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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Jabroniville »

Woodclaw wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:32 pm Okay this is not much of a return post, but I need to say it out loud: the guys at Blizzard are freaking warlocks, I can't find any other explanation.

If you look at my Overwatch builds it's pretty clear that I don't like D.Va and yet, with their last short, they completely redefined how I see her character, without actually changing too much.
Ah, so she's more of a serious, self-sacrificing warrior who might be stuck with PTSD, rather than the more obnoxious, young, excitable gamer-girl we've been led to believe she was?

Man, the Koreans in this game look very barely-Asian. The "Half-Anime" look really makes them ambiguous in this universe :).
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Aug 23, 2018 1:02 pm
Woodclaw wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:32 pm Okay this is not much of a return post, but I need to say it out loud: the guys at Blizzard are freaking warlocks, I can't find any other explanation.

If you look at my Overwatch builds it's pretty clear that I don't like D.Va and yet, with their last short, they completely redefined how I see her character, without actually changing too much.
Ah, so she's more of a serious, self-sacrificing warrior who might be stuck with PTSD, rather than the more obnoxious, young, excitable gamer-girl we've been led to believe she was?
Yeah, that pretty much sums it, but the interesting bit is that she probably actively maintain that gamer-girl persona (with the help of the media) for a purpose: it makes people feel safer.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Woodclaw »

Well, I'm back from Lucca Comics (which is pretty much the biggest comicon event around here) and, as I feared, I got some bad news for my last set of builds. As one might expect, for the 70th anniversary of Tex the publisher went above and beyond to celebrate, including as many iconic characters as you might expect over the last few months. This was one of the things that forced me to put some of my builds on hold and wait. What I didn't expect is that there's an upcoming new series based around the main character -- titled "Tex Willer the Youth" -- which is going to chronicle the adventures of the character before he became a ranger and put a little bit of order into his confusing chronology. This, of course, means that most of my bios are now almost pure speculation :(
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Jabroniville »

Lol- the agony of new retcons. I know it well :).
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Sat Nov 03, 2018 4:26 pm Lol- the agony of new retcons. I know it well :).
It's not really a retcon, more like an attempt to finally -- after 70 years -- deliver a unified version of a much beloved character.

Keep in mind that Bonelli senior himself rewrote some details of Tex's history over the years. In the 50s, while he was aroking on the first stories about Kit Willer, Bonelli implied that Kit was born roughly 15 years before the American Civil War and that he was inducted into the rangers, alongside his Tex and Carson at the beginning of the war itself. Later, in the '70s, Bonelli wrote "Between Two Flags" one of the greatest storylines about the character, showing a younger Tex getting his hands dirty during the war itself and pushing the birth of Kit a few years after the conflict.

This is, probably, the most glaring example of interal discontinuity within the series.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Woodclaw »

Also, I'm waiting to try Ashe from Overwatch.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Woodclaw »

Okay, last night another bit of news arrived out of the blue: Bonelli announced a partnership with DC Comics for a series of single issue crossovers that are going to start halfway through 2019!!!
So far the only title in the series will be Zagor/Flash, but I'm hoping to see more along the way.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Spectrum »

Wow, any information on whether this will be a complete continuity reboot? From your previous posts, it sounds like they kept things pretty internally consistent over the decades.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Tex, Carson, Tiger Jack, Mephisto, Yama

Post by Woodclaw »

Spectrum wrote: Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:21 am Wow, any information on whether this will be a complete continuity reboot? From your previous posts, it sounds like they kept things pretty internally consistent over the decades.
No, I don't think it will be any reboot.

The thing is that Sergio Bonelli died in 2011 and his son Davide took control of the entire editorial venture. While Sergio was a lot less strict than his father, Gianluigi, and introduced characters that moved away from the classic heroic stereotype, he was also a "comic purist". Under Sergio every character was a singular entity, with no alternate versions, reboots or any other such thing, except in really special occasions. Same for crossovers, the first one came in 1981 with Martin Mystere #2 and #3 and they remained extremely rare. although there was a "fake crossover" in Ken Parker #15, when Ken meet several iconic western characters (including Zagor, Tex and the pards) ina saloon of Dodge City.

Things changed in 2013, when Roberto Recchioni took over Dylan Dog and made a "soft reboot" of the character history. Admitedly this was relatively easy to do, since Dylan had the ability to "float" between parallel universes. So far Dylan is the only character that suffered this fate and even this new Tex series seems more like an attempt to rationalize the character's continuity.
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#40 Bonelli - Proteus

Post by Woodclaw »

Image

Proteus
Perry Drayton, a.k.a. Mister P

Power Level: 6; Power Points: 105; Hero Points: 1

STR: +1 (12), DEX: +2 (14), CON: +1 (14), INT: +4 (18), WIS: +2 (12), CHA: +4 (18)

Skills: Athletics 3 (+4), Deception 6 (+10/+14 [disguise]), Expertise (law, INT) 2 (+6), Expertise (quick-change artist, CHA) 4 (+8), Insight 4 (+6), Intimidation 4 (+8), Language 3 (Ancient Greek, Apache, French, Latin, Spanish; native: English), Perception 4 (+6), Persuasion 3 (+7), Sleight of Hand 5 (+7), Stealth 5 (+7), Technology 1 (+5)

Feats: Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit 1, (common sense), Benefit 1 (multiple identities), Connected, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Distract (Bluff), Dodge Focus 3, Elusive Target, Equipment 2, Fascinate (Bluff), Improved Trick, Master Plan, Set-Up, Skill Mastery 1 (Deception, Intimidation), Sneak Attack 1, Stunning Attack, Task Focus 1 (disguise, Deception), Taunt, Ultimate Disguise

Powers:

Quick-Change Artist (quickness 2 [task speed x5]; Flaw: Limited 2 [donnign disguises]; 1pp)
Mimicry (Feature 1 [Proteus can imitate voices almost to perfection]; 1pp)

Equipment: Disguise Kit (1 ep)
  • Derringer (+2 ballistic damage [lethal, full power]; crit 20; 20'; conceable)
  • Knife (+1 piercing damage; crit 19; conceable)
Combat: Attack +5 (grapple: +6); Defense +6 (+2 Flat-footed); Initiative +2

Saves: Toughness +4 (+1 Flat-footed), Fortitude +4, Reflex +4, Will +6

Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 22 (44 ranks) + Feats 26 + Powers 2 + Combat 18 + Saves 9 + Drawbacks 0 = 105

Complications:
  • Obsession (challenge the rangers): After Tex, Carson and Kit busted him for the first time, Proteus tried time and again to prove himself smarter than them.
  • Obsession (revenge): At first Proteus took a life of crime just for getting rich, but over the years he started looking for revenge over anything else.
  • Thrillseeker: Nothing gets Proteus excited like a good challenge.
  • Weak Spot (the eyes): Living way before the invention of colored contacts, the only element that might give away Proteus's true identity are the eyes.


:arrow: Perry Drayton, Mister P, Proteus are just some of the many monickers of one of the most devilish clever enemies of Tex. A supreme master of disguise and genius planner, Proteus proved more than a match for Tex and the pards ever since his first appearence in issues #86-87 (1968). Like many other antagonists from the classic era of Tex it took years before his reappearence but, opposite to Yama, he actually lived up to his name, although with a big caveat. What made the first story really memorable is that we, as readers, never actually saw Proteus's real appearence until the last 5 panels, true to the theme of the character, Guglielmo Letteri (the penciler for that story) alway took care not to show Mister P without a disguise until the very end.

:arrow: Born in a rich family from the East, Perry Drayton showed a real knack for mischief and misbehave since he was a kid. The strained relationship with his father, a judge, didn't help and when the old Drayton died after a long illness, young Perry didn't mourn at all, for him that man was a stranger. Shortly thereafter he ran away from home (causing his mother to die of worry) and joined a travelling circus. Here he met a famous quick-change artist called Edgar Plummer, which saw the potential in Perry and passed him all of his secrets. Plummer was a brutal teacher and a criminal himself. When he judged Perry skilled enough he started bringing him along in his heists. After a failed one, Plummer was arrested, but Drayton escaped and met his maternal uncle, judge Lindon. Being his only living relative, Lindon took Drayton in as secretary and sponsoredhim to continue studying law, but Perry craved even more excitement and started a criminal career under the moniker of Proteus.

:arrow: After a series small robberies under different disguises, Proteus started to go big and went for the pays of the U.S.Army. True to his flamboyant character, he announced every hit with a letter, signed with a Greek "P", daring the various commands to stop him. After he stole the money destined to Fort Whipple and Fort Apache, the commander of Fort Defiance (the Navajo Reservation control post) asked Tex to help snatch him. Meanwhile Proteus showed the full extent of his abilities, conning the army paymaster and a Pinkerton's detective into giving him the money, posing as Fort Defiance's second-in-command (who was a close friend of the paymaster). From this point on it was a cat and mouse game between the pards (Tex, Carson and Kit) and Proteus. At every step of the way the elusive Mister P was able to outsmart the rangers. In the end, the pards were able to get him by exploiting the only weak spot in his plan: his accomplices. Three out of four died in a gunfight, but one survived. Proteus was able to free him from the jail, but the man was gravely wounded, so he decided to shot him in cold blood. Miracolously the man survived and spilled the beans, allowing Tex to get Drayton.

:arrow: Many years later, Drayton escaped and, looking for revenge, took the appearence of Tex himself and started a series of robberies to frame the ranger. Tex was arrested, but -- thankfully -- was quickly cleared thanks to the evidence provided by the marshall of Gallup. Of course this was just the start of another long chase, which ended when Proteus fall from a running train and, apparently, drowned in a river.

:arrow: Of course this wasn't the end of Mister P, who layed low for a while before reappearing again at Gallup. This time he took the appearence of Carson and repeated the framing scheme. Kit Willer tried to clear the Old Buffalo's name, but was almost killed by a lynch mob lead by the deputy-marshall himself. When Tex arrived in town, he tried to get his old pard out of jail, but to no avail: the new marshall wasn't at Gallup the last time and didn't believe that there was a man so skilled to impersonate Carson. Unwilling to risk anything, Proteus replaced the judge at Carson's trial and condemed him to being hanged. Tex saved his old pard at the last possible moment, literally taking him out of the Marshall's hands and the two rangers chased Proteus into a circus tent. In the darkness of the big top, Proteus used the animals to cover his escape, but he felt under the pawns of a tiger and was saved at the last possible moment.

:arrow: The last appearence of Proteus was just in last month issue (which is why I had to dealy this build for so long). After a few years at the Yuma penitentiaty, Proteus faked his own death and escaped. Once again he was up for revenge, but he was also more bloodthristy than ever. After arriving at Flagstaff, he killed his uncle and took his identity, then started to murder many other people he had a bone to pick with. At the end he took the appearence of Kit Willer, trying to get Tex to shot his own son in a classic "I'm the real one" scenario. Unfortunately his eye color betrayed him and Tex was able to tell the two apart, wounded Proteus was hit by a speeding train and, apparently died.

:arrow: Proteus is one of those characters that is really hard to make work in M&M, his level of skill border the superhuman and my build is probably very conservative. Although he is famous for his disguise skills (during their first face-to-face he was able to fool Tex into believing he was an Apache, down to simulating a very convincing accent), Proteus showed a level of ingenuity and pre-planning that would make Batman go pale. During the aforementioned encouter, he was able to set-up a Rube Goldberg style contraption that convinced Tex, Carson and Kit to be under fire from at least four different opponents.

:arrow: As far as I'm concerned I agree with Luca Raffaeli (a comic book reviewer) in saying that, while Mephisto is undoubitably Tex's nemesis, Proteus is probably the most fascinating among the ranger's enemies. Like Mephisto and Yama, Perry Drayton is all about misdirection and illusions, but what those two achieve through magic he does just with his own brain.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Mephisto, Yama, Proteus

Post by Jabroniville »

Oh geez- I feel like an ass. I TOTALLY clicked on this topic, planning on reading this last build when you first made it... and then obviously something happened and I shut down the page or whatever, meaning I never got around to it, as it had left my "updated topics" notification by then. I totally missed out!

Yeah, this guy actually seems REALLY interesting- like he's more clever than powerful, and extremely dangerous because in the Wild West, the mental game is more important than who can shoot what from what distance. His origin story is a pretty great "born bad; grew up worse" kind of a thing- whatever happened to his old teacher? Did he die in prison?

Seems like he gets brought back many times for "smaller" tales, not "Events" like Yama and the other Magic Baddies. It gives him a more inventive, small-scale approach that seems interesting.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Mephisto, Yama, Proteus

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Nov 30, 2018 6:47 am Oh geez- I feel like an ass. I TOTALLY clicked on this topic, planning on reading this last build when you first made it... and then obviously something happened and I shut down the page or whatever, meaning I never got around to it, as it had left my "updated topics" notification by then. I totally missed out!

Yeah, this guy actually seems REALLY interesting- like he's more clever than powerful, and extremely dangerous because in the Wild West, the mental game is more important than who can shoot what from what distance. His origin story is a pretty great "born bad; grew up worse" kind of a thing- whatever happened to his old teacher? Did he die in prison?

Seems like he gets brought back many times for "smaller" tales, not "Events" like Yama and the other Magic Baddies. It gives him a more inventive, small-scale approach that seems interesting.
Well a lot of it boils down to what you consider "small-scale". Proteus is generally a much more down to earth character than Mephisto or Yama, his goals are usually much more understandable (thrills, money, revenge).
Unfortunately he's one of those skill set that really don't click all that well with M&M. If I had to think of another character that gave me the same vibe I'd have to go back to Riddler build from many years ago.

As far as the ultimate fate of Edgar Plummer, we don't know yet. The character was introduced just a couple of months ago, when we finally got a good look at the origin story of Proteus. Given that Mauro Boselli (the current main writer and curator of Tex) is trying to make the character continuity more solid it's entirely possible that Plummer would reappear sometime soon.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Mephisto, Yama, Proteus

Post by Jabroniville »

Yeah, long-form bluffing is hard to pull off in M&M. The characters in comics are fooled by the disguises because they’re supposed to for the plot- players in a game would get suspicious instantly, and would have to roll poorly dozens of times in a row.

Part of the reason a “Terra” situation is hard to pull off in an RPG.

Riddler/planner-types are weird because you can’t stat up “plans well”- it’s just GM vs Player.
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Re: Warehouse W - Bonelli Comics: Mephisto, Yama, Proteus

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Nov 30, 2018 11:56 pm Yeah, long-form bluffing is hard to pull off in M&M. The characters in comics are fooled by the disguises because they’re supposed to for the plot- players in a game would get suspicious instantly, and would have to roll poorly dozens of times in a row.

Part of the reason a “Terra” situation is hard to pull off in an RPG.

Riddler/planner-types are weird because you can’t stat up “plans well”- it’s just GM vs Player.
The famous, why every X-something develop an immunity to mind-reading after a while.
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#41 Bonelli - Black Tiger

Post by Woodclaw »

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The Black Tiger
Prince Sumankan of Malaysia

Power Level: 7; Power Points: 141; Hero Points: 1

STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +5 (20)

Skills: Deception 3 (+8), Expertise (military officier, CHA) 3 (+8), Insight 4 (+6), Intimidation 5 (+10/+12 with the mask), Language 4 (French, English, Spanish, at least 3 Chinese dialects; native: Malaysian), Perception 4 (+6), Persuasion 3 (+8), Sleight of Hand 2 (+5), Stealth 4 (+7), Technology 2 (+5), Vehicles 2 (+5/+9 boats)

Feats: Attack Focus 2 (melee), Benefit (common sense), Benefit 3 (Wealth), Connected, Dedication (to himself), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Dodge Focus 4, Equipment 3, Fascinate (Intimidate), Fearsome Presence 2 (4 with mask), Improved Block, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative 1, Inspire 3, Leadership, Master Plan, Minions 10 (fanatical), Power Attack, Startle, Task Focus 1 (boats, Vehicles), Weapon Bind

Equipment: Mask of the Black tiger (+2 Intimidate, +2 Fearsome Presence, 3ep)
  • Revolver (+4 ballistc damage [lethal, full power]; crit 20; 40')
  • Scimitar (+3 slashing damage [mighty]; crit 18)
  • Dagger (+1 piercing damage; crit 19; conceable)
Headquaters: Hidden Fortress (Size: Huge; Toughness: +15; Features: Concealed 1, Defensive System, Isolated, Library, Living Space, Security System 1)
Combat: Attack +7 (+9 melee, grapple: +11); Defense +9 (+3 Flat-footed); Initiative +7

Saves: Toughness +5 (+2 Flat-footed), Fortitude +5, Reflex +7, Will +6/+10 [Dedication]

Totals: Abilities 34 + Skills 18 (36 ranks) + Feats 54 + Powers 0 + Combat 24 + Saves 11 + Drawbacks 0 = 141

Complications:
  • Obsession (revenge against Europeans): Due to European colonialists, the Balck Tiger lost his kingdom in Malaysia and now he want to get revenge.
  • Overconfident: Despite being a man of vast culture and great military experience, the Black Tiger tend to underestimate his opponents.
  • Racist: The Black Tiger is utterly convinced of the innate superiority of the people of Asia over any other, although he seem to held black peopl in higher regard than Europeans.
  • Responsibility (the Black Tiger sect): Although he often consider his followers as mere means to an end, the Black Tiger won't allow anyone to endanger his organization.


:arrow: One of the few recurring enemies of Tex not created by Bonelli Senior (he was the brainchild of Claudio Nizzi) the Black Tiger was introduces in #381 (which I own) and he's the epitome of the "exotic asian" opponents that every now and then graced the pages of the series.

:arrow: Over the years Bonelli senior introduced a number of opponents of Asian origin (mostly Chinese) in his stories. Many of these characters were, of course, inspired by Doctor Fu Machu and they were often portrayed as leaders of sects comprised only by Chinese. Padma, the Tibetan monk that saved Mephisto, was one of them (although he wasn't evil, but rather neutral). True to his anti-racist vein, Bonelli often pointed out how most the affiliates were, in fact, just common people trying to survive in a society that didn't help them. One of the most memorable was Wang, a fat-ass Chinese that controlled the port of Galverstone with the help of a Mexican crimelord, dealing in opium and gambling. In the same story the chief ally of the pards was Mei Ling, a Chinese girl that pretty much lead the pards straight to Wang after she discovred that he was using her.

:arrow: The Black Tiger was born Prince Sumankan, heir apparent to a small kingdom in the Malaysian peninsula. Dethroned by colonialist of an unspecified European nation, he put his considerable military expertise into becoming a rather successful pirate. After a fated confrontation with the East India Company his flagship was sunk and the Prince barely escaped hanging to some wreckage. He was saved by a collier that was carrying Chinese immigrants to the U.S.A. west coast. Once there, Sumankan was forced to pay his passage by working at the construction of the transcontinetal railway, but the slave-like working condition were simply too much for his pride. In time he rose to a leadership position among the workers and masterminded a mass escape from the camp, after stealing a lot of money, weapons and dynamite.
The escapees took refuge in the mining town of Leadville and founded the Black Tiger sect, their aim was to take control of the town through intimidation and them expand to others. Sumankan took the identity of notary Madison to gain financial support from a few rich, but not very bright, merchants. With a clever use of legal loopholes, "Madison" became the tutor of many properties around the city and organized the murder of several affluent citizens.

:arrow: Called by their old friend MacParland (Pinkerton's right hand man), Tex and Carson arrived at Leadville. Before they could even being their investigations the major is killed at the local theater right under their noses. The brutal efficiency of the sect prompt the rangers to act quickly, but with very little result, the network of spies in town result too well organized. In the end it's a failed ambush at Cubero Pass that provide the first solid lead: unnerved by the situation, of the the "supporters" of the sect, Paul Morel decide to betray the sect. Unfortunately he reveals his intention to Madison and is brutally murdered, another supporter, Johnny Rickers, witness the scene and Sumankan decide to dispose of him as well, but the man manage to whisper the name of Madison to the rangers before dying. The pards find the property of an empty mine away from the town among the notary paperwork and go there to investigate, but they get captured thanks to rather complex trap. At this point Sumankan, now very sure of his victory face them in person and, after a furious Tex is beaten to submission by his bodyguards -- two gigantic Malaysians -- invite the rangers to dinner and tell them about his backstory and his ambition to create a new kingdom in the United States. With a ton of ingenuity Tex and Carson were able to free themselves of the guards and pass the traps, getting to a stockpile of dynamite that they use to demolish the Black Tiger's hideout, but Sumankan himself escapes.

:arrow: A few years later, the Black Tiger resurfaced in New Orleans, allied with some of those voodoo cultist that served Mephisto in the past, and aiming to control all the boat traffic along the Mississipi River. Called by the local Marshall, Nat McKennet, the pards (all 4 of them) start going through the various levels of the ring until they get their hands on Levasseur, a ship owner and Sumankan's right hand man. They follow him to the swamps, but the voodoo cultist ambush them. Tex and Carson are captured and tied to a tree, after mocking them, Sumankan left them to the alligators. Kit and Tiger save their pards just in time, but Omoro, the voodoo priest, summon a horde of zombies covering the prince's escape.

:arrow: The final (so far) appearence of Sumankan is in San Francisco where he takes control of opium trade. Informed by the chief of police, Tom Delvin, Tex and Carson arrive at San Francisco, but this time Sumankan is ready for them. Playing on his opponents psychology, Sumankan manage to separate the pards and trap them in his new lair. While Carson is imprisoned, Tex is forced to choose between dying to save his old pard or escaping. After taking an almost suicidal jump into a lake, Tex -- without weapons or backup -- returns to the castle and goes straight for Sumankan. This lead to spectacular sword duel (a rarity), which echoed the famous shirtless fight between Batman and Ras al'Ghul. Despite his strength, Tex is cornered by the superior sowrdmanship of his opponent and is about to die, when Tom Delvin arrives and shot the prince, who fall from a cliff.

:arrow: This is the last of the Black Tiger, although Mauro Boselli already hinted that he would return within 2020, but it's unknown if someone else would don the mask this time.

:arrow: Sumankan is a really impressive opponents, he's one of the few who can fight Tex on almost equal ground, but this is not his main strength. The prince is incredibly charismatic and intelligent, whereas Mephisto and Yama need to trick their followers, he wins their loyalty by the sheer power of his personality. As far as personality goes, he's very much a Bond villain with hints of Ras al'Ghul: freakshily intelligent, cunning, charming and completly psychotic. Also, as personal note, look at that mask! It takes real scenographic presence to make that work!

:arrow: Sumankan usually have a vast organization under his command, which lead to countless problems for the pards, who usually act alone. Most of it is composed on PL3-4 at best minions, but there are usually a couple of high-end hencemen close at hand.
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