Jab’s Builds! (Whomp 'Em! Plumbers Don't Wear Ties! ToeJam & Earl!)

[Jabroniville]

Yup, I lived both of these Crusader teams!!

Thanks for starting these guys! I always liked Ghost Girl, although I thought she had the power to turn invisible and immaterial as well as illusion.

Are you going to stat up the other team, the DC version of the Invaders?

Haha, I remember how excited you got for them when I posted them in 2015-ish (which I re-read while looking for pics). I can swing the DC version at some point, I think, though DC of course did little with them.

I'll have to look up more on Ghost Girl. Bios are REALLY slim for these guys. Looking up stuff, all I see is her "Holographic Projection" schtick. There's also the Alpha Flight Ghost Girl, who had more powers.

Thanks to MC48, who gave me the names of the Crusaders, which didn't appear on Wikipedia.

[Ares]

Hilariously, he was used in Matt Fraction's FF series, as Scott Lang went back in time using The Watcher's equipment, hired the guy, and brought him into modern times to neutralize Doctor Doom's magical powers, allowing the heroes to bring him low- Dakor pointed out that for all Doom's skill, he'd gotten magic "the easy way".

Fraction really was the Grant Morrison to Doom's Magneto, wasn't he? From what I remember, Doom's mother gained her power through a deal with the devil, but Doom himself had to actually study magic the hard way. He spent time as an apprentice to Morgan Le Fey, he studied with the monks who first forged his armor, etc. Was this just some retcon or did I miss something?

[Jabroniville]

Huh- holy shit. Someone's turning one of my favorite Indie Comics, My Friend Dahmer, into a Hollywood film: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/fea ... fe-w431165

It's a really freaky story, too. More or less how a murderous monster was born in some regular small town, and how nobody paid attention to him falling off the rails (he was more or less an alcoholic, absentee student). Backderf's story (he was friends with Dahmer in school) makes it really interesting, as his gang more or less adopts Dahmer as their "pet weirdo" and laugh along with his antics, which usually stem around making fun of people with seizures- his mother- and cerebral palsy- a neighborhood businessman, by imitating their gestures and strange vocal-isms to the amusement of his pals.

Also, reading the actual Ghost in the Shell manga is a trip. It's WAY sillier and more funny than the animated film (which was slower, drawn-out and prone to REALLY pretentious bargain-basement psychology), which was intense, moody and violent. You can really see it'st he guy who did Dominion Tank Police (which featured skanky catgirls who used giant dildos as anti-police weaponry).

[Jabroniville]

Hilariously, he was used in Matt Fraction's FF series, as Scott Lang went back in time using The Watcher's equipment, hired the guy, and brought him into modern times to neutralize Doctor Doom's magical powers, allowing the heroes to bring him low- Dakor pointed out that for all Doom's skill, he'd gotten magic "the easy way".

Fraction really was the Grant Morrison to Doom's Magneto, wasn't he? From what I remember, Doom's mother gained her power through a deal with the devil, but Doom himself had to actually study magic the hard way. He spent time as an apprentice to Morgan Le Fey, he studied with the monks who first forged his armor, etc. Was this just some retcon or did I miss something?

Ah, here we go. Looking at the issue in question:
"Ha! I thought you said this Doom was a mighty sorcerer. He's nothing but a dabbler, a dilettante. Doom's magic is all flash and show and illusion. It only looks powerful.

True magical power requires a piece of the user's soul each time he cats. This Doom is the sort who refuses to pay any price at all. I've fought his kind before."

So yeah, basically Fraction comes off totally dissing the guy. That said, I can actually buy that Doom isn't THAT mighty a sorcerer, or takes easy ways out like refusing to pay the proper price- Magic wasn't a big part of the character early on, was it? It always came off as tacked-on to me- an excuse to figure out why heroes couldn't just kill him and win (because he can body-switch). So the fact that he uses easier ways out and thus weakens his magic actually makes sense. I even kind of like the sentiment that his arrogance is his downfall, as it ALWAYS IS.

But a forgotten Golden Age hero bragging that Doom actually sucks at magic? Yeah, that's dumb. You can play it off like the guy just talking smack or being incorrect, but "you're actually not that good" is a weak writer's trick to insult a character they don't like. I've shown appreciation for Fraction's FF before (Lang's takedown of Doom is rather clever and shows a TON of careful planning), but it's probably for the best that Marvel just kind of ignored it. The Allreds are much better on Silver Surfer anyhow.

[Jabroniville]

UNION JACK II (Brian Falsworth, aka The Destroyer)
Created By: Roy Thomas & Frank Robbins
First Appearance: The Invaders #18 (July 1977)
Role: The British Cap
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: The Invaders
PL 8 (112)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+7)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Government Agent) 6 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 5 (+7)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Security Clearance, Wealth), Equipment 4, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Pistols), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 8

Equipment:
"Bulletproof Costume" Immunity 5 (Ballistics) & Protection 1 (6)
".455 Webley Revolver" Blast 5 (10) -- (11)

• AE: "6-inch Dagger" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Revolver +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Dagger +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5 (+6 Costume), Fortitude +9, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (England)
Relationship (Roger)- The first (debut-wise) gay hero, Brian had a male lover.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (112)

-Union Jack II used to go as "The Destroyer", but re-named himself in honor of daddy. He did some stuff, gained a variant of the Super-Soldier Serum, and died off-handedly in a car accident in the 1950s, leaving behind his father, his male lover (apparently) and sister, Spitfire. He's less skilled than the first Union Jack, but is packing Cap-level physical stats, making him more of a threat in other ways. One time he got Lightning Blasts because of Thor (I dunno, comics are weird), but that didn't last. His sister is now a way more well-known character than he is.

[Ken]

THE CRUSADERS:
The two Golden Age Nuts got together and decided to "cross-over" the two books... but without actually featuring each others' characters. What they wrote was a pair of stories, both featuring a team called "The Crusaders", made up of misguided parodies of the other company's super-heroes, fighting that book's super-team! So DC's Freedom Fighters ended up fighting The Crusaders (featuring knock-offs of Captain America, Namor, The Human Torch and others), while Marvel's Invaders ended up fighting... The Crusaders (featuring knock-offs of Uncle Sam, Black Condor, Phantom Lady and others)! It was kind of neat- I have one of the Freedom Fighters issues, and it's not that great, but it's a fun little idea.

I have all four of them. Both issues of Invaders and both issues of Freedom Fighters. Neither story is that well done, honestly. Fun idea, so-so execution. The best part was with one of the covers for both magazines. Note the similar layout/action.

[Jabroniville]

UNION JACK III (Joseph "Joe" Chapman)
Created By: Roger Stern & John Byrne
First Appearance: Captain America #253
Role: The British Cap
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: The Invaders, M.I.-13
PL 9 (134)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Government Agent) 8 (+11)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+9)
Perception 6 (+10)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Vehicles 6 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Security Clearance), Defensive Attack, Equipment 4, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Pistols), Jack-of-All-Trades, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover & Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 11, Tracking

Equipment:
"Bulletproof Costume" Immunity 5 (Ballistics) & Protection 2 (7)
".455 Webley Revolver" Blast 5 (10) -- (11)

• AE: "6-inch Dagger" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Revolver +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Dagger +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+6 Costume), Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (England)

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 26 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (134)

-The modern-day Union Jack (looking a bit too much like Jack Staff for my liking... though as Ares notes, all the Union Jacks wore this same outfit, so it's actually JACK STAFF being the copycat. I was thinking the older ones wore different looks, but they didn't) debuted a lot longer ago than I thought- I actually have his Series II Marvel Card, which made him look pretty sweet (though I had no idea what a "Union Jack" was). He had superpowers once (Strength 7 or so, most likely, making him a PL 9 guy unarmed as well as with his guns), but is now just a regular guy with guns again, at a higher level than the other two because he's an experienced modern-day hero. He's much more blue-collar than other Jacks (who were all in the English peerage system), and gets stuck in random teams a lot (The Knights of Pendragon, The New Invaders).

[Ares]

THE CRUSADERS:
-The Crusaders came about due to a cute Cross-Over of sorts between Marvel and DC. See, Roy Thomas was writing The Invaders, a series set in World War II, and featuring Marvel's Golden Age characters. Meanwhile, over at DC, Bob Rozakis was writing The Freedom Fighters, featuring the goofy-looking Golden Age heroes of Quality Comics. The two Golden Age Nuts got together and decided to "cross-over" the two books... but without actually featuring each others' characters. What they wrote was a pair of stories, both featuring a team called "The Crusaders", made up of misguided parodies of the other company's super-heroes, fighting that book's super-team! So DC's Freedom Fighters ended up fighting The Crusaders (featuring knock-offs of Captain America, Namor, The Human Torch and others), while Marvel's Invaders ended up fighting... The Crusaders (featuring knock-offs of Uncle Sam, Black Condor, Phantom Lady and others)! It was kind of neat- I have one of the Freedom Fighters issues, and it's not that great, but it's a fun little idea.

-Marvel's Crusaders actually had The Spirit of '76 on the team- one of many men who would later take up the "Captain America" identity when Steve Rogers went missing while fighting Baron Zemo, and an authentic Golden Age character. He acted as the "Uncle Sam", despite not being super-strong. The other four members, however, were newbies- Captain Wings (Black Condor), Ghost Girl (Phantom Lady), Dyna-Mite (Doll Man), Thunder Fist (Human Bomb) and Tommy Lightning (The Ray). They were led on by a mysterious British cabbie named "Alfie" who could turn their powers on and off via a mechanical belt. Dyna-Mite discovers that Alfie, actually a Nazi agent, is using them to assassinate the King of England, but Alfie instigates a fight between The Crusaders & Invaders- he dies in a car crash, and the now-powerless Crusaders disband.

-As they were designed by Jack Kirby, some of Marvel's Crusaders actually look pretty cool, if generic (Kirby had to've known they were one-offs). DC's were a bit more plain- they had a weird Captain America color-swap named "Americommando", a blue fish-man (Barracuda), two sparky flaming guys (Fireball & Sparky), and a Bucky recolour named "Rusty".

This is actually something writers have done more than once, having unofficial team ups like this.

There was a time the Teen Titans had a crossover with the DNAgents, with stand-in heroes replacing the established ones.

One of the most famous ones is also more or less the first "unofficial" Marvel/DC Crossover. In 1972, Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway, Len Wein and his wife, colorist Glynis Wein, crafted a story around the The Rutland Halloween Parade, wherein they self-inserted themselves into the three books they were writing at the time, namely Amazing Adventures #16, Justice League of America #103, and Thor #207. The events of one issue would lead into the next, and the highlight of the crossover was having the Justice League fighting people in magically cursed costumes that gave them the powers of the character they were imitating. This allowed for Capt. America, Thor, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel (who wasn't owned by DC yet) to fight the Justice League.

[Ares]

-The modern-day Union Jack (looking a bit too much like Jack Staff for my liking)

That's . . . he's wearing the SAME OUTFIT as the other Union Jacks. Isn't it more accurate to say Jack Staff made an outfit a bit too much like Union Jack?

[Ares]

Hilariously, he was used in Matt Fraction's FF series, as Scott Lang went back in time using The Watcher's equipment, hired the guy, and brought him into modern times to neutralize Doctor Doom's magical powers, allowing the heroes to bring him low- Dakor pointed out that for all Doom's skill, he'd gotten magic "the easy way".

Fraction really was the Grant Morrison to Doom's Magneto, wasn't he? From what I remember, Doom's mother gained her power through a deal with the devil, but Doom himself had to actually study magic the hard way. He spent time as an apprentice to Morgan Le Fey, he studied with the monks who first forged his armor, etc. Was this just some retcon or did I miss something?

Ah, here we go. Looking at the issue in question:
"Ha! I thought you said this Doom was a mighty sorcerer. He's nothing but a dabbler, a dilettante. Doom's magic is all flash and show and illusion. It only looks powerful.

True magical power requires a piece of the user's soul each time he cats. This Doom is the sort who refuses to pay any price at all. I've fought his kind before."

So yeah, basically Fraction comes off totally dissing the guy. That said, I can actually buy that Doom isn't THAT mighty a sorcerer, or takes easy ways out like refusing to pay the proper price- Magic wasn't a big part of the character early on, was it? It always came off as tacked-on to me- an excuse to figure out why heroes couldn't just kill him and win (because he can body-switch). So the fact that he uses easier ways out and thus weakens his magic actually makes sense. I even kind of like the sentiment that his arrogance is his downfall, as it ALWAYS IS.

But a forgotten Golden Age hero bragging that Doom actually sucks at magic? Yeah, that's dumb. You can play it off like the guy just talking smack or being incorrect, but "you're actually not that good" is a weak writer's trick to insult a character they don't like. I've shown appreciation for Fraction's FF before (Lang's takedown of Doom is rather clever and shows a TON of careful planning), but it's probably for the best that Marvel just kind of ignored it. The Allreds are much better on Silver Surfer anyhow.

"A piece of the user's soul each time he casts"? That's a new one. And seems like casting magic would turn every sorcerer into a souless monster after a short while.

The "Doom refuses to pay any price" doesn't really fit either. In Iron Man 149, we see Doom receive training in the mystic arts, mastering all a wizard had to teach him, and then pays the agreed upon price for the training. We likewise saw that he was willing to do what was necessary to receive training under Morgan le Fay.

As far as Doom being a skilled mystic, he was demonstrating a mastery of magic as far back as the early 1970s, where it was first revealed that every year on the same day, Doom entered into Hell and attempted to free his mother's soul. Dr. Strange has even suggested Doom would be a top contender for Sorcerer Supreme if Stephen ever lost the title.

[Jabroniville]

-The modern-day Union Jack (looking a bit too much like Jack Staff for my liking)

That's . . . he's wearing the SAME OUTFIT as the other Union Jacks. Isn't it more accurate to say Jack Staff made an outfit a bit too much like Union Jack?

Heh- I made that comment thinking that the old Union Jacks had worn the outfit I'd seen in the Marvel Series II Card for Jack... but research shows that in fact they ALL looked like that. So you're right. I'll change it.

[Jabroniville]

THE CHALLENGER (William "Bill" Waring)
Created By: Ray Gill & George Klein
First Appearance: Daring Myster Comics #7 (April 1941)
Role: Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Liberty Legion
PL 8 (92)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+7)
Deception 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment (Swords +2), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Training in India" Immunity 1 (Pain) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Swords +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Enemy (Nazi Germany)

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 9 (92)

-The Challenger made only a few appearances in the Golden Age, and seems to have one of the most unique costumes of the era- a green outfit with a black mask and some red stars on him. He traveled the world to pick up skills in order to avenge his father, who was murdered for turning state's evidence over to the DA's office. He ended up "bouncing forward" in time, finding himself in the meta-humor She-Hulk book in 2005. He spends some time with Captain America to get over his "Man out of time" act, and ends up joining Montana's Freedom Force in "the Fifty State Initiative".

[Ares]

A little something for Jab:

[Jabroniville]

<3 WUVS DAT.

[Jabroniville]

THE PATRIOT I (Jeffrey Mace, aka "Captain America III")
Created By: Ray Gill & Bill Everett
First Appearance: Human Torch Comics #4 (April 1941)
Role: Generic Patriotic Hero
Group Affiliations: The Liberty Legion, The All-Winners Squad, The Daily Bugle (staff)
PL 8 (115)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (War Hero) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Journalism) 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Close Combat, Defensive Roll, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defenses, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 7, Takedown

Powers:
"Rip-Off of Captain America's Mighty Shield" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [12]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion, Withstand Damage (2)
"Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Dynamic, Ricochet 3, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 5) (Diminished Range -1) (12) -- (15)

• Dynamic AE: "Shield Bash" Strength-Damage +3 (3)
• Dynamic AE: "Bouncing Shield" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable 5, Selective 5) (12)
• Dynamic AE: Enhanced Dodge 2 & Parry 2 (Extras: Sustained +0) Linked to Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (6)

-- (17 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Shield Bash +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Shield Toss +9 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Bouncing Shield +5 Area (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (+12 Shield, DC 22), Parry +9 (+11 Shield, DC 21), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Patriotism)- Inspired by Captain America himself, Jeffrey Mace is devoted to his country.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 13 (115)

-Jeffrey Mace was The Patriot, a D-League Patriotic hero... wait, he was in over SEVENTY ISSUES? Okay, never mind, he was actually a pretty solid hit in the 1940s, and was in the tier just under the Cap/Subby/Torch triad of power. Debuting only the month after Cap, he was one in a LONG line or patriotic Flag-wearing heroes (MLJ/Archie's The Shield being the first, or one of them, debuting more than a year before either), and stuck around for quite a while. Roy Thomas and others tossed him onto the Retroactive team The Liberty Legion, as well as the existing-but-he-wasn't-on-it-then All-Winners Squad (the reason for all these varied teams of the same few characters escapes me), and he was decided to be the "1950s Cap", taking the mantle after William "Spirit of '76" Naslund croaked while saving then-senator J.F.K. from a killer robot. He himself eventually retired, and married Cap's one-time girlfriend The Golden Girl. He died of cancer in the modern era.

-This build may look a bit familiar. That's because he's basically identical to The Spirit of '76 in every single way. I mean, c'mon, they're both two-fisted patriotic defenders of America who fought Nazis and used an alternate version of Captain America's Shield. How different are they gonna be? Only difference is that his baseline form is only PL 7, because he has no fancy resistant outfit. Greycrusader added in some other info, stating that he was more of a grappler who used a lot of takedowns, so I modified him slightly.