Jab’s Builds! (Sword of Sodan! Nightmare Creatures/Circus! Lawnmower Man!)

[Batgirl III]

-And mixing THAT skimpy costume with THAT bald head is just criminal. That look has only worked for Sinead O'Connor (and even SHE kept a light bit of fuzz).

That's a really funny way to spell "Persis Khambatta," Jab.

[MacynSnow]

As much as The Krovac Saga was a good Avengers story, It wasn't perfect. Like Jab said, "Tooter" had a REALLY bad habit of overly-sympathizing his Villian's("Oh i'm a Crippled Power-hungry Asshole, Wah!") and both Krovac & Moondragon are perfect examples of this ..

[Goldar]

As much as The Krovac Saga was a good Avengers story, It wasn't perfect. Like Jab said, "Tooter" had a REALLY bad habit of overly-sympathizing his Villian's("Oh i'm a Crippled Power-hungry Asshole, Wah!") and both Krovac & Moondragon are perfect examples of this ..

Ah, the old pooter tooter strikes again.

[Goldar]

I always wondered how powerful Moondragon was compared to say some X-men characters like Charles, Jean, Betsy and Emma?

Although in the RPG, they made Heather on Jean's level of abilities and powers, with just more physical strength and better fighting. However, Jean has come a long way in her power maturation since then, and I believe if stats were done for 2021, Jean would be much higher.

[Jabroniville]

THE DRAGON OF THE MOON
Created By: Peter B. Gillis & Don Perlin
First Appearance: The Defenders #143 (May 1985)
Role: Cosmic Manipulator
Group Affiliations: The Guardians of the Galaxy, The Children of Set
PL 15 (419)
STRENGTH 17 STAMINA 19 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 6 PRESENCE 6

Skills:
Deception 10 (+16)
Expertise (Cosmic Lore) 5 (+12)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 5 (+12)
Insight 9 (+15)
Intimidation 7 (+13, +23 Size)
Perception 8 (+14)
Persuasion 10 (+16)

Advantages:
Daze (Deception), Improved Critical (Magic Blast), Ranged Attack 12, Startle

Powers:
"Can Never Be Killed; Only Contained" Immortality 1 (1 month) [2]
Immunity 12 (Life Support, Aging, Sleep) [12]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]
"Wings" Flight 9 (1,000 mph) [18]
"Amorphous Nature" Shapeshift 6 [48]
Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 21) [25]

"Enormous Size"
Growth 15 (Str & Sta +15, +15 Mass, +7 Intimidation, -7 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -15 Stealth) -- (84 feet) [30]
Growth +5 (+20 Mass, +10 Intimidation, +2 Speed, -20 Stealth) -- (192 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Non-STR & STA Growths) [5]
Elongation 3 [3]
"Tail/Centipede Limbs" Extra Limbs 6 [6]

"Restructure Reality" Transform (Anything to Anything) 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Continuous) (73) -- [89]

• Dynamic AE: "Telepathy" Communication (Mental) (Feats: Subtle 2, Dynamic) 5 Linked to Mind Reading 14 (51)
• Dynamic AE: Remote Sensing 23 (Visual, Hearing) (32,000 miles) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional, Subtle) (72)
• Dynamic AE: Magical Blast 18 (Feats: Dynamic) (37)
• Dynamic AE: Create 14 (Feats: Innate, Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Movable) (44)
• Dynamic AE: "Giant Body" Damage 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst) (46)
• Dynamic AE: "Magic Wave" Damage 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (46)
• Dynamic AE: "Possession" Mind Control 15 (60)
• Dynamic AE: "Group Possession" Mind Control 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: 500ft. Burst +5, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (65)

"Empower a Chosen One" Variable 7 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) (Flaws: Limited to Own Powers, Limited to One Subject) [35]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+17 Damage, DC 32)
Giant Body Attacks & Magic Wave +15 Area (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Magical Blast +12 (+18 Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Possession -- (+15 Affliction, DC 25)
Group Possession +15 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +23 (+11 Impervious), Fortitude +19, Will +14

Complications:
Motivation (Power)
Weakness (Host's Manipulation)- The Dragon of the Moon requires power drawn from its Host- without it, it is much smaller and less powerful.
Vulnerable (Talismans)- As an otherworldly being not of this Earth, The Dragon can be cast out or drained by sufficient magical talismans.

Total: Abilities: 78 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 277 / Defenses: 24 (419)

The Dragon of the Moon- Forgotten Space Dragon:
-The Dragon of the Moon is a complex manipulator, present through much of Peter B. Gillis's Defenders run, manipulating Moondragon behind the scenes, tempting her with power while discreetly (ie. Subtle 2) egging on the worst parts of her nature. He eventually coalesced into a mighty beast, unable to be defeated by common means, and his only weaknesses over the years tend to be Magical Warding, Talismans and such things, as well as the people he's manipulating rejecting him. Skavenger says that The Dragon of the Moon is to him what The Demon Bear is to me, so he's apparently pretty scary when you read about him. In any cause, he shows up every other year or so of Gillis's run in the mid-1980s (when Moondragon became the main character) to wreack havoc.

-The Dragon is an ancient creature- the spawn of Set, the Elder God, and has faced off against the Interloper (one of the Eternals; also a guy in that Defenders run) and Merlin in the past. The Interloper & King Arthur imprisoned him on Titan, where he resided until a young Heather Douglas encountered him during her training there. They fought a mental battle, the Dragon losing because of the bounds restraining him, but he left a sliver of himself in her psyche, laying in wait. The arrogant young girl called herself "Moondragon" in honor of her victory, horrifying the Titanian Eternals. This is, of course, a Retcon explaining away her name. Finally, we hit modern times, and the Dragon slowly begins twisting her mind (he'd chosen her as a target because she was fundamentally good, but flawed and arrogant enough to take hold of). She is infected with fatal alien spores and death is certain unless she gives herself over to him- the cunning monster hits her at her lowest point and she finally acquiesces. He battles and nearly kills the Defenders using her body and some tremendous power- ultimately, in the Series Finale, Moondragon, Gargoyle, Andromeda, Interloper & Valkyrie give their lives to stop the Dragon, carbonizing their forms in the process of stopping him.

The Dragon Returns!:
-This seemed to be it for them, but then in Gillis's Doctor Strange book three years later, the heroes are resurrected by the Vishanti- their spell inadvertently revives the Dragon of the Moon, too, and he fights the heroes again- ultimately Strange casts a spell that lets the heroes empower a massive blade that shrinks the Dragon down, and he's crushed. I STRONGLY suspect that this is a result of a pouty writer killing off his characters when his book is cancelled (that was the end of The New Defenders) and undoing his rash decision the second he got another book (Strange's).

-The Dragon was thus a "Gillis-Only" thing, until it was brought out during Annihilation: Conquest- Moondragon, a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy by this point, begins transforming into a black dragon during combat, which everyone sees as the return of this creature. However, the transformation ends when Moondragon's lover, Phyla-Vell, pledges allegiance with Oblivion, and the Dragon willingly allows her to save Moondragon, then flies away. It has not reappeared in more than fifteen years, as Moondragon herself has vanished.

-All in all, it comes off like a pretty good "Evil Manipulator" story, with a flawed hero being twisted by their own arrogance or desire to live, unleashing a great evil. It's just too bad it was in a low-selling book like The New Defenders by that point, because this thing didn't really make much of an impact. The story turning out a bit convoluted and having a lot of "She regains her sense of self; oh wait, no he's back" events don't help, but still.

The Dragon's Stats:
-Statting otherworldly Cosmic Monsters I haven't actually read about can be tough, but PL 15 oughta do it- his high toughness and sheer amount of powers (over 400 points' worth!) means he can beat pretty much any hero rather handily, but he's not invincible, and tends to be one of those guys you can beat by going "I WILL NOT GIVE IN!" and forcibly casting him out. Otherwise, he's a powerful Reality Manipulator who can probably Stunt many other powers. That, PLUS he can Empower People as a basic ability, and change his own shape. He's effectively The Midgard Serpent, but smart instead of stupid.

[Goldar]

GREAT Dragon of the Moon, Jab!

Those are 2 of its best pics too.

[Jabroniville]

SUNDRAGON (Pamela Douglas)
Created By: Peter B. Gillis & Don Perlin
First Appearance: Solo Avengers #16 (March 1989)
Role: Cosmic Manipulator
Group Affiliations: The Guardians of the Galaxy
PL 8 (133)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Expertise (Space Traveller) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Journalism) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 4 (+6)
Perception 1 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Cosmic Powers"
Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) [2]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]

"Telepathy" Communication (Mental) 4 & Mind-Reading 8 (32) -- [34]

• AE: Energy Blast 10 (Feats: Split) (21)
• AE: "Energy Dragon" Flight 8 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) Linked to Movement +1 (Space Travel 2) (Extras: Affects Others 2) (21)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blasts +6 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Demeityr)

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 62 / Defenses: 11 (133)

-Sundragon is the cousin of the then-deceased Moondragon, and was influenced by The Dragon of the Moon (created by the same creative team) to contact Heather's bodiless spirit and attach it to a cloned body waiting for her on Titan (because comics). Along the way, Pamela had fallen in love with an Eternal named Demeityr, and both women were remanded to the custody of a soul crystal containing Gargoyle, a fellow Defender. Naturally, on the way back the Douglases are attacked by aliens, and Pamela's latent psionic powers awaken somehow (possibly by Moondragon's subconscious desire for help, or by mutation), and she becomes Sundragon. She becomes an interstellar traveler with Moonie & Gargoyle's soul-crystal, as well as the Eternal dude Demeityr, who becomes Sunnie's lover. Moondragon's body aged at an accelerated rate that was nonetheless too slow for her, and so she lashed out at her allies and nearly killed them- Cloud, then a sentient nebula, saves them and activates the rest of Sundragon's powers, altering her form, and giving Gargoyle a new body.

-The group confronted Moondragon, who confessed to feeling jealous that everyone loved Sundragon and not her, and they were like "hey no prob" despite, you know, the ATTEMPTED MURDER, and the group (minus Cloud) decided to continue exploring space. She's appeared in exactly one other story since then- six years later, another writer showed her fighting those same aliens responsible for her powers, but she realized their mysterious actions were to destroy some dangerous comet, and helped them out. Gargoyle returned to Earth on his own, and Moondragon became a recurring character in numerous other 1990s books (Warlock & The Infinity Watch, Captain Marvel), but Sundragon and her boyfriend have pretty well never been mentioned again- an eyeblink of history created for some bizarre reason by a writer on his way out.

-Descriptions of her powers can be a bit vague (especially since she barely mastered them at the end of her debut, and only used them once afterwards), but I figure her for your standard Interstellar Blaster with the ability to create a weird Energy Dragon that's designed to carry people around space. I don't think it's sentient or anything- it's just a mobile platform that looks cool (Affects Others Flight & Space Travel).

[Tattooedman]

As someone who read & collected that story I'd say you pretty much nailed down Sundragon's powers.

[Ken]

-And mixing THAT skimpy costume with THAT bald head is just criminal. That look has only worked for Sinead O'Connor (and even SHE kept a light bit of fuzz).

That's a really funny way to spell "Persis Khambatta," Jab.

Quoted for truth,

[Goldar]

Sundragon looked more powerful in those last 2 pics which were probably from her last appearance.

So was she a high level TP? Any TK? What else could she do with her cosmic powers?

[Ares]

Sundragon actually has a pretty cool name and a solid look. Honestly her design makes me think of a hypothetical daughter of Dr. Strange and Clea who became Sorcerer Supreme and incorporated the Cloak of Levitation into her outfit. Kind of a shame she didn't get more use, but psychics aren't exactly rare in Marvel.

[MacynSnow]

Sundragon would be a near perfect fit in DC. Since they don't have many psychic's, she'd both fill a niche anfd actually not appear so weak. In point of fact,i'd bump up her PL by one if she DID show up there...

[Jabroniville]

Sundragon looked more powerful in those last 2 pics which were probably from her last appearance.

So was she a high level TP? Any TK? What else could she do with her cosmic powers?

None were shown according to any site I can find.

[Jabroniville]

The "She'll be a big character if we can just GET THAT DESIGN RIGHT..." is strong with her.

PHYLA-VELL (aka Quasar III, Captain Marvel IV, Martyr)
Created By: Peter David & Paul Azaceta
First Appearance: Captain Marvel #16 (Dec. 2003)
Role: Protector of the Universe, FanFic-Like Character
PL 11 (281)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 3 (+3)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 6 (+6)
Technology 4 (+4)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Quantum Blade), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Quantum Bands"
Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Tether, Reversible) (39) -- [57]

• Dynamic AE: Cosmic Energy Blast 12 (Feats: Improved Critical, Split, Penetrating 6, Dynamic) (33)
• Dynamic AE: "Cosmic Wave" Damage 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (23)
• Dynamic AE: "Cosmic Stream" Damage 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (23)
• Dynamic AE: Create Energy Objects 10 (Feats: Dynamic, Stationary, Tether) (23)
• Dynamic AE: Absorption 12 (Energy to Blasts) (Feats: Dynamic) (25)
• Dynamic AE: "Quantum Jump" Teleport 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Portal) (Flaws: Tiring, Long-Range Only) (16)
• Dynamic AE: Senses 5 (Detect Energy- Ranged 3, Acute) (Feats: Dynamic) (6)
• Dynamic AE: "Quantum Blade" Strike +7 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (18)
• Dynamic AE: Force Field 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 11) (19)

Flight 11 (4,000 mph) [22]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Save +6 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Quantum Blade +10 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Cosmic Blast +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Cosmic Snare +10 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5 (+12 Force Field, +6 Impervious), Fortitude +7, Will +7 (+13 Mind Shield)

Complications:
Responsibility (Protector of the Universe)
Relationship (Moondragon)

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 96 / Defenses: 9 (281)

Phyla-Vell- This History Is Dumb:
-Phyla's a little curiosity in Marvel Comics. One of my least favourite Comic Book Tropes- The Super-Aged Kid (she's Mar-Vell's SECOND kid via his Eternal girlfriend who was super-aged- Christ woman, just remarry or something), she was kinda bitter and grumpy, hung around, and actually managed to save the day a bit in the first Annihilation. She then joined the new incarnation of the Guardians the Galaxy as a recurring character, forming a relationship with Moondragon... but eventually the "Cosmic Scene" faded and the GOTG movies came out without either character being featured, and so they were heavily de-emphasized.

-In Phyla's debut, she is reborn with a "Rebooted" universe in the pages of Peter David's Captain Marvel, calming down her brother Genis, who had gone insane. She also attempts to take the "Captain Marvel" name, but is rebuffed. David establishes that the character is likely a lesbian just as she & Moondragon enter through a portal, at which point he leaves her story and she's now in Annihilation. She was a pretty minor character in that story, but accidentally stole the Quantum Bands from Annihilus, who'd consumed poor Quasar, their previous owner. This left him weakened for Nova's awesome "Pull His Heart Out Through His Face" stunt. At story's end, she instead decides to become the new "Quasar", honoring Wendell Vaughn.

Phyla Becomes Less Annoying:
-The sequel story, called Annihilation: Conquest, gave her a miniseries as she dealt with honoring TWO legacies. She found Adam Warlock, hooked up with Moondragon (which reasonably humanized the most unpleasant comic book character possibly EVER), and was actually the FINAL attacker on Ultron's uber-giant-form, cutting through him with the Quantum Blade. Yeah, Phyla-Vell saved the universe. She was still a grump, but her relationship with Moondragon actually softened BOTH characters, and they both turned kind of cute by the end of it. I still didn't really like the character, as she was all "Ooh, I love Moondragon, but am grumpy otherwise!" until the great Paul Pelletier started drawing her in the Guardians of the Galaxy books. Suddenly the "short-haired angry lesbian" archetype gave way to a MUCH cuter, cheerier-looking character (she was downright ADORABLE in some pictures), and amazingly, I liked her now! Just goes to show you how important art is to comic books (sometimes even more important than the writing).

-Last I saw, she got her head chopped off, but since the whole Guardians squad got res'd shortly thereafter, she was okay, gaining a skull-covered costume- it turns out that to save Moondragon's life from Maelstrom, she agreed to become the new avatar of Oblivion, cosmic destroyer. Buuuuuuuuuuuuut then she was killed handily by the Magus in the "Cancerverse" storyline, failing to succeed in her goal. But then she was resurrected in a cocoon, like Adam Warlock was... but was killed OFF-PANEL by Thanos! Yeah, there's a reason why most fans stopped caring about the Cosmic stuff around that time. She is later revealed to have been trappepd inside the Soul Gem along with Warlock, but she has not reappeared in years, seemingly been buried thanks in part to the movies and a new set of writers who weren't David, Abnett or Lanning (who wrote the vast majority of her other stuff).

Phyla-Vell As a Whole:
-So Phyla ends up being a very weird character- I hated her at first- she was the wrong kind of "That Guy" teammate, just scowling and yelling about everything, and a bit stereotypical as far as the "hateful lesbian" thing went. But they ended up kind of making her likable in the end... only to kill her THREE FRIGGIN' TIMES over the course of a 4-year timespan, messing about with her nature and powers too much, and then killing her offhand because the wheels were coming off Abnett & Lanning's run and they seemed to want to just get rid of some characters. Ironically, just in time for when "Superpowered Lesbian Couple" would have been a thing Marvel would have LOVED to promote as part of their diversity agenda. But the Guardians book had a whole host of characters jettisoned pretty much the second the movies came out with an abridged five-pesron cast, and I've a feeling we won't be seeing her again until she pops up in those.

-One thing that's definitely noticeable when you check images of her is that THEY. JUST. KEEP. REDESIGNING HER! Like, they have this "attractive sneering lesbian with short hair" design, but they can't decide where any of that shit on her goes, so you get Christian imagery, Cosmic logos, big hoods, no hoods, skintight clothes, armor, swords, cosmic power, etc., as they keep making her look alterately like a comic book superheroine or a video game character, and it just makes it clear there was no central design process behind her. Like the character is so ill-defined that the next creative team just revamps her look and tries to go with what's cool, in some kind of hope that THIS time, their Diversity Hire will take.

Phyla's Powers:
-Phyla mixes some minor-league Super-Strength with a high-powered Blast and a really dangerous Sword attack (she's PL 11 in melee and at range), basically copying parts of my Quasar build and adding some extra stuff. She can keep a few things going at once, can either redirect or take a powerful energy blast, fly, shield her mind, snare people, etc. She's not at Wendell Vaughn's level of versatility yet (she basically just likes to hit stuff and complain a lot), but she's a bit more costly, and a bit more dangerous because she likes to go All-Out. Oh, and her "Martyr" run is not on here, as she expressed almost zero new powers, and was only around for a maximum of like seven issues before 'dying'. We'll see with that one.

[MacynSnow]

This is why the Quantum Bands are part of my "Top 6 Avengers gear"(the other four, in no particular order,are:Hawkeye's Bow & Arrows, Cap's Shield, Sam's Wings, Pym Particles and Jarvis' Tea Set), they're all-but Marvel's Awnser to DC's Power Rings.It all depends on the Weilder.