"There had been hero teams before, of course. The Order of the Spectrum in the 1940's. And the Union of Heroes had their Active Roster. But what Rick proposed was a non-profit team of heroes for whom being a member of the Vanguard would be their livelihood. A team organized around the idea that doing good could fund itself and that people who wanted to be heroes full-time shouldn't be living on welfare or foodstamps.
He had so, so much vision and I had so, so much money. After I met him I couldn't imagine any other way to spend it. Plus it got him to move in with me like a week after we met so we could start converting Stonebastion from a gilded-age mansion to a secret base. You can't believe how breathtaking our life has been since then.
Rick was from some nowhere town out in the Arizona desert, remember. And he went to the other desolate places and found people who wanted to do good with their extraordinary powers but lacked the means. He searched the slums and shelters, Indian Reservations, housing projects, rural farms, trailer parks, inner cities and the shadow hoods. Then he gave them the chance to lead better lives through being heroes.
The people he found to be on the team are all amazing. Dozens of incredible heroes who never would've made the impact that they did, who could've gotten into villainy or just lingered in obscurity. Now they're icons. They save the world, like, once a month. They impact countless lives as one of the most powerful teams in Union City."
-Darren VanGarrett, Co-Founder of the Vanguard and Husband of Rick Rocket