Jab’s Builds! (Whomp 'Em! Plumbers Don't Wear Ties! ToeJam & Earl!)

[Jabroniville]

BATTALION (Jackson King)
Created By: Jim Lee & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Inside Image #1 (March 1993)
Role: Anti-Hero, Team Leader
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: The Punisher (Gun Guy)
'90s Ratio: 9/10 (covered head to toe in guns & extraneous shit; named "Battalion")
Group Affiliations: StormWatch
PL 10 (173)
STRENGTH 3/12 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+8)
Expertise (Government Agent) 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 6 (Guns & Stuff, Communications, etc.), Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Mind Disruption" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (Feats: Dynamic) (25) -- [36]

• Dynamic AE: "Telepathy" Mind-Reading 4 & Communication (Mental) 2 (Feats: Dynamic) (17)
• Dynamic AE: "Memory Wipe" Affliction 6 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed Memories) (Extras: Progressive +2) (Feats: Dynamic) (19)
• Dynamic AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (11)
• Dynamic AE: Illusion (Mental) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (11)
• Dynamic AE: Telekinetic Snare 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (15)
• AE: "Inner Focus" Enhanced Strength 9 (9)

Telekinetic Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]

"Cybertran Armor" (Feats: Restricted to Telepaths & Telekinetics) [29]
Protection 5 (5)
Blast 10 Linked to Blast 10 (Extras: Will Save) (Flaws: Source- Guns) (30)
-- (35 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Inner Focus +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Mind Disruption -- (+8 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Memory Wipe +8 (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Mind-Reading -- (+4 Mind-Reading, DC 14)
Guns +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Cybertran Gun Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+9 Cybertran Armor), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (The United Nations)
Relationship (Synergy)- The two end up married.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 75 / Defenses: 10 (173)

-One of the main characters of StormWatch was Jackson King, sometimes known as Battalion. His initial runs on SW went poorly, but when his brother Malcolm was added to the roster, he felt compelled to stick around and keep an eye on him. He & Synergy also had a thing going, complicated when she temporarily lreplaced Henry Bendix as "Weatherman" when he was fired for defending Battalion's increasingly reckless behavior in battle. Upon learning that his father becomes the supervillain Despot and wrecks the world in the future, he's deeply disturbed, but tries to alter things. When Flashpoint turned on the team, Battalion managed to kill him. When Warren Ellis took over, Battalion was demoted by Bendix to "head trainer", infuriating him, but he was eventually made Weatherman- his run was confounded by a few things, mainly his refusal to help out a Parallel Earth, since it "wasn't our business"- when it turned out that this world was ruined by an evil Battalion, he was a bit unnerved... and then the Aliens crossover happened, and the majority of StormWatch were killed.

-The character survives this tragedy, and appears in a book called The Monarchy... which is eventually rendered non-canon because I guess people hated it. StormWatch was restarted again, and they briefly opposed the Authority when that book became a thing. Generally speaking, he's often just called by his real name instead of his more '90s codename, and is treated as a stern, serious military man.

-Jackson is a low-level Telekinetic & Telepath who generally, Because '90s, uses guns & his cool armor. Cool armor which lets him channel is lower-tier powers through GUNZ, which make him a super-powerful Blaster!

[Jabroniville]

SYNERGY (Christine Trelane)
Created By: Jim Lee & Scott Clark
First Appearance: StormWatch #1 (March 1993)
Role: The Assistant (to Bendix)
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: None
'90s Ratio: 0/10 (token chick, I dunno)
Group Affiliations: StormWatch
PL 9 (82)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8)
Expertise (Government Agent) 5 (+7)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (Communications, etc.), Power Attack

Powers:
Postcognition 4 (Flaws: Limtied to Objects or a Person's History) [2]
"Activate Seedlings" Feature 1: Activates the Powers of Seedlings [1]
"Neutralize Seedlings" Affliction 10 (Power Strength; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Flaws: Limited to Seedlings) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Neutralize Seedlings +8 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Responsibility (The United Nations)

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 11 (82)

-SHOWTIME, SYNERGY! Had to get that out there.

-So Synergy is a "Seedling"- a being similar to, but legally distinct from, a mutant (like, say, at Marvel or something). Empowered by a passing comet or some bullshit, she was given the power to awaken OTHER Seedlings, which got her recruited by Harry Bendix, the "Weatherman" of StormWatch, so that she could make NEW super-powered recruits. She worked for Bendix repeatedly and later married Battalion, following him to The Monarchy. Most of the art of her features a woman in a black suit & tie, but the early art is of a "Skintight Bodysuit" woman with blonde hair and a "Jim Lee Headset".

[Davies]

Now that's an elegant way to build this troublesome power.

Should her Neutralize be Continuous or just Sustained?

[Jabroniville]

Now that's an elegant way to build this troublesome power.

Should her Neutralize be Continuous or just Sustained?

I can't remember where I first saw Affliction being used instead of Nullify in that context, but "Transformed to Powerless" is a godsend, yeah.

I'm not sure how long her power lasted, unfortunately. These guys have bios shorter than most Mutant Liberation Front members.

[Jabroniville]

FUJI (Toshiro Misawa)
Created By: Jim Lee & Scott Clark
First Appearance: StormWatch #1 (March 1993)
Role: The Strong Guy, Containment-Suit Guy
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: None (closer to Wildfire at DC)
'90s Ratio: 2/10 (Team Strong Guy)
Group Affiliations: StormWatch
PL 9 (112)
STRENGTH 12 STAMINA -- AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Government Agent) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (Communications, etc.), Power Attack

Powers:
"Living Gaseous Energy"
Protection 12 (Extras: Impervious 9) [21]
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Comprehend 2 (Speak to & Understand Energy Beings) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +12, Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (The United Nations)
Involuntary Transformation (Living Gas)- Fuji can be killed if his containment suit is ruptured- he will disperse into the atmosphere, letting out poisonous gas.
Secret ("I Have an Orgasm Every Five Minutes. Please Do Not Tell My Father")

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 55 / Defenses: 11 (112)

-Fuji is one of many "Strong Guy" characters from Image, being StormWatch's variant of the concept. Being a huge dude with a red "Rising Sun" on his head, he is actually more visually striking and interesting than most of his comrades, and this goes a long way to making him one of the more notable members of the team, with the best design. He was a large teenager who turned into dangerous radiation as soon as his powers were activated by Synergy, necessitating a containment suit being built for him. Big on honor, he is stoic and serious, which was played up with his infamous "I have an orgasm every five minutes. Please do not tell my father"- turns out that his molecules get "excited" within his costume, setting him off.

-Fuji was one of the SW members to die during the Aliens crossover, but was resurrected when the Doctor rebooted the world in The Authority.

-Fuji is a "Containment Suit Guy", being a Wildfire-like bundle of deadly, gaseous energy wrapped up in a special suit. He can Comprehend other Energy Beings and is generally very strong, but turns into poisonous gas if his suit is ruptured.

[Jack of Spades]

I can't remember where I first saw Affliction being used instead of Nullify in that context, but "Transformed to Powerless" is a godsend, yeah.

I'm not sure how long her power lasted, unfortunately. These guys have bios shorter than most Mutant Liberation Front members.

I think it was first used on the Parasite in the Heroes & Villains book for DC.

[Davies]

Big on honor, he is stoic and serious, which was played up with his infamous "I have an orgasm every five minutes. Please do not tell my father"- turns out that his molecules get "excited" within his costume, setting him off.

I think that this scene was meant to be him taking advantage of everyone's perception of him as this stoic entity to make a dirty joke.

[Ken]

but was resurrected when the Doctor rebooted the world in The Authority.

I thought the Doctor rebooted the whole universe in the season 5 closing episode The Big Bang.

[Bladewind]

Why oh why does this make me think that Milestone's Icon lost his powers and got slapped in the face by the 90s ?

[Jabroniville]

DIVA (Alessandra Fermi)
Created By: Jim Lee & Scott Clark
First Appearance: StormWatch #1 (March 1993)
Role: Flying Blaster, Funny-Colored Super-Chick
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: Siryn (sonic-screaming flying girl)
'90s Ratio: 5/10 (funny-colored babe, Flying Blaster)
Group Affiliations: StormWatch
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8)
Expertise (Government Agent) 7 (+7)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (Communications, etc.), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
Sonic Blast 8 (16) -- [17]

• AE: Dazzle Hearing 8 (16)

Flight 6 [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sonic Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (The United Nations)

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 9 (99)

-Diva is the daughter of a famous opera singer who tried to go into the same career, but her power manifested during her first audition, shattering all the glass in the room. She attempted to start a relationship with Battalion, but moved on to Cannon when Battalion & Synergy hooked up. However, Cannon proved to be a d-bag and was soon dumped as Diva was made new field-leader, and she was later killed in battle against Warguard, slain by Despot. Like so many, she's a Flying Blaster.

[Ares]

Why oh why does this make me think that Milestone's Icon lost his powers and got slapped in the face by the 90s ?

That domed look is just so weird. It's like trying to 90's-ize the old clear bubble sci-fi space helmets from the 40s and 50s. I mean, on some level I appreciate the nod to "wanting to protect the character's head" and on some level can even applaud the idea of trying to have head protection that keeps the face completely viewable. But at that point, why not just say that his suit uses his powers to create a skin-tight telekinetic aura around him to protect him from damage? Because my God it looks stupid.

[Ares]

Big on honor, he is stoic and serious, which was played up with his infamous "I have an orgasm every five minutes. Please do not tell my father"- turns out that his molecules get "excited" within his costume, setting him off.

I think that this scene was meant to be him taking advantage of everyone's perception of him as this stoic entity to make a dirty joke.

Based on a thought bubble Fuji had just after saying he had another one, I think it's actually supposed to be him confessing something personal to his teammates that helps bond with them while also making them realize that his life as a sentient gas cloud inside a power suit isn't actually all bad, and to stop feeling sorry for him.

[Ares]

FUJI (Toshiro Misawa)
Created By: Jim Lee & Scott Clark
First Appearance: StormWatch #1 (March 1993)
Role: The Strong Guy, Containment-Suit Guy
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: None (closer to Wildfire at DC)
'90s Ratio: 2/10 (Team Strong Guy)
Group Affiliations: StormWatch

Fuji was easily the most visually striking and iconic member of Stormwatch, and it's a shame he was initially killed off. He had a fun "honorable gentle giant with a sense of humor" personality, a unique schtick as an energy based brick, and his sumo training meant he was actually a solid fighter. He showed he was actually capable of fighting guys like Bedrock evenly, but his weakness was his suit's durability. If Bedrock managed to get both hands on Fuji and apply enough focused pressure, he could rupture the suit. As such, Fuji actually needed to be more or a skill-based battle brick than a simple "trade punches" kind of brick.

The whole "sentient energy gas" thing was an invention of Ellis I believe. While Fuji had always been an energy being, it seemed like early on he was more your standard "humanoid shape bundle of radiant energy". It seemed like a suit rupture was both dangerous to him and people around him. During some private time Fuji once engaged a stasis field that maintained his body integrity and rendered the suit unnecessary, and took off his helmet. The computer monitoring him stated that he should prevent anyone from entering the room, as exposure to the energy he was generating would be fatal to him, at which point Fuji told the computer to shut up. Here it seemed like small ruptures in the suit would be more dangerous to everyone else than Fuji, and that you needed catastrophic suit failure for him to be in danger. I guess Ellis thought sentient energy gas made more sense?



I'd say the domed head and the Rising Sun eyepatch made for a great visual, but the all grey bodsuit made him look too similar to Bedrock. They kept coming up with new looks for the guy so that he never really settled on one truly iconic look.

This look I found is decent, and better than his initial one:



- but overall I think Fuji is someone still in need of a perfected look.

I think I would have tried to play up Fuji's status as an energy being more, make him more than just a strong/tough guy with a glaring flaw in his durability. Like, say his body can actually absorb energy and use it to fuel his stamina, possibly even his strength if he pushes things. The more "radiant" the energy, the easier it is to absorb, so blasters and the like do less damage to him, while most kinetic energy (punches, bullets, etc.) tend to be absorbed with half-efficiency, but his suit usually can absorb the other half. His big weakness then is piercing attacks that can rupture his suit, energy drains, powers that mess with technology, and especially cold (slows down his energy, makes his suit brittle, etc.).

[Ares]

DIVA (Alessandra Fermi)
Created By: Jim Lee & Scott Clark
First Appearance: StormWatch #1 (March 1993)
Role: Flying Blaster, Funny-Colored Super-Chick
Marvel Character Most Ripped Off: Siryn (sonic-screaming flying girl)
'90s Ratio: 5/10 (funny-colored babe, Flying Blaster)
Group Affiliations: StormWatch

Diva was someone I liked in terms of personality, looks and powers, the standard "powers as a curse" thing that kept her from living her dream. She seemed like a solid hero type, that skin color combined with the purple/pink outfit and long blonde hair just worked, and her being a sonic hero was fairly unique. Sadly, she gets killed shortly after assuming leadership of Stormwatch, basically just to set up Battalion's return.

I do kind of like the "Stormwatch logo" aspect some of the costumes had, that stripe with the circle around it you see on some of the earlier outfits. I think the team might have benefitted from that kind of "team uniform" look similar to the Legion of Superheroes, where everyone had similar outfits and you could tell they were a team just by the uniforms, but there were differences such as their outfit colors representing their homeland's flag, and other things to make them more unique.

So yeah, Diva is someone I would have kept around and killed off literally almost any other Stormwatch member. Though several wound up dying anyway.

[Ken]

Big on honor, he is stoic and serious, which was played up with his infamous "I have an orgasm every five minutes. Please do not tell my father"- turns out that his molecules get "excited" within his costume, setting him off.

Here's hoping all of his fights end in less than, say, four and a half minutes.