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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Maelstrom's Minions

Post by Jabroniville »

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MAELSTROM'S MINIONS:
-Maelstrom's Minions are basically a Goon Squad of Inhumans (and possibly a Deviant in Gronk) who allied with Maelstrom on his quest to fight The Thing, Gorgon, Karnak & Stingray. All three were killed on Hydrobase, but cloned repeatedly for more evil stuff as a kind of recurring Jobber Force. After appearing in Two-In-One, their clones showed up in Roger Stern's Avengers, but they willingly gave up after losing all of their back-up clone bodies (I guess they have to body-hop to retain themselves). When they attacked Quasar in his solo book, they were witness to his losing against Maelstrom (the book's Big Bad), but were literally handwaved away by Sersi, who transformed them all into animals. Their final appearance, and their only one since the early 1990s, was in the most recent failed New Warriors book, hanging out in outer space and awaiting Maelstrom's return.

-Gronk is a sticky tough-guy, Helios is a Blaster/Scout, and Phobius scares people. So it's a pretty decent squad as far as varied powers & saves go (up-close fighting, ranged fighting and Will Saves), but they're beneath most regular heroes.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Gronk

Post by Jabroniville »

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Image

GRONK
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio & Ron Wilson
First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One #71 (Jan. 1981)
Role: Powerhouse
PL 9 (132)
STRENGTH
10 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Intimidation 8 (+8)

Advantages:
Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Terrigen Mist-Given Powers: Sticky Skin"
Snare 12 (Extras: Reaction +3) (Flaws: Touch Range) [60]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Sticky Skin +6 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +12, Fortitude +12, Will +3

Complications:
Responsibility (Maelstrom's Will)

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 60 / Defenses: 9 (132)

-Gronk's schtick is sticking to people and being strong & tough, but he has the least effect on any story, just being a big goon. Marvunapp theorizes that he is a Deviant, as apparently ONE of the Minions had to have been, and his big, ugly mug fits the "type".
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Helio

Post by Jabroniville »

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Image

HELIO
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio & Ron Wilson
First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One #71 (Jan. 1981)
Role: Scout
PL 9 (125)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Science) 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Perception 6 (+8)
Technology 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative 2, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Terrigen Mist-Given Powers: Air Control"
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) [18]
Immunity 1 (Vacuum) [1]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- High Winds) [2]

"Air-Quakes" Blast 9 (Extras: 30ft. Cylinder) (27) -- [29]
  • AE: "Vacuum" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (20)
  • AE: "Hard Air" Force Field 4 (4)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Vacuum +8 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Air-Quake +9 Area (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +13

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+8 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Responsibility (Maelstrom's Will)

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 9 (125)

-Helio has good Area-Effecting powers, but is a pretty minor nuisance- In the Avengers story featuring the Minions, he is easily defeated by Starfox's Emotion Control powers, thus leading the Avengers to Maelstrom's hide-out.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Phobius

Post by Jabroniville »

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Image

PHOBIUS
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio & Ron Wilson
First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One #71 (Jan. 1981)
Role: Interrogator
PL 9 (119)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Intimidation 7 (+10)
Perception 2 (+4)
Technology 1 (+3)

Advantages:
Startle, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Terrigen Mist-Given Powers: Fear Projection"
Affliction 9 (Will; Entranced/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) [36]
Immunity 5 (Emotion Effects) [5]

"Energy Whip" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [3]
Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Reach 2) (5 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Vacuum +8 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Air-Quake +9 Area (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +13

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Responsibility (Maelstrom's Will)

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 44 / Defenses: 11 (119)

-Phobius has the most characterization of Maelstrom's Minions, appearing to delight in mentally and physically torturing others. In Quasar, he whipped the hero nearly to death, and prevented Moondragon from helping her teammates with her telepathy. He also attacked Ghost Rider, but was himself finally brought low by the Psionic Powers of another- GR's Penance Stare left him helpless.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
sirjolt
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Man-Killer! Mr. Jip! Jamie Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom!)

Post by sirjolt »

That Avenger's Maelstrom arc was the first time I started buying and reading comics. An interesting time to start since many of the "core" Avenger's weren't present. No Hulk, no Thor, no Captain America, no Pym, and you have Iron Man but it's James Rhodes and he's on the west coast team.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Man-Killer! Mr. Jip! Jamie Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom!)

Post by Ares »

sirjolt wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 2:24 pm That Avenger's Maelstrom arc was the first time I started buying and reading comics. An interesting time to start since many of the "core" Avenger's weren't present. No Hulk, no Thor, no Captain America, no Pym, and you have Iron Man but it's James Rhodes and he's on the west coast team.
It's kind of interesting how the Justice League and Avengers of that era tend to look very different from what people feel those teams "should" look like. It's kind of weird how Tony Stark missed out on the Secret War, or how the Justice League that faced the Anti-Monitor was the Detroit League. Heck, we basically had an entire decade from the early 80s to the mid-90s where you'd never even have Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman on a Justice League team at the same time, let alone a Big Seven line-up. Heck, it was rare to have more than two members of the Big Seven on a League at any one time. This was the era of Split Teams, where you'd have the Justice League America and JL International / Europe, as well as Avengers East and Avengers West.

When the West Coast Avengers happened, Tony moved out West and Thor was an irregular member of the Avengers, leaving Captain America on the East Coast. You also saw writers like Roger Stern having Cap on the team while the Wasp or Monica Rambeau would be given the leadership position, even though it feels weird having anyone order Steve around.

That latter part actually caused some friction between Stern and Jim Shooter, who felt Cap needed to be returned to the leader position of the Avengers. Stern, who had introduced Monica as the new Captain Marvel and made her the leader (admittedly, making her a pretty blatant Creator's Pet) , was told to have Monica make some mistake as a leader and step down so Steve could resume leadership. Stern objected to the idea Monica should have to step down due to incompetence, and things sort of spiraled from there.

I'm sort of in the middle where Cap being team leader is just natural, but Monica was a solid character that didn't need to be turned incompetent to step down, just have her admit that she was still relatively new to heroing and Cap was the better choice. She could be the deputy leader who can step up when Steve isn't there and who can make any objections, similar to Wanda's role in Busiek's Avengers.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Tattooedman
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Man-Killer! Mr. Jip! Jamie Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom!)

Post by Tattooedman »

I always was a fan of the idea of Cap acting as the "field leader" when the Avengers were in a fight. I mean he's got how much experience & knowledge in fighting that it'd be a shame to waste it.

To me Cap is a much better leader in combat than he was as someone running the day to day operations of a group like the Avengers.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Man-Killer! Mr. Jip! Jamie Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom!)

Post by Ares »

Much as I disliked the show Avengers Assemble, a decent idea they played with was the idea of Steve and Tony being effectively co-leaders of the Avengers. Tony handled the administration side of the Avengers, the "business end" so to speak, while Steve handled training, tactics, kept everyone getting along, was the battlefield commander and was the moral compass. In an ideal situation, Steve would analyze a situation tactically, Tony would do so scientifically, they'd plan, Tony would describe exactly what needed to be done (we need to get X to Y to cause Z), Steve would prioritize objectives and come up with a plan on how to accomplish them.

At least that's how it would work in theory. In practice, Tony would just do whatever he wanted, fail to learn his lesson, and Cap would have to be the exasperated voice of reason. It worked the first time, maybe the second time, but by the third time Tony should either have learned his lesson or have gotten demoted. Since Tony never learned to play well with others, the team tended to always suffer.

But in a decent series, Cap as leader and Tony as administrator isn't a bad way to handle things.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Master Sniper

Post by Jabroniville »

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MASTER SNIPER (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Doug Moench & Bill Sienkiewicz
First Appearance: Moon Knight #17 (March 1982)
Role: Assassin
Group Affiliation: None
PL 8 (98)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Terrorist) 6 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+8)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Metal Gauntlet w/ Gun), Improved Critical (Guns), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 5

Equipment:
"Gauntlet" Damage +1 (1)
"Gun" Blast 6 (Feats: Increased Range 2) (14)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Gun +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Political Power)- As part of the Third World Army, Master Sniper wishes to gain power by playing both wings against each other.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (98)

-Master Sniper is a member of the "Third World Army", a paramilitary group made up of leftist and right-wing terrorists alike, all of whom deny their past allegiances and seek group power by playing both wings against the centrists. He was the right-hand man of the group's leader, Nimrod Strange, and his Deadshot-like "Wrist Gauntlet" allowed him to avoid detection for some time- he could snipe shots on people, then disappear without leaving a rifle behind, or having one visible on his person to passers-by. He was confronted by Moon Knight, but handily threw the hero off his back and shot him, nearly killing the guy! He nearly shoots Moon Knight again in a subsequent fight in that same issue, but the hero escapes down a chasm, then spoils Sniper's shot when he tries to kill the support team (Frenchie & Marlene). His missed bullet causes and avalanche, which buries him alive. He is strapped to a stretcher by issue's end, but two issues later it's revealed that he died.

-Master Sniper was a highly-capable fighter, nearly killing Moon Knight twice- he's prevented from finishing him off in the first case by the arrival of the support team; and in the second, he misses due to weather conditions and wind. He loses largely due to being outnumbered. Granted, this was a pretty new superhero he was fighting, but still.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Maggott

Post by Jabroniville »

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Image

MAGGOTT (Japheth)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Joe Madureira
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #345 (June 1997)
Role: The Worst X-Man Ever
Country of Origin: South Africa
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Generation-X
PL 8 (119)
STRENGTH
1/7 STAMINA 3/7 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 4 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Power Attack, Taunt

Powers:
Summon Minion 5 (Eany & Meany) (Extras: Active, Heroic +2, Horde, Multiple Minions, Continuous) (40) -- [41]
  • AE: "Power Boost" Enhanced Strength 6 (12), Enhanced Stamina 4 (8), Enhanced Advantages: Great Endurance (1) -- (21)
"Psychometry" Senses 8 (Precognition, Postcognition) (Flaws: Limited to Past & Future Events Of Area) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Boosted +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+7 Boosted), Fortitude +5 (+10 Boosted), Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Finding Magneto)- Though he fears Magneto and his methods, Japheth owes the man his life.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 11 (119)

EANY & MEANY
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Joe Madureira
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #345 (June 1997)
Role: Summoned Monsters
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Generation-X
PL 8 (63)- Minion Rank 5
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Close Combat (Bite) 3 (+9)
Intimidation 10 (+3 Size)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+9 Size)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Teamwork

Powers:
"Small Size" Shrinking 4 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [5]
(-1 Strength & Speed, +2 Defenses, +4 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

"Iron Skin" Protection 4 [4]
Speed 2 (4 mph) [2]
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
"Bite" Damage 7 (Feats: Improved Critical 2) (Extras: Penetrating 5) [14]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Bite +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +6, Fortitude +5, Will +2

Complications:
None

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 27 / Defenses: 13 (63)

-Wow, did Maggott ever suck. One of the fabled "new" X-Men, Lobdell and then-superstar-artist Joe Madureira teamed up to create a batch of newbs for the X-books, intending to create their own permanent footprint on the book's storied history. What they came up with.... was Marrow, Cecilia Reyes, and THIS piece of crap. Maggott was the worst of the new breed, having goofy-ass powers (SLUGS that came out of his STOMACH?), a weird appearance, and a stupid name. This meant that the character bombed right out of the gate, and was such an epic failure that he is, TO THIS DAY, famously considered the worst X-Man of all time.

-Maggott's backstory is that he's a South African child who went out into the wilderness to die, as his never-ending illness was going to bankrupt his family- instead, an exiled Magneto found the boy, and revealed his mutant powers- that his digestive tract was made up who two giant slugs that could devour almost anything. However, he soon abandoned Magneto's cause after watching the murderous way in which his philosophy was carried out (Magneto slaughtered a bunch of white soldiers for killing some blacks- including Maggott's own eldest brother- the horrified child fled). Now an adult, the boy searches for Magneto once more. The character bombing REALLY BADLY, even after this reveal, he was transferred to the Generation-X team, but he left that team after only a single issue on the book.

-Maggott was thus infamous- Wizard Magazine made him a running joke, and he was at the top of every "Worst X-Man Ever" list, owing to the sheer amount of fail inherent in his design, and the notion that a blue guy named "Maggott" with living maggots for a stomach was a worthy X-Man. He was so bad that he disappeared from comics ENTIRELY until modern times, where he popped up as one of many victims of the Neverland Ranch of Weapon-X. Where he died. Yes, he was basically just a faceless victim of this place that killed Diamond Lil and a couple of other side-characters Marvel wasn't using. He was resurrected by Selene's use of the Transmode Virus during Necrosha, and was curiously chosen to be one of the survivors of that Event Story... but only for background gags, like showing up at a Hellfire Club party, or for "every mutant ever" groupings, like Cyclops's "Million Mutant March".

-Despite having some pretty-good stats once he's Boosted, Maggott's only a PL 8, because he sucks. He's a short-lived X-Man, and is pretty clearly a low-level guy. Unusually, he can either Summon his Minions, or use his base powers, being a Container-ish set of Boost effects. Eany & Meany are pretty dangerous, but horrifically limited creatures- they're entirely focused around biting stuff and eating it, so Maggott can boost his powers. All in all, he kinda blows, and couldn't take on any kind of elite foe.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:09 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Meltdown

Post by Jabroniville »

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MELTDOWN I (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Walt & Louise Simonson & John J. Muth
First Appearance: Havok and Wolverine- Meltdown #2 (1988)
Role: Radioactive Villain

-Meltdown is the signature villain of a little-known Wolverine & Havok Limited Series from the late '80s (when Claremont had added Havok to his X-Men roster). He's an evil Russian who is trying to gain permanent radiation powers, and imagines that Havok can give him the "Jump-Start" needed. And so they set up a plot that gets Havok to "kill" Wolverine and fall for a secret agent named Scarlett, then arrange to have him go to a power plant on the verge of meltdown, hoping that he'll absorb the radiation. HOWEVER, Havok merely pretends he killed Logan- lying even to Scarlett, whom he's fallen for, because he's afraid of her being tortured for the truth. Meltdown, realizing that Havok loves Scarlett, executes her in front of him, hoping for that Jump-Start. However, Wolverine springs from hiding, shoving radiation-absorbing/neutralizing boron rods into Meltdown, who dissipates and seemingly dies. The day is thus saved.

-The character makes a surprise return in a 2012 Wolverine story featuring Logan & Elixir. Meltdown slowly reassembles himself in Russia, then heads to New York, absorbing life energy and sickening people as he goes. The troubled Elixir is convinced by Logan to heal the sick people they encounter, and Logan & Meltdown fight. In the end, Elixir transfers the sickness he's absorbed from dozens and dozens of people into Meltdown's body, and his prone form is left in a house as it burns down.

-Meltdown has minor-league Radiation Absorption powers, creating blasts with it. He can also absorb Life Force to sustain himself (Weaken).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Messiah (Kessler)

Post by Jabroniville »

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MESSIAH I (David Kessler)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Don Perlin
First Appearance: The Defenders #97 (July 1981)
Role: Fake Holy Man

-Messiah was a very "1970s" kind of character- giving a cynical eye to the fraudulent "holy men" of the 1960s and evoking a lot of '70s-style demonology and mysticism. Of course it was 1981, so J.M. DeMatteis was a bit late on this trend. David Kessler was a wannabe holy man who wanted to make a difference- spending 20 days in the Israeli desert hoping for a sign (after his charity work had amounted to little), he was visited by an angel and given healing powers. However, the "angel" was actually a demon in disguise! Unknowing, David went on his "Holy Mission", healing people and forming a group of followers.

-When the wife of the demon-hunting Devil-Slayer fell under his sway, Devil-Slayer summoned the Defenders to Israel. Defenders members Son of Satan & Gargoyle were mistaken for satanic minions (an honest mistake, really), and Messiah summoned a "host of angels" to fight them. However, as the battle drew on, David felt that violence wasn't the answer, even against evil beings. To his horror, though, he found that the angels no longer followed his commands. When Doctor Strange revealed the whole deception, a bereft David was thus taken over by the Demon entirely, fighting the heroes. However, at the last moment, David reasserted control, deliberately leaping onto Devil-Slayer's sword to end the infestation for good.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Mr. Jip! Jamie Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom! Maggott!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

The Roninarmy links on the first page also appear to be working properly again (ie. going to the right post).
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Ares
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Re: Messiah (Kessler)

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 3:10 am Image

MESSIAH I (David Kessler)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis & Don Perlin
First Appearance: The Defenders #97 (July 1981)
Role: Fake Holy Man

-Messiah was a very "1970s" kind of character- giving a cynical eye to the fraudulent "holy men" of the 1960s and evoking a lot of '70s-style demonology and mysticism. Of course it was 1981, so J.M. DeMatteis was a bit late on this trend. David Kessler was a wannabe holy man who wanted to make a difference- spending 20 days in the Israeli desert hoping for a sign (after his charity work had amounted to little), he was visited by an angel and given healing powers. However, the "angel" was actually a demon in disguise! Unknowing, David went on his "Holy Mission", healing people and forming a group of followers.

-When the wife of the demon-hunting Devil-Slayer fell under his sway, Devil-Slayer summoned the Defenders to Israel. Defenders members Son of Satan & Gargoyle were mistaken for satanic minions (an honest mistake, really), and Messiah summoned a "host of angels" to fight them. However, as the battle drew on, David felt that violence wasn't the answer, even against evil beings. To his horror, though, he found that the angels no longer followed his commands. When Doctor Strange revealed the whole deception, a bereft David was thus taken over by the Demon entirely, fighting the heroes. However, at the last moment, David reasserted control, deliberately leaping onto Devil-Slayer's sword to end the infestation for good.
Seeing who this guy's creator is, I'm not surprised at all by the story. DeMatteis likes to incorporate his own brand of spirituality into his stories, and frequently goes for books like Dr. Fate and the Spectre that let him explore such things.

That said, this whole story is weird to me for two reasons.

#1: The story is apparently about fraudulent holy men, faith healers and the like, people that were generally con-men who took advantage of other people's faith or desperation, and thus rightfully deserved to be exposed, mocked and made fun of. They were the Scientologists of their day, just more Carnival and less Corporate.

Yet David really isn't any of those things: he's someone who is sincerely religious who experiences what most people would consider to be a spiritual event and gains legit power from it. I mean, what appeared to be an angle appeared before him and gave him the power to heal people. You can forgive him for being taken in by that, even in the Marvel Universe.

And then when the ruse is exposed, David denounces the demons and makes a sacrifice to save the day. So David was a legitimately good person tricked by literal demons doing a very good angel impression. That's a far cry from the guys who would set up tents and have actors planted in the audience to be miraculously healed by their power.


#2: It again shows the weird position of Marvel Comics where pretty much every religion and mythology is shown to be true except for the Abrahamic / Judeo-Christian religions. Now, that isn't technically true, since Mose has made appearances in the comics and we occasionally see angels here and there, the occasional glimpse of Heaven, but they're exceedingly minor compared to how frequently we see Demons and Hell, the way Marvel frequently plays coy with the idea of Satan being real or not, etc. It's just one of those awkward things that come about when you have a shared universe that initially started as just whatever ideas you came up with and which sold at the time. Thor and Hercules have actually met Shiva, you've got Native American magic shown to be an actual thing, being a Shinto or Daoist can give you superpowers, the Dream Time is an actual place, New York has been invaded by Asgard and Hell more than once each, and yet ironically the most well known Catholic superhero in Marvel dresses up in a devil costume.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Mr. Jip! Jamie Madrox! Marada! Maelstrom! Maggott!)

Post by Jabroniville »

KorokoMystia wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 3:28 am The Roninarmy links on the first page also appear to be working properly again (ie. going to the right post).
Oh thank god. That would have taken an ETERNITY to fix.
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