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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Modern Age Dr. Mid-Nite

Post by Jabroniville »

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DOCTOR MID-NITE II (Dr. Pieter Anton Cross)
Created By:
Matt Wagner & John K. Snyder
First Appearance: Doctor Mid-Nite #1 (Sept. 1999)
Role: Super-Medic, Skillmonkey
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 9 (164)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+10)
Expertise (Streetwise) 3 (+8)
Insight 2 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+8)
Perception 7 (+12)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Technology 6 (+11)
Treatment 12 (+18)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Contacts (Network of Trained Nurses), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment (Medical Gear, Visual Link to Charlie the Owl, Evasion, Fast Grab, Favored Environment (Darkness), Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improed Trip, Minion 4 (Charlie the Owl), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 1, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Treatment), Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Treatment Skill

Powers:
"Inverted Vision" Senses 2 (Darkvision) [2]

"Blackout Bombs" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [7]
"Black Cloud" Concealment 2 (Vision) (Extras: Attack, Ranged, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (Diminished Range -1) (11 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Disabled (Blind)- Unless his eyes are bathed in darkness, Cross cannot see- he must wear infrared glasses or use Blackout Bombs in order to see in regular light.
Relationship (Black Canary)- The two formed a short relationship, but ended before things got serious... for her. Pieter carried the torch for some time, asking Alan Scott directly to give him monitor duty because he didn't want to have to face her at a JLA/JSA meeting ("Yes, and I specifically asked him not to REPEAT that...").
Motivation (Helping People)- Dr. Cross is a compassionate, caring physician- he is obsessed with saving people, and sets up numerous free clinics to save people who cannot afford proper care. He will never knowingly take a life.

Total: Abilities: 82 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 16 (164)

The New Dr. Mid-Nite- Forgettable Debut & Big Recurring Role:
-The third Dr. Mid-Nite debuted in a 1999 Limited Series written by the creator of Mage & Grendel, Matt Wagner- he was a Doctor delivered by, and partially-trained by, Dr. Charles McNider, the Golden Age Dr. Mid-Nite. In a weird bit of storytelling, he becomes the greatest doctor in the history of the universe, but is unable to save his mother's life from a disease. It turns out there WAS a drug that may have helped her out, but the company that makes it was withholding it. While investigating some new street drugs, he is drugged by an Evil Pharmaceutical Company (one of comics' first big attacks on Big Pharma- Spidey-related anti-hero Cardiac was first), and blinded the way McNider & Chapel were. He ends up with the same "can see in total darkness" powers that they had and becomes the new Dr. Mid-Nite.

-The book was quickly glossed over and forgotten, but on the second arc of JSA, he got a big debut, helping out the heroes against Obsidian & Ian Karkull's Shadow-Energy (naturally, seeing in total darkness was a big help). Confident, capable and intelligent, he was treated like a big deal immediately, and got put into a relationship with Black Canary (who gave him BIG props in her narration- "Deep voice. Steady hands. This guy's more confident than God"). He even uses THE POWER OF MEDICINE to defeat Count Vertigo (figuring out what condition caused his deafness and how to use that to their advantage when he attacks during a date). With Geoff Johns' writing, Mid-Nite gets a big push as a capable helper (his medical knowledge comes in handy), and interesting character- one of the few very religious superheroes. When Canary moves on to Ollie again, Mid-Nite gets a bromance with the intellectual atheist Mr. Terrific, and they become one of the big partnerships on the book. He's arguably second in command at times, as the book swiftly drops Sand and the focus moves to Terrific/Hawkman as lead guys.

-It's actually amusing how Mid-Nite came in handy again and again- as one of the other books featuring an actual DOCTOR on it, the JSA naturally was afflicted with numerous situations that called for his exact skills- people were frequently grievously-harmed, necessitating emergency surgery. Though some of the "Pieter Cross is Perfect" stuff irked me at the time- he was a bit TOO compassionate, TOO caring, for me to really take him at face value. He was a humanitarian, a vegetarian, deeply-religious, and devoted to helping the downtrodden and homeless. I think that says more about ME than HIM, though- I did that thing where you jealously-search for the DARK side to somebody. Or maybe just the Marvel fan in my trying to find the crippling personal flaws at his heart. But nope- it just turns out he IS that caring. Dude didn't become a doctor just for the money...

Mid-Nite's Capabilities:
-Dr. Mid-Nite II (I'm not calling him "III" because Chapel was "Midnight" instead of "Mid-Nite", and HYPHENS ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS, DAMMIT) is a great fighter and a handy guy to have around in a scrap, but no powerhouse- he's PL 8 offensively (he's never seen fighting anyone better than a Mook)- he just specializes in weird little medical things: He's allowed Black Canary to use a Cry that puts people to sleep (by getting handsy with her, naturally), figured out the nature of constant heroes' powers (Power Girl, Kingdom Come Superman, Citizen Steel, Alan Scott), saved Jakeem Thunder from a sliced jugular, saved Alan Scott once or twice, and figured out how to take out Count Vertigo by figuring out what inner-ear disorder the villain had. He also once took out a nasty pimp by putting his fingers against the dude's blood-vessels. But really, most of the time he's good for the plan, and for when the heroes inevitably get injured- naturally, the only team with an actual surgeon on staff was the only one to frequently suffer injuries that REQUIRED such a name.

-The DCA build's a bit... weird... owing to some odd power choices. His medical gauntlets are really more Equipment than the Laser-thing they're statted up as, and I don't think he really has Infra or Ultravision, nor an Anaesthetic Spray. And being +10 to Defenses with +8 Toughness? That's as tough as SPIDER-MAN- they REALLY over-use Defensive Roll in these books. It feels like nearly every build has it pumped in to maximum ranks just to artificially make everyone fit their recommended PL.
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Re: The Flash (Barry Allen)

Post by Skavenger »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:26 am Image
I will die on the hill that the best Barry Allen moment of all time will be his death in Crisis On Infinite Earths, and his worst moment will be his return. Sacrificing yourself to save everything in existence, giving your life knowing that not just a few peoples' lives but every single life that happens next can only happen because you're willing to literally die to make it possible, that's a death any superhero should aspire to. It makes Barry a martyr to all superheroes, something even Superman, no, something even a cosmic being would look at and respect. It brought new life to the idea of a legacy at DC comics, which is key because Barry Allen is HIMSELF a legacy character, having taken over the mantle from Jay, and it turned Wally West into DC's Peter Parker (young hero, inspirational uncle figure whose name starts with 'B') finally bridging that gap between DC's classic heroic archetypes and Marvel's heroes with feet of clay...and then in an instant, it was gone.

Some will say that Barry coming back doesn't undermine everything that happened between his 'death' and return, but it certainly undermines everything that comes AFTERWARD. It's no longer a massive sacrifice to save all of existence if you can think 'oh, people will miss me for a few years but I'll be back' and there really isn't any possible ending to his story that can beat what he's done before. Someone pointed out that they could explore his looking at the impact his death had on others, but you don't need to actually bring him back to life for that. Ghost-Barry teams up with Deadman to solve a crime and winds up learning everything, Blackest Night brings Barry back as a Black Lantern and he gets a brief moment after freed to travel the world and catch up on everything that happened before he returns to the afterlife, so on, so on, you can have an exploration of that without taking his 'sacrificing everything' to 'sacrificing...y'know, some stuff.' It takes one of the seminal superhero moments and turns it into 'end of act 2' and there's no way to end the story that can top it.

Plus, it just kind of ruins the idea of even having a legacy if the guy who was meant to hand something down comes back and takes it back from the guy he gave it to, when that character was doing just fine in the role, and then since DC didn't really NEED Wally any more it let them just toss him aside for a while, hope we all forgot he existed, then bring him back just long enough to pretty much ruin him and spend the next year scrambling to try to make it so that all his development hadn't actually been undone.
Shock
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Re: The Flash (Barry Allen)

Post by Shock »

Skavenger wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 6:45 am
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:26 am
Some will say that Barry coming back doesn't undermine everything that happened between his 'death' and return, but it certainly undermines everything that comes AFTERWARD. It's no longer a massive sacrifice to save all of existence if you can think 'oh, people will miss me for a few years but I'll be back' and there really isn't any possible ending to his story that can beat what he's done before. Someone pointed out that they could explore his looking at the impact his death had on others, but you don't need to actually bring him back to life for that. Ghost-Barry teams up with Deadman to solve a crime and winds up learning everything, Blackest Night brings Barry back as a Black Lantern and he gets a brief moment after freed to travel the world and catch up on everything that happened before he returns to the afterlife, so on, so on, you can have an exploration of that without taking his 'sacrificing everything' to 'sacrificing...y'know, some stuff.' It takes one of the seminal superhero moments and turns it into 'end of act 2' and there's no way to end the story that can top it.
I can't agree with this line of reasoning. The end result of that thinking is "no sacrifice matters."

There isn't a major hero anywhere that could die without the fanbase's reaction being "wonder when he'll come back?" However, that's not what the character is thinking. The Flash isn't going to face off death next week and think "eh, I'll be back later" while he's saving the world. He doesn't know he's coming back. Characters (largely) don't have the genre awareness to stare death in the face and know that resurrection is just around the corner. So as far they're concerned, yeah they are sacrificing everything.
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Ken
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Flash! Johnny Quick! Max Mercury! Dr. Mid-Nite!)

Post by Ken »

I felt cheated by Barry's resurrection. It wasn't even treated like a resurrection. Iris was legally dead (Professor Zoom had apparently killed her). Barry was dead. Not just as the Flash, but Barry Allen was also dead. And yet, opening up Flash #1 vol. whatever it was and Iris was back at Picture News and Barry was back at the Central City crime lab.

It wasn't a resurrection, it was a massive "hit the reset switch" done a few years before they hit the reset switch on the whole damned universe.

And Wally wasn't just left in the dust. Portions of Wally's personality have been grafted onto Barry. Ezra Miller's portrayal in particular... they called him Barry, but he was more Wally (Zack Snyder's "Super Friends and two Teen Titans").
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Jabroniville
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Firebrand (Rod Reilly)

Post by Jabroniville »

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lol, the see-through shirt.

FIREBRAND I (Rod Reilly)
Created By:
S.M. Iger & Reed Crandall
First Appearance: Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (71)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+9)
Deception 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 5 (+7)
Vehicles 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Improved Trip, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Excitement)- Rod Reilly became a superhero out of boredom from his life as a socialite- the son of a wealthy steel tycoon.
Relationship (Joan Rogers)- Rod's fiance doesn't know about his double life.
Relationship (Slugger Dunn)- Rod's best friend is a pro boxer who helps train him.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (71)

-Rod "Firebrand" Reilly looks like the worst superhero ever- seriously, a TRANSPARENT PINK SHIRT? A bored and wealthy socialite, Rod decided to fight crime out of BOREDOM, not some grand ambition- seeking the excitement he felt he was lacking in his life, he had his pal, ex-boxer "Slugger" Dunn, train him, and went on a crimefighting career. He lasted only about a year in Police Comics (13 issues in total), being leapt over by Plastic Man, Phantom Lady and The Human Bomb, who were around for years. It wasn't until 1977 that we'd see him again, as DC's purchase of Quality's characters introduced Firebrand to the All-Star Squadron, and Rod was chosen as one of the ONLY superheroes to not make it out of World War II alive! Firebrand was thus killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, leaving his sister Danette to take over his role as a much more important character. Years later, Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. would imply that he was slaughtered by The Dragon King, because apparently Roy had changed his mind and Rod & Slugger were only "badly wounded". Thomas retconning his own stuff, lol.

-As a crappy superhero, the first Firebrand can take PL 6 and like it. I imagine Slugger Dunn to be little more than a PL 4 Thug. Amazingly enough, this douche somehow earned THREE Legacies! That's what having a cool name gets you.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Firebrand (Danette Reilly)

Post by Jabroniville »

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FIREBRAND II (Danette Reilly)
Created By:
Roy Thomas, Danette Thomas, Jerry Ordway & Rick Buckler
First Appearance: Justice League of America #193 (Aug. 1981)
Role: Retcon Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (120)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+4)
Close Combat 1 (+8)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Earth Sciences) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Fire) 3 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Improved Aim, Inspire, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
Plasma Blast 8 (16) -- [18]
  • AE: "Melt" Weaken Toughness 6 (Extras: Affects Objects Only +0, Ranged) (12)
  • AE: Fire Aura 4 (16)
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]
Immunity 2 (Hot & Cold) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Fire Aura +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Melt +8 (+6 Ranged Weaken, DC 16)
Plasma Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Hatred (The Japanese)- Danette was initially quite racist towards Japanese people. She only changed her ways after discovering her brother had been saved by a man descended from Japanese.
Relationship (The Shining Knight)- The two were married after the War.
Relationship (Terri Rothstein)- Dann was briefly with the reluctant supervillain Cyclotron- when he died, she became a guardian to his daughter Terri (the mother of Atom Smasher).

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 14 (120)

-Danette Reilly was the second Firebrand, and the sister to the first, introduced in modern times to act as a much-needed extra female Golden Ager in a sausage-heavy biz. She was kidnapped by villains Per Degaton & Wotan while studying Volcanos in Hawai'i in the 1940s, and was tossed into a pit of mystical lava (volcanologists will attest to how pesky those things are). Naturally she gained superpowers, becoming one of Roy Thomas' "Focus Characters" in All-Star Squardon (even appearing as a big character in the first part of Crisis on Infinite Earths)- it probably helps that she was based off of his wife Danette. He was going to use the Golden Age Quality Comics character Wildfire (similar powers), but was disallowed by DC Editorial since The Legion of Super-Heroes already had a hero by that name.

-I liked Danette, though- she was hot without looking skanky, had decent powers, and a distinctive look (pink only works on dudes when it's The Hart Foundation). She actually had quite a few stories devoted to her, like when an ex-lover of hers became the villain Cyclotron, working for the Ultra-Humanite- he reforms, sacrificing his life to save the day, and Danette adopts his daughter Terri, who goes on to give birth to Atom-Smasher, DC's handsomest hero. Later, her wealthy father Ed is targetted by Nazi villains Night & Fog, and dies of a heart attack even as she rescues him from a fall- Danette goes crazy and nearly kills the villains until her Squadron teammates hold her back. Finally, she settles down with and marries the Shining Knight. However, Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. would reveal that she was killed by The Dragon King (Courtney's first villainous mastermind) during a post-war struggle, with the Knight hunting the villain ever since. This is actually casually revealed in that book, and an early indicator that Geoff Johns was pretty casual with wiping out unused Golden Age characters.

-As a modern idea of a Golden Age character, Firebrand II actually has some rather modern powers compared to the usual "atomic punch" type things you saw back in the day; as a result, she fights much more like a modern hero of the 80s than any DC Golden Age guy, though I guess the Human Torch was around in those days. You could make a claim that she's PL 9 (or even PL 10!), but I felt a weaker PL 8 is more suiting to the Golden Era of comics. She's much cheaper than her JSA buddies, but would be pretty easy to boost up to PL 10 if you prefer (just add accuracy and damage).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ken
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Re: Firebrand (Rod Reilly)

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:16 pm FIREBRAND I (Rod Reilly)

It wasn't until 1981 that we'd see him again, as DC's purchase of Quality's characters introduced Firebrand to the All-Star Squadron, and Rod was chosen as one of the ONLY superheroes to not make it out of World War II alive! Firebrand was thus killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, leaving his sister Danette to take over his role as a much more important character.
Late 1977, Rod Reilly appeared in the 11th issue of Freedom Fighters, and in #12 he showed up in costume, and stuck around until the book was caught in the DC Implosion.

Also, Roy and Dann Thomas are still married.
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Re: The Flash (Barry Allen)

Post by Skavenger »

Shock wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:31 pm
Skavenger wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 6:45 am
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:26 am
Some will say that Barry coming back doesn't undermine everything that happened between his 'death' and return, but it certainly undermines everything that comes AFTERWARD. It's no longer a massive sacrifice to save all of existence if you can think 'oh, people will miss me for a few years but I'll be back' and there really isn't any possible ending to his story that can beat what he's done before. Someone pointed out that they could explore his looking at the impact his death had on others, but you don't need to actually bring him back to life for that. Ghost-Barry teams up with Deadman to solve a crime and winds up learning everything, Blackest Night brings Barry back as a Black Lantern and he gets a brief moment after freed to travel the world and catch up on everything that happened before he returns to the afterlife, so on, so on, you can have an exploration of that without taking his 'sacrificing everything' to 'sacrificing...y'know, some stuff.' It takes one of the seminal superhero moments and turns it into 'end of act 2' and there's no way to end the story that can top it.
I can't agree with this line of reasoning. The end result of that thinking is "no sacrifice matters."

There isn't a major hero anywhere that could die without the fanbase's reaction being "wonder when he'll come back?" However, that's not what the character is thinking. The Flash isn't going to face off death next week and think "eh, I'll be back later" while he's saving the world. He doesn't know he's coming back. Characters (largely) don't have the genre awareness to stare death in the face and know that resurrection is just around the corner. So as far they're concerned, yeah they are sacrificing everything.
Except he already did, and came out the other end (albeit not immediately) without a single hair out of place, no trauma, and able to just wear his jacket and act like nothing happened. How can any character who sacrifices themselves in what is unequivocally the biggest event to happen (the death of "every possible thing") not come out of it thinking everything is small potatoes and they've "survived worse?"

Plus, we HAVE seen it several times in comics. Wally clipped the speed force a few times, the thing 'nobody was ever supposed to come back from' and was always able to come back because he had an 'anchor'. So when he suddenly bursts into it again, even his friends and allies are standing around going 'okay...he'll be back, he's not DEAD dead, just...inconvenienced dead.'

In Tom King's run, Damien, Dick, and Jason joke about who will be dead 'again' because they've all come back from the dead. Duke, the 'new kid' freaks out, but everybody else is just calm about it because 'it just happens sometimes.' Stephanie Brown spends time after Bruce "dies" thinking of what she'd say to him. Quote, "I've just been worried that if you ever popped up again - and I mean, who really stays dead nowadays anyway, right? You missed the zombies, by the way." Tim spends time searching for Bruce after his 'death' and is RIGHT that Bruce isn't actually dead. Batman comments when Hal Jordan (as the Spectre) brings Ollie back to life, "It seems none of our former allies know how to stay dead." In Grant Morrison's JLA, Superman attends the funeral of Metamorpho and the priest straight up tells him "Well, the sad thing is, normal people aren't very interested in metahuman funerals any more, Superman. Everyone knows you people come back all the time. Heaven knows how many times I've buried the Immortal Man. I'm sure Metamorpho won't stay down for long, God rest his soul." And he was RIGHT.

When Martian Manhunter fakes his death, the federal Government is completely skeptical that he's either "actually dead" or will "stay dead." Wally's the only person really upset by this because, at that point, Barry was still dead. Looks like Wally had nothing to worry about. In the 90s Titans book Starfire has to try to explain to the new members that 'most people stay dead' when they ask "So where's Jericho now?" when being shown the hall of dead heroes. That, of course, gets undermined by Jericho's eventual return.

The entire population of the world now believes that when a superhero dies, they eventually come back, and there's a miniscule number of exceptions to that rule. If there's a single hero who doesn't think "eh, if I die, odds are pretty good I'll come back good as new" then they're denser than a sack of bricks.
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Re: Firebrand (Rod Reilly)

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:16 pm -Rod "Firebrand" Reilly looks like the worst superhero ever- seriously, a TRANSPARENT PINK SHIRT? A bored and wealthy socialite, Rod decided to fight crime out of BOREDOM, not some grand ambition- seeking the excitement he felt he was lacking in his life, he had his pal, ex-boxer "Slugger" Dunn, train him, and went on a crimefighting career. He lasted only about a year in Police Comics (13 issues in total), being leapt over by Plastic Man, Phantom Lady and The Human Bomb, who were around for years. It wasn't until 1981 that we'd see him again, as DC's purchase of Quality's characters introduced Firebrand to the All-Star Squadron, and Rod was chosen as one of the ONLY superheroes to not make it out of World War II alive! Firebrand was thus killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, leaving his sister Danette to take over his role as a much more important character. Years later, Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. would imply that he was slaughtered by The Dragon King.

-As a crappy superhero, the first Firebrand can take PL 6 and like it. I imagine Slugger Dunn to be little more than a PL 4 Thug. Amazingly enough, this douche somehow earned THREE Legacies! That's what having a cool name gets you.
Slight correction, here -- while Rod and his pal Slugger were apparently killed in the first issue of All-Star Squadron, Roy Thomas apparently changed his mind on this. As someone has already mentioned, a version of Firebrand had shown up in the Freedom Fighters book set on Earth-X, and while Roy Thomas seems to have intended for there to be two different versions of the character, he eventually decided that all the heroic characters of that series had originated on Earth-2, and revealed that Roy and Slugger had both survived what seemed (and were said to be) fatal wounds.

Of course, this all gets retconned even further later on ...
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Flash! Johnny Quick! Max Mercury! Dr. Mid-Nite!)

Post by Jabroniville »

The issue with the dead returning has been one for so long it was one of JOE QUESADA'S first edicts when he became Editor In Chief. I mean, that was a REALLY long time ago now. It was a joke even then. And since then they even brought back the "Nobody stays dead except _____" guys, save Uncle Ben. Sadly, once it becomes an open joke within the books, it feels like you can't put the genie back in the bottle. I'm not sure if there's even a fix anymore. But Editors should always be a little stronger on that, and writers be a little less quick to kill off heroes someone else might want back.

Once you have Hickman go full "Resurrection Island" with mutants you'd think an editor could step in, but nope.
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Re: Firebrand (Rod Reilly)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:01 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:16 pm FIREBRAND I (Rod Reilly)

It wasn't until 1981 that we'd see him again, as DC's purchase of Quality's characters introduced Firebrand to the All-Star Squadron, and Rod was chosen as one of the ONLY superheroes to not make it out of World War II alive! Firebrand was thus killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, leaving his sister Danette to take over his role as a much more important character.
Late 1977, Rod Reilly appeared in the 11th issue of Freedom Fighters, and in #12 he showed up in costume, and stuck around until the book was caught in the DC Implosion.

Also, Roy and Dann Thomas are still married.
It's the damndest thing- I was sure I'd heard they divorced. I was probably thinking of Walt & Louise Simonson... but they're still together, too! So who the hell got divorced?!? I was certain someone notable among comics couples had been!

Regarding the other, I think I read the Wikipedia entry for Rod, which only mentions his 1981 All-Star Squadron appearance. It's weird how even the most minor guys end up being nuisances historically.
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Firebrand (Alejandro Sanchez)

Post by Jabroniville »

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Man there is a LOT of stuff going on with this guy's costume. Like, you can see the start of a good idea, but you have this weird emblem ON his head, which is also on fire, then he's wearing the blue... but also that golden harness and the harness is super-complicated.

FIREBRAND III (Alejandro "Alex" Sanchez)
Created By:
Bryan Augustyn & Sal Velluto
First Appearance: Firebrand #1 (Feb. 1996)
Role: Forgotten '90s Hero
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (80)
STRENGTH
2/5 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4, +9 Suit)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Cop) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Police Firearm 2, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Firebrand Powersuit" (Flaws: Removable) (Restricted to Those With Specialized Implants) [14]
Enhanced Strength 3 (6)
Speed 3 (16 mph) (3)
"Scary Mask" Enhanced Skills 2: Intimidation 2 (+6) (1)
Immunity 1 (Heat)
Protection 3 (3)
-- (14 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Suit Strength +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4 (+7 Powersuit), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Power Loss (Strength & Speed)- Firebrand's powers only last for about four hours.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 14 / Defenses: 7 (80)

-The third Firebrand was a classic '90s character with a '90s mask, an ethnic hero named Alex Sanchez. A cop who was injured in an explosion that destroyed his apartment, he was put back together by a philanthropist who wanted Alex to wear a Powersuit that'd make him a superhero. Firebrand was a bust, only lasting nine issues, and he was one of those characters who just completely vanished off the face of the Earth- his creators kept getting work, but didn't bring him to any other books.

-A minor character with a link to the Golden Age, Firebrand was PERFECT for being a quick fatality in the JSA book (just ask Jared "Fate" Stevens), and so he was fatally-injured by a Checkmate Knight in the prelude to the great "Roulette" story in, fighting off the drugs that were making him super-aggressive just in time to be stabbed in the throat. They give him a bit of a sad send-off (it's from a first-person POV, and he describes being a forgettable hero, and Guy Gardner maybe being the only superhero who would remember him), admitting he's D-List but doesn't deserve this fate, and even name his creators as he bleeds out. This Firebrand is a PL 7 nobody with some decent physical capabilities.

-The fourth Firebrand is Andre Twist from the 2006 update- he's a martial artist with a Bo staff, and is killed in action a few years later.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Firebrand (Andre Twist)

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

FIREBRAND IV (Andre Twist)
Created By:
Jimmy Palmiotti & Dan Jurgens
First Appearance: Infinite Crisis- The Battle For Blüdhaven #1 (June 2006)
Role: Forgotten '90s Hero
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (94)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Activist) 5 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Fire) 1 (+7)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Staff), Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Fire Control"
"Fire Wave" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (14) -- [16]
  • AE: "Fire Line" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (14)
  • AE: Fire Blast 7 (14)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Staff +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Helping Others)- An activist by trade, Andre decided to help smuggle people out of Blüdhaven when it was walled off.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 16 / Defenses: 10 (94)

-The fourth Firebrand joined the bizarre Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters reboot- he was from Blüdhaven, acting as an activist (an activist named Firebrand- oh that's cute), and gained the ability to control fire. He also wielded a bo staff, and used his powers to try and bring order to the irradiated city when it was walled up by the U.S. government. He was crippled during a fight with the Jailbreakers, being thrown across the room by a super-strong being- shortly afterwards, he was killed in the third Freedom Fighters series in 2011, crushed by falling rocks during a fight with the Jester.
-This Firebrand is a melee fighter who just happened to have PL 7 "Fire Blaster" powers tacked on, making him a bit morer well-rounded than some. Still a minor-league rookie hero who only lasted five years, though.
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Davies
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Re: Firebrand (Andre Twist)

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 6:51 pm -The fourth Firebrand joined the bizarre Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters reboot- he was from Blüdhaven, acting as an activist (an activist named Firebrand- oh that's cute),
It would be if it hadn't been done before at Marvel.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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catsi563
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Max Mercury! Dr. Mid-Nite! Firebrand!)

Post by catsi563 »

See thats a cool costume but it has ZILCH to do with the powers in question
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

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