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Jabroniville
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The Anti-Monitor

Post by Jabroniville »

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Bold statement: George Perez is good at art.

THE ANTI-MONITOR
Created By:
Marv Wolfman & George Perez
First Appearance: Crisis on Infinite Earths #2 (May 1985)
Role: Universe-Ender
PL 20 (609)
STRENGTH
23 STAMINA 22 AGILITY -1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 20 AWARENESS 8 PRESENCE 6

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+12)
Deception 2 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 12 (+32)
Expertise (Cosmic Lore) 10 (+30)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 10 (+30)
Intimidation 14 (+22)
Investigation 4 (+14)
Perception 4 (+12)
Persuasion 4 (+12)
Technology 12 (+32)
Vehicles 10 (+10)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Daze (Intimidation), Eidetic Memory, Equipment 40 (Super Spaceship, World-Devouring Gear), Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical 3 (Cosmic Blast), Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 12, Skill Mastery (Technology), Startle, Ultimate Science Skill, Ultimate Technology Skill, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Cosmic Being"
Immunity 12 (Aging, Life Support, Sleep) [12]
Flight 5 (10 mph) [20]
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) [2]
Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 31) [35]
Regeneration 12 [12]

"Cosmic Mind"
Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) [8]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Space) [2]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]
"Cosmic Sight" Senses 4 (Extended Vision 4) [4]
"Empower Others" Variable (Others' Powers) 8 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, Continuous) [64]

"Huge Size" Growth 8 (Str & Sta +8, +8 Mass, +4 Intimidation, -4 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -8 Stealth) -- (24 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [17]

"Weaken Others" Weaken 16 (Extras: Area- 500ft. Burst +5, Broad, Simultaneous) (128) -- [138]
  • AE: "Anti-Matter Wave" Damage 19 (Feats: Penetrating 10, Variable 2) (Extras: Area- 500ft. Cone +4) (107)
  • AE: "Anti-Matter Stream" Damage 19 (Feats: Penetrating 10, Variable 2) (Extras: Area- 250ft. Line +4) (107)
  • AE: "Anti-Matter Burst" Damage 19 (Feats: Penetrating 10, Variable 2) (Extras: Area- 250ft. Burst +4) (107)
  • AE: Anti-Matter Blast 26 (Feats: Accurate, Affects Insubstantial, Penetrating 14, Extended Range 7- x12,800 ft., Split, Variable Descriptor 2) (78)
  • AE: Force Field 2 (Extras: Affects Others 18, Ranged 18) (38)
  • AE: Move Object 20 (Feats: Subtle, Precise) (Extras: Perception Range) (62)
  • AE: Movement 5 (Dimensional Travel 3) (Extras: Portal +2) (9)
  • AE: Teleport 20 (Feats: Increased Mass 10- 25 tons) (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (90)
  • AE: "Sense Energy" Senses 22 (Detect Energy- Ranged 17- 1,600 trillion miles, Acute & Analytical, Tracking) (22)
  • AE: "Sense Life" Senses 22 (Detect Life- Ranged 17- 1,600 trillion miles, Tracking) (22)
Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+23 Damage, DC 38)
Cosmic Blast +14 (+26 Ranged Damage, DC 41)
Cosmic Waves +19 Area (+19 Damage, DC 34)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +26 (+28 Force Field, +16 Impervious), Fortitude +22, Will +16

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The Anti-Monitor seeks to destroy the positive matter universe, thus empowering his own.
Vulnerable (Power Leaks)- The Anti-Monitor is prone to power drains- if his armor is ruptured, his energies may leak out, leaving him less powerful. Qward's sun also empowers him, and draining it weakens him.
Power Loss (Full Power)- The Anti-Monitor needs to drain energy to be at maximum power- until most of the Earths in the universe have been destroyed, he is much more vulnerable, with only Toughness 22 or so. He is often more vulnerable without having used his Weaken on others.

Total: Abilities: 142 / Skills: 86--43 / Advantages: 71 / Powers: 324 / Defenses: 29 (609)

The Event That Actually DID Change Everything:
-So in 1985, a combination of falling sales and Marv Wolfman & George Perez's Teen Titans being DC's biggest moneymaker netted the two the power to call the biggest event in comic book history- one so large it actually DID change everything. And so the two combined their efforts to use every single character they had access to (combinging DC's characters with those of Charlton, Fawcett & Quality, all now owned by DC) and forged a Super-Event to combine them all into one Earth instead of several. And the means to do this was to create this epic villain- a remorseless being of pure evil, with an inhuman face and no showcased emotions. It was a truly epic design- he looked enough like a dessicated corpse to set off the Uncanny Valley effect (the unnatural wires everywhere helped), but had that big armor to make him look bulky and powerful. It made his rare outbursts of anger mean a lot more, too.

-So the Anti-Monitor was created when the Oan scientist Krona broke the laws and looked back to the origin of the universe- this blasphemous act resulted in a huge explosion that split the Universe into a Multiverse, creating scores of parallel worlds. As well, Oa itself was duplicated with the planet of Anti-Matter itself- Qward. And The Monitor, a powerful being meant to watch over the universe, was also doubled, creating the Anti-Monitor- a being of pure oblivion and evil. The two battled for a million years, but neither was the victor- both were stunned, and layed dormant for nine billion years, awakening only recently when the scientist Pariah performed a similar experiment to Krona. The Anti-Monitor's goal became to destroy all the universes and create total entropy. Crisis on Infinite Earths opens with the destruction of Earth-Three, home of the Crime Syndicate of America since a 1964 comic introduced them- we now knew the stakes.

The Crisis Destroys the Earths:
-So anti-matter waves were forged, creating chaos throughout the Multiverse as countless Earths died. Pariah, for his crime, is forced to watch as each Earth dies, mourning his actions in agony (he would learn only later that he wasn't responsible for unleashing the creature). The Anti-Monitor rebuilt his army on Qward, forming an army out of the Thunderers (goofy-dressed guys who throw lightning) and Shadow Demons (icy-black creatures that disintegrate with a touch). He manipulated events to force Monitor's student/daughter Harbinger into killing him, but miscalculated his foe's cleverness, as the Monitor used the energies of his death to save the remaining five Earths from destruction. In two of comics' greatest moments, the Anti-Monitor's plans are foiled- the Barry "The Flash" Allen, the hero who began the Silver Age, is imprisoned on Qward, but breaks free and uses the Psycho-Pirate's emotion-control powers to force the Thunderers to blast the Anti-Monitor ("Death to the Anti-Monitor!"), buying himself time for the ultimate sacrifice play, reversing the anti-matter at the cost of his own life ("we must always... save... the... world"). And then, all of the powerhouse heroes of history team up to fight the Anti-Monitor himself- a who's who of super-heavies (Superman I, Superman II, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman II, The Marvel Family, Firestorm, Alan Scott, Jade, The Ray, Mon-El, Wildfire, Supergirl, Captain Atom, Doctor Light II, Lady Quark, etc.). But there, Superman is weaker than normal thanks to the rules of the anti-matter universe and is bludgeoned down, and only Supergirl manages to break through, fighting to the death to shatter the Anti-Monitor's armor and badly hurting him. She dies in Superman's arms, her cousin grieving and stating his desire to kill the monster.

-In any case, the Anti-Monitor is slow to recover, and the heroes have the time they need- Alexander Luthor Jr. leads a redoubled effort. The hand that appears below the Big Bang turns out to be the Anti-Monitor's himself in a great bit of business, and the Spectre appears to combat him. Losing in his goal, the Anti-Monitor sends his Shadow Demons to Earth to kill everyone, resulting in the deaths of dozens of named characters (Green Arrow I, Robin I & Huntress are killed because they're out of continuity now; Dove was killed to give Hawk a new partner; Kole was Wolfman's own sacrifice; the Bug-Eyed Bandit is killed because Wolfman hated him). Again and again, a seemingly fatal attack defeats him, only for the monster to return, looking more and more like living energy. Ultimately, a combination attack kills him- Doctor Light was empowered solely for this moment by draining the sun of Qward to weaken him, then launch a blast into him, Negative Woman wraps her radioactive self around him to hold him off, and every powerful blaster in the DCU fires off their energies at once (including Quark, two Supermen, Power Girl, Manhunter, Firestorm and others) to bring him down. The heroes escape, leaving only a few- Superman I and Superboy-Prime fight him to the last, Alexander Luthor becomes the means by which Darkseid throws out his Omega Beams at the exact right moment to stun the creature, and the Golden Age Superman appropriately scores the final blow, sending the Anti-Monitor into a star, which explodes. The remaining heroes are saved by Alexander and the villain dies, mostly for good.

The Anti-Monitor Returns! In... Someone Else's Story!:
-Shockingly enough, this huge character remains dead for the next 22 years, missing tons of stories. For whatever reason, no writer had the gumption, nor the power, to resurrect him. In Infinite Crisis, written by new DC super-writer Geoff Johns, his corpse is found by Alexander, who uses it to bring the Multiverse back into existence. Shockingly, however, the villain returns properly in The Sinestro Corps War, a massive "Holy Shit!" moment of Holy Shit Moments... only to be a subordinate character in Sinestro's massive army, alongside Cyborg Superman & Superboy-Prime. This was a really weird twist, as the character should be the end of nearly everything, but he's just kinda THERE. He tortures the "Ion" entity and murders GL Ke'Haan, and is held off by a band of Guardians, scarring one of them. Weakened, he even ends up defeated by Superboy-Prime, again going psychotic and still carrying a grudge for Earth-Prime's destruction. The Anti-Monitor ends up rising, imprisoned in a Black Lantern Power Battery at the hands of Scar, a Guardian of Oa mutated by the monster's powers. The Anti-Monitor is reanimated as a Black Lantern controlled by the demon lord Nekron, but when he rises from the Battery, he is attacked by hundreds of Lanterns from the various new Corps, who combined their energy into Dove (a holder of the "White" energy) and use her as a human bullet, blasting through the Anti-Monitor's head. Later, he is resurrected by a White Power Ring (hoo boy is that an unfortunate name, lol) and fights Nekron in revenge for the control, but is banished back to the anti-matter universe, where he resides as continuity ends with him still alive.

-Ultimately, the character was perfect for what he was- a one-off super-monster who threatened all reality for the sake of pure evil. Hugely lofty ambitions and no personality of his own beyond cold indifference and utter rage, and that could only be created by his many defeats. Barry Allen and Supergirl died enraging him in perfect moments, and his open-mouthed fury at Earth's heroes constantly beating him was fantastic. Geoff Johns, having a lot of "sizzle" and very little "steak", didn't know what to do with his big villain, stopping him way more casually than Earth's heroes had during the Crisis, and did so TWICE, and then the character just kinda farted around doing a Resurrection Congo. In so doing, it cost the character a lot of dignity.

The Anti-Monitor's Powers:
-The Anti-Monitor is an interesting one, in that he's a Cosmic Menace, but lacks the raw power of Galactus or other types, as he can't just insta-kill tons of heroes in huge waves of power. DC's heroes were way more powerful than Marvel's at this point, but he's still capable of being damaged by many of them, and can't simply beat Superman one-on-one easily (especially in the middle of the crossover, when he's not quite as powerful as at the end- there, Supergirl fights him to a standstill, breaking his armor and nearly killing him). What happens is that he's just an absolute TANK, eating tons of punishment from everybody until something finally cracks through. His final death happened by means of like four different huge things happening in a row- all the heroes fighting him at once, Doctor Light using a specific weakness of his, Darkseid doing a "run-in", and Superman using all his strength for one final punch.

-He's a bit tricky, as his power level varies quite a bit over the course of the series- when he battles Supergirl, he is nearly killed a solo fight (albeit fatally wounding her in the process). Against all the heroes at once, he shows the ability to drain them, and later feeds on his own Shadow Demons to redouble his strength! In these forms, he's much larger and take take on dozens of high-powered superheroes at once. And his regenerative powers are extreme, allowing him to come back from certain death three or four times in a single issue until Superman I finally destroys him. Ultimately, he just kind of has a "Power Loss" Complication tacked on to explain it. It would also justify the weaker showings Post-Crisis.

-The Anti-Monitor can also empower others, like he does to the Psycho-Pirate (enabling him to use his powers to affects three EARTHS simultaneously!). He doesn't move as quickly as many Cosmic Beings, and even has to build gear to accomplish much of whe he wants (the Flash dies destroying his Anti-Matter Cannon), but he's still a PL 20, 600+ point creature.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Imperiex! Alexander Luthor! The Anti-Monitor!)

Post by Jabroniville »

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! And with that... I... am... DONE!! 58 days after I started, I am finished the Superman Builds! That's probably my last huge DC set, as I did 2+ months of Batman a year back, and 1+ month of Green Lantern builds before that. There's still some stuff I can re-post (hey I forgot about that Outsiders set, lol), but it's nice to finally be finished. 2 months is a bit long to be working on ANYTHING for this thread.

And hey! We got BatgirlIII back in the meantime! And HalloweenJack posted again!

Since this was such a big set, I can settle things down for a couple of days- I wanted to delve back into some of the Deviants mostly to flesh out the bios of some minor characters, and also post the final two builds for Street Fighter V and Tekken, as that will let me cap off those sets. After that... it's two Fighting Game sets in a row, as I get to the two big Chinese-themed fighters, Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty and Martial Masters!
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Imperiex! Alexander Luthor! The Anti-Monitor!)

Post by Ares »

Regarding the Anti-Monitor's power, he basically operates at two levels of power throughout Crisis on Infinite Earths.

At first he's above Pre-Crisis Superman, capable of killing people like him and Supergirl if given the chance, but a concentrated assault from them could like wise kill him. It was made clear that Supergirl was already dying from the injuries of fighting the Anti-Monitor, so even taking down the AM that way was more mutually assured destruction.

After the Flash thwarted him, the AM decided to quit screwing around and absorbed the energies of his universe, growing to giant size. In that state, even Pre-Crisis heroes were BOUNCING off of him, and he was able to basically one-shot all of the assembled heroes at the dawn of time and drain their power.

Later, during the final fight in the antimatter universe, even Superman admits his strongest punches didn't make the AM blink, so they needed a multi-stage plan to weaken the AM enough to hurt him. And it was clear he could hurt and kill even Pre-C heroes. He killed Earth-1 Wonder Woman while weakened, and managed to injure Superboy Prime and E2 Superman. The most powerful heroes ever basically needed to have a multi-layered plan to drastically weaken the AM before they even had a shot at victory.

I'd definitely put the Anti-Monitor above Galactus types. I just can't see Galactus shrugging off those kinds of hits and manhandling that many Pre-Crisis heroes at once. At least not in his giant form.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Superboy-Prime! Imperiex! Alexander Luthor!)

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:31 pmAll of Roy Thomas's stuff became unusable.
That was the plan.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Superboy-Prime! Imperiex! Alexander Luthor!)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Ken wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:18 am
Jabroniville wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:31 pmAll of Roy Thomas's stuff became unusable.
That was the plan.
And I still say that was one of the most nonsensical business decisions I've ever heard of. They must've really not liked Roy Thomas much.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Superboy-Prime! Imperiex! Alexander Luthor!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:18 am
Jabroniville wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:31 pmAll of Roy Thomas's stuff became unusable.
That was the plan.
I’ve never heard this “everyone hated Roy” theory before. Just a thing about his books confused new fans. Wolfman apparently thought Marvel’s lead over DC (it’s important context that Marvel was eating DC’s lunch at this point, with only a handful of books doing well- including, importantly, one Wolfman & Perez were doing) was because of more streamlined continuity. But I’m unaware of a hate for Roy within him. After all, both were exiles from the sane cause- Jim Shooter.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Imperiex! Alexander Luthor! The Anti-Monitor!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Thomas had jumped ship from Marvel to DC in 1981, but went right back to Marvel in 1985, almost as soon as his exclusive contract was up. I don’t think that Wolfman/Perez intended to kill off so many of Thomas’ pet characters with the Crisis…

But Thomas’ personal focus had always been Golden Age and Retro-Golden Age stories, so without him around to write for the JSA, All-Star Squadron, and the Infinity Inc. kids, they just fell into disuse… and disused characters always end up on the chopping block.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Imperiex! Alexander Luthor! The Anti-Monitor!)

Post by Sidney369 »

Batgirl III wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 3:56 am Thomas had jumped ship from Marvel to DC in 1981, but went right back to Marvel in 1985, almost as soon as his exclusive contract was up. I don’t think that Wolfman/Perez intended to kill off so many of Thomas’ pet characters with the Crisis…

But Thomas’ personal focus had always been Golden Age and Retro-Golden Age stories, so without him around to write for the JSA, All-Star Squadron, and the Infinity Inc. kids, they just fell into disuse… and disused characters always end up on the chopping block.
Roy Thomas wrote Infinity Inc. until 1988 and Secret Origins and Young All-Stars until 1989.

I really don't understand the hate Wolfman and Perez is getting. I guess it's just easier to blame the talent than the suits who are responsible for making the decisions.
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Re: Blackwulf

Post by Jabroniville »

So the next set of bios will be some bigger descriptions of characters from Marvel's bizarre Blackwulf series- a book that didn't last long and ultimately went nowhere, and had no effect on anything, but because it was 1994 and Marvel was interested in bloating the industry with books, still got a release! Here's my bio on Blackwulf, since it's relevant now.

(and don't worry; these bios will only take up like a day's worth of posting. It's mostly to elaborate on some old stuff and put a gap between Superman builds and the next set)
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2017 1:46 am Image
Image

BLACKWULF II (Lucian)
Created By:
Glenn Herdling & Angel Medina
First Appearance: Thunderstrike #6 (March 1994)
Role: Failed '90s Hero
Group Affiliations: The Underground Legion
PL 10 (153)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills: 
Athletics 3 (+10)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Military) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Space Hero) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"The Black Legacy" Damage 10 (Feats: Improved Critical 2) (Extras: Penetrating 8) Linked to Weaken Stamina 10 [30]

"Shadow Lance" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [17]
Adds Ranged to Black Legacy, With 2 Extra Ranks to Each (28 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Black Legacy +10 (+10 Damage & Weaken, DC 25 & 20)
Shadow Lance +8 (+12 Ranged Damage & Weaken, DC 27 & 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +7, Fortitude +8, Will +6

Complications: 
Enemy (Lord Tantalus)- Lucian has grown to despise his murderous father after watching him cruelly cut down Pelops, Lucian's brother and Tantalus' son.
Relationship (The Underground Legion)- Lucian now leads those who fight against Tantalus.
Prejudice (The Black Legacy)- Lucian has a black stripe across his face, marking him as tainted by the evil Black Legacy of his father's.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 13 (153)

-I only vaguely remember hearing about this guy, and it's because his book was heavily featured in the Bullpen Bulletins pages of the time, promising some kind of epic series. He's the son of Lord Tantalus & Queen Nirvana of Armechadon, interstellar Deviants. Nirvana was forced to marry Tantalus and give birth to his children, who often bore his evil Black Legacy powers. The Celestials exiled Tantalus & his two living sons (Pelops & Lucian) to Earth after Nirvana killed herself to prevent the births of more monstrous children, and Pelops grew into Blackwulf, a member of the Underground Legion, a resistance to Tantalus, opposing his brother Lucian in the meantime. Tantalus murdered his own son in revenge, intending this to be a lesson to Lucian. Instead, Lucian vowed to destroy his father, becoming the NEW Blackwulf.

-Blackwulf opposed his father and The Peacekeepers (Tantalus' goon squad), teamed up with Deathlok (who was undergoing a big push in the 1990s), and joined The Underground Legion himself. He was cured of his Black Legacy curse by a Celestial minion, but gained it back in order to save his mother from an "un-life" as an undead minion of Tantalus', absorbing it back into himself. In the final issue of Blackwulf (#10), Lucian finally kills his own father, having been given a distraction by Lord Khult, his grandfather. As far as I can tell, Blackwulf has never appeared again.
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Man-I possess all sort of obscure comics trivia knowledge (though not at Mark Waid's level-check him out at a convention sometime!) but I knew NOTHING about the whole "Blackwulf" series, let alone Marvel had an entire other race of the Deviants, aside from the Earth and Skrull based races (nearly all Skrulls are Deviants, their genetics are more stable than their Terran counterparts). Then again, so much of the 90s comics characters are a blur to me, especially during the period when Marvel (under the ownership of Perlman) flooded the market with books, hoping to gain market share because the "Marvel Zombies" would buy ANY MU title, regardless of quality. Totally wrong idea, by the way, a massive failure which ruined a lot of young creators' nascent careers. since they were pushed into writing/drawing/editing their own books WAY before they were ready.

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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Superboy-Prime! Imperiex! Alexander Luthor!)

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 3:46 amAfter all, both were exiles from the sane cause- Jim Shooter.
Funniest typo I've seen in a long while.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 3:46 am
Ken wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:18 am
Jabroniville wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:31 pmAll of Roy Thomas's stuff became unusable.
That was the plan.
I’ve never heard this “everyone hated Roy” theory before. Just a thing about his books confused new fans. Wolfman apparently thought Marvel’s lead over DC (it’s important context that Marvel was eating DC’s lunch at this point, with only a handful of books doing well- including, importantly, one Wolfman & Perez were doing) was because of more streamlined continuity. But I’m unaware of a hate for Roy within him. After all, both were exiles from the sane cause- Jim Shooter.
I don't know that there was any hatred towards Roy per se. Just calculated indifference.

Roy Thomas loves golden age comics. It was evident at Marvel with the Invaders and the Liberty Legion. It would be evident when he went and wrote Alter-Ego at First Comics. When Roy was signed by DC in 1981; they had to know that's where his interest would be.

According to most retellings, the project that would become the Crisis on Infinite Earths was initiated in the early 1980s; about the same time as Roy was pitching All-Star Squadron. One project was aimed at streamlining DC's continuity; the other was designed to revel in the oldest parts of DC's continuity. The projects were intrinsically at odds.

Even now, it's almost strange to go back and see how little Jay Garrick was seen in All-Star Squadron.

I don't know what happened. I've read interviews where Roy said there were promises that Earth-Two would be left alone that were later renegged on. I have no way of knowing what really happened. I do know that Roy was told to write the JSA out of the then-present day DC Universe (Last Days of the Justice Society). Since we're talking about a man with a personal COMPLETE collection of golden age All-Star Comics, that had to hurt. I imagine the only thing worse is if they had someone else do it.
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The Peacekeepers

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

THE PEACEKEEPERS
Created By:
Glenn Herdling & Angel Medina
First Appearance: Thunderstrike #6 (March 1994)
Role: Sketchpad Characters

-The Peacekeepers are the goon squad of Lord Tantalus- the main villain of the Blackwulf series. They debuted in the Thunderstrike series under Tom DeFalco to "put over" the new characters with audiences, as they came to capture the villainess Pandara, who'd just debuted in that book. They attacked Thunderstrike & Code: BLUE (his super-cop allies), escaping with their prey, then returned to the planet Lyonesse, where Blackwulf took place. They were then sent to capture a woman who had learned how to stabilize DNA, but she escaped- Lucian, son of Tantalus, replaced his dead brother Pelops as the new "Blackwulf" and fought his old allies. During the course of subsequent issues, Touchstone (an ally of Blackwulf's) rendered Schizo comatose and then froze Lady Trident in time. Lord Tantalus was killed by Blackwulf and the Peacekeepers returned home under leadership of Khult (father of Tantalus's wife), leaving their beaten allies behind. None of them have ever reappeared- Blackwulf went over like a fart in church and has never mattered again.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 08, 2023 5:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Imperiex! Alexander Luthor! The Anti-Monitor!)

Post by Ken »

Sidney369 wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:23 am
Batgirl III wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 3:56 am Thomas had jumped ship from Marvel to DC in 1981, but went right back to Marvel in 1985, almost as soon as his exclusive contract was up. I don’t think that Wolfman/Perez intended to kill off so many of Thomas’ pet characters with the Crisis…

But Thomas’ personal focus had always been Golden Age and Retro-Golden Age stories, so without him around to write for the JSA, All-Star Squadron, and the Infinity Inc. kids, they just fell into disuse… and disused characters always end up on the chopping block.
Roy Thomas wrote Infinity Inc. until 1988 and Secret Origins and Young All-Stars until 1989.
Roy and Dann Thomas (Roy and his wife) wrote Infinity Inc., and there are verious accounts about how Dann did most of the writing, and Roy proofread. Roy was apparently the person who turned Mr. Bones rapping doggerel into proper rhyming. In any event, they were professional writers who need to eat, and as long as the titles were selling it made more sense to stay on.
Sidney369 wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:23 amI really don't understand the hate Wolfman and Perez is getting. I guess it's just easier to blame the talent than the suits who are responsible for making the decisions.
I blame Wolfman because he pitched the idea for the Crisis to DC in the first place. And I never excused the suits.

Also, and I apologise to those of you who heard this before, I am one of the youngest native golden age fans born. Despite being born a year before the Moon Landing, the first super heroes I ever knew were Superman, Captain Marvel, Batman, Robin, the Jim Hammond Human Torch, Toro the Flaming Kid, the Jay Garrick Flash, the Alan Scott Green Lantern, the Spectre, the original Carter Hall Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Sub-Mariner, Captain America, Bucky, Plastic Man, and the Spirit. In that order.

I'd learn of other heroes, later. I saw a picture with the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Hulk, Doctor Doom, Thor, Nick Fury and the Silver Surfer, in it. It also had Fighting American, the first Blue Beetle, the Black Terror, Blue Bolt, Stuntman, the original Black Cat, the original Daredevil, Green Hornet, and Kato in the same picture, as well as "the Invaders" and a bunch of DC guys who I already knew. And the Shadow and Sheena. I learned about Shadow and Sheena from that book. And some more golden age and pulp guys. But nothing on the silver age Marvel guys, though Steranko put them on the cover.

I learned of Aquaman from the Super Friends cartoon. Barry Allen, too, though to be honest I came in late the first time "Too Hot to Handle" was on, and I missed his introduction. I spent weeks trying to figure out who he was; complicated by the family having a black-and-white TV set. And Green Arrow and his facial hair, if not his beard, from "Gulliver's Gigantic Goof". Similarly, the Steranko cover not withstanding, I learned of Spider-Man through reruns of the 1967 cartoon.

The golden age heroes were my first super heroes. I learned of, and would come to love others. But the golden-age heroes were the heroes of my golden age of comics.

As such, though I loved the first ten issues of Crisis on Infinite Earths; I hated the ending. The only two comic books to ever make me cry were Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, and The Last Days of the Justice Society special.

And that is why it seems like I hate Marv Wolfman, particularly when discussing the Crisis.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Lord Tantalus

Post by Jabroniville »

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TANTALUS
Created By:
Glenn Herdling & Angel Medina
First Appearance: Thunderstrike #6 (March 1994)
Role: The Big Bad of Blackwulf

-The huge, muscular, orange-skinned Tantalus is the Big Bad of Blackwulf, the Deviant ruler of Armechadon. He had led other Deviants in a "Holy War" against baseline creatures (apparently inspiring the Skrulls to do so centuries ago), and had forced a woman named Nirvana to marry him and produce children. She bore him Lucian & Pelops, both empowered with the same "Black Legacy" powers as their father, and killed herself to prevent the birth of any more. Horrified, Pelops became "Blackwulf", a resistance leader, but Tantalus slaughtered him as a lesson to Lucian. This didn't stick- Lucian was so enraged he became the NEW Blackwulf, and the hero of his own book.

-Lord Tantalus was eventually banished to Earth by the Dreaming Celestial (whom Tantalus believed had created him), and founded the Kingdom of Lyonesse on Earth. Ultimately, Tantalus was killed by Lucian in the final issue of Blackwulf- Blackwulf absorbed all the "Black Legacy" into himself, turning ebon black while Tantalus disintegrated. Lord Khult suggested that Tantalus always tended to return, but it's been 25 years- he's probably toast.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Khult

Post by Jabroniville »

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KHULT
Created By:
Glenn Herdling & Angel Medina
First Appearance: Thunderstrike #7 (April 1994)
Role: The Evil Vizier (to Tantalus)

-Khult had a very odd role in Blackwulf- the "vizier" of sorts to Lord Tantalus, he was also an immortal Deviant, and had joined Tantalus. His daughter was to be slain by the villain, but spared when she proved immune to the "Black Legacy" powers- she was made to marry Tantalus and give him children, but killed herself. Khult himself was kept on, and advised Tantalus in various things, such as opposing his grandsons (Pelops & Lucian- both taking the name "Blackwulf" as rebel leaders against Tantalus). However, Khult was insubordinate- when the Deviants were exiled to Earth for centuries, Khult used his magical powers to teleport himself back to their homeworld, Armechadon, and rule it in secret. Tantalus eventually discovered the secret when he himself managed to return home, and the two battled before being interrupted. Khult shared the method for slaying Tantalus, and watched as he died at the hands of Blackwulf... then Khult gathered the Peacekeepers and returned home, none the worse for wear. He hasn't been seen in 25+ years, and could possibly still rule his homeworld, getting away scot-free with many evil acts.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Bristle

Post by Jabroniville »

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BRISTLE
Created By:
Glenn Herdling & Angel Medina
First Appearance: Thunderstrike #6 (March 1994)
Role: Sketchpad Character, Blaster

-Bristle was a mohawked guy who shot pointy quills out of his hands (some of which explode on impact)- the Marvunapp writer says that of all the characters in Blackwulf, he had the least personality. He mostly just goes along for the ride, once convincing Lucian (the future Blackwulf) to abandon Pandara on Earth, and tries to kill the team's intended kidnapping target when the mission goes south. He manages to survive, fleeing with Khult, the new Peacekeeper leader.
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