Jab’s Builds! (Lawnmower Man! Samus Aran! Metroids!)

[Jabroniville]

This is still in the 99th percentile for well-proportioned Marvel UK art. Think about that.

GRUNT (Arnold Coltrane)
Created By: John Freeman & Brian Williamson
First Appearance: Shadow Riders #1 (June 1993)
Role: Techno-Biker
Group Affiliations: The Shadow Riders
PL 8 (102)
STRENGTH 9 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+4)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehiciles 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Equipment 7 (Arsenal of Guns- Heavy Weapons, Super-Bike- Motorcycle +2 Toughness & Morph- Regular Bike), Ranged Attack 4, Teamwork

Powers:
Immunity 1 (Sleep) [1]
Power-Lifting 1 (25 tons) [1]
Protection 1 [1]
Regeneration 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Guns +8 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
Heavy Weapons +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +10, Fortitude +9, Will +4

Complications:
Enemy (Mys-Tech)

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 5 / Defenses: 7 (102)

-The simply-named Grunt also has the most generic power-set, being a Class 25 Strongman with heavy weapons. He was a Mys-Tech employee killed by Boot, and resurrected by Vorin into becoming a Shadow Rider. Freeman's notes state that he had a Hulk-like ability to gain in strength (and similarly, lost it as he tired), but this was never observed in the series. His Regeneration is implied on his Marvunapp bio due to a relatively-quick recover from some bad injuries.

[Jabroniville]

GOODFELLOW
Created By: John Freeman & Brian Williamson
First Appearance: Shadow Riders #1 (June 1993)
Role: Techno-Biker
Group Affiliations: The Shadow Riders
PL 8 (159)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 3 (+5)
Vehiciles 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Close Attack, Equipment 7 (Arsenal of Guns, Super-Bike- Motorcycle +2 Toughness & Morph- Regular Bike), Ranged Attack 4, Teamwork

Powers:
Immunity 1 (Sleep) [1]
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Vorin) [1]

"Reptilian Physiology"
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]
"Tail" Extra Limb [1]
Immunity 1 (Poison) [1]
"Camouflage" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Flaws: Blending) [2]

"Power Leech" Affliction 10 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Cumulative) (Inaccurate -1) [19]
Linked to
Variable 5 (Leeched Powers) (Extras: Ranged, Affects Others Only +0) (Flaws: Limited to Powers Leeched By Affliction, Limited to Length of Affliction) [30]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Leech Powers +6 (+10 Affliction, DC 25)
Guns +8 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +9, Fortitude +9, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Mys-Tech)

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 57 / Defenses: 8 (159)

-Goodfellow acts as Vorin's familiar and chief aide- a large, slithering Reptile-Man, he is smarter and wiser than the others, and packs the incredible power to "Leech" powers from one person to another.

[Ken]

The Thor #280 issue I talked about is included in the second Squadron collection, and it's bizarre all-around. People talk in a very stilted manner, everyone's a bit heavy on clumsy exposition, a dozen characters get involved but only a couple do anything, and it's full of that "Silver Age Marvel" trope where people come in and IMMEDIATELY start throwing punches, assuming weird things about each other, just for the sake of a fight scene. A sharp difference between then and today... where heroes wait to have a STUPID DISAGREEMENT first. But man, Marvel guys are always so HOSTILE back in the day.

Sample dialogue: "WHAT You're HYPERION, all right -- as surely as I'm EMIL BURBANK, brother of the famous DIRECTOR -- but also your ARCH-FOE, ever since your Atom-Vision once caused my HORMONES to run wild, so that my HAIR won't stay cut!" Completely bizarre- who talks that way?

Stuff just keeps HAPPENING, though- it's insanely over-stuffed with convoluted things, but is probably preferable to today's "eight issues to tell a single tale" methods.

So, SO weird. Just a bizarre one-off.

Well, the thing of it was, the guest artist on the issue was Wayne Boring. Mr. Boring was THE definitive Superman artist during the 1950s. He'd started working at National during the 1940s, and Mort Weisinger really liked his Superman stuff... By the 1960s, he'd been largely replaced by Curt Swan. But for a fanboy-turned-pro like Roy Thomas, having a chance to work with Boring must have been a dream-come-true. And probably why he wrote the Hyperion story. (Wasn't he the editor as well as the writer, on it?)

The Marvel guys being hostile was a one of Marvel's trademarks; along with the DC guys always getting along. Things just haven't been right, since.

Thomas' dialogue on his Marvel books always seemed kind of stilted. When he got to DC in the 1980s, it seemed more naturalistic, if still exposition heavy. I don't know if this was because Roy was trying to ape Stan's style while at Marvel, or because of Dann Thomas (his wife) proofreading and sometimes ghostwriting.

[Ares]

Some last bits of Squadron discussion:

• Turns out Master Menace DOES have some built in weapons on his armor, as he fires a plasma blast from his gauntlet when the Scarlet Centurion randomly appears in his lab.

• Redstone's death is STILL the most pointless one in both Squadron books. At least the others died either in a fight, or their deaths served some story purpose. Redstone's was just "whoops, I guess we should have really looked into how his powers worked" as he dies from lack of contact with the Earth.

• The Squadron's attitude under Busiek are a bit forgivable when you take the fact that they're being mind controlled into account. Cap even comments later in their team-up issue that the Squadron was mostly frustrated after they were initially freed. During said team up issue, they were much more in character.

• I hate the new Marvel animated series Avengers Assemble. It's decently-to-excellently animated, the voice work is generally solid, and it's clear the writers have some knowledge of the Marvel Universe. But it seems content to flirt with being a good show rather than just being one, having solid episodes or outright good ones that are lost in a sea of mediocre and terrible ones. The series is overall VERY uneven and hard to watch, but the one bright spot is any appearance by a member of the Squadron Supreme. In the AA setting, the Squadron are really more like the Crime Syndicate than anything, being an evil Justice League analogy that makes for some great fights with the Avengers. Any episode with the Squadron is generally a lot of fun, and worth watching.

[Tattooedman]

Had to pop in to say that I thought your take on the Squadron was pretty much spot on for where I saw them myself Jab, well done. I enjoyed the hell out of that set of builds!

Some last bits of Squadron discussion:

• Turns out Master Menace DOES have some built in weapons on his armor, as he fires a plasma blast from his gauntlet when the Scarlet Centurion randomly appears in his lab.

Yep, I always saw MM as the parallel to Luthor. Especially since he'd just been using green & purple power armor.

• Redstone's death is STILL the most pointless one in both Squadron books. At least the others died either in a fight, or their deaths served some story purpose. Redstone's was just "whoops, I guess we should have really looked into how his powers worked" as he dies from lack of contact with the Earth.

I've never been able to find a copy of Death of a Universe, so I didn't know how the Squadron ended up on mainstream Earth or who all died. Though I have to agree that Redstone's death does indeed sound like the most pointless out of them all.

• The Squadron's attitude under Busiek are a bit forgivable when you take the fact that they're being mind controlled into account. Cap even comments later in their team-up issue that the Squadron was mostly frustrated after they were initially freed. During said team up issue, they were much more in character.

Agreed. I thought Busiek did a good job on that appearance of the Squadron.

•[/b] I hate the new Marvel animated series Avengers Assemble. It's decently-to-excellently animated, the voice work is generally solid, and it's clear the writers have some knowledge of the Marvel Universe. But it seems content to flirt with being a good show rather than just being one, having solid episodes or outright good ones that are lost in a sea of mediocre and terrible ones. The series is overall VERY uneven and hard to watch, but the one bright spot is any appearance by a member of the Squadron Supreme. In the AA setting, the Squadron are really more like the Crime Syndicate than anything, being an evil Justice League analogy that makes for some great fights with the Avengers. Any episode with the Squadron is generally a lot of fun, and worth watching.

Agree again. I wish they'd have just written the Squadron into the previous Avengers show.

[bsdigitalq]

• I hate the new Marvel animated series Avengers Assemble. It's decently-to-excellently animated, the voice work is generally solid, and it's clear the writers have some knowledge of the Marvel Universe. But it seems content to flirt with being a good show rather than just being one, having solid episodes or outright good ones that are lost in a sea of mediocre and terrible ones. The series is overall VERY uneven and hard to watch, but the one bright spot is any appearance by a member of the Squadron Supreme. In the AA setting, the Squadron are really more like the Crime Syndicate than anything, being an evil Justice League analogy that makes for some great fights with the Avengers. Any episode with the Squadron is generally a lot of fun, and worth watching.

What's funny is that the show has gotten progressively better with each season. The first one was terrible all across the board, with the only decent episode being the one Hyperion first appears in. The second season was an improvement, but still kind of mediocre most of the time, though the Squadron episodes weren't half bad, and the one episode with the Winter Guard as actual heroes was pretty good. The third and most recent season," Ultron Revolution," is actually really, really damn good, with some pretty kickass episodes in there (the one where Ultron attacks Atillan, the Red Hulk rampage two-parter); I think the only actual bad episode that season was the one with the Avengers in Hollywood defending Marvel Studios from Egghead.

[Tattooedman]

• I hate the new Marvel animated series Avengers Assemble. It's decently-to-excellently animated, the voice work is generally solid, and it's clear the writers have some knowledge of the Marvel Universe. But it seems content to flirt with being a good show rather than just being one, having solid episodes or outright good ones that are lost in a sea of mediocre and terrible ones. The series is overall VERY uneven and hard to watch, but the one bright spot is any appearance by a member of the Squadron Supreme. In the AA setting, the Squadron are really more like the Crime Syndicate than anything, being an evil Justice League analogy that makes for some great fights with the Avengers. Any episode with the Squadron is generally a lot of fun, and worth watching.

What's funny is that the show has gotten progressively better with each season. The first one was terrible all across the board, with the only decent episode being the one Hyperion first appears in. The second season was an improvement, but still kind of mediocre most of the time, though the Squadron episodes weren't half bad, and the one episode with the Winter Guard as actual heroes was pretty good. The third and most recent season," Ultron Revolution," is actually really, really damn good, with some pretty kickass episodes in there (the one where Ultron attacks Atillan, the Red Hulk rampage two-parter); I think the only actual bad episode that season was the one with the Avengers in Hollywood defending Marvel Studios from Egghead.

I'll check it out once it goes to Netflix. I'd hoped the writing would get better as the show went on.

[Jabroniville]

ROADIE (Alison Kane/Mimi Brown)
Created By: John Freeman & Brian Williamson
First Appearance: Shadow Riders #1 (June 1993)
Role: Techno-Biker
Group Affiliations: The Shadow Riders
PL 9 (113)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+4)
Technology 5 (+6)
Vehiciles 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Close Combat 2, Equipment 7 (Arsenal of Guns, Blades, Force Shield +2, Super-Bike- Motorcycle +2 Toughness & Morph- Regular Bike), Improved Critical (Blades), Ranged Attack 4, Teamwork

Powers:
Immunity 1 (Sleep) [1]

"Psi-Shields"
Force Field 4 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Others) Linked to Enhanced Will Save 6 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Others) (Flaws: Limited to vs. Mental Attacks) (24) -- [29]

• AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 6 (12)
• AE: "Psi-Scan" Mind-Reading 7 (14)
• AE: "Psi-Blindfolds" Concealment 1 (Mental Detection) (Extras: Ranged, Affects Others) (Flaws: Will Save) Linked to Dazzle Visuals 6 (16)
• AE: "Ensnare Minds" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (24)
• AE: "Psi-Blast" Blast 7 (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (21)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blades +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Guns +8 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
Psi-Blast -- (+7 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Ensnare Minds -- (+8 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+5 Armor, +9 Psi-Shields), Fortitude +5, Will +4 (+10 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Enemy (Mys-Tech)
Responsibility (Arsonist)- Roadie once killed a firefighter- a close friend of hers- indirectly, when she torched the home of her abusive parents. She was on the run for a while after that.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 30 / Defenses: 9 (113)

-Roadie has an interesting little array of Psi-Abilities, including stuff like "Psi-Blindfolds" to mask her team from detection (either psionically or visually), Psi-Blasts, Psi-Snares, and even some Psi-Shields to save her and others. This makes her the one PL 9 of the group, but only Defensively (and without her other powers active). Her initial name (in Freeman's notes) was Mimi Brown, but the Marvel Atlas gives it as Alison Kane, largely because they just threw a lot of real names out there). She was recruited as a civilian who died in an auto wreck.

[Ken]

Redstone's death is STILL the most pointless one in both Squadron books. At least the others died either in a fight, or their deaths served some story purpose. Redstone's was just "whoops, I guess we should have really looked into how his powers worked" as he dies from lack of contact with the Earth.

Well, apparently Redstone himself never understood how his powers worked. I mean, the Squadron hadn't known him that long, and Tom Thumb was already dead, and Xina was busy or brain-fried. They really didn't have the time. But one would think that Redstone himself might have had some inkling; however he got his powers, he was there. Which means either, he got on board the spacecraft knowing it was a bad idea, or else he was ignorant of how his powers worked as everyone else.

Oh, and the name Joe can't remember from Greek mythology in that scene is "Aeneas".

[Jabroniville]

STRANGER II (Vince Jones)
Created By: John Freeman & Brian Williamson
First Appearance: Shadow Riders #1 (June 1993)
Role: Techno-Biker
Group Affiliations: The Shadow Riders
PL 8 (140)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 6 (+7)
Expertise (Music) 4 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehiciles 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Equipment 7 (Arsenal of Guns, Force Shield +2, Super-Bike- Motorcycle +2 Toughness & Morph- Regular Bike), Ranged Attack 4, Teamwork

Powers:
Immunity 1 (Sleep) [1]
Insubstantial 4 [20]
Senses 5 (Detect Energy- Ranged, Acute, Analytical) [5]
"Take Persona & Memories By Touch" Morph 4 (Any Form) (Flaws: Limited to Touched Subjects, Limited to 1/2 Hour After Touching) Linked to Mind-Reading 8 (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (16) -- [17]

• AE: "Invisibility" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Mind-Reading +8 (+8, DC 18)
Guns +8 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+6 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Enemy (Mys-Tech)

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 9 (140)

-Stranger has the peculiar power to mimic the appearance and take the memories of anyone he's touched- he can also take little "Capsules" that contain bits of information on people, but these can often be dated. He's also a Phasing-type character, and can become invisible- a true master of Stealth. A musician, he's also described as "long-haired and likeable", and can fit in anywhere, even without his powers. This makes up for being the weakest of his team (he's PL 7 without the Mind-Reading).

[Jabroniville]

Redstone's death is STILL the most pointless one in both Squadron books. At least the others died either in a fight, or their deaths served some story purpose. Redstone's was just "whoops, I guess we should have really looked into how his powers worked" as he dies from lack of contact with the Earth.

Well, apparently Redstone himself never understood how his powers worked. I mean, the Squadron hadn't known him that long, and Tom Thumb was already dead, and Xina was busy or brain-fried. They really didn't have the time. But one would think that Redstone himself might have had some inkling; however he got his powers, he was there. Which means either, he got on board the spacecraft knowing it was a bad idea, or else he was ignorant of how his powers worked as everyone else.

Oh, and the name Joe can't remember from Greek mythology in that scene is "Aeneas".

That's the best part of the whole bit- Redstone just starts gagging, shrinks to normal-person size, and begins to shrivel up and die. All Dr. Spectrum can think of is "He reminds me of that Greek story, about the guy who needs to be in contact with the Earth. Oh, what was his name? This is going to bother me all day!" WHILE HIS TEAMMATE IS DYING. It's hilarious.

[Jabroniville]

VORIN
Created By: John Freeman & Brian Williamson
First Appearance: Shadow Riders #1 (June 1993)
Role: Techno-Biker, Techno-Mage
Group Affiliations: The Shadow Riders
PL 9 (212)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+4)
Technology 9 (+12)
Vehiciles 8 (+12)

Advantages:
Equipment 11 (Arsenal of Guns, Sword +3, Force Shield +2, Super-Bike- Motorcycle +2 Toughness & Morph- Regular Bike, TRANSIT- Teleport Worldwide 20), Improved Aim, Languages 4 (Almost Any), Ranged Attack 6, Teamwork

Powers:
Immunity 2 (Aging, Sleep) [2]
Transform (Anything to Anything Else) 5 (Extras: Continuous) (Flaws: Distracting) [25]
"Resurrection Power" Healing 10 (Flaws: Distracting, Resurrection Only +0) Linked to Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Controlled/Transformed Into Different Person Entirely) (Extras: Continuous +3) [42]

"Magic"
Blast 8 (16) -- [20]

• AE: Force Field 5 (Extras: Affects Others) (10)
• AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 4 (8)
• AE: Illusion (Visuals) 4 (8)
• AE: Healing 8 (16)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Sword +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Guns +10 (+4-6 Ranged Damage, DC 19-21)
Magical Blast +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+6 Armor), Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Enemy (Mys-Tech)

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 14 (212)

-Vorin is the leader of the Shadow Riders, and has been fighting Mys-Tech for centuries. A powerful wizard, his specialty is finding dead people (especially Mooks from the other side) and casting a spell that transforms them into a Shadow Rider- complete with a newfound hatred for Mys-Tech thanks to some created memories. This essentially makes him a slaver and QUITE immoral, but hey- they're dead.

[Ares]

Redstone's death is STILL the most pointless one in both Squadron books. At least the others died either in a fight, or their deaths served some story purpose. Redstone's was just "whoops, I guess we should have really looked into how his powers worked" as he dies from lack of contact with the Earth.

Well, apparently Redstone himself never understood how his powers worked. I mean, the Squadron hadn't known him that long, and Tom Thumb was already dead, and Xina was busy or brain-fried. They really didn't have the time. But one would think that Redstone himself might have had some inkling; however he got his powers, he was there. Which means either, he got on board the spacecraft knowing it was a bad idea, or else he was ignorant of how his powers worked as everyone else.

Oh, and the name Joe can't remember from Greek mythology in that scene is "Aeneas".

Antaeus. Aeneas was a hero in the Trojan War.

[Ken]

Mythology class was a looong time ago.

[KorokoMystia]

Man, the Shadow Riders are so obscure, I didn't even come across them while looking at Marvel UK stuff! (which is how I came across Tektos)
Though, while looking up Tektos, I actually found ANOTHER obscure Marvel UK character, Prime Evil, and completely forgot about it while Jab was doing the Marvel UK set!