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

[Ares]

One thing that I thought was cool about the holograms on the vehicles in the show was that they would summon various attacks and features. Like the Lancer Cycle's canopy would create two hands that would form a magical Hadouken between them and launch it as an energy blast at a target. I believe the Darkling Lords vehicles could do things like summon dragons and the like.

Any revamp of the franchise really should embrace the Holographic aspect of the original show and toyline and just run with it full tilt. Like instead of mundane weapons they instead summon holographic weapons from their chest pieces, and the weapons have more utility and function. Witterquick is now throwing this holographic boomerang that leaves a trail of light and can do Captain America-style trick shots with it, etc. And like I said, maybe make their totem animals summons instead of transformations, so that Ectar would summon a fox to act as a scout. Maybe something where the totem can merge with the knight to give them some extra abilities, like Ectar's helmet might gain some additional sensory perception or something.

[Jabroniville]

"Shield this craft from one and all. Reflect, deflect, depose and fall!" (this spell was never actually used in either the cartoon or the comic)

FERYL
Role: The Young Guy
Played by: Beau Weaver
PL 7 (142)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Expertise (Knight) 4 (+5)
Insight 1 (+2)
Intimidation 1 (+4)
Perception 7 (+8)
Persuasion 1 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 4 (+5)
Vehicles 7 (+9)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Equipment 2 (Fork Thing), Equipment 16 (Shares Cost of Lancer Cycle & Capture Chariot), Improved Defense, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Teamwork, Tracking

Powers:
"Breathes Life Into Vehicles" Transform (Dead Vehicles Into Working Ones) 1 (Feats: Increased Mass 15- 25 tons) (Extras: Continuous) [18]

"Spectral Knight Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [19]
Protection 2 (2)
Immunity 10 (Fire & Falling Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) (5)

"Wolf Form"
Morph 1 (Flaws: Recognizable- Blue Body) (4)

Enhanced Animal Skills: (2)
Close Combat (Natural Weapons) 1 (+10)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Perception 1 (+9)

Enhanced Dodge & Parry 1 (2)

Enhanced Advantages 5: All-Out Attack, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Fast Grab, Improved Trip (5)
"Animal Senses" Senses 6 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing) (6)
"Animal Physiology" Speed 2 (8 mph) (2)
"Natural Weapons- Teeth" Strength-Damage +2 (2)
-- (23 points)

Equipment:
"Silver Tuning Fork Thingie"
"Once-Used Energy Blast" Blast 4 (Flaws: Limited to 5 Uses) (4) -- (6)

• AE: Strength-Damage +1 (1)
• AE: "Light Up a Room" Environment 2 (Light) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Boomerang +10 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +10

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

Complications:
Power Loss (Animal Form)- Visionaries cannot maintain Animal Form continuously, and will eventually change back to normal.
Power Loss (Vehicle Time-Out)- The Vehicles do not actually stay operational continuously- they will eventually lose power if Ectar or Feryl are not in contact with them.
Disabled (Animal)- The Visionaries may not speak whilst in Animal Form, nor use their limbs to easily manipulate objects.
Responsibility (Young)- Feryl is mature for his (implied) age, but is prone to bouts of feeling worthless, and has to be built-up by his comrades. At one point, he runs away from the team because he feels like a burden.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 26 / Powers: 37 / Defenses: 10 (142)

-Feryl is the youngest member of The Spectral Knights, and avoids the usual pratfalls of being a GIANT idiot, who often goes flying off into danger, as well as being resistant to the usual show-off/naive moron traits (think Yungstar in Dino Riders), or an attempt at being the show's mascot (Bumblebee of Transformers). Instead, Feryl is a BIT naive, but it reflects itself more in that he has low self-worth and often thinks he doesn't hold up to his older, more mature comrades. In one feature episode, he ran away from the group because he felt he couldn't pull his weight (after Leoric saved him and one-offed an entire Land Pirate party), but found Leoric was put in danger while searching for him, and thus made a comeback and proved himself. Generally, he and Ectar were Leoric's most regular companions, being with him even before the Spectral Knights formed.

-Feryl has one of the most distinctive toys in the line, as you really don't often see YELLOW-armored guys all that often. That bright, canary-yellow outfit makes him really stand out, as does his weird tuning fork weapon, which is apparently a taser (in the show, he uses it to create a "spark" and see off a spider, and has also blasted someone with it- the toy just kind of pointy and has a jagged thing between the fork tips). Feryl's toy is one of the hardest figures in the line to still find, owing to him coming with a large vehicle. This goes double for his weapon, which is insanely tough to get- I've seen people charging $50 for such a thing. Thankfully, I found a great seller on eBay who actually offered me a free one when I asked him how big it was, explaining that I wanted to make my own out of plastic scrap.

-Feryl is PL 6.5/7 mostly, a bit weaker than his buddies, but not by much. His Wolf Form (given because... at one point, he smells fresh air and it gets them through a maze) is noticeably more powerful than his more-experienced buddy's Fox Form, and he has a weird one-off power where he uses his Tuning Fork-like weapon to BLAST someone (??), but he's more expensive than the "normal" Visionaries because of his Activate Vehicles power.

WOLF FORM
PL 7
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Close Combat (Natural Weapons) 1 (+6)
Expertise (Hunters) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 6 (+4)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Fast Grab, Improved Trip, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 6 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing) [6]
"Animal Physiology" Speed 2 [2]
"Natural Weapons- Teeth" Strength-Damage +2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Natural Weapons +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

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



"CAPTURE CHARIOT" 124 Equipment Points
Huge Size, Strength 10, Speed 6, Toughness 12 (Extras: Impervious 7), Defense 6 (20)
"Power Cannon" Blast 10 (Extras: Multiattack) (30)

"Flying Attachments"
Medium Size, Strength 1, Flight 6, Toughness 8, Defense 10 (16)
"Giant Hand Throws Energy Ball" Blast 10, AE: Laser Blast 5 (Extras: Multiattack) (21)

-The Capture Chariot is the biggest vehicle the heroes get, fitting one pilot and two pilots of some one-man flying pods that can be taken off. The whole thing is very rounded-off and interesting-looking- bright red and black, with white flying pods. The holograms on that, and on the front of the toy, are prone to bad discoloration and blackening. Because of its size, its rider, Feryl, was a very rare toy.

-The Capture Chariot has a large cannon and is very powerful, but ALSO has two little Flying Pods that can throw out large Energy Blasts (manifesting as glowing hands that throw balls of energy).

[Jabroniville]

"Wings of steel shall ride the breeze. Invade the air, the land, the seas!" (this spell was never actually used in either the cartoon or the comic)

Merklynn: "Mortdredd- for bootlicking above and beyond the call of duty, I give you... the Scampering Beetle!"
Mortdredd: "I am offended!"

MORTDREDD
Role: The Sycophant, Bootlicking Toady
Played by: Jonathan Harris
PL 7 (137)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Knight) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 1 (+1)
Perception 2 (+3)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 1 (Scythe), Equipment 19 (Shares Cost of Sky Claw & Dagger Assault), Improved Critical (Scythe), Improved Defense, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Breathes Life Into Vehicles" Transform (Dead Vehicles Into Working Ones) 1 (Feats: Increased Mass 15- 25 tons) (Extras: Continuous) [18]

"Darkling Lord Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [27]
Protection 2 (2)
Immunity 10 (Fire & Falling Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) (5)

"Scampering Beetle Form"
Morph 1 (Flaws: Recognizable- Green Body) (4)

Reduced Strength 3 (-6)
Reduced Stamina 4 (-8)
Reduced Stealth 6 (+16) (-3)
Reduced Dodge 2 & Parry 3 (-5)

Enhanced Skills 12: (6)
Athletics 10 (+5)
Perception 2 (+5)

"Animal Senses" Senses 4 (Acute, Accurate & Extended Scent) (4)
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) (2)

"Small Size" Shrinking 16 (32)
(-4 Strength, -2 Speed, +8 Defenses, +16 Stealth, -8 Intimidation)
-- (33 points)

Equipment:
"Golden Jagged-Bladed Scythe" Strength-Damage +2 (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Scythe +9 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+4 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Power Loss (Animal Form)- Visionaries cannot maintain Animal Form continuously, and will eventually change back to normal.
Power Loss (Vehicle Time-Out)- The Vehicles do not actually stay operational continuously- they will eventually lose power if Mortdredd or Reekon are not in contact with them.
Disabled (Animal)- The Visionaries may not speak whilst in Animal Form, nor use their limbs to easily manipulate objects.
Obsession (The Magnificence of Lord Darkstorm)- Mortdredd takes being a sycophant to the next level- he worships the ground Darkstorm walks on, and defends him to others even when he's not around!

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 24 / Powers: 45 / Defenses: 9 (137)

-Mortdredd is actually a very rare character in cartoons- most Henchmen are either supreme dolts or constantly willing to betray their boss for more power- Mortdredd is actually a GIANT toady, and wants nothing more than his master's favour. Mortdredd WORSHIPS Darkstorm, and even talks him up to anyone who derides him. For his absolute willingness to supplant himself before his master, and the greatest line in animated '80s toon history: "Boot-licking above and beyond the call of duty", as Merklynn called it, he was "gifted" with the Totem of the Scampering Beetle. A PO'd Mortdredd shouts "I am offended!", draws his scythe, and is immediately rebuked by Darkstorm, causing him to bow down like a pathetic, mewling toady, even taking Beetle From to do it, causing all those assembled to laugh at him.

-His Armor was REALLY sweet, though- it was purple plate Armor over top of blue, yet DIDN'T look stupid. With the visor disguising his sycophantic expression (and grey hair- odd for a minion), he looked like quite the violet-hued bad-ass, especially with the Golden Scythe. He never really got MUCH focus, but his toadying made him the most amusing of the villainous characters. It made his toy very impressive as well- incredibly distinctive and with a cool weapon. Sadly, it's the only toy in the line where I lack his weapon, as it got lost somehow, despite me managing to keep everyone else's stuff.

-Mortdredd is the worst overall fighter of the characters, but not COMPLETELY a pushover- he's still a PL 7 fighter, though his Beetle Form is utterly useless. He can't fight anything as a Bug (he's PL 2 and does DC 10 damage unarmed), meaning that it's only really worthwhile to sneak around or avoid hits (Cravex has a heck of a time hurting him at one point- it's PL 6 defensively by virtue of the defensive bonuses). You have to mess around with his stats a bit to make up the Beetle Form, but most Visionaries are a bit complex because of the nature of their Shapeshifting.

SCAMPERING BEETLE FORM
PL 6
STRENGTH -5 STAMINA -2 AGILITY -2
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Knight) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 1 (+1)
Perception 2 (+3)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+7)
Stealth 2 (+16)
Technology 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Close Attack 5

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision) [3]
"Natural Weapons- Teeth" Strength-Damage +2 [2]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

"Small Size" Shrinking 16 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [25]
(-4 Strength, -2 Speed, +8 Defenses, +16 Stealth, -8 Intimidation)

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (-5 Damage, DC 5)
Initiative -2

Defenses:
Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness -2, Fortitude +0, Will +3




"THE SKY CLAW" 66 Equipment Points
Large Size, Strength 7, Flight 7, Toughness 10, Defense 9 (22)
Blast 8 (16)
Summon Phylot Creature 4 (Extras: 2 Minions +2, Horde, Controlled, Heroic +2) (Flaws: Limited to 5 Uses) (28)

-The Darkling Lords have a ship that gets a couple Summons of its very own! Two Phylot-like creatures will burst out of the triangular panels on the sides of the ship, and attack whomever is fighting them! The Sky Claw was a solid toy- fairly large, its distinctive triangular silhouette made it stand out, as did the various bits you could play with- revealing a golden energy rifle from beneath a hidden section, pulling out two side panels with large holograms on them, etc. Unfortunately, the holograms are almost never in good condition on the toy market- they blank out pretty easily, being so large.

-The Sky Claw is a fast flying vessel, but also contains Blasts and a Summon. The pair of Phylots get used surprisingly little (hard to animate?), so I threw a Limit on them.

PHYLOT SUMMON
PL 8 (53)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Intimidation 8 (+5)
Perception 4 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Close Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Hold

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
Flight 5 (60 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [5]
"Beak & Talons" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +5, Fortitude +5, Will +0

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 8 (53)

[Jabroniville]

Oh wow. Beautifully complex builds for these guys. I glazed over at these and the other fantasy era type cartoons, bu wow, they really turn out interesting.

Also, Glad and Vir are pretty hot.

Cool! I thought I remembered you tagging me on Facebook and going "Remember when you statted these guys?", so I thought you were a fan.

These definitely were fairly complex. I had to stat up the animal form, then determine if it was pricier than the baseline guy- and if it was, I had to add the difference to the build of the main character!

[Jabroniville]

"Flay the flesh, lay bare the bone. Upon this field, let grief be sown!" - this spell was never actually used in either the cartoon or the comic.

REEKON
Role: The Mercenary, The Trickster, Career Criminal, The Greedy One
Played by: Roscoe Lee Browne
PL 7 (165)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 8
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Deception 8 (+10)
Expertise (Criminal) 9 (+11)
Expertise (Knight) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Sleight of Hand 2 (+10)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 6 (+8)

Advantages:
Close Attack, Equipment 1 (Jagged Sword), Equipment 19 (Shares Cost of Sky Claw & Dagger Assault), Improved Critical (Sword), Hide In Plain Sight, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm

Powers:
"Breathes Life Into Vehicles" Transform (Dead Vehicles Into Working Ones) 1 (Feats: Increased Mass 15- 25 tons) (Extras: Continuous) [18]

"Darkling Lord Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [15]
Protection 2 (2)
Immunity 10 (Fire & Falling Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) (5)

"Lizard Form"
Morph 1 (Flaws: Recognizable- Green Body) (4)

Enhanced Skills 4: (2)
Stealth 2 (+10)
Intimidation 2 (+7, +3 Size)

"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Acute & Extended Scent) (2)
"Bite" Strength-Damage +1 (2)

"Small Size" Shrinking 4 (8)
(-1 Strength & Speed, +2 Defenses, +4 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)
-- (18 points)

Equipment:
"Golden Jagged-Edged Sword" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) (3)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sword +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

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

Complications:
Power Loss (Animal Form)- Visionaries cannot maintain Animal Form continuously, and will eventually change back to normal.
Power Loss (Vehicle Time-Out)- The Vehicles do not actually stay operational continuously- they will eventually lose power if Mortdredd or Reekon are not in contact with them.
Disabled (Animal)- The Visionaries may not speak whilst in Animal Form, nor use their limbs to easily manipulate objects.
Rivalry (Ectar)- Reekon was a crook before the Age of Science ended, and Ectar was often the cop who arrested him. Both have a mutual respect for the other.
Motivation (Money)- Reekon is a mercenary, and will switch sides if necessary.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 10 (157)

-Reekon is Ectar's "Opposite" among the Darkling Lords, and is a career criminal who sided with Darkstorm early on because being a bad guy paid better- he stated several times that if Leoric paid him more than Darkstorm did, he'd just switch sides. He and Mortdredd are Darkstorm's flunkies in the way that Ectar & Feryl were constantly by Leoric's side, usually acting as a way to bounce off dialogue from the team leader. That great moment when Ectar & Reekon declare that they "need each other" and enjoy their friendly little rivalry, parting with respect, is one of the series' best moments. He was given the same evil-sounding voice Roscoe Lee Browne later used for the Kingpin in the '90s Spider-Man TV show.

-Reekon actually has a fantastic look, though. His armor is a very distinctive brown and mustard-yellow palette, which you would never imagine would look cool, but there it is. I really like the "square-edged" spikes on his suit, and that strange blocky headgear. His weapon being a doubled-edged serrated blade is also pretty cool.

-Interestingly, Reekon is the figure who came with the fantastic Dagger Assault Vehicle playset/vehicle, which unusually (since it's a "Villain Toy") was the largest and most-expensive toy in the Visionaries line. Because of that fact, Reekon is thus the rarest and most expensive FIGURE. When I asked a Visionaries seller/fan on eBay a question about Feryl's weapon and its rarity, he was very helpful about the line in general, and informed me "If you find a Reekon on here, make sure they're using the legitimate hologram" (because a lot of sellers switch them out). When I told him that I had the original Reekon AND his weapon, he was quite impressed- this guy is especially rare, and his weapon alone can sell for more than $50.

-Sadly, Reekon ends up with one of the weakest, least-used Animal Forms, being a small Lizard that is never seen attacking anything in-show. It's unfortunate that three of the Darkling Lords get shafted with weak animals (Beetle, Lizard, Armadillo), while only Ectar of the heroes gets one (and his Fox is still decently-tough). It's still PL 7 by virtue of it's smaller size (hard to hit), but at PL 6, it's not going to do much good fighting a Lion or Bear. Reekon also ends up cheaper overall than Ectar because of slightly-lowered combat ability, but he's still the Skillmonkey of his team, and more expensive than even most Spectral Knights! He's also one of those rare characters of mine with a high Dexterity- using it to Pilot things, use ranged attacks (like the vehicles have) and use Sleight of Hand.

LIZARD FORM
PL 7
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 8
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+7)
Deception 8 (+10)
Expertise (Criminal) 9 (+11)
Expertise (Knight) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Stealth 6 (+10)
Technology 6 (+8)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Acute & Extended Scent) [2]
"Bite" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Bite +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +8

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




“DAGGER ASSAULT VEHICLE" 123 Equipment Points
Gargantuan Size, Strength 12, Speed 6, Toughness 13 (Extras: Impervious 13), Defense 4 (21)
Features 1: Crane Attachment (1)
Blasters 10 (Extras: Multiattack), AE: "Catapalt" Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (31)
Affliction 12 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed to Powerless) (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Continuous +3) (Flaws: Limited to Knights Trapped Within the Dungeon) (37)

"Jetplane Flying Attachment"
Medium Size, Strength 2, Flight 7, Toughness 8, Defense 10 (19)
Laser Blasters 7 (14)

-The Dagger Assault is the "Flagship Toy" of the Visionaries line (very curiously so, given that it's gear for the villains), being a huge, sci-fi-looking Floating Ship thing with an absolute swack of gear, side-things (like a separate flying attachment, and interesting features (like a "dungeon" portion with a holographic skeleton on it). The sheer number of pieces means that finding this f*cker on the secondary market is nearly IMPOSSIBLE, as everyone's just selling piecemeal versions with all sorts of missing attachments, many of which I find necessary for the proper enjoyment of the piece (never mind that buying the extra bits separately would probably be prohibitively expensive). As such, it's the only Visionaries toy I never bothered to buy on eBay- closest thing was a "Boxed" version that was more than $200, which is pushing it even for a completist like me- The Dino Riders Brontosaurus is worth that to me, but this guy? Not really.

-The Dagger Assault is a truly vast vehicle with a ton of features- it can Catapalt rocks, Blast away with multiple Lasers, De-Power Knights (a common Plot Device features one of the Knights being de-powered and having to get access to the machine in order to get his transformation powers back), and more. It also has a tiny Jetplane attachment that a side character generally flies around to get up to no good- it fires off the central post thing that is also a Crane.

[Skaramine]

Now I'm sorry I didn't collect these guys. They look great.

[Bladewind]

THANK YOU.

For the longest time I've had the phrase "Harness the power of the driving gale, make swift these legs, o'er land I sail!" stuck in my head.
I know it's a little off, but now I remember where it comes from !

(Should be "Sheathe these feet in the driving gale....")

[Jabroniville]

MERKLYNN
Role: Amoral Advisor

-Merklynn (whose powers are entirely random) is an amoral, ageless wizard who lives in a castle. He’s unconcerned with how the Visionaries use their powers, so he gladly empowers total douchelords like Darkstorm and Cravex, and enables both teams to repower their staffs... provided they do him favours.

As time goes on, though, he grows aggravated by the Darkling Lords’ never-ending attempts at stealing his powers, and do he starts refusing them help and favouring the Spectral Knights.

-No Merklynn toy was ever made, though the cancelled playset was actually supposed to feature a REAL HOLOGRAM of the character, which proved overly ambitious.

[Jabroniville]

AVENGERS ACADEMY:
-After a certain point, every "Teen Rookie Hero" book Marvel put out had largely the same cast in it. At least one person was a visible minority. Someone had "Obvious Powers" (ie. they looked inhuman). Somebody was gay. EVERY team had a Mandatory Gay Teen on it, because they were pushing diversity along those lines, and they figured the best way to do that was to gave gay kids on their new books. It only got weird when you realized that, like, EVERY TEAM had one or two gay kids on it, when no team had them before. I mean, I get it- it's just funny.

Of course, this led to the issues where comics always struggles in pushing new books featuring new characters. Runaways was big and then it was gone. The Young Avengers was given a MEGA-PUSH and then it was gone, every character by Kate Bishop falling off the face of the Earth no matter how Marvel pushed it. And then you had Young Allies, which... I think that failed so fast I didn't even have time to acknowledge that it was a thing. And so Avengers Academy wasn't exactly though of to have the potential for longevity when it was the latest in a long line of these books. I remember a fan writing in to one of the first issues and just BEGGING the writers to actually keep these characters around, because they were tired of falling in love with a new cast of teen heroes, only to see the book cancelled and the characters disappear. The answer rounded out to "Hey, we'd be glad to stay around, but we need readers and fan interest to keep them!"

Ultimately, the series kind of did okay, and stuck around in SOME context for a few years. Avengers Academy was the brainchild of Christos Cage (who wrote the great The Initiative... which was ALSO about a Team of Teen Rookie Heroes) and Mike McKone, and was about a reinvention of the "Initiative" idea- instead of the evil government training heroes, it was the AVENGERS doing it, using kids who'd been empowered by Norman Osborn when he led H.A.M.M.E.R. This was pretty generic, but a solid idea that re-uses one of the best things to come out of Civil War. And there was a TWIST at the end of it- the kids were chosen for their potential... but not potential as HEROES. They were chosen because they were documented as being the teen super-folks with the greatest likelihood of becoming VILLAINS.

The relevation of this pisses off the kids, who begin to rebel in a few little ways, all the while interacting with each other and their world. The team consisted of: Reptil (cross-media hero- he featured in the kiddie Marvel Super Hero Squad show that was on at the time, as an attempt at creating a New Minority Hero), Finesse (Taskmaster powers), Veil (gaseous powers), Mettle (metal body), Striker (electricity), and Hazmat (radiation). Their teachers were Hank Pym (just off of the Mighty Avengers book over-pushing him, and the revelation that he had been a Skrull for years), Jocasta (Pym's new girl), Tigra, Justice, Speedball (fixed after being the insane "Penance"), and Quicksilver- former Avengers, all in disuse at the time.

A big factor was Quicksilver's moral ambiguity, having passed off his bad behavior as "It was a Skrull", even though it wasn't. Several kids get in trouble when they pay back The Hood for torturing Tigra on film, by torturing HIM and filming it- Tigra expels them in a rage. Veil tries to bring Hank's ex-wife, The Wasp, back to him (she was temporarily dead in one of those ridiculous "well let's kill someone for a couple of years and then BRING THEM BACK" things that both cheapens death AND the characters, and is even worse because the Wasp was so low-tier at the time that most people didn't even realize she was gone), but reanimates Carina, wife of Korvac, and the kids have to beat her.

The team members had issues: Mettle was a freak, and Hazmat couldn't ever take off her costume. Reptil liked Finesse, who was sociopathic to a point that even disturbed HER. Striker was dealing with a history that included molestation and a "Star Mom" who was always pushing him.

The comic ultimately faltered in its final year, as suddenly it had a TON of new students thrown in, as they got a bunch of unused characters, plus a few that Marvel was keen on pushing- it was the temporary place for X-23 back when she was heavily-pushed, but always in disarray because a book would be cancelled and she'd need a new home. The series lasted thirty-nine issues, ending in 2012, at which point many of the characters were used for Dennis Hopeless's Battle Royale knock-off, Avengers Arena, which killed off Mettle and left many of the characters with deep psychological scars. Ultimately, many of the characters never mattered again, and you only see one or two. In short... it got the same success rate as every OTHER Teen Rookie Hero Book. Kind of unfortunate.

I remember the comic being pretty good- not outstanding, but Gage writes characters well, they had cool looks and powers, and you could see a lot of the points of various characters- nobody came off 100% unsympathetic or 100% in the right. Good moral ambiguity. The characters also acted like real TRAINEES- there wasn't much of the "We are superheroes and in our second week we humiliate established characters" that I've ripped on books like Young X-Men or Runaways for doing. In fact, one issue features the kids going up against the SINISTER SIX of all people... and they get their asses handed to them. Reptil takes out the Rhino using a triceratops form, but Electro wipes out Striker and the others get beaten, too. Gage was VERY GOOD at establishing that a rookie hero just starting out is not going to be able to take out a professional.

A character named Jeremy Briggs becomes important- also empowered by Norman Osborn, he becomes a billionaire, and a disgusted Veil quits the team to join his company. He later de-powers much of the team, with their permission even, but betrays them to the Young Masters, who defeat them. Briggs intends to de-power heroes the world over and disperse the powers to those of his choosing, but he is ultimately beaten. Finesse finally allows him to be stabbed by X-23, and watches as he bleeds to death. The Academy kids, at the end, are allowed to become "Associate Level" Avengers, while others continue their training at the academy.

And then most are kidnapped by Arcade and many die on his island. Because Teen Heroes Are Disposable.


THE ROSTER:
Finesse- Taskmaster-like move-copying. A sociopath who doesn't comprehend the emotions of others, and has a dark, self-centered outlook because of it.
Reptil- Turns into reptilian creatures. Kind of a "generic upstanding hero" type to contrast the others.
Mettle- Turned into a metallic, super-strong skeleton-monster and hates it.
Hazmat- Unable to touch others, and lives inside a radiation suit because of her powers.
Striker- Electrical powers. Turns out to be our Token Homosexual. Has a past that involves a "Star Mom" and a business manager who molested him.

The Other Kids:
* Just over a year in, the book suddenly doubled its roster, getting a ton of failed heroes thrown onto it.

Spider Girl (Araña)- Anya Corazon, getting another chance before Marvel finally gave up on making her a thing.
Batwing- Forgotten character from Spider-Man: The Hidden Years.
Butterball II (Shaub)- From Gage's Initiative comic. Invincible teenage blubberbutt.
Hollow- Formerly Penance of Generation X.
Hybrid I (Marks)- A hybrid of a Dire Wraith and a human, who died like three times but came back every time. Revealed that he was evil again and was banished from Earth.
Juston Seyfert (Sentinel)- From the forgotten Sentinel book from a failed line of Marvel books.
Lightspeed- Julie Power of the unused "Power Pack".
Machine Teen- From a forgotten Limited Series where he didn't realize he was an android.
Power Man III- A teen version from an Iron Fist Limited Series, before joining Al Ewing's Avengers.
Ricochet- Of the Slingers.
Rocket Racer- Spider-Man supporting character.
She-Hulk II (Lyra)- Then just off of a Limited Series where she was the child of Hulk & Thundra.
Thunderstrike II- Kevin Masterson, son of Eric, just after his Limited Series ended.
Turbo I- Mickey Musashi, late of the New Warriors book and unused since then.
X-23- Became a new signature character after her book ended.
White Tiger V- Ava, just before she joined an actual Avengers book under Al Ewing.
Wiz Kid- Forgotten X-Men supporting character in a wheelchair.

[Gamebook]

I collected and enjoyed this series. The characters from it are indeed pretty much defunct now. Hazmat and Finesse had appearances in The Unstoppable Wasp recently, but Julie Power has dropped out of even her occasional appearances in Runaways now that she has broken up with Karolina Dean.

New superheroes of any stripe rarely stick around for long, it takes exceptional luck to create a character that can hang with the old established regulars. I think that there is only so much room in comicdom for so many different characters. After a while of creating a shared superhero universe you just don't really need any more characters, you have a wide enough selection that there will be an existing one suitable for any story you might wish to tell. A character with a large pre-existing base of popularity is therefore going to have a huge advantage over some new creation. Spider-Man is still being used to tell teen superhero stories after fifty years of publication so there just isn't much need for other teen superheroes in the Marvel universes.

[Jabroniville]

METTLE (Ken Mack, aka Fortress)
Created By: Christos Gage & Mike McKone
First Appearance: Avengers Academy #1 (June 2010)
Role: Powerhouse, Deformed Guy
PL 8 (105)
STRENGTH 10 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Surfing) 6 (+8) -- Uses Agility
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Iridium Body"
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 5) [8]
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]

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

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +10 (+3 Impervious), Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Freak)- Mettle is a skinless, red man made of metal, with a skull for a face. He also has no sense of touch, and is thus closed off from the rest of the world.
Relationship (Hazmat)- As Hazmat couldn't touch anyone else without killing them, they were drawn to each other, and formed a relationship.
Responsibility (Fearful Power)- Mettle is fearful of his own strength, especially after realizing that his future self is so nonchalant about killing.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 18 / Defenses: 6 (105)

-Mettle was a pretty good character in Avengers Academy, if not the most original- his schtick is to play up being a new version of Ben Grimm- a nice man forced into a hideous body. A really tragic story, he was a strong Pacific Islander kid who had his body flake off and reveal a skull-like face and "Iridium" body, making him look like a monster. He was shown as one of the more responsible of the kids, refusing to go along with the team's assault on The Hood for torturing Tigra. One of the bits of the series that stuck with me the most was how good-natured he seemed, and then one issue ends with him and Hazmat hanging out and, the two most-damaged by their conditions, silently crying together. One of those "little things" that reminds you of just how awful their situation was.

-Mettle & Hazmat even started a relationship, though he's quickly pushed aside as the new kids join the cast. Later, he joins Jeremy Briggs' organization and gets a skin graft that makes him look normal, but upon learning that Briggs is evil, he attacks and his new skin is burned off. Finally, he graduates from the team. However, his fate is a sad one- one of the more visually-interesting of his team, he is chosen as the first death in Avengers Academy, sacrificing himself so that Hazmat (whom he'd finally slept with) could live. This was probably a deliberate choice, as he was both unique-looking (ie. "not just some random face"), emblematic of the series, and disposable since that book had been cancelled anyways. His death thus gives the other Academy kids an emotional stake in Arcade and what he did.

-Mettle is, like most Powerhouses before him, a pretty simplistic build- a PL 8 strong guy, he's durable but fairly slow. His key thing was being so tough that even Hazmat couldn't hurt him.

[Ares]

I always felt bad for Mettle. Guy was the legitimately nicest and most heroic person on his team for the most part, he looked like the unholy love child of the Red Skull and Colossus, he was the chosen sacrificial lamb to make it clear that the stakes in Avengers: Battle Royal were for real, but most of all, the poor guy got stuck with Hazmat as a love interest.

[M4C8]

One of the things I've always had trouble suspending disbelief with in superhero comics is people having relationships with non-human/monstrous looking characters, yes I know personality can be a turn on and is something that can lead to love but I still find it weird, and that's not even taking into account some of the physical realities of the situation.

[Jabroniville]

HAZMAT (Jennifer Takeda)
Created By: Christos Gage & Mike McKone
First Appearance: Avengers Academy #1 (June 2010)
Role: "Blessed With Sucky Powers" Character, Blaster
PL 8 (93)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Radiation) 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Extraordinary Effort, Improved Critical (Radiation), Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Radiation Powers"
Weaken Stamina 2 (Extras: Reaction +3, Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Permanent) [8]
Features 1: Body Tissue & Fluids Are Toxic [1]

Radiation Blast 9 (Feats: Split) (19) -- [20]

• AE: "Nuclear Bomb" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (16)
• AE: "Electro-Magnetic Pulse" Affliction 9 (Tech Skill of Creator; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (9)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Weaken Stamina +2 Area (+2 Weaken, DC 12)
Radiation Blast +7 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Burst +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
EMP +7 (+9 Ranged Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Freak)- Hazmat's powers are a constant danger to everyone around her.
Relationship (Mettle)- As Hazmat couldn't touch anyone else without killing them, they were drawn to each other, and formed a relationship.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 13 (93)

-Hazmat, like Mettle, was a Classic Marvel Trope- "My Powers Are A CURSE!" In this case, Hazmat was given radiation powers, causing her to be a danger to everyone around her. Her boyfriend dumps her after she gives him seizures in a "private moment", and even her family abandons her. Fearing that she might turn evil, the Avengers offer to train her. As Mettle is the only member of the team who can physically touch her, she enters into a relationship with him, though they do seem a bit well-matched- Mettle's calm played against Hazmat's passion and impulsiveness, and he was relatively a people-person, while her condition left Hazmat being stand-offish and rude. Unfortunately, she watches him die in Avengers Arena, leading her to become increasingly despondent (though she acted as a leader to the Academy kids between breakdowns). She finally gains control over her powers, but uses them to execute Arcade for killing the man she cared for.

-Later, in subsequence Arena-themed books, she tries to break up the Young Masters from within, but finds herself growing close to Anachronism, eventually kissing him, but ultimately gives them up to the Avengers, defeating turncoat teammate Death Locket in the process. She has most recently appeared as a background hero in the new Captain Marvel book, as one of many female heroes stuck in a parcel of New York controlled by Makhizmo, who wants Super-Waifus for his seed.

-Hazmat is a pretty standard Blaster except for her constantly-active Radiation Powers, which require her suit to contain. She has an EMP that's only occasionally used, a Burst attack, and better damage than many PL 8 Blasters, but is very vulnerable to damage- something used against her in Avengers Academy a lot.

[Ares]

One of the things I've always had trouble suspending disbelief with in superhero comics is people having relationships with non-human/monstrous looking characters, yes I know personality can be a turn on and is something that can lead to love but I still find it weird, and that's not even taking into account some of the physical realities of the situation.

As Henry Kissinger once put it, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac".