Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Jack of Spades
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Jack of Spades »

And don’t forget Golden Oldie!
Jack's Deck build threadFantasy Geographic Society campaign web site
Hoid
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Hoid »

In a rather silly crossover, so, too was Superman. Yes, really.
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Goldar
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Goldar »

Jack of Spades wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 4:41 pm And don’t forget Golden Oldie!
Ah yes, good old Aunt May in a What-If? story. Her look reminds me of Nova.

Don't forget the Stardust.

Oh, and the Cross-Universe story where a golden Superman became the Herald of Galactus!
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Skavenger »

Everybody always remembers Golden Oldie, few people remember the single panel "What If?" gag where Willie Lumpkin was a Herald of Galactus.

It was the same issue that posed "What if Wonder Man was a woman and Power Man was a girl?" (Followed quickly by a letter from the Distinguished Competition saying "our lawyers advise you not to print this gag.")
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Sidney369 »

What If? vol.1 #34
Always ask before you use someone's Original Character.
Never ever use them without permission. Only Villains do that.
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Goldar
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Goldar »

August 1982
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Jabroniville »

OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n6UCsB ... ndTheMagic

Someone is doing a massive YouTube history of Wicked!!! I know what I'M doing with the 2 hours it's going to take me to watch all of this 33-minute first-part!
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Shock »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:51 pm OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n6UCsB ... ndTheMagic

Someone is doing a massive YouTube history of Wicked!!! I know what I'M doing with the 2 hours it's going to take me to watch all of this 33-minute first-part!
Preparing to write a review that will take 4 hours to read?
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Nova (Frankie Raye)

Post by Jabroniville »

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Why is the "split head with fire coming out of it" look so popular with comic book artists? Like it's only shown up 3-4 times, but it's so weird that it's more than once.

NOVA II (Frankie Raye)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & George Perez
First Appearance: The Fantastic Four #164 (Nov. 1975)
Role: Regular Chick
Group Affiliations: The Heralds of Galactus
PL 14 (305)
STRENGTH
14/16 STAMINA 14 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Cosmic Lore) 4 (+6)
Expertise (United Nations) 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Diehard, Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Move-By Action, Languages 2 (Various), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Imbued With The Power Cosmic"
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 17) [20]
Immunity 12 (Aging, Sleep, Life Support) [12]
"Immune to the Ravages of Space" Immunity 2 (Proximity to Stars & Suns) [2]

"Cosmic Mind"
Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) [8]
"Cosmic Sight" Senses 11 (Extended Vision 8- 1 billion miles, Microvision, Analytical Vision) [11]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Space) [2]
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Heralds & Galactus) [1]

"Cosmic Awareness"
Features 1: Directed Inspiration- May ask the GM a Question With an HP [1]
Senses 1 (Cosmic Awareness- Ranged 3) [4]

"Being of Fire" Immunity 10 (Fire Effects) [10]
Features 1: May Spend 2 Hero Points and get to Double Area Effects (ie. 250ft. Bursts) [1]

"Wields Cosmic Forces"
Cosmic Blast 17 (Feats: Penetrating 12, Split, Extended Range 5- x3,200 ft., Variable 2) (54) -- [63]
  • AE: "Cosmic Wave" Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 8, Variable 2) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (52)
  • AE: "Cosmic Fire" Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 8, Variable 2) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (52)
  • AE: "Cosmic Stream" Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 8, Variable 2) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (52)
  • AE: "Boost Strength" Enhanced Strength 2 & Power-Lifting 2 (12,000 tons) (6)
  • AE: "Sense Energy" Senses 22 (Detect Energy- Ranged 17- 1,600 trillion miles, Acute & Analytical, Tracking) (22)
  • AE: "Sense Life" Senses 22 (Detect Life- Ranged 17- 1,600 trillion miles, Tracking) (22)
  • AE: Dazzle Visuals 14 (Extras: Area- Visual Perception) (Flaws: Touch Range) (28)
  • AE: Flame Aura 12 (48)
  • AE: "Fire Control" Move Object 15 (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Fire) (Use Volume Instead of Weight) (30)
Flight 15 (64,000 mph) [30]
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Dimensional Travel) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Boosted Strength +7 (+17 Damage, DC 32)
Flame Aura +7 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Cosmic Blast +11 (+19 Ranged Damage, DC 34)
Cosmic Area Attacks +15 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +17 (+9 Impervious), Fortitude +14, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Plenty of Dudes)- Nova went after Johnny Storm, The Silver Surfer, and Firelord.
Phobia (Fire)- Early on, Frankie Raye had a fear of fire, which was a result of a childhood exposure to the same chemicals used in the creation of the Golden Age Human Torch.

Total: Abilities: 94 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 171 / Defenses: 14 (305)

Frankie Raye- The Dead Herald:
-Nova II was generally the least-notable of the early Heralds to me (note: this was when Morg was the latest one), but she had quite the history in the Fantastic Four series, being introduced as yet another Johnny Storm Girlfriend. She had a fear of fire, was the neice of Phineas Horton (the creator of the Golden Age Human Torch), and she eventually showcased similar powers to Johnny himself. However, she was a bit of an odd duck, never caring whether or not she might kill her opponents (and this was WAY into the "Nobody dies EVER" era of Marvel, where Reed goes out of his way to save the life of GALACTUS), and constantly pushing herself. Eventually, full of wanderlust and power, she asked to become the new Herald of Galactus, gaining uber-powers- she was one of the longest-running Heralds in the books (helpfully, John Byrne, who made the change, was in charge of the FF book for ages), as she got to stick around quite a few background stories and Cosmic Stuff, including the 1990s Silver Surfer book.

-Frankie is notable to me only because of an online friend of mine named Azrael (now going by Lightbend on a few forums, usually RPG & Fanfic ones), who was a part of the Something Unique writing community with me and several others. He introduced a youngster named Kreuzritter to the group, and in conversing with the newbie, he introduced me to a little game called Mutants & Masterminds. And so here we are :). Anyways, Nova's death was the event that Azrarel said got him out of comics- apparently he liked her THAT much, doing the whole "Normal Person With Cosmic Power" thing- a concept he used again and again in his own super-hero stories (he was the Power-Geek, I was the annoyingly-Street Level guy :)). The idea that Marvel would so thoughtlessly allow a neat side-character to be wiped out for such little reason was abhorrent to him. And that's the only really interesting thing I know about Nova. Well that and she swiped Richard Rider's name.

Frankie Becomes Nova:
-So like I said, Frankie Raye was Johnny Storm's new girlfriend, coming about in 1975. Eventually, she discovered that she gained fire powers from being doused by her stepfather's chemicals (the same ones used in the creation of the original Human Torch)- Horton had hypnotized her into forgetting about this incident, and it would manifest itself in the fear of fire that had driven some of the drama between her and the Torch. So yeah, Byrne made her super-powered, then had her become a Herald of Galactus. This is, of course, the same John Byrne who complained about Claremont and every OTHER writer ensuring that every character had a weird backstory, making it so that nobody was ever "normal". She used these powers a few times, and expressed a willingness to kill her opponents in the name of almost sociopathic practicality, which came in handy when Galactus came calling and she was like "Hey, gimme more power and I'll be your Herald!".

-Yes, Frankie ends up mimicking Norrin Radd's offer to Galactus- the Devourer appears on Earth in a nearly-dead state, forced to absorb the planet or die. When his life is briefly saved by Reed Richards, Frankie offers to become his new Herald if he spares the Earth (The Big G can't afford to go off searching for a viable planet in Earth's stead, but Frankie offered to go ahead and check)- thus, the planet is spared. As the new Nova, Frankie becomes extremely-powerful, and happily sends Galactus to the Skrull Homeworld, where he consumes it. During this time, Richard "Nova" Rider was retired, and when he returned in The New Warriors, he temporarily went by "Kid Nova" to differentiate him from the newer character, who appeared in various other books, including Byrne's The Last Galactus Story.

Nova Dies:
-After Byrne's run on FF, Frankie became a supporting character in The Silver Surfer, running around on many of Norrin's adventures. Together, they fought Captain Reptyl, The Elders of the Universe, Ronan the Accuser and others, and she was released from the service of Galactus for sparing too many inhabited worlds, her conscience finally getting to her. Soon, they fell in love, or at least "like"- she also pursued Firelord, apparently. Alas, she was slain by Morg, the newest Herald, in a story that involved him attacking ALL of his predecessors- this particularly-harsh use of "killing the female supporting character" ended up becoming a big of an epitaph of the Surfer book, as it didn't last all that much longer.

-It would be YEARS before we'd see Frankie again, in a mini-series called Heralds. I don't even know HOW she became resurrected- some complicated weirdness where the Silver Surfer places part of Frankie's essence in a girl named Frances, and the Nova spirit later finds her- it's made deliberately unclear if she's a clone of Frankie or not. And despite all of that, they never really used her again- she was a Backgrounder in The Fearless Defenders, as part of a group of lady super-heroes, but hey- there she was. But I dunno why they went to all the trouble of resurrecting her in a mini-series if they had ZERO plans for her, because she doesn't do anything after that whatsoever. She was last seen among the former Heralds who arrived in Asgard when Galactus crash-landed there during a fight with the Black Winter.

Nova's Powers:
-Frankie is a "middle ground" Herald, being extremely powerful (Phoenix once punched her from the Earth to the Moon and she was relatively uninjured- let's called it the "Stunned" condition), moreso than Air-Walker and Red Shift, but less so than Silver Surfer, Firelord or Terrax. Seems fair- she was tough, but was the only one to die to Morg other than Captain Wussy Herald.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Sep 01, 2022 7:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Davies
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Davies »

Does it really surprise you that Byrne believes "do as I say, not as I do"?
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by MacynSnow »

I liked Frankie better when she just had Torch powers, tbh. She(along with Punisher) was one of the few Heroes "going against the grain" and choosing to kill enemies. She brought an intresting POV to the FF book:With the types of Enemies their facing(Annihilus, Blastarr, Dr.Doom, etc.), you might have no choice but to kill. OK, so she didn't speak about it correctly but that was the geist of it...
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Skavenger »

I'll be honest, I miss the "heroes don't kill" rules that Marvel used to have. It drew a clear line between people like the Punisher, Wolverine, Venom, Deadpool, etc and the Fantastic Four who go out of their way to save Galactus more than once. Once you have every hero willing to mow down every hand ninja "cause they're USUALLY already dead", Hydra agent, or supervillain lackey, what makes them different from Frank Castle?
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Skavenger wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 12:52 am I'll be honest, I miss the "heroes don't kill" rules that Marvel used to have. It drew a clear line between people like the Punisher, Wolverine, Venom, Deadpool, etc and the Fantastic Four who go out of their way to save Galactus more than once. Once you have every hero willing to mow down every hand ninja "cause they're USUALLY already dead", Hydra agent, or supervillain lackey, what makes them different from Frank Castle?
Clark said it the best:

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BARON wrote:I'm talking batgirl with batgirl. I love you internet.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (GALACTUS! The Silver Surfer! Firelord!)

Post by MacynSnow »

Skavenger wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 12:52 am I'll be honest, I miss the "heroes don't kill" rules that Marvel used to have. It drew a clear line between people like the Punisher, Wolverine, Venom, Deadpool, etc and the Fantastic Four who go out of their way to save Galactus more than once. Once you have every hero willing to mow down every hand ninja "cause they're USUALLY already dead", Hydra agent, or supervillain lackey, what makes them different from Frank Castle?
I suprisingly agree with you. There should be a line that certain heroes don't cross, but it's also nice to have a couple that HAVE crossed it. It's nice to have opposing viewpoints, so long as one doesn't become Toxicly argumentative. Operation:Galactic Storm is one of my favorite Avengers stories BECAUSE it didn't shy away from this question and had various Avenger's picking sides.The fact that later writer's choose to ignore it all is a crying shame, but it was still a fantastic story.
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Morg

Post by Jabroniville »

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MORG
Created By:
Ron Marz & Ron Lim
First Appearance: The Silver Surfer #70 (Aug. 1992)
Role: Not One For the Role-Players
Group Affiliations: The Heralds of Galactus
PL 17 (318)
STRENGTH
14/16/18 STAMINA 16 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Cosmic Lore) 3 (+3)
Expertise (Executioner) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 17 (+17)
Investigation 4 (+4)
Perception 5 (+5)
Insight 3 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Cosmic Axe), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle

Powers:
"Imbued With The Power Cosmic"
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 19) [22]
Immunity 12 (Aging, Sleep, Life Support) [12]
"Immune to the Ravages of Space" Immunity 2 (Proximity to Stars & Suns) [2]

"Cosmic Mind"
Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) [8]
"Cosmic Sight" Senses 11 (Extended Vision 8- 1 billion miles, Microvision, Analytical Vision) [11]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Space) [2]
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Heralds & Galactus) [1]

"Cosmic Awareness"
Features 1: Directed Inspiration- May ask the GM a Question With an HP [1]
Senses 1 (Cosmic Awareness- Ranged 3) [4]

"Power Cosmic"
Cosmic Blast 22 (Feats: Penetrating 12, Extended Range 5- x3,200 ft., Variable 2) (63) -- [68]
  • AE: "Cosmic Wave" Damage 16 (Feats: Penetrating 8, Variable 2) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (58)
  • AE: "Cosmic Stream" Damage 16 (Feats: Penetrating 8, Variable 2) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (58)
  • AE: "Boost Strength" Enhanced Strength 2 & Power-Lifting 2 (25,000 tons) (6)
  • AE: "Sense Energy" Senses 22 (Detect Energy- Ranged 17- 1,600 trillion miles, Acute & Analytical, Tracking) (22)
  • AE: "Sense Life" Senses 22 (Detect Life- Ranged 17- 1,600 trillion miles, Tracking) (22)
Flight 14 (32,000 mph) [28]
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Dimensional Travel) [6]

"Cosmic Axe" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [12]
"Axe Slash" Strength-Damage +4 (Feats: Reach, Penetrating 14, Improved Critical) (20 points)

"The Well's Empowerment"
Enhanced Strength 2 [4]
Protection 2 [2]
Note: Cosmic Blast & Other Powers -2 without the Well)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Boosted/Well Strength +12 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Boosted & Well Strength +12 (+18 Damage, DC 33)
Axe Slash +10 (+18 Damage, DC 33)
Boosted Axe Slash +10 (+20 Damage, DC 35)
Well-Enhanced Axe Slash +10 (+23 Damage, DC 38)
Cosmic Blast +10 (+20 Ranged Damage, DC 35)
Well-Enhanced Cosmic Blast +10 (+22 Ranged Damage, DC 37)
Cosmic Area Attacks +16 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +19 (+21 Well-Enhanced, +10 Impervious), Fortitude +16, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Killing)- Morg is a crazy executioner, and loves to end lives. This is bad when compared with his Power Cosmic.

Total: Abilities: 86 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 183 / Defenses: 14 (318)

-I think Morg may count as the official "Breaking Point" of there just being Too Many Heralds after a point- Silver Surfer was the first, and Air-Walker was a minor-league replacement, but Firelord, Terrax and Nova seemed like as many as we needed. Adding ANOTHER ONE, especially another axe-carring villain (similar to Terrax), was just one too many. The fact that he was SUPER-Nineties and based off of the worst aspects of that era ("Bad-Ass" name; bladed weapon; disturbing appearance; murderous personality) doesn't help.

-Morg came about as part of the culmination of the Silver Surfer book, right around the Comic Book Bust of the mid-'90s. Nova had just been expelled by Galactus for deliberately-sparing populated worlds from her master's hunger. Morg, having just executed his ENTIRE RACE, discovered Galactus and acted all defiant and fearless. An impressed Devourer was all "D-UH, I GUESS I'LL EMPOWER YOU INSTEAD!" and bestowed the Power Cosmic upon this complete psychopath. Tired of having his Heralds falter and quit because of their own guilt over their actions, he figured that an authentic MURDERER wouldn't care. So he took a crazed executioner named Morg, and gave him Cosmic Might akin to the Silver Surfer's. I'm sure you can guess how THAT went wrong (for a guy with Omniscience, Galactus sure is a dumbass sometimes).

-The Surfer, realizing Morg's evil, decides to gather together all of the previous Heralds to fight the new guy. Sure enough, Morg grabbed even MORE power thanks to some Cosmic Well, fought off all the prior Heralds at once (!!), destroyed the Air-Walker android, and killed Frankie "Nova" Raye. He was killed by Terrax after Galactus drained him of the Power Cosmic (leaving him with only his Well-borne powers), but Galactus resurrected him for a "second chance" later on. He immediately sought out Terrax in revenge, but their fight was interrupted by the cosmically-powerful Tyrant, who captured them both. When the Silver Surfer led the charge of other prisoners of Tyrant and Galactus joined the fray, Morg instead decided to renew hostilities with Terrax. In the end, he was left imprisoned, simply to spite Galactus.

-Morg would prove short-lived- he was QUITE embarassingly '90s in style, being a one-note RRAAAAARGH KILL EVERYTHING kinda guy who was all power, just existing to kill things. Taking part in Marvel's Dork Age, the writers were seemingly only TOO happy to wipe him off the map in his last appearance (he used The Ultimate Nullifier on Tyrant, betraying Galactus at the same time, and died in the ensuing explosion), and he finally showed up YEARS later during Annihilation, still dead as a doornail, with autopsies proving he had no Power Cosmic left. Meanwhile, even RED SHIFT got stuff to do in that story, so what does that say about this guy?

-Oh, Morg is powerful. Morg is REALLY freaking powerful. Using his Cosmic Axe (and a boost from a handy Magic Pool that boosted his Heraldic Might), he was able to cleave through Frankie Raye and Air-Walker, and hold off FIVE HERALDS OF GALACTUS AT ONCE- Surfer, Firelord, Air-Walker, Nova & Terrax! He's much more limited in scope & Alt-Effects than that crew is, but what he's got left is a +21 Blast and nigh-invulnerability. A full-on super-powered PL 16 most of the time, but going to PL 16.5 with that dreaded Axe, which renders him a near-Skyfather-level threat (who ELSE could fight off five Heralds?). When left with either the Power Cosmic or a Well-empowerment, he's likely "only" PL 15 again.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Sep 01, 2022 7:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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