Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Scourge Builds

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

THE SCOURGE OF THE UNDERWORLD:

Yet another Mark Gruenwald storyline featuring my beloved E-League villains, Scourge carved a swath through the crappiest of the crappy. See, Comics in general, but especially Marvel, has a glut of stupid villains. I understand the necessity of course- with upwards of fifteen to twenty books coming out EVERY MONTH in the '60s & '70s, you needed filler. And "Filler" usually means "random new villain shows up, does some stuff, and then gets beaten". Plus, there eventually came a whole TON of new books in the '70s, with Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Son of Satan and others needing villains, plus a bunch of Marvel Team-Up issues (both Spider-Man & The Thing had their own series). All of this new stuff meant there were a lot of new, unproven writers coming in, and they started out by just tossing random villains out there. Luke Cage's first book is notorious for having a crappy villain in it nearly every month (except for that time he followed Dr. Doom to Latveria to get five-hundred bucks).

The end result of this is HORDES of one-shot, one-note villains with one gimmick. Not such a bad thing (it's pretty easy to just ignore them, as most people did the comics from which these guys sprung), but a Continuity Nut like Gruenwald just SEETHES at the idea of all this stuff going to waste, and the sheer glut of them all. And so he created the Scourge. For several months, various comic books would have a page or two devoted to some random crappy villain starting some new dumb scheme, and then rubbing up against some random passer-by who then SHOOTS THEM with a huge explosive gun, shouting "Justice is served!", and then runs away. The shooter would look different every time, sometimes looking like an old lady, another time a Bohemian hippie.

Crappy Iron Man mook The Enforcer was first dead, followed by one of the Fantastic Four's first enemies, the Miracle Man. A handful of others would get offed before Gruenwald's Cap book would feature the original Firebrand gathering together the crappiest array of crap that comics ever crapped out- Bird-Man, The Jaguar, The Vamp, Turner D. Century and others formed a group at The Bar With No Name (a villain hang-out) to go after this mysterious killer- at which point the bartender at the Bar revealed that HE was Scourge, who then gunned down EIGHTEEN SUPER-VILLAINS AT ONCE. All crappy characters, so there was no loss- killing people aimlessly is a bad part of comics, but in this case, it was useless and redundant characters (Gruenwald later came to regret it, believing he could "Catman" them- not the term at the time, but it fits- but hell, these guys were awful).

It was awesome. Cap ended up going after the serial killer thanks to lucky survivor Water Wizard clueing him in to Scourge's murder-spree, and he lured him into a fight. Cap won, but Scourge was immediately murdered HIMSELF, by another mystery assailant using the same type of bullets. And so the story went on... Eventually, it came to light that "Scourge" was actually an ORGANIZATION of guys, based around hunting down criminals (usually super-villains), and putting them away. The Red Skull got his own Scourge working for him, and the concept got kinda diluted, especially once they stopped killing E-Leaguers (these guys were SERIOUSLY bad- D-League is too good for them). The U.S. Agent had to deal with a woman who was fleeing from the group (she was going to be a Scourge, but faltered at the idea of executing The Matador, and was now on the run), and he eventually tracked the whole group down. In the end, The Angel (a mildly-popular 1940s super-hero) was revealed as the man behind it all.

There was another Scourge-based thing popping up in The Punisher various Scourge victims made a deal with The Red Hood to gain new powers and concepts, and went after Frank. Now, I've got varied opinions on this, and can't quite decide on how I feel about it. On one hand, bringing back EIGHTEEN GUYS all at once is a shameless example of "Nobody Stays Dead", which is a major problem in comic books. On the other hand, the resurrections make sense (ie. Super-powered demons did it), the deaths weren't impactful or meaningful, and they happened to loser characters. Plus, it was mostly played for laughs. All the same... most of these guys were offed for a reason. They SUCKED. I mean, did the world really need THE HIJACKER back?

But in honour of my favourite thing ever in comics- the lamest of lame villains- here comes The Scourge... and his victims! Contained within...

The Enforcer
Miracle Man
The Hate-Monger III (Android Version)
Lascivious (Titania I)
Letha
Basilisk I (Basil)
Firebrand I
Blue Streak I (Thomas)
Hammer & Anvil
The Wraith I (DeWolff)
Vagabond
The Matador
Shellshock
Mirage
Death Adder
Bird-Man I
The Black Abbott
The Cheetah
Cyclone I
The Hijacker
Mind-Wave
Megatak
Hellrazor
El Jaguar
The Grappler
Turner D. Century
Aqueduct/Water Wizard (OK, he survived)
The Vamp
Commander Kraken
Steeplejack I & II
The Constrictor (Cap saved him)
The Phone Ranger (a joke villain in "Marvel Age")
Blowtorch Brand
Steel Wind (Scourge fails to kill her)
Lionfang

-Now, I did this set for the first time in 2011. And it was one of the most memorable, fun sets I ever did. This was back when "hordes of nobodies that everyone has forgotten" was a NEWER thing for my thread, and these guys had never been statted before. If I did this NOW, of course, it would be seen as a bit dull, since they've already been statted.

-These guys stand as one of the oldest bunches of characters still stuck on the original Atomic Think Tank. Pushing seven years in this case. MOST of them have been re-posted since then, with new information added- 2011 Jab was less verbose than 2018 Jab, and I always have additional notes to add. Some guys are stuck on the Ronin Army thread, and much more recent- I'm not that worried about those suddenly vanishing some day. Many guys ended up in a "Luke Cage" set, an "Iron Man" set, or something like that. Some guys, like Blowtorch Brand, Basilisk & El Jaguar, were picked up doing my "Letters" sets. But here remain eight guys still left on the original ATT, and who knows how long GR will keep that around for? I'd been working on the "H"s, but I realized it would be at LEAST a year before I finished all of the letters (T, C, P & M in this case), so I finally decided to bridge the gap between Invincible builds and the next set with a handful of "Scourge"-themed builds.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue May 17, 2022 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Scourge of the Underworld

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE SCOURGE OF THE UNDERWORLD (Various Names)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & John Byrne
First Appearance: Iron Man #194 (May 1985)
Role: Villain Number-Thinner
Group Affiliations: The Scourges
PL 10 (150)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 10 (+14)
Expertise (Streetwise) 9 (+12)
Insight 2 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+8)
Investigation 10 (+14)
Perception 8 (+12)
Stealth 8 (+12)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Assessment, Benefit 2 (Unknown Identities, Link to Scourge Database/Domino), Equipment 8 (Gear), Improved Aim, Improved Critical 4 (.50 Cal), Improved Initiative 2, Improved Smash, Last Stand, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover & Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 7, Seize Initiative, Skill Mastery (Deception), Startle, Taunt, Ultimate Aim, Well-Informed

Equipment:
"Scourge Uniform- Padded Vest" Protection 2 (Feats: Subtle) (3)

"Explosive Armour-Piercing .50 Calibre Thompson Sawed-Off Machine Gun"
"Burst" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack, Penetrating) (36)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Machine Gun +11 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +12

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+5 Vest), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Justice is black-and-white to the Scourges- they must kill the super-powered criminals that threaten the innocent when they fall out of reach of the law.
Secret (Identities)- This is VERY important- we never even learned the real name of the first Scourge.
Responsibility (To the Scourges)- They WILL hunt you down and try to murder you if you foul up your missions.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 66--33 / Advantages: 38 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (150)

-The first Scourge claimed to be the brother of The Enforcer, and was slain by another from afar. However, it's likely there were multiple Scourges right from the beginning- some were clearly women (or men in REALLY good disguises), and it was later established that the organization was already there beforehand (Paladin, Nuke & D-Man have all been seen as Scourges in modern times). He's a master of disguise, a great B.S.-er, and a good shot. He's a PC-level PL 10 (150) guy, but only PL 8 defensively (the guys tend to go down to a few good shots, and most other Scourges one-shot them as they do the villains they hunt. The main deal with Scourge is of course the guns- huge Penetrating Damage Blasts that tend to one-shot the CRAP out of super-villains. It's a tough thing to figure out- the damage structure in M&M is such that an Incapacitating strike is rather difficult to get, ESPECIALLY with single shots. The scene where Scourge wipes out EIGHTEEN GUYS in one spray of bullets would be virtually impossible to pull off in the game (he'd be at -18 to hit all of them, and would still be at a huge disadvantage against a whole horde), but that's just one of those things. You could put in a Cone Area Damage effect, but then you'd have to do that for EVERY gun, and I don't think that's right.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue May 17, 2022 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kregg! Best Tiger! Chupacabra! Thragg! Battle Beast!)

Post by Jabroniville »

drkrash wrote: Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:26 pm Invincible was a lot of fun! I also liked getting the confirmation that I stopped reading around the right time - it sounds like I can skip the last 50 issues.

So what's next? :)
"It's like his cancer is... TIED."
Shock
Posts: 2978
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:27 pm
Location: Connecticut USA

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kregg! Best Tiger! Chupacabra! Thragg! Battle Beast!)

Post by Shock »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:37 am so most importantly, who is the hottest In bin Universe lady?

My votes:
1) BBW Eve
2) Anissa, Goddess of Snu-Snu
3) Universa
4) Pegasus
5) Debbie Grayson
6) Regular Eve
my Top 5
1) Chubby Eve
2) Pegasus
3) Monster Girl (adult non-monster form, sheesh that's a lot of qualifiers)
4) Skinny Eve
5) Dupli-Kate (you just know she gets freaky)

Also, looking back, Outrun and Knockout look almost exactly the same. And didn't Space Racer have a girlfriend too? Green, lizard looking woman?
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kregg! Best Tiger! Chupacabra! Thragg! Battle Beast!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Shock wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 1:11 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:37 am so most importantly, who is the hottest In bin Universe lady?

My votes:
1) BBW Eve
2) Anissa, Goddess of Snu-Snu
3) Universa
4) Pegasus
5) Debbie Grayson
6) Regular Eve
my Top 5
1) Chubby Eve
2) Pegasus
3) Monster Girl (adult non-monster form, sheesh that's a lot of qualifiers)
4) Skinny Eve
5) Dupli-Kate (you just know she gets freaky)

Also, looking back, Outrun and Knockout look almost exactly the same. And didn't Space Racer have a girlfriend too? Green, lizard looking woman?
Image

That might be Thresha, Battle Beast's scary shark girlfriend who seems like she was gonna be important, but they ran out of story.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Commander Kraken

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

COMMANDER KRAKEN (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: Sub-Mariner #27 (July 1970)
Role: One-Shot Villain, Modern-Day Pirate
Group Affiliations: HYDRA
PL 7 (117)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Pirate) 7 (+9)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+4)
Vehicles 6 (+10) -- Flaws: Limited to Water Vessels

Advantages:
Sidekick 33 (Kraken)

Powers:
"Hook Hand" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
"Eletrical Shock" Damage 7 (14 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Hook Hand +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 33 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 12 (117)

THE KRAKEN (Mesonychoteuthis krakenus)
Role:
Ship-Sinking Awesome Sight
PL 12 (162)- Sidekick Rank 33
Normal Version:
PL 11
STRENGTH 12 STAMINA 12 AGILITY -2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 10 (+16 Size)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 8 (+6)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Grab, Startle, Power Attack, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Direction Sense) [2]

"Squid Features"
"Eight Arms" Extra Limbs 4 [4]
Unarmed Reach 10 (Reach: 150 feet) [10]
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]

"Ink Jet" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Area- 240ft. Cloud +4, Attack) [14]

"Sea Creature"
Swimming 4 (120 mph) [4]
Immunity 3 (Pressure, Cold, Drowning) [3]

"Natural Size" Growth 18 (Str & Sta +18, +18 Mass, +9 Intimidation, -9 Dodge/Parry, +4 Speed) -- (144 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [37]
"Body Ram" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3) (48) -- [50]
  • AE: "Tentacle Attack" (Extras: Multiattack 16 to Unarmed Damage) (16)
  • AE: "Single Tentacle" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +2) (36)
  • AE: "Whirlpool Wake" Move Object 12 (Extras: Area-120ft. Burst +3) (Flaws: Touch Range, Limited to Dragging Into Water) (36)

Strength-Damage +4 [4]
Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 15) [19]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Initiative -2

Defenses:
Dodge -3 (DC 7), Parry -2 (DC 8), Toughness +16 (+8 Impervious), Fortitude +16, Will +10

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Squid cannot speak to humans.

Total: Abilities: -38 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 149 / Defenses: 27 (162)


-Commander Kraken threatened Namor once, and was only really a threat because he had a giant Kraken with him. A self-styled modern-day pirate, he later fought The Cat, then reappeared with a very different look and a rocked-powered peg-leg, which he used to fight Iron Man. So basically a Journeyman Villain. He was eventaully revealed as the leader of HYDRA's naval division, but this goes nowhere. He later arrives at a gathering of villains to discuss this "Scourge of the Underworld" fellow that's been killing so many super-villains- it was, of course, organized by Scourge himself, who slaughters all of those assembled. And amazingly, unlike so many of the other losers (Basilisk! Miracle Man! Mirage!), he was NOT resurrected to serve The Hood, and remains dead!

-Dangerous only because he uses a giant monster as a Sidekick (not a Minion, since it would take quite a few hits to bring it down)- he's a modern-day Pirate (YAAAAARRRRR!!!!) with a goofy gimmick (an electro-hand). Without his Kraken backing him up, he had nothing.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue May 17, 2022 7:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Mirage

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

MIRAGE (Desmond Charne)
Created By:
Len Wein & Ross Andru
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #156 (May 1976)
Role: Jobber Villain, Illusionist
PL 8 (109)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills: 
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+9)
Perception 2 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+4)
Technology 5 (+10)

Advantages: 
Equipment 3 (Pistol, Tranquilizer Gun), Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Mirage Uniform" (Flaws: Removable) [40]
Illusion (Visual & Audio) 8 (Extras: Area +3- 48 feet) (48) -- (49 points)
  • AE: "Invisibility" Concealment 2 (Visual Senses) (4)
Equipment:
"Tranquilizer Gun" Affliction 5 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (Diminished Range -1) (14) -- (15)
  • AE: "Handgun" Blast 5 (10)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pistol +8 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Tranq Gun +8 (+5 Ranged Affliction, DC 15)
Illusions +8 (DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +5, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 14 (109)

-Mirage is a one-shot Spider-Man villain in a TERRIBLE-looking yellow costume, and what's worse is that he's just a rip-off of Mysterio. I mean, I can buy the "Illusionist" gimmick as being a great one for a "think your way out of this" scenario, but Spider-Man's Rogues Gallery already features Mysterio and the Chameleon, two guys already DEFINED as being the best at Mirage's gimmicks. This makes him a double-redundant loser in a terrible costume. OK, so he's a one-noter, then he threatened The Thing when he was laid up by The Champion (alongside a dozen other villains), and then he was offed by the Scourge of the Underworld. So no harm done overall.

-Mirage was a holographic technician who decided to become a supervillain (like... did he want to "Show Them All!"... or was he just a general dickhead who assumed that mastery of holograms was the true path of his lifelong dream?). He debuted at the wedding of Betty Brant & Ned Leeds (wow, they were dating for like ten years without getting married? Impressive for comic book supporting characters), but Spider-Man beat him by dropping a chandelier on him. He was one of many, MANY villains who attempted to murder a badly-injured Thing following the "Champion of the Universe" incident, but he was defeated by Daredevil in a pretty hilarious scene, given that he's all "HO HO HE HAS NO IDEA HOW TO DEAL WITH MY VISION-BASED POWERS!" against the one guy who is totally immune to holograms.

-With only two appearances to his name, one of which being a "drag guys out of the mothballs" one, he was an ideal "Scourge" victim, simply showing up at the Bar With No Name, and being shot with the rest of them. By this point, Danielle Moonstar had already been called "Mirage" a bit in The New Mutants, so he had little reason to go on.

-Mirage actually was part of a nice bit in the book, as when Captain America walked in on all the dead bodies (he'd been hunting Scourge already), he realized that he'd fit the Mirage costume (apparenly this F/X designer worked out; he was pretty swoll), and forged a scheme: He'd disguise himself as Mirage, then publicly claim to have survived the massacre at "The Bar With No Name", and go to a safe house to lure Scourge back to finish what he'd started. The gambit works and Scourge is beaten- but Cap has a heavy heart about it. He realizes halfway through that he's both manipulated the free press, AND possibly hurt any family members of the real Mirage, who may now think he's alive when he's not. It's the little things like that that make Gruenwald's writing neat sometimes. I mean, how many other writers would even think of that angle?

-Mirage returns along with the other Scourge Victims in a Punisher storyline. Resurrected by Dormammu to serve The Hood, he is humiliated by Lascivious (who psionically forces him to lick her boots), then disguises as Captain America to fight the Punisher in a cute callback. He is eventually shot, but survives. In a funny bit in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, he joins Boomerang's Sinister Six team, but is impersonated by The Chameleon. Boomerang, figuring that the real Mirage is a hologram, shoves him off of a building, splattering him on the ground. Boomer hilariously just shrugs and figures "he's come back from worse". He was later cloned by Miles Warren for a Prowler story.

-Mirage is just Mysterio Lite, with some illusion effects (ineffective against Daredevil of course) in his costume, as well as two types of Gun, but otherwise he's a jobber. He can't take a punch (or a bullet, as it turns out), and he'd fall apart the second a guy took a real swing at him. 
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue May 17, 2022 7:09 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
HalloweenJack
Posts: 1270
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 8:50 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kregg! Best Tiger! Chupacabra! Thragg! Battle Beast!)

Post by HalloweenJack »

I like how he popped up in a Deadpool comic released with a Wizard magazine.

Arnima Zola made clones of a ton of lame dead villains and heroes and Deadpool had a HELL of a time taking them out. It was like Christmas for him.

He grabbed Mirage by his headgear and crushed his throat with a knee strike while commenting about how impractical said head gear was.

Then he happened to stumble on clones of Aunt May and Uncle Ben getting down in a back room....and the shock of their wrinkled nude bodies sent him into a battle rage.

By the end, he had Zola dead to rights but Zola bribed him with something he whispered in his ear....which Deadpool immediately went for.

Cut to he and Blind Al in his apartment, with Deadpool having four clones of Gwen Stacy in sexy maid outfits/lingerie doing chores and rubbing his feet.
User avatar
Ares
Site Admin
Posts: 4963
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:40 am

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kregg! Best Tiger! Chupacabra! Thragg! Battle Beast!)

Post by Ares »

HalloweenJack wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:24 pm I like how he popped up in a Deadpool comic released with a Wizard magazine.

Arnima Zola made clones of a ton of lame dead villains and heroes and Deadpool had a HELL of a time taking them out. It was like Christmas for him.

He grabbed Mirage by his headgear and crushed his throat with a knee strike while commenting about how impractical said head gear was.

Then he happened to stumble on clones of Aunt May and Uncle Ben getting down in a back room....and the shock of their wrinkled nude bodies sent him into a battle rage.

By the end, he had Zola dead to rights but Zola bribed him with something he whispered in his ear....which Deadpool immediately went for.

Cut to he and Blind Al in his apartment, with Deadpool having four clones of Gwen Stacy in sexy maid outfits/lingerie doing chores and rubbing his feet.
I actually have that issue. Really good stuff. His other victims were folks like Salem's Seven, the Vamp, and I want to say Turner D. Century.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

Want to support me and Echoes of the Multiverse? Follow this link to subscribe or donate.
User avatar
Ares
Site Admin
Posts: 4963
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:40 am

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kregg! Best Tiger! Chupacabra! Thragg! Battle Beast!)

Post by Ares »

As for Scourge, I'm completely with Mark's later realization in that the mass villain killing was a mistake. As Jab has quoted me saying before, I view settings, especially shared universes, as big toy boxes where creative types get to play in. That's why you have to be careful with the toys/characters, because even if what you're playing with isn't Superman or Spider-Man, odds are it's a toy somebody likes. A toy that maybe, if they clean it up well enough and have enough fun playing with them, then other people will enjoy playing with said toy too. See Catman, Songbird, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Deadpool, etc.

On the flip side, if you mess with a toy too much, you can take something formerly popular and damage it enough that no one wants to play with it until they get their own cleaning to restore their greatness. See Captain Marvel (The Curse of Nu-Shazam), Blue Beetle (congrats Jaime, we just got rid of everything fans loved about your original book), Captain America (Hail Hydra!), Iron Man (I put a girls head on Iron Man's body!), Thor (I put Thor's head on a girl's body!), etc.

And even if the toy is just a one-note jobber villain, that doesn't mean they don't have their place. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you only completely remove a toy from the toybox if doing so is the best possible story for that character, if few people will miss them, and if perhaps other toys can be improved by the removal. Angar the Screamer being killed off takes away any potential for a goofy 70's inspired villain, but it was a step in turning Screaming Mimi into Songbird, which I think ultimately was worth the effort. Amazing tho how no one comments about Angar or Tony Star getting "refrigerated" if it helps a female character out.

So yeah, I'm against mass character killings in general, since I like having lots of jobber villains around, and just killing them off feels wasteful. Plus I have a soft spot for those old Spidey/Thing team up books. But I'll also admit that most of the folks killed off wouldn't be missed too badly, a lot of them got brought back, and it lead to a decent Cap story. You could have probably had equal effect if some of the villains escaped death and were seriously injured.

It's also just weird that Scourge has a higher supervillain kill count than the Punisher.

And on a completely different tangent, it's weird how no one, not even Continuity Buff Kurt Busiek, seems to remember that Songbird has superhuman strength. While her sonic scream was originally what set her apart from the other Grapplers, she had undergone the same process that the rest did that gave her superhuman strength. It wasn't a lot of strength, but I want to say she could still lift a couple of tons at least.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

Want to support me and Echoes of the Multiverse? Follow this link to subscribe or donate.
Thorpocalypse
Posts: 3239
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:52 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kregg! Best Tiger! Chupacabra! Thragg! Battle Beast!)

Post by Thorpocalypse »

1) Chubby Eve

No need to list the rest. 8-)

And in regards to The Scourge, I must say thee nay!!!! No one, and I mean, no one gets away with offing jobbers!!!! Worst mistake Marvel ever made, and that includes NOT having The Scourge kill Pym!!! :evil:
Me fail English? That's unpossible. - Ralph Wiggum
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Miracle Man

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image
Image

THE MIRACLE MAN (Joshua Ayers)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The Fantastic Four #3 (March 1962)
Role: One-Shot Villain, Forgotten Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (89)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills: 
Deception 5 (+9)
Expertise (Hypnosis) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+4)

Advantages: 
Daze (Deception), Fascinate (Deception)

Powers:
"Hypnosis Powers"
Illusion 7 (Visual & Audio) (Extras: Area +3- 50 feet) (Flaws: Resistible- Will) (35) -- [37]
  • AE: "You Are Very Sleepy" Affliction 7 (Will; Entranced/Stunned/Asleep) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception, Selective, Concentration) (28)
  • AE: "You Must Obey" Affliction 7 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception, Selective, Concentration) (28)
Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Hypnosis +7 Area (+7 Area Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +1, Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The Miracle Man wishes to use his powers to gain power and prestige.
Enemy (The Silent Ones)- Beings called the Silent Ones keep taking him away to cure his madness.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 37 / Defenses: 9 (89)

-The Miracle Man's a pretty classic "before they REALLY got the hang of it" kind of thing. He debuted in the third Fantastic Four issue, using the old-fashioned "this is what we think hypnosis is really like" style of Hollywood Hypnosis, Miracle Man would convince people that he had super-powers in order to frighten them, and control the minds of people (such as Sue Storm, just to make her ULTRA-useless to the team in her "Invisible Girl" days). He was finally defeated when the Human Torch blinded him with a bright flare.

-He was so lame that it took over a decade before he appeared again, AGAIN making everyone believe that he had awesome powers, this time on Wyatt Wingfoot's Indian Reservation. An odd running theme sees him constantly abducted by beings called "The Silent Ones", who are attempting to cure his madness. He fought The Defenders once, as he was attempting to turn the island of Java into a paradise with his powers, but flew into a rage when a blind man refused to be cured (he considered blindness a divine gift)- he is quickly beaten.

-In an attempt to regain TRUE powers, he came across a Bohemian hippie (who wanted to play "Trivial Pursuit" against The Thing on a bus all three men were riding), who lipped him off, then shot him. "Justice is served!", quoth the disguised Scourge of the Underworld. He was resurrected years later to fight The Punisher, and is apparently actually still alive.

-Miracle Man's a goof. Perception-Area Visual Hypnotism can mess up the low-willed pretty badly, but he's not much against major-league heroes, especially these days. 
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:22 pm, edited 4 times in total.
User avatar
Davies
Posts: 5082
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Scourge Builds

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:25 am ImageImage
Ironically, given that second image there, you forgot the Melter in your list.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Kregg! Best Tiger! Chupacabra! Thragg! Battle Beast!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:20 am As for Scourge, I'm completely with Mark's later realization in that the mass villain killing was a mistake. As Jab has quoted me saying before, I view settings, especially shared universes, as big toy boxes where creative types get to play in. That's why you have to be careful with the toys/characters, because even if what you're playing with isn't Superman or Spider-Man, odds are it's a toy somebody likes. A toy that maybe, if they clean it up well enough and have enough fun playing with them, then other people will enjoy playing with said toy too. See Catman, Songbird, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Deadpool, etc.

On the flip side, if you mess with a toy too much, you can take something formerly popular and damage it enough that no one wants to play with it until they get their own cleaning to restore their greatness. See Captain Marvel (The Curse of Nu-Shazam), Blue Beetle (congrats Jaime, we just got rid of everything fans loved about your original book), Captain America (Hail Hydra!), Iron Man (I put a girls head on Iron Man's body!), Thor (I put Thor's head on a girl's body!), etc.

And even if the toy is just a one-note jobber villain, that doesn't mean they don't have their place. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you only completely remove a toy from the toybox if doing so is the best possible story for that character, if few people will miss them, and if perhaps other toys can be improved by the removal. Angar the Screamer being killed off takes away any potential for a goofy 70's inspired villain, but it was a step in turning Screaming Mimi into Songbird, which I think ultimately was worth the effort. Amazing tho how no one comments about Angar or Tony Star getting "refrigerated" if it helps a female character out.

So yeah, I'm against mass character killings in general, since I like having lots of jobber villains around, and just killing them off feels wasteful. Plus I have a soft spot for those old Spidey/Thing team up books. But I'll also admit that most of the folks killed off wouldn't be missed too badly, a lot of them got brought back, and it lead to a decent Cap story. You could have probably had equal effect if some of the villains escaped death and were seriously injured.

It's also just weird that Scourge has a higher supervillain kill count than the Punisher.

And on a completely different tangent, it's weird how no one, not even Continuity Buff Kurt Busiek, seems to remember that Songbird has superhuman strength. While her sonic scream was originally what set her apart from the other Grapplers, she had undergone the same process that the rest did that gave her superhuman strength. It wasn't a lot of strength, but I want to say she could still lift a couple of tons at least.
Interesting points! I'm of the mind that MOST of these guys were worthless and it didn't really matter, but enough of them are good for trivia, background scenes, or something else, that they didn't ALL need to die. Mirage in particular has a distinctive, silly look that makes him ideal for "Bar With No Name" scenes. Losing Titania & Letha was a bad move, though comics wasn't in the "large, muscular women" phase yet, so it took a while for characters like that to get any use. They'd have been useful for when Songbird got her first big push, though. And Turner D. Century is so laughably bad that he deserves to have stuck around. Gruenwald's shame at these horrible characters is kind of emblematic of 1980s writing, though- comics was getting increasingly serious and had no role for such goof-offs (imagine Turner in a 1990s comic? Thematically he'd never fit; the 2000s+ were better for "stupid villains").
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Turner D. Century

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image
Image

I could never have made a villain this stupid, even if I'd tried. And I TRIED. I made a golden retriever in SCUBA gear called "Dog Shark". I made a guy called "Doberman Puncher". Those guys are Magneto & Doctor Doom compared to this asshole. This guy's so lame he has a fake woman on the back of his tandem motorcycle! HE CAN'T EVEN AFFORD HENCHMEN!!!

TURNER D. CENTURY (Clifford F. Michaels)
Created By:
J.M. DeMatteis, Steve Leialoha & Bruce D. Patterson
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #33 (Dec. 1980)
Role: Joke Villain, Nostalgia Guy
Group Affiliations: None
PL 6 (76)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (History) 8 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Technology 6 (+10)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (Bicycle, Assorted Gear), Ranged Attack 7

Equipment:
"Flying Tandem Bicycle" Flight 5 (60 mph) (10)
"Umbrella Flamethrower" Damage 6 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cone +1/2) (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Flamethrower +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Nostalgia)- Turner is obsessed with returning America to the early-1900s, and will kill if necessary to achieve his ends. He loves all the accoutrements of the era (boater hats, tandem bicycles, umbrellas, handlebar mustaches).
Reputation (Crappy Villain)- I mean, just look at him.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (76)

-Sometimes a character is just so SILLY that you either have to appreciate it on a visceral level of stupidity, or damn the creators who made him. I mean... man, what is this? I can't even... This guy is unquestionably one of the most-deserving possesors of an explosive bullet to the face. I mean, this guy is nostaligic for the Pre-World War I era America? That's... absurdly specific. He isn't even all Gay '90s or anything- he just likes boater hats and tandem bicycles, and wants to commit genocide. I don't think he was ever meant to be taken seriously (at least, I HOPE not...), but even for comics this is a little dumb. He's also apparently a scientist of some sort, because he invented a device meant to kill all of San Francisco (it didn't work, however, so he's not THAT good).

-Clifford Michaels is the son of a millionaire's chauffer, and was taken in by the man, who'd grown horrified at what he perceived to be the degredation of American society since the time he'd helped rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 Earthquake. With Clifford being recently orphaned, the man decided to raise him as a surrogate son, imprinting his morals upon the boy. Eventually, Michaels would rechristen himself Turner D. Century, wearing a handlebar moustache and the outfit commonly worn as summer-wear by young men around the turn of the century.

-As a villain, he attempted to eliminate the current population of San Francisco using a hypersonic weapon- he was stopped by Spider-Man and Dominic Fortune. His weapon turned out to be a dud, only knocking people unconscious, too. Despite this memorable appearance, he did not make a second, and was killed by The Scourge of the Underworld, getting the CLASSIC line of "Egad! Such powerful chaps at that!" upon hearing the list of dead villains. He was gunned down along with so many others at "The Bar With No Name".

-Years later, a clone of his was made by Arnim Zola, but was slain by Deadpool. Like seventeen other Scourge victims, he was resurrected by The Hood and sent against the Punisher. He is apparently still alive, and oddly fits todays "yeah, this is silly; DEAL WITH IT" era a little better than in the 1980s.

-He has no real powers- fighting him is more of a "Fight the villain's plan" thing than an actual fistfight, and his Flamethrower is all that puts him at PL 6 (slightly-higher than a good Cop or Soldier, and on the level with The Enforcers. A good fit, I suppose). There's also that ridiculous flying Tandem Bicycle (since he had no friends, he dressed up a mannequin in a pink dress to sit on the back seat. This guys is SAD). He can't take a punch at all. Read his ridiculous story here: http://www.seanbaby.com/stupcom/tdc.htm. Oh, and he's been made fun of in MANY other places -http://daveslongbox.blogspot.com/2005/0 ... ntury.html. And yes, it really does seem like the Spider-Woman series in the 1980s was pretty bizarre. Her Rogues Gallery makes Luke Cage's look like fricking Batman's.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue May 17, 2022 7:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply