

Eugene Reynolds (The Narrator) formed The Echelon in the late 1960s.  The struggling novelist experienced a high-level of creativity while writing a series of adventure stories.  When he recognized the up-and-coming business tycoon Arthur Gartner (Magnate) as the lead character in one story, he knew that a force greater than simple inspiration was at work.  The story he produced entailed a band of heroes coming together to fend off a hoard of supernatural beings.  The characters, including Magnate, were needing to come to the aid of another hero, named the Successor.  Eugene began contacting other ‘characters’ from his early stories.  This group formed The Echelon: Magnate, Doc Tectonic, Adrenaline, and Successor.

After many successful years, The Narrator disbanded The Echelon in the mid-90s.  He began to experience the onset of writer’s block and didn’t wish to bring harm to The Echelon members through inaccurate stories.  One of his final premonitions from that time was far more cryptic than any others before – all Eugene could decipher was that a hero would die, something he had never predicted in the previous years of working with The Echelon.  In his attempt to avoid this from becoming reality, Eugene and The Echelon disbanded.

Eugene has managed to keep his identity and abilities unknown to public, keeping him hidden from The Echelon’s rivals.  In the first Seniority arc, “The Sinister Son”, Eugene is forced to choose between maintaining his own safety and rescueing another man from certain death.

-Joel Kleine, Seniority writer/creator