Jab’s Builds! (Sword of Sodan! Nightmare Creatures/Circus! Lawnmower Man!)

[Sidious]

In my head cannon, Nathaniel Adam was left in the quantum zone, while the Dilusteel (The whole Quantum Elemental thing) that he was wrapped in gained a quantum imprint of his personality. Seeing as how Captain Atom (Nate Adam / Cameron Scott) was a good guy, you could then have Nathaniel Adam be a bad guy. This could still allow him to become Monarch. You'd have 2 halves of the whole this way and every one would be happy.

I know this is kinda hokey, but it would fit with the Captain Atom series and the EXXXTREEEEEEEME Justice series as well.

[Ares]

I sometimes feel Captain Atom suffers from what I called "Adopted Child Syndrome". Like Blue Beetle or Captain Marvel, Captain Atom isn't a DC original, he's someone DC acquired and have tried to half-heartedly push every now and then, but it's telling when Hawkman and Aquaman get more attempts at an ongoing series than Ted, Billy or Nathaniel here. Worse, when DC DOES push characters with those names, it tends to be the dramatically re-branded version (Jaime Reyes), or a severely re-vamped version ('Nu-Shazam'). With Captain Atom, there was a time when writers kept trying to turn him either in Monarch or Dr. Manhattan.

The whole thing with Monarch was a bit of a stupid move, but then the whole idea shouldn't have been to literally turn Captain Atom evil. What should have happened is Monarch came into the past to make certain his timeline was secure, but between Atom and Waverider's influence, Monarch's timeline was 'jarred loose' so that it was no just a possible future once more. This would leave Monarch stuck in the past trying to establish his future now, and make him a great villain, while leaving Captain Atom free to exist as a modern hero.

Instead we get a long string of stupidity where Dove is killed and Hawk is made a villain, first Monarch and then Extant. Yet writers kept trying to bring Monarch back when, sadly, the time for that had passed. Any meaning Monarch had was lost when they stuck Hawk in the suit.

The Dr. Manhattan thing is even dumber, showing how much DC clings to Watchmen (which the older I get, the more overrated I think it is). They really just need to let Atom be a hero.

Atom could honestly work well as part of some government sponsored super-team that answers directly to Washington. Have the Justice League protect the entire planet, the JSA primarily protect the USA but on their own terms, and have Atom as someone to serve as the main powerhouse and poster boy. Heck, he might even work well on the JSA itself rather than the Justice League, as his 'man out of time' story could have him feel more kinship with the older Society members than a lot of modern heroes.

[Ares]

In my head cannon, Nathaniel Adam was left in the quantum zone, while the Dilusteel (The whole Quantum Elemental thing) that he was wrapped in gained a quantum imprint of his personality. Seeing as how Captain Atom (Nate Adam / Cameron Scott) was a good guy, you could then have Nathaniel Adam be a bad guy. This could still allow him to become Monarch. You'd have 2 halves of the whole this way and every one would be happy.

I know this is kinda hokey, but it would fit with the Captain Atom series and the EXXXTREEEEEEEME Justice series as well.

Yeah, Extreme Justice went that route, but unfortunately, it has a very "Clone Saga" feel to it where the hero everyone loves is really a 'copy' of the original, but in a way it's worse since the Extreme Justice story made it clear Atom WAS the copy and that the original Nathaniel Adam had a legit reason to be pissed at his circumstances. Though him going full on Monarch because the armor just happened to find him was weird. But Extreme Justice was hardly a bastion of solid writing.

[Ken]

Captain Atom's comics in the 1960s, but they were not published on a super consistent basis. So the actual number of comics he was in is much lower than the 70+ one would expect for a 6 year run.

Captain Atom's power levels were all over the board too. In the early stories he was travelling to other planets. Basically he was more in line with what DC was doing at the time. When he went through the process of losing and regaining his powers, and changing his costume to the silver arms version, he was considerably less powerful. Charlton was aiming more for the Marvel crowd at that point. When he showed up in Crisis, he was way back up in power.

In the late 1980s, the Nathaniel Adam version was generally indicated to be the number 2 guy after Clark. More powerful than Billy, J'onn, or Diana. Not necessarily by much but...

[Skavenger]

For me, the problem with Captain Atom has always been his military connection. It's sort of along the lines of how every Call of Duty or Medal Of Honor game expects you to somehow expect that America, the biggest military power on the planet, is somehow in danger of being conquered by smaller threats, so they do ridiculous things like have "all of South America" band together to invade the US, or somehow have Russia invade every single European country at once.

Not only does it feel like having an actually atomic-powered guy working for the US Military seem a bit tasteless (I mean, we can't use nukes, but we can use them if they're bundled up inside a suit of armor?) but it also feels like flagrant military masturbation, except very few comic creators seem to like the military, so he's instead made relatively useless since Superman, a non-military hero, does it better.

"But what about heroes like Captain America, John Stewart, and all the other military-themed characters?" Well, most of them either are former soldiers, connected to the armed forces but also regularly call them out on any of their bullshit (whereas Captain Atom just bootlicks and 'yes sirs' his way into being a jerk/spy/etc) or they're typically weaker than a tank so they can't simply invade a country on their own.

If Captain Atom divorced himself from the military completely, I might like him more. But every time I've seen him on the comics page (though, to be fair, I didn't read much of the EXTREME Justice League stuff) he's usually portrayed as a toady to the American military complex.

[Skavenger]

Now all that being said, I'll die loving the Blue and Gold, and I think what really works best for them is that everybody underestimates them. I enjoyed Booster's solo book pre-Nu52, and it drove me nuts that the guy somehow immune to changes in the timestream somehow was affected by what Barry did. I think the idea of Booster being someone who remembered what happened before would have been an interesting plot hook for the character to show up in things, talking to people who have no memory of meeting him or providing the exposition needed to stop "new" supervillains he remembered fighting before.

[Sidney369]

I've read most of the 80s series, and he wasn't the military yes-man he was in later years. He understood that his superiors could be corrupt (especially after he learned some of them had framed him to protect their own illegal interests) and frequently wrestled with doing what he was ordered versus what he knew was right. The reason for this was probably lazy writers who found "toady to the American military complex" easier to write instead of his established characterization.

And Weisman took over writing the series after the regular writer keep missing deadlines and Weisman, as the assistant editor of the title, had to finish them. He eventually got co-writer credit before finally taking on the full writing duties.

[Jabroniville]

That's the most "MURICA!" quote of all time.

PEACEMAKER I (Christopher Smith)
Created By: Joe Gill & Pat Boyette
First Appearance: Fightin' 5 #40 (Nov. 1966)
Role: Gun-Toting Lover of Peace, Insane Killer
Group Affiliations: Checkmate, The Shadow Fighters, Suicide Squad, L.A.W.
PL 8 (142)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+9)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Soldier) 8 (+10)
Expertise (World Events) 8 (+10)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 5 (+7)
Vehicles 4 (+9)

Advantages:
Equipment 5 (Arsenal, Radio), Improved Critical (Blaster), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Peacemaker Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [25]
Protection 2 (2)
"Jet Pack" Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)

"Nerve Gas" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 15ft. Cloud) (16) -- (17)

• AE: "Firebomb in Glove" Blast 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Unreliable- One Shot -3) (4)

-- (31 points)

Equipment:
"Laser" Blast 4 (8)
"Knife" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)
"Ultrasonic Blaster" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (11)
"Explosives" Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Diminished Range -1) (17)
"All-Band Radio" Communication 3 (Selective, Area) (18)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Guns +12 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Automatic Weapons +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+6 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Disabled (Insane)- Christopher is violently insane, having been driven into murderous actions repeatedly through his life.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 25 / Defenses: 12 (142)

-A Charlton hero most well-known previously for wearing what looks like a chrome toilet bowl on his head, Peacemaker is now a much bigger name thanks to a comedic appearance in the second Suicide Squad movie, and an HBO series, both starring pro wrestler John Cena as a stoic straight man- the perfect kind of character for a comedy. He was initially a backup feature in the espionage-themed Fightin' 5 book, and when it was cancelled with the next issue, he spun off into a book of his own. However, Peacemaker soon got cancelled as well. When DC got the rights to the Charlton character, for some reasson this short-lived guy was one of them, and he was given a four-issue Limited Series in 1988. Along the way, the vicious gun-toting Comedian of Watchmen fame was based off of him.

-Peacemaker is Christopher Smith, a pacifist diplomat so committed to peace that he was willing to use force as a superhero- basically the most "MURICA!" thing of all time. He used non-lethal weapons to go up against dictators and warlords. This was played straight at Charlton, but apparently the DC version's methods were the result of mental illness brought on by the shame of his father having been a Nazi death camp commandant (he'd killed himself in front of Christopher when he was a boy). He feels his father's spirit haunting him constantly. He slowly becomes a deadly vigilante killing "at the slightest provocation", and begins to believe that the people he has killed are collected inside his toilet-seat helmet and give him advice and commentary.

-His backstory includes murdering innocents while at war- he was court-martialed and paroled only when he agreed to join "Project: Peacemaker"- an anti-terrorist squad rooted in secrecy. However, thanks to government bureaucracy, the project was shut down and forgotten, allowing Christopher to simply walk off the base without incident. He runs the Pax Institute, an organization that is devoted to peace, and attempts to help the victims of terrorism. All of this makes for a very cynical, brutish series- the writers were clearly having fun riffing on the miltary-industrial complex and the nature of government.

-Despite being nuts, Peacemaker worked for Checkmate as one of their agents- he was killed after crashing a helicopter into some tanks controlled by Eclipso, becoming one of the many casualties of the "Shadow Fighters" (alongside Beth Chapel & Yolanda Montez). His soul showed up in Purgatory and everything, but he and other dead vigilantes rally when the guardians of Purgatory are distracted by a team of heroes trying to recruit the soul of Hal Jordan. A "Peacemaker" appears in the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle book, appearing like Smith but claiming he's named Mitchell Black like the third one, and he was manipulated by the Scarab into trying to kill Jaime, but got better.

-Peacemaker is ultimately a good ranged fighter, but a decidedly human, PL 8 sort, albeit with far better gear than most "Gun Guys" (his armor contains a ton of hidden tricks, like explosives, nerve gas and more). He even has a jet-pack!

[Jabroniville]

PEACEMAKER II (Real Name Unknown)
Created By: Gerard Jones & Chuck Wojtkiewicz
First Appearance: Justice League International #65 (June 1994)
Role: One-Off Character
Group Affiliations: The League-Busters

-A big, muscular Peacemaker in Transformer gear and a different (and even STUPIDER!) helmet made a one-off appearance in JLI #65, having been recruited onto a team called the "League Busters".

[Jabroniville]

PEACEMAKER III (Mitchell Black)
Created By: Bob Layton & Dick Giordano
First Appearance: The L.A.W. #1 (Sept. 1999)
Role: Legacy Character
Group Affiliations: L.A.W.

-L.A.W., a book about the Charlton heroes, came out in 1999, and they needed a new Peacemaker. This version is Mitchell Black, a surgeon fired for performing a risky operation on a child against the wishes of his parents on religious grounds- the child had died. He was then recruited by the "Peacemaker Project". This Peacemaker was killed by Prometheus during the Battle of Metropolis in Infinite Crisis #7. Yes, the issue where random heroes were just disposed of casually by villains- Judomaster I and a bunch of the Bloodlines characters were slaughtered without a word as well.

-This Peacemaker used similar gear, but wasn't as good a fighter and never got much use. He used rubber bullets and knock-out gas, among other non-lethal things.

[Jabroniville]

THE JUSTICE LEAGUE:

-In the late 1950s, Julius Schwartz asked writer Gardner Fox to reintroduce the Justice Society with a new name, and featuring the modern takes on the DC heroes- the Justice League of America soon made their debut in The Brave and the Bold #28. Its roster was the Big Seven: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman (Fox would later regret adding Aquaman to the team, as it always necessitated putting them next to a body of water somehow). Teen boy "Snapper" Carr, speaking in beatnik dialogue that is OH GOD SO DATED NOW, allied with the team to stop Starro the Conqueror.

For eight years, Fox would write this book to great success, making it one of DC's top-tier series- its roster was largely stable, especially compared to Marvel's counter-series The Avengers, which switched out new members constantly, always appearing "new". The JLA would ally with The Justice Society and other groups, fight in various "Crises", and only later alter their roster. Green Arrow would join due to fan demand (he'd been added to DC, but hadn't really done too much at that point). Many Schwartz-edited characters were on the League, and many he didn't edit (like Metamorpho) were not. Denny O'Neil took over in 1968 (Dick Dillin would draw the book for TWELVE YEARS STRAIGHT), dropping Wonder Woman, Carr & Martian Manhunter almost immediately, then put Black Canary on the squad. Most of DC's superhero line would be cancelled in the late '60s, owing to the "Batman Bubble" burst (the TV series had brought a HUGE number of fans to the books, but they didn't last once the show was off the air only a couple years later)- oddly enough, at this point, ARCHIE was the hottest-selling book on the market, owing to its own cartoon series!



"The Satellite Era" (where their home base was on an orbiting satellite- which felt appropriately "big") would add some peppy, more modern characters to the book- Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkwoman, Zatanna & Firestorm. Wonder Woman rejoined, and Len Wein wrote the stories that brought back The Seven Soldiers of Victory & The Freedom Fighters in the early 1970s. Various writers would do their arcs (Steve Englehart had a run which of course featured his beloved Mantis as "Willow"), and Gerry Conway would begin a mega-run for eleven years. He would eventually revamp the series as "Justice League Detroit", adding in young members (likely as a means to capitalize on the success of The New Teen Titans and The Legion of Super-Heroes- then the two top-selling books at a badly-struggling DC)- Aquaman dissolves the League and allows heroes to join only if they can devote their whole time to the team (ie. they don't have their own solo books). This effectively drops the entirety of DC's A-listers, leaving only B-tier guys and rookies. Aquaman thus leads Zatanna, Elongated Man, Vixen, Martian Manhunter, Gypsy, Steel and Vibe. J'onn, by this point, was a failure as a solo act but had become an "iconic" Leaguer, and so he appears on nearly every other team combination thereafter, to the point where the League feels "incomplete" without him.

This team would become rather notorious in retrospect for the utter failure of the latter three to gain any sort of traction, which is too bad- I have no idea if this run was any good, but it's usually only joked about these days. Aquaman leaves after a year, and eventually J.M. DeMatteis kills off Vibe & Steel in the last arc of the series. This era kind of made it look like a really bad "D-Team"- that the mighty Justice League was so weak while the Teen Titans & Legion of Super-Heroes were at their peak just made it seem extra-shameful (the JLD book was actually intended to make it "younger and hipper" like those books, and allow more character-driven stories since they had more freedom with newbies). But everything I've read of DC at this point indicates that the editors were constantly warring and didn't want their guys involved in other editors' books.

THE JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL- The "BWA-HA-HA!" League:

-By 1986, DC had a Legends event that attempted to restart certain things (the Crisis on Infinite Earths helped, too). Keith Giffen & DeMatteis would write what would be know as the "BWA-HAH-HAH!"-era League, featuring the wacky antics of Blue Beetle & Booster Gold, in addition to Batman (editor Denny O'Neil "took pity" on the new creative team and was good enough to allow the A-List Batman to join), Black Canary, Captain Marvel, the new female Dr. Light, Martian Manhunter, Mr. Miracle and Guy Gardner (Hal Jordan's asshole replacement GL, written as a male chauvinist). Soon, the roster would be glutted with Captain Atom, Fire & Ice, and Rocket Red, and be bankrolled by Maxwell Lord. This five-year run proved popular, but I think it kind of lacks some dignity to have the freaking JUSTICE LEAGUE be the "Funny Book"- I remember Silver Age fanboy Unca Cheeks' old website often going on about this- the book was a tad too goofy to be what was supposed to be the Big World-Shaking Events Book.

THE JUSTICE LEAGUE- THE SPIN-OFFS:

-A bunch of spin-offs were created in the mid-'90s, but were generally low-selling forgettable stuff- Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force and Extreme Justice. Oh yeah, it was the '90s, alright.

Justice League Europe was way more successful than I'd thought, lasting for five years and 68 issues, and changed to Justice League International 51 issues in. It was action-centric, but tongue-in-cheek, often featuring Power Girl as a source of Fanservice & Boob Gags (something that'd stick with her for the rest of her existence). The JLE featured Captain Atom, Elongated Man, PG, Flash (Wally West), Rocket Red, Animal Man, Metamorpho, Crimson Fox, Blue Jay & Silver Sorceress- mostly D-Listers, as various DC editors didn't seem to want their guys involved in that book. The book was so poorly-considered later on that the members were unceremoniously dumped at the beginning of Morrison's JLA, and three members were slaughtered by The Mist's daughter in a Starman issue (they were just going to be defeated, but the Editor told Robinson to just kill them, since they weren't being used!).

Extreme Justice (lasting from 1995 to '96) added a bunch of new goofs like Bloodwynd, Maya, Maxima (a Superman antagonist), Nuklon, Obsidian, Triumph & Tasmanian Devil; joining Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold & Amazing-Man, and later Firestorm, Plastique & The Wonder Twins. It was quickly cancelled, and represents the worst of DC- a desperate attempt to copy the "EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEME" nature of the 1990s, but doing a much poorer job, appearing to be a weak copy of what Marvel & Image were doing.

Justice League Task Force, lasting from 1993 to '96, was another spin-off I'm largely unfamiliar with. It features random "Task Forces" of members, often cycling in and out.



THE JUSTICE LEAGUE- BACK TO BASICS:

-These books were cancelled, and a new JLA was created in 1997, written by Grant Morrison & drawn by Howard Porter. This book... was CRAZY awesome. Just the hugest, most outlandish events, week after week, with Morrison being cracked out but still fairly understandable at this point. In the opening arc, Earth is invaded by White Martians, who plan to demolish Earth's population, and Batman reveals himself to be "the most dangerous man in the world", and the only one able to figure out the identities of their seemingly all-powerful oppoents, who demolished and captured the rest of the League but left the "powerless" one. Later, General Wade Eiling wants to kill the League using a team of American soldiers given vast power, the U.S. army, and his own brain inside the body of the unkillable Shaggy Man. Fifth-Dimensional Imps nearly destroy the planet as they fight a dreaded war, and the Justice Society is reborn trying to stop them, renewing THAT book. A guy who can download skills into his brain uses prep-time to wipe out the League. Angels later invade the Earth, with Superman brawling with the Lord of the Bull Host while a fallen Angle joins the League to help. Darkseid takes over Earth and the heroes have to gather in the future to stop him. A Godlike Destroyer of Worlds invades our Solar System, and only every human being on Earth being given superpowers can save the day. The book is just like that. Every member of the team gets Crowning Moments of Awesome, some of which resonate even TODAY.

Really, this book is what comics were supposed to be about. Morrison is an LSD-using weirdo sometimes, but with some editorial constraints he can be brilliant. Batman cracking his knuckles and beating the piss out of the White Martians is one of his all-time greatest moments. Prometheus was given a HUGE push straight out of the gate and became a great villain (of course, later writers would F this up and necessitated a Retcon barely a few years later, but Batman would still give him a beating after replacing his skillset with Stephen Hawking's). Now THIS was the JLA- a team of GODS. Oddly, it hadn't been a team like that for DECADES (Superman hadn't been on the League in forever, and a huge portion of the roster was just goofballs), but now the "new standard" was an A-Lister roster.

Morrison's League was Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Batman (at his Prep-Timing best, helping cement his legend on BattleBoards), Aquaman, The Flash, Plastic Man (in a WTF move for some Comic Relief) and the new Green Lantern- Kyle Rayner. And I honestly believe that had Morrison not written Rayner as well as he did, Rayner would have gone down as one of the worst failures in comics. His own series was pretty forgettable stuff, and very controversial for the time (the infamous Refrigerator Stuffing, combined with Rayner unceremoniously displacing Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, as the entire Corps. was destroyed)- Morrison writing him as a nervous rookie, desperate to prove his worth, pretty much came to DEFINE the character.

The team added The Huntress (on Batman's watch- she never did much), Oracle (Base HQ & Info- more or less), Big Barda & Orion (some agitate-y New Gods-y stuff), Steel, and Zauriel (an ANGEL). Tomorrow Woman, Aztek & Connor "Green Arrow" Hawke all got temporary roles as well. This book was enormously successful, and Morrison's run gave way to a popular one by Mark Waid, and the book is still a big name even today. The roster would change (it disbanded pre-52, and turned into a squad of Jobbers during the "Missing Year").

An updated team shows up, written by Brad Meltzer & drawn by Ed Benes- it adds Hal Jordan, Black Canary, Red Arrow (GA's old sidekick Roy Harper), Red Tornado, Vixen, Black Lightning (diversity!) and Hawkgirl. Dwayne McDuffie had his own run, but it proved pretty weak- despite his amazing work on JLU, he couldn't get it done in a book by himself- guys like Geo-Force really failed to prove their worth. DC Editorial got mixed up in things (they'd get more and more intrusive to the writing of the books around this time), and McDuffie got replaced by James Robinson, who would immediately prove that his Starman run was his peak, by writing some MORE crap- Cry For Justice was an infamous pile of garbage (Roy's daughter dies! He's back on heroin! And he's a cyborg!). Many Teen Titans members would join the new team- Donna Troy, Cyborg and Starfire would join... Congorilla? F*cking Congorilla?!? REALLY? Plus there'd be Dr. Light again, The Guardian, Mon-El and more- it'd be a real clusterf*ck of random-ass members.



And it was during this giant mess that Flashpoint resulted in DC rebooting its continuity- oddly, the books had gotten so bad that a Retcon MIGHT have been necessary, but needless to say, the League's best days were behind them.

Assessing the League as a whole is tricky, because its gone through a lot of changes in terms of being a big book- It was originally a "Best of the Best" team, but shifted, much like Avengers had, to include more disparate members. The Satellite & '80s Era added some really awful costume choices and looks very dated now, hurting the book's legacy at that point, and the multiple Spin-Off era is also weird. The Giffen/DeMatteis era seems enormously popular (even getting a retro book years later in Formerly The Justice League), but was as much a Comedy Book as a Big World-Saving Stuff book. The Morrision run seems like its high-point (though I never read the '60s stuff aside from a Crisis trade about the JSA/JLA team-ups- it's alright, but nothing amazing), but things spiral downhill as DC starts screwing around with the successful formula (then again, All Event Stories is kind of a thing that gets tiresome after a point).

[Ken]

(Fox would later regret adding Aquaman to the team, as it always necessitated putting them next to a body of water somehow). Teen boy "Snapper" Carr, speaking in beatnik dialogue that is OH GOD SO DATED NOW, allied with the team to stop Starro the Conqueror.

Yeah, it isn't like most major cities aren't on a coast or near a river.

Snapper's dialogue was dated then. The folks upstairs told Julie to tell Gardner to add a teen character for reader identification.

Green Arrow would join due to fan demand (he'd been added to DC, but hadn't really done too much at that point). Many Schwartz-edited characters were on the League, and many he didn't edit (like Metamorpho) were not. Denny O'Neil took over in 1968, dropping Wonder Woman, Carr & Martian Manhunter almost immediately, then put Black Canary on the squad.

Green Arrow wasn't added to DC. He was DC. He debuted in the same publishing house as Superman, Batman, and Aquaman.

Everyone hated Carr. Diana was being majorly overhauled into a non-super heroine at the time. And J'onn had lost his solo feature.

He would eventually revamp the series as "Justice League Detroit", adding in young members (likely as a means to capitalize on the success of The New Teen Titans and The Legion of Super-Heroes- then the two top-selling books at a badly-struggling DC)- Aquaman dissolves the League and allows heroes to join only if they can devote their whole time to the team (ie. they don't have their own solo books). This effectively drops the entirety of DC's A-listers, leaving only B-tier guys and rookies. Aquaman thus leads Zatanna, Elongated Man, Vixen, Martian Manhunter, Gypsy, Steel and Vibe. J'onn, by this point, was a failure as a solo act but had become an "iconic" Leaguer, and so he appears on nearly every other team combination thereafter, to the point where the League feels "incomplete" without him. This team would become rather notorious in retrospect for the utter failure of the latter three to gain any sort of traction, which is too bad- I have no idea if this run was any good, but it's usually only joked about these days.

There is a special level of perdition waiting for Alan Gold and Gerry Conway for this atrocity. It was a bad New Titans knock-off, at best. Vibe's phonetic spelling of his Hispanic accented words was culturally insensitive and cringe - even by 1980s standards.

(The annual which had them arrive in Detroit had Ralph identify that they were in Detroit by him recognising Lake Michigan. Which is on the WESTERN side of Michigan, where Detroit is on the EASTERN, between Lakes Huron and Erie. They couldn't even research Detroit properly.)

This era kind of made it look like a really bad "D-Team"- that the mighty Justice League was so weak while the Teen Titans & Legion of Super-Heroes were at their peak just made it seem extra-shameful .

"D-Team" is too high. Try "F-Team".

[Jabroniville]

Here’s my old roster list. Most of these guys I’ve gotten to already:


The Roster:
Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Barry Allen
Wally West
Hal Jordan
Kyle Rayner
John Stewart
Guy Gardner
Aquaman
Martian Manhunter
Green Arrow
The Atom
Hawkman
Black Canary
The Phantom Stranger
Elongated Man
Zatanna
The Blue Beetle I-III
Booster Gold
Firestorm I-II
Steel I-II
Vibe
Vixen
Gypsy
Captain Marvel & The Marvel Family
The Lieutenants Marvel
Mr. Miracle
Orion
Big Barda
Dr. Light II
Captain Atom
Rocket Red
Fire & Ice
The Huntress
Firehawk
Dr. Fate (Linda Strauss)
Lightray
General Glory
Agent Liberty
Tasmanian Devil
Crimson Fox
Maxima
The Ray I-II
Black Condor I-II
Bloodwynd
Supergirl
Power Girl
Animal Man
Blue Jay
Silver Sorceress
Metamorpho
Maya
Triumph
L-Ron (Despero)
Mystek
Zan & Jayna
Icemaiden
Amazing Man I-III
Blue Devil
Tomorrow Woman
Aztek
Connor Hawke
Oracle
Plastic Man
Zauriel
Moon Maiden
Silver Sorceress
Antaeus
Faith
Etrigan
Manitou Raven
Super-Chief
Bulleteer
Ambush Bug
Black Lightning
Red Arrow
Geo-Force
Congorilla
Thunderbolt (Peter Cannon)

The Justice Society:
Jay Garrick
Alan Scott
Wildcat I-III
Johnny Thunder
Black Canary
Wonder Woman
Hippolyta
Hourman I-III
Hawkman
Hawkgirl
The Red Tornado I-II
Dr. Fate I
Starman I-VI
Sandman I
Sandy/Sand
Stargirl
Dr. Mid-Nite I-III
The Spectre
Mr. Terrific I-II
Cyclone
Lightning
Magog
The Atom
Black Adam
Damage
Citizen Steel
King Chimera

The All-Star Squadron:
Zatara
Green Arrow I
Firebrand I-II
Fireball
Neon the Unknown
Magno
Johnny Quick
Liberty Belle I-II
Robin I
Air-Wave I-II
Aquaman I
Blackhawk
Captain Triumph
Commander Steel
Manunter I-II
Merlin the Magician
Merry, Girl of 1000 Gimmicks
Mister America I-III
Max Mercury
Robotman I
Dr. Occult
Judomaster I-II
Sargon the Sorcerer
Speed Saunders
Tarantula
TNT & Dan the Dyna-Mite
The Whip
Tor, The Magic Master
The King
Little Boy Blue
Kuei

Infinity, Inc.:
Wildcat II
Mr. Bones
Nuklon/Atom Smasher
The Silver Scarab/Dr. Fate
Jade
Obsidian
Northwind
Fury I
Brainwave, Jr.

Others:
Hawkwoman
Fate

JL Antarctica:
Major Disaster
G'nort
Multi-Man
Big Sir
Cluemaster
Clock King
The Mighty Bruce
Scarlet Skier

JL Elite:
Sister Superior
Menagerie
Coldcast
Naif al-Sheikh
Kasumi/Cassandra Cain
Manitou Dawn

The Seven Soldiers of Victory:
Alias the Spider
Crimson Avenger & Wing
Billy Gunn
Shining Knight
Vigilante & Stuff
The Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy/STRIPE

The Freedom Fighters:
Doll Man
Human Bomb
Invisible Hood
The Jester
Midnight
Miss America
Phantom Lady I-II
Red Torpedo
The Red Bee
Uncle Sam

The Young All-Stars:
Flying Fox
Fury
Iron Munro
Neptune Perkins
Tigress
Tsunami

Squadron of Justice (Fawcett Comics Characters):
Bulletman & Bulletgirl
Commando Yank
Minute-Man
Ibis the Invincible
Pantom Eagle
Mr. Scarlet & Pinky
Spy-Smasher

[Jabroniville]

AMBUSH BUG (Irwin Schwab)
Created By: Keith Giffen
First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #52 (Dec. 1982)
Role: The Jar-Jar Binks of the DC Universe
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Amber Butane Corps., The Uh-Oh Squad
PL 10 (192)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 10 (+15)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 8 (+8)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Benefit 4 (Cipher- Nobody Knows Him or His Past), Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defenses, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Trip, Luck 3, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown, Well-Informed

Powers:
Teleport 14 (Extras: Extended, Easy, Accurate) [70]

"Fourth-Wall Breaker"
Features 1: Is Aware He's In a Comic Book, And Can See Other Publishers' Works [1]
Mind-Reading 10 (Flaws: Limited to Inner Monologues Spoken In Thought Balloon or Little Boxes) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +13

Defenses:
Dodge +16 (DC 26), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Power Loss (Defenses, Luck)- Ambush Bug is more easily-beaten by lunatics- only serious characters have trouble catching him.
Enemy (Arg!Yle! The Living Sock)

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 81 / Defenses: 24 (192)

-Ambush Bug was created by Keith Giffen to be a deliberately-silly, wacky character (the initial idea was "Bugs Bunny as a Super-Villain"), but every time I've seen him, he pretty much comes off as Jar-Jar Binks. He was a regular guy given powers by Ben-El of the planet Schwab sending his wardrobe to Earth in hopes that it would survive Schwab's destruction. The character was introduced as a nuisance supervillain (though he did kill at least one person), and proved popular enough to immediately get two mini-series and several specials, usually done by Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming. It was full of in-jokes, satire (an arch-nemesis was an evil sock- a doll he found is named "Cheeks- The Toy Wonder" and made his sidekick) and commentary about comics themselves, generally like Deadpool before Deadpool was a thing. The character quickly decided he was a superhero, and "Superman's Friend", which ends up annoying the Man of Steel more than when he was a bad guy. He appears infrequently, but pops up in some background scenes due to his recognizable nature- he's linked to the Justice League only by a random team founded by Plastic Man, and a 2006 one made by Firestorm of all people in the 52 series. Some people definitely swear by him, though- fans seem to adore the running gags.

-Ambush Bug is more of a nuisance than a powerhouse, but is a good fighter and REALLY hard to get a hold of- he can also Teleport anywhere.

[Ares]

I was never a fan of Ambush Bug, but I will say that there was a Supergirl/Batgirl Elseworld that showed that any design can be saved with some effort. Here, Ambush Bug was reimagined as a New God . . . and IT WORKS.