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

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Shock
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Crossbones! Machinesmith! The Kommandos!)

Post by Shock »

Y'all are a bunch of anti-dentites. Shame on you
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Crossbones! Machinesmith! The Kommandos!)

Post by kirinke »

Lol. Nobody likes the dentist. ;)
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Crossbones! Machinesmith! The Kommandos!)

Post by Tattooedman »

Shock wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:34 pm Y'all are a bunch of anti-dentites. Shame on you
You have half your teeth pulled then tell me what you think of dentists. :)
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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U.S. Agent

Post by Jabroniville »

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"(John Walker) embodied patriotism in a way that Captain America didn't—a patriotic villain. Basically, I just wanted to do the opposite of Steve Rogers. Okay, Steve Rogers is a poor northern urban boy. So I'll make a guy from rural middle class south. Cap is now old, so this guy'll be a real young up-and-comer. Cap has lofty ideals, so I'll make Super-Patriot be more realistic and more pragmatic. So, I put together his background and character traits by playing the opposite game."
-Mark Gruenwald, on the notion of deriding the notion that patriotism was inherently good


U.S. AGENT (John Walker, aka The Super-Patriot II, Captain America V)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #323 (Nov. 1986)
Role: The Team Jerk, Deliberately-Bad Replacement, Good-Ol' Boy, The Lout
Group Affiliations: The Avengers West Coast ('90s), Force Works, The U.S. Army, Omega Flight, S.T.A.R.S., The New Invaders, The Thunderbolts
Avengers Grade: C-Level
PL 10 (141)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+10)
Athletics 4 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Soldier) 8 (+8)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Investigation 3 (+3)
Perception 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Shield Toss) 2 (+10)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment (Gear), Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Shield, Unarmed) 2, Improved Smash, Interpose, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Power Broker Treatments"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

"U.S. Agent's Lesser Shield" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [16]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion (Total 2), Withstand Damage (2)
"Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Dynamic, Ricochet 5, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 9) (Diminished Range -1) (17) -- (23)
  • Dynamic AE: "Shield Bash" Strength-Damage +3 (Extras: Penetrating 3) (7)
  • Dynamic AE: "Bouncing Shield" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable 7, Selective 7) (17)
  • Dynamic AE: Enhanced Dodge 3 & Parry 2 (Extras: Sustained +0) Linked to Enhanced Strength 5 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (10)
-- (25 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Shield Bash +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Shield Toss +11 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Area Toss +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
"Without Shield" Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +6
"With Shield" Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Patriot)- Walker is a Good Ol' Southern Boy, and worships the flag and his late elder brother Mike, who died as a helicopter pilot in the army.
Responsibility (Cap's Legacy)- As one of the few modern "replacement" Caps, Walker had an uphill battle to prove himself, and still has to deal with it.
Reputation (Ass-Munch)- A nasty, angry redneck, Walker is known as kind of a jerk in general. Most super-heroes dislike him by mere reputation at this point, but he's had personal rivalries with Hawkeye (the two have brawled frequently- Walker is the ass that Clint USED to be) and Cap in particular.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 12 (141)

John Walker- The Asshole Cap:
-John Walker was introduced into the Cap series mostly to drive sales, as Mark Gruenwald has admitted. Showing the dark side of patriotism (a blind, jingoistic, "ends justify the means" fervor), he would replace Cap for a long story-arc before ultimately being proven a failure. Walker was a complex character, in that he was a big buffoon, acted without thinking, and was needlessly antagonistic... but Gru had the strength of a writer to balance things with some positive traits: he was legitimately trying his best and thought he was going to help America, had courage and convictions (he confesses to Valerie Cooper that he was guilty of doing things in secret), and was notably not racist (as Southerners were often depicted)- befriending a Northern Black man immediately because both were proud Americans. And, like most of of the "Replacement Heroes" of the '80s, Walker was reintroduced as a hero in his own right, becoming an Avengers supporting character for years, usually as the "Team Asshole" who drives conflict by being a jerk... until Marvel started using him as the "Hank Pym" of the Cap book and jobbing him out and screwing him around constantly. But the first time I encountered him, I was a young Cap fan reading an AWC book, when he CLOBBERED Hawkeye and tried to murder Spider-Woman on government orders, only to find himself unwilling to go through with it- I thought this rad, black-costumed Cap was TOTALLY AWESOME.

The New Captain America:
-Initially the douchebag Super-Patriot, Walker (a recipient of the strength-enhancing Power Broker treatment) became the fifth man to be Captain America, though only the second to REALLY star in the book- the middle three were Retcon Characters introduced after the fact to explain away continuity errors (like Cap being active in the 1950s). Along the way, he learned humility and the cost of the job- he had to work VERY hard to get the moves right, and even then screwed up at the more intellectual aspects of his work. When his old teammates turned on him and the Watchdogs killed his parents, he went insane and murdered countless bad guys and went totally rogue. The story? "Only certain people could pull off being Captain America". That Michigan native Mark Gruenwald had written a Southern Conservative (Walker was very much against nudie magazines and other Republican talking-points of the day) in such a manner was probably also deliberate, though as said, he was careful to make sure than John THOUGHT he was doing right- he was even less of a jerk while trying to live up to the "Captain America" name.

U.S. Agent:
-When he was fired as Cap by The Commission for being too crazy, Walker then took the role of the U.S. Agent (a secret operative for the Commission), ironically using the very same uniform Cap used as "The Captain", and a lesser Vibranium shield. Despite packing super-strength, he was lesser than Cap in most ways, especially as an Avenger, where he kicked around the ranks of the Roy Thomas-written Avengers West Coast book, acting as the "Team Jerk" to provide some conflict. He generally PO'd all of his teammates with his boorish mannerisms and jerkiness- at one point, he tries to make a mopey Mockingbird feel better by saying "even if you can't DO very much, you at least improve the scenery around here", and repeatedly referred to Wolverine as a "Mutie" to his face, doing so casually. Again, he would struggle with doing right- the Commission told him to kill Spider-Woman, but he quit at the last second.

-He got a Limited Series in 1993, learning the secret of the "Scourge of the Underworld"- it's actually an organization of multiple people who murder criminals (their founder is the Golden Age Angel). He also helped BattleStar fight the ridiculous Power Tools (other Power Broker-enhanced guys), and teamed up with the Punisher to fight the Maggia, shattering Paladin's legs with his shield when the mercenary tried to assassinate him. Eventually, however, things fell apart- he was given a redesign (wearing an odd mask that shows his face) in Force Works after the Avengers shut down their West Coast branch (Walker, more antagonistic than ever, nearly attacks Cap, but is warned off by Iron Man). Force Works was a more aggressive, "proactive" (lord how that word always provokes disaster in team books) Avengers-like team, but poor sales and creative choices killed the book.

John Walker- Forgotten Speedbump:
-The late '90s were... less kind to the guy in general. By this point, the main Marvel heroes died and were resurrected following Heroes Reborn, and the "Cap-Lite" hero was largely ignored as Marvel was trying to refigure what the MAIN heroes were supposed to be. John was reduced to the level of "Speedbump Character" for other villains- in one prominent story-arc, he was badly beaten and nearly killed by the deadly villain Protocide to set the stage for a Cap/Protocide showdown. Yes, the "Martian Manhunter" role of "the guy who jobs out to prove how tough the villain is". Later, he was given a Judge Dredd knock-off redesign to act as a U.S. government-backed defender against alien threats to Earth during the Maximum Security arc that later got ignored. Then he teams up with The Jury- a band created to capture the Thunderbolts (led by Walker's old rival Hawkeye), but the two groups team up against mutual foes and THAT concept is dropped, too. A short-lived Invaders comic is next, with Walker in a more Cap-like uniform and a star-shaped shield, teaming up with the Golden Age heroes and the new Union Jack- this team soon came up against the Avengers over actions in a foreign country that the Invaders had... invaded, usurping the dictator in charge.

-Walker appears in a side-role AGAIN during Civil War, forming an Omega Flight in Canada of all places, attempting to stop super-villains fleeing America during the Superhuman Registration Act. Back wearing his old costume, he trains Weapon Omega a bit before that book's done and he ends up on the Mighty Avengers book as a filler character. He is badly maimed during Siege, losing his left arm and leg when the villain Nuke uses Odin's spear against him. Now crippled (and refusing prosthetics to avoid being turned into "a cyborg like the man who crippled me"), he serves as the warden of the new "Raft" prison. Here, he proves his bravery yet again by saving the inmates during an attack by the Juggernaut during Fear Itself, but he's later an antagonist again, being manipulated by an evil Cap during Secret Empire into attacking "Falcon-Cap", losing only when the fight is brought into a dark tunnel, where Falcon can see through the eyes of great horned owls, allowing him to see in the dark. He later helps the heroes fight HYDRA in that story. Oh, and he got his limbs back thanks to alternate universe Venom symbiote shenanigans, I dunno.

-Walker has actually managed to get used AGAIN, this time appearing in the 2020 Force Works book, acting as a robot fighter. And now he's a solo book character again, with Christopher Priest being hired on to write a new U.S. Agent series, about a character who couldn't possibly be more different than Priest himself. Priest, who's mentioned before about how "as Marvel became more PC, I somehow became BLACKER" (about the fact that Marvel was only offering him comics about black characters anymore), was surprised but seems to be wanting to make the best of it (he was expecting to be writing Captain America, lol).

U.S. Agent Overall:
-Few characters have had a more "Meh, whatever side-thing is going on" story as John Walker did from 1993-2020. Seriously, that is a TON of roundabout stuff, and is such a weird way- like... he's often just completely ignored, but only for a year or two before someone decides that "Failed Cap" needs to get used RIGHT AWAY in another story. How many other characters have bounced around that badly from book to book like Walker has since Avengers West Coast was cancelled? The guy went from Force Works to Maximum Security to Thunderbolts (twice) to New Invaders to Omega Flight to Mighty Avengers so rapidly I'm astonished! And like... it's always in such LOW-TIER books, too! The poor guy is this weird combination of forgotten and constantly-used, showing up seemingly EVERYWHERE because he's so useful as a recognizable "brave but a jackass" Team Jerk, ideal to force the conflict out of any possible story. I think he barely goes more than two years without showing up in something, but it's always a third or fourth-tier book, so he's still somewhat forgotten in spite of it all!

U.S. Agent's Powers:
-U.S. Agent is basically a bigger, stronger Captain America, but he's much less than Steve overall, being dumber, a worse fighter, and having less to him. He's surprisingly cheap given his legacy as a former Cap, but that'll happen when they go out of their way to make you seem less intelligent and charismatic than everyone else around you. He's a classic PL 10, no better or no worse than most any professional heroes- he's strong enough to give Cap a challenge in a fight regardless of the PL difference (since the game is somewhat biased towards stronger guys), but not enough to REALLY destroy tons of guys. I used to think of him as a PL 11 hero, but he's since been downgraded fairly heavily- never mind that he was often rather weak as a fighter even in his debut (where Gruenwald ALWAYS made sure to let us know just HOW great Steve Rogers was- as a huge fan of the title character, Gru was REALLY into the Combat Feats for Cap).

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THE SUPER-PATRIOT II (John Walker, aka Captain America V, U.S. Agent)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #323 (Nov. 1986)
Role: The Team Jerk, Good-Ol' Boy, The Lout
Group Affiliations: The Avengers West Coast ('90s), Force Works, The U.S. Army, Omega Flight, S.T.A.R.S., The New Invaders, The Thunderbolts
Avengers Grade: C-Level
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Soldier) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+2)
Perception 4 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Diehard, Equipment 3 (Hand Torch), Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Power Broker Treatments"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

Equipment:
"Hand Torch" Damage 8 (Feats: Penetrating 6) (14)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Hand Torch +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Patriot)- Walker is a Good Ol' Southern Boy, and worships the flag and his late elder brother Mike, who died as a helicopter pilot in the army.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 11 (99)

-Walker, as The Super-Patriot, was basically a big blowhard to openly-criticized Cap, and put on some fake battles to impress people and make himself look good. When it came time to actually FIGHT Captain America, Walker lost pretty handily (despite a massive strength advantage), thanks to Cap's superior fighting skills. When Walker was hired on to be the new Captain America, he struggled at first, having to learn how to use the Shield (he couldn't throw it at full-strength or it'd go all over the place)- despite the boost to his stats it would give, he'd lose to groups of Guardsmen and Freedom Force (well, he took out Pyro & Avalanche, but he mistakenly decided to throw a Power Attack at THE BLOB, who is generally someone able to resist brute force). It'd take a while before his training would pay off, and so The Super-Patriot is a mere PL 8 guy who lacks John's later superior training (via The Taskmaster and The Commission), any Ranged capability, and even his rudimentary interpersonal skills.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Crossbones! Machinesmith! The Kommandos!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Shock wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:34 pm Y'all are a bunch of anti-dentites. Shame on you
Lol- now I feel the need to share the first dentist I went to after leaving the family dentist- he took one look at my insurance and decided I needed $9000 of work IMMEDIATELY. I nearly swore off ever going again.

Thankfully the second one I went to was more honest.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Machinesmith! The Kommandos! U.S. Agent!)

Post by Ares »

Minor correction, but the first time Walker and Steve got into a full on, no-holds barred fight, it ended in a draw. Walker opted to leave and Cap was left wondering if he could have managed to win at all. Mark Gruenwald knew that he had to make Walker both a physical and philosophical challenge for Cap, since if he could easily deal with Walker it'd loose any impact and make Walker look more like a strawman. It made the rematch that much more important when Cap was able to get a solid win over Walker, and then have Walker admit that Steve was the only one who could really be Captain America.

I think it says something either about the skill of earlier writers or my own lack of political knowledge of the time, because for a long while I never noticed the left-leaning bias a lot of comics creators had. It never occurred to me that Wally West was being portrayed as the team jackass because he was from the mid-west/south and was Republican. John Walker being an antagonistic "good old boy" who was mostly conservative didn't click either, I saw him as a jerk first and his political leanings or home locations didn't matter. And I think writers of the time did a better job of establishing that the character was a jerk, not that their politics or hometown made them a jerk. Thinking about it a bit more, Superman and Cannonball might be some of the few guys from the Midwest/South who aren't treated like idiots. Wally did eventually grow out of that to be more or less the ultimate everyman of DC, but still.

I also wonder if that means Gruenwald pegged Cap as a democrat, since he made the guy intended to be his opposite a conservative. Myself, I think the worst thing that could be done would be to make Captain America stand with any one political party, or make his opponents come primarily from one group. If you're going to show evil coming from one side, you should be able to show it coming from both sides as well.

The beauty of guys like Captain America and Superman is that they transcend all political divides. Because politics is ultimately about control. It's about deciding what people should be allowed to do and what they should be forced to do for the good of the country. And since people prioritize different things, we wind up with groups fighting over what they think everyone should or shouldn't be allowed to do. No one thinks that killing is really a good thing, but both sides are willing to allow for the termination of human life in certain circumstances. They just disagree on what those circumstances are.

What Clark and Steve do is cut through the BS to embody the best aspects of the American Dream itself, ideals of opportunity and personal freedom, as well as personal responsibility. Politics is at it's most divisive when one side blames the other for the problems in the country, especially since its usually both sides doing so at the same time. Steve and Clark say "We need to all take responsibility for our own actions, acknowledge the humanity of everyone, and work together to build a brighter future".
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Spectrum
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Machinesmith! The Kommandos! U.S. Agent!)

Post by Spectrum »

Have there ever been a good group of conservatives in the Marvel universe?

The closest that I come is the Powers family, and they were more religious than conservative.
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Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Machinesmith! The Kommandos! U.S. Agent!)

Post by Jabroniville »

I mean, Steve Englehart wrote Richard Nixon as the head of the Secret Empire, so technically political bias was nothing new, but... it wasn’t VISUALLY Nixon, and wasn’t even identified as the president.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Machinesmith! The Kommandos! U.S. Agent!)

Post by Ian Turner »

I have a soft spot for US Agent in all his jerk glory. (I grew up in Oklahoma, so anyone who comes from south or west of New York City, like Sam Guthrie, or Dani Moonstar, a part of me roots for.)

That silver eagle/star shield is kinda neat. Not terribly efficient with all that open space, though. Perhaps if it had transparent bits in those open spaces that were still super-tough... (Not the teeny gold eagle shield, 'though. What the hell use is a shield that small? "Oh, this is just to block bullets aimed at my dick.")
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Machinesmith! The Kommandos! U.S. Agent!)

Post by M4C8 »

Ian Turner wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:00 am I have a soft spot for US Agent in all his jerk glory. (I grew up in Oklahoma, so anyone who comes from south or west of New York City, like Sam Guthrie, or Dani Moonstar, a part of me roots for.)

That silver eagle/star shield is kinda neat. Not terribly efficient with all that open space, though. Perhaps if it had transparent bits in those open spaces that were still super-tough... (Not the teeny gold eagle shield, 'though. What the hell use is a shield that small? "Oh, this is just to block bullets aimed at my dick.")
IIRC the gold eagle part could generate a full size badge shaped energy shield.

The energy truncheon in that pic had more than one setting including solid blunt impact and electric shock (it could maybe also be used as a cutting torch but it's been a while since I read the books though so I might be mistaken)
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BattleStar

Post by Jabroniville »

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BATTLESTAR (Lemar Hoskins)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Paul Neary
b]First Appearance:[/b] Captain America #323 (Nov. 1986)
Role: Jobber Hero
Group Affiliations: The Bold Urban Commandos, The C.S.A., Silver Sable's Wild Pack
PL 9 (113)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 2 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+9)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Soldier) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Equipment (Gear), Extraordinary Effort, Improved Smash, Interpose, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Power Broker Treatments"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

"Adamantium-Edged Triangular Shield" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [12]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion, Withstand Damage (2)
"Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Dynamic, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 8) (Diminished Range -1) (11) -- (15)
  • Dynamic AE: "Shield Bash" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Penetrating 2) (4)
  • Dynamic AE: Enhanced Dodge 2 & Parry 2 (Extras: Sustained +0) Linked to Enhanced Strength 5 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (9)
-- (17 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+8 Damage, DC 21)
Shield Bash +7 (+10 Damage, DC 24)
Shield Toss +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (+10 Shield, DC 20), Parry +8 (+10 Shield, DC 20), Toughness +7, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Patriotism)- Battlestar is a patriot and a soldier.
Relationship (John Walker)- Lemar made friends with Walker immediately upon being recruited to the same program- despite him being a Northern Black and John a Southern White.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 10 (113)

-BattleStar is a fairly little-known background character in the Cap books. Initially one of the BUCkies (Bold Urban Commandos), his job was to dress up as Bucky and attack John Walker during his public speeches as Super-Patriot, staging fights so that Walker looked good. When Walker was hired on as the new Captain America, Lemar Hoskins was chosen to be his new "Bucky", as he was the only one of the BUCkies who could pass a background check. Mark Gruenwald pointed out that it was a natural choice- they had three BUCkies, and Lemar was the only one who stood out, being black. When Dwayne McDuffie pointed out that "Buck" was a derogatory term for Blacks in the South, Gru was mortified, but cleverly wrote it into the story, having an older Black man telling Lemar about that fact, and pointing out how silly it was to have the much larger Lemar acting in a role popularized by a teenage white boy. And so, "BattleStar" was born.

-Lemar is given some backstory- he's a soldier who partnered up with Walker way back in the day- the two becoming friends despite their differing origins (Northern Black; Southern White). Lemar didn't get up to much, and was often seen in a side role as Walker struggled with his position- he helps the new Cap take on the Watchdogs and more, but finds himself the "Only Sane Man" when Walker's parents are killed and he becomes unhinged, lethally-assaulting numerous villains. Finally, Lemar helps the real Cap rescue Walker, and later tails him when he finds out that his friend's supposed death was merely faked. He & the new U.S. Agent fight the Power Tools in the backstory of one Cap story-arc, and he is temporarily de-powered, becoming weak and deformed- at story's end, the Agent gives him his strength back.

-He proved himself a fairly honorable hero (especially once they dropped the Unfortunate Implications of him being illiterate), and when U.S. Agent ended up on Avengers West Coast, BattleStar became a recurring character in the short-lived Silver Sable book in the early '90s period when EVERYBODY had a solo book. He quit the team when Sable's father wanted the squad to murder a man in their custody to get the other prisoners to give up information. This being a low-tier book right before the Great Comic Book Crash, he never really took off- BattleStar was never seen again until Civil War, which used him in a minor role as a resistant to the Superhuman Registration Act. His Cap-Lite gimmick means he'll probably never get that solo push, especially once the Falcon ended up as the first "Black Cap". He's been lately seen as a security guard at Project Pegasus, then in a one-off story featuring him & D-Man wrestling for charity and Secret Empire, as one of many backgrounders in the anti-HYDRA "Underground".

-So in all, he's become just one of those filler guys, able to avoid the "killed to make this story seem more serious" trope through sheer luck as much as anything- how many super-powered "Spinoff Characters" out there exist that writers would just LOVE to kill off?

-BattleStar's a decent hero, but still just a PL 8.5-ish dude. He's strong as hell, but lacks the accuracy of better fighters. Despite being super-strong, most Power Broker guys aren't all that durable either- he survived being hanged by The Watchdogs as part of his plan to bring them down with Walker, but wasn't that high up in terms of other Strongmen heroes.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Machinesmith! The Kommandos! U.S. Agent!)

Post by HalloweenJack »

I always liked Battlestar. I enjoyed the back up features he was in in Cap.
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Re: BattleStar

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 7:26 pm -BattleStar is a fairly little-known background character in the Cap books. Initially one of the BUCkies (Bold Urban Commandos), his job was to dress up as Bucky and attack John Walker during his public speeches as Super-Patriot, staging fights so that Walker looked good. When Walker was hired on as the new Captain America, Lemar Hoskins was chosen to be his new "Bucky", as he was the only one of the BUCkies who could pass a background check. Mark Gruenwald pointed out that it was a natural choice- they had three BUCkies, and Lemar was the only one who stood out, being black. When Dwayne McDuffie pointed out that "Buck" was a derogatory term for Blacks in the South, Gru was mortified, but cleverly wrote it into the story, having an older Black man telling Lemar about that fact, and pointing out how silly it was to have the much larger Lemar acting in a role popularized by a teenage white boy. And so, "BattleStar" was born.
And that's what I call good use of your own mistakes (although, Gruenwald had a pretty terrible track record as far as screwing names.
"You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”

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Re: BattleStar

Post by Jabroniville »

Woodclaw wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:41 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 7:26 pm -BattleStar is a fairly little-known background character in the Cap books. Initially one of the BUCkies (Bold Urban Commandos), his job was to dress up as Bucky and attack John Walker during his public speeches as Super-Patriot, staging fights so that Walker looked good. When Walker was hired on as the new Captain America, Lemar Hoskins was chosen to be his new "Bucky", as he was the only one of the BUCkies who could pass a background check. Mark Gruenwald pointed out that it was a natural choice- they had three BUCkies, and Lemar was the only one who stood out, being black. When Dwayne McDuffie pointed out that "Buck" was a derogatory term for Blacks in the South, Gru was mortified, but cleverly wrote it into the story, having an older Black man telling Lemar about that fact, and pointing out how silly it was to have the much larger Lemar acting in a role popularized by a teenage white boy. And so, "BattleStar" was born.
And that's what I call good use of your own mistakes (although, Gruenwald had a pretty terrible track record as far as screwing names.
Was he the guy behind the German hero named “Blitzkrieg”? What else did he do weird?
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Re: BattleStar

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:05 pm
Woodclaw wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:41 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 7:26 pm -BattleStar is a fairly little-known background character in the Cap books. Initially one of the BUCkies (Bold Urban Commandos), his job was to dress up as Bucky and attack John Walker during his public speeches as Super-Patriot, staging fights so that Walker looked good. When Walker was hired on as the new Captain America, Lemar Hoskins was chosen to be his new "Bucky", as he was the only one of the BUCkies who could pass a background check. Mark Gruenwald pointed out that it was a natural choice- they had three BUCkies, and Lemar was the only one who stood out, being black. When Dwayne McDuffie pointed out that "Buck" was a derogatory term for Blacks in the South, Gru was mortified, but cleverly wrote it into the story, having an older Black man telling Lemar about that fact, and pointing out how silly it was to have the much larger Lemar acting in a role popularized by a teenage white boy. And so, "BattleStar" was born.
And that's what I call good use of your own mistakes (although, Gruenwald had a pretty terrible track record as far as screwing names.
Was he the guy behind the German hero named “Blitzkrieg”? What else did he do weird?
Well, there was Vormund, formerly Hauptmann Deutschland. Vormund means "Guardian", which was Gruenwald's stuated intention, except as in "legal guardian of a minor".
"You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”

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