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Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Spider-Woman Builds

Post by Jabroniville »

SPIDER-WOMAN FRIENDS & FOES:

-As I mentioned with my Jessica Drew build, she's had a weird little history full of some very early work by some creators who later went on to be important, like Chris Claremont & Mark Gruenwald. But her book was sorta just tossed around between writers, and so she rarely got any traction. The fact that her hometown wasn't New York also meant that she fought a lot of newbie characters, and since they're 1970s characters, that means many of them are a quite a bit "off", like Luke Cage's array of goofs. In this case, Spider-Woman had to deal with a lot of creepy Horror-type villains, as they'd gone for a "weird" vibe in her book. She fights some deformed freaks, murderers and some goofy villains, plus is largely-responsible for the modern introduction of Morgan Le Fay into the Marvel Universe.

THE GRINDER (Brute Bashby)
Created By:
Michael Fleisher & Steve Leiahola
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #26 (May 1980)
Role: One-Shot Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 6 (67)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Throwing Blades- Blast 4- Diminished Range -1), Ranged Attack

Powers:
"Grinder Suit" (Flaws: Removable) [20]
"Rotary Blade" Flight 5 (60 mph) (10)
"Blade Strike" Damage 7 (Extras: Multiattack) (14)
-- (24 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blade Strike +5 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Throwing Blade +5 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 7 (67)

-Bashby is a criminal-for-hire who's working for a newspaper publisher who wants Bashby, as "Grinder", to commit pre-planned crimes and warn his paper beforehand so they can get the "scoop". He robs a coin exhibit, but he's soon trapped by Spider-Woman, the plan a failure. He gets out of prison and is then beaten by The Man Called Nova. He's strictly a small-time loser (I mean, just look at him), though that Saw is pretty nasty.

THE KILLER CLOWN (Casper Whimpley)
Created By:
Michael Fleisher & Frank Springer
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #22 (Jan. 1980)
Role: One-Shot Villain, Serial Killer
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (62)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Equipment (Garotte Wire, Spring-Loaded Box- Leaping 2), Fast Grab

Powers:
"Clown Gear" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [4]
"Fatal Joy Buzzer" Damage 6 (Inaccurate) (5) -- (6 points)
AE: "Extending Hand" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach 2) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage)
Extending Hand +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Joy Buzzer +6 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Killing Women)- A henpecked husband, Casper seeks revenge against all women.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 10 (62)

-Casper Whimpley was a henpecked husband who became a serial killer, targeting women (like most do) as The Killer Clown (this was based around John Wayne Gacy, who was quite well-known at the time for his killing of younger males). The Clown was foiled in his fourth murder attempt by Spider-Woman, followed her home (man, villains almost never try that) and attacked her roommate Lindsay McCabe thinking she was S.W. Jessica Drew soon joined the fight and drove him away, then trapped him finally at the hospital, when he tried to finish Lindsay off. Kind of a dumbass if he KEPT TRYING, y'know? He's a minor strangulation-based crook with some Clown Gimmicks (a Joy Buzzer, an Extendable Hand for punching at a distance, and a Jack-In-The-Box that shoots him up some distance), and managed to escape from Jessica Drew TWICE before she finally snagged him. Like any clown-themed guy who isn't The Joker or Jack-In-The-Box, he's pretty well forgotten.

WAXMAN
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald, Carmine Infantino & Mike Esposito
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #17 (Aug. 1979)
Role: One-Shot Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (167)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 2 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Flesh) 4 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Fast Grab, Startle

Powers:
"Copy Appearances" Morph 4 (Flaws: Limited to People He's Copied) [16]
"Waxy Skin" Insubstantial 1 (Flaws: Leaves Skeleton Behind) [4]
Immunity 20 (Bludgeoning Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]
Immunity 20 (Slashing & Piercing Damage) [20]
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]
"Liquid Flesh" Affliction 7 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Progressive +2, Ranged) [28]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Liquid Flesh +8 (+7 Ranged Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5, Fortitude +8, Will +2

Complications:
Responsibility (Insane)- Waxman is largely-insane, and may be schizophrenic, gaining new personalities by taking faces.
Prejudice (Melting)- Waxman's "flesh" frequently begins melting after being held in one form for too long.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 80 / Defenses: 14 (167)

-The Waxman was formerly a scientist out to cure all disease, but when he used something on himself to save his OWN life, he ended up with flesh turning to wax, and he went mad. He copied several people and soon began committing murders, suffocating people- one of his potential victims was Jessica Drew, who burned off some of his "Liquid Flesh" (ewwwwwwww...) and survived. When she figured out what was going on, she lured him to a summer home- he attempted to mimic Jessica to escape, but naturally Spider-Woman didn't believe him- she burned off a ton of his fleshy substance, and he appeared to die. She was creeped out and left, with some flesh forming back together in an "Or IS It?" kind of ending. Nonetheless, he was never seen again.
-Waxman is a creepy Mimic-type villain, specializing in choking people from afar with suffocating "Liquid Flesh" (ewwwwwwwwww...) after scaring the crap out of them when his skin starts "melting". He has a lot of the Insubstantial Character bits (Immunity & Slithering) as well, but can be beaten with enough of an effort, especially by a Blaster hero like Jessica Drew.

EXCALIBER (Jason "Slappy" Struthers)
Created By:
Marv Wolfman & Carmine Infantino
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #2 (May 1978)
Role: One-Shot Villain
Group Affiliations: None
PL 9 (103)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 2/10 AGILITY 2/3
FIGHTING 2/8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Thief) 6 (+8)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Power Attack

Powers:
"Copy of Excalibur" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [46]
Enhanced Strength 6 (12)
Enhanced Stamina 8 (16)
Enhanced Agility 1 (2)
Enhanced Fighting 6 (12)
"Stun Bolts" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (16) -- (17)
AE: "Sword Slash" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Penetrating 8) (10)

"Control Steeds" Enhanced Strength & Stamina 1 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) (Flaws: Limited to Steeds) (2)
Mind Control 5 (Extras: Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range -2, Limited to Steeds) (15)
-- (76 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Enhanced Strength +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Sword +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2 (+3 Sword)

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+10 Sword), Fortitude +2 (+10 Sword), Will +2

Complications:
Involuntary Transformation (Without The Sword)- The possession ends whenever Struthers lets go of the sword- he may be disinclined to pick it back up.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 5 (103)

-"Slappy" Struthers was the most unfortunately-named thief in existence, and was out to steal Excalibur itself from The London Museum- alas, it turns out that the sword was a copy created by Morgan Le Fay, and he got possessed by the spirit of one of Morgan's knights. Le Fay used him against Magnus The Magician & Spider-Woman, but knocking the Sword from his hand ended the possession. He was powerful enough to shrug off Jessica's Venom Blasts, and derail trains with his sword, but that Easily-Removable Flaw is a HUGE deal. Also, he can turn regular Police Horses into a Personal Steed (I'm assuming its just tougher).

HORNET I (Scotty McDowell)
Created By:
Michael Fleisher & Frank Springer
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #21 (Dec. 1979)
Role: Hero's Aide
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (120)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Criminologist) 5 (+8)
Insight 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4, Startle

Powers:
"Hornet Powers"
Power-Lifting 1 (12 tons) [1]
Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [6]
"Bio-Stings" Blast 8 [16]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Bio-Stings +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Disabled (Paraplegic)- Scotty's legs don't work in normal form.
Normal Identity (Scotty McDowell)- Scotty is ST 0, STA 0, AGI -4, and FIGHTING 0.
Relationship (Jessica Drew)- Scotty is in love with Jessica, but resentful that she only sees them as partners.

Total: Abilities: 78 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 5 (120)

-Scotty McDowell was a wheelchair-bound criminologist who helped out Spider-Woman on her cases for a while, but was soon kidnapped by Karl Malus, who injected him with Hornet DNA, turning him into a man-bug. This also made him an aggressive chauvinist, soon becoming evil and trying to kill Spider-Woman. Jessica, unwilling to hurt her friend, had a tough battle, but was able to flush the formula from Scotty's bloodstream. Scotty then revealed that his dislike towards her was real- he was in love with her, but felt that she didn't notice him. They didn't work together after that. As Superhero Supporting Cast Members go, he got off lucky. As a short-lived superhuman, he's only PL 8, but fairly well-balanced everywhere but his saves.

MORGAN LE FAY
Created By:
Stan Lee & John Maneely
First Appearance: Black Knight #1 (May 1955)
Role: Evil Wizard, Sexy Evil Broad
Group Affiliations: The Darkholders
PL 15 (353)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Deception 5 (+10, +12 Attractive)
Expertise (Magic) 15 (+20)
Expertise (History) 6 (+11)
Insight 3 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+11)
Perception 5 (+10)
Persuasion 2 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Magic) 8 (+12)

Advantages:
Artificer, Attractive, Daze (Intimidation), Fearless, Power Attack, Ritualist, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Immortal"
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Immortality 15 [30]

"Magical Might"
Flight 7 (250 mph) [14]
Force Field 10 [10]
Senses 4 (Detect Magic- Acute, Analytical & Ranged) [4]
Morph 4 (Any Form) [20]
Shapeshift (Creature Forms) 6 [42]

Teleport 14 (Feats: Increased Mass 6, Change Direction & Velocity, Dynamic) (Extras: Accurate, Extended, Portal +2) (Flaws: Standard Action) (79) -- [106]
Dynamic AE: "Telepathy" Mind Reading 10 (20) & Mental Communication 5 (20) -- (41)
Dynamic AE: Mind Control 14 (Feats: Dyamic) (57)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Projection" Remote Sensing (Vision & Hearing) 16 (Feats: Dynamic, Subtle) (50)
Dynamic AE: Eldritch Blast 18 (Feats: Improved Critical 2, Dynamic, Affects Insubstantial, Affects Astral Plane Travellers) (Extras: Penetrating 10) (51)
Dynamic AE: "Eldritch Wave" Damage 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Penetrating, Area- 60ft. Cone) (45)
Dynamic AE: Illusion (Vision & Hearing) 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Improved Field" Force Field +4 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15) (20)
Dynamic AE: Concealment (All Senses) 10 (Extras: Affects Others, Area) (41)
Dynamic AE: "The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak" Snare 14 (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (72)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 14 (Extras: Perception Range) (42)
Dynamic AE: Create 12 (Feats: Precise, Innate) (Extras: Movable, Selective, Stationary +0) (51)
AE: Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel) (Feats: Increased Mass 6) (Extras: Portal +2) (19)
AE: Healing 16 (Extras: Restorative) (48)
AE: Movement 3 (Time Travel 3) (6)
AE: "Transmutation" Transform Anything to Anything Else 14 (6 tons) (70)
AE: Nullify Energy Effects 12 (Extras: Concentration, Broad) (48)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Mind Control -- (+14 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Blast +12 (+18 Ranged Damage, DC 33)
Eldtritch Wave +15 Area (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Crimson Bands +14 Area (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+14-18 Force Field), Fortitude +8, Will +11

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Le Fay seeks The Darkhold for its power.
Vulnerable (Cold Iron)- Le Fay is part-Fairie, and shares their weakness to "cold iron", which is apparently steel. She can also not affect objects made of the stuff with her magicks.
Relationship (Dr. Doom)- Doom is man enough to please her (she trains him in magic, and he gives her the lovin's), though her vast power makes this a somewhat-contested partnership.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 227 / Defenses: 19 (353)

-Morgan Le Fay, surprise, surprise, was actually a SPIDER-WOMAN villain for the longest time, being a recurring threat in Jessica Drew's solo book in the 1970s. She's actually debuted in the '50s series Black Knight (fitting, as it was an Arthurian Tale-themed book), but that book didn't make it out of its birth-decade. She was retconned into a member of a group using The Book of the Darkhold to summon the Elder God Chthon, and is seeking the book in modern times. Her old partner/lover Magnus hid the book away and became a Spider-Woman ally. Once Drew's book was cancelled, Morgan faced Dr. Strange and The Black Knight (Dane Whitman), but vanished until the debut of the Busiek/Perez Avengers book, where she used The Twilight Sword to restructure reality into a medieval world (aka "Perez likes drawing armor and costume redesigns, so here's your rad Excuse Plot").
-She reappears in modern times, having it out for her lover/student Dr. Doom, as she invades Earth with a massive undead army, requiring Doom to call The Cabal for help- Norman Osborn arrives with The Dark Avengers. She resurrects herself multiple times during the course of the battle, forcing Osborn & Doom to go back in time and do some weird stuff that involves magically sending her to the ancient-er past. She's reappeared during Avengers World with another conquering scheme, but is again undone.
-It's kind of funny, because comics seem to have been struggling lately to find some kick-ass female villains (the natural inclination of many writers is to just make them good guys, reducing their already-small numbers further- it just wasn't in comics' nature to have Evil Ladies for a long time, so you pretty much HAVE TO create new ones in most cases), and Morgan would be a good pick. She's VASTLY powerful, her Magic can basically do anything (allowing for multiple kinds of stories), and you have to REALLY work to defeat her. Plus she's got giga-cleavage, so you automatically know she's pure evil.

GYPSY MOTH (Sybil Dvorak, aka Skein, Sybarite)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Carmine Infantino
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #10 (Jan. 1979)
Role: Jobber Villain, Odd Power Lady
Group Affiliations: The Masters of Evil, The Femizons, The Night Shift, The Woman Warriors
PL 8 (96)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 5 (+9, +11 Attractive)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Psychokinesis Attacks) 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll, Daze (Deception), Fascinate (Deception), Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Low-Level Psychokinesis"
Snare 8 (Quirks: Requires Fabrics -2) (22) -- [26]
AE: "Disintegrate Materials" Blast 4 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Penetrating 10) Linked to Weaken Toughness 4 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects Only +0) (17)
AE: "Close Off Windpipes" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (18)
AE: Move Object 2 (Feats: Precise) (5)
AE: "Heart-Valve Destruction" Blast 5 (Extras: Penetrating, Fortitude Check) (20)

Flight 4 (30 mph) (Flaws: Limited to While Wearing Wings, Winged) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Snare +8 (+8 Ranged Afflicton, DC 18)
Windpipe Squeez +8 (+6 Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Heart-Valve Attack +8 (+5 Ranged Fortitude Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Hedonism)- Gypsy Moth is in it for kicks, money, and more kicks. She's formed hedonistic cults, hung out with celebrities, and murdered her husband for his money. She's also bisexual, and joined The Thunderbolts just to seduce Songbird (tragically, it didn't work).
Reputation (Sluuuuuuut)- Sybil hits on pretty much whomever, and wears one of the sluttier costumes going.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 28 / Defenses: 12 (96)

-Gypsy Moth is a VERY minor character, being a Spider-Woman villain who later came up against Captain America in the Superia Stratagem storyline, and briefly joined The Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil. Her whole schtick was that she was a low-level telekinetic (able to carry a maximum of 120 pounds) who specialized in manipulating the molecules of fabric. This basically let her shred super-heroes' costumes, leaving them either half-nude or otherwise tripping them up, but she had a few other unique tricks as well, like giving people heart attacks by manipulating the smaller materials inside their bodies. She's actually reappeared a few times as "Skein" or "Sybarite" ("Gypsy" is considered an ethnic slur by the Roma people, but at least a "Gypsy Moth" is an actual animal), but still gets written off as a minor character. She briefly allied with Hawkeye's Thunderbolts after quitting the Masters, mainly "for kicks" and to make an attempt at seducing Songbird (!!!).
-Gypsy Moth has a very weird power-set that stats up rather oddly. She can unweave fabrics, or even the inner-workings of the human body (!), giving her a low-level form of Disintegration. She can also attack people's Fortitude directly (able to Penetrate inside human bodies- such as her late husband, where it's implied he met his end via an obstructed blood vessel). This matches with a low-level Move Object (only 120 lbs. maximum), the ability to close off windpipes like a Force-User would, or simply ensnare people in their own clothing (and unless she's fighting Iron Man, that's pretty much everybody).
-She's not overly powerful with most of her attacks- her Snare is by far the most effective, and she's not even particularly fast for a Flier, but she's rather effective in a team situation- Snares & distracting stuff like that are positively LETHAL when you can set up heroes for other people to hammer on in combat. So she's a VERY low-pointed PL 8, but PL 8 all the same. But it'll only take one shot from any half-decent hero to put this dame down for the count.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Strikeforce Morituri

Post by Jabroniville »

STRIKEFORCE MORITURI:

-So this is a set kindly requested by our own Skavenger eons ago (never let it be said that I don't do requests... you can let it be said that I can take all damn year to do them :)), and when I said that I was too unfamiliar with the book to try them, he was good enough to DropBox/PM me the ENTIRE COLLECTION, so that I could at least see what it was about. I got through five or six issues. It's alright, but doesn't interest me all that much- already having a big backlog of stuff I didn't keep up on reading it. The characters aren't that fascinating, and it's hard to get attached to people you know in-story are going to die. As my own backlog of comics is ENORMOUS (seriously, the stack is about five inches high at this point, and that's not including the BOOKS I've yet to read), I couldn't really finish it- my time is too short these days to read a mediocre comic book series, unfortunately.

That's not to say it's BAD, it's just too middle-of-the-road in terms of quality. There's a REALLY weird bit where one of the girls talks about how lame her life beforehand was, and explained that it's okay she's doomed to die young, since "I was probably going to kill myself at some point ANYWAYS". And her teammate COMPLETELY NO-SELLS THIS). It's mainly known to me from a SUPREMELY-creepy issue I read as a kid, featuring some weapon that causes flesh to completely cover victims- their hair, eyes, ears, mouths, noses, etc. It leaves behind fleshy corpses with barely a trace of their original features, and requres the Healing-focused member of the team to afflict herself with the thing in order to produce a panacea to it. I read this when I was about twelve, so you can imagine my reaction to it after reading the issue amongst a pile of "Buy Six in a Pack" bagged-comics that included lighter fare like the Dr. Bong issue of She-Hulk, and Hawkeye & Dr. Druid in an issue of Solo Avengers. Anderson's art was quite good, though VERY "inspired by Alan Davis"- like a lot of young artists, Anderson seemed to have been copying one of his faves. At least he copied from one of the BEST.

The Series Itself:
-Produced by Marvel, yet not set in the Marvel Universe, it was created by Peter B. Gillis (a writer mostly-active in the '80s, but I've not read much of his stuff. He adapted The Last Unicorn for comics in 2010, however) and Brent Anderson (who'd later be known for his work on Astro City). It features a semi-futuristic Earth that is attacked by "The Horde", a race of generically-evil ultra-savage conquering aliens properly called "The Va-Shaak". The slave-taking, torturing, murderous Horde do tons of damage to Earth in their search for slaves (and retaliation for Earth counterattacks), and so humanity comes up with the solution to empower people with superhuman abilities. This group is named "Strikeforce Morituri", due to the fact that their powers cause their bodies to burn out quickly- most don't live a full year.

As such, the Strikeforce is made up of brave volunteers who are considered heroes by the general public. The book is very "down to Earth" at first, featuring long introspective bits by the main characters (our main hero has parents who don't understand his suicidal decision to join up with Morituri, and the team interacts with each other a lot), and not too much about the aliens at first. One character dies in the first arc, probably to define the "ANYONE CAN DIE!" mentality of the series. And in fact, the ENTIRE CAST is basically cycled through as the book goes on, with the original cast soon flaming out and getting replaced. I would imagine this would create some issues for long-time readers, as their favorites slowly disappear (I call this Oz Syndrome, for HBO's Oz icing cast members until eventually there weren't enough people left that I cared about.

Over the course of the book, the cast cycles through, but the Morituri Process proves to be no longer fatal 100% of the time. Then, in a weird twist, a NEW race of aliens flies in, destroys the Horde fleet, and departs without explanation (that's... friggin' BIZARRE. Almost a self-conscious "Deus Ex Machina"). But problems persist when a trio of murderers undergo the Process and attempt to assassinate the other Strikeforce members.

Skavenger says thus about the random "The Horde are Killed" thing:
It's something they actually build up to. The Horde has all sorts of trophies from races (they actually stole the ships they fly around in, they weren't a spacefaring race until the original ship owners arrived to greet them.) including a long-distance communicator. It contacted one of the new aliens, it arrived to investigate, killed a scientist to absorb his knowledge of how the world worked, and then started playing a long game. It didn't so much wipe out the horde as give a brief display of power and convince them to back off, at which point it started subterfuge. They replaced advisers to world leaders with "genetic constructs" and set things up so a few high-profile assassinations caused huge distrust of the "one government." Nations split back up again, the Morituri program was scrapped since the threat was "over," and they had time to start working getting humanity ready for a massive "harvest." They terraformed Mars and had the Horde move there where they started experimenting on them, Kree-style, to let them reach their genetic potential. Humanity was closer already, so they introduced something like a psychic "virus" that would cause spontaneous combustion and they'd feed off the psychic energies from it. The virus would spread, they'd get fat off an entire civilization dying off, and then go finish off the horde.

Out of 36 total issues the new aliens had 13 issues to start manipulating things, then there was a six year time jump when they made their move.
Gillis & Anderson left the book within two years, being replaced by James Hudnall on writing for the last ten issues. The remaining four artists were a young Whilce Portacio, Huw Thomas, John Calimee & Mark Bagley (doing some of his own early Marvel work). The series ended at SM #31. The book was reasonably-successful (it was the high-selling mid-to-late '80s), and even got a spin-off Limited Series in 1989 acting as a sequel to the main book. It turned out that the new aliens (the VXX-199), wiped out the Horde to enable them to modify mankind to their own requirements, then wipe them out and absorb the psychic energies unleashed. The remaining four Morituri members learn of this plan, destroy the aliens' CPU, and save humanity.

"The Morituri Process":
The Morituri Process, created by Dr. Kimmo Tuolema, gives empowered people enhanced physicality ("even my BUST is bigger!" proclaims the mousy female member in the early issues), and one set of super-powers, basically at random. Only 5% of humanity seems to be compatible with the process. Subjects tend to only live about one year, as their bodies reject the process. The process tends to make them rather reckless, as their shortened life-span means that they don't want to be kept out of action for any length of time. And, I mean, death is certain ANYWAYS, so that tends to take the fear out of enemy resistance. Eventually, a fourth generation of Morituri subjects gained an ability to live out full lifespans.

Morituri Powers:
Their powers are typically low-end superhero stuff, but they often gain new ones as time goes on, and their levels continuously increase after a point. This is always the sign that the Morituri Effect is about to take hold and kill them. So the PLs are likely one or two notches higher near the end of the characters' lives- imagine the players were putting all their Power Points into their Powers after a while.

STRIKEFORCE MORITURI MEMBERS
Created By:
Peter B. Gillis & Brent Anderson
First Appearance: Strikeforce Morituri #1 (Dec. 1986)
Role: Humanity's Last Hope)
PL 7 (93)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Military) 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Diehard, Equipment 3 (Flight Boots- Flight 6), Fearless, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Elite Physical Specimens"
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility ("We Who Are About To Die")- The members of Strikeforce Morituri are doomed to die within a year of undergoing the process. Some flame out much more quickly. The first sign is that their powers start increasing dramatically.
Enemy (The Horde)- The Morituri Program was started in order to fight The Horde, who were enacting genocide upon the human race.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 9 (93)

-The members of Strikeforce Morituri are given incredibly-high physical stats for human beings (some are seen picking up cars, and they can even take LASER FIRE and not be killed). They're not invincible (they can be hurt by stabbing, and many of them die from each other's powers), but they're tough as nails. PL 6 offensively (due to their high Strength) and PL 7 defensively.

The Morituri Members:
The Black Watch- The Early Crew: All of them died early-on, and appear only in flashback reports. Aaron Ray Leonard & Patricia Lynne Sobrero died before their powers manifested. Clinton Brian Rogers gained Super-Strength, and was killed in the field. Bruce Higashi gained Speed, and was supposedly-killed in a nuclear strike- a look-alike later appeared, but never was seen again. Woodrow Joshua Green gained Energy Projection (from his eyes), and died from the Morituri Effect. Commander Beth Luis Nison had the ability to make flowers bloom (losing the Superpower Lottery really badly), and died of the same.

The First Generation:
SNAPDRAGON (Lorna Leigh Raeburn)- PL 9 (110): Ranged Attack 1, Plasma Blast 9 (Inaccurate -3), Equipment (Wrist-Mounted Projectors to Buy Off Innacuracy) [17]
-Dies of the Morituri Effect.

VYKING (Harold Carl Everson)- PL 9 (118): Presence 4, Leadership, Energy Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy) (Flaws: Requires Being Blasted First), "Imaging" Senses 8 (Acute Horde & Morituri Detection- Ranged 2) [25]
-Our main character at first- he decides to keep a diary of his adventures to inform future generations. He becomes the brave leader of the team after some initial misgivings. Dies of the Morituri Effect in a flash of light leading one last mission (at the BEGINNING of the mission, in fact) within the first six issues- a pretty big sign that this was a different kind of book. His powers eventually got strong enough to take laser fire from three starfighters at once, and send it right back at them.

MARATHON (Robert Greenbaum)- PL 7-11 (115): Extraordinary Effort, "Tall Man"- Reach & Increased Mass, Intimidation 6 (+8), Enhanced Strength & Stamina 2, Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Fades), Enhanced Stamina 4 (Flaws: Fades), Immunity 2 (Heat, Cold) (Flaws: Fades), Equipment (Shield +2 to Defenses) [22]
-A really tall dude, his Strength grew the longer he refrained from using it (though he could apparently just keep fighting normally for a bit- they're unclear on precisely how it works). Initially just a follower, he gained an ever-darkening nature, taking insane risks, using aggressive tactics, and started mutilating himself (this series was a bit... different... from the usual Marvel fare). Willed himself to die from the Morituri Effect, taking out a huge Horde ship. He survived re-entry into Earth's atmosphere unaided, and that's BEFORE he started burning out his powers! PL 8 on offense, PL 11 on defense owing to great Toughness and some Shields.

ADEPT (Jelene Anderson)- PL 7 (160): Enhanced Intelligence 6, Expertise (Religion) 8 (+10), Eidetic Memory, Inventor, Senses 3 (Mental Sense- Analytical), Quickness 6 (Flaws: Limited to Inventing Things), "Chemical Mimicry" Variable (Effects To Counter Current Situation) 8 (Quirks: Requires a Few Minutes -2), Immunity 2 (Poison, Disease) (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Must Suffer From it First) [67]
-A devout Christian and the most philosophical member of the team. Adept gained genius-level capabilities, and could neutralize certain effects over time (she destroys the "flesh virus" thing by creating a vaccine when she herself was infected, and is able to get out of a cage by devising a counteractive mechanism against the lock). She is instrumental to the team, often devising several things about the Horde's technology after merely witnessing it. She was developing Cosmic Awareness at the time of her death due to the Effect.

RADIAN (Louis Armanetti)- PL 10 (117): "Full-Spectrum Electro-Magnetic Emissions" Blast 10 (Variable- Any E.M. Energy) (Inaccurate -2), AE: Cone Damage 10, AE: Dazzle Visuals 10, AE: "Burns Out THe Poison" Immunity (Poison) (Extras: Sustained +0), AE: "Phone Signal" Communication 3 (Phone Lines & Radio Waves), Equipment (Sleeve-Mounted Controllers to Buy Off Innacuracy) [24]
-Radian was the most-despondent of the team over their inevitable deaths, and actually betrayed them to The Horde after they promised to cure them of the Effect. However, he turns on The Horde at the last minute... the team still doesn't entirely believe him, however. He was killed by his crazed teammate Shear over this.

BLACKTHORN (Aline Pagrovna)- PL 9 (125): "Disrupt Molecular Bonds" Damage 8 Linked to Weaken 12 (Extras: Affects Objects) [32]
-A shy, nervous girl, who confesses to considering suicide before she decided to go with the Morituri Process. Gillis' favorite character, she gets 16 appearances, and dies last of her group. Her death from the Effect is stopped inadvertently by Wildcard, who absorbed her powers. She still dies of the Effect after giving birth, having started dating a famous actor and carrying his child.

The Second Generation:
SCAREDYCAT (Pilar Lisieux)- PL 10 (125): Expertise (Hippie) 4 (+5), "Fear Projection" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Controlled) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited to Fear), Speed 6, Quickness 4 [32]
-A New-Ager who meditated and considered herself a mystic. Briefly starts a romance with Scatterbrain. Dies of the Morituri Effect.

SCATTERBRAIN (William Deguchi)- PL 8 (126): "Telepathy" Communication (Mental) 3 (Flaws: Limited to Projecting Thoughts Only), Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) [33]
-Had an unfocused power at first, and grew obsessed with death after the Fourth Generation died. Gained a degree of Clairsentience before his death from the Effect, dying in a coma after having connected with the minds of some Hordians as they were being killed. Wore a leg brace from a training injury that caused neural damage. He appears a few times as a ghost to Scanner, delivering warnings, but it was revealed that it was a Computer A.I. taking on his personality to help them defeat the VX-199.

TOXYN (Ruth Mastorakis)- PL 8 (127): "Analyze Biochemistry" Senses 3 (Analytical Chemical Detection- Ranged), Weaken Stamina 10 (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Progressive +2), AE: Healing 8 (Extras: Restorative, Energizing) (Quirks: Requires Skin-to-Skin Contact) [34]
-A girl who undergoes the Process out of despair after being beaten by her would-be fiancee. She is put in a leadership position, soon rejecting it because she's much too anxious and introverted. She also successfully argues to the mission heads that Morituri should not be judged for being too reckless- they live under the constant fear of death. Dies of the Morituri Effect after being one of the longest-serving members (lasting 16 issues).

The Third Generation:
BACKHAND (Greg Mattingly)- PL 8 (110): Presence 4, Expertise (Acting) 6 (+9), Energy Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy) (Flaws: Requires Being Blasted First) [17]
-An actor hired to portray Vyking in a TV show meant to inspire the populace about Morituri, Gret Mattingly later undergoes the process himself after being impressed by their bravery. Willed himself to undergo the Effect to kill the Super-Hordians.

BRAVA (Domenica Contreras)- PL 8 (105): Enhanced Strength 4, Astronomy 8 (+9) [12]
-Killed by The Tiger after the Horde War ended. Skavenger asserts that I would love her because she was super-tall and buff.

HARDCASE (Burke O'Halloran)- PL 8 (102): "Density Control" Toughness 14 (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Empowered Subjects are Immobile -2), "Harden Objects" Strength-Damage +3 (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Requires Objects, Easily-Removable) [9]
-Empowered subjects may also suffocate if their mouths are closed during the transformation. He formed a relationship with Silencer when he confessed that he would die a virgin, and she, uh, ended that status. He was killed when the Horde activated a microwave cannon as part of a trap, dying arm-in-arm with Silencer.

SHEAR (Walther Feyzioglu)- PL 9 (107): Intimidation 4 (+3), Awareness 0, Presence -1, "Razor Force" Damage 12 (Feats: Reach, Precise) (Extras: Penetrating 8) [14]
-An aggressive young man, twisted by the racism his Turkish parents faced in Germany, where they'd immigrated. He was very bloodthirsty in battle, dressed like The Punisher (a comic book character in their universe), rejected his superiors' orders. Killed Radian, their mission commander, in a psychotic rage after thinking he'd gone traitorous. He later started going insane after taking a head-shot in battle, and fell to his death while fighting Scanner.

SILENCER (Akiya Bandaranaike)- PL 8 (114): "Silence Hearts" Weaken Stamina 10 (Extras: Ranged), AE: "Sound Nullify" Concealment (Sound) 1 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Affects Others) [21]
-An African woman who lost her family and husband to the Horde, and gained powers for the purpose of revenge. Used vibratory waves to do both things- killed some Fourth Generation members with it, and died of the same cannon that killed Hardcase.

WILDCARD (John Crenella)- PL 8 (141): "Power Mimicry" Variable 8 (Flaws: Limited to the Powers of Other Morituri) [48]
-Died of the Morituri Effect after absorbing Blackthorn's powers (and thus, her Effect).

The Fourth Generation (aka the Morituri Monsters):
* A group of guys who were empowered at a horrific cost. Four members, including Carol Rayweick, Victor Leroy Long and Macintire Kenlin, all were euthanized by Silencer after gaining vicious deformities that crippled them. One had Growth/Super-Strength, another looked avian/aquatic, another was psionic (Telepathy/Mental Blasts that could enhance powers in others- Scatterbrain used this to kill the Super-Hordians), and the last was unknown Energy-type powers.

The Fifth Generation:
* The last group left- grew incredibly-powerful as time went on (it's implied that any one of them could take out a whole space station by going all-out)

REVENGE (Jason Edwards)- PL 10 (119): "Explosion" Damage 10 (Feats: Variable- Any Energy 2, Triggered- Time 2- 2 Uses) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst), AE: Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy), AE: Dazzle Visuals (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Touch Range -1) [26]
-Touching any solid object would set off his power, and he could also set charges.

SCANNER (Dan Baker)- PL 7 (131): "Clairsentience" Senses 7 (Mental Sense- Sense Counters Illusion, Concealment, Uncontrolled Precognition), Remote Sensing (Vision & Hearing) 15 (Flaws: Uncontrolled), AE: "Neural Jack" Communication 3 (Computers) [38]

BURN (Yoko Watanabe)- PL 8 (113): Ranged Attack 2, "Pyrokinetic" Blast 8, AE: Burst Area 8, Environement 1 (Light) [20]
-Grew into a Human Torch Lite as time went on.

LIFTER (Fiona Windsor)- PL 8 (127): Move Object 8 (Feats: Precise), AE: Force Field 5 (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst), Flight 6, Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- No Gravity) (Extras: Affects Others, Burst Area) [34]

The Sixth Generation (aka The Morituri Assassins):
GHOST (Tam Van Ok)- PL 8 (112): Fighting 10, Expertise (Assassin) 6 (+7), Stealth 6 (+10), Concealment (Visual Senses, Hearing) 5 [19]
-A professional assassin with Invisibility powers. He was meant to assassinate one of the heroes, but backed out when he discovered that his superiors had lied to him.

TIGER (Zakir Shastri)- PL 9 (109): Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+5), "Energy Claws" Strength-Damage +6 (Feats: Split) [18]
-Easily assasinated Brava, but returned to India discovering that his superiors had lied to him.

RED COUGAR (Julio Diego Gonzales, aka Wind)- PL 9 (139): Fighting 12, Expertise (Serial Killer) 6 (+7), Intimidation 6 (+8), Stealth 4 (+8), Speed 10 (2,000 mph), Quickness 6, Multiattack on Strength-Damage, Improved Initiative 4 [45]
-A SERIAL KILLER given supersonic speed. He assassinated the Prime Minister of Paideia and then engaged in a killing spree in a military facility, but was then killed by Revenge.

The Seventh Generation (aka the Alien-Controlled Morituri):
* A bunch of evil guys, most of whom weren't named. They were Zed (Energy Projection- killed by some guy named Szell's army), Hassan (Freezing Powers, killed by Lifter), Olga (Telepathy & other Psionic Powers, killed by Szell's Army) and a bunch of unnamed guys. All would have their consciousnesses transferred to new bodies after death.

The Eighth Generation (aka Kimmo Tuolema's Morituri):
* Paula Tuolema (Teleportation on herself and others- even those who were far away), Hans (unclarified physical powers)



Okay- made some modifications to the Strikeforce guys:

* Adept now has Quickness to her Inventing (owing to rapidly-putting stuff together).
* Marathon has some added Reach & Mass, plus Intimidation (a dude that size should be scary). Plus Extraordinary Effort.
* Vyking's "Imaging" is now Detect Horde & Morituri.
* Burn has an Alt-Effect for Burst Area Fire, and Environment 1 (Light).
* Scanner has high levels of Uncontrolled Remote Sensing (making his cost go WAY up).
* Revenge has a Dazzle, Shear has Precise on his Damage.
* Lifter now has a Force Field and give artificial gravity to others.
* Hardcase can now make himself tougher (also making him Immobile), and can "Harden Objects", essentially creating hand-held Weapons for anybody. This boosts his PL if he uses it for himself.
* Tiger's molecular-disruption is two ranks higher, making him PL 9. If he can take apart cars and Brava that easily, he's a bit tougher.

I don't know what to make extra on Toxyn- that "put poison on the lips" thing can easily just be Weaken Stamina (that's what Poison basically DOES). Dunno what that cloud of stuff could be. Just a Power Stunt, I guess.

re: The Flight Boots- Equipment CAN use Extra Effort, but it will always take the strain, and you have to spend a Hero Poin in order to do so. I'd have probably houseruled it even if you couldn't, because the Flight Boots are standard enough for EVERYBODY to use them :).

Thanks!





THE HORDE (Va'Shaak)
Created By:
Peter B. Gillis & Brent Anderson
First Appearance: Strikeforce Morituri #1 (Dec. 1986)
Role: Raging Space Dickholes
PL 5 (66)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Space Soldiers) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 2 (+2)
Technology 3 (+3)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (Blasters +6 Multiattack, Rebreathers)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Blasters +4 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +5, Fortitude +5, Will +0

Complications:
Responsibility (The Horde)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (67)

-The Va-Shaak are a horrifyingly-evil race, to the point of near-hilarity. They're so evil that the COULD HAVE conquered humanity, but chose not to, instead preferring to raid them for slaves and terrify the populace, as they only view humans as cattle. Even their ORIGIN is evil, as the race (who'd destroyed their homeworld from environmental damage) was saved by a kindly group of other aliens with high-technology, and the Va'Shaak stole this technology to forge a galaxy-spanning empire. As they're too dumb to fix their own ships, they steal technology (among other things) from other worlds.
-They're Standard-Issue Strong Warlike Aliens statisticaly. Alas, I've no idea how to stat out the fact that they have testicles on their face. I guess they'd made bitchin' Maury Povich guests, but that's it.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Technet

Post by Jabroniville »

THE TECHNET:

-Next up is the Technet, one of the few gatherings of Jobber Villains I haven’t yet ported over from 2e to 3e. They were a team of one-note Mort characters (based around being interdimensional Bounty Hunters) who were purposefully goofy and bizarre. They were a bunch of alien-esque weirdos, 90% of which had super-effective transformation powers, but no Skills & they were all Glass Cannons. This makes them an entertaining set of builds, because all their power-sets are 100% unique.

They were created by Alan Davis for Captain Britain’s solo book in the mid-80s, but got a lot of play in the Claremont/Davis run on “Excalibur”. I didn’t overly enjoy the book (aside from the beautiful art. And Kitty Pryde), because it was often just WAY too silly, and seemed like it sprung from a shroom-addled brain (for 1980s comics, this was a solid bet). I prefer my funny comics to actually have JOKES, and not just silly situations, and stuff that’s whacky for the sake of being whacky just doesn’t amuse me all that much. In particular, it ruins a lot of the drama needed for superhero books to work, since none of the characters are taking things seriously.



They made their debut capturing Captain Britain, having mistaken him for his other-dimensional evil counterpart Kaptain Briton, and they teamed up upon discovering the error. His sister Betsy (Psylocke) killed Briton when he tried to assault her. They had a few more weird antics in Captain Britain’s book (team member Elmo is killed) before Excalibur debuted in the late 1980s (when Nightcrawler & Shadowcat left the main “X-Men” book and formed a new franchise with other lesser-used Claremont characters like Capt. Britain, Meggan & Rachel Summers).

In “Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn”, the Technet is hunting Rachel Summers (aka Phoenix II) under orders from a Cosmic Somebody Opal Luna Saturnyne, and comes into contact with Mojo’s Warwolves, who are under the same orders. Ferro is killed on this mission, which was apparently set up by Saturnyne under orders from Roma, who claimed that Excalibur’s formation was necessary to protect the Multiverse (“Excalibur” was themed around going to many alternate worlds).

The Technet would later be used as pawns again (this time by Saturnyne’s alternate universe counterpart Sat-Yr-9), and the rest of the team quit on leader Gatecrasher, eventually forming “The N-Men” under training from Nightcrawler. We wouldn’t see the team for a LONG time (only Claremont & Davis really worked on them), but they’d make a cameo during the wedding of Captain Britain & Meggan.

Back To Basics Syndrome would rear it’s ugly head when Gatecrasher showed up with the full team (ignoring the prior split) to capture Franklin Richards in a “Fantastic Four” issue, but an understanding was reached.


So like I said, this is a quirky team of odd, one-note characters known for one or two gimmicks. Their gimmicks are at high enough levels that they can prove a REAL challenge to super-heroes (often it looks like characters don’t get any kind of a save at all- they’re just Transformed or Shrunk or whatever).

THUG
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Captain Britain #4 (April 1985)

Role: Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Technet, The N-Men
PL 8 (116)
STRENGTH
10 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Art) 6 (+7)
Insight 3 (+4)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 5 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 4, Startle, Takedown

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- The Technet are bounty hunters and mercenaries.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (91)

-Thug's a quaint little powerhouse: He's barely five feet tall, but he's the team's resident Strong Guy! In addition, he's as loquacious as Dr. Henry McCoy, but has a speech pattern like the Olde English of Thor. He's not in Captain Britain's league for power, but he's alright. He's not QUITE short enough for Shrinking by my watch, because anything less than 4 ranks is kind of a waste of time, and his arms are long enough to make for normal person reach anyways. Also, bizarrely enough, somebody who read my builds used my descriptions of them for the ComicVine pages on the characters! Thug's features this very same dialogue from when I used it for 2nd Edition! Does that make me internet-famous?

RINGTOSS
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Captain Britain #4 (April 1985)
Role: Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Technet, The N-Men
PL 9 (79)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Perception 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Rings) 4 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Head Rings" Snare 8 (Feats: Reversible) (Quirks: Power Loss- If Unconscious, Snares Dissolve -2) (23) -- [25]
  • AE: "Energy Rings" Blast 8 (16)
    AE: "Light Rings" Environment 3 (Light) (3)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Head Rings +10 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)

Energy Rings +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- The Technet are bounty hunters and mercenaries.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 25 / Defenses: 12 (79)

-Ringtoss never did jack; she just fires "Rings" to enravel around people. Basic Reversible Snare, but they dissolve if she gets KO'd- she’s effective at just that, but knocking her out is pretty easy. She can also Blast stuff (some pictures show her slicing apart robots or firing it out as a big face-blasted), or light up a room or something.

WAXWORKS
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Captain Britain #4 (April 1985)
Role: Afflicter, Weird Monster
Group Affiliations: The Technet, The N-Men
PL 10 (62)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Tentacles) 2 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Teamwork

Powers:
"Converts Humanoids to Waxy Substance"
Affliction 12 (Fort; Hindered & Impaired/Defenseless & Disabled/Paralyzed & Transformed to Taffy) (Feats: Reach, Reversible) (Extras: Extra Condition) [26]

"Waxy Skin" Protection 3 [3]
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Wax-ifying Tentacles +8 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +2, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- The Technet are bounty hunters and mercenaries.
Disabled (Mute)- Waxworks appears to be unable to speak. And yet, he once hooked up with Ringtoss (*shudder*).

Total: Abilities: 16 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 30 / Defenses: 12 (62)

-Waxworks is a one-note baddie who doesn't talk, and looks like a tentacled monster made out of taffy with giant red eyes. About par for the course on this team. His main power is devastating though, as he's able to turn human beings into floppy, wax-like versions of themselves, rendering them helpless and immobile as their muscles turn to nothing. He's been really useful in battle, but folds with a single shot, so he needs his teammates running interference. Affliction is a great power for weird crap like that- back in 2e you’d have to do Transform or Strength/Dex Drain or something.

FERRO²
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Captain Britain #4 (April 1985)
Role: Weapon Guy
Group Affiliations: The Technet, The N-Men
PL 8 (86)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Expertise (Survival) 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 2 (Four Swords), Improved Critical (Sword), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Takedown 2

Powers:
“Four Arms”
Extra Limbs 2 [2]

Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Multiattack 6) [6]
Features 1: Can Use Feet as Hands [1]

Equipment:
“Swords” Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 4) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Swords +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- The Technet are bounty hunters and mercenaries.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 11 (86)

-Ferro² (edit- woo hoo! Swiped the "squared" logo!) is a replacement for his brother, who was killed in "Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn" by the Warwolves because his "Warranty Expired" (Excalibur was that kind of comic). A furry, extradimensional warrior with a Cockney accent, he had four arms, with a sword in each, possibly the most bad-ass combo ever. He was a minor backgrounder, though. Ferro here's got a Mulitattack Extra on his Strike because of the sheer amount of attacks he can dish out, limited to six points of damage. He's a pretty great swordsman, but would fall to most major heroes one-on-one.

GATECRASHER

Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Captain Britain #4 (April 1985)
Role: Team Leader
Group Affiliations: The Technet
PL 9 (136)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+4, +6 Growth)
Investigation 6 (+8)
Perception 6 (+8)
Technology 4 (+7)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Minion 4 (Yap- Small Teleporting/Locating Helper), Ranged Attack 7, Tracking

Powers:
Growth 3 (Strength & Stamina +3, Increased Mass 3, +2 Intimidation, -2 Stealth, -2 Dodge/Parry) (Feats: Innate) (Flaws: Permanent) -- (10 feet) [7]
“Telepathy” Mind-Reading 4 Linked to Communication (Mental) 1 [12]

"Wrist-Blasters" (Flaws: Removable) [14]
Blast 8 (Feats: Split) (17 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+9 Damage, DC 24)

Blasters +9 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Mind-Reading -- (+4 Mind-Reading, DC 14)
Initiative +0

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

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- The Technet are bounty hunters and mercenaries.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 16 (136)

-Gatecrasher is the obese, porcine team leader of the Technet, though she's not notably better than most of them in combat. I gave her a general Powerhouse-bent at PL 9, with some Skills & Leadership to help the team out. In a more serious comic, she'd be a hyper-badass with some other powers or weapons, but since it's Excalibur she was as hokey as the rest of her team.

CHINA DOLL
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Captain Britain #4 (April 1985)
Role: One-Note Character
Group Affiliations: The Technet
PL 10 (94)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+4)
Deception 4 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Insight 3 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Transform into Tiny Doll" Affliction 12 (Fort; Hindered/Disabled Strength/Transformed to Tiny, Helpless Form) (Extras: Cumulative) [24]

"Semi-Aquatic Creature"
Movement 2 (Slithering, Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [4]
Immunity 1 (Drowning) [1]
Swimming 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Dollifying +8 (+12 Shrinking Attack, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Relationship (Each Other)- Abe is the voice of reason of the group, being the most level-headed. Bob is a hot-headed firebrand by comparison. His girlfriend Lotus soon falls for Lin Sun, driving a wedge between them.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 9 (94)

-China Doll had another curious (and REALLY devastating) ability- she could reduce beings to "Doll-Size" with a touch (I find that alot of this crowd has powers designed specifically to take someone out of a fight quickly by altering them somehow), making them pretty well helpless. She's expected to run in to melee once her teammates have dealt some damage and put in a sneak attack or something, because she sure didn't seem like a warrior in any of the issues I read (she shrank a Warwolf down to a foot long, but Nightcrawler easily booted her into Gatecrasher, ending the whole fight. She has some powers from her serpentine physique, and I merely assumed she could also survive underwater because of that, and her weird "water"-looking 'hair' and body crest.

BODYBAG
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Captain Britain #4 (April 1985)
Role: One-Note Character
Group Affiliations: The Technet
PL 9 (126)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 8 (+7)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 2, Startle, Teamwork

Powers:
"Giant Reptile"
Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Scent) [2]
"Scaly Skin" Protection 2 [2]

"Paralytic Spit" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Feats: Reach 2) (Extras: Cumulative) [21]
"Bodybags" Snare 10 (Feats: Reversible) (Flaws: Cannot Bag More Than Three, Touch Range) [11]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Paralytic Spit & Bodybags +8 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9, Fortitude +7, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- The Technet are bounty hunters and mercenaries.
Power Loss (Bodybags)- If Bodybag is punched in the sac (hee), or his bags are hit by a Slashing weapon, they will burst and unload the target within.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 11 (126)

-Bodybag's one of the team's best heavy-hitters, capable of paralyzing an individual, then swallowing them whole, which places them into one of the three big sacs on his back. A pretty gross power (par for the course with this team), but effective. His sheer size makes him one of the more dangerous members (and least vulnerable to being KOed by a single punch from Shadowcat), but his sacs are still easily damaged, and he's only PL 9.

SCATTERBRAIN
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Captain Britain #4 (April 1985)
Role: One-Note Character
Group Affiliations: The Technet
PL 9 (98)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Synapse Firing" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Reach, Affects Insubstantial) (Extras: Cumulative) (22) -- [23]
AE: Teleport 5 (10)

Mind-Reading 6 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions) [6]
Flight 3 (16 mph) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Synapse Firing +8 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Mind-Reading -- (+6 Mind-Reading, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- The Technet are bounty hunters and mercenaries.
Disabled (Mute)- Scatterbrain doesn't talk much.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 35 / Defenses: 11 (98)

-Scatterbrain's a simple one, and one of the only humanoids in the entire Technet team. She's a yellow-skinned female alien who can fire the neural synapses of people, knocking them unconscious.

JOYBOY
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Alan Davis
First Appearance: Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn (April 1987)
Role: One-Note Character
Group Affiliations: The Technet
PL 10 (80)
STRENGTH
-4 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Expertise (Mercenary) 2 (+1)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Teamwork

Powers:
"Infant Size" Shrinking 8 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
(-2 Strength, +4 Defenses, +8 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

Affliction 12 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed Into Deepest Desire) (Feats: Accurate 4, Reversible, Reach 2) (Extras: Cumulative, Ranged) (Diminished Range -3) [40]
Mind-Reading 10 (Flaws: Limited to Deepest Desires) [10]

"Cyber-Harness"
Protection 1 [1]
Flight 3 (16 mph) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-4 Damage, DC 11)
Gross Transformation +8 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- The Technet are bounty hunters and mercenaries.
Disabled (Mute)- Joyboy doesn't talk much.
Power Loss (Transformations)- If Joyboy is knocked unconscious, his changes will undo themselves.

Total: Abilities: -4 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 66 / Defenses: 12 (80)

-Joyboy's even weirder than most of his buddies- he's a baby-sized alien kid in a cybernetic floating eggshell, that transforms people into their deepest desire. That almost seems more of a benefit than a hindrance to them, until you look at the effects: Kitty Pryde desired to be solid full-time again, so she transformed into a morbidly obese slug of a person. And another guy was in love with his hot female boss (understandable, given that ALAN DAVIS was intentionally drawing her to be as hot as possible), so Joyboy transformed him into a grotesque transgendered pile of ugly, which was REALLY horrific on-panel. This is essentially a powerful Affliction (like a lot of his team), but it's only got a ten-foot range from the looks of it, as Joyboy tends to hover RIGHT NEXT to somebody to pull it off. Otherwise, like the rest of his gang, he falls apart under the slightest duress, and nearly anyone can knock him out with one punch.

WARWOLVES (Bowzer, Ducks, Jacko, Popsie, Scarper)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Alan Davis
First Appearance: Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn (April 1987)
Role: Background Monsters
Group Affiliations: Mojo's Wildways
PL 8 (134)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 5 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 8 (+8)
Perception 6 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Close Combat 2, Great Endurance, Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Metallic Shells"
Protection 3 [3]
"Claws" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical, Split) (Extras: Penetrating 3) [8]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) [20]

"Doglike Anatomy"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent, Tracking) [3]

"Life Drain" Weaken Stamina 8 (Inaccurate -1) [7]
"Wear Drained People's Skin as Sheaths" Morph 3 (Any Humanoid) (Flaws: Limited to Dead & Drained Victims) [12]
"Combined Teleport" Movement 2 (Dimensional Movement 2) (Flaws: Limited to Group Effort) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Life Drain +8 (+8 Weaken, DC 18)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +6, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Buffoonery)- The Warwolves are pretty low-key most of the time, but have a nasty penchant for skinning people alive and wearing their fleshy remnants as disguises.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 58 / Defenses: 9 (134)

-Warwolves were a recurring comedic foe (as if that book had any other kind) in Excalibur. A group of silver, spikey-looking wolf-things, they had some pretty gross powers and effectiveness belying their looks (sucking people into dry husks of flesh was a pretty devastating power as far as things go). Ganging up on Excalibur often, they were a moderate threat once the team REALLY got going, so eventually there was little danger whenever they showed up.
-In total, there were six of the buggers, so six guys at PL 8 (134) is actually a little dangerous, especially for a relatively small team like Excalibur. They're pretty well-rounded in offense & defense, able to suck beings dry fairly quickly; they're quick, can jump, and are immune to anyone's Mental Blasts or Stuns, which is pretty effective. A team of PL 9s or 10s would view a group of these things as a minor threat eventually, but if they got the jump on the heroes, they'd be pretty dangerous (pretty easy when they can disguise themselves as civilians).
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Upstarts

Post by Jabroniville »

THE UPSTARTS:

-If bad ideas were gold, then Comic Book Companies in the 1990s were the richest people in the freaking universe.

-The X-books were a perfect example of this. Running off on unprecedented success, Marvel had a group of all-star creators working on the mutant books in the early '90s, and they'd added more and more books to the line to go with this- soon, The Uncanny X-Men had the long-running New Mutants, upstart X-Factor and now, a SPIN-OFF title, just called X-Men. As comics had become more creator-focused (ESPECIALLY on the artist side) after long decades of treating the staff like crap, Marvel sought to kiss up to these new guys (Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Rob Liefeld), and the often let them have their way- Jim Lee was given X-Men as a vanity project, and Rob took over the creative duties of X-Force from the ashes of the old New Mutants team. These artists ended up getting to write and plot their own arcs (as old guard like Chris Claremont were given the heave-ho), with the writers being often secondary. And it turned out what a lot of artists wanted to do was unleash their own brand-new characters upon the comic book world.

-Jim Lee co-created Magneto's Acolytes and Apocalypse's Dark Riders. Rob Liefeld did the Mutant Liberation Front. Both guys also added numerous names over the few years they had power, including Cable, Omega Red and more. Their "ideal" versions of the X-teams took fruition (lots and lots of Blaster-types, lots of guys with claws, lots of chicks with large boobs, and waists that would be the envy of a Hyemnopteran species) as well. And part of putting this "New Guard" into power was getting rid of the "Old Guard"- once-important characters fell by the wayside, going completely unused.

Enter: The Upstarts!
The Upstarts started off with some positives- they were fresh, new and had motivation. Young punks all, they were rich, hedonistic and wanted to unseat the old guard and form their own new power-base. They also had a competition based entirely around gleefully killing people, because they were all rich, bored pricks. All great ideas. Problem being, they were almost all terrible characters, and they actually failed to make any kind of impact after their initial surge. The Upstarts were initially made up of:
* Shinobi Shaw- Sebastian's Newly-Introduced Son (a trope I normally HATE, but it makes sense that Mr. Hedonist would have popped out an adult son, as he WAS middle-aged...), who wanted daddy's fortune. Known for showing up to meetings while wasted.
* Fabian Cortez- The Acolytes' spiritual-leader, he set up MAGNETO of all people to die, just so he could gain "points" with his partners.
* Trevor Fitzroy- A time-travelling dandy from the future. He fled his time period (Bishop was chasing him), and wanted a power-base in the past.
* Graydon Creed- The son of Sabretooth & Mystique, he was a mutant-hating bigot, and non-powered human.
* The Fenris Twins- The children of Baron Von Strucker, they'd been in comics for a decade by this point, but were always minor-leaguers. They used the fabled "Bio-Electric Fury of FENRIS!"- a Claremontism if there ever was one. The were seemingly added to things just so that the heroes could beat somebody up at the BEGINNING of the "Younghunt" storyline, in addition to the end of it.
* The Gamesmaster- A mysterious telepath who seemed to be in charge of the lot. Selene was apparently the originator of the contest, but she vanished from comics for a decade thanks to a writer-switch.

In the opening shots, Shinobi murdered his father Sebastian, seemingly forever (Shaw wouldn't reappear until the VERY late '90s). Cortez was responsible for Magneto's death (which held for like two entire years). Fitzroy's debut involved one of the most ludicrous wastes of good characters in comic book history, as he annihilated the entire ranks of The Hellions, AND threw Emma Frost into a multi-year coma from the trauma that resulted. Donald Pierce and The Reavers were sent back to the 1980s from whence they came, as they were also hunted down and murdered by Fitzroy's Sentinels- this effectively finished off the Hellfire Club as a concept, leaving only Selene left. The Fenris Twins also threw their names into the arena, as they resurrected Omega Red to start offing some Muties. The concept turned out to be that the Upstarts were a new group of young mutants who killed other mutants for "points". These points were to be added up in some grand competitive game, with all the various names competing against each other, with The Gamesmaster being the referee.

The problem here? All of these guys were basically coming in like Mary Sue Newcomers, of course showcasing their awesomeness by killing off cooler, older villains (the Club were old-school X-foes, and this cleaned the slate enough for the new guys). It was all "Look at us! Look how KEWL we are! See? We killed the old boring guys and we're so totally awesome and extreme!" It's always off-putting to me when characters do things like that. Also, once these initial deaths had occured, The Upstarts suddenly stopped killing anyone! They went from wiping out Shaw & Magneto to sitting around arguing because nobody could get anything done. This was notably during the era of The Legacy Virus, which was ALSO in the process of finishing off the Old Guard of characters (dropping Revanche the false-Psylocke, Pyro, Mastermind and Psynapse of the Dark Riders), so it's not like there weren't people to kill. They could have at least written in some examples of Cortez or Shinobi icing Tower or Stinger III or something, if they wanted them to maintain cred.

Another issue was the "Big-Name Artists" I mentioned had all left- despite getting most of what they wanted, the artists still felt slighted by Marvel, and wanted to OWN their own stuff, and so many of them fled to Image (this was called the "X-odus", as Liefeld, Lee & Portacio were all on X-books) with Todd MacFarlane & Erik Larsen, meaning that the X-books were somewhat rudderless. X-Force & X-Men writer Fabian Nicieza & Uncanny writer Scott Lobdell kinda took over, and wrote most of the X-books I got when I was a post-adolescent. I enjoyed the books at the time, but the years have been much less kind to them (Lobdell's books are TERRIBLE, awful stuff, while Nicieza's X-Men is merely passable. X-Force is still quite fun, though). And it is VERY obvious on re-reading them that they pretty much dropped the Upstarts idea and put it into the background while they worked on The X-Cutioner's Song (the huge line-spanning cross-over), Magneto's return (about two years after he'd died), and more. The Acolytes went from loser also-rans to even WORSE also-rans, the Dark Riders farted around, Mister Sinister did his usual vague crap, etc. All of this random stuff meant that the poor Upstarts had little to do.

And most of all- The Upstarts were TERRIBLE CHARACTERS. I dug Cortez okay, as he had cool & unique powers (amp-ing up other mutants around him) and a realistic, big cause (he wanted power, and made himself a religious icon using the dead Magneto's name, so that he could lead The Acolytes). But Shinobi Shaw was portrayed as an alcoholic wuss, and his powers (phasing) were simply there to make him hard to beat on. Graydon Creed was nothing more than a Senator Robert Kelly retread (complete with Presidential Run for Office), but without all the deep characterization that made Kelly an awesome character- he was just an aimless, ugly bigot with nothing else to him. Trevor Fitzroy had one of those "One Hit Kill" powers that meant he could almost NEVER hit a real, important character (poor, poor Jetstream & Tarot...), and he was given a goofy-ass appearance (green '90s hair & Van Dyke goatee) and a foppish persona, making you want to see him hurt. The Fenris Twins had "D-League Sucky Villain" written all over them, and were never given much of a shot. The Gamesmaster was half-decent, but had your generic Master Telepath power-set, which was getting SERIOUSLY old at the time.

So here's a bulletted list of the reasons why these guys suck, because there's nothing I can't get over like failed super-villain teams from the 1990s, apparently:
* They're Lazy Rich Kids. It's a HATE-ABLE character type, sure. But not respectable. At least "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase has the respect of being a strong fighter- the antithesis of being lazy. These guys mostly just sat around being decadent.
* Most of them never did anything.
* They're kind of weak. In the CULMINATION of the whole "Upstarts" thing, both Graydon Creed & Shinobi Shaw gave up without a fight. They just let the heroes threaten or blackmail them into giving up access to their base of operations.
* Almost all of the murders the Upstarts committed were hands-off, indirect killings. Fitzroy killed some of the Hellions (CHILDREN) himself, but he had his SENTINELS kill the Reavers, Pierce (sorta) and Emma Frost (sorta). Fabian Cortez arranged for Magneto to die (sorta) on Asteroid M, but of course didn't do the deed himself. These are all plotting-based, and help make the team look like weaklings. As a result, none of the Upstarts had any credibility.
* They all looked dumb and/or plain. Creed in particular is utterly-plain (other "Anti-Mutant Government Guy" characters like Robert Kelly and Gyrich at least had distinctive glasses- a good writer's trick in making a character more memorable than "Generic White Guy"). Shinobi was the same, but was also usually naked (losing him cred). Fabian Cortez shares his outfit with every other Acolyte, but at least has a ponytail. Fitzroy has goofy green hair, and peculiar pointy armor.

And because of all these stories running along that were more important, the most we would usually get is a side-shot here or there of the guys meeting up and discussing stuff, or Shinobi talking to his ally- Matsu'o Tsurayaba, a Wolverine enemy (he killed Mariko). The Fenris Twins casually mentioned Upstart stuff a bit during a Jim Lee-written X-Men arc a few years before. These mini-cameos finally, FINALLY culminated with The Younghunt, an X-Force/New Mutants cross-over story. As Fabian Nicieza was the head writer of both books, this was a perfect opportunity (the teams had allied during a four-part Kings of Pain thing in the X-Annuals a few summers before).

The Younghunt:
To amp up the "game" (probably because it was getting seriously ****ing boring sitting around all day while The Upstarts did nothing and didn't kill anyone else), The Gamesmaster set up a new theme- The Upstarts were to capture the surviving members of The New Mutants and The Hellions, bringing them to home-base, where presumably they'd be killed or something. This game of course makes NO SENSE, as The Upstarts were all about assassination and just murdering people, so WHY would they just merely capture people now? But it wouldn't be comics if the villains didn't capture the heroes and leave them in chains so they could later escape, would it?

The whole Hellions/New Mutants thing was perfect for these books, as the surviving members were: Cannonball, Boom-Boom/Boomer, Rictor, Sunspot, Magma, Wolfsbane, Karma, Rusty, Skids & Danielle Moonstar of the New Mutants, and Thunderbird II/Warpath, Empath & Firestar of The Hellions. As Cannonball, Boomer, Rictor & Warpath were all X-Force members at the time, and Firestar was on The New Warriors, this was a perfect fit. The other targets: Karma, Empath & Magma hadn't been seen since The New Mutants ended over three-four years previous, giving this a HUGE "Nostalgia Run" feel for fans who'd missed them over the last 3-4 years. Moonstar was now a member of The Mutant Liberation Front (she was a plant by S.H.I.E.L.D.), who had opposed X-Force. Wolfsbane was on X-Factor, which wasn't taking part in the cross-over, and so she was mysteriously completely ignored. Sunspot was missing (he'd been teleported to the middle of nowhere) and Rusty & Skids were on Magneto's Avalon, so they were unavailable. This meant that the fans saw most of these characters for the first time in YEARS, and some people were quite excited.

How it went down:
* Some new members were introduced- Matsu'o Tsurayaba was added to things for no apparent reason (he called dibs of Psylocke for personal reasons to come later). Siena Blaze was a newly-created character, and was given a big push at the time- she took out Cannonball & Boomer at the beginning of the story. They were on vacation in Kentucky, and Sam's newly-introduced sister, Paige Guthrie, was witness to the incident, and had to talk to Cable & the rest of X-Force.
* Magma was nearly-captured by The Bio-Electric Fury of Fenris, but Empath (who was following her around- her hyper-complicated backstory in Nova Roma was unfolding yet again) and Moonstar teamed up to break her free.
* New Warriors member Justice was undergoing some sort of issue at the time, and was pretending to be an ally of Shinobi Shaw, and "captured" his girlfriend, Angelica "Firestar" Jones. This drew the Warriors into things, especially as Night Thrasher was a fellow rich-boy, and thus knew Shaw a bit.
* X-Force got attacked by Trevor Fitzroy (who was looking for Warpath & Rictor), but they easily-defeated him, and he nearly died. X-Force then came for Shaw and threatened him into giving up the game and The Upstarts' whole theme. This de-valued both characters (who I think Nicieza never liked in the first place) immensely- these battles happened in the SAME ISSUE! And this was only a few months after Colossus had beaten the piss out of Fitzroy in Uncanny X-Men, meaning it was TWO humiliating defeats for the guy in a short period! And the way X-Force did it was hilariously-quick- Rictor & Siryn harmonized their powers' vibratory frequency with that of Fitzroy's armor's Force Field, thus breaking it, and then Cable tricked him into trying to drain his life force (by covering his cyborg arm with fake skin), and without a target to drain, Fitzroy's power then turned on HIM, nearly-killing him.
* The New Warriors threatened Creed, saying they'd reveal his parentage to his Friends of Humanity allies, and he washed his hands of the whole deal. He never even factored into this story.
* Eventually, all the captured characters (which now included Moonstar & company- I never got why, as no store close to me carried the Warriors' book) ended up in one place, Paige Guthrie did the whole "Tagalong Kid" thing, and things came to a head with both X-Force & the New Warriors dogpiling The Gamesmaster in his base.
* Here, things got a bit hairy. He effortlessly Mind-Controlled the captured people into attacking their friends. Moonstar EASILY defeats both Nova & Kymaera (Namorita) with her Psychic Arrows, one-shotting them. Siena Blaze actually throws out a HUGE eruption of power, taking out Warpath, Siryn, Rage & Speedball. The narration goes above and beyond hyping up Siena, explaining that only Speedball's powers saved the group, as "no one short of the HULK could have withstood this furious of an assault". Jeez- hype her up any MORE, Fabian? Night Thrasher takes out Firestar, and Domino neuro-scrambles Justice, and Cable is actually able to break Cannonball out of the GM's control. But then the Gamesmaster just pops in and TKOs everybody with psionic powers.
* Paige Guthrie is the savior, convincing The Gamesmaster that he should stop going after mutants to kill them, and instead focusing on training the next generation. The GM is like "Paige... YOU WIN!" and completely changes his focus. In the last pages, we get a gag-panel that the Fenris Twins were captured by X-Factor when they went after Wolfsbane.

This provided a cap-off for the "Upstarts" story, but a disappointing one. First off, it mostly showed them getting their asses kicked or threatened into submission- the Fenris Twins job TWICE, Fitzroy is pummelled and made to look like a fool, and both Shaw & Creed give up without a fight. And then Siena, the big new character who they seemingly wanted to push, basically got two or three lines of dialogue, and was an almost-voiceless character who hit hard and that was it. And then the Gamesmaster just beat everybody in seconds with his powers, because he's just that tough- it messes with the drama when the heroes drop in SECONDS. I kind of liked the idea of the climax, at least- Paige convincing the GM to become an "Evil Charles Xavier", more or less.

This wasn't really a major climax, but it effectively ended The Upstarts once and for all. Shinobi Shaw soon vanished from comics, Fitzroy went on to become a recurring foe in Bishop's solo series (never figured out how he'd earned that), Creed ran for President but was assassinated by his own MOTHER, The Fenris Twins remained a forever-D-team, with Andrea finally dying and Andreas going nuts and becoming the new Swordsman, and Matsu'o went on to do his own thing in the Wolverine book again. The Gamesmaster pretty much vanished as well, and would become one of those villains who only showed up once every five years- he, of course, ignored the climax to the Younghunt and was just a regular ol' bad guy again. This whole story basically just put a lid on a dangling plot-thread, and that was that. The biggest thing to come from it was Paige Guthrie, who was set up to become a major part of Generation-X, the new trainee team of X-kids- her big run would come in The Phalanx Covenant.

As of 2016, Shinobi, Fitzroy, Cortez, Creed, Matsu'o, Siena Blaze and both Von Strucker twins are all dead. The only survivors of The Upstarts are The Gamesmaster and Selene. By contrast, almost all of the people murdered by the Upstarts have been resurrected. How's THAT for a crappy record for a super-team?





SHINOBI SHAW
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Whilce Portacio
First Appearance: X-Factor #67 (June 1991)
Role: Foppish Wuss, Failed '90s Replacement Character (to Sebastian)
Group Affiliations: The Hellfire Club, Shaw Industries, The Upstarts
PL 7 (135)
STRENGTH
1/6 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Business) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+6)
Insight 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth) 5, Language (English, Japanese, Others), Ranged Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Density Control"
Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Precise, Subtle 2) (Extras: Reaction) (28) -- [29]
AE: "High Density" Enhanced Strength 5, Protection 5, Features 5: Increased Mass 5 (20)

"Induce Heart Attacks" Damage 8 (Extras: Alternate Save- Fortitude) (Inaccurate -1) [15]
Linked to
Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Prone/Incapacitated) (Extras: Extra Condition, Cumulative) (Inaccurate -1) [23]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
High Density +5 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Heart Attacks +5 (+8 Damage & +8 Affliction, DC 23 & 18)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2 (+7 High Density), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Shinobi loves the wealth and prestige that being the new Black King of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle brings him.
Prejudice (Fop)- Shinobi is constantly surrounded by a bevy of scantilly-clad women and men. He apparently doesn't care how others take this.
Addiction (Hedonism)- Shinobi spends a great deal of time holding meetings while half-nude and drunk off his ass, and presumably boning the people around him.
Relationship (Parents)- Shinobi is the son of Sebastian Shaw and an unknown Japanese woman, and was considered an embarassment. Shaw beat his son frequently, sending him into the safe arms of "mommy". Shinobi grew up despising his father for this reason.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 67 / Defenses: 10 (135)

-One of the most unlikeable villains in X-Men history, Shinobi had many of the workings of a potential Master Villain (like many of the Upstarts), but just never got around to actually being a good character. See, he murdered his father Sebastian (remember what I was saying before about "suddenly introduced children" to adult comic book characters?) to take control of both the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle (one of the greatest undercard villain groups in X-history, as they were legit enough to be a threat, but not super-powerful like Magneto) and the Upstarts, but subsequently was written as a drunken, Depraved Bisexual lout who just hung around and partied all day, while manipulating things behind the scenes. So here was this speedo-clad supervillain hiccuping and slurring his words, looking like a douche, and by the time he finally got into real combat with an X-character, he'd panic and use his Density Control to flee.
-And most of his storylines were the same thing- attempting to sway a noble character to the cause (Warren Worthington III & Elisabeth Braddock, Storm & Vance Astrovik all got this treatment), only to be rejected in the end! When he was confronted by X-Force during the "Younghunt", he basically phased out, but was sufficiently threatened into giving up crucial information to the team (thanks to Domino carrying a futuristic Anti-Phasing weapon). When Sebastian returned from the dead a decade later, after Marvel realized how stupid it was to kill off someone like him, Shinobi vanished pretty much forever, without even an "oh crap- dad's alive!" He is actually murdered by his father OFF-PANEL (despite appearing once in the intervening years between his death, and Sebastian's return), which is a pretty ingnominious end for a character who was seemingly supposed to be important.
-Shinobi shows the failures of the Upstarts pretty well: he killed a major X-character early on, but then failed to do anything else for YEARS. And these guys's history goes back to the time when the Image Crew was still working at Marvel, and didn't get resolved for another FIVE YEARS! All that build-up, only to get their asses kicked by X-Force and the New Warriors? These guys were set up to be MAJOR X-Men villains in a huge cross-over, not the prelude to what eventually (after another year) gave us Generation-X.
-Shinobi's never used his High-Density form in any of the dozens of comics I've read of him, but apparently he can do it, even using Vision's Disruption Attack trick to give others' Heart Attacks (this is more Affliction Linked to Fortitude Damage, though- Vision just stunned people). His tactic was always just to fade out and run away by passing through stuff. Not very powerful in combat, I'm probably over-doing it by even giving him +5 Attack. But the poor guy needs SOMETHING.

GRAYDON CREED (aka "Tribune")
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Brandon Peterson
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #299 (April 1993)
Role: Racist Bigot, Failed '90s Replacement Character (to Robert Kelly)
Group Affiliations: The Hellfire Club, Shaw Industries, The Upstarts
PL 3 (79)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (Computers) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Oratory) 5 (+9)
Expertise (Politics) 10 (+13)
Insight 4 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 8 (+12)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Wealth 2, Friends of Humanity Leader), Connected (Politics), Ranged Attack 2

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Creed has tremendous political asperations, which will lead him to run for the Presidency of the United States.
Hatred (Mutants)- The son of Victor Creed & Mystique (ew), Graydon obviously had few mutant role models growing up. Turning out to be a pure, non-powered human, he soon came to despise mutants, and he's devoted his life to a genocidal campaign of elimination.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (79)

-Graydon Creed mainly goes down as a big, fat failure in '90s-era X-writing, mainly because he was CLEARLY set up as a more villainous Senator Robert Kelly, ie. a mutant-opposing politician, but instead of Kelly's calm, intelligent dissertations on mutants and their dangers to society, Creed was of course a scheming, manipulative bastard who was funding the Friends of Humanity, a terrorist organization which was designed to execute mutants (why they didn't team up with the 18 other groups based on the same concept, I have no idea). Problem is, Creed just wasn't that interesting a character- he was a standard Strawman Villain who was evil, yet didn't even have that many great ideas.
-Even his lineage (the son of Mystique & Sabretooth) didn't help him become any better. Having been given up for adoption by Mystique as soon as he popped out, he grew up resentful of all mutants- his parents in particular. He used this hatred to justify his murder of Birdy (Sabretooth's telepathic sidekick, and the only person who could keep his psychopathic urges in check). Graydon was assassinated during his run for President of the United States, and it was later revealed that his own mom (X-Treme X-Men revealed that it was a future version of Mystique) did the deed, because he killed the grandson of Destiny or some crap. Quite the pointless end for someone they tried decently hard with. His connection to the Younghunt was pretty minor, as he merely gave up some information to the New Warriors and that was about it. He was temporarily-resurrected by Bastion, using the Techno-Organic Virus of Warlock's race, but he was quickly killed by Hope Summers. Creed never really got much play in ANY cross-over, which is part of why he was such a bad villain.
-Nothing special stats-wise, he's dependant upon lots of goons and his political skills, being a better "behind the scenes" type of villain than anyone who could actually fight or defend himself, even though I statted him up as a guy in pretty good shape.

SIENA BLAZE
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Brandon Peterson
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-men Annual #17 (1993)
Role: Wannabe Major Villain, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Upstarts
PL 10 (121)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Perception 4 (+5)
Technology 2 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blast) 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Electro-Magnetic Power"
"Explosive Storm" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst on 8 Ranks) (28) -- [31]
AE: "Focused Beam" Blast 10 (Feats: Split, Penetrating 6) (27)
AE: "E-M Wave" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: Teleport 8 (Extras: Extended) (24)

Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blast +9 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
E-M Wave +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Power)

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 16 (121)

-Siena Blaze is a VERY unknown character from around this era, joining the Younghunt seemingly just to make her bones as an X-Villain. She stomped Cannonball & Boomer by surprise (despite Sam's Blast Field), and otherwise that was it- she attempted to grab Moonstar & Empath, but Karma completely halted her advance with her Mental Possession power. She was next seen facing the heroes, and got this big shilling by the writing (all "no one but the HULK can survive her Blasts!") as she wipes out a swath of them with one shot. But when the Gamesmaster lets everyone go, Blaze fails to appear, and she subsequently vanished for a long time (Nicieza, her creator, left Marvel around this time, which is probably part of it).
-A few more short-lived villainous exploits, and she was shunted into the Ultraverse (with The Juggernaut and REAPER of all people) for a brief storyline Marvel did with the indie company (which they bought entirely for their fancy coloring process). That never really went anywhere, and the character basically vanished from history. She was casually killed off in a Mutant Concentration Camp storyline, and nobody really noticed. Kind of a far drop for someone who was seemingly being groomed for "Major Character" status, but that'll happen when your creator leaves, and you're a completely generic-looking character.
-Siena's a REALLY powerful Blaster, given PL 10 status, despite being 30 points short of the max points, mainly because she's so limited. The ultra-powerful Blast, along with her other electro-magnetic powers (her Nullify Teleport I'll leave as a Power Stunt, since it was only used against Nightcrawler), make her a pretty good one-trick pony, but she's hardly a master villain. Reading her debut and the way Nicieza describes her powers, you'd figure her for a PL 12 (Rage, Speedball & Warpath are all pretty durable- KOing ALL of them, in spite of Speedball's protective field blocking her attack, is no mean feat), but she seems to have settled down after that New Villain Stink wore off.

TREVOR FITZROY
Created By:
Jim Lee & Whilce Portacio
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-men #281 (Oct. 1991)
Role: Failed '90s Villain, The Big Bad (to Bishop), Energy Drainer
Group Affiliations: The Upstarts, The Hellfire Club, Xavier's Security Enforcers
PL 10 (208)
STRENGTH
1/10 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Business) 8 (+11)
Expertise (History) 6 (+9)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+7)
Insight 4 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Technology 5 (+8)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth) 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Life Drain-Fueled Portals"
Weaken Stamina 10 (Feats: Incurable) [11]

Teleport 10 (Feats: Change Direction) (Extras: Easy, Extended Only +0, Accurate, Portal +2) (Flaws: Source- Life Drain, Limited to Random Directions) (41) -- [42]
AE: Movement 3 (Temporal Movement) (Extras: Portal +2) (Flaws: Source- Life Drain, Limited to Random Times) (6)

"Powered Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [51]
Enhanced Strength 9 (18)
Protection 12 (Extras: Impervious 13) (25)
"Long Reach" Reach 2 (2)
Features 2: Increased Mass 2 (2)
Blast 10 (Feats: Split) (21)
Reduced Traits: Dodge 3 & Parry 2 (-5)
-- (63 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Life Drain +10 (+10 Weaken, DC 20)
Armoured Damage +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Blasters +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (+7 Armour, DC 20-17), Parry +9 (+7 Armour, DC 19-17), Toughness +1 (+13 Armour, +7 Impervious), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- A criminal in his own time, Fitzroy is a wealthy ponce in this one, and always desires more power and legitimacy.
Enemy (Bishop)- Fitzroy fled his own timeline, specifically because of the X-Men's future warrior (no, not Cable...). Bishop wants Fitzroy DEAD, which is really his most redeeming character trait when you think about it...
Power Loss (Flesh Contact)- Fitzroy requires actual skin-to-skin contact to utilize his Life Drain ability. This means that beings like robots, or guys in Powersuits, are unable to be drained as normal.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 104 / Defenses: 15 (208)

BANTAM
Created By:
Jim Lee & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-men #282 (Nov. 1991)
Role: Shrimpy Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The Upstarts, The Chronotroopers
PL 2 (47)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 1 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Deception 5 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+6)
Expertise (History) 2 (+5)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 7 (+8)
Technology 3 (+6)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Energy Detection"
Senses 11 (Detect Energy- Ranged 2, Acute & Analytical, Detect Time Portals- Ranged, Acute & Analytical) [11]

Offense:
Unarmed +1 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +0, Fortitude +2, Will +1

Complications:
Responsibility (Fitzroy's Employ)- Bantam is essentially Trevor Fitzroy's bitch, and is bound to do the larger man's bidding for some reason.
Prejudice (Short & Ugly)- With a big yellow-ish head and shrimpy body, Bantam cannot pass for an ordinary human, and often gets treated like crap.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 11 / Defenses: 7 (47)

-Trevor Fitzroy was Whilce Portacio's induction into the X-Men's halls of villainy, debuting as a foppish, goatee'd guy with green hair, who was a criminal in the future who drained people's energy. He debuted by joining the New Hellfire Club, busting up Emma Frost's attempt to join her forces with those of the X-Men for the coming apocalypse against mutants, knocking Emma into a coma until Generation-X came out, and murdering the remaining Hellions. Quite the opening, but he never matched it again- he subsequently became used as Bishop's whipping boy, getting his ass kicked any time he tried to fight, and generally used whenever someone needed an easy opponent to beat. Sure, he was a major threat in Bishop's solo comic book, but not a single person read or enjoyed that one, so when he died in it, he went into the dreaded Limbo of Unpopular Characters, meaning he'd likely never return. Last I read on Wikipedia, Peter David showed a one-shot appearance in the future (during the pre-"Xavier's Security Enforcers" Summers Rebellion) where he was a good guy, but accidentally resurrected without a soul by Layla Miller, which is why he became a villain. Leave it to Peter David to even use the unwanted VILLAINS.
-In the Younghunt, Fitzroy's job was to capture Warpath and Rictor, surviving Hellions & New Mutants, respectively. Why he chose to do this in front of the ENTIRE X-Force team I have no idea, as he was the first major failure of the entire thing (most of the others at least captured one or two people, frick, even the FENRIS TWINS almost pulled out a win), nearly dying and turning X-Force on to exactly what was going on. That this followed an Uncanny story in which Colossus went into "Illyana Rasputin Mode" (similar to Spider-Man's "Aunt May Mode"), freaking the hell out and smashing Fitzroy all over the place.
-Personally, though, I will never forgive the guy for killing off all the Hellions- to this date the greatest waste of potentially-awesome characters in comic book history. At least most good characters at least got a PUSH, or a solo series. These characters were FANTASTIC and only appeared in about ten issues each before they were killed off. Had they debuted in the 2000s, they would have had a Limited Series by now (witness The Young X-Men and Hellions books from that era). But nope- Fitzroy offed everyone but Empath, Magma, Firestar & Warpath. So **** Trevor Fitzroy. **** him right in the ear.
-Fitzroy's not exactly a terror in the battlefield, though his Drain is quite a bit more devastating than most. He generally suits up in his Power Armour in later appearances, where he ends up performing a Tank's role, soaking up hits (he's much clumsier- either in the man-sized one or the jumbo suit- I kinda made a mish-mash of both, as he fought the same way) until he can do some major damage. A raging Colossus once beat the living CRAP out of him (it was while Illyana was dying. Word of advice to super-villains: Colossus is the LAST X-Man you want to well and truly piss off), and X-Force simply hopped around him until they cracked his armour, then made him use his own Drain on HIMSELF to power a portal.
-His Teleport & Time Travel powers are very powerful effects, but have tons of limits: He can't accurately go anywhere or to any time without his mini-sized slave Bantam directing them, he has to drain people FIRST to use his Portal, and he can't go short-range. This means he takes up a TON of points, as his Armour, Teleport and Skills add together, but don't make him that much more devastating. He's sort of a wannabe Mastermind villain with all that, but he lacks the skills or power to really pull it off.
-Bantam is a separate build, and basically acts as an Energy Detector. His only real goals are to a) provide plot exposition ("Why are you doing this, master?"), b) direct Fitzroy's Time Portals, and c) betray him to the heroes (this happens twice- the latter time gets him killed).

MATSU'O TSURAYABA
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Marc Silvestri
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-men #255 (Dec. 1989)
Role: Criminal Kingpin, Star-Crossed Lover (with Kwannon/Revanche)
Group Affiliations: The Hand, The Yakuza
PL 7 (97)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Yakuza Gangster) 7 (+9)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Benefit (Elite Hand Leader), Contacts, Equipment (Katana), Improved Critical (Sword), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Equipment:
"Katana" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Katana +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Like most criminals, Matsu'o's primary motivation is about personal wealth, respect and power.
Relationship (Kwannon)- Matsu'o was desperately in love with Kwannon, the primary assassin for a rival, Lord Nyoirin. Her death utterly broke him.
Enemy (Wolverine)- Note to villains everywhere: don't kill Wolverine's love interests.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (97)

-Matsu'o is a Hand leader, and part of the ludicrously-complicated Psylocke/Revanche storyline (one of those things that is an absolute BLAST to explain to non-comic book fans about the weirdness of the medium)- he was the lover of Kwannon, a ninja working for a rival lord. He accidentally killed Kwannon while trying to kill the rival lord, and went to Spiral, who combined her DNA and brain-patterns with a comatose Betsy Braddock, putting most of Betsy's psyche in Kwannon's asian body (and vice-versa). Matsu'o also became a Wolverine villain, and was used by a writer to murder Logan's bride-to-be Mariko Yoshida. This led to one of comics' best "Fitting Revenge" storylines, as Wolverine would slice off one part of Matsu'o's body with every passing year, on the anniversary of Mariko's death. By the end, Matsu'o was lacking an ear, nose, both hands, a gall bladder, and more. Finally, Matsu'o was allowed a final death, being mercy-killed at Psylocke's hand.
-Matsu'o is a competent, but not otherworldly, martial artist, being very good with his hands and most weapons- at PL 7, he'd never stand a ghost of a chance against Wolverine, Psylocke, or any other elite, but he's decent enough to be dangerous to most Hand & Yakuza guys.

THE GAMESMASTER (Henry Stevens)
Created By:
Whilce Portacio
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #283 (Dec. 1991)
Role: Uber-Telepath, Would-Be Major Villain
Group Affiliations: The Upstarts
PL 12 (193)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Behavioral Sciences) 4 (+7)
Insight 6 (+9)
Perception 6 (+9)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Omnipath"
"Constant Omnipathy" Mind Reading 2 (Feats: Subtle 2) (Extras: No Action +4, Area- 30-mile Burst +13, Continuous Duration) (Flaws: Permanent) [40]
"Mental Detection" Senses 7 (Mental Awareness- Ranged, Radius, Acute, Detect Mutants- Ranged & Radius) [7]
"Mental Blocks" Enhanced Will Save 6 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [3]

"Enhanced Mind Reading" Mind Reading 12 (Feats: Subtle, Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless, Sensory Link) Linked to Mental Communication 4 (Extras: Area, Selective) (74) -- [88]
Dynamic AE: Mind Control 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Sustained +2) (73)
Dynamic AE: "Wide Area Control" Affliction 4 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled Emotions) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Sustained +2, Area- 30-mile Burst +13) (65)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range, Alternate Save- Will) (49)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 12 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range) (37)
Dynamic AE: Illusion All Senses 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Selective) (Flaws: Resistible By Will) (61)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 15 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (32)
Dynamic AE: Nullify 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range, Broad- Mutant Powers, Simultaneous) (49)

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mind Reading/Nullify +12 (DC 22)
Mental Powers +12 Perception (+12 Perception Affliction, DC 22)
Mental Blast +12 Perception (+12 Perception Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +1, Fortitude +4, Will +10 (+16 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Motivation (Distractions)- An Omnipath, The Gamesmaster feels nearly all the thoughts of the human race at once. To fight this, he must focus on different, specific activities. These distractions are often as extreme as murder.
Power Loss (Telepathy)- The Gamesmaster's only failings in Telepathy were his inability to affect Jean Grey, Husk (by shifting her forms) and Speedball.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 138 / Defenses: 16 (193)

-The Gamesmaster was the top dog of the Upstarts, and depicted as less of a chaotic evil adversary than an omnipath who had to focus on certain people (like the Upstarts and their games) to 'drown out' the rest of the six billion voices in his head. This was an interesting idea, but it got goofy, as only certain people could avoid his powers (in order to actually defeat someone who of course should've been able to see every attack coming and kill everyone by thinking), and he did the classic villain failing of actually being talked out of something by the hero- Paige Guthrie got him to give up his assassination league to instead focus on "training the next generation of mutants", which he of course never did. No, really- the STORY'S CLIMAX ended up NEVER MATTERING, as the next bunch of writers just used Gamesmaster as yet another villain. It didn't help that Fabian Nicieza wrote him as his trademark "Overly Chatty Faux-Philosophical Villain" (seriously, Fabe's stuff actually holds up better than most '90s comic book writing, but his villainous dialogue has never been anything but awful. Completely-pretentious, overly-long drek from everyone from Magneto to Stryfe to Apocalypse. They ALL talk like this).
-He appeared in a Deadpool comic, threatening Wade's love interest Siryn, then got mixed up in Shatterstar's life when he introduced the "he's really Benjamin Russel" thing that most writers just ignored. Later, he tried to trap the X-men in a telepathic world of his own creation so that he could do stuff without their interference, but Joseph (the clone of Magneto) undid his work. And his latest appearance runs all the way up to X-23, where he declared an interest in watching her activities (someone call Chris Hansen), but, like a LOT of Gamesmaster stories, it led nowhere. Seriously, that's like three story arcs that were rendered meaningless by the next writer just forgetting what was going on.
-The GamesMaster is limited outside of his Telepathy/Mind Control Array, but holy hell it's a powerful effect. Dozens of Perception-Range attacks and effects mean that he can basically mind-warp anyone he wants, and use varying intensities (like communicating with his allies while he's battling someone else with Illusions or Mind Blasts). He comes up short elsewhere (considering he can't actually physically hurt anyone, and couldn't hold up to any attacks), and is thus the cheapest guy at his power level imaginable.
-Plus, the whole Mind-Reading thing. You can extend it ever further if you go by his whole "I can read the minds of everyone on the planet" thing, which makes the Burst Area cover... one heck of a lot of ground . It's more low-rank than his "focused" Mind-Reading though.

FABIAN CORTEZ
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Jim Lee
First Appearance: X-Men #1 (Oct. 1991)
Role: False Religious Leader, Failed '90s Villain, Master Manipulator/Lying Bastard, Status Booster
Group Affiliations: The Acolytes, The Upstarts
Fate: Skooshed by Magneto for betraying him (again)
PL 10 (148)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+4)
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat 1 (+10)
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (Current Events) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Acolyte) 5 (+8)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 6 (+9)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 1 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Daze (Deception), Equipment 4 (Acolytes Gear, Gun), Ranged Combat 7, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Deception

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Mutant Power Manipulation"
"Bolster Power" Variable 3 (Subject's Powers) (Extras: Affects Others +0, Perception Range +2) (Flaws: Fades) Linked to "Power Burnout" Weaken Abilities 4 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous, Ranged) (Quirks: Limited to Mutants) (39)-- [41]
AE: "Power Control" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled Powers) (Extras: Perception Range +2) (Quirks: Limited to Mutants) (29)
AE: Healing 8 (Flaws: Affects Others Only) (Quirk: Requires Subsequent Treatments) (Quirks: Limited to Mutants) (6)

Equipment:
"Acolytes Gear" Communications (1)
"Suit" Protection 1 (1)
"Blaster" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blaster +9 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Weaken +9 (+4 Ranged Weaken, DC 14)
Power Control +10 Perception (+10 Perception Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Suit), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Liar)- Cortez was eventually revealed as a betrayor who helped kill Magneto, and took leadership of The Acolytes for himself, all to score points for The Upstarts. Once he was discovered, he was mistrusted forevermore.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 41 / Defenses: 14 (148)

-Fabian Cortez is a strictly '90s-style mutant villain, and one that Marvel only KINDA sorta tried with. See, they had him ready to be the new A-list mutant villain, since he's the one responsible for Magneto's death in the classic X-Men #1-3. But sadly for him, he got saddled with the lame "Upstarts" gimmick and led the Acolytes around doing stupid stuff (seriously, they're a pretty rotten team), and they vanished into the ether of 1990s Marvel X-books, with guys like Stryfe, Apocalypse and the returning Magneto taking his place super-quickly. He got a bit of a push during that X-Men/Avengers team-up (where he went to Genosha and tried to publically-execut Luna Maximoff, the human daughter of Quicksilver & Crystal), but it didn't make him any cooler, and the guy disappeared, only doing a couple of random things (often allying with the Acolytes simply to boost their powers- Magneto kept him on a short leash). He was casually murdered by Mags in slightly more recent times, having been betrayed AGAIN (he threw Cortez across a country, resulting in a nasty impact).
-My personal theory is that Jim Lee & Chris Claremont were teaming up to make him the huge successor, but with both of them out of Marvel shortly thereafter, the new writers picking things up (Lobdell, Nicieza) didn't like him, and he was gone. His kind of unique, but hard-to-write Mutant Power probably didn't help. He's suitable as a team guy and a lethal planner, but it's hard to win solo fights as a mega-villain should when all you can do is BOOST people's powers. It necessitates you being on a team.
-Fabian's got an odd power-set, and one that takes a little imagination to work into M&M stats, especially with Boost gone. I think Variable suits it best- as it has an Affects Others Extra, as well as a generally-broad gift array (Other People's Powers seems to fit as well as Object Mimicry or Animal Powers does into the broadness of it's stats), but he can use it on enemies as well, immolating their bodies with their own powers (creating a Linked Effect of sorts). Weaken Abilities works as well as any, linking it to the Boost set-up if he chooses to use it. He gets Power Control (Affliction) added to the array, because oftentimes people don't get the choice of using their powers around him (he can set off a mutants' Area Effect when they're around teammates, or make a Blast come out and nail a partner, or something). He can also heal people in his first appearance, though I'm pretty sure that never happened again. I can't really give him (Limited- Only on Mutants) in good conscience, since ALL HE FIGHTS are mutants 90% of the time (like alot of X-characters), so he gets a Quirk out of it.
-Altogether, Fabian is a weak villain on his own (+4 Weaken and a PL 7.5 Blast being his offensive options for the most part), but with teammates around him... Variable 3 gives him fifteen points to spend on someone else's behalf, boosting Magneto's Magnetic Control of 14-16 to knock him up SEVERAL Power Levels if necessary, and with him, even the ACOLYTES can be devastating, as PL 8s become PL 10s or 11s, Class 20 guys become Class 80 Powerhouses, fast guys start moving at Supersonic Speeds, etc. Cortez is a GAMEBREAKER if used properly
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Winter Guard

Post by Jabroniville »

THE WINTER GUARD
-Evil Foreigners are as old as fiction itself- many myths and religious tales tell of how these EEEEEEEEEEVIL foreigners come to rape, pillage and murder (though to be fair, this was often terrifyingly-accurate). This extends all the way to modern times, especially with Hollywood movies. Comics in particular takes a glee with the concept more than almost any other form of entertainment save perhaps Pro Wrestling (which unquestionably does it best- turning the foreigners into gigantic cartoonish stereotypes). In the '40s, it was Germans & the Japanese. The 1950s, however, brought is Evil Commies- in particular, the United Soviet Socialist Republic, who at that point was the official Big Bad of the planet Earth, and the #1 enemy of the United States. With the superheroes returning to Marvel in the 1960s, it was perhaps inevitable that we'd end up with a ton of Evil Russians... but SUPER-HUMAN versions of what had before just been Big Ugly Brutes and snivelling spies.

Iron Man saw the most of them at first, as Tony Stark was kind of a symbol of American militarism- his enemies included The Crimson Dynamo, The Black Widow, Titanium Man, and others. But after a point, OTHER books started seeing the guys pop up. Eventually we'd get a more magnanimous treatment of the Soviets- occasionally we'd find a defector (the original Dynamo, who died saving Stark's life), or even actual SUPER-HEROES, as they appeared to be from their own perspective.

The initial concept for teams of Soviets came about in the short-lived, infamous Champions (a book which contained the F'd-up lineup of Black Widow, Hercules, Ghost Rider, Iceman & The Angel)- the Widow was hunted by a team of superhuman Soviets- including the Darkforce-wielding Darkstar and her arrogant brother Vanguard (with the power to repel force used against him). Darkstar, being the prettiest and most-interesting one, defected to the United States and became a recurring element of the Champions until the book died. Darkstar would eventually confess to only liking Iceman as a friend (that happens a lot to Iceman- I wonder why he always goes after women who eventually have no interest in him. WHY INDEED?), and returned to the Soviet Union.

The Soviets appear again in The Contest of Champions, a story that introduced Captain Ethnic characters of several different countries. Most of which were portrayed at least as HEROES, though most of the foreigners ended up with the kind of chip on their shoulder that American writers often give foreigners- Vanguard in particular was a HUGE asshole. The Argentinian Defensor, Arabic Arabian Knight and French Le Peregrine all kind of acted that way as well. Others were simply portrayed as stereotypically-mistrustful of the nations' "enemies" (The Israeli Sabra & the Arabian Knight were immediately disagreeable; Captain Britain and the Irish Shamrock were also eyeing each other carefully). Darkstar was one of the few to look particularly-good.

The Soviets would add Ursa Major to the roster shortly thereafter, interact with The Defenders (the female Red Guardian was a member, and a Soviet), and in 1989 we'd finally see the team reorganized as The Supreme Soviets in Mark Gruenwald's Captain America- the "Red Guardian" concept would be added onto a new guy, who led an Avengers-like roster that included a Magic-ish female, the Iron Man-Lite Crimson Dynamo, a Vision-like Android and a Russian God of Thunder. They'd even show up a bit in Quasar- Gruenwald, no stranger to The Defenders or Contest of Champions, seemed to have a liking for these guys. The characters would undergo some restructuring- the new Soviets would chase down Darkstar, Vanguard and Ursa Major, all of whom were defecting to the U.S. Eventually, these Soviets would form The People's Protectorate upon the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Crossing Line:
-Fabian Nicieza, eventual writer of X-Men, X-Force and The New Warriors and a major force in '90s Marvel, would take a look at these guys for a short Avengers run entitled The Crossing Line. It read VERY nonsensically for a Young Jab- this was, in fact, my very first Avengers comic, and I picked it up in mid-story, and was expected to comprehend a whole lot- their Exposition-Speak was not quite up to the level of Claremont characters, and I had no idea who much of the cast was (I remember the dialogue very specifically, and wondered what "Calm yourself, Eternal!" meant (Fantasma was referring to Sersi, but not knowing what an "Eternal" was, I assumed she was saying "Eternal" as a statement for emphasis, like "Calm yourself for Christ's Sake!" or something like that). I mean, imagine what the issue AFTER the issue in which the Native Canadian Mystic unfolds his Magic Pouch and traps everyone, plus a nuclear explosion, inside various dimensions inside the thing.

The tale:
* A nuclear-armed submarine is captured by anti-government Russians. The Avengers (Cap, Sersi, Quasar & Vision, railroading Stingray into serving with them, because it's set in the water and Namor is busy... no really, that's the justification) are called in to stop them as they approach Canada- The People's Protectorate (Red Guardian III, Fantasma, Vostok, Perun, Crimson Dynamo) follow the Russians, and things turn into a Patended Marvel Superhero Brawl.
* The teams FINALLY agree to settle down for a bit, which is when ALPHA FLIGHT (Guardian, Box, Puck, Diamond Lil, Shaman) shows up, since this is in Canadian waters, after all.
* Oh, and some ATLANTEANS (Tyrak, Merrano, Orka, some Mooks) show up, trying to get the nukes for themselves. The combined heroes have to fight off THIS invasion, too.
* The group, named the "Peace Corpse", reveal their intentions- to provoke a global war that will shore up the economies of their nation, along with others. Their belief: that war throughout history have helped their nation's economies, as this is the solution to the economic downturn.
* A rescue mission is finally begun to save the hostages on the sub, but things go wrong (in an odd bit, CaptainI America's plan actually fails- if Shaman hadn't have been there, he'd have doomed everyone present, plus a whole town of people), and the agents set off the nuke.
* Alpha Flight's Shaman is able to absorb every single man, woman and child in the surrounding area (a village in Newfoundland, later identified as the capital St. Johns) into his Magic Pouch (WTF?), along with the nuclear energy.
* So here's where I picked up the story: multiple groups of characters, all trapped in different parts of the Pouch's inner dimensions. Sersi & Fantasma communicate telepathically while the heroes work to combine the multiple dimensions inside the pouch together so that they can all leave at once- Guardian & Stingray (who is concussed thanks to being shot in the head by the Corpse earlier on) are trapped in a desert dimension with U-Man/Merrano. Cap, Red Guardian, Vostok & Vision are floating around in a world of Energy Beings along with the unconscious Peace Corpse members. Quasar, Perun, Puck, Box & Lil are stuck floating in water, along with Orka & Tyrak. Sersi & Fantasma are stuck is a dangerous dimension of volcanic fire.
* Sersi manages to use her "Do Anything" Eternal Powers to save the day numerous times- she communicates Telepathically, scans for other survivors, creates a Force Field to protect everyone, and even creates INDIVIDUAL FORCE-FIELDS for hundreds of people to gain protection from the ravages of their dimensions (she at least has the decency to ask Cap to "ensure that my funeral is a LAVISH one upon our return to Earth"). The heroes try to bring the civilians back to their town, but the nuclear energy travels with them, killing numerous people. And then the two Russian leaders show up, having been merged (ass-to-ass, no less) and gaining super-powers.

The story reads VERY nutty even today, and is fairly-convoluted and features a staggering cast of characters (Diamond Lil scarcely appears in a single panel by herself). Though Ares pointed it out when I made fun of it years ago, and he's right- there are some fun bits. The Crimson Dynamo in particular had a lot of good lines ("A polite American?" he says, when confronted with Quasar, who, true to form, always tried to avoid the Standard Superhero Greeting Fist-Fight, "Will wonders never cease?". And when Heather Hudson does her "Rapid Move" trick, he goes "Did she just blow herself up? No- she's Canadian. They're too normal to be crazy"). Perun refers to the Combine as "Buttocks-Touching Baboons!"

And in the end, the Corpse members realize the error of their ways, after watching the international cast of heroes work together to save the day. They jump towards the Combine and merge with it (using Fantasma's abilities), overriding his control (Puck comments on the irony of Soviets using democracy and rule-by-numbers to save the day), and eventually convincing their two parts of the conclusion they've just come to. The new Combine decides to absorb the radiation from everybody (thus saving their lives), then decides to explore the universe (translation: You never see it again).

Convoluted, but kinda fun. Nicieza did this exact kind of thing in the X-Annual Kings of Pain story, filling it with tons of ludicrous super-hero team-ups, Introductory Brawls (Moira MacTaggart and her Muir Island X-Men immediately assault the New Warriors & X-Force, before agreeing to team up with them), and the most-convoluted set-up of superpowers in history (involving Legion's Telekinesis, Madrox's Duplicates, Marvel Boy's Telekinesis, Speedball's Kinetic Force, Firestar's Microwave power and more). It's actually odd how well the two stories line up. Two characters (Proteus & Piecemeal) even MERGE in that story, resulting in a super-powerful being nobody can stop.

Soviet Super-Soldiers:
-A one-shot, Soviet Super-Soldiers, was also written by Fabian Nicieza, and HOO BOY, it's a doozy. The art is pure '90s drek (overly-scratchy images, malformed-looking people, and more), and the writing is a mess. I can't blame Fabe too much, though- it seems like he had an impossible assignment. Though the book is a large one, he was left with an ENORMOUS roster of characters- you had a subplot with the Crimson Dynamo fighting Titanium Man and his Credit-Card Soldiers, a group of hidden Russian mutants, a Russian Cyborg attempting to kill the characters, the Soviet Super-Soldiers trio running from the government, Perun dealing with the fact that he has a human form that dislikes transforming, Sputnik's inhumanity, the Supreme Soviets hunting down Russian's enemies, a pair of scientists who can merge into one super-powered being, and more. The book's roster is seriously more than twenty-strong, and I can't imagine a lot of writers giving any one of them their proper due in such circumstances. There are characters who can do little more than give their NAME and POWERS before disappearing.

-The only real legacy of the book is the reforming of the Soviet Super-Soldiers (whose name no longer fit, due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union) into The People's Protectorate. Which is the name they used in The Crossing Line, which came out TWO YEARS BEFORE THIS. Making this also a Retroactively-Set Story, as well. Sputnik changing his name to Vostok (which he'd already used earlier) only furthers this proof.

The Winter Guard:
-These stories apparently weren't major hits for the characters, because they basically disappeared after that (Young Jab actually imagined that the People's Protectorate was actually supposed to be a MAJOR TEAM in comics, and was a bit confused that he never saw them again). The team just kinda split up, merging with other Russian heroes to form The Winter Guard (those Russians and their "General Winter"... ah well, it saved them against Napoleon AND Hitler, so I guess they owe it a few). This team appears for in a pretty decent 3-issue Limited Series, featuring a new Darkstar (the original was dead) along with a smattering of the assorted Russian characters. The story involves Fantasma (the Magic Chick... though her powers involve "Biofield Manipulation") revealing herself to be a Dire Wraith, attempting to lead an invasion of Earth- Darkstar II dies saving the world, and resurrects the ORIGINAL Darkstar in the process! Unfortunately, none of this every really mattered, as they failed to reappear.

It also features some rather on-the-nose attempts at becoming an Internet Meme, with Ursa Major puncing and undead dinosaur in the face (with the other characters commenting on it, like "that about says it all, really"), grabbing a hammer to beat up some guys, then posing in a single panel, saying "A bad-ass bear with a hammer!" Like, they were REALLY OBVIOUSLY trying to make this character a thing online with that bit- it just felt too cloying. At least Fat Cobra's "Bring me my victory wenches!" came off organically. Oh, and the requisite appearance by the Agents of Atlas, when Marvel put them in EVERYTHING in an attempt to give that book a shot in the arm.

The book was well-drawn, and I always like seeing random forgotten characters getting use, but of course so much of it went nowhere. We were introduced to a new Darkstar, who then went on to do little after the first issue, and DIED in the second (to like a single Dire Wraith, even!). A lot of backstory and characters went unexplained- Dmitri Bukharin is there, but we don't get told he was a Crimson Dynamo until the third issue, when he becomes it again (Back-To-Basics Syndrome at its best). In a weird bit, the Joseph Petkus Red Guardian is killed in a single-panel flashback, never being named. Vanguard suddenly decides to become the new Red Guardian. Then at the very end, the Hot Sexy Lady Dynamo becomes "The Ultra-Dynamo" and moves to create her OWN super-team. And is never seen again.

Where will the team go? Well, let's see- I'm gonna guess they'll appear in one storyline every five to ten years like normal, with the once-dead characters quickly being resurrected (or just replaced by a newbie with the same powers) by the next writer because HE remembered the team with a certain line-up (looking at you, Darkstar, Red Guardian & Vanguard), and they'll probably fight some heroes before teaming up. Am I a precognitive genius? Nah- that's just how the team always works. Despite getting their own Limited Series (which was collected to a TRADE, too!), they've yet to reappear since.


The Roster:
The Originals:
Darkstar- Sexy Blonde Russian with Darkforce powers.
Vanguard- Repels all force used against him, and wields a hammer & sickle. A huge asshole.
Ursa Major- Transforms into a bear.
---
The People's Protectorate:
The Red Guardian- A Legacy Character, essentially a Russian Captain America, Shield and all. Keeps the name, despite the fall of the U.S.S.R., but later becomes the Steel Guardian.
Sputnik/Vostok- A Russian Android with a robotic speech pattern and issues with his humanity. Named for the first unmanned and manned orbital vehicles.
Fantasma: Sexy Magic Chick, whose Biofield Manipulation powers basically take that role.
Perun: The Russian God of Thunder. Takes the place of a mortal man when he comes to Earth.
The Crimson Dynamo: The fifth one, actually. There end up being a LOT of Crimson Dynamos, however.
---
Assorted Soviets:
Sibercat: Looks like a Thundercat.
Siberforce: A trio of losers. They don't last long.
Stencil: A "mindsucker".
Blind Faith: Mind Controller.
* Two Scientists, a male and a female, combine together to form "Synthesizer" in the Soviet Super-Soldiers, but this is the only story featuring them, and they show little in terms of power beyond Flight & Blasting. Quite peculiar.
---
The New Winter Guard:
Powersurge: Powersuit guy.


THE RED GUARDIANS:
-Red Guardian is a recurring concept- the Soviet Russian Captain America. What with Cold War animosity and all, it was only a matter of time. Problem is, nobody's ever felt like actually DEALING with the guy, instead just tossing him out there to throw some Communist rhetoric at Cap or someone before they throw a few punches. As a result, only a couple have ever really been used, the first (we saw- their was apparently a Golden Age version, but he was only shown in a flashback) being the Black Widow's thought-dead husband, who eventually died for real, and the female one, who was a Defender for a while. Aside from those two, there's been an astonishing EIGHT Red Guardians in total, as much like Crimson Dynamo, they keep either dying, or being replaced off-panel because the next writer can't be bothered to check who the 'last' one was. The last one got decapitated by a Dire Wraith, but he was a cyborg, so he still might be alive- Vanguard took his name and role (as well as the shield).

RED GUARDIAN II (Alexei Alanovich Shostakov)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & John Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #43 (Aug. 1967)
Role: Mirror Image Villain/Hero (to Cap), Patriotic Hero, Replaceable Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 9 (142)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Close Combat (Discus) 2 (+12)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 9 (+11)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 6 (+9)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Discus) 5 (+13)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 9 (+9)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Improved Critical (Discus), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Red Guardian's Belt Discus" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Removable) [15]
"Discus Toss" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Dynamic, Ricochet 5, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 8) (Diminished Range -1) (16) -- (17 points)
Dynamic AE: "Bouncing Disc" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable 5, Selective 5) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Discus Toss +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Bouncing Disc +5 Area (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Relationship (Natasha Romanova)- Alexei was married to The Black Widow.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 66--33 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 16 (142)

-Alexei Shostakov was the husband of balerina Natasha Romanov. He was also a WWII Flying Ace, and even shot down American jets during the Korean War. When Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev decided that the Soviet Union needed its own equivalent to Captain America, he chose Alexei over Yuri Gagarin (the famous real-life Cosmonaut), faked the man's death, and trained him in secrecy. His grieving wife Natasha would become another Soviet agent- The Black Widow. When she defected to the United States, he was introduced via a Retcon (even back in 1967 they were doing this), explaining his past, and he attacked the Avengers. However, his Chinese ally Colonel Ling betrayed him when he saved the lives of Widow & Captain America, and was buried under molten lava.
-Shostakov would "return" as a Life Model Decoy before showing up alive FOR SERIOUS, having risen through the ranks in Bulgaria as "Ronin". He captured the Widow to try her for crimes as a Soviet super-soldier, which kind of goes against his prior characterization (as a typical dies-while-redeeming-himself Marvel one-shot villain). To my knowledge, he hasn't reappeared.
-Alexei a minor-league, PL 9 version of Captain America (which, for the Silver Age, is a pretty decent threat overall). He's weaker, less accurate and has a Throwing Disc instead of a Shield, but he does okay for what he is. He's also a pretty good super-spy type. He was a famous pilot in his time, and seems to have that "Never Ages" stuff that his ex-wife does, to explain why all these Commies are still alive.

RED GUARDIAN IV (Josef Petkus)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Kieron Dwyer
First Appearance: Captain America #352 (April 1989)
Role: Mirror Image Villain/Hero (to Cap), Patriotic Hero, Replaceable Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers, The People's Protectorate
PL 9 (134)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Close Combat (Shield) 2 (+12)
Deception 1 (+4)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Shield) 4 (+12)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Improved Critical (Shield), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Teamwork

Powers:
"Red Guardian's Mighty Shield" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [13]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion, Withstand Damage (2)
"Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Dynamic, Ricochet 3, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 8) (Diminished Range -1) (15) -- (18)
Dynamic AE: "Shield Bash" Strength-Damage +3 (3)
Dynamic AE: "Bouncing Shield" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable 6, Selective 6) (15)
Dynamic AE: Enhanced Dodge 3 & Parry 2 (Extras: Sustained +0) Linked to Enhanced Strength 5 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (10)
-- (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Shield Bash +12 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Shield Toss +12 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Bouncing Shield +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +8, Will +6
"With Shield" Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +8, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 15 (134)

-Josef here is the third Red Guardian of interest, and was around for most of the '90s (including that Avengers storyline The Crossing Guard, which featured a mass team-up between The People's Protectorate, Alpha Flight, The Avengers and some random Atlanteans). He was typically-antagonistic and quick to attack Americans, but a bit calmer than most Soviet heroes tended to be- he was fairly stoic, actually. He later changed his name to Steel Guardian, but was killed by the Dire Wraiths during the backstory of Darkstar & The Winter Guard. He's even more of a mini-Cap than the first one is, with his very own Mighty Shield, making him a PL 10 in a few ways (9.5 with his Shield Bash & Parry, PL 10 with Dodge). He wouldn't BEAT Cap in a fight, but he'd do okay.
-The fifth Red Guardian, Krassno Granitsky, appeared in Maverick's solo book, but never appeared again (likely, the writer didn't know the real name of the other one). The sixth is an unnamed guy murdered by Aleksander Lukin in Brubaker's Captain America run. The seventh, Anton, was a Life Model Decoy who was blown apart in a Hulk issue, but his head was somehow kept alive for some time thereafter. Nicolai Krylenko, the eighth, is better known as the Soviet/Russian hero Vanguard, and leads the Winter Guard.

RED GUARDIAN III (Doctor Tania Belinsky)
Created By:
Steve Gerber & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Defenders #35 (May 1976)
Role: Patriotic Hero, Hot Russian Babe
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Defenders
PL 8 (129)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 3 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Discus) 5 (+13)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 1 (+5)
Treatment 8 (+12)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Improved Critical (Discus), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Leadership, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 8, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Red Guardian's Belt Discus" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Removable) [15]
"Discus Toss" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Dynamic, Ricochet 5, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 8) (Diminished Range -1) (16) -- (17 points)
Dynamic AE: "Bouncing Disc" Strength-Damage +1 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable 4, Selective 4) (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Discus Toss +13 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Bouncing Disc +3 Area (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +9

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

Complications:
Motivation (Reforming Soviet Society)- Tania attempts to reform the Soviet Union, but later decides to stay in America and be an adventurer.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 13 (129)

-The female Red Guardian is of course my favourite example for "declaring one's enormous fandom for a minor, largely-forgotten character".
-See, EONS ago (probably like ten years or something), I was reading one of those early bio-sites (it may've even been the Unofficial Appendix site in its earliest days, and it featured a bio of Tania "Red Guardian" Belinsky. The page went on to describe the character and her history, then featured a MASSIVE rant about what'd happened to her. Essentially, this character, whom I'd NEVER HEARD OF, was declared to be this brilliant character, and her disappearance from comics was to be held as this grand tragedy. While sympathetic to that kind of thing, I found it so absurd, and so iconic an example, that I eventually came to use "Red Guardian Syndrome" as a phrase for extraordinarily-minor characters who had gotten TONS of praise from fans, who then demanded the characters be brought back and used in a major way. Despite the jokes, I myself suffer from it to a ludicrous degree with my love for The Hellions. And frankly, most good comic fans feel this way about at least one or two characters.
-It's related to what I call "Doom Patrol Syndrome" when the vocal fanbase for a particular low-selling character or group far outstrips the ACTUAL fanbase, as the books simply never sell, despite near-endless online praise.
-Granted, some of the art for Tania here made her look REALLY blazingly-hot, and I always liked the Red Guardian outfit- red is a cool colour in large doses, and comparatively-few heroes dress in a lot of it (Spidey, DD, Deadpool, and a few others), and "fin-head" costumes always looked interesting to me for some reason. Tania was a doctor who fought to reform Soviet society (realizing the flaws in the system), and then joined The Defenders for a while (a VERY short period of time, actually). After a short run, she got mixed up with The Presence- a supervillain. He brainwashed her into loving him (EWWWWWWWWW), and made her powers somewhat-dependent upon him... at which point she basically went into Comic Book Limbo and vanished.
-Red Guardian III is only PL 8 (she can't really be a heavy-hitter at her weight-class- her Discus weapon is super-weak compared to the Shields of others), but still quite skilled, and a good team medic (though really, a neurosurgeon is MUCH different from a combat medic or diagnostician).

STARLIGHT (Doctor Tania Belinsky)
Created By:
Steve Gerber & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Defenders #35 (May 1976)
Role: Patriotic Hero, Hot Russian Babe
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Defenders
PL 10 (200)
STRENGTH
2/9 STAMINA 3/8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 3 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Discus) 5 (+13)
Ranged Combat (Radiation) 1 (+9)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 1 (+5)
Treatment 8 (+12)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Cobalt Radiation Powers"
Enhanced Strength 7 [14]
Enhanced Constitution 5 [10]
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) [18]
Radioactive Aura 3 [12]
Immunity 10 (Radiation Effects) [10]

Radiation Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (34) -- [37]
AE: "Radiation Wave" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (30)
AE: "Radiation Burst" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (30)
AE: "Boosted Aura" Radioactive Aura 8 (32)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Radiation Blast +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Radiation Attacks +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude +11, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Relationship (The Presence, Vanguard)- Tania came to love the man who basically-sorta forced her to hang around with him, but then broke up with him for Vanguard.
Responsibility (Powers Out of Control)- Tania's radiation once emanated from her at all times, so she was unable to be around normal people for extended periods. This apparently got better over time, as she was bumping uglies with Vanguard after a point.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 101 / Defenses: 14 (200)

-This is how Tania basically ended up- exposed to radiation, she was forced to be around villain The Presence (as he could handle the radiation she gave off), but she eventually came to love him anyways. I can sorta see why fans of the character were unimpressed, as she was written out for like a DECADE, only popping up for one-shot villains runs, as The Presence was a rather generic "I want to RULE THE WORLD!" energy-casting villain overlord-type. Never mind that part of the story is that he was BRAIN-WASHING her, and then later threatened to abandon her unless she remained as his lover (since neither could be around normal people). She eventually rejoined the Soviet Super-Soldiers/Winter Guard, but in the last mini-series she disappeared into the void after Fantasma, and is currently AWOL.
-Tania becomes a much more powerful, much pricier character, but at the expense of her old gimmick of "Melee Fighter". Pretty much standard Blaster stuff here, but she's ALSO a miniature Flying Brick at the same time. She's not a MAJOR heavy-hitter by my estimation (I've never seen her do anything another PL 10 really couldn't), but her combo of Super-Physiology AND high-level Blasting makes her a difficult opponent to overcome.

RED GUARDIAN V (Krassno Granitsky) & VI (Anton)
Created By:
Jorge Gonzalez & Leonardo Fernandez
First Appearance: Maverick #10 (June 1998)
Role: Mirror Image Villain/Hero (to Cap), Patriotic Hero, Replaceable Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The People's Protectorate
PL 8 (109)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Close Combat (Shield) 2 (+10)
Deception 1 (+4)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 1 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Shield) 4 (+10)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 1 (+3)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Red Guardian's Mighty Shield" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [13]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion, Withstand Damage (2)
"Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Dynamic, Ricochet 3, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 8) (Diminished Range -1) (15) -- (18)
Dynamic AE: "Shield Bash" Strength-Damage +3 (3)
Dynamic AE: "Bouncing Shield" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable 6, Selective 6) (15)
Dynamic AE: Enhanced Dodge 3 & Parry 2 (Extras: Sustained +0) Linked to Enhanced Strength 5 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (10)
-- (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Shield Bash +12 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Shield Toss +12 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Bouncing Shield +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5
"With Shield" Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 12 (109)

-Krassno inexplicably appeared in a late '90s issue of Maverick (yes, MAVERICK got a solo book in the '90s- don't act so surprised), despite the Josef Petkus still being alive. He teamed up with the mercenary to fight a crime lord, and didn't do anything else. Another Red Guardian appears in the first issue of Ed Brubaker's legendary Captain America run, being executed by Alexander Lukin- Wikipedia names this the sixth Guardian, but ComicVine says it's Granitsky. As the guy goes unnamed, there's really no point in it NOT being Granitsky, who of course has never been mentioned again. So my Headcanon, which cannot ignore minor continuity issues surrounding completely-forgotten characters, is that Granitsky died.
-Granitsky is basically Red Guardian Lite, lacking much in the way of capability compared to a serious hero. Still, he's not BAD- about on the level of the two '40s "Replacent Caps"- The Patriot and The Spirit of '76.
-A sixth Red Guardian named Anton appears in Jeph Loeb's Hulk series as a Winter Guard member- he has similar stats, but is apparently a Life Model Decoy, getting decapitated by a Dire Wraith and having his still-living head kept in storage. He was the grouchy, stoic Team Leader in Darkstar & The Winter Guard series, and has his head pulled off there, appearing only in a single-panel in the storage locker of The Ultra-Dynamo (the member who constantly got in trouble for disobeying his orders).

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO:
-The Crimson Dynamo is that age-old of concepts: the Mirror Image Villain- the guy so equal to the hero, with all the same powers, that it effectively provides him with both an even competitor, and an example of how dangerous the hero could be if he let loose. Problem is, this bugger just KEEPS ON DYING. The first, Ivan Vanko, was a brilliant Soviet scientist who (of course) defected, and he died killing the SECOND Dynamo, a KGB spy sent to assassinate him. There have been an astonishing THIRTEEN OF THEM so far, with newbies either dying or getting replaced quickly- this armor gets passed around more than Paris Hilton.
-This has had a nasty side-effect on the character and concept, however- the fact that nobody is in the suit for any long period of time means that NOBODY becomes truly "associated" with the concept, and so what would just be a standard-issue Recurring Jobber ends up becoming something no fan can get behind, because the character is inherently-disposable Pushing them becomes basically pointless- a problem that can afflict the Venom Symbiote if they bounce it between too many characters. I mean, who are you gonna say you're a fan of? "Wow, I love the Crimson Dynamo! I wish they'd use him more!" "uh, which one?" "Um... that one from Armor Wars! Or The Crossing Guard! Was that the same guy?" "... I can't remember. There was the one that was a chick!"
-The Dynamo suit is interesting in that it's basically Tony Stark's Armor minus a handful of tricks (it's 19 points cheaper). It's strong, flies fast, and has some nasty hardware and some good senses. It's still the Poor Man's Iron Man Armor, but hey, it's still pretty decent, and is a better fit for a PL 10 campaign anyways. Many Dynamos are likely PL 9, however, since they seem so poorly-trained and easily replaced. The Armor's more fragile than Stark's by a considerable ways, and does less damage overall.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO I (Anton Vanko)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #46 (Oct. 1963)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
PL 9 (159)
STRENGTH
1/10 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+14)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Technology 7 (+14)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Repulsors), Inventor, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [82]
Enhanced Strength 9 (18)
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 5) (12)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 7) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (25) -- (27)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 9 (Feats: Split) (19)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (24)
-- (102 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Dynamo Strength +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Shoulder Rockets +8 & +7 Area (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Gatling Guns +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+9 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 82 / Defenses: 14 (159)

-Anton Vanko is the original Dynamo, and the armor's creator. An Armenian scientist, he was one of the world's foremost experts on electricity, powering his armor with electromagnetism. The Soviet Government asked him to use the armor in service to his nation- he immediately went to sabotage Stark Industries, as it was America's best weapons manufacturer. He was talked-down by Tony Stark, but continued to build gear for super-villains such as The Unicorn. Eventually, he was sent to fight Iron Man, but defected to the United States after losing- fearing that his superiors would render him an "unperson" for his failure. Vanko began to work for Tony Stark as one of his chief scientists, and they became great friends. However, the Soviets soon came for Vanko- Black Widow & Boris Turgenov tried to assassinate him, but Iron Man got involved. The two nearly killed the hero, but Vanko died saving him- firing an experimental laser pistol that exploded.
-This is CLASSIC Stan Lee- he would go to the "Resurrection Equals Death" trope numerous times in his writing career, and it's a good-er. The Big Man (Frederick Foswell) died saving J. Jonah Jameson from The Kingpin's goons, for example. Vanko would never reappear (which is REALLY unusual for a 1960s "Stan Original"), but would lend his name and genius to Mickey Rourke's "Whiplash" from the Iron Man 2 film. His total run in comics was about half a year.
-The Silver Age Crimson Dynamo is MUCH weaker than the later versions, owing to the bulkier, cheaper-looking armor. In general, most Silver Age characters are far weaker than they would become in the '90s, after which point they largely kind of plateau. He's PL 8-9 overall, and really didn't even use the armor all that much. Iron Man himself at this point was probably only PL 10-ish.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO II (Boris Turgenov)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
PL 9 (155)
STRENGTH
2/10 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (Soviet Agent) 4 (+6)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+5)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Repulsors), Inventor, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [79]
Enhanced Strength 8 (16)
Protection 5 (Extras: Impervious 5) (10)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 7) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (25) -- (27)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 9 (Feats: Split) (19)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (24)
-- (98 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Dynamo Strength +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Shoulder Rockets +8 & +7 Area (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Gatling Guns +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+9 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 79 / Defenses: 9 (155)

-Turgenov was the Soviet Agent who arrived in America with the Black Widow in order to kill the defector Ivan Vanko- he threw on the Dynamo armor in able to do it. Vanko died saving Tony Stark's life- killing Turgenov with an unstable, experimental laser pistol, which then exploded. He has a different skill-set than Vanko, and exhibits that odd tendency for gear to offer different bonuses to stats based off of who's wearing the stuff- the weaker Vanko is Strength 10 in the suit, but Boris, who's presumably stronger (being a Soviet Assassin rather than a scientist), shouldn't suddenly be Class 100 or anything like that. So the armor is actually CHEAPER for him. And yeah, he's only a one-shot Dynamo, dying in his debut appearance.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO III (Alex Nevsky, aka "Alex Niven")
Created By:
Archie Goodwin & George Tuska
First Appearance: Iron Man #15 (July 1969)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (188)
STRENGTH
2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+13)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 8 (+15)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Blasters), Inventor, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [89]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (31 points)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)
-- (111 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +9 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (Iron Man)
Relationship (Janice Cord)- The daughter of the CEO of Alex's employers, as well as the girlfriend of Tony Stark, is Alex's primary love interest.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 14 (188)

-Alex Nevsky was Anton Vanko's #2 guy and protege, but was punished by the Soviets when Vanko defected, being held guilty by association. His career ruined by the Soviets having discredited Vanko, he was exiled, and grew bitter with the Soviets, as well as Iron Man. He also blamed Tony Stark for "exploiting" Vanko. He joined a rival corporation that went against Stark Industries, and built a new Crimson Dynamo suit that defeated Iron Man. He even hit on Tony's girlfriend!
-However, Alex would be hunted by the Soviets, who sent the Titanium Man to kill him. The villain killed Tony & Alex's love interest Janice, but a vengeful Alex was forced to put that aside when they allied with The Radioactive Man in Vietnam as "The Titanic Three". He would take one more shot at Iron Man, but was defeated- the KGB discovered his whereabouts and assassinated him, confiscating his armor.
-Alex is the priciest Dynamo, having upgraded the armor to match Iron Man a little more closely, and having genius greater than Vanko's, in ADDITION to being more charismatic, and a more-natural liar (he successfully creates another identity in America).

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO IV (Yuri Petrovich)
Created By:
Tony Isabella & George Tuska
First Appearance: Champions #7 (Aug. 1976)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (167)
STRENGTH
2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Soviet Agent) 6 (+8)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [89]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (31 points)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)
-- (111 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +9 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Hatred (The West)- Alex has been indoctrinated against the West by Soviets posing as evil Americans.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 10 (167)

-Yuri Petrovich, the fourth Dynamo, came much later than the third in the short-lived Champions book. His mother was killed by Western agents who were disappointed to find him unwilling to defect to the West- he was then indoctrinated by Soviet agents to hate all Westerners, and sent to America to kill the Black Widow and her friend Ivan- Yuri's own father! He teamed up with his girlfriend Darkstar, The Griffin, Rampage & Titanium Man I, and went against the Champions. However, he soon learened the truth of his indoctrination (Soviets has posed as Westerners), and went berserk- Darkstar had to ally with the Champions to subdue him. He and his allies were beaten, and he was exiled to a Siberian labor camp, from which he has never returned.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO V (Dmitri Bukharin, aka Airstrike)
Created By:
Bill Mantlo & Carmine Infantino
First Appearance: Iron Man #109 (April 1978)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (177)
STRENGTH
2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (KGB Agent) 7 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Guns, Gear), Improved Critical (Repulsors), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [89]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (31 points)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)
-- (111 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +9 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)- Dmitri was initially an ultra-loyalist who was mistrusted even by his allies for being such an agent of the state.
Enemy (Iron Man)- Later, however, they became friends.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 14 (177)

-Bukharin here is by FAR the longest-serving Crimson Dynamo: it is he who fought Iron Man during the Armor Wars, and he joined The People's Protectorate during that Gruenwald-led era where the Russian superheroes were a recurring element in the comics. He was a hoot during The Crossing Guard, making funny quotes here and there- when confronted by Quasar, who was the only hero at Marvel who tried to talk his way OUT of the Standard Superhero Greeting Fistfight, he was like "a polite American? Will wonders never cease?" When he witnessed Heather Hudson suddenly disappearing, he was all "Did she just commit suicide? No- she's Canadian. They're too normal to be crazy."
-Given the armor after Yuri Petrovich went crazy, Dmitir was more loyal and sane, but was kicked out of the Soviet Super-Soldiers when they found out he was a KGB Agent. Here, he kind of acted as a Journeyman Villain, popping up in various books like The Hulk and X-Factor. He later aided the S.S.S. against The Avengers & X-Men when all the groups investigated the crash of Asteroid M, but he was arrested when it was discovered that Dmitri had caused it to crash in the first place! Eventually, he was part of Armor Wars, being one of MANY Armor-Based Villains (and a couple heroes!) taken out by a furious Tony Stark, who'd realized that many villains were using technology stolen from Stark's own designs! He and the Titanium Man were warned by the Soviets ahead of time, and proved to be Tony's toughest challenge- he nonetheless managed to destroy both men's armor. Later, he allied with the Supreme Soviets to try and kill Darkstar, Vanguard & Ursa Major for defecting to the United States- they were stopped by a monster, and Captain America convinced the heroes to spare their assassins' lives.
-After this time being spent as a nasty villain, Bukharin became much more of a sympathetic figure- Fabian Nicieza wrote him as a very "Common Man" kind of figure who simply did as he was told- in the Soviet Super-Soldiers one-shot, he was sent to New York to capture the Titanium Man, and fought tooth & nail against him, and his Credit Card Soldiers. The fiasco over the battle (which ended up taking place in public) was used by the sneaky Colonel-General Valentin Shatalov to strip Dmitri of the Dynamo armor- he was given the "Airstrike" suit instead. Various other individuals would wear the suit in his stead, but suddenly as of Dark Reign he was The Crimson Dynamo again! And then ANOTHER person was a year or so later, with Dmitri merely being the Winter Guard's suit-wearing liaison to the state! Very weird- probably the result of an Editor not keeping them straight (and to be fair, it is REALLY HARD to keep these people straight). The Airstrike thing was apparently never even an actual thing, as it was forgotten after that one-shot (the armor briefly appears on a shelf in Darkstar & The Winter Guard). At twelve years, he was BY FAR the longest-serving, and most-iconic, Dynamo.
-Dmitri is one of the best overall Dynamos, but really tends to just be a speed-bump for Iron Man, or any other elite hero. PL 10's quite good, after all- especially with his points-expenditure... he's just not gonna be taking on a PL 12 Iron Man any time soon.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO VI (Valentin Shatalov)
Created By:
Glenn Herdling, Fabian Nicieza & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: Iron Man #225
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (179)
STRENGTH
2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Government Agent) 7 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Russian General), Improved Critical (Repulsors), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [89]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (31 points)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)
-- (111 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +9 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Enemy (Iron Man)- Later, however, they became friends.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 14 (179)

-An untrustworthy douche, Shatalov set Bukharin, the fifth Dynamo, up for failure in his assignment to capture the Titanium Man in New York. He then used his rank to commandeer the armor for himself, then tried to return the Soviet Union to Stalinism. He briefly had his mind switched with Tony Stark's, and after an assignment went south, appeared to respect his enemy, choosing not to reveal his secret identity. He upgraded his armor to a VERY '90s-looking sleek design, and actually seemed to make friends with Stark- he even convinced Tony to wear the Crimson Dynamo armor in a fight with Titanium Man- Shatalov was injured, and didn't want the Russian people to see the American Iron Man defeat a Russian symbol publically. However, when the T-Man surrendered, Shatalov overrode Tony's control of the armor and executed the villain. He took the fall with his superiors, and was relieved of his duties as the Dynamo.
-Statistically, he's very similar to Bukharin, switching Equipment for Benefits.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO VII (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Dan Jurgens
First Appearance: Captain America #32
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (138)
STRENGTH
2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Government Agent) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Perception 3 (+4)
Technology 3 (+3)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [89]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (31 points)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)
-- (111 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +6 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +6 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +4 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 8 (138)

-The seventh Dynamo was an unnamed man who appeared to have little skill with the armor- he was easily-handled by Nick Fury and Captain America. He's PL 10 because of the Fusion Caster, but with rest of his stats are unimpressive.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO VIII (Gennady Gavrilov)
Created By:
John Jackson Miller & Steve Ellis
First Appearance: Crimson Dynamo #1
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (138)
STRENGTH
2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Perception 2 (+3)
Technology 2 (+3)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [96]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)
Enhanced Dodge 4 & Parry 2 (6)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Feats: Accurate 2) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (30) -- (33 points)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Accurate 2, Split) (25)
AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)
-- (119 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +6 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +6 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +4 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (+6 Armor, DC 16), Parry +4 (+6 Armor, DC 16), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Not Supposed to Have The Armor)- Gennady has fought against his country's own military in the past.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 4--2 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 96 / Defenses: 4 (138)

-Marvel actually released a CRIMSON DYNAMO Limited Series in 2003, which I had no idea about. It featured a Russian collegiate named Gennady Gavrilov, who found a helmet of a "beta unit" designed by Anton Vanko himself. The dormant armor awakened and found Gennady. That's... all the information I can find on him. He entered Comic Book Limbo after his series ended, and has only appeared once afterwards- in an Iron Man/Thor Limited Series. He's largely a Civilian with some experience, but I figure the newer armor makes up for some of his deficiencies- making him a better dodger & aimer. Without the Fusion Caster, he's probably only PL 8.5 at-best.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO IX, X & XI (Real Names Unknown) & CRIMSON DYNAMO XII (Boris Vadim)
Created By:
Brian Michael Bendis & Gabriele Dell'Otto (IX), Daniel Knauf, Charles Knauf & Patrick Zircher (X), Matt Fraction & Barry Kitson (XI), Jeph Loeb & Ed McGuinness (XII)
First Appearance: Secret War #3 (Oct. 2004- IX), Iron Man #7 (June 2006- X), The Order #2 (Oct. 2007- XI), Hulk #1 (Jan. 2008- XII)
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 8 (137)
STRENGTH
2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Perception 3 (+4)
Technology 3 (+3)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [88]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 7) (14)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (30 points)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)
-- (109 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +6 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +6 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Gatling Guns +4 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3 (+10 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 88 / Defenses: 8 (137)

-And yes, this is the official point where the Crimson Dynamo concept went COMPLETELY off the rails- with FOUR DIFFERENT WRITERS coming up with their own versions, all in the span of FOUR FRICKIN' YEARS! And most of them were just used as Disposable Jobbers- easily-beaten by various characters.
-The ninth Crimson Dynamo is an unnamed criminal working for Lucia Von Bardos, and wears an armor designed by the Tinkerer. The tenth is also unknown, and appears to have purchased the Dynamo Armor off the black market, and was easily-beaten by Iron Man. Like the other unnamed guy, they're both terrible. I actually made their armor cheaper, as they seem to be intentionally more-disposable.
-An eleventh Dynamo showed up in an issue of The Order, having been put into cryogenic stasis since the Cold War ended (wouldn't that make him... PRE-DATE the Vanko version by this point? Or is that just not worth thinking about?). He was apparently killed by members of The Order- one of the Initiative teams. A TWELFTH Dynamo, Boris Vadim (the second "Boris"- I guess in a team of Russians, you were bound to have two), was a Winter Guard member who was a backgrounder for a year or two, but was then devoured by a mutated monster.

THE CRIMSON DYNAMO XIII (Galina Nemirovsky, aka The Ultra-Dynamo)
Created By:
Steve Ellis & David Gallaher
First Appearance: Hulk: Winter Guard #1
Role: Iron Man Lite, Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Winter Guard
PL 10 (479)
STRENGTH
2/12 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+11)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 1 (+3)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Technology 8 (+14)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Blasters), Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Crimson Dynamo Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [89]
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) (15)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 13 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4, "X-Ray" Penetrates Concealment 4, "MRI" Magnetic Accurate Sight 2, "Sonar" Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing 3) (13)

"Shoulder Rockets" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 8) (Quirk: Limited Uses- 10 Shots -2) (28) -- (31 points)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Electrical Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Fusion Caster" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: "Gatling Gun" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (26)
-- (111 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Dynamo Strength +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Shoulder Rockets +9 & +8 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Fusion Caster +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Gatling Guns +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+11 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (The Russian Government)- However, she bristles under their control.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 89 / Defenses: 14 (179)

-The thirteenth (!!) Crimson Dynamo, Galina was featured in the Winter Guard Limited Series, and stands out from the rest of the often-interchangeable pack for the simple fact that this time the Dynamo is a WOMAN! A sexy, belly-shirt-wearing woman, no less. Now, female Legacies ain't rare in comics, but it's kind of funny that we had friggin' twelve of these guys before somebody thought to make one a lady- REALLY makes her stick out from the crowd. Not a lot of female Powersuiters out there, either- it's probably the most-rare type of super-character to be female (for what I'll assume are obvious reasons). She was a graduate of a federal "Dynamo Pilot" program, and was given her suit by The Mandarin & Ezekiel Stane in order to take out Iron Man, but ends up just being a regular Russian Superhero after a point. She was fired from the Winter Guard amidst arguments about following orders (ie. she often tried to suggest her own actions instead of what The Red Guardian said), and became the "Ultra-Dynamo", attempting to form her own team (and possibly stealing the severed head of the LMD/Cyborg Red Guardian). However, she was never seen again after that.
-Galina is one of the "smart" Dynamos, able to do her own thing on the science end.

BLIND FAITH (Alexei Garnoff)
Created By:
Bob Layton
First Appearance: X-Factor #1 (1986)
Role: Mind Controller, Forgotten Character
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers, The Exiles (not the Dimension-Hoppers)
PL 9 (120)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Catholic Priest) 4 (+6)
Insight 5 (+7)
Investigation 6 (+8)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Mentalism"
"Telepathy" Mental Communication 2 (Mental) (8) -- [9]
AE: Mind Reading 8 (8)

"Detect Sentients" Senses 6 (Detect Mental Activity- Ranged 4, Acute) [6]

"Hypnotic Eyes"
Mind Control 8 (Feats: Mental Link) (Extras: Concentration) (Flaws: Vision-Dependent) (33) -- [34]
AE: "Memory Wipe" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed Memories) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2, Progressive +2) (Flaws: Vision-Dependent, Distracting) (32)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Memory Wipe +8 Perception (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Mind Control +8 Perception (+8 Perception Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +2

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 12 (120)

-Blind Faith's a minor Russian hero, but was kind of meant to be more important, judging by him leading the Winter Guard, and appearing in a mid-'90s X-Men book (he investigated the appearance of the Soul Skinner in Russia- the same storyline saw Colossus & Illyana's parents get executed by the Russian government). Of course, his relatively boring, non-combat oriented powers did him no favors, so he's pretty much a forgotten guy (especially since losing his powers on M-Day). He's a pretty standard Mind Controller-type of guy.

POWERSURGE (Illarion Pavlovich Ramskov)
Created By:
Larry Hama & Paul Ryan
First Appearance: The Avengers #326 (Nov. 1990)
Role: Trapped In the Mask Guy, Blaster, Powersuit Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (148)
STRENGTH
1/11 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Russian Soldier) 4 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+5, +7 Size)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Radiation) 2 (+8)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Interpose, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Radioactive Powerhouse"
Immunity 14 (Starvation & Thirst, Heat, Cold, Radiation Effects) [14]

"Radiation" Blast 12 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (36) -- [37]
AE: "Radiation Cone" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (30)

"Powersurge Armor" (Flaws: Removable) (Feats: Restricted to Radioactive Dudes) [34]
Enhanced Strength 6 (12)
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 11) (18)
Growth 4 (Str & Toughness +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) (9)
Immunity 2 (Pressure, Vacuum) (2)
-- (41 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Radiation Blast +8 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Radiation Cone +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +1 (+12 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Responsibility (Trapped in the Suit)- Powersurge cannot leave his Device, lest he perish. It also leaves him looking permanently-inhuman and scary (plus, he's a skeleton underneath).

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 85 / Defenses: 17 (148)

-I've only ever seen Powersurge in the Winter Guard mini-series. Pretty much a generic Powersuit guy, but much larger than normal, and he's kind of stuck in it, having been a Russian soldier fallen victim to a Chernobyl-styled nuclear disaster (in a comic from 1990, no less- he went on a rampage and was stopped by the Hama-era Avengers). He has appeared after the Limited Series in a team simply called "The Protectorate". His Radioactive Blaster-ness is at PL 10 levels, but he's a bit slow and plodding on the defense.

VOSTOK (aka Sputnik)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Kieron Dwyer
First Appearance: Captain America #352 (April 1989)
Role: Vision Lite, The Unemotional Guy, Team Robot
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 9 (220)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Current Events) 4 (+7)
Perception 6 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Powers) 4 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+3)
Technology 11 (+14)
Vehicles 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Teamwork, Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery (Technology)

Powers:
"Synthezoid Contruction"
"Datalink" Communication 1 (Computers) [4]
Regeneration 2 [2]
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]
Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Tasks) [2]
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Senses 8 (Extended & Infravision, Detect Technology- Acute & Ranged, Detect Life Force- Acute & Ranged) [8]
Movement 1 (Permeate) (Flaws: Limited to Technology) [1]

Transform 12 (Technology to Other Technology) (Extras: Ranged, Continuous) [72]

"Destabilize Tech" Blast 10 (Feats: Subtle 2) (Extras: Penetrating) (Flaws: Limited to Technology) (22) -- [25]
AE: "Control Machinery" Affliction 10 (Tech Skill of Creator; Dazed/Stunned/Controlled) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (20)
AE: "Eye Beams" Blast 8 (16)
AE: "Mechanical Trap" Snare 8 (Flaws: Medium- Requires Large Technological Substance) (16)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Eye Beams +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Destabilize +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Machine Control +8 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- Vostok is made entirely of glistening metal, and cannot pass for a normal human.
Responsibility (Inhuman)- Vostok speaks very mechanically, and tends not to show emotion (though he can get annoyed).

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 135 / Defenses: 15 (220)

-Sputnik started out named after the first Soviet spacecraft that actually made orbit, but renamed himself Vostok (a name taken from the MANNED spaceflight program) later. His origins are unknown (he's a mix of human, human tech, and something aliens did)- he's basically just a Soviet counterpart to The Vision, being a synthezoid and unemotional and all that stuff (he vocalizes in a distracting manner-in-which-he-talks-with-dashes-in-between-each-and-every-word-and-it's-very-annoying-to-read, but thankfully this is dropped in some comics). He did various things in the issues I have featuring him- he messed up Vision with an internalized attack, turned a terrorist's gun into a flower (the universal symbol for peace), datalinked with a ship (his arms turned into wires and stuff), and ensnared Orka using an Atlantean Undersea-Jetski.
-In the Soviet Super-Soldiers one-shot, he gets made fun of by Perun until he barely-survives an attack from The Unicorn, at which point the God declares him a man after all- he also switches names in this issue. In The Crossing Line, he aides his team well, but doesn't get a lot of characterization (though he casually points out that their situation is unchanged "since you asked me X hours, Y minutes and Z seconds ago" to Red Guardian, who thinks to himself "We HAVE been doing this a while. Even VOSTOK is getting agitated"). He has yet to appear since The Crossing Line, as far as I can tell.
-Power-wise, he's actually VERY decent for a PL 9. It's my opinion that a Synthezoid is basically a human being (they've got organs and the like), and less of a construct, so they DO have Stamina and Fortitude scores. Aside from that, he's got tough skin, he can fly, and he can shoot energy blasts or make machines do whatever he wants, and royally screw up anything mechanical as well (he's got Transform 12). He once halted Vision just by waving his hand (Vision, naturally, is mechanical), and tied up Orka using a submersible as a tool. A pretty devastating power in the right hands, but he seemed to lack the ability to use it super-effectively, despite being extremely-pricey overall- a Continuous Transform at any kind of a level will cost a lot.

TITANIUM MAN I (Boris Bullski)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #69 (Sept. 1965)
Role: Mirror Image Villain, Replaceable Bad Guy
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (156)
STRENGTH
4/13 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 3 (+4)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Perception 4 (+4)
Technology 2 (+3)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Titanium Man Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [80]
Enhanced Strength 9 (18)
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 7) (14)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 4 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4) (4)

"Force Rings" Snare 9 (27) -- (29)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Paralytic Electromagnetic Beam" Affliction 10 (Tech Skill of Creator; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (20)
-- (99 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Titanium Strength +7 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Force Rings +9 (+9 Ranged Affliction, DC 19)
EM Beam +9 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+12 Armor), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)- Bullski is often trying to curry favor with his superiors.
Enemy (Iron Man)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 80 / Defenses: 16 (156)

-Titanium Man is the second "Power Armor" villain Tony Stark faced, and ALSO a Russian Agent with intent to destroy Iron Man. Really kinda... redundant, isn't he? His big lime green suit power Armor makes him stand out in a crowd, but he really never became anything as a villain- he just got trotted out there to lose to Tony once in a while. Bullski even killed Iron Man's then-girlfriend Janice Cole, and got soundly defeated as a result. Later on, he allied with the third Crimson Dynamo & Radioactive Man to form The Titanic Three in Vietnam. Later, he formed the Green Liberation Front- an army of disaffected Vietnam War Vets who could transform into small credit-card-sized objects. He and the G.L.F. attempted to destroy America's financial records (and thus, the economy), striking another blow against Capitalism.
-After the man who built the "Credit Card" technology discovered that Bullski had been manipulating him all along, he tore up the card containing the villain- when he was reactivated by the Crimson Dynamo, he went insane and slaughtered much of the G.L.F. He was murdered by the next Dynamo- Valentin Shatalov, who was controlling a Dynamo armor being piloted by Tony Stark. However, he later turned up alive with no explanation that I can find, and was simply a mercenary in the wake of the Soviet Union's fall. He appeared during the post-Civil War era- by this point, he had ceased to be an "Iron Man Punching Bag", and was simply a Journeyman Villain, floating from hero to hero and getting whupped- his victorious opponents included Darkstar, Spider-Man (in the "Iron Spider" suit), and more.
-Titanium Man's tough, but not uber-elite or anything. PL 10 is enough to tangle with Iron Man up to the '80s on an even keel, and he & Dynamo beat the HELL out of Tony in his weaker Stealth Armor until he depowered one (with his anti-Armor boxes) and combusted ol' Gremlin.

TITANIUM MAN II (Kondrati Yurivich Topolov, aka The Gremlin)
Created By:
Len Wein & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk #163 (May 1973)
Role: Mirror Image Villain, Evil Genius, Freak
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (163)
STRENGTH
-2/13 STAMINA -1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3/7 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Deception 7 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 10 (+17)
Expertise (Current Events) 4 (+11)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Technology 10 (+17)
Vehicles 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Inventor, Ranged Attack 9

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Size & Intelligence"
Enhanced Intelligence 4 [8]

"Titanium Man Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [100]
Enhanced Strength 15 (30)
Protection 13 (Extras: Impervious 7) (20)
Communications 2 (Electronic) 1 (8)
"Boot Jets" Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Immunity 8 (Visual Dazzles, Cold, Heat, Radiation, Vacuum, Pressure, Suffocation, Drowning) (8)
"Sensory Array" Senses 4 ("Radar" Ranged Acurate Radius Radio Sense 4) (4)
Enhanced Defenses 4 (8)

"Force Rings" Snare 9 (27) -- (29)
AE: "Hand Blasters" Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (23)
AE: "Paralytic Electromagnetic Beam" Affliction 10 (Tech Skill of Creator; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (20)
-- (125 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (-2 Damage, DC 13)
Titanium Strength +6 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Blasters +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Force Rings +9 (+9 Ranged Affliction, DC 19)
EM Beam +9 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (+8 Suit, DC 18), Parry +4 (+8 Suit, DC 18), Toughness -1 (+12 Armor), Fortitude +2, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Prejudice (Dwarf)- The Gremlin is hideously-deformed, and very small.
Enemy (Iron Man)

Total: Abilities: 12 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 108 / Defenses: 10 (163)

-The Gremlin is a dwarfish mutant with super-intellect- basically a shrivelled, ugly kid with delusions of grandeur, a vendetta, and a technological genius. He is the son of an early Hulk foe called The Gargoyle, and was born deformed- he continued his father's vendetta, frequently attacking the Hulk with various weapons, and a sentient Triceratops Monster called Droog (betcha I know which novel ENGELHART had just read!), but also allied with some heroes against the Dire Wraiths, thus joining the Soviet Super-Soldiers.
-Sometime around when Boris Bullski disappeared, the Gremlin began using the Titanium Man armor. In this form, he faced the X-Men and The Avengers in the fight over Magneto, and was also the Titanium Man who appeared in Armor Wars, being de-powered by Iron Man's "Anti-Armor" device that neutralized all the Stark-Tech in various bad guys' super-suits. He was a braggart and very over-confident, but when fighting Iron Man during the Armor Wars, his suit was ignited (the burning point of Titanium was given, and it was stated that once aflame, it doesn't go out), and he apparently burned to death, never to be seen again. Since this was years ago, and we've since had a new throwaway guy in the suit, it's sorta safe to say he's not coming back.
-Gremlin is enhanced a bit by his suit (I'm ignoring his Small-ish size, as that kind of thing is rather annoying and complex to stat out, and rather unnecessary in such small amounts). Otherwise, it's the exact same suit. Gremlin's worse at hand-to-hand fighting, though, but MUCH smarter.

-There are other Titanium Men out there, but their identities are rather mysterious- given that the suit conceals one's entire identity, and the fact that the armor gets used a fair bit for "background villain" shots and one-offs, means it could be ANYBODY under there:
* A third was seen attacking Stark Enterprises & Iron Man, possibly as a mercenary. Possibly he was Boris Bullski (he seemed to collect newspaper clippings of the man).
* A Titanium Man claiming to have been the above T-Man said his name was Andy Stockwell, and had no connection to the USSR. However, he revealed that he was a member of a Communist "sleeper cell" out to destroy the United States- he was last seen being lost in space, though he could have theoretically returned.
* A Titanium Man was hired as a merc to help Tony Stark pass the superhuman registration bill.
* A Titanium Man was seen as a member of the Soviet-loving "Remont Six", but was defeated by Darkstar.
* Another was seen being beaten up by Noh-Varr.
* A Titanium Man was among many Iron Man villains recruited by The Mandarin & Ezekiel Stane to take down Iron Man.
* A Titanium Man is recruited by the Spymaster to take out Stark Tower- he attacks Blizzard & Whirlwind when they try to abandon the mission, and reveals that he is the Kree Captain At-Lass (who was seen dying in Avengers: Operation Galactic Storm years before).

SIBERCAT (Illyich Lavrov, aka Siberian Tiger)
Created By:
Bob Layton
First Appearance: X-Factor Annual #1 (1986)
Role: The Happy-Go-Lucky Guy, Animal-Powered Guy, Forgotten Hero
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Winter Guard
PL 8 (100)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+10)
Close Combat (Claws) 2 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+9)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 4 (+4)
Insight 3 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 7 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Great Endurance

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Humanoid Tiger"
"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended & Ultra-Hearing) [5]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
"Natural Weapons- Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
"Cold-Based Hunter" Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Cold) [2]
"Cat Agility" Leaping 1 [1]
"Striped Coat" Enhanced Skills 4: Stealth 4 (+12) (Flaws: Limited to Dark Forests & Jungles or Plains) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +6, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Furry and striped, Sibercat cannot pass for an ordinary human without one of those brown trenchcoats or something.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 14 / Defenses: 14 (100)

-Sibercat here is pretty much one of those forgotten characters- he debuted in an X-Factor Annual, joining a Soviet team, but the next writer forgot about him. It would be another half-decade before he appeared, in that one-shot Soviet Super-Soldiers issue (looking pretty much like Tygra from Thundercats), at which point the NEXT writer forgot about him, and he hasn't shown up since. He's a generic PL 8 Wolverine-type "Cat Guy" with nothing unique about him (aside from the Tiger's boosts to stealth and the like), but he's a bit cheerier than the usual stereotype.

VANGUARD (Nicolai Krylenko, aka Red Guardian VII)
Created By:
Bill Mantlo & Carmine Infantino
First Appearance: Iron Man #109 (April 1978)
Role: Over-Protective Brother, The Braggart
Country of Origin: Belarus (formerly Russia/The Soviet Union
Group Affiliations: The Exiles (not the world-travelling team), The Winter Guard
PL 10 (134)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Hammer & Sickle) 2 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+2)
Ranged Combat (Blast) 4 (+9)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Benefit (Russian Agent), Close Combat, Defensive Attack, Equipment (Hammer & Sickle), Improved Critical (Hammer & Sickle), Interpose, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Energy Field- Absorption & Redirection"
Force Field 10 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Impervious) [20]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Withstand Damage, Ultimate Toughness Save [2]

"Repulsion Field"
Force Field +0 (Extras: Reflect 11, Redirect 11) (Flaws: Limited to When Using Hammer & Sickle/Shield) (11) -- [12]
AE: "Firing Towards the Earth" Flight 5 (60 mph) (Flaws: Limited to When Using Hammer & Sickle/Shield) (5)

"Hammer & Sickle/Shield"
"Hammer/Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Ranged 12) (12) -- [13]
AE: "Melee Weapons" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating 6) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Hammer & Sickle +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Hammer Toss +9 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Enhanced Damage +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Reflection +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+13 Force Field), Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)- Though Nicolai once defected, he currently serves the Winter Guard again.
Relationship (Sister)- Nicolai is devoted to his sister Darkstar, and will attack anyone he feels is threatening (or hitting on) her.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 15 (134)

-Vanguard was a brash braggart who runs around telling everyone how awesome he is in most comics I've read- particularly Contest of Champions (in which he was a giant braggart who faced The Thing). He's RIDICULOUSLY "old school comics" in his appearance, with his hair-showing mask, gigantic cape, Russian symbols (the Hammer & Sickle) as weapons, etc., so he doesn't appear too much these days. It was like Marvel was attempting to make him a great character, but he ended up just being some nobody- he's currently leading the Winter Guard, but expect the next writer to forget that.
-Vanguard debuted as the twin brother of Darkstar, and was your typical antagonistic butthole foreigner who was patriotic and openly-hostile towards the United States. Generally, the Soviet Super-Soldiers would be sent by their government against American super-heroes- they'd been recruited for being young Mutants as children (instead of being culled, like most Russian Mutants). Eventually, they were set against The Defenders (along with Russian expat Tania "Red Guardian" Belinsky) for trying to carry out an assignment to assassinate The Presence... who turned out to be their own FATHER! This caused them to quit the Soviet regime and become free agents.
-After this, the trio of Soviets were turned over to the state in a political move to smooth things over between the U.S. and conflicted Russia, but were freed by Blind Faith and recruited into his "Siberforce"- they next appeared in Quasar, but Vanguard was killed by the alien Starblasters. However, he was only MOSTLY-dead, and was swiftly-resurrected by his father, who re-ignited the one "spark" of life left within him. He tried to force America to become Communist after this (an odd character shift, given his more heroic turn), but when that failed and his co-conspirator turned out to be evil, he turned on his masters AGAIN. He ended up a member of the newly-formed Winter Guard, but freaked when his sister was killed and replaced with a newbie who shared the name. He hooked up with Starlight (Ms. Belinsky under a new identity), and led the team against the Dire Wraiths in the Winter Guard Limited Series, and then his sister was resurrected (seriously, even D & E-League characters can't stay dead for more than three years anymore!). Happy once more, he abandoned the "Vanguard" identity to become the new Red Guardian.
-PL 10 all-around, Vanguard has a VERY strong reflective field that allows him to repel almost any attack, unless guys like The Thing go all "Power Attack- Extra Effort" on him and put him out. I'm not quite sure on his exact strength, however, as he's been shown going hand-to-hand with Ben Grimm himself (and not doing too badly), in addition to using his Force Field, so I'll give him minimal ranks (12 tons' worth) and call it even. Curiously, Wikipedia doesn't even mention that bit. And like almost everyone on his team, he fails to meet his PL caps for points spent.
-I originally had him use all of his powers like an Easily-Removable Device, but I've switched gears and left the Device only exist for hitting & throwing damage- his ACTUAL Powers are simple a Repelling Force Field with a twist- Limited to When Using Specialized Weapons. He adds Reflect & Redirect to a +0 Field (which he has active regardless of whether or not he's armed)- ordinarily things that go with the "Deflect" Power, but work just as well here. I used Force Field instead of Deflect since it's basically literally a Force Field- Deflect implies he's using defenses or physically doing things, but his power is more about tanking damage and then sending it back- it's overwhelmed by greater force (The Thing & Hyperion have both accomplished this), not by greater accuracy.

SIBERFORCE MEMBERS:
-The following trio of characters were nothing background Russian characters allying with Vanguard, Darkstar & Ursa Major, who had rejected their evil Soviet Overlords and were hiding out in a safehouse. In the Soviet Super-Soldiers one-shot, a baddie named Firefox ambushed them, and rapidly killed all three, leaving only the "important" characters. It was actually hilarious to read, as these goofs appear in completely-regular clothes (not even Badass Longcoats- just turtlenecks & jeans, for the most part), stand there, and basically watch as Firefox gasses them and effortlessly finishes them off one-by-one, as they put up zero resistance.

IRON CURTAIN
Created By:
Bob Layton
First Appearance: X-Factor Annual #1 (1986)
Role: Powerhouse
PL 6 (64)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Soldier) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Fast Grab

Powers:
"Super-Strength" Power-Lifting 1 (12 tons) [1]
"Bulletproof" Impervious Toughness 7 [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +7, Fortitude +7, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Escaping Soviet Control)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 5 (64)

-Utterly boring for such a decent name for a Russian character, Iron Curtain was killed after Firefox shoves the tip of a grenade launcher in his mouth and pulls the trigger (theorizing that he's not invulnerable from the INSIDE)- he explodes in the next panel. He's just a super-strong, bulletproof guy, and since he & his crewmates died so quickly, they probably have pretty pathetic, basic stats.

MENTAC
Created By:
Bob Layton
First Appearance: X-Factor Annual #1 (1986)
Role: Smart Guy
PL 3 (54)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 3 (+3)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+12)
Perception 2 (+4)
Technology 6 (+12)
Vehicles 1 (+3)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Super-Smart"
Quickness 6 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Actions) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +1, Fortitude +2, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Escaping Soviet Control)

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 4 (54)

-Mentac is little else than a super-smart, skinny older-looking man who died from a single gunshot wound to the head, after Firefox dared him to calculate his odds of survival.

CONCUSSION
Created By:
Bob Layton
First Appearance: X-Factor Annual #1 (1986)
Role: Blaster
PL 6 (56)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
Blast 7 [14]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +5 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3, Fortitude +3, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Escaping Soviet Control)

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 14 / Defenses: 3 (56)

-Concussion is a simple Blaster who shot energy out of his hands, but Firefox cut them both off and killed him, joking that he'd always wondered if that would work with a Blaster-type power-set.

FIREFOX (Grigori Andreivitch)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Javier Saltares
First Appearance: Soviet Super-Solders #1 (Nov. 1992)
Role: Dark Cyborg
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (105)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 5 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Rifles) 2 (+9)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Cyborg Gear, Guns), Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Cybernetic Body"
Protection 2 [2]
"Red Eye" Senses 2 (Extended & Infravision) [2]

"Built-In Gun" (Flaws: Removable) [15]
Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Cyborg Gun +9 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Prejudice (Cyborg)- Firefox is clearly not all human, and this may cause others to judge him without cause.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 13 (105)

-Firefox is a hilarious addition to the Soviet Super-Soldiers book- he's unaffiliated with the heroes, and is instead an evil mercenary who is also of course a Cyborg with a gun for an arm. He taunts the man who hires him to bring down the hidden away "Siberforce", then barges in on one of their safehouses. The important characters (Darkstar, Vanguard, Ursa Major, Blind Faith) all escape into a Darkforce-Portal, but Firefox is able to effortlessly-slaughter the remaining unimportant doofuses- firing a grenade into the durable Iron Curtain's mouth, shooting Mentac in the head, then slicing off Concussion's Blasting hands before executing him. He later corners Stencil & Sibercat in a warehouse, but he is undone when a REAL powerhouse arrives- Vanguard one-punches him, smashes up his Gun-Arm, and then coldly RIPS HIS CYBERNETIC EYE OFF. Only the protestations of his teammates cause him to avoid executing the villain then and there.

STENCIL (Maria)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Javier Saltares
First Appearance: Soviet Super-Solders #1 (Nov. 1992)
Role: Dark Cyborg
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (105)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 6 (+7)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 3 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Rifle), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Area Mindsuck" Weaken Will 7 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Affects Will, Selective) (35) -- [36]
AE: "Telepathic Mindsuck" Weaken Will 7 (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2, Affects Will) (28)

Enhanced Advantages 2: Beginner's Luck, Jack-Of-All-Trades [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Rifle +8 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Mindsuck +7 Area (+7 Weaken, DC 17)
Minduck -- (+7 Perception-Ranged Weaken, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Exile)
Responsibility (Split Personalities)- Stencil's "Mindsuck" powers cause the personalities of her victims to be drawn inside of her

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 38 / Defenses: 9 (105)

-Stencil appears as a shaven-headed girl in a regular shirt and army pants, wielding a rifle and telepathic powers. She allies with Blind Faith and Siberforce in exile, but actually survives Firefox's assault. She has the ability to absorb the minds of people at range (a Will-Based Weaken effect that can kill- she causes it to cause some Helicopter pilots to crash), but at the cost to her own personality- she's shown putting on a wig and calling herself "Maria". She's rather dangerous, but has only used her powers on Mooks, so it's unclear just how effective she is- she can also fire a Rifle, but has never reappeared after Soviet Super-Soldiers came out.

URSA MAJOR (Mikhail Uriokovitch Ursus)
Created By:
Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk #258 (April 1981)
Role: Bad-Ass Bear
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Winter Guard
PL 10 (115)
STRENGTH
3/10 STAMINA 4/10 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+8)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 3 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+6, +8 Size)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+2 Size)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Extraodinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons) 2, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Interpose, Power Attack, Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Bear Form" (Move Action -1) [-1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 4 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking) [4]

"Enhanced Physicality"
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]
Enhanced Strength 3 [6]
Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) [8]

"Russian Bear"
Immunity 1 (Cold) [1]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Cold) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Bear Form +9 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)- Though Mikhail once defected, he currently serves the Winter Guard again.
Prejudice (Godless Killing Machine)- In his Bear Form, Mikhail stands out a fair bit, and cannot pass for a normal human.
Responsibility (The Bear Takes Over)- Mikhail grows more feral the more he remains in Bear Form. If he spends hours in that form, he may shift into a totally animalistic state.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 26 / Defenses: 13 (115)

-Appearing three years after Darkstar & Vanguard debuted, Ursa Major is a mutant who can turn into a bear- the sort of thing you'd expect from a Russian (their national animal is, famously, a bear). As Russian superheroes go, he's not that bad, basically being a standard Brick with some bonus senses and the like. Unfortunately, he's kind of the bastard child of the Supreme Soviets trio, as Vanguard is the central leaderly type, and Darkstar is the hot blonde who teams up with American superheroes all the time. So Major kinda just sits around the background, being a Powerhouse, while the others get to do all the cool stuff. The recent Darkstar & The Winter Guard series really tried to push him (The aforementioned "Bad-Ass Bear With a Hammer" line), but even then he kind of did his thing in the background while talking tough.
-He's a PL 9.5 tough-guy, not as elite as Darkstar or Vanguard, but he's strong enough to brawl with The Hulk and not die (though keep in mind this was '80s Hulk, before Power Creep sank in DEEP, and he was only a Class 75 creature to start with). He mixes Bear-based Powers & Advantages with those of a Powerhouse build, but comes out pretty cheap, like most Brick-type builds do these days.

PERUN (Valeri Slovloyev)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Kieron Dwyer
First Appearance: Captain America #352 (April 1989)
Role: Thor Lite, Team Powerhouse
Godly Role: Russian God of Thunder & Lightning, Fire, Mountains, Oak, Iris, Eagle, Firmament, Horses, Carts, Weapons & War
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (162)
STRENGTH
12 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Expertise (Mythical Being) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 7 (+8)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Lightning) 2 (+9)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Immortal Dieva (Slavic God)"
Impervious Toughness 9 [9]
Regeneration 2 (Feats: Regrowth) [3]
Immunity 10 (Aging, Starvation & Thirst, Heat, Cold, Disease, Fatigue Effects) [10]
Immunity 2 (Drowning & Suffocation, Poison, Pressure) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [2]
"Lightning Attack" Damage 11 [11]

"Godly Axe" (Flaws: Easily Removable) (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Perun/Thunder Gods) [28]
"Weather Control" Environment 5 (500 feet) (Impede Movement, Visibility) (10)

"Lightning Bolt/Axe Line" Damage 10 (Extras: Area-Line 60ft. +2) (30) -- (36)
AE: "Lightning" Damage +0 (Extras: Ranged 11) (Feats: Improved Critical 2, Indirect- From Above) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (22)
AE: "Axe Smash" Strength-Damage +1 (Extras: Penetrating 10) (11)
AE: "Axe Throw" Strength-Damage +1 (Extras: Ranged 13, Penetrating 10) (24)
AE: "Air Control" Move Object 10 (20)
AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects, Limited to When Both are on Ground) (7)
AE: Flight 11 (4,000 mph) (22)
-- (46 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Axe +7 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Lightning +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Axe Throw +7 (+13 Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Lightning Bolt +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +12 (+5 Impervious), Fortitude +12, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Normal Identity (Valeri Sovloyev)- There is an ordinary Russian man who trades places with Perun, and he desperately wants to be able to spend time with his family. This creates some problems, as Perun likes to party and remain on Earth for as long as possible.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 63 / Defenses: 11 (162)

-Slavic Mythology kinda rips off Norse Mythology in a few ways- their most-famous and notable God, Perun, is basically Thor Lite in every way, complete with Goat-Driven Chariot and Thunder Weapon. Part of the issue was that the Slavs (the peoples of Romania, Russia & Slovakia, amongst others) left no written record of their myths, and only wrote 'em down once Christianity had taken hold. However, a few of their other myths live on- they created the concept of Vampires, and Baba Yaga is their most-famous mythological individual by a country mile.
-Perun's concept was as simple as "let's make a Russian counterpart to Thor". So they took a Slavic God (himself basically a Thor-type, wielding a hammer & sickle as the symbols of Russia, and a more elaborate Sky God set-up), gave him a magic axe (contrary to his aforementioned mythical gear) and lightning powers, and tossed him out there. He sort of did the "I don't really want to do this" act, regretting the Soviet's actions, but those had mostly subsided by the time his team, the People's Protectorate, met up with the Avengers & Alpha Flight. He did some jobbing around this time, basically being lesser than Thor, and has basically vanished. I actually find concepts like Gods from other cultures very interesting, as our link to comics tends to only produce Norse & Olympian cosmologies (with some minor lip service to Egypt's pantheon), so a Slavic God is actually a pretty cool idea. Too bad they never went anywhere with it- this fourth-string foreigner is by far their most notable member in the Marvel Universe.
-Perun is essentially a very cheap, bare-bones version of Thor, fit to near-P.C. levels (he could be PL 11, but her certainly didn't seem up to it in the stories I have featuring the guy). He has a modicum of powers, and he's jobbed out pretty badly to upper-level guys like the Hulk, so he's obviously no PL 12 powerhouse- in issues I own, he barely holds his own with Orka (granted, it was in the water, where he's PL 11), and his best shots just kind of knock villains over, and he shows no more overall power than a holding-back Quasar, Crimson Dynamo or Box. PL 10 seems about right for him (he IS a God, after all)- he's got many of Thor's powers, but almost all of them are reduced. He can't hold his breath indefinitely (one hour is what he directly states), he can fire Lightning when unarmed (as I learned in a Hulk issue where Ol' Jade Jaws disarmed him of his weapon), and throw his Axe, and use it to fly, but it's all at lower levels. He could maybe give She-Hulk or The Thing a half-decent fight, but I think he'd ultimately lose, especially if he drops the Axe (which can be destroyed- the frickin' UNICORN apparently once nuked it).

Image

Apparently Soviet Russia doesn't get as cold as we thought.

FANTASMA (Real Name Unknown, aka Fantasia)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Kieron Dwyer
First Appearance: Captain America #352 (April 1989)
Role: The Mage, Skanky Dresser, The Mole
Country of Origin: The Soviet Union/Russia (actually Dire Wraith Homeworld)
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Super-Soldiers
PL 10 (156)
STRENGTH
1/6 STAMINA 4/8 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Deception 8 (+9)
Expertise (Magic Lore) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 2 (+4)
Expertise (Dire Wraith Agent) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+3)
Perception 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Bio-Field Manipulation) 4 (+10)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ritualist, Skill Mastery (Deception), Trance

Powers:
"Bio-Field Manipulation"
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]

"Control Bodies" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (Flaws: Distracting) (31) -- [39]
Dynamic AE: Mind Reading 8 (Feats: Sensory Link) (Extras: Effortless, Resisted by Fortitude +0) (26)
Dynamic AE: Mental Communication 3 (Feats: Dimensional) (14)
Dynamic AE: Illusions (Vision & Hearing) 10 (Flaws: Resisted by Fortitude) (21)
Dynamic AE: Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (11)

"Dire Wraith Form"
Morph 2 (Dire Wraith, Forms of Those She's Killed with Spike) [10]
Enhanced Strength 5 [10]
Enhanced Stamina 4 [8]
"Brain Spike" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Accurate 2) Linked to Features 1 (Absorbs the Memories of Those Killed) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Dire Wraith Brain Spike +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Body Control +10 Perception (+10 Perception Affliction, DC 20)
Mind Reading +8 (DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+8 Dire Wraith), Fortitude +6 (+10 Dire Wraith), Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)
Secret (Dire Wraiths)- Fantasma is secretly a member of the shapeshifting demonic Dire Wraiths.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 82 / Defenses: 17 (156)

-Fantasma's a bit of a curiosity- kind of a Mage-type character, she's a "Bio-Field Manipulator" who can use her powers to control, read, or mess with people, and wears your everyday classic skankatronic outfit (though initially it was just a plunging neckline- it would basically become a monokini in the 2000s). She was initailly called Fantasia, which got changed for reasons you can probably imagine (humorously, they'd probably be moot now). She was kind of the curt, impolite character in The Crossing Line, useful in battles and getting super-stuff done, but rather short with people and quick to just tell everyone else what to do (she even bosses CAPTAIN AMERICA around, and Red Guardian just kind of resigns himself to the fact that they all have to deal with it). She was vastly important to the story- she aided Sersi in communicating between dimensions within Shaman's mystic pouch (it was a complicated story), and helped save the day.
-She didn't really do anything else after that, so nobody really minded when it was revealed in Darkstar & The Winter Guard that she had actually been a DIRE WRAITH all along- a vicious shapeshifting monster than wanted to stage an invasion into our world. She was stopped, but is still at-large. Funniest part of the whole thing is Darkstar & the female Crimson Dynamo getting catty behind her back, joking about her "Slutty Outfit".
-Basically a Dynamic Array of Mind Controller-type telepathic powers, but with a different descriptor (Bio-Field Manipulation is basically like reading things with Fortitude instead), plus some secret alien powers that let her suck out memories (and turn her into a reasonable PL 8-level physical threat).

DARKSTAR I (Laynia Petrovna)
Created By:
Tony Isabella & George Tuska
First Appearance: The Champions #7 (Aug. 1976)
Role: Hot Russian Babe, Soviet Defector, Green Lantern-Type
Country of Origin: Belarus (formerly Russia/The Soviet Union
Group Affiliations: The Champions, The Winter Guard
PL 10 (160)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+10)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Russian Agent) 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Ranged Attack (Darkforce) 4 (+10)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (Costume), Improved Critical (Darkforce), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Concealment), Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Darkforce Control"
"Black Hand" Snare 10 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) Linked to Blast 7 (46) -- [59]
Dynamic AE: "Blinding Tendrils" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered, Vulnerable & Impaired/Defenseless, Immobile & Disabled/Visually Unaware) (Extras: Ranged, Extra Condition +2) (Flaws: Limited to Visuals) (30)
Dynamic AE: "Black Blast" Blast 10 (Feats: Precise) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Improved Field" Force Field 4 (Feats: Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Impervious 8, Affects Others 8) (26)
Dynamic AE: "Black Objects" Create 10 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Movable) (32)
Dynamic AE: "Black Cloud" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Extras: Attack, Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (13)
AE: Teleport 7 (Feats: Increased Mass 3- 400 lbs.) (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (Flaws: Distracting) (24)
AE: "Wide Blast" Damage 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (18)
AE: "Blast-Ram" Damage 10 (Extras: 30ft. Line) (20)

Force Field 4 [4]
Flight 7 (240 mph) [14]

Equipment:
"Darkstar Costume"
Immunity 1 (Cold) (1)
Communications (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Black Hand +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+7 Field, +11 Full Field), Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Russian Agent)- Though Laynia once defected, she currently serves the Winter Guard again.
Relationship (Iceman)- They kinda almost hooked-up, but Laynia always saw him as more of a friend until it was too late.
Relationship (Brother, Father)- Darkstar is devoted to her jerk of a brother Vanguard, and still honors her father, now known as The Presence.
Responsibility (Darkforce)- The Darkforce is a cold, unfeeling power source, and Laynia may often struggle against it- using her will against it's own.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 77 / Defenses: 13 (160)

-Darkstar's unusual in that she's a foreign hero who actually got a protracted push from Marvel, mainly due to her link to The Champions, an honest attempt at making a team out of the most bizarre possible combination (Hercules, Angel, Ice-Man, GHOST RIDER, Black Widow, etc?). She joined the team after realizing her fellow Russians were truly evil (like every other Russian hero eventually did), stuck around for a while, then moved back to Russia by the time the series ended, where she basically stayed forever. There was a "will they/won't they" thing with Iceman that never went anywhere (the book was cancelled too quickly for it to pan out), and she hung around with the losers of the Soviet Super-Soldiers and Winter Guard hanging around her neck like an anvil- SHE was a good character, but most of the others were one-note (if that).
-She appeared briefly in Contest of Champions, then did some stuff in Iron Man's book along with her brother Vanguard & Ursa Major. She & Vanguard learned that the vastly-powerful Presence was in fact their FATHER, then allied with Rom and the Spaceknights against the Dire Wraiths. She and the Russians fought the X-Men & Avengers for custody of Magneto, but ultimately turned on Crimson Dynamo when they discovered that he had been manipulating events. She spent most of the '90s in Comic Book Limbo, leaving the Soviets, then re-joining them when they became the Winter Guard (for example, the three original Soviets aren't there on the Protectorate during The Crossing Line)- when her brother dies, she tries to kill the man who led the mission that killed him- Quasar (who fakes his demise to cover his leaving Earth).
-She was eventually killed in a half-handed manner in an X-Men story, where she joins the X-Corporation of disparate Mutants in various parts of the globe (an attempt to centralize all of the X-Characters who'd gone into Comic Book Limbo over the years), and is taken over by Weapon XII- Fantomex has to kill her. My like her brother Vanguard, she didn't stay dead for long- at Marvel, even MINOR characters get resurrections from pointless deaths!
-She got resurrected almost as quickly as she was killed in the three-part Darkstar & The Winter Guard series, having replaced her SECOND replacement, who died in the process. Comics are weird sometimes. But hey, Darkstar's back! And she's... doing... nothing... again. Oh well. It's too bad that she gets so little use- she has a cool costume, a bitchin' codename, distinctive powers (essentially a Green Lantern/Darkforce User combo), a nice concept (Sexy Good-Natured Russian), and more. I think her links to lower-end concepts like Iceman, The Champions and the various Soviet super-teams is actually holding her back, as most of these little-used characters aren't really important, but seemingly ALWAYS have to be along for the ride whenever Laynia needs to do something. And so, as often as not, writers don't bother to use her.
-An interesting power-set, Darkstar is basically using all of her powers Arrayed off of a massive Snare/Blast effect, which was powerful enough to hold back Sunfire for a fairly long time. That Linked set-up reflects the fact that it's Snaring AND Constricting foes. She's also got half-a-dozen side-powers, including a Force Field, various types of Blasts & Area Damage effects, a Darkness wave, and the ability to create objects out of the Darkforce itself. The Area Attacks & Teleport are not Dynamic (meaning she has to drop the full power of her Force Field to use them- a dangerous trick for someone who is otherwise much easier to hurt), but the rest is.
-There were two other short-lived Darkstars, like I said. Each is likely PL 9 with Area Attacks, and considerably less-Skilled than Laynia is.

"Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns; why should we let them have ideas?"

---

“This creature softened my heart of stone. She died and with her died my last warm feelings for humanity.”
-Stalin, at the funeral of his first wife


JOSEPH STALIN (Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili)
Created By:
Besarion Jughashvili & Ketevan Geladze
First Appearance: December 18th, 1878
Role: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Translation: Dictator)
Country of Origin: Georgia
Group Affiliations: The Soviet Union, The Bolsheviks (political party, not Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov)
PL 3 (58), PL 6 (58) Defenses
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (Politics) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Military) 4 (+8)
Insight 2 (+6)
Intimidation 10 (+10)

Advantages:
Benefit 6 (Soviet Dictator), Well-Informed

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- OH HOLY GOD YEAH.
Disabled (Sickly & Somewhat-Crippled)- Stalin suffered from numerous health problems as a young boy- his face was scarred with smallpox, and his left arm was shorter and stiffer than the right. He was also apparently only about 5'6"
Reputation (Unlikable & Low-Class)- Stalin wasn't as educated as many of his rivals, nor was he as personable. He knew this, and knew his rivals made fun of him for it. This gave him a dangerous inferiority complex.
Responsibility (Atheist)- Despite training to be a priest, Stalin became an atheist in his first year of religious schooling. He enacted policies that often made it dangerous to publically be religious.
Enemy (Leon Trotsky)- The smartest and most-capable of the Bolsheviks, Trotsky was more thoughtful and beloved than Stalin, and had a great deal of power. Stalin soon took it all, exiled him, and then had him assassinated in 1940.
Relationship (Family)- Stalin was cruel to most of his family- his daughter defected to the United States, and his son Yakov tried to commit suicide due to his father's abuse (when Yakov survived, Stalin joked "he can't even shoot straight").
Enemy (Any Potential Threat)- Stalin was notorious for killing anyone he considered a threat. He had numerous old and current rivals (including all of Lenin's old cabinet) for power held in show trials and executed. He had Nikolai Yezhov lead the secret police in a purge of veteran Bolsheviks... then blamed him publically for excessive brutality and had him executed. He was known to spy on basically everyone, and killed so many enemies that nobody else dared stand against him.
Hatred (Koreans, Volga Germans, Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Poles)- Stalin mistrusted the loyalties of these ethnic groups, and forcibly moved them out of strategic areas. He also seemed to hate and mistrust Jews.
Responsibility (Cult of Personality)- Stalin allowed a tremendous amount of propaganda to be made about himself- describing heroic, godlike qualities.
Phobia (Flying)- Stalin prefered to travel by train.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (58)

-Joseph Stalin stands as one of the great super-villains of the 20th Century- while nowhere near as famous or as notable as Hitler, his atrocities are almost as numerous, and he DIED IN HIS OWN BED. So on many levels, Stalin was a MUCH more effective villain.
-Stalin was one of Vladimir Lenin's strongest-supporters during the Bolshevik revolution (he joined early-on, and impressed many with his leadership capabilities, street-smarts, escape-artistry, and intellectual skills, despite coming from a common background in Georgia, not Russia itself), and cannily-grabbed power when Lenin grew ill- he supressed Lenin's criticisms against him, had his rivals discredited and/or murdered, and eventually became the central force of the new Soviet Union. Stalin changes it irrevocably- he rejected Lenin's idea of spreading Socialism throughout the world in numerous revolutions and instead consolidated it. He ordered the Soviet state to industrialize so rapidly that it destroyed millions of lives. Then he enacted the "Great Purge" between 1934 & 1939 that booted out countless "enemies of the working class" (translation: people Stalin didn't like). Historians now estimate that somewhere around 700,000 people were eliminated in the purges.
-When World War II came about, he entered a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany that saw him grab a lot of territory in Poland, but an invasion by Germany put a stop to that. Stalin's Russia was in no way prepared for the German war machine, and his nation suffered by FAR the largest number of casualties of any nation in the War. However, Russia has a great defender: General Winter. The harsh Russian winter hampered the Germans badly, and the exhausted Nazis were stopped at the Battles of Moscow & Stalingrad- it was the Red Army that ended up capturing Berlin in 1945. And with that, the Soviet Union emerged as a world superpower (sharing the title with the United States), then cast an "Iron Curtain" over Eastern Europe and made alliances with China's Mao Zedong and North Korea's Kim Il-sung- both Communists.
-And he's responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths even OUTSIDE of the executions he was responsible for- Soviet farming & crop policies, and the massive rush to industrialization, led to massive famines (especially in Ukraine, which classify theirs as a deliberate genocide, meant to ruin their nation as a political force). It's never been proven that he actually said "One death is a tragedy- a million is a statistic", but he sure as hell seemed to believe it. Stalin doesn't appear to be much of a statesman, but at least created public health care that eliminated various diseases, allowed equal rights to women in numerous respects, and, in the old cliche, "at least the trains ran on time" (translation: "Sure he was a monster, but at least there was order"). His personality is typified by barking anger and ruling through fear, but he was a good organizer of people, and knew how to play the "uneducated simple guy" schtick to his enemies before sticking a knife in them. He had some very intelligent adversaries- Trotsky was no dummy- and he killed them all. He was extremely-paranoid, but he of course outlived most of the people who hated him, so who's to say it was excessive?
-And yeah, after all that death, and all that evil... the man died at 74 years old in his own bed. No humiliating fall, no suicide in a bunker, no being publically-executed by his enemies... the guy was a SUCCESSFUL dictator. Some rumors persist that he may have been poisoned or murdered, and we'll probably never know the truth. What IS known is that the Soviet party began discrediting him soon after his death, blaming him for numerous atrocities- his successor, Nikita Kruschev, specifically-trashed Stalin numerous times. Hell, when Kruschev was ousted from power, he basically considered it proof of his leadership- pointing out that nobody would have EVER dreamed of doing such a thing to Stalin, so if the party now felt comfortable ousting their own leader, then he'd managed to stem the tide of dictators.
-But even after ALL THAT, including the deaths of some 20 million people that could be attributed to him, and the fact that he'd probably be the 20th Century's greatest villain in a world without Hitler, Stalin is still seen as a somewhat-positive figure in Russia by virtue of his power, and the power he gave to Russia. But then, that's Russia- they're so used to genocide, mass starvation, and winning wars through sheer attrition and sacrifice over wimpy things like tactics and technology, that it's no surprise the SUCCESSFUL evil guy is their favorite.
-Stats-wise, Stalin is a rarity: a high-end political powerhouse who was relatively-low on charisma. Some men (especially foreign diplomats) found him to be a bit gregarious and happy, but most of the time he was grim and hostile. People like Churchill, Hitler & the Roosevelts were charismatic leaders, but Stalin appears to rule entirely through fear, paranoia and suspicion- since anyone caught speaking against him was killed (and he had EVERYTHING bugged), people tended to clam up. Soviet Russia under Stalin may in fact be the most-expansive, controlled Police State in human history. He was physically-unimpressive (even a bit deformed), but was tough enough to hit 74, dying only of a cerebral hemmorhage.

RASPUTIN (Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin)
Created By:
Efm & Anna Rasputin
First Appearance: Jan. 21st, 1869
Role: Mad Monk, Holy Man, Unkillable Menace, Ladies' Man
Country of Origin: Russia
Group Affiliations: The Russian Empire
PL 4 (73), PL 6 (73) Defenses
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Deception 6 (+11)
Expertise (Religion) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Mysticism) 5 (+8)
Insight 5 (+9)
Intimidation 2 (+7)
Perception 2 (+6)
Persuasion 7 (+12)
Treatment 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Attractive 2, Daze & Fascination (Persuasion), Second Chance (Death By Shooting)

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power)
Addiction (Women)- Rasputin's skills as a lover were legendary.
Relationship (Wife & Daughters)
Responsibility (Pacifism)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (73)

RASPUTIN (Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin)- Mythical Version
Created By:
Efm & Anna Rasputin
First Appearance: Jan. 21st, 1869
Role: Mad Monk, Holy Man, Unkillable Menace, Ladies' Man
Country of Origin: Russia
Group Affiliations: The Russian Empire
PL 6 (100)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Deception 6 (+11)
Expertise (Religion) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Magic) 9 (+12)
Insight 5 (+9)
Intimidation 2 (+7)
Perception 2 (+6)
Persuasion 7 (+12)
Treatment 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Attractive 2, Daze & Fascination (Persuasion), Second Chance (Death By Shooting), Second Chance (Poisoning), Second Chance (Drowning), Second Chance (Being Shot)

Powers:
Regeneration 6 [6]
"Hypnotism" Affliction 6 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Hypnotism +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power)
Addiction (Women)- Rasputin's skills as a lover were legendary.
Relationship (Wife & Daughters)
Responsibility (Pacifism)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 18 / Defenses: 9 (100)

-Rasputin remains one of the more-notorious figures in Russian history, and to this day remains synonymous with debauchery, lust and hunger for power- so much so that Boney M release a legendary disco hit around that very concept. However, much of his story is rooted in myth and legend- he was a known "Holy Man" and healer (a position frought with charges of charlatanism, then as now) who became a hated figure to the Russian public, and a scapegoat for the problems that the nation of Russia was facing in the early 20th Century.
-Rasputin was a quirky, but charismatic man (he was known to have several physical tics), and was generally a minor figure until he was chosen to be an aide to the young Tsarovich, Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia. Rasputin claimed to have the power to heal the boy, and the weak Tsar Nicholas II and his worrisome wife Alexandra were easily-swayed into accepting him into their home. Soon, rumors began that Rasputin's thirst for power had increased- that he had intruded into the Royal Family and become an advisor of sorts. His closeness with the royals begat both jealousy and accusations of him sleeping with the Tsarina herself.
-As Russia fell apart, so to did Rasputin's reputation fall- Nicholas II had failed his people, and Russia suffered both economic collapse and loss in The Great War- the Bolshevik Revolution gained steam as well. Eventually, assassination was in the air- he was once stabbed, but recovered thanks to some candlelight surgery. However, the next one did him in- in an attempt so over-the-top, overly-planned, and excessive that it's become legend in and of itself, Rasputin was lured to the apartment of some members of the Royal Family, where he was first shot with a revolver after getting drunk on wine. Then shot once more. With two bulletholes in his stomach, liver, kidney and spine, he was struck with a man's shoe. Shuddering from what were SURELY fatal bullets, Rasputin was then shot by a panicked conspirator right through the forehead. Then his corpse was driven to a bridge, where it was thrown through an ice-hole in a river. His corpse had nonetheless floated to the surface, meaning that it could not flow into the sea.
-Legends almost immediately sprung up about the death of the "mystic"- That he had been poisoned. That he had survived the poison, all of the shootings, and the drop into the river, and it was HYPOTHERMIA that had done him in. He has become a legendary villain, and prescribed magical powers and more! And in the end, his assassination had failed to help Russia- turns out Nicholas II was incompetent and useless all on his own, and soon the Royal Family was usurped, imprisoned, and executed.
-Rasputin in real life was considered to be a hypnotic mastermind- people go on and on about his eyes- every Eye Cliche there is has been thrown his way. His voice "could never be forgotten", said others. He wasn't actually a member of any particular religious sect, but a man who could explain the Bible to others in uncomplicated ways. He is basically a wildly-charismatic man with a pretty good Toughness save- unfortunately, not a true Wizard. A more "Mythical" version gains Regeneration & Hypnosis for realz.

xxx
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

X-Men

Post by Jabroniville »

THE X-MEN:

-So shortly before my vacation, I had an idea for doing some "Re-Builds" of characters I'd statted before- mainly touching up some characters who'd changed, or putting some all-new commentary into characters I'd statted eons ago. Maybe move some Saves around, as my philosophy on some of those has changed. When I came back, I discovered we had an all-new board, and my old builds would soon be in a "read only" format, likely with no pictures. Also, I think the switch-over between forums has likely resulted in some people being slow to head over (I certainly haven't seen quite a few names make their return as of yet). So this is as good a time as any to take some time and revisit some older builds with new pics, commentary and more- it'll give the slow-movers some time to get over to the new threads, and let me go along with my plan. And why not do it for the one group I didn't really stat up as a big section in 3rd Edition once it started?

-In 3e, I mostly statted the X-Men up in little sections- the Silver Age X-Men had there's, and most of the foreigners were done when I statted up the Foreign Heroes. But here, I can slam them all down in one big super-section, thus getting more continuity out of it. Many will be mere re-posts of 3e stuff, and so I can do numerous people per day (not enough to utterly spam the forum, but quickly enough since the work is already done), while a few others will have new builds or new commentary added (some X-Men have been through the wringer over the past couple years, even since 3e started).

THE X-MEN IN THE SILVER AGE:

-What was at one point the hottest book in the entire industry for decades was once a C-League forgettable Marvel book, odd as it may seem. In the 1960s, they were a pretty bare-boned, half-assed book meant to stand as a criticism of bigotry (mainly using mutants as a stand-in for blacks) with an entire squad of teenage heroes in cookie-cutter outfits and weaker powers. It's odd to look back on now, but a team of five teens and their weird, stern father-figure/trainer didn't exactly set the world on fire, even after Martin Goodman forced Stan to change the team name from The Mutants since "nobody knows what that word means" (instead they are "The X-Men... for X-Tra Power!"). Stan & Jack were the co-creators, but usually didn't throw out their REALLY good villain designs on this one- short of Magneto & The Juggernaut, you had a butt-load of weaker designs and your standard "Ugly Kirby Kretins" showing up as baddies. Our team was the obsessive, jerk-y Professor Charles Xavier, the moody Cyclops, the strong but brainy Beast, the jokester Iceman, the whiny Angel, and the standard Weepy Stan Lee Heroine called Marvel Girl).

-The heroes had uncontrolled, lower-level abilities (young Marvel Girl had to work to carry a single person using her Telekinesis), didn't interact with the rest of the Marvel Universe as much, got along with each other better than most Marvel teams did, and the villains were very one-note (early Magneto was basically a generic "BWAH-HA-HA-HA!" cruel guy, with none of his later characterization). Even the stand against prejudice was often little more than a bunch of pitchfork-wielding civilians (and where in the Hell did all these New Yorkers get PITCHFORKS? Is there an Angry Mob Store in Manhattan that I don't know about?). I mean, it's been a while since I read the Essential X-Men collection of the early years, but it was pretty forgettable and often quite silly (they over-used Magneto very badly, to the point where they just threw their hands up and had him get kidnapped by a Generic Cosmic Entity in The Stranger, and wrote him out of the books that way).

-The book didn't do too great, but kind of ambled along. New creators took over while Stan & Jack focused on their more-important books, resulting in some great art by a young Neal Adams, and a couple of new X-Men (Cyclops' long-lost little brother, and Magneto's supposed daughter). But things didn't really work out, and the book was cancelled by the late 1960s (ending with #66), one of very few Silver Age Marvel Books to suffer the axe (alongside Nick Fury's books and whatever book into which Hank Pym was stuck). The X-Men was stuck into reprints, and the characters largely split off- Magneto would actually become a CAPTAIN AMERICA villain for a bit, using some forgettable losers in Mutant Force to do his bidding (he'd also show up in the Fantastic Four Animated Series), Iceman & Angel would show up in back-up stories, and The Beast would get a solo push of his own.

THE BRONZE AGE:

-Writer Steve Englehart re-created Hank McCoy, an early "Brainy Brute" subversion of the usual dunderheaded-strongman character, as a happy-go-lucky college student who was a big jokester and eventually turned gray and furry to give him a more dynamic look ("he discovered pot", sez Englehart, "though I couldn't show that in the book"). Iceman and The Angel joined the short-lived Champions of Los Angeles in a forgettable team-up book that really just collected some forgotten characters together. This happened alongside what would eventually change the whole industry, as Len Wein & Dave Cockrum decided all of a sudden to introduce a new team of X-Men in 1975.

-Debuting in Giant-Size X-Men #1, this new team was meant to reflect a more diverse background, and so we had new mutants from all over the place- Russia's Colossus, Africa's Storm, Canada's Wolverine (taken from a Len/Cockrum character created for The Hulk's book), Germany's Nightcrawler, and the Native American Thunderbird. Joining them were previously-introduced characters Banshee (from Ireland) and Sunfire (Japan). This new team (many of them collected from Cockrum's rejected Legion of Super-Heroes ideas- Storm and Nightcrawler actually show up in some old LOSH-hype) would help rescue the original X-Men from an outlandish foe (Krakoa, the Living Island), then form a new team with Cyclops & Marvel Girl.

-Things would move along pretty quickly, as Len proved unable to continue on the series, and he'd be replaced by a young upstart named Chris Claremont. Sunfire's assholishness would get him booted in a hurry, and Thunderbird famously died by being an idiot in his third issue, making the team seem very dynamic. Cockrum's great character designs (he really doesn't get enough credit for this) would give the characters a great edge. The book would get a whole new mythology as well, as Chris basically threw out 90% of the prior crap the book had in the '60s and revamped itself completely (I often wonder what would have happened if comic fandom had worked like it does today- would people completely throw out this new book if it happened in the modern "Internet Age" because it used almost none of the original characters? Look at the reactions when comics go through changes like that TODAY!). Suddenly the X-Men were dealing with Space Pirates, future timelines, Cosmic Entities and Interstellar Superheroes, and Claremont just casually introduced a never-before-seen alien race that was nonetheless the most powerful one in the entire universe in The Shi'ar (again, could any writer pull that off these days? The Marvel Universe was still pretty young then, and you could actually establish new important features very easily- nowadays things like that all feel like bad retcons).

-More important than all the crazy stuff was an added sense of personality to the characters- Marvel's Silver Age was full of bombastic personalities and crazy people, but wasn't that realistic- Claremont's people were wordy (often to extremes), thoughtful, and communicative, often having long conversations with each other. We'd have "Slow Issues" where people would just chat about stuff (Claremont actually HATED the whole "Super Hero Fight" thing, and only did it as a genre convention to keep people reading). Interpersonal relationships became a major focus. All of comics would soon shift towards stuff like this, but back then it was new- only The X-Men, Teen Titans & Legion of Super-Heroes were really doing this.

CLAREMONT/BYRNE:
-Cockrum would be replaced on art by a young Canadian named John Byrne, who would change the industry even FURTHER, going on an insanely-profitable run with Claremont- Byrne's glamorous, cartoonish characters were absolutely PERFECT for this medium, and he became an industry sensation. The pair had teamed up in the past for Marvel Team-Up and The Iron Fist, and only improved with time as their creative surges combined- reading this era in the Essential collections is mind-boggling, because it NEVER SLOWS DOWN. One thing segueways so completely to the next that it's nuts- I remember them dealing with Phoenix stuff just while the locks on Kevin MacTaggert's cell on Muir Island break down and they have to fight the nigh-unstoppable Proteus, then immediately deal with some OTHER insane crap. New villains would get introduced, and old names like The Juggernaut would still show up.

-The whole concept of "Prejudice" would show up again, but in a much bigger sense- Magneto would get a complete personality overhaul, dropping all the garbage and becoming a cynical but thoughtful Holocaust survivor with a VERY GOOD REASON why he didn't trust baseline humanity. This humanized him and made him Marvel's greatest villain, as he was now The Malcolm X to Professor X's Martin Luther King. The X-Men would take on SOME of their old enemies (Sentinels, Juggy, Sauron... mostly in one-offs), but also brawl with Black Tom Cassidy, Proteus, an all-new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The Shi'ar Imperial Guard, Canada's Alpha Flight, and The Hellfire Club. Both creators just COULD NOT STOP with the awesome!

-Things would reach a head when Jean Grey as The Phoenix (Claremont had only used the "Woman Gains Vast Cosmic Power" idea THIS ONE TIME at this point!) would go full-bore crazy, casually destroy a star in a throwaway panel, and require the entire team to stop her. Alas, Marvel's Editor-In-Chief, the notoriously-demanding Jim Shooter, would declare that this act of genocide (really meant to show off her power, but she killed FIVE BILLION BROCCOLI PEOPLE in so doing) MUST be punished with her death, and the pair were forced to kill off an actual super-hero. They kinda begrudgingly went along with it, but wouldn't you know this wasn't yet a MASSIVE CLICHE, and drew a HUGE storm of attention- The Dark Phoenix Saga would basically be held as an industry high-point for decades, and is probably still the most well-known X-storyline ever. Alas, poor Banshee was injured and missed this story, meaning that many fans would barely ever remember him being on the team!

-Sales would rise ever-higher. Wolverine, once a forgettable Young Jerkass character, would be altered into a menacing-but-philosophical Samurai Bad-Ass and soon become the book's most-popular character by a landslide. Young Kitty Pryde would be added to the team, giving us a wonderful "Point of View" character who would be the idol for many teenage girl readers, and the crush of any teenage boy (I mean, we loved Jean Grey & Psylocke, but those were fiercely-strong ADULT WOMEN- Kitty might have ACTUALLY DATED US). Every character would gain family members and a ton of backstory (especially Wolvie, who'd gain one of the iconic Mysterious Pasts), very personal foes, and more.

-Days of the Future Past would be another big industry milestone- one of the first big Time Travel Stories with a Dystopian Future and all that- Sci-Fi novels had done it, but it was new ground for comics, and fans were astonished to see people like Wolvie & Colossus DIE in some freakish future. It drew a lot of attention, but would also result in Byrne leaving the book (he was PISSED when Claremont, who'd annoyed him before by adding huge backstories so that no human being was EVER just a normal person, casually mentioned that this didn't FIX the future, but just turned it into a Potential Alternate Future, which would soon become another Marvel cliche).

THE POST-BYRNE YEARS:

-Both creators would be fine after the split- Byrne was the industry's most-popular artist by a LONG ways, and everything he touched turned to gold for years (ALPHA FLIGHT was a top-five book at this time. ALPHA FLIGHT). The X-Men were the most popular characters in comics now, with sales rivaled only by DC's Teen Titans (themselves taking a LOT of stuff from the X-Men- increased personal lives and interactions for the heroes, as well as a Writer/Penciler super-team) & Legion of Super-Heroes. And soon they'd leave both THOSE books in the dust too, as they failed to keep up their momentum. New artists included a returning Cockrum, John Romita Jr., and Paul Smith. Claremont would help lead the industry into a new era as things got grittier and Punkier- Storm would get a famous haircut, lose her powers, and the team would have to deal with Cyborgs and junk. Ex-villain Rogue would join the team, alongside the DotFP daughter of Cyclops & Jean Grey (Rachel Summers), then another character beloved by Claremont- Betsy "Psylocke" Braddock.

-Grittiness would continue as The Morlocks- side characters all- would be massacred by The Marauders, and several key X-Men would be injured. Kitty Pryde & Nightcrawler would join Rachel in a spin-off book Excalibur, taking advantage of Claremont's love of the U.K. The X-people were so popular that spin-offs were demanded by upper management- Claremont was willing to create and write The New Mutants by himself (creating some of the best teen characters ever in the process, and creating an even MORE personal book than The X-Men really ever was), but the terrible X-Factor was a down-side. The book was horribly written by X-editor Louise Simonson, and had a terrible concept- Cyclops, who'd been booted out of the X-Men by Storm, had abandoned his wife and infant son to hook up with the resurrected Jean Grey and his Silver Age teammates, and pretend to hunt mutants as a public bigot, while actually helping them. Wolverine would soon get his own Limited Series, then a solo book, as claw-based characters came out of the woodwork to challenge him.

-Annual Crossovers became a thing with The Mutant Massacre coming first, followed by The Fall of the Mutants. Marc Silvestri and a new group of people later responsible for The Image Era would take over the art chores on many X-books- Rob Liefeld basically rescued a tired, crappy New Mutants book with his crazy weird pencilling and band of "Sketchpad Characters" (ie. people just throw down from ideas on his sketchpad), turning it into a hot seller once again. The X-Men would drop some more cast members and form The Australian Era of punk-dressed bad-asses hanging out in The Outback, with Havok, Longshot & Dazzler joining the squad. We'd find Genosha, a South Africa stand-in full of racist guys who enslaved mutants. Enemies now included Apocalypse, Stryfe and a legion of Jobber Teams. Jubilee, a replacement for Kitty Pryde as Fan Insert Character, would join them, and date the book terribly with her "rad" style of talking and dressing. Bad-ass Trenchcoat-wearing Gambit would change the fashion sense of the entire industry. Once The X-Tinction Agenda was finished, X-Factor (whose concept had long-sine been dropped, and they were instead just some guys on a ship with a team of teen mutants with them) would rejoin the X-Men, resulting in a huge team.

THE IRON AGE:

-Jim Lee became the industry's new huge superstar artist circa the early 1990s, continuing the trend that the top book would always get the top-tier artist (he would be the only guy as lauded as Todd MacFarlane). To appease Lee and the other artists, Marvel gave them more credits than Claremont, leading to the shock of all shocks as he QUIT THE BOOK, ending a legendary sixteen-year run! Lee was given his OWN X-Book by adding all the characters he liked to draw to THAT one, while the "uncool" ones remained on the old book- THIS was the era into which I became an X-Men reader, with the Blue & Gold Strike Forces on smartly-drawn books. Jim Lee had turned Psylocke asian and made her a ninja because that was kewl, and she became the resident Sexpot and someone the industry would rip off multiple times in the next few years, and Lee's redesigns would set the standard for the team's appearance for a decade (his trademark "Leather Jacket Look" would infiltrate nearly every other comic in the meantime). Rob Liefeld would gain command of X-Force, spinning off his old book with new bad-ass Cable as the leader, skimming off most of the old New Mutants in favor of bad-ass Iron Age icons like Shatterstar & Feral. Bad-ass gun-wielder (and Cable knock-off) Bishop joined the uncool Gold Strike Force to amp up their Iron Aginess.

-However, Marvel would STILL fail to appease these new creators totally, and soon they abandoned Marvel to form their OWN company at Image. Their arrogance was pretty astounding (Marvel gave them a TON, and they proceeded to rip on them publically while immediately ripping off their Marvel characters in a new company), but it'd end up being better for the industry to have SOMEWHERE that offered full creator rights. But in the meantime, comics would go through a huge Boom, then a massive Crash- Image books would sell like hotcakes, but their X-Men rip-offs would soon falter and books would become late, and a huge speculator surge would basically crack the whole industry in two as people bought numerous copies of soon-to-be-worthless #1 issues, then soon realized that printing millions of one thing made them all worthless.

-I found Fabian Nicieza to be pretty tolerable on X-Men and X-Force, but Scott Lobdell was awful on Uncanny, merely turning everyone into jokesters, and filling the books with terrible storylines and even worse villains (he populated Magneto's Acolytes with a dozen horrible characters). Peter David had some luck with his "Island of Misfit Comic Book Characters" series X-Factor, and would soon fall in love with side-character Jamie Madrox. Looking back, I was only collecting for a very short time- I spent about three years getting most of the X-Books before abruptly quitting comics and not getting back into them for another five years after discovering the WizardWorld message board and finding out all of the "Classic" Trade Paperbacks out there that I'd never read nor heard of in the "only buy CURRENT" stuff 1990s. The Crossovers would get out of hand, and fans would care less with each one- Operation: Zero Tolerance was REALLY bad (and ended on a huge anti-climax). They'd get a hot new artist once again with Joe Madureira, who'd change the designs around again and add a bunch of new terrible characters to the team before leaving for a legendarily-deadline-missing books of his own creation. Generation-X would form, effectively being a copy of the New Mutants, but with worse characters. TONS of characters (Bishop, Gambit, Cable, etc.) would get their own solo books based off of how bad-ass they were, and most were god-awful.

THE MODERN ERA:

-The X-books stopped having any kind of consistency, as writers would come and go every few months- Chris Claremont would return to MUCH hype, but would have such a mediocre run that people immediately gave up on him as a writer (his introduction of the next phase of mutants in The Neo went over like a fart in church) and branded him a hack, especially once he started diving into his own cliches (he'd always had a thing for rebellious, powerful women, but adding Rogue, Sage & others into EVERY SINGLE BOOK HE WROTE made him seem like a delusional pervert). The teams would go through a complete line-up change and overall something like TEN TIMES as new creators would institute an entirely new roster. Grant Morrison, a crazy drug-using weirdo, would actually help revitalize a flagging book by adding a ton of crazy characters, wiping out a lot of the excessive mutant population, and sticking Emma Frost onto the team. There'd be an X-Men movie series that'd do incredibly-well, but the books would kind of falter nonetheless. They'd rip off the New Mutants AGAIN for New X-Men, spin off a ton more books (Exiles, multiple solo runs- Deadpool, a villain from X-Force, would get a long-running bunch of books), and go through some SERIOUSLY-bad runs with Chuck Austen and others.

-The X-Men actually got kind of a rep for being a book that always SELLS well, but often ends up being very weak. Some VERY good writers would have poorly-received runs, making it seem like a book that was nigh-impossible to write for. To be honest, it makes sense- very few comics have EVER had the kind of in-depth continuity that the X-Men had had, and there were dozens upon dozens of characters for whom almost every type of storyline was exhausted- Claremont and his successors DOVE into people's backstories, making them ever-more-elaborate, and it resulted in a book full of stagnant characters- someone like Gambit, once extremely popular, just became BORING. No matter which roster you chose, the characters were kind of "set" and had been used and abused to the point where people didn't care as much. People like Matt Fraction could barely maintain an interest.

-The books would go through numerous shake-ups- various characters would die, the Mutant population would be largely depowered except for the popular characters, Joss Whedon would prove that the characters COULD be awesome once again with a great (but often late) run, and we'd get a whole reconstruction with CYCLOPS as a brand-new mutant leader. Things are actually more interesting NOW than they've been in years, as Wolverine & Cyclops are now the mutant leaders (Cyke as the revolutionary army-leading Malcolm X- With MAGNETO beside him!- and Logan as the new Professor X "Open Hand"-type mutant trainer). I'm actually collecting the books once again, and I hadn't done so for more than a decade- even BENDIS, a writer I usually despise, has been doing some good work! And things got weirder once Hank McCoy time-travelled the original Silver Age kids into the modern era, leading them first to Logan's school, and then CYKE's!

OVERALL:
-The neat thing about the X-Men as a concept is that since they're about bigotry and prejudice as a general concept, they are eternally relevant. At first, they seemed to be more about persecution of blacks, and maybe religions- but they could easily add Holocaust-based stuff to it once that became okay for comics to talk about. Nowadays, the books is actually most-relevant when talking about GAYS, since that's the cause du jour in modern times- a lot of the debate about the "Mutant Cure" in Whedon's work came off as a deliberate commentary on that, as did some of the more recent stuff in Uncanny Avengers, with regards to mutants choosing to have labels or an identity placed upon them. As long as there's some group that feels disenfranchised, Marvel's Mutants will be relevant.

-Hell, a HUGE part of what makes the book so resonant with others is the whole "outcast" nature of it. With mutants coming into their powers around puberty, it's ALSO a huge metaphor for puberty and being a teenager, and the fact that most of the X-books have been made up of angry rebellious people just made it EVEN MORE EXCITING for teens! Fans could live vicariously through Wolverine, Gambit or other bad-asses who did stuff THEY never could. The Australia "Punker" era was huge for this- these characters are HUGE outsiders, often being forced onto the fringes, which a lot of angry, bitter teens can relate to.

-The X-Men as a whole contain some of the best, well-rounded characters in the industry- they held relevance for longer than DC's Teen Titans, and didn't have the ponderous roster of the Legion of Super-Heroes until much later. For years they were UNQUESTIONABLY in a better book than The Avengers or The Justice League. Some of them were over-used and tired as time went on (especially the post-modern bad-asses of the '90s), but quite a few managed to stand the test of time. And the fact that some can still be relevant NOW after something like THIRTY YEARS of ultra-convoluted, bizarre storytelling lets you know how great some of them are.

The Roster (I'll be re-posting all of the main X-people, plus some of the ancillary teams):
The Silver Age:
Professor X
Cyclops
Marvel Girl
Iceman
The Beast
Angel
Havok
Polaris
Changeling
Mimic

The Giant-Size Reboot:
Storm
Wolverine
Colossus
Nightcrawler
Banshee
Sunfire
Thunderbird I

The Eighties:
Shadowcat
Rogue
Phoenix II (Rachel Summers)
Psylocke
Longshot
Dazzler
Forge
Jubilee

The Nineties:
Bishop
Revanche
Cecilia Reyes
Maggott
Marrow
Joseph

The Modern Age:
Sage
Thunderbird III
Stacy X
Lifeguard
Slipstream
Xorn
The Juggernaut
Lady Mastermind
Omega Sentinel
Darwin
The White Queen
Warbird II
Pixie
Namor the Sub-Mariner

Intermediary X-Men:
Petra
Sway
Vulcan

Others:
Moira MacTaggert
X-Mansion Staff (Tom, Sharon & Stevie Hunter)
The Morlocks
Danger
Dr. Nemesis
Korvus
Maverick

The New Mutants:
Cannonball
Moonstar
Sunspot
Karma
Wolfsbane
Lila Cheney
Magma
Magik
Cypher
Warlock
Rusty
Skids
Rictor
Boom-Boom
Nate Grey

X-Force:
Domino
Shatterstar
Feral & Thornn
Siryn
Bedlam

X-Factor:
Jamie Madrox
Strong Guy
Quicksilver
Valerie Cooper
Shard

Excalibur:
Captain Britain
Meggan
Kylun
Cerise
Micromax
Pete Wisdom

Generation-X:
M
Mondo
Chamber
Skin
Synch
Gaia
Penance

The Brotherhood of Mutants:
Magneto
Mystique
Destiny
Mastermind
Avalanche
The Blob
The Toad
Phantazma
Pyro
Super Sabre
Crimson Commando
Stonewall


ARCHANGEL (Warren Worthington III, aka Angel)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Pretty Boy, Flying Guy, Undercard Superhero, Grim 'n' Gritty Upgrade, The Brooder
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The X-Terminators, The Defenders, The Champions, The Hellfire Club, X-Force, The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse
PL 11 (190)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Aerobatics 10 (+15)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Close Combat (Wing Slash) 1 (+12)
Deception 1 (+3)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+4, +12 Blue-Skinned Form)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 5 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Feathers) 6 (+12)
Vehicles 1 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Favored Environment (Airborne), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Wing Slash), Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Startle, Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Aerobatics Skill

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wings"
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- High Altitudes) [2]
Senses 1 (Extended Vision) [1]

"Apocalypse's Techno-Organic Wings"
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (Feats: Subtle) (Flaws: Winged) [10]
"Wing Slash" Strength-Damage +6 (Feats: Reach 2) [8]
Enhanced Skills 8: Intimidation 8 (+12) [4]

"Enhanced Fighting Capabilities in the Air"
Enhanced Dodge 6 (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [3]
Enhanced Parry 2 (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [1]
Enhanced Advantages 8: Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion 2, Improved Initiative (total 2), Move-By Action (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [4]

"Neuro-Darts" Blast 2 (Extras: Multiattack) Linked to Affliction 7 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative, Ranged, Multiattack) [34]
"Re-Grow Wings" Regeneration 8 (Flaws: Limited to Wings) [4]

"Switch to Angel-Winged Warren" Morph 1 (Single Form- Caucasian) (Feats: Metamorph) (Quirk: Cosmetic Change- Skin Only) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Wing Slash +12 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Neuro-Darts +12 (+4 Ranged Damage & +7 Ranged Affliction, DC 20 & 17)
Initiative +14

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (+14 Flying, DC 18-24), Parry +12 (+14 Flying, DC 22-24), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +8, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)
Relationship (Jean Grey)- Like most of the team, Warren loved Jean back in the day, but put his feelings aside when she chose Cyclops. When Cyke got married and Jean resurrected, he was drawn to her yet again.
Relationship (Candy Southern)- Angel spent a chunk of his Defenders career with Candy, but she broke up with him when she found him carrying the torch for Jean, then she was killed by Cameron Hodge.
Relationship (Charlotte Jones)- A black lady cop was Warren's girl for part of The Uncanny X-Men.
Relationship (Psylocke)- Warren & Betsy were an item for a chunk of the '90s, though they really had little in common. It felt like someone just randomly paired them up.
Relationship (Paige "Husk" Guthrie)- He nailed her in front of her own mom. Stupid Chuck Austen.
Responsibility (Worthington Industries)- Warren is the sole heir of the company, and it's continued success is dependent upon him much of the time.
Responsibility (Original Team)- The Original Five X-Men are probably the closest and obviously the oldest friends out of all the X-people.
Relationship (Iceman)- Bobby is Warren's closest friend from the days of the Original X-Men- the pair joined The Champions, Defenders, X-Factor and even the X-Men's Gold Strike Force together, and were nearly-constantly together for all that time.
Guilt (Archangel Transformation & Bloodlust)- As Archangel, Warren can be consumed by dangerous bloodlust. Sometimes, the wings even act of their own accord- MLF member Kamikaze was decapitated as he snuck up on Warren from behind, the wings slashing out on their own.
Enemy/Hatred (Apocalypse)- Apocalypse twisted Warren from a beautiful, angel-winged person, into a blue monster with lethal (and evil) wings. Warren has threatened to kill Apocalypse several times, and at one point, even left him to die, ashamed and bleeding on the floor.
Vulnerable (Magnetic & Electrical Attacks)- With Wings made of metal, Warren is more vulnerable to attacks that do extra damage to metal substances.
Rivalry (Wolverine)- The two had a strong dislike for each other going years back, and it got worse the darker Warren got.
Power Loss (Neuro-Darts)- Archangel's darts are powerful, but cannot pierce armour. Any degree of Impervious Toughness will nullify the Darts completely.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 72 / Defenses: 13 (190)

-Archangel/Angel is weird because someone so innocuous at first (just a "winged guy" when dozens of other heroes could AT LEAST Fly, in addition to a bunch of other powers), and didn't really mean much as a hero for eons. Even in The Champions' failed team book he wasn't given that much credit- being a good flier, but slower than someone like Iron Man or Thor; a good fighter, but not as good as Captain America or Black Widow; and rich, but not richer than Tony Stark. He even led a failing Defenders series for its last few years, and then it died. He was just so C-League on every level that it was funny... which is too bad, given that all he really needed was some elite fighting skills- a Winged superhero still has one more power than BATMAN does, after all. This was taken full note of in X-Factor, where Louise & Walt Simonson had him mutilated and altered into the grim 'n' gritty (back when that was a new and unusual thing) Archangel, giving him the most complicated costume to draw in the history of the universe, and some BAD-ASS giant metallic wings.
-This look (given to fix his status as a handsome, wealthy, charismatic Mary Sue AND increase his Power Level according to the Simonsons) was quite successful for Warren, but he still never quite attained the top level of X-Men. He was still too many things to too many people that made him a lesser character (rivals with the super-popular Wolverine, loved Jean but she loved Scott, was buddies with the originals, who were also buddies with other guys), and he never got that ELITE bad-ass push to make him top-tier. His only "kills", for instance, are Cameron Hodge (human) and Kamikaze (Mutant Liberation Front expendable member), which is less than even the peacenik COLOSSUS.
-Recent years were odd to him, as he "regained" feathered wings to make him less angsty (while dropping his power level considerably), and Chuck Austen turned him into a pet character, giving him one of those fabled "Secondary Mutations" (really just writers half-assedly inserting new powers into old characters, created when Grant Morrison wanted Colossus but had Emma gain super-strength instead) for Healing Blood, and then he picked up one of an Alternate Magik's swords. Things were looking OK for him (he even had a steady girl, after his last five or six didn't pan out- the guy got around as heroes go, having two civvie GFs & Psylocke up to that point), but the new writer decided the Healing Blood was lame and it was eventually written out with little explanation upon Austen's being booted out of comic books forever (I mean, the guy's books kinda sucked and he wrote characters wrong, but the guy got booted out while Rob Liefeld still gets work? Wuh?).
-THEN he got yet ANOTHER change, as they realized they liked the Archangel metal wings after all, and he gained them BACK, but allowed him to switch out his feathered with techno-organic wings after all, making everyone happy. But he went psychotic on occasion, then became an amnesiac dimbulb angelic guy who acted like a goober in the background scenes of Wolverine and the X-Men, where he gets hilariously-little play, and absolutely nobody seems to care that a founding X-Man is effectively mentally ill.
-Warren's got a fairly big swack of powers, and he's pretty expensive in 3e, but understandably so- he's got a variety of powers, a lethal Wing Slash, Neuro-Darts, Flight Speed, and plenty of Skills and Advantages too. As it stands, he's a VERY fit Flying-based guy, with most of his concepts based around being very fast and VERY good in the air (he's considered easily the most-skilled flier in the entire Marvel Universe, and the DEFINING "Flight Guy" there). With his Techno-Organic Wings, he gains several other powers: He's faster than Mach-1 in speed, he can lash out with the wings like they were melee weapons (with additional reach), and he can fire a Multiattack assault of paralyzing Neuro-Darts (it's not overwhelmingly powerful, though- it's a PL 10.5 Affliction attack, and a low-powered Blast, since they never seemed remotely fatal in the appearances I saw- guys would bleed, but it was generally less-deadly than even Shurikens).
-It almost feels odd to see him at PL 11, but really, he's only got one attack there (his Wing Slash), and this is a guy whom others frequently compare to Wolverine, and I see him doing a HELL of a lot of damage in his Archangel form. For most of his career as Archangel, he was only PL 10, but he's gotten more deadly since then. Note his Limited Advantages (which I totally copied from J-Mart). He has several Advantages, but Limited to While Flying. A few Flight-related Advantages lie outside the set-up (because you can't really call a Favored Environment a "Limited to Flying" Flaw without totally being a cheater, same with Ultimate Aerobatics). There's also his ability to transform into Regular Angel- basically it's the living definition of the Metamorph Feat from the "Morph" Power- a single alternate form that alters your stats. It's cheaper, but has some different powers- Regeneration and Healing Blood.

ANGEL II (Warren Worthington III, aka "Archangel")
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Pretty Boy, Flying Guy, Undercard Superhero, Grim 'n' Gritty Upgrade, The Brooder
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The X-Terminators, The Defenders, The Champions, The Hellfire Club, X-Force, The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse
PL 10 (165)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Aerobatics 10 (+15)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Close Combat (Wing Slash) 1 (+12)
Deception 2 (+6, +11 Attractive)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+7, +12 Attractive)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive 2, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Daze 2 (Persuasion, Intimidation), Diehard, Favored Environment (Airborne), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Wing Slash), Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Startle, Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Aerobatics Skill

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wings"
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- High Altitudes) [2]
Senses 1 (Extended Vision) [1]

"Angelic Wings"
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Feats: Subtle) (Flaws: Winged) [8]
"Wing Slash" Strength-Damage +3 [3]
Enhanced Skills 6: Intimidation 6 (+12) [3]

"Enhanced Fighting Capabilities in the Air"
Enhanced Dodge 6 (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [3]
Enhanced Parry 2 (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [1]
Enhanced Advantages 8: Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion 2, Improved Initiative (total 2), Move-By Action (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [4]

"Healing Blood" Healing 10 (Extras: Resurrection) (Flaws: Resurrection is Unreliable, Limited to Mixing Blood, Limited to Same Blood Type) [5]
Regeneration 10 (Feats: Regrowth) [11]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Wing Slash +12 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +14

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (+14 Wings, DC 8-24), Parry +12 (+14 Wings, DC 21-24), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)
Relationship (Jean Grey)- Like most of the team, Warren loved Jean back in the day, but put his feelings aside when she chose Cyclops. When Cyke got married and Jean resurrected, he was drawn to her yet again.
Relationship (Candy Southern)- Angel spent a chunk of his Defenders career with Candy, but she broke up with him when she found him carrying the torch for Jean, then she was killed by Cameron Hodge.
Relationship (Charlotte Jones)- A black lady cop was Warren's girl for part of The Uncanny X-Men.
Relationship (Psylocke)- Warren & Betsy were an item for a chunk of the '90s, though they really had little in common. It felt like someone just randomly paired them up.
Relationship (Paige "Husk" Guthrie)- He nailed her in front of her own mom. Stupid Chuck Austen.
Responsibility (Worthington Industries)- Warren is the sole heir of the company, and it's continued success is dependent upon him much of the time.
Responsibility (Original Team)- The Original Five X-Men are probably the closest and obviously the oldest friends out of all the X-people.
Relationship (Iceman)- Bobby is Warren's closest friend from the days of the Original X-Men- the pair joined The Champions, Defenders, X-Factor and even the X-Men's Gold Strike Force together, and were nearly-constantly together for all that time.
Guilt (Archangel Transformation & Bloodlust)- As Archangel, Warren can be consumed by dangerous bloodlust. Sometimes, the wings even act of their own accord- MLF member Kamikaze was decapitated as he snuck up on Warren from behind, the wings slashing out on their own.
Enemy/Hatred (Apocalypse)- Apocalypse twisted Warren from a beautiful, angel-winged person, into a blue monster with lethal (and evil) wings. Warren has threatened to kill Apocalypse several times, and at one point, even left him to die, ashamed and bleeding on the floor.
Rivalry (Wolverine)- The two had a strong dislike for each other going years back, and it got worse the darker Warren got.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 41 / Defenses: 12 (165)

-Angel-Winged Warren has mostly the same stuff but less-so (Wing Slash, Flight Speed, etc.), but gains Healing Blood (kinda useless and limited in scope, really... it reeks of Chuck Austen just flailing about trying to find SOMETHING extra for the guy), Regeneration, Attractive 2 (blue-skinned Warren is kinda scary), and boosted Persuasion Skills and Charisma.

ANGEL (Warren Worthington III, aka The Avenging Angel)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Pretty Boy, Flying Guy
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
PL 8 (106)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Aerobatics 8 (+12)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Close Combat (Wing Slash) 2 (+10)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+6, +11 Attractive)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Attractive 2, Benefit (Wealth), Daze (Persuasion), Favored Environment (Airborne), Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wings"
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- High Altitudes) [2]
Senses 1 (Extended Vision) [1]

"Angelic Wings"
Flight 6 (120 mph) (Feats: Subtle) (Flaws: Winged) [7]
"Wing Slash" Strength-Damage +3 [3]

"Enhanced Fighting Capabilities in the Air"
Enhanced Dodge 4 (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [2]
Enhanced Parry 2 (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [1]
Enhanced Advantages 6: Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Move-By Action (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Wing Slash +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (+12 Wings, DC 18-22), Parry +10 (+12 Wings, DC 20-22), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 13 (106)

-Silver Age Warren isn't much of a challenge for most villains, but is still a good team player- it's established that he started out as a solo hero on his own before being recruited by Professor X.

LONGSHOT
Created By:
Ann Nocenti & Arthur Adams
First Appearance: Longshot #1 (Sept. 1985)
Role: Uber-Eighties Character
PL 10 (189)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+14)
Expertise (Actor) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Rebel Leader) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 6 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+7, +11 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Throwing Blades) 4 (+15)
Sleight of Hand 6 (+10)
Technology 2 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+11)

Advantages:
Attack Specialization (Throwing Blades), Agile Feint, Defensive Roll, Diehard, Equipment 2 (Throwing Blades +2, Grappling Hook), Evasion, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Given Powers: Luck"
Enhanced Advantages 4: Luck 2, Redirect, Uncanny Dodge [4]
"Break Fall" Movement 1 (Slow Fall) (Extras: Reaction) [3]
"Lucky Escape" Immortality 15 (2 minutes) (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Limited to Circumstances of Plausible Denial) [30]
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 4 [8]
Regeneration 2 [2]

"Hollow Bones"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

"DNA-Based Love Powers" Enhanced Advantages 2: Attractive 2 [2]

"Psychometry & Object-Reading"
Senses 8 (Precognition, Postcognition) (Flaws: Limited to Touched Objects' History) (4) -- [5]
AE: Mind Reading 8 (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (4)

Equipment:
"Throwing Blades" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Ranged 4) (Diminished Range -1) (5)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blades +15 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (+15 Luck, DC 25), Parry +11 (+15 Luck, DC 25), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Metahuman)- Longshot has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, two hearts and a one of his eyes glows when he uses his powers, making him obviously-inhuman to both the eye and an x-ray.
Power Loss (Luck)- Longshot's Luck will run out if he has negative thoughts (such as giving up hope), or tries to use his powers for selfish or evil acts. They can possibly even give him BAD luck.
Relationship (Dazzler)
Responsibility (Mojoworld Rebellion)
Enemy (Mojo)

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 57 / Defenses: 19 (189)

-Wow, it's Longshot, another weird example of a character who only had a few moments in the sun (his own Limited Series & Claremont's Australia-era X-team, yet has been constantly requested for comebacks since then. Seriously, as a kid reading the Nicieza-era X-books, I must've read at least one letter a month in SOME book requested The Mulletted One's return. Me, I never got it- he's one of those goofy-ass guys with a silly costume, a dated overall "look" (remember kids: never design your character with the current trendiest hairstyle), hard to imagine (or write for) powers, and a worst enemy who always produces the more goofy (and thus unreadable) X-Men stories ever, in Mojo. Look at my Mojo build for my thoughts on THAT fat blob- it's a great social commentary on our TV-obsessed culture, but OH GOD is it a chore to read through every single "Mojoverse" story. Though part of my dislike may be because I found the character effeminate- Arthur Adams was capable of drawing two specific faces- a square-jawed, bulky male face; and a pointy-chinned, doe-eyed, elfin female face. He gave Longshot the latter, which may go towards explaining his largely-female fanbase (comics is VERY VERY SHORT on bishonen pretty boys), and why a teen Jab who preferred his men to be MANLY, DAMN IT, disliked the character.
-Still, this guy has fans :). Not enough to actually give him an ONGOING SERIES, or even a recurring role in an X-Book, I guess (Exiles was his best shot in EONS), but it's something. He may be one of the most popular characters compared to how short their main run actually was EVER, to think of it. I could probably called Doom Patrol Fandom "Longshot Fandom" and have people still get it, but he doesn't have the sheer number of chances at one-shots THAT book had.
-Longshot was easier to comprehend with the old "Probability Control" Power in 2e, but I liked the whole "Limited Immortality" thing the Power Profile of "Luck Powers" had (with the addition that he can help his teammates, too- I think at least once they had a building collapse on them, and got out a minute later). Longshot isn't SUPER-effective, but he's a solid X-Men-type build- an over-pointed PL 10, but leaning towards accuracy and defense. He's nearly impossible to hit, reasonably tough, has good reflexes, and has a bunch of weird side powers that I'd never have heard of if I didn't read his Wikipedia entry while doing this build. A complex little bugger, but he turned out okay in the end.

DAZZLER (Alison Blaire)
Created By:
Tom DeFalco, John Romita Jr., Louise Simonson & Roger Stern
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #130 (Feb. 1980)
Group Affiliations: Hollywood, The X-Men, Excalibur, Wildways Rebellion
Role: Fad-Based Superhero
PL 10 (145)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+9)
Deception 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Seventies Music Star) 8 (+12)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+7, +9 Attractive)
Insight 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Lasers) 2 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 2 (+3)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll, Daze (Music Star), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Laser Blast), Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Music Star Skill

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Sound to Light"
"Laser Blast" Blast 10 (Feats: Split, Penetrating 6) (27) -- [33]
AE: "Flare" Dazzle Visuals 10 (Extras: Area- Perception) (Flaws: Touch Range) (20)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 10 (20)
AE: "Equilibrium Assault" Affliction 10 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (20)
AE: "White Light Fog" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Attack) (8)
AE: "Illusions & 3-D Shapes" Illusion (Visuals) 10 (Flaws: Distracting) (10)
AE: "Trance-State" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Ranged) (20)

"Boosted Power" Enhanced Advantages 2: Power Attack, Improved Critical (Flare) (Flaws: Requires Extreme Noise) [1]
Immunity 15 (Sensory Dazzles, Sonic Effects) [15]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Laser Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Flare +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Dazzle/Trance/Equilibrium Assault +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Longshot)- They hooked up while on the X-Men, and even planned to start a family while fighting Mojo, but Mind Control, amnesia and other forces combined to split them up- he was no longer the man she knew. Also, his ability to attract other women automatically pissed her off.
Relationship (Shatterstar)- Unbeknownst to her, the child she miscarried actually survived, and was sent into the future to become the warrior Shatterstar.
Responsibility (Mojoworld Rebellion)- Alison joined her beloved Longshot's rebellion, and disappeared into the Mojoverse.
Enemy (Mojo)
Prejudice (Known Mutant)- Alison's career was ruined when she revealed that she was a mutant.
Fame- Alison Blaire is a famous singer, and will likely be recognized in public without a disguise.
Responsibility (Career)- Alison is constantly striving to renew her flagging career.
Power Loss (Requires Sound)- Dazzler's powers require a certain amount of sound to be utilized effectively- normally super-hero fights are cacaphonous enough that this isn't an issue, but to use higher-level Blasts, she'll need to increase the ambient noise.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 15 (145)

-Dazzler... I just can't get into this character. Way too silly an origin, she's basically like Aquaman with her sheer amount of "no, NOW this character can be taken seriously!" stories & events. It never really works, because she's at-best a C-level character. Her main play came after her failed debut & series- Casablanca Records wanted to create a crossover star that could be promoted via comic books (KISS had made a ton of money doing the same thing with comics). She was going to be given a big debut album and a film starring Bo Derek, who was the biggest sex symbol in the U.S. at the time. She was gonna be called The Disco Queen at first, and a ton of Marvel writers worked together to get a workable story and treatment (Roger Stern thankfully got the name changed), and John Romita, Jr. initially made her look like Grace Jones, but eventually she got Bo Derek-ized. Tom DeFalco, then just having left his first job at Archie Comics, became the main writer.
-Of course, Casablanca would back out after interfering countless times thanks to financial concerns, leaving Marvel to try and make something out of this much-publicized new character. They settled on a big ongoing series. They tried to distance her from the Disco scene, as it had begun to fade even by 1980. She crossed over with EVERYONE in an effort to give her more hype, and it was even successful for a while. Fans whined that the book focused on non-heroics too much, and sales started to falter, pretty soon getting pretty bad. A Graphic Novel release didn't help either, and the book was cancelled in 1985.
-This could have been it for the character, if not for Chris Claremont adding her to the "Australia Team" X-Men. She hooked up with Longshot, and ended up vanishing to Mojoworld right before the Blue & Gold Strike Force era, where she's mostly stayed since. She's been seen in the Terry Dodson-era X-books as well, but the X-roster has now gotten so big that it's hard to figure out where ANYBODY shows up these days. She spent FIFTEEN YEARS away from the limelight before Claremont brought her back in New Excalibur, but she's currently getting some play, having been replaced by Mystique after being named the "Mutant Liaison" to S.H.I.E.L.D. I think most fans still recognize her primarily because she's the out-of-place "why is SHE there?" character in the awesome X-Men Arcade Game, alongside most of the awesome '80s-Era Claremont/Byrne team.
-A PL 10 Dazzle/Blast/Nauseate/Stun-based build, Dazzler's in good shape, but a minor-league X-Woman compared to the big guns. She can use all of these powers as long as there is some kind of noise going on (she often plays music while fighting, but these days she just uses the sound of a fight, since that's hard to justify in comics). So I stuck a standard Blast with some Alt-Effects, and threw the Requires Sound potential Complication on them to showcase this, and then gave her a total immunity to sonic dazzles (Galactus once shoved the sound of a GALAXY EXPLODING to make her create a super-blast). See, she doesn't need to be damaged by sound, she just needs some noise PRESENT to use her powers.

THE BEAST (Henry "Hank" McCoy)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: The Smart Guy, Team Powerhouse (X-Factor/Early X-Men), Subverted Stereotype (Smart Powerhouse)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The Avengers, The Defenders, S.W.O.R.D.
Avengers Grade: B-Level
PL 10 (193)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 10 (+16)
Athletics 4 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (Philosophy/Theology) 3 (+11)
Expertise (Psychiatry) 1 (+9)
Expertise (The Finer Things) 4 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 10 (+18)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+20) -- Flaws: Limited to Biology
Insight 7 (+10)
Intimidation 4 (+8)
Perception 6 (+9)
Persuasion 7 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 8 (+10)
Stealth 2 (+8)
Technology 7 (+15)
Treatment 10 (+18)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Grab, Improved Trip, Instant Up, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 2 (Various), Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Biology), Startle, Teamwork, Ultimate Skill 2 (Acrobatics & Biology)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Animal Physiology"
Movement 4 (Wall-Crawling 2, Sure-Footed 2) [8]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Features 1: May Use Feet as Hands [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- A symbol of the mutant community, Hank stands out in a crowd unless he's using a holographic disguise.
Rivalry (Cyclops)- There is a growing rift between Hank and the mutant community led by Cyclops. A much more moralistic person, Hank can't stand the dark road his old friend is moving down.
Responsibility (The Original X-Men)- Hank shares a common comraderie with the original team, having basically grown up with them.
Relationship (Wonder Man)- The two were inseparable buddies in the old Avengers book. Alas, they were split up by the varying editors when Hank got called back to the X-Men.
Relationship (Trish Tilby)- He dated the spunky reporter for a few years, but they split up when he turned into a lion.
Relationship (Abigail Brand)- The antagonistic head of S.W.O.R.D. is nonetheless Hank's new girlfriend, as she's a beast-fetishist.
Enemy (The Dark Beast)- An Alternate-Reality version of Hank came to the mainstream reality, and even took Hank's place for a while.

Total: Abilities: 96 / Skills: 88--44 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 15 (193)

-The Beast is awesome. I mean, who doesn't love the eloquent, agile, super-strong, blue-furred monster-man who's also a genius scientist? For that reason, despite his lower power levels (well, not really- he should theoretically be much better than Wolverine, being MUCH stronger with a similar power-set), nearly every writer wants him above all others on their team. He's the dry wit to counterpoint Cyclops' stodginess or Logan's grumpiness. Plus, he brings a bit of culture to the books. I mean, he even took turning into a grey (later blue) ape-man in stride!
-He was initially a subversion of the old "Dumb Brute" thing, by making the brainiest guy on the X-Men also the burly strong one, but it wasn't until Steve Englehart got a hold on him in the 1970s that he got popular. Hank, free from the cancelled X-Men comic, would experiment on himself, turn into a gray-furred creature, and adopt a much more happy-go-lucky attitude ("he discovered pot", sez Englehart, though this would obviously not be stated in the books. Or even implied, anymore). This proved popular enough that Hank soon became an AVENGER, forming a bromance with Wonder Man and generally acting more like Team Joker than someone who was a smart powerhouse- it's actually VERY weird for me to read old Avengers books from this time period, because Hank is so utterly unrecognizable to what came before, or after. Alas, he was plucked out of that book because Marvel REALLY, REALLY wanted another X-Spinoff, and so Hank looked human again (the effects of his serum were reversed) and was put onto X-Factor, which mostly reverted Hank to his old personality. He'd later get furry again.
-Relegated to background roles alot of the time by the mid-90s (The X-Cutioner's Song & the whole Legacy Virus thing pretty much made him a "tries to cure stuff in his lab year-round" guy), he'd been brought back to some prominence by his controversial Leonine Form. Well, actually, it's an ape form. Or like the Beast from that live-action TV series with Linda Hamilton. Or a Pelican, or whatever the hell the next artist draws him as. See, he was apparently REALLY HARD TO DRAW, much like Tom "Wildcat" Bronson of the JSA, so like Tommy, he ends up looking differently with every single penciller alive. Eventually they just gave up and turned him back into more or less what he was before, but with less Wolverine-like hair.
-He was still a funny, whacky guy in addition to the team's official scientist, though (his awesome reaming of Graydon Creed on national television was a thing of brilliance- comparing his Friends of Humanity to Hitler before that was a common insult to EVERYBODY, then sticking his tongue out at him, then MOONING HIM once the live feed was out). Currently, he's had a falling-out with the more militaristic Scott Summers, which is sad, since the two of them had a great "Old soldiers" type of relationship going, but it makes sense: Hank is more idealistic and nice, while Scott was forced by fate to bunker down and do some dirty things to keep mutantkind alive. This set Hank first on the road to The Avengers (where he's still linked to the Illuminati, in Xavier's old role), then Logan's Jean Grey School For Higher Learning.
-Beast is a PL 10 who is impossible to properly put down to 150 points (I tried in 2nd Edition, and it was the most mind-numbing of ALL the X-Builds to do so), so I didn't even bother trying. Problematically, he's smart, agile, strong AND tough, and also a capable fighter with TONS of scientific skills. Hank is tough but not TOO tough, being PL 9.5 on offense, and PL 10 with his great defensive skills. That kinda fits, though, as despite being a bruiser, he's always been shown as weaker than the Colossus/Rogue power team, and more of a team player who hangs back and helps out with his pretty-high stats. Actually, his true strength levels are nigh-impossible to place, as he usually fights like a Scrapper, but is also super-strong. I've read more than one forum debate about it, and the various handbooks put him around Class 10-20 (though you know how THOSE tend to be... but most of them UNDER-score powerhouses rather than over-do it). I figured he was a notch above Spidey, but had similar lifting potential- I left the claws & teeth unstatted since I don't buy them as adding to the power of a Class 12-ish Powerhouse. Hank's specialty is Biology, pushing to near-Reed Richards level in just that one aspect (making him one of the leading experts in diseases on Earth), and I actually increased his mental capabilities by a lot, since my old build felt WAY below what he is today- a true peer of Reed, Tony and other geniuses. I mean, I had him with only a SIX in Intelligence! He's also one of those rare heroes who is Sure-Footed, and can use his feet like they're hands (a Feature that I thought I was a genius for coming up with... but others turned out to have had the same idea).

THE BEAST (Henry "Hank" McCoy)- WEIRD ANIMAL FORM
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: The Smart Guy, Team Powerhouse (X-Factor/Early X-Men), Subverted Stereotype (Smart Powerhouse)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The Avengers, The Defenders, S.W.O.R.D.
Avengers Grade: C-Level
PL 10 (192)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 4 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (Philosophy/Theology) 3 (+11)
Expertise (Psychiatry) 1 (+9)
Expertise (The Finer Things) 4 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 10 (+18)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+20) -- Flaws: Limited to Biology
Insight 7 (+10)
Intimidation 4 (+8)
Perception 6 (+9)
Persuasion 7 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+8)
Technology 7 (+15)
Treatment 10 (+18)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Grab, Improved Trip, Instant Up, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 2 (Various), Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Biology), Startle, Teamwork, Ultimate Skill 2 (Acrobatics & Biology)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Animal Physiology"
Movement 4 (Wall-Crawling 2, Sure-Footed 2) [8]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Regeneration 4 [4]
"Animal Senses" Senses 4 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended Hearing) [4]
"Pheromones" Affliction 2 (Fort; Dazed/Compelled) (Feats: Subtle 2) (Extras: Area- Scent Perception, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Limited Emotions- Attraction in Women) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- A symbol of the mutant community, Hank stands out in a crowd unless he's using a holographic disguise.
Responsibility (Devolving)- Henry's appearanace is in flux, and he fears that he will possibly lose his intelligence.
Rivalry (Cyclops)- There is a growing rift between Hank and the mutant community led by Cyclops. A much more moralistic person, Hank can't stand the dark road his old friend is moving down.
Responsibility (The Original X-Men)- Hank shares a common comraderie with the original team, having basically grown up with them.
Relationship (Wonder Man)- The two were inseparable buddies in the old Avengers book. Alas, they were split up by the varying editors when Hank got called back to the X-Men.
Relationship (Trish Tilby)- He dated the spunky reporter for a few years, but they split up when he turned into a lion.
Relationship (Abigail Brand)- The antagonistic head of S.W.O.R.D. is nonetheless Hank's new girlfriend, as she's a beast-fetishist.
Enemy (The Dark Beast)- An Alternate-Reality version of Hank came to the mainstream reality, and even took Hank's place for a while.

Total: Abilities: 92 / Skills: 84--42 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 15 (192)

-This is Hank from his time as a... Lion... thing. It grew on me after a point, but I didn't like it at first (but then, I hated all of Frank Quitely's art except his "Big Screen" feel), but Jon Cassady and others have made me like it, and now I can barely picture him as a split-haired proto-Wolverine anymore. His powers were a slight bit different, giving him worse Dexterity ("I used to have HUMAN HANDS..."), Sleight of Hand and Agility, but some different Powers, including Regeneration and Pheromones that I never saw even ONCE, despite having read TONS of Beast stuff when he was in this form... methinks a writer casually came up with it, and later ones just forgot.

THE BEAST (Henry "Hank" McCoy)- Debut
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: The Smart Guy, Team Powerhouse (X-Factor/Early X-Men), Subverted Stereotype (Smart Powerhouse)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The Avengers, The Defenders, S.W.O.R.D.
Avengers Grade: B-Level
PL 8 (134)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 2 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Philosophy/Theology) 3 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+9)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+13) -- Flaws: Limited to Biology
Insight 5 (+7)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+8)
Technology 5 (+9)
Treatment 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Grab, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (Various), Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Advanced Physiology"
Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling, Sure-Footed) [4]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]
Features 1: May Use Feet as Hands [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +7, Fortitude +9, Will +7

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 12 (134)

-'60s-Era Beast is a big, jolly, bombastic fighter, being very capable, but less so than his later versions.

RUSTY (Russel Collins)
Created By:
Bob Layton & Jackson Guice
First Appearance: X-Factor #1 (Feb. 1986)
Role: The Expendable Loser, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The X-Terminators, The Mutant Liberation Front, The Acolytes
PL 8 (118)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Naval Recruit) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+3)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Fireball) 5 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Fire Aura)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Fire Creation"
"Fireball" Blast 7 (Reduced Range -3: 3/5/10 feet) [11]
Fire Aura 7 [28]
Immunity 10 (Fire Effects) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Fire Aura +8 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Fireball +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Outcast)- Rusty is an outcast, rarely sticking around in one place for long. He's been around far more mutant teams than most D-League characters.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 11 (118)

-Rusty has got to go down as EASILY one of the worst runs of a mutant character in history. Especially for one who debuted in the pre-90s era. He came about in X-Factor, during that bizarre run where they were pretending to be mutant-hunters as a cover for their mutant-helping, a stupid idea that backfired in-series pretty spectacularly. Honestly, I never saw the point of having X-Factor around when Claremont was still tearing things up with his two X-books: It just seemed like the lame duck of the franchise. So Rusty got trained by X-Factor, having one of those Blessed With Suck powers that made him set fire to everything, and eventually his "X-Terminators" team was merged into Louise Simonson's crappy New Mutants run, replacing several beloved characters (Magma, Magik) with lame one-note fools like Rusty, Skids, Rictor & Boom-Boom. Most of them got better characterization later on (Boomer especially, until modern books made her a Valley Girl idiot again), but not Rusty. He was pretty much "Generic Protagonist #401", doing nothing of interest and generally being dull the entire time.
-He barely even got a run on the book before he & Skids were captured, then defected to the Mutant Liberation Front when threatened by humans. Brainwashed to be evil by Stryfe, they didn't get up to much, and Rusty was casually decimated by Cannonball during the big X-Cutioner's Song fight. Freed from the Friend of Humanity by X-Force, the duo was cured of their brainwashing by Magneto during his "Avalon" period, and so joined the Acolytes, making them among the few characters to be a part of TWO terrible teams of Morts. Skids got to move on as a minor X-character, but El Generico here was murdered casually by Holocaust upon his induction to the mainstream Marvel U. And thus end the terrible run of Rusty Collins.
-A slightly-cheap PL 8, Rusty is a generic, weak Blaster (Reduced Range means he can only shoot a little ways out at maximum distance) with no AEs or anything- just an Aura. It's quite powerful, but he's so one-note that nearly anyone can kick his ass once they weather his storm of pyrotechnics. He's almost full points-cost for his PL in 3e thanks to the excessive cost for Skills (I have a very recent 2e Rusty build that I near-directly converted from one system to the other, and he gained about 10 points in the process before I scaled some stuff back upon further revelations regarding his powers), but hardly an ideal PC.

RUSTY (Russel Collins)- New Mutants Era
Created By:
Bob Layton & Jackson Guice
First Appearance: X-Factor #1 (Feb. 1986)
Role: The Expendable Loser, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The X-Terminators
PL 6 (93)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Naval Recruit) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Fire Creation"
Fire Aura 6 [24]
Immunity 10 (Fire Effects) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Fire Aura +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Outcast)- Rusty is an outcast, rarely sticking around in one place for long. He's been around far more mutant teams than most D-League characters.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 15 (93)

-Younger Rusty is a PL 6 weakling with no Blast and lowered abilities most of the way across the board.

SKIDS (Sally Blevins)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Jackson Guice
First Appearance: X-Factor #7 (Aug. 1986)
Role: The Expendable Loser, Barrier Warrior
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The X-Terminators, The Mutant Liberation Front, The Acolytes, S.H.I.E.L.D., X-Corporation
PL 10 (116)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat 2 (+8)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent) 2 (+2)
Insight 1 (+2)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Interpose, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Force Fields"
Protection 12 (Feats: Reach 6) (Extras: Sustained +0, Continuous, Affects Others, Impervious 20) [62]
Immunity 5 (Entrapment Effects) [5]
"Skating" Speed 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +1 (+13 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Outcast)- Skids is an outcast, rarely sticking around in one place for long. She's been around far more mutant teams than most D-League characters.
Relationship (Rusty Collins)- Rusty & Skids were an inseparable pair for a long time, but he was eventually killed when Holocaust entered the 616-Universe.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 69 / Defenses: 10 (116)

-Skids was basically the latter half of "Rusty and..." for years, hanging around with the X-Terminators, New Mutants and eventually the M.L.F. & Acolytes. She's as brutally generic as Rusty is as a character (having no real discernible personality traits beyond "I hate being a mutant!"), but has a more unique power and actually outlived him. When Rusty was killed, she joined X-Force during it's REALLY crappy years, and now still currently has her powers, again hating being a mutant. I've heard that Rusty & Skids were an attempt at copying the personality traits of Scott Summers & Jean Grey in their early incarnations, as if you recapture what they had way back then. It didn't work, if you didn't notice.
-Skids is another cheap-o build, but a higher PL than most characters of her level thanks to her EXTREMELY effective Force Field. It makes her an effective team player, being able to guard nearly every team member she's got with a powerful Impervious Field that only shuts down when SHE wants it to. She has a couple other feats (Immunity to Grapples and Speed) associated with it, but is rather limited to being defensive. She's pretty much useless offensively, for example. Most Force Fields are Sustained, but hers explicitly holds while she's Unconscious, meaning it's basically a Continuous Effect that she can turn off, adding to it's cost.

SKIDS (Sally Blevins)- New Mutants Era
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Jackson Guice
First Appearance: X-Factor #7 (Aug. 1986)
Role: The Expendable Loser, Barrier Warrior
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The X-Terminators, The Mutant Liberation Front, The Acolytes, SHIELD, X-Corporation
PL 8 (102)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat 2 (+4)
Deception 4 (+4)
Insight 1 (+2)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Interpose, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Force Fields"
Protection 12 (Feats: Reach 2) (Extras: Sustained +0, Continuous, Affects Others, Impervious 20) [58]
Immunity 5 (Entrapment Effects) [5]
"Skating" Speed 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +1 (+13 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Outcast)- Skids is an outcast, rarely sticking around in one place for long. She's been around far more mutant teams than most D-League characters.
Relationship (Rusty Collins)- Rusty & Skids were an inseparable pair for a long time, but he was eventually killed when Holocaust entered the 616-Universe.

Total: Abilities: 14 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 67 / Defenses: 8 (102)

-Young Skids is pretty similar to the old one, but lacks some Reach on her Force Field and is REALLY REALLY easy to hit.

CHANGELING (Kevin Sydney)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Werner Roth
First Appearance: X-Men #35 (Aug. 1967)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Factor Three
Status: Killed
Role: Replacement/Retcon Character (to Professor X)
PL 7 (129)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 12 (+14)
Expertise (Behavioral Sciences) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Acting) 8 (+10)
Insight 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Technology 3 (+5)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack, Ultimate Skill (Deception)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Shapeshifting and Low-Level Telepathy"
Morph 4 (Any Form) (Extras: Continuous on 1st Rank Only) [21]

"Enhanced by Xavier"
"Telepathy" Communication (Mental) 3 (Extras: Area, Selective) Linked to Mind-Reading 6 (30) -- [33]
AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 6 (12)
AE: "Telelocation" Senses 3 (Mental Awareness- Ranged, Acute) (3)
AE: "Mental Blast" Damage 7 (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2, Will Save) (28)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Mental Blast -- (+7 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Secret (Faking His Identity)

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 54 / Defenses: 9 (129)

-This guy's just a half-assed attempt at writing out one of those huge mistakes that occasionally happened in comics. Killing Professor X seemed like a good idea at the time, but really, the team without him just doesn't WORK, as he's the defining reason they're all together, and a wonderful "mentor" character, out to explain just why they must follow a chosen path (heh... this was written years before they would kill him off AGAIN). Changeling started out as a generic morphing villain, but was later secretly reformed and replaced Professor X on the X-Men for a short period before he was killed in duty, making the whole team grieve for him. It wasn't until later that the deception came out: Charles wanted to be left alone to fight some alien invasion (and his old enemy Lucifer), and Changeling was asked to take over the X-Men, his 'natural telepathy' (uh...) being boosted by the Prof so he could act the part before a terminal illness claimed his life (he wouldn't last more than a single mission as a replacement, apparently). Not one of the better ideas the X-Books has ever had (Roy Thomas was Stan Lee's heir apparent, but took a while to really get going), and it's mostly been relegated to a forgotten storyline.
-Still, this guy gets to end up in "Entire X-Roster" collections. It helps that he got more famous later, thanks to the Morph character becoming a popular Sacrificial Buddy in the '90s "X-Men" cartoon, and that later turned him into a Comic Relief guy in the Age of Apocalypse and the later "Exiles" series. His name having shifted to avoid competition with DC's Changeling, he also developed more powers eventually.
-A pretty simple build. A minor telepath mixed with a Morpher, who's great at acting, and little else (I mean, he convinced the X-kids that he was Xavier for a length of time). His "Exiles" version is MUCH more powerful, has no Scent, is a full-blown Shapeshifter, and a great character overall- the mainstream version is basically a nobody.

Jim Lee: Hey, Chris, I gotta ask you something. I REALLY, REALLY want to draw another asian chick in this comic! I know half my chicks look like they're Chinese ANYWAYS, but I've got this crazy design here! See?
Chris Claremont: This looks like you just too Elektra's costume and coloured it purple...
Lee: ....
Claremont: GENIUS! But this costume design would look awesome on Psylocke. Hm, I will allow you to change her design, but only if I can apply my natural fetishes of cold, bitter women with authority problems. Deal? (ten bucks says this is how it really went)


PSYLOCKE (Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: Captain Britain #8 (Dec. 1976)
Role: Miss Fanservice (the '90s), Telepath, Ninja, Inscrutable Oriental, Confusing-Power Chick
Country of Origin: England (then Japan, kinda)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Excalibur, The Exiles, X-Force, RCX, The Hand, The Crimson Dawn, The Hellfire Club, The Captain Britain Corps.
PL 10 (180)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+15)
Deception 3 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Ninja) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Model) 2 (+6, +7 Attractive)
Expertise (Skier) 1 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 8 (+11)
Persuasion 3 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Stealth 6 (+12)
Vehicles 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Assessment, Attractive, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Defensive Attack, Equipment 2 (Swords), Evasion 2, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Follow-Up Strike, Grab Finesse, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical 2 (Psychic Knife, Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 3, Takedown 2, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
“Mutant Powers: Telepathy”
"Telepathy" Mind Reading 8 Linked to Communication (Mental) 2 (24) -- [27]
AE: "Telelocation" Senses 3 (Detect Sentient Life- Ranged 3) (3)
AE: "Psychic Knife" Damage 10 (Extras: Alternate Save- Will) (Inaccurate -1) (19)
AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 7 (Sight, Hearing & Mental- 2 miles) (Feats: Subtle, Dimensional) (Flaws: Helpless While In Use) (23)

"Psychic Link With Brother"
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Capain Britain) [1]

"Ninja Training"
"Sneak Attack" Strength-Damage +2 (Flaws: Limited to When Enemy Lacks Defense Bonus) [1]
Features: May Add Sneak Attack to Weapon Damage [1]

Equipment:
"Asian Swords" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical 2) (Extras: Penetrating 5) (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +15 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sneak Attack +15 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Swords +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Sneak Attack With Swords +12 (+7 Damage, DC 21)
Psychic Knife +10 (+10 Mental Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Various)- She tends to gets around. The fact that she's certain writers' favourite X-chick adds up. She flirted with Cyclops for a while (before he married Jean, but during that relationship), dated Archangel, and left him for Thunderbird III. She also made kisses with the Exiles version of Sabretooth, Fantomex and
Responsibility (Powers)- Her powers are in constant flux, and she loses some and gains others a lot.
Relationship (Wolverine)- The two were quite linked by the 1990s, especially once she got tangled up with The Hand. Betsy is among the X-Men closest to Logan.
Responsibility (Asian-Looking)- Betsy was changed from British to Japanese by The Hand & Spiral.
Relationship (Brian Braddock, Brother)- They don't see that much of each other these days, but he has been heartbroken at what was believed to be her death on two separate occasions.
Vulnerable (Mind Control)- Psylocke is more affected by Mind Control or changes to her body than others, as a result of her repeated victimizations at the hands of others. This also gives her an issue with mental probes- she once disallowed Professor X from doing one on her, even when it would be helpful, thanks to past torment.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 29 / Powers: 30 / Defenses: 19 (180)

-Psylocke's been under more changes and shifts that just about any X-Character. And when that list includes Emma "supreme villain, then magnificent bitch leader, then repentant, then Mean-But-Heroic British Bitch" Frost and Hank "Big smart guy, then grey ape, then blue ape, then human, then ape, then blue lion thing, now an ape again" McCoy, that is SAYING something. Starting life as Captain Britain's supporting cast sister in his own UK comics (Alan Moore turned her hair purple), Betsy got co-opted by Claremont (who wrote much of that series) into his own X-Men, eventually turning her from a sweet English telepathic girl into a cold-hearted, cynical Japanese bitch-ninja. She later became an icon of the 1990s, and not really in that good way- she DEFINES so many stereotypes: Bitchy, unrealistic women. Ninjas with swords. Eyes with no pupils. Costumes with frickin' THONGS on them. Mindless characterization and shifts for no reason into Grim 'n' Gritty forms... of course I was thirteen when I first saw her, so I was totally in love, so hey, whatever works for Marvel.

-Though actually, her outfit is more or less what an actual gymnast would wear (check the Olympics- it's basically the same deal but with leggings and straps all over the place), so it's more the Escher Girl poses taht are horribly unrealistic. Psylocke of course ended up being a the primary sexpot of Marvel Comics in the '90s, to the point where she got onto the X-Men Fighting Game ahead of Jean Grey (who had to wait until Marvel (vs) Capcom 4) and Rogue. She was talked about in Wizard Magazine (remember THAT?), was a huge part of Fabian Nicieza's run on X-Men, took up space in the dreams of pubescent young males, and got several arcs based on just her. I remember being PISSED when she didn't get to be in the X-Men Animated Series ahead of Jean in that god-awful '90s outfit, Rogue & Jubilee. Which makes it all the more odd that she was basically ignored after a point- Rogue & Jean ended up becoming WAY more important once again, while only Claremont was writing Betsy-related stuff after a point.

-There was a funny bit where Claremont meant to temporarily-kill her in X-Treme X-Men (a book given to him just to write his own stuff without messing with the "Mainstream" book), and was forced to keep her dead for YEARS since that was the exact moment when Joe Quesada forced a line-wide "Dead is DEAD" policy of "No Resurrections". But that's the LEAST of the weirdness surrounding her- she once got gutted by Sabretooth, and turned into a Crimson Dawn Ninja (getting a funky eye tattoo by Joe Madureira, and Teleportation Powers). She lost her psionics and traded powers with Jean Grey, becoming a TELEKINETIC all of a sudden. Never mind that even in the EIGHTIES, she'd been rendered blind, then had her eyes replaced with cybernetic cameras to allow the X-Men's adventures to be broadcast in the Mojoverse, and when she switched/merged minds & bodies with the asian ninja assassin Kwannon. She is probably the single-most complicated character in Marvel- only DC's most-F'd-up Crisis on Infinite Earths-warped characters (Donna Troy, Supergirl, The Legion) can match her.

-This is the version of Psylocke with which I'm most familiar, being a snarky, deadpan ninja with tons of stealth, quickness and elite martial arts prowess, being more in the "finesse" group than the "kill everything in one shot" one. The Psychic Knife is a very deadly attack, and that and her Parry are the only full-on PL 10 things about her. The Knife is REALLY hard to hit with most of the time (nearly all its hits come from the side or the back in the comics), so it's Inaccurate by a single rank- hitting guys from the back is usually her best bet. Being rather fragile (Toughness +4 max), it's a good idea in general to be out of the way- she gets the most of her +14-16 Defenses & Improved Defense/Uncanny Dodge. Her Telepathy is at its lowest ebb in this form, as it was rarely anything but a plot device in the comics. I barely even remember instances of her trying to read minds. Her earlier version actually possesses a lot more power in this regard- back before the ninja stuff. Altogether, she's an expensive PL 10, which is about right- most elite X-Men or Avengers-types end up in that range.

-Various other power-sets have included Telekinesis (she was better at Blasting/Striking than actually lifting stuff- she has manifested a Telekinetic Katana as well), Teleportation (enough ranks to go across the planet, with the Flaw: Medium- Shadows), or Immunity to Reality-Warping Powers & Mental Effects. She was also once Captain Britain in Brian's stead, gaining mini-Flying Brick powers. Her Cybernetic Eyes allowed her to be Immune to Visual Dazzles and gave her Low-Light Vision.

PSYLOCKE (Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock)- Telepathic Early Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: Captain Britain #8 (Dec. 1976)
Role: Telepath
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Captain Britain Corps.
PL 10 (138)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+2)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 3 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Model) 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Skier) 1 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll, Defensive Strike, Equipment (X-Uniform- Communiations, Fancy Armour +2), Improved Defense, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy"
"Telepathy" Mind Reading 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Effortless) (41) -- [55]
Dynamic AE: Communication 4 (Mental) (21)
Dynamic AE: "Psycho-Blast" Damage 10 (Extras: Perception Range +2, Alternate Save- Will) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Telelocation" Senses 3 (Detect Sentient Life- Ranged 3) (3)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 9 (Sight, Hearing & Mental- 2 miles) (Feats: Subtle, Dimensional) (Flaws: Helpless While In Use) (30)
Dynamic AE: Mind Control 6 (24)
Dynamic AE: Illusion (All Senses) 8 (Extras: Selective) (Flaws: Resisted by Will) (40)

"Psychic Link With Brother"
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Capain Britain) [1]

Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Uncontrolled) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Mental Blast -- Perception (+10 Perception-Rangeed Damage, DC 25)
Mental Stun -- (+10 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Mind Control +6 Perception (+6 Perception Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+4 Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Brother, Brian)

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 58 / Defenses: 19 (138)

-'80s Betsy was a more supporting character. She was a tough little cookie, but not really a combatant, though her telepathic might was far in excess of her Ninja Version's- she even got reasonably good in a fight eventually (earlier than this, and she'd be lucky to be +6 to hit or parry). She's only PL 10 as far as Mind Reading goes- the rest of her is PL 8 at-best. Pricey, but not an A-Leaguer.

REVANCHE (Kwannon)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Andy Kubert
First Appearance: X-Men #17 (Feb. 1993)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Lord Nyoirin's Gang
Role: Confusing Backstory Character, Hot Ninja Lady
PL 10 (164)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+15)
Deception 7 (+8, +10 Attractive)
Expertise (Ninja) 7 (+9)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 9 (+11)
Persuasion 1 (+2, +4 Attractive)
Stealth 5 (+12)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Assessment, Attractive, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Defensive Attack, Equipment 2 (Swords), Evasion, Grab Finesse, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical 2 (Psychic Katana, Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 3, Takedown 2, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
“Mutant Powers: Telepathy”
"Psychic Katana" Damage 10 (Extras: Alternate Save- Will) (Inaccurate -1) (19) -- [20]
AE: "Telepathy" Mind Reading 6 Linked to Communication (Mental) 1 (16)

"Ninja Training"
"Sneak Attack" Strength-Damage +2 (Flaws: Limited to When Enemy Lacks Defense Bonus) [1]
Features: May Add Sneak Attack to Weapon Damage [1]

Equipment:
"Sword" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 4) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +15 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sneak Attack +15 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Swords +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Sneak Attack +12 (+7 Damage, DC 21)
Psychic Katana +10 (+10 Will Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (Psylocke)- Kwannon & Elisabeth Braddock switched bodies, and now find their souls linked. Revanche believes that SHE is the real Betsy Braddock, and will kill the "imposter" in order to save herself.
Responsibility (Lord Nyoirin)- A Japanese crimelord, Nyoirin is Kwannon's master, and she has been charged with the murder of Matsu'o Tsurayaba. However...
Relationship (Matsu'o Tsurayaba)- Kwannon is in love with the elite Hand agent, and does not wish to kill him. Alas, they must fight to the death.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 58--29 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 18 (164)

-Psylocke's origin was (hard to believe, I know) LESS confusing back in the early '90s. See, back then, she was merely an Englishwoman who gained artificial eyes because of Mojo & Spiral, who was then changed by the Siege Perilous and some genetic engineering into a Japanese woman. I mean, that's EASY, right? Not confusing at all. Then REVANCHE came in. A purple-haired lady who looked identical to pre-Siege Betsy Braddock came calling, insisting that SHE was the true Betsy and the other was a spy/infiltrator. This led to some trademark X-angst and some fighting, but eventually BOTH became X-Men for a short time, living under the same roof until answers came. Then it turned out that Revanche had the Legacy Virus (yeah, two entire teams of X-Men and it somehow only attacked the one character who was least important to anything), and we realized that she was an assassin named Kwannon, after all. Not that it was a big surprise, given that someone who was CLEARLY HER was plotting Psylocke's death in the issues beforehand (seriously- who uses foreshadowing to spoil the results of the big secret plot?), while wearing something that would have made GAMORA go "WOAH, girl! Skank it DOWN a little bit! This ain't Penthouse Comix, ya know..."
-See, Kwannon was an assassin hooked up with D-League X-villain Matsu'o Tsurayaba, but she died. Matsu'o hired Spiral (who had always had a vested interest in Psylocke, having given her bioinic eyes under Mojo's orders) to switch Kwannon's mind with Betsy's, but the whole brainwashing thing didn't take all the way, so they both ended up gaining similar powers (watered-down versions of Betsy's powerful Psionics) & fighting styles. After the Legacy Virus hit, Revanche/Kwannon murders Lord Nyoirin, and begs Matsu'o to kill her, to prevent the Virus from totally ravaging her, thus ending that whole storyline less than a year after it began (I was still actively reading comics when it happened, yet never recall Revanche JOINING the team- she was just suddenly kinda THERE, with a new codename, and the two girls living under the same roof). And this was before Psylocke's character became REALLY confusing!
-Revanche is more or less the real Psylocke's equal in every single way, but lacks her Telepathic talents for the most part. The exact nature of the Psychic Katana is pretty much the Psychic Knife but bigger and fancier-looking (confusing, Andy Kubert once drew it DECAPITATING Psylocke, but never explained why she was whole in the next panel- I guess it was a symbolic thing), and she's still a PL 10 dangerous Ninja Warrior.

DR. CECILIA REYES
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Carlos Pacheco
First Appearance: X-Men #65 (June 1997)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
Role: Pacifist Superhero, Team Healer, Force Field User
PL 9 (103)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Current Events) 4 (+7)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Treatment 12 (+15)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
X-Uniform (Communications), Ranged Attack, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Force Field"
Force Field 10 (Extras: Affects Others, Impervious 15) [35]
"Force Attack" Strength-Damage +3 [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Force Attack +5 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +1 (+11 Force Field, +8 Impervious), Fortitude +3, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Unwanted Mutation)- Cecilia finds her mutant powers a hassle, and being a mutant has ruined her life- out of all the X-Men, she seemed the most resentful over the whole deal.
Responsibility (Do No Harm)- As a Doctor, Cecilia disbelieves in running around and kicking the crap out of people, and lets her point of view be known. Frequently.
Side-Effect (Pain)- Cecilia can still sometimes feel pain when someone hits her field, though this is not typically debilitating.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 38 / Defenses: 11 (103)

-Cecilia Reyes was a character brought into the X-fold during the Lobdell Era of the books, along with Marrow and Maggott- they were attempts to get some new characters some hype with the series' fancy new artists (Pacheco & Joe Madureira). Cecilia was a doctor fired from her job after she was outed publically as a mutant, and ended up teaming with Iceman as a central part of Operation: Zero Tolerance (one of the more disappointing and dumb X-Crossovers). She used her Doctor Skillz to save Cyclops' life, but made a point that she didn't want to join the X-Men proper. She, she was a doctor who hated being a mutant, and had little patience for super-hero ass-kick games, but was nonetheless forced into them. This kind of made her a grouchy, but interesting, character, who often lectured others about the constant fights always going on. She had some stuff to her, but was basically written out once Lobdell left the books (at one point, she was thought killed off-panel until someone realized that was lame), only showing up occasionally since then. Also, for some reason, she doesn't have her own Wikipedia page, even though people like D.J. AND INDRA do.
-Reyes is barely PL 9 (more like 8.5 defensively), lacking any kind of serious firepower, and can only help people out with her Force Fields. Good for a "starting" hero, but nothing much in a fight.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN (Brian Braddock)- Early Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: Captain Britain Weekly #1 (Oct. 1976)
Role: National Hero, Weapon User, Flying Brick
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: Excalibur, The Captain Britain Corps., MI-13, The Knights of Pendragon, The Hellfire Club
PL 9 (115)
STRENGTH
2/5 STAMINA 2/4 AGILITY 1/6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+10)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+11)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Persuasion 6 (+7)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+7)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Evasion, Fearless, Improved Critical (Staff), Improved Defense, Improved Smash, Interpose, Power Attack, Takedown

Powers:
"Captain Britain Form" (Activation) [-1]
Enhanced Strength 3 [6]
Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Enhanced Agility 5 [10]

"The Star Sceptre" (Flaws: Easily Removable -2) [15]
Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious) (-1 Dodge & Parry) (10) -- (11)
AE: Strenght-Damage +3 (Feats: Split, Reach) (5)

Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)
"Replenish Energies" Enhanced Advantages: Great Endurance, Withstand Damage (2)
-- (25 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Captain Britain +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Star Sceptre +11 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +1 (+6 Britain)

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +2 (+4 Captain Britain, +10 Force Field), Fortitude +7 (+9 Britain), Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (England, Merlyn)- Brian is the servant of Merlin, and incredibly loyal to England itself.
Power Loss (All Powers)- Brian must rub the Amulet of Right to activate his powers.
Relationship (Betsy Braddock)- Brian is very protective of his sister. When he thought she died with the X-Men in Dallas, he was beside himself with grief, and spent several days completely wasted.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 46--13 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 16 (115)

-This Captain Britain has more in common with the late '70s/early '80s Marvel UK stuff than what Alan Moore eventually turned him into on his '80s run, and what Claremont did (turn him into a big goofy lummox) in his Excalibur run. Here, Brian Braddock is basically your average fairly-strong costumed acrobat, with a nifty Star Sceptre that can telescope and make a Force Field. In Contest of Champions, he made Arabian Knight look like an idiot, and only got KOed because Defensor was busy getting the snot beat out of him, too (they collided in mid-air when Cap was trying to land). This Captain I actually find alot more interesting that Excalibur's idiotic buffoon of a Flying Brick, since he's got a few more tricks up his sleeve, and uses actual tactics to win aside from having the most generic power-set in the history of comic books. And he has a much cooler costume, in my opinion.
-One of the few CoC guys to earn PL 10 status, but he comes up over 30 points short, thanks to his relatively lower levels of power and combat Advantages and the like. His powers had a tendency to change quite a bit in this era, but I think this covers most of it.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN (Brian Braddock)- Excalibur Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: Captain Britain Weekly #1 (Oct. 1976)
Role: National Hero, Flying Brick
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: Excalibur, The Captain Britain Corps., MI-13, The Knights of Pendragon, The Hellfire Club
PL 10 (159)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 11 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+11)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Persuasion 6 (+7)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Benefit (Hero of the United Kingdom), Diehard, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Smash, Interpose, Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Member of the Captain Britain Corps"
Impervious Toughness 11 [11]
Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]
Senses 2 (Detect Magic- Ranged) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +11 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (England, Merlyn)- Brian is the servant of Merlin, and incredibly loyal to England itself.
Power Loss (All Powers)- If Brian is away from England for a long period of time, he will start losing power. This may occasionally make him very ill. Sometimes he needs his costume to do it, too. They're vague on this at times, and it changes a lot.
Relationship (Meggan)- They're married. Sometimes. It gets complicated, because writers don't care for her very much, and she gets written out a lot.
Relationship (Courtney Ross, Opal Luna Saturnyne)- When Claremont writes you, you tend to date hot chicks and their alternate-reality counterparts who are also dominatrixes and stuff.
Relationship (Betsy Braddock)- Brian is very protective of his sister. When he thought she died with the X-Men in Dallas, he was beside himself with grief, and spent several days completely wasted.

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 46--13 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 10 (159)

-Like I said, Cap has a weird history- starting out as a Weapon-based superhero in Marvel UK stuff, teaming up with Spider-Man, then getting turned into a Flying Brick and having weird adventures with Alan Moore doing one of the first "Overly complex storylines involving parallel universes & reality-warpers" in comics, which made him fairly popular amongst fans of those books (personally, I HATE long-running stories featuring villains like that). Chris Claremont, having worked on them as well, started using Cappy for his Excalibur books, turning him into a doofus-like lamebrain out of nowhere, as the book was kind of based on comic relief for a very long time. Me, I never saw much the point in him, and found his powers dull, but he's gotten alot of play over the years, being in one failed series after another.
-This is Cap circa Excalibur's main run in the '80s-'90s, being a Flying Brick of decent power, and he's a notch under Powerhouses like Thing & Colossus in strength, but with the ability to fly. He's still a PL 10 overall, though. It was a HELL of a lot of research to find out just WHAT his weakness was in this era, as writers have retconned & added stuff ad nauseum over the years, but I FINALLY got the real facts after some skimming when someone flat-out states that Cap's costume "absorbs the magicks of Great Britain, to allow him to use his powers elsewhere", rather than a mere Device-based power set. Thankfully 3e dumps ALL of that crap under "Complications" rather than price-matching Drawbacks, so it's a thousand times easier now. His stats are curiously different in some ways from his more-athletic self. He's CLEARLY a worse fighter, trading acrobatic skill for being super-buff and fighting Superman-style, so he drops a few attributes here and there while gaining Class 50 power.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN (Brian Braddock)- MI-13 Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: Captain Britain Weekly #1 (Oct. 1976)
Role: National Hero, Weapon User, Flying Brick
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: Excalibur, The Captain Britain Corps., MI-13, The Knights of Pendragon, The Hellfire Club
PL 11 (170)
STRENGTH
12 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+11)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Persuasion 6 (+7)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Benefit (Hero of the United Kingdom), Diehard, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Smash, Interpose, Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Member of the Captain Britain Corps"
Impervious Toughness 13 [13]
Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]
Senses 2 (Detect Magic- Ranged) [2]

"Psychic Link With Sister"
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Psylocke) [1]
Immunity 1 (Psylocke's Powers) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +12 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +12, Will +10

Complications:
Responsibility (England, Merlyn)- Brian is the servant of Merlin, and incredibly loyal to England itself.
Power Loss (All Powers)- If Brian is away from England for a long period of time, he will start losing power. This may occasionally make him very ill. Sometimes he needs his costume to do it, too. They're vague on this at times, and it changes a lot. In this version, his costume can "absorb" some of England's power for when he needs to do stuff outside of it.
Power Loss (Confidence)- Cap's powers are now also linked to his confidence levels- if his courage falters, so does he.
Relationship (Meggan)- They're married. Sometimes. It gets complicated, because writers don't care for her very much, and she gets written out a lot.
Relationship (Courtney Ross, Opal Luna Saturnyne)- When Claremont writes you, you tend to date hot chicks and their alternate-reality counterparts who are also dominatrixes and stuff.
Relationship (Betsy Braddock)- Brian is very protective of his sister. When he thought she died with the X-Men in Dallas, he was beside himself with grief, and spent several days completely wasted.
Responsibility (The Braddock Academy)- We'll see how long it takes before they forget that he's running a school for super-powered children.

Total: Abilities: 90 / Skills: 46--13 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 13 (170)

-Cap circa MI-13 gets an upgrade. He's much better overall, and is more powerful, becoming a PL 11 guy who'd fit really well on The Avengers or the like. Unfortunately, his crititcally-beloved but little-read series was cancelled. He's shown up briefly in Secret Avengers and helped out the American heroes once or twice, as well as creating a counterpart to Avengers Academy in England, which will no doubt result in the creation of many Sacrificial Teenagers.

EXCALIBUR:

-One of the later '80s Spin-Offs of The X-Men, Excalibur took advantage of another of Chris Claremont's favourite things- The U.K. Having lived there in his youth, Claremont had a tendency to have characters vacation or visit there. Having written part of Captain Britain's book in the 1970s, Chris added Brian Braddock to the book, alongside his girlfriend Meggan and three former X-Men: During the Mutant Massacre, Kitty Pryde & Nightcrawler were badly-injured, and were left in Scotland to recover. Rachel Summers (aka the second Phoenix) had left the team much earlier for her own reasons. They were thus in the vicinity of the U.K. when Warwolves and the Technet attacked, and also watched the X-Men "die" in Dallas (the start of the Australia Era). Because of this, the five grouped together to form Excalibur, and become Britain's defenders.

-Claremont joined forces with Alan Davis, a brilliant penciler who had the ultra-rare ability to DRAW WOMEN WITH DIFFERENT PHYSICAL APPEARANCES, and was also generally just very, very good. They decided to make Excalibur an exception to the Grim 'n' Gritty style of X-books, having them engage in weird and whacky adventures that often involved parallel relaties. The stories were the kind of "are they taking LSD"-type weird stuff that REALLY makes you question their sanity. While the books were brilliantly-drawn, I actually felt they were a bit too silly to enjoy. I mean, there was stuff like Galactus eating a world because "it is too silly to live". Also, they wiped out one of Braddock's love interests, then replaced her with a doppelganger (Courtney Ross & Opal-Luna Saturnyne)... then basically just appeared to drop the storyline completely, as I don't remember it ever coming up again.

-Some of the issues were pretty good- there's a neat one when Nightcrawler becomes the lover of some hot psychopathic Queen chick and Excalibur has to come save him. But for the most part, I had trouble getting into it, even though I loves me some Kitty Pryde. There's also the fact that Claremont just absolutely LOVED Rachel Summers, forcing her down the fans' throats by going on and on about how hot and super-powerful she was (Kitty is shown moping frequently about how much hotter Rachel is, and Alistair Stuart seems to agree... to say that most comic book fans think quite the opposite is an understatement). She kind of took too much of the attention, while Captain Britain himself was portrayed as a bit of a pathetic, clueless boob, frequently ignoring his girlfriend Meggan or getting into foolish situations.

-Davis left with issue #24 (1990), and Claremont with #34, but Davis would eventually return as sole creative force, adding the characters Kylun, Cerise & Micromax to the book. Scott Lobdell would take over in 1993, and rapidly alter the book from something that felt like "just another X-Men spin-off"- Captain Britain & Meggan left, the team moved to Muir Island and they made a lot of closer associations to the X-Men... which is actually the opposite of their intentions. Phoenix also left, replaced by Douglock & Britannic (a modified Captain Britain), and Amanda Sefton. This was pretty poorly-received, and so Warren Ellis took over a year later, using his trademark dark sense of humor, and utter inability to NOT include a cigarette-smoking Self-Insert in every book, thus giving us Pete Wisdom. Naturally, he had his Self-Insert boink Kitty Pryde. Wolfsbane (late of X-Factor joined the team, as did Colossus, having quit The Acolytes, making it more X-related.

-Ellis left two years later, and sales soon badly faltered, which resulted in the book's cancellation in 1998 with Excalibur #125- Meggan and Captain Britain were married, capping off the series. Kitty, Nightcrawler & Colossus were placed back onto the X-teams, which some of them hadn't been on for more than a DECADE. We'd see a reboot in 2001 with Ben Raab, the writer of the failing years of the original- it didn't last long. In 2004, they rebooted it with Claremont at the helm, dealing with Professor Xavier & Magneto's attempts to rebuild the devastated mutant nation of Genosha. It was cancelled just over a year later, as The House of M cross-over interfered. New Excalibur, also by Claremont, came out a year later, with some of the usual suspects (Sage & Psylocke, naturally)- it lasted two years. Ironically, Captain Britain himself would have a very critically-beloved run in a NON-Excalibur format as a member of MI:13, but it was too focused on using unpopular characters to really succeed, and lack of sales killed it after three Trades.

-What's odd about this book is that to me, Kitty and Nightcrawler were ALWAYS members of Excalibur, and were never X-Men. I mean, I KNEW on a fundamental level that they were former X-Men, but since I started reading at around 1991, they were already established Excalibur members, and stayed that way for years. I'd actually started and STOPPED collecting before they re-joined the team, and when they re-joined while I was doing my "read them on the stands and never buy them" phase, it actually felt WEIRD because I'd never associated the characters with the X-Men (while a spin-off, Excalibur almost NEVER dealt with the mainstream book, even avoiding Cross-Overs that involved major events in the mutant community, like X-Tinction Agenda, The X-Cutioner's Song and others).

MEGGAN (Meggan Braddock, nee' Puceanu, aka Glorianna)
Created By:
Alan Moore & Alan Davis
First Appearance: The Mighty World of Marvel #7 (Dec. 1983)
Role: Miss Fanservice, Shapeshifter, Alien Girl
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: Excalibur, MI-13
PL 9 (193)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 4 (+4)
Persuasion 5 (+5, +7 Attractive)
Persuasion 4 (+9) -- Flaws: Limited to Animals
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Animal Empathy, Attractive, Ranged Attack 9, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Empathy & Shapeshifting"
Mind Reading 8 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions) [8]
"Emotion Control" Affliction 4 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception Range +2) [12]
Comprehend 2 (Speak To & Understand Animals) [4]

"Elemental Control Via Earth Empathy"
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]
Morph 3 (Humanoid Forms) [15]
Shapeshift 8 [64]
(common powers: Super-Strong Forms, Elemental Forms, Energy Blasts, Earth/Air/Water Control, Mimicking Super-Humans)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Shapeshifting +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Ranged Attacks +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+9 Shapeshifting), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Vulnerable (Mind/Emotion Control)- Meggan is more easily controlled than most by Mental attacks.
Weakness (Leaving British Soil)- Meggan's health and powers decrease rapidly when she is not on English soil- the result could kill her.
Relationship (Brian Braddock)- Meggan has loved Captain Britain for years; his flirtacious relationship with Courtney Ross bothered her greatly. By comparison, she has flirted with both Nightcrawler and Colossus.
Quirk (Takes Expected Forms)- Meggan's empathy occasionally causes her powers to activate automatically, and she grows more attractive or more ugly based off of her emotional state, or others' perceptions of her.
Responsibility (Naiive)- Meggan was largely raised by the television, and is often clueless about current (or even recent) events (she did not know who Doctor Doom was, for example), and doesn't know how to act in certain situations.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 113 / Defenses: 16 (193)

-Not a big Meggan fan. Her costumes were at-best uninventive and weird-looking in a super-hero book, and her powers were just straight-up all over the place. She was kinda funny in Excalibur as the "Outsider" to human ways who was silly, shy and nervous all the time, but she paled in comparison to Kitty & Nightcrawler's characterization. Probably one of the lesser-known X-themed characters out there. Also, what's up with a Roma child growing up with natural blonde hair (even without shapeshifting, her totally normal form is just slightly more alien-looking than her regular "Pamela Anderson with pointy ears" look)?
-It says something that nearly everything involving Captain Britain after that early run on Excalibur tends to ignore the woman who became HIS WIFE in the finale of that book. I mean, she'd vanished for almost all of Captain Britain & MI-13 (she was thought-dead after sacrificing herself to save the universe in House of M), as well as numerous other revamps and uses of the guy- it's like Marvel wants to use Brian, but has no use for his wife, turning her into a kind of Sacrificial Girlfriend.
-What is it with these X-types and being pains in the ass to build? Problematically, Meggan basically had Powers As The Plot Demands, being a super-powerful Shapeshifter who could adapt to any situation, so she ends up having 45 points to put wherever she wants (usually copying another super-human, just growing big & strong monster-style, or blasting away with elemental powers), which is an expensive damn power (as it should be- she's apparently mimicked Colossus, Rachel Summers and even the SILVER SURFER once, but we'll just call that an Extra Effort instance to save my brain), in addition to some side benefits like reading emotional states (in MI: 13, she began altering the emotions of Demons in Hell, effortlessly turning them against their masters en masse, resulting in the creation of her own kingdom- Demons are apparently highly-vulnerable to Empathic attacks, and her own powers increased around this time). She's heavily Complicated, as she's fatally vulnerable to being away from English soil for too long, and I figure her for a PL 9 overall (at peak Toughness, she'd likely drop some Defenses to avoid breaking caps)- she never came across as that powerful- just versatile.

CYCLOPS (Scott Summers)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Team Leader, The Stoic Guy, The Alpha Couple (with Jean), The Tactician
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The X-Terminators
PL 12 (181)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 3 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+11)
Deception 6 (+7)
Expertise (Mutant Leader) 7 (+10)
Expertise (Tactics) 8 (+11)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Optic Blasts) 4 (+11)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 10 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Benefit 2 (Mutant Leader), Diehard, Equipment (X-Uniform- Protection & Communications), Fascinate (Deception), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Optic Blasts) 3, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Leadership, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover & Concealment), Ranged Attack 7, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Aim

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Optic Blasts"
"Calculate Angles" Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Calculations of Angles -2) [1]
"Summers Brother" Immunity 2 (His Own & Havok's Power, but not Vulcan's for some reason) [2]
"Jean's Lover-Boy" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Jean Grey) [1]

"Optic Blasts"
"Long-Range Beam" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2, Penetrating) (44) -- [48]
AE: "Standard Blast" Blast 11 (Feats: Accurate, Split, Ricochet 4) (Extras: Penetrating) (39)
AE: "Wide-Angle Beam" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (36)
AE: "Power Blast" Blast 12 (Extras: Penetrating 14) (40)
AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 10 (Extras: Multiattack) (30)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Optic Blast +13 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Power Blast +11 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Area Blasts +11-12 Area (+11-12 Damage, DC 26-27)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform), Fortitude +6, Will +11

Complications:
Relationship (Jean Grey)- Cyke fell in love at first sight with the beautiful redhead, and the two eventually became a couple after he finally got over his classic shyness. After a few tribulations (namely her DEATH), they finally married, and were happy for many years. Then he psi-cheated on her and she died. Again.
Relationship (Emma Frost)- Scott was attracted to Emma's attempts to have psionic flings with him, and the two actually hooked up after Jean's death. They even made out on her grave (apparently with Jean's blessing). They were a loving, if off-putting and weird, couple, but split up after a while.
Relationship (Madelyne Pryor & Nathan Summers)- Scott was married to an exact clone of Jean Grey for many years, and they even had a son. Scott finally retired from the X-Men to lead a life with his new family. Unfortunately, Scott found out Jean was alive again, and abandoned his wife and son to hang with his old squeeze, and then Maddie went nuts (understandable), pulled a Medea, became the Goblin Queen, and nearly destroyed the world. Nathan survived, but then got Techno-AIDS, got sent into the future, and became a grim & gritty time-travelling cybernetic mercenary who is now older than Scott himself.
Rivalry (Wolverine)- The two were on a collision course for many years, what with Logan being the most anti-authority person in history, and Scott being the definition of Yes-Man authority. They finally made a bit of peace after years. Logan loves Jean like Scott does, but ultimately had to suck it up and deal with it. They would split again during the Schism, as Logan formed his own school in defiance of Scott's militaristic approach to mutant protection.
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)- Scott is the primary adherent to the Dream, and fights for it as strongly as anyone else.
Relationship (Charles Xavier)- On one level, Xavier is the father Scott lost when his parents were believed killed in a plane crash. But Xavier casts a mighty shadow, and Scott could never quite come out from under it. Eventually, Scott realized that Charles himself had twisted his dream (a combination of past mis-usings of both Danger and Vulcan, Scott's long-lost brother), and took power for himself.
Responsibility (Leads the Team, Mutant Leader)- Cyclops has the lonely position of leadership over the X-Men, making him very unpopular at times, as he has to make the life-or-death tough calls. Eventually, he came to lead mutants as a WHOLE, once they became an endangered species. Now, hundreds of lives depend on him, as well as the survival of their entire species.
Power Loss/Uncontrolled Power- If Cyclops loses his Ruby-Quartz Visor (or replacement glasses), his powers will go out of control, blasting off at full power in a Cone Area Damage 12 effect at basically whatever his head is turned towards. The only way to turn it off is to close his eyes, becoming effectively Visually Unaware.
Enemy (Mister Sinister)- Nathaniel Essex has been obsessed with Scott & Jean's bloodlines for generations, and was responsible for Jean being cloned. Sinister even controlled the orphanage where Scott grew up!
Enemy (Apocalypse)- Apocalypse gave Scott's son Nathan the Techno-Organic Virus that got him sent into the future, where he became Cable.
Responsibility (Summers Family Tree)- *deep breath*... Scott Summers' family includes a plasma-controlling forgotten-brother, a green-haired almost-sister-in-law, a Space Pirate father, a dead mother, a dead telepathic wife who was also a Cosmic Being (but not really), a demon-worshipping clone of said wife who later died (then came back), a Future mercenary cyborg telepath for a son, a telepathic Cosmic Being for a daughter (but only in an alternate future), a telepathic super-powerhouse for a sort-of son (but only in an alternate timeline), a Space Emperor half-brother, a half-alien super-'90s half-brother (but not anymore), a Mutant Messiah adopted-granddaughter, and possibly more. I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody.
Disabled (Colourblind)- Cyclops wears a red visor, which prevents him from seeing various colours.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 68--34 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 52 / Defenses: 22 (181)

-Cyclops is kind of a iffy issue with X-fans. Some consider him a boring, flat character with one notable power, and thus they ignore him. Others (like me) worship him for what he is- the guy with the disadvantageous power who got stuck with the leadership job, and ended up making the most of it, becoming a necessary element to complete the team's dynamics- after all, they can't ALL be nutty weirdos. And when you think about it, Cyke has probably the most Leadership Feats of any character in comics, ever. Because while Captain America & Mr. Fantastic are just standard battlefield leaders ("you punch that guy! And you over there punch that OTHER guy!"), Slim is constantly giving "THIS is why he is the leader" moments- in Joss Whedon's Astonishing, and plenty in Claremont's era as well. Cyclops is so good because he has nothing else going for him- he isn't the greatest fighter like Cap, or the smartest like Reed, so leading is his one true focus.
-That said, Cyclops is also a fascinating character study. Riddled with standard "60s character" self-pity, he was stand-offish, uncharismatic, and kind of a dick to his teammates- it may surprise some fans, but I've head that Cyke was actually considered the COOLEST member of the team back in the day! It makes sense- Hank was studious, Bobby was immature, Warren was a bit generic, and Jean was weepy- Scott was an intense loner, effectively the prototype for countless Bad-Ass Loners to come.
-In fact, if I had to take a stab at it, I'd say Scott Summers is one of the Top Ten or Twenty most in-depth characters in all of comics, surpassing many of DC's A-League, and plenty of Marvel's as well. And not just because of that Family Tree, either (though that's a major defining trait if I ever saw one... Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor, the Phoenix, Rachel Summers, X-Man, Cable, Havok, Vulcan and God knows who else?). This is a guy who basically faithfully acted as Charles Xavier's Yes-Man for eons, never really voicing his own opinions, until FINALLY taking charge and commanding in his own fashion. He forged an alliance with much of the world's decimated mutant population, defended them against all comers, and did some dirty deeds to ensure their survival. Naturally, like Magneto & Xavier before him, his stint as Mutant Leader came with a price- He alienated countless teammates (Logan, Nightcrawler, The Beast), antagonized the human population with several shows of power (and open threats), and tried to manipulate the Phoenix Force- an act that resulted in him killing his own mentor while corrupted by ultimate power.
-I think what makes this era of Cyke's history so fascinating is that it's not only the most-important he's ever been (MAGNETO is taking orders FROM SCOTT), but you can see his point to a large extent- even if you don't agree with him taking a more militaristic approach, you can see WHY he's doing this. It's not like he's INVENTING the fact that there are dozens of paramilitary organizations out to wipe out the mutant population, or that the American government is actively spying on and building mutant-hunting Sentinels.
-Cyclops is proof of one of the great ironies: Despite being a simple blaster at heart, he was one of the hardest guys to stat up using the one system that's nearly perfect for ALL of comic books... but this was fixed entirely in 3rd Edition! Probably him & Green Lantern were among the hardest & weirdest to figure out. In this edition, he's just got the standard Blasts (Multiattack, Cone, Line & both an Accurate Standard and a Penetrating Power Blast, both can be therefore affected by Accurate & Power Attack), with a Complication for when he loses his Visor. MUCH simpler and easier.
-There's also his PL. The X-Men were the defining Gold Standard for PL 10 (150) "basic" heroes, but in 3e, most of them will go well over that. Cyke himself is sure as hell no PL 10- his Area Effects are LEGENDARILY powerful in Marvel Comics, equally the power of Iron Man's, so he ends up a PL 12 in my book these days. This guy can demolish a Sentinel in seconds just by taking off his glasses. He's damaged Stryfe, Magneto, the Hulk & others. That thing his high-powered, and in no way is Cyke weak in the accuracy department. Cyclops is the X-Men team leader for a reason. So he's PL 12 (182), but at the same point, he's also the living definition of a Glass Cannon, being PL 7.5 (not SO bad, but almost five Levels below what his max would be). He's got all kinds of combat Feats, allowing him to shift his caps around at will with his Blasts. The Blast itself is +11, with varied Area Effects & Penetrating on all of them. He can use Autofire if necessary (flicking the visor up and down), and has a Feat-based basic Blast with Ricochet, Precise, etc. Few Blasters are more versatile.
-Additional side things: He's immune to his & Havok's powers, he has a permanent CommLink up with Jean Grey that even master telepaths have a hard time putting down. He's a phenom of a team player, has great tactical skill and is physically VERY good as well.

CYCLOPS (Scott Summers)- Silver Age
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Team Leader, The Stoic Guy, The Alpha Couple (with Jean)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
PL 9 (132)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 3 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+8)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Tactics) 3 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Optic Blasts) 4 (+9)
Stealth 2 (+4)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Optic Blasts), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Optic Blasts"
"Calculate Angles" Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Calculations of Angles -2) [1]
"Summers Brother" Immunity 2 (His Own & Havok's Power, but not Vulcan's for some reason) [2]

"Optic Blasts"
"Long-Range Beam" Damage 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2, Penetrating) (36) -- [38]
AE: "Standard Blast" Blast 9 (Feats: Split, Ricochet 2) (Extras: Penetrating) (30)
AE: "Wide-Angle Beam" Damage 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (27)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Optic Blast +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Area Blasts +9 Area (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Jean Grey)- Cyke fell in love at first sight with the beautiful redhead, and the two eventually became a couple after he finally got over his classic shyness.
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)- Scott is the primary adherent to the Dream, and fights for it as strongly as anyone else.
Relationship (Charles Xavier)- On one level, Xavier is the father Scott lost when his parents were believed killed in a plane crash. But Xavier casts a mighty shadow, and Scott could never quite come out from under it.
Responsibility (Leads the Team)- Cyclops has the lonely position of leadership over the X-Men, making him very unpopular at times, as he has to make the life-or-death tough calls.
Power Loss/Uncontrolled Power- If Cyclops loses his Ruby-Quartz Visor (or replacement glasses), his powers will go out of control, blasting off at full power in a Cone Area Damage 12 effect. The only way to turn it off is to close his eyes, becoming effectively Visually Unaware.
Disabled (Colourblind)- Cyclops wears a red visor, which prevents him from seeing various colours.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 41 / Defenses: 17 (132)

-Cyclops around the Marvel Age of comics is still the Team Leader, but vastly inexperienced, unsure of himself, moody and less powerful. His Blasts are PL 9 (making him one level higher than the rest of the X-Men), but can be boosted with Power Attack.

MICROMAX (Scott Wright)
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Excalibur #44 (Dec. 1991)
Role: Forgotten '90s Hero, Shrinking Hero, Growth Guy
Group Affiliation: Excalibur, The Vanguard, F.I.-6, M.I.-13, M.I.-16
PL 9 (106)
STRENGTH 1/12 STAMINA 2/13 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Disk Jockey) 4 (+6)
Intimidation +0 (+2/+8 Full Size)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+4)
Technology 1 (+3)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Size Shifting"
"Small Size" Shrinking 16 (-4 Strength, Speed -2, +8 Defenses, +16 Stealth, -8 Intimidation) Linked to Enhanced Fighting 4 & Dodge 2 (42) -- [43]
AE: "Huge Size" Growth 10 (Str & Sta +10, +10 Mass, +5 Intimidation, -5 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -10 Stealth) -- (42 feet) (20)
Growth 3 (+13 Mass, +6 Intimidation, +1 Speed, -13 Stealth) -- (60 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Non-STR & STA Growths) (3)"Mass-Shifting" Morph 2 (Flaws: Limited to Male Shapes) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Small Size +11 (-3 Damage, DC 12)
Full Size +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +4
"Small Size" Dodge +11 (DC 11), Parry +15 (DC 25), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +4
"Full Size" Dodge -2 (DC 8), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +13, Fortitude +14, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Government Agent)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 51 / Defenses: 4 (106)

-Micromax kind of sucks. He's an Excalibur affiliate who is generally in the "Government Agent who ends up fighting the super-heroes because of an idiotic misunderstanding" vein of super-character, and he generally gets beaten up a lot. His entire history seems to list only one real feat to his name- he grew super-big and surprised the Super-Magic-God Necrom, leaving him vulnerable to other attacks. The rest of the time, he's just getting curbstomped. Like a lot of the guys from Marvel Cards Series IV, it's a total mystery as to why he got a Card of his own, beyond "it was a current storyline and we didn't want to just repeat the same few heroes over and over again in each edition").

-Micromax is PL 9 at full size, sure... but he suffers from the same weakness as almost all Growing Guys- a good enough shot from ANYONE can take him down, because pretty much any character can Power Attack with impunity on someone with -2 to Dodge and +2 to Parry (most heroes are around +8 to +12 in accuracy!).

MOIRA MacTAGGERT
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #96 (Dec. 1975)
Role: The Scientist, Team Doctor
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Muir Island X-Men, Excalibur
PL 6 (118), PL 10 (118) Scientist
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+3)
Athletics 2 (+2)
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+14)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+20)-- Flaws: Limited to Biology
Insight 4 (+7)
Perception 4 (+7)
Technology 7 (+15)
Treatment 11 (+18)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 10 (Muir Island Facility & Laboratory, Pulse Rifle +6), Inventor, Ranged Combat 5, Skill Mastery 2 (Science, Treatment), Ultimate Science Skill, Ultimate Treatment Skill

Equipment:
Pulse Rifle +6 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Pulse Rifle +5 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +1, Fortitude +2, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Joseph MacTaggert, Charles Xavier, Banshee)- Her husband, Joe, was kind of a tool. He beat Moira savagely, and likely once raped her. She led everyone to believe that she was widowed when he refused her a divorce, and hid his son's extistence.
Relationship (Charles Xavier)- Moira & Charles were engaged to be married years ago, but they split up for unknown reasons. He still harbors a degree of feelings towards her.
Relationship (Sean Cassidy- Banshee)- Banshee was Moira's only present-day love. The two disappeared off to Muir Island when he was written out of the book.
Relationship (Kevin MacTaggert, aka Proteus- Son)- Moira loved her son dearly, but his extremely dangerous mutant powers made him a threat to himself and others, and the resulting confinement (at his mother's hands, no less) drove him insane. Kevin's madness and eventual death are the greatest failures of Moira's life, and constantly haunt her.
Relationship (Rahne Sinclair, aka Wolfsbane- Foster Daughter)- Moira took the young Rahne into her care (ANOTHER retcon), having rescued her from an angry mob. She then convinced Xavier to re-open his school for The New Mutants, when the X-Men were feared dead.
Guilt (Altering Magneto's Mind)- Moira attempted to genetically-alter Magneto when he was placed in her care on Muir Island, attempting to prevent him from returning to villainy. She felt horrible afterwards, especially when Magneto FOUND OUT, and came at her for revenge.
Responsibility (The X-Men)- Moira believes in Charles Xavier's dream, despite not being a Mutant herself.
Obsession (Curing the Legacy Virus)- Moira was the most devoted adherent to finding the cure, especially once she became it's sole human victim.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (118)

-Moira MacTaggert's (not MacTaggart, apparently) been part of the X-Mythos for so long, it's weird to not have her around these days. Introduced WAY, way back, as a "housekeeper" who was really more of an assistant for Charles Xavier (which makes sense- Downton Abbey has made it clear to me that you could not POSSIBLY run an estate the size of Xavier's without a buttload of extra help), Moira was cranky, loudmouthed and knew how to fight (and push around even Charles when he was acting up)- basically everything Chris Claremont has a fetish for. Hooking up with Banshee, she was instrumental to the whole "Proteus" storyline, one of the MANY truly awesome stories from this era of the team, and was still a major part of the books when she moved back to Muir Island. One of the top, A-League "supporting cast" characters in comics, she was.
-What's funny, of coruse, is that she was added as a HUGE Retcon, giving Xavier this entire history that didn't exist in the 1960s. Fans never seemed to mind, as it was "only" ten years ago and nobody really cared about the '60s stuff anymore anyhow. It's just funny to think of how much complaining there'd be if they'd given a MAJOR character an unknown ex-fiancee THESE days. Hell, even I'D be complaining about a Retcon like that. Ya could really only do that kind of stuff in an earlier era, and only then with characters that hadn't been super-popular.
-She went crazy under the Shadow King's power, led the "Muir Island X-Men" of varying C & D-league X-members, helped out the New Mutants, contracted the Legacy Virus (its only human victim), and was finally killed in a pretty epic set of events that led to the elimination of that decade-long plot development in the mutant books (unfortunately, Grant Morrison wanted to use her for his X-team, but couldn't, much like Colossus). I can't say she didn't live out every aspect of usefulness for a supporting cast member in a comic, that's for sure. Even so, it's odd that somebody who was once a HUGE part of the team is no longer around- her place has sort of been taken by people like Danger, Dr. Kavita Rao and others, but Moira herself is kind of the Ur-Example of "The Non-Super Helper".
-Moira isn't a combat character, but is certainly no slouch, being a match for elite police officers or Thugs as long as she has that big gun (in an X-Men annual, she blasted Richard "Don't call me Dick!" Rider out of the sky) she had during the Muir Island X-Men days. Otherwise, she's just a TRULY elite supporting cast as far as genetics goes, being a master even beyond Hank McCoy's level. Her Treatment is about as high as it gets in the Marvel Universe as well, and she's overall extremely intelligent.

SUNFIRE (Shiro Yoshida)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Don Heck
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #64 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Flying Blaster, Supreme Dick
Country of Origin: Japan
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Big Hero 6, The Pacific Overlords, The Marauders, Alpha Flight
PL 11 (185)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Aerobatics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Japanese Lore) 8 (+10)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Plasma) 2 (+9)
Technology 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Roll, Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Plasma) 3, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Plasma Generation"

Plasma Blast 13 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (40) -- [45]
AE: "Plasma Burst" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (33)
AE: "Plasma Steam" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
AE: "Plasma Wave" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (33)
AE: "Aura Boost" Aura 6 (24)
AE: "Melt" Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Ranged, Objects Only +0) (20)

Plasma Aura 4 [16]
Immunity 10 (Radiation Effects) [10]
Flight 7 (240 mph) [14]
Senses 1 (Infravision) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Plasma Blast +9 (+13 Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Plasma +11 Area (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Plasma Aura +11 (+6-10 Damage, DC 21-25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Reputation (Giant Douchebag)- Even other super-heroes can't stand him. Sunfire doesn't last on super-teams for very long, and he has no friends.
Responsibility (Honour)
Prejudice (The United States)- Shiro's mother died of radiation poisoning following the Atomic Bomb drop on Japan during WWII (HOW old would that make him now?), turning Shiro against the country, despite his own father being the ambassador to the U.N. and much more tolerant of Americans.
Motivation (Japan's Protection)- As the most notable Japanese super-hero, Shiro is devoted to its defense, as well as its pride. Slights against his home country will be met with Namor-level rage.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 86 / Defenses: 14 (185)

-Good ol' Sunfire's probably been one of the most consistently-portrayed douchebags in comics, on the super-hero side. Maybe the anti-Japan fervor that was still fairly apparent in the U.S. in the late-60s helped make him such? I don't know about that, but he was a tool in his first appearance (goaded by an evil Uncle into declaring war on the United States), he was a tool on the All-New, All-Different Giant Size X-Men, and he's a tool nowadays as well. The retarded costume (what the hell is that mask supposed to be, anyways?) probably didn't help matters either- and nor did the fact that Chris Claremont obviously didn't care about him, as Sunfire REALLY didn't show up very much in the X-books at all for a very long time. In any case, he's been a long-standing symbol of Japan in Marvel (DC, which has fewer foreign heroes of import, just had Rising Sun and the female Doctor Light, herself a giant bitch that went out of her way to be disliked), for better or worse, and still shows up in X-related books since his debut, if only in the most minor of roles, since no writer has ever really gone all-out with him.
-His best showing ever is pretty much owed entirely to Joe Mad, who designed the awesome "All Firey" version of Sunfire for the Age of Apocalypse storyline, which only took Marvel TEN YEARS to finally give to the "main line" Sunfire. Of course, then it de-powered him, gave his abilities to Rogue, and then made him an evil servant of Apocalypse, using the name of "The Horseman of Famine", before sticking him in his old terrible costume for The Uncanny Avengers in a role so minor I FORGOT HE WAS ON THE TEAM despite just having read comics featuring him. 90% of the time he's just seen as a temporary character in some other book, and even THEN he's usually the antagonist at the beginning. So not much on the Japanese front for super-heroes- given how much much comics was getting inspiration from manga & anime at one point, it's a bit odd that comics are so bad at mimicking it.
-A remarkably powerful hero, Sunfire fully deserves PL 11 status, and packs a MEAN punch with his Blasts. His Plasma has a wide range of shapes (basically Line, Burst & Cone, plus a standard Blast), is clearly Penetrating, and has a few side powers. Then there's his Plasma Aura. He's been reguarly shown to be one of the most powerful Blaster Guys in Marvel Comics, and expect him to make full and frequent use of Power Attack. Not a hero to be trifled with.
-As "Famine", Sunfire's Plasma powers are replaced with a fatiguing-"Famine" effect- Affliction 11 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception, Cumulative, Sustained +2) [55]

NIGHTCRAWLER (Kurt Wagner)
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: The Swashbuckler, Teleporter, Lady Bait, The Fun Guy
Country of Origin: Germany
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Excalibur, The Catholic Church
PL 10 (183)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 10
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+19)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Close Combat (Swords) 3 (+13)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 2 (+4)
Expertise (Catholic Priest) 7 (+9)
Insight 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Sleight of Hand 5 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+14)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Daze (Deception), Defensive Roll, Equipment 2 (3 Swords), Evasion 2, Fast Grab, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed, Sword), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Instant Up, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Second Chance (Falling), Seize Initiative, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork, Ultimate Acrobatics Skill, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
“Mutant Powers: Teleportation & Night-Living”
"BAMF!" Teleport 2 (Feats: Change Direction, Change Velocity, Increased Mass 3- 400 lbs., Turnabout) (Extras: Extended- 4 miles) [12]

"Hit Everyone" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 4, Selective 4) (8) -- [9]
AE: "Nauseating 'Port" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Flaws: Tiring) (4)

Movement 2 (Sure-Footed, Wall-Crawling) [4]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]
"Prehensile Tail" Extra Limb 1 [1]

"Creature of the Night"
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision) [1]
"Blending into the Shadows" Concealment 2 (Visual Senses) (Flaws: Limited to Darkness, Blending) [1]

Equipment:
"Triple-Rapiers" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Multiattack 4) (Inaccurate -1) (5)
AE: "Rapiers" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split 2) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Rapiers +13 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Triple-Rapiers +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +14

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Various)- Kurt is... kind of a pimp, really. He was with his stepsister (... ew?) Amanda Sefton for many years. He's also crushed on teammate Meggan, and dated Cerise.
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Without an Image Inducer, Kurt is among the more obvious mutants out there, with dark blue fur all over his body, and a tail.
Responsibility (Catholic Priest)- Nightcrawler is extremely devoted to religion, and is heavily-involved with the Catholic church.
Weakness (Excess Teleportation)- If Kurt Teleports extensively more than a few times, he will become Fatigued. Going North/South is also easier than East/West, thanks to the magnetic lines of the Earth.
Quirk (Stench)- Nightcrawler's Teleport makes a "BAMF!" noise and leaves behind the smell of rotten eggs. As such, it's a little tricky to be stealthy with it, and others will know where he's been.
Relationship (Parents)- Kurt's mother is the evil shapeshifter Mystique, and his father the evil Hell-borne Demon Azazel- he does not get along with either of them.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 33 / Powers: 30 / Defenses: 17 (180)

-What can ya say about Kurt Wagner? Such an iconic look and weird power-set are truly unique in comics, which has gone a great deal towards making him one of the most popular X-Men of all time, particularly since he is the weakest member out of practically the ENTIRE roster (think about it: the least offensively-useful power, he's just a kinda-tough guy who teleports and maybe uses rapiers sometimes). And yet, being the one guy who was happy with his lot in life (as opposed to self-pitying Scott, moody Jean, aging Banshee, bitter Wolverine, sad Peter & angry Kitty) made him stand out from the crowd even more than his weird appearance did.
-You know you're pretty cool when even your creator is basically in love with you. Dave Cockrum used Kurt as his 'net avatar for years before he died, and proudly took his little creation from DC (Nightcrawler was originally an alien supposed to be in a Cockrum-drawn Legion of Super-Heroes Spin-Off... but deemed "too alien") to Marvel, something I'm sure DC was QUITE pleased with after the X-Books became not only the most popular books at Marvel, but were more-loved and longer-lasting than ANY series DC had ever put out. Claremont & Byrne used to joke that Cockrum, who was co-creator with Claremont for quite some time, was so in love with the character that he continuously would add new powers to Kurt's repertoire- though I think the only time that REALLY happened was the weird Night-Blending, which almost never comes up. Oddly, Dave hated the religious aspect the character took on; he imagined Kurt to be the happy-go-lucky Errol Flynn-worshipping swashbuckler of the team, not a serious worshipper-type.
-Me, I liked Kurt, but I didn't get alot of access to him as a kid. See, when *I* was a lad, it was the Gold & Blue Strike Force era of the team, and Kurt had been out of the X-books for upwards of five/six years by that point. Hell, I was barely even aware he WAS an X-Man, such was his status as an "Excalibur Guy". Especially since I didn't get Excalibur, since it was only in the specialty shop, which was across town, as opposed to the easy-access London Drugs & Mac's stores a block away from my home. So yeah, no Nightcrawler for me. It was actually very weird for me to see Kurt show up as an X-Man, as he usually wasn't even involved in CROSS-OVERS. Marvel FINALLY revealed his true parentage, after decades of hemming and hawing over it (Claremont wanted Mystique to have shapechanged into a dude to impregnate Destiny- Marvel kiboshed that one in a hurry; his other idea was to have his father be Nightmare, but the Dr. Strange editor refused to just give up one of his main villains like that). Of course, most people were unenthused when his daddy turned out to be a red demon named Azazel (though the X-Men: First Class film actually ended up using the guy).
-For powers, Kurt is only barely a PL 10 in many ways (basically being a fast, accurate guy who doesn't even match his PL offensively), focused around being hard to hit, and being very good at fighting. He's quite strong (his tail can lift people off the ground) and fairly tough for a human-level guy, and his Teleport is arguably the weakest in all of comics, since the writers were VERY, VERY CAREFUL not to have him be a "Team Game-Breaker" able to just get the whole team out of ever possible situation- even 'Porting a teammate out of a situation would leave him exhausted, and he had tremendous difficulty with range and even teleporting behind things if he didn't know what was on the other side (this makes his Teleport only rank 2- he has to go Extended to bring it to full strength). He's a fantastic team player though, designed to avoid any blows being rained down on him while distracting the enemy and hitting a bunch of times, even with THREE Rapiers if necessary.
-He gets a ton of extra powers as well, since there was a point in the early X-Books that Dave Cockrum added a new power seemingly every other month. John Byrne even joked that the staff called it "Nightcrawler and Friends" for a while, but it's John Byrne (who even Cockrum's widow has gone out on a limb and called a gigantic piece of human waste who frequently lied about anything and everything to make himself look better), so who knows? In any case, he's got a swack of miniature powers out there, from low-level Blending in the dark, to Wall-Crawling, to a Tail, to his weird Nauseating Attack that brutally tires him out.

STACY X (Miranda Leevald)
Created By:
Joe Casey & Tom Raney
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #399 (Nov. 2001)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The New Warriors, The X-Ranch
Status: Alive (But With No Hands)
Role: Mutant Hooker
PL 9 (129)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+10)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Hooker) 6 (+6)
Insight 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Daze (Deception), Fascination (Deception), Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Pheromone Control & Snake-Skin"
"Snake-Skin" Protection 3 [3]

"Pheromones"
"Orgasm/Vomit Inducing" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless/Incapacitated) (Extras: Reaction +3, Extra Condition) (32) -- [34]
AE: "Adrenaline Shot" Enhanced Stamina 4 (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) Linked to Enhanced Advantages: Great Endurance (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) (9)
AE: Healing 6 (12)

Mind-Reading 6 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pheromones +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+10 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Miranda has snake-like skin, and has been seen shedding it.
Power Loss (Pheromones)- Stacy X requires skin contact to utilize her powers- someone wearing full armour would be immune.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 12 (129)

-I don't know much about Stacy X, but she seems pretty crappy. You know you suck when you get de-powered by M-Day barely a year after your debut, and you die horribly in the subsequent "De-Powered Mutants With Tech-Powers" series that results. She was a "mutant hooker" that swore she "never had sex for money" (presumably either the writer didn't look up what "prostitute" meant, or else she just orgasmerates men without doing the intercourse, via her powers), tried to seduce all her teammates, and eventually just quit the team altogether.
-She got de-powered after M-Day, and then started ACTUALLY sleeping with men for money, but joined The New Warriors as "Ripcord", but was soon killed in action- this was undone in 2011's "Vengeance" Limited Series (something so big I've never heard of it). She seems like more of a collection of weird fetishes and a writer wanting to get his rocks off writing the sluttiest character possible.
-Stacy-X is a more interesting build than she ever was a character. She's apparently a great martial artist for no apparent reason, getting to knock around Wolverine to show how good she was (The Worf Affect, according to TV Tropes, denotes characters that are built up as bad-asses exclusively so other characters can beat on them to show how good THEY are), so she's got a few Combat Advantages, in addition to a pretty handy mutant power. Through skin contact, she can give people extreme pleasure or nausea (both the same power in M&M, really), and I threw the Aura Extra set onto it.

RIPCORD (Miranda Leevald)
Created By:
Joe Casey & Tom Raney
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #399 (Nov. 2001)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The New Warriors, The X-Ranch
Status: Alive (But With No Hands)
Role: Mutant Hooker
PL 9 (111)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+10)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Hooker) 6 (+6)
Insight 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Daze (Deception), Fascination (Deception), Taunt

Powers:
"Super-Gear" (Flaws: Removable) [25]
Protection 2 (2)
"Frog-Springs" Leaping 3 (60 feet) (3)

"Web Shooters" Snare 8 (Feats: Split) (17) -- (18)
AE: "Tentacles" Damage 5 (Feats: Reach 3) (8)

"Slyde Powers"
"Sliding Over Land" Speed 4 (30 mph) (4)
"Cannot Be Grabbed" Immunity 5 (Ensarement Effects) (5)
-- (31 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pheromones +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+10 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Miranda has snake-like skin, and has been seen shedding it.
Power Loss (Pheromones)- Stacy X requires skin contact to utilize her powers- someone wearing full armour would be immune.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 25 / Defenses: 12 (111)

-As Ripcord, Stacy X gathers a lot of other characters' gimmicks onto a special suit.

PYRO (Saint-John Allerdyce)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #141 (Jan. 1981)
Role: Recurring Villain, Elementalist, Awesome Name For a Crappy Villain
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Freedom Force
PL 10 (121)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Government Agent) 3 (+4)
Expertise (Reporter) 5 (+6)
Expertise (Writer) 5 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Insight 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Fire) 4 (+10)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Control Fire"
Immunity 10 (Flame Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Those Under His Control) [5]

"Fire Powers" (All Have Flaws: Requires Existing Flame)
Fire Blast 10 (Feats: Split, Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating) (22) -- [28]
AE: Fire Control 10 (Feats: Precise) (21)
AE: "Flame Shapes" Blast 10 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (21)
AE: "Fire Wave" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (20)
AE: "Fire Stream" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (20)
AE: "Explosive Fireball" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (20)
AE: "Fireflash" Dazzle Visuals 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (20)

"Pyro Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Protection 3 (3)
"Flame-Throwers" Damage 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (12)
-- (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Fire Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Fire Stuff +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Fireflash +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+5 Costume), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (The Blob)- The two are pretty close, as bad guys go.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 14 (121)

-Pyro always bugged me. I mean, that's the greatest name for a fire-based guy you could EVER come up with, thus nobody else cool ever gets to use it. And then they stick it on the worst guy ever. An evil NOVELIST AND REPORTER? REALLY? That was the BEST they could do? The goofy costume doesn't help. So he's just a hench-villain following orders, and never really got any kind of character depth or focus- and keep in mind this is a Claremont/Byrne guy- right from the PEAK ERA of the book. In a sense, he & Avalanche kind of represent that most generic kind of villain- just a name and a costume. Eventually he just turned good in the end and died from the Legacy Virus while saving Senator Kelly's life. That's his entire run. Nobody even CARED. The movies did him so much better- as a wild-child from a broken home, easily shifted to Magneto's line of thinking through a great bit of dialogue ("What's your name?" "John." "No... what's your REAL name?").
-Pyro is very limited in many ways, needing existing flames (hence the Flamethrower costume) to use virtually any of his powers. This ends up making him much cheaper than he'd normally be, and he can still pull off massive +10 Damage Area effects all over the place. He's got lower stats across the board, though, and folds like a card table in a real fight, especially if he starts taking damage. Freedom Force was a MAJOR threat in battle, but largely through teamwork and the use of Gamebreakers like Spiral & Destiny.

QUICKSILVER (Pietro Maximoff)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #4 (March 1964)
Role: The Speedster, The Jerkass
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The Avengers, X-Factor, The Avengers Academy
Avengers Grade: C-Level
PL 10 (156)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10/14 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 3 (+5)
Deception 8 (+8)
Expertise (Current Events) 3 (+4)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Improved Disarm, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Super-Speed"
Enhanced Fighting 5 [10]
Enhanced Advantages 18: Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion 2, Follow-Up Strike, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative 4, Power Attack, Takedown 2, Uncanny Dodge [18]
Enhanced Dodge 7 [7]
Enhanced Parry 1 [1]
"Mach 5-ish" Speed 11 (4,000 mph) [11]
Quickness 7 [7]

"Super-Speed Feats"
"Wall & Water Run" Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling, Water-Walking) (Flaws: Limited to While Running) [2]
Immunity 1 (Friction Heat) [1]
"Cyclone Suffocation" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (16) -- [20]
AE: "Jetstream" Move Object 6 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Touch Range) (12)
AE: "Rapid-Punches" Strength-Damage +3 (Extras: Multiattack 5) (8)
AE: "Nail Everyone in Range" Strength-Damage +3 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst 5, Selective 5) (13)
AE: "Catch Projectiles" Deflect 12 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Super-Speed +15 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Rapid-Punches +15 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Suffocation +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Whirlwind Attack +5 Area (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +20

Defenses:
Dodge +8/+15 (DC 18-25), Parry +10/+15 (DC 20-25), Toughness +3 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +6

Complications:
Reputation (Enormous Tool)- Pietro is a very unpleasant person to be around, even when he's a super-hero. He also does some very evil things- it was he who set of The House of M, by manipulating his sister.
Relationship (The Scarlet Witch)- Pietro is extremely overprotective of his sister, and doesn't like her hanging around with guys he doesn't approve of. It... can get creepy.
Relationship (Crystal- Ex-Wife)- Pietro married a member of the Inhuman Royal Family, but he neglected her for some Inhuman Militia because he's a tool, and so she cheated on him with A NORMAL HUMAN (the guy who sold Vision & The Scarlet Witch their house).
Relationship (Luna- Daughter)- Pietro rarely sees his human little girl, who usually stays with her mom.
Responsibility (Trapped in a Slow World)- Quicksilver is frequently annoyed by how slow everyone else around him moves. He says it's like constantly being stuck in line behind somebody who doesn't know how to use an ATM.
Secret (It Wasn't a Skrull)- Quicksilver used The Secret Invasion to blame a Skrull imposter for various illegal and immoral actions of his- only a few others know that this is a lie.
Relationship (Magneto- Father)- Quicksilver's father is the most infamous Mutant who has ever lived, and a notorious villain. Pietro was once beholden to him, but eventually rejected his father, only to fall victim to villainy's embrace himself.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 77 / Defenses: 12 (156)

-Pietro's a weird thing in comics, representing Marvel's only full-fledged attempt at a super-speedster, yet he's at something like 1/200th of The Flash's capabilities, and has always been a second-stringer hero, the only one of the "New Avengers" line-up that DIDN'T go on to be a classic (Vision, Wanda & Hawkeye all made the grade from the late '60s era to become beloved long-running characters). Even his "I'm the son of Magneto" push never really amounts to much, leading to a few solo runs here and there (mostly lame or forgotten, like his post M-Day stuff), but ultimately, he's always too much of a dick to be likeable, and gets shunted to a team story here or there instead- runs in Avengers Academy and whatever the h. Some of his best stuff was on Peter David's X-Factor, but as that was the butt-monkey and low-seller of the X-line, even THAT didn't really do much for him. At least it went a long way to explain WHY he was such an asshole (basically, his life is essentially like being trapped behind a slow person in a line-up at the ATM 24/7).
-Power-wise, he's pretty easy to stat, and his power levels are pretty explicitly given in the comics (Supersonic speed, but much less than the near-Light Speed Force users of DC), so he's easy there. I gave him a handful of the Alt-Effects there too, including a Cyclone Suffocation, Multiattack punches, a pushing stream, a Whirlwind Attack that hits everyone, and the ability to Deflect projectile attacks. He's not entirely efficient for his PL (Defensive Roll is much worse than Protection, and he makes PL 9.5 on offense), but he's still not someone to screw around with in combat. He's just as hard to hit as fricking SPIDER-MAN, who is one of the defining "hard to hit" guys in all of comics, and he gains a metric ton of Combat Advantages as a result of his Super-Speed, nearly all defensive.
-For some reason, DCA's Flash has crappy hand-to-hand accuracy. Well, not CRAPPY, but only +10, and this is a guy who's so fast, he can hit you before you even see him. So I gave Quicksilver some really good hand-to-hand accuracy.

ICEMAN (Robert "Bobby" Drake)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Team Joker, Third-Tier X-Man
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The X-Terminators, The Defenders, The Champions
PL 10 (229)
STRENGTH
2/6 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Accounting) 3 (+3)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Ice) 4 (+10)
Technology 2 (+2)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Daze (Deception), Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Ice), Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Ice Control"
"Iced Up" Protection 5 [5]
"The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway" Immunity 10 (Cold Effects) [10]
"Ice Slides" Flight 3 (16 mph) (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Platform) [6]
Regeneration 10 (Flaws: Source- Water) [5]
Senses 1 (Infravision) [1]
Movement 1 (Sure-Footed) (Flaws: Limited to Ice) [1]

"Ice Bonds" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Ranged) (41) -- [57]
Dynamic AE: "Ice Wave" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 60ft. Cone) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Stream" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 30ft. Line) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slick" Affliction 10 (Strength or Agility; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (21)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slick" Affliction 10 (Strength or Agility; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Shapeable +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (21)
Dynamic AE: "Frozen Fractals" Create Ice 8 (Feats: Dynamic, Innate, Precise) (Extras: Continuous) (27)
Dynamic AE: Environment 5 (500 feet) (Impede Movement, Visibility, Cold 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (21)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slab" Blast 8 (16)
AE: "Cold Wave" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Fortitude Save) (30)
AE: "Make Brittle" Weaken Toughness 8 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects Only +0) (16)

"Water Form" (Activation -2) [-2]
Insubstantial 1 [5]
Elongation 2 [2]
Swimming 5 (8 mph) [5]
Immunity 1 (Drowning) [1]
Enhanced Skills 4: Stealth 4 (+7) [2]

"Enlarged Form" (Alt-Effect of Water Form) [1]
Growth 4 (Str & Toughness +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Flaws: Source- Requires Water) (4)

"Ice Golems" Summon 5 (Extras: Active, 8 Minions +6, Variable- Ice Creatures) [50]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Enlarged Form +7 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Ice Bonds +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Ice Snares +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Ice Slab +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Cold Wave +10 Area (+10 Fortitude Damage, DC 25)
Brittle-ize +10 (+8 Ranged Weaken, DC 18)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+8 Iced Up, +12 Enlarged Form), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)
Relationship (Opal Tanaka)- They were together during a large chunk of X-Factor's run. Naturally, her relatives were Yakuza Cyborgs, and this proved a complication. The split up before Bobby rejoined the X-Men.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- They had a recent thing, but it ended quickly when Bobby didn't back her up and insisted the Original X-Men needed to go back to their own time. To quote Chris Claremont: "Why would a guy made of ICE go out with a girl who has a pet DRAGON?"
Relationship (Polaris)- Bobby crushed on her, but she only had eyes for Havok. Same with Annie Gazakhanian
Relationship (Mystique)- No really, they played this up once- Raven found herself actually having feelings for Bobby after manipulating him. It didn't last long.
Relationship (Other X-Men)- Bobby has formed a few close friendships since the '90s, though they tend to get forgotten by the next writer- he's been close to The Beast, Rogue & Cannonball.
Reputation (Immature Oaf)- Bobby doesn't take things very seriously at times, and this tends to irk people. Despite being one of the oldest X-Men, he acts like one of the youngest.
Responsibility (Living up to Potential)- Bobby tends to just not do as well as he should- out of the Original Five X-Men, Scott became the Mutant Leader, Jean became the Team Mom and Phoenix, The Beast became one of the best human/mutant relations people ever as well as a brilliant scientist and Avenger, and Warren is wealthy and has led various teams. Bobby's just kind of... there.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 149 / Defenses: 19 (229)

-Iceman's got an unusual spot in comic history: He's one of the very first "Ice Guy" superheroes, and EASILY the most famous. He got a good run in the X-Men films as a handsome young student. AND he's a '60s Lee/Kirby original, yet has never attained the fame of most of his brethren. You can chalk it up to various things: the relative lack of popularity the initial book had, his goofy-ass appearance (he looked like a SNOWMAN in BOOTIES at first, then shifted to a "blocky, lamer Silver Surfer" look), runs in The Champions & X-Factor (themselves C-level books), and the general sense that he was never treated with any respect. Nearly every X-character gets tons of feats in the early '90s Gold & Blue Strike Forces... except Bobby. The poor guy just hung around Archangel & Colossus, saying goofy things, and was generally just a side-character compared to whom the writers WANTED to push. It probably doesn't help that, as John Byrne has noted, Iceman is surprisingly hard to draw (which shouldn't be SO surprising- ice is one of the most notoriously-difficult things out there to draw), so artists probably often begged their writers not to include too much "Iceman Stuff".
-This changed slightly when Emma Frost took him over, and did about a dozen "Super" Ice Feats, and Joe Madureira started drawing him in a giant-size ice-shifting form that made him look WAY cooler. "Finally he doesn't SUCK anymore!" was even a Wizard quote, as even THEY acknowledged Iceman's prior lameness. Nowadays, he's a core X-Man still, though he still never quite gets the push to the next level he needs. He's acknowledged as an ultra-powerful Omega Level mutant, and gets to show it fairly often (lately, he's gained the crazy extra ability to SUMMON ICE GOLEMS, which triples his usefulness in battles- but I don't think Jason Aaron even realized just how over-powering this could actually become, and how troubling it could become later), but "Eternal Supporting Cast" seems to be his fate.
-His luck with women is even worse. He's lost TWO women to Havok (Polaris & Annie the Nurse), Mystique did her standard "flirt & destroy" on him, he had lame "just so he has SOME subplot" Opal Tanaka in X-Factor, etc... he DID manage to accomplish the dreams of fanboys the world over by hooking up with Kitty Pryde, but that only lasted like a year or two. Though ultimately, Bobby is one of those guys who gets stuck in a permanent holding pattern due to his status as "The Jokester" on his team- I've read at least three or four instances of Bobby sitting down and going "NO! It's time to SHAPE UP and stop being so immature, and finally live up to my TRUE POTENTIAL!"... and then Back-To-Basics Syndrome will rear its ugly head and there's Bobby moping about failing again, or being a joker.
-Iceman could almost be considered a PL 11 character, as he's been described as an Omega-Level mutant, but he just never quite GOT THERE and stayed there, y'know? As THE Ice Guy in all of comics, he's got pretty much every feat you could imagine, from simply blasting people with chunks of it, freezing them, KOing them with sheer cold, blocking attacks, making solid metal objects hyper-brittle, tripping people, hampering movement, etc. He can even grow to a larger size now, and shift to water (shifting to Vapor leaves him exhausted, so I'll call that Extra Effort/Power Stunt)! He's immune to all Cold himself, he can "see" cold (infravision), he's hard to trip himself (the guy STANDS on ice, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't just slip & fall on the stuff), etc. His "Ice Slide" is pretty handy as well. Most of these are Dynamic Alternate Effects, meaning he can do several things at once, dropping some ranks in Snare to continue his Environmental Effects, and stuff like that. A few are mere regular Alt-Effects (like making things brittle), so he can ONLY do them at once.
-Recent times have seen Bobby gain the VERY-pricey ability to CREATE ICE GOLEMS, meaning he's now basically added a better version of Jamie Madrox's powers onto someone who was already expensive. At one point, he was seen walking around on an Ice VOLTRON, which I'll choose to call a one-off, since it's only happened once.

ICE GOLEM
Role:
Summoned Minion
PL 6 (69)- Minion Rank 5
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA -- AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
None

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Ice Creature"
Immunity 40 (Cold Effects, Fortitude Effects) [40]
Protection 6 [6]
Movement 1 (Sure-Footed) (Flaws: Limited to Ice) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +6, Fortitude --, Will +0

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 00--0 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 4 (69)

ICEMAN (Robert "Bobby" Drake)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Team Joker, Third-Tier X-Man
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The X-Terminators, The Defenders, The Champions
PL 10 (163)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Accounting) 3 (+3)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Ice) 4 (+10)
Technology 2 (+2)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Daze (Deception), Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Ice), Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Ice Control"
"Iced Up" Protection 5 [5]
"The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway" Immunity 10 (Cold Effects) [10]
"Ice Slides" Flight 3 (16 mph) (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Platform) [6]
Regeneration 6 (Flaws: Source- Water) [3]
Senses 1 (Infravision) [1]
Movement 1 (Sure-Footed) (Flaws: Limited to Ice) [1]

"Ice Bonds" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Ranged) (41) -- [57]
Dynamic AE: "Ice Wave" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 60ft. Cone) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Stream" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 30ft. Line) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slick" Affliction 10 (Strength or Agility; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (21)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slick" Affliction 10 (Strength or Agility; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Shapeable +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (21)
Dynamic AE: "Frozen Fractals" Create Ice 8 (Feats: Dynamic, Innate, Precise) (Extras: Continuous) (27)
Dynamic AE: Environment 5 (500 feet) (Impede Movement, Visibility, Cold 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (21)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slab" Blast 8 (16)
AE: "Cold Wave" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Fortitude Save) (30)
AE: "Make Brittle" Weaken Toughness 8 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects Only +0) (16)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Ice Bonds +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Ice Snares +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Ice Slab +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Cold Wave +10 Area (+10 Fortitude Damage, DC 25)
Brittle-ize +10 (+8 Ranged Weaken, DC 18)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+8 Iced Up), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)
Relationship (Opal Tanaka)- They were together during a large chunk of X-Factor's run. Naturally, her relatives were Yakuza Cyborgs, and this proved a complication. The split up before Bobby rejoined the X-Men.
Relationship (Polaris)- Bobby crushed on her, but she only had eyes for Havok. Same with Annie Gazakhanian
Relationship (Other X-Men)- Bobby has formed a few close friendships since the '90s, though they tend to get forgotten by the next writer- he's been close to The Beast, Rogue & Cannonball.
Reputation (Immature Oaf)- Bobby doesn't take things very seriously at times, and this tends to irk people. Despite being one of the oldest X-Men, he acts like one of the youngest.
Responsibility (Living up to Potential)- Bobby tends to just not do as well as he should- out of the Original Five X-Men, Scott became the Mutant Leader, Jean became the Team Mom and Phoenix, The Beast became one of the best human/mutant relations people ever as well as a brilliant scientist and Avenger, and Warren is wealthy and has led various teams. Bobby's just kind of... there.
Accident (Powers)- Bobby's powers were in potential overload for a time, and he required a special belt to help control them.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 83 / Defenses: 19 (163)

-This is a decidely-more NORMAL version of Iceman, dropping all the Growth and Water Form stuff that I personally have never seen, and only read about, as well as the most-recent upgrades. It's more simple and easy-to-use.

ICEMAN (Robert "Bobby" Drake)- Original Version
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Team Joker, Third-Tier X-Man
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
PL 8 (119)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+6)
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Ice) 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Ice Control"
"Iced Up" Protection 4 [4]
Immunity 10 (Cold Effects) [10]
"Ice Slides" Flight 3 (16 mph) (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Platform) [6]
Movement 1 (Sure-Footed) (Flaws: Limited to Ice) [1]

"Ice Bonds" Affliction 8 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Ranged) (33) -- [48]
Dynamic AE: "Ice Wave" Affliction 8 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 60ft. Cone) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Stream" Affliction 8 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slick" Affliction 8 (Strength or Agility; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (9)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slick" Affliction 8 (Strength or Agility; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (9)
Dynamic AE: Create Ice 5 (Feats: Dynamic, Innate, Precise) (Extras: Continuous) (18)
Dynamic AE: Environment 3 (100 feet) (Impede Movement, Visibility, Cold 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (13)
Dynamic AE: "Ice Slab" Blast 7 (14)
AE: "Make Brittle" Weaken Toughness 4 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects Only +0) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Ice Bonds +8 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Ice Snares +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Ice Slab +8 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Brittle-ize +8 (+4 Ranged Weaken, DC 14)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2 (+5 Iced Up), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)
Reputation (Immature Oaf)

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 69 / Defenses: 14 (119)

-PL 8 Rookie Iceman is pretty much just a baby-version of the others, with less Alt-Effects.

SAGE (Tessa)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: The X-Men #132 (April 1980)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Hellfire Club, Excalibur, The Exiles, S.W.O.R.D.
Role: Chris Claremont's Ultimate Pet Character
PL 8 (202)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 8 (+10)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+9)
Expertise (Computers) 12 (+17)
Expertise (Current Events) 5 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+9)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+9)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 5 (+10)
Treatment 2 (+7)
Vehicles 2 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Assessment, Defensive Roll, Equipment 3 (Cyber-Glasses: Allow Computer Access, Pistol +5, Knives), Precise Attack (Ranged/Concealment), Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Super-Mind"
"Computer-Like Brain"
Quickness 10 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Activities) [5]
Advantages 3: Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-All-Trades [3]
Features 1: Can Engage in Multiple Mental Actions Simultaneously [1]
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Save 4 (Flaws: Limited to vs. Mental Attacks) [2]

"Minor Telepath"
"Psionic Blast" Blast 7 (Extras: Perception Range, Will Save) (28) -- [30]
AE: Communication (Mental) 2 (8)
AE: Illusion (Vision & Hearing) 7 (Flaws: Phantasm) (14)

"Scanning & Control Over Mutant Powers"
Senses 5 (Detect X-Gene- Acute, Analytical, Ranged) [5]
Variable 4 (Others' Powers) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) (Flaws: Limited to Mutant Powers of Those She's Scanned, Side-Effect: May Go Haywire) [20]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Knives +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Pistol +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +7 (+11 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Secret- Sage is often a spy or a mole, and likes to keep herself separate from others.
Involuntary Transformation (Diane Fox)- Sage's alternate I.D. has occasionally taken her over completely- turning her pretty-well evil.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 74--37 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 66 / Defenses: 12 (202)

-You know what would be awesome? If Sage NEVER FREAKING EXISTED!! UP YOURS, YOU SAD EXCUSE FOR A CHARACTERRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!
-Actually, you know what? I've lowered my Sage Hate over the past few years. It turns out the best way to make up for a crappy, over-pushed character is to keep her out of comics for several years. But MAN did I hate her even a year or two ago. TECHNICALLY, a failed, dated character like Maggot or a rip-off like Marrow is worse than she is; you could also theorize that one of the nobody Mutant Liberation Front or Acolytes members are worse characters. The Dark Riders? Sure, Barrage The Guy With No Hands on that team probably sucks more than Sage. But the difference all those characters have from her? NOBODY WAS PUSHING THEM. Yet once Chris Claremont returned to the X-Books, he SHOVED this loser character down our throats, taking her from a "more than she seems" Hellfire Club assistant character (there's brief mentions in the early years) into a HUGE part of the X-Men, giving her a monster "secret past" as one of Xavier's first charges, a spy against the Hellfire Club (who of course he didn't warn his actual students about), and a super-competent, ultra-savvy character that's ruled virtually every X-Book the Dominatrix Fetishist has touched since the year 2000. I mean, at first I was like "That chick who worked for Sebastian Shaw? Uh... okay?" But then I saw her basically act like a "smarter than you" bad-ass who was always right. Then once X-Treme X-Men was cancelled, she followed Claremont to Excalibur, Exiles and more!
-Part of the issue is that she's so utterly BLAND- I mean, she was a secret mole in the Hellfire Club... so what? She doesn't really interact with others on a meaningful level, or have an interesting backstory. It's like there's really nothing TO her, which makes the push all the more mystifying.
-What's worst is that nobody ELSE likes her. Much like Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation (who was created by Gene Roddenberry as a self-insert, super-competent wunderkind who proved everyone else wrong while smirking), this character is really disliked (or at best, ignored) by a chunk of the fandom, yet the creator loves her SO MUCH that he's willing to bring her to every single book he touches (Steve Englehart is notorious for this with Mantis- a character he brought to nearly every book he worked on). X-Treme X-Men, Excalibur and finally Exiles; with each cancelled book, there she is in another one, because NO OTHER WRITER WANTS HER. THIS is what makes her stand out over the Dark Rider who can't wipe his own butt, or the Acolyte who can phase through stuff. THEY don't get cases of "In This Issue: BARRAGE!" or "Cover Shot: An angry-looking FOREARM!", but SAGE was EVERYWHERE for YEARS. First thing I do if I ever become a Marvel writer, is have her utterly fail at something, and then explode. And probably lose to Maggot & Marrow. She must be devalued entirely before suffering the wrath of untold ages.
-Hm, an expensive character, but limited in PL, since she's basically a martial artist outside of her Boost powers. Using them, though, she can power-up any teammate for a long period of time (Continuous is not allowed for the power), but needs to 'read' them first, needs a Full Round, and it only works on Mutants. Oh, and sometimes their powers go out of control (sort of a Side-Effect Flaw with an Unreliable on THAT Flaw). She can sense & detect mutant powers at range down to the specifics, she has a mental shield, great computer skills, she can do multiple things at once, and is overall a Skillmonkey personified, which makes up for her lower PL than her teammates.

COLOSSUS (Piotr Nikolaevitch Rasputin)
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: The Gentle Giant, Team Powerhouse, Fate's Butt-Monkey, Protective Brother/Lover, The Naiive Kid, The Hidden Bad-Ass
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Acolytes, Excalibur, The Breakworld, X-Force
PL 11 (160)
STRENGTH
4/13 STAMINA 4/10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Expertise (Artist) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Farmer) 3 (+5)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 1 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Debris) 3 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Human Beings) 7 (+11)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Attractive, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Organic Steel Form"
Alternate Form (Move Action) [-1]

Enhanced Strength 9 [18]
Enhanced Stamina 6 [12]
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 11) [14]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Poison, Disease, Starvation & Thirst, Radiation, Vacuum) [7]
Immunity 2 (Drowning, Suffocation) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Steel Form +8 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4 (+13 Steel Form, +5 Impervious), Fortitude +7 (+13 Steel Form), Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Xavier's Dream)- Colossus left a happy life on a farm to join Xavier's crusade, believing that he owed it to mutants everywhere to use his powers properly.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- They fell in love when he was a young adult and she was too young; he fell for another and broke up with her, but then fell back in love... and she was with Pete Wisdom. Then he died. But when he came back, they finally hooked up. Then she merged with a bullet. Then when she came back, he gave himself over to Cyttorak, and she broke up with him.
Relationship (Illyana Rasputin)- It doesn't matter how demonic and evil she gets, Colossus is very protective of his Little Snowflake. Threaten her at your own peril.
Relationship (Mikhail Rasputin)- Peter worshipped his older brother, and mourned him when the cosmonaut was thought dead in a rocket explosion. Mikhail turned up alive but evil, breaking Peter's heart again.
Responsibility (The Last Survivor of his Family)- OK, so Mikhail & Illyana came back from the dead. But still, being a mutant has cost Colossus nearly everything, and has done so at various points. He is easily one of the most tragic X-Men, and it's led him to lose The Dream more than once.
Responsibility (Russian)- He is Russian. Bad things just HAPPEN to him. It's like an entire nation of Peter Parkers.
Temper- Colossus is the LAST X-Man you ever want to piss off. Yes, he's a Gentle Giant. Yes, he dislikes fighting and needless violence. But if you threaten his loved ones, he will kill you. Ask Proteus and Riptide what it's like to make him angry. When Illyana was sick, he beat Trevor Fitzroy to a bloody pulp and his teammates had to drag him off. When Ord from Breakworld had the X-Men on the ropes, Colossus handed him his ass on a silver platter. When he caught Kitty in the arms of Pete Wisdom, he nearly did the world a favor by killing him, but alas only did grievous bodily harm.
Power Loss (Durability)- Piotr is vulnerable to Vibranium-based attacks, as they cut through his durability.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 15 (160)

-Colossus (obviously a Dave Cockrum design- check out the long boots!) was easily my favourite X-Man ever, and is in my Top Ten Favourite Characters Ever. Granted, no matter his personality, I would've loved him as a kid simply because of how Jim Lee drew him, all glisteningly-corded muscles and hugeness, but the fact that he's got a great set of character traits helps, too :). Among all the hard-asses and noble heroic types in comics, it's nice to see a polite young farmboy who never really wanted to kick ass and take names in the super-hero biz. See, Piotr really just wanted to remain on the farm with his family, but his conscience (rather than his heart) strove him to join Xavier's team and use his powers for the betterment of human & mutant alike. Simple on the surface, Petey showed deep complexity: He was torn between duty and love. He desperately wanted young Kitty Pryde, and she him, but knew it was immoral (a similar theme was used with very similar characters by Geoff Johns in his JSA run; using Atom Smasher & Stargirl). He loathed using violence, but GOD HELP YOU if you were the one who provoked him.
-Funny that the Team Peacenik was also the one who racked up one of the biggest Kill Counts of major characters. Lots of heroes kill Mooks, but actual Named Villains? Petey has them beat. Proteus AND Riptide fell by the wayside, both of which were some of the defining moment of the X-Books (as Proteus was so ungodly powerful that even Pete knew SOMEONE had to stop him), but I particularly got chills when Peter stormed through Riptide's shuriken-storm after he lethally-wounded Nightcrawler, watched as the Marauder killed dozens of Morlocks right in front of him, and just wrathfully lashed out, grabbed him by the neck while he gasped like a coward, and snapped his neck, promising fellow Marauder Harpoon that he should make peace with his gods, because HE was NEXT. It always means more when it's the nice guy doing it, folks.
-Colossus was a mainstay on the X-Book until the post-Mutant Massacre/Australia X-Men team, at which point he went through the Siege Perilous and got possessed by The Shadow King- he ended up joining the Gold Strike Force team (aka the boring one that Jim Lee didn't want to draw). He discovered that his "dead' cosmonaut brother was actually a mutant surviving in another dimension, but Mikhail Rasputin turned out evil. He spent a lot of time as a background character until Marvel decided that ALL Russians must have horrific backstories- Mikhail died, as did their parents (slain by Russian agents while kidnapping Magik to use as a weapon against The Soul Skinner). Then when Illyana was safe, she became the first big-name victim of Stryfe's Legacy Virus, pretty much leaving Colossus with nobody. In a daze, and unable to believe in The Dream any longer, he joined Magneto's Acolytes. He sacrificed his own life to save other mutants from the Virus, getting one of the most-heroic deaths possible (LITERALLY committing suicide)- and one of the great resurrections, charging out of a laboratory to save the X-Men from Ord in Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run. But even THEN he could not find happiness, as Kitty was soon lost, then when she returned she dumped him, having seen his repeated attempts at sacrificing himself for others.
-Colossus actually gets fairly little play on most X-themed media, likely because he's probably SUPER-hard to draw repeatedly. It's shocking how long it took me to figure this out, given that I'm an artist too, but yeah- a guy with lines all around his limbs and shiny skin is easy to draw in COMIC form, because it gives you a great example of the illusion of 3-D in your drawing (the lines go all the way around, thus making it easy to give the semblance of depth in the image), and metal has great contrast in static images. BUT, in SEQUENTIAL ART, those very lines and shiny bits make it a PAIN IN THE ASS to draw repeatedly- so this is why he was only in a handful of episodes of the 1990s cartoon, and only showed up periodically in the films (CGI Metal People aren't the easiest thing to make look convincing either).
-Regarding Kitty & Colossus, in my mind that's the greatest relationship in all of comics, particularly because they never QUITE got their happy ending, unlike the many others in comics, that at least had long spans of being together, or marriage (Reed/Sue, Spidey/MJ, Cyke/Jean). So it's always a "what if?" with those two, and it's nice to occasionally have a bit of mystery. I still wish they'd just hook up already on a permanent basis, though. Just to see what it was like :). But it's now becoming a RUNNING GAG that they never quite end up as a pair, because happiness is anathema to comic book writers.
-Man, I love big strong guys. They stat up real pretty, and they don't cost massive points in 3e. Which isn't to say Petey's ineffective or anything- he's not. He's strong, reasonably accurate (equivalent to Ben Grimm on all fronts, really- though no Power Lifting, as Pete lacks the strength feats that Ben & others have shown), durable as hell, a fairly good fighter with some Combat Advantages. He's faster than your average Powerhouse, and he's got a pretty good set of Skills, being a somewhat personable (and oh-so-RPG Builder-sexuality-threateningly-handsome) guy. Vibranium's apparently his Achilles Heel (who knew? Wiki says so), but other than that, it's a by-the-book Alternate Form: Steel build. I did throw a little cutsey Skill in there for his "Fastball Special" trick: he can toss a 400-pound guy for MILES, and do it with great accuracy.
-Despite his great power, of course, Colossus gets very little respect as a heavy-hitter. The problem is The Thing is the ONLY tough guy on his team, and so gets plenty of good showings and feats of indomitable will. Sasquatch of Alpha Flight is stronger, and The Hulk is so much stronger that it's not even funny. So Colossus has VERY few "Good Showings" compared to the others, to the point of even being embarassed by opponents at times- Chris Claremont often had him being overshadowed by ROGUE.

COLOSSUS (Piotr Nikolaevitch Rasputin)
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: The Gentle Giant, Team Powerhouse, Fate's Butt-Monkey, Protective Brother/Lover, The Naiive Kid, The Hidden Bad-Ass
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Acolytes, Excalibur, The Breakworld, X-Force
PL 12 (256)
STRENGTH
4/17 STAMINA 4/16 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Expertise (Artist) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Farmer) 3 (+5)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 1 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Debris) 3 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Human Beings) 7 (+11)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Attractive, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Organic Steel Form"
Alternate Form (Move Action) [-1]

Enhanced Strength 9 [18]
Enhanced Stamina 8 [16]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]

"Possessed of the Gem of Cyttorak"
"Natural Size" Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
Power-Lifting 3 (12,000 tons) [3]
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 23) [25]

"Super-Strength Feats"
"Shockwave" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Both Grounded) (24) -- [28]
AE: "Thunderclap" Dazzle Hearing 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range, Distracting) (12)
AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (18)
AE: "Groundstrike Line" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (18)
AE: Penetrating Strength Damage 16 (16)

"Nothing Stops the Collosernaut!"
Enhanced Strength 5 (Flaws: Limited to Maintaining Forward Movement) [5]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]
Immunity 11 (Life Support, Aging) [11]

"Colossernaut Helmet" (Flaws: Removable) [16]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Steel Form +8 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Colossernaut +7 (+17 Damage, DC 32)
Area Attacks +12 (+12 Damage and/or Affliction, DC 27 and/or 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +4 (+18 Steel Form, +12 Impervious), Fortitude +7 (+16 Steel Form), Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Xavier's Dream)- Colossus left a happy life on a farm to join Xavier's crusade, believing that he owed it to mutants everywhere to use his powers properly.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- They fell in love when he was a young adult and she was too young; he fell for another and broke up with her, but then fell back in love... and she was with Pete Wisdom. Then he died. But when he came back, they finally hooked up. Then she merged with a bullet. Then when she came back, he gave himself over to Cyttorak, and she broke up with him.
Relationship (Illyana Rasputin)- It doesn't matter how demonic and evil she gets, Colossus is very protective of his Little Snowflake. Threaten her at your own peril.
Relationship (Mikhail Rasputin)- Peter worshipped his older brother, and mourned him when the cosmonaut was thought dead in a rocket explosion. Mikhail turned up alive but evil, breaking Peter's heart again.
Responsibility (The Last Survivor of his Family)- OK, so Mikhail & Illyana came back from the dead. But still, being a mutant has cost Colossus nearly everything, and has done so at various points. He is easily one of the most tragic X-Men, and it's led him to lose The Dream more than once.
Responsibility (Russian)- He is Russian. Bad things just HAPPEN to him. It's like an entire nation of Peter Parkers.
Temper- Colossus is the LAST X-Man you ever want to piss off. Yes, he's a Gentle Giant. Yes, he dislikes fighting and needless violence. But if you threaten his loved ones, he will kill you. Ask Proteus and Riptide what it's like to make him angry. When Illyana was sick, he beat Trevor Fitzroy to a bloody pulp and his teammates had to drag him off. When Ord from Breakworld had the X-Men on the ropes, Colossus handed him his ass on a silver platter. When he caught Kitty in the arms of Pete Wisdom, he nearly did the world a favor by killing him, but alas only did grievous bodily harm.
Power Loss (Durability)- Piotr is vulnerable to Vibranium-based attacks, as they cut through his durability.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 153 / Defenses: 13 (256)

-During Fear Itself, Colossus, Magik and Kitty came to the dimension of the Elder God Cyttorak in order to get The Juggernaut de-powered. Witnessing Juggie wielding the powers of another God (The Serpent), Cyttorak declared him apostate and removed his blessings from Cain Marko. However, he required another... it was to be Illyana (since she's naturally pretty destructive), but Colossus took the bullet for her, gaining the powers himself, effetively turning him into a super-garish version of The Juggernaut. The outfit... REALLY doesn't work on him. He actually seemed to get very few Power Feats to his name even in THIS form, especially since he went all Phoenix not long after. He's solidly in the power league as Marko, though- slow and easy to hit, but nigh-impossible to put down.

THE CRIMSON COMMANDO (Frank Bohannon)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Alan Davis
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #215 (March 1987)
Role: Third-Rate X-Men Villain
Group Affiliations: Freedom Force, Project: Wideawake
PL 9 (145)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+11)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Soldier) 5 (+8)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Equipment 5 (Wrist Computer, Knives +1, Handguns +5), Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 2 (Knife, Handgun), Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 10, Set-Up, Teamwork, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Peak Human Attributes"
Super-Senses (Extended Vision) [1]
Immunity 2 (Aging, Disease) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]

"Trained Mental Stealth"
Concealment 1 (Mental Detection) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Knife +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Handgun +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5, Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Fun)- Crimson Commando and his buddies hunt down criminals for the sheer fun of it, committing first-degree murder, but only on the "undesirables" of society. They believing in giving enemies a fighting chance, but are merciless all the same.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 31 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 13 (145)

-Freedom Force REALLY kinda sucked. As a kid, everyone I knew made fun of the team with Blob, Pyro, Destiny (a.k.a. an old lady in tights), and the three former Golden Age heroes (not really, they were just created by Chris Claremont- wonder why they didn't just use their lame nobody failed characters that were legit GAers?). Crimson Commando was basically the leader of the trio, and eventually the whole team (once Mystique left), but things never took off. Between their lame codenames, horrible costumes, and lame, generic powers, these old farts were doomed.
-Finally, during a filler backstory in the X-Annuals one summer, Super Sabre got offed, and Commando was maimed horribly, seeming to be dead for years, until some other writer casually tossed him in as a cyborg in another story. Funny comic book story: Commando was maimed so that he could be reborn as Cyborg-X in Erik Larsen's attempt at getting the X-Factor honors. The same Cyborg-X he took with him to Spider-Man during his Revenge of the Sinister Six arc (Cyborg-X's crazed "flashback" dialogue is taken from the issue in which he's maimed), and eventually recreated again in Image Comics as "Superpatriot". Funny, because that would've made Frank here into a much more well-known character. Instead, he's just a jobber. He reappeared for realz much later, trying to use Hope Summers' powers to reignite his (he has started to decay that his mutant powers are gone, even WITH his cybernetics). He stoops so low as to cut out Hope's EYES as a form of torture, but Wolverine appears and slices his head off. Hope, using Logan's Healing Factor, gets her eyes back.
-Commando is what the name says; an elite commando, trained in many military applications. He's a phenonmenal tracker and basic Skillmonkey, as good as most metahumans are with that sort of thing. What's different is that he's basically Captain America Good in terms of his physical abilities, making him VERY capable in a fight. He was tough in the comics, enough so that De-Powered Storm had to bust her ass to beat him (but she eventually did). His Mental Stealth trick is a minor power, but has come in handy against Psylocke in the past. He's basically a PL 8.5-9 character all-around.

SUPER SABRE (Marvin Fletcher)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Alan Davis
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #215 (March 1987)
Role: Third-Rate X-Men Villain, Speedster
Group Affiliations: Freedom Force
PL 9 (107)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Expertise (History) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Soldier) 5 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Set-Up

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Super-Speed"
Speed 8 (500 mph) [8]
Quickness 8 [8]
Enhanced Advantages 5: Move-By Action, Improved Initiative 4 [5]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 4: Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+13) [2]
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 4 [8]

"Speed Stunts"
"Sonic Finger-Snap" Affliction 9 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Reach) (10) -- [11]
AE: "Shockwave" Affliction 9 (Fort; Hindered & Impaired/Prone & Disabled) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Instant Recovery, Limited Degree) (4.5)

Movement 2 (Wall Run, Water-Walking) (Flaws: Limited to While Running) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Speed Stunts +9 (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +19

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +2, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Fun)- Super Sabre and his buddies hunt down criminals for the sheer fun of it, committing first-degree murder, but only on the "undesirables" of society. They believing in giving enemies a fighting chance, but are merciless all the same.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 17 (107)

-Wow, Super Sabre REALLY sucked. The costume alone is beyond reproach- who the hell would ever think that was cool? A BOMBER PILOT HELMET? On a guy in BLUE TIGHTS! And there isn't even any DESIGN around it. It's just so... gaudy and UGLY. Legimiately the worst super-hero costume I can possibly think of, and that's including all of Rob Liefeld's stuff.
-He was kind of a giddy, foolish-acting senior citizen, cracking jokes about Commies and young thugs while smarmily doing that dumb "Mini Sonic Boom" he could create by snapping his fingers at sonic speeds. He tended to go running off half-cocked without thinking (like the most generic speedster-archetypes), super-eager to get to the target first (these guys' original gimmick was to actively hunt criminals like live game and kill them to make the world a better place). It OFTEN turned against him, though- his first appearance (and a later one against Cable) nearly got him garotted by Storm, who only failed to do it because she realized killing was wrong. He wasn't so lucky in the fateful fight in Kuwait that wiped out the rest of Freedom Force and killed the concept forever- he was decapitated by Amenidi the Cutting Wind (someone else I should build some time- he's unknown enough), and hasn't been seen since.
-Super Sabre isn't very expensive, because he has almost no mental stats. He was actually kind of a buffoon, being completely worked by non super-fast guys SEVERAL times just because he was cocky and didn't watch where he was going (no Perception, low Awareness, etc.). He was Sonic-Speed fast, but still fairly low-level, so he doesn't quite have the points expenditure most other guys with similar powers do, nor does he have most of their Stunts. He literally JUST did the Sonic Boom Snap and the Shockwave thing and that was it, settling on punching the rest of the time.

STONEWALL (Louis Hamilton)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Alan Davis
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #215 (March 1987)
Role: Third-Rate X-Men Villain, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: Freedom Force
PL 9 (102)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Lawyer) 8 (+9)
Expertise (History) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+7)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 6 (+7)
Insight 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Hold, Interpose, Power Attack, Teamwork, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: High Density"
Features 1: Increased Weight [1]
Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) [2]
Protection 1 (Extras: Impervious 11) (Flaws: Limited to Blunt Attacks on Both) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+11 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9 (+10 vs. Blunt Force), Fortitude +9, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Fun)- Super Sabre and his buddies hunt down criminals for the sheer fun of it, committing first-degree murder, but only on the "undesirables" of society. They believing in giving enemies a fighting chance, but are merciless all the same.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 11 (102)

-Stonewall was slightly cooler than his buddies, but not by much. His French 'stache, his garish costume, etc. were kinda silly, but he was portrayed as a somewhat-noble person who notices the evil in trying to kill Storm just for coming across their operation, and became a rather decent member of Freedom Force. Unfortunately, he was a quick sacrifice, dying before anyone else on Muir Island, getting electrocuted by Donald Pierce. Rather untalkative, he never ever got to say much.
-Stonewall's a pretty cheap PL 9 Brick, being very strong and tough, but pretty easy to hit. This would prove his undoing, as his Limited Protection (and Imperviousness) would get him easily killed by an electrical bolt. Generally, he would just sit there and eat someone's best punches without moving (even Rogue's!).

"This one," he said, pointing at Storm, "must be Banshee."
"No, that's Storm," I said. "Here's Banshee."
"Jim, don't you know that banshees are FEMALE?"
"Yes, but, you should take that up with Roy. He created this guy a long time ago."
"ROY?!" Stan had that look of horror and incredulity you get when you discover that the guy who's been doing your taxes can't add or subtract.
"ROY doesn't know banshees are female?!"
"I guess he thought it didn't matter."
-Jim Shooter, talking about the day he & Stan Lee checked out the rosters of the Old and New X-Men


BANSHEE (Sean Cassidy)
Created By:
Roy Thomas, Werner Roth & Stan Lee
First Appearance: The X-Men #28 (Jan. 1967)
Role: Ethnic Stereotype (especially at first), The Old Cop, The Retired Hero, The Guy Who Gets Written Out
Country of Origin: Ireland
Group Affiliations: The NYPD, Interpol, The X-Men, Generation-X
PL 10 (164)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+10)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Interpol/Police Officer) 7 (+10)
Insight 5 (+8)
Investigation 7 (+10)
Perception 5 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Sonic Scream) 2, Improved Smash, Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Sonic Scream"
"Sonic Flight" Flight 8 (500 mph) (Flaws: Winged Costume) [8]

"Loud Scream- Burst" Dazzle Hearing 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (30) -- [39]
AE: "Loud Scream- Cone" Dazzle 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Touch Range) (20)
AE: "Stunning Scream" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative, Ranged) (30)
AE: "Shake Apart Objects" Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Ranged, Penetrating) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (30)
AE: "Hypnotic Trance" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Cumulative, Area-Perception) (24)
AE: "Nauseating Scream" Affliction 8 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (16)
AE: "Concussive Scream" Blast 10 (Feats: Precise) (21)
AE: "Concussive Cone" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (20)
AE: "Concussive Ram" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (20)
AE: "Neutralize Scanning Equipment" Concealment (Hearing) 10 (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (20)

"Specialized Hearing" Senses 6 (Accurate Extended & Ultra-Hearing) [6]
"Screaming Deflection Field" Enhanced Advantages 2: Defensive Roll 2 [2]
Immunity 1 (Sonic Dazzles) [1]
"Cassidy Clan" Immunity 1 (Black Tom Cassidy's Blast Powers) [1]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (Communications, Wings for Flight)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Loud Screams +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Stunning/Nauseating Screams +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Shake Apart +10 (+10 Ranged Weaken, DC 20)
Hypnotic Trance +8 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 18)
Concussive Scream +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Concussive Area Screams +10 Areas (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Responsibility (Cassidy Keep)- Sean is the heir to Cassidy Keep, and technically in charge of the entire Clan.
Relationship ("Black" Tom Cassidy)- Sean and Tom were as close as brothers in their youth, though Tom was a bit of a bad boy- when they competed for the heart of the same woman (Maeve Rourke), Tom willingly stepped aside when he discovered she loved Sean. But when Maeve died in a terrorist bombing, Sean blamed Tom for her loss (he was away at the time), and the two became bitter enemies. Tom has since tried to murder Banshee and take Cassidy Keep for himself.
Relationship (Theresa Cassidy)- Tom raised Sean's daughter Theresa without telling Sean of her existence, as punishment for Sean crippling him. He did not meet her until she was an adult, though the two seemed close.
Relationship (Moira MacTaggart)- After Maeve, Moira was the love of Sean's life, and he was devoted to her, eventually retiring to Muir Island with her. He was heartbroken when she left him (needing to be alone, out of guilt for brainwashing Magneto), and again when she was killed by Mystique.
Power Loss (Screams)- All of Banshee's powers are dependent on his ability to scream. If he is gagged, choked, injured in the throat area or otherwise unable to scream, none of his powers aside from Extended & Ultra-Hearing (and the Cassidy Clan bit) will be effective. He will also be depowered immediately if he ever uses Extra Effort for his scream- this happened A LOT. The effect often lasts for months if the power is used continuously in such a manner.
Relationship (Generation-X)- Sean became a father figure to the Generation-X kids.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 57 / Defenses: 18 (164)

-I actually liked Banshee a lot. The guy just didn't have much luck, though- he's a HUGE part of the original Giant-Size line-up (having actually debuted in the late '60s as a brainwashed enemy-turned-ally), constantly saving the day, and got tons of lip service from the writers early on, as he was arguably the most powerful member of the entire team, and most versatile (at one point, Magneto flat-out states that "among you, only HE is my equal!"). The problem was, Claremont & Byrne got tired of him and de-powered his Irish ass off the team JUST in time for him to miss out on the entire Dark Phoenix Saga, meaning that... guess what? NONE of the major X-Fans that came in BECAUSE of that storyline (and the '80s grittiness that came after) even remember the poor bastard was even on the book! The guy was gone for almost all the REALLY legendary work done on the series, and didn't return for another DECADE, so Banshee remained this forgotten character for the entire span! Hell, I remember being SHOCKED when reading those awesome Essential collections that not only was Banshee on the book for YEARS (getting a big rivalry with his cousin Black Tom Cassidy, as well as his best friend THE JUGGERNAUT), but he was given tons of credit! Once he gets hurt (a recurring trend with him), he left for over a decade!
-So there Banshee sat on Muir Island, boinking Moira MacTaggert, and only showing up occasionally (he was kidnapped by James Proudstar, angry over Banshee having been there, watching his brother John die). A long-lost daughter was introduced as an enemy of Spider-Woman's, as well. He got a second run with the team in the early '90s (the one where Jim Lee proved that he could make the original X-Uniforms actually look AWESOME, with some modifications), but it wasn't to last, and he & Moira became off & on as well. It wasn't until Generation-X came around that he got to play a major role, being the stodgy mentor to the young kids. I wasn't a fan of the Gen-X book (too much Jubilee, too many "potentially the most powerful mutant alive" types, weaker characterization, and horribly-exaggerated "Big Eyes & Heads & Hands" art on all the kids by some of the artists), but it was something. Despite all that, he was still unceremoniously killed off by Vulcan in a recent arc. Sucks to be him, especially since he's come back under the control of evil people THREE FRIGGIN' TIMES (Selene, Amatsu-Mikaboshi & The Apocalypse Twins all did it).
-Banshee's fully-balanced on Offense, with a powerful Area Attack Blast & Dazzle, with a few handy Alt-Effects attached to it, making him a VERY versatile Blaster, capable of wiping out entire SWATHS of guys in one shot. However, this is a tricky ability for someone who fights on teams (it's REALLY easy to catch your teammates in the crosshairs of a Cone Effect that's 60-feet wide at the end. Plus, he's vulnerable, like most Blasters in comics tend to be. Not AS bad of a Glass Cannon, but he's only PL 7.5 in that regard- he's one or two bad saves from going down to almost ANY decently-balanced attack. He's also one of the more skilled X-Men, though honestly that didn't come up a whole lot during his first run- it was boosted in the Gen-X years and more, once he'd gotten more of a solo focus.

SIRYN (Theresa Rourke Cassidy, aka Banshee II)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Steve Leiahola
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #37 (April 1981)
Role: The Sudden Offspring, The Hot One
Group Affiliations: Muir Island X-Men, X-Force, The Fallen Angels, X-Corporation, X-Factor Investigations
PL 10 (145)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+8)
Deception 4 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+4)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Sonic Screams) 4 (+10)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Attractive, Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Sonic Scream), Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Sonic Scream"
"Sonic Flight" Flight 8 (500 mph) (Flaws: Requires Winged Costume) [8]

"Loud Scream- Burst" Dazzle Hearing 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (30) -- [41]
AE: "Loud Scream- Cone" Dazzle Hearing 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Touch Range) (20)
AE: "Stunning Scream" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative, Ranged) (30)
AE: "Lull Them To Sleep" Affliction 8 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Area- Auditory Perception, Cumulative) (24)
AE: "Shake Apart Objects" Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Ranged, Penetrating) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (30)
AE: "Hypnotic Trance" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Cumulative, Area-Perception) (Flaws: Limited to Humans) (16)
AE: "Nauseating Scream" Affliction 8 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (16)
AE: "Concussive Scream" Blast 10 (20)
AE: "Concussive Cone" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (30)
AE: "Concussive Ram" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (30)
AE: "Neutralize Scanning Equipment" Concealment (Hearing) 10 (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (20)
AE: "Sonic Force Field" Protection 6 (Extras: Sustained +0, Affects Others) (12)

"Specialized Hearing" Senses 8 (Extended & Ultra-Hearing, Accurate Radius Hearing) [8]
"Screaming Deflection Field" Enhanced Advantages 2: Defensive Roll 2 [2]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (Communications, Wings for Flight)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Loud Screams +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Stunning/Nauseating Screams +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Shake Apart +10 (+10 Ranged Weaken, DC 20)
Hypnotic Trance +8 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 18)
Concussive Scream +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Concussive Area Screams +10 Areas (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2 (+4 D.Roll, +10 Force Field), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Black Tom Cassidy)- Her family is screwed up. Born the daughter of Banshee and Maeve Rourke, Siryn was raised by her father's cousin Black Tom, a super-villain following her mother's death in a terrorist attack. Tom also wanted to punish Banshee, who crippled him, by hiding his daughter from him. Theresa hates Tom for this, but also loves him as her father.
Relationship (Sean Cassidy- Father)- She also tries to uphold Banshee's legacy now that he has passed, going by his code-name now.
Relationship (Jamie Madrox)- Siryn fell in love with Jamie Madrox during The Fallen Angels series and on Muir Island, not knowing that it was a "Dupe", and that the original could not reciprocate those feelings. Eventually the two DID fall in love, but then he resorbed the offspring of Siryn and another "Dupe", and she was devastated.
Relationship (Deadpool)- The insane Deadpool's only real positive quality was a real, actual love for Theresa. She found herself a bit taken with him, and flattered by his attention, and made mention that she'd consider taking things further if he continued down the path of good.
Reputation (One Of Those Girls)- Though she doesn't sleep around, Theresa is easy to fall for, and she's left a long-running string of men pining for her, going back to her time in Ireland. Madrox and his Dupes, X-Force teammate Warpath, the "Merc With a Mouth" Deadpool, and others.
Addiction (Alcohol)- Theresa began drinking at a young age, and reached "Rock Bottom" while on vacation with Warpath, where she confronted Black Tom Cassidy and her past, and made her peace with both of them.
Power Loss (Screams)- All of Siryn's powers are dependent on her ability to scream. If she is gagged, choked, injured in the throat area or otherwise unable to scream, none of her powers aside from Extended & Ultra-Hearing will be effective.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 19 (145)

-Man, did I ever have a crush on Siryn back in the day. I kind of had a thing for redheads back then, despite my usual thing being brunettes, ever since I saw Marvel Girl (Jean), and Siryn was even HOTTER, especially the way Tony Daniel drew her- with a ridiculously skinny physique with a big bubble butt and boobs... well, I was fourteen, what the hell do you want from me? What's funny is that she debuted as a Spider-Woman villain, having been twisted by her evil Uncle, Black Tom Cassidy (Tom, a scumbag, had his foster-daughter Theresa commit crimes for him, and out of loyalty, she did). She turned good quickly (Tom, feeling guilty, exonerates her of all crimes), but pretty well disappeared from comics in the meantime. She was on The Fallen Angels (as part of a weird collection of random mutants including Sunspot, Warlock, some lobsters & Madrox), one of the "Muir Island X-Men", a group of Marvel Limbo-residing mutants that were under the control of The Shadow King, and pretty much existed in some kind of forgotten zone.
-Then, out of friggin' NOWHERE, she shows up in a Rob Liefeld X-Force issue, helping Cable's team fight Black Tom and The Juggernaut, subsequently joining the team! This was very odd, as she had very little link to the original New Mutants (the only two members she'd really encountered as a teammate were off the team or dead). I can't imagine it was for Fanservice reasons either, as Liefeld drew her with Merida's haircut and a big green garbage bag for a costume. It wasn't until Greg Capullo & Tony Daniel took over on art that she became the Team Sexpot, doing whatever back-bending poses DOMINO wasn't currently doing. She also had to fend off the interests of Warpath & Deadpool (she liked them more as friends, especially Warpath, though naturally she had some inklings of feelings towards The Merc With A Mouth), vied for field-leadership on the team (there were bits where she got mad at Cannonball for ignoring her in favour of his old New Mutants buddies), struggled with alcoholism (it was kind of swiftly dealt with, as it was implied to be an ongoing thing and only Warpath knew about it, but within a few issues she kicked the habit), and eventually became Team Leader after numerous roster shake-ups.
-She left the team when her throat was slashed by the now-evil Feral, and only Deadpool's swiping of some of Wolverine's blood cured her. She went into Marvel Limbo again after this (X-Corporation- a short-lived attempt to keep all the "not doing anything" mutants semi-active behind the scenes), then got put onto Peter David's X-Factor Investigations, where she naturally fell in love with David's beloved Jamie Madrox (though at least this had a history- she'd fallen in love with a Dupe of his during Fallen Angels). This had the most horrific implications EVER, as it turns out the child of his she was carrying was actually the result of a one-night-thing with a DUPLICATE, and so poor Baby Sean was actually ABSORBED INTO JAMIE MADROX the second he touched it! You can imagine this kinda ended their relationship, and he later hooks up with Layla Miller (EVERY WOMAN IN THIS SERIES WANTS TO BONE MADROX). Eventually, she becomes the new Morrigan, after killing the previous holder of that title- thus ends X-Factor, allowind David to make ANOTHER book full of second-stringers.
-Siryn's a fun little build to put together, since it's fairly unique AND full of tons of Alternate Effects, meaning I get to mix and match tons of little powers together. There's two Area-type Auditory Dazzles, three kinds of Blasts, a Stun & a Nauseate, a Force Field, an Electronic Detection Neutralizer, a Hypnotic effect AND a Ranged Weaken all put together! In addition, she has specialized Hearing and "Sonar" (which is thankfully listed in 2e's Ultimate Power, so I made the power the same way here), and can Fly as long as she has a winged costume with her. Despite this, she doesn't even make full PL points, since she was always kind of limited aside from her power (and can't come close to her her Defensive Caps unless she's not using any offensive powers). She's fairly smart, aware, and charismatic, but not really specialized at any other skill, y'know?

AVALANCHE (Dominikos Ioannis Petrakis, aka "Dominic Petros")
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #141 (Jan. 1981)
Role: Recurring Villain, Elementalist (Kinda), Awesome Name For a Crappy Villain, Background Jobber
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Freedom Force, Project: Wideawake, X-Corps
PL 10 (103)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Government Agent) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+2)
Ranged Combat (Earth Attacks) 3 (+8)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Equipment (Body Armour +4), Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Seismic Generation"
"Avalanche Burst" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets, Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (40) -- [46]
AE: "Avalanche Stream" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets, Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (40)
AE: "Avalanche Wave" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets, Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (40)
AE: "Avalanche Attack" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets, Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) Linked to Blast 10 (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (13.5)
AE: Burrowing 8 (16 mph) (8)
AE: "Rupture Objects" Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Affects Objects Only +0) (20)
AE: "Affect Organics" Blast 8 (Feats: Subtle 2) (Extras: Penetrating) (26)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Avalanche Attack +8 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Avalanche Area Attacks +10 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Rupture Objects +8 (+10 RangedWeaken, DC 20)
Affect Organics +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

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

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Responsibility (Selfish)- Avalanche is known to abandon teammates when the going gets tough.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 12 (103)

-Avalanche is one of the most terrible members of the Brotherhood/Freedom Force, being an awesome name wrapped in a guy with the personality of a brick. Unsurprisingly, he's the first guy to go down in most of their fights, and doesn't do much on his own either. He once got taken down by an UNPOWERED Rahne Sinclair. The X-Men Evolution version actually did him the best, producing a new name and origin, and making him more of a bad-boy misfit for sweet innocent Kitty Pryde to make good. Things may have worked out if that show got an extra season, but as it stands, Avalanche is still a Jobber. He turned into a Retired Villain at first, running his own bar in the mutant section of San Francisco, but was soon brainwashed by the Xavier-Brained Red Skull, and sent into a terrorist attack that helped kill hundreds of people and set off The Uncanny Avengers- it's belived he's dead.
-Avalanche is a good Area-Effect guy, but has few Skills, almost no Advantages, and a fairly limited batch of Trip and Blast-type powers, most of which doing little damage to human beings, but dependent on hitting the buildings and streets behind and beneath them. It's much more wide-ranged than most Powerhouse builds' "Groundstrike" Powers (which is where these are derived from- it goes the Extra Condition route and adds the Hindered & Vulnerable combos together to really screw up your offense & defense simultaneously), but aside from a PL 8-ish Blast, he's got little else to dish out. He's sort of a PL 8 Blaster and PL 10 Area Tripper, and that's it. The only iffy thing about this set-up is that collapsing large objects (such as buildings) can do a LOT more damage that his basic power: This is effectively like ANY attempt to damage an object, though, and not a separate power.

HAVOK (Alex Summers)
Created By:
Arnold Drake, Don Heck & Neal Adams
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #54 (March 1969)
Role: The Lesser Brother, The Second-Leader
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Starjammers, X-Factor, The Genoshan Magistrates, The Six (Mutant-X Universe), The Brotherhood of Mutants
PL 11 (158)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Deception 3 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+10) -- Flaws: Limited to Earth Sciences
Expertise (Tactics) 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Plasma Blasts) 4 (+9)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 3 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment (X-Men Uniform), Inspire, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Startle, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Cosmic Blasts"
"Omnidirectional Burst" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Penetrating) (44) -- [47]
AE: "Cosmic Stream" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2, Penetrating) (44)
AE: "Cosmic Blast" Blast 13 (Extras: Penetrating) (39)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range) (20)

"Summers Brother" Immunity 2 (His Own & Cyclops' Powers) [2]
"Cosmic Sponge" Immunity 10 (Heat Damage, Radiation Damage) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Cosmic Burst & Stream +11 Area (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Blast +9 (+13 Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll, +5 Uniform), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Rivalry (With Cyclops)- Alex always feels like he's in Scott's shadow, despite the two having a pretty good relationship. That ended when Cyclops went off the deep end and started taking extreme measures to protect mutant-kind.
Responsibility (Summers Family Tree)- *deep breath*... Alex Summers' family includes an Eye-Blasting forgotten-brother, a Space Pirate father, a dead mother, a dead telepathic sister-in-law who was also a Cosmic Being (but not really), a demon-worshipping clone of said sister-in-law who later died (then came back, and hooked up with Alex in an Alternate Timeline), a Future mercenary cyborg telepath for a nephew, a telepathic Cosmic Being for a neice (but only in an alternate future), a telepathic super-powerhouse for a sort-of nephew (but only in an alternate timeline), a Space Emperor half-brother, a half-alien super-'90s half-brother (but not anymore), a Mutant Messiah adopted-grandneice, and possibly more. I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody.
Enemy (Living Pharaoh)- The Pharaoh has repeatedly tried to steal Alex's powers.
Relationshiop (Lorna Dane, Nurse Annie, Others)- Alex has a few ladies in his life, but Polaris is the by far the most important. They were together during the '60s run, much of Claremont's, and all of X-Factor. He's recently been seen hooking up with The Wasp.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 18 (158)

-Havok's place in X-history depends on the era in which you find yourself. In the late 1960s, he was a "Long Lost Sibling" introduced out of nowhere, playing a slightly immature kid. He was out of the picture for YEARS before Chris Claremont suddenly decided he was gonna do something with this dead concept in the late '80s, and made him kind of Wolverine's badass little buddy. By the '90s, he'd been lost again once Claremont lost interest, but Peter David picked him up (with a new '90s-classic ensemble of leather jacket, big X-logos, a faceless, hair-showing mask, etc.) for his "Every character nobody freaking wants to write or read about" X-Factor, which turned him into kind of a perennially-sighing, droll leader-type trying to move all these nutjobs around. He finally got a push later in Mutant-X, a long-running "Alternate Universe" comic that ended up not mattering to anything (because it's an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE) once it was cancelled, and after a brief turn as Chuck Austen's "Canon Sue" (he thought Havok was like himself, and thus wrote him as the main character) in his X-run, and then he became the new leader of the Starjammers, flying around in space.
-To say nothing of his relationship to Polaris. They were together, then off for years, then together again, then he dumped her for Annie the Nurse (based off of Austen's wife) and she went INSANE... then she got better and he figured out he loved her after all.... Yeah, okay then. Me, I've never been a huge Havok fan, as he's obviously been "Less Than Cyclops" for his entire existence, and they've NEVER managed to completely replace him from that. The fact that they're both leader-types with Blaster-powers, and that Cyke is the more important character, kinda mean this will never change. It's like if Captain America or Spider-Man got long-lost little brothers with major character pushes. It just AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN, you know? Even his current run on Uncanny Avengers is merely pretty good, and fails to make him better than Scott.
-Havok is a very powerful Blaster with some good Immunities, and a fairly decent leader-type as well, making him a good all-around kind of guy for any team. He's not as good as Cyclops or Storm, but he's tolerable. He's nearly a PL 11 in sheer intensity of powers (a VERY powerful Burst Cosmic Blast in addition to extreme raw power- equivalent to Cyclops in that regard, but with Bursts). Otherwise he's your typical X-dude, fairly strong & athletic, with a good smattering of Skills he rarely uses, centred around a massive power-set.

BISHOP (Lucas Bishop)
Created By:
John Byrne, Jim Lee & Whilce Portacio
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #282 (Nov. 1991)
Role: The '90s Bad-Ass Anti-Hero, Team Cop, The Unfunny Guy
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Xavier's Security Enforcers, O*N*E*, Interpol
PL 10 (181)
STRENGTH
4/7 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+12)
Deception 5 (+6)
Expertise (History) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Police Officer) 7 (+10)
Perception 4 (+7)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 7 (+8)
Investigation 7 (+10)
Ranged Combat (Firearms) 3 (+13)
Technology 4 (+7)
Vehicles 6 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 4 (Communications, Armour +1, Guns +6- Multiattack), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Gun), Improved Critical (Blast), Interpose, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Combat 5, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Absorption & Redirection of Energy"
Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy) (Flaws: Requires Energy Damage) [12]
Enhanced Strength 3 (Flaws: Requires Energy Damage) [6]
Immunity 40 (Energy Attacks & Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Three-Quarters-Effect) [30]
Immunity 2 (Time Effects) [2]
Super-Senses 2 (Time Sense, Location Sense) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Enhanced From Energy +12 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Energy Blasts +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Guns +13 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5 (+6 Armour), Fortitude +9, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (Man Out of Time)- Bishop comes from seventy years in the future, and is often befuddled by modern sensibilities and morse. He's also not much of a joker.
Motivation (Justice, Extreme Style)- Bishop is a good cop for his own time, and has a "kill or be killed" mentality.
Motivation (Undoing His Future)- Bishop first attempts to prevent the murder of the X-Men by a traitor, and then the birth of a Mutant Messiah that will kill thousands and set the stage for an era of Mutants in internment camps.
Power Loss (Absorption)- Bishop can possibly be overloaded.
Rivalry (Gambit)- Bishop believed for a long time that Gambit was responsible for the betrayal of the X-Men, leading to their deaths in the future. Turns out it was Xavier-as-Onslaught.
Relationship (Shard)- Bishop is devoted to protecting his younger sister, even though she's just a sentient hologram.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 62 / Defenses: 20 (181)

-I was gonna say Bishop was a "modern" addition to the X-Men lineage, but then I realized that I'm old and that was OVER TWENTY YEARS AGO :(. Stupid aging. So yeah, Bishop was created in those HYPER-Badass Dork Age comics years, just around the Image Explosion of grim 'n' gritty anti-heroes taking over comics. With Cable in X-Force, Wolverine in X-Men Blue, and new gun-totting loonies popping up all over the place, the Gold Strike Force, with it's roster of less-popular guys, needed one too. Enter Bishop, a "kill 'em all" kind of cop from the future, chasing a foppish pansy Trevor Fitzroy through time, getting stuck in our time, and mending his ways with the X-Men.
-Bishop's since become more notable for his early Jheri Curl haircut and his constant stream of cancelled solo books than anything else- Sean Howe, writer of the excellent book Marvel: The Untold Story, declares him his least-favourite comic book character of all time, and though I don't go THAT far, I certainly don't care for him- he's just a bit TOO '90s. All of the standard Tropes are there- a Mutant whose super-powers are secondary to their arsenal of Plasma Rifles, the militaristic uniform, the wild '90s hair, the goatee, etc.
-Bishop got his own book inexplicably, then went onto X-Treme X-Men, and got a Cop Book in District X, which didn't last very long. Then all of a sudden he went COMPLETELY EVIL, attempting to murder a baby because the birth of Hope Summers was set to reignite his timeline as a possible future. He put in way more effort than you'd imagine anyone taking to MURDER A BABY, becoming a Mirror Image Villain to Cable at the same time (he lost an arm and got a cybernetic one to replace it). I'd guess that means they're done with him as a meaningful good guy. Pesronally, I was always REALLY ANNOYED that Bishop was somehow able to get his own ongoing series during the "Dark Age" of comic books, while so many other valid characters never got the chance.
-I don't like the standard "Absorption" rules anymore, so I'm going with a different thing that has a slightly different Flaw to it- you can use the power, but it Fades and requires you to be attacked first (making it worse than a regular Blast). Most others have statted his Absorption much higher in another edition, but in my opinion he used guns almost as often, so it's clearly not a SUPER-powerful attack. At best he tended to eat a shot or two and fire them back repeatedly, and it wasn't anywhere near as powerful as Cyclops's or someone else's in most cases. There are moments when he absorbs something as full-on as Onslaught's psionic burst and stuff like that, but those are rare occurences that often injured him; best portrayed by Hero Points and Extra Effort. After all, he's got a nigh-Immunity (15 points' worth) against all Energy Attacks (they only do 25% of their total damage), which means that all but the very best are gonna have trouble even scratching him. For a more powerful Blast, he's best off using Power Attack (total of +15 Damage, not bad)- he can probably also mimic the properties (like Area Effects- I've seen him do that at least once).
-Bishop's a tough, pricey dude, even without his Powers, but he's still below Skillmonkey types like Gambit & Daredevil. Despite this, he's tough enough to wander around town with a hole in his body from falling into a broken pipe, take gunshots and not bleed out entirely, and hold his own against Wolverine or Cable in a battle to the death (as a big part of the X-Men in the Iron Age, he was often paired up with the other two).

BEDLAM (Jesse Aaronson)
Created By:
John Francis Moore & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: Factor-X #1
Role: Weird Power Guy, Expendable Minor Character
Group Affiliations: X-Force, M.U.S.E., The New Hellions
PL 9 (165)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Secret Agent) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 6, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: System Disruption"
"Bio-Electromagnetic Field" Nullify 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Broad, Simultaneous, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (66) -- [69]
AE: "Inflict Pain" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative) (16)
AE: "Inflict Sleep" Affliction 8 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Cumulative) (16)
AE: "Inflict Confusion" Affliction 8 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Unaware) (Extras: Cumulative) (16)

"Detect Bio-Signatures" Senses 6 (Detect Bio-Signatures & Energy, Ranged & Accurate on Both) [6]

Equipment:
X-Force Uniform: Protection 1 (1)
Communications (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bio-Field +11 Area (+11 Nullify, DC 21)
Pain +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Sleep +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Confusion +10 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Enemy (King Bedlam)- Jesse's brother Chris is a little nuts, and led The New Hellions against X-Force.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 75 / Defenses: 14 (165)

-Bedlam is... a guy. He debuted in the Age of Apocalypse, and quickly got a "main continuity" version on X-Force, a guy who could "disrupt systems", basically tech at first, then slowly moved up to disrupting biological systems and became a martial artist. I've never read a comic featuring him, but I wanted all the "early era" X-Force guys built. He's apparently one of those guys casually murdered by the Church of Humanity via the crucifixion on the X-Mansion lawn (a similar fate befell Skin, who no longer had a purpose in the X-Books). Near as I can tell, these were his powers- the Nullify is RIDICULOUSLY expensive, but seems to be the full extent of his powers- a wide Burst that wipes out nearly all technology in range, that he can keep going at-will unless he's knocked unconscious. So he's a pricey bugger, but not overly effective to things that aren't technologically-based- he's just a PL 9 Affliction-based guy in that case.

UNUS THE UNTOUCHABLE (Angelo Unuscione)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #8 (Nov. 1964)
Role: Barrier Warrior
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Mutants, Factor Three, The Secret Empire
PL 10 (112)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 5 (+10)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Close Attack 3, Fast Grab, Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Force Field"
Enhanced Advantages 2: Withstand Damage, Ultimate Toughness Save [2]
Force Field 15 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Impervious 25) [41]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (Flaws: Sustained +0) [20]
"Block Out Air" Immunity 2 (Suffocation) (Flaws: Limited Duration) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +3 (+18 Force Field, +13 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Power Drawback (Over-Powered)- Unus' Force Field is so powerful that it occasionally blocks out oxygen or other substances, suffocating him.

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 64 / Defenses: 7 (112)

-Unus the Untouchable is a goofy '60s villain that didn't really get a whole lot of play- how could he? His power makes him ridiculously-boring for combat (he can't be hurt AT ALL), and even has sneaky tricks like Immunity to Telepathy attached. It's all kinds of Broken, but since he's a villain it isn't so bad. He got a few uses, then they were done with him, seemingly killing him in a story where his powers went out of control and he suffocated, with even AIR being blocked out of his Field. But then WAY later, he was brought back on Genosha... and then they killed him again, the same way he "died" the first time. He's probably more famous now for having a boatload of C-Characters as children- Unuscione of The Acolytes, and Radius & Flex of Alpha Flight "fame".
-Unus is a one-power wonder, but it's an INSANE power- he's as durable as Cain Marko, and easy as hell to hit (I mean, what's he gonna do? DODGE? The man is Untouchable- he has no need to move out of the way). He's so tough that only the HULK ever beat him by blunt force, and that was because he was MAD AS HELL, and he was NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE. It's a Sustained Protection effect (presumably he can drop the Field when he wants to... except for those times he couldn't, but those were specific drawbacks at the moment) and he can stunt it so it's not the standard Permanent kind.

PETE WISDOM
Created By:
Warren Ellis & Ken Lashley
First Appearance: Excalibur #86 (Feb. 1995)
Role: Marty Stu, The Cynical Snide Brit, Government Agent, The P.O.V. Character (MI-13)
Country of Origin: England
Group Affiliations: Excalibur, MI-13
PL 9 (157)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 7 (+10, +12 Attractive)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Computers) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Secret Agent/Spy) 8 (+11)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 8 (+11)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+7, +9 Attractive)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 2 (British Intelligence), Contacts, Defensive Attack, Distract (Deception), Equipment 3 (Gun, Agent Stuff), Improved Aim, Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Leadership, Luck 2, Ranged Attack 5, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Cosmic Hot Knives"
"Hot Knives" Blast 8 (Feats: Improved Critical 3, Split 3) (Extras: Penetrating) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- [32]
AE: "Knife Spray" Blast 7 (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1, Inaccurate -1) (18)
AE: "Knife Attack" Damage 6 (Feats: Split) (6)
AE: Movement 1 (Slow Fall) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Hot Knives +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Knife Spray +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Reputation (Sarcastic Brit)
Guilt (Violent Past)- Pete has done a lot of wetworks activity, and grew to hate his job.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 15 (157)

-Pete Wisdom's someone I've grown more familiar with, having read some of his early stuff in Excalibur while it was happening, and reading three trades of Captain Britain & MI-13. He's a Warren Ellis creation, and represents the absolute worst kind of Mary Sue by an author- the Self-Insert who's smarter than everyone, and sleeps with the character the writer wants to sleep with. In this case, Wisdom is the same kind of Sly British Deadpan Snarker Ellis is obsessed with, constantly acts more "in the know" than the other members of his team, and got to date Kitty Pryde, despite him being a lot older than her. The latter annoyed the CRAP out of my teenage self, who only found Colossus acceptable, given that I myself was not an X-Man at the time :).
-He wound of on X-Force for whatever reason, doing a mostly-ignored arc on that series in it's dying days, and now he's the Everyman character on MI:13, having lost alot of his caustic wit. Not a big fan- he's just a little too obvious a Mary Sue/Marty Stu, and not just in the "this is a pushed-character that I don't like" type that many fans just slap on every character they hate- he is exactly the kind that teenage girls are notorious for making in their fanfics.
-I wasn't exactly sure on the power level of his "Hot Knives", though he BADLY injured Colossus with them, so I'm going with a PL 9 Blaster with Power Attack & a Penetrating Extra- he's generally not being seen as that powerful these days, though- more of a Street Level Investigator type with a handy super-weapon. He can stab guys with them, or go Multiattack, but it dilutes the power and is less accurate. So Pete's PL 9 at range, but watch out- get him in Close, and he's REALLY not going to take a punch well- he's PL 7 at Dodge, and PL 6.5 at Parry. HE. WILL. DIE.

PHOENIX (Jean Grey, aka Marvel Girl, The Dark Phoenix)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: The Chick (Original Team), Team Mom, Alpha Couple (with Scott), Barrier Warrior, The One Everyone Wants to Boink (all teams, EVER), The Sacrifice, The Corrupted Power
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The X-Terminators
PL 11 (194)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 2 (+3)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 2 (+5, +7 Attractive)
Expertise (Mutant Rights) 3 (+6)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 5 (+8, +10 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (TK Attacks) 4 (+11)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Equipment (X-Uniform), Extraordinary Effort, Improved Critical (Telekinesis), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy & Telekinesis"
"Scott's Lady" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Scott Summers) [1]
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Check 2 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [1]

Mind-Reading 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless) Linked to Mental Communication 2 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area, Selective) (47) -- [59]
Dynamic AE: "Focused Mind Control" Mind Control 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Group Mind Control" Mind Control 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (31)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Detection" Senses 4 (Feats: Dynamic) (Mental Awareness, Radius, Extended, Acute) (5)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 10 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenselss) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Blast" Damage 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (45)

Force Field 9 (Feats: Dynamic, Increased Mass 4) (Extras: Affects Others 10) (24) -- [36]
Dynamic AE: "TK Attack" Blast 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (23)
Dynamic AE: "TK Wave" Damage 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (23)
Dynamic AE: "TK Ram" Damage 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (23)
Dynamic AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 11 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (24)
Dynamic AE: Flight 5 (60 mph) (Feats: Dynamic) (11)
Dynamic AE: Deflect 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (23)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mind-Reading +11 (DC 21)
Mental Attacks +6-10 Perception (+10 Perception Affliction, DC 16-20)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+11 Force Field), Fortitude +6, Will +10 (+12 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Relationship (Scott Summers)- Cyke fell in love at first sight with the beautiful redhead, and the two eventually became a couple after he finally got over his classic shyness. After a few tribulations (namely her DEATH), they finally married, and were happy for many years. Then he psi-cheated on her and she died. Again.
Relationship (Wolverine)- Wolverine fell for Jean pretty quickly, and had to come to terms with it. Jean tried to let him down, but her barriers can often bend, as she has developed an attraction towards him. When it was her voice that brought him back from the brink (when Magneto pulled his adamantium out), she had to admit that a part of her would always belong to him. They also shared a kiss during The X-Tinction Agenda.
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)
Relationship (Charles Xavier)- Xavier is an important father figure to Jean, having saved her mind after it was warped as a youngster (when she mind-melded with a dying friend).
Relationship (The Summers Family Tree)- Jean was married to Cyclops, whose family includes a long-lost brother, a Space Pirate father, a dead mother, at least one half-brother (who is a genocidal maniac), a daughter from a future that never happened, a son via a clone, another son via ANOTHER alternate future, and more. Her OWN family is pretty normal- regular parents and a sister (all of whom were killed by the Shi'ar to prevent the return of The Phoenix).

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 97 / Defenses: 19 (194)

-Man, where would the X-Verse be without Jean? Somewhat of a bastard child compared to other women in the Marvel Universe, she was often never QUITE as important as other leading ladies like Sue Storm, Ororo Munroe or The Wasp, who all got extended periods of leading their teams or being the most powerful heroines around. Jean was basically a "By The Numbers" chick character on the original X-Men (Stan was notorious for basically writing every woman the same way- his idealized female, much like his own wife), and didn't come into her own until Claremont's run, where she was a bit bossier and crankier (as per Claremont's fetishes), but still the nicest person on the whole team. Eventually, she hit upon Claremont's OTHER fetish, being all-powerful, dominant women, got the Phoenix Force, and underwent one of Marvel's greatest storylines of all time, The Dark Phoenix Saga, which made her forever one of the most famous women in comic book history. What's funny is that the initial plan was for Jean to be de-powered, NOT killed- Jim Shooter forced the two to kill Jean for her crime of genocide, thus giving the X-Men their most-epic storyline's finale- the watershed moment that made the book HUGE.
-Coming back after being dead after an extended period of time, Jeannie was with X-Factor (which I still say was a crappy book- the whole "we hunt mutants but really saved them" gimmick was silly, and it was disgusting to have Cyclops up and leave his wife & child to run with Jean again) for years before FINALLY ending up back with the X-Men. But this time around, she dropped the Marvel Girl codename (which I always thought was perfectly serviceable, just not for a Team Mom) for the ultra-unique "Jean Grey", got a much less sexy outfit than the red spandex, and sported a ponytail. Okay, Jim Lee's designs for the Blue & Gold Teams were AWESOME for the most part (Storm, Psylocke & Rogue never looked better), but wow, it was a tan spandex suit with a blue one-piece over it, and a ponytail sticking out of a weird empty-face mask, and weird squares on her thighs. Kind of de-sexed what was once one of comics' all-time hotties (I still think it was just to make Psylocke automatically the hottest).
-Even MORE stuff happened during her time as the "boring" Jean, as she FINALLY married Cyclops, raised the boy who would be Cable in the future, and then watched as Scott psi-cheated with Emma Frost. And then she died. Uhhh... wow. Honestly, I liked Jean as a character, but they'd gone through SO MUCH with her by that point that it was almost preferable- she could rest for a while before getting ultra-stale or TOO involved with crap. Of course, it'll problematically make her "Constantly Resurrecting" running gag all the MORE accurate if she resurrects (they teased a thing in Phoenix: Endsong, but it was really just the Phoenix Force trying to resurrect her, and Jean saying "no" and ascending to a higher plane with it), but that's never stopped anyone from cheapening characters deaths before (COUGHelektraWHEEZE). To be honest, she hasn't pulled the "Died and Come Back" as often as SOME characters have, but she still ends up getting made fun of the most for it.
-Jean stats up rather well into a PL 11 build, costing a bit under what The Invisible Woman does, which I think sounds about right- she's one of the most powerful mutants on the team, an Omega-Level one no less. I was taken aback, but really, Daredevil costs around the same because of all his Skills & Advantages, so it makes sense. She's well-rounded athletically and mentally, she has TWO gigantic Dynamic Arrays, and is a great team player as well. Her long-range Mental Attacks are formidable, AND she can hit like a ton of bricks at the same time. She's pretty much the ultimate team player on any squad she ends up on, having the mental powers and the team-saving Force Fields to back up everyone else. Fear the Grey.

MARVEL GIRL (Jean Grey)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: The Chick (Original Team)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
PL 8 (116)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Athletics 2 (+2)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+5)
Deception 2 (+4)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (TK Attacks) 4 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Improved Disarm, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy & Telekinesis"

Mind-Reading 6 (Feats: Dynamic) Linked to Mental Communication 2 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area, Selective) (25) -- [33]
Dynamic AE: "Focused Mind Control" Mind Control 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (25)
Dynamic AE: "Group Mind Control" Mind Control 3 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (16)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Detection" Senses 2 (Feats: Dynamic) (Mental Awareness, Radius) (3)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Blast" Damage 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (21)

Force Field 7 (Feats: Dynamic, Increased Mass 2) (Extras: Affects Others) (17) -- [25]
Dynamic AE: "TK Attack" Blast 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (17)
Dynamic AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 6 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (14)
Dynamic AE: Flight 4 (30 mph) (Feats: Dynamic) (9)
Dynamic AE: Deflect 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (13)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Mind-Reading +6 (DC 16)
TK Attack +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Mental Attacks +3-6 Perception (+3-6 Perception Affliction, DC 13-16)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +1 (+8 Force Field), Fortitude +4, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Scott Summers)- Cyke fell in love at first sight with the beautiful redhead, and the two eventually became a couple after he finally got over his classic shyness.
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 58 / Defenses: 15 (116)

-Man, where would the X-Verse be without Jean? Somewhat of a bastard child compared to other women in the Marvel Universe, she was often never QUITE as important as other leading ladies like Sue Storm, Ororo Munroe or The Wasp, who all got extended periods of leading their teams or being the most powerful heroines around. Jean was basically a 'by the numbers' chick character on the original X-Men (themselves the bastard children of the early Lee/Kirbyverse), and didn't come into her own until Claremont's run, where she was a bit bossier and crankier (as per Claremont's fetishes), but still the nicest person on the whole team. Eventually, she hit upon Claremont's OTHER fetish, being all-powerful, dominant women, got the Phoenix Force, and underwent one of Marvel's greatest storylines of all time, the Dark Phoenix Saga, which made her forever one of the most famous women in comic book history.

THE DARK PHOENIX
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: The Chick (Original Team), Team Mom, Alpha Couple (with Scott), Barrier Warrior, The One Everyone Wants to Boink (all teams, EVER), The Sacrifice, The Corrupted Power
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, The X-Terminators
PL 18 (438)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 6 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 2 (+3)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Mutant Rights) 3 (+10)
Expertise (Cosmic Lore) 9 (+16)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 4 (+11)
Insight 4 (+10)
Intimidation 11 (+15)
Perception 8 (+14)
Persuasion 5 (+9, +11 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (TK Attacks) 3 (+11)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Extraordinary Effort, Daze (Intimidation), Fascinate (Intimidation), Improved Critical (Telekinesis) 3, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy & Telekinesis, Plus The Phoenix Force"
"Scott's Lady" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Scott Summers) [1]

"Cosmic Being"
Immunity 12 (Aging, Life Support, Sleep) [12]
"Returns From The Ashes" Immortality 1 (1 month) [2]
Flight 14 (32,000 mph) [28]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]
Features 1: May Spend 2 Hero Points and get to Double Area Effects (ie. 500ft. Bursts) [1]

"Cosmic Mind"
Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) [8]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Space) [2]
Quickness 12 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Tasks) [6]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]

Mind-Reading 18 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless) Linked to Mental Communication 5 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area, Selective) (86) -- [106]
Dynamic AE: "Focused Mind Control" Mind Control 18 (Feats: Dynamic) (73)
Dynamic AE: "Group Mind Control" Mind Control 13 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (66)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Detection" Senses 4 (Feats: Dynamic) (Mental Awareness, Radius, Extended, Acute) (5)
Dynamic AE: "Show One The Totality of the Cosmos" Affliction 16 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative, Progressive +2) (Flaws: Distracting) (81)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 20 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional) (62)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Blast" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (65)
Dynamic AE: Healing 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Ranged, Restorative, Resurrection, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Others, Distracting) (47)
AE: "Sense Energy" Senses 22 (Detect Energy- Ranged 17- 1,600 trillion miles, Acute & Analytical, Tracking) (22)
AE: "Sense Life" Senses 22 (Detect Life- Ranged 17- 1,600 trillion miles, Tracking) (22)
AE: Movement 7 (Dimensional Travel 3, Space Travel +2, Time Travel 2) (Extras: Portal +2) (28)
AE: Teleport 18 (Feats: Increased Mass 10- 25 tons) (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (82)
AE: Movement 6 (Dimensional Travel 2, Space Travel +2, Time Travel 2) (Extras: Attack 16, Ranged 16) (44)
AE: Movement 6 (Dimensional Travel 2, Space Travel +2, Time Travel 2) (Extras: Affects Others, Perception Range +2) (30)

Force Field 16 (Extras: Impervious 13) [29]

"TK Wave" Damage 18 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 250ft. Cone +3) (83) -- [96]
Dynamic AE: "TK Burst" Damage 18 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3) (83)
Dynamic AE: "TK Ram" Damage 18 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +3) (83)
Dynamic AE: "Enhanced Field" Force Field +4 (Feats: Dynamic, Increased Mass 4) (Extras: Affects Others 15, Impervious 18) (42)
Dynamic AE: "TK Attack" Blast 25 (Feats: Dynamic) (51)
Dynamic AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 22 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (Extras: Perception Range) (68)
Dynamic AE: Deflect 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (31)
AE: "Devour Stars" Damage 26 (Extras: Affects Objects Only +0, Limited to Planets, Distracting) Linked to Weaken Toughness 26 (Flaws: Affects Objects Only +0, Limited to Stars, Distracting) (13)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mind-Reading +18 (DC 28)
Mental Attacks -- (+16-18 Perception Affliction, DC 26-28)
TK Area Attacks +18 (+18 Damage, DC 33)
TK Blast +11 (+25 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+20-24 Force Field, +7-16 Impervious), Fortitude +8, Will +14

Complications:
Relationship (Scott Summers)- Cyke fell in love at first sight with the beautiful redhead, and the two eventually became a couple after he finally got over his classic shyness. After a few tribulations (namely her DEATH), they finally married, and were happy for many years. Then he psi-cheated on her and she died. Again.
Relationship (Wolverine)- Wolverine fell for Jean pretty quickly, and had to come to terms with it. Jean tried to let him down, but her barriers can often bend, as she has developed an attraction towards him. When it was her voice that brought him back from the brink (when Magneto pulled his adamantium out), she had to admit that a part of her would always belong to him. They also shared a kiss during The X-Tinction Agenda.
Responsibility (Xavier's Dream)
Relationship (Charles Xavier)- Xavier is an important father figure to Jean, having saved her mind after it was warped as a youngster (when she mind-melded with a dying friend).
Relationship (The Summers Family Tree)- Jean was married to Cyclops, whose family includes a long-lost brother, a Space Pirate father, a dead mother, at least one half-brother (who is a genocidal maniac), a daughter from a future that never happened, a son via a clone, another son via ANOTHER alternate future, and more. Her OWN family is pretty normal- regular parents and a sister (all of whom were killed by the Shi'ar to prevent the return of The Phoenix).
Responsibility (Horrible Power)- The Phoenix is a tremendous burden on the mortal mind, and Jean went truly insane as it's host. This madness led her to destroy an entire inhabited world (and billions of lives).

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 304 / Defenses: 26 (438)

PHOENIX II (Rachel Summers)
Created By:
Chris Claremont, John Byrne & John Romita
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #141 (Jan. 1981)
Role: Mary Sue/God Mode Sue, Butch Lesbian, Yet Another Summers (back when there was only like four)
Country of Origin: The United States (dystopian future)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Excalibur
PL 13 (218)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+3)
Intimidation 9 (+10)
Perception 7 (+8)
Technology 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (TK Attacks) 4 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Power Attack, Ranged Combat 4, Jack-of-All-Trades

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy & Telekinesis, Modified by The Phoenix Force"
"Mental Blast" Damage 13 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Alternate Save- Will) (53) -- [67]
Dynamic AE: "Telepathy" Communication 3 (Mental- Country-Wide) (Extras: Area, Selective) Linked to Mind Reading 10 (39)
Dynamic AE: Mind Control 12 (49)
Dynamic AE: "Group Control" Affliction 9 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Cumulative) (37)
Dynamic AE: "Telelocation" Senses 8 (Detect Life- Ranged 2, Acute, Postcognition) (Flaws: Postcog Limited to Immediate Area) (7)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 12 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (49)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 8 (Sight, Hearing & Mental- 2 miles) (Feats: Subtle, Dimensional) (Flaws: Helpless While In Use) (26)
AE: "Mind Switch" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed to Another) (Extras: Sustained +2) (Flaws: Side-Effect- Ends up in Other Body) (21)
AE: "Power Suppression" Affliction 12 (Will; Fatigued/Exhausted/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (49)

Force Field 11 (Feats: Increased Mass 3, Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others, Impervious, Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (48) -- [58]
Dynamic AE: TK Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Penetrating) (46)
Dynamic AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 15 (Feats: Precise) (32)
Dynamic AE: Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (27)
Dynamic AE: Damage 13 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Shapeable +2) (40)
Dynamic AE: Deflect 12 (12)

Flight 7 (250 mph) [14]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mental Blast +13 Perception (+13 Perception Damage, DC 28)
Mental Attacks +9-12 Perception (+9-12 Perception Afflictions, DC 19-22)
TK Blast +8 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
TK Blasts +13 Area (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+14 Force Field), Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Guilt (Former Hound)- Rachel used to actively hunt her own kind, sending them into the camps. It was against her will, but all the same...
Responsibility/Involuntary Transformation (Wields the Phoenix Force)- The Phoenix Force is a Cosmic Entity of unimaginable power, and occasionally goes out of Rachel's control.
Responsibility (Jean Grey's Memory)- When her mother (in another future) dies, Rachel takes up the mantle, rejecting Cyclops' command and becoming "Rachel Grey", the second Marvel Girl.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 139 / Defenses: 18 (218)

-Is there any character in all of comics that's as much of a Mary Sue as this one? Think about the facts: She's the previously-unknown secret daughter of not one, but TWO canonical characters. She's a replacement for a deceased canon character, with all her powers. She's supposed to be so hot that half the male cast loves her and the female cast is jealous of her (Kitty called her "God's Gift" at one point, when Alistaire Stuart was fawning over her). She's SO over-powered that she's the sole winner of many fights, can brawl with Selene and nearly kill her, can travel through time, and basically come up with powers on the spot. I mean, you could have practically called that f***ing trope The Rachel Summers and have been done with it, before that phrase became well known from the fanfics out there.
-So yeah, not a big fan. She didn't even get as hot as she was supposed to be until Alan Davis started drawing her, and even then, she was a distant third to Kitty & Meggan. The whole "red leather studded bodysuit" is so NOT my thing it's not even funny, to say nothing of the ridiculously dated '80s mullet (a haircut that looks good on no one, man or woman). Her resurrection as a modern-day Jean replacement (with much less powers) was a little better, since she could no longer kill all their enemies by farting, but she's just so far into my "Don't Care" pile that I don't think I'll ever count myself as a fan.
-Yeah, I settled on PL 13 for Rachel- she's extremely powerful, but often quite limited with it, and can still lose and by captured. Weird, She's quite under-Skilled & Advantage, but her raw power makes her the team Super-Heavyweight. She lacks alot of finesse, skill and accuracy, but she can mess up a LOT of people, whipping out a horrific **+20** damage if she uses Power Attack, easily the most devastating attack of all the X-Men. She could possibly be seen as higher in power, but this build is showcasing her lack of finesse and care in battle (Emma Frost could match her telepathically, for instance, and she OFTEN got KOed or otherwise taken out because she wasn't paying attention- she's got +13 Area Attacks, but a PL 11.5 Blast). She also has a very low Will Save for someone who engages in alot of psionic duels, which helps to make her a bit weaker.
-Modern-day Rachel Summers (as Marvel Girl II) loses a dramatic amount of power, roughly evening-out to PL 10. Her Blasts become mere +10/+10 effects, she loses some Mind Control stuff, and her Force Field is weakened.

GAMBIT (Remy Etienne LeBeau)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Jim Lee
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #266 (Aug. 1990)
Role: The Seducer, The Mole (initially- abandoned plotline), Smarmy Guy
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Thieves Guild, Clan LeBeau, The Horsemen of Apocalypse, The Marauders, Xavier's Security Enforcers, The Crimson Pirates
PL 10 (193)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Acrobatics 10 (+16)
Athletics 12 (+14)
Deception 8 (+13, +15 Attractive)
Expertise (Thief) 15 (+17)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 1 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 9 (+12)
Persuasion 5 (+10, +12 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Thrown Objects) 3 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 9 (+14)
Stealth 8 (+14)
Technology 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Attractive, Daze (Deception), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 2 (Thief's Gear, Staff, etc.), Evasion 2, Fascinate (Deception), Improved Aim, Improved Critical 3 (Staff, Cards 2), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 7, Skill Mastery (Thief), Takedown 2, Throwing Mastery, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Kinetic Charging of Matter"
"Large Objects" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 15ft. Burst +1/2) (Diminished Range, Quirk: Requires Large Objects -1) (18) -- [19]
AE: "Multiple Cards" Blast 6 (Feats: Accurate) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range, Quirk: Requires Small Objects -1) (17)

"Hard to Read" Immunity 2 (Mind Reading) [2]

Equipment:
"Staff" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split, Reach) (4)
"Playing Cards" (like five billion of them- he never runs out)
"Body Armour" Protection 1 (1)
"Thief Stuff" Lock picks, rope, etc.

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Staff +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Playing Cards +14 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Large Objects +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +3 (+4 Armour, +5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Rogue)- The two flirted at first (Gambit mostly), but it turns out he really liked her, but they couldn't be together because of her powers. Then they kinda split, then stuff happened, and now... it's complicated.
Guilt (Led the Marauders to the Morlocks)- This was a retcon, and the X-Men kind of thought he was a dick for it, on account of hundreds of people being murdered. He did it as payment for Mister Sinister saving him from his own powers, but STILL... Eventually he just rejoined the team.
Enemy (Mister Sinister)- Gambit used to owe Sinister a favour, and still ends up tied in with the evil geneticist.
Responsibility (The Thieves Guild)- Gambit is the member of this clandestine organization in New Orleans' underworld, and is often forced into situations involving them or their rivals, The Assassins Guild.
Relationship (Belladonna Boudreaux)- Remy & Belladonna were engaged to be married, as part of some alliance between the two aforementioned Guilds. Instead, he killed her brother in a duel and went on the run, and Belladonna died killing a Brood that was infecting Ghost Rider.
Involuntary Transformation (Death)- Having once been turned into a Horseman of Apocalypse, Gambit occasionally has to worry about transforming back during moments of anger.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 90--45 / Advantages: 33 / Powers: 21 / Defenses: 18 (193)

-Gambit's one of those guys that just can't live past his reputation as "man of the '90s". Bringing the trenchcoat to the forefront of super-hero costume design is now practically considered a mortal sin, and it's only by virtue of his characterization since that point that he's allowed some pride; whereas someone like Adam-X or Night Thrasher are not. They handled his "cool bad-ass" thing pretty well I guess, though I always found it a bit over the top (he smokes, has a trenchcoat, is a criminal, flirts with everyone, rides a motorbike, etc.), as he still has fans to this day. I'm still not seeing how they made him LEADER of his own team (though by that point, nearly every single member of both teams had been Team Leader at some point- part of the problem with a SUPER long-running series), not to mention gave him his OWN SERIES, but that was the peak of Marvel's "X-Books are the only thing we sell now" period.
-Gambit was originally a mysterious thief that rescued a young, depowered Storm from The Shadow King, Nanny & Orphan-Maker, and brought her back to the X-Men, whom he soon joined. He was a newbie during The X-Tinction Agenda, but eventually became a trusted new guy- his bad-ass long jacket, funky pink armour and unique powers made him an instant fan-favourite, and he'd become a fashion plate for the entire comic book industry. Funnily enough, he was gonna be the "Terra" of the X-Men. That's right- Claremont & Lee originally created him to eventually BETRAY the entire team to a villain, something that got used years later when it was revealed that he led the Marauders to the Morlocks, setting off the Mutant Massacre. You could tell he was gonna become a good guy, because he got more handsome with each passing issue, until he was the smirking bad boy we all know and love.
-He joined the "Guys Jim Lee Loves Best" Blue Strike Force, and was popular enough to get a starring role in the '90s cartoon, and eventually he & Rogue quietly went on to become the Beta Couple of the X-Franchise, going all over the place (flirting at first, then "dating", then Gambit really loved her but they couldn't be together, then they were together, then she kinda was with Joseph the Magneto Clone for a while, then some other confusing stuff). I guess it stands as a great example of characterization and relationship-handling that it was STILL going after a ridiculous amount of time, but I think they got kinda stale, and then of course they broke up in modern times, because it's comics and Comic Book Couples Can Never Stay Together. Curiously, Gambit went WAY off the rails in the post-2000s era, being brainwashed by Apocalypse and generally being one of his minions for a long period of time, before finally coming out of it and joining various X-teams once again.
-Gambit's another weird X-Man to stat up, but it's easier in 3e that it was in 2nd Edition. He has a Diminished Range Multiattack Blast (quite accurate; +14 in total), and a short-range Area Blast. He "Requires Objects" for obvious reasons, and generally his cards give him an unlimited supply of ways to use his attack. The power level isn't so dramatic, but then Gambit has always been a finesse guy, more accurate than damaging. Even so, he has Power Attack, for those days when he needs a REALLY big Blast (which would need a correspondingly large object- those aren't really in rare supply during super-fights, though.
-For one card, use Accurate Attack, for a whole bunch of them, use the regular damage, and for a big object like a chair, throw Power Attack on. My old Gambit build used Disintigrate on the objects he was blowing up (I'd use Drain Toughness nowadays), but really, if the object is at the epicenter of the Damage, it doesn't need it, as it just takes the full damage as "fluff" expository dialogue. It's an accurate way to blow up the objects he's "charging", but in the end, you're just making him spend points on something that's really just a side-effect descriptor of his powers.
-Physically & Skill-wise, he's very good, having a TON of Skills (Master Thief brings a bunch of benefits), and he's quite good all-around. Wiki says he's as strong as any human could be, but I call shenanigans on that, because I don't think I've ever seen Gambit straight up K.O. major characters with one punch- Wikipedia is ENORMOUSLY bad for giving everyone "Peak Human" capabilities, and throws "enhanced reflexes" on absolutely everybody in comics as well. Gambit is set-up as a close-range Blaster who's very good at avoiding hits, as well as being the team's resident Skillmonkey. At PL 10 (190), he's one of the pricier guys, but it fits- Daredevil is 10 points more expensive, and he's equivalent to Elektra or the Black Widow, which makes sense.

THUNDERBIRD I (John Proudstar)
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: Sacrificial Buddy, Team Jerk-Ass
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The United States Marine Corps.
PL 8 (114)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+12)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Marine) 7 (+7)
Expertise (Apache) 7 (+7)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 8 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Superhuman Physiology"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Senses 4 (Extended Vision, Scent & Hearing, Tracking) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (James Proudstar- Brother)- John was a positive influence in little James' life (not that we ever saw him until years after John died).
Responsibility (Apache Heritage)- John is a proud Apache, and despises the sad old drunks that make up his reservation.
Reputation (Bullheaded & Action-Craving)- John took the "Dissenter" role pre-Wolverine, being stubborn and headstrong. He joined the X-Men largely to give himself something to do, instead of being listless all the time.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 12 (114)

-Poor Thunderbird was just screwed, straight out of the gate. Literally EVERYTHING was against this guy. On a team with a strong guy, a tracker, a scrappy bastard, agile people & fast people (who could FLY), he was just a little bit less at all these things than his comrades. And while everybody had these fascinating, never-before-seen cultures (for super-heroes at least), he was just your average White-Hatin' Injun, which had been done to death in Western comics 20 years earlier. Len Wein has said that he wanted several X-Men to "fail the entrance exam", and that T-Bird was created by him & Dave Cockrum to do just that, alongside Sunfire & Banshee (he wanted at least ONE new character to fail). Instead of killing him on Mission One, however, they decided they liked his costume and kept him on. BUT, then they discovered that the team had TWO obnoxious loudmouths on it, and so he was chosen to bite the big one instead of the other newbie, Wolverine (can you imagine how different comics would be if THUNDERBIRD was kept alive instead?).
-And this alone is what sets him apart: his death was a "holy crap" wake-up call for the team, and made them all come together very quickly. By offing this Jerk-Ass prick of a character, they ended up setting up the rest of the book's run to be more serious (I mean, a superhero DYING?). Plus, they got little brother James (aka Warpath), and the Exiles' T-Bird out of the deal. So you can see that John was far more valuable dead than alive. Never mind that he died in the stupidest way possible, making the mistake of trying to tear apart Count Nefaria's jet when even BANSHEE was telling him to get off. Hilariously, nobody- not the X-Men, nor even James, who was at first VERY vengeful against the X-Men for getting John killed, has ever tried to get even with Nefaria- THE MAN WHO KILLED HIM.
-I figure most of the original Giant-Size team were around PL 8-9, having just learned their powers in many respects- John is tougher to place because he had very few appearances (I knock most rarely-appearing characters down a peg), but every time the resurrect him he does OK, but I went with PL 8 anyways (it's like some kind of weird inverted New Character Stink). If you want a PL 9 version, just upgrade his accuracy & defenses. John is kinda hard to nail down in terms of strength level, as he was unquestionably powerful, but likely well below Colossus. He could tear into a jet-plane well enough, but not rip it in half. He could run fast, jump far, and was very durable, but all at levels we never really got the chance to see tested. He's rather skillful (ex-military, plus lives on a reservation in the middle of nowhere), and he has a ton of Combat Advantages for a guy we saw very little of, so he's not too bad all-around. Way below his peak in points, but he'd do alright. It wouldn't be too hard to "boost" him further- just look at his lil' bro James, who is PL 10-11 based off of modern stories.

TOM CORSI
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz
First Appearance: The New Mutants #19 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Supporting Character
Group Affiliations: Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters
PL 5 (73)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+5)
Expertise (Police Officer) 6 (+7)
Expertise (Physical Education Instructor) 4 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Firearm) 1 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+4)
Treatment 1 (+2)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Pistol +5), Ranged Combat 2

Equipment:
Pistol +5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Pistol +5 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +5, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Sharon Friedlander)- The two shared a flirtation for a while, until Supreme Dick of the Universe, Empath, forced the two into a week-long orgy to get rid of them. They avoided each other afterwards, emotionally broken.
Responsibility (Native American)- Tom used to be a white guy, but the Demon Bear (*shudder*) transformed him into a Native to do battle with Danielle Moonstar. He is now stuck in that condition.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (73)

SHARON FRIEDLANDER
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz
First Appearance: The New Mutants #19 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Supporting Character
Group Affiliations: Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters
PL 5 (60)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Treatment 5 (+8)

Advantages:
None

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Relationship (Tom Corsi)- The two shared a flirtation for a while, until Supreme Dick of the Universe, Empath, forced the two into a week-long orgy to get rid of them. They avoided each other afterwards, emotionally broken.
Responsibility (Native American)- Sharon used to be a white woman, but the Demon Bear (*shudder*) transformed her into a Native to do battle with Danielle Moonstar. She is now stuck in that condition.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (60)

-Tom & Sharon were a weird little story in Claremont's "New Mutants" run. Two bystanders assaulted by The Demon Bear, they were transformed into Cheyenne warriors to attack Danielle Moonstar, and upon the beast's defeat, were still trapped in those forms. They made do, and joined Xavier's staff as supporting characters, though they never really did anything. Their biggest story was when Empath turned their mutual attraction in a sexual obsession because they spotted him spying on Magneto, and their emotionally-broken, punk-dressing, half-dead selves ended up leaving the school afterwards. They drifted in X-Men limbo for years afterwards, only showing up in an Acolytes story (Sharon was killed by Joanna Cargill with a punch to the face, but I don't think anyone mourned her at all- I didn't even know she was dead until I read Wikipedia, and I OWN that issue!). Tom appeared in both "Generation-X" and "The New X-Men" as a Phys-Ed Instructor, but he's still pretty minor.
-Both characters are Top-Tier humans as far as stats go, easily equalling Captain America in some respects, but they lack the overall fighting capability of real super-heroes, and are thus PL 5 characters. Tom, being a police officer, is far more talented overall, and more of a threat (as one of the Kleinstocks discovered, being blasted through in his very first appearance- as somehow a PISTOL ended up blowing a MASSIVE energy plume through his back).

STEVIE HUNTER
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #139 (Nov. 1980)
Role: Supporting Character, Mentor Figure
Group Affiliations: Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters
PL 3 (60)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+6)
Expertise (Ballet Dancer) 9 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Treatment 3 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +1, Fortitude +3, Will +5

Complications:
Disabled (Bum Leg)- Stevie was a world-class dancer in her prime, but a knee injury permanently ended her career. Even today, she can occasionally have a relapse, or falter if she puts too much strain on her leg. In her prime, she had Agility 5, Acrobatics 8 (+13) and Athletics 8 (+8).

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 5 (60)

-Stevie Hunter was a good mentor-figure to the New Mutant kids, teaching them the embarassing art of ballet in order to perfect their bodies and improve their athleticism (it's a real thing, too- ballet dancers have some SERIOUS physical conditioning, and dancers in general are all-around more in shape than many pro athletes). She was a good influence on their lives, and often took a "man on the street" role to the team, being someone who wasn't a mutant, wasn't a fighter, and wasn't a hormone-ridden angsty teenager, so she provided a fresh outlook to the grim world of teenaged heroes. She was mostly dropped once the New Mutants turned into young adults (around Louise Simonson's introduction, Stevie showed up less-and-less... she was more more of a Claremont idea), and she only made one or two appearances period since 1990. Stat-wise, she's just an athletic woman who's a bit past her prime.

SAURON (Dr. Karl Lykos)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Neal Adams
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #59-60 (Sept-Aug. 1969)
Role: Background Villain, Jekyll/Hyde Guy
Group Affiliations: The Savage Land Mutates, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
PL 10 (196)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 1 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+6)
Intimidation 10 (+10)
Perception 8 (+10)
Stealth 7 (+10)
Technology 2 (+6)
Treatment 6 (+10)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Roll, Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Hold, Last Stand, Startle, Takedown, Tracking

Powers:
"Pteranodon Physiology"
"Wings" Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [6]
"Natural Weapons- Claws & Beak" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
"Mutant Detection" Senses 3 (Detect Mutants, Ranged & Acute) [3]

"Life Drain" Weaken Stamina 10 Linked to Affliction 10 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative) (30) -- [32]
AE: "Hypnosis" Affliction 10 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception, Cumulative) (30)
AE: "Fire Breath" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cone) (20)

"Mimic Mutant Powers" Variable 5 (Flaws: Limited to Drained Victims, Limited to Mutant Powers) [25]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Natural Weapons +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Life Drain +10 (+10 Affliction & +10 Weaken, DC 20 & 20)
Hypnosis +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Fire Breath +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8 (+9 D.Roll), Fortitude +10, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Hunger)- Sauron is obsessed with draining the life forces of mutants to gain more power, and this frequently haunts even his alter ego.
Reputation (The Beast Within)- Karl Lykos is a doctor and a good man, but is twisted by his Hyde-like other self.
Weakness (Cold)- As a cold-blooded reptile, Sauron is especially vulnerable to cold temperatures.
Power Loss- If he has not drained the energy of a mutant in some time, Sauron will revert back to Karl Lykos, who has the Abilities: STR 0, STA 0, AGI 0.
Disabled (Mental Stats)- Sauron's mental faculties are extremely variable, and some forms of the creature appear no smarter than INT 0, and sometimes he appears as a snarling beast.
Relationship (Tanya)- He had a lady in his life, much like Curt Connors, but his frequent transformations into the monster Sauron split them apart.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 69 / Defenses: 17 (196)

-Sauron's one of the lesser recurring X-foes, with a weird place in their history- he hearkens back to the time when they were regular visitors to The Savage Land, in the Thomas/Adams years of the X-books. They were gonna make him a Bat-Man at first, but the Comics Code said that made him too close to a Vampire (which was banned since the '50s), and so they scrambled and made him the closest thing to a bat they could think of- a Were-Pteranodon. Only in comics, folks.
-He's never really been used THAT much, but it seems that every single long-running arc on an X-book features a short return of this Jekyll/Hyde-type of guy. He mixes unoriginality (the Hyde thing, Lycanthropy) with uniqueness (a were-pteranodon who absorbs mutants?), and most of his plotlines are the same: the good Doctor Lykos gets tempted or twisted by his dark side (pretty much like Curt Connors always does- he NEVER stays cured for more than five years), absorbs a mutant, goes nuts, and then get stomped back down. See, as the X-Men got more varied and developed over the years, as opposers of racism and fighting society as much as super-villainy, a big all-bad "Drain and Conquer" kind of guy just gets left behind as a thematic villain.
-He was a one-shot villain at first (throwing himself off a cliff to save his beloved Tanya's life from his alter-ego), and didn't reappear until the Claremont/Byrne years. Another couple years and he'd fight Spider-Man. ANOTHER bunch and he'd show up in the 1990s fighting X-Force alongside Toad's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (note: he is not a mutant). After that, it's just multiple random appearances, but rarely fighting a whole team of X-Men- he's probably had more appearances in the past fourteen years than he'd had in his first thirty.
-Sauron could be argued as being PL 11, since he was a frequent opponent of whole TEAMS of guys, but these days he's strictly a team player and hasn't been benefitted by too much Power Creep compared to many other X-Villains. He's an extreme threat thanks to his multiple expensive powers and ferocity more than any pure power levelling, and guys like Cannonball and Spider-Man can be expected to do okay, and even defeat him these days. He's been upgraded in versatility by Weapon X to include Fire Breath and Mimicry, adding to his already-powerful Mass Hypnosis and his lethal Life Drain power, which can Fatigue AND Weaken people. He's fast, a solid fighter, strong, has enhanced senses, can fly, and versatile- a dangerous foe, even if he doesn't break PL 10.

ROGUE (Anna Marie)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Michael Golden
First Appearance: The Avengers Annual #10 (Aug. 1981)
Role: Claremont's Pet, The Punker Girl, The Ascended Leader, The Beta Couple (with Gambit), Blessed With a Sucky Power, Winner of the Super-Power Lottery
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Xavier's Security Enforcers, The Mutant Brotherhood
PL 11 (238)
STRENGTH
1/11 STAMINA 2/11 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 2 (+4, +6 Attractive)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+3)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+4, +6 Attractive)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Diehard, Equipment (X-Uniform), Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Takedown, Ultimate Toughness Check

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Power & Memory Absorption" All Powers Linked
"Absorb Powers" Mimic 11 (Flaws: Limited to Touch Range, Fades As Opponent Recovers) [66]
"Stuns Victims" Affliction 11 (Fort; Dazed & Impaired/Stunned & Disabled/Incapacitated & Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Extra Condition) [22]
"Absorbs Memories" Mind Reading 8 (Flaws: Touch Range -2, Uncontrolled) [1]

"Ms. Marvel's Stolen Powers"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Enhanced Strength 10 [20]
Enhanced Stamina 9 [18]
Protection 1 (Extras: Impervious 11) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Power Theft +10 (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +12 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +9

Complications:
Relationship (Gambit)- The two flirted at first (Gambit mostly), but it turns out he really liked her, but they couldn't be together because of her powers. Then they kinda split, then stuff happened, and now... it's complicated.
Relationship (Mystique)- Mystique adopted a runaway Rogue as a foster daughter, and the two were close for years. Things have grown more complicated, as Rogue comprehends Mystique's evil.
Relationship (The Sentry)- Rogue was apparently in a relationship with Robert, as he could touch her without harm. This was mostly-forgotten when he disappeared from reality, but she would eventually remember.
Relationship (Magneto)- A brief romantic liaison in the past keeps getting brought up, and the two have had "moments" since then- they were married in an alternate timeline, and she also hooked up with his clone, Joseph.
Guilt (Cody's Coma)- Rogue put a boy into a coma when they first kissed, and she's felt horrible about it ever since.
Responsibility (Can Never Touch Skin to Skin)- This was pretty much her mantra for thirty-some years. She's afraid she'll steal someone's thoughts and memories and kill them, like she did her first boyfriend all those years ago.
Uncontrolled Transformation (Other Personalities)- Stealing someone's powers can provoke instances where their personalities can take over Rogue's. When she stole Carol Danvers' powers, she was often forced to take on Carol's entire persona for long periods of time, unable to act of her own volition.
Power Loss (Flesh Contact)- Rogue requires actual skin-to-skin contact to utilize her Power Theft abilities. This means that beings like robots, or guys in Powersuits, are unable to be drained & Mimicked as normal. Similarly, she would have to tear off Iron Man's armour to Stun him.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 151 / Defenses: 15 (238)

-Rogue's come a long way since she was dressed as a butch punker in the early '80s and joined The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, being a suddenly-inserted member onto the Claremont X-Men team at the peak of their popularity. Initially using her Power-Stealing abilities A LOT, she was sullen, moody and withdrawn, but the rest of the team put up with her out of pity and because of her obvious bravery. Claremont went out of his way to make her a Pet Character, having others comment on her beauty, her power and her talents, and that carried over by the '90s into a flirtation with popular '90s-guy Gambit, giving the character the extra "push" she needed- she was mega-popular at the time (Jim Lee's redesign gave her sexy X-tights with the classic "leather jacket over the tights" look that'd soon invade every other comic), getting to be a major character in the cartoon, as well as the film series (she & Logan were the "Fan POV Characters" of the first one, as we get to see them join the school and interact with everyone). Claremont's return to the books would make her a HUGE factor, giving her leadership of a squad, alongside dozens of varied power-ups and downs. She stands as one of the most popular X-characters ever, showing up in the movies, cartoons & more, with an iconic visual "cue" (the white hair-streak) to let everyone know just who she is. Anyone in advertising will tell you how important one of those "cues" is.
-Rogue's whole "I can't touch anyone!" problem is also a classic Sucky Mutant Power thing, along with Cyclops' Permanent Optic Blasts- things that show you just how much it can really suck to have uncontrolled powers.
-Rogue used to be SUCH a pain in the ass to stat. There were a half-dozen ways to do it accurately within the old rules, but now it's much easier, thanks to 3e ironing out a few of the "kinks" (it's part of why I overall like 3rd Edition MUCH better than 2nd). Since this is Rogue as "X-Men Leader", she's PL 11, reasonably-skilled but incredibly powerful. Some explanation on her powers- Her Mimic power is relatively complex, but is essentially a Touch-Range Mimic that Fades over time (she drops a full rank every round, giving up 5 of her total points). She used to get a Stunning Side-Effect if she used her powers, but I'm pretty sure that's not an issue anymore (and she recovered in only a round or two anyways). It's active constantly so she has to be careful around her friends (this is basically a Complication), however I didn't want to go the full Aura/Continuous/Permanent mark because she can hide that simply by dressing shyly (it's an inefficient Permanent Aura that is deactivated by a poncho, y'see) and it makes things excessively complicated and expensive.
-She has a Linked Stun & Power-Sapping effect as well (guys would drop pretty quickly when she touched them), boosting her power. Otherwise, Rogue is a rather limited front-line Flying Brick, and only PL 10.5 on Offense, PL 11 on Defense, thus not making caps so admirably, nor possessing many leadership skills (since she led for all of ten seconds compared to most, like Storm). And yes, she's INSANELY expensive thanks to all her powers- I'm always taken aback by the pricey people, but really, look at even Taliesin's build, which is basically 60 points cheaper than this one here... and she's lacking her Ms. Marvel powers, all of which cost about 60 points.

ROGUE (Anna Marie)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Michael Golden
First Appearance: The Avengers Annual #10 (Aug. 1981)
Role: Claremont's Pet, The Punker Girl, The Ascended Leader, The Beta Couple (with Gambit), Blessed With a Sucky Power, Winner of the Super-Power Lottery
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Xavier's Security Enforcers, The Mutant Brotherhood
PL 10 (214)
STRENGTH
1/10 STAMINA 2/10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+3)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+4, +6 Attractive)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Diehard, Equipment (X-Uniform), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Interpose, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Takedown, Ultimate Toughness Check

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Power & Memory Absorption" All Powers Linked
"Absorb Powers" Mimic 11 (Flaws: Limited to Touch Range, Fades) [66]
"Stuns Victims" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed & Impaired/Stunned & Disabled/Incapacitated & Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Extra Condition) [20]
"Absorbs Memories" Mind Reading 8 (Flaws: Touch Range -2, Uncontrolled) [1]

"Ms. Marvel Stolen Powers"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Enhanced Strength 8 [18]
Enhanced Stamina 8 [16]
Protection 1 (Extras: Impervious 11) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Power Theft +8 (+9 Affliction, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +11 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Gambit)- The two flirted at first (Gambit mostly), but it turns out he really liked her, but they couldn't be together because of her powers. Then they kinda split, then stuff happened, and now... it's complicated.
Guilt (Cody's Coma)- Rogue put a boy into a coma when they first kissed, and she's felt horrible about it ever since.
Responsibility (Can Never Touch Skin to Skin)
Accident (Stealing Powers & Rendering Others Near-Death)
Power Loss (Flesh Contact)- Rogue requires actual skin-to-skin contact to utilize her Power Theft abilities. This means that beings like robots, or guys in Powersuits, are unable to be drained & Mimicked as normal. Similarly, she would have to tear off Iron Man's armour to Stun him.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 145 / Defenses: 10 (214)

-A PL 10 Rogue, more akin to the version we saw in the '80s and '90s. For some reason, Rogue SUCKED during Secret Wars, getting trounced by absolutely everybody (a debuting Titania said "broad always leads with her CHIN!" before one-punching her), but I'll chalk that up to Jim Shooter not being palsy with Chris Claremont, as the X-Men were kind of treated like a bunch of second-raters in that series, aside from a few big moments from Colossus & Wolverine, and some respect given to Magneto. Rogue was actually more significant in the '80s, where she used her Absorption powers in almost every major fight (even against heroes, like The Thing in that FF/X-Men crossover Limited Series). By the 1990s, she was just another Flying Brick (albeit unique for the X-books), flying in and busting everyone in the mouth while being bulletproof. It was like Fabian Nicieza & Jim Lee (the main creative Rogue-focused people in this time period) had a totally different P.O.V. from Claremont's regarding how Rogue used her powers. But then, it was the era of Guns, Blasters & Powerhouses, with EVERYONE having powers simplified into those three categories in most books.

WARPATH (James Proudstar)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: Team Strongman, Flying Brick, Scrapper
Group Affiliations: The Hellions, X-Force, X-Corporation, The X-Men
PL 11 (170)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 11 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+13)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Apache Native) 6 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 9 (+10)
Perception 8 (+10)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Treatment 3 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed, Knives), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown, Tracking, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Advanced Physicality"
"Strength Feats"
"Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (13) -- [14]
AE: "Thunderclap" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (5)

Senses 4 (Extended & Low-Light Vision, Extended & Ultra-Hearing) [4]

"Flight For Some Damn Reason" Flight 5 (60 mph) (10) -- [12]
AE: Speed 4 (30 mph) (4)
AE: Leaping 4 (120 feet) (4)

"Vibranium Bowie Knives" (Flaws: Easily Removable) (Feats: Unbreakable) [8]
Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical, Split) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Bowie Knives +9 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 18), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +11, Fortitude +11, Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Responsibility (Camp Verde Tribe)- A proud Apache, James strives to live up to the example of his people, especially after they were murdered by Stryfe.
Motivation (John Proudstar's Memory)- James worshipped his older brother John, the X-Men's short-lived Thunderbird, and this drives his entire life. He has still not entirely forgiven Charles Xavier for taking John away.
Relationship (Hepzibah)- James hooked up with the hot, fuzzy Space Skunk Hepzibah, formerly of the Starjammers, but she went back with her old squad fairly quickly.

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 38 / Defenses: 11 (170)

-Warpath was my favourite member of X-Force. I always liked the "Team Strongman" types (I was like 5'10" 135 lbs. in Grade 12- I looked up to the buff giants), and that in addition to his bad-ass name, look and wannabe hook-up with Siryn (my favourite X-Woman at the time) made him top dog in my opinion. He was a bit of a "Hot Blooded" Native stereotype, but hey, you can't win 'em all. That's why it was so weird for me to read his whole history. He started out with The Hellions, the New Mutants' rival squadron, as a vindictive kid obsessed with killing Professor Xavier for his role in Thunderbird's death. Wearing a copy of John Proudstar's costume, he had an un-powered Charles dead to rights, but realized that he couldn't go through with it. He still wasn't forgiving Xavier, and they were never close after that, but he realized that it wasn't entirely the Prof's fault, and that he could not commit to cold-blooded murder.
-He moved on as a recurring Hellions leader, but that group never got TOO much play in the New Mutants book. Eventually he joined Cable's X-Force at the tail end of the series, having his entire Reservation murdered (apparently by the Hellfire Club, as he'd just quit the Hellions a while earlier- just in time to avoid their massacre). Suddenly, the kid (who was merely a fairly well-built teenager) was now seven feet tall and wide as a frickin' truck under Rob Liefeld, and things only got WORSE later, as Tony Daniel drew him literally ten or eleven feet tall (enough to carry Siryn around and have her dwarfed by his ARM), really exaggerating his musculature and beefiness.
-This seguewayed to later X-Force after I stopped reading, when all of a sudden James was back to being just a well-built guy, and was now all speedy and could climb ultra-fast. Then Warren Ellis' bizarre run saw him LEARN HOW TO FLY, which makes NO SENSE given his power set up till that point, and later X-writer Ed Brubaker concurred, as when James exited a decade-long stint in Marvel Limbo (not Illyana's Limbo), he'd lost that power, but suddenly became a much lower-strength Scrapper type, using Vibranium Knives as weapons. He also hooked up with Hepzibah of the Starjammers, and started using his advanced senses and stuff more often. Once he joined X-Force, he could FLY AGAIN (*sigh*... so stupid...), and actually got a big push (he was the guy who offed Selene at the end of Blackest Nigh... I mean Necrosha), but left the team after "making his peace".
-James is a weird guy to build, because he's had a few incarnations, and some truly bizarre powers boosts. But nowadays, he's set-up as a Flying Brick who dual-wields Unbreakable (well, mostly) Bowie Knives, kind of mixing two different Archetypes together, in addition to enhanced Senses & Tracking abilities. So he's fairly Skilled, a good fighter (plenty of Advantages, including Accurate Attack, which is rare for Powerhouses), does a lot of damage, and can modify many of his caps. Truly, they've turned my old fave into a high-level bad-ass. He's one of the relatively small number of characters (compared to many others on this site) that I set up as a PL 11. He doesn't make his full caps in anything other than with his Bowie Knives, but he's still up there.

WARPATH (James Proudstar)- X-Force Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: Team Strongman
Group Affiliations: The Hellions, X-Force
PL 10 (145)
STRENGTH
12 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Apache Native) 6 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 9 (+10)
Perception 5 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Advanced Physicality"
Impervious Toughness 13 [13]

"Strength Feats"
"Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (13) -- [14]
"Thunderclap" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (5)

Speed 3 (3) -- [4]
AE: Leaping 3 (3)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +12, Fortitude +14, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Responsibility (Camp Verde Tribe)- A proud Apache, James strives to live up to the example of his people, especially after they were murdered by Stryfe.
Motivation (John Proudstar's Memory)- James worshipped his older brother John, the X-Men's short-lived Thunderbird, and this drives his entire life. He has still not entirely forgiven Charles Xavier for taking John away.
Relationship (Siryn)- James fell pretty hard for his pretty red-haired teammate, but she prefered to keep things friendly.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 9 (145)

-Here's Warpath as he appeared during the early days of X-Force, before the silly Flight power kicked in. He's basically a generic Powerhouse Build, packing Class 100-ish Super-Strength on top of some Speed, Impervious Toughness and a handful of Skills & Advantages, but he's generally much less than his later version. He's actually a bit STRONGER, though, as Warpath's strength feats went WAY down in his later years as a character, as they shifted his power set around. The days of slugging it out with The Juggernaut & Strong Guy are over, and he fights far differently. Never mind the fact that he was like nine feet tall in some shots (Tony Daniel REALLY made him look huge), and is just a fairly-built guy these days.

THUNDERBIRD II (James Proudstar)- Hellions Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #16 (June 1984)
Role: Team Strongman
Group Affiliations: The Hellions
PL 7 (89)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Apache Native) 5 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Advanced Physicality"
Speed 2 (2) -- [3]
AE: Leaping 2 (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +7, Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Responsibility (Camp Verde Tribe)- A proud Apache, James strives to live up to the example of his people, especially after they were murdered by Stryfe.
Motivation (John Proudstar's Memory)- James worshipped his older brother John, the X-Men's short-lived Thunderbird, and this drives his entire life. He has still not entirely forgiven Charles Xavier for taking John away.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 11 (89)

-James as Thunderbird II was a pretty good all-around PL 7 Melee Fighter guy, but his powers were quite vague. He KO'd Banshee easily with one shot, and Wolverine vouched for his hitting power, but he never really had any major strength feats to his name during his run. This is part of what makes James so weird- a Mini-Powerhouse build converts to a Class 80-ish super-heavyweight, which converts to a Flying Scrapper Weapon Guy.

CANNONBALL (Samuel Guthrie)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Leader, The Country Boy, The Polite One, The Boy Scout
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force, X-Men, X-Corporation
PL 10 (158)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 1 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+8)
Close Combat (Blast Field Ram) 3 (+10)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Farming/Mining) 2 (+4)
Insight 5 (+8)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 5 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 5 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (X-Uniform), Extraordinary Effort, Improved Critical (Blast Field Strike), Improved Initiative, Interpose, Last Stand, Leadership, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork, Ultimate Force Field Check, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Blast Field"
"Rocket-Powered Flight" Flight 8 (500 mph) (Feats: Subtle) [17]

"Darn Near Invulnerable" Protection 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Sustained +0, Impervious 12, Affects Others) (31) -- [37]
Dynamic AE: "Battering Ram" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (20)
Dynamic AE: "Single-Target Ram" Damage 10 (10)
Dynamic AE: "Projected Blast Field" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (20)

"External- Immortality"
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Regeneration 4 [4]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Battering Ram +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Single-Target Ram +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Projected Blast +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4 (+5 Costume, +13 Blast Field), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Guthrie Family)- Sam is the eldest of a huge assortment of children, and feels a tremendous amount of responsibility to protect and/or honour them.
Motivation (The Dream)- Growing up the student of three different schools of thought regarding mutants (Xavier, Magneto, Cable), Sam has the most varied schooling of all the mutants alive, and feels a closeness to "The Dream" as a result. He is easily the New Mutant most-obsessed with it.
Responsibility (The Burden of Leadership)- Sam often struggles with the emotional distance required of a team leader, and obsesses over whether or not his decisions were for the best.
Rivalry (Danielle Moonstar)- They used to be respecting co-leaders, but as adults, they tend to butt heads, as Dani kept her rebelliousness, and Sam became even more of a Boy Scout. They also made out for a bit.
Relationship (Sunspot)- Sam & Roberto are best buddies, though spent a lot of time apart in the 1990s. In modern times, you'd call it a "Bromance", especially nowadays.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 11 (158)

-Cannonball is really the Breakout Character of the New Mutants series. While most of the characters immediately went into Marvel Limbo as the book bridged right over into the '90s, which needed different kinds of heroes, ol' Sam stuck around on X-Force, becoming the leader under Fabian Nicieza's writing. This put in a few new aspects to the character, who'd been the most goody-goody and responsible of the kids (which isn't saying much, but still), and was responsible for the most crushes by a ways- the guy had a major crush on Amara/Magma at first, but that faded in a puppy-love sort of way. Then he had a thing with Firestar in that introduction Mini of hers, and that vanished as she went into Marvel Limbo 'till The New Warriors came out. Then he fell in love with Lila Cheney, ultra-'80s rockstar extraordinaire (which was awesome, and so very '80s), while Wolfsbane got a crush on him, etc. Eventually he & Lila drifted apart (she hardly fit into the '90s), and he hooked up with Boom-Boom, one of the added-on X-Terminators kids.
-Sam was a great subversion of stereotypes because here was this Kentuckian coal miner's son who talked in a thick hillbilly accent (saying "Ah" instead of "I") who was actually very intelligent. He was actually the SMARTEST kid on the team (next to possibly Doug), and had the most varied knowledge, not to mention being the least-angsty (again, not saying much)- All HE had to worry about was an entire brood of children without a father who couldn't pay the bills, his various relationships going on at any given time, and the leadership of the entire New Mutants team (shared with Dani). Small beans compared to some of the others.
-With X-Force, he did a Father/Son type of deal with Cable, and then found out he was IMMORTAL! Yeah, using some stuff from Highlander, the Liefeld/Nicieza team made Cannonball a member of the Externals, a group of mutants (and there were TONS of groups of mutants in the '90s) who were immortal in addition to their other powers, and which Apocalypse & Selene apparently belonged to as well. This was a major factor in Cable's deciding to come to our time, and played heavily in Sam's characterization. The eventual writing-out of that plot point was so dramatically and poorly done (Selene just walked in and killed THE ENTIRE ROSTER of Externals and then said Sam "Was never one of us at all") that people just assumed there was a threatened lawsuit on the part of the Highlander people (there wasn't), and it utterly failed to explain the time Sam CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD, and the fact that Cable only came to this time because of Sam.
-Sam's brush with leadership in X-Force was cool because he struggled with it in a way few leaders did. He didn't automatically get the answers right, and made a ton of mistakes. He was happy (eventually) when Cable came back from the dead and took the reigns back, because the poor kid was breaking under the pressure, what with the team being outlaws and all. The quality given his character led to an actual run on the X-Men, becoming the first New Mutant ever to get "promoted", which was kind of the point of that series, eventually- the writers just forgot about all the characters. Of course, this graduation came at a price- his character development got dumped, and he became the plucky, nervous rookie, suddenly incapable of making most major decisions, and acting as the New Kid to the rest of the team. *sigh*...
-The next decade was kind of weird for Sam, as he bounced between Limbo and minor roles on X-teams. He was on that X-Corporation gig (ie. "let's actually USE all these un-teamed characters once in a while so the fans don't wonder where they went") that fell away as soon as the next guy took over the X-Franchise, and kicked around on a few minor X-teams as well. It wasn't until recently, with a new New Mutants series that Sam's come into his own again, leading the much older squad, and having to deal with adult-level angst ("My whole team thinks they could do a better job, and one of them wants me dead" Cyclops: "Heh. Welcome to my world.")- once that book ended, he showed up on Jon Hickman's 30-person Avengers squad, albeit with barely any showcasing of his personality other than being a joker with his Heterosexual (ish) Life Partner, Sunspot. Sam's one of my favourites because he's such an unsung hero, and has more depth than almost anybody.
-Statting Cannonball is always a real test of a system's boundaries (a lot of X-Characters are like that, really- Rogue, Warlock, modern Cypher, Magik) because a lot of it is based around a very vague "Blast Field" effect. It functions as a regular Force Field that can aid others he's touching, and is highly Impervious, but AEs Dynamically into three different damage-type effects that have been used fairly regularly over the years. Two are Battering Rams, one of which is a Line Area one, and the other a standard Strike, and the third is a Burst. Now, you could say that they aren't AEs of the Force Field, since they're just projections OF IT, but I figure it makes the Field weaker as it extends further from his body, and he'd only drop the points of Affects Others & Impervious if he used a full-on Blast, since the Field is 30 points at-base. Bare minimum, if he uses a full Battering Ram of 20 points, he's still got a 9-point Force Field up, which is quite good.
-He's also got Subtle Flight, as he learned how to keep his Blasting to a small whisper over the years, and he's partially Immortal- immune to Aging and with light Regenerative capabilities. I would've went with Immortality, but that costs WAY too much for something that's been written out over the years, and he only Res'd exactly once. Adding to it would pop about 20 points onto his build, if you're a stickler for old continuity that people barely follow (though the current writer says he hasn't entirely written out the idea of using it).
-All of this combines to make Sam a slightly more-expensive PL 10, which I think is appropriate. He's smart, Skilled, a decent fighter, and a guy with lots of varied powers, so he deserves a few extra points. For additional Stunts & Alternate Effects, you've got crazy stuff like his "Absorb Gladiator's strongest blow, then throw it back in his face while his confidence is shattered" stunt, protecting TONS of guys from a Base explosion that took out half a mountain, and more- he's quite versatile in the hands of a creative player.

CANNONBALL (Samuel Guthrie)- Late New Mutants Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Leader, The Country Boy, The Polite One, The Boy Scout
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force, X-Men, X-Corporation
PL 9 (135)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 1 (+3)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+8)
Close Combat (Blast Field Ram) 2 (+9)
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Farming/Mining) 2 (+4)
Insight 4 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Critical (Blast Field Strike), Improved Initiative, Interpose, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork, Ultimate Force Field Check, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Blast Field"
"Rocket-Powered Flight" Flight 8 (500 mph) (Feats: Subtle) [17]

"Darn Near Invulnerable" Protection 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Sustained +0, Impervious 11, Affects Others) (28) -- [32]
Dynamic AE: "Battering Ram" Damage 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (18)
Dynamic AE: "Single-Target Ram" Damage 9 (9)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Battering Ram +9 Area (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Single-Target Ram +9 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume, +11 Blast Field), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Guthrie Family)- Sam is the eldest of a huge assortment of children, and feels a tremendous amount of responsibility to protect and/or honour them.
Motivation (The Dream)- Growing up the student of three different schools of thought regarding mutants (Xavier, Magneto, Cable), Sam has the most varied schooling of all the mutants alive, and feels a closeness to "The Dream" as a result. He is easily the New Mutant most-obsessed with it.
Relationship (Tabitha Smith)- Sam is quite close to teammate Tabitha Smith, aka "Boom-Boom", and will jump to defend her.
Relationship (Sunspot)- Sam & Roberto are best buddies, though spent a lot of time apart in the 1990s. In modern times, you'd call it a "Bromance", especially nowadays.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 11 (135)

-This is a slightly weaker Sam at the tail-end of the New Mutants book, and probably right when it became X-Force. All that Immortality stuff was a bit beyond him (ie. he hadn't spent the XP on it yet), and he was just the plucky "yessir" type of follower that Cable wanted.

CANNONBALL (Samuel Guthrie)- Middle New Mutants Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Leader, The Country Boy, The Polite One, The Boy Scout
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 8 (110)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+6)
Close Combat (Blast Field Ram) 2 (+7)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Farming/Mining) 2 (+4)
Insight 3 (+4)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 3 (+3)
Technology 1 (+2)
Vehicles 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Initiative, Interpose, Power Attack, Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Blast Field"
"Rocket-Powered Flight" Flight 8 (500 mph) (Drawbacks: Noticeable) [15]

"Darn Near Invulnerable" Protection 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Sustained +0, Impervious 11, Affects Others) (30) -- [34]
Dynamic AE: "Battering Ram" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (16)
Dynamic AE: "Single-Target Ram" Damage 9 (9)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Battering Ram +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Single-Target Ram +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2 (+3 Costume, +11 Blast Field), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Guthrie Family)- Sam is the eldest of a huge assortment of children, and feels a tremendous amount of responsibility to protect and/or honour them.
Relationship (Lila Cheney)- Sam is obsessed with musician/intergalactic thief Lila Cheney, and she is quite fond of him as well.
Relationship (Sunspot)- Sam & Roberto are best buddies, though spent a lot of time apart in the 1990s.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 11 (110)

-Circa issue #50 or so, Sam's actually a PL 8, mainly through sheer power and durability than actual skill. Note that his power is responsible for more Toughness than his own Stamina at this point, and that his "Blasting" is now EXTREMELY loud, to the point where people could hear him from a mile away.

CANNONBALL (Samuel Guthrie)- Debut
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Leader, The Country Boy, The Polite One, The Boy Scout
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 8 (86)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Farming/Mining) 2 (+4)
Insight 3 (+4)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 3 (+3)
Vehicles 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Initiative, Interpose, Power Attack, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Blast Field"
"Rocket-Powered Flight" Flight 8 (500 mph) (Flaws: Limited to One Direction) (Drawbacks: Noticeable) [7]

"Darn Near Invulnerable" Protection 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Sustained +0, Impervious 11, Affects Others) (30) -- [34]
Dynamic AE: "Battering Ram" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (Flaws: Unreliable) (8)
Dynamic AE: "Single-Target Ram" Damage 8 (8)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Battering Ram +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Single-Target Ram +2 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +2 (+3 Costume, +11 Blast Field), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Guthrie Family)- Sam is the eldest of a huge assortment of children, and feels a tremendous amount of responsibility to protect and/or honour them.
Relationship (Amara Aquila)- Sam has a big-league schoolboy crush on teammate Magma, seeing as how she's so elegant and beautiful. She does not feel the same towards him.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 41 / Defenses: 8 (86)

-Here's Sam way back in the early days- he lacks combat skill, can't aim his Flight (part of what I loved about this series- his powers had some HEAVY drawbacks on them), etc., but is the highest-level of his team by far because of the sheer power of his Area Damage. He's also still just as tough as he is when he's older, packing PL 6.5 defensive capabilities, despite being as easy to hit as can be (a five-point trade-off, which is HUGE for someone at PL 7-ish levels).

SUNSPOT (Roberto da Costa)- Modern Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Powerhouse, The Lothario, The Team Jokester
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force, The Hellfire Club, X-Corporation
PL 10 (151)
STRENGTH
3/10 STAMINA 4/6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Business) 10 (+11)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Soccer Player) 4 (+7)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Perception 2 (+3)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Solar Blasts) 7 (+10)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Diehard, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Languages (English, Latin, Portugese, As'kani), Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Solar Absorption"
“Solar Blast” Blast 10 (20) -- [21]
AE: “Super-Strength” Enhanced Strength 7 (14)

“Not Invulnerable (but still tough)” Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Protection 3 [3]
“Heat Absorption” Immunity 5 (Heat & Fire Damage) [5]

“Solar-Assisted Flight” 5 [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Solar Blast +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+9 Powers), Fortitude +8 (+10 Powers), Will +6

Complications:
Flashback (Juliana)- Roberto’s first love, Juliana sacrificed her life to save his in his first adventure, and he never quite forgot her after all these years.
Relationship (Sam Guthrie)- Roberto & Sam are the best of friends, and are part of an epic bromance.
Reputation (Lothario)- Ever since he was a kid, Roberto would attempt to seduce anything female. Women usually sigh and put up with him, finding it non-threatening, but it often leads him to show off or do stupid things.
Relationship (Father)- Emmanuel da Costa was a brilliant businessman who was a houseboy at 10, a millionaire at 20, and a wealthy political powerhouse at 30, and expected the best of his son. Bobby longs to be worthy of his father, and attempts to follow in his footsteps after the latter’s death.
Power Loss (Solar-Powered)- Bobby’s powers come from solar energy, and it is possible for him to extinguish his powers if used too much at night.
Enemy (Gideon)- An External mutant, Gideon thought Bobby was an External as well, and used his influence to murder Emmanuel da Costa and manipulate Bobby to his own ends. This ended with Bobby’s torture and joining X-Force.
Enemy (Reignfire)- Reignfire was a super-powered clone of Bobby turned to evil, and he would frequently take over Bobby’s mind and have him commit evil acts.
Obsession (Magnum P.I.)- Bobby’s obsession with the greatness of this TV show went a little too far at times, and the biggest heartbreak of his life after Juliana’s death was when it went off the air.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 16 (152)

-Sunspot was always fun on his team. Roberto “Bobby” da Costa was a brash, cocky, angry young boy, always the first member of the team to come flying in to beat someone’s head in, and usually the first team member KO’d because of it. The catchphrase “Careful Bobby, you’re strong, not invulnerable!” was a recurring Claremontism of the old days, and Bobby was kind of a “Dumb Muscle” type of guy, but charismatic enough to make up for it. And in spite of his Spoiled Rich Boy upbringing, he was best pals with poor Coal Miner’s Son Sam Guthrie.
-Bobby’s parents were a fascinating couple, as they loved each other, but were constantly sniping at one another over various things (her gallivanting career as an archaeologist sending her all over the world, and his semi-hedonistic wealthy lifestyle). Bobby himself was torn between his constant anger, and his cool calculating exterior. Of the main cast (the initial kids minus Karma plus Magik), you could say he had the least character development of the lot of them, as he was always kind of the hot-blooded fist-fighter who didn’t look before he leapt, but hell; some people don’t change that much, y’know?
-Bobby’s history gets weird around 1990 or so. His father, a huge part of his life, was poisoned by Gideon, one of those awful '90s-era new X-villains, as part of a labyrinthine plot to manipulate the newest “External” (it was actually Sam, but Gideon thought it was Bobby). Sunspot quit the New Mutants in it’s final issues and hooked up with Gideon for a while, before Fabian Nicieza (the X-Force writer) gave him his first big power-upgrade, as Gideon betrayed and experimented upon him, resulting in Bobby turning into the ever-popular “Blaster” archetype in addition to his low-level Super-Strength.
-Then there was some way-too-complicated stuff, as Bobby learned how to fly using his powers just in time to disappear for a year or so in a Teleporation accident, then fight an evil clone (Reignfire), and then turn into basically a Blasting Paragon-type of hero. These were the weak-sales years of X-Force, long after they were in the Top Ten best-sellers list. He slept with Sam's girlfriend Meltdown, learned Askan'i (the language of Cable's people in the future), and more, but kind of floundered once X-Force was cancelled. Bobby returned as the comically-dumb guy of the New Mutants in the great new book- Well, he’s not REALLY dumb, but he’s still the first guy to get knocked on his ass. He’s also the team’s best comic relief, turning into quite the sarcastic jokester over time. About Rogue: (paraphrasing) “She wants me, you can tell. That girl couldn’t touch anyone for YEARS. Can you imagine how that feels? Sam, tell Amara how that feels.” He joined The Avengers with Sam, getting generally the same portrayal, but with a greater emphasis on his incredible wealth.
-This build represents Bobby at his Modern-Era Peak. I actually got a good PL 10 (150) build out of him, thanks to applying his Super-Strength as an AE of his Blasting power. I normally don’t do that, as it’s kind of a “cheat”, but he really CAN’T use both powers simultaneously, and draws upon the same power source for both of them. Otherwise, he’d be PL 10 (165), which in the current era of high-cost 3e guys might be accurate anyways, but I just felt like it was too much. This Bobby is perfectly-balanced with +10/+10 on offense (slightly less on defense), which always proves to be pretty strong, as he’s about Class 25 or so (some people go as high as Class 50, but I've never seen anything remotely on that level from him- by the X-Force days he was pretty much JUST a Blaster and barely threw a punch), and his Blasts seem to do similar damage. And only in this era is he almost as good defensively- his “you’re strong, but not invulnerable!” catchphrase holds true most of the time, and he can’t take the hits like he can dish them out normally. As of now, though, he’s quite the Paragon, though they seem to have pulled a "Warpath" on him and downgraded his powers back to their original point in the current "New Mutants" series, as I can't recall him flying or blasting anything, and a few 'net sites seem to corroborate my memories.
-Mentally, he’s not great genius, but he’s not stupid, and is really quite good at business. Not nearly as much as his father, the rest of the Hellfire Club, or other “Rich Bastard” types in the Marvel Universe, but +9 is not too shabby.

SUNSPOT (Roberto da Costa)- Early X-Force Era (alliance with Gideon)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Powerhouse, The Lothario, The Angry Kid, The Spoiled Rich Boy
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 10 (115)
STRENGTH
3/10 STAMINA 4/6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Business) 9 (+10)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Soccer Player) 4 (+7)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Perception 2 (+3)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Benefit (Wealth) 2, Diehard, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Languages (English, Latin, Portugese), Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Solar Absorption"
“Super-Strength” Enhanced Strength 7 [14]
“Not Invulnerable (but still tough)” Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Protection 3 [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+9 Powers), Fortitude +8 (+10 Powers), Will +6

Complications:
Flashback (Juliana)- Roberto’s first love, Juliana sacrificed her life to save his in his first adventure, and he never quite forgot her after all these years.
Relationship (Sam Guthrie)- Roberto & Sam are the best of friends, and are part of an epic bromance.
Reputation (Lothario)- Ever since he was a kid, Roberto would attempt to seduce anything female. Women usually sigh and put up with him, finding it non-threatening, but it often leads him to show off or do stupid things.
Relationship (Father)- Emmanuel da Costa was a brilliant businessman who was a houseboy at 10, a millionaire at 20, and a wealthy political powerhouse at 30, and expected the best of his son. Bobby longs to be worthy of his father, and attempts to follow in his footsteps after the latter’s death.
Power Loss (Solar-Powered)- Bobby’s powers come from solar energy, and it is possible for him to extinguish his powers if used too much at night.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 21 / Defenses: 16 (115)

-This is Bobby as of the early X-Force issues, when he was training with Gideon. He’s roughly as elite as his Modern version, but lacks his later additional powers- the Energy Blasts and the Flight, making him MUCH cheaper and kind of proving how much Bobby really needed those powers after all.

SUNSPOT (Roberto da Costa)- Late-New Mutants Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Powerhouse, The Lothario, The Angry Kid, The Spoiled Rich Boy
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 9 (109)
STRENGTH
3/9 STAMINA 3/5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+9)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Business) 2 (+2)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Soccer Player) 4 (+7)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+2)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Benefit (Wealth) 2, Diehard, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Languages (English, Latin, Portugese), Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Solar Absorption"
“Super-Strength” Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
“Not Invulnerable (but still tough)” Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Protection 3 [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+8 Powers), Fortitude +7 (+9 Powers), Will +6

Complications:
Flashback (Juliana)- Roberto’s first love, Juliana sacrificed her life to save his in his first adventure, and he never quite forgot her after all these years.
Relationship (Sam Guthrie)- Roberto & Sam are the best of friends, and are part of an epic bromance.
Reputation (Lothario)- Ever since he was a kid, Roberto would attempt to seduce anything female. Women usually sigh and put up with him, finding it non-threatening, but it often leads him to show off or do stupid things.
Relationship (Father)- Emmanuel da Costa was a brilliant businessman who was a houseboy at 10, a millionaire at 20, and a wealthy political powerhouse at 30, and expected the best of his son. Bobby longs to be worthy of his father, and attempts to follow in his footsteps after the latter’s death.
Power Loss (Solar-Powered)- Bobby’s powers come from solar energy, and it is possible for him to extinguish his powers if used too much at night.
Obsession (Magnum P.I.)- Bobby’s obsession with the greatness of this TV show went a little too far at times, and the biggest heartbreak of his life after Juliana’s death was when it went off the air.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 18 (109)

-Only slightly cheaper, but he drops a full Power Level down. This Bobby was around for the later (70s-90s) New Mutants issues, in their second Asgardian adventure and the fights against the Mutant Liberation Front. He’d gotten better, but was still rather limited to just punching guys.

SUNSPOT (Roberto da Costa)- Mid-New Mutants Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Powerhouse, The Lothario, The Angry Kid, The Spoiled Rich Boy
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 7 (76)
STRENGTH
1/8 STAMINA 2/4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+6)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Soccer Player) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Fast Grab, Languages (English, Latin, Portugese), Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Solar Absorption"
“Super-Strength” Enhanced Strength 7 [14]
“Not Invulnerable (but still tough)” Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Protection 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2 (+6 Powers), Fortitude +5 (+7 Powers), Will +5

Complications:
Flashback (Juliana)- Roberto’s first love, Juliana sacrificed her life to save his in his first adventure, and he never quite forgot her after all these years.
Relationship (Sam Guthrie)- Roberto & Sam are the best of friends, and are part of an epic bromance.
Reputation (Lothario)- Ever since he was a kid, Roberto would attempt to seduce anything female. Women usually sigh and put up with him, finding it non-threatening, but it often leads him to show off or do stupid things.
Relationship (Father)- Emmanuel da Costa was a brilliant businessman who was a houseboy at 10, a millionaire at 20, and a wealthy political powerhouse at 30, and expected the best of his son. Bobby longs to be worthy of his father.
Power Loss (Solar-Powered)- Bobby’s powers come from solar energy, and it is possible for him to extinguish his powers if used too much at night.
Obsession (Magnum P.I.)- Bobby’s obsession with the greatness of this TV show went a little too far at times, and the biggest heartbreak of his life after Juliana’s death was when it went off the air.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 14 (76)

-Around issue #50 or so, Bobby was one of the most destructive members of the team, but sucked at accuracy, and was HIGHLY vulnerable to attack, especially compared to other super-strong guys. +6 Toughness is barely beyond human limits.

SUNSPOT (Roberto da Costa)- Debut
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Powerhouse, The Lothario, The Angry Kid, The Spoiled Rich Boy
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 5 (44)
STRENGTH
-1/6 STAMINA 0/3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+4)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Soccer Player) 5 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Languages (English, Latin, Portugese), Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Solar Absorption"
“Super-Strength” Enhanced Strength 7 (Flaws: Limited to Daylight) [7]
“Not Invulnerable (but still tough)” Enhanced Stamina 3 (Flaws: Limited to Daylight) [3]
Protection 1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +0 (+4 Powers), Fortitude +2 (+5 Powers), Will +4

Complications:
Flashback (Juliana)- Roberto’s first love, Juliana sacrificed her life to save his in his first adventure, and he never quite forgot her after all these years.
Relationship (Sam Guthrie)- Roberto & Sam are the best of friends, and are part of an epic bromance.
Reputation (Lothario)- Ever since he was a kid, Roberto would attempt to seduce anything female. Women usually sigh and put up with him, finding it non-threatening, but it often leads him to show off or do stupid things.
Relationship (Father)- Emmanuel da Costa was a brilliant businessman who was a houseboy at 10, a millionaire at 20, and a wealthy political powerhouse at 30, and expected the best of his son. Bobby longs to be worthy of his father.
Power Loss (Solar-Powered)- Bobby’s powers come from solar energy, and it is possible for him to extinguish his powers if used too much at night.
Obsession (Magnum P.I.)- Bobby’s obsession with the greatness of this TV show went a little too far at times, and the biggest heartbreak of his life after Juliana’s death was when it went off the air.

Total: Abilities: 12 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 11 / Defenses: 10 (44)

-And finally, we come to PL 5 (44) era Graphic Novel #4 Bobby. He lacks most of his Mental traits, Skills, Advantages, etc., and is just a highly-damaging kid (+8 damage is nothing to sneeze at) with crappy accuracy and really low defense.

THUNDERBIRD III (Neal Shaara)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Leinil Francis Yu
First Appearance: X-Men #100 (May 2000)
Role: The Scrappy, Flying Blaster
Country of Origin: India
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Corporation
PL 9 (134)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Current Events/Pop Culture) 3 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 3 (+8)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Attack, Equipment (X-Men Uniform- Toughness +1), Evasion, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Plasma Generation"
Blast 10 (Feats: Improved Critical 2, Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (33) -- [35]
AP: Dazzle (Visuals) 10 (20)
AP: Plasma Aura 8 (32)

Flight 9 (1,000 mph) [18]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Dazzle +8 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Plasma Aura +7 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Psylocke, Omega Sentinel, Lifeguard)- For someone so sucky, Neal sure gets around.
Responsibility (Great Power/Great Responsibility)- Neal is extra-careful with his Plasma Generation, as it may start fires or maim people.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 16 (134)

-Thunderbird III... man, this guy sucks. See, an Indian superhero was a VERY good idea- it's a place with a billion people in it, so it's kind of weird that they didn't get one of the "all corners of the globe" X-Men until Chris Claremont's big return to X-verse. Unfortunately, they saddled him with horribly generic powers (just a Blaster, a lesser version of Sunfire too), a lame personality (rich boy who's nonetheless super good and noble), and a name that both makes zero sense (Thunder... plasma...) and is an homage to a character he's never even met (and were both Apaches, so it's not like he was inspired, unless he misinterpreted the term "Indian"). So the fans sure didn't like him. Claremont seemed to, though (funny how that always happens with him), so the guy took part in X-Treme X-Men and about nothing else after that. Too bad, because the "Indian Best Friend" has all but totally replaced "Black Best Friend" as the most common race-based trope in the media.
-T-Bird's just a Blaster through and through. He's very fast and rather defensible for a Blaster, but he lacks a few notable abilities (namely Power Attack) because he's so afraid of killing someone with his power. He's EXTRAORDINARILY weak in Close, and is PL 9 at Range.

OMEGA SENTINEL (Karima Shapandar)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Brett Booth
First Appearance: X-Men Unlimited #27 (June 2000)
Role: Techno-Chick
Country of Origin: India
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Acolytes, Excalibur (Genosha), The Omega Sentinels
PL 9 (144)
STRENGTH
1/9 STAMINA 2/7 AGILITY 2/5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Current Events) 4 (+6)
Insight 4 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+6)
Pilot 3 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Omega Sentinel Nanite Programming"
Enhanced Strength 8 [16]
Enhanced Dexterity 3 [6]
Enhanced Constitution 5 [10]
Protection 2 [2]
Regeneration 2 (Feats: Diehard, Regrowth) [4]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]

"Plasma Cannons" Blast 9 (Feats: Split, Variable Descriptor) (20) -- [23]
AE: "Electro-Poles" Electric Strike 9 (Feats: Reach 3) (12)
AE: "Machine Animation" Summon 3 (Extras: Multiple Minions +2, Horde) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (15)
AE: "Datalink" Communication (Electronic) 2 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Plasma Cannons +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9, Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Vulnerable (Magnetic & Electrical Attacks)- As a partial cyborg, Karima is comprised of materials that are more easily damaged by such attacks.
Responsibility (Trapped in a Mechanical Body)- Karima is quite displeased at her current situation, to be sure. It also makes her SUPER, SUPER EASY to take over mentally.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 71 / Defenses: 9 (144)

-Wouldn't have ever learned about this one if not for a Wiki-check over the roster of the X-Men to see if I was missing anybody. Originally a throwaway character in Neal Shaara's origin story, Karima turned up YEARS later in continuity, still as an Omega Sentinel (the human-esque ones that transformed into mutant hunters). She joined Rogue's X-Men team for about five seconds, then got taken over by Malice of the Marauders. Now she's doing... something. Pretty much a throwaway character.
-Karima was a police officer in India, but was one of many people turned into an Omega Sentinel by Bastion during Operation: Zero Tolerance. She was dispatched to take out Neal "Thunderbird" Shaara, but she convinced him to escape before the transformation was complete. She was later "cured" of her programming by Professor X & Magneto, and became an X-ally. However, she was later taken back over by Malice of the Marauders, and fought the X-Men over several months during various uninteresting, go-nowhere crossovers. She briefly joins the Acolytes, gets injured by teammate Frenzy for defending Magneto, then fights the X-Men AGAIN when something else takes over her mind. Pretty much that's her entire thing- That Chick Who Gets Taken Over.
-Lots of techno-tricks, and some half-decent firepower, Karima's not that bad for a throwaway. Her Sentinel upgrades give her an enhanced Stamina score, help her heal, and give her a big swack of powers for a PL 9.

WOLVERINE (James "Logan" Howlett, aka Patch)
Created By:
Len Wein, John Romita & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk #180-181 (Oct.-Nov. 1975)
Role: The Bad-Ass, The Anti-Hero, The Loner, The Protector of Little Girls, Claw Guy, Animal Guy
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Weapon X/Department H, The Avengers, X-Force, S.H.I.E.L.D., The Hand, The Horsemen of Apocalypse, Alpha Flight, HYDRA, The New Fantastic Four
Avengers Grade: A-Level
PL 11 (221)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 10 (+14)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 10 (+15)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Military) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Samurai) 8 (+11)
Expertise (History) 3 (+6)
Insight 4 (+9)
Intimidation 11 (+13)
Investigation 3 (+8)
Perception 8 (+13)
Stealth 6 (+11)
Treatment 2 (+5)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Close Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Claws) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 3 (Several), Last Stand (HP to Ignore Damage for One Round), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 2, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2, Ultimate Perception Skill, Ultimate Will Check, Ultimate Fortitude Check, Weapon Break, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Animalistic Physiology & Healing"
"Healing Factor"
Regeneration 8 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [9]
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) [3]
Features 1: Can Be On More Super-Teams At Once Than Is Actually Possible [1]

"Animal Senses" Senses 9 (Acute, Extended & Accurate Scent, Extended Vision & Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Tracking 2- Scent) [9]

"Adamantium Skeleton"
"Claws" Strength-Damage +4 (Feats: Improved Critical 2, Split) (Extras: Penetrating 7) [14]
Protection 2 [2]
Enhanced Advantages 1: Withstand Damage [1]

"Berserker Rage"
Enhanced Strength 1 & Stamina 1 (Quirks: Cannot Use Awareness-Based Skills, Accurate Attack or Stop Attacking Without Making Will Saves) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Unarmed Raging +13 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Claws +13 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Claws Raging +13 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5 (+7 Skeleton, +8 Raging), Fortitude +10 (+11 Raging), Will +11

Complications:
Vulnerable/Responsibility (Brainwashing)- Wolverine can and has been brainwashed many times. His Will Check is often lower against this type of assault.
Vulnerable (Magnetics & Electrical Attacks)- With his metal Skeleton, Logan takes more damage from these attacks.
Involuntary Transformation (Berserker Rages)- Wolverine greatly fears falling into a homicidal, uncontrollable rage, resulting in him Power & All-Out Attacking anyone who gets too close.
Relationship (Various Women)- Rose, Jean Grey, Elektra, Mariko Yoshida, Silver Fox, Snowbird, Heather Hudson, etc. The ones he hasn't slept with, he wants to. Logan is a mack daddy.
Relationship (Jean Grey)- Among Logan's longest-term crushes was on Jean Grey- he and Cyclops loved the same woman, though Logan willingly stepped aside because he realized that Jean truly loved Scott.
Relationship (Storm)- The two have a quasi-romantic relationship that goes back a long time- Wolverine notably supported Storm against Cyclops, and respected her authority for years.
Relationship (Nightcrawler)- The two were old-school drinking buddies. Kurt is probably Logan's closest actual friend.
Honor (Samurai)- Logan follows the code of Bushi-Do if he is able to.
Relationship (Teenage Girls)- Others may raise eyebrows, but he has taken both Kitty Pryde & Jubilee under his wing and taught them about life, honor and fighting.
Rivalry (Cyclops)- At first competing over a woman, and Cyke's straight-laced leadership of the squad, the two never did quite get along. When Jean died and Scott went off with Emma Frost, things got worse, and finally hit a head when the X-Men suffered a "schism" and each formed their own school.
Enemy (Sabretooth)- Victor Creed is obsessed with hunting down and killing Logan or his loved ones. The two's blood feud has gone on for decades.
Enemy (Various Others)- Matus'o Tsurayaba murdered Logan's beloved Mariko on their wedding night, poisoning her to death. Bloodscream & Roughouse are recurring Jobbers. Cyber is perhaps Logan's most-feared enemy. The Hand hates him because... reasons. Lady Deathstrike is obsessed with killing Logan because he's using the adamantium-bonding process invented by her late father. His son Daken is a heartless murderer, and Logan was forced to drown him. Plenty of others out there, too- including many One-Shot foes.
Motivation (Discovering His Past)- The ULTIMATE "Mysterious Past" guy in comics, Logan did not know his own history for decades, and has suffered frequent mind-wipes. He also has a tendency to meet figures from his past who know him well, even if he's forgotten them (Maverick, Cable, Mister Sinister, etc.).

Total: Abilities: 82 / Skills: 82--41 / Advantages: 33 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 20 (221)

-Hard to believe Wolverine started out as the least-popular character of the early Giant-Size-era X-Men. Initially imagined as a smart-assed, egotistical teenager, people HATED him. His creators really kinda just created him and left him to be perfected by others. It wasn't until a while later, under Claremont & John Byrne (who deserve a TON of credit here, creating the last TRUE icon of comics, and the only one of the '70s & early '80s), that he became pure, unadulterated bad-ass. He got meaner, nastier, and generally old & grumpy. He developed a Healing Factor (initially he was just a clawed guy, and even then it was thought his senses were his only real power- the claws were on his gloves, or so everyone just assumed), a smoking habit, and became the gruff older mentor to the younger members (especially Kitty Pryde), and a drinking buddy to Nightcrawler.
-Years later, Wolverine became the first X-Man to get his own solo series, a mainly-separate book (ie. it never involved the main X-storylines or characters, and never crossed over- it was mostly stand-alone stuff with him fighting 'n' killing). He developed a ninja/samurai-laden past and tons of girlfriends from around the world, got a recurring nemesis in Sabretooth, and more copycats than any comic book character since Superman. He got so popular that TWO X-Books started using him, as WELL as the Avengers and tons of cross-overs, making him a ludicrous case of money-making in Marvel. I mean, I get that it's Joe Quesada's job to make money, and Wolvie=Money, but come on, EVERY BOOK? He's easily the most popular X-Man, the most popular Marvel character without a spider on his chest (no, not Ben Reilly!), and despite the overhype and overexposure, he's still one of their finest all-around characters, something that's easy to see whenever you read the GOOD X-Men books. I'm still not a fan of Wolvie being an Avenger- he just doesn't FIT, and it just screams of "grabbing sales". He's funny when he's grouchy and getting bugged by Spider-Man, but it makes so little sense to me that I can't get behind it. He ends up getting as much hate as love amongst comic nerds thanks to over-exposure, though.
-Fun Wolverine Facts: He has an unhealthy association with young, flat-chested pre-teen girls. His trademark colour scheme is based off of the Michigan Wolverines sports teams- John Byrne changed it because he thought it was silly for a stealthy fighter to wear a canary yellow costume. Jim Lee changed it back after a decade, then bragged to Byrne about "finally" bringing it back, only to be told that BYRNE was the one who changed it in the FIRST place! Lee's version of the outfit was so unbelievably BAD-ASS that it's stuck basically to this day, except for when the X-movies put him into leather fetish gear. Initially the claws were just gloves, THEN they were cybernetic enhancements ("bionic housings" was a frequent Claremontism), and only in more modern times did it get revealed that he had ALWAYS had the claws. Len Wein has always denied the idea that he envisioned Logan as an evolved humanoid wolverine. A big part of why Claremont left the X-Men is that Marvel refused to allow him to kill off Wolverine, and have him return later as a brainwashed Hand assassin. A 1980s X-Men cartoon pilot featured Logan as an AUSTRALIAN. The well-recognized "Game Changer" of Wolverine's popularity was the scene where he rises from the waters beneath the Hellfire Club's headquaraters after have been badly injured, declaring that "now it's MY turn!". A chunk of Claremont's '80s stuff had Wolverine recognizing the slow onset of aging, and the slowing-down of his Healing Factor. But the '90s, he'd be more bad-ass than ever, with Power Creep making his Healing Factor extremely quick.
-As expected, Wolverine is an expensive sort of character. He's shown SO many Skills that he could easily get 100 ranks of them, tons of martial Combat Advantages, his Claws are freakishly dangerous, and he regenerates. He can slice & dice with the best of them, having a powerful Strike that's Penetrating up to using Power Attack on it. He's got All-Out Attack, Startle & Power Attack, because he's practically the character who DEFINED all of those feats in the comics. He's also got the less-used Accurate Attack, because he's still really strong and can fight like an authentic Samurai when necessary. Generally a tough as nails scrapper, he's as good as anyone in a fight, despite being only PL 10.5 offensively if he's not Raging- the Regeneration pushes him over the edge- while not as skilled or as defensive as other martial artists, he is nigh-impossible to bring down permanently. His "Rage" is a modified version of the old Feat, allowing him to "push" himself indefinitely (he's not easy to tire, so a Tiring aspect would be pointless). Note his defensive weakness- Wolverine gets hit a lot. A. LOT. It's impossible to imagine him having great defensive capability, because he usually just wades into melee and takes all kinds of damage, counting on healing it all back later.

WOLVERINE (James "Logan" Howlett)- Bone Claws Version
Created By:
Len Wein, John Romita & Herb Trimpe
First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk #180-181 (Oct.-Nov. 1975)
Role: The Bad-Ass, The Anti-Hero, The Loner, The Protector of Little Girls, Claw Guy, Animal Guy
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Weapon X/Department H, The Avengers, X-Force, S.H.I.E.L.D., The Hand, The Horsemen of Apocalypse, Alpha Flight, HYDRA, The New Fantastic Four
PL 11 (210)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+9)
Athletics 10 (+14)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 10 (+15)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Military) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Samurai) 8 (+11)
Expertise (History) 3 (+6)
Insight 4 (+9)
Intimidation 11 (+13)
Investigation 3 (+8)
Perception 8 (+13)
Stealth 6 (+11)
Treatment 2 (+5)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Close Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Claws) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Smash, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 3 (Several), Last Stand (HP to Ignore Damage for One Round), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 2, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2, Ultimate Perception Skill, Ultimate Will Check, Ultimate Fortitude Check, Weapon Break, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Animalistic Physiology & Healing"
"Healing Factor"
Regeneration 12 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [13]
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) [3]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Diehard, Great Endurance [2]

"Animal Senses" Senses 9 (Acute, Extended & Accurate Scent, Extended Vision & Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Tracking 2- Scent) [9]

"Claws" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]

"Berserker Rage"
Enhanced Strength 1 & Stamina 1 (Quirks: Cannot Use Awareness-Based Skills, Accurate Attack or Stop Attacking Without Making Will Saves) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Claws +14 (+6 Damage, DC 23)
Raging Unarmed +14 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Raging Claws +14 (+7 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +13

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5 (+6 Raging), Fortitude +10 (+11 Raging), Will +11

Complications:
Vulnerable/Responsibility (Brainwashing)- Wolverine can and has been brainwashed many times. His Will Check is often lower against this type of assault.
Vulnerable (Magnetics & Electrical Attacks)- With his metal Skeleton, Logan takes more damage from these attacks.
Involuntary Transformation (Berserker Rages)- Wolverine greatly fears falling into a homicidal, uncontrollable rage, resulting in him Power & All-Out Attacking anyone who gets too close.
Relationship (Various Women)- Rose, Jean Grey, Elektra, Mariko Yoshida, Silver Fox, Snowbird, Heather Hudson, etc. The ones he hasn't slept with, he wants to. Logan is a mack daddy.
Relationship (Jean Grey)- Among Logan's longest-term crushes was on Jean Grey- he and Cyclops loved the same woman, though Logan willingly stepped aside because he realized that Jean truly loved Scott.
Relationship (Storm)- The two have a quasi-romantic relationship that goes back a long time- Wolverine notably supported Storm against Cyclops, and respected her authority for years.
Relationship (Nightcrawler)- The two were old-school drinking buddies. Kurt is probably Logan's closest actual friend.
Honor (Samurai)- Logan follows the code of Bushi-Do if he is able to.
Relationship (Teenage Girls)- Others may raise eyebrows, but he has taken both Kitty Pryde & Jubilee under his wing and taught them about life, honor and fighting.
Rivalry (Cyclops)- At first competing over a woman, and Cyke's straight-laced leadership of the squad, the two never did quite get along. When Jean died and Scott went off with Emma Frost, things got worse, and finally hit a head when the X-Men suffered a "schism" and each formed their own school.
Enemy (Sabretooth)- Victor Creed is obsessed with hunting down and killing Logan or his loved ones. The two's blood feud has gone on for decades.
Enemy (Various Others)- Matus'o Tsurayaba murdered Logan's beloved Mariko on their wedding night, poisoning her to death. Bloodscream & Roughouse are recurring Jobbers. Cyber is perhaps Logan's most-feared enemy. The Hand hates him because... reasons. Lady Deathstrike is obsessed with killing Logan because he's using the adamantium-bonding process invented by her late father. His son Daken is a heartless murderer, and Logan was forced to drown him. Plenty of others out there, too- including many One-Shot foes.
Motivation (Discovering His Past)- The ULTIMATE "Mysterious Past" guy in comics, Logan did not know his own history for decades, and has suffered frequent mind-wipes. He also has a tendency to meet figures from his past who know him well, even if he's forgotten them (Maverick, Cable, Mister Sinister, etc.).

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 82--41 / Advantages: 34 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 18 (210)

-Logan with Bone Claws is slightly faster and more agile than Adamantium Claws Wolverine, and heals faster, but is less powerful overall. This all came about in a 1990s storyline where Magneto ripped out Wolverine's adamantium when Logan slashed him in the chest- Xavier brain-wiped Magneto as a result, leading to Onslaught much later. Genesis (Cable's son from the future) later captured Logan and tried to give the Adamantium back to him, but Logan rejected it (offing most of the Dark Riders in the process), becoming more feral as a result (lower all Mental Stats). This was all later undone by Apocalypse, in order to make Logan the new Horseman of Death.

JUBILEE (Jubilation Lee)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Marc Silvestri
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #244 (May 1989)
Role: Annoying Teenage Girl, Mall Rat, Replacement for Kitty Pryde, Uber-Dated Character, The Totally Radical One
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Generation X, The New Warriors III
PL 8 (108)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+11)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Street Rat) 4 (+4)
Insight 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 5 (+9)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Daze (Deception), Evasion, Improved Trip, Luck, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Plasmoid Fireworks"
Dazzle Visuals 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (24) -- [28]
AE: Dazzle Visuals 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range) (14)
AE: Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18)
AE: "Plasma Blast" Blast 9 (18)
AE: "Plasma Fury" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (16)

"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Save 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [2]
Immunity (Own Powers) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Fireworks +7 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Area Fireworks +7 (+7 Affliction, DC 17)
Multi-Blast +7 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Blast +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Plasma Fury +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +1 (+2 D.Roll), Fortitude +3, Will +5 (+9 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Responsibility (Riff-Raff... Street Rat...)- Jubilation Lee was orphaned at a young age, and was forced to live on the streets.
Reputation (Horrible, Horrible Fashion Sense)- The giant yellow eyesore of an overcoat is one thing, but the giant green shades and pink shirt?
Responsibility (Wolverine)- Jubilee had a mentor in Logan, who viewed her as some kind of link to innocence.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 16 (108)

-Oh dear God, don't even get me started on Jubilee. OK, I just have to: Desperate for another "lighter touch" to be added to Wolverine stories that Kitty Pryde used to produce, and with proto-'90s artists desperate to make more people wearing trenchcoats in books they drew, Marvel popped in another character to the late Claremont-Era X-Men. Enter Jubilee, who quickly went to the 1980s-inspired "Audience Insert" character; ie. the plucky, sarcastic teenage character who got to hang around all the big, tough and cool X-Men, while remaining flippant and comedic throughout. The only problem is, Marvel did the EXACT SAME THING years earlier with Kitty Pryde (rubbing old fans the wrong way with a new replicant of the old concept), and Marc Silvestri (I always assumed it was Jim Lee, but it wasn't) basically copied almost the exact design of Boom-Boom, who'd appeared years earlier in the Secret Wars II storyline, and was now a regular in X-Factor.
-So the character was a double rip-off, wandering around, being "comedically wacky" and making sarcastic jokes and calling people "Dweebs" and saying "fer shoor" and stuff (it was the early '90s). But hey, Marvel was busy giving the artists (Lee took over the X-art by this point) whatever they wanted to keep them happy, so that forgives THEM a little bit. But then Jim & the other Image boys leave Marvel high and dry, recreating all their characters in Image, so Marvel's stuck with Kitty/Boomer Lite, and they have to give her something to do.
-Jubilee was pretty much only around for a single decade, but since this contained the 1990s X-Men, it brought her to more people's attention than poor Kitty Pryde did (MAN would Kitty have been a better character for that cartoon, too- she'd fit in SO much better... and not just because she is like the Frozen of comic book characters for me :)). Brought in during the LATE late '80s, Jubes had fairly weak powers, a lot of attitude, and was pretty much the embodiment of what supremely uncool adults thought "hip" teenagers of that era were like. Yeah, we all apparently liked giant hoop earrings, giant Canary Yellow trenchcoats, and green wrap-around sunglasses while acting like a mall rat. This is annoying for me, because the whole "Mall Rat" stereotype is something that teen fans used to write in to the New Mutants book with PRAISE for avoiding- showing teenagers as something other than braind-dead pop culture drones. Jubilee instead confirmed all of that. So this little brat (at least they didn't make her ultra-hot at first- comics needs a FEW gawky teens to remind you that not EVERY woman is built the same way) became Wolverine's sidekick, effectively replacing Kitty Pryde as the team's "Audience Insert" cast member, and that went on for a few years. So the "wacky sidekick" thing goes on until Generation X starts up, and they pawn her off on the new generation (she got upgraded to Main Cast, but it was a demotion in terms of overall importance, essentially becoming a Big Fish in a Small Pond).
-There's been the occasional blurb about her since then, but nothing big. Emma Frost declared her "potentially the most powerful mutant ever", like half the kids in that freakin' book (one of my big pet peeves about it), because she could blow up matter subatomically or some crap, she lost her powers in M-Day after her solo series TANKED (written by Invincible scribe Robert Kirkman and it still failed & got no play), and became "Wondra", a character in the (also tanked) New Warriors relaunch series. So yeah, she's pretty much done as a character by now, I think. She's just SUCH an icon of the weird '90s Jim Lee era, and nobody really wants to touch her anymore. And since Generation X eventually became a forgotten, third-tier book, it basically led to the destruction of her character, and the characters of everyone in that book, and we only see her now as a slightly-aged hot asian chick who got a failed mini-series a while back. And then she got turned into a vampire, and hung out with X-23 on some adventures that were IN NO WAY HOMOEROTIC.
-Jubilee's a team Sidekick, and fits that by being a PL 8 fighter who's not very strong or tough, but is quick, hard to hit, and a decent supporter with her visual Dazzles and a Blast- all of which hit reasonable levels in her adulthood. There's not really much else to her, truth be told. Most of the New Mutants could have kicked her butt.

JUBILEE (Jubilation Lee)- Early '90s Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Marc Silvestri
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #244 (May 1989)
Role: Annoying Teenage Girl, Mall Rat, Replacement for Kitty Pryde, Uber-Dated Character, The Totally Radical One
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Generation X
PL 7 (105)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+11)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Street Rat) 4 (+4)
Insight 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 5 (+9)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Daze (Deception), Evasion, Improved Trip, Luck, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Plasmoid Fireworks"
Dazzle Visuals 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (24) -- [26]
AE: Dazzle Visuals 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range) (14)
AE: Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18)

"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Save 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [2]
Immunity (Own Powers) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Fireworks +7 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Area Fireworks +7 (+7 Affliction, DC 17)
Multi-Blast +7 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +1 (+2 D.Roll), Fortitude +3, Will +5 (+9 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Responsibility (Riff-Raff... Street Rat...)- Jubilation Lee was orphaned at a young age, and was forced to live on the streets.
Reputation (Horrible, Horrible Fashion Sense)- The giant yellow eyesore of an overcoat is one thing, but the giant green shades and pink shirt?
Responsibility (Wolverine)- Jubilee had a mentor in Logan, who viewed her as some kind of link to innocence.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 17 (105)

-'90s Jubilee is only marginally cheaper, but less effective overall, as a membe of the X-Men's Blue Strike Force, generally making annoying comments about her team. Though I guess her line about Iceman whacking off to National Geographic's naked pygmies was pretty funny ("DRRAAAAAAKE... Time to be master of your DOMAIIIIIIN!").

JUBILEE (Jubilation Lee)- Vampire Powers
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Marc Silvestri
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #244 (May 1989)
Role: Annoying Teenage Girl, Mall Rat, Replacement for Kitty Pryde, Uber-Dated Character, The Totally Radical One
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Generation X, The New Warriors III
PL 9 (157)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA -- AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Street Rat) 4 (+4)
Insight 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 5 (+9)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Daze (Deception), Fast Grab, Evasion, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Luck, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Startle, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"Vampire"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 7 [7]
Regeneration 4 (Feats: Regrowth) [5]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
"Vampiric Senses" Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent) [3]

"Vampire's Bite" Strength-Damage Linked to Weaken Stamina 8 (Flaws: Grab-Based, Limited to One Rank Per Round) [2]

"Vapor Form" (Activation -2) [-2]
Insubstantial 3 [15]
Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Flaws: Partial) [2]
Flight 1 (4 mph) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Vampire's Bite +10 (+8 Damage & +8 Weaken, DC 23 & 18)
Initiative +5

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Riff-Raff... Street Rat...)- Jubilation Lee was orphaned at a young age, and was forced to live on the streets.
Reputation (Horrible, Horrible Fashion Sense)- The giant yellow eyesore of an overcoat is one thing, but the giant green shades and pink shirt?
Responsibility (Wolverine)- Jubilee had a mentor in Logan, who viewed her as some kind of link to innocence.
Vulnerable (Requires Blood)- Without blood, Jubilee will die- she constantly hungers for the substance. A teammate bleeding in her vicinity is in grave danger, especially if she hasn't fed for a while.
Weakness (Sunlight, Silver, Holy Water)- Either will cause the equivalent of Damage 10, and is not able to be Regenerated.
Weakness (Holy Symbols)- Vampires must succeed in a Will Check against the wielder's Presence, or else suffer from Affliction 10 (Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed).
Disabled (Garlic)- Vampires will not willing pass doors covered with garlic, and the stuff itself is noxious poison to them.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 67 / Defenses: 13 (157)

-Jubilee as a vampire is a fair bit more dangerous than her regular self, being a very fast, blood-draining fighter. She can turn into Vapor as well, but that's the only other uber-Vampire trick I've heard of her doing.

THE BLOB (Fred J. Dukes)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: X-Men #3 (Jan. 1964)
Role: Big Dumb Brute, The Meatiest of Meat Shields, Recurring Villain
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Freedom Force, X-Corps, Factor Three
PL 10 (114)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Deception 1 (+0)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+2)
Expertise (Government Agent) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 8 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Thrown Things) 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improvised Weapon, Interpose, Power Attack, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Immovable Physique"
"Natural Size" Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]

"Fatty-Fatty Boombalatty"
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 17) (Quirk: Weak Point- Face -1) [23]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Ultimate Toughness Save, Withstand Damage [2]

"Huge Weight" Features 4: Increased Mass 4 [4]
"Mono-Personal Gravity Field" Enhanced Strength 4 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) [4]

"Groundstrike" (Alt-Effect of Strength-Damage) [1]
Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Both Must be Touching Ground) Linked to Damage 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +15 (+9 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Himself)- The Blob is out for The Blob. If it brings him money, great. If it brings him power, that's also great.
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Fred weighs a titanic amount, and cannot pass for an ordinary human.
Reputation (Dimwit)- Fred is known for being relatively simple-minded.
Power Loss (Gravity Field)- The Blob's Gravity Field only affects him- not the ground around him. Attacks directed at the ground beneath his feet CAN move him.
Relationship (Unus)- Unus the Untouchable was Fred's only friend- he went berserk when Unus' powers killed him.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 42 / Defenses: 13 (114)

-The Blob is a resolute '60s villain, retaining all of his earlier characteristics (costume, attitude, intelligence level and powers) without much change, no matter the decade or general fashion sentiment going on at the time. This makes him a classic, but also kind of a bore- I mean, he NEVER CHANGES. He's your standard dumb thug; his whole schtick being this invincible monster that can barely be hurt, but nonetheless is very dumb. Very rarely depicted as a major threat, especially nowadays, even BEFORE they De-Powered him on M-Day, but he soon got better, and is back to being a generic background thug. Void of most character, he's just a super-tough Wall Of Mass that can fill out random super-teams (various Brotherhood incarnations, generally) and soak up some damage.
-Blob's WAY under-pointed, and only meets PL 10 on defense (because he's so damn hard to hurt). He's not IMPOSSIBLE to injure, but it's a giant pain in the ass, so the heroes tend to have their hands full just containing him. Best bet is to take him with psychic powers or gas attacks or the like, since his other saves are weaker. Note that he's KIND of a super-strong guy, but not to any major extent- it tends to get shown off-and-on in the comics, so I put him a ways under the Class 200-400 guys like Colossus & The Thing (he can lift 50 tons I figure). I used a combo of Immovable & Features for his added weight- Features for just his mass (that's how the official M&M builds are handling it, anyways), and Enhanced Strength for his ability to withstand ANYONE moving him, up to Thor & Hulk-strong guys (he resists as a Strength 19 guy- only The Hulk, Juggernaut & Strong Guy have successfully countered his power.). Note the Power Loss, though- Colossus once one-upped him by just moving the ground AROUND him.
-His accuracy and defenses are brutally low, but this is a guy who almost NEVER dodges stuff. He has the agility of a normal man, but is hardly a trained fighter, just an experienced villain. Nearly anyone with any level of talent should have no problem hitting him dead-centre -- doing enough damage to drop someone with +15 Toughness (+9 of which is Impervious) is another matter entirely- people like Wolverine, Arabian Knight & Black Raazer have only been capable of making him yell out. He's a mere PL 9 when punching away at people. It's not so bad, though -- he can take so many hits that he's bound to get a COUPLE in. And he's also a good bit faster than you'd expect for someone of his... corpulence, being as agile as a normal man.

SHATTERSTAR (Gaveedra-Seven)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: New Mutants #99 (March 1991)
Role: Sword Guy, The Fish Out of Water
Group Affiliations: X-Force, Tolliver's Organization, X-Factor Investigations
PL 10 (150)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 6 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+13)
Expertise (Cadre Alliance Warrior) 8 (+9)
Intimidation 7 (+7)
Perception 8 (+9)
Stealth 2 (+8)
Technology 6 (+7)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Attractive, Diehard, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Critical (Swords) 2, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Languages (Spanish, Others), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Weak-Ass Blast"
Blast 8 (Feats: Indirect 4- Any Point or Direction) (Flaws: Distracting, Tiring, Source- Metal) [6]

"Hollow Bones"
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]

"Healing Capabilities"
Regeneration 4 [4]
Features 1: May Shift Internal Organs Within His Body [1]

"FRICKIN' SWEET DOUBLE-BLADED SWORDS AAARRRGGHH!!!" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [6]
Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split, Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 6) (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Swords +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +6 (+7 D.Roll), Fortitude +10, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Rictor)- Shatty has a thing for his X-Force & X-Factor teammate, and the feeling is mutual. And oh so hot.
Responsibility (Cadre Alliance)- Shatterstar is a freedom fighter, opposing the rule of Mojo V of the Spineless Ones, in the far future of the Mojoverse.
Responsibility (Outsider)- Shatterstar does not understand a great deal about Earth culture, having been trained his whole life as a gladiator. For years, he did not even understand the concepts of love or lust.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 15 (150)

-OH MY GOD YOU GUYS SHATTERSTAR IS SO FRICKIN' AWESOME AND NINETIES AAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!!!! HE'S SO F-ING BAD-ASS HE'S GOT SWORDS ***WITH SWORDS ON THEM***!!!!! HE DUAL-WIELDS THOSE KILLER BLADES WHILE HACKING UP THE BAD GUYS LIKE A FREAKIN' PSYCHOPATH I LOVE IT!!! HE'S GOT BAD-ASS LONG HAIR AND PONYTAILS ALL OVER THE FRICKIN' PLACE!! HE'S A KILLER T.V. WARRIOR FROM THE FRICKIN' MOJOVERSE AND KILLED DOZENS OF GUYS ALL BY HIMSELF! I HAVE THIS COMIC WHERE HE TOTALLY TEAMS UP WITH WOLVERINE AND THEY BEAT THE HELL OUT OF SOME VID-KIDS!! THEN HE WENT AND FRICKIN' KILLED MASQUE, AND WHEN HE FOUGHT THE M.L.F., HE FREAKIN' CHOPPED OFF REAPER'S HAND!! AND THEN HE DID IT AGAIN! HE'S SO BAD-ASS I'M HAVING A FREAKING OVERDOSE YOU GUYYYYSSSS AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
-*ahem* Now that that's out of the way, some explanation. Shatterstar is from a future version of the Mojoverse (and possibly -make that canonically- Longshot's son), rejecting his rulers (who forced him to fight in arena combat) and trying to join the current timeline's X-Men. He found X-Force instead, and generally became an icon of Rob Liefeld's, with hyper-'90s double-swords (ie. two blades on one hilt, as if that makes any real sense), hastily-added Mutant Power (a near-uselessly tiring Generic Energy Blast), and a thing over his eye like all Liefeld characters have. And of course they basically almost never actually bothered to help Shatterstar with his Mojoverse problem, since that was just an excuse to get him on the team.
-He did the "Honorable Warrior" thing for a long time, and also the "I'm a alien who doesn't get Earth customs" thing, which made him a bit more entertaining once Liefeld left and Fabian Nicieza took full writing duties, altering the character a bit. Unfortunately, he got kind of silly as the book went on (where he got merged with some random mutant guy in a coma), and never made it out of the '90s with a featured book. Liefeld did a few more things with him, but nothing big (a Limited Series was all), and he went onto the pages of X-Factor, where Peter David continued an aspect started by Jeph Loeb- the idea that Shatterstar was sexually attracted to his teammate Rictor. The two began making out the second David got a hold of him, pissing LIEFELD off, as some creators don't like it when their beloved creations completely evolve without them. So Shatterstar had a hot start (even got "the rub" from Wolverine by appearing in his book), but eventually petered out to nothing, where he exists as kind of a joke about the 1990s in comics. But still, DOUBLE-BLADED SWORDS ARRRRRGGHHHH!!!!!
-His costume is ultra-weird, too. First off, Liefeld gave him a big puffy shirt and a weird brown headgear thing that sorta looks like what Amateur Boxers wear. Plus all the ponytails (Liefeld LOVED to draw little whispers of hair flying all over the place, even while people were standing still). The two-bladed swords are self-explanatory (ie. it was the '90s). Later, when Greg Capullo took over the art chores, the entire team got a re-design using the absolute very BEST of mid-'90s fashion (Boomer's neon pink & yellow outfit is a stand-out; Sunspot wore a super-colourful unitard; Warpath lost the giant shoulder pads and became rather bare-chested, along with Cannonball...) post-X-Cutioner's Song, resulting in Shatty getting a new outfit with metallic shoulder pads and headgear instead of the old "puffy" style that looked more like training gear. But oddly, the colourist couldn't quite decide on the exact colour scheme, and so we had a weird bit where he first appeared with brown accents (including the helmet, like the old style), then suddenly they were orange, and finally they settled on RED for all of it! I can't recall the last time colour-switches were so frequent, but the series did it again when the second incarnation of Weapon: P.R.I.M.E. showed up, with all the members completely changing colours IN THE SAME SCENE over two issues!
-Shatterstar stats up as an effective, mildly super-strong Melee Fighter with cool swords. I went with Devices rather than Equipment, because they're HIS swords, and are shown to be ultra-sharp and able to cut through nearly anything. His Mutant Power is an afterthought- a Blast so limited that he can barely utilize it (I've read a total of three apperances of the attack- his debut, a New Warriors cross-over, and once where he surprised Reaper & Wildside by blasting it out through his sword while Wildside was holding it)- it's Distracting, Tiring AND requires metal or his swords to use (in X-Factor, he was able to use them to Teleport, albeit with hours of preparation). Otherwise, Shatterstar is very strong, very tough, and a hardcore fighter with tons of Combat-based Advantages to his name. He's extremely capable, able to shift most of his Caps around to make the already-tough +8 damage bonus of his Swords go any which way. Shatterstar is enough to challenge guys like Wolverine & Sabretooth for several rounds before they take him out (this happened twice- Wolvie handily defeated him both times), though oddly even though Liefeld seemed to LOVE him the guy got one-shot-KO'd by Deadpool in Wade Wilson's debut.

SHARD (Shard Bishop)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & John Romita Jr.
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men Annual #17 (Dec. 1993)
Group Affiliations: Xavier's Security Enforcers, X-Factor
Role: Introduced Sibling, Forgotten Character
PL 9 (156)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Computers) 7 (+8)
Expertise (XSE Soldier) 5 (+6)
Expertise (History) 4 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+6)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Living Hologram Construct"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 4 [4]

Laser Blast 9 (Feats: Improved Critical, Split 2) [22]
Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Precise) [21]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Laser Blast +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4, Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Brother, Bishop)
Relationship (Wild Child)- Shard hooked up with her teammate while on X-Factor.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 77 / Defenses: 13 (156)

-Shard's another suck-pile of a character, a totally unnecessary add-on character, brought in as one of those "hey I suddenly have this never-before-mentioned relative with super-powers, didn't ya know?" types of deals. She's Bishop's sister, who of course also got sent from the future to do stuff, and ended up as a D-League member of the D-League team, X-Factor. She did a bunch of nothing, then died in Bishop's own series. That's likely the last we'll ever see of her.
-Shard's a little funny because of her origin (she's a living hologram after she died and got brought back to "life" by Forge), basically being a Construct who can go intangible, in addition to firing laser beams.

RICTOR (Julio Esteban Richter)
Created By:
Louise & Walt Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #17 (June 1987)
Role: The Punker, The Bad-Boy, The Snarker
Group Affiliations: The X-Terminators, The New Mutants, X-Force, The Purifiers, Weapon: P.R.I.M.E., X-Corporation, X-Factor Investigations
PL 10 (151)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 3 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+6)
Expertise (Computers) 8 (+9)
Insight 5 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 7 (+8)
Perception 6 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+3, +5 Attractive)
Sleight of Hand 1 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Aim, Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Startle, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Vibration Control"
"Earthquake" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) (37) -- [40]
AE: "Vibe Blasts" Blast 9 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Penetrating) (28)
AE: "Vibratory Wave" Damage 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (27)
AE: "Inner Vibrations" Weaken Toughness 8 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Ranged, Penetrating) (25)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Earthquake +9-10 Area (+9 Ranged Damage & +10 Ranged Affliction, DC 24 & 20)
Vibe Blasts +10 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Vibe Wave +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Inner Vibrations +10 (+8 Ranged Weaken, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Prejudice (Bisexual)- Rictor has expressed sexual interest in a great deal of women, but has also willingly made kisses with Shatterstar.
Relationship (Wolfsbane)- Rictor was the Bad Boy to Rahne's Good Girl for the latter part of the New Mutants, and kept his crush on her going for years afterwards. They've recently had sex, but are arguing frequently.
Relationship (Shatterstar)- Initially a Buddy/Buddy thing with some vague homoeroticism, that has gotten a whole lot less vague lately.
Reputation (Criminal)- Rictor's family is basically a gigantic bunch of gun-runners in Mexico- it has led to the death of his father (at Stryfe's hands), and the injuries of many others. He is shamed by this fact, and it's the reason that he has left his family many times.
Obsession (Mutant Powers)- Rictor did not take his power loss well following M-Day, and attempted suicide over it. His lack of connection with the Earth haunted him for a long time.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 16 (151)

-Rictor started out as one of the teen students of X-Factor in that book's second year, which I always thought was a dumb idea. I mean, that was ALREADY the point of The New Mutants, plus there was Power Pack. So they added MORE kids? Bizarre. Ric & Boom-Boom were classic '80s-style teenagers, but in that crappy sense, dressing in the stereotypica "Teen Fashion" of the time. Little thought-out beyond being a Bad Boy and a Snotty Mall Brat, they were just kind of weak overall. When they got added to the Mutants themselves in that book's painful slide, it was an obvious Jump the Shark moment- neither were that great, ESPECIALLY compared to who they were replacing (Dani, Magik, Cypher), and they had none of the depth of the original crew.
-Ric left the squad very late in the run, deciding to chase after Rahne (whom he'd grown attached to, and she was in Genosha), but he never found her- he was added to "Weapon: P.R.I.M.E.", a hit squad comprised of some X-Force adversaries, and sent after Cable (who he realized had murdered his father when he was a boy- which you'd think would have come up earlier, when Cable was LEADING HIM, but apparently it just came to him). With Cable thought dead in the X-Cutioner's Song, Ric stuck around anyways, and we had some odd moments where team leader Cannonball treated him like a long-lost best pal and fallback guy, despite the two only hanging out for fifteen-to-twenty issues at-most in the New Mutants series.
-Ric at this point was a generic Blaster, doing a lot of "hang back and shake up the guy's armour", and not much else. He was a classic Latin Charmer (now that Sunspot was more angsty and angry), ultra-smooth and with a brutally-90s outfit, though he did have a cute buddy cop thing going with the needy Shatterstar, who always wanted to hang out with him. This relationship was quite heavily homoerotic, which didn't get much more than a few jokey mentions until Peter David just straight-up had them kiss, which was funny. If only because if you listened real close, you could hear Shatty-buns' creator Rob Liefeld howl in agony in the distance.
-This Rictor build showcases him once he added some Detective Skills to his repetoire post M-Day, without his powers. Initially suicidal, he's apparently gotten used to it, and was eventually a valued member of the team. He was a PL 6-7 Regular Guy, exchewing Super-Combat but focusing on his Bad-Ass Normal properties. He was nowhere near the Captain America/Batman Class, or even the Nightwing/Daredevil Class, or the Robin Class- he's just a pretty strong, pretty tough, above-points-cost PL 7 dude. Once he got his powers back, he'd end up a much more well-rounded character. Initially an "Earthquake" guy, Rictor had by the '90s turned into as generic a Blaster as it got, though often teaming up with Siryn (ANOTHER Blaster) to weaken the Force Fields or Armour of high-toughness villains.

RICTOR (Julio Esteban Richter)- X-Force Era
Created By:
Louise & Walt Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #17 (June 1987)
Role: The Punker, The Bad-Boy, The Snarker
Group Affiliations: The X-Terminators, The New Mutants, X-Force, Weapon: P.R.I.M.E.
PL 10 (138)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 1 (+4, +6 Attractive)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+6)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 2 (+3)
Perception 6 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+3, +5 Attractive)
Sleight of Hand 1 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blast), Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Startle, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Vibration Control"
"Earthquake" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) (37) -- [40]
AE: "Vibe Blasts" Blast 9 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Penetrating) (28)
AE: "Vibratory Wave" Damage 9 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (27)
AE: "Inner Vibrations" Weaken Toughness 8 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Ranged, Penetrating) (25)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Earthquake +9/+10 Area (+9 Ranged Damage & +10 Affliction, DC 24 & 20)
Vibe Blast +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Vibratory Wave +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 20)
Inner Vibrations +10 (+10 Weaken, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Wolfsbane)- Rictor was the Bad Boy to Rahne's Good Girl for the latter part of the New Mutants, and kept his crush on her going for years afterwards.
Relationship (Shatterstar)- Initially a Buddy/Buddy thing with some vague homoeroticism.
Reputation (Criminal)- Rictor's family is basically a gigantic bunch of gun-runners in Mexico- it has led to the death of his father (at Stryfe's hands), and the injuries of many others. He is shamed by this fact, and it's the reason that he has left his family many times.
Accident (Mutant Powers)- Rictor's powers have caused accidents in the past, and he is terrified of using them in Earthquake-prone areas.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 16 (138)

-Rictor's a bit more interesting as a combatant with his mutant powers intact- in fact, he's a PL 9 Blaster through and through, complete with the lowered Defensive PL and a bit weaker Melee Skill. His Blasts are either generic or Line Area, or can convert into a +9 Weaken Toughness effect at range (used VERY often during the Nicieza X-Force era), or an Earthquake effect (basically a Ranged version of the Groundstrike Power) with a +9 Damage quotient added to a +10 Trip. This last bit is what makes him a PL 10, otherwise, he's a PL 9 who's 11 points over-cost: Good but not great. But the guy was at-best a back fighter in X-Force anyways- always shooting away or assisting the others, and rarely ending fights. His Earthquake Effect is kind of hard to pull off in a team scenario too, making him limited.

RICTOR (Julio Esteban Richter)- New Mutants Era
Created By:
Louise & Walt Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #17 (June 1987)
Role: The Punker, The Bad-Boy
Group Affiliations: The X-Terminators, The New Mutants
PL 8 (106)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Perception 3 (+3)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 1 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Critical (Blast), Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 5, Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Vibration Control"
"Earthquake" Blast 7 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Affliction 8 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) (29) -- [31]
AE: "Vibe Blasts" Blast 8 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Penetrating) (25)
AE: "Inner Vibrations" Weaken Toughness 7 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Ranged, Penetrating) (21)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Earthquake +7/+8 Area (+7 Ranged Damage & +8 Affliction, DC 22 & 18)
Vibe Blast +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Inner Vibrations +8 (+8 Weaken, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Wolfsbane)- Rictor was the Bad Boy to Rahne's Good Girl for the latter part of the New Mutants, and kept his crush on her going for years afterwards.
Reputation (Criminal)- Rictor's family is basically a gigantic bunch of gun-runners in Mexico- it has led to the death of his father (at Stryfe's hands), and the injuries of many others. He is shamed by this fact, and it's the reason that he has left his family many times.
Accident (Mutant Powers)- Rictor's powers have caused accidents in the past, and he is terrified of using them in Earthquake-prone areas.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 12 (106)

-Here's a lower-level Rictor circa the New Mutants' run, when they were half-capable PL 8s. I just took his power-set above and dropped everything by a bit.

MAGMA (Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: The New Mutants #8 (Oct. 1983)
Role: The Princess, The Hot One, The Written-Out One, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The Hellions, X-Corporation
PL 10 (155)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Sword) 2 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+9)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Politics) 2 (+4)
Expertise (History) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Magma) 3 (+9)

Advantages:
Attractive, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Magma Blast), Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Geothermal Form & Geokinesis"
"Geothermal Form" (Move Action) [-1]
Magma/Flame Aura 5 [20]
"Magma Skin" Protection 3 [3]
"Surviving Lava" Immunity 7 (Suffocation, Heat, Heat/Fire Damage) [7]

"Magma Orbs" Blast 10 (Extras: Penetrating) (30) -- [39]
AE: "Magma Burst" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (30)
AE: "Magma Stream" Blast 9 (Feats: Indirect) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (28)
AE: "Boost Aura" Magma/Flame Aura 5 (20)
AE: "Earthquake" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets & Objects) (30)
AE: "Move The Earth" Move Object 10 (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Earth/Rock) (20)
AE: "Extreme Heat" Environment 3 (Heat 2) (6)
AE: "Permeate Earth" Movement 3 (Permeate) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (3)
AE: "Emit Light" Environment 5 (Light) (5)
AE: "Tectonic Shifting" Environment 3 (Impede Movement 2) (6)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Magma Orb +9 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Magma Burst & Stream +10 Area (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Aura +9 (+5-10 Damage, DC 20-25)
Earthquake +10 Area (+10 Affliction & +10 Ranged Damage, DC 20 & 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2 (+5 Magma Skin), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Accident- Magma's powers have frequently gone out of control, and she strives to master them. When angered or agitated, her powers are liable to shake the very earth beneat her, causing devastating earthquakes.
Enemy (Selene)- The evil mutant sorceress Selene carries a grudge against Amara, who ruined her schemes in her first public appearance, and she has attempted revenge on Amara several times.
Relationship (Empath)- Amara loved Empath despite herself (without his control, even), and still carries a bit of a torch for him.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 68 / Defenses: 16 (155)

-Magma's interesting in that she got a huge push in the New Mutants' first big "out of mansion" trip (in a LONG series of them) when they found her in a long-lost group of Roman expatriates living in the jungles of Brazil. She was a big factor at first, but then slowly disappeared to the background of the book in favor of the other characters. Largely this is thanks to major focus coming in on Magik & Warlock, then Cypher, and Kitty's eventual major place in the book, to the point where poor Amara got shoved aside much like Karma did. I mean, after a point she had almost NOTHING to do (there was a brief bit where Cannonball was crushing on her HARD, but she shot him down pretty succinctly when he tried to shorten her name to 'Mara, and she said "that's a nickname given to lovers"). This eventually led to her leaving the team and joining the Hellions on friendly terms, hooking up with Empath, who finally started showing a somewhat better side (given how monstrous he was before that, I found it hard to believe). Before that, she was basically a combination of "Runaway Power" and "Girl Who Sam Likes"- nothing too unique, but as the most powerful New Mutant aside from Warlock, she certainly had her place.
-The Nova Roma concept was pretty cool, though once again represents the "great white hype" nature of comics, where even in freaking SOUTH AMERICA, the coolest culture around is a bunch of white people from Europe. This is in spite of one of the most asinine random decisions in comics history (and that's saying something), where out of nowhere it was revealed that Selene made up the whole Nova Roma thing, and all its denizens were actually British people brainwashed by her & Empath's power. This was, of course, retarded on so many levels that they casually hand-waved it off years later, but MAN was that dumb. It wasn't even revealed in an important story! They just wiped it's history from comics for NO REASON.
-This of course shows further the way that writers in general forgot about or disrespected the Amara character. Hell, even to this day, you'll see her pop up now and then (the crucifixion on the Mansion lawn), but even in books that were MADE for appearances of her (X-Force, New Mutants/X-Men second run), she'll only be there for about two or three issues, before disappearing again. Her biggest role in DECADES came in the New Mutants update a few years back, but she still hasn't done too much- she just lacks the characterization of the other members of the team. Hell, her big running storyline was that she was going on dates with MEPHISTO, a LORD OF HELL. Wellll... she HAS dated Empath, so it's not like dating the goddamned devil is out of character for her. Christ, this is actually a step towards respectability for her, if you think about it.
-It's altogether kind of a shame- as Horsenhero has noted, Lava-based characters are EXTREMELY rare in comics- she's one of the most unique and original characters out there, even ASIDE from her origin as a Roman/Brasilian girl, and yet she never really gets anything interesting to do.
-For Powers, Magma has a rather costly array of Energy Aura, Immunity, Blasts, Environment (three kinds- Light, Impede & Heat), Earth Control, and a big Earthquake power that functions as Trip Affliction/Damage Objects effect. Her Blasts are rather varied, including Lines, Bursts & Penetrating, which results in a rather versatile classic Blaster/Energy Controller-type. So she's a good fighter, and handy in a brawl as one of the team's only Blasters (in modern or current cases), but most of her best showings have involuntary stuff going on, like huge Earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, working more as Complications than real Powers she uses often.

MAGMA (Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla)- Late New Mutants Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: The New Mutants #8 (Oct. 1983)
Role: The Princess, The Hot One, The Written-Out One, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The Hellions
PL 8 (128)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 3 (+3)
Close Combat (Swords) 2 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Politics) 2 (+4)
Expertise (History) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Magma) 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Attractive, Power Attack, Ranged Attack, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Geothermal Form & Geokinesis"
"Geothermal Form" (Move Action) [-1]
Magma/Flame Aura 4 [16]
"Magma Skin" Protection 1 [1]
"Surviving Lava" Immunity 7 (Suffocation, Heat, Heat/Fire Damage) [7]

"Magma Orbs" Blast 9 (Extras: Penetrating) (27) -- [36]
AE: "Magma Burst" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (27)
AE: "Magma Stream" Blast 8 (Feats: Indirect) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (25)
AE: "Boost Aura" Magma/Flame Aura 3 (12)
AE: "Earthquake" Affliction 8 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets & Objects) (26)
AE: "Move The Earth" Move Object 7 (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Earth/Rock) (14)
AE: "Extreme Heat" Environment 3 (Heat 2) (6)
AE: "Permeate Earth" Movement 3 (Permeate) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (3)
AE: "Emit Light" Environment 5 (Light) (5)
AE: "Tectonic Shifting" Environment 3 (Impede Movement 2) (6)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Magma Orb +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Magma Burst & Stream +9 Area (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Aura +7 (+4-7 Damage, DC 19-22)
Earthquake +8 Area (+8 Affliction & +8 Ranged Damage, DC 18 & 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+3 Magma Skin), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Accident- Magma's powers have frequently gone out of control, and she strives to master them. When angered or agitated, her powers are liable to shake the very earth beneat her, causing devastating earthquakes.
Enemy (Selene)- The evil mutant sorceress Selene carries a grudge against Amara, who ruined her schemes in her first public appearance, and she has attempted revenge on Amara several times.
Relationship (Empath)- Amara loves Empath despite herself (without his control, even), and still carries a bit of a torch for him.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 11 (128)

-Magma circa the end of her New Mutants run is rather pricey, but much lower-powered, lacking accuracy, but maintaining a great deal of power with a +2 trade-off leaning towards hitting power.

MAGMA (Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla)- Debut
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: The New Mutants #8 (Oct. 1983)
Role: The Princess, The Pretty One, The Blaster
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 7 (82)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+5)
Athletics 3 (+3)
Close Combat (Swords) 2 (+7)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Politics) 2 (+2)
Expertise (History) 3 (+3)
Expertise (Survival) 3 (+3)
Intimidation 2 (+3)
Perception 3 (+3)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Magma) 3 (+4)

Advantages:
Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Geothermal Form & Geokinesis"
"Geothermal Form" (Move Action) [-1]
Magma/Flame Aura 4 [16]
"Surviving Lava" Immunity 7 (Suffocation, Heat, Heat/Fire Damage) [7]

AE: "Earthquake" Affliction 7 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Blast 7 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets & Objects) (21) -- [28]
AE" "Magma Orbs" Blast 7 (14)
AE: "Magma Stream" Blast 6 (Feats: Indirect) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (19)
AE: "Move The Earth" Move Object 5 (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Earth/Rock) (14)
AE: "Extreme Heat" Environment 3 (Heat 2) (6)
AE: "Permeate Earth" Movement 2 (Permeate) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (2)
AE: "Emit Light" Environment 5 (Light) (5)
AE: "Tectonic Shifting" Environment 3 (Impede Movement 2) (6)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Magma Orb +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Magma Burst & Stream +9 Area (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Aura +7 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Earthquake +7 Area (+7 Affliction & +7 Ranged Damage, DC 17 & 22)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Accident- Magma's powers have frequently gone out of control, and she strives to master them. When angered or agitated, her powers are liable to shake the very earth beneat her, causing devastating earthquakes.
Enemy (Selene)- The evil mutant sorceress Selene carries a grudge against Amara, who ruined her schemes in her first public appearance, and she has attempted revenge on Amara several times.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 10 (82)

-Magma during her debut is still reasonably Skilled, and has all but her Boost Aura for her APs (a rare case of a vastly Arrayed rookie New Mutant), but lacky physicality completely, and is PL 7 only with her wide-range Affliction Earthquake.

SHADOWCAT (Katherine "Kitty" Pryde, aka Sprite, Ariel)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #129 (Jan. 1980)
Role: The Fan-Insert Character, The Team Brat, The Rebel, Teen Ninja, The Deadpan Snarker
Country of Origin: The United States (Chicago)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Excalibur, S.H.I.E.L.D.
PL 9 (187), PL 11 (187) to Machines
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 7 (+8)
Deception 3 (+5, +7 Attractive)
Expertise (Computers) 9 (+13)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 2 (+6)
Insight 4 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Stealth 8 (+13)
Technology 4 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Close Attack, Equipment (X-Uniform, Hacker Gear), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Minion 6 (Lockheed), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Phasing"
Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Precise, Subtle 2, Increased Mass 3 on Affects Others) (Extras: Reaction, Affects Others, Attack) [38]

"Phasing Tricks"
"Air Walking" Flight 1 (Flaws: Walking- Has to Take "Steps") [1]
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Save 4 (Flaws: Limited to While Phasing, Limited to Mental Attacks) [1]
"Sneak Attack" Strength-Damage +2 (Flaws: Limited to While the Enemy Loses Their Dodge Bonus) [1]

"Haywire Electronics" Affliction 11 (Tech Skill of Creator; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Affects Corporeal, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (Inaccurate -1) (21) -- [22]
AE: "Leave Object Inside Something" Damage 10 (Extras: Affects Corporeal, Penetrating) (Flaws: Limited to Size of the Object) (Inaccurate -2) (19)

Senses 1 (Communication Link- Lockheed) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Sneak Attack +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Haywire Stunt +11 (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Leaving Objects +9 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +2 (+3 X-Uniform), Fortitude +5, Will +8 (+12 Mental Attacks While Phased)

Complications:
Relationship (Piotr Rasputin)- Kitty is in love with Colossus, and has been for years (though this was initially juvenile "puppy love"). Every time they potentially hook up, something goes wrong- he hooked up with an Alien Healer, and she with a Cynical Chain-Smoking Brit. He died, and though they hooked up once he'd returned, she soon merged with a Space Bullet and left. Then when she came back, she dumped Peter because he was still trying to sacrifice himself for others ("I want someone to live FOR ME for a change").
Relationship (Illyana Rasputin)- Kitty & Illyana are the best of friends, and Illyana's death via the Legacy Virus crushed Kitty. Since Illyana's resurrection, they have interacted very little.
Power Loss (Phasing)- Kitty's Phasing power is prone to not working against certain substances. Energy attacks will occasionally work (such as Harpoon's Blast), Magic can affect her, and the extreme density of Adamantium will Stun her if she attempts to phase through any sort of it. The materials of the Breakworld similarly gave her trouble. Basically, writers hate having to deal with her power, and so this happens a lot.
Responsibility (Human Life)- Though various X-Men have chosen to take lives in the past, Kitty is really not one of them. As such, her horrifying "Leaving Object" trick will pretty much never be used on a living being. Only machines so far have been afflicted by it, though she HAS threatened other totally evil beings (namely Sabretooth & Emma Frost) with maiming.
Relationship (Logan)- It's a bit father/daughter, and a bit brother/sister. He protected her as a young girl, and she lectures him as a caring adult.
Rivalry (Emma Frost)- Kitty was kidnapped by The White Queen when she was thirteen years old, and has a hard time forgiving Emma's evil days as a result. She mistrusts her immensely and dislikes her snide elitist attitude ("Oh my God... YOU teach ETHICS?"), while Emma is annoyed by Kitty's spunky/annoying ways.
Responsibility (The Original X-Men)- "Professor K" was put in charge of the original X-Men when they were brought to the current timeline, and she sticks with the group.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 62 / Defenses: 15 (187)

-Now Kitty Pryde (named for Canadian aritst K.D. Pryde, a college classmate of John Byrne and my own College Art Professor) is just about my favourite X-Man ever, for various reasons. One, she's a super-hottie, and one of my earliest comic book crushes (I blame the Marvel Card Series II picture with her). Funny, since she's one of the only women in comics NOT drawn with what TV Tropes and Calvin & Hobbes calls the "Most Common Super-Power", and is generally less curvy all aroundN (seriously- FRANK FREAKING CHO draws here with a mere C-Cup!). But if you grew up in the '80s, you knew that Kitty was adorable and you totally wanted to date her- I have heard countless writers and fans describe this exact phenomenon. But GIRLS liked her, too, because she acted "too smart for the room", was sarcastic and sometimes whiny, but altogether seemed to be a realistic teenage girl character. On one of those ANCIENT mid-90s X-Men fansites, someone described her as "the girl you wanted to be, or wanted to date, depending on your interests", which is pretty well perfect. This has allowed to her live on to be one of the most popular team characters in comics, and she was so successful that X-writers have tried to copy her half a dozen times since her debut. In fact, all female superheroes owe her a debt, especially the teen ones.
-Kitty's so awesome that Joss Whedon basically admitted that he based Buffy Summers off of her personality (this gets more obvious when he uses Jossisms in half of her dialogue during Astonishing X-Men, whereas he simply transplants Firefly characters onto the rest of the team). Though I always found it funny that she dropped the "N Bomb" so many times during Claremont's run on the X-books. Seriously, that's the one word you pretty much NEVER see in comic books, much less MARVEL's mainstream stuff, yet I've counted three separate occasions! 1) A black guy asks her if she's a "Mutie", and she responds with "I dunno, are you a n******?" to make a point about bigotry. 2) Giving a speech about a mutant boy who committed suicide rather than face his bullies, she drops pretty much every hateful slur in the book in a single paragraph as examples of hatred. 3) When admonished by the black Stevie Hunter after attacking a boy who was making comments about "Muties" and called Kitty a "Mutie Lover", she turns to Stevie and screams "What if he called me a N****** LOVER, Stevie?!? Would you be so damned tolerant THEN!?" I suppose only the youngest member of the team could ever get away with that, even if she's only doing it to make a point.
-Of course, the fact that Kitty not only started dominating X-Men, but also The New Mutants at times, then got her own Dragon, then gained Super Martial-Arts Skills in the most half-assed manner imaginable (taken over by an Evil Japanese Mystic, she retained all his skills when his spirit left her body), made her a pretty solid example of a Mary Sue Pet Character. The difference? Kitty is awesome and all those other ones suck! Because KITTY IS PERFECT, DAMN YOUUUUUUU!!!!!
-Kitty was injured during The Mutant Massacre, and eventually left for Excalibur, being a central character to it's smaller cast of five characters. As I've described before, this made it odd for me when Kitty returned to the X-Men- she'd been off the book for almost FIFTEEN YEARS by that point, and I grew up as a comics fan only knowing her as that cute girl from Excalibur in the blue leggings & puffy shirt who might have theoretically dated me (actually, only the most hawt of guys ever dated Kitty- Warren Ellis' ideal man and Colossus being the key ones, so us poor comics fans were likely out of our leagues still)... as an actual X-Man, she dropped the codename for the most part, and even poor Lockheed vanished as she got a bit more "serious". Now aged-up to a young adult (good luck finding a concensus amongst writers for her actual age), she's become fairly omnipresent in the X-Books as a major character, a BIG difference from the '90s, where she was rarely-seen in favor of Jubilee, the "New Kitty". I chalk this up to the modern roster of X-Men being young enough that they "came of age" in an era in which Kitty Pryde was a big deal, so they all wanted to write her. Jason Aaron, who seemed to really enjoy her in his Wolverine and the X-Men book, is 41, and so was 7-9 when she first showed up and later hit big- the ideal age to REALLY remember her (he'd have hit puberty during her run as well).
-I was all ready to panic when I first saw Kitty's final points-cost, so I checked out some of the other builds (3e and otherwise) around the Tank, and found that nearly everyone else had the same thing happen- Kitty isn't powerful, but she costs a lot of points- she's a genius, very Skilled, a great fighter (she often doesn't dodge because of her powers, but CAN if she NEEDS to), and she's got some neat powers. She can use her Insubstantial powers as an Attack, or just let it Affect Others (with some Increased Mass for the large objects- gigantic bullets are a Hero Point-playing, Story Climax thing). She doesn't use her "Phasing Stunts" that often, but they get enough play to earn a mention- she can Incapacitate machines or "Phase" people into things (or things into people). Anything else is basically a one-off Power Stunt (like a "Stun"- which I don't ever personally recall seeing her do).

LOCKHEED
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #166 (Feb. 1983)
Role: Cute Animal Sidekick
Country of Origin: The United States (Chicago)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Excalibur, S.W.O.R.D., The Pet Avengers
PL 6 (83)- Minion Rank 6
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Expertise (Alien Life) 6 (+6)
Insight 4 (+4)
Intimidation 10 (+4 Size)
Perception 6 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Breath Weapon) 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+2)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Languages 2 (Many Alien), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up

Powers:
"Small Size" Shrinking 8 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
(-2 Strength & Speed, +4 Defenses, +8 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

Flight 4 (30 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [4]
"Animal Senses" Senses 4 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Communication Link- Kitty Pryde) [4]
Immunity 2 (Mind Reading) [2]

"Fire Breath" Blast 6 (Diminished Range -2) (10) -- [12]
AE: "Fire Cone" Damage 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cone +1/2) (9)
AE: "Bite" Damage 2 (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Bite +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Fire Breath +6 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Fire Cone +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Secret (Intelligence)- Lockheed is secretly quite intelligent, and knows many languages. This comes as a big surprise to Kitty Pryde, who has cared for him like a pet for years.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 8 (83)

-Lockheed gets a write-up as well- he's a neat little Dragon, but of low power. He occasionally has a great showing (he scarred the crap out of Ord's face after he'd pwned the entire X-Men squad sent against him, and he demolished an entire nest of large aliens once), but he's mostly just a PL 6 Minion thing. He's since proven that he CAN speak, and is rather intelligent, but he's not super-skilled just yet.

X-FORCE:
-X-Force takes up an odd place in X-History, in that it was initially part of that surge in the early '90s towards placating the industry's hot young artists by giving them vanity project books where they could be the primary creators, but also ended up being kind of a "legacy" book to the earlier New Mutants book.

-When Cable joined The New Mutants, he basically set off a firestorm of attention, hard as it may be now to conceive of that- see, he was a bad-ass, military-styled Combat Cyborg who was ALSO a mutant, combining a ton of features that would later become iconic to the Iron Age of Comics. This is all likely derived from the MOVIES of the 1980s, as comics took a bit to catch up (likely because the new, young artists were FANS of stuff like Terminator and Predator). So with Cable getting a lot of attention, his creator Rob Liefeld soon got more power on the flagging New Mutants series, eventually resulting in Louise Simonson leaving as writer. Liefeld, then among the Top 3 most popular artists in the industry (people easily forget that now that he's an industry Butt Monkey), was allowed to add more and more new characters to the series, to the point where it resembled the original book less and less.

-Eventually, only Cannonball remained of the original squad of kids, with Boom-Boom remaining of the latter-day cast- Warlock & Cypher were dead, Karma & Moonstar had vanished into Comic Limbo, Magik was de-aged, Sunspot left to join Gideon, Rictor quit, and Rusty & Skids were taken by the Mutant Liberation Front. Replacing them was an entirely new crew. Oddly, New Mutants Annual #6 shows a "Glimps Into The Future!" that "may occur sooner than you think!", featuring Cable, Warlock, Rictor, Boom-Boom, Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, an early Shatterstar (no helmet/headguard and longer hair), an unknown blonde woman and another blonde that looks to be Magik (glowing sword)- this team resembles what came to be very little.

-The New Mutants soon left the X-Mansion during the next big X-restructuring (the kids had fit in VERY poorly with this incarnation of the X-Men, as the team was thought-dead for a long time, Magneto was the hapless Headmaster who soon turned evil again, and everything got all mixed up when X-Factor rejoined the team), going off with Cable as he set up a mutant army to fight his various enemies, turning the children into his own personal foot-soldiers. His baddies included Mr. Tolliver (a generic, unseen Crimeboss type who turned out to be his son, Tyler), Deadpool (a smart-mouthed mercenary) and Stryfe and his Mutant Liberation Front (essentially a Generic Chatty Dark Lord and a team of "Sketchpad Characters" based off of whatever Liefeld felt like drawing that month). With near-total power, Liefeld was paired with writer Fabian Nicieza, and the two created X-Force, a true X-book for the '90s.

-Cable's squad was now made up of himself, Domino (an old mercenary partner), Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Shatterstar (an interdimensional gladiator from a future Mojoverse), Feral (a Wolfsbane knock-off and Generic Animalistic Claw Character), and Warpath (a redesigned Thunderbird II, now fit in as a Strong Guy akin to '90s laws of making super-teams). Tellingly, much of the team would have costumes & skills written first, with their powers being a mere afterthought- Cable went over a YEAR before revealing his Telekinesis, while Shatterstar's Blast power was weak and rarely-used. Domino, too, had no observable powers until MUCH later. This is all a great indication of Liefeld's tendency to just create a new character with little info or explanation given. Very shortly, Siryn would be added to the squad. Cannonball would be killed, then resurrect, being revealed as an immortal. Liefeld, despite having been given this all-new vanity project, quit Marvel barely a year into the run along with the other Image Guys since they weren't getting enough credit or rights to their own characters, necessitating several changes. Cable's history was altered, and he eventually got the famous Summers Family Backstory- Nicieza had taken full power over the book, being paired with artist Greg Capullo (much more of a yes-man than Liefeld, as they stopped adding new characters with every issue).

-Under Nicieza, things changed rapidly. Domino was revealed to have been a mole, actually a shapeshifter named Copycat in disguise (we'd meet the REAL Domino shortly). Sunspot & Rictor re-joined their old friends after Gideon was revealed to be a madman & manipulator, and Rictor finding an X-Force without Cable (the reason he'd quit in the first place). During The X-Cutioner's Song, Cable was separated from the team, and he "died" before they would meet again, waiting a year or two before returning. Despite the early years of the book being CLASSIC "Nineties EXTREEEEEEEEEEME!!!", the book would settle into more or less what The New Warriors, Nicieza's other Young Hero book, was like. Their costumes were more bright and cheery, personalities shifted a bit, and others got more depth (in particular Siryn, Shatterstar & Warpath).

-Soon, Cable would re-join the team, followed by the real Domino. Tony Daniel would take over on art, drawing some of the most back-bending poses and exaggeratedly-muscular physiques of the 1990s (Warpath ballooned to something like ten feet tall, with arms larger than any of the female characters, while Domino suffered from mid-air scoliosis on a regular basis). The team was now QUITE large, but soon Sunspot & Feral would be lost in battle (Roberto lost via a Teleporting villainess; Feral defected to the M.L.F. and was revealed as a murderer on the run). Around this time I'd stopped reading, but the years wouldn't be that kind- Cable would come & go as his solo book demanded (as a top-tier X-character, he was one of the first to get an ongoing) and Cannonball would join the X-Men, resulting in Dani Moonstar being dusted off (she was under-cover as an M.L.F. member, oddly being semi-responsible for some TERRIBLE crimes in the mean-time, all to capture a team of Jobbers) to be the new leader. Siryn would be de-powered and injured, Rictor would leave, and Jesse Bedlam joined the book as a forgotten cast-member. Essentially, the book had become an afterthought when it was once a top-tier X-Book (it regularly shared #1 Sales numbers at one point), and it was eventually cancelled.

-X-Force has a bit of an odd legacy. It represents the worst of early '90s comic book making, but was actually pretty good once Nicieza was on his own- Greg Capullo & Tony Daniel's work is STILL very dated, but definitely not as much as "cross-hatching over half-assed lines counts as detail, right?" Liefeld. Nicieza had constructed a pretty-interesting cast of young characters, and rarely suffered from the bouts of EXTREEEEEEEEME that would certainly follow the Image Guys to their new titles at a new publisher. It wasn't a GREAT book, as I noticed when I re-read the series a few years back (my roomate at the time did the same, and noted that "it's decent, but it's not really GREAT or anything"), but it was decent enough, and the costumes are at least more interesting than the usual "Leather Jacket over tights" look that became so prevalent at the time.

-A lack of major villains hurts it- most guys were just of the Team O' Jobbers variety, and they were given VERY little credibility- the M.L.F. tended to job in DROVES, and Weapon: P.R.I.M.E. got thirteen whole issues of build-up before they attacked X-Force... only to be handily-defeated in a single issue. Mr. Tolliver was some generic Crimeboss loser, Reignfire was a nobody Villainous Clone, and Gideon was given a major build for years, only to be casually beaten up by X-Force when he kidnapped some members of their team (I mean, X-Force just smashed through his living room with a giant tank and blasted the crap out of him in a few panels- IT WAS THAT EASY). The only BIG villain was Stryfe, and he was killed off for years by issue #20, and never made a comeback as a big character. Without a "grand concept" (they had a big Mutant Runaways concept going, but they were a Typical Mutant Hero Team regardless, only taking a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier once and then fighting super-villains), the book didn't really have a REASON to exist beyond giving the world another X-Book.

-The name X-Force has since been given to a Mike Allred book of weirdo characters (never read it), a sequel Limited Series or two, and a revival as a "Mutant Strike Force" of black-ops guys doing spy/wetworks missions, featuring most of the "Claw" characters (Wolverine, X-23, Wolfsbane) and some more hardcore guys, generally showing a hardening of the X-Men's lives.

Maverick! Those others may have more legitimate claims to the throne, but between the cybernetic leg armor, the crotch harness, the bee-pattern mask that lets his hair flow free, a gun so improbable that two banana clips feed into a single rectangular lazer barrel and ties to Wolverine’s Mysterious Past™, I’m shocked that he didn’t just wink out of existence on January 1, 2000.
MAVERICK (Christoph Nord, aka David North, Agent-X)
Created By:
Jim Lee
First Appearance: The X-Men #5 (Feb. 1992)
Role: Gun Guy, Wolverine Backstory Addition
Country of Origin: Germany
Group Affiliations: Team X, The Cell, The C.I.A., Weapon X
PL 10 (149)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Mercenary) 8 (+11)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 6 (+9)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Close Attack, Contacts, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment 5 (Assorted Hardware), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Rifle), Improved Smash, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Kinetic Energy Absorption"
Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 9) [13]
Enhanced Advantages 1: Withstand Damage [1]
Immunity 5 (Falling Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [2.5]

"Weapon X Enhancements"
Regeneration 4 [4]
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1.5]

Equipment:
"Blaster Rifle- Automatic Setting" Blast 7 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (20) -- (23)
AE: "Blaster Rifle" Blast 6 (12)
AE: "Knife" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)
AE: "Thermite Bombs" Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Diminished Range -1) (17)

"Armour" Protection 2 (2)
Senses 1 (Infravision) (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Knife +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Blaster +12 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Automatic +10 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Relationship (Chris Bradley)- North felt close to the young mutant, and protected him against the Friends of Humanity frequently. Bradley later became the new Maverick and hunted "Agent Zero", believing that the new character had murdered his friend.
Guilt (Killing Past)- North has been forced to kill first his pregnant wife (she was a traitor who tried to kill him) and Bradley, both in self-defense.
Relationship (Wolverine)- The two are old pals from their Government Agent days.
Enemy (Sabretooth)- Victor Creed was Logan & North's immoral, psychotic teammate, and now hates both men.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 12 (149)

-Maverick holds the honor of being one of Jim Lee's final creations for Marvel, created when he finally got ownership of his very own X-Title. Maverick shows up literally out of nowhere to save Wolverine, and they promptly create this MASSIVE backstory featuring he, Logan & Sabretooth on special missions from years and years ago, when they all worked for Weapon-X. This is of course the era where LOTS of guys with guns, armour and mysterious pasts linked to old government programs popped up in comics, because that was all most of these hack writers (most of whom were just artists given full creative control) were capable of creating. Ol' Mavvy helps out on this one mission, and then promptly goes off into his own Limited and Ongoing series, because right around then, the Image Exodus happens, and Marvel gets DESPERATE to latch onto whatever Lee, Liefeld & MacFarlane creations they can get their hands on, and push them to the moon. God comics in the '90s could suck sometimes.
-Ol' Maverick kind of just farts around these days, as his ongoing series (no kidding, they really made one) fell in the forest and no one heard it, and he was one of the biggest "names" afflicted by the Legacy Virus (which is kind of sad- given that this monster plot point only affected about four or five characters worth a damn- Illyana Rasputin, Maverick, Revanche, Pyro, and Moira MacTaggert). He was brought back (de-powered by M-Day, as most minor characters who never did anything were) as "Agent Zero", kicking around the Super-Spy portion of the Marvel Universe as a mysterious guy (some people thought it was Taskmaster).
-As the '90s-era Maverick, he's a fairly impotent PL 10 (actually PL 9 on offense), but his relative immunity to harm (he's virtually as tough as some of the Tanks of comics) makes him a hard guy to actually put down for the count. It doesn't hurt that he's a Skillmonkey Spy Guy build, which boosts his cost by a lot. This doesn't feature all of his "Agent Zero" upgrades (and de-powering), featuring the kind of silly crap that always shows up in Wolverine books, like Vibranium knives, adamantium bullets, etc.
-For "Agent Zero", add in the following, making a PL 10 (207) (!!) build. CRAP that is pricey stuff he's packing- neutralizing Healing Factors, Weakening things with Acid, and straight-up Blasting (Limited to requiring him to get hit first).

"Absorption to Blasts" Blast 8 (Flaws: Limited to Degree of Damage Taken) (8) Linked to "Corrosive Enzyme" Weaken Toughness 4 (Extras: Ranged, Progressive +2) (16) Linked to Affliction 6 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Ranged, Progressive +2) (Flaws: Limited to Healing Factors) (18) -- [42]
"Scentless" Concealment 2 (All Scent-Based Senses) (Extras: Permanent) [6]

"Specialized Agent Zero Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [10]
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 4) (6)
Senses 1 (Infravision) (1)
"Vibranium Weave" Concealment 1 (Hearing) (Extras: Permanent) (3)
"Light Refraction" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Flaws: Blending) (2)
-- (12 points)

WOLFSBANE (Rahne Sinclair)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Woobie, The Good Girl, The Secret Wild Child Yearning To Be Free, The Religious One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, X-Force
PL 10 (152)
STRENGTH
2/6 STAMINA 3/8 AGILITY 4/6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7/+9)
Athletics 2 (+4/+8)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 8 (+9)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+6)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+8/+10)
Treatment/Medicine 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Equipment (X-Uniform), Inspire, Set-Up 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wolf Forms"
"Hybrid Form" (Move Action) [-1]
AE: "Red Wolf Form" Morph 1 (Red Wolf Only) (5) [1]

Enhanced Strength 4 [8]
Enhanced Stamina 5 [10]
Enhanced Agility 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 14: Intimidation 8 (+9), Perception 6 (+12) [7]
Enhanced Advantages 15: All-Out Attack, Damaging Escape, Daze (Intimidate), Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Last Stand, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Prone Fighting [15]
Enhanced Will Defense 4 [4]

"Natural Weapons (Claws & Teeth): Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
"Slightly Enhanced Healing" Regeneration 2 [2]
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 9 (Acute & Extended Scent 2, Infravision, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing, Communication Link- Dani Moonstar) [9]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Wolf Form Unarmed +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Wolf Form Natural Weapons +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +8/+10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform, +8 Wolf Form), Fortitude +6 (+11 Wolf Form), Will +5 (+9 Wolf)

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Father)- Rahne's father was an abusive, intolerant man of the cloth, who hated her mutant form. Rahne eventually ate him while under mental programming.
Relationship (Rictor/Wolf Prince)- Rahne has been very close to Rictor at various times, and the Asgardian Wolf Prince Hrimhari at others.
Motivation (Self-Hatred)- Rahne started out despising her mutant powers thanks to her religious upbringing, and still feels twinges of this.
Obsession (Animal Side)- Rahne feels more free and alive in Wolf Form than in her human form, and this shames her at times.
Relationship (Dani Moonstar)- Rahne & Dani were "Soul-Mates", and though they had disagreements over Rahne's relationship with Elixir, they are as close as two can be without being lovers (or maybe...).

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 66 / Defenses: 12 (152)

-Ah, Wolfsbane. Such a great example of characterization. A devoutly religious young girl, she was brought up by the living embodiment of "Religion Is Evil", with her stepfather (actually her birth father, with a prostitute, because the man just HAD TO be an evil hypocrite as well) beating faith into her from childhood. This made her one of the most fascinating characters of the entire New Mutants run, though, as she was constantly at war with herself. She thought her mutant powers were evil and brought as punishment by Satan... and yet loved to be in Wolf form. She was quiet, shy and mindful of the rules... but got an incredible rush from battle, and acting out in Wolf form. She though fraternizing with boys was pretty racy... but crushed openly on Cannonball, then Hrimhari the Wolf Prince, then Doug Ramsey, then Rictor. This is more conflict in one member of a team book than most SOLO heroes will ever see in their entire runs. The fact that she secretly loved being a wolf so much led her to become extremely guilt-ridden, and her teammates always had to dig her out of that hole.

-To say nothing of her relationship with Danielle Moonstar! The two were basically as close to lovers as you could possibly get without locking lips and nasty-bits together in private- calling each other "Soulmate" and talking about hidden passions and all that (Claremont has denied there was anything naughty between them, however). And this on the RELIGIOUS character! All of this combined to make Rahne possibly the most huggably-sad character in comics history, as she just cried out "Hug me! Pity me! Tell me it'll be okay!", but sadly, such things are not to be.

-Rahne left the New Mutants around the time when Cable showed up (and got replaced by a Suspiciously Similar Substitute in Feral the '90s Gal), joining the Peter David-run X-Factor book, where she obsessed over Alex "Havok" Summers thanks to some Genoshan implants, got stuck in Wolf Forms permanently for a while, and then bounced to Excalibur during a roster shake-up on THAT book. She went into Comics Limbo for eons until the first New Mutants revival (with the Xavier Institute), where she debuted a new wild-child persona, long hair, and lack of a Scottish accent, and started making out with Elixir, one of the young students. To say this did not go over well with New Mutant fans would be an understatement, and after a blow-up/revelation, she was written out of the book and into X-Factor, where she dropped all those silly changes and went back to her old ways. Comics kind of sucks for things like that, but what can you do with so many authors running around?

-Wolfsbane then bounced between X-Factor Investigations and the new X-Force (aka "Team Claws"), where she went a little nuts, but is still the same old character (conflicted but lethal). And she ATE HER FATHER. And now gave birth to the Wolf Prince's baby. Peter David books are weird.

-Rahne stats up very much like the other New Mutants do. I'm actually rather surprised that they stat up as almost perfect PL 10s, with a few extra points on top of things. That sounds about right for guys who moved up the ranks from REALLY REALLY weak PCs (PL 5), upgrading REALLY slowly over decades of comic books to PL 10 balanced characters. Rahne is a Melee Fighter type, using Natural Weapons in addition to slightly-beyond Superhuman strength, with a ton of Combats Feats coming from her Alternate Form. All her Physical Abilities get amped up, as well as Intimidation & Perception (the Wolf is REALLY SCARY), her Will Defense, Healing and Senses, which are even beyond a regular Wolf's. She leans towards the accuracy side of things, and is pretty well-balanced, but a notch weaker defensively (she gets hit and wounded quite a bit, and can't heal like a Wolverine can).

-She can also Morph into a standard Red Wolf as an Alternate Effect to the main Alternate Form, but this is weaker in most ways from the Hybrid by this point. Rahne has gotten a big strength upgrade in recent X-Factor books, so I might slap on another build to this series once her power levels become more normalized, but she likely just moves up a notch in Strength (balancing out with lowered accuracy- I don't see her surpassing PL 10), and boosts her Defenses to PL level.

WOLFSBANE- Red Wolf Form
PL 9 (142)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7/+9)
Athletics 2 (+4/+8)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 8 (+9)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+6)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+8/+10)
Treatment/Medicine 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Inspire, Set-Up 2, Teamwork

Powers:
Enhanced Skills 14: Intimidation 8 (+9), Perception 6 (+12) [7]
Enhanced Advantages 15: All-Out Attack, Damaging Escape, Daze (Intimidate), Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Last Stand, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Prone Fighting [15]
Enhanced Will Defense 4 [4]

"Natural Weapons (Claws & Teeth): Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
"Slightly Enhanced Healing" Regeneration 2 [2]
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 9 (Acute & Extended Scent 2, Infravision, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing, Communication Link- Dani Moonstar) [9]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Natural Weapons +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +9

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Animals cannot speak to humans, or use their paws to easily manipulate objects.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 17 (142)

-This is Wolfsbane's Adult Wolf Form- it's less powerful overall than her current form, but still quite nasty. It's a bit less conspicuous than looking like a giant Wolf-Person, so can come in handy.

WOLFSBANE (Rahne Sinclair)- X-Factor
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Woobie, The Good Girl, The Secret Wild Child Yearning To Be Free, The Religious One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Factor
PL 9 (130)
STRENGTH
2/6 STAMINA 3/8 AGILITY 4/6
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5/+7)
Athletics 2 (+4/+8)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 7 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+3)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+8/+10)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Equipment (X-Uniform), Inspire, Set-Up 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wolf Forms"
"Hybrid Form" (Move Action) [-1]
AE: "Red Wolf Form" Morph 1 (Red Wolf Only) (5) [1]

Enhanced Strength 4 [8]
Enhanced Stamina 5 [10]
Enhanced Agility 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 10: Intimidation 6 (+7), Perception 4 (+9) [5]
Enhanced Advantages 13: All-Out Attack, Damaging Escape, Daze (Intimidate), Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Prone Fighting [13]
Enhanced Will Defense 3 [3]

"Natural Weapons (Claws & Teeth): Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
"Slightly Enhanced Healing" Regeneration 2 [2]
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 9 (Acute & Extended Scent 2, Infravision, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing, Communication Link- Dani Moonstar) [9]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Wolf Form Unarmed +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Wolf Form Natural Weapons +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +8/+10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform, +8 Wolf Form), Fortitude +4 (+9 Wolf Form), Will +5 (+8 Wolf)

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Father)- Rahne's father was an abusive, intolerant man of the cloth, who hated her mutant form.
Relationship (Rictor/Wolf Prince)- Rahne has been very close to Rictor at various times, and the Asgardian Wolf Prince Hrimhari at others.
Motivation (Self-Hatred)- Rahne started out despising her mutant powers thanks to her religious upbringing, and still feels twinges of this.
Obsession (Animal Side)- Rahne feels more free and alive in Wolf Form than in her human form, and this shames her at times.
Relationship (Dani Moonstar)- Rahne & Dani were "Soul-Mates".

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 60 / Defenses: 9 (130)

-Rahne in X-Factor's a good bit weaker, but still a solid PL 9 (130) Melee Fighter. She mainly loses accuracy and mental skills in this version.

WOLFSBANE (Rahne Sinclair)- Mid-New Mutants Run
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Woobie, The Good Girl, The Secret Wild Child Yearning To Be Free, The Religious One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 7 (99)
STRENGTH
0/4 STAMINA 2/5 AGILITY 3/5
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+4/+6)
Athletics 2 (+2/+6)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+2)
Insight 2 (+2)
Perception 4 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+8/+10)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Equipment (X-Uniform), Inspire, Set-Up 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wolf Forms"
"Hybrid Form" (Move Action) [-1]
AE: "Red Wolf Form" Morph 1 (Red Wolf Only) (5) [1]

Enhanced Strength 4 [8]
Enhanced Stamina 3 [6]
Enhanced Agility 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 10: Intimidation 6 (+6), Perception 4 (+8) [5]
Enhanced Advantages 6: All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip [6]
Enhanced Will Defense 3 [3]

"Natural Weapons (Claws & Teeth): Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 9 (Acute & Extended Scent 2, Infravision, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing, Communication Link- Dani Moonstar) [9]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Wolf Form Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Wolf Form Natural Weapons +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +7/+9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform, +5 Wolf Form), Fortitude +3 (+8 Wolf Form), Will +4 (+7 Wolf)

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Father)- Rahne's father was an abusive, intolerant man of the cloth, who hated her mutant form.
Relationship (Sam Guthrie)- Rahne has a crush on young Sam, but he is unaware of her affections, being more interested in either Amara Aquila or Lila Cheney.
Motivation (Self-Hatred)- Rahne started out despising her mutant powers thanks to her religious upbringing, and still feels twinges of this.
Obsession (Animal Side)- Rahne feels more free and alive in Wolf Form than in her human form, and this shames her at times.
Relationship (Dani Moonstar)- Rahne & Dani are "Soul-Mates", and extremely devoted to each other.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 7 (99)

-Rahne in the middle-years of New Mutants matches up to most of the others in terms of Power Level, but is a bit expensive thanks to her glut of Powers.

WOLFSBANE (Rahne Sinclair)- Debut
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
Role: The Woobie, The Good Girl, The Secret Wild Child Yearning To Be Free, The Religious One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 5 (64)
STRENGTH
-1/3 STAMINA 1/4 AGILITY 2/4
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 6 (+6)
Perception 2 (+2)
Persuasion 2 (+1)
Stealth 2 (+4/+6)

Advantages:
Close Attack, Equipment (X-Uniform)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wolf Forms"
"Hybrid Form" (Move Action) [-1]
AE: "Red Wolf Form" Morph 1 (Red Wolf Only) (5) [1]

Enhanced Strength 4 [8]
Enhanced Stamina 3 [6]
Enhanced Agility 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 10: Intimidation 6 (+5), Perception 4 (+6) [5]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Improved Hold, Improved Trip [2]
Enhanced Will Defense 3 [3]

"Natural Weapons (Claws & Teeth): Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 9 (Acute & Extended Scent 2, Infravision, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing, Communication Link- Dani Moonstar) [9]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Wolf Form Unarmed +5 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Wolf Form Natural Weapons +5 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +3/+5 (DC 15), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +1 (+2 Uniform, +4 Wolf Form), Fortitude +1 (+4 Wolf Form), Will +2 (+5 Wolf)

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Father)- Rahne's father was an abusive, intolerant man of the cloth, who hated her mutant form.
Relationship (Sam Guthrie)- Rahne has a crush on young Sam, but he is unaware of her affections, being more interested in either Amara Aquila or Lila Cheney.
Motivation (Self-Hatred)- Rahne started out despising her mutant powers thanks to her religious upbringing, and still feels twinges of this.
Obsession (Animal Side)- Rahne feels more free and alive in Wolf Form than in her human form, and this shames her at times.
Relationship (Dani Moonstar)- Rahne & Dani are "Soul-Mates", and extremely devoted to each other.

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 3 (64)

-Here's Wolfsbane in her debut- about as capable in combat as a real Wolf (by my Elite standards for animals, anyways) in her Hybrid form, but still heavily limited, and with even lower Presence than normal.

DANIELLE MOONSTAR
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #1 (Summer 1984)
Role: The Rebel, The Leader, The Tomboy, The Cranky One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force, The Valkyrior of Asgard, The Mutant Liberation Front, SHIELD
PL 10 (172)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 8 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Cheyenne Heritage) 4 (+7)
Expertise (SHIELD Agent) 3 (+4)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 8 (+11)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Bow & Arrow) 6 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Animal Empathy, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Equipment 2 (Bow & Arrow), Fearless, Improved Aim, Leadership, Minion 6 (Brightwind), Power Attack, Set-Up 2, Teamwork, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Fear & Desire-Based Illusions"
"Inflict With Terror or Joy" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception, Ranged, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to Fear or Happiness) (31) -- [32]
Dynamic AE: Illusion 10 (Visual & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area 2- 30 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Subject's Fears or Desires) (23)

"Soulmates" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Rahne Sinclair) [1]

"Friend to the Animals"
Enhanced Skills 8: Persuasion 8 (+11) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [2]
Communication (Mental) 1 (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]
"See Through Their Eyes" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 3 (250 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]

"Valkyrie- Chooser of the Slain" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to Death) [2]

Equipment:
"Totally Stereotypical Bow & Arrow" Blast 4 (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bow & Arrow +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Fear-Illusions +10 Area (+10 Illusion & Affliction, DC 20s)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +10

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Rebel)- Dani has been a rebel since birth, and loves to openly flout authority. She was one of the few teenagers in the universe to straight-up call Charles Xavier out and insult him while in his charge. She is passionate and will not be contained.
Pride (Heritage)- Danielle is a proud Cheyenne, to the point of wearing buckskins and braids in public long past the point where that would ever be considered normal. Mock her heritage at your own peril.
Relationship (Rahne Sinclair)- Dani is "Soulmates" with Wolfsbane, and the two would do anything for each other.
Relationship (Brightwind)- Dani has a winged horse named Brightwind as her chosen mount, after saving it's life from a cruel trap.
Responsibility (Valkyrie)- As a Valkyrior, Dani is subject to viewing his is going to die, and is given the option of battling Death itself for their life. These battles take place on the mystical plane, and are frequently given different rules.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 17 (172)

BRIGHTWIND
Role:
Mounted Beast
PL 8 (78)- Minion Rank 6
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+5)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+5 Size)
Perception 5 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive (To Women), Diehard, Follow-Up Strike, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Hooves), Improved Initiative, Last Stand, Power Attack

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute Scent, Low-Light Vision, Radius Sight) [3]
"Animal Physiology" Speed 2 (Total 3) [2]
"Natural Weapons- Hooves" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Reach) [2]
"Natural Size" Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]
Protection 2 [2]

"Wings" Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Hooves +8 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +6

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Animals cannot speak to humans, or use their paws to easily manipulate objects.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 13 (78)

-Dani is more proof-positive of the greatness of the New Mutants series. She came right out of the gate hating on everyone around her- insulting her grandfather for allying with "a white" (Professor Xavier), and rubbing many of her classmates the wrong way. In her second appearance, she accidentally pulled Karma's rape out of her head and broadcasted it to all the other kids- a pretty harsh way to show that "Being a young mutant sucks". She was always a rebel- she deliberately altered her New Mutants uniform, then basically dared the Professor to do something about it- she rebelled just for the sake of being a pain in the ass. She was central to the series- being Rahne's "Soulmate", being co-leader and tactical commander, and underwent some of the greatest changes.
-First off was the *shudder* Demon Bear, a malevolent entity that possessed her parents and left her an orphan for years, then crippled her and nearly wiped out the entire New Mutants before Magik's Soulsword took it out. She recovered, then became a VALKYRIE of all things, during an Asgardian adventure when she rescued a winged horse trapped in a bog. Eventually, she gained the Game-Breaking powers of being able to pull ANYTHING into the real world via her "Deepest Desires", resulting in some very clumsy storytelling and bizarre antics (wishing a sweet car into existence, or creating a giant ice machine to salve her burns or some silly thing). Then she decided to stick around Asgard, but returned with the MUTANT LIBERATION FRONT of all people, joining their group of mysterious reasons, only to reveal that she was a SHIELD mole to discover their origins. Yeah, SHIELD armed a terrorist organization with a deadly fighter and had her engage in several illegal acts just to take out a minor-ass mutant team.
-Dani ended up back on X-Force on the era after I stopped reading, and it was short-lived and kinda mediocre. The 90s just weren't her decade AT ALL- she left the New Mutants right before they became relevant again (The Cable-era), missed out on almost the entirety of X-Force's relevance, and was a middling character always in Marvel Limbo since then. By the time she finally got back onto a regular book, it was the New Mutants/New X-Men: Academy X relaunch, which saw her as the teacher to a new group of kids. This had potential, but she made so many obvious mistakes (with Emma Frost always making fun of her) that she came across as rather ineffectual, and then they DE-POWERED HER, as one of the only 'known' characters to lose their powers on M-Day. Now she's FINALLY on a regular book again, and doing some sweet stuff as the human-level person on the re-made New Mutants team, being bitchy, independent and rebellious again, just like the Dani we all know and love.
-Honestly, I just dig the character- she's so scary that I'm not even ATTRACTED to her, yet she's utterly fascinating in how she just takes that "Rebellious Woman" thing Claremont digs so much and just RUNS with it, intimidating everyone and acting basically like an Image-Era Anti-Hero before that was cool. She'll fight like a maniac, terrify someone out of their wits, and then do the "Friend to the Animals/Thoughtful Hero" thing right when you least expect it- she's a wonderful character, and like most of the initial New Mutants team, she has more depth than 95% of super-heroes.
-Dani's a righteous pain to stat, using various combinations of powers and being very good at various things. A "Cheyenne Heritage" Skill should cover her survival & religious knowledge, but even then she uses a lot of Skills & Advantages. She's pretty strong, tough, capable, and a decent fighter, as well as being furiously strong-willed and now basically impossible to scare (she's one of the few to stand right up to Trauma of "The Initiative" and get him to de-power himself because she's just not afraid of the Demon Bear anymore). She has various side-powers unrelated to her Mutant abilities, including Death-sense, Animal-based stuff (Remote Sensing AND Communication), plus the quasi-lesbian thing with Rahne.
-It's her main Fear Powers that require the most work. It's basically an Illusion and an Affliction in a Dynamic Array, both being Limited in a few ways. The Illusions are quite realistic, even when they're unlikely, and have the Affliction necessary to inflict total Terror on people. Basically this is a Mind Control-y type of thing, affecting everyone who can see them (Area-Perception, plus Ranged because the Illusions aren't always touching her, and Selective because her friends aren't always hampered by them). They're at +10, which is enough to temporarily freak out even the strongest of wills if they fail enough of a save. Most master villains, however, are good enough to see through the Illusions after a turn or two. I initially went with a Linked Power in my old build, but there are a couple instances of her using Fear Powers on somone who KNOWS they're just Illusions, and the fear STILL works, so I don't need the whole "Power Loss- if they Don't Believe".
-All of this combines to make Dani a VERY expensive character, moreso than the rest of the team. The combination of Skills, Advantages and a fair amount of Powers really boosts her up several notches, though of course this character is rarely seen at full potential- she spent years without Brightwind, for example, and got De-Powered a few years back as well. With the MLF, she appeared to have different powers, etc.

DANIELLE MOONSTAR- Current De-Powered Version
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #1 (Summer 1984)
Role: The Rebel, The Leader, The Tomboy, The Cranky One, Bad-Ass Normal
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force, The Valkyrior of Asgard, The Mutant Liberation Front, SHIELD
PL 9 (138)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Cheyenne Heritage) 4 (+7)
Expertise (SHIELD Agent) 3 (+4)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 10 (+13)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Bow & Arrow) 6 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Animal Empathy, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Equipment 2 (Bow & Arrow), Fascinate (Intimidation), Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Last Stand, Leadership, Minion 6 (Brightwind), Power Attack, Set-Up 2, Teamwork, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: None"

Equipment:
"Totally Stereotypical Bow & Arrow" Blast 4 (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Bow & Arrow +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +10

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Rebel)- Dani has been a rebel since birth, and loves to openly flout authority. She was one of the few teenagers in the universe to straight-up call Charles Xavier out and insult him while in his charge. She is passionate and will not be contained.
Pride (Heritage)- Danielle is a proud Cheyenne, to the point of wearing buckskins and braids in public long past the point where that would ever be considered normal. Mock her heritage at your own peril.
Relationship (Rahne Sinclair)- Dani is "Soulmates" with Wolfsbane, and the two would do anything for each other.
Relationship (Brightwind)- Dani has a winged horse named Brightwind as her chosen mount, after saving it's life from a cruel trap. Her new steed, given by Hela, is also with her sometimes.
Reputation (De-Powered Mutant)- One of the few well-known mutant characters to lose their powers on "M-Day", Danielle currently possesses none of her Powers. This leaves people like the White Queen & Cannonball to doubt her capabilities in the line of fire.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 17 (138)

This is Danielle once her powers were lost during M-Day. She's a good, tough fighter, but still only PL 7 on offense, PL 8.5 on defense, so she's definitely no hardcore warrior or anything. Enough to be a Bad-Ass Normal on her team, and she's a good assister/Intimidate-based character, but in an outright firefight, she's pretty limited.

DANIELLE MOONSTAR- Mutant Liberation Front Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #1 (Summer 1984)
Role: The Mole
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force, The Valkyrior of Asgard, The Mutant Liberation Front, SHIELD
PL 10 (162)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 8 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Cheyenne Heritage) 4 (+7)
Expertise (SHIELD Agent) 3 (+4)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 8 (+11)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Bow & Arrow) 6 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Animal Empathy, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Equipment 2 (Bow & Arrow), Fearless, Improved Aim, Leadership, Minion 6 (Darkwind- Same as Brightwind), Power Attack, Set-Up 2, Teamwork, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Fear & Desire-Based Illusions"
"Mind-Arrows"
Blast 10 (Extras: Alternate Save- Will) (Flaws: Limited- Requires Bow) (20) -- [21]
"Mental Stun" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative, Ranged) (Flaws: Limited- Requires Bow) (20)

"Soulmates" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Rahne Sinclair) [1]

"Friend to the Animals"
Enhanced Skills 8: Persuasion 8 (+11) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [2]
Communication (Mental) 1 (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]
"See Through Their Eyes" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 3 (250 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]

"Valkyrie- Chooser of the Slain" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to Death) [2]

Equipment:
"Totally Stereotypical Bow & Arrow" Blast 4 (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bow & Arrow +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Fear-Illusions +10 Area (+10 Illusion & Affliction, DC 20s)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +10

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Rebel)- Dani has been a rebel since birth, and loves to openly flout authority. She was one of the few teenagers in the universe to straight-up call Charles Xavier out and insult him while in his charge. She is passionate and will not be contained.
Pride (Heritage)- Danielle is a proud Cheyenne, to the point of wearing buckskins and braids in public long past the point where that would ever be considered normal. Mock her heritage at your own peril.
Relationship (Rahne Sinclair)- Dani is "Soulmates" with Wolfsbane, and the two would do anything for each other.
Relationship (Brightwind)- Dani has a winged horse named Brightwind as her chosen mount, after saving it's life from a cruel trap.
Responsibility (Valkyrie)- As a Valkyrior, Dani is subject to viewing his is going to die, and is given the option of battling Death itself for their life. These battles take place on the mystical plane, and are frequently given different rules.
Secret (Undercover)- Danielle is a SHIELD Agent gone deep undercover with the Mutant Liberation Front, committing evil acts to see what leader Reignfire is up to.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 17 (162)

-This era of Dani's history always struck me as poor storytelling- I get the "Power Upgrade" thing (even though it got dropped like a hot potato VERY quickly), but to go under-cover in a minor-league Supervillain organization while fighting all your friends, while wearing the world's sluttiest super-hero outfit? Truly bizarre stuff, and it gets casually ignored these days.

DANIELLE MOONSTAR- Late New Mutants Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #1 (Summer 1984)
Role: The Rebel, The Leader, The Tomboy, The Cranky One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The Valkyrior of Asgard
PL 8 (137)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 6 (+6)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Cheyenne Heritage) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Bow & Arrow) 4 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Fearless, Leadership, Minion 6 (Brightwind), Power Attack, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Fear & Desire-Based Illusions"
"Solid Illusions" Variable 5 (Flaws: Limited to Objects of Her Desire) [30]

"Soulmates" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Rahne Sinclair) [1]

"Friend to the Animals"
Enhanced Skills 8: Persuasion 8 (+11) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [2]
Communication (Mental) 1 (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]
"See Through Their Eyes" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 3 (250 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]

"Valkyrie- Chooser of the Slain" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to Death) [2]

"Soulmates" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Rahne Sinclair) [1]

"Friend to the Animals"
Enhanced Skills 8: Persuasion 8 (+10) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [2]
Communication (Mental) 1 (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]
"See Through Their Eyes" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 3 (250 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]

"Valkyrie- Chooser of the Slain" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to Death) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Variable Power (Up To +8 Effects, DC 18-23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Rebel)- Dani has been a rebel since birth, and loves to openly flout authority. She was one of the few teenagers in the universe to straight-up call Charles Xavier out and insult him while in his charge. She is passionate and will not be contained.
Pride (Heritage)- Danielle is a proud Cheyenne, to the point of wearing buckskins and braids in public long past the point where that would ever be considered normal. Mock her heritage at your own peril.
Relationship (Rahne Sinclair)- Dani is "Soulmates" with Wolfsbane, and the two would do anything for each other.
Relationship (Brightwind)- Dani has a winged horse named Brightwind as her chosen mount, after saving it's life from a cruel trap.
Responsibility (Valkyrie)- As a Valkyrior, Dani is subject to viewing his is going to die, and is given the option of battling Death itself for their life. These battles take place on the mystical plane, and are frequently given different rules.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 52 / Defenses: 13 (137)

-Here's another bizarre section of Dani's history- she was now able to pull her Illusions into the REAL WORLD, essentially becoming "Dani has any power, ever, at her command". This got dropped for obvious reasons fairly quickly, and came as a result of the High Evolutionary's genetic tinkering, so I guess you could say it just "wore off" (it was never actually explained in-book where they went, however). This replaces her base Powers with "Variable", sorta limited to held objects and the like. So she can summon things like Monsters, Cars, Spears (her most common variant, she 'defaulted' to a small Spear-Necklace because she had to have one 'illusion' going at all times), etc.

DANIELLE MOONSTAR- Middle New Mutants Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #1 (Summer 1984)
Role: The Rebel, The Leader, The Tomboy, The Cranky One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The Valkyrior of Asgard
PL 8 (133)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+4)
Athletics 6 (+6)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Cheyenne Heritage) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Bow & Arrow) 4 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Fearless, Leadership, Minion 6 (Brightwind), Power Attack, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Fear & Desire-Based Illusions"
"Inflict With Terror or Joy" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception, Ranged, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to Subject's Fears or Desires) (24) -- [26]
Dynamic AE: Illusion 8 (Visual & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area 2- 30 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Subject's Fears or Desires) (19)

"Soulmates" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Rahne Sinclair) [1]

"Friend to the Animals"
Enhanced Skills 8: Persuasion 8 (+10) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [2]
Communication (Mental) 1 (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]
"See Through Their Eyes" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 3 (250 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]

"Valkyrie- Chooser of the Slain" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to Death) [2]

"Soulmates" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Rahne Sinclair) [1]

"Friend to the Animals"
Enhanced Skills 8: Persuasion 8 (+11) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [2]
Communication (Mental) 1 (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]
"See Through Their Eyes" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 3 (250 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]

"Valkyrie- Chooser of the Slain" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to Death) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Fear-Illusions +8 Area (+8 Illusion & Affliction, DC 18s)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Rebel)- Dani has been a rebel since birth, and loves to openly flout authority. She was one of the few teenagers in the universe to straight-up call Charles Xavier out and insult him while in his charge. She is passionate and will not be contained.
Pride (Heritage)- Danielle is a proud Cheyenne, to the point of wearing buckskins and braids in public long past the point where that would ever be considered normal. Mock her heritage at your own peril.
Relationship (Rahne Sinclair)- Dani is "Soulmates" with Wolfsbane, and the two would do anything for each other.
Relationship (Brightwind)- Dani has a winged horse named Brightwind as her chosen mount, after saving it's life from a cruel trap.
Responsibility (Valkyrie)- As a Valkyrior, Dani is subject to viewing his is going to die, and is given the option of battling Death itself for their life. These battles take place on the mystical plane, and are frequently given different rules.
Enemy (The Demon Bear)- Dani lives in fear of the mighty Demon Bear, an evil entity possessing her parents, and which constantly hunts her. Her friends defeated it, but it could one day return.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 13 (133)

-Middle-era Dani is basically like her older version, just lessened in nearly every single way. She's one of the more PL-heavy New Mutants for her whole run, since she uses a mental effect that still hampers powerful villains from an early point, but she's a lot less versatile this way.

DANIELLE MOONSTAR- Debut
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #1 (Summer 1984)
Role: The Rebel, The Leader, The Tomboy, The Cranky One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 8 (101)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+3)
Athletics 6 (+6)
Deception 3 (+3)
Expertise (Cheyenne Heritage) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Perception 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Bow & Arrow) 3 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy, Defensive Roll, Diehard, Leadership

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Fear & Desire-Based Illusions"
"Inflict With Terror or Joy" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception, Ranged, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to Subject's Fears or Desires) (24) -- [26]
Dynamic AE: Illusion 8 (Visual & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area 2- 30 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Subject's Fears or Desires) (19)

"Soulmates" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Rahne Sinclair) [1]

"Friend to the Animals"
Enhanced Skills 8: Persuasion 8 (+10) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [2]
Communication (Mental) 1 (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]
"See Through Their Eyes" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 3 (250 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]

"Valkyrie- Chooser of the Slain" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to Death) [2]

"Soulmates" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Rahne Sinclair) [1]

"Friend to the Animals"
Enhanced Skills 8: Persuasion 8 (+8) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [2]
Communication (Mental) 1 (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]
"See Through Their Eyes" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 3 (250 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Animals) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Fear-Illusions +8 Area (+8 Illusion & Affliction, DC 18s)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Rebel)- Dani has been a rebel since birth, and loves to openly flout authority. She was one of the few teenagers in the universe to straight-up call Charles Xavier out and insult him while in his charge. She is passionate and will not be contained.
Pride (Heritage)- Danielle is a proud Cheyenne, to the point of wearing buckskins and braids in public long past the point where that would ever be considered normal. Mock her heritage at your own peril.
Relationship (Rahne Sinclair)- Dani is "Soulmates" with Wolfsbane, and the two would do anything for each other.
Responsibility (Valkyrie)- As a Valkyrior, Dani is subject to viewing his is going to die, and is given the option of battling Death itself for their life. These battles take place on the mystical plane, and are frequently given different rules.
Enemy (The Demon Bear)- Dani lives in fear of the mighty Demon Bear, an evil entity possessing her parents, and which constantly hunts her.
Responsibility (Powers Out of Control)- Dani's powers often react and go into effect without her intentions, resulting in some awkward and horrifying circumstances with her friends and allies.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 12 (101)

-Dani in her debut is pretty similar to her later versions, minus her Winged Horse and a few other abilities, but maintaining the same level of Fear Illusions.

CERISE
Created By:
Alan Davis
First Appearance: Excalibur #46 (Jan. 1992)
Role: Miss Fanservice, Fish Out of Water Alien, Green Lantern Rip-Off
Country of Origin: Shaskofrugnon World (settles in England)
Group Affiliations: Excalibur, The Graces (Gamora's Squad)
PL 9 (146)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 5 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Light Attacks) 2 (+9)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Attack, Equipment 4 (Hyperspace Transit Suit, Sensory Gloves), Improved Critical (Blast), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Red-Light Constructs"
Create Object 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Moveable) (27) -- [36]
Dynamic AE: "Red Blast" Blast 9 (19)
Dynamic AE: Force Field 5 (Feats: Increased Mass 4) (Extras: Affects Others 7) (Reduced Dodge & Parry -3) (11)
Dynamic AP: Move Object 8 (17)
Dynamic AE: "Constructed Weapon" Strength-Damage +2 (3)
AE: "Dazzle Visuals" Affliction 9 (Fort; Sight Impaired/Disabled/Unaware) (Extras: Cumulative, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Vision) (18)

Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Equipment:
"Transit Suit" Immunity 10 (Life Support) (10)
"Sensory Gloves" Senses 9 (Detect Temporal Anomalies, Energy & Life Forms- Ranged & Acute) (9)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Construct Weapon +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Red Blast +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Dazzle +9 Area (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5 (+10 Force Field), Fortitude +9, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Fish out of Water)- Cerise is hardly unintelligent, but her alien upbringing leaves her a little mystified to the specifics of human culture. She did not know how babies were created, for instance, having "emerged from the source".
Relationship (Nightcrawler)

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 16 (146)

-Cerise joins Kylun in the "huh, forgot about these guys" range of Excalibur characters, since both were recruits back when Alan Davis took sole duties of the book's creative process, and were basically gone after a few arcs when he left, meaning their total runs lasted maybe a couple of years at-best. Cerise was actually pretty unique for Marvel, being a Green Lantern-power character with Create Objects and a few side-things based off of that, which is pretty cool, especially since they were a funny pink colour and she was a hot alien chick in pink armour. She actually reappeared in Annihilation: Conquest], as a person standing around the background with Gamora's Women Warriors, but she didn't actually SAY anything, which tells you how big SHE is nowadays.
-Cerise is basically like a Baby GL build with some combat readiness and overall good physical conditioning (since all aliens are apparently tougher than humans, everywhere in the universe). Not much more to her than that. She's a half-decent supporting character who's very handy in a team environment (Force Field + Affects Others), and a half-decent Blaster, too. I tossed all her Hyperspace crap & sensory powers into Equipment, since I think that stuff's kinda generic and it's unfair to charge beaucoup points because someone can detect energy.

KYLUN (Colin McKay)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Alan Davis
First Appearance: Excalibur #2 (child), #43 (Oct. 1992- adult)
Role: Sucky Power Guy, Swordfighter
Country of Origin: Scotland (adopted home- Ee'rath)
Group Affiliations: Excalibur, The Netherworlders
PL 9 (122), PL 10 (122) vs. Magic
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Swords) 1 (+12)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 5 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Defensive Attack, Follow-Up Strike, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Swords) 2, Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Duplicated Any Sound Heard, Leonine Form"

"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
Features 1: Mimicry- +10 to Deception/Perform to Convince Audience Sounds are Real [1]

"The Blades of Zz'ryia" (Flaws: Easily Removable -2) [20]
Nullify 10 (Magical Effects) (Extras: Simultaneous- All Magical Effects, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (30) -- (32 points)
AE: "Blade" Strength-Damage +3/+5 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 12) (Flaws: Damage 3 & Pen. 8 only against non-Magical) (13)
AE: Deflect 12 (Extras: Reflection +2) (Flaws: Limited to Magical Attacks) (24)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Swords +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Swords vs. Magic +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

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

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- With light brown fur all over his body, and cat-like eyes, Colin cannot pass for human.
Relationship (Sat'neen)- Kylun was engaged to his dimension's version of Saturnyne, but she died fighting Necrom.
Enemy (Necrom)- See above. Necrom was THE Big Bad of Kylun's world.
Power Loss (Swords)- Kylun's Swords will do no damage to those pure of heart or non-evil- the Swords will merely pass right through the target.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 15 (122)

-Kylun came fairly late into Claremont's run on Excalibur, and was gone before too long, making him one of those forgotten characters that is likely to get left off of nearly any list you can think of. He's a leonine-looking guy with Anti-Magic Swords, with one of those token "this is a silly add-on" powers. "Echoing any sound he's heard" is kind of neat in that "not every mutant power is gonna be cool, you know" way, but really makes him seem like a gag character. Like Cerise, he hasn't made a speaking appearance in about twenty years.
-Kylun, like most substandard X-Characters, can get PL 9 and like it, with the bonus that he does extra damage to magic characters, which isn't a bad trade. He's a good Weapon Master type of build with some side effects, and the Features power (I was gonna go with a Limited Illusion, but Ultimate Power literally describes his exact power under "Features"). Since I've never seen an appearance by him, I had to go by Tattooed Man's build and my Marvel Cards/Wikipedia. Oddly, the Cards give his Strength as "3", which is between 800 lbs and 3 tons, but I see no other evidence of him having Super-Strength. He's good with the Blades (+12 Accuracy to +6 Damage), can modify most of his caps, and he can kick some ass, despite being low-powered for his team.

MELTDOWN (Tabitha Smith)
Created By:
Jim Shooter & Al Migrom
First Appearance: Secret Wars #5 (Nov. 1985)
Role: The Ditz, The Brat, The Rebel
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The X-Terminators, X-Force, Nextwave, The Fallen Angels, Cable's Underground
PL 9 (110)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+9)
Athletics 3 (+3)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Street Kid) 8 (+8)
Perception 2 (+2)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Sleath of Hand 5 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Time-Bombs) 5 (+10)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Equipment (X-Uniform), Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Time Bombs"
Blast 8 (Feats: Triggered- Time) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (25) -- [28]
AE: "Simple Bomb" Blast 8 (Feats: Triggered- Time, Precise, Subtle- Muffled Sound) (19)
AE: "Focused Bomb" Blast 8 (Extras: Penetrating) (24)
AE: "Multiple Bombs" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Standard Time Bomb +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Focused Bomb +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Multiple Bombs +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 Costume, +4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Father)- Tabitha's father was an ugly, abusive, trailer-trash drunk who beat her and threw her out upon discovering her mutant powers.
Reputation (Mall Brat)- Tabitha grew into a rather silly adult, moving between "Serious Superhero" and "Vapid Thrill-Seeker" more than once.
Power Loss (Wrist-Blasters)- Tabitha's wrist-blasters are specially designed with her powers in mind, and she may lose the option of Multiattacking without them.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 28 / Defenses: 18 (110)

-Boom-Boom started off as a pretty off-kilter idea: A trailer-trash princess thrown onto the street by her abusive father, she hooked up with The Beyonder and was the "human focus" character in the second Secret Wars run. Problem was, that run was crap and fans hated it. But it put Boom-Boom into the spotlight, and she acted out in the pages of X-Factor, unfortunately becoming EXACTLY the kind of "Mall-Going Idiot" that young fans had lauded The New Mutants for NOT being. Being ever so eighties, with her big spikey hair, giant glasses and trailer-trash outfits, she stuck out, but was kind of weird. Oddly, Jim Lee decided to redesign Jim Lee with a variant of Tabitha's design, making her look like a copycat... but of course Jubes went on to be a lot more famous.
-Fast-forward to the end run of New Mutants, where she's first crushing on Rictor, then Cannonball. Oddly, she was picked in the final days of the book to be on Rob Liefeld's X-Force team (likely because she had the foresight to use explosions as part of her power-set), where she & Sam became the "Official Team Couple" of the book. Now, I REALLY hated her during this time. Reading the book as a young fan just getting into comics, she was under-powered, silly, vapid, and served no roll on a team where eventually SIX PEOPLE had long-range attack power (Rictor, Sunspot, Cable, Domino, Siryn & Boomer). She wasn't even any good in fights- she couldn't pull off the Hawkeye/Atom "Weakest Guy Wins The Fight" tricks AT ALL, and would go down to a single hit. Frickin' SKIDS put her on the disabled list with one kick! When the BARRIER WARRIOR kicks your ass, you know you suck.
-Once Tabitha cheated on Sam (then an X-Man) with his best friend Sunspot, they split up, and after that she pretty well vanished in terms of being important. She got a bit of an upgrade during her "Meltdown" phase, using her powers in new ways (actual streaming Blasts, threatening to drop Time Bombs into The Blob's body to kill him), but that was during X-Force's nadir as a team book, so it got forgotten, and resident super-hero-hater Warren Ellis got to use her in Nextwave, de-railing her character into an even BIGGER Valley Girl stereotype, actually having her speak out Emoticons and LOLspeak ("Oh Noes!"). Well, at least they didn't ruin a really GOOD character... her best use, oddly, was in X-Men: Evolution, as the hedonistic, thrill-seeking Party Girl of the "Bad Kids" team of the Brotherhood.
-Meltdown's pretty simple in her PL 9 format, but really weak for her PL (only one attack makes full points, otherwise she's a PL 8 Blaster). A few unique tricks are around, allowing for Precise Blasts, Subtlety, and her "3... 2... 1" Trigger. She can either do regular Blasts, Multiattacks, Explosions, or a Penetrating Blast for bigger targets. She's frighteningly vulnerable (though pretty good at avoiding attacks, and is rather Skilled for a chick who's often written as really dumb- she survived on her own for a good long while on the streets), though, and is really the weak link on any major team she joins.

BOOM-BOOM (Tabitha Smith)- New Mutants Era
Created By:
Jim Shooter & Al Migrom
First Appearance: Secret Wars #5 (Nov. 1985)
Role: The Ditz, The Brat, The Rebel
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The X-Terminators, The Fallen Angels
PL 7 (89)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 3 (+3)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Street Kid) 8 (+8)
Perception 2 (+2)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Sleath of Hand 5 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Time-Bombs) 3 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Equipment (X-Uniform), Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Time Bombs"
Blast 6 (Feats: Triggered- Time) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (19) -- [20]
AE: "Simple Bomb" Blast 6 (Feats: Triggered- Time, Precise, Subtle- Muffled Sound) (19)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Standard Time Bomb +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Exploding Bomb +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 10), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 Costume, +4 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Father)- Tabitha's father was an ugly, abusive, trailer-trash drunk who beat her and threw her out upon discovering her mutant powers.
Reputation (Mall Brat)- Tabitha is rather vapid and simple-minded about things.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 16 (89)

-A weaker PL 7 Tabitha is lower-level across the board, but is pretty much the same. Loses a few good AEs in the process, though.

STORM (Ororo Munroe)
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: Ethnic Stereotype (especially at first), Innocent Fanservice Girl, The Butch Lesbian ('80s), Team Powerhouse, The Leader
Country of Origin: Kenya/Egypt
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Morlocks
PL 11 (224)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Expertise (African Goddess) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Thief) 4 (+7)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+8)
Investigation 1 (+5)
Perception 5 (+9)
Ranged Combat (Lightning) 3 (+11)
Sleight of Hand 10 (+15)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 2 (Queen of Wakanda), Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment (X-Uniform), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Intimidation), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Lightning), Improved Smash, Inspire, Languages (English, Various African), Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Skill Mastery (Sleight of Hand), Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Weather Control"
"Wind-Rider" Flight 7 (250 mph) [14]

"Weather Witch"
Senses 3 (Detect Weather- Ranged & Acute) [3]
Senses 4 (Precognition 4) (Flaws: Limited to the Weather -2) [1]
Immunity 10 (Weather Effects) [10]

"Weather Effects" Environment 8 (1/2 mile) (Cold, Impede Movement 2, Light, Visibility) (40) -- [58]
Dynamic AE: "Lightning Blast" Blast 11 (Feats: Indirect 1- From Above) (26)
Dynamic AE: "Lightning Bolt" Damage 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (34)
Dynamic AE: "Tornado #1" Blast 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: 30ft. Burst) (34)
Dynamic AE: "Tornado #2" Blast 11 (Extras: 30ft. Cylinder) (34)
Dynamic AE: "Wind Storm" Affliction 11 (Strength or Athletics; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (12)
Dynamic AE: "Wind Burst" Affliction 11 (Strength or Athletics; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (12)
Dynamic AE: "Wind Creation" Move Object 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (28)
Dynamic AE: "Wind" Features 2 (-2 Thrown Weapons, snuffing flames, etc.) (3)
Dynamic AE: "Blinding Fog" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Extras: Attack, Area- 240ft. Burst +4, Selective) (17)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (Communications, Protection 1)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Tornado Effects +11 Area (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Wind Effects +11 Area (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Lightning +11 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+5 Uniform), Fortitude +7, Will +12

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Forge, Others)- Storm had a VERY long off-and-on thing with the Inventor mutant, with them falling for each other, then him accidentally removing her powers. She hated him, then they kind of got into it again. Stuff got complicated, and they ended it. She's had a few boy-toys since then, but none bigger than...
Relationship (T'Challa)- Well they were the top two black characters in comics, so they kinda had to hook up, I guess. They were married for a bit, until people realized how uninteresting they were as a pair.
Responsibility (The Queen of Wakanda)- Ororo had the political responsibilities of royalty, for a while.
Responsibility (The X-Men)- As a major Team Leader, Storm has a lot of people to take care of.
Responsibility (The Morlocks)- For a long time, Storm was the overall leader of the Morlocks as well.
Rivalry (Callisto)- The ex-Morlock leader had a pretty big issue with the above Complication- she frequently taunted Storm, but also respected her as a warrior and demanded she take her role seriously.
Phobia (Enclosed Spaces)- Storm is claustrophobic, the result of a childhood trauma involving a building collapsing on her and her parents (leaving her orphaned), and will become crazed and desperate if she's enclosed in a small space- even places such as sewers make her uncomfortable.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 86 / Defenses: 18 (224)

-Storm has come a long way. As the most overall powerful of the early Giant-Size crew (though Banshee was at first), she was depicted as somewhat of an Innocent Fanservice girl, calling bathing suits "absurd strips of cloth" and going nude half the time, but eventually the creative team got a hold of themselves and turned her into a passionate, fiery, worthy leader of the team, eventually taking that role from Cyclops every time he went away (which was often, especially by the mid-'80s). They did go a bit nuts in that era with the whole "Mohawked Lesbian Biker" thing (which the designer, Paul Smith, admitted was a joke gone way too far- Claremont earned his rep for Homoerotic storytelling through stories like the one where Storm went Leather Goddess after watching Wolverine's short-haired spitfire pal Yukio dress in leather and enjoy herself- it REALLY came across like the middle act of a Lesbian Film) which was supposed to be empowering and tough-ass back in the day, but now just looks hilariously embarassing (Nuklon of Infinity Inc. gets the same thing, even now that he's Atom Smasher). Though oddly, now that they've brought it back and made it a bit longer in the back, it actually looks pretty elegant and hot now. Fashions change, fashions change...
-That kind of thing happens when the writer working on all your stuff (Chris Claremont in this case) has a MASSIVE fetish for super-powerful, leather-clad women with attitude problems and a general disdain for authority. He's likely not alone in that fetish, but man did Storm EVER get a push during his run. The era where she was depowered was actually ridiculously long (lasting approximately THREE Essential Collections- something like 60 issues or four to five years of storytelling!), but cemented her as a strong Marvel character & leader- and one of the few instances where a creator made his Pet Character LESS powerful. All of that adds up to one of the greatest heroines of all time, and one of the best black characters (if not THE best) in all of comics- further proof that Marvel has it all OVER DC in terms of awesome super-heroines (they just lack the TOP dog- ie. Wonder Woman). DC has Canary, Barbara Gordon, Huntress, Supergirl, etc., but Marvel's X-Women ALONE can nearly match them in terms of quality characters.
-This is all the funnier considering that her designer, Dave Cockrum, intended to use her as a feline-esque Legion of Super-Heroes character until DC rejected him :). Between her and Nightcrawler, DC essentially just HANDED Marvel the instruments of their ultimate fame and success, which I should hope sticks to them a bit now. Sure, there were no hints that they could've ever hit it big back then (and the X-Men didn't REALLY take off till the Dark Phoenix Saga sales-wise, which is post-Cockrum anyways), but WOW.
-Storm's kinda... bounced around alot since a certain point in time. When she got turned into a kid and then aged back up, she got her powers back and went long-haired, with Jim Lee giving her a SWANK new all-black outfit (I still miss the '70s-esque Cockrum outfit with the trademark hip boots, but then, hip boots ALWAYS WORK) and long hair again, and she was the X-Men's Gold Strike Force leader. Alas, without Claremont around, Storm's passion and bad-ass energy faded away (much like Rogue's did), and she became the "Cyclops" of her team- losing all personality and just kind of being all stoic and occasionally hammy (the X-Men cartoon used the WORST VOICE ACTING EVER in this regard), which really did a number on her character. Hell, but the time she hooked up with T'Challa for their We're Both Important Black People, Thus Our Wedding Is Pre-Ordained ceremony, she was as boring as it got, and that's part of why that relationship failed to gain traction with anybody. I mean, they were well-suited in their stoicness, but WOW does that fail to make for interesting stories. It was of course designed to get interest from black and female fans (because nothing attracts girls like the idea of a powerful, independent heroine settling down into a subserviant position with a ruling male).
-Storm's a big-time expensive character, as I expected- she's an X-Man after all (they all have a great deal of power, yet are ALSO very skilled and good at fighting, as they've all had years and years of writers carefully powering them up with every passing issue). PL 11 best suits her, as she's arguably the most powerful X-Man of all, but has many exploitable weaknesses, the biggest of which being her low Toughness (she's PL 7 defensively). It's part of what I like about Marvel comics- the X-Men can be VERY powerful, but even someone as mighty as Storm has been taken out by a frickin' BYSTANDER throwing a brick at her head. A Glass Cannon to the extreme. Her powers are quite vast- three Area Damage effects, a standard Blast (Indirect- ie. from above), two Wind Storms, Fog, Wind (Features 2), Move Object, Weather Immunity & Detection, and Flight. Her ideal form in combat is to distract all the enemies with her Environment, hamper movements, Blasts and Area Effects while giving commands, allowing the rest of the team to mop up.

STORM (Ororo Munroe)- De-Powered Version
Created By:
Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Role: Ethnic Stereotype (especially at first), Innocent Fanservice Girl, The Butch Lesbian ('80s), Team Powerhouse, The Leader, Bad-Ass Normal
Country of Origin: Kenya/Egypt
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Morlocks
PL 9 (143)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 7 (+9)
Expertise (African Goddess) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Thief) 4 (+7)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+9)
Investigation 1 (+5)
Perception 6 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 10 (+15)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Daze (Persuasion), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment (X-Uniform), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Persuasion), Fast Grab, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Trip, Inspire, Languages (English, Various African), Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Skill Mastery (Sleight of Hand), Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: None (Thanks to Forge)"
"Elite Fighter" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (Communications, Protection 1)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4 (+5 Uniform), Fortitude +7, Will +11

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Forge, Others)- Storm had a VERY long off-and-on thing with the Inventor mutant, with them falling for each other, then him accidentally removing her powers. She hated him, then they kind of got into it again. Stuff got complicated, and they ended it. She's had a few boy-toys since then, but none bigger than...
Relationship (T'Challa)- Well they were the top two black characters in comics, so they kinda had to hook up, I guess.
Responsibility (The Queen of Wakanda)- Ororo now has the political responsibilities of royalty.
Responsibility (The X-Men)- As a major Team Leader, Storm has a lot of people to take care of.
Responsibility (The Morlocks)- For a long time, Storm was the overall leader of the Morlocks as well.
Rivalry (Callisto)- The ex-Morlock leader had a pretty big issue with the above Complication- she frequently taunted Storm, but also respected her as a warrior and demanded she take her role seriously.
Phobia (Enclosed Spaces)- Storm is claustrophobic, and will become crazed and desperate if she's enclosed in a small space- even places such as sewers make her uncomfortable.

Total: Abilities: 78 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 19 (143)

-De-Powered Storm is a whole different animal. She's left without her mutant powers, but makes do with her fists and her skills, gaining in almost every other category as a result. This Storm is stronger, tougher & faster than she ever was, has more Combat Advantages, and specializes in her Skills even more. It might seem odd that "modern" Storm loses alot of these gifts once her powers return, but really, when being a fighter is ALL YOU HAVE, you're going to focus much more on it. With her powers back, she'll have less time for them, and can focus back on her Weather Control. This storm is PL 7.5 offensively, PL 9 defensively.

LADY MASTERMIND (Regan Wyngarde)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Salvador Larocca
First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #6 (Dec. 2001)
Group Affiliations: The X-Treme X-Men, The Marauders, The Brotherhood of Mutants
Role: Legacy Character, Illusionist, The Judas
PL 10 (188)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Deception 8 (+11, +13 Attractive)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+8)
Insight 6 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Equipment 3 (2 Handguns), Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Damaging Psionic Illusions"
Illusion (Visual) 10 (Extras: Area +4, Independent, Selective) Linked to Blast 4 (Extras: Perception Range) (92) -- [94]
AE: "Illusion of Drowning" Illusion (Visual) 10 (Extras: Area +4, Independent, Selective) Linked to Suffocate 4 (92)
AE: "Psychic Maze" Affliction 10 (Will; Entranced/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Progressive +2) (50)

Mind-Reading 3 [6]

Equipment:
"Paired Pistols" Blast 5 (Feats: Split) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Illusions -- (+10 Illusion & +4 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 20 & 19)
Drowning -- (+10 Illusion & +4 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 20 & 14)
Mind-Reading -- (+3 Mind-Reading, DC 13)
Pistols +8 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Extreme Personality)- Regan is a possibly-psychopathic, hedonistic, selfish killer who will do anything to get what she wants.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 100 / Defenses: 13 (188)

-Here's one I didn't even know existed until I checked Wikipedia's complete roster of the X-Men. Lady Mastermind is yet another daughter of Jason Wyngarde, the first one (responsible for the famous Dark Phoenix Saga). Claremont created this one, apparently forgetting about the short-lived mid-'90s OTHER daughter who never did anything, and she teamed up with the X-Treme X-Men a few times, before betraying them a short time later to The Marauders. Now on that team, she's yet another sexy evil lady the X-Men have to fight.
-Lady Mastermind may just be the most dangerous Illusionist in the Marvel Universe, even worse than Danielle Moonstar. Not just doing all-around illusions, she's can actually fool people into thinking they've been stabbed, and REALLY MAKING THEM BLEED when that happens. Similarly, "drowning" illusions make people suffocate, etc. Linked Damage & Affliction work for both of these (the rulebook even says so), though neither are at high enough levels to truly rely on affecting superheroes with them- her main deal is still basic Illusion-crafting. She also has limited Mind-Reading to figure out what her victims are most afraid of, and she can trap people in a Progressive Psychic Maze that renders them comatose. Despite this awesome, Perception-Range Array of powers, she's a Glass Cannon, incapable of facing down the slightest threat if someone manages to overcome her illusions and just starts whaling away on her.

MASTERMIND (Jason Wyngarde)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #4 (March 1964)
Role: Mind Controller, Returned '60s Villain
Group Affiliations: The Hellfire Club, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Factor Three, The Secret Empire
PL 11 (203)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Close Combat (Sword) 2 (+8)
Deception 12 (+15)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Stealth 5 (+7)
Technology 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Daze (Deception), Fascinate (Deception), Ranged Attack 3, Ultimate Deception Skill

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Psionic Illusions"
Illusion (All Senses) 11 (Extras: Area +4, Independent, Selective) [121]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Illusion +11 (DC 21)
Initiative +3 (+6 Boost)

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Wyngarde's not entirely greedy- he just wants power in all it's forms. He wanted membership into the Hellfire Club, and wanted Jean to give him unlimited power.
Power Loss (Cosmic Beings)- While Psionic characters can just as easily be taken in by his illusions, beings like The Stranger and The Phoenix are immune. He needed a power-booster to afflict Jean Grey, and even that fell apart after a point.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 121 / Defenses: 10 (203)

-Mastermind was one of many villains in the '60s that never really went anywhere, despite having a pretty decent mutant power. The problem I think was the fact that it's not really combat-ready, so the entire crux of the issue becomes "WHEN will the heroes discover the nature of his illusions?!" which gets old after a point (Mysterio suffers from the same thing in Spider-Man stories). He was your token "Ugly Kirby Character" without a lot of good visuals to him (there were a LOT of those guys amidst all the interesting-looking colourful villains- these gnarled, grimacing figures in what looked to be overly-large unitards), so this half-assed villain kind of vanished until the heroes needed an illusionist to fight (always a classic recurring comics tale- along with the "Nightmare & D'Spayre make guys afraid" one, and "The Hero is framed by a doppelganger").
-It was a moment of inspired brilliance that caused Claremont & Byrne to bring him back into their X-Books, turning him into the suave, handsome "Jason Wyngarde" (for actor Peter Wyngarde), who manipulated Jean Grey in her Phoenix form to become the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. Wyngarde himself, actually a shrivelled weakling of a man, was using her to earn a membership. Instead, he had Jean open his mind until it became one with the universe, the results leaving him comatose. He would recover a decade and a half later and threaten the whole team with his powers (causing Mariko Yashida to reject Wolverine at the altar), but would eventually die of the Legacy Virus (one of many attempts to reduce the number of unecessary characters out there), having finally received forgiveness from Jean Grey for manipulating her all those years ago.
-His enduring legacy is no less than THREE daughters- two villains, and the X-Men's own Pixie.
-Wyngarde is an EXPENSIVE mofo, but it's all due to his powerful Illusion Casting, which affects all senses (and he can do them as Free Actions and make them Selective). They're so convincing even powerful psionics are fooled. They can cover a wide area (I figure creating the illusion of an ENTIRE ARMY is a one-off stunt, as that would require exponential increases of the Area Extra, making him cost even more. Without the Illusions, he's a weak old man and couldn't hold up to a stiff breeze.

THE TOAD (Mortimer Toynbee)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #4 (March 1964)
Role: Recurring Foe, Butt-Monkey Villain
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Mutants, Freedom Force, HYDRA, Project: Black Womb
PL 9 (156)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 8
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+15)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+5)
Insight 5 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Investigation 4 (+4)
Perception 6 (+7)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+12)
Technology 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Chokehold, Defensive Roll 2, Elusive Target, Improved Critical (Tongue), Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Toad-Like Physiology"
"Pheromones" Mind Control 4 (Extras: Area- Scent Perception) (Flaws: Touch Range) [12]
Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 2, Sure-Footed) [6]
Leaping 3 (60 feet) [3]
Comprehend 2 (Speak to & Understand Animals) (Flaws: Limited to Frogs & Toads -2) [1]

"Psychoactive Resin From Pores" Affliction 4 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative, Reaction +3) (20) -- [22]
AE: "Grappling Tongue" Affliction 8 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Immobile) (Feats: Reversible, Tether, Reach 5) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree, One Target At a Time -2) Linked to Damage 4 (Feats: Reach 5) (18)
AE: "Wind Gust" Affliction 6 (Strength or Athletics; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) Linked to Blast 2 (7)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Tongue +10 (+8 Affliction & +4 Damage, DC 18 & 19)
Pheromones +4 Area (+4 Affliction, DC 14)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Toynbee cannot pass for an ordinary human.
Motivation (Power)- Bullied and crapped-on by Magneto, Mortimer developed an inferiority complex, and he now fights to overcome it, becoming a power-obsessed danger to others.
Obsession (The Scarlet Witch)- The Toad believed that Wanda cared for him, and he was obsessed with her, despite her obvious repulsion at every facet of his being.
Involuntary Transformation (Appearance)- Toad's powers are constantly in flux, as well as his appearance- he tends to shift in height, weight, obesity, thinness, skin colour, and more- ever since that damn movie came out and artists were unable to see eye-to-eye about what he was supposed to look like.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 44 / Defenses: 15 (156)

-The Toad spent eons being a generic dumbass henchman of Magneto in the early X-years, and never really recovered, generally being a weak toady (heyyyyy, wait a minute...) and incompetent bad guy, even in the bad-ass '90s when forming his new creepy Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with Sauron and those guys. It wasn't until the X-Men movie came out that the director Brian Singer went "hey, why don't we just make him a creepy guy who's an awesome martial artist?" It's just some random little thing like that that magically makes this loser character an awesome hench-villain, so comics wasted no time trying to rip that off. They kinda failed, since ALL the fans realized right away what they were doing, and nobody really bought the changes. He's been last seen in Wolverine and the X-Men, acting as the mopey school Janitor, who is nonetheless in love with the now-insane Paige Guthrie. He managed his most bad-ass feat yet, though- defeating Sauron with A MOP.
-Toad's a PL 9 with his Tongue Snare, a PL 6.5 unarmed, and a PL 9 defensively, making him not really well-rounded, but potentially dangerous. Notably, his best attack still can only hurt one person at a time. He's hard as hell to hit, and can modify some of his caps, but he's no powerhouse in combat. The Grappling Tongue thing is dangerous, but limited to only one target at a time (a pretty big Flaw for something that Snares people), so he's best off in team battles, tying up one of the heroes for a teammates' attack. And yeah, apparently he's recieved even MORE power-ups over the years, so he can also use a Paralyzing Aura and a Wind Gust, in addition to Communicating with Amphibians. I would bet CASH MONEY that every subsequent author after that has forgotten those powers (Jason Aaron sure as hell never used them), so I'm only leaving them for completion's sake.

SABRETOOTH (Victor Creed)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: Iron Fist #14 (Aug. 1977)
Role: Rescued Obscure Villain, Dark Mirror Image Villain, Claw Guy, Psychotic Murderer
Group Affiliations: The Marauders, Team X, The X-Men, X-Factor, Weapon-X, The Mutant Brotherhood
PL 11 (206)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+12)
Close Combat (Claws) 2 (+13)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Military/Mercenary) 10 (+10)
Expertise (History) 3 (+3)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 13 (+15)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 10 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+8)
Stealth 6 (+10)
Technology 2 (+2)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Chokehold, Close Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Favored Foe (Wolverine), Fearless, Follow-Up Strike, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical (Claws) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Hold, Languages (A Few), Last Stand, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 6, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Healing Factor & Claws"
"Claws" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) [3]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

"Animalistic Physiology"
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]

"Healing Factor"
Immunity 3 (Aging, Poison, Disease) [3]
Regeneration 10 (Every Round) (Feats: Regrowth) [11]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Diehard, Great Endurance [2]

"Super-Senses"
Senses 11 (Acute, Accurate & Extended Scent, Extended & Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking 2, Ultra, Extended & Accurate Hearing) [12]

"Impregnable Mental Defenses" Impervious Will 7 [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Claws +13 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +12

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude +13, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Killing)- Sabretooth enjoys the hell out of murder and mayhem, and makes no bones about it. A sadistic killer to the extreme, he is immoral even by the standards of most super-villains.
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- With his sheer size, musculature, and fangs, Sabretooth is a stand-out, and most would distrust him.
Enemy (Wolverine)- The epic relationship here extremely malicious. Both would drop everything just to beat the crap out of the other.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 76--37 / Advantages: 36 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 16 (206)

SABRETOOTH (Victor Creed)- With Adamantium Skeleton
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: Iron Fist #14 (Aug. 1977)
Role: Rescued Obscure Villain, Dark Mirror Image Villain, Claw Guy, Psychotic Murderer
Group Affiliations: The Marauders, Team X, The X-Men, X-Factor, Weapon-X, The Mutant Brotherhood
PL 11 (216)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+12)
Close Combat (Claws) 1 (+11)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Military/Mercenary) 10 (+10)
Expertise (History) 3 (+3)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 13 (+15)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 10 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 2 (+2)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Chokehold, Close Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Favored Foe (Wolverine), Fearless, Follow-Up Strike, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical (Claws) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Languages (A Few), Last Stand, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 6, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Healing Factor & Claws"
"Adamantium Claws" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating 11) [15]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

"Adamantium Skeleton"
Protection 2 [2]
Enhanced Strength 1 [2]

"Animalistic Physiology"
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 1 [1]

"Healing Factor"
Immunity 3 (Aging, Poison, Disease) [3]
Regeneration 8 (Every Round) (Feats: Regrowth) [9]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Diehard, Great Endurance [2]

"Super-Senses"
Senses 11 (Acute, Accurate & Extended Scent, Extended & Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking 2, Ultra, Extended & Accurate Hearing) [12]

"Impregnable Mental Defenses" Impervious Will 7 [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Claws +11 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +10, Fortitude +13, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Killing)- Sabretooth enjoys the hell out of murder and mayhem, and makes no bones about it. A sadistic killer to the extreme, he is immoral even by the standards of most super-villains.
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- With his sheer size, musculature, and fangs, Sabretooth is a stand-out, and most would distrust him.
Enemy (Wolverine)- The epic relationship here extremely malicious. Both would drop everything just to beat the crap out of the other.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 72--36 / Advantages: 35 / Powers: 57 / Defenses: 16 (216)

-"Mirror Image Villains" are among the most common tropes used in comic books, and for good reason. Who better to fight the super-hero than a guy with nearly the exact same powers, but used for evil, letting the hero confront himself in a more literal kind of way. Now, it tends to get over-done, especially if the hero fights DOZENS of guys with a similar concept to himself (Iron Man and his endless Evil Armoured Guys, Spider-Man and his Symbiotes & Animal-Themed Guys, The Flashes and their Fast Guys, and especially Wolverine and his Claw Guys), but when there's an epic villain, it seems to work.
-Enter Sabretooth, a pretty forgettable Iron Fist villain, who ended up being one of those freelance guys who just bounced from book to book as a Filler Villain (like Mr. Hyde), but he was a Chris Claremont guy... which of course, means that he just HAD TO take part in the X-Books EVENTUALLY, and thus he showed up with The Marauders partway through the story arc, almost as an afterthought. He wasn't part of the big X-Fight, but just casually showed up dealing with Power Pack and making fun of Blockbuster for failing against Thor. Right away though, he ended up squaring off with Logan, who claimed to remember him- and the next X-Men issue featured a non-stop Sabretooth battle as he tore through the X-Mansion, nearly killing Rogue and Psylocke (who proved herself against him), before Wolverine chased him off.
-That pretty much led to the eons-long war between the two, as Wolverine quickly became Marvel's most popular character, which made this one-time Filler Villain an EPIC bad-guy, which had all the requisite good and bad effects. Thus, he got a HUGE backstory as a former Weapon X operative, Logan's old mentor then rival, the murderer of Logan's love Silver Fox, and such. It was also established that Creed was just plain BETTER than Wolverine, and he'd do crazy bad-ass things like hunt him down every single time on his birthday, and beat him within an inch of his life, just to prove that he could. There was also a "Luke, I Am Your Father" subplot, but it was dropped when Larry Hama (Wolvie's writer) rejected Claremont's idea.
-The bad things came in the '90s, though, as Wolverine got more and more prevalent. Sabes got over-done as a villain, showed up way too often in his own Limited Series and such, had TWO X-Books feature him as a member of the team against his will (while faking an innocent, animalistic mind in one, and using the trademark Make You A Good-Guy By Force Shock-Collar in the other), and he even got "killed" a few times. This kind of '90s Anti-Hero crap did away with both him & Venom as important characters pretty quickly, even though he was still a feared enemy. Even in modern times, you don't see nearly as much of him as you used to.
-For stats, Sabretooth is a deadly scrapper, being strong and fast as hell, and a good old-fashioned PL 11 fighter, though he doesn't quite meet a lot of his caps. Like most Healing Guys, he doesn't bother with a lot of Defense comparatively (and he uses All-Out Attack most of the time ANYWAYS). His strength level is up for grabs sometimes, as in early appearances, he was one-punching Rogue across the entire X-Mansion roof and squishing iron barbells between his hands casually, but was later seen as just a pretty big guy who kicked ass. I decided on the "3 tons" Strength 7. He's got Speed, Leaping, a hell of a lot of Senses, an Impervious Will (because he's frequently shown as avoiding mental scans and fakery- at times, this goes straight up into Immunity to Mental Effects, so adjust at-will), dangerous Claws, and Regeneration 10, allowing him to recover from a rank of Damage in each round.
-Note the second build, representing Creed with a now-common power-set of Adamantium Claws & Skeleton. This kinda got added in during the end of the 90s (or early 2000s), when they ran out of crap for Creed & Logan to do to each other, but he's had it sucked out of him at least once. It boosts his Strength & Claw damagebut he's a bit slower, losing Stealth, Fighting Ability and some Regeneration, so he's still a PL 11 guy.

MAGGOTT (Japheth)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Joe Madureira
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #345 (June 1997)
Role: The Worst X-Man Ever
Country of Origin: South Africa
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Generation-X
PL 8 (119)
STRENGTH
1/7 STAMINA 3/7 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 4 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Power Attack, Taunt

Powers:
Summon Minion 5 (Eany & Meany) (Extras: Active, Heroic +2, Horde, Multiple Minions, Continuous) (40) -- [41]
AE: "Power Boost" Enhanced Strength 6 (12), Enhanced Stamina 4 (8), Enhanced Advantages: Great Endurance (1) -- (21)

"Psychometry" Senses 8 (Precognition, Postcognition) (Flaws: Limited to Past & Future Events Of Area) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Boosted +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+7 Boosted), Fortitude +5 (+10 Boosted), Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Finding Magneto)- Though he fears Magneto and his methods, Japheth owes the man his life.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 11 (119)

-Wow, did Maggott ever suck. One of the fabled "new" X-Men, Lobdell and then-superstar-artist Joe Madureira teamed up to create a batch of newbs for the X-books, intending to create their own permanent footprint on the book's storied history. What they came up with.... really sucked. Maggott was the worst of the new breed, having goofy-ass powers (SLUGS that came out of his STOMACH?), a weird appearance, and a stupid name. This meant that the character bombed right out of the gate, and was such an epic failure that he was quietly killed by the Weapon-X program.
-Despite having some pretty-good stats once he's Boosted, Maggott's only a PL 8, because he sucks. He's a short-lived X-Man, and is pretty clearly a low-level guy. Unusually, he can either Summon his Minions, or use his base powers, being a Container-ish set of Boost effects. Eany & Meany are pretty dangerous, but horrifically limited creatures- they're entirely focused around biting stuff and eating it, so Maggott can boost his powers. All in all, he kinda blows, and couldn't take on any kind of elite foe.

EANY & MEANY
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Joe Madureira
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #345 (June 1997)
Role: Summoned Monsters
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, Generation-X
PL 8 (63)- Minion Rank 5
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Close Combat (Bite) 3 (+9)
Intimidation 10 (+3 Size)
Perception 4 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+9 Size)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Teamwork

Powers:
"Small Size" Shrinking 4 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [5]
(-1 Strength & Speed, +2 Defenses, +4 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

"Iron Skin" Protection 4 [4]
Speed 2 (4 mph) [2]
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
"Bite" Damage 7 (Feats: Improved Critical 2) (Extras: Penetrating 5) [14]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Bite +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +6, Fortitude +5, Will +2

Complications:
None

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 27 / Defenses: 13 (63)

MARROW (Sarah, Last Name Unknown, aka "Sarah Rushman")
Created By:
Jeph Loeb & David Brewer (child), Scott Lobdell & Joe Madureira (adult)
First Appearance: Cable #15 (Sept. 1994- as child), X-Men: Prime (as adult)
Role: Wolverine Clone #2347, Claw Girl, The Berserker, The Scrapper
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Gene Nation, The X-Men, X-Cell, S.H.I.E.L.D.
PL 9 (122)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+10)
Deception 6 (+5)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 5 (+5)
Insight 3 (+3)
Intimidation 8 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+3)
Perception 8 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Bones) 4 (+11)
Stealth 4 (+9)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Defensive Roll, Diehard, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Bones), Improved Smash, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 5, Track

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Constantly Growing Bones"
"Bone Firing" Blast 4 (Extras: Multiattack) (12) -- [13]
AE: "Stab With Bones" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split, Reach) (Extras: Penetrating 3) (7)

"Bone Shielding"
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 1 [2]
Protection 1 [1]
Regeneration 4 [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Bone Spurs +10 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Bone Firing +11 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +6, Fortitude +9, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- With vivid pink skin and bones sticking out from her epidermis at all times, Marrow cannot pass for an ordinary human.
Hatred (Humans)- Like many Morlocks, Sarah both hates and fears ordinary humans, and at one point attempted mass murder on them.
Responsibility (Adversarial)- The above problems tend to make Marrow hard to get along with- she is antagonistic to others, and flirts with people who aren't interested (mainly Cannonball).
Relationship (Callisto)- Sarah views Callisto as a mother-figure.
Relationship (Peter Parker)- She dated him for a while when Mary-Jane was thought dead. Thankfully,

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 13 (122)

-Marrow is yet another failed experiment from the 1990s time period (though later than most "EXTREEEEEEEEEEME" killer types), as she was brought in as one of the new Morlocks (since Marvel realized pretty quickly how stupid it was to kill off such a rich storytelling concept, no matter how cool the Mutant Massacre storyline was), then forced onto the X-Men after countless evil acts to see if they could reform her. Problem was, they both made her arrogant, and made her ugly. What with 90% of the comic book buying public being male, that's going to hamper her popularity.
-Now, doing the "personality counts" story might have worked (though Monstra in the Legion of Super-Heroes utterly failed to pull that off either- curiously, I think even GIRLS hated the character- I've had theories about women using comics as Escapist Entertainment as well, and thus THAT might be why they tend to reject ugly female characters as well, but I'm not 100%), but he was ALSO a giant bitch-monster, so now nobody had ANY reason to like her! Think of all the popular bitchy or mean women out there in comics, and how popular they are (Emma Frost chief among them)- all are pretty hot, most of them fantasticaly so. Even doing "not classically attractive" works, because you had the bratty, snotty Terra in the Teen Titans books, and fans LOVED her (and many refused to believe she was evil, even when they outright stated it), flat-chested tomboy-types can also work (early Kitty Pryde, SOME people like Jubilee, too, though I'm not one of them). But a cranky-pants like Marrow, or Pantha from the later Titans? Never seems to work. It's like Snow White said in Fables: you can't get away with both being ugly AND unpleasant. Especially if you're a girl.
-And yeah, she was annoying too. She spent all her time ripping on her teammates, she debuted as an adult by trying to MURDER people, she stabbed Wolverine nearly to death, she was constantly grouchy, and she was a rip-off of Wolverine, complete with Slashing/Piercing weapons and a Healing Factor. They did attempt an "Author Saving Throw" by fixing her appearance so that she was now a super-hot pink chick with "Cute Monster Girl" effects rather than jagged bones all over the place, and she was more pleasant and kind to boot, but it didn't work. She was left in X-Limbo until she was de-powered in M-Day. She's altogether a redundant rip-off of a character underneath it all, and despite a moderate fanbase from time-to-time, and some TV show background appearances, she's probably gonna stay in Limbo.
-Actually, never mind that- it turns out she was brought in after a DECADE on the shelf with renewed powers in X-Force, for reasons they have yet to elaborate upon (I mean, this was only a few months ago).
-Marrow's a PL 8.5 who actually has a PL 8's points-cost, Marrow was actually supposed to be pretty hot sh*t back in the '90s, but she's since "settled" into that somewhat-crappy "Background Character" groove, so events like her nearly killing Wolverine with her extra-sharp bone spurs is unlikely to be replicated. She's a good melee fighter, good at firing her Bones as a projectile weapon, and she's also very good at taking a punch, with Regeneration and all. Being a Wolverine-wannabe has it's bonuses.

WILD CHILD (Kyle Gibney, aka "Wildheart", "Weapon Omega")
Created By:
John Byrne
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (Aug. 1983)
Role: The First Claw Guy Knock-Off, Animal Child, I Want To Be Human Guy
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight, Beta Flight, Omega Flight, X-Factor
PL 9 (106)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 6 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Close Combat (Claws) 3 (+11)
Expertise (Survival) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 7 (+7)
Stealth 5 (+10)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Improved Critical (Claws), Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Instant Up, Power Attack, Startle,

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Wolverine Knock-Off"
"Healing Factor"
Regeneration 6 [6]
Immunity 4 (Aging, Disease, Poison, Cold) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [2]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Diehard, Great Endurance [2]

"Animal Senses" Senses 8 (Darkvision, Extended Vision, Tracking, Extended & Acute Scent, Extended Hearing, Acute Taste) [8]

"Claws" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Claws +12 (+6 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5, Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Errant Transformations)- Kyle changes form A LOT. He'll be a shrunken Sabretooth knock-off one day, and then he'll look like a long-haired pretty boy the next. He can be tall or short, hairy or clean-shaven, and everything in between.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 18 (106)

-Wild Child is a pretty monstrous Sabretooth rip-off at first appearance (with the conceit that he's a younger kid, pretty short and stuff like that), though he debuted years before the Wolverine/Sabretooth rivalry actually started (Sabes was just a Claremont/Byrne one-shot villain in their "Iron Fist" days). It's just his bad luck that his only real significance as a character came long AFTER "Claw Guy" was one of the most copied and generic set-ups in comics. He spent a good chunk of his time as an animalistic, cranky kid in the lower "Flights", but upgraded to the main team as Weapon Omega (and later Wildheart), in a more attractive, non-bestial form. That of course didn't stick, and he ended up kicking around the X-verse for a few years (on the worst team, of course), and now he's turned evil like alot of do-nothing mutants from Marvel Limbo.
-Standard Claw Guy Scrapper build, but way under-pointed for a PL 9. He's dangerous, packing an accurate Claw Strike along with All-Out Attack, but he's nothing Wolverine or Sabretooth couldn't beat the hell out of (and both have done it a few times)... at least until his recent power-up, where apparently he's good enough to beat on Wolverine now.
-For statting his short-lived Weapon Omega form, simply boost the Charisma (gained confidence) to 1, and stick some of the Dodge & Attack Focus stuff into higher bonuses in Attack & Defense, getting a much stronger build. I'm not sure if he had the claws in that form, though (since he held it for such a short period of time, Alphanex & Wikipedia don't say). He becomes MUCH more powerful in the modern era, getting the "can kick Wolverine's ass" push, so we'll see how long they can keep it up before he starts getting beaten regularly again.

CABLE (Nathan Christopher Charles Summers Dayspring Askani'son)
Created By:
Rob Liefeld & Louise Simonson
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #201 (Jan. 1986) as Nathan/New Mutants #87 (March 1990) as Cable
Role: Captain Nineties, Gun Guy, The Dark Mentor, The Repentant Nineties Guy
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force, Six Pack/Wild Pack, The X-Men, The Askani
PL 11 (233)
STRENGTH
5/7 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 8
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 1 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+12)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Soldier/Mercenary) 12 (+16)
Expertise (History) 6 (+10)
Expertise (Sciences) 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 8 (+12)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 8 (+12)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 9 (+13)
Vehicles 3 (+11)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 2 (Access to "Professor" A.I.), Diehard, Equipment 15 (Arsenal, Bodyslide Technology, Graymalkin), Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blaster Rifle), Interpose, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (Various), Last Stand, Leadership, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Skill Mastery (Soldier), Startle, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Soldier Skill, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy & Telekinesis"
"Held Back By Techno-Organic Virus" Move Object 4 (Flaws: Distracting) [4]
Mind Reading 4 (Flaws: Touch Range -2) [2]

"Techno-Organic Fibre"
Enhanced Strength 2 (Quirk: Left Side Only -1) [3]
"Datalink" Communication (Computers) 2 [8]
Protection 2 [2]
"Conceals Metal Form Synth-Fibre" Morph 1 (Skin Over Body) [1]
"Cybernetic Eye" Senses 2 (Extended & Infra-Vision) [2]

"Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [24]
"Bodyslide Technology" Teleport 10 (Feats: Increased Mass 6- 3,200lbs.) (Extras: Extended Only +0) (26)
"Huge-Ass Shoulder Pads" Protection 2 (2) -- (28 points)

Equipment:
"Huge-Ass Arsenal"
"Power Gun" Blast 10 (Extras: Penetrating) (Quirks: Inaccurate -1) (29) -- (33)
AE: "Automatic Rifle" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27)
AE: "Grenade Launcher" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)
AE: "Vibro-Knife" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (11)
AE: "Sniper Rifle" Blast 8 (Feats: Extended Range 4- 1,600 feet long range) (20)

Communications (1)
"Assorted Spy/Break-In Stuff" (7)

"Graymalkin" Orbitting Satellite & Time Machine (33) -- (75 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+7 Damage, DC 21)
Vibro-Knife +11 (+9 Damage, DC 23)
Power Gun +12 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Automatic Rifle +13 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Grenade Launcher +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Sniper Rifle +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5 (+7 T-O Fibre, +9 Armour), Fortitude +10, Will +11

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Save the Future)- Cable is obsessed with preventing his vile timeline from occurring.
Motivation (Hope Summers)- Cable has been charged with the protection of young Hope, the first new Mutant born since M-Day.
Motivation (The Closed Fist)- The polar opposite of Xavier's "Open Hand" approach, Cable believes in knocking down opposition and the path of violence, but has the same overall goals as Xavier.
Reputation (Hard-Ass)- Cable's leadership of the New Mutants came into question many times, and many of the older X-Men have trouble trusting him.
Relationship (Cyclops)- Cable's birth father is the leader of the X-Men, who is now younger than he is. There's a strange sense of comraderie and respect between the two of them, but they aren't really close as friends.
Relationship (Cannonball)- Sam was like a son to Cable (who originally came to the past to awaken Sam as an External "High Lord"), and the two had an uncomfortable relationship. Sam wanted to make the old man proud, and Cable often sought to emotionally distance himself from the young man.
Enemy (Apocalypse)- Cable was sent from his future, where his arch-nemesis was the dark overlord of all Earth. As a baby, he was infected with a Techno-Organic Virus by Apocalypse as well.
Enemy (Stryfe)- A vulgar clone of Cable, Stryfe came to believe that he was the original, and was obsessed with killing both Nathan and his parents (and Jean Grey by proxy).
Enemy (Tolliver)- Cable's son Tyler Dayspring eventually turned evil, becoming the crimeboss Tolliver, who challenged Cable and eventually turned into the villain "Genesis".
Weakness (Magnetic & Electrical Attacks)- As a cyborg comprised of nearly 50% metal, Cable is highly vulnerable to attacks that do more damage to metal substances.
Power Loss (Psionics)- Cable's psionic power moves with the winds- sometimes he's as powerful as Nate "X-Man" Grey, sometimes he has no power at all. It pretty much just depends.

Total: Abilities: 88 / Skills: 70--35 / Advantages: 44 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 20 (233)

-Nobody, but NOBODY, defines the 1990s of comics moreso than Cable. He's got it all: Vague, mysterious origins. Giant shoulder pads. Cyborg. Glowing eyes (well, eye). Huge and muscular. Nasty-looking. Gruff. Military background. Powers added as an afterthought. And guns. HOLY GOD THE GUNS!!
-Cable was created by Rob Liefeld with instructions to make a new mentor character to the New Mutants, an "opposite of Xavier". Everyone liked the idea, and so Cable showed up- and he hit BIG. People forget in the modern age of poo-poohing the '90s, but this guy was EVERYWHERE. He was guest-starring in Wolverine and getting his own Limited Series within a couple years, in addition to taking over the New Mutants' book with an array of Liefeld-created bad guys (the Mutant Liberation Front, with Stryfe as their boss) as his own personal enemies. Half a dozen old-school characters met up with him and were like "Oh damn! It's Cable! This guy's tough!" By the time Liefeld left Marvel a short time later, he'd created a monster.
-It was up to Fabian Nicieza and the other X-writers to flesh out the character. Using his bad-ass soldier boy characterization, they revealed the totality of his past, and linked him with the Summers clan (which at that point was only KIND OF hard to understand): He was Nathan Summers, a baby boy born to Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor (a clone of Jean Grey when the latter was thought dead), and given a Techno-Organic Virus by Apocalypse when the writers got sick of heroes with kids (lame as it was, it's probably a good thing they wrote out the Spider-Baby because of crap like this). So Cyke sends his baby boy into the future, and the writers slowly forget about him, because Cyke is back with the mainline X-Men book and there's stuff to do. And it turns out this future-baby was raised by Rachel Summers, the daughter of a future Cyclops & Jean Grey (*sigh*...) sent into our past, but then back to a different future where Apocalypse rules. Oh but Scott & Jean were also there (in different bodies that their minds had possessed) to raise him as well, and Rachel later came back.
-So the baby is raised into a half-cybernetic guy, but a clone (*sigh*) made of him when they thought he was gonna die turns into Stryfe, who also hates Apocalypse as well as hating Cable. So as an adult, Nathan/Cable goes back into the past to fight Apocalypse and prevent his future from coming to pass, while also teaming up with the latest "External High Lord", who turns out to be Sam Guthrie. And thus his connection to the New Mutants.
-Over time, Cable came to be a bit nicer: He was never QUITE as kill-happy as his detractors or parodies would have you believe (Magog in "Kingdom Come" is basically Cable with a helmet- even the eye-scar is the same, as is the white hair), but he shifted into a "Father to his men" type of guy, and eventually developed his psionic powers as an X-Man during the era when MAJOR '90s backlash struck. His comebacks never really stuck, though- as he was a bit too over-done during his prime, and his power levels have jumped all over the place (from lifting Manhattan to struggling to pick up power tools). He died in Second Coming after a heroic sacrifice, which was arguably for the best- I never HATED the character, but he was always one of my least-favourite X-Force members, even during his prime. Though naturally he came back. I mean, he's got Jean Grey's genes in him, after all.
-Cable's an expensive guy, mainly thanks to all his stupid equipment. Giant flying Satellites, a massive arsenal of guns (some doing +10 damage!), tons of Skills, etc., add up to a really versatile Blaster who's pretty tough as well. He's PL 11 at Range, but not on Defense, as he's never really been a "Dodge"-happy kind of guy, relying on his pretty-high but not overly-strong Toughness. It's enough to about tie with Wolverine until the latter's Healing Factor kicks in and Cable starts feeling damage. Still, +11 Will and Last Stand make for a really hard guy to bring down and keep there with any type of attack. His actual Mutant Powers are at a REALLY low level, as it would take him years to become a "Psi-Mitar"-using guy. Later incarnations are so all over the place I couldn't possibly hope to stat them without actually having read those books (which I haven't)- you just kinda have to stick a random assortment to Telekinesis onto him sometimes.

PIXIE II (Megan Gwynn)
Created By:
Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir & Michael Ryan
First Appearance: New X-Men: Academy-X #5 (Nov. 2004)
Group Affiliations: X-Students, The Hellions, The Young X-Men
Status: Alive
Role: Breakout Character, Kitty Pryde Character
PL 9 (165)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 3 (+4)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Insight 1 (+1)
Perception 3 (+3)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Equipment (X-Student Uniform- Communications, Protection +1), Evasion, Improved Defense, Luck, Ranged Attack 4, Ritualist, Set-Up

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Teleportation & Wings"
Flight 4 (30 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [4]
"Pixie Dust" Illusion (Visual) 8 (Flaws: Uncontrolled) [8]

"Magical Powers"
Teleport 10 (Extras: Portal +2, Extended, Accurate, Easy) (Flaws: Distracting, Will Check Required- If Failed, Targets Scatter) (50) -- [52]
AE: "Stepping Disc to Limbo" Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel 1) (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity, Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Easy, Portal +2) (14)
AE: Senses 3 (Detect Magic- Ranged, Acute) (3)

"Souldagger Summoning" (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Pixie) (Extras: Summonable) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [30]
Nullify Magic Effects 11 (Extras: Broad, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (33) -- (34 points)
AE: Nullify Psionic Effects 11 (Extras: Broad, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (33)
AE: Damage 11 (Feats: Improved Critical 2) (Extras: Penetrating) (Flaws: Limited to Magical Beings) (13)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Nullify Magic +7 (+11 Nullify, DC 21)
Souldagger Stab +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Missing a Piece of Her Soul)- Illyana Rasputin took part of it to make a new Soulsword.
Rivalry (Magik)

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 94 / Defenses: 13 (165)

-Pixie's among the more successful "modern" additions to the X-Men, which is funny, because she was originally just a background face, showing up in the Paragons team of the Young X-Men (before they altered the 'school' concept AGAIN, ruining all the hard work the writers had put in creating new students & powers), not even saying anything. NOW, she's got one of the more complex backstories for a new character, being a pixie-powered mutant who also has a Souldagger, part of her soul missing, a rivalry with Magik, and her own set of Magical powers. Truly bizarre stuff. And then Matt Fraction used her as his own personal "Kitty Pryde", as the new "young girl's POV" of the X-Men. Time will tell if it'll work and create a Kitty-level success, or die screaming like Jubilee's push.
-Pixie's an odd set of powers, being a fairly weak, easy-to-injure girl who is actually quite skilled, possesses a weapon lethal to mages & psychics alike (the only difference between Souldagger & Soulsword, in addition to lower overall power, since it's smaller and uses less of someone's Innocent Soul to power it), and generally a lot of power points spent on her Powers, and not so much with the Advantages & Skills. Perhaps with time she'll get a boost, but for now, she's kind of sub-average, ESPECIALLY against non-specific foes: her Souldagger won't even work then, and she's reduced to PL 4 on offense.

DANGER
Created By:
Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
First Appearance: The Astonishing X-Men #8 (2004)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
Role: Sentient Computer GONE MAD, Sarcasto-Bot
PL 12 (295), PL 13 (295) to X-Men
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA -- AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+12)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 8 (+9)
Stealth 5 (+10)
Technology 10 (+15)
Vehicles 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Seize Initiative, Startle

Powers:
"Robotic Body"
Immunity 50 (Fortitude & Mental Effects) [50]
Protection 11 (Extras: Impervious 9) [20]
Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]
Regeneration 6 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [7]
Communication 3 (Technology) [12]

"Holograms" Illusion (Vision & Hearing) 12 (Extras: Area 2) (65) -- [68]
AE: "Kill-O-Bot Hands" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) (3)
AE: Energy Blast 12 (Feats: Split) (25)
AE: "Machine Control" Affliction 12 (Tech Skill of Creator; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Progressive +2, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (65)

"Specialty: Killing the X-Men" (All Have Flaws: Limited to Those Who Trained in the Danger Room)
Enhanced Fighting 4 [4]
Enhanced Dodge 4 [2]
Senses 4 (Precognition) [2]
Enhanced Advantages 4: Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
vs. X-Men +15 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Kill-O-Hands +11 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
vs. X-Men +15 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Energy Blasts +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
vs. X-Men +14 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Illusion -- (+12 Illusions, DC 22)
Initiative +9 (+17 vs. X-Men)

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +11 (+5 Impervious), Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Life)- Danger has only recently gained sentience, and after some initial attempts to murder the X-Men, she finds herself confused.
Power Loss (Killing Blow)- Danger is incapable of truly killing an X-Man- if given the chance to finish one off, she will not be able to take it.
Responsibility (Warden of Utopia)- Danger was charged with protecting Utopia, and watching over the prisoners within.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 183 / Defenses: 10 (295)

-Whedon added a fair bit to the X-Universe during his run, when you think about it. Sure, Ord died, but he added the Breakworld, a handful of new Mutants (Blindfold, Armor), and Danger here. She is the combined sentience of the Danger Room, and revealed that ever-growing sentiment that maybe Professor Xavier was KIND OF an asshole all along, because it turns out he IGNORED her sentience because "my team needed training", and ignored her appeals to be heard so that the Danger Room would always be there. Gaining more power, she allowed Wing to commit suicide in her environment, and assaulted the entire team with the full breadth of her Hard Light Capabilities (ie. all powers), and experience against the X-Men. EASILY defeating them, she left them all for dead (hilarious, Elixir brought everyone back to fighting form as soon as she left) and fought Professor Xavier himself, who did much better, since "You've never fought ME".
-She was beaten when Kitty Pryde helped her "child", the Wild Sentinel who genocided Genosha, gain full sentience, rendering it comatose and exiled when it realized the totality of what it'd done to Mutant-kind, the X-Men rebuked Xavier for being a dick ("but Scott, it's not that simple" "You're the man who taught me that it was") and then she tried to kill the X-Men AGAIN on The Breakworld... where Emma pointed out that she COULDN'T- she left the X-Men for dead because her programming cannot allow her to deliberately kill someone (granted, impaling Peter & Kitty was pretty close). Eventually, a later writer revealed that Xavier TRIED to help Danger gain sentience, but it was too complicated and he was afraid of killing both her and his X-Men, so he's only a LITTLE guilty for sitting there and letting her suffer. He eventaully fixed her up a bit, and she became an X-Ally.
-Danger started out as a Variable Power-having "Hard Light Hologram" user, but eventually stole some alien tech to become a more standard Kill-O-Bot with a sorta-shapeshifting form that really always looks like her, so that part is meaningless beyond looking cool. She's super-strong, super-tough, can Blast or Stab, cast Illusions at PL 12 and also control machinery (she can also give sentience in one particular case, though this may've been an application of the Tech Skill), and is noticeably even BETTER against those X-Men she was created to defeat. She's PL 11 in combat most of the time, but upgrades to PL 13 against X-Men, which was particularly devastating while under New Villain Stink. Even nowadays, she's so good at fighting that they pretty much had to relegate her to the X-Headquarters to keep fights fair.

MAGIK (Illyana Nikolievna Rasputin)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)/Uncanny X-Men #160
Role: The Bad Girl, The Dark One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, Limbo
PL 10 (255) on Earth, PL 12 (255) in Limbo, PL 13 (255) Versus Magical Beings
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+2)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Close Combat (Soulsword) 4 (+10)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Magic) 13 (+14)
Expertise (Queen of Limbo) 5 (+6)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 10 (+12)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Magic) 4 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 3 (Queen of Limbo), Diehard, Equipment (X-Uniform), Fascinate (Intimidation), Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 3, Ritualist, Set-Up

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Stepping Discs"
"Moving Across Earth Via Limbo" Teleport 10 (Feats: Change Velocity, Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Extended Only +0, Easy, Portal +2) (56) -- [59]
AE: "Stepping Disc to Limbo Attack" Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel 1) (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity, Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Attack 10, Ranged 10, Easy) (32)
AE: "Stepping Disc to Limbo" Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel 1) (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity, Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Easy, Portal +2) (14)
AE: "Summon Limbo Demon" Summon 6 (Extras: Multiple Minions) (18)

Senses 1 (Magical Awareness) [1]
"Mental Shield" Immunity 10 (Mental Attacks) [10]

"Queen of Limbo" (Flaws: All Powers Limited to Limbo Only)
"Eldritch Bolts" Blast 12 (Feats: Variable Descriptor 2, Penetrating 12) (26) -- [31]
AE: "Extra-Sensory Perception" Remote Sensing (All Senses) 8 (4,000 feet) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (24)
AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 12 (12)
AE: "Mystic Shield" Protection 10 (Extras: Sustained +0, Affects Others) (10)
AE: "Create Unholy Objects" Create 5 (Extras: Continuous) (10)
AE: "Mystic Bonds" Snare 10 (20)

"Soulsword Summoning" (Feats: Restricted 2- Illyana or Somone She Chooses) (Extras: Summonable) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [52]
Nullify Magic Effects 15 (Extras: Broad, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (45)
Linked to
Damage 15 (Feats: Improved Critical 2) (Extras: Penetrating) (Flaws: Limited to Magical Beings) (17)
-- (62 points)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Soulsword +10 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Nullify Magic +10 (+15 Nullify, DC 25)
Eldritch Bolts +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Mystic Bonds +10 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Stepping Disc Attack +10 (+10 Teleport Attack, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform, +12 Limbo Shield), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Evil Psycho)- Her teammates like her (well, LIKED), but everybody else views her as a soulless monster who can and would betray absolutely anybody. She's not doing much to prevent this, and even her closest friends have been hesitant to get to close to her.
Responsibility (Ruler of Limbo)- Limbo's forces are powerful, but quick to betray at a moment's notice.
Enemy (Belasco)
Relationship (Colossus- Brother)- Magik is Colossus' "Little Snowflake", and he was very protective. For her part, Magik seemed close to him, but also kept him at an arm's length, having seen him die before, and realising that she's too evil to stain so pure a soul.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- The two were best buddies back in the day, and are getting close again now that both are non-dead.
Power Loss (Magic)- In addition to being usable only in Limbo, Magik requires her hands free and un-bound to use her powers.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 58--29 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 153 / Defenses: 20 (255)

-Magik really helped the New Mutants come into their own, basically replacing the flat Karma character with a vaguely-Satanic witch-princess, a little girl stripped of her innocence and childhood by being teleported to Limbo to become the slave of Demon Prince Belasco. A great four-issue Limited Series showcased little Illyana learning White Magic alongside Limbo's version of Storm (there was some confusing-ass stuff going on regarding parallel timelines and stuff... just ignore it), swordfighting alongside Kitty Pryde, and Black Magic alongside Belasco when he finally gained control over her. She nonetheless fought back, defeating him with all her combined experience, and she teleported back to Earth at the same moment she left as a little girl, leaving everyone a little confused.
-Magik was a CLASSIC "Bad Girl", saying mean things, being nasty to the bad guys, and often condemning common henchmen to being buggered to death by Limbo's Demons (which her teammates rarely chided her for- despite the implications of what would happen to them there), and there was this constant impression that her soul was condemned to Hell, and she would go evil some day. Magickal Armour kept appearing on her in slowly-increasing amounts over time, eventually resulting in a full-on Darkchylde form, and things finally came to a head during Inferno. Unfortunately, I thought that story was pretty bad- coming across more as Claremont doing a bunch of acid and then writing than something he actually bothered to plot effectively, and Louise Simonson's issues of the Cross-Over resultedin Illyana fully changing over to the Darkchylde, but getting tossed back into Limbo and destroyed, producing the original young girl Illyana again.
-Fans went NUTS over this, as the Letters Pages at the time was full of nothing but "Please bring Magik back!" for YEARS, well into the X-Force days (at the time, I had no idea who she was- before my time. Yet every single month, there was some letter demanding her return). Turns out that Bad Girl Jailbait appeals to some people, I guess. But yeah, she was a GREAT character, and a big symbol of the series and the decade, since the character never made it to the '90s. By the time we saw young Illyana again, she was kidnapped by government agents and taken to the X-Mansion, where, in the most depressing story EVER, she slowly and painfully succumbed as the first victim of The Legacy Virus, a big '90s Plot Device to get rid of lame characters (that I only realize now was kind of a commentary on AIDS). Fans were upset AGAIN, threatening to stop reading forever, etc., but it had way more emotional impact than almost anything else in that decade- it was horrifying and sad to see a group of super-powered adults slowly watch as a young girl died, and there was nothing they could do to stop it- it's something that's WAY more primally-terrifying than any amount of common super-villainy or Refrigerator Stuffing. Colossus had some of his greatest moments at this point, missing out on his sister's death while on a mission, and going berserk and nearly murdering Trevor "Crappy Villain" Fitzroy.
-They teased "Magik" returns for YEARS, bringing out a series with lame background character Amanda Sefton as the ruler of Limbo, before FINALLY pulling the trigger a few years back, bringing newbie Pixie into things, and Illyana was back as a dark-minded, sarcastic, vicious young woman, and rejoined her brother and the New Mutants once more. The resulting storyline is so confusing on Wikipedia that I can't even hope to figure out what happened, but what the hell? Magik is back, and that's all that matters- she's been seen taking all kinds of horrible risks, gaining horrible revenge on the Demon Lords of Limbo, manipulated her teammates into doing so (thus risking all their lives), and joined Cyclops' renegage X-Men, becoming such a nasty person in the process that FRIGGIN' COLOSSUS has flat-out stated that he wants to kill her. Few characters ever toe the line between good and evil as well as Illyana Rasputin has- there's always the question as to HOW evil she is at any given moment- she's prone to nasty jokes and intimidation, but there's always that sense that she really IS that dark and twisted inside.
-Magik is... not an easy character to fit into effective PL stats. She was easily one of the toughest of my "PL 10 (150) Player Character X-Men" run, so I didn't even bother here. To say she was horrendously affected by the 3e's high cost of Skills and Teleport would be pretty accurate- her powers cost 130 points by themselves, mostly thanks to a powerful Extended Teleport with the Portal +2 Extra. I don't entirely disagree with the points-cost there, as Teleport is probably one of the biggest Game-Breakers of all time, in comics and out, but WOW. Essentially, on Earth she's a PL 10 Teleport Attacker, able to send evil people to Limbo with a Ranged attack. Against Magical beings (anyone from Demons to Dr. Strange), she's a PL 12.5 Melee Fighter, or a PL 11.5 Nullifier, able to wipe out all sorts of Magickal Powers (at once, too- I'd initially statted up the Soulsword with the Damage as an Alternate Effect- I think it's actually more likely a LINKED ATTACK, combining a Nullify with Damage. While in Limbo, she's a PL 11 Sorceress, with a great deal of magical power. She can Summon Demons, make a Soulsword (I had to Jury-Rig a Device that was Summonable- I figure it's a fair thing to make a disarm-able weapon a -1 Flaw in those circumstances), and is pretty good at fighting.
-So Magik's both really versatile and really limited, only doing maximum damage to Magic creatures or Psionic Entities, and only being able to use her Magic in Limbo. But MAN is that a powerful attack- using it, she's one-shotted beings as powerful as The Demon Bear, and she's probably one of the few people in comics who could take out Doctor Strange or Doctor Fate in a single melee round. Hell, I remember some fans bitching about a recent issue where Magik sent the team into Limbo and they got attacked by Dormammu, complaining that Dormammu had a poor showing against Illyana... I immediately countered that the fact that Dormammu freaking SURVIVED THAT FIGHT is in actuality the greatest showing he could possibly have- this is a character who is practically BORN to slay Magical Demon Lords- Captain Flame-Head is lucky as hell she wasn't REALLY pissed.

MAGIK (Illyana Nikolievna Rasputin)- Middle New Mutants Era
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)/Uncanny X-Men #160
Role: The Bad Girl, The Dark One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, Limbo
PL 7 (220) on Earth, PL 11 (220) in Limbo, PL 12 (220) Versus Magical Beings
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Athletics 3 (+2)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Close Combat (Soulsword) 3 (+9)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Magic) 12 (+12)
Expertise (Queen of Limbo) 5 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Magic) 2 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Benefit 3 (Queen of Limbo), Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 3, Ritualist

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Stepping Discs"
"Moving Across Earth Via Limbo" Teleport 9 (Feats: Change Velocity, Easy, Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Extended Only +0, Portal +2) (43) -- [46]
AE: "Stepping Disc to Limbo Attack" Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel 1) (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity, Easy, Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Attack 7, Ranged 7) (24)
AE: "Stepping Disc to Limbo" Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel 1) (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity, Easy, Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Portal +2) (12)
AE: "Summon Limbo Demon" Summon 6 (Extras: Multiple Minions) (18)

Senses 1 (Magical Awareness) [1]
"Mental Shield" Immunity 2 (Mind-Reading) [2]

"Queen of Limbo" (Flaws: All Powers Limited to Limbo Only)
"Catalogue of White & Black Magic" Enhanced Advantages 4: Luck 4 [2]
"Eldritch Bolts" Blast 11 (Feats: Variable Descriptor) (Extras: Penetrating) (23) -- [28]
AE: "Extra-Sensory Perception" Remote Sensing (All Senses) 5 (250 feet) (20)
AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 11 (11)
AE: "Mystic Shield" Protection 8 (Extras: Sustained +0, Affects Others) (8)
AE: "Create Unholy Objects" Create 5 (Extras: Continuous) (10)
AE: "Mystic Bonds" Snare 10 (20)

"Soulsword Summoning" (Feats: Restricted 2- Illyana or Somone She Chooses) (Extras: Summonable) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [52]
Nullify Magic Effects 15 (Extras: Broad, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (45)
Linked to
Damage 15 (Feats: Improved Critical 2) (Extras: Penetrating) (Flaws: Limited to Magical Beings) (17)
-- (62 points)

"Darkchylde Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13 points)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Soulsword +9 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Nullify Magic +9 (+15 Nullify, DC 25)
Eldritch Bolts +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Mystic Bonds +10 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Teleport Attack +6 (+7 Teleport Attack, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform, +8 Darkchylde Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Evil Psycho)- Her teammates like her, but everybody else views her as a soulless monster who can and would betray absolutely anybody. She's not doing much to prevent this.
Responsibility (Ruler of Limbo)- Limbo's forces are powerful, but quick to betray at a moment's notice.
Secret (Darkchylde)- Illyana is slowly transforming into the Darkchylde, losing more of herself, and gaining more armour, every time she uses her Soulsword.
Enemy (Belasco)
Relationship (Colossus- Brother)- Magik is Colossus' "Little Snowflake", and he was very protective. For her part, Magik seemed close to him, but also kept him at an arm's length, having seen him die before, and realising that she's too evil to stain so pure a soul.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- The two were best buddies back in the day, and are getting close again now that both are non-dead.
Power Loss (Magic)- In addition to being usable only in Limbo, Magik requires her hands free and un-bound to use her powers.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 143 / Defenses: 13 (220)

-Yeah, PL 7-ish Illyana isn't any cheaper really, still costing over 200 points on a team full of people barely breaking 100. My advice to players doing a New Mutants campaign is to either ignore her Limbo self entirely, or otherwise de-power the crap out of her :). Thank God I'm not doing PCs this time around.

VALERIE COOPER
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #176 (Dec. 1983)
Group Affiliations: The United States Government, X-Factor, Freedom Force, The NSA, Project Wideawake
Role: Obstructive Government Bureaucrat
PL 6 (90)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Government Agent) 10 (+13)
Insight 3 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 2 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Benefit 3 (Government Clearance), Connected, Contacts, Equipment 2 (Pistol +5), Languages (A Few), Ranged Attack 2, Well-Informed

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Pistol +7 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (The U.S. Government)- Valerie is a loyal agent of the government.
Motivation (Controlling Superhumans)- Ms. Cooper wants to control superhumans, since she feels that they represent an enormous threat to the American people.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (90)

-Valerie Cooper is sort of a more likeable Henry Peter Gyrich- a government agent that interferes in superhuman activities. She sort of represents the fact that the real-life government would PROBABLY be resentful if superhumans came in and just started wrecking everything. She represented the groups that charged the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with becoming the government agents known as Freedom Force (engaging in basically evil activities under the guise of Uncle Sam), created the Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman, and helped strip Steve Rogers of his title and giving the Shield to John Walker. After this, she became a central character in Peter David's X-Factor as the government liaison to the new D-League Mutant Hero Team, since this one was supposed to be the group of "Tame Muties", more or less. Since the book was cancelled, she was turned onto various little programs here and there, generally taking the same role- not ENTIRELY antagonistic, but certainly obstructionist- putting Sentinels in charge of defending mutants probably ruffled SOME feathers in the X-camp.
-Cooper is a pretty good fighter in her own right, but is pretty much easily beaten by a superhuman of any level of power. She's basically a low-end Skillmonkey who's good with a gun. Certainly more likeable than Gyrich, and like him, easily able to bounce between government agencies as a director.

DOCTOR NEMESIS I (James Nicola Bradley)
Created By:
Unknown
First Appearance: Lightning Comics #6 (April 1941)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Club, Battle-Axis
PL 9 (135)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+11)
Insight 2 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 2 (+6)
Technology 4 (+11)
Treatment 5 (+12)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Hypodermic Gun), Inventor, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Self-Evolved Intellect"
Enhanced Skills 16: Science 6 (+17), Technology 5 (+16), Treatment 5 (+17) [8]
"Longevity Via Serums" Immunity 2 (Aging, Disease) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]
"See Genetic Anomalies" Senses 2 (Analytical Vision, Extended) [2]

"Twin Hypodermic Handguns" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [20]
"Narcotics" Affliction 8 (Fort; Impaired & Vulnerable/Disabled & Helpless/Incapacitated) (Feats: Split) (Extras: Extra Condition, Ranged) Linked to Blast 3 (31) -- (32 points)
AE: "Needles" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed & Fatigued/Compelled & Exhausted/Controlled & Asleep) (Feats: Split) (Extras: Extra Condition, Ranged) (Flaws: Limited to Telling the Truth) Linked to Blast 3 (23)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Hypodermic Guns +10 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Nazi Hunting)- Though he was once an ally of the Third Reich, Dr. Nemesis now hunts Nazis and Nazi Clones.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 14 (135)

-Okay, so THIS is the weird guy I see in the background of all those New Mutants & X-Men comics I have. I was wondering about him. Doctor Nemesis is actually a Golden Age superhero who was retroactively added to Marvel Continuity (he comes from the defunct "Ace Comics" company) to face The Invaders. He turned out to have joined the Nazis, but was now repentant, and eventually Marvel added him to the X-Books, and decided his genius was now because of Mutant Powers. He mostly just looks damned stylish in that white suit and hat of his (I gotta get me some of that) and does Science Stuff behind the scenes, though he can apparently fight. I'd be willing to bet there's a little bit of a "Doctor McNinja" homage going on with him, too, what with that white doctor's mask and the whole outfit.
-Doctor Nemesis is a basic Two-Fisted Adventurer build, but adds some Hypodermic Needle-Shooting Handguns and some Super-Scientist stuff (well into the upper-tiers, though below the Top Tier of Reed/Stark/Doom/etc.). He's invented an "Oscillator" (Earthquake Machine) and something that moved creatures through dimensions, but is generally really smart and can knock people out with his Needles (that are also kind of a Blast, because that would FRICKIN' HURT). The Earthquake Machine & his Middle Name seem to imply an homage to Nicola Tesla.

KARMA (Xi'an "Shan" Coy Manh)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Frank Miller
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #100 (Dec. 1980)
Role: The Mature One, The Boring One, The One Who Gets Written Out Alot
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Corporation
PL 10 (154)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (History) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Hunting) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Teaching) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Philosophy/Theology) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Treatment/Medicine) 2 (+5)
Insight 5 (+9)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Men Uniform), Languages (Vietnamese, English, French), Set-Up 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Possession"
Mind Control 10 (Extras: Concentration Duration) (Flaws: Feedback) (40) -- [42]
AE: "Multiple Possessions" Mind Control 6 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (24)
AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 10 (Will; Entranced/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative, Perception Range +2) (40)

"See Through Their Eyes" Mind Reading 5 (Extras: Sensory Link) (Flaws: Limited to Possessed Targets) [10]
"Psi-Defenses" Impervious Will 8 [8]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Possession +10 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Possess Group +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Mental Stun +10 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +6, Will +10

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Prejudice (Lesbian)- She even fell in love with Kitty Pryde for a bit there! I like to think that Kitty's magnificence is able to alter people's sexuality, myself...
Enemy (General Nguyen Ngoc Coy)- Karma's uncle is an evil General, lording over the island nation of Singapore. They have come into conflict many times.
Relationship (Leong & Nga)- Karma's younger twin siblings are a primary focus in her life, and they have disappeared or been targetted more than once.
Flashback- Karma and her mother were raped (long before it was popular for comic book heroines too) by pirates during her family's escape from Vietnam, and her mother died shortly thereafter. This memory still haunts her periodically.
Disabled (Cyborg)- Karma lost a leg to Cameron Hodge, but seems mostly untraumatized by it. Nonetheless, her leg is large, bulky and inhuman looking, and leaves her slightly more vulnerable to magnetic and electrical attacks.
Power Loss (Possession)- Karma's powers are psionic in nature, which leaves them weak in situations where her concentration or emotional state is hampered in some way.
Weakness- Karma's powers leave victims a little wobbly at first- they will be unable to use full abilities of any kind on the turn they are taken over.
Weakness (Tainted)- If Karma retains Possession of a target for too long, she will begin to adopt some of their personality traits or attitudes.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 60 / Defenses: 17 (154)

-Poor Karma. So many characters on this team with SO MUCH CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT over the years, and she just kind of got stuck in the lurch. She debuted a bit earlier than the other kids, and got added to the New Mutants' team as a Claremont-creation with the newly-created kids. She was initially a REALLY ugly duckling, being flat-chested (like most of the girls on the team), pig-nosed and short-haired, and had a bit of a hair-trigger temper surrounding her rape at the end of the Vietnam War (this made more sense in 1980, obviously). She quickly turned into the "Mature One" though, being the least-likely of the team to start crying (Rahne), moping (Sam), hitting (Bobby), lording over others (Amara), or being a rebellious twit (Dani- this was a screwed-up team).
-Problematically, this made "Shan" the LEAST INTERESTING character around- while the others got all sorts of '80s-level angst and fascinating stuff going on with them, Karma just kind of sat there and tut-tutted them, which resulted in her QUICK write-out- she vanished at the end of a Viper/Silver Samurai fight, and missed out on a ton of character-building adventures. They eventually found her, under the control of the Shadow King (Amal Farouk), who'd turned her into a relentless fatty-fatty-boombalatty (PC Version: Person of Gravity), but she got better after an Annual Two-Parter in Asgard.
-That STILL wasn't enough to make her interesting, however, so after the Mutant Massacre (where Psylocke effortlessly one-upped her Possession powers, which was bizarre since that's Karma's ONLY TRICK), her Plot Devices... I mean younger siblings (the ever-unseen Leong & Nga- how the frig do you pronounce that last one anyhow?) were kidnapped and she went off in search of them, pretty much leaving the team for a good long while. She found them with her evil Uncle Nguyen and did some stuff in Singapore (she became an occasional Wolverine supporting character around this time) but rarely interacted with the New Mutants- or X-Force- again.
-Modern times saw her come out of the closet (well, she hadn't been interested in any dudes yet, so it was hardly out of character... though most New Mutants fans had suspected OTHER characters on that book, to say the least), start teaching the REALLY young X-students, then vanish, then come back to the modern New Mutants series, which has seen her take a life (one of Legion's personalities) and lose a leg (to Cameron Hodge). Her new cyber-leg is pretty damn ugly, so hopefully they'll copy some of Forge's stuff to make her look more human. Karma's an interesting case overall, as writers have CONSTANTLY struggled for something interesting for her to do. But her siblings are really boring plot devices, she's kind of a Flat Character, and even making her a lesbian hasn't made her that much more interesting. She was rather funny on the new NM book, but that's it- she ended up mothering the surviving Limbo Baby "Face" and mostly disappeared from the book AGAIN. She eventually became a major cast member of one of five (or six or seven) recurring X-Books, where she met a half-sister who ran a company, but was then killed by their father, making Karma a Billionnaire.
-Karma is a pretty good Mind Controller archetype, though suffers Feedback if her targets are damaged horribly. She's in pretty good shape (but is highly vulnerable if you hit her), and has learned to fight really well over the years, but is still rather one-note. She has limited Mind Reading (with Remote Sensing as an Extra) and Impervious Will, but can't hold a candle to the more elaborate or heavily-Alt-Effecting Psionics like Emma Frost, Psylocke or Jean Grey. Her Possession is only at PL 10 levels because she rarely can possess the REALLY hardcore villains (there's either something preventing her from doing so, or they just plain out-will her), and it's usually just something she does to Mooks. She's only slightly over the "standard" PL 10 points cost, being very low on Advantages.

KARMA (Xi'an "Shan" Coy Manh)- Post-Asgard Visit
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Frank Miller
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #100 (Dec. 1980)
Role: The Mature One, The Boring One, The One Who Gets Written Out Alot
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 9 (135)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (History) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Hunting) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Philosophy/Theology) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Treatment/Medicine) 2 (+5)
Insight 5 (+9)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Men Uniform), Languages (Vietnamese, English, French), Set-Up 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Possession"
Mind Control 9 (Extras: Concentration Duration) (Flaws: Feedback) (36) -- [38]
AE: "Multiple Possessions" Mind Control 5 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (20)
AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 8 (Will; Entranced/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative, Perception Range +2) (32)

"See Through Their Eyes" Mind Reading 4 (Extras: Sensory Link) (Flaws: Limited to Possessed Targets) [8]
"Psi-Defenses" Impervious Will 3 [3]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Possession +9 (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Possess Group +5 Area (+5 Affliction, DC 15)
Mental Stun +9 (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Enemy (General Nguyen Ngoc Coy)- Karma's uncle is an evil General, lording over the island nation of Singapore. They have come into conflict many times.
Relationship (Leong & Nga)- Karma's younger twin siblings are a primary focus in her life, and they have disappeared or been targetted more than once.
Flashback- Karma and her mother were raped (long before it was popular for comic book heroines too) by pirates during her family's escape from Vietnam, and her mother died shortly thereafter. This memory still haunts her periodically.
Power Loss (Possession)- Karma's powers are psionic in nature, which leaves them weak in situations where her concentration or emotional state is hampered in some way.
Weakness- Karma's powers leave victims a little wobbly at first- they will be unable to use full abilities of any kind on the turn they are taken over.
Weakness (Tainted)- If Karma retains Possession of a target for too long, she will begin to adopt some of their personality traits or attitudes.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 16 (135)

-Karma's post-Asgard (a set of Annuals showed the New Mutants and Storm get separated into different parts of Asgard, where each one got a little boost or a personal storyline- it was really quite good, actually) self has just gotten through a TON of on-the-spot survival training (though it certainly helps when you can just POSSESS the target and make them sit there while you calmly kill them), and is in the shape of her "Modern" self, but a bit weaker on the Possession side, with a few ranks less in everything, and a tad less Awareness. Still a fairly good character at PL 9 (135), but like most Psionics, she doesn't even approach her Defensive caps.

KARMA (Xi'an "Shan" Coy Manh)- Debut
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Frank Miller
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #100 (Dec. 1980)
Role: The Mature One, The Boring One, The One Who Gets Written Out Alot
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 9 (79)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+3)
Deception 3 (+3)
Expertise (History) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Philosophy/Theology) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Treatment/Medicine) 2 (+3)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+2)
Stealth 3 (+4)

Advantages:
Languages (Vietnamese, English, French)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Possession"
Mind Control 8 (Extras: Concentration Duration) (Flaws: Feedback) (32) -- [33]
AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 6 (Will; Entranced/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative, Perception Range +2) (24)

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Possession +8 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Mental Stun +6 (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +1, Fortitude +3, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Enemy (General Nguyen Ngoc Coy)- Karma's uncle is an evil General, lording over the island nation of Singapore. They have come into conflict many times.
Relationship (Leong & Nga)- Karma's younger twin siblings are a primary focus in her life, and they have disappeared or been targetted more than once.
Flashback- Karma and her mother were raped (long before it was popular for comic book heroines too) by pirates during her family's escape from Vietnam, and her mother died shortly thereafter. This memory still haunts her periodically.
Power Loss (Possession)- Karma's powers are psionic in nature, which leaves them weak in situations where her concentration or emotional state is hampered in some way.
Weakness- Karma's powers leave victims a little wobbly at first- they will be unable to use full abilities of any kind on the turn they are taken over.
Weakness (Tainted)- If Karma retains Possession of a target for too long, she will begin to adopt some of their personality traits or attitudes.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 17 (79)

-Karma as a rookie is the highest-PL member of the New Mutants BY FAR (she's able to Possess guys like Spider-Man in her first appearance- even without the standard "first appearance" boost to stats every character ever gets, that's pretty high up there for a PL 5 group), but still very weak and easy to hurt. She's basically a normal teenage girl with some toughness, smarts and a really good Possession power.

PROFESSOR X (Charles Xavier)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: The Mentor, Master Telepath, Surprisingly-Evil Good Guy
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Starjammers, Cadre X, The Illuminati, The Brotherhood of Mutants
PL 14 (245)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY -2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+3)
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (The Arts) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Behavioral Sciences) 4 (+12)
Expertise (Mutant Leader) 10 (+18)
Expertise (History) 4 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+14)
Insight 10 (+15)
Investigation 2 (+7)
Perception 8 (+13)
Persuasion 6 (+10)
Technology 7 (+15)
Treatment 5 (+13)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 5 (Wealth- Billionaire), Equipment 14 (Wheelchair- X-Mansion, Blackbird Jet), Fearless, Inspire, Languages (Various), Leadership, Trance, Ultimate Insight Skill, Ultimate Mutant Leader Skill, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Omega-Level Telepathy"
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Check 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [2]

Mind-Reading 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless, Cumulative, Sensory Link) Linked to Mental Communication 4 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area, Selective) (96) -- [110]
Dynamic AE: "Focused Mind Control" Mind Control 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (57)
Dynamic AE: "Group Mind Control" Mind Control 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (51)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (57)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 15 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (32)
Dynamic AE: "Focused Mental Blast" Damage 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (57)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Illusions" Illusion (All Senses) 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Selective) (Flaws: Resisted by Will) (50)
AE: "Area Mental Blast" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective, Will Save) (50)
AE: "Brainwashing" Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Transformed Mentally) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (56)

"Mental Detection" Senses 7 (Mental Awareness- Ranged, Radius, Acute, Detect Mutants- Ranged & Radius) [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mind-Reading +14 Perception (DC 24)
Mind Attacks +10-14 Perception (+10-14 Perception Affliction, DC 20-24)
Mental Blast +10-14 Perception (+10-14 Perception Damage, DC 25-29)
Initiative -2

Defenses:
Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +2, Fortitude +5, Will +13 (+17 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Responsibility (The Dream)- Mutants and Humans must one day live together in trust and harmony. Charles' life is devoted to this purpose, however difficult the road might be.
Relationship (Various Women in his Life)- Jean Grey, Moira MacTaggart, Amelia Voght, Gabrielle Haller, Empress Lilandra, etc. Charles is pretty pimping for a bald guy in a chair. Though really, he only kind of crushed on Jean as a young student (which is still EWWWWWWWWWW). He was engaged to Moira, and fathered a child with Haller (the multi-personalitied lunatic Legion), and spent years off in the stars with Lilandra.
Guilt (Students' Deaths)- Xavier has buried many, many students over the years, and each one weighs heavily on his conscience.
Disabled (Wheelchair-Bound)- For most of his life in the public eye, Xavier is trapped in a wheelchair. This reduces his land speed to half of what is normal for a human being, and prevents him from covering certain kinds of terrain. If left without his chair, he will be unable to move other than by crawling.
Enemy (Magneto)- The two were once great friends and allies, but Magneto became more and more twisted by humanity's nature, and now the two are diametrically-opposed, unless Magneto has done a face turn.
Guilt (Moral Ambiguities)- Xavier has engaged in some nasty practices to ensure the survival of his team and his people.
Power Loss (Telepathy)- Moments of great anger, fear or other things can cause telepaths to lose or mishandle their powers temporarily, allowing the enemy to get the advantage. Charles was once nearly beaten to death by anti-mutant bigots because he was startled.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 80--40 / Advantages: 29 / Powers: 119 / Defenses: 17 (245)

-Professor Xavier is obviously one of the defining characters of the entire X-verse, being the heart of everything. A stern taskmaster in the '60s, he developed into his most well-rounded form under Chris Claremont, who used him leading the adult X-Men and pontificating philosophically more than actually helping out in fights to maximum potential. In the end, Chuck had fascinating relationships with Cyclops (his greatest student & accomplishment), Jean Grey (his most loved student), The Beast (a partner in science), Wolverine (a nasty rivalry turned respectful), Jubilee & Kitty (annoying young students who nonetheless loved him), Magneto (his best friend turned greatest rival), and more.
-The only problems any writers ever had with him was his great powers, which required CONSTANT work and careful monitoring. He was depowered frequently, even more than Banshee was. He vanished into space at least once. Various X-teams had to go on extended vacations all over the world just to avoid having Chuck be too involved with the stories. Nearly EVERY SINGLE ENEMY had to have some kind of device (sometiemes even on their henchmen!) that prevented them from simply being mentally taken over, ending the fight in two seconds. Ladies & gentlemen, this is why you should be careful in showcasing characters with supremely powerful abilities that are also not combat-related (ie. Wolverine or Hulk being super-powerful is OK most of the time, because they at least FIGHT; Professor X can end every fight without ANY action at all, which is much lamer).
-Another tricky thing is just HOW focused Charles is on his "Dream"- modern times have given MANY instances where Xavier himself has gone down a dark path to ensure the survival of his students and his people, many of which have split him from his students. Cyclops and the X-Men themselves turned their backs on him when it was revealed that he was essentially enslaving their sentient Danger Room to train his students, and was hiding the existence of the Third Summers Brother and a "mid-tier" X-team from the entire X-Men, and eventually Cyclops "fired" him as mutant leader and put himself in that position... only to take many OTHER extreme measures (such as a wetworks squad). It seems that you can't be the leader of a hated, feared, targetted group without getting your hands dirty.
-The Professor isn't meant to be a PC by any means, as he's PATHETIC on the attack, is immobile without his chair, and is basically a super-genius guy with supreme mental powers who also owns all the X-Men's cool crap so they don't have to pay for it with their own points. He's a PL 14 (most of my builds don't go over +10 in Will Saves, so +14 Afflictions and the like are rather tough to beat unless you're in the Doom/Cap/Magneto master class on Willpower) with MASSIVE Mental prowess (Mental Blast, Telepathy, Mind Control, etc.), but he's a tremendous Glass Cannon who'd go down to nearly any attack (some civilians once beat him within an inch of his life by surprising him- he was even at full power). Few characters are more powerful mentally than he, but in actual combat, he's limited, especially if numbers are against him.
-At various times, he's been both depowered, and been allowed to walk again (a clone body that later got crippled on it's own by the Shadow King), but that's all in Complications now anyways. He has occasionally used a Shi'ar Hoverchair that gives Flight 1 (Flaws: Low Ceiling), for one more point of Equipment. But in any incarnation, Chuck is SUPER-expensive, as is only right- his powers are vast, his Mind-Reading is the best anywhere, and he can communicate over a vast range, in a huge Area.

XORN I (Kuan-Yin Xorn)
Created By:
Grant Morrison & Leinil Francis Yu
First Appearance: The New X-Men Annual #1 (2001)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
Status: Killed by Wolverine
Role: The Mole, Super-Terrorist, Retroactively-Added Character
PL 14 (222)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+8)
Deception 10 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 8 (+10)
Perception 7 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Magnetic Blasts) 4 (+12)
Technology 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Benefit (Mutant Leader), Improved Critical (Magnetic Blast) 2, Improved Initiative, Languages (Chinese, English, Others), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Active Star Inside His Head"
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) [20]

Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Force Field 11 (Extras: Affects Others, 30ft. Burst, Impervious 19) (56) -- [79]
Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Energy Blast" Blast 14 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Wide Area Blast" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Line Area Blast" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Storm" Blast 14 (Extras: Multiattack) (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Trap" Snare 14 (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Mass Trap" Snare 14 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (56)
Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Lifting" Move Object 15 (Feats: Precise, Increased Mass 3- 12,000 tons) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Metallics -8) (42)
Dynamic AE: Nullify Electronics & Machinery 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Shape Metal" Transform Metals to Metals 15 (Feats: Increased Mass 5- 800 tons) (36)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Everywhere!" Environment 4 (Impede Movement 2) (9)
AE: "Solar Eruption" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3) (56)
AE: Healing 8 (16)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Magnetic Blast & Metal Storm +12 (+14 Ranged Damage, DC 29)
Area Blasts +14 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Metal Trap +13 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Mass Trap +14 Area (+14 Affliction, DC 24)
Thrown Object +12 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+15 Force Field), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Secret (Not Magneto)- Xorn has been duped into thinking he is Magneto, and thus has all of Magneto's personal Complications. Such as...
Motivation/Obsession/Responsibility ("Mutant Power!")- Magneto is at the forefront of the Mutant Power movement, and it's most symbolic militant activist. Magneto despises normal humans, and has at times seemed almost genocidal. Deep down, he fears the kind of horrors that inflicted his Jewish countrymen will befall mutants, and he's been proven right several times, so he's not just blowing smoke up people's asses.
Power Loss (Magnetism)- Magneto can lift a variety of non-ferrous objects by manipulating the tiniest of metallic substances, but some objects are beyond his capabilities.
Relationship (Quicksilver, Polaris & The Scarlet Witch)- Magneto is controlling and dominant towards his children, yet also protective. They view him with a mixture of awe and displeasure.
Relationship (Rogue, Lee Forrester, Magda)- Magneto doesn't have a Masters Degree in Pimping like Xavier does, but he does pretty well for himself.
Relationship (Charles Xavier)- The best of friends in a past life, both have since fallen into a massive schism, with Xavier favouring the "Open Hand" approach, and Magneto the dreaded "Closed Fist".
Responsibility (The New Mutants)- Despite his harsh exterior, Magneto truly cared for his young charges at Xavier's School, and was devastated when Doug Ramsey turned up dead.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 122 / Defenses: 14 (222)

-aahhhhhhhhhh XORN. Only in comics can you get situations like this, so full of Retcons and half-assed weird explanations. See, Xorn was introduced by Grant Morrison as the new X-Man on the block (many new writers get the opportunity to add a guy or two to the team's mythos, with... questionable results most of the time), and many fans seemed to like him by my recollection. But Morrison revealed what he'd planned all along, which was that "Xorn" was really MAGNETO in disguise. Mags got addicted to the Mutant Power-Boosting Drug "Kick", murdered Jean Grey, and set off a massive terrorist attack in New York City, killing THOUSANDS and enslaving the human population. Filled with rage over Jean's death, Wolverine decapitates Magneto to end the threat.
-The problem? The fans FREAKED, and Marvel was upset, too. See, Magneto wasn't some insane, deluded psychopath destined to copy Hitler's exact tactics (Erik set up crematoriums & concentration camps for humans), nor was he a drug addict or an indecisive putz- Morrison had created a VERY big event that had SOME links to the Magneto people loved, but he'd misunderstood a key aspect of the character. Magneto wasn't supposed to be some dependent loser, and the whole "he's doing what Hitler once did to his own people" thing was supposed to be a sad irony more than a "HAW HAW HE IS GASSING PEOPLE!!" black-comedy thing. Magneto was one of the most well-rounded characters in ALL OF COMICS, and despite Morrison's insistence that he was a loony terrorist (and written much like a Crazy Antagonist), there was a lot more to him than that. And so they got to changing things...
-Writers Chris Claremont & Chuck Austen cobbled together the explanation that Xorn was indeed a real guy, but had merely copied Magneto's appearance and deluded himself into believing he was the Master of Magnetism, and so all that crap was done by Xorn, and Xorn was dead. This was... DUMB, but at least explained the skips in characterization. And then he got a BROTHER named Shen Xorn, which allowed X-writers to put the popular Xorn character back on the team... sort of. This whole thing was needlessly confusing and goofy, and I don't even see either guy referred to EVER these days.
-Power-wise, Xorn I is basically a less mentally-capable Magneto who shares most of Mags' powers, plus a Burst Area effect of doom (implied to be able to incinerate the planet, but I'm not sure if that was something he could actually do, since that was Xorn-As-Magneto-As-Xorn bluffing), and some Healing. His brother Shen Xorn wasn't given much use, and bios are short on his full capabilities, but he has a Black Hole in his head that would allow him to pull anything inside it, even light. So... Move Object/Affliction/Concealment, or something. Plus minor Telepathic powers, the extent of which aren't commented on.

DOMINO (Neena Thurman)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza, Rob Liefeld (concept creator) & Greg Capullo (first artist on "real" Domino)
First Appearance: X-Force #8 (flashback), X-Force #11 (current)
Role: The Gun-Wielder, Action Girl, Spy Chick, Deadpan Snarker
Group Affiliations: X-Force, X-Corporation
PL 9 (158)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+12)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 8 (+10)
Expertise (Spy/Mercenary) 11 (+13)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 8 (+11)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+10)
Stealth 6 (+12)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Beginner's Luck, Equipment 6 (Arsenal), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Rifle) 2, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (Various), Move-By Action, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover & Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Everything Falls Into Place"
"Enemies Tend to Miss" Enhanced Advantages 11: Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion 2, Luck 5, Uncanny Dodge [11]
"Things Falling Into Place" Luck Control 2 (Prevent HP, Force Re-Rolls) [6]

Equipment:
Uniform (Protection 1) (1)
Assorted Spy Gear (9)
"Automatic Rifle" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18) -- (20)
AE: "Blaster Rifle" Damage 8 (Quirk: Inaccurate) (15)
AE: "Grenades" Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (18)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Rifle +12 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Blaster Rifle +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Grenades +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform, +5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Cable)- Domino and Cable have kind of an on-again/off-again thing going.
Relationship (Milo Thurman)- The two were married years ago, but they thought each other dead.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 68--34 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 15 (158)

-I've ranted about Rob Liefeld's tendencies as both an artist and as a writer/concept creator a billion times, but it never quite gets old. Domino is a hallmark of his: Patches or things over the eyes (Domino has one circle-thingie, Deadpool and Wildside both have two; Cable & Shatterstar both have eye-stars). Despite being a mutant, she was mainly a "Gun Chick" for years, actually having a metahuman power added either after the fact, or as an afterthought in general (Cable's Telekinesis, Shatterstar's Sword-Blast). Generic mysterious origin with little snippets given here or there, meant to copy Wolverine's famously-hidden beginnings. It's all there.
-Her history with X-Force is rather funny, as the Domino we saw pop in all of a sudden during the final days of The New Mutants turned out to be an imposter, a Mystique rip-off named Copycat, who was a mole on the team for Cable's nemesis the crimeboss Mr. Tolliver. This was weird storytelling, but it almost seems like a "take THAT" to Liefeld, who was departing for Image Comics at the time, by taking his character and insert some other nonsense to it. Needless to say, Domino EVENTUALLY joined the team for reals (curiously waiting until after Cable had died and then came back, despite Cable telling her to "Find X-Force!" as they were separated), and flirted with Cable while generally being the Deadpan Snarker who snidely mocked everyone else (without being too annoying about it). She eventually became Team Leader during the weaker era of the book, but surprisingly, unlike most '90s creations and minor-league X-people, she's had a bit of longevity: She featured heavily during the Red Hulk storyline for whatever reason, and has had a Limited Series or two over the years. Quite impressive for what at-heart is a Black Widow knock-off with Longshot-ish powers.
-Really, the most notable thing about her was her penchant for crazy, back-bending poses while Tony Daniel drew X-Force- she would do stuff like this while JUMPING and being UPSIDE-DOWN, wearing a tight leather outfit full of carefully-placed holes over the thighs.
-Domino has the Mutant Power that allows "Everything to Fall Into Place" for her. This generally means that people miss when aiming for her, she hits just the right button to stop a bomb, and she always finds the easiest exit, etc. Curiously, Probability Control isn't listed in 3e at this time (kind of a rare power, so I get that), but that's OK, because that or Luck Control both handle things like that equally well. Otherwise, I could just use P.C., just transferred directly from 2e to 3e. The way she is now, she just has a stack of Hero Points, plus a ton of Defensive Advantages as part of her Powers, with the Luck Control abilities to screw with her enemies' rolls. As a one-off, she kept some storm clouds over some Sentinels, setting off a lightning bolt on them- it's the only time that sort of thing has happened- the rest of the time she just moves out of the way of stuff.

DOMINO (Neena Thurman)- With Probability Control
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza, Rob Liefeld (concept creator) & Greg Capullo (first artist on "real" Domino)
First Appearance: X-Force #8 (flashback), X-Force #11 (current)
Role: The Gun-Wielder, Action Girl, Spy Chick, Deadpan Snarker
Group Affiliations: X-Force, X-Corporation
PL 9 (172)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+12)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 8 (+10)
Expertise (Spy/Mercenary) 11 (+13)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 8 (+11)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+10)
Stealth 6 (+12)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Beginner's Luck, Equipment 6 (Arsenal), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Rifle) 2, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (Various), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover & Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Everything Falls Into Place"
"Enemies Tend to Miss" Enhanced Advantages 11: Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion 2, Luck 5, Uncanny Dodge [11]
"Makes Things Fall Into Place" Probability Control 6 (Flaws: Uncontrolled) [18]

Equipment:
Uniform (Protection 1) (1)
Assorted Spy Gear (9)
"Automatic Rifle" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18) -- (20)
AE: "Blaster Rifle" Damage 8 (Quirk: Inaccurate) (15)
AE: "Grenades" Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (18)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Rifle +12 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Blaster Rifle +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Grenades +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform, +5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Cable)- Domino and Cable have kind of an on-again/off-again thing going.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 68--34 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 16 (172)

-With Probability Control (probably the same cost as in 2e), she can now roll a minimum of 6 on any given roll, but it's Uncontrolled (since it's always been a minor aspect of her character and her powers in the comics). You could really give it almost ANY kind of Rank and have it be half-way accurate to the comic, but this is about as much as you need, I think. It boosts the cost of the character by a FAIR ways, so I would probably not go by this method.

COPYCAT (Vanessa Geraldine Carlysle)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: New Mutants #98 (Feb. 1991)
Role: The Gun-Wielder, Action Girl, Spy Chick, The Mole, Mystique Rip-Off
Group Affiliations: X-Force, Tolliver's Organization
PL 9 (152)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 11 (+15)
Expertise (Spy/Mercenary) 9 (+10)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 6 (+8)
Sleight of Hand 3 (+7)
Stealth 6 (+11)
Technology 4 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Equipment 6 (Arsenal), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Rifle), Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Shapeshifting"
Mimic 4 [20]
Shapeshift 2 (Flaws: Limited to Subjects She's Touched) [14]

Equipment:
Uniform (Protection 1) (1)
Assorted Spy Gear (9)
"Automatic Rifle" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18) -- (20)
AE: "Blaster Rifle" Damage 8 (Quirk: Inaccurate) (15)
AE: "Grenades" Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (18)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Rifle +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Blaster Rifle +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Grenades +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Secret- Vanessa is usually deep in disguise, and must keep her true origins secret.
Relationship (Deadpool)- Vanessa has dated the Merc With A Mouth in the past, and the two are in a love/hate kind of thing.
Relationship (Garrison Kane)- She has a thing for Liefeld characters, I guess.
Relationship (Tina)- Vanessa's best pal is a smokin'-hot brunette Bostonian who hangs out at a certain bar, and is an ex of a certain failed baseball player.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 62--31 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 13 (152)

-May as well do a Copycat build. She's basically a Mole inserted by Tolliver to disrupt & kill X-Force, but she ended up trying to make amends, though it nearly got her killed. There was some background stuff involving Domino (who was QUITE annoyed to have been held captive for over a year while Vanessa took her place, to put it mildly) and Deadpool (whom she dated for a time), but it was really minor to the book, though it did produce a Marvel Comics appearance of the gang from Cheers (no, really- I didn't pick up on it as a kid, but it's definitely obvious as an adult, right down to Cliff's Bah-ston accent and Sam hitting on her friend). She got more play in Deadpool's own series, where she was eventually killed by Sabretooth. Honestly, I think it was a weird plot twist, not entirely great, and the character was basically "Mystique, But Nicer", so I'm not a big fan. Obviously she wasn't that important overall, as despite being an X-Force member, she's been forgotten to history, and hasn't reappeared ever, despite her BF being a major Marvel character.
-Copycat's a tricky one, as her Mimic power is apparently powerful enough to copy superhuman powers, in addition to morphing her mind and body to fool even the closest allies (Cable was very familiar with Domino, and was fooled for months; even telepaths can usually not tell Copycat from the original... this is of course comics, where Deception ALMOST ALWAYS WORKS, which doesn't quite fit in an RPG where you roll off to see who believes what). This leaves her a PL 8 baseline character, but she can boost her traits up to allow a PL 9 fighter (she was PL 9 as the fake Domino). As a Flaw, she needs to actually have touched anyone she full-on mimics, though she can still adopt the appearances just by looking at pictures.

DEADPOOL (Wade Wilson)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: The New Mutants #98 (Feb. 1991)
Role: Unexpected Triumph, Crazy Guy, Fourth-Wall-Breaking Guy, Smart-Assed Assassin
Group Affiliation: Weapon X Program, X-Force, The Deadpool Corps., Agency-X, Landau Luckman & Lake, The Maggia, The Frightful Four, The Secret Defenders, The Heroes For Hire, Six Pack, The X-Men
PL 11 (203)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 14 DEXTERITY 7
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+14)
Athletics 7 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+14)
Deception 5 (+6)
Expertise (Assassin) 7 (+7)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 8 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Investigation 1 (+2)
Perception 5 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Stealth 1 (+8)
Technology 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Daze (Deception), Diehard, Equipment 6 (Guns, Sword, Spy Tech), Evasion, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical 2 (Sword, Gun), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Languages 2 (Various), Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Ultimate Healing Factor"
Regeneration 12 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [13]
Immunity 2 (Poison, Aging, Disease) (Flaws: First Two Limited to Half-Effect) [2]

"Psychotic" Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]

"Personal Teleportation Device" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [17]
Teleport 7 (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (28 points)

Equipment:
"Guns" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18) -- (20)
AE: "Sword" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Penetrating 4) (6)
AE: "Grenade" Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Diminished Range -1) (17)
Offense:
Unarmed +15 (+6 Damage, DC 23)
Sword +14 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Grenade +6 Area (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Guns +12 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +15 (DC 25), Toughness +6, Fortitude +9, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Insanity)- Deadpool is flat-out, full-blown nuts. He is almost incapable of being series for any length of time, jokes about everything (often in an inappropriate matter), lusts after elderly women, and kills people for money.
Motivation (Money)- Deadpool has been known to switch sides mid-assignment for cash.
Relationship (Bea Arthur)- Wade Wilson has only one true love.
Relationship (Siryn)- Next to his beloved Bea, the beautiful Irish lass Theresa Cassidy is his most-beloved relation. Her feelings for him are more complicated, as she's usually hooked up with other fellows.
Relationship (Copycat)- Vanessa Carlyle was another stooge of the crimelord Tolliver, and was dating Wilson for a long time. Since both are amoral monsters, it doesn't work out well, and they've often tried to kill each other.

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 34 / Powers: 42 / Defenses: 17 (203)

-Deadpool is a guy who was pretty much unexpected to become a huge runaway success with several solo books, a movie appearance and his own video game. After all, he was created by Rob Liefeld among a HUGE swath of guys clearly designed from whatever characters he had on his sketch pad that day- his contemporaries include forgotten nobodies like Gideon, Crule, The Mutant Liberation Front, and minor X-characters like Domino and Feral. Even Shatterstar went forgotten for a long time, and is really only like 25th in line for "popular X-Men characters". Wade wasn't even original- his status as a Deathstroke rip-off was so obvious that they named him "Wade Wilson" after Slade! So it's all the crazier that yet another one of Liefeld's gun & sword-wielding eye-circle-having people became a major character.
-Funny thing is, it's scarcely on Liefeld's shoulders. Initially, Deadpool was a smart-ass who got beat by the newly-introduced Domino and humiliatingly mailed back to his boss Mr. Tolliver in a box. In HIS FIRST APPEARANCE. All he did that was impressive in his debut was beat Shatterstar! But he was funny enough (thanks to Fabian Nicieza's dialogue) that fans geled to him quickly, and he's start snarking it up in a few random X-Force issues (I laughed my ass off when he cracked wise while carrying a fatally-injured Black Tom Cassidy through the World Trade Centre wreckage- demolished by Juggernaut, not an airplane- and added "-- and stop bleeding on me"), and only got drawn by Rob maybe three or four times in that entire span.
-Wade had a few more X-Force appearances under Greg Capullo's pencil, but really didn't show up very often. Curiously, despite many fans being into him (the letters page had more Deadpool stuff than half the X-Force characters), they REALLY didn't push him too hard. In fact, this happened quite a lot during the 1990s- they would have a hot character and just wouldn't pull the trigger on them, seemingly witholding them from the fans- the same thing happened to Magik (fans were DESPERATE for Illyana to come back... instead they killed her) and Blink (a popular early-fatality of the Generation-X concept, dying to save her fellow young mutants' lives). It was stubborn and weird. Wade would take a few years before he REALLY took off, being written by a group of good comedy writers. His series was beyond irreverant, featured Fourth-Wall-Breaking the likes of which hadn't been seen since the days of John Byrne's She-Hulk run, and was altogether hilarious stuff. The best one was naturally the issue where he went back in time to live a day in the life of Peter Parker (complete with old John Romita art from an old Spider-Man issue!), making fun of the trademark Osborn Hair, and telling Aunt May that he was going through puberty. Blind Al's inferring that Mary-Jane was on crack was grand, too.
-Overall, I heavily prefer a book that's funny because the hero is weird and cynically cracks jokes about things with pitch-black dark humour, than a book that's "funny" because the heroes all have stupid names and powers, or do stupid things. This is what makes Deadpool better than The Great Lakes Avengers in my mind- it's self-consciously, ironically funny and cracks wise at the industry itself without trying to be all "BWAH-HAH-HAHA AREN'T WE HUMOROUS BECAUSE THIS GIRL IS A MODEL WHO TURNS INTO A FAT CHICK AND THIS GUY DIES A LOT!!!?!!?" The first one actually takes talent to write.
-Deadpool tends to have some high stats and Power Levels around here, but I didn't wanna go too nuts- his key advantage is less his various skills (though he IS quite skilled), but the fact that he's damn near unkillable. He's regenerated from decapitation, near-vaporization, having a hole the size of Rosie O'Donnell blasted through him with a laser gun, and more. And he regenerates FAST, too- he makes Wolverine & Sabretooth look like slowpokes. Overall, he's good enough a fighter to hold off any PL 11 for a good while, and his stamina makes him extremely dangerous. For some reason, many people assume he has superhuman strength, and I don't recall EVER seeing a hint of that in the comics, and it's not mentioned anymore anyhow, so he's basically a just-above Captain America-level physical specimen with great martial arts.
FERAL (Maria Collasantos)
Created By:
Rob Liefeld & Fabian Nicieza
First Appearance: The New Mutants #99 (March 1991)
Role: The Bad Girl, The Judas, The Psycho, The Animalistic One
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants/X-Force, The Mutant Liberation Front, The Morlocks, X-Corporation
PL 9 (118)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+10)
Close Combat (Claws) 3 (+11)
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 8 (+8)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Claws), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Animalistic Form"
"Claws" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
"Tail" Extra Limbs 1 [1]
Movement 1 (Sure-Footed) [2]
"Healing Factor" Regeneration 4 [4]
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 2 [2]

"Animal Senses" Senses 6 (Extended & Acute Scent, Extended & Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing, Tracking- Scent) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +6, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Orange-furred and possessing a tail, Feral cannot be mistaken for a normal human.
Reputation (Psycho)- Feral is quite literally insane, and enjoys both violence and causing pain. She is barely restrained at the best of times, and has badly injured teammates during training excercises.
Secret (Murdered Her Family)- Maria's past involves four deaths: She murdered her mother's abusive boyfriend when he tried to rape her sister, possibly pushed one sibling down the stairs, possibly refused to help another who was about to fall to their death, and willingly murdered her own mother for killing her beloved pigeons.
Relationship (Thornn- Sister)- Thornn allied with the evil Masque and his Morlocks at first, but turned out to be the "good one".

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 14 (118)

-God, Feral was an awful character- a Morlock on the run from Masque's boys, she used gloves despite having CLAWS AS HER MAIN POWER, and teamed with Cable for protection and mutual aid. While all the ex-New Mutants and other newbies were undergoing all this character growth on X-Force (Cable & Shatterstar became more than '90s stereotypes, for example), Feral was basically undiluted, raw aggression, doing all sorts of horrible things, and trying to kill nearly every enemy the team made. She sliced open Cannonball during a TRAINING EXCERCISE, nearly killing him, and threatened to do so to other teammates as well. Finally, she joined Reignfire's Mutant Liberation Front by attacking Peter Gyrich (well, she's hardly the first super-hero to try THAT), then got a murder-filled past discovered, and then she joined the new Hellions, ripping Siryn's throat out in the process. Also she had the Legacy Virus.
-Finally, she was written out of the books for years (popping up in X-Corporation, likely because some writer forgot/didn't read her history) before getting de-powered on M-Day. She & her sister were given mutant forms by some bad guy and formed a kind of "Team Claws" with Wolverine and others, but she ended up having to fight an enraged Sabretooth, who effortlessly killed her (it was implied her powers weren't there- just her appearance). She vanished for a while, before being resurrected by Cat & Wolf Spirits to hunt down a pregnant Wolfsbane.
-All in all, it's pretty clear that most writers had no idea how to handle her character- a one-note Wolverine knock-off at heart, and all the murder-mystery-backstory in the world wasn't gonna make her interesting. Fabian Nicieza just never bothered to make her anything other than the snide, animalistic fighter who was grouchy all the time and repeatedly used excessive force. All the crap with her joining the M.L.F., The Hellions and contracting the Legacy Virus just screams of "well, we have to do SOMETHING with her"- the Virus in particular was notorious for only affecting less-important and under-utilized characters, effectively being the "No More Mutants" of its time.
-Feral's your everyday PL 9 Scrapper build, using a bunch of Animal-based powers (Claws, Senses, etc.), but not really getting up to too much great stuff. She's notably not very balanced defensively, ESPECIALLY because she virtually always uses All-Out Attack at full ranks, which is kind of her Achilles Heel in the books. She's portrayed as a lethal, all-out kind of fighter, one whom most would rather not fight, but not really super-capable or anything. Notably, Wolfsbane beat the living CRAP out of her in a fight during the X-Cutioner's Song (Peter David may've been using it as a "take that" to Rob Liefeld, who merely created his OWN Wolfsbane when the original left the New Mutants), and she was generally the first member of her team taken out of the fight most of the time- her only big win in the comics was against Weapon: P.R.I.M.E.'s Yeti. So she's decent, but limited.

THORNN II (Lucia Collasantos)
Created By:
Rob Liefeld & Fabian Nicieza
First Appearance: X-Force #6 (Jan. 1992)
Role: Dark Mirror Image Villain, The Sudden Face Turn
Group Affiliations: X-Corporation, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The Morlocks
PL 9 (116)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+8)
Athletics 3 (+9)
Close Combat (Claws) 3 (+11)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 8 (+8)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Evasion, Fast Grab, Follow-Up Strike, Improved Critical (Claws), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Animalistic Form"
"Claws" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
"Tail" Extra Limbs 1 [1]
Movement 1 (Sure-Footed) [2]
"Healing Factor" Regeneration 4 [4]
Speed 2 [2]
Leaping 2 [2]

"Animal Senses" Senses 6 (Extended & Acute Scent, Extended & Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing, Tracking- Scent) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +6, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Orange-furred and possessing a tail, Thornn cannot be mistaken for a normal human.
Rivalry (Feral)- Lucia has a bizarre relationship with her sister, at first trying to hunt her down maliciously, then later trying to bring her to justice.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 14 (116)

-Thornn is Feral's sister, and was first an antagonist, joining the Brotherhood to hunt her & X-Force down, but later suddenly becoming this benevolent nice person, trying to bring Feral to justice for the deaths of their younger siblings and mother. For some reason, this later turned to them being on the SAME TEAM, as an X-Corporation squad. She was de-powered on M-Day, but didn't die like Feral for some reason. Was there actually somebody who wanted this sub-minor character still around? For stats, she's basically identical to Feral in every way, but a bit less of a nasty fighter so she loses some Advantages, but gains a bit of Awareness.

RANDOM (Marshall Evan Stone III)
Created By:
Peter David & Joe Quesada
First Appearance: X-Factor #88 (March 1993)
Role: '90s Anti-Hero
Group Affiliations: The Acolytes, X-Factor, The Brotherhood of Mutants, Strikeforce, The Dark Descendants
Fate: Still alive and on The Acolytes
PL 10 (145)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+6)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Mercenary) 7 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Technology 4 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Improved Aim, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 10

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Protoplasmic Body"
"Shapeshifting" Variable (Offensive Powers) 5 (Extras: Move Action) [40]

(Typical Powers: Gun Blast 8 (Multiattack) (24), Protection 3 & Strength 5 (16))

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Bolster Strength +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Gun Arms +12 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Kind of a Good Guy)- Random's a merc, but has standards.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 14 (145)

-Poor Random. Unlike every Acolyte but Frenzy/Cargill, Random wasn't created for the team. He was a Peter David-created X-Factor character who bounced around being an anti-hero mercenary who hunted mutants or something. But with that series dying out, the dreaded late-'90s period of comics came calling, and nearly everyone who wasn't SUPER-important to the X-canon basically fell into Marvel Limbo. This being the worst of ALL Limbos (at least in DC, you get a tribute issue here or there like the Marvel Family does, in MARVEL's Limbo you're doomed to being jobbed to Wolverine along with fifty other guys in a single issue). And so, Random casually popped up during Messiah Complex, as an Acolyte, the writers suddenly ignoring that he was kind of a good-guy (he teamed with the Brotherhood once, but soon helped Havok free several people). Being somewhat visually unique (grey-skinned and dressed like a grunge rocker), he's in a lot of background shots otherwise.
-In actuality, Random was created by The Dark Beast from a mass of protoplasm, and was made his helper. He escaped and became a bounty hunter, which led to him fighting X-Factor over some Genoshan expatriots (creatively called The X-Patriots), but his merc nature reared its head and Havok bought out his contract. He allied with them briefly, showing a good side, and later teams with Havok when he tries to undermine the Brotherhood from within. It was after this (and David's leaving X-Factor) that resulted in him going into Marvel Limbo, where he was doomed to periodically show up in a bunch of random stories, on some random side... effectively making his name SUPER-accurate.
-Random has a vague kind of Shapeshifting, allowing him to change his body to counter-act certain threats. Usually he just turns his hands into guns (could he BE any more Iron Age?), but he can also bolster his physical capabilities, and he's generally a PL 9.5 kind of guy. Powerful, but not too powerful.

MIMIC (Calvin Rankin)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Werner Roth
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #19 (April 1966)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Dark X-Men
Role: Token Evil Teammate, Constantly-Limbo'd Character, The First Game-Breaking Mutant, The Power Copier
PL 12 (359)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 3/8 AGILITY 2/8
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+12)
Deception 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (X-Powers) 4 (+10)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Chemically-Altered Powers: Absorbs All Superhuman Powers in Range"
Variable 14 (Extras: Reaction +3) [140]

"Permanent Powers of the Original Five X-Men"
"The Beast"
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
Enhanced Stamina 5 [10]
Enhanced Agility 6 [12]
Features: May Use Feet as Hands [1]

"Marvel Girl's Telepathy" Mind-Reading 6 Linked to Communication (Mental) 2 (Extras: Area, Selective) [24]
"Calculate Angles" Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Calculations of Angles -2) [1]
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Check 2 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [1]
Immunity 10 (Cold Effects) [10]
"Ice Slides" Flight 3 (16 mph) (Extras: Affects Others) (Flaws: Platform) [6]
Senses 1 (Infravision) [1]
Movement 1 (Sure-Footed) (Flaws: Limited to Ice) [1]

"Cyclops' Optic Blasts"
"Long-Range Beam" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2, Penetrating) (44) -- [63]
AE: "Standard Blast" Blast 11 (Feats: Accurate, Split, Ricochet 4) (Extras: Penetrating) (39)
AE: "Wide-Angle Beam" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (36)
AE: "Power Blast" Blast 12 (Extras: Penetrating 14) (40)
AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 10 (Extras: Multiattack) (30)
"Iceman's Ice Control"
AE: Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Ranged) (40)
AE: "Ice Wave" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 60ft. Cone) (40)
AE: "Ice Stream" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 30ft. Line) (40)
AE: "Ice Slick" Affliction 10 (Strength or Agility; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (20)
AE: "Ice Slick" Affliction 10 (Strength or Agility; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Shapeable +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (20)
AE: Create Ice 8 (Feats: Dynamic, Innate, Precise) (Extras: Continuous) (26)
AE: Environment 5 (500 feet) (Impede Movement, Visibility, Cold 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (20)
AE: "Ice Slab" Blast 8 (16)
AE: "Cold Wave" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Fortitude Save) (30)
AE: "Make Brittle" Weaken Toughness 8 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects Only +0) (16)
"Jean Grey's Mental Powers"
AE: "Mental Detection" Senses 4 (Mental Awareness, Radius, Extended, Acute) (4)
AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (40)
AE: "Mental Blast" Damage 11 (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (44)
AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 11 (Feats: Precise) (23)
AE: Deflect 11 (22)

"Mutant Powers: Wings"
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- High Altitudes) [2]
Senses 1 (Extended Vision) [1]

"Angelic Wings"
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Feats: Subtle) (Flaws: Winged) [8]
Enhanced Advantages 6: Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion 2, Move-By Action (Flaws: Limited to While Flying) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Area Attacks +11-12 (+11-12 Damage, DC 26-27)
Optic Blasts +10 (+10-12 Ranged Damage, DC 25-27)
Freeze +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Freezing/Ice/Mental Stun +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Mind-Reading -- (+6 Mind-Reading, DC 16)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +8 (+9 D.Roll), Fortitude +9, Will +4 (+6 vs. Mental Effects)

Complications:
Motivation (Power)
Responsibility (Bipolar Disorder)- Calvin is prone ot acting differently with each appearance. Well, most comic book characters do that, but in this case it's a medical issue.
Power Loss/Vulnerable (Going Over Five Subjects)- Mimic will suffer terrible damage if forced to go over mimicking five subjects.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 296 / Defenses: 11 (359)

-Mimic's a very old character, and so unbelievably powerful that he only shows up rarely. Despite his great power, he's often been defeated (once by Warpath & Risque!) because he's rather stupid, and often bites off more than he can chew. He's a pretty good example of a throwaway 1960s villain, created to be just another Amazo-like "I have ALL of your powers!" kind of guy. He was so dumb and power-hungry that he DEMANDED to be made leader of the X-Men once (after his memory returned from his first meeting with the team... the '60s was BIG on "memory wipe" endings), but he lost his powers after saving the team from The Super-Adaptoid (see what I mean about 1960s villains?). He sacrificed himself against the Hulk years later, but lying in state near Wolverine caused him to absorb a Healing Factor and wake up!
-I think the comparative obscurity of Mimic has something to do with his rare '60s appearances and the fact that Chris Claremont never really liked him- when the guy has control of the book for like 20 years, it's hard to make do with a comeback unless he's taken with you. It wasn't until modern times that his resurrected and got used here and there, but still usually as a background guy. He did the "Marvel Limbo" thing and suffered from "Back To Basics Syndrome" (a friend calls this "Scrubs Syndrome" because that show always did it too when people learned lessons and then were the same character next episode) as he joined Excalibur, then became evil again. Eventually they pulled a Namor-like "he's bipolar" to explain all of it.
-Mimic's as costly as they come, what with his MASSIVE power, allowing him to copy the powers and skills of anyone within range. The absolute range of his power varies, but basically, if you're fighting him, you're in it. He can copy tons of powers at once, it's always active (it once mimicked Wolverine's Healing Factor while Cal was IN A COMA), and it's a Burst Area Effect so he doesn't have to make an attack roll. In addition to those, he's got the powers of the Original Five X-Men on a permanent basis, making him already a threat WITHOUT his Mimicking Field going. He's notably weaker in Power Level unless he's absorbing Attack Focus or something, but at that point, you better watch out. I felt like limiting him to +11 on that, just for the sake of fairness. So he's not any higher in PL than the most elite X-Men, but hoo boy, is he ever more capable.

THE WHITE QUEEN (Emma Frost)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #129 (Jan. 1980)
Role: Miss Fanservice, The Queen Bitch, The Repentant Villain, The Brat
Group Affiliations: The Hellfire Club, The Hellions, Generation-X, The X-Men, The Cabal
PL 12 (200)
STRENGTH
1/11 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 6

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 3 (+4)
Deception 5 (+11, +16 Attractive)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+7)
Expertise (Teacher) 3 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 7 (+12)
Expertise (Behavioral Sciences) 6 (+11)
Insight 5 (+10)
Perception 5 (+10)
Persuasion 6 (+12, +17 Attractive)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Assessment, Attractive 2, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Daze (Persuasion), Fascinate (Persuasion), Interpose, Languages (Various), Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy & Diamond Body"

Mind-Reading 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Sensory Link) Linked to Mental Communication 4 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area, Selective) (62) -- [76]
Dynamic AE: "Psionic Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range, Alternate Save- Will) (49)
Dynamic AE: "Focused Control" Mind Control 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (49)
Dynamic AE: "Mass Control" Mind Control 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 15 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (32)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 12 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (49)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Illusions" Illusion (All Senses) 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Selective) (Flaws: Resisted by Will) (40)
AE: "Brainwashing" Affliction 12 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Transformed Mentally) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (Flaws: Distracting) (36)
AE: "Diamond Form" (46)

"Diamond Form" (46 points)
Enhanced Strength 10 (20)
Protection 10 (Extras: Impervious 9) (Drawbacks: Weak Point) (18)
Immunity 4 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Starvation & Thirst) (4)
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Check 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) (2)
Features 2: Increased Mass 2 (2)

"Mental Detection" Senses 7 (Mental Awareness- Ranged, Radius, Acute, Detect Mutants- Ranged & Radius) [7]
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Check 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Attacks) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Diamond Form +6 (+11 Damage, DC 27)
Psionic Blast +12 Perception (+12 Perception Damage, DC 27)
Mind Control & Stun +8-12 Area/Perception (+8-12 Affliction, DC 18-22)
Brainwashing +12 Perception (+12 Perception Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+12 Diamond Form, +5 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +10 (+14-18 Mental Effects)

Complications:
Motivation (Herself)- Emma is in it for Emma. She wanted money & power, and still enjoys the finer things in life, despite her newfound role as a mutant leader.
Reputation (Bad Deeds)- Emma is responsible for a HELLLLLL of a lot of death & destruction in her "bad days", up to and including first-degree murder, manslaughter, brain-washing, rape, accessory to rape, and more. Some of this haunts her, some of it she finds merely amusing. Few people who know anything about Emma Frost trust her all of the time. Even with the boobs.
Rivalry (Kitty Pryde)- Kitty was kidnapped on orders of Emma Frost when she was thirteen years old. Kitty has never forgotten, nor forgiven Emma for this, and trusts her the least out of all the X-Men.
Enemy (Sebastian Shaw)- Emma made a powerful enemy when she betrayed Shaw.
Relationship (Scott Summers, Namor, Sebastian Shaw)- Emma has shared a bed with these men and many others. She has some feelings/lust for Namor and his green undies, but it is Cyclops that owns her heart now.
Guilt (The Hellions)- Emma Frost's initial heroic turn was because of the loss of her students, The Hellions. Despite being a stern, overbearing teacher who was flat-out Neutral Evil, she did love her charges, and went into a near-permanent mental shock when they were slain by Trevor Fitzroy. The guilt from this caused her to join Xavier's cause and help a new generation of teenagers deal with their powers (Generation-X), and eventually led to a full teaching job once Xavier's turned back into a school.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 85 / Defenses: 16 (200)

-Where to start with Emma Frost... Initially tossed into the group of Hellfire Club members, her particularly stand-out appearance (ie. dressing like a lingerie fantasy) led to her being used more and more, eventually eclipsing Sebastian Shaw, the group's leader. She became a major focal point of the New Mutants series, leading the Rival School of Hellions. It was here that she showed a more human side as well, growing to like her students, and even feel for the New Mutants themselves when she manipulated Xavier into placing them in her care. This is what led to her Face Turn, as she was put into a coma due to the murders of her students by Trevor Fitzroy, and when she came out of it YEARS later, she decided to make good, leading Generation-X. Though that team ended up being yet another "Disposable Teen Hero" franchise, it set the stage for her to become an official X-Man under Grant Morrison (who retconned her into being British to go along with her snottiness), later perfected under Joss Whedon. So here we have a great hero out of weird origins. Plus, it's fun to have a REALLY dirty-minded woman around- it's an extremely interesting character in that she's technically a hero, but you know that Emma Frost is ALWAYS first in her mind.
-Emma's pretty easy to figure out once you get where the Alternate Form fits... since her Telepathy is inconsistently shown as working while she's doing it (a general consensus now is that it doesn't), I just took the Telepathy Array, and put them all with the Diamond Body Alternate Form as an Alternate Effect. If you prefer that she can use her powers with the Diamond Form, just make that power Dynamic too- that way her psionic abilities are still lessened while using it.
-Emma is extremely powerful and dangerous, even for the X-Men, being a PL 12 Mind Controller archetype (a bit below the PL 14 Charles Xavier, but much mightier than any other X-Men- even Jean Grey is only PL 11) with an Alternate Form that turns her into a Mini-Brick instead. She rivals Rogue in Strength in that form, but Emma is NOT a melee fighter, and has only baseline capabilities in close combat as a result (Kitty Pryde once effortlessly beat THE CRAP out of her using her Ninja Skillz). She's more effective at screwing with the minds of people. She can also do some Brainwashing (usually only to minions, and that's relegated to "you will vomit uncontrollably for hours if you ever hear the following words:"), but that's also outside the Dynamic part of her array.

SLIPSTREAM (Davis Cameron)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Salvador Larocca
First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #6 (Dec. 2001)
Group Affiliations: X-Treme X-Men
Status: De-Powered but Alive
Role: Background Character, Team Teleporter
PL 7 (153)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 8 (+10)
Expertise (Surfer) 10 (+15) -- (Uses Agility)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Attractive, Equipment (X-Men Uniform- Protection +1, Communications, Surfboard- Gains the Easy Teleport Feat), Ranged Attack, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Warp Wave Riding"
Teleport 12 (Feats: Change Direction, Change Velocity) (Extras: Extended, Easy, Portal +2) (Flaws: Easy is Limited to With Surfboard) [66]

"Super-Tracking Powers" Senses 5 (Teleportational Energy Senses- Acute & Exended 2, Direction Sense, Distance Sense) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Storm)- No, SERIOUSLY.
Relationship (Lifeguard)- Davis is very close with his sister.
Responsibility (Normal Life)- Davis never wanted to be a mutant- indeed, he wasn't even SUPPOSED to be one- Sage jump-started some latent genetics he would've passed down to his kids and made him one instead. He doesn't respond well to this, nor the X-lifestyle.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 71 / Defenses: 13 (153)

-Um, yeah, never read this guy in a book, since I found X-Treme X-Men to be little more than a well-drawn Claremont Fanwank of the worst kind. Slipstream was a surfer dude (no really) that had a teleportation power and a surfboard to use it on (no really). Oddly specific, don't you think? I mean, who else develops a mutant power that just happens to require the very skill they've spent their entire life moving towards? He and his sister were discovered in Australia being attacked by the enemies of their father, a now-dead crimelord called The Viceroy. He's one of Claremont's favourite concepts- The Team Teleporter, allowing the gang to fly all over the world instantly without all that nasty exposition & justification (see: Magik, Lila Cheney, Gateway). X-fans basically dumped on the guy from day one, and he hasn't reappeared since he quit his X-team- he was confirmed as having lost his powers during M-Day.
-There's not a lot of info out there on this guy- for 2e, I just cribbed a bit from a Taliesin build (plus using the same "Super-Tracking" as Dawnstar). Stupid complex & obscure power-people. He's very weak, but he's the Team 'Porter, so he's not really there to kick ass.

LIFEGUARD (Heather Cameron)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Salvador Larocca
First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #6 (Dec. 2001)
Group Affiliations: X-Treme X-Men
Status: Alive
Role: Funny-Skinned Super-Babe, Deus Ex Machina Character
PL 9 (133)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Expertise (Lifeguard) 4 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+4)
Perception 5 (+7)
Treatment 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Attack, Equipment (X-Men Uniform- Protection +1, Communications), Interpose, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Athletics Skill

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Reactive Adaptation"
Variable (Powers to Save Hers or Another's Life) 6 (Extras: Free Action +2) (Flaws: Limited to Physical Powers) [48]
(common powers: Super-Strength, Enhanced Strength, Protection, Wings, Claws)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Super-Strength +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform, +9 Body Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Slipstream)- Heather is close with her brother Davis.
Relationship (Thunderbird III)- Neal Sharra & Heather hooked up, and actually stayed together.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 11 (133)

-Another one I'm mostly unfamiliar with other than "hey, who's that hot golden chick in that X-Book I never read?" Lifeguard's an ex-lifeguard and brother of Slipstream, who joined the X-Treme-team for a while, developing powers like Nemesis Kid, but she usually used them in very specific ways, becoming super-strong, gaining claws & flying when necessary. Kind of a VERY tricky power to give a super-hero, since they can nearly solve any problem, but I think it was kind of averted by her not being THAT powerful. She and her brother were believed to possible be descended from the Shi'ar, even possibly Deathbird herself. She retained her powers after M-Day, but has COMPLETELY vanished, technically being active as one of "The 198" and living on Utopia, but she never really did anything there other than join a "Street Team" of Cyclops' forming.
-She mostly reminds me of the days when Wikipedia was way more opinion-based than it is now (they REALLY cracked down on that), because her Wiki-bio used to read in classic Wiki-speak known as "Weasel Wording" (ie. "this is my opinion, but I want to hide it and pretend like it's tons of people's). It stated that "some fans believed that the character was a bit of a Mary Sue, because her powers were much too versatile and useful"- similar examples are the page for wrestling Diva Rena "Sable" Mero, whose bio once featured a remark that "some fans were shocked by her reappearance, because she looked so much older than she did when she left. However, other fans believed that she was now the ideal MILF", or the one for Tammy "Sunny" Sytch which had fans arguing ON THE WIKIPEDIA PAGE that she was either uglier or hotter now that she'd gotten a bit chubby.
-Lifeguard's like Slipstream in that she's entirely Wiki-fueled. She can gain "Physical Powers" as a Free Action- she's gotten claws, a mermaid's tail, extra arms and super-strength. It's in an obviously problematic power (when the "Under The Mask" section in 2nd Edition points out how it's game-breaking, you know something's up), but she seems to have minor levels in it, and is MOSTLY stuck to stuff that saves her life or the life of others, such as armor, wings, and things like that. At PL 9, she can be pretty effective, but was never a major member of the team.

DARWIN (Armando Munoz)
Created By:
Ed Brubaker & Pete Woods
First Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 (Feb. 2006)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor Investigations
Status: Alive
Role: Odd Character
PL 9 (124)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+3)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Diehard, Equipment (X-Student Uniform- Communications, Protection +1), Great Endurance, Improved Defense, Set-Up, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Reactive Evolution"
Variable (Adaptations to Current Threats) 6 (Extras: Reaction +3) (Flaws: Limited to Basic Uncontrolled Utilitarian Adaptations) [48]

(30 points of Powers) (common powers: Gills, Armor, Life Support, Armored Shell, Immunity, Converting into Energy, Increasing Intelligence)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Vulcan)- The two were close, which makes Vulcan's disappearance and evil-turn all the more horrible.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 17 (124)

-Darwin was part of a mystery "Lost X-Men" team that got sent to deal with Krakoa BEFORE the Giant-Size team ever did, being defeated in the attempt (two lived in comas, two died). While I'm not a big fan of revisionist history (in fact, it's one of my least favourite things about comics- the "EVERYTHING YOU KNEW IS A LIE" effect), particularly the kind that paints Professor X as an EVIL DICK (I'm shocked this was Ed Brubaker), it was at least interesting. Darwin's another Reactive Evolver (kinda like Doomsday or Lifeguard, also an X-Man), which is getting to be a more generic power these days. Not much else to him, really.
-Of course, he was also in X-Men: The First Class, a neat Retcon movie (that featured Jennifer Lawrence BEFORE The Hollywood Hype Machine started its public work on making her a new A-Lister- but after it'd decided to do it). Alas, he was chosen as The Sacrificial Buddy, and also enacted the old chestnut of "The Black Dude Always Dies First"- somehow being chosen to be randomly killed by Sebastian Shaw.
-"Adaptation" (Limited Reaction Variable) is quite effective. He'll develop immunity to fire AS he's being blasted by a Fire Guy, or Armour to deflect blows, makes up most of this guy's capability in battle. He's not a skilled character, just someone who can pop a few points here or there defensively, making him both really hard to hit and really hard to HURT, making his PL only Defensively. The best use of his powers BY FAR is the time he faced off against Full-Blown Pissed-Off World War Hulk... his body decided the safest adaptation would be to GET HIM AWAY FROM THIS MONSTER REALLY FREAKING FAST... and so he Teleported miles away before he could be punched.

SLUGGO (Bernard Hoyster)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Greg Capullo
First Appearance: X-Force #22 (May 1993)
Group Affiliations: Weapon-X
Role: Background Character
PL 8 (86)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+3)
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+3)
Intimidation 6 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Close Attack, Diehard, Equipment 4 (Assortment of Guns), Improved Aim, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
Regeneration 6 (Feats: Regrows Limbs) [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Guns +8 (+5-8 Ranged Damage, DC 20-23)
Initiative +0

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

Complications:
Reputation (Giant Idiot)- Nobody thinks much of Sluggo's intelligence, especially his old pal Deadpool.
Motivation (Greed)- Sluggo is usually seen chasing after Tolliver's Will, looking for a big payout.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 11 (86)

-Sluggo is SUCH a minor part of X-Force that he pretty much jobbed in his first major appearance! He's an old Mercenary partner of Deadpool's who also gets involved in the hunt for Tolliver's will, bringing him on the hunt for his old agent, Copycat. He first appears firing a laser blast into Copycat's best friend Tina Valentino (by sheer luck- she was identical to Copycat at the time). Deadpool threatens him for it, but soon they're partnering up and chasing after Copycat, until Domino arrives, firing a MASSIVE laser cannon through both mercs, then putting a few more rounds into them to buy time for a getaway. He doesn't do much else, and only reappears MUCH later in Deadpool's own book. He is accidentally shot in the head by Deadpool's prisoner/pal Weasel, rendering Sluggo a joke in addition to a background nobody.
-A big, strong-looking guy (he was HUGE), Sluggo is durable enough to be not overly-bothered by a massive Cannon Blast from Domino and some head-shots from a gun, meaning he's got some Regeneration on him.

CYPHER (Douglas Ramsey)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #13 (March 1983)
Role: The Weak Link, The Normal Guy
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 9 (143)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6/12 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2/5

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+4)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Computers) 8 (+12)
Insight 2 (+6, +16 With Boost)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 3 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4, +12 With Boost)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 4 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Trip, Jack-Of-All-Trades, Set-Up 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Immediate Understanding of All Languages"
Comprehend (Speak, Read, Write & Understand All Languages) 4 [8]
Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Reading & Computing) [2]

"Read Body Language and Adjust Accordingly"
Enhanced Fighting 8 [16]
Enhanced Presence 3 [6]
Enhanced Skills 22: Expertise (Computers) 6 (+18), Insight 10 (+16), Persuasion 6 (+12) [11]
Enhanced Advantages 12: Close Attack 2, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Initiative 2, Luck 2, Redirect, Skill Mastery (Computers), Ultimate Computers & Insight [12]
Enhanced Dodge 4 [4]

"Read The Future Movements" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to What People He Sees Will Do) [2]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Reading Defenses +16 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation- Douglas was brought back to commit great evil, and still has some trouble convincing people he's not nuts.
Power Loss (Blinded)- Doug needs to be able to see his targets' body language to use many of his powers (Insight, Persuasion, Fighting)- without his vision, he would be reduced to his regular traits. He can be hit from behind much more easily as well.
Power Loss (General)- Various other things may disrupt Doug's abilities. If the targets are "blank slates" (ie. being controlled), he may be unable to 'read' them properly.
Relationship (Warlock)- Doug is Warlock's Selfsoulfriend, and the two are relatively inseparable.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 10 (143)

-Doug Ramsey rocks. He's a great example of the proof that not ALL mutants got awesome, totally-useful powers. All Doug got was understanding languages. Sure it was handy in French Class, but as an X-Man? He's just not cut out for it. So Claremont took this opportunity to show the ever-rare NORMAL kid without a messed-up history or backstory (they almost made his dad a member of Reverend Stryker's organization, but thought better of it), and had him hang out with the regular New Mutants cast as a side-guy at first, then finally an important member of the squad. Never much good in a fight, they nonetheless ended up in countless situations where reading some instructions or hacking into a computer were absolutely necessary (similar to why there's always a lake in an Aquaman-starring JLA story, or always an injury when Dr. Mid-Nite's around in JSA).
-Funny thing was, Doug was kind of unpopular. Fans apparently wrote in a lot saying they hated him and his lame powers (even when Warlock formed Power Armour around him). So during the worst arc in New Mutants history (the infamous Bird-Brain storyline), Doug was killed by a Dr. Moreau rip-off with a loincloth and a revolver, trying to save Wolfsbane, with whom he'd fallen in love. And the fanbase exploded, writing in all these comments about how much they loved Doug, and how bad they sucked for killing him off. So apparently comic fans in the '80s were just as impossible to please as comic fans today. This ended Doug's story for years, as he was just another sad end in a book full of them (especially once X-Force started and Doug was just a memory).
-It was assumed at first that the new "Douglock" character introduced in mid-'90s Excalibur was a merger of Doug and Warlock (when 'Lock himself was killed, his ashes were spread on Doug's grave- and VERY early on, the Douglock mergers between the two were hinted as slowly turning Doug into a Techno-Organic being, so the hints were there), but through some stuff I never really bothered to read up on too much, it turns out it was just Warlock with some Doug memories. So it took until just a year ago that Doug got FINALLY revived, being resurrected for Blackest Nigh-- I mean Necrosha, with some other Techno-Organic Zombies under Selene's command. But Doug got to STAY alive, being the first "new" member of the reassembled New Mutants squad. And his powers got an upgrade, turning "I can understand all languages" into "I can read body language, so I know all of your moves and attacks before you do them", which is a pretty sweet deal. It's cool to see Doug back (and being useful), so we'll see where this ends up, especially now that the book has ended and Doug's back in Marvel Limbo.
-Doug's powers are a real test of any RPG system, so statting Doug early was proof of concept for 3rd Edition M&M for me. Essentially what he's got now is a set of Enhanced Traits that have Complications on them (avoiding a LOT of trying to figure out just how much all these "Drawbacks" are worth, points-wise- the GM can just decide at-will what his limits are!), as he can 'read' people like he can books. This allows him Enhanced Fighting, Presence, Defenses, Initiative and fantastic Insight- making him basically a Martial Artist template with a heavy weak point. He's an over-costed PL 9, as he lacks real hitting power (it's enough to challenge the entire New Mutants at once- using his "first appearance" bonus), but is really good on a mental level. His main Comprehend Power is only 8 points, so it's a good thing he's got all those other powers now. He's a real bugger to hit in combat, shoot at range, or even attack first. So he's still no powerhouse, but he's a lot more useful. And Lucky. Doug got a LOT of the game-winning Feats back in the day, so needs Luck.
-When Doug & Warlock used to merge, it basically turned Doug into a repository for Warlock's powers- effectively making him a Blaster in sweet Armour (Warlock's Variable Shapeshifting power basically allows for Affects Others Powers).

CYPHER (Douglas Ramsey)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The New Mutants #13 (March 1983)
Role: The Weak Link, The Normal Guy
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants
PL 5 (75) Combat, PL 7 (75) Computers Skill
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Computers) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Trip, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Immediate Understanding of All Languages"
Comprehend (Speak, Read, Write & Understand All Languages) 4 [8]
Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Reading & Computing) [2]

Enhanced Skills 8: Computers 8 (+14) [4]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Luck 2, Skill Mastery (Computers) [3]

Equipment:
X-Men Uniform (+1 Protection, Communications)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +1 (+2 Costume), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Warlock)- Doug is Warlock's Selfsoulfriend, and the two are relatively inseparable.
Relationship (Wolfsbane)- Doug was crushing on Rahne near the end of his first life.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 14 (75)

-Doug came into things a little later, matching the early PL of the gang, but never moving past it- this suits him right around the time that he died. Not totally inaccurate, and rather hard to hit, but not tough (how many heroes die to a single bullet from a scientist?), and not a heavy hitter either. He's pretty much JUST the "Hacking and Teamwork" guy, occasionally getting lucky (remember: Marvel Comics Rules state that the least powerful guy will nearly ALWAYS score the definitive hit on a mega-supervillain).

WARLOCK
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz
First Appearance: The New Mutants #18 (Aug. 1984)
Role: The Yearning to Understand Humans Guy, The Robot, The Comic Relief
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, The Fallen Angels, The Phalanx/Technarch
PL 11 (283)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA -- AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Expertise (Computers) 14 (+17)
Investigation 2 (+1)
Perception 7 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+4)
Technology 10 (+13)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Transmode Creature"
"Mechanical Being" Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
"Metallic Shell" Protection 10 [10]
"Self-Repairs" Regeneration 10 (Flaws: Source- Requires Lifeglow) [5]
"Rotors & Engines" Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
"Interplanetary Travel" Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]
"Sensory Array" Senses 14 (Analytical Sight 2, Darkvision 2, Extended Vision 2, Distance Sense, Infravision, Microscopic Vision 2, Radio, Radius Sight 2, Rapid Sight) [14]

"Mass Form Alterations" Shapeshift 6 (Flaws: Limited to Mechanical Forms & Powers) [42]
(sample powers: Autofire Blast 10, Growth 9, Elongation 4)

"Inflict the Transmode Virus" Affliction 16 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed) (Feats: Incurable) (Extras: Cumulative, Continuous +3) (Inaccurate -1) [80]

"Absorb Lifeglow Energy" Damage 14 (Extras: Penetrating) Linked to Weaken Toughness 14 (Flaws: Both Limited to Transmode Creatures) [21]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Transmode Virus +5 (+16 Affliction, DC 26)
Absorb Lifeglow +7 (+14 Damage & Weaken, DC 27 & 22)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +10, Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Pacifism)- Warlock abhors violence, and refuses to take the lives of sentients by stealing their "Lifeglow".
Enemy (The Magus)- Warlock's father was ruler of the Technarchy, and the two were destined to fight to the death as per the culture of their people.
Relationship (Doug Ramsey)- Warlock's "Selfriend" is the most important thing in the world to him, and they frequently go into combat together.
Reputation- Warlock is the only member of his race capable of feeling compassion, love or mercy.
Weakness (Magnetics & Electricity)- As a mechanical being, Warlock is highly-susceptible to conductive effects.
Weakness (Lack of Lifeglow)- Warlock requires the Lifeglow energy of living beings to remain alive. He usually uses it on simple organics like plants.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 218 / Defenses: 14 (284)

-And here we have Warlock, by FAR the most powerful New Mutant, and potentially one of the most powerful beings on Earth. But he was a pacifist who was terrified of his own power, and completely naiive in the ways of the world. This made him a pretty fascinating character study in the days before the "Robot that thinks it's people" concept became DONE TO DEATH in comics, and his friendship with Doug brought some of the lighter moments in the series. This led to the monster showdown and the New Mutants' finest hour, as they fought Warlock's godlike, star-eating father, The Magus, and with the Professor's aid, killed him. Arguably one of the best "insurmountable odds overcome through teamwork" scenes I've ever seen.
-Sadly, it was all downhill for the book from there, as Cypher was killed in the late 50s (though that led to some painfully good scenes where Warlock tries in vain to reanimate Doug's body out of grief, and couldn't figure out why this was wrong), and Warlock just kicked around with NOTHING to do (seriously, he did JACK ALL) until he was finally killed off in the X-Tinction Agenda storyline, almost as an afterthought. Recent years have brought him back, but in that half-assed ass-backwards way that comics falls into all the time. See, when "Douglock" first appeared in the pages of Excalibur, fans rejoiced at the obvious union of Warlock & Doug's corpses finally resurrected as one being (it was shown a few times that Doug WAS carrying a weaker version of the Transmode Virus that converts living beings to machines). But then the writer showed that it WASN'T the case after all, deflating that storyline and making the fans bored of the standard "What does it mean to be human?" Star Trek crap. But then later we found out it WAS Warlock with Doug's memories, which would have been cool the FIRST time around, but since they'd already disappointed fans on that front, it fell totally flat.
-Comics do this constantly. It's like how fans begged to have Supergirl come back, but DC kept pumping out random chicks NAMED Supergirl. And then just revealed the original one after all, while glossing over the others because their books never sold for crap. Jason Todd's resurrection is arguably the worst-handled one in history: He was stated to be alive and evil, and the fans went BERSERK over the revelation... then it turned out that it was Clayface or something. So the fans got let down, but then OH NO! IT'S JASON TODD BACK FROM THE DEAD A FEW MONTHS LATER, just because DC saw how people reacted, but this time it fell totally flat, because we'd ALREADY FREAKING GOTTEN WORKED UP OVER IT AND THEN LET DOWN. Seriously, I have no idea why they keep with these stupid teases then revealing the thing once we'd lost our enthusiasm. Crappy writing, and likely based in a lot of writers' instincts to constnatly "not do the obvious", even when the "obvious" thing would actually be pretty kick-ass.
-Um, yeah, some characters just aren't meant to come out to a reasonable cost. And I'd say a flying mechanical entity that can inflict sentients with a permanent mechanical virus and then disintegrate them with a touch, while also shapeshifting himself into any concievable power would qualify to be one of those characters. Warlock spends more points on Powers than most experienced heroes do PERIOD. His powerful Shapeshifting allows for just about any type of super-power, he has vast Senses, he's pretty tough, and that Transmode thing... he once wiped out a gigantic Norse DRAGON with a mere touch with that sucker, making him one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe (it's Penetrating, Continuous & Cumulative adding all the various effects together)... but he's a pacifist who would never use it unless absolutely necessary. He's also a pretty awful fighter since he doesn't like fighting, so he's only PL 10.5 when someone who's this good could easily break PL 12-14 (like his father, Magus). He's by far the most powerful of the New Mutants, but is also the most foolish and prone to error, and he's frequently KO'd by plot devices or electricity or something.


WARBIRD II (Ava'Dara Naganandini)
Created By:
Jason Aaron & Chris Bachalo
First Appearance: Wolverine & The X-Men #1 (Dec. 2011)
Group Affiliations: X-Students
Status: Alive
Role: Bodyguard, Side Character
PL 10 (118)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+13)
Athletics 6 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+13)
Close Combat (Claws) 1 (+13)
Deception 7 (+7)
Expertise (Shi'ar Warrior) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 10 (+10)
Perception 8 (+10)
Stealth 6 (+12)
Technology 3 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Diehard, Equipment 4 (Blaster +6, Battle Armour +1, Weapons), Evasion, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Sword), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Shi'ar Throwback Physiology"
Flight 5 (60 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [5]
"Claws" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Penetrating 1) [2]

Equipment:
"Weapon Arsenal"
"Blaster" Blast 6 (12) -- (13)
"Paired Swords" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical, Split) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Sword +11 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +6 (+7 Armour), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Shi'ar Soldier)- Warbird is loyal to her Shi'ar masters, though does not believe in killing harmless children- she was charged with Kid Gladiator's care after she spared an intended target.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 11 (118)

-Warbird was brought in as a Deathbird-like Shi'ar Warrioress charged with making sure Gladiator's son Kubark did not die at The Jean Grey School. She more or less just sits around, makes "I will kill _____!" comments, and shows a ton of cleavage in the "W&TXM" book, but actually takes up a more major role in "Astonishing X-Men", which usually comes across as the "Random Grab-Bag" mutant team. She stats up more or less like Deathbird, and is basically set up to ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK with melee weapons and the occasional Blaster. Not an ideal PL 10, but I don't buy her as being Deathbird's equal.

PETRA (Full Name Unknown)
Created By:
Ed Brubaker & Pete Woods
First Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 (Feb. 2006)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
Status: Slain on First Mission
Role: One & Done Character
PL 8 (94)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Expertise (Homeless Kid) 6 (+6)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 1 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Men Uniform- Communications, Protection +1), Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Geokinesis"
"Trapped By The Earth" Snare 8 (24) -- [28]
AE: Move Object 9 (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (18)
AE: "Rock Shot" Blast 8 (16)
AE: "Shape Earth" Create 8 (Extras: Continuous) (24)
AE: "Earthquake" Affliktion 8 (Athletics; Hindered & Vulnerable/Immobile & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Distracting, Limited Degree) (8)

"Coal Into Diamonds" Transform 5 (One Kind of Earth to Another of Same Composition) (Extras: Continuous) [15]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Rock Shot +5 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Trapped By The Earth +5 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Earthquake +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Loner)- Petra does not trust others, and is surprised to find anyone willing to help her.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 9 (94)

-Petra was one of the four X-people set up to rescue the original X-Men from Krakoa, and died in the attempt. She was a Street Kid in Central Park, using her geokinetic powers (coal into diamonds!) and survival skills to avoid the police (she ran from a foster home run by a bitch and a child-molester). Despite a relatively high level of power and control, she was horribly under-prepared to face a being as powerful as Krakoa, and got eaten up by lava right away. She's an interesting look into how a lot of the X-Men probably started out- packing some decent abilities and powers onto an inexperienced build with low stats & Defenses. Being barely PL 5 on Defense is a BIG weakness, no matter what powers you have.

SWAY (Suzanne Chan)
Created By:
Ed Brubaker & Pete Woods
First Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #3 (March 2006)
Group Affiliations: The X-Men
Status: Slain on First Mission
Role: One & Done Character
PL 8 (92)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Expertise (Homeless Kid) 6 (+6)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 1 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment (X-Men Uniform- Communications, Protection +1), Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Time Vision"
Senses 8 (Precognition, Postcognition) (Flaws: Precognition is Uncontrolled) [6]

"Freeze!" Affliction 8 (Strength; Dazed & Hindered/Stunned & Defenseless/Paralyzed) (Extras: Extra Condition, Area- 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (32) -- [33]
AE: "Slow Down Time Around Her" Increased Dodge & Parry 5 (Extras: Affects Others) (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Rock Shot +5 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Trapped By The Earth +5 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Earthquake +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (+10 Slowed Time, DC 15-20), Parry +5 (+10 Slowed Time, DC 15-20), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
None

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 7 (92)

-Suzanne is a girl from Hong Kong who failed to save her parents with her time-stopping power when they were gunned down by Chinatown Gangs in New York. She was quickly added to the X-roster, but was sliced in half by Krakoa on the rescue mission. In her final moments, she used her powers to aid Petra in saving the lives of Darwin & Vulcan by lowering them into the ground. Basically like a Mini-Version of Tempo, but had comparatively-few Power Feats to her name- she could stop bullets around her (or others), or freeze people in time. An inability to do both at once is what presumably led to her death- she's PL 7 with one power active, but PL 8 with the other (reducing her to only *PL 4* Defensively).

THE JUGGERNAUT (Cain Marko)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #12 (July 1965)
Role: Evil Family Member, Powerhouse, Memetic Invincible Guy
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The X-Men, New Excalibur, The Exiles (Malibu Comics), The Thunderbolts, The Exemplars
PL 12 (217)
STRENGTH
16 STAMINA 15 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+6)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 12 (+12, +14 Size)
Ranged Combat (Thrown Objects) 5 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown 2, Ultimate Toughness Save, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Possessed of the Gem of Cyttorak"
"Natural Size" Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
Power-Lifting 3 (12,000 tons) [3]
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 25) [28]

"Super-Strength Feats"
"Shockwave" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Both Grounded) (24) -- [28]
AE: "Thunderclap" Dazzle Hearing 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range, Distracting) (12)
AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (18)
AE: "Groundstrike Line" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (18)
AE: Penetrating Strength Damage 16 (16)

"Nothing Stops the Juggernaut!"
Enhanced Strength 5 (Flaws: Limited to Maintaining Forward Movement) [5]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]
Immunity 11 (Life Support, Aging) [11]

"Juggernaut Helmet" (Flaws: Removable) [16]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
Area Attacks +12 (+12 Damage and/or Affliction, DC 27 and/or 22)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +18 (+13 Impervious), Fortitude +15, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Cain Marko is an arrogant blowhard, and enjoys being the most powerful individual around. He takes challenges seriously.
Responsibility (Overconfident)- Cain's so tough that he fears nothing, even when he should. People who prove themselves stronger than him (like Onslaught) tend to leave him emotionally broken for a time.
Enemy (Charles Xavier)- Marko bullied Xavier when they were children, and was still hostile to the man at an older age.
Enemy (Thor)- Occasionally, Juggernaut ends up getting tossed-in as a one-off Thor foe, given that he's one of the few regular villains that can take a shot from Mjolnir.
Relationship (Black Tom Cassidy)- Black Tom & The Juggernaut eventually became Heterosexual Life Partners (well... maybe not ENTIRELY...), teaming up in all things. Eventually the two split when Tom went increasingly-crazy, his body mutating into the wood that he used to fire his powers.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 19 / Powers: 101 / Defenses: 13 (217)

-The Juggernaut is a Marvel semi-legend for a reason. An unstoppable force in a book with not that many uber-elites at any point, he's one of the few recurring X-villains from the '60s that actually had staying power, and ended up getting COOLER as the years went on, as writers & artists perfected how to work out massive super-strong battles. So his running feuds with Colossus (more like him punking the young turk- in one of my fave stories where Wolvie & Nightcrawler let Piotr get the crap kicked out of him for breaking Kitty's heart), The Hulk and nearly everyone else with muscle give him more and more of a push.
-He even got a failed Face Turn (ie. he turned good, for those of you who aren't wrestling fans), which is the CLASSIC thing for any villain to get! He was a good-guy X-Man for a while, but Cyttorak "let his gifts go" because Cain was being a sissy good-guy (what's this? An actual sensical EXPLANATION for why a super-villain suddenly turns to crap the second he becomes a good guy?). It was your classic "I'm pretending to be good so I can KILL YOU FROM WITHIN, but your goodness rubbed off on me" thing, with him growing attached to Sammy the Squidboy,
-Most Juggy builds on the Tank are much higher in PL than this one (ironically, Taliesin's is among the few that are equal). Juggy's so low here because he's about as easy to hit as a brick wall, and about as accurate in combat- the comics generally reflect this. Think about it: anyone with any intention of getting out of the way usually DOES, and Cain NEVER dodges. His whole schtick is that he hits like an atom bomb and just can't be injured (Impervious 13 on a Toughness of EIGHTEEN will get the job done- and yes I'm aware that it's not supposed to be allowed under the rules-as-written, but I'm ignoring it as it's pretty accurate that Juggy can't even be hurt by a standard shot from Colossus or The Thing, and anyone at that level needs to Power Attack to even have a CHANCE of hurting Cain), so it's just a matter of time until he wears down his opponent till they can't fight any more. Don't need no damn PL 14 high Melee-accuracy for THAT. That's all you really need to give Spider-Man fits for HOURS, in addition to fighting off a whole team of X-Men without hardly taking any damage- he basically has nothing to fear from anyone who does less than +9 Damage with their strongest attack- they'd need to Power Attack +5 on a +9 Damage effect to have a hope of even making him take a Toughness test!. Plus an array of Strength Feats, Combat Advantages, some Speed, and an Immunity to his one key weaknesses- Mental Attacks against his low Will Save.

THE JUGGERNAUT (Cain Marko)- De-Powered
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #12 (July 1965)
Role: Evil Family Member, Powerhouse, Memetic Invincible Guy
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The X-Men, New Excalibur, The Exiles (Malibu Comics), The Thunderbolts, The Exemplars
PL 11 (169)
STRENGTH
14 STAMINA 14 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 12 (+12, +14 Size)
Ranged Combat (Thrown Objects) 5 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown 2, Ultimate Toughness Save, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Possessed of the Gem of Cyttorak"
"Natural Size" Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
Power-Lifting 3 (3,000 tons) [3]
Impervious Toughness 13 [13]

"Super-Strength Feats"
"Groundstrike" Affliction 11 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (13) -- [15]
AE: "Shockwave" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Both Grounded) (11)
AE: "Groundstrike Line" Affliction 11 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Ground) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (13)

"Some Things Can Stop the Juggernaut!"
Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to Maintaining Forward Movement) [2]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]
Immunity 11 (Life Support, Aging) [11]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Area Attacks +11 (+11 Damage and/or Affliction, DC 26 and/or 21)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +14 (+7 Impervious), Fortitude +14, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- Cain Marko is an arrogant blowhard, and enjoys being the most powerful individual around. He takes challenges seriously.
Responsibility (Overconfident)- Cain's so tough that he fears nothing, even when he should. People who prove themselves stronger than him (like Onslaught) tend to leave him emotionally broken for a time.
Enemy (Charles Xavier)- Marko bullied Xavier when they were children, and was still hostile to the man at an older age.
Enemy (Thor)- Occasionally, Juggernaut ends up getting tossed-in as a one-off Thor foe, given that he's one of the few regular villains that can take a shot from Mjolnir.
Relationship (Black Tom Cassidy)- Black Tom & The Juggernaut eventually became Heterosexual Life Partners (well... maybe not ENTIRELY...), teaming up in all things. Eventually the two split when Tom went increasingly-crazy, his body mutating into the wood that he used to fire his powers.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 19 / Powers: 54 / Defenses: 15 (169)

-A de-powered Juggernaut is reduced to some pretty weak stats comparatively, but is still a PL 11 Powerhouse, akin to Sasquatch or Colossus in capability (he once Double-KO'd with 'Squatch). I had to upgrade his physical accuracy to make him that level, which I justify because now that he's weaker and less-durable, he actually has to AIM and AVOID things once in a while. Otherwise he's PL 10 and that's unacceptable.

GATEWAY (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Marc Silvestri
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #229 (May 1988)
Group Affiliations: None
Role: Mysterious Character, Teleporter
PL 5 (175)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Aborigine Shaman) 10 (+12)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+8)
Insight 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Eidetic Memory, Equipment (Bullroarer)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Teleportation"
Teleport 16 (Feats: Changed Velocity & Direction) (Extras: Easy, Accurate, Extended, Portal +2) (114) -- [117]
AE: "Observation" Remote Sensing 12 (Vision & Hearing) (36)
AE: "Time Sight" Senses 4 (Postcognition) (Extras: Affects Others) (8)
AE: Movement 9 (Time Travel 3, Space Travel 3, Dimensional Travel 3) (Extras: Portal +2) (36)

"Telepathy" Communication 1 (Mental) (Flaws: Limited to With Telepaths) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (The St. Croix Family)- Gateway took a somewhat teacherly role towards Monet & the twins.
Relationship (Bishop & Shard)- The two futuristic X.S.E. members are Gateway's future descendants.
Responsibility (Mostly Mute)- For some reason, Gateway does not often speak to others. He has only spoken verbally to people twice in all the comics in which he's appeared.
Note: Gateway uses a Bullroarer when transporting others. It's link to his powers is generally unknown- he may or may not be able to Teleport without it.

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 120 / Defenses: 19 (175)

-Gateway is one of the more mysterious characters in comics, particularly since only a few writers have ever bothered with him. He debuted around the darkest point of Claremont's first X-Men run, when things were REALLY gritty, the team was different and living in Australia, and The Reavers were hunting them. Initially being ordered around by the bad guys, Gateway was released from his bonds and started voluntarily helping the X-Men out, though ne never spoke. When the X-Men came back home a few years (our time) later, Gateway didn't go with him- his next appearance was post-Claremont, as he brought Penance to Generation-X's door, and would occasionally pop up for some vague stuff. He was thought-dead after meeting The Marauders, but of course even MINOR characters can't stay dead, as he showed up alive after a short while. Then he got his neck snapped. Comics are weird.
-Gateway doesn't do much (or ANY) fighting, but is a high-end Teleporter who can basically go anywhere.

ADAM X, THE X-TREME (Adam Neramani)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Tony Daniel
b]First Appearance:[/b] X-Force Annual #2 (Oct. 1993)
Role: '90s EXTREEEEEEEEEME Hero
Group Affiliations: S.H.I.E.L.D. Paranormal Containment Unit, Shock Troop, The Legion of Monsters
PL 10 (149)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+15)
Athletics 5 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+12)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Thet'je Spikes) 4 (+11)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 3, Evasion 2, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Thet'je Blades) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Takedown 2, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Flash-Fry Bloodstreams"
"Burn!" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Exposed Blood) Linked to Damage 5 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Fortitude Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Exposed Blood) [20]

"Human/Shi'Ar Hybrid"
Senses 2 (Extended & Low-Light Vision) [2]
"Hollow Bones" Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

Equipment:
"Thet'je Spikes" Blast 5 (Feats: Split 2) (12) -- (13)
AE: "Large Spike" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) (3)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Thet'je Slash +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Thet'je Spikes +11 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Flash-Fry +10 Area (+10 Affliction & +5 Damage, DC 20 & 20)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Finding His Origins)
Reputation (Too 90s For His Own Good)

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 12 (149)

-This guy... I mean, you want somebody who EXEMPLIFIED the 1990s of comics? Look no further. It took us as a society quite a while to finally nail down the "decade that had everything", but nearly ten years hence, it's become a bit more obvious. With the dying of bubblegum & kiddie stuff, the "Nirvana Era" meant everything had to be cooler, scarier, more bad-ass, and in the realm of comics, full of claws, swords and bleeding. Backwards ball-caps, ponytails, spikes on everyone, etc., were the name of the game.
-Adam-X (aka THE X-TREME, just in case his appearance wasn't '90s enough for you) was a character introduced by Fabian Nicieza & Tony Daniel for X-Force, intending the character to be revealed as the fabled "Third Summers Brother" (before we actually got one in Vulcan). He leapt around, fought X-Force a bit, then turned on his evil employer (a fin-limbed tiny mutant hiding in a super-powered artificial body). Then in a later story he fought Shatterstar (himself among the most '90s characters ever created) on the whims of Arcade (who did his trademark "I act like a goofball and make fun of you while you do stuff", though he used a LOT less of the usual Deathtraps, and instead focused on Mojoworld mooks), before AGAIN turning on the villain in the end. This is pretty much how he spent every story he was in, I think, as the writers were SO desperate to get some of that "Image Vibe" going. He hadn't made an appearance in over ten years until recent times (which use him as a background nobody), which is a pretty good sign of how well the character went over.
-Adam-X has a fairly good array of Advantages, and is a heavily-themed Accuracy/Defense guy rather than muscling it out or being tough, but he's no slouch in those areas either. His key tactic is to make tiny nicks and cuts on people with his "Thet'je" Spikes, shout "BURN!" while his eyes glow, and "Flash-Fry" them. While this attack seems devastating enough, and was certainly feared by every character who'd seen it before, it only KO'd X-Force for like a minute while he made his escape, so it doesn't seem to be any more powerful than a standard Blast. In game terms, it's a Burst Area Damage/Affliction set-up, Limited to people he's scratched with his blades- note that he doesn't have to hurt them BAD- even little nicks on super-toughies like Warpath was enough to activate it. The trick thing is that it doesn't MISS, and can hit dozens of guys at once once they've been cut. The Affliction part is the only thing that makes him a PL 10- the rest of the time, he's a PL 9.

THE MULTIPLE MAN (Jamie Madrox)
Created By:
Len Wein, Chris Claremont & John Buscema
First Appearance: Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (Feb. 1975)
Role: The Ordinary Guy, The Fan Insert, The Pet Character (of Peter David), The Duplicator/Summoner
Group Affiliations: X-Factor, X-Factor Investigations, Muir-Island X-Men, X-Corps, X-Corporation
Group Affiliations of Duplicates: The Fallen Angels, The Nasty Boys, S.H.I.E.L.D.
PL 7 (249)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Computers) 6 (+8)
Expertise (History) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+6)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 9 (+12)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 4 (+6)
Treatment 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Daze (Deception), Equipment 2 (Gun, Costume +1), Improved Hold, Interpose, Ranged Attack 6, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Duplication"
Summon Duplicate 8 (Feats: Triggered- Impact, Mental Link, Sacrifice) (Extras: Horde, Active & Heroic, 48 Minions +11, Continuous) (Flaws: Uncontrolled on Heroic & Continuous) [131]

"Absorbing Dupes" Healing 4 (Flaws: Limited to Self, Must Re-Sorb Healthier Duplicate) [2]

"Several Lifetimes of Experience"
Enhanced Advantages 2: Beginner's Luck, Jack-of-All-Trades [2]
Variable 1 (Flaws: Limited to Skills, Unreliable) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pistol +8 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform, +4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (Possibly Evil Dupes)- Sometimes a Dupe comes out "wrong". Various Dupes have turned out evil, and come to plague Jamie.
Responsibility (Various Women)- Siryn, Layla Miller and many, many others. Jamie's Dupes have had sex lives of their own, and Jamie is often unsure of just WHICH women are ones he was actually with.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 62--31 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 140 / Defenses: 19 (249)

-Jamie Madrox is someone I've little to no experience with. I kinda hated him in the mid-'90s, but that's because he was on the REALLY lame-looking X-Factor comedy team, and that wasn't my ideal form of comic back in the day. Nowadays, Peter David's made him his baby, making him a detective with various evil duplicates swimming around, and there's all kinds of funny stuff going on in his X-Factor Investigations book, which is supposed to be a pretty good read. Maybe someday I'll look into it.
-Madrox is the ideal kind of Duplication-themed build, and shows the true costliness of a power- both my and Taliesin's build cost 200+ points. Jamie's a guy who's far below everyone else in PL to make up for the horrible broken-ness of a power that gives you dozens of attacks at a time. Madrox without his power is basically a pretty good fighter with a ton of skills, given that his Dupes can often give him information and skills he's never shown before (I used Variable to reflect this, as it's apparently become bigger over time). But his power itself is obviously the "meat" of this build. It's got all the Extras that the books lays out, plus "Triggered" since it activates if he is hit or falls down (this is a rare occurence, so I didn't give it a full Action Extra). His Dupes can be Heroic, and many of his Dupes have lived for YEARS after their creation thanks to various stories (Continuous), but both are in the hands of the GM (Uncontrolled Flaw), as sometimes they are, and sometimes they're not (similarly, though his Dupes can sometimes make Dupes, this is not reflected in his Powers- it's a GM's call, or probably a Hero Point expenditure). He maxes out at 48 Dupes (a +11 Extra, since it halves the normal doubling- Summon goes 1/2/4/8/32/64 normally, but I don't see him bust out that many most of the time, so 48 is his cap), but he rarely tosses them all out at once- it takes a few rounds, but he CAN do more than a couple at a time. It's a rank 8 power to create the 120-point Standard Jamie.

DESTINY (Irene Adler)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #141 (Jan. 1981)
Role: Deus Ex Machina Character, The Non-Combatant
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Mutants, Freedom Force, HYDRA, Project: Black Womb
PL 8 (120)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+5)
Athletics 4 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Deception 7 (+7)
Expertise (History) 10 (+14)
Insight 6 (+10)
Perception 5 (+9)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Crossbow) 4 (+12)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Crossbow +4, Body Armour), Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Precognition"
Senses 5 (Danger Sense, Precognition) [5]
"See Objects Ahead of Time" Senses 2 (Counters Concealment- Blindness) [2]
"Looks Mildly Old at One-Hundred" Immunity 1 (Aging) (Flaws: Limited) [0.5]

"Can Sorta Still See"
Enhanced Advantages 13: Improved Initiative 4, Ranged Attack 8, Seize Initiative [13]
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 6 [12]

"Warns Others About Stuff"
Enhanced Defenses 4 (Extras: Perception Range +2) (Flaws: Affects Others Only +0, Limited to Simple Verbal Commands) [16]
Enhanced Fighting 2 (Extras: Perception Range +2) (Flaws: Affects Others Only +0, Limited to Simple Verbal Commands) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Crossbow +12 (+4 Ranged Combat, DC 19)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +0 (+2 Body Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Foster Daughter, Rogue)- Destiny was very close to Rogue, and their adversarial relationship puts a strain on the normally-amoral woman.
Disabled (Blind)- Destiny cannot "see", but she can "see objects in the future", which is basically the same thing.
Responsibility (Future Sight)- Irene sees a lot of crap from the future, and must hide the things she knows from others.
Flaw Explanation (Simple Commands)- Irene can only warn people about the attacks coming in simple terms, like "duck", or "watch for ______!", and can only rarely affect multiple teammates at once with it- time just won't allow for that many warnings.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 47--23.5 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 54.5 / Defenses: 10 (120)

-Destiny was... kind of annoying in the X-Men books I read with her in them. She looked REALLY dumb (an eyeless mask and powder blue outfit), and all she ever did was run around with Freedom Force, warning them about stuff. "Raven-- DUCK!... Oh thank goodness, I had a future vision of you getting hit by a bottle!"- that kind of stuff. Since these guys were already kind of a crappy bunch of X-foes, it just made them worse in my mind. They offed her in the early-'90s "Spring Cleaning" of the X-Books (in which DOZENS of characters died, in order to make room for The Upstarts *barf*, The Externals, The M.L.F., The Dark Riders and other lame-oids), and started using her as a thematic plot point in Claremont's X-Treme X-Men, in which the team was hunting down "Destiny's Diaries". Eons later, they finally ended that particular storyline.
-Honestly, Irene Adler is actually more interesting for the backstory, both in-comics and in real-life. See, she was introduced as kind of a lesbian lover for Mystique (Lesbians? In a CLAREMONT book? The devil, you say!), but in that "subtle" way where it wasn't outright stated. Claremont had a thing going where he was gonna reveal Destiny to be Nightcrawler's biological mother, with Mystique being the FATHER (via Shapeshifting), but Marvel (I'm guessing Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter) put the kibosh on that, and so Destiny vanished from comics for years. It was still pretty obvious by the time she died (in an X-Factor Annual I have, they showed Mystique tossing her ashes) that her & Raven were totally Scissor Sisters, though.
-Destiny isn't really a major fighter (she's PL 8 with a wussy Crossbow, which isn't gonna hurt even half the X-Men), but her power (itself something you really shouldn't allow for PCs) is a total Game-Breaker, effectively making every guy around her better in combat. You could almost give her some kind of verbal Power allowing her to Enhance everyone's Fighting & Defenses... so I did, fixing my old build that didn't have it :). She can also "see" despite wearing an eyeless mask (since she's... y'know, blind) with a Counters Concealment power (I figure that should do it- it's sorta like Echolocation, except she's really just seeing like normal), plus she gets a bunch of extra combat prowess solely because of her abilities.

FANTOMEX (Charlie-Cluster 7, aka Jean-Phillipe)
Created By:
Grant Morrison & Igor Kordey
First Appearance: The New X-Men #128 (2002)
Role: Bizarre Background Character
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Force, The Weapon Plus Program, Super-Sentinels
PL 10 (226)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6/8 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 7
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 7 (+13)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Thief) 8 (+12)
Insight 6 (+10)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 7 (+11)
Stealth 7 (+12)
Technology 4 (+8)
Treatment 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment 5 (Guns & Stuff), Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical, Improved Defense, Last Stand (Spent HP to Ignore Damage for 1 Round), Move-By Action, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Tracking, Trance

Powers:
"Reality-Skewing" Illusion (Vision, Hearing) 8 [24]

"Separated From His Nervous System"
Immunity 5 (Pain Effects) [5]
Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Regeneration 4 [4]

"Three Brains"
Features 1: Allows Head-Shots to be Non-Fatal) [1]
Quickness 6 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Actions) [3]

"Link to E.V.A."
Senses 2 (Ultra-Hearing, Communication Link- E.V.A.) [2]
Remote Sensing 5 (Vision, Hearing) (Flaws: Limited To Through E.V.A.'s Eyes) [10]

"Ceramic Mask" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Crossbow +12 (+4 Ranged Combat, DC 19)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +7

Complications:
Vulnerable (Attacks on E.V.A.)- As his nervous system is external, attacks upon it will cause Fantomex great pain.
Enemy (Weapon Plus)- Fantomex is always having to deal with evil assassins or sentient techno-Gods and crap from the Weaopn Plus Program.
Relationship (Psylocke)

Total: Abilities: 94 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 65 / Defenses: 12 (226)

-Fantomex is basically Grant Morrison's version of Italian comic book character Diabolik, who is based off of the pulp French character "Fantomas". He's the creation of the Weapon Plus program ("Weapon X" being the tenth version), a Super-Sentinel meant to be used against mutants. Raised in a France-based experimental hidden world, he teamed up with Morrison's X-Men while being hunted by other members of his program. He ended up teaming with them various times and jumping around on Spy/Thief missions (his inspiration/s are thieves), also having to deal with the repercussions of the Weapon Plus stuff (ie. Killer Assassins always running around). He allied with X-Force and began raising a clone of Apocalypse to see if he could turn him good with enough proper parenting... why a Thief is the best choice for this I have no idea. He is later killed and resurrected improperly, and each of his three brains (he's a Morrison character, don't ask...) gets their own body, and leaves Fantomex, Cluster (a girl) and Weapon XIII (evil) as separate entities.
-Like most Morrison Originals, Fantomex is F-in' Weird, being a three-brained guy with an external nervous system, a ceramic mask that makes him Immune to Telepathy, Super-Hearing, Illusion Powers, and guns. He can think of multiple things at once (effectively Quickness, since he can think about more in less time) and can use a Hero Point to gain some random weird powers (Morrison did this a lot with Noh-Varr as well), since it seems like every story gives him some other weird thing ("oh, now he has nanites in his bloodstream that makes him unable to believe in anything greater than himself, rendering him immune to this Godlike being empowered by faith!"). His ship, E.V.A., apparently can Shapeshift and fire Energy Blasts, but I have no idea what it's even like.

MYSTIQUE (Raven Darkholme)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Ms. Marvel #16-17 (May-June 1978)
Role: Recurring Foe, Shapechanger, Femme Fatale
Group Affiliations: The Marauders, The Dark X-Men, The Brotherhood of Mutants, X-Factor, Freedom Force, DARPA, The Mossad
PL 10 (178), PL 12 (178) Liar
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 10 (+14, +16 Attractive)
Expertise (Spy) 10 (+14)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 6 (+10, +12 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Firearms) 3 (+13)
Sleight of Hand 5 (+5)
Stealth 7 (+12)
Technology 2 (+6)
Vehicles 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Alternate Identities), Defensive Roll, Diehard, Daze (Deception), Equipment 4 (Blaster Rifle +6, Body Armour, Standard Spy Gear), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Rifle), Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Metamorphosis"
Morph 3 (Humanoids) [15]
"Has Kids in Their Thirties and Looks like THAT" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Save 2 (Flaws: Limited to vs. Mental Attacks) [1]
Variable 2 (Body-Altering Powers) [14]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blaster Rifle +13 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +3 (+4 Body Armour), Fortitude +7, Will +8 (+10 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Relationship (Foster Daughter, Rogue)- Mystique was very close to Rogue, and their adversarial relationship puts a strain on the normally-amoral woman.
Secret (Countless Identities)
Enemy (Ms. Marvel)- Introduced as Carol Danvers' arch-nemesis, Raven was "upgraded" to another Claremont book, the X-Men, when Danvers' low-selling book was cancelled. They still dislike each other.
Enemy (Graydon Creed)- Mystique got some from Sabretooth (eewwww...), and produced an evil bastard of a kid, who was a sucky Robert Kelly rip-off who was just a Flat Character.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 76--38 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 17 (178)

-Mystique is... REALLY, REALLY, REALLY OVER-PLAYED. I mean, it feels like every f***ing X-Book I've read in the past couple years has featured Raven as a major character at some point, and almost every one of them pulls the "NOPE IT WAS MYSTIQUE AS THAT CHARACTER!" thing. What's funny is that her schemes appear relatively simple and greed-inspired (she's running Madripoor now, I guess), rather than the culmination of some giant Event Story, yet her omnipresence feels over-done.
-She has only tenuous links to actual X-Teams, being a fake student (Foxx) of the X-Men's, and being on X-Factor in a "you must be loyal to us or die" kind of deal. Of course, she betrayed everyone in both cases, as she always does. Despite being kind of a minor villain in a lot of the Claremont X-Men stories (she was generally there leading Freedom Force/The Brotherhood and doing minor stuff- though she did set off Days of the Future Past), he kept using her time & again, eventually giving her a monstrously-enormous backstory that had her as Rogue's foster mother and Nightcrawler's birth mother (originally she was gonna be his birth FATHER, impregnating Destiny, her lesbian lover, while in a male form). By this time, she's had another kid (Graydon Creed, a failed mid-'90s take on Robert Kelly, because he was too one-sided and crazy), multiple lovers & identities, and has just been all OVER the place in the X-Books, getting tons of play. The X-Men movie was a big factor- for some reason, a nude Rebecca Romijn Stamos covered in blue bodypaint appealed to people. This basically made her iconic overnight, and being played by the Hollywood Hype Machine's new darling Jennifer Lawrence is only adding to it.
-Mystique is a somewhat weak, lower-capped PL 10, not being very far in the damage quotient, but able to hold her own through cheating and sneakery (that's a REALLY high Deception score, even accounting for her Morph- though it's still limited to +22 bonus because of a PL cap- two higher than her Combat Caps). She's a far better Skillmonkey than anything else, as she's designed to be the best liar EVER, able to waltz into nearly any high-security location and discover all it's secrets. About the best power-set you'll EVER get for a "Secret Agent" archetype. Unarmed, she's PL 7, and she's only PL 8 defensively in general, so when she's "out in the field" she's horribly-vulnerable.
-Recent years have also seen a bit of a power-boost (well, she IS an X-Character after all... "Power Creep" is as synonymous with the X-Teams as it is with Rifts and Marvel's Top-Tier Powerhouses like Thor & The Hulk), giving her Variable powers- Nightvision, Claws, Wings, the ability to go Flat like Mister Fantastic, and some Armour. She doesn't gain a LOT of power from it, but it can definitely be handy. One point, by pushing it (Extra Effort), she Stunted two heads and four arms, allowing her to gun down people on two sides.

LILA CHENEY
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #1 (Summer 1984)
Role: The Rock Star, The 80s Icon, Teleporter
Group Affiliations: The New Mutants, X-Force (associate to both), Her Band
PL 8 (126)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+5)
Deception 4 (+8)
Expertise (Thief) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Music) 10 (+14)
Insight 4 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+5)
Technology 6 (+6)
Vehicles 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Fame), Ultimate Music Skill

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Interstellar Teleportation"
Movement 3 (Space Travel 3) (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity, Easy, Increased Mass 7- 3 tons) (Extras: Portal +2, Instantaneous- Instantly Appears) (Flaws: Limited to Areas She's Been Before) [22]
Linked to
Movement 3 (Space Travel 3) (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity, Easy, Increased Mass 7- 3 tons, Ranged 6) (Extras: Attack 8- Res. by Dodge, Instantaneous) (Flaws: Limited to Areas She's Been Before)
[24]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Teleport Attack +8 (+8 Ranged Teleport Attack, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Reputation (Rock Star/Thief)- Lila is either incredibly famous or incredibly notorious throughout the universe, known for being a bad-girl, thief, rock star, or fallen star. Expect nearly any alien to know who she is.
Relationship (Sam Guthrie)- Lila has an off-and-on hook-up with Cannonball going, as she finds his good-ol'-boy antics cute.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 21 (126)

-Gotta love Lila. She debuted in one of the most obviously-'80s story in comic book history, a "Rock Fable" (no kidding) where the New Mutants gang saw her play her punk-rock music, fell in love (Sam & Bobby did, quite literally), and ended up going with her on the way to her Dyson Sphere on the far end of the universe, where she'd promised to sell the Earth and it's population to alien slavers. Then some stuff happened, the day was saved, and Lila fell in love with the "Aw shucks" persona of Cannonball, setting off a big character arc for the big lug. Was it me, or was her & Sam's whole relationship completely awesome? The intergalactic rock star/thief has a thing for the innocent mama's boy Sam Guthrie, who's as much scared of her as he is in love with her. And then there's poor Sunspot, left freaking out because his charm didn't give him what he wanted for once. Unfortunately, such a thing was not fated to outlive the 1980s, and Sam was quickly pushed together with '80s mall-girl Boom-Boom instead, since Lila was missing in space somewhere. She's now just kinda... around, since she doesn't do a whole lot as a character. She messed around with Longshot & Dazzler on Mojoworld, and showed up again to date Cannonball in X-Treme X-Men, but none of this was long-lasting- most writers just don't seem to have a good handle on a dated punk-rocker.
-Lila is easier to figure out once M&M added an "Instantaneous" Extra to it's DC build of the Indigo Tribe. I sorta wonder why they never had a real concrete way of building Interstellar Transporters before this point, but I guess nobody checked and tried to make a list of "Weird-ass characters to build" before they released the books- statting out Deadman, Lila Cheney, and a few Acolytes ahead of time would've worked wonders :). She can use her powers as a Ranged Attack as well- this can be used involuntarily, resulting in a Linked Power since she can use both effects at once, teleporting friendlies and enemies.

KORVUS (Korvus Rook'shir)
Created By:
Ed Brubaker & Billy Tan
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #478 (Sept. 2006)
Role: Cloud Rip-Off, Bad-Ass Sword Guy
Group Affiliations: The Starjammers, The Shi’ar Empire
PL 10 (159)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 2 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 6 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Energy Blasts) 2 (+10)
Technology 10 (+12)
Vehicles 5 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment (Body Armour +1), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Phoenix Blade), Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

"The Phoenix Blade" (Flaws: Easily Removable) (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Rook'shir Descendants, Unbreakable) [30]
Cosmic Blast 10 (Feats: Penetrating 8) (28) -- (29)
  • AE: “Sword Slash” Strength-Damage +4 (Feats: Improved Critical 3, Penetrating 10) (17)
Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
-- (43 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Blade +9 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Cosmic Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +6 (+7 Armour), Fortitude +8, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Loves Rachel Grey)
Reputation (Descendant of Rook'shir, a Shi'Ar Phoenix)

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 17 (159)

-Korvus was introduced as the descendant of a Shi'ar wielder of the Phoenix Force, a guy whom the Imperial Guard was formed to defeat. Rather than the generic Telepath/Telekinetic set we usually get, he's got a big-ass Sword of Might. Not an... awful idea I guess, but he REEEAALLLY comes across as dated and '90s (despite being a mere baby of a character at a couple years old in our time), and a GIGANTIC rip-off of Cloud from Final Fantasy VII (same colour scheme, same armor, same sword... I mean, c'mon Brubaker, that game is like twelve years old or something). And it's kinda funny to read War of Kings, heavily featuring the Starjammers, and watch him do absolutely nothing (despite his “New Character Stink” debut featuring him kicking all the X-Men’s asses at once). Kind of a loser character. And I have to reiterate- the most damning thing about the X-Men's entire franchise is that writers as good as ED BRUBAKER AND MATT FRACTION could not help but write utter crap while working on them. What is UP with that?!?
-Korvus is a big-time Sword Guy, being a little more powerful than he is accurate, but no slouch at either. Pretty simple all around, he's better off in Melee, but can still blast away at stuff in a pinch. The rest of him is just a really in-shape Shi'ar guy (I don't buy that they're THAT strong, but Korvus is especially big) who's good with machinery.

STRONG GUY (Guido Carosella)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz
First Appearance: The New Mutants #29 (July 1985)
Role: Team Strong Guy (obviously), The Comic Relief
Group Affiliations: X-Factor, X-Factor Investigations
PL 10 (153), PL 11 (153) Absorbing
STRENGTH
13/15 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Acting) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Computers) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+8, +9 Size)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Diehard, Daze (Deception), Great Endurance, Equipment 1 (Communications), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Ranged Attack 5, Takedown, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Absorbing & Redirecting Kinetic Energy"
"Naturally-Huge Size"
Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 4) [7]

"Absorption of Attacks"
Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Requires Impact) [4]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Power Attack, Ultimate Toughness Check, Withstand Damage (Trades Dodge For Toughness) [3]
Impervious Toughness 11 [11]

"Strength Feats" Alt-Effects of Strength-Damage [2]
AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (13)
AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (13)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+13 Damage, DC 26)
Boosted Strength +6 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Groundstrikes +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 21)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +13 (+8 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (Pain)- Guido's mutation actually causes him a great deal of pain. He uses humour and joviality as a mask for this.
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- With his extra-large upper body, Guido is clearly a mutant or otherwise superhuman, and will get some odd stares. Similarly, disguises would prove difficult to use.
Responsibility (Bromance with Jamie Madrox)
Disabled (Nearsighted)- Guido can't see very well without his trademark tiny bottlecap glasses.
Weakness (Storing Energy)- Guido cannot store the Kinetic Energy he's afflicted with for very long- doing so will distort his body further (this effect is permanent). Similarly, over-doing it on his Toughness or Absorption attempts (ie. Using Extra Effort) run the tremendous risk of giving Guido a heart attack, which can prove fatal. He nearly died after punching World War Hulk with his own strength.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 8 (153)

-Strong Guy... I always hated this one as a kid. Being from the "I took all the characters no one else wanted" X-Factor by Peter David, I didn't really "get" the point of a deliberately stupid name, his jokey attitude, and his ridiculous appearance- I just saw a dumb-looking guy with a dumb name and hated him instantly. Showing up with a huge, muscular torso and itty-bitty legs, he was a goofy-ass design and I straight up HATED him as a kid. The fact that he KO'd my then-favourite Warpath in The X-Cutioner's Song (which I just realized is based off of a book by a famous author) didn't help matters. Now that I'm older, I find him a bit funny (joking that Havok was talking to him when he said "are you alright, Darling?" to Polaris, etc.- "I'm fine, honeybunch, but you might want to check on Lorna"), but that old childhood annoyance pops up every now and again, so I don't think I'll ever really get into this character.
-He's been an also-ran character for years, showing up as Lila Cheney's bodyguard for a time, then becoming part of the Muir Island crew, then showing up in X-Factor, then being written out with a heart attack when the book went for less of a JLA Detroit feel, and then showing up again as part of X-Factor Investigations with his heterosexual life partner, Jamie "Multiple Man" Madrox. Basically, Peter David likes him and nobody else really pays attention- David named him as a riff on how every super-team of the 1990s had a big "strong guy" on them, something that got only worse once Image Comics came about. He was resurrected by Layla Miller and thus rendered soul-less (so THAT's how DC keeps finding all their Nu52 writers!), and started working for Mephisto.
-Strong Guy is a PL 9.5 Brawler most of the time, but goes up to PL 10.5 when he's Absorbing others' attacks to use to amplify his own damage. In the end, he's a very powerful, strong character, whose full strength (when absorbing Kinetic energy, ie. punches) is just a notch higher than the other guys in his weight class (Thing, Warpath, Colossus), but he's similarly easier to hit. His Absorption, despite being his main power, is a little weak and low-level, but when you think about it, he is REALLY tough & strong to begin with, so he obviously doesn't need a great deal of it before he'd go way over his realistic level. His Impervious Toughness (a REALLY hefty 8 ranks of damage is insta-blocked overall) is Sustained so he can Stunt it if he needs to (note: not always a good idea- check his Complications, which are now a MUCH simpler and more elegant way of doing things than the old Flaws/Drawbacks system for powers like his). He also has a few Advantages linked to his powers (so they'd go away if his powers were blocked).

NAMOR, THE SUB-MARINER (Namor McKenzie)
Created By:
Bill Everett
First Appearance: Motion Picture Funnies Weekly (April 1939)
Role: The Jerkass, The Badass, Noble Prince Dickhead
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The Invaders, The All-Winners Squad, The Illuminati, Deep Six, The Dark X-Men,
Avengers Grade: C-Level (never really a long-term member)
PL 13 (196), PL 14 (196) When Soaked
STRENGTH
14/15 STAMINA 13/14 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 2 (+5, +7 Attractive)
Expertise (Ruler of Atlantis) 4 (+7)
Expertise (History) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+9)
Intimidation 9 (+12)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Atlantean Weapons) 4 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attractive, Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Underwater), Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Last Stand, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Combat 4, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Winged Feet"
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18) -- [19]
AE: Swimming 11 (1,000 mph) (11)

"Atlantean/Human Hybrid"
Immunity 4 (Aging, Drowning, Cold, Pressure) [4]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision) [1]

"Improved Underwater Stats" (All with Flaws: Limited to Underwater/When Soaked)
Enhanced Strength 1 [1]
Power-Lifting 2 (3,200 tons) [1]
Enhanced Stamina 1 [1]
Impervious Toughness 6 [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Soaked +12/+13 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +13 (+14 Soaked, +3 Impervious), Fortitude +13 (+14 Soaked), Will +8

Complications:
Enemy (Every Atlantean Advisor Or General Ever)- Namor repeatedly has Atlantis stolen from him by some douchebag or another. Atlantis is either full of evil schemers or soon-to-be-dead girlfriends.
Relationship (Lots of Soon-To-Be-Dead Underwater Chicks)- Every time Namor makes out with a pretty blue-skinned girl from under the seas, the poor thing is doomed to die. Even the green-skinned Marrina couldn't avoid the Damocles' Sword of Namor's schlong.
Responsibility (Atlantis)- Namor is the ruler of Atlantis, which makes him the target of a never-ending line of usurpers, as well as anyone who hates Atlantis (like Lemurians or Wakandans).
Responsibility (Human/Atlantean Hybrid)- Namor's racial make-up often becomes an issue with his people.
Reputation (Tool)- Namor is charismatic, but extremely impolite and impetuous, often threatening his closest friends for minor slights. He's straight-up MURDERED strangers for the same.
Reputation (Crazy)- Namor has a chemical imbalance that often leaves him unstable, which is why he has been absolutely villainous as hell in the past. He went from a fairly kind-hearted guy in his won book to a Black Adam-alike in recent years.
Power Loss (Wings)- Namor can lose his Flight if the tiny wings on his feet are damaged or disabled.
Weakness (Lack of Water)- If left without water, Namor will grow progressively weaker. After a long period of time, he will becoming Fatigued, Impaired, Disabled, Stunned, etc. (in addition to dropping Strength & Stamina consistently).
Enemy (Attuma, Orka, Llyra)- Namor has a Rogues Gallery of Jobbers ready to lose to him at a moment's notice.
Secret (The Illuminati)- Namor allies with Mr. Fantastic, Professor Xavier, Black Bolt, Dr. Strange & Iron Man in an attempt to ensure the safety of his people and the world.
Enemy (The Black Panther, Wakanda)- The two nations were at war- Under the Phoenix's power, Namor committed near-genocide against Wakanda, and even when he recovered, he wasn't particularly sorry.

Total: Abilities: 108 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 13 (196)

-I've always liked Namor. I'm not quite sure why -His series are almost always sure failures (the comics-buying public just DOES NOT CARE about Atlantean Politics, whether it's DC's or Marvel's) and I never buy them, he's been cancelled 100 times, and his writing is often haphazard and random (handwaved away by saying "he's bipolar"). But the fact that he's a Flying Brick beyond most common Marvel powerhouses, capable of slugging it out with the Hulk or Thor, and perennially pissed-off about something, mixes together to make a fairly interesting character whenever he appears in someone else's book. He uses broad strokes rather than tiny dabbles. His desire to bone Mr. Fantastic's wife (and saying it right in front of him) is always entertaining too. He's actually spent a surprisingly short amount of time on the Avengers, having only served briefly in the '80s (during the "Masters of Evil destroy the mansion" arc), after having been a villain of theirs for most of the '60s. If I was running Marvel, I'd probably insist he join at least one team. He seems a good fit- being strong as hell, but not an uber-Brick like Wonder Man or Thor, but alot more skilled and so full of rage that he'd just go flying right into battle at the drop of a hat. And since nobody buys his solo books, he's actually much better off in a team book that people would buy anyways (plus, he needs other characters to bounce his personality off of him that aren't subservient to him, like in his own book). Granted, Marvel seems to get this these days, throwing him on anything involving The Illuminati.
-Namor is an extremely powerful character, making PL 13 in melee, and PL 12.5 on defense, which is enough to give him a small edge over Iron Man, and run him a bit below Thor. He's a tad stronger than The Thing outside of the water, and MUCH stronger within it, yet packs the accuracy of The Punisher, Kraven, Black Cat and others who are generally considered to be excellent melee fighters without being truly elite. That accuracy plus that might is a nasty combo, and as such he's a powerhouse. Add to that the fact that he can go into the water and instantly be in the Thor class of Power Levels, and you've got yourself a merciless bad-ass (never mind the fact that every other major hero is WORSE OFF in the water!).
-Even his old Weakness of being out of water isn't really a major deal anymore- Namor's one of those guys who started off dramatically-powerful, seemingly grew weaker once he got his own comic book series, but is now one of the full-fledged baddest dudes on the block.

RISQUE (Gloria Dolores Muñoz)
Created By:
Jeph Loeb & Adam Pollina
First Appearance: X-Force #51
Role: Bad Girl
Group Affiliations: X-Force, X-Corporation
PL 8 (159)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+6)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Street Rat) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Gravity-Tossed Objects) 2 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Localized Gravity-Fields"
"Crush & Move" Blast 4 (Flaws: Limited to Objects) Linked to Move Object 8 (20) -- [21]
AE: Blast 8 (16)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +6 (+7 Armour), Fortitude +8, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Owes Sledge)- Risque owes Sledge for a favor done in her past. She introduces Warpath to him as her end of the deal.
Relationship (Warpath)- The two are together for a brief time, but split when it turns out she started the relationship under false pretenses (see above).

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 21 / Defenses: 17 (159)

-Risque debuted in X-Force as a Bad Girl with intent to hit on Warpath and soon they come to fall in love, just as he's getting over Siryn, who naturally was immediately annoyed. When it turns out that she'd met him in order to fulfill a favor she owed a man named Sledge, they split up. This was pretty much the end of her use in the X-Books, as she joined that X-Corporation thing that was mainly used to keep un-used characters around. Doing that (basically keeping tabs on mutant activity around the globe), she was killed by one of a group of John Sublime's agents OFF-PANEL. You know you're a minor character WHEN...
-Risque has the weird power of "Localized Gravity-Fields", which basically makes her a Generic Blaster & Move Object character.

FATALE (Pamela Greenwood)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell, Brandon Peterson, John Francis Moore & Jeff Matsuda
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #299 (April 1993- as Pamela), X-Factor #112 (July 1995- as Fatale)
Role: Bad Girl
Group Affiliations: X-Cell, Dark Decimation, The Brotherhood
PL 9 (175)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+10)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Assassin) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+9)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (Guns, Poisoned Blades), Improved Critical (Blades), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Energy Control"
"Bend Light" Concealment 4 (All Visuals) [8]
Teleport 15 (Extras: Extended, Accurate) [60]

Equipment:
"Poisoned Blade" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) Linked to Weaken Stamina 5 (Extras: Progressive +2) (19)
"Guns" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (18)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Poisoned Blade +12 (+4 Damage & +5 Weaken, DC 19 & 15)
Guns +9 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Owes Sledge)- Risque owes Sledge for a favor done in her past. She introduces Warpath to him as her end of the deal.
Relationship (Warpath)- The two are together for a brief time, but split when it turns out she started the relationship under false pretenses (see above).

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 68 / Defenses: 11 (175)

-Fatale is an elite assassin and the agent of Dark Beast, who wants her to keep an eye on the X-Men. Oddly enough, she was given a brief appearance YEARS before she became important in a Lobdell-written issue (the same one where Beast moons Graydon Creed off-panel), but only after Age of Apocalypse (way after I stopped reading regularly) she becomes important. She's pretty much just a Henchwoman for the most part, really not even dealing with Bishop, despite seemingly being important to him early on (she's apparently based off of his ideal woman, in order to gain his trust). Hell, she actually spends most of her time fighting X-FACTOR after a point. She teams with Havok's new Brotherhood, but he turns on them immediately.
-She would reappear years later, having been de-powered on M-Day (and re-powered by Quicksilver and the Terrigen Mists, only to be tossed into another dimension), and then showed up seven years LATER to be a part of Peter David's (who ELSE would use characters this obscure? Mark Gruenwald's dead!) new X-Factor book. She's not altogether that POWERFUL (comics is LITTERED with supposedly-amazing would-be assassins that have never beaten anybody good), but combining a Poisoned Blade with the ability to be completely invisible is a pretty dangerous thing.

THE SCARLET WITCH (Wanda Maximoff)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #4 (March 1964)
Role: Magic User, Miss Fanservice, The Mysterious Woman
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The Avengers, The Lady Liberators, Force Works
Avengers Grade: B-Level
PL 11 (160)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Magic) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+7, +9 Attractive)
Ranged Attack (Hexes) 3 (+9)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll 2, Ranged Attack 6, Ritualist, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Hex Spheres"
Luck 2 [2]

Probability Control 11 (Extras: Jinx, Ranged) (66) -- [72]
AE: "Improbable Events" Blast 11 (Feats: Penetrating 6) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (39)
AE: Deflect 12 (12)
AE: "Spontaneous Combustion" Blast 9 (Extras: Perception Range, Secondary Effect) (36)
AE: Nullify Powers 12 (Extras: Broad +2- All Powers) (36)
AE: "Rapid Decay" Weaken Toughness 12 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects +0) (24)
AE: "Bad Events" Affliction 13 (Will; Impaired Attack & Dazed/Disabled Attack & Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (26)
AE: "Transmute Elements" Transform 7 (Pure Elements from One to Another) (28)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Probability Control +9 (+11 Dice-Altering, DC 21)
Improbable Events +11 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Nullify +9 (+12 Nullify, DC 22)
Rapid Decay +9 (+12 Ranged Weaken, DC 22)
Bad Events +9 (+13 Ranged Affliction, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +8

Complications:
Power Loss (Hexes)- Wanda requires the use of her hands for her powers, and will become helpless if she is restrained.
Relationship (The Vision, Wonder Man)- At various times, Wanda has been in love with either man. She was married to Vizh for years, but left him when he lost his humanity.
Relationship (Quicksilver)- Pietro is an over-protective brother, but Wanda still dotes on him.
Side-Effects (Hexes)- If Wanda rolls a natural 1-2, she will be inflicted with her own bad luck.
Responsibility (Vast Power)- Wanda is naturally quite powerful, but she has the potential as a nexus being to warp reality on a vast level. This is often Uncontrolled, and gives her a horrible reputation as a wild card.
Reputation (Mutant Killer)- Wanda nearly made mutants extinct in one fell swoop (but thankfully left all the POPULAR characters, in a lucky bit of ass-pulling), and some have a hard time forgiving her for it.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 74 / Defenses: 19 (160)

-Wanda's been all over the place as a character. First, she was a fairly peaceful, non-evil villain under Magneto's rule in the Silver Age Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, wearing a fairly goofy headdress that I still don't know the origins of. Then, she did a face turn and became an Avenger in a wildly unpredictable turn (in the good way) later on in the '60s. This lead to a relationship with The Vision (which ran for SEVERAL years in the Avengers title, since they were among the few Avengers not to have their own book), a marriage, a pretty boring Limited Series (I mean, it had The Salem Seven, but The Grim Reaper & Nekra make for crappy Arc Villains- never mind the TWO OR THREE ISSUES featuring THE TOAD as a major villain!), children, then it all came crashing down as John Byrne made her go crazy in his West Coast run. She was cured in the end, but that'd lead to worse things later. She & Vision divorced when he turned into Mr. Data, she brought Wonder Man back from the dead and started boning HIM, and then she went nuts one big, final time, destroying the Marvel Universe in the process. OK, really, she just started some REALLY BAD crossovers, but that's an even more heinous crime, isn't it? Time will tell what'll happen to her character, as writers are struggling a bit to give some meaning to the woman whose main character trait now is having Unstoppable Power when she goes crazy.
-Me, I just blame it on the impossibility of writing mystic characters in modern times. And the overwhelming urge many writers get to have her beat the villain in the end using some kind of "Deus ex machina" Magic power thingie, instead of real tactics. At least the great Ultron Unlimited story arc had her only pull that off to beat ALKHEMA, and they needed a different trick to take out the big dog.
-The Scarlet Witch seemed complicated at first, but really, the Probability Control power in 2e's Ultimate Power basically explicitly lays out her powers in full, even giving us the two standard Alt-Effects of it that get used fairly frequently, those being Deflect & Damage. Now, that power doesn't exist in 3e technically just yet, but there's no reason why it shouldn't, so I just translated it over. There's also a handy Affliction in there to showcase how she can hamper others' attacks while also knocking them over or something as an Alt-Effect (it's sorta like Prob. Control in that respect, but not quite- the main power is six points per rank!), plus a Rapid Decay, a Power Nullifier, and spontaneous combustion. That's a lot of power for one character to have (especially by spending Hero Points for various other stuff), but Wanda remains a highly potent Glass Cannon, being almost worthless without her powers, and REALLY REALLY EASY to knock out if you manage a decent shot. Typical Avengers tactics are to basically protect her at all costs and have her take out the main villain.

FORGE (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #184 (Aug. 1984)
Role: Tech Guy, The Poisoned Romance, Magical Native American
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, X-Factor, X-Corporation
PL 9 (126), PL 11 (126) Inventor
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+3)
Expertise (Soldier) 3 (+9)
Expertise (Cheyenne Shaman) 5 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+12)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 6 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Firearms) 3 (+11)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 8 (+14)
Treatment 4 (+10)
Vehicles 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Equipment 6 (Gadgets in Suit & Cybernetics, X-Men Uniform, Arsenal), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Rifle), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ritualist, Teamwork, Trance

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Intuitive Technological Genius"
Enhanced Skills 16: Expertise (Science) 9 (+21), Technology 7 (+21) [8]
Enhanced Advantages 6: Beginner's Luck, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Skill Mastery 2 (Science, Technology), Ultimate Technology Skill [6]
Quickness 6 (Flaws: Limited to Inventing) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Rifle +11 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform, +5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Loves Storm)- The two once fell madly in love, despite Storm hating Forge for taking her powers. It was a poisoned relationship, however, doomed to failure.
Responsibility (Cheyenne Heritage & Magical Abilities)- Despite becoming a man of science, Forge is also Cheyenne, and since this is comics that means he must also have magical powers.
Responsibility (The Government)- Forge does a whole lot of work for the U.S., being at first a tech-jockey, and then an X-Factor operative.
Enemy (The Adversary)- Forge inadvertently allowed the mystical demon to enter our world via a magical spell he forged during his time in Vietnam (to kill the Vietnamese who killed his squadmates). The X-Men briefly died to stop this tremendously-powerful foe.
Vulnerable (Electrical & Magnetic Attacks)- As a partial cyborg, Forge is highly-vulnerable to magnetic-based attacks, and electrical attacks may leave him Disabled.
Relationship (Mystique)- They've hooked up multiple times.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 16 (126)

-Forge's an odd one in X-Men history. Created for the epic Claremont/Barry Windsor-Smith storyline Lifedeath Part 1 & 2, he was a mutant with the weirdest power yet seen: he could invent things with a natural capability beyond anyone else on Earth. Creating a device to permanently remove mutant powers, he accidentally struck Storm with it, leaving her without her powers for YEARS (something unbelievable today... I mean, super-heroes getting LESS POWERFUL?). The resulting love/hate relationship based on this and their mutual attraction (him for butch mohawked biker chicks and her for scrawny, gross-looking Native cyborgs) fueled their interactions for years before they finally became a real item, and he became the resident X-Mansion Tech-head and fixer, also taking part in a few notable battles (he was instrumental in The X-Tinction Agenda, going into a trance to avoid revealing the team's plan).
-It wouldn't last, though- he was a pointless character after a point, and the Nicieza/Lobdell team had no plans for him, so he & Storm were separated by the time the Blue & Gold era struck (Comic Book Relationships Never Last, remember), and he was left to wander aimlessly through the X-Books until settling briefly in X-Factor, the Bastard Child of the X-books. In recent years, he's had it even WORSE, going crazy and being killed after the Messiah Complex storyline (he's recently been brought back and made un-crazy by Cable's Telepathy for X-Force). Truly a weird result for a guy who it seemed Claremont loved, but nobody else really did (that would totally not become a trend in later years. Oh no. Not at all).
-Forge stats up kinda funny, seeing as how he has bizarre mutant powers and is just a guy with guns. So he's a lower-powered, highly Skillmonkeyed-up X-dude with some decent combat abilities, but not much in the way of hitting power. He's a cyborg, but only his arm & leg, and I don't recall ever seeing his metallic limbs give him any sort of advantage regarding strength or durability, so they go kinda un-pointed beyond being side-notes and Complications. His Skillmonkey talents are pretty good, though- he's only a notch under Iron Man & Reed Richards for sheer technical know-how, though he has a "cheat" with his Mutant Powers (which also give him Ultimate Skills and Quickness in Inventing). He also has magical powers, but only the Ritualist type, since he never really used them in combat aside from one fight with Magik.

PHANTAZIA (Eileen Harsaw)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: X-Force #6 (Jan. 1992)
Role: Forgotten Villain
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
PL 9 (126)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Intimidation 2 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Harmonizing Energy) 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Manipulated Electromagnetic Fields"
Senses 5 (Detect Electromagnetic Fields- Radius, Acute & Accurate) [5]
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]

"Harmonizing Energy"
"Turn Off Tech" Nullify Technology 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Broad, Simultaneous) (40) -- [45]
AE: "Pain & Paralysis" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (30)
AE: "Destabilize" Affliction 10 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (30)
AE: "Control Powers" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled Powers) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (30)
AE: Concealment (Visuals, Technology) 4 (Extras: Affects Others) (16)
AE: "Control Machinery" Affliction 10 (Tech Skill of Designer; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited to Technology) (xx)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Harmonizing People +8 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Turn Off Tech +10 Area (+10 Nullify, DC 20)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
None

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 60 / Defenses: 15 (126)

-Phantazia is an odd forgotten mutant character, debuting as a throwaway Sketchpad Character in Liefeld's early X-Force run- she allied with Toad's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but fled as soon as the going got tough. This era of the Brotherhood saw them as Wrecking Crew-like Jobber Villains, and they ended up dealing with Sleepwalker, Spider-Man & others, but disappeared in the mid-'90s, after Pyro died of the Legacy Virus. She later appeared in House of M as one of the few who remembered what happened in that reality (though she's De-Powered since M-Day), the results driving her insane. She's so poorly thought-out that she doesn't even have any Complications- I mean, I can't even think of WHY she's a member of the Brotherhood.
-Phantazia is also a hilarious example of Rob Liefeld's half-assedness as an artist. I mean, what could possible be more Liefeldian than a character who is nothing but a cape and a mask? He doesn't have to draw anything like that complicated "anatomy" stuff- just that big flowing cape! Which naturally, he draws like it's a long series of tubes, because that's easier for him than drawing what an ACTUAL cape would look like.The rest of those X-Force issuse are also hilarious for bad art, as Shatterstar is showing CUTTING PEOPLE using what looks like fluorescent tubes, Thornn goes from a one-piece-wearing Catgirl with stripes and long hair to a short-haired girl in an all-covering plain yellow bodysuit just because that's easier to draw, and HER FREAKING TAIL appears and disappears at completely random intervals! Best of all, at one point the lights go out, meaning that everything's just a silhouette with a mouth and a few costume details on it! And yet the Letters Column is 100% full of PRAISE FOR ROB LIEFELD.
-Phantazia is basically a high-level Ability Affecter, throwing out Debuffs on the enemy that involves Paralysis, Concealment, Power Control, Nullification, etc. She isn't that tough on her own, which is why she NEEDS the team, but she's very versatile- she's turned off Cannonball's Blast Field, shut down Cable's guns, led her team to X-Force's hidden base, and more.

THE X-CREATORS:
CHRIS CLAREMONT:
It's hard to even SUM THE GUY UP, ya know? Very few creators have ever had the kind of legacy he pulled off with X-Men, and for good reason- it's basically untouchable, and kept up the quality longer than any of its contemporaries did (just look at the mess The Teen Titans turned into). He also maintained the quality with a NUMBER of artistic collaborators, something not every writer can say- guys as varied as Dave Cockrum (best costume designer in comics, period), John Byrne (the Perez/Jim Lee of his day), Paul Smith, John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee and others. He NEVER seemed to let the artist dictate what was going on, save for offering to make their new creations look super bad-ass once in a while.

His traits as a writer are fairly notorious- he LOVED to write Lesbian Subtext (Storm/Yukio, Dani/Rahne and Destiny/Mystique being the most obvious), and rarely dealt with male homosexuality at all. He gave each character a huge selection of catchphrases and comments (known as "Claremontisms"), which ended up making some of them very recognizable and iconic. People make fun of that now (especially the foreigners all having one or two handy foreign phrases to randomly spout in their English sentences- "Droga!", "Boszche Moi!", "Unglaublich!", etc.), but it really made the characters memorable. His characters were REALLY, REALLY WORDY (the man himself is like this, too). He didn't care for the whole "inevitable fight scene" aspect of the medium, and liked his slow issues full of talking. His villains notably carried a sense of either nobility, or "I think I'm right" about them, eschewing the old Moustache-Twirling Silver Age Villains.

He either ignored or changed entirely the characters of the 1960s- it's fun to think about what fans OF those books would think if there was an internet or something- would they be clamoring for the old, one-note Magneto? The return of Mesmero as a recurring guy? Instead, Claremont turned Blob, Toad and others into nobodies, and focused on characters he'd created for other books (Mystique, Rogue), or completely altered the guys who'd come before (Juggernaut, Magneto). But since it was all for the better, who cares?

Claremont's long run allowed for character progression (Storm went from Innocent Naked Naiive Girl to Ultra-Tough Biker Leader Chick in a way that was so gradual that IT MADE SENSE), countless bad-ass feats, great character moments (I loved Wolvie & Kurt's little man-moments), and all the requisite pathos and self-hatred that makes Marvel Comics interesting. As far as comic book runs go, none have touched his combination of length, relevance (the comics STILL HOLD UP, which you can't say for a lot of past runs), and importance to the industry (comics itself is basically "Pre-Giant Size X-Men" and "Post-Giant Size X-Men"). Even if you make note of his funny tendencies, or joke about how bad he got later (when his books were never-ending series of his favourite female characters being hot, rebellious and super, super-powerful), you can't touch his elite stuff.

ROB LIEFELD:
Arguably the most hated creator in comics, it's hard to fathom a time when he was THE MOST POPULAR GUY IN THE BUSINESS. There are enough tales out there about his bad business practices, tracing of others' work, and ruined relationships with others (he was forced out of Image Comics by a vote of the other members after many things, including poaching of the others' talent) to fill a book. And great web sources like "The Fifty Worst Rob Liefeld Drawings" are worthy internet memes of their own.

So why WAS HE popular? Well, looking at his earliest stuff, it's hard to deny the ENERGY of it. As an artist, I can see that- he really ENJOYED what he was doing, and it showed on many panels. He drew lots of lines on things, and gritty stuff back when that was popular. He liked to draw boobs, guns and giant muscles; so what if he didn't draw feet? When have YOU ever looked at a comic and gone "wow, I really like how this artist draws feet"? And in a New Mutants book that was full of terrible stories and terrible art about increasingly-boring characters drawn to look like tiny children by Bret Blevins, watching someone come in and create DOZENS of new characters instantly with an all-new, "Adult" art style was a HUGE breath of fresh air- reading the entire series in one go makes this clear.

There are of course numerous issues with his art style- even if you can stand his particular style of drawing faces and/or bodies, or his recurring artistic traits in character design (what Cockrum was to hip-boots, Liefeld was to funny patches over peoples' eyes). The key thing I notice is his LAZINESS, which punctuates a lot of his work. I mean... he'll draw a good panel here or there- a REALLY decent grimacing face or a well-detailed action shot that is legitimately good (if dated) art. BUT this is surrounded by countless panels that are just plain WEIRD. People change in size from panel-to-panel- their HAIR will even completely change shape in the same scene! Backgrounds are often just abstract lines or just a mess of stuff because they're boring to draw. Arms are foreshortened funnily because he didn't feel like re-drawing it. Feet are constantly hidden, or drawn as tiny little triangles, because they're notoriously hard to draw. Every tooth in someone's head will be identical in size and shape, whether or not they're where a molar or bicuspid should be. Sometimes Cable's arm doesn't even have those lines across it, and just looks like a big shiny grey arm. Fingers will taper down in size along the hand, instead of having the middle one being the longest. Hands are holding things in a way that makes it clear that he drew a regular hand and then added a weapon later. Shatterstar is holding swords in one shot, and in the next they look like lil' batons. Sometimes a guy's face will just be a grimacing frown with horizontal lines simply etched all the way up & down, because "lines are rad".

His run on New Mutants & X-Force is perversely hilarious to look at now, not only because of all these flaws, but because it's just a never-ending stretch of Sketchpad Characters- Liefeld and his generation pretty much CONSTANTLY created new characters, often with no real purpose. New bodies just kind of SHOW UP endlessly, running in to pose cool and talk tough, then last for a few panels of brawling. Liefeld created the ENTIRE Mutant Liberation Front like this, then went to create Cable's Six-Pack AND Weapon: P.R.I.M.E. using the same theories- X-Force ITSELF was made up partially of these guys, as Shatterstar debuted with some fanfare, only to be beaten up repeatedly in later issues because there were NEW guys to push (Deadpool hands him his ass, but is himself humiliated quickly and repeatedly).

Liefeld's art would only get worse with time, as he gave up trying to draw different kinds of faces- but this was all after he left X-Force. And man, if you think Liefeld is bad, check out the LIEFELD WANNABES that puncuated comic books once he'd hit big- once-decent artists desperate for a sniff of the cash His Royal Grittiness would pull in monthly desperately aped his style, leaving out all the energy and unique character designs to simply draw lots of lines on quickly-drawn figures, resulting in some of the worst art in comic book history. Think: Liefeld is a HUNDRED times better than his wannabes. LIEFELD.

His legacy... isn't a good one. People don't like him, his fellow creators don't like him, and the industry alternates between giving him random books to draw for some attention and exiling him entirely. But for a while, he was actually MY FAVOURITE ARTIST, and I can still see why he was popular in the first place, even though nowadays most people just laugh at him.

JOHN BYRNE:
Regarding John Byrne, he's one of the more fascinating people in comics to read about. Especially his website, Byrne Robotics, where he describes all the work he'd done in comics, and the various stories behind it. He's controversial as all hell (moreso than just about anybody), and has one of the worst reps in comics as an individual, and it's not hard to see why. However, he's right a good bit of the time, and is much more humble at points than some people imply he is. I definitely see what he was talking about regarding his struggles with Alpha Flight, and many people back him up regarding what a hard person Marvel Editor Jim Shooter was to deal with (he fixed Marvel's "missed deadline" problem and brought them new levels of financial success, but at the cost of making him the most hated man in the room). He frequently admits that despite falling-out with Chris Claremont over the X-Men books, the sales went UP after Byrne left. He even calls his much-fabled Fantastic Four run "over-rated".

But yeah, he's got his bad parts (not even talking about him personally, as I've never met the guy). His website comes across VERY MUCH as "Why I am right, and why everyone else in comics sucks and is hard to deal with" (forgetting, perhaps, that if you have a problem with EVERYBODY, then maybe YOU'RE the problem). He actually says "I don't suffer fools gladly", which is a roundabout way of saying "I am a giant prick" (pretty much any time you've ever heard the first comment, it means they're jerks). He's flat-out stated he won't work with DC OR Marvel again (who burns BOTH bridges? Especially when the leadership changed so frequently for a while there), he's argued publically with other creators constantly, and THE. MAN. IS. OBSESSED. With taking characters with years of character development and STRIPPING them of it all, and reverting them to their original form! Fans of The Vision, direct all your hatred of his "I am an unfeeling robot" days to this man right here. Despite his hatred of any change (though he IS right in that the rapid-fire aging of characters like Dick Grayson & Kitty Pryde have REALLY warped the percieved ages of other characters), he also seems to be in love with altering heroes' origins (was there a real need to have Peter Parker gaining his powers in a giant explosion that also gave Doctor Octopus HIS powers?). It's really not surprising that most other creators seem to dislike him.

And of course, All Byrne Women Look The Same. But giving HIM criticism for this trope ignores the 95% of OTHER comic book artists guilty of the exact same thing. Hell, Jim Lee was worse for this than BYRNE was. It's noticeable that his stuff looked best under Terry Austin, though- good inking is WAY more important than you'd think. His stuff looks sketchy and sometimes just plain LAZY under the wrong inker.

He comes across as a jerk-ass egomaniac who nonetheless used to write some GREAT stories, and used to draw really great stuff as well. His X-Men run with Claremont speaks for itself and puts him squarely in the "Best Runs on anything ever" list, but still.

JIM LEE:
For years, Jim Lee has pretty much been the most sought-after comic book artist- it's not hard to see why- even for all his flaws, his stuff is VERY glossy, high-end and takes few shortcuts. He's basically the best of the "cross-hatching '90s artists", in that he actually BOTHERS to draw feet, semi-proper anatomy, backgrounds (often hyper-detailed), and keeps his characters on-model between panels. Granted, he's got a set of flaws- he over-uses the same poses continuously (not to Greg Land levels, but...), especially the "woman stands with her back arched" one, or the "woman is jumping through space with one leg bent, making a giant crescent shape between her thigh, rump and waist" look. He's arguably the single-WORST artist in the entire industry for just copying the same face onto every character- the men all have identical faces, and the women all have the same face AND BODY, to hilarious levels. His "Costuming Trends" include omnipresent bomber jackets & trenchcoats, Wolverine Hair, tiny squinted eyes, and bizarre half-masks that leave the face AND HAIR exposed.

But... the guy's created some of the most iconic looks in comics. As good as some of the other artists could be, almost all of them have had their character designs messed with repeatedly over time. But Lee is responsible for the modern iconic Wolverine look (having brought back the yellow & blue outfit), the Psylocke "Elektra Pallette Swap" outfit, the Rogue "Bomber Jacket & Tights" combo (and gave her the longer hairstyle that put him into the modern era), Gambit's bad-ass longcoat, and more. They kept his design specifications on the team for YEARS, extending into nearly all the Capcom Marvel games (Cyke, Psylocke & Rogue, especially).

He's also probably the smartest and nicest of the Image Crew, owing to his success post-Marvel, and lack of big-time industry feuds. His Image line sold REALLY well, he worked with a ton of industry guys who later became big stars, and he's currently raking in the money as a high-end guy at DC, making interlocking puzzle-piece armour for ALL your favourite rebooted DC heroes.

THE MORLOCKS:

The Morlocks are a great little story in X-lore. Initially debuting in X-Men #169, they came in during part of the Iron Age of Comics, when things started getting REALLY dark in the post-'70s era, and you had stuff like punk music, leather, etc. all becoming fashionable, and Chris Claremont latched onto that. Using the "Mutants As Outcasts" trope, he created an entire HUGE society of hundreds of mutants, all physically deformed, to prove that not all mutants were six-pack-having gorgeous people with bulging muscles and/or bosoms.

They started off by kidnapping Angel (of the old team of X-Men... Claremont didn't use them a lot, but he occasionally showcased them), nearly forcing him to marry Callisto, the Morlocks' leader, because he was so pretty and they were jealous/amazed. Storm fought her way down, combatting her own Claustrophobia, and kicked Callisto's ass in solo combat, taking leadership of the entire society (what IS it with dork-based media always setting things up with "Trial by combat" being the road to political leadership? Angry memories of being beaten up by popular jocks in High School to create the pecking order?). They showed up multiple other times: Annalee kidnapped Power Pack to make them her new children, Caliban nearly forced Kitty Pryde to marry him (but let her go, realizing she was sad and didn't want it), and that Healer guy came in handy a thousand times, frequently being used as a Deus Ex Machina any time somebody got hurt (it took the X-books YEARS to create their OWN Healer in Elixir).

So Claremont actually got some good play out of them. And then, when he realized the storyline was kind of drawn out, he cut a SWATH through them, wiping them out with The Marauders. Okay, so none of the major characters died. X-Factor was allied with several, all of whom survived. Callisto, Sunder and Caliban all made it out. So it was really three-hundred Mooks who died. But still.

Of course, a good idea like The Morlocks just won't die, so various other writers tried to re-create them, with varying success. A bunch of survivors were killed by the "Vid-Kids", a group of SUPER-'90s looking punks who filmed their murders. The late '90s brought Gene Nation, a secret group of Morlocks saved by Colossus' brother Mikhail and doing the ever-popular "Rapid Aging" excuse that I hate so very much. They kind of sucked (they dished Marrow out on the world). A few communities showed up here and there in other cities. Then someone revealed the whole group was created by Dark Beast as "Failed Experiments", and that was the revelation as to why Mr. Sinister had them killed (as the Marauders' boss)- he saw his handiwork in them. But whatever.

ERG (Andreas Konig)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Background Character, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 5 (70)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 7 (+8)
Expertise (History) 3 (+4)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Electrical Blast Through Eye"
Blast 6 [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blast +4 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Power Loss (Energy)- Erg's Electrical Blast requires nearby energy to be drained and converted. Kinetic energy from punches and the like will suffice, however.
Power Loss (Eye)- Only one eye releases Erg's power, and if he cannot open it, he cannot use his power.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 7 (70)

-Erg's a low-rent Blaster who's surprisingly still alive, given how many of these guys have been killed over the years. He's got a bit of a family history of Biker Gangs, and seems obsessed with that aspect, and he coined the "198" badge of honor among mutants (based off of the outlaw bikers' "1%" badge), but he's really minor, with a simple Blast.

APE (Name unknown)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Background Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 5 (70)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+2)
Perception 2 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Shapeshifting"
Shapeshift 1 (Flaws: Limited to Alterations to Physical Form) [7]
(typical powers: Power-Lifting, Protection 2)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3 (+5 Shapeshift), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 8 (70)

-Ape is a really silly Power Pack-introduced character, being Erg & Tar Baby's buddy, a guy who looked like a fat, malformed hobo who could shift himself into various forms, usually goofy stuff like a bed or a coatrack or something. Nothing really useful in a fight, but in the "X-Men" cartoon, he could do stuff like morph a hole into his body to avoid a Blast or something, so there's that. Like Erg, he's a PL 5 nobody, but he's actually dead now- killed as a throwaway victim in a Weapon-X storyline featuring a "Neverland" concentration camp in the Deadpool book.

TAR BABY (Name unknown)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Background Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 5 (57)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+2)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Exudes Tar-Like Substance From Skin"
Affliction 6 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Immobile) (Extras: Extra Condition, Cumulative, Contagious) (Flaws: Limited Degree) [18]
"Sticks to Skin When Punched" Protection 2 (Flaws: Limited to Bludgeoning Attacks) [1]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Tar-Skin +4 (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +1 (+3 Tar-Skin), Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)- You can tell Tar Baby's powers quite easily by the amount of paper and assorted garbage permanently stuck to him.

Total: Abilities: 16 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 21 / Defenses: 9 (57)

-Yes, they really named a character this. Okay, so it isn't ALWAYS used as a racial slur, but come on. Tar Baby here sticks to stuff, which is kind of a weird power, but fun to stat up. I figure it allows him a close-range Snare-Affliction that's Contagious (since the tar sticks to others for a while), Wall-Crawling as a Movement effect, and a bit of Protection (it saved him from being killed by Blockbuster's punches- it's kind of like a permanent Defensive Roll against physical attacks only). He died with Ape in the Neverland Camp as well.

TOMMY
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #210 (Oct. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 1 (28), PL 2 (28) with Skills
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+3)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 3 (+3)
Stealth 3 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: 2-D Form"
Alternate Form (Activation- Standard Action -2) [-2]
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]
"Flat" Insubstantial 1 (Flaws: Limited to Wide Enough Spaces) [4]
"Hard to See" Invisibility (All Visuals) (Flaws: Limited to Side View) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +0, Fortitude +2, Will +1

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Power Loss (Energy)- Erg's Electrical Blast requires nearby energy to be drained and converted. Kinetic energy from punches and the like will suffice, however.
Power Loss (Eye)- Only one eye releases Erg's power, and if he cannot open it, he cannot use his power.

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 5 (28)

-Tommy showed up exactly once, starting off the Mutant Massacre by running off with her Hellfire Club boyfriend, then running away as he was being murdered, only to be nailed by Harpoon, then shot at point-blank range by Scalphunter, the first Morlock fatality. She had a 2-D Form, like Flatman, but couldn't do anything combat-worthy with it, and was basically a civilian.

CYBELLE
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Romita, Jr.
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #211 (Nov. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 5 (75)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 5 (+5)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Acid-Secreting Skin"
"Acid Skin" Acid Aura 5 (Extras: Secondary Effect) Linked to Weaken Toughness 5 (Extras: Secondary Effect) [35]
Movement 2 (Permeate 2) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Acid Touch +4 (+5 Damage & Weaken, DC 20 & 15)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 6 (75)

-Cybelle is one of the first victims of The Marauders, attempting to flee when a group of them attack a bunch of seated Morlocks. While her allies are cut down in droves by Riptide and Scalphunter, Cybelle corrodes the stone wall behind her and rushes to get Callisto's help. As she runs, she's nailed from behind by Harpoon's Energy-Spear, which eats her alive from the inside-out. She's got a handy little power, but ultimately ineffective against a group with so many Blasters, and her tiny amount of Defenses did her in. The whole "Acid Skin" thing is a SERIOUS advantage for a better type of character, though, but it's cost at high levels would be incredibly prohibitive.

BERZERKER (Ray Carter)
Created By:
Louise & Walter Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #11 (Dec. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, The Tunnellers
PL 8 (78)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+6)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 6 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Perception 2 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Electrical Control"
Blast 10 [20]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Electrical Blast +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Weakness (Water)- If Berzerker is doused in water while using his electrical powers, he will take the full force of the Blast, which is easily capable of killing him (ie. it actually did).

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 8 (78)

-Of all the characters to get brought into another medium... BERZERKER (totally getting that Clerks song stuck in my head now...)? This mohawked punker guy was the leader of The Tunnellers, a one-shot group of Morlocks who fled the Massacre by moving onto the city streets, where they ran afoul of a common street gang AND the city police, resulting in a battle with X-Factor (then disguised as The X-Terminators). As his team fell dead around him, Berzerker freaked and lashed out with full power against Cyclops, who knocked him into the water, where his electrical powers killed him.
-VERY short-lived guy, obviously, but that's not the funny part. The funny part is when the X-Men Evolution cartoon series came out, featuring the X-kids as young students with Storm & Wolverine teaching them, they added THIS GUY onto the "New Mutants" secondary team of mostly background characters. I didn't even RECOGNIZE him at the time, and figured him for a newly made-up guy like Scrappy-Doo... I mean Spyke. But nope, they took a one-shot character and made him a New Mutant, and even used him to link the team to the Morlocks. For stats, he's a pretty buff guy with a high-powered Blast, but still has the accuracy of a jobber, making him a power-heavy PL 8 who's extremely vulnerable to most attacks, and with a very weaksauce weakness.

BLOWHARD (Name unknown)
Created By:
Louise & Walter Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #11 (Dec. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, The Tunnellers
PL 8 (48)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Healing Wounds"
"Wind Storm" Affliction 8 (Strength; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Condition, Requires Pipe) (16) -- [17]
AE: "Smash Into Things" Air Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Requires Pipe) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Wind Storm +9 Area (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Air Blast +6 Area (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +1 (DC 11), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 5 (48)

-An older-looking guy dressed like Friar Tuck, with a silly cork pipe, Blowhard created large wind-storms as Area Effects, making him a reasonably good team player, but he was still vulnerable. He may be one of the few named characters in comic book history to be killed by COMMON GANG MEMBERS. Seriously, the Tunnellers met up with a street gang, they got into a brawl, and Blowhard ended up gunned down and killed. Talk about blowing your Toughness save... His powers manifest as an Affliction that Trips in a huge 60-foot Burst, as well as an optional Area Blast that can hurt guys. This makes him a PL 9, but Wind-guys are often much higher in PL than they are in practise, as they're good a tripping guys or knocking things over, but are relatively easy to hurt. Note how much Blowhard here makes use of the disparity between Dodge & Parry, representing how easy he was to hit and kill. He WAS strong enough to knock The Beast on his ass, but that didn't really hurt him or anything, so he's just a pretty strong fat guy.

SCALEFACE (Name unknown)
Created By:
Louise & Walter Simonson
First Appearance: X-Factor #11 (Dec. 1986)
Role: One-Shot Character
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, The Tunnellers
PL 5 (37)
STRENGTH
0/8 STAMINA 0/4 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+2/+10)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+4)
Insight 4 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Giant Lizard Form"
Alternate Form (Activation: Standard -2) [-2]
Growth 6 (Str & Sta +6, +6 Mass, +3 Intimidation, -3 Dodge/Parry, +3 Speed) -- (18 feet) [12]
Enhanced Strength 2 [4]
Enhanced Skills 4: Intimidation 8 [4]
Reduced Stamina 2 [-4]
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Scent) [2]
"Tail" Extra Limb 1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Lizard Unarmed +2 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +3/+0 (DC 13/10), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +0 (+4 Lizard Form), Fortitude +1/+5, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 6 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 9 (37)

-Scaleface has, on first appearances, a really awesome and useful mutant power- the ability to turn into a gigantic Super-Lizard! You could easily write a team book featuring such a powerhouse, right? It has a great visual, it's believably powerful, and it's extremely unique. So of course this was a throwaway character that did nothing except act as the voice of reason, then get shot to death by the cops. Yeah, a 20-foot lizard got shot to death by a handful of bullets from a police officer's gun when he panicked (he felt bad about it later). Looks like SOMEBODY didn't gain the full Stamina from their size increase- something I put into her build, removing some points from the Growth power.

ANNALEE (Name unknown)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Evil Mother Type
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 7 (17)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA -1 AGILITY -1
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 6 (+6)
Insight 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Empathic Field"
"Feel My Pain" Affliction 7 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to When She Feels Pain/Despair) (14) -- [15]
AE: Affliction 7 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to Emotions, Limited to Her Own Emotions) (7)

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Emotion Field +7 Area (+7 Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative -1

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 10), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness -1, Fortitude -1, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Relationship (Children)- Annalee loved her children, and would go to any lengths to protect (or replace) them, to the point of throwing herself upon enemy guns, or kidnap other children to replace the ones she'd lost.

Total: Abilities: -8 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 4 (17)

-Annalee was a sad old story, as she was initally depicted as an Evil Mother type who wanted to kidnap the Power Pack children and have them brainwashed to be her own young. It turns out, however, that her real children were murdered (by Scalphunter, it was later revealed), and she was merely trying to replace them. Power Pack felt bad for her, and offered her the care of young Leech instead. THIS turned out negatively as well, as Leech was left alone again following Annalee's brutal murder at the hands of Scalphunter (who bragged about murdering her other children). Just doesn't pay to be a background mutant character.

BEAUTIFUL DREAMER (Ilona Bean)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Brainwasher
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 10 (69)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+3)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+3)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Memory Alteration"
"Dream Smoke" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Memory Transformed) (Extras: Area- 15ft. Cloud, Cumulative, Continuous +3) (Flaws: Limited to Sleeping Targets) [50]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Dream Smoke +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +1 (DC 11), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness 1, Fortitude +3, Will +2

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Companionship)- Beautiful Dreamer most often brainwashes people into joining her community because she desires their friendship.

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 3 (69)

-Beautiful Dreamer has an extremely powerful ability, though her targets have to be asleep for it to work, heavily limiting it's use, especially on the battlefield. It was her who convinced the Power Pack kids that they were Annalee's children, and her power is Continuous (ie. is still active without her input) until she chooses to let it go. This makes it quite expensive (Cumulative, Cloud, Continuous +3), but again, she's a background NPC, so it's not exactly a game-breaker. Dreamer never did too much after that Power Pack appearance, surviving the Mutant Massacre only to enter Marvel Limbo for two decades and end up being killed by The Purifiers with a modified Legacy Virus needle or something, amping her powers beyond control (and convincing several people to 'forget' their body functions like pumping blood).

MASQUE (Jack MacNaughton)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #169 (May 1983)
Role: Evil Leader
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, The Tunnellers, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
PL 7 (103)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+2)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+6)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Body Re-Shaping"
"Transform Body Parts Entirely" Affliction 9 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed) (Extras: Cumulative, Continuous Duration +3) (45) -- [48]
AE: Morph 3 (Humanoids) (Extras: Attack 9, Continuous Duration) (Flaws: Limited to Attacking) (24)
AE: "Form Skin Over Orifices" Affliction 9 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative, Progressive +2) (36)
AE: "Form Skin Over Eyes" Affliction 9 (Fort; Impaired/Prone/Vision Unaware) (Extras: Cumulative, Continuous Duration +3) (45)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Morph Attack +6 (+9 Morph, DC 19)
Transform Attack +6 (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Suffocate Attack +6 (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Blinding Attack +6 (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +1

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

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)- Masque is short, disfigured and misshapen, and cannot pass for an ordinary person.
Motivation (Power)- Masque is power-hungry and vengeful, and loves controlling his fellow Morlocks.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 12 (103)

-Masque is one scary mother, and was introduced as one of those "Plot Device" characters. See, he could alter people's apperances at-will, forcing some people to stay Morlocks because they were now deformed. A cruel, sadistic bastard, he often did this for the sheer FUN of it, and has used it to kill in the past (by morphing people's flesh over their nostrils and mouths), which is one AWFUL way to die. He was part of The Tunnellers' break-off group, but when they all died, he ended up taking the few Morlock survivors under his wing, and used them as a weapon against Callisto and various X-Characters- he was the official Morlock leader for a few years. He was executed by Shatterstar on Cable's orders in an early X-Force book (in their defense, Cable WARNED Masque that he would be killed if he ever screwed with X-Force again) when the writers ran out of fun stuff for Morlocks to do, but he returned in more recent times for no apparent reason, again doing evil Morlock stuff.
-Not much of a battlefield guy, Masque can't take a punch to save his life, and would be easily killed by anybody. So he has lots of Mooks around him, and usually only dives in when he feels he has a chance. But that power.... *shudder* He can Morph, Suffocate, Blind or Transform people (he gave Callisto octopus-tentacle arms once, for instance, so it's not just the "Morph Attack", which only changes appearances), all Continuous in Duration because only HE can undo them (or a skilled surgeon I guess), so it's a good thing he's pretty weak otherwise, and not that great a fighter- he usually only nails helpless or Mook-like people with his attacks. The Morph has extra ranks added to the Attack Extra because otherwise I think it'd only be a DC 13 effect. In more recent years, he's developed the ability to remove people's powers, which is just another Affliction (Transformed) effect.

PIPER II (Real name unknown)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & June Brigman
First Appearance: Power Pack #12 (June 1985)
Role: Animal Controller
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 10 (79)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Persuasion 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Animal Empathy

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Animal Control"
Mind Control 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Animals, Limited to While Playing Flute) [40]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Animal Control +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +1

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

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 16 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 13 (79)

-Holy... this guy's got the exact same name AND POWERS of the Piper from the Savage Land Mutates!! Oh well, I guess it makes this one an easy build :). Piper mainly controlled sewer-dwelling types of beasts, this being bats, rats, insects and alligators (okay, it's a Comic Book, so that's acceptable), making him a good Horde-Summoning type of guy. He was slain by Scalphunter of The Marauders. Note again that I do not use the "Summon" Power from the rulebook, since he doesn't SUMMON them, and they don't vanish and stuff when defeated- why they gave that power to Aquaman I have no idea.

HEALER (Real name unknown)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #179 (June 1984)
Role: Party Healer, Deus Ex Machina
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks
PL 2 (45) Combat, PL 3 (45) Skills
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+2)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+2)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Healing Wounds"
Healing 10 (Extras: Persistent, Restorative) (Flaws: Limited to Others, Tiring) (Quirk: Mutants Only -1) [19]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +0, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)

Total: Abilities: 10 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 10 (45)

-Oh, Healer. So many times did the X-books write off a ton of damage using him. Makes you wonder why more healing-centric guys aren't around in comics- they're just so HANDY for that sort of thing! Like that time Professor Xavier was gang-beaten into near-death by a bunch of thugs. The Morlocks found him, took him to Healer, and boom, he was up and walking in a day. This happened a half-dozen times if I remember correctly, and nearly every time with a Claremontism (you know, those things that Claremont tends to write, like "I'm the best there is at what I do" and "bionic housings in his forearms" and "the focused totality of my telepathic powers") of some form of "it took everything he had, and he's nearly comatose now". He was injured during the Mutant Massacre, but Wolverine saved him. He later died over-doing it with his powers on Callisto, removing this Plot Device from the X-books forever (but don't worry- they have Elixir now!). What's funny is that for all the use they got out of him, I don't recall him actually SAYING anything. He was literally just this guy in the background who got brought out to save someone's life, and then go back to doing nothing!
-Healer is focused around only one thing- a very powerful Healing effect that's Limited to Others (and Mutants- a Quirk at-best) and Tires him out. He can't fight or dodge or do anything else cool- he just sits back and heals the injured.

LEECH
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #179 (June 1984)
Role: Power Nullifier, Deus Ex Machina
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Generation-X, X-Terminators
PL 20 (75)
STRENGTH
-3 STAMINA -1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -2 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 5 (+4)
Persuasion 5 (+3)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Nullify All Powers"
Nullify 20 (Extras: Fort Check +0, Area- 30ft. Burst, Continuous Duration +3, Broad- Metahuman) (Flaws: Close Range, Permanent) [80]

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-3 Damage, DC 12)
Nullify +20 Area (+20 Nullify, DC 30)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness -1, Fortitude +1, Will +1

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvoius Mutant)- Bright green and deformed, Leech could never pass for human.
Disabled (Speech)- Leech talks very strangely, and has difficulty being understood.
Motivation (Family)- Bounced from home to home, Leech has a burning desire for affection from parental figures and friends.

Total: Abilities: -18 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 80 / Defenses: 8 (75)

-Leech is a fun character that's gotten a lot of use over the years by virtue of being an iconic Obvious Mutant combined with the sad story of the Lonely Child (as well as being a walking Plot Device, given that he can shut down anyone's powers). His parents left him to die as an infant, and he was raised by the Morlocks, but then ANNALEE died, and he's been bounced between different homes for his entire life. A really sad little tale, especially since he's so eager to please and be loved. His power is so over-arching it's virtually a PL X effect (nobody ever RESISTS it- they just lose their powers), but Nullify 20 oughta do it. A full-range Continuous Burst Nullify 20 effect will shut down pretty much ANYBODY in range, so it's a good thing he's a worthless fighter otherwise.

SUNDER (Mark Hallett)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #169 (May 1983)
Role: Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Muir Island X-Men
PL 9 (68)
STRENGTH
10 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 4 (+3)
Intimidation 9 (+8)
Perception 3 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Chokehold, Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Super-Strength" (25 tons)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Sunder is a hulking brute, and clearly not a normal human.
Relationship (Callisto)- Sunder is completely subserviant to his boss, and will do whatever she asks.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (68)

-Sunder's basically just a generic powerhouse- a big guy who does Callisto's bidding as her resident Bruiser. What's funny is that his X-Men link is only on that "Muir Island" makeshift team that doesn't really count, but he still showed up on a first-generation Marvel Card as a member of the whole group, making me think he was some forgotten member when I was a kid (what's more odd is that the guy in the picture listed as "Sunder" is quite clearly Guido "Strong Guy" Carosella, but drawn with more ordinary proportions). But no, he was on the team for five seconds, then got shot to death by Pretty-Boy of The Reavers. As far as stats go, he's quite an effective PL 9 Powerhouse guy, but he lacks the durability and Defensive capabilities of a good brick- a guy with a MACHINE GUN killed him. What kind of a Powerhouse can get brought down by common weaponry?

CALIBAN- First Form
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #148 (Aug. 1981)
Role: Tracker, Wussy Guy
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, X-Factor
PL 3 (51)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Music) 8 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 8 (+7)
Investigation 6 (+5)
Perception 6 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+1)
Stealth 4 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Mutant Detection & Fear-Field"
"Detect Mutants" Senses 11 (Detect Mutants- Acute, Extended Range 6, Low-Light Vision, Tracking 2) [11]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +0, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Caliban is hideously deformed, with white skin and large eyes, and would not pass for a normal human being.
Relationship (Kitty Pryde)- Caliban fell in love at first sight with young Katherine Pryde, and this motivates him heavily in the early part of his life.

Total: Abilities: 0 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 11 / Defenses: 14 (51)

CALIBAN- Enhanced Form
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #148 (Aug. 1981)
Role: Powerhouse, Big Dumb Guy
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, X-Force, X-Factor, Four Horsemen of Apocalypse
PL 10 (148)
STRENGTH
9/10 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+10)
Expertise (Music) 8 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 8 (+7)
Intimiation 10 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+5)
Perception 8 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+1)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Mutant Detection"
"Detect Mutants" Senses 11 (Detect Mutants- Acute, Extended Range 6, Low-Light Vision, Tracking 2) [11]

"Boost Strength Via Fear" Enhanced Strength 1 (Flaws: Limited to When Others are Afraid) [1]

"Pestilence Powers: Mental Plague"
Weaken Mental Abilities 8 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous, Progressive +2, Contagious) (Flaws: Distracting) (40) -- [41]
AE: "Induce Fear" Affliction 6 (Will; Dazed/Entranced/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Limited to Fear) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Boosted +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Fear-Field +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Mental Plague +6 (+8 Weaken, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +10, Fortitude +12, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Caliban is hideously deformed, with white skin and large eyes, and would not pass for a normal human being.
Enemy (Sabretooth)- Caliban has an intensely personal rivalry with Sabretooth, who killed many of his friends during the Mutant Massacre. He snapped Sabretooth's neck once, though Creed has his number these days.
Enemy (Apocalypse)- Caliban was a willing ally of Apocalypse for years, but eventually broke away to regain his freedom.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 16 (148)

-Caliban was a great example of a background character used perfectly. Initially a means to an end, Caliban was a Mutant-Tracker, and used in specific instances where that would come in most handy. But later, they developed a sad little story where he fell in love with young Kitty Pryde, and made her promise to come stay with him. Eventually, she was kidnapped and forced to be his bride. The X-Men were planning a rescue and all that, but when Caliban realized that Kitty truly did not love him and wanted to go back to the surface, he willingly let her go- not wanting her to be sad. Great stuff that you rarely see in comics.
-Later, Caliban was teamed with X-Factor post-Mutant Massacre, but he eventually hooked up with Apocalypse to get revenge on Sabretooth in particular, gaining super-human strength and added ferocity, and was a Horseman of the Apocalypse for most of the 1990s, when I was reading comics (I had no idea he's started out as a sad little weenie). Eventually, he rejected Apocalypse and hooked up with X-Force long after I'd stopped reading the book, as a whacky Dumb Muscle type that I didn't care for one bit. He then got re-brainwashed by Apocalypse into Pestilence (where he got a "Mental Plague" power), went into Marvel Limbo for a while, came out back in his original state, and got killed saving Warpath from a hail of bullets. Well, if they weren't going to use him, may as well give him a heroic send-off, I guess.
-Caliban's first form is a means to an end- an elite Mutant Tracker with extreme range and some skill at surviving in the Morlock Tunnels. His second form is a PL 10 Powerhouse-type (strong enough to brawl with Sabretooth or injure Colossus with a sneak attack) who dishes out lots of punishment and actually has a few Combat Advantages, as well as packing that Plague that I've never personally witnessed in the comics, but takes up a big chunk of his points-cost. Either way, he's no EXTREME challenge (his "left Sabretooth for dead" feat is his ONLY big combat feat I can think of, and Sabes won most of the later fights), but still pretty good- he even has a win over Mister Sinister (Caliban was apparently gifted specifically to take him on).

CALLISTO
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Paul Smith
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #169 (May 1983)
Role: Leader, Evil Dragon Lady
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Gene Nation, Genosha Excalibur
PL 9 (135)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Close Combat (Knife) +1 (+12)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Sewer Dweller) 10 (+12)
Expertise (Tactics) 9 (+11)
Insight 6 (+10)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 6 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment (Knife +1), Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Knife), Last Stand, Leadership, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Startle, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Enhanced Senses"
Senses 8 (Extended Vision, Scent & Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent & Taste, Accurate Hearing) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Knife +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5, Fortitude +9, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Motivation (Morlocks)- Callisto is (or was) the leader of the Morlocks, and the survival of her community means everything to her.
Relationship (Marrow)- Callisto sees Marrow as the daughter she never had, and would do anything for her.
Rivalry (Storm)- Callisto respects Storm's power and leadership, yet resents her for taking the Morlocks from her- their relationship is very complex.
Enemy (Masque)- Masque has deliberately tortured his old boss several times, and seems obsessed with doing so.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 14 (135)

-Callisto's a neat background character in X-history. She's the semi-evil nasty bitch in charge of the Morlocks, but knows what's best for her group. Though she's engaged in some VERY questionable activities (kidnapping and force-marrying Angel, doing the same to Kitty Pryde for Caliban's sake), she's ultimately that gray-area amoral that makes so many anti-heroes of the '80s very interesting characters (in the days before that became an overdone trope). A formerly-beautiful woman who got scarred by anti-mutant mobs, she's been all over the place in the '90s, turning kinda evil again, running off to another dimension with Colossus' brother, returning, getting unscarred and re-scarred, and tortured by Masque and stuff, which is kind of why the past few decades of comics have sucked for X-people. Me, I just thought her relationship with Storm was fascinating- so full of hatred and resentment, but also mutual respect and admiration. You don't get much of that in comics.
-Callisto's got a VERY vague set of mutant powers, and I don't think they even showed them until well after her debut in the early '80s. She's got Super-Senses, making her kinda redundant with Caliban around, but she's got a slightly different set. She's stronger than she looks, but not superhuman (about equal on a hand-to-hand level with Storm), and is very accurate in combat, with many Combat Advantages. So she's no pushover, but she's still only PL 8.5.

ARTIE MADDICKS
Created By:
Bob Layton & Jackson Guice
First Appearance: X-Factor #2 (March 1986)
Role: Background Kid
Group Affiliations: The Morlocks, Generation-X, X-Terminators
PL 4 (20)
STRENGTH
-3 STAMINA -1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -2 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
None

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathic Vision Creation"
Illusion 1 (Visual) (Feats: Increased Size 5) [7]
Mind-Reading 4 [4]
"Mind-Block" Affliction 4 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) [16]

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-3 Damage, DC 12)
Mind-Block +4 (+4 Perception Affliction, DC 14)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness -1, Fortitude +0, Will +1

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvoius Mutant)- Bright pink and deformed, Artie could never pass for human.
Disabled (Mute)- Artie cannot speak at all, requiring his mutant powers to create images of this thoughts.
Motivation (Family)- Bounced from home to home, Artie has a burning desire for affection from parental figures and friends.

Total: Abilities: -10 / Skills: 00--0 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 27 / Defenses: 3 (20)

-Artie's a life-long sidekick of Leech, though much less of a Plot Device or otherwise powerful character. He's a mute kid who can create mental images (and has displayed other powers over the years), showcasing the trope of "being a mutant sucks and isn't all about hanging out with chicks with giant bazoombas". Unfortunately, like Leech, he's been bounced all over the place, as every writer since X-Factor has gotten tired of him & Leech eventually, resulting in runs on a few different books. Currently, he is believed to be de-powered, and uses a helmet created by Valeria Richards to utilize similar effects.

WIZ KID (Takashi "Taki" Matsuya)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Joe Bogdanove
First Appearance: X-Terminators #1 (Oct. 1988)
Role: Smart Guy, Handi-Capable
Group Affiliations: The X-Terminators
PL 0 (54), PL 6 (54) to Machines
STRENGTH
-2 STAMINA 0 AGILITY -3
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Computers) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+5)
Insight 4 (+3)
Investigation 4 (+3)
Technology 5 (+7)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Inventor

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Technopathy"
Transform 11 (Any Metallic or Glass Substance to Any Other- 3,200 lbs.) (Extras: Continuous) (Flaws: Technology/Computers Skill Check Required) [44]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge -3 (DC 7), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness +0, Fortitude +0, Will +3

Complications:
Prejudice (Mutant)
Disabled (Wheelchair-Bound)- Taki cannot walk without assistance, and requires a wheelchair or other vehicle to maneuver around. Without them, he is completly helpless.
Disabled (Dyslexic)- Taki has learning disabilities despite his great intelligence, and often reads things incorrectly.

Total: Abilities: -8 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 44 / Defenses: 4 (54)

-Taki's by far the least-used X-Terminator kid, being a handicapped kid (a recurring thing I remember from the '80s was tons of kid-themed media featuring "Inspirationally-Disadvantaged" kids, something that's easy to make fun of- of course, I've ALSO heard from a few disabled folks who actually REALLY WANTED some people in their cartoons to look up to, which is a good reminder to not ALWAYS be a cynical douche about those tired old tropes) who can create awesome technology with his Technopathic powers. After their Limited Series ended, he basically went on to do nothing (aside from some random adventures in Annuals or something like that), and eventually got de-powered. Until he randomly showed up in Avengers Academy, fully-empowered with no explanation.

FABIAN NICIEZA:
Oddly, Fabian is largely-ignored in the history of the X-books, despite writing two central books for quite a few years. I mean, he wrote X-Men and X-Force for the ENTIRETY of my initial fandom with the books! Alas, I think it comes down to simple mediocrity- the books aren't as bad as they COULD have been (keep in mind this is the early '90s, and Sketchpad Character villain teams are all over the place to the point where they dominate the books), and several times they're quite GOOD, but it's all just very... mid-tier. Plenty better out there, and plenty worse. It's the literal definition of "mediocre", middle-of-the-road stuff.

Another issue is the sense of everything staying the same. Stan Lee always wanted Marvel to have "The ILLUSION of Change", but this was just several years of treading water- the X-Men didn't even really ADD any characters during his run! The Blue Strike Force was ENTIRELY the same from beginning to the end of Nicieza's time on the book! Yeah, he was the central guy for The X-Cutioner's Song which was a big story, but Stryfe's over-the-top villain dialogue is pretentious nonsense and shows it's age these days, and the cross-over really only holds up as a great example of "Guys Fighting" (the X-Force (vs) X-Men & X-Factor issue is BITCHIN'). Stryfe of coursed DIED at the end of his biggest story, and Apocalypse soon followed, meaning there was nothing really left- Nicieza utterly failed to make The Upstarts interesting, same as Scott Lobdell failing with The Acolytes.

He was fired in 1995 after a dispute with Bob Harras (a notorious asshole and Editor of the X-Books at the time), despite both books being in the Top Ten best-sellers list. The rest of his work in comics is decidedly uninspired, and not exactly huge stuff. A failed run on Acclaim Comics, Turok and other things, along with some freelance stuff in the late '90s. He DID write forty issues of Thunderbolts, though, effectively controlling the characters' fates once Kurt Busiek stopped writing them. He's done more work for DC in the past decade, mostly on Bat-Books.

Oddly, Nicieza's lower-selling book, The New Warriors, comes across as a better book than his X-Stuff, despite the fact that pretty much ALL of that book's villains were Jobbers. Nicieza himself says that the first 25 issues of that series is the "best work of my career". But... but what about SuperPro, Fabe?

But to be honest, this guy's biggest legacy should be managing to keep Rob Liefeld under control for their New Mutants/X-Force run. I mean, look at what Rob created AFTER THAT, WITHOUT Nicieza to rein him in? Also, pretty much the entirety of what Cable & Deadpool turned into is due to Fabian- he wrote both of their initial solo books, and prevented Wade from being jobbed out too easily in his run. The entirety of his career can basically be summed up by "He was the guy who followed the best guys, and managed not to f*ck things up". Which, if you think about it, IS pretty hard to do- look at what Scott Lobdell did on Uncanny or Marv Wolfman did to his OWN characters on Titans.

GREG CAPULLO:
-A very solid artist of the early-'90s, Capullo drew some neat stuff, and was MUCH better overall than Liefeld as an artist, with a better sense of character design (though he was also bad for Sketchpad Characters- the second incarnation of Weapon: P.R.I.M.E. is a good example). Alas, his work was pretty forgettable (he did a lot off stuff on Quasar, making Wendell Vaughn look like a doe-eyed pretty boy with long hair). His redesigns of the X-Force team's costumes circa #20 was really good and avoids some '90s stereotypes, while utilizing others (Feral's skimpy monokini costume; Siryn's basically puts the same look in yellow overtop of a skin-tight green bodysuit... oddly, both Cannonball & Warpath show man-cleavage)... to be certain, you can't really use costumes like that NOWADAYS (they're a bit too "busy", especially Rictor's Bandana/Tassles/Scratchy-Design on the Thighs/Fingerless Gloves look).

Capullo only lasted a short time on the series (doing a very basic '90s Style that had lots of cross-hatching and super-buff bods, but wasn't all back-bending like most), but soon got poached by Todd McFarlane, who made him the new Spawn artist. Funnily enough, Capullo was SO GOOD at mimicking Todd's art style that my cousin, a HUGE McFarlane fan, just assumed that Todd was still doing all the artwork- I had to break his heart and tell him that almost all of his books were drawn by a comparative nobody. He's currently working on Batman, and is one of the more long-running artists today. He's not nearly as famous as the big names, and probably doesn't even sell a lot of books on his own, but he's a workhorse and legitimately good, if not astounding.

TONY DANIEL:
Daniel took over from Capullo on X-Force, and brought a more Image-style, exaggerated-bodies approach to things, but thankfully didn't mess around with the costumes. Domino & Siryn began suffering from Comic Book Scoliosis, resulting in overly-bent backs and splayed-out thighs, while Warpath suddenly became ten feet tall with arms like tree trunks. His panels were nonetheless some of the prettiest, SHOWIEST stuff at Marvel in the time period, though.

This was the first time Daniel became known in comics, but was largely absent until he showed up and did some more-modern stuff for DC (with a COMPLETELY different art style, too), with Bart Allen's death, the new Batman book, and more. He even does WRITING, these days, as one of the top-tier people at DC.

ANDY KUBERT:
The son of legendary artist Joe Kubert, Andy basically took over X-Men from Jim Lee, and went out of his way to ape the same style as a kind of combo of Jim Lee & Joe Kubert- you can SEE the underlying qualities of Joe's work, but then everyone's covered in Lee-style cross-hatching and suffering from scoliosis. He was apparently notorious to some fans for drawing every character with a different facial expression on every panel. Looking at his stuff, it's quite competent, but often overly stiff or derivative- sometimes, the women have INSANELY wide mouths, bisecting their entire face like the Canadians on South Park. He's gotten better over time, and got work on Wolverine's Origin series and Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602, and later became a co-conspirator of Grant Morrison's at DC- he still gets top-tier work and is very well-respected thanks to a combination of competence and work ethic. I've never been wowed by the guy, but he's a good hand.

SCOTT LOBDELL:
The worst. The crappiest. The drizzling shits of the business. That's what Lobdell represents to me. Okay, so the ex-comedian had some funny lines here and there- for the most part, his run on Uncanny X-Men was garbage. He was the main writer behind the dull-as-dishwater Acolytes. He wrote Bishop as a completely humorless pile of boring. He turned nearly every OTHER character into a deadpan, snarky jokester. All of his original characters are boring crap. Some people liked his Generation-X stuff, but since almost all of those characters have vanished, even THEY didn't leave much of an imprint on the X-books. The Age of Apocalypse was a big hit, but more through the clever costume redesigns of Joe Madureira than the boring old "It's an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!" storyline, and Operation: Zero Tolerance was crap. Okay, SOMETIMES there were good jokes in the books (he IS a comedian, after all).

He also oddly disappeared after his X-run was over, doing mostly very minor stuff. A bunch of indie comics and forgotten novels and junk. His work on DC's Red Hood and the Outlaws has recently been used by several as a microcosm of the failures of the Nu-DCU, featuring '90s-style characters, random plot twists and mindless "Porn For 13-Year Olds" fanservice. He also sexually harassed comic book creator MariNaomi at a Comic Con in a particularly bizarre manner, not letting up on her during a Panel with creepy comments (like asking if she climaxed while eating a mango), and only being taken aback when he found out her husband was actually present for the panel (because, y'know, THAT makes it better). I mean, I'm pretty sensitive to people crying wolf with "That's SEXIST!" comments and whining about the horrors they've seen (there's been a few stories online about people getting dragged through the mud, or even FIRED, for making innocent comments because some Uber-Feminazi got upset), but the stuff he said was CLEARLY unacceptable: read it here.

In short, I would pay good money to watch Scott Lobdell fight a Siberian Tiger.

MAGNETO (Max Eisenhardt & Eric Magnus Lensherr)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963)
Role: The Big Bad, The Genocidal Ruler, The Racial Extremist, The Redeemed Villain (in the '80s)
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants, The X-Men, Xavier's Insititute, The Acolytes, The Hellfire Club, Excalibur, The Savage Land Mutates
Fate: Still alive, living on Utopia
PL 14 (251)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Expertise (Mutant Leader) 8 (+13)
Expertise (Science) 9 (+14)
Insight 10 (+14)
Intimidation 10 (+15)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 8 (+12)
Ranged Combat (Magnetic Blasts) 4 (+13)
Technology 8 (+13)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 2 (Mutant Leader), Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Magnetic Blast) 4, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Interpose, Leadership, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 7, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: The Master of Magnetism"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Senses 4 (Detect Magnetics/Metals- Ranged, Acute & Analytical) [4]
Immunity 10 (Mental Effects) (Extras: Sustained +0) [10]

Force Field 12 (Extras: Affects Others, 30ft. Burst, Impervious 19) (57) -- [79]
Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Energy Blast" Blast 14 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Wide Area Blast" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Line Area Blast" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Storm" Blast 14 (Extras: Multiattack) (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Trap" Snare 14 (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Mass Trap" Snare 14 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (56)
Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Lifting" Move Object 15 (Feats: Precise, Increased Mass 4- 25,000 tons) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Metallics -8) (43)
Dynamic AE: Nullify Electronics & Machinery 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Shape Metal" Transform Metals to Metals 15 (Feats: Increased Mass 5- 800 tons) (36)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Everywhere!" Environment 4 (Impede Movement 2) (9)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 6 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others, Sustained +0) (13)
Dynamic AE: Concealment 10 (All Senses) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Magnetic Blast & Metal Storm +13 (+14 Ranged Damage, DC 29)
Area Blasts +14 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Metal Trap +13 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Mass Trap +14 Area (+14 Affliction, DC 24)
Thrown Object +12 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+16 Force Field, +10 Impervious), Fortitude +8, Will +14

Complications:
Motivation/Obsession/Responsibility ("Mutant Power!")- Magneto is at the forefront of the Mutant Power movement, and it's most symbolic militant activist. Magneto despises normal humans, and has at times seemed almost genocidal. Deep down, he fears the kind of horrors that inflicted his Jewish countrymen will befall mutants, and he's been proven right several times, so he's not just blowing smoke up people's asses.
Power Loss (Magnetism)- Magneto can lift a variety of non-ferrous objects by manipulating the tiniest of metallic substances, but some objects are beyond his capabilties.
Relationship (Quicksilver, Polaris & The Scarlet Witch)- Magneto is controlling and dominant towards his children, yet also protective. They view him with a mixture of awe and displeasure.
Relationship (Rogue, Lee Forrester, Magda)- Magneto doesn't have a Masters Degree in Pimping like Xavier does, but he does pretty well for himself.
Relationship (Charles Xavier)- The best of friends in a past life, both have since fallen into a massive schism, with Xavier favouring the "Open Hand" approach, and Magneto the dreaded "Closed Fist".
Responsibility (The New Mutants)- Despite his harsh exterior, Magneto truly cared for his young charges at Xavier's School, and was devastated when Doug Ramsey turned up dead.
Enemy (The X-Men)- Over the years, he has made up with or fought the X-Men, though often extends the olive branch to them, seemingly unwilling to end mutant life for any reason.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 66--33 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 107 / Defenses: 24 (251)

-Magneto is one of Marvel's most epic villains, made all the greater by giving him a huge amount of pathos and understanding. It took them a while ('60s Magneto was more or less a Snidely Whiplash type of bland villainous mastermind), but once Chris Claremont got his hooks into him, he became Magneto's REAL daddy, turning him into a tortured Holocaust survivor, obsessed with the evils humanity was capable of inflicting upon him and his kind. And reality often seemed to prove him RIGHT, which proved the old adage that "the villain should always think he's right". Among the greatest stories of Character Development in comic book HISTORY (actually, I can't think of a greater example period) featured Magneto slowly turning aside his hatred, aided by meeting his human grandchild Luna and coming to terms with his adult children, and becoming one of Xavier's converts. Becoming the Headmaster of Xavier's School, Magneto was a villain redeemed. He became the stern master to the New Mutants, in who's book he had some of his best "little moments"- teaching a group of insecure kids, especially Danielle Moonstar.
-It was not to last, however, and so the grand Big Bad of the X-Verse had to return, especially once the latter crew failed to really take off (Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, Stryfe died and didn't come back for a decade...). He failed pretty heavily as the X-leader, truth be told. He couldn't prevent the horrific mental anguish done to the New Mutants when the Beyonder cruelly murdered them all and resurrected them in a show of force (to this day, possibly the worst thing any writer has done to a bunch of teenage characters EVER), and was duped by Emma Frost into being indebted to her. He oversaw the Mutant Massacre, and joined the Hellfire Club as a result (a show of solidarity that nonetheless further weakened his resolve). He even had his greatest personal failure, the death of young Doug Ramsey (though truth be told, the kids HAD run away for the nine-billionth time. But seriously- it's called a security system, dude). Magnus made a good go of it, but he couldn't handle the lumps that being a hero in the Marvel Universe gives you like most super-heroes could (it didn't help that he got the standard "villain turns good" De-Powering Package that made him a worse fighter automatically), and went back to his old ways, realizing that the coming war between mutants and humans was inevitable.
-The 1990s were a pretty big, but weird, time for Magneto- with Claremont sailing off into the horizon, Magneto was turned evil one last time and "killed" for an amazing two & something years (he can be excused for curing his own death so late; it wasn't the late '90s yet. If it was, he would've been used in the next arc of another X-book by a writer who didn't know what the first had done). Even when he popped up though, it was usually as a mysterious "rarely acts" kind of guy, letting his newfound Mook Army (the Acolytes, natch) get mowed down, or have Exodus do most of the talking/fighting. And no matter how many times he "dies", or turns good, or "retires" from the public mutant supervillain life, EVERY X-writer has his own "Magneto-story", so off come the mothballs and we get another go of it. He's become a bit of a "Tweener" in recent years, toeing the line between good and evil so dangerously that you know he's extremely dangerous, yet oddly willing to be led by Cyclops, whom he views as the new rightful Mutant Leader.
-Power-wise, he's among the most dominant mutants in history, so this build reflects that. A PL 14 monster, Mags has a giant boatload of powers to choose from, with a massive amount of lift coming from his Magnetic Control base power, and the rest being used as Dynamic Alternate Effects, allowing him to Fly while doing various other actions at the same time. He gets a minor boost with the "Telekinetic" Extra of Mag. Control, since he's done some questionable things with non-ferrous materials, but lacks the raw power of his core power. He can fire "Magnetic Energy" (whatever the hell that is) as a Blast, in addition to firing actual metal and snaring people with it. Oh, and he's mostly invulnerable to mental stuff (a necessity in a world where Professor X leads your worst enemies; and something every other villain since then has copied since apparently the writers didn't think of how RIDICULOUSLY over-powered telepathic assaults were)- sometimes it's the Helmet, at other points it's his natural training. I figure it's Sustained, since he's been affected by Empath when he wasn't expecting it, but if he KNOWS someone's coming, he can resist them. But yeah, here's Magneto in all his terrifying glory- PL 14 is enough to handle a squad of PL 11 X-Men, especially with all the Area & Perception Effects.

JOSEPH (Max Eisenhardt & Eric Magnus Lensherr)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Roger Cruz
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #327
Role: The Hot Platinum-Haired Guy, The Interrupting Love Interest (to Rogue & Gambit), The Redeemed Villain (but not really), The Clone, The Scrappy
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Acolytes
Fate: Sacrificed himself to save the world from Magneto's alteration of the Electro-Magnetic Field.
PL 11 (170)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+7)
Insight 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Knowledge (Technology) 4 (+7)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+5, +7 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Magnetic Blasts) 4 (+10)
Technology 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Attractive, Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: The Lesser Master of Magnetism"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Senses 4 (Detect Magnetics/Metals- Ranged, Acute & Analytical) [4]

Force Field 9 (Extras: Affects Others, 30ft. Burst, Impervious 19) (43) -- [65]
Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Energy Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (38)
Dynamic AE: "Wide Area Blast" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (34)
Dynamic AE: "Line Area Blast" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (34)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Storm" Blast 12 (Extras: Multiattack) (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Trap" Snare 12 (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Mass Trap" Snare 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (45)
Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Lifting" Move Object 12 (Feats: Precise, Increased Mass 3- 1,500 tons) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Metallics -8) (33)
Dynamic AE: Nullify Electronics & Machinery 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Shape Metal" Transform Metals to Metals 9 (Feats: Increased Mass 5- 100 tons) (42)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Everywhere!" Environment 4 (Impede Movement 2) (9)
Dynamic AE: Concealment 10 (All Senses) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Magnetic Blast & Metal Storm +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +11 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Metal Trap +10 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Mass Trap +11 Area (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Thrown Object +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4 (+13 Force Field, +7 Impervious), Fortitude +8, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Possibly Magneto)- Joseph is tortured with the knowledge that he may in fact be the Master of Magnetism, a mutant terrorist that has taken hundreds of lives.
Power Loss (Magnetism)- Joseph can lift a variety of non-ferrous objects by manipulating the tiniest of metallic substances, but some objects are beyond his capabilties.
Relationship (Rogue)
Rivalry (Gambit)- Over Rogue, above.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 81 / Defenses: 18 (170)

-I always found Joseph rather interesting as a concept, though nobody really seemed to like him in the fandom (Scott Lobdell wasn't really the best of X-writers, in retrospect- most of his stories seem like crap looking back on them). Initially, it appeared that Magneto had recovered from his mind-wiping, and ended up an amnesiac, long-haired pretty boy, who then joined the X-Men to atone for 'his' past sins. Now, Magneto had already JOINED the X-Men at one point, in a very nice bit of storytelling in the mid-80s, but that didn't really take. This was handled a bit clumsier (as were most of the plots during the "Joe Mad" era of X-Men), but I dug the appearance of a Magneto-powered guy (but less 'Team Killing' in power) wearing a regular X-Men Blue & Gold uniform, hitting on Rogue and feuding with Gambit.
-Of course, his unpopularity led to a VERY quick and unsatisfying pay-off, as the REAL Magneto returned, mocked the pretender, and Joseph was killed saving his team (and the world). And that was pretty much the last anyone EVER heard of Joseph. Yeah, the poor bastard was so disliked that he was pretty much written out of everything the second he'd passed on.
-Joseph is powerful as hell, but limited by his inexperience and fears of his own power- he's my Magneto build, boosted a bit in his physical stats, but considerably lower in power. He's a PL 11 ass-kicking Blaster with many Dynamic Alternate Powers, so he's extremely useful. His only flaws are a relative lack of mental attributes, Skills & Advantages.

POLARIS (Lorna Dane)
Created By:
Arnold Drake, Don Heck & Neal Adams
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #49 (April 1968)
Role: Side X-Character
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Starjammers, X-Factor, The Acolytes, The Horsemen of Apocalypse
PL 10 (146)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+9)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+7) -- Flaws: Limited to Earth Sciences
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Magnetics) 4 (+9)
Technology 3 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Equipment (X-Uniform), Improved Critical (Magnetic Blast), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Mastery of Magnetism"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Senses 5 (Detect Magnetics/Metals- Ranged, Acute & Analytical, Direction Sense) [5]

Force Field 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others, 30ft. Burst, Impervious 11) (33) -- [49]
Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Energy Blast" Blast 11 (Feats: Split) (24)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Storm" Blast 11 (Extras: Multiattack) (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (32)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Trap" Snare 10 (Quirk: Requires Metals -2) (29)
Dynamic AE: "Magnetic Lifting" Move Object 10 (Feats: Precise, Increased Mass 2- 100 tons) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Metallics -6) (28)
Dynamic AE: Nullify Electronics & Machinery 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (25)
Dynamic AE: "Shape Metal" Transform Metals to Metals 10 (Feats: Increased Mass 2- 100 tons) (23)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Everywhere!" Environment 4 (Impede Movement 2) (9)
Dynamic AE: Concealment 10 (All Senses) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Magnetic Blast & Metal Storm +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Metal Trap +9 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Mass Trap +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 25)
Thrown Object +9 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+3 Uniform, +10 Force Field), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Loves Either Havok or Iceman... usually Havok)
Secret (Daughter of Magneto)

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 66 / Defenses: 22 (146)

-Oh, you do NOT wanna be a D-League character in the X-Men books... a regular D-lister like Cloak or Moon Knight or something can get failed pushes every now and then, and then float harmlessly back into Marvel Limbo. But in the X-Books? You debut, you falter, you get de-powered, you get taken over by Malice, you gain new, weirder powers (Amazonian super-strength?), you find out you're not Magneto's daughter after all, then it turns out you ARE his daughter anyways, then you get dumped at the altar, you go insane, you get sane, you lose your powers AGAIN, and then gain them back because of Apocalypse... you see where I'm going with this.
-Spectacularly, Polaris KEEPS GETTING USED, despite the fact that she's not really all that interesting a character. Interesting (and confusing) stuff just tends to HAPPEN TO HER. My guess is she's memorable because of the instant visual cue of her green hair (sorta like Rogue's skunk-stripe), so everyone always goes "Hey, what about Polaris", whereas someone like Rachel Summers or Stacy-X gets forgotten about, despite being about as generic a character.
-Polaris is basically a mini-version of Joseph, himself a mini-version of Magneto. She's got a rather wide array of Magnetic Control-related powers, she's a half-decent Blaster, and she can be handy for almost any team. Nothing truly fancy, though, and she's got some VERY low saves for somebody who engages in alot of superheroic activities (she gets mind-controlled alot, and is rather nuts even WITHOUT Chuck Austen writing her). Note that at some points, she gets upgraded to PL 11 (notably whenever she turns evil... the reverse is true of villains who turn good. Comics are funny like that).

POLARIS (Lorna Dane)- Powerhouse Version
Created By:
Arnold Drake, Don Heck & Neal Adams
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #49 (April 1968)
Role: Side X-Character, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The X-Men, The Muir Island Team
PL 10 (134)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+9)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+7) -- Flaws: Limited to Earth Sciences
Intimidation 7 (+9)
Perception 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Magnetics) 4 (+9)
Technology 3 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Super-Strength & Emotion-Based Powers"
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 9) [11]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]

"Emotion Control" Affliction 4 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Continuous +2, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Permanent, Limited to Negative Emotions) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Emotion Control +4 Area (+4 Affliction, DC 14)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +10 (+5 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Loves Either Havok or Iceman... usually Havok)
Secret (Daughter of Magneto)

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 21 / Defenses: 18 (134)

-Here's the short-lived Muir Island X-Man variant of Polaris, an Amazonian powerhouse. I actually liked this design so much as a kid I semi-based the visuals for a favored female character after her... even as a kid, I had a thing for the busty Amazonian Powerhouses. This Polaris is kind of a weird Brick set-up, being a bit weaker than Colossus or The Thing, making her a low-pointed Powerhouse type of character. Less effective than her old form, too.

SPIRAL ("Ricochet" Rita Wayword)
Created By:
Ann Nocenti & Arthur Adams
First Appearance: Longshot #1 (Sept. 1985)
Group Affiliations: Mojoworld, Freedom Force, The Sisterhood of Mutants
Role: Really Really Annoying Character to Build, Deus Ex Machina
PL 12 (320)
STRENGTH
4/6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 14 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+14)
Athletics 5 (+11)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+14)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 4 (+10)
Insight 2 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+7)
Perception 5 (+9)
Persuasion 3 (+7)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+8)
Stealth 5 (+12)
Technology 8 (+14)
Treatment 2 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Diehard, Equipment (Swords), Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Swords), Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Ritualist, Seize Initiative, Takedown 2, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Six Arms" Extra Limbs 4 [4]
"Cybernetic Arm" Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to One Arm) [2]
"Lots o' Punches" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
Features 1: Always Knows If Someone Speaks Her Name [1]
Immunity 5 (Mind Control) [5]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]

"Super-Cheesy Magical Might"
Teleport 15 (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity) (Extras: Accurate, Easy, Extended, Portal +2, Selective) (122) -- [131]
AE: "Stun Blast" Affliction 12 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (36)
AE: "Immobility Blast" Snare 12 (Feats: Reversible) (36)
AE: "Depowering Beam" Affliction 12 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (36)
AE: Movement 4 (Dimensional Travel 2, Time Travel 2) (Extras: Portal +2, +2 Size, Selective) (28)
AE: "Out of Phase With The Timestream" Insubstantial 4 (20)
AE: "Magic Disguise" Morph 3 (Any Humanoid) (15)
AE: Blast 12 (24)
AE: "Dimensional Spiral" Concealment (All Senses) 10 (20)
AE: "Mirror Spiral" Deflect 13 (13)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Cyber-Arm +14 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Lots of Arms +14 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Swords +14 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Lots of Swords +14 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Magic Blast +12 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Stun/Immobility/Depowering Beams +12 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +16 (DC 26), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +6, Fortitude +8, Will +8

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Metahuman)- With six arms, Spiral cannot pass for an ordinary human.
Enemy (Longshot)- The former stuntwoman fell for the alien, but she was kidnapped by Mojo and made to hate him.
Enemy (Mojo)- Though she works for him, Spiral despises Mojo for the way he acts towards her, and for what she became under his orders. She often disobeys orders.
Power Loss (Magic)- Spiral requires dancing and gesturing to utilize her Magical powers- without the ability to move, she cannot cast spells.

Total: Abilities: 98 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 147 / Defenses: 17 (320)

-Spiral is a great big bag of annoying- in her initial appearances she was REALLY powerful, but in modern times she's just mildly cheap- merging a super warrior with a Magic Girl PLUS throwing in Teleportation, and you've got somebody who basically exists to give her teams ludicrous advantages in combat. Her distinctive appearance and character led Chris Claremont to use her a lot in his '80s run on the X-Men, but once he was gone, Spiral basically disappeared except for a few random shots here and there. Except of course for the Fighting Game, which bizarrely used her as a key villain! This wasn't SO bad, as the game hit most of the major names (Magneto, Juggernaut, a Sentinel), and she certainly has more credibility as a villain than SILVER SAMURAI does, but they still skipped out on SABRETOOTH and APOCALYPSE for her!
-This build is built mostly off of Wikipedia, and partially because I read Taliesin's build and copied some junk, because Spiral did VERY little in most comics I had- she just kind of said a bunch of vague stuff and manipulated events. She's PL 12 because she used to house entire Avengers squads before they settled her power levels down, but she was still very annoying for anyone to fight. So she's PL 11 defensively, PL 12 offensively.

POST (Kevin Tremain)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Andy Kubert
First Appearance: X-Men #50 (March 1996)
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Role: Sub-Boss, Powerhouse Blaster
PL 10 (168)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 11 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 7/9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Science) 3 (+8)
Intimidation 5 (+xx Size)
Perception 3 (+3)
Technology 3 (+8)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Cybernetic Enhancements"
"Body Armour" Impervious Toughness 11 [11]
"Sensor Plates" Senses 6 (Infravision, Radius Sight, Analytical Power Detection- Ranged) [6]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) [20]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]

Teleport 10 (Extras: Accurate) (30) -- [32]
AE: "Cloaking Device" Concealment 3 (All Visuals, All Hearing) (12)
AE: Energy Blast 12 (24)

"Large Size" Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Blasts +8 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +11 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Onslaught's Will)- Post is just a henchman.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 80 / Defenses: 15 (168)

-Kevin Tremain is a young mutant captured by The Mandarin, and broken out by Cable and his Six Pack teammates. He sustained injuries in the process, got mutated by a blood transfusion from Cable (who was afflicted with the Techno-Organic Virus), and oddly became one of Onslaught's key agents in that big cross-over, where he was basically a Sub-Boss at best. He was killed by Pyro in the latter's dying moments, consumed by the Legacy Virus but saving Senator Robert Kelly as his last act. Post didn't last too long (only a couple years!), but was shown to be a pretty big Blaster with some advanced Sensors that helped him figure out battle plans (Enhanced Fighting)- he was enough to challenge four X-Men, beat Cable once, and was generally a decent Powerhouse/Blaster set-up.

ONSLAUGHT
Created By:
Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid & Andy Kubert
First Appearance: X-Man #15 (May 1996)
Group Affiliations: Mojoworld, Freedom Force, The Sisterhood of Mutants
Role: Cosmically-Powerful Menace
PL 17 (512)
STRENGTH
16 STAMINA -- AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+14)
Insight 2 (+7)
Intimidation 10 (+14, +15 Size)
Perception 10 (+15)
Technology 6 (+14)

Advantages:
Daze (Intimidation), Extraordinary Effort, Fearless, Improved Critical (Blasts) 2, Improved Initiative 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle, Withstand Damage (Trade Defenses for Toughness)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: The Combined Powers of Professor X, Magneto, Nate Grey & Franklin Richards"
"True Body- Psionic Energy" Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Innate) [21]
"Mighty Armour" Protection 24 (Extras: Impervious 23) [47]
Regeneration 12 [12]
"Large Size" Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]

Mind-Reading 17 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless, Cumulative, Sensory Link) Linked to Mental Communication 4 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area, Selective) (106) -- [125]
Dynamic AE: "Focused Mind Control" Mind Control 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (64)
Dynamic AE: "Group Mind Control" Mind Control 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (57)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (57)
Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 15 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (32)
Dynamic AE: "Focused Mental Blast" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (65)
Dynamic AE: "Mental Illusions" Illusion (All Senses) 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Selective) (Flaws: Resisted by Will) (56)
AE: "Area Mental Blast" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective, Will Save) (60)
AE: "Brainwashing" Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Transformed Mentally) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (56)

"Mental Detection" Senses 7 (Mental Awareness- Ranged, Radius, Acute, Detect Mutants- Ranged & Radius) [7]

"Magnetism"
Senses 4 (Detect Magnetics/Metals- Ranged, Acute & Analytical) [4]
Immunity 10 (Mental Effects) (Extras: Sustained +0) [10]

"Telekinetic Might & Other Powers"
Flight 10 (2,000 mph) [20]
Features 1: May Spend 2 Hero Points and get to Double Area Effects [1]

"Restructure Reality" Transform 18 (Anything to Anything) (Extras: Continuous) (108) -- [136]
AE: "Create Worlds" Create 20 (Feats: Innate, Precise, Increased Mass 20) (Extras: Movable, Continuous) (112)
Dynamic AE: "TK Wave" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 250ft. Cone +2) (75)
Dynamic AE: "TK Burst" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +2) (75)
Dynamic AE: "TK Ram" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +2) (75)
Dynamic AE: Telekinetic Blast 25 (Feats: Dynamic, Variable 2- Any Energy, Extended Range 4, Indirect 4, Penetrating 14) (75)
Dynamic AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 22 (Extras: Perception-Ranged on 16 Ranks) (Feats: Dynamic) (61)
Dynamic AE: Nullify Electronics & Machinery 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Shape Metal" Transform Metals to Metals 15 (Feats: Increased Mass 5- 800 tons) (36)
Dynamic AE: "Metal Everywhere!" Environment 4 (Impede Movement 2) (9)
Dynamic AE: Concealment 10 (All Senses) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (11)
Dynamic AE: "Remove Powers" Affliction 17 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2) (52)
Dynamic AE: Force Field 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Immobile -2) (3)
AE: "Drain Energy" Affliction 16 (Will; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Perception Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited to Energy Powers) (32)
AE: "Sense Energy" Senses 11 (Detect Energy- Ranged 6, Acute & Analytical, Tracking) (11)
AE: "Capable of Nearly Any Effect" Variable (Cosmic) 15 (105)
AE: Teleport 20 (Feats: Increased Mass 10) (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (90)
AE: "Drag Out of the Psionic Plane" Teleport 12 (Extras: Extended, Accurate, Attack Only) (Flaws: Limited to Telepaths on the Astral Plane) (48)

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mind-Reading -- (+16 Mind-Reading, DC 26)
Focused Mind Control -- (+16 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 26)
Group Mind Control +12 Area (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Mental Blast -- (+16 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 31)
TK Area Attacks +16 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
TK Blast +8 (+25 Ranged Damage, DC 40)
Thrown Object +8 (+18 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +24 (+34 if Immobile, +12 Impervious), Fortitude --, Will +18

Complications:
Motivating (Killing Everyone)- Onslaught hates humans for hunting mutants, and hates mutants for being willing to get along with humans.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 391 / Defenses: 22 (512)

-Onslaught is one of those iconic '90s characters and wannabe Mega-Villains that generally got ignored after a period of time- having stopped collecting comics RIGHT BEFORE HIS DEBUT, I missed out on his whole run (though I read an issue here or there featuring the build-up, like his "New Villain Stink" moment of jobbing out The Juggernaut by punching him cross-country), and when I returned in 2000 or so, he'd been long gone and nobody ever mentioned him again. It turns out his origins were in the sequence in X-Men #25, where Professor X mind-wiped Magneto (after Mags had ripped the Adamantium from Wolverine's body)- the influx of evil into Xavier's soul eventually manifesting into a low-level Cosmic Being (COMICS, am I right?). Onslaught makes a few plans using minions (Post, Mimic, an empowered Blob) but is mostly just a Big Evil Genocidal Guy who attacks the good guys, resulting in a massive knock-down, drag-out fight in New York City.
-However, what keeps Onslaught from being Just Another Evil Cosmic Guy is the results- to do some dumb-ass de-powering thing, the heroes have to dive into Onslaught's untouchable Energy Form so that he can become solid, and thus killable to others. The end result of course KILLING THEM, which leads to the greatest mass-death of major characters in Marvel history: The Fantastic Four, The Hulk (who separated from Bruce Banner), Doctor Doom and The Avengers are all killed, because only humans could absorb the energy (Scarlet Witch was written in because of her Reality Warping powers... they just wanted to write their way out of THAT one, obviously...), and the X-Men did the deed and killed them. Naturally, Spider-Man was the only major human hero left alive.
-This led to the creation of the Heroes Reborn universe (a controversial idea that basically saw Marvel stunt-hire Jim Lee & Rob Liefeld to re-work their '60s heroes- Lee's stuff was well-received, while Liefeld's was... not. His stuff was ugly as hell and was written like garbage (he'd copy his Cap work onto another couple lame rip-off series, thus draining his legacy EVEN MORE), but in general, most fans thought this was dumb, and when the heroes Returned a few years later, this was mostly dropped and ignored. However, I would argue the whole thing had a POSITIVE effect on comics as a whole, as it was like the final death of the "Iron Age of Comics"- the grittiness and crappiness went away, The Avengers got rebooted under Busiek & Perez (before this, it was dying on a vine- the whole "Tony Stark was a traitor all along" thing and Teen Tony Stark and whatever were KILLING THEM), we got The Thunderbolts (who'd debuted to replace the dead heroes), and more. We kind of needed this weird darkness before the dawn- it washed all the garbage away.
-Onslaught himself was defeated when the heroes absorbed his energy and got killed, but he soon recovered and was defeated in the Heroes Reborn universe. He would show up once again to control Rikki Barnes (the Bucky of that Universe), and she would commit suicide to prevent his return.
-Onslaught is basically a super-powered combo of Professor X's Mental Powers, Nate Grey's Telekinesis, some Magneto stuff, plus Franklin Richards' Reality Warping power, turning him into a Super-Powerhouse. Oddly, his Power Feats aren't entirely that apparent in combat- aside from punching The Juggernaut across a continent, he seemed to struggle to bring down whole super-teams, despite all of his power. However, he IS nigh-unkillable, which is why he was so dangerous and the heroes had to sacrifice themselves to kill him- he effectively had little to worry about from their physical attacks (when a fully-psychotic Hulk punched through his armour, he was left an untouchable field of energy), and could basically out-attrition anybody, even IF he didn't really manage to beat anyone up in the final battle.
-His biggest feats of power involve basically taking the attacks of all of Earth's heroes at once, creating a Citadel that no power could break though (The Vision's intangibility was needed), and creating a second Sun in Earth's atmosphere that threatened to tear apart the planet (over time). Otherwise, he's your everyday unstoppable Cosmic Menace (with PL 16 defenses and the ability to do basically everything).


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THE SAGA OF SAMEFACE:

Is there any affliction so recurring amongst Comic Book artists? Hell, even among the VERY BEST do you find this- the affliction of Sameface. The reasons for it are obvious to anyone- it's just easier that way. But there's some interesting stuff to it, and it gets brought up enough on here (by me and others) that it's worth noting some specifics.

THE PREFACE- ART STUFF:
As an artist (I even majored in Fine Arts in College! I have the retail job to prove it!) myself, I've noticed, as others have, a few things about art. Chiefly being the hardest things to draw:

1) Human Faces- the basics are simple, but the proportions will nail you. The human face can be ridiculously exact (the nose goes 2/5ths down on a face that's been divided at the eyes. The mouth is another fifth down, and that dip between the lips and the chin is fourth), to the point where if you're only even SLIGHTLY off, people can immediately tell. The thing is, faces (much like human movement itself) are something everyone is intimately familiar with, but can't actually draw- something will just seem "off" if you screw it up- even a non-artist can immediately tell something's wrong. It's what leads to the Uncanny Valley effect in things that look TOO real but not quite. Specifically about faces, I've heard the old truism that the most difficult thing to draw is "the other eye"- artists generally avoid direct face shots (they look awkward anyways) due to symmetry issues, and even side profiles can look odd. There's a reason everyone in the comics talks to each other in 3/4 view poses, even though that'd be awkward in real life.

Other issues- drawing a full nose (bridge and all) on a woman makes her look all Wicked Witch-y, even if you can plainly see the nose like that in real life. Adding even a tiny bit of wrinkles to a 20-year old woman's face (like for emotion or whatever) ages her 20 years instantly- and if you're drawing a MILF-type, you have to basically draw a single one to each side of the mouth, under the eyes and MAYBE on the forehead, or else she's a senior citizen. Asian people's eyes are ROUGH, because while it's easy enough to draw the "slant" (actually extending the epicanthal fold down on a normal-shaped eye), it's REALLY FREAKING EASY to make it look like those old World War II comics with freakish Japanese monster-men. That probably goes a long way to explaining why absolutely nobody in anime or manga looks the slightest freaking bit Japanese.

2) Animals- specifically, Horses. Drawing humans takes years and years of practice to perfect, so having to draw an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SPECIES makes it a mess, because most artists never get trained in it. At least most pro artists have drawn models from life- it's a lot harder to get Mr. Ed into the studio and hold still. Horses are notorious for being THE MOST DIFFICULT ANIMAL IN THE WORLD to sketch properly- absolutely NOTHING on them looks like it should in a normal person- their legs stick out at weird angles, their necks have to be a certain size, and their ENTIRE HEAD is shaped weird. I can't imagine being an artist during the 1950s, when Westerns were the big deal in comics. Horses are much like people- you KNOW what they look like, so you know immediately that something's "off" about an incorrect drawing of one. Even drawing from life & pictures can be tough, as finding the exact poses is difficult. Snakes are also surprisingly hard, given that they're JUST a pair of squiggly lines that are parallel... but they're actually not.

3) Animal-People- Furries are easier to draw, and notoriously so (many, many artists default to Funny Animal strips because cartoony animals are easier to draw), but an actual semi-realistic animal-person is VERY tough. Need examples? Check how many of the animalistic superheroes in comics can shift ENTIRELY from artist to artist? Tom "Wildcat" Bronson of JSA looks good under Dale Eaglesham, but under anybody else? He's screwed up from panel to panel, looks like a MONKEY under some people, etc. Hank McCoy suffered TERRIBLY under his Frank Quitely revamp, where he looks alternately freakish, cuddly or simian based off of the artist- John Romita, Jr. notably just went "f*ck it" and drew him as the old Beast once, I swear. Wolf-people can be tricky as well (when my Young Guns team had a wolf-man character, I was struck to realize that I literally COULD NOT DRAW HIM PROPERLY- he would either look cartoony, awkward or silly depending. If I drew him like DarkStalkers' John Talbain, he'd have looked Off-Model to all the other characters.

4) Hands & Feet- These are so notorious that Burne Hogarth, the GOD amongst people looking for anatomy lessons designed for artists, has an ENTIRE BOOK devoted to them (keep in mind that the others are basically "The Entire Body" and "The Human Head"). A basic fist can be easy enough, but what about hands at rest? Hands with the fingers splayed out? God forbid they're actually HOLDING something! Even the joiner at the wrist is tricky- it's why Rob Liefeld, always eager to half-ass it a little bit more, drew every character (even ones with CLAWS) with giant gloves that flared out over the forearm. Feet are so rough that many artists (again, Liefeld) just draw characters standing behind things, or in the '90s you'd see a lot of women with itty-bitty pointy feet trailing off (Marc Silvestri was bad for this). The feet are awful in particular because even an ACCURATE drawing of them can look weird- a foot pointing right at you just looks off no matter WHAT you do. Never mind that many super-heroes can FLY- where do you put the feet THEN?

5) Cars- Again, this goes back to faces & horses. Everyone KNOWS what they look like, so it's easy to F-up. John Buscema, a PHENOMENAL artist if their ever was one, hated drawing them (and other tech) so much be basically made Roy Thomas do nothing but Swords & Sorcery stuff in their Avengers run, and he jumped onto the Conan stuff just as quickly. I've read one Batman writer point out that he would write various arcs around what his artists were capable of- if one guy hated drawing cars, then he'd avoid writing long sequences of Batmobile stuff.

6) Large Cityscapes & Sets of Buildings- Not so much HARD as time-consuming and full of math and graphs (I've drawn a couple without them... it's ugly and looks like a baby drew it). And keep in mind that you'll almost never actually LOOK at the cityscape scenes in any kind of detail, because it's either an establishing shot or the backdrop to the characters, who visually draw your eyes anyways. So it's effectively a huge chunk of work for absolutely nothing. I actually notice many artists these days straight-up tracing or putting a photograph onto the page- I know I've seen John Cassaday do this. It makes perfect sense- it looks accurate, and who cares about the buildings anyways? Even if you LIKE drawing them, it'll take all goddamn day. For the curious, this is likely why the very-basic Power-Set of "Growing Guy" is so freaking rare on major super-heroes- his very existence means that the artist will have to draw TONS AND TONS of buildings just to keep the guy in-frame. Remember when Hank Pym was stuck at like 12 feet or whatever for an extended period? And why Giant-Man almost never grows THAT big? I bet you a million imaginary dollars that's why.

7) Simplistic Art- Many comic book fans end up drawing in a Jim Lee-esque style after a point, with tons of lines, cross-hatching, etc. More detail is generally more difficult to do, but looks impressive. But you can easily go all the way back and note that it's damn impossible to draw something that's simplistically beautiful. Especially now that many comics (inspired by the Indies) are growing more stylized and simple, I realize how difficult it is to draw like David Aja (his Hawkeye stuff is exceptionally simplistic, but hard to replicate) or someone- putting a simple line for a mouth, or eyes that are just dots SOUNDS easy, but YOU try it and see what it looks like. There's a fine line between "a child drew this" and "this is a talented artist at work".

8) Deadlines- Even more notable for comics than in other art (because it's MONTHLY). Drawing stuff takes time, and if you're a particularly slow artist, you are HISTORY. Some are better at this than others (Jack Kirby drew multiple books a month, often while plotting them; John Cassaday is so slow that his books come out every other month most of the time, and are often delayed by MONTHS). Every time you see a piece of crap panel in an otherwise-good book, or a messed-up face somewhere, you can probably think this one, because the artist just had to go "yeah, that's good enough".

9) Some random stuff brought up by actual comic book artists when someone asked- swarms of insects at a distance and faces where someone's emotions betray themselves (like smiling but actually crying on the inside). The latter of which strikes me as a NIGHTMARE to do creatively (the easiest way is to cheat and split it into two panels- one smiling and the other being sad when the other person looks away). I remember a big issue on the forum for the webcomic Penny & Aggie where the punchline/final point of one strip was that the female character was supposed to be... I dunno, trying to smile, even though she was frustrated and now thinking that she'd made a big mistake all along. The problem was, that kind of thing is damn near IMPOSSIBLE to draw properly, especially with no exposition present (the writer, T. Campbell, is notoriously prone to "Show, Don't Tell", which means he almost NEVER tells anything, ever). People COULD NOT UNDERSTAND this strip, and complained about it openly. Even the skills of the artist (Gisele Lagace, the best artist in webcomics and a current Archie Freelancer) could not make this one very clear.

This all combines to create some funny situations in comics. Cars are rarely seen, even in New York scenery (most Spidey or Daredevil stuff generally only has 1-2 cars per street. In MANHATTAN), '90s comics often feature big gloves or people standing behind stuff so their feet don't show, faces can be garbled between panels and look wrong, and Animal Superheroes can look utterly bizarre (I can't imagine how many artists hated drawing Changeling of the Teen Titans- drawing horses is hard enough, but FIVE OR SIX ANIMALS PER STORY??). It's easy to see the point of frustrated writers who have entire arcs or stories altered because the artist couldn't draw something right, or screwed up the pacing of an action sequence. Never mind how many '90s writers were basically forced to kowtow to their artist's wishes and draw all of his damn Sketchpad Characters because he has some OTHER cool idea he wanted to show off to everyone, so you now had to come up with a personality for a brand-new character you were never going to see again.

Of course, I could tell you a million annoyances that an ARTIST could have with a WRITER: Having to draw superhero characters for my old Something Unique writing community, I was struck by the numerous requests that made no goddamn sense. First off, 90% of the creators' ideas for their characters looks was "Please Plagiarize _______". Azrael, a very good writer in many circumstances, couldn't get the FanFic out of his system and tended to just made Video Game characters into superheroes, and call it a day. Since he wasn't an artist, he had no idea how to visualize properly (I dare say most writers can't- J.R.R. Tolkien of all people FORGOT TO MENTION THAT ELVES HAVE POINTY EARS in his books, and this is a guy who described every goddamn blade of grass on a freaking hill the characters passed over while singing lame poetry about travelling. Never mind the other questions or things left out of the stories in terms of visuals), very often he'd describe a character in intimate detail, only to get the finished drawing and go "oh, that's close, but not quite what I was getting at", and then somebody would SHOW SOME FREAKING OFFICIAL ART OF THE GUY and I would go "uh, you could have just shown my a picture of what Breath of Fire's Guardian Garr ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE and not tried to describe him in paragraphs of text, you know". Many of his other characters would be described in hilariously-simple terms- "He's a guy in a tunic" was about 50% of his male characters (making them look like Jedi Knights or Tenchi characters), while the other half wore armour (and generally that of one specific character in another thing).

Similarly, another great writer had an awesome character named Expert. Unfortunately, his best guess at visuals was "like the Grey Fox guy from Metal Gear Solid", which is both annoyingly-detailed, and also rather plain for comics. I would say that 50% of the writers eschewed actual superhero costumes for guys in plainclothes (especially t-shirts & jeans), making super-teams look like hilarious mixes of day-glo outfits and guys dressed up to go see Bon Jovi. The Ancient One, a supremely-powerful Elemental, was a Middle Eastern-looking guy... in a black t-shirt with the Eye of Providence on it, and blue jeans. An omnicidal teenage supervillain was just a fat kid in a hoodie and Punk Rock hair. Heck, even our own revered Kreuzritter had me draw a guy that was basically a human-scale Black Mage from Final Fantasy, took one look at it, and went "oh, well I guess that's what he'd technically look like, but it looks awful" (I still laugh when I think about Kreuz's casual remark of "and it looks like his shoes are just bags tied around his feet").

For a non-Jab-related instance, there's always fun stuff in the Astro City Trades where the poor artists have to try and visualize whatever the hell Kurt Busiek is trying to say- over and over again they re-design something based off of his vague "well, something like, but not quite _____, but more super-hero-y". I mean, this is a writer as talented as KURT BUSIEK here, and his artists had to work their asses off to figure out what the hell he was thinking- ALEX ROSS HIMSELF STRUGGLED WITH THIS. Sometimes only an artist can be trusted to design a character, folks :). Let the writers write.

I call this the Preface because I just started going ON AND ON and was way off-topic immediately. So this saves the SameFace stuff for later :).

SAMEFACE ITSELF:

SameFace is the notorious result of #1 and #8 above- deadlines and the difficulty of drawing faces. See, faces are so tough that artists work YEARS AND YEARS to improve upon them (I look at art I've done mere years ago and go "ugh"), and that's generally only possible if you draw only a particular few faces and work on them- all of your work in defining proportions and scale go to hell the second you have to draw A DIFFERENT KIND of face, after all- even the Renaissance painters did this a lot, and most medieval painters did the same thing (often drawing from the same handful of models). SameFace and it's cousin, SameBody, are closely-related for the same reasons- learning to draw your proportions on one body type can mess you up when drawing more than one person. Combining that with the deadlines of a monthly artist, and the fact that you have to draw the same people OVER AND OVER AGAIN, and you've got trouble. You ever wonder why absolutely every character of the same gender is the same height in the comics? That's why.

It's so much easier to draw just one or two faces and replicate them that it's hard for me to even blame some artists overly much- it says something that even THE VERY BEST comic book artists do it- Jack Kirby, Adam Hughes, Jim Lee, Frank Cho and John Byrne all basically draw exactly one type of woman. To get to THEIR LEVEL of talent, you basically have to cut corners somewhere, it seems to be- Frank Cho is only so freaking good at drawing women, after all, because he only has to draw the ONE TYPE- the same large oblong breasts (more naturalistic for large-breasted women, rather than the spherical hooters many others draw), the particularly-bent eyebrows, the pointed stare, the tiny waist (WAY TOO SMALL for that body-type, actually), the thick muscles and the bubble butt. His only differing women are the Amazons (who are EVEN MORE MUSCULAR, but have the same faces) and Kitty Pryde (who, poor thing, has been deflated to a mere D-Cup, and has a more Jewish-looking nose, which artists are sometimes doing these days with her).

Others: Jack Kirby drew the same curvy, wide-hipped girl with the ultra-wide Jackie O. face, usually with giant hair to boot (his male characters tended to vary a lot, though he often made the Ugly Kirby Villains identical in appearance). John Byrne's women all have wide, model-esque faces with thick lips and GIGANTIC, wide-open eyes (and well-defined cheekbones)- the men often have the same elongated heads with high cheekbones. Adam Hughes generally replicates the same body-type for his Pin-Up art, and though the faces can somewhat alter, they generally have the same "50s Pin Up" look. The men are usually the same- invisible. Jim Lee is the only artist more notorious than Frank Cho for doing this- every single woman is the same super-tall, long-legged, thick-thighed quasi-Asian female, and every man is just a super-muscular sibling of another. Mark Bagley girls generally look the same these days (he was better on The New Warriors.

The guy who does Scott Pilgrim is so awful for this I find his series unreadable- there's basically one face shared amongst fifty-five characters in a BLACK AND WHITE COMIC BOOK. Jae Lee would draw every woman with the same pouty, sexy-eyed look in his X-Factor run. Alex Ross draws from photographic reference, so many characters will look like whichever character also uses the same model- very obvious since most of his young women (Gwen Stacy, Nightstar in Kingdom Come) obviously have the same female model. John Romita, Jr. draws the same type of girl all the time, and generally just puts lines across the faces of everyone. Tom Grummett's Thunderbolts run was good, but every character has the same face type- high cheekbones, big eyes, a long nose and a pronounced mouth- making absolutely everyone of both genders look like siblings. Greg Land still gets a lot of work, but his industry credibility was shot when people realized that he not only traced (pictures & porn), but was often copying his EXACT SAME IMAGES in order to do this repeatedly. He traces so much I have to think it's actually harder to do that than to actually just DRAW THE STUFF in the first place! Arthur Adams has exactly two faces- a broad-chinned frowning male with a huge jawline and a thin line for a mouth, and an elfin female with a tiny nose & mouth and giant doe eyes (note: His Longshot actually looks more like the latter than the former, which may owe to his appeal amongst female readers). Paul Pelletier draws every woman with big round eyes and a pouty, thick-lipped mouth- even characters like Phyla-Vell, who came across more like a Butch Lesbian under other artists. Ron Lim, in addition to loving "shiny points" on metallic characters, had one body for women (Moondragon/Gamora/everyone else ever), one body for men (Silver Surfer/Adam Warlock), and one body for REALLY BIG MEN (Drax/Thanos).

Guys on DeviantArt can be AWFUL for this- I go through several instances where I become a HUGE fan of a guy's work and how he draws sexy ladies or something (usually just the sexy ladies), only to discover over the weeks that they basically redraw the same body with new trappings. One artist (g2bk or something) drew some sexy "Savage Land Girl" version of super-heroines which looked good... but then you relized that his gallery was literally 500 shots of the same chick. Johnny Haradrim specializes in Hourglass Amazon proportions that'd make FRANK CHO go "uh, no, that doesn't work", but generally only does the one look (which is too bad, since he can actually draw "standard skinny hot girl" quite well). Stepjan "Nebezial" Stejic draws some pretty stuff on his computer, but can only draw one kind of female face (the rubberfaced skinny chick type with the goofy expressions- the strips where THREE WOMEN are talking to each other look hilarious for this).

Anime & Manga does this too- all of the Sailor Scouts/Senshi have the same face if they're the "round-faced" variety (Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn), with Mars having differently-shaped eyes- most males are either round-faced or long-faced as well. Akira Toriyama used the same face & body for every female, and copied the same musculature of every male, while keeping a stock of about five or six types of bodies (making it look weird when guys with the same combination- like Vegeta & Jeiice- were on screen at the same time). As much as anime fans bitch about Disney for doing this, the Disney Princesses actually all have distinctive faces (if not personalities), which is a big contrast from Hayao Miyazaki, who copies faces in each movie (though at least many side characters at least look different), in addition to telling the same "Quicky Outsider Meets Confused Observer" story all of the time. One Piece used to feature identical women despite a bizarre cast of weird-looking, individualistic males.

SameFace is so omnipresent that it's arguably easier to note the guys who DON'T do it! Among them:

George Perez- the ultimate legend amongst comic book artists, and for good reason. On a team of 20 people, you can be assured that every one of them would look different. Perez was so good that he could make BARRY ALLEN and WALLY WEST look distinct, despite both wearing the same mask! This had it's downsides at times, however- his She-Hulk looked weird (a little round doll face on a big Amazonian body), and Scarlet Witch looked straight-up awful at times (curious, since she was his favourite character, but he started drawing her with this GIANT witch-nose and weird mouth)- trying to make every character look different can result in some odd deviations from the norm. But for the most part, the man is a God and stands apart from all others with his skill here.

John Cassaday makes all of his characters very distinct from each other- even the women- Alas, this and his insane attention to detail and focused-shading makes him the slowest artist going. Rags Morales often based his characters on individual actors, which comes in handy for books like Identity Crisis, which had a lot of Secret Identity stuff- even his peculiar tendency for drawing hatching lines on people's eyeballs (I mean, who shades THOSE?) couldn't make them all look alike. Bryan Hitch is also pretty good with this, for largely the same reason. Rob Liefeld drew characters with different faces, God bless him- unfortunately, it was usually the SAME CHARACTER'S face that was changing, and often just between panels on THE SAME PAGE. Dave Gibbons averted this on Watchmen quite heavily. Something Positive's Randy Milholland, despite having a weird, simplistic art style, actually draws the characters distinctively enough that most are easily-recognizable despite their being 10,000 of them.

You'll also see this pop up in cartoons and the like- G.I. Joe was bad for it, but most Cartoon Network & Nickelodeon shows avoid it these days. It's easier with TV shows as, despite there being a necessity for thousands of drawings made per episode, there are hundreds of people working on them, and usually working from a fairly specific Character Sheet. Some cartoons, like Avatar, will feature TONS of unique character models, even for background nobodies. Certain other anime series avoid this as stringently as others confirm to it- One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist, and more.

OMEGA RED (Arkady Rossovich)
Created By:
John Byrne & Jim Lee
First Appearance: X-Men #4 (Jan. 1992)
Role: The Rival (to Wolverine), Status Affecter
Group Affiliations: The Hand, The Red Mafia
PL 11 (228)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+11)
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (Crime Lord) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Assassin/Agent) 6 (+8)
Expertise (History) 2 (+4)
Insight 8 (+10)
Intimidation 12 (+12)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Beginner's Luck, Chokehold, Close Attack 2, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Equipment (Carbonadium Armour +2), Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Coils), Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Trip, Last Stand, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 3, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown 2, Tracking

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Death Pheromones"
Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Fatigued/Stunned & Exhausted/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Free Action +2) (Flaws: Scent-Dependent) [36]
Linked to
Weaken Stamina 5 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Free Action +2) (Flaws: Scent-Dependent) [20]

"Maximized Life Drain" Weaken Stamina 8 [8]
Regeneration 10 (Flaws: Source- Requires Life Drain) [5]

"Carbonadium Coils"
Elongation 2 (Flaws: Limited to Coils) [1]
Strength-Damage +1 [1]
Extra Limbs 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Coil Smash +14 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Death Spores +5-6 Area (+5 Weaken & +6 Affliction, DC 15 & 16)
Life Drain +14 (+8 Weaken, DC 18)
Initiative +12

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +8 (+10 Armour), Fortitude +10, Will +8

Complications:
Obsession (The Carbonadium Synthezier)- Without this device, Arkady's Death Factor is permanent (thanks to Carbonadium poisoning), and he cannot live without draining energy.
Weakness (Death Factor)- Arkady's life force itself will begin to drain if he does not steal the life forces of others with his abilities.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 32 / Powers: 73 / Defenses: 15 (228)

-Omega Red is one of my faves from back in the day, mainly because of his awesome, unique Jim Lee-drawn appearance. A giant albino with huge freaking tentacles, a death-effect, red armour, and the whole badass aura of being Russian? I was there, dude. The fact that he could absolutely kick the CRAP out of an entire team of X-Men made him a real terror. Unfortunately, they demoted him pretty quickly, having him lose to Generation-X (no, really- Chamber WHUPPED him), and be the lackey to the one-time villain Soul Skinner. Later revisions haven't made him the elite villain he could've been early on, effectively turning him into an elite Hired Goon (despite an appearance in the X-Men Fighting Game... though that could just be the Japanese game designers demanding someone with tentacles being put in :)), but I'm still waiting. He's one of the X-villains with potential, who WASN'T driven into the ground from over-use, but nonetheless turned out to be pretty minor (he was a Russian version of The Kingpin for a bit). He's supposed to be dead now (slain by the Muramasa Blade at the hands of Wolverine), but c'mon, he's nigh-impervious to death- he's got "Death" in his power's NAME!
-Omega Red is a freakishly devastating build, PL 11 with his Life Drain, and PL 10.5-11 on offense in general (and PL 11 with his Parry defense). Combined with his versatility and constantly-active powers, it's enough to challenge a whole squad of X-Men, especially when combined with his normal Death Spores, capable of dropping Gambit AND Rogue simultaneously, and killing dozens of normal humans in his radius. New Villain Stink allowed him to cut a hole through any X-Team initially (Beast was one-punched, and Cyclops was taken out in an instant), and even after that he was quite dangerous. FEAR the "Free Action" Extra- he can use it simultaneously with any of his other powers, only turning it off when "allies" come within reach. It's a Linked Affliction (many victims just drop unconscious) & Weaken Stamina (others die) effect, and is one of the most dangerous things a super-villain has ever used as a baseline power.

BIRDY
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Jim Lee
First Appearance: X-Men #6 (March 1992)
Role: Background Character
Group Affiliations: Sabretooth's Employ
PL 8 (85)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (BFG- Blast 7- Multiattack), Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Telepathy"
"Calming Influence" Affliction 8 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception-Range +2, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Creating Passiveness & Calm) [24]
Mind-Reading 8 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions) [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Calming -- (+8 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
BFG +8 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- I guess... it's not really established why she hung with Creed.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 7 (85)

-A forgettable, forgotten do-nothing character, Birdy was just some sexy chick who hung around with Sabretooth, and I would bet you anything that she was created solely as a Sketchpad Character for Jim Lee to add to the PILE of characters in the Omega Red arc of his run on X-Men. She acts as Creed's sidekick for a while (it turns out she's using her powers to stem his psychopathic tendencies, which is what allows him to be the kind of cigarette-smoking, well-dressed villain Lee liked to draw), but she's eventually killed by Sabretooth's son Graydon. Just WHY you would murder the only person keeping your murderous father from exploding with rage, particularly against the person who JUST KILLED HIS SIDEKICK, is beyond me.

YUKIO
Created By:
Chris Claremont & Frank Miller
First Appearance: Wolverine #1 (Sept. 1982)
Role: Bad Girl Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The Mutant Underground
PL 8 (75)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 13 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 12 (+14)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+14)
Deception 7 (+10)
Expertise (Thief) 9 (+10)
Expertise (Ronin) 5 (+6)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Shuriken) 5 (+13)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+8)
Stealth 5 (+11)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Equipment 2 (Shuriken), Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed, Shuriken) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 2, Second Chance (Falling), Takedown

Equipment:
"Shuriken" Blast 3 (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Shuriken +13 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Thrills)- Yukio possesses a near-suicidal disregard for her own safety, and loves to take risks. She believes that this is the only way to truly live.
Relationship (Wolverine)- The two have had a flirtatious relationship in the past.
Relationship (Amiko)- Wolverine left the young girl in Yukio's hands when Mariko Yashida died.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 66--33 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 7 (75)

-Yukio was a near-crazy, excitement-craving Japanese ally of Logan's who teamed up with the X-Men once or twice- it was her crazy passion for life and taking risks that let to Storm mimicking her butch way of dressing and opting for a leather-clad mohawked look, something that the "Claremont writes Lesbian Subtext" crowd definitely jumped upon- it's almost impossible to ignore here (the whole "I admire Yukio SO MUCH that I want to dress like her and base my new identity off of her" thing is basically how every Lesbian Cinema film starts). Yukio was left with the young girl Wolverine promised to raise (the dying request of her mother, fatally injured in a dragon attack post-Secret Wars). She ended up getting crippled TWICE, probably because the second writer forgot she was already- both times, enemies of Wolverine attacked her.

Thinking about the X-Men: Children of the Atom video game, I'm interested by the choice in roster. CLEARLY this is a team based off of the early '90s X-Men, owing to the game coming out in (god I'm old) 1994. They're all wearing their Jim Lee-designed looks, and even the villains reflect a bit of Lee's influence.

X-Men: Cyclops, Colossus, Iceman, Storm, Psylocke & Wolverine
Villains: Omega Red, Sentinel, The Silver Samurai, Spiral, The Juggernaut & Magneto

So it's six heroes and four villains, plus two Bosses (Juggy & Mags). Cyke, Psylocke & Storm are kitted out in their Jim Lee garb, and Logan's back in the classic yellow & blue that he'd been wearing for a few years by this point. Omega Red is a recent Lee creation, and Spiral was also popular with him. Of all the characters, the most bizarre additions are Samurai, Spiral and to some extent Omega Red, though the latter was at least a big deal when the game came out. Sammy was a jobber EVEN THEN, and Spiral was a rarely-seen background character that hadn't been a frontline fighter since the '80s. The only reason I can think of to include them was the visually-interesting nature of their powers and looks- a six-armed chick who Teleports and a metal-clad samurai are pretty cool concepts. Of the X-Men, Iceman & Psylocke are the weakest characters, though the former is easily the most visually-dynamic X-character in terms of powers, and the latter was a HUGE deal thanks to Jim Lee turning her into Miss Fanservice, so the inclusion of both makes sense. Colossus kind of ends up the most boring fighter- he's a Powerhouse, but is smaller than both Sentinel & Juggernaut, both record-breaking designs at the time.

The strange thing about the selection of these characters is how many major guys are missing- Cable was a big screaming deal at the time, and Apocalpyse, Mister Sinister & Stryfe were all mega-villains. And Sabretooth was a hundred times the Logan villain than Omega Red & Silver Samurai were, though I'll admit that including Creed would have been redundant (he's basically just like Wolverine as a fighter). And never mind Jim Lee's other beloved X-characters Rogue & Gambit, both of whom were EXTREMELY noticeably missing for the time period. X-Men (vs) Street Fighter rectified a lot of this.





xx


Acrobatics, Athletics, Close Combat (Type), Deception, Expertise (Acting, Art, Business, Carpentry, Cooking, Criminal, Current Events, Dance, History, Journalism, Law, Law Enforcement, Military,
Magic, Music, Philosophy/Theology, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychiatry, Science, Sociology), Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Persuasion, Ranged Combat (Type), Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Technology, Treatment/Medicine, Vehicles

Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Animal Empathy, Artificer, Assessment, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Benefit, Chokehold, Close Attack, Connected, Contacts, Cunning Fighter, Damaging Escape, Daze (old Distract), Def.Attack. Def.Roll, Def.Strike, Def.Throw, Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Equipment, Evasion (R), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate, Fast Grab, Fav. Environment, Fav. Foe, Fearless, Follow-Up Strike, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Hide in Plain Sight, Imp.Aim, Imp.Critical, Imp.Defense, Imp.Disarm, Imp.Grab, Imp.Initiative, Imp.Hold, Imp.Smash, Imp.Trip, Improvised Tools, Improvised Weapon, Inspire, Instant Up, Interpose, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages, Last Stand, Leadership, Luck, Minions, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Close,Cover/Conceal), Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack, Redirect, Ritualist, Second Chance, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Sidekick, Skill Mastery, Startle, Takedown, Taunt, Teamwork, Throwing Mastery, Tough, Tracking, Trance, Ultimate Effort, Uncanny Dodge, Weapon Bind, Weapon Break, Well-Informed, Withstand Damage

STR 0 (50 lbs.) ---- (Bald Eagle)
STR 1 (100 lbs.) ---- (Jean Grey, Sue Storm; Wolves)
STR 2 (200 lbs.) ---- (NPC Thugs, NPC Cop, Black Tom Cassidy, Base Doom/Kang) (DCA- Black Canary, Robin)
STR 3 (400 lbs.) ---- (Nightwing, Silver Samurai, Black Canary II, Razor Fist; Cougars) (DCA- Nightwing)
STR 4 (800 lbs.) ---- (Daredevil, Batman, Demona "Gargoyles"'; Chimpanzees, Jaguars) (DCA- Batman, Vandal)
STR 5 (1,600 lbs.) ---- HUMAN MAXIMUM (Captain America, Hudson "Gargoyles", Hawkman, Bugbears; Lions)

STR 6 (3,200 lbs.) ---- (Goliath "Gargoyles", Sabretooth; Horses, Gorillas, Anacondas, Black Bears, Tigers) (DCA- Gorillas)
STR 7 (3 tons) ---- (car, van, truck) ---- (Cyborg; Grizzlies, Gryphons, Rhinoceros, Styracosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Peak for Most Animals) (DCA- Cheetah)
STR 8 (6 tons) ---- (lear jet, subway car) ---- (Elephants, Triceratops, T-Rex)
STR 9 (12 tons) ---- (fighter jet, semi truck) ---- (Spider-Man, The Beast, The Blob)
STR 10 (25 tons) ---- (humpback whale) ---- (Kid Omni-Man) (DCA- Aquaman)

STR 11 (50 tons) ---- (tank, train) ---- (Rogue, The Immortal, Marvel's Ares)
STR 12 (100 tons) ---- (767, cargo jet) ---- (Most Super-Bricks: Colossus, King Kong, Baseline Hulk) (DCA- Humpback Whale, Powerhouse)
STR 13 (200 tons) ---- (747, fishing liner) ---- (DCAU Superman, The Thing, Dragon Man)
STR 14 (400 tons) ---- (drilling rig)
STR 15 (800 tons) ---- (small bridge) ---- (The Juggernaut, DCAU Darkseid, Mary Marvel/CM3, Invincible)

STR 16 (1,600 tons) ---- (destroyer) ---- (Legion Supergirl, The Abomination) (DCA- Wonder Woman)
STR 17 (3,200 tons) ---- (freight train, nuclear sub) ---- (Mon-El, PC Superboy, Omni-Man)
STR 18 (6,000 tons) ---- (cargo freighter- empty) ---- (Thunderstrike, Captain Marvel, Black Adam, Prof. Hulk, She-Ra, Samaritan) (DCA- Grundy)
STR 19 (12,000 tons) ---- (cruiser, loaded freighter) ---- (Thor, Superman, He-Man) (DCA- Black Adam, Superman)
STR 20 (25,000 tons) ---- (ocean liner, large bridge)

SPEED CHART:
2 mph (Normal Human), 4 mph (Speed 1), 8 mph (Speed 2), 16 mph (Speed 3), 30 mph (Speed 4), 60 mph (Speed 5), 120 mph (Speed 6), 250 mph (Speed 7), 500 mph (Speed 8), 1,000 mph (Speed 9), 2,000 mph (Speed 10), 4,000 mph (Speed 11), 8,000 mph (Speed 12), 16,000 mph (Speed 13), 32,000 mph (Speed 14), 64,000 mph (Speed 15), 125,000 mph (Speed 16), 250,000 mph (Speed 17), 500,000 mph (Speed 18), 1,000,000 mph (Speed 19), 2,000,000 mph (Speed 20)

(One Degree): Dazed (single action of own control), Entranced (stunned unless a threat is obvious), Fatigued/Hindered (half-speed), Impaired (-2 penalty), Vulnerable (half-defense)
(Two Degrees): Compelled (single action control), Defenseless (0 defense bonus), Disabled (-5 penalty), Exhausted (impaired/hindered), Immobile (no moving from spot), Prone (-5 close attack/hindered), Restrained (hindered/vulnerable), Stunned (no actions)
(Three Degrees): Asleep (defenseless/stunned/unaware), Controlled (all actions), Incapacitated (defenseless/stunned/unaware), Paralyzed (defenseless/immobile/stunned aside from mental actions), Transformed (altered traits), Unaware (unable to Percieve/Interact)

Attack Bonuses:
+6: Elite Wolves, Cassowaries, Komodo Dragons, Black Rhinos, Dolphins, Most Sharks,
+7: The Yeti, Worm, Jaguars, Dire Wolves, Smaller Bears (Black, Sloth), Terror Birds, Most Snakes (Constrictors & Vipers), White Rhinos, Gorillas, Great White Sharks, Megalodons, Thunderball, Stilt-Man, Bulldozer (Headbutt), Sasquatch
+8: Rusty & Skids, Boom-Boom/Meltdown, Siryn, Most of the Serpent Society (Coachwhip, Rock Python, Puff Adder, etc.), Blockbuster, G.W. Bridge, Grizzly IV, Most Big Cats (Lion, Leopard), Brown & Polar Bears, Haast's Eagles, Elephants, Killer Whales, The Wrecker, Piledriver, Titania, The Absorbing Man, Tony Stark
+9: The Thing, Karma, Rictor, Warpath, Copperhead, Short-Faced Bears, Crocodiles (In Water), Sperm Whale, Mister Hyde, The Gamecock, She-Hulk, James Rhodes,
+10: Harry Osborn, Fancy Dan, Hobgoblins, The Prowler, Sunspot, Cannonball, Asp, Black Mamba, Anaconda, Scalphunter, Harpoon, Arclight, The Wendigo, Sauron, Dragon Man, Zaran & Machete, The Beast, Julia Carpenter, Thor (Hammer), Hercules
+11: U.S. Agent, Vulture, The Lizard, Norman Osborn, Hammerhead, Mac Gargan, Tombstone, Spider-Girl (May), Callisto, Feral, Dani Moonstar, Shatterstar (Swords), Diamonback, King Cobra, Sabretooth (Unarmed), Jessica Drew, Luke Cage, Thor (Unarmed),
+12: The Puma, Kraven the Hunter, Black Cat, Callisto (Knife), Wolfsbane, Domino, Cable, The Punisher, Namor, Ares
+13: Bucky-Cap, Spider-Man, The Kingpin, Carnage, La Tarantula, Shatterstar (Unarmed), Sabretooth (Claws), Black Knight (sword)
+14: Black Widow, Silver Sable, Batroc the Leaper, Swordsman (Sword),
+16: Captain America

Damage:
+1: Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost (unarmed)
+2: Barracudas, Most Humans (200 lbs.)
+3: Black Widow, Iron Fist (standard attack), Rottweiler, Lynx, Eagles, Mandrills, Nighthawk, Night Thrasher (Unarmed)
+4: Daredevil, Mastiff, Wolves, Crossbones
+5: Standard Gun, Captain America, Bullseye (Objects/Adamantium Fists), Daredevil (Club), Hyenas, Eels, Rattlers, Stags, Chimps, Swarm, Red Skull
+6: Agent 13 (Gun), Black Widow (Bite), The Kingpin, Dire Wolf (Bite), Cougars/Leopards, Dolphins, Pythons, Horses, Elk, Orangutans
+7: Punisher, Cable & Domino's Rifles, Vermin, Jaguars, Lioness, Cobras, Gorillas, Spider-Girls, Black Knight (Sword)
+8: Spider-Man (Unarmed/Snare), Captain America (Shield), Wolverine (Claws), Lions, Black Bears, False Killer Whales, Bull Sharks, Anacondas, Terror Birds, Crocs, Moose, Bulls,
+9: Tigers, Brown/Polar Bears, Hammerheads, Colossal Squids, Salties, Irish Elk, Giraffes, Hippos, Black Rhinos, The Shocker, Titania I, Poundcakes
+10: Smilodons, Cave Bears, Great Whites, White Rhinos, Elephants, Killer Whales, Hydro Man, Piledriver's Fists, Texas Twister's Wind, Foxfire & Quagmire's Attacks, Gladiatrix
+11: Jack of Hearts (Blast), War Machine (Blasts), Mr. Hyde, Giant Snakes, Woolly Rhinos, King Kong, Dr. Octopus (Arms), Venom, The Lizard, Electro, Frenzy, Unuscione, Power Princess, Tiger Shark, Rogue, Stegosaurus' Thagomizer
+12: Iron Man (Blasts), Humpbacks, The Scorpion (Tail), Thunderball & Bulldozer's Weapons, Dr. Spectrum's Blasts
+13: Sperm Whales, Indricotherium, Namor, The Thing, Colossus, Ultron, The Mandarin's Area Attacks, T-Rex's Bite
+14: The Wrecker (Crowbar), Magneto's Blasts, Exodus' Blasts, Namor & Tiger Shark (in Water), Ultron's Attacks, Sasquatch, The Mandarin, Loki's Blasts
+15: Zeuglodons, Megalodons, Gilgamesh, Hulk (Baseline), Inertia's Blasts, The Executioner's Axe, Apocalypse
+16: Thor (Unarmed), Hercules, Giant-Man (Maximum Size), The Kraken, Redstone, The Abomination, The Juggernaut, Odin & Zeus (Unarmed), Air-Walker
+17: Hyperion, Ulik the Troll, Red Hulk, Fenris Wolf (Teeth), Red Shift
+18: Thor (Hammer), The Champion of the Universe, Black Bolt's Scream, Odin (Spear), Surtur & Ymir (Area Effects)
+19: King Caesar, Anguirus, Silver Surfer, Firelord, Nova, Stardust
+20: Hulk (maximum rage), Godzilla (Showa), Red Ronin, The Destroyer, Zeus (Thunderbolt), Terrax (Axe)
+21: Red Ronin's Blade, Odin (Blast)
+22: Godzilla (Showa- Breath Weapon), Godzilla (Heisei), The Destroyer (Blast), Morg (Blast)
+23: Jormungand, Morg (Axe)
+24: Godzilla (Heisei- Breath Weapon), Mechagodzilla (Showa- Weapons)
+25: Mechagodzilla (Heisei- Weapons), Space Godzilla (Breath Weapon), Jormungand (Breath)

And that's it! All the X-Characters I can think of, plus a handful of villains. They were a lot of fun to look at again, especially now that some have shifted positions in Marvel Comics- I was able to successfully add new commentary to most of them so nobody would feel "ripped off" that I basically spent an entire month re-posting old material. I figured I'd make up a list of my favourite X-Characters, basically listing everyone who's actually a regular cast member:

1) Colossus
2) Kitty Pryde
3) Cyclops
4) Wolverine (I think OVERALL he's probably the best actual X-Men character, but the amount of over-playing he gets brings him down)
5) Storm
6) The White Queen
7) Danielle Moonstar
8) Cannonball
9) The Beast
10) Wolfsbane
---
11) Nightcrawler
12) Professor X
13) X-23
14) Jean Grey
15) Siryn (youthful bias, I suppose)
16) Banshee
17) Warpath
18) Iceman
19) Sunspot
20) Angel
---
21) Magma
22) Cypher
23) Warlock
24) Havok
(about here we get to the characters I'm more apathetic about, but don't actively dislike)
25) Captain Britain
26) Jamie Madrox
27) Polaris
28) Cable
29) Rogue
30) Psylocke
---
31) Karma
32) Gambit
33) Shatterstar
34) Cecilia Reyes
35) Meggan
36) Rictor
37) Forge
38) Strong Guy
39) M (she's surprisingly not as bad when you ignore her origin story)
40) Husk
---
41) Domino
42) Caliban
43) Caliban
(here we get into the characters I actively dislike, or am completley uninterested by; if I wrote the X-Men, you can bet many of them would eat a bullet)
44) Wild Child
45) Warbird II (just not enough character to her; just a walking gag)
46) Rachel Grey/Summers
47) Dazzler
48) Boom-Boom
49) Jubilee
50) Sunfire
---
51) Bishop
52) Marrow
53) Nate Grey
54) Longshot
55) Feral
56) Skin
57) Chamber
58) Pete Wisdom (not as bad as some of the above, but his origins as a Mary Sue annoy me way too much)
59) Sage
60) Thunderbird III
---
61) Penance
62) Rusty Collins
63) Maggott

Unknowns:
(Guys with whom I am largely unfamiliar, never having read an appearance, at least for years)
Stacy-X, Darwin, Lifeguard, Slipstream, Shard, Layla Miller, Omega Sentinel, Fantomex, Synch, Gaia, Changeling, Random, Thunderbird I, Kylun & Cerise
Plus I'm not counting some villains/moles who were only on the team for a second (Juggernaut, Mimic, etc.)
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Young Avengers

Post by Jabroniville »

HULKLING (Dorrek VIII, aka Theodore "Teddy" Altman)
Created By:
Allan Heinberg & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: Young Avengers #1 (April 2005)
Role: Team Shapeshifter, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Young Avengers, The Skrulls
PL 8 (115)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Skrull Physiology"
Morph 4 (Any Form) [20]
Concealment 1 (Detect True Shape) [1]
"Wings, Claws & Extended Limbs" Shapeshift 1 [8]
"Healing Factor, cuz some Skrulls can have them" Regeneration 4 [4]
Immunity 1 (Pheromone-Based Powers) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Kree/Skrull Hybrid)- Teddy, despite being the product of two warring races (the humping of Mar-Vell with a Skrull Princess), is highly-desireable to both, as they both want him as a figurehead.
Relationship (Wiccan)- They're in wuv. You might not know this, because they totally don't talk about it every five panels.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 8 (115)

-Hulkling's name seems to be pretty much chosen to help justify the "Teen Avengers" concept by having the kids act like Legacy Heroes. Initially, he was supposed to be a girl shapeshifting as a dude to do "the closest thing to a gay character", but eventually they just went with him being homosexual because the Editor was like "dude, this is overly-complicated. Why not just make him gay?". He did some stuff (his father is apparently Mar-Vell, who has the most posthumous children of any character in history), but largely his entire character revolves around him being in a relationship with Wiccan. Literally every comic I've ever read featuring the Young Avengers (even where they only make a cameo) makes mention of this relationship, with one of the two making sure to mention "my boyfriend" within a couple panels. To the point of obnoxiousness. Of course, it makes sense that gay heroes are increasing in number (as publically-outed celebrities are on the rise, as well as public acceptance of homosexuality), but it's kinda funny that the necessity of it only being NEW characters being gay means that it's all TEEN HEROES coming out of the closet, as each new teen book has at least one or two gay kids. Ya gotta wonder what they put in the WATER in New York these days, if the only gay heroes are the kids.
-I have absolutely no idea how strong or tough Hulkling is, just that he's apparently a bit of both and has some Regeneration, plus an Immunity to Daken's Powers.

WICCAN (Billy Kaplan, aka Asgardian)
Created By:
Allan Heinberg & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: Young Avengers #1 (April 2005)
Role: Magic... ish Kid
Group Affiliations: The Young Avengers
PL 8 (105)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Magic) 5 (+6)
Insight 1 (+3)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Luck 2, Ranged Attack 4, Ritualist

Powers:
"Spellcasting"
Teleport 8 (Extras: Extended, Portal +2) (40) -- [46]
AE: Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)
AE: Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy) (22)
AE: "Locator Spell" Senses 7 (Mental Sense- Acute & Ranged 5) (7)
AE: Illusion (Visual & Hearing) 8 (24)
AE: "Astral Projection" Remote Sensing (Visuals) 10 (20)
AE: Force Field 8 (Extras: Affects Others) (16)

Features 1: Quick Change [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blasts +6 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Illusion -- (+8 Illusion, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2 (+10 Force Field), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Homosexual)- Billy was bullied in school for being gay.
Relationship (Hulkling)- They're in wuv. You might not know this, because they totally don't talk about it every five panels.
Power Loss (Reality Warping)- Wiccan must chant a mantra or statement of intent, then focus on the outcome he wants to achieve. Without this, he cannot use his Powers.
Relationship (Speed & The Scarlet Witch)- Billy is the reincarnated soul of her lost son, and Speed is the other.
Reputation (Uncontrolled Power)- Much like his mother, Billy has untapped potential, and limitless power (in theory). Even his closest friends worry if he's going to go down the same crazy path she did.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 9 (105)

-Wiccan is a bullied gay kid who gained super-powers because of The Scarlet Witch, then named himself Asgardian. Which is a horrible name for a MULTITUDE of reasons, but specifically because they just named THE FREAKING GAY KID "ASS GUARDIAN" (to their credit, they mentioned the awful pun in-story). It turns out that Wiccan & Speed are actually the resurrected souls of Wanda Maximoff's children, who were resorbed by Mephisto as part of his plan to hurt her emotionally. He also has some of Wanda's Reality Warping powers, essentially taking the form of semi-ritualistic Magic that lets him do virtually anything he wants to, given the right intent. However, he still seems pretty KO-able and vulnerable. He gets a lot of the "Potentially The Most Powerful Being Alive" stuff that a lot of teen characters end up getting, but given that Young Avengers goes away a lot, I don't imagine that ever coming true. To be honest, he's more notable for being part of one of the only gay pairings of two superheroes in comics. It's a bit... preachy, on the subject, given what I've read, but hey- Marvel's stated their intent on this point (very contrary to their old points on it), but it's valid.

THE VISION III ("Jonas")
Created By:
Allan Heinberg & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: The Young Avengers #?? (2005-06)
Role: Learning To Be Human, Weak Replacement
Group Affiliations: The Young Avengers, The Avengers (Mighty)
Avengers Grade: D-Level
PL 9 (211)
STRENGTH
8/12 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Current Events) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Solar Blast) 4 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+4)
Technology 4 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Interpose, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages (Various), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Datalink" Communication 1 (Computers) [4]
Regeneration 2 [2]
Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Mental Tasks) [2]
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Senses 2 (Extended & Infravision) [2]
Movement 3 (Time Travel 3) [6]

Low Density (41) -- [42]
AE: High Density (38)

"Physical Disruption" Affliction 12 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Cumulative, Affects Corporeal) (37) -- [41]
AE: "Damaging Disruption" Damage 11 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 6) (Extras: Affects Corporeal) (29)
AE: "Solar Blast" Blast 10 (20)
AE: Illusion 8 (Visuals) (16)
AE: "Shapeshifting" Variable 2 (Form Powers) (14)

"High Density"
Enhanced Strength 4 (8)
"Immovable" Enhanced Strength 3 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (3)
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 13) (15)
Protection 6 (Flaws: Immobile -2) (2)
Enhanced Advantages 1: Withstand Damage (Trade Defenses For Toughness) (1)
-- (35 points)

"Low Density"
Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Precise) (21)
Enhanced Skills 8: Stealth 8 (+14) (4)
Enhanced Advantages 4: Evasion 2, Improved Defense, Uncanny Dodge (4)
Flight 4 (30 mph) (8)
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 2 (4)
-- (41 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
High Density +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Physical Disruption +6 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Damaging Disruption +6 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (+8 Low Density, DC 16-18), Parry +6 (+8 Low Density, DC 16-18), Toughness +10 (+12 High Density, +8 Impervious), Fortitude +12, Will +8

Complications:
Power Loss (Solar Blast)- The Vision requires solar energy to power his blasts- if left without, he will lose power.
Weakness (Android Body- Despite being humanlike in construction, The Vision's body is different enough to require specialists beyond mere medical training if he is injured.
Relationship (Cassie Lang)- Jonas believes that Cassie is his one true love.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 110 / Defenses: 12 (211)

-I never really read The Young Avengers, but nothing I've seen makes me really want to. Take this guy for example- he's based off of Iron Lad's armour & thought waves (Iron Lad being a younger version of Kang the Conqueror), but designed himself like The Vision. That's a little... overly complicated for my liking, especially since Vizh is one of the more iconic then-dead Avengers and this guy doesn't really have much of a link to him. Never mind that some writers assumed it WAS the same character, and wrote him as such, while others treated him like a new guy. He gets mad when Iron Lad offers to bring his beloved Cassie Lang into the future to save her life, but he refuses (since mucking around with the timeline is a Kang-like move), and is then killed by Iron Lad. The team decides not to rebuild him, both because they don't have the technology, and because they'd have to tell him about Cassie's death all over again (that's... a pretty bad reason). He's got all of Vision's powers, plus some junk of his own, making him a VERY expensive PL 9 hero with a metric ton of abilities.

SPEED (Thomas "Tommy" Shepherd)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Young Avengers #10 (Feb. 2006)
Role: Speedster, Cocky Kid
Group Affiliations: The Young Avengers
PL 9 (147)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8/12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 8 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+2)
Insight 2 (+2)
Perception 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Eidetic Memory, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Super-Speed"
Speed 9 (1,000 mph) [9]
Quickness 12 [12]
Enhanced Advantages 4: Improved Initiative 4 [4]
Enhanced Fighting 4 [8]
Enhanced Dodge 4 [4]

Movement 1 (Water-Walking) (Flaws: Limited to While Running) [1]

"Vibrate Through Matter" Insubstantial 4 (Extras: Affects Others) (24) -- [26]
AE: "Directed Vibrations" Blast 8 (Extras: Penetrating) (24)
AE: "Whirlwind Thing" Move Object 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (Flaws: Touch Range, Limited to Away) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Directed Vibrations +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Reputation (Juvenile Delinquent)- Tommy was discovered in a super-powered "Juvie" hall.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 63 / Defenses: 14 (147)

-Tommy joined The Young Avengers in their tenth issue, getting recruited after they found another super-powered teenager, this one being stuck in a super-Juvie that apparently sucked pretty hard. It turns out that he's the reincarnation of one of Vision & Scarlet Witch's kids, making him the sorta-twin of his teammate Wiccan. I'm not entirely sure on his other Speed Feats beyond "Vibrating Through Stuff" (which you'd figure would be more akin to a Flash-Level Feat, not a Quicksilver-Level Feat), but "Speed" is an awesome name for a Speedster Hero, though- quick, evocative and descriptive, all at the same time.

IRON LAD (Nathaniel "Nate" Richards, aka Kid Immortus)
Created By:
Allan Heinberg & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: Young Avengers #1 (April 2005)
Role: Team Shapeshifter, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Young Avengers
PL 8 (146)
STRENGTH
1/9 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+12)
Perception 3 (+5)
Technology 7 (+14)

Advantages:
Inventor, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Nuerokinetic Armor" (Flaws: Removable) (Feats: Remote Controlled, Restricted 2- Only Nate) [66]
Enhanced Strength 8 (16)
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 5) (12)
Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
"Alter Appearance" Morph 2 (Flaws: Limited to Armor's Appearance) (8)

Energy Blast 10 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy, Split) (23) -- (26)
AE: "Magnetic Fields" Move Object 10 (20)
AE: Movement 3 (Time Travel 3) (6)
AE: "Hacking" Communication (Electronic) 2 (10)
-- (78 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Blasts +6 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2 (+9 Armor, +3 Impervious), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Homosexual)- Billy was bullied in school for being gay.
Relationship (Hulkling)- They're in wuv. You might not know this, because they totally don't talk about it every five panels.
Power Loss (Reality Warping)- Wiccan must chant a mantra or statement of intent, then focus on the outcome he wants to achieve. Without this, he cannot use his Powers.
Relationship (Speed & The Scarlet Witch)- Billy is the reincarnated soul of her lost son, and Speed is the other.
Reputation (Uncontrolled Power)- Much like his mother, Billy has untapped potential, and limitless power (in theory). Even his closest friends worry if he's going to go down the same crazy path she did.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 66 / Defenses: 9 (146)

-You know, I was JUST THINKING a while ago that Kang The Conqueror's history just WASN'T CONFUSING ENOUGH, and could use a few new examples of time travel, retcons and altered continuity. And hey! Here comes Iron Lad, the 16 year-old version of Kang, who was horrified when his future self went back in time to inspire him with stories of how he'd grow into a Conqueror of Time, and endeavored to team up with The Avengers to stop... himself. He went back in time, but discovered that the A-team had disbanded, and so he had to build one up with random teenagers with similar names (because that's a perfect strategy). He copies Iron Man's armor and hooks up with Stature, turning into the team's leader. Eventually, he kills Kang, but this messes with time, so he has to go back into the future and become Kang anyways (jesus...). He apologizes to Stature and disappears, with a new Vision copying his brain patterns and joining the Young team.
-Eventually a Cosmic Cube splits up Vision & Iron Lad, because why NOT make a nine-year old character's backstory more confusing than friggin' Spider-Man's? He eventually kills Vision III when he suggest resurrecting Cassie, the girl they both love, because NOW Time Travel to fix things is apparently wrong. He ends up in Matt Fraction's FF, allying with Doctor Doom and a young Ravonna (the younger version of FUTURE future Kang's main squeeze), then allies with Kang & Immortus (both of whom are him, naturally) to prevent Captain America from messing with the timestream (because, y'know, they are all the moral authority on THAT).

PATRIOT II (Eli Bradley)
Created By:
Allan Heinberg & Jim Cheung
First Appearance: Young Avengers #1 (April 2005)
Role: Bad-Ass Normal
Group Affiliations: The Young Avengers
PL 8 (117)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Close Attack, Equipment 2 (Throwing Stars- Blast 3- Multiattack), Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Bulletproof" Impervious Toughness 7 [7]
Leaping 4 (120 feet) [4]
Speed 5 (60 mph) [5]

"Triangular Shield" (Feats: Restricted to Those Trained) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [12]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion, Withstand Damage (2)
"Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Dynamic, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 8) (Diminished Range -1) (11) -- (15)
Dynamic AE: "Shield Bash" Strength-Damage +1 (Extras: Penetrating 2) (3)
Dynamic AE: Enhanced Dodge 1 & Parry 1 (Extras: Sustained +0) Linked to Enhanced Strength 5 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (9)
-- (17 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Shield Bash +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Throwing Stars +8 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Shield Toss +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (+8 Shield, DC 18), Parry +7 (+8 Shield, DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Kate Bishop)- He had a crush on her, but she wanted to keep things slow. They're not together in Hawkeye, so I think they split.
Addiction/Responsibility (Steroids/MGH)- Ali used drugs to gave himself super-powers.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 28 / Defenses: 5 (117)

-Eli Bradley is the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, the "Black Captain America", having used Mutant Growth Hormone to gain powers similar to the various Caps. This obvious comparison to steroids (based off of writer Allan Heinberg's) led to a bit of a conversation about the subject. He quit the Young Avengers after they figured out the truth, but soon joined them and got PROPER super-powers thanks to a blood transusion from his grandpa for realz.
-Despite having a blood transfusion from a Cap-level being as part of his power-source, Eli is MUCH stronger. He's got some pretty elite capabilities, a weaker version of the standard Shield that all Cap-Variants have, and more, but is still just a PL 8 Rookie Hero.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Zodiac Cartel

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE ZODIAC CARTEL:
-And now for perhaps the WORST team of crappy jobbers in the history of comic books- The Zodiac Cartel!

-See, this was a decent enough idea at first. A bunch of crime bosses built around theme-naming, with the intentions to dominate the world via extortion, murder and assorted other criminal behavior. Comics has a good history with that, like DC's Royal Flush Gang, or Marvel's Hellfire Club- all cool themes to go by. The Western Zodiac is actually pretty good as well, as the Chinese one features too many silly or mundane animals (you have to make Rat, Rabbit and Rooster, which kinda counterbalances Dragon and the other cool stuff). Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema created them during Thomas' HUGE, successful run on The Avengers in 1970- Thomas' run is easily the biggest one of the pre-'90s era, and possibly the biggest one ever, depending on how big a fan of Bendis & modern-day Marvel you are.

The group vexed The Avengers for a bit, and returned a few times, with the founder Taurus relinquishing leadership to other members during the time of their Astrological dominance. Sadly, this good idea quickly faltered when you considered the sheer amoung of LOSER-OSITY going on with these idiots. A couple of the characters had okay designs, but most of them? Cancer, Leo & Taurus seemed like easy enough costumes to make, but Sal Buscema apparently had a major-league brainfart, and put the three of them in the equivalent of Fursuits, and not even GOOD ones. They weren't even the worst ones- Capricorn was put in a YELLOW SKIRT. Problems with creating a team of TWELVE guys were apparent, as a few of them had completely bland "I am a criminal" personas, and didn't really say or do much of anything. One of their plans involved killing all of the Geminis in New York as a "show of power", which tells you all you need to know about them, I guess. Give Thomas credit for trying, but few writers could create twelve compelling characters all at once.

Members started making good use of The Zodiac Key, a super-powered device that was created for Scorpio, aka Nick Fury's brother Jake. Independent members would show up in varied titles over the 1970s, when Marvel was starting to get REALLY into weird things and off-kilter runs. The '70s could be a bit of a resurgence for Marvel at times, but also a time of great problems- the company almost went out of business (it was saved by the Star Wars series, quite literally), croney-ism and mutual ass-kissing was the name of the game, and more. Are the Zodiac Cartel responsible for this? YES... okay probably not, but I'm off on a tangent here.

Eventually, Steve Englehart (creator of the legendary Mantis/Celestial Madonna mega-storyline) got hold of the group during HIS Avengers run, and had Libra be revealed as the father of his own personal Mary Sue, Mantis. A few members died in other books (Aries & Aquarius). Englehart eventually created a SECOND team of Zodiac Members, perhaps realizing how crappy the team really was- Scorpio was resurrected by the Zodiac Key thanks to some cabal of guys obsessed with conflict and fighting (sort of like comic book Battleboards fans, but in-continuity), and he brought the remaining Zodiac members in to a meeting, where they are killed by a new Android Zodiac Cartel, based off of S.H.I.E.L.D. Life Model Decoys! This storyline (in West Coast Avengers) featured Robo-Clones of Hawkeye & Tigra helping the Zodiac out, and only Taurus & Libra survived from the original group- Taurus would die at the end of the storyline after fighting Moon Knight aboard a plane.

This second Zodiac Cartel was defeated after going to an alternate dimension and then shutting down (apparently they were kept alive by radiation only existing on Earth or something...). The whole "Other Dimensional Fighting-Obsessed Monks" story was completely stupid, and it's funny how this entire band of goons was offed in their fourth issue of existence (by an ass-pull of "oh, they can't survive in this other dimension, so they died the second they teleported everyone there"), but the final issue where Moon Knight does his best Batman impression and hunts down Taurus is actually quite well-done- Taurus was desperately hiding from him, trying to recruit a new Zodiac (The Shroud was a target for this, in his anti-hero schtick), and eventually spun into an airplane crash. A third Cartel debuted TWELVE years later, meant to test Alpha Flight in battle. This one-note team was casually murdered by Weapon-X in another book, and replaced by a Fourth Zodiac many MORE years later, and they fought The Young Avengers. And then THEY were killed in one fell swoop- yes, this actually happened to FOUR SEPARATE ZODIAC TEAMS.

So at least four variations of a TWELVE-MAN group, and almost none of the characters were any good. So ridiculously perfect for my builds! I'll build the original, Life Model Decoy (usually shortened to LMD) and Ecliptic (the Alpha Flight one) generations of the team. The Power Levels with be low. Low as in "As Low as Rob Liefeld's Talent" low. LOW. The originals are almost all "fairly tough humans" with moderate fighting skill, and none of them are particularly effective in combat. To say nothing of the Life Model Decoy Zodiacs, who took on Hawkeye 12-to-1 in one of those West Coaster issues (got 'em at a Comic Con), and he managed to bring down FIVE of them before he was overwhelmed by a Sagittarius that was an exact clone of himself. And those LMD Zodiacs KILLED the original crew!

Included:
1) Taurus- The Bull
2) Sagittarius- The (Centaur) Archer
3) Libra- The Scales
4) Gemini- The Twins
5) Aries- The Goat
6) Virgo- The Maiden
7) Leo- The Lion
8) Pisces- The Fish
9) Aquarius- The Water-Bearer
10) Capricorn- The Sea-Goat
11) Cancer- The Crab
12) Scorpio- The Scorpion

Note: I think the stereotypes about Zodiac symbolic personality types are basically a giant load of hooey (I was once told by a surprised friend; "You don't ACT like a Libra!", which to me sounds sorta like saying "you don't ACT like someone with brown hair!" or "You don't ACT like an asian person!", or something equally asinine- how the frig could the TIME OF YEAR YOU WERE BORN make a difference as to your temperment?), but I'll toss in the general stereotypes anyways, especially as Englehart seemed to make the LMD Zodiac VERY severe representations of each symbol.

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TAURUS
Stereotypes: Loyal, Patient, Possessive, Stubborn, Jealous, Man's Man, Homebody

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... some costumes translate better to real-life than others.

TAURUS I (Cornelius Van Lunt)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: The Leader, Fursuiter
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 9 (138)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+10)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 7 (+11)
Expertise (Astrology) 8 (+12)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+8)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 3 (+7)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Technology 2 (+6)
Vehicles 8 (+8) -- (Flaws: Limited to Ground Vehicles)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 4 (Wealth), Improved Critical (Horns), Improved Initiative, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Astrology Skill

Powers:
"Taurus Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [8]
"Horns" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Penetrating 4) (7)
Protection 2 (2)
-- (9 points)

"The Star-Blazer" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [12]
Blast 10 (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Horns +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Star-Blazer +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+6 Costume), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Cornelius also wishes global dominance.
Enemy (The LMD Zodiacs)- As the Zodiac leader, Cornelius is the biggest target of the Life Model Decoys.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 54--26 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 11 (138)

-Taurus was pretty much the most important character from the Zodiac Cartel, bringing them together, disguising himself in his Taurus outfit so nobody would know it was him, and leading most of their missions. All this, while wearing a big fuzzy mascot outfit that looks more cute than threatening (unless you fear Furpiles, that is...). He was pretty much the top dog, surviving the team's massacre at the hands of the Life Model Decoy Zodiac, but he died in a solo venture against Moon Knight immediately following those events, so he got his anyways. Thing that always bugged me about masked guys like him in the comics was... how in the HELL did his mask have FACIAL EXPRESSIONS? When he gets mad, the Bull head gets all wide-eyed, and when he talks, the mouth moves! What the hell kind of Fursuit is THAT advanced!?
-Taurus is much better than most of these other losers thanks to the Star-Blazer, a super-powered gun that could even stun THOR if necessary. That alone boosts him to a PL 9, where normally he'd be a weak PL 8 with his Horns (which really aren't a good idea on people-shaped individuals... they work on animals because the animal's head faces FORWARD, meaning that the horns are easy to aim. A human being has to actually bend down and awkwardly use the head to nail somebody with Head-Spikes) and Toughness. He's not much, but he was able to nearly finish off 1980s-era Moon Knight in the "WC Avengers" story (however, Specter quickly recovered and started trouncing him). He's also the smartest and best businessman of the group, ahead of everyone but Jake "Scorpio" Fury.

---

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TAURUS II (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 8 (94)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA -- AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Intimidation 6 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Improved Critical (Horns), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 7 [7]
"Android Senses" Senses 3 (Infravision, Detect Organic Life- Ranged) [3]

"Horn Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [14]
"Horn Cables" Blast 8 (Feats: Split) (17 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Horn Cables +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 20), Toughness +7, Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Taurus very brutish and aggressive.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 54 / Defenses: 8 (94)

-The LMD Taurus is another generic member of the team, being a big tough guy and little else.

---

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TAURUS III (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
Steve Englehart & Al Milgrom
First Appearance: West Coast Avengers #26 (Nov. 1987)
Role: Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 8 (73)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA -- AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Intimidation 8 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 10 [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +10, Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Taurus very brutish and aggressive.

Total: Abilities: 14 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 8 (73)

-Taurus later got rebuilt as a Generic Brick, and then got turned into a girl. This makes her a MUCH cheaper build, though still a reasonable PL 8 backgrounder.

---

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TAURUS IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (Aug. 1997)
Role: Powerhouse, Giant Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 8 (64)
STRENGTH
10 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -2 AWARENESS -2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+2)
Intimidation 10 (+8, +10 Size)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 4 (Teleportation Device), Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Natural Size" Growth 4 (Str & Sta +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Acute Scent, Low-Light Vision) [2]
Protection 1 [1]

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +10, Fortitude +9, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Reputation (Boorish)- Taurus is just a big, dumb thug, and it's easily-read just from looking at him.
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- A giant Bull-Monster, Taurus cannot pass for an ordinary human.

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 13 (64)

-Taurus in the "Alpha Flight" Zodiac team was pretty much like the three preceding him- a big, dumb thing that charged everyone aggressively. He appears HUGE in some pictures, but Hulk-sized in others, but I figure his base stats are gonna be the same- he's a very strong guy with low accuracy, making him a bad PL 7.5 Powerhouse.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

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"This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius! Age of Aquarius! Age of Aquariusssssssssss!!!"

AQUARIUS
Stereotypes: Intelligent, Objective, Idealist, Erratic/Class Clown, Stubborn, Lazy

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What the frick kind of Martial Arts stance is THAT?!?

AQUARIUS I (Darren Bentley)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Generic Thug
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (94)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+9)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 6 (+9)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Technology 1 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Aquarius also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (94)

-Y'know, when I think of "Aquarius", I would think of a guy with water-based powers. But not THIS guy. No, he's just a ripped guy in a belly-shirt who punches people. Yeah, not much of a super-villain. He temporarily gained the powers of all the other Zodiac Cartel members in a deal with the Demon Slifer, but he was just some guy for the most part- he died at the end of that storyline. A PL 6 weakling, Aquarius is a good fighter and pretty strong, but that's his ONLY gimmick. He would fail solo against any other comic book martial artist.

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OH NO!! He's got a WATER HOSE!! RUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!

AQUARIUS II (Zachary Drebb)
Created By:
Dennis O'Neil & Luke McDonnell
First Appearance: Iron Man #184 (July 1984)
Role: Smart Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (91)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+10)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+4)
Technology 6 (+10)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth), Equipment 3, Inventor, Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Teamwork

Equipment:
"Laser Weapon" Blast 6 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Laser Weapon +6 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Aquarius also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (91)

-Aquarius II was a slightly smarter, tech-savvy type of guy with a laser weapon, and an actual "Water" theme- he tended to use equipment or inventions that utilized water and stuff. Still a weakling.

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Truly, a petrifying catchphrase.

AQUARIUS III (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (92)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 3 (+4)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Cannon), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 5 [5]

"Aquarius Suit" (Flaws: Removable) [14]
"Cannon" Blast 8 (Feats: Variable- Water or Electricity) (17 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Cannon +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +5, Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Aquarius very prone to being a loner.

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 4 (92)

-LMD Aquarius, and he has a Water Gun, plus the ability to shoot Electricity. He's a grumpy loner who didn't like helping his buddies, as Aquarians are supposed to be, I guess (I never put to much stock in that Astrology argle-bargle anyhow).

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AQUARIUS IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Duncan Rouleau
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #12 (Aug. 1998)
Role: Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 7 (64)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (Teleportation Device), Improved Aim, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Generic Energy Blasts" Blast 7 [14]

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blasts +7 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +10, Fortitude +9, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 13 (64)

-The AF Zodiac team's Aquarius was a sheer nobody who just stayed in the background and didn't do much of anything.

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SAGITTARIUS
Stereotypes: Adventurous, Blunt, Independent, Rebellious

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SAGITTARIUS I (Harlan Vargas)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Generic Thug
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (95)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 6 (+8)
Insight 5 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Technology 1 (+3)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Aquarius also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (95)

-Sagittarius is another pretty lame Zodiac guy, being like Aquarius in that he was only a melee fighter with no powers or unique gimmicks. Not exactly terrifying, and wearing a costume that matches Piledriver from the Wrecking Crew for the Most Generic Super-Costume of All-Time. He's another crappy borderline PL 6 guy with barely any talent. Most Crime-Boss types like him have a decent amount of interpersonal skills and wealth, but he's hardly a threat for anyone else in tights.

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In terms of "lamest ways to introduce yourself, ever", this guy takes the cake.

SAGITTARIUS II (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (94)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 3 (+4)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Daze (Deception), Improved Critical (Wrist-Blasters), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 6, Teamwork

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 5 [5]

"Wrist-Blasters" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Blast 6 (Feats: Split, Variable Descriptor) (14 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Wrist-Blasters +8 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Sagittarius very sarcastic and joke-y.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 6 (94)

-The LMD Sagittarius is a pretty standard Blaster, being an opponent for Hawkeye with his ranged Wrist-Blasters and sarcastic attitude. He's still limited to pretty much his basic attacks, but he can shoot-em-up like an Elite Thug. My 2e Build of him was PL 9 (!!), but reading the WCA appearance of his squad, he failed to hit anybody, then took one of Hawkeye's arrows to the chest (his arm was bumped), killing him in grotesque fashion (he flailed around and reacted like a real person would, creeping out The Avengers team).

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SAGITTARIUS III (Life Model Decoy of Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye)
Created By:
Steve Englehart & Al Milgrom
First Appearance: West Coast Avengers #26 (Nov. 1987)
Role: The Mirror Image
Group Affiliations: The Avengers West Coast, The Zodiac Cartel
PL 9 (156)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA -- AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+10)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Carny Lore/Streetwise) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Bow) 3 (+13)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Technology 4 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Bow) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover & Concealment), Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Aim

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 5 [5]

"Archer's Bow" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [21]
"Explosive Arrow" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (27) -- (35 points)
AE: "Standard Arrow" Blast 5 (Extras: Multiattack) (15)
AE: "Sonic Arrow" Dazzle Hearing 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)
AE: "Flash Arrow" Dazzle Visuals 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)
AE: "Gas Arrow" Sleep 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)
AE: "Smoke Arrow" Obscure Visuals 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Burst) (12)
AE: "Tear Gas Arrow" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vision Impaired/Stunned & Disabled/Incapacitated & Unaware) (Extras: Extra Condition, Ranged, Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)
AE: "Bolo Arrow" Snare 7 (Inaccurate -1) (20)
AE: "Cable Arrow" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Standard & Boomerang Arrows +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Dazzle & Gas Arrows +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Tear Gas Arrow +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Bolo Arrows +10 (+7 Ranged Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude --, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Sagittarius very sarcastic and joke-y.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 10 (156)

-The third Sagittarius was created by the LMD Scorpio to replace Hawkeye on The Avengers West Coast team. As such, he packs much of what I would consider to be "1980s Hawkeye", becoming a PL 9 over-pointed Archer (mostly thanks to his Immunities). He was able to equal Hawkeye shot-for-shot (they kept hitting each other's arrows out of the air... this is rather difficult to do in real life), and was able to trounce PL 8-ish Mockingbird, but an LMD Tigra and Mock handily defeated him.

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SAGITTARIUS IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (Aug. 1997)
Role: Archer
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 7 (80)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4, +5 Size)
Perception 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Bow & Arrow) 2 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 4 (Teleportation Device), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Bow), Move-By Action, Ranged Combat 6

Powers:
"Natural Size" Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]
Senses 2 (Extended Vision, Low-Light Vision) [2]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]

"Elite Bow" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [11]
Blast 6 (Feats: Split) (13 points)

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Bow & Arrow +8 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +6, Fortitude +8, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Violence)- Sagittarius was a horribly-violent individual, and reveled in mayhem.
Relationship (Pisces)
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- A big Centaur-Monster, Sagittarius cannot pass for an ordinary human.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 9 (80)

-The AF Zodiac Sagittarius was the only one to be an ACTUAL CENTAUR, which is incredibly rare in superhero comics. He was a semi-Powered Archer (able to injure armoured opponents easily enough), so I made his Bow a Device.

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LEO
Stereotypes: Prideful, Loyal, Egotistical, Controlling, Giving, Laid Back, Childlike

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"Oh, SNAP, it's one of the guys from 'Where the Wild Things Are'- RUN!"

LEO (Daniel Radford)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Fursuiter, Claw Guy, Scrapper
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (106)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Equipment (Ridiculous Lion Costume), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Claws), Improved Pin, Improved Trip, Set-Up, Startle, Teamwork

Equipment:
"Ridiculous Lion Costume"
"Claws" Strike 2 (Feats: Split) (3)
Protection 1 (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Claws +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Leo also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 7 (106)

-Another terrible-ass design, Leo has INCREDIBLE potential for cool, but it's wasted away on a guy who looks like he's wearing a costume from "Zoobilee Zoo". I mean, a LION-themed super-villain? He could have a glorious mane, a cape, whips, Lion Minions, cool armour, etc. (just look at the leonine Battle Beast from "Invincible"), but no, he's just wearing tan PJs with claws on them. What a loser. He was unceremoniously killed off with the rest of the lame, human Zodiac Cartel by the LMDs.
-Leo's another low-end guy, PL 6 because he's basically a Fursuiter who's a moderately-good fighter. But like most of the Zodiac Cartel, he's only got one decent attack on him, and really isn't varied at all. He gets some more Combat Advantages to match up with his leonine nature, but that's just me being nice to the poor guy.

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This is one of the better Zodiac Cartel costumes, but tends not to show up well in pictures.

LEO II (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (103)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA -- AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Deception 3 (+3)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Fast Grab, Power Attack, Improved Critical (Claws & Teeth), Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 7 [7]

"Leonine Features"
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended & Ultra-Hearing) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +7, Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Leo very argumentative, and prone to demanding leadership and explanations about the team's actions.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 3 (103)

-The LMD Leo is a bit better, being a capable PL 7 with enhanced strength & speed, but still fairly limited. He's one of the most powerful of the entire group, though... which says a lot about them. Most notably, he's lacking Claws as a Power despite actually having them in the comics, mainly because I don't think it'd modify his stats at all- he's already pretty strong. He talked some smack to Scorpio during a meeting, and paid for it with his "life"- Scorpio used his magic Key to merely create another one of him.

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I'm pretty sure Al Milgrom's drawings of Tigra can be legally-classified as instruments of torture by the Geneva Conventions.

LEO III (Life Model Decoy of Greer Grant Nelson, aka Tigra)
Created By:
Steve Englehart & Al Milgrom
First Appearance: West Coast Avengers #27 (Dec. 1987)
Role: The Mirror Image
Group Affiliations: The Avengers West Coast, The Zodiac Cartel
PL 9 (154)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA -- AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+12)
Athletics 6 (+12)
Expertise (Hunter) 7 (+8)
Expertise (Law Enforcement/S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 8 (+10)
Persuasion 4 (+7, +9 Attractive)
Sleight of Hand 7 (+7)
Stealth 6 (+12)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Attractive, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Evasion, Fast Grab, Follow-Up Strike, Improved Critical (Claws), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Prone Fighting, Startle

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 6 [6]

"Feline Claws"
Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [1]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

"Cat-Like Physiology"
Speed 4 (32 mph) [4]
"Cat Agility" Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]

"Animal Senses" Senses 7 (Low-Light Vision, Infravision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended & Ultra-Hearing, Tracking- Scent) [7]
"Prehensile Tail" Extra Limbs 1 [1]
Regeneration 2 [2]
"Animal Mind" Enhanced Will Check 4 (Flaws: Limited to Telepathic Attacks) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws +10 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +6, Fortitude +9, Will +4 (+8 vs. Telepathy)

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Leo very argumentative, and prone to demanding leadership and explanations about the team's actions.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 57 / Defenses: 12 (158)

-The LMD Zodiac created another Tigra to go along with Sagittarius/Hawkeye. She resembles "1980s Tigra", being PL 9 still, but weaker all-around.

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LEO IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Duncan Rouleau
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #12 (Aug. 1998)
Role: Animalistic Fighter
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 7 (94)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 3 (+9)
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+3)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 7 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Equipment 4 (Teleportation Device), Fast Grab, Follow-Up Strike, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended & Ultra-Hearing) [5]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
"Natural Weapons- Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +2 [2]

"Cat Agility" Leaping 1 [1]
"Lion's Mane" Features 2: +4 to Resist Choking Grapples or Neck-Bites [2]

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws & Teeth +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- A big Lion-Monster, Leo cannot pass for an ordinary human.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 10 (94)

-Leo here is a generic Animalistic Fighter, taking stuff from my Lion (Animal) build, and throwing it onto a generic crook.

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CAPRICORN
Stereotypes: Ambitious, Dominating, Workaholic, Pessimistic, Party Animal, Slut

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OMFG.

WHAT. IS. THAT.


CAPRICORN (Willard Weir)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: The Worst-Dressed Man in Comic Book History
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (97)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Equipment 2 (Blaster +4), Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Equipment:
"Idiotic Capricorn Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
"Goat's Horns" Snare 7 (Feats: Tether, Chokehold, Split) (Flaws: Limited- Two Targets at a Time) (Diminished Range -2) (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Goat's Horns +6 (+7 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Capricorn also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 8 (97)

-Another one-noter, Capricorn was goat-themed like Aries is (apparently our Zodiac is much shorter on concepts than the Chinese one...), but his mask allowed him to ensnare people at range. How this was done, and why nobody else got one, was not quite explained, since everyone else got stuck with lame animal gimmicks, but whatever. He's also an easy bet into the Worst Super-Costume in History contest, with his green skin, yellow shirt/skirt combo, mixed with elf-boots and a pointy red mask. And when you stand out as stupid on THIS team, that's really saying something.
-Capricorn's a minor-league guy with a half-decent Snare on his mask. But it's brutally limited to a few guys at a time, making him a much better temporary-assist type of guy.

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CAPRICORN II & III (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (96)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+11)
Deception 3 (+3)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 7 (+7)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Hooves), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 7 [7]
"Enhanced Climbing" Skills 4: Athletics 4 (+15) (Flaws: Limited to Climbing) [1]

Flight 5 (60 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [5]
"Hooves" Strength-Damage +0 (Feats: Penetrating 5) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +7, Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Capricorn extremely similar to whatever Capricorns are.

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 6 (96)

-The LMD Capricorn was a little weirder, switching gender a few times, gaining wings and hooves, etc. Pretty much another fairly limited Melee Fighter amongst a group of them. In one appearances, she tackles Iron Man alongside Scorpio & Aquarius, and Iron Man states that since they're LMDs, they don't matter, and so he uses his full strength and one-punches Capricorn into dozens of pieces (hence, most of these losers are PL 7s). THIS from a guy's who's VISION's friend. Technically there were two LMD Capricorns, as the first one malfunctioned quickly, and was replaced.

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CAPRICORN IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Duncan Rouleau
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #12 (Aug. 1998)
Role: Animalistic Fighter
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 7 (94)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 7 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 6 (Teleportation Device, Pistol), Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
"Horns" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
"Enhanced Climbing" Skills 4: Athletics 4 (+12) (Flaws: Limited to Climbing) [1]

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)
"Pistol" Blast 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Horns +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- A big Goat-Monster, Capricorn cannot pass for an ordinary human.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 8 (94)

-A Goat-Man (not too many of those in comics), Capricorn IV bleated a lot as a kind of speech impediment, but, like most silly Animal-person types, was a backgrounder who did very little before the mightier Taurus & Sagittarius.

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"Huh-huh... Sixty-nine.

CANCER
Stereotypes: Homey, Sensitive, Moody, Defensive, Protective, Slacker, Manipulative

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Even by the standards of crappy, half-assed costume designs, this one sucks. Yet he's NOT EVEN THE WORST ONE ON THE TEAM.

CANCER (Jack Klevano)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Fursuiter, Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (95)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Improved Critical (Pincers), Ranged Attack 3, Teamwork

Powers:
"Ridiculous Cancer Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold (3)
Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to Grapples) (2)
"Crab Claws" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split) (3)
Protection 1 (1)
-- (14 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Crab Claws +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Cancer also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 7 (95)

-Holy crap, this guy MUST be bad-ass! He killed Captain Mar-Vell! Oh wait, wrong Cancer...
-Another sucky guy, but he's got a unique gimmick with those Pincers; he can grapple, tear stuff, strike and junk with them, giving him a few Advantages & Boosts limited to his costume. It's nothing HUGE, but it's something. Even so, he's PL 6- the level of losers like Boomslang.

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CANCER II, III & IV (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (99)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA -- AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Pincers), Improved Hold, Improved Pin, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 8 [8]
"Water Jets" Blast 7 (14) -- [15]
AE: "Claws" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Penetrating 5) (6)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Claws +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Cancer very defensive (he ran from combat quite easily once).

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 7 (99)

-The LMD Cancer is a much more powerful crab-like robot, with a metal carapace, water cannons, super-strength, the works. He's still a low-level villain, but a tougher one than his level implies. He's been rebuilt TWICE by Scorpio, and only the middle version seemed to have the Water Jets. The final one seen actually RAN from the West Coast Avengers during a fight because he got spooked when Sagittarius "died". These guys do NOT have good Will Saves.

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"Craaaab People! Craaaab People! Look like crab, talk like people!"

CANCER V (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Duncan Rouleau
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #12 (Aug. 1998)
Role: Animalistic Fighter
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 7 (87)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 1 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 9 (+7)
Perception 2 (+2)
Stealth 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Equipment 4 (Teleportation Device), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
Swimming 4 (8 mph) [4]
"Pincers" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Penetrating 6, Split) [8]
"Chitinous Shell" Protection 1 (Extras: Impervious 7) [8]

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)
"Pistol" Blast 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Pincers +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude +7, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- A giant Crab-Monster, Cancer cannot pass for an ordinary human.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 6 (87)

-The fifth (!) Cancer is an Animal-Man like all of his buddies- this makes him one of very few Crab People in comics, and he actually has a pretty good look about him. Didn't save him from getting offed casually, however.

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SCORPIO
Stereotypes: Sexual, Slutty, Possessive, Mysterious, Resentful, Gossiper

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Still one of the greatest covers of all time.

SCORPIO I (Jacob "Jake" Fury)
Created By:
Jim Steranko
First Appearance: Strange Tales #159 (Aug. 1967- as Fury), Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (June 1968- as Scorpio)
Role: The Evil Relative
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel, The Great Wheel
PL 11 (181)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 9 (+14)
Technology 4 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+12)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+12)
Intimidation 3 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+11)
Perception 4 (+8)
Vehicles 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Connected, Defensive Roll, Equipment 2 (Various Gear), Improved Critical (Zodiac Key), Jack-of-All-Trades, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"The Zodiac Key" (Flaws: Easily Removable) (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Scorpio) [29]
Transform (Anything to Anything Else) 8 (40) -- (45 points)
AE: Teleport 8 (Extras: Affects Others, Selective) (32)
AE: Blast 12 (Feats: Variable Descriptor 2, Penetrating 10) (34)
AE: Force Field 8 (Feats: Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Affects Others) (21)
AE: Move Object 10 (20)
AE: Variable 5 (Flaws: Uncontrolled) (30)

"Scorpio Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [16]
"Sleep Gas" Sleep 5 (Extras: Area-Cloud) (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Zodiac Key +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Scorpio also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 17 (181)

-Scorpio started out as a Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. villain, and got stuck into the "Zodiac Cartel" concept later on by Roy Thomas. He eventually unmasked as that age-old of low-brow media tropes- THE LONG-LOST SIBLING! This being Jacob "Jake" Fury, the brother of Nick. He was interesting enough as a concept to be a realistic leader to the team, despite looking like a giant tool. That Cosmic-Level Weapon he was carrying, the Zodiac Key, obviously helped him a fair bit as well.
-Scorpio's the team's resident Leader and Blaster, being a fairly high-level version of both, and that Zodiac Key makes him a nasty villain to face. A high-powered Blast, a Force Field that can protect his entire team, plus it can do multiple weird other things, best described with a Variable Alt-Effect and a Transform base power at high levels.

-At a later points, Scorpio is replaced with Jacques LaPointe, a generic Melee Fighter-type guy. And later still, they're all replaced with a Jack Fury LMD, utilized by the Zodiac Key (which is sentient, by the way) as a slave. This Jake gets rid of his Con Score (-18), gains the full Immunity and Protection 5 (+45). He also uses a slightly different costume, adding another 4 points, making him a PL 11 (211) guy, MUCH more dangerous.

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SCORPIO II (Jacques LaPointe)
Created By:
Steve Englehart & Don Heck
First Appearance: The Avengers #120 (1974)
Role: Generic Thug
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (95)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 6 (+8)
Insight 5 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Technology 1 (+3)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Aquarius also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (95)

-Scorpio II was hired on after Jake Fury's death, simply because Taurus HAD TO have another Scorpio on the team to suit his plans (he once insisted that The Shroud change his name to Gemini during a recruiting drive). He's exactly like Aquarius- a simple human with some fighting skill.

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SCORPIO III (Life Model Decoy of Jacob "Jake" Fury)
Created By:
Jim Steranko
First Appearance: Strange Tales #159 (Aug. 1967- as Fury), Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (June 1968- as Scorpio)
Role: The Evil Relative
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel, The Great Wheel
PL 11 (254)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA -- AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 9 (+14)
Technology 4 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+12)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+12)
Intimidation 3 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 4 (+11)
Perception 4 (+8)
Vehicles 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Connected, Defensive Roll, Equipment 2 (Various Gear), Improved Critical (Zodiac Key), Jack-of-All-Trades, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 4 [4]

"The Zodiac Key" (Flaws: Easily Removable) (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Scorpio) [81]
Transform (Anything to Anything Else) 8 (40) -- (47)
AE: Teleport 8 (Extras: Affects Others, Selective) (32)
AE: Blast 12 (Feats: Variable Descriptor 2, Penetrating 10) (34)
AE: Force Field 8 (Feats: Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Affects Others) (21)
AE: Dimensional Travel 1 (Ankh Dimension) (Feats: Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Affects Others, Selective) (9)
AE: Move Object 10 (20)
AE: Healing 10 (20)
AE: Variable 5 (Flaws: Uncontrolled) (30)
Summon 7 (Extras: Heroic +2, 12 Minions +7, Variable +2- Androids) (Flaws: Indifferent) (84)
-- (131 points)

"Scorpio Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [21]
"Venom Blast" Weaken Stamina 6 (Extras: Ranged, Progressive +2) (24) -- (26 points)
AE: "Neurotoxin" Affliction 10 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative) (20)
AE: Burrowing 8 (4 mph) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Zodiac Key +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Scorpio also wishes global dominance.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (The Zodiac Key)- The sentient Key often gives Scorpio orders, and will not do things that end the conflict.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 136 / Defenses: 17 (254)

-The Android Scorpio would actually heal & create other Life Model Decoys, making him MUCH more expensive. He's still Jake Fury, but as an LMD himself, so he's also more dangerous overall. Problem is, the Key won't follow his orders if it'll end the conflict.

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SCORPIO IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (Aug. 1997)
Role: Team Leader
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 9 (64)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+7)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+6)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 4 (Teleportation Device), Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Scorpio Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [17]
"Stinger" Strength-Damage +4 (Feats: Reach) Linked to Weaken Stamina 5 (Reach) (Extras: Progressive +2) (21 points)

"Zodiac Key-Lookin' Thingie" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [12]
Blast 10 (20 points)

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Stinger +10 (+7 Damage & +5 Weaken, DC 22 & 15)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (Virgo)

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 10 (127)

-Scorpio was the leader of his incarnation of Zodiac, which means he's the least-crappy member of his entire team- a massive PL 9! He never actually USED the giant tail on his butt for some reason, but let's just assume it's poisonous- his other buddies got Animal-themed powers, so why not him?


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VIRGO
Stereotypes: Neurotic, Perfectionist, Sensitive, Self-Righteous, Confusing Smart-Ass

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Exactly how DOES fabric cling like that?

VIRGO I (Elaine McLaughlin)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Fursuiter, Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (97)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Close Attack (Unarmed) 2 (+11)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Equipment 2 (Lasers, Others), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Trip, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Equipment:
"Laser Blaster" Blast 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Laser Blaster +7 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Virgo also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (97)

-Virgo was sadly created far too early to provide any funny jokes about "virgins" and what-not, so she was pretty much stuck being a goofy-looking girl in a yellow outfit and a domino mask that kicked and punched people. One of the "we didn't really think about that one" characters who had no powers, she was just a melee fighter. Though it is kind of hard to figure out how to apply 'virginity' to a super-power, unless you go with what Stargirl had in "JSA", what with Ghosts being unable to touch her pure body.
-Virgo's a PL 6 melee fighter, just like Aquarius, but slightly more skilled. A bit weaker, though. She's apparently knocked out the Scarlet Witch once, but that's no feat in and of itself, as Wanda DEFINES Glass Cannon.

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VIRGO II & III (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 9 (100)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA -- AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Insight 4 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Attractive, Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 4 [4]

"Siphoning Device" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [15]
Affliction 12 (Toughness; Dazed & Impaired/Stunned & Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Affects Objects Only +0, Extra Condition, Continuous +3) (Flaws: Limited to One Target -2, Instant Recovery) (24 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Siphoning Device +6 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Virgo very flighty and self-important.

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 7 (100)

-The LMD Virgo was a more dangerous enemy (the first was "Stillborn"), with a Siphoning Device that could drain someone as powerful as Iron Man at will (though other people could take it right off of him- hence the Instant Recovery, Continuous & Easily Removable bits). She was limited otherwise, but had an interesting characterization, in that she was kind of a flirty bimbo who seduced people, and was obsessed with money.

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OK, I know the "No Waist" thing was a hallmark of crappy '90s art, but WHAT THE FRICK???

VIRGO IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (Aug. 1997)
Role: Team Pilot
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 6 (80)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+5)
Insight 3 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 2 (+3)
Vehicles 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit (Ambidexterity), Equipment 6 (Teleportation Device, Guns), Improved Critical (Guns), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Teleport 10 (20)
"Pistol/Arrows" Blast 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 17)
Pistols & Arrows +7 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (Scorpio)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (80)

-Virgo was basically a "Team Pilot" character who did little to really help out in fights, since all she had was Guns & Arrows and stuff.

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ARIES
Stereotypes: Energetic, Competitive, Outgoing, Big Talker, Nervous, Tempermental, Jock, Ditz

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ARIES I (Marcus Lassiter)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Fursuiter, Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 8 (97)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 7 (+9)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Improved Critical (Horn Charge) 2, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Surprisingly-Decent Aries Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [4]
"Horns" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Penetrating 2) (5)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Horns +9 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume, +5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Aries also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (97)

-Aries was probably the third-most important member of the Zodiac Cartel, taking over the team in Scorpio's absense, and being a crime boss of some talent in his own right. Even so, he was killed in his second appearance, trying to take over New York with some Cosmic Weapon thingie. He's one of the cooler looking Zodiac members too, which is kind of funny since he's pretty much wearing a big goat head as part of his costume.
-Aries is a low-end PL 8 (PL 7.5 mostly), but really, none of these guys are remotely powerhouses, and the only reason they can challenge the Avengers is with sheer numbers; since there are TWELVE of them, even minor powers are handy in a fight, as they're up 2-to-1 on just about everybody. He's basically a big strong guy with some sharp horns on his head.

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ARIES II (Grover Raymond)
ARIES IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Englehart & Bob Brown (II), Dennis O'Neil & Luke McDonnell (IV)
First Appearance: The Avengers #120 (June 1974- II), Iron Man #184 (June 1984- IV)
Role: Fursuiters, Jobber Villains
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 8 (97)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Crime Boss) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 5 (+8)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Roll, Improved Critical (Horn Charge) 2, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Surprisingly-Decent Aries Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [4]
"Horns" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Penetrating 2) (5)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Horns +9 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume, +5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Aries also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (97)

-Grover Raymond and another un-named guy were both Aries at times, but both didn't really differ from him too much aside from being black. Raymond also managed to take control of Zodiac once, and used Taurus' Star-Blazer as a weapon. The other guy was just an ally of the other characters (I wouldn't doubt the writers just forgot Raymond was dead), and got killed by the LMDs with the rest of this squadron of Jobbers. One was black, while another was caucasian, but it's likely a colouring error.

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ARIES III (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 8 (104)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 3 (+4)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Improved Critical (Horns), Improved Overrun, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 5 [5]

"Aries Suit" (Flaws: Removable) [19]
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious) (6)
"Horns" Fire Blast 8 (16) -- (17)
AE: Strength-Damage 3 (Feats: Penetrating 5) (8)
-- (23 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Horns +7 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Horn Blast +7 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Aries very arrogant and tempermental.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 54 / Defenses: 5 (104)

-So the Zodiac guys kept getting replaced by Life Model Decoys over the years, producing a ton of generic losers. In any case, the LMDs have all the Robot-y goodness of regular 'bots, low Skills & Feats, etc., but they each have a few theme-based things. LMD Aries is super-strong and hits very hard with his Horns, making a pretty well-balanced PL 9 altogether with his armour. The Blast also helps out, making him a half-effective character on a terrible team.

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ARIES V (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Duncan Rouleau
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #12 (July 1998)
Role: Team Pilot
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 7 (82)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+10)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 6 (Teleportation Device, Guns), Improved Critical (Horns), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Horns" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)
"Pistol" Blast 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Horns +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Pistols +6 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +6, Fortitude +6, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (Scorpio)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 5 (82)

-Another generic Ram-Man, Aries V was smart enough to not willingly give away his team's plans to the heroes (most of the other Animal-Men types weren't).

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PISCES
Stereotypes: Confused/Indecisive, Imaginative, Romantic, Kind, Goofball, Hides True Nature

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PISCES I (Noah Perricone)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Aquatic Guy, Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (91)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Business) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Vehicles 5 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth), Favored Environment (Underwater), Equipment 2 (Harpoon), Improved Critical (Harpoon), Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Goofy Pisces Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [10]
Immunity 3 (Cold, Drowning, Pressure) (3)
Protection 2 (2)
Environmental Adaptation (Underwater) (1)
Swimming 4 (8 mph) (4)
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Underwater) (2)
-- (12 points)

Equipment:
"Harpoon" Blast 4 (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Harpoon +8 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+5 Costume), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Pisces also wishes global dominance.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (91)

-Pisces is the water-themed guy of the Zodiac Cartel, being a Miami-based crimelord with a focus on underwater combat. His costume is a full-body one, making him look slightly less lame than most of his comrades- sorta like an uglier version of The Inhumans' Triton.
-He's not much to look at stats-wise, but he's more dangerous underwater, for those tricky swimming guys. His costume grants him several benefits to that effect, and he's quite good in combat under there. He just lacks the physical "oomph" of many other Zodiac members.

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PISCES II, III & IV (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 8 (104)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA -- AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+7)
Athletics 3 (+10)
Deception 3 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Favored Environment (Underwater), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 7 [7]

Swimming 6 (30 mph) [6]
"Prophetic Dreams" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to When Asleep) [2]
"Water Mist" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Horns +7 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Horn Blast +7 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Pisces very cowardly (though I don't see that in the stereotypes).

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 55 / Defenses: 4 (104)

-Pisces' LMD version was more interesting than all the others, in that they eventually (after the first two were killed) went for a Lemurian-looking woman with big frills around her limbs. She's still a PL 7 fighter, but like Pisces I, she gets better underwater. Unfortunately for this squad, Pisces never gets to FIGHT underwater, and her only real appearance in comics shows her panicking and fleeing combat the second Sagittarius was destroyed by Hawkeye. The second Pisces was Strength & Toughness 3, and the third is the only one to include the Water Mist, or to claim to have Prophetic Dreams.

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PISCES V (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (Aug. 1997)
Role: Elementalist
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 8 (127)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Water Attacks) 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (Teleportation Device), Move-By Action, Ranged Combat 5

Powers:
"Water Form" Alternate Form (Drawbacks: Move Action -1) [-1]
Immunity 2 (Drowning, Pressure) [2]
Swimming 5 (16 mph) [5]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Elongation 2 [2]
Insubstantial 1 (Feats: Precise, Subtle) [7]
"Merge With Water" Concealment 2 (Visual Senses) (Flaws: Limited to While in Water) [2]
Immunity 40 (Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing Damage) (Flaws: Bludgeoning Limited to Half-Effect) [30]

"Water Powers"
"Water Blast" Blast 8 (16) -- [23]
AE: "Water Wave" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (14)
AE: "Water Stream" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (14)
AE: "Water-World" Environment 2 (60 feet) (Impede Movement 2) (4)
AE: "Water Torrents" Move Object 5 (10)
AE: "Water Trap" Snare 5 (15)
AE: "Forced Drowning" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (16)
AE: "Mass Drowning" Affliction 7 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (14)

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Water Blast +7 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Water Area Attacks +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Water Trap +7 (+5 Ranged Affliction, DC 15)
Drowning +7 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Mass Drowning +7 Area (+7 Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Relationship (Sagittarius)

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 72 / Defenses: 6 (127)

-Pisces V is basically Hydro-Man Lite, taking some of his tricks (Drowning, Insubstantial, Immunities) and scaling them down to a PL 7.5 level. She's not super-great, but is one of the better members of her team by a ways, since she has very unique powers, and is relatively hard to hurt.

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GEMINI
Stereotypes: Social, Talkative, Two-Sided, Clueless, Inquisitive, Unpredictable

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GEMINI I (Joshua Link)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Aquatic Guy, Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 8 (116)
STRENGTH
3/4 STAMINA 3/5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Streetwise) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+4)
Perception 5 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Technology 4 (+4)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Wealth), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Uses Brother's Strength"
Enhanced Strength 1 [2]
Enhanced Stamina 2 [4]
Strength-Damage +1 [1]

"Control Damian Link"
Mind Control 10 (Flaws: Damian Link Only -2, Side Effect- Comatose) [10]
Senses 6 (Detect Damian Link- Ranged, Extended x4) [6]

"Boosting Damian's Stats" Both Have (Flaws: Affects Damian Link Only -2)
Enhanced Strength 1 [0.5]
Enhanced Stamina 2 [1]

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

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+5 Boosted), Fortitude +5 (+7 Boosted), Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- Already greedy, Gemini also wishes global dominance.
Enemy (Damian Link)- Joshua's brother is an honest cop, and wants to bring Joshua in.

Total: Abilities: 43 / Skills: 47--23.5 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 24.5 / Defenses: 15 (116)

-Gemini's got one of the most messed-up origins ever in comics... he's linked to his twin brother Damian (a cop) thanks to some hootenany or another, and now has the ability to either take over his brother's body, or double his own strength because of their link. Alot of backstory for a guy who's essentially one of twelve losers, but he had much more of a solo run than most, fighting The Punisher and Ka-Zar independent from the rest of the group. I chalk it up to him actually having a personality beyond 'evil' (he was a deadbeat brother and thug instead of a crimeboss), and the coolest costume of the bunch. It was pretty simple, but that half-black/half-white design is pretty visually interesting, and sticks out amongst all the half-animal suits the others were using. That didn't stop him from being killed by the Life Model Decoy Zodiac Cartel in any case.
-Gemini's powers are best described as a generic boost to his Physical Stats, and the ability to control his brother's movements from pretty much any distance (hence Perception Range effects combining with Ranged Senses). His brother also kinda gains Joshua's powers when Controlled because of this link, which is complicated, but best described with Affects Others Enhanced Stats. Altogether, Gemini's a PL 7.5 melee fighter guy who's very strong, but quite cheap since, like most Zodiac guys, he's light on fluff bits. He's about enough to challenge '80s Punisher or Ka-Zar for a bit, but he'd need to cheat to win.

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GEMINI II (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (128)
STRENGTH
3/7 STAMINA -- AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+3)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 4 [4]
Growth 4 (Str & Toughness +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) [8]

"Splits Off Two Forms"
Summon 6 (Extras: Heroic +2, Horde, 2 Minions +2, Variable- Different Power) [48]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Growth +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (+5 Size, DC 17-15), Parry +7 (+5 Size, DC 17-15), Toughness +4 (+9 Size), Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Gemini very two-faced- when it splits in two, one personality is Reason (white- Blasts), and the other is Emotion (Electricity).
Power Loss (Energy Blast)- Gemini must have it's Minion Summoned to utilize it's special powers.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 90 / Defenses: 5 (128)

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GEMINI III (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (146)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA -- AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+3)
Perception 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 4 [4]
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]
Energy Blast 7 [14]

"Splits Off Two Forms"
Summon 6 (Extras: Heroic +2, Horde, 2 Minions +2, Variable- Different Power) [48]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Energy Blast +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Electrical Touch +7 (+7 Damage & Affliction, DC 22 & 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4, Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Gemini very two-faced- when it splits in two, one personality is Reason (white- Blasts), and the other is Emotion (Electricity).
Power Loss (Energy Blast)- Gemini must have it's Minion Summoned to utilize it's special powers.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 106 / Defenses: 5 (146)

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GEMINI SUMMONS (Life Model Decoys)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Animalistic Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 7 (88)- Minion Rank 6
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA -- AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+3)
Perception 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Blast) 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 4 [4]

Energy Blast 7 [14]
or
Electrical Damage 7 Linked to Affliction 7 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) [14]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Energy Blast +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Electrical Touch +7 (+7 Damage & Affliction, DC 22 & 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4, Fortitude --, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Gemini very two-faced- when it splits in two, one personality is Reason (white- Blasts), and the other is Emotion (Electricity).
Power Loss (Energy Blast)- Gemini must have it's Minion Summoned to utilize it's special powers.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 5 (88)

-Aw, of course one of these guys has to have some ridiculous, weird power. Gemini here, as an LMD, can split off two forms, each possessing one colour (black or white), and an alternate power on each one. Standard Summon effect, really. The first variant had the ability to Grow to larger size, while the second could Fly and shoot Energy Blasts- I saw neither power exhibited in the "WCA" arc, as Gemini just ran around on foot, and got housed to weak 1980s Mockingbird easily.

---

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GEMINI V (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Duncan Rouleau
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #12 (July 1998)
Role: Elementalist
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 6 (54)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 6 (Teleportation Device, Pistol), Ranged Combat 7

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)
"Pistol" Blast 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pistol +7 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (54)

-Gemini IV was actually Madison "Box" Jeffries, an Alpha Flight member under hypnosis or something. When he was freed, a new Gemini showed up, but was such a background character that no name or powers were ever given. I basically made him a dime-a-dozen Elite Thug, more or less.

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LIBRA
Stereotypes: Know-It-All, Judgmental, Narcissistic, Idealistic, Meticulous

ImageImage

LIBRA I (Gustav Brandt)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Sal Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)
Role: Upgraded Villain, Mysterious Mentor
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 9 (153)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Priest of Pama) 5 (+8)
Expertise (History) 6 (+9)
Insight 3 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+11)
Perception 6 (+11)
Stealth 5 (+11)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 6 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Languages (A Few), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 6, Takedown

Powers:
"Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Spatial Awareness" Senses 5 (Spatial Sense- Ranged, Accurate, Radius) [5]

"The Place Between Places"
Movement 1 (Dimensional Movement) [2]
Remote Sensing 10 (Visuals & Hearing- 4 miles) (Feats: Dimensional) (Flaws: Limited to Within the Place Between Places) [21]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Balance)- Libra's goal in life is to balance good & evil, chaos & order, etc., on all sides.
Relationship (Mantis)- Libra is actually the father of the mysterious Celestial Madonna, though the two are not close.
Disabled (Blind)- Despite his power, Libra is actually blind. He would probably be unable to tell colours apart, and things like that. The Legion of Subsitute Heroes' Color Kid would be SCREWED against him.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 13 (153)

-Libra has been a weird one- a character who was just a lame backgrounder for the Zodiac, being ANOTHER martial artist guy (but with a 'blind' gimmick), but then got reborn a bit later with a huge backstory. He was the father of Avengers hero Mantis (Steve Englehart's baby), and was even the "Guide" character archeypte in Kurt Busiek's Magnum Avengers Opus, "Avengers Forever", in which he was your standard vague character with vague motivations, but had a great moment at the end where he was like "The HECK with it!" and just started fighting on behalf of the Avengers to save the human race, because the "balance" was getting out of whack again.
-Libra's part-martial artist, part guide character, with an ESP-like sense that covers a fair bit of range (4 miles), but only within the Place Between Places. He has a strange Blindsight-like power (works sorta like Daredevil's Radar Sense except it's called "Spacial Sense"), allowing him Accurate Radius Sight, even though he's blind. Despite his points-cost, he's not exactly a lethal combatant- he's a weak PL 8.5 Defensive guy, and only PL 8 on offense. It was enough to temporarily hold his own against Hawkeye... That still makes him one of the BEST guys on the original Zodiac Cartel, so he's virtually their Superman.

---

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LIBRA II & III (Life Model Decoy)
Created By:
David Kraft & Keith Giffen
First Appearance: The Defenders #49 (July 1977)
Role: Intangible Guy
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac Cartel
PL 6 (119)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 5 (+6)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Life Model Decoy"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 5 [5]
Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Selective) [21]
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +5, Fortitude --, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Power)- The LMD Zodiacs are goons, plain and simple.
Vulnerable (Magnetic Attacks)- As LMDs, the Zodiac are made of metal, and are prone to magnetic assault.
Weakness (Outside Their Dimension)- The LMDs will shut down without access to Zodiacal Energy from our dimension- inter-dimensional travel will shut most of them down.
Responsibility (Zodiac Nature)- The LMD Zodiacs were extremely focused onto their particular sign's habits and nature. This made Libra obsessed with balance and fairness.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 66 / Defenses: 4 (119)

-The LMD Libra was more of an NPC who didn't get involved- his Intangibility meant that he couldn't really fight, and so he advised the other members of the team. The first one was blown up by Hawkeye with some Explosive Arrows, and actually had quite a bit of characterization in the Defenders issues in which he was featured. The second was never observed using Intangibility, and was deactivated with the rest of them- he was a serious backgrounder there.

---

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LIBRA IV (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Steve Seagle & Duncan Rouleau
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #12 (July 1998)
Role: Elementalist
Group Affiliations: The Zodiac
PL 7 (72)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Criminal) 3 (+3)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 5 (Teleportation Device, Staff), Improved Critical 2 (Sword, Staff), Ranged Combat 6, Set-Up

Powers:
"Energy Sword" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [9]
Blast 7 (14) -- (15 points)
AE: Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Penetrating 5) (8)

Equipment:
Teleport 10 (20)
"Staff" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach, Split) (4)
"Heavy Suit" Protection 1 (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Sword +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Staff +6 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Sword Blast +6 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 Suit), Fortitude +5, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 8 (72)

-A terrible PL 6.5 Blaster/PL 6 Swordswoman, Libra IV just shouted "Balance!" over and over again, and was clearly one of the bargain-basement Zodiac members.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's RoninArmy Build Dump

Post by Jabroniville »

Okay, that posts all of my Marvel builds over! At least, the ones that didn't get posted to Echoes already!
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Bat-Family Builds

Post by Jabroniville »

BATMAN:
-C'mon, he's Batman. He's the top selling character at DC (by a WIDE margin, especially since Superman's heyday way back in the '60s), a Franchise-Spawner (because of his supporting cast, he's got as many side-books as the X-Men do, and he's ONE GUY), a Codifier for "Grim Costumed Detectives" (he's not the first, but he's by far the best and most well-liked), and he's got the most interesting psychological profile of any character in comic book history. He's got enough awesome feats for the Power-Geeks (on the "human fighter" level, as well as his Prep-Time abilities), enough great lines to match any other character EVER, and along with Superman, he's easily the best character for "Elseworlds" stories, since there's so many ways you can go with him. Does he go too far over to the side of darkness? Can he become a full-on prick who everyone hates? Who are his friends? What becomes of his enemies? There's this innate sadness to everything Batman does (in every era except the "super-happy '50s & '60s" one), and he's so unlike the usual brave, upstanding citizen heroes DC usually produced back in the day that he'd arguably fit better into the Marvel Universe.
-Of course, Batman showcases one of the realities of comics- unsung heroes on the creative side of things, like Bill Finger. It was Finger that turned Batman from a red-clad guy in goofy wings to a grim bad-ass, and he's also pretty much a driving force behind a lot of Bat-related things. Of course, Bob Kane gets all the credit (he combined concepts including Zorro & Leonardi da Vinci drawings to make his character- proof that you can make really inventive things just by ripping off more than ONE source)- this process today is known in comic circles as "Being Fingered". It probably has another meaning now, though.
-The Batman as he appeared in The Animated Series is for my money the greatest version ever seen: Grim, but not hopeless. Determined, but not obsessed to the point of hating everyone. Skilled, but not the uber-God of war that's undefeatable. One of my favourite Batman-defining moments was the time he came CRASHING through some old lady's window, coming to his senses, then turning back to smirk at her before he left- showing you the Bat-humour. Plus, he actually used his DETECTIVE SKILLS. He didn't just punch stuff into a computer and read the results all the time (though there was a bit of that); he searched for clues, he dusted for prints, and he dug up dirt on people like no other hero has ever done.
-Batman almost... overwhelms DC at points. Superman generally takes the forefront of Event Stories, and is problematic in OTHER ways (ie. his extreme power levels and dominance over any other hero), but Batman is so popular that half of DC's line looks like it's all Batman & Friends sometimes. His movies are DC's most-popular, so much so that the rest of THAT line looks like it's mimicking the Nolan-verse style. Oddly... he wasn't THAT big at some points, but the 1960s Batman TV series changed all that, and set off a big-time late-'60s Superhero Craze that lasted for a couple years before busting again (DC lost a TON of books around that time). What's funny is that Young Jab found that show fun, but thought it was "stupid" because of all the cheesiness. Naturally, I was too young to realize that THAT WAS THE POINT, and the show was straight-up "camp". Yvonne Craig as Batgirl, though? DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN... that was a hell of an introduction to the female species, I tell you what.
-Batman's Rogues Gallery is up there with the greatest- in comics, only Spider-Man's can be reasonably-stated to come close. Batman has more solid, fleshed-out CHARACTERS in that group than is reasonable. It's so good that even the CRAPPY ONES can be turned into something fantastic by later creators (Batman: TAS did a number of Mr. Freeze, a two-bit nobody). The Joker, Two-Face, The Penguin, Catwoman, The Riddler and others are some of the most-famous bad guys in comics- the only flaw in Batman's Rogues is that a few too many are of a similar gimmick- "Insane Guy With No Powers and a Weird Schtick"- the big five are ALL like that. Spidey's Rogues aren't as great on a character level for the most part, but are definitely more varied.

THE BATMAN I (Bruce Wayne)
Created By:
Bob Kane & Bill Finger
First Appearance: Detective Comics #27 (May 1939)
Role: The Ultimate Non-Powered Hero, The Detective, Supreme Skillmonkey
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 9 (241)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 13 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 6 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+15)
Deception 11 (+16)
Expertise (Streetwise) 9 (+15)
Expertise (History) 1 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+12)
Expertise (Business) 5 (+11)
Insight 9 (+15)
Intimidation 8 (+13)
Investigation 12 (+18)
Perception 9 (+15)
Persuasion 5 (+10)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 4 (+14)
Stealth 10 (+15)
Technology 6 (+12)
Treatment 1 (+7)
Vehicles 10 (+14)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 5 (Billionaire), Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment 19 (Batmobile, Batplane, Utility Belt), Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Grappling Finesse, Great Endurance, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip,
Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 2 (Almost Any Needed), Last Stand (Ignore All Damage For 1 Round with HP Spent), Luck, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 6, Skill Mastery (Investigation), Startle, Takedown 2, Tracking 2, Ultimate Investigation Skill, Ultimate Intimidation, Uncanny Dodge, Well-Informed

Equipment:
"Batplane" (Gargantuan, ST 11, Flight 7- 240 mph, Defense -2, Toughness 11, Features- Navigation, Remote Control) (29) -- (30)
AE: "Batmobile" (Huge, ST 8, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense -2, Toughness 10, Features- Alarm, Caltrops, Oil Slick, Remote Control, Computer) (16)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Explosives" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Feats: Triggered- Time) (17)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)

"The Batcave"
(Large, Toughness 10, Communications, Computer, Concealed, Dock, Garage, Gym, Hangar, Library, Living Space, Workshop) (16)
-- (92 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +15 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Batarangs +14 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Explosives +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +12

Complications:
Motivation (Justice, Revenge)- Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered before his eyes as a young child. He has never stopped trying to rid Gotham City of the evil that took their lives. He is devoted to bringing justice back to Gotham, but vengeance still defines much of his life.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Batman considers himself Gotham's protector.
Responsibility (Compassion)- Though often quiet and vengeful, Batman is a creature of compassion. He feels pity for some of his enemies (Man-Bat, Mr. Freeze, Baby Doll), and feels sympathy for the victims of crime.
Responsibility (The Memory of Thomas & Martha Wayne, Parents)- Bruce occasionally seems himself in the shadow of his wealthy, honourable parents.
Responsibility (Jim Gordon, Dick Grayson, Friends)- Despite being a loner much of the time, Bruce is highly-protective of those close to him. Attacks on their life will be taken very seriously, and if harm came to one of them, Bruce would be beside himself with grief.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- Batman has amassed numerous enemies, including the entire population of Arkham Asylum, and a few notable public figures.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- What Batman does is essentially an illegal act, with Commissioner Gordon "looking the other way". Other public figures are less forgiving, and he may find himself hunted. Police detective Harvey Bullock specifically wants him brought down.

Total: Abilities: 90 / Skills: 124--62 / Advantages: 70 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 19 (241)

-Batman was a smash hit pretty much immediately, and is still very, very similar to how he was in his first year- a grim vigilante out to punish all criminals for the murder of his parents- most Lawmen of the day just did it out of boring motivations like "I want to help people" or "I see injustice and want to fix it", which are really the best reasons you can HAVE, but the whole "Parents' Death = REVE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-ENGE!!!" thing is just SO mythologically-perfect, and gives the character an edge that others lack. Revenge is such a pure, HUMAN emotion, and everyone can easily comprehend it. The fact that he's got a bitchin' fashion sense and is so great by virtue of his awesomeness and not super-powers is just icing on the cake. One of the few differences nowadays is that like a lot of Golden Agers, Batman would murder some of his foes- eventually, comics figured out that you could have cool recurring villains if you spared them instead.
-Things seemed to build for the character quickly- within one calendar year, he got the Utility Belt, the Batarang, the Batplane, and his origin story (oddly enough, six months after his debut) and finally, Robin the Boy Wonder as his Sidekick. Robin ended up DOUBLING sales (despite Kane's desire for a solo Batman; Finger pointed out that Bats needed a "Watson" to bounce exposition off of). He got his own solo book in 1940, and got the start of his epic Rogues Gallery as well.
-The Golden Age Batman lasted all the way until modern times in a huge, unbroken run, something shared by only a tiny handful of characters (Superman, Wonder Woman, the Archie cast)- at some point he just sort of BECAME the Silver Age version, and there became a WWII-active Batman of Earth-Two instead. This actually led to DC writers taking the opportunity to actually MOVE FORWARD with the life of Bruce Wayne, as opposed to the Eternal Limbo of comic book characters- GA Batman got MARRIED, to SELINA KYLE of all people, had a DAUGHTER, and more! Then he DIED!
-Batman got even BIGGER with the introduction of Robin, setting off a stream of copycat Kid Sidekicks, and then joins the Justice Society briefly (he didn't need to be on the team, since he had his own book), putting him on the All-Star Squadron in Roy Thomas' Retcon Series. His daughter Helena becomes The Huntress, and Robin becomes an adult JSA member. Selina is killed tragically when Batman fails to stop a criminal from firing his gun, and gives up the cowl... until one final mission, where Wayne (dying of cancer anyways) fights an evil Sorceror to the death.
-Batman in the Golden Age roughly fits a PL 9 in my mind. He's an extremely good fighter, but not super-human. Five or six mooks in hand-to-hand is actually a CHALLENGE, not a joke, and he can't just whip his entire Rogue's Gallery's ass in five seconds with ancient ninjitsu powers. Heck, even a fairly decent fighter with super-human strength (Man-Bat, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc) nearly becomes OVERWHELMING in power. Still, +15 Attack is REALLY high, so it's enough for most anyone, especially with Accurate Attack thrown in. I cheaped out on the Equipment a bit by making the Batmobile Alt-Effect off the Plane, but hell, he barely ever used the damn plane, and he couldn't use both at once, so it counts (and actually, DC Adventures' official Bat-build did the exact same thing). Benefit 5 (Wealth) takes care of the rest.
-Aaaaaand of course his final points cost is CRAZY, as it's really always going to be when you build BATMAN, God of Skills & Advantages. All the Equipment, skill and accuracy, he's gonna be a pricey bastard no matter what. He's 40 points cheaper than the "official" Batman build, for good reason- the cartoon's Batman was still human underneath it all. And at PL 9, he's actually beatable to many, and you don't have to artificially inflate his entire Rogues Gallery to match him in a fight.

BATMAN II (Bruce Wayne)
Created By:
Bob Kane & Bill Finger
First Appearance: Detective Comics #27 (May 1939)
Role: The Ultimate Non-Powered Hero, The Detective, Supreme Skillmonkey
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Outsiders
PL 11 (273)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 14 DEXTERITY 8
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 6 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+17)
Deception 11 (+16)
Expertise (Streetwise) 9 (+15)
Expertise (History) 2 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+13)
Expertise (Business) 5 (+11)
Insight 9 (+15)
Intimidation 10 (+15)
Investigation 12 (+18)
Perception 9 (+15)
Persuasion 5 (+10)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 3 (+15)
Stealth 10 (+16)
Technology 9 (+15)
Treatment 2 (+8)
Vehicles 10 (+14)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 5 (Billionaire), Benefit 1 (Alternate ID- Matches Malone), Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment 24 (Costume +1, Batmobile, Batplane, Utility Belt), Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 3, Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 2 (Almost Any Needed), Last Stand (Ignore Damage for 1 Round With HP Spent), Luck, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover, Close/Concealment), Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery (Investigation), Startle, Takedown 2, Tracking 2, Ultimate Investigation Skill, Ultimate Intimidation, Ultimate Deception, Uncanny Dodge, Well-Informed

Equipment:
"Batplane" (Gargantuan, ST 11, Flight 7- 240 mph, Defense -2, Toughness 11, Features- Navigation, Remote Control, Missiles- Blast 10- Burst- Extended Range 2) (61) -- (62)
AE: "Batmobile" (Huge, ST 8, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense -2, Toughness 10, Features- Alarm, Caltrops, Oil Slick, Remote Control, Computer) (16)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Explosives" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Feats: Triggered- Time) (17)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)

"The Batcave"
(Large, Toughness 10, Communications, Computer, Concealed, Dock, Garage, Gym, Hangar, Library, Living Space, Workshop) (16)
-- (120 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +17 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Batarangs +15 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Explosives +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +16 (DC 26), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +5 (+6 Costume), Fortitude +7, Will +13

Complications:
Motivation (Justice, Revenge)- Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered before his eyes as a young child. He has never stopped trying to rid Gotham City of the evil that took their lives. He is devoted to bringing justice back to Gotham, but vengeance still defines much of his life.
Responsibility (Human Life)- Only Superman values human life as much as Batman does- having felt the pain of losing someone, he endeavors to not bestow the same pain upon others.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Batman considers himself Gotham's protectors.
Responsibility (Compassion)- Though often quiet and vengeful, Batman is a creature of compassion. He feels pity for some of his enemies (Man-Bat, Mr. Freeze, Baby Doll), and feels sympathy for the victims of crime.
Responsibility (The Memory of Thomas & Martha Wayne, Parents)- Bruce occasionally seems himself in the shadow of his wealthy, honourable parents.
Responsibility (Jim Gordon, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Friends)- Despite being a loner much of the time, Bruce is highly-protective of those close to him. Attacks on their life will be taken very seriously, and if harm came to one of them, Bruce would be beside himself with grief.
Reputation (Asshole)- Batman became darker and darker over time, at at points goes from "unfriendly and uninterested" to "giant raging asshole". Even his closest friends have difficulty putting up with his obsessive personality and rude behavior for long, and he is frequently estranged from various people.
Rivalry (Superman)- The two have known each other for years, and represent two of the most-important heroes on Earth. However, they have two different viewpoints on justice, and how to behave around others- rarely seeing eye to eye. But few are more-reliable when backing the other up- they trust each other implicitly.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- Batman has amassed numerous enemies, including the entire population of Arkham Asylum, and a few notable public figures.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- What Batman does is essentially an illegal act, with Commissioner Gordon "looking the other way". Other public figures are less forgiving, and he may find himself hunted. Police detective Harvey Bullock specifically wants him brought down.

Total: Abilities: 106 / Skills: 132--66 / Advantages: 80 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 21 (273)

-Batman on Earth-One was pretty much equal to his Earth-Two version, but of course never aged and got married and junk. In the 1950s, his book got a lot lighter & softer, introducing Batwoman & Bat-Girl in order to fight off accusations that Batman & Robin were a homosexual couple (it sounds ludicrous, but it's SO EASY to read that into the old books thanks to some odd panels and stories). He & Superman teamed up in The World's Finest, he met The Bat-Mite (a Mr. Mxyzptlk-style Imp), joined the Justice League (in 1960) and more. The book got darker, as falling sales (he nearly got cancelled) led to Julius Schwartz taking over the line and making several changes. Carmine Infantino put a yellow ellipse behind his Bat-Insignia and changed the Batmobile. Schwartz got rid of the female sidekicks, but replaced a dead Alfred with Aunt Harriet (another "beard")- Alfred was too important to the series, however, and soon returned.
-1966 brought us the Batman TV series, setting off a huge craze once again (Batman's book nearly hit Golden Age-level sales- 900,000 a month!). The campy nature of the book altered the "darker" stories once again, but within a couple years the show was done (the act having worn out), and soon sales fell. The book got dark-ified again by Dennis O'Neil & Neal Adams in 1969, a piece of work that pretty much became THE definitive "Batman". However, like a lot of things upon which people look back fondly, the series' sales actually DIDN'T IMPROVE, and would in fact fall continuously until the mid-80s, no matter HOW beloved the run on the book was (Steve Englehart had another one in the late '70s that was well-thought-of).
-Frank Miller would reinvigorate the character with 1986's The Dark Knight Returns, an even GRIMMER take on the character in a dark future. This book, and Miller's work, would basically change the entire industry forever, as he & Alan Moore were doing completely-new stuff in comics. Other creators would mimic them, but had a tendency to drop all of the adult storytelling and thought that went into those books, and just keep all of the violence and darkness, which is what led to the WORSENING of comics in the long run as well- life is funny that way. Batman, despite being a fatherly-character to his new Robin in DKR, would act like more and more of an asshole in DC books, a problem that'd never really go away, as it became a handy way to provide conflict in JLA & Batverse stories. A series of films starting in the late '80s would hit huge, and Batman would never suffer from being unpopular again.
-The years were kind to Batman, despite weird snafus and storylines. The Killing Joke increased the "grit" in mainstream comics with Barbara Gordon's crippling, Jason Todd was killed, the movies got campier, Batman got crippled in a story meant to showcase the negatives of the "Iron Age" storytelling (via a replacement Batman named Jean-Paul Valley), and more. Jeph Loeb would write the only good things in his career with a set of dark detective stories (The Long Halloween is, for my money, BETTER than DKR), Gotham got leveled by an Earthquake, and Batman would die for a bit, replaced by his original student, Dick Grayson.
-One of the biggest issues in the DC Adventures builds, in my opinion, was the status of Batman at PL 12. It almost made sense on some level that the whole Justice League had to be at high levels, but this created a critical problem. A Batman at PL 12 needs to be challenged by foes on his level... turning regular-old human guys like The Penguin and Two-Face into GIANT elites just to match him! In fact, this created a huge issue across the whole series of official builds, necessitating artificially-bolstered PLs for whole swaths of guys! I found it to be way over-the-top an unnecessary- Batman is elite not because of his massive Power Level, but because of his insanely-skilled nature! The other JLA members spend all their points on Powers and awesome stuff- Batman's player is just the smartest guy at the table, and THINKS his way through everything. And my Batman is +17/+4, making him a very-good PL 10.5, which I think is enough- it puts him on a level above Daredevil & Shang-Chi (or Captain America without his Shield).
-Batman is still an insane Skillmonkey, and his Advantages render him able to do just about anything. Science is always unrealistically-easy to learn in the comic book world (just a single panel of looking at a couple beakers full of chemicals is enough for your Master's Degree), and so Bats is a super-uber-genius. His Investigation Skill is simply the highest in the world, and his Intimidation is incredible as well. Though if you think about it, the only people he ever really successfully intimidates are MOOKS, so it needn't be so high- an Intimidation level the size of DCA's would make him able to terrify ANY enemy he'd ever face, which is just not the way things work in the comics at all- all of his foes seem capable of fighting past their fear and attacking him.

Also, doing these builds, I get varying impressions of the different eras of DC:

* Having read some books from the 1960s, I get the sense that Marvel was right when it criticized DC's style of "eight versions of the same guy in different costumes, talking to himself"- the characters are often indistinguishable from each other outside of their costumes. To me, it's like night & day. Marvel's stuff was definitely-goofy at times, and Kirby's art doesn't really "hold up" to a level we'd find acceptable today, but it's exciting, strange and the characters are fun- DC seems like the "Boring, Kiddy Book" version. You can definitely see why books like Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk were popular amongst College-age rebels, while DC enjoyed better sales because Superman & Batman appealed more to kids.

* The late '60s and late '70s each led to major implosions at DC- Marvel seems a lot more "steady" in terms of sales. GREEN LANTERN of all people had his book cancelled once! At various points, DC practically seemed on the verge of going out of business... except for the fact that they were owned by Warner Brothers.

* The "Anthology" style of comics seems interesting. As a kid, I never imagined picking up just random issues like that... but back in the day, that was the only way to see certain characters! And it kept guys out of the dreaded "Comic Book Limbo"- if Marvel had that during the 1990s, you wouldn't have had Darkhawk, Cloak & Dagger, and The Punisher disappear for half a decade at a time. Putting lesser acts in the back-up to your Main Eventers makes a lot of sense, too, especially because it can help rookie artists get some experience.

HOWEVER... dropping page-rates and the fact that artists nowadays all like to draw BIG BIG BIG makes this almost unusable today. Back when you put 12-16 panels on each page, you could tell an 8-page story that actually meant something. Nowadays, every page is what? Four panels? That's why I hate back-up stories in my comics these days. It doesn't help that they're almost always awful (even more than the main books can be- at least the main story has the A-LIST on it- can you imagine TODAY's Z-list?).

* DC in the 1980s seemed to go through a major creative resurgence after bombing out in the late 1970s. You had guys like Blue Devil, Firestorm, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Booster Gold and more all debuting in their own books (or at least debuting for DC), and getting quite-reasonable pushes. Never mind putting their books in the hands of guys like Alan Moore & Frank Miller- giving them an artistic credibility over Marvel that they'd never enjoyed before.

However... those "new characters" all ended up bombing out by the early 1990s. It was like DC just snapped back to their "old acts" (Superman Family, Batman Family, Wonder Woman, GL, etc.), and cancelled the books of everyone who WASN'T part of that crew. This was actually close to the "last gasp" of entirely-new acts in comics getting a major push- only in the early 1990s would you get more, and THAT was largely only in team books like X-Force and Image Comics' stuff.

* By the 1980s, DC & Marvel had switched as to which was the more "adult"- DC characters swore (usually just "damn", but that was like an F-Bomb to a little kid), you saw near-nudity (or sometimes actual nudity), there was more blood, etc. Marvel under Jim Shooter was DEFINITELY the "safer" option, as DC went for artistic-cred at the expense of sales. Even the Image-like '90s featured Marvel only going for sexy costumes and blood- never the sexuality DC showcased.

* Is there a worse company on Earth than DC in the early '90s, though? Their stuff is AWFUL. Marvel's & Image's stuff is horribly-dated of course, but at least those were the TOP CREATORS. DC's '90s work just looks like worse writers and artists trying to badly APE the styles of the successful acts over at Marvel (who sprung off to form Image). DC's Bloodlines characters are as bad as anything you'll ever find at Image- even Liefeld's stuff.

* Naturally, often the most well-thought-of books were the worst-selling. There are few DC books in the 1960s more famous than the Green Lantern/Green Arrow political "Hard-Travelling Heroes" run, and that one FAILED. The famous Adams/O'Neil "Grim & Gritty" Batman not only failed to improve sales when the bottom dropped out of the 1960s-show-related boom, but sales DECREASED, and would CONTINUE to do so! It seems like everything in comics back then had a Doom Patrol Fandom- as the industry faltered (and BADLY) after the mid-1960s, the Auteur Movement of sorts took over, with guys going for artistic-credibility over things the core audience wanted to read. This ends up creating more-adult comics in the long run (and usually better stuff, if you're not a kid), but turned comics into more of a low-selling, low-profit format that we see today.

NIGHTWING (Dick Grayson, aka Robin II, Batman III)
Created By:
Bob Kane, Bill Finger & Jerry Robinson
First Appearance: Detective Comics #38 (April 1940)
Role: The Sidekick, The Comic Relief (to Batman), The Bristling Sidekick, Stoic Leader Guy (to The Titans)
Group Affiliations: Batman & Robin, The Teen Titans, The Titans, The Justice League
PL 10 (215)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 11 (+18)
Athletics 10 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+16)
Close Combat (Escrima Sticks) 3 (+15)
Deception 9 (+13)
Expertise (Streetwise) 9 (+13)
Expertise (History) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 6 (+11)
Intimidation 3 (+7)
Investigation 8 (+13)
Perception 8 (+13)
Persuasion 5 (+9)
Ranged Combat (Wing-Dings) 4 (+13)
Stealth 8 (+14)
Technology 6 (+12)
Treatment 1 (+5)
Vehicles 9 (+13)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Defensive Throw, Defensive Roll, Equipment 12 (Bat-cycle, Utility Belt), Evasion 2, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Grab Finesse, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Critical (Wing-Dings), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 1 (Various), Leadership, Luck, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover, Close/Concealment), Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up 2, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown 2, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Acrobatics Skill, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
"Bat-cycle" Motorcycle (Medium, Strength 1, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense 10, Toughness 8, Remote Control (11)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Wing-Dings" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
AE: "Escrima Sticks" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) (2)
-- (57 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +16 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Escrima Sticks +15 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Wing-Dings +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +15 (DC 25), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +11

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- When Dick Grayson lost his parents, he became as lionized against crime as Bruce Wayne.
Responsibility (Gotham City, Bludhaven)- Dick considers himself Gotham & Bludhaven's protector.
Responsibility (Socializing Bruce)- Alongside Alfred, Dick is the "normalizing" influence in Bruce Wayne's life. Without them, he is dangerously close to permanent brooding & introspection. He's there to help Bruce crack a smile once in a while.
Responsibility (The Memory of John & Mary Grayson, Parents)- Bruce occasionally seems himself in the shadow of his wealthy, honourable parents.
Relationship (Barbara Gordon)- Dick & Barbara engage in some light or serious flirtation.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want Nightwing dead.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- Batman is generally more frightening to the people of Gotham, but what Robin/Nightwing does is still technically illegal.
Rivalry (Batman)- Though Bruce raised Dick from the age of twelve, Dick is now struggling to make his own way as a hero, and is occasionally twisting under Batman's shadow.
Relationship (Starfire)- Dick & Kory fell in love while they were both Teen Titans, and despite their differences (namely that she was a warrior unafraid of killing, while Dick was strongly motivated to protect all life), nearly married. Because this is comics, they eventually broke up, and the relationship is generally only paid lip service these days.
Relationship (Barbara Gordon)- Oracle was once a teen crush of Dick's, but as they grew older, they matured into one of those "kinda/kinda not" relationships most Bat-people have.
Relationship (The Titans)- Dick grew up with Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash & Speedy, but also thinks of Cyborg, Changeling & Raven as siblings. As the leader, he had to be the responsible, brooding, intense one, and took himself very seriously as a result. They remain his dearest friends.
Responsibility (So Very Handsome...)- Despite not really using it like the Advantage "Attractive", Dick is very, very good-looking. This draws him a lot of attention from the female super-crowd, which he usually has to deal with. He's had near-stalkers (Bette "Flamebird" Kane), bad girls (The Huntress, Tarantula, probably a bunch of other) and more.

Total: Abilities: 86 / Skills: 110--55 / Advantages: 54 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 20 (215)

-The Wolfman/Perez era of the Teen Titans is one of my all-time favourite comic book run (hovering between that and Byrne/Claremont's X-Men run from the same era), and yet that's only ONE of the times where Dick Grayson was used at his best.
-It's kinda hard to define Dick Grayson as the Titans leader, because he was very much the quintessential 1980s comic book team leader: Super-serious, mostly-humorless, deeply attracted to a teammate, a better, more professional fighter than the rest of the team, etc. Dick was sort of the centre of the team, even though he was never the most important character to a crossover it seemed. Gar & Terra were most important to the Terra/Judas Contract run (though Dick had the most panel-time), Raven mattered more to Trigon, Starfire had her own villain in Blackfire, Cyborg had his run when he got a more human body, etc. Oddly (and deliberately), Dick pretty much never even fought one of his Batman enemies during his time as Titans leader, as Wolfman & Perez wanted the kids to matter more in their own right, and not have to deal with their mentors' bad guys kicking around. Even without being The Wolverine of the team and having everything revolve around him, he got a ton of hype and praise in this series. He took the entire team on in training with ease, avoiding all their best shots and making them look like clumsy oafs, fought Deathstroke one-on-one and managed to not die in three seconds (though this was WAY before DC decided that Slade needed to be able to beat everyone- back then, it was canon that he was LOSING his capabilities), infiltrated H.I.V.E. and Brother Blood's HQ as a fake member once each, led the team against Trigon, Starfire, Citadel worlds, Deathstroke, Terra's betrayal, and more, all while remaining pretty interesting as a character in his own right, dealing with the fact that the woman he loves was a battle-hardened warrior-princess.
-But hell, Grayson works well in nearly any book. He grew out of being Robin decades ago, and once he finally got a solo book, "Nightwing" (a name given to him by Wolfman, in fact) was quite successful (though the Bat-editors have repeatedly-screwed-over the Titans editors regarding him), but didn't produce any villains who mattered much across the DC line. But the way he plays off of Bruce Wayne & the rest of the Bat Family is everything... the weird father/son dynamic (they had a nice talk during the wedding of Donna Troy & Terry Long about why Bruce never adopted Dick like he was planning to do with Jason), plus how Dick's an older-brother figure for Tim, etc. His mutual attraction to The Huntress, his REAL relationship with Barbara Gordon, and even the way every lady in the DCU wants to jump his bones (a fact reflected in DC's female fanbase). Robin/Nightwing/Batman stands as sort of a beacon that Bruce Wayne isn't a TOTAL ass-munch, because after all, he's responsible for raising one of the best heroes out there.
-Dick stats up more like a Mini-Batman who is nonetheless more acrobatic- his Initiative & Agility are higher, as is his Acrobatics Skill, and he packs Ultimate & Skill Mastery for the latter also. At a full PL 10 defensively, Dick is the hardest Titans character to hit aside from possibly Wally going at full speed. Generally speaking, Dick has a hard time with anyone who can beat or equalize Bruce, but he can still hold his own. With his Escrima Sticks, he makes PL 9.5 on offense, being an accurate but less-damaging Titan. It's well-established in the books that he is EASILY the best fighter of the group, and can fight anyone on the squad on a pretty even keel, despite his lack of super-powers.
-As Nightwing, Dick gains quite a bit of talent, especially with his athleticism, Escrima Sticks, and Defenses. To formulate a DCU Nightwing, I'd probably just add Leadership and maybe some extra Equipment to the menu. Nightwing stacks up fairly well against my Daredevil build, actually, and they're an interesting study in contrasts. Nightwing is a fair bit more Skilled (he's more of a Detective than DD), has a few more Combat Advantages, and 12 points of Equipment, making him more expensive (especially considering DD spends 17 points on Sensory Powers unrelated to most combat). Combat-wise, they pair up pretty well, and a fight between them is probably quite even. That makes sense to me- Dick is the son of BATMAN, so of course he's fairly pricey, but he wasn't Bruce's equal yet, and the Animated Batman was a bit weaker than Comics Batman, allowing Comics Daredevil to overtake him.

NIGHTWING (Dick Grayson, aka Robin II, Batman III)- Mid-'80s
Created By:
Bob Kane, Bill Finger & Jerry Robinson
First Appearance: Detective Comics #38 (April 1940)
Role: The Sidekick, The Comic Relief (to Batman), The Bristling Sidekick, Stoic Leader Guy (to The Titans)
Group Affiliations: Batman & Robin, The Teen Titans
PL 9 (191)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 10 (+17)
Athletics 10 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+15)
Deception 7 (+11)
Expertise (Streetwise) 7 (+11)
Expertise (History) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+6)
Insight 6 (+10)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Investigation 8 (+12)
Perception 8 (+12)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Wing-Dings) 4 (+13)
Stealth 6 (+13)
Technology 3 (+7)
Treatment 1 (+5)
Vehicles 7 (+11)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Equipment 12 (Bat-cycle, Utility Belt), Evasion, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Critical (Wing-Dings), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 1 (Various), Leadership, Luck, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up 2, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown 2, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Acrobatics Skill, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
"Bat-cycle" Motorcycle (Medium, Strength 1, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense 10, Toughness 8, Remote Control (11)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Wing-Dings" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
AE: "Escrima Sticks" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) (2)
-- (57 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +16 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Escrima Sticks +15 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Wing-Dings +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +10

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- When Dick Grayson lost his parents, he became as lionized against crime as Bruce Wayne.
Responsibility (Gotham City, Bludhaven)- Dick considers himself Gotham & Bludhaven's protector.
Responsibility (Socializing Bruce)- Alongside Alfred, Dick is the "normalizing" influence in Bruce Wayne's life. Without them, he is dangerously close to permanent brooding & introspection. He's there to help Bruce crack a smile once in a while.
Responsibility (The Memory of John & Mary Grayson, Parents)- Bruce occasionally seems himself in the shadow of his wealthy, honourable parents.
Relationship (Barbara Gordon)- Dick & Barbara engage in some light or serious flirtation.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want Nightwing dead.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- Batman is generally more frightening to the people of Gotham, but what Robin/Nightwing does is still technically illegal.
Rivalry (Batman)- Though Bruce raised Dick from the age of twelve, Dick is now struggling to make his own way as a hero, and is occasionally twisting under Batman's shadow.
Relationship (Starfire)- Dick & Kory fell in love while they were both Teen Titans, and despite their differences (namely that she was a warrior unafraid of killing, while Dick was strongly motivated to protect all life), nearly married. Because this is comics, they eventually broke up, and the relationship is generally only paid lip service these days.
Relationship (Barbara Gordon)- Oracle was once a teen crush of Dick's, but as they grew older, they matured into one of those "kinda/kinda not" relationships most Bat-people have.
Relationship (The Titans)- Dick grew up with Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash & Speedy, but also thinks of Cyborg, Changeling & Raven as siblings. As the leader, he had to be the responsible, brooding, intense one, and took himself very seriously as a result. They remain his dearest friends.
Responsibility (So Very Handsome...)- Despite not really using it like the Advantage "Attractive", Dick is very, very good-looking. This draws him a lot of attention from the female super-crowd, which he usually has to deal with. He's had near-stalkers (Bette "Flamebird" Kane), bad girls (The Huntress, Tarantula, probably a bunch of other) and more.

Total: Abilities: 82 / Skills: 90--45 / Advantages: 48 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 16 (191)

-The Nightwing of the 1980s was a bit lower-tier, not operating solo as much as Dick did by the '90s & 2000s, where he came into his own in his Bludhaven-based solo book. As Titans Leader, he's ALMOST as good, but still only PL 9 all over.

ROBIN II (Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, Batman III)- Young Sidekick
Created By:
Bob Kane, Bill Finger & Jerry Robinson
First Appearance: Detective Comics #38 (April 1940)
Role: The Sidekick, The Comic Relief (to Batman)
Group Affiliations: Batman & Robin, The Teen Titans
PL 8 (157)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+15)
Athletics 9 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Streetwise) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+5)
Insight 5 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+9)
Perception 6 (+9)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 4 (+11)
Stealth 8 (+14)
Technology 6 (+12)
Treatment 1 (+5)
Vehicles 9 (+13)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 9 (Utility Belt), Evasion, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Grab Finesse, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Luck, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Acrobatics Skill, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Hits Hard For a Kid" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (45 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Batarangs +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- When Dick Grayson lost his parents, he became as lionized against crime as Bruce Wayne.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Dick considers himself Gotham's protector.
Responsibility (Socializing Bruce)- Alongside Alfred, Dick is the "normalizing" influence in Bruce Wayne's life. Without them, he is dangerously close to permanent brooding & introspection. He's there to help Bruce crack a smile once in a while.
Responsibility (The Memory of John & Mary Grayson, Parents)- Bruce occasionally seems himself in the shadow of his wealthy, honourable parents.
Relationship (Barbara Gordon)- Dick & Barbara engage in some light or serious flirtation.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want Robin dead.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- Batman is generally more frightening to the people of Gotham, but what Robin/Nightwing does is still technically illegal.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 80--40 / Advantages: 36 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 16 (157)

-A young Robin as Sidekick to Batman is probably the best of the Kid Sidekicks in his youth, being PL 7 on offense, PL 8 on defense. Despite being really small, he's exceptionally hard to hit.

ROBIN I (Dick Grayson)- Young Sidekick
Created By:
Bob Kane, Bill Finger & Jerry Robinson
First Appearance: Detective Comics #38 (April 1940)
Role: The Sidekick, The Comic Relief (to Batman)
Group Affiliations: Batman & Robin
PL 7 (139)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+15)
Athletics 9 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 1 (+4)
Insight 5 (+8)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 4 (+11)
Stealth 7 (+13)
Technology 1 (+4)
Treatment 1 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 9 (Utility Belt), Evasion, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Luck, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Acrobatics Skill, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Hits Hard For a Kid" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (45 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Batarangs +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- When Dick Grayson lost his parents, he became as lionized against crime as Bruce Wayne.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Dick considers himself Gotham's protector.
Responsibility (The Memory of John & Mary Grayson, Parents)- Bruce occasionally seems himself in the shadow of his wealthy, honourable parents.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want Robin dead.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 62--31 / Advantages: 31 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 12 (139)

---

ROBIN I (Dick Grayson)- Adult
Created By:
Bob Kane, Bill Finger & Jerry Robinson
First Appearance: Detective Comics #38 (April 1940)
Role: The Sidekick All Grown Up
Group Affiliations: Batman & Robin, The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (186)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+14)
Athletics 10 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+14)
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (Streetwise) 7 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+6)
Expertise (Politics) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Law) 8 (+12)
Insight 5 (+9)
Investigation 9 (+13)
Perception 8 (+12)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 5 (+14)
Stealth 8 (+14)
Technology 5 (+9)
Treatment 1 (+5)
Vehicles 7 (+13)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 9 (Utility Belt), Evasion, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Grab Finesse, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Luck, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Acrobatics Skill, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (45 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Batarangs +14 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- When Dick Grayson lost his parents, he became as lionized against crime as Bruce Wayne.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Dick considers himself Gotham's protector.
Responsibility (The Memory of John & Mary Grayson, Parents)- Bruce occasionally seems himself in the shadow of his wealthy, honourable parents.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want Robin dead.

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 102--51 / Advantages: 36 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (186)

-It's kinda funny that such a great character could be created out of the IDIOTIC idea that an adult crimefighter would throw a pair of tights on a pre-teen and have him fight dangerous criminals. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a Cop running around with a kid dressed as a Teen Cop, with his own little gun & badge? That wasn't a Burt Reynolds movie?
-Robin was created a year after Batman's debut, as Bill Finger felt that Batman needed someone to talk to as a repository for his exposition- The Watson to Batman's Holmes. He based the name and look off of an N.C. Wyeth depiction of Robin Hood, and made him a young boy, as sort of an Audience Surrogate for the young kids reading. And OH MY GOD was that a good idea- sales EXPLODED, and the entire industry began copying the idea, as a horde of Kid Sidekicks popped up all over the place.
-Like Batman, it wasn't made clear exactly WHEN the Robins "split" and we got an Earth-One version. It wasn't until 1967 that we'd meet a clearly-labed Earth-Two Robin- an ADULT Dick Grayson, sporting the most hideous costume in the entire universe. He dropped this atrocity quickly, putting on basically an "Adult's" version of the Robin uniform, adding long sleeves and pants to the outfit. He still looked like a bit of a goober (he's an ADULT in a Kid Sidekick uniform), and the "nerd swoop" haircut added onto him didn't help. The Adult Robin joins the JSA as Batman I retires, and later dies. He'd appear in various stories (but rarely as a major character), but was ultimately one of those "Unwanted Continuity Tangles" that was killed off in the final moments of The Crisis on Infinite Earths, where he and The Huntress (Batman's daughter) were killed alongside Kole of the Teen Titans, divebombed by Shadow Demons that wiped them out. A VERY ignominious end for one of comics' most-copied superheroes. Though I guess he DID sort of live on in Earth-One's Dick.
-Kid Sidekick Robin is a PL 7 to Batman's PL 9, almost matching the Earth-One Kid Robin but not quite. Adult Robin is a PL 8.5 guy on offense, PL 9 on defense, and is all-around one of the better Non-Powered Heroes you'll find, except for the mighty shadow cast by The Batman.

ROBIN III (Jason Todd, aka The Red Hood)
Created By:
Gerry Conway & Don Newton
First Appearance: Batman #357 (March 1983)
Role: Unpopular Replacement Character, Kid Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans
PL 7 (119)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 8 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Streetwise) 5 (+6)
Insight 5 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 4 (+10)
Stealth 6 (+11)
Vehicles 1 (+7)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Daze (Deception), Equipment 9 (Utility Belt), Grab Finesse, Improved Aim, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Hits Hard For a Kid" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (45 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Batarangs +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Batman)
Enemy (Batman's Rogues Gallery)

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 21 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 12 (119)

-Annnnnd it's Jason Todd. His Titans run basically amounts to an issue or two when Dick Grayson had left the team for a bit, and he went right back to the Batman later, where his eventual fate awaited him. Todd himself was a poorly-received replacement for Dick Grayson as Robin (since Dick was too old, and really had been focused on the Titans for years), in that they first just cloned Dick to make the guy, then turned Jason into kind of an ungrateful tool later- he was famously killed off during "Death in the Family", via THE FANS ACTUALLY PAYING TO PHONE A HOTLINE TO KILL HIM. I mean, unpopular characters have DIED before, but few actually literally got the thumbs-down FROM THE FANS.
-I've gone on this rant already, but I still find it hilarious that the big fat Jim Lee-drawn "Hush" storyline teased the HUGE Jason Todd Reveal as the secret identity of the new villain, only to go back and reveal the much lamer childhood doctor friend angle instead. This of course was stupid enough, since the fans got their hopes up for nothing, but then they had to go that EXTRA MILE of stupid and bring back Jason ANYWAYS, just MONTHS after it was teased, thus taking the entire impact out of the REAL reveal too! Only in comics, my friends.... oh, and pro wrestling.
-Robin II (or III, if you go OLD-SCHOOL and say the Golden Age version is the first) is a pretty bare-bones, crap version of Dick Grayson's Robin, though he maintains some Streetwise talents and he's still pretty hard to hit. PL 7 overall isn't BAD for a teenage kid, especially since most of Batman's enemies aren't really super-combatants until much later, but it's not enough to handle The Joker or someone. A tolerable sidekick, and he's good to have watching your back, but he's not whupping anybody good.

Yeah, this mess was a big ol' heap of dumb, for numerous reasons.

#1: DC should have KNOWN GOOD AND WELL that this would happen, and simply not posted that cover in the first place. SOMEBODY should have looked at that and went "hey, you know how the entire internet seems to have been acting up over sexism in comics lately? Maaaaaaaaaaybe we shouldn't publish this". ANYONE could have seen this coming. It was like they were ASKING for people to be pissed off.

#2: Its, yeah, humiliating and creepy for Batgirl. It's the tears in the eyes. Frankly, the cover bothers me for numerous reasons, but I can definitely "get" people being offended by it. Even I'm creeped out- way too rape-y (though the original story makes it clear that Joker took a lot of pictures of Barbara's naked-ish body- don't you see her butt in one of the pictures he taunts Gordon with?). I'm actually glad they dropped it just for that.

#3: Ugh, the JOKER AND BATGIRL AGAIN!?! They JUST DID a huge arc about Joker & Batgirl! And they've dealt with the crippling CONSTANTLY since then. I'm just SO TIRED OF IT.

#4: Everything on the internet nowadays is a beacon for trolls & threats. This is just how the internet works- posting people saying awful things to you to make your argument seem "more correct" is silly, because that's just how idiots act online. It's unfortunate but totally a thing- unfiltered douchebaggery. Pointing out that you're getting this attention just gives the trolls credibility in their own minds- it's best to ignore them.

#5: Doing something that practically looks like it was deliberately-made to piss off that... particular movement (since you can't say those three letters on this forum anymore) just lionizes the people backlashing against it when the backlash inevitably comes.

The funny thing is... I actually see the movement's point in that you shouldn't act like an arse-bucket to people because they're women or gay or on the LGBT spectrum or what have you. BUT, I can also see the counter-point that all this excessive Political Correctness fails to help anyone (it should be noted that almost all of the LEAST-PC people I know have been gay friends & colleagues- most of the dialogue seems to be coming from hetero, cisgendered people fighting on their behalf).

Censorship is its own thing (and a whole can of worms), but the reason people get all "freedom of speech" over it is we're seeing a world in which everyone is dragged out into the streets and forced to apologize over things. It creates a culture of people being afraid to speak out, and it is a form of policing language (look at that poor guy who landed the satellite thing on the passing comet- a HUGE achievement- yet had it completely overshadowed by angry women screaming at him for wearing a shirt with sexy women on it- a shirt made for him BY A FEMALE FRIEND, no less... he was basically forced into making a public apology for it on the eve of what should have been the greatest moment of his life). And policing language doesn't actually help the side that wants to help women & minorities- it only creates resentment in people who didn't even have negative impressions of those people in the first place- it actually HURTS the movement.

It's not 100% a "freedom of speech" issue since it's not the government & police bossing people around and enforcing this "proper" behavior. BUT, it is a form of group control (and a lot of the activists are engaging in HUGE amounts of coercion and straight-up public bullying), and people are only going to get more resentful of it, and the backlash will end up hurting the movement. Look at how big the backlash against the "Political Correctness" movement got, and now that movement is a complete joke. Activists fighting on the behalf of the downtrodden are coming across like hyper-sensitive, controlling bullies, and making themselves look ridiculous.

ROBIN IV (Tim Drake, aka Red Robin)
Created By:
Marv Wolfman & Pat Broderick
First Appearance: Batman #436 (Aug. 1989)
Role: The Sidekick
Group Affiliations: Young Justice, The Teen Titans
PL 8 (164)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 9 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Close Combat (Staff) 2 (+12)
Deception 7 (+10)
Expertise (Streetwise) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+5)
Insight 4 (+7)
Investigation 6 (+9)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 5 (+13)
Stealth 5 (+10)
Technology 4 (+6)
Treatment 2 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Equipment 12 (Staff +2, Bat-cycle, Utility Belt), Evasion, Fast Grab, Grappling Finesse, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Languages 1 (Various), Luck, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover, Close/Concealment), Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 5, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
"Bat-cycle" Motorcycle (Medium, Strenght 1, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense 10, Toughness 8, Remote Control (11)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (57 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Staff +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Batarangs +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Tim Drake believes in Batman's goals.
Relationship (Batman)- Tim believes that it is his job to ensure that Batman does not go completely over-the-edge into ultraviolence. He sees it as Batman NEEDING a Robin for this purpose. Eventually, Bruce Wayne formally adopts Tim as a son.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Robin considers himself Gotham's protector.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want The Boy Wonder dead.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- Batman is generally more frightening to the people of Gotham, but what Robin does is still technically illegal.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 72--36 / Advantages: 43 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 17 (164)

-Tim Drake is a weird ol' story in comic book history. See, DC flubbed badly with the second Robin, Jason Todd, because they made him way too much like Dick Grayson on one end, and then when they tried to fix it, they made him an almighty tool (Team Douchebag behavior never seems to work when it's on uppity young boys). Drake was sorta the best of both worlds. Sure, all three Robins were inexplicably identical-looking black-haired kids (no weirder than Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye & Giant-Man all having the same-looking dude as a secret I.D., I suppose), but at least Drake was a regular kid from a decent (if single-parent) household. Successful characterization (and making him NOT a total butt-hole- that trick only works with FEMALE teenage characters), a Young Justice run, and his own solo book ended up making Tim a rather beloved character, and I'd argue he's an even better Robin than Dick ever was- I still prefer Grayson HIGHLY as a character, of course, but AS ROBIN, Tim has him beat.
-Tim had a typically Post-'90s Bat-Family fate in store for him eventually, though, as his father was killed in Identity Crisis because ANGST, ANGST ALL THE TIME DAMMIT. He matured a bit with the Teen Titans, but that book ended up being a bit of a disaster aside from some nice bits early-on.
-Tim is basically just a baby version of Nightwing/Robin I, himself a baby version of Batman. A PL 8 crimefighter, he's good at what he does, but he's a REAL hanger-on to the Big Dog himself. He's too little to cause major damage, but his accuracy means that he can still Power Attack Mooks for +6 damage (higher than many GUNS) with an Attack Bonus of +6 (not too shabby on weaker targets). Hilariously, this PL 8 kid (I mean, a SERPENT SOCIETY member would have a half-decent shot against him in a straight-up fight) is still the price-point equivalent of a PL 11 Player Character hero. Just goes to show you- Bruce trains 'em WELL.

RED ROBIN (Tim Drake, aka Robin IV)
Created By:
Marv Wolfman & Pat Broderick
First Appearance: Batman #436 (Aug. 1989)
Role: The Sidekick
Group Affiliations: Young Justice, The Teen Titans
PL 9 (182)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 13 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Athletics 9 (+12)
Deception 7 (+10)
Expertise (Streetwise) 5 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+12)
Insight 4 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+10)
Perception 5 (+9)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 5 (+13)
Stealth 5 (+11)
Technology 7 (+12)
Treatment 1 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Equipment 12 (Staff +2, Bat-cycle, Utility Belt), Evasion, Fast Grab, Grappling Finesse, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Critical (Staff) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Languages 1 (Various), Luck, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover, Close/Concealment), Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 5, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
"Bat-cycle" Motorcycle (Medium, Strenght 1, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense 10, Toughness 8, Remote Control (11)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (57 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Staff +13 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Batarangs +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Tim Drake believes in Batman's goals.
Relationship (Batman)- Tim believes that it is his job to ensure that Batman does not go completely over-the-edge into ultraviolence. He sees it as Batman NEEDING a Robin for this purpose. Eventually, Bruce Wayne formally adopts Tim as a son.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Robin considers himself Gotham's protector.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want The Boy Wonder dead.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- Batman is generally more frightening to the people of Gotham, but what Robin does is still technically illegal.

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 76--38 / Advantages: 45 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (182)

-As time went on, Tim probably hit a full PL 9-10, especially once Power Creep set in and he started doing crazy stuff like being called "the best staff fighter ever" and beat LADY SHIVA in a sparring match. As Red Robin, he seems like he hit that growth spurt that still evades the Batsons.

THE HUNTRESS I (Helena Wayne)
Created By:
Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, Joe Orlando & Bob Layton
First Appearance: DC Super Stars #17 (Nov. 1977)
Role: Legacy Hero
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., The Justice Society of America
PL 8 (161)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 9 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+13)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+5)
Insight 5 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+9)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 4 (+13)
Stealth 5 (+10)
Technology 4 (+7)
Treatment 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Equipment 12 (Staff +2, Bat-cycle, Utility Belt), Evasion, Fast Grab, Grappling Finesse, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Languages 1 (Various), Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover), Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown, Tracking

Equipment:
"Bat-cycle" Motorcycle (Medium, Strenght 1, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense 10, Toughness 8, Remote Control (11)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (57 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Batarangs +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Batman)- Helena loves her father dearly.
Relationship (Robin)- Helena is a close partner of Dick Grayson, though they do not share a romantic attraction.
Responsibility (Catwoman's Daughter)- Helena sometimes fears that she will become a criminal like her mother was.
Relationship (Harry Sims)- Helena & Harry have a "you nail 'em, I'll jail 'em" outlook on crime, and are quite close, though he constantly worries for her safety.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Huntress considers herself Gotham's protector.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 62--31 / Advantages: 41 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 17 (161)

-Like I said, the Bruce Wayne of Earth-Two was allowed to grow old, get married, breed, and die- the result of the second and third bits was his daughter Helena, the raven-haired, purple-clad Huntress. Initially coming because of a desire to make an Earth-Two Batgirl for the JSA, and they took bits from the Bat-Family and The Black Cat over at Marvel. She fought a bunch of crooks in solo stories for a while, and VERY briefly joined Infinity, Inc.
-The original Huntress is another great idea for a character (the daugher of Bruce Wayne & Selina Kyle from Earth-Two- because why have an Alternate Earth if you're not gonna have characters do what they can't do in the Mainstream Universe, which is hump and make babies?) that just didn't go far enough, though she was well-liked enough to have a bit of a legacy. Though you'd think BATMAN'S KID would be an epic, awesome character, remembered forever. But what happened is that once the Crisis was done with, she was erased from time, and that was that. The REALLY dated costume didn't help (it was modernized and sexed-up for Helena Bertinelli, the throw-back Iron Ager). What's funny is that Helena was a REALLY small part of "Infinity Inc." (the Teen Titans to the Justice Society), too. She quits the JSA in the first couple issues to help the new kids out of pity, but has thoroughly vanished by the next ten issues or so, and is pretty much NEVER seen for the duration. Power Girl is the same way, actually. Then there's those uncomfortable Post-Crisis issues where everyone comments on the bummer of Helena's death, only to forget her forever within a few issues' time, once the Editors cracked down on who remembered what.
-Like Robin I, Helena became problematic as DC's continuity merged onto one Earth. The two of them were killed by Shadow Demons (alongside the Teen Titans' Kole) in the last parts of Crisis on Infinite Earths, rather than deal with the ugly continuity problems of having a "Batman's Daughter" running around. Curiously, her pal Power Girl (though DC kind of exaggerates this team-up, I think- were they REALLY together that often?) evaded this fate. It would be quite a few years before we'd see a new Huntress in DC.

THE HUNTRESS II (Helena Bertinelli)
Created By:
Joey Cavalieri & Joe Staton
First Appearance: Huntress #1 (April 1989)
Role: Ensemble Darkhorse, Grim Urban Vigilante, Snarky Girl
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Birds of Prey, The Outsiders
PL 9 (173)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 13 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+15)
Athletics 8 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+15)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Streetwise) 10 (+12)
Expertise (Computers) 4 (+6)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+9)
Perception 6 (+9)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)
Stealth 6 (+12)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Diehard, Equipment 4, Evasion 2, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Critical (Crossbow) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Jack-of-All-Trades, Last Stand (Ignore All Damage For 1 Round With HP Spent), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover, Close/Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 9, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
"Crossbow" Blast 5 (Extras: Multiattack) (15)
"Big-Ass Stick" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach, Split) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +15 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Stick +13 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Crossbow +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Reputation (Loose Cannon, Killer)- Helena takes issue with the "Heroes Don't Kill" mentality of most super-heroes, and has a bit of a rep because of it. Even those closest to her (like Oracle) can find her a bit troublesome.
Relationship (Dick Grayson)- They had a passionate affair for a while.
Relationship (Catman)- Dang, Helena gets all the sexy dudes.
Relationship (Black Canary)- They don't always see eye-to-eye, but they are TOTES close.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 74--37 / Advantages: 45 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 18 (173)

-The new Huntress effectively replaced the old (the creators were basically given "first dibs" because they were working on Helena Wayne stuff when she was killed in the Crisis), who'd only been gone for about four years. Helena Bertinelli was a Mafia Princess (with parents so stereotypical one of them was ACTUALLY NAMED GUIDO in her debut), a modern-age Grim Vigilante who was willing to brutalize criminals, even in "Batman's City". Helena was kind of a classic Bad Girl (who was nonetheless a hero), and she was snarky enough that the fans took to her, and she's had a really long run (complete with a moderately-forgettable run on Grant Morrison's JLA, though she was sharing the book with eleven other heroes), especially when you take into account Birds of Prey, a series that was a critical darling for a really long time, and used Helena very well. She's still not Batman's Kid, but even with her slight links to the Bat-Family, she's a popular character. Part of the "She's a bitch, but she's tough as hell and can take a beating better than anybody" personality rubs fans the exact right way.
-Haha-ha, oh Huntress. You kicked ASS in JLU. She's arguably even better than Comic Book Huntress. All because of Question. She became this sarcastic little bitch who mocked everyone around her and was a total loose cannon, but she was somewhat grounded by caring for the weirdo. And they redeemed her, which Bat-books seem to have a problem doing. This Huntress was crazy, nutty and cool, and rather bad-ass, regularly kicking the crap out of a dozen mooks at a time.
-The Huntress is a highly-skilled PL 9, but quite expensive, as befits a Skillmonkey with high-level martial arts skills. She's part-Skillmonkey/part-Dexmonkey, being a super-fast, super-accurate butt-kicker who can modifty many of her caps at will, and is REALLY REALLY good with that Crossbow, having about half a dozen Advantages making it her best attack. Without it, she's a mere PL 9 melee fighter, and I wouldn't say she's equal to anyone from Dick Grayson to Matt Murdock, but she's still good enough to hold her own against Lady Shiva or Black Canary in a fist-fight for a good while.

BATGIRL I (Barbara Gordon)
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Carmine Infantino
First Appearance: Detective Comics #359 (Jan. 1967)
Role: Lesser Sidekick, Plucky Girl
Mental Problems: Overly-Eager to Please
Voice Actor: Melissa Gilbert, Mary Kay Bergman, Tara Strong
First Episode: "Heart of Steel, Part I" (Barbara), "Shadow of the Bat, Part I" (Batgirl)
Finest Moment: Saving the day from those trying to frame Commissioner Gordon
PL 9 (181)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+13)
Athletics 7 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Computers) 13 (+18)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+9)
Expertise (Current Events) 11 (+16)
Insight 3 (+7)
Investigation 7 (+11)
Perception 6 (+10)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 4 (+13)
Stealth 4 (+10)
Technology 4 (+9)
Vehicles 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Contacts, Defensive Attack, Eidetic Memory, Equipment 12 (Bat-cycle, Utility Belt, Costume +1), Evasion, Fast Grab, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Jack-of-All-Trades, Luck, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Expert Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Eidetic Memory" Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Visual Scans -2) [1]

Equipment:
"Bat-cycle" Motorcycle (Medium, Strenght 1, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense 10, Toughness 8, Remote Control (11)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (57 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Batarangs +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +3 (+4 Costume), Fortitude +5, Will +9

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- As the daughter of a Police Commissioner, Barbara is as focused on the law as anyone.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Batgirl considers herself Gotham's protector.
Relationship (Dick Grayson)- Dick & Barbara engage in some light or serious flirtation, and are sometimes treated like Star-Crossed Lovers.
Relationship (Commissioner Gordon)- Batgirl's father is the light of her life.
Relationship (Black Canary, Huntress)- The girls are very close, though often bicker, after being close partners for years.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want Batgirl dead. The Joker, in particular, is responsible for crippling her.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- Batman is generally more frightening to the people of Gotham, but what Batgirl does is still technically illegal.
Rivalry (Power Girl)- They HATE each other.
Disabled (Wheelchair-Bound)- Paralyzed by The Joker for the years, Barbara had different stats- losing her Martial Artist Strike, Agility, Acrobatics & Athletics, Stealth, and mobility.

Total: Abilities: 78 / Skills: 84--42 / Advantages: 40 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 19 (181)

-Barbara Gordon really turned out great. As the second Batgirl (the first- using a hyphen so it's technically a different name because hyphens are SERIOUS BUSINESS- created mainly so Batman & Robin wouldn't look so gay- was Bette Kane, created in the 1950s), she was probably more famous for being played by the Uber-Goddess Yvonne Craig in the 1960s TV series, but she got some play in the Bat-books as well, as a sexy PhD Librarian who beat up criminals on the side. The change in comics & TV was ordered by Julius Schwartz, who wanted a new female version of Batman out there. Introduced as Barbara Gordon, the Suddenly-Introduced Daughter of longtime character Commissioner Gordon (hah- he got Black Lighning'd), she was REALLY popular amongst girls, being a butt-kicking, super-smart girl who wasn't just some victim, and I've read some very good things about her solo appearances (which I don't think ever sold particularly well). And as others have noted, being the HEAD LIBRARIAN of Gotham City's Public Library is actually a VERY serious job- it'd have to be one of the biggest in America. It ALSO meant that she couldn't have just been some kid, either- a Ph.D. takes a GOOD chunk of time, unless she did some Michael Holt-style "Fast Learning". This was a link to the Women's Lib movement of the late 1960s (you'll see a LOT of Archie Comics around the same period make mention of it directly, since they're generally even LESS subtle that superhero comics about their moral standing). Naturally, she still used a "Bat-Purse".
-Batgirl proved to be pretty popular, appearing in a lot of late '60s, early '70s stories, usually as a back-up or major character in Bat-Family books. She reveals her secret identity to her father (who'd already figured it out), became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and retires from superheroics for a year before popping back up again, often pairing up with the younger Dick "Robin" Grayson.
-However, Batgirl soon disappeared. Stuff stopped being made with her around the early '80s (Dick had moved on to the Teen Titans full-time), and by 1988, she formally retired. Also, somebody (I think Frank Miller) forgot she was Gordon's DAUGHTER, and suddenly-made her this adopted daughter/neice thing. Then, because she was going un-used, Alan Moore decided to use her as a Joker Victim in The Killing Joke. Now, that story's a VERY good, classic tale. It brings a level of horrific seriousness to comics that usually hadn't been seen- Barbara is shot in her home, stripped down and had photographs taken of her by The Joker, all in an attempt to drive her father insane. It's HORRIFYING, and dreadfully-invasive to the character. Unfortunately, not only is she basically used as a voiceless victim in the story (the book is pretty much entirely about Gordon & Batman's reaction to the maiming), but there's some behind-the-scenes stuff where Moore asked permission to maim her, and Len Wein was basically like "Cripple the bitch!" because they just weren't going to be using her, so why not? Moore himself would go on the record as saying he regretted this action, calling it "shallow and ill-conceived".
-John Ostrander and his wife Kim Yale found the story highly-distasteful, and decided to "rescue" her- she was placed in the background of Suicide Squad, where she is eventually revealed to be the identity of the mysterious Oracle, the wheelchair-bound Computer Genius who aids the team. Ostrander basically became her "Daddy", taking her to various books, and revealing this solidly-empowering tale of a crippled woman who fights to "matter" despite her disability.
-Ostrander's run on her led to Birds of Prey, featuring her as a mega-star in a ludicrously-slashy relationship with Black Canary as bickering-but-loving partners. Chuck Dixon took over the character, keeping it going, and soon Gail Simone took over the book, falling for the character as well (Simone, a bookish woman with red hair, somehow found something to appreciate with the red-haired librarian Barbara Gordon). She joined the Justice League in Morrison's run, becoming the official "Information Person" for the entire superheroic community. Much was made of her disability- it became a bit odd that she was stuck in a chair since SUPER-SCIENCE was so common, but by this point, she'd become an iconic hero for ACTUAL people with physical disabilities, so DC was hesitant to "fix" her legs.
-She also got hooked up to Dick Grayson around BoP, and they sorta-got treated like "Star-Crossed Lovers" who could never QUITE manage to hook up full-time, somewhat leaving out the Dick/Starfire pairing (that'd kind of gotten stupid & played out in Teen Titans). And we got THREE MORE BATGIRLS (if you count the brief time when Huntress called herself that), plus a Batwoman and a Huntress, making her ultra-redundant should she ever return to the cape & cowl. And everyone calls her "Babs", which I HATE, because it sounds stupid. DIE DIE DIE BABS!
-When DC rebooted their entire line, they FINALLY, FINALLY made her uncrippled, and did the right political move by having the new Batgirl series written by Gail Simone, her current "owner" as far as characterization went. However, this series... was kind of a downer. It was rather mediocre, with a lot of villains that were ALMOST memorable, but just failed to really take hold (especially "Evil Rich Girl Who Murders Criminals"). Part of the problem is I think Barbara works best as part of an ensemble, and having her as a solo act with one sarcastic roommate (who hilariously-revealed herself as trans in such a casual way that never got referred to again that I FORGOT ABOUT IT and had to re-check my issues because it got mentioned online) and some weak romantic sub-plots, just didn't work. It didn't help that DC seems OBSESSED with ensuring that every single Bat-Family member must constantly be miserable all the time, which turned the book into kind of a morose mess, especially in dealing with her mother (who was given some weird backstory as to why she'd abandoned the family) and brother James (a cold-hearted serial killer, because UGH THAT IS SO DUMB).
-It's kind of funny that DC enforced such darkness on the Bat-Books, because the most-RECENT Batgirl run has completely-reversed course, and turned it into a completely-different book. Using such a different Barbara that she's an entirely different character- a young, nervous, exciteable young college student who has NOTHING in common with her former grim, obsessive self. With a funny crew of almost-self-consciously-multiracial college buddies, a VERY "Indie"-type art style, and more, it got a lot of creative love. We'll see where it ends up.
-Personally, I love Barbara as a character- the long red hair and Bat-costume is a great visual look (though I love the TV show using a wig for her "cover"), she's a super-genius Sexy Librarian, and generally plays well off of the rest of the DC Universe by being equal parts the most NORMAL of them, and kind of manipulative and bitchy (as Oracle). Part of why she's such a good character is how well she works in teams, dealing with other characters.
-As a fighter, Batgirl is PL 8 on offense, PL 8.5 on defense- she retired early (before The Huntress even came on the scene), and didn't have as much "cred" as a fighter as her contemporaries. However, she is VERY intelligent, and easily the most-capable member of the Bat-Family outside of Bruce in terms of intellectual pursuits. Her Hacking & Investigation skill are nearly-maximized, she's a Skillmonkey, and she's an acrobatic fighter.

BATGIRL III (Cassandra Cain, aka Kasumi, The Black Bat)
Created By:
Kelley Puckett & Damion Scott
First Appearance: Batman #567 (July 1999)
Role: Mary Sue, Super-Martial Artist
Group Affiliations: Young Justice, Justice League Elite, The League of Assassins, Titans East, The Outsiders, Batman Incorporated
PL 10 (164)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+16)
Athletics 11 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 7 (+16)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+6)
Insight 8 (+11)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 9 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+8)
Stealth 8 (+15)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 4 (+13)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Assessment, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 10 (Utility Belt, Costume +1), Evasion, Fast Grab, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 3, Improved Critical (Batarangs), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Jack-of-All-Trades, Luck, Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 3, Takedown 2, Teamwork, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Expert Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Reading Body Language" Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Insight/Assessment Checks -2) [1]

Equipment:
"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch (12)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)

"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (46 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +16 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Batarangs +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Making Good)- Cassandra killed a man as a young girl- she fights now to redeem herself, and to protect others, having seen the horror felt by those who've been wounded.
Responsibility (Gotham City)- Batgirl considers herself Gotham's protector.
Relationship (Black Canary, Huntress)- The girls are very close, though often bicker, after being close partners for years.
Enemy (The Joker, The Pengiun, etc.)- All of Batman's Rogues also want Batgirl dead.
Reputation (Lawless Vigilante)- Batman is generally more frightening to the people of Gotham, but what Batgirl does is still technically illegal.
Reputation (Weird)- Cassandra took a long time to be able to speak properly.
Weakness (Unreadable Body Language)- Cassandra has trouble with those who can hide their "body language" when fighting- disciplined martial artists (Batman, Lady Shiva), Robots, or crazy people (The Joker) can cause her to lower her defenses involuntarily.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 76--38 / Advantages: 38 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 20 (164)

-Cassandra Cain is one character I've always been predisposed to dislike- too much of a "Special Snowflake" with a silly "no talking" gimmick, essentially hitting half of anyone's Mary Sue Litmus Test.
-She debuted in No Man's Land with a virtual ARRAY of common "Mary Sue" traits: She's the unknown child of an established character- Lady Shiva; Batman immediately takes a shine to her; the greatest fighter in the world; the dark past; etc.. She established herself as basically the best fighter ever, and got to take on the "Batgirl" identity, then put on a hideous, bodysuit-version of the Bat-uniform. Basically, she was just TOO good, TOO quickly- it was almost like the creative team was just whipping it out and measuring it to prove that they had the biggest schlong. She had the quirk of being UNABLE TO SPEAK, having ONLY been taught to kick some ass, a weird case of speciation. Batman takes an immediate shine to her, she gets her own book, and she goes on a tear, defeating people like Lady Shiva (then considered DC's "top dog" of martial artists, though as Horsenhero notes, it's very much "All Talk" with her rep sometimes...), immediately setting off Power Geeks around the world, who started backing her up as the new king (queen, I guess) of the hill. I had practically decided to dislike her the second I saw people arguing that she could defeat 100 people at a time in "BattleBoard"-style threads.
-However, as time went on, the character went screwy. As soon as her original writers and those around them in the Bat-line left the books, people started forgetting that Cassandra's whole "I can't talk because all I was trained to do was fight" thing was her INITIAL characterization, and she moved PAST that, having learned to speak. Instead, writers would often showcase her as this entirely non-speaking character- a nasty case of First Characterization Wins (also suffered by the female Dr. Light- who is always characterized as a bitch). Other writers would have her speak in stereotypical "Inscrutable Oriental" philosophical dialogue. After fighting to save lives (as a young would-be killer raised by The League of Assassins, she'd killed a man, only to "read" his body language upon his demise, and became horrified by her actions- she fights on to redeem herself), Cassandra went all evil, and became the LEADER of the League of Assassins. In this role, she fought Robin, Supergirl and others- it's finally established that Deathstroke had found her when Bruce, Dick & Tim left Gotham to travel the world (this was during 52), and capitalized on her feelings of abandonment and her desire for a father-figure, and also used drugs on her to make her more malleable, essentially making her Ravager 2.0. Her fans FREAKED at this change, provoking a big outpouring of protest.
-After this, Cassandra is mostly-cured (and has to be stopped from murdering a beaten Deathstroke), and joins The Outsiders at Batman's behest. Here, she becomes antisocial (keeping her original personality, as the writer evidently forgot that she'd developed as a character since then). She soon left this book as it died, and had a short-lived solo book once again. Also she was on that goofy Justice League Elite book as "Kasumi", a mole placed on the team by Batman to watch over them (never mind that he had ACTUAL HEROIC COLLEAGUES on the same book). She gave the role of "Batgirl" to Stephanie Brown on Bruce's orders (she was to do this on event of his death- he had recently died in Final Crisis), and became The Black Bat, a vigilante in Hong Kong.
-Honestly, Cassandra may have the record for a character most F'd around with in their first decade- she came in like a bolt of lightning, got this big push, and was taken VERY seriously... only for the creative teams to completely mess up the character, bounce around her motivation, personality and even her CAPABILITY (she was capable of beating Lady Shiva, but would then be humbled by numerous opponents once her New Character Stink wore off). She was barely FIVE YEARS into her run before they completely wrecked her character, and I don't think she'll ever recover.
-At PL 9.5 on offense, and PL 10 to parry, Batgirl III is an elite warrior, though was still considered pretty "normal" in her own series, where she would lose to low-end newbie villains sometimes. Beating up LADY SHIVA is no mean feat, though Shiva's in that uncomfortable zone of "minor-league character with A-List rep", which means she is absolutely RIPE for characters to kick her ass to establish their own credibility. She spends 10 points on Equipment that she hardly ever uses (many bios make mention of this, actually), but it's not like I'm fighting for saving points. She's an elite Unarmed Fighter (usually never using weapons), and is so good that she basically "reads" her opponents' moves the way Doug Ramsey would- this is basically reflected in her extremely-high offensive and defensive bonuses.

BATGIRL V (Stephanie Brown, aka The Spoiler, Robin V)
Created By:
Chuck Dixon & Tom Lyle
First Appearance: Detective Comics #647 (Aug. 1992- Stephanie), Robin #126 (July 2004- Robin V), Batgirl #1 (Aug. 2009- Batgirl V)
Role: Lesser Sidekick, Plucky Girl
PL 8 (130)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 9 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+12)
Close Combat (Bo Staff) 4 (+12)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 3 (+5)
Insight 1 (+3)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 4 (+12)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Equipment 15 (Bat-cycle, Utility Belt), Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 3, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
"Bat-cycle" Motorcycle (Medium, Strenght 1, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense 10, Toughness 8, Remote Control (11)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch, Communication Link- Oracle (13)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)
"Bat-Uniform" Immunity 10 (Ballistics, Electrical Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) (5)
"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (33)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
AE: "Bo Staff" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Split, Reach) (4)
-- (64 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bo Staff +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Batarangs +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Choking Gas +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (The Cluemaster- Father)- Stephanie can't stand her criminal father.
Relationship (Tim Drake- Robin)- Steph had a big crush on Robin, and the two began dating. They've hooked up and broken up more times than pretty much any comic book superhero pairing in history. I'm not even remotely kidding- Colossus & Kitty Pryde have NOTHING on these two.
Relationship (Detective Gage)- The two have a mutual crush going on, much to the consternation of Commissioner Gordon ("Nobody asks about you and BATMAN, Commissioner!" "I'm pretty sure Batman's LEGAL, Detective!").

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 20 (130)

-Stephanie Brown, like most Batgirls, is a standard Girl Sidekick-type character with a HUGELY-controversial history- they just kind of give off that vibe of "Hey, new writer! Do something HORRIBLE to me that results in thousands of angry fans!" She was created as a Plot Device to screw with the newly-serious Cluemaster, who turns out to be her father- she "spoils" his plans as The Spoiler. This innocuous little origin as little more than a plot device proves popular, and soon fan demand led to her showing up in Dixon's new Robin solo book as a major character, foil and love interest for Tim Drake. The rarely-seen "Solo Female Teen Superhero" archetype was AGAIN popular, and people really touted this book. She & Tim went on the "Comic Book Runaround Relationship", hooking up a few times, splitting up a few more (like three or four times, seriously), helping each other (at one point, Steph gives up a baby for adoption), etc., even after Batman decides she "isn't cape material".
-Stephanie was chosen as the first female Robin (thus helpfully-avoiding the weirdness of Batman finding THREE BOYS with identical appearances to fulfill the role) when Tim is forced to give it up by his father, but of course this was very short-lived- Steph pulled off a dumb move by enacting one of Batman's plans to solve crime in Gotham, not realizing that the "mystery boss" to bring all the crimelords in Gotham together was meant to be BRUCE HIMSELF, and the boss-less crooks all started a huge gangwar, which resulted in Stephanie's death. Even WORSE, her death was said to be DELIBERATELY-CAUSED by Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who withheld treatment in an attempt to get Batman to give up his role as a vigilante (ie. teaching him a lesson), and to prevent other kids from following in Stephanie's example. This idea was THE STUPIDEST THING EVER, and basically destroyed two characters for no good reason- Steph looked like an idiot (she had been fired by Bruce for sucking too hard at the job, and disobeying him), and Leslie, A DOCTOR, had killed someone.
-So fans, being fans, FREAKED OUT, and inundated DC with complaints- so did many writers. This was a pretty big thing at the time, as this character assassination was stupid, and DC seemed unwilling to change. Naturally, they eventually did, and revealed that Leslie had faked Stephanie's death in a way that was silly and casually-done, but people were frankly just so happy to see that retarded story done with, so they were happy regardless of how it happened. She became the Spoiler again, split with Tim AGAIN (he was now Red Robin, trying to find out if Bruce was still alive), and FINALLY becomes the new Batgirl, in a well-thought-of solo series, depicting a fun-loving solo College student heroine being trained by the original (Barbara). I've got the whole series, and yes- it's quite good. Some people make it out to be a little better than it really is- it's not some masterpiece or nothing, but it's a nice, somewhat-uplifting, happy book, in a sea of Grim Darkness, so it really stood out. It's closest contemporaries these days is Ms. Marvel and, fittingly, Batgirl, as BARBARA GORDON is now a young-seeming happy-go-lucky College Student Vigilante.
-Stephanie started out at barely PL 6, but rapidly improved to PL 7, being an effective Sidekick to a PL 8 Sidekick Robin. As Batgirl, she'd finally hit that PL 8 level, but was still an amateur superhero in terms of capability. Notably, she's still only PL 7 unarmed (I just don't see her kicking ass on the "Attack Bonus Above +12" level just yet), but hits PL 8 defensively and with a new Bo Staff, and PL 7.5 with Batarangs- Stephanie needs to fight intelligently and carefully, or else even MOOKS are trouble.

MISFIT (Charlotte "Charlie" Gage-Radcliffe, aka Batgirl IV)
Created By:
Gail Simone
First Appearance: Birds of Prey #96 (Sept. 2006)
Role: Plucky Girl
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans, The Birds of Prey
PL 9 (148)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Superheroes) 4 (+4)
Stealth 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack

Powers:
Teleport 15 (Extras: Extended, Easy) (Quirks: Cannot Bring Others With Her Without Killing Them -2) [58]
Linked to
"Organic Stuff Expodes" Damage 12 (Extras: Penetrating 8) (Flaws: Limited to People Teleported Along With Her) [14]

Regeneration 6 [6]
Healing 6 (Flaws: Limited to Self, Limited to While Teleporting) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Exploding Teleport +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Impulsive & Reckless)- Charlotte takes unnecessary risks.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 81 / Defenses: 11 (148)

-Charlie Gage-Radcliffe temorarily-grabbed the title of "Batgirl", but was quickly dissuaded by Barbara Gordon into taking on a separate one- Misfit. An orphaned girl with vast Teleporation powers, she spies on the Birds of Prey and admires them greatly, turning them into a surrogate family of sorts. When her recklessness results in numerous deaths, she is harshly-trained by Oracle, captured by Darkseid, and finds her nasty future self is called The Huntress- disturbing elements to what was a happy-go-lucky teen girl. An exciteable, outgoing teenage girl, she sort of fits the "New Teen Heroine" archetype that is getting more and more common lately, as writers picked up on how much fun they could be to write, and interact with the grouchier old heroes. However, her very recent debut and link to only a couple of writers (Gail Simone & Sean McKeever) means that she had little impact.
-Charlie was born with Magical powers that allow her to be strong (vague levels), Teleport (the most powerful Oracle's ever seen) and heal herself, which is an odd grab-bag of stuff.

BATWOMAN (Katherine "Kate" Kane)
Created By:
Bob Kane, Sheldon Moldoff & Edmond Hamilton (original), Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid & Ken Lashley (new)
First Appearance: Detective Comics #233 (July 1956- original), 52 #7 (June 2006)
Role: The Beard (to Batman), Street-Level Brawler, Angry Lesbian
Group Affiliations: Batman Incorporated
PL 9 (167)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 9 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+14)
Deception 7 (+9)
Expertise (Streetwise) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Marine) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Investigation 6 (+9)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 1 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Batarangs) 3 (+13)
Stealth 7 (+12)
Technology 2 (+5)
Treatment 4 (+7)
Vehicles 1 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Equipment 13, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Last Stand (Ignore All Damage For 1 Round with HP Spent), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Seize Initiative, Startle, Takedown, Tracking

Powers:
"Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Equipment:
"Bat-cycle" Motorcycle (Medium, Strenght 1, Speed 6- 120 mph, Defense 10, Toughness 8, Remote Control (11)

"Utility Belt"
Camera, CommLink, Audio Recorder, Handcuffs, Binoculars, Mini-Tracer, GPS Tracker, Night Vision Goggles, Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Rebreather, Cutting Torch, Communication Link- Colonel Kane (14)
"Grapple Gun" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)
"Bat-Uniform" Immunity 5 (Ballistics Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) (2.5)
"Choking Gas" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed & Vulnerable/Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cloud +2, Ranged, Extra Condition) (Diminished Range -1) (29) -- (32)
AE: "Batarangs" Blast 3 (Feats: Homing, Ricochet) (Extras: Multiattack) (Diminished Range -1) (10)
AE: "Smoke Pellets" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
-- (62 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Batarangs +13 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4 (+5 Bat-Armor), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Integrity & Justice)- Kate refuses to lie about her sexuality (even when it gets her kicked out of the Marines), and was inspired to become a superhero after watching Batman do it. She has a strict code of ethics and discipline, forged from her military career.
Relationship (Maggie Sawyer)- The Gotham PD Detective and Kate are lovers, and were to be married. But DC Editorial are dinks.
Relationship (Father)- Kate has a strong relationship with her widower father (he's a proud retired Marine).
Relationship (Renee Montoya)- The two dated for a number of months.
Enemy (Elizabeth Kane- Sister)- Kate's twin sister, long thought-dead, has turned up alive and crazy.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 80--40 / Advantages: 36 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 20 (167)

-It's one of the great pieces of irony in comics that the woman invented to make Batman look less gay ended up becoming comics' most high-profile homosexual character. Kathy "Batwoman" Kane debuted in 1956 after Dr. Fredrick Wertham accused Batman & Robin of promoting a homosexual relationship to young boys (to be fair, it is REALLY REALLY EASY to read that into those old comics. THEY SLEEP IN THE SAME BED)- she was basically Batman's girlfriend, while her neice Bette Kane was "Bat-Girl", who had a teen lust for Robin. Amazingly, she lasted EIGHT YEARS, being removed from the books in 1964 by Julius Schwartz, who didn't want any non-essential characters around (this also axed Bat-Mite & the Bat-Hound). She was killed in a 1979 comic after some Batman Family stuff made a note of her (Dennis O'Neil: "We already had a Batgirl; we didn't need Batwoman"), and an Earth-Two version was said to have retired- coming out of it only briefly to help out Robin & Huntress. Post-Crisis, Batwoman just flat-out never existed at all- Kathy Kane was just some girl who was a spy.
-Fifty years after her debut, the character returned as Kate Kane, a "lipstick lesbian" (as described by her creators- though her eventual appearance gave no clue as to that) army brat who kicked ass after being booted from the Marine Corps for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (the now-repealed rule that you could be gay in the military, so long as nobody FOUND OUT- if you were, you were gone. I have a friend who spent time in the U.S. Army, and says he's seen people get the crap kicked out of them because someone thought they MIGHT be gay, so this was often for their own protection). She got a costume that was created by Paul Dini for a returned Barbara Gordon (DC nixed that because they wanted her to be one of the few disabled characters in comics).
-I have a few trades of her solo book, and they're very, VERY well-drawn. I mean, J.H. Williams' art was AMAZING, completely-original stuff. The stories? Meh- it was okay. Not great. A lot of dour, creepy, weird stuff, emblematic of DC's whole "Grimdark" setting, especially in the Gotham-verse. Weird stuff involving the Church of Crime, which I always thought was REALLY idiotic and uninteresting. Kate was interesting, though, and further proof to me that I don't have to be attracted to a female character to like them (the whole "pale as a freaking corpse while dressing like a rockabilly punker" thing is TOTALLY not my thing). I kind of liked the whole "She was a Marine Corps trainee who got kicked out thing" thing (though god help me all that "oorah" stuff is REALLY annoying- seems like Marines really do that a lot. There's that great Youtube clip of Marines watching Let It Go and freaking out when Elsa lets her hair down- you hear them scream "OORAAAAHHHH!! OORAAAAHHHHH!!!" over and over again), and the hard edge to the character.
-However, DC gotta DC, so of course they f*cked it all up. When they planned to have a lesbian wedding between Kate & Maggie (a headline grabber to be sure- look at Archie & Marvel doing the same thing with THEIR gay characters), the creators were basically barred from using it by the DC editors, who explicitly told them that happy personal relationships were not allowed amongst the Bat-Family. Infuriated that their dream run had been ruined, both writer & artist quit the book, then publically-trashed DC Editorial, ensuring that ALL the fans knew absolutely why this was happening. Fans and creators took the creators' side, leaving DC looking like a bunch of idiots. The book was cancelled in 2014.
-Batwoman is an elite fighter, despite being one of the least-experienced members of the Bat-Family at superheroics. She has ludicrous natural toughness (having once pulled a knife out of HER OWN HEART) and was a natural at boot camp in the army, but she's obviously just a natural prodigy, as she's easily able to hold up against superpowered opposition. She's near-bulletproof thanks to her costume and has a ton of neat gadgets like most Bats, but is relatively unpractised against credible, high-end opposition, so I'm making her PL 8.5 offensively (a notch above Barbara, but a full PL below Dick Grayson or Cassandra Cain), and PL 9 defensively thanks to the armor.

xxx

Acrobatics, Athletics, Close Combat (Type), Deception, Expertise (Acting, Art, Business, Carpentry, Cooking, Criminal, Current Events, Dance, History, Journalism, Law, Law Enforcement, Military,
Magic, Music, Philosophy/Theology, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychiatry, Science, Sociology), Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Persuasion, Ranged Combat (Type), Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Technology, Treatment/Medicine, Vehicles

Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Animal Empathy, Artificer, Assessment, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Benefit, Chokehold, Close Attack, Connected, Contacts, Cunning Fighter, Damaging Escape, Daze (old Distract), Def.Attack. Def.Roll, Def.Strike, Def.Throw, Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Equipment, Evasion (R), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate, Fast Grab, Fav. Environment, Fav. Foe, Fearless, Follow-Up Strike, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Hide in Plain Sight, Imp.Aim, Imp.Critical, Imp.Defense, Imp.Disarm, Imp.Grab, Imp.Initiative, Imp.Hold, Imp.Smash, Imp.Trip, Improvised Tools, Improvised Weapon, Inspire, Instant Up, Interpose, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages, Last Stand, Leadership, Luck, Minions, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Close,Cover/Conceal), Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack, Redirect, Ritualist, Second Chance, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Sidekick, Skill Mastery, Startle, Takedown, Taunt, Teamwork, Throwing Mastery, Tough, Tracking, Trance, Ultimate Effort, Uncanny Dodge, Weapon Bind, Weapon Break, Well-Informed, Withstand Damage

STR 0 (50 lbs.) ---- (Bald Eagle)
STR 1 (100 lbs.) ---- (Jean Grey, Sue Storm; Wolves)
STR 2 (200 lbs.) ---- (NPC Thugs, NPC Cop, Black Tom Cassidy, Base Doom/Kang) (DCA- Black Canary, Robin)
STR 3 (400 lbs.) ---- (Nightwing, Silver Samurai, Black Canary II, Razor Fist; Cougars) (DCA- Nightwing)
STR 4 (800 lbs.) ---- (Daredevil, Batman, Demona "Gargoyles"'; Chimpanzees, Jaguars) (DCA- Batman, Vandal)
STR 5 (1,600 lbs.) ---- HUMAN MAXIMUM (Captain America, Hudson "Gargoyles", Hawkman, Bugbears; Lions)

STR 6 (3,200 lbs.) ---- (Goliath "Gargoyles", Sabretooth; Horses, Gorillas, Anacondas, Black Bears, Tigers) (DCA- Gorillas)
STR 7 (3 tons) ---- (car, van, truck) ---- (Cyborg; Grizzlies, Gryphons, Rhinoceros, Styracosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Peak for Most Animals) (DCA- Cheetah)
STR 8 (6 tons) ---- (lear jet, subway car) ---- (Elephants, Triceratops, T-Rex)
STR 9 (12 tons) ---- (fighter jet, semi truck) ---- (Spider-Man, The Beast, The Blob)
STR 10 (25 tons) ---- (humpback whale) ---- (Kid Omni-Man) (DCA- Aquaman)

STR 11 (50 tons) ---- (tank, train) ---- (Rogue, The Immortal, Marvel's Ares)
STR 12 (100 tons) ---- (767, cargo jet) ---- (Most Super-Bricks: Colossus, King Kong, Baseline Hulk) (DCA- Humpback Whale, Powerhouse)
STR 13 (200 tons) ---- (747, fishing liner) ---- (DCAU Superman, The Thing, Dragon Man)
STR 14 (400 tons) ---- (drilling rig)
STR 15 (800 tons) ---- (small bridge) ---- (The Juggernaut, DCAU Darkseid, Mary Marvel/CM3, Invincible)

STR 16 (1,600 tons) ---- (destroyer) ---- (Legion Supergirl, The Abomination) (DCA- Wonder Woman)
STR 17 (3,200 tons) ---- (freight train, nuclear sub) ---- (Mon-El, PC Superboy, Omni-Man)
STR 18 (6,000 tons) ---- (cargo freighter- empty) ---- (Thunderstrike, Captain Marvel, Black Adam, Prof. Hulk, She-Ra, Samaritan) (DCA- Grundy)
STR 19 (12,000 tons) ---- (cruiser, loaded freighter) ---- (Thor, Superman, He-Man) (DCA- Black Adam, Superman)
STR 20 (25,000 tons) ---- (ocean liner, large bridge)

SPEED CHART:
2 mph (Normal Human), 4 mph (Speed 1), 8 mph (Speed 2), 16 mph (Speed 3), 30 mph (Speed 4), 60 mph (Speed 5), 120 mph (Speed 6), 250 mph (Speed 7), 500 mph (Speed 8), 1,000 mph (Speed 9), 2,000 mph (Speed 10), 4,000 mph (Speed 11), 8,000 mph (Speed 12), 16,000 mph (Speed 13), 32,000 mph (Speed 14), 64,000 mph (Speed 15), 125,000 mph (Speed 16), 250,000 mph (Speed 17), 500,000 mph (Speed 18), 1,000,000 mph (Speed 19), 2,000,000 mph (Speed 20)

(One Degree): Dazed (single action of own control), Entranced (stunned unless a threat is obvious), Fatigued/Hindered (half-speed), Impaired (-2 penalty), Vulnerable (half-defense)
(Two Degrees): Compelled (single action control), Defenseless (0 defense bonus), Disabled (-5 penalty), Exhausted (impaired/hindered), Immobile (no moving from spot), Prone (-5 close attack/hindered), Restrained (hindered/vulnerable), Stunned (no actions)
(Three Degrees): Asleep (defenseless/stunned/unaware), Controlled (all actions), Incapacitated (defenseless/stunned/unaware), Paralyzed (defenseless/immobile/stunned aside from mental actions), Transformed (altered traits), Unaware (unable to Percieve/Interact)

Attack Bonuses:
+6: Elite Wolves, Cassowaries, Komodo Dragons, Black Rhinos, Dolphins, Most Sharks,
+7: The Yeti, Worm, Jaguars, Dire Wolves, Smaller Bears (Black, Sloth), Terror Birds, Most Snakes (Constrictors & Vipers), White Rhinos, Gorillas, Great White Sharks, Megalodons, Thunderball, Stilt-Man, Bulldozer (Headbutt), Sasquatch
+8: Rusty & Skids, Boom-Boom/Meltdown, Siryn, Most of the Serpent Society (Coachwhip, Rock Python, Puff Adder, etc.), Blockbuster, G.W. Bridge, Grizzly IV, Most Big Cats (Lion, Leopard), Brown & Polar Bears, Haast's Eagles, Elephants, Killer Whales, The Wrecker, Piledriver, Titania, The Absorbing Man, Tony Stark
+9: The Thing, Karma, Rictor, Warpath, Copperhead, Short-Faced Bears, Crocodiles (In Water), Sperm Whale, Mister Hyde, The Gamecock, She-Hulk, James Rhodes,
+10: Harry Osborn, Fancy Dan, Hobgoblins, The Prowler, Sunspot, Cannonball, Asp, Black Mamba, Anaconda, Scalphunter, Harpoon, Arclight, The Wendigo, Sauron, Dragon Man, Zaran & Machete, The Beast, Julia Carpenter, Thor (Hammer), Hercules
+11: U.S. Agent, Vulture, The Lizard, Norman Osborn, Hammerhead, Mac Gargan, Tombstone, Spider-Girl (May), Callisto, Feral, Dani Moonstar, Shatterstar (Swords), Diamonback, King Cobra, Sabretooth (Unarmed), Jessica Drew, Luke Cage, Thor (Unarmed),
+12: The Puma, Kraven the Hunter, Black Cat, Callisto (Knife), Wolfsbane, Domino, Cable, The Punisher, Namor, Ares
+13: Bucky-Cap, Spider-Man, The Kingpin, Carnage, La Tarantula, Shatterstar (Unarmed), Sabretooth (Claws), Black Knight (sword)
+14: Black Widow, Silver Sable, Batroc the Leaper, Swordsman (Sword),
+16: Captain America

Damage:
+1: Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost (unarmed)
+2: Barracudas, Most Humans (200 lbs.)
+3: Black Widow, Iron Fist (standard attack), Rottweiler, Lynx, Eagles, Mandrills, Nighthawk, Night Thrasher (Unarmed)
+4: Daredevil, Mastiff, Wolves, Crossbones
+5: Standard Gun, Captain America, Bullseye (Objects/Adamantium Fists), Daredevil (Club), Hyenas, Eels, Rattlers, Stags, Chimps, Swarm, Red Skull
+6: Agent 13 (Gun), Black Widow (Bite), The Kingpin, Dire Wolf (Bite), Cougars/Leopards, Dolphins, Pythons, Horses, Elk, Orangutans
+7: Punisher, Cable & Domino's Rifles, Vermin, Jaguars, Lioness, Cobras, Gorillas, Spider-Girls, Black Knight (Sword)
+8: Spider-Man (Unarmed/Snare), Captain America (Shield), Wolverine (Claws), Lions, Black Bears, False Killer Whales, Bull Sharks, Anacondas, Terror Birds, Crocs, Moose, Bulls,
+9: Tigers, Brown/Polar Bears, Hammerheads, Colossal Squids, Salties, Irish Elk, Giraffes, Hippos, Black Rhinos, The Shocker, Titania I, Poundcakes
+10: Smilodons, Cave Bears, Great Whites, White Rhinos, Elephants, Killer Whales, Hydro Man, Piledriver's Fists, Texas Twister's Wind, Foxfire & Quagmire's Attacks, Gladiatrix
+11: Jack of Hearts (Blast), War Machine (Blasts), Mr. Hyde, Giant Snakes, Woolly Rhinos, King Kong, Dr. Octopus (Arms), Venom, The Lizard, Electro, Frenzy, Unuscione, Power Princess, Tiger Shark, Rogue, Stegosaurus' Thagomizer
+12: Iron Man (Blasts), Humpbacks, The Scorpion (Tail), Thunderball & Bulldozer's Weapons, Dr. Spectrum's Blasts
+13: Sperm Whales, Indricotherium, Namor, The Thing, Colossus, Ultron, The Mandarin's Area Attacks, T-Rex's Bite
+14: The Wrecker (Crowbar), Magneto's Blasts, Exodus' Blasts, Namor & Tiger Shark (in Water), Ultron's Attacks, Sasquatch, The Mandarin, Loki's Blasts
+15: Zeuglodons, Megalodons, Gilgamesh, Hulk (Baseline), Inertia's Blasts, The Executioner's Axe, Apocalypse
+16: Thor (Unarmed), Hercules, Giant-Man (Maximum Size), The Kraken, Redstone, The Abomination, The Juggernaut, Odin & Zeus (Unarmed), Air-Walker
+17: Hyperion, Ulik the Troll, Red Hulk, Fenris Wolf (Teeth), Red Shift
+18: Thor (Hammer), The Champion of the Universe, Black Bolt's Scream, Odin (Spear), Surtur & Ymir (Area Effects)
+19: King Caesar, Anguirus, Silver Surfer, Firelord, Nova, Stardust
+20: Hulk (maximum rage), Godzilla (Showa), Red Ronin, The Destroyer, Zeus (Thunderbolt), Terrax (Axe)
+21: Red Ronin's Blade, Odin (Blast)
+22: Godzilla (Showa- Breath Weapon), Godzilla (Heisei), The Destroyer (Blast), Morg (Blast)
+23: Jormungand, Morg (Axe)
+24: Godzilla (Heisei- Breath Weapon), Mechagodzilla (Showa- Weapons)
+25: Mechagodzilla (Heisei- Weapons), Space Godzilla (Breath Weapon), Jormungand (Breath

Posting Order:
76) The Huntress (Bertinelli)
77) Batgirl (Barbara, Cassandra)
77) Batgirl (Stephanie), Misfit

Bat-PLs:

Unarmed:
PL 10.5: Batman (+17/+4)
PL 9.5: Nightwing (+16/+3), Batgirl- Cassandra (+16/+3)
PL 9: Golden Age Batman (+15/+3), Huntress II (+15/+3)
PL 8.5: Golden Age Robin- Adult (+14/+3), Batwoman (+14/+3)
PL 8: Red Robin (+13/+3), Batgirl- Barbara (+13/+3)
PL 7.5: Robin- Tim (+13/+2), Huntress I (+13/+2)
PL 7: Robin- Dick (+12/+2), Golden Age Robin (+12/+2), Stephanie Brown (+12/+2)
PL 6.5: Robin- Jason (+11/+2)

Weapons:
PL 9.5: Nightwing (+15/+4)
PL 9: Red Robin (+13/+5), Huntress II (+13/+5)
PL 8: Robin- Tim (+12/+4), Stephanie Brown (+12/+4)

Batarangs:
PL 9: Batman (+15/+3), Huntress II- Crossbow (+13/+5)
PL 8.5: Golden Age Batman (+14/+3), Golden Age Robin- Adult (+14/+3)
PL 8: Robin- Tim (+13/+3), Huntress I- Crossbow (+12/+4), Batgirl- Barbara (+13/+3), Batgirl- Cassandra (+13/+3), Batwoman (+13/+3)
PL 7.5: Stephanie Brown (+12/+3)
PL 6.5: Robin- Dick (+10/+3), Golden Age Robin (+10/+3), Robin- Jason (+10/+3)

Dodge:
PL 11: Batman (+16/+6)
PL 10: Nightwing (+15/+5)
PL 9.5: Batgirl- Cassandra (+15/+4)
PL 9: Golden Age Batman (+14/+4), Red Robin (+14/+4), Golden Age Robin- Adult (+13/+5), Huntress II (+14/+4), Batgirl- Barbara (+14/+4), Batwoman (+13/+5)
PL 8: Robin- Dick (+13/+3), Robin- Tim (+13/+3), Huntress I (+13/+3), Stephanie Brown (+13/+3)
PL 7: Golden Age Robin (+11/+3), Robin- Jason (+11/+3)

Parry:
PL 11: Batman (+16/+6)
PL 10: Nightwing (+15/+5), Batgirl- Cassandra (+16/+4)
PL 9: Golden Age Batman (+14/+4), Red Robin (+14/+4), Golden Age Robin- Adult (+13/+5), Huntress II (+14/+4), Batgirl- Barbara (+14/+4), Batwoman (+13/+5)
PL 8: Robin- Dick (+13/+3), Robin- Tim (+13/+3), Huntress I (+13/+3), Stephanie Brown (+13/+3)
PL 7: Golden Age Robin (+11/+3), Robin- Jason (+11/+3)
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Bat-Villains

Post by Jabroniville »

LADY SHIVA (Shiva Woosan/Woo-San)
Created By:
Dennis O'Neil & Ric Estrada
First Appearance: Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #5 (Dec. 1975)
Role: The Gold Standard of DCU Martial Artists, Permanent "Worf"
Group Affiliations: The League of Assassins, The Brotherhood of the Fist, The Birds of Prey
PL 11 (175)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 14 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+16)
Athletics 11 (+14)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+18)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (International Assassin) 11 (+14)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 6 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 1 (+6)
Stealth 6 (+13)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Assessment, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 3, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Hold, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Instant Up, Languages 2 (Various- World Traveller), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Startle, Takedown 2, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Leopard Blow" Strength-Damage +2 (Inaccurate -1) [1]
"Reads Body Language" Immunity 5 (Interaction Effects) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +18 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Leopard Blow +16 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +15

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +17 (DC 27), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting)- Shiva is a born fighter, and only respects those willing to fight. She lives as an assassin or vigilante at times simply to put herself into these addictive, dangerous situations.
Relationship (Many)- Shiva is rivals with Black Canary, respects who Batman used to be, and once kind of had a thing with The Question. Her daughter is the third Batgirl, and she often gives some advice to the girl.

Total: Abilities: 86 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 33 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 17 (175)

-Of all the characters to be selected as "The Greatest Martial Artist Alive"- and from an obscure failed 1970s Martial Arts book, no less! But alas, all you have to do is check out the head writer in charge of both that book & Batman's, in order to figure out WHY she was randomly-selected for this highest of honors. Dennis O'Neil basically loved his Pet Character so much he introduced her into the Bat-verse when Dragon's book died on the vine, and suddenly Shiva Woosan was Queen of the Mountain.
-She debuts hunting down Dragon, believing that he murdered her sister Carolyn- however, Dragon was framed by some douchebag. Upon discovering this, she allies with Dragon temporarily, then disappears. She would reappear in O'Neil's Question & Batman books (but especially The Question, suddenly so amazing that she's able to kick BRUCE'S ass. By the late '90s, it seemed like Shiva's reputation had snowballed into this INSANE ranking as the Greatest Fighter Ever- she was given lip service in various Bat-books, bios and RPG builds, and even Birds of Prey. She was THE best, and that was all there was to it- Batman had her train him after Bane broke his back, Tim Drake went to her for training, and her status as the mother of Cassandra "Batgirl" Cain is given as one of many Mary Sue-esque reasons why Cass is such an automatic bad-ass.
-The funny thing is, BECAUSE of this rep, Shiva also became a high-profile Measuring Stick, often appearing in books JUST to give her respect to the stars- in one comic, they do the "Thing/Champion" brawl with Huntress, where Helena earns her respect for not falling, and in friggin' Robin, TIM DRAKE of all people scores a win over her in a duel, and beats her while under "Super-Speed" drugs! Cheshire beats her in another book, and in a Batgirl issue, CASSANDRA defeats her! Another time, she beats Shiva so badly that she's CRIPPLED and left to die next to a Lazarus Pit! Later, Prometheus manages to hand Shiva her ass in a quick skirmish, too!
-All of this continues the struggle comics has with characters with bad-ass reputations, but no books of their own- look at how many times poor BULLSEYE gets trotted out to job to guys, all because of his reputation for killing Elektra (back when SHE was an "All Talk" bad-ass). Shiva ends up being used as this "Measuring Stick" to show off how good other fighters are, as people like Tim Drake, Connor Hawke and others all survive fights with her in order to prove their worth. Cassandra flat-out beats her during the "Batgirl God Push" as well. So is Shiva an "All Talk" Bad-Ass? Is it all pretend? Well... not REALLY, but it's damn close. Her rep exists because people keep SAYING it's there, but as a whole, she's not nearly as spectacular as she's claimed to be.
-So, in short, Lady Shiva can get a PL 11 and FREAKING LIKE IT. There is no way in HELL that PL 14 she got in DCA was justified- I can only assume that DC Editorial still wants her "Best Ever" reputation to stay in effect, however obvious it is from the comics she's only a TINY bit above the standard greats like Batman, Black Canary & Nightwing. In Marvel terms, she's above Shang-Chi by one notch of accuracy & damage, on the level of modern-day Iron Fist, and one below Captain America with his Shield. That's all the respect really owed to her.

THE MAN-BAT (Robert Kirk Langstrom)
Created By:
Frank Robbins & Neal Adams
First Appearance: Detective Comics #400 (June 1970)
Role: Animalistic Villain, Jekyll & Hyde Type
Group Affiliations: None
PL 10 (104)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Aerobatics 5 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 5 (+13)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+7)
Intimidation 14 (+11)
Perception 8 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Human/Bat Hybrid"
Flight 5 (60 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [5]
"Echolocation" Senses 5 (Extended, Ultra & Accurate Hearing, Acute Scent) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +7, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Survival)
Involuntary Transformation (Kirk Langstrom & Back)- The Man-Bat can be returned to non-powered human form (basically a Bystander with INT 4 and Biological Science Expertise) using a unique chemical cocktail. At one point, he retained full Intelligence in Man-Bat form, raising his cost by 20 points.
Relationship (Francine- Wife)- Kirk is married, and is beside himself with worry over his wife. Twice he has had to cure her of her "She-Bat" condition.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 20 (104)

-Man-Bat is a pretty clear rip-off of The Lizard from Spider-Man, all things considered. His origin is almost EXACTLY the same- a brilliant scientist who experiments upon himself with an animal's unique nature in order to cure his affliction- he just replaces reptiles with chiropterans, and a missing limb with deafness. He of course accidentally turns himself into a giant animalistic monster and goes on a rampage, despite being a sympathetic character. He shows up a few times, even convincing his wife Francine to become the She-Bat with him. However, at times, they got behind the character as a heroic type, having him retain his intelligence- but that solo book was VERY short-lived (A mere two issues! Even HAWKMAN would be ashamed!). I have a Batman Digest that features him as part of "The Batman Family", including Kathy & Bette Kane as Batwoman & Bat-Girl, plus Bat-Mite. His debut decade was clearly the biggest time in his career. Which is too bad, because he LOOKS AWESOME- giant freaking bat-monsters are TERRIFYING.
-He appears to vanish for a few decades, and only becomes important again post-Infinite Crisis, where he does some stuff. It's really just a pile of things involving him as a background character for the most part, though.
-Man-Bat was in the very first Batman: TAS episode, shown as a way to silence the critics at the networks about everything in this new show. It was dark, gritty, scary and intense, and it all WORKED. Though Man-Bat's always been one of the most minor Bat-villains by necessity (he can't talk, and his origin is just a rip-off of The Lizard's), his very scary appearance pays off in spades, giving him some of the more frantic Batman episodes. In the cartoon, Bruce was nowhere NEAR as bad-ass as he was in the books, and anyone stronger than him was a NIGHTMARE to deal with.
-Great at raw power as well as accuracy, he's pretty idealized as a PL 10 if not for his utter lack of Skills and extra Powers. He's kinda one-note in that regard, being just another big tough thing for Batman to fight, but nowhere near as lumbering. In fact, Man-Bat is really fast, spry and dangerous, despite being a big dumb animal. And watching the cartoon episodes in which Man-Bats appear, you realize just how dangerous they are to Bruce- around the same Power Level, but MUCH stronger (+13/+7 to +17/+4), effectively giving them a much higher percentage of victory in a straight fight (as Baron has noted with his charts & graphs and stuff)- Batman is almost always going to have to outthink them (or cheat using his gadgets), or he's going to get his ass SEVERELY kicked.

SHE-BAT (Francine Langstrom, nee' Francine Evelyn Lee)
Created By:
Frank Robbins & Neal Adams
First Appearance: Detective Comics #402 (Aug. 1970)
Role: Animalistic Villain, Distaff Counterpart
Group Affiliations: None
PL 10 (104)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Aerobatics 5 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 5 (+13)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+7)
Intimidation 14 (+11)
Perception 8 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Human/Bat Hybrid"
Flight 5 (60 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [5]
"Echolocation" Senses 5 (Extended, Ultra & Accurate Hearing, Acute Scent) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +7, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Survival)
Involuntary Transformation (Francine Langstrom & Back)- The She-Bat can be returned to non
At one point, he retained full Intelligence in Man-Bat form, raising his cost by 20 points.
Relationship (Kirk- Husband)- Francine often worries over her husband, and vice-versa.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 20 (104)

-Francine was initially just the suffering fiancee to Kirk "Man-Bat" Langstrom, but soon got transformed like him, becoming a "She-Bat". They fight Batman, but he's able to incapacitate them by ringing the bell at the cathedral where they were getting Bat-Married. She unwillingly-transformed a second time, with more vampiric characteristics since naturally a vampire bat had been around when she pricked her finger on something. Kirk & Batman allied to stop her from draining the people of Las Vegas. A third transformation occured, and she was finally cured permanently.
-Francine is basically exactly like The Man-Bat (a tremendous physical challenge for Batman), and in her second appearance, was also a Blood-Drainer (Weaken Stamina 8- Limited to 1 Rank Per Round, Grab-Based).

ULTRA THE MULTI-ALIEN (Ace Am)
Created By:
Dave Wood & Lee Elias
First Appearance: Mystery In Space #103 (Nov. 1965)
Role: Bizarre Forgotten Hero
PL 8 (134)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Spaceman) 8 (+10)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 7 (+10)

Advantages:
Benefit (Ambidexterity), Equipment 7 (Spaceship), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blasts), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Startle

Powers:
"Upper Right- Green Fur, Super-Strength"
Strength-Damage +6 [6]
Power-Lifting 6 (6 tons) (Flaws: Limited to Right Side) [3]

"Lower Right- White Feathers, Wings"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

"Lower Left- Bolt of Lightning"
Blast 9 (18) -- [20]

"Upper Left- Blue Skin, Magnetic Powers"
AE: "Object Attack" Blast 9 (Quirks: Requires Metals) (17)
AE: Move Object 10 (Flaws: Limited to Metals) (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Blasts +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Disabled (No Hands)- Razor-Fist needs a bit of assistance to engage in ordinary activities, like wiping his own bum.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 31 / Defenses: 9 (134)

-This guy's origin is so "Drug-Addled Silver Age" that it's not even funny- Future-Earth Spaceman Ace Am was attacked by four aliens, each of whom was wielding a gun that could *gasp* TRANSFORM THE VICTIM INTO A COPY OF THE SHOOTER! Now, what in the BLUE HELL kind of purpose THAT would serve is beyond me (maybe they were planning on assaulting Daxam with a legion of Fluffy Puppies armed with the things?), but all four aliens ended up shooting Ace simultaneously. As a result, he is now 1/4 each Alien, gaining all of their powers. This guy booted Adam Strange & The Space Ranger out of "Mystery In Space" (poor Adam didn't make it out of the Silver Age as a viable character), but the book only lasted for seven more issues before dying. Hilariously, I would create a character much like this for my own Super-Hero Universe as a kid- combining several animals to create Criss-Cross (seen here in my 2e thread), though he was more awesome.
-Ultra is a PL 8, being a minor non-recurring character (though a few modern writers have taken to using his as a funny "ain't comics WEIRD?" background character sometimes- Starman & Donna Troy have encountered him.

MATT SAVAGE, TRAIL BOSS
Created By:
Gardner Fox, Gil Kane & Joe Girella
First Appearance: Western Comics #77 (Sept. 1959)
Role: Cowboy
PL 7 (103)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+11) -- Flaws: Limited to Riding
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Cowboy) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Pistol) 2 (+9)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 2 (Pistol), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Pistol), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Minion 4 (Horse), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 4, Tracking

Equipment:
"Pistol" Blast 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pistol +9 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +7

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Cowboy)- Savage, and other cowboys like him, are motivated by many things- adventure, money, a decent living, etc.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (103)

-As I've mentioned before with my Jonah Hex build, Western Comics once basically OWNED the comics biz- Timely/Atlas pretty much dumped super-heroes ENTIRELY for the genre, and even DC got into the game, losing most of their heroes by 1950. The genre as a whole dominated the '50s (alongside Romance & War comics), and produced tons of characters. Most of Marvel's were "Something Kid" names (Kid Colt, Apache Kid, Two-Gun Kid, Ringo Kid, etc.), while DC had more varied guys, like Matt Savage here- The Trialbreaker was a generic cowboy who ended up pushed into various adventures.
-There were many others- DC had Vigilante (retconned into a reincarnation of Prince Khufu/Hawkman, though I remember him best for being the only Cowboy to get wiped out by the Anti-Matter Wave in "Crisis on Infinite Earths"), The Trigger Twins (one sheriff and one pretend sissy-boy shopkeeper who nonetheless traded places often to beat the bad guys), Scalphunter (Savage's own son, kidnapped and trained by Indians), Bat Lash (a dandy of a cowboy), and more. Most of them will fit this PL 7 framework (making Jonah Hex the best of them- despite being created in the '70s, he's far and away the most iconic and well-known Comic Book Cowboy), being very competent guys with some Skillmonkey tendencies.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Jun 13, 2020 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Freedom Fighters

Post by Jabroniville »

QUALITY COMICS:

-Quality Comics is a misnomer if their ever was one.



... okay that's unfair; I've never actually read any of their books. But BOY do most of their characters stink!

-They were reasonably-successful, lasting for about twenty years. Founded by Everett "Busy" Arnold, they started in 1937 doing reprints of popular comic strips. However, they soon shifted to heroes, creating Plastic Man and Kid Eternity, as well as the aviator Blackhawk, getting most of their stuff from the Eisner & Iger Shop (and apparently paid the best, since most E&I stuff went to them). They also created the heroes who would be combined together into DC's Freedom Fighters- Uncle Sam, The Human Bomb, Doll Man, The Phantom Lady (later sold to Fox Comics), Black Condor and The Ray forming the main squad, but also less-popular acts like The Red Bee, Red Torpedo, Magno and Neon the Unknown. Other failed acts included Merlin the Magician and Midnight (knock-offs of the then-popular Magician Hero and Spirit strips), a reporter strip called Chic Stone (who sometimes became The Sword), Blue Tracer and Stormy Foster.

-Earth-Two Kenn figures that they were the #2 superhero publisher of the Golden Age (behind National/All-American), owing to their longevity and their sheer number of recurring titles. They had three heroes (Doll Man, Blackhawk & Plastic Man) who were able to run their own books AND a starring role in another title simultaneously (and nearly had a fourth in Uncle Sam). They also had a lot of stuff from Will Eisner, Lou Fine, Reed Crandall & Jack Cole, who were all among the best of the era- this meant that Quality books were in fact quite often the prettiest. Reprinting Eisner's "Spirit" obviously helped, too.

-They suffered as most did during the 1950s (moving on to horror, crime and war books), and shut their doors in 1956, eventually selling the copywrites for most of their superheroes to DC Comics.

-Despite being one of the least-known of the Golden Age (since Archie, Marvel & DC are still around), Quality had a pretty successful number of characters in terms of their longevity, since DC would bring a lot of them back over the years. In particular, Plastic Man had his own cartoon series, Doll Man was the first Shrinking Hero in comics, and The Freedom Fighters became a recurring title in the '70s. However, they ultimately got less and less popular, eventually being disposed of for the most part- DC revives them on occasion to keep up their copywrites (the early books are actually in the public domain, but DC owns the characters).

THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS:

-In 1971, DC brought in several Quality Comics characters as The Freedom Fighters- a retcon was introduced that resulted in the deaths of a few during Pearl Harbor, and they were said to reside on Earth-X, a parallel world in which the Nazis had won World War II following a successful Japanese invasion of California. They allied with the Justice League and Society against the villains of their world, attempting to undo this horrific future- they got their own series in 1976, but it only lasted a mere 11 issues (DC was NOT doing well by the end of the '60s, and things took a long time to pick up) and took place on Earth-One. Following the Crisis, the Freedom Fighters were placed on the mainstream Earth, resulting in a bit of reshuffling- the Fighters were now considered like a subsidiary of The All-Star Squadron, and were contemporaries of the JSA & All-Stars in any case.

-However, The Fighters were a pretty sad bunch- undynamic costumes, silly and dated names, and overall lame. Some people hate wanton killing of characters, but I reveled with fanboy GLEE at this team of losers being cut down in the opening of Infinite Crisis, as an elite squad of top-tier Super-Villains annihilates them one-by-one- Damage is nearly-fatally injured, Phantom Lady is run through, Human Bomb is beaten to death, and Black Condor is impaled on an energy beam. Just awesome stuff, and on characters that really didn't have much purpose. Sure, you COULD save them and turn them into something good... but why bother? DC already HAD good characters!

-A new team was introduced for no reason other than to protect copywrites in 2006, just following Infinite Crisis. Despite some pretty good art by Daniel Acuna, and some tolerable costume changes, it was just too whacky. Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters was basically a book about Black Ops government agents doing dark, nasty stuff on behalf of America, only to turn their backs on the idea and join Uncle Sam... and continue to kill people and stuff. Uncle Sam got a Christ-like role, Father Time got involved, and there was a guy named Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard out to install RFID chips in every American... okay Grant Morrison was part of the design process, alright? It was messed-up, dark, drug-inspired, and made little sense.

-An ongoing was planned for 2010, featuring the team being treated like public celebrities, which backfired (Phantom Lady drunkenly-killed someone on live TV), but was an unmitigated failure, being cancelled after only NINE ISSUES- truly pathetic.

-So to me, The Freedom Fighters represent the worst of the Golden Age- stupid gimmicks, awful costumes, goofy code-names (UNCLE SAM? Doll Man?), and weak stories. Combining all of them onto ONE TEAM doesn't help, because it adds all of the sucktitude together, as well as poisoning the few that are half-decent (The Ray, mostly).

The Roster:
Golden Age:
Black Condor- Flying Hero
Doll Man- Shrinking Hero
Human Bomb- Exploding Hero
Phantom Lady- Invisibility & Fanservice
The Ray- Energy Blaster
Uncle Sam- Goofy Patriotic Hero
Firebrand I & II- Guy in a pink shirt, and his Retconned replacement.
The Invisible Hood- Little-known invisible guy.
Magno- Magnetic guy.
Hourman I- Retconned in.
Neon the Unknown- Blaster & weird guy.
Miss America- Alchemy-type.
Red Torpedo- Uses a submarine.
The Red Bee- Uses a bee.
Alias the Spider- Archer.
The Jester- Prank-based superhero.
Quicksilver- aka Max Mercury, a Speedster.
Manhunter- Dan Richards, the one with the dog.
Plastic Man- Largely used for the JLA.
The Blackhawks- Fighter pilots.

Later Age:
Black Condor II- Flying Guy
Damage- Exploding Hero
Iron Munro- Young All-Star, still looks young.
The Phantom Lady II- A new one.
The Ray II- One-time potentially-big DC hero.

2006 Team:
Uncle Sam
Firebrand IV
Doll Man II
Human Bomb II
Phantom Lady III
The Ray III
The Red Bee II
Black Condor III
Invisible Hood II
Miss America I
The Ray II

-These guys are relatively little-known, and thus rather difficult to stat. I'll see what they look like when I get to them.

NEON THE UNKNOWN (Tom Corbet)
Created By:
Jerry Iger & Lou Fine
First Appearance: Hit Comics #1 (July 1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Character, Flying Blaster
PL 7 (87)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Expertise (Soldier) 5 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Improved Aim, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
Flight 5 [10]
"Neonic Energy" Blast 7 [14]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Neonic Energy Blast +6 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 24 / Defenses: 12 (87)

-Neon the Unknown was a short-lived character in Hit Comics (from the comic gods of weird ideas at Quality), lasting for 17 issues (not a great run, but certainly not the shortest- he outlasted SEVERAL JSAers!). He was a Foreign Legion soldier who was part of a platoon that got caught out in the desert- the entire unit died of dehydration, but Tom Corbet managed to drink some glowing water he found in a Magical Oasis, and turned into Neon the Unknown (Neon being a relatively-unknown element at this time).
-Neon shot energy blasts at a time when "Blaster" had yet to become one of the key archetypes is comics, but that's about all he gets credit for, as he vanished until a retroactive story placed him with the Freedom Fighters at Pearl Harbor, where he was killed alongside the others. However, most of the later team save for him and Magno the Magnetic Man failed to turn up alive at a later date. That pretty much makes him the least-respected Golden Age hero ever, as even in his re-debut after 40 years, he couldn't catch a break. However, in a REALLY REALLY LATE Retcon, he was revealed alive in a 2008 Freedom Fighters storyline. He's revealed to have been living in the same Magical Oasis for all that time.
-Imagine a PL 6 Blaster archetype, and you've got Neon. Few feats or skills, and a low-level blast. Hey, the guy didn't outlive freaking Red Bee, he ain't getting PL 8 stats, y'know?

THE JESTER (Chuck Lane)
Created By:
Paul Gustavson
First Appearance: Smash Comics #22 (May 1941)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 5 (88)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Police Officer) 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Perception 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Benefit (Quick Change), Equipment 2 (Policeman's Pistol), Defensive Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Ranged Attack, Startle, Takedown

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Gun +5 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Chuck Lane did not feel he was doing enough as a police officer to stem the tide of crime, and so he became a cruelly-frightening vigilante instead.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (88)

-The Jester is probably one of the weirdest but most interesting forgotten Golden Age designs. Essentially a Quality Comics version of a heroic Joker, he was a cop who also fought crime on the side in a jester costume after discovering he came from a lineage of court jesters. No, really. He showed up in All-Star Squadron a couple times, and is most well-known for the "WTF? Who's THAT guy?" reaction readers would give upon seeing him in giant action shots of the team. Apparently a modern-day writer featured an aged Jester being part of an anti-government group, who suicidally-killed several government agents. Sounds like something from that modern Freedom Fighters series- I hate those guys, but Jester could've been cool, despite not being a success in any era of comic books.
-Low-end super-hero (he was a random casualty, after all), only makes PL 6 unless he uses his gun, making him ironically a more powerful cop than super-hero. His police training gives him a pretty good handful of skills, and it's stated that his specialty is in creeping out criminals with his jingling bells and eerie laugh, and his reputation as a 'weird' super-hero who did crazy stuff to bad guys. He's actually kind of a Proto-Slapstick, taking that hero's role, but in the '40s.

THE HUMAN BOMB I (Roy Lincoln)
Created By:
Paul Gustavson
First Appearance: Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Role: Golden Age Hero, Exploding Guy
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 10 (99)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Expertise (History) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Military) 2 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Explosive Punch), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"27-QRX-Given Powers"
"Explosive Blast" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (20) -- [21]
AE: "Explosive Punch" Damage 10 (Extras: Penetrating 4) (14)
Immunity 1 (Aging) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [0.5]
Features 1: May Increase Damage Area to 60 feet ith HP Spent [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Explosive Punch +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Explosive Blast +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Accident (Explosions)- Roy must always wear "Fibro-Wax" (formerly Asbestos) gloves in order to not cause explosions every time he touches something.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 19--9.5 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 22.5 / Defenses: 10 (99)

-The Human Bomb shares an issue of origin with both Plastic Man and The Phantom Lady. He's got your typical origin involving Super-Science, Nazi Spies, a dead father (at the hands of said spies) and ingesting a formula to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. The chemical formula ended up giving Roy Lincoln the ability to create explosions from his hands- for which he always needed to be wearing Asbestos Gloves (later "Fibro-Wax"), lest he blow up everything around him. This kind of a side-effect is actually rather Silver/Bronze Agey in effect, though that doesn't prevent Roy from having one of the worst costumes ever- basically a big lead suit. Despite being rather goofy, The Human Bomb lasted for six years and 58 issues of Police Comics, even getting a Comic Relief sidekick in Hustace Throckmorton (who acquired a lesser version of Roy's powers, but centered in his feet, after a blood transfusion from Roy), then by The Bombardiers, a trio of youths.
-The Crisis left him without a home, but he reappeared in Damage's book in the '90s as a frail old man, then showed up with the JSA in the 2000s, largely hidden behind his suit so you couldn't tell how old he was (he helped out in the fight against Imperiex). He was one of the FFers killed by The Secret Society, but also got the only "Good Showing" of the crew- when he say Phantom Lady get impaled upon Deathstroke's sword, Roy went NUTS, tearing off his containment suit and blowing C-league villain Doctor Polaris to smithereens. In response, Bizarro, commenting on the "pretty lights", beat Roy Lincoln to death with his bare hands, smashing him to a pulp. Roy's one of those guys who's just TOO silly-looking for his own good these days; you'd think that he'd wear something other than a 1940s-style lead suit after all those years, but I guess no writer ever cared much about him enough to call for a redesign.
-The new Uncle Sam series replaced him with Andy Franklin, who gained powers when Bludhaven was destroyed by the dropping of Chemo onto the city. He had some classic Morrison-esque stuff like "a drop of his sweat could level Manhattan" and a "throwing fingernail" trick that was also done by Morrison's Marvel Boy. The Nu52 also uses a Human Bomb- Michael Taylor, a Marine who got a 4-Issue Mini-Series I've never heard of.
-Roy Lincoln is a lot like Damage, in that he focuses on omnidirectional Power Blasts instead of accuracy or well-roundedness or any of that. He's a plain, simple brawler who can blow up real nice, but lacks versatility or strong defenses.

THE PHANTOM LADY I (Sandra Knight)
Created By:
The Iger & Eisner Studio, Arthur Peddy
First Appearance: Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Role: The Original Miss Fanservice, Bondage Lady, Lady Spy, Invisible Girl
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 7 (112)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Deception 4 (+7, +12 Attractive)
Expertise (Spy) 5 (+8)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 7 (+10)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5, +10 Attractive)
Sleight of Hand 3 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Attractive 2, Daze (Deception), Defensive Roll, Fascination (Deception), Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Black Light Projector- Now Internalized"
Concealment 2 (Visuals) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Iron Munro)- Though she had a generic Fiancee Character in the '40s, she married Iron Munro. They drifted apart after the war (with her hunting her abducted unborn fetus, which she never found- Baron Blitzkrieg had stolen it).

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 11 (112)

-The Phantom Lady is probably the only character in comic book history to be published by SIX different companies- debuting in 1941 for Quality Comics, she was the debutante daughter of a U.S. Senator who fought crime in a sexy costume (explained as a distraction for her male foes... which would probably TOTALLY WORK) using a "black light projector" in her car to blind her foes, or make her invisible. Her fiance sometimes helped her out, and she lasted about 23 issues. Curiously, after this point, Quality loses the rights and they move to Fox Feature Syndicate, as the artist studio that created her believed they owned her. The Fox version was even MORE full of what was called "Good Girl Art" (now just called Fanservice, after the anime term), featuring GIGA-cleavage and plenty of stories involving bondage.
-In this incarnation, the character was used as an example by Dr. Fredric Wertham for his infamous Seduction of the Innocent, as proof that comics were morally-corrupting children- the image of a giant-breasted, pokie-nippled woman attempting to free herself from tight bonds struck a chord with him (he even uses the term "headlights"). Fox went under after 23 issues of Phantom Lady were produced, and Star Publications published another story that Fox had already released earlier.
-Sandra's next appearance was at Ajax-Farrel Productions, lasting for only a few months- Wertham's efforts had by then resulted in her cleavage being covered, and her skirt being turned into shorts (Wertham = 1950s Social Justice Warrior). Farrel went out of business, and Charlton Comics reprinted some of her books, since it now owned AF's assets. I.W. Publications released another couple reprints (unauthorized), making five companies, and then DC finally got the rights to Charlton's stuff, making six. And that's not even counting the companies that made rip-off versions (including the FemForce publishers' "Blue Bulleteer"), inspired by P.L.- the uncrowned Goddess of Lurid 1940s Fanservice.
-The Phantom Lady was made a part of the Quality-centric Freedom Fighters, despite her having not been part of that company since the 1940s, and gained some real powers. She finally got an origin story- she gained a taste for adventure after saving her father's life, and got the projector from a family friend. She was later made part of Ted Knight's family (of course two people with the same last name could NEVER be a coincidence), and got a weird backstory involving two retconned kids with Arn "Iron" Munro- one she gave up for adoption (it later became the father of Kate "Manhunter" Spencer), and another that was stolen as a fetus by Baron Blitzkrieg for some stuff. She has since reconnected with some of her "new family" like Kate, and is sort of a retired Elder Stateswoman. She even outlived her own successor!
-The Phantom Lady was a capable fighter, but works best as a spy, thanks to her Invisibility power (which is, as always, ludicrously inexpensive considering it basically lets you surpass your PL limits most of the time, and for only four points!). Her abilities are basically centred around being hot, being a spy, and being invisible. Not that she's bad at any of the three- she's the PERFECT Spy, given her power-set and Skillmonkey-Lite abilities, especially for the Golden Age.

THE PHANTOM LADY II (Delilah "Dee" Tyler)
Created By:
Len Strazewski & Chuck Austen
First Appearance: Action Comics Weekly #636 (Jan. 1989)
Role: Miss Fanservice, Invisible Girl
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (112)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+12)
Athletics 7 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Deception 3 (+6, +11 Attractive)
Expertise (Spy) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+5, +10 Attractive)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Attractive 2, Daze (Deception), Defensive Roll, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Black Light Projector & Wrist Blaster" (Flaws: Removable) [22]
Illusion (Visual) 8 (16) -- (17)
AE: Concealment 2 (Visuals) (4)
Blast 5 (10)
-- (27 points)

"Savate Master" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Wrist Blaster +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (The Freedom Fighters, Sandra Knight)- Dee is a successor to the first Phantom Lady, and a close ally of her old team.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 15 (112)

-The second Phantom Lady debuted when Action Comics went weekly in the late '80s, and stuck around for a bit. She was trained by Sandra as a Lady Spy successor, inheriting the costume. Dee Tyler is also a Savate master and uses some gadgetry to help herself out, often working with her roommate Sarah. She appeared in a small handful of books (I suspect Strazewski must have written some of them) like the '80s Starman, The Flash and others, but mainly showed up in Robinson's Starman run, owing to her Golden Age links. She joined the newer Freedom Fighters incarnation in the '90s JSA book, but never had a big role- I really can't find much about the character, as she never really got a starring role anywhere (even a team book).
-So after about fifteen years of nothing, Dee was horribly-murdered in Infinite Crisis along with her pals, run through by Deathstroke's blade after Cheetah had sniffed her invisible self out. My roommate at the time laughed his ASS off, going "Invisibility's her ONLY POWER?" in a funny moment- I mean, in REAL LIFE that's a power countless people wish they'd had (more common amongst younger males, for obvious perverted reasons), but in comics it's pretty low-grade. Though really, it SHOULDN'T be- in Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce is annihilated by a COMMON CRIMINAL who just happens to be wearing a suit that makes him invisible- the inability to see attacks coming (or respond with your own) is a HUGE disadvantage in a real fight. As an elite fighter, Dee should really have been top-tier. But since she's basically just the successor of a largely-forgotten Miss Fanservice character, it was unlikely she'd ever get that push.
-The successive Phantom Ladies have been a bit dull- Stormy Knight was part of the Drug-Addled Morrison Team, and a spoiled movie star who looked down on her teammates like she was Libby from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She later reveals that she's a super-genius who acts stupid as a cover, and wields devices that can BEND REALITY. Then her father dies and she turns to drugs and booze, trying to commit suicide. Eventually she quits super-heroics. The "NuDCU" P.L. is Jennifer Knight, a rookie heroine who infiltrates a crime boss' network after her father, a reporter, is killed, and teams up with the new Doll Man. It was a short-run Limited Series that I've never heard of.
-Like Sandra Knight, Dee Tyler (wait... "Sandra"... "Dee?" I JUST GOT THAT) isn't bad, but lacks a lot of "oomph", and is only a PL 8 Martial Artist heroine with some good tricks. Turning Invisible gives her a boost to defenses and hitting potential, but at Toughness +4, she'll need something more to go up against someone like Cheetah.

DOLL MAN I (Darrel Dane)
Created By:
Will Eisner
First Appearance: Feature Comics #27 (Dec. 1939)
Role: The Original Shrinking Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (149)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 8 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+11)
Expertise (History) 1 (+6)
Insight 2 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 0 (+5, +17 Size)
Technology 3 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Close Attack 2, Equipment 2 (Dollplane- Doll-Sized Airplane), Improved Critical (Unarmed, Improvised Weapons) 2, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improvised Weapon, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Redirect, Taunt, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Doll Size"
Shrinking 12 (+6 Dodge/Parry, +12 Stealth, -6 Intimidation) (Extras: Normal Strength) (Quirks: Full Power Only -1) [35]
"Tiny Sized Fighting" Enhanced Advantages 2: Close Attack 2 (Flaws: Limited to Smaller Sizes) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Tiny Sized +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
"Normal Size" Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +7
"Doll Size" Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Martha Roberts)- The two are engaged to be married- she knows his secret identity, and eventually becomes his sidekick, Doll Girl.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 9 (149)

-Doll Man, "The World's Mightiest Mite", actually didn't have such a lame name back in the day- "Doll" was just a generic term for any toy that looked like a person. Nowadays, it's "Action Figure" for anything not designed like a fashion doll (curiously, Bad Sitcoms still frequently have female characters calling G.I. Joe figures "Dolls", which annoys the males). Nowadays, the name is basically completely unusable.
-Despite all that, Doll Man was actually very successful, having a fourteen-year run back in the Golden Age, and being one of the few characters to end up with his own comic book series named for him. Darrel Dane is a chemist who invented a formula that allowed him to shrink to six inches tall, but retain his natural strength. With a solid visual gimmick, especially on his covers (his tiny perspective shows common thugs as being super-dangerous giants; another recurring one made him one of the few male comic book characters to suffer from bondage-pics on frequent covers). His solo book was cancelled in 1953, and he wasn't seen for twenty years- DC would later copy him (short stature, blue & red costume) for Ray Palmer, the new Atom.
-DC later got the rights to the Quality Comics characters, putting Doll Man on their new "Freedom Fighters" squad. He wasn't really an important character, though- Palmer having all of his powers and MORE by this point (effectively being redundant now), plus Doll Man being on the lowest-tier team. Doll Man eventually disappearrf from the team entirely, not being replaced on the updated series, and being mentioned in passing as having been confined to a mental institution! He later shows up leading a subversive army of doll-sized soldiers, revealing that spending years all compressed has damaged his brain.
-A one-shot Titans comic had a "Doll Man" and "Doll Girl" show up to a Titans West recruiting party with no explanation, just as a background gag. Lester Colt was the true Doll Man II in the 2006 series- a political leader and military guy who cold-bloodedly kills criminals. The Nu52 gave us Dane Maxwell, the new Phantom Lady's permanently-shrunken partner in heroics.
-Doll Man's a capable PL 7 melee fighter, but packs PL 9 defenses, owing to his natural toughness and tiny body making him REALLY hard to hit. Pricey too, given the cost for Normal Strength Shrinking- one of his specialities was to hit guys with small objects, using the strength of a full-grown man. He's had a few animal sidekicks (a big Great Dane, an Eagle during World War II), and also gets around in a tiny model airplane that he can really fly.

THE RED BEE (Rick Raleigh)
Created By:
Toni Blum & Charles Nicholas
First Appearance: Hit Comics #1 (July 1940)
Role: Joke Hero, Possibly the Silliest Golden Age Hero Ever
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (74)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 7 (+8)
Perception 3 (+4)
Insight 3 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Equipment 2 ("Stinger Gun"- +4 Damage- Non-Fatal), Improved Aim, Improved Defense, Improved Smash, Ranged Attack 4, Minion 2 (Swarm of Bees), Set-Up

Powers:
"Doll Size"
Shrinking 12 (+6 Dodge/Parry, +12 Stealth, -6 Intimidation) (Extras: Normal Strength) (Quirks: Full Power Only -1) [35]
"Tiny Sized Fighting" Enhanced Advantages 2: Close Attack 2 (Flaws: Limited to Smaller Sizes) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Stinger Gun +8 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Joke Hero)- The Red Bee is not taken seriously by many. This bothers his ghost.
Relationship (Michael the Bee)- Rick's favourite bee is named Michael, and lives in his belt buckle. And yet, he can't figure out Complication #1.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (74)

SWARM OF BEES
PL 4 (30), Minion Rank 2
STRENGTH
-- STAMINA -4 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -- AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE --

Skills:
Intimidation 8 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Made of Bees"
Senses 4 (Scent, Ultra-Vision, Radius Sight 2) [4]
Flight 2 (8 mph) [4]
Elongation 1 [1]

"Difficult to Destroy"
"Fluid" Insubstantial 1 (Feats: Innate, Selective) [7]
Immunity 30 (Bludgeoning, Slashing Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [15]

"Bee Blasts"
"Stinger Aura" Aura 2 (Feats: Dynamic) Linked to Affliction Aura 2 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Paralyzed) (Extras: Cumulative) (19) -- [23]
Dynamic AE: "Bee Stings" Damage 3 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Multiattack) Linked to Affliction 2 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Paralyzed) (Extras: Multiattack, Cumulative) (10)
Dynamic AE: "Bee Storm" Damage 3 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) Linked to Affliction 2 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Paralyzed) (Extras: Area, Cumulative) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bee Stings +2 (+4 Damage & +2 R.Affliction, DC 19-12)
Bee Areas +3 Area (+3 Damage & +2 Affliction, DC 13-12)
Bee Aura +2 (+2 Damage & Affliction, DC 17-12)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness -5, Fortitude -4, Will --

Complications:
Weakness- Being bugs, the swarms are easily dispersed by wind, fog, dust, fire, smoke and other things. Obviously, insecticides and freezing will outright kill them.

Total: Abilities: -34 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 54 / Defenses: 6 (30)

-Possibly the goofiest character of the entire Golden Age, The Red Bee was a Quality Comics character. Seriously- he had a bunch of TRAINED BEES as sidekicks, and he wore pink & red stripes on his costume! He named his favourite bee MICHAEL and lives inside Rick's belt buckle! Despite this, he lives on for TWENTY-FOUR ISSUES, eventually becoming forgotten as an unsuccessful nothing. He was so goofy thave even ROY THOMAS didn't want to use him much, swiftly killing him off in All-Star Squadron during an attack by Baron Blitzkrieg in which he saved some allies. He appears as a ghost in Robinson's Starman, along with some other dead guys, discussing the appeal of super-heroics. Bee appeared somewhat put-out that he was considered a bit of a joke (I would suggest that his codename, concept and costume could have been more thought-out if he'd wanted to be taken seriously, but that's just me).
-Rick's grandneice Jenna takes up the mantle in the 2006 series- she's a Powersuit fighter using two robotic Electricity-shooting Bees as minions. She's later turned into an insect hybrid by an alien insect colony (giving her pheromone production and antennae), but is eventually cured. She gives up superheroics thereafter.
-Your standard agile hero with a fancy gun, and his hardest stat-point was the trained bee sidekicks. Their stings aren't horrifyingly deadly, but with the Multiattack, it's bad for thugs to get involved. And they're the ultimate distraction.

THE RAY I (Lanford "Happy" Terrill, aka Neon the Unknown II)
Created By:
Lou Fine
First Appearance: Smash Comics #14 (Sept. 1940)
Role: Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (112)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Reporter) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Light) 3 (+8)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Light), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Master of Light"
Flight 10 (2,000 mph) [20]

"Light Constructs" Create 6 (Extras: Movable) (18) -- [24]
AE: "Magnetism" Move Object 6 (Flaws: Limited to Ferrous Materials) (6)
AE: "Light Burst" Affliction 8 (Extras: Area- Visual Perception) (Flaws: Touch Range) (16)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 8 (16)
AE: Light Blast 8 (Feats: Variable- Light & Electricity) (17)
AE: Illusion (Visuals) 6 (12)
AE: "Invisibility" Concealment 4 (Visuals) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Light Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Light Dazzle +8 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Light Burst +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Empowered By Light)- Happy's body has been altered by light energy- his children will also inherit this power.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 44 / Defenses: 14 (112)

-Lanford Terrill (usually called "Happy", because that was a nickname back then) gained super-powers from being exposed to lightning and sunlight at the same time (WHAT) while ballooning. Later, it was retconned that he was hit by a genetic "light bomb" from an evil scientist. This ends up giving his own son powers, and he faked the boy's death, even to his poor MOTHER, trying to avoid putting her through the torment of the Light Entity or whatever controlling their kid. I find Terrill here notable for the "fin head" costume design (those weird Roman-inspired headgear things would pop up on assorted characters over the years, and always give them a distinctive look). The character only lasted about 36 issues, and didn't make much of a dent, but the costume and powers stand out a lot, so he was chosen for The Freedom Fighters, and his son eventually became a bigger-name DC hero. Happy kind of looks like a douchebag later, but becomes the new Neon the Unknown in the 2006 Freedom Fighters series.
-Terrill is a PL 8 Golden Ager, but with some very unique powers, allowing him to Blast, Dazzle, Move Objects, make Light Constructs, go Invisible, and more.

THE RAY II (Ray Terrill)
Created By:
Jack C. Harris & Joe Quesada
First Appearance: The Ray #1 (Feb. 1992)
Role: Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The Justice League of America, Justice League Task Force, The Forgotten Heroes
PL 10 (195)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Computers) 10 (+11)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Light) 4 (+9)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Light-Based Powers"
Flight 17 (250,000 mph) [34]

"Power Blast" Blast 13 (Extras: Penetrating 8) (Inaccurate -1) (33) -- [39]
AE: Light Blast 11 (22)
AE: "Light Constructs" Create 8 (Extras: Movable) (24)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 11 (22)
AE: "Light Burst" Affliction 10 (Extras: Area- Visual Perception) (Flaws: Touch Range) (20)
AE: "Invisibility" Concealment (All Visuals) 4 (Extras: Affects Others) (12)
AE: Illusion (Visuals) 8 (16)

"Body Conversion" (Action -1) [-1]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]
Insubstantial 3 (Feats: Variable- Any Energy on the Electromagnetic Spectrum) [16]
"Light Heals All" Healing 12 (Flaws: Limited to Himself) [12]
Flight +3 (2,000,000 mph) [6]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Light Blast +9 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Power Blast +7 (+13 Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Dazzle Visuals +9 (+11 Ranged Affliction, DC 21)
Light Burst +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Happy Terrill)- Raymond has a complicated relationship with his father. Happy lied to his family and had his brother raise Ray, and engaged in further manipulations along the way.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 120 / Defenses: 14 (195)

-The Ray II was brought about in the '90s. That should be obvious just by looking at the guy; he's got a jacket AND tights on. That's not to say DC relegated him to "kewl 90s hero" and left him there; he's got a pretty strong following within the ranks of DC editors compared to most of the JSA legacy guys who never got around to doing anything cool (see pretty much everyone who didn't make the JSA cut, especially the Freedom Casualties... I mean Fighters). He got to join the pre-Morrison JLA, shows up as a powerhouse in nearly every "Crap, get every hero out here to help" battle, and has TONS and tons of powers. Plus, he got to nail Black Canary. But for the most part, he was deemed not interesting enough to stick on any major teams for extended runs, which is kinda sad for a guy who was a big part of the Kingdom Come JLA, and has a very iconic superhero-type power.
-The second Ray is the son of Happy, and discovered his origins upon his father's death- Ray Terrill had in fact inherited Happy's powers, but had to literally be kept "in the dark" to avoid sunlight, lest his powers go out of control. As an adult, he is now able to control them, and soon he finds out that Happy is ALIVE, and the man who raised him (and had just died) was Happy's brother. He went on to have a solo book (worked on largely by Christopher Priest & Howard Porter), doing the "Rookie Hero" thing- he gets a brief romance with Black Canary (who immediately regreted it, from what I understand) and joins The Justice League. His book only lasted 28 issues (it was the mid-90s), and he left one League to join The Justice League Task Force (a more militaristic group). He briefly partners with Vandal Savage in order to beat some villains, but learns the depths of Savage's evil and discards him.
-Ray vanishes into Comic Book Limbo after that, for the most part- showing up in background scenes and Big Events as some guy flying around. His next role is in Young Justice of all places, but doesn't last long. He's also part of the 2006 Freedom Fighters (having briefly allied with their predecessors, and was one of two survivors of the massive beat-down), beating down his evil successor. Stan Silver was a nasty playboy-type and an egomaniac, and was a double-agent still loyal to the FF's old organisation- S.H.A.D.E., killing the new Invisible Hood. The Nu52 had a Ray Limited Series which started okay (great art, disctictive look, and I though it was cute how it was almost self-consciously multi-racial, with absolutely every cast member being from a different group), but turned out rather weird. Lucien Gates was a "regular guy" type of character, gained crazy powers, then got involved in a story that went off the rails when Time Travel and the nature of narrative fiction got involved in a meta-example that I think was supposed to come across as more clever than it actually was.
-Ray II is a defeninitely elite Blaster archetype, though he lacks any cool Area-effecting blasts. He's brutally expensive for a standard PL 10 guy, but he's got a ton of stuff on him. He's got his "Light" array of Alt-Effects (Light is one of the better "energy guy" powers in terms of attached Alternate Effects- allowing for Dazzles, Heat, Illusions, etc.). He's got great Flight powers, added to by being in Light Form (seriously, they make Light Speed VERY expensive to get, a full 40 points!!). Then you get his Light Form itself, which pulls in Life Support, Space Travel, the Level 3 Insubstantial (Energy Form), AND Regeneration enough to let him heal devastating injuries like they were nothing (bullets to the head-level stuff here). It's a good thing he's kind of bad in combat, being a still 'amateur' hero, requiring not only using his one good attack nearly all the time (2 ranks of Attack Specialization, a ridiculously cheapening tactic, but leaves him useless anywhere else), in addition to 4 ranks of Dodge Focus (ie. he's good on defense, but if you fool his low Wisdom score....) and Favored Environment (Airborne) to make all his caps. All that adds up to make Ray II PL 10, but costing as much as a standard PL 12 guy would. Which seems about right, given that he's a powerhouse, but kind of ineffective compared to the elites.

FIREBRAND I (Rod Reilly)
Created By:
S.M. Iger & Reed Crandall
First Appearance: Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (71)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+9)
Deception 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 5 (+7)
Vehicles 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Improved Trip, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Excitement)- Rod Reilly became a superhero out of boredom from his life as a socialite- the son of a wealthy steel tycoon.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (71)

-Rod "Firebrand" Reilly looks like the worst superhero ever- seriously, a TRANSPARENT PINK SHIRT? A bored and wealthy socialite, Rod decided to fight crime with his servant/pal "Slugger" Dunn, an ex-boxer. He lasted only about a year in Police Comics, being leapt over by Plastic Man, Phantom Lady and The Human Bomb, who were around for years. It wasn't until 1981 that we'd see him again, as DC's purchase of Quality's characters introduced Firebrand to The All-Star Squadron, and Rod was chosen as one of the ONLY superheroes to not make it out of World War II alive! Firebrand was thus killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, leaving his sister Danette to take over his role as a much more important character. Years later, Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. would imply that he was slaughtered by The Dragon King.
-As a crappy superhero, the first Firebrand can take PL 6 and like it. I imagine Slugger Dunn to be little more than a PL 4 Thug. Amazingly enough, this douche somehow earned THREE Legacies! That's what having a cool name gets you.

FIREBRAND II (Danette Reilly)
Created By:
Roy Thomas, Danette Thomas, Jerry Ordway & Rick Buckler
First Appearance: Justice League of America #193 (Aug. 1981)
Role: Retcon Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (120)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+4)
Close Combat 1 (+8)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Earth Sciences) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Fire) 3 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Improved Aim, Inspire, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
Plasma Blast 8 (16) -- [18]
AE: "Melt" Weaken Toughness 6 (Extras: Affects Objects Only +0, Ranged) (12)
AE: Fire Aura 4 (16)

Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]
Immunity 2 (Hot & Cold) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Fire Aura +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Melt +8 (+6 Ranged Weaken, DC 16)
Plasma Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Hatred (The Japanese)- Danette was initially quite racist towards Japanese people. She only changed her ways after discovering her brother had been saved by a man descended from Japanese.
Relationship (The Shining Knight)- The two were married after the War.
Relationship (Terri Rothstein)- Dann was briefly with the reluctant supervillain Cyclotron- when he died, she became a guardian to his daughter Terri (the mother of Atom Smasher).

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 40 / Defenses: 14 (120)

-Danette Reilly was the second Firebrand, and the sister to the first. She was kidnapped by villains Per Degaton & Wotan while studying Volcanos in Hawai'i in the 1940s, and was tossed into a pit of mystical lava (volcanologists will attest to how pesky those things are). Naturally she gained superpowers, becoming one of Roy Thomas' "Focus Characters" in All-Star Squardon (even appearing as a big character in the first part of Crisis on Infinite Earths)- it probably helps that she was based off of his then-wife Danette. He was going to use the Golden Age Quality Comics character Wildfire (similar powers), but was disallowed by DC Editorial since The Legion of Super-Heroes already had a hero by that name. Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. would reveal that she had married The Shining Knight after the War, but was killed by The Dragon King (Courtney's first villainous mastermind).
-I liked Danette, though- she was hot without looking skanky, had decent powers, and a distinctive look (pink only works on dudes when it's The Hart Foundation).
-As a modern idea of a Golden Age character, Firebrand II actually has some rather modern powers compared to the usual "atomic punch" type things you saw back in the day; as a result, she fights much more like a modern hero of the 80s than any DC Golden Age guy, though I guess the Human Torch was around in those days. You could make a claim that she's PL 9 (or even PL 10!), but I felt a weaker PL 8 is more suiting to the Golden Era of comics. She's much cheaper than her JSA buddies, but would be pretty easy to boost up to PL 10 if you prefer (just add accuracy and damage).

FIREBRAND III (Alejandro "Alex" Sanchez)
Created By:
Bryan Augustyn & Sal Velluto
First Appearance: Firebrand #1 (Feb. 1996)
Role: Forgotten '90s Hero
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (80)
STRENGTH
2/5 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4, +9 Suit)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Cop) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Police Firearm 2, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Firebrand Powersuit" (Flaws: Removable) (Restricted to Those With Specialized Implants) [14]
Enhanced Strength 3 (6)
Speed 3 (16 mph) (3)
"Scary Mask" Enhanced Skills 2: Intimidation 2 (+6) (1)
Immunity 1 (Heat)
Protection 3 (3)
-- (14 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Suit Strength +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4 (+7 Powersuit), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Power Loss (Strength & Speed)- Firebrand's powers only last for about four hours.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 14 / Defenses: 7 (80)

-The third Firebrand was a classic '90s character with a '90s mask, an ethnic hero named Alex Sanchez. A cop who was injured in an explosion that destroyed his apartment, he was put back together by a philanthropist who wanted Alex to wear a Powersuit that'd make him a superhero. He was unsuccessful, only lasting nine issues, and was fatally-injured by a Checkmate Knight in the prelude to the great "Roulette" story in JSA, fighting off the drugs that were making him super-aggressive just in time to be stabbed in the throat. They give him a bit of a sad send-off (it's from a first-person POV, and he describes being a forgettable hero, and Guy Gardner maybe being the only superhero who would remember him), admitting he's D-List but doesn't deserve this fate, and even name his creators as he bleeds out. This Firebrand is a PL 7 nobody with some decent physical capabilities.
-The fourth Firebrand is Andre Twist from the 2006 update- he's a martial artist with a Bo staff, and is killed in action a few years later.

THE BLACK CONDOR I (Richard Grey, Jr., aka Tom Wright)
Created By:
Will Eisner & Lou Fine
First Appearance: Crack Comics #1 (May 1940)
Role: Flying Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (124)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Aerobatics 5 (+9)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 5 (+6)
Expertise (Politics) 4 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Benefit (Senator), Contacts, Evasion, Favored Environment (Air), Improved Disarm, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Flight Learned From Condors, Because That's How Stuff Works"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

"Black Light Pistol" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [9]
Blast 7 (14) -- (15 points)
AE: "Stun Beam" Affliction 7 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (14)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Black Light Pistol +8 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Pistol Stun +8 (+7 Ranged Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)
Secret (Identity)- Richard Grey takes the identity of Senator Thomas Wright after failing to save the man's life. This allows him a dual identity.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 21 / Defenses: 13 (124)

-Black Condor was initially a take on the old Tarzan theme (at that time, that book was actually semi-recent), a boy raised in Mongolia by super-intelligent condors (no, really), from which he learned how to fly. He was later taught by a mountain hermit to speak and become civiliazed, killed the Mongolian bandits who slew his parents, and moved to the United States. Retconned into a generic "radioactive meteor" origin, he can fly under his own power, use a "Black Light Pistol" (whatever the hell that is). And he's actually a senator in disguise, taking the identity of a man whom he failed to save. His career was devoted to fighting crooked politicians, bootleggers and racketeers.
-Well how's that for a unique storyline? Not that it saved him; he died with the rest of the Quality Comics characters, with a whimper, only showing up decades later in the JSA/JLA cross-overs under "Earth-X". Despite his super-cool name (which should rightfully belong to awesome characters), he was portrayed as a boring, generic hero and didn't really do anything, and it's been stated that he died, but we never found out how (you gotta suck pretty hard to not even get a heroic death story- hell, even WING got one, and he was just a sidekick!). He eventually got a legacy in Ryan Kendall, who again has like no fans. Currently, there's even a third Black Condor.
-Fairly simple build, a guy who focuses on aerial combat and being pretty quick on the draw and hard to hit. Nobody's shaking in their boots against him, but he's decent. More notable are his Contacts feat and his senator Benefit, making him a pretty handy guy for the Freedom Fighters.

THE BLACK CONDOR II (Ryan Kendall)
Created By:
Brian Augustyn & Rags Morales
First Appearance: Black Condor #1 (June 1992)
Role: Flying Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, Primal Force
PL 8 (132)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Aerobatics 6 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 5 (+5)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 6 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 1 (Knife), Great Endurance, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up

Powers:
"Telekinesis & Stuff"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Regeneration 6 [6]
Mind Reading 4 (Flaws: Limited- Emotions Only) [4]

"Throwing Stuff" Blast 5 (Feats: Accurate 2, Ricochet, Homing 2) (Quirks: Requires Objects) (14) -- [16]
AE: Deflect 10 (10)
AE: Move Object 6 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Knife +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Thrown Things +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)
Enemy (Grandfather)- Kendall's Grandfeather Creighton is continuously hunting him, in order to discover the secrets that allow for his powers.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 38 / Defenses: 15 (132)

-I have no idea why they created a second Black Condor in this manner. I mean, with such a cool name, you could come up with tons of bird-themed guys, from power-armor types to badass street-level Batman characters. But no, they stick it with some regular guy with a bunch of unrelated, low-level powers and flight. He actually got his own series for a brief flicker of time, before being casually tossed onto the Freedom Fighters. And in that role, he was the first casualty of Infinite Crisis, being run through by Sinestro. Not much of a run for a character, but he did get a successor with the new Freedom Fighters series, so there's that (hee).
-Ryan Krendall gained his powers from the genetic experiments of his father, a member of a secret Society of The Golden Wing. Krendall escaped, and was hunted by his evil grandfather, hoping to unlock the secrets of human flight from studying the boy. The 2006-era Black Condoir is John Trujillo, a Native-looking Arizonian from a Mayan Spider Goddess (??)- he's a serious sort, uncomfortable interacting with other people.
-Another pretty cheap PL 8 build, though he only matches that defensively. He's no major powerhouse, and his offensive capabilities are pretty minor. I'm a little hazy on just how powerful he is, since I've never read a comic where he did anything other than get run through by a yellow beam of light or just punch mind-controlled civilians in the background. Flying Guys are tricky that way- exactly what is supposed to make them match a higher PL, if they're not master Martial Artists?

THE INVISIBLE HOOD (Kent Thurston, aka Hooded Justice, Invisible Justice)
Created By:
Art Pinajian
First Appearance: Smash Comics #1 (Aug. 1939)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (91)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 6 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Investigation 7 (+8)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 6 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Trip, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Second Chance (Being Spotted)

Powers:
"Invisible Hood" (Flaws: Removable) [7]
Concealment 4 (Visual Senses) (8 points)

"Two-Fisted Adventurer" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)
Enemy (Grandfather)- Krendall's Grandfeather Creighton is continuously hunting him, in order to discover the secrets that allow for his powers.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 13 (91)

-The Invisible Hood's yet ANOTHER Quality Comics character, drawn out of the woodwork and killed in the Pearl Harbor attack. But actually (like everyone but Magno apparently), he survived, only to be murdered retroactively a SECOND time by The Icicle & The Mist (for all he seemed to love the Golden Age, James Robinson sure loved retroactive bad ends for these dudes). Don't cry for him, though- he got a short-lived successor in the new Freedom Fighters, who again got offed by an evil Ray.
-The Hood's Golden Age books were apparently pretty crappy and similar- he would follow some generic criminals to their base while invisible, then beat them up. Every time. The guy didn't even get an origin- he just showed up, fighting in a hood that made him invisible! Despite this, he lasted 32 issues.
-Standard "two-fisted detective" type hero, dependent largely on his invisibility hood, which allows him to boost his PL a bit by making the enemies unaware of his exact position. Otherwise, he's screwed, and no match for any real powered enemy.

RED TORPEDO (Jim Lockhart)
Created By:
Henry Carl Kiefer
First Appearance: Crack Comics #1 (May 1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (83)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+7)
Athletics 6 (+12) -- Flaws: Limited to Swimming
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Sailor) 7 (+10)
Insight 2 (+3)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Technology 7 (+10)
Vehicles 8 (+12)

Advantages:
Equipment 8 (Red Torpedo Mini-Sub w/ Energy Beams), Ranged Attack 4

Equipment:
"Red Torpedo"
(Large Size, Strength 4, Swimming 9- 250 mph, Defenses 8, Toughness 8)
(Weapons: "Twin Cannons"- Blast 8 (Feats: Split), AE: "Frontal Spike"- Damage 8- Penetrating 8)
-- (39 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 17)
Twin Cannons +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Frontal Spike +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Peg)- Lockhart has a girlfriend, like most '40s heroes, but she never reappears after his first issue.
Enemy (The Nazis, The Japanese)
Enemy (Black Shark)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (83)

-Nope, this isn't Ma Hunkel (she's up later), it's the similarly-named Red Torpedo, a guy so lame he didn't make it 20 appearances before going away, until a retcon from the '80s resulted in him being blowed up at Pearl Harbor with the rest of Uncle Sam's Suck Fighters. But ANOTHER retcon (this one from Starman- beacon of hope & Retcons for all the Golden Age fans in the '90s) has him turn up alive, helping Starman II (Charles McNider) build his Star Ship or whatever it was, and THEN you hear nothing else from him. So yeah, this one-note guy ends up living past the war with some history, just like nearly everybody else.
-Jim Lockhart was a Sailor who resigned when his superior rejected his designs for an advanced torpedo-like submarine. He builds it himself, and becomes "The Robin Hood of the Deep". Few attempts were made at continuity- his girlfriend Peg never reappears after the first story, and his arch-nemesis Black Shark's motivation and name changes several times. Roy Thomas used him briefly in an All-Star Squadron story as a sacrificial lamb, and that was it until the 1990s' Robinson Retcon. Lockhart was a billionaire thanks to a post-War naval business he'd set up.
-Torpedo's actually a remarkable Skillmonkey, especially for his era, with great mechanical & tech skills, but lacks almost anything in the combat area. He only makes PL 8 caps in his Mini-Sub, elsewhere he's just some guy who's a pretty decent fighter, but very weak.

MIDNIGHT (Dave Clark)
Created By:
Jack Cole
First Appearance: Smash Comics #18 (Jan. 1941)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero, Spirit Rip-Off
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 7 (103)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 5 (+9)
Expertise (Radio Announcer) 6 (+10)
Expertise (Acting) 2 (+6)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+7)
Investigation 7 (+10)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Beginner’s Luck, Fast Grab, Improved Disarm, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Two-Fisted Detective" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Midnight is the eerie friend of the needy, seeking to right wrongs.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 13 (103)

-Hey, look, it’s a two-fisted detective! Haven’t seen one of THOSE before! In all seriousness, Midnight is a blatant Spirit rip-off, designed to replace that strip while Will Eisner was off to war (see, Quality published Spirit comics, but didn’t own them- Eisner did). Midnight is Dave Clark- a radio announcer and actor who plays a superhero in a radio drama- he dons the outfit for serious when a crooked builder is at fault for a deadly collapse. He therefore becomes Midnight- "the eerie friend of the needy." He befriends a mad scientist and his talking monkey Gabby. Your standard gumshoe, differentiated only by his sidekicks. Oddly enough, despite these origins, he was a pretty successful Golden Age hero, managing cover duty on his strip for EIGHT YEARS, being cancelled around 1949. Nothing is known of his Post-War antics, but a new version appeared in a 1990s Ms. Tree Quarterly.
-Scarcely dissimilar from guys like Invisible Hood, I gave Midnight your standard detective Skillmonkey set.

UNCLE SAM (aka The Spirit of America, Johnny Reb, Minuteman, Brother Johnathan, Billy Yank, Patriot, Taylor Samuel Hawke, Sam Adams, Sam Wilson, Father-Time)
Created By:
Will Eisner
First Appearance: National Comics #1 (July 1940)
Role: Golden Age Hero, Spirit of America
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron, S.H.A.D.E.
PL 10 (149)
STRENGTH
10 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Persuasion 5 (+9)
Expertise (History) 10 (+12)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Civics) 10 (+12)
Perception 7 (+11)
Insight 6 (+10)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Teamwork

Powers:
Impervious Toughness 3 [3]
Immunity 2 (Aging, Disease) [2]
"Clairvoyance" Features 1: May Ask the GM a Direct Question with an HP Spent [1]
Immortality 5 (Flaws: Source- American Faith) [5]
"Travel To The Heartland" Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel 1) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +7

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

Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers)- Should Americans lose faith, Uncle Sam will lose his powers.

Total: Abilities: 92 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 12 (149)

-Uncle Sam is probably the living embodiment of why some adults look down on comics. OK, that's mean, but I don't think I've ever seen a "comics newbie" flip through a book and see friggin' UNCLE SAM in it without laughing or making some kind of derogatory comment. He's like Aquaman, but not as famous. Maybe it's just because I'm Canadian, I dunno- people like Cap or other patriotic heroes don't bother me (obviously, patriots are a real thing, especially in America), but the kind of mindless, flag-waving patriotism and sheer CHEESEBALL nature of someone like UNCLE SAM fighting as a superhero is just too eye-rolly for me to bear. Uncle Sam is basically what I think a lot of people are afraid of with Captain America, which at least in Cap's case is unfounded.
-And here's a question: why is AMERICA the only country to get the embodiment of their fighting spirit into the fray of the War? They joined World War II years after EVERYONE ELSE did- ya think maybe England or RUSSIA (the country suffering the most losses) had any kind of national patriotic spirit going for them? Obviously it makes sense from a REAL-WORLD point of view (America was producing the comics, so America got the Spirit of America as a superhero and nobody else got a comparable guy), but I poop all over this idea.
-Uncle Sam (based off of a famous wartime recruiting poster- "Uncle Sam Wants YOU!"- for the War of 1812, known as the one where the U.S. & Britain fought a proxy war in CANADA, in which both sides claimed victory, but Canadians are right because I am Canadian so eat it :)) was a big enough deal in the Golden Age, getting his own Quarterly book for a while, but it didn't last that long- his run was only from 1940 to 1944 (Doll Man, Plastic Man and Blackhawk were all more successful characters at Quality Comics). Captain America was EASILY the most-popular Golden Age Patriotic superhero (surpassing even The Shield, the originator of the idea). Sam is the spirit of a slain patriot during the American Revolutionary War, and now appears every time his country needs him.
-But in any case, he's one of the more successful "Non-JSA" All-Stars, becoming the key representative of Earth-X (although Ray Terrill gets the occasional push) whenever that issue comes up. A retcon in The Spectre involved a mystical ritual by the Founding Fathers, and he'd been reincarnated in various forms over the years (splitting in twain during the Civil War). He joined the WWII-era Freedom Fighters & All-Star Squadron, disappearing by 1944, as his country no longer needed him. Later on, he gained a new costume as The Patriot, one of the more stupid-looking Powersuit designs of the 1990s- it didn't last long. There was also a Vertigo book that featured a haggard Sam watching the darker side of American history (the destruction of the Natives, lynchings, etc.)- producing some pretty emotive Alex Ross work.
-Unfortunately for Sam, DC had basically reserved the Freedom Fighters to "Jobber" status, using them solely to get their asses kicked or show up in an "all the reserves are called up" JSA story, in the 1990s, leading to there eventual massacre at the hands to the elite super-villains in Infinite Crisis. But Sam came back for ANOTHER revival of the team, which gets rid of some of the chaff (ie. uninteresting characters) with new, super-flawed newbies, though that series was also a failure, resulting in a glut of weird new characters using the old names. Me, you could replace the entire roster of the Freedom Fighters with Hank Pym and the Council of Cross-Time Pyms and I'd be more likely to read it, so it's possible I might be a LITTLE bit biased against them.
-Uncle Sam is pretty easy to stat up, but I had to decide which of his weird powers to include. He's been seen growing huge before, but I'm pretty sure that never happened in the DCU proper, so it's out. He gets the Cosmic Awareness power thanks to his remarkable intuitiveness, as well as Resurrection for his stated ability to come out in new forms regularly. Not alot of ranks, but it's there. Otherwise, he's a standard Balanced Brick, a guy who's super-strong in combat, but focused entirely upon that. But he's +10/+10 offensively, which is unusual in my builds. His DCA version has a MILLION powers that I've never seen used before, probably from the newer series. It ain't on his online bios, that's for sure. Also, I seriously doubt he's worth PL 13, especially with my lower-tiered builds. PL 10 seems good enough for a guy who's tough, but not a world-beater.

MAGNO, THE MAGNETIC MAN
Created By:
Paul Gustavson
First Appearance: Smash Comics #13 (Aug. 1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (65)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Electrical Worker) 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Magnetic Powers"
"Shock Punch" Strength-Damage +3 [3]
"Magnetic Power" Move Object 6 (Flaws: Limited to Ferrous Materials) (6) -- [7]
AE: Deflect 10 (Flaws: Limited to Physical Projectiles) (5)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Shock Punch +7 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers)- Magno requires electrical outlets or wires somewhere to jumpstart his powers if he runs out of juice.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 10 (65)

-For every good All-Star Squadron member with a legacy, there's a guy like Magno. A character of almost no note from Quality Comics, he was a line man who got shocked by DC electricity, but was revived with AC electricity- this naturally gave him super-powers. He got chosen as a sacrificial lamb by Roy Thomas for Pearl Harbor- The DC version. He joined the Freedom Fighters for the initial attack, but was killed. Most of the others came back in some form, but not Magno. Just think- THE INVISIBLE HOOD AND RED TORPEDO GET TO SURVIVE, but poor Magno was still left at the bottom of a Hawai'ian shoreline somewhere. Now THAT's a character with a good amount of suck.
-No way is this guy making PL 8 or anything. He's just a minor-league rookie hero with a couple minor powers (though I'm fairly certain he's the first magnetically-powered character in comics). A second version appeared on The Crusaders in the 2006 Freedom Fighters series.

MISS AMERICA (Joan Dale)
Created By:
Elmer Wexler
First Appearance: Military Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron, The Justice Society of America (Possibly Retconned Out)
PL 8 (117)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Reporter) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+3)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Transformation) 2 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Molecular Transmutation"
Transform 8 (Anything to Anything Else) (Extras: Ranged) [48]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Transform +7 (+8 Ranged Transform, DC 18)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Project M)- Joan thought her powers came from the Statue of Liberty, who'd appeared to her in a dream. In actuality, Project M had abducted and experimented upon her.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 13 (117)

-Miss America went from an obscure character nobody'd ever heard of to being part of one of DC's more convoluted stories (which, as you've noticed by now, is SAYING SOMETHING). See, Miss Joan Dale (gaining Transmutation powers from the Statue of Liberty, who appeared to her in a dream) was a briefly-appearing hero in Military Comics for like seven issues, but vanished into such obscurity that nobody challenged Timely Comics when they released a character of the same name shortly thereafter. Roy Thomas, of course, brought her back and stuck her on the Freedom Fighters squad of Quality Comics' concepts, where she was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
-It would've ended there, had the Crisis not altered DC's continuity, thus requiring someone to replace Wonder Woman in the JSA's old adventures. Retroactively, MISS AMERICA was placed in that role, despite having none of Diana's powers, and nowhere near enough fame to make her "worthy" of such a boost- it's especially strange because Thomas retconned in a Golden Age FURY to take this role (and as the modern Fury's mother). But then Hippolyta, Wonder Woman's mother (who is now retconned into looking like Diana), travels back in time and ends up on the JSA, thus RE-FITTING those JSA adventures with a "Wonder Woman"!
-This, of course, makes Miss America's position VERY dubious, as I'm pretty sure she was supposed to have been on the team during its earliest adventures, while Hippolyta was not, but modern-day DC continuity makes NO mention of her JSA days, and instead fits her back on the Freedom Fighters full-time, so I think it's safe to say she's back where she belongs- obscurity. Her only real "link" to modern times is being the adoptive mother of Lyta "Fury" Hall (she's married to Admiral Derek Trevor, a cutesy in-joke because Lyta's ORIGINAL parents were of course WW and STEVE Trevor). She's also notable for having the most ridiculously-powerful ability ever for a character portrayed as a fourth-stringer, but then, the 1940s was hardly the time where you'd expect comic writers to have knowledge of molecular physics.
-The 2006 Freedom Fighters series added in a modern Miss America, who was confronted by a much older Joan, who then reveals that she was FAKING her aged appearance, and joins Uncle Sam's team after destroying her android impostor. However, she is blown up, but "evolves" in space to become Miss Cosmos. Because comics.
-Statting her's pretty easy, as she's a fairly weak hero with one powerful ability. She couldn't do anything to living beings and she had a finite timeline for her abilities, but she could basically turn stuff into other stuff. Obviously this is way more powerful than a 1940s writer would showcase, but flashbacks show her turning guns into flowers and tanks into other stuff, so she's actually got some retro-oomph to her abilities. In modern times, she got powerful enough that she could threaten to turn people's organs into glass.


xxx
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Green Lanterns

Post by Jabroniville »

GREEN LANTERN CORPS:

In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let all who worship evil's might
Beware my power- Green Lantern's Light!

"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 13 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (46)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 1: Can Change Clothing (1)
-- (141 points)

Complications For Green Lanterns:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If one fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), they will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Yellow)- Green Lanterns must pass a Will Check in order to use their powers against the colour yellow.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2. This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)


-The Green Lantern Ring! One of the most versatile weapons in all of comics. Unfortunately, they seem linked to the Guardians of the Universe, who are about the most incompetent, foolish Lawful Stupid cosmic entities in all existence, seeing as how they blindly led the entire DC Universe into Blackest Night, then all turned evil. I do love the Green Lantern Corps concept, though- an army of super-humans designed as a "universal police force", flying through the cosmos, involving every possible messed-up alien design the artist & writer can think of (Big Head guy? No problem! Giant geometric orb with tentacles? Easy!), all with the same power set. No wonder it's been ripped off so many times- whether it's Marvel's Nova Corps., Freedom City's Star Knights, or even DC's own in-house rip-off, the Darkstars, it's so awesome to see these huge groups of cops/soldiers kicking around, even if they DO all have the same power set.

-The stats for a GL Ring are so complex and hard to figure out effectively (it's essentially a walking plot device in the books sometimes) that you could do about ten different variations and end up with a "pretty close" variant. This version is very complex, so I'll go through it piece-by-piece:
-"Create Object"- the core theme of a GL Ring. They can create anything (even mechanically Precise objects!) that float on their own, resist damage, let some things in and others out (Selective), and are themselves Movable.
-"Blasts"- Four varieties, with the aforementioned Extra/Flaw set-up. I've seen GLs do all kinds of Area Blasts before, as well as doing HIGH levels of Penetrating Damage, so all of this fits.
-"Snare" & "Move Object"- Rarer powers, but still quite common. GLs are always trapping guys in Green Chains, or just picking up stuff with big Green Hands and flying around with them.
-"Force Field" Most GLs have a baseline Field set-up outside of the Array (they can still make a fairly good Field while using any normal Blast at full power) all the time. They can also affect others at great range, and make them Impervious. However, it's a VERY common occurence in comics to have a GL be one-shotted by an enemy because they were paying attention to something else- I think it's quite common for them not to have a full Force Field up.
-"Immunity" GLs are always immune to the rigors of space & energy, as well as poisons (as the Lead-Poisoned Sodam Yat discovered). They can grant these immunities to those they carry with them, at the expense of their other combat powers.
-"Variable Power- Senses" GLs can communicate via radio waves, or other GLs, nearly across the Solar System, as well as merely saying "Ring, check for BLANK" energy, a HUGELY expensive power-set that is best reflected as parts of this Array, otherwise you'll be spending 20-30 points for something that's a basic GL trait, which I think is silly. The Rings are literally capable of checking EVERYTHING sometimes- checking the entire sentient life of a PLANET at times.
-By asking the Ring to search someone's identity or history, it's basically doing an automatic Investigation check, which I think is worth 5 ranks of Equipment- sorta like having the world's greatest Super-Computer at your fingertips. Plus, there's the Universal Translator and the Quick Change Feature for whipping your clothes into a sexy unitard at a moment's notice.
-For the extra stuff, you have Restricted (Overcome Great Fear), a pretty vague thing that is best left up to the GM. Rings are generally Unbreakable by any means other than some crazy in-game effect as well. As Complications, GLs must make a Will Save to overpower the effects of the colour Yellow, meaning they're really hard-up against Sinestro Corps members unless they're particularly high-Willed. In addition, the usual Daily Recharge thing is up. As the battle goes on, the GLs just may lose Ring Power.
-So my GLs are sorta like the DCA ones, but I have to indulge myself and throw a dozen minor Alt-Effects in there because they use so very many in the comics! Rather than limiting them to their Will Saves in power, I throw in a thing that forces them to make a Will Save to go anywhere past their Will rating (plus 2, since this creates some gigantic Will Saves, which I don't like in most characters) in rank. This, to me, is the only way to justify all of those Rookie Lanterns who get mowed down like common nobodies in mass-battle-scenes, especially in Geoff Johns-written books. This means that Kyle Rayner's Blasts are a mere +12 unless he rolls above a "10" on a d20, which isn't TOO hard, but can somewhat limit him. This (and the fact that many of the Force Field ranks are hidden inside the Array, so you can't go all-out on Defense all the time) to me reflects the way that DC's Lanterns (especially Rookies) are often easily blown up by villains with one-shot attacks, but veterans are more capable. Lower-level Lanterns simply don't have the raw Will required to do this easily. Someone with +12 Will can do +14 Blasts without checking, but a more-standard +6 Will? He's got to pass a Check to go above *+8*, which is barely the level of a decent superhero!
-So yeah, a rather complex piece of machinery (and rather expensive at 115 pp), with necessities of doing tons of math in mid-gameplay. I'd advice anyone using one of these Rings to maintain a mini-list of "ready to go" set-ups for the power. For a more simplified version, simply strip off the Extras & Flaws and use as-is. And this is just the MODERN Ring- the 1960s Ring was basically a mobile Device of Variable Power, capable of doing literally anything the wielder imagined.


ALIEN RACE TEMPLATES:

GALIUS ZED'S RACE (Those Giant Big-Head Guys who die in every event story) (0 points)
Abilities: Stamina +2, Fighting -1 [2]
Powers: "Third Foot" Extra Limb 1 (Resists Trip Attempts) [1]
Defenses: Dodge -1 [-1]
-"The Big-Head Guys" are frequent victims in big Corps-based wars, being one of the iconic "background aliens" of the GL-verse. They're basically a head with some stubby limbs attached, giving them some odd bonuses. They're weak in Melee, and REALLY easy to hit because of those giant heads & short punch range, but are pretty big and resistant to damage. Despite their weaknesses, Galius Zed was a REALLY long-lasting character, surviving the Corps' destruction and joining The Darkstars, where he was killed by Fatality.

LARVOK'S RACE (Multi-Limbed Sausages)- Sector 17 (0 points)
Abilities: Strength -2 [-4]
Powers: Extra Limbs 4 (4 Arms & 4 Legs- Resists Trip Attempts) [4]
Complications: Mute
-Larvok looks like a sausage with a bunch of tiny limbs attached. He can't talk, but his ring can make words using Create Object. He's a brave Lantern, but his race has more drawbacks than benefits.

APROS' RACE (Giant Jellyfish)- Sector 4 (26 points)
Abilities: None
Powers: "Dozens of Tentacles" Extra Limbs 8, Immunity 1 (Aging), "Telepathy" Communication (Mental) 2 & Mind-Reading 5 [26]
-A big Jellyfish creature who apparently doesn't age and has psionic powers.

SHORM'S RACE (Tentacled Skull Monsters)- Sector 40 (1 point)
Abilities: Fighting -1 [-2]
Powers: "Six Tentacles" Extra Limbs 2, Movement 1 (Slithering) [4]
Defenses: Dodge -1 [-1]
-Looks like a giant head with six tentacles beneath him.

RELOK HAG'S RACE (Centaurians)- Sector 173 (5 points)
Abilities: Intelligence -1 [-2]
Advantages: Power Attack [1]
Powers: Features 1: Increased Mass 1, Speed 4 (30 mph) [5]
Defenses: Dodge -1 [-1]
-A big tough black-skinned Centaur race, which look pretty cool. I always liked centaurs.

ROBOT LANTERNS (Various)- Various Sectors (24 points)
Abilities: No Stamina [-14]
Powers: Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects), Protection 8 [38]
-There are a metric ton of these guys buzzing around the Green Lantern Corps, and at least one in the Sinestro Corps. This is essentially the basic "Living Robot" template; they may be tougher or have the ability to fly without the need for Rings.

PLANT LANTERNS (Various)- Various Sectors (2 points)
Abilities: None
Powers: Immunity 2 (Disease, Poison) [2]
Complications: Vulnerable to Fire & Herbicides
-Various Plant-guys are flying around (some looking more like sentient trees, others look more like people with leafy heads). A couple might be immune to Aging (Diapat springs a new seed every once in a while).

VOLK'S RACE (Lava Men)- Sector 315 (33 points)
Abilities: Strength +6 [12]
Powers: Heat Aura 5 (Extras: Permanent +0), Immunity 1 (Heat) [21]
-A more expensive type of guy, Volk constantly has to keep his Force Field up, or he'll nuke his own allies. This is a pretty big drawback in a game, but it balances his rather advanced power. He gets protection because he's in a solid rock shell, but is really just made of lava.

DURLANS (Chameleon People)- Sector 700 (57 points)
Abilities: None
Powers: Shapeshift 7 (Flaws: Limited to Simple Physical Powers), "Re-Shape Damaged Cells" Regeneration 2 (Feats: Regrowth), Senses 9 (Detect Unique Appearances- Analytical, Analytical Hearing, Vision Counters Illusion), Morph 4 (Any Form, Size or Shape) [57]
-Durlans are actually Chameleon Boy's race in the Legion of Super-Heroes' future, but GL Von Daggle (apparently related to Reep Daggle of the aforementioned Legion) is active in the present time. I actually enjoy little things like that, pointing out that these super-crazy future races didn't just show up out of nowhere. It makes their GLs VERY expensive, however.

KE'HANN & TURYTT'S RACE (Giant Red Men)- Sector 786 (17 points)
Abilities: Strength +4, Stamina +4 [16]
Powers: Features 1: Increased Mass [1]
-These guys are huge monstrous powerhouses, and are pretty bad-ass looking. Ke'Hann was kind of a jerk to Hal Jordan a lot (as one of the "Lost Lanterns"), and his replacement kinda looks like a more humanoid Doomsday.

BROKK'S RACE (Tentacled-Ball Healing People)- Sector 981 (39 points)
Abilities: Strength +6, Stamina +6 [24]
Powers: Movement (Slithering), "Tentacles" Extra Limbs 3, Healing 10 (Feats: Reach 4) (Extras: Stabilize) [39]
-A Healing Lantern, Brokk's rarely seen, but he's one of those guys like the X-Men's Elixir, who's GREAT if you want your heroes to suffer some kind of horrific damage and then go "ahhhh! No wait! They have a HEALER!"

H'LVENNIANS (Awesome Squirrel People)- Sector 1014 (15 points)
Abilities: Fighting -4 [-8]
Powers: Shrinking 12 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0), Senses 2 (Acute Scent, Low-Light Vision) [27]
Defenses: Dodge -4 [-4]
-Squirrel Super-Heroes rock. Ch'p was a near-constant in old-school Lantern rosters alongside Kilowog, the Big-Head Dudes & others for good reason. Very recognizable. Notable in that they're ridiculously ineffective without their Rings, being talking Squirrels.

BLEEDBUGS (Skinny-Legged Bloated Spiders)- Sector 1110 (18 points)
Abilities: None
Powers: "Six Legs" Extra Limbs 2, "Rubbing Legs Together" Weaken Awareness 8 (Extras: Area- Hearing Perception) [18]
Complications: No Hands
-The mostly-unseen (even in group pics) Sinestro Corps member Sirket is a member of this race, able to drive men mad by rubbing his legs together.

CHASELON'S RACE (Mohawked Diamond Circular Dudes)- Sector 1416 (24 points)
Abilities: No Stamina [-14]
Advantages: Equipment (Robotic Harness- Fixes Drawback) [1]
Powers: Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects), "Thirteen Senses" Senses 7 (Pick Some, I Guess...) [37]
Complications: No Hands
-Chaselon is almost as notable as the Big-Head Guys in background scenes, since a giant diamond with arm-tendrils sorta stands out in a crowd of humanoids. He's apparently got a bit of depth given to him by the big GL Encyclopedia, but he's still a background guy. He eventually becomes an Alpha Lantern, and bit the big one during a Blackest Night issue.

SNARE SNAKES (Sentient Red Snakes)- Sector 2111 (34 points)
Abilities: None
Advantages: Fast Grab, Improved Hold [2]
Powers: Movement 1 (Slithering), "Poison" Weaken Stamina 10 (Extras: Progressive +2) [32]
Complications: No Hands
-Oliversity is another no-name Lantern whose poison is apparently the most lethal in the galaxy. His race has no arms, but that's not as much of a problem when you've got a GL Ring.

TOOMEANS (Those Wolfmen Guys)- Sector 3014 (11 points)
Abilities: Strength +2, Stamina +2 [8]
Powers: "Bite" Strength-Damage +2, Immunity 1 (Cold) [3]
-Those Wolfmen often show up in the background, doing what generic space-filler do, except since they're often notable and recognizable, they tend to eat death alot more than other guys.

LASHORR'S RACE (Six-Armed Pink People)- Sector 3453 (4 points)
Abilities: None
Powers: "Six Arms" Extra Limbs 4 [4]
-Some chick who slept with Salaak. Ew.

TANJENTIANS (Psychic Albinos)- Sector 2515 (29 points)
Abilities: None
Powers: Precognition (Flaws: Uncontrolled), "Telepathy" Communication (Mental) 2 & Mind-Reading 8, AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 6 [29]
-Symon Terrynce is a low-level psionic whose powers keep growing. His whole race apparently gets powers like this at varying levels, but exile those who aren't born with them.

THANAGARIAN ALLIGATOR-MEN (Bipedal Alligators)- Sector 2682 (7 points)
Abilities: Strength +1, Stamina +1 [4]
Powers: "Bite" Strength-Damage +2, "Tail" Extra Limb 1 [3]
-Isamot Kol (named for Phil Tomasi of GL writers' lore) is an alligator-dude from Thanagar, one of their lower races on the homeworld. He's teamed up with Rannian partner Vath Sarn, and both may be great officers some day.

TRISTAM POWER-RAYS (Flying Energy Leeches)- Sector 2751 (30 points)
Abilities: None
Powers: Growth 4- Innate, "Tail" Extra Limb 1, Weaken All Abilities 10 (Affects Objects Only +0), Immunity 10 (Life Support) [30]
Complications: No Hands
-One of the cooler looking Sinestro Corps members is a giant flying devil ray who leeches power supplies off of passing ships, leaving them stranded in outer space.

BORIALOSAURS (Ancient Dino-Men)- Sector 3001 (12 points)
Abilities: None
Powers: Growth 4- Innate, "Tail" Extra Limb 1, Immunity 2 (Drowning, Aging) [12]
Complications: No Hands
-A dinosaur-man Sinestro Corps member? I love these guys.

KYLE RAYNER, GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 2814
Created By:
Ron Marz & Darryl Banks
First Appearance: Green Lantern #48 (Jan. 1994)
Role: Upstart Rookie Hero, Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Titans, The Justice League of America, The Green Lantern Corps.
PL 13 (220)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Art) 8 (+9)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 7 (+8)
Expertise (Space Hero) 4 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (GL Blasts) 3 (+11)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Critical (Blast), Improved Aim, Luck, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +11 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +11 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +11 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+10 Standard Field, +16 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +12

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If Kyle fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2 (in Kyle's case, 14). This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)
Relationship (Various)- Kyle lost his first girlfriend to Major Force and a refrigerator. He later dated Donna Troy, Jade and Soranik Natu, among others.
Responsibility (The Legacy of Hal Jordan)- Kyle took years to overcome comparing himself to Hal Jordan, "The Greatest Green Lantern Ever". Especially notable is Kyle's ability to feel fear- most Green Lanterns to this point where said to be "Fearless". In the end, this proves to be one of Kyle's strengths.
Rivalry (The Flash)- Wally West often disrespected Kyle openly- it took a long time for him to accept Kyle's validity as Green Lantern.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 115 / Defenses: 20 (220)

-Few characters in comics have ever been as controversial as Kyle Rayner. Me, I never saw it, but that's because I had little understanding of Hal Jordan. So to me, Kyle was the "rookie super hero" of the '90s, following the rest of the Justice League around, doing occasionally crazy-powerful things the more crack-induced the writer was in deciding what "creating anything" counts as (Mech Suit? No problem! Defillibrator? OK! Decompression Chamber? YES! Oh, and let's wrap the ENTIRE FRIGGIN' MOON up in Green Energy combined with Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet). I never read his solo series (which had the legendary Refrigerator-based death of his first girlfriend, in order to teach Kyle a lesson about being serious), which supposedly wasn't all that great, but his Grant Morrison-written JLA stuff was AMAZING. It really portrayed him as a nervous, unsure guy with the greatest weapon in the universe, and made it all the sweeter when he matured into an alpha-level hero. Stuff like "I can't handle this- it's like playing with The Beatles" helped humanize him.
-Before the JLA, Kyle was a member of the Titans, back when nobody read the book and it was terrible- I still think they gave him Donna Troy as a girlfriend because she was the ranking babe in superhero comics at the time who was both unattached and "attainable", and wanted to make Kyle look good and "I wanna be that guy"-ish to male fans. Really didn't work, as the relationship kind of sputtered and went nowhere, especially after her own child was offed.
-Of course, then Hal Jordan came back, and Kyle got shunted into various silly things (his time as Ion) to keep him busy without axing him entirely (as Hal got the solo book). But Green Lantern Corps, featuring Kyle & Guy as major cast members, was pretty great for a while (under the GL-verse got REALLY overloaded with too-long Event Crossovers and dragged until the climax, which was at least pretty good).
-Wow, Kyle is cheaper than John Stewart- wasn't expecting that one. It's mainly due to Skills, though (as a military man like Stewart is definitely above the artist Kyle), as Kyle is easily a match for him, and has 1 better Will Save. He's also got Accurate Attack & Defensive Attack, of which only Hal had the former. As the Lantern with the most imagination, his Force Fields look like Mecha Armour, his Blasts come from giant Cable-style guns, etc., but it all basically amounts to the same effect anyways. It just looks cooler.
-Kyle is PL 13, whereas my Rond Vidar build was at PL 12 (and also generally less-powerful)- I imagine most Earth Lanterns are around that level. It makes him a bit more powerful than his teammate Wally West, but a step below Wonder Woman & Superman. As a younger hero (like when he was actually a Titan), Kyle's Will lowers dramatically- starting out around a 4, but rapidly gaining until the end of Morrison's JLA run and he becomes a 10.

BZZD, GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 2261
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke
First Appearance: Green Latnern Corps. #12 (July 2007)
PL 12 (210)
STRENGTH[/b] -4 STAMINA -3 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Space Hero) 6 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (GL Blasts) 2 (+9)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Fearless, Improved Critical (Blast), Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

"Apiaton Physiology"
"Tiny Size" Shrinking 16 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [33]
(-4 Strength, -2 Speed, +8 Defenses, +16 Stealth, -8 Intimidation)

Flight 1 (4 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [1]
Senses 3 (Radius Sight, Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (-2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +9 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +9 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +9 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness -3 (+3 Standard Field, +9 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +0, Will +9

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If one fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), they will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Yellow)- Green Lanterns must pass a Will Check in order to use their powers against the colour yellow.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2 (in Bzzd's case, +11). This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 152 / Defenses: 15 (210)

-Bzzd's a toughie, because he's so small, so I had to adjust the base levels of his Defenses because of the combat modifiers of his tiny size. But he's the highest PL of the non-Elite GL level, because he's nigh-impossible to hit, making up for his lower Toughness. He died killing Mongul of all people, so you know he was at a high level. He gets the standard low-level powers of a common bug. It leaves him oddly cheaper than his fellow Lanterns.

GREEN LANTERN (Experienced Template)
PL 12 (202)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Space Hero) 6 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (GL Blasts) 2 (+9)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Fearless, Improved Critical (Blast), Improved Aim, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +9 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +9 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +9 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+10 Standard Field, +16 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If one fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), they will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Yellow)- Green Lanterns must pass a Will Check in order to use their powers against the colour yellow.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2. This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 115 / Defenses: 14 (202)

-The Experienced Template goes to the Lost Lanterns & other very powerful, named background characters that have shown up over the years. They're not just one-shot victims, these are guys who get a full arc before either dying or moving on to other stories. This is a fairly powerful, PL 12 character, and often get additional points added onto them (like Laira & the other Lost Lanterns, Voz, Ch'p, Arisia, Green Man, Bzzd, etc.)

GRAF TOREN- Sector 424- PL 12 (216)
Abilities:
Intelligence 2 [2]
Skills: Expertise (History) 12 (+14), Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 12 (+14) [12]
-Graf is one of the "Lost Lanterns", a Light Monk who's known for his calm demeanor, hunting of the Spider Guild, and philosophical outlook.

VOZ- Sector 571- PL 12 (238)
Abilities:
Strength 8, Stamina 8 [22]
Skills: Expertise (Prison Warden) 12 (+13), Intimidation 10 (+11) [8]
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Power Attack [2]
Powers: "Ape Arms" Reach 1, Senses 3 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision) [4]
-Voz is the Prison Guard of the Sciencells, a brutal gorilla-like dude.

HANNU- Sector 2- PL 12 (257)
Abilities:
Strength 12, Stamina 12, Fighting 8 [40]
Skills: Intimidation 10 (+11), No Ranged Combat [1]
Advantages: No Ranged Attack, Fast Grab, Power Attack [0]
Powers: Protection 1 (Extras: Impervious 13) [14]
-Hannu's pretty cool actually, basically being Ben Grimm with a Power Ring, with the caveat that using a weapon is extremely dishonorable, meaning he never uses it (only one exception: against the Anti-Monitor, which I guess is where your ideal time is) except to fly around and protect others and stuff. Being a powerful hero in addition to his powers makes him furiously expensive, rivalling the Elite Lanterns.

ARISIA- Sector 2815- PL 12 (208)
Abilities:
Presence 3 [4]
Saves: Will +10 [2]
-Arisia is from a long line of Lanterns, and crushes on Hal Jordan, who creepily returns her advances, since he's greying at the temples and she looks like a young teenage girl (this ain't exactly Colossus/Kitty here- they look DECADES apart). She uses the ring to AGE HERSELF UP (oh, those early days of the Rings), thus making the relationship "okay". She was murdered by Major Force, but a half-assed Resurrection (apparently burying her species underground can heal them) in modern times led to her rejoining the Corps as Sodam Yat's partner.

BOODIKKA- Sector 1414- PL 12 (208)
Abilities:
Strength 4 [4]
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Power Attack [2]
-A classic "Woman Warrior" character, Boodikka is aggressive and angry, and dislikes authority. Despite that, she agrees to join the unemotional, cyborg Alpha Lanterns. She is killed by Varix, an Alpha Lantern who'd realized how horrible the group had become, then he killed himself.

KATMA TUI- Sector 1417- PL 12 (208)
Abilities:
Presence 3 [4]
Saves: Will +10 [2]
-Katma is Sinestro's replacement, and became a major GL character- she is rejected by her own people, who now no longer trust Green Lanterns. She starts an adversarial relationship with John Stewart, but soon they fall in love and marry- she is killed by a Star Sapphire while unpowered in her kitchen- a death that still feels somewhat wasteful, especially since it's one of those classic "Refrigeration" deaths that serves only to upset male characters.

TOMAR-RE- Sector 2813- PL 12 (208)
Abilities:
Presence 3 [4]
Saves: Will +10 [2]
-A Xudarian with a head frill and bird-like beak, Tomar-Re is one of the most-iconic background Lanterns. He was killed by the goofy villain Goldface during The Crisis on Infinite Earths.

THE GREEN MAN- Sector 2828- PL 12 (245)
Abilities:
Strength 4 [4]
Advantages: Power Attack [1]
Powers: "Deadly Nerve Toxin in Blood" Affliction 7 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Incapacitated) (Extras: Progressive +2, Reaction +3) (Flaws: Limited to When Bleeding), "Amphibious" Immunity 1 (Drowning), Environment 1 (Underwater) [38]
-The Green Man was a misfit from a race of uniformly-similar beings on Uxor. Unable to reenter his home Space Sector (due to a treaty between the Oans and The Psions of Vega), he becomes a wandering Space Hero- he later joins The Omega Men. He was killed by Durlans in the Invasion! Mini-Series, and replaced by a new guy in modern times. This one becomes an Alpha Lantern, and is killed by Varix.

SALAAK- Sector 1417- PL 13 (226)
Abilities:
Strength 4, Intelligence 5, Awareness 5 [18]
Advantages: Ranged Attack 2 [2]
Powers: Extra Limbs 2 [2]
Saves: Will +10 [2]
-Salaak seemed like a pretty normal GL at first (an early trait was a friendship with Ch'p), but Geoff Johns morphed him into more of a cold, dissociated, yes-man Lantern, hanging out on Oa and basically being the mouthpiece for The Guardians of the Universe. Since the Guardians were more and more jerk-ish over time, this made Salaak into an antagonistic figure, which made it all the better when HE finally got sick of the Guardians' shit and raised hell.

---

GREEN LANTERN (Intermediate/Basic Template)
PL 11 (187), PL 12 (187) With Will Saves Passed
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Space Hero) 5 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (GL Blasts) 2 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Fearless, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +8 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +8 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +8 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+9 Standard Field, +15 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If one fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), they will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Yellow)- Green Lanterns must pass a Will Check in order to use their powers against the colour yellow.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2. This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 115 / Defenses: 11 (187)

-Intermediate Lanterns are a big step up. These are probably the most common type of Lanterns to actually speak up (ie. those guys you see actually communicating with main characters), though they're still remarkably-easy to kill. Funny how in the olden days, one Lantern dying was a huge, full-arc tragedy. Nowadays, if a story doesn't kill five of them it's a let-down. These guys are still the babies of the Corps, but are way more powerful potentially than most Earth superheroes, which just goes to show you how mighty that Ring really is- passing a Will Save is still required to get any effect above +9, though, which is a major drawback if you're tackling the kind of threats a PL 12 might.

MALET DASIM- Sector 103- PL 12 (197)
Skills:
Expertise (Civics) 16 (+17), Expertise (Current Events) 4 (+5) [10]
-Malet is the "Lawyer" of the Corps, prosecuting all the various villains so they can wait in the Sciencells for the next big break-out. He's an ugly tentacled dude, but doesn't really warrant any unique powers. I figure he's not much of a fighter compared to the other Lanterns with similarly long terms.

SAAREK- Sector 773- PL 12 (203)
Powers: Comprehend 2 (Speak To & Understand Dead Bodies), Senses 4 (Postcognition) (Flaws: Limited to Dead Bodies), Mind-Reading 5 [16]
-A handy guy who can read minds and read the dead.

ADAM- Sector 571- PL 12 (209)
Abilities:
Strength 8 [12]
Powers: Immortality 10 (Flaws: Returns Without Memories) [10]
-A big, muscular white dude, Adam resurrects after each death in a new, identical body, but doesn't keep his old memories, causing some problems.

PRINCESS IOLANDE- Sector 1417- PL 12 (195)
Abilities:
Presence 4 [6]
Advantages: Benefit 2 (Princess of Betrassus) [2]
-A background character with recurring problems related to her duties on her home planet.

SORANIK NATU- Sector 1417- PL 12 (198)
Abilities:
Intelligence 3 [4]
Skills: Treatment 12 (+15) [6]
Advantages: Benefit 1 (Champion of Korugar) [1]
-Natu's become a major player in the GL-verse, and a prime candidate for going up to the Experienced level, since she's in love with Kyle Rayner and the daughter of Sinestro.

GPAAK- Sector 3515- PL 12 (197)
Skills: Sleight of Hand 10 (+14) [5]
Powers: Insubstantial 1 [5]
-A master escape artist on par with Mister Miracle (of course, it helps if you're made of frickin' JELL-O).

ISAMOT KOL- Sector 2682- PL 12 (194)
Abilities: Strength +1, Stamina +1 [4]
Powers: "Bite" Strength-Damage +2, "Tail" Extra Limb 1 [3]
-Isamot Kol (named for Phil Tomasi of GL writers' lore) is an alligator-dude from Thanagar, one of their lower races on the homeworld. He's teamed up with Rannian partner Vath Sarn, and both may be great officers some day.

VATH SARN- Sector 2682- PL 12 (187)
-Vath is Isamot's Rannian partner and close partner- the two didn't get along at first (their races are enemies), but soon came to be good friends.

RAKER QUARRIGAT- Sector 38- PL 12 (192)
Skills: Stealth 10 (+13) [5]
-Raker attempted to assault APOKOLIPS of all places, and was humbled by Darkseid in return. There's a disastrous assault by the entire Corps, and Raker becomes a secret guerilla fighter.

MORRO- PL 12 (190)
Skills:
Expertise (History) 6 (+7) [3]
-The Cryptkeeper of the Corps.

JACK T. CHANCE- Sector 17- PL 12 (188)
Advantages:
All-Out Attack [1]
A hilariously-'90s Lantern, he eschewed the costume of the Corps. He was killed in the Sinestro Corps War by a Parralax controlled Kyle Rayner, because "We didn't need another Guy Gardner around", according to Geoff Johns.

GENERAL KREON- Sector 2002- PL 12 (195)
Abilities:
Awareness 3 [2]
Skills:
Expertise (Military) 12 (+13) [6]
-A general of a bloodthirsty race who switched allegiances to try and settle them down. He was a rival of Boodikka's (he considered her an unrestrained, undisciplined fighter), but they eventually became close friends. He is later killed by The Manhunters.

TUEBEEN- Sector 918- PL 12 (201)
Abilities:
None
Skills: Investigation 14 (+16), Insight 11 (+13) [9]
Powers: Immunity 5 (Emotion Effects) [5]
-Tuebeen's one of the best investigators of the Corps, often teaming with Malet Dasim to build cases against criminals. A lack of emotions comes in handy when searching crime scenes.

SODAM YAT- Sector 2263- PL 12 (366)
Abilities: Strength +14, Stamina +14 [56]
Advantages: Close Attack 2 [2]
Powers: Power-Lifting 4 (12,000 tons), "Heat Beam" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2), AE: "Heat Vision" Blast 13 (Feats: Extended Reach), "Ground Pound" Affliction 14 (Strength/Athletics; Hindered & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Both Must Be Grounded, Instant Recovery), Flight 14 (32,000 mph) (Feats: Dynamic), Dynamic AE: Quickness 8 (Feats: Dynamic), Dynamic AE: Speed 10 (2,000 mph) (Feats: Dynamic), Movement 1 (Space Travel 1), Protection 2 (Impervious 13), Immunity 10 (Life Support), Senses 19 (Extended Vision & Hearing 3, Analytical, Low-Light, Infra, Ultra & Microvision 3, Vision Penetrates Concealment, Ultra-Hearing) [121]
Complications: Weakness (Lead), Power Loss (Red Sun)
-Daxamites are just flat-out nuts. Each one is almost as strong as Superman, with all of his powers, so you can imagine how ungodly a Daxamite LANTERN would be. That's the whole point behind Sodam Yat (huh huh, his name is practically "Sodomy"), a new recruit fitted with the "Ion" powers after the writers decided they wanted Kyle Rayner back as a regular ol' GL. He's powerful as nuts, capable of all kinds of stuff (Ions themselves are basically impossible to stat, as they're half-Cosmic Entity), and maybe died in the latest arc, but then came back. He was often stuck without his GL powers, thanks to his being poisoned with lead while on Earth- the Ring uses all of its power to withhold Sodam's death. With his Speed and Strength, he hits PL 12.5 WITHOUT the Ring anyways- he's basically Superman Lite.

SIMON BAZ- Sector 2814- PL 14 (191):
Skills: Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+5) [2]
Advantages: Equipment 2 (Gun) [2]
-The new, Muslim Green Lantern, a rather clumsy, obvious attempt at diversity and pointing out modern politics though "Modern Issues" storytelling. Marvel's Ms. Marvel does a much better job, I think.

TOMAR-TU- Sector 2813: Tomar-Re's son, Tomar-Tu is just a generic background guy who doesn't get up to much.
MEDPHYLL- Sector 586: A Plant Lantern that remained loyal to Hal Jordan, even after the whole Parallax thing. He joined the Darkstars with John Stewart.
STEL- Sector 3009: A robotic Lantern who frequently helps out in background scenes, and often needs to be rebuilt.
FLODO SPAN- Sector 3600: Gaseous Lantern killed while helping Jordan out.
SIMON BAZ- Sector 2814: The new, Muslim Green Lantern, a rather clumsy, obvious attempt at diversity and pointing out modern politics though "Modern Issues" storytelling. Marvel's Ms. Marvel does a much better job, I think.

---

GREEN LANTERN (Rookie/Redshirt Template)
PL 10 (172), PL 12 (172) With Will Saves Passed
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Space Hero) 2 (+3)
Insight 1 (+3)
Intimidation 2 (+3)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (GL Blasts) 2 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +6 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +6 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +6 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3 (+9 Standard Field, +15 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If one fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), they will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Yellow)- Green Lanterns must pass a Will Check in order to use their powers against the colour yellow.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2. This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 115 / Defenses: 6 (172)

-Rookie Lanterns are those guys you see in Basic Training, being called "Poozers" by Kilowog, or those guys you see getting their heads randomly blown-off in big background scenes (Galius Zed's big-head race is highly-prone to this fate, since they're recognizable). They're unprepared for most battles, but still have the raw potency of a Green Lantern ring. Problem being, most of their Will Saves are so low they have a chance of failing a great many of their higher Power Feats, meaning they most usually go for +7-9 Damage on any Ring effects. Physically, GLs are expected to be in good shape, and most of them will have basic investigative skills. Even a crappy GL can hit PL 12 if he REALLY needs to (mostly with Area Effects- their highest Blast is at PL 11, and their Defenses don't go above PL 10 ever- read any Geoff Johns-written book and you'll see why).

GREET- Sector 3443- PL 12 (182)
Skills: Expertise (Chef) 20 (+21) [10]
-Of course there would be a master chef of the universe on Oa. Apparently his sector must be REALLY quiet, because I can't imagine why a fully-fledged Power Ring-toting guy would be relegated to schlepping worm-burgers.

ROT LOP FAN- Sector 911- PL 12 (174)
Powers:
Senses 2 (Radius, Ranged Touch) [2]
-A peculiar Lantern created by Alan Moore, he's classically-weird. He's from a race that evolved in darkness, so he was unable to grasp the concept of light, making him unable to use his Ring properly. Katma Tui had to reshape his battery into a bell shape, and he joined "The F-Sharp Bell Corps".

Others:
WISSEN- Sector 1915: Becomes a God and ruler of his planet, which is thereafter peaceful, but stagnant.
TORQUEMADA: Also a Sorceror.
MOTHER MERCY: The mother of Mongul's infamous Black Mercy plants- she ultimately chooses the Green Ring (over a Sinestro Corps. one) and fights against him. Basically a Plant with high-level Affliction.

---

G'NORT, GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 68 (G'nort Esplanade G'neeshmacher)
Created By:
Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
First Appearance: Justice League International #10 (Feb. 1988)
Role: Joke Hero
Group Affiliation: Justice League International, The Green Lantern Corps., The Darkstars
PL 8 (112), PL 12 (112) With Will Saves Passed
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -2 AWARENESS -2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
None

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +0 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +0 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +0 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 0), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness +0 (+6 Standard Field, +12 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +2, Will +5

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If one fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), they will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Yellow)- Green Lanterns must pass a Will Check in order to use their powers against the colour yellow.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2. This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)
Reputation (Imbecile)- G'nort is comically-worthless at fighting, and everyone knows it. He spends most missions getting himself into trouble.

Total: Abilities: -12 / Skills: 00--0 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 115 / Defenses: 9 (112)

-G'nort is an infamous Joke Hero who is regarded as completely-incompetent and a nuisance. However, he IS still brave, loyal and honorable- something only a few (like Superman) have noticed. He's so awful that the Guardians of the Universe gave him an UNINHABITED Space Sector to patrol. Humorously, despite his complete incompetence, he's packing a Green Lantern Ring that allows him to hit PL 12 regardless. However, with his low Will Save, he'll have a hell of a time hitting any of those attacks. His mental stats are so low as to make him generally-worthless in a fight anyways (he has been shown to be too stupid to read a map).

HAL JORDAN, GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 2814
Created By:
John Broome & Gil Kane
First Appearance: Showcase #22 (Oct. 1959)
Role: He-Man Test Pilot, Man-Whore, Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Green Lantern Corps.
PL 13 (232)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (Military) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+7)
Ranged Combat (GL Blasts) 2 (+11)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+5)
Vehicles 3 (+7)
Vehicles 8 (+15) -- Flaws: Limited to Aircraft

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Fearless, Improved Critical (Blast) 2, Improved Aim, Interpose, Luck, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 6 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +11 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +11 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +11 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+10 Standard Field, +16 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +12

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If Hal fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2 (in Hal's case, 14). This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)
Relationship (Carol Ferris)- The two are continuously-linked to each other over the years.
Relationship (Barry Allen)- The two are old pals.
Relationship (Oliver Queen)- The BEST pals in the DCU were these two.
Responsibility (Rebel)- Rather than the standard military man/cop of the old days, Hal is now a cocky rebel, who often disregards authority and acts like a cocky Fighter Pilot (which is what he is).
Rivalry (Batman)- Batman is one of the few heroes to refuse that Hal Jordan has "reformed" from his days as Parallax, and openly-distrusts him. He never liked Hal's arrogance and lack of deference to others.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 19 / Powers: 115 / Defenses: 20 (232)

-With the success of The Flash concept being revived in 1956, Editor Julius Schwartz decided that recreating ANOTHER successful Golden Age act would be a great idea, and so ordered a new Green Lantern- one different from the old. So John Broome & Gil Kane got together, swiped the origin and concept of the older sci-fi series Lesnman (right down to the "Take up my weapon, Earthman" origin and a race of ancient, powerful Guardians- called Arisians. A clever later GL writer obviously made the connection), and made a successful hero out of Test Pilot Hal Jordan. He had a Love Interest in Carol Ferris (who, entertainingly-enough, was his boss), and a best pal in "Eskimo" mechanic Tom Kalmaku (called "Pieface", because this was 1959- however, he was at least depicted as a competent professional with great skills, so this counts as "Fair For Its Day"). Gardner Fox joined the book, and the creative team stayed the same for about eleven years.
-However, Hal's success didn't extend past the Silver Age (to be fair, few heroes' did), and his book got a "Relevant Issues" upgrade by pairing him with Green Arrow, just before cancellation hit in 1972. Hal was portrayed as the "establishment" and law & order, while Ollie echoed writer Denny O'Neil's leftist/anarchist politics. Hal would take a four-year break (appearing in back-up stories in other books) before restarting his series in 1976- he is replaced as GL by John Stewart during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, rejoins them Post-Crisis, hooks up with Arisia (named for Lesnman's guardians), and becomes part of a bigger Corps with more explanations given as to the members.
-Unfortunately, the 1990s would be unkind to Hal Jordan. His home of Coast City would be destroyed by Darkseid-Lite- I mean MONGUL, and Hal would eventually go nuts. When the Guardians admonished him for trying to recreate the city with his Ring, Hal goes full-on insane, attacks the Corps, steals their Rings, murders Sinestro and Kilowog (the latter is of course a FRIEND), then finishes off the GUARDIANS OF THE UNIVERSE. Becoming the supervillainous Parallax, he gets mixed up with Extant and Zero Hour, and is barely defeated- in the next big arc, he sacrifices his life to reignite the Sun, attempting to make amends. Following this, Hal becomes The Spectre, attempting to become a "Spirit of Redemption" instead of Vengeance, getting his own book (which lasted a mere 27 issues) and appearing in SEVERAL other DC isues for years (including many JSA issues, where he was generally pretty worthless).
-The Hal/Kyle stuff was highly-controversial (largely due to the ham-handed way in which they wiped out Hal, his heroic identity, and the ENTIRE CORPS), but as I got into DC with Hal already being dead, I never felt any love for the character. And when he was brought back in a huge way in 2004, they threw JSA's Geoff Johns on the book, and did gangbusters with it- Johns added a HUGE amount of stuff to the GL Mythos, added an explanation for Hal's out-of-character behavior (Alien Monstrosity, naturally- it even explained away his graying temples!), a new supporting cast (which was COMPLETELY IGNORED the second the other Ring-bearing Corps were introduced), and more. Johns thankfully didn't just dump Kyle, and then he basically reintroduced the entire Corps (including several of the "dead" ones), meaning the last ten years was basically a pointless break that meant nothing- suddenly we had Hal, Kyle, Guy Gardner and John Stewart as basically their own little superhero team, allied with many other beloved characters (and plenty of newbies with an interesting concept or two).
-I kind of ignored the book after Rebirth (which means I have no knowledge of his supporting cast like "Cowgirl" or Hal's brother, because they NEVER APPEAR AGAIN), but picked up the Sinestro Corps War trade and LOVED it- giving Hal's old nemesis his own Corps, complete with insanely-evil characters like Arkillo, Kryb (*shudder*) and more, was a stroke of genius. Especially since we didn't have to deal with his weak-ass Rogues Gallery (I still think the movie would have done better if they hadn't advertised HECTOR FREAKING HAMMOND as a big villain). Of course, Johns then went off the rails and made an ENTIRE EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM, which meant diluting the concept of "energy-wielding Ring-bearers" even more than having *7200* Green Lanterns did! Johns clearly worshipped Hal Jordan as a character (can you imagine HOW ANNOYING it would be for a writer to constantly go on and on about how awesome his favorite characters are? CAN YOU?), but thankfully didn't just have him do everything by himself.
-Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. would keep it up with the big events, and I'd keep collecting it... though I'll be damned if it didn't start to suck after a point. Part of the issue was the endless, unforgiveable evil of The Guardians of Oa, turned by Johns into an increasingly-nasty bunch of emotionless bastards. I swear I purchased some of the worst, most plodding comics I've ever read just to get to the END of that damn story- I HAD to see them punished and killed for their atrocities. I just HAD to.
-In the end... I'm still not really that enamored of Hal Jordan. I came out of all the GL stuff liking several characters more than him- he just comes off as this weird combination of too much of an Alpha Male and BORING (which is an odd combo). I just don't find him that interesting- maybe he's just a bit too sure of himself, without going over the top. Arrogance is a fun character trait in some characters, though in Hal's case it comes off more like self-assuredness due to his skills and talents, which makes it not that funny- it's like the douche who CAN back up his ego, and never receives any comeuppance for it. Also, it comes off like the writers living vicariously through The Ideal Male or something. And OH GOD, his relationship with Carol! SO FREAKING BORING. I cannot imagine two characters with less chemistry- it's like we're just supposed to accept that they're in love and the stars are aligned and all that junk, when really they just seem like there's nothing behind it.

JOHN STEWART, GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 2814
Created By:
Dennis O'Neil & Neal Adams
First Appearance: Green Lantern #87 (Dec. 1971)
Role: Angry Black Man (early on), The Marine (later)
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Green Lantern Corps.
PL 13 (234)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Marine) 7 (+11)
Expertise (Architecture) 7 (+11)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+7)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blast) 2, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 7, Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Aim, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (34)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +11 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +11 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +11 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+11 Standard Field, +16 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +11

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If John fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2 (in John's case, 13). This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)
Relationship (Katma Tui)- John and Katma were married- she was killed by a Star Sapphire.
Reputation (Destroyed Xanshi)- A mistake when John was younger resulted in the destruction of the planet Xanshi. Its sole survivor, Fatality, still occasionally hunts him for his part in this. This KEEPS GETTING BROUGHT UP, especially later on, when he has to mercy-kill Mogo to prevent the Corps from being destroyed.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 115 / Defenses: 18 (234)

-John Stewart was brought in by the early-70s as a possible foil for Hal, being his "Backup" Green Lantern (why do none of the other GLs have any backups, anyways? It always seems like they're rookies), and providing an excuse to deal with the issues of the day. It was Dennis O'Neil's run on the book, see (though it's always funny how "black people exist" becomes a political issue, much like "gay people exist"- O'Neil recounts saying that "we out to have a black GL, not because we're liberals, but beacuse it just makes sense"). So you dealt with racism, apartheid and various other social issues, using a pretty angry black man (which has since been looked back on as a bit of a negative, but considering before him there were pretty much NO black characters, having an 'angry' one- which is hardly a completely-invented concept in the 1970s- is pretty good) as a sounding point.
-Comics and other media of the 1970s would feature this kind of character a lot: an anti-authoritarian, angry black man with a chip on his shoulder- a way of being "in your face" with political issues of the day (very shortly after segregation ended in the Southern U.S., while integration proved difficult all over, with blacks often feeling stigmatized and victimized by aggressive police forces, and marginalized by other whites).
-John was off-and-on for a while, as Hal was always more important (though John was the sole Earth GL during the early '80s), and he got some weird side-stories- he became a Guardian of the Universe, married Katma Tui because only backdrop characters could marry at that time, ran the "Mosaic World" in a much-loved unknown storyline, and accidentally led to the planet Xanshi being destroyed. By the time Kyle Rayner became the "only GL in the universe", he was a Darkstar, basically DC's own in-house rip-off of the GL Corps.
-Again, he was a minor character, but then the Justice League cartoon had started, and they obviously needed a black guy or else it would be a team full of white people (and a green dude), so John controversially became that series' full-time GL. This was miraculous for the character, as they added a history with the U.S. Marine Corps. (which was itself retconned clumsily into John's comic backstory, despite not really jibing with his anti-authoritarian '70s origins), and made him the team's stick-in-the-mud military-esque guy. Of course, he was far more interesting in JL/JLU than he ever was in the comics (my opinion, of course), but he's back as a GL nowadays, as a "fourth man", being far less important than his buddies, but doing most of the Justice League-related stuff in an homage to his cartoon work.
-John is pretty much like Hal, but a bit lesser in a few ways. His Will Save is less impressive, and he has a slightly different (but still potent) skill set, and is more focused on ranged combat than Hal is. John has more Aiming Advantages, though (Precise, Ultimate Aim & Improved Aim)- in the comics, he's the "Sniper" of the Corps, able to use his Create Object power to boost some Improved Range onto his Blasts (a Distracting thing of course) by making an effective super-sniper scope. That kinda thing you just have to handwave sometimes in your games as John using his Marine skills & Aiming Advantages (and maybe spending an HP) to do something that most other GLs can't. John's also a bit more of a team player than Hal, who tends to fly off on his own alot. Notably, despite being a "Sniper", he's only +10 accuracy, because otherwise he'd be higher in PL than all his allies, which doesn't fit the comics- though being a Sniper really isn't the same as aiming in combat.

GUY GARDNER, GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 2814
Created By:
John Broome & Gil Kane
First Appearance: Green Lantern #59 (March 1968)
Role: Boisterous Bruiser, Team Asshole
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Green Lantern Corps., The Red Lantern Corps.
PL 12 (205)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Expertise (Football Player) 3 (+6) -- Uses Strength
Expertise (Social Worker) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 2 (+3)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blast), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 5, Startle, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (34)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +9 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +9 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +9 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+11 Standard Field, +16 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +10

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If Guy fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2 (in Guy's case, 12). This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)
Relationship (Ice)- Guy loves Tora Olafsdotter, despite his clumsy ways of trying to get it across.
Rivalry (Batman)- ONE PUNCH!
Temper- Guy is prone to losing his temper- his Ring constantly sparks with energy, and he often reacts agressively in situations.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 115 / Defenses: 15 (205)

-Guy Gardner has undergone numerous changes over the years- he debuted as a big of a he-man who replaced Hal Jordan tempoararily as Green Lantern of Earth, but Steve Englehart & Joe Staton turned him into a bit of a doofus in the 1980s, making him a jingoistic parody of "red-blooded American males"- Englehart, a hippie at heart, probably took issue with this personality type and wanted to mock it. Exactly how affectionate this parody is depends on the writer. He's a failed athlete who had to work a regular job (he suffered a career-ending Football injury in college) who was an equal candidate for the Green Lantern Ring, but was a bit further away than Hal Jordan when Abin Sur died, and so he was relegated to "back-up duty". When he was injured saving kids from a school bus, he was replaced by John Stewart.
-He received brain damage after some battles, which resulted in his new personality- Guy became an arrogant, agressive, childish asshole. This version would go on to become the iconic personality most often associated with the character, especially on the famous Giffen/DeMatteis JLI run, featuring Guy butting heads with Batman on a frequent basis. The infamous "One Punch!" scene would basically stick with him for his entire career, as would his arguments with his teammates. Around the time Hal went crazy, Guy lost the Ring, becoming "Guy Gardner: Warrior", using Exo-Suit powers, and refused the last GL Ring from Ganthet (this Ring ended up going to Kyle Rayner).
-Gardner ended up getting weirder powers, a Power Rangers-inspired set of Bio-Weapons. He would open a bar called "Warriors", eventually becoming the official hangout of many superheroes in various books (sort of the "Cheers" of the DC Universe). Guy actually seemed really unpopular when I was getting to DC comics in the late '90s- he was called by one fan "what stupid people think cool people are like". However, he maintained his own solo book for a time. When Warrior was finally cancelled, Guy went into Comics Limbo, vanishing into guest-starring roles and being thought-dead after Our Worlds At War. He got a power-upgrade, then vanished again- he would return when Hal Jordan was resurrected, and regained his GL Ring.
-This is the Guy with whom I'm most familiar, and he's actually pretty decent. He still has the hilariously-dated bowl haircut and weird vest, but his obnoxious personality kind of became less-arrogant and more "simplistic and fun", meaning that his teammates didn't immediately call for his head. He wasn't entirely STUPID, but he was overly-blunt, aggressive (without simply acting like a violent Image hero), sometimes said the wrong thing, and more. But he got repeated instances of showing that he DID know right from wrong, he backed up his buddies come Hell or High Water, and he was a cheerful, noble hero and Boisterous Bruiser- amazingly, Guy Gardner had now become LIKEABLE.
-I see Guy as more of a "Standard Elite Lantern" than the PL 13 Kyle, John or Hal, but PL 12 is still VERY powerful indeed. Guy just lacks the defenses or accuracy of the others- his aggressive style leaves him with less "Good Showings" or instances of particularly-strong Willpower.

GUY GARDNER: WARRIOR
Created By:
John Broome & Gil Kane
First Appearance: Green Lantern #59 (March 1968)
Role: Boisterous Bruiser, Team Asshole
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Green Lantern Corps., The Red Lantern Corps.
PL 12 (226)
STRENGTH
3/15 STAMINA 4/15 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Expertise (Football Player) 3 (+6) -- Uses Strength
Expertise (Social Worker) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 2 (+3)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blast), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 5, Startle, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Vuldarian Bio-Weaponry"
Shapeshift 6 [48]
Enhanced Strength 12 [24]
Enhanced Stamina 11 [22]
Flight 10 (500 mph) [20]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) [2]
Regeneration 8 [8]
"Access to Deceased Vuldarians" Variable 2 (Flaws: Limited to Skills) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Shapeshifted Blasts +8 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+11 Standard Field, +16 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +6, Will +10

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If Guy fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2 (in Guy's case, 12). This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)
Relationship (Ice)- Guy loves Tora Olafsdotter, despite his clumsy ways of trying to get it across.
Rivalry (Batman)- ONE PUNCH!
Temper- Guy is prone to losing his temper- his Ring constantly sparks with energy, and he often reacts agressively in situations.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 136 / Defenses: 15 (226)



KILOWOG, GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 674
Created By:
Steve Englehart & Joe Staton
First Appearance: Green Lantern Corps #201 (June 1986)
Role: He-Man Test Pilot, Man-Whore, Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Green Lantern Corps., The Rocket Red Brigade
PL 13 (244)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Military) 2 (+7)
Expertise (Trainer) 8 (+13)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 10 (+12)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Technology 8 (+13)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Close Attack 2, Daze (Intimidation)Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blast) 2, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 9, Startle, Takedown, Ultimate Aim, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [115]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 2 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (31)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Standard Force Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Impervious 7) (13)
"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (141 points)

"Bolovax Vikian Physiology" Features 1: Increased Mass [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Blast +9 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +9 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +12 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +9 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9 (+15 Standard Field, +17 Full Field, +4-11 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +11

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If Kilowog fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2 (in Kilowog's case, 13). This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)
Responsibility (Bolovax Vik)- Kilowog's homeworld was destroyed during the Crisis, and a temporary-replacement (and his entire species) were wiped out by Sinestro later on. As a communal species, Kilowog needs to be in a crowd.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 116 / Defenses: 9 (244)

-Kilowog's probably the most important and recurring non-human Lantern of all time, coming in during the late-80s as the GL Corps' key trainer. He bitches out the "Poozers" on a regular basis (making him very annoying if you read the Trades instead of single issues, as he says that word like 7,000 times), but is ultimately a father-figure to them, and he's one of the toughest all-around Corpsmen. He's come up in various other storylines assisting GLs and other heroes as well, and he was the most important non-John GL in the JLU series too. He witnessed the death of his homeworld, then its replacement (the weirdness of the GL Rings allowed him to carry the souls of his entire species within it for a period), then joined the U.S.S.R. (as his race was Communal) before finding their system flawed. He was thougth-dead during Emerald Twilight, having been disintegrated by an evil Hal Jordan.
-Kilowog is resurrected following the reintroduction of Hal Jordan, by Kyle Rayner & Ganthet- he immediately goes Back To Basics and continues training new GLs. He frequently appears, and is sort of the "Fifth Lantern" after the main group.
-Kilowog is surprisingly BY FAR the most expensive standard Green Lantern I've statted (though Hannu, The Green Man & Sodam Yat are all more expensive, owing to greater racial abilities). This is because he's ALSO a super-genius scientist/builder type (even though that hasn't been shown at all since Hal Jordan's rebirth), in addition to having superhuman strength, toughness and a Power Ring. All of that combined makes one ridiculously powerful hero.

MOGO
Created By:
Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
First Appearance: Green Lantern #188 (May 1985)
Role: Living Planet
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Green Lantern Corps., The Rocket Red Brigade
PL 19 (683), PL 19 (683) Saves
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 26 AGILITY -5
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Expertise (Cosmic Lore) 9 (+13)
Expertise (Space Traveller) 9 (+13)
Intimidation 0 (+3, +18 Size)
Perception 5 (+10)
Persuasion 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Fearless, Great Endurance, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle

Powers:
"Cosmic Being"
Immunity 12 (Aging, Life Support, Sleep) [12]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]

"Cosmic Mind"
Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) [8]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Space) [2]
Immunity 20 (Mental Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]
"Cosmic Sight" Senses 12 (Radius Sight, Extended Vision 8- 1 billion miles, Microvision, Analytical Vision) [12]

"A Living Freaking Planet"
Growth 30 (Str & Sta +30, +30 Mass, +15 Intimidation, -15 Dodge/Parry, +2 Speed, -30 Stealth) -- (192 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [61]
Growth +54 (+84 Mass, -84 Stealth) -- (16,384,000 feet) (Extras: Permanent +0) (Flaws: Limited to Non-STR & STA Gains) [54]
"Planetary Crust" Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 31) [35]
Power-Lifting 31 (25,000 tons) [31]

"Vary His Appearance" Morph 4 (Any Object's Appearance- Paradises, Trees, etc.) [20]
"Antibodies" Summon 5 (Extras: 32 Minions +10, Controlled, Horde, Active) [75]
"Atmosphere" Immunity 3 (Suffocation 2, Vacuum) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, Reaction +3- Those Touching Him) [12]
"Planetary Deflection Field" Enhanced Dodge & Parry 6 [12]

"Phenomenal Cosmic Power"
"Increase Gravity" Move Object 10 (Extras: Perception-Ranged, Area- 4,000 mile Burst +21) (Flaws: Limited to Towards Mogo) (230) -- [236]
Dynamic AE: "Topographical Features" Environment 21 (Impede Movement 2, Cold) (4,000 miles) (Feats: Dynamic) (64)
Dynamic AE: "Plants and Rock" Snare 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3) (Flaws: Touch Range) (49)
Dynamic AE: "Earthquake" Affliction 14 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 500ft. Burst +5) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 250ft. Burst +4) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets) (83)

"Internal Heat" Energy Aura 14 (Flaws: Limited to Those Within His Body) [42]

"Oan Green Lantern Ring" (Flaws: Removable) [105]
(Feats: Restricted- Overcomes Great Fear, Unbreakable)

Create 15 (Feats: Precise, Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 13, Movable 12) (57) -- (81)
Dynamic AE: Blast 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Penetrating 8) (41)
Dynamic AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 5) (Extras: Multiattack) (43)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (33)
Dynamic AE: "Area Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 8) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (33)
Dynamic AE: Snare 14 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (44)
Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Reversible) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (Flaws: Touch Range) (38)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, Suffocation 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, 30ft. Burst, Ranged) (22)
Dynamic AE: "Boosted Field" Force Field 2 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Impervious 15, Affects Others 12) (31)
Dynamic AE: "Flashlight" Environment 1 (Light) (Feats: Dynamic) (2)
Dynamic AE: "Ring Sensors" Senses 7 (Feats: Dynamic) (Detect Energy & Life- Ranged 2 & Analytical, Communication Link- Central Power Battery) (12)
Dynamic AE: Communication (Electronic) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Green Lanterns Only after 3 ranks) (19)

Immunity 8 (Poison, Heat, Cold, Pressure, Vacuum, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (8)
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)
Movement 3 (Space Travel 2, Environmental Adaptation- Zero Gravity) (6)

"Universal Translator" Comprehend 4 (Languages 4) (8)
Enhanced Advantages 5: Equipment 5- Green Lantern Database (5)
Features 2: Quick Change 2 (2)
-- (128 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Earthquake +14 Area (+14 Affliction & +10 Damage, DC 24 & 25)
Move Object +8 Area
Blast +8 (+15 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Multi-Blast +8 (+13 Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Area Blasts +8 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Snare +10 (+14 Ranged Affliction, DC 24)
Area Snare +12 (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Initiative -5

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (+6 Deflection Field, DC 16), Parry +0 (+6 Field, DC 16), Toughness +30 (+16 Impervious), Fortitude +26, Will +12

Complications:
Power Loss (Will)- Green Lantern Rings depend upon the Will of their wielder. If Kilowog fails a Will Save (such as from being intimidated or mentally-screwed with), he will drop Constructs and Force Fields.
Power Loss (Out of Energy)- Power Rings must be recharged via their Lanterns occasionally, and will run out of power after extended use.
Power Loss (High Levels of Power)- Green Lanterns must pass Will Saves to bring their power effects any higher than their natural Will Save +2 (in Mogo's case, 14). This includes Blasts, Move Object & Force Fields.
Responsibility (The Green Lantern Corps)
Weakness (Lack of the Central Power Battery)- Should the Battery be destroyed, Mogo's consciousness will suffer, and he will be largely-unable to defend himself.

Total: Abilities: -72 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 19 / Powers: 685 / Defenses: 37 (683)

-Of all the things I love about comics, perhaps the most significant may be the fact that a possible answer to a question about a Living Planet be "Which One?" Mogo the Living Planet debuted almost twenty years after Marvel's Ego, and is also a sentient, talking Planet. He was only part of one short Moore/Gibbons Green Lantern story, and didn't get up to much. He went inert when Hal Jordan/Parallax destroyed the Central Power Battery of Oa (he needs it to sustain his energies), and was used by an alien race for his resources. He later got brought back by Kyle Rayner, but became a major character post-Rebirth, which him being an important part of the Corps. Mogo came to be known as the mind that sent all the Green Lantern Rings to their proper owners, and without him, this could not happen.
-Mogo was killed during Blackest Night, offering himself in sacrifice to John Stewart (naturally meaning he'd blown up TWO Planets) to prevent the destruction of the Corps. However, he was resurrected only a couple years later, by John & Fatality (then a Star Sapphire), reconnecting what is apparently "a male and female essence" within him (because even PLANETS follow heteronormative standsards, you see).
-Mogo is really high-powered, but not invincible. He's also one of those guys that tests a game system like no others. Gazman went with an "Insubstantial Intelligence that controls his homeworld" for his build of Ego, but I went with the standard "crap-tons of ranks of Growth making a super-tough guy" set-up. And it's pretty funny how the dude needs SO MANY ranks of Growth. He also has a ton of other "planetary" features, creating Environments on a massive scale, tripping guys up, setting off Earthquakes, heating his insides, etc.
-There's a weird thing with a guy this big- at this scale, people can just land on him and walk around. Attacking him at that range is essentially an automatic hit (it's why he has Dodge & Parry only with Ranged Damage).
-Mogo has an Atmosphere (Affects Others Aura Immunity- a cheaper way of getting a HUGE Area effect, since his size means that thousands of people can be touching him at once :)). He alters his form like Ego can (this can effectively make his titanic 4165-mile-wide frame look more mountainous, fluid, cross-hatched- whatever your heart desires). He can also see all around him, and really far across space. Also, good luck overcoming his Fortitude Save. He's also has a GL-esque Will Save. And a completely superfluous Green Lantern Ring I don't think I've ever seen him use.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

JSA 1

Post by Jabroniville »

THE ATOM I (Albert "Al" Pratt)
Created By:
Ben Flinton & Bill O'Conner
First Appearance: All-American Comics #19 (Oct. 1940)
Role: Pint-Sized Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (117)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 5 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Diehard, Daze (Deception), Equipment 3 (Atomobile- Car With Morph- Regular Convertible & Atomobile Forms), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Inspire, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Mary James)- Al felt unworthy of the tall, beautiful Mary at first, but soon gained confidence thanks to his newfound physical fitness. The two were married for a number of years.
Reputation (Short Guy)- Pratt often has trouble being taken seriously due to his 5'1" stature.
Relationship (Terri Rothstein)- Al decided to take care of young Terri after her father Cyclotron was killed.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 17 (117)

-The Golden Age Atom, in spite of his goofy appearance, silly concept, etc., was one of the longest-lasting JSA members, sticking around until their last appearances in 1951 (by contrast, Hourman, Mid-Nite & Terrific were there & gone in a matter of months). Al Pratt's story was apparently influenced by that of Joe "The Mighty Atom" Greenstein, a 5'4" 140 lb. pint-sized Polish Powerhouse who trained as a youth to counteract his ill health. Pratt has a similar story- at 5'1", he was easily-bullied, but was trained by ex-boxer Joe Morgan (the trainer of Wildcat & Guardian) into a fitness fanatic who could hold his own in a brawl.
-Though he was apparently popular and well-liked in his own era, history has declared The Atom to be kinda goofy; a short guy in a silly blue and yellow costume running alongside the JSA. Fair or unfair, it made him an easy target in later years: he was the first guy killed by Extant in Zero Hour. And unlike Hourman, he didn't get a comeback. However, he does have to his name FOUR successors, which is pretty unusual for a fairly weird Golden Ager. The Atom II is DC's resident physicist supreme (taking after Pratt's own physics teaching), Damage is his son by blood, and Atom-Smasher is his Godson. Then there's the short-lived third Atom.
-Al was a reasonably-capable character, fitting a pretty solid Two-Fisted Adventurer build at PL 7.5/8. He's tougher than he looks, but lacks the Intimidation factor of most brawlers, owing to his puny height (5'1" isn't gonna scare anybody). He's a much smarter guy than you'd think, moving on to be a tank driver, soldier and PHYSICIST at Calvin College, but the last bit of that was retroactively-added years later to give him some extra personality.

THE ATOM I (Albert "Al" Pratt)- Powered-Up Version
Created By:
Ben Flinton & Bill O'Conner
First Appearance: All-American Comics #19 (Oct. 1940)
Role: Pint-Sized Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (135)
STRENGTH
3/8 STAMINA 4/8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 2 (+5, +12 Atomic Power)
Deception 5 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Diehard, Daze (Deception), Equipment 3 (Atomobile- Car With Morph- Regular Convertible & Atomobile Forms), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Inspire, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Atomic Physiology"
Enhanced Strength 5 [10]
Enhanced Stamina 4 [8]
Impervious Toughness 3 [3]
Immunity 10 (Radiation Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [5]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Speed 1 (4 mph) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (Mary James)- Al felt unworthy of the tall, beautiful Mary at first, but soon gained confidence thanks to his newfound physical fitness. The two were married for a number of years, but she was suffocated by the villain Vandal Savage and their child Grant kidnapped and turned into Damage.
Reputation (Short Guy)- Pratt often has trouble being taken seriously due to his 5'1" stature.
Relationship (Terri & Al Rothstein)- Al decided to take care of young Terri after her father Cyclotron was killed. He also cares for her son Albert (named after him), who eventually becomes the superhero Nuklon (then Atom-Smasher).

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 28 / Defenses: 13 (135)

-Al's super-powers only got added in 1948, but were only explained retroactively (by- who else?- Roy Thomas) to make him a better fighter, got linked to his godson Nuklon (later Atom-Smasher), as Al's Grandfather was Cyclotron, a villain with a good side who attempted to reform- Cyclotron's radioactive powers imbued The Atom with great strength. Funny, as he got those powers in a story set in 1942, yet never showed up till '48 (but as far as DC continuity errors go, that's a minor snafu). His accuracy & Defenses go down a bit (I don't see him as a PL 10 hero in any incarnation), but his power takes a boost.

DAMAGE (Grant Emerson)
Created By:
Tom Joyner & Bill Marimon
First Appearance: Damage #1 (April 1994)
Role: Angry Guy, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Titans, The Freedom Fighters, The Justice Society of America
PL 12 (112)
STRENGTH
2/6 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 8 (+8)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Damage Energy"
Damage 12 (Feats: Triggered- Being Attacked, Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst, Penetrating 6) (Flaws: Fades) (Drawbacks: Full Power -1) (42) -- [44]
Dynamic AE: Enhanced Strength 4 & Strength-Damage +4 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (21)
Dynamic AE: Leaping 6 (500 feet) (Feats: Dynamic) (7)

Features 1: Can Spend a Hero Point to Double Area on Burst (120 feet) [1]
Protection 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Enhanced Power +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Scarred)- Damage was horribly scarred by Professor Zoom when The Secret Society attacked and massacred The Freedom Fighters. He wears a mask out of shame, and is highly disgusted by his appearance. When Gog changes him into a hottie, he immediately gets a big head and acts like a douche.
Reputation (Destructive Hero)- Damage's powers are highly-dangerous and often cause damage to the general area and teammates alike. He once destroyed a large portion of downtown Atlanta, and became a fugitive beacuse of it. Even as a JSA member, he was not allowed in the state of Georgia.
Relationship (Judomaster)- Damage got a crush on his Japanese teammate, and they hooked up despite a language barrier (and his ruined face).
Responsibility (Out of Control Powers)- Damage can often put "too much" into his attacks, and accidentally blow up a much larger area than he wanted to- since he spends most of his time on super-teams, this is a problem.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 10 (112)

-Damage has got to have one of the weirdest places in all of DC canon by this point. He just doesn't FIT IN anywhere; the guy's the stolen son of Al (The Atom I) Pratt, infused with the genes of every hero ever just about, and raised by evil corporate people. Damage debuted in his own series, which soon failed- the early '90s was NOT the time to debut a complete unknown in his own book- usually, characters have to cameo, are a sidekick, or draw some popularity from somewhere. Damage spent the early part of his heroic career as a Titan, teaming up with the Arsenal-led squad that quickly failed. He was forced on writer Devin Grayson's Titans run (ie. she was forced to use him by interfering Editors- a Titans Trademark), where she felt she couldn't get a good hold on the character until she found out that he'd been abused by his adopted parents (she has something similar in her own backstory). Alas, this was also the moment he quit the Titans.
-He reappeared with The Freedom Fighters, being completely decimated by Professor Zoom and thrown into a smokestack at the beginning of Infinite Crisis. With a ruined face, he became incredibly bitter and changed his character completely, necessitating the Justice Society recruiting him. Given an awesome new costume (one originally meant for Atom Smasher, given the preview art of the Johns/Eaglesham/Ross JSA series), he was a gigantic, bitter ass, acting like a '90s Anti-Hero and insulting everyone around him. Openly disrespectful, he ended up making time with the new Judomaster despite a language barrier, and finally went back to the good side after getting what he thought he wanted from the Cosmic Genie known as Gog. He ended up in the JSA All-Stars series (a spin-off of the successful JSA book, which happened way too late since Johns had left by that point, and the new books weren't so hot), but was chosen as one of the random victims of Blackest Night, having his heart torn out.
-Of course, this was basically forced the All-Stars writer Matt Sturges, who said "that's just one of those things that happens"- it even created a continuity error between issues because it was so sudden! And so Damage, once given a solo push of his very own, was written out of the DC Universe.
-Wow, talk about not costing the points the build would expect. Problem with Grant is that he's got very little true characterization in spite of it all, leaving him with very few skills (he spent some time with Arsenal's tribe, so I figured he'd have some Survival skills, but that's it) and feats, it having been established that he's just not that good a hero yet. But then he's got this monstrously damaging power, sometimes getting a little bit out of hand by the writers (destroying Atlanta? Restarting the Universe?), but lacks control over it, thus he's got a +12 Damage Area Effect. Plus he's got a 1-point Drawback because he can't lower its power.

NUKLON (Albert "Al" Rothstein)
Created By:[/b] Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Aw-Shucks Nice Guy, Powerhouse, Growing Guy
PL 9 (104)
STRENGTH
6/8 STAMINA 6/8 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Basketball Star) 4 (+6) -- Uses Agility
Expertise (History) 4 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 4 (+5)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 4, Takedown

Powers:
Insubstantial 4 (20) -- [21]
AE: Growth 2 (Str & Sta +2, +2 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -2 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (4) & Growth +4 (Str & Sta +6, +6 Mass, +3 Intimidation, -3 Dodge/Parry, -6 Stealth) -- (18 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Non-STR & STA Growths) (4)

Saves:
Toughness +8 (+12 Size), Fortitude +8/+12, Reflex +4, Will +4

Combat:
Attack +7 (+9 Melee, +7 Giant Size), Damage +8 (+11 Giant Size), Defense +6 (+8 Dodge, +6 Giant Size), Initiative +2

Complications:
Relationship (Mother, Terri Rothstein)
Responsibility (The Legacy of Al Pratt, the Original "Atom")- Albert wants to live up to the legacy of his beloved Godfather, the original Atom.
Responsibility (Non-Combative Nice Guy)- Even his government psychological profiling mentions that Al hates conflict, and desperately tries to avoid it by acting as the team's peacemaker. This status often leaves him with the reputation as a harmless pushover.
Relationship (Lyta Hall)- Al has loved Lyta ever since they first met as children- he pined for her so openly that the ENTIRE TEAM figured it out. He felt guilt over it, since she loved his friend Hector so much. This was dropped once Infinity, Inc. ended.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 21 / Defenses: 13 (104)

-Oh, Al, what a ride it's been for you as a character. Starting out as the ridiculous-looked mohawked Infinity, Inc. member Nuklon, Al was initially shown as a loner-type, tentative, good-natured guy who followed in his Godfather's footsteps. Partially-raised by Al Pratt, aka the Golden Age Atom, Al joined the Infinitors on a whim (retroactively-written as him hero-worshipping the JSA since childhood in the modern era), and stuck with them their whole run, watching team members die and enter Comics Limbo. Al at this age was rather funny, as he cut his hair into a mohawk in his first appearance, for seemingly NO REASON. He wasn't a punk at all, or a bad-ass or some kind of macho man- he just did it on a whim, for the hell of it. No real explanation. This has the side-effect of him being EASILY the most-dated member of his entire team (though thankfully not the worst-dressed).
-For the entire bunch of books that I got for cheap (20 issues for 6 bucks), Al is reguarly depicted as this nice-guy loser, despite his huge size & odd appearance. Much more shy & good-natured than the rest of the cast, who were WELL into the '80s as far as Whiny Angst is concerned ("Waah! I'm Wonder Woman's rebellious daughter!" "Waah! I'm Hawkman & Hawkgirl's kid, and I'm pampered and jealous of real super-powers!" "Wah! I didn't know my daddy was GL, and my adopted dad beat me, and I hate rich people!"). Seriously- they're an annoying, twerpy bunch.
-His indecisiveness and shy personality were MAJOR factors early on with his character- he followed the others easily, tried to stop disputes, and was generally a sweetheart that the girls walked all over. Relationships never really went well for Al in ANY era, I guess. Despite a bit of crushing on Yolanda "Hot Latina Wildcat" Montez, he was CLEARLY carrying a massive torch for childhood galpal Lyta Trevor, despite her being in love with his buddy Hector Hall (he felt so dirty when they started talkin' cute- he wanted to tell her that he loved her, but the point was probably moot). It was so sad that the ENTIRE rest of the team picked up on it, but knew he wasn't a threat at all because he was just "shy old Al" would never try anything. I mean, he was THAT PATHETIC. Poor bastard even PROPOSED to a pregnant Lyta after Hector was killed, and she just laughed him off and said he was sweet, but "just a friend". Yeah, a PREGNANT WIDOW turned him down and laughed at the idea- poor Al. Then Yolanda found out and basically shut him down, too. He got stuffed onto one of the REALLY bad Justice League eras soon after, that team flopping HARD and being replaced by the triumphant Grant Morrison JLA in their first issue.
-Infinity Inc. were pretty minor heroes, not that powerful for the most part, and PL 9 at maximum, by my guess. Young Al was no exception; being more of a pretty-strong tough guy who all of a sudden got Super-Strength and Growth powers... then all of a sudden became Insubstantial as well! This weird set-up gave him an odd place in a team that ALREADY HAD an insubsantial guy (Obsidian), and TWO people of much greater strength than he (Fury & Power Girl), which kind of shows you how much of a mess that series looked in retrospect. He's a VERY low-pointed fellow, despite being better in a fight than Northwind and a few others, coming up shorter than anyone who's not a female successor to a male hero.

ATOM SMASHER (Albert "Al" Rothstein)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Powerhouse, Growing Guy, Fallen Hero, Redemption Seeker
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., The Justice Society of America, Black Adam's Invaders, The Suicide Squad
PL 11 (142)
STRENGTH
8/13 STAMINA 9/14 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (History) 5 (+5)
Expertise (Basketball Star) 3 (+4) -- Uses Agility
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 8 (+9, +10-16 Size)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Technology 2 (+2)
Vehicles 7 (+7)

Advantages:
Daze (Intimdiation), Diehard, Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Startle, Takedown 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
Growth 5 (Str & Sta +5, +5 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -5 Stealth) -- (24 feet) [10]
Growth +9 (+14 Mass, +7 Intimidation, -7 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -14 Stealth) -- (72 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Non-ST & STA Growths) [9]
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 2 (Flaws: Limited to While Grown) [2]
Protection 2 (Flaws: Limited to Largest Sizes) [1]

"Giant Fists & Feet" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Largest Sizes) (11) -- [12]
AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 10 (Strength; Dazed & Prone/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Both Must Be Grounded) (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Largest Size +9 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Area Attacks +11 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
"Normal Size" Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +9, Fortitude +9, Will +6
"Usual Heigh- 24 Feet Tall" Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +14, Fortitude +14, Will +6
"72 Feet Tall" Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +16, Fortitude +14, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Mother, Terri Rothstein)- When she is killed in a terrorist attack, Al retreats emotionally, giving in to his rage and darkest emotions. He later murders the supervillain Extant to save her life.
Responsibility (The Legacy of Al Pratt, the Original "Atom")- Albert wants to live up to the legacy of his beloved Godfather, the original Atom.
Relationship (Courtney Whitmore- Stargirl)- Al took a mentorly approach to the young girl for months (being nice to her when the other younger members kind of treated her like a pain), but things eventually blossomed into something more. It seemed largely brotherly on his end, but definitely not on Stargirl's. But oh yes, he definitely lovers her.
Motivation (Redemption)- Albert became a conqueror when he rejected the JSA's old-fashioned style of justice, and helped Black Adam take over the dictatorship-ridden nation of Khandaq. However, he soon realized the error of his ways, and now seeks to redeem himself, first by turning himself in, then rejoining the JSA.
Motivation (Guilt)- He wants redemption, but he also feels tremendous guilt. He feels horrible about what happened to Khandaq (especially since the people look up to him), and believes that he doesn't deserve Courtney's love.
Relationship (Black Adam)- Albert hated Adam at first, refusing to believe that this villain could "go straight". When Adam tells Al exactly what he needs to hear regarding his status as a murderer, Al soon takes Adam's side in the "Heroes Don't Kill" debate, and runs off with him to Khandaq. Even after realizing the error of his ways, Al is unwilling to see Adam or Khandaq harmed- Al rescues Adam in secret when he loses his powers, and is conflicted whenever he is sent against Adam in the field. He sees Adam as an older brother figure (though HOLY HELL it is easy to read gay subtext into things).
Reputation (Killer)- Al killed dozens while invading Khandaq, and is still treated like a monster by many people.
Responsibility (Wishy-Washy)- Al is often deeply-conflicted about what actions he should take. He killed Extant, but later regretted it. He quit the JSA and helped Black Adam take over Khandaq, but felt intense guilt over THAT, too.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 13 (142)

**Warning, Fanboyish ranting for one's favorite DC character ahead.**

-After flopping in the "REALLY crappy years" JLA team (though he did get to sleep with Fire), it seemed like Albert Rothstein was done as a character.... Until the JSA relaunch in the late-90s, which featured him dropping the stupid haircut and '80s-looking costume, and redressing to look more like he did in Kingdom Come, as Atom Smasher, using a modification of his old mentor's codename & costume (Pratt had since died in Zero Hour). Al was shown as the same sweet, good-natured guy he was before, hanging out with young Courtney Whitmore (aka Star-Spangled Kid II) when nobody else gave her much time. That blossomed a bit to Courtney hanging around him as one of the official pairings of teammates, with maybe a hint of affection (the series showed the two of them married in the future). That all changed when his mother died, killed by the terrorist actions of Kobra (not THAT one...). Black Canary noted that the experience "HARDENED him", as Al grows more violent and unable to deal with others' crap (he frequently antagonizes the ex-villain Black Adam, unwilling to accept that he was a different person than he once was).
-He was able to save his mother by using a time portal-thingie to throw Al Pratt's murderer into her place on that fateful plane- a 100% understandable, largely-necessary action (I mean, Extant is powerful enough to ALTER REALITY with the blink of an eye- dude had to be stopped; and who WOULDN'T save their own mother in that situation?) but this made Al a killer, something he wasn't comfortable with. He was full of turmoil over it, until new JSA member Black Adam, himself a killer in an older life, told Al EXACTLY what he wanted and needed to hear (that it was the right decision- that Adam commended his actions), that Al got over it, and embraced the way he now thought heroes should be, with Black Adam as a new older brother figure, replacing Al Pratt in his life.
-Al eventually quit the JSA in a huff when they backed down from a threat by Kobra, and went off with Black Adam, leaving poor Stargirl heartbroken, and the rest of the JSA disappointed. The Kahndaq invasion made Albert a killer yet again (he was forced by Adam to literally squash the evil dictator beneath his heel), as he was forced to do horrible things for what he thought was right- Adam's team unseated a monstrous dictator sure, but it left the aggressive, dangerous Adam in charge of a whole country. His tentativeness & wishy-washiness showed itself yet another time, as on a later mission with the JSA, he argued with Courtney over his actions (when she witnesses her own family being murdered, he just coldly says "I'm sorry it happened to you, Courtney- but now you know how I FELT"), but ultimately realized he wanted his "real" family back, rejecting Black Adam's violence. When he died horribly fighting the Spectre himself to save Khandaq (on one of his requisite evil-controlled rampages that he tends to go on), poor Stargirl fell apart emotionally by his dead body. Black Adam, distraught over losing his "younger brother", called forth the power of Shazam to revive Al in one of the series' most powerful moments, and he was brought back to the U.S., where he surrendered and went to prison.
-With Stargirl telling reporters that she would "...wait for him. No matter how long it takes" (pretty much making her feelings for him REALLY obvious by this point), Al prepared for a long stay in jail, but was sprung by Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad. He failed to take down Black Adam several times after that, but still showed a bit of loyalty. Al was still indecisive as hell, though. He followed the Suicide Squad blindly and paid for it (he was an accessory to a teammate's death, as planned by Waller). He joined up with the JSA-led force to bring Black Adam in after he massacred the ENTIRE COUNTRY of Bialya, but after confronting Adam ("tell me it wasn't you..."), he ended up saving the man's life and aided him in spiriting away from justice. Finally, he rejoined the JSA, but he & Stargirl never ended up together, since it's a) Comics, and b) various chicanery involving complex moral reasoning and magical stories. Johnny Sorrow used Al's body to gain "True Love's First Kiss" from Courtney to cast a spell, and Courtney was so weirded out that she "needed some time" to think things over. The fact that most fans supported her & Captain Marvel more probably didn't help. By the time the main DC continuity ended, Al was back on the JSA with a writer who loved the character, but... well, stuff happened.
-God, I'm such a dork, writing all that like I'm in love with the guy myself :). I'll deny it to everyone who accuses me of it, though! But yeah, I love this character. They took a nobody, forgotten character and brought him out as a major JSA member, making him the most fascinating character study of the entire book, because he just couldn't decide things one way or another. He was indecisive and tentative, crossing the "No Killing" line and then giving us one of the most interesting conversations about it in comics (most heroes just TOE that line, not go flying over it again and again), as he eventually crossed back the other way, realizing that it was going too far. This is a lot more interesting than most stories, which just go "Killing is WRONG" and leave it at that. And to me, people who do the WRONG thing are often much more interesting than people who always do the RIGHT thing- to err is human, after all. It makes him identifiable and human, especially because you can ALWAYS see his reasoning, even if it's warped by anger and fear. And Al's history is FULL of errors- this gives him a well-rounded, more human nature than a lot of characters.
-Of course, Atom Smasher in JLU was a backgrounder of backgrounders- despite showing up frequently (like Shining Knight, he took up a lot of room, saving space), he never actually got any REAL dialogue, and his scene of largest focus was him getting beaten up by the supreme machine, The Annihilator. He got a bit more play in the book of the show, but that was it.
-Statting Atom Smasher is a little tough, because he's ALREADY Super-Strong in his base form (he's 7'6" regularly, though the cartoon defaulted at a 20-foot-ish height), yet ALSO has the Growth Power at high levels, which would give him an INSANE boost. So I settled on just removing some Strength & Stamina from his max height, allowing him to reach PL limits easily. PL 11 is a good spot- he was REALLY tough, but he was still mainly an inaccurate Powerhouse, and so far below most Flying Bricks that it was comical to see him brawling with the likes of Black Adam (the eternal problem of Growing Guys in a medium where the Flying Bricks are ALWAYS the top-tier powerhouses). Al's fighting style is that of a grappler, with lots of Grab-based stuff, plus his Groundstrike attack. His power is enough that he's single-handedly defeated more than a few JSA foes, held down Adam for short periods of time, crushed a fighter jet with one hand, and demolished half the JSA by himself in Khandaq (Stargirl, Mr. Terrific, Dr. Mid-Nite & Power Girl- all with a single shot each) and has taken punches from some of the A-list powerhouses of the DC Universe and stayed alive.

WHIP (Rodrigo "Rodney" Gaynor)
Created By:
Paul Gustavson
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (79)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Whip) 2 (+10)
Deception 5 (+7)
Insight 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Equipment 1 (Whip- Reach 3 on Damage), Improved Critical (Whip), Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Minion 4 (Horse- King)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Whip +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Gaynor fights the evil Landlords who mercilessly tax the poor.
Relationship (Vigilante)- The two occasionally team up.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (79)

-The Whip debuted in The Flash's solo series, nothing more than a Zorro knock-off who focused on the whip instead of the sword. There's no evidence he was anything but forgettable, and he briefly appeared in the All-Star Squadron series, and is descended from Don Fernando Suarez, a guy from 1840s Mexico. He's unrelated to the second Whip, named Johnny Lash, from a Quality Comics book, and got a successor (Shelly Gaynor, his granddaughter) who was killed in that Seven Soldiers thing Grant Morrison wrote in the 2000s. An assassin with the same name appeared as one of the League of Assassins in the NuDCU, apparently unrelated.
-Mild combat abilities and a focus on the whip make for a pretty easy PL 6 build. He's also got a horse since, y'know, Zorro.

THE SANDMAN I (Wesley Dodds)
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Bert Christman
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #40 (July 1939)
Role: Golden Age Pulp Detective
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Justice Society of America
PL 7 (129)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 7 (+8)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 3 (+8)
Investigation 11 (+16)
Perception 3 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 4 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Contacts, Defensive Attack, Equipment 2 (Gas Mask, Assorted Detective Equipment, Wirepoon Gun- Swinging), Improved Aim, Improved Disarm, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 2, Skill Mastery (Investigation), Teamwork, Track, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Gas Gun" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [13]
Affliction 7 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Area- 15ft. Cloud, Cumulative) (21 points)

"Prophetic Dreams" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to While Asleep) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Gas Gun +7 Area (+7 Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Dian Belmont)- Wesley's true love is Dian, his equal partner in the war on crime. They were together until she died of a terminal disease, well into their old age.
Motivation (Justice)- Wesley fights to ensure justice is done.
Relationship (Sandy the Golden Boy)- Wesley was close to his Teen Sidekick.
Guilt (Sandy's Transformation)- Years and years ago, Wesley was experimenting with a silicate gun, and transformed his Teen Sidekick into an unstoppable sand monster. He trapped Sandy in a glass case with only a television for company for years, and never stopped feeling guilty about this turn of events.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 13 (129)

-Wesley Dodds is one of those guys who has a weird history in that he was a FAR bigger deal in the modern age than he ever was in the Golden Age. In reality, he was a pretty minor super-hero in his day, known mainly for A) appearing in the debut of the Justice Society, and B) Being redone by Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris in a more-trendy "All Tights" yellow & purple spandex outfit. It wasn't until the JSA revival in the '60s, the All-Star Squadron in the '80s, and most importantly, the '90s Sandman Mystery Theatre stories, that gave him any kind of real clout. Curiously, the garish yellow & purple costumed era has been almost entirely forgotten, even though he spent the majority of his Golden Age career in that form (that's also where he gained his sidekick Sandy, who in appearance and concept was just a straight knock-off of the general Teen Sidekick concept). Retroactively, it's been shown as a short-lived switch, and stories set in that era will 9 times out of 10 show him as the familiar pulp hero in suit and gas-mask that most people would recognize, even with a tights-clad Sandy next to him (and yes, that looks very weird).
-So yeah, Wesley was very much a guy in the tradition of "Pulp Magazines", being a creepy-looking, hard-bitten detective with an exotic "gas gun" that could make villains tell the truth, then fall asleep. Like many Pulp heroes, he'd even get SHOT on occasion! His girlfriend Dian was actually treated like a real partner, and they shockingly didn't bother with the whole "She musn't find out my secret identity!" thing. Two years into his run, he was given a set of tights, a Teen Sidekick (Dian's nephew Sandy), and a career as a soldier in WWII. Soon after, he began being written by Jack Kirby & Joe Simon, not long after their Captain America run- the new look & Sidekick were a natural fit. He was largely-forgotten, and only appeared infrequently in the subsequent Golden Age-themed books in later eras (and was one of many JSAers turned into an old man around Zero Hour), but a five-year Mystery Theatre series for Vertigo gave him a new lease on life, with stories set back in the day. He willingly committed suicide at the opening of the new JSA series in order to prevent Mordru from gaining knowledge of the next Doctor Fate, a hero to the last.
-There was a second Sandman that appeared in the mid-1970s as a one-shot that turned into a six-issue Limited Series, done by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. His costume is SPECTACULARLY awful, and I forgot about him completely- there's only a small bit in the JSA series that involves this Sandman, and OH MY GOD IS IT STUPID AND CONFUSING. Just all kinds of weird goofiness going on. This guy is supposed to be the Sandman of mythology, and fights sentient nightmares alongside Brute & Glob, a pair of nightmares he's freed to work for him. The series was apparently quite juvenile, and had stuff like Garrett looking in on Wonder Woman's naughty sex dreams. Garrett was later revealed to have grown depressed in his lonely existence, and TAKEN HIS OWN LIFE, being replaced by the then-deceased Hector Hall (who later became the successor to Dr. Fate as well).
-Wesley, like a TON of Golden Agers, is a Skillmonkey of sorts, this time with a big focus on the detective skills (Batman's given Wes his props in that regard; no small feat). His prophetic dreams and gas gun eat up some more points as well. It should be noted that he's pretty good physically, but lacks the in-close power of his fellow non-powered guys- he works far better as a sneaky guy and team detective. Dodds is definitely no brawler- at only PL 7, he'd have a solid fight on his hands against mere PL 4 Street Thugs, and most real super-villains would eat him for breakfast.

SANDY THE GOLDEN BOY (Sanderson Hawkins)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #69 (Dec. 1941)
Role: Bucky Knock-Off, Teen Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Justice Society of America
PL 6 (68)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Athletics 4 (+4)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Deception 4 (+4)
Investigation 5 (+6)
Perception 3 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Daze (Deception), Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (The Sandman)- Sandy desperately looks up to his mentor.
Enemy (Johnny Sorrow)- The failed actor is obsessed with revenge on Sandy, for an incident in which he accidentally sent the villain into a horrifying universe.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (68)

-Sandy the Golden Boy was introduced in 1941 in an attempt at making The Sandman more like the more popular heroes of the day. Not only did Wes gain a set of garish tights, but he got a Boy Sidekick in the tradition of Robin, Speedy, Bucky and more. In fact, Sandy is SO SIMILAR to Bucky that he looks like an out & out rip-off- check the costume. It's basically a yellow recolour of Bucky Barnes' gear! Curiously, history would repeat itself AGAIN between these two, as Sandy got a Bad-Ass Military-Type Upgrade in the late '90s... and BUCKY would follow him a decade later!
-Sandy is a pretty standard Sidekick, though REALLY low-level and ineffective in battle. I mean, he's a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD BOY, helping out a PL 7-8ish hero, so he's obviously going to be a lower-end version of Wesley Dodds. That leaves him barely better than your average Thug, but I can see that being pretty accurate. After all, this is just a guy the JSA had sort of hang around, occasionally helping.

SAND (Sanderson Hawkins, aka Sandy the Golden Boy, The Sandman IV)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #69 (Dec. 1941)
Role: Bucky Knock-Off, Teen Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Justice Society of America
PL 10 (204)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 6 (+8)
Technology 4 (+6)
Investigation 10 (+13)
Expertise (History) 7 (+9)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8) -- Flaws: Limited to Earth Sciences
Perception 3 (+6)
Insight 3 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Defensive Attack, Equipment 3 (Guns, Wirepoon Gun), Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Teamwork, Well-Informed

Powers:
Movement 3 (Permeate 3) (Flaws: Limited to Silicates) [3]
"Prophetic Dreams" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to While Sleeping) [2]
"Tremorsense" Senses 4 (Accurate Ranged Radius Touch) (Quirks: Limited to Grounded Targets) [3]

"Silicate Form"
Insubstantial 1 (Feats: Innate, Selective, Subtle) [8]
Immunity 4 (Suffocation, Pressure, Poison, Starvation) (Flaws: Only While Insubstantial) [2]
Immunity 40 (Bludgeoning, Slashing & Piercing Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [20]

"Rock Grab" Snare 10 (30) -- [37]
AE: "Earth Control" Move Object 10 (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (Flaws: Limited to Silicates) (20)
AE: Burrowing 16 (4,000 mph) (Feats: Subtle) (17)
AE: Rock Blast 10 (20)
AE: "Earth to Mud" Environment 6 (Impede Movement 2) (12)
AE: Magma Blast 10 (Feats: Indirect) (Extras: Secondary Effect 7) (28)
AE: "Sand in The Eyes" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Extras: Attack, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (10)
AE: "Sand Man" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Flaws: Limited to While Within Sand) (2)

"Gas Gun" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [13]
Affliction 7 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Area- 15ft. Cloud, Cumulative) (21 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Gas Gun +7 Area (+7 Affliction, DC 17)
Rock Grab +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Earth & Magma Blasts +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Relationship (The Sandman)- Sandy desperately looks up to his mentor.
Enemy (Johnny Sorrow)- The failed actor is obsessed with revenge on Sandy, for an incident in which he accidentally sent the villain into a horrifying universe.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 88 / Defenses: 15 (204)

-The former Golden Boy's come quite a way. I mean, he was basically completely forgotten to history- much like Mr. Terrific I, he was casually "removed from play" in an old JLA/JSA cross-over so we wouldn't have to deal with him mucking up original JSA meetings (he got turned into a Sand Monster by Wesley), Sandman Mystery Theatre treated him like a fictional character, and he basically did nothing until the Johns/Goyer/Robinson JSA big return, when out of nowhere, he becomes a charter member and leader of the team. But his history gets weirder, as NOBODY wants "normal guy with sleep gas" leading the team, so he suddenly turns into a silicate being with advanced Earth Control powers, shifting tectonic plates around and stuff like that. There was a brief thing where Atom-Smasher accused him of being like a guy who wanted to BUY his place on a super-hero team (Sandy had formed a JSA Museum and used a Manhattan Brownstone as a meeting place for the old-schoolers), but it wasn't taken any further than that. And here's where it gets even weirder- you know how you can always tell when a writer has favourites on a team book? Well, it's really obvious when they DON'T, as well.
-Y'see, once Geoff Johns gained a foothold in the book (soon taking the Lion's Share from Goyer & Robinson, then becoming sole writer), his favorite, Mr. Terrific II, comes in and takes leadership right after a Sand/Hawkman fight over bossing around team members, and that's the last we see of Sand as leader. And what's more, Sandy doesn't even seem PISSED about it or bring it up later. He just goes "OK, Terrific, it's your turn" and calmly steps aside into being a supporting character. And he REALLY vanishes from the book- his crush on Hawkgirl is dropped, he'd get written out by being trapped in the Earth's crust, and by the JSA re-debut, he's all of a sudden in full Sandman IV mode, being a detective/dreamer. JSA's run has been pretty legendary for making sucky characters cool again, and Sand is no exception; in spite of his being removed from a major role in the series (in favor of obvious Johns faves Stargirl, Terrific & Mid-Nite), he became a big super-hero again, after years of obscurity.
-Alas, he didn't get up to much after all, being largely ignored in the 30-man JSA Squad, and really only had a tangential role in JSA All-Stars. His goofy-looking version of the Sandman Mask probably didn't help, and waering a trenchcoat, he looked REALLY dumb floating through the Earth.
-Sandy, now mixing an adult's experience, Detective Skills, Prophetic Dreams, a Gas Gun and now extremely versatile EARTH POWERS, is a rather costly fellow. He's sped through the entire earth in minutes, staggered guys like Black Adam with earthquakes, had bullets go straight through him, shot up magma, and disappeared into the ground. He's still a fully-balanced PL 10 guy, but he's got a LOT of options.

WILDCAT III (Tom Bronson)
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham (sorta Alex Ross & Mark Waid)
First Appearance: The Justice Society of America #1 (Feb. 2007)
Role: Legacy Character, Animal Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 7 (92)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+9)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 6 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard

Powers:
"Werepanther"
"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended & Ultra-Hearing) [5]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
"Natural Weapons- Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

"Cat Agility"
"Climbing Skills" Enhanced Skills 4: Athletics 4 (+13) (Flaws: Limited to Climbing) [1]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]

"Black Coat" Enhanced Skills 4: Stealth 4 (+10) (Flaws: Limited to Dark Areas) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Claws +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Ted Grant)- Tom doesn't hate Ted for having a one-night stand with his mom years ago, but doesn't particularly care for a relationship, either. It's only Ted's stubborness that brings the two a bit closer together, though Tom just seems annoyed by his dad's rough attention.
Normal Identity (Tom Bronson)- Tom has to transform into a wildcat to use any of his abilities. Tom's stats are ST 1, STA 1, AGI 2, FIGHTING 4.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 10 (92)

-Another "Alex Ross sorta created him, so let's make him be born now" character (joining Cyclone & Starman VIII), Wildcat III is based off of the appearance of the bitchin' looking black panther guy in Kingdom Come, produced here as a "long-lost son" kind of guy. Tom is a cynical young adult who appears sarcastic towards superheroics, but nonetheless reveals his Werepanther nature during the fight against Vandal Savage. The neatest part of the relationship (aside from the fact that OF COURSE Ted has illegitimate children!) was that it was the opposite of what you usually see- TOM wasn't interested in a relationship with his dad, and said so- he wasn't bitter about Ted not remembering his mom or any of that. It was TED who was the one who wanted a relationship- this gruff, tough old guy is basically like "Hey, hold on a second..." and tries to form a relationship of sorts with the only family he's got left.
-A purely '"newbie" hero, he didn't even really know how to fight or anything like that, and sort of failed to develop into an elite fighter later on- he was just kind of a background guy. More often than not, he was lectured by the others (usually Ted) on how bad he was doing ("you're giving yourself away with that tail of yours"). Funnily enough, it was revealed in goofy manner years later that Ted actually DID remember Tom's mother- she was a one-night stand, sure- but she was also A WEREPANTHER, and got involved in a big scuffle with Ted. When Ted basically coldly left her behind after the fight was over (after he got Dr. Mid-Nite to cure her of the involuntary nature of her powers)- Mid-Nite notes that "he doesn't have a monogamous bone in his body!"- she simply went off and raised Tom by herself.
-Tom also has one awful, awful flaw for a comic book character- he is RIDICULOUSLY hard to draw. "Werecat" may not SEEM difficult, but keep in mind it requires the ability to draw humans, a cat, fur (not the easiest thing to do, and always takes a lot of time), large black patches, and fit them all together. I have seen some GARBAGE work by artists trying to draw this character, especially in small panels- people as good as Jerry Ordway couldn't manage it. I've seen drawings of Tom where he looks like a giant dark monkey. In another, he looks too doglike, because of course cats have muzzles but if you make it TOO long, then it's a dog's nose. So despite being simple at-heart (big naked cat-man), he's a pain for artists who aren't ready for it. Dale Eaglesham can do it, but... well, he's the best.
-Statting brand-new characters like this is always tough, as he's been shown as having some impressive physical powers, but REALLY lacks combat skill, as Wildcat points out in their battle with Savage. So he fits a PL 7 build, a guy with good powers, but low Attack Bonus. Hell, I might even be giving him too much here as well, but let's just say his "cat genes" tend to give him a bit of a boost.

WILDCAT I (Ted Grant)- Golden Age
Created By:
Bill Finger & Irwin Hasen
First Appearance: Sensation Comics #1 (Jan. 1942)
Role: Tough-Guy Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

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

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Prone Fighting

Powers:
"Immense Hitting Power" Enhanced Strength 1 (Flaws: Limited to Punching Guys in the @#$!ing Face) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Addiction (Poon)

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 16 (99)

-Ted Grant is yet another guy to get way more credit after the Golden Age than during it. Created as little more than a variation of Batman (which is why the Justice League episode where they went to a JSA-like Universer had a "Catman" who looked just like Ted) with a boxer gimmick, he was a JSA member back in the day, and thus got brought back into modern times in the JSA's own reboot, and All-Star Squadron. However, back in the 1940s, he was just a short-lived character- he debuted in the very same book that introduced Wonder Woman and Mr. Terrific to the world. Ted was trained by Joe Morgan ("Socker" Smith in the original story- he was accidentally killed by his corrupt managers, and Ted was framed for the crime and set up for a hit- becoming Wildcat to fight them off), and actually lasted for much longer than I'd thought- nine years in total, though only as a back-up to cover girl Wonder Woman.
-Golden Age Wildcat is your everyday PL 8 Two-Fisted Adventurer. He's pretty simple altogether, having no real gimmick or anything.

WILDCAT I (Ted Grant)- Modern Times
Created By:
Bill Finger & Irwin Hasen
First Appearance: Sensation Comics #1 (Jan. 1942)
Role: Tough-Guy Hero, Male Chauvinist Pig
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (146)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

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

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Assessment, Benefit (Ambidexterity), Chokehold, Diehard, Equipment 2 (Motorcycle), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 3, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Last Stand (Remove All Damage Conditions For 1 Rd. With HP Spent), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Prone Fighting, Takedown 2, Taunt, Teamwork, Ultimate Will Save

Powers:
"Immense Hitting Power" Enhanced Strength 1 (Flaws: Limited to Punching Guys in the @#$!ing Face) [1]
"Ian Karkull's Shadow Energy" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
"Nine Lives" Immortality 16 (Flaws: Limited to Nine Lives "Per Cycle") [16]
"Cat-Like Tendencies" Enhanced Will Save 2 (Flaws: Limited to vs. Mental Attacks) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +4, Fortitude +7, Will +8 (+10 vs. Mental Attacks)

Complications:
Addiction (Poon)
Secret (Doomed a Man)- Ted once planted evidence and sent a man to the electric chair for a murder he didn't commit- the man WAS a murderer and SHOULD have been on Death Row, but for a different murder.
Responsibility (Mentor Figure)- Ted finds himself in the uncomfortable position of being the mentor for a new generation of heroes. Even Black Canary, Batman and others admire him a little bit, and now he's got to train a whole new generation of kids. An irresponsible man at heart, he has troubles with this.
Reputation (Chauvinist Pig)- Ted has a very "old school" impression of dames, and this often leads him to troubles in modern times, particularly with feminists like "Power Chick" & Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman once threw him out a window for arguing with her "White Guilt" rant. Though she might just be pissy because he nailed her mom.
Relationship (Tom Bronson)- Ted is shocked to find himself WANTING to be part of his long-lost son's life. Perhaps it's due to his own son's kidnapping (and later revealed to be his murder).

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 22 (146)

-Later writers furthered his character to include traits such as his sometimes blatant sexism, his badass charm, etc., making him stand out on a team of mostly Old Nice Guys- it actually fits too, since Ted IS from the 1940s, and unlike the rest of the team, still carries some of the prejudices from back in the day. Now, I'm not suggesting that the older heroes need to be un-PC assholes or nothing, since heroes ARE supposed to represent the BEST of humanity (especially back then), but it's nice to see JUST ONE who still acts like a tool. A frequent running gag in the JSA scripts in the '70s was him brushing up against Modern Womyn Power Girl, being a giant chauvinist. Being horribly non-politically correct, Ted will piss of "Power Chick" without a moment's notice, accidentally call someone a "Jap", boink every woman he meets (Hippolyta AND Catwoman!?! They called the wrong guy "Superman"!), and generally bother everyone with a hard-nosed comment or two, but he's still one of the most dependable people on the team.
-Ted was still pretty minor- he didn't have a kid on Infinity, Inc. until Yolanda Montez would join a few years later, having replaced Ted, whose legs were badly-damaged during The Crisis on Infinite Earths. More-recent decades were kinder- he was turned into an early mentor & trainer to the likes of Batman, Catwoman and Black Canary; his Boxing style was now treated as a legit top-tier hand-to-hand force. He curiously maintained his health following Zero Hour (which slew three JSA contemporaries), and sadly outlived his successor. It was also revealed that he'd lost a son decades before (he was murdered by the Yellow Wasp's son Killer Wasp, after the Wasp kidnapped the boy and grew to love him like a son).
-Ted Grant was AWESOME in JSA, though- he was a hard-ass sure, but he was FUNNY. As one of the last Old Guard members of the JSA left, he also acted like the "tough love" mentor, to contrast Nice Guy Jay, and Responsible Alan. He also seemed to be a favourite "fall guy" character, getting brutally injured in nearly every big JSA story (he's gotta be one of the only heroes I've EVER seen wearing a cast; much less wearing one every cross-over...), albeit he also got a BIG bad-ass push, including defeating the ENTIRE Injustice Society by himself (while naked, AND injured).
-The young heroes respect him as an elder and a mentor, and as much as he annoys Stargirl sometimes, even SHE admires what he's come to be (an ordinary man amongst gods), and his occasional bouts of wisdom ("You never forget learning how to be a hero"). The old guys respect his skills and inability to be broken. His enemies have learned not to underestimate him. Ted rocks.
-And all that for a character who, by all rights, should barely even be remembered. I mean, he's just a lame-duck Batman knock-off, at heart (he looked very similar back in the day, and they share a creator). But like so many Golden Age D-League characters, he just lucked out- that JSA link meant that he could show up in retrospectives once the JSA made it out of "Earth-Two" and teamed up with the JLA. I always got the sense that Ted was around more because they casually offed the rest of the team and thus when doing retrospective stuff, they needed at least four guys to still be alive. So all of a sudden, Ted Grant of all people is one of the last Golden Age heroes alive. One of those weird things in comics, my friends.
-Ted only has a one-shot appearance on JLU, but it's a helluva one, fighting for Roulette in her "Meta-Brawls", beating the snot out of super-villains in an attempt to recapture the time when he was useful. An old warhorse, he now gets handed "easy" assignments by J'onn, and gets sent to train new heroes. When Black Canary comes to snap him out of it, she drags Green Arrow along, and Ollie ends up fighting Wildcat in the arena... and gets the CRAP beaten out of him, in possible the single most-brutal fight in the entire series. I mean JESUS, Ted just beat him to a PULP in there. Of course, thanks to some quick-thinking, Ted ended up realizing the error of his ways, and went back to being a good ol' Leaguer.
-Ted is straight-up bad-ass as hell, and too stubborn to die. He was the ONLY superhero unable to be brainwashed by The Ultra-Humanite with The Thunderbolt's powers (in a neat bit, they never explain why, aside from a Mark Twain quote that "of all God's creatures, only one cannot be made the slave of the lash. That animal is the cat.")- keep in mind the victims include Superman, all the Flashes, Martian Manhunter, and others. At PL 9, he can brawl with any of DC's Top Tier Martial Artists and come out on top, but usually just manages to hold his own (it's implied that Selina Kyle can take him, and Tigress once flat-out KO'd him in hand-to-hand)- even BATMAN respects his skills. Ted has three ranks of Improved Critical, and knows so many dirty tricks that he's partial to using those nifty "Alternate Effects" for stuff like pulling someone's cowl or cape over their eyes, or something.
-His "Nine Lives" power was revealed in a Morrison JLA story (as a way to half-assedly get him out of being killed), and was taken away in a later story, but was then revealed to still be in effect (Mordru said that he ALWAYS has "Nine Lives" per cycle, and has to be killed ten times for death to take. He essentially resurrects entirely if he's killed in combat, bouncing back perfectly healthy in a mere minute or two.

WILDCAT II (Yolanda Montez)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Todd MacFarlane
First Appearance: Infinity, Inc. #12 (March 1985)
Role: Quickly-Killed Minority Legacy Hero
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., The Shadow Fighters
PL 8 (101)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+14)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Journalist) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+5)
Perception 5 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Fast Grab

Powers:
"Claws"
Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Claws +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Nukon)- Yolanda openly-flirted with the shy young man, but knew alongside most of Infinity, Inc. that he only had eyes for Fury.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 11 (101)

-The Yolanda Montez version of Wildcat actually has an interesting history, sadly more interesting than the character ever turned out to be. Going through TWO different designs before they finally settled on something, the husband/wife team of Roy & Dann Thomas repeatedly tried to make a cat-based female character for the All-Stars/Infinity Inc. First step was The Lynx (meant to be a Canadian heroine), who quickly became La Garro, a cat-dressed chick riding a motorcycle.
-Eventually, they settled on Yolanda Montez, a girl born with cat's claws and the god-daughter of Ted Grant, taking on Ted's legacy after he was "crippled" by the Red Tornado in Crisis on Infinite Earths. She was less than successful, essentially jumping onto Infinity Inc. right at the end of the era of Earth-2, which basically rendered any Golden Age-based comics dead for over a decade. Thus, Infinity Inc. saw itself cancelled a few years later, and Yolanda entered comics limbo, where she resided until she and a bunch of other throwaway heroes were murdered by Eclipso in his own series (yeah, they really gave him one). Thus, she joined Dr. Midnight II in the "Minority girls replacing male heroes, but were then casually offed because no one gave a crap" club, which kind of happens a lot when they try to replace superheroes with minorities. She actually got a tiny bit of a legacy in her cousin Alex, who used certain connections to contain Eclipso within his own body, but he was killed when they overwhelmed him.
-Yolanda is a scaled-down version of Ted's Golden Age Wildcat, with lower stats just about everywhere, but she's got some super-powers he doesn't. PL 8-ish, but nothing to write home about.

COMMANDO YANK (Chase Yale)
Created By:
Clem Weisbecker
First Appearance: Wow Comics #6 (1942)
Role: Soldier Super-Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 7 (88)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Reporter) 5 (+7)
Insight 4 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Rifle- Blast 5), Improved Aim, Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 4

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Rifle +8 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Winning the War)- Chase Yale fights the enemies of freedom while as a war correspondant, and while as a superhero.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (88)

-I was considering not taking the Fawcett Comics guys into the All-Star Squadron list when I did these in 2nd Edition, but then it reads on DC's Cosmic Teams (most useful website ever) that they "technically" count as a branch of the Squadron, which is a nice way of saying that some writer probably half-assedly wrote in one panel that they'd joined the Squadron, but was too lazy to actually SHOW them working alongside them. So let's call them a sub-group, OK? Yank here is so obscure he's got no Wikipedia entry, but judging by appearance, I can gather than he's a soldier-type (he's got a rifle) in tights, basically a Captain America-type Patriotic Superhero guy. He's a War Correspondent who also fights the War in a costume. He's made only one Post-Crisis appearance (he was apparently decently-popular in the '40s, with 81 appearances according to ComicVine), and that's in a flashback to a Fawcett heroes meeting.
-This is probably what Captain America would look like if he were drastically pared down into a much weaker, more ineffective build. PL 6 without the Rifle, and lower stats all-around.

JESSE QUICK (Jesse Belle Chambers, aka Liberty Belle II)
Created By:
Len Strazewski & Mike Parobeck
First Appearance: The Justice Society of America #1 (Aug. 1992)
Role: Speedster, Legacy Character, Cold-Hearted Businesswoman
Group Affiliations: The Titans, The Justice Society of America, The Justice League of America
PL 10 (186)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10/12 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Computers) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 10 (+13)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Benefit (Wealth), Defensive Roll 2, Improved Disarm, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Seize Initiative

Powers:
"3X2(9YZ)4A!"
Flight 15 (64,000 mph) (30) -- [31]
AE: Speed 17 (250,000 mph) (17)
Quickness 16 [16]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Enhanced Initiative 3 [3]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Immunity 1 (Friction Heat) [1]

"Speed Feats"
Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 2, Water-Walking) (Flaws: Limited to While Running) [3]
"Hit Everyone in Range" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2 for 7 ranks) (19) -- [21]
AE: "Rapid Attack" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Multiattack 7) (12)
AE: Deflect 12 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Rapid Attack +12 (+7 Damage, DC 21)
Hit Everyone +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +17

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +15 (DC 25), Toughness +3 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Power Loss (Speed)- Jesse must recite her father's mantra ("3X2(9YZ)4A!") in order to utilize her Super-Speed powers.
Motivation (Money)- Jesse is a high-powered businesswoman, often more concerned with the realities of running her own business than with wearing tights and punching people.
Relationship (Libby Lawrence, Mother)- Jesse's widowed mother (the Golden Age Liberty Belle) is now the most-important person in her life, despite Libby annoying her frequently, trying to set her up with people, and then introducing Jesse to her 20-something fiancee, Philip. Jesse later engages in an affair with Philip, who turns up murdered because of a Ghost-Possessed Golden Age Hero strangling him when he brags to a friend about banging both rich women.
Relationship (Johnny Chambers, Father)- Johnny Quick was a Golden Age hero, and pushed Jesse into that life- he was disappointed when she remained in school and went out to be a businesswoman. She tries to honour his memory (he was slain against the villain Savitar) once she gained similar powers.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 79 / Defenses: 21 (186)

-Jesse Quick was created for the new JSA series in the early '90s, once DC decided it was no longer continuity-problematic to have the Golden Age heroes around, years after the Earths merged. Taking after her father power-wise, Jesse was with the team until the book was cancelled due to Editor Mike Carlin not liking it (it apparently sold okay, resulting in some bitterness- the editor just didn't like the idea of old men as superheroes and nixed it... a few years later, it'd be an industry top-seller), at which point she became a supporting character in The Flash's book. Jesse eventually joined The Titans in 2000 as Wally's own personal inductee to the new team, feeling she needed something heroic to do (she was depicted as a bit of a ball-busting serious Career Woman) and had some potential- the writers seemed to like her okay, as it was teased that her & Dick might've had something going (she tended to take a leadership position when Nightwing wasn't around giving orders). She had a pretty generic costume at first (Mark Buckingham was never really good at making women look hot, despite being a good "Characterization Artist"), and Paul Pelletier later gave her a SUPER-leggy one-piece swimsuit and visor-glasses look (who is he? Mark Bagley?), but it looks a bit silly in retrospect, despite showing off more of her figure.
-Alas, despite her being a character in the book right up until its end, the biggest thing she had to do was that GOD-AWFUL storyline created by Jay Faerber, in which Jesse started sleeping with the young fiancee of her mother (the Golden Age Liberty Belle). This ended up poisoning both characters for YEARS, but thankfully later writers thought it was so dumb (Faerber even mopes in interviews that "that's all anyone remembers about my run", along with the Junior Titans kids), and thus basically mentioned some "difficulties" the two women had, but didn't dwell on it or even mention them. Which is really the best way to deal with stupid storylines you don't want poisoning the character (HINT HINT ENDLESS REPETITION OF "SCARLET WITCH GOES EVIL" PLOT POINTS).
-Without her later run as Liberty Belle in the revamped JSA series, Jesse is a Standard PL 10 Speedster build, albeit with Flight thrown into the mix. She needs to recite a formula (because Math is Power I guess) in order to use it, but this never really comes up aside from a random word balloon. She's lower on Power Feats/Alt-Effects than most Speedsters aside from the Flight thing, since I almost never saw her use any.

LIBERTY BELLE II (Jesse Belle Chambers, aka Jesse Quick)
Created By:
Len Strazewski & Mike Parobeck
First Appearance: The Justice Society of America #1 (Aug. 1992)
Role: Speedster/Powerhouse, Legacy Character
Group Affiliations: The Titans, The Justice Society of America, The Justice League of America
PL 10 (185)
STRENGTH
10 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Computers) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 10 (+13)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Benefit (Wealth), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Seize Initiative

Powers:
"3X2(9YZ)4A!"
Flight 13 (16,000 mph) (26) -- [27]
AE: Speed 15 (64,000 mph) (15)
Quickness 12 [12]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Enhanced Initiative 2 [2]
Immunity 1 (Friction Heat) [1]

"Speed Feats"
"Hit Everyone in Range" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2 on 8 Ranks) (16) -- [18]
AE: "Rapid Attack" Strength-Damage +0 (Feats: Accurate) (Extras: Multiattack 8) (9)
AE: Deflect 12 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Rapid Attack +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Hit Everyone +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +13

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +6

Complications:
Power Loss (Speed)- Jesse must recite her father's mantra ("3X2(9YZ)4A!") in order to utilize her Super-Speed powers.
Motivation (Money)- Jesse is a high-powered businesswoman, often more concerned with the realities of running her own business than with wearing tights and punching people.
Relationship (Libby Lawrence, Mother)- Jesse's widowed mother (the Golden Age Liberty Belle) is now the most-important person in her life, despite Libby annoying her frequently, trying to set her up with people, and then introducing Jesse to her 20-something fiancee, Philip. Jesse later engages in an affair with Philip, who turns up murdered because of a Ghost-Possessed Golden Age Hero strangling him when he brags to a friend about banging both rich women.
Relationship (Rick Tyler- Hourman II)- Jesse marries Rick Tyler during the "52" year, and they become a very annoying lovey-dovey couple that constantly flirt with each other. They acted as "ambassadors" when the two JSA teams split off from each other, Jesse hanging with the older guys, and Rick going off with the newbies under Power Girl & Magog. Despite this, people keep assuming the two have split up (even Mr. Terrific!).

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 60 / Defenses: 12 (185)

-Years after Titans had ended, Jesse was thrown into Geoff Johns' JSA series as a nothing background character working at their brownstone HQ- a "Business Manager", whatever that is (they have a museum that people can theoretically enter- maybe it has something to do with that). She basically sat in the background, got lectured by her mom (who now looked MUCH younger than in Titans, for no apparent reason), and flirted with Rex Tyler for a bit. Her only really interesting bit came when Alan Scott (who thought that coddling his children helped his Obsidian turn even) coldly lectured her on how she'd become "a disappointment". Upset, she doesn't appear again until the One Year Later era of DC, renewed as the second Liberty Belle, now married to Hourman, and possessing Super-Strength instead of Speed. And oddly, the big "pants pouch" Johdpur look is... surprisingly hot. Maybe it's my love for big thighs. Dunno.
-As Liberty Belle II, Jesse got injured by Damage's carelessness, regained her speed while fighting Zoom to save Damage's life, went with the elder JSA members during a team split (while Rick acted as ambassador with the younger squad- despite the assumptions of most of the team, and the public, they had not split up), then was part of a pretty boring back-up feature in JSA: All-Stars featuring her & Rick teaming up with Icicle & Tigress on some dumb treasure hunt (seriously, it was boring). And THEN she finally joined James Robinson's Justice League as part of their "Sidekicks Step Up" era that... really failed pretty badly.
-She later regains her Super-Speed, turning her whole power-set into just another part of an Array (thus very cheaply adding a high-damage effect to a Speedster set-up). She does gain some enhanced Durability, at the expense of her defenses, which have atrophied a bit, as well as being less necessary now that she's tougher.

LIBERTY BELLE I (Libby Lawrence)
Created By:
Don Cameron & Chuck Winter
First Appearance: Boy Commands #1 (Winter 1942)
Role: Powerhouse Chick
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (121)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 2/7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+9)
Athletics 3 (+5, +11)
Deception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Radio Reporter) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+6)
Stealth 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Great Endurance, Inspire, Leadership, Teamwork 2

Powers:
"Enhanced By The Liberty Bell"
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
Enhanced Stamina 5 [10]
Impervious Toughness 3 [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Liberty Bell's Boost +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +2 (+7 Boost), Fortitude +4 (+9 Boost), Will +7

Complications:
Power Loss (The Liberty Bell)- Libby must call her contact in Philadelphia, who will then ring the Liberty Bell, thus enhancing her to superhuman levels. Without that, she's a normal woman. Eventually, she no longer needed the Bell.
Relationship (Johnny Quick)- The two married after the war, but divorced acrimoniously after their daughter Jesse was born.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 25 / Defenses: 13 (121)

-Liberty Belle I was a do-nothing short-lived hero of the Golden Age, gaining powers in a horribly-silly way (somehow gaining them when her contact rang the Liberty Bell, empowering her with... stuff). It's presumed that she may have gained them from the "Spirit of America", much like Uncle Sam. She even had a Veronica Lake-style "bang over one eye" look as her secret identity- later writers would at least give her the domino mask to PRETEND like she could fool somebody. She was personally torn from the abyss by Roy Thomas and made into the breakout star of the All-Star Squadron comics (he intentionally focused on characters with no Earth-1 counterparts, in order to give DC more quality characters). Made the leader of the team, Libby was given tons of backstory, a relationship with Johnny Quick, and even a legacy in her daughter, Jesse. She was even going to be an authentic JSA member during the early-'90s run, until the book was cancelled. She was actually a pretty cool '80s character- just a standard "good leader" type (in an era where originally, Wonder Woman was the JSA's SECRETARY), with decent super-powers, but nothing extreme. Though the '80s was pretty big for every team suddenly having a female leader (Storm, Heather Hudson & Monica Rambeau all made the grade at Marvel).
-As an older woman, Libby divorced her husband and grew cynical to the hero-ing business. The Titans depicts her as a fun-loving old woman, getting engaged to some good-looking young boy-boy and lecturing her stodgy daughter Jesse on being less-obsessed with business. When Jesse sleeps with said fiancee, there are issues, and she next reappears in JSA as suddenly looking a lot younger (like in her 40s, instead of 60s). She tries to "recharge" her strength later on in the series, but it causes a disaster when she rings the Liberty Bell and sets off a wave of sonic energy.
-LB's a standard brick on a lot of levels, but not to extreme power. This makes her very much a jack-of-all-trades in combat, as she could tank OR dish out the offense for the team, in addition to improving everyone else's bonuses with her Leadership-based stuff. Her Power Loss Drawback is a weird one, but that's what it really was- some guy in Philadelphia would ring the Liberty Bell, thus giving her powers.

TARANTULA I (John Law)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger
First Appearance: Star-Spangled Comics #1 (Oct. 1941)
Role: Two-Fisted Adventurer
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (123)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 6 (+9)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Writer) 8 (+10)
Insight 5 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 5 (+9)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Improved Aim, Improved Defense, Improved Smash, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Tarantula Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [4]
"Suction Cups" Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling 2) (4 points)

"Web-Gun" (Flaws: Easily Removable) -- [14]
Snare 7 (Feats: Tether- May Use Strength Against Snared Targets) (22) -- (23 points)
AE: Movement 2 (Swinging) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Web-Gun +8 (+7 Ranged Affliction, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Power Loss (The Liberty Bell)- Libby must call her contact in Philadelphia, who will then ring the Liberty Bell, thus enhancing her to superhuman levels. Without that, she's a normal woman. Eventually, she no longer needed the Bell.
Relationship (Johnny Quick)- The two married after the war, but divorced acrimoniously after their daughter Jesse was born.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 18 / Defenses: 11 (123)

-Tarantula I is a VERY minor and forgotten '40s character drawn out of nowhere by Thomas to become a major focused member of the All-Star Squadron (while ostensibly a JSA-type series, he wanted to basically "create" his own characters, and so chose a bunch of forgotten people to make his own). He pretty much disappeared at the end of the Squadron's run, but Nightwing provided a big boost, as he got a successor (a violent vigilante who rapes a semi-conscious Nightwing and provokes a TON of fan outrage as a Mary Sue Author Avatar in the process) and some more props as a retired hero. His gimmicks were pretty simple, and VERY familiar with a certain Marvel hero, and I've read some actual '40s panels that depict the Web-Gun in fact FIRING WEBS that tie up opponents- crazy stuff. Also, said panels contain descriptive text about "a liquid- spurting from the gun, hardens as it falls, forming a sticky, wet thong which tights around the bandit..."
-Nonetheless, he's got a pretty cool, unique design (I mean, BROWN on a super-hero? His original Golden Age look was yellow & purple just like The Sandman's, which of course Thomas had to explain by saying he'd borrowed it from Sandman's girlfriend) and was a unique "regular guy" perspective on the larger-than-life Golden Age team.
-John Law is basically a writer who got bitten by the "mystery man" bug and decided to help out using a costume with some neat gimmicks. He joins the All-Star Squadron and helps out on a few missions, then retires to write a successful novel based off of his life. He moves to Bludhaven and writes some less-popular books, and is eventually saved by Nightwing from some old Nazi foes. He's later thought-dead after Blockbuster burns down his apartment building to get back at Nightwing, but his body is never found.
-Simply PL 8 build, lacking offensive power, but having a pretty good Snare, high Accuracy, good defense, and some gadgets to use.

MISTER AMERICA I (Tex Thomson)
Created By:
Ken Fitch & Bernard Baily
First Appearance: Action Comics #1 (June 1938)
Role: Weapon-User, Patriotic Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 7 (112)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+9)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Deception 8 (+12)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Equipment (Whip), Evasion, Improved Critical (Whip), Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Jack-of-All-Trades, Ranged Attack 3

Offense:
Unarmed/Whip +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting the Nazis)- Thomson becomes a patriotic hero after the ocean liner he was riding on was sank by Nazis.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (112)

-Mr. America was another minor-league hero, though he debuted at the same time Superman did, in Action Comics #1. He could have inheited an Oil Barony, but instead ran off to have a life of adventure with his buddy, Bob Daley. Though I'm a bit surprised to find out that the early strips were just called Tex Thomson and in fact had NOTHING TO DO with superhero stuff- it was just a regular adventure book! Complete with big fat sidekick and a racist caricature (Gargantua T. Potts, a freed slave who looks more ape than man) as pals! It wasn't until LATER (Action Comics #33, to be exact), that superheroes had become a big thing, that Thomson was reimagined as a tights-wearing superhero with a patriot theme.
-When the Nazi threat approaches, Tex decides to don a patriotic costume and fight them as Mister America, faking Tex's death on an ocean liner sunk by Germa forces. His friend Bob becomes his "sidekick", Fatman. He actually lasts through a BIG chunk of the Golden Age, all the way until Action Comics #74, before retirement, but he was entirely forgotten after this point- I don't think he was ever a huge success (the book was naturally carried by Superman above all else- I'm not sure what the criteria is for "success" from the back-up features). Roy Thomas was the only one to remember the guy, and added him to the All-Star Squadron. He is later retconned into becoming The Americommando under orders from President Roosevelt- he goes undercover in Nazi Germany. He later forms the Hero Hotline as The Coordinator.
-Mr. America's your standard PL 7 non-powered hero, but at one point used a Magic Carpet that allowed him to fly (he would use it as a cape when not in use).

MISTER AMERICA III (Jeffrey Graves)
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham
First Appearance: Justice Society of America #1 (Feb. 2007)
Role: Weapon-User, Patriotic Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The FBI
PL 8 (118)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Whip) 1 (+11)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (FBI Agent) 5 (+8)
Insight 3 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 3 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Contacts (FBI), Defensive Attack, Evasion, Improved Critical (Whip), Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Jack-of-All-Trades, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Explosive Whip" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [9]
Damage 8 (Feats: Reach 3) (Extras: Penetrating 5) (Inaccurate -1) (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Whip +11 (+2 Damage, DC 18)
Exploding Whip +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Tough Justice)- Graves was an FBI Agent before he became a superhero. Though a nice guy ordinarily, he once tortured a violent kidnapper, and promised "next time I'll make sure" the man never walked again.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 12 (118)

-The third Mr. America follows ultra-closely on the heels of the second, Trey Thompson, who was killed in the opening arc of the JSA's restarted series (he was murdered by Vandal Savage, out to slay the families of various patriotic heroes, before he moved on to the JSA's "whelps" himself). The FBI agent partner of Trey, Graves fed him information to aid his vigilante activities, and was fired as a result. He ended up putting on the domino mask & using the whip as the other heroes referred to heroes' bloodlines ending not being the end of their legacies- successors would always be ready to pick up the name (they point out that many heroes are not related to their predecessors- like Dr. Mid-Nite & Mr. Terrific).
-He scarcely appeared since then, showing up to investigate the deaths of several god-themed characters by Gog (*sniff*... poor Goth...), setting up the next big arc. It wasn't until the two JSA books split under Willingham & Sturges that he got ANY kind of play, as he joined the "elder" squad and... kind of farted around again. He got some Exploding Whips from Mr. Terrific, but I mainly recall a funny bit where various writers were supposed to come up with "focus stories" on individual JSA members. When it came time for Graves' focus story, they instead spent more time on Cyclone as the two had a conversation- naturally, as a character with a real "voice" and depth, Maxine was a better target that someone who was basically just a name and a costume. Graves had a huge amount of stuff working against him- he basically didn't get to do anything in his origin story (Johns cruelly made us like Trey Thomson, before offing the guy), he has a bad, plain costume; the whole "Whip Guy" thing is never cool, his name is forgettable and plain... and he is COMPLETELY REDUNDANT on a team like like FIVE Bad-Ass Normals on it already!
-Mr. America III is basically a PL 8 Whip-Fighter guy, whose special whips make him a lot more powerful. He's just an average non-powered hero without them (basically being PL 7 offensively), but the power upgrade is a killer.

THE PHANTOM EAGLE (Mickey Malone)
Created By:
Unknown (uncredited creators)
First Appearance: Wow Comics #6 (July 1942)
Role: Kid Pilot
Group Affiliations: The Squadron of Justice
PL 8 (93)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Military) 2 (+5)
Insight 1 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 5 (+8)
Vehicles 6 (+11) -- Flaws: Limited to Flying Vehicles

Advantages:
Equipment 10 (Airplane), Ranged Attack 2

Equipment:
"WWII Fighter Plane"
(Size: Huge, Flight 7, Defense 6, Guns 7- Multiattack, Bombs +8 Burst Area)
(50 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Fighter Plane +7 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Bombs +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting Nazis)- Mickey risks a court martial if he is caught fighting the Nazis in secret while leading a squadron of Teen Pilots.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (93)

-The Phantom Eagle was a successful Fawcett Comics hero, lasting for six years in the pages of Wow Comics, generally under the artist/writer Marc Swayze. He's Mickey Malone, a teenage boy who was disallowed to fight in World War II by his commanding officer, and instead donned an aviator costume and BUILT HIS OWN AIRPLANE (!) that allowed him to fight the Nazis. As an Ace Pilot, he then recruits a whole TEAM of Teen Pilots, and carries out secret missions. After the war, he formed a charter airline and searched for the Golden Chalice. He's never appeared in modern history- even ROY THOMAS didn't use him! He's a standard low-end hero, but is packing a FIGHTER JET, which boosts him a bit.

STARMAN I (Ted Knight)
Created By:
Jack Burnley, White Ellsworth, Murray Boltinoff, Jack Schiff, Mort Weisinger & Bernie Breslauer
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #61 (April 1941)
Role: Golden Age Hero, Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (133)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+15)
Insight 3 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 8 (+16)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Improved Aim, Inventor, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Technology), Teamwork

Powers:
"The Cosmic Rod" (Feats: Summonable- Can Make Its Way To Him) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [28]
Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
"Stellar Energy" Blast 8 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 6) (23) -- (29)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 8 (16)
AE: "Energy Objects" Create 7 (Extras: Movable) (21)
AE: Force Field 6 (6)
AE: "Levitation" Move Object 8 (16)
AE: Environment 1 (Heat 2, Light 2) (8)
AE: Deflect 8 (8)
-- (45 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Stellar Blast +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Dazzle +10 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+10 Force Field), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Doris Lee)- Ted has a long-suffering girlfriend, who repeatedly scolds him for his "laziness and hypochondria". She is tragically killed in the late 1940s.
Relationship (Adele Doris Drew)- Ted finally marries Adele, and has two sons- David & Jack.
Relationship (Sons- David & Jack)- Jack was meant to be Ted's successor ("Jack is a HERO'S name"), but David was more adoring of his father, and wanted the lifestyle more. David was killed by The Mist's son, and Jack was forced to take over.
Responsibility (Guilt)- Ted was one of many scientist who worked on the Atomic Bomb- this, combined with his girlfriend Doris dying, led to him suffering a nervous breakdown.
Enemy (The Mist)

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 28 / Defenses: 11 (133)

-Starman I (Ted Knight) has a lot in common with Hourman. In one of those weird comics-type circumstances, the original Starman was an unsuccessful character that popped up in the JSA for a while and got his own stories told, but disappeared rather quietly (though he WAS in 44 issues of Adventure Comics, which is pretty standard for Golden Agers that had a modicum of success) and without much fuss. Fast-forward to the JLA/JSA teamups era, and Starman's just "one of the gang". Hell, by the '70s even, he was retired, and giving his Cosmic Rod to the Star-Spangled Kid. Of course, in the meantime, like five guys got the "Starman" name, because it's one of those catchy heroic names that HAS to be used by SOMEone. But yeah, nearly all the JSA members were famous, having successors and showing up a bunch, and poor Ted Knight gets nothing.... Enter James Robinson's Starman series. Retroactively-added child Jack, a cynical anti-tights guy (probably representing the cynical comics fans of the era) ends up forced into defending his dad's legacy, giving DC ANOTHER fictional weird town, and essentially the entire series was a prop to give credit to the Golden Age. And thus, Starman has a legacy. Retroactively turned into a scientist creating the Atomic Bomb, Ted was given a ton more backstory and characterization, and for the first time in years, he got a legacy in his son (and later, Courtney) in the JSA.
-Ted Knight largely disappears after he has a nervous breakdown in the late 1940s (due to guilt over the Bomb, and a dead girlfriend), and is re-aged along with the JSA members DC didn't feel like using at the time- in the Starman series, he's an old man, convinced by his son to actually use his scientific genius to HELP mankind, instead of playing hero. Ted still has to fight once in a while, helping Jack against various old enemies, and he dies a hero's death while saving Opal City from The Mist's doomsday bomb weapon.
-I'm not entirely sure (Sources are iffy) on what counts as the "Gravity Rod" era and when he got the "Cosmic Rod", but I'm pretty sure those are all the powers Ted utilized (some advice from the posters here helped, too). Essentially, he's a Mini-Green Lantern, capable of creating objects, force constructs, dazzling people, making heat, and general Force Field energy wielder stuff. He's the team's Blaster, but not a fancy one. I was jumping all over the place in possible power output, but decided he should be slightly more dangerous than your usual Golden Age hero or Mutant Liberation Front guy (my baseline PL 8), but only with an Easily-Removable weapon. This is pretty close, unless I'm mistaken. Ted's one of those guys who could be anywhere from PL 8 to PL 10 in his prime.

Ted's "Gravity Rod" was basically a low-end Cosmic Rod, costing 17 points.
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Platform) (7)
Dazzle Visuals 8 (16) -- (19)
AE: Cosmic Blast 8 (16)
AE: Force Field 6 (6)
AE: "Levitation" Move Object 8 (16)
AE: Environment 1 (Heat 2) (4)
-- (27 points)

STARMAN III (Mikaal Tomas, aka Michael Thomas)
Created By:
Gerry Conway & Mike Vosburg
First Appearance: 1st Issue Special #12 (March 1976)
Role: Alien Hero, Flying Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America
PL 10 (136)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Blasts), Improved Smash, Interpose, Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]
"Sonic Chest Crystal" Blast 11 [22]
Impervious Toughness 3 [3]
Regeneration 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sonic Blast +8 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8 (+2 Impervious), Fortitude +8, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Gay)
Relationship (Tony)- Mikaal's boyfriend is killed in Justice League: Cry For Justice.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 9 (136)

-Starman II (the Starman of 1951) is actually Dr. Mid-Nite I- Charles McNider- acting in the role for a time. He is resplaced by David Knight, who'd gone back in time after his "death". There was also an evil Star-Man (plus the time Batman became "Starman" in a single story, using a star motif instead of a bat one). But Mikaal Tomas is a 1970s creation- the third Starman- and was sent to Earth to conquer it. He pulled a Captain Mar-Vell and grew to love humanity instead. His overall concept was inspired by David Bowie's Starman song. The guy was largely unsuccessful and vanished completely, until James Robinson brought him back for his own Starman run- a natural completist and continuity junkie, Robinson must have wanted to use EVERY possible Starman.
-Tomas ended up with amnesia after he first came to Earth, and was revealed to be gay in modern times. He showed up in Justice League: Cry For Justice, aka James Robinson Proves He Might Not Have Been That Great A Writer After All, after his boyfriend Tony is killed, and he befriends Congorilla. Soon he joins the official JLA, but doesn't get up to much, as Robinson's run was fairly unpopular. Tomas apparently has a pretty strong blast, and some other fairly-uninteresting powers. He's PL 10, but not a very efficient one.

STARMAN IV (Prince Gavyn)
Created By:
Paul Levitz & Steve Ditko
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #467 (Jan. 1980)
Role: Cosmic Hero
Group Affiliations: Throneworld
PL 10 (153)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Throneworld's Ruler) 6 (+7)
Expertise (Space Hero) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Cosmic Blasts) 2 (+10)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+3)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Ruler of Throneworld), Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
Flight 10 (2,000 mph) [20]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]
"Energy Absorber" Immunity 20 (Energy Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]
"Returns To Life When Slain" Immortality 5 (Quirks: He Doesn't Realize When He's Done It, and May Have Amnesia) [8]

"Quasar-Lookin' Wrist-Bands" (Flaws: Removable) [20]
Cosmic Blast 10 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating 6) (Quirks: Requires Some Energy Damage to Use Top Two Ranks -2) (25 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Cosmic Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Throneworld)- Prince Gavyn is the ruler and defender of his homeworld.
Secret (Killed Will Payton)- Gavyn is actually the energy bolt that empowered Will Payton. However, he also KILLED Payton in so doing (he wasn't aware of his actions at the time), and masqueraded as him during his time as Starman. He now feels tremendous guilt for this.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 68 / Defenses: 11 (153)

-The fourth Starman is Prince Gavyn, a spoiled alien royal who was sentenced to death because his sister was threatened by his potential claim on the throne- it turned out that he was a mutant who could survive in space, and he got some magical equipment that turned him into a Cosmic Hero. He ends up becoming a masked protector of Throneworld, and then its ruler when his sister is assassinated- he basically didn't get up to much (despite the strong pedigree of Levitz & Ditko), and was thought-dead in the Crisis. The Robinson Starman series reintroduced him, and revealed that he'd been turned into pure energy, and was the energy bolt that gave Will Payton (the fifth Starman) his powers. Gavyn later appeared in The Rann-Thanagar War, defending Throneworld from Thanagarians. Curiously, he's seen in JLU as one of the many non-speaking, background Justice Leaguers- his costume's not bad, though terribly generic- basically a big star with some goggles and that "hair showing on top of the mask" look.
-Alas, I have NO IDEA how powerful this guy is supposed to be- he's apparently a Flying Cosmic Blaster, but doesn't seem to have any of the requisite durability. The DCA build has him at *PL 12*, and he's got a TON of powers that don't appear on any Bio-Sites I can find, but most of the posters here seem agreed that he's PL 9-10 at best. Given that my knowledge of Prince Gavyn extends to going "there's a fourth Starman named Prince Gavyn?" upon reading the Wikipedia section on "Starman", I'm going to defer to others' impressions of the guy over mine.

STARMAN V (Will Payton)
Created By:
Roger Stern & Tom Lyle
First Appearance: Starman #1 (Oct. 1988)
Role: Failed Hero
Group Affiliations: None
PL 9 (172)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Copy Editor) 4 (+5)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
Power-Lifting 1 (25 tons) [1]
Protection 2 [2]
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) [18]
"Shapeshifting" Morph 3 [15]
"Living Star" Immunity 11 (Life Support, Aging) [11]
"Inhuman Physique" Features 1: May Count as "Not Human"- Certain Powers are Ineffective (Parasite's Absorption, etc.) [1]

Cosmic Blast 10 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating 6) (27) -- [31]
AE: "Omnidirectional Blast" Damage 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (27)
AE: Environment 3 (Light) (6)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 10 (20)
AE: Environment 6 (Heat 2) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Cosmic Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +10, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (The Hutchinson Institute)- The Institute is hunting him to find out why he got so much power, while their own agents got so little.
Responsibility (Rookie)
Relationship (Mother, Sister, Dr. Kitty Faulkner)- He is close with the two former, and dates the latter.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 77 / Defenses: 7 (172)

-Will Payton can be chalked down as a failed 1980s superhero- debuting in his own book, with a talent on the level of Roger Stern (around the time his great Avengers run was nearing its end) behind him, he nonetheless vanished pretty quickly. He was a newspaper Copy Editor who was struck by an energy beam from a satellite (meant for some Evil Organization's super-agents). Payton sacrificed himself to kill Eclipso after a very short run- it was revealed in the '90s Starman series that he'd actually been essentially killed and replaced by Prince Gavyn, the fourth Starman. Why that was done I have no idea- maybe Robinson just didn't feel like dealing with an extra character, and it was easier to merge them. Though Payton's memories apparently "re-wrote" Gavyn's personality a bit, to answer the "well wouldn't we have known over FORTY ISSUES if the main hero was actually an alien prince?" problem).
-Ares includes him as one of his "Red Guardian Characters", and points out that he's a good example of DC's late '80s, early '90s attempts at creating more Peter Parkers (Kyle Rayner was another, more successful one)- the "Everyday Guy" character archetype was more common than ever at the time, in a direct attempt to copy some of Marvel's success. The book apparently took a nosedive in quality after Stern left 25 issues in, and it was cancelled after #40.
-His costume's not bad, though- the "Star" design is very iconic to Superheroics, and can be used in just about any manner on a costume. Though one is a bit TOO colorful for my tastes. He's a good PL 9 Rookie Hero with some decent powers and is quite expensive- thanks to Tattooed Man for linking me to his own build of the guy, to allow me to modify my own. He's a rookie, but very powerful- he never beat anyone important, but he would fit in well on a high-end Superteam and not embarass himself.

STARMAN VI (David Knight)
Created By:
Roger Stern
First Appearance: Starman #26 (Sept. 1990)
Role: Failed Hero
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (119)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (History) 5 (+5)
Insight 1 (+2)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Cosmic Rod" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [18]
Flight 8 (500 mph) (Flaws: Platform) (8)
"Stellar Energy" Blast 10 (Feats: Improved Critical) (21) -- (24)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 8 (16)
AE: "Levitation" Move Object 8 (16)
AE: Environment 1 (Heat 2) (4)
-- (32 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Cosmic Blast +6 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Father & Brother)- David worships his father Ted, and wants to honor him as the new Starman. He is less close with his disrespectful, sardonic brother Jack.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 18 / Defenses: 10 (66)

-David Knight was actually not created by James Robinson- the eldest son of The Golden Age Starman debuted in 1990 as a fairly-flat character (he wanted to be the new Starman and carry on his father's legacy, resulting in a fight with Will Payton), and was killed in the debut issue of Robinson's Starman series. He would reappear annually as a ghost, talking to his younger brother Jack in Starman. Also it turns out that David got sent back in time to 1951, where he took over as Starman from Charles McNider after some training- he dissipated at the completion of a mission with Jack, who was of course ALSO time-travelling at the time (ah, superheroes...). So he's like... the sixth Starman AND the third? Which I guess would push everyone ELSE back, but I'm putting them chronologically in terms of appearance in comics. So he's just the sixth.
-It's considered a plot point that poor David was never meant to be a superhero- even Ted recognized this, as he'd given JACK the "hero's name". He's shot by a sniper rifle in the opening of Starman, which is one of those things you'd think would be a lot more common. Of course, it's horribly un-dramatic for superheroes to be sniped down like that. He's also wielding a lesser, more-simplistic version of the Cosmic Rod.

STARMAN VII (Jack Knight)
Created By:
James Robinson & Tony Harris
First Appearance: Zero Hour #1 (Sept. 1994)
Role: Postmodern Hero, Fan Insert Character
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 10 (138)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 11 (+13)
Expertise (History) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Cosmic Rod) 4 (+10)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Daze (Deception), Equipment 1 (Leather Jacket, Goggles, Other '90s Hero Stuff), Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Luck, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"The Cosmic Rod" (Feats: Summonable- Can Make Its Way To Him) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [34]
Flight 8 (500 mph) (16)
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) (2)
Immunity 1 (Atmospheric Effects) (1)
"Stellar Energy" Blast 10 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (29) -- (35)
AE: "Staff Strike" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach 2) (4)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 10 (20)
AE: "Energy Objects" Create 5 (Extras: Movable) (15)
AE: Force Field 6 (6)
AE: "Levitation" Move Object 8 (16)
AE: Environment 1 (Heat 2, Light 2) (8)
-- (54 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Cosmic Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+10 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Father & Brother)- David worships his father Ted, and wants to honor him as the new Starman. He is less close with his disrespectful, sardonic brother Jack.
Relationship (Sadie Payton)- Jack falls for the sister of Will Payton, the fifth Starman.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 12 (138)

-Starman, by James Robinson, is one of those comics that was SERIOUSLY highly-touted when I first got back into comics around 1999 or so. It seemed like EVERYBODY in comics was talking about James Robinson's Magnum Opus as if it was the greatest thing in history- it was smart, savvy and seemed to "get" its audience. I never got into it- the book struck me as the kind of thing that appealed to pretentious people- the sorts to put on airs about this little hobby of ours. Perhaps a bit unfair, sure- I eventually bought the first Omnibus collection of the series and... it's alright. I mean, people SERIOUSLY overrated it. But it's okay- there's some good character bits. Opal City looks a bit interesting (Robinson made it his mission to "build" a fictional city the way other DC creators had). The art is different without being overly-stylized or "too '90s". But HOLY GOD is it still pretentious- everyone talking pseudo-philosophically in first-person narratives all over the place, all this Goth stuff, The Shade being all "oh I remember Oscar Wilde and all of this fancy high culture" stuff. I mean, Robinson seems REALLY proud of whatever his pedigree as a writer is for whatever reason, and seems to be showing off. CLASSIC artsy-fartsy stuff.
-Funnily enough, I didn't realize Jack was supposed to sorta represent 1990s comic book fans at first. When someone suggested it, I was like "Wuh? But he's a smart-assed, self-righteous snob obsessed with the minutae of Pop Culture and openly sees guys in tights as this passe thiOOHHHHHHHH I SEE IT NOW!" Jack is your classic Pop Culture Snob (a collector of random old things, to be exact- and there's more of a market out there for that than you'd think- it turns out all the local Antique Shops where I live mostly carry '80s crap!), and he openly mocks the idea of super-heroics. He derides his father Ted's legacy as the Golden Age Starman, he thinks tights are lame (he's one of the most-notable '90s heroes to wear a big leather jacket and regular clothes as a crimefighter), and he finds it all incredibly pointless. He's kind of an ass. But when his brother is murdered by the son of The Mist (an old foe of his dad's), Jack has to defend himself, and kills David Knight's murderer in battle.
-Jack & his dad make a promise to each other- Jack will become Opal's new defender, and Ted will use his scientific genius for the good of humanity, not just building new Cosmo-Weapons for fighting super-villains. Jack goes on a number of adventures- he gets drugged & raped by The Mist's obsessive daughter Nash, he befriends a less-evil Solomon Grundy, he proves Bulletman's innocence from charges that he was a Nazi collaborator in the War, goes back in time to team up with his brother David (also time-travelling, but kind of as a ghost), etc. We see what's happened to all of the prior Starmen (including some weird Retconning involving the '90s Will Payton Starman, involving the '80s Prince Gavyn Starman). Jack gets to know Opal's Police Department, and an old Golden Age villain named The Shade gets a ton of focus as a Victorian-Era smarmy-assed guy with crazy amounts of power.
-Jack even joins the modern incarnation of the JSA, which Robinson co-writes for the first bit. When Ted dies saving Opal City from The Mist (both men die), Jack formally retires from super-heroics, bequeathing the Cosmic Rod to Courtney Whitmore (who becomes Stargirl), and decides to raise his son Kyle (Nash's rape-baby) with his new wife. Robinson even got something I can't think of too many creators ever getting- the deal that DC can never use his characters without his permission. Given that comics is a profession of numerous creators working on (and often altering) characters, maybe that's for the best. I can think of a lot of new-ish characters who were wrecked because new creators took over and got the wrong impression of them (like basing them off their original characterization, even though the original creator had them develop past that).
-Unfortunately for Robinson however, while his series still appears to be a critical darling (though many comic fans have since complained about the portrayals of certain other characters in the series- oddly prescient of why Robinson himself would ban other writers from working on his own guys), his own legacy as a writer has been permanently tarnished- he wrote that AWFUL Justice League: Cry For Justice storyline (where Arsenal's daughter was killed), as well as a much-maligned run on JLA itself. Even his JSA: Blackest Night special was awful, featuring dialogue that doesn't fit the characters (Cyclone saying "I'll send you back to Hell!"), a boring central plotline with Random Superhero Technobabble saving the day, and most notably, JAKEEM THUNDER IS CALLED JAMAL (though I'd blame that more on the Editor who should have been on the ball a little- writers can easily F-up stuff like that). Though whatever you wanna say about the guy, without him, DC probably wouldn't have brought back the JSA in such a strong manner, so we owe one of DC's best series to him.
-Jack ends up being a fairly competent superhero, though he's still a bit of an ass sometimes. He can haggle with the best of them, and NOBODY in DC knows more about inane pop culture, but he's a lot more practical and pragmatic than many superheroes (though notably, fighting in JEANS AND A LEATHER JACKET are not actually practical for a martial artist- people frequently forget that skin-tight clothing is actually a BENEFIT in these situations). The Cosmic Rod is a pretty good weapon, but as its Easily Removable (DCA makes it not so for whatever reason, even though there's no way you couldn't just snatch it out of his hands if you wanted to) it has limits. Also, I'm pretty sure the Force Field is inside the Array of abilities the Rod has- he never really uses two attacks at the same time. And why is the DCA version PL 11, anyways? Jack always seemed barely-capable as a superhero, and definitely no powerhouse. Curiously, the Rod seems to lose variations on it once its in the hands of Courtney Whitmore- she hasn't been seen using half of the attributes.

HAWKMAN I (Carter Hall)- Golden Age
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Dennis Neville
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: Flying Hero, JSA Leader, THE Confusing Continuity Guy
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 9 (151)
STRENGTH
4/6 STAMINA 6/7 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Aerobatics 10 (+15)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (History) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Royalty) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Archaeologist) 8 (+11)
Insight 3 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+7)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Equipment 2 (Ancient Weapons- +2-3, Penetrating 4 or Reach), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Old Weapons), Leadership, Move-By Action, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Lives Throughout the Years" Immortality 1 (Extras: Reincarnation) [3]

"Nth Metal Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (7)
Enhanced Strength 2 (4)
Enhanced Stamina 1 (2)
Immunity 2 (Cold, High Altitudes) (2)
-- (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Nth Metal Harness +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Weapons +10 (+7-8 Damage, DC 22-23)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Relationship (Shiera Sanders- Hawkgirl)- The two were together for decades, and were "One True Loves".
Relationship (Kendra Saunders- Hawkgirl)- Kendra is the reincarnation of Shiera, and Carter pursues her intensely, despite her reservations.
Responsibility (Reincarnations)- Carter Hall is the latest in a long set of reincarnations, starting with Prince Khufu centuries ago in Ancien Egypt.
Enemy (Hath-Set)- Hath-Set murders Carter in every one of his reincarnations throughout the years.
Responsibility (Conservative)
Temper- Hawkman is famously-quick to anger in modern times, and fights with a very brutal style that is contrary to many of his old teammates.
Relationship (The Atom)- Carter & Ray Palmer are best friends.
Responsibility (Thanagar)- Carter holds some of Katar's interest in Thanagar.

Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 56--28 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 12 (151)

---

HAWKMAN I (Carter Hall)
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Dennis Neville
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: Flying Hero, JSA Leader, THE Confusing Continuity Guy
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 11 (192)
STRENGTH
4/6 STAMINA 6/7 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 14 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Aerobatics 10 (+15)
Athletics 6 (+10)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (History) 10 (+13)
Expertise (Royalty) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Cowboy) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Space Cop) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Military) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Archaeologist) 8 (+11)
Insight 3 (+7)
Intimidation 4 (+8)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Equipment 2 (Ancient Weapons- +2-3, Penetrating 4 or Reach), Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Old Weapons) 2, Improved Smash, Jack-Of-All-Trades, Last Stand (Ignores Damage For 1 Round With HP Spent), Leadership, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Startle, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Ian Karkull's Shadow Energy" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
"Polyglot" Comprehend 3 (Languages) (Flaws: Limited to Ones From Past Lives) [3]
"Lives Throughout the Years" Immortality 1 (Extras: Reincarnation) [3]

"Nth Metal Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (7)
Enhanced Strength 2 (4)
Enhanced Stamina 1 (2)
Immunity 2 (Cold, High Altitudes) (2)
-- (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Nth Metal Harness +14 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Weapons +14 (+7-8 Damage, DC 22-23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +6 (+7 Nth Metal Harness), Fortitude +8 (+9 Harness), Will +9

Complications:
Relationship (Shiera Sanders- Hawkgirl)- The two were together for decades, and were "One True Loves".
Relationship (Kendra Saunders- Hawkgirl)- Kendra is the reincarnation of Shiera, and Carter pursues her intensely, despite her reservations.
Responsibility (Reincarnations)- Carter Hall is the latest in a long set of reincarnations, starting with Prince Khufu centuries ago in Ancien Egypt.
Enemy (Hath-Set)- Hath-Set murders Carter in every one of his reincarnations throughout the years.
Responsibility (Conservative)
Temper- Hawkman is famously-quick to anger in modern times, and fights with a very brutal style that is contrary to many of his old teammates.
Relationship (The Atom)- Carter & Ray Palmer are best friends.
Responsibility (Thanagar)- Carter holds some of Katar's interest in Thanagar.

Total: Abilities: 90 / Skills: 76--38 / Advantages: 29 / Powers: 19 / Defenses: 16 (192)

-Hawkman goes down in history as the single MOST confusing character in history, as far as continuity goes. And OH MY GOD IS IT BAD. You wouldn't think a story about a guy who found Magic Flying Wings would get this convoluted, but that's comics for ya. Hawkman started out as Archaeologist Carter Hall, who found out he was the reincarnation of an Egyptian Prince named Khufu, and discovered some "Ninth Metal" which allowed him to fly. Using ancient weapons from his museum (what kind of archaelogist would use ANCIENT ARTIFACTS in a fight?!), Carter would soon team up with the reincarnation of Khufu's bride, who would become Hawkgirl. Hawkman was actually a big success in the Golden Age, lasting for eleven years (a run longer than Captain America's), making it through every single appearance of the Justice Society (The Atom was next-closest, having missed a few), and finally being cancelled in 1951. I've heard that he would have gotten his own book (much like The Flash & Green Lantern had) if it weren't for a paper shortage in the Golden Age. It would be ten years before he'd also get a Silver Age version- this one was an alien with a similar name- Katar Hol of Thanagar.
-He retires with most of the other JSA guys, and is one of the few to actually marry and have children- his son Hector Hall becomes The Silver Scarab in Infinity, Inc., but dies an early death. And then the CRISIS happened. And oh dear, did the Hawks get the shaft in THAT one- as the universes merged, Carter got mixed up with Katar, and his whole continuity was rebooted as he was shoved into Limbo (literally) for a while- even Marv Wolfman wasn't sure what would happen to him in the Post-Crisis era, which is why Carter was horribly-injured by a Shadow Demon in the final battle- unlike Robin I, Huntress I & Green Arrow I, who were all slain in order to avoid odd questions when continuity merged and they disappeared, Carter was merely badly-wounded just in case they needed to kill him off. They couldn't be sure until later.
-Carter was merged with Katar Hol and a "Hawkgod" at the end of Zero Hour, and was exiled from continuity- DC was so afraid of the convoluted continuity of the character that they refused to even allow any CHARACTERS to be named Hawkman! The guy spent the majority of the 1990s without a home or a book.
-It wasn't until the modern JSA series that we would see Carter again- in this book, Kendra "Hawkgirl" Saunders, the reincarnation of Khufu's bride (sorta- it's complicated) was used as a "tether" to bring Carter back from the abyss. Geoff Johns clearly loved the character, to the point went full "Remember The New Guy" effect by talking Hawkman up CONSTANTLY. I mean, it was a constant stream of "Hawkman is awesome", "Hawkman LED the Justice Society!", Sandy basically hero-worshipped him, etc.- everyone was SO SURE that Hawkman returning was the greatest thing ever. It'd be over-the-top, but given his history of failure before this, it was perhaps kind of necessary. And most importantly, IT WORKED- Hawkman was a big success, to the point where he got his own SERIES, also written by Johns.
-Carter was interesting in JSA- while he was hyped alot, he wasn't necessarily that powerful (his biggest storyline moment was defeating Onimarr Synn with the comic book equivalent of the Care Bear Stare by kissing Kendra and unleashing their love throught Nth Metal- which is AWESOME) or spotlight steal-y, and he was given a host of character flaws, keeping him human. He was quick to anger, talked down to others, chased after Kendra like she was his One True Love despite her trying to avoid him (she found it overwhelming), maimed enemies like some kind of Superhero Caveman, and basically stole control of the JSA from Mr. Terrific when Black Adam invaded Kahndaq. He stepped down from the JSA after Black Reign, feeling that he'd screwed up in this last moment.
-Hawkman ended up involved in the Rann-Thanagar War, hung around St. Roch (his very own fictional hometown) and finally had his book shift to Hawkgirl's with issue #50. It lasted another 17 issues, Carter's longest run since the '40s. He was supposed to be the co-leader of JSA All-Stars, but Editorial stuff happened and he was removed and put onto Thanagar again (awaiting the next big event story), and Magog was made co-leader in his place (wrecking a lot of the narrative of the book). The Hawks were killed during Blackest Night, Khufu and his bride Chay-Ara's bodies were revealed to be the source of the Star Sapphires' Love Powers (oh, comics), Kendra was resurrected as Shiera again, and they returned at the end of that story arc, having reunited lovingly. At the end of DC's continuity, they fought in Brightest Day, sacrificing their lives to save the universe- however, Carter was brought back by Swamp Thing- Shiera was still "everywhere" as an Elemental of Air. Because comics.
-Hawkman... isn't really that bad, despite the asinine continuity issues brought up because people weren't paying attention to what they were doing (ie. their Editors couldn't control the writers). He was big back in the Golden Age, and had a really distinctive mask (though the version that has a hawk's full beak with the tongue sticking out is pretty goofy-looking), and the modern version is interesting as a form of conflict- he's this Big Great Leader, but also a giant close-minded asshole, stubborn as hell, and extremely violent- it made him a good fit compared to the rest of the cast, and avoided making him too over-the-top with the "Boy, that Hawkman is TOTALLY NOT LAME AND IS IN FACT THE BEST EVER" stuff.
-Hawkman fits in as a PL 11 accurate fighter with a bit more strength than the average man- the exact level of his strength is left standard "DC Vague", to the point where I wouldn't even know he was super-strong if I hadn't read it in a bio first, though I guess he DID do a tiny bit of damage to Black Adam one time they fought. In any case, ST 5 with Power Attack should do it- he's at the Captain America level there.

HAWKMAN II (Katar Hol)
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert
First Appearance: The Brave and the Bold #34 (Feb. 1961)
Role: Flying Hero, THE Confusing Continuity Guy, Space Cop
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, Thanagar
PL 10 (170)
STRENGTH
4/6 STAMINA 6/7 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Aerobatics 9 (+14)
Athletics 4 (+8, +10 Harness)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (Space Cop) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Military) 5 (+8)
Expertise (History) 6 (+9)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Lasers) 2 (+12)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Animal Empathy, Equipment 4 (Ancient Weapons, Thanagarian Tech- Laser Blasters +5- Multiattack), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Mace), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Teamwork

Powers:
"Thanagarian Physiology"
Senses 3 (Extended & Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing) [3]
"Endure Electricity" Immunity 5 (Electrical Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Half Effect) [5]
"Treated Bodies To Space Conditions" Immunity (Cold, Vacuum) (Flaws: Limited to Five Minutes) [1]

"Tthe Absorbascon Learning Device"
Comprehend 3 (Languages) (Flaws: Limited to Mere Hundreds of Earth Languages and Some Alien) [3]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Beginner's Luck, Jack-Of-All-Trades [2]

"Converse With Birds"
Comprehend 2 (Animals) (Flaws: Limited to Birds) [2]

"Anti-Gravity Metal Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [13]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (7)
Enhanced Strength 1 (2)
Enhanced Stamina 1 (2)
Immunity 2 (Cold, High Altitudes) (2)
Features 1: Will Hover Even if KO'd (1)
"Negate Weight" Power-Lifting 2 (6 tons) (2)
-- (16 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Nth Metal Harness +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Mace +12 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Laser Blaster +12 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +6 (+7 Anti-Gravity Metal Harness), Fortitude +7 (+8 Harness), Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Shayera Thal- Hawkgirl/woman)- The two were married on Thanagar years ago.
Enemy (The Shadow Thief, Matter Master, Kanjar Ro, etc.)- Hawkman has gained numerous adversaries over the years.
Rivalry (Green Arrow)- Oliver's rejection of authority rubs Katar the policeman the wrong way.

Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 14 (170)

-As the most-successful Golden Age heroes live on past the Golden Age (Supes, Bats, WW), and the next most-popular got revamped new versions (GL, Flash, Atom), it was inevitable that Hawkman would soon join them. Carter Hall was completely reimagined as "Katar Hol", a flying Space Cop from Thanagar, an alien world that'd just repeled an invasion from the "Manhawks". Thanagar won, but they learned how to steal from the Manhawks (it'd never occured to them before? WEIRD), necessitating the creation of a police force, of which Katar (a Prince) became a founding member. Katar soon fell in love with Shayera Thal and married her- ten years later, they were sent to Earth on the heels of some crook, and became museum curators Carter & Shiera Hall, in agreement with the police chief of Midway City. They elected to remain on Earth thereafter in order to learn human police methods for Thanagar, and also acted as the heroes Hawkman & Hawkgirl. Both would eventually join the Justice League (their book shared an Editor with JLA, meaning they were a natural fit), with Katar being a charter member.
-Katar & Shayera rejected Thanagar when they invaded Rann (that happened that long ago?), and Katar worked against them in secret when they plotted to take over EARTH as well. Then the Crisis happened, and this caused problems- it was easy to pass off some guys (Jay Garrick & Barry Allen) as successors/Legacies instead of "guys on different worlds with the same name"). But Carter Hall & Katar Hol both being Hawkmen? And being contemporaries? It's weird, but do-able, I guess. However, DC soon changed their mind and created the Hawkworld Limited Series (by Tim Truman, who I've never heard of, and later John Ostrander), which relaunched the characters and their history- its success led to an ongoing, which created numerous continuity errors. Now, Katar was a younger man who rejected his world's expansionist policies, got addicted to drugs, and sent to a prison world. He was allowed back on the Police Force when his sentence was up, then got sent to Earth as Goodwill Ambassador along with Shayera Thall, a working-class rookie.
-This was of course running at the same time as OTHER DC books, which raised the question of who was on the JLA during all of THOSE stories back in the '60s? The two had a tumultuous relationship and split up. And it turned out that Carter & Shiera Hall were the inspiration of the "Wingmen" cops, as Katar's father had traveled to Earth during World War II. Oh, and Katar is apparently half-human, as his daddy married a Cherokee woman back then. Further things were muddled when they revealed that Carter & Shiera were in fact active for decades, joining the JLA in lieu of Katar & Shayera. And the Hawkman of the '80s? Well, that was FEL ANDAR, a Thanagarian Agent who was trying to infiltrate Earth and the League! He of course married a Hawkgirl (a different one), and had a son named Charlie Parker, which gave a retroactive origin to The Golden Eagle, a short-lived Sidekick character.
-After a while, Hawkman gained the reputation of a guy who quickly lost series- despite his Golden Age success. His Silver Age book, one shared with The Atom, was not very successful, only lasting four years (by contrast, Daredevil, the bottom-tier character at Marvel, lasted more or less continuously from the Silver Age to today). Hawkworld only lasted three. His useless appearance on the Super Friends didn't help (Seanbaby pointed out the absurdity of a guy having ONLY FLYING as a power on a team of guys who had that as only ONE of their tons of powers). It got so bad that Wizard Magazine got a funny crack in about it during a "Parody Cover" bit- it featured Hawkman #1 with the blurb of "First Issue!" on the cover... then followed on the next page with Hawkman #2 with "LAST ISSUE!" mentioned in the same spot! The continuity issues of Hawkworld, falling sales, and distaste with the Golden Age heroes at the time led to Zero Hour wiping out a bunch of the JSA (Mid-Nite, Hourman & The Atom died), along with Carter & Katar, who merged together with Shiera and a "hawk god" (??) creature to create a new Hawkman- a living avatar who fought criminals in a '90s-style way. This Hawkman went insane (too many voices in his head), and he was banished into limbo- it was later revealed that he was an incarnation of The Red (from Animal Man), who was confused and merely THOUGHT he was Hawkman.
-Katar Hol is actually a bit tough to find as far as information of his abilities goes, but thanks to some PMs, I've got it. The Hawkpeople are basically like Hawkman- flying gusy with melee weapons (nowhere compared to Hawkgirl's death weapon on JLU, though- it can Blast, Smash or Nullify Magic. The Hawkworld versions dropped the extras on the Nth Metal Harness (generally called Anti-Gravity Harnesses before JSA renamed it in the early 2000s) and went back to the Carter Hall version, and Thanagarians in general were usually weaker (Pre-Crisis they were stronger than humans at baseline), they couldn't survive in space for five minutes, and lost the Absorbascan stuff (and dropped being able to talk to birds, though once Katar figured out he was half-Native American he of course gained their own kind of Animal Communication). As "Hawkgod", he had natural Wings as part of his body, and they were Subtle (they could go inside of him). He was Strength 7 or 8 and had a big Pistol.

HAWKGIRL I (Shiera Hall, aka Shiera Saunders)- Golden Age
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Dennis Neville
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: Flying Hero, Distaff Counterpart
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 8 (129)
STRENGTH
2/4 STAMINA 4/5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Aerobatics 10 (+14)
Athletics 6 (+8, +10 Harness)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (History) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Archaeologist) 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 2 (Ancient Weapons- +2-3, Penetrating 4 or Reach), Improved Critical (Spear), Move-By Action, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork

Powers:
"Lives Throughout the Years" Immortality 1 (Extras: Reincarnation) [3]

"Nth Metal Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (7)
Enhanced Strength 2 (4)
Enhanced Stamina 1 (2)
Immunity 2 (Cold, High Altitudes) (2)
-- (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Nth Metal Harness +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Weapons +10 (+5-6 Damage, DC 20-21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+5 Nth Metal Harness), Fortitude +5 (+6 Harness), Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Carter Hall- Hawkman)- They are reincarnated throughout history to be eternal lovers.
Enemy (Hath-Set)- Hath-Set murders Carter & Shiera in every one of his reincarnations throughout the years.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 14 (129)

-One of comics' first Distaff Counterparts, Shiera Saunders debuted as Carter Hall's Token Girlfriend Character (VERY common in the Golden & Silver Ages), but in a 1941 JSA story, she donned the tights herself to become Hawkgirl. Despite appearing again and again in Carter's story, she actually wasn't a major character and didn't get up to much- she never joined the JSA back in the day, and her Silver Age version (Shayera Thall) got a LOT more attention. She & Carter were revealed to be the parents of Hector, and the rest of her story is kind of told in Retcon- she actually JOINED the 1940s JSA at some point, as well as joining the '80s JLA as "liaisons" between them and the JSA. She died by merging with Carter & Katar to form the "Hawkgod", but was revived in the body of Kendra Saunders (her grandniece) in the modern JSA story. She wasn't TRULY seen again until the end of Blackest Night, which resurrected Shiera fully.
-HOWEVER, Blackest Night hits and both Hawks die- when resurrected at the end of the story, they discover that KENDRA is now permanently-dead, and SHIERA is Hawkgirl again! And THEN they're both vaporized by a freaking White Lantern Ring because they refuse to follow its orders and separate (in order to "live strong" they must live apart, because they're too obsessed with each other... weird)! They're brought back (wow they totally kick Jean Grey's ass at this resurrection thing) as Elementals that are meant to save the Earth, helping Swamp Thing. Shiera was again not brought back, as she is now "everywhere", an Elemental of Air.

HAWKGIRL III (Kendra Saunders)
Created By:
Geoff Johns, David Goyer & James Robinson
First Appearance: JSA Secret Files #1 (Aug. 1999)
Role: Flying Hero, Distaff Counterpart
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 10 (132)
STRENGTH
2/4 STAMINA 4/5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Aerobatics 10 (+15)
Athletics 6 (+8, +10 Harness)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (History) 6 (+7)
Expertise (Archaeologist) 5 (+6)
Expertise (Cowgirl) 6 (+7)
Expertise (Royalty) 6 (+7)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 2 (Ancient Weapons- +2-3, Penetrating 4 or Reach), Improved Critical (Spear), Improved Initiative, Move-By Action, Quick Draw, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Takedown

Powers:
"Lives Throughout the Years" Immortality 1 (Extras: Reincarnation) [3]

"Nth Metal Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (7)
Enhanced Strength 2 (4)
Enhanced Stamina 1 (2)
Immunity 2 (Cold, High Altitudes) (2)
-- (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Nth Metal Harness +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Weapons +11 (+7-8 Damage, DC 22-23)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +6 (+7 Nth Metal Harness), Fortitude +6 (+7 Harness), Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Carter Hall- Hawkman)- They are reincarnated throughout history to be eternal lovers.
Enemy (Hath-Set)- Hath-Set murders Carter & Shiera in every one of his reincarnations throughout the years.
Responsibility ("Screw destiny!")- Kendra does not like the fact that Hawkman just assumes they're supposed to be together, and wants to rush through the process. Kendra wants to be in a REAL relationship and actually get to KNOW him first. She also can't handle the fact that she is literally another person- Shiera Saunders inhabiting Kendra's body, as she has all of her old memories.
Relationship (Sand)- The two share a brief flirtation and the start of a relationship until Hawkman mucks everything up.
Relationship (Red Arrow)- As Kendra tries to avert destiny again, she hooks up with Roy Harper.
Responsibility (Bad Past)- Kendra was a bit of a young screw-up, having committed suicide and given up a daughter for adoption in the past.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 13 (132)

-In the modern JSA series, they wanted a link to the Hawks, but also wanted to avoid their complicated, convoluted history, and so they introduced Kendra Saunders lightly- she met the JSA while on the hunt for the child who would become Doctor Fate- as an indendent agent, she fought them at first, but soon allied with the squad, especially once they realized she was Speed Saunders' granddaughter. She was a bit fighty and rebellious at first, but kind of settled down, especially once she & Sand made a bit of a connection- it was revealed that she'd attempted suicide before and had a troubled history (we would later meet her daughter Mia, who'd been adopted by another family). THEN it was revealed that she had, in fact, DIED from the attempt, and when she passed, her body was inhabited by the soul of Shiera Saunders, having been left adrift post-Hawkmerger.
-Thus, Kendra was actually SHIERA, but didn't realize it, assuming she was the same person. She had mostly the same personality, and DEFINITELY rejected Hawkman's attempts at making out with her like it was the old days. However, she was willing to take things slowly with him, and they kind of went off into Hawkman's solo book, at which point she basically vanishes from JSA history- which was a bit too bad, as they'd done a lot of building on her, though I guess you were supposed to "follow" her to the new book, along with Hawkman. She joined the Rann-Thanagar War, became a member of the Justice League, and even took over the solo book, renaming it Hawkgirl for a year and a half before low sales killed it (I think that renaming may've had to do with the success of the Justice League cartoon and ITS Hawkgirl, though of course these were two different characters). Shiera's soul finally moves on to the afterlife, leaving just Kendra in control.
-Though honestly, I was never the hugest fan, despite liking the concept of the character, and her very real identity crisis issues (in that she was literally ANOTHER PERSON, but didn't realize it- there was a great bit where she breaks down because Hawkman KNEW a certain kind of flowers were her favourite). I think it was a SUPER-SHALLOW reason, like her having short hair and me not finding her hot :).
-Kendra felt like a PL 9 at-best during her run on JSA, having zero impressive feats to her name, and essentially being a warm body on the field on a team of Gods & Powerhouses. But at one point, she was good enough for the JLA, so I'm assuming she upgraded to a PL 10 over time. Not the best overall one (more like PL 9.5), but pretty solid as a hero.

HAWKWOMAN (Shayera Hol/Thall, aka Hawkgirl II)
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert
First Appearance: The Brave and the Bold #34 (Feb. 1961)
Role: Flying Hero, Distaff Counterpart
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, Thanagar
PL 9 (162)
STRENGTH
3/5 STAMINA 5/6 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Aerobatics 9 (+14)
Athletics 4 (+7, +9 Harness)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (Space Cop) 5 (+8)
Expertise (History) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Secretary) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Archaeology) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Lasers) 2 (+12)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Animal Empathy, Equipment 4 (Ancient Weapons, Thanagarian Tech- Laser Blasters +5- Multiattack), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Axe), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Teamwork

Powers:
"Thanagarian Physiology"
Senses 3 (Extended & Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing) [3]
"Endure Electricity" Immunity 5 (Electrical Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Half Effect) [5]
"Treated Bodies To Space Conditions" Immunity (Cold, Vacuum) (Flaws: Limited to Five Minutes) [1]

"Tthe Absorbascon Learning Device"
Comprehend 3 (Languages) (Flaws: Limited to Mere Hundreds of Earth Languages and Some Alien) [3]
Enhanced Advantages 2: Beginner's Luck, Jack-Of-All-Trades [2]

"Converse With Birds"
Comprehend 2 (Animals) (Flaws: Limited to Birds) [2]

"Anti-Gravity Metal Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [13]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (7)
Enhanced Strength 1 (2)
Enhanced Stamina 1 (2)
Immunity 2 (Cold, High Altitudes) (2)
Features 1: Will Hover Even if KO'd (1)
"Negate Weight" Power-Lifting 2 (6 tons) (2)
-- (16 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Nth Metal Harness +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Spear +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Laser Blaster +12 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5 (+6 Anti-Gravity Metal Harness), Fortitude +6 (+7 Harness), Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Katar Hol- Hawkman)- The two were once close, but split up before the Hawk-merger.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 12 (162)

-The second Hawkgirl was initially Shayera Hol, wife of Katar, and a fellow Thanagarian Space Cop. She followed pretty much the same path as Hawkman (who was a bigger name, but didn't light the world on fire with his books), and changed her name to Hawkwoman in the early 1980s. However, she DID get to joint he Justice League at some point. When they decided to revamp the Hawks Post-Crisis, they explained away older stories by stating that Hawkman was an imposter named Fel Andar who was pretending to be "Carter Hall Jr.", and the Hawkwoman of the time was actually a human woman named Shayera Ma (what kind of a name is THAT? Another source calls her Sharon Parker), who married Andar, but was later brainwashed by his bosses into pretending to be Sharon Hall. She later uncovered the truth and was killed by Andar (but not before giving birth to the future Golden Eagle).
-Hawkworld reimagined Shayera as Shayera THAL, a girl whose mother came from the slums, forcing her to fight her way up to The Wingmen of Thanagar. She fell in love with Katar as the previous Hawkgirl/woman had done, but never married- they actually BROKE UP when the whole "Hawkgod" thing happened (Carter had fundamentally changed too much. Also it turns out it was never him anyways), and she retired from superheroics to become a cop in Detroit. We wouldn't find her again until MUCH later (despite JSA heavily-featuring both Hawkman and a new Hawkgirl), in the Rann-Thanagar War book that I've never read, now fighting on the side of Thanagar. During the story, she was murdered by Queen Komand'r of Tamaran (Blackfire, sister of the Titans' Starfire), possibly to wipe away an ugly question (like where does SHE fit into the whole "Resurrection" scheme?) and a redundant character.
-Hawkwoman is a PL 9 Sidekick sort to Hawkman (Katar version), fitting in just below him. She maintains Thanagarian abilities, but like Katar, lost several of them in the Hawkworld revamp.

HAWKMAN III (Fel Andar)
Created By:
Tony Isabella & Richard Howell
First Appearance: The Shadow War of Hawkman #1 (May 1985)
Role: Retcon Character, The Mole
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, Thanagar
PL 9 (128)
STRENGTH
3/5 STAMINA 5/6 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Aerobatics 9 (+14)
Athletics 4 (+7, +9 Harness)
Deception 10 (+12)
Expertise (Spy) 9 (+12)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Lasers) 1 (+11)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Equipment 4 (Ancient Weapons, Thanagarian Tech- Laser Blasters +5- Multiattack), Improved Critical (Axe), Move-By Action, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Thanagarian Physiology"
Senses 3 (Extended & Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing) [3]

"Anti-Gravity Metal Harness" (Flaws: Removable) [11]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (7)
Enhanced Strength 1 (2)
Enhanced Stamina 1 (2)
Immunity 2 (Cold, High Altitudes) (2)
-- (13 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Nth Metal Harness +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Spear +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Laser Blaster +11 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +5 (+6 Anti-Gravity Metal Harness), Fortitude +6 (+7 Harness), Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Thanagar)- Fel Andar is a Thanagarian spy agent.
Relationship (Sharon Parker)- The two fell in love, despite her being an Earthwoman. She was brainwashed into being the Silver Age Hawkgirl, but Andar murdered her when she recovered and revealed his duplicity.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 14 / Defenses: 11 (128)

-Fel Andar was initially used as a generic villain meant to represent the fascistic Thanagar- he led a team to Earth in order to steal the Hawks' technology. He was quickly defeated, and was later shown as a ghost. If only they'd left it there...
-Andar was reborn following an Invasion! story as a Thanagarian spy who arrived on Earth before Katar Hol, married an Earth woman, and infiltrated the Justice League as the second Hawkman (technically the third, as I'm going in order they appeared). He pretended to be Carter Hall, Jr., and was mainly there to "explain away" any Hawkman-themed stories that took place in continuity before the new Hawkworld series retconned Katar into arriving on Earth much more recently than the Silver Age. When his wife Sharon recovered from her brainwashing, Andar killed her for betraying him to the JLA, and was exiled from Earth- he was imprisoned upon returning to Thanagar. He would vanish for over a DECADE (I mean, which writer would dare mess with ANOTHER retcon character in the Hawks' mythology?), popping up in Rann-Thanagar War as a guy trying to redeem himself to his son, Charley (his & Sharon's son, and the Golden Eagle). Unfortunately, he was killed by Blackfire, along with Hawkwoman.
-Andar is more or less like Hawkman & Hawkwoman, but lacks the earlier Silver Age Hawkpeople powers. He's a much better liar, though, but naturally brings up the odd bit about lying in M&M- technically, it is basically IMPOSSIBLE to lie as frequently and as well as people like Andar or Terra do, invading super-hero groups and pretending to be something they're not- they make the equivalent of THOUSANDS of Deception checks against some reasonably-high Insight scores over months, and then it's all "OH HO HO I WAS ACTUALLY LYING YOU GUYS!" RPGs just don't have a set-up to properly explain why the heroes would never figure it out.

THE FLASH I (Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick)- Golden Age
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Harry Lampert
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: The Original Speedster
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 10 (195)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8/10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 7 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11, +13 Speed Force)
Deception 3 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 3 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 3 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 4 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Equipment (Cool Hat- Sometimes Refracts Light), Evasion, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Interpose, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 2, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Access to the Speed Force"
Speed 18 (500,000 mph) [18]
Quickness 16 [16]
Enhanced Advantages 4: Enhanced Initiative 4 [4]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Immunity 1 (Friction Heat) [1]

"Speed Feats"
Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 2, Water-Walking) (Flaws: Limited to While Running) [3]
"Knockdown Whirlwind" Affliction 10 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) Linked to Damage 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (17) -- [22]
AE: "Move Debris" Move Object 8 (Extras: 30ft. Cylinder) (Flaws: Touch Range, Limited to Away) (8)
AE: "Rapid Attack" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Multiattack 8) (Inaccurate -1) (12)
AE: "Hyperfast Punch" Strength-Damage +7 (Inaccurate -1) (6)
AE: "Hit Everyone in Range" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2 for 8 ranks) (21)
AE: Deflect 12 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Hyperfast Punch +11 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Rapid Attack +11 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Hit Everyone +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Whirlwinds +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +21

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +3 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Joan)- Jay & Joan have been married for decades- they both retain their health thanks to Ian Karkull's Shadow Energies.
Responsibility (The Next Generation)- Jay, having lost his only son as an infant, looks upon the next generation of heroes like a father. He takes especially good care of the youngest ones- impressionable rebels like Impulse & Jakeem Thunder, and the virginal Courtney Whitmore (his side hobby is chasing away any older man who pays her too much attention).
Responsibility (Polite)- Jay is unfailingly polite. Generally speaking, if JAY gets upset with you, you're REALLY being an ass.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 68 / Defenses: 20 (195)

THE FLASH I (Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick)- Modern Day
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Harry Lampert
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: The Original Speedster
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 11 (217)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8/10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 7 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11, +13 Speed Force)
Deception 3 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Insight 3 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 3 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Thrown Objects) 4 (+10)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 4 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 4, Equipment (Cool Hat- Sometimes Refracts Light), Evasion, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Inspire, Interpose, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 2, Redirect, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Access to the Speed Force"
Speed 19 (1,000,000 mph) [19]
Quickness 16 [16]
Enhanced Advantages 4: Enhanced Initiative 4 [4]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Immunity 1 (Friction Heat) [1]
"Speed Force/Shadow Energy" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]

"Speed Feats"
Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 2, Water-Walking) (Flaws: Limited to While Running) [3]
"Knockdown Whirlwind" Affliction 11 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) Linked to Damage 6 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (27) -- [34]
AE: "Suffocating Whirlwind" Affliction 11 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cylinder) (22)
AE: "Move Debris" Move Object 11 (Extras: 60ft. Cylindar +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (22)
AE: "Rapid Attack" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Multiattack 8) (13)
AE: "Hyperfast Punch" Strength-Damage +7 (7)
AE: "Hit Everyone in Range" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2 for 8 ranks) (21)
AE: "Throw Debris" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (Quirks: Requires Debris -1) (23)
AE: Deflect 12 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Hyperfast Punch +13 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Rapid Attack +13 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Hit Everyone +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Throw Debris +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Whirlwinds +11 Area (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Initiative +21

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +15 (DC 25), Toughness +3 (+7 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +9

Complications:
Relationship (Joan)- Jay & Joan have been married for decades- they both retain their health thanks to Ian Karkull's Shadow Energies.
Responsibility (The Next Generation)- Jay, having lost his only son as an infant, looks upon the next generation of heroes like a father. He takes especially good care of the youngest ones- impressionable rebels like Impulse & Jakeem Thunder, and the virginal Courtney Whitmore (his side hobby is chasing away any older man who pays her too much attention).
Responsibility (Polite)- Jay is unfailingly polite. Generally speaking, if JAY gets upset with you, you're REALLY being an ass.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 82 / Defenses: 23 (217)

-Jay Garrick is an important bit of comics history- he's the first guy whose entire power-set was to move fast- Superman could of course move quickly TOO, but The Flash could ONLY do that, and his popularity led to a HUGE amount of imitators- Quicksilver/Max Mercury, Johnny Quick, and Timely's Whizzer, plus the successor Flashes (who would become THE iconic Speedsters to a new generation) and Marvel's Quicksilver. He was created for All-American Comics, and quickly became popular enough for his own solo book (All-Flash Comics)- curiously, he was designed based off of the exact same sculpture that inspired Namor the Sub-Mariner (a statue of Mercury- Jay got the hat, Namor the feet). Jay lasted right until the end of the '40s- as he wasn't the back-up feature of a regular book, he didn't get to live alongside Superman, Batman and a few others, and so his books died by 1949. He would wait ten years before another appearance, and would never appear in a solo book again.
-When a new Flash came about in 1956, writers waited a few years before introducing the two- since Jay was already mentioned by Barry as a comic book character (the one who inspired him to take the name, in fact), they had to justify it by having them be from different Earths- Jay would thus be the first JSA member seen in years. He'd be a character member in all the successive JSA appearances, though he initially left the first team once he got his own solo book (he returned when All-American & National Comics split).
-Jay's origin is pretty standard- he was a college student who inhaled some hard water vapors (later changed to HEAVY water vapors, because of course it makes no sense to gain super-speed from HARD water. I mean, come on), gaining Super-Speed. He had a bunch of adventures nobody talks about anymore (and fought a Mirror Image villain in "Rival"), met Barry Allen, and mostly settled into the background. When the Earths were merged, he was left as the "original" Flash who inspired the others, and actually got a bit of an upgrade in standing amongst other heroes. Notably, as the various JSA members have fallen over the years (Canary, Hourman, Atom, Sandman, Starman, etc.), Jay Garrick stands as one of the only ones left- in his current role, he's the ultimate "Kindly Father Figure", showing a protective streak and a mentorly deal with the younger kids on the team. As a kid, I thought he was pretty lame with that silly hat and the "regular clothes as an outfit" look (it's one of the only outfits in comics that doesn't look like it was painted on over bare skin), but the years have been kind. Little bits like Jay revealing that he and his wife had adopted a child decades ago, only to lose him to lieukemia weeks later, reveal a very deep character, as well as a justification for his concern over others.

MAX MERCURY (Max Crandall, aka Quicksilver, Windrunner, Ahwehota- He Who Runs Beyond The Wind, Whip Whirlwind)
Created By:
Jack Cole & Chuck Mazoujian
First Appearance: National Comics #5 (May 1993)
Role: Speedster, Returned Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 10 (188)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8/10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+14)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (History) 4 (+9)
Expertise (U.S. Cavalry) 1 (+6)
Expertise (Philosophy) 6 (+11)
Insight 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion 2, Great Endurance, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Interpose, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 3, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Access to the Speed Force"
Speed 16 (125,000 mph) [16]
Quickness 12 [12]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Enhanced Initiative 3 [3]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Immunity 1 (Friction Heat) [1]
Movement 1 (Time Travel 1) (Flaws: Uncontrolled- Random Points in the Future, No Returning) [1]

"Speed Feats"
Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 2, Water-Walking) (Flaws: Limited to While Running) [3]
"Hit Everyone in Range" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2 for 8 ranks) (21) -- [24]
AE: "Rapid Attack" Strength-Damage +4 (Extras: Multiattack 7) (Inaccurate -1) (10)
AE: "Hyperfast Punch" Strength-Damage +6 (Inaccurate -1) (5)
AE: Deflect 12 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Hyperfast Punch +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Rapid Attack +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Hit Everyone +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +17

Defenses:
Dodge +16 (DC 26), Parry +16 (DC 26), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (Mentor-Figure)- Max tries his best to mentor other Speedsters in the ways of what he calls "The Speed Force".
Relationship (Bart Allen)- Max took special interest in the hyperactive Bart "Impulse" Allen.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 64 / Defenses: 23 (188)

-Max Mercury was known as "Quicksilver" back in the '40s, and changed his name upon his modern appearances thanks to Marvel having their own speedster by that name at that time. A low-level hero who got cast away fairly early, he was given a "mystic" gimmick by Mark Waid in the early '90s Flash comics, as he tried philosophical applications to the Speed Force under Mark Waid. He had an "Elder Statesman/Mentor" effect on the other speedsters, most notably Impulse, but was among the most disposable "Fast Guys" DC had, so he was among the first to die. Though DC really seems to enjoy offing speedsters.
-Max was given little backstory back in the day (only his first name was known, and his origin wasn't given), allowing Waid to basically make it all up himself- Maxwell Crandall was a U.S. Cavalry Scout in the 1830s who found an Indian tribe he had befriended massacred on the orders of his commanding officer. Enchanted by a dying shaman, he gained access to the Speed Force. Initially doing stuff in his own time, he would try to access the "Speed Force" as he called it, accidentally finding himself in the future every time he tried. At one point, he ended up in the 1940s, and became the mentor to Johnny Quick and The Flash.
-He bounced forward again (after sleeping with a married woman and having her go back to her husband), and ended up becoming the mentor to Wally West, as Waid wanted to give The Flash a more mythical aspect that combined the whole "Speedster" thing into one concept. Max disappeared into the Speed Force at the hands of The Rival (a Jay Garrick villain), who had possessed his body, and only reappeared recently before the big Reboot.
-Max was considered the most agile and "precise" of the Speedsters, despite being the slowest, which I'm reflecting with higher Defenses than are normal for someone who can only run a mere 125,000 mph. He could bob and weave better than most, so would be expected to make the most of Defensive Attack & Improved Defenses (he could even avoid Professor Zoom). Unlike most Speedsters, he can Time Travel, but it's Uncontrolled and he can't go back. He's PL 10, but only PL 9 on offense.

JOHNNY QUICK (Johnathan Chambers)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger
First Appearance: More Fun Comics (Sept. 1941)
Role: Speedster
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (187)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8/10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 2 (+6)
Insight 1 (+4)
Investigation 1 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Great Endurance, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Interpose, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 3, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Takedown 2

Powers:
"3X2(9YZ)4A!"
Flight 15 (64,000 mph) (30) -- [31]
AE: Speed 17 (250,000 mph) (17)
Quickness 16 [16]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Enhanced Initiative 3 [3]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Immunity 2 (Friction Heat, Aging) [2]

"Speed Feats"
Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 2, Water-Walking) (Flaws: Limited to While Running) [3]
"Hit Everyone in Range" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2 for 7 ranks) (19) -- [21]
AE: "Rapid Attack" Strength-Damage +5 (Extras: Multiattack 7) (12)
AE: Deflect 12 (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Hyperfast Punch +10 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Rapid Attack +10 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Hit Everyone +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +17

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Liberty Belle)- Johnny & Libby romanced each other during the 1940s, getting married in 1942. They divorced years later, amidst Johnny's obsession with super-speed and his embarassing her by trying to going on a lecture tour about unlocking personal potential.
Obsession (Unlocking Mantras)- Johnny tries to get others to unlock their own personal "mantras".
Normal Identity (Johnny Chambers)- Johnny has a mental block- he must speak aloud the formula "3X2(9Yz)4A!" to first become super-fast.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 80 / Defenses: 16 (187)

-Johnny Quick is a fun study in how weird comics can be- despite Jay Garrick being by far the most influential and remembered Speedster of the Golden Age, a nobody like Johnny outlasted him in the books by SIX YEARS. Debuting late for a DC character (1941), he stuck around in various titles, sharing Adventure Comics with the popular Superboy starting in 1946. And this is likely his saving grace- as Superboy was one of the most-popular Golden Age books, Johnny thus had a "Meal Ticket" and basically role that success as well- he lasted all the way until 1954!
-However, that's where things get weirder- despite his longevity, he wasn't revived or given an Earth-One version, like The Flash or Robotman. Instead, Johnny's name was used by the evil Crime Syndicate speedster of Earth-Three, and the original languished in obscurity. It wouldn't be until Roy Thomas came to DC that we'd see him on any important level, as he got chosen to be one of the "Point of View" characters in The All-Star Squadron. Here, he romanced Liberty Belle and did quite a bit of stuff- a good seven-year run between that and Young All-Stars. And after THAT, he was chosen for the short-lived but popular Justice Society book in 1992- hanging around with the JSAers as a possible honorary member (it's never stated if he really joined or not)- it was in this book that we finally saw him in modern times, having married then divorced Belle, and having a daughter with his same powers. In Jesse, he now had a Legacy.
-Johnny's powers come from a mathematical formula taught to him by his childhood guardian (Professor Gill), who derived them from inscriptions in a pharaoh's tomb- he becomes obsessed with this "mantra", eventually causing his wife to leave him after he goes on a speaking tour trying to convince others to unlock their personal potential using mantras like that. He was killed in the early '90s, saving his daughter Jesse from the villain Savitar.
-Johnny is a PL 9 Speedster, being the lowest-end of the lot. He's the only one able to FLY, however- a trait picked up by his daughter as well.

SPEED SAUNDERS (Cyril Saunders)
Created By:
E.C. Stoner & Craig Flessel
First Appearance: Detective Comics #1 (March 1937)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The FBI, The Office of Strategic Services
PL 7 (115)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (FBI Agent) 7 (+10)
Insight 3 (+7)
Investigation 7 (+11)
Perception 3 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Equipment 2 (Pistol), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 4, Tracking, Well-Informed

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Pistol +9 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +17

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Wesley Dodds)- The two are lifelong friends.
Relationship (Kendra Saunders)- Speed loves his granddaughter dearly, and is devastated when she commits suicide, and he immediately recognizes her as the reincarnation of his cousin Shiera Saunders.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (115)

-Speed Saunders is a little-known Golden Age character that predates even Superman and Batman, having debuted in the inaugural edition of Detective Comics- he's an FBI Agent hero who's also sometimes an adventurer or a standard Private Eye- it seems they couldn't decide. He was only popular enough to last for about four years, which isn't much by Golden Age standards- he left comics around the time guys like Captain America were joining it- 1941. He was later Retconned into being the cousin of the original Hawkgirl, and the grandfather to the current one- Kendra Saunders. His biggest contribution to recent comics is in the debut of the late '90s JSA book, in which he trains Kendra as Hawkgirl, and gives the JSA the leads they require in their hunt for the new Dr. Fate. He's basically a minor PL 7 Skillmonkey.

FOX COMICS:

* I figured I'd write up some of the competing comic book studios- at least those relevant to DC, since they scooped up plenty of them.

-Fox Comics formed under Victor S. Fox in the late 1930s, and debuted with Wonder Man Comics #1 in 1939. A flagrant rip-off of Superman, Wonder Man (created by Will Eisner under orders from Fox) was basically sued into oblivion. Even Eisner (who created the character under duress) admitted as much when subpoenad (though apparently transcripts do not show this- Eisner himself is the source for that bit), pretty much nuking the guy. Fox (like many early Golden Age company owners, a bit of a crook and a schrewd money-maker- it's stated by some that he was a worker at National Comics who say how much money Action Comics pulled in, and ran off to form his own company) rebounded, however, creating a new stable of comic book characters instead.

-Almost everything Fox made came from the Eisner & Iger Studio and other "mercenary" artist groups that would make comics that others would publish (Quality Comics also did this).

-Acts include The Flame (a guy who learned how to shoot flame in Tibet), Rex Dexter of Mars, The Bouncer (a statue of the Greek mythological figure Antaeus come to life- his specialty was jumping from place to place), Rulah the Jungle Goddess, Stardust the Super-Wizard and other goofs, but Quality Comics' Phantom Lady was brought over in 1947, turning her into even MORE of a fanservice-based "Good Girl Art" book. Apparently most of their books turned into this kind of thing after a point- with covers frequently featuring bosoms, bondage and very prominent "headlights" (as Dr. Wertham called them).

-However, their top character was Dan Garrett- The Blue Beetle. Jack Kirby drew his syndicated newspaper strip, and he lasted a good long time. Known for superheroes & humor, Fox shifted into dirty stuff like horror & crime in the later '40s, pretty much becoming THE source for lurid, sexy trash in that era... which helped destroy them in the era of The Comics Code Authority- Fox went out of business and sold The Blue Beetle to Charlton Comics.

"JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice" (One-Shot Story Trade)- written by David Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Carlos Pacheco
JLA line-up: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash III, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), The Atom, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Firestorm, Captain Atom, Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Zatanna, Vixen
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder, Hawkman, Power Girl, Hourman II, Captain Marvel

-Not quite sure where this fits in the continuity, what with the trades all having different dates than the issues and all, but it seems to fit the team line-up here, so I'll just put it here. It's a big one-shot Trade of a big fat team-up against one of each team's threats, which is usually good event-y stuff.

-Man, Carlos Pacheco... it's too bad he never has a regular gig that lasts a while. He's like a successor to Perez in that he's hyper-detailed and draws most people differently (not so much the women, but very few artists pull that one off), but he's not just a retread like Phil Jiminez is. And he draws such distinctive hands! All chubby-fingered and not all point the same direction like every other artist does and stuff. Most distinctive hands since Liefeld, but in the good way. Unfortunately, most of his recent work just looks like everyone else's- I'm not sure what happened there, but the last few Pacheco books I've read have been completely different from his old stuff.

-So it's Thanksgiving at the JLA HQ, a new annual tradition. Pacheco creeps me out by drawing more than one shot featuring INCREDIBLE detail on Stargirl's ass. I mean, the girl's only sixteen, and LOOKS it- this isn't a "Betty & Veronica" situation where she's got an adult body. But Wonder Woman in particular looks like she's wearing an outfit two sizes too small- she's practically spilling out all OVER the place, with a ridiculously-low-cut version of the swimsuit outfit. She makes Power Girl seem shy and demure. And there's a weird trend with Carlos repeatedly-changing the dimensions of Star's mask during the whole story- sometimes, it's fairly low-cut and you can see most of her forehead (basically little bigger than a domino mask)- at other times, the thing goes right up to her hairline, with her hair having to sprout out of it. Jerry Ordway does the same thing- I think it's just one of those difficult things to draw from certain perspectives (the harsh line at the hairline can look funny- like an awkward cut-off).

-GL (Kyle) and Wildcat are arm-wrestling. Well I should HOPE Ted is winning, since that's ALL HE HAS. Carlos has as much trouble drawing real-looking food as most comic artists, as it just looks like piles of mash potatoes with some brown stuff sticking out of it. Bill Watterson used to draw big, ugly piles in Calvin & Hobbes (though that was deliberate, to make it look unappetizing), but so do most other artists- Lynn Johnston, etc.

-First action sees Vixen saving President Luthor from an attack by one of those god-awful third-tier New Gods villains, Doctor Bedlam. Man, you ever get the sense everyone knew Kirby was writing garbage and just didn't want to tell him? The combined teams hand him his ass in three panels, but was just a lure, as something affects several heroes present.

-Everyone starts dicking it up hardcore-style, and then IT'S A FIGHT! It becomes apparent that seven members of the group have been infected by one of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man!! Power Girl is of course "Lust". Captain Marvel is "Gluttony", and houses Black Adam in RIDICULOUSLY easy fashion (then-WWE wrestler Shane "Hurricane" Helms wrote a great bit bitching about this on his blog- the dude would fit in on a comic book forum in SECONDS) . Power Girl punches Hawkman straight in the face, and he's still frickin' alive? REALLY? Batman is "Anger", Mr. Terrific is "Pride". Kyle is "Envy". Atom-Smasher goes down without saying a freaking thing all Cross-over, and Jakeem goes down with him, alongside Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter. Well now the whole thing is just ruined for me. What a lame move, writers. ESPECIALLY since they call in the JLA Reserves to boost the roster ANYWAYS. Plastic Man is "Greed", and Dr. Fate is "Sloth".

-The Reserves get called in, though why Sand & Hourman II weren't at the party I have no idea, since they're regular-old JSA members. Zatanna doesn't look right wearing a big cape- it's much too regal for her. She's basically here as a helper to move the plot along.

-One group of heroes ends up teleported to Fate's Tower, fighting those lame Sons of Anubis zombies, while the other ends up in Limbo, that dimension the DC Editors ruthlessly tossed the JSA back when they decided they didn't want senior citizen heroes running around. And Lex Luthor appears to be at the heart of it! Zatanna takes the Reserves to the Rock of Eternity, which has shown up in our plane, but Johnny Sorrow is there, having dispatched both Shazam & Captain Atom! Boo-yah! The JSA coolest-looking villain!

-Funny to see Mid-Nite & Green Arrow bickering all over the place, since Arrow stole Mid-Nite's lady-love, forcing her to be written out of the JSA books. Luthor unveils himself as Despero, long-time JLA C-League villain and forgotten character, reborn as an awesomely-designed huge guy. Despero's big speech about how Earth is the jewel of the galaxy and unique in it's diversity is pretty nice (funny how nobody feels like writing any worlds that DON'T have a singular culture in any form of fiction, it feels like). Turns out he & Sorrow are working together in a giant dickish plan to kill everyone and rule the world. The Sin-infested heroes are destroying America, as their empathic powers spread like viruses. Of course both villains are gleefully bragging about this, carefully explaining their plans.

-Nice moment as Green Arrow gets pissed at Despero for messing with the American flag, and Mid-Nite not believing that he's a patriot. It pisses GA off enough to help his team escape. The two teleported teams meet up in Limbo and get out of their with some crazy pseudo-scientific B.S. aided by Sentinel's magic and the Flashes' speed (all thanks to The Atom, of course), and they 'wish' themselves back home. Boy is Sentinel over-powered for regular heroics sometimes. Stargirl shows more of the potential everyone's been talking about (in-story), both figuring that Supes might need a recharge of sunlight, and helping Sentinel's willpower along.

-GIANT two-page panel of the heroes charging towards the villains. Nice stuff. Still wish Adam & Atom-Smasher were there... sniff.... Despero brawls it out like a good brick and beats the snot out of the heroes, while Sorrow uses his vague Whatever-Powers to mess them up. Nice, brutal action by Pacheco here, especially Despero cracking Supes & Cap's heads together. Ouch. Crazy bit, as Despero freaking tanks SUPERMAN, CAPTAIN MARVEL, WONDER WOMAN AND POWER GIRL COMBINED... yet HAWKMAN is able to crack his teeth with a mace shot. HOW IN THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO WORK?!?

-Brilliant planning, as Sorrow takes off his mask to kill Sand, but Firestorm turns him to glass so he can't SEE Sorrow (it works because Sand isn't organic), then Sentinel steals the mask, so Sorrow's stuck in a corporeal state, at which point the heroes wrap him up tight in green energy. Hourman's time-vision helps him see the exact spot where Captain Atom Quantum Leap's back into our world, so Despero takes another huge shot. Then Sand grabs the ROCK OF ETERNITY, and drops it on ol' three-eyes, allowing the GLs to unveil Sorrow's face right in front of him!. I love you, Comics.

-We end with a return of the party, and Lex Luthor building a NEW JSA building on top of the one that got wrecked in the fight. And it's a big art error, as the building would continue to look EXACTLY the same in the comics, but looks like a giant modern skyscraper here (which is ludicrous, since it only houses like 12 people and a museum), but that's a minor quibble. Also, in the most unrealistic thing I've ever read in a comic, a GOVERNMENT BUILDING PROJECT only takes a few weeks to get finished. Wonder Woman comforts Courtney about the heroes possibly screwing everything up, and Superman & Sentinel go up into the sky to watch the Earth, like they started the story doing.

Review: It was awesome in terms of the threat, the villains, the fight scene, and lots of the little character moments. The final battle was REALLY good, and the whole villainous scheme was as well, spreading mass chaos & disorder. Some things still bug me, though, especially wiping our FOUR JSA members for no good reason early on (Al didn't even SAY anything this whole story!), while sticking in a half-dozen JLA Reservists who each did maybe one thing to help (seriously, Captain Atom & Zatanna barely affect the plot). I guess Goyer & Johns just wanted to write the people they didn't normally see, but it's starting to become a JSA regularity by this point to dump heavy-hitters quickly. And MAN did I want to see Black Adam kick some ass alongside Marvel & Superman.

ALIAS THE SPIDER (Thomas Ludlow Hallaway)
Created By:
Paul Gustavson
First Appearance: Crack Comics #1 (May 1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The Freedom Fighters
PL 8 (93)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 7 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Bow) 4 (+10)
Stealth 6 (+9)
Vehicles 3 (+8)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Benefit (Wealth) 1, Equipment 4 (Car, Bow & Arrow), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Bow), Improved Disarm, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 1

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bow & Arrow +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Tom Hallaway was disgusted to see criminals prey upon honest citizens.
Secret (But Actually Evil)- Tom is actually a nasty criminal, and part of the Ludlow family of dirtbags. He maintains the Spider identity as a cover for his illicit activities.
Enemy (The Shade)- The two have fought numerous times, with Tom carrying a grudge.
Relationship (Chuck- Valet)- Chuck helps both Tom & The Spider separately, without making the connection.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (93)

-A weird case in comics, Alias the Spider was an obscure Quality Comics hero (lasting about three years) retconned into a villain when some modern-day writers got a hold of him. He was the Green Arrow stand-in on the Seven Soldiers of Victory team (Speedy's stand-in was another sidekick- Vigilante's) when the Golden Age Oliver Queen was erased from continuity. Playboy Tom Hallaway was pretty typical- he fought crime and used a Bow & Arrow and a cool car named The Black Widow.
-Instead of being a Freedom Fighter Post-Crisis, he was reimagined as a villainous guy on the Seven Soldiers- it turns out that Tom Ludlow Hallaway was a piratical smuggler, using a super-hero act to disguise his dirty deeds! He killed Vigilante's sidekick Billy Gunn (old cowboy, not Ass Man), but was stopped by a sacrifice from the Crimson Avenger's sidekick Wing. Maintaining the facade (as the only people who knew he was evil were dead), The Spider was the "hero" of Keystone City when Jay Garrick retired. He was finally killed in battle by The Shade, who saved The Flash, his old enemy.
-Hallaway's children later came into things, as his son Lucas fought Jack "Starman" Knight. Training his entire life for vengeance upon The Shade, but failed thanks to Matt O'Dare (one of Jack's cop buddies), and failed in a later attempt to assassinate Jack. Another character named "I, Spyder", also a Ludlow, showed up in Grant Morrison's weird Seven Soldiers of Victory story- he kills his brother (the second Spider), but isn't actually villainous, and helps the heroes defeat The Sheeda.
-The Spider's a good archer, but his generic arrows make him pretty minor-league. He's got some nasty skills though- a career criminal and psychopath.

SPY SMASHER (Alan Armstrong, aka Crime Smasher)
Created By:
C.C. Beck & Bill Parker
First Appearance: Whiz Comics #2 (1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Squadron of Justice
PL 7 (125)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 8 (+10)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Persuasion 5 (+7)
Investigation 5 (+9)
Expertise (Spy) 8 (+10)
Perception 5 (+9)
Insight 5 (+9)
Stealth 5 (+9)
Technology 6 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Benefit (Government Agent), Defensive Attack, Equipment 10 ("Gyrosub" Submarine/Ship/Car, Guns), Evasion, Favored Foe (Spies), Improved Aim, Improved Defense, Improved Smash, Precise Attack 2 (Close/Concealment & Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery 2 (Deception, Insight), Well-Informed

Equipment:
"Gyrosub"
(Size: Huge, Flight 7, Defense 6, Guns 7- Multiattack- Alt-Effects: Swimming 7, Speed 6)
(50 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Guns +10 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting Nazis & Crooks)

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 54--26 / Advantages: 27 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (129)

-Spy Smasher was one of the most successful of the early Fawcett Comics heroes of his day (next to Captain Marvel of course). He briefly changed his name to Crime Smasher after the war, but a war-themed hero just couldn't stick in the post-WWII era- he died out in 1953 along with Fawcett & the Marvel Family. He seemed doomed to obscurity forever until the '90s Power of Shazam series, which gave him alot of credit as a surviving aged super-hero. Gail Simone's Birds of Prey gave us yet another legacy character, in a somewhat Jack Bauer/Mary Sue-ish "I'm the greatest at everything but a total ass about it" female who works for "a higher authority than even the President", which turned out to be nothing- Simone has a tendency to give her new characters WAY too much credit when they first appear (usually from the mouths of other characters- an amateurish writer's trick to make sure the fans know how bad-ass this new character is), and soon she disappeared "down a deep, dark hole" thanks to crossing the wrong people in the high levels of government.
-I took the standard "two-fisted adventurer" archetype, threw on the Skillmonkey type with a focus on Deception/Insight/Spy aspect (a good spy-themed package), and gave him some shooty-type Advantages. He's better than some of the "regular human" heroes out there, but unless he's fighting spies, he falls short of the rest of the elite gang.

MINUTE-MAN (Jack Weston)
Created By:
Charlie Sultan
First Appearance: Master Comics #11 (Feb. 1941)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero, Patriotic Hero
Group Affiliations: S.T.A.R. Labs, The Office of Strategic Services, The Crime Crusaders Club, The Squadron of Justice
PL 8 (114)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 8 (+12)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Soldier) 7 (+9)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 5 (+9)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Equipment 2 (Soldier's Rifle), Evasion, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Peak-Ish Human"
Strength-Damage +1 [1]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 19)
Guns +9 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting Nazis)
Responsibility (America)- Weston is a patriot.

Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 11 (114)

-Minute-Man's another Fawcett hero, basically a soldier with a patriot riff (and a fancy American Flag dress-shirt!). Overshadowed by more popular acts like Captain America, he's had little modern showcasing save for The Power of Shazam past stuff (in modern times, he was a government agent), and an offscreen death in the first JSA arc, as the patriot-themed heroes were murdered by Vandal Savage.
-Minute-Man's a standard fighty hero, being PL 7, and hardly much more than a minor threat (he's PL 5 unarmed).

THE STAR-SPANGLED KID I (Sylvester Pemberton)
Created By:
Jerry Siegel & Hal Sherman
First Appearance: Action Comics #40 (Sept. 1941)
Role: Kid-Hero
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (114)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+14)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+13)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Technology 4 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+7)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Trip, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Pat Dugan)
Motivation (Fighting Nazis & Criminals)

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (114)

-Sylvester Pemberton always had a funny history. He was a rich kid who teamed up with his chauffer Pat Dugan to fight crime, making them the only Teen Hero/Adult Sidekick duo in comics. For seven years, they fought Nazi Fifth Columnists and other baddies, teaming up with The Seven Soldiers of Victory (Green Arrow, Speedy, Vigilante, Shining Knight and The Crimson Avenger), until both were replaced in their feature by Syl's sister Merry, The Girl of 1000 Gimmicks. A story set in more-modern times explained away their disappearance via Time Travel, as they showed up on Earth-Two no older than they'd been in the Golden Age. Syl inherited Starman's Cosmic Rod and turned it into The Cosmic Converter Belt (giving him a host of new powers), then joined the Justice Society on its Earth-Two adventures during the 1970s & '80s.
-As a Golden Age hero, The Star-Spangled Kid (kind of a mouthful for a codename, really) was an acrobatic fist-fighter who specialized in double-team moves with his partner Stripesy (who was the muscle of the operation). Both were actually technical geniuses, however, having built a Flying Car together.

SKYMAN (Sylvester Pemberton, aka The Star-Spangled Kid)
Created By:
Jerry Siegel & Hal Sherman
First Appearance: Action Comics #40 (Sept. 1941)
Role: Kid-Hero Turned Adult
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron, The Justice Society of America, Infinity, Inc.
PL 10 (174)
STRENGTH
2/7 STAMINA 4/7 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+8)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Technology 4 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Cosmic Blast) 3 (+11)
Stealth 4 (+9)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Trip, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"The Cosmic Converter Belt" (Flaws: Removable) [45]
Enhanced Strength 5 (10)
Enhanced Stamina 3 (6)
Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)

Blast 8 (Feats: Split) Linked to Dazzle Visuals 5 (27) -- (28)
AE: Create 8 (16)
-- (56 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Cosmic Strength +13 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Cosmic Blast +11 (+8 Ranged Damage & +5 Affliction, DC 23 & 15)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4 (+7 Cosmic Belt), Fortitude +6 (+9 Cosmic Belt), Will +8

Complications:
Relationship (Pat Dugan)

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 18 (174)

-In the debut of Roy Thomas' Infinity, Inc., Sylvester quits the JSA to help their children & godchildren form their own superhero team- they'd been rejected for JSA membership, and Syl, remembering what being a young hero was like himself, wanted to help them out. Eventually dropping the "Kid" part of his name since he was a grown man and all, Sylvester became "Skyman". He had a pretty good run, hit on Jonni Thunder a bunch (Earth-One's "Johnny Thunder", a girl with a lightning bolt for a sidekick), and tried to lead this fairly low-level, whiny team through a bunch of adventures, and could've been a bigger part of the DCU. But, in his last books for the team, Roy Thomas chose to have Skyman killed, kind of sealing an epitaph on the whole gang. Syl's death (at the hands of a Mind Controlled Solomon Grundy, who used Mr. Bones' Cyanide Touch to do the job) was something they tried to overcome, proclaiming that they'd fight on in his memory, but the characters split up off-panel anyways. Kind of sad, really.
-Sylvester, of course, gained far more credibility in death than he ever had in life (I call that the "Barry Allen Effect"), since Geoff Johns recreated his original identity (and brought his old Sidekick, Stripsey, out of the mothballs too!) using his late sister as a model, creating Courtney Whitmore, the true embodiment of the young DC characters- an actual REALISTIC teenage girl.
-Skyman goes a ways over PL limits for his points cost, but I guess I shouldn't be shocked- he's a genius inventor, wealthy, an acrobat... AND he has a belt that lets him Fly, shoot Energy Blasts, and makes him tougher. It gives him an unusual effect in battle (he's a bit of a Blaster, a Flyer, and a Combat Guy, but always more accurate than he is powerful), and makes him a pretty decent team guy.

STRIPESY (Pat Dugan)
Created By:
Jerry Siegel & Hal Sherman
First Appearance: Action Comics #40 (Sept. 1941)
Role: Kid-Hero Turned Adult
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron, The Justice Society of America, Infinity, Inc.
PL 7 (101)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+6)
Insight 1 (+2)
Perception 5 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 7 (+10)
Vehicles 8 (+10)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Star Rocket Racer- Car with Flight), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Inventor, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Sylvester Pemberton)

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 14 (101)

-Stripesy, as mentioned, was the Adult Sidekick to The Star-Spangled Kid's Teen Hero- a true rarity, they nonetheless had a pretty solid partnership. Stripsey actually outlived his mentor, and as one of the few famous Greasemonkeys in DC, he got to show up as a minor guy fixing stuff if anybody ever needed it. Note that though history has made Stripsey a genius mechanic, back in the day, the Kid himself was depicted as a super-genius wunderkind with tons of skills of his own.

S.T.R.I.P.E. (Pat Dugan, aka Stripesy)
Created By:
Jerry Siegel & Hal Sherman
First Appearance: Action Comics #40 (Sept. 1941)
Role: Kid-Hero Turned Adult
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron, The Justice Society of America, Infinity, Inc.
PL 8 (144)
STRENGTH
3/9 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+3)
Athletics 4 (+8)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+5)
Technology 8 (+11)
Vehicles 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Fans, Flashlights in S.T.R.I.P.E.), Interpose, Inventor, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"S.T.R.I.P.E. Power Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [52]
Enhanced Strength 6 (12)
Protection 5 (5)
"Large Machine" Features 2: Increased Mass (2)

"Missiles" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (24) -- (25)
AE: "Taser Cables" Electrical Damage 8 (Feats: Reach 3) (Extras: Multiattack) (19)
Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
Immunity 4 (Suffocation 2, Pressure, Vacuum) (4)
Senses 4 (Radio, Extended Sight, Distance Sense, Infravision) (4)

Reduced Defenses -1 (-2)
-- (64 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (+8 Out of Suit, DC 17-18), Parry +7 (+8 Out of Suit, DC 17-18), Toughness +4 (+9 Armor), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Courtney Whitmore- Stepdaughter)
Relationship (Michael- Son)- Pat generally finds his son Mike to be a pain in the ass.
Relationship (Wife)- Pat remarried after divorcing Mike's mother.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 52 / Defenses: 12 (144)

-Ah, comics. Where else can the silliest of all silly sidekicks (the adult subservient to a kid), actually OUTLIVE his mentor, become his own hero in the DC Universe, and actually get a second lease on life as a Power Armor Guy? Cuz that's exactly what Pat did, following his "grease monkey guy" days on Infinity Inc. and assisting Steel and stuff by donning a suit of armor and following the new Star-Spangled Kid around. Of course, he's still a minor-league hero, to the point where he doesn't even join the JLA or act as a regular hero (he's even been a victim of villains out of costume a few times), but hey, it's better than poor Sylvester.
-Pat's still a very minor character these days, being reduced to supporting cast in a book with a dozen-plus characters already, since Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. was cancelled. He was a nice father-figure to Courtney, but mostly had to sigh and run along with her, as she got into all kinds of mayhem, while actively trying to divorce Pat from her mom. So he's pretty much a saint in terms of patience and discipline for not just KILLING the little brat and going "Uh, sorry honey, she got into drugs or something... I swear" to her mom.
-Pat Dugan (not typing out all those "."s between letters again) is kind of a hard guy to stat up, as he's in a VERY weak suit of Power Armor (it breaks in literally Pat's every appearance- something falls off, the jets de-activate, the hull breaks and he starts sticking out of it, etc.), but nonetheless is more expensive than he should be. Good physical stats (but he's nowhere near his athletic prime from the '40s), quite smart, and a good craftsman, but notably not in the Genius area for any of it- he's more of a Greasemonkey than a Tech Guy on any team. The suit itself has mild Regenerating powers (stuff can repair itself on the fly, and he reattached an arm properly just by sticking it back in the socket), and small amounts of what most other suits have. It's almost more of a Mech than a suit of armour (he's not doing ANY lifting, for example- he's actually sitting down inside the suit with his hands on controls), but this is simpler and easier to deal with given the universe he's in.

THE SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY:

-Created by Mort Weisinger & Mort Meskin in Winter 1941, the Seven Soldiers (also known as Law's Legionnaires) were comprised of the few Anthology-based heroes who WEREN'T on the JSA- Green Arrow, Speedy, The Crimson Avenger, The Star-Spangled Kid, Stripesy, Vigilante, and The Shining Knight. The odd conceit was that the team was pretty much entirely non-powered humans, AND also had two SIDEKICKS on it. Oddly, the Avenger's sidekick Wing was known to appear with the others in the book, but wasn't really considered a member of the team. Dicks.
-The team lasted for fourteen issues in Leading Comics (which went All-Comedy by #15), fighting various crooks, conquerors and super-villains. Afterwards, they went their separate ways without mention, and most of the heroes stuck around for a bit longer- they were all revived at once in a 1972 Justice League story, in which the Justice Society called the JLA in to help them free the Seven Soldiers from a time-travel trap their old enemy The Iron Hand (their debut villain, in fact) had trapped them in. So the JLA/JSA teams split up and rescued individual Soldiers from various points in history (Green Arrow was about to be hanged as Robin Hood). In the story, one of them would HAVE to die to stop The Iron Hand, but they saved the day with all Seven Soldiers still alive. So what happened? Well, it turns out that Crimson Avenger's sidekick, WING, was the one who did it.
-Afterwards, the team would go their separate ways, only meeting at the grave of the Avenger (who predeceased the others). The team would prove problematic, however, as the Crisis wiped out quite a bit of old-school stuff. The team's merging was still fine, as they were merely Earth-Two guys transplanted into the Golden Age of the regular ol' Earth now, but Green Arrow and Speedy were retconned out of history into being modern heroes exclusively! To fix this, Vigilante's sidekick Stuff (The Chinatown Kid) and Wing were added to the roster, adding up to seven again. Inexplicably, this was changed AGAIN by Geoff Johns, as Wing was now NOT a member, and instead was replaced by The Spider (an archer from Quality Comics), who took a "Green Arrow" role, and was now revealed to be a bad guy in secret. The end to the "the Soldiers are rescued" story was now changed so that his old sidekick Billy Gunn was killed as well as Wing, and Vig had been sent to the Wild West for 20 years!
-In 2010, they got ANOTHER Retcon, as now TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite were placed onto the line-up. I have NO IDEA why this was done. Grant Morrision would use the team's name for a weird Seven Soldiers revamp. The Soldiers themselves would sort of team up again in a Justice League Unlimited episode, gathering five that were Justice Leaguers (with Courtney Whitmore instead of Sylvester Pemberton, as Syl wasn't around in this world) in battle against Wade "The General" Eiling, only to have The Crimson Avenger and Speedy get teleported in to help at the last second!
-All in all, not bad for a team with FOURTEEN APPEARANCES in their era. And only DC Comics could over-complicate such a non-influential team THAT BADLY.

MERRY, GIRL OF 1000 GIMMICKS (Meredith Pemberton, aka Merry Creamer)
Created By:
Otto Binder & Win Mortimer
First Appearance: Star-Spangled Comics #81 (June 1948)
Role: Teen Hero
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron, The Justice Society of America, Infinity, Inc.
PL 7 (97)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+9)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 5 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Perception 3 (+4)
Insight 3 (+4)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+9)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Grab Finesse, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Improvised Tools, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 2, Second Chance (Falling)

Powers:
"Gimmicks" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [9]
Variable (Technological Gadgets) 2 (14 points)

Samples: Bulletproof Baseball Mit (Parry 1, Dodge 3), Electro-Shock Gun (Blast 4), Mult-Kick-On-A-Stick (Strength-Damage +2- Reach 2)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mule-Kick +8 (+3 Damage, DC 19)
Electro-Shock Gun +7 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (+11 Mit, DC 18-21), Parry +9 (+10 Mit, DC 19-20), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Sylvester Pemberton- Brother)
Relationship (Henry King, Sr. & Jr.)- Merry married the villainous Brain Wave (who apparently reformed), later giving birth to a son, who became the heroic Brainwave Jr.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 11 (97)

-Merry Pemberton was introduced as the adopted teen sister of Sylvester, aka Star-Spangled Kid, to replace Stripsey, probably because fans at the time didn't care for the goofy older sidekick. Her whole thing is that she had various gadgets in and around her costume that could be used to do weird stuff. She got written into "Old Justice" at one point (after being mentioned as deceased Pre-Crisis), disapproving of teen heroing, and had an issue with Stargirl taking her late brother's name, but she eventually got over it. Her other link to the modern era is being the mother of the worst-named superhero of all-time, Brainwave Jr., having married the first Brainwave or something (dunno why a cute teenage sidekick would marry a guy I recall being an old bald man, but there ya go). True story: she actually ousted SS Kid from his own book, for about three issues, until it was cancelled. Doesn't quite beat out poor Alan Scott losing his book to his sidekick DOG, but it's certainly pretty humiliating.
-Merry's designed around spunky "get outta the way"-style agile hero stats, with Gadgets added on. I personally have never read a Merry-based story, so I have no idea what her gadgets even were or what they were capable of, but I can't imagine them giving any bonuses greater than +5, or be worth more than 10 points combined when all brought to bear. Earth-Two Kenn gave me some info for the only ones HE could remember, and it's mostly whatever the artist felt like drawing. Oddly, Grant Morrison created a girl named Gimmix, who was supposed to be Merry's estranged daughter- she appears to be into superheroing for the fame of it- she is killed by an alien race.

THE STAR-SPANGLED KID II (Courtney Whitmore)
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Lee Moder
First Appearance: Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 (July 1999)
Role: The Brat, Unpopular New Girl
PL 7 (89)
STRENGTH
0/5 STAMINA 0/5 AGILITY 2/4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+4, +8 Belt)
Deception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Shooting Stars) 1 (+7)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Perception 3 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Defense, Luck, Ranged Attack 3, Taunt

Powers:
"Cosmic Converter Belt" (Flaws: Removable) [35]
Enhanced Strength 5 (10)
Enhanced Stamina 4 (8)
Enhanced Agility 2 (4)
Enhanced Advantages 3: Diehard, Great Endurance, Power Attack (3)
Leaping 1 (15 feet) (1)

"Shooting Stars" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Multiattack) (Diminished Range -2) (16) -- (17)
AE: "Haywire Machines" Affliction 8 (Tech Skill of Creator; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (Dim. Range -2) (14)
-- (43 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Converter Belt +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Shooting Stars +7 (+6 Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +2 (+4 Belt)

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (+8 Belt, DC 16-18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +0 (+5 Belt), Fortitude +2 (+7 Belt), Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Pat Dugan, S.T.R.I.P.E.)- Courtney's stepfather Pat is family, but they don't really get along- she openly disrespects him, and rejects his attempts to settle her down.
Relationship (Birth Father)- Courtney keeps thinking about the father that abandoned her family years ago. Despite him being a con-man, Courtney finds the idea of a runaway father fascinating.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 35 / Defenses: 12 (89)

-Reading the original Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. series is funny stuff as far as looking back on the character of Courtney Whitmore goes. Compared to the mature, reasonable young girl of today, she's a snide, arrogant little brat, frequently disrespectful not only to her hated stepfather Pat Dugan, but pretty much every adult in her vicinity. Idealizing her absentee birth-father, Courtney hates this new guy who's intruded into her life and force her to move to (ugh) Blue Valley, Nebraska. One day, she discovers the Cosmic Converter Belt in Pat's stuff, steals it while telling Pat "by the way... your costume SUCKED!", and she immediately gets into a ton of trouble.
-The series is very odd... it's clearly made to appeal to teenage girls (the hero is a relatively flat-chested, skinny girl with braces- the iconic "This Character Is YOU" look), and has very cartoonish, exaggerated art. She has a mini-crush on a side character named Josh (your standard Bland Pretty Boy, also iconic to girl-focused features), and a school rival in "Shiv", who of course is the daughter of a super-villain, and a big fat guy as a bully as well. Problem is, the series only lasted a short while, and spent a bunch of time in the fighting, and too little on the character-stuff at school, which meant we never got additional information on Josh & the bully until the series was gone. Courtney's friend Mary was a little better, but even SHE went about a DECADE without being seen, appearing at Stargirl's birthday party in Johns' final JSA issue.
-Courtney as a starting-out "Star-Spangled Kid" is a different ball of wax than what came later. This Courtney is less clever, pretty or skillful, and doesn't have the benefit of the Cosmic Rod either. She's a PL 7 who's nonetheless quite strong (in one issue she tears S.T.R.I.P.E.'s ARM off- and while that's a fragile damn piece of equipment, that's a pretty big feat), which is suprising to those who read JSA, where she's like twelfth in line for physical might. The Cosmic Converter Belt is actually a REALLY good Device, though, boosting all her physical stats, giving her moderate Super-Strength, and the "Shooting Stars", a Stunning Multiattack effect that can nullify people's senses, or make mechanical devices go haywire. Still, this Courtney is more lucky than good, and like a baseline rookie, is REALLY cheap an inefficient overall.

STARGIRL (Courtney Whitmore, aka The Star-Spangled Kid II)
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Lee Moder
First Appearance: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 (July 1999)
Role: Kid Hero, Uppity Brat Turned Good
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 9 (143)
STRENGTH
0/5 STAMINA 1/5 AGILITY 4/5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+4, +8 Belt)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Expertise (History) 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Cosmic Stuff) 3 (+9)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Evasion, Improved Critical (Cosmic Rod), Improved Defense, Quick Draw, Luck, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"Cosmic Converter Belt" (Flaws: Removable) [33]
Enhanced Strength 5 (10)
Enhanced Stamina 4 (8)
Enhanced Agility 1 (2)
Enhanced Advantages 3: Diehard, Great Endurance, Power Attack (3)
Leaping 1 (15 feet) (1)

"Shooting Stars" Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Multiattack) (Diminished Range -2) (16) -- (17)
AE: "Haywire Machines" Affliction 8 (Tech Skill of Creator; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (Dim. Range -2) (14)
-- (41 points)

"Cosmic Rod" (Flaws: Easily Removable) (Feats: Restricted 2, Remote Control) [26]
Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) (2)
Immunity 1 (Atmospheric Effects) (1)
Cosmic Blast 9 (18) -- (21)
AE: Dazzle Visuals 8 (16)
AE: "Stabby Stick" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Reach 2) (5)
AE: Environment 1 (Heat, Light) (2)
-- (38 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Cosmic Blast +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Dazzle Visuals +9 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Shooting Stars +9 (+6 Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Haywire Machines +9 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +4 (+5 Cosmic Belt)

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (+10 CCB, DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +1 (+5 Belt), Fortitude +3 (+7 Belt), Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (The Legacies of Sylvester Pemberton & Ted Knight)- She wears the Converter Belt of the original Star-Spangled Kid, and wields the Cosmic Rod of Ted & Jack Knight, effectively holding onto two legacies.
Relationship (Mother Paula, Stepfather Pat Dugan, Stepbrother Mike & Baby Sister Patricia)- Courtney and Pat got off on the wrong foot (with her deliberately trying to divorce him and her mom), but they later came to terms. Courtney, in the end, loves her family and will fight to the death to protect them. Even Mike.
Relationship (Albert Rothstein- Atom Smasher)- Al was the only JSA member to not treat Courtney like a dumb kid, and she soon grew very attached to him. This eventually blossomed into love, though Al soon turned his back on the JSA and joined Black Adam. Al would later deny loving her, even though it was plainly obvious to everyone that he did- when some stuff with Johnny Sorrow happened, they took a break and kept their distance. Then continuity ended.
Relationship (Billy Batson- Captain Marvel)- The two had an adorable relationship in JSA, with him feeling like he's special around her just as Billy. He was her first love, and her first broken heart- he left her to avoid giving up his secret identity to Jay Garrick.
Enemy (Shiv)- The daughter of The Dragon King was the ranking Alpha Bitch of Courtney's High School- they were soon enemies for realz, though Courtney soon lapped her in competence.
Courtney started out as a brat, but now she's come to take her new family as if it were her original one. Even Mike, who is an ass. She's devoted enough to them that when they are murdered by Per Degaton's forces, she breaks the "No Killing" rule she holds so dear.
Responsibility (Team Leader of the JSA's Younger Generation)- Courtney is considered the "teacher" of the new generation of JSA kids.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 14 (143)

-Warning: this rant's as long as my Atom Smasher one was :).
-With her inclusion on the JSA, Courtney became quite blessed, especially once her creator, Geoff Johns (who based her off of his own sister Courtney- a teen girl who died in a plane crash years before), fully took over the series. She gave the team some much-needed youth and perspective, so it wasn't just a bunch of old guys hanging around, reminiscing about old times. She was cute (in like, a KID way, not a sexy girl way- she was actually drawn non-sexually), funny, and had some extra-special qualities about her. Rather than dress like a stripper and pack gigantic knockers, Stargirl wore a midriff-baring top as her skimpiest article of clothing, and she looks like a pretty teenager with a normal slim build. During every single JSA arc, she stands out- she was brave, but not TOO brave; she admired the older JSAers, but carved her own path anyways; she was rebellious, but she smacked around Jakeem Thunder for talking lip to Mr. Terrific. She was so perfect that the other characters could only talk about how much potential she had, which could veer DANGEROUSLY into Mary Sue territory (especially when Johns based her off of his late sister), but they kept her above the level by making sure she was never TOO smart or TOO powerful (in fact, she's one of the worst members of the team in a scrap). In the end, she is still a fairly young kid.

(NOTE: THIS PART'S ABOUT SHIPPING. SKIP TO THE NEXT BIT IF Y'ALL DON'T LIKE THAT)
-And then there's the whole Atom Smasher/Captain Marvel thing. See, while she was quickly pushed away from the Young Justice crowd (as that team did its own thing), she did a lot of hanging around with the older hero Albert Rothstein, himself a young kid to the JSA elders. He was nice, respectful, and didn't talk down to her. A few issues implied some feelings on Courtney's part (especially the end of the Extant story, where a future Courtney narrates the story while being married to Al), but we never quite got how serious they were at first. Then, Al (who'd killed Extant to save his mother- she'd been killed by the terrorist Kobra) quit the team after believing Black Adam's assertions that the team was too easy on criminals.
-So while Stargirl was heartbroken over that, she fell swiftly into the arms of one Billy Batson, aka Captain Marvel, upon discovering his secret identity (and true age). This relationship was a SUPER-CUTE heart-warming affair, with Billy feeling good around what was basically the nicest girl ever by this point (losing just about all of the rebellious attitude of her early years). This went on for only a short couple trades (including Black Reign, the JSA's master-stroke of storytelling, featuring her & Al have a few heart-to-hearts about his betrayal of the team in between him knocking her unconscious), until Jay Garrick added up all the flirting and hints she & Billy were showing, and put the kibosh on it (the pervy old man in Billy's head wouldn't let him just admit to The Flash that Marvel was as old as Courtney was). The image of Courtney, bawling her eyes out, alone in her room, is one of the most emotionally-torquing scenes in the JSA's entire run.
-This brings us to the Per Degaton storyline. Showing classic Geoff Johns-level familial violence, her entire family is gunned down in front of her, sending her into a firestorm of despair. Being forced to team up with Atom Smasher again, as the JSA runs back into the past to save their mentors and forebears, only makes it worse, as she utterly SNAPS at him when he says "now you know how I felt" (DICK MOVE, ALBERT ROTHSTEIN). But by the story's end, she kind of understands where he was coming from before, and she openly worries about Al in front of the whole team (and Captain Marvel), when they fly to Kahndaq to help Al & Black Adam face The Spectre (doing one of his weekly "I'm controlled by evil!" rampages). Poor C*ck-Blocked Billy tries to interject, and Stargirl rejects him, and then Power Girl (herself pulling a Mama Bear on the younger heroine- and recognizing Courtney's feelings for Al) SNAPS at Billy, telling him off.
-And here's where things regarding Courtney/Al get interesting: By this point, it's fairly obvious she likes him (Billy as much accused her of it during Black Reign anyways). But when he sacrifices his life, willingly letting The Spectre kill him, rather than hurt the people of Kahndaq anymore, you see the depth of her feelings: Courtney absolutely loses it, crying over Al's dead body. NOW you know she truly loves Al. He is saved thanks to Black Adam (in one of the more emotional scenes in the series, as Adam can't stand the thought of his "brother" dying), but willingly goes to jail to serve his time in the name of "Justice". Courtney makes a promise- she'll "be THERE for him" when he gets out.
-Fast-forward to the last year or so of books: Al is finally back on the JSA, moping about how Billy "Deserves Courtney more than I EVER could" while they fight Black Adam AGAIN, and Billy & Stargirl nearly share a kiss (NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!), but by story's end, Billy is off with his sister doing whatever the hell DC was doing with Captain Marvel back then (seriously- has any hero's handling made less sense?), and Courtney smiles at Al. With Geoff Johns' final issue, we figure out that Courtney still likes Atom Smasher (when her friend Mary calls her on it, and all Court can manage is a weak denial), and in Jerry Ordway's filler-arc, even Power Girl is just telling that giant idiot to just GET WITH HER ALREADY. By this point, it's PATENTLY obvious both are head-over-heels in love, but then we get a good-old-fashioned Comic Book Break-Up, as the JSA elders, feeling protective (and noting the age difference), force Al to let her down easy, telling her he loves her "like a sister". Courtney doesn't believe it any more than WE do, but ultimately, the age issue, and Al's questionable standing with the public given his history as a mass-murderer, split them apart.
-Alas, things weren't meant to be- Matt Sturges started work on JSA All-Stars, and wrote a story in which Johnny Sorrow imitated Al in order to win "True Love's First Kiss" to allow the King of Tears to inhabit the mortal plane. This resulted in a HUGE tease that saw Court & Al finally kiss, but the big reveal was telegraphed early and put into the next issue. Of course, most fans pretty much prefered the Court/Billy pairing (Sturges & Bill Willingham said that was flat-out the most-common thing they had fans ask them about when they took the series over from Geoff Johns), but I WAS SAD, DAMMIT.
-So yeah, that's a relatively simple love story, huh? I know Marvel's a more popular character, so Billy/Courtney "Shippers" have more say, but damn it, the Courtney/Al thing is just SO fascinating (even if it's kind of a retread of the old Kitty/Colossus story, which in itself was AWESOME... though both have that weird "adult male falls in love with a tiny teenage girl" thing that is WAY outside of my normal interests), I can't help but totally support it, and I wish they'd just GET TOGETHER, already! She would have been at least seventeen by the end of Standard DC Continuity (She was sixteen BEFORE One Year Later, and celebrated a birthday after that, though most everyone ignored the time-jump pretty quickly) everyone older and she's not eighteen yet).

(THIS PART ISN'T ABOUT SHIPPING)
-So, uh, where was I? Oh yeah! Courtney's an awesome character. She's a mega-favourite with girl readers for good reason- cute and spunky, brave but not a Scrappy-Doo (who annoyed people by laughing off and threatening every menace), and she actually feels emotions like a NORMAL PERSON. The greatest Little Sister character I've ever seen, and one of comics' best teen characters (or just characters PERIOD) ever made. The fact that she's not a major powerhouse makes her more likeable in a world of Kryptonian-level guys, and her teeny-tiny build, mixed with the outfit and the braces, makes for the most ENDEARING character in history- she looks like a cute kid instead of someone's fantasy, like Supergirl, Power Girl and others tend to be (not that there's anything WRONG with such fantasies- you're talking to the world's biggest Thundra fan, here). It totally makes sense that the rest of the JSA recruits look up to her (particularly obsessively in Maxine's case). Between her, Cyclone and Atom Smasher, JSA had my favourite line-up just about all-time in comics.
-Courtney, now boosted by a whole bunch of extra stuff, is now an over-pointed PL 9 (143) build, which I think makes sense. I've never been comfortable with her as a PL 10 (much less the insane PL 11 from the DCA book, which makes NO sense), because she's never been shown doing very powerful stuff (the most powerful stunt I've EVER seen her do was blow off a guy's arm and through the side of her house, and that's in "Aunt May Mode" after some thugs murdered her family).
-What she ends up looking like is a moderately athletic kid, boosted to near-peak human stats with her Cosmic Converter Belt (though she's not doing Cap or Spidey-level damage- she can barely K.O. most Mooks with her fists, and her biggest power-feat ever is lifting a bunch of Mooks off of her), and carrying an additional weapon, the Cosmic Rod, which has TOTALLY replaced her Stunning Shooting Stars as her weapon of choice. The Rod had Telekinetic & Force Field powers under Jack Knight, but Courtney has NEVER shown them during any issue I've ever read (and I've read them all, at least in JSA), so I didn't put them in. The Belt is actually lower-level than it was when she was starting out, as her baseline stats have caught up a little better (So she's just as powerful, but less dependent on the Belt). Courtney's fairly experienced for a teenage superhero, and is basically at that cusp when a character becomes PL 10. Maybe one day she could have gotten there.

AMAZING MAN I (Will Everett)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #23 (July 1983)
Role: DC's "First" Black Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (115)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 10 (+13)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Athlete) 8 (+13) -- Uses Agility
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Interpose, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Object Mimicry" Variable (Powers Related to Materials) 6 (Flaws: Limited to Objects He's Touched) [36]

Sample Form: Metal (ST 8, Protection +4- Impervious 7, Increased Mass)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Steel or Brick Form +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+8 Metal/Stone Form), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Black)- Will Everett, despite his Olympic acumen, is a black man living in 1940s America, and is thus forcibly-separated from whites in many places. His background and schooling were poorer as well, and he faces many prejudices.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 9 (115)

-Will Everett is a tribute to Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett and his own "Amazing Man" Golden Age character (later used as the basis for John Aman- The Prince of Orphans over at Marvel), only altered from a generic Mr. Terrific-type rennaissance man to a black Olympian with object mimicry (aka "Absorbing Man") powers. Roy Thomas got a double-whammy out of this one in his retroactively inserted All-Star Squadron member: He got an "Amazing Man" onto the team, fulfilling yet ANOTHER obscure GA character (though in different form), and he got to show a black hero in the 1940s, certainly a rare thing given the era, and how the world and the team would've dealt with it. I never personally read any of his appearances, but I'm guessing alot of "We heroes are way above the morality of the age and don't mind one bit" with the exception of a few heroes, who of course learn better as the story goes on. But hey, there's nothing wrong with that- it's the Golden Age, after all, and the heroes WERE supposed to be the paragons of a moral humanity. None of them were Alabama senators, in any case.
-Amazing Man here is an Olympic athlete that was reduced to janitorial duty in his post-athletic career, but got into an accident at the lab he was cleaning, and gained super-powers. He was briefly employed by The Ultra-Humanite, but turned on him after being exposed to the members of the All-Star Squadron. He actually has powers that are remarkably "modern" in that aside from the generic tough guys & fire-blasters of the era, he's got stuff that wouldn't be seen for twenty years in real comics time. He is later explained to be a major name in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, fighting against segregation- he even captured James Earl Ray- the murderer of Martin Luther King, Jr.! Unfortunately, his sole legacies are some pretty forgettable characters.
-Amazing Man comes to a pretty high points total, having one of the more expensive powers in M&M. I was unsure of his total power levels, but I'll stick to him having decent Attack & Defense, with a PL 8 to make up for boosts via mimicking Steel (Density) or something.

AMAZING MAN II (Will Everett III)
Created By:
Dan Vado & Marc Campos
First Appearance: The Justice League of America #86 (March 1994)
Role: Legacy Hero, Unwilling Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, Justice League Europe, Extreme Justice
PL 8 (138)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 10 (+13)
Deception 2 (+3)
Expertise (Athlete) 8 (+13) -- Uses Agility
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Interpose, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Power Mimicry" Variable 10 (Others' Powers) (Flaws: Requires Touch) (Quirks: Only One Power At a Time) (59) -- [60]
AE: "Object Mimicry" Variable (Powers Related to Materials) 6 (Flaws: Limited to Objects He's Touched) (36)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Steel or Brick Form +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+8 Metal/Stone Form), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Hero)- Will III feels uncomfortable in the role of a hero- he watched super-powers give his grandfather cancer, and his father died in Vietnam. Watching teammates Ice & Captain Atom die only made it worse, but he finally redoubled his efforts.
Power Loss (Power Mimicry)- Will III's Power Mimicry will only allow him to mimic one of his target's powers at a time.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 60 / Defenses: 10 (138)

-Will III is the grandson to the original Amazing Man, and was added to the JLA by a creative team I've never heard of. His father also inherited the powers, but used them in Vietnam, where he was killed- Will was thus quite put out to discover that HE had them, too. He spun off to form Captain Atom's Extreme Justice variant, then Crimson Fox's Justice League Europe. Alas, in this form, he was killed by The Mist, alongside Crimson Fox & Blue Devil, in Robinson's Starman- Mist tricked him into turning into veneer (he thought it was a brick wall), then shattered him. Which makes him look like a GIGANTIC idiot, especially since this team only lasted for the one single appearance.
-Amazing Man II had his father's powers, but could ALSO use Rogue-style Power Mimicry. Using Extra Effort, he once used the high-ened powers of the Overmaster against the villain.

AMAZING MAN III (Markus Clay)
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham
First Appearance: Justice Society of America #12 (March 2008)
Role: Legacy Hero, Background Character
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 9 (141)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 7 (+9)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 5 (+8)

Advantages:
Interpose, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Object Mimicry" Variable (Powers Related to Materials) 6 (Extras: Reaction +3) (Flaws: Limited to Objects He's Touched) [54]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Steel or Brick Form +9 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +5 (+9 Metal/Stone Form), Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Justice & Ethics)- Markus fights in Louisiana, aiding people in the flood-ravaged communities. He is prone to lecturing others on proper behavior.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 54 / Defenses: 9 (141)

-Markus Clay is the suddenly-introduced OTHER grandson of the first Amazing Man, Will Everett, in the modern-day JSA book. With him came a big piece of backstory, calling Amazing Man I the "third-most important person in the Civil Rights Movement", and more, which IS actually realistic given the setting and his place as the first black hero in the historically lily-white DCU. Markus is depicted as a classic Kwanzaa-celebrating African (which is actually pretty unique amongst comic characters), helping out the poor black folk of New Orleans (apparently the super-heroes REALLY screwed the pooch on that one), and became the JSA's convo-guy with Gog.
-Unfortunately, the character ended up going nowhere. He got to preach a bit about ethics and morality, but the GIGANTIC cast in that book soon resulted in him vanishing. He was one of the ONLY members of that squad to not make the cut in the next teams- some JSA elders casually remarked that "he's considering starting a team down south", and it doesn't show up until one of those random "give new writers a one-shot or two" books, where he's empowering regular people in New Orleans with his own powers.
-Amazing Man III is slightly more powerful, but costs less points than his athletic grandfather. His Object Mimicry gives him a base of 30 points to spread among various attributes, usually taking the Metal Form given as an example, and adding even more Impervious ranks to it as necessary. It's one of my favourite power types in comics, though all he's done so far is mimic whatever metal is currently present. An odd power-feat I've seen him use is transforming into Lead to counter-act a bullet, AS IT HITS HIM, earning him the "Reaction" Extra.

JOHNNY THUNDER (aka Johnny Thunderbolt)
Created By:
John Wentworth & Stan Aschmeier
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: Walking Story Complication
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 4 (154)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Athletics 1 (+2)
Deception 4 (+3)
Persuasion 1 (+0)

Advantages:
Luck 5

Powers:
"Thunderbolt Pen" (Flaws: Easily Removable) (Feats: Restricted to Johnny or Those He Allows to Use It 2) [113]
Summon Thunderbolt 23 (Extras: Heroic +2, Controlled, Continuous) (138 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Dumbass)- He has the powers of a god, but uses them like an idiot. Even the JSA members think he's an imbecile, but appreciate his good-heartedness.
Relationship (Peachy Pet- Foster Daughter)
Power Loss (The Pen)- Johnny must say aloud the words "Cei-U"/"Say You!" to summon the Thunderbolt. If he can't, then he can't use its powers.

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 6--3 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 113 / Defenses: 13 (154)

-Johnny Thunder is one of those ideas best left to light-hearted adventure strips, joke things, and stuff that isn't dependent entirely on drama. See, the guy didn't have much success in his earliest appearances (though JSA-bound, he quickly found himself drummed out by his own female rival/object of affection, Black Canary), and subsequent revivals of him and his concept have left writers with NOTHING but trouble. While a cute gift to have an all-power genie who can do your every command, but only with SPECIFIC commands, such a thing tends to be problematic when your big villain can be defeated by saying "Hit the villain with an atomic bomb". As such, you tend to see Johnny Thunder written out of most epic stories, as the Big Concept of the Thunderbolt kind of gets dumb after a while. So big cross-overs would have Johnny & the T-Bolt in the background, aiding magicians (like in the Crisis) or something, but the rest of the time, he's got little to do.
-Having read a review of his early stuff, it seems Johnny didn't even realize he has the powers at first (he was given them after some "Badhnesians" kidnapped him, the Seventh son of a seventh son, born at 7 am on Saturday, July 7th, and attempted a ritual to make them all-powerful). He's honest, but a buffoon- the comic is based around him getting fired repeatedly from jobs, as the T-Bolt causes problems (it's summoned by its name pronounced backwards- "Cei-U"- Johnny has a habit of starting every sentence with "Say, you--"). The Thunderbolt isn't even seen in full for a while (sometimes appearing as an actual Thunderbolt), and finally takes its final form several issues in. He later adopts Peachy Pet, a hideous female orphan who then dominates the stories. The reviewer didn't care for the stories.
-They eventually ended up giving him Alzheimer's and basically killing him off, only to have him "die" in an epic Ultra-Humanite storyline in modern times, and merge with his Thunderbolt into a composite being. In spite of his unwriteable quality, he ended up with a successor in Jakeem "J.J." Thunder, who finds himself in similar predicaments to Johnny. Peculiarly, Johnny Thunderbolt pretty quickly shifted into just being the actual Thunderbolt, with no mention of Johnny. All in all, not a BAD character, just one that doesn't fit in well in super-hero comic books.
-There's an Earth-One Johnny that's a petty crook who could also control the Thunderbolt, but he was defeated after creating his own world. Then there's the cowboy Johnny Thunder (real name John Tane).
-Considering his power levels, it's almost impossible to imagine Johnny Thunder being one of the cheapest JSA guys to build. But then, when his key power is essentially locked up in a Summoned Minion ability, which is in ITSELF locked up in a Device that's easy to lose, despite two Extras you end up shaving a dramatic FOURTY points (word to the wise to GMs: Watch out for powers that let you drop your cost twice by 'double dipping' your points-reducers like Summon, Minion, or Device) off of your total! Johnny's pretty simple: he's a simple-minded dork who's used to getting out of the way of things, but is incredibly lucky. The Thunderbolt is obviously tougher, since he doesn't have alot of base powers, but at the same point can fly ALL the time, obviously doesn't need to sleep or do anything like that, and can't be killed outright very easily either. So he gets a blanket Variable Power to carry all the times he shoots lightning, fries people, turns stuff into other stuff, etc. He'd actually amazingly be PL 8 without the fact that he can use Area effects with VP, since his Att/Def is so low (really, the guy is USELESS without instruction, and is usually best suited to goon-sweeping). But hey, in a pinch, he can just add Enhanced Attack Bonus if he needs to, based off of Johnny's wishes.

THE THUNDERBOLT
Created By:
John Wentworth & Stan Aschmeier
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: Walking Story Complication
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron, The Fifth Dimension
PL 16 (342)- Minion Rank 23
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 15 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (History) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 6 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 12 (+12)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Interpose, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
Flight 15 (64,000 mph) [30]
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) [2]
Impervious Toughness 9 [9]

"Ageless Imp"
Immortality 10 [20]
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]

Variable 20 (Any Power Ever) (Extras: Free Action +2) [180]
(Sample Powers: Blast 18- Penetrating, Any Senses, Empowering Others, Mind Control, Teleportation, Dimensional Travel, Growth, Move Object, etc.)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +1

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

Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers & Abilities)- The Thunderbolt cannot do anything without Johnny saying so. Johnny must also be VERY SPECIFIC, and not say the wrong thing.
Power Loss (Certain Rules)- Thunderbolts cannot bring people back to life.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 252 / Defenses: 11 (342)

-The Thunderbolt itself is insanely powerful- using it, The Ultra-Humanite took over the ENTIRE WORLD in one fell swoop, turning people like Superman, The Martian Manhunter and Alan Scott into his own personal slaves. He rewrote the entire planet. Unfortunately, Johnny & Jakeem are nowhere near as bright or as capable with the thing. But he's UNGODLY powerful, and can basically mimic any ability. Only lack of imagination keeps this guy from being far and away the most powerful superhero on the planet.

JAKEEM THUNDER (Johnny Jakeem Thunder, aka JJ Thunder, Jamal Thunder)
Created By:
Grant Morrison & Paul Ryan
First Appearance: JLA #26 (Feb. 1999)
Role: Walking Story Complication, Mouthy Teen
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 4 (153)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Luck 3

Powers:
"Thunderbolt Pen" (Flaws: Easily Removable) (Feats: Restricted to Jakeem or Those He Allows to Use It 2) [113]
Summon Thunderbolt 23 (Extras: Heroic +2, Controlled, Continuous) (138 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +5

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

Complications:
Relationship (Aunt)- Jakeem lives with his Aunt, as his father left his pregnant mother (and never knew of Jakeem's existence), and his mother died of cancer.
Reputation (Loudmouth)- A latchkey kid, Jakeem is angry at the world, and throws up an arrogant, mouthy persona as a defense mechanism.
Power Loss (The Pen)- Jakeem must say aloud the words "Zkl"/"So Cool!" to summon the Thunderbolt. If he can't, then he can't use its powers.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 113 / Defenses: 13 (153)

-Jakeem Thunder, created for a JLA story by Grant Morrison, suffers from alot of the same problems his predecessor does. Too powerful (ESPECIALLY with modern-day writing styles) to be left fighting, the former "J.J." has been KO'd in the opening salvo of a fight more often than any other hero I can possibly remember. Seriously, in almost every battle I've read, he's either taken out right away (Mordru cutting his throat, the Deadly Enemies of Man attacking the JLA/JSA meeting and injuring him) or can't figure out "the right thing to say" (vs. Solomon Grundy or the King of Tears), thus necessitating him being written out of stories or being "away with his aunt". Kind of sad, since he's not THAT bad a character (they went a little too far with the "little black punk kid who acts like he's tough" thing, making him annoying early on, but they settled out of it once he matured), but really, what're they gonna do?
-Some fans were still taken with Jakeem (there were some nice bits, like where he finally meets his father, only to hide his own identity, realizing the man had created his own life), and were QUITE put out when James Robinson of all people WROTE DOWN THE WRONG NAME in a Blackest Night story, calling him "Jamal Thunder".
-Just a little bit of tweaking from Johnny creates Jakeem as a smaller, weaker version, with the same T-Bolt powers as the former. I could've statted the "Johnny Thunderbolt" version, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside after that "Fifth Dimension War" thing that was VERY briefly done in JSA (seriously, it was shoved into another Mordru fight for like two issues- hardly like the JSA-like world shattering stories of old).

THE THUNDERBOLT
Created By:
John Wentworth & Stan Aschmeier
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
Role: Walking Story Complication
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron, The Fifth Dimension
PL 16 (342)- Minion Rank 23
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 15 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (History) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 6 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 12 (+12)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Interpose, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
Flight 15 (64,000 mph) [30]
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) [2]
Impervious Toughness 9 [9]

"Ageless Imp"
Immortality 10 [20]
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]

Variable 20 (Any Power Ever) (Extras: Free Action +2) [180]
(Sample Powers: Blast 18- Penetrating, Any Senses, Empowering Others, Mind Control, Teleportation, Dimensional Travel, Growth, Move Object, etc.)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +1

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

Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers & Abilities)- The Thunderbolt cannot do anything without Johnny saying so. Johnny must also be VERY SPECIFIC, and not say the wrong thing.
Power Loss (Certain Rules)- Thunderbolts cannot bring people back to life.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 252 / Defenses: 11 (342)

-The Thunderbolt itself is insanely powerful- using it, The Ultra-Humanite took over the ENTIRE WORLD in one fell swoop, turning people like Superman, The Martian Manhunter and Alan Scott into his own personal slaves. He rewrote the entire planet. Unfortunately, Johnny & Jakeem are nowhere near as bright or as capable with the thing. But he's UNGODLY powerful, and can basically mimic any ability. Only lack of imagination keeps this guy from being far and away the most powerful superhero on the planet.

JONNI THUNDER
Created By:
Roy Thomas
First Appearance: DC Special #3 (Jan. 1984)
Role: Forgotten Super-Hero
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (128)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Private Eye) 4 (+7)
Insight 2 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 2 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Gun), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Thunderbolt Form" (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) [50]
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) (30)
Electrical Blast 8 (Feats: Split) (17) -- (18)
AE: Electrical Aura 4 (16)
Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
-- (62 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 15)
Electrical Aura +6 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Electrical Blast +7 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- I guess. She's a Private Eye, and the "solving crimes" kind, not the "following cheating spouses" kind.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 8 (128)

-Jonni Thunder was an odd idea- another Earth-Two character, she was a modern-day Sexy Lady Detective who could turn into an electrical being because she grabbed an Incan statue that had magical powers before some douchebags grabbed it. She flirted with Skyman in Infinity, Inc., but has had about zero effect on the DC Universe as a whole, and has largely been gone for decades. I figure her for a PL 8 Blaster, using a kind of variation of the "Device" Flaw, but as an Alternate Form kind of thing that's a bit like 2e's "Container" Power. See, she can use certain powers, but as a result her actual body is left defenseless- this is a standard Flaw on some powers (Remote Sensing, mainly), but here, it extends to everything. Rather than just pick one power that it fits, I think saving 12 points as a whole is fair (otherwise I think every power would need the same Flaw, which would be a BIT too cheap).

THE GUARDIAN (James "Jim" Harper)
Created By:
Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Star-Spangled Comics #7 (April 1942)
Role: Shield-Bearing Hero
Group Affiliations: The Science Police, The All-Star Squadron, Project Cadmus, The Newsboy Legion, The Justice League of America
PL 9 (127)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 9 (+12)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Police Officer) 6 (+9)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Motorcycle- Autopilot, Multi-Directional Recording Camera), Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Interpose, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown

Powers:
"The Guardian's Mighty Shield" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [5]
Enhanced Dodge 3 (3)
Enhanced Parry 2 (2)
Strength-Damage +2 (2)
-- (7 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Shield Bash +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (+14 Shield, DC 21-24), Parry +12 (+14 Shield, DC 22-24), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Roy Harper became a vigilante to fight crooks the law could not prosecute.
Relationship (The Newsboy Legion)

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 5 / Defenses: 13 (127)

-Jim "The Guardian" Harper is pretty much mostly-known for being a Captain America knock-off: He's a big, strong guy with no real powers, a Disc-shaped shield on his arm, kid sidekicks, and he was the creation of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, mere months after they'd quit Timely Comics (and their skinflint of skinflints boss, Martin Goodman) and their creation, Captain America. It's so obvious that it appears in almost every bio done of the guy- "He greatly resembles Captain America" or somesuch thing. Hell, centuries after his book was published, that's practically ALL he's known for!
-The question is... is that fair? Okay, so it's immediately obvious that Cap inspired him- the creators are the frickin' same. People call Moon Knight a Batman knock-off, and he's WAY more dissimilar to Bats than Guardian is to Cap. But his origins are different (he's your standard "Cop Gone Vigilante" character- which was kind of old hat even THEN), he wasn't a Patriotic Hero (more and more were created in the wake of Cap, who was himself a huge knock-off of MLJ's Shield, even ripping off the same SHIELD design, and sharing parts of the origin). And really... so much of the Golden Age was unoriginal. We tend to forget nowadays that Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and basically everyone else was freely based off of stuff taken from other sources. Nowadays it's considered lecture-worthy to just knock off another company's character (but let's not pretend it doesn't STILL happen), but back then, the rules of the game were a bit different. So there's no need for a lot of the laughing-off this guy tends to get, where he's immediately dismissed because of his Knock-Off Nature.
-Jim Harper is a Metropolis cop who becomes a vigilante to fight crooks the law cannot prosecute effectively. Trained by Joe Morgan, the ex-boxer trainer of Wildcat and The Atom, he becomes aided by a group of boys called The Newsboy Legion, back when poor and/or orphaned children selling newspapers for cash was a BIG thing. As his book was done by one of the top creative duos of the time, his stuff actually became VERY popular, especially thanks to the Newsboys, who were great "Fan P.O.V." characters- cash-strapped kids of varied origins was a lot more fun than the standard dutiful Sidekick/Hostage.
-Guardian soon disappeared, but came to be revived in the 1970s once Kirby started working for DC again- he had the grown-up Newsboy Legion head what would become Project Cadmus, using their old guardian (literally, he was their legal guardian) as their first cloning success- they put Harper's mind into a young, cloned body. Harper became The Golden Guardian and got some super-powers, but was eventually killed and replaced with ANOTHER mind-transferred clone, who disappeared. But this got retconned (SERIOUSLY, DC??) Post-Crisis into the first clone having quit to work with Vigilante, while a succession of other clones had come along and died since then. WHY this was done I have NO idea, but there it is. A clone got mixed in with the New Krypton stuff and ended up joining a short-lived form of the Justice League- he was quickly written out of the book (3 issues in) after James Robinson decided to work with a smaller cast.
-Personally, I think all the endless clones have done more damage to this guy than being a Cap rip-off. All of the endless clonings essentially make the character a piece of nothing whose life isn't really important, since he can be replaced anyways.
-The Guardian is basically Captain America Lite, using more human-level stats and a more standard-issue Shield. As a Clone Harper, he was super-strong and had a Healing Factor, which didn't prevent frequent deaths, to the point where I'd say their PLs are basically equal.

The Newsboy Legion:
-A group of orphans living in Suicide Slum, they are Tommy Tompkins (the streetwise leader), Big Words (team genius), Gabby (excitable blabbermouth) and Scrapper (the tough guy). Kirby added a black guy in the '70s named Flipper Dipper. They made clones of themselves as part of Project Cadmus. The "original" Legion was killed on the orders of Lois Lane's father, General Sam Lane. I have no idea why.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

JSA 2

Post by Jabroniville »

The JSA Run-Down:

-The JSA comic book series is probably one of my favourite runs of any book ever. I figured I've re-read the thing a dozen times by now, so I may as well do a series of reviews, based off of each trade. It's mostly just me loving on my favourite characters, and bitching about things that bug me.

"JSA: Justice Be Done" (#1-5, JSA Secret Files)- written by James Robinson & David S. Goyer, art by Scott Benefiel, Stephen Sadowski & Derec Aucoin
JSA line-up: Sandy Hawkins (aka Sand), Wildcat I, Sentinel (Alan Scott), Starman (Jack Knight), Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders), Hourman III (the android one), Atom-Smasher (renamed Nuklon), Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash (Jay Garrick), Black Canary II, Hippolyta

-It's still weird to read this one after all this time. I mean, this is TEN YEARS AGO now these books were written, and though the inherent point of the book (the Golden Age of heroes returning, helping the new generation) is the same, it feels very odd. Part of it's the line-up: four of them would be gone shortly, replaced by clear writer's favourites.

-The whole thing starts off with Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman, having a career resurgence thanks to Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series, "Sandman Mystery Theatre" and other nifty stuff, finally biting the bullet, dying to protect the identity of the new Fate-Child. Offing yet another aged Golden Ager leaves the remaining group (Wildcat, Hippolyta- now given a history with the JSA after a REALLY complicated backstory since she's now officially the first Wonder Woman, Sentinel- Alan Scott in his 'there is only ONE Green Lantern now' edict identity, and the Jay Garrick Flash) to tell the children of the last generation about it, and they have a big meeting for a funeral.

-Since I never read Robinson's Starman series, Jack & Ted Knight have always been kind of unknowns to me, but Jack's "I don't wear tights" thing has always seemed so Iron Age. Sandy Hawkins, the Golden Age sidekick of Wesley, gets reintroduced after being a non-entity for YEARS (he was basically a one-note Bucky ripoff way back when), immediately being set up as this smart and cool guy out of suspended animation. I guess you could call it "Catman-ing" him because the two writers here are obviously huge fans (much bigger than Johns when he took over later), though he predates the Catman re-push by several years.

-Heh, always fun to see Courtney Whitmore being a huge brat back in the day, though the artist is drawing her WAY bustier than is normal. She's still acting more mature than her "Stars & STRIPE" run, which was actually going on right at this time, giving a kind of odd sense of continuity, since the maturity level of the two series is so INSANELY different. Oh hey, it's the Android Hourman, aka that guy that no writers liked by Grant Morrison, so he gets shelved quickly. I'm sorry, but Vision & Red Tornado were enough. ANOTHER android whining about wanting to be human in a comic super-hero team is just lame, and everyone knew it.

-Nuklon gives up the stupid mohawk and shit and gets reborn as Atom-Smasher. Oh, and there's a new Hawkgirl, trying to act the sexpot, even though I'm not sure if ANYONE ever bought it. The goofy mask and short hair have always been deal breakers for me.

-Hah, nobodies Kid Eternity & Fate get offed within panels, so casually it's hilarious. I don't think ANYBODY cried for those two hyper-dated 90s-looking losers.

-Something that always bugged me: Courtney says in a recent JSA issue that she "Got sick in the girl's room" when someone murdered Wesley Dodds, and yet she forced herself up by the bootstraps and caught the killer anyways. But I'm just not seeing that here- she's the 'plucky teen sidekick who stows aboard', showing no signs of distress, and she seems to barely know Wes. Small continuity thing, I know, but it just feels odd that Continuity Porn guys like Johns would make that error.

-Hey, it's Scarab, that guy who only showed up twice to help out, and then never again! What's HIS deal?

-Cute bit with Atom-Smasher & Star-Spangled Kid, as they bond a bit while she whines about not being let into the meeting, and he says he 'might' tell her later. Al's comment about Sandy "Buying his way into the super-hero business" seems rather mean and out-of-nowhere, since it didn't come up later. I guess they were trying to paint Sandy as a kind of dork who made good or something. God Jack Knight is annoying, though. All his snide dialogue and pop culture bits- is that he he acted in "Starman"? That's a beloved series, but I can't help but disliking the guy. "Bambino" indeed.

-The teams split up to find the possible Fate-children to show some action, but eventual recurring foe Mordru shows up to steal the baby away and kick their asses. They chase him to Fate's tower, where ANOTHER ass-beating awaits them, in one of the more well-written and shown major super-power fights in recent memory, in that it lasts most of the issue and features LOTS of insane magic feats from the villain, showing how hard this battle's going to be. Reading this issue on the stands is what convinced me to collect this entire series. Courtney, being Plucky Teen Sidekick, gets to save the day, running inside Fate's Amulet, given us the new Doctor Fate.

-The big Fate/Mordru stand-off is bad-ass as well, giving us Magic vs. Magic in a NON-boring way (something almost every comic book writer fails at), as they discuss the properties of magic and various spells and all that. Fate turns out to be Hector Hall, whose backstory is so confusing (ah, comics...) that I had to re-read it like six times to make sense of it. It'd get even worse later on, but for now, he's just the reborn son of Hawkman & Hawkgirl, who had no soul way back when, but through some crap with the Dreaming (never read Sandman, can't help you there) he ended up back. Fate finally defeats Mordru after he tries to put on the vestments, which wrap him up and take him away.

-Someone finally decides to restart the old JS of A, with all the guys who helped out (minus Scarab) as members, with Hippolyta in reserve status. Sand becomes the new chairman, because of his apparently awesome job leading them against Mordru.

-And then we get a funny little AssPull, as Sandy turns to sand and disappears into the earth's core, and hey, he's a SUPER-POWERFUL GEOKINETIC NOW, because everyone knows that a third guy with human-level stats and fancy gear on this team would suck! I guess it makes sense because of his time as a sand-being and all, but it's just such OBVIOUS 'oh hey let's give him a power so he won't suck' that it always bothered me. He schools that loser Geomancer (a small-time villain) and meets the new Mr. Terrific (before he became a Geoff Johns favourite). At least he got a new costume, so he isn't wearing that gay green turtleneck anymore.

Review: A pretty kick-ass start to the series, letting us know all the main characters, making most of them likeable (Hawkgirl & Jack seem like turds, though), playing them off of each other, giving a MAJOR villain to fight, well-written magic stuff (a rarity for the power that's really just pulling stuff out of your ass). The art's acceptable, but not great, which is an unfortunate issue that would plague the series for almost the entirety of it's length, as they kept getting new art teams for years and years, with no set standard.

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"JSA: Darkness Falls" (#6-15)- written by David S. Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Stephen Sadowski, Buzz, Marcos Martin & Michael Bair
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Starman, Hawkgirl, Hourman III, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Black Canary II, Hippolyta, Doctor Fate (Hector Hall)

-So after the first big series, the sophomore run sees the time reborn finally, having a triumphant unveiling at the JSA Brownstone, used as a museum and all that. Note that Geoff Johns makes his debut on the series here, and it seems pretty obvious given that alot of his faves show up right away. First off, it's Black Adam as a villain, kicking some ass and taking names for no apparent reason (turns out later that it's a brain tumor), and they beat him through hyper-convoluted means, as Fate travels back to Ancient Egypt to steal part of Shazam's lightning to give it back to Adam in the present, thus turning him to Theo Adam. My God! Johns uses Time Travel on his FIRST ISSUE!!

-Mr. Bones shows up, being all menacing. He'd keep being a thorn in the JSA's side, though it would never actually be resolved. Hey, there's Pat Dugan. Poor guy just wasn't interesting enough by himself to even join the massive line-up of this JSA, so he's stuck being their mechanic.

-And the real portion of the arc starts up, as Obsidian returns, hating his daddy, and turning the population of a city into shadows. He pretty much schools them and ties them up, but Black Canary escapes. Funny to see her be such a HUGE focus in this series, knowing that she gets written out later. Dr. Mid-Nite shows up as a Johns favourite, and of course he's super-competent and smart, saving Canary and being great and stuff. He becomes a reserve member for a while.

-Ian Karkull, a minor villain who ended up giving the JSA their Deus Ex Machina reason to still be alive after all these years, shows up to help out, but tries to betray Obsidian and gets eaten alive. Hah, THAT's what happens when you're a shitty villain! And Obsidian covers the entire Earth in shadows, and it's ANOTHER giant event for the JSA. The whole thing turns into Sentinel (vs) Obsidian, which is a truly great moment, as Alan Scott uses his raw willpower to dissipate the shadows, and Todd Rice's abusive stepfather actually makes good for once in his life, sacrificing himself to save Alan in the final moments.

-Second part of the TPB sees poor Wildcat, still laid up from fighting Mordru, up against the Injustice Society. Well, it IS DC, of COURSE the heroes have their alternate versions. This line-up is Johnny Sorrow (who we'd see much more of later), Icicle II (son of the first), Tigress III (daughter of two old IS members), Blackbriar Thorn (a GL enemy), Geomancer (from his brawl with Sand), Count Vertigo (hates Black Canary a bit), & Killer Wasp (we'd see more of him later). Then it's Ted's Crowning Moment of Awesome, as he takes out the ENTIRE team by himself, despite being injured, by splitting them up and KOing everybody. Well it makes Ted seem awesome, but the Injustice Society never really recovers from the complete shit-kicking by a normal human, and are kind of jobbers from here on out.

-THIRD part (this is a biggie) gets a little more insane, as Kobra murders a plane full of people (including Atom-Smasher's mother) using distaff legacy character Air-Wave II/Maser, while at the same time, Extant, the killer of three JSA members (Atom, Dr. Midnight & Hourman) is mucking shit up in the timestream. Very few writers actually do TWO major events at once, but these guys somehow pull it off. The original Star-Spangled Kid shows up because of the variances in the whatever, just to make it interesting.

-Mr. Terrific joins the Kobra squad, as the teams split up (they send a SMALL group against EXTANT? REALLY?), and through some complicated trickery by the super-competent Mr. Terrific (yeah, Johns is writing, alright), they stop his big plan. Poor Catalyst gets used in a minor role to slow down Sand, but gets his ass kicked off panel for it. The REAL highlight of the Kobra battle is Atom-Smasher, going NUTS, grows to hundreds of feet high and wrecks Kobra's plane, nearly squashing him like a bug. Powerfully written stuff, too, as Jack Knight talks him down by talking about stuff that went down in his own series, but Al manages to not cross that line. That storyline wouldn't be done, though.

-Then the rest of the team goes to do some complicated stuff with Extant. Funny how this storyline is so much less interesting than the Kobra one, despite being WAY bigger in scope, but that's what happens when emotional storytelling comes into play. Metron, one of my least-liked characters ever, shows up to be all cocky and stuff, despite losing to Extant badly. So half of the JSA is dead unless the Kobra-half can stop him.

-God the Worlogog looks stupid. A big bunch of veiny things attached to a forearm? At least Marvel knows how to draw it's scary cosmic weapons. The Extant-half of the team are actually in Fate's Amulet, not dead, as that concept keeps coming up. Fate actually gets Mordru, imprisoned in the amulet, to help, since he don't like Extant either. Then DOVE shows up and things get REALLY weird, as we have to explain THAT whole deal again, but she dies shortly against Extant, her old boyfriend Hawk.

-Odd little bit with the future Courtney Whitmore telling the story of the JSA's giant battle against Extant like it was their massive turning point, when it was really kind of a forgotten 'epic' event and it was later surpassed several times. And of course, she's shown married to Al/Atom-Smasher, which provides one of those 'will they?/won't they?' future occurences that always make me kind of uncomfortable. I mean, is this written in STONE, or were things altered? I kind of which writers wouldn't use stuff like that, since it always hangs over everything, but then sometimes that's a GOOD thing. I'm torn. It's the great big Becoming An Adult story of Courtney though, but it's Atom-Smasher who gets to be the bad-ass AGAIN, as he's the guy to tear the Worlogog physically off of Extant, then follows him into a portal and switches him with his mother, saving her life, and murdering the super-villain. Right move, if you ask me, though it'd hang over Al like the Sword of Damocles for years. I mean, the guy was a never-ending threat of chaos that just destroyed the UNIVERSE.

-The final run-down is that Courtney's a little wiser having gone through this epic, and the team falls apart a bit, as Tyler/Hourman fucks up and hesitates, so decides to leave the team to 'sort things out' (ie. leaves so more interesting characters can come in), Starman/Jack Knight retires to Opal City for good because his own series ended (his father dies around this time, no idea when exactly), and Hippolyta leaves to be a permanent Wonder Woman character, just in time to die in Our Worlds At War a short while later (it always bugged me, though, that her death was COMPLETELY ignored in the JSA books. They literally NEVER mention her death ONCE in all that time). Hippolyta & Ted Knight's deaths mean that there's only three original JSAers left. Al & Dr. Fate take leaves of absense, but would be back.

Roster Changes: Dr. Mid-Nite & Mr. Terrific join; Hippolyta, Hourman III & Starman leave

Review: A very good second showing, and the JSA really gets into it's groove of 'event upon event', much like Morrison's JLA. The Obsidian Arc was alright, but a little weak (ended easily and was a bit short), and the Kobra/Extant thing was entirely forgettable and too confusing, but had the great human element of Al Rothstein at the heart of it. The series quickly started picking up it's stride as a story about the people in it while also dealing with the giant events, which would make it truly great. Getting rid of the filler guys (Hourman III was a terrible character, Jack & Hippolyta just didn't fit in, and were too mixed up in their own books to really mesh well either) made it actually look like the series it became as well, as this roster would MOSTLY stick around.

Best Moment: Atom-Smasher puts Extant on the plane, and the look on his face when it blows up. Hah, now THAT's how you off a villain nobody likes!

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"JSA: The Return of Hawkman" (#16-26)- written by David S. Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Stephen Sadowski, Buzz, Steve Yeowell, Rags Morales & Michael Bair
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Black Canary II, Doctor Fate IV (Hector Hall), Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II

Part One: Injustice Be Done (yeah, these older trades are double-stuffed with arcs). The Injustice Society returns from their shit-kicking via Wildcat in order, harassing the JSA one-by-one. The new squad is the same as the old one (Sorrow, Icicle, Tigress, Killer Wasp, Blackbriar Thorn, Geomancer), plus "Rival" (a reverse-Flash for Jay Garrick, because you know you can't be a speedster in DC without an evil version of yourself), Shiv (Star-Spangled Kid's rival from her by-then-nearly-cancelled series) and The Thinker (an old enemy converted to a computer program that infested their base). This time, however, they do MUCH better, splitting up and taking the JSA apart piece by piece.

-Hey, Black Canary & Dr. Mid-Nite are dating! Man, Pieter's a good character and all, but it's SO ANNOYING to see this Perfect Man embodiment out there (handsome, charming, smart, a DOCTOR). I guess it might get the female readers wet, if comics had any, though. The Society plays it smart by taking out Sentinel right away with a crossbow bolt made of Blackbriar Thorn. I'm shocked no one else thought of doing that in this series. It's also the first of MANY, MANY times a JSA powerhouse is taken out early to keep them from saving the day in two seconds. So Terrific, SSK (god I can't wait till she changes her codename so I don't have to type "Star-Spangled Kid" everywhere) & Hawkgirl work on saving Sentinel's life while trapped in a locked, freezing room, while everyone else deals with thier own battles.

-Rival (vs) Flash! Sand & Wildcat (vs) Killer Wasp & Geomancer! BLACK ADAM shows up again, on the side of the Injustice Society. At this point in my first read-through, I figured Adam was another lame DC reverse-colour villain among dozens. Johnny Sorrow does crap with the "King of Tears" by kidnapping Scarab (there's that guy again!).

-Mid-Nite takes out Vertigo with a sonic device, and Jay takes out Rival by merging with the Speed Force and shit (god I hate that power...), and STEALS HIS HAT because Rival broke his. The DICK. Sand beats Geomancer for the hundredth time. Courtney KOs Shiv (who pretty much moves into comics limbo after this, save a couple other one-shots), and Hawkgirl blows up with Nth Metal thought energy or some shit to take Tigress out (who was winning that fight), giving us a preamble to what would happen later.

-Holy shit, the STAR-SPANGLED KID just took out Thorn AND Icicle by herself! GOD the Society are pussies in a straight-up fair fight! Funny how they never quite explain Court's powers in this series- it's just vague mentions of stunning Stars, with nothing about her super-strength till WAY later.

-Things finally settle into the JSA moving against Sorrow, who 'kill's Mid-Nite, and we go into Flashback Mode (hey, it IS the JSA...), as Sandy remembers the old days of fighting dumb criminal Sorrow (in what's obviously an inserted-adventure, since he's wearing the Bucky costume while Wesley's in the gas-mask instead of the purple & yellow garish gear) and sending him into the King of Tears' dimension, then he makes his big return with the King in tow, and The Spectre comes in and eats it, creating that liquid Sorrow's been going on about for months.

-Back to the modern era, it's Black Adam unveiling his true colours as an arrogant good guy who actually wants to help, and the King of Tears is loose, ready to eat the world. And it's The JSA Fights an Evil Godlike Being! Jesus, that picture of a crying kid holding a dead adult's skeleton, surrounded by giant bugs, is horrifically disturbing.

-Meanwhile, in the never-ending Confusing Fate story, he discovers the woman who gave BIRTH to him is his WIFE. Yeah. JJ Thunder (the 'new' Thunderbolt-caller who debuted in Morrison's JLA) shows up to help, and the Spectre gets eaten alive and runs off, because God knows you can't have a story without him announcing that everyone's SOL and on their own. Putz. Oh, and Mid-Nite's alive, as he 'saved' Sorrow's evil essence in his goggles, stuns him with his own death-vision, allowing Jay Garrick to steal Black Adam's speed in order to punch the King of Tears into the Speed Force/Space/Time Continuum, which HAS to be one of the most fucked-up, crazy, makes-me-glad-I-read-comics convoluted plans I've ever read. Seriously, just TRY explaining that shit to someone who doesn't read comics. I just love it.

-Flash wakes up... and it's The JSA Goes To The Past! (Oh, Johns) Black Adam wants to join the JSA! Killer Wasp tells Wildcat that he's not his son, and in fact killed him. For YEARS I assumed this was B.S. on Wasp's part, just to fuck with Ted, and he really WAS his son, and this was leading somewhere, but it never really got brought up again, as Wasp was absent from later Injustice Society gatherings. Creepy moment where Jade talks about Obsidian haunting her nightmares, and you see his eyes in the shadows. Atom-Smasher & Mr. Bones have a talking-to over Sylvester Pemberton's grave (showing Bones at least has SOMEWHAT of a good side, guilty over having killed him years ago), foreshadowing his later turn. And Kendra/Hawkgirl has a little chat with Zauriel the Failed 90s Super-Hero Character about her true origins, as the reincarnated soul of Shiera Hall. Quite the amount of stuff.

-JJ Thunder dicks it up, acting out around Mr. Terrific, prompting Courtney to threaten to beat the fuck out of him. THAT's my girl. God, was Jakeem ever unlikeable for his first couple years of existence.

-Next issue is one of those 'experiments', where the top story is Sand discovering the truth about Kendra, and the bottom story is Flash stuck in the past, with the former versions of his teammates in Ancient Egypt- Khufu, Chayera, Nabu & Teth-Adam. Kind of hard to read and a pain in the ass, so they never did it again. The crux is, the JSA knows Kendra's story, and Jay returns to the present using the same means he went to the past.

Part Two: The Return of Hawkman- Kendra shows up on Thanagar, where Onimarr Synn (guess what? He's an Evil Godlike Being!) has taken over with his cult. The JSA follows with the ridiculous ease of having a sorceror like Dr. Fate on your team, and it's ON. Oh, but Wildcat, Canary, Sentinel & Star-Spangled Kid are sitting it out, doing their own thing. You know your roster's too big when every story involves half the gang either injured or away.

-Note: It's right around this time that Stars & STRIPE was cancelled, thus making this the only book Courtney Whitmore appears in. Therefore, all her character stuff now happens HERE, as her mom goes into labour as of this story, and apparently they all moved to Metropolis, thus axing her whole supporting cast from that book in a BIG hurry. But they have Atom-Smasher, Fate & Black Adam with them, though Al gives his first big "I hate Adam" moment, rejecting wisely the idea of a reformed villain.

-Turns out resurrecting Hawkman is as simple as sticking your hand inside a Memory Well or something. Who knew? It's a pretty epic return, though, made certain of by the fact that EVERYBODY who knew Carter has been talking about how awesome he is, like he's Poochie and they all need to be asking "Where's Poochie?" when he's not there or something.

-The JSA arrives & meets the new Carter. It's all good, and then we get the really nice moment of father & son meeting. But IT'S ON, and they brawl with the villains. Introduced villains Crypt & Phade fuck up the team as debuting villains will do, as the fat lizard thing EATS Atom-Smasher, and Synn uses Godlike Evil Powers on the rest of the team, taking them apart worse than Mordru, with one hand behind his back. Sand's scattered to the winds, Adam's thrown into space, and another big dog is out right away, with Fate being muted until the end of the story (you know, they could just DE-POWER some of these fuckers and not have to keep on doing that...). And they're fucked. Again.

-Synn gives his big Evil Monologue to Carter, but it's actually a great one, as he admits he's a perverse sadist. "It's going to be okay, Kendra." "Maddening. It ASTONISHES me that you could still say that." Hah. I like this villain in the way that he's funny and evil, but you want to see him get his ass kicked.

-Another brilliant character moment, as Terrific shows characterization beyond being smart by talking about his lack of faith in souls & reincarnation, and Jay talks about his son that died (not sure if that's an introduced thing or not by Johns & Co. Anyone?). That's why this series rules, right here. Character moments in the midst of bad-ass evil shit going down.

-And it's the Big Comeback, as the Hawks escape their deathtrap, and Jay Speed Forces his way out of the trap. Phade gets KOed right away by Hawkgirl. What a useless villain. Black Adam makes an AWESOME comeback, flying through the stratusphere and driving Synn through the floating city into the earth. Atom-Smasher rips his way out of Crypt's stomach, showing no signs of distress. You'd think he'd have drowned or something.

-Big climax sees Synn growing fucking huge with all the Nth Metal on Thanagar, and Adam scores the line of the centruy with "Black Adam does not 'Scatter'!" in time to be squished. But the Hawks use the equivalent of the Care Bear Stare with their Nth Metal Lovin's (using the Claw of Horus, given to Jay several issues ago by Khufu, because Johns likes FORESHADOWING), and Synn blows up completely. The JSA comes home one stronger, and it's all glorious and happy.

Roster Changes: Hawkman & Black Adam join, along with Jakeem Thunder off-and-on. So much for that 'army of superheroes' dissipating as mentioned in the last arc, huh?

Review: This was some crazy shit, right here. Giant, super-powerful omnipotent villains, the heroes with NO chance except for some crazy Deus Ex Machinas that somehow actually make a bit of SENSE, interpersonal relationships going on at the same time, etc. Somehow making one of the lamer big-time heroes in Hawkman cool is an epic feat in and of itself, but that'll happen when you're a clear writer favourite. The workings of Johns are becoming much more apparent here, as his obvious faves like Hawkman, Mr. Terrific, Star-Spangled Kid & Dr. Mid-Nite see more and more use, along with Black Adam (who'd been showing up since he started co-writing), changing the dynamic of the team (for the better, in my opinion, though the early stuff is still great).

Best Moment: "Black Adam does not 'Scatter'!" 'Nuff Said. Though the Speed Force Punch combined with the Captured Photograph Attack is purely why I love comics.

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"JSA: Our Worlds At War Special #1"- written by Geoff Johns, art by Javiar Saltares
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Black Canary II, Doctor Fate IV (Hector Hall), Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Black Adam, Hawkman
All-Star Squadron line-up: Air Wave, JJ Thunder & Thunderbolt, STRIPE, Jade, Nemesis, Power Girl, Shining Knight, Vigilante, Black Condor, The Ray, Iron Munro, Damage, The Patriot, Phantom Lady, Dr. Occult

Hah. So not sure exactly where this fits, but this is the roster the last trade left off with, so here it is. Our Worlds At War was the HUGE event DC was pimping for all of 2001-ish, basically amounting to Superman proving how awesome he is by fighting a giant Galactus rip-off and all his mini-Heralds. Lots of cross-overs, and JSA gets their own one-shot. The ludicrously giant roster is an homage to the All-Star Squadron of the 80s, where Roy Thomas got his big Continuity Porn series featuring all the Golden Age heroes DC owned. These are all the legacy characters that could be found at this time, as Hippolyta's busy being dead.

-Oh wow, the art is ugly here. It's okay in some parts, but all the women have giant chins and everyone's all lumpy. The plot is pretty weak, too, as they're setting out just to knock out the power system of a Jupiter-sized space station, instead of fighting the big guy or anything like that.

-Look at this array of losers! Iron fucking Munro? A chick Vigilante I've never heard of? Black Condor? Uncle Sam in power armour in a desperate attempt to make him look cool and new?

-Hawkman & Sand have a little moment when Carter gives the big "let's be heroes!" speech, which would come up later. Airwave acts like he's an important character, when he's only ever been used as a means to an end by any writer. "Power Chick" Oh Ted Grant, at least YOU aren't written as being unrealistically-PC for a man born in the 1910s. Star-Spangled Kid is shown wielding the Cosmic Rod for one of the first times around here, having been given it by Jack Knight when his own series ended, so now she's carrying on two legacies.

-The story's just a mess from here, as it's a bunch of costumed bodies flying around blowing stuff up and commenting on how big everything is. Ray takes a stinger through the chest and appears to be EASILY dead, but hey, they save him. In the crossover where TONS of guys die? Jade acts as a magic conduit to blow up the connection to Daxam that was powering the ship, and everyone hightails it out of there as it implodes. President Luthor asks how many casualties they suffered, and Sand does this goofy "We're the JSA!" statement with the whole team, because they're so awesome.

Review: Ugly book, Johns' worst work on the whole series by far. Seems like it was just thrown together with terrible art and random faces interacting, but then that was pretty common with Our Worlds at War (the only bit I liked was Wonder Woman's, where Hippolyta died horrifically). And really, why keep the death toll to nothing? Iron Munro is one of the worst heroes in DC comics, and is allowed to be ridiculously young-looking despite being an inserted Golden Age replacement for Superman that never took off (Young All-Stars, the book created for he & the other guys meant to replace Earth-2 non-entities like Supes, WW, Batman, etc., was cancelled within two years), yet the PERFECT OPPORTUNITY to ice him along with half of these losers just isn't taken. And Johns is normally a FAN of killing minor characters in droves in his stories! Just look at the Freedom Fighters in Infinite Crisis! Oh well....

Best Moment: This panel. Easily. Image

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"JSA: Fair Play" (#26-31 and JSA Secret Files #2)- written by Geoff Johns, art by Stephen Sadowski, Peter Snejbjerg, Javiar Saltares, Rags Morales & Derec Aucoin
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Black Canary II, Doctor Fate IV (Hector Hall), Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder, Hawkman

Part One: A bunch of mini-stories from the Secret Files, drawn horribly by that Javiar guy, he of the giant cartoony faces and big chins and everything. Canary, Wildcat & Nemesis fight Nemesis' father's boring-ass generic cabal of assassins or whatever (in a plotline that never ended up going anywhere, as Johns got sidetracked). Mordru & Obsidian make plans against the JSA. The Star-Spangled Kid talks with STRIPE about getting Jack's Cosmic Rod. Thankfully, she got rid of the goggles right quick. Sandy dreams and meets the Grey Man, who shows him his teammates, each with a dire warning that actually foreshadows future events:

Dr. Mid-Nite I: "Your enemies will be your allies"- teaming up with Icicle II in "Stealing Thunder".
Hourman I: "Take a CHANCE when you're in the jungle"- his sand-trick when poisoned in Roulette's jungle-trap.
Mr. Terrific I: "Michael will need your guidance when he discovers the truth behind his love."- Okay, I have no idea about this one. I think they meant for it to be something, but it never happened. Is he talking about Michael meeting his wife's soul in heaven or something? Because Sand wasn't involved with ANY of that.
Atom I: "A Thunderstorm ahead. A RED one."- Captain Marvel, most likely.
Star-Spangled Kid I: "Beware my killer. He is truly a laughing matter."- Solomon Grundy's Jokerized version. Nice of Sand to not WARN anybody about these, by the way. Could've helped.
Spectre I: "I see a great war. Battle it with a greater number of allies."- Probably "Princes of Darkness", but with the way this series went, could mean virtually every arc since.
Dr. Fate I: "Watch Hector, Sand. Watch him CLOSE."- They'd been building Fate's heel/crazy turn for a while by this point even, but that too never really went anywhere, unless you count when Nabu took him over later on.
-Then Mr. Bones appears and attacks him, and he wakes up, probably foreshadowing a show-down with the DEO, which again never really happened. Funny how most of these actually foreshadow arcs several months (even a year or so) ahead of time, or don't happen at all. That's starting to happen now that Johns is taking over completely.

-Back in the real world, the Ultra-Humanite was teaming up with the Council, but his body is left brain-less, implying he'll be back.

-This is David Goyer's last co-writing credit for the TPB, right here, though he'd be back for "Stealing Thunder". The book maintains much the same momentum without him, to the point that it's hard to pinpoint exactly where in the story things change, but they do gradually shift.

Part Two: The Roulette Arc. Now THIS is how you set up a major villain. Of course, she'd only appear in one-shots thereafter, doing little of anything, and her awesome concept of a meta-human fighting league would be copied by the ULTRA-lame "Dark Side Club". It starts off with Atom-Smasher & Black Adam feuding again, with Courtney buddying around with Al to show their closeness again. "This game. 'Arm wrestling'. When does it begin?" Haw, Adam RULES. And hey, it's Rags Morales on art, where he'd be off-and-on for quite a while. Alex Montez joins the team as their Museum Director as an extra character from the Infinity Inc days, but amazingly THAT pays off later as well.

-Hawkman reassures Sand that HE should be team leader, and says he trusts no one else to teach Hector how to be a hero. Good thing he's off the leadership job in two issues, then. Terrific & Mid-Nite tell Sentinel that they think he's made ENTIRELY of Green Flame, which doesn't really come up later at all. Courtney's sister Patricia is born, and she gets palsy with Hawkgirl, who FINALLY shows something other than grouchiness and psychosis. I really started to hate her character for a point. Boy, for a supposed hottie, Hawkgirl sure is drawn ugly by Rags. GIANT nose, pointy chin, etc.

-Atom-Smasher dicks it up with Adam AGAIN, resulting in a choke-hold. See, this is why people underestimate Al's power levels- the guy's always squaring off WAY out of his weight class. But Captain Marvel shows up, letting Johns live out THAT love affair of his (the guy shows up REALLY early in "Stars & STRIPE", too), and then Sand shows up to comfort a crying Kendra (Carter just wasn't letting the whole "we're meant to be lovers" thing GO), and gets lady-lovins for it, while Carter watches on in shock.

-Mini-insert, as Firebrand III (some loser in a super-dated 90s costume) fights a generic Checkmate guy in Roulette's arena as she bitches about how terrible the fight is. He gets a few pages to describe himself and his ways before rejecting the kill-programming, then gets killed. I suppose it's a fitting epitaph for a failed character who was gonna die- certainly he'll be better remembered than "guy that Prometheus blew up in one panel of Infinite Crisis". They even mention who his creators were, like it was frickin' Siegel & Shuster getting their just due on Superman or something.

-Back to our regular story, as Sand clearly has feelings for Kendra, I suppose stemming from his trying to find her origins (though it still felt kind of awkwardly tossed-in there, especially because it eventually gets ignored). Atom-Smasher & Black Adam finally turn into an all-out brawl, as Marvel gets involved, then the whole JSA runs in and we get a mini-brawl. Eventually Marvel uses his Wisdom or whatever to get everyone to just talk it out, but Hawkman cock-blocks Sandy leadership-wise and settles it himself. Marvel says Adam is a hero and vouches for him, but issues a dire warning as well: Theo Adam is a crook and a murderer. Oooh spooky...

-Then Sand calls out Carter on it, and the JSA decides to hold a vote. Stars' big eye close-up of her "this IS a Democracy, right?" line always bugged me for some reason (Rags always draws Courtney odd, a mix of small but lumpy muscle but gawky teen girl), but not as much as Mr. Terrific suddenly getting the Chairman vote. I mean, obviously it WAS the right decision, and he HAS been shown leading the team properly earlier, but it was a Sand/Hawkman vote! Who the hell voted for Terrific as a write-in without him actually saying he wanted in, let alone enough people to GET him the job? Man, I swear Rags is the only artist ever who actually shades people's eyeballs with hatching. And then in the middle of everything- BOOM! In the go to Roulette's "House"! Classic JSA stuff, man. All the personal issues and then IT'S EVENT TIME!

-Black Adam & Atom-Smasher get to let all their shit out while de-powered and brawling with aggressors pumping into them in one arena while D-level villains watch (who's the guy with "P"s all over his grey costume? Good lord DC has some terrible villains- even worse than Marvel's deliberately goofy Silver Age guys), while Terrific & Mid-Nite oppose each other in a chess match where the loser dies. We see a big wall of all the heroes that've died in The House, and sure enough, it's all the worst heroes DC could muster, a bunch of 90s losers like Ram, Prometheus (not that one) and Touch N Go, among others. Meanwhile, Sand & Hawkman have both been poisoned, with the only antidote around Hawkgirl's neck. You know, as awesome as all this shit is dramatically, it seems bizarre that they'd run them all concurrently. You'd think maximizing the audience by spanning them out would be better. Course, that would ruin the dramatic flow of the story.

-AND then we get interrupted from all this coolness for a LAME one-shot of "Joker's Last Laugh" tie-ins (thankfully the last time JSA would be jolted by some dumb crossover). That's the one where all of DC's villains got Jokerized into being crazy loonies. This one's got Peter Snejbjerg's bad-looking Tim Sale-wannabe art, and features Star-Spangled Kid & Jakeem (nee' JJ) Thunder doing a feuding kids deal, though it starts to show her becoming the more mature hero she'd eventually be, in one of Johns' most successful feats as a writer. Boy, does Court look bad under this art, though, all hyper-shadowed and boyish. She doesn't keep the ponytail for long, at least. Whole thing's just a scuffle with a Jokerized Solomon Grundy, who's in his less-powerful phase as a threat to just the two of them if he cheats a bit. Best moment by far is Jakeem's "Comfortable?" with a giant grin when Courtney lands on top of him. Though Jakeem's spiteful "if you were my daughter, I'd leave, too" and immediate apology is a nice bit of characterization than humanizes them both. Jakeem gets the T-Bolt pen back from Grundy and fries him, and that's it. But uh-oh, JOHNNY THUNDER is back, and free of Alzheimer's! That Johns and his stacking of threats...

-Back to our regular schedule, as Atom-Smasher finally gives up on trying to kill Adam, and they make amends. They team up against the Warhound of Apokolips, tossing it into Tap, the token power-dampener, which frees them nicely. Terrific & Mid-Nite fool the chessboard by going to a stalemate and breaking out while it resets (aw, and Pieter wants Michael to tell Dinah that he WUVS HER... that poor, perfect bastard). Sand goes into sand-form (his "chance in the jungle" to save himself from the poison while Carter takes it.

-Then we get one of my favourite moments in JSA history, as Al rues the fact that he's turned into a murderer with the Extant thing, but Adam corrects him by commending his actions, and pointing out he's done much the same, and considers Al a hero. And just like that, the bitchy snipes between them turn to one of DC's deepest friendships.

-From there, it's a quick way out, as Al & Adam wipe out the Warhound and Roulette teleports them out so she can rebuild. Of course, she'd never really get the chance, since DC would lame her up real quick and Johns never got the hooks into her again, but this first appearance would prove good enough to get her TWO full episodes of "Justice League Unlimited". A real shame that she never went on to do more, but I guess it's not too late.

-The TPB ends with a single issue, drawn more competently by Snejbjerg this time, as it's a noir-ish story of Batman and his Deep Thought Boxes as they do a team-up murder/kidnapping mystery, as lameoid villain Shakedown dies, and his ex-partner New Wave is responsible. Most of it's just Batman's Deep Thought Boxes sizing up the team and being all impressed and stuff, though.

-Final moments have Black Canary, one of the MAJOR characters of the first couple arcs (but who'd all but vanished for the most recent ones) leave the team thanks to Green Arrow returning from the dead, dumping poor Mid-Nite like nothing, resulting in Power Girl making her return to the team. And thus, the Geoff Johns Character Masturbation Project is underway.

Roster Changes: Power Girl joins; Black Canary leaves.

Review: More great stuff here, as Johns easily appears to hold his own solo-writing the book. The Roulette arc is brilliant stuff, and the Al/Adam moments make the whole thing regardless of what else goes on. There seems to be some hints of failed future storylines (the dropped Council & DEO arcs, along with whatever Fate had planned), but he was correct on most of the foreshadowing, so I guess I can't blame him for being 5 for 7 or something. Black Canary leaving is one of the final 'trimming the fat' moments the series needed to REALLY take off, as she was helmed into too many other projects (Birds of Prey, Green Arrow) to be a good member of a big operation like JSA was turning into. The writer REALLY needs to have sole ownership of the characters in a book like this to be truly effective. I was questioning Power Girl's involvement at first, since I disliked the one-note Tough Chick character from my prior exposures to her, so I was a bit nervous about her joining the team.

Best Moment: Black Adam & Atom-Smashers moment of agreement over their respective natures. Once again, Johns puts that kind of stuff in the middle of a huge battle so that it isn't even a 'slow issue' like it usually is in X-Men or something. That's what pretty much made both of them my favourite characters on the team.

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"JSA: Stealing Thunder" (#32-38)- written by David Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Stephen Sadowski, Peter Snejbjerg, Leonard Kirk & Keith Giffen
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder, Hawkman, Black Adam, Power Girl

-Hey, Goyer's back as writer, missing from the Roulette story! Odd, I thought Johns had fully taken over by this time, but looking ahead, I see Goyer attached to at least four more Trades. And oh goodie, here's the new Crimson Avenger, doing her full origin story and promising to kill Wildcat, but not before she vanishes from the story and they don't pay that off for another year of continuity or something.

-As Power Girl replaces Canary, she gives her a run-down of each JSA member, and for the first time, we really get mention of how bright others think Star's future is. I do like seeing one character's view of their teammates like this, especially in a team so large, where you can go 20 issues without Dr. Fate saying a single word to Jakeem or something.

-Ooh, Stars walks into Adam & Al's private conversation about Khandaq (it'd be revealed MUCH later), and Al coldly tells her it's private. OUCH. Her angry reaction shows how close she is to the big doofus. And Johnny Thunder makes a surprise return from Alzheimer's Hell, leading to a nice reaction from Jakeem, who calms down and isn't quite so annoying for once. But OH FUCK, it's the ULTRA-HUMANITE (paying off his appearance in the last Trade), and he steals the magic pen from Jakeem, taking control of the Thunderbolt. Yeah, it's The JSA Fights an Omnipotent Evil, again! Oh boy!

-And we start with a blackout, as Sand & Icicle recover in a GIANT, miles-long containment array, completely fucked, as the Ultra-Humanite has taken over the entire Earth. Now THAT is a frickin' event! And it's a great idea, too, as Sand was in danger of being glossed-over entirely in the Terrific-led JSA (not that it wouldn't happen ANYWAYS...), and Icicle was the most interesting of the Injustice crew. Hah, and Geomancer died when Icicle freed him from HIS chamber. And he never reappeared, but I don't think it should have stuck, given how EVERYTHING got undone later.

-Just to let us know HOW screwed the heroes are, they show the Justice League & other super-powerful guys brainwashed into a grey-costumed elite squadron called "The Thunderfront". But it's Jakeem Thunder's time to shine, as his unpowered self shows up to help, and he takes the two to the underground base, featuring all the new characters Johns wanted to showcase on his team: Hourman II (Rick Tyler, the previously unseen son of Rex, vanished since the Infinity Inc days), Power Girl & Captain Marvel. Oh, and the annoying Crimson Avenger character.

-Funny to see Rick being all leader-y and heroic, basically coming out of NOWHERE to be all cool. But that's like the third time that's happened in this series so far, so it's all cool. His costume's off-coloured at first, with a yellow hood (that somehow has DEEP shading on it).

-Humanite's up in his castle doing the usual bragging, with Sentinel at his mercy, powering the evil city. And somehow, Ted Grant is the only human still resisting his will. Well, I dunno about THAT... seems like there's dozens of guys to equal his willpower, even if he does have a bit of cat in him. But anyways, Humanite sees fit to just beat the piss out of him everyday instead. Good villaining, there. I do like the Mark Twain quote about the cat being the only creature that cannot be made a slave. Oh, and Doctor Fate is De-Powered, in that he doesn't want to use his magic or else it could be taken or something, so HE's out of the fight as well. Second event for that.

-So the five remaining good guys on Earth sneak into the Emerald City, but meet the Thunderfront anyways. Stars looks REALLY out of place in the Superman/Wonder Woman/GL/Speedster crew up there, making like she's supposed to be one of the elite powerful heroes or something. Icicle making an invisible force field that KOs all the Speedsters is a pretty great moment for him, though.

-Crimson Avenger pops Captain Atom into the future with some of the other brainwashed, then acts all annoying, talking about vengeance for the original Crimson Avenger, killed by the Ultra-Humanite. I don't know WHAT they were going for with this chick...

-But anyways, it's EPIC FIGHT TIME, and everyone starts brawling around, the heroes are pretty fucked like usual. Giant Evil Atom-Smasher looks pretty cool and menacing. Using the telepathic energy of the imprisoned psychic-guys, Jakeem fires a pulse of anti-brainwashing electricity through the power grid, saving everyone, but KOing them, so it's still just up to the JSA, so Rick jumps to the Timepoint.

-Oh, stuff like this is always funny. Every time I see the original Hourman, I think of how MINOR he was back in the day, lasting barely a dozen issues, and only having a few JSA appearances. But THAT ALONE allowed him to live on into the 60s when they brought them back as Earth-2 guys, so this nobody loser character ended up getting a legacy along with the other, more interesting members. But they attach this whole addiction thing to it, and have the father/son chats going on in this Timepoint thingie before Rex has to go back and die fighting Extant (they have to explain this every time they show Rex, by the way), and suddenly he seems a little better.

-Rex's big idea is to confuse the Ultra-Humanite with thoughts of who he really is, which is actually a pretty good plan. Then ANOTHER one of those crazy-ass comic-book plans comes into play, as Rick takes Mammoth's harness, Sand's wirepoon gun and forms a lightning rod (while Wildcat & Dr. Fate escape, beating up the Hawks and freeing Sentinel), which sucks the Thunderbolt right out of the Humanite's body (thrown by Captain Marvel, who gets QUITE the talking up in Jakeem's little yellow thought-boxes), saving the day. But it's Crimson Avenger who puts a bullet in the Humanite's brain in his protected site, killing him until the next big arc for the guy.

-The real emotional finale comes from Johnny Thunder's dying though, with Jakeem and all the JSA guys freaking out over him fading away, and Jakeem ORDERING the T-Bolt to bring him back. The final result is that the T-Bolt MERGES with Johnny's body, forming Johnny Thunderbolt. Oddly, he's go right back to looking like the regular Thunderbolt soon enough.

-Epilogue time: Sand promises Icicle that there's a place for him if he reforms, and Icicle calls him an idiot and says he'll kill him, because he's actually a huge dick after all. Jakeem actually meets his birth-father, but the guy doesn't know he had any kid, and has a new family now, so Jakeem lets him be (they'd pretty much never touch on THAT one again). Rick & Rex bond some more. Then Rick & Jakeem go to hang out.

Roster Changes: Captain Marvel & Hourman II join. This is about the time that the JSA becomes arguably the most powerful superhero team in comic-book history. I mean, Marvel AND Adam? Plus Power Girl & Sentinel? AND a FLASH? Jesus.

Review: This is a continuation of the awesome from before, but it's much weirder to read in retrospect, mainly because Rick the Great Leader and Jakeem the Main Character never really show up again. Rick was still a major character of course, but this was basically his career highlight as a superhero right here, in his big return, and he never came close to matching it again (kinda hard to stand out in THIS roster when all you've got is minor super-strength for an hour). Jakeem too was odd, because this was the first time he ever came into his own, doing awesome stuff and helping out, and it really matured him and made him less of The Scrappy (which he almost definitely was turning into- the smart-mouthed bitch character), and then he'd just flow back into the background because he's just WAY too powerful. The whole buddy relationship of Rick & Jakeem never really got dealt with after the fact, either.

In any case, it's still a great arc, with the usual Unstoppable Villain the JSA ALWAYS seems to fight (this is their fourth Godlike villain in a row- Mordru, Obsidian, Onimarr Synn & the Ultra-Humanite). Rick, Jakeem & Icicle all became much better characters as a result of it, which is like a three-way Catmanning, which of course makes Geoff Johns the Patron Saint of Character-Saving. I guess I should just call it "Geoff Johnsing" a character- to save them from the shit-pile, but then that could also mean time-travel, godlike villains, nostalgia, or dismemberment. I guess "Catmanning" it is.

Best Moment: Jakeem tearfully begging the Thunderbolt to bring Johnny back from the dead, telling him to FUCK his rules. Good ol' emotional stuff.

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"JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice" (One-Shot Story Trade)- written by David Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Carlos Pacheco
JLA line-up: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash III, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), The Atom, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Firestorm, Captain Atom, Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Zatanna, Vixen
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder, Hawkman, Power Girl, Hourman II, Captain Marvel

-Not quite sure where this fits in the continuity, what with the trades all having different dates than the issues and all, but it seems to fit the team line-up here, so I'll just put it here. It's a big one-shot Trade of a big fat team-up against one of each team's threats, which is usually good event-y stuff.

-Man, Carlos Pacheco... it's too bad he never has a regular gig that lasts a while. He's like a successor to Perez in that he's hyper-detailed and draws most people differently (not so much the women, but very few artists pull that one off), but he's not just a retread like Phil Jiminez is. And he draws such distinctive hands! All chubby-fingered and not all point the same direction like every other artist does and shit. Most distinctive hands since Liefeld, but in the good way.

-So it's Thanksgiving at the JLA HQ, a new annual tradition. Jesus, Carlos, could you render any more of every angle and contour of Star's ass? That scene where she's looking out the window at the Earth is like "woah!", because that is one tight bum. Dirty thoughts, dirty thoughts... she's only sixteen, she's only sixteen...

-GL (Kyle) and Wildcat are arm-wrestling. Well I should HOPE Ted is winning, since that's ALL HE HAS. Carlos has as much trouble drawing real-looking food as most comic artists, as it just looks like piles of mash potatoes with some brown stuff sticking out of it.

-First action sees Vixen saving President Luthor from an attack by one of those god-awful third-tier New Gods villains, Doctor Bedlam. Man, you ever get the sense everyone knew Kirby was writing shit and just didn't want to tell him? The combined teams hand him his ass in three panels, but was just a lure, as something affects several heroes present.

-Everyone starts dicking it up hardcore-style, and then IT'S A FIGHT! It becomes apparent that seven members of the group have been infected by one of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man!! Power Girl is of course "Lust" (I would've paid 60 bucks for this if it'd been Star-Spangled Kid). Captain Marvel is "Gluttony", and houses Black Adam in RIDICULOUSLY easy fashion, pissing off me and The Hurricane on his own forum (the source of that one quote about how he'd fit in on SHC in weeks). Power Girl punches Hawkman straight in the face, and he's still fucking alive? REALLY? Batman is "Anger", Mr. Terrific is "Pride". Kyle is "Envy". Atom-Smasher goes down without saying a freaking thing all Cross-over. Well now the whole thing is just ruined for me. What a puss move, writers. ESPECIALLY since they call in the JLA Reserves to boost the roster ANYWAYS. Plastic Man is "Greed", and Dr. Fate is "Sloth".

-Oh look, Hawkgirl & Jakeem Thunder are out cold too. Good thing one of the powerhouses of the team is out of the fight early again. Martian Manhunter's a psycho pile of goo as well. The Reserves get called in, though why Sand & Hourman II weren't at the party I have no idea, since they're regular-old JSA members.

-One group of heroes ends up teleported to Fate's Tower, fighting those lame Sons of Anubis zombies, while the other ends up in Limbo, that dimension the DC Editors ruthlessly tossed the JSA back when they decided they didn't want senior citizen heroes running around. And Lex Luthor appears to be at the heart of it! Zatanna takes the Reserves to the Rock of Eternity, which has shown up in our plane, but Johnny Sorrow is there, having dispatched both Shazam & Captain Atom! Boo-yah! The JSA coolest-looking villain!

-Funny to see Mid-Nite & Green Arrow bickering all over the place, since Arrow stole Mid-Nite's lady-love, forcing her to be written out of the JSA books. Luthor unveils himself as Despero, long-time JLA C-League villain and forgotten character, reborn as an awesomely-designed huge guy. Despero's big speech about how Earth is the jewel of the galaxy and unique in it's diversity is pretty nice (funny how nobody feels like writing any worlds that DON'T have a singular culture in any form of fiction, it feels like). Turns out he & Sorrow are working together in a giant dickish plan to kill everyone and rule the world. The Sin-infested heroes are destroying America, as their empathic powers spread like viruses. Of course both villains are gleefully bragging about this, carefully explaining their plans.

-Nice moment as Green Arrow gets pissed at Despero for messing with the American flag, and Mid-Nite not believing it. It pisses him off enough to help his team escape. The two teleported teams meet up in Limbo and get out of their with some crazy pseudo-scientific bullshit aided by Sentinel's magic and the Flashes' speed (all thanks to The Atom, of course), and they 'wish' themselves back home. Boy is Sentinel over-powered for regular heroics sometimes. Stars shows more of the potential everyone's been talking about, both figuring that Supes might need a recharge of sunlight, and helping Sentinel's willpower along.

-The teams unite for the big final battle. Mid-Nite frees Batman by convincing him that Hope is what fuels him, not Anger. Batman plots the use of the Magic Lasso (it IS the greatest weapon in all creation, after all!) to make Captain Marvel say the Wizard's name, and the recharge blows him free of Gluttony (after he'd 'eaten' Mary & Junior's magic as well). Y'know, the heroes have seen Big Red switch to a boy enough times by now to realize that that's who he really is... This frees Shazam, who then frees the others.

-GIANT two-page panel of the heroes charging towards the villains. Nice stuff. Still wish Adam & Atom-Smasher were there... sniff....

-Despero brawls it out like a good brick and beats the snot out of the heroes, while Sorrow uses his vague Whatever-Powers to mess them up. Nice, brutal action by Pacheco here, especially Despero cracking Supes & Cap's heads together. Ouch.

-Brilliant planning, as Sorrow takes off his mask to kill Sand, but Firestorm turns him to glass so he can't SEE Sorrow (it works because Sand isn't organic), then Sentinel steals the mask, so Sorrow's stuck in a corporeal state, at which point the heroes wrap him up tight in green energy. Hourman's time-vision helps him see the exact spot where Captain Atom Quantum Leap's back into our world, so Despero takes another huge shot. Then Sand grabs the ROCK OF ETERNITY, and drops it on ol' three-eyes, allowing the GLs to unveil Sorrow's face right in front of him!. I love you, Comics.

-That's enough to pop ol' Luthor free, and he's upset with Superman for making him say "thank you". Note how almost all the heroes helped in this fight except Courtney, who was only in two panels, both of them just flying at Despero. That's her only problem- a lack of serious enough power to be anything by an additional background person in a fight.

-We end with a return of the party, and Lex Luthor building a NEW JSA building on top of the one that got wrecked in the fight. And it's a big art error, as the building would continue to look EXACTLY the same in the comics, but looks like a giant modern skyscraper here (which is ludicrous, since it only houses like 12 people and a museum), but that's a minor quibble. Wonder Woman comforts Courtney about the heroes possibly screwing everything up, and Superman & Sentinel go up into the sky to watch the Earth, like they started the story doing.

Review: It was pretty good in terms of the threat, the villains, the fight scene, and lots of the little character moments. The final battle was REALLY good, and the whole villainous scheme was as well, spreading mass chaos & disorder. Some things still bug me, though, especially wiping our FOUR JSA members for no good reason early on (Al didn't even SAY anything this whole story!), while sticking in a half-dozen JLA Reservists who each did maybe one thing to help. I guess Goyer & Johns just wanted to write the people they didn't normally see, but it's starting to become a JSA regularity by this point to dump heavy-hitters quickly. And MAN did I want to see Black Adam kick some ass alongside Marvel & Superman.

Best Moment: The final battle, particularly the Captain Atom/Sand/Rock of Eternity/Unveiling Sorrow's Face whammy at the end. Pure unadultered crazy comics writing. Star-Spangled Kid's sculpted, contoured ass runs a close, perverted second. She's SIXTEEN, Carlos!

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"JSA: All-Stars" (#32-38)- written by Various (mostly Goyer & Johns), art by Various
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Hawkman, Hourman II

-This one's also kinda hard to place, since several members don't show up (Black Adam, Atom-Smasher, Power Girl, Jakeem Thunder & Captain Marvel), but a major point isn't made of their absense. I guess they're just busy or something.

-It starts off mostly where "Stealing Thunder" left, which is Sand trying to convince Icicle to join them, and Hourman being on the team, so here seems good. This is mostly a collection of one-shots focusing on JSA members (a bit on the current one, and a bit on the past member in the 40s), book-ended by the whole group, much like the old JSA stories in the Golden Age. The name is of course inspired by the All-Star Comics line that produced the JSA.

-So Icicle again rejects Sand in kind of a retread of before, but the Injustice Society springs him from the plane, and we get a big stand-off with the 'new' Injustice grouping, now consisting of Icicle, Solomon Grundy, Tigress, Shiv (making her last appearance aside from a group-shot in Infinite Crisis- and boy, does reading Stars & STRIPE let you know how lame a villain she really was), Rival (again, his last appearance), Kestrel (an evil riff of Hawk & Dove, and a lowly Chaos Lord, there to bug Fate I guess, but he never showed up with the Society again) & the original Ragdoll (now reimagined as a Mansonesque cult leader from the Starman series). Notably sans Johnny Sorrow here, plus Thorn & Vertigo have been demoted out, alongside Killer Wasp.

-The JSA arrives to help, and it's a mini-brawl (Wildcat even pointing out how much MORE scary Ragdoll is than Manson), Stars even pointing out how out Shiv's league she is by now, but the villains use trickery and little red "V" discs to freeze & teleport the elder members away, freezing Sand solid. They run off, and The Spectre (he starts showing up a LOT more in JSA books now) bursts in to warn the team that they need to deal with their unresolved personal issues and then meet back. But it turns out Spectre's actually a demon called "Legacy", who has TRAPPED The Spectre.

-Remember the days when DCU fans treated Spec like he was on the level with Marvel's Living Tribunal? Sounds funny in retrospect, seeing as how the Hal Spectre is such a pussy, getting overtaken all the time.

-First one-shot focuses on Hawkgirl, being bitter and cranky, bugging grandpa Speed Saunders on a generic mission. The main emotional part is meeting the daughter she gave up for adoption for the very first time (well, second, I guess...). I presume that comes up in the "Hawkman" solo series, because no one in JSA ever brings it up again. Loeb & Sale (of "Long Hallowe'en" fame) do the second shot of Hawkman, and it's five pages of him fighting some thugs and getting in trouble with his wife Shiera for being late and forgetting the groceries. Kinda throwaway, but I do like Sale's art.

-Doctor Fate is next, and Hector deals with Nabu in human-form, as they discuss his own Fate, which shows him killing his parents. It almost looks like in could be the Khandaq "Black Reign" storyline they're foreshadowing here, but I don't know. Hector rejects his destiny, and tells Nabu he'll force his will to change the world. Nabu seems to be happy to hear that, though the two's relationship would clearly deteriorate over time. Kent Nelson's one-shot is a generic Lovecraftian monster story, but the demon-hand thing with heads for fingers is pretty creepy & cool. God, every hero back then had his own dime-a-dozen girlfriend, didn't they? Just like the 60s did (remember Thor's bimbo secretary?) At least Inza had magic powers.

-The REAL money one is of course Star-Spangled Kid's, as she goes to Vegas to meet her birth father, with STRIPE in tow. They seem to have made up a bit, though the end of Stars & STRIPE made it pretty clear that she now hated her father and was beginning to forgive Pat for coming into her life. They end up pummeling the Royal Flush Gang pretty bad (WOW, did those guys' star fall fast. Now they're jobbers to COURTNEY WHITMORE and the most fragile suit of power armour ever), but it turns out her dad is the Two of Spades! The dick points a GUN at her, then bails when Ace nearly kills her, but she kicks some ass and arrests him. Boy, he's drawn WAY more buff than he was in Stars & STRIPE... and blonde, too!

-Nice moment, as she has a heart-to-heart with Pat, rejects her father, and decides to continue on as "Stargirl", dropping the excessively-long name. This is a MAJOR step for the Courtney character, coming to terms with all this stuff and maturing. The '40s story is kinda funny, as Starman gets 'duped' into joining some FBI guys who are really mobsters in disguise, but he sees through it pretty quickly because he ALREADY reports to the FBI. Bizarre how this do-nothing character that even ROY THOMAS ignored for the most part ended up getting a much bigger role in history thanks to James Robinson.

-Hourman's one-shot is him talking to his mother about his past addictions, then helping a suicidal man not leap off a building. Funny to see him using his HOUR OF POWER to spend a full sixty minutes climbing a skyscraper, when most heroes could do that in seconds by flying. The '40s story is Hourman I saving Dwight D. Eisenhower's life from a traitor's bomb. Pretty much the worst of the lot, but then I never really got into the Hourman character, despite the cooler new costume that's mostly black.

-Dr. Mid-Nite has to deliver a woman's baby while talking about his history and the original Midnight, which is pretty good stuff. The original Midnight deals with a femme fatale, who leads him to her ex-boyfriend and his stash, but gets out of town with the rest of the loot. Pretty short and not that interesting, but then, the original Doc was kind of a lame character.

-Mr. Terrific deals with his dead wife as he gets more and more focus in JSA stories, and confronts Director Bones of the DEO about following him. Bones correctly tells him that he NEEDS to keep tabs on metahumans & heroes, and we get more foreshadowing to eventually bigger conflicts that never end up happening. Michael DOES find out that his late wife was pregnant when she died, however. Pretty rotten luck. It's kinda neat how the most emotionally distant hero around also feels his losses so heavily. The original Terrific's story is actually pretty neat, as it shows his deadbeat brother fucking up his life AGAIN, but manages to stop a guy from trying to kill his brother. Terrific's another great example of a guy who would have been NOWHERE without a couple JSA appearances way back when- he was so lame, they even killed him off in the SIXTIES, back when NOBODY ever died!

-Everyone hooks back up, and recognizes that something's funky with The Spectre's story, since it just brings all these thoughts to the forefront, and nobody could EVER really just 'deal' with them. They confront him, reveal Legacy, and fight back their own fears and misgivings, freeing the real Spectre with Fate's helmet. Legacy is revealed AGAIN as The Wizard, an old JSA adversary. The old-schoolers break free and kick some ass, pummeling the goofy-looking bad guy, but Hal/Spectre gets pissed and vaporizes him, thus saving the day. The old guys acknowledge that the new generation is an inspiration for THEM as well.

Review: I'm torn here. This is by far the weakest of the collections so far, with quickie-stories instead of real plots most of the time, many issues falling flat. The first issue is pretty good, but the last is a one-sided ass-kicking on the part of the heroes, with The Spectre flying in for his Deus Ex Machina ending. This really struck more as something like six issues of exposition for the characters (Courtney's dad's a criminal! Paula was pregnant when she died! Hawkgirl has a daughter!) rather than a real conflict between someone who stood a chance. The '40s JSA stories were at-best cute and silly one-shots that mean little (plus, most of the 40s guys and their adventures are really silly and lame, which is why they all got updated for the new era so much).

Best Moment: Stargirl's unveiling, rejecting her loser dad after the REALLY sad ending she got in "Stars & STRIPE", where he took her heirloom locket and walked out of her life completely, leaving her heartbroken on the steps of her house.

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"JSA: Savage Times" (#39-45)- written by David Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Leonard Kirk & Patrick Gleason
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Star-Spangled Kid II, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Hawkman, Jakeem Thunder (unseen in this arc), Black Adam, Power Girl, Hourman II, Captain Marvel

-First story is a one-shot featuring Power Girl dealing with some super-stalker generic bad-ass Flying Brick type named "Da Bomb". She kicks his ass after one of those epic 'everything gets wrecked' battles, and goes on a big 'girl power/If I was a man, none of my attitude would be a problem' speech to the other ladies (Hawkgirl & a cutey-pie brace-faced Stargirl under one-time artist Patrick Gleason). But this story always reminds me of one of the few times I saw a girl read a comic. She wasn't a comics fan, but read the whole thing with Da Bomb in jail, talking to his psychiatrist and all that. Then she got to the first shot of Power Girl, went "Oh GOD" and dropped the book in a laughing huff. And THAT is why no girls read comics, people. I don't care how much "Girl Power!" they shout out for equality and all that, as long as Ms. Boob-Window is up there, they're not gonna take it seriously. There's a reason why Stargirl has a far bigger online fanbase among girls than almost any other heroine, and it's because she's one of the few non-slutty types out there. You don't have to desexualize them COMPLETELY, but stuff like ludicrous cleavage just does comics an injustice.

-Next one-shot sees Captain Marvel bond with Stars just a little bit, dealing with The Shadower (a Golden-Age villain who murdered the original Dr. Midnite's girlfriend) and his grandson, who's holding a whole classroom of children hostage to force the current Mid-Nite to operate on the old man, with some famously difficult medical procedure. It's all from Cap's perspective, as he's impressed with Courtney's bravery, and helps talk the kid out of murdering the schoolchildren. The old Shadower dies on the operating table, but the day is saved. Yay.

-But UH-OH, the real major arc of JSA goes under way, as Black Adam sits with Atom-Smasher all menacingly, along with reintroducing two Infinity Inc members Northwind & Brainwave, rejecting these ideals. Atom-Smasher is LUDICROUSLY over-the-top as a black-hat at first, though, saying they'll 'be rid of' Captain Marvel like they're gonna kill him or something. Weird writing there.

-Rick Tyler gets a premonition of an attack by Black Barax (who'd been foreshadowed much earlier in other stories) on TylerCo, which results in a beautiful moment, as Black Adam absolutely OWNS Captain Marvel after catching him checking out Stars. "She is a very pretty girl, Billy. But Courtney Whitmore is out of your LEAGUE, boy." then "Surely you have better things to attend to. Your FAMILY. Fawcett City. HOMEWORK." with this A-level dickish grin. Marvel responds by calling him out on being an ass, saying he's there to keep an eye on him.

-Courtney shoots Adam a funny little look of disdain as Barax finally shows up. Just another armoured guy with high-tech everywhere, and some uber-complicated annoyance ends up with Hawkgirl & Mr. Terrific transported into the past, meeting up with Terry Sloane, the original Mr. Terrific. Given Geoff Johns' rep for the stuff, you'd be surprised to find out this is only the SECOND time I can think of where time travel's been used (I guess the Worlogog thing with Extant might count, but that was more altering the universe itself).

-The Freedom Fighters get involved in the past, showing us just how fucking lame they really were (Red Bee? Firebrand? Doll Man?). MAN did some of these guys need to die. Turns out Barax is trying to use Human Bomb to fix his time machine to return to the future. Terry's whole SUPER-positive reaction to a black chairman always bugged me, because I have a hard time believing ALL these Golden Age heroes were super-PC types. At least Ted Grant was a little more accurate in terms of what a real 80-year old man thinks of the world.

-There's some shit going on with Doctor Fate searching for Lyta Hall in Gemworld talking to guys, but it's all pretty uninteresting stuff, since I didn't give a shit about Fate, magic or Gemworld at all, and didn't really come into play later much either.

-The two Terrifics come up with a plan to make Barax run off, by promising Terry's a distant relation to the bad guy, with some story about a magic device in their trophy room that lets them see their ancestors. It's kind of cute and Golden Agey, but a pretty silly way to run off a guy who was all tough talk for a second. So Terrific & Hawkgirl go back into the time machine to find Marvel, ending up in Ancient Egypt.

-That sets off the MAIN plot of this trade finally, as Prince Khufu (remember, that's Hawkman) and his kingdom are in danger of being overrun by Vandar Adg (Vandal Savage) with his Orb of Ra, and Ahk-Ton, the Metamorph (a past Metamorpho).

-It turns into a big siege storyline, but the real interesting stuff is Marvel meeting up with Teth-Adam, finally getting to know the 'real' Black Adam. The revelation of his wife & children's murder at the hands of Ahk-Ton gives Marvel some understanding of what made Adam so dark. Calling Billy a "brother" still stings just a little bit. Hawkgirl present & past bond as well.

-Nabu comes up with one of those crazy comic-book plots, so Marvel & Adam head off to the Land of the Dead to awaken Ra to get his Orb back while the others fight a losing battle against sand-men. Adam sees the spirts of his wife & children there, and it starts getting REALLY heavy on the poor guy. A real Final Fantasy VI "Ghost Train" moment. Sniff. Calling down the thunder summons Ra (Adam being amazed at Billy's maturity and confidence despite being so young), who pretty much wipes the floor with the villains, turning Vandar into a baby that Nabu promises to teach to be a good man (Spoiler Alert: It doesn't work), and Ahk-Ton loses his powers. Teth-Adam gets all bad-ass by snapping his neck on the spot, while Marvel stands on shocked.

-Easy solution to the time-travel problem, as Nabu puts the heroes under a spell in some cavern until the JSA wakes them up thousands of years later. Billy & Adam have a heart-to-heart about their war and this past stuff, but Adam rejects any understanding- it's not about his ANGER, it's about protecting people from suffering. If it costs him his soul, so be it. Pretty much Black Adam's defining moment, right there, in terms of his point of view.

-Meanwhile, Dr. Fate fails to awaken Lyta Hall's comatose body, because it turns out it was Dawn Granger, aka DOVE, the whole time! Well boy-howdy. Turns out Hector was the son of Hawkman & Hawkgirl in one life, and the son of Extant/Hawk & Dove in this one, because a powerful wizard is born of Chaos & Order and all that jazz. God his origin was confusing. It kind of makes sense reading it bit-by-bit, but can you imagine what the whole thing reads like all at once?

-The big ending, as it's Kobra's trial for mass-murder, and the JSA is doing security, preventing his cult from running in. First time we've seen Atom-Smasher in freaking FOREVER too, as he's avoided nearly all the fights and big events up to this point (he wasn't at the Barax fight). Meanwhile, Alex Montez has been secretly injecting Eclipso's remaining black diamonds into his own body (good thing, too, because he pretty much disappeared into nothing after taking that curator job years ago). AND then Kobra reveals his big plan, promising to have his followers blow themselves up if he's not released. The DEO of course LETS HIM GO, and he teleports away with the very followers, making everyone look like morons.

-Black Adam is PISSED, and says they should've killed him when they had the chance. And Al actually takes his side in front of everyone, shocking Power Girl all to hell (they'd been good friends on Infinity Inc). The big killing vs. no killing debate goes on, and Atom-Smasher finally takes a side- Black Adam's. He quits the JSA on the spot, and the two fly off. Stargirl's reaction is just heartbreaking, shouting after him and looking shocked when he drops the bomb, showcasing just what her feelings for him were (seemingly more big-brotherish than romantic at this point- as there were no real hints except for the 'they're married in the future' story).

-ANOTHER big bomb is dropped, as it turns out MORDRU was hiding in the Fate vestments for the past little bit, and the next arc is thus set up.

Roster Changes: Black Adam & Atom-Smasher quit, the first time someone leaving was handled with actual hate and/or disgust, rather than just a quiet writing-out.

Review: One of the first collections to be a bunch of mini-arcs rather than a giant one or two, it was still quite good. I wasn't really into the Black Barax thing AT ALL, or even really the Egyptian one (never cared for Khufu & Co, or evil Metamorphos or whatever for that matter), but it was ALL little character moments that made it good, like usual for this title. Black Adam & Captain Marvel's conversations alone are worth the price of admission, both in brotherly Egyptian form and current snide dickhead form. The big bomb of he & Al quitting at the very end, followed by Mordru making his big return were pretty bad-ass as well. Rather than the awesome action augmented by great dialogue, this one just had the dialogue, with a little bit of decent action. A step down, but still good.

Best Moment: Teth-Adam's two conversations with Captain Marvel in ancient Egypt, especially regarding Shiruta & his sons.


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"JSA: Princes of Darkness" (#46-55)- written by David Goyer & Geoff Johns, art by Leonard Kirk, Sal Velutto & Don Kramer
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Sentinel, Hawkgirl, Stargirl, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder, Power Girl, Hawkman, Hourman II

-The Story So Far: Kobra escapes, Black Adam & Atom-Smasher quit the JSA, oh, and Mordru shows up wearing the vestments of Doctor Fate. And it's ON.

-Mordru kicks their asses as bad as before, turning Sand into the giant sand-monster he used to be and turning him against his allies. Mr. Terrific goes down hard, and is out for the count, followed by Sentinel, who has the Starheart RIPPED OUT OF HIM, then OBSIDIAN shows up, paying off that foreshadowing, and he sucks his dad into the Shadowlands, followed by Stargirl & Captain Marvel. Jakeem Thunder bolts in, but gets his throat cut, so we're down the TWO guys who had the best chance of fucking up the evil wizard. Annnddd they're screwed.

-Fate wakes up in Mordru's vestments, and hangs out with the other people in the Amulet (Kent & Inza, the two 90s losers Kid Eternity & Fate, the guy & girl Fate team, Nabu) to figure stuff out. Turns out Mordru bewitched him when Fate went to get his help against Extant.

-Stargirl & Marvel have the best bit, where they're in the Shadowlands, but Marvel's cut off from the Wizard's magic, thus he's Billy Batson! Stargirl's reaction is priceless. They have a neat little chat, and then SQUEEEEEEE!!! They hook up! SQUEEEEE!!!! Nerdgasm! So cute. Everyone say it with me: "awwwww...."

-Back in the real world, now ECLIPSO is here, having taken over Bruce Gordon in his last attempt to destroy a Black Diamond. He gets the greatest walk-on villain line in history ("Pleased to meet you. Won't you guess my name?"), but Flash chases him off using sunlight and saves Mid-Nite & Dove from him. Eclipso makes fun of the two lame female replacements for Midnite & Wildcat in the 80s. Since they barely EVER get a single mention, I'm going to assume even Johns realizing they're not worth saving. Mid-Nite's stuck for the rest of the arc helping Terrific & Jakeem not die (Jakeem's the harder one, of course).

-Eclipso meets up with Mordru & Obsidian, who regroup, and cast the moon over the sun to create a massive eclipse that buggers up the whole planet. This is so freaking awesome... Mordru was bound to come back, and so was Obsidian. Either solo would be a let-down re-tread in many ways, so why not bring them in TOGETHER? But THAT'S not cool enough, so they toss in ECLIPSO as well? Now THAT is an event worthy of their 50th issue anniversary!

-So it's issue #49, and Air-Wave calls in the Reservists! Which means we get another giant grouping of every lame Legacy character in DC history. These guys always seem cooler when it's 700 of them at once. They're all stuck holding off Obsidian's shadow-possessed people and Kobra's minions (did I mention that Kobra ALSO decided to get involved- making his terrorist cels unveil themselves right here, in ADDITION to these other three villains?).

-That Gemworld stuff pays off when Fate from the Amulet sends Dove & Power Girl (since she's supposed to be Arion's granddaughter at this point) to Gemworld to find Arion's soul (turns out Mordru is inhabiting HIS body, since Chaos has no body of it's own).

-The Shade appears before Stars & Billy in his JSA debut, telling them Alan Scott is dead. But Billy figures that his daughter Jade can save him with a 'transfusion' of green flame, and Stargirl asks Shade to take them there. Then in Courtney's finest moment, Shade snidely remarks "are you ORDERING me, child?", and she looks up at him with total contempt and says "I guess I am." Shade is overjoyed at her sheer ballsiness, and they're on their way.

-Now Wildcat is the bait for Eclipso, while Alex Montez pulls off the thing he's been planning since he took the curator job- he grabs the Black Diamond (who'd've thunk PHANTOM LADY would have saved the day by taking it?) and basically inhales all of Eclipso's power into his own body thanks to the tribal glyph tattoos on him, and now HE'S Eclipso!

-Issue #50! Alex saves the day by shifting the Moon back into proper orbit and finishing off the shadow-men. We ain't outta the fire yet, though, as Sand, Mordru & Obsidian are still fighting. Jade gives Alan her power, and he's BACK. Mid-Nite & Terrific's protected-hologram-body (he's still mostly out cold) save Jakeem's life, and he channels Johnny Thunderbolt again. Fun little moment as Power Girl annihilates Flaw & that dumb kid with him (I was seriously disliking her for the past several arcs because of Johns writing her as a 'girl power' archetype, but she's getting better). Buuut it turns out she was never Arion's granddaughter, since nobody remembers or cares who Arion is.

-Arion's soul hurts Mordru, and then Jakeem comes back, sucking him into the magic pen via T-Bolt. Jay gives Alan back the Starheart, and now that there's multiple GLs around again, Alan retakes the name Green Lantern in his big return to full power. He gives the big 'we failed our children' line as a reason for the JSA teaching the next generation, then blows the shadows right off his son, leave Todd Rice de-powered and non-crazy. Aw, I was kinda hoping he was totally bad. Seems kinda 'easy' to have him just be possessed (much like Hal "Parallax" Jordan).

-Ooops, one last thing, as the world starts exploding from the moon's orbit being screwed up, so Sand, recovering from his monster-mode, writes himself out of the JSA title for a while by jumping into the planet and re-stitching the tectonic plates back together. Jesus Christ on a stick, just how POWERFUL is this guy?

-We wrap things up with the entire JSA (including Hector Hall as Fate) coming back to whup on Mordru. Magic-fu sees the Dark Lord placed within the Rock of Eternity until the Legion of Super-Heroes fights him in their own run.

-Then it's the greatest epilogue EVER, as Kobra sits annoyed in his base, his 'Time of Darkness' being a dud, when the power goes out. Pissy, he runs out to demand answers, only to find all his followers dead. Atom-Smasher, realizing now all the damage Kobra did while still alive, runs in and grapples him, allowing Black Adam to make his triumphant return to the book, tearing out the bastard's heart once and for all. Y'know, this becomes a giant moral issue over and over, but fuck it, they were 100% in the right, here. You think the U.S. would care if some guy took out Bin Laden, vigilante-style? Fuck that. The only morality problems I have with this group comes later.

-And that's it for David Goyer on the JSA, as he leaves with issue #51. Well that was one hell of a run, full of events upon events, and he should be proud. It's tough to say how much of the awesome was Johns and how much was Goyer, but given what happens further in the series, I think it's safe to say that most of the Dr. Fate & Sand stuff was Goyer, while Johns was more into Black Adam, Terrific, Mid-Nite, Stargirl, etc. They keep up the events, but they actually slow down quite a bit, so I think that part of it might have been Goyer's work.

-When that's over, they do a mini-arc here. Jesse Chambers (aka Jesse Quick) makes her return to comics (thankfully ignoring Jay Faerber's incompetent fucking Titans run where she boinked her own mother's fiancee by saying she has 'issues'), depowered and now the new JSA curator/helper. Jay Garrick puts her in Rick Tyler's hands, sure as sugar they're gonna start knocking boots any minute now. Weird stuff, as they act like old friends and flirts. Boy Don Kramer's... not that great. He isn't BAD, but I'll be damned if everyone doesn't have big bright eyes and big, overly-drawn noses. Even STARGIRL!

-Dove leaves the HQ (and the series), going on to do whatever the hell she feels like (I don't know if she ever saw use again), while CAVE CARSON (now there's a guy who never made it big in comics) searches for traces of Sand, trapped in the Earth. Sometimes, I like to think of the JSA or other super-teams as an RPG played by guys around a gaming table. I think Sand's player got sick of being treated like an also-ran loser, and so quit the game, forcing the GM to write him out. That's what I think about his 'disappearance'.

-Jakeem catches sight of Stargirl & Captain Marvel talking about going on a date, and looks CONCERNED. This and a few prior instances may give some people the idea they're supposed to hook up and Jakeem likes her or something, but it's not the case, really.

-Alex Montez insists that he'll keep the Black Diamond, using Eclipso's power for good. Black Adam shows up, recruiting him for his little campaign (still not seen). Nemesis gets the same deal, as Adam & Co. destroy the Council and it's clone-factories across the world (OFF CAMERA, and this was for something they almost seemed to hint at building to something! Not that it's a bad thing... they seemed horribly uninteresting).

-Then the CRIMSON AVENGER makes her triumphant return, being all emo and shooting up people. She drops POWER GIRL with her guns, then blow's Wildcat's brains out. Confused? Oh, that's just the arc they teased TWENTY ISSUES AGO being resolved right around here. Turns out she's hunting him because the soul of a man he framed for murder (he was guity of ANOTHER murder he couldn't prove), but after taking a handful of his 'lives' (remember those from the JLA arc?), she figures he's good or something. Christ I hate that character. Best moment is Ted & PG doing the 'arguing until they get closer to kiss' thing, until PG tells him to F-off at the last second. Nice subversion.

-Aw, it's the true start of Mr. Terrific & Dr. Mid-Nite's Epic Bromance Through the Ages, as they start bonding over their love of learning & healing, respectively. I'm gonna start shipping THOSE two, as well! Think about it! Terrific lost his wife, and Mid-Nite's been moping over Dinah for centuries! It's PERFECT!

-Green Lantern gives Jesse crap about being a disappointment, which seems so mean and out of nowhere that you'd think they were paying it off somewhere. Far as I know, all they were doing was showing him getting a little bitter over Todd's screw-ups, etc.

-Thanksgiving Tradition time (Jesus, did they just do a YEAR of continuity in one year of real-time? Don't they know that's a HORRIBLE idea?), as the JLA comes to the JSA brownstone. Wonder Woman proves herself unlikeable as hell by whining about how America is built upon horrible things.

-OMG, it's Impulse! I want to teleport into the comic itself and tell him to retire before they assassinate him, his name, his character, and his legacy! GET OUT NOW, BART!! He & Jakeem bond over being immature kids. Aw, Black Canary confronts Mid-Nite over deliberatley avoiding her. Jeez, dude, it was three or four trades ago, get over it. Canary complains that guys always fall for her too quickly (she's right, it's probably the fishnets), but she lets him down by telling him their never really was anything there. OUCH.

-Weirdness abounds, as Liberty Belle I shows up, looking AT MOST fifty, despite being old as hell and grey in continuity for decades now. Poor Courtney gets put at the KID's Table (with TWO other kids!). She's a Junior in High School already? With One Year Later, I think that makes her officially legal in 2010 continuity. Time to mark THAT on my calendar!

-Humorous moment, as lame-ass 60s villains Kulak & the Warlock of Ys break in to attack the heroes, then realize how many of them there are, and try to run away. It is fun to read joke-y comics once in a while.

-We wrap up a month later with a Christmas story, as the four Old School JSA members go and recruit Ma Hunkel, the Golden Age Red Tornado, to the team as a helper now that the last of the Yellow Mask Mob has died in prison. Ma's thought-box descriptions of the individual team members are quite nice (again, I like it when they do stuff like that).

Roster Changes: Jesse Chambers & Ma Hunkel join the staff at JSA headquarters, Sand disappears.

Review: Now THAT was one hell of an event. You think it's gonna be Mordru & Obsidian doing the ol' team-up, and then you get Eclipso and Kobra in for good measure, making it some kind of JSA super-event. The Courtney/Billy hook-up is adorable as all hell (a nice respite from her true feelings for ATOM-SMASHER, dammit!), and the characters finally seem to have settled down with each other. Funny that nobody's even talking about Atom-Smasher & Black Adam leaving, though.

Best Moment: Stargirl's "I guess I am" response to The Shade's question of her ordering him around, and his reaction.

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"JSA: Black Reign" (#56-58, Hawkman #23-25)- written by Geoff Johns, art by Rags Morales & Don Kramer
JSA line-up: Sand (missing), Wildcat I, Green Lantern I, Hawkgirl, Stargirl, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder (absent), Power Girl, Hawkman, Hourman II

-Johns' second arc all to himself starts off with a bang, as Black Adam invades his home country of Kahndaq, with Atom-Smasher, Brainwave, Northwind & his entire race of bird-people (retconned into hyper-evolving to look more like Kingdom Come Hawkman, because otherwise they look retarded), Alex Montez as Eclipso, and Nemesis. Dismemberment and blood abounds. Great stuff as Adam describes each member of his team (Eclipso & Nemesis are inexperienced but their rage can be molded, Brainwave has mental problems, Northwind is just a fighter), but his stuff about Atom-Smasher is by far the best. We get the heart of their relationship: Al is like the brother Adam never had, and he will learn to be the hero Adam thinks he can be.

-Al is seriously one of the most underrated powerhouses in comics: he's chucking TANKS around like freaking Superman or Power Girl, smashing dozens of guys at a time with ease. And his big character moment comes as he looks at the kids used in Dictator Muhunnad's sweatshops, thinks of the men who murdered his mother and idols, and premediatedly kills Muhunnad himself, at Adam's orders. One of the better sense of getting into a character's head than I can ever really recall. "You will kill no more children-- and no more MOTHERS".

-Back to the JSA-specific stuff, as we actually cross over into the Hawkman book Johns was also writing. Well, I don't care much for Hawkman or Hawkgirl as characters, so it's good most of their stuff gets dealt with in their own series. The men & women separate and spend their time in St. Roch, another made-up city (this one an obvious stand-in for New Orleans). Mid-Nite rescues a hooker from her life of hookering and Hourman deals with his addictive personality.

-Power Girl's origin mystery gets touched on again. Jesus, is Stargirl wearing a TUBE TOP? Holy crap on a stick, Rags, she's a kid! PG's boobs are comically oversized here to the point of straining credibility. Hawkman cuts Matter Master's arm off in seconds to show how meand and bad-ass he is.

-Oh crap, Jay Garrick notices the not-so-subtle attraction between young Courtney (thankfully covering up- can you imagine a sixteen-year old in a bikini-esque tube top prancing around a city like THAT?) and the adult Captain Marvel. Cute bit as he can't figure out his tie. I love stuff like that. They all hear the news of Adam's army invading Kahndaq. Ted notices Alex there, and of course Courtney notices Al. Hawkman dicks it up by insisting that HE is now Chairman of the JSA to lead them into this mission, right NOW.

-Power Girl gets the best line so far, "if he's getting on The FLASH'S nerves, he's REALLY being an ass." regarding Carter. Hawkman REALLY pushes the line with Stargirl when she suggests another vote, just in case we didn't think he was being a turd. GOD, why would anyone read his comic if he acts like this? I actually WANT to see someone kick his ass half the time.

-Al starts going crazy, hearing 'voices' in his head, and it turns out Alex is boning Nemesis. Adam lets Brainwave know 'the line', and he WON'T have anyone doing this under anything but their own free will. It's the things like that which allow you to know who the 'honorable' villains are, which is always nice.

-The JSA debates more on the way to Kahndaq. Wildcat suggests killing Kobra "ain't ALL bad...", while Jay takes the 'no killing' rule with Alan. Kendra knocks Carter's attitude. Karen & Hourman discuss the Infinity Inc days (boy did THAT series not turn out well for most if it's members...). Nabu questions Hector's following his father, and insists that Adam is right. Stargirl pouts over Hawkman, then worries openly about Al. We get the first REAL sign that she cares for him as more than a big brother when Billy straight-up calls her on it, and she sternly rebukes him. Oh, DUDE, you do NOT call out your girlfriend on shit like that, Billy! Wisdom of Solomon, man! Use it!

-Hey, why didn't they bring Jakeem? The kid's done JACK since his mega-push earlier. He could probably do more damage than anybody.

-Then it's FIGHT TIME, as Adam straight-up WRECKS their Steel Eagle and the fall into a giant battle with the Hawkpeople. Atom-Smasher saves the Eagle from a crash-landing, but KOs Mr. Terrfic & Dr. Mid-Nite, carrying them off. And that is why growing people are scary- the 'human-level' guys have NO chance. Hourman's stuck running through the streets of Shiruta, chased by civilian defenders of Adam.

-Al turns Terrific & Mid-Nite to the people, in probably his worst action of the whole thing. Killing dictators, super-villains and soldiers is one thing, but his super-hero friends are pretty much fucked here, and it's all on him.

-Nemesis & Eclipso face off against the other JSAers, but Dr. Fate gets taken over by Nabu, and he switches sides, so Northwind's people end up back in the fight too. Brainwave forces Billy to say the magic word, and he's out of the fight with a hobbled Wildcat (oh, Ted, you get beaten like this in EVERY arc...). And THAT is why Telepaths are terrifying in the DC Universe... there's so few of them that even the uber-guys have no defenses most of the time. If this were the X-Men, someone could've stopped Brainy, but nope.

-Al shows again how powerful he is by FLATTENING Power Girl with his boot, and she don't get up none. Then Nemesis cuts Hourman open like a hooked fish, he vanishes into the Timepoint, and his DAD takes his place.

-Atom-Smasher takes out his FOURTH straight member of the JSA, beaning Stargirl with his head. She gets a nice moment of characterization, bitching him out for changing, after being the nicest guy she knew, and treating her with respect. Oh yeah, she DEFINITELY likes him. Maybe not so much after eating his forehead like that, but hey, it works for Hank Pym.

-Geoff Johns was apparently sick of the whole "Finding Lyta" arc (guess that was Goyer's thing), so she pops up in the Fate Amulet out of NOWHERE to help Hector out, and the whole Fate Amulet Gang teams up to free him from Nabu's control. Flash gives Carter hell for tearing off Northwind's wing.

-Oh crap, the Binding Glyphs that held Eclipso in check fail thanks to Rex "Hourman I" Tyler's punch, and Alex kills his lovebird Nemesis, running her through with the Black Diamond's blast. In shock, he leaps off the building to his death to save the lives of others.

-The Atom reveals himself as Atom-Smasher's 'voice', popping up out of nowhere in the JSA series. I GUESS he's a successor to Al Pratt, but c'mon... Albert still insists their way is right (based off of the pain of losing his mother, and wanting to save others from that pain), but cares for Courtney enough to lie to Black Adam about The Atom's presence.

-Flash FREAKS over finding Alex & Nemesis' bodies, ripping on Carter and saying he went nuts, but it turns out Hawkman is CRYING. Oh, boo-hoo, that makes everything okay. Brainwave takes down the ENTIRE JSA in moments with a psychic-burst (boy, these guys need their own Emma Frost), but Atom saves the day by jumping in Brainy's head and taking out Mister Mind, a lame Golden Age Captain Marvel villain who was eating Brainwave's brain-cancer thingie away.

-Al redeems himself a little by helping Stargirl save Marvel, and Billy gets his Romeo moment, talking about Courtney's hair's smell. Oh, c'mon, kid.

-Final Battle time, as Black Adam faces off against the ENTIRE JSA. He handles all the human-level people (of which there are alot) pretty easily, smashing up Terrific's face and dropping Hawkgirl. He makes a point of how hot Power Girl is (we get it Johns, you love her...), and talks about how much he RESPECTS the JSA. Again, making him more than just some crazy villain. Fate & Fury come in to even the odds, and GL helps Carter out with a green energy Mace.

-Marvel, Atom-Smasher & Stargirl arrive, and the battle ends. Al suggests a compromise, since Adam leading his forces to the neighboring countries would be just as bad as Muhunnad's rule, but everyone acknowledges that this is right for Kahndaq. Poor Courtney is left heartbroken AGAIN, as Al refuses to leave with the JSA. Yeah, tell me she's not meant to be with him NOW, Marvel/Stargirl shippers!

-Epilogue, as Henry "Brainwave" King is alright and healthy, but Hawkman agrees to step down from the JSA for cocking up the whole Kahndaq operation, since y'know, two of the people they were trying to save DIED, and the two decided to stay regardless, and Rick is missing in time. And in Kahndaq, Atom-Smasher gives one long look away from the city, contemplating what he's done, and where he's going.

Roster Changes: Rick Tyler is missing, replaced with Rex Tyler. Brainwave & Lyta "Fury" Hall end up back with the JSA, but not as members. Hawkman is asked to leave.

Review: Any concerns about whether Johns would still be okay as the sole writer were pretty much dropped here, as this is probably my favourite JSA event ever. It's got it all: Love, heartbreak (Al & Courtney's conversations are TERRIBLE to read- she's so upset with him for taking these actions but won't say she REALLY cares for him, and he's either trying to let her down easy or lecturing her too harshly), great fight scenes, horrible violence (funny how Johns uses this book to decry heroes using lethal force by showing other people using horrific violence so that fans of both styles of heroics can be a little happy), real debates on the force heroes should use that could go either way (The JSA even acknowledges that Adam & Co. did good work in Kahndaq in the end), and lots of snappy little dialogue the whole way through. And they dust off two lame characters (Alex & Nemesis) in a terrific way that gives them a little legacy, in addition to showing us what eventually became of the other Infinity, Inc. guys. Boy, must fans of THAT series be pissed. Though they did get a shout-out, as at one point, Adam had the whole team except for Fury, Huntress & Power Girl working for him once Hector was mind-switched with Nabu.

Best Moment: The Al/Courtney fan in me wants to say it's the bits between the two of them, or when she clearly shows feelings for him, but I'd say it's where Al finally crosses the line and kills Asim Muhunnad by comparing him to the other villains of the world. Al beating the living snot out of four members of the JSA in succession while his buddies struggled with any of them is pretty awesome too (though two of them WERE normal humans, and Stargirls' among the least powerful powered ones ever).

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"JSA: Lost" (#59-67)- written by Geoff Johns, art by Dave Gibbons, Don Kramer, Tom Mandrake, Jerry Ordway & Sean Phillips
JSA line-up: Sand (missing), Wildcat I, Green Lantern I, Hawkgirl, Stargirl, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder (absent), Power Girl, Hourman I (Rex Tyler, replacing Rick), Fury & Brainwave (kind of)

-So Geoff Johns just pulled off the JSA's best event ever, and now it's time to consolidate. Rex Tyler has replaced the dying Rick, Black Adam & Atom-Smasher are permanently off the team, Hawkman's stepped down, and Sand is missing inside the planet.

-Nice rundown of what's happened so far at the beginning of the Trade. And we get right into with, with Per Degaton returning from Comics Limbo to watch the JSA's worst moments again and again. What a royal ass.

-Quick run-down of stuff: Dr. Mid-Nite beats some mad doctor type to help out his free clinic in Portsmouth. Rex Tyler punches Degaton thanks to his tachyon-hourglass thingie (that'd come up later, by the way). Hawkgirl & GL break the news to Alex Montez' parents (with Kendra lying and saying he died a hero). And that's about it...

-OH WAIT. See, Jay Garrick calls Captain Marvel straight out on his dating Stargirl, pointing out she's sixteen. Billy, unable to speak up for himself and reveal his identity thanks to the Wisdom of Solomon blocking him, buzzes right over to poor Courtney, announces he's quitting the Justice Society, and oh yeah, he's dumping her because of Jay. The image of her bawling her eyes out on the bed, alone, at night while Degaton looks on smirking gets me every time. I like Courtney & Al better, but MAN was this a sad moment, and a cute little relationship (though I should point out it lasted all of one & a half Trade Paperbacks, and we never even saw them go on a date- just the hook-up, a prior-to-date, and him getting on her for OBVIOUSLY crushing on Atom-Smasher during the Kahndaq arc).

-Flashbacks sees The Spectre damn The Spirit King, a Mr. Terrific Golden Age enemy to hell, and in the present, Mid-Nite loses two proteges to tommy gun bullets. Rex Tyler punches out Ragdoll from one of his creepy cults, clearly avoiding talking to his wife (he doesn't want her to know he's alive), and instead being an action-junkie. Those Tylers...

-Terrific & The Atom make headway, sending T-Spheres into time to find time-travellers to help Rick Tyler in the Timepoint, while Courtney gets all down over THAT UNWORTHY JERK BILLY BATSON.

-The Mid-Nite/Terrific bromance continues unabated, as they have a nice little talk in a church about religion. Pieter's response to Terrific's "why are you praying? to find his killer?", being "No. WE can do that." is pretty good writing, I must say, though I don't get how you can be an atheist in a world where Angels ACTUALLY attacked an Earth city, and one JOINED THE JUSTICE LEAGUE. He kinda goes all "still not sure GOD exists", but c'mon.

-The Spirit King is back, it's a Flashback to an old JLA/JSA meeting, where they replay Terry Sloane's death at the hands of a King-possessed Flash the first time around. Funny that the story originally appeared in the '60s, and was just a way to get rid of the LAMEST character on the entire JSA. Jim Corrigan/Spectre comforts Jay with "I see no sins on your soul, save for those common to all men", which is a nice little quote.

-Hal Jordan/Spectre is pretty well laid out by Spirit King's hellpower or whatever. Jesus, what a useless-ass Cosmic Being. He's ALWAYS getting his ass kicked. This is why I hate Spectre stories by the way- he's so powerful he's either just nastily punishing people in a power-geeks masturbation fantasy, or he's getting taken over or made helpless as the story's MacGuffin/Deus ex machina. And now his old zombified victims are back to WREAK HAVOC!!

-Stars & Flash talk it out, and she forgives him pretty quickly since it's not really HIS fault. There's Don Kramer with his big noses again, though. Turns out the gunman who killed Mid-Nite's allies was a man who helped murder Jim Corrigan. Mid-Nite & Terrific are about to be killed since Spec's busy being ineffectual and all, but the rest of the JSA shows up to kick some arse.

-Spirit King takes over The Flash again, while Jim Corrigan's old preacher friend (no, not Norman McCay, some other guy) comes by to talk some sense into Hal. It's a giant Zombie Smackdown as Kramer gets to use his best 'funny zombie deaths' art as they've all got scissors through them or are made out of wood or something, but Flash starts choking OUR Mr. Terrific now! No! He's the NON-colour blind one!

-And the preacher gets Hal back as The Spectre, so he Deux ex machinas everybody so Jay stops beating on the entire rest of the team (flattening Terrific & GL), and he EATS the Spirit King! Courtney is unappreciative.

-Terrific nearly dies on the operating table (it's a good thing the JSA's the only team with a liscenced doctor on it, because they seem to be the only team to ever get mass casualties inflicted onto them), but he sees his wife & infant son in 'heaven', and comes back to life. Epilogue as Terrific decides to give faith a chance (I don't think it works, as he's still pretty atheistic later).

-Next story involves Sand finally coming back, as yeah, Johns now realized he was missing that guy. Nobody at the Brownstone can sleep, and Power Girl mopes about being alone in the world. We get a callback to when Pieter saved that hooker from a life of prostitution, and she's gonna join Mid-Nite's organization of free doctors.

-Finally see Dr. Fate & Fury again, as they yell at Nabu for being a dick and all, and Sand gives the JSA some hints he's alive, as he writes their name in rock outside the Brownstone. Cave Carson is back to help everybody out, and it's a big plan to rescue Sand's body from the Earth, and his subconscious from the Dream Realm. Oh, goodie... walking-inside-dream stories. These are always death. Brainwave comes by to help out (and Johns gets to pimp how great Courtney is again, as she's the only one to think he's totally cured).

-So one half of the team (the powerhouses... plus Rex & Wildcat) are inside the Earth's crust, and the other half goes into Sand's dreams. Sandy shows up in his HORRIBLE Kingdom Come outfit to fight the 'invaders'. Boy, this story just isn't any fun at all. I can't quite figure out the EXACT nature of what's wrong with it, but it's just... dull. Brute & Glob show up, and I have NO IDEA who these two are, since I never read Gaiman's Sandman or whatever the hell they're from. I'm guessing Fate's limited series? The other JSA guys fight rock-men (oh yeah, THAT's a huge challenge), but Power Girl finds Sand's magma-fied body and flies him back up to the surface. Fate & Fury beat up Brute & Glob and deal with them thanks to magic-stuff.

-The whole "Sand loves Kendra" thing gets brought up again. I never really cared for that aspect... it was so out of nowhere (she's the grumpy fighter on the team but OH WAIT SAND FINDS OUT HER PAST AND NOW LOVES HER), and it hasn't been brought up in eons in-story. But at least Sand's back from the hell they left him in while Johns wrote his favourites doing stuff.

-And Rex FINALLY comes to visit his wife! Thank God. Hourman THREE makes his triumphant return to the book after being written out centuries ago (it feels like it, for all the team's gone through since then), and he's the thing that brings Rex & the gang back to the Timepoint to save Rick.

-Sand gets some bad-ass cred back by knocking out Solomon Grundy single-handedly in a battle. Apparently Grundy now loves Stargirl, but that doesn't really come up again. Hourman III comes by to pick up Mid-Nite & Terrific, and we get more hints about Stargirl's future as this SUPER-AWESOME heroine! Mid-Nite proves his awesomeness as the Hawkeye Pierce of the DCU YET AGAIN, saving Rick's life with fancy-pants electro-heating and time-powers, but in one panel, you can see Per Degaton looking on (this whole adventure would have repurcussions later)!

-Big damn story-telling time, as Rex prepares to run to the battle with Extant (where he'll die, as we've learned ten-thousand times from Captain Exposition Johns during the course of this series), but RICK jumps in, demanding that Rex get to hang with his wife more! And it's THE JUSTICE SOCIETY TRAVELS THROUGH TIME, as indeed, we see the big battle against Extant, where DC Editorial was sick of the JSA being around constantly, mucking up their continuity and looking goofy as senior citizen super-heroes, and so decided to off the lot of them. Atom I goes down first to an energy blast, and Rick & Rex start FIGHTING over who gets to die. Well now THIS is the more interesting story, as again, the human element comes in. It's not some lame dream battle against terrible characters or a zombie villain who can be stopped by a cosmic being, it's just people emoting and being all dramatic and stuff.

-The climax sees Tyler, the lame Hourman who failed as a character, make good by taking Rex's place HIMSELF, since hey, all they need is for an "Hourman" to die. And thus, Hourman III dies, probably never to return, since he sucked. Oh, and Dr. Mid-Nite I died there too, followed soon by Doctor Fate I, and most of the JSA retired after that fight (Sandman I got super-aged as well). Rex decides to finally retire, allowing Rick to live on as the sole Hourman on the JSA.

-And now we get ANOTHER big story, as it's an Identity Crisis thing, with a full showing of Terrific & Mid-Nite doing the autopsy on Sue Dibny. And they bond some more. Johns REALLY went nuts on these two once he got sole control of the book, let me tell you. More emotional stuff, as Terrific isn't ready to face his wife's killer, Power Girl cries over Sue's grave, thinking it should've been her since she has no family or life, etc. Jay begs his wife to stay home, but she refuses, and he's getting antsy. Wildcat, Stargirl & STRIPE (hey, it's Pat! Remember when he was supposed to be their mechanic but then never showed up again?) fight the Mirror Master, but he escapes.

-Courtney angsts over so many people knowing her identity from school. Don't worry Court, they're all ancillary characters from your failed series! Nobody even knows they existed any more! And now Mid-Nite knows the cause of death.

Roster Changes: Rick Tyler returns with Rex, who retires from active duty. Hourman III dies. Captain Marvel quits the team (and breaks poor Courtney's heart). Sand rejoins the team. Brainwave & Fury go back to inactive duty, not really joining the team in the first place.

Review: Well... after Black Reign, anything else would be a slow let-down. This was more "hey, let's look at the old days, and then wrap up our loose ends!", as Sandy comes back from the hell of not-being-written-about (nobody even name-drops him in Black Reign, which he was absent for), the Tyler situation is all wrapped up, and we deal with The Spectre some more, since he's always got JSA links. Most of this was pretty boring, though. The "Rescue Sandy" story was an UTTER failure of a story (never felt the team was in danger, and most of the emotional stuff fell flat, as Sand/Kendra was never very interesting), and the Spirit King thing was just some generic zombie fight with a last-minute cosmic save from Hal Jordan. I was much more into the Tyler stuff, and the Mid-Nite/Terrific bonding, as that's the emotional core the book always needs, and they furthered those plots along (the Tylers brawling over who got to die was very powerful stuff in a Trade full of boring). Probably the worst JSA trade so far, though.

Best Moment: Jesus, it's EASILY the Courtney/Billy break-up, which is just SO sad to read, even now. The relationship was much shorter than I recall, but still quite cute, and it's a signifier of darker times ahead. Funny that the best scene in the whole Trade occurs in the first issue of a GIANT nine-issue collection.

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Stargirl/Atom Smasher/Captain Marvel thing:
Hey all! First post here! Figured I'd toss out something that's been on my mind for a considerable length of time.

Now, in JSA, the Stargirl/Atom Smasher thing had been mentioned from the second Trade, when they showed them married in the future. Of course, nothing is set in stone, and they'd only been like big brother/kid sister before that point, but suddenly all their subsequent characterization became focused on that. Importantly, Al was NEVER shown as crushing on Stars at all, because that would've made him creepy. Even Stars was only really shown being CLOSE to Al, and nothing more for quite a while. When the team kind of split into 'talking pairs', she was often with either him or Hawkgirl/Power Girl.

I think the biggest hints of her ACTUALLY crushing on Al came when he finally quit the team, and earlier when he told her off while he & Black Adam were discussing Kahndaq, when her sense of horror and betrayal was FAR in excess of the others. Of course, she went RIGHT from there into the relationship with Billy Batson, and the fans LOVED that. So much that it seems those 'shippers' have taken a much larger stance online (even the new JSA writers have been shocked by just HOW much they've been asked whether or not those two would hook up).

Now, their relationship was pretty short- basically hooking up in Princes of Darkness, dating for five issues, arguing during Black Reign, and breaking up in the beginning of Lost, lasting barely a year together by OUR standards, probably a couple months in theirs, tops. But they were cute together, both being sixteen (well, most of the time in Billy's case), and everything was handled really well, especially the break-up.

During Dark Reign though, you got the sense of what was really going on. Stars seemed to still like Billy, but tended to be snarky at him. When he outright called her out on crushing on Al, she snapped back at him, and she sarcastically called him "Romeo" when he flirted with her after she saved him. Her anger at Atom Smasher during the whole arc seemed to imply she still had feelings for him, so the betrayal seemed even worse.

In Black Vengeance they meet up again, and Courtney is now FURIOUS with Al (it was just after her family'd been shot down by Degaton's men), even moreso than in Kahndaq. She eventually acknowledges that now she felt what he felt back when his mother died, so she understands him a little better. But it's during the second Kahndaq arc with the Spectre where she shows her true colours in my opinion- she's openly confused and hurt when Al goes BACK to Kahndaq with Adam (snapping at Billy when he tries to comfort her), and when Al is killed by the Spectre, she practically falls apart at his side.

THEN she goes as far as to say "I'll be there for him, no matter how long it takes" when he goes to jail. Things seem practically set in STONE at this point that she's in love with him (there's still no hints of anything other than admiration and sisterly love from Al, though), but then during the whole One Year Later/52/Re-Boot of JSA thing he vanishes from most comics, with no mention of he & Stargirl hanging out. He doesn't even appear in the new JSA book until Stargirl looks him up to talk to Damage.

And after that bizarre little period of nothing, she goes and makes goo-goo eyes at Billy AGAIN when he teams up with the JSA to go after Black Adam again, nearly kissing him. So I ask, what the heck is going on, and what's everyone's take on it? During that GIANT one year gap where Al was out of prison for presumably most of it, did he & Stars just drift apart or something? Is she still destined to be with Al, her first big crush and 'future husband', who she shows the most open feelings for, his betrayal of her hurting so much? Or should she be with Billy, the much cuter, simpler relationship (same age, probably more in common)? Or should she just tell both of them to go to hell, and focus on doing her own thing?

I should note that the age difference between Al & Courtney is getting more neglible, as she was sixteen during JSA's later arcs, THEN One Year Later hit, and she's going to have a birthday in Johns' last issue ("Black Adam Ruined My Birthday" greatest single issue title ever?), which means that if they're paying attention, she's now eighteen, and of legal age. Al is a contemporary of the 80s Teen Titans, so is probably about 25, making the age gap less creepy.

They kind of skirt around most of this in the comics, and you have to be paying attention to pick up on plenty of things (especially Al/Courtney, where ONLY the future-marriage & Billy calling her out on it have EVER explicitly stated one liked the other), so I really can't wait for it to be resolutely addressed once and for all. So what's everyone's take on this?

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"JSA: Black Vengeance" (#66-75)- written by Geoff Johns, art by Dave Gibbons, Don Kramer, Leonard Kirk & Stephen Sadowski
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Green Lantern I, Hawkgirl, Stargirl, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV (absent), Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder, Power Girl, Hourman II

-So after the 'loose-end tying' Trade, we get a name throwback to the prior event, Black Reign, and the same type of stuff being brought up. We start right off with Atom-Smasher & the Hawk-people killing the remnants of Muhunnad's loser squad. Why didn't he wash his hands when he picked up that picture- he got blood all over it!?! But in comes Rip Hunter, generic time-travelling dude, who teleports Al away, as he'd done with a couple other JSA members around this time.

-Bunch of stuff, with Stargirl emoting over Al leaving, and legacies and learning to be a hero and all that jazz, and we see the original JSA leave Congress, refusing to show their identities to the House of Un-American Activities, and the JSA gives up heroics.

-Courtney hangs out with her family, and we get some additional characterization of them since "Stars & STRIPE" ended (she's friendly with Pat now, and realizes Mike's an okay guy when he's not giving her a hard time). Why are they all blonde now- did the colourist just screw up? And BAM, we get EVENT TIME, as Degaton (no longer going by "Per Degaton" apparently) sends in his Red Morgue agents to kill her family! Pat gets one in the head! Mike & Courtney's mom are shot to death! Then they even KILL THE BABY IN IT'S HIGH-CHAIR! Boy, that Johns sure does love going for the horrific violence, don't he? He's all "NO, heroes shouldn't kill!" and then goes "oh, and here's some horrifically bloody death scenes involving children". It's like the sixties and the nineties got together and humped with his stuff.

-Stargirl's most badass moment EVER, as she BLOWS A GUY'S ARM OFF, then runs another guy through on the Cosmic Rod. About the most power she's ever actually shown, really. Rip Hunter The Time Master comes in too late to save them, but takes her into his Time Sphere thingie so they can change things.

-Poor Courtney meets the other 'future' JSAers and runs into Terrific's arms in tears over her family. The line-up is Stargirl, Mr. Terrific. Dr. Mid-Nite, Hourman, Jakeem, and... Atom-Smasher. Courtney is NOT impressed, suddenly being WAY angrier at him than she ever was in Kahndaq, especially when he says "Now you know how I felt" line. Oh, dick move, Atom-Smasher! Oh, and the Thunderbolt Pen won't work, because that would've solved everything. JESUS, Johns! Just DE-POWER the kid already if he's too powerful for you!

-Okay, the whole point is that Degaton is mucking up time so that the JSA never re-forms later, and it's up to the successors to convince the old guys to put the tights back on. Oh, and they can't get the old guard out because of time... stuff. Y'know. So everyone splits up and they're on their way.

-Stargirl meets Ted "Starman" Knight, in a mental institution because of guilt over creating the Atom Bomb. Michael chases after Mr. Terrific I, finding out his loser brother had a daughter by a woman named "Roulette" (this never really comes up again in JSA, just so you know). Al finds The Atom considering turning Hawkman & Hawkgirl over to the feds so that his family won't be targetted. And Jakeem meets Johnny Thunder, moping about because the JSA is gone. The two Doc Mid-Nite's talk casually (the first warns his girl that The Shadower escaped prison- this is a call-back to prior information that he murdered her). Sand reassures Wesley "Sandman I" Dodds that he never remembered a thing from his time as a sand-being (he's lying- oh, and nice to see Sand actually DOING SOMETHING for once).

-Shenanigans abound. Stargirl actually loses a fight to a doctor and some orderlies (sure, he used a needle, but COME ON...). Tiny bit on Black Adam joining Luthor's "Society". Hah, Roulette I mocks Mr. Terrific's outfit. That poor guy... he just never lived that green/red abomination down. Courtney gets sprung by a mystery woman! Degaton kills off some dude named Walker Gabriel! Then he captures the first Hourman!

-Terrific pounds on some Klansmen. Only in comics could a black guy in the past follow someone and end up meeting the Klan. Hourman I's about to die, but then Rick finds him, punching out Degaton (thanks to the Tachyons in his Hourglass- Degaton's normally insubstantial), who flees.

-The gang meets back up at JSA HQ, and now it's SAND's turn to give Al crap for turning his back on them. But then they show up on the White House lawn in full form (Hippolyta! Black Canary I! Wildcat! All the old guys!) just in time to meet Degaton's army, and it's FIGHT TIME. Turns out Deg's whole plan was to turn The Atom into a living bomb and blow up Washington. It's all narrated by Stargirl, of course.

-Rick's Hourglass helps him hurt Degaton, but he knows Al's the heaviest hitter out there, so hands it to HIM instead, letting him know that he still hates him. GIANT-SIZED punch to the bastard Nazi! HAH! Jesus, that's like the fourth time Atom-Smasher's saved the day by himself- someone get this guy his JSA M.V.P. trophy or something. Kobra, Extant, Degaton...

-The Mystery Woman who sprung Courtney is revealed to be a joking, happy Patricia Whitmore, aka Starwoman of the future, going back in time to help out. She lets Court know why the Thunderbolts aren't working- there's only one of them at any time, so both magic words had to be said at the same time. Oh, of course. So now they Deus ex machina The Atom out of his bomb loop thing. Just as Degaton's plan falls completely apart, Hawkgirl & Power Girl come in with Rip (boy, some character- he's just a means to an end here, isn't he?), and Degaton finally bails, his plan having fallen apart completely.

-Epilogue sees Power Girl get blasted in the Time Sphere by something, Al & Courtney having an uncomfortable moment as he grabs her during a shake-up, and Stars having a happy moment seeing her family alive and well. AWWWW.... The "Get OFF!" reaction from Mike to Courtney as she hugs him is TOTALLY accurate for families. And Degaton mopes in space, promising that the worst is yet to come.

-NEW STORY! Back at the Brownstone, the team talks about Atom-Smasher deciding to stay with them, rejecting Black Adam & Kahndaq after realizing what being a hero truly is back in time. GREAT character stuff from the team, as they openly debate the point. Rick apparently is still REALLY angry with him, much moreso than the rest of the team. He's breaking the table with his grip- did he take Miraclo for a MEETING? What's WRONG with this guy? Power Girl openly supports Al, while Green Lantern suggests he's on a dangerous road. Hawkgirl's for bringing him back, as are Terrific & Mid-Nite (though Michael debates the problems that would result from bringing him back on), and possibly Sand.

-So it looks like it's For: Terrific, Mid-Nite, Power Girl, Sand, Hawkgirl (vs) Against: Green Lantern, Hourman, Wildcat (guessing, since he still wasn't over it years later). Stargirl openly bitches about Al "backstabbing" them, but Jakeem seems on Al's side. That lets you know the voting results right there. Hey, where's The Flash? Nobody even mentions why he's not there.

-Crimson Avenger, my least favourite JSA-based character, returns, only to get her ass kicked by The Spectre. Oh, and ECLIPSO, who's back in a new body- Jean Loring's! So they did a great character moment by taking a normal supporting character and making her crazy, and then ruin it by putting her in tights and giving her powers? Nice work, DC. Oh, and apparently she & the Spectre are doing it, because he has no human host. God I hate Spectre stories- so boring and full of 'oh nobody can stop him, except villains can always somehow do it and make the whole story about 'freeing him'.).

-Hey, it's BILLY again! He's hanging out with Mary and complaining about being away from Stargirl. God, Billy looks like he's thirteen here- did he just NOT AGE with the rest of the DC Universe or something? Stuff is afoot, as Shazam sends him on a mission (is anyone else creeped out by an old man telling a young boy to "Speak my name!"?), and BLACK ADAM picks up Al at JSA headquarters, taking him back to Kahndaq to help them. And now Hawkman and Captain Marvel show up, and EVERYONE's going to Kahndaq!

-Spectre shows up to shove Hector & Lyta Hall into the Amulet! Boy, Johns wasted no time shuffling them away, didn't he? The Al/Adam stuff is much more interesting, as they re-debate just how heroic killing ass-tons of people is. And they end up facing against Spectre, who's now gigantic and threatening all of Kahndaq.

-GREAT moment aboard the Steel Eagle, as it's Power Girl of all people playing "Big Sister" and comforting lil' Courtney, who's now just openly hurt and shocked about Al taking off with Adam AGAIN, after she was sure he was ready to come around. PG is REALLY pro-Al, it seems, all "He's doing what he thinks is RIGHT." Marvel comes in all 'protective boyfriend'-ish, and Courtney tells him RIGHT the hell off. He tries again, and Power Girl gets my favourite character moment for her EVER in- "You heard the girl. Whatever it is, Big Red. I think you better save it." YOU TELL HIM, PG!

-Black Adam blows through Spectre's head, but the Magic Lightning is sucked out of him, Al saving his human body from falling. The JSA arrives, but instead of helping, Adam goes all Full Retard and attacks them, brawling with Hawkman, Marvel & Power Girl, who suddenly loses her sight and starts blasting Heat Vision everywhere, as her whole 'what IS her origin, anyways?' thing comes up again.

-Jakeem clues in on using the Thunderbolt (I guess he figured a short teenage boy could help on his own and forgot he had a partner or something...) but Spectre's magic is too strong, and he fires the T-Bolt right back, sucking both he & Jakeem into the pen.

-Next issue is from Al's perspective, showing how he grew up as a picked-on dork who worshipped his godfather The Atom and the JSA. He talks about how Courtney looked up to HIM like he did to the JSA, and that's why looking her in the eyes is the worst. Al & Court wipe out Eclipso's walking statues (Alex & Soseh's, actually), but she takes care of them in a hurry. Hawkgirl runs a spear through her EYE, and then Adam snaps her neck to everyone's horror. Oh yeah, Carter, that's totally worse and more fatal than jamming a spear through her head.

-NOW, though, it's Atom-Smasher's turn to shine. He grows to GIGANTIC height, far above anything he's been at before, and starts WRESTLING THE SPECTRE. Now THAT is balls! Jean/Eclipso heals herself, blasts everyone, and teleports away for whatever reason, as Al finally cuts a deal, promising to let the Spectre judge HIM and let the rest of Kahndaq alone. Nice touch as you can make out Extant among the souls in Hell calling for Atom-Smasher. So Speccy reaches in, GRAB's Al's heart, and freezes it, dropping him flat, as Stargirl FREAKS.

-Mini-Flashback to Al & Adam discussing Kahndaq, showing Adam slowly wearing Al down.

-Stargirl reveals to Al that yes, he did get voted back into the JSA before he died, and then pretty much falls the hell apart in a scene that's uncomfortable to read for all the right reasons. The JSA come upon his lifeless body, and BLACK ADAM gets his defining moment as a character (in my opinion), as he just lets out all this rage and grief, calling out the Wizard's name to get the lightning to revive Al. All that "Brother" talk really gets to you, you know? Nice bit from Hawkman, as he tells Adam to stay "FAR away" from Atom-Smasher, as if the whole gang gets that this has been part of the problem all along- that Adam's twisted him to his will over time.

-The JSA flies Al off, and Adam contemplates stuff, now basically alone in his mission (Northwind doesn't count as a friend since he can't talk and his race are the jobbers of Kahndaq).

Roster Changes: Atom-Smasher gets voted back onto the team, but nearly dies. Dr. Fate IV & Fury get taken into the Amulet by the Spectre.

Review: Now THIS was more like it, after Lost's being relatively slow. The Time Travel bit was getting well and truly tired by this point from Johns, and it kind of hampered things, but it was nice to see the whole JSA back in the old days (that actually HADN'T been done yet, which is odd). Most of the best parts of that were the character bits, as everyone takes the time to bitch out Atom-Smasher, and Courtney emotes over and over again about that and her family. Black Vengeance was VERY good, though, and featured Al's triumphant return as a hero, having the sheer SACK to go up against The Spectre one-on-one, and then offer his life for the people of Kahndaq. The Al/Courtney scenes are almost always perfect for this book, whether or not you read romantic undertones between the two of them (I get a strong Colossus/Kitty vibe from them, others just see bro/sis stuff).

Best Moment: Al's death and Stargirl's reaction, followed by Black Adam's. It's rare that an anti-hero bad-ass gets to emote like THAT, but DAMN did they pull it off. His "Kahndaq NEEDS you... I...need..." and calling him "Brother" and all that, while SCREAMING at the top of his lungs to get the lightning to revive him... now THAT is good writing.

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"JSA: Mixed Signals" (#66-75)- written by Geoff Johns & Keith Champagne, art by David Lopez, Don Kramer, Jim Fern & Dale Eaglesham
JSA line-up: Sand, Wildcat I, Green Lantern I, Hawkgirl, Stargirl, The Flash I, Doctor Fate IV, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder (sucked into the pen), Power Girl, Hourman II, Atom-Smasher (voted back, kinda died, still alive now)

-So last Trade, Atom-Smasher died, Courtney nearly died of grief from it, Jakeem Thunder got tossed into his magic pen, and Dr. Fate & Lyta got sucked into Fate's Amulet. So stuff needs to be resolved.

-Al's trial takes place, and he immediately absolves the JSA of any wrongdoing, and pleads guilty to war crimes. Hey, it's Ma Hunkel again! Remember when she joined their staff, only to disappear for nearly every issue since? Stars is still confused over Al's actions, but acknowledges he's always tried to do right.

-Hey, it's Metamorpho and Fire, from that shitty JLA team! They bring PG the news of Blue Beetle's death. Johns gets a little jab in at Ice's pointless death (though even Mark Waid admits that one was stupid) via Fire's complaining. And it's an OMAC, just to tie things into Infinite Crisis (yeah, it's THAT time, now)! It bugs the JSA guys and gives them way more trouble than it should (didn't a billion of these things fail to do like ANY damage to the superhero community save chase the Amazons away?), until Al grows super-big and squashes it. Can I just say I hate the OMACs? Their stupid heads, their dumb 'robo-speak' dialogue (which NEVER looks cool, no matter how many writers use it), their lack of personalities. What terrible villains...

-One of my favourite moments ever, and one that REALLY, in my opinion, shows the true feelings Courtney Whitmore has for Albert Rothstein, as they air a TV interview over panels of Al looking at JSA group pics with her in them, and she says "What he did in Kahndaq will never be... but I do know... I'll be here for him when he gets out. And I'll wait as long as it takes." Some fans assume they only have a brother/sister relationship in the books, but COME ON. Between this and the future-marriage thing, they're practically hitting you over the head with it, unless it's a deliberate swerve (in which case, I SHALL KILL YOU GEOFF JOHNS). I don't think ANY sister says "I'll be here for him" over their brother. Al still kind of gives her pic the brotherly look, but hell, she's practically a baby in that pic, all gleefully swining off of Al's arm with her braces showing.

-Amanda Waller comes to chat with Al in his prison cell, leading to a REALLY tiny one-off in "52" where he leads a Suicide Squad against Adam (spoiler alert: he goes down easily to Adam in combat, but Osiris murders a man on live TV, which was the whole point apparently). And OH MY GOD, HOURMAN II appears in that early group pic of the JSA! Continuity Error! CONTINUITY ERROR!! I read comics good!

-More Infinite Crisis stuff! I guess that happens when your writer writes the damn thing. JSA also-ran Legacy Character Air Wave reappears, going crazy from interspacial communications. So the JSA gets his cousin Hal Jordan to help out (as he casually disposes of the Shaggy Man/General Eiling- a JLA-level threat, mind you- with a car to the back). Air Wave goes nuts again and the two GLs fly after him, and I'll be damned if this isn't the worst, most out-there JSA issue ever. Is this the Keith Champagne-written issue? None of the issues here have listings in the Trade. Long story short is that Air Wave joins Donna Troy's anti-Crisis people in space.

-The JSA shows up at Fate's tower, trying to figure out what's going on. So we see the Thunderbolt in the 5th Dimension with his two goofy-ass children, along with three other genie/wizards, fighting a war against what appears to be Jakeem Thunder gone crazy. Some other Imps show up and kill Mnky (oh I can already tell I'm gonna hate this one), then Rklz, a midget in a derby like Mxyzptlk. Peachy Pet is kidnapped, leaving her husband Shocko mad with rage.

-Other IC-stuff, as Shazam weakens himself fighting Mordru, so he's helpless before The Spectre. So both he & Cap are pretty much written out of the series by this point (why Cap's on the COVER of this Trade appears to just be a Ross-appeasement since he painted it).

-Hector & Lyta fight demons in a wintery Hell while Mordru, now freed by the Spectre, buggers off. The Dark Lord attacks the few JSAers not crossing the portal to the 5th Dimension (Wildcat, Flash, Mid-Nite, Sand & Fate's vestments). Yeah, after the third time, I'm just bored of the guy now.

-Turns out Jakeem went crazy when he got sent into the pen, and now has godlike powers, and Johnny Thunder is his captive. Stargirl shows up in a new outfit conjured by Imps, reflecting a future-look she showed in the Jack Knight Starman series.

-Mordru easily handles the JSA, but forgets Sand is free, and he gets a rare bad-ass moment since Goyer left, pummeling Captain Recurring Villain. And Jakeem easily beats the T-Bolt/Shocko/Stargirl/Terrific/Hourman team, despite a plan to hide the djinn in Terrific's mouth. Nabu activates Fate's vestments himself and combats Mordru! Boy, I'm just not caring about any of this. It's all 'off' in a way that's hard to describe.

-Saradin, the creepy wizard hanging out with the Anti-Jakeem side, stabs him through the back, casts a spell, and takes control of the Djinn Qwsp, last seen bugging the JLA and restarting the whole JSA concept in Grant Morrison's run. Seems that Qwsp was controlling Jakeem the entire time. Meanwhile, Hector dies in Hell, but Lyta remembers their son Daniel (the new Dream) promising them stuff, and so he comes in and takes them away to live forever in some other place.

-OK, break in reading for a sec- WHAT THE FUCK? THAT'S how you write out the character that was brought out in the foundation of the series?!? He comes in, does a constant search for his wife, FINALLY finds her casually in another story, then they both die and go somewhere else? And get this- it practically NEVER GETS MENTIONED AGAIN. Hawkman doesn't go "Holy crap, my son is dead!", Al doesn't mention his old buddy leaving, Terrific doesn't do a "hey, maybe we should figure out where the hell our teammate went", nothing. I guess Geoff Johns just REALLY disliked the idea, which I could gather from the fact that Fate's de-push coincided with Johns' taking over, the fact that he was curiously absent for half of all the JSA's missions, and the fact that his giant revival that added 20 members to the line-up DIDN'T include a Doctor Fate, but WOW. I'm not a big fan of magicians in comics either (guys who have "Every power ever" as a super-power tend to bug the CRAP out of me), but the character deserved more than that.

-BACK TO THE STORY: Saradin takes Qwsp and wanders off, promising they'll meet again. If they do, it ain't in THIS series (much like alot of what's going on here), and the heroes blitz off to fight Mordru with the others. Jakeem stabs him in the throat with the pen (OK, that was pretty cool), and has the T-Bolt send Mordru where nobody will ever have to see him again, and that's it for MORDRU as a villain. I guess Johnny Thunder is staying in the 5th Dimension or something too, because he's not with the JSA on the other side.

-New story: DALE EAGLESHAM makes his debut as a JLA penciller for a tiny bit, as it's ANOTHER "Stargirl-focus Issue". Dale draws the best Stargirl ever, easily. Not sexed-up, but a beautiful young teenage girl. Cute instead of sexy.

I mean, LOOK at this picture:
-This is the most wonderful picture of a female superhero I've ever seen. Not cheesecake, not full of boobs and ridiculous posing or any of that nonsense. Just a pretty, teenaged girl making an embarassed, barely-tolerating-this-photo-session smile. Other artists should ASPIRE to this kind of thing.

-Hey, it's Pat & Michael Dugan! And they have their proper red hair again! And Pat doesn't look like Jimmy Stewart anymore- he's all huge and greasy! We get an update on Courtney's origin story (bratty latchkey kid tries to split up mom & stepdad by stealing Converter Belt, accidentally learns responsibility).

-Mike: "Sometimes I wish YOU had died instead of mom." First off, WOW, that would've gotten ME an ass-kicking as a kid, let me tell you. And wait, his mom is dead? In "Stars & STRIPE", she was just off somewhere ignoring them. Actual mission time has the first Liberty Belle at her namesake landmark, but it's causing a massive Sonic distortion that's keeping the entire JSA away.

-Courtney saves the day by convincing Libby to just walk away, focusing on the mother/daughter relationship since her birth dad is such a deadbeat while STRIPE goes down AGAIN. Reading "Stars & STRIPE", you come away knowing that suit is the worst power-suit in comics history. Thing breaks EVERY ISSUE. Courtney looks oddly super-cutie-pie-like in that shot where she smiles and blood is splattered on her face. Weird.

-But bad news is afoot, since The Shade butts in to inform Courtney that her birth father has died during an Infinite Crisis storm in Opal City. Courtney doesn't understand why this upsets her, but breaks down in Pat's arms anyways. Pat lets her know that she cares because she's a good daughter. Sniff.

-Boy, Alex Ross draws the best versions of just about every super-hero ever, but does he EVER suck at drawing Courtney. Every picture, she looks all messed-up and weird. Women were never one of his strongest suits (he's good at just about EVERYTHING else), but young ones are even worse.

Roster Changes: Atom-Smasher breaks ties with the JSA. Doctor Fate & Fury die in Hell, leaving comics forever.

Review: Oh, boy. What a terrible Trade compared to the others, even Lost. Just... nothing seemed to be 'on' here. A random intercession with Air Wave & Green Lantern taking most of the focus? Stupid 5th Dimensional War with characters we've NEVER SEEN in this series before doing most of the fighting, and some random wizard dude solving it? Half the team brawling with Mordru for the THIRD time in 75 issues like it's the Silver Age when guys just keep showing up ALL THE TIME? This even lacked most of the character moments that defined the rest of the book's run, unless they involved Courtney in the lovely and brilliant last issue of the trade (and that bit at the beginning with Al in jail). Plus, nearly half the crap in here depends on you either being familiar with other 5th Dimensional beings, OMAC stuff, Identity Crisis, and the Infinite Crisis, which is the first time JSA continuity REALLY gets weirded up by the other things going on in the DC Universe, and it shows just how annoying it can be in a Trade format. Just a miserable mess.

The fact that the team drops Doctor Fate like it's nothing at this moment, as well as Atom-Smasher, after ALL his characterization and growth during the last 80-odd issues, vanishes from the book for YEARS at this point as well, just sticks in my craw. Also, the Al/Courtney thing just kinda vanishes after this point as well, as it practically seems as PLAIN AS DAY that she's in love with him, but they cut right into other stuff later and it just doesn't get brought up again PERIOD, which, as a fan of relationships between heroes in comics & other media, REALLY bugs me.

Best Moment: When Courtney says "I'll be here for him. No matter how long it takes", but that's just the Al/Courtney shipper in me, and I inundate enough forums with my rants on that as it is :) (Ares says she should be with Billy, half of the DC Boards does as well, and CBR is half & half over them being brother/sister or Courtney loving him). The moment when Courtney starts to cry after discovering her birth father is dead is a really special little moment as well, and sticks out like a beacon amidst all this crap.


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"JSA: Classified #1-4", written by Geoff Johns, art by Amanda Connor

-So JSA's continued success as one of DC's top sellers could only mean a spin-off was obvious, and it turns out it was gonna be an "Avengers Spotlight On..." type of deal, the first one going to Power Girl, the character Geoff Johns has been single-handedly pushing as something big since he started on the series. And it's an Infinite Crisis tie-in!

-So the whole plot is that PG's powers are still in flux (it's been recurring for like years now), and she starts to figure out why, as the Psycho Pirate is manipulating her emotions and memories. Lots of stuff gets dealt with, but Connor's cartoonish art style, while very good and unique, is like Ed McGuiness', in that she draws so BIG and with so few panels, that you can read the entire series in like fifteen minutes. Compare that to Johns' usual super-wordy books and it's kind of annoying.

-New origin story: PG came to Earth thinking she was Superman's cousin, but she wasn't. LAMEST EXCUSE EVER: Kara says that she only wears the women-offending boob-window because she had "nothing to fill that hole" because she never belonged. Yeah, RIGHT.

-Turns out she's Andromeda from the Legion of Super-Heroes, sent back in time! No wait, she's Ursa from the Phantom Zone Kryptonians (led by Zod)! Nope, she's from the Crime Syndicate Earth! Damn, half of these origins could EASILY have been as cool as what we eventually got.

-In any case, after much brawling about, it's revealed to be Psycho Pirate's trickery via Luthor, and PG just beats the snot out of him. Between this and Infinite Crisis, we get the whole story: She's the Kara Zor-L of Earth-2 from Pre-Crisis like she ALWAYS was, but much like Donna Troy, the universe couldn't 'fit her in', so it gave her a bunch of lame-ass excuses. She finally found her origins and her family, but they all died in the Crisis, so she's left even MORE depressed and angry than before! YAAAAYYYYY!!!!

JSA: Classified #5-7", written by Jen Van Meter, art by Patrick Olliffe

-Totally different creative team, as becomes usual for the series by this point. It's one that actually focuses on the VILLAINS' side of things, as the Injustice Society makes it's big return, showing an Icicle-based perspective of how to set up an invasion of a super-team's HQ. The new ISA line-up is Icicle, The Wizard (having returned with a demon possessing him), Solomon Grundy, Ragdoll, Tigress (who Icicle is now in love with), The Thinker, and now The Gentleman Ghost makes a comeback to DC.

-So it's kind of a unique viewpoint, as they sneak into JSA HQ during their weakest manpower hours (nobody else is even close) to steal Prometheus's Cosmic Key thing. The big brawl is pretty tiny, actually, as Icicle threatens Ma Hunkel to get Jakeem Thunder to drop his T-Bolt pen. Stargirl loses to Solomon Grundy, and the Ghost grabs the Cosmic Rod to beat Jakeem. Tigress actually BEATS Wildcat in hand-to-hand (though not easily), which is nuts. I mean, this guy's supposed to be among the TOP DOGS, and once beat ALL the Injustice Society by himself. Guess it's an off-night for him.

-But it turns out the Society from Infinite Crisis gets word of their mission and WANTS THE KEY, so they send in an attack team of Talia, her sister (apparently she has one- I had no idea), and some "Ubu" goons.

-The Injustice boys do pretty poorly, but manage to fight back the goons (only Grundy is really immune to bullets), but Ragdoll pulls his usual selfish stunt and steals the Key for himself, trying to gain it's power. Instead, the Key disintegrates his entire body, as per what Icicle & Wizard expected, anticipating just such an occurence and knowing the 'price' for activating it.

-Turns out the whole deal was to get Johnny Sorrow back. He flash-fries most of the Ubus, and the Al-Ghul sisters flee. The JSA recovers but Sorrow & Co. are long gone thanks to the key, and Artemis & Icicle are back together and in love and stuff. Aww.... But Sorrow has an EVIL PLAN... but we never see it. I don't think this ever gets brought up again, as a matter of fact, even in the Classified series.

-That's all the Classified issues I have (well, there's the start of a Stargirl dealie where the JSA are forced to FIGHT IN AN ARENA, which is TOTALLY ORIGINAL AND WASN'T DONE SIX TRADES AGO OR ANYTHING, but that's all I have from it), actually, but if anyone knows any arcs that were good from it, let me know. It went up to about #37 before being cancelled, and didn't seem to make a dent in regular JSA continuity at all.

The Review: Tough to say. The Power Girl issues were very good, but horribly decompressed and quick to read, ultimately being skippable later on. Connor's art was the highlight, as it's all bright and cartoony, but PG still looks sexy. The Injustice Society arc was quite interesting, but most of the characters in it aren't exactly fully-fleshed-out, and most importantly- their plan never WENT ANYWHERE, because nobody thought to follow up on them. An obvious weak point in the JSA lineage, but really it's just the subsidiary series that adds extra stuff to people, so it's no big.

Best Moment: The multiple origins of Power Girl, which could've easily been used as her real origin.

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"JSA: Ghost Stories" (#82-87)- written by Paul Levitz, art by George Perez, Jerry Ordway, Rags Morales & Luke Ross
JSA line-up: Sand (not present), Wildcat I, Green Lantern I, Stargirl, The Flash I, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Jakeem Thunder, Power Girl, Hourman II (not present)

-So the final arc of the JSA's run comes without Geoff Johns as writer, so it feels completely different from the others. I think Johns was busy with his nine other monthly titles at this point.

-Our first mostly-Post-Crisis collection starts off with Power Girl & Ma Hunkel reminiscing over the Lois Lane of Earth-2's stories of Superman & Batman of the Golden Age fighting the Gentleman Ghost, an old JSA enemy last seen in the Classified issues. Kind of weird to see 'regular' Earth-1 people suddenly inundated with Earth-2 stuff again. Kind of old-timey and goofy (looking back on the old days) for my taste, but to each their own...

-Now we boot into One Year Later all of a sudden. It's REALLY odd how the series waited a full storyline before stopping and restarting with new numbers and plotlines; they're all talking about 'this past bizarre year' and how the JSA hasn't had a meeting in MONTHS. I REALLY dislike the whole OYL idea, actually. Not from a storyline standpoint ("52" is actually a good read), but the fact that it automatically AGES everyone a full year, then gives us this FAT bunch of blanks to fill. I mean, a whole YEAR goes by in these people's lives? After ALL that went before, with constant events happening every other week? And the aging process-- it doesn't matter as much for Batman or Mr. Terrific, but now all the TEEN characters like Stargirl pop ahead one year! Stars was sixteen before, making her at LEAST seventeen here, going on eighteen, so suddenly she's nearly an ADULT before some of us were ready to say goodbye to the sweet little girl!

-Jakeem Thunder meets the ghost of a big brother he never knew, and Joan Garrick gets creeped out by one as well. And we get into the mix of the story, as the modern Gentleman Ghost reminisces about his OWN origins as a wannabe highwayman, the son of noble blood and a common woman, turned out onto the streets like a Charles Dickens character. I can't express how truly WEIRD it is to suddenly see a GIANT history given over several issues for a super-villain, after over 80 issues of them just being the means to an end and a regular threat, with little focus on their motivations.

-Note: The JSA line-up's only changed a tiny bit in the OYL gap- it seems Hawkgirl's no longer on the squad, as she gets put into the Justice League right around here. Oh well, she wasn't really being used in this series AT ALL for the last like five trades. Poor Atom-Smasher basically vanishes ENTIRELY, not even getting a mention. So much for "waiting for him", huh, Courtney? Hourman & Sand aren't here either- Rick's probably having fun on his honeymoon, but who knows with Sand? Johns just kinda writes AROUND him, not dealing with him, y'know? Though in this case it's Levitz's fault.

-Stars & Terrific talk about the past year and textbooks and the importance of learning. I see Stars still has the braces and the "I hate school!" attitude, so she's still the same girl. Poor Michael gets to see his dead wife come back as an evil ghosty thing. Mid-Nite deals with the fatalities of his medical practise.

-Green Lantern floats about with a big glowing eye, since he lost one in a Zeta-Beam projector accident in "52", though they DON'T MENTION THAT AT ALL HERE. The whole JSA (or what's left of it- Sand's not here either) sits down and chats about the ghosts. Hey, the Thunderbolt is still Johnny/Lkz after all. OK, then. The Ghost comes in to threaten them, then vanishes.

-The JSA has trouble believing that Jim Craddock really IS a ghost, which is asinine considering they fought the Spirit King three trades (and one year *sigh*...) ago, and deal with The Spectre all the damn time. More Craddock past stuff (his mom dies and leaves him alone, so he becomes a pickpocket), and Jakeem finds out that his brother died before he was around, dying with their grandmother. I really like the art in these old segments, though- very Olde Englishe and stuff.

-A gypsy tells Craddock his fate (he'll go on as a ghost highwayman, but if he can slay the ones he hates the most, he'll LIVE AGAIN!), and Green Lantern is put into the hospital by some FALLING BEAMS, thanks to Craddock's ghost-helpers. Yeah, the guy who can go toe-to-toe with a 900-foot-tall shadow being and speed up time for an entire civilization nearly gets offed by debris.

-Courtney has trouble learning to drive. Hee, this is amusing. Amusing also is the fact that she can't hurt the Gentleman Ghost while someone like Power Girl CAN, leaving Craddock to state that he's "too much of a gentleman" to explain WHY.

-Weird bit as Jakeem & T-Bolt go to "Where the ghosts live", and end up being attacked by the Ghost's evil friends, but SAVED by the dead JSAers of old (Batman, Terrific, Jade, Sandman & Atom in this case). Batman I says one of "noble blood" will defeat Craddock in England, and Jade's ghost goes to see Alan Scott and gets him to recover from his life-threatening debris-based injuries.

-Jerry Ordway takes over the art for a bit from the always-good Rags Morales and his Shaded Eyeballs, and he's fairly old-school and competent here, I must say. Ghost harasses them AGAIN (this series just keep repeating that same occurence over and over again), Stargirl goes through him again, and again he vanishes. Ordway draws a pretty good Courtney here (appropriately big-headed and skinny), with none of the flaws his 'later' work shows.

-One part of the JSA (the fighty, powerful ones, plus Wildcat) goes to England (and it turns out WILDCAT is the one with 'noble blood', being descended from a Duke), and the other stays as the Brownstone.

-Waitaminute, JAKEEM can hurt the Ghost, while Courtney couldn't! HOLY CRAP, THE KID'S A PLAYER (makes more sense when you figure out why Court can't hurt him)!!! The Ghost actually KOs Power Girl and Green Lantern (how powerful IS he, if he can do that, but can't beat up Ma Hunkel & Stargirl?) and runs off again.

-My favourite moment of the whole trade, as it's MA who basically browbeats and berates Michael into realizing just WHY Stargirl is immune to the touch of ghosts- She's a VIRGIN. Well, duh.

-Big final battle is just Craddock and his ghost buddies (turns out they're all on his side because his mother's spirit has gone one-by-one through the spirit world to gather them) versus the JSA. Just then, in WINDSOR CASTLE, the Knights of the Round Table or something show up to fight on the JSA's side, and it's Wildcat (vs) The Gentleman Ghost in a swordfight to the finish (Stargirl shows up from across the Atlantic- apparenly the Cosmic Rod is FAST- to get Alan to go back to save the Brownstone from another ghost barrage)!

-One big final sword-slash, and Craddock dies a ghost's death (hey, they crapped on ATOM SMASHER for killing someone- those dinks!).

-JSA HQ is pretty much destroyed (AGAIN), and everyone mopes about the 'old times' like it wasn't wrecked already in "Virtue & Vice". PG & Stargirl bond like it's the first time ("the start of a beautiful friendship") even though she was all Mama Bear to her a few trades ago, which is odd.

-And there, that's it for the JSA's regular series, as they take a year or something off, and Johns reboots it with Dale Eaglesham!

Roster Changes: Hawkgirl's gone I guess, but nothing else is different.

Review: This trade just feels weird all over. From the "hey, Earth-2 guys are back in business" stuff, to the fact that it's a MAJOR arc set around just ONE member of the Injustice Society (who normally only threaten the JSA as a group) and his past history, to odd little bits like Alan nearly dying to random debris to Atom-Smasher's vanishing without a trace and people aging a whole YEAR without even acting like much is different. And the threat just feels so... MINOR, thanks to a stand-in writer who probably couldn't make any major changes. Though I guess the series had to settle down EVENTUALLY, much like the Morrison-era JLA did, with smaller stories to offset all the giant events. Gentleman Ghost of all people nearly killing the ENTIRE JSA with an army of ghosts is bizarre enough. But hey, at least Jakeem Thunder did something. Altogether... it's not a BAD trade, just feels like a minor one, is all.

Very few major things get settled or dealt with, which is the MOST bizarre thing in an already weird, out-there Trade- the series ENDS on this note! By all rights, this should have happened BEFORE One Year Later, thus allowed the reboot to FIT with the rest of DC's reboots, so instead it's like... "Hey, here's a One Year Later arc, but it's just a casual fight against the Gentleman Ghost, but after this we just stop the series and bring it back with a whole new concept!"

Best Moment: Ma verbally berating Mr. Terrific for being an "overeducated MORON!" while explaining that Courtney's immune to ghosts by virtue of being pure and virginal is pretty funny, though the Knights of the Round Table coming to help the JSA is pure comic-book whackiness and isn't unappreciated.

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The JSA Run-Down:
So yeah, this is pretty much my favourite ongoing run on a book since the "Golden Age" of awesome comic runs (by which of course I mean the X-Men & Titans runs of the 80s, thank you very much), and pretty much brought me into the DCU as an interested part rather than someone making fun of all the stupid costumes, how Superman is better than everyone automatically, and how everyone's a clone of another hero. Most of these characters I wasn't even REMOTELY familiar with beforehand (Sand, Wildcat, Power Girl), and yet Johns & Co. basically made me a fan of nearly every character on the team, which is a spectacular feat.

What's crazy is that it's just EVENT after EVENT, but unlike Morrison's JLA, there's tons of downtime as well, so you get character bonding and development. There's Al & Courtney's brother/sister thing (which develops into potentially more as things go on), Al & Black Adam's brotherly bonding, Stargirl & Captain Marvel's adorable dating, Terrific & Mid-Nite's growing friendship, the old-school triumvirate of Ted/Alan/Jay, the various feuds with Carter "Hawkman" Hall, his thing with Kendra, PG's relationships with the group's women & Wildcat, etc.... it's just a WORLD of interpersonal things going on, and it fits that they all get developed during the craziest of stories.

My personal favourite is of course "Black Reign", as it's the heaviest and most brutal arc they face, along with one of the ones that doesn't end happily for anyone. Very heartbreaking and emotionally mature storytelling. Though nearly EVERY arc from the debut until Goyer leaves is purely excellent, and it's when Johns takes over fully that things kinda slow down and get a little worse (but also better at points). It's pretty safe to say that Goyer's part in the title involved Dr. Fate's stuff, since Johns apparently couldn't WAIT to get rid of that character & concept, but otherwise, there weren't too many notable changes aside from the slow-downs in events.

Personal favourite moments involve the whacked-out plan to get rid of the King of Tears, and the various stuff with Courtney & Al, my favourite characters of the run. Yeah, I'm the horrible SHIPPER quoted so often on TVTropes, deal with it! I just love the two characters so much, and think it'd be adorable if they were to hook up when she got older. One of my major beefs with the book comes when he just vanishes from it, and we don't get any explanation for how Stargirl feels about him anymore, because that's just a REALLY clumsy dropped storyline, and yeah I still hate how Captain Marvel just Fs off and doesn't come back, too.

For other flaws during the full run of #s 1 through 87? Well, there's the power level issue. In a book with Green Lantern I, Dr. Fate AND Jakeem Thunder, things got a little out of hand in several ways. One in that all three could end a battle single-handedly, and sometimes did so (Alan versus Obsidian twice, Jakeem versus Mordru & Ultra-Humanite), and TWO in that there were LUDICROUS points where one or all of them would be KOed two seconds in so that the villains could serve as a real threat. When the Injustice Society speared Alan with a supervillain disguised as a crossbow bolt, it was COOL and seemed SMART. But when Dr. Fate is "Off trying to find Lyta" EVERY OTHER ARC, or Jakeem is either curiously absent or having his throat cut by an evil wizard or being knocked out by the Brownstone falling over, you get the sense that MAYBE these guys should just be less powerful? How hard is it to write "OK, Jakeem's sick of being KO'd, so now the T-Bolt's a permanent part of him, but he's an electric-controlling blaster who can't just snap his fingers and make bad guys go away"? Or "Dr. Fate's given up half his power to hold back a demonic onslaught, so now he's only REALLY powerful instead of being able to end a fight by farting"? If it's THAT hard to write all-powerful guys, then just MAKE THEM LESS POWERFUL.

The time travel issue always comes up when dealing with Johns, and it's a fair criticism, but understandable considering that it's a team based around legacies. OF COURSE they're going to meet up with their 1940s counterparts once in a while! And a guy like Carter's got so many lives, it only makes sense to meet a few of them. But yeah, a little too much. Going back to the 40s just to meet Mr. Terrific I and the Freedom Fighters? The mini-arc in Ancient Egypt? Flash going there once? The JSA going to the '50s to get their predecessors back in the fight? The Hourmen/Extant thing? Kinda excessive.

But still, it's an awesome series. And I'll review the subsequent arcs in the Reboot too, but this feels like a good time to sit back and judge this portion of it as a whole, since it gets so much different from this point on.


Character Run-Down:
There's been a CRAP-LOAD of members of this group over the past 87 issues, but here goes...

Atom Smasher (Albert Rothstein)- One of my favourite characters by far, despite his ignominious origins as Nuklon the Mohawked 80s Wonder. I usually attach myself to the "Strong Guy" of each team because of the interesting personalities they often get in comics, and he's no exception. The "Nice & Normal" guy of the team, he was the happiest to be on it, yet things just went wrong for him. His mom dying (bringing her back didn't make him feel any better), Kobra going free, Kahndaq falling apart, etc, and then Black Adam goes and makes friends with him, twisting him to his ideals. His relationship with Courtney is fascinating, as he's pals with her like a brother, but she seems to have unresolved feelings for HIM, and who knows where that leads? THEN he gets his whole 'redemption' schtick, going against Adam, and saving the people of Kahndaq from the Spectre! Probably the best 'why there's a No Killing Rule' examples I can think of in comics as well. Clearly a writer favourite for quite some time, as he's the guy who stopped Kobra, Extant, Per Degaton AND The Spectre during the series' run, which is a RIDICULOUSLY high body-count for 'just the strong guy', in addition to wrecking half the JSA in Kahndaq. Which makes it all the more bizarre when he vanishes from the book during the later arcs & the re-boot.

Black Adam (Teth-Adam)- Wow, WHAT a villain/anti-hero. Gone from basically a generic 'reverse colour scheme' bad guy to one of comics' greatest in just about fourty issues, all thanks to Geoff Johns being crazy in love with the idea. His rivalry with Atom-Smasher turning into a huge bromance, complete with taking over a whole country (showing us how deadly a Flying Brick at Supes' level would be in a fight), fighting the JSA, and STILL coming out looking like he just might be correct (at least before he showed the REAL dark side of such a man- that of an aggressive killer with a hair-trigger temper)? Well that's just nutty. His whole imperious "Black Adam does not scatter!" personality is a killer as well, being hilarious in addition to awesome.

Black Canary II (Dinah Lance)- Funny how she was such a major part of the early run, but got dropped like a hot potato once Kevin Smith brought back Green Arrow. She got an issue or two of narration, was close to several of the old guard, comforted Atom-Smasher a lot, and had that nice little relationship with Dr. Mid-Nite before you-know-who came along. She pretty much doesn't show up AT ALL after that, except to stick the knife deeper into poor Pieter. She's one of DC's finest heroines, but there just wasn't a chance to shine in here.

Captain Marvel (Billy Batson)- I'm not as big a Cap fan as most on these boards. I've always viewed him as just a Superman wannabe who picked up on fun things to do with the concept before Supes did (ie. younger version, girl version, animal sidekicks), but still horribly ancient and left back in the '50s. The huge fanbase online he has now is more because he's Superman who's LESS successful as a character, and thus you can be more 'unique' if you like him instead of Supes. That's my take on it anyways. Despite that, he's still pretty cool in this series, especially once he & Courtney hook up. A little excessively powerful, despite never really DOING anything most of the time, I'm still a fan. It's kind of lame that he's always too tied up in his own crap to be a real JSA member anymore, because this is the best he's ever been when he's not under Alex Ross' masturbatory control.

Doctor Mid-Nite III (Pieter Anton Cross)- Another great new character, despite his lack of fighting power (watch- he never beats ANY villain, at best holding off Johnny Sorrow once). They do a bit of the "RPG Game Master" trick of having every character get SOMETHING to do by constantly injuring the JSA members just so he can save their lives, but the real meat of this guy is in his characterization as the super-perfect, ultra-liberal, sensitive Religious Guy, becoming kind of a nice, moral centre for the team. He's the only one to congratulate Al on saving The Atom, and kind of another resolute background character- the book wouldn't be the same without him.

The Flash I (Jay Garrick)- I used to HATE this Flash. When I was a Marvel fanboy growing up, I thought Jay was the biggest example of how lame DC was compared to my beloved Marvel books (him & Aqualad I guess). This series made me learn to love him, as this Mr. Rogers in Tights type of guy who was super-polite and smart, always willing to do what he could to help out. Truly an elder statesman. The story with his son is just heartbreaking and gives him a whole new edge as well. A little sad, though- he & nearly ALL the older generation either never had kids, or had them grow up hating their parents.

Green Lantern I/Sentinel (Alan Scott)- Another great Elder Statesman character, but the responsible, stern dad to Jay's happy Father Knows Best type and Ted's Al Bundy. He was clearly WAY too powerful for the book (going down like three times in seconds, JUST so the villain could have a chance at winning), often used as a Deus Ex Machina when the time came, he's still a cool character, and one of the most necessary for the book. He's one of the few guys on the team who is actually COMPLETELY irreplaceable, because with Superman & Batman I gone, he's the living symbol of the older age.

Hawkgirl II (Kendra Saunders)- Confusing backstory aside, Kendra was kinda like Hawkman, being a general grouch and unlikeable for a good length of time. She kind of got charmingly grouchy near the end, but still, not a huge fan. They seemed to be going for a 'sexpot' look to her at first (stripping nude to go flying, lots of butt shots), but it didn't work because of the super-short hairstyle (not a bombshell look), big nose and goofy mask with the buggy eyes. And if you're on a super-team, you better be either hot or cute, and she's neither.

Hawkman I (Carter Hall)- Yeah, not a Hawk fan. I don't care HOW much Geoff Johns loves him, and how much everyone else on the team talks about how good a leader or a fighter he is; he's a giant douche who's out for blood, mean to everyone, a total horn-dog to Kendra, and doesn't fit in well in a group situation. That said, I actually like him on the book; team books are all about CONFLICT inside the team, and who brings more than Captain Grumpy, here? Many of the most interesting moments occured when he was around, egging people on.

Hourman I (Rex Tyler)- I always laugh when I think of his origins as a failed six-issue run character of the 40s, then given a sixty-year lifespan because of the sheer luck of showing up in a few JSA issues. In any case, Rex was a fun little addition to the book for a short while, but felt 'off', like an action junkie and an old-fashioned party-hound in a modern world. I guess that's why he was written out as soon as Rick came back.

Hourman I (Rick Tyler)- Totally saved from Comics Limbo/Hell in "Stealing Thunder" as the leader of the resistance, Rick never really approached that level again. They had some stuff with his addictive personality, but it was thankfully dropped before it got tiring/whiny, and he just became a strong-headed generic guy in the background. He's kind of a prick though, and a little too happy-go-lucky sometimes. I'm not sure if I would like this blow-hard if I were to ever meet him in real life, y'know?

Hourman III (Michael Tyler)- Take Vision & Red Tornado, and update them with weird Morrison-written ideas about time and the future and crap, and you have this mess. Clearly none of the writers cared for him, which is why HE was gone two trades in as well. Probably my least favourite member of the team, because IN ADDITION to being a re-tread, he had bizarre "Time Vision" powers that gave him either extremely vague abilities, or let him heal from any wound in seconds, making nothing a real threat to him. Total death-sentence of a character. I wasn't really sad to see him 'die' in Rex Tyler's place, and sure as shootin' if they didn't even bother to resurrect him like they implied they would.

Jakeem Thunder & Thunderbolt/Johnny Thunder- How can you tell you've been created to be WAY too powerful? When you're either absent for every other freaking story arc with no explanation, or KO'd in seconds in the others! Geez, and the worst part is, he's actually a pretty good character! Initially a little turd acting like a stereotypical black street rat, he grew up a little bit, got some edge, and starting making friendships with some of the JSAers. His brother-thing with Rick/Hourman didn't really go anywhere, but he's still a fun little character. Just so, SO powerful. I mean, what would it take to have him go "Hey, T-Bolt! I'm sick of getting KO'd all the time, so how 'bout you just empower me with lightning blasts all the time, yo?" so he's less vulnerable, but ALSO less powerful? He could still figure into the battles, but they don't have to worry about him just wishing the villain into the Sun or some crap.

Mr. Terrific II (Michael Holt)- One of Geoff Johns' favourites, despite not being created by him, Michael's awesome. Usually the Science Guy is boring or sucky, but Terrific is neither, actually getting an interesting focus with his grief over his wife's death, plus his lack of faith in religion or gods or souls or what have you. A fascinating character study, and a great leader to the team, always the smartest guy in the room and getting them out of a jam. A little TOO smart sometimes, though, where they're afraid to have him screw up EVER.

Power Girl (Karen Starr/Kara Zor-L)- Talk about a saved character; initially she was just a hyper-bitch who acted like the Hulk with knockers, smashing stuff and talking about how she could handle anything. Injecting some pathos over how lonely she was comes across as a bit whiny, but pretty much made her at least SOMEWHAT interesting. Geoff Johns clearly likes the character, it's the only reason I can come up with for SUCH a giant amount of focus on her compared to the rest of the team (she even got the first 'focus' portion of "Classified", and became the most important single character in Infinite Crisis!). I'm still not THAT big a fan (and not even THAT enamored of her still-ridiculous bustline- it's just TOO comically oversized and apparent with the "Boob Window" that I can't help finding her laughable), but I'm somewhat of one, which is alot more than I was at the beginning of the run.

Sand (Sandy Hawkins)- Totally a labour of love of David Goyer it seems, as he fell out of favour the second Goyer left the title. Basically saved from the Scrappy Heap (ie. Comics Limbo) and turned into a legit character with a good backstory and decent powers, it nevertheless felt like they just tacked-on geokinesis to make him better in a fight, and then he just got dropped HARD during Johns' solo run on the book (with his romantic thing with Kendra gone as well). He's actually got a fair following online, so I'm not sure WHY they keep de-pushing him the way they do, but it's clearly happening. There's been several trades where he only shows up for a few moments, and more where he's written out entirely (his stint inside the Earth's core, in Ghost Stories where he's just not there for some reason), to the point where he's nearly completely forgotten by the end of the run. Kind of a shame.

Stargirl/Star-Spangled Kid II (Courtney Whitmore)- One of the greatest comic characters ever- a REALISTIC teenage girl- not super-smart or capable or spunky or any of the usual cloying crap. Just a somewhat-immature teenager who could be kind of a cranky brat, but was still ultimately a great person who saw the bright side in everyone. Dangerously close to being a Mary Sue thanks to Geoff Johns' making sure everyone commented on how awesome and full of potential she was, he counteracted it by having her be the most useless member in a fight (her best power showing is against GOONS, and she once lost to three orderlies & a doctor with a needle). Her little-sister/crush on older dude Atom-Smasher thing was handled PERFECTLY (especially her heartbreak when he quit, nearly died, and then got sent to prison while she insisted she'd wait for him), as well as her cute high-school fling with Billy Batson. And she's one of the few teenage girls in all of comics not drawn as even a C-Cup or with a giant bubble-ass and big pouty lips. AND I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HER DAMMIT- I save all my creepy-dork-lovins for Donna Troy, Maxine Hunkel and Kitty Pryde (adult version, of course, ya pervs).

Starman VI (Jack Knight)- Despite his '90s series being so beloved, I got nothing from this guy here. Didn't show up very much since his own book was nearing it's end at this point, and kind of acted like a super-kewl '90s tool the entire time.

Wildcat I (Ted Grant)- I love Ted Grant. It's nice to see a 1940s-based hero who ISN'T a super-PC ultra-nice fake version of what men back in that era were like. The fact that they take it one step over and make him a bit of a blow-hard and a tool is even better, and he's one of the few surefire comedic members of the team. Not much good in a fight, though- he gets his ass kicked in nearly every arc except against the Gentleman Ghost.

Wonder Woman I (Queen Hippolyta)- The first character written-out, acting as a Reserve member from the beginning, then quitting by the second trade after not doing any characterization AT ALL, then dying in Wonder Woman's own book. Well I guess it had to happen since she was under the control of other writers (note how her & Canary suffered the same fate because of that, so the book became solely about JSA-only people). She just wasn't a good fit for this book at all.


In Order of my favourites (for this series only, ignoring other appearances):
1) Atom Smasher
2) Stargirl
3) Black Adam
4) Mr. Terrific II
5) Wildcat
6) The Flash I
7) Sand
8) Green Lantern I
9) Black Canary
10) Captain Marvel
11) Dr. Mid-Nite III
12) Power Girl
13) Hourman II (Rick)
14) Jakeem Thunder
15) Hawkman
16) Hourman I (Rex)
17) Hawkgirl
18) Hippolyta
19) Starman VI
20) Hourman III (Matthew)


The New JSA:
-So the JSA series comes back with a new #1, and it's Geoff Johns writing solo again, but this time with Dale Eaglesham, who'd only done a single issue beforehand, as his co-creator as the head (and sole) artist, alongside Alex Ross, who's old story Kingdom Come takes a HUGE prescedent here. It takes place One Year Later, but also after a brief stop-gap in the Paul Levitz-written "Ghost Stories", where the JSA Headquarters was devastated by a bunch of ghosts. And now that "52s" come and gone, we get some shots as to what happened, and how everyone changed.

Rather than include this lengthy little bit in the review for "The Next Age", I'll just toss it in as a preamble.

Here's what's gone down with most of the JSA in the 'year off':
Black Adam- One of the MAJOR players of "52", Adam kept ruling Kahndaq, eventually discovering the error of his massacring ways thanks to a woman he eventually gave the powers of "Isis" to. Along with her brother Osiris, they form the Black Marvel Family and try to make a utopia out of Kahndaq and help the world in a giant Face Turn.... It fails. After being discredited by Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, Osiris is murdered in gruesome fashion by his talking crocodile buddy Sobek, Isis is killed, and Adam goes on an INSANE rampage, wiping out the entire country of Bialya. THEN he goes on to kick the asses of nearly every superhuman on EARTH, only being saved in the last moments by his distaff-brother Atom-Smasher. His "Magic Word" now being changed by Billy, Adam is left to wander the world, powerless. Pretty much an epic way for a guy to go from villain to hero to villain all over again, and showing just HOW menacing and bad he really is at his core.
Green Lantern I- Alan is now one of the most powerful men in the government, as the White King of Checkmate. This doesn't come up at all during the JSA series, but he's in "52" alot, leading the charge of metahumans against Black Adam and others. Oh, and he lost his eye in a Zeta-Beam transporter accident, but that doesn't really come up either.
Mr. Terrific II- Michael joined GL at Checkmate as his White Bishop, and it gets casually referred to that he can't keep being Chairman with these new responsibilities. Doesn't stop him from showing up in every issue, though, even for basic busy-work.
Atom Smasher- Finding himself easily controlled AGAIN, Al takes up Amanda Waller's offer to form a new Suicide Squad to bring Black Adam to justice. He ends up getting KOed in ONE PUNCH, which is hilariously pathetic, but the Squad serves their purpose as Osiris kills a man on live television. Al is pissed at WALLER now, and walks out on her, asking to join the JSA again (despite being okayed to get back on the team before he was jailed), and he takes part in the search for Black Adam, rescuing him out of loyalty, and then both saving AND hiding him from the heroes in the aftermath of the huge battle. His weakly begging Adam to "Tell me it wasn't you..." is pretty powerful stuff, in reference to Adam wiping out Bialya. Despite this, he's not shown with the JSA afterwards.
Black Canary II- No involvement with the JSA- instead she becomes Chairwoman of the new Justice League.
Captain Marvel- After turning crazy in the Rock of Eternity as the new guardian or whatever, Billy pops in from time to time to help Black Adam out, but ultimately has to fight him by story's climax, changing his magic word. DC just seemed to have no idea what to do with him around this period.
Dr. Mid-Nite III- Nothing of note, save take part in a few autopsies and talking about Luthor's "Everyman" project.
The Flash I- Nothing of note, showing up to talk about how the JSA needs to reform and stuff.
Hawkgirl & Hawkman- Lots of stuff with Rann, Thanagar, etc. Hawkgirl briefly was 25 feet tall, but that got apparently fixed, and neither played a role in "52" at all. By this re-boot, Hawkman is back on the JSA for no explained reason, and Hawkgirl is on the Justice League, hooking up with Roy "Red Arrow" Harper, having left the JSA behind entirely.
The Hourmen- Rex doesn't appear AT ALL, or even get mentioned (presumably he's reconnecting with his wife), but Rick has married Jessie Chambers in the meantime, becoming part of one of comics' only married couples of superheroes. The Android Hourman, said to be out of commission for 'one year' earlier, still hasn't shown up again, probably because no writer wants to deal with him.
Liberty Belle II- The former Jessie Quick, having lost her original powers, gets new ones, in the form of her mother's super-strength, by using the Liberty Bell as her new "mantra". She's married to Hourman.
Jakeem Thunder- Nothing. Appeared in some crowd scenes.
Power Girl- Nothing much, despite it being the "Year Without Superman", where she could've done a lot of good.
Sand- Nothing. Appears normal at the very end of "52", but by the re-boot, he's refashioned as Sandman II, wearing a weird wrap-around cloak and wearing some funky insectoid gas-mask, and is now more of a creepy detective.
Stargirl- Despite being a Geoff Johns favourite, she hardly factors into "52" at all, except for appearing in major battles flying in an upper corner. It's mentioned she got into "one of the best private schools in the country", despite her HORRIBLE study practices in her own comic book. So she's a genius, too?
Starman VII- Since James Robinson said no one can ever touch him again, he's in Comics Limbo in perpetuity, and will probably never be seen again except for crowded funeral scenes.
Wildcat- Hung around with the JSA and complained like only Ted Grant can.
Hippolyta- Came back to life at some point, and was crazy. For some reason, the JSA NEVER talks about her.
Damage- A failed 90s solo character turned failed Titans character, Damage was basically a failure on all levels, and stuck with the Freedom Fighters, the Holy Grail of Useless Comic Book Characters. In "Infinite Crisis", the team had met their final fate, being killed almost to a man, with Damage horribly beaten by Professor Zoom (aka Reverse Flash).

others:
Judomaster- A character obviously mimicking the Kingdom Come female version of the old-school retroactive-Golden Age hero is shown in Birds of Prey.
Magog- The Kingdom Come anti-hero shows up in Superman books as a direct villain named "Gog". And then ANOTHER one shows up, with a different origin and a bunch of stupid shit goes down that fans generally don't care about, and Alex Ross presumably had no part of.


Curosities:
-The New JSA is built-up of the remaining Old Guard, the successors introduced in the last series, and several Legacy Characters, most of whom are very, very new.
-As I said, Alex Ross as another co-plotter allows Johns the opportunity to do stuff with Kingdom Come. Odd, since the Justice League are the major force of KC, but with the JSA's new focus on nostalgia & the old-school before anything else, the two combine to make a GIANT circle-jerk of KC stuff. So yeah, EVERYONE'S talking about legacies and 'what does it mean to be a hero?' these days, and almost all of the new characters showing up will be variants on Kingdom Come ideas.
-An alternate, early cover of JSA #1 depicts a VERY different team from what we eventually got. This is actually REALLY bizarre, as you can see that the team has most of the crew from this update, minus Liberty Belle, Hawkman, Cyclone, Obsidian, Steel & Ted Grant's Wildcat, and instead we see the YOLANDA MONTEZ Wildcat, a Doctor Fate, The Spectre, Hawkgirl, and Captain Marvel & Mary Marvel in the bottom corner.

That team is so bizarrely different from the one we got, it brings up a THOUSAND questions. I mean, Billy & Mary were likely dropped because of the whole "Countdown" issue and Mary going evil and all that, but THEM on the team would've raised some major issues. Billy & Stargirl would've come up again, and the team would have a HUGE power boost. Not to mention Alex Ross' famous Billy Batson fetish (which resulted in the character's career peak). A new Dr. Fate could've been ANYONE, and I guess Johns just didn't feel like touching on it, since it would require ANOTHER big origin story. Some of the newbs maybe weren't a twinkle in Johns' eye by now either, which explains the disapperances of Cyclone & Steel. But Ted Grant being replaced by Yolanda? THAT's a big switch. Spectre I'm assuming is there just cuz, and Hawkgirl likely got switched out because of Brad Meltzer's JLA run using her.
-And am I crazy, or is Damage WAY too big in both the alternate and the 'official' picture? Judging by his standing height compared to Wildcat (who's standing on the same level), he's at least 9 feet tall, if not taller, and wide as a truck. Given the costume, I actually think this was intended to be Atom Smasher redesigned, but they changed it at the last minute for whatever reason, leaving Al with his old outfit. Unless Damage can GROW when he gets 'energized', which I've never seen before.

----


"JSA: The Next Age" (#82-87)- written by Geoff Johns, art by Dale Eaglesham
JSA line-up: Green Lantern I, Flash I, Wildcat I, Hawkman II, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Power Girl, Jakeem Thunder (not present), Stargirl, Sandman II, Hourman II, Liberty Belle II, Mr. America II (recruit), Obsidian (security system)

-Boo-yah! It's the new series, complete with new numbering for no really good reason! Poor us, we never got to see JSA #100 get printed. Stupid comics and their obsession with re-boots and #1s....

-We come into the wake of "World War III" from "52", and the Trinity of The Only People DC Really Cares About insists that it's the JSA's job to train the next generation of heroes, since they're the originals and all. Me, I'd just have the Greatest Detective, Greatest Hero, and Greatest Chick do it, since they're apparently so damn great, but the Justice League writers never see it that way.

-New stuff right away, as a new Mr. America (ancient Golden Age hero with a whip, occasionally showed up in later continuity as a secret government dude, then vanished) walks into a murder scene, then reveals that HE's the 'missing husband'.

-The JSA begins recruiting their 'new team', since the old one kinda petered out. The members from the last group are pretty much immediately sworn in as no-brainers. Wildcat wants no part of the festivities, he just wants to beat the rookies up in the ring.

-Cut to Phillie, where Damage, in a new Atom-Smasher-esque costume & mask, is losing a fight to "Rebel", who's pretty clearly Alex Ross redoing his Von Bach design from Kingdom Come in a racist Southerner dude with the Confederate Flag. I should point out that Alex isn't the co-creator at this point, but his hand is still clearly all over the designs of the new characters. Hourman & Liberty Belle come in to recruit him, and he gives them and the cops on the scene attitude, which becomes his recurring theme. Since he's Al Pratt's biological 'long-lost' son (LOTS of those in the JSA, I should point out), he gets a JSA spot, but he seems unwilling to go along with it.

-Mr. America beats up Catalyst, last seen in JSA books during the "Kobra" arc, who leads him to the man who ordered the hit.

-OH MY GOD, IT'S MAXINE HUNKEL!! FANBOYGASM!! Okay, anyone who thinks I worship Stars or Al too much, turn away now. This is my favourite new character ever. The 'teenaged' (well she's in HARVARD, so she's obviously at least 18 or 19), genius (she lectures her PROF), granddaughter of Ma "Red Tornado I" Hunkel has apparently developed wind-controlling powers after a childhood incident with Dr. T.O. Morrow (they don't really follow that plot thread up ever), so Power Girl & Mr. Terrific come along to recruit her. She's just so... so CUTE here. All tall, busty and beautiful, with big ol' ladybug earrings. And she's a WICKED fan! Fap! And of course we see her big social problem, as her first three panels of existence are spent in a staccato burst of dialogue with no pauses or breaks whatsoever.

-When PG & Mr. T ask her to join, she FREAKS, giving me my favourite single page in the history of comic books.

-Seriously, how cute is this?:

-I can't even CONCEIVE of how hard that last panel would be to draw. Giddy excitement in her smile, tears of joy in her eyes, and hands covering her mouth, all at the same time? Eaglesham pretty much cements himself as a master of characterization in art right here. Her wild stream of meaningless dialogue in that one panel is funny as shit, and makes her the best newbie on the team by far- she actually REALLY WANTS to be there, and has a completely new personality for the JSA series, and DC in general.

-I should note that she gets a little less beautiful & busty later on, as he & Alex Ross kinda 'meld' their variants of her down to a skinny, gawky girl with a big mouth. Apparently Johns came up with the character, then Alex Ross told him about his Red Tornado III in KC, which led to them mixing the characters into one, which is why she looks like she does. So she TECHNICALLY pre-dates Zephyr Noble from "Noble Causes", who Xerxes accused Maxine of being a rip-off of. What-ev- I'd still slither naked across a pile of razor blades just to suck her big toe.

-Next newbie is a new Starman (about the eighth, I believe), also in a Kingdom Come uniform. And apparently he's crazy and NUTTY. Oh dear lord. I've long held a hatred for characters who act like this, having been forced to play RPGs alongside players who played every character as a 'whacky, goofy, nutty' guy. So I hate him. Funny bit as Dr. Mid-Nite ignores a doctor lady's come-ons, despite Stargirl egging him on.

-Maxine joins the big group of newbs at the rebuilt Brownstone, and hey, it's Ma Hunkel, now designed as a tall Mrs. Doubtfire type in glasses, a business suit and make-up, rather than a stout matronly grandma in an apron. Awwwww and Maxine implies she has no friends. Sniff. And she apparently has a complete fangirl obsession with Stargirl, who politely seems to deal with it, because she's Miss Super-Nice and Kind.

-Hourman & Liberty Belle are annoying together, pretty much hanging all over each other and flirting the whole time. Dear Lord. I guess Rick IS addicted to his wife. You wouldn't think giant side-pockets on a woman would be hot, but there you go with Libby's costume.

-Final moments of the first issue see Alan & Jay tell Wildcat that this mystery kid they're looking at is his SON, and Mr. America ends up being tossed, broken and bloody, through the JSA's skylight, dying on their table without getting vengeance on his family's murderer.

-Next issue debuts Nate Heywood, grandson of the inserted Golden Age character Commander Steel, and brother of the failed JLA's Steel (the patriotic one), having lost a leg to an infection, ending his promising athletic career, while the JSA deals with Mr. America's murder. Starman acts like a 'tard again, foreshadowing the Dream Girl/Dr. Destiny thing in later issues.

-Ted talks to his son Tommy about things. Turns out he's the result of a one-night stand and doesn't hate Ted for it. The "I haven't been in a fight since the Eighth Grade!" "... Did ya win?" stuff is hilarious, and it's great characterization to see Mr. I Don't Wanna Be No Damn Father actually be DISAPPOINTED that his son has no interest in his life.

-Maxine nearly walks out of the JSA then and there, and wonderful lil' Stargirl gives her the ultimate pep-talk (which makes no sense given the continuity of what really happened to Wesley Dodds; they were at his funeral when they found out he'd been murdered, and she showed no signs at all of nervousness or 'freaking out' about it- I guess it could've been hidden and off-camera, though), convincing her to stay, and getting to her make a costume. Boy, Dale's a great artist, but he's drawing these two super-cuties like they'll break in the middle, they're so skinny!

-The JSA discovers that the whole Thompson bloodline (Mr. America's) is gone, just as the Heywood Family Reunion is broken up by an attack by the Fourth Reich, a bunch of super-nazis out to kill them all! They wipe out the whole family while kicking Hawkman's ass, and Reichsmark, a bit metal dude, murderes Nate's little brother right in front of him, using a 'steel statue touch', which is one of those terrible super-villain powers because it can NEVER BE USED against an important character. The whole Fourth Reich team is pure Alex Ross, as it's big metal Reichsmark, Captain Nazi (old super-villain of Captain Marvel's turned scrub against everybody else), Swastika (another KC guy), Baroness Blitzkrieg (a yellow super-speedster), and White Dragon (Dragon-riding dude).

-Great moment, as Maxine & Stars debate code-names, while Maxine uses her "Theater Major" talents to make... the ugliest superhero costume in history. Hah. It's just a big green floppy sheet with giant candy-cane stockings! That's AWFUL! And according to Alex Ross' pictures, she wears NO UNDERWEAR, despite having a skirt on. What the HELL, Alex? Still funny how it has Wizard of Oz references in the stockings in addition to looking a bit like the KC Red Tornado's leggings.

-Back at the Reunion, Hawkman gets beaten badly, and Nate stabs his crutch through Reichsmark's MOUTH, spraying liquid metal goo all over him. And then they just LEAVE to exterminate more families, without even killing Hawkman! Dumbasses!

-Hey, it's Sanderson Hawkins! Johns DIDN'T forget he existed! And now he's in an ugly-ass trenchcoat costume with a creepy insectoid mask, talking funny and obsessed with his "nightmares" again. Boy, Johns sure forgot about THAT aspect of him in his earlier run, huh? Turns out the Heywoods & Thompsons weren't the first- ALL the patriotic heroes have been wiped out. Of course, most of them were retroactively added to DC's Golden Age by modern writers who apparently failed to see the NINETY FREAKING GUYS in the All-Star Squadron. General Glory and Minute-Man are thus wiped out... you'd think the JSA would have HEARD about an "entire family being dismembered at a wedding" if it happened days ago, but I guess they live in a crazier world.

-Good ol' Sandman II lets the team know that, oh yeah, Liberty Belle I & Stripsey are being targetted right at the end of the giant explanation. Y'know, I'd tend to think that should be the FIRST thing you tell everyone, and go their IMMEDIATELY, explaining things on the way, seeing as how both teams BARELY make it to the targets in time to save their lives.

-So one team goes in to save Libby, and another to save Pat & Mike Dugan, while VANDAL SAVAGE reveals himself to be the cause of the JSA's woes, punching out Wildcat. But turns out Tommy has a secret of his own, as he morphs into the black panther seen in Kingdom Come, and goes in to attack!

-Tommy/Wildcat goes nuts against Savage, while Power Girl leads Flash, Stargirl, Starman & Cyclone against Baroness Blitzkrieg & White Dragon. Maxine shares a personal story about how she formed a Junior JSA Club in High School, but everyone bailed after the first meeting because all she could talk about was Stargirl for three hours- but she STILL came every day to talk about her favourite hero. This is being told as if it's an UPLIFTING story, when it is in fact the saddest thing I've ever heard. Well, not as much as that dog in Japan that waited every day for his dead owner at a Subway station (yes, just like that Futurama episode), but still pretty sad. Cyclone actuallys says "Oh, my gosh!" with a straight face. I love her.

-A bigger team (Jesse, Hourman, GL, Damage & Hawkman) come in to save Liberty Belle I (doing her thing as a curator for the actual Liberty Bell) from Captain Nazi & Reichsmark. Damage the Cockbite sets off a HUGE explosion that nearly wipes out Jesse along with the big metal dude. The fights run together, as Flash easily takes out Baroness, PG wipes out Dragon. Nazi is actually powerful enough to take out GL AND Hawkman, but Belle & Hourman toss the Liberty Bell into him, which is somehow enough to take him out (weird power levels on these guys). Hourman realizes the extent of Damage's facial scarring.

-The two Wildcats recover and brawl with Savage, while Ted lectures Tommy on how to fight. Ted leads him into the path of a FIRE TRUCK, which is enough to take him down (I should hope so). Wow, Savage actually failed against two of the WEAKEST JSAers. Guess he's further down the ladder than Sorrow and the others after all.

-The elders ask Power Girl to become new Chairwoman, since Mr. Terrific's busy in the soon-to-be-cancelled Checkmate, since she's DC's newest major hero. She accepts, while Tommy goes to see the JSA, having I guess been convinced by his dad. And Nate Heywood grows a STEEL limb (not that Alex Ross' cover of JSA #1 would leave ANY DOUBT to what's happening here...). Ted describes why Savage's plan was stupid- the JSA's not just about their own kids, because half of the "legacy" characters aren't related to the originals. This happens while Jeffrey Graves, Mr. America's 'contact' in the FBI, puts on the mask to become the third one.

-We end things on a cliffhanger, showing Dr. Destiny screwing with Dream Girl's mind. But she's a LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES CHARACTER!! Next up... The Lightning Saga.

-The TPB concludes with a bunch of drawings by Alex & Dale. Dale does the cutest Stargirl picture EVER, and I'm still wierded out by Alex's near vag-shot of Cyclone. The previously-mentioned line-up picture with Captain & Mary Marvel plus a bunch of others who didn't make the cut make we wish for an FAQ on that by Johns.

Roster Changes: Mr. America II dies before being fully recruited. Cyclone (Maxine Hunkel), Damage (Grant Emerson), Starman VIII (Thom Kallor) & Wildcat III (Tom Bronson) join the team.

Review: The new JSA series is apples and oranges with the old one. While the concept is the same (old school guys & legacies), it takes a MUCH bigger turn, with a HUGE roster coming in, to the point where side-guys like Sandy & Obsidian end up doing NOTHING while a giant recruitment drive of various people goes on. This one's also MUCH more about the characters than the Events, as the story is a minor family-based one. The series now lives or dies essentially on character interaction, which is still does very well... most of the time. I LOVE the new Cyclone, and how cute and dorky and funny she is, because every single panel where she talks is just hilarious to read, and her bizarre facial expressions are gloriously funny. Tommy/Wildcat is amusing as well, being all snarky and sarcastic. But Damage? WHAT A TOOL. Ignorant, angry and nasty, he comes across as a putz, despite having Injury Angst. Starman is just annoying as fuck, like an RPG player obsessed with his 'crazy hero' archetype, and his dialogue is just a mess? No schizophrenic ever talks that way either, so even THAT comes across bad. I wasn't as big a fan of the new Mr. America as the guy doing the foreword was, since he looks like a retard with that costume, but it was a nice 'BANG!' moment to start things off when he came through the skylight.

The new Liberty Belle is great, despite being pretty dime-a-dozen on this squad, Hourman & Hawkman fit in as antagonists (Rick to Damage, Hawkman to everyone who's polite), and most of the old-school people are excellent. Dale Eaglesham as an artist makes the whole thing at least TWICE as good, too, because he draws the best facial expressions in the business these days. His men are HUGE and ripped and scary, his women are either sexy (Liberty Belle) or adorable (Stargirl & Cyclone), he draws violence well, his costume designs are mostly good (taken from Ross obviously, but not everyone can pull of Ross' work in regular art form for some reason), etc.

A good start, but not as epic as the prior series' first arc. Much better character work, though.

Best Moment: I already said Cyclone's debut was my favourite thing in comics basically ever, and it still holds. The youthful exuberance and hilarious dialogue is just done absolutely perfectly, and made me a giant fan of Maxine Hunkel for forever.

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"JLA: The Lightning Saga" (JLA #0, 8-12 and JSA #5-6)- written by Brad Meltzer & Geoff Johns, art by Shane Davis, Fernando Pasarin, Dale Eaglesham, Ed Benes, Gene Ha & Eric Wright
JSA line-up: Green Lantern I, Flash I, Wildcat I, Hawkman II, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Power Girl, Jakeem Thunder (not present), Stargirl, Sandman II, Hourman II, Liberty Belle II, Obsidian (security system), Cyclone, Damage, Starman VIII, Wildcat III
JLA line-up: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Black Canary (leader), Flash III, Red Arrow (Roy "Arsenal" Harper taking his Kingdom Come name), Red Tornado II, Black Lightning, Vixen, Green Lantern II (Hal Jordan), Geo-Force, Hawkgirl

-Kind of a new thing this time around, as it's primarily a JLA trade paperback, but it has two JSA issues in it, and it pertains to the team a bit, so here goes.

-OK, JLA thoughts: This is an awesome line-up for the team, featuring enough of the 'big league' guys (the Trinity, Hal, Wally, Canary), with some up-and-coming faces (Lightning, Arrow), and some guys who've been on the outs for years and could maybe become big some day (Vixen, Geo-Force, Tornado). It's great to see such a crew, and it'll be interesting to see if the lower-calibre guys on the squad can get "Catmanned" and move on up. Plus, Brad Meltzer wrote Identity Crisis, which was awesome and stuff, so I kinda had high hopes for this squad.

-Three things going on at once: a War Games thing, Mr. Terrific is playing Hal & Dinah at chess simultaneously, and Batman/Black Lightning are studying Val Armorr, aka the Legion of Super-Heroes' Karate Kid, who for some reason was dressed as loser villain Trident. But Armorr wakes up, takes out Lightning, and Bats talks about how Superman only classed Batman at 12 in Fighting, but this kid's a 15. Well, a martial arts master like Supes would know. They fight pretty much off-panel, and I think Lightning ends the fight with a blast since Bruce pulled the kid into the right position for it, but they're not clear on that.

-So the others are playing Capture the Flag, and it's Wildcat, Red Arrow & Geo-Force versus Hawkgirl. Roy goes all "I'm more experienced!" (which, y'know, he IS and DC writers & fans forget that he & the other Teen Titans first class have been at this since WAY before most of the DCU, and had the best in the world teaching them, to boot), fires the flag like an arrow and Kendra, but the Red Tornado makes his debut and knocks it away. Roy gets all uppity and takes Tornado's cape, but then he goes nuts with a full wind surge, nearly killing Roy, and Geo-Force uses null-gravity to save him. Nice job nearly getting someone killed in practise, Red Douche, what're you, the X-Men?

-Ooh, Michael was just TESTING Hal & Dinah, because they're really playing EACH OTHER, so Michael will always get at least one win or a full draw.

-The meat of the story finally starts, as Karate Kid sorta 'comes to', and the JSA guys figure that their Starman might know something about it. So it's a BIG TEAM TWO-PAGE SPREAD!! Wildcat III looks like a giant fuzzy dog/cat thing here, proving once again that he's by far the hardest JSAer to draw. Stargirl gushes over Wonder Woman like some rookie, apparently forgetting that they've met many times before. Hourman & Red Arrow bond over past drug use and sponsorship (I still wonder how releasing Miraclo into Rick's system is better than taking pills for it since it's practically an IV). Mid-Nite crushes on Dinah again (Oh god, LET IT GO, BUDDY- the fishnets are hawt, but come on...). Batman & Power Girl talk over some historical item she's found, which is a totally new side to her from my recollection-- I took her for one of those obsessive-hero types with no time for that kind of stuff. Kendra whines about never being 'part of the team' on either squad.

-First step once they find out the Legion Flight Rings' tracking signals is Arkham, where Dr. Destiny is messing with Dream Girl, the love interest of Legion Starman (in a scene we saw from the first JSA collection). Batman, Sandman, Geo-Force & Starman are there. Boy, Sandy looks okay normally with his Golden Age-type uniform on, but the second he starts using his powers in that civvie get-up, he looks retarded. Geo notes that he has Sandman AND Starman's powers combined, like a total douche. Boy, he just doesn't seem that great in this arc at all. They end up fighting Nightmare Batmans, since Destiny can make nightmares real, and who else are the Arkhamites afraid of? All it takes is the "Wake Up Word" which the Legionnaires are using, to wake up Dream Girl, and she tools Destiny with ease, saving the day. But since she's the Legionnaire with future sight, she knows ONE OF THEM WILL DIE.

-Next up is Superman, Stargirl, Red Tornado and CYCLONE~~!, up at the Fortress of Solitude. Awwww Maxine wants to talk to her grandma's successor, but is too nervous. Wook at her, all tugging on her dress! Her super-expressive face is just used to the nines by artist Fernando Pasarin here- this character is such an artist's wet dream. Her costume actually looks less ridiculous with this weird shiny-fabric effect the colourist is giving it, much better than Eaglesham's giant green velvet thing.

THIS pic, though... the dirty lines you could put in Stargir's mouth here just boggle the mind:
Image

-Seriously, I know Courtney is supposed to be looking mischievous, but DANG if that doesn't look perverted. So it turns out that Maxine was kidnapped by T.O.Morrow when she was six in order to lure Reddy to him (this is mostly new information). "... seemingly without any psychological damage"? THAT's a loaded statement. Is he talking about her depression or motormouth habits? "without any NEGATIVE reactions to Prof. Morrow's nanobytes"? Okay, it's pretty obvious this is how she got her powers, but other fans have noted that it almost seems like Morrow could've created ANOTHER android, and that Maxine just might not know it! They don't really delve too far into the whys of Maxine or Tom's powers at this stage, so who knows?

-Awwww wook at Maxine's widdle smile when Reddy smiles at her and agrees that being human isn't easy either!! SOOOOO CUTE!!
Couldn't find that pic online, but this one's adorable too: Image

-Nice full line-up shot of the Legion of Super-Heroes statues by Pasarin. Good ol' Shadow Lass and her black bikini costume. Y'know, I guess I should lay out my thoughts on the Legion since not only is every writer in DC in LOVE WITH THEM, and this whole arc's about them, but they seem to represent the best and worst of comics at the same time. Idiotic codenames and costumes, occasionally worthless powers, redundant people & Flying Bricks... but there's something so entertaining and Silver Age about all of it. It's all futuristic and sci-fi, and it's great allegory for modern racism and all that crap. Plus it's a roster of like 30 people, so you can throw relationships, deaths and arcs all over the place, showcasing different guys. Hey, maybe that's where Johns got the idea for his new JSA....

-I picked up on the two Wildfires right away, and Maxine is the only one there (nice computer brain, Red Tornado...) to notice it too, and it seems that Wildfire's another Legionnaire in the present. I should also point out that the effects of Superboy-Prime's "Time punches" are becoming notable, as how Superman DOES remember his adventures with the Legion way, way back when he was SuperBOY, which invalidates the "Threeboot" Legion while it's still ongoing. But hey, Didio & Johns are Silver Age nuts, and they've decided THAT'S where the DCU needs to be headed.

-Next up, Jay, Hal, Vixen & Wildcat III end up in Gorilla City, meeting a friendly group following Solovar (aka that guy I say in Crisis on Infinite Earths). Ed Benes takes his own stab and Wildcat, making him look like a giant gibbon. Good lord. A white baby ape is born in the city, which is supposed to be all great, though as readers we recognize that, along with the earlier one-shot appearance of Dolores Winters, the Ultra-Humanite's first possessed victim, as meaning something else entirely. Turns out Timber Wolf (aka the 1970s-styled Legion guy who ends up being turned into a Wolverine rip-off the more popular that character got) is in the City, feeling for once at home with all the animal-men.

-Red Arrow, Hawkman, Hawkgirl & Power Girl head to Thanagar. Red Arrow notes that super-teams ALWAYS fight when they meet up. It has a ring of truth to it, but I always get nervous when heroes get a little bit too Genre Savvy. They explain that Carter spent most of the "52" year on Thanagar helping out the police force, and we get a bizarre moment, where Power Girl notes Roy obviously flirting with Kendra, and points out that SHE was here trying to boink CARTER. WOAH. But... was the image of her kissing Carter in that panel a fantasy that didn't happen? Because Roy says "No!" and PG says he's right... what's going on here? Why is Meltzer writing everything in half-lines without explaining shit? Did she hook up with Carter and get shot down later? Or did he turn her away straight out? Did she do ANYTHING? Jesus, Brad, I know exposition is hard to write, but ya gotta give us SOMETHING.

-Big villain shot of Ultra-Humanite, Per Degaton and Despero (in lame-ass 60s form, not the giant muscle-monster we say later), but that's the last of them for this arc.

-Dawnstar was apparently on Thanagar, shacking up with some chick. HOT. Benes of course draws Dream Girl with a power-thong. Jesus dude, that costume's made of METAL or something- that would be PAINFUL. And then there's DAWNSTAR's costume, skimpy at the best of times, but Benes goes for the full near-vag shot V-neck. I think if I were to introduce a girl to comics, I would hide the existence of Ed Benes forever. Turns out the Legionnaires remember stuff now, and have their Lightning Rods to "bring him back", and teleport away from the two Justice Teams.

-Superman explains the Lightning Rods with an EXACT description of an old Legion story, where Lightning Lad is brought back to life by the Rods, in an event guaranteed to kill one person holding them- turns out Chameleon Boy's throwaway shape-shifting pet Proty took Saturn Girl's place and died. Geo-Force notes how RETARDED that is. "You were KIDS." "No, Batman. We were LEGION." hahahahahahahha Okay, that was supposed to be dramatic and epic, but WOW, cheesy.

-More stuff explained. Starman is crazy because in the future, schizophrenia is easy to cure. Everyone was under mental blocks to keep Saturn Girl from peering into their minds. And the future is apparently really bad in their time now (note: The Legion stopped hanging with Supes when they were still teens, so he missed out most of the Post-Crisis adventures). But the remaining heroes (Wonder Woman, Liberty Belle, Hourman, Damage, Black Lightning) are searching for the last Legionnaire. Heh, Liberty Belle trying to hook Wonder Woman up with dudes is pretty funny- CLASSIC 'married woman' behavior. They find Triplicate Girl in the old Secret Society/Legion of Doom swamp HQ.

-The base ("Computo" apparently) attacks the heroes, but the Legion helps out alongside all the other JSA/JLA guys. At least Eaglesham can draw Wildcat III properly. Red Tornado mentions she has "Wind Programming". Uh-oh, maybe she IS a cute and sexy robot! Or a nano-person. Whatever. But the whole fight was really an illusion to cover the Legion's escape, courtesy of Princess Projectra/Sensor Girl. Boy, this story is just kind of all over the place, huh?

-So the Legion guys are with their Lightning Rods, to bring someone back. The heroes try to stop them from sacrficing one of their lives. It's still not entirely apparent who they're bringing back until GASP! Bruce & Hal recognize these places as where they've seen Barry Allen before! The lightning strikes Karate Kid, and the Legion disappears... bringing back Wally West and his entire family- with the age-old comic book stand-by, SUPER-AGED KIDS!! Good Lord, does NOBODY in comics have kids who don't age 15 years in one, or introduce themselves as long-lost adults? And Jeepers, Benes draws Wally West INSANELY ripped and huge compared to most artists. And all his guys look like they're using the exact same template, like he's fucking Jim Lee or JLU-era Bruce Timm or something. It's most notable when Wally, Hal and Roy are all standing in the exact same pose in one big line- same eyes, jawline, head-shape, muscle-mass, etc.

-Oh, but hey, Val Armmor is still alive, because he 'ducked' (why are they MAD at him? Wasn't one of them dying PART OF THE PLAN?), and he & Starman have to stay in our time period. Oh goodie, I was so enjoying Thom's whacky, crazy-guy ways.

-Final moments of the team-up bit sees the Legion remarking how odd it is that the 'wrong one' came out (they, along with Batman's whispered words, imply that Barry Allen was the one they expected), but Brainiac 5 says they "got WHO we wanted", looking at an electro-face in another Lightning Rod. This is so confusing....

-One-shot JLA issue is next, and it's an artsy-fartsy single-issue of Roy & Vixen being trapped in a building's wreckage, engaging in personal stuff and talking about nearly dying. Boy howdy, I appreciate the artistic style here, and the nature of the issue, but this is just SUCH a painful thing to read because they're trying SO HARD to be artsy. It really has no place in the giant heroics of a Justice League book, either. Gyst of it is that they're TURNED AROUND in the building (gasp!), and Vixen reveals she's only been stealing the powers of super-humans instead of animals, like that's somehow WORSE on a team with Superman & Wonder Woman on it.

-"Monitor Duty" has J'onn & Aquaman do a big narration about the history of the League, as Red Tornado angsts about his android body while everybody trades off on the monitors. It's revealed that Hawkgirl lost her daughter (though this got retconned later since it was needless and dumb), and she discovers Roy has a daughter, so she fucks him. Stupid man-whoring Roy Harper. At least it's not my precious Donna Troy he's befouling this time.

-AWESOME moment, as Ms. Useless (in this arc anyways) Black Canary calmly tells Kendra not to hurt Roy. "And he's still me boy. Don't hurt him." Jesus Christ, could Mama Bear-types be any hotter? Silver Ghost is acting as an informant to Black Lightning, who's pretending to still be allied with Lex Luthor. Since I don't collect JLA, this is meaningless to me. Same goes for Deathstroke making some 'deal' with Geo-Force, who goes all "Serious Mr. King Guy" and is actually taping the message for the League (which 'Stroke should TOTALLY already know by this point). Big Massive Line-Up Shot by Benes, which looks pretty awesome. I give him shit (and rightly so), but he's still one of the top artists of today.

-Next one is a GIANT mass artist collective from JLA #0, with the Trinity getting together over the years and discussing the current events of the DCU, drawn by a multitude of big stars. And some it's FUTURE stuff. Hal Jordan's wedding to a mystery woman! But WAIT! Bruce is still alive in this one! Does that mean that... HIS DEATH WON'T LAST?? Donna Troy's wedding to the late, lamented Stuffed into a Refridgerator Terry Long. They make light of the shitty "Vibe" era JLA. Pa Kent dies (hey, that happened recently, too!). Wonder Woman gives up immortality for a mystery guy (Nemesis? HAW.) They joke around about Bruce KOing Guy Gardner, back when EVERYONE reading comics hated the fuck out of him. I miss seeing 'funny' Batman. Bruce & Diana cry when Clark died against Doomsday. And more stuff. Really nice issue, actually, showing how close these three really are.

Roster Changes: None

Review: Well, this cross-over is a big fat mess. The whole 'mystery' going through the whole thing just serves to make things confusing, especially once you stack Legionnaires sent into the PAST, with their memories wiped then fixed, then the big reveal of their plan, then a NEW swerve as a different guy comes down... plus all the REALLY forced characterization bits. Vixen's angst over her powers, Roy suddenly being IN LOVE with Kendra, Red Tornado pulling the "is this what humanity means?" bit, Kendra being grouchy around ANOTHER team (why can't they just bring in the cool JLU-ish Shayera Hol? Best. Hawkgirl. Ever.), Geo-Force being boring as hell despite this being his greatest chance at legitimacy ever, etc. The JSA was really just shoved on here for the hell of it it seems, since they barely do anything.

And hardly ANY Cyclone! Cyclone to JSA is like Cowbell to the Blue Oyster Cult- you always need MORE! And hey- where the fuck was Alan Scott during all of this? The JSA's heavy hitter was like the only guy missing in this entire thing! More stuff... that "trapped in wreckage" issue was just artsy and out of place in my mind, and Monitor Duty was merely OK. The big retrospective of the Trinity conversing about DCU history was nice, but I always get nervous around "this is the future" stories, because it's constraining to current writers and so easily written out (just like when Stargirl & Atom Smasher got married in a future scene in JSA). Just... mediocre at best, and horribly confusing and shitty at worst. Failing grade here.

Best Moment: Cyclone's only two pages of major conversation. Especially that adorable gawky smile to Red Tornado.

Best Non-Cyclone Moment (because I'm going to have to start making this a regular title): Black Canary going all Mama Bear on Hawkgirl to not hurt "her boy". Growl.

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"Black Adam: The Dark Age" (BA: TDA #1-6)- written by Peter Tomasi, art by Doug Mahnke

-And now for something completely different... taking place between "52" and "Countdown", this is the story of how Black Adam got his powers back after Billy took them at the end of "World War III" (at least the second time a DC story has been called that).

-It starts with Adam (in human, Arab form-- why does he consistently switch between that and caucasian Theo Adam in his human form? Lazy writing & editing?) getting some of his loyalist followers to pummel him unrecognizable to slip through the soldiers now guarding his weakened homeland, while the JSA goes to help the reconstruction of Kahndaq. Oh, and bring in Black Adam.

-Already things get bizarre, as it's Terrific & Mid-Nite, along with Wildcat and ATOM SMASHER, who was of course not part of the JSA series by this point. They never DID quite explain why he didn't just get voted right back into the JSA once he got out of prison, did they? And GASP! He's got ultra-short hair, thus looking even MORE handsome! But now he's no taller than the rest of the team. Uh, hello Mr. Artist, he's supposed to ALWAYS be at least Big Show height. He acts mouthy with Wildcat too (who's depicted as even more un-PC than usual, calling the WWII Japanese "Nips" casually), and no mention is given that he actually SAVED Black Adam at the end of WWIII and probably let him go without a fight. Kind of bizarre characterization here, as I'm questioning this trade right away.

-Teth-Adam makes his way through the U.S. soldiers using unbeforeseen abilities of guile by pretending to be one of his own victims, having apparently put some ranks into Bluff recently. He & his buddies dig up his dead bride Isis, but get attacked by evil dudes also after her bones or something. Atom Smasher finds Isis' ring finger (with ring!) in the rubble later, but HIDES IT from the rest of the JSA! Oh, Albert, you SCAMP!

-Adam is now in the Himalayas, EATING THE BODY of his dead buddy Tamir, the last of his followers to survive. Oh, dear. He dumps Isis' bones into one of Ra's al-Ghul's Lazarus Pits (about time other DC guys started using RESURRECTION POOLS as a plot device), and she REVIVES, all naked and busty and stuff. But she decays in ultra-gory fashion in front of his eyes (yeah, comics definitely ain't for kids anymore, ya know), because something is wrong.

-Adam fights and beats a freakin' YETI out there, without his powers, using it's INTESTINES as a swing-line. Yeah, gross. Meanwhile, Batman & Superman find an assassin at the Kahndaqi Embassy and scare him into giving up info. Then Adam finds Fate's Tower using a shard of the Rock of Eternity, and makes a deal with Felix Faust, still trapped there from "52". They can bring Isis back, using her Amulet. Oh, and magic crap makes him Black Adam again. I hate magic in comics for this kind of stuff. And why are Faust's eyes so goddamned big, anyways? It makes him look like an idiotic 50s villain with no place in modern comics.

-Turns out Isis' resurrection failed because of her missing ring finger, and Adam has limited time in his super-powered form to get the pieces of the missing Amulet (scattered across the world... yeah, it's a Catch the Macguffin kind of story) together. First piece leads to a fight with Hawkman with tons of bad-ass moody lines from the two ancient caveman-types, and it ends with that BRILLIANT "on a wing and a prayer" panel with Adam casually tossing a one-winged Carter down hundreds of feet. Awesome scene, but really, how the FUCK does a guy like Hawkman last ten seconds against Black Adam in hand-to-hand? This guy's punched out Captain Marvel, and Hawkman eats a punch to the face and is merely hurt? I know the Nth metal helps him out a bit, but COME ON.

-Adam ends up getting shot up in human form by assassins, and harasses some veterinarians for medical help. In gratitude for their unwillingness to let him die on the table (they figured if he somehow recovered, he'd kill their families upon finding out they nearly let him die), he saves them from the assassins now following him with specialized bullets. Big JLA/JSA group pose as they talk about hunting down Adam by tracking the lightning, which lets me talk a bit about artist Doug Mahnke. Very good, competent stuff, and he draws gore and beatings better than anyone not named Ottley, but everyone looks so GRIM. Lines and harsh shading everywhere like he's Leinil Francis Yu-- except the WOMEN, who are all Elf-like and pretty and big-eyed. And we see CYCLONE~~!! in the group pose, flying around for some reason while everyone else just stands there. Well, I guess it makes sense given her personality.

-Adam gets another piece in China, and makes another guy fall apart from freezing in outer space while he deactivates the JSA's tracking satellite. And now Al separates the ring from Isis' finger, but it explodes in a flash of light for some reason, and other U.N. government types discuss new magic Rock of Eternity bullets that can magically kill Black Adam.

-And now the moment we've all been waiting for... the BROMANCE of Albert & Adam continues! They meet up in NY for some recollections, with Al apparently going behind the JSA's backs on THIS, too! Oh, you and your misguided loyalties, Albert... He feels that Adam should take his bride (he gives him the finger... Isis', that is) and disappear FOREVER, because he knows that Adam's murder of Bialya is unacceptable and pushed him fully into the dark side, no matter how bad he feels for scaring vets or killing fish. And yet... Al lies about the ring, making up a story about losing it. I have no idea why. There's just some really good emotion in this scene, as Al clearly can't stand what Adam's become, but is still loyal enough to lie for him and try to protect him, while Adam is just sad that it's all come to this, and regrets losing what they had. Sniffle.

-Another piece in a poor-ass villain of once-barren women (taking a retarded amount of time-- all this gathering could easily have been done in a couple panels), and the last is in Antarctica... where he meets the U.N. legion of soldiers and their magic bullets. So Mahnke does ANOTHER big stretch of him just mowing down random thugs by flying through them and knocking them into the freezing waters and stuff, but HE GETS SHOT. Adam escapes, and the JSA/JLA shows up to confront the soldiers. Really, they sent CYCLONE out on a mission to stop a mass-murdering psychopath? That girl can barely control her tornados at this point; much less take on Captain Fly-Through-Bodies.

-Highlight of the series: Teth-Adam, looking like a hobo, strolling into a Fawcett City Ice Cream Shoppe, getting a ridiculously long-winded description of a Chocolate Egg Cream, ordering one, and BOOM!- that's the secret new magic word for the lightning, and he transforms to Black Adam without using Isis' remaining power.

-Adam & Faust do the big resurrection dealie, but it FAILS- Faust blame's Adam's repeatead use of his powers, and Adam tears off in a rage upon hearing "Isis" blaming him for everything wrong with her life. Faust then smart-assedly explains everything to Ralph Dibny's skeleton, saying that he fooled Adam all along, and really DID bring Isis back, and was using Dibny's body as a ruse. Then he escapes Fate's Tower using her drugged and slowed body. And that's that.

Review: Six issues of comics for that? This could EASILY have been done in less than two issues- maybe even just ONE, and featured some of the most drawn-out stuff EVER. What was the need for three or four full pages each of Antarctica, poor Africans and a Chinese submarine? And all for basically nothing major, as Isis is brought back, but only by Faust's trickery, in something that didn't really get paid off till much later anyhow. Just way too confusing (why did the ring blow in a flash of light, anyhow?), full of decompressed silliness, and based entirely around Adam whining about how dark and morbid he had become, placed around mountains of ridiculous gore and gristle. I mean, it was GOOD gore and gristle, but it seemed more like a decompressed masturbatory excercise in 90s-storytelling than a really good comic book series.

Best Moment: The "On a wing and a prayer" line, followed by tossing a beaten and bloodied Hawkman fourty stories down. And also the diner scene with Adam & Albert, explaining just where the characters stood (Al was still loyal to Adam, but realized he had gone way too far and needed to go down, or disappear forever).

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"JSA: Thy Kingdom Come, Part One" (JSA #)- written by Geoff Johns & Alex Ross, art by Dale Eaglesham & Fernando Pasarin
JSA line-up: Green Lantern I, Flash I, Wildcat I, Hawkman II, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Power Girl, Jakeem Thunder (not present), Stargirl, Sandman II (not present), Hourman II, Liberty Belle II, Obsidian (security system), Cyclone, Damage, Starman VIII, Wildcat III

-We open back to the 'regular' JSA series, where Nathan Heywood wakes up in a steel body, FREAKS, and starts throwing shit around. Mid-Nite (who's sole job in this run seems to be diagnosing people) calms him down, and brings him to see his remaining family... an eleven year old girl and a few other kids. Phew. And poor Nate can't even go visit them, because his raw strength in steel form is tearing the living crap out of everything he touches, which is a nice touch you don't often see from super-types, because most of them are experienced. As a result of this, the JSA builds him a suit to withhold some of his power... but he doesn't react well to the colours- he doesn't want to be a super-hero like the other two men in his life, so the Commander Steel outfit bugs him. And how in the hell did they make it get coloured that way when it was POURED MOLTEN METAL, anyways? Shouldn't they have just painted it? Weird comics science.

-In any case, Power Girl comes in and brings Nate for an ass-kicking of some Fourth Reich loyalists, while Superman talks to Starman, who's as extra-annoying to read the dialogue of as ever. Wow, I really dislike how this guy's being handled.

-So PG leads Wildcat & the Junior JSA members into a firefight with armed psychopaths, which just seems like a TERRIBLE idea, but I guess they gotta start somewhere. "Maybe he's allergic to cats", heh, I like this TomCat kid. Though Eaglesham's the only artist in comics who can seemingly draw him. Fight's pretty one-sided, as you'd expect. "Boo to Nazis!" Oh, Stargirl, I love you too. But as a brother. Yes, a brother who wants you to hook up with his man-cru... favourite super-hero Atom Smasher.

-Power Girl christens Nate "Citizen Steel", and he officially joins the team. Am I crazy, or did PG & Nate seem kinda in the first stages of a hook-up here? Might just be reading into things, since they pretty much hang out NEVER after this. Hey, Cyclone all of a sudden has a slit up the side of her dress again, after several panels of not having one. Weird, Eaglesham. Nate finally gets to hang out with his surviving family members, and is happy again. YAY!

-Next issue is a Liberty Belle focus, describing her relationship with Rick "Hourman" Tyler (he's a wild & whacky guy, super-eager and exciteable and annoying, but she loves him all the same), and her childhood. I always thought it was REALLY lame that nice 'saved from comics limbo' characters like Johnny Quick & Liberty Belle I, who had a great marriage in All-Star Squadron, ended up divorced and disliking each other in our time. Things like this remind me of how awkward it is to have characters be so long-lived. Libby & Johnny were married in the FOURTIES, and popped out only one kid in all that time, apparently only twenty-plus years ago. At least it's better than the entire JSA proper being married for eons, and hatching only a couple legitimate podlings between ten freaking guys, at least ones that knew of their parentage all along (those being Rick Tyler & Hector Hall... not counting Lyta Hall anymore). Everything else is 'latter day' revelations and mystery kids, or ones who died young (Jay's adopted kid, Ted's dead kid, Ted's new kid, Alan's two kids).

-Uh-oh, the team gets called in to stop Zoom, the Reverse-Flash who beat the hell out of Damage's face, and it's in ATLANTA, the place he's banned from because he blew up part of it. Damage ignores them because he's a general shitstain, and it's a big problem. Especially once DAMAGE takes the VILLAIN hostage, trying to kill him. Jesse of course walks in to stop him, having taken ol' Grant (why must the only comic book character with my first name be such an utter tool?) under her wing.

-And seriously, why is the tight blue shirt/baggy yellow mountie-pants combo so HOT? I can't figure it out. Especially under Fernando Pasarin's guest-pencils; he really has her DOWN, moreso than even the usually awesome Dale. I guess the fact that it looks like he just coloured her naked torso blue might have something to do with it (seriously, any artist will tell you you're not supposed to draw each boob like it's own fully-shaped entity when someone's wearing a shirt- no matter HOW tight it is. Not that it stops comics artists EVER). Jessie calms Damage down finally by discussing her new mantra ("Just because something is broken, doesn't mean you throw it away"... good as any, I guess, though it's no "With Great Power..."). Zoom uses that to try to kill him, but Jessie uses her OLD mantra, and suddenly she can ALSO use SUPER-SPEED, making her roughly twice as powerful. Nice. Though now she's doubly-redundant, on a team with Power Girl, Citizen Steel AND Jay Garrick having all of her powers between them, all at higher levels.

-The JSA fights out of getting Grant tossed into prison by demanding the cops arrest ALL of them, and that's the end of it. Cops sure are more easily-cowed in this world. I can't imagine that working anywhere else. "You nearly murdered a man deliberately after breaking a Restraining Order on a city? Well as long as your friends say it's OK."

-Next issue has Power Girl angsting about being alone in the world AGAIN, after Kal-L/Superman I died. Boy, that's getting tiresome sometimes, y'know? It's nice of her to have an Achilles Heel after being such a generic aggressive bitch for so long, but man, broken record here. And the rest of the JSA is helping out at the Fire Hall belonging to the firemen who helped the Wildcats out. Big splash page is pretty entertaining, showing just WHY Dale Eaglesham needs some time off occasionally, with like fourty people milling around. Damage telling the kids he could beat up the ENTIRE Justice League almost makes me love the bugger. Poor Hourman is shot down by Jessie when he openly coos over a cute baby. Ow. Maxine is as adorable as ever, but is definitely playing a minor role so far.

-And in a CLASSIC bit, Stargirl is being openly followed around by a semi-adult-looking fireman (I guess he'd have to be at LEAST eighteen), and Jay Garrick walks up and politely ("You're a bit old for her, aren't you son?") comments on the age disparity, resulting in Stargirl's EXTREMELY realistic and hilarious "JAAAAAYYYY". hahahaha this book rules sometimes.

-It leads to an exhibition boxing match between the Wildcats, as Ted beats the snot out of Tommy, who really looks ineffective as a super-hero. I mean, he's a super-cat, but he can't beat one of the weaker JSAers? I guess Ted IS a lethal bad-ass who trained the Bat and all, but this isn't even CLOSE. They really go out of their way to make Tommy look retarded in his boxers & headgear.

-Emergency fire! It's been caused by Goth, one of the big reasons why the Devin Grayson Titans revival was an utter failure- in that one of their big 'new' villains was an idiotic Marilyn Manson rip-off demon who was manipulating children. At least he's killed here, by a mystery assailant. The magic fire is really dangerous and about to kill everybody, when Starman Power-Stunts a black hole over Goth's body, which is deus ex machina enough to bring an older, Kal-Lish SUPERMAN out of the portal.

-And yes, it's the Superman of Kingdom Come, since Alex Ross is taking such a big part in this JSA reboot series. Why he's on the SOCIETY instead of the more appropriate LEAGUE isn't explained, but whatever. Haha, Cyclone looks so cute peering over Ma Hunkel's shoulder all "UH-OH..." Note also that virtually every time her feet are drawn, they're pointing towards each other, just to make her look EXTRA gawky every time she poses. It's the little things that give you characterization, folks...

-Starman kinda explains that KC Superman here is from Earth-22, the Kingdom Come-verse, right at the moment the bomb was dropped on all the metahumans. Maxine's hyper-fast conversation about it being nice to meet Superman, unless they'd met before, but she'd probably remember that, and needing a drink of water is adorable. KC Supes is happy that the JSA is around, because this world isn't the Crapsack World of his Earth. But then he hears some girl attempt to commit suicide, so he MUST escape the JSA's base. But THEY don't know that, so they try to stop him, and we get one of those meaningless Superhero Meets Superhero battles that are so famous, though at least it's all grappling here. It serves the purpose of showing just HOW powerful Superman here is, as he easily fights off the entire JSA and flies off to save the girl.

-That issue ends with everyone still being confused about this Supes, and the JLA shows up. And Chroma, another lame godly character, is murdered by whatever killed Goth.

-Jay & Wally fly the Cosmic Treadmill in an attempt to find Earth-2, but it reveals a glimmer of Robin I & Huntress I and then goes to black, as apparently modern writers just LOVE that concept of Earth-2. The JLA/JSA team finds nothing wrong with KC Supes, and engages in some MORE conversation about how they're doing the right thing on this Earth (a little obsessed and heavy-handed here, Johns?), and Power Girl angsts AGAIN about missing Superman & Lois I, this time actually checking their bodies with X-Ray vision to ensure they're dead, which gives us the DELIGHTFUL image of their decaying bodies. Ew.

-A new crisis rears itself, but not before My Beautiful & Beloved and her understanding best pal Stargirl present Superman with a new, non-iconically ripped costume. Jesus, Stars must be a SAINT to put up with Maxine all this time. The crisis turns out to be the newly-created Judomaster II, an unrelated-to-Rip-Jagger girl named Sonia Sato. Always liked Judomaster, mainly from his awesome costume (he was another WWII-era character created years later & introduced to the All-Star Squadron, during the martial-arts craze of the 70s). So Miss Sato is fighting some boring losers called The Blood Soldiers, agents of her dead father's boss. This rapid-fire backstory & all these villains don't matter for any future stories, in case you were busy trying to memorize it. A lot of that going around in this new JSA series, really.

-Judomaster II has a unique power, one that is actually REALLY lame when you think about it, the ability to never be hit by a direct attack ever. So every shot misses her unless it's an explosion or something. LAME. Before so much as a few panels of fighting can occur, it's all over (the big fat sumo's exploding body trick being the biggest thing seen) when the JSA gets there, and the police try to arrest Sonia for being a part of all the fighting & destruction. Damage is the one to beg them off this time, bringing joy to Jessie & Rick's faces.

-And now we finally see the NEW Mr. America, Jeffrey Graves, the fired FBI agent who was pals with the one who got killed in the first JSA issue. He's investigating the death of Chroma now.

-Holy crap, it's JAKEEM! Johns remembered him & his annoying-ass super-powers existed again! He gets to meet the new gang of the JSA (well, the boy members), as well as Judomaster, who speaks no English, and easily avoids Wildcat's best punches in the training ring.

-The elder JSA guys look at the next batch of potential recruits (Nightwing? Donna Troy? REALLY?), and the recruitment begins AGAIN, in much bigger fashion, and with much weaker characters. Amazing-Man III is the first, and we get a mini-bio of the original dude, now retconned into history (he's another "Added to the Golden Age long after it was over" guys, as part of Roy Thomas' idea to create a new black character and put him in THAT era to showcase how the heroes & public would deal with it) as the captor of James Earl Ray and an important Civil Rights figure. The new guy is a grandson, inheriting Bill Everett's Absorbing-Man-type powers, and looks like a giant Muslim from Hell. He gives a happy little moral lecture about not allowing horrible tragedy (he stopped a guy who's family died during the New Orleans Hurricane Katrina thing from robbing people) to affect your morals.

-Mr. America III finds another dead body, that of Proteus, a winged false-god whom I've NEVER heard of. Johns is really cleaning up the terrible comic-book side characters here. He's croaked, along with all his New Olympians buddies, all mysteries to me, too. We finally see in sihlouette who the mystery assassin is. BUT I WON'T TELL!

-Mr. Terrific, Stargirl & CYCLONE~~!! go to visit a new recruit, this one not one of THEIR legacies, which kind of mucks up the whole concept, to be honest. It's Jennifer Pierce, the OTHER daughter of Black Lightning. Oh, poor Black Lightning's creator. He threw a shit-fit I heard when they created a kid for him out of NOWHERE, after YEARS of solo stories & Outsiders stuff involving him and no mention of the girl, and now he's got a SECOND one. HAH! Everyone bitches about that Outsiders team that ended up going nowhere and helping nobody (short of making sure Arsenal stayed it at least one ongoing constantly, and introducing us to boring characters Grace & Thunder & that stupid robot chick), which is pretty damning. I mean, most guys who get made fun of IN-CONTINUITY are guys like Gunfire & Geomancer.

-Anyways, Terrific's & Courtney's tiny hidden smiles to Jefferson blowing up at his daughter browning out their house with her powers is pretty hilarious mini-characterization from Dale. And "Lightning" is of course another favourite Alex Ross design, the Black Lightning II from Kingdom Come, who I always thought looked really stupid. I mean, why would a glowing chick have such deep shading all over her body? And have Energy-ridden Lightning Bolts that look like CARTOON electricity sticking out of her, too? Maxine of course makes the worst possible impression straight away, freaking out and talking a mile a minute in a backstory-laden speech (she's an only child and her parents pushed her super-hard and she can only be herself around the JSA and they should all stay up at night in the same room and make costumes), and is for some reason drawn REALLY ugly here by Dale, with a mouth way too big (even for her) and a weird misshapen head & overly-drawn freckles. See, her light Archie-style freckles are CUTE, but you really can't INK THEM IN like they do here. You've got to define them purely by COLOUR, though that takes away from the penciller's stake in things a bit.

-OH MY GOD, CONTINUITY ERROR! Courtney covers Maxine's mouth with her bare hand, when she's established as wearing GLOVES for this scene! I read comics good!

-Next recruit is some dude wearing the Eye of Providence on his arm, who's the great-grandson of FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, aka the President retconned into forming the JSA/All-Star Squadron, making him a big-time awesome legacy. He's a soldier, serving in Afghanistan. Apparently there are THREE-HUNDRED metahumans serving in the Armed Forces, which seems a little bit insane to me. I mean, they could all just be minor metas and shit, but THREE-HUNDRED? There are barely that many SUPER-HEROES active! Apparently many others figured out David's eventual deal here quickly, but I never did- having less knowledge of the Eye since I don't use American money and not getting the significane of that.

-And at the very end, a brutalized Mr. America pops in (bringing up memories of the other's ass-kicking in JSA #1) asking anyone what they know about the murderer... GOG! DUM DUM DUMMMMM!!!

Roster Changes: Ho-KAY.... Citizen Steel joins early. Followed quickly by Judomaster II, Amazing-Man III, Lightning II (the first was a Vietnamese Teen Titan associate), Mr. America III, David "Lance" Reid, Jakeem kinda returns, Superman of Earth-22 moves into the Brownstone.

Review: Huh. This one had a pretty nice basis by focusing on one member at a time and dealing with their personality and backstory, which was nice, and then settled RIGHT into building and building the roster to ridiculous levels. I was with them for Citizen Steel, but adding Judomaster, who can't even talk to the team? Then Lightning, a superfluous Blaster-type? Then Amazing-Man? And Lance, the most boring-looking metahuman in HISTORY? And the super-redundant Mr. America? Jesus. The whole Kingdom Come Superman thing has always kinda weirded me out, as it's nice for Alex & Geoff to live out Kingdom Come fantasies again, but he just feels ODD in a book that's barely about him at all (KC had MUCH more to do with the JSA, and he's significantly different from Superman I, who only LOOKS like this guy). The "This is how super-heroes are supposed to act" thing becomes a mantra for the entire series, for better or worse. I mean, it's a nice concept and all, but I kinda like it when the book was about stopping super-villains and the next big "Event" arc and stuff like that, while allowing good characterization during all the down-times. Oh, and remember when the JSA's roster seemed GIGANTIC with ten guys on the squad? I miss that.

Thumbs in the middle, here. Every issue was nice and AT LEAST passable, and a few moments were truly funny and great, but things are just getting out of control with the roster at this point, and you never really buy anyone being in any severe danger for even a second, like the 'old' JSA series. The worst villains of the entire thing are some Nazi soldiers with guns, and Professor Zoom, who gets taken out by ONE JSAer.

Best Moment: Jay cock-blocking that dude for hitting on Stargirl. Close call, since Cyclone's mile-a-minute dialogue to KC Superman was so adorable (along with her toes pointing towards each other while hanging onto Ma Hunkel), but I went with my mind instead of my weiner on this one.

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"JSA: Thy Kingdom Come, Part Two" (JSA #)- written by Geoff Johns & Alex Ross, art by Dale Eaglesham, Jerry Ordway & Fernando Pasarin
JSA line-up: Green Lantern I, Flash I, Wildcat I, Hawkman II, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Power Girl, Jakeem Thunder, Stargirl, Sandman II (not present), Hourman II, Liberty Belle II, Obsidian (security system), Cyclone, Damage, Starman VIII, Wildcat III, Citizen Steel, Judomaster II, Amazing Man III, Lightning II, Mr. America III, Lance, KC Superman (ally)

-ANGER!! Cyclone is totally skipped over on the big double-wide roster page! They even list MA HUNKEL on there!

-Greatness to start off the second part of the Johns/Ross magnum opus, as Jakeem Thunder bitches at Stargirl, speaking for an increasingly large segment of the fanbase with "This team is too damn BIG!" Why is it that EVERY artist draws Stargirl's mask like it goes right up to her hairline with no skin showing at all? It's not like the hair's coming from UNDER the mask, either, you can actually see the bottom of the part in her hair OVER the blue. I guess it would be hard to draw without looking dumb. Jakeem storms into the room owned by Lightning, and his paused reaction upon seeing her is all you really need. GREAT facial expressions from Fernando Pasarin here, too (the guy's nearly as good as Eaglesham- I wonder why he didn't get to take over the book later), as Jakeem looks all dopey, Jennifer/Lightning is all cranky, and Stargirl is all sly and smiley in that cute way she always is.

-"... So hands off.... You too, Romeo." hah, I like Black Lightning.

-The team talks with the bruised Mr. America about Gog, realizing that he's been the Heartbreak Slayer all along. What the-- why does Pasarin draw Power Girl with the semi-updated detailed costume (with the lines going down the middle & sides), and Eaglesham doesn't? Does Dale just not like drawing them or what? Confusion abounds, as KC Superman says the same looking guy plagued his Earth as "Magog", but this dude is the guy intro'd into the regular Superman comics much later. To pretty much no acclaim and nobody even really noticing. Kinda like "The Kingdom", the OTHER attempt at draining some more life out of the KC concept. Good thing DC totally gave up on that concep... oh wait.

-The two Supermen meet up, with the KC one angsting over his Lois' death and warning Supes about this 'other' Gog. They get the call that he's fighting Hercules (as in the real one) in Gotham City. Herc loses the fight and Gog runs off, but Hercules gets all bitchy with Supes for no reason and starts throwing punches, because I guess we needed a fight scene or something. And this one chooses to show us the power level differences between the Supermen of two worlds, as Regular Kal-El goes flying into a building with one shot, but KC Superman eats it WITHOUT MOVING, catches his next punch, and absolutely wipes him out with one punch. See, now I'm not quite sure the point of establishing that OH MY GOD OUR SUPERMAN IS SO MUCH COOLER THAN THE JLA'S SUPERMAN, but I guess they wanted to do that.

-AND we get a SWERVE, as Gog is worshipping a giant purple head in the ground, and I go "WTF?"

-HOLY CRAP, IT'S SANDMAN!! Ol' Sandy is still having bad dreams, something that the JSA writers kinda ignored in the prior run. Power Girl gets him to check out some ash left at the scene of Gog's battle with Hercules, while we see Gog give a little speech about his origins (he's supposedly the "Herald" of a God beneath the Earth), while he fights a second-rate character named "Infinity Man". Apparently a New Gods guy, but I hate that shit so I have no idea who he is. I-Man teleports away, and Sandy knows where he is.

-BIG group-shot of the JSA at their Meeting Table, as you finally get a full-on shot of the gigantic team. They kinda link up the whole Kingdom Come/Magog thing to the JSA by bringing up "Legacies", and giving KC's Magog a backstory as the successor of Gog I here, but I still don't entirely buy it. Starman tells my precious Cyclone (who's proving to be quite thoughtful- actually giving Starman the time of day) that they'll all die for suresies if a "Magog" is born on Earth. Poor Lightning bonks a T-Sphere and shuts down all the electricity in the building, leading to one of her two emotions (at least, all she's ever shown): "Embarassment" This goes along with "Annoyance" from before.

-This allows Gog himself to show up in the JSA's homebase via teleportation, with Sandman stuck to his giant Power Staff. Jakeem is first on the attack, but he gets KOed two seconds in. Poor Cyclone tries next, and SHE gets a full-on whack to the skull! YOU SON OF A BITCH!! I hate Gog forever now, putting Cyclone out of this story.

-Now it's a full-on brawl, as apparently the JSA's entire team tactics in the era of Power Girl have been reduced to "All charge the enemy at once and dogpile them". I guess it's all you can do with seventy-five guys, but c'mon, Sandy & Terrific used to have all kinds of bizarre plans going on. Dumb ol' Hawkman takes a God-killing blast to the chest and somehow survives, and Amazing Man proves to be as resourceful as Carl Creel by simply absorbing the awesome power of the Staff of Gog, though apparently he can't shoot energy blasts. Gog still kicks some ass, pausing at the end of an issue to face Green Lantern (in full KC regalia, because they're just hitting ALL CYLINDARS of that now) and Obsidian, who is now FINALLY GOING TO DO SOMETHING!!

-Obsidian actually goes INSIDE of Gog (and knowing his sexual proclivities, Todd Rice actually fits most jokes about that), but Gog shoots himself IN THE FACE to get him out. Stargirl, who's NEVER been really good in a scrape, proves her worth by putting all of Lightning's aggression towards Gog, and she fries him for a bit. Liberty Belle does a bunch of super-punches amidst a Wildcat-pile, but again Gog is just an unstoppable monster, putting everyone through many foreign objects. Citizen Steel is actually IMMUNE to all of this for some reason.... I mean, I know he's tough, but he's JUST made of STEEL. Not even Titanium or Diamond or any of that stuff- unless Organic Steel is just a fancy name for super-hard ultra-comic-metals. Sucky ol' Judomaster does some stuff (not sure why Gog would even REACT to human-level punches), but Gog apparently figures out her weakness in two seconds because he blows off an Area Attack.

-Back at HQ, Cyclone has a concussion, but finds a monkey in the spot where Gog & Sandman came from. Gog teleports back out and takes half the team to Africa with him. The giant purple head behind him calls him a blasphemer and basically EATS HIM in a vortex, and that's it for that fight. Well, at least Eaglesham proved he could do a massive superhuman slugfest pretty well, even though it took half an issue. And now the head gets a body, and walks out of the Earth, turning into a big creepy smiling guy called GOG. Like the other guy. This is confusing.

-It's a DAMAGE-voiced couple panels! Grant whines about how much life sucks by making fun of his dad The Atom (yes, ANOTHER JSAer turns out to have had a long-lost child), and his adopted dad beating him up. Mr. Terrific attempts to communicate with the creepy smiling dude in the sky, but "he doesn't believe in Gods" is a valid enough reason for Gog to not even comprehend his presence, because... I dunno. But Amazing Man sure can. Gog walks into a poor-ass African village, and decides to save everybody by making food grow and curing the sick, as we get the grasp of a fully messianic being coming to Earth and doing godly things.

-Minor story thingie! BLACK ADAM IS BACK, MOTHERFUCKERS!! And Eaglesham draws the best Adam EVER, all menacing and huge and shit. Jerry Ordway, take notice- he ain't some skinny pervert with goofy hair. And ISIS might be back, too!

-Gog explains his origin: He's from the Third World (ie. the one that birthed the New Gods when it died), was cast out when he refused to choose a side in their Ragnarok (interesting note: Kirby kinda meant the Third World to represent his Marvel Norse Mythological Set-Up), and has been stuck on Earth all this time. The William Matthews Gog found him and a staff his first worshippers made, but went crazy from visions, and that's why that terrible character hated Superman. And Gog one-shot killed Matthews because he was going to die of a disease anyways, and was evil and stuff.

-LOOONNG expository issue ends with Damage freaking out AGAIN, but this time, Gog gives him the Love Finger, and lo and behold, he's beautiful!! Huge jawline, long hair, pretty eyes- he's nearly a match for my beloved Atom Smasher!

-Next issue starts at the JSA HQ, with Maxine now taking care of the African Monkey (nobody thought to RETURN IT, I guess), which is now wearing a shirt with wings on it, like the Ozian monkeys of lore (it's handwaved as being non-cruel, because Maxine tried to remove it, but "Frankie" loves it). And OH MY FUCKING GOD, LOOK AT HOW CYCLONE IS STANDING!!!

-My God, she's got her feet crossed in an adorable, shy way, WHILE STANDING UP!! How is that even POSSIBLE?? But it's SO CUTE! I cut out the panel where she says "You look nice, Grant" and pretend she's saying it to ME (we share a first name, Damage and I)! Such is my love! I find Dale's own quote about her very nice: And then there’s Maxine Hunkel, A.K.A. Cyclone, an odd and poignant character. She is a kind person and a unique individual in every sense of the word. That people disliked her costume somehow made me like it even more. I added the witchy-poo hat in defiance of readers rejecting the crazy witchy suit she had and when I saw it on her, I knew that I would never want her costume to change. The costume is childish, representing a hanging-on to lost innocence. It hides a very complex character that grieves from past traumas and that makes it so much more than just a goofy costume. We only skimmed the surface of her personality and that is a shame.

-Back in Africa, the JSA contingent is joined by the JLA for some explanations and exposition. It Portsmouth, Terrific & Mid-Nite FINALLY have another heart-to-heart after a giant gap, and again it's about religion. Terrific thankfully hasn't rescinded his Atheistic status since last time he promised to give it a shot, but now he's complaining because he CAN'T "master faith", like it's his hugest weakness ever.

-Gog does more stuff. He tells Stargirl she isn't useless, gives Sand a dreamless sleep for once, cures Mid-Nite's eyesight, cures Starman's mind, skips over poor Nate/Steel, and then teleports Power Girl away! Well that's a lot of stuff to happen at once.

-OMG, it's Earth-2! The JSA's original Earth! With Huntress I, back when she was important because she was Batman & Catwoman's daughter! Except she WASN'T important, because she didn't even last two seconds in Infinity, Inc or the JSA's own book! And hey, it's Jerry Ordway doing the art, and he DOESN'T suck this time around! See, he was pretty generic and not too great on the old "Infinity Inc" books, but completely fell apart as an artist in the past couple years, but here he's actually okay. Hah, it's old Jade & Dr. Midnight (the chick version who failed miserably). Then it's adult Robin/Dick Grayson! This is so weird, and kinda shows you just why Earth-2 had to die the first time around. I mean, I like Silver Age goofiness as much as the next guy, but you can't KEEP TELLING STORIES about adult Dick still wearing his Robin gear.

-Anyways, the whole deal is that Power Girl's been sent there, and her best pal Huntress is dealing with it, with the Justice Society Infinity, a collection of the old JSAers & Infinity kids into a big team. Actually, it's just the Infinitors plus Robin & The Atom I. Hey, there's failed successor Wildcat, the latina chick! And Hector "Dr. Fate IV" Hall in his terrible Silver Scarab duds! And my beloved Atom Smasher, back when he was a mohawk-wearing dorky 80s reject (seriously, he was the most punk-looking superhero ever, yet he was entirely characterized as this wishy-washy shy dork). This is much funnier having read 20 Infinity books at realizing how utterly mediocre that whole team was. Not that the fact that 80% of them didn't live to see the year 2009 wouldn't imply that anyways.

-So PG and Huntress team up to bring down The Joker, who in his ancient state has burned Helena's fiancee's face to create another "Two-Face". PG saves her from one last Joker hand-buzzer gag, and the old man dies. AND it turns out there's an extra-sad story on top of things, because Helena was going to TURN DOWN Harry Sims when he popped the question, but can't now out of guilt. Because (as PG guesses), she's been in love with ROBIN her entire life! As in, the guy who probably helped raise her since she was an infant, because THAT isn't creepy or anything.

-And then Power Girl shows up. As in, the real PG from THIS Earth, because it's that kind of story. So the whole 'everybody gets together all happy' thing proves not to be accurate after all. Our PG runs off, and Earth-2 Power Girl gets her entire JSI together (now with Johnny Thunder, Hawkman & Hawkgirl) to go on the hunt.

-Meanwhile, our JSA goes against some random soldiers out in the Congo. Why don't they ever do this kind of crap on their own? They gotta have demi-gods teleporting them out here to give a crap? No wonder Atom Smasher left to go do it.

-Damage hits on Judomaster still. He has the cutest superhero EVER crushing on him, and all he can think about is Yellow Fever? You suck, Damage. "I'm HOT now, aren't I?" GOD WHAT A TOOL! Most. Unlikeable. Hero. Ever.

-Nate angsts over his lack of ability to feel things, and wants Gog to help him, but the big guy just keeps marching. Now Gog is turning enemy soldiers into TREES, which Hawkman is totally approving of, while the rest of the team freaks out over basically killing them. See, because Hawkman is OLD-SCHOOL and understands the need for lethal force. Except that the entirety of "Black Reign" (you know, the story five or six trades ago) was ENTIRELY ABOUT THAT, and Hawkman was on the OPPOSITE SIDE! Really, Johns wrote BOTH of these stories, so I wonder why he conveniently ignores that. Just to have a JSA veteran lead the "Pro-Gog" team?

-And then Lance Corporal David Reid becomes the only superhero in the history of the world to die to a single soldier with a bazooka, as it hits his lame Hand-Gun thingie (which is discovered by Hawkman to be a piece of Gog earlier) and blows up. I still had no idea they were gonna make him Magog, really. I just don't read into things that much, unless it involves Shipping my favourite heroes :). Mid-Nite can't save him because he can't see inside his body anymore (our second inkling that Gog's "gifts" aren't that great after all), and he dies. But in comes Gog, who rebuilds him with a wave of his hand, into Magog, complete with his Kingdom Come Cable-esque armour.

-And we end with "Professor Michael Holt" on Earth-2 (!?!) being confronted by Earth-1's Power Girl. She needs his help.

Roster Changes: Lance Corporal David Reid dies, being reborn as Magog. Maxine gets a monkey named "Frankie".

Review: Well, at least they didn't add any more members. This whole thing just felt 'off', though. After one giant fight against one Gog, they discover another ORIGINAL Gog, who rewrites the unlikeable first one out, and then they follow him for ISSUE AFTER ISSUE while he does stuff and grants gifts like a God, while the massive 24-man line-up converses about things. And yes, the gigantic roster brings with it a horde of complications now, as there simply isn't ANY time to dwell on any particular subject.

Grant Emerson becomes a giant douche thanks to his pretty face, shown only by a couple panels where he brags about it. Mid-Nite can now see, but we don't get ANY of his "Oh my god, this is amazing" characterization because he's too busy being one of twenty guys in Africa. Obsidian FINALLY shows up to do some stuff, but after the Gog fight he just shrinks back and does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Sandman gets some characterization with his creepy nightmares FINALLY, and then boom, he disappears as soon as he finds Gog, allowing the rest of the monster roster to do things. Stargirl, the shining symbol of the current JSA, does nothing but comment about stuff. Starman becomes sane, and does nothing. Jakeem crushes on Lightning, but you only see it TWICE because there's just TOO MUCH GOING ON. She & the Wildcats COMPLETELY vanish once the Gog thing gets going in Africa.

There are just TOO MANY PEOPLE HERE, and it detracts from EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. Hell, Dale Eaglesham complained about this a bit in his exit interview from DC, where he said it was sad that Cyclone, his favourite of all the new characters, just got the surface barely scratched of her personality, because BOOM, we had to shoot over to Damage hitting on Judomaster, and Jakeem doing something, and Sandman doing stuff, and Amazing-Man commenting on something else. I can see WHY they built up the roster (the JSA is now the teachers of the next generation, while the JLA can be the flagship), but it has way too many bad aspects to it.

And then there's the whole "Gog" storyline. It's a good BASE CONCEPT, because it's all about faith, and the new order, and maybe allowing this guy to do things being the right move or not. Moral questions like that are great in super-hero comics. But... it's just so DECOMPRESSED. A full trade of basically a guy walking around saying cryptic things, while the rest of the JSA runs around him. Things are awkward, especially because too many guys are running around getting their two cents in. And frickin' Hawkman acts ENTIRELY out of character, saying Gog's great for doing shit that he led the ENTIRE TEAM on a dangerous mission inside Kahndaq to prevent earlier. Just... kind of disappointing across the board, especially when Kingdom Come Superman is here for a whole trade but does NOTHING OF NOTE, again because of roster issues.

Best Moment: Maxine crushing on Damage, making adorable gawky faces and standing with her feet pointing towards each other, because she's gorgeously cute. I must've read those panels a billion times.

Best Non-Cyclone Moment: The massive free-for-all against Gog when he showed up at their homebase. This book has been VERY much missing on fight scenes, so that was appreciated.

---

"JSA: Thy Kingdom Come, Part Three" (JSA #)- written by Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi & Alex Ross, art by Dale Eaglesham, Alex Ross, Jerry Ordway & Fernando Pasarin
JSA line-up: Green Lantern I, Flash I, Wildcat I, Hawkman II, Dr. Mid-Nite III, Mr. Terrific II, Power Girl, Jakeem Thunder, Stargirl, Sandman II (not present), Hourman II, Liberty Belle II, Obsidian (security system), Cyclone, Damage, Starman VIII, Wildcat III, Citizen Steel, Judomaster II, Amazing Man III, Lightning II, Mr. America III, Magog, KC Superman (ally)

-And we're back, with the final part of Johns' uber-arc on the book! The Michael Holt of Earth-2 is still with Power Girl of our Earth, where he dishes out his own story- basically just like Mr. Terrific's, but his wife survived, so he now believes in God & the Bible and all that. And on our Earth, they discuss the new Magog, their own teammate David Reid. "Bad guys don't feed monkeys, do they?" Oh, CYCLONE~~!! How I love you. And for the power geeks out there, Magog's power is roughly similar to KC-Superman & Alan Scott.

-Hints of Black Adam & Isis' return, as he sees her flowers appear in a "Shazam Lightning Bolt" symbol!

-More dissention in the ranks, as all the newbs (plus Hawkman) talk about how great he is, but the old timers fear his changes and think he's gonna turn bad. But that would be WAY too simple, wouldn't it? They'd never do something so black & white in this book, right? It's still bugging me how Hawkman's all "no, killing people is okay" after Black Reign. Of course, Hawkman has a point in the whole "police & soldiers do it", but really, they're using rules & guns against guys with guns, not freaking god-like powers in a vigilante effect.

-And now it's a FIGHT! The old guys versus the young guys! But Courtney of course is on the old guys' team because she's good and pure, and Cyclone is on there as much because she follows the old guard & Court blindly, and she's way too much of a sweetie to be pro-killing. The fighting is rather tepid, as Jay & Alan are a league beyond Carter at his best, and everyone else is fighting with kid gloves on rather than a real, decisive brawl. Magog blasts Superman, but they all fall into the JSA HQ, and right then, Power Girl comes flying in via Starman, with the JSA Infinity in tow! So it's ANOTHER hero (vs) hero brawl!

-Panel-to-panel shifting as Jerry Ordway draws a bunch along with Dale Eaglesham, which is pretty weird. A brief pause as everyone meets dead teammates (the death toll of the Infinity Inc team is still pretty staggering) ends when Power Girl II blasts KC Superman, thinking he's another fake Superman. Boy, even in parallel Earths she's kind of a bitchpie.

-AWWWWW look at Maxine! All standing with her feet pointing towards each other while helping Superman up, not fighting, but instead screaming in rapid-fashion about how everyone's acting crazy. So kyooot!! And before any other major fighting can take place (Dale really draws people too big and beefy to do mass fight scenes properly I've noticed), they teleport a bunch of people to Earth-2, and the Michael Holts meet.

-The Michaels converse about how they travel between worlds, while the real interesting stuff is all how the team's reaction to the different Earths. Alan's messed up over seeing his daughter alive, and then MICHAEL meets his dead wife, though he doesn't mention anything. See, a big problem here is despite the whole "drag this plotline out" thing, we're still moving too fast to dwell on what could EASILY be an issue-length plot over Terrific dealing with seeing his late wife all alive and shit. Courtney's "Worried face" is SUPER-cute here, as she just won't stop being the adorable little sister.

-To the Batcave, where Robin, Huntress & PG torture our Power Girl with Kryptonite for information. Our Karen breaks free and beats up the other one, but the JSI puts her down (stupid telepathic Brainwave and his uber-might in a non-TP-based world). Then OUR JSA shows up again, and Starman (remember, he's sane now) explains that he's got the Map of the Multiverse for a costume. A mini-explanation of the Crisis & 52 in a two-page spread follows (could someone unfamiliar with either even HOPE to keep up at this point?).

-All that parallel Earth crap gets settled quickly after that, and our JSA leaves, and PG's a bit happier. But then Alan comes to Michael with the question as to whether or not they should ask Gog to resurrect Jade & Paula, going back on their teammates!

-Now for something completely different- it's three one-shot issues to showcase different aspects of the KC-era JSA team. First up is "Superman". And it's by Alex Ross! As in, front to back (with a modified stylistic choice of inking instead of just paint), and written by him too! OMG and we get to see real-live painted Cyclone!! And it's... well, Ross is no spank-bank producer by any means. His "Nightstar" was pretty hot, but Maxine here looks like a deathly-pale cancer patient with dead, chapped lips for some reason. Apparently when he head that she was supposed to be gawky & geeky, he decided to make her look like an actual teenager instead of the uber-beautiful type that every other artist in comics draws. Her hair keeps flipping up and around in those 'subtle Alex Ross' things he always does (where nobody comments on it, but you can see it happening all the time) as well, which is a weird way of showing her powers. Maxine doesn't talk QUITE as much or as fast here, but it's still there.

-Then some green gas attack on the Daily Planet occurs, reflecting exactly how KC Supes' Lois Lane died. He flies in, finds other guys (including one in the same armour as a Kingdom Come background guy) instead of the Joker, cracks a smile over being attacked by Kryptonite (since he's immune and all), and kicks some ass, but accidentally punches out regular Superman because he's blinded and enraged. KC Supes seems to be cracking up again, showing why nobody in the world seems to trust him entirely.

-Supes, reacting to something Cyclone has said, decides to track down the Norman McCay of Earth-1, and they just have some minor, regular conversation about being happy and all that, but it seems to have no purpose other than to showcase Norman McCay and get more Kingdom Come stuff out there. Back to the HQ (where we see Cyclone in full-body form, with a dress slit going all the way past her ass- artists can never meet up on where that slit is- some never draw one, and others do it very low down). Then we get the full story of Lois Lane-22's death (because apparently we really need one), and it's all sad and junk (Lois & Maxine have the same 'photo model' oddly enough, despite looking nothing alike- guess that proves why Ross is a master).

-Next up, "Magog", by Peter Tomasi. The Newbies & Hawkman dick around in Africa, helping people out and stopping people who seem to have no purpose other than to be evil. Well, it IS in Africa, one of the few places where that can be totally believable storytelling. Then we get some of his past (asthmatic farmboy turned patriot after 9/11, which apparently happened in the DCU despite all those heroes). And all his old army crew gets killed in Africa (apparently sending five military guys into a warzone of hundreds of people is a bad idea). Since Tomasi's the guy who did that Black Adam mini-series, this is BLOODY AS HELL in parts, so those of you who get jonesing off of that and missed the latest "Invincible", check this one out.

-"The Kingdom", more of a generic JSA issue, is next, and I wonder what the point of that is. The Gog Gang is near Kahndaq the Living Hellhole of the World now, and the Feitherans show up since they're the ultimate jobbers and all that. And holy crap, it's THE SANDMAN. They realized he's still alive! He can no longer help children and pedophile-victims now because of his lack of dreams, another 'crack' in the "Gifts" Gog has given to the heroes. See, now that's kinda subtle and neat, and they should've kept it that way for a while. At least they're pointing out he has the dreams now, because they totally ignored that in JSA after a point back in the day.

-Meanwhile, Damage becomes the HUGEST TOOL IN THE UNIVERSE, preaching the glories of Gog by showing off his handsome new face and going on & on about how beautful he is. "I look good from ALL angles", hah, what a gigantic ass. Johns seems to have FUN with just how unpleasant Grant Emerson is. And cute widdle Maxine is with her girl-buddies in her room, moping about how hot he is, but how he likes Judomaster and also she smells like a monkey... every panel with her is gold in terms of dialogue & art, I tells ya. Jeez, her pose when Stargirl gets up to 'go get someone who can talke some sense into this JERK' looks pretty sexual, too. Ass all up in the air with her leg showing through her dress slit. Artists sure have fun drawing her.

-Stargirl finally comes up to talk some sense into Grant, bitching him out, but he merely thinks she's trying to boink him. The guy's like school in the summertime. Courtney being all sassy and bitchy is always hilarious. But then.. oh my Goddess... then ATOM SMASHER SHOWS UP!!! Oh FUCK YES!! Twenty fucking issues of waiting ("Hey, shouldn't he be on the team now that they voted him back in and he's out of jail?") and now he's HERE! SPURT!! Stargirl came to get him (She knows where he lives! OMG!) because she knows Al can help out. So after Grant the Giant Dick blasts off against Courtney, Al comes in and royally hands him his ass. Jesus, Pasarin draws a REALLY badass Al Rothstein- this guy should've totally taken over the book when Dale went off.

-Now we're at Al Pratt's house, which Atom Smasher either lives in currently, or keeps up like a maid or some shit. He lectures Damage again, perhaps using the term "Vanity Smurf" in a serious conversation for the first time in human history, but Grant gets all cranky and blows up the house! Then Al gets in ANOTHER bad-ass set of lines ("You think I'm like JAY GARRICK and ALAN SCOTT!? You think I'm going to HOLD YOUR HAND and tell you to BEHAVE?!?"), and is about to smash the kid like a bug then and there, but the JSA shows up to prevent further any further one-sided ass-kicking. And that's it for Al Rothstein in this trade.

-And now it's back to Africa, where Gog shows his true colours... by making everyone WORSHIP HIM. And now they reveal the true nature of Gog's plan- he wants to bond to the Earth, so that Earth will die if he ever leaves. ARE YOU KIDDING ME- they set up this big giant moral question of killing/no killing and a new God on Earth, but OH NO, he's totally evil because he demands worship and he's going to blow up the planet if he doesn't get it, so the old-school guys were right all along. No big moral standing here, no siree. So now it's a giant fight between everyone & Gog, and they surprisingly do MUCH better than they do against every OTHER God-like being they've encountered, who usually only go down to some insane plan or stroke of luck. Here, they just punch him lots. Oh, and the bird-people are thrown out of it again (those poor damn bird-people), but we see Northwind in a single panel before he's written out AGAIN with no explanation.

-Gog dicks it up EVEN MORE, taking back all of his gifts (so Damage gets re-uglied, Starman's insane again, Mid-Nite's re-blinded, etc.). This finally makes Magog wake up and defy him, so HE GETS BLOWN UP. But not really. Much like Galactus & the Silver Surfer, he gets to keep his powers, I guess. Damage puts out a MAJOR blast that causes some cracking on Gog's armour, and now Citizen Steel comes in with a mega-punch, knocking him OVER. Okay, he's just made out of fucking steel, how is he stronger than Superman?

-Gog's down, so Magog casually cuts off his head like nothing, and Superman flies off with it, sending into the Source Wall alongside Starman (why don't they just do that to EVERY villain? Apparently it's more humane than turning them into trees?)- with a final parting gift for sweetie-pie Cyclone ("Don't ever quit."), and he goes back to his Kingdom Come Universe.

-We wrap things up a bit. We see a bunch of the final bits of "Kingdom Come", while the JSA recovers. Judomaster apparently still loves Uggo-Damage. Stargirl comforts Steel, etc. But then we get a NEW ending to Kingdom Come, featuring the death of Batman, a family of Super-kids, and lives for another 1,000 years at least, watching the Legion of Super-Heroes take off. Sniff.

Review: Um... huh. What a let-down. THREE FREAKING TRADES, a giant moral question, the team divided, and Power Girl going to a parallel Earth, and the end result is THAT? The Earth-2 story is shuffled out super-quick, the team hooks back up right away, and Gog turns out to be really bad after all, so nobody actually has to ask ANY hard questions. Guh, how disappointing; it would've been much better to simply focus on how all these 'gifts' weren't the right thing after all, but no, it had to be something simple. And it still makes ZERO SENSE that Hawkman is all pro-Gog and pro-killing when he led the team against Kahndaq in their bloodiest battle in HISTORY over that very thing.

And the "Kingdom Come" link... totally unnecessary in my mind. Why did KC Superman have to be in there? Just to say more things about KC that weren't already said? I guess they were doing the huge KC build-up from day one with Cyclone, Lightning & Co., but REALLY? We needed Magog, KC Superman and constant throwbacks to KC as well? What's most bizarre is that series is a *JUSTICE LEAGUE* story, not a JSA one! It just feels out of place and tacked on with this group that had little to do with the original story (hell, Alan & Jay didn't even SAY anything in KC- it was all Supes/WW/Bats). Magog was supposed to be Gog's servant all along? And then he just gets to stick around anyways? Argh.

All the usual flaws with the JSA series were showcased here, with poor Lightning getting about three things to say, Sand showing up ONLY to sleep, fail to save a boy, and then find God attaching himself to the Earth, Mid-Nite does nothing, etc. And hell, Atom Smasher showed up to kick some ass, say some bad-ass things, and then vanish again! The hell?

The fights seemed disappointing as well. At least THREE major free-for-alls between divided teams are set up (Old/Young, JSA/JSI, Old/Young Again), but every single one ends with almost nothing concrete being done aside from some random grabbing (Wildcat grabs his son's neck), and almost nobody throws any major shots or decent hits. Part of it's Eaglesham's fault, as he's the big artist, but he draws giant, muscle-bound people like Ed McGuinness, so there's not as much room to show movement or fighting. But really, each of these major battles only plays a tiny bit of a role in each book. They'd have been far better off going a Perez-route with smaller figures and more action, or going a "Contest of Champions"-like route and showing one full issue of fighting and then glossing over the rest. This just seemed disjointed and weird.

"Disjointed" is a good one-word review for this whole collection anyhow. The JSA collects their newbies. They find KC Superman & fight Magog. Then Magog dies. Then ANOTHER Magog is created. Then Gog turns the young guys & Hawkman against the Old Guard. There's some fighting, and Power Girl does a HUGE arc on Earth-2 that ultimately goes nowhere (is Superman I from Earth-2? If not, where is he?). Then she comes back, and it's more fighting. Gog's gifts go badly for everyone. They find out he's really evil, and beat him up. Superman goes home, The End. I mean, HUH? Did I miss how this was supposed to all fit the same theme? It's just a bunch of stuff all randomly thrown together, not making much sense, and the wrong parts being focused on.

Best Moment: Atom Smasher proving himself mancrush-worthy by being the guy to knock some sense into Grant Emerson, especially with some awesome lines, drawn perfectly by Fernando Pasarin, and one-sidedly beating the shit out of him.



ROBOTMAN I (Robert Crane, aka Paul Dennis)
Created By:
Jerry Siegel & Leo Nowak
First Appearance: Star-Spangled Comics #7 (April 1942)
Role: Cyborg Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (124)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA -- AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Science) 4 (+10)
Intimidation 7 (+7)
Perception 6 (+7)
Technology 8 (+14)
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Benefit (Cipher- Robert Crane is Dead; Robotman is now Paul Dennis), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Brain in a Bot"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Power-Lifting 1 (15 tons) [1]
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 7) [15]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
Senses 1 (Extended Sight) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

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

Complications:
Prejudice (Non-Human)- Robotman is a robotic dude.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 10 (124)

-Yeah, there WAS a Golden Age Robotman. Weird, huh? He was a scientist named Robert Crane who got shot and had his brain placed within a robot body- back before that happened ALL THE TIME in comics. Apparently most of his adventures were jokey stuff featuring his sidekick Robotdog (something so unspeakably awesome that I'm amazed nobody else has made one), and he didn't last too long back in the day, popping back up only for All-Star Squadron in the 1980s Retcon Series. The name was classic enough that the unrelated character Robotman II was created for the Doom Patrol in the 1960s, and Robert showed up in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. in a human body again (his old lab partner died and offered up his body, apparently). The Golden Age offers an alternate future in which Robotman goes all "Dissociated From Humanity" and basically just starts going along with The Ultra-Humanite's plans because he doesn't care one way or the other.
-Robotman is a super-strong, very resilient Golden Age hero, but doesn't have much fancy stuff to him.

MANHUNTER I (Dan Richards)
Created By:
Tex Blaisdell & Alex Kotzky
First Appearance: Police Comics #8 (March 1942)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Freedom Fighters
PL 6 (89)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Police Officer) 5 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Pistol), Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Sidekick 9 (Thor the Thunder Dog)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Richards became a vigilante in order to bring crooks the police couldn't catch to justice.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (89)

THOR THE THUNDER DOG
Role:
Animal Sidekick
PL 5 (44) Combat- Minion Rank 3, Sidekick Rank 9
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 7 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)

Advantages:
Improved Trip, Set-Up, Startle, Tracking

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision, Ultra & Extended Hearing) [5]
"Animal Physiology" Speed 2 [2]
"Natural Weapons- Teeth" Strength-Damage +2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Natural Weapons +6 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Dogs cannot speak to humans, nor use their paws to easily manipulate objects.
Relationship (Owner)- Domestic dogs are intensely loyal to their masters, and will fight to the death to protect them.
Weakness- Dogs are utterly incapable of lying. Their entire body reflects their current mood. Just watch them if you notice your lamp is broken, and you will know who did it.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 6 (44)

-Manhunter I is most notable for not only having eight guys with the same name as him kicking around the DCU (sometimes six at a time!), but for having his dog sidekick revealed as a Manhunter android. His Golden Age history is basically spent as a Quality Comics character (where he lasted from Police Comics #8 to #101, which is a HELL of a run), and he retroactively joined the Freedom Fighters, whereas the other Manhunter (Paul Kirk) joined the All-Stars, thus avoiding the argument as to who got "dibs" on the name "Manhunter".
-Dan Richards was a police academy student at the bottom of his class, who became a vigilante to capture a murderer who'd framed his girlfriend's brother (at the top of the same class). Clearing his friend's name, he kept on as Manhunter, using his dog Thor as a Sidekick. His costume is one of the plainest I have EVER seen, basically being a legless blue outfit with a domino mask. His granddaughter became the Harlequin that joined Injustice, Unlimited, and was killed in action, his dog was revealed to be a Manhunter Android in another story, and Dan himself was killed in modern times by Mark Shaw, the third Manhunter, who was deranged and decided to slaughter all other Manhunters.
-This guy's statted up as a pretty good fighter who's just way out of his league playing amongst major-league heroes. Thor is a standard-sized Dog (he looks pretty hound-like) who is presumably a much better fighter.

MANHUNTER III (Paul Kirk)
Created By:
Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #73 (April 1942)
Role: Golden Age Hero-Turned-Martial Artist
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (133)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 13 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 7 (+10)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Big Game Hunter) 10 (+12)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Perception 8 (+10)
Ranged Combat (Shuriken) 3 (+14)
Stealth 5 (+10)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 3 (Gun, Katar, Shuriken), Favored Foe (Animals), Fast Grab, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 6, Track

Powers:
"Healing Factor" Regeneration 3 [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Katar +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Shuriken +14 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 17)
Gun +11 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Enemy (The Council)- The Secret Society wants to rule the world, and initially wanted Kirk to be their agent. He refused, and now has to fight them constantly.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 15 (134)

-Paul Kirk's Manhunter was a slightly later creation than the Dan Richards one at Quality, but ended up with ten times the legacy. There was a non-costumed P.I. from a strip called Paul Kirk, Manhunter, which was more of a job description than his actual name. He only lasted about 12 issues, a pretty big failure compared to Richards' version. However, in the next issue, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby soon used the name for a guy named Rick Nelson, who was a big game hunter turned crimefighter- an unknown Editor changed his name back to Paul Kirk, and the superstar duo soon left the book. This version of Kirk lasted in this form until 1944, and he was axed by a paper shortage (DC needed to cut down on page counts).
-Basically a forgotten character by 1944, Kirk was resurrected out of nowhere for the 1980s Manhunter series (an eight-page back-up in Detective Comics) by Archie Goodwin, and ended up bringing DC into the "martial arts" arena of comics. He wasn't actually supposed to be Kirk (just some guy named Manhunter), but they changed their minds to give him a quick backstory. Turns out, Paul Kirk was killed by an elephant on safari in the '40s, but he was cyrogenically forzen by a hidden Secret Society who wanted to control the world. He was given a Healing Factor and trained in martial arts, then became the source for dozens of clones. However, Kirk fights off their influence and becomes a superhero. He dies in the process, and is amazingly NEVER BROUGHT BACK- the series is apparently quite well-thought-of, as Goodwin says it's one of the "three best things I've done in comics".
-Some of his clones (thought to have all been killed) have popped up in random stories- Kirk DePaul in Kurt Busiek's "this is why nobody writes new team books anymore" series Power Company, for example. Not bad for a goofy-looking guy in red tights with a blue mask. Also fun is All-Star Squadron actually using BOTH Manhunters, having them meet and agree to go onto different All-Star teams to avoid confusion.
-Manhunter II ends up with some retroactive skills. A big-game hunter, I maxed out Expertise, Perception & Animal Handling (along with the Track feat), and made him a very good all-around fighter guy. Probably a little better than he deserves for a Golden Age version, so I figure the original was closer to Dan Richards in combat capability, so he must've been good in his own time (despite getting killed by an elephant apparently). The DCA build packs an insane *PL 12*, which feels WAY too high for someone who's basically just a really good, well-trained Martial Artist.

MANHUNTER III (Mark Shaw, aka The Privateer, Dumas)
Created By:
Jack Kirby
First Appearance: First Issue Special #5 (Aug. 1975)
Role: Retcon Magnet
Group Affiliations: The Manhunters, The Suicide Squad,
PL 9 (120)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 9 (+12)
Deception 5 (+7)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 10 (+13)
Perception 7 (+10)
Stealth 3 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 1 (Fancy Mask- Extended & Infravision, Padded Costume), Ranged Attack 5, Track

Powers:
"Power Baton" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [11]
"Sonic Maser" Dazzle Hearing 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Touch Range) (16) -- (18 points)
AE: "Blade" Strength-Damage +2 (2)
AE: "Grappling Hook" Movement 1 (Swinging 1) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Blade +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Sonic Maser +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4 (+5 Suit), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Enemy (Dumas, The Manhunters)- Shaw has fought the Dumas (and thought he was one, at one point), as well as his old masters, The Manhunter androids.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 11 / Defenses: 9 (120)

-Mark Shaw, the third (sort of the fourth, if you count the initial Kirk version) Manhunter, was a public defender angry about how easily criminals could manipulate the system, and became a vigilante to fight them. His uncle Desmond introduced him to an ancient sect called The Manhunters, who turned out to be the evil androids created by The Guardians of Oa to police the galaxy. However, Shaw turned on them and saved the day. However AGAIN, Shaw was revealed to be working with The Key under his new identity as "The Privateer". He was captured by The Red Tornado, and ended up on The Suicide Squad, being released from prison at the completion of his mission. He became a bounty hunter, but then got a weird Retcon in which the U.S. government had been programming him to become their agent, which resulted in him gaining a split personality as "Dumas", who killed Dan Richards, the original Golden Age Manhunter.
-After this, he reformed, joining the Shadow Fighters who battled Eclipso, and was thought-killed in the process (alongside Dr. Midnight and Wildcat III). However, this was actually a "ringer" disguised as Shaw, who was at that point undercover. He was a potential for being the latest Azrael, but that apparently didn't pan out. After that, he basically kinda vanishes, probably because there's other Manhunters around after that.
-Mark Shaw is PL 9 as far as I can tell. I've got nothing, really, having never seen him in action.

MANHUNTER VI (Chase Lawler)
Created By:
Unknown
First Appearance: Zero Month Sampler #1 (Jan. 1994)
Role: '90s Insane Vigilante
Group Affiliations: None
PL 7 (92)
STRENGTH
1/6 STAMINA 2/6 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Musician) 7 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Wind) 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 2, Startle

Powers:
"Manhunter Costume" (Flaws: Removable) (Feats: Restricted 2- Chase Only) [34]
Enhanced Strength 5 (10)
Enhanced Stamina 4 (8)
Regeneration 6 (6)
"Walk On Air" Flight 1 (4 mph) (2)
"Wind Gust" Blast 6 (12) -- (13)
AE: "Wind Control" Move Object 6 (12)
-- (39 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Manhunter Costume +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Wind Gust +8 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+6 Suit), Fortitude +3 (+7 Suit), Will +3

Complications:
Responsibility (Evil Power)- The Wild Huntsman is trapped within Chase, and causes him to go berserk sometimes.
Relationship (Various Women)- Lawler has a lot of musically-gifted girlfriend-types, and many end up on drugs.
Motivation (Hunting Those Apart From Society)- If Chase does not gain physical contact with those "apart from society", he will suffer crippling physical maladies.

Total: Abilities: 34 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 10 (92)

-Chase Lawler was a supersticious session guitarist who became The Manhunter to counter a magical being he'd sent to save his girlfriend from a Chick Tract-like fate as a druggie musician. This "Huntsman" later sorta merged with Chase, and he got one of those "Fighting Against His Darker Nature" things as a SUPER-'90s CHARACTER. His powers were absorbed by the Mark Shaw Manhunter, seemingly leaving Chase depowered- at a later point, the crazed Shaw actually slits Chase's throat, murdering him. And that's the end of this failure of a '90s character. And really, you think MARVEL sucked in the '90s? DC was a THOUSAND times worse- just awful, garbage storytelling as they desperately tried to leech off of all Marvel's ideas willy-nilly. Marvel had issues by giving their superstar artists free reign, and turning on their old creators, but at least they were CREATING stuff. DC just seemed mired in trash and stuff that existed just to rip off Marvel's.
-A crappy, short-lived '90s Vigilante, Chase Lawler basically sucks, and was de-powered shortly after his debut. There exist only 13 issues of his book, after all.

NEMESIS II (Soseh Mykros)
Created By:
David S. Goyer & Uriel Caton
First Appearance: JSA Annual #1 (Oct. 2000)
Role: New Character That Went Nowhere
Group Affiliations: The Council, Black Adam's Army
PL 9 (106)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 6 (+11)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Assassin) 7 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Equipment 2 (Twin Swords +2- Split), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Sword), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack, Takedown 2

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Swords +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Enemy (The Council)- Soseh's father manipulated and engineered her into being an assassin- she now fights him.
Relationship (Alex Montez)

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (106)

-Soseh Mykros was a new character introduced for a future storyline in JSA- a genetically-engineered child of the leader of The Council (a completely, 100% generic Evil Organization) that'd once manipulated Paul Kirk, the Manhunter. She teamed up with Black Canary and Wildcat and faced The Ultra-Humanite (but only found his corpse, with an empty brainpan- implying he was still a threat), and there was the promise of the JSA soon coming against The Council as part of a bigger storyline.
-HOWEVER, as Goyer left the book and Geoff Johns took over completely, it appears the creative team just got bored with them, as she never really appeared in a big way again. She was oin an Our Worlds At War one-shot in which she did nothing but namedrop Kirk, then ended up as a random face on Black Adam's army as it invaded Khandaq. In Black Reign, she was given give basically ZERO characterization (Adam basically slaughted the entire Council off-panel to get her to join him- a hilariously-easy way to defeating some potential threat), only appearing as Alex Montez's bedmate (he was controlling the demon Eclipso via some magical tattoos). She was dangerous enough to slice open Rick Tyler's abdomen, resulting in him disappearing into a Stable Time Thingie (that book was delightfully weird), but her boyfriend soon lost control over Eclipso, who possessed him and one-shotted her right through the chest. Out of grief, and a desire to save others from the demon, Montez committed suicide. And so we were never subjected to this nothing character again.
-Tempting as it is to make Soseh a pure Jobber, she was good enough in a scrap to mortally-wound Hourman with a single shot (he was out of Miraclo at the time, though). Still didn't stop her from a single blast from the Black Diamond going right through her. She's also apparently super-strong, which I never saw evidence of. And I'm pretty sure I've read all of her appearances. ComicVine even says she has TASKMASTER'S powers, but that definitely doesn't feel right.

NORTHWIND (Norda Cantrell)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Failed New Character
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., Black Adam's Army
PL 9 (126)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Aerobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Survival) 6 (+8)
Perception 6 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Goblass Gun) 2 (+10)
Stealth 3 (+8)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Favored Environment (Airborne), Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 8, Set-Up

Powers:
"Feitheran Physiology" Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Arctic Conditions) [2]
Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [6]
"Migra-Sense and Others" Senses 4 (Extended Vision 2, Low-Light Vision, Direction Sense) [4]
Comprehend 2 (Speak To & Understand Animals) (Flaws: Limited to Birds) [2]

"Globlass Gun" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [15]
"Nauseate" Affliction 8 (Fort; Hindered & Dazed/Immobile & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged, Extra Condition) (24 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Goblass Gun +10 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Non-Human)- Norda has black eyes and feathers. He also doesn't "get" parts of human society.
Responsibility (Feithera)- Norda's people are constantly in danger of losing their habitat. He is also destined to be their spiritual leader, something he rejects at first, desiring freedom.
Relationship (Hawkman- Godfather)

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 12 (128)

-Norda Cantrell is very much the worst character in the old Infinity, Inc.. books, along with having the most nonsensical origin. See, writer Roy Thomas was a Golden Age nut, and wanted to showcase the Feitherans, a bird-like race shown in an ancient Hawkman book way, way back in the day. Doing so, he had the ridiculous notion of putting a human anthropologist into their mix, and he immediately fell in love and had a child with a Feitheran female. The panels in the origin issue were ludicrous to say the least, featuring a man crushing on a chick who looked like a skinny Big Bird with pert knockers, and a half-black guy/half-BIRD baby cracking out of an egg. How this didn't get laughed out of the editorial process I have no idea, but there he was.
-ANYWAYS, Northwind sucked. He was peaceful and kind, but clueless about human society, and had stupid flying-based powers and a Globlass Gun that could wipe out people's balance (which basically got written out in later appearances). There was a bit of rivalry with Hector Hall, the jealous real son of Hawkman, over having natural powers and not getting daddy's love and such, but it was all very uninteresting, and so Northwind became the first of the core group to leave the team. He showed up much later with some magical powers and helping the team out, but was gone after that, not appearing for pretty much TWENTY YEARS, before Black Reign in the classic JSA series, where he showed up looking like the Kingdom ComeHawkman. And he couldn't talk anymore, because they were THAT uninterested in his character.
-So yeah, here's a Northwind build. Pretty crappy superhero, though his Globlass Gun is pretty handy, and he's got quite a few Defensive Advantages packing. Tough to hit, but very much dependant on being airborne and armed- without the Gun, he's only PL 6 on offense.

NORTHWIND (Norda Cantrell)- Black Reign Version
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Bad-Ass Upgrade
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., Black Adam's Army
PL 10 (120)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Aerobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 2 (+8)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Survival) 6 (+8)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+8)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Equipment 1 (Spear +2- Reach 2), Evasion, Favored Environment (Airborne), Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Move-By Action, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up

Powers:
"Feitheran Physiology" Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Arctic Conditions) [2]
Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [6]
"Migra-Sense and Others" Senses 4 (Extended Vision 2, Low-Light Vision, Direction Sense) [4]
Comprehend 2 (Speak To & Understand Animals) (Flaws: Limited to Birds) [2]

"Modern Adaptations"
"Talons" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
Extra Limbs 2 (can grasp with talons and use hands) [2]
Regeneration 4 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Spear +11 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

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

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Non-Human)- Norda has black eyes and feathers. He also doesn't "get" parts of human society. Now he looks entirely like a bird dude.
Responsibility (Feithera)- Norda's people are constantly in danger of losing their habitat.
Disabled (Mute)

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 10 (120)

FEITHERANS
Role:
Mooks
PL 5 (74)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Aerobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 1 (+6)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 2 (+2)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+5)
Perception 6 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 1 (Spear +1- Reach 2), Favored Environment (Airborne), Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up

Powers:
"Feitheran Physiology" Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Arctic Conditions) [2]
Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [6]
"Migra-Sense and Others" Senses 4 (Extended Vision 2, Low-Light Vision, Direction Sense) [4]
Comprehend 2 (Speak To & Understand Animals) (Flaws: Limited to Birds) [2]

"Modern Adaptations"
"Talons" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
Extra Limbs 2 (can grasp with talons and use hands) [2]
Regeneration 4 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Spear +5 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +5, Fortitude +5, Will +0

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Non-Human)- Feitherans look like bird-people.
Responsibility (Feithera)- Norda's people are constantly in danger of losing their habitat.
Disabled (Mute)

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 1 (74)

-Northwind got an odd little update in the modern era, after having literally vanished for twenty years. In another of Geoff Johns's Kingdom Come fanboy-moments, he brought Norda out of the mothballs with an appearance resembling the "Hawkman" of the KC mini-series. He & his entire race had undergone "Forced evolution" (ie. They sucked, so the writers freely changed everything about them, right down to removing their speech and taking away the Globlass Guns and their magic), and were now used as Black Adam's foot soldiers in defending Kahndaq. This made them pretty much the jobbers of every story they appear in, dying in DROVES and getting wiped out by invading superhumans with ease. As their leader, Northwind has pretty much no character left, but is loyal to Adam because he promised them "safety". Instead, they pretty much get killed. Sucks to be a Feitheran I guess.
-And hey, I just realized there's no mention at all of his weird bird-humping anthropologist of a father. Maybe they ate him.
-Northwind costs less than before because he lost the silly Globlass Gun, but he gains a Spear and a TON of minions, which more than makes up for it, I think. He commands an entire flock of Feitherans. His Regeneration is pretty low (it's never been shown in-battle; he just regrew a lost wing after Hawkman ripped it out). He's a PL 10 now, but still a limited one (Fav. Environment 2), as shown from "Black Reign", where he pretty much didn't do much except get his butt kicked by his godfather. The Feitherans themselves are actually pretty good Minions (especially en masse), being able to Fly & Power Attack, and all carrying weapons.

BRAINWAVE, JR. (Henry King, Junior)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Failed New Character, Telepath
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., Black Adam's Army
PL 9 (131)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 3 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Teamwork

Powers:
"Inherited & Absorbed Telepathic Powers"
Mind Control 9 (Feats: Mental Link, Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (47) -- [55]
Dynamic AE: "Mental Blast" Blast 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (28)
Dynamic AE: Telekinesis 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (19)
Dynamic AE: "Telepathy" Mind-Reading 9 Linked to Communication (Mental) 2 (Feats: Dynamic) (27)
Dynamic AE: Illusion (Visuals & Hearing) 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (28)

"Telelocation" Senses 6 (Mental Detection- Ranged 5) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mind Control +9 Area (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Mental Blast -- (+9 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Telepathy -- (+9 Mind-Reading, DC 19)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Relationship (Jade)
Responsibility (Evil Father)- Henry's father is the original Brainwave, a villain of the JSA.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 61 / Defenses: 11 (131)

-The least-successful Infinitor next to Northwind was Brainwave Junior. It may've had something to do with the name. Or that costume. Or the fact that only creator Roy Thomas was knowledgable of the early Injustice Society & other JSA villains, so the poor bugger had little chance. Telepathic abilities are also problematic in the DCU, because it's such a rare power-set that it ends up being under-utilized. If he was a Marvel character, he'd probably be a top-tier X-Man or Avenger. But in DC? He's just some punk. It says something when I have like 20 Infinity Inc comics (out of 53), and Henry only appears in a smattering of them, usually disappearing somewhere or something like that. I think Thomas just had a hard time fitting him into the book, despite the cool "son of a villain, who wants to be a hero" concept.
-Brainwave is pretty good, but still an under-pointed PL 9. He's VERY vulnerable to physical attacks compared to the rest of his team (who possess either high Toughness Saves or Insubstantial), but his reliance on Will-Save-based effects make him arguably the most dangerous member of the team. Mental Powers are so rare in DC (after the '60s anyways) that even an Immunity to the stuff is likely cheaper than it'd be for a Marvel character (I charge DC characters 10 points, Marvel guys 20 points).

BRAINWAVE, JR. (Henry King, Junior)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Failed New Character, Telepath
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., Black Adam's Army
PL 13 (166)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 3 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Teamwork

Powers:
"Inherited & Absorbed Telepathic Powers"
Mind Control 13 (Feats: Mental Link, Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (80) -- [90]
Dynamic AE: "Mental Blast" Blast 13 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (40)
Dynamic AE: Telekinesis 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (19)
Dynamic AE: "Telepathy" Mind-Reading 12 Linked to Communication (Mental) 2 (Feats: Dynamic) (33)
Dynamic AE: Illusion (Visuals & Hearing) 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (28)
Dynamic AE: "Agonizing Pain" Affliction 13 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Sustained +2, Area- 60ft. Burst) (53)

"Telelocation" Senses 6 (Mental Detection- Ranged 5) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mind Control/Pain +13 Area (+13 Affliction, DC 23)
Mental Blast -- (+13 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 28)
Telepathy -- (+13 Mind-Reading, DC 23)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Responsibility (Evil Father)- Henry's father is the original Brainwave, a villain of the JSA.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 96 / Defenses: 11 (166)

-Here's the 'modern' Brainwave, as he appeared in the Black Reign storyline in JSA. The guy was so freakin' powerful he was able to turn Billy Batson back to "young boy" form by commanding him mentally to call the Wizard's name, and he put down the ENTIRE JUSTICE SOCIETY by himself, just by activating their "pain centres" at close range. He was so strong telepathically that the JSA had to call in The Atom to shut him down, attacking the Mr. Mind caterpillar that was eating parts of his brain. It's kinda sad that the guy who wanted to fix his father's name ended up a loose-cannon possible crazy-pants like that, even if he WAS being controlled by someone else.
-Just a more powerful version of the last guy, but with no extra Advantages or anything cool like that, since he didn't really do ANYTHING from the time Infinity Inc. shut down till Black Reign, just showing up to harrass Jade a couple times. At PL 13, he can throw down mental effects powerful enough to drop guys like the Justice Society, which is a bit problematic in M&M (I mean, these guys should be expected to have some decent Will Saves, and yet Brainwave one-shotted them ALL, because Mind Control Always Works in comics).

RED TORNADO I (Matilda "Ma" Hunkel)
Created By:
Sheldon Mayer
First Appearance: All-American Comics #3 (June 1939)
Role: Joke Character
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., Black Adam's Army
PL 5 (48)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY -1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Streetwise) 3 (+3)
Expertise (Housewife) 4 (+4)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Close Attack, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative -1

Defenses:
Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Family)- Ma is devoted to her two children (Scribbly- a boy cartoonist, and Sisty- a kid sidekick), and her granddaughter, Maxine.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (48)

-Ma Hunkel is a weird little part of comic book history, going from a character in a comedy strip to one of the earliest Parody Superheroes, and possibly the earliest female superhero in comics. She debuted in 1939 as part of Sheldon Mayer's semi-autobiographical strip Scribbly, about a boy cartoonist. It lasted about five years in All-American Comics. About a year into the strip, Ma, Scribbly's mother, throws on a goofy superhero costume in order to fight some neighborhood criminals. She has a VERY weak link to the JSA, having appeared in the groups' debut trying to get onto the team, but split her pants and had to run off instead. Later stories would say she has an "honorary" membership.
-Eventually, Ma gained two Sidekicks in The Cyclone Kids- her daughter Amelia (known as Sisty), and a neighbor boy (and Sisty's future husband) Mortimer, known as Dinky. Naturally, the stories were very tongue-in-cheek. This link to the JSA (they refered to her as being pretty thick-headed) allowed DC to re-use the AWESOME codename for one of T.O. Morrow's android creations, who went on to become a recurring DC character. Ma herself pretty much vanished, only being mentioned in passing, until a 2004 story which stated that she had been in witness protection for DECADES, after testifying against a gang. She becomes the caretaker of the JSA's Museum after this point, still being quite physically dominant, despite being VERY old by this point (she is probably a few years older than the OTHER JSA members!). And also, her daughter's own girl (... Sisty would've had to have been SIXTY when Maxine was born!) would grow up to be the single greatest character in comic book history.
-Ma Hunkel's hardly a severe threat to most super-villains, but most thugs would want to think twice. She's big, slow and not full of Combat Advantages or anything, but she's got a good enough punch to K.O. your average henchman.

THE RED TORNADO II (aka John Smith)
Created By:
Gardner Fox & Dick Dillin
First Appearance: The Justice League of America #64 (Aug. 1968)
Role: The Android Hero, Wants-To-Be-Human Guy, Wind User
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Justice Society of America
PL 11 (163)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+5)
Perception 6 (+6)
Ranged Attack (Wind) 3 (+11)
Technology 6 (+8)
Vehicles 5 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (League Member), Improved Disarm, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Set-Up

Powers:
"Android Body"
Protection 11 [11]
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Regeneration 2 (Feats: Regrowth) [3]
"Datalink" Communication (Computers) 2 [8]
"He Always Comes Back" Immortality 2 (Flaws: Source- Someone Putting Him Back Together) [2]

"Wind Powers"
"Tornado" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (33) -- [42]
AE: "Tornado II" Blast 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cylinder) (33)
AE: "Tornado III" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (22)
AE: Air Blast 11 (Feats: Precise) (23)
AE: "Air Control" Move Object 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Touch Range) (22)
AE: "Wind" Features 2: Nullifies Arrows, Blows Out Flames, etc. (2)
AE: "Spinning Cyclone I" Affliction 11 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Cone +2) (33)
AE: "Spinning Cyclone II" Affliction 11 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cylinder +2) (33)
AE: "Wind Screen" Deflect 11 (11)
AE: "Very Blustery Day" Environment 3 (120 feet) (Impede Movement 2) (10)
AE: "Blowback Effect" Affliction 11 (Strength; Hindered & Vulnerable/Prone & Defenseless) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Tornados +11 Area (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Blowback & Cyclone +11 Area (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Air Blast +11 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +11, Fortitude --, Will +5

Complications:
Weakness (Magnetic Attacks)- Red Tornado is an android, comprised primarily of metal. He is more vulnerable to magnetic attack than others.
Relationship (Kathy, Traya)- Red Tornado is close to his wife and his adopted daughter.
Accident (Frequent Slayings)- As an easily-rebuilt android, the Tornado is blown up VERY frequently. I think every time he fails a save by more than 10, he simply explodes. Seriously- it's AWFUL.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 94 / Defenses: 14 (163)

-OK, so Red Tornado's a pretty common recurring character in Justice League lore, but only got a few bit parts (only a few words of speech- "Soooooey!" the most notable) in the JLU cartoon. I LOVE the name- one of the cooler super-names in comics, really- but there's just not much to him that The Vision didn't do, and better, in Marvel's Avengers. Of course, despite the timing being almost impossible to make it so, you could argue that the latter is definitely a rip-off of the former (just look here- the similarities are UNCANNY), but then, DC just ripped off old Sci-Fi stories Lensman for its Green Lantern, right down to the "Take up my weapon, Earthling" origin story, so it's not like comic writers were above blatant copying. He definitely has one of the more rarely-used power suites in superheroing, which made him pretty notable in battle scenes (unlike, say, Commander Steel or Hourman), but his most notable occurence in the cartoon has him getting blowed up good by the returning Ivo's Android. He got better. Because, y'know, android.
-The Red Tornado made his debut as the simple android minion of Dr. T.O. Morrow, who frequently did the "Oh, why can I not be human?" thing so common to human-like robots. Pretty much every appearance I have of the guy consists of him moping about and being lectured to stay out of fights by more experienced superheroes, since he's untested and kind of sucks at fighting. It would turn out later that Ulthoon, a Tornado Champion of Rann, would inhabit the android body, because why NOT overcomplicate a simple story? Eventually, after many JLA/JSA meetings, the Tornado joins Earth-One's Justice League, finding his self-worth. As an android, he is frequently-destroyed in battle, often in sacrifice plays; and sort of settles down with a human girl and an adopted son.
-The Tornado is blown up and revealed to be part-Tornado Champion, and then the Crisis happens and that part was edited out- he was now Earth's Air Elemental, created by the Spirit of the Earth to save the environment by joining the Planeteers and... wait, wrong Spirit- he joins up with other Elementals like Swamp Thing & Firestorm. Some stuff happens there, he's blown up and rebuilt again, and he becomes emotionless for a while. After this, he joins Young Justice in a mentorly role, but splits from his wife after his period of emotionlessness. He is resurrected once as a human (in Deadman's body), still retaining some powers but losing his android durability. Then some more stuff happens and he becomes a cyborg, and then who knows? Guy basically gets screwed around with a lot, because he's one of the Recurring JLA Members who doesn't have his own book.
-Red Tornado's a PL 11 guy, making him much tougher than the usual rank & file. He's still a bit limited outside his powers, having few Skills & Advantages and not being a good Melee fighter despite his raw strength, and he hasn't showcased too many variant Alt-Effects for his powers, but what was shown proved him to be very effective, and I just threw in some basic "Air Controller" type powers anyways. Beating three other Air Controlling Ultimen at once proved that he was definitely tough. And hey, EVERYONE lost to The Android when he showed up, so there's no shame in THAT loss (of course, Tornado's the only guy who got Laser-Vision'd in half and blown up... he got better). He's super-strong, can link to computers, can be rebuilt (and likely heal a bit, so I threw that in. The comic one could, anyhow), etc. He wasn't very charismatic, though (ESPECIALLY in this version), so he's got a swack of weaknesses, too.

CYCLONE (Maxine Hunkel)
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham
First Appearance: JSA #1 (2006)
Role: The Greatest Character in Comic Book History, Wind-Controller, Motormouthed Crazy Girl, Wicked Fangirl
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 8 (123)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+9)
Expertise (Theology & Religion) 4 (+9)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 5 (+10)
Expertise (Acting) 3 (+2)
Perception 2 (+2)
Ranged Combat (Wind Powers) 2 (+8)
Technology 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Minion 5 (Frankie the Monkey), Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up

Powers:
"Teenage Wind Witch"
"Tornado" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (24) -- [32]
AE: "Air Control" Move Object 9 (18)
AE: "Blowback" Move Object 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Limited to Away From Her, Touch Range) (8)
AE: Air Blast 8 (16)
AE: "Wind Storm" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (16)
AE: "Wind Effects" Features 2: Extinguish Flames, Thrown Objects Auto-Miss, -4 Ranged Attacks (2)
AE: "Wind Screen" Deflect 8 (Flaws: Limited to Physical Projectiles) (4)
AE: "Cyclone-Assisted Kick" Strength-Damage +2 (2)
AE: "Air Cushion" Movement 1 (Safe Fall) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective, Affects Others) (12)

"Defying Gravity" Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
"Wind Defenses" Enhanced Advantages 2: Defensive Roll 2 [2]
"Words on the Winds" Senses 1 (Extended Hearing) (Extras: Affects Others, Ranged) [3]

"Motormouth" Quickness 4 (Flaws: Limited to Speaking Actions -2) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Cyclone Kick +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Tornados +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Blowback & Cyclone +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Air Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Motormouth)- Maxine is INCREDIBLY annoying for even the most patient of people- she blathers on and on about unimportant stuff, and if you don't shush her up, she'll just KEEP. GOING. The JSA find her a mix of endearing and annoying, and people who don't know her just assume she's an idiot.
Relationship (King Chimera)- The douchey member of the JSA and Maxine end up having a thing going by the end of JSA All-Stars.
Obsession (L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz, and Wicked)- Maxine is so obssessed with Oz that she dresses like a combination of the Wicked Witches and names her pet monkey Frankie.
Disabled (Atypical Depression)- Maxine as suffered from this ever since a childhood kidnapping incident by Dr. T.O. Morrow. She hides this behind a wall of chattiness, and throws herself into superheroics.
Reputation ("Pippi Wrongstocking")- Because she won't shut up, Maxine is avoided by most people, and often talked about behind her back- thanks to her Extended Hearing, she can now actually tell what people are saying about her.
Relationship (Stargirl)- Cyclone WORSHIPS Stargirl at first, and finds that "the pedestal gets higher" upon actually meeting her heroine and seeing Courtney save her family. Courtney remains Maxine's closest friend while on the JSA, and they hang out constantly afterwards.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 12 (123)

-Oh, my sweet, sweet Maxine. How I love thee... her cute freckles, her motormouth behavior, her utter sweetness and politeness to everybody, and her sad little backstory (a depressed teen with no friends and a history involving abduction by Dr. T.O. Morrow) add up to create the most endearing new character I've seen in comics in YEARS. You just want to HOLD HER, y'know? Created by Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham for their JSA update, Alex Ross (a co-creator on the book) realized that she fit the third "Red Tornado" character used in a non-speaking role in Kingdom Come, and so a link was made- Maxine became a tall redhead.
-Maxine's introduction was a thing of absolute beauty- on a team full of random names and legacies added with bland personalities stuck on, here was this girl who was depicted as UTTERLY INSANE. She's overly-smiley, talks ENDLESSLY (with sentences that run past the borders of her word bubbles), won't shut up about Wicked (can you IMAGINE how annoying that kind of character trait would be, guys?), chases off her roommate at the BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, and more. She's also revealed to suffer from atypical depression, yet appears to revel in the use of her wind powers (complete with quote from Wicked). And then, when Mr. Terrific & Power Girl offer her membership in the Justice Society, Maxine goes NUTS, ranting and raving about how great this is going to be, ending up in tears she's so unable to restrain herself (Power Girl has to threaten her by revoking membership if she won't shut up). In an era of comics filled with grim vigilantes and miserable characters, this kind of unbridled enthusism immediately made her stand out.
-Soon becoming Cyclone, Maxine hero-worships Stargirl to an insane degree (though Courtney, being pretty much ready for sainthood by this point, puts up with it in good humor and is a true friend), while driving off most of the other members of the group. And I loved Maxine IMMEDIATELY. It helps that Dale Eaglesham (the best artist in comics) drew her as a stunning figure- a bit of a freckled John Romita "Mary Jane Watson" look combined with the slightly gawky, too-tall body, making her more of a cutie than a knock-out. Her insane personality made her endearing- it'd probably be MUCH more annoying in a medium with an audio-component, but in print it just looks hilarious. The fact that her backstory is also very sad makes her more sympathetic as well- you know a lot of her blabbing is because of deep-seated insecurity.
-The costume is hilarious as well- people mock it online, but I'm pretty sure it's SUPPOSED to look dorky. The giant witchy-poo hat, candy-cane leggings (like the Wicked Witch of the East), whatever the hell that front pouch is supposed to be, and the little logo that artists keep drawing as fabric even though it's supposed to be metal... it's funny to me that a THEATRE MAJOR would design such a monstrosity. You can tell she's a great character because nearly every creative team with an opportunity to use her does so- Keith Giffen's Magog gave her a cameo while ignoring most of the other JSA members, HALF the writers of the JSA 80-Page Giant (hilariously, even a story supposedly based around MISTER AMERICA instead just focuses mostly on Maxine), and others. When a fan (annoyed by the glut of JSA characters) expressed a desire to see her removed from the series once the new writers took over, Bill Willingham admitted that "Matt (Sturges) is in love with Cyclone. I'm serious. They're married". Sturges and Dale Eaglesham would both include her as their favourites (Dale pointed out the drawbacks of having way too many characters in a book, as it left poor Maxine- a potentially very-interesting character- with little to do because of the split focus).
-Funny bit: At said fan's suggestion that she leave the book, I pointed out my love for the character, stating that the only way to improve the book's line-up would be to make the whole team "Cyclone, plus an entire team of Cyclones". Not ONE YEAR LATER, Matt Sturges wrote a storyline in which THAT EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED, in a bizarre two-parter in which Maxine is confronted with an army of "Cy-clones" built via nanotechnology. Not saying Sturges took my idea, but it would totally be awesome if he did. It's just a pity that book had such garbage art (it took several issues before Freddit Williams II started drawing pupils in people's eyes; and Howard Porter post-JLA was super-awful, too) and weird dialogue and writing, because JSA: Starring Cyclone and Some Other Guys is the greatest book concept ever. Alas, Maxine was one of many casualties of the NuDCU, being erased by a big, fat reboot. But honestly? This may have been for the best. We all know what happens to new characters the second a writer who doesn't care about them comes on the book- just look at all the endless garbage Red Tornado went through, or The Black Knight. Cyclone could have had a whole hell of a lot WORSE than being removed from continuity happen to her. In this way, she remains, perfect as she ever was.
-But yeah- Cyclone is awesome. Cute, hilarious, completely-distinct (there is really no other comic book charater like her), under-utilized powers in comics, and she's an enormous fan of Wicked (though Sturges says Defying Gravity is at the end of the PLAY, not the second act). What's not to love? My favourite Maxine Moments are probably the INSANE faces she makes when Eaglesham drew her- just this wide-eyed, wide-mouthed look- check the out-of-control pose she makes at Stargirl's surprise party in JSA #25!
-Like most of the newbies, Maxine's got very little control or combat skill, but she has a pretty decent power level (she's been stated as having the ability to create fairly big tornados, and has defeated Icicle before) that's not quite ready to be tapped by such insecure hands. She's best suited now for PL 8 status, while being a bit of a Glass Cannon, as she's got a bit of power with her Area Effects, but she's very skinny and not much of a physical fighter just yet. Her extremely high IQ has been stated several times as well, though she has no real focus of her knowledge; it's just general intelligence. Therefore, she's got little in the way of skills for now, but could likely become a Skillmonkey archetype in the future. Recent issues show a more capable heroine, and she's likely well-trained enough by this point to be half-decent at fighting, but still overly dependent on her Wind Powers. And hell, I just had to give her Quickness for her speech patterns!
-Note her low Presence score. While most of the JSA acknowledges her as a nice girl, she's an overly-chatty motormouth Genki Girl (ie. hyper-active & excited) who tends to drive people away. Damage couldn't stand her at first, several JSAers avoid her when she REALLY gets going, and she had ZERO friends (awwww....) before she joined the team. Only Saint Stargirl has enough sympathy to put up with her. This is pretty much the hallmark of a negative modifier. And she developed Extended Hearing in her later years, in an odd bit that funnily enough, Christina Weir & Nunzio DeFilippis came up with- they were in fact the people who'd worked on the New Mutants update in the early 2000s, which featured Wind Dancer, a wind-controlling heroine with THAT EXACT POWER-STUNT. Comics are FULL of weird stuff like that, if you pay attention to your creators.

FRANKIE THE MONKEY
Role:
Helper Pet, Cute Sidekick, Poop-Thrower
PL 4 (66)- Minion Rank 5, Sidekick Rank 12
STRENGTH
-2 STAMINA -1 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+11)
Athletics 3 (+1)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+8)
Insight 3 (+4)
Perception 5 (+6)
Ranged Attack (Poop) 6 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision) [3]
"Simian Anatomy" Enhanced Athletics 8 (+9) (Flaws: Limited to Climbing) [2]
"Tail" Extra Limbs 1 [1]
Speed 2 (2 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 [1]

"Small Size" Shrinking 8 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [17]
(-2 Strength & Speed, +4 Defenses, +8 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (-2 Damage, DC 13)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness -1, Fortitude +2, Will +4

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Monkeys cannot speak to humans.
Enemy (Rival Males)- Rival Males constantly seek to up-end a male leader's territory, and they must always be on the watch, lest rivals take their females.

Total: Abilities: 2 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 26 / Defenses: 16 (66)

HOURMAN I (Rex Tyler, aka Hour-Man)
Created By:
Ken Fitch & Bernard Baily
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #48 (March 1940)
Role: Almost-Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 10 (117)
STRENGTH
3/10 STAMINA 4/10 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+5, +12 Miraclo)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 9 (+14)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 6 (+11)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown

Powers:
"Miraclo-Popping" (All Powers Have Flaw: Source- Miraclo Pill; One Per Day For One Hour)
Enhanced Strength 7 [7]
Enhanced Stamina 6 [6]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [1.5]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [1]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Diehard, Great Endurance, Power Attack [1.5]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Miraclo Strength +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+10 Miraclo), Fortitude +5 (+11 Miraclo), Will +6

Complications:
Addiction (Action)- Rex Tyler craves action, and during difficult situations, he often simply pops a pill and goes crime-stopping.
Relationship (Wendi Tyler)- Rex's unfortunate wife has spent many lonely nights, waiting for her adventurous husband.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 9 (117)

-Hour-Man was a Golden Age hero in a distinctive, neat-looking costume (the big hood & cape look is quite cool)- a chemist who accidentally-invented an awesome wonder-drug named "Miraclo" (that's actually a really good name for a wonder drug, if you think about it) that gave him superhuman strength for one hour. He soon changed his name to Hourman, fighting crime in the test phases of his drug. His feature was initially a bit popular (he got some cover duties), but quickly fell apart, and he was cancelled after only a few dozen appearances- his book was your typical "Mystery Man Fights Common Crooks" feature- a dime a dozen in that era.
-And so Hourman was forgotten- doomed to be one of those characters that never reappears unless Roy Thomas or somebody remembered him... but wait! Turns out Hourman was one of the charter members of the JUSTICE SOCIETY- this meant that he now had to show up on at least a couple of those yearly team-ups between the JSA and the Justice League! This one saving grace pretty much saved Rex Tyler as a character- though still pretty generic as heroes went, more would be done with him over the years. In fact, the nature of Miraclo in the '40s would be rather standard-issue-origin-story for the day, but NOW? Even by the 1960s, people were starting to be aware of the addictive nature of drugs, and steroids were becoming more well-known by the decade- much like Captain America, Hourman's origin would now be inextricably-linked to performance-enhancing drugs- and unlike Cap, who basically took 'em once and stayed big forever (not QUITE the same as a steroid), Rex was an ACTIVE USER.
-Rex was given a bit of focus as a result, though his son Rick would take the addictions one step farther. However, during Zero Hour, DC wanted to cull some of the chaff from their heavy Golden Age cast, and Rex was murdered by Extant alongside teammates The Sandman and The Atom. Hourman vanished for a decade, until JSA would reveal that as a "gift" to the Tyler family, the third Hourman gave Rex a temporary reprieve, sending Rex into a Limbo state for one full hour, allowing father and son to reconnect for that time. During a humorously-convoluted little story, Rick was mortally-wounded, and sent Rex into battle in his place- then tried to take Rex's place in the fatal battle against Extant! Rex & Rick then FOUGHT over who got to die, resulting in the THIRD one jumping it to sacrifice himself, meaning that Rex was alive once more. He thus entered a fairly-happy retirement, getting rid of his action-junky tendencies.
-Hourman is a PL 10 hero in modern times, able to easily-hang with his own son in combat. However, back in the Golden Age, he was a PL 8 version of this, dropping some Strength (I would imagine the formula was perfected over time- he made a Non-Addictive formula as well) and accuracy before he got the experience and know-how.

HOURMAN II (Rick Tyler)
Created By:
Roy & Dann Thomas & Todd McFarlane
First Appearance: Infinity Inc. #20 (Nov. 1985)
Role: Legacy Hero, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, Infinity Inc.
PL 10 (108)
STRENGTH
3/10 STAMINA 4/10 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+5, +12 Miraclo)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+4)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Fearless, Inspire, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Miraclo-Popping" (All Powers Have Flaw: Source- Miraclo Injections in Suit; One Per Day For One Hour)
Enhanced Strength 7 [7]
Enhanced Stamina 6 [6]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [1.5]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [1]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Diehard, Great Endurance, Power Attack [1.5]

"Flash-Forwards" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Uncontrolled, Limited to One Hour in the Future) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Miraclo Strength +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+10 Miraclo), Fortitude +5 (+11 Miraclo), Will +7

Complications:
Addiction (Drugs)- Rick was addicted to Miraclo for a time, and maintains that he has an Addictive Personality, making him easily-attached to people and things.
Relationship (Rex & Wendi Tyler- Parents)- Rick and his father have a complex relationship- Rex was often away playing hero while Rick was growing up.
Relationship (Jesse Chambers)- Rick & Jesse were married during 52 at some point, and are basically that annoying couple that won't keep their hands off each other and call each other "Schmoopy".
Relationship (Dr. Beth Chapel)- Rick and Dr. Midnight were together for a time, until she was killed by Eclipso.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 11 (108)

-Rick Tyler debuted in Infinity Inc. as "oh yeah, didn't you know that Rex Tyler had an adult son?"- he swiftly became the new Hourman, wearing a REALLY ugly Todd McFarlane-designed costume, and messed around for a bit before he was sidelined by Miraclo-related Lieukemia. He vanished from DC for a decade after his father died, only returning after three or four trades' worth of JSA arcs, appearing out of nowhere as one of the "resistance" to a DC universe controlled by The Ultra-Humanite (wielding the powers of The Thunderbolt). Rick, in a BAD-ASS looking update of the "Hourman" uniform, helps save the day, and is immediately rewarded with membership on the team proper.
-After this, Rick fits in as just one guy of many, but gets a solid storyline involving his conversations with his father in the aforementioned "Limbo Timepoint" thing- the relationship between the two is rather interesting, dealing with parental abandonment (Rex Tyler did a lot of heroics when he should have been raising a boy) and trying to make up for lost times. Rick later tries to sacrifice himself to save his dad, but Rex AIN'T HAVING IT, and thankfully a worse character took the hit for both of them in Hourman III. After that, Rick is paired up with Jesse Chambers (the current Liberty Belle), and marries her in the interim between the end of the volume and its restarted run.
-Unfortunately, this is right when the JSA adds a half-dozen NEW members, meaning that Rick's entire personality by this point consists of him being "Schmoopy" with his wife (they literally hang off of each other in Team Meetings and during one mid-fight introduction), and yelling at Atom-Smasher for being a traitor over the whole "Black Adam" thing. Like, that's all he does. Part of the problem might be his powers, which are both lower-level than 80% of his colleagues (he's noticeably less-strong than Atom-Smasher, Power Girl, Black Adam and Captain Marvel, and less-powerful than quite a few others)- the fact that he's one of the least-powerful metahumans on the team, AND HAS A ONE-HOUR LIMIT ON HIS POWERS ANYWAYS, causes him a bit of an issue.
-Curiously, Rick is actually CHEAPER than his father, largely due to Rex's extreme intelligence. Powerhouses are notoriously-cheap to produce in M&M stats, as their combined abilities don't add up to high prices, especially if you don't jack up their Skills & Adantages, to which Rick has only a bit. He's a good, well-balanced PL 10 (not common in the DC Universe, which focuses more on Super-Bricks) and decent all-around capabilities, but he's got little past his physical skills.

HOURMAN III (Matthew Tyler)
Created By:
Grant Morrison & Howard Porter
First Appearance: JLA #12 (Nov. 1997)
Role: Legacy Hero, Pinocchio-Story Android
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The Justice League of America, Justice League Alpha
PL 10 (207)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Expertise (Science) 7 (+12)
Technology 8 (+13)
Perception 5 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Time & Laser Stuff) 4 (+10)
Treatment 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Eidetic Memory, Equipment 10 (Time Ship), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]
Immunity 10 (Aging, Life Support) [10]
Illusion 6 (Visual Senses) [12]
Regeneration 4 [4]

"Time Vision" Senses 12 (Postcognition, Precognition, Microscopic Vision 2, Timesense, Ultra-Hearing) [12]

"Time Vision"
"Time Stop" Affliction 8 (Initiative; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless/Paralyzed & Unaware) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective, Extra Condition, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Instant Recovery) (48) -- [54]
AE: "Laser Vision" Blast 8 (16)
AE: Healing 6 (Extras: Energizing, Restorative) (Quirks: Limited to Damage That May Eventually Heal Itself) (24)
AE: Movement 3 (Time Travel 3) (Feats: Increased Mass 3) (Extras: Portal +2) (15)
AE: "Drain All Effects" Weaken Abilities 8 (Extras: Ranged, Broad) (24)
AE: "Move Between Picoseconds" Speed 10 (2,000 mph) (Extras: Affects Others) Linked to Enhanced Advantages 4: Improved Initiative 4 (Extras: Affects Others) (28)
AE: "Make Things Younger Or Older" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed Age) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (30)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Laser Vision +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Drain Effects +10 (+8 Ranged Weaken, DC 18)
Time Stop +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Age Up & Down +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +3 (+19 Speed-Up)

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Wants to Be Human)- Like almost all comic book androids, Matthew Tyler Just Wants To Be A Real Boy.
Responsibility (Guardian of Time)- Hourman has been entrusted by Metron with the Worlogog, a Time-Control device.
Power Loss (Hour of Power)- Matthew can only use his Time-Related Powers for one hour per day.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 102 / Defenses: 11 (207)

-The third Hourman is a creation of Grant Morrison, largely based around the time travelling Rock of Ages storyline & DC One Million, who was initially given a fairly decent push in DC. First he was J'onn's JLA replacement, then he went right into the resurrection of the JSA series while his own series was ongoing, but unfortunately for him, his lifespan was short after that. See, it really feels like Hourman is just there because of his name and legacy, and Johns & Goyer really didn't care to keep him around- within two trades, he quits the team to go find himself, after hesitating in battle. It didn't help that his case of Pinocchio Syndrome was a REALLY old story in comics by this point.
-Matthew Tyler was created in the 853rd Century by a time-travelling Rex Tyler at the future version of his TylerCo company- he joined his era's Justice League, and went back in time to help save the day against Darkseid, using a powerful Time Device that looks like a nasty skin disease. He went back in time to join the standard JLA for a story, annoying them by skipping time forward a few times to avoid pointless small talk. He got his OWN SERIES for a time, palling around with Snapper Carr and dealing with the fact that he was potentially all-powerful- he willingly gave up the power of The Worlogog, becoming only a minor superhero. He stuck around for a year or so in JSA before vanishing, as his solo book was cancelled. He offered Rick Tyler, Rex's son, a final hour with his father, and future premonitions as a gift, but when the time came for Rex to meet his end, Matthew was moved by the Tylers' attempts at sacrificing themselves for the other, and instead took Rex Tyler's place against Extant, dying in his place. Rex promised to rebuild his "clockwork man", and Rip Hunter declared that he'd only be gone for "a relative year", but unfortunately, not a single other writer apparently gave a crap about the third Hourman, as instead, we just never saw him again.
-Hourman III is one of the harder characters on the JSA to stat, if only because of his myriad powers, and somewhat odd way they're depicted. It's inferred in a few battles that he can "devolve" people (helpfully, you can just use Affliction here), he has generic Laser Blasts, see into the past & future, robotic senses (which weren't really delved into, so I just assumed "lots"), can enhance the healing of other characters' wounds (but not outright cure dying people, since they'd just bleed out FASTER if he sped up time), and I would assume that a guy with Time Controlling powers could at least do the Time Stop trick, just at a low level. I also had a bit of a decision to make over whether or not he counts as a real construct or not, as he's an ANDROID, which implies actual anatomy, but at the same point, he's been sliced the hell open and blown apart like a robot. Soooo.... I decided to just give him a high Stamina, followed by the Regeneration and Immunity powers. And even though he's got a ton of powers, I think he's still only PL 8 because he was always shown as a terrible combatant (+8 Attack is actually probably being nice), and easy to hit if he's being hesitant or something (relying entirely on Dodge for defense).

DOCTOR MID-NITE I (Dr. Charles McNider)
Created By:
Charles Reizenstein & Stanley Josephs Aschmeier
First Appearance: All-American Comics #25 (April 1941)
Role: Super-Medic
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (139)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 7 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+8)
Expertise (Streetwise) 3 (+8)
Insight 2 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+8)
Perception 5 (+10)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 3 (+8)
Treatment 9 (+14)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Fast Grab, Favored Environment (Darkness), Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improed Trip, Minion 4 (Hooty the Owl), Move-By Action, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 1, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Inverted Vision" Senses 2 (Darkvision) [2]

"Blackout Bombs" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [7]
"Black Cloud" Concealment 2 (Vision) (Extras: Attack, Ranged, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (Diminished Range -1) (11 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +5

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

Complications:
Relationship (Myra Mason)- McNider's true love Myra was murdered by his arch-enemy The Shadower in 1953.
Disabled (Blind)- Unless his eyes are bathed in darkness, McNider cannot see- he must wear infrared glasses or use Blackout Bombs in order to see in regular light.

Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 10 (139)

-Dr. Charles McNider was a surgeon who was blinded by a grenade after trying to save the life of a man gunned down by mobsters- thinking his career over, he hears an owl crash through his window and soon realizes that he can now see perfectly in total darkness. His vision thus "inverted", he decides to put on a costume that includes a darkened visor and "Blackout Bombs" in order to allow him to fight crime. His time as a superhero doesn't affect history overly-much, but he appeared in comics for a HELL of a long time- lasting 75+ issues in All-American Comics, and joined the Justice Society very soon after its introduction (eight issues, as a matter of fact), lasting until the finale of the book. He appeared in a few JSA/JLA Cross-Overs, but didn't get up to too much, and was aged to death by Extant during Zero Hour alongside The Atom and The Sandman.
-McNider's legacy ended up being pretty decent- Jame Robinson would utilize him as the Starman of the 1950s, having replaced Ted Knight while he was suffering from a nervous breakdown, and Roy Thomas would introduce Dr. Beth Chapel, a "Dr. Midnight", in the pages of Infinity, Inc.. But most importantly, he would be the inspiration for, and trainer of, Dr. Pieter Cross, the modern-day Mid-Nite. He's also the first blind superhero, predating Daredevil by twenty years.
-Dr. Mid-Nite is a great fighter, fitting a solid PL 7.5 build with some well-rounded Skills and a talent for medicine, one of the rarer qualities in a superhero.

GREAT HORNED OWL (Bubo virginianus)
Role:
Nighttime Hunter, Athena's Aide
PL 5 (49)- Minion Rank 4, Sidekick Rank 10
Normal Version:
PL 2-3
STRENGTH -3 STAMINA -1 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 6 (+3)
Close Combat (Natural Weapons) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 6 (+6)
Perception 12 (+12)

Advantages:
Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Hold

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Extended, Ultra & Low-Light Vision) [3]
"Owl Ear Tufts" Senses 2 (Accurate Hearing) [2]
"Natural Weapons- Talons & Beak" Strength-Damage +4 [4]

Flight 4 (30 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [4]

"Small Size" Shrinking 4 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
(-1 Strength & Speed, +2 Defenses, +4 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (-3 Damage, DC 12)
Natural Weapons +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness -1, Fortitude +3, Will +5

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Birds cannot speak to humans, nor use their talons to easily manipulate objects.
Disabled (Scent)- Owls appear to have a terrible sense of smell. Though this has benefits, as they can hunt the Skunk without worry, which very few animals will.

Total: Abilities: -4 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 12 (49)

DOCTOR MIDNIGHT (Dr. Beth Chapel)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Todd McFarlane
First Appearance: Infinity Inc. #21 (Dec. 1985)
Role: Super-Medic, Disposable Minority Legacy Heroine
Group Affiliations: Infinity Inc., The Shadow Fighters
PL 7 (105)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Deception 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Treatment 10 (+13)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Favored Environment (Darkness), Grab Finesse, Improved Defense, Improved Trip, Set-Up, Ultimate Treatment Skill

Powers:
"Inverted Vision" Senses 2 (Darkvision) [2]

"Blackout Bombs" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [7]
"Black Cloud" Concealment 2 (Vision) (Extras: Attack, Ranged, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (Diminished Range -1) (11 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +5

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

Complications:
Relationship (Rick Tyler)- Hourman & Dr. Midnight are an item.
Disabled (Blind)- Unless her eyes are bathed in darkness, Chapel cannot see- she must wear infrared glasses or use Blackout Bombs in order to see in regular light.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 10 (105)

-Beth Chapel was one of Infinity Inc.'s Legacy Heroes (joining Rick Tyler & Yolanda Montez) that just didn't pan out. I think Roy Thomas tried, but honestly, it was over. The fact that Mid-Nite was a VERY minor character in the JSA anyways didn't help matters, nor did her goofy costume with it's big yellow sleeves. Todd McFarlane was the first artist to draw her, so blame him for that one. What's funny is that this character was essentially a nobody, who putzed along with the Infinitors for several issues, never quite mattering, and then got randomly offed by Eclipso in his own comic book (along with Wildcat II, The Creeper, Commander Steel, Peacemaker & Major Victory); and yet ANOTHER successor to McNider, the modern-day JSA Dr. Mid-Nite III, ended up being a great success on that book. I guess it just comes down to quality writing and having a good character. Beth Chapel was just a doctor who got into an accident and sorta chose to help out during the Crisis on Infinite Earths; Pieter Cross was a BRILLIANT doctor who was obsessed with healing all the sick, rich & poor alike, and got to use his abilities constantly during his JSA tenure.
-Beth is the weakest member of Infinity, Inc., being not much stronger than a normal person, and needing darkness to be really, truly effective. She's a great doctor, but not RIDICULOUSLY good like the later Mid-Nite is, and so she's really just a generic two-fisted adventurer-type (though they never explained how she became a half-decent fighter) with a Blackout Bomb gimmick.

DOCTOR MID-NITE II (Dr. Pieter Anton Cross)
Created By:
Matt Wagner & John K. Snyder
First Appearance: Doctor Mid-Nite #1 (Sept. 1999)
Role: Super-Medic, Skillmonkey
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 9 (164)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+13)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+10)
Expertise (Streetwise) 3 (+8)
Insight 2 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+8)
Perception 7 (+12)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+8)
Technology 6 (+11)
Treatment 12 (+18)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Contacts (Network of Trained Nurses), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment (Medical Gear, Visual Link to Charlie the Owl, Evasion, Fast Grab, Favored Environment (Darkness), Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improed Trip, Minion 4 (Charlie the Owl), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 1, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Treatment), Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Treatment Skill

Powers:
"Inverted Vision" Senses 2 (Darkvision) [2]

"Blackout Bombs" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [7]
"Black Cloud" Concealment 2 (Vision) (Extras: Attack, Ranged, Area- 30ft. Cloud +2) (Diminished Range -1) (11 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8

Complications:
Disabled (Blind)- Unless his eyes are bathed in darkness, Cross cannot see- he must wear infrared glasses or use Blackout Bombs in order to see in regular light.
Motivation (Helping People)- Dr. Cross is a compassionate, caring physician- he is obsessed with saving people, and sets up numerous free clinics to save people who cannot afford proper care. He will never knowingly take a life.

Total: Abilities: 82 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 16 (164)

-The third Dr. Mid-Nite debuted in a 1999 Limited Series written by the creator of Mage & Grendel, Matt Wagner- he was a Doctor delivered by, and partially-trained by, Dr. Charles McNider, the Golden Age Dr. Mid-Nite. In a weird bit of storytelling, he becomes the greatest doctor in the history of the universe, but is unable to save his mother's life- it turns out there WAS a drug that may have helped her out, but the company that makes it was withholding it. While investigating some new street drugs, he is drugged by an Evil Pharmaceutical Company (one of comics' first big attacks on Big Pharma- Spidey-related anti-hero Cardiac was first), and blinded the way McNider & Chapel were.
-The book was quickly glossed-over, but on the second arc of JSA, he got a big debut, helping out the heroes against Obsidian & Ian Karkull's Shadow-Energy (naturally, seeing in total darkness was a big help). Confident, capable and intelligent, he was treated like a big deal immediately, and got put into a relationship with Black Canary (who gave him BIG props in her narration- "Deep voice. Steady hands. This guy's more confident than God."). With Geoff Johns' writing, Mid-Nite gets a big push as a capable helper (his medical knowledge comes in handy), and interesting character- one of the few very religious superheroes. When Canary moves on to Ollie again, Mid-Nite gets a bromance with the intellectual atheist Mr. Terrific, and they become one of the big partnerships on the book. It's actually amusing how Mid-Nite came in handy again and again- as one of the other books featuring an actual DOCTOR on it, the JSA naturally was afflicted with numerous situations that called for his exact skills- people were frequently grievously-harmed, necessitating emergency surgery.
-Though some of the "Pieter Cross is Perfect" stuff irked me at the time- he was a bit TOO compassionate, TOO caring, for me to really take him at face value. He was a humanitarian, a vegetarian, deeply-religious, and devoted to helping the downtrodden and homeless. I think that says more about ME than HIM, though- I did that thing where you jealously-search for the DARK side to somebody. But nope- it just turns out he IS that caring. Dude didn't become a doctor just for the money...
-Dr. Mid-Nite II (I'm not calling him "III" because Chapel was "Midnight" instead of "Mid-Nite", and HYPHENS ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS, DAMMIT) is a great fighter and a handy guy to have around in a scrap, but no powerhouse- he's PL 8 offensively (he's never seen fighting anyone better than a Mook)- he just specializes in weird little medical things: He's allowed Black Canary to use a Cry that puts people to sleep (by getting handsy with her, naturally), figured out the nature of constant heroes' powers (Power Girl, Kingdom Come Superman, Citizen Steel, Alan Scott), saved Jakeem Thunder from a sliced jugular, saved Alan Scott once or twice, and figured out how to take out Count Vertigo by figuring out what inner-ear disorder the villain had. He also once took out a nasty pimp by putting his fingers against the dude's blood-vessels. But really, most of the time he's good for the plan, and for when the heroes inevitably get injured- naturally, the only team with an actual surgeon on staff was the only one to frequently suffer injuries that REQUIRED such a name.
-The DCA build's a bit... weird... owing to some odd power choices. His medical gauntlets are really more Equipment than the Laser-thing they're statted up as, and I don't think he really has Infra or Ultravision, nor an Anaesthetic Spray. And being +10 to Defenses with +8 Toughness? That's as tough as SPIDER-MAN- they REALLY over-use Defensive Roll in these books. It feels like nearly every build has it pumped in to maximum ranks just to artificially make everyone fit their recommended PL.

CAPTAIN TRIUMPH (Lance & Michael Gallant)
Created By:
Alfred Andriola
First Appearance: Crack Comics #27 (Jan. 1943)
Role: Ghost-Powered Good Guy
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 10 (162)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 4/8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+6, +10 Empowered)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Journalist) 4 (+7)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Diehard, Fast Grab, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown, Withstand Damage (Trade Defenses for Toughness)

Powers:
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
Enhanced Stamina 4 [8]
Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 11) [15]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
"Invisibility" Concealment (Visuals) 2 [4]
Morph 3 (Humans) [15]

"Michael's Skills" Enhanced Skills 14: Expertise (Military) 4 (+7), Technology 2 (+5), Vehicles 8 (+12) [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Ghost Power +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +12 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers)- Lance must touch the T-shaped birthmark on his wrist if he is to gain power- Michael shares the same mark.
Relationship (Kim Meredith)- Kim was Michaels' fiancee, and becomes Lance after Michael's death.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 68 / Defenses: 6 (162)

-Captain Triumph was a Quality Comics character, the combination of a set of twins. Closer than even most siblings, they grow up together, with Michael Gallant becoming a fighter pilot, while his brother Lance becomes a journalist. Tragically, Michael is killed by a saboteur, dying in Lance's arms- Michael swears vengeance, and the Fates, observing all of this, are impressed and decide to make him a champion. Michael's ghost thus visits his brother, and empowers Lance with great power. Despite never wearing a mask (or even GLASSES), people who've met both Lance and his superheroic identity make no connection between the two.
-As Captain Triumph, he lasts as a cover character for 36 issues before disappearing- his plain-ish costume believed to be an attempt to make it clear he's a superhero, without actually advertising it TOO much (as the genre was fading a bit). He gains a fiancee in Michael's flame Kim Meredith (a brave woman in her own right), and a personal assistant in Biff the Clown, who is a pretty burly sort and can handle himself in a scrap. Once DC bought the rights to Quality Comics' characters, Triumph was meant to be used in All-Star Squadron, but Roy Thomas "never got around to it" before the book was cancelled. In the end, his only real version in mainstream DC continuity was as a random-ass character in The Titans- in Jay Faerber's run, he got involved in the horrible "Jesse Quick sleeps with her mother's fiancee" storyline, overhearing said fiancee brag about fleecing Libby of money, while boning her hot daughter- in a rage, Michael Gallant takes over Lance's body, and strangles the young braggart. This is largely-ignored afterwards, but the Gallants never appear again- a new "Captain Triumph" appears in the newer Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters series who can fly and is strong, but she's not a major character.
-Triumph is a normal man that becomes super-powerful when his brother's Ghost (an Insubstantial Spirit that can, with great concentration, Compel others to do things)- in his Crack Comics appearances, he appears to be legitimately nigh-invincible, being impossible to harm, even with lasers that "can cut through ANYTHING!"- he even jokes that it TICKLES. Even an attempt to make him more reasonable puts him at PL 10, though he's only PL 9 offensively.

JUDOMASTER I (Hadley "Rip" Jagger)
Created By:
Joe Gill & Frank McLaughlin
First Appearance: Special War Series #4 (Nov. 1965)
Role: Martial Artist Hero, Retcon WWII Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The U.S. Army, L.A.W.
PL 9 (137)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+15)
Athletics 9 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+14)
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Soldier) 5 (+7)
Insight 2 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Assessment, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Evasion, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Instant Up, Move-By Action, Prone Fighting, Seize Initiative, Takedown 2, Teamwork, Uncanny Dodge

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting the Nazis)

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (137)

-Rip Jagger is your classic comic book story of "Mighty Whitey"- the tale of a brave, upstanding young caucasian hero who goes to a foreign land and immediately becomes better than all of the natives at whatever it is they were doing- in this case he's an American Soldier in World War II who ends up in a Pacific Island nation and learns Judo from their chief. This is in a Charlton Comics book from the '60s, making him a bit of a Retroactive Storytelling device- his teen sidekick Tiger was used as the adult trainer for the hero Nightshade in another book, set in modern times. Judomaster's book lasted only about a year, at which point Charlton went out of business and sold its stories to DC Comics.
-Post-Crisis, when Judomaster finally actually appeared, he was added to the All-Star Squadron (though never actually appeared in their stories, as their book was Pre-Crisis). He appeared in an old Who's Who I had, and his cool-looking costume made him an instant favourite of mine- since it was the only DC book I owned that was any good, I actually became QUITE familiar with many of the characters featured- Judomaster, Killer Moth and Kole were among my faves. Jagger himself rarely-appeared in comics, though Tiger turned up as a villain in the L.A.W. series that reunited old Charlton acts, and Jagger turned up in Nanda Parbat, retaining his youth there. Judomaster I was killed by Bane in The Battle of Metropolis in Infinite Crisis #7, being one of numerous disposable characters casually wiped out (in a reflection of the last issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which also did Spring Cleaning with unwanted characters)- his back was broken by Bane, same as Batman's once was.
-I put Judomaster at PL 8.5 mainly because I'm biased because his costume is rad and I liked him as a kid- dude jobbed to Bane in like ONE PANEL :). But he IS called "Judomaster"- they wouldn't call him a MASTER of JUDO if he sucked at it, right? So he's a bit better than your usual Golden Age Non-Powered Hero, but not by a ton.

TIGER (Tanaka, aka Avatar)
Created By:
Joe Gill & Frank McLaughlin
First Appearance: Judomaster #91 (Oct. 1966)
Role: Kid Sidekick Turned Villain
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Yakuza
PL 6 (82)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 8 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+11)
Deception 3 (+2)
Insight 2 (+2)
Investigation 3 (+3)
Perception 4 (+4)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Evasion, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Prone Fighting, Takedown, Set-Up, Teamwork, Uncanny Dodge

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting the Nazis)

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (82)

-Tiger is your typical Foreigner Kid Sidekick, and is shown as an adult in Charlton books set in "modern" times. A Japanese orphan, he was trained by Rip Jagger and turned into a great fighter, but was barred from immigrating into the U.S. Bitter and resentful, Tiger started to belief that Rip was resentful of HIM for keeping Rip from returning to America, and vanished in 1953. He became Avatar, an anti-war activist who gathered an army of orphans, and drank a potion that would give him Eternal Life, but would also drive him insane. As Avatar, he defeated the Justice League, but was undone by L.A.W.- the Charlton heroes (Judomaster, Peacemaker, Blue Beetle, Nightshade, Captain Atom, The Question & Sarge Steel). He would vanish until 2008, at which point he fought the new Judomaster, Sonia Sato, while enjoying his status as the greatest Yakuza Assassin in Japan.

JUDOMASTER III (Sonia Sato)
Created By:
Gail Simone & Nicola Scott
First Appearance: Birds of Prey #100 (Jan. 2007)
Role: Martial Artist Hero, Retcon WWII Hero
Group Affiliations: The Birds of Prey, The Justice Society of America
PL 9 (149)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+14)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 7 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+10)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Takedown

Powers:
"Aversion Field" Immunity 110 (Damaging Effects, Fortitude Effects) (Flaws: Limited to Directed Attacks) [55]

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +6

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

Complications:
Disabled (No Speaking English)- Sonia cannot speak English until very late in the JSA series.
Relationship (Damage)- Sonia & Damage hooked up while he was hot and she had no English-speaking ability. This makes them look REALLY shallow, though later they stayed together once he was reverted back to being heavily-scarred.
Enemy (Tiger)- Judomaster I's old sidekick is now a Yakuza leader, and had killed Sonia's father.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 55 / Defenses: 11 (149)

-Judomaster III (the third is a forgotten guy who showed up briefly in L.A.W. as a legacy) is a very new character, with only a tangential relationship to Rip Jagger, the first (who died in Infinite Crisis #7 along with scores of other jobber characters). With hard to explain powers, and an inability to speak English (apparenly the only Japanese person in comics with this problem), she was stuck around the background of JSA books, with a storyline about her & Damage hooking up making them both look REALLY shallow (ie. pure physical stuff, since they can't TALK TO EACH OTHER, and Damage's only reason for hitting on her was because she was hot). She's primarily based off of her Kingdom Comeappearances (much like Lightning), as that series keeps getting throwbacks mentioned under Johns & Ross' writing.
-Humorously, Sonia had debuted in a Birds of Prey issue written by Gail Simone, which featured her sporting AN ACTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF ENGLISH. Also, her power came later- it was Geoff Johns that gave her the "aversion field" that rendered her UNABLE TO BE HIT BY ATTACKS. I hate that power, though- it fits on say, a VILLAIN (it's effectively cheating to be good at fighting), but for a superhero, it takes away all the hard work that is required for martial arts, and basically looks unfair. Though in a later JSA All-Stars comic she would point out that she simply REFUSES to be touched, implying it might be deliberate.
-Sonia is no powerhouse; without her powers, she's basically another pretty good martial artist out there. Her main form of defense is her Aversion Field, making it impossible to hit her, even if you're a master martial artist like Ted "Wildcat" Grant or something crazy like that. It's only Flaw is that an Area attack (Explosion, Line, Cone, etc., fairly common in my builds) can still nail her just as good, and she's reliant on her +11 Dodge Save to avoid getting killed. This essentially makes her a COMPLETELY unfair opponent against anyone with hand-to-hand capabilities, and ONLY people with explosive power can have a chance of harming her.

THE SHINING KNIGHT (Sir Justin, aka Justin Arthur)
Created By:
Creig Flessel
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #66 (Sept. 1941)
Role: Medieval Knight, Underdog Hero, Ensemble Darkhorse, Background Character
Group Affiliations: The Knights of the Round Table, The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (128)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Athletics 8 (+14) -- Flaws: Limited to Riding
Close Combat (Sword) 1 (+12)
Expertise (Knight of Europe) 10 (+11)
Expertise (Magic) 5 (+6)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Close Attack, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Fearless, Improved Critical (Sword), Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Sidekick 14 (Winged Victory), Takedown

Powers:
"Mystic Sword- Enchanged by Merlin" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [7]
Strength-Damage +4 (Feats: Improved Critical, Penetrating 6) (11 points)

"Magic Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [8]
Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 5) (9)
Enhanced Advantages 1: Withstand Damage (Trade Off Defenses For Toughness) (1)
-- (10 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sword +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+8 Magic Armour), Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (The Squire, Firebrand II)- Sir Justin trained a young boy as a Sidekick, and was in a serious relationship with Danette Reilly.
Responsibility (Man Out of Time)- A member of King Arthur's Court, Sir Justin often feels left out of the modern world.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 30 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 13 (128)

WINGED VICTORY (Equus pegasi)
Role:
Awesome Mounted Beast
PL 7 (69)- Sidekick Rank 14
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+5)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+5 Size)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+1 Size)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive (To Women), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Hooves), Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute Scent, Low-Light Vision, Radius Sight) [3]
"Animal Physiology" Speed 3 [3]
"Hooves" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Reach) [2]

"Natural Size" Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]
Protection 1 [1]

"Wings" Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Hooves +6 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Pegasi cannot speak to humans, nor use their hooves to easily manipulate objects.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 10 (69)

-Shining Knight is an iconic "Background Guy" because he took up a lot of space with his giant Pegasus mount, making him handy filler (George Perez found a similar thing in Crisis on Infinite Earths- go back and see how many times Sir Justin is in big group shots, taking up the room of eight guys- you see a lot of it in JLU, too, where he became a popular recurring character). He nonetheless was cool enough to last NINETY-FIVE ISSUES back in the old days.
-The Knight is Sir Justin, an Arthurian Knight who gained some bitchin' magical equipment and a flying horse in payment from Merlin for saving the old wizard's life. However, in his first mission with his new gear, Sir Justin ended up in an avalanche, which froze both him and Winged Victory (the horse) for hundreds of years- thawing out in 1941. Eventually, he joined DC's C-List hero team, The Seven Soldiers of Victory, alongside other Badass Normals (the most-powerful member was actually THE HORSE), and the whole squad was time-tossed by Nebula Man, ending up in modern times. After that, he largely-vanishes but for a handful of shots here and there- the Crisis, Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., and a few other books would use him in cameos, but there really isn't a place for "Magical Arthurian Knight" in modern comics, unfortunately. Maybe a more super-heroey look would do well for him.
-Shining Knight ends up a PL 9 with a PL 7 Mount- he's a melee warrior with a killer sword, but he's ultimately an also-ran amongst other heroes. Winged Victory makes me yet again happy I made a set of Animal Builds, because I swear I've used that damn Pegasus build like eighty times for various superheroes at this point.

THE SQUIRE I (Percy Sheldrake, aka The Knight)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Michael Bair
First Appearance: Young All-Stars #21 (Jan. 1988)
Role: Medieval Knight, Underdog Hero, Ensemble Darkhorse, Background Character
Group Affiliations: The Young Allies, The Global Guardians
PL 6 (62)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5)
Athletics 4 (+9) -- Flaws: Limited to Riding
Expertise (Knight) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+3)
Persuasion 1 (+2)

Advantages:
Close Attack, Equipment (Sword +3), Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Magic Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [8]
Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 5) (9)
Enhanced Advantages 1: Withstand Damage (Trade Off Defenses For Toughness) (1)
-- (10 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sword +6 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2 (+6 Magic Armour), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (The Squire, Firebrand II)- Sir Justin trained a young boy as a Sidekick, and was in a serious relationship with Danette Reilly.
Responsibility (Man Out of Time)- A member of King Arthur's Court, Sir Justin often feels left out of the modern world.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 9 (62)

-Percy Sheldrake was a young boy living in WWII England when he became the Squire for Sir Justin, the Shining Knight. Introduced in the Retcon series Young All-Stars by Roy Thomas, he teamed up with the Young Allies and did some stuff. He would later grow up to become The Knight, taking his own son Cyril as his new Squire. This was meant to explain the origin of that "Knight & Squire" duo met by Batman & Robin in their "Batmen of All Nations" arc in the 1950s. Percy was unfortunately killed by his archenemy Spring-Heeled Jack, leading to Cyril becoming the new Knight- Cyril later joined The Ultramarine Corps., and took on a new Squire in Beryl Hutchinson.

MISTER TERRIFIC I (Terrence "Terry" Sloane)
Created By:
Charles Reizenstein & Everett E. Hibbard
First Appearance: Sensation Comics #1 (Jan. 1942)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (139)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 10 (+13)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+13)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+12)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+10)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 2 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Eidetic Memory, Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Jack-Of-All-Trades, Languages (A Few), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Takedown

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +9

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

Complications:
Disabled (Colorblind)- Dear God I hope so...
Enemy (The Spirit King)- The King would possess Jay Garrick and be the end of Terry.
Relationship (Ned- Brother)- Terry has a brother who's a major F-up, and constantly needs to be bailed out of trouble. He later gives birth to a daughter who becomes the villainess Roulette, who considers Terry her father.

Total: Abilities: 78 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 13 (139)

-Renaissance Man and ultimate Fashion Victim Terry Sloane had accomplished so much by his early 20s that he felt he had nothing left to live for, and planned to commit suicide. However, he rescued a woman attempting suicide from a bridge, and solved her personal problems (her brother was mixed up in a gang)- he then found meaning to his life: he formed "The Fair Play Club", a group devoted to putting a stop to juvenile delinquency. Terry became Mister Terrific, a crimefighter, and THAT was the focus his life needed.
-However, despite this uplifting origins, Mr. Terrific was a pretty minor-league guy, and a big failure overall- he only appeared in two adventures with the JSA, and then went back to his own feature before having a pretty mediocre run (38 issues in Wonder Woman's Sensation Comics, though spread out a bit longer than many of his JSA contemporaries). This may have something to do with the fact that he is wearing what is quite possibly the WORST superhero costume in the history of the universe. Seriously, even by the standards of crappy superhero costumes, this one looks bad. Mr. Terrific was so bad that he was one of the only heroes ever killed off permanently in the 1960s- strangled by a Spirit King-controlled Jay Garrick.
-Despite his failure as a character, Terry Sloane is depicted as a super-genius Renaissance Man who's good at literally anything he tries, and includes an Eidetic Memory (something that's actually more common amongst these guys that you'd think). He's an expensive PL 8 with numerous skills and abilities.

MISTER TERRIFIC II (Michael Holt)
Created By:
John Ostrander & Tom Mandrake
First Appearance: The Spectre #54 (June 1997)
Role: Super-Polymath, Tech-Guy
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, Checkmate
PL 9 (248)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+13)
Expertise (Science) 10 (+16)
Expertise (Business) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Law) 2 (+10)
Expertise (Current Events) 5 (+13)
Expertise (History) 5 (+13)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 2 (+5, +13 Visor)
Technology 11 (+17)
Treatment 4 (+12)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Eidetic Memory, Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Jack-Of-All-Trades, Languages 3 (Several), Leadership, Minions 24 (4 T-Spheres), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery 2 (Technology, Science), Takedown, Ultimate Science Skill, Ultimate Technology Skill

Advantages:
"Non-Removable Nanotech T-Visor"
Enhanced Skills: Perception 8 (+13) [4]
Features 1: Quick Change [1]

Concealment (All Senses) 10 (Extras: Continuous) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) [20]
Communication 3 (Electronic) [12]
Senses 4 (Infravision, Darkvision 2, Communication Link- T-Spheres) [4]
Remote Sensing (Vision & Hearing) 8 (Flaws: Medium- T-Spheres) [16]

"Super-Polymath"
Quickness 4: Flaws: Limited to Assessing Information [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +10

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (Atheist)- Michael has trouble believing in things like reincarnation and souls. He could not hear the voice of Gog, a wannabe God on Earth, due to his lack of faith.
Responsibility (Fair Play)- Michael is community-oriented, specifically focusing on inner-city youth.
Relationship (Dr. Mid-Nite)- The two are close friends, despite differences in opinion regarding religion.
Reputation (Cold Fish)- Michael does not act out emotionally alot, which leaves people unfamiliar with the man that he's a "cold fish" and lacks emotions period.
Relationship (Paula Holt- Late Wife)- His wife's death weighs heavily on Mr. Terrific's mind, after all these years.

Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 70--35 / Advantages: 54 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 16 (248)

-Like Terry Sloane, Michael Holt was a Renaissance Man who excelled at everything, yet was contemplating suicide. However, his particular cause of depression was the death of his wife Paula, killed by a drunk driver. Despondent, he planned on ending it all, but was inspired by The Spectre (then Hal Jordan), who told him the story of Terry Sloane. Inspired, Michael became the NEW Mister Terrific, putting on a less-garish (but still kinda weird) outfit. As a super-genius, he became a handy member of the JSA on their second modern-day adventure (after their successful return), and quickly became a favourite character of head writer Geoff Johns, who soon pushed Michael into the Chairman position (despite him not actually applying for it)- he completely overshadowed Sand, and many other "early" members of the team.
-In so doing, Johns basically was responsible for DC's single highest-profile black character (at least until John Stewart became the TV Green Lantern), which is a pretty big deal, especially since he doesn't suffer from any of the stereotypes or goofy history many characters have- he also avoids being a too-perfect Paragon of Perfection (a trait negatively-effecting many minority characters) because he suffers numerous personal maladies- such as his "cold fish" personality and his lack of belief in souls (despite the DC Universe being a pretty-clear reflection of the idea that such things exist- he's even an ATHEIST, in a world where he's met ACTUAL ANGELS). However, he's ALSO one of the only atheists you'll find in fiction who ISN'T a giant ass about it! It actually creates a series of interesting discussion points- a very neat character, all things considered.
-Mister Terrific ends up becoming VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE, largely-thanks to his status as a Polymath, Athlete and Technology Guy, giving him TONS of points on Skills & Advantages, and a big pile of stuff rendering him unable to be detected by machines (OMACs can't even see him, etc.), and a communication thing with his numerous T-Spheres, handy little devices that are generally Remote Sensing repositories, but are also decently-strong (a few are able to carry Terrific around) and have a few low-key abilities that can hurt Terrific's enemies. Mr. Terrific himself is a handy guy in a scrap, but no battlefield operative- DCA overrates him a bit, as all he's ever really done is brawl with Kobra for a bit- he's even stated that he has YET to knock Ted "Wildcat" Grant on his ass in their sparring matches, despite Michael's expertise. He's PL 8 on offense, PL 9 on defense.

T-SPHERES
PL 8 (90)- Minion Rank 6
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA -- AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE -- AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE --

Skills:
None

Advantages:
Close Attack 4, Improved Initiative

Advantages:
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Senses 8 (Analytical Sight 2, Radius Vision, Infravision, Darkvision 2, Direction Sense, Communication Link- Mr. Terrific) [8]
Flight 4 (30 mph) [8]
Protection 4 [4]

Features 1: May Speak For Mr. Terrific While He Is Too Weak to Speak [1]
"Datalink" Communication (Electronic) 3 [12]

"Tiny Size" Shrinking 8 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [17]
(-2 Strength & Speed, +4 Defenses, +8 Stealth, -8 Intimidation)

Illusion 4 (Visuals, Hearing) (12) -- [15]
AE: "Lights On" Environment 1 (Light) (2)
AE: "Electrical Zapper" Damage 8 (Feats: Reach 2) (Flaws: Unreliable -2- One Shot) (4)
AE: "Explosion" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Fatal -2) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Zapper +4 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Explosion +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

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

Total: Abilities: -26 / Skills: 00--0 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 95 / Defenses: 16 (90)

VIGILANTE (Greg Saunders, aka Greg Sanders)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger & Mort Meskin
First Appearance: Action Comics #42 (Nov. 1941)
Role: Cowboy, Underdog Hero, Ensemble Darkhorse, Background Character
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (120)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Crime) 3 (+4)
Expertise (Cowboy) 6 (+7)
Expertise (Singing) 4 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Pistols) 3 (+12)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 8 (+12) -- Flaws: Limited to Grounded Vehicles

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Equipment 5 (Motorcycle, Pistols), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Pistols) 2, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Seize Initiative, Taunt, Ultimate Aim

Equipment:
"Motorcycle" (10)
"Double Pistols" Blast 4 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Multiattack) (13)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pistols +12 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Greg Saunders became a lawman after his father was murdered by bandits.
Obsession (The Wild West)- Greg was happy as hell to be trapped in the Wild West for twenty years.
Enemy (The Dummy)- Resembling a ventriloquist's dummy, this villain murdered Stuff, The Chinatown Kid.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (120)

-Vigilante's yet ANOTHER guy who's got a messed-up history as a character, thanks to DC's "meant to fix everything but really made everything more confusing" Crisis on Infinite Earths. See, Vigilante #1 was a guy in the '40s who was a cowboy superhero, and got stuck on the Seven Soldiers of Victory team (better known as "the non-powered losers who nobody ever remembers"). Earth-One (which, of course, was the SECOND Earth created) had a Vigilante too, with the same name and everything. But the Crisis merged them together, so now it's just one guy. Add to that his sidekick Stuff, The Chinatown Kid, one of many "Chinese kid" sidekicks from that era (the Golden Age featured dozens of rip-offs of every successful concept, and this one was stolen from the Green Hornet's radio programs), who was in some stories, yet never mentioned in others (Seven Soldiers, until he was retconned onto the team, replacing Green Arrow & Speedy I, who never existed anymore. Got that?). But on to JLU...
-Greg Saunders (it was "Sanders" until the 1990s) started out as just a pretty common background guy in JLU, but suddenly the writers discovered they REALLY liked writing cowboy dialogue. So much so, that ol' Vig kept getting more and more screen-time, to the point where he was the "third guy" on a LOT of missions (Hawkgirl vs. Thanagarians, Seven Soldiers, Task Force-X), getting tons of lines, and doing lots of shooting. He never got big enough to be seen without the mask (or even have his real name mentioned!), but he was always there, as one of the more iconic "Redshirts" in the background. It's more than poor Atom Smasher got, cuz he was always stuck in the background punching stuff and grunting.
-Vigilante debuted in 1941 as a guy who went to live out west in the "Cowboy Lifestyle"- he brought a band of bandits to justice after they killed his father (they even had to Retcon his origin early, because they had to explain away a STAGECOACH ROBBERY in the 1940s). Three issues later, he met up with Stuff, The Chinatown Kid, helping Vigilante against some Japanese spies. His base of operations was in New York City, where he fought crime and acted as a radio singer ("The Country Troubador"). He joined the short-lived Seven Soldiers of Victory (along with a new sidekick- Billy Gunn), a grouping that'd lead to him being time-tossed into the modern era (though he was left in the real Wild West for 20 years- having the time of his life in the process). However, the actual Vigilante comics survived the '40s, ending in 1954.
-Vigilante is a low-level super-hero, being essentially a crack-shot (though his double pistols are good enough to have Multiattack on them- he IS a super-hero after all) with a bunch of gun-based Advantages.

STUFF, THE CHINATOWN KID I (Jimmy Leong)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger & Mort Meskin
First Appearance: Action Comics #45 (Feb. 1942)
Role: Asian Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (74)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+7)
Deception 3 (+3)
Expertise (Crime) 3 (+3)
Insight 2 (+3)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Pistols) 3 (+12)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Lin Chou- Grandfather)- Lin Chou is the leader of the White Lotus Tong in New York's Chinatown- Jimmy seeks Vigilante's help when a Japanese spy tries to set off a Tong war.
Relationship (Some Pornstar)- Jimmy was attracted to a porn star while an adult, and this led to his death at the hands of Bugsy Siegel.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 11 (74)

-Asian Kid Sidekicks became popular in the 1940s with the success of the Green Hornet radio program, and so we had Stuff, the sidekick of Vigilante. Why he's called STUFF I couldn't possibly tell you (was that a common nickname back in the before-time?). Stuff was later revealed to have been murdered- in 1977 it was at the hands of The Dummy (a recurring Vigilante foe who resembles a ventriloquist's dummy), and Post-Crisis it was BUGSY SIEGEL of all people! With Jimmy dead, his brother Victor becomes the new Chinatown Kid, dressing in Chinese garb instead of Western wear. As an adult, Victor (introduced in Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E., well into the modern era) becomes a restauranteur, and the owner of the rights to films Greg made in the '40s.
-Stuff is a minor Martial Artist back in the day (PL 5 on offense, PL 6 to Parry), making a decent, but standard, Kid Sidekick to the PL 8 Greg Saunders.

BILLY GUNN
Created By:
Mort Weisinger & Mort Meskin
First Appearance: Action Comics #43 (Dec. 1941)
Role: Cowboy, Old Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The Seven Soldiers of Victory, The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (79)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Crime) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Cowboy) 6 (+7)
Expertise (Acting) 4 (+7)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 1 (+4)
Stealth 3 (+4)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 3 (Pistols), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Pistols), Improved Smash, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 4

Equipment:
"Double Pistols" Blast 4 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Multiattack) (13)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Pistols +8 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (The Wild West)- Billy grew fascinated with tales of The Wild West, and seeks to live like the cowboys of old.
Obsession (Asses)- I'm such a nerd.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (79)

-Billy Gunn (no relation to Monte "Kip" Sopp) is a rarity- an OLD MAN Sidekick! He joined Vigilante early in the man's run (before Stuff, apparently), then vanished. However, he WAS Vigilante's sidekick on the Seven Soldiers of Victory (Stuff never appeared on the team until modern times)- he was Retconned into one of the Seven to explain the disappearance of some members from continuity. Billy was a former Stage Actor who was fascinated by tales of the Wild West, which naturally led to him engaging in gunfights with real crooks at the side of a modern-day cowboy. Funnily enough, most websites won't even list how he DIED- I had to re-read my Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. book to figure it out: He barges in on Wing & The Spider after the rest of the Seven Soldiers run off to stop The Nebula Man, having figured out that The Spider's a mole for the enemy. But before Wing can do anything, The Spider fires an arrow through Billy's neck, killing him in one shot.
-Billy is a PL 6 Cowboy, an adequate sidekick to a PL 8 one.

AIR-WAVE I (Lawrence "Larry" Jordan)
Created By:
Mort Weisinger (or Murray Boltinoff) & Harris Levey
First Appearance: Detective Comics #60 (Feb. 1942)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (102)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Law) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+6)
Technology 6 (+8)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Improved Disarm, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Sidekick 7 (Static the Parrot)

Powers:
"Air Wave Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [13]
Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling, Environmental Adaptation- Static Electricity) (4)
Speed 7 (250 mph) (Flaws: Limited- Only Along Power-Lines) (3.5)
Senses 1 (Radio) (1)

"Magnetic Control" Move Object 6 (Flaws: Limited to Ferrous Materials) (6) -- (7)
"Attract & Repel" Move Object 6 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (Flaws: Limited to Ferrous Materials, Limited to Towards or Away From Himself) (3)
-- (15.5 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Helen & Harold)- Larry marries his girlfriend Helen in 1948, eventually resulting in a son.
Motivation (Justice)- Larry grew concerned with the increase in crime in the early 1940s.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 12 (102)

-Air Wave I was created way back in the '40s in Detective Comics, and basically was one of many heroes who just kinda stuck around for a while and didn't do much, eventually disappearing, six years after he'd arrived (not a bad run, but being a back-up in BATMAN's book is a pretty sweet gig). Largely his feature was the work of artist Harris Levey. Larry Jordan was an intern fresh from Law School, using his knowledge of science to combat the new rise of crime that concerned him. He puts on a suit that lets him monitor police reports, and skates that let him SAIL ON TELEPHONE LINES. And also teams up with a talking parrot so that he can deal out plot exposition, because that isn't totally ridiculous or anything.
-His legacy and successor ended up coming sooner than the All-Star Squadron series though, as his son Harold became an independent teen hero in 1978 Action Comics stories. Larry himself showed up in the Squadron as well, but his son has long-outlived him as a character, so alot of his goofy nature is basically covered up by a pretty powerful son. Larry was killed by a man he'd once prosecuted as District Attorney. Harold's wife Helen put on the costume in order to bring the perpetrator, Joe Parsons, to justice (never wearing the suit again, and succumbing to mental illness later on).
-Air Wave I has some neat powers, especially for the era, but still is only PL 6, since none of them work offensively. He can "skate" along power lines at "The speed of electricity" (I gave him Speed 7 rather than 20, since I'm assuming he has to jump over the non-wire parts), listen in on police bands, repel or attract crooks' guns, and walk up walls using his magnetic boots.

AIR-WAVE III (Harold "Hal" Jordan, aka Maser)
Created By:
Dennis O'Neil & Alex Saviuk
First Appearance: Green Lantern #100 (Jan. 1978)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Captains of Industry, The Suicide Squad
PL 10 (151)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+7)
Ranged Combat (Electricity) 2 (+8)
Technology 5 (+7)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
Alternate Form [-1]
"Energy Form" Insubstantial 3 [15]
Flight 20 (1,000,000 mph) [40]

"Radar & Radio Senses" Senses 6 (Radio, Radio Sense- Ranged, Radius & Accurate) [6]
Electrical Blast 10 (Feats: Split) (21) -- [25]
AE: "Drain Electricity" Weaken Energy 10 (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited to Electrical Energy) (20)
AE: "Datalink" Communication (Radio) 3 (12)
AE: "Transmit" Teleport 10 (Extras: Extended) (Flaws: Medium- Power Lines) (20)
AE: Electrical Aura 5 (20)
AE: "Electrical Barrage" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Line +2) (Flaws: Limited to Line of Motion Travelled) (20)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Electrical Aura +6 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Electrical Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Electrical Barrage +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Helen & Harold)- Larry marries his girlfriend Helen in 1948, eventually resulting in a son.
Motivation (Justice)- Larry grew concerned with the increase in crime in the early 1940s.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 85 / Defenses: 12 (151)

-Air Wave III (his mother was a brief Air Wave II) came about in the late '70s, an attempt at creating a new teen hero in the pages of Green Lantern's book as a back-up feature (featuring him learning from GL, Green Arrow & Black Canary), and then his own feature as a back-up in Action Comics, which ultimately failed. No idea why DC sucks SO BAD at creating totally new concepts that nearly everybody has to be a successor to an old hero, but what're ya gonna do? In the end, Harold (retconned into a cousin of Hal Jordan's thanks to the "repeated last name" syndrome, see Sandra & Ted Knight) got his feature cancelled and vanished into nowhere, then suddenly (ie. the writers either forgot about it or changed it on a whim) he could use his powers as in-born abilities rather than devices, and called himself Maser.
-He later changed BACK to Air-Wave once Geoff Johns got a hold of all the legacy heroes, and he'd actually used Harold a couple times, usually as a background plot device (Kobra controlling satellites using a captive Air-Wave), a guy in the background (most major "Call In the Reserves" moments), and in Infinite Crisis as the communications guy, where he was split into millions of parts by the cries of thousands of alien races, an event that caused his death. So basically he's a forth-stringer hero.
-Air-Wave III actually has a LOT of power. An alternate energy form, light-speed flight, communication abilities, etc. Though thanks to his third-stringer nature, it's hard to pin down his limits or his offensive capabilities. I mean, the only violent thing I've seen him do in JSA is blow up some satellites, and I'm not even sure HOW he did that (he just sorta flew threw them while energized). So I gave him a good Blast and an Area Damage thing, plus several other little side-powers that can come in handy. He's be a very expensive, highly-thought-of hero if he was a little more well-rounded elsewhere- he lacks his father's genius (his powers are more inborn, because wearing a fancy suit in comics ensures your children are born with crazy powers), or any kind of reputation. He's pricey in powers and a whole lot of nothing elsewhere.

GREEN LANTERN I (Alan Scott, aka Sentinel)
Created By:
Martin Nodell
First Appearance: All-American Comics #16 (July 1940)
Role: Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron, Checkmate, The Sentinels of Magic
PL 14 (286)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Radio Broadcaster) 4 (+8)
Expertise (History) 4 (+8)
Insight 2 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 1 (+5)
Persuasion 7 (+10)
Ranged Combat (Green Flame) 4 (+11)
Stealth 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Daze (Persuasion), Diehard, Fascinate (Persuasion), Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Green Flame) 2, Improved Disarm, Inspire, Interpose, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Teamwork

Powers:
"The Starheart"
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) [3]
Flight 12 (8,000 mph) [24]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]

"The Green Flame" Create 17 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (Extras: Movable, Impervious 13, Selective, Stationary) (100) -- [120]
Dynamic AE: Blast 18 (Feats: Dynamic, Split, Variable- Energy/Force) (Extras: Penetrating 10) (49)
Dynamic AE: "Green Wave" Damage 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating 8) (39)
Dynamic AE: "Green Battering Ram" Damage 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line, Penetrating 8) (39)
Dynamic AE: "Green Burst" Damage 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Penetrating 8) (39)
Dynamic AE: "Green Creations" Damage 14 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable, Penetrating 8) (39)
Dynamic AE: "Full Field" Force Field +5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others 12, Ranged 12) (30)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Radiation, Pressure, Starvation & Thirst, Drowning, Suffocation) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others) (15)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 17 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (36)
Dynamic AE: "Green Hands" Snare 17 (Feats: Dynamic) (52)
Dynamic AE: "Ensnare Everyone" Snare 13 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (79)

Force Field 8 (Extras: Impervious 13) [21]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Green Blast +10 (+18 Ranged Damage, DC 33)
Green Area Attacks +14 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Green Hands +10 (+17 Ranged Affliction, DC 27)
Ensnare Everyone +13 Area (+13 Affliction, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+12 Force Field, +17 Full Field), Fortitude +8, Will +14

Complications:
Power Loss (Wood)- Alan Scott's powers are ineffective against anything made of wood or plant material- spears or weapons made of wood are frequently his undoing. This is because the Green Flame that empowers him is made of "the energy of green, growing things".
Relationship (Todd & Jennie-Lynn- Children)- Obsidian is the deeply-troubled son of Alan, linked to the power of The Shadowlands. His daughter Jade is a more standard-issue superhero. Alan feels that he has failed Todd, and Todd's occasional depths as Obsidian tortures Alan.
Responsibility (Heroic Ideal)- Alan is one of the most-respected superheroes on Earth. After all, most heroes look up to Superman- Superman looks up to ALAN. Even BATMAN is a bit in awe of him.
Relationship (Molly Mayne)- The former Golden Age villainess Harlequin is now Alan's wife.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 172 / Defenses: 22 (286)

-Martin Nodell, a struggling young artist, came up with The Green Lantern after being inspired by The Ring of the Nibelung and a trainman's green railway lantern- he decided to create a superhero with a variety of magical powers from a Magic Ring, recharged by a green lantern. Alan Scott gained powers from a green meteor that was fashioned into a ring and lantern. GL was an immediate success, joining the JSA, but leaving a short time later because he became one of the only superheroes to get his OWN SERIES- he would also be the first opponent for recurring names like Vandal Savage & Solomon Grundy. In 1941, he got a fat comic relief sidekick named Doiby Dickles, who'd appear on damn near every cover of GL's book I could find. He even got a DOG sidekick in 1948!
-In 1949, Alan Scott disappeared along with several other heroes (notably being outlasted by the back-up features in bigger heroes' books like Robotman & Johnny Quick)- his damn DOG continued in books past him! Ten years later, a new Green Lantern would appear- Scott would reappear a bit later than Jay Garrick would, but he'd be a big feature in the JLA/JSA team-ups. As an iconic JSA member, he kind of stood at the forefront of their appearances, having a classically-old-timey costume (basically a red shirt, green pants and a purple cape- very plain). He'd join his teammates in Ragnarok, in various states of limbo, meet his Previously-Unseen Children (Infinity Inc.'s Jade & Obsidian), and a failed '90s series, but would at least remain alive- a fate most of his teammates wouldn't share.
-Alan would give up the name "Green Lantern" when DC Editorial declared that all but Kyle Rayner would have to go away in the mid-90s- Scott became "Sentinel" until the middle of Geoff Johns' JSA series. In this book, Alan would be given HUGE props (though little of his home life would be seen- he IS married, but they never showed it, for the most part) as basically the Elder Statesman of Heroes- Jay Garrick was the caregiving, protective, polite Uncle to the Flashes and most of the other younger heroes, but ALAN? Alan Scott was their DAD, with all that entailed- he could be stern, unemotional, and prone to lecturing. He was impeccably-responsible, a bit unforgiving and immovable, and rarely smiled. But sometimes that's what a DAD needs to be, you know? There's a reason this dude earned the respect of Superman AND Batman.
-Alan would undergo a lot of weirdness near the end of modern continuity. He joined Checkmate, lose an eye to a Zeta Beam transporter accident, got Mind Controlled by his Starheart, and become the mayor of some weird city of Magic People, which felt REALLY dumb, tacked-on, and silly, especially since the JSA already HAD a concept as the Elder Statesmen and
-In the old days, Alan could use his ring to Paralyze, Blind or Hypnotize others, and let him move through solid objects or shrink stuff, but those haven't appeared in eons. What Alan IS, however, is one of the most-powerful heroes in comics. There is a VERY short list of heroes who I could see kicking Superman's ass in a fair fight, even at DC comics- Alan Scott is absolutely on that list. I would say he's more powerful than any of the later Green Lanterns (even Only GL Left Kyle Rayner and Mogo) save whomever is controlling Ion at any given moment. The dude has defeated a massively-powerful, Blanketing-the-Earth-in-Shadows-level Obsidian TWICE just by virtue of his sheer willpower ("I wrote the BOOK on Willpower!", so he says). At one point in Morrison's cracked-out JLA series, Alan used his powers to SPEED UP TIME so that a sentient civilization that had sprouted up on the Spectre's laid-up body would die out in time, allowing them to bring Spectre back without committing genocide (did I mention that Morrison used drugs? Because he totally did). Alan's only real weakness is against wood, which is SUCH a killer that it's frequently used by a smart villain to take GL out of a fight in the opening rounds.
-Alan has a full Green Lantern array of powers, with the two power-sets mimicking each other (as they do in the comics). His Will Save is ridiculously-high, too- the only superhero comparable in my mind is Captain America. Even Superman only has +13. It ain't up to DCA's +18, but I think that's too high for regular people- DC characters get Mind Controlled WAY too often for anyone to be packing that kind of a save. In his Golden Age appearances, he's a much lower-level PL 10, I would think.

JADE (Jennie-Lynn Hayden)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Sexy Green Babe, Miss Fanservice
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., The Outsiders, The Justice League of America, Blood Pack, The Green Lantern Corps.
PL 11 (216)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 2 (+5)
Expertise (Space Hero) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Current Events) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Model) 2 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Green Flame) 4 (+10)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Green Flame), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Starheart-Given Powers"
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) [3]
Flight 12 (8,000 mph) [24]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]
"Twin Powers" Senses 1 (Communiation Link- Obsidian) [1]

"The Green Flame" Create 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (Extras: Movable, Impervious 9, Selective, Stationary) (71) -- [91]
Dynamic AE: Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Split, Variable- Energy/Force) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (35)
Dynamic AE: "Green Wave" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating 6) (27)
Dynamic AE: "Green Battering Ram" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line, Penetrating 6) (27)
Dynamic AE: "Green Burst" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Penetrating 8) (27)
Dynamic AE: "Green Creations" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable, Penetrating 8) (27)
Dynamic AE: "Full Field" Force Field +3 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others 10, Ranged 10) (24)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Radiation, Pressure, Starvation & Thirst, Drowning, Suffocation) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others) (15)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (26)
Dynamic AE: "Green Hands" Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (37)
Dynamic AE: "Ensnare Everyone" Snare 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (51)

Force Field 7 (Extras: Impervious 9) [16]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Green Blast +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Green Area Attacks +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Green Hands +10 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Ensnare Everyone +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+10 Force Field, +13 Full Field), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Power Loss (Wood)- Jade's powers are ineffective against anything made of wood or plant material- spears or weapons made of wood are frequently her undoing. This is because the Green Flame that empowers her is made of "the energy of green, growing things".
Relationship (Alan Scott- Father)- Jennie-Lynn is a fairly dutiful, caring daughter.
Relationship (Todd, aka Obsidian- Twin Brother)- Jennie-Lynn & Todd have a strained relationship- they are psychically-close as twins, but Todd often goes into dark places. Literally.
Relationship (Brainwave Jr., Kyle Rayner)- Jade loved Henry for a time, but shared a long-term relationship with Kyle Rayner.
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- Jade is completely-green.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 139 / Defenses: 13 (216)

-Roy Thomas had to come up with numerous children and godchildren for the JSA members in Infinity, Inc., since naturally writers hadn't thought to come up with any during the course of the 1960s and '70s (since the heroes were only active for a couple decades by then, and contemporary writers hadn't thought to breed them). Many guys got suddenly-introduced Godchildren, while Alan Scott got a pair of Illegitimate Children in Jade & Obsidian- the children of Alan and a Golden Age supervillainess named Thorn, who was schizophrenic and ran away from Alan mere months into her marriage. Thorn was of course carrying twins, who were then put into adoptive homes- Jennie-Lynn got the good one, Todd the bad one. Both eventually discovered they were born with metahuman powers, and found each other and discovered their mutual relationship as the children of the Golden Age Green Lantern.
-Jade was the Miss Fanservice of Infinity, Inc.- much would be made of her sexiness (Thomas was one of the few comic book writers to understand that in real-life, a girl with a crazy skin colour would be a MAJOR sex symbol, rather than a hated outcast), she'd get into a relationship with Brainwave Jr., and she'd have a very close relationship with her twin brother Obsidian (since they were twins, they naturally had a crazy psychic connection- my sisters are IMPOSSIBLE to beat at the Pictionary part of Cranium because of the same damn thing).
-When Infinity Inc. died, she went away for a while, but was soon chosen as the new super-powered girlfriend of Kyle Rayner, then Green Lantern (as a sexy female character without a regular book, she was highly-prone to being a serial-dater of male superheroes WITH their own books- a kind of "status symbol" thing that The Black Widow also suffered from). She even lost her Starheart-related powers and became an actual Green Lantern Corps. member- she was re-powered by Kyle when he became "Ion". Then she cheated on him (apparently IN KYLE'S BED), making her look REALLY awful, especially because Kyle was away in space at the time.
-After this, Jade became the leader of The Outsiders during their largely-unsuccessful modern tenture (the issues I have of that book are well-drawn, but quite terrible, featuring awful Judd Winick dialogue and random characterization changes). She was killed in an Infinite Crisis thing while trying to stop Alexander Luthor, Jr. from recreating the Multiverse, and event largely-important because of what it did to the male characters with whom she was close- Alan & Kyle- rather than any importance she had to the world. She was swiftly-resurrected in Brightest Day, gave her blessing to Kyle & his new lady (Soranik Natu), and allies herself with the Justice League during James Robinson's run.
-Jade is basically Alan Scott Lite, using powers at a much lower level, but still appears to be rather capable and experienced- joining teams like the JLA and Outsiders. Still, I don't see her as THAT great- she has very few legit "big wins", and died in a pretty half-assed way. Every part of me wants to make her a PL 10, but if she's leading teams, joining the JLA, and palling around with Kyle Rayner, she's probably more of a PL 11. I imagine her Infinity Inc. self was PL 9, like the rest of her team. Near the end of continuity, she started developing Plant Controlling powers like her mother, but these were unpracticed.

OBSIDIAN (Todd Rice)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983)
Role: Possibly-Evil Superhero, Fallen Hero
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., The Justice League of America, The Justice League of America
PL 11 (216)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (Magic) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 12 (+12)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Shadows), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Startle

Powers:
"Link to the Shadowlands"
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
Protection 6 [6]

"Twin Powers" Senses 1 (Communiation Link- Jade) [1]
Senses 2 (Darkvision) [2]
Concealment (All Vision) 4 [8]
Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]
Insubstantial 4 [20]

"See Their Own Evil" Affliction 12 (Will; Entranced/Stunned/Transformed to Insane) (Extras: Ranged, Progressive +2) (48) -- [74]
Dynamic AE: "Shadow Objects" Create 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Movable, Selective) (41)
Dynamic AE: Shadow Blast 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Split) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (34)
Dynamic AE: "Shadow Attack" Concealment 4 (All Vision) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Attack, Area- 60ft. Cone, Selective) (Flaws: Affects Others Only) (17)
Dynamic AE: "Black Hands" Snare 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (37)
Dynamic AE: "Ensnare Everyone" Snare 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (51)
Dynamic AE: "Shadow Wave" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating 6) (27)
Dynamic AE: "Shadow Ram" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line, Penetrating 6) (27)
Dynamic AE: "Shadow Burst" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Penetrating 8) (27)
Dynamic AE: "Shadow Creations" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable, Penetrating 8) (27)
Dynamic AE: Force Field 2 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others 10, Ranged 10) (23)
Dynamic AE: Immunity 7 (Heat, Cold, Radiation, Pressure, Starvation & Thirst, Drowning, Suffocation) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Affects Others) (15)
Dynamic AE: Move Object 12 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (26)
Dynamic AE: "A Look Into The Dark Side" Mind-Reading 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Limited to Darkest Thoughts & Desires) (12)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Green Blast +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Green Area Attacks +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Green Hands +10 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Ensnare Everyone +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+10 Shadow Powers, +12 Force Field), Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Dark Powers)- Todd is extremely-dangerous, possessing a darkness within him that threatens to control his very nature. He has threatened the entire globe in the past.
Reputation (Evil)- The DEO and other organizations keep a close eye on Todd. He DID cover the entire Earth in shadows, after all.
Relationship (Alan Scott- Father)- Todd has a complex relationship with his father- he's been a bit of a disappointment at times, and the darkness within him has turned them into deadly enemies.
Relationship (Jennie-Lynn, aka Jade- Twin Sister)- Jennie-Lynn & Todd have a strained relationship- they are psychically-close as twins, but Todd often goes into dark places. Literally.
Relationship (Damon Matthews)- Todd falls in love with a supporting character in Kate Spencer's book.
Relationship (Atom-Smasher)- Al Rothstein and Todd are best friends (Todd even had a crush on Al at some point- but really, who WOULDN'T? Those SHOULDERS!).
Prejudice (Homosexual)- Todd occasionally worries that he disappoints his father due to his status as a gay man.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 139 / Defenses: 13 (216)

-While Jade was raised in your typically-happy home, her twin brother Todd was passed to an abusive home, where his alcoholic father repeatedly-beat him. He was the token "Possibly-Evil Teammate" to the Infinitors, being depicted as extremely angry and mouthy. He moved on to the Justice League book when it was full of more-minor characters (Nuklon, Ice Maiden, Fire), but it was rather unsuccessful (despite making him one of the first homosexual comic book heroes- easily-explaining his disastrous attempts at dating the villainess Harlequin in Infinity, Inc.), and despite a very-cool costume, Obsidian fell into disuse. However, with the updating of the JSA, he was suddenly VERY, VERY useful.
-Todd, always a bit of a dark horse, fell fully into The Shadowlands from where he derived his powers- since he's a superhero with dark powers, it's only natural that he totally go ultra-evil (see Raven, Magik, etc.). Corrupted by Ian Karkull (an old enemy of the JSA, who had inadvertently left them almost-immortal), he goes nuts, stealing the Shadows from an entire city, then enveloping the entire planet in darkness. As one of the JSA's first big "Event Story" opponents, he started packing VAST power, even easily-murdering Karkull when he pulled an inevitable betrayal. Todd is defeated, murdering his abusive foster-father at story's end. He would reappear a bit later in ANOTHER huge event, teaming up with JSA villains Eclipso and Mordru, nearly destroying the entire planet. However, THIS time, Alan Scott is able to reach within the shadows and cure his son of this mental imbalance.
-Following this, Todd became a very minor supporting character, often just "keeping watch" at JSA HQ while the team did stuff. He became a supporting character in Manhunter, entering a relationship with Damon Matthews (an odd thing in comics became a trend towards marrying off & hooking up all of the available gay superheroes- largely to capitalize on gay marriage being a big thing).
-Todd's powers are a result of Alan's affliction by Ian Karkull's shadow energies decades earlier- he's basically like a Green Lantern, but with darkness instead- resembling Marvel's many Darkforce users more than any DC heroes. He has a Concealment attack (bathing the area in shadows), Insubstantial, and enhanced physiology as well. When he was being affected by The Shadowlands, he was MUCH more powerful, likely hitting PL 15 and growing to enormous size.

DOIBY DICKLES (Charles Dickles)
Created By:
Bill Finger & Irwin Hasen
First Appearance: American Comics #27 (June 1941)
Role: Comic Relief Sidekick
Group Affiliations: None
PL 5 (40)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (New York City) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+2)
Vehicles 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Taxi Cab- "Goitrude", Pipe Wrench)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pipe Wrench +5 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +2

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

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Doiby made his debut attacking some thugs he thought had killed Green Lantern.
Relationship (Princess Raima)- The Princess of Myrg falls for Doiby, and the two are married.
Relationship (Goitrude)- Doiby is devoted to his beloved cab.

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (40)

-Doiby Dickles is a Comic Relief Sidekick to Alan Scott back in the '40s, teaming up with Alan to foil some goons, and being asked to be a constant partner. Doiby (an old-school Brooklyn way of saying "Derby", which is the kind of hat he wore- weird dialects were spoken phonetically in comic strips and comics quite a lot back in the day). He and the "Lan'trin" were inseparable for years. At the end of the Golden Age, he was shipped off to an alien world to marry an Alien Princess (ah, comics) named Raima. He doesn't appear in the modern era until showing up with "Old Justice" to convince the Young Justice kids to give up being superheroes. Doiby is a goof-off with a funny accent, but he's tough as nails.

LIGHTNING II (Jennifer Pierce)
Created By:
Mark Waid, Alex Ross, Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham
First Appearance: Kingdom Come #1 (1996- Elseworlds), JSA #12 (March 2008- main continuity)
Role: The Hardest Person To Draw In The Universe, Blaster, Wallpaper Lass
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 8 (81), PL 10 (81) to Electronics
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 2 (+3)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+3)
Insight 2 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Electricity) 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Spark-Out Electronics" Affliction 10 (Tech Skill of Creator; Impaired/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Triggered- Touching Object) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Affects Objects Only +0) (Flaws: Limited to Electronics) (Drawbacks: Power Loss- Must Touch One Electronic Object -2) (19) -- [20]
AE: Electrical Blast 9 (Feats: Split) (19)

Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Electrical Blast +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Spark-Out +10 Area (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Jefferson Pierce- Father)- Jennifer's father is the hero Black Lightning. He lectures her a lot.
Accident (Power Discharge)- Jennifer cannot touch electronics without setting off her "Spark-Out" power, which often results in embarassing circumstances. It also activates her "Powered Form", which could complicate her secret identity.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 32 / Defenses: 13 (81)

-Lightning is the second introduced daughter of Jefferson Pierce, aka Black Lightning. In a semi-controversial move, a character who'd been seen for DECADES prior was suddenly given a young daughter ("Thunder", aka Anissa Pierce of the Outsiders), kind of flying in the face on continuity. However, since BL wasn't much of a remembered character, it kind of slid on by as just one of those things that happens in comics. That little kerfluffle allowed a more regularly-named Jennifer to debut relatively quietly, based off of a background character that was seen floating around in Kingdom Come. I honestly think the appearance is a little goofy (big bright lightning bolts flaring off everywhere looks kind of awkward, and REALLY hard to draw- I mean, what the hell does she look like from behind, or straight-on?), but the character seems okay: an easily embarassed, frequently-annoyed girl.
-Unfortunately, Jennifer turned into a nothing character- adding a third girl to the Cyclone/Stargirl Babysitters Club set-up was a novel idea, but with those two's dynamic personalities, PLUS the fact that JSA got glutted with about TWENTY recurring members of the team, meant that poor Jen got to basically sit back and do nothing. I nicknamed her "Wallpaper Lass", because for issues at a time, all she'd do would be sitting there in the background, not doing or saying anything. Even Jakeem Thunder's cute puppy-love crush on her ended up going nowhere. When the two JSA groups split up post-Johns, Jennifer was the only "young" member to stick with the "Old Person" team on JSA, which seemed like it might be promising... except NOTHING HAPPENED. She basically got ignored again, never got any characterization, and the only bit of that I remember of hers was when her powers were the key to defeating Mordru.
-This should really be an important lesson for comic book creators- you shouldn't introduce a character if you have no concrete plan for what they're going to be doing.
-Most of the brand-new JSA people weren't that powerful, and Jenny's no exception. Her Blast is strong enough to shake up Magog for a second or two, but has no real big things to its name, making her a very limited, easily hurt Flying Blaster. She can also disrupt any electronic devices around her if she touches something electronic (making using a cellphone difficult).

MISTER SCARLET (Brian Butler)
Created By:
France Herron & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Wow Comics #1 (Dec. 1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Character
Group Affiliations: The Squadron of Justice, The All-Star Squadron
PL 7 (108)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Law) 7 (+10)
Insight 5 (+8)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit (District Attorney), Defensive Attack, Equipment 2 (Utility Belt), Improved Disarm, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Taunt, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Pinky- Son)- Mr. Scarlet insanely allows his adopted YOUNG SON to fight crime alongside him.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (108)

PINKY, THE WHIZ-KID (Brian Butler, Jr.)
Created By:
France Herron & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: Wow Comics #1 (Dec. 1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Character, Kid Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The Squadron of Justice, The All-Star Squadron
PL 5 (70)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 4 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+3)
Insight 2 (+3)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+3)
Perception 3 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Equipment 2 (Utility Belt), Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Taunt, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Mr. Scarlet- Adopted Father)

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (70)

-Mister Scarlet's one of Fawcett Comics' more successful non-Big Red Cheese-related heroes, to the point where he got his own sidekick in Pinky, the Whiz Kid (you think THAT's bad, look at his costume. Looks like a used pink condom pulled over his face with eye-and-mouth-holes cut out of it), his adopted son. Humorously enough, the gimmick was he was SO GOOD at eradicating crime, that his District Attorney alter-ego had NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS TIME, and needed to take odd jobs to pay the bills! Curiously, Scarlet's original hometown was GOTHAM CITY, in the first appearance of that name in comics. Later on, it'd just be NYC or Fawcett City.
-The modern-era had him inexplicably show up at the same age in the 1970s (written out with DC's own literal "Wizards Did It" way, with Shazam, a Wizard, doing it), but now the original is dead, with Pinky taking over the role. I have no idea if anyone's even touched on the character in eons, as except for the occasional goofy retrospective in Captain Marvel books, people like him never show up.
-A general all-around good PL 7 (120) super-hero who wouldn't be out of place with the Golden Age JSA regarding power level and capability, as he's quite skilled. His "Utility Belt" doesn't really have many listed abilities beyond Batman-type stuff (presumably Grappling Guns or something), though he used a Laser Gun for a bit. Pinky is a mere PL 5 Sidekick.

THE BLACKHAWKS:
Created By:
Chuck Cuidera, Bob Powell & Will Eisner
First Appearance: Military Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Role: Band of Fighter Pilots

-The Blackhawks were one of the single most-popular acts of the entire Golden Age, and successful beyond the level of almost ALL of their contemporaries- existing in an unbroken run from the 1940s through to the 1960s (something shared ONLY by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman). And despite all that, I can't for the life of me manage to work up even a single crap to give.
-See, I used to not care for Military Comics as a whole- some bits of Preacher and all of G.I. Joe proved that the genre could be good. But for the most part, it just bores me. And the whole PILOT thing? I've never been one of those kids enamored with vehicles (Cars would have been lost on me as a lad), so the idea of a squadron of Fighter Pilots has no appeal. Especially in a STATIC medium like comics- "ooh, it's a bunch of fighter planes going around from panel-to-panel, HOW EXCITING". I just don't care.
-In any case Blackhawk was a big hit- debuting for Quality Comics in 1941. Since this was the War Years, a heroic group of Ace Pilots was pretty topical, and they had the interesting and unique element of being a team comprised of members from the nations conquered by the Axis Powers. They appeared in both Military Comics and Blackhawk for years, with lots of different talent cycling in and out of the book (Reed Crandall being a particularly-liked artist, and Chuck Cuidera being the most-iconic writer). When Quality Comics went under in 1956, the book was immediately snapped up by National/DC, who kept up the numbering (DC would only MUCH later reintroduce the other Quality acts like Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters).
-Over time, the characters would fight enemy soldiers, pilots, and super-villains- they'd gain a female member (Lady Blackhawk- Zinda Blake) in 1959, but she'd turn into the evil Queen Killer Shark in 1965. The book was clumsily-turned into a superhero book in the mid-1960s to combat flagging sales and the returned craze of superhero books (the team was even explicitly-stated to be totally sucking pond-water as a team by this point, necessitating an "upgrade"). It was in the 1960s that non-super comics started to fail- pretty soon, the only Romance series alive would be at Archie, and superhero books were the rule of comic books. When this failed to reignite sales, the book was cancelled in 1968.
-The 1970s would see a resurgence, but lasted only a single year before being cancelled. When it was rumored that Steven Spielberg was interested in a Blackhawk film project, DC restarted the book in the early '80s, but it again died quickly (a couple years later). A few Mini-Series and Back-Up Story attempts would be made over the years, and even a Nu52 book called Blackhawks (which lasted only eight issues before being one of the first books ignominiously-cancelled), but nothing big- the era of the War Comic was well and truly over by the mid-1960s.

BLACKHAWK (Major Janos Prohaska, once "Bart Hawk", aka The Big Eye)
Created By:
Chuck Cuidera, Bob Powell & Will Eisner
First Appearance: Military Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Role: Ace Pilot
Group Affiliations: The Blackhawks
PL 7 (118)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (Military) 8 (+11)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+6)
Vehicles 10 (+16) -- Flaws: Limited to Aerial Vehicles

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Equipment 16 (Grumann XF5F Skyrocket- Use the DCA version, Gun), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Gun), Ranged Attack 4, Ultimate Aim, Ultimate Vehicles

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Gun +8 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting the Nazis)
Addiction (Ladies and Alcohol)- Post-Crisis only.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 10 (118)

-Blackhawk himself is your standard Military Leader Guy from back in the day- hard-nosed and insulting to men he finds slacking, he is nonetheless an amazing leader and the best soldier around. He never gained a superheroic alter-ego, but was The Big Eye, flying around in a dirigible. He didn't gain the "Janos" name until a 1988 series.

BLACKHAWK PILOTS
Created By:
Chuck Cuidera, Bob Powell & Will Eisner
First Appearance: Military Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
Role: Ace Pilots
Group Affiliations: The Blackhawks
PL 6 (92)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Military) 6 (+7)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+6)
Vehicles 8 (+14) -- Flaws: Limited to Aerial Vehicles

Advantages:
Equipment 16 (Grumann XF5F Skyrocket- Use the DCA version, Gun), Improved Aim, Ranged Attack 2, Ultimate Vehicles

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Gun +6 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +3

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

Complications:
Motivation (Fighting the Nazis)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (92)

-The Blackhawks' roster shifted in the early issues, but eventually normalized. The leader is an American who volunteered for the Polish Air Force (since the U.S. wasn't in the war for a long time after it started). He STARTED as Polish, and became that AGAIN after the Crisis, and seemingly was only made so because the readers and creators were American. The book contained members from various Allied nations, usually depicted in VERY stereotypical ways- there was a Southern guy who said cowboy stuff like "I reckon!" or "Dagnabbit!", a Dutch/German guy with a big moustache, a suave Frenchman, a giant Swede, and Chop-Chop, one of the most-racist depictions of a heroic character of the Golden Age. Chop-Chop is SO RACIST he makes The Young Allies' "Whitewash" look like Sidney Poitier. I'll include some notes about their AWFUL superheroic alter-egos.

STANISLAUS (Capt. Stanislaus Drozdowski)- PL 6 (92):
-The second-in-command- a Polish guy who becomes increasingly-American sounding as time goes on (the '40s saw a large Anti-Polish sentiment in the States- they became a token "dumb ethnicity" once it became less-cool to make fun of non-white people for a while). He was a good financial guy, apparently. He became "The Golden Centurion" in 1967, wearing a suit of Gold Armor that lets him Fly and shoot "Ionized Pure Gold".

CHUCK (Capt. Carlo Sirianni in modern times)- PL 6 (100): Intelligence 3, Technology 7 (+10) [8]
-An American, often seen as from Texas- used a lot of cowboy drawl. The '80s update made him an Italian-American from Brooklyn. He ran the Communications system. As "The Listener" (still just a Comm. guy), he wore a suit of pajamas covered in ears. I have no idea what they were thinking.

HENDRICKSON (Capt. Ritter Hendricksen)- PL 7 (88): Strength 1, Agility 0, Ranged Attack 2, Ultimate Aim [-5]
-An old, depdendable sharpshooter. Sometimes seen as Dutch or German (possibly an ex-pat who now fights the Nazis), he's got the standard Hun Moustache thing going on, and uses German phrases a lot ("Himmel!"). As "The Weapons-Master", he was presumably a master of weapons.

ANDRE (Capt. Andre Blanc-Dumont)- PL 6 (99): Intelligence 3, Technology 9 (+10) [7]
-Standard Frenchman traits like a pencil-thin moustache and attempts at being suave define this guy. Specializes in demolitions (later "mechanics"), and getting the team into trouble because he's out there chasing tail. As "M'sieu Machine", he developed some exotic crime-fighting gadgets.

OLAF (Capt. Olaf Friedriksen)- PL 6 (103): Strength 4, Agility 5, Acrobatics 6 (+11) [11]
-A gargantuan, dull-witted Swede, he helped the Fins against the Nazis, and is actually very acrobatic. Talks like Mr. Svenson from Archie. As "The Leaper", he wore a rubber-titanium outfit that allowed him to "Cannonball" around by jumping great distances.

CHOP-CHOP (Li Huang, later Wu Cheng, later still Weng Chan)- PL 6 (100): Fighting 8, Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Expertise (Cooking) 4 (+5) [8]
-The team's Chinese cook, having been chased from China by the invading Japanese army. Short size, buck-teeth, a "coolie" braid and more define this SUPER-RACIST charicature (though pretty much par for the course with depictions of Asians in the 1940s- he was popular from 1946-55 in a back-up feature. As "Dr. Hands", he encased his hands in beryllium and started chopping through all kinds of stuff. He became a lot less-racist after the 1960s, turning into a respected pilot and member.

LADY BLACKHAWK (Zinda Blake)- PL 6 (98): Fighting 8, Dodge 2 [6]
-Tough-girl lady fighter pilot, debuting in 1959. Later got used as a supporting character in Gail Simone's Birds of Prey series, doing a "tough chick" act with an old-school speaking style. Kind of a fun character, but never really got up to much.

-Baker (an Englishman) and Boris (Russian) make single-panel appearances in the early days. Zeg, another Polish guy, lasts a bit longer (nine issues) before vanishing. They also once used Blackie the Hawk, a fairly-intelligent bird that could write notes in English, and wore a belt radio. In a much later run, they added a U.S. Marine named Lt. Theodore Gaynor, and Chop-Chop goes to fight the Japanese in China. He leaves the team once they discover he'll not only execute German soldiers, but civilians. The '80s series explains further the original, missing members, and adds Grover Baines (black American), Quan Chee Keng (Malaysian) and Paco Herrera (Mexico), and kills Stanislaus early on. A Natalie Reed joins the team as "Lady Blackhawk"- she's a Russian-American flight engineer who gives birth to Hendrickson's son in 1945.

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
Created By:
James & Sara Roosevelt
First Appearance: Jan. 30th 1882
Role: Iconic American President
Group Affiliations: The United States of America
PL 0 (50), PL 4 (50) Saves
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 0 AGILITY -4
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 3 (+7)
Expertise (Politics) 11 (+15)
Expertise (Oratory) 10 (+14)
Expertise (Law) 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+8)
Persuasion 8 (+12)

Advantages:
Benefit 7 (Wealth 2, President of the United States 5), Contacts, Connected, Ultimate Political Skill, Ultimate Oratory Skill

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative -4

Defenses:
Dodge -3 (DC 7), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness +0, Fortitude +0, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Politics)
Responsibility (President of the United States)
Relationship (Eleanor Roosevelt)- A semi-distant relation of his (fifth-cousins; she never even changed her last name) became his wife, and a powerful public force in her own right.
Relationship (Sara- Mother)- Sara was a possessive, controlling mother, though caring. She never wanted her son to marry Eleanor (she didn't dislike the girl; she just thought FDR was too young at 22).
Disabled (Crippled)- Roosevelt was crippled by polio in 1921, and was left badly-hobbled for years, and eventually lost the use of his legs. His health was poor for the last decade-plus of his life, as well- not helped by chain-smoking.
Secret (Crippled)- FDR keeps the true nature of his condition from the American public.
Secret (Mistresses)- Franklin had more than one mistress over his life (including Eleanor's secretary Lucy, whom he actually considered leaving Eleanor for; his mother advised that it would ruin his political career). Franklin actually passed away while in the company of his mistress, something that didn't overly-enamor poor Eleanor.
Relationship (Winston Churchill & Joseph Stalin)- As the three leaders of the most-powerful Allied nations, the three form a pact. He was very close to Churchill.
Enemy (Hitler, Mussolini & Tojo)- The leaders of the Axis Powers are the ultimate enemy in the world of the 1940s.

Total: Abilities: 14 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 5 (50)

-Considered to be one of the "most important legacies" of the JSA by their own wording, and a major character in All-Star Squadron in the 1980s, I just HAD to stat up FDR- especially after watching Ken Burns' documentary series on The Roosevelts. Though not as boisterous and ostentatious as his famous Cousin Teddy, FDR is considered to be an even BETTER President, and one of the greatest of all time- he led the country for most of the 1930s (hard years indeed), and through World War II. His "New Deal", meant to drag America out of the Great Depression with government projects, went on to become a symbol for Liberal politics and government intervention for decades. And his personal manner and way of speaking pretty much redefined the art of making speeches- some of his are among the most-famous ever recorded ("A day which will live in INFAMY" and "The only thing we have to fear is... fear itself").
-FDR also provides a very notable story about human accomplishment and the way things were in America- crippled by polio, his condition was kept secret for decades. His advisors and agents made sure than he was never once photographed in a wheelchair, and ensured that he could always lean on someone if he had to "stand"- they didn't want America to think their President was "too weak for the job". And before you think things are so different now, keep in mind that it's unlikely a wheelchair-bound man would be elected President TODAY, either. It's also an interesting look at freedom of the press- they were more or less FORCED to withhold the truth from the general public in several instances (smashed cameras and the like), though eventually the people "in the know" willingly held it back as well, lest they affect American morale during the War.
-Roosevelt was born to a very wealthy, patrician New York family, with many members in politics- a field he also entered at a young age. He was considered a nice enough, but rather "colorless" young man. He became a Democrat, unlike his Republican fifth-cousin Theodore. He DEFINED "Big Government"- he publically-blamed bankers and financiers for the Depression, and bashed the Capitalistic search for profit at all costs. He was able to convince Americans not to desperately-pull all of their funds out of banks simply by making public speeches- the man had a way with words (this is the "Fear Itself" speech). He advocated America's "isolationist" policy and was avidly anti-imperialist (in sharp contrast to Teddy). Countless relief and recovery programs were created in order to ensure people had paying jobs, repealed Prohibition, and went on to serve for TWELVE YEARS- he was incredibly-popular, at one point winning a 60% majority- almost unheard-of in America. He was wildly-popular amongst minorities (not the Japanese ones- see below), which would basically be a boon to Democrats for decades, though could be controversial at times.
-Finally, War loomed, and Roosevelt became a bit more of a sabre-rattler (isolationists decried him as a "warmonger"), and delivered his second-most-famous speech after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor (relations had gone downhill, especially when America cut off Japan's oil supply), at which point anti-war sentiment vanished. A fresh America was a good shot in the arm to a beleaguered Europe, but a huge chunk of the American forces were naturally sent to the Pacific. FDR signed into law the now-infamous relocation of the Japanese-descended people living in America (though George Takei- who was one of those Japanese interned- points out that this was basically politicians LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE, as this was a popular idea), along with some Italians & Germans. Alas, FDR, who'd led the country through the Depression and the War, died a few months into his fourth term from a massive stroke (SOMETHING was gonna get him- he had heart failure, angina and all sorts of other nasty things), leaving his third Vice-President Harry Truman in charge of the country. The war in Europe ended a month after his death, and Truman authorized the nuclear bombing of Japan shortly thereafter.
-Roosevelt's legacy is enormous- he's considered by almost every poll to be either the second or third-greatest President (keep in mind the only competition comes from WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN, who are practically-untouchable), and the sixth most-admired person of the 20th Century by Americans. His New Deal revolutionized Liberalism in the U.S. (Truman, Kennedy & Johnson would be directly-inspired by him), and though he gave credence to isolationism early-on, acting as a "World Leader" during the war basically set America's current course. Though his last election was a narrow one (53% majority), he could probably have just continuously-won them had he lived- he was THAT popular, and that great with speeches. And also he shows up in comics set in the '40s, often needing to be saved by The Atom and stuff :). See, he's one of the only Presidents who was active during the age of super-heroes- writers typically don't show the "current" ones, and with the period between the War and nowadays not really being filled with super-heroes (due to the "Sliding Timeline"), there's really nobody else the heroes CAN interact with.
-Stats-wise, he's not that impressive, but of course he's got points where it counts- his intellect, wisdom and charisma were noted in his time, and he could convince people of just about anything with his Oratory skill.

MAGOG (Lance Corporal David Reid)
Created By:
Mark Waid & Alex Ross
First Appearance: Kingdom Come #1 (May 1996)
Role: Cable Parody, Extreeeeeeme Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The U.S. Marine Corps
PL 12 (178)
STRENGTH
13 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Marine) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 6 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Close Attack, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Plasma) 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Staff of Magog" (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Magog) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [29]
Plasma Blast 16 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating 10) (43) -- (45 points)
AE: "Plasma Burst" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (20)
AE: "Staff Flight" Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Distracting) (6)

Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 9) [11]
"Missing Eye" Senses 1 (Infravision) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+13 Damage, DC 28)
Plasma Blast +8 (+16 Ranged Damage, DC 31)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +14 (+5 Impervious), Fortitude +12, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Magog fought for freedom in the Middle East as an American soldier (in the Marine Corps), and tries to do the same as a superhero.
Responsiblity (Rough Justice)- Magog has a nastier view of justice than most heroes. In particular, as a soldier, he has little reservation with killing an opponent.

Total: Abilities: 94 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 41 / Defenses: 10 (178)

-Magog is definitely a weird one. He debuted in Kingdom Come as more or less the Ultimate '90s Hero- as the series was meant to be a huge damning of that particular brand of heroics (this being 1996, it was still quite-current for comics to be EXTREEEEEEEEEME, having taken the easiest bits of Alan Moore & Frank Miller's styles to replicate, dropping any sense of maturity). His appearance deliberately mimicking that of the popular X-Force character Cable, combined with Shatterstar's helmet (Ross confirms this), and that of the Biblical Golden Calf (a statue worshipped by several who rejected Moses' teachings). Though I never really got the name- it's a Biblical reference, sure- but why would someone actually give themselves that name? Surely 90% of people have never heard of the name before, and would just find it bizarre.
-In any case, Magog was a violent, modern-style hero, who believed in slaughtering his foes (he murdered The Joker while he was in police custody, and also blew up a prison). He is seen in the opening of the series, sending a squadron of bad-asses against a frightened Parasite, who tears Captain Atom open, setting off a conflagration that kills The Justice Battalion and one million Americans, endangering the country by affecting important farmland with the radioactive fallout. He's next seen trying to fix what went wrong- tilling the land out of regret and penance for what he's done. After briefly trying to attack a lecturing Superman, he admits that he can't stand all the voices crying out at him, and willingly accepts imprisonment. He is horrified by the subsequent riot and the deaths that occur afterwards, and becomes an agent of change. A very poetic, excellent Character Arc- the Extreme Hero who realizes the negative repurcussions of his course of actions, and tries to make amends.
-So when Alex Ross was teamed with Geoff Johns on his new JSA series, they came up with the idea of linking everything with Kingdom Come. Despite that series being more about The Big Three (none of whom were on the JSA), JSA was more-popular, and Johns was DC's biggest creator, and so we had a pile of KC characters showing up- Black Lightning's daughter, a third Wildcat (who is a werepanther), Red Tornado's granddaughter was designed to resemble KC's Red Tornado, etc. The Superman of that series even ended up in our world, joining the JSA, and was soon joined by "Lance Corporal David Reid", a Marine with a special Plasma Weapon and the Eye of Providence on his arm.
-Embarassingly, I didn't make the connection at first- it helps that not being religious or American (nor up on my Conspiracy Theories), I had no idea what the Eye of Providence even WAS, so I didn't go all "oh, it's Biblical". He seemed a bit generic, though he was linked to the JSA's "Most Important Legacy"- he was related to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the man who recommended the JSA form. When he is killed on a mission in Africa (seeking the lost Old God, a "Third World" survivor named Gog, who had touched down there), he is resurrected as "Magog". He becomes Gog's instrument on Earth, and recommends a more-extreme reaction to criminal behavior- reflecting his Kingdom Come self. However, he sides with the JSA when he realizes Gog's cruelty, and demands for worship- he cuts Gog's head off and sends it on its merry way.
-Afterwards, Johns leaves the JSA book, and it is split in twain, with Bill Willingham & Matt Sturges writing. Sturges has said that his book- JSA All-Stars, was supposed to feature Power Girl and HAWKMAN leading a team in a "new approach" to heroics (more... serious, I guess. They weren't any more extreme. God, I bet they said "proactive"), but Carter was unavailable, and so we had the odd situation of Magog being stuck on as co-leader, drilling the other kids with harsh training methods.
-This also led to the ludicrous Magog series- a fantastically-bad idea that not only created over-saturation of the fairly-new character, but resulted in the hilariously-low-selling (9,000 a month!) series being cancelled after only a year. John Porter having completely forgotten how to draw in the meantime didn't help. A failure like THAT only hurts the brand, and made people hate the character- I remember CBR having a huge anti-Magog backlash around this time (with a tiny handful of people creating a Pro-Magog thread that worshipped the series). Magog is soon kicked out of the All-Stars after being framed for something and causing a HUGE fight with his team, and he is unceremoniously killed in Generation Lost by Maxwell Lord Mind-Controlling him into committing suicide via Staff.
-Magog was incredibly-powerful with his Lance, which was able to do serious damage to powerful heroes like Power Girl & Captain Atom. However, he's below the KC Superman class (Supes basically ignored a Plasma Blast in Kingdom Come). He's a bit light on Skills (despite his military history) and Advantages, but he's PL 12 by virtue of his high power.

LANCE (Lance Corporal David Reid)
Created By:
Mark Waid & Alex Ross
First Appearance: Kingdom Come #1 (May 1996)
Role: Soldier Boy
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The U.S. Marine Corps
PL 9 (111)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+7)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (History) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Marine) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 6 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Close Attack, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Plasma), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
"Hand Cannon" (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Lance) (Flaws: Easily Removable) [12]
Plasma Blast 10 (20 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Plasma Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Lance fought for freedom in the Middle East as an American soldier (in the Marine Corps), and tries to do the same as a superhero.
Responsiblity (Rough Justice)- Lance has a nastier view of justice than most heroes. In particular, as a soldier, he has little reservation with killing an opponent.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 11 (111)

-Lance was a pretty crappy superhero, and it shows. Despite his high Stats and Skills, he's basically a limited Blaster, and having little aside from his own personal toughness going for him. His Plasma Control doesn't even have any Feats or anything attached to it. PL 9 may even be too high, since he's the only superhero I've ever seen actually get killed by just some guy with a rocket launcher.

THE KING (King Standish)
Created By:
Gardner Fox & William Smith
First Appearance: Flash Comics #3 (March 1940)
Role: Two-Fisted Adventurer
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron
PL 6 (103)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 11 (+15)
Expertise (Streetwise) 6 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 7 (+9)
Persuasion 2 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Quick Change, Wealth 3), Daze (Deception), Equipment (Disguise Kit), Improved Disarm, Improved Pin, Luck, Ranged Combat 2, Ultimate Skill (Disguises)

Equipment:
"Pistol" Blast 5 (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Stopping Crime)- Despite being wealthy, The King only seeks to stop crime.
Reputation (Criminal)- Early in his career, The King was thought to be a criminal.
Relationship (The Witch)- The King was in love with The Witch, but could never convince the criminal mastermind to go straight.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 11 (103)

-The King is a minor-league two-fisted fighter-type hero, with a focus on being a master of disguise. Not bad as far as concepts go, as it makes him easy to stat (generic Two-Fisted Guy build with lots of Deception/Disguise focused skills). There's virtually no mention of him after the '40s, save a flashback in a Star-Spangled Kid/Starman comic circa 1999, where he was retroactively added to the All-Star Squadron. HOWEVER, he was brought back to people's memories a bit by having the new character for the Bill Willingham/Matt Sturges JSA King Chimera, be revealed as the illusion-casting SON of this forgotten character. It was a matter of Dork Pride for me that I not only guessed Chimera's origins at his introduction (by virtue of an old Who's Who comic), but that most people went "WHO?" at the revelation.
-Not alot to mention here. He's better than most other generic suited guys because of his focus in one area, but he's still just a PL 6 tough-guy. There's not a whole lot a "Two-Fisted Adventurer" can do to get above PL 6/7 without having a Gun or being a Wildcat-class martial artist, because most of these guys just kinda beat on Thugs on an even keel rather that storm through dozens of Mooks like Daredevil can do.

KING CHIMERA
Created By:
Matthew Sturges & Fernando Pasarin
First Appearance: Justice Society of America #24 (April 2009)
Role: Team Douchebag, Illusionist
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The JSA All-Stars
PL 11 (142)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+10)
Deception 8 (+7)
Expertise (Current Events) 3 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-All-Trades, Ranged Attack

Powers:
Illusion 11 (Vision & Hearing) (Extras: Area 3) (Flaws: Limited to Images He's Witnessed) (55) -- [56]
AE: "Invisibility" Concealment 4 (All Vision) (Extras: Affects Others, Ranged) (16)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Illusion -- (+11 Illusions, DC 21)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Reputation (Douchebag)- King Chimera is hard to like, keeping others at an arm's length thanks to his mother, girlfriend and family all being killed. Only the love of the most perfect woman in the universe can redeem him.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 56 / Defenses: 14 (142)

-King Chimera was rather controversially added to the Justice Society's line-up in the first arc of Bill Willingham & Matt Sturges' run on the series. It was heavily derided online because, well, the team already had over TWENTY MEMBERS by this point, so adding him, plus The All-American Kid (really a spy) and Doctor Fate MXCCIV (pretty sure that's the right number) was really just making every fan's #1 problem with the series even WORSE. That said, they gave him a unique voice, and on JSA All-Stars, he came a bit into his own. As a character, he's a snotty upper-class twit with a chip on his shoulder, thinking everyone around him is a useless fool. But at the same time, he realizes he needs proper training and experience, so he goes with Power Girl & Magog's "Offshoot" team with it's militaristic training plan. Me, I dislike the character, but in that GOOD way that makes me want to see more of his annoying ass, as he gets put in his place. But on the other hand, he captured the eye of MY BELOVED CYCLONE, which is only acceptable so long as I can't get my "Insert myself into the Pre-NuDCU Universe" Machine to work.
-Oddly, he's a legacy of "King" Standish, a really old superhero who basically has zero appearances after 1945. A Master of Disguise-themed hero, his successor has in-born illusory powers, which makes him quite unique on a team of entirely offensive-based attackers. Turns out that The King desired to learn how to cast REAL Illusions, and so found some mystical order that could "bend light"- Chimera here is the result of a union between Standish and one of that clan.
-King Chimera really only had a couple years' worth of comics featuring him, and he was still a rookie, so he's not exactly well-known or expensive. But his powers are relatively simple to figure out- he can cast REALLY good Illusions, enough that Super-Sense-wielding Power Girl can't even spot him if he doesn't want to be seen (basically the All Sense Type Visual Senses, plus Auditory because his illusions make noise). It's not a major offensive power, and it makes him a PL 11 in "make the bad guys take Insight/Perception checks" way (as opposed to actually hurting people or otherwise fighting), so he's a bit weaker than his comrades. But he's a bit pricier, being a genius (how much of that is his own horn-tooting wasn't really revealed...), but he lacks the Skill-set to properly utilize it (much like the similarly genius-level Cyclone). He's in pretty good shape for a "trickster" hero, too, though that might just be the All-Stars artist drawing him (and everybody else) hyper-muscular.
-His power has the Quirk that he can only make Illusions based off of things that he's personally-witnessed. However, having been subjected to Johnny Sorrow's Death Glare, he theoretically could pull THAT Insant-Death Attack out any time he wanted!

THE CRIMSON AVENGER I (Lee Walter Travis)
Created By:
Jim Chambers
First Appearance: Detective Comics #20 (Oct. 1938)
Role: Background Hero, Blatant Green Hornet Rip-Off
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Seven Soldiers of Victory
PL 8 (112)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Streetwise) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Radio Announcer) 6 (+9)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 8 (+12)
Perception 5 (+9)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Pistols) 2 (+11)
Stealth 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Benefit 3 (Wealth), Equipment 4 (Car, Twin Pistols), Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Guns), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Improved Smash, Jack-of-All-Trades, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork, Tracking, Well-Informed

Equipment:
"Gas Gun" Affliction 6 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 15ft. Cloud +1/2) (15) -- (16)
AE: "Twin Pistols" Blast 5 (Feats: Split) (11)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Twin Pistols +11 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Gas Gun +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)
Responsibility (Guns)- Travis does not want his trademark guns to define and control his life, and so he drops them, becoming a standard Two-Fisted Superhero instead. This renders him a mere PL 7 in his later adventures.
Relationship (Wing)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 15 (112)

-The more I do bios and do research, the more I realize that the Crisis and everything that came with it ended up messing DC continuity WAYYYY more than the "bunch of Earths" concept ever did (trying to explain Post-Crisis to my friends always goes down south the second I get to the 'so they had to merge all the histories into one'). Look at the Crimson Avenger, for example. He was a REALLY obvious rip-off of the Green Hornet (a successful radio character in the '30s, leading to the more famous TV show much later), right down to the asian valet/chauffer and gas gun. His visual appearance took a whole lot from THE SHADOW, too- the cape/fedora thing is a big tip-off. Lee Travis basically vanished into mediocrity, despite having a 69-issue run in Detective Comics and joining the short-lived Seven Soldiers of Victory. He switched to a more standard look of tights once THOSE types of heroes became more in vogue that The Shadow & Green Hornet, but it was not to be, and he vanished from history along with most of the other Seven Soldiers of Victory.
-But then, the Golden Age Superman was edited out of comics history. This left Lee as the longest-standing real costumed super-hero in the DC Universe (notably, he pre-dates Batman by seven issues of Detective Comics), thus earning this nobody the rank of "First Superhero", and thus fame in the Post-Crisis DCU. And now he's got a female successor, with a much different concept, and some retroactive stuff to explain him further (the Sun-esque logo on his tights was actually a stylized BULLET HOLE because he didn't want the guns to control him). So from a lame rip-off to First Superhero, all thanks to the Crisis.
-In any case, Lee Travis has two potential origins- in one, he's a Radio Announcer who just kind of decided to fight crime after witnessing a robbery. Later, Post-Crisis, he received a vision in Nanda Parbat about the future heroics of Superman, and decides to become a hero after watching Supes' sacrifice against Doomsday. In a roundabout way, this "fixes" the issue of the Avenger being the first superhero ever, as he's now inspired by the TRUE originator. He was sent into the future along with the other Seven Soldiers, lost his sidekick Wing in the same story, and finally died heroically saving lives from an explosion caused by The Ultra-Humanite. His cape and hat were used in a ritual by the Justice League to induct new members onto the team, honoring "The first of us all".
-Crimson Avenger is remarkably simple. Good detective with a real job & some wealth, a Sidekick, and a Gas Gun. Very simple stuff. Since his only appearance in a fight consists of him going down more easily than any other Justice Leaguer there, he's not that effective compared to the other Seven Soldiers.

WING (Wing How)
Created By:
Jim Chambers
First Appearance: Detective Comics #20 (Oct. 1938)
Role: Asian Sidekick, Kato Knock-Off
Group Affiliations: The All-Star Squadron, The Seven Soldiers of Victory
PL 6 (94)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 6
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+9)
Athletics 6 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Valet) 5 (+6)
Insight 2 (+6)
Investigation 8 (+12)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Vehicles 1 (+7)

Advantages:
Evasion, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Set-Up, Teamwork

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)
Relationship (Lee Travis)

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (94)

-Wing is an obvious riff on Kato, the Asian chauffer/valet to The Green Hornet. A Chinese immigrant to moved to America to escape Japanese persecution, he gave an "exotic" vibe to Lee Travis' adventures. Initially not wearing any sort of alternate uniform to his chauffer's get-up, Wing later becomes a superhero alongside the Avenger, wearing a yellow version of the Avenger's red tights. Lee Travis often attempted to convince Wing that he had a brighter future than in kicking ass, but it is soon revealed in JLA #100 that Wing has sacrificed his life to defeat The Nebula Man, saving the world.

THE CRIMSON AVENGER II (Jill Carlyle- possible name)
Created By:
Geoff Johns & Scott Kolin
First Appearance: Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. #9 (April 2000)
Role: Legacy Hero
Group Affiliations: None
PL 12 (150)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Lawyer) 5 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 5 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Crimson Avenger's Guns- Non-Removable Magical Devices"
Blast 12 (Extras: Perception-Ranged, Penetrating) (48) -- [49]
AE: Teleport 10 (Extras: Extended, Easy) (Flaws: Limited to Current Target's Location & Victim's Grave) (30)

Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Reaction) [25]
Senses 4 (Postcognition) (Flaws: Limited- Murder Victim's Death Only) [2]
"Manifest Skill" Variable 1 (Flaws: Limited to Skills Possessed By Victim) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Pistols -- (+12 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +6, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)
Responsibility (Guns)- The Crimson Avenger is cursed to hunt down and execute those responsible for the deaths of others- she says the spirits of those slain command her. She even has a hard time not shooting anyone who merely comes between her and her targets.
Power Loss (Insubstantial)- Magic will still affect her.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 82 / Defenses: 13 (150)

-Crimson Avenger II is a plot-device character created to both be inspired by the original Crimson Avenger (essentially another Legacy Hero), and to do various plot-related things (injure Power Girl, reveal part of Wildcat's past, help out against the Ultra-Humanite, etc.). Seeming partially invincible in her first year, she's ended up being shuffled into the metahuman mix by now, and pops up during mass crossovers from time to time. More of a gimmick than a well-developed character, as she's basically defined as being a solo operative. The "Jill Carlyle" name appears on a headstone behind her, and fans have taken to calling her that, but it's likely she has no given name.
-She was a lawyer who used a pair of pistols that belonged to Lee Travis to murder a criminal who'd gotten off on a technicality. However, it turned out that the pistols were CURSED, and now she's stuck on a permanent-quest to punish those who've escaped justice. She once went on a rampage, nearly killing Power Girl & Wildcat thanks to Ted Grant having framed a man for a crime which resulted in the man's execution. Grant admitted his guilt in the act, but noted that the man was a crook who'd murdered OTHER people, and thus felt justified in getting him framed- it was just a technicality that he hadn't killed THIS victim! Apparently that was enough of a grey moral shade for the second Avenger, who left him alone after "taking some of his Nine Lives" away. She's later seen killing Catalyst when Prometheus sent a bunch of villains to do some stuff.
-Deciding her PL was the toughest thing, as she DEMOLISHED Power Girl and Wildcat, but at the same point, she got the drop on them, and most heroes & villains get certain benefits for their debut appearances. She's since been semi-downgraded as a very shooty character whose guns point her in the direction she needs to go. Since they're mystical in nature and she CAN'T be rid of them, they're a Power- not a Device.She gets a ton of accuracy (they automatically fire when pointed at a target), and have high levels of power- nearly murdering Power Girl is no mean feat, and she one-shotted Captain Atom as well (sending him into the future). Note that as a lawyer, she's no born combatant, and it's the GUNS doing the fighting for her; all she does is point. Thus the guns are Perception-Ranged. It's her ONLY attack, so she's maxed out there.

MISTER BONES (aka Director Bones, Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas & Todd McFarlane
First Appearance: Infinity, Inc. #16 (July 1985)
Role: Reformed Villain
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., Helix
PL 9 (115)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+5)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (History) 3 (+3)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 2 (+3, +8 Skin)
Investigation 2 (+3)
Perception 3 (+4)

Advantages:
Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Taunt

Powers:
"Invisible Skin & Organs"
Enhanced Skills 6: Intimidation +6 (+8) [3]

"Cyanide Touch" Damage 10 Linked to Weaken Toughness 8 (Extras: Progressive +2) [34]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Cyanide Touch +8 (+10 Damage & +8 Weaken, DC 25 & 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Freak)- Bones' skin and organs are see-through, rendering him a living skeleton in appearance. He cannot pass for an ordinary human.
Power Loss (Cyanide Touch)- Bones must touch skin-to-skin in order to use his Cyanide Touch.
Guilt (Sylvester Pemberton's Death)- Bones's Cyanide Touch was used by Solomon Grundy to kill Skyman, who was an ally of Bones. There are strong hints he still feels a lot of guilt for this (even though the Infinitors did not blame him).

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 37 / Defenses: 10 (115)

-Mister Bones started off as an Infinity Inc. villain, and most notable member of "Helix", an initial attempt at a recurring threat. Helix was pretty terrible, though; your typical 1980s-style team of self-obsessed 'weird' characters, including a technophile dog with glasses, a toddler-sized teen with explosive powers and a chick with a giant penny on her chest. Yeah, it was THAT kind of team. Bones was their coolest-looking guy, and his talking scheme of ALWAYS rhyming made him stand out a bit. So, when it was revealed that Helix (along with Yolanda "Wildcat" Montez) were the results of an evil gynecologist's (no, really) scheme to create super-criminals, the team got split up, and Bones got stuck with Infinity Inc. as a recurring character, in order to "reform" him. It actually took, and Bones came to admire and care for his teammates in his own sarcastic, biting way. But when circumstances (ie. Injustice Unlimited) resulted in Bones' Cyanide Touch being used to kill team leader Skyman, it broke the team. They were cancelled two issues later, and though the team forgave Bones pretty quickly, it appears Skyman was all that held them together.
-Bones was fairly powerful, being nearly equal to Fury in combat, and his Cyanide Touch was REALLY lethal, though he didn't use it against the Infinitors much (reason being, he & the Helix kids were never EVIL per se, just misguided). It's powerful enough to kill a normal human like Skyman real quickly, though, so it makes him more costly than most of the Infinitors.

DIRECTOR BONES (aka Mister Bones, Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas & Todd McFarlane
First Appearance: Infinity, Inc. #16 (July 1985)
Role: Nasty Government Figure
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., Global Peace Agency, The Department of Extranormal Operations, Helix
PL 9 (139)
STRENGTH
5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+5)
Deception 7 (+9)
Expertise (Government Agent) 9 (+12)
Expertise (History) 3 (+6)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+4, +9)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit 3 (Head of the D.E.O.), Defensive Roll, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Invisible Skin & Organs"
Enhanced Skills 6: Intimidation +6 (+9) [3]

"Cyanide Touch" Damage 10 Linked to Weaken Toughness 8 (Extras: Progressive +2) [34]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Cyanide Touch +8 (+10 Damage & +8 Weaken, DC 25 & 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +6

Complications:
Prejudice (Freak)- Bones' skin and organs are see-through, rendering him a living skeleton in appearance. He cannot pass for an ordinary human.
Power Loss (Cyanide Touch)- Bones must touch skin-to-skin in order to use his Cyanide Touch.
Guilt (Sylvester Pemberton's Death)- Bones's Cyanide Touch was used by Solomon Grundy to kill Skyman, who was an ally of Bones. There are strong hints he still feels a lot of guilt for this (even though the Infinitors did not blame him).

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 37 / Defenses: 10 (139)

-Mister Bones went an unusual direction post-Infinity Inc. He joined the Department of Extranormal Operations and rose through the ranks rather fast for a person educated by TV with a group of freaks, eventually becoming the Director, and one of the most powerful people in the DCU. Talk about saving a character from Limbo, though... In reality, the DEO are like a poor man's S.H.I.E.L.D., prone to takeovers, rogue spin-offs, and being ineffectual grunts every time a REAL super-villain comes calling, though Bones has had some nice characterization with the JSA in Johns' run, before they were kind of shuffled aside (it seemed to be building to a massive DEO vs. JSA event) along with many other building arcs when Johns took over the book. Bones & Atom Smasher shared some words, regarding old times (both were Infinitors), and Bones warning Al that he'd "changed".

BULLETMAN (Jim Barr)
Created By:
Bill Parker & Jon Smalle
First Appearance: Nickel Comics #1 (1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Squadron of Justice, The All-Star Squadron
PL 9 (128)
STRENGTH
2/8 STAMINA 0/7 AGILITY 0/3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3/5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Police) 2 (+7)
Insight 5 (+7)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+13)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 5 (+7)

Advantages:
Evasion, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Luck, Power Attack, Move-by Action, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Chemical Enhancements"
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
Enhanced Agility 3 [6]
Enhanced Stamina 7 [14]
Enhanced Intelligence 2 [4]

"Gravity Regulator Helmet" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)
"Deflect Bullets" Enhanced Dodge 3 (3)
-- (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (+11 Helmet, DC 18-21), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +7, Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Justice)- Bulletman joined the Police Force because his father is a cop who was slain in the line of duty.
Relationship (Bulletgirl)

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 10 (128)

-Bulletman is one of the dorkier-looking heroes of the Golden Age, so of course it's only fitting that he gets offered a fair amount of respect by modern-day heroes. Like the other Fawcett City guys, he was stuck onto the Squadron retroactively alongside Bulletgirl. One of Fawcett's most popular acts (after, of course, the Marvel Family), they were mostly forgotten (save reactions to their dorkiness) until successors like Winshear (his & Bulletgirl's daughter) and Bulleteer started popping up, inspired by them. He's a nerdy criminologist who couldn't make the police force due to his physical limitations, and so designed a "Crime Cure" that would improve his physiology and even BRAIN POWER.
-Not a bad hero, making PL 8 offensively and PL 9 defensively- Bulletman & Bulletgirl can deflect bullets with their helmets (why all their enemies are magically-able to now hit headshots at-will when no OTHER mooks ever can is not explained), are strong enough to damage tanks with their bare hands, and can get run over by those same tanks and merely be knocked unconscious.

BULLETGIRL (Susan Kent, later Susan Kent-Barr)
Created By:
Bill Parker & Jon Smalle
First Appearance: Nickel Comics #1 (1940)
Role: Forgotten Golden Age Hero, Hero's Girlfriend-Turned-Sidekick
Group Affiliations: The Squadron of Justice, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (108)
STRENGTH
1/7 STAMINA 0/7 AGILITY 0/3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1/5 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Evasion, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Power Attack, Move-by Action, Ranged Attack

Powers:
"Chemical Enhancements"
Enhanced Strength 6 [12]
Enhanced Agility 3 [6]
Enhanced Stamina 7 [14]
Enhanced Intelligence 4 [8]

"Gravity Regulator Helmet" (Flaws: Removable) [12]
Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)
"Deflect Bullets" Enhanced Dodge 3 (3)
-- (15 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (+11 Helmet, DC 16-19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +7, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Bulletman)

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 54 / Defenses: 5 (108)

-Bulletgirl is Bulletman's girlfriend-turned-sidekick, and later wife, Susan Kent. Not quite a sidekick, she's actually ended up with more of a legacy than Bulletman did thanks to the fact that every "Bullet"-based hero afterwards has been a hot chick instead of a dude with a phallic helmet- including their daughter Deanna, aka Windshear.
-Take Bulletman, and make him weaker. That's pretty much it for Bulletgirl. She's slightly better without the enhancements, but since those are basically permanent powers, it doesn't matter. Since she's the amateur of the pair, she gets the lower stats.

THE SPECTRE I (Jim Corrigan, Aztar)
Created By:
Jerry Siegel & Bernard Baily
First Appearance: More Fun Comics #52 (Feb. 1940)
Role: Golden Age Hero, Wrath of God, Deux Ex Machina
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
PL 18 (618)
STRENGTH
12 STAMINA 24 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 14 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 15 AWARENESS 10 PRESENCE 8

Skills:
Deception 4 (+12)
Expertise (History) 10 (+25)
Expertise (Current Events) 8 (+23)
Expertise (Theology & Philosophy) 10 (+25)
Insight 8 (+18)
Intimidation 14 (+22)
Investigation 4 (+14)
Perception 10 (+20)
Persuasion 4 (+12)
Stealth 8 (+11)

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed), Jack-Of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Startle, Ranged Attack 10, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Godly Might"
Impervious Toughness 15 [15]
Immortality 18 [36]
Regeneration 16 (Feats: Regrows Limbs) [17]
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Comprehend 4 (Languages 4, Spirits) [10]
Senses 33 (Magical Sense- Ranged 3, Analytical & Acute, Cosmic Sense- Ranged 3, Analytical & Acute, Divine Sense- Ranged 3, Analytical & Acute, Analytical Vision, Vision & Hearing Counters Concealment & Illusion) [39]
Senses 4 (Postcognition) (Flaws: Limited to Sins & Crimes) [2]
Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Precise, Subtle 2) [23]

Flight 12 (8,000 mph) [24]
Movement 2 (Space Travel 2) [4]
Morph 4 (Any Form) [20]
Concealment 10 (All Senses) (Extras: Selective) [21]

"Pretty Much Any Power Ever"
Variable 20 (Any Power) (Feats: Dynamic) (141) -- [150]
AE: Teleport 20 (Extras: Dynamic, Easy, Accurate, Extended, Increased Mass 20) (121)
AE: "Ironic Punishments" Blast 18 (Feats: Dynamic, Variable 2- Any Ironic Damage) (Extras: Perception-Ranged, Penetrating) (75)
AE: "Baleful Polymorph" Affliction 18 (Fort; Dazed/Disabled/Transformed) (Feats: Dynamic, Subtle) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2, Progressive +2) (92)
AE: "Together We Shall Confront It" Mind Control 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +3, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (91)
AE: Mind-Reading 18 (Extras: Effortless) Linked to Communication (Mental) 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area, Selective) (85)
AE: Movement 12 (Dimensional Travel 3, Time Travel 3) (Feats: Dynamic) (13)
AE: Create Stuff 15 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise, Subtle 2) (Extras: Continuous) (49)
AE: Illusion 15 (All Senses) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area 3) (120)
AE: Transform (Anything to Anything) 15 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Ranged, Continuous) (106)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Ironic Punishments -- (+18 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 33)
Baleful Polymorph -- (+18 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Mind Control +15 Area (+15 Affliction, DC 25)
Mind-Reading -- (+18 Mind-Reading, DC 28)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +24 (+8 Impervious), Fortitude +24, Will +10

Complications:
Motivation (Punishing the Guilty)- The Spectre is the Spirit of Vengeance in most forms, hurting the wicked.
Responsibility (The Will of The Presence)- "God" (or whoever) controls The Spectre, and can depower or recall him at-will.
Power Loss (Being Useful)- The Spectre is rarely actually helpful when it would be really useful to the heroes.
Weakness (Mind Control)- In fact, don't bother rolling to check the save. He'll just fail it. Every time.

Total: Abilities: 180 / Skills: 80--40 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 372 / Defenses: 9 (618)

-The Spectre debuts in 1940 as a hard-boiled cop murdered by crooks, then forced by "The Voice" to fight evil- he becomes an early example of that particularly-grim comic book hero- The Murderous Vigilante. He kills bad guys in horrific, ironic fashions. He joins the Justice Society early-on, and Corrigan's body is resurrected, which makes The Spectre an independent entity, able to function without him. As superhero books lose popularity, he gains a goofy sidekick in bumbling "Percival Popp, The Super Cop"- the final appearance of the character was in Feb. 1945, giving him a pretty short run. He managed 24 appearances in the All-Star Comics JSA series, which isn't too bad.
-The character was revived in a much-more powerful incarnation (I would imagine- the previous one was in regular JSA meetings) to the point of Nigh-Omnipotence at times! He would get his own title in 1967, but it was pretty low-selling- the book had a revolving-door of creators on it (not a good sign creatively), and was cancelled after only ten issues. The writers would cite problems in writing a title where the character could basically do anything- a constant problem in books like that. When Editor Joe Orlando got mugged in real life, he decided the world really NEEDED another "relentless superhero", and ordered a new, gruesome series (in which crooks were turned into everday objects like broken glasses and melting candles)- it too was short-lived. Fans even wrote in declaring their unease with the violent, though-bloodless, take, and the book didn't last long. A new series was set to come out by Steve Gerber, but when he bailed on the first issue's deadline to watch the final day of shooting on the infamous Howard the Duck film, DC cancelled the series in response!
-The Spectre would show up during the Crisis in a guardian role, and Doug Moench would write a fourth book with a significantly-depowered Spectre. This book lasted a MUCH longer time than the others- all of 31 issues! Three years later, John Ostrander would get HIS turn, as seemingly writers couldn't look away from this concept. Ostrander made things a lot more ambiguous, with multiple cases coming up where the "right punishment" was hard to come by (women killing abusive husbands, an Eastern European country with a constant cycle of ethnic cleansing resulting in Corrigan wiping out THE ENTIRE POPULATION except for two politicians on opposite sides, etc.). It was only HERE that the whole "Wrath of God" thing became his position, and Corrigan was merely the latest in a long line of "Human Hosts", which would lead to an unfortunate "replaceable" tendency for the guy.
-FINALLY, Corrigan's soul finds peace, and the new Spectre becomes Hal Jordan, seeking penance for his turn as Parallax. A FIFTH Spectre series results, as J.M. DeMatteis turns him into a Spirit of Redemption. When that book was cancelled, he ended up in Johns & Goyer's JSA a couple times, generally being taken over mentally or being screwed with, causing him to go nuts or be useless because "The King of Tears has no soul to punish". He went unstable after Hal Jordan returned to life (Green Lantern: Rebirth), starting to murder people for minor crimes. Jean "Eclipso" Loring seduces him and sends him to get his genocide on, and he "rewrites the books of Magic" because he hates it and stuff. The final host of The Spectre is Crispus Allen, a good supporting character in Gotham Central- a murdered cop who suffered an unfair ending. When his own son murders Allen's killer (a crooked cop named "Jim Corrigan", actually- no relation), Spectre is forced to kill HIM, even though SPECTRE ALWAYS KILLS PEOPLE ANYWAYS SO WHAT THE HELL UNHAPPY ENDING??). Allen is meant to be a proper human host, but naturally gets turned evil IMMEDIATELY when a Black Lantern Ring gets attached to him. This had gotten beyond tired by this point, as Spectre Is Useless was practically a running gag- it also makes attempts to compare him to Marvel's Living Tribunal hilarious, as up until 2015 and Hickman's vanity project, the Tribunal had yet to job ONCE.
-The Spectre is incredibly-powerful, yet oddly-worthless in some situations. He's basically unkillable (Toughness +24, Impervious, Regeneration & Immortality), and can basically do whatever he needs to at any moment (Variable), but he has a tendency to be easily-controlled and nutty in recent times.
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