Thomas Hawklin was part of a long line of Hawklin shipbuilders. A man of the sea, he kept that custom going, building ships for the United States government, with hopes of Steven continuing the tradition. Those hopes were dashed however when Steven announced he wanted to be a pilot and he intended to follow his passion of being an aviator. Thomas and Steven had a falling out with Thomas telling Steven he was a fool and there was no future in aviation.
At twenty-years old Steven left to follow his dream. Soon after Steven left, the Great War in Europe began, and Steven saw an opportunity to advance his piloting skills and join a British fighting force. When America entered the war, he was allowed to join the American pilots and flew combat missions alongside other pioneers such as Eddie Rickenbacker and David Peterson, quickly achieving the rank of Captain.
While stationed in Europe, Steven met Hardy Miller who worked as a mechanic on the combat planes and the two quickly became friends. Soon after the war, Steven and Hardy set out seeking adventure and fortune across the world traveling to many exotic places. When they arrived in Egypt to work on an archaeological dig with Professor Lucas Gray, they met Oz Lyman. After his global escapades, Steven returned to his home, Crown City, California where he put his newfound wealth to work for him, creating Hawklin Aviation, and building the world's largest flight school where he began training his Crusaders, combat pilots to fly in the nation’s only privately funded air force.
With the support of President Roosevelt, Steven built a fleet of Silver Avengers, warplanes to patrol America’s western shores. The 1930’s were a turbulent time, with the great depression and the world approaching a second world war, Steven found himself up against many adversaries out for world domination, or personal gain at the misfortune of others.
With his two trusted friends, Hardy and Oz, Steven faced those challenges head on preparing themselves for the evils looming on the horizon.
Hardy Regan Miller was born January 10th, 1890.
A born mechanic, Hardy grew up working on engines with his grandfather who was personal friends with Henry Ford. As engines became more advanced so did Hardy’s proficiency. At 18, he worked closely with Henry Ford and designing new technology for the combustible engine.
Hardy grew up in Ohio and met the Wright Brothers in 1911 studying aviation and becoming close friends with Wilbur until the pioneer’s death in 1912. It was Hardy’s apprenticeship with the Wrights that led him to his lifelong obsession with flying and the mechanics behind aviation.
In 1917, when America entered the First World War, Hardy joined the Air Service (he was 27). There he met a young brash hotshot pilot named Steven Hawklin – a friendship that would endure for the rest of his life.
The pair would travel the world together after the war, finding many adventures throughout the 1920’s a precursor to what they would face in the years to come. After their global escapades, Hardy returned with Steven to Crown City, California where Steven put his newfound wealth to work for them, creating Hawklin Aviation, and building the world’s largest flight school where they began training pilots that would become Hawklin’s Crusaders – flying the most advanced planes ever built, “The Silver Avenger”, powered by engines designed by Hardy himself.
Throughout the turbulent 1930’s, Hardy and Steven met many challenges, pitting them against enemies both foreign and domestic as the world raced toward a second global conflict that would not only test Hardy and Steven’s mantle but their friendship as well.
Throughout the first part of the 20th century he delivered, “packages” from one location to another. It wasn’t until he was 17 that Oz met, Bruno Cossa, a mechanic who wanted nothing to do with the Eastman Gang. He took Oz under his wing and taught him how to work on automobiles, and Oz found he had a knack for combustion engines. When Bruno was murdered by the Eastman gang, Oz ran away from Chicago at 19 leaving the idea of organized crime behind him.
For the next several years Oz traveled the United states working in garages or in areas that had no mechanics. When the United States entered the First World War, Oz joined the army, seeing combat in the trenches of France.
He was assigned to the 77th division in June of 1918 where he was among the 554 men lost in the Argonne Forest in October of the same year. It became known as the Lost Battalion. From that experience Oz took a vow of non-aggression becoming a pacifist, swearing to never take another human life.
After the war, Oz traveled the world alone, where he met Steven Hawklin and Hardy Miller, in 1926 Cairo, where they encountered an ancient tomb guarded by a living mummy and set the events for the group over the next decade.
Soon after the events in Egypt, Oz found employment with the Legendary Big Game Hunter, Frank Buck, who he worked with for four years, until crossing paths again with Steven and Hardy on the infamous Monster Island.
Oz settled into his life in Crown City, after returning from the South China Sea, becoming chief mechanic and tinkerer for Captain Steven Hawklin.
Zane Holden Carrington was born May 4, 1905.
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