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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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M4C8
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Re: Die Grösshorn Eule

Post by M4C8 »

Gorakar wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 12:50 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:26 pm DIE GRÖSSHORN EULE (Real Name Unknown, aka "Horned Owl")
...
"Die Grösshorn Eule" is a literal German translation of "Great Horned Owl"...
For the sake of it: it actually isn't. "Gröss" is not a real German word. There is "Gross" ("big" or "large") or "(die) Grösse" ("(the) size"), but no "Gröss".
A literal translation for "Great Horned Owl" (if that "Great" refers to the size of something) would be "Große gehörnte Eule". "Grosshorn Eule" would also be acceptable, as long as no "ö" is forced into those words.

It's almost always funny for natural german speakers when american writers try to translate names into german. The results are most of the time ... interesting, to say the least :D
It's weird enough for us Brits when they try to write the speech of British characters so I can't begin to imagine how bad it can be when writing those that speak a completely different language.
'A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it'
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Usil

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

USIL (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Roy & Dann Thomas & Brian Murray
First Appearance: Young All-Stars #1 (June 1987)
Role: Evil Green Arrow
Group Affiliations: Axis Amerika
PL 8 (98)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (Bow & Arrow), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 4

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Bow & Arrow +10 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibilty (Axis Powers)- Axis Amerika are loyal agents of the Axis Powers.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (98)

-Usil is an Italian archer- a stand-in for the Golden Age Green Arrow (who also disappeared from continuity during the Crisis). Usil holds a grudge against Amazing-Man for defeating him at the 1936 Olympics. Named for the Etruscan Sun God, and often calls himself the "Sun Archer".
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Re: Die Fledermaus

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 6:21 am
Jabroniville wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 1:49 am and most people forget even Fury I ever existed, and she has a legacy character!
Well, I've tried, but to no avail.

Actually, her being a legacy character is part of the problem. Between Ms. America and Hippolyta, having Fury I as Diana's replacement on the JSA never quite happened. And then, because Lyta was married to Hector, and Hector, as Sandman, was killed (again) by Morpheus the two of them (Hector and Lyta) were pulled into the Vertigo line, and the DC/Vertigo problems happened, and so Hector and Lyta became untouchable by the DC people for a time. This made Helena, Lyta's mom, a problem. The creative staff on JSA, tried to reclaim Hector and Lyta, but eventually Karen Berger complained and Hector and Lyta were unceremoniously cut from the JSA book.
Ah, I've never heard the "Karen Berger complained" story, but that would explain how quick that was... but not how half-assed Johns wrote that pair, clearly not caring about them. Do you have a source for the Berger thing? Vertigo wasn't exactly powerful enough in the 2000s to pull rank and get one of DC's best-selling books and it's most powerful writer by far to give up characters.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Die Grösshorn Eule

Post by Jabroniville »

M4C8 wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 6:46 pm It's weird enough for us Brits when they try to write the speech of British characters so I can't begin to imagine how bad it can be when writing those that speak a completely different language.
Oi wot, guv'nor? English speech is luverly and easy for Americans to mimic, pip-pip!
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Die Grösshorn Eule

Post by Jabroniville »

Gorakar wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 12:50 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:26 pm DIE GRÖSSHORN EULE (Real Name Unknown, aka "Horned Owl")
...
"Die Grösshorn Eule" is a literal German translation of "Great Horned Owl"...
For the sake of it: it actually isn't. "Gröss" is not a real German word. There is "Gross" ("big" or "large") or "(die) Grösse" ("(the) size"), but no "Gröss".
A literal translation for "Great Horned Owl" (if that "Great" refers to the size of something) would be "Große gehörnte Eule". "Grosshorn Eule" would also be acceptable, as long as no "ö" is forced into those words.

It's almost always funny for natural german speakers when american writers try to translate names into german. The results are most of the time ... interesting, to say the least :D
Oh, that's funny. There's a huge thing on the DC wiki over this.

I think Americans just like to put Umlauts over every single German word- it makes them look "German" without having to use that weird "ß" that nobody who speaks English knows what to do with. It's like that weird wavy "f" in medieval script that is actually a hard "S" sound.

And to be fair, Roy Thomas didn't have Google Translate and was probably doing his best using what books he had :).
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Sea Wolf

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

SEA WOLF (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Bob Rozakis & Dick Ayers
First Appearance: Young All-Stars #1 (June 1987)
Role: Sub-Mariner Pastiche, Aquatic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Crusaders
PL 7 (97)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+9)
Expertise (Soldier) 6 (+6)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 7 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Startle

Powers:
Swimming 8 [8]
Immunity 3 (Drowning, Cold, Pressure) [3]
"Animal Senses" Senses 6 (Extended Scent 2, Acute Scent, Low-Light Vision, Ultra & Extended Hearing) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibilty (Axis Powers)- Axis Amerika are loyal agents of the Axis Powers.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 11 (97)

-Inexplicably being a werewolf AND an aquatic character, Sea Wolf insisted Tsunami join Axis Amerika, but she refused. He swore he would kill her himself, and frequently opposed her thereafter. He is the only member of Axis Amerika whose postwar exploits are known- he had been a prisoner of "Enclave A" since the War ended, and met the Freedom Fighters. He later joined Alexander Luthor's Secret Society in Infinite Crisis (probably because he was a distinctive-looking backgrounder).
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Davies
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Iron Munro! Tsunami! FDR! Magog! Axis Amerika!)

Post by Davies »

If there was an explanation beyond, "I just don't want to re-use U-Man's design", I suspect it might have to do with the novel The Sea Wolf, by Jack London.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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M4C8
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Re: Die Grösshorn Eule

Post by M4C8 »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 7:27 pm
M4C8 wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 6:46 pm It's weird enough for us Brits when they try to write the speech of British characters so I can't begin to imagine how bad it can be when writing those that speak a completely different language.
Oi wot, guv'nor? English speech is luverly and easy for Americans to mimic, pip-pip!
How very dare you!
'A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it'
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Kamikaze

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

KAMIKAZE (Tetsujiro Yoneda)
Created By:
Roy & Dann Thomas & Brian Murray
First Appearance: Young All-Stars #4 (Sept. 1987)
Role: Evil Bulletman
Group Affiliations: Axis Amerika
PL 7 (94)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Bullet-Head Battlesuit" (Flaws: Removable) [16]
Protection 4 (4)
Strength-Damage +2 (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) (1)
Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)
Immunity 2 (Slam Damage) (2)
-- (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Slam Damage +9 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+7 Battlesuit), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibilty (Axis Powers)- Axis Amerika are loyal agents of the Axis Powers.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 16 / Defenses: 6 (94)

-A new rercruit to Axis Amerika, Tetsujiro becomes "Kamikaze", wearing a Bulletman-style uniform to replace the dead Die Fledermaus.
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Sumo the Samurai

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

SUMO THE SAMURAI (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Gerry Conway & Jose Luis Garcia
First Appearance: All-New Collectors' Edition #C-54 (Jan. 1978)
Role: Axis Super-Villain
Group Affiliations: Axis Amerika
PL 9 (94)
STRENGTH
2/6 STAMINA 3/8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Expertise (Samurai) 8 (+9)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment (Sword +2), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"The Potion of Power"
Enhanced Strength 4 [8]
Enhanced Stamina 5 [10]
Regeneration 2 [2]
Senses 2 (Extended Vision & Hearing) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Katana +9 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibilty (Axis Powers)- Axis Amerika are loyal agents of the Axis Powers.
Responsibility (Honor)- Sumo believes strongly in honor, and will betray his superiors if they prove they lack it.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 10 (110)

-Sumo the Samurai is a 1978 character who died in his first year of operation, but showed up in a few other WWII-based books that Roy Thomas was doing, namey an arc of Young All-Stars. He was introduced fighting the Golden Age Wonder Woman, having been trained by "The Enlightened One" to be the perfect samurai- he was stronger, faster, and had better sense than any human, having been gifted the "Potion of Power". Thomas retconned him as being ordered by Prince Daka to steal Starman's Gravity Rod, but when Daka planned ot murder their hostage, Liberty Belle, Sumo was disgusted at his lack of honor and returned the Rod to the All-Star Squadron. Sumo remained their enemy, but a somewhat respected one.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 18, 2022 2:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Davies
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Iron Munro! Tsunami! FDR! Magog! Axis Amerika!)

Post by Davies »

If I were at all inclined, I would reveal that this character was the father (or whatever the sliding timeline will allow) of Sonny Sumo, from the The Forever People. (I would also give them both more plausible names, but that's a different issue.)
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Jabroniville
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JSA Rundowns- Black Reign

Post by Jabroniville »

"JSA: Black Reign" (#56-58, Hawkman #23-25)- written by Geoff Johns, art by Rags Morales & Don Kramer
JSA line-up: Sand (missing), Wildcat I, Green Lantern I, Hawkgirl, Stargirl, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder (absent), Power Girl, Hawkman, Hourman II

-Johns' second arc all to himself starts off with a bang, as Black Adam invades his home country of Kahndaq, with Atom-Smasher, Brainwave, Northwind & his entire race of bird-people (retconned into hyper-evolving to look more like Kingdom Come Hawkman, because otherwise they look retarded), Alex Montez as Eclipso, and Nemesis. Dismemberment and blood abounds. Great stuff as Adam describes each member of his team (Eclipso & Nemesis are inexperienced but their rage can be molded, Brainwave has mental problems, Northwind is just a fighter), but his stuff about Atom-Smasher is by far the best. We get the heart of their relationship: Al is like the brother Adam never had, and he will learn to be the hero Adam thinks he can be.

-Al is seriously one of the most underrated powerhouses in comics: he's chucking TANKS around like freaking Superman or Power Girl, smashing dozens of guys at a time with ease. And his big character moment comes as he looks at the kids used in Dictator Muhunnad's sweatshops, thinks of the men who murdered his mother and idols, and premediatedly kills Muhunnad himself, at Adam's orders. One of the better sense of getting into a character's head than I can ever really recall. "You will kill no more children-- and no more MOTHERS".

-Back to the JSA-specific stuff, as we actually cross over into the Hawkman book Johns was also writing. Well, I don't care much for Hawkman or Hawkgirl as characters, so it's good most of their stuff gets dealt with in their own series. The men & women separate and spend their time in St. Roch, another made-up city (this one an obvious stand-in for New Orleans). Mid-Nite rescues a hooker from her life of hookering and Hourman deals with his addictive personality.

-Power Girl's origin mystery gets touched on again. Jesus, is Stargirl wearing a TUBE TOP? Holy crap on a stick, Rags, she's a kid! PG's boobs are comically oversized here to the point of straining credibility. Hawkman cuts Matter Master's arm off in seconds to show how meand and bad-ass he is.

-Oh crap, Jay Garrick notices the not-so-subtle attraction between young Courtney (thankfully covering up- can you imagine a sixteen-year old in a bikini-esque tube top prancing around a city like THAT?) and the adult Captain Marvel. Cute bit as he can't figure out his tie. I love stuff like that. They all hear the news of Adam's army invading Kahndaq. Ted notices Alex there, and of course Courtney notices Al. Hawkman dicks it up by insisting that HE is now Chairman of the JSA to lead them into this mission, right NOW.

-Power Girl gets the best line so far, "if he's getting on The FLASH'S nerves, he's REALLY being an ass." regarding Carter. Hawkman REALLY pushes the line with Stargirl when she suggests another vote, just in case we didn't think he was being a turd. GOD, why would anyone read his comic if he acts like this? I actually WANT to see someone kick his ass half the time.

-Al starts going crazy, hearing 'voices' in his head, and it turns out Alex is boning Nemesis. Adam lets Brainwave know 'the line', and he WON'T have anyone doing this under anything but their own free will. It's the things like that which allow you to know who the 'honorable' villains are, which is always nice.

-The JSA debates more on the way to Kahndaq. Wildcat suggests killing Kobra "ain't ALL bad...", while Jay takes the 'no killing' rule with Alan. Kendra knocks Carter's attitude. Karen & Hourman discuss the Infinity Inc days (boy did THAT series not turn out well for most if it's members...). Nabu questions Hector's following his father, and insists that Adam is right. Stargirl pouts over Hawkman, then worries openly about Al. We get the first REAL sign that she cares for him as more than a big brother when Billy straight-up calls her on it, and she sternly rebukes him. Oh, DUDE, you do NOT call out your girlfriend on shit like that, Billy! Wisdom of Solomon, man! Use it!

-Hey, why didn't they bring Jakeem? The kid's done JACK since his mega-push earlier. He could probably do more damage than anybody.

-Then it's FIGHT TIME, as Adam straight-up WRECKS their Steel Eagle and the fall into a giant battle with the Hawkpeople. Atom-Smasher saves the Eagle from a crash-landing, but KOs Mr. Terrfic & Dr. Mid-Nite, carrying them off. And that is why growing people are scary- the 'human-level' guys have NO chance. Hourman's stuck running through the streets of Shiruta, chased by civilian defenders of Adam.

-Al turns Terrific & Mid-Nite to the people, in probably his worst action of the whole thing. Killing dictators, super-villains and soldiers is one thing, but his super-hero friends are pretty much f*cked here, and it's all on him.

-Nemesis & Eclipso face off against the other JSAers, but Dr. Fate gets taken over by Nabu, and he switches sides, so Northwind's people end up back in the fight too. Brainwave forces Billy to say the magic word, and he's out of the fight with a hobbled Wildcat (oh, Ted, you get beaten like this in EVERY arc...). And THAT is why Telepaths are terrifying in the DC Universe... there's so few of them that even the uber-guys have no defenses most of the time. If this were the X-Men, someone could've stopped Brainy, but nope.

-Al shows again how powerful he is by FLATTENING Power Girl with his boot, and she don't get up none. Then Nemesis cuts Hourman open like a hooked fish, he vanishes into the Timepoint, and his DAD takes his place.

-Atom-Smasher takes out his FOURTH straight member of the JSA, beaning Stargirl with his head. She gets a nice moment of characterization, bitching him out for changing, after being the nicest guy she knew, and treating her with respect. Oh yeah, she DEFINITELY likes him. Maybe not so much after eating his forehead like that, but hey, it works for Hank Pym.

-Geoff Johns was apparently sick of the whole "Finding Lyta" arc (guess that was Goyer's thing), so she pops up in the Fate Amulet out of NOWHERE to help Hector out, and the whole Fate Amulet Gang teams up to free him from Nabu's control. Flash gives Carter hell for tearing off Northwind's wing.

-Oh crap, the Binding Glyphs that held Eclipso in check fail thanks to Rex "Hourman I" Tyler's punch, and Alex kills his lovebird Nemesis, running her through with the Black Diamond's blast. In shock, he leaps off the building to his death to save the lives of others.

-The Atom reveals himself as Atom-Smasher's 'voice', popping up out of nowhere in the JSA series. I GUESS he's a successor to Al Pratt, but c'mon... Albert still insists their way is right (based off of the pain of losing his mother, and wanting to save others from that pain), but cares for Courtney enough to lie to Black Adam about The Atom's presence.

-Flash FREAKS over finding Alex & Nemesis' bodies, ripping on Carter and saying he went nuts, but it turns out Hawkman is CRYING. Oh, boo-hoo, that makes everything okay. Brainwave takes down the ENTIRE JSA in moments with a psychic-burst (boy, these guys need their own Emma Frost), but Atom saves the day by jumping in Brainy's head and taking out Mister Mind, a lame Golden Age Captain Marvel villain who was eating Brainwave's brain-cancer thingie away.

-Al redeems himself a little by helping Stargirl save Marvel, and Billy gets his Romeo moment, talking about Courtney's hair's smell. Oh, c'mon, kid.

-Final Battle time, as Black Adam faces off against the ENTIRE JSA. He handles all the human-level people (of which there are alot) pretty easily, smashing up Terrific's face and dropping Hawkgirl. He makes a point of how hot Power Girl is (we get it Johns, you love her...), and talks about how much he RESPECTS the JSA. Again, making him more than just some crazy villain. Fate & Fury come in to even the odds, and GL helps Carter out with a green energy Mace.

-Marvel, Atom-Smasher & Stargirl arrive, and the battle ends. Al suggests a compromise, since Adam leading his forces to the neighboring countries would be just as bad as Muhunnad's rule, but everyone acknowledges that this is right for Kahndaq. Poor Courtney is left heartbroken AGAIN, as Al refuses to leave with the JSA. Yeah, tell me she's not meant to be with him NOW, Marvel/Stargirl shippers!

-Epilogue, as Henry "Brainwave" King is alright and healthy, but Hawkman agrees to step down from the JSA for cocking up the whole Kahndaq operation, since y'know, two of the people they were trying to save DIED, and the two decided to stay regardless, and Rick is missing in time. And in Kahndaq, Atom-Smasher gives one long look away from the city, contemplating what he's done, and where he's going.

Roster Changes: Rick Tyler is missing, replaced with Rex Tyler. Brainwave & Lyta "Fury" Hall end up back with the JSA, but not as members. Hawkman is asked to leave.

Review: Any concerns about whether Johns would still be okay as the sole writer were pretty much dropped here, as this is probably my favourite JSA event ever. It's got it all: Love, heartbreak (Al & Courtney's conversations are TERRIBLE to read- she's so upset with him for taking these actions but won't say she REALLY cares for him, and he's either trying to let her down easy or lecturing her too harshly), great fight scenes, horrible violence (funny how Johns uses this book to decry heroes using lethal force by showing other people using horrific violence so that fans of both styles of heroics can be a little happy), real debates on the force heroes should use that could go either way (The JSA even acknowledges that Adam & Co. did good work in Kahndaq in the end), and lots of snappy little dialogue the whole way through. And they dust off two lame characters (Alex & Nemesis) in a terrific way that gives them a little legacy, in addition to showing us what eventually became of the other Infinity, Inc. guys. Boy, must fans of THAT series be pissed. Though they did get a shout-out, as at one point, Adam had the whole team except for Fury, Huntress & Power Girl working for him once Hector was mind-switched with Nabu.

Best Moment: The Al/Courtney fan in me wants to say it's the bits between the two of them, or when she clearly shows feelings for him, but I'd say it's where Al finally crosses the line and kills Asim Muhunnad by comparing him to the other villains of the world. Al beating the living snot out of four members of the JSA in succession while his buddies struggled with any of them is pretty awesome too (though two of them WERE normal humans, and Stargirls' among the least powerful powered ones ever).
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JSA Rundowns- Lost

Post by Jabroniville »

"JSA: Lost" (#59-67)- written by Geoff Johns, art by Dave Gibbons, Don Kramer, Tom Mandrake, Jerry Ordway & Sean Phillips
JSA line-up: Sand (missing), Wildcat I, Green Lantern I, Hawkgirl, Stargirl, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder (absent), Power Girl, Hourman I (Rex Tyler, replacing Rick), Fury & Brainwave (kind of)

-So Geoff Johns just pulled off the JSA's best event ever, and now it's time to consolidate. Rex Tyler has replaced the dying Rick, Black Adam & Atom-Smasher are permanently off the team, Hawkman's stepped down, and Sand is missing inside the planet.

-Nice rundown of what's happened so far at the beginning of the Trade. And we get right into with, with Per Degaton returning from Comics Limbo to watch the JSA's worst moments again and again. What a royal ass.

-Quick run-down of stuff: Dr. Mid-Nite beats some mad doctor type to help out his free clinic in Portsmouth. Rex Tyler punches Degaton thanks to his tachyon-hourglass thingie (that'd come up later, by the way). Hawkgirl & GL break the news to Alex Montez' parents (with Kendra lying and saying he died a hero). And that's about it...

-OH WAIT. See, Jay Garrick calls Captain Marvel straight out on his dating Stargirl, pointing out she's sixteen. Billy, unable to speak up for himself and reveal his identity thanks to the Wisdom of Solomon blocking him, buzzes right over to poor Courtney, announces he's quitting the Justice Society, and oh yeah, he's dumping her because of Jay. The image of her bawling her eyes out on the bed, alone, at night while Degaton looks on smirking gets me every time. I like Courtney & Al better, but MAN was this a sad moment, and a cute little relationship (though I should point out it lasted all of one & a half Trade Paperbacks, and we never even saw them go on a date- just the hook-up, a prior-to-date, and him getting on her for OBVIOUSLY crushing on Atom-Smasher during the Kahndaq arc).

-Flashbacks sees The Spectre damn The Spirit King, a Mr. Terrific Golden Age enemy to hell, and in the present, Mid-Nite loses two proteges to tommy gun bullets. Rex Tyler punches out Ragdoll from one of his creepy cults, clearly avoiding talking to his wife (he doesn't want her to know he's alive), and instead being an action-junkie. Those Tylers...

-Terrific & The Atom make headway, sending T-Spheres into time to find time-travellers to help Rick Tyler in the Timepoint, while Courtney gets all down over THAT UNWORTHY JERK BILLY BATSON.

-The Mid-Nite/Terrific bromance continues unabated, as they have a nice little talk in a church about religion. Pieter's response to Terrific's "why are you praying? to find his killer?", being "No. WE can do that." is pretty good writing, I must say, though I don't get how you can be an atheist in a world where Angels ACTUALLY attacked an Earth city, and one JOINED THE JUSTICE LEAGUE. He kinda goes all "still not sure GOD exists", but c'mon.

-The Spirit King is back, it's a Flashback to an old JLA/JSA meeting, where they replay Terry Sloane's death at the hands of a King-possessed Flash the first time around. Funny that the story originally appeared in the '60s, and was just a way to get rid of the LAMEST character on the entire JSA. Jim Corrigan/Spectre comforts Jay with "I see no sins on your soul, save for those common to all men", which is a nice little quote.

-Hal Jordan/Spectre is pretty well laid out by Spirit King's hellpower or whatever. Jesus, what a useless-ass Cosmic Being. He's ALWAYS getting his ass kicked. This is why I hate Spectre stories by the way- he's so powerful he's either just nastily punishing people in a power-geeks masturbation fantasy, or he's getting taken over or made helpless as the story's MacGuffin/Deus ex machina. And now his old zombified victims are back to WREAK HAVOC!!

-Stars & Flash talk it out, and she forgives him pretty quickly since it's not really HIS fault. There's Don Kramer with his big noses again, though. Turns out the gunman who killed Mid-Nite's allies was a man who helped murder Jim Corrigan. Mid-Nite & Terrific are about to be killed since Spec's busy being ineffectual and all, but the rest of the JSA shows up to kick some arse.

-Spirit King takes over The Flash again, while Jim Corrigan's old preacher friend (no, not Norman McCay, some other guy) comes by to talk some sense into Hal. It's a giant Zombie Smackdown as Kramer gets to use his best 'funny zombie deaths' art as they've all got scissors through them or are made out of wood or something, but Flash starts choking OUR Mr. Terrific now! No! He's the NON-colour blind one!

-And the preacher gets Hal back as The Spectre, so he Deux ex machinas everybody so Jay stops beating on the entire rest of the team (flattening Terrific & GL), and he EATS the Spirit King! Courtney is unappreciative.

-Terrific nearly dies on the operating table (it's a good thing the JSA's the only team with a liscenced doctor on it, because they seem to be the only team to ever get mass casualties inflicted onto them), but he sees his wife & infant son in 'heaven', and comes back to life. Epilogue as Terrific decides to give faith a chance (I don't think it works, as he's still pretty atheistic later).

-Next story involves Sand finally coming back, as yeah, Johns now realized he was missing that guy. Nobody at the Brownstone can sleep, and Power Girl mopes about being alone in the world. We get a callback to when Pieter saved that hooker from a life of prostitution, and she's gonna join Mid-Nite's organization of free doctors.

-Finally see Dr. Fate & Fury again, as they yell at Nabu for being a dick and all, and Sand gives the JSA some hints he's alive, as he writes their name in rock outside the Brownstone. Cave Carson is back to help everybody out, and it's a big plan to rescue Sand's body from the Earth, and his subconscious from the Dream Realm. Oh, goodie... walking-inside-dream stories. These are always death. Brainwave comes by to help out (and Johns gets to pimp how great Courtney is again, as she's the only one to think he's totally cured).

-So one half of the team (the powerhouses... plus Rex & Wildcat) are inside the Earth's crust, and the other half goes into Sand's dreams. Sandy shows up in his HORRIBLE Kingdom Come outfit to fight the 'invaders'. Boy, this story just isn't any fun at all. I can't quite figure out the EXACT nature of what's wrong with it, but it's just... dull. Brute & Glob show up, and I have NO IDEA who these two are, since I never read Gaiman's Sandman or whatever the hell they're from. I'm guessing Fate's limited series? The other JSA guys fight rock-men (oh yeah, THAT's a huge challenge), but Power Girl finds Sand's magma-fied body and flies him back up to the surface. Fate & Fury beat up Brute & Glob and deal with them thanks to magic-stuff.

-The whole "Sand loves Kendra" thing gets brought up again. I never really cared for that aspect... it was so out of nowhere (she's the grumpy fighter on the team but OH WAIT SAND FINDS OUT HER PAST AND NOW LOVES HER), and it hasn't been brought up in eons in-story. But at least Sand's back from the hell they left him in while Johns wrote his favourites doing stuff.

-And Rex FINALLY comes to visit his wife! Thank God. Hourman THREE makes his triumphant return to the book after being written out centuries ago (it feels like it, for all the team's gone through since then), and he's the thing that brings Rex & the gang back to the Timepoint to save Rick.

-Sand gets some bad-ass cred back by knocking out Solomon Grundy single-handedly in a battle. Apparently Grundy now loves Stargirl, but that doesn't really come up again. Hourman III comes by to pick up Mid-Nite & Terrific, and we get more hints about Stargirl's future as this SUPER-AWESOME heroine! Mid-Nite proves his awesomeness as the Hawkeye Pierce of the DCU YET AGAIN, saving Rick's life with fancy-pants electro-heating and time-powers, but in one panel, you can see Per Degaton looking on (this whole adventure would have repurcussions later)!

-Big damn story-telling time, as Rex prepares to run to the battle with Extant (where he'll die, as we've learned ten-thousand times from Captain Exposition Johns during the course of this series), but RICK jumps in, demanding that Rex get to hang with his wife more! And it's THE JUSTICE SOCIETY TRAVELS THROUGH TIME, as indeed, we see the big battle against Extant, where DC Editorial was sick of the JSA being around constantly, mucking up their continuity and looking goofy as senior citizen super-heroes, and so decided to off the lot of them. Atom I goes down first to an energy blast, and Rick & Rex start FIGHTING over who gets to die. Well now THIS is the more interesting story, as again, the human element comes in. It's not some lame dream battle against terrible characters or a zombie villain who can be stopped by a cosmic being, it's just people emoting and being all dramatic and stuff.

-The climax sees Tyler, the lame Hourman who failed as a character, make good by taking Rex's place HIMSELF, since hey, all they need is for an "Hourman" to die. And thus, Hourman III dies, probably never to return, since he sucked. Oh, and Dr. Mid-Nite I died there too, followed soon by Doctor Fate I, and most of the JSA retired after that fight (Sandman I got super-aged as well). Rex decides to finally retire, allowing Rick to live on as the sole Hourman on the JSA.

-And now we get ANOTHER big story, as it's an Identity Crisis thing, with a full showing of Terrific & Mid-Nite doing the autopsy on Sue Dibny. And they bond some more. Johns REALLY went nuts on these two once he got sole control of the book, let me tell you. More emotional stuff, as Terrific isn't ready to face his wife's killer, Power Girl cries over Sue's grave, thinking it should've been her since she has no family or life, etc. Jay begs his wife to stay home, but she refuses, and he's getting antsy. Wildcat, Stargirl & STRIPE (hey, it's Pat! Remember when he was supposed to be their mechanic but then never showed up again?) fight the Mirror Master, but he escapes.

-Courtney angsts over so many people knowing her identity from school. Don't worry Court, they're all ancillary characters from your failed series! Nobody even knows they existed any more! And now Mid-Nite knows the cause of death.

Roster Changes: Rick Tyler returns with Rex, who retires from active duty. Hourman III dies. Captain Marvel quits the team (and breaks poor Courtney's heart). Sand rejoins the team. Brainwave & Fury go back to inactive duty, not really joining the team in the first place.

Review: Well... after Black Reign, anything else would be a slow let-down. This was more "hey, let's look at the old days, and then wrap up our loose ends!", as Sandy comes back from the hell of not-being-written-about (nobody even name-drops him in Black Reign, which he was absent for), the Tyler situation is all wrapped up, and we deal with The Spectre some more, since he's always got JSA links. Most of this was pretty boring, though. The "Rescue Sandy" story was an UTTER failure of a story (never felt the team was in danger, and most of the emotional stuff fell flat, as Sand/Kendra was never very interesting), and the Spirit King thing was just some generic zombie fight with a last-minute cosmic save from Hal Jordan. I was much more into the Tyler stuff, and the Mid-Nite/Terrific bonding, as that's the emotional core the book always needs, and they furthered those plots along (the Tylers brawling over who got to die was very powerful stuff in a Trade full of boring). Probably the worst JSA trade so far, though.

Best Moment: Jesus, it's EASILY the Courtney/Billy break-up, which is just SO sad to read, even now. The relationship was much shorter than I recall, but still quite cute, and it's a signifier of darker times ahead. Funny that the best scene in the whole Trade occurs in the first issue of a GIANT nine-issue collection.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Original Golden Age Blue Beetle

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE BLUE BEETLE I (Dan Garret)
Created By:
Will Eisner (maybe) & Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski
First Appearance: Mystery Men Comics #1 (Aug. 1939)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (135)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 5 (+7, +13 Boost)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Police Officer) 6 (+10)
Insight 4 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+10)
Perception 4 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Technology 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Chokehold, Diehard, Equipment 3 (Blue Beetle Gear- Bulletproof Costume, 1940s Cellphone, etc.), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Trip, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Takedown, Ultimate Cop Skill

Powers:
"Vitamin 2-X Upgrades"
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
"X-Ray Vision" Senses 4 (Vision Penetrates Concealment) [4]

Equipment:
"Bulletproof Costume" Protection 3 & Immunity 5 (Ballistics) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) (5.5)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Enhanced Strength +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+7 Costume), Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Joan Mason)- Joan is a beautiful blonde reporter from the Daily Blade.
Relationship (Mike Mannigan)- Dan's stereotypically-Irish partner believes that The Blue Beetle is a criminal, and constantly tries to arrest him.
Relatiosnhip (Sparkington J. Northrup)- "Sparky" became a generic Kid Sidekick character, but soon vanished from the book.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 16 / Defenses: 14 (135)

-The original Blue Beetle was one of the earliest heroes of the Golden Age, debuting in a Fox Comics publication. But like a lot of Golden Agers, he was a MASSIVE rip-off- he was clearly based off of the Green Hornet (he has both an identical naming concept- "Color + Bug"- and looked identical save blue instead of green, and even copied his use of a scarab symbol to "bedevil criminals" by leaving it as a symbol or clue. The gimmick was that Dan Garret was a rookie cop who fought crime as a vigilante, and his partner hated the Beetle and was constantly trying to arrest him as a criminal. Rapidly, however, the character was changed- his Green Hornet ripoff costume was turned into a Phantom ripoff costume, and he started gaining super-powers as the writers came up with random stuff.

-Humorously, Dan Garret teams up with a pharmacist (!!) to fight crime- the pharmacist first builds him a bulletproof uniform, then develops Vitanmi 2X, enabling Dan to have superhuman strength and later FLIGHT. He was popular enough to get his own book (though the distribution was apparently quite sporadic, often going months without new issues), comic strip (drawn by Jack Kirby!) and radio serial, owing in part to his cool gadgets, like some newfangled "portable wireless telephone" (I mean, how far-fetched can you get?)- he had a Reporter Girlfriend, Cop Partner, and even got a Kid Sidekick for a short while! During WWII, he became a spy overseas, but post-war returned to the police force. The Blue Beetle was VERY popular, despite his origins and random power-changes- his comic lasted sixty issues, and he appeared in a ton of other Fox books like Mystery Men Comics. He even had his own radio show!

-Later issues saw Dan gain X-Ray Vision, as well as any OTHER power the writers could randomly come up with in each issue- it apparently changed depending on the writer (can you imagine doing that today, with Wikipedia and instant fan reaction and all?). Honestly it just seems like they were aping Superman after a point. He lost all the abilities in the late '40s when superheroes fell out of vogue, and was now featuring in a much DARKER book, featuring sadistic violence and scantily-clad women- the kind of stuff that eventually got comics noticed by Dr. Wertham and his infamous Seduction of the Innocent. Eventually, Dan disappeared in the 1950s. However, Dynamite Entertainment occasionally publishes the "Dan Garret" version, as he is now in the public domain, calling him "Big Blue" to avoid using the "Blue Beetle" name.

-So the Golden Age Dan Garrett was a two-fisted adventurer (PL 6-7), but the Vitamin 2X roids him up to PL 9 (VERY solid for a Golden Age hero). He essentially becomes a mini Flying Brick at this point.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed May 18, 2022 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Rebooted Golden Age Blue Beetle

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE BLUE BEETLE II (Dan Garrett)- Charlton Comics Version
Created By:
Will Eisner (maybe) & Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski
First Appearance: Mystery Men Comics #1 (Aug. 1939)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 12 (189)
STRENGTH
2/14 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 5 (+7, +13 Boost)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Archaeologist) 6 (+10)
Insight 4 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+10)
Perception 4 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Technology 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Chokehold, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Trip, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Takedown, Ultimate Archaeologist Skill

Powers:
"Magical Scarab Thing Upgrades"
Enhanced Strength 12 [24]
"Super Vision" Senses 4 (Vision Penetrates Concealment) [4]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Lightning Blast 10 [20]

"Bulletproof"
Protection 10 [10]
Immunity 5 (Ballistics) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Enhanced Strength +10 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Energy Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +14, Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers)- Dan must shout the phrase "Kaji Dha!" to transform into the Blue Beetle.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 73 / Defenses: 14 (189)

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THE BLUE BEETLE II (Dan Garrett)- DC Version
Created By:
Will Eisner (maybe) & Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski
First Appearance: Mystery Men Comics #1 (Aug. 1939)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (167)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 5 (+7, +13 Boost)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Archaeologist) 6 (+10)
Insight 4 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+10)
Perception 4 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Technology 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Chokehold, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Trip, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Takedown, Ultimate Archaeologist Skill

Powers:
"Magical Scarab Thing Upgrades"
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
"Super Vision" Senses 4 (Vision Penetrates Concealment) [4]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Lightning Blast 8 [16]

"Bulletproof"
Protection 4 [4]
Immunity 5 (Ballistics) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Enhanced Strength +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Lightning Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Joan Mason)- Joan is a beautiful blonde reporter from the Daily Blade.
Relationship (Sparkington J. Northrup)- "Sparky" became a generic Kid Sidekick character, but soon vanished from the book.
Power Loss (All Powers)- Dan must shout the phrase "Kaji Dha!" to transform into the Blue Beetle.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 51 / Defenses: 14 (167)

-Fox Comics eventualy went out of business and sold the rights to Charlton Comics, who produced a few adventures, dropping the second "t" in his surname and turning him into an adventuring Archaeologist who found a Mystical Scarab that gave him super-powers when he shouted the phrase "Kaji Dha!". This series, done by Joe Gill & Tony Tallarico, was apparently played for camp, and was deliberately-silly, essentially turning Dan into a "Billy Batson"-tier powerhouse. This book failed to impress, and lasted only a year or two before being replaced by a new Blue Beetle- Ted Kord. An AC Comics one-shot reintroduces Ted & Dan, and also reveals that the Silver Age Dan was in fact the REINCARNATION of the Golden Age one, but this has never been mentioned again, because soon DC Comics bought the rights, and Dan became part of the long history of *DC*'s Golden Age, popping up as part of the backstory of Ted (though they kept the Archaeologist thing, apparently not having the rights for the original version). He was killed as part of Ted Kord's origin (they were working together against an alien invasion, and he died stopping them), and his granddaughter is a character in the third Blue Beetle's stories, as well.

-Dan Garrett was subject to a lot of random power increases over the years, so you can drop all of the powers at-will- the Silver Age "Scarab" version is the one posted here- the Investigation is the same, but he's apparently MUCH more powerful- like "Thor"-tier strong or something. I went with a PL 12 guy. The DC version, who reappears in the Ted Kord stories, is much less powerful and dies to more mundane stuff, more akin to the Golden Age version (he even has the chainmail outfit), while retaining the "Dan Garrett" name and Archaeologist backstory.
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