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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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catsi563
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Contemplator! The Challenger! The Stranger!)

Post by catsi563 »

dear lord Ok i get where woke is supposed to come from and its intent but this entire brand screams eye rolling OMG how can we beat the audience over the skull with every woke trope possible before shoving it down their throat so hard they crap rainbows

every character is an obligatory stereotype, and worse they pander to the notion that in order for us to actually appreciate how woke they are they need to lie about themselves to present themselves as something special and unique in order to be special and unique and go to the magic segregation land where all the special unique people are.

Ugh i just cant
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Contemplator! The Challenger! The Stranger!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Reminds me of how the "New New Warriors" which were so terrible their book never even got released, so those characters are just..stuck in limbo, never ro actually appear in canon, Iguess.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Contemplator! The Challenger! The Stranger!)

Post by M4C8 »

Here's the link to the trailer for the New Warriors book. If you've got time read some of the comments.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PCWUCv1rnU
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Contemplator! The Challenger! The Stranger!)

Post by Jabroniville »

KorokoMystia wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:14 am Reminds me of how the "New New Warriors" which were so terrible their book never even got released, so those characters are just..stuck in limbo, never ro actually appear in canon, Iguess.
I do feel bad for the artist, whose work I follow on DA. Dude was so excited to be a published comic book artist, and THAT got saddled with him. But yeah, these kids seem to be a mix of that, an "outsiders as audience-surrogate" thing, and deliberately-silly names (CYCLOPS-LASS?).
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The True Believers

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE TRUE BELIEVERS:
Created By: Cary Bates & Paul Gulacy
First Appearance: True Believers #1 (July 2008)
Role: Forgotten Heroes, Counter-Culture Heroes

-Yeah, I have no f*cking idea, either.

So it turns out in 2008 Marvel threw out some 5-issue Limited Series about "counter-culture subversives" (ugh that sounds like something they'd try to run TODAY) who were "Warriors of the Information Age". The name obviously comes from Stan Lee's old nickname for the Marvel faithful. They decided to be truth-tellers who exposed cover-ups and conspiracies, fighting against governments, and even super-heroes if necessary.

The were formed by Mavis, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who wanted to hunt down her father's killer. Along the way, they unseat an undercover fighting ring that kidnaps sex workers and feeds them Mutant Growth Hormone for a "Bikini Fight Club", uncover a guy attempting to ruin Reed Richards's reputation via faked drunk-driving charges, and fight HYDRA. Eventually, they learn that S.H.I.E.L.D. itself was responsible for the project that got Mavis's father killed- Maria Hill thought it had been cancelled but it kept going, and the man was killed for being a whistleblower on it. Eventually Mavis realizes her own supervisor is the man who kept the project going, and is the man responsible. Mavis successfully kills him and plans to reveal everything on her Blog- Iron Man arrives and makes no attempt to arrest her, merely asking her to keep Maria's name out of it. The True Believers now set themselves up as a group offering legal and superhuman aide to other whistleblowers.

That is the end of the series and the last we ever see of the True Believers. Apparently the book must have done pretty poorly because they've NEVER shown up again.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Contemplator! The Challenger! The Stranger!)

Post by Sidney369 »

KorokoMystia wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:14 am Reminds me of how the "New New Warriors" which were so terrible their book never even got released, so those characters are just..stuck in limbo, never ro actually appear in canon, Iguess.
I thought that B-Negative did appear in a Morbius special that came out when the movie was supposed to come out. Of course, he was only created to make Morbius look like a more important character than he actually is.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Contemplator! The Challenger! The Stranger!)

Post by M4C8 »

Sidney369 wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 10:09 am
KorokoMystia wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:14 am Reminds me of how the "New New Warriors" which were so terrible their book never even got released, so those characters are just..stuck in limbo, never ro actually appear in canon, Iguess.
I thought that B-Negative did appear in a Morbius special that came out when the movie was supposed to come out. Of course, he was only created to make Morbius look like a more important character than he actually is.
He appeared briefly in the recent 'The Darkhold: Blade' one shot
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Payback

Post by Jabroniville »

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PAYBACK (Mavis Trent)
Created By:
Cary Bates & Paul Gulacy
First Appearance: True Believers #1 (July 2008)
Role: Forgotten Hero, Counter-Culture Hero, Electrical Blaster
Group Affiliations: The True Believers, S.H.I.E.L.D.
PL 8 (155)
STRENGTH
2/6 STAMINA 3/7 AGILITY 3/5
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Athletics 3 (+5)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (The Spy Game) 7 (+8)
Expertise (Soldier) 7 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Investigation 6 (+8)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 4 (+6)
Treatment 1 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+10)

Advantages:
Equipment 6 (Gear), Improved Critical (Gun), Languages (A Few), Ranged Attack 3, Teamwork, Tracking

Powers:
"Variant Symbiote"
Enhanced Strength 4 [8]
Enhanced Stamina 4 [8]
Enhanced Agility 2 [4]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Regeneration 4 [4]
Electrical Blast 8 [16]
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Symbiote) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Enhanced Strength +7 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Electrical Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3 (+5 Symbiote)

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (+9 Symbiote, DC 17-19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+7 Symbiote), Fortitude +5 (+9 Symbiote), Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Whistleblowing)- The True Believers are set up to find corruption and conspiracies wherever they find the and blow the whistle. They will protect others of their kind as well.
Power Loss (Symbiote)- The Symbiote is a living creature who can either leave Mavis, or be drained by lack of electricity.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 52 / Defenses: 10 (155)

-Mavis Trent was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent whose father is murdered for being a whistleblower. She is contacted by an electrical entity that had formerly been attached to her father, and she decides to investigate herself. The entity is a "Variant"- related to the Symbiotes but evolved into a more eletro-magnetic being who isn't evil. She fought Luke Cage to test her own abilities, but he easily defeated her- learning some important lessons from the scrap, she forms a team of whistleblowers called "The True Believers". First it turns out that S.H.I.E.L.D. was responsible for the "Anathema" project her father died trying to stop, and then Mavis's own boss Chet Fleming (who was attempting to form a relationship with her) was revealed as the man behind it all. He captures Mavis and prepares to kill her by depowering her Symbiote and blowing her up, but she recharges it via an electrical outlet and kills Chet instead.

-As Payback, Mavis is a solid PL 8 Blaster with good strength and durability, but nothing too special.
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Battalus

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

BATTALUS (Ozzie Tanaka)
Created By:
Cary Bates & Paul Gulacy
First Appearance: True Believers #1 (July 2008)
Role: Forgotten Hero, Counter-Culture Hero, Powersuit Guy
Group Affiliations: The True Believers, S.H.I.E.L.D.

-Ozzie Tanaka was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who quit to go with Mavis and her True Believers. He lived with Border Personality Disorder (which often made him freak out due to stress), but designed his own "Nanotech Armor" powersuit. It had a jetpack, and "Defensive & Offensive Weaponry", whatever the hell that involves.
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Headtrip

Post by Jabroniville »

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HEADTRIP (Talyn Roark)
Created By:
Cary Bates & Paul Gulacy
First Appearance: True Believers #1 (July 2008)
Role: Forgotten Hero, Counter-Culture Hero, Empath
Group Affiliations: The True Believers, S.H.I.E.L.D.

-A computer hacker with empathic powers, Talyn ran a dating website and used to date Max Trent, the father of Mavis. Talyn joined the group in hopes of finding Max's killer, too. She could both read what someone was feeling, and tap into their "inner child", making them compliant and willing to answer her questions.
Jabroniville
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Red Zone

Post by Jabroniville »

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RED ZONE (Theo Bomba)
Created By:
Cary Bates & Paul Gulacy
First Appearance: True Believers #1 (July 2008)
Role: Forgotten Hero, Counter-Culture Hero, Conspiracy Theorist
Group Affiliations: The True Believers, S.H.I.E.L.D.

-An unpredictable conspiracy theorist and hacktivist, Red Zone had mental abilities from a lightning strike fusing his skull with an "advanced alien alloy". He was smarter than "any normal person", with at least Mental Quickness on him. He can "adapt to combat" (Enhanced Fighting) and project holographic images, like making his skull look like it has a baseball cap on it. He can also block out Mind Control.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Stranger! Children of the Atom! The True Believers!)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Well, at least the artist was having a good time. Payback is basically a recolored nude, and Headtrip apparently never misses out on squat day at the gym. Or any other day, for that matter. Belt corset. Sure. The other two are the always popular "just draw a slightly altered video game character" (in this case Master Chief from Halo) and "let's get weird" (in this case funky tech helmet+colorful trenchcoat, because Rorshach and the Question have evidently not been riffed on enough).
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Re: Battalus

Post by KorokoMystia »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 11:47 pm Image

BATTALUS (Ozzie Tanaka)
..Yeah, this is clearly a "someone saw Doom/Halo" design. Though given the character's backstory includes being a video game designer, that..actually makes sense, kinda.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Stranger! Children of the Atom! The True Believers!)

Post by Skavenger »

Oh hey, the True Believers!

So fun fact, the five issue miniseries was written by Cary Bates, it was his first miniseries back at Marvel after 20 years of having been away. He was working on animation projects like Disney's Gargoyles and other shows in between his comic writing stints.
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The Ethicals

Post by Jabroniville »

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Image

THE ETHICALS (Akra, Kora & 3 Others)
Created By:
Marv Wolfman & Steve Ditko
First Appearance: Machine Man #12 (Dec. 1979)
Role: Weirdo Shroom-Induced Beings, Uplifted Gods

-Created by a late-70s Steve Ditko and Marv Wolfman, the Ethicals were a band of humans who had been blasted by an electrical bolt created by Machine Man, frustrated over the madness of humanity. The bolt mixed with some chemicals the scientists had been using, and so they awoke as super-powered beings, going off in search of their "father". Showcasing great power and very ethereal personalities, they stopped Machine Man from executing a criminal for shooting another man- saying this would not be "ethical", they beseeched the hero to try and uplift humanity to the future they had foreseen. However, the child of the man who'd been shot came to Machine Man's defense, saying he was worthy as a hero for trying to defend people who hated him. Impressed with the defense, the Ethicals let the boy choose the criminal's fate- he chose to spare the man, and he went to jail. The Ethicals then went off to find a world to call their own. Their only other appearance in comics history was of course in the Quasar issue where they turned up on the Stranger's laboratory world. When Quasar offered to spring them, they said "that would not be ethical" and instead broke out when the prison lab was wrecked.

-Sooooo... drugs. Lots of drugs. This has both Ditko's penchant for weird stories and punishment, but is fairly soft by his standards, as the criminal is spared. Wolfman, of course, was prone to lots of wacked-out stories like this. The whole thing is more or less "Fancy Space Children" with vague declarations of morality and the future as they ascend to godhood or whatever- the kind of stuff you write while high, which you saw a lot of in the late 1970s.

-The Ethicals seemed to be able to fly and travel through space, and were resistant to anything Machine Man did.
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