Rockwell, Barnhart, and von Sydow - Monday, Jan 20, 1961
RB and V was a small independent firm of stringers with three partners - Charlotta von Sydow, Nathanial Rockwell, and Richard Barnhart - and two employees - Marla Fendschmidt, secretary, and Bernie Lomax, accountant. They operated out of a small office on 40th Avenue not far from the major publishers - the Daily Bugle, the Daily Star, the Manhattan Guardian, New York Guardian, and the New York Star - as well as the offices of comic book companies like Marvel and DC.
All potential clients. That was what RB&V did - sold stories and photos to news outlets and comic companies.
And, on February 19th, they celebrated the formation of their venture and acquisition of the 40th Avenue office space from which to operate, with drinks down at Harlan's, a local tavern. And oh, did they put it away. Really, it was all a blur.
So, when the leads came in fresh and hot Monday morning, only Richard was in the office. The teleprinter started started spitting out information on reports of strange calls to police that had been received that morning.
CENTRAL CITY, CALIFORNIA
Item 1: Rumors of alien invasion in the downtown area, sparked by crowds witnessing strange words appearing in the sky without warning or explanation. Many calls to the police and eyewitness reports from officers on site. One witness reports seeing an unnatural monster tearing up the street. 10:00 AM
Item 2: Reports of an unseen ghostlike presence in an upscale botique neighborhood, felt by pedestrians. A cab driver reports the presence appeared in the back of his cab. 10:00 AM
Item 3: Reports of a flying man wreathed in fire overhead by multiple witnesses. 10:00 AM
Three items, all in Central City, all at the same time. Something was going on in California.
ooc: Feel free to get started without the other players, Richard. They can be written in as their characters are approved.
Journalism footnote:
The teletype machine is what's referred to when something comes in "over the wire." It's an AP subscription service that your firm pays for, and a prime source of leads. Other sources include individual players' Contacts and Current Events skills. Assume I'm filtering out a lot of mundane news items from the AP; maybe you guys have decided to specialize in 'weird news' and don't get the mundane stuff. Remember that 'Superheroes' have been out of the public eye for six years now; aliens and giant science monsters are more common conclusions to leap to.
You can research these leads by phone - call the Central City PD for comments - reach out to witnesses the same way, or fly down yourself. A cross-country commercial flight on a DC-8 is much faster than your own plane, and you can write off the ticket as a business expense.