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

[Arkrite]

-Honey Lemon has been turned from a Sexpot Hammerspace Engineer into a scrawny, huge-eyed super-girly dork, and OH MY GOD I WANT TO BURY MY TONGUE IN HER BUTTHOI mean take her to the opera and introduce her to my parents. Okay, so the combination of dorky, gangly chick and exciteable blabbermouth is hot- sue me.

Welp, time to raise the war flags because: Jab, this one is mine! ;~)

Seriously though, I swear somebody went and created a list of things I'm attracted to and checked off every box.
Skinny, tall, glasses, long hair, smart, geeky, excitable, caring, loyal, and legs that just don't quit...

...

...

...


Sorry, what were we talking about again?

*pulls out knife*

You can have her... if I'm allowed Aunt Cass. Only offer you're gonna get.

*pulls out knife and drops into West Side Story knife fighting pose*

I find your terms to be acceptable.
Truce?


As for Cass there was a part of me wondering during the movie if she wasn't just a really close friend of Hiro's parents. Because I didn't really see the family resemblance either.

[Woodclaw]

I've actually debated using my YouTube channel for analysis videos about adaptations from one media to another, the kinds of things that need to be considered when turning a novel into a TV series, a comic book into a film, a toy into an animated series, that sort of thing. Do things like analyze the source material, talk about core concepts, discuss the decisions that go into what gets kept and what gets changed, and boil down the adaptation into how good of an adaptation it is, and how good the adaptation stands on its own merits.

Big Hero 6 would be my text book example of a work that is not a very good adaptation of the source material, but that the final work is better for it because the source material sucks. The original Big Hero 6 was a terrible book that rightfully didn't succeed. Now a Japanese based Marvel team where the heroes actually resemble the kind of heroes you see in Japanese media? THAT would be cool. Heroes that resemble guys from Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon and what not would be GREAT and add a dimension to the Marvel Universe.

But what we got was terrible, so when Disney chose to adapt it, they kept only the few workable concepts and re-made everything else. And it worked GREAT. To the point that the animated film Big Hero 6 now has its own animated series.

I'm frankly surprised they haven't tried to re-imagine the characters to be more like the animated film, because the original stuff was just bad.

Yeah, it's the damndest thing. They basically copy the names, and a smidgen of some concepts (Hiro = Inventor, GoGo = Fast), and that's it. Honey Lemon becomes a white scientist with a purse full of chemicals. Wasabi becomes a black guy. Fredzilla is a white slacker. It makes me wonder why they even bothered with an adaptation at all, instead of coming up with their own thing. Because it's not like Big Hero Six had any name value as a comic (they have all of 3 appearances).

I do wonder why Marvel doesn't try to mimic anime/manga/sentai a LITTLE more clearly when they do Japanese superheroes- it'd sure be a lot easier than going "well we added some goofy words together- now to come up with a concept!"

When I heard about a Big Hero 6 movie my first reaction was a massive WTF. The team was a footnote in the MU even more than the Guardians of the Galaxy. All in all it wasn't a bad move, but I agree with the general sentiment: what Marvel often do with foreign heroes feel very much like a terribly distorted perception of those characters. Sometimes I think that they're trying way too hard to make characters that doesn't fit the stereotype and they end up making it worst (yes Ms Rambeau I'm looking at you ).

[Woodclaw]

Europa: The Story of Two Comics

As I've outlined a few posts back, Europa was the first and only attempt from Marvel Italia to create some original characters and add them to the 616 universe. The project, as I said above suffered immensely from bad scheduling, printing problems and, above all, terrible writing.
When Jab was so kind to build those characters (back then I was really afraid to post anything on the ATT), I was very happy because Europa had been something of a Holy Grail for me. In 1996 I had just discovered the Marvel Universe for real and I was eager to see a new IP created by European authors and with European characters. Unfortunately, this actually showed me how dated many of those concept were and how badly they aged. Still here is a bit more informations on the two teams.

Gemini
It's hard to say which team between Gemeni and Euroforce was the most '90s, but often think that Gemini has an edge because how it ripped off Wildcats.
Written by Giorgio Lavagna and Francesco Meo (both former editors of Marvel Italia) and penciled by Fabrizio Ugolini, Gemini was a semi-Italian team. What do I mean by that? Simple all the five members of the team were born in Italy (at Segrate, near Milan), but since Italian law doesn't grant automatic citizenship to children born from foreign parents only one of them was actually Italian (Balance/Deborah Crovi).
The story behind the entire thing was very much '90s craziness in a can. It started in the '60s with a British MI5 agent and scientist, Edwig Caine, who was studying a new form of energy called he dubbed "Meta-Impulse". After his first experiments went awry he moved to Italy. Many years later his test opened a portal to another dimension and an alien creature called Nosferath. Weakened by the passing, the demon/alien imbued five newborns with a fraction of his power and used Caine as his proxy.
Long story short, the goverment covered the whole incident and the kids were returned to their families after some extensive tests, except one of them Gabriel, who was adopted by Caine himself.
Decades later all the five kids developed superpowers and Caine recruited them trying to form a new team under the direct control of SHIELD. Lancelot, an agent handpicked by Nick Fury, tested the team and labelled them: "too violent, too prone to resort to killing and unfit to work as a unit". soon after Gabriel -- now using the codename Front -- discovered the whole Nosferath thing, killed his father and run away, after Lancelot blasted half of his face to kingdom come.
From then on the story became a manhunt for Gabriel -- all while a new terrorist organization started to balst its way through Milan -- with Lancelot and Grip hell bent on killing him, Balance who wanted to question him first, Mandala bitching all the way and Suede just being around (he really had the least number of lines of any character). Meanwhile at the base of Vera Croce Nosferath was in the process of re-awakening and proceeded to enthrall Caine's assistant (a geneticist who looked suspiciosly like any Deodato women back then) and turn her into his right-hand woman, Alma Matrix. Because of course nobody thought that building a super-high tech base on the site of an unexplained phenomenon was a bad idea and none thought about providing it with a decent measure of security.
Long story short the entire team (minus Front) was captured. Gabriel ended up in a mexican standoff with Iron Man (because Tony was worried that Italy wasn't ready for superhuman violence). Stark backed off and allowe Front and Lancelot to face Nosferath alone (again why, in hell?), but nothing good came of it and they were both captured. At the 11th hour another alien entity called voyager -- claming to be the incarnation of "absolute law and order" appeaed, caged Nosferath, Caine (don't ask) and Alma Matrix, before getting ready to blast the entire planet. But it start to savour human emotions and decide to spare our little mudball, while the members of the team (still possessing their powers) are forced to flee and go underground.

At this point I want you all to take a step back and think about what you just read. Maybe it's just me, but this storyline fells like a terrible pastiche of every wrong thing a writer can do: it introduced yet another form of super-energy into the already fucked up physics of the MU, a new alien/demon lord hybrid thingy, a new incarnation of order and so on.
It doesn't help that the main characters have little to no time to develop any kind of meaningful interaction. A lot of details seem to be taken verbatim from other comics (in particular the X-Men) and used as they are without any attempt to work on them. Front and Grip are extremely confrontational, in a way that is reminescent of Cyclops and Wolverine (leader vs claw-guy). Balance seem to have a thing for Front (telepath x leader), although it's never said out loud. Mandala is pretty much the team bitch a la M. Suede is the calm and collected guy who is very very creepy. And that's about it.
Also I left out some of the most outlandish claims from Nosferath about being the father of all the quasi-demons of the MU etc.

Euroforce
The sister series to Gemini was written by Xavier Marturet and penciled by Paco Diaz -- who had the bad luck of going through 3 different inkers, each one worst than his predecessor -- and chronicled the stories of two separate team working for the European branch of SHIELD, Eurolab and Task Force. Opposite to the young adults of Gemini, the member of both teams were adults and very experienced. Eurolab was a scientific unit meant to investigate "metahuman situations" (like burried alien probes and breaches into the Negative Zone) for lack of a better term. In a way they felt very aking to the F4, being something more like a group of explorers, rather than a superhero team. Task Force on the other hand was a high-end military unit that handled security and superhuman menaces.
All in all their storyline felt even more cut short than Gemini's. After a first semi-successful mission together, althouhg its hinted that it's not the first, the teams goes their separate way. Task Force get ambushed by a mercenary unit called "Lord of War" and out of 5 members 3 (Dragonfly, Blue Bird and Iceboy) die in the firefight. Argento and Tiger, the only survivors, reach out to Eurolab for help and in turn Key contact his superior.
It turns out that Director Borillon was corrupted and tried to pin the guilt on Task Force and use the Lords of War to silence them before it was too late. Unfortunately a second confrontation with the Lords allows the Director to pin the guilt on both teams and from then on they are on the run trying to find proof to save their skin.
In the end Key and Tiger gets captured, but the rest of team spring them out and get their hands on Borillon's files proving their innocence. Out of love with SHIELD they decide to keep on their "mission" in memory of their fallen comrades.

The good thing about Euroforce was that the simpler storyline allowed a bit more interaction among the characters, although they rarely went beyond the very basic.
Key was the thinking man and the peaceful leader, always trying to speak first. Nuage was a a first contact specialist, a pretty good profession for a telepath and was generally portraied as the caring one and the "don't piss the nice ones" character. Danger was extremely serious and on the level. Picaro felt very Gambit-esque being both the team joker and in love with a girl who tried to keep her distance. Said girl, Deepsight, played the unfeeling monster girl card, which felt very obvious for a cyborg and was probably the least interesting member of the team.
Dragonfly was the hard-assed action girl, who shot first and asked question later. There were a lot of hints that she and Key were in love at some point and they actually flirted a lot on panel. Tiger was the grumpy big guy veteran and, strangely enough, had a bit of caring one in him. often taking one for the team thanks to his indestructible hide. Argento was the silent and brooding type and got a hint of story arc when his mutant powers emerged during the series. Blue Bird and Ice Boy, alas, get very little in the way of characterization, but in a book with 10 characters is a bit hard to do otherwise.
Was Euroforce a memorable comic? No, it shined only because it shared space with a terrible one (although I admit that I loved the name so much that I used it for my own European team).

[Jabroniville]

WOW! Such a great, detailed backstory! Thanks a ton, Woodclaw! I'll have to go back through the Gemini & Euroforce guys to add some notes .

[Jabroniville]

WASABI
Played By: Damon Wayans, Jr.
Role: The Black Guy, Team Coward, Scrapper
Group Affiliations: The Big Hero 6
PL 8 (105)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 3 (+6)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+13)
Perception 4 (+6)
Technology 8 (+13)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 2 (Van), Second Chance (Spotting Warnings or Signs of Danger), Takedown

Powers:
"Plasma-Laser Bladed Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [16]
Damage 7 (Feats: Improved Critical 2, Split, Accurate) (Extras: Penetrating 6) (17)
Protection 3 (3)
-- (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Plasma Blades +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+6 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Phobia (Heights, Other Stuff)- Wasabi has acrophobia- a fear of heights. He also is generally fearful about a lot of things, especially things that threaten his life.
Responsibility (Obsessive-Compulive Disorder)- Wasabi has something resembling OCD- he freaks out when things are out of place, especially his tools (which take up an elaborate bench).
Reputation (Stick in the Mud)- Wasabi is less-rebellious than his teammates, to the point where he actively signals and obeys traffic lights DURING A DEADLY CAR CHASE.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 16 / Defenses: 15 (105)

-Wasabi ("I spilled wasabi sauce on my shirt ONE time...") has been modified more completely than the rest of the team- going from a Fighting Japanese Sushi Chef to a... burly, cowardly, OCD black nerd. He's sort of the one with the most common sense ("Hey, this whole 'dressing up in costumes to fight an evil super-powered guy' thing is NUTS!"), and is probably the most normal member of the group, since everyone else is a thrill-seeking nutter. He's still called "Wasabi No-Ginger" in the supporting media, but the last bit is dropped for the film. Honestly, I don't know why they didn't just change his name or concept entirely- why keep the names if you're gonna change the entire concept? Was it THAT IMPORTANT to have a guy named "Wasabi" on the team?

-His personality's a bit funny- big groups used to struggle with the "Token Black Guy", usually picking from a List O' Black Guy Concepts, often giving him either no personality (usually just "the black guy"), making him a jock, making him an Urkel-like nerd (like in Danny Phantom), or giving him a "G-Rated Hip-Hop" identity. Wasabi sports the jock-ish physique, but is turned into a coward, much the same way Iridessa was in Disney Fairies, which is a bit unusual. Sort of a... modification of the Urkel thing. Wasabi & Fred are the only two members of the cast to not return for the Animated Series.

-Wasabi is smart like the others, but has the simplest outfit- a suit that adds his trademark "Plasma Lasers" in the form of gigantic wrist-mounted blades that can cut through just about anything. The blades don't require his strength for maximum effect, have a great Crit-Rate, and are Accurate owing to the fact that even glancing blows would do horrible damage, and that it's much easier to hit with HUGE blades like that.

[Jabroniville]

FRED
Played By: T.J. Miller
Role: Comic Relief, Team Joker, Dopey Guy, The Slacker, Superhero Groupie
Group Affiliations: The Big Hero 6
PL 8 (90)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 5 (+6)
Close Combat (Spin-able Objects) 2 (+9)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 10 (+10)
Expertise (Mascot) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+2)
Perception 2 (+2)
Persuasion 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Fire) 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealthy Kid With Absent Parental Figures), Improvised Weapon, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Kaiju Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [24]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) (2)
"Monster Claws" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Split) (4)
Protection 4 (3)
Immunity 6 (Heat, Fire Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) (3)

"Fire Breath" Blast 8 (Feats: Accurate) (17) -- (18)

• AE: "Fire Stream" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (16)

-- (30 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Claws +7 (+3 Damage, DC 20)
Fire Breath +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Fire Stream +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+6 Suit), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Thrills & Awesomeness)- Fred loves to hang around the smart kids because of their cool inventions, and even thinks Yokai is awesome when trying to murder the lot of them.
Relationship (Parents)- Fred doesn't see his parents as much as he'd like, since they're always off vacationing somewhere. However, his dad has some secrets of his own.
Reputation (Slovenly)- Fred wears a single pair of underwear four days straight ("front, back, then inside-out front and back!").
Reputation (Doofus)- The rest of the team see Fred as a big overbearing and obnoxious- especially Wasabi and GoGo (who thinks he's a fool).

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 24 / Defenses: 12 (90)

-The movie's Fred is basically an entirely different character from the comic book version- your average Dopey Slacker guy. Much like GoGo, he looks ridiculously-similar to a character from 6teen- in this case, Jude (the same baggy clothing, sorta-surfer dialogue style and even the trademark toque!). This could be chalked up to the "Kid Friendly" version of a drug-using slacker usually being made into a simply lazy, dopey, snack-obsessed guy who uses Proto-Surfer slang like "Brah". This kind of character is generally used for the most broad comedy of any particular show, generally with him saying something dopey and being yelled at, screwing up, or generally just making fun of whatever's going on. And Fred is much in the same vein as the "Judes" of the comedy world.

-Fred is also a bit of a "Science Enthusiast", but not in the sense of the others, who are all geniuses. Fred's just sort of a hanger-on who ADMIRES their science, and uses it for his own benefit (he wants Honey to invent him a shrinking potion) while kind of just hanging out in his mascot costume. He's also the resident comic book geek (I got distracted in the "War Room" scene because of all his statues- I only recognized Orka and The Black Talon as Marvel characters, though), and the most excited about finally being a real-live superhero. Wasabi & Fred are the only two members of the voice cast to not return for the Animated Series.

-Fred is the weakest of the team (aside from Hiro), but still makes PL 8 thanks to his powerful Flame Breath suit. He does OKAY for himself, but he's basically left just weakly clawing away at everything otherwise (he proves to be an excellent board-twirler, owing to his time as a costumed mascot at San Fransokyo's Institute of Technology.

[Jabroniville]

YOKAI (Professor Robert Callaghan)
Played By: James Cromwell
Role: Big Bad, Mystery Warrior
PL 10 (163)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills: 
Athletics 2 (+4)
Deception 8 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 10 (+16)
Expertise (Spoilers) 4 (+12)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 6 (+9)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 10 (+16)

Advantages: 
Inventor, Startle

Powers:
"Microbot-Controlling Headband" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [63]
"Microbot Spasm" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (45) -- (51)

• AE: "Microbot Ram" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (36)
• AE: "Microbot Eruption" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Shapeable +2) (36)
• AE: "Microblast" Blast 9 (Feats: Accurate 4) (22)
• AE: "Pick Up Stuff" Move Object 8 (Feats: Precise) (17)
• AE: Microbot Snare 8 (Feats: Accurate 4) (28)
• AE: "Microbot Surge" Snare 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (28)

"Mentally-Created Microbot Forms" Create 7 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Movable) (22)
Movement 6 (Wall-Crawling 2, Sure-Footed, Water-Walking 2, Safe Fall) (12)
Speed 5 (60 mph) (5)
"Deflection" Enhanced Defenses 5 (10)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Defensive Roll 5 (5)
-- (105 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Microbot Area Attacks +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Microbot Blast +11 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Snare +11 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Microbot Surge +7 Area (+7 Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (+11 Microbots, DC 21), Parry +6 (+11 Microbots, DC 21), Toughness +3 (+8 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Secret (Identity)
Enemy (Alistair Krei)- Krei's short-sighted, unsafe methods led to the disappearance of Callaghan's beloved daughter. He craves revenge, and the destruction of Krei's entire company.
Relationship (Tadashi, Hiro, Others)- Callaghan has numerous students under his care, and seems to care for them all.
Power Loss (Microbots)- The Microbots are versatile and numerous, but limited in number. Wind effects or anything that can deal with small objects in a hurry can separate them easily, slowly depowering Yokai's abilities.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 63 / Defenses: 9 (163)

-Yokai (I am 99% certain he was never referred to this during the film even once) is the villain of Big Hero 6, being a thieving sort who uses Hiro's Microbots to do some stuff. He looks cool as hell, has an army of Microbots that basically let him create anything he can think of instantaneously, and deal with an army of rookie heroes with ease.

-Okay, now that it's been quite a while since the movie came out, I can really go into his full history. Yes, Big Hero 6 is one of MANY modern Disney movies that pulls the "Mystery Villain" trick, popping in a previously-positive figure as the surprise bad guy, in a big twist. This has been done so many times recently as to be a cliche- it didn't START with Frozen (which actually had Elsa as the villain until shortly before they finalized the story- Idina Menzel even performed dialogue as a straight-up villainess), but ever since then, it seems that all the Disney Movies are required to have the villain do a dramatic reveal part-way through the story.

-In this film, we find that the kindly Professor Robert Callaghan, who had been a mentor to Tadashi, and then did the same to young Hiro, has been our villain all along. When he sees Hiro's great Microbots, he immediately gets the idea to steal them, allowing him a measure of revenge against the man he blames for killing his daughter- a businessman whose short-sighted safety measures got her lost in space. As his "cover" for the theft of the Microbots, he set off a fire and explosion that killed Tadashi in the film's early moments, shattering Hiro's life.

-When Callaghan is revealed (it really could have only been Callaghan or Tadashi-in-secret, so nobody would really be surprised- this was no "If only someone out there loved you" moment), Hiro is mortified and murderous, especially when Callaghan casually dismisses the death of Tadashi. Even though he'd never intended Tadashi to die, he just coldly points out "That was Tadashi's mistake!" for getting in the way. Callaghan devotes the rest of the film to murdering Alistair Krei (the aforementioned businessman), only defeated in the final moments, after Hiro rescues his daughter from suspended animation (which, tragically, means that all of Callaghan's actions, and the death of Tadashi, were entirely pointless).

-Needless to say he's got quite a bit of characterization during the film, and the Microbots give him a ton of cool powers that make him a very hard person to get to. PL 10 might not seem like much for the "Big Bad", but keep in mind that the Big Hero 6 are a pretty low-tier band of heroes (un-used to their powers), and that a concentrated effort by the team pretty much has him on the run (Murderous Baymax in particular nearly KILLS him). Yokai isn't so much obscenely powerful as he is VERSATILE- he has tons of Area Attacks at his disposal (everyone on the Big Hero 6 except Baymax is defense-shifted and vulnerable), has a good Snare, is hard to hit, and is extremely quick. A lot of the film is him tossing out Area Attacks and then fleeing.

[M4C8]

The Marvel references in Fred's room were replicas of Orka, Black Talon, Sleepwalker and Torpedo and Hiro pick's up an actual Marvel comic book 'Marvel Premier issue 32 featuring Monark Starstalker'

A couple of other nods are that on Fred's recommendation letter he was recommended by R. Richards and T. Dugan

Oh and apparently in Age of Ultron when Tony uploads FRIDAY, one of the A.I cards HAS 'Tadashi' on it

[Jabroniville]

LORI LEMARIS
Created By: Bill Finger & Wayne Boring
First Appearance: Superman #129 (May 1959)
Role: Relic Character, Superboy's Girlfriend
Group Affiliations: Atlantis
PL 8 (88)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (World Traveler) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)

Advantages: 
None

Powers:
"Mermaid Physiology"
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Swimming 6 [6]
Immunity 3 (Drowning, Cold, Pressure) [3]
"Telepathy" Mind-Reading 8 [16]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Telepathy -- (+8 Mind-Reading, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Superman)- Lori and Clark Kent were deeply in love while in college, but they split when she revealed that she was from a different world.
Secret (Mermaid)- Lori rarely told anyone but Clark of her true nature. Most often, she appeared as a crippled girl in a wheelchair.
Responsibility (The Undersea World)- Lori is occasionally an ally of Aquaman and his ilk.
Involuntary Transformation (Mermaid/Human)- In the Post-Crisis World, Lori changes to human when on land, and to a mermaid when in water.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 27 / Defenses: 5 (88)

-Lori Lemaris is one of those old relic characters unfortunately too stuck in the 1960s era- comics is missing goofy characters like this. She was introduced as "The Girl In Superman's Past"- in which college student Clark Kent fell in love with a wheelchair-bound girl named Lori, who of course turned out to be a MERMAID. As Mermaids are famously a part of Historical Fanservice (sailors used to profess seeing nude mermaids casting our siren calls), it seemed like this was another "Idealized Girlfriend" character, with the writers cleverly giving her the "Double-L" name so common in the Superman Mythos.

-The relationship had moved forward in college, but Lori rebuffed Clark's marriage proposal, as she had to return to her "native country". Finally, Clark realized her secret, while she revealed her people's telepathic powers, making her one of the handful of people who knew that Clark was Superman. They part as friends, realizing they could never marry.

-Lori reappeared in many Silver Age Superman comics, but was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, largely became Marv Wolfman & George Perez wanted to "de-silly" a lot of the DC Universe, which included getting rid of characters like "Clark's Mermaid Ex-Girlfriend". Unfortunately, this kind of took the heart out of Superman for a long time. Of course, leave it to John Byrne to IMMEDIATELY bring her back, as a new Lori appeared in the 1986 Man of Steel series, and copied the same origin.

-In the Post-Crisis Era, Lori could gain legs while on land, copying the powers of Madison, the mermaid from the hit 1984 movie Splash. She provided some romantic drama between Lois & Clark (since she's Clark's ex), but largely vanished during the grittier '90s. She failed to show up in most of the Aquaman books either, despite being a Tritonian (relatives of Atlanteans) by this point. She was thought-killed in the Infinite Crisis event as a mere random casualty (alongside poor Neptune Perkins and some other aquatic characters), but popped up in a book a year or two later. She hasn't shown up in ten years by this point.

-Characters like this... they definitely have a place. While DC likes to be up its own ass with grittiness at times, I really think that the "Goofy Silver Age" stuff is part of the HEART of DC Comics, and things like Lori are what belong there.

[Ken]

Boring.





Wayne Boring art.

[Ken]

-Lori reappeared in many Silver Age Superman comics, but was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, largely became Marv Wolfman & George Perez wanted to "de-silly" a lot of the DC Universe, which included getting rid of characters like "Clark's Mermaid Ex-Girlfriend". Unfortunately, this kind of took the heart out of Superman for a long time. Of course, leave it to John Byrne to IMMEDIATELY bring her back, as a new Lori appeared in the 1986 Man of Steel series, and copied the same origin.

She was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12, March '86. She was re-introduced in Superman #12 vol. 2 (not Man of Steel, but still Byrne) December of '87, so apparently the "long time" was 21 months.

Perhaps the biggest change Lori went through was that the doctor who saved her, Ronal, when she was almost paralysed, and whom she fell in love with, was actually an extraterrestrial whom Superman located, on Earth-One, but post-Crisis he was another Tritonis citizen.

[Jabroniville]

I mean the "de-sillying" took the heart out of Superman, not Lori specifically.

[Jabroniville]

MEGA MAN X:
-I cannot describe adequately the feeling I got from playing this game for the first time. As a kid in 1993, I wasn't really that "up" on upcoming games- it was a while before I'd start collecting GamePlayers Magazine or reading GamePro, EGM and the like off the stands. So imagine my surprise walking into First Choice Video and seeing THIS on the shelf- Mega Man X is the sequel to the Mega Man series, taking place in the future ("20XX", which is itself a futuristic version of the futuristic robot-filled world of the original series), with a whole new generation of villains.

The first level is... magic. Instead of choosing which of the eight Bosses to fight, you're stuck in what looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland, surrounded by refuse, and facing off against newer robot menaces. This great soundtrack follows along, and you're opposed by Vile, a Boba Fett-looking bastard in a walking Mech-Suit. And he kicks your ass. Like, absolutely nothing you can do will harm him, he effortlessly defeats you, then grabs your helpless body. The villain taunts you, at which point another guy who looks just like you but with long hair and a F*CKING LASER SWORD comes flying in and slices Vile's arm off, saves your life, and chases the villain away. And that's LEVEL ONE.

The series is based around the hero "X", who was created years ago by Dr. Light (who is now deceased, along with all the other characters of the first series) to be a last-ditch weapon. He enters a future where androids called "Reploids" (mimicking/stealing from Blade Runner) have risen up under the evil Sigma, forming the Mavericks. X joins the "Maverick Hunters" in attempting to stop them. You meet the heroic Zero (with his bad-ass Laser Sword), fight against eight Mavericks (this time themed around "Something + Animal Species" names instead of "Something + Man" names, giving us Spark Mandrill and Launch Octopus instead of Elec Man and Top Man), in stages that can alter based off of the order in which you fight them (defeating Chill Penguin will freeze the lava in Flame Mammoth's stage), gain power-ups from the deceased Light's hidden platforms, then enter a final stage where you finally get your rematch against Vile, watch Zero heroically sacrifice his life, and then take down Sigma.

The game was much, MUCH easier than the NES series (which was infamously nigh-impossible), with a much more playable hero and bigger, slower villains that were much easier to hit. But people were willing to deal with that.

People LOVED this series. It used the Super Nintendo's graphical power in a way the Mega Man series never did, had great characters, great boss designs, and more. The Capcom gameplay was in full force, but with a lot of new tricks, like "Wall-Jumping", Dashing, and more. Naturally, as the games made money, and Capcom is Capcom, there were sequels. TONS of them. The game ended up with even more sequels than Mega Man did (it got up to Mega Man X8, with other games spinning off), but with a story that had a little more side-passages and the like. Zero, who was of course INSANELY popular because he had a Laser Sword, long hair and was a rarely-seen unplayable hero who died, made a mandatory return. Sigma was the boss of most other games, his spirit always surviving the loss of his "shells". The original game is nearly always in Top Ten SNES Games lists, though the sequels are generally much more forgettable, as Capcom Sequel Stagnation means there's little innovation.

[Jack of Spades]

I've been saying for a while that you can judge the health of the DCU by the presence of Ralph Dibney, the World-Famous Elongated Man. If your version of the DCU cannot tolerate Ralph's existence, then it is doomed. The same could be said of Lori. That's why I'm heartened to see Ralph appearing in The Flash this season. Maybe Lori will show up on Supergirl.

[Jabroniville]

SPARK MANDRILL
PL 10 (141)
STRENGTH 8 STAMINA -- AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+14)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Intimidation 9 (+9)
Perception 3 (+3)
Technology 3 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Equipment 10 (Semi-Difficult Base), Improved Critical (Boss Attack), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle

Powers:
"Robot Master Frame"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
"Robotic Frame" Protection 9 [9]

"Spark" Blast 8 (Feats: Split) (17) -- [18]

• AE: "Spark On The Walls" Damage 6 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Shapeable +2) (Flaws: Limited to Along Surfaces) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Spark +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Spark on the Walls +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +9, Fortitude --, Will +4

Complications:
Weakness (Shotgun Ice)- Spark Mandrill takes extra damage from the Shotgun Ice.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 41 + 18 / Defenses: 12 (141)

-Spark Mandrill's stage is a typical metal fortress, though if you beat Storm Eagle first, the lighting gets screwed with, often turning dark- it's a pretty neat touch. His attacks are pretty simple- he climbs from the top of his stage and drops down to smash you, or he fires out a pair of "Sparks" that shoot along the floor and up the walls. Like a lot of Mega Man X Robot Masters, he is very strong, large and tough, but in-game he is ridiculously easy if you have the Shotgun Ice, especially since his patterns are so simple.

Bestows the:
"Electric Spark" Blast 6 (12) -- [13]

• AE: "Spark On The Walls" Damage 6 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Shapeable +2) (Flaws: Limited to Along Surfaces) (12)

STORM EAGLE
PL 10 (144)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA -- AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 3 (+5)
Technology 3 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Equipment 10 (Semi-Difficult Base), Improved Critical (Boss Attack), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle

Powers:
"Robot Master Frame"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
"Robotic Frame" Protection 8 [8]

Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [6]
"Bird Bomb" Blast 4 (Extras: Multiattack) (12) -- [14]

• AE: "Storm Tornado" Move Object 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Touch Range, Limited to Away) (8)
• AE: "Dive Bomb" Strength-Damage +2 (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Dive Bomb +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Wind Tunnel +8 Area (+8 Move Object, DC 18)
Bird Bomb +12 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude --, Will +4

Complications:
Weakness (Chameleon Sting)- Storm Eagle takes extra damage from the Chameleon Sting.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 40 + 20 / Defenses: 11 (144)

-Storm Eagle has an "Air"-themed stage, but largely takes place on a number of moving ships. On this stage you find the silly "Helmet" upgrade that lets you headbutt the ceiling, which is only useful for collecting a handful of items throughout the game. Storm Eagle's big move is to blow you off the ship, which is almost entirely negated if you have the Dash Boots. His only other attacks are to dive bomb you or to though out an egg that blasts out four birds. Pretty weaksauce if you have those Boots. His backstory is that he was a Reploid Hunter Air Cavalry member who was beaten by Sigma, and thus forced into submission.

Bestows the:
"Storm Tornado" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) [16]