On September 12th, 1987, Ken Connell was awoken by his girlfriend, Debbie, who had a surprise for him. Essentially, it was a stretch fabric costume of her own design, meant to be used by Ken - as a super hero! Of course, Ken wasn't sure about this, as he was trying to keep his powers a secret from the world in general, and as such, he went to talk to Myron about this whole affair.

Myron wasn't too happy to speak with Ken, however, tired of dealing with his continual denial. In fact, Myron let into Ken something fierce, telling him that he was, in his professional opinion, a loser! Not liking this talk, Ken began to argue, but Myron blasted every point Ken had, and told him he should be doing more with the incredible powers he had than simply picking up on girls.

Leaving to think things over, Ken returned to his apartment, only to find Debbie being rather ill (in other words, throwing up) in his toilet. However, on the flight back home, he had already made up his mind - he was going to become a real-life super hero! To this end, he donned the costume that Debbie made up for him, and prepared to help solve the first problem that he became aware of.

This wound up being the attempted hijacking of a Chicago-based flight, and Ken managed to end the ordeal when the police couldn't. However, the media wasn't sure that Ken was, in fact, the real deal, and started endlessly debating how he staged the whole thing. As such, Ken tried to figure out how he could prove, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that he was a super hero.

Ken had Debbie sew him up a new costume (his original had gotten all shot up while he busted those hijackers), and made for the moon, where he collected the original lunar lander and returned it - ever so carefully - to the White House lawn. Ken was totally on the ball this time, and after pulling this stunt, nobody could deny the fact that he was, truly, the world's very first super-man!

This set off a firestorm of media attention, however, during which folks around the world tried to figure out just what the presence of this so-called Star Brand meant for them. People like politicians, religious leaders, and even comic book producers were wary of Ken's existence and the ramifications of his spandex actions. Of course, they weren't the only ones interested in his career.

You see, upon seeing the Star Brand in action on television, Bob, one of Myron's old patients, put two and two together, and realized that this bozo must be Ken Connell; he was that fellow that overheard Ken and Myron's conversation about his powers so long ago, in Myron's office. He decided that he was going to put this knowledge to good use, blackmailing Ken into doing his bidding.

This wasn't the only thing developing in Ken's life, however. You see, having been feeling funky for months, Debbie decided to go see a gynecologist. What she found out was that, despite her wishes, she was pregnant with Ken's child! This totally freaked Debbie out, however, as she wasn't sure Ken would react to this, what with his new career as a super-hero and all...

December 19th, 1987, Madeline 'Debbie' Felix had left Ken Connell. Showing up at her friend Jane's house, Debbie was a total wreck, and Jane tried to get her to sleep for a bit. This wasn't to be, however, as Debbie insisted on getting this off her chest - once and for all. You see, she'd had a fight with Ken after finally telling him about her baby, since he denied that the child was his.

In a terrible state, she left Ken once and for all, and explained the whole situation to Jane and her husband, Roger. She told everything, from the day Ken got the Star Brand to the time she got mangled by the so-called Old Man, to Ken's beginnings as an American super hero for the eighties. This deeply shocked Roger and Jane, who wanted to know more about this so-called hero...

Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, we see several comic book creators attending a local convention - one packed to the gills with fans of all sorts. Though these writers and artists are having a hard time of it, namely thanks to gimpy hyper-fan boys, they get along just fine until the main attraction shows up. Of course, it's that local real life super hero, the Star Brand, out to meet his fans!

Though everybody seems happy to gaze upon Ken's presence, those selfsame comic book folks rip into Ken. You see, they mock the whole idea of a person dressing up in a silly costume in real life, especially one that doesn't hide his height, skin and eye color, and his more distinguishable features, such as his nose and chin. Before Ken could retort, however, the Old Man returned yet again!!

The Old Man blasted Ken across the convention floor, to which Ken responded in kind, despite all the innocent bystanders and various folks dressed up as comic book characters like the X-Men being underfoot. The Old Man wasn't so easily defeated this time; in fact, he seemed stronger than ever, and in order to teach Ken a lesson, he let loose with all of his power!!!

Walking up to the convention center, Bob and his girlfriend, ready to capitalize on Ken's secret identity, were totally oblivious to events happening inside the building, and as such, were incinerated just as they opened the door, along with everybody else there for the show. Everybody including Ken, who was actually slain by the Old Man's efforts. Watching this on television, Myron was utterly horrified.

Soon after, Ken awoke, in a sort of pink, fleshy, fish-headed body, and wandered to Myron's place in a daze. Though he scared his friend half to death, Myron eventually figured out that this was Ken, and put him to sleep. While he rested, Ken reverted to his normal, human form, though he woke up with a start, quickly realizing that the bizarre events of the day were no dream.

Relating what happened to Myron, Ken had to deal with the horror of all those deaths on his hands, and explained what he'd learned about the Old Man - that he was a Dutch Duke, over five hundred years old, who gained the Star Brand from an unknown source long, long ago. Furthermore, the power had grown in him over time, apparently 'mutating' him into that pink, fleshy thing for some reason.

This was why he tried to get rid of the Star Brand's power. He tried placing it in all sorts of things, failed attempts to free himself of his power that cumulated with the advent of the White Event, that blast of strange energy that gave several people on earth their super human powers. Scared that Ken would also mutate into this strange form, Myron begged him to get rid of the Star Brand!

Or most of it, at least. You see, the power of the Star Brand never leaves a body once they accept it into their bodies, and when they give it up, they retain ten percent of its potential. Myron's reasoning was that, if Ken got rid of the power, he'd only have one tenth the odds of transforming into that strange, inhuman horror. Myron then gave Ken a bent dumbbell and told him to fly to the dark side of the moon.

Myron told him to transfer the Star Brand's power into the weight there, in order to prevent the earth from being bathed in another White Event. Flying up into the air, Ken decided that being ten miles up should be safe enough, and that would allow him to get immediate medical attention should something go horribly wrong after transferring the Brand out of his body.

Giving it his total concentration, then, Ken willed the Star Brand to leave his body, and enter that dumbbell of his. When he felt it slip over, everything went blank for Ken, for the resultant energy discharge the Star Brand gave off when entering that inanimate object annihilated everything within miles utterly, including the city of Pittsburgh, below. Ken and his home city had been utterly atomized...

This story was continued in the Pitt prestige format comic...

The date was February 29th, 1998. After over two months, Debbie had finally made her way back to Pittsburgh with her friends, Roger and Jane Price. However, as the place was a total disaster area, the National Guard barred them from entry, until Roger confused the grunts in his way by claiming to be on a mission from the Red Cross. The guards, at a loss about his credentials, let him and his entourage pass.

Driving through the blasted wilds surrounding the Pitt, Debbie discussed with Roger and Jane a visitation she'd had by Ken. Claiming to have gotten better after being ripped to atoms by the creation of the Pitt, Ken apologized to Debbie for denying her child was his, and told her he loved her. Before she could really respond, Ken found himself menaced by the ghost of his pal Myron, and fled the scene.

Thinking the whole ordeal the product of a fever dream, Debbie's friends discounted the whole experience, and before they could convince her otherwise, their vehicle was attacked by a strange, mutant plant! However, before the out of control creature could do them serious harm, a strange blast of energy ripped it asunder, though their A.T.V. got flipped over in the process.

Just then, Debbie went into labor, but instead of leaving via the normal route, her baby tore itself out of her abdomen, absorbing her memories and flying off into space without a second thought. The strange, glowing baby didn't go unnoticed by nearby flying planes, and after a ground-based radar station picked it up, an Air Force patrol checked it out, but couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Back on the ground, in the blasted area around the former city of Pittsburgh, Jane and Roger did what they thought they should, and buried Debbie. They weren't too happy about leaving her corpse behind, but without a working vehicle, they couldn't carry it to civilization, and who knows what would defile it in these strange wilds. As they set off to leave, however, they were menaced by yet another mutant!

This time, it was a ravenous, cancer-sore riddled wolf, but before the beast could savage the couple, it was blown to bits by a disembodied, floating baby head! This head, speaking in Debbie's voice, introduced itself to Roger and Jane, and explained who and what it was. It then talked about how, in the last hour, it had explored the solar system and was currently studying humanity in Bangladesh.

When this spatial anomaly stumped the Prices, the baby explained that this apparition of its head was merely an extension of its essence, or life force, though this wasn't all that disturbed the couple. You see, Jane claimed that the baby had murdered its mother, by both physical and spiritual means (by absorbing her fading essence and memories) and the baby simply couldn't see why this was a bad thing.

The blond, cosmically powered baby head then vanished, leaving to contemplate the concept of life and death, and leaving the Prices to their own devices. Mere moments later, however, the two were captured by an Army patrol that was investigating the weird energy discharges occurring in the vicinity, and they locked the couple down in a decontamination chamber, until they could decide what to do with them...