Judd Ford is a professional lumberjack from Maine who has now become a magical axe-wielding powerhouse of a superhero.

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Born and raised in the woods outside of Moosehead, Maine, Judd led a simple life.  Raised by two loving, hard-working parents along with several brothers and sisters, Judd relished nature and logging.  He and his father would go out, find a tall tree, chop it down and make it into firewood.  They hunted off the land, raised chickens and had a bird dog named "Lady". It was a great life growing up.

 

As Judd got older, he got a job as a lumberjack and thanks to his early-learned skills from his father, Judd quickly became quite the professional lumberjack. Judd was so good, he was entered into lumberjack competitions by the logging business (to earn off-side bets), but for Judd, to impress the local girls.  After winning several competitions, Judd realized he was good enough to start competing across North America.  His parents weren't too keen on the idea, considering the competitions as simply 'showing off', however, Judd's prize winnings helped her them through a couple of financially tight winter seasons.

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In one particular competition in Augusta, Maine, Judd had already placed first in four events and was about to start the log-chopping contest when a strange man dressed in a red coat and cloak alighted from the sky merely several dozen yards away from Judd's location.  The strange man, after announcing himself as the "Archduke of Ontario",  began hurling magical bolts and spells all about the competition location, laughing maniacally.  The Archduke turned a log into an animated monster that chased the competition's judges; Chainsaws turned into flying buzzing creatures, cutting people's limbs off; even the log-rolling logs turned into magical creatures with sharp teeth, gobbling up or drowning competing log rollers. The event was in complete chaos and the Archduke laughed throughout the mad chaos he was creating.

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Judd, axe in hand, attempt to stop the Archduke. Judd cut off the Archduke's leg, however, the Archduke continued standing on his one good leg as if nothing happened, under he turned his head around 120 degrees and told Judd he was being 'naughty'. Before Judd could muster another powerful swing of his axe, the Archduke magically zapped and transformed Judd's axe into a demonic looking wooden spoon; a spoon that tried to bite Judd's hand.  As Judd fought with the axe/demonic spoon, the Archduke transformed the axe/demonic spoon now into a 12-foot long demonic-looking double-bladed pike-axe...with eyes on each side of the blade's mount. This transformed pole-axe now weighed at least 250 lbs. of magical metal causing Judd to struggle to hold it upright.

 

The Archduke wasn't done with his fun.

 

To add to the chaos, the Archduke turned Judd's adult body into that of a 4-year old child.

 

Judd fell out of his 2XL-sized clothes to the ground in the child-sized body, but quickly realized his brain and thoughts were still that of adult Judd. The pole-axe immediately fell to the ground in a massive 'thump', all the while the Archduke began cackling even more and louder at the humor of the site before him.  The Archduke then started walking around zapping other people and things, transforming them to whatever whimsical thing or being the Archduke decided to conjure up, again laughing and joking the whole time.

 

Judd tried to figure out a way to stop the Archduke from doing more damage to others, hoping that if he himself (Judd) would be able to keep the Archduke distracted long enough that others might be able to escape the madness occurring before them. Judd picked up a rock and threw it at the Archduke's head and yelled in a child's voice 'HEY, DUBBAH, GIVE ME BACK MY AXE BEFORE I MAKE YOUR HEAD ALL STOVE TO HELL!'. The Archduke turned around with an amused look, completely engrossed in the audacity of Judd. The Archduke then turned to Judd and in a childishly nanny-like voice asked "Aww! Does you wants your little toy axe? Do you now? Do you? FINE! Here you go!", to which Judd's axe transformed back to its original size and look. Before Judd could reach the axe, the Archduke, now slowly sauntering back  towards Judd and the axe, changed Judd into a monstrously large version of himself at nearly eight feet of height, all with an enlarged trunk of a body and very strong arms, legs and back. Sadly, thanks to not being used to the body's proportions, Judd fell over his own feet, falling an arms-length from the axe. Before Judd could grab the axe, he was once again transformed back into a child, while the axe was once again transformed into the demonic-looking pole-exe with eyes. The whole time, the Archduke laughed and cackled alternating transforming the axe and Judd in sizes and states, all the while challenging Judd, "Aww...is the axe too big? Ok, you're big now! Ok now its small again! No, now YOU'RE small! Now the axe! Now you!" Constantly transforming in size and shape, Judd felt his body starting to tear itself apart; he felt parts of his body taking longer to change, seeing at one time his right arm as that of an adults, his left arm as a child's and his right leg enlarged to monstrous proportions. He knew he only had seconds left to do something before his body would be torn apart.

 

As the Archduke continued laughing and cackling so much that he had tears flowing from his eyes, others around Judd's location escaped (as best they could against the demonically altered creatures and things the Archduke had created) to safety.

 

Judd, in a last ditch effort, finally reached out with his hand to his axe, and at just the right moment, Judd, in his monstrously large sized version of his body grabbed the demon-looking pole-axe, took it up, and swung the axe, chopping the Archduke down the middle from skull to groin. The shocked look on the Archduke's face belied that the blow was fatal as the two body halves fell to the ground, with massive amounts of magical energy blasting out from the split body halves.

 

Flying demonic chainsaws fell back to the earth as normal chainsaws; log-rolling logs previously eating log-rollers reverted back to logs (some with half a person's body sticking out of them); demonic racoons turned back to themselves and scampered off to safety. Judd, however, didn't change...nor did his axe.

 

After about 30 seconds of the magical pyrotechnics from the severed body halves of the Archduke, a massive pressure wave explosion blew outward from the severed body halves, leaving even more destruction and death, but finally, the chaos had ended. The Archduke's severed body halves were no longer there, nor was anything left resembling the Archduke; he was gone.

 

Thanks to several people video-taping and recording the lumberjacking event, most everything was recorded, including Judd's actions in killing (stopping?) the Archduke.  It didn't happen overnight, but in the coming weeks, Judd eventually was quietly thanked by everyone who'd been present during the chaos.

 

Judd, however, remained unlucky. He was still in his strange, monstrously large form, including a misshaped left eye, which he had to put an eye patch over due to his odd eye's grotesque look.   His axe was also still in the form of the demonic looking pole-axe. The eyes of the pole-axe were disquieting enough, but soon Judd realized the pole-axe was actually a living, if not demonic, thing.

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With his truck destroyed in the chaos event, and the police not taking anyone home after the 'debriefing' at the police station, Judd had to walk home with his demonic axe. As they were walking back, the axe started talking to Judd mentally.  The axe said it was now free from the Archduke's control, and considered Judd to be its new master.  All the axe wanted to do is serve Master Judd now.  Judd wasn't believing anything going through his mind during the walk, thinking he himself was now going mad. Instead he tried to get the axe to do something that would prove he (Judd) wasn't going mad or dreaming.

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The axe began to levitate.

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It flew up into the sky and then back down into Judd's hands...nearly frozen from breaching the exosphere in its flight.

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It glowed bright enough to be used to light the way down the road.

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It sharpened itself. 

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In an example of its power, in one stroke, the axe, itself, chopped right through a 2" steel plate from a girder on an old factory building that they'd walked by.

 

The pole-axe, in one fell stroke, also sliced all the way through a 4-foot diameter tree trunk.

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Judd, realizing the axe was possessed by some demon, immediately tried to get rid of the ensorcelled axe, telling it to stay away, but it instead told him that it was his.  It liked him. It could never leave him, even if Master Judd told it to go away; it would always come back to the master.

 

As a result, the now-magically altered Judd Ford now had a magical, demonic pet pole-axe as a new 'pet'.

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When Judd eventually got to his parents home, his parents were on the front porch. They almost didn't recognize Judd.  His father even broke out his shotgun from the truck and threatened to shoot Judd until Judd finally told them the story of what happened.

 

His parents did NOT take it well.

 

Both parents, in a confused fugue state, got in their truck and drove off, distancing themselves from whomever this 'fake' Judd was. Judd left (after packing up some things) and watched from the treeline only to see several police cars show up looking to take Judd in for whatever reason his parents got them to be there for. Judd walked back into the woods and kept away from everyone.

 

The next day, when Judd tried calling his parents, they told him to never call or contact them again. As far as they were concerned, their son Judd died at the lumberjack competition grounds. To this day, Judd's parents still don't believe him to be their son.

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With nowhere else to go, Judd decided to draw all his money from an ATM, go to a motel, and try and figure out his next move.  As he advanced to the ATM, an old lady was being robbed by a young punk.  As the punk ran, Judd motioned to the axe to simply 'knock him out'.  The axe flew from his hand and smacked the punk with the flat of the blade, knocking the punk out cold.  The axe promptly returned to his hand.  The old lady was found to be OK, thanking Judd profusely for his heroic effort.

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Judd finally withdrew all his money from the ATM and found an available room at a nearby motel.  Lying there, he realized he had no idea how long this magical effect would last, or if it would ever end.  He had to make it on his own with his new lot in life, yet he still had to make a living, even though his large size and the freaky axe were going to make it even more difficult to do. Amidst all of this self-analysis, another key event kept coming back to him.  He really enjoyed helping the old lady at the ATM and stopping the punk; he considered that to be one of the proudest moments he'd personally ever had.  Judd  really wanted to do more of the same. 

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Over the next few months, Judd wandered about looking for odd work (where he met some of the survivors from the lumberjack competition chaos who thanked him for stopping the Archduke).  He entered himself into other logging contests in western North America, winning them hands down with his new skills and powers. By night, he'd sneak about town, patrolling the streets and alleys, stopping burglars, gangs, drug dealers, etc., until he was off to the next competition's township.

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He was considered to be the 'best of the best' of all North American lumberjacks in the Lumberjack competitions. Regardless of that accolade, at the events, he and the axe were still treated like freaks and nothing more than some Hollywood 'hocus pocus' tricks. To hide his identity, he simply gave out his 'stage' name of Maine Man, which was more than enough for these types of competitions.

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One day, during a lumberjack competition in upper state Massachusetts, Maine Man was approached by the vigilante known as Minuteman. Minuteman had previous encounters with the Archduke of Ontario and knew what had happened to Judd. Minuteman couldn't reverse what happened to Judd, but empathized over his predicament. Minuteman offered assistance in any way he could, but eventually both agreed to contact one another should either one need each other's help.  That day came sooner than either of them thought.

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A few years ago, a psychotic megalomaniac calling himself "Emperor North" and his terrorist army known as the United Canadian Empire (UCE), invaded New England at nuclear gunpoint.  The Emperor wanted New England as his new country called "New Canada".  The Emperor had hidden several nuclear weapons throughout New England, and told the world that if anyone attempted to invade New Canada he'd activate the nukes and destroy all of New England and its surrounding lands and seas to come. Hours later, Judd got a call from Minuteman.  Minuteman had a plan and a team to stop the Emperor and asked if he could count on Judd to help save New England.

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Judd said "yes".

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In a mad training session on how to defuse and disable a nuclear weapon, Judd and another new hero known as Iron Works set out and defused the nuke they were assigned to that was hidden under an abandoned warehouse in the Bath Shipyard. They fought UCE Troopers that tried to get to the nuke to rearm it, but both Iron Works and Maine Man won the day.

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Days later, Minuteman invited Judd to join the team permanently.  Judd agreed.  With that, Maine Man went from a competitive lumberjacking to becoming a magically empowered superhero and celebrity of Maine, literally, overnight.

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Although Judd desires nothing more than to go back home, so long as he is in this form, and the axe is in its, he has no choice but to start a new life with his new family; a new family calling themselves the Yankee Minutemen!

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