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

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Jabroniville
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Cable

Post by Jabroniville »

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CABLE (Nathan Christopher Charles Summers Dayspring Askani'son)
Created By:
Rob Liefeld & Louise Simonson
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #201 (Jan. 1986) as Nathan/New Mutants #87 (March 1990) as Cable
Role: Captain Nineties, Gun Guy, The Dark Mentor, The Repentant Nineties Guy
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force, Six Pack/Wild Pack, The X-Men, The Askani
PL 11 (233)
STRENGTH
5/7 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 8
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 1 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+12)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Soldier/Mercenary) 12 (+16)
Expertise (History) 6 (+10)
Expertise (Sciences) 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 8 (+12)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 8 (+12)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 9 (+13)
Vehicles 3 (+11)

Advantages: 
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 2 (Access to "Professor" A.I.), Diehard, Equipment 15 (Arsenal, Bodyslide Technology, Graymalkin), Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blaster Rifle), Interpose, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (Various), Last Stand, Leadership, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Skill Mastery (Soldier), Startle, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Soldier Skill, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy & Telekinesis"
"Held Back By Techno-Organic Virus" Move Object 4 (Flaws: Distracting) [4]
Mind Reading 4 (Flaws: Touch Range -2) [2]

"Techno-Organic Fibre" 
Enhanced Strength 2 (Quirk: Left Side Only -1) [3]
"Datalink" Communication (Computers) 2 [8]
Protection 2 [2]
"Conceals Metal Form Synth-Fibre" Morph 1 (Skin Over Body) [1]
"Cybernetic Eye" Senses 2 (Extended & Infra-Vision) [2]

"Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [24]
"Bodyslide Technology" Teleport 10 (Feats: Increased Mass 6- 3,200lbs.) (Extras: Extended Only +0) (26)
"Huge-Ass Shoulder Pads" Protection 2 (2) -- (28 points)

Equipment:
"Huge-Ass Arsenal"
"Power Gun" Blast 10 (Extras: Penetrating) (Quirks: Inaccurate -1) (29) -- (33)
  • AE: "Automatic Rifle" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27) 
  • AE: "Grenade Launcher" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)
  • AE: "Vibro-Knife" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (11)
  • AE: "Sniper Rifle" Blast 8 (Feats: Extended Range 4- 1,600 feet long range) (20)
Communications (1)
"Assorted Spy/Break-In Stuff" (7)

"Graymalkin" Orbitting Satellite & Time Machine (33) -- (75 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+7 Damage, DC 21)
Vibro-Knife +11 (+9 Damage, DC 23)
Power Gun +12 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Automatic Rifle +13 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Grenade Launcher +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Sniper Rifle +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5 (+7 T-O Fibre, +9 Armour), Fortitude +10, Will +11

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Save the Future)- Cable is obsessed with preventing his vile timeline from occurring. 
Motivation (Hope Summers)- Cable has been charged with the protection of young Hope, the first new Mutant born since M-Day.
Motivation (The Closed Fist)- The polar opposite of Xavier's "Open Hand" approach, Cable believes in knocking down opposition and the path of violence, but has the same overall goals as Xavier.
Reputation (Hard-Ass)- Cable's leadership of the New Mutants came into question many times, and many of the older X-Men have trouble trusting him.
Relationship (Cyclops)- Cable's birth father is the leader of the X-Men, who is now younger than he is. There's a strange sense of comraderie and respect between the two of them, but they aren't really close as friends.
Relationship (Cannonball)- Sam was like a son to Cable (who originally came to the past to awaken Sam as an External "High Lord"), and the two had an uncomfortable relationship. Sam wanted to make the old man proud, and Cable often sought to emotionally distance himself from the young man. 
Enemy (Apocalypse)- Cable was sent from his future, where his arch-nemesis was the dark overlord of all Earth. As a baby, he was infected with a Techno-Organic Virus by Apocalypse as well.
Enemy (Stryfe)- A vulgar clone of Cable, Stryfe came to believe that he was the original, and was obsessed with killing both Nathan and his parents (and Jean Grey by proxy).
Enemy (Tolliver)- Cable's son Tyler Dayspring eventually turned evil, becoming the crimeboss Tolliver, who challenged Cable and eventually turned into the villain "Genesis".
Weakness (Magnetic & Electrical Attacks)- As a cyborg comprised of nearly 50% metal, Cable is highly vulnerable to attacks that do more damage to metal substances.
Power Loss (Psionics)- Cable's psionic power moves with the winds- sometimes he's as powerful as Nate "X-Man" Grey, sometimes he has no power at all. It pretty much just depends.

Total: Abilities: 88 / Skills: 70--35 / Advantages: 44 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 20 (233)

Cable: '90s Icon:
-Nobody, but NOBODY, defines the 1990s of comics moreso than Cable. He's got it all: Vague, mysterious origins. Giant shoulder pads. Cyborg. Glowing eyes (well, eye). Huge and muscular. Nasty-looking. Gruff. Military background. Mysterious backstory. Powers added as an afterthought. And guns. HOLY GOD THE GUNS!!

-Cable was created by Rob Liefeld with instructions to make a new mentor character to the New Mutants, this one "the opposite of Xavier" (Editor Bob Harras wanted to name him "Quinn". Louise Simonson suggested "Commander X"). Everyone liked the idea, and so Cable showed up- and he hit BIG. People forget in the modern age of poo-poohing the '90s, but this guy was EVERYWHERE. He was guest-starring in Wolverine and getting his own Limited Series within a couple years, in addition to taking over the New Mutants' book with an array of Liefeld-created bad guys (the Mutant Liberation Front, with Stryfe as their boss) as his own personal enemies. Half a dozen old-school characters met up with him and were like "Oh damn! It's Cable! This guy's tough!" By the time Liefeld left Marvel a couple years later, he'd created an absolute monster.

Cable's Debut:
-Cable debuted with a lot of fanfare and little explanation of his background, but quickly attached himself to the rudderless New Mutants (at that time, Xavier was busy/offworld, and Magneto had reverted back to his villainous ways, considering his "Face Turn" a failure). The kids gravitated him for lack of anything else to do, and he got into a quick scrap with Wolverine, who recognized him from operations way back in the day. Cable also carried baggage with him- the M.L.F. and a crime-boss named "Mr. Tolliver" both hated his guts, and the New Mutants would be subject to attacks from both- Tolliver's agent was a mysterious, smart-assed assassin named Deadpool. Cable's old friend Domino would soon join the New Mutants, the old members would leave without Cable ever seeming to care, and when an angry Cannonball confronted him over this, Cable finally came clean- he was building an army- soldiers for the war of tomorrow.

-The New Mutants became X-Force, in an all-new book for Liefeld's designs. The book was a mess at first- constant new characters debuting in outlandish costumes, no villains ever really gaining traction, but writer Fabian Nicieza tried to keep a handle on things. Cable's backstory would be revealed, bit-by-bit- he was a cyborg from the future, arrived in our past due to the "new High Lord", Sam Guthrie, awakening, and Cable wanted this seemingly-important person on his side. He entered Earth's timeline over a decade in the past, making him part of the Six Pack team with Garrison Kane, Domino, Grizzly, Hammer & G.W. Bridge (which made him MORE enemies, when he left most of his team for dead after a mission went south).

Cable Joins the Summers Family Tree:
-Rob Liefeld would leave Marvel soon after X-Force debuted, leaving Cable entirely in the hands of Nicieza. And so the man was humanized a bit- he would grow a father-son bond with Cannonball, growing attached when he didn't want to. He was also the central character of The X-Cutioner's Song, along with his villainous counterpart, Stryfe. The cross-over would pretty clearly reveal what would later be known for certain- that this sorta-telekinetic guy named "Nathan" was in fact NATHAN CHRISTOPHER SUMMERS, the natural-born son of Cyclops & Madelyne Pryor, who'd been sent into the future for his own good years before! Cable was thought-dead at the end of the story, but would return in less than a year, with a brand-new solo book and a relationship with his surviving parent (Cyke). And this was back when the Summers Family Tree was relatively simple: Mutant brothers Scott & Alex, Space Pirate father Corsair, Life Partner of Scott's Jean Grey, Jean's clone/demon sorceress Madelyne, Jean & Scott's daughter from a no-longer-existing future Rachel... and then Scott & Madelyne's son Nathan, returned from the future as a bad-ass with military experience. And eventually, it would get REALLY convoluted!

-Cable returned to X-Force a changed man, allowing himself to appear less dispassionate and militaristic, despite his hardware. Oh, and his "Cybernetics"? Actually the effects of the Techno-Organic Virus afflicted upon Baby Nathan by Apocalypse. Oh, and Cable's future was ruled by Apoc; Cable was the rebellion's leader, while his arch-nemesis was Stryfe- a clone of himself with full Telekinetic & Telepathic might (since Cable's was in remission thanks to the effort keeping his T-O Virus at bay). Oh, and the woman who sent him to the future (Askan'i) was actually the adult version of his half-sister Rachel, who then died.

Post-'90s Bust:
-Cable's book was popular enough to last 107 issues, going through the entire Comic Book Crash, despite being emblematic of that era's heroes (so emblematic that the character Magog, intentionally designed to represent "everything we hated about 1990s superhero design" according to Mark Waid & Alex Ross and a definitive "Kill All Your Enemies" kind of guy, is essentially just Cable in different armor). That said, his popularity had definitely waned- X-Force eventually had to go on without him, and became a low-selling book under Siryn, Moonstar & Domino, before eventually being cancelled. Cable himself joined one X-Men team, acting as a more mature "Psionic Warrior" with an energy weapon, but it went nowhere and wasn't popular- he would quickly drop that look entirely.

-Cable would vanish for a number of years, but would get the occasional Limited Series or something, like when Liefeld would be allowed back for a short while. Eventually, however, he would come roaring back- less fanfare than in his debut years, but he was still very present- he got a silly book with Deadpool, and appeared frequently when Hope Summers was born- he took the young girl into the future, adopted her and gave her a last name, and trained her into what she later became. "Cable the Father Figure" once more. However, Hope was kind of a bust as a character, and Cable would instead kind of just jump around different X-books, like the new "Black Ops" era of X-Force, or even on the Uncanny Avengers.

-As a whole, Cable is still seen as an icon of his era, and isn't anywhere near as "legit" as he used to be as a major star. But... I don't mind him that much. I'm no giant FAN, and he's certainly not enough to get me to read a book, but I kind of like the "old soldier" act, and he's not insufferable or a jerk like he used to be. He also doesn't win an excessive amount of the time.

Cable's Stats:
-Cable's an expensive guy, mainly thanks to all his stupid equipment. Giant flying Satellites, a massive arsenal of guns (some doing +10 damage!), tons of Skills, etc., add up to a really versatile Blaster who's pretty tough as well. He's PL 11 at Range, but not on Defense, as he's never really been a "Dodge"-happy kind of guy, relying on his pretty-high but not overly-strong Toughness. It's enough to about tie with Wolverine until the latter's Healing Factor kicks in and Cable starts feeling damage. Still, +11 Will and Last Stand make for a really hard guy to bring down and keep there with any type of attack. His actual Mutant Powers are at a REALLY low level, as it would take him years to become a "Psi-Mitar"-using guy. Later incarnations are so all over the place I couldn't possibly hope to stat them without actually having read those books (which I haven't)- you just kinda have to stick a random assortment to Telekinesis onto him sometimes. 
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warlock! Thunderbird! Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion!)

Post by Jabroniville »

BriarThrone wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:08 am Speaking as someone who was obsessed with the toys and the show for years... there are many examples of kids' programming that holds up well. The TMNT cartoon is not that. It's hot garbage. Targeting adult fans of that is going to take some creative license to distract the audience from the fact that a huge part of their childhood is something that you regret stepping in.

And if you think the female form was something Michael Bay added, you and I remember April O'Neil very differently.

The Bay TMNT were adequate TMNT movies aimed at adult fans of a kids' show. They just weren't, y'know... good movies.
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Casey Jones applying for a job is calling you a liar.

The early seasons of the show at least were great. It was fully aware of how absurd and silly the concept was, and ran with it. The magnet that only affects certain items, the foot-tickling torturers, the old lady brandishing a shotgun at the heroes in the Pilot... it's all good.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warlock! Thunderbird! Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion!)

Post by Ares »

BriarThrone wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:08 amSpeaking as someone who was obsessed with the toys and the show for years... there are many examples of kids' programming that holds up well. The TMNT cartoon is not that. It's hot garbage.
I'll have to disagree. The 80's TMNT series was hit or miss, but the good episodes were perfectly fine, and the average episodes were stupid but inoffensive. There were certainly bad episodes, especially in the last couple of seasons where they outnumbered the decent ones. Phelous spent an hour listing the the top 40 dumbest moments of the show. It's not my favorite TMNT adaptation. The original run of the Mirage Comic up to the fight with the reborn Shredder, the first live action movie, the 2003 animated series and some of the video games are much higher on my list of preferences. But the mini-series that started the 80's show was pretty good, and first several seasons were mostly good/decent before seasonal rot and executive meddling hit the show hard. The Real Ghostbusters went through something similar, though TRGB was by far the better show during Season 1 and the syndicated episodes, before it became the Slimer show.
Targeting adult fans of that is going to take some creative license to distract the audience from the fact that a huge part of their childhood is something that you regret stepping in.
Well, that's kind of the thing. The first Bay TMNT film in no way was written for fans of the original TMNT, whether the comics, 80's cartoon, 2003 cartoon or the CGI show on Nickelodeon. In a franchise where half the fun is seeing how the current creative team will tweak things from previous versions, what will be kept, changed, homaged and the like, the first Bay TMNT basically only kept the most superficial aspects of the characters and threw everything else out.

Now, Bay neither wrote nor directed the first film, but you can see how it follows the Transformers version of adaptation. Throw out pretty much everything, give the characters ugly re-designs, focus on the human sidekicks at the expense of the main heroes, introduce humor that even the 80's series would have considered too juvenile, hypersexualize the female lead, make the male human a kind of stuttering idiot obsessed with the female lead, have the human authority figures be idiots, etc.

There is nothing here for 80s' TMNT fans to get nostalgic about because the movie basically threw out anything they could potentially use to connect with their past. And like how Transformers 2 tried to win back the fans by including slightly more things from Transformers lore, TMNT 2 tried to tie more closely to the classic Turtle mythos with Bebop, Rocksteady, Casey Jones, Krang and the like, but again, it was poorly executed and way too little way too late.

So again, it isn't that nostalgia movies are bad, it's that Michael Bay has no idea how to do them properly. We just get movies that are designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
And if you think the female form was something Michael Bay added, you and I remember April O'Neil very differently.
80's April O'Neil was drawn very shapely and attractively, no question there. But she the times she was used for fanservice was pretty negligible to non-existant. There the infamous image of her being untied in the first episode where he chest is sticking out, and that's pretty much it. She was considered attractive, but she wasn't hypersexualized.

Michael Bay's film had April played by Megan Fox. Whom he had strip down to a schoolgirl uniform as a way to appeal to Baxter Stockman's fetish and have her lean out a car window so her co-worker could comment on her ass, as well as having Mikey very creepily hit on her constantly.

Michael Bay's team took the concept of "April is a respected reporter and the Turtle's human friend who often winds up involved with or kickstarting their adventures" to "April is kind of dumb, treated as a joke by the news industry, and her involvement in the movie is equal parts stealing the spotlight from the title characters and being a sex object".
The Bay TMNT were adequate TMNT movies aimed at adult fans of a kids' show. They just weren't, y'know... good movies.
No, the Bay TMNT were very poorly made TMNT movies (compared to the first and second live action movies made over 20 years ago) and were ALSO not very good movies.
"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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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

Post by Ares »

And yeah, Cable. He's probably the most 90's character ever, even compared to Rob's later creations.

Mysterious past?
Big guns?
Cyborg?
Big shoulder pads?
Lots of pouches and belts?
Extreme soldier mentality?
Costume is effectively brightly colored military fatigues?
Often wore weird head gear that covered his ears and went down to his chin?
Weird design over just one eye?
Vague powers added on as an afterthought?

I mean, Shatterstar is close, given he had most of that, but Cable just embodies the 90's, especially the worst aspects of it early on. It's a credit that guys managed to turn him into a decent character later.
"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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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Weird thing is Cable's bizarre armor in the "Juggernaut/World Trade Center fight" issues. It's like this full body armor, but the armor is all organic and made of swooping shapes. And nobody comments on it, and it's never seen again!

And it's funny how the cybernetics went from thin wires & actual mechanical stuff to "techno-organic living metal" stuff.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

Post by Ares »

Oh, and lets not forget Cable's catch phrase: "Stab his eyes". Every time someone he hated did something he hated, it was "Stab his eyes for _____".

And behold, the most 90's picture of Cable ever, to the point I think the creative team were purposefully parodying Rob.

Image
"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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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:38 am Oh, and lets not forget Cable's catch phrase: "Stab his eyes". Every time someone he hated did something he hated, it was "Stab his eyes for _____".

And behold, the most 90's picture of Cable ever, to the point I think the creative team were purposefully parodying Rob.

Image
Haha, I've been re-reading The X-Cutioner's Song, and that panel is pretty hilarious.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

Post by Ares »

Oh, and the armor Jab mentioned?

Image
"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."
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

Post by Ares »

Regarding Boom-Boom, I agree X-Men Evolution used her to great effect. In a large part, I think X-Men Evolution did a great job distilling the X-Mythos into a modern formula.

It was also kind of weird how she got 'Sasquatched', since in her original showing her powers were actually pretty decent. She could alter the size of her time bombs as well as how long it took for them to go off. In her first outing she made a time bomb about the size of a watermellon that completely devastated the surrounding area, and would have killed her if not for the Beyonder's presence. A big part of her earlier character seemed to be about controlling the size and duration of said bombs. I mean, she basically has an unlimited supply of grenades that she can make as powerful as she wants and have a time delay for as long or short as she wants. Have her improve her throwing skills and give her a little infiltration training, maybe make it so that she can 'stick' her bombs to stuff, and she'd be one crazy dangerous demolitions expert. Just think Firefly from those old G.I.Joe comics.
"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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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

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THE X-CUTIONER'S SONG:

-This one really brings me back. See, this was a formative storyline for me in numerous ways. First off, it was right when I first started collecting comics FOR SERIOUS, actually going to a store (okay, the Mac's convenience store a block away) and picking up comics on the regular, instead of just scattered issues. Secondly, this was one of my first big "projects" when I started doing M&M builds, ten years ago.

-But yeah, I was WAY into this when it first came out. I think I read the X-Men (vs) X-Force fight endlessly over the years, before I got out of comics a couple of years later. And it always stuck with me- I read it often enough that I can STILL quote entire aspects of it. Has it aged well? Oh HELLS naw- it actually comes off pretty badly in parts. The writing is clumsy, the story is ridiculously padded out, and things proceed at a snail's pace thanks to so many things going on at once. It's not just overloaded with characters- it's DELUGED with them. Many of whom have only one or two tiny moments each! I should note that as a kid, I missed out on Part One and all the X-Factor bits, both due to timing and the local Mac's not carrying Peter David's book. So I was always left to "guess" at what had happened in the various issues of the team I had no interest in reading.

-But what I wanted to do was go through it, issue-by-issue, and offer notes, both about the story and about how you'd stat up all the fights, sort of like how Steve Kenson does/will do again. But this version is free! And less intensive!

The Writers: Scott Lobdell (Uncanny X-Men), Fabian Nicieza (X-Men and X-Force), Peter David (X-Factor)
The Artists: Brandon Peterson (Uncanny), Andy Kubert (X-Men), Greg Capullo (X-Force), Jae Lee (X-Factor)

Part One (Uncanny X-Men #294):
* In this issue: Professor Xavier gives a speech about diversity at a Central Park concert, while Cyclops & Jean Grey are kidnapped by the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse! Starting right off, Brandon Peterson's art is HORRIBLE- it's like if somebody was told to draw like Jim Lee, but didn't understand why. Just hideous poses, excessive cross-hatching until everyone of both genders is grimacing, and everyone's misproportioned, and not in a sexy way. It's hard to believe this guy ever got as good as he did.

Xavier's speech is pretty generic (I remember a reader writing in to complain about homosexuals being brought up alongside other minorities), but ends when the crowd starts harrassing him, and then CABLE of all people jumps out of nowhere and shoots him! This sets off the entire Crossover's point- Xavier is dying of a Techno-Organic Bullet, Cable is thus a wanted man, and Cyke/Jean get kidnapped.

Scott Lobdell is to writing what Peterson is to art, at this point. Absolutely none of his jokes make their mark, so everyone kinda just makes smart-assed remarks that aren't funny. oh, and Cyclops is fantasizing about Psylocke, and tries to blow it off as nothing. To his TELEPATHIC GIRLFRIEND. Also, Iceman is moping over the loss of his girl Opal (his perfunctory, throwaway relationship in X-Factor), reminding me of how the early '90s were a big "spring cleaning" for the X-Men line, as side characters disappear left and right.

The fighting: Caliban, with his post-Apocalypse upgrade, attacks Cyclops & Jean, who are helpless before his assault- he shrugs off their attacks (his Toughness is not normally that high, I should point out), and brings the rooftop of Harry's Hideaway on them. They probably get a TON of Hero Points for how badly the GM screwed them on this (Surprise Attacks plus re-rolling all of Caliban's toughness saves). War & Famine attack Colossus & Iceman, who arrive to help, but merely hold them off- Famine grabs Colossus (off-panel) and nearly wrecks herself with her own power, while War gets whupped in one hit.

(Roster: Charles Xavier; X-Men Gold/Storm, Jean Grey, Bishop, Colossus, Iceman, Archangel; X-Men Blue/Cyclops, Psylocke, Wolverine, Jubilee, Rogue, Gambit, The Beast; X-Factor/Havok, Polaris, Strong Guy, Quicksilver, Jamie Madrox, Wolfsbane, Val Cooper; X-Force/Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Sunspot, Rictor, Warpath, Shatterstar, Feral, Siryn; Civilians/Charlotte Jones; Four Horsemen/War, Famine & Caliban; "Cable") (Total: 34)
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Look, when a porn star with the stagename April O'Neil plays the character of April O'Neil in a pornographic spoof of TMNT and she is less hypersexualized than the Hollywood actress portraying the character of April O'Neil in a (nominally) family film... You've got problems.

We should all know I don't have a problem with female characters being sexy and the occasional bit of fanservice. But Michael Bay's films don't offer explosions, dick jokes, and sexy female eye-candy plus a good story. They offer explosions, dick jokes, and hawt women in lieu of a good story. That's a crucial distinction.

Don't get me wrong, I don't expect a Michael Bay movie to be haute cinéma, there ain't nothing wrong with a film about explosions, dick jokes, and T&A.

The famous film critic, Roger Ebert, used to say (paraphrasing) "It doesn't matter what the film is about, what matters is how it is about it." This meant that if you set out to make a cinéma vérité art house flim or if you set out to make a grindhouse slasher flick, you owed it to you audience to make the best damn movie possible. This is why Ebert could simultaneously love The Piano (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Nov. 1993) and Halloween (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Oct. 1979). Both are vastly different movies, telling vastly different stories, and seeking very different reactions from their audience. But they are both equally well made films.

Michael Bay doesn't do that. He's technically brilliant, has a good sense of pacing, and an exceptional eye for editing complex action sequences together... But he's pretty much tone deaf when it comes to the "storytelling" part of his job. He started out with a lot of promise, I thought Bad Boys was pretty good at the time, I still love The Rock, and neither Armageddon nor Pearl Harbor deserve the levels of hate they get — they ain't great, but their solidly above average — but he's seems to have been in a Shyamalan-esque "feedback loop" where his films have become the very things people used to parody his films as being.

(Is this significantly off topic enough to qualify for the MILF Tax penalty? If so, here's some Amanda Tapping... O, Canada 🇨🇦.)

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Goldar
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Warpath! Magik! Sunspot! Legion! Rictor!)

Post by Goldar »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:40 am
Ares wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:38 am Oh, and lets not forget Cable's catch phrase: "Stab his eyes". Every time someone he hated did something he hated, it was "Stab his eyes for _____".

And behold, the most 90's picture of Cable ever, to the point I think the creative team were purposefully parodying Rob.

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Haha, I've been re-reading The X-Cutioner's Song, and that panel is pretty hilarious.
I don't think he has enough guns, and none of them are large enough!
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Prosh

Post by Jabroniville »

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PROSH (aka Ship, Professor)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Bob Layton
First Appearance: X-Factor #19 (1987)
Role: Sentient Ship, Snarky Sentient Ship
Group Affiliations: X-Factor, X-Force
PL 8 (153)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA -- AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Expertise (History) 6 (+12)
Expertise (Sciences) 6 (+12)
Perception 8 (+11)
Technology 9 (+15)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Techno-Organic Being"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 8 [8]
Senses 5 (Infravision, Analytical Scent, Extended Vision & Hearing) [5]
"Datalink" Communication (Technology) 3 [12]

"T-O Fibers" Shapeshift 4 [32]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Cable)- Professor has been Cable's ally for decades, and is one of the few to know his real name, and most of his secrets.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 87 / Defenses: 12 (153)

-"Ship" debuted in X-Factor, as the sentient creation of The Celestials- a living starship. Deep in its past, it was meant to monitor humanity, but it was discovered by a Mongolian immortal named Saul. It was stolen from him by En Sabah Nur, who would grow to become Apocalypse. The Ship slowly became self-aware, but Apocalypse was controlling it- when he was defeated in his comics debut by X-Factor, they commandeered Ship and made him their new home base. He became a very strong "assist" character, cheerfully helping out X-Factor and being capable of just about anything within his own confines, but he was later endangered by the same Techno-Organic Virus that infected Cyclops's son Nathan, and he "died" while helping X-Factor in his final moments.

-However, a portion of Ship survived and coalesced into what became "Professor"- an A.I. that aided a young Nathan Summers in the future, and was in fact a part of Nathan's body. Professor was put inside Graymalkin, Cable's massive time-traveling starship, and began aiding both him and X-Force- when the young Mutants discovered him, they noted his voice being an exact match to Ship's, which is where the connection was finally made. Professor was quite the snarker, however- prone to both poking fun at others' plans, or whining for Sunspot to "PLEASE stop calling me Ship".
-Professor was possessed by The Phalanx techno-organic collective, but managed to fight them off- he gained a body in the process, calling himself "Prosh". However, this process began interfering with Cable's control over his own T-O infection, and Prosh forms a spaceship around himself and flies off into space, mere issues after his debut. He has not appeared in continuity again, though variations of him show up in the Forever "potential finale" books.

-"Prosh" disappeared almost immediately after his introduction, so we never saw the limits of his capabilities. He had some great computer sensors and could alter his body somewhat.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Bedlam (Aaronson)

Post by Jabroniville »

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BEDLAM II (Jesse Aaronson)
Created By:
John Francis Moore & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: Factor-X #1
Role: Weird Power Guy, Expendable Minor Character
Group Affiliations: X-Force, M.U.S.E., The New Hellions
PL 9 (165)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Secret Agent) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages: 
All-Out Attack, Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 6, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: System Disruption"
"Bio-Electromagnetic Field" Nullify 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Broad, Simultaneous, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (66) -- [69]
  • AE: "Inflict Pain" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative) (16)
  • AE: "Inflict Sleep" Affliction 8 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Cumulative) (16)
  • AE: "Inflict Confusion" Affliction 8 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Unaware) (Extras: Cumulative) (16)
"Detect Bio-Signatures" Senses 6 (Detect Bio-Signatures & Energy, Ranged & Accurate on Both) [6]

Equipment:
X-Force Uniform: Protection 1 (1)
Communications (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bio-Field +11 Area (+11 Nullify, DC 21)
Pain +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Sleep +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Confusion +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Enemy (King Bedlam)- Jesse's brother Chris is a little nuts, and led The New Hellions against X-Force.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 75 / Defenses: 14 (165)

-Bedlam is... a guy. He debuted in the Age of Apocalypse, and quickly got a "main continuity" version in X-Force, as a guy who could "disrupt systems", working only on technology at first, then slowly moved up to disrupting biological systems and became a martial artist. I've never read a comic featuring him, so I'm a bit vague on most of the character. His brother was the leader of the X-Force incarnation of The Hellions, and Bedlam allied with X-Force (the Domino-led team) against those guys. He was one of those guys casually murdered by the Church of Humanity via the crucifixion on the X-Mansion lawn (a similar fate befell Skin, who no longer had a purpose in the X-Books), but in modern times, a later writer had him show up in the background of a few scenes surrounding "The 198" mutants to retain their powers after M-Day- it seems pretty clear that someone forgot that Bedlam was supposed to be dead. He hasn't been seen since.

-Near as I can tell, these were his powers- the Nullify is RIDICULOUSLY expensive, but seems to be the full extent of his powers- a wide Burst that wipes out nearly all technology in range, that he can keep going at-will unless he's knocked unconscious. So he's a pricey bugger, but not overly effective to things that aren't technologically-based- he's just a PL 9 Affliction-based guy in that case.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Magik! Legion! Rictor! Cable! Prosh!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Part Two (X-Factor #84):
* Jae Lee had yet to become a major name in comics, but was doing some great, inventive work here. And oddly, David is the only writer to get away with continuing on his prior plots from before- probably because Lobdell, Harras & Nicieza held all the real power, and forced him along. So while Xavier is fighting for his life in the hospital, X-Factor is dealing with some injured mutant. X-Force arrives on the scene of Xavier's shooting, and Feral starts a fight... and rapidly loses to Wolfsbane. In a pretty embarrassing, one-sided manner, too. Wolsbane even calls her a copycat! Shatterstar manages to cut Strong Guy, but Quicksilver effortlessly disarms him, then engages in a swordfight, taunting all the way. Cannonball takes out Quicksilver & Boomer takes out Polaris, and then X-Force bails. Meanwhile, the Horsemen drop off their captives... to Mister Sinister?!? And we discover that Xavier is apparently doomed to die... via a Techno-Organic Virus!

(Roster: Mister Sinister, Prodigal- some guy who was with the kid who got hurt, Jo Beth- Guido's girlfriend) (Total: 37)

Part Three (X-Men #14):
* Battle lines are drawn- the X-Men & X-Factor decide to hunt down Cable and find their missing friends, Xavier's condition is figured out (the T-O virus is overtaking his body) while Beast & Moira MacTaggert work on him, and the villains make their moves. The Mutant Liberation Front all of a sudden shows up, trading Mr. Sinister for Jean & Scott for some "materials" their employer (Stryfe) has. This is our first inkling of the MLF in all this, as the Horsemen were apparently just an unnecessary stop-gap. And then we meet THE DARK RIDERS, who are talking with their boss, Apocalypse! That makes FORTY-EIGHT NAMED CHARACTERS to appear in three issues! And, in a major plot-point, Apocalypse is dreadfully-weakened by his ordeal in an older X-Factor issue, and can barely move for most of the cross-over.

The big fight for the next issue is gearing up- Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Psylocke (ie. "The Cool X-Men"), Havok, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, Polaris & Madrox are en route to fight X-Force AGAIN, even though they doubt the kids have anything to do with what Cable did. And finally, Cable shows up on his ship Graymalkin, talking with the Professor sentient computer on-board... and finding out that HE shot Xavier?!? And then Mr. Sinister ends up in the near-empty X-Mansion, grabs Val Cooper and Stevie Hunter (who has not shown up until now, and hasn't been seen in FOREVER), and taunts Bishop (remaining on guard duty).

(Roster: Cable, Stevie Hunter, Moira MacTaggert, MLF/Forearm, Reaper, Zero; Apocalypse; Dark Riders/Gauntlet, Foxbat, Harddrive, Tusk, Psynapse, Barrage) (Total: 50!!)
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