Just, the reason for which the metas are now "free" has to be found in the off-screen (not missing) year. In that year there should have taken place a series of things, from the liberation of Manhattan, to something concerning Mandelovia and the Black Hand, to something even more sublte concerning earth as a battleground between two alien races (hinted at in the very first HR stories) that have brought two consequencies: the metahumans have been accepted in the USA and the rest of the world; the the known metas have retired/disappeared.
I like the way Gooz had kept the past intact while at the same time gave it no importance, as to allow anyone with now knowledge of the past to feel no burdened by lack of knowledge of Vanguard continuity. And I also like the way the old Universe lurks into the present. Probably because it is more near my vision of the relation between this and the old universe -that I detailed in "When we where heroes" (have you read it?)- than Pro's own in "Heroes and Legend"...
But that we need to change flavour to the serie is evident...
