Jab’s Builds! (Lawnmower Man! Samus Aran! Metroids!)

[Jabroniville]

Huhhh! I didn't know about this "Darkstar" character. I want my Laynia back!

Don't worry- Laynia returned when poor Reena was "overwritten" with Laynia's personality. Though technically that body's possessed by a Dire Wraith now, and Laynia overwrote THAT. Comics are weird.

Has anyone here ever read that Soviet Super-Soldiers comic? I know BSDigitalQ has- we talked about that over Facebook. Anyone else?

[Jabroniville]

Okay, this makes it really clear that he was designed to evoke a Kirby Kreation.

THE PRESENCE (Sergei Krylov)
Created By: David Anthony Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #52 (Oct. 1977)
Role: Crazy Super-Powerful Guy
Group Affiliations: None
PL 13 (270)
STRENGTH 12 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 10 (+17)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+6)
Ranged Attack 5 (+10)
Vehicles 2 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Improved Critical (Radiation), Inventor, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Radiation Powers"
Mind Control 12 Linked to Enhanced Strength 2 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, Perception-Ranged +2) (56) -- [62]

• AE: Nuclear Blast 15 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (39)
• AE: "Nuclear Stream" Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (26)
• AE: "Nuclear Wave" Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (26)
• AE: "Nuclear Burst" Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (26)
• AE: "Living Energy" Insubstantial 3 (Energy) (15)
• AE: Shrinking 8 (16)

"Subsists on Radioactive Decay" Immunity 11 (Life Support, Aging) [11]
Senses 4 (Radiation Sense- Acute, Ranged 2) [4]
Force Field 3 (Extras: Impervious 11) [14]
"Radioactive Environment" Weaken All Abilities 1 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous, Reaction +3, Area- 60ft. Cloud +3) (Flaws: Permanent) [8]

"Telelocation" Senses 4 (Mental Detection- Acute, Ranged 2) [4]
Flight 18 (500,000 mph) [36]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Radiation Area Attacks +13 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Nuclear Blast +10 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Mind Control -- (+12 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +12 (+15 Force Field), Fortitude +12, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Crazy)- The Presence has a tendency to reform in one issue, then appear crazy in the next, trying to take over the world.
Relationship (Tania Belinsky- Starlight)- The Presence mutated her to be his thrall, but she ended up leaving with him of her own free will. Sometimes, she controls him by threatening to leave him.

Total: Abilities: 90 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 143 / Defenses: 17 (270)

-So when talking about the original "Red Guardian Character" (a name I picked up on because of a giant online rant about how awesome the female Red Guardian was), I refered to her disappearing with some guy named The Presence, and disappearing from comics for years. Well this'd be the guy.

-Sergei Krylov was a brilliant scientist from the Soviet Union, and his children were the powerful mutants Vanguard and Darkstar. However, despite his genius, he was also balls-crazy, and deliberately-created a nuclear disaster that turned Tania "Red Guardian" Belinsky into a super-powered thrall of his- he himself was also transformed, gaining Nuclear Powers. The two fought The Defenders when they came looking for Tania, their teammate, but Tania left him upon regaining her free will. Eventually, however, she decided she was OKAY with the whole "trying to make me his thrall" thing, and ran off with him. His children were sent to kill him, but rejected their mission (and their country) after discovering just who he was.

-He would show up from time-to-time, but only in random books like Quasar (where he was one of many un-used characters stuck on The Stranger's laboratory world, then got sent to the "Quantum Zone" after trying to kill Eon). When Vanguard was killed, he attempted to kill Quasar, who was a part of the mission that killed him, then later resurrected his son. However, he then went crazier than before, and tried to turn the whole of Russia into zombie-like radioactive beings under his control. He actually turned the entire Winter Guard & Avengers into zombies, too, but the immortal Thor & Firebird were able to oppose him. Starlight surrendered on his behalf, wishing that her only possible companion could live. The two later aided the Avengers in the "Kang War", fending off the time-traveller.

-The character appeared imprisioned in the Winter Guard Limited Series, with Starlight having left him for Vanguard (which is... a bit odd, as she was first with Vanguard's father), and he broke free to ally with Fantasma in a weird intimate congress that involved his powers and her Dire Wraiths; Presence was ultimately killed when Powersurge sacrificed his life, neutralizing the villain's radioactive powers with his own. He was briefly revived in Deadpool and the Mercs For Money by a company seeking to harvest radiation-based powers from several characters, but he is killed again when Negasonic Teenage Warhead drains all of his power.

-The Presence is a highly-powerful individual who also has a penchant for Grand Plans that make him tough to GET TO, much less stop. He's PL 13 overall, and packs unusual things like Mind Control onto a typical Blaster Array, AND he's super-strong.

[Tattooedman]

Huhhh! I didn't know about this "Darkstar" character. I want my Laynia back!

Don't worry- Laynia returned when poor Reena was "overwritten" with Laynia's personality. Though technically that body's possessed by a Dire Wraith now, and Laynia overwrote THAT. Comics are weird.

Has anyone here ever read that Soviet Super-Soldiers comic? I know BSDigitalQ has- we talked about that over Facebook. Anyone else?

I have, it was my main introduction to most of the Russian heroes.

[Goldar]

Huhhh! I didn't know about this "Darkstar" character. I want my Laynia back!

Don't worry- Laynia returned when poor Reena was "overwritten" with Laynia's personality. Though technically that body's possessed by a Dire Wraith now, and Laynia overwrote THAT. Comics are weird.

Has anyone here ever read that Soviet Super-Soldiers comic? I know BSDigitalQ has- we talked about that over Facebook. Anyone else?

Oh, good to know!

No, never read that series.

Great Prescence! He is ubber powerful, and you captured him here perfectly.

[M4C8]

Ursa is acting like a dick but IIRC he's also working undercover for the Black Panther so I don't know how much of his behaviour is genuine.

[greycrusader]

The Winter Guard/People's Protectorate/Supreme Soviets/Soviet Super-Troopers are classic examples of minor characters who have semi-interesting appearances and power sets, enough so to avoid being totally forgotten, but are still unimportant enough that writers and editors don't care much at all about any of their details-real names, how their powers work, personal backgrounds, whether they are loyal Russians/Soviets or defectors or mercenaries. Every few years when they get trotted out, they get rebooted to an extent. And they appear often enough to make the incongruities really obvious, unlike utter nobodies such as the Mutant Liberation Front.

The shifting nature of their home country over the decades hasn't helped their situation-from hostile, Cold War USSR to authoritarian but more tolerant failing empire to friendly fledgling democratic Russia to modern aggressive oligarchy. So their relationship with American heroes keeps changing, and some of their histories make no sense (looking at you, Crimson Dynamos!) in terms of modern MU continuity.

Odd how Marvel never did a Chinese equivalent to the team-Mandarin is a holdout anti-communist royalist, and Radioactive Man was never given any teammates, instead being thrown together with American super-villains or his Eastern Bloc counterparts on one occasion.

All my best.

[Jabroniville]

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO:
-The Crimson Dynamo is that age-old of concepts: the Mirror Image Villain- the guy so equal to the hero, with all the same powers, that it effectively provides him with both an even competitor, and an example of how dangerous the hero could be if he let loose. Problem is, this bugger just KEEPS ON DYING. The first, Ivan Vanko, was a brilliant Soviet scientist who (of course) defected, and he died killing the SECOND Dynamo, a KGB spy sent to assassinate him. There have been an astonishing FOURTEEN OF THEM so far, with newbies either dying or getting replaced quickly- this armor gets passed around more than Paris Hilton.

-This has had a nasty side-effect on the character and concept- the fact that nobody is in the suit for any significant period of time means that NOBODY becomes truly "associated" with the concept, and so what would just be a standard-issue Recurring Jobber ends up becoming something no fan can get behind, because the character is inherently disposable. Pushing them becomes basically pointless- a problem that can afflict the Venom Symbiote if they bounce it between too many characters. I mean, who are you gonna say you're a fan of? "Wow, I love the Crimson Dynamo! I wish they'd use him more!" "uh, which one?" "Um... that one from Armor Wars! Or The Crossing Line! Was that the same guy?" "... I can't remember. There was the one that was a chick!".

-Things weren't really so awful until 2001 hit- up till that point, there were two one-offs and some guys who lasted a few years each- the same man had been the Dynamo for around 12-14 years. And then all of a sudden this becomes a suit just anyone can use- a handful of unnamed criminals using it was the death-knell for the concept. This is the official point where the Crimson Dynamo concept went COMPLETELY off the rails- with FOUR DIFFERENT WRITERS coming up with their own versions, all in the span of FOUR FRICKIN' YEARS! And most of them were just used as Disposable Jobbers- easily-beaten by various characters. A Crimson Dynamo one-off for the Epic imprint went nowhere, and then we got a few more unnamed goons (three in a row!) before another heroic one was killed. The female one? Disappeared after she debuted. Theoretically, a few of these could be the same guy- Dynamo X & XI are fundamentally just "evil crooks". Dynamo VII could even be that same one with more experience.

-The Dynamo suit is interesting in that it's basically Tony Stark's Armor minus a handful of tricks (it's 19 points cheaper). It's strong, flies fast, and has some nasty hardware and some good senses. It's still the Poor Man's Iron Man Armor, but hey, it's still pretty decent, and is a better fit for a PL 10 campaign anyways. Many Dynamos are likely PL 8-9, however, since they seem so poorly-trained and easily replaced, with weaker gear. The Armor's more fragile than Stark's by a considerable ways, and does less damage overall.

The Crimson Dynamos (In Order):
Crimson Dynamo I (Anton Vanko)- 1963-64: The original, a brilliant scientist who defected. Was killed one year later, fighting the second.
Crimson Dynamo II (Boris Turgenov)- 1964: Teamed up with the debuting Black Widow to bring back Vanko; both he & Vanko were killed in an explosion.
Crimson Dynamo III (Alex Nevsky)- 1969-75: Vanko's protege, whose career was ruined by his defection. Blaming Tony Stark, he hunted both him & Iron Man, becoming a very personal foe. Went a bit nuts and was killed off-panel by his government.
Crimson Dynamo IV (Yuri Petrovich)- 1976-77: The boyfriend of Darkstar, and son of Black Widow's mentor Ivan. Went crazy when he learned he was being manipulated by Russia, and was sent to Siberia for his failure. Reappeared in 2011 in the Gulag.
Crimson Dynamo V (Dmitri Bukharin)- 1978-1990s, 2018-on: The longest-serving Dynamo by far, lasting through the late '70s to early '90s, and is actually the CURRENT one in The Avengers! A more friendly, glib character who finds superheroics a bit absurd.
Crimson Dynamo VI (Valentin Shatalov)- 1992-95: A manipulative Russian general who tricked Dmitri into giving up the armor, but was himself short-lived. Embarrassed himself and was retired.
Crimson Dynamo VII (name unknown)- 2001: An unknown one-off with no skill with the gear. Teamed up with The Answer and lost to Captain America & Nick Fury.
Crimson Dynamo VIII (Gennady Gavrilov)- 2003 & 2011: A young college student who got the gear by accident in his own comic and went on the run- later appeared as a henchman of Diablo's and was beaten by Iron Man & Thor.
Crimson Dynamo IX (name unknown)- 2004: A one-off from the 2004 Secret Wars series. Worked for Lucia von Bardos.
Crimson Dynamo X (name unknown)- 2006 & 2016: An unnamed criminal who bought the gear simply to commit crimes. Easily beaten by Iron Man, and later killed by the Punisher. A "Two-Off".
Crimson Dynamo XI (name unknown)- 2007: An un-thawed Soviet agent who was beaten immediately.
Crimson Dynamo XII (Boris Vadim)- 2008-10: Showed up with the modern Winter Guard, but defected to the U.S. and was devoured by a monster.
Crimson Dynamo XIII (Galina Nemirovsky)- 2010-??: The only female Dynamo, repeatedly admonished then fired for ignoring orders. Became the "Ultra-Dynamo" to form a new super-team, but never reappeared.
Crimson Dynamo XIV (Levi)- 2010-??: A one-off who apeared the same year Galina did- a Russian agent allied with Titanium Man. One who appeared later on in Domino could be the same guy, so I decided he was. He could be anyone, though.

[Davies]

Dept of Making It Worse: During Bukharin's tenure, there was an additional Crimson Dynamo who appeared in X-Factor Annual #1. This one was pretty much just a robot, and not a very smart one.

[Shock]

You have to get them a little credit. Only 2 Borises and 1 Dmitri. Though I'd be willing to bet at least one of the unnamed versions used one or the other.

[Jabroniville]

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO I (Anton Vanko)
Created By: Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #46 (Oct. 1963)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
PL 9 (159)
STRENGTH 1/10 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+14)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Technology 7 (+14)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Repulsors), Inventor, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [82]
Enhanced Strength 9 (18)
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 5) (12)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 7) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (25) -- (27)

• AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 9 (Feats: Split) (19)
• AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (24)

-- (102 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Dynamo Strength +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Shoulder Rockets +8 & +7 Area (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Gatling Guns +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+9 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 82 / Defenses: 14 (159)

-Anton Vanko is the original Dynamo, and the armor's creator. An Armenian scientist, he was one of the world's foremost experts on electricity, powering his armor with electromagnetism. The Soviet Government asked him to use the armor in service to his nation- he immediately went to sabotage Stark Industries, as it was America's best weapons manufacturer. He was talked-down by Tony Stark, but continued to build gear for super-villains such as The Unicorn. Eventually, he was sent to fight Iron Man, but defected to the United States after losing- fearing that his superiors would render him an "unperson" for his failure. Vanko began to work for Tony Stark as one of his chief scientists, and they became great friends. However, the Soviets soon came for Vanko- Black Widow & Boris Turgenov tried to assassinate him, but Iron Man got involved. The two nearly killed the hero, but Vanko died saving him- firing an experimental laser pistol that exploded.

-This is CLASSIC Stan Lee- he would go to the "Redemption Equals Death" trope numerous times in his writing career, and it's a good-er. The Big Man (Frederick Foswell) died saving J. Jonah Jameson from The Kingpin's goons, for example. Vanko would never reappear (which is REALLY unusual for a 1960s "Stan Original"), but would lend his name and genius to Mickey Rourke's "Whiplash" from the Iron Man 2 film. His total run in comics was about half a year.

-The Silver Age Crimson Dynamo is MUCH weaker than the later versions, owing to the bulkier, cheaper-looking armor. In general, most Silver Age characters are far weaker than they would become in the '90s, after which point they largely kind of plateau. He's PL 8-9 overall, and really didn't even use the armor all that much. Iron Man himself at this point was probably only PL 10-ish.

[Jabroniville]

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO II (Boris Turgenov)
Created By: Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
PL 9 (155)
STRENGTH 2/10 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (Soviet Agent) 4 (+6)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+5)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Repulsors), Inventor, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [79]
Enhanced Strength 8 (16)
Protection 5 (Extras: Impervious 5) (10)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 7) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (25) -- (27)

• AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 9 (Feats: Split) (19)
• AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (24)

-- (98 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Dynamo Strength +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Shoulder Rockets +8 & +7 Area (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Gatling Guns +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+9 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 79 / Defenses: 9 (155)

-The second Crimson Dynamo, Boris Turgenov was the Soviet Agent who arrived in America with the debuting Black Widow in order to kill the defector Ivan Vanko- he put on Vanko's Dynamo armor in able to do it, kidnapping Vanko and bringing him onto a Soviet submarine. Thinking that his ally Vanko was in the armor, Iron Man was left vulnerable and was knocked out as well, but he & Vanko both escaped. When Boris & Natasha (... wait) attacked again, Iron Man's armor shorted out and death was certain... but Vanko sacrificed himself, shooting Boris with an experimental laser pistol, killing them both when the Dynamo armor exploded.

-And yes, I just realized that they were BORIS AND NATASHA. So one of Marvel's top female characters is named after the Rocky & Bullwinkle character.

-He has a different skill-set than Vanko, and exhibits that odd tendency for gear to offer different bonuses to stats based off of who's wearing the stuff- the weaker Vanko is Strength 10 in the suit, but Boris, who's presumably stronger (being a Soviet Assassin rather than a scientist), shouldn't suddenly be Class 100 or anything like that. So the armor is actually CHEAPER for him. And yeah, he's only a one-shot Dynamo, dying in his debut appearance.

[Jabroniville]

Marvel 101: It's always someone else's fault.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO III (Alex Nevsky, aka "Alex Niven")
Created By: Archie Goodwin & George Tuska
First Appearance: Iron Man #15 (July 1969)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Titanic Three
PL 10 (189)
STRENGTH 2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+13)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 8 (+15)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (American Identity), Improved Critical (Blasters), Inventor, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [89]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (31 points)

• AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
• AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
• AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)

-- (111 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +9 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (Iron Man)
Relationship (Janice Cord)- The daughter of the CEO of Alex's employers, as well as the girlfriend of Tony Stark, is Alex's primary love interest.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 14 (189)

-Alex Nevsky was Anton Vanko's #2 guy and protege, but was punished by the Soviets when Vanko defected, being held guilty by association. His career ruined by the Soviets having discredited Vanko, he was exiled, and grew bitter with the Soviets, as well as Iron Man. He also blamed Tony Stark for "exploiting" Vanko, and joined a rival corporation that went against Stark Industries, and built a new Crimson Dynamo suit that defeated Iron Man. He even hit on Tony's girlfriend!

-However, Alex would be hunted by the Soviets, who sent the Titanium Man to kill him. The villain killed Tony & Alex's love interest Janice, but a vengeful Alex was forced to put that aside when they allied with the Radioactive Man in Vietnam as "The Titanic Three". He would take one more shot at Iron Man, but was defeated- the KGB discovered his whereabouts and assassinated him, confiscating his armor. All in all, Alex was given only a six-year run as the Dynamo, but was the longest-serving by far up to that point- the other two had been one-offs! Though it's kind of too bad, in a way- this very personal, nasty threat to both Tony Stark AND Iron Man could have been a major source of storytelling. This seems like a case of the next writers (like Mike Friedrich, who wrote his final appearance) having no use for the character, as only one year after Nevsky last appeared, we had a NEW Crimson Dynamo!

-Alex is the priciest Dynamo, having upgraded the armor to match Iron Man a little more closely, and having genius greater than Vanko's, in ADDITION to being more charismatic, and a more natural liar (he successfully creates another identity in America).

[greycrusader]

Goes back to what I said about writers just not caring about the character(s); Dynamo III teams up with the Titanium Man, who killed his love interest? And yeah, he actually WOULD have made a good long-running villain, a pretty solid "mirror-image" Iron Man. The armor design isn't bad either-maybe some silver to offset the deep red, and it would have been pretty sharp.

All my best.

[Jabroniville]

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO IV (Yuri Petrovich)
Created By: Tony Isabella & George Tuska
First Appearance: Champions #7 (Aug. 1976)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (167)
STRENGTH 2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Soviet Agent) 6 (+8)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [89]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (31 points)

• AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
• AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
• AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)

-- (111 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +9 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Hatred (The West)- Alex has been indoctrinated against the West by Soviets posing as evil Americans.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 10 (167)

-Yuri Petrovich, the fourth Dynamo, came much later than the third in the short-lived Champions book, seven years after the third Dynamo debuted. He was given the extra wrinkle of being the natural-born son of Ivan Petrovich- the Black Widow's own father figure and partner! His mother had been killed by Russian agents over Ivan refusing to serve them, and Yuri was captured and indoctrinated by Soviet agents to hate all Westerners (the agents who executed his mom were dressed as American agents)- he then hunted down the Widow and Ivan. He teamed up with his girlfriend Darkstar, The Griffin, Rampage & Titanium Man I, and went against the Champions. However, he soon learened the truth of his indoctrination, and went berserk- Darkstar had to ally with the Champions to subdue him. He and his allies were beaten, and he was exiled to a Siberian labor camp.

-Petrovich actually reappeared YEARS later, during the "Winter Soldier" era, running a Russian Gulag as one of the inmates. Despising Bucky Barnes, who was sent there for his crimes as the mind-controlled Soldier, he set him up to die in repeated "arena fights" against guys like Ursa Major, the second Titanium Man, and the Unicorn- Barnes eventually escaped in the last fight, leaving Yuri behind. Yuri appeared scarred and heavily twisted by his backstory.

-Yuri is a pretty "Basic" Soviet agent.

[Davies]

The dialogue in that first panel is pretty close to the way that the Dynamo in the X-Factor annual talked. If this is the same guy, then it's possible that Petrovich was using a different version of the suit at the same time as Bukharin, at least for a while.