Pro: I agree with you -- I never liked the idea of a kid on the bridge of the Enterprise and I find it irritating when kids are written like adults. There were several movies in the '80s in which the kids weren't very kid-like -- such as that movie with River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke (I think it was called EXPLORERS). I mean, I loved that movie at the time, but the premise was COMPLETELY unbelievable -- the young kid played by River Phoenix is also a scientist who invents a space-ship of his own design? Oh, please...

That said, I've been taking great pains to try to write Axel as a kid as much as possible. I mentioned that he was with the PSI-Unit, but it should be pointed out that all the other members were teenagers/young adults from 13 to 21 at the time, and Axel would not have ever operated solo. To him, the patrolling of La Perdita would have been more like playing sports to any normal kid his age. And until the hurricane and the vampire plague, it wasn't all that serious. It was like a game. The kinds of things the PSI-Unit did to protect La Perdita was keep rowdy metahumans from doing any damage to the populace or to themselves. They generally kept the peace, and it was a relatively easy job compared to the kinds of things Vanguard's been through in its history. Still, it gave him some experience.

Right now, though, Axel isn't interested in any of that. He just wants to be a normal kid -- or at least as normal as a kid can be with the kinds of abilities he has and is still learning that he has. I haven't had too much of a chance to develop the character -- and zero chances to work out his interaction with the team -- but I think what I've been writing is fairly believable. He is interested in some fads (such as THE ADVENTURES OF DISCO STEVE cartoon [wink] ), video games, comic-books, and is just starting to get interested in girls (though not too seriously, obviously). The last thing on his mind at this point is to join the team as a member. When that finally happens down the road I think it will be out of necessity rather than his own personal choice.

Anyway, Axel is a bit of an experiment for me, as Pete and Chance were. It's something different, sure, but I hope it will make for some interesting writing. In the Christmas story I want to have Axel interact with every Vanguardian at one point or another in a social atmosphere -- nothing too serious or anything -- as Dr. Quantos's "foster son." Should make for an interesting new dynamic, in any case.