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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KorokoMystia
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Soldiers of Misfortune! Heavy Mettle! Slapstick Foes!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

M4C8 wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 8:57 pm Surf did actually appear last year in the Major X title, it was the typical terrible Liefield book where the title character is a mutant soldier who, from what I rememeber isn't shown using his powers. I honetly can't rememebr if the Surf team that the heroes fought against were the 616 version or not (I can't really get to the issues at the moment to check)

It's funny how you mentioned the Atlantis Attacks storyline faltering because it's getting a 30th anniversary mini-series, I think it's Atlantis VS the current 'All Asian' Agents of Atlas team.
I suppose it's not surprising that Liefeld would reuse his own guys again. But wow, he's STILL doing the "Guy with Gun and maybe some token Mutant powers" thing?
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M4C8
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Soldiers of Misfortune! Heavy Mettle! Slapstick Foes!)

Post by M4C8 »

KorokoMystia wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 9:31 pm
M4C8 wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 8:57 pm Surf did actually appear last year in the Major X title, it was the typical terrible Liefield book where the title character is a mutant soldier who, from what I rememeber isn't shown using his powers. I honetly can't rememebr if the Surf team that the heroes fought against were the 616 version or not (I can't really get to the issues at the moment to check)

It's funny how you mentioned the Atlantis Attacks storyline faltering because it's getting a 30th anniversary mini-series, I think it's Atlantis VS the current 'All Asian' Agents of Atlas team.
I suppose it's not surprising that Liefeld would reuse his own guys again. But wow, he's STILL doing the "Guy with Gun and maybe some token Mutant powers" thing?
Yeah, the title character is the son of Cable and Storm from yet another future timeline.
'A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it'
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Soldiers of Misfortune! Heavy Mettle! Slapstick Foes!)

Post by Jabroniville »

M4C8 wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 8:57 pm Surf did actually appear last year in the Major X title, it was the typical terrible Liefield book where the title character is a mutant soldier who, from what I rememeber isn't shown using his powers. I honetly can't rememebr if the Surf team that the heroes fought against were the 616 version or not (I can't really get to the issues at the moment to check)

It's funny how you mentioned the Atlantis Attacks storyline faltering because it's getting a 30th anniversary mini-series, I think it's Atlantis VS the current 'All Asian' Agents of Atlas team.
WHAT?!? Seriously? Damn, Marvunapp missed that, even! i guess if it's THAT recent, maybe they'd miss it.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Soldiers of Misfortune! Heavy Mettle! Slapstick Foes!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Okay, so this largely kinda/sorta the end of the New Warriors set. What's gonna be next is a handful of random "Addendums" to The List (ie. names I just sorta found), followed by a set of DARKHAWK Builds, because he was a New Warrior and I found a handful of his solo baddies (yes, he actually had a few). Plus I'll note the Fraternity of Raptors and some stuff surrounding that.
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Biohazard (Amorphous Entity)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

BIOHAZARD I
Created By:
Dwayne McDuffie, Gregory Wright & Jackson Guice
First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents #62 (1990)
Role: Self-Building Living Brain
PL 9 (128)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS -2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Intimidation 10 (+8)
Stealth 6 (+3 Size)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Startle

Powers:
Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]

"Amorphous Body"
Immunity 20 (Bludgeoning Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]
Morph 3 (Multiple Living Forms) [15]

"Consume Others"
Weaken Stamina 10 (Linked to Unarmed Damage) [10]
Variable 6 (Skills & Advantages) (Flaws: Limited to Those of Consumed Victims -2) [30]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage & +10 Weaken, DC 23 & 20)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Finding Memories)- Biohazard has been left with incomplete memories of who or what it is. Being that it was created from John Kelly's discarded brain, it thinks that finding Kelly, and also Deathlok (not realizing that it's no longer Kelly) is the secret to completing the knowledge of what it is.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 72 / Defenses: 14 (128)

-A creature with a bizarre origin story, the first Biohazard is actually the living brain of John Kelly, the second Deathlok! When Kelly tried to resist his commands, the computer inside his cyborg body electrocuted his brain. It was removed and experimented on by a random scientist, who threw it in the trash when it failed to self-replicate with nanotechnology. However, his experiments actually WORKED- but on a delay. The brain recovered itself and came to life, first absorbing whatever organic materials it came into contact with at the dump, but finally killing a stray cat, the dump's security guard, and other people, absorbing their memories and skills along the way, all in a mission to absorb Deathlok's brain, as it figured (through weak memories) that 'Lock was responsible for his situation.

-It eventually found the corpse of Hansen, the scientist who had experimented on him in the first place, and actually regrew his body within Biohazard himself! Spitting out the resurrected scientist, Biohazard went inert (in an empty skin) while Hansen confronted the new Deathlok (Michael Collins), at first to helpfully describe the origins of Biohazard... and then to suddenly attack, the Biohazard virus now active inside himself! He and Deathlok fought in Collins' family home, and he nearly killed Collins' wife, but him and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Angstrom in Mandroid Armor corralled him into an Adamantium container. However, at this point the ORIGINAL Biohazard body had awoken, coming out of "hibernation" and attacking the family of John Kelly- Deathlok and Angstrom came to the rescue. They were unable to hold the monster back, however, as it was immune to most attacks and was too big to be contained. Ultimately, Deathlok tricked Biohazard into lowering its guard, then ripped Kelly's brain out of the heap of organics that was its body, throwing THAT into the Adamantium Container- Biohazard dropped dead as a result, now having nothing animating it.

-This is an INSANE amount of convoluted writing I needed to do to describe a monster that was built up for a few issues and then got killed fairly easily. Jesus. Like, how did McDuffie & Wright come up with all this nonsense about a brain wanting to complete itself by absorbing the previous Deathlok, thus randomly involving the new one because its memories were F'd up- seriously.

-Biohazard is an extremely strong, hard-to-kill amorphous creature with a dangerous touch, but little in the way of skills or advantages... unless it absorbs some. It's deadly touch means it's all for the best that the first creature is dead.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Sep 05, 2022 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ares
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Re: S.U.R.F.

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:10 am Image
Image

S.U.R.F.
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: The New Mutants Annual #5 (1989)
Role: Forgotten Characters, Atlantean Defenders
These guys have to have some of the laziest character designs ever. I know the unique skin tones can allow for a lot, they don't really look interesting at all. One guy's outfit is basically just some tight pants and some suspenders. He looks like some hair metal band wanna-be. He just lucked out into having the best power of the bunch, as water control for a water breather is HUGE.

Shark Fin is just a guy in a speedo without the original look of guys like Ben Grimm or the obvious appeal of someone like Namor.

And Eel just sucks. He never even really looks like he stretches, he just flattens himself out into this big carpet and wraps around stuff. How these guys gave the West Coast Avengers any trouble I'll never know.

It is worth mentioning that the issue with the Avengers actually portrayed the notion of the animals being held in captivity as fairly nuanced. The battle ended when it was made clear that the Avengers didn't want to hurt the animals either. The Avengers made the reasonable point that the animals are safe, at no risk to predators or poachers, well fed, cared for, etc. SURF countered that the animals were also forced to perform for food, that it could be considered cruel and demeaning. The Avengers had no easy response to that and looked troubled. But the issue also ended with a Chinese ship targeting whales for poaching, making the realities clear.

It's kind of a tricky issue, as I understand where animal rights activists would consider it cruel and demeaning to take an animal from its natural habitat and force it to perform for food. Animal cruelty got circuses into a lot of trouble, after all. But at the same time, if the animal is safe from predators, gets well fed and has care and companionship, there's every chance it might prefer it's situation. It's one thing to talk about the freedom and wonders of nature when you're the apex species on the planet and can get food by walking a block to the nearest MacDonalds. It's another when you're an animal in the food chain where you could starve or get eaten on any given day.

One instance where Aquaman would come in handy.
"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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greycrusader
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Soldiers of Misfortune! Heavy Mettle! Slapstick Foes!)

Post by greycrusader »

Pride of Baghdad actually does the best treatment I've ever read of how (sentient) animals might view humane captivity within a (humane) zoo habitat, instead of life in the wild.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_Baghdad
Jabroniville
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Firebolt (Sloan)

Post by Jabroniville »

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FIREBOLT I (Anthony Sloan)
Created By:
Archie Goodwin, Jim Owlsley (Christopher Priest) & Greg LaRoque
First Appearance: Power Man & Iron Fist #108 (Aug. 1984)
Role: One-Off Villain

-The first Firebolt, Anthony Sloan, was a mutant whose religious nutjob father beat him and his sister if they ever showed their gifts, believing them a tool of Satan. One day, when attempting to save his sister Rebecca from their father, Anthony accidentally incinerated him and badly injured himself from the flames. Eventually recovering a year later, he was driven insane by what he'd done, and adopted his father's religious conviction as a result. He attempted to burn down "Slime Street" (Times Square, which his father in particular blamed for the moral degradation of society), but was chased off by Iron Fist. A con-man soon found him and led him to burn down only particular buildings of his choosing (ones he owned and could collect insurance money on)- when confronted by Luke Cage & Iron Fist, he attacked, but pushed his powers too far when Luke was resistant to them- the resulting conflagration likely killed both Firebolt and his con-man partner. His last mention was in that Initiative bio-book where he and 900 other nobodies were "considered for Initiative recruitment", which means that the writer probably forgot he was A) a nujob, and B) dead.

-Firebolt had semi-powerful bolts of fire, but was notably not immune to the resulting flames, and looked it (he was a lumpy, hairless mess). There's a reason most Fire Guys buy up points in Immunity, you see.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Sep 05, 2022 6:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Firebolt (Leonard)

Post by Jabroniville »

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FIREBOLT II (Cameron Leonard)
Created By:
Len Kaminski & Greg Capullo
First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes #3 (Sept. 1990)
Role: One-Off Villain

-The second Firebolt was a guy who infiltrated Project: PEGASUS on behalf of Roxxon Oil (the evil oil conglomerate), and staged an accident and then "ran in to help" The Blue Shield, who was the star of this particular anthology's story. When he was supsected of sabotage by another PP agent, he attacked her- the Blue Shield fought back, and not only grappled the villain, but resisted the incredible plasma surge he created- Firebolt was incinerated by his own powers. A pretty stupid way to go, all in all. And weirdly, both Firebolts were responsible for their own deaths this way.

-Firebolt was a bog-standard Blaster villain, and presumably also a good liar, but he was limited and not even immune to his own powers going out of control!
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Soldiers of Misfortune! Heavy Mettle! Slapstick Foes!)

Post by Jabroniville »

greycrusader wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 4:39 am Pride of Baghdad actually does the best treatment I've ever read of how (sentient) animals might view humane captivity within a (humane) zoo habitat, instead of life in the wild.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_Baghdad
Oh yeah, that was a hell of a piece of business. The elder lioness kind of being the experienced, demanding one, the male being "too fat to hunt" and feeling ashamed over it, yet was the only one who could have defeated the captive bear- it was pretty intense.
Jabroniville
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Future Man

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

FUTURE MAN
Created By:
Otto Binder & Al Avison
First Appearance: All-Winners Comics #21 (Winter 1946)
Role: Future Villain
Group Affiliations: The men of the future
PL 8 (155)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 1 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+12)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 8 (+14)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 10 (Time Machine, "Germ Bomb", Atomic Fire, etc.), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Evolved Future Man Physiology"
Illusion 8 (All Senses) (Flaws: Mental) (32) -- [35]
  • AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 8 (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (24)
  • AE: "Telepathy" Mind-Reading 4 & Communication (Mental) 2 (16)
  • AE: "Force Blasts" Blast 8 (Feats: Indirect 4- From Wherever He Can Perceive) (20)
"Astral Projection" Remote Sensing 5 (Vision, Hearing & Touch) (Feats: Subtle 2) [22]
Flight 4 (30 mph) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Force Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Mind-Reading -- (+4 Mind-Reading, DC 14)
Illusion -- (+8 Illusion, DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Conquering The Past)- Future Man desires to conquer the past for his people, who now live in the wasteland of Earth's future.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 65 / Defenses: 13 (155)

-The goofy, long-nosed villain "Future Man" hails from the Golden Age of Timely Comics, being a guy from the far future- one where humans have evolved tremendous psionic powers, but also one that's been turned into a wasteland, with all the oceans having dried up. Charged with conquering the past so that his people can expand there, he of course chooses a time with super-heroes in it. Appearing in the past, he allies with the crimeboss Madame Death and escapes capture by Captain America & Bucky (retroactively, this is the Jeff Mace & Fredrick Davis team, as the real heroes were in suspended animation at the time) twice, then avoided The Whizzer in South American when he attempted to use a paralysis device to slow down everyone on that continent. Miss America stops his attempts to raise an invincible army in Egypt, the Sub-Mariner stops his attempts to flood China, and the Human Torch & Toro stop his forest fire in Canada- every time, the villain manages to escape because only his "Astral Form" was present. Obviously, these were all "solo tales" combined into a final later adventure- and all take place on the soil of former Allied nations.

-Finally, he is stopped when he & Madame Death attempt to escape to the far future, and are confronted by the entire All-Winners Squad. While the other heroes distract him, Captain America reverses the co-ordinates on his time ship, sending both villains to the distant past, with no way of returning.

-The pair returned in the 70th anniversary of the All-Winners Squad, Future Man having used the last of his strength fixing his time machine in the past- he dies of a disease contracted there, and psionically bequeaths all his powers and memories to Madame Death, who by this point loves him. She goes back to 1946 to confront the heroes, but herself dies.

-Future Man has an annoying number of powers, the most PC-infuriating being the "HAHA- it was actually just my ASTRAL FORM all along!" trick. Like, he manages to lose several times, but escapes because he was never really there, and then his powers all work at this odd Perception-Ranged level.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:20 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Madame Death

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

MADAME DEATH (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Otto Binder & Al Avison
First Appearance: All-Winners Comics #21 (Winter 1946)
Role: Crime-Boss, Femme Fatale

-Future Man's powerless human partner on Earth, she's there for... I dunno, faps? She's wearing an evening gown and looks like any number of Femme Fatales, but is really just there to be Future Man's human buddy as he goes about his schemes. She's trapped in the past with Future Man, and is never seen again... until 70 years later, when she is brought back- it's revealed that Future Man has died and that the two were in love- he bequeaths his powers and memories to her, giving her great power and a desire for revenge. Their time machine fixed, she goes back to 1946 to kill the All-Winners Squad- she raised an army of the undead (including facsimiles of Cap & Bucky, as the writer knew they couldn't have been the originals in the 1946 story- the "real" Cap didn't see the end of the war- this was more convincing to the '46 heroes, who would have known that). She's stopped by Namor, and reveals her backstory and why she's there- she then activates a huge blast in her ship, which the heroes narrowly avoid. Madame Death dies in the fiery conflagration, happy with the knowledge that her ACTUAL plan has now been carried out- she and the Future Man are now joined forever in death.

-Madame Death is a one-off Crime-Boss archetype who later gains 65 points of Future Man's powers.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Futurist

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE FUTURIST (Randolph James)
Created By:
Marv Wolfman & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Fantastic Four #215 (Feb. 1979)
Role: Evolved Character

-The Futurist hails from a Fantastic Four issue which reveals Randolph as a schoolmate of Reed Richards- initially a mousy scientist, he grew embittered by the death of his wife, and began to ignore various safety precautions and was warned off by his friend, Reed. Aware of the irony years later, given that Reed himself had later failed to do so, creating his team's powers. In the present time, Randolph met the FF, but one of his safety controls broke down, so when he was beaten and bloodied by a gang of thugs who wanted his stuff, he used a precaution-less machine to "evolve" himself, becoming The Futurist, a large-headed, alien-looking man. He transformed the thugs into rats.

-In the following issue, The Futurist floats towards the FF's headquarters, and is recruited by Blastaar, who was active in the same previous issue (he's why the FF couldn't go back to save Randolph). The two defeat the FF handily, but when the Futurist detects Blastaar's evil intents telepathically, he allows young Franklin Richards to use his powers to exile Blastaar back to the Negative Zone. Now free of the bonds of humanity, the Futurist decides to explore unknown space, and departs.

-And WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT, the Futurist ends up trapped in the Stranger's laboratory world, alongside 9,000 other forgotten characters, because Mark Gruenwald is insane. They were sprung by the Overmind and told to attack the Stranger, but instead the prisoners left.

-The Futurist has numerous powers, including Force Blasts, Sleep Beams, Transformation (humans to animals), Telekinesis, Flight and probably more. With only a single real appearance in a fight, determining his exact levels are difficult, but he's likely at least PL 10-11.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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The Drug Lords

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE DRUG LORDS
Created By:
George Caragonne & Coleen Doran
First Appearance: Captain America Goes To War Against Drugs #2 (1994)
Role: Drug-Loving Malcontents

-haha, now THIS is the kind of nonsense I love about those "Free Giveaway" comics that had Public Awareness Messages for kids- a gang of drug addicts given ALIEN DRUGS and super-powers, thus having to fight super-heroes FOR DRUGS, as the aliens plot to conquer Earth by making everyong drug addicts. It's such total nonsense and garbles the issue into some weird inhuman one. The Teen Titans did this a whole lot better by showing actual human beings suffering with drug addiction, having received drugs from other human beings. And they made them CHILDREN, so the story would be extra-relateable. Now here...

-So the Drug Lords were four drug addicts chosen by the alien "Tzin", who gave them powers with a Mutational Generator and then had them hooked on their special pain-killing drugs, ensuring that the gang would be dependent on them. However, the Drug Lords's dealing gains the attention of Captain America and the 1991-era New Warriors (despite this being a 1994 book, it's clearly got the trappings of this era), who follow them. The villains and their Tzin commander escape, and plot to kill a random person who is said to have "great potential" to benefit humanity, but she's a friend of Silhouette's, who cons the Tzin into thinking she's bought their "we can fix your crippled legs with our M-Generator" plan, and she & Cap get teleported to their base. The pain-killing drugs are blown up on the ship, causing the Drug Lords to turn against the Tzin- Cap & Sil teleport back down to Earth to avoid the fight, and the ship blows up, killing everyone aboard. So, uh, don't to drugs, kids... or the aliens might conquer Earth! THAT'S why drugs are bad!

-The art actually looks very solid here for a 1994 book, but the writer unfortunately died only a short time after writing the thing- I've never heard of either of them, however.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
greycrusader
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Heavy Mettle! Slapstick Foes! Future Man!)

Post by greycrusader »

I didn't recognize either of their names either, so I did a search. Colleen Doran is apparently a top-flight illustrator for comics (mostly non-superhero in the last fifteen years or so,doing a lot of OGN and indie work) and occasional writer. She's worked for such big names as Neil Gaiman.

George Caragonne was likewise considered a rising comics talent, known for his prolific work rate-he was churning out scripts for 1-2 monthly comics per month while holding down a full time editorial job outside comics. He left Marvel to work for Jim Shooter at Valiant, and then did his own licensed book using the T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents. He was still pushing the latter project when he took over as an editor and line developer for Penthouse's erotic comics. Unfortunately, part of his work rate was due to his addiction to stimulants; diet drugs and then later a full-blown cocaine habit, to the point of disappearing for days on benders. He got heavily in debt, owed money to the wrong people, and at 29 committed suicide by leaping off the ledge of a skyscraper. Considered a major loss of talent by many at the time.
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