The year is 1932. The Great Depression is in full swing. US troops have attacked and dispersed her own veterans of the Great War when they marched on Washington for financial relief. President Hoover's popularity has plummeted. The forces of communism and fascism have arrayed themselves for battle over the corpse of democracy. Faith in the American way is rapidly dying in the face of widespread unemployment and the threat of natural disasters of Biblical proportion.
The forces of lawlessness are on the rise. In the Midwest and Great Plains, violent criminals are given the status of "Robin Hood" heroes. In the cities, labor unrest is mounting. Building on the popularity of bootlegging and setting up "charity" soup kitchens, organized crime is gaining a good reputation among the poor.
Equally as threatening, if far less known, is that an assault upon the mystical life of the nation has begun. Rumors of bizarre deaths in remote rural areas have filtered into the major cities, and there are some small towns where people no longer go outside after dark. However, while a mutilated corpse here and there may be a frightening sight, darker doings are underfoot in the "better" circles of society. It is said that members of the Lost Generation, jaded with the mundane alcoholic and sexual pleasures of the 1920s and shocked to the core by the current collapse of the fiscal boom they thought would go on forever, have turned to darker pleasures and "refreshments" more dangerous than any mere violation of Prohibition.
Matters could not look worse. Heroes of the last century, like the Lone Ranger, Madame .44, and Bat Lash all seem to have disappeared with the demise of the frontier, and even those who remember doubt that even these people could handle the threats that now appear.
Nevertheless, there may be hope. In far-off lands, artifacts are exerting their influence upon local synchronicity energy to ensure they will be found by those of good heart. Ancient brotherhoods are training mystical heroes to unleash upon the world. Scientists are investigating obscure corners of knowledge. An age of heroes is about to be born!
But until that happens somebody must still stand in the breach. Somebody must hold the line until the full force of Justice is awakened. These heroes will make no great mark upon the future, they will not stride across the landscape in larger-than-life costumes. They will not have the ear of world leaders, but they will stand for justice when nobody else can.