Jab’s Builds! (Lawnmower Man! Samus Aran! Metroids!)

[Jabroniville]

THE RED TORNADO II (aka John Smith)
Created By: Gardner Fox & Dick Dillin
First Appearance: The Justice League of America #64 (Aug. 1968)
Role: The Android Hero, Wants-To-Be-Human Guy, Wind User
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Justice Society of America
PL 11 (177)
STRENGTH 9 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+5)
Perception 6 (+6)
Ranged Attack (Wind) 3 (+11)
Technology 6 (+8)
Vehicles 5 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (League Member), Improved Disarm, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Set-Up

Powers:
"Android Body"
Protection 11 [11]
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Regeneration 2 (Feats: Regrowth) [3]
"Datalink" Communication (Computers) 2 [8]
"He Always Comes Back" Immortality 2 (Flaws: Source- Someone Putting Him Back Together) [2]
Flight 7 (250 mph) [14]

"Wind Powers"
"Tornado" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (33) -- [42]

• AE: "Tornado II" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cylinder) (33)
• AE: "Tornado III" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (22)
• AE: Air Blast 11 (Feats: Precise) (23)
• AE: "Air Control" Move Object 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Touch Range) (22)
• AE: "Wind" Features 2: Nullifies Arrows, Blows Out Flames, etc. (2)
• AE: "Spinning Cyclone I" Affliction 11 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (33)
• AE: "Spinning Cyclone II" Affliction 11 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cylinder +2) (33)
• AE: "Wind Screen" Deflect 11 (11)
• AE: "Very Blustery Day" Environment 3 (120 feet) (Impede Movement 2) (10)
• AE: "Blowback Effect" Affliction 11 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Tornados +11 Area (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Blowback & Cyclone +11 Area (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Air Blast +11 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +11, Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Weakness (Magnetic Attacks)- Red Tornado is an android, comprised primarily of metal. He is more vulnerable to magnetic attack than others.
Relationship (Kathy, Traya)- Red Tornado is close to his wife and his adopted daughter.
Accident (Frequent Slayings)- As an easily-rebuilt android, the Tornado is blown up VERY frequently. I think every time he fails a save by more than 10, he simply explodes. Seriously- it's AWFUL.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 108 / Defenses: 14 (177)

The Red Tornado- The OTHER Red-Skinned Android Powerhouse Created by a Villain:
-The Red Tornado, to me, is maybe the single most pointed example you can use of the difference between Marvel & DC. Both companies introduced these red, super-powered androids at around the same time. Both betrayed their villainous creators and joined the premier superhero team of the age. Both did the "I want to be human" thing. But only one of them was a major character for five decades, a legendary arc in the stories, a big name thanks to movie appearances, a very well-respected book or two to their name, and even well known in the slightest. Because Marvel did the "Okay, let's stick him on the Avengers, have him fall in love with a fellow hero, then stay on the team for years, then do a bunch of other stuff, then reboot him a couple times", etc... whereas DC was just like "Oh yeah, this guy. I dunno, he's not one of the Big Five- just get rid of him", and so Red Tornado, despite that BITCHING NAME (one of the best in comics, honestly) and a much better appearance than Vision's (and I LIKE the Vision's look), languished in obscurity and is a complete nobody that hasn't gotten a real shot since the 1970s. Marvel is much, much, much, much better at developing, bolstering, and creating secondary characters to their universe, whereas DC just tries for a little bit and then dumps the character forever.

-In the comics I have, he frequently did the "Oh, why can I not be human?" thing so common to human-like robots. Pretty much every appearance consists of him moping about and being lectured to stay out of fights by more experienced superheroes, since he's untested and kind of sucks at fighting. He also gets blowed up a ton. And ultimately, there's nothing about him that the Vision didn't already do better.

The Red Tornado's First Decade:
-The Red Tornado debuted in 1968, two months ahead of a very similar character at Marvel- this is HIGHLY coincidental, like a lot of 1960s things, to the point of looking suspicious- Red Tornado is only two months ahead of The Vision, though, and that doesn't seem like enough time to just swipe something. Vision also had a human appearance while the Tornado was clearly robotic, with Iron Man-like slots for eyes and a mouth. In the DC story, this android shows up at a JSA meeting and tells everyone that it's the original Ma "Red Tornado" Hunkel. The JSA are suspicious, but as he seems to have her memories, they accept it. It's programmed to appear inept and ends up putting the JSA into comas- this reveals to the readers that this is an android. His creator, Dr. T.O. Morrow, sets the android up to be KO'd as well, and goes to Earth-One and attacks the Justice League. They are beaten, but the android revives and turns on his master, reviving the JLA, who capture Morrow. Out of gratitude, the JSA induct the Red Tornado into their group.

-The character only appears for those yearly JLA/JSA crossover stories, as the JSA have no recurring book at the time, but in 1972, the Nebula Man threatens to destroy Earth-Two. Wing (the Crimson Avenger's sidekick) dies to stop him, and the Red Tornado dies detonating a super-weapon in orbit. However, the very next year, he returns, having apparently been sent to Earth-One's dimension instead- his robot-like face has now been reshaped by a blind hermit (who turns out to be Morrow in disguise), so now he looks... more like the Vision. Morrow intends to use him against the JLA, but it doesn't work and the villain fades out of existence. The android's attempts to return to Earth-Two lead the JSA & JLA to be sent to Earth X, where the Freedom Fighters fight in a world where the Nazis won World War II. In the following years, Red Tornado allies with the JLA, often ending up broken or damaged. By this point, the Vision is now a huge character in The Avengers and in a great relationship with the Scarlet Witch, while the Red Tornado appears almost comically fragile... but eventually looks and acts more human, becomes a teacher as "John Smith", and becomes fond of a woman named Kathy Sutton. He spends much of the 1970s as a recurring JLA member, at least- he becomes foster-father to some girl named Traya, and dates Kathy.

The Red Tornado Gets Screwy:
-The Red Tornado gets a bunch of stories in the early 1980s as well, but a 1981 tall buggers the character's history, revealing that Ulthoon, the Tornado Champion of Rann from an earlier Silver Age story, had possessed the android body alongside the "Tornado Tyrant", and both are the reason the Tornado functions. Both have their memories erased and are put back into Red Tornado. Finally, in 1984, Aquaman disbands the JLA and reforms it with people who want to be full-time members- this results in the Red Tornado leaving the team. Then, in Crisis on Infinite Earths, he is transformed by the Anti-Monitor into a weapon that nearly destroys Earths One & Two, and is torn apart by the heroes. An attempt to rebuild him sees him continue to endanger others, but the Tornado Champion revives, and Kathy convinces the android to become more human. They are married at some point, I dunno.

-Post-Crisis, Red Tornado is still an android, but no longer a "Tornado Champion" combined with the Tornado Tyrant- this is retconned away and he's now an Air Elemental created by Maya (the spirit of the Earth??) to protect the environment. He was supposed to possess a human host like other spirits, but the intended host (Professor Ivo's infant son) died young and so he possessed an android instead. Air pollution wrecks his body- even Firestorm can't help him, as he becomes a malfunctioning robot.

Modern Red Tornado:
-The character is revived in the pages of Young Justice- the kids being annoying is actually the means by which he realizes he still has human emotions, because they're bugging him. He rejoins the heroic community and aides YJ in their adventures, but he & Kathy are separated. Kathy is rendered comatose, but Tornado manages to win custody of Traya in return for helping save the day (he would have helped regardless, but felt this was practical). He is destroyed & rebuilt again, but remains a minor character with no regular book (as Young Justice has turned into Teen Titans and he's no longer around). He is resurrected once as a human (in Deadman's body), still retaining some powers but losing his android durability. Then some more stuff happens (like Solomon Grundy gaining intelligence and trying to house his immortal soul in the android body) and he becomes a cyborg, and then who knows? He gets blown up once or twice more, and marries Kathy again. Guy basically gets screwed around with a lot, because he's one of the Recurring JLA Members who doesn't have his own book.

-So in a nutshell, his whole life has been some kinda sick running gag about how many times a guy can be blown up and still survive- he's functionally immortal, as despite being blown up literally two dozen times or so, he is simply rebuilt and everything's fine again. With his name and powers (fairly unusual in major heroes- more common among minor-leaguers) he could have been a BIG star, but he was dumped from the JLA right after the Crisis and has never maintained a longform run on a book since, so all the effort spent in doing a "Red Tornado" arc was always spent poorly.

The Red Tornado's Powers:
-Red Tornado's a PL 11 guy, making him much tougher than the usual rank & file. He's still a bit limited outside his powers, having few Skills & Advantages and not being a good Melee fighter despite his raw strength, and I threw in a handful of Alt-Effects. He's super-strong, can link to computers, can be rebuilt (and likely heal a bit, so I threw that in. The comic one could, anyhow), etc. He wasn't very charismatic, though, so he's got a swack of weaknesses, too.

[Ken]

The Iron Man like face was actually a helmet. Reddy was originally faceless under the helm.

Reddy wasn't damaged that often. The first time he was destroyed, they thought he was atomized, but actually he shifter from Earth-Two to Earth-One (JLA #102), and he was revealed alive by #105, and he JOINED in #106. This is when he first met Kathy Sutton after he first established the "John Smith" identity. (T.O. Morrow gave him a face between 102 & 105.) He was destroyed for real in #129. He was restored in #146, and rejoined the League. Then he met Traya, then he reconnected with Kathy. He had a brief run (about 8 stories over a year and a half from 5/80-10/81) as a feature when World's Finest went into Anthology Mode again (starting in '78, ending in '83). He was a member of the JLA in good standing from #146. During that time, yes, he was damaged a few times. So were Batman and Flash. But never anything too severe.

Reddy was treated more shittily by DC editorial than any other Leaguer during the turn-the-JLA-into-a-Titans-clone phase. He really could have stayed with the team. His 4 issue limited series in 1985 (by a newcomer named Kurt Busiek) was weird because it seemed to be breathing new life into the character, and then he got shat upon big time by the Crisis.

[Shock]

The Red Tornado Gets Screwy:

This is a problem for so many DC secondary characters, you start to wonder if they do it on purpose.

[Sidney369]

Apparently Kathy Sutton was a lucky woman...

Roy Thomas says the creation of Red Tornado and the Vision at nearly the time was a coincidence. However, I could see him and JLoA writer having lunch together and brainstormed some ideas, and then went their separate ways and developed one of the ideas separately.

[Ken]

Apparently Kathy Sutton was a lucky woman...

Roy Thomas says the creation of Red Tornado and the Vision at nearly the time was a coincidence. However, I could see him and JLoA writer having lunch together and brainstormed some ideas, and then went their separate ways and developed one of the ideas separately.

Reddy's debut were Gardner Fox's last two issues as the regular writer on JLA, and Roy was known to be friendly with Mr. Fox.

[catsi563]

i have a very silly question but am i missing his flight ability? hes shown regularly flying while doing other air control things

[Jabroniville]

i have a very silly question but am i missing his flight ability? hes shown regularly flying while doing other air control things

Oh yeah- I think that got missed at some point. Hell I think I did that with like, my OLDEST Red Tornado build and never fixed the original file.

[Jabroniville]

I'm concerned I didn't use enough pictures, but you get the gist.


CYCLONE (Maxine Hunkel)
Created By: Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham
First Appearance: JSA #1 (2006)
Role: The Greatest Character in Comic Book History, Wind-Controller, Motormouthed Crazy Girl, Wicked Fangirl
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 8 (123)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+9)
Expertise (Theology & Religion) 4 (+9)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 5 (+10)
Expertise (Acting) 3 (+2)
Perception 2 (+2)
Ranged Combat (Wind Powers) 2 (+8)
Technology 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Minion 5 (Frankie the Monkey), Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up

Powers:
"Teenage Wind Witch"
"Tornado" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24) -- [32]

• AE: "Air Control" Move Object 9 (18)
• AE: "Blowback" Move Object 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Limited to Away From Her, Touch Range) (8)
• AE: Air Blast 8 (16)
• AE: "Wind Storm" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (16)
• AE: "Wind Effects" Features 2: Extinguish Flames, Thrown Objects Auto-Miss, -4 Ranged Attacks (2)
• AE: "Wind Screen" Deflect 8 (Flaws: Limited to Physical Projectiles) (4)
• AE: "Cyclone-Assisted Kick" Strength-Damage +2 (2)
• AE: "Air Cushion" Movement 1 (Safe Fall) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective, Affects Others) (12)

"Defying Gravity" Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
"Wind Defenses" Enhanced Advantages 2: Defensive Roll 2 [2]
"Words on the Winds" Senses 1 (Extended Hearing) (Extras: Affects Others, Ranged) [3]

"Motormouth" Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Speaking Actions -2) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Cyclone Kick +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Tornados +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Blowback & Cyclone +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Air Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Motormouth)- Maxine is INCREDIBLY annoying for even the most patient of people- she blathers on and on about unimportant stuff, and if you don't shush her up, she'll just KEEP. GOING. The JSA find her a mix of endearing and annoying, and people who don't know her just assume she's an idiot.
Relationship (King Chimera)- The douchey member of the JSA and Maxine end up having a thing going by the end of JSA All-Stars.
Obsession (L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz, and Wicked)- Maxine is so obssessed with Oz that she dresses like a combination of the Wicked Witches and names her pet monkey Frankie.
Disabled (Atypical Depression)- Maxine as suffered from this ever since a childhood kidnapping incident by Dr. T.O. Morrow. She hides this behind a wall of chattiness, and throws herself into superheroics.
Reputation ("Pippi Wrongstocking")- Because she won't shut up, Maxine is avoided by most people, and often talked about behind her back- thanks to her Extended Hearing, she can now actually tell what people are saying about her.
Relationship (Stargirl)- Cyclone WORSHIPS Stargirl at first, and finds that "the pedestal gets higher" upon actually meeting her heroine and seeing Courtney save her family. Courtney remains Maxine's closest friend while on the JSA, and they hang out constantly afterwards.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 12 (123)

Cyclone- THE GREATEST COMIC BOOK CHARACTER EVERRRRRRRRRRR!!:
-Oh, my sweet, sweet Maxine. How I worship thee... the adorbz freckles, the insane motormouth behavior, her utter sweetness and politeness to everybody, and her sad little backstory (a depressed teen with no friends and a history involving abduction by Dr. T.O. Morrow) add up to create the most endearing new character I've seen in comics in YEARS. She's equal parts "I can see why others are annoyed by this character" and "OH MY GOD SHE'S THE BESSSSSSSSST!" and anyone who dislikes her in real life just deserves to have poop on them. Created by Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham for their JSA update, Alex Ross (a co-creator on the book) realized that she fit the third "Red Tornado" character used in a non-speaking role in Kingdom Come, and so a link was made- Maxine became a tall, somewhat gangly redhead. Except Eaglesham drew her as a freckled Mary Jane Watson.

-Maxine's introduction was a thing of absolute beauty- on a team full of random names and legacies added with bland personalities stuck on, here was this girl who was depicted as UTTERLY INSANE. She's overly-smiley, talks ENDLESSLY (with sentences that run past the borders of her word bubbles), won't shut up about Wicked (can you IMAGINE how annoying that kind of character trait would be, guys?), chases off her roommate with her endless chatter at the BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, and more. She's also revealed to suffer from atypical depression, yet appears to revel in the use of her wind powers (complete with quote from Wicked- "It's time to try... defying gravity..."). And then, when Mr. Terrific & Power Girl offer her membership in the Justice Society, Maxine goes NUTS, ranting and raving about how great this is going to be ("I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!"), Power Girl has to threaten her by revoking membership if she won't shut up, and all we get is Maxine covering her mouth with tears of joy streaming from her eyes. An absolute masterwork of artist shorthand to make a character seem utterly endearing and joyous. In an era of comics filled with grim vigilantes and miserable characters, this kind of unbridled enthusism immediately made her stand out.

Cyclone- The Rookie With Character:
-Soon becoming Cyclone, Maxine hero-worships Stargirl to an insane degree (though Courtney, being pretty much ready for sainthood by this point, puts up with it in good humor and is a true friend), while driving off most of the other members of the group. And I loved Maxine IMMEDIATELY. It helps that Dale Eaglesham (the best artist in comics) drew her as a stunning figure- a bit of a freckled John Romita "Mary Jane Watson" look combined with the slightly gawky, too-tall body, making her more of a cutie than a knock-out. Her insane personality made her endearing- it'd probably be MUCH more annoying in a medium with an audio-component, but in print it just looks hilarious. The fact that her backstory is also very sad makes her more sympathetic as well- you know a lot of her blabbing is because of deep-seated insecurity and because she lacked the social skills or propertly fit in. It's established that she had a "JSA Fan Club" in high school, but spent the first meeting gushing about Stargirl... and so nobody showed up for the second. In short: Maxine was an uncharismatic nerd. This was given a more direct focus when she developed a crush on Damage once he grew super-handsome- she of course came off like a blabbering dork and her new pet monkey Frankie embarrassed her by being naughty.

-The costume is hilarious as well- people mock it online, but I'm pretty sure it's SUPPOSED to look dorky. The giant witchy-poo hat, candy-cane leggings (like the Wicked Witch of the East), whatever the hell that front pouch is supposed to be, and the little logo that artists keep drawing as fabric even though it's supposed to be metal... it's funny to me that a THEATER MAJOR would design such a monstrosity. You can tell she's a great character because nearly every creative team with an opportunity to use her does so- Keith Giffen's Magog gave her a cameo while ignoring most of the other JSA members, HALF the writers of the JSA 80-Page Giant (hilariously, even a story supposedly based around MISTER AMERICA instead just focuses mostly on Maxine), and others. When a fan (annoyed by the glut of JSA characters) expressed a desire to see her removed from the series once the new writers took over, Bill Willingham admitted that "Matt (Sturges) is in love with Cyclone. I'm serious. They're married". Sturges and Eaglesham would both include her as their favourites (Dale pointed out the drawbacks of having way too many characters in a book, as it left poor Maxine- a potentially very-interesting character- with little to do because of the split focus). When I met Dale, he confessed he wanted to do more with her depression, but there just wasn't time.

Cyclone in JSA All-Stars:
-Funny bit: At said fan's suggestion that she leave the book, I pointed out my love for the character, stating that the only way to improve the book's line-up would be to make the whole team "Cyclone, plus an entire team of Cyclones". Not ONE YEAR LATER, Matt Sturges wrote a storyline in which THAT EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED, in a bizarre two-parter in which Maxine is confronted with an army of "Cy-clones" built via nanotechnology (she was mortally wounded in battle and the nanites in her body "panicked" and rewrote her DNA & brain engrams over eleven other women of the same height & weight). Not saying Sturges took my idea, but it would totally be awesome if he did. It's just a pity that book had such garbage art (it took several issues before Freddie Williams III started drawing pupils in people's eyes; and Howard Porter post-JLA was super-awful, too) and weird dialogue and writing, because JSA: Starring Cyclone and Some Other Guys is the greatest book concept ever.

-Sturges indeed showed his Maxine love repeatedly, as there was an arc where nanobots resulted in herself being "copied" onto a dozen other college girls, all of whom were now Cy-clones (get it?). Along the way, her own genius was finally expanded upon (her debut mentioned she had a 4.0 grade average, but this wasn't showcased in the rest of the book), and the grumpy, arrogant King Chimera found himself attracted to her, likely because of his exquisite taste- kind of against his own judgement, as he couldn't figure out why she was hiding her own genius from others. He's also carrying the torch for a dead ex-girlfriend, until he lets go of that memory. The two finally kiss near the middle of the book (she calls him "Drama Llama" because that was a thing people were saying then), and are ready to form a relationship by the end, but then continuity dies and that's that.

Maxine = The Best:
-Alas, Maxine was one of many casualties of the NuDCU, being erased by a big, fat reboot. But honestly? This may have been for the best. We all know what happens to new characters the second a writer who doesn't care about them comes on the book- just look at all the endless garbage Red Tornado went through, or the Black Knight. Cyclone could have had a whole hell of a lot WORSE than being removed from continuity happen to her. In this way, she remains, perfect as she ever was.

-But yeah- Cyclone is awesome. Cute, hilarious, completely-distinct (there is really no other comic book charater like her), under-utilized powers in comics, and she's an enormous fan of Wicked (though Sturges says Defying Gravity is at the end of the PLAY, not the second act). What's not to love? My favourite Maxine Moments are probably the INSANE faces she makes when Eaglesham drew her- just this wide-eyed, wide-mouthed look- check the out-of-control pose she makes at Stargirl's surprise party in JSA #25! Other artists seemed to do similar things- she was either making dorky faces, or showing "nervous" body language, like clinging to and fidgeting with her outfit.

Maxine the Magnificent's Powers:
-Like most of the newbies, Maxine's got very little control or combat skill, but she has a pretty decent power level (she's been stated as having the ability to create fairly big tornados, and has defeated Icicle before) that's not quite ready to be tapped by such insecure hands. She's best suited now for PL 8 status, while being a bit of a Glass Cannon, as she's got a bit of power with her Area Effects, but she's very skinny and not much of a physical fighter just yet. Her extremely high IQ has been stated several times as well, though she has no real focus of her knowledge; it's just general intelligence. Therefore, she's got little in the way of skills for now, but could likely become a Skillmonkey archetype in the future. Recent issues show a more capable heroine, and she's likely well-trained enough by this point to be half-decent at fighting, but still overly dependent on her Wind Powers. And hell, I just had to give her Quickness for her speech patterns!

-Note her low Presence score. While most of the JSA acknowledges her as a nice girl, she's an overly-chatty motormouth Genki Girl (ie. hyper-active & excited) who tends to drive people away. Damage couldn't stand her at first, several JSAers avoid her when she REALLY gets going, and she had ZERO friends (awwww....) before she joined the team. Only Saint Stargirl has enough sympathy to put up with her. This is pretty much the hallmark of a negative modifier. And she developed Extended Hearing in her later years, in an odd bit that funnily enough, Christina Weir & Nunzio DeFilippis came up with- they were in fact the people who'd worked on the New Mutants update in the early 2000s, which featured Wind Dancer, a wind-controlling heroine with THAT EXACT POWER-STUNT. Comics are FULL of weird stuff like that, if you pay attention to who's writing what.

FRANKIE THE MONKEY
Role: Helper Pet, Cute Sidekick, Poop-Thrower
PL 4 (66)- Minion Rank 5, Sidekick Rank 12
STRENGTH -2 STAMINA -1 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+11)
Athletics 3 (+1)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+8)
Insight 3 (+4)
Perception 5 (+6)
Ranged Attack (Poop) 6 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision) [3]
"Simian Anatomy" Enhanced Athletics 8 (+9) (Flaws: Limited to Climbing) [2]
"Tail" Extra Limbs 1 [1]
Speed 2 (2 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 [1]

"Small Size" Shrinking 8 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [17]
(-2 Strength & Speed, +4 Defenses, +8 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (-2 Damage, DC 13)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness -1, Fortitude +2, Will +4

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Monkeys cannot speak to humans.
Enemy (Rival Males)- Rival Males constantly seek to up-end a male leader's territory, and they must always be on the watch, lest rivals take their females.

Total: Abilities: 2 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 26 / Defenses: 16 (66)

[Sidious]

I'm concerned I didn't use enough pictures, but you get the gist.

What??? you left out the Phil Cho pics? How could you! I thought you were her fan!

J/K

[Ares]

I'm concerned I didn't use enough pictures, but you get the gist.

What??? you left out the Phil Cho pics? How could you! I thought you were her fan!

J/K

For a second I thought you meant FRANK Cho, but I'm pretty sure if that Mr. Cho had drawn Cyclone we'd all know about it.

[JDRook]

CYCLONE (Maxine Hunkel)
...
"Words on the Winds" Senses 1 (Extended Hearing) (Extras: Affects Others, Ranged) [3]
...
Reputation ("Pippi Wrongstocking")- Because she won't shut up, Maxine is avoided by most people, and often talked about behind her back- thanks to her Extended Hearing, she can now actually tell what people are saying about her.

When I read the power, I thought "Words on the Winds" might just be an Audio Communication for long-range talk with the JSA, but I see they actually use the "audio-collage" you sometimes see with Superman's hearing when on patrol, only it's filled with affirmations of a young hero's insecurities. Oh, the pathos!

[Jabroniville]

ANNA FORTUNE
Created By: Matthew Sturges & Freddie Williams II
First Appearance: JSA All-Stars #5 (June 2010)
Role: Magical Friend
Group Affiliations: The JSA All-Stars
PL 8 (123)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 6 (+10)
Insight 1 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 1 (+3)
Technology 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Artificer, Ranged Attack 3, Ritualist

Powers:
"Older Than She Looks" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

"Spellcasing Shooters" (Flaws: Removable) [29]
Teleport 8 (Extras: Attack, Ranged) (32) -- (36 points)

• AE: Blast 8 (Feats: Extras: Multiattack) (24)
• AE: Teleport 8 (16)
• AE: Healing 8 (16)
• AE: Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel 3) (6)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bullets +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Teleport +8 (+8 Teleport Attack, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Magic Stuff)- Anna gets involved in a lot of magic-based situations.
Power Loss (Spellcasings)- Anna can easily run out of ammunition of pre-made spells for her Gauntlets.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 42 / Defenses: 13 (123)

-God as my witness, I completely forgot this character existed when I started doing these builds six years ago- and the book featuring her had only been gone for maybe 3 years by that time. That about says it all for JSA All-Stars, huh? Anna Fortune pops up out of nowhere to help out the All-Stars against Johnny Sorrow and the King of Tears, utilizing Magic-infused bullets fired via gauntlets and some knowledge of magical lore- the kind of character who's more of a means to an end (ie. giving exposition centred around magical stuff, since the characters wouldn't know it yet). Now, Magic Bullets is actually a pretty cool, unique idea, as it prevents the Mage from simply being an "Every Power Ever" type, but the odd art and dumb storytelling in the series pretty much sank her.

-Anna's a sarcastic, occasionally-snide British girl (she wonders openly if saving King Chimera's life is "worth it" for her only "Resurrection" spellcasing), who's actually SUPER-old but looks young, and seems rather flirty with some teammates, but kind of gets lost in the shuffle of a team that needs new members like comic books needs more Event Stories. There's a brief flirtation with Atom Smasher that goes nowhere, despite TONS of time to do so, because the books is highly-decompressed and gets involved with other stuff. All in all, the character (and her link with the villainous Amos Fortune, whom Sturges pointed out shared her surname) never amounts to much, and vanishes from the festivities.

-Anna's Gauntlets contained pre-made Magic Spells, but never really showed off too many of them. One was a Resurrection device, but it was the only one she had, and she blew it on King Chimera (who'd taken on Johnny Sorrow's "Subtle Realms Trick"). She's basically a Flying Blaster.

[catsi563]

especially when you realize that the root of her chattiness is in her trauma and depression. People like that keep talking because they FEAR the silence. that if they dont keep talking people will leave them and theyll suddenly have to deal with the silence which is where their fears and insecurities live. Add in that she hears all these negative things about her and shed be absolutely compelled to keep talking for the attention it brings both negative and positive

imagine shed be a pretty fascinating a case study in trauma and depression

[Ken]

Apparently Kathy Sutton was a lucky woman...

She was. She kept on swapping out different sizes, depending on her mood.

[Ken]

ANNA FORTUNE

-God as my witness, I completely forgot this character existed when I started doing these builds six years ago- and the book featuring her had only been gone for maybe 3 years by that time.

This is the first I've heard of her. The shitty art from FH2 drove me off of a JSA book. Drove *ME* off a JSA book. That's some damn shitty art.

Writing didn't help.