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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
greycrusader
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Mr. Mxyzptlk! Metallo! Steel! Atomic Skull!)

Post by greycrusader »

That was a DC editorial call if I remember correctly; again, I think Kurt Busiek (who was the main writer for the Superman titles for a brief time) planned on using the Blackrock concept. I think he planned on doing his “Astro City” approach, reintroducing Silver and early Bronze Age characters with a more modern interpretation (but not deconstructing them).

Then Flashpoint happened and DC decided to completely throw out the status quo, for better or worse. A lot of planned stories got scrapped.

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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Mr. Mxyzptlk! Metallo! Steel! Atomic Skull!)

Post by Batgirl III »

If only DC editorial had bent over backwards to accommodate Busiek instead of Morrison….
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Mr. Mxyzptlk! Metallo! Steel! Atomic Skull!)

Post by Ares »

Batgirl III wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 4:23 pm If only DC editorial had bent over backwards to accommodate Busiek instead of Morrison….
. . . or Johns . . . or Bendis . . . or DiDio . . .
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Mr. Mxyzptlk! Metallo! Steel! Atomic Skull!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Ares wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 4:37 pm
Batgirl III wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 4:23 pm If only DC editorial had bent over backwards to accommodate Busiek instead of Morrison….
. . . or Johns . . . or Bendis . . . or DiDio . . .
All modern comics should be based solely upon the ideas of Kurt Busiek, Neil Gaiman, and Alex Ross.

Oh, and me.
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Lobo

Post by Jabroniville »

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LOBO
Created By:
Roger Slifer & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: Omega Men #3 (June 1983)
Role: The Main Man, Every Dumb Kid's Favourite Super-Hero, Bad-Ass '90s Anti-Hero Parody/Straight Example
PL 13 (192)
STRENGTH
14 STAMINA 14 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Deception 5 (+4)
Expertise (Space Bounty-Hunter) 12 (+12)
Intimidation 10 (+9)
Investigation 4 (+4)
Perception 5 (+5)
Technology 4 (+4)
Vehicles 6 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Close Attack 2, Equipment 7 (Space Bike, Explosives, Firearms), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Critical (Chain) 2, Improved Hold, Luck, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle, Tracking

Powers:
Power-Lifting 2 (1,600 tons) [2]
Impervious Toughness 9 [9]
Regeneration 12 (Feats: Regrowth) [13]
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
"Extreme Sense of Smell" Senses 9 (Extended Scent 7- Acute, Tracking) [9]
"Idiot Savant" Enhanced Skills 9: Expertise (Science) (Flaws: Limited to Murderous Sciences) [3]

"Spiked Chain- The Garrote" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [3]
Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Grapple, Reach 2) (5 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Spiked Chain +10 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +14 (+5 Impervious), Fortitude +14, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Fraggin' Bastiches)- Lobo just likes to hurt people. He's so devoted to it that any amount of Lobos appearing in one place will immediately lead to a fight to the death among them until only one is left standing.
Responsibility (Personal Code)- "A Main Man's Word is his bond" sez Lobo. Lobo refuses to kill space dolphins, and will avenge them if they are harmed.
Power Loss (Artistic License)- Lobo's powers often depend on the story- sometimes he can brawl with Superman; other times he can be knocked out by having a truck run into him and be out for hours.

Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 28 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 11 (192)

Da Main Man!:
-"Da Main Man", Lobo, has had one of the more peculiar runs of any comic book character- going from a random one-off to a recurring '90s Ultra-Violent Memetic Bad-Ass, but he almost immediately had a MASSIVE backlash go up against him, to the point where most later media portrays him as a giant, annoying idiot, likeable mostly for how dumb and violent he is. How much you like Lobo depends on whether or not you find his whole "Alcoholic Mass Murderer Beetlejuice" act humorous, self-aware or not. He maintained his own solo comic for SIX YEARS (longer than many, MANY characters with seemingly prouder histories), and was notable enough to be featured in the Marvel vs. DC series, where he controversially lost to the far lower-powered Wolverine because it was a fan-voted series and Wolverine was then the most popular character in the entire industry.

-Lobo was originally a bounty-hunter character in the Omega Men series DC had going in the '80s, but he pretty quickly disappeared- oddly enough, he was created by Roger Slifer, who wrote some of the best episodes of Jem and the Holograms back in the day. At the time, Lobo was a somewhat normally-built "Velorpian" with purple/grey-hair whose entire race had been exterminated by the Psions (villains in the Omega Men) and was partnered up with Bedlam, whom he later killed. This origin would eventually be retconned.

1990- Lobo Gets Popular:
-In the 1990s, Lobo randomly popped up in an issue of Justice League International, which often threw in humorous elements- immediately endearing himself to the fans with a violent attitude and a redesign that included blue jeans and a shredded leather jacket (as well as an enormous physique), he was promptly put onto the space-based book L.E.G.I.O.N. (Vril Dox tricks Lobo into acting as a bounty hunter ont heir behalf) and got his own Limited Series in 1990. Now, his co-creator Keith Giffen retconned him as the "Last Czarnian", an ultra-violent mega-badass who killed his ENTIRE RACE, and was now an arrogant bounty hunter with an impossibly-great healing factor, regenerating from a single drop of blood or some bullshit. It's very, VERY clear Giffen was being self-parodic and openly being inspired by Wolverine and the other popular "Murderous Guy" characters of the time, what with Lobo constantly speaking in fraggin' slang, harming "bastiches" with little provocation and engaging in mass murder, but naturally you can't create a parody of a bad-ass without just making the guy a bigger bad-ass (look at Brock Samson in The Venture Brothers), and so the character was quite popular.

-Various comedic books sprouted up, featuring "Lobocop", Lobo being hired by the Easter Bunny to murder Santa Clause, etc. He kills his daughter and her army of his other illegitimate children, all of whom gathered to slay him. In general, it's dark humor. He was so successful that the solo Lobo book ran SIXTY-FOUR ISSUES from 1993 to 1999 (wouldn't you know he'd only have success as long as the '90s were a thing?). He frequently made guest appearances thanks to his popularity- he was in intercompany crossovers facing The Mask, Judge Dredd and others, fought Wolverine in Marvel vs. DC, and showed up in Superman: The Animated Series as a braying jackass. In his book, he frequented Al's Diner, which he frequently destroyed, and hit on the lone waitress, Darlene. Frequent misadventures result in things like him becoming a priest, a pop-rock idol, and more, though they nearly always result in mass deaths. One time he died and was kicked out of both Hell AND Heaven for creating so much carnage, and was then barred from the afterlife. It feels like a very... British... series. The wanton nihilism and black humor just feels that way to me.

-Backlash against him also hit- notably in Hitman, where a disgusted Garth Ennis wrote the character arriving to kill the boys, but was instead knocked unconscious (which should have been impossible), dressed up in a wedding dress, then "married" to perverse supporting character Bueno Excellente, who then anally raped him on-camera- the boys then showed an awakened Lobo the video tape and promised him it would be released if he ever harmed any of them. Humiliated, Lobo took his leave. Yes, DC editorial allowed that to happen to one of their stars, lol. But tons of comics of the era feature heroes fighting Lobo- Guy Gardner befriends him (of course) and gives him free drinks at his bar, while the Authority fights him after Jenny Quantum is offended by his murder of Santa.

2000- Lobo Now Sucks I Guess:
-Lobo becomes a lot less popular as we leave the '90s, as you might expect. He accidentally turns into a teenager and joins Young Justice as "Lil' Lobo"- he regains his lost power to regenerate from a single drop of blood, which leads to millions of Lobos springing up from his dead body, defeating Apokoliptian soldiers, then turning on themselves until only one Lobo survives and grows to adulthood. However, a tiny Lobo had hidden itself and renames itself "Slobo" ("It's Lobo"). The character all but vanishes for yeasr, reappearing in 52 as an inexplicable religious leader (yes, Giffen co-wrote that book). He worships a three-eyed fish-god, who releases him from a vow of non-violence for bringing him the Emerald Eye of Ekron... which Lobo then immediately murders the god with. He was shown imprisoned in Hell in Reign in Hell, being unleashed during a fight between Etrigan & Blue Devil, then going on a rampage. Still loyal to Vril Dox, he is recruited for the R.E.B.E.L.S. book... which is horribly unpopular and quickly cancelled (because who the f*ck even remembers L.E.G.I.O.N.?).

-So overall, Lobo's run as a popular character was extreme but also very short. Operating on black humor and mayhem, it had a low shelf life, as the character's one-note nature was ultimately too much to keep the book going. Though it could be quite funny to see him fraggin' bastiches all the time, this kind of thing has an expiry date, as true, GOOD comedy is rooted in character and nuance. And Lobo had none. So from like 1990-99 Lobo was one of DC's top fifteen most popular characters, but after that DC couldn't get rid of him FAST enough, to the point where he only shows up in minor gags. He's as much defined by the '90s as Cable, Spawn and other edgelord characters, and even worse, his iconic appearance and personality won't allow him to ESCAPE that decade, as you just can't do Lobo without the leather jacket, spiked chain, and torn blue jeans. He just doesn't work without it!

Lobo's Powers:
-Lobo's prime was an era of wild excess, and his book one of dark humor, so his powers can kind of vary. He was seen as unkillable as long as it wasn't funny if he died- then suddenly Lobo can easily kill dozens of clones of himself. Sometimes regular bullets could hurt him while at other times he can trade blows with Superman himself. So hey- Power Loss Complication! He also has an extremely gifted sense of smell (again, knocking off Wolverine and others). At various points he had the ability to clone an entire new Lobo out of every drop spilled- this was "cured" by Vril Dox but reappeared in Young Justice as a joke. This would be Summon 12 (Uncontrolled) with numbers in the millions (a +30 extra or so). So, uh... don't let players do that one. Overall, he's PL 12 unarmed and PL 13 with is Chain, relying on his Regeneration to keep him going against opponents more powerful than himself.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Jan 15, 2023 11:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Shock
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Steel! Atomic Skull! Blackrock! Lobo!)

Post by Shock »

Lobo can be fun in small doses. I liked his appearance in the Animated series. Can't imagine reading a Lobo focused series.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Steel! Atomic Skull! Blackrock! Lobo!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Lobo, like Deadpool and most other “parody comics,” are fun in small doses. A one-shot or a two partner in an otherwise “straight” superhero comic or series (I love his one-off appearance in the Young Justice cartoon – “Keesy femme!”). I can even see myself enjoying them as the star of a limited series or a maybe a short film.

Deadpool is a bit more “grounded” than Lobo, so I can take the merc with a mouth in larger doses than the main man. Deadpool takes the grimdark gritty Iron Age tropes and dials them to “11,” Lobo dials them to “111.”
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Steel! Atomic Skull! Blackrock! Lobo!)

Post by Jack of Spades »

Blackrock, and to a lesser extent the Atomic Skull, seem like names that are ripe for reinvention as A-listers. I'm not sure they'd even need reinvention so much as a new look and a push. The basic concepts seem sound. Instead, we get things like Manchester Black and Doomsayer.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Steel! Atomic Skull! Blackrock! Lobo!)

Post by Ares »

Lobo is fine as he was used in Superman: TAS, namely an antagonist and jackass powerful enough for the legitimately morally righteous heroes can beat on. He's basically a more extreme version of Guy Gardner, and a perfect embodiment of "The 90s", and could easily be used to poke fun at that decade.

He also shows what a huge jackass / hypocrite Garth Ennis is, as apparently hyperviolence and juvenile humor are only okay when HE does it. Or maybe he was just jealous someone came up with Lobo before he did.

Lobo's fluctuating power levels is also kind of hilarious, and given his overall history, his loss to Wolverine honestly makes total sense. I remember that fight was so infamous that Lobo fans claimed that a Lobo comic issue retconned it by saying Wolverine paid Lobo off while they were struggling behind the bar. Which as far as I can tell, never happened. Ah the power of the early internet.

I admit, I did want to use a hypothetical son of Lobo to create an even more 'on the nose' 90s parody while also creating a legacy character for Guy Gardner: Warrior. Namely that Lobo had a kid who was half-Vuldarian and undergoes the Way of the Warrior and winds up with a hybrid of Lobo's powers and Guy's body morphing powers, as well as a hybrid of their body markings. He'd also be this nutjob who spouts insane walls of text that are equal part crazy philosophical caveman bullshit and 90s style extreme dialogue / slogans. Yes, he's basically a parody of the Ultimate Warrior, Lobo, Guy Gardner's 90s phase and the 90s in general. I'd call him something like the Penultimate Warrior or the Extreme Warrior.
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Re: Blackrock (Peter Silverstone)

Post by Sidney369 »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 3:29 am -Months later, UBC's ratings slipped even more, and Silverstone revived Blackrock by hypnotizing Tanner's nephew Lester Vegas. The same result occurred, so Silverstone later hypnotized Superman himself and forced him to sign an exclusive contract to UBC, and was planning to force him to reveal his secret identity on a live UBC program. Only during a rare moment of lucidity did Superman realize what was going on, and so smashed the device and threatened to press charges against Tanner. Finally Silverstone wore the costume himself to attempt industrial espionage, having run out of other ideas. However, this time Supergirl was the one who defeated him, and Silverstone was arrested. He never appeared again after 1981.
He appeared in Justice League America #s 43 & 44, where he and a number of other C-list villains (Black Mask, Crowbar, Brainstorm, Quakemaster) loses their weapons in a poker game to a sleazy reporter.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Mr. Mxyzptlk! Metallo! Steel! Atomic Skull!)

Post by Ken »

Ares wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 4:37 pm
Batgirl III wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 4:23 pm If only DC editorial had bent over backwards to accommodate Busiek instead of Morrison….
. . . or Johns . . . or Bendis . . . or DiDio . . .
Backwards?
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Khyber

Post by Jabroniville »

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KHYBER (Hassan-i Sabbah)
Created By:
Kurt Busiek
First Appearance: Superman #657 (Dec. 2006)
Role: One-Off Villain
Group Affiliations: The Hashshashin

-Khyber is an immortal warlord who holds sway over the order of assassins known as the Hashshashin- terrorizing the Muslim world for centuries, and even befuddling the great Genghis Khan & Saladin over time. To ensure his ruthlessness, Khyber transferred all his human traits like guilt and compassion into a man who ended up becoming the hero Sirocco. He kept the Western World in disarray with feuds against Mulsim extremism, and there was the possibility of a future where he killed Superman, but Sirocco killed Khyber himself. Arion of Atlantis tries to show Superman that his multiple acts of heroism have weakened humanity in an effort to convince him to give it up.
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The Emperor of America

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE EMPEROR OF AMERICA
Created By:
Jerry Siegel & John Sikela
First Appearance: Action Comics #52 (Sept. 1942)
Role: Huge Menace

-Never given another name, the "Emperor of Ameriac" sought to take over the United States via a ray that would render all people apathetic and lazy. This being years before the creation of video games, he was quite ahead of his time. He took control of the U.S. government, but Superman proved immune to his ray and defeated him.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Steel! Atomic Skull! Blackrock! Lobo!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Hassan-i Sabbah, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah al-Himyari, is an actual historical figure! Born in the city of Qom, Persia circa 1050 CE in what is now Iran, one was the founder of the Nizari Isma'ili caliphate which stretched from the Levant in modern day Syria to the Persian Gulf in modern Kuwait…

Why the heck is he using a codename based off a mountain pass in Pakistan!?

This is like… If George Washington was secretly an immortal, created a modern day superhero identity, and called himself “Captain Caribbean.”
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Re: Khyber

Post by Shock »

Batgirl III wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 6:36 pm Hassan-i Sabbah, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah al-Himyari, is an actual historical figure! Born in the city of Qom, Persia circa 1050 CE in what is now Iran, one was the founder of the Nizari Isma'ili caliphate which stretched from the Levant in modern day Syria to the Persian Gulf in modern Kuwait…

Why the heck is he using a codename based off a mountain pass in Pakistan!?

This is like… If George Washington was secretly an immortal, created a modern day superhero identity, and called himself “Captain Caribbean.”
You call that out but you're going to let assassins called Hashshashin go? It sounds like the writer's toddler had trouble pronouncing "assassin" and he decided to run with that.
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