Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Holocaust

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

HOLOCAUST (William Rolfson, aka Nemesis)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Roger Cruz
First Appearance: X-Men Alpha (Feb. 1995)
Role: Wannabe Mega-Villain
Group Affiliations: The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, The Exiles, The Dark Descendents
PL 13 (198)
STRENGTH
13 STAMINA -- AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 3 (+3)
Expertise (Warlord/Soldier) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 14 (+14)
Perception 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Bio-Nuclear Energy) 2 (+10)
Technology 4 (+4)

Advantages: 
All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle, Withstand Damage (trades defense for Toughness)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Bio-Nuclear Energy"
"Energy Being" Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 6 [6]
"Exoskeleton" Protection 10 (Extras: Impervious 13) [23]

"Bio-Nuclear Energy Blasts" Blast 16 (Feats: Improved Critical, Extended Range, Split) (Extras: Penetrating 10) (45) -- [49]
  • AE: "Energy Wave" Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating 8) (33)
  • AE: "Energy Stream" Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2, Penetrating 7) (44)
  • AE: "Energy Burst" Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Penetrating 7) (44)
  • AE: "Drain Life" Weaken Physical Abilities 12 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (36)
"Nuclear Jumps" Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Energy Area Attacks +13 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Energy Blasts +10 (+16 Ranged Damage, DC 31)
Drain Life +8 (+12 Weaken, DC 22)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +16, Fortitude --, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Apocalypse)- Holocaust is the dutiful son of Apocalypse, doing his father's genocidal work.
Responsibility (Life Energy)- Holocaust must drain the life energy of living beings to survive.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 124 / Defenses: 13 (198)

-Now THAT is a villain's name! I mean, it conjures up all kinds of negative associations (which is why the action figures have different names), but I mean- he's an evil SUPER-VILLAIN. He's SUPPOSED to represent that kind of stuff! And it's not like Apocalypse wouldn't be the kind of asshole who would TOTALLY name his son that. Nemesis is Apoc's son from the Age of Apocalypse timeline, and had his skin ripped off by Magneto (a heroic figure and leader of the X-Men)- Dark Beast was able to save his life and channel his energy into a crystalline suit of armour, and he was placed into the Mainstream Marvel Universe during a fight with Nate Grey (who also survived the timeline's destruction, along with Dark Beast & Sugar Man).

-What's funny is that I remember the teasers for this character in Stryfe's Strike Files, a book of pretentious blather from Stryfe, who ranted poetically about all of his allies and adversaries in the manner of a Vampire: The Masquerade character. This was circa The X-Cutioner's Song, and Holocaust didn't appear until so much later (after I'd stopped reading comics regularly) that this would be a bizarre non-sequitor. And he made less of a dent on the MU than his AoA compatriots did... well okay, he killed Rusty Collins, which is SOMETHING, but killing the least-interesting of all the New Mutants ain't exactly a real feat. He then allies with Sebastian Shaw, then Onslaught, who both use him as a general minion.

-The character kind of faltered, really- you'd think being the son of the wannabe key villain of the X-Men would be a big deal, but instead he just farted around with that garbage Nate Grey character, doing nothing much of note. The mainstream Holocaust was actually used as part of Exiles- the only such guy on the team. He's generally evil as HELL (it turns out King Hyperion is ruling the Panoptichron/Timebroker thingie now, and wants the Exiles to do some dirty work), but manages to convince the team to attack the Timebrokers, which result in them discovering his duplicity. Holocaust doesn't matter much, though, as Hyperion just cracks his exoskeleton open and literally INHALES him like a man-shaped pile of super-cocaine. Holocaust never appears again- a Mainstream version showed up (called "Genocide"- which is ALSO an awesome supervillain name) who was also Apocalypse's son, but he didn't get up to much before being executed by The Apocalypse Twins within the pages of The Uncanny Avengers.

-Holocaust is an extremely powerful, durable Blaster/Powerhouse combo who can fight someone like Nate Grey and not get curbstomped immediately, but is also easily-killed by an evil Hyperion (who's at least PL 15). With some New Villain Stink on him he can handle someone as powerful as Exodus (I won't call killing Rusty Collins a "Good Showing") or Grey (the Power Geek character to end all Power Geek characters), but he settled into your standard PL 12-13 Wannabe Ultra-Villain.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Feb 12, 2022 8:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Golden Age/The Twelve

Post by Jabroniville »

MARVEL'S GOLDEN AGE:
-Marvel in the 1940s was a funny place. There was Captain America, far and away their biggest success. The Human Torch sold well, as did Namor the Sub-Mariner, as a villain or a hero. The Angel did okay. But... that was mostly it. Most heroes only lasted a single issue, and even the more successful ones only lasted a couple more than that. "Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics" goes into extreme detail about this era, as pretty much every creator goes "yeah, once Martin Goodman saw a concept sell well, he decided to run the concept into the ground, and so we threw everything we had at the wall, to see what stuck". Goodman got RIGHT into the act of "Comic Book Publisher", doing the whole "screw over your employees, underpay them, take credit for their ideas, and rip off everyone around you" act as well as... pretty much every Publisher ever, and the writers admit this era blew except for a few shining lights. The reason Marvel never pimps it's Golden Age the same way DC does, despite having well-known Golden Age Nerd Roy Thomas in the company for years (he was even Editor-In-Chief once!)? Most of it's characters sucked- The Destroyer. The Blue Diamond. The Thunderer. The Black Marvel. The Witness. Captain Wonder. Captain Daring. And of course... The Fin.

Image

"I wanted to explore their reactions to us, and our reactions to them ... what was good about the World War II period that we lost, and what was not so good about it that we've eliminated in all but them".
-J. Michael Straczysnki


THE TWELVE:
-This little story came about from the hands of J. Michael Straczynski, sci-fi and comic book writer extraordinaire. He took twelve forgotten Golden Age superheroes, none of whom lasted more than a handful of issues, and brought them into modern times. It turns out these 12 guys were gassed by the Nazis and trapped in suspended animation during World War II, and when the bombs fell on Berlin and killed the people holding them... they went unfound. Finally sprung out in the 2007 series, they were all shocked by the adjustment in time. Each character went through some kind of personal shift or twist on their origin story- Mister E had to deal with his old "Anti-Semite" act (meant to disguise his own Jewish-ness), Rockman was possibly an amnesiac psycho or a subterranean Prince, and Captain Wonder was left outliving his wife and children.

Unfortunatey, eight issues in, JMS suddenly became an in-demand screenwriter after Changeling came out and was a success (I saw it on the bus one time; it's pretty good, though classic "Oscar Bait" from Angelina Jolie. And I spent most of the movie wondering when John Malkovich was gonna go evil, until I realized that he was actually a GOOD GUY in this one!), and the series was put on hold for a huge chunk of time. To put this in perspective, the series debuted in 2007, and was not finished until 2012.

During the course of the story, the idiotic Blue Blade is killed, leading The Phantom Reporter (the main protagonist and narrator of the story) to investigate his demise and crack the case. I've owned the first trade for a couple years, and it's pretty decent, if forgettable with most of the characters (the run just doesn't go that in-depth with many of them). I read the second TPB in a local bookstore, and was largely unimpressed, and didn't pick it up (and I'm one who often buys what he "Byrne-Steals" from shops)- I only later did so while doing this set and spending some of the store credit I had at a local Used Bookstore.

There are just some odd bits- a couple of guys who only get a few pages of focus. The Phantom Reporter's big plan to confront the killer- by sticking him in an enclosed space with a half-dozen powerless individuals. The fact that ZERO modern-day heroes appear in the story in prominent roles- Captain America was dead at the time, but NOBODY ELSE shows up (possibly because JMS didn't want to have to deal with current continuity in his slow-to-release series). The Reporter's schoolboy crush on the Black Widow, which accelerates to a romantic relationship, because... well, he's the protagonist and she has a vagina. He's pretty much entitled to it, right? That's how fiction works, innit?

What was clever, however, was how the character of Dynamic Man was presented- his initial reaction to a white woman and a black man is one of disgust, bringing to mind the racist ideas of the '40s. Later, he helps out some gay men and seems to act flirtaciously with them, until one comes onto him (getting some ass-grab action going on) and is attacked. So he also comes off as a deeply-closeted gay man. Of course, he ends up being neither- he's a sexless android man who simply HATES SEX ENTIRELY, and this is the crux of the entire plot.

The art is interesting. The artist does a GREAT job with ugly men- this is one SERIOUSLY deformed superhero team, with some of the characters resembling guys from Dick Tracy more than chiseled comic book superheroes. The Laughing Mask & Mister E are rather skinny. LM's face has a comically pointed chin. Captain Wonder has that "tiny face with a huge head" thing going on. Master Mind Excello is hilarious with a squinting, grimacing look. Almost every male character has these thick, pronounced lips that curl with rage whenever they speak. And yet of course every female character is beyond gorgeous- background character waitresses, government agents, the heroes' wives in the olden days, even the daughter of Electro's creator, a woman who would have to be over fifty years old (her father died in the '60s), looks every bit as beautiful as the women in their 20s, but has a few silvery-white bangs.

In the end, a few characters are killed (Blue Blade, Fiery Mask, Dynamic Man), while the others disband and go their own way. This actually leaves a rather large amount of Golden Agers active in present times, but none of them have been seen since the final issue of the series. Like, this book is as Standalone as it gets- even powerhouses like Captain Wonder go on to do nothing else.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Feb 12, 2022 8:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Spectrum
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Four Horsemen! Apocalypse!)

Post by Spectrum »

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We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Four Horsemen! Apocalypse!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Man, there are so many characters with "Captain" in their name in Marvel (probably copying Captain America), since they even parodied it with the Nextwave Captain. Even in the Golden Age, there was Captain Wonder, Captain Daring, Captain Terror, ect. Then later on you got goofs like Captain Kerosene, Captain Ultra, and Captain Rectitude. I have to say, while I've never read "The Twelve", I do like the idea of taking a whole bunch of do-nothing Golden Age characters that only lasted a couple issues and actually doing something with them.
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Goldar
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Four Horsemen! Apocalypse!)

Post by Goldar »

Wasn't there another group called The Twelve that has Pixie, Yeti, Rapunzel and others in it, including even a few Telepaths?
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Four Horsemen! Apocalypse!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Also, since you're doing Marvel's Golden Age, here's a name for you: Iron Cross, a German Powersuit Guy who was one of those many characters who were retconned into being a part of the Golden Age, and was also a member of the V-Batallion, apparently.
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Ken
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Re: Golden Age/The Twelve

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:25 pm MARVEL'S GOLDEN AGE:
-Marvel in the 1940s was a funny place. There was Captain America, far and away their biggest success. The Human Torch sold well, as did Namor the Sub-Mariner, as a villain or a hero. The Angel did okay. But... that was mostly it. Most heroes only lasted a single issue, and even the more successful ones only lasted a couple more than that. "Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics" goes into extreme detail about this era, as pretty much every creator goes "yeah, once Martin Goodman saw a concept sell well, he decided to run the concept into the ground, and so we threw everything we had at the wall, to see what stuck". Goodman got RIGHT into the act of "Comic Book Publisher", doing the whole "screw over your employees, underpay them, take credit for their ideas, and rip off everyone around you" act as well as... pretty much every Publisher ever, and the writers admit this era blew except for a few shining lights. The reason Marvel never pimps it's Golden Age the same way DC does, despite having well-known Golden Age Nerd Roy Thomas in the company for years (he was even Editor-In-Chief once!)? Most of it's characters sucked- The Destroyer. The Blue Diamond. The Thunderer. The Black Marvel. The Witness. Captain Wonder. Captain Daring. And of course... The Fin.
The funny thing about how the business has shaken out is that of the top five publishers of super hero comics during the 1940s, four of them are DC. Irwin Donenfeld was the co-owner of National Publications (Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Arrow) and All-American (Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawkman), and by 1948, Max Gaines' half of AA had been bought out.

Fawcett Comics' "Captain Marvel Adventures" outsold "Superman" and "Whiz" probably wasn't far behind. With "Master Comics" (Captain Marvel Jr.) and "Wow Comics" (Mary Marvel), Fawcett had four big sellers. Were they enough to outsell all of "National"'s books total, I don't know. Nationals biggest books were "Action", "Detective", "Superman", and "Batman" but they had more total titles, too.

And, finally, the Quality Comics line, had mainstays like Plastic Man and the Blackhawks, both of whom lasted well into the 1950s. As well as Doll Man who was successful enough that DC revived him as the silver-age Atom.

And, of course, National, All-American, Quality, and Fawcett are all apart of what is now DC.

The fifth company was probably MLJ (now "Archie Comics") but how much of that was their super heroes and how much of that is that the Shield shared "Pep Comics" with Archie, is anyone's guess.

Fox Features' "The Blue Beetle" was fairly successful, but little else of their stuff. And, of course, today, the Blue Beetle is DC.

Timely Comics... they were minor. Cap, Torch, Namor, and maybe the Angel (who shared "Marvel Mystery Comics" with Namor) were about it. Jab's assessment is on target. Black Marvel, the Thunderer, Red Raven? Hell, if Whizzer and Miss America hadn't been in the two issues of "All-Winners Comics" that featured the All-Winners Squad, I dount anyone would be talking about them. Despite what they became later, in the 1940s, Timely was a second-rate comics house.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Four Horsemen! Apocalypse!)

Post by greycrusader »

Ah, yes, The Twelve...where it required 4 extra years to reveal the villain was the absolute obvious suspect all along. Oh, and where the cannon fodder quota is met by characters clutching the Idiot Ball HARD.

JMS really seemed to go down hill fast as a comic series writer, especially with the godawful Morlun/Ezekial/The Other story line and "Gwen's super-accelerated-aging-love-twins-by-Green Goblin" monstrosity. He also wrote the Before Watchman issue which ruined Nite-Owl's whole role as the cornball wholesome hero (with a couple repressed kinks) and saddled him with a TRAGIC CHILDHOOD!

Ah, well. All my best.
Jabroniville
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Mister E

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

They gave him THIS visual design, and they made his central characteristic that he was SECRETLY Jewish. Really.

MISTER E (Victor E. Goldstein, aka Victor Jay)
Created By:
Joe CalCagno & Al Carreno
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #2 (Feb. 1940)
Role: Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: N/A
PL 7 (84)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Pistol +5), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 4

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Pistol +8 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Nazi Germany)
Secret (Jew)- Mister E desperately hides his Jewish background from his contemporaries, much to the chagrin of his wife.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (84)

-Mister E was "Victor Jay", a wealthy sportsman who also fought crime on the side. Appearing in only a single story (facing The Vampire, a scientist who made people's hearts explode), he was brought back for The Twelve, which re-wrote him as a regretful Jew who'd hidden his religion from others to avoid prejudice and make friends in high places- even forcing his wife to hide her own faith. In modern times, he is faced with his son, angry over what this had done to his mother's mental health. Eventually, the two make good with each other after the unfortunate woman passes on. This is after roughly five or six pages of focus on the character for the entirety of the twelve-issue series. The guy is considered a weak "tourist" hero, with the Phantom Reporter making a gag out of the fact that the two were essentially carbon copies of each other ("Don't you hate it when someone shows up to the party in the same outfit as you?").

-Mister E's as generic as they get- a rather thin-looking man with pronounced Semitic features for a secret Jew. He's all of PL 6.5, so far on the low end of the scale that he doesn't even feature into the story.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Feb 12, 2022 8:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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The Fiery Mask

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

THE FIERY MASK (Jack Castle)
Created By:
Joe Simon
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #1 (1941)
Role: Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Twelve
PL 8 (121)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Deception 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
Leaping 10 (2 miles) [10]
Fire Blast 8 (Feats: Accurate 2) (18) -- [20]
  • AE: "Super-Breath" Move Object 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Limited to Away) (16)
  • AE: "Heat Field" Force Field 2 (Extras: Affects Others 6) (8)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Fire Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +6 (+8 Force Field), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Nazi Germany)
Secret (Responsible for his Predecessor's Death)- The prior Fiery Mask had to give the powers to another person before he died. Jack selfishly chose to allow the man to die before reaching hospital, "just in case" he couldn't find anyone else to give the powers, since Jack "knew" he could use the powers properly. The guilt over this has driven him to distraction for years.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 30 / Defenses: 7 (121)

---

THE FIERY MASK (Jack Castle)- circa The Twelve
Created By:
Joe Simon
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #1 (1941)
Role: Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Twelve
PL 9 (101)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Deception 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 1 (Mace +2), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
Fire Blast 10 (Feats: Accurate 2) [22]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Mace +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Fire Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +6 (+8 Force Field), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Nazi Germany)
Secret (Responsible for his Predecessor's Death)- The prior Fiery Mask had to give the powers to another person before he died. Jack selfishly chose to allow the man to die before reaching hospital, "just in case" he couldn't find anyone else to give the powers, since Jack "knew" he could use the powers properly. The guilt over this has driven him to distraction for years.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 7 (101)

-Another forgotten hero, The Fiery Mask appears in only four Golden Age comics before disappearing until The Twelve. He gained his powers when a 20' tall scientist called The Zombie Master attempts to brainwash him, but Jack Castle's own hypnotic skills resist it, causing the machine to explode and bestow super-powers upon him. The Twelve retcons this, explaining that he gained them from the previous "Fiery Mask", who was dying. He is killed while fighting Dynamic Man in modern times, and transmits his powers to The Phantom Reporter, paying off his debt for his crime (see the Secret, above).

-Humorously, the character has among the least focus in the book, only giving his origin once, getting some narration that he was a hugely-powerful character with vast powers, then giving the Retcon Origin much later on, right before he went off to deal with Dynamic Man, getting killed with a crushed windpipe.

-The Fiery Mask is super-strong (leaping "miles in a single bound"), pyrokinetic and has "super-breath", in addition to creating Force Fields out of heat. This makes him a pretty solid PL 8 hero- much pricier than his contemporaries. The Twelve seems to Retcon away the side powers, as he's pretty clearly a normal man with regular frailties. However, this less-powerful version is actually higher in PL, as his blasts are enough to liquefy and kill the nigh-invulnerable Dynamic Man. He's seen holding a mace in some pics, but wouldn't get much use out of it in his Golden Age incarnation.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Feb 12, 2022 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Golden Age/The Twelve

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2017 2:05 am
Jabroniville wrote: Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:25 pm MARVEL'S GOLDEN AGE:
-Marvel in the 1940s was a funny place. There was Captain America, far and away their biggest success. The Human Torch sold well, as did Namor the Sub-Mariner, as a villain or a hero. The Angel did okay. But... that was mostly it. Most heroes only lasted a single issue, and even the more successful ones only lasted a couple more than that. "Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics" goes into extreme detail about this era, as pretty much every creator goes "yeah, once Martin Goodman saw a concept sell well, he decided to run the concept into the ground, and so we threw everything we had at the wall, to see what stuck". Goodman got RIGHT into the act of "Comic Book Publisher", doing the whole "screw over your employees, underpay them, take credit for their ideas, and rip off everyone around you" act as well as... pretty much every Publisher ever, and the writers admit this era blew except for a few shining lights. The reason Marvel never pimps it's Golden Age the same way DC does, despite having well-known Golden Age Nerd Roy Thomas in the company for years (he was even Editor-In-Chief once!)? Most of it's characters sucked- The Destroyer. The Blue Diamond. The Thunderer. The Black Marvel. The Witness. Captain Wonder. Captain Daring. And of course... The Fin.
The funny thing about how the business has shaken out is that of the top five publishers of super hero comics during the 1940s, four of them are DC. Irwin Donenfeld was the co-owner of National Publications (Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Arrow) and All-American (Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawkman), and by 1948, Max Gaines' half of AA had been bought out.

Fawcett Comics' "Captain Marvel Adventures" outsold "Superman" and "Whiz" probably wasn't far behind. With "Master Comics" (Captain Marvel Jr.) and "Wow Comics" (Mary Marvel), Fawcett had four big sellers. Were they enough to outsell all of "National"'s books total, I don't know. Nationals biggest books were "Action", "Detective", "Superman", and "Batman" but they had more total titles, too.

And, finally, the Quality Comics line, had mainstays like Plastic Man and the Blackhawks, both of whom lasted well into the 1950s. As well as Doll Man who was successful enough that DC revived him as the silver-age Atom.

And, of course, National, All-American, Quality, and Fawcett are all apart of what is now DC.

The fifth company was probably MLJ (now "Archie Comics") but how much of that was their super heroes and how much of that is that the Shield shared "Pep Comics" with Archie, is anyone's guess.

Fox Features' "The Blue Beetle" was fairly successful, but little else of their stuff. And, of course, today, the Blue Beetle is DC.

Timely Comics... they were minor. Cap, Torch, Namor, and maybe the Angel (who shared "Marvel Mystery Comics" with Namor) were about it. Jab's assessment is on target. Black Marvel, the Thunderer, Red Raven? Hell, if Whizzer and Miss America hadn't been in the two issues of "All-Winners Comics" that featured the All-Winners Squad, I dount anyone would be talking about them. Despite what they became later, in the 1940s, Timely was a second-rate comics house.
That Marvel book (which I constantly reference when talking about the 1940s) is hilarious for that- essentially painting Goodman as a copycat artist who simply sees what's popular and IMMEDIATELY alters the entire course of his company towards copying that exact thing. Despite being pro-Marvel (it says "World's Greatest Comics" right there in the title!), it makes no bones about the early days. Goodman was lightning-quick to dump superheroes by the end of the '40s, and of course repainted the entire line towards Romance Comics when those hit big. Then immediately switched to Cowboy Comics, then Crime Comics, then Monster Comics.

It's a good thing for superhero fans that that "fad" never truly died out once the Silver Age got started, and that all the other genres faded away- Goodman still held enough power to have cancelled everything if another type of book had hit big. Hell, when Archie became the industry top-seller in the late '60s (owing to the cartoon series), we could have seen Cap, the Avengers, Spidey, et al disappear and be replaced by Morty, The Everyday Teen and the restarted Patsy Walker!
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Four Horsemen! Apocalypse!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Goldar wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:02 am Wasn't there another group called The Twelve that has Pixie, Yeti, Rapunzel and others in it, including even a few Telepaths?
That's actually the First Line, from Marvel's The Lost Generation.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Phantom Reporter

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

THE PHANTOM REPORTER (Richard Jones, aka Van Engen)
Created By:
Unknown
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #3 (April 1940)
Role: Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Twelve
PL 7 (96)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Reporter) 6 (+9)
Investigation 5 (+9)
Perception 2 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Benefit (Alternate Identity- Van Engen the Millionaire), Equipment 3 (Twin Pistols +5), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 5

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pistols +9 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Nazi Germany)
Motivation (Fighting Crime)- The Phantom Reporter rights wrongs that a reporter cannot.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (96)

-Richard Jones, The Phantom Reporter, made only a single Golden Age appearance- he looks like the typical "non-costumed heroes" of the era, sporting a domino mask, a hat, and a trenchcoat. He fights crime to fix the problems that a reporter can't. He ends up becoming the central character of The Twelve, first discovering that the group's placement in a SHIELD facility is a fake hospital (the radio, for example, plays only hit songs- no commercials; the nurse's stockings are also of the wrong era), then trying to uncover the secret of who killed Blue Blade. He also gains a love interest in the Golden Age Black Widow, though this relationship is extremely unconvincing- he basically follows her around like a sad puppy, stares at her sleeping in the nude (not creepy at all, PR!), and tries to flirt, only to be rebuffed with what another character calls a "You're a bug" expression. But when he holds her at gunpoint and forces her to divulge her Satanic origins, the two suddenly grow closer and she's basically in love with him by story's end. Because he's the protagonist, and under the rules of everything I've ever watched, he was owed a hot girl.

-The Reporter ends up working for The Daily Bugle as a columnist, owing to his experience in a more old-fashioned era, which will be invaluable to modern readers (his first article better not be "Don't sell apartments to blacks"). When he uncovers the secret of Dynamic Man's criminal nature, he gains the powers of the Fiery Mask when the original hero dies, becoming powerful enough to melt down Dynamic Man's android body.

-Smarter than his fellows, the Reporter is a bit physically weaker. He becomes a PL 10 Blaster in the series finale, but hasn't reappeared.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Feb 12, 2022 8:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (4 Horsemen! Holocaust! Fiery Mask! Phantom Reporter!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Haha, found a Tony Awards clip of I Believe from The Book of Mormon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVJgmp2Tc2s

The reaction of General Butt-Fucking Naked to the "Whitest person in the universe" (more or less why they cast him as Elder Price) taking his hand and doing that "sway" will always be priceless.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Witness

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE WITNESS I (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Stan "S.T. Anley" Lee & Unknown Artist
First Appearance: Mystic Comics #7 (Dec. 1941)
Role: Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Twelve
PL 7 (86)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 6 (+9)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Knowledge of Future Tragedies" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Uncontrolled) [2]
"Recognizing Past Tragedies" Senses 4 (Postcognition) (Flaws: Limited to Crimes) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Nazi Germany)

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 11 (86)

-A forgettable character in an ultra-forgettable costume (blue suit plus red hood), The Witness may or may not be the same man who was also featured in The Witness #1 in 1948, but given that seven years separates these appearances (the initial run was only for three issues), possibly not. He is a Chicago detective who shot an innocent man while in the line of duty, serving two years in jail for the crime. However, when he attempts to commit suicide at the end of his sentence, a mysterious voice beckons him to change his mind, charging him with preventing tragedies before they occur, via some kind of Danger Sense.

-In The Twelve he's shown watching the impending victim for several days to see whether or not they "deserve" saving, then either prevents their fate, or "witnesses" it occuring. The later Witness seen in 1948 was apparently more of a passive observer, who would report on human frailty on his radio program.

-The Witness has another one of those comically ugly faces in The Twelve, with a square head and a tiny, scrunched-up face. Despite his goofy outfit, he's shown to be very scary and intense, as if constantly focused on the crimes of others. In his only issue of focus, he walks out of a late-night diner to confront a man he identifies as "Herr", revealing the kindly-looking old man to be a former Nazi concentration camp guard, leading the man to stall in front of a city bus, which flattens him. Later, the Witness is seen going into work for Nick Fury, hunting down various OTHER men who'd thought they'd avoided the long arm of the law. His eyes never mistake the past crimes of others, making him an invaluable detective (though having aided the Soviets in liberating a place called "Auschwitz" right before the Battle of Berlin, he's left with a considerable amount of fury and horror).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Mar 03, 2024 10:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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