Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Fireball

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

FIREBALL (Roy)
Created By:
Bob Rozakis & Dick Ayers
First Appearance: Freedom Fighters #7 (March 1977)
Role: Human Torch Pastiche, Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Crusaders
PL 7 (100)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+7)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Flame Aura 4 [16]
Fire Blast 8 (16) -- [17]
  • AE: "Fire Wave" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (14)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Fire Blast +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Fire Wave +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Becoming a Hero)- Roy, Marvin, Lennie & Arch leap at the chance to become the superheroes they've often read about.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 13 (100)

-Fireball & Sparky are clear pastiches of the Human Torch & Toro- both are covered in the lines Marvel used for "Fire Effects" on the Human Torches over the years (this lasted until the 2000s when coloring grew more advanced). Curiously, both had the same "otherwordly ears" as did Barracuda. Fireball does quite well in combat, but is twice undone by the heroes- first The Ray uses his energy absorption powers to snuff out Fireball's flames, and then the Human Bomb puts him out with one big punch.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri May 13, 2022 4:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sidney369
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Clock! Doll Man! Capt. Triumph! Plastic Man!)

Post by Sidney369 »

Typical comic book supervillain logic. You have a device that can grant temporarily grant super powers. Do you recruit 100 trained fighters who believe in your cause? No, you use it on 4 random, skill-less nerds.
Always ask before you use someone's Original Character.
Never ever use them without permission. Only Villains do that.
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catsi563
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (The Clock! Doll Man! Capt. Triumph! Plastic Man!)

Post by catsi563 »

Sidney369 wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 12:19 am Typical comic book supervillain logic. You have a device that can grant temporarily grant super powers. Do you recruit 100 trained fighters who believe in your cause? No, you use it on 4 random, skill-less nerds.
Its the dictators conundrum. Do i empower a full army of people who could ultimately turn on me or do i keep the power to myself empowering only a few select loyal lieutenants while monitoring them for loyalty and making sure im the one they have to thank for their power?
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

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Catsi stories
Jabroniville
Posts: 24694
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sparky

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

SPARKY (Lennie)
Created By:
Bob Rozakis & Dick Ayers
First Appearance: Freedom Fighters #7 (March 1977)
Role: Toro Pastiche, Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Crusaders
PL 7 (88)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+7)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Flame Aura 3 [12]
Fire Blast 7 (14) -- [15]
  • AE: "Fire Wave" Damage 6 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (12)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Fire Blast +6 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Fire Wave +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Becoming a Hero)- Roy, Marvin, Lennie & Arch leap at the chance to become the superheroes they've often read about.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 13 (88)

-Humorously, these young adult-looking guys are turned into superheroes, and one gets transformed into what looks to be a preteen. "Sparky" here is a pint-sized torch, making him look like Toro of The Invaders. He really doesn't get up to much in the issue I have. He's effectively a wimpier version of Fireball, doing less damage across the board.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

JSA Rundowns- Savage Times

Post by Jabroniville »

"JSA: Savage Times" (#39-45)- written by David Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Leonard Kirk & Patrick Gleason
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Hawkman, Jakeem Thunder (unseen in this arc), Black Adam, Power Girl, Hourman II, Captain Marvel

-First story is a one-shot featuring Power Girl dealing with some super-stalker generic bad-ass Flying Brick type named "Da Bomb". She kicks his ass after one of those epic 'everything gets wrecked' battles, and goes on a big 'girl power/If I was a man, none of my attitude would be a problem' speech to the other ladies (Hawkgirl & a cutey-pie brace-faced Stargirl under one-time artist Patrick Gleason). But this story always reminds me of one of the few times I saw a girl read a comic. She wasn't a comics fan, but read the whole thing with Da Bomb in jail, talking to his psychiatrist and all that. Then she got to the first shot of Power Girl, went "Oh GOD" and dropped the book in a laughing huff. And THAT is why no girls read comics, people. I don't care how much "Girl Power!" they shout out for equality and all that, as long as Ms. Boob-Window is up there, they're not gonna take it seriously. There's a reason why Stargirl has a far bigger online fanbase among girls than almost any other heroine, and it's because she's one of the few non-slutty types out there. You don't have to desexualize them COMPLETELY, but stuff like ludicrous cleavage just does comics an injustice.

-Next one-shot sees Captain Marvel bond with Stars just a little bit, dealing with The Shadower (a Golden-Age villain who murdered the original Dr. Midnite's girlfriend) and his grandson, who's holding a whole classroom of children hostage to force the current Mid-Nite to operate on the old man, with some famously difficult medical procedure. It's all from Cap's perspective, as he's impressed with Courtney's bravery, and helps talk the kid out of murdering the schoolchildren. The old Shadower dies on the operating table, but the day is saved. Yay.

-But UH-OH, the real major arc of JSA goes under way, as Black Adam sits with Atom-Smasher all menacingly, along with reintroducing two Infinity Inc members Northwind & Brainwave, rejecting these ideals. Atom-Smasher is LUDICROUSLY over-the-top as a black-hat at first, though, saying they'll 'be rid of' Captain Marvel like they're gonna kill him or something. Weird writing there.

-Rick Tyler gets a premonition of an attack by Black Barax (who'd been foreshadowed much earlier in other stories) on TylerCo, which results in a beautiful moment, as Black Adam absolutely OWNS Captain Marvel after catching him checking out Stars. "She is a very pretty girl, Billy. But Courtney Whitmore is out of your LEAGUE, boy." then "Surely you have better things to attend to. Your FAMILY. Fawcett City. HOMEWORK." with this A-level dickish grin. Marvel responds by calling him out on being an ass, saying he's there to keep an eye on him.

-Courtney shoots Adam a funny little look of disdain as Barax finally shows up. Just another armoured guy with high-tech everywhere, and some uber-complicated annoyance ends up with Hawkgirl & Mr. Terrific transported into the past, meeting up with Terry Sloane, the original Mr. Terrific. Given Geoff Johns' rep for the stuff, you'd be surprised to find out this is only the SECOND time I can think of where time travel's been used (I guess the Worlogog thing with Extant might count, but that was more altering the universe itself).

-The Freedom Fighters get involved in the past, showing us just how f*cking lame they really were (Red Bee? Firebrand? Doll Man?). MAN did some of these guys need to die. Turns out Barax is trying to use Human Bomb to fix his time machine to return to the future. Terry's whole SUPER-positive reaction to a black chairman always bugged me, because I have a hard time believing ALL these Golden Age heroes were super-PC types. At least Ted Grant was a little more accurate in terms of what a real 80-year old man thinks of the world.

-There's some shit going on with Doctor Fate searching for Lyta Hall in Gemworld talking to guys, but it's all pretty uninteresting stuff, since I didn't give a shit about Fate, magic or Gemworld at all, and didn't really come into play later much either.

-The two Terrifics come up with a plan to make Barax run off, by promising Terry's a distant relation to the bad guy, with some story about a magic device in their trophy room that lets them see their ancestors. It's kind of cute and Golden Agey, but a pretty silly way to run off a guy who was all tough talk for a second. So Terrific & Hawkgirl go back into the time machine to find Marvel, ending up in Ancient Egypt.

-That sets off the MAIN plot of this trade finally, as Prince Khufu (remember, that's Hawkman) and his kingdom are in danger of being overrun by Vandar Adg (Vandal Savage) with his Orb of Ra, and Ahk-Ton, the Metamorph (a past Metamorpho).

-It turns into a big siege storyline, but the real interesting stuff is Marvel meeting up with Teth-Adam, finally getting to know the 'real' Black Adam. The revelation of his wife & children's murder at the hands of Ahk-Ton gives Marvel some understanding of what made Adam so dark. Calling Billy a "brother" still stings just a little bit. Hawkgirl present & past bond as well.

-Nabu comes up with one of those crazy comic-book plots, so Marvel & Adam head off to the Land of the Dead to awaken Ra to get his Orb back while the others fight a losing battle against sand-men. Adam sees the spirts of his wife & children there, and it starts getting REALLY heavy on the poor guy. A real Final Fantasy VI "Ghost Train" moment. Sniff. Calling down the thunder summons Ra (Adam being amazed at Billy's maturity and confidence despite being so young), who pretty much wipes the floor with the villains, turning Vandar into a baby that Nabu promises to teach to be a good man (Spoiler Alert: It doesn't work), and Ahk-Ton loses his powers. Teth-Adam gets all bad-ass by snapping his neck on the spot, while Marvel stands on shocked.

-Easy solution to the time-travel problem, as Nabu puts the heroes under a spell in some cavern until the JSA wakes them up thousands of years later. Billy & Adam have a heart-to-heart about their war and this past stuff, but Adam rejects any understanding- it's not about his ANGER, it's about protecting people from suffering. If it costs him his soul, so be it. Pretty much Black Adam's defining moment, right there, in terms of his point of view.

-Meanwhile, Dr. Fate fails to awaken Lyta Hall's comatose body, because it turns out it was Dawn Granger, aka DOVE, the whole time! Well boy-howdy. Turns out Hector was the son of Hawkman & Hawkgirl in one life, and the son of Extant/Hawk & Dove in this one, because a powerful wizard is born of Chaos & Order and all that jazz. God his origin was confusing. It kind of makes sense reading it bit-by-bit, but can you imagine what the whole thing reads like all at once?

-The big ending, as it's Kobra's trial for mass-murder, and the JSA is doing security, preventing his cult from running in. First time we've seen Atom-Smasher in freaking FOREVER too, as he's avoided nearly all the fights and big events up to this point (he wasn't at the Barax fight). Meanwhile, Alex Montez has been secretly injecting Eclipso's remaining black diamonds into his own body (good thing, too, because he pretty much disappeared into nothing after taking that curator job years ago). AND then Kobra reveals his big plan, promising to have his followers blow themselves up if he's not released. The DEO of course LETS HIM GO, and he teleports away with the very followers, making everyone look like morons.

-Black Adam is PISSED, and says they should've killed him when they had the chance. And Al actually takes his side in front of everyone, shocking Power Girl all to hell (they'd been good friends on Infinity Inc). The big killing vs. no killing debate goes on, and Atom-Smasher finally takes a side- Black Adam's. He quits the JSA on the spot, and the two fly off. Stargirl's reaction is just heartbreaking, shouting after him and looking shocked when he drops the bomb, showcasing just what her feelings for him were (seemingly more big-brotherish than romantic at this point- as there were no real hints except for the 'they're married in the future' story).

-ANOTHER big bomb is dropped, as it turns out MORDRU was hiding in the Fate vestments for the past little bit, and the next arc is thus set up.

Roster Changes: Black Adam & Atom-Smasher quit, the first time someone leaving was handled with actual hate and/or disgust, rather than just a quiet writing-out.

Review: One of the first collections to be a bunch of mini-arcs rather than a giant one or two, it was still quite good. I wasn't really into the Black Barax thing AT ALL, or even really the Egyptian one (never cared for Khufu & Co, or evil Metamorphos or whatever for that matter), but it was ALL little character moments that made it good, like usual for this title. Black Adam & Captain Marvel's conversations alone are worth the price of admission, both in brotherly Egyptian form and current snide dickhead form. The big bomb of he & Al quitting at the very end, followed by Mordru making his big return were pretty bad-ass as well. Rather than the awesome action augmented by great dialogue, this one just had the dialogue, with a little bit of decent action. A step down, but still good.

Best Moment: Teth-Adam's two conversations with Captain Marvel in ancient Egypt, especially regarding Shiruta & his sons.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

JSA Rundowns- Princes of Darkness

Post by Jabroniville »

"JSA: Princes of Darkness" (#46-55)- written by David Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Leonard Kirk, Sal Velutto & Don Kramer
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Stargirl, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder, Power Girl, Hawkman, Hourman II

-The Story So Far: Kobra escapes, Black Adam & Atom-Smasher quit the JSA, oh, and Mordru shows up wearing the vestments of Doctor Fate. And it's ON.

-Mordru kicks their asses as bad as before, turning Sand into the giant sand-monster he used to be and turning him against his allies. Mr. Terrific goes down hard, and is out for the count, followed by Sentinel, who has the Starheart RIPPED OUT OF HIM, then OBSIDIAN shows up, paying off that foreshadowing, and he sucks his dad into the Shadowlands, followed by Stargirl & Captain Marvel. Jakeem Thunder bolts in, but gets his throat cut, so we're down the TWO guys who had the best chance of f*cking up the evil wizard. Annnddd they're screwed.

-Fate wakes up in Mordru's vestments, and hangs out with the other people in the Amulet (Kent & Inza, the two 90s losers Kid Eternity & Fate, the guy & girl Fate team, Nabu) to figure stuff out. Turns out Mordru bewitched him when Fate went to get his help against Extant.

-Stargirl & Marvel have the best bit, where they're in the Shadowlands, but Marvel's cut off from the Wizard's magic, thus he's Billy Batson! Stargirl's reaction is priceless. They have a neat little chat, and then SQUEEEEEEE!!! They hook up! SQUEEEEE!!!! Nerdgasm! So cute. Everyone say it with me: "awwwww...."

-Back in the real world, now ECLIPSO is here, having taken over Bruce Gordon in his last attempt to destroy a Black Diamond. He gets the greatest walk-on villain line in history ("Pleased to meet you. Won't you guess my name?"), but Flash chases him off using sunlight and saves Mid-Nite & Dove from him. Eclipso makes fun of the two lame female replacements for Midnite & Wildcat in the 80s. Since they barely EVER get a single mention, I'm going to assume even Johns realizing they're not worth saving. Mid-Nite's stuck for the rest of the arc helping Terrific & Jakeem not die (Jakeem's the harder one, of course).

-Eclipso meets up with Mordru & Obsidian, who regroup, and cast the moon over the sun to create a massive eclipse that buggers up the whole planet. This is so freaking awesome... Mordru was bound to come back, and so was Obsidian. Either solo would be a let-down re-tread in many ways, so why not bring them in TOGETHER? But THAT'S not cool enough, so they toss in ECLIPSO as well? Now THAT is an event worthy of their 50th issue anniversary!

-So it's issue #49, and Air Wave calls in the Reservists! Which means we get another giant grouping of every lame Legacy character in DC history. These guys always seem cooler when it's 700 of them at once. They're all stuck holding off Obsidian's shadow-possessed people and Kobra's minions (did I mention that Kobra ALSO decided to get involved- making his terrorist cels unveil themselves right here, in ADDITION to these other three villains?).

-That Gemworld stuff pays off when Fate from the Amulet sends Dove & Power Girl (since she's supposed to be Arion's granddaughter at this point) to Gemworld to find Arion's soul (turns out Mordru is inhabiting HIS body, since Chaos has no body of it's own).

-The Shade appears before Stars & Billy in his JSA debut, telling them Alan Scott is dead. But Billy figures that his daughter Jade can save him with a 'transfusion' of green flame, and Stargirl asks Shade to take them there. Then in Courtney's finest moment, Shade snidely remarks "are you ORDERING me, child?", and she looks up at him with total contempt and says "I guess I am." Shade is overjoyed at her sheer ballsiness, and they're on their way.

-Now Wildcat is the bait for Eclipso, while Alex Montez pulls off the thing he's been planning since he took the curator job- he grabs the Black Diamond (who'd've thunk PHANTOM LADY would have saved the day by taking it?) and basically inhales all of Eclipso's power into his own body thanks to the tribal glyph tattoos on him, and now HE'S Eclipso!

-Issue #50! Alex saves the day by shifting the Moon back into proper orbit and finishing off the shadow-men. We ain't outta the fire yet, though, as Sand, Mordru & Obsidian are still fighting. Jade gives Alan her power, and he's BACK. Mid-Nite & Terrific's protected-hologram-body (he's still mostly out cold) save Jakeem's life, and he channels Johnny Thunderbolt again. Fun little moment as Power Girl annihilates Flaw & that dumb kid with him (I was seriously disliking her for the past several arcs because of Johns writing her as a 'girl power' archetype, but she's getting better). Buuut it turns out she was never Arion's granddaughter, since nobody remembers or cares who Arion is.

-Arion's soul hurts Mordru, and then Jakeem comes back, sucking him into the magic pen via T-Bolt. Jay gives Alan back the Starheart, and now that there's multiple GLs around again, Alan retakes the name Green Lantern in his big return to full power. He gives the big 'we failed our children' line as a reason for the JSA teaching the next generation, then blows the shadows right off his son, leave Todd Rice de-powered and non-crazy. Aw, I was kinda hoping he was totally bad. Seems kinda 'easy' to have him just be possessed (much like Hal "Parallax" Jordan).

-Ooops, one last thing, as the world starts exploding from the moon's orbit being screwed up, so Sand, recovering from his monster-mode, writes himself out of the JSA title for a while by jumping into the planet and re-stitching the tectonic plates back together. Jesus Christ on a stick, just how POWERFUL is this guy?

-We wrap things up with the entire JSA (including Hector Hall as Fate) coming back to whup on Mordru. Magic-fu sees the Dark Lord placed within the Rock of Eternity until the Legion of Super-Heroes fights him in their own run.

-Then it's the greatest epilogue EVER, as Kobra sits annoyed in his base, his 'Time of Darkness' being a dud, when the power goes out. Pissy, he runs out to demand answers, only to find all his followers dead. Atom-Smasher, realizing now all the damage Kobra did while still alive, runs in and grapples him, allowing Black Adam to make his triumphant return to the book, tearing out the bastard's heart once and for all. Y'know, this becomes a giant moral issue over and over, but screw it, they were 100% in the right, here. You think the U.S. would care if some guy took out Bin Laden, vigilante-style? Fuck that. The only morality problems I have with this group comes later.

-And that's it for David Goyer on the JSA, as he leaves with issue #51. Well that was one hell of a run, full of events upon events, and he should be proud. It's tough to say how much of the awesome was Johns and how much was Goyer, but given what happens further in the series, I think it's safe to say that most of the Dr. Fate & Sand stuff was Goyer, while Johns was more into Black Adam, Terrific, Mid-Nite, Stargirl, etc. They keep up the events, but they actually slow down quite a bit, so I think that part of it might have been Goyer's work.

-When that's over, they do a mini-arc here. Jesse Chambers (aka Jesse Quick) makes her return to comics (thankfully ignoring Jay Faerber's incompetent Titans run where she boinked her own mother's fiancee by saying she has 'issues'), depowered and now the new JSA curator/helper. Jay Garrick puts her in Rick Tyler's hands, sure as sugar they're gonna start knocking boots any minute now. Weird stuff, as they act like old friends and flirts. Boy Don Kramer's... not that great. He isn't BAD, but I'll be damned if everyone doesn't have big bright eyes and big, overly-drawn noses. Even STARGIRL!

-Dove leaves the HQ (and the series), going on to do whatever the hell she feels like (I don't know if she ever saw use again), while CAVE CARSON (now there's a guy who never made it big in comics) searches for traces of Sand, trapped in the Earth. Sometimes, I like to think of the JSA or other super-teams as an RPG played by guys around a gaming table. I think Sand's player got sick of being treated like an also-ran loser, and so quit the game, forcing the GM to write him out. That's what I think about his 'disappearance'.

-Jakeem catches sight of Stargirl & Captain Marvel talking about going on a date, and looks CONCERNED. This and a few prior instances may give some people the idea they're supposed to hook up and Jakeem likes her or something, but it's not the case, really.

-Alex Montez insists that he'll keep the Black Diamond, using Eclipso's power for good. Black Adam shows up, recruiting him for his little campaign (still not seen). Nemesis gets the same deal, as Adam & Co. destroy the Council and it's clone-factories across the world (OFF CAMERA, and this was for something they almost seemed to hint at building to something! Not that it's a bad thing... they seemed horribly uninteresting).

-Then the CRIMSON AVENGER makes her triumphant return, being all emo and shooting up people. She drops POWER GIRL with her guns, then blow's Wildcat's brains out. Confused? Oh, that's just the arc they teased TWENTY ISSUES AGO being resolved right around here. Turns out she's hunting him because the soul of a man he framed for murder (he was guity of ANOTHER murder he couldn't prove), but after taking a handful of his 'lives' (remember those from the JLA arc?), she figures he's good or something. Christ I hate that character. Best moment is Ted & PG doing the 'arguing until they get closer to kiss' thing, until PG tells him to F-off at the last second. Nice subversion.

-Aw, it's the true start of Mr. Terrific & Dr. Mid-Nite's Epic Bromance Through the Ages, as they start bonding over their love of learning & healing, respectively. I'm gonna start shipping THOSE two, as well! Think about it! Terrific lost his wife, and Mid-Nite's been moping over Dinah for centuries! It's PERFECT!

-Green Lantern gives Jesse crap about being a disappointment, which seems so mean and out of nowhere that you'd think they were paying it off somewhere. Far as I know, all they were doing was showing him getting a little bitter over Todd's screw-ups, etc.

-Thanksgiving Tradition time (Jesus, did they just do a YEAR of continuity in one year of real-time? Don't they know that's a HORRIBLE idea?), as the JLA comes to the JSA brownstone. Wonder Woman proves herself unlikeable as hell by whining about how America is built upon horrible things.

-OMG, it's Impulse! I want to teleport into the comic itself and tell him to retire before they assassinate him, his name, his character, and his legacy! GET OUT NOW, BART!! He & Jakeem bond over being immature kids. Aw, Black Canary confronts Mid-Nite over deliberatley avoiding her. Jeez, dude, it was three or four trades ago, get over it. Canary complains that guys always fall for her too quickly (she's right, it's probably the fishnets), but she lets him down by telling him their never really was anything there. OUCH.

-Weirdness abounds, as Liberty Belle I shows up, looking AT MOST fifty, despite being old as hell and grey in continuity for decades now. Poor Courtney gets put at the KID's Table (with TWO other kids!). She's a Junior in High School already? With One Year Later, I think that makes her officially legal in 2010 continuity. Time to mark THAT on my calendar!

-Humorous moment, as lame-ass 60s villains Kulak & the Warlock of Ys break in to attack the heroes, then realize how many of them there are, and try to run away. It is fun to read joke-y comics once in a while.

-We wrap up a month later with a Christmas story, as the four Old School JSA members go and recruit Ma Hunkel, the Golden Age Red Tornado, to the team as a helper now that the last of the Yellow Mask Mob has died in prison. Ma's thought-box descriptions of the individual team members are quite nice (again, I like it when they do stuff like that).

Roster Changes: Jesse Chambers & Ma Hunkel join the staff at JSA headquarters, Sand disappears.

Review: Now THAT was one hell of an event. You think it's gonna be Mordru & Obsidian doing the ol' team-up, and then you get Eclipso and Kobra in for good measure, making it some kind of JSA super-event. The Courtney/Billy hook-up is adorable as all hell (a nice respite from her true feelings for ATOM-SMASHER, dammit!), and the characters finally seem to have settled down with each other. Funny that nobody's even talking about Atom-Smasher & Black Adam leaving, though.

Best Moment: Stargirl's "I guess I am" response to The Shade's question of her ordering him around, and his reaction.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Plastic Man! Quality Comics! The Crusaders!)

Post by Ares »

Part of an issue I have with Johns treatment of Adam is that . . . well, he has to add so much stuff to Adam and ignore so much other stuff that Adam is basically a completely different character.

The whole core point of Adam was that he was, to all outward appearances, an ideal hero. He was strong, brave, self-sacrificing, popular, he was everything you'd want in a champion. And after Shazam empowered him, Adam continued to be a hero for a time. The problem was that Adam began to see himself as a god rather than a man. He stopped transforming back to his mortal form, and decided that he knew what was best for the world, killing the current pharaoh and trying to take over. Shazam showed up, but since he couldn't simply take Adam's power away (I hate that writers think Shazam can simply do stuff like that), he either (depending on the continuity) banished Adam to the edge of the universe, sent him to another dimension, or outright killed Adam.

All of that perfectly fits for the kind of character Johns wants Adam to be. Someone who believes himself to be a hero, who feels betrayed by people like the Wizard, and someone who knows what's best and that everyone will either fall in line or be destroyed. Even his friendship with Atom Smasher can still work, as Adam is someone who can respect a warrior doing "what he feels is right" regardless of others.

But Johns has to try and downplay all the bad things Adam has done and introduce more elements to make him sympathetic, and naturally do it in the most cliche way. "Oh no, Adam was originally a good man, but his wife and children were killed, so he became a grim figure of vengeance that took things too far". "Oh, the actual evil things Adam did? Yeah, we're never going to show THOSE flashbacks, that might give people the wrong idea about him".

Black Adam works perfectly as Dr. Doom type "noble villain who owns his own country", but being more like Conan the Barbarian with a flying brick powerset than an evil scientist/magician. But Johns just has to do what he always does with his villain love and take it a step too far, to the point where guys like Adam and Sinestro dominate the hero books they're the BAD GUYS of.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Young All-Stars

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE YOUNG ALL-STARS:
-As I mentioned before, the Young All-Stars were formed by Roy Thomas as a rapid-fire way to continue telling Golden Age stories set in the DCU with the changes wrought by the Crisis. The key problem: Superman, Batman, Robin, Aquaman & Wonder Woman were all now officially gone, meaning that a TON of Thomas' earlier stories now no longer "counted", or had to have been seriously-altered. Thomas, who I imagine was QUITE annoyed (I don't think I've ever heard his opinion on the subject, actually- it's probably quite interesting), decided to create some characters to FILL that void- essentially replacing the characters in those stories with these new guys.

The book doesn't seem to have done too well, but lasted a few years, hitting 31 issues (2.5 years! For a book NOBODY remembers!). It had a few key problems working against it- it represented something DC was trying to get away from (Retroactive Golden Age stories), it messed with a continuity that was still VERY fresh and tenuous (I mean... better off figuring out your CURRENT continuity than messing with stuff via a Retcon Book, y'know?), and its heroes were rather... lame. There was a guy named "Iron Munro" on it. And a "Neptune Perkins". And "Dan the Dyna-Mite". With names like that, and a focus on these guys at the excusion of the rest of the JSA, I can't imagine to whom it was supposed to appeal- fans of Earth-Two and the Golden Age would have likely been annoyed by their favourites disappearing, and anyone else wouldn't care PERIOD.

The Cast (and whom they were replacing in continuity):
The Flying Fox (The Batman)
Neptune Perkins (Aquaman)
Fury (Wonder Woman)
Tsunami
Dan the Dyna-Mite (Robin)
Iron Munro (Superman)
Tigress

They later met The Young Allies, a group of kids from nations attacked or conquered by the Axis powers:
Kuei- China
Fireball- Russia
Phantasmo- France
The Squire- England (the Shining Knight's Sidekick)
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T.N.T.

Post by Jabroniville »

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TNT (Thomas "Tex" N. Thomas)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger
First Appearance: Star Spangled Comics #7 (April 1942)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Seven Soldiers of Victory
PL 7 (97)
STRENGTH
2/7 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5, +10 Boost)
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Teacher) 2 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Trip

Powers:
"Boosted Powers"
Enhanced Strength 5 [10]
Protection 4 [4]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
"Heat Generation" Damage 7 [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Boosted Strength +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Heat +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+7 Boosted), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers)- TNT & Dan must bang their rings together in order to use their enhanced stats. If they take the rings off, they can use maximum power, but only at full strength- they would be discovered as superhumans quickly.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 8 (97)

-TNT is a super-obscure DC-created hero from the '40s, notable only for dying in a car accident in the first Young All-Stars issue, allowing his young sidekick to fight on as a member of the new team. Tex Thomas is a Science Teacher & Track Coach who gained "Atomic Energy" powers from some "radioactive salts" he was working on with his partner, student Daniel Dunbar. By banging their specially-made rings together, Tex & Dan gain increased physical stats via the unlocking of their dormant energy (they need the rings, otherwise they'd be constantly-powered, which I guess might make them overly-tough. They were a short-lived act in the Golden Age, shoring up the Star-Spangled Kid's book for 17 issues, lasting only about a year.

-TNT & Dan the Dyna-Mite weren't very successful in their own era or the later one, as Roy Thomas didn't use them much in All-Star Squadron. It was only in The Young All-Stars that Dan got a focus, as Tex died (killed by Gudra the Valkyrie, one of Hitler's Super-Axis) and Dan was left to join the team (possibly as a Replacement Hero for the now-dead & un-Continuity'd Golden Age Robin). He vanishes from continuity after that, though a replacement Dan showed up in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers Limited Series (he is quickly killed, along with the rest of the team- he was using "working fakes" of TNT & Dan's rings), and there was an odd Retcon that placed TNT on the original Seven Soldiers team.
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Dan the Dyna-Mite

Post by Jabroniville »

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DAN THE DYNA-MITE (Daniel Dunbar)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger
First Appearance: Star Spangled Comics #7 (April 1942)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Seven Soldiers of Victory
PL 7 (101)
STRENGTH
1/7 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+4, +10 Boost)
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+3)
Perception 3 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Trip, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Boosted Powers"
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
Protection 5 [5]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]

"Put the Rings Together" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (14) -- [15]
  • AE: "Electrical Generation" Damage 7 (7)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Boosted Strength +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Electricity +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Rings Together +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+7 Boosted), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers)- TNT & Dan must bang their rings together in order to use their enhanced stats. If they take the rings off, they can use maximum power, but only at full strength- they would be discovered as superhumans quickly. When TNT is killed, Dan simply wears both rings to empower himself.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 9 (101)

-Dan, like I mentioned, got a lot more play than TNT ever did. In the Golden Age, he was a standard kid sidekick- Tex Thomas's star student who was also given a special ring that gave him powers. Grief-stricken by TNT's death, he joins the other young All-Star Squadron members in forming the Young All-Stars. He learns that he can use both his and TNT's special rings, banging them together to empower himself. As an old man, he reappears as part of "Old Justice", a gang of over-the-hill Ex-Sidekicks out to abolish teen superheroics, alongside Neptune Perkins, Doiby Dickles, Merry Pemberton and The Cyclone Kids. They face Young Justice, but are forced to help when Klarion the Witch Boy switches the ages of all super-heroes. Old Justice thus realizes that Young Justice and other teen heroes are in fact worthy, and withdraw their complaints. He got a role in The Golden Age special, as ADOLF HITLER of all people chose to inhabit his super-strong body- becoming ungodly powerful at the same time.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Plastic Man! Quality Comics! The Crusaders!)

Post by Ken »

One of the goofy things about TNT and Dyna-Mite is that there golden age stories clearly showed them getting heat and electricity blasts when they were powered up, but in Young All-Stars they suddenly had powers similar to Roy Lincoln's. Thank you for covering this in the builds, Jab, but it was still a weird change that Roy made.

TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite did have counterparts on Earth-One. They showed up first in the Super Friends comic. E. Nelson Bridwell and Julie Schwartz intended the book to be set on Earth-One, but everyone else chose to ignore it, including most fans. As such, most of the Super Friends comics are apocryphal.

However...

At the end of the comic where TNT and Dan appeared, TNT moved to the bottled city of Kandor. And then in Superman Family, in the "Nightwing and Flamebird" strip (Van-Zee and Ak-Var), which was penned by Bridwell, we saw Tex Thomas living in Kandor, and helping at Van-Zee's lab.

(Something similar happened with the Global Guardians. ENB wrote an issue of DC Comics Presents where some of them teamed-up with Superman, so they became canon, despite being the comic book answer to Samurai, Black Vulcan and Apache Chief.
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The Flying Fox

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE FLYING FOX (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas & Michael Bair
First Appearance: Young All-Stars #1 (June 1987)
Role: Retcon Hero (to Batman)
Group Affiliations: The Young All-Stars
PL 8 (107)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Aerobatics 5 (+9)
Athletics 6 (+9)
Expertise (Survival) 8 (+10)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy, Evasion, Great Endurance, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Flying Fox Pelt & Cowl" (Flaws: Removable) [10]
Flight 5 (60 mph) (10)
Immunity 2 (Cold, Pressure) (2)
-- (12 points)

Senses 2 (Magic Awareness- Ranged) [2]

"Pouch of Herbs" (Feats: Restricted to Magically-Gifted People) (Flaws: Easily-Removable) [10]
Illusion 6 (Visual Senses) (12) -- (14 points)
  • AE: "Invisibility" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (4)
  • AE: "Fire From His Hands" Blast 6 (Diminished Range -1) (11)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Illusions +6 (+6 Illusion, DC 16)
Fire Blast +8 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Destroying The Nazis)

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 13 (107)

-The Flying Fox is the son of a chief of a hidden tribe of Natives living in Northern Canada- when his tribe is attacked and his father killed by a group of Nazis intending to wage war on the Canadian government (from the NORTH?), he fights against them. He gained a magical cape and cowl hidden away in a cave, and is renamed the Flying Fox (a translation of his name in his native language), and set off to wipe the Nazis from the face of the Earth, and not return until the deed was done. He helped the All-Star Squadron fight The Axis Amerika, but his further exploits were not recorded.

-The Flying Fox was supposed to be taking the place of the Golden Age Batman in All-Star Squadron adventures, despite him not having any technical know-how, a car, a sidekick, or detective skills; instead being a guy who could fly and do some magic. Not one of Roy Thomas' better ideas, he basically vanished from site once Young All-Stars was cancelled- even Neptune & Arn Munro showed up later. He's one of the most ignored of the Young All-Stars cast, despite being there to replace the Golden Age Batman.

-Not a bad all-around hero, he's good in combat and magic, but only at lower levels. He's no match for serious super-villains or powerhouses, and is basically limited to flying around and dishing out melee damage, and using Magic as a side-
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Quality Comics! The Crusaders! Young All-Stars!)

Post by Davies »

I believe that the Flying Fox's people were supposed to be the descendants of Arak's people, from Arak, Son of Thunder.
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Neptune Perkins

Post by Jabroniville »

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LOL he looks like Conan if he were a wussy.

NEPTUNE PERKINS
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert
First Appearance: Flash Comics #66 (Aug. 1945)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Character, Retcon Hero (to Aquaman)
Group Affiliations: The Young All-Stars
PL 7 (99)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+6)
Insight 5 (+6)
Perception 6 (+7)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy, Ranged Attack

Powers:
Swimming 7 (60 mph) [7]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Underwater) [2]
Immunity 3 (Drowning, Cold, Pressure) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1.5]
Communication (Mental) 2 (Flaws: Limited to Aquatic Creatures) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Relationship (Tsunami)

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 19--9.5 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 16.5 / Defenses: 7 (99)

-Neptune Perkins was used as the "Aquaman" filler in the All-Star Squadron via the Young All-Stars series, but had actually debuted in the Golden Age, appearing in a pair of Flash stories and then vanishing forever. Naturally, Golden Age nut Roy Thomas used this as a way to bring the guy back, even though Aquaman had only appeared in a few Golden Age-set stories in his work. He's basically just Aquaman but slightly different. Most comic fans will know him better as the guy who got bit in half during Infinite Crisis #3 by King Shark than by anything else.

-Turns out his history is a combination of stuff from The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, but I've read neither- he's a mutant born with sea adaptations. He is a hybrid being (human/dolphin), empowered by a device called "The Vril" some aliens brought to Earth- his grandfather, Arthur Gordon Pym, had used the item to become a pirate (he even sank the Titanic!), and the son he had married one of the Titanic survivors. The child was conceived in the presence of the Vril, his parents hoping their child would grow to have super-powers and defeat Pym. Neptune grew up with a saltwater dependency, and became a phenomenal swimmer- when his parents were murdered by Nazis he joined the war effort. Pym later died when Hitler came after the Vril.

-He joined the All-Stars, married fellow All-Star Tsunami, and grew up to become the government contact for characters like Aquaman and Young Justice in the modern age, where he was an American senator. His relationship with Tsunami ended in one of those bizarre downer stories (she cheated on him and they broke up) that show up frequently for no reason in comics; I mean, what was the harm in a happy ending for two loser characters? And then he died in Infinite Crisis as a backgrounder. Oh well, here's Neptune.

-Standard weak PL 7 guy, as he doesn't really matter much physically. He gets some physical gifts for his undersea capability, but not much. I basically just took Aquaman I and dropped off a bunch of stuff.
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Re: Dan the Dyna-Mite

Post by Sidious »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 7:01 pm Image
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In Golden Age, Dan had a problem adjusting to life after the war. He had left college and wished he could go back to adventuring. He entered the Government project to create a superhuman. He became Dyna-Man (a superman-alogue). Let's just say things didn't go as planned for Dan.
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