The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Cyber-Samurai, Lady of the Eternal Winter)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Ken
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Re: The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Meteor Hammer! Legion of Liberty! Capt. Guts!)

Post by Ken »

This is why the pros have inkers, who when doing their job right, cleanup the pencils, not just trace.
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Re: The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Meteor Hammer! Legion of Liberty! Capt. Guts!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:18 pm This is why the pros have inkers, who when doing their job right, cleanup the pencils, not just trace.
inking takes WAY longer than penciling, too. It's FOREVER, so I have to be careful. And that robs some of the spontaneity of the picture.

Of course, I drew the "group lineup" so quickly I used my thick pen for the outlines on 1.5-inch people, and didn't even bother with proportions.

Fun fact: Captain Fireball only exists because I had an extra space :).
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Re: The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Meteor Hammer! Legion of Liberty! Capt. Guts!)

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:02 am
Ken wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:18 pmThis is why the pros have inkers, who when doing their job right, cleanup the pencils, not just trace.
inking takes WAY longer than penciling, too. It's FOREVER, so I have to be careful.
You and me both, pal. I hate inking. But I've found it's needed for anything I want reproduced.
And that robs some of the spontaneity of the picture.
Agreed. But for published art, polish is usually more important than spontaneity. Then again, one of my biggest pet peeves in comic art is that certain artists get such a big rep that in their later years inkers were afraid of correcting the pencils of this "legend".
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Re: The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Meteor Hammer! Legion of Liberty! Capt. Guts!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Yeah, anything published (or colored) is gonna need to be inked- I'm just saying I typically won't do it for random pictures.

What do you mean "reproduced"? Like, stuff you can print?
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Jul 12, 2017 7:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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El Torah

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

Third row, first column.

EL TORAH (Terrence Howard)
Hgt:
5'10" Wgt: 165 lbs.
Role: Magician, Golden Age Hero
PL 8 (121)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Stage Magician) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Archaeology) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Magic) 5 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"The Book of the Magi" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [35]
Illusion (Vision & Hearing) 8 (24) -- (30)
  • AE: "Levitation" Flight 1 (4 mph) (2)
  • AE: Eldritch Blast 8 (16)
  • AE: "Call Lightning" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited to Up & Down) (16)
  • AE: "Plume of Smoke" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
  • AE: "Telelocation" Senses 6 (Mystic Sense- Acute, Ranged 4) (6)
  • AE: Create 4 (Feats: Precise, Innate) (Extras: Movable) (14)
"Transmutation" Affliction 5 (Fort; Dazed & Hindered/Fatigued & Immobile/Transformed to Various Forms) (Extras: Continuous +3, Area- 30ft. Cone +1/2, Selective) (28)
-- (58 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Eldritch Blast +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Call Lightning +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Transmutation +5 Area (+5 Affliction, DC 15)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Power Loss (Magic)- El Torah must read aloud from The Book of the Magi to cast spells, and must also be able to gesture with his hands.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 35 / Defenses: 8 (121)

Origin: Terrance Howard was a common stage magician for several years, operating out of Salem, Massachusetts, using the nickname "El Torah" for his act. Excelling in his art, he was desperate for ever-more secret tricks to his trade, travelling the Earth looking for hints of fake mysticism and special fantastic tricks to earn him even more money. One day, in the vaults of a mausoleum he uncovered with the help of a band of scoundrels he'd hired to help him search in an old English countryside, he discovered an ancient tome called The Book of the Magi. Thinking it a mere book of tricks, he uttered some of its spells aloud, and to his surprise, energy enveloped the book and his hand, and his words became reality. The band he had hired immediately turned on him and tried to take the book, but he used it's power to turn them into stone statues.

-Shocked, Howard returned to the United States several months of practise later, using the book to make his stage act even better, but also began to use it to solve crimes in his stage disguise. He uncovered various supernatural creatures in the nights of Salem, including vampires and werewolves, and became an adventurer combating such threats. He was invited to join the wartime Legion of Liberty, where he was only a minor member, usually being called away to face other supernatural threats, including a dark sorceror named Dark Weird.

-El Torah vanished sometime after World War II, and searches by his ex-teammates produced no sign. He only resurfaced decades later, the vampiric pawn of Maakoth, a Vampire mastermind from one of his old cases. Vengeful, Maakoth had enslaved him for years, having him commit all manner of atrocities. Finally, he wished to use him to destroy the later incarnation of the Legion of Liberty as final vengeance. El Torah nearly killed all the members of his own team, but could not commit the final blow. Convinced by old teammate and fellow mystic Reddar the Mystic and his daughter, Redda, he fought off his master's influence, and held him and The Book of the Magi, which Maakoth had taken from him. Nearly breaking under the influence of Maakoth, Torah pleaded his old allies to end both of their lives, and the two Mystics complied, frying both El Torah and Maakoth to ashes with a Sunlight spell. The ashes were further burned in separate pyres so that neither could ever be resurrected, and El Torah was buried as a hero, with full honors. The Book of the Magi was buried once again in a secret location.

-The Book of the Magi contained a vast number of spells, but El Torah himself never seemed to utilize a very wide variety- it is believed (based off of new information about magic) that a massive amount of willpower or personal magical potential would be required to utilize the full power of the Book, and a lower-level fighter like Howard would have difficulty. Maakoth's use of the book, for example, was much greater, but even he was only a threat for a full superhero team, not a world-destroying menace like Torah often claimed the book could be "in the wrong hands".

"Real Life" Comics: El Torah was one of a thousand "Mystic" superheroes in the Golden Age, lasting only a couple of years. He briefly joined the Legion for a couple of months, but soon vanished from both that book and his own. The character was only revived years later as a vampire, given a bit of a heroic send-off, despite the ignominious nature of his disappearance.

Jab's Notes: Just one of many "turban-wearing mystics" of the era, El Torah is probably directly based off of one or more of them, but I've long since forgotten which one looked like what. I think I came up with his powers before setting down what Magic could be, so I used the "Book of the Magi" to explain away why he could seemingly do whatever he wanted, without limits on the Schools of Magic. And because he's a mage and I hate those guys in comics, I made sure his end was SUPER-embarrassing- being turned into a monster, being killed, etc. However, I left in just enough of a heroic demise to make it seem a little less mean-spirited.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Oct 17, 2017 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Miss Adventure

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

MISS ADVENTURE (Patricia Cross)
Hgt:
5'7" Wgt: 145 lbs.
Role: Team Hottie, Cougar
PL 10 (147)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+7)
Athletics 2 (+10)
Deception 1 (+5, +10 Attractive)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+5)
Expertise (History) 6 (+9)
Expertise (Archaeologist) 3 (+6)
Insight 2 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+7)
Perception 3 (+7)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Attractive 2, Defensive Attack, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Jack-Of-All-Trades, Languages 2 (Several), Ranged Attack 3, Takedown 2, Well-Informed

Powers:
"MILF Power" Immunity 4 (Aging, Disease, Poison, Heat) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [2]
Power-Lifting 1 (12 tons) [1]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (Older Generation of Heroes)- One of the few World War II heroes still active, Miss Adventure feels a great sense of responsibility to train and inspire the newest generation.
Responsibility (uh, she has needs)- Hey, it just so happens many of the new generations that need training happen to be very good-looking men. What's wrong with that, right? It's not like SHE goes after THEM.
Responsibility (Being Tied Down)- The name says it all- Miss A is bored easily, always needs to find things to do, and generally doesn't stick with a relationship for more than a couple years- even a good one.
Reputation (Predatory Cougar)- From Patricia's perspective, she is merely a "serial monogamist" who dislikes being tied down. Though the fact that she's putting a hundred, yet frequently goes out with men much, MUCH younger than herself, gives her a bit of a reputation. Men are usually big fans, but women vary between "You GO girl!" and "Jesus, what a man-eating COUGAR!"

Total: Abilities: 96 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 12 (147)

Origin: Patricia Cross was a general's daughter, serving as an assistant to Dirk Bravely, one of many Adventurer/Scholars of the early 20th century. These adventurers, with their torn shirts and big muscles, were far different from the bespectacled geniuses of the post-war period. She was generally dragged along into chaos, kidnapped by various weird villains, and nearly always endangered and in need of rescue. However, when her father was killed during World War II, the heartbroken girl insisted on doing something to help. As she couldn't be a soldier, she instead decided to operate behind the scenes. Her adventurer boyfriend wouldn't approve, so she went in disguise.

-After a few undercover adventures in this guise, her investigations uncovered an ancient relic- a magical goblet which could empower anyone who drank from it. With the Germans about to capture it, she intervened, drinking the full amount to protect herself- the Germans attacked, killing Dirk and destroying the goblet. She was thus the only person to benefit from its powers. Distraught, she swore further vengeance on the Nazis, and joined the brand-new Legion of Liberty, and despite being relegated to a secretary, she convinced many of them to use their powers towards the war effort. A G-Man named Alistaire Carvell was sent to follow her and discover her identity, and the two engaged in a long flirtation throughout the war.

-She fell for Alistaire after the war, and, revealing her identity to him, the two were married. However, he died young- only a few years after the war. The young widow threw herself into adventuring, becoming one of the few heroes to stay active after the war. Eventually, she came to become a charter member of the Legion during their revivals. Though well-respected and a powerful hero, she was controversial- a "modern, empowered woman", she was known to openly flirt and date around, often having public relationships with either celebrities or superheroes- given her age (though her aging has slowed, along with the rest of the Legion's), almost all of them were younger than her- a known preference. This led to a lot of jokes and accusations (older, more traditional folk found this flagrant and embarrassing; many women were annoyed and offended), though a lot of attention from OTHER men. Her teammates didn't always approve, but it wasn't as if she slept around from her perspective- she was always monogamous... just easily-bored and prone to moving on. Never one for the domestic life, she has taken the strongest hand in training the newer generations of heroes, trying to prevent situations like the outburst of vigilantes during the '90s- despite her reputation, 99% of those heroes she DOESN'T sleep with- though her attitude remains flirtacious.

-One of her most-prominent relationships was with SuperStar during his first year of super-heroics- she spotted an inexperienced (and particularly good-looking) young hero, and moved in to, er, help. He was infatuated with this brave, experienced, confident older woman (she eventually settled into a "appears in her mid-forties" physical appearance), while she was happy to just have a new trainee, and have some "tertiary benefits". His feelings being so much stronger than hers, she soon grew concerned, and eventually broke off the relationship. SuperStar was pretty heartbroken, and there are still uncomfortable moments during super-team-ups- however, her job as trainer and adventurer keeps her busy.

"Real-Life Comics": Miss Adventure started out as the female sidekick/hostage for one of many Doc Savage-style adventurers of the day, though that feature didn't do very well. With superheroes becoming popular, she was modified into becoming a super-heroine, gaining powers and the hero of the strip being killed (a true rarity back in the 1940s). With a bit of a "Good Girl" look (hip boots were not common heroic paraphernalia back in the day), she was quite popular, becoming a long-serving member of the Legion of Liberty. She joined (and stayed with, since her own appearances in Star Comics never sold amazingly well) the Legion during its first appearance, and stayed with them all the way to 1945. She even appeared in a few short-lived revivals in the late 40s and 50s, falling out of favor after the hero boom ended. The character was de-aged in one of the first Legion crossovers dealing with the modern team, in order to make her more attractive and let her hero on in modern times, even becoming single again in the same story. Various writers through the years have had her engage in several relationships, becoming something of a running aspect to her character. She appeared in the 70s revival, and is currently the leader of the modern-day Legion, a completion of the concept of her co-leading the team.

Jab's Notes: ... what? I HAVE INTERESTS, OKAY!?!?!?! But seriously, this is one of the original Golden Age heroes I created back in the day, though her look and name were always in flux. I went with "Miss Star" for a number of years, giving her a patriotic look and a full, all-white face-mask. The idea that she was somewhat-aged, but still interested in younger men, came because... that's hot, alright? But I also wanted her to be one of the mature, respected Elder Heroes- fighting alongside Mr. Meteor & Robo-Man and training the new generation.

-Eventually, as time went on, I came up with a better name ("Miss Adventure" is both a pun, and flows off the tongue better than "Miss Star", which sounds like one word when spoken aloud), and a better look. Though I bounced around a lot of potential costume ideas and color schemes, I kinda just gave up and went with Sexy Female Cap In Hip-Boots. The colors just WORK that way. I also altered her civilian appearance, merging her with a character I'd created for a webcomic I never got around to really fleshing out (she was meant to be the sexy mother of one of the female characters, though I could never figure out how to introduce her into the thing, and eventually just stopped making comics because I ran out of gag ideas). In the end, I just drew her a lot... because I like drawing MILFs. So of course merging the two concepts together would be PERFECT (though the "Patricia Cross" character was supposed to be married).

-Making her just a Cougar would be funny, but I wanted to add a bit more nuance, so she keeps the "trainer" aspect. I just like the idea of this blazing-hot cougar handling the training of young heroes, and maybe one or two catches her eye- basically Malory Archer minus the alcoholism and some wrinkles. Kind of how TV Tropes some old trope of young widows hanging around colleges and seducing the college-boys (though I've never seen that trope myself). It's also fun to play with how the public would perceive such a person- men tend to LOVE cougar-types in real life, with Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon & Lisa Ann getting acclaim from men for going after young dudes (Jane Seymour also cops to being propositioned by men in their thirties all the time), while many women publicly pooh-pooh what they see as predatory, embarrassing behavior. So it'd be fun to play with that- some superheroines would be all "UGH Miss Adventure!" while others are like "SuperStar? DAMN, GIRL!"
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun May 21, 2023 6:27 pm, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Meteor Hammer! Legion of Liberty! Capt. Guts!)

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 6:48 am What do you mean "reproduced"? Like, stuff you can print?
Basically, I was meaning photocopied or scanned. I've never had anything printed by a professional printer. But, say, all of the original RCU art from the 80s and 90s needed to be scanned into the computer to be put online. And scanned coloured pencil art tends to not scan well. Any unevenness in the colouring jumps out like a sore thumb. But if the picture wasn't inked too, the corrections to the colouring become a LOT harder.
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Re: El Torah

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 6:59 am
EL TORAH (Terrence Howard)
So, he looks like Rhodey from the first Iron Man film?
Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 6:59 am "Real Life" Comics: El Torah was one of a thousand "Mystic" superheroes in the Golden Age, lasting only a couple of years. He briefly joined the Legion for a couple of months, but soon vanished from both that book and his own.
Fred Guardineer probably worked on his book at one point.
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Re: The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Legion of Liberty! Capt. Guts! Miss Adventure!)

Post by Shock »

Shouldn't Miss Adventure have some kind of Immunity to Aging?
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Re: Miss Adventure

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 9:33 am MISS ADVENTURE (Patricia Cross)

Responsibility (uh, she has needs)- Hey, it just so happens many of the new generations that need training happen to be very good-looking men. What's wrong with that, right? It's not like SHE goes after THEM.
Responsibility (Being Tied Down)- The name says it all- Miss A is bored easily, always needs to find things to do, and generally doesn't stick with a relationship for more than a couple years- even a good one.
Reputation (Predatory Cougar)- From Patricia's perspective, she is merely a "serial monogamist" who dislikes being tied down. Though the fact that she's putting a hundred, yet frequently goes out with men much, MUCH younger than herself, gives her a bit of a reputation. Men are usually big fans, but women vary between "You GO girl!" and "Jesus, what a man-eating COUGAR!"
Does her aversion to being tied down apply to, you know, her being tied down, you know, for an hour or so during the night. You know, if the handsome young man she's serially monogamous with that week is into that sort of thing?

And what if he wants her to be the one doing the tying?
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Re: Miss Adventure

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:05 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 9:33 am MISS ADVENTURE (Patricia Cross)

Responsibility (uh, she has needs)- Hey, it just so happens many of the new generations that need training happen to be very good-looking men. What's wrong with that, right? It's not like SHE goes after THEM.
Responsibility (Being Tied Down)- The name says it all- Miss A is bored easily, always needs to find things to do, and generally doesn't stick with a relationship for more than a couple years- even a good one.
Reputation (Predatory Cougar)- From Patricia's perspective, she is merely a "serial monogamist" who dislikes being tied down. Though the fact that she's putting a hundred, yet frequently goes out with men much, MUCH younger than herself, gives her a bit of a reputation. Men are usually big fans, but women vary between "You GO girl!" and "Jesus, what a man-eating COUGAR!"
Does her aversion to being tied down apply to, you know, her being tied down, you know, for an hour or so during the night. You know, if the handsome young man she's serially monogamous with that week is into that sort of thing?

And what if he wants her to be the one doing the tying?
How DARE you sully my perfectly-innocent character by suggesting such FILTH, Ken!!
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Re: The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Legion of Liberty! Capt. Guts! Miss Adventure!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Shock wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:04 pm Shouldn't Miss Adventure have some kind of Immunity to Aging?
Oh right, I threw on a half-immunity to Mr. Meteor- I guess she should have the same.
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Re: El Torah

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 11:56 am
Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 6:59 am
EL TORAH (Terrence Howard)
So, he looks like Rhodey from the first Iron Man film?
Hah- I find I keep doing that- accidentally give super-characters the same of a real-life celebrity.
Fred Guardineer probably worked on his book at one point.
Dunno who that is. Looking him up, he seems to be Zatara's creator, but who else did he work on?
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Re: The Jabverse: An O.C. Thread (Legion of Liberty! Capt. Guts! Miss Adventure!)

Post by Shock »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 2:26 pm
Shock wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:04 pm Shouldn't Miss Adventure have some kind of Immunity to Aging?
Oh right, I threw on a half-immunity to Mr. Meteor- I guess she should have the same.
"MILF Power" Immunity 4 (Aging, Disease, Poison, Heat) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [2]
very subtle there ;}
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Re: El Torah

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 2:30 pm
Ken wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2017 11:56 am Fred Guardineer probably worked on his book at one point.
Dunno who that is. Looking him up, he seems to be Zatara's creator, but who else did he work on?
He did Tor, a tuxedo wearing magician hero (who spoke his spells backwards) for Quality Comics; Marvelo, a tuxedo and turban wearing magician hero for Columbia Comics; and Voodini, a tuxedo wearing magician hero for Prize Publications.

He did other characters, too, like Blue Tracer and the Mouthpiece, but he seemed to have a thing for Mandrake knock-offs like Zatara and Tor. Even ones he didn't create, like Quality's Merlin he ended up working on.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
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