Heart Guardians 09-12

Heart Guardians is our second Premium comic by Atomics. This is Episode 2 from the files of Dr. Robin Harper and the second comic set in this vast, phenomenal universe that Atomics is carefully constructing.

Each comic in the series will stand on its own, so you don’t need to have read Idealized (the first comic in the series) to enjoy Heart Guardians, but why wouldn’t you?

Heart Guardians are stewards of the human world, ensuring that wild creatures and nightmares created from an overabundance of magic don’t interfere with the lives of everyday, un-sighted humans. The Guardians remain human, but they are given powers when they become stewards… along with a new body. These new bodies are temporary, the body a person occupies while they are in guardian form. They can revert back to their own bodies whenever they desire.

In other words, Heart Guardians is a story with magic, but it’s also something of a superhero comic. The Guardians are trying to keep the world in balance against immense odds.

As you know if you’ve read the previous installments, the main focus of this comic is Scott. He’s become a Heart Guardian, and the body he occupies when in guardian form is female. Scott isn’t permanently stuck as a woman, but he finds it appealing in many ways, even though he’s shifted from male to female at the most inopportune times… from showering at the gym to the precise moment he’s giving a big presentation at work.

Scott is filling in for Cassie, a Heart Guardian who was almost killed by a mysterious figure known as the Shadow Man. Scott is being asked to risk life and limb and expose himself as a potential target while Cassie recovers. 

Scott loves having magical gun superpowers and the ability to fly, but it’s only a matter of time before he encounters the Shadow Man. This happens in Part 9 of the story. It’s a brief encounter, and the Shadow Man seems set on giving Scott a lesson on how easily, with the simple snap of his fingers, he can turn Scott’s life upside down.

Scott and Simon (the cat who handles the Heart Guardians on the behalf of his master) aren’t quite sure of the exact change the Shadow Man has made. It takes them a little while to figure out what’s going on.

If you don’t want to know what that is, STOP READING NOW! Otherwise, let me say that Scott discovers that his life has been rewritten. His identity has been altered so that everyone in his life, from his coworkers to his parents, thinks he was born female… and is a woman named Scarlett.

The Shadow Man could undo this change, of course, but why should he? Having Scott live as Scarlett is a constant reminder of how much power the Shadow Man has over the Guardians. 

And so, for the rest of this installment (Parts 9-12), Scott learns to deal with life as Scarlett. The fact that his closet has morphed into one containing only female attire. Or the way his coworkers all think he’s a lesbian who has no fashion sense.

Since Cassie is familiar with magic, she believes that Scarlett used to be someone else, even though she herself can’t remember anything about a man named Scott. And she also guides Scarlett a bit, recommending that she lean into being female and learn more about what life can be like for the ladies!