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

[Ken]

Very little mention of Harvey's obsession with the numeral two.

If he had an obsession with "number two" that would be a different villain all-together.

I honestly haven't seen the "2" stuff in any comics I've read. They mention it in The Long Halloween but it never comes up. It's usually just stuff about obsessions with chance/choice (of course, usually there's only two choices).

More is the pity. It was a regular part of the character, as early as his second appearance.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Batman-1940/Issue-81
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Batman-1940/Issue-234

[Davies]

His obsession with 2s was well-used in A Lonely Place of Dying, where he comes up with a really good plan to get Batman, involving holding a pair of twins hostage. But he gets distracted by reports of a 22 million dollar cash prize being awarded at the Gemini Casino, and realizes that he can't resist going there. The twist is that the Gemini Casino was a setup by Batman ... but Batman himself comes to an identical realization, that he can't stay there to catch Harvey but has to go rescue the twins. So they end up missing each other completely. (The moral of the story is that Batman can't do everything on his own and needs a partner to help him, and so cue new Robin.)

[Skavenger]

Okay, so, Cassandra Cain. She's an interesting look at characters involved in the Batverse, because up until her, there had been almost no "also-ran" characters in the Batman family. Double-so for any character with over 70 issues of a solo book under their belt. But it doesn't help that she has one of the WORST regular names in comics. There's only about nine hundred "Cassandras" out there, usually with some kind of future vision or prophecy ability, and "Cain" should just be retired from comics for good. I mean, DC has the Batwoman one who went through that whole "daughter of Cain" crime bible nonsense, and Marvel has a flawed Spider-Clone who melts peoples faces. There's no coming back from those.

But as I've gone on before about what each of Batman's family members brings to the table in their motivations, Cassandra was rather special in that, for a long time, she was the only member who was donning the cowl as an act of atonement. Now, there are people who feel the need to retell Batman's origin story that it was him who insisted on going down the alley, or him who stormed out of the theater, or him who did everything but truss up ol' Ma and Pa Wayne and wheel them into the path of the bullets, but to those creators I say "get the hell out of my hobby." Bruce was a victim of crime, 100% innocent of what happened.

Cassandra was just as much an innocent, she had no possible chance to understand just what the actions she was trained to do actually meant. David Cain was the guy who pointed this weapon he had created, but Cassandra was the one with literal blood on her hands. Batman will never, ever take a life, but Cassandra has, and has therefore pledged to never, ever, ever do it again. This is, of course, despite being so well-trained that her brain was rewired to yadda yadda yadda. It's all just fancy comic book speak for saying "fighting is as easy as talking or reading a book."

But there's also an interesting contrast where Batman tends to punch murder clowns into submission, but he is first and foremost a detective. Tim Drake loves computers. Barbara Gordon was a librarian before she became Batgirl. Dick Grayson was probably the most physical of the entire Bat-crew, but he was still a pretty smart detective thanks to years of training from Bruce. Cassie was pure physicality given form, enhanced by the fact she couldn't read or speak, which made for an interesting dynamic when she did interact with other members of the family, especially Barbara Gordon. Plus, the fact that she wanted to learn how to speak and read showed that she really did want to be more than just "a weapon."

Someone I used to read once described her as "teenage girl Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe" and it's kind of amazing nobody had thought of that before.

But man, did they ruin her. Not long after her book ended (two issues away from a 75th issue, weird) they suddenly had her show up as the new leader of the League of Assassins, talking about "how cool it is to kill folks, you guys." And...okay, you COULD argue that it's pretty much the ultimate form of teenage rebellion from her constantly disappointing father figures she's had in her life (WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE HER WITH YOU, BRUCE?), and seeing as she's the only member of the Bat-family who HAS killed, it really couldn't be anybody else who would could go "hey, what if I take this group of murderers and have them do things to improve the world, since not killing the Joker hasn't really worked for X number of years?"

But it just ignored all of the characterization she had up to that point, and it just became worse when it turned out Deathstroke had mind-controlled her (boo, poor little girl crimefighter didn't know what she was doing, let's strip her of all sense of identity and make her a puppet), but the damage was done. She's still a neat character, and you can do good stuff with her, but...you just gotta be careful. And retcon that whole "killed Nyssa Al-Ghul with a car bomb" nonsense so she was never in the League.

[Grenzer]

THE CONDIMENT KING (Mitchell Mayo)
Created By: Bruce Timm & Paul Dini (cartoon), Chuck Dixon & Scott Beatty (comics)
First Appearance: Batman: The Animated Series (cartoon), Batgirl- Year One (comics)
Role: Joke Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 6 (67)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+3)
Perception 3 (+3)
Stealth 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 1

Powers:
"Condiment-Spraying Device" (Flaws: Removable) [9]
"Slippery Floors" Affliction 5 (Athletics; Dazed & Hindered/Stunned & Immobile) (Feats: Triggered- Proximity) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (Noticeable -1) (10) -- (11 points)

• AE: "Ketchup in the Eye" Dazzle Visuals 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dazzle Visuals +6 (+5 Ranged Affliction, DC 15)
Slippery Floors +5 Area (+5 Affliction, DC 15)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Reputation (Joke)

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 5 (53)

-The Condiment King is a joke villain from Batman: The Animated Series (who... I don't remember at all, actually. I must have missed that episode). He's a throwback the 1966 Adam West show, making lame puns ("I knew you'd ketchup with me sooner or later. How I relished this meeting!". He was robbing a restaurant using guns that shot condiments at people, but slipped on his own ketchup and nearly fell to his death. It was later revealed he was a stand-up comedian who'd been brainwashed by the Joker. The character showed up in Batgirl: Year One, this time as an actual villain, where he's shown being easily taken down by Robin & Batgirl. He only has a couple of other appearances, jobbing out in Birds of Prey and Robin. He is apparently killed during Final Crisis by the Human Flame, who betrays him.

-As Robin points out, the Condiment King is only dangerous because some of his condiments may cause aniphylactic shock to people allergic to the ingredients. Otherwise he's a wimpy PL 5-6 Blinding/Trip-based guy who is almost defenseless against someone who actually knows what they're doing.

Quick aside, Condiment King in the animated series was modeled after Jerry Seinfeld who was at the height of his popularity at the time the episode was made. Another of the Joker's victims was based off of Rosanne Barr, with the gag that she just as abrasive in her 'innocent' civilian identity as her brainwashed/psycho villain state.

[Skavenger]

-Batgirl was created by a guy I've never heard of named Kelley Puckett,

An addendum, Kelley Puckett was also the creator of Connor Hawke, wrote possibly one of the best issues of Batman of all time during his 31 issue run on Batman Adventures (he only missed issues 4, 31, 32, and 33 of the first 35 issues), wrote a bunch of single issue stuff, including some Secret Files & Origins, and wrote the comic adaptations for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Robin Adventures: Sub-Zero. He also wrote something called Batman/Nightwing: Bloodborne, which I somehow doubt is Batman and Nightwing attempting to survive in a Dark Souls-like setting.

[Skavenger]

-KGBeast is one of those unfortunately-named characters, since he's a bad-ass in the "A Physical Rival to Batman" sense. He's so hardcore that he could fight hand-to-hand on Bruce's level, and once CUT OFF HIS OWN HAND to escape a Batrope-trap. Unfortunately, his goofy name and generic look meant that he was de-pushed outside of his creators' hands, and he ended up being whacked by The Tally Man in a hilariously-inconsequential manner for a guy who was basically a proto-Bane. He's your archetypical "Super-Elite Assassin" trained by the KGB with all the weapons skills and cybernetically-enhanced strength. So in this 1988 story, an anti-Glasnost Russian general sends the KGBeast to off some U.S. officials and break down relations between the U.S. & Soviets. The villain proves to be extremely lethal- Batman fails to save almost any of KGBeast's targets, and he even kills over 100 people at a banquet thanks to poison- showing extreme ruthlessness (I honestly don't like stuff like that, though- killing 100 people would be IMMENSE news in real life, and would be focused on for years. Comics shouldn't just willy-nilly kill hundreds of ANYONE without it being a major plot point- later stories should be referencing that all the time). In a big battle between him & Batman, KGBeast actually holds the advantage, perhaps being his superior- he only flees because he thinks Batman has back-up.

-In their rematch, Batman snares his enemy's wrist with the Batrope- rather than be captured, the villain chops off his own hand with an axe! He quickly replaces the limb with a cybernetic gun. When Batman was told by a liaison that the KGBeast, if captured, would be returned to the Soviets and thus likely escape justice, Batman perhaps uncharacteristically lures him into a room, locks it, and buries him alive! Later, another writer was like "Oh, he got the police to pick up the villain".

-KGBeast naturally returned, but was largely set adrift without Starlin to protect him- watching the Soviet Union dissolve, he became a generic supervillain, doing things like counterfeiting, and jobbing to Robin recurring foe King Snake, and then has his "blow up Gotham" plot undone by Robin. Like, he's just some loser now. He pretty much vanished until he was murdered during Hush- villains framing Two-Face for executing him.

-KGBeast is given the "God Push" right away in the 1980s, but even five years later, he was just Generic McVillain, jobbing out to King Snake & Robin. Like, whatever- he's just a nobody. I put his Skills at a rather high tier, though.

KGBeast is essentially the 80s-est character to ever have an 80s-est storyline built around him. I mean, someone clearly read "The Hunt For Red October" before it was made into a movie and thought "what if this...but a luchador with exposed abs? And he was trying to kill Ronald Reagan who's in Gotham for reasons?"

But he's just so goofy. When his wrist is tied up and he has a fire axe that can clearly chop through rope, he chooses to take his own hand off instead? That's not hardcore, that's idiocy. That, plus the fact that he's a foe Batman just simply couldn't beat on a physical level, and to get around diplomatic immunity they had to just have Batman lock him in a room to die until it was retconned (by, iirc, Marv Wolfman during Batman Year Three?) that Batman was just giving him a great big "time out" so he could think about what he did.

I like the KGBeast, but man. Any time he shows up you may as well get out a copy of Commando on VHS, rock out to some Guns n Roses, and expect it to be full of 80s glory.

[Jabroniville]

RUPERT THORNE
Created By: Steve Englehart & Walt Simonson
First Appearance: Detective Comics #469 (May 1977)
Role: Corrupt Politician
PL 5 (65)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 7 (+11)
Expertise (Politics) 6 (+10)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Benefit 3 (Wealth), Equipment 5 (Car, Gun), Ranged Combat 4

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Gun +4 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +2, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Enemy (Batman)

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 2 (65)

-Rupert Thorne is a minor-league Batman foe who was turned into the Arch-Crimeboss of Gotham City in Batman: The Animated Series, and I suspect it might be because he didn't have any Mafia connotations- this could have gotten WB into hot water in terms of giving "Anti-Italian" themes in a cartoon that children could watch. The Thorne of the comics was actually a corrupt politician- he was blackmailed by Doctor Phosphorus into turning Gotham against Batman- but even when the villain is defeated, Thorne convinces city council to keep it up, and Batman is declared an outlaw. He runs for mayor, but fails. Later, he is one of three criminals (along with Joker & Penguin) who bid at Hugo Strange's auction for the identity of Batman. However, Thorne kidnaps and tortures Strange to divulge it- Strange apparently dies in the process.

-Thorne disappears for a time, but returns and gets the corrupt Hamilton Hill elected mayor of Gotham, and has him fire Commissioner Gordon in favor of a guy on his payroll- Peter Pauling. He eventually gets evidence that Batman is Bruce Wayne from Vicki Vale's photos, and hires Deadshot to kill Bruce. However, it's then that Strange returns- he "haunts" Thorne and ensures he gets many visions. Thorne becomes insanely paranoid, convinced that his allies are plotting against him- he murders Pauling and is finally caught and brought to justice by Batman. He doesn't appear for years, finally popping up in jail- Batman saves him from a returned Doctor Phosphorus.

-Thorne here is more of a corrupt, manipulative politician than a mob boss- he works from the shadows, not more or less openly with a big gang and a moll.

[Jabroniville]

THE CRIME DOCTOR (Matthew Thorne)- Golden Age
Created By: Bill Finger & Bob Kane
First Appearance: Detective Comics #77
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: None

-WEIRD. Not only was the brother of Rupert Thorne from Batman: The Animated Series an actual comic book character, but he debuted decades BEFORE Thorne, and they were only made brothers Post-Crisis. A bit of a madman, he states "I love surgery ... yet crime excites me! It's like a drug inside my body! I can't help it ... but I ENJOY acting criminally!". He becomes a criminal consultant, writing "prescriptions" to other crooks as to how to improve upon their plans and commit better crimes. Batman captures him, tailing him home after one crime, but he escapes and reappears shortly thereafter. He sets up a mobile "Crime Clinic" going from city to city, but Batman, posing as a criminal, traps him.

[Jabroniville]

THE CRIME DOCTOR (Bradford Thorne)- Pre-Crisis
Created By: Bill Finger & Bob Kane
First Appearance: Detective Comics #77
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: None

-Thorne reappears in 1980 claiming to be reformed. He even treated Bruce Wayne for a shoulder injury! However, when he fights Batman as the Crime Doctor once more, he tears Batman's costume and notices his own bandage on Batman's shoulder- he thus deduces Batman's secret identity! When other criminals find out that the Crime Doctor has figured it out, he is captured and tortured for the secret- poisoned and promised an antidote. Batman crashes the scene and saves him, but he's too late- the Crime Doctor is now a mental vegetable. He is briefly seen during Crisis on Infinite Earths with no explanation, but that's it.

[Jabroniville]

THE CRIME DOCTOR (Bradford Thorne)- Post-Crisis
Created By: Bill Finger & Bob Kane
First Appearance: Detective Comics #77
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: None

-Thorne reappears Post-Crisis, and his shared surname with criminal Rupert Thorne is enough to now make them brothers. However, he is now an insane serial killer wearing star-shaped sunglasses like Elton John. He is seen torturing the Secret Six in Villains United, leaving them screaming for hours until Catman resists his pain-enhancing chemicals and tricks the Doctor into tasering him, thus removing his electrical collar. Catman then injects him in the eyeballs with six of the toxins, then beats the living shit out of him. Later, the Doctor attempts to defect from the Secret Society of Super-Villains, so Prometheus tortures his daughter like he'd done to his own victims. The Crime Doctor commits suicide in order to spare her life. The girl is then taken in by Lady Shiva as a potential apprentice.

[Davies]

The name of the character, though nothing else, was taken from title of a series of radio programs and B-movies, about someone who's pretty much the opposite of this fellow -- a former criminal who suffered amnesia and became a criminal psychologist who worked to rehabilitate other criminals. (I'm not sure if he'd remembered his origins.)

[Jabroniville]

CARMINE "THE ROMAN" FALCONE
Created By: Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
First Appearance: Batman #405 (1987)
Role: The Crimeboss
PL 6 (73)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 9 (+13)
Insight 2 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Wealth), Equipment 5 (Car, Guns), Improved Critical (Tommy Gun), Ranged Combat 6, Tough

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Tommy Gun +6 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +3, Fortitude +2, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (Sofia Gigante- Daughter)- Sofia loves her papa and will do anything he asks. Though her lover is his biggest rival.
Relationship (Alberto- Son)- Alberto is weak and soft- a bit of an embarassment, though Carmine is still protective of him.
Rival (Sal Maroni)- The two compete for their share of Gotham's pie, but are not actively at war.
Enemy (Batman)- Batman has repeatedly humiliated Falcone and cost him millions. The Roman's usual unflappable exterior breaks repeatedly over this.
Enemy (Catwoman)- Catwoman scarred his face and also repeatedly humiliates him. He has put out a hit on her as well as "The Bat".

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 4 (73)

-An evil, yet very civilized mob boss, "The Roman" rules Gotham City at the time Bruce Wayne returns home to clean it up. He holds both the Mayor and Commissioner of Police in his iron grip, and is a feared boss with few rivals. He's not QUITE as focused on in Batman: Year One in comparison to others (the Commissioner falls by the end of the story, setting the stage for Jim Gordon to take the job), but his repeated humiliations (including being tied to his bed in his underwear) reflect just how much of a wrench Batman (whose identity is not known) has tossed into his works. In the story's end, Catwoman is endangered by Falcone, but she lashes his face with her claws upon her escape.

-Falcone becomes a major focus in Batman: The Long Halloween in the 1990s. Here, he is deeply resentful of both Batman & Catwoman, as well as the various "Freaks" that have invaded Gotham in the wake of Batman's arrival, and a Batman/Gordon/Harvey Dent triumvirate forms to finally take him down. Warehouses full of money are torched even as Falcone's allies and other mobsters are killed on various holidays. Reaching a breaking point and thinking that Dent is the mysterious "Holiday" who's been whacking his guys, he persuades his rival Sal Maroni to throw acid at Dent during a trial. Going insane from the act, Dent becomes "Two-Face", and is thus ironically the means to Falcone's end- he executes the mob boss with a gunshot to the head. This is a symbolic gesture that represents Gotham going from the old-school mobsters to the new "Freaks" that have taken over.

-A sequel story, Dark Victory, suggests that he may be the birth father of Catwoman. He reappears in the "New 52", just kind of banking off of the popularity of those stories.

-Our own Woodclaw was a bit annoyed with Falcone, because he shares a surname with Giovanni Falcone, a heroic anti-Mafia crusader in Italy, who was murdered by Mafia agents in 1992 for his magistrate's offices fights against them. Reading up on the guy is pretty interesting, and a show of how much stronger the Mafia was compared to here. By contrast, in the US, cop-killing is pretty well a no-go, particularly after the largest mass lynching in American history was perpetrated against a bunch of imprisoned Mafiosi- and some unfortunates who just happened to be regular criminals with Italian surnames- after the death of a New Orleans Police Chief (Theodore Roosevelt reflected most Americans' opinions when he stated "Monday we dined at the Camerons; various dago diplomats were present, all much wrought up by the lynching of the Italians in New Orleans. Personally I think it rather a good thing, and said so"). However, it's like Frank Miller didn't know the connection (his story was written five years prior to Giovanni's death), and like just chose the name because it sounds bad-ass and regal (naturally, it just means "falcon").

-"The Roman" is similar build to other crimebosses, but smarter, richer and more well-connected. He has the police force, judges and others in his pocket, meaning only someone who moves about in the darkness can stop him.

[Jabroniville]

SOFIA GIGANTE (aka The Hangman)
Created By: Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
First Appearance: Batman- The Long Halloween #6 (May 1997)
Role: Ogre-Woman
PL 8 (100)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 8 (+10)
Expertise (Criminal) 7 (+9)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth), Chokehold, Equipment 5 (Car, Guns), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Ranged Combat 6

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Gun +6 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Carmine Gigante- Father)- Sofia loves her papa and will do anything he asks. Though her lover is his biggest rival.
Relationship (Sal Maroni)- Despite the rivalry with her father, Sal is in a relationship with Sofia.
Enemy (Batman)- Batman has repeatedly humiliated Falcone and cost him millions. The Roman's usual unflappable exterior breaks repeatedly over this.
Enemy (Catwoman)- Catwoman is partially responsible for the death of Sofia's father.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (100)

-Introduced early in Batman: The Long Halloween to fill out the Gotham Crime Family, Sofia Gigante is the daughter of Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, who rules Gotham. She is a loyal, brutal ogre of a woman, strong enough to crush skulls with her bare hands. But her lover, Sal Maroni, is Carmine's biggest rival. The contrast of this pretty ugly, barrel-shaped woman being so lustful for Maroni and head-over-heels for him is pretty funny. In any case, she helps out her father, and remains loyal till the end- she is tossed off a building by Catwoman in the story's climax. Later, in Batman: Dark Victory, she returns- a paraplegic in a neck-halo, she is largely helpless... until we learn in the story's climax that SHE is the mysterious killer in the new story- The Hangman! It's a pretty cool reveal when she bursts out of her chair, saying the best disguise is being "A supposedly-crippled woman!". She murders her own brother Alberto for being an embarrassment to the family, and makes a move against Two-Face, the man who murdered her father (most of her victims had been connected to Harvey Dent in some way), but herself falls to him, shot through the head.

-The character got a notable redesign in the animated adapatation of the former story, in which the bulky ogre-woman is replaced by this mega-hot MuscleGoddess, probably because the animators realized that was a huge waste of a big, muscular woman otherwise . In an uncharacteristic move, I have decided that their change did not suck.

-Sofia is a very large, very strong woman, pushing the bounds of reality. Like, she's as strong as Captain America and hits harder than Batman himself. Surreal, but oddly fitting for the Bat-Verse.

[Jabroniville]

SAL MARONI
Created By: Bill Finger & Bob Kane
First Appearance: Detective Comics #66 (Aug. 1942)
Role: Mob Boss
Group Affiliations: None

-Sal Maroni is a mob boss character who dates back WAY earlier than I thought, being a 1942 creation and in fact he was always the man responsible for burning Harvey Dent's face with acid, making him Two-Face. Two-Face murders Maroni and becomes a recurring Batman villain. Maroni remained in the Bronze Age telling of the tale, but his surname was now "Morelli" and he survived Dent's attempt on his life, merely becoming paralyzed. He kills Harvey's ex-wife Gilda's new husband, and Two-Face kills him as a result.

-Maroni now features heavily in Batman: The Long Halloween, where it turns out he's the top guy in a rival crime family to Carmine Falcone, who runs Gotham. However, both men lose most of their agents to the mysterious "Holiday"- Maroni, losing his mind, tells his tale to his unsympathetic father before the old man is himself gunned down. Maroni, broken, plans to make a deal with DA Harvey Dent to put Falcone behind bars in exchange for leniency. However, his secret lover (Carmine's daughter Sofia) visits him in jail and makes up a story that DENT is Holiday- an enraged Maroni thus pulls the acid trick, and that's our new "Two-Face Origin Story". Maroni is murdered as he's taken from his cell by Holiday (Alberto Falcone in this instance).

[Jabroniville]

MISFIT (Charlotte "Charlie" Gage-Radcliffe, aka Batgirl IV)
Created By: Gail Simone
First Appearance: Birds of Prey #96 (Sept. 2006)
Role: Plucky Girl
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans, The Birds of Prey
PL 9 (148)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Superheroes) 4 (+4)
Stealth 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack

Powers:
Teleport 15 (Extras: Extended, Easy) (Quirks: Cannot Bring Others With Her Without Killing Them -2) [58]
Linked to
"Organic Stuff Explodes" Damage 12 (Extras: Penetrating 8) (Flaws: Limited to People Teleported Along With Her) [14]

Regeneration 6 [6]
Healing 6 (Flaws: Limited to Self, Limited to While Teleporting) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Exploding Teleport +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Impulsive & Reckless)- Charlotte takes unnecessary risks.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 81 / Defenses: 11 (148)

-Charlie Gage-Radcliffe, an orphaned girl with vast Teleportation powers, temorarily grabbed the title of "Batgirl" when she debuted as a super-heroine, but was quickly dissuaded by Barbara Gordon into taking on a separate name- "Misfit". She had spied on the Birds of Prey and admires them greatly, turning them into a surrogate family of sorts. An exciteable, outgoing teenage girl, she sort of fits the "New Teen Heroine" archetype that is getting more and more common lately, as writers picked up on how much fun they could be to write, and interact with the grouchier old heroes. However, her very recent debut and link to only a couple of writers (Gail Simone & Sean McKeever) means that she had little impact. When her recklessness results in numerous deaths, she is harshly-trained by Oracle, captured by Darkseid, and finds her nasty future self is called The Huntress- disturbing realizations to what was a happy-go-lucky teen girl. When the Birds of Prey split up, Misfit essentially disappears from comics forever- she only appears in a handful of group scenes.

-Charlie was born with Magical powers that allow her to be strong (vague levels), Teleport (the most powerful Oracle's ever seen) and heal herself, which is an odd grab-bag of stuff.