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

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Jabroniville
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Jack of Hearts

Post by Jabroniville »

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Oh god, my wrist hurts with sympathy for anyone who ever had to draw that damn thing.

JACK OF HEARTS (Jack Hart)
Created By:
Bill Mantlo & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu #22 (March 1976)
Role: Forgotten Character, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Avengers
Avengers Grade: D-Level
PL 10 (176)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Aerobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat 1 (+7)
Deception 1 (+1)
Expertise (Poetry) 3 (+7)
Expertise (Space Adventurer) 4 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 2 (+2)
Ranged Attack (Zero Energy) 4 (+9)
Technology 3 (+7)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Improved Critical (Zero Energy), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Heat Aura" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (30) -- [31]
  • AE: "Zero Energy" Blast 11 (Feats: Split, Penetrating 6) (29)
Flight 11 (4,000 mph) [22]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]

"Scanalyzer Imprint on Brain"
Quickness 6 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Tasks) [3]
Enhanced Advantages 1: Eidetic Memory [1]

"Containment Suit" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Protection 5 (Extras: Impervious 9) (14 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Zero Energy +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Aura +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+9 Containment Suit), Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility- Jack wants to be a true hero, and has sought advice from others in becoming just that. Previously, he was obsessed with revenge over his father's death.
Enemy (Contraxians)- The alien race his mother came from often spies on him and tries to attack him.
Responsibility (Power)- Jack's Zero Energy will leak out indiscriminately if he is not wearing his Containment Suit. If it is damaged, he may explode.
Relationship (Marcy Kane, Ganymede, Harper)
Responsibility (Uncontrolled Power)- Jack often has trouble using his massive powers- he can go up to PL 12 in this manner, but his stats mostly become Uncontrolled and always at maximum level.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 83 / Defenses: 18 (176)

-Jack of Hearts is one of the weirder Avengers, coming from Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu of all books, becoming a black & white hero for a bit before joining the Marvel Universe proper, and becoming one of their forgotten "Space Guys", featuring a distinctive, ultra-garish, overly-detailed costume from Hell. He's the son of a scientist and an alien, getting mixed up with some "Zero Fluid" that gave him powers. The evil "Corporation" killed his father, and he swore vengeance, interacting with guys like the Sons of the Tiger & Hulk. A big recurring element was the danger of his powers- he was constantly afraid of killing everyone around him. Jack killed the man who slew his father, and teamed up with Iron Man a few times (and wouldn't ya know it that Bill Mantlo, who created Jack, was writing Iron Man at the time?). He teamed up with a few more heroes as a recurring character, and even found his mother's people (the Contraxians) and restarted their sun in his own 1985 Limited Series, but soon vanished into Comics Limbo.

-Naturally, Mark Gruenwald would remember he existed, and he got involved with some Quasar-related stuff (you'll NEVER GUESS which Cosmic Being's homeworld he was trapped upon!). After that, it was some random Cosmic-based stuff- his suit was breached by The Presence and he exploded, then reformed and was controlled by Moondragon into fighting Kismet (a Cosmic Cube given sentience). The Silver Surfer aided him in getting a new containment suit, and they shared a couple adventures- he fell for a woman named Ganymede, but she didn't share his feelings.

-The big thing I remember about Jack of Hearts was a ton of online fanboys begging for his return during the early 2000s, which always weirded me out (damn, I could have called that "Jack of Hearts Syndrome"), and when he FINALLY came back and joined the Avengers (after briefly appearing in Avengers Infinity by Roger Stern as a background character), they spent all of a year with him before randomly killing him off and having him blow up the mansion during the opening salvo of Avengers Disassembled. His powers had grown even further out of control, and so he committed suicide rather than be trapped in a containment room 24/7- he grabbed a child-killer who had abducted Cassie Lang and flew him into space, exploding and killing both of them. He suddenly reappeared as a controlled "zombie", exploding once more and killing Scott Lang and destroying half of Avengers Mansion. Alright then.

-HOWEVER, after many years on the shelf, Jack returned in a Marvel Zombies thing- scientists at Project: Pegasus found a source of Zero-Point Energy, hoping to use it to fight the zombie incursion, and the source turned out to be a resurrected Jack of Hearts. He has not appeared much since, despite the minor batch of fans he'd amassed over the years- Kurt Busiek was apparently one of them, hence his Avengers run, but clearly Bendis and others felt he was completely disposable.

-A very strong hero, Jack has a ton of power, but little in the way of depth. He's your standard Blaster/Area-Effect guy, just at a higher level than most of the run-of-the-mill types. The fact that he can survive unaided in space jumps his cost up a lot, in addition to his high level of power. Despite this, he's still only PL 10- I've never seen any evidence that paints him as a major weapon of destruction. He's a half-decent blaster, but his lack of control over his power leaves him without Improved Aim or Precise Shot, like most should have.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Wonder Man! Tigra! Swordsman! Mantis!)

Post by greycrusader »

Jack of Hearts is a lot like the way more recent character Gravity in some ways-both were frequently SAID to be potentially quite powerful, and got to hang with major league heroes for short runs, but never really did anything too impressive (or at least be involved in more stories, I should say). Its sort of clear sometimes when Marvel really thinks/hopes a character will catch on, but when fans don't respond immediately, they just sort of get abandoned to flounder about as a random guest star/backgrounder.

All my best.
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Ken
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Wonder Man! Tigra! Swordsman! Mantis!)

Post by Ken »

Some more pictures of Mantis...
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Goldar
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Wonder Man! Tigra! Swordsman! Mantis!)

Post by Goldar »

Ken wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 6:28 am Some more pictures of Mantis...
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This One likes seeing the Other One in that dimension that No One must say! :lol:

However, I Willow thank you for posting this, kind sir! 8-)
Jabroniville
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Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)

Post by Jabroniville »

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Behold: Proof that comic book MALES can have mobile spines, too!

CAPTAIN MARVEL I (Mar-Vell)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Gene Colan
First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Dec. 1967)
Role: Space Hero, Iconic Death Guy
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The Titanian Eternals
Avengers Grade: N/A (never really a member- honorary addition)
PL 11 (208)
STRENGTH
5/9 STAMINA 5/9 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3/6 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Aerobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 3 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Expertise (Alien Lore) 6 (+9)
Expertise (Kree Soldier) 7 (+10)
Insight 4 (+7, +10 Bands)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Perception 8 (+11, +14 Bands)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Photon Blasts) 2 (+11)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 8 (+12)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blasts), Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"The Protector of the Universe"
Senses 11 (Cosmic Awareness- May ask the GM a single question with an HP, Danger Sense, Counters Concealment 2, Illusion 2, Obscure 5) [11]

"Nega-Bands" (Flaws: Removable) [64]
Enhanced Strength 4 (8)
Enhanced Stamina 4 (8)
Enhanced Awareness 3 (6)
Flight 13 (16,000 mph) (26)
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) (4)
Immunity 6 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (6)
Blast 11 (Feats: Split, Affects Insubstantial) (24)
-- (79 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+9 Damage, DC 20)
Nega-Bands Unarmed +11 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Nega-Blasts +11 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5 (+9 Bands), Fortitude +7 (+11 Bands), Will +10

Complications:
Enemy (The Kree Empire, The Skrulls, Thanos)- The Skrulls consider him their GREATEST enemy. Thanos thinks the same of Mar-Vell & Adam Warlock.
Relationship (Elysius)- Mar-Vell & Elysius were totally sleeping together, and she ended up having a ton of clone-babies with him after he died. Because she's weird.
Relationship (Rick Jones)- They didn't get along for years (Rick is kind of an ass), but eventually became best buddies.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 58--29 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 75 / Defenses: 18 (208)

The Only Guy Who (Mostly) Stays Dead:
-Captain Marvel has a pretty funny origin- Fawcett owned the rights to the Fawcett Comics Billy "Captain Marvel" Batson, but let the trademark lapse before DC bought the rights to the character. Marvel, naturally, was like "Hey, Marvel is LITERALLY OUR NAME" and immediately snapped up the rights by creating their own "Captain Marvel" and writing comics about him. They paid off a small publisher who had a similar idea of re-using the name, and were off to the races. And for the past fifty frickin' years, they've been absolute chodes to DC about it, refusing to let the trademark lapse to the point where DC couldn't even name any books Captain Marvel, thus sticking Billy Batson with the "Shazam" name, since all his books were called that anyhow. And now the character is by far most-remembered for DYING, as The Death of Captain Marvel has gone on to become just legendary enough (and, importantly, the character low-selling enough, despite numerous attempts to revamp him) that Marvel let him stay dead.

Mar-Vell- Enemy Alien Turned Good:
-Captain Mar-Vell was a Kree soldier sent to spy on the Earth on behalf of his people. Since his job was to observe, he sometimes donned his space costume and fought in order to protect his subjects, whom he later grew to admire. A recurring thing was made of his douchey commanding officer, Colonel Yon-Rogg, and the criminal past of the man whose identity he had stolen (Walter Lawson). The Stan Lee-written book was failing, and Roy Thomas took over, leading to a reboot:

-Eventually sentenced to death for aiding humanity one too many times, Mar-Vell escapes and is recruited by Ronan the Accuser on a mission to kill the Supreme Intelligence- this gives him further powers and a new costume (designer Gene Colan says he hates the original Mar-Vell look; the new one was designed by Gil Kane and Michelle Robinson, the colorist), but their attempt fails and he ends up on Earth. And then a blast of radiation traps him in the Negative Zone, and the Intelligence manipulates him into getting himself and Rick Jones into telepathic contact with each other- the "Nega-Bands" Jones is tricked into wearing cause them to switch places- if Jones clangs the bands together, he appears in the Negative Zone while Mar-Vell interacts with Earth. This sets up a new "status quo" in the book- the perennial sidekick and the Kree hero arguing with each other and swapping places.

Mar-Vell- '70s Hero With A Doom Patrol Fandom:
-Mar-Vell was finally freed in the 1970s, and was a big part of the Kree/Skrull War in the pages of The Avengers, but again gets merged with Rick. Now written by Jim Starlin, he gets rebooted AGAIN- Mar-Vell meets the Eternals of Titan, and allies with Eros & Mentor against their mad relative, Thanos- a death-worshipper. Mar-Vell is soon turned into the "Protector of the Universe" by the Cosmic entity known as Eon, gaining "Cosmic Awareness" and other abilities. He shatters the Cosmic Cube that Thanos was using to become omnipotent, defeating the villain. He would meet many jobber villains over the years, including a fateful encounter with Nitro that would see him exposed to nerve gas. Starlin's run began in 1973, and earned him a cult following alongside Adam Warlock for their mind-bending (ie. drug-infused) storylines, but aside from earning a spin-off in the Ms. Marvel book in 1977, it didn't really do that well- "Cult Following" really just means "Low Sales, But Some People REALLY Like It". Really, most of what I remember is his distinctive, big "mop" of Seventies Hair, a beautiful, flowing mane of distinctly-colored locks- as the character didn't make it far out of that decade, he's since become somewhat iconic to it.

The Death of Captain Marvel:
-1982 would see the character's demise- that battle with Nitro had in fact given him cancer, and the man was dying. And in a very emotional, draining Graphic Novel (the first in a new line of Marvel books), he would discover his prognosis, confess it to his beloved Eternal lover, be mourned by his friends, and more. There's several great moments throughout, such as Rick Jones yelling at the smartest men in the world for never having bothered to try and cure cancer (some of them are a bit shamed by this). Spider-Man getting so uncomfortable with the notion of sitting around waiting for someone to die that he has to get up and bail. The part I'll always remember is the Skrull Ambassador coming in and awarding Mar-Vell the SKRULL MEDAL OF VALOR, despite being an enemy... because he was their GREATEST enemy. Finally, Mar-Vell crosses over, with his old enemy Thanos greeting him and giving him one last battle- a mark of respect, as even Thanos doesn't want his foe to just fade away.

-This book, with its dramatic "Madonna & Christ" pose, proved to be popular enough that the death STUCK- Marvel would reintroduced various Captains Marvel over the years for trademark purposes (you have to produce a book by that title every once in a while or DC will earn the right again, I think), but Mar-Vell would stay dead. Though you'd see his legacies fairly often. I mean, embarrassingly-so. Elysius was shown to freeze his sperm or whatever, producing not one, but TWO super-aged offspring (my least-favorite comic book trope), the '90s Captain Marvel Genis-Vell, and his sister Phyla-Vell in the 2000s. Oh, and Hulkling of the Young Avengers was revealed to be the offspring of himself and the Skrull Princess.

-And so Captain Marvel ends up having more importance in death than he ever really had in life- the Captain Marvel feature was always too low-selling, despite Starlin putting a lot of work into it. But as Starlin gained more power at Marvel, you'd see things popping up- Thanos becoming one of Marvel's great villains, or Quasar inheriting his "Protector of the Universe" role. His children popping up everywhere honored him, too. He has proven fairly resistant to resurrection, popping up three times, but only for one-offs- in Dead Avengers during the "Chaos War" (when all the dead heroes returned), when Thanos needed someone to talk to after being barred from Death's realm (Mar-Vell convinced him not to force Death to love him using the Reality Gem), and when the Kree revived him using the M'Kraan Crystal- he sacrificed himself to stop their evil scheme.

The Power of Mar-Vell:
-Captain Marvel's a bit of various things, being a mildly super-strong Flying guy who also has Blasts, making him a mini-Superman of sorts. He's a PL 11 overall thanks to the bad-ass enemies he fought (Thanos, Drax, etc.), but he's very smart, savvy and skilled, and he would be a top-line fighter on any team he ended up on. He also has Cosmic Awareness, which is a mix of that Sense that was only in 2e, plus the "True Sight" set of Counters to various clouding effects. Mar-Vell's actually had a few other iterations in his more unsuccessful forms, including an ability to Teleport all the way around the universe (Teleport & Dimensional Travel), Illusion-casting, and a Uni-Beam (Device- shoots Blasts, Magnetic Control & Obscure Visuals).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Ken
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Re: Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 8:17 pm -Captain Marvel has a pretty funny origin- DC owned the rights to the Fawcett Comics Billy "Captain Marvel" Batson, but let the trademark lapse. Marvel, naturally, was like "Hey, Marvel is LITERALLY OUR NAME" and immediately snapped up the rights by creating their own "Captain Marvel" and writing comics about him. They paid off a small publisher who had a similar idea of re-using the name, and were off to the races. And for the past fifty frickin' years, they've been absolute chodes to DC about it, refusing to let the trademark lapse to the point where DC couldn't even name any books Captain Marvel, thus sticking Billy Batson with the "Shazam" name, since all his books were called that anyhow. And now the character is by far most-remembered for DYING, as The Death of Captain Marvel has gone on to become just legendary enough (and, importantly, the character low-selling enough, despite numerous attempts to revamp him) that Marvel let him stay dead.
NO!

DC didn't own anything related to Captain Marvel until later.

In 1953, Fawcett agreed to stop publishing Captain Marvel as part of the settlement to finally end the appeals to the lawsuit that DC had initiated, but initially lost. DC didn't like losing so they appealed. DC was winning the appeal, it was late 1953, and super heroes weren't selling. DC was maintaining Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman (and the handful of heroes that populated the back pages of Action, Detective, and Adventure). Fox's Blue Beetle was gone. Gleason's Daredevil was gone. Nedor's Black Terror was gone. Timely/Atlas were trying again (and fail) with Captain America, Namor, and the Torch. Fawcett gave up super heroes.

DC gained nothing. They stopped pumping money into a lawsuit that had been going on for a decade. But Fawcett settled because the sales on Whiz, Captain Adventures, Marvel Family were down. It was no longer financially worth it.

And yes, the trademark lapsed. The people, Fawcett Publishing, who owned it couldn't really prevent it.

If DC wanted to prevent the trademark from lapsing, all they could do is remove the legal restraints on their most successful competitor.

Over a decade later, Myron Flass Enterprises would try to get the trademark for their Captain Marvel, and yes a few years after that Marvel wrestled the trademark away from MFE.

It would be in the early 1970s, when Carmine Infantino, comic artist and Captain Marvel fan, became publisher of DC Comics that DC started licensing the original Captain Marvel from Fawcett, and started publishing the character again. DC wouldn't purchase the Fawcett characters from Fawcett until the late 1980s or early 1990.

And DC calling Billy Batson "Shazam" is just stupidity. If a comic book about a masked cowboy hero came out, and the magazine was named "Hi Yo Silver!", who would it be about?
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Goldar
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Re: Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)

Post by Goldar »

Ken wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:16 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 8:17 pm -Captain Marvel has a pretty funny origin- DC owned the rights to the Fawcett Comics Billy "Captain Marvel" Batson, but let the trademark lapse. Marvel, naturally, was like "Hey, Marvel is LITERALLY OUR NAME" and immediately snapped up the rights by creating their own "Captain Marvel" and writing comics about him. They paid off a small publisher who had a similar idea of re-using the name, and were off to the races. And for the past fifty frickin' years, they've been absolute chodes to DC about it, refusing to let the trademark lapse to the point where DC couldn't even name any books Captain Marvel, thus sticking Billy Batson with the "Shazam" name, since all his books were called that anyhow. And now the character is by far most-remembered for DYING, as The Death of Captain Marvel has gone on to become just legendary enough (and, importantly, the character low-selling enough, despite numerous attempts to revamp him) that Marvel let him stay dead.
NO!

DC didn't own anything related to Captain Marvel until later.



And DC calling Billy Batson "Shazam" is just stupidity. If a comic book about a masked cowboy hero came out, and the magazine was named "Hi Yo Silver!", who would it be about?
Tonto! :lol:

But seriously, I get your point and agree with you.
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Re: Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)

Post by saint_matthew »

Ken wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:16 pmAnd DC calling Billy Batson "Shazam" is just stupidity.
Ahh but is it more or less stupid then turning the Marvel Family in to the Power Rangers?
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Re: Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:16 pm NO!

DC didn't own anything related to Captain Marvel until later.

In 1953, Fawcett agreed to stop publishing Captain Marvel as part of the settlement to finally end the appeals to the lawsuit that DC had initiated, but initially lost. DC didn't like losing so they appealed. DC was winning the appeal, it was late 1953, and super heroes weren't selling. DC was maintaining Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman (and the handful of heroes that populated the back pages of Action, Detective, and Adventure). Fox's Blue Beetle was gone. Gleason's Daredevil was gone. Nedor's Black Terror was gone. Timely/Atlas were trying again (and fail) with Captain America, Namor, and the Torch. Fawcett gave up super heroes.
urge... to post... "Triggered" meme picture... overwhelming...

LOL, okay, not really. I'll correct it.
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Carol Danvers

Post by Jabroniville »

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"As Carol [Strickland] pointed out in her article in LOC, women tend to get very short shrift in comics. They are either portrayed as wallflowers or as supermacho insensitive men with different body forms, who almost invariably feel guilty about their lack of femininity. And it's always seemed to me that, why does this have to be exclusive? Can you not have a woman who is ruthless and capable and courageous and articulate and intelligent and all the other buzz-words -- heroic when the need arises, and yet feminine and gentle and compassionate, at others? That was what I tried to do with Ms. Marvel. I tried to create a character who had all the attributes that made her a top-secret agent yet at the same time was a compassionate, warm, humorous, witty, intelligent, attractive woman."
-Chris Claremont


CAPTAIN MARVEL IV (Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel I, Binary, Warbird)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Gene Colan
First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968) (Carol), Miss Marvel #1 (1977) (as Ms. Marvel)
Role: Background/Forgotten Character, Distaff Counterpart (to Mar-Vell), Pet Character (to Claremont), Flying Brick, Blaster, Resurrected Concept
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The U.S. Air Force, NASA, S.H.I.E.L.D., The X-Men, The Starjammers
Avengers Grade: A-Level (formerly C & B-Level)
PL 11 (214), PL 12 (214) with Absorption
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Aerobatics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 6 (+9, +11 Attractive)
Expertise (Military/Air Force) 8 (+11)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Attack (Blasts) 2 (+10)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Technology 4 (+7)
Vehicles 10 (+12)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Interpose, Jack-of-All-Trades, Last Stand (Ignores Damage For 1 Round with an HP), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Military Skill

Powers:
"Enhanced Physiology"
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 5) [7]
Power Lifting 1 (100 tons) [1]
Flight 7 (240 mph) [14]
"Energy Blasts" Blast 11 [22]
Features: Quick Change [1]

"Absorption of Energy"
Enhanced Strength 1 (Flaws: Fades) [2]
Enhanced Blast 3 (Flaws: Fades) [6]
Immunity 20 (Energy Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]
"Seventh Sense" Features 1: May Ask the GM a Question with an HP Spent [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Blasts +10 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Boosted Unarmed +10 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Boosted Blasts +10 (+14 Ranged Damage, DC 29)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +12 (+3 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +11
"Versus Energy" Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +14 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +11

Complications:
Responsibility (Alcoholic)- Carol was an alcoholic for a good chunk of time.
Responsibility (Heroism)- Whether it be the government (NASA, Air Force), The Avengers, or elsewhere, Carol is devoted to the concept of upholding the law.
Power Loss (Absorption)- Carol has difficulty with certain types of energy (depends on the writer/GM).
Enemy (Mystique)- Mystique was basically Carol's arch-nemesis for years, but then she got Kingpinned and became an X-Men villain when Claremont went to THAT book.

Total: Abilities: 86 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 64 / Defenses: 19 (214)

Carol Danvers- The Feminist Super-Hero:
-Carol Danvers has been absolutely ALL OVER THE PLACE in Marvel, which is funny, because she pretty much vanished for so long that I'd only ever heard of her as "The person Rogue got her powers from" until she made her return as "Warbird" in the pages of Kurt Busiek's Avengers. Turns out she was a spin-off character of Captain Marvel, himself a low-seller, and her book withered and died, with only Chris Claremont really continuing to use her. But then Marvel just randomly decided that they needed a "Wonder Woman" NOW and that Carol was that woman, and after multiple (MULTIPLE!) aborted runs, they finally had a billion-dollar movie and they're making a better go of it... as she's still one of the most controversial characters around.

-So Carol debuted as a U.S Air Force officer who got injured in an issue of Marvel Super-Heroes in 1968. Captain Marvel, who was nearby, helps her out. And then the character returns with super-powers (after a "Psyche-Magnetron" merges her genetic structure with Mar-Vell's)... in 1977, making her the "Distaff Counterpart" named Ms. Marvel. The term "Ms.", of course, being a politicized term at that time, indicating that she was an unmarried woman who found the term "Miss" diminishing. It's funny, because as a kid, I only difference between "Miss" and "Ms." I knew was that the REALLY bitchy teachers insisted on "Ms.". At this time,. "Women's Liberation" was a hot-button topic, and many comics were giving it a sympathetic viewpoint, albeit clumsily and in ways that are eye-rolling today. I mostly remember a lot of Archie Comics featuring Betty & Veronica going on about Women's Lib, and often chiding "Male Chauvinists".

-Gerry Conway & John Buscema started drawing the superhero version of Carol, who sported one of the more embarrassing costumes of the '70s, one that looks like it was supposed to be sexy but also modern, making it a weirdly midriff-baring upper body leotard, so the cut-out looks incredibly awkward and out of place rather than sexy. Chris Claremont soon took over the book, and added various feminist touches- she was now the editor of Women Magazine. This was a The only books I have featuring her in this time period have her as a pretty Claremontian heroine- a headstrong, pushy, powerful woman with a hell of a lot of sass-mouth. In this form, she joins the Avengers and feuds with a mysterious shapechanger named Mystique and the alien warrior-woman Deathbird, both of whom debut in the book. Naturally, once Claremont became the most successful writer in the business, they would be riveted onto his hot new franchise. In any case, the bare midriff only lasted eight issues, at which point it was filled in and looked much better. Four issues before the book was cancelled, Carol got her iconic look- the black leotard with the lightning bolt and arm-length gloves and thigh-high boots, transferring the character's weird scarf into a sash around her waist. This was MUCH better, but the book died with Ms. Marvel #23 in 1979, two years after it started.

The Rape of Ms. Marvel:
-And then... they did THIS story. So The Avengers #200 did one of the more bizarre, clunky stories out there for this big anniversary, in which Ms. Marvel is introduced to some guy named Marcus, the son of Immortus, who seduces her with a machine (if that sounds a little bit like rape, it's because IT TOTALLY IS), then impregnated by him... and immediately gives birth to his son... who rapidly ages into Marcus (see, the original couldn't exist in our timeline, so he made a way for himself to be "birthed" in it, because SCIENCE!), and takes her away, while the Iron Man is just like "We've just got to believe that everything worked out for the best" and the other Avengers are like "I guess they're in love now!" and think nothing of it! Now... writer David Michelinie SWEARS it's because an editorial edict nixed their original idea because a What If? issue had a similar story (it was supposed to be the Supreme Intelligence impregnating her... I would hope via a machine, too) and they had to improvise rapidly, and that nobody realized it was rape until later. This website elaborates upon it a lot more.

-Naturally, Chris Claremont FREAKED, and wrote a retraction of sorts. In Avengers Annual #10, Marcus is revealed to have aged and died off-panel, and Carol is attacked and de-powered by Rogue, introduced as the foster-daughter of Mystique. And in a tragic backstory thing, Carol's powers are permanently taken away, while Rogue has Carol's personality placed over hers, messing her up and sending her onto a character arc of her own in the now-successful X-Men book. Carol, meanwhile, is able to tear the Avengers a new asshole for letting her be taken away by her rapist and not even thinking anything was up. And then the character largely kinda vanishes.

Carol- Binary to Warbird:
-Carol continued to pop up in small roles in the X-Men book, as her villains got pushed in the same series. However, he did eventually power her up (via the Brood experimenting upon her in space), transforming her into "Binary" and having her run off with the Starjammers. Empowered by a "White Hole", Binary was INCREDIBLY powerful, generating "the power of a star". This was a minor role, though, and she was returned to normal during Operation: Galactic Storm. Despite this, she got zero push at all- I'd never actually seen her in a book at this point, and had no idea what she looked like (she wasn't in any of the Marvel Cards). Eventually, she returns to The Avengers as "Warbird", renamed by Kurt Busiek & George Perez. Here, she bemoans the lack of her cosmic powers, and develops an alcohol problem in an ongoing story arc. She is disgraced and removed from active duty at this time, but gets over her addiction thanks to Tony Stark, who went through the same thing, and successfully returns to the team in the "Kang Dynasty" story arc, rebuffing the Scarlet Centurion (the son of Kang, similar to Marcus) and killing the Master of the World.

-Carol disappears from comics for a bit, but returns in Brian Michael Bendis's run, becoming a major supporter of the Superhuman Registration Act and a central Avenger. She forms the first "Mighty Avengers" squad with some random characters and gets drawn by Frank Cho in that and on the covers of a renewed solo book, as Marvel decided around this point that they needed their own version of "Wonder Woman"- aka the Unquestioned Top-Tier Female Superhero. She forms a rivalry with Moonstone (who now goes as "Ms. Marvel" on the Dark Avengers, copying Carol's '70s costume), faces the Brood in her own book, and more, but it's cancelled ater about fifty issues.

Carol Becomes Captain Marvel:
-Eventually, it was decided to give her another shot in the arm, turning her into CAPTAIN Marvel. But the book was... controversial. I hated the first issue, which was largely all "YAY FEMINISM!" in the clumsiest way possible, and even featured a big essay in the back of the book where they talked about how awful her old costume (the one she'd been wearing for years) was and how they needed to "cover her up" (because feminism at some point went sex-negative and was as prudish as conservatism used to be). They gave her a pretty boring costume with a HIDEOUS mohawked facemask, and a haircut that went from "butch" to "feminine" depending on the artists. It's like how Joss Whedon describes himself as a feminist, while punctuating his shows with rail-thin anorexic girls who are either psychotic or cry at the merest provocation (thus basically making them as much nerd-fetish-bait as any gravity-defying comic book women are). Never mind when it came out that Whedon was just another "Male Feminist" who was using his position to f*ck the actresses who were desperate for a "push" (ever wonder why some of them never went on to bigger careers?). Bloggers who were clearly the the target of the book loved her butchness, but the Kelly Sue DeConnick-written series kinda just... came and went. Later artists would work on the costume a bit, and ultimately it kinda grew on me, albeit it's still one of the more "generic" costumes worn by any major superhero, lacking much detail or "iconic" bits. I mean, the old "lightning bolt/S" insignia never made a damn bit of sense, but the whole "Black Leotard/High-Boots" thing was a LOOK, you know?

-Things would kinda go all over the place for her as Marvel continued pushing the character as the centerpiece of their new "Woke" line- female-based books were on the rise, they constantly tried to appeal to more and more politicized audiences, and more- yet not a lot of people were reading her books. Checking out yearly lists, I find her WAY outside the Top 100, and well below what her status would imply. Marvel made her the center of a new Civil War, but her side (which favored arresting people who were predicted by an Inhuman with Precognition to commit crimes in the future) was so clearly wrong that the new Ms. Marvel- a character named for her and who was her biggest fan- disavowed her. Later artists would butch her up again and again until she appeared almost lantern-jawed and with short hair, thus providing ample ammunition for some of the most annoying people on YouTube to snark on her- though the "Carl Manvers" name admittedly made me laugh. I mean, I'm in no opposition to butch chicks- look at my Zarya fandom- but the weird idea that to be a feminist you had to shame femininity entirely was completely bizarre to me.

The Later Adventures of Carol:
-A Retcon made Danvers legitimately Half-Kree, but also made her father abusive, in some unnecessary stuff that at least could result in more Kree-based things. And Marvel writing stuff like "Carol is now SUPER POPULAR and one of the most beloved superheroes in the world!" stuff came off as Shilling The Wesley to me, to use the TV Tropes parlance. You should never make it look to the fans like you're putting your own shilling in the mouths of characters. But at least Captain Marvel made a ton of money at the box office, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe FINALLY figured it had the proper timing to make a successful go of a female-led story (translation: they were shamed by DC doing it first and making a shitload of money and credibility off of it). The movie had some issues (Brie Larsen as a pretty stone-faced, unemotional character wasn't great), but I loved the 1990s nostalgia stuff, and being in the theater full of women watching when she went full "Power Geek" and started nuking ships left and right? They LOVED it. And I was like "Well comics has been Power Fantasy for boys for so long- Power Fantasy For Girls needn't be so bad". I mean, it was kinda fun, and I GOT IT, you know?

-Plus, I ended up getting the latest Captain Marvel series put in my file thanks to Kelly Thompson, the Jem & The Holograms writer, taking over, and it's been pretty fun. Carol is now beset by personal issues, has rivals, is publicly mistrusted since her alien heritage was discovered, and more... and instead of people shilling her (which ALWAYS HAPPENS in so many of the "Woke" titles and it comes off as cloying and dumb EVERY TIME), instead various heroes argue with her a lot. Her friends call her out on some bullshit, her & Doctor Strange had their bodies switched and were at each other's throats the whole time, while the Black Widow ripped on both of them for being pains in the ass, etc. So she wasn't some Flawless God who received constant validation. Her & Rogue even had a great bit where Rogue was controlled into fighting her, but they kinda had a mutual "moment" where they respected the other- Rogue suggesting Carol's spirit was what let her fully reform, while Carol countered that Rogue probably already had it in her. It was good stuff- the writer can really handle characterization and flawed personalities. Plus the art was GORGEOUS, and Carol having that long, blonde hair again really mad the costume come off a lot better.

Carol's Power:
-Carol as Captain Marvel pretty well fits the higher-class of hero, especially these days. She's very powerful and skilled, but not a god of war or anything- Spider-Man gave her fits during their fight, and she goes off-and-on as a major-league fighter. I think it's generally assumed she's above most baseline PL 10 heroes (she's survived several punches from Wonder Man, after all... though note that Simon is a pushover in most real scraps), but not quite Thor or anything, so PL 11-12 suits her- PL 10.5 in melee and at range, but both are boosted to PL 11-12 when she's using her Absorption power (which I personally have NEVER SEEN USED EVEN ONCE, despite having read like 45+ comics featuring the character). She basically has Enhanced Blast & Strength, both Fading unless she gets hit by a certain type of energy. In addition, she has +6 Impervious to Energy Attacks, giving her a bit of bonus on that regard- she still feels pain from high-powered energy attacks, but they do less damage than general attacks do, and if she goes all-out (ie. spends HP) she can take a freaking NUKE. She's basically a standard Flying Brick/Blaster For any added bonuses to damage (she's implied to be on a level of hitting power with the Colossus/Thing level of guys), and uses Power Attack to hit harder. Aside from that, she's a powerful Flying Brick, but not ready for an "S" on her chest or anything- she's only PL 12 in limited runs, and if the enemy is EXTRA dumb and tries to blast her.

-As Ms. Marvel back in her '70s-'80s run, she was more of a PL 9 to PL 10 Flying Brick, and I think she lacked the Blast (not too up on her in that era, aside from her god-awful Mar-Vell belly-shirt). She had a "Seventh Sense" that is basically Precognition (Flaws: Uncontrolled). Pretty sure she doesn't have that anymore.

Image
Image

BINARY (Carol Danvers)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Gene Colan
First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968) (Carol), Miss Marvel #1 (1977) (Ms. Marvel)
Role: Background/Forgotten Character, Distaff Counterpart (to Mar-Vell), Pet Character (to Claremont), Cosmic Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The U.S. Air Force, NASA, S.H.I.E.L.D., The X-Men, The Starjammers
Avengers Grade: A-Level (formerly C & B-Level)
PL 14 (283)
STRENGTH
11/15 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Aerobatics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 6 (+9, +11 Attractive)
Expertise (Military/Air Force) 8 (+11)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Technology 4 (+7)
Vehicles 10 (+12)

Advantages:
Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Aim, Interpose, Jack-of-All-Trades, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Military Skill

Powers:
"White Hole-Drawn Powers"
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]
Flight 13 (16,000 mph) [26]
"Light Speed Flight" Movement 3 (Space Travel 3) [6]
"Energy Field" Force Field 5 (Extras: Impervious 21) [26]

"Photonic Energy Blast"
Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 7) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +3) (63) -- [70]
  • AE: Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 7) (Extras: Area- 240ft. Cone +3) (63)
  • AE: Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 7) (Extras: Area- 240ft. Burst +3) (63)
  • AE: Photonic Aura 12 (60)
  • AE: Blast 18 (Feats: Split, Extended Range 4- 1200ft. Max) (Extras: Penetrating) (59)
  • AE: Environment 5 (Heat 2) (10)
  • AE: "Gravity Control" Move Object 14 (Extras: Perception Range) (42)
  • AE: Enhanced Strength 4 (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Boosted Unarmed +10 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Energy Blast +8 (+18 Damage, DC 33)
Blast +14 Area (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +15 (+10 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Heroism)- Whether it be the government (NASA, Air Force), The Avengers, or elsewhere, Carol is devoted to the concept of upholding the law.
Responsibility (Vast Power)- Carol could blow up a space station. This is a lot to deal with.

Total: Abilities: 86 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 138 / Defenses: 15 (283)

-Here's Cosmic Carol Danvers, aka Chris Claremont getting his jones off writing SUPER-Powerful women again. She`s a standard excessively-powerful cosmic being, being PL 14 and really really hard to kill. She was the primary fighter during the New Mutants' epic battle against the planet-crushing Magus (ie. she was the only one who would survive a straight-up fight for more than five seconds), and kicked around like this for a while as a minor X-character. High-powered Blasts and vast Area Effects (covering much more than a few ranks) are quite expensive, but I fully support this controversial decision, as these guys are pricey BECAUSE THEY ARE EPIC, and the points reflects that.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Marcus Immortus

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

MARCUS IMMORTUS
Created By:
Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, George Perez & Bob Layton
First Appearance: The Avengers #200 (Oct. 1980)
Role: Space Rapist

-OH GEEZ. So the full story behind "Marcus", as he's typically called, is that he is the son of Immortus himself. Immortus, growing lonely in Limbo, had rescued a woman from a sinking ship, and plucked her out of the timestream to live with him. Then he used "subliminal equipment" to get her to love him (JESUS CHRIST), and they had a son named Marcus. Then his mother "spontaneously reverted to her own time" (??), leaving Marcus and his pops alone. When Immortus was thought-dead after Kang died, Marcus was left alone- unable to leave Limbo without causing "temporal disharmony". So he hatched a plot! To get around this problem, he arranged for a woman to be brought to Limbo, where he would use the same Rape-Equipment to force HER to love him, thus impregnating her with HIMSELF! Yes, you can tell the writers were certainly under a deadline.

-So Marcus gets Carol knocked up, sends her to Earth with no memory of the events but with a growing pregnancy, coming to term almost right away to produce a baby who ages into Marcus! Who tries to build a machine to fix time (which was "running amok" or whatever at the time), but Hawkeye destroyed it thinking it was a Doomsday Weapon or something. Marcus thus explains his history and his mission to save time, and the Avengers are like "Oh, okay, that's confusing, but I get it" and let the happy couple run off with a relationship, figuring that this is all for the best. Despite, you know, hearing the "subtle influence of my machines" bit, where Marcus explains how he rendered Carol more willing to bang him.

-Jim Shooter claims he remembers none of this, despite being credited as Co-Plotter, and suggests that Michelinie's feud with Chris Claremont could have been responsible for damaging Chris's character like this.

-In any case, Carol & Marcus fly off to enjoy their relationship (remember, she literally gave birth to him), but then Claremont got his hands back on his character, and it was FIXING TIME. So Marcus is casually-written as having continued aging once they arrived in Limbo, and had in fact died of old age and withered into ash soon after they arrived. And Carol, freed of his mental influence, thus reamed out the Avengers for allowing her to be taken away by her rapist without a word to the contrary. And Marcus was scarcely ever brought up again, because this whole story was idiotic, until "Marcus- Son of Kang" acted as the Scarlet Centurion and the two fell in love and plotted to betray Kang- Marcus was killed by the Conqueror.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Shock
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Tigra! Mantis! Captain Mar-Vell! Carol Danvers!)

Post by Shock »

I still think the lightning bolt costume was the best.

I thought Carol's mid 2000s solo series was pretty good until it got bogged down in endless events.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Tigra! Mantis! Captain Mar-Vell! Carol Danvers!)

Post by drkrash »

The lightning bolt costume is the best. Agreed.

Around 2007, Carol was one of my top 3 Marvel females. Then she fell off the list - hard. Her new series is tolerable, but I'd like her to find some fun in being a superhero again.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Tigra! Mantis! Captain Mar-Vell! Carol Danvers!)

Post by Ken »

When they designed her current costume, they should have swapped the blue and red colours. It would be closer to the traditional "Mar-Vell Family palette" AND it would make her look less like that other Danvers heroine.

I mean, seriously, Linda Lee was adopted by the Danvers family in 1961. Seven years later, Marvel introduces another Danvers family into comicdom.

And now we have Kara Danvers on TV and Carol Danvers in the movies.... weird.
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Marie Danvers

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

MARIE DANVERS (aka Captain Mari-Ell)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Jim Mooney
First Appearance: Ms. Marvel #13 (Jan. 1978)
Role: Generic Mom-Turned-Space Warrior

-Marie Danvers was originally a forgotten "Hero's Mom" character, appearing in the 13th issue of Ms. Marvel. She would often ignore the confrontational nature of her husband's relationship with their daughter, Carol, and did nothing when Joe Danvers sent his eldest son, Stevie, to college over Carol. Steve enlisted in the army instead, and was killed in Vietnam/Whatever War Is Closest, devastating the family and sending Joe into alcoholism to cope. Joe responded negatively to being saved from the second Steeplejack by Ms. Marvel, but Marie, who saw through her daughter's disguise, asked Carol not to judge him too harshly. Marie was next seen in Kurt Busiek's run in Avengers, with a now-alcoholic Carol living with her. Joe later died of lung cancer, and mother & daughter argued over his deathbed over Carol not visiting them in years- they reconciled just before Joe passed.

-However... EVERYTHING YOU KNOW WAS WRONG!! Yes, my Least-Favorite Comic Trope rears its ugly head, as it turns out that Marie Danvers was actually a Captain in the Kree Empire named Mari-Ell, and that means that Carol is Half-Kree! She was sent to Earth to spy or whatever, but crash-landed and was saved by a widower with two children named Joe, who soon discovered that she had super-powers. The two loved each other, and Mari-Ell turned off her tracker so she could live as a human for good. Thus, Carol is revealed to be Mari-Ell's only true child. She was then promptly killed by a Kree warrior's spear, dying in front of Carol.

-This is... whatever. Unnecessary and kinda dumb, and seemingly one there to give Carol some extra tragedy and give her an origin not so tied to the male hero she replaced, Because Feminism. I'd care more if her origin story wasn't so dumb and forgettable anyhow, but now Mar-Vell's presence only "charged" the Kree Powers that were already there.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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