Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
slade the sniper
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Pitt! Heatwave! Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker!)

Post by slade the sniper »

Wasn't Soundwave kinda of a scientist type that was playing soldier because it was his job (sort of like Jetfire)? I wish I knew more about Transformers :(

-STS
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Pitt! Heatwave! Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker!)

Post by Jabroniville »

FIXING STUFF:
WildC.A.T.s had a pretty weaksauce debut, story-wise, but the character designs were on-point and toyetic (if a bit '90s), and the notion of "Secret Alien War" is pretty good. You had a LOT of potential stuff if the creators weren't just "Kay, so let's have everyone fight". The team itself seems like it could have been fine with some tweaks.

Make Maul less of a Hulk knock-off. Ramp up the humor- at least characters should have more sass. Let Zealot do something besides be overly intense all the time- give her a romantic heart or something like that. Watch the "brutal Amazon warrior" stuff mix with her crushing on someone, I dunno. DON'T MAKE VOODOO A STRIPPER- turn her into a real ingenue who the audience could see themselves through- a Kitty Pryde/Jubilee character. Give Void something to actually do other than be a weirdo. Give us a lot more "Hidden Daemonites" instead of just making it a generic hero book. Tone down the number of cameos and characters who don't actually matter.

If you're doing the "Daemonite-As-Minority" thing, you could introduce a team of HEROIC Daemonites, or at least make them anti-heroes, and have the more zealot-ish WildC.A.T.s hate on them while Voodoo and the more human-born team members be more sympathetic. Make more Daemonites-as-Aliens like Helspont, so they're more powerful. The whole Coda Assassin thing was stupid and overdone- why have Zealot found the order and then get kicked out of it? Have her represent them and then maybe have an evil character take them over, so THEN they have to fight the Coda?

The Moore thing seems like he was trying to make something out of nothing, which is fine. It looks like you could have had more story potential there. I dunno about the "Each one is part of a distinct race on Khera", but whatever. He was doing stuff.

DON'T LET CHOI WRITE ANYTHING. Also don't use Scott Lobdell. A friend of mine, a big fan of Lee & Joe Casey, said that Lobdell went through a ton of Image books in the late '90s, and nearly every run resulted in the book being rebooted afterwards.

Youngblood, as I said, actually has a good base concept- "Superheroes As Celebrity" as a big focus. This had TONS of potential, but was largely only shown comedically, via Badrock's shenanigans (like his failed cartoon series that made him out to be a dope. The big thing here is to DRASTICALLY reduce the size of the team, so you only have one Youngblood squad at first. No Brigade, no "away team", no Bloodstrike- just use ONE TEAM with all your best ideas included in it, distilling the concept into just the guys with potential. Deal with like... sponsorships, the heroes having to defend corporate interests because those guys paid them and be expected to ignore the "little guys" who need help, and have members rankle against that idea.

Then you can have stuff like the government "Gyrich-ing" in guys that the team might hate- throw in Chapel, who nobody trusts, to do the "hard stuff". Have other forced members, or have guys booted off for dumb reasons (actually, Riptide's Playboy pictorial is a good story idea- maybe make it a Men's Mag or something to make it less "My Girl Is Not A Slut" so fans wouldn't judge her as harshly. Then, if the book succeeds, you can do an "Away Team" or a Brigade comprised of members who had quit or wanted to be vigilantes.

Cyberforce is... I dunno. Well-drawn by a total mess. Again, drastically cut down on the cast. Just get rid of Heatwave if you don't care and make some other guy. Drop the "Mutants" angle and make CYBORGS the minority concept- a society about mistrusting the "new kind of humanity" is way more interesting- shit, it'd be advancing the stuff shown in The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell. Maybe people who are more "cyberized" are more mistrusted? A Cyborg advocating for the mayor's office? There's stuff here.

Un-f*ck the whole dumb "Cyberdata/Mother-May-I/SHOCs" angle through a colander and just use the best bits- maybe have it just be one villainous group. Oh yeah, and DON'T MAKE A TEAM OF X-MEN RIPOFFS! This was just way too obvious and silly. At least shake things up if you're gonna try it.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Aug 30, 2020 12:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Pitt! Heatwave! Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker!)

Post by Jabroniville »

slade the sniper wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 11:43 pm Wasn't Soundwave kinda of a scientist type that was playing soldier because it was his job (sort of like Jetfire)? I wish I knew more about Transformers :(

-STS
Soundwave was a yes-man- I think the supporting materials have played him up as being wayyyyyyyyyyyyy more ultra-loyal to Megatron, but he was the Decepticon who never fought for leadership, and always did his job to the letter.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Pitt! Heatwave! Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker!)

Post by catsi563 »

He was generaly nin ambitious but he wasnt entirely out of the leadership struggle he had his own thoughts on the matter and the cassettes to back him up as a small army loyal to him. it was more that when Megatron or Galvatron or another stronger leader was in evidence hed defer to them and do what had to be done,

that loyalty and his actual competence in battle and missions is why he survived any leadership changes
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Impact

Post by Jabroniville »

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This is everything I wanted to be as a kid, lol.

IMPACT (Boomer O'Shea)
Created By:
Marc & Erik Silvestri
First Appearance: Cyberforce #1 (Oct. 1992)
Role: Team Powerhouse
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: Colossus (token "Strong Guy" of X-team)
'90s Ratio: 8/10 (generic "Team Strong Guy")
Group Affiliations: Cyberforce, Cyberdata
PL 9 (123)
STRENGTH
12 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 7 (+9)
Perception 3 (+4)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Generic Powerhouse"
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Impervious Toughness 11 [11]
"Cybercom Implant" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Cyberforce Base/Ship) [1]

"Groundstrike" Affliction 9 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) [17]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Groundstrike +9 Area (+9 Affliction & +7 Damage, DC 19 & 22)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +12 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +12, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Giant Cyborg)- Impact isn't actually a mutant, but looks like one- he's a huge, cybernetic "truck with legs" (as one Mook calls him).

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 8 (123)

-As a kid, I was totally infatuated with how bad-ass and strong Impact was- as I've noted, as a skinny kid, I often loved the biggest, strongest guy on each super-team, and as this was the '90s, each team seemed to have one. Impact was more or less a total Colossus knock-off, having the same "corded metal" limbs, but he had a TON of extraneous details, like Omega-symbols on his shoulders, Infinity Gauntlets on his hands, and more. I'll give Silvestri this- he didn't skimp on details. But seriously, THAT NAME- "Impact" is just bad-ass as hell, '90s as it is.

-Impact, along with Heatwave, doesn't have anything to do in the opening miniseries of Cyberforce. The Silvestri brothers spend too much time on their "Mother May I"/Cyberdata subplot with multiple teams fighting, and so all Impact's able to do is smash up the getaway vehicle of the terrorists out to kill the mutant mayoral candidate, then later mistakes Pitt for being the guy who set off an explosion, getting into a fight with him. He gets a few shots, but is handily knocked away before a simple explanation from Ripclaw ends things. That's like... his entire contribution to three of the four issues I have. He's probably the most "normal guy" on the team, using modern slang and reacting to things.

-His origin story is a little weird, and likely added much later- Boomer O'Shea (... seriously?) was the son of a respected scientist who was contacted by the dismbodied spirit of a huge alien warlord, who was all "BUILD ME A BODY TO INHABIT", and the desperate man injected Boomer with a growth serum and let this "Korvus" guy seize control of his body. The scientist immediately regreted his actions, and set off an explosion that chased Korvus away, but also left the man dead. Boomer's own body was horribly burned and disfigured, and rebuilt by Cyberdata with bionics. This seems... very complicated for someone who is part of a MUTANT SUPERHERO TEAM (who have built-in easy origins literally as a defining part of the concept), but whatever: Alien Possession! Dead Father! Growth Serum! Cybernetics!

-Impact stays with the team for a while, but seems to enjoy a more peaceful life, and reluctantly goes with the rest of the team when aliens invade Earth- he bravely sacrifices his life to hold off the bad guys and let everyone else escape as the mothership crashes, saving "millions of people".

-Impact is a low-tier Powerhouse build, but a PL higher than much of his team, owing to the fact that guys like this are hard to reduce TOO much in accuracy to be believable. Strong guys in comics tend to be less accurate than others, but to make him PL 8 like the others, he'd have to be only +4 to hit, which is REALLY low.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:00 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Savage Dragon! Freak Force! SuperPatriot!)

Post by Jabroniville »

greycrusader wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:38 pm I attended one of the late, lamented Wizard Cons in Chicago, and went to a seminar by Larsen, years ago. He was a really charming, funny guy (and not in a snarky or mean way-just jokey). And he clearly respected superheroes as a genre, talking about how broad the concept really is and how many stories can be told (he argued at one point Sherlock Holmes counts as a superhero, for example). He really seemed to like interacting with fans, and certainly all that contributed to the long-term success of Savage Dragon.

But...other creators, even at other seminar at later Cons, mentioned Larsen as someone who took cheap shots at other writers and artists, and who did a lot of complaining about how others handled classic characters and he could do it better when nothing he wrote except SD ever really sold/
And that''s...kind of accurate. His Defenders book was, frankly, awful (voted worst comic of the year), Larsen tanked Aquaman during his brief run on the title, and he even drove sales down on one of the WOLVERINE books (in the early 00s!!!). But as Jab said, he seems to have matured and moved on since then, and mended a lot of those fences.

All my best.
Yeah, I kind of note that as well- his later Marvel work came off as disastrous. I remember the backlash over The Defenders, which even the creators were taken aback by, and comics seems to ignore his trace as soon as he leaves a book.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Pitt! Heatwave! Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker!)

Post by greycrusader »

Strangely enough, comics also mostly ignore the work of one of Larsen's biggest targets back in the day, Peter David. Which is really odd, given how he completely revived interest in both the Hulk and Aquaman, both of which had languished FOR YEARS. Aquaman was still considered a joke character. And yes, he made some radical changes, but NO ONE WAS READING THOSE BOOKS BEFORE!!! The "classic" stuff that was being done wasn't working, because sales were dropping on the Hulk and pretty much nonexistent for Aquaman. Yet aside from the bit about how an abusive childhood led to multiple personality disorder, just about nothing from his years long Hulk run stuck, and Arthur Curry having long hair is about the extent of his lingering influence there. Somewhat inexplicable.
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Cyblade

Post by Jabroniville »

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BUGGER ME SHE'S EVEN DOING THE PSYCHIC KNIFE

CYBLADE (Dominique Aurore Marie Thiebaut)
Created By:
Marc & Erik Silvestri
First Appearance: Cyberforce #1 (Oct. 1992)
Role: Psylocke Rip-Off, Team Babe
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: Psylocke (JESUS CHRIST- same silhouette, nearly the same name, dark hair, sexy poses, and eventually just copies the Psychic Knife)
'90s Ratio: 9/10 (team babe with a bendy spine; also a cyborg, but a sexy one)
Group Affiliations: Cyberforce, Cyberdata
PL 8 (129)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+13)
Athletics 9 (+11)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Assassin) 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+10)
Treatment 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Improved Critical (Pink Energy), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown

Powers:
"Cybercom Implant" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Cyberforce Base/Ship) [1]

"Mutant Powers: Psylocke Rip-Off"
"Pink Energy Blast" Blast 7 (Feats: Accurate) (Quirks: Diminished Power With Distance Travelled -2) (13) -- [14]
  • AE: "The Focused Totality of My Being a Rip-Off Of Psyclocke" Damage 7 (Inaccurate -1) (6)
Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pink Blade +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Pink Blast +9 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant Cyborg)

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 15 (129)

-HAHAHAHAAHAHAHA OH COME THE F*CK ON! I mean, this is a whole team of rip-offs, but just... jesus. Cyblade at first appeared to kinda just be Psylocke-Adjacent- as the ranking babe in comics in the early 1990s, Psylocke's looks were copied a lot- many women with long, dark hair, spines with 10,000 vertebrae, miniscule waists and spherical breasts were populating the comics pages. So aside from the name ("CY-blade" vs. "PSY-locke"), she didn't seem overly bad. She was a standard-issue sexpot, doing a back-arching pose. But then various artists (including Silvestri, I believe) started actually MIMICKING THE GODDAMN PSYCHIC KNIFE, which is like... something that only Psylocke does, and immediately becomes very, very clear who you're ripping off when it's seen. Yeah, like a spike of glowing energy coming right out from the back of the wrist? COME THE FRIG ON.

-So Cyblade debuts in Cyberforce #1, and is immediately just "hey, look at me make an S-shape with my back", sticking her ass out while wearing what looks like a black g-string over... a skintight metal bodysuit (it's the '90s, yup), taunts the bad guy, who shouts "I'm not paid to think!" and shoots at her- so she blows up half of his body with a single blast (Cyberforce are very, very willing to kill), saying "Then I guess you'll get a big bonus for THIS!" and then adding "try not to spend it all in one place..." with a sexy close-up over her red-lipped face. Like, this is cross-hatched to hell, and it was supposed to be Fap City if you were a pre-teen. I mean, I guess it worked, but even then, I wasn't quite THAT taken with her. I was too loyal to My Betsy, I guess, lol.

-In any case, Cyblade was used by Cyberdata as an assassin, mind-wiping her by day so she didn't know about her secret life. She was actually a member of the royal family of "Chalenne" in Europe. Her mother died in childbirth, and she manifested powers when attacked by potential abductors while at school. She was trained in the martial arts under her father's orders, but he tried to put a stop to it when it created a "darkness" in her- but before he could, he and Cyblade's brother were killed by Cyberdata and she was brainwashed. However, she would find that her brother had survived and was turned into an evil cyborg, too, and was freed by having her "Brain Box" removed- she joined Cyberforce. In the opening Limited Series, she really only just stands there and looks sexy- she doesn't beat any villains, and only takes care of the Mooks- Killjoy kicks her during one of her only fights against a named character. She would eventually become the field leader of Cyberforce until the group disbanded.

-Cyblade is a Psylocke Wannabe, but reduced to just Energy Blasts and later develops melee weapons- in the opening Limited Series, she makes little bursts of power that can (and does) kill a man, but otherwise isn't very impressive, but is said to be cat-like and very fast. Later comics add the whole "Energy Sword" thing. Overall, she's a semi-accurate PL 8 who can shift her caps around.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:05 am, edited 3 times in total.
Ian Turner
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker! Impact! Cyblade!)

Post by Ian Turner »

For like, a half second, when Cybabe was introduced, with the short hair, and energy blast powerset, she *could* have been more than just a Psylocke wannabe, but then she kept changing visually, to look and act even more like her, right down to the energy blades, and it was bad.

And really, a Cyclops, Wolverine or Colossus ripoff I can understand, but Psylocke? Why not Jean or Storm? Get some A-game on, don't pick one of the backup telepaths you get when you can't get Jean!
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker! Impact! Cyblade!)

Post by Ares »

Yeah, the second I looked at Cyblade I immediately thought "That's Psylocke with a mask and some banded metal added to parts of her outfit". The name, the look, being an expert martial artist with energy blades coming out the back of her hand, she was the most blatant rip off of early Image I'd ever seen.

I mean, seriously, this took me 10 minutes to whip up:

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The S.H.O.C.s

Post by Jabroniville »

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S.H.O.C.S (Special Hazardous Operations Cyborgs):
-The S.H.O.C.s are a band of utter jobber asswipes used by Cyberdata to carry out mercenary missions- in the issues I have, they're seen chasing down the escapee Velocity, and gunning down druglords that are rivals to ones Cyberdata owns, I guess. All but one are total Sketchpad Characters- they show up, look like a combination of cool and '90s excess, and do one or two things before either jobbing or being forgotten about.

-Case in point: during their big fight, Psychotron doesn't even DO anything! Megawatt only scores a single hit, and it's a sneak attack. Killjoy lands a single kick on Cyblade. Buzzcut, given the most hype of the team, is defeated in a trio of splash panels by Ripclaw, never interacting with Stryker, said to be his worst enemy. In their second appearance, two are embarrassed by Pitt, and in the third, they're finally beaten down by the heroes. Only Ballistic is allowed to look that good, and she bails immediately thereafter. The team has recurred a tad since then, but mostly all died.

The Roster:
Ballistic: Leader. Super-Accuracy.
Buzzcut: Giant with three sawblade-arms on one side. Feuding with Ripclaw AND Stryker.
Killjoy: Vaguely-superhuman fighter with guns. Likes to taunt.
Megawatt: Glows with electricity. Doesn't do much.
Psychotron: Generic Blaster. Doesn't do much.
Misery: Appears in flashbacks as a mind-controller.
Ace of Blades: Appears as a now S.H.O.C., but gets KO'd in one hit by Impact and is un-brainwashed by Cyberforce. Hears about Cyberforce's backstory, but is immediately killed by Cyberdata.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker! Impact! Cyblade!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Funny little thing, in the Battle for the Indipendents crossover (which debued Witchblade), Bill Tucci's Shi was turned into a S.H.O.C.
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Ballistic

Post by Jabroniville »

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Interesting how perceptions change- Young Jab was all "A girl with SHORT HAIR? Get outta here!". Adult Jab? "HELL YES".

BALLISTIC (Cassandra Taylor)
Created By:
Marc & Erik Silvestri
First Appearance: Cyberforce #1 (Oct. 1992)
Role: Villain Turned Good
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: None
'90s Ratio: 9/10 (super-cleavage costume; Sexy Cyborg; named after a gun term; uses guns)
Group Affiliations: Cyberforce, Cyberdata
PL 8 (130)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+13)
Athletics 9 (+11)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Mercenary) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 6 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 5 (Guns +5- Multiattack), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 3, Tracking

Powers:
"Cybercom Implant" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Cyberforce Base/Ship) [1]
"Cybernetic Senses" Senses 2 (Infravision, Extended Vision) [2]
"Cybernetic Arm" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

"Mutant Powers: Elite Accuracy"
Enhanced Advantages 6: Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Guns), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 3 [6]
"Anything Is A Weapon" Blast 4 (Feats: Extended Range 2) (Flaws: Source- Small Objects) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Thrown Objects +11 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Guns +11 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant Cyborg)

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 16 / Defenses: 12 (130)

-Ballistic initially appears as a villain in Cyberforce #1, helping chase down Velocity. Much is made of her capabilities, but she is seen off when Ripclaw, Heatwave and other members of Cyberforce intercept her target. After doing jack-squat for the remainder of the Limited Series, it's revealed in the fourth issue that she's the sister of Velocity, and her memory returns. It turns out that she used her "Mutant Aiming Powers" and killed her mother's abusive boyfriend, saving both girls from his torment. Years later, she had her arm crippled by a bitter ex-boyfriend, ruining her pitching career. Cyberdata then found her, placed a "Brain Box" on her, and used her as an elite agent. Upon recovering her memories, she aided Cyberforce numerous times, but I guess never joined the group.

-Ballistic has "Super-Aiming" enough to make her a PL 8 generic soldier type, she's a solid enough one, but a tad vulnerable. Bullseye Lite, I guess.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Pitt! Heatwave! Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 12:05 am FIXING STUFF:

Cyberforce is... I dunno. Well-drawn by a total mess. Again, drastically cut down on the cast. Just get rid of Heatwave if you don't care and make some other guy. Drop the "Mutants" angle and make CYBORGS the minority concept- a society about mistrusting the "new kind of humanity" is way more interesting- shit, it'd be advancing the stuff shown in The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell. Maybe people who are more "cyberized" are more mistrusted? A Cyborg advocating for the mayor's office? There's stuff here.

Un-f*ck the whole dumb "Cyberdata/Mother-May-I/SHOCs" angle through a colander and just use the best bits- maybe have it just be one villainous group. Oh yeah, and DON'T MAKE A TEAM OF X-MEN RIPOFFS! This was just way too obvious and silly. At least shake things up if you're gonna try it.
I think that the entire concept of a corporation turning mutants into cyborg still have some legs, but it really needs a "Harbingers makeover".
What do I mean?
It's pretty simple. In Cyberforce #1 we are told that the Cyberdata are the bad guys, there is no nuance, it's a hard fact. Now, what if instead of starting with Velocity getting away the story started much earlier with other member of the team? What if the official version is that Cyberdata is cyborging these people because otherwise their powers would make them crippled or worse make them dangerous (Stryker being unable to stand, Cyblade discharging energy at random and so on)? Of course these modificantion aren't free and the cyborgs are used as killers.
This would make the breakout much more significant and the stakes higher.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Ripclaw! Velocity! Stryker! Impact! Cyblade!)

Post by Ian Turner »

Ha, I remembered Killjoy, Chainsaw-dude and Electricity-dude, but Psychotron just might as well have not existed for me.

I wonder if Buzzcut was supposed to be a brother to, or clone of, Stryker. There can't be that many mutants with three arms on their left side, can there?
Woodclaw wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 10:35 pm I think that the entire concept of a corporation turning mutants into cyborg still have some legs, but it really needs a "Harbingers makeover".
What do I mean?
It's pretty simple. In Cyberforce #1 we are told that the Cyberdata are the bad guys, there is no nuance, it's a hard fact. Now, what if instead of starting with Velocity getting away the story started much earlier with other member of the team? What if the official version is that Cyberdata is cyborging these people because otherwise their powers would make them crippled or worse make them dangerous (Stryker being unable to stand, Cyblade discharging energy at random and so on)? Of course these modification aren't free and the cyborgs are used as killers.
This would make the breakout much more significant and the stakes higher.
IIRC, that was at least partially true, for some of them. Velocity needed some cyber-enhancements to survive her own speed, as her skin would abrade and she had no padding to survive a tumble at speed. Ballistic, IIRC, had some sort of neurological issues, and the bionic eye actually helped with that, as her brain wasn't handling all the signal she was getting. And Heatwave's cybernetics helped him release plasma without burning himself or flinging it around uncontrollably. (I don't remember any such issue with Stryker, Cyblade or Impact, though.)

It seemed that, unlike Marvel mutants, whose bodies tend to be perfectly adapted to their powersets, allowing Quicksilver or Sunfire (the most obvious parallels to Velocity and Heatwave) to use their powers without windburning their own skin off or getting all sorts of horrible burns, the Cyberforce mutants don't get that, and the cybernetics help to compensate and allow them to fully use their gifts.
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