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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Strongarm

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

STRONGARM (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: Youngblood #1 (April 1992)
Role: Strong Guy
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: None (I mean, he's too generic)
'90s Ratio: 6/10 (Token "Strong Guy")
Group Affiliations: The Four
PL 7 (68)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Power Attack

Powers:
"Rob Liefeld Character"
Enhanced Skills 3: Stealth 3 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Feet) [1]
Features 1: Appears To Be A Different Size Each Time You Look At Him [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

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

Complications:
Motivation (Being Extreme and Looking Cool)

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 7 (68)

-hahahaaha- STRONGARM! Such a generic "Tough Guy" name! And lookit him! Just some big shirtless dude wearing a shoulder-harness made of an extended Rob Liefeld Pipe-Dildo, with Ultimate Warrior Armbands made of the same thing. He's just so hopelessly, pitifully PLAIN that I almost take pity on the moron. At least Mutant Liberation Front goons like Forearm or Sumo had a unique GIMMICK about them! This guy couldn't be more wallpaper if he tried.

-He's captured in the first Youngblood issue, and appears in jail in the following one, where Liefeld is hilariously ineffective at giving him a consistent size. Like, he appears suddenly between Shaft & Youngblood's PR guy (Rob doesn't draw bars and doesn't indicate he's behind a cell until the next panel), and the next shot has him appear literally TWENTY FEET TALL or so, given the angle, but when he's sprung from the cell a few pages later, suddenly he's just a "pretty big guy", maybe seven or eight feet or so. He just appears to be your everyday strong guy.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Showdown

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

SHOWDOWN
Created By:
Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: Youngblood #1 (April 1992)
Role: Anti-Hero
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: None (generic sword chick)
'90s Ratio: 8/10 (faceless weirdo with swords)
Group Affiliations: The Four
PL 7 (68)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+11)
Expertise (Government Agent) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (Sword +3), Power Attack

Powers:
"Rob Liefeld Character" Enhanced Skills 3: Stealth 3 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Feet) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sword +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Being Extreme and Looking Cool)

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 12 (68)

-Rob Liefeld gets a rep for being sexist like the other artists of his day, but boy, he sure does draw a lot of full-body conceiling outfits. Like, almost all of his women are just wearing bodysuits that cover EVERYTHING, probably to make them easier to draw (nothin' easier than a nude figure, especially if you can ignore things like "lines for the clothing" like most other poor saps with WORK ETHIC have to draw! Rob would've added capes to cover up the back anatomy, but he sucks balls at drawing those, so you'll almost never see them in his work).

-So Showdown here is a washout of the "Bloodpool" program that trains Youngblood participants, and became a contract killer. She's... just a Sword Chick, nothing more. The "Y"-shaped facemask thingie is unique, I'll give her that.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Ares
Site Admin
Posts: 4963
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:40 am

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Seahawk! Vanguard! Kaboom! Glory!)

Post by Ares »

The only downside to Glory going the "sword warrior" route is that between her hair color and her outfit, she's basically Zealot with some gold slapped on her uniform. They probably should have given her either a different hair color our primary outfit color, but since the main heroes of the Awesome Comics/Extreme Studios guys seemed to have Red as their main color (Supreme, Glory, Bedrock, Shaft, etc.) they possibly should have just given her blonde hair instead of white.

As for Showdown (I actually like that name, along with Kayo), the most impressive things she ever did was catch a bunch of arrows Shaft shot at her. Now, I thought the idea of Shaft's bow was that it let him fire arrows at speeds comparable to bullets, so that should actually be very impressive. But I get the feeling Rob was really inconsistent on that point and it's really no more impressive than when any other martial arts master does it.
"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)

Want to support me and Echoes of the Multiverse? Follow this link to subscribe or donate.
User avatar
Ken
Posts: 3460
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:40 pm
Location: Sycalb, Madiganistan

Re: Glory

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 6:49 pm
Ken wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 12:50 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 11:06 amher original work was drawn by a newbie named Mike Deodato, Jr., and her solo book went 15 issues- a huge run by Image standards.
That "newbie" was just coming off of a 12 issue run of 'Wonder Woman" about the time he started working on "Glory".
He’s still PRETTY new to the biz at that point. Only in his first couple of years.
Granted, but a year on high profile character like Wonder Woman, especially during the Replace-Diana-with-Artemis-and-give-Diana-the-90s-biker-shorts era meant that he got a lot of attention pretty fast.

Plus, I find it amusing that he went from "Wonder Woman" where Wonder Woman was replaced by a more violent Image-style knock-off Wonder Woman to a book starring a more violent Image-style knock-off Wonder Woman.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Gage

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

I don't wanna kink-shame, but do you really wanna keep all your sex toys on your back like you're the Pervert Hawkeye?

GAGE
Created By:
Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: Youngblood #1 (April 1992)
Role: Jobber Villain
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: The Punisher (gun guy)
'90s Ratio: 7/10 (generic Gun Guy with no other traits listed)
Group Affiliations: The Four
PL 6 (66)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 6 (Jetpack- Flight 5, Guns- Blast 6- Multiattack), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Rob Liefeld Character" Enhanced Skills 3: Stealth 3 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Feet) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Guns +6 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Being Extreme and Looking Cool)

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 9 (66)

-Gage is listed only with the fact that he has guns- two pictures are all I can find of him, and he has weird "Rob Liefeld Dildos" sticking out of his back- I'm not sure what purpose those serve aside from looking like metal dildos, but that's probably supposed to be his jetpack. He can get PL 6 and eat my ass if he doesn't like it.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Bloodstrike

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image
Image

The most horrible part of that last one? That Wolvie-knockoff up front is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SHORT.

BLOODSTRIKE:
-Yes, BLOODSTRIKE. About as "Image Comics" as a name could get. This team was led by Battlestone's brother Cabbot Stone, and based around the idea of once-dead superhumans being resurrected and turned into government agents- the gimmick was that the members could be resurrected after every battle, so it didn't matter if they died so long as the body could be found. And yes, even THEY got their own ongoing series, debuting in April 1993 and running for 22 issues. After this, a solo "Bloodstrike" character was seen, and later revealed to be Battlestone. The team was largely antagonistic to other Image squads, with Bloodstrike assaulting Brigade in one of their issues, killing Stasis and wounding some others.

The team is... horrific. Based off of even more of Rob's sketchpad designs, many members include no concept more deep than "looks like Wolverine" or "has four arms". A teleporting computer named Roam sent them from place to place. Youngblood's Chapel was later added to the team, but this is short-lived. Eventually, everyone but Cabbot was killed when their government supervisor revealed himself to be a member of a "cyborg conspiracy".

The book has popped up once in 2012 and again a couple of years ago, but nothing much becomes of it- it's the most unknown of Rob's Image properties, and the lowest priority.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Ares
Site Admin
Posts: 4963
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:40 am

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Seahawk! Vanguard! Kaboom! Glory!)

Post by Ares »

Kind of a shame, as Bloodstrike could have functioned as the Image Universe's Suicide Squad: superpowered individuals forced to do government work against their will, only in this case it's because the government keeps bringing them back to life and controls the process that keeps them alive.

The thing about the Suicide Squad tho? It works in the DCU because 95% of the heroes in the DCU are ACTUAL HEROES who do heroic stuff for the right reasons, and the Suicide Squad exist as a sharp contrast to the otherwise pure heroics of the setting. In Image? The missions Bloodstrike go on could have easily been handled by Youngblood. Heck, they might have actually been more successful with Youngblood because Youngblood doesn't have someone in a 10 foot tall suit of power armor going everywhere with them.

Youngblood would have had to have been a LOT more Avengers-ish to warrant the existence of Bloodstrike. Honestly, something more generic yet heroic sounding like "Brigade" might have worked better instead of "Youngblood" as a hero team name for the "Celebrity Avengers" of the Image-verse.
"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)

Want to support me and Echoes of the Multiverse? Follow this link to subscribe or donate.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Deadlock

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

I've seen a lot of Wolverine knock-offs from the '90s, but this is absolutely batty- WHO DOES THIS??

DEADLOCK (John Locke)
Created By:
Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: Youngblood #1 (April 1992)
Role: Anti-Hero, Wolverine Rip-Off, Scrapper, Gun Guy
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: Wolverine (HE'S F*CKING LITERALLY GODDAMN WOLVERINE)
'90s Ratio: 9/10 (So '90s he's a complete copy of Logan; is named "Deadlock")
Group Affiliations: Bloodstrike
PL 7 (86)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+9)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 7 (+7)
Perception 6 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 3 (Guns), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Wolverine Rip-Off"
"Claws" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Senses 4 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing) [4]

"Rob Liefeld Character" Enhanced Skills 3: Stealth 3 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Feet) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Claws +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Pistol +8 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Being Extreme and Looking Cool)
Disabled (Insane)- I mean, even compared to other Image characters. He lashes out with homicidal intent frequently.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 9 (86)

-AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH YOU GOTTA BE SHITTING ME!

-I mean, seriously- I've never heard of Bloodstrike, so I had to go looking for them, and what do I see? A literal goddamn clone of Wolverine, complete with his ultra-distinctive head-mask (shared only with Hawkeye, who has a smaller version)- the giant pointy things being a dead giveaway. The only difference is that his main color is white and the mask is red. Christ, he even has claws!

-Deadlock, aka John Locke, was a common repo man who recovered a briefcase that belonged to the military, but sold it to a gang for cocaine money. Naturally, this made him an excellent recruit for a government superhero team, so when he died of a heart attack upon being tracked down by the authorities, he was resurrected for "Project: Born Again", activating his latent "Nu-Gene" (aka Mutant) powers. However, this turned him completely insane- he escaped captivity and killed numerous people in his way. He was recruited to Youngblood foes "The Four" by Gage, but was beaten to death by Chapel in a fight. So he was resurrected AGAIN and assigned to Cabbot Stone's Bloodstrike squad. He was later killed with the rest of the team.

-Deadlock is strong enough to tear a man's head off with his bare hands, and has "razor-sharp claws" (every bio of a clawed character is contractually obligated to specify that they are "razor-sharp", in case you hadn't noticed), and in the one Brigade comic I own, he uses a pistol against Seahawk, but he dies often enough that he can get PL 7 and suck it.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Davies
Posts: 5080
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Glory! The Four! Bloodstrike! Deadlock!)

Post by Davies »

Well, he spent his life getting into tense situations, I guess it makes sense that he'd spend his death getting into them too.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
User avatar
Ken
Posts: 3460
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:40 pm
Location: Sycalb, Madiganistan

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Glory! The Four! Bloodstrike! Deadlock!)

Post by Ken »

If you don't mention they are razor sharp, people assume claws are tablespoon sharp.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
slade the sniper
Posts: 163
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2016 11:15 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Glory! The Four! Bloodstrike! Deadlock!)

Post by slade the sniper »

I remember reading a lot of Image comics, flipping through more titles in the comic shop...and although I can remember a lot of these characters...I would say that a good 1/2 of these characters are head scratchers. A few of these are recolors of Marvel characters...then a recolor of an Image character of a recolor of a Marvel character.
Maybe some headcanon would be that the suits are actually bought from Wish.com and really are just different color schemes for the "pouch guy" or "razor warrior" costumes.

-STS
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Glory! The Four! Bloodstrike! Deadlock!)

Post by Ian Turner »

It's all the fault of the Weapon X program. For every Wolverine, there's like ten of these schmucks like Deadlock running around that didn't succeed quite so well. Gotta break a lot of eggs to make that perfect omelette...
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Bloodstrike (Cabbot Stone)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

I love how Rob's obsession with Those Damn '90s Eyepatches runs so strong that Cabbot has them on his face AND his mask.

BLOODSTRIKE (Cabbot Stone)
Created By:
Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: Bloodstrike #1 (April 1993)
Role: Anti-Hero, Gun Guy
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: Deadpool (HE ALMOST LITERALLY HAS THE DAMN MASK)
'90s Ratio: 10/10 (gun-toting, mask-wearing psychopath with Those Damn '90s Eyepatches; also has ponytail)
Group Affiliations: Bloodstrike, KnightStrike
PL 8 (82)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Government Agent) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 6 (Guns & Stuff, Swords), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Rob Liefeld Character" Enhanced Skills 3: Stealth 3 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Feet) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Sword +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Guns +10 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +6, Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Being Extreme and Looking Cool)

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 11 (98)

-Cabbot Stone was the unfortunate younger brother of Brigade's Battlestone- smaller and weaker, he was routinely beaten in physical scraps ordered by the Stone boys' rotten father. He has been killed more than once, and is resurrected by the U.S. government's "Born Again" system to make him a more dangerous soldier. Cabbot later became the sole survivor of Bloodstrike after their government handler turned out to be evil, and he took the name "Bloodstrike" for himself, wearing a Deadpool-esque mask in the process.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Shogun

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

SHOGUN (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: Bloodstrike #1 (April 1993)
Role: Anti-Hero, Battlesuit Guy
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: Some Iron Man foe (generic evil powersuit guy)
'90s Ratio: 2/10 (generic powersuit)
Group Affiliations: Bloodstrike
PL 7 (89)
STRENGTH
2/7 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8)
Expertise (Government Agent) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Close Attack 1, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Powersuit" (Flaws: Removable) [33]
Enhanced Strength 5 (10)
Power-Lifting 1 (6 tons) (1)
Protection 5 (Extras: Impervious 7) (12)
Leaping 2 (30 feet) (2)
"Guns on Shoulders" Blast 5 (Extras: Multiattack) (15) -- (16)
  • AE: "Green Beam" Blast 7 (Diminished Range -1) (13)
-- (41 points)

"Rob Liefeld Character" Enhanced Skills 3: Stealth 3 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Feet) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Powersuit Strength +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Energy Blast +7 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Guns +7 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Being Extreme and Looking Cool)

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 7 (89)

-Shogun is just... some guy in a suit. That's all. It at least looks a bit unique, but has that whole "90s Banded Metal" thing about it, to the point where it looks complex but really isn't- in fact, it OBSCURES all the detail. He has the same kind of "V" thing on his forehead that Showdown does on her facemask, which is a very oddly-specific character tic to introduce on two characters who are completely unrelated to each other- very typical Rob.

-Shogun is listed as a generic Powersuit Guy online, but in Brigade, he clearly fires both an Energy Blast and has twin gatling guns on his shoulders. His Blast is powerful enough to knock Coldsnap back, shattering his power-controlling harness, which is what turns him into an Ice Monster in later issues. His guns fail to bring down Brigade's escape ship after their big fight. He proves durable enough to tank both Thermal & Coldsnap's powers during the fight, but is knocked around a bit by Seahawk.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Ken
Posts: 3460
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:40 pm
Location: Sycalb, Madiganistan

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Glory! Bloodstrike! Deadlock! Cabbot!)

Post by Ken »

70's Ratio: 8/10

Image
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

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