Jab’s Builds! (Lawnmower Man! Samus Aran! Metroids!)

[Scots Dragon]

Which could be simulated by including Favored Enemy (older model Iron Man suit) among the advantages that the suits give him.

So weird that Favored Enemy only gives you social bonuses and favored environment gives combat modifiers. Never did get that.

It's one of the weird quirks from the switch-over. I'd just maybe handle it with a complication that causes a circumstance bonus or penalty.

[Davies]

Tony was always weird in that his individual suits of armor are generally considered to be massive upgrades over the previous ones, to the point where if he has to fight a new suit in an old suit, the old suit is at a massive disadvantage.

Which could be simulated by including Favored Enemy (older model Iron Man suit) among the advantages that the suits give him.

So weird that Favored Enemy only gives you social bonuses and favored environment gives combat modifiers. Never did get that.

<beat> Oh. Hm.

Well, if you can have Favored Environment (planned situations) then Favored Environment (confrontation with earlier model) should be acceptable.

[Jabroniville]

WONDER MAN (Simon Williams)
Created By: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Don Heck
First Appearance: The Avengers #9 (Oct. 1964)
Role: Flying Brick, Below-Thor-Guy, The Smartass
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The Masters of Evil, S.H.I.E.L.D., Force Works
Avengers Grade: B-Level
PL 12 (182)
STRENGTH 15 STAMINA 15 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Close Combat 2 (+9)
Expertise (Actor) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Weapons Maker/Electrical Engineer) 5 (+8)
Insight 3 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Technology 6 (+9)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Interpose, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Takedown, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Ionic-Powered Being"
Power Lifting 5 (25,000 tons) [5]
Impervious Toughness 11 [11]
Immunity 16 (Aging, Life Support, Fatigue Effects) [16]
Flight 8 (500 mph) [16]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +14

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +15, Fortitude +16, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Heroism)- Formerly a weapon-maker, and having since seen the destruction metahuman activity can cause, Simon is now devoted to saving and protecting lives. In the 2000s, he becomes a full-blown Pacifist.
Relationship (The Scarlet Witch)- It's complicated. Leave it at that.
Relationship (Ms. Marvel)- More recent- it was over quick.
Fame- A recognizable actor, Simon is quickly mobbed or pointed out in a crowd at inopportune times. Additionally, his glowing red eyes make him easy to spot.
Prejudice (Obvious Superhuman)- Simon has eyes that permanently-glow with red ionic energy, and he must wear sunglasses to conceal this effect. This has the effect of potentially-wrecking his Secret Identity any time he chooses to have one, and also makes him look permanently like an '80s douchebag always in his shades.
Reputation (Giant Jobber)- Not really in-universe, but Simon will almost 100% of the time lose a fight to a guy even remotely around his Power Level, generally right before that guy jobs to Thor. It's like the second the chips are down, he starts to actively suck and be unable to fight worth a damn.
Relationship (Eric Williams- aka The Grim Reaper)- Simon's brother Eric has an unhealthy fascination with his brother- motivated by Simon's death, he lashed out against The Avengers as a supervillain. When Simon returned, Eric believed him to be a simulacrum and an insult to his brother's memory, and attacked him.

Total: Abilities: 96 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 48 / Defenses: 16 (187)

Wonder Man- Eternal B-League Avenger:
-Wonder Man takes an unusual position on the Avengers teams. He debuted as a short-lived character in a classic "Stan Lee Storyline"- the guy who redeems himself, only to die in the end. Stan was the BEST at coming up with that kind of stuff, and would often go to that same well repeatedly (Crimson Dynamo, the Big Man & Wonder Man all suffered this fate). Simon was a weapons dealing executive out for revenge on Tony Stark since Stark International wiped out his company, but ultimately realized he could not kill the Avengers, and sacrificed his life instead. This early death stuck with writers and fans, especially thanks to his vast power level (he was among the few Silver Age guys who hold his own with Thor), and he was brought back a couple times for more one-shots until they FINALLY pulled the trigger and made him a full-time superhero. But since he was basically the same type of power-set as Thor, they rarely had the two interact, and thus Simon was on the quirky Englehart Avengers team with the Beast (where they struck up a bromance) and no Thor, and then joined the Avengers West Coast team, leading to a somewhat-forgettable career.

-The issue with Simon here became something that'd stick to him for his whole career- a succession of bizarre-to-awful costumes (the red & green one is particularly horrible), and the effect of being Thor Lite. I have several Simon-based comics from the 1980s, and it's ASTONISHING just how much of a Jobber he is. I mean, this guy is supposed to be a step below THOR, and yet there are issues where he sneak-attacks the Wizard, who EASILY SHRUGS IT OFF, then defeats Simon. He gets curbstomped by Gladiator, who then jobs to the less-experienced rookie Thor (Eric Masterson). He's easily trounced by the evil Legion of the Unliving Hyperion during The Grandmaster's "Contest of Champions", being handily pummeled and then thrown through a planet and into a sun. And he even gets KO'd by goddamned JAWBREAKER of The Pacific Overlords! JAWBREAKER!

-In short: Wonder Man was the most-powerful Jobber in the entire universe- he basically existed to get his ass kicked in order to show off how powerful the villain was. Like Giant-Man, but WORSE. Because he was supposed to be Thor-level, but Thor was himself a major hero, he ended up being used as a Hercules-type guy to job to the villain so that THOR could then show off his own power. This is about the worst-possible situation for a hero to be in.

Simon's History:
-So Simon debuted as a bad guy- a ruined industrialist who was convinced by Baron Zemo I to gain "Ionic Power" and kill the Avengers. However, he chooses instead to save them, at the cost of his life. This very early story for the team stuck with people so much that his brother Eric became "The Grim Reaper" in an attempt to gain revenge on the heroes for their part in Simon's death, Kang revived him briefly for a "Legion of the Unliving" squad he put together, and the Black Talon resurrected him to fight the Avengers in another story. Finally, Simon is revived (his Ionic powers had rendered him merely "catatonic", it turned out) and is not under villainous control- he joins the Avengers and becomes close friends with the Beast, as well as befriending the Vision, who it turns out had his mind based off of Simon's.

-Wonder Man was briefly befuddled by a fear of dying, owing to his brush with near-death, but overcomes this during Jim Shooter's Korvac Saga storyline. After this, he takes an interest in acting, setting off a thing that'd show up repeatedly over the years. Steve Englehart, who'd formed not only the "Beast Bromance" but the West Coast Avengers, added Simon to that team. He gained an issue with arrogance, and was frequently seen jobbing as a "safe" powerhouse to put over a new villain, and later pulled the SUPREME dick move of refusing to allow the Vision to use his brain patterns again, confessing it was only because he wanted Vision's wife, the Scarlet Witch, for himself! And so once Wanda forgave Simon, the two formed a relationship that'd oddly last longer than hers with Vision ever did.

-And then the 1990s happened- Simon, despite being a pretty minor name on the hero scene, became one of MANY superheroes given their own comics, as Wonder Man becomes about his struggles with acting and superheroics- the only real thing I recall about his book is that a recurring nemesis was some basic ninja named Splice, but it has its fans. I've honestly met quite a few very big fans of Simon Williams, owing to his "doesn't take itself too seriously" solo book and what I'd guess is a fair bit of Power-Geeking, as he was at one point one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe (one of VERY few superheroes with a "7" in Strength back in the day). Finally, Wonder Man was cancelled in a newer, more "extreme" era, and Simon himself is killed in the debut issue of the rebooted WCA book, Force Works, disintegrated in an explosion while fighting the Kree.

Simon Reborn (Again):
-Spending many years on the shelf, Simon was reborn in the Kurt Busiek/George Perez Avengers book, as a being of Living Ionic Energy resurrected by the Scarlet Witch's random powers. At first appearing only here and there as a being made of "Kirby Dots", he reforms fully as a human. He and Wanda are together for a while, but split at the end of Busiek's run. Kurt ended up being the last guy to REALLY give a shit about Simon, too, as the guy's been through an insane number of revamps since then. He's blackmailed into working for the Pro-Registration side in Civil War, and dresses in his '80s digs for Frank Cho's Mighty Avengers run. But then he's all "No, Superheroes SUCK" and becomes a public detractor of the Avengers, insulting them to their faces over how pointless all of the violence was, as so many heroes died, then joined "The Revengers"- a group of Anti-Avengers characters trying to stop them. So in genera, Bendis turned him into a nuisance.

-Simon later recants his statements and saves the Wasp's life from the Microverse (undoing her death), then joins the Avengers Unity Squad in Rick Remender's Uncanny Avengers run. Demanding that he's now a pacifist, he refuses to fight, instead trying to save lives exclusively. He hooks back up with the Scarlet Witch, but chooses to let Rogue absorb his full essence in order to battle a Celestial Executioner- he is taken into her, only occasionally being let out when she kissed Deadpool, whose Healing Factor acted as a "circuit breaker" to short out their connection (SCIENCE!). The character has since only appeared in a few background scenes, being largely forgotten.

Simon Overall:
-So in total, Wonder Man is not overly popular, but the types of fans who are into guys mainly for power seem to like him, as do fans of his short-lived solo book. Personally, I have no connection to the guy- he seems more like someone that interesting things HAPPEN TO, not someone who is ACTUALLY INTERESTING. Simon is the kind of guy who hooks up with the Scarlet Witch (herself the center of many storylines), is the brother of The Vision (sorta), takes part in the Love Triangle because Vision still loves the Witch, has a supervillain for a brother, two resurrections going for him, Class 100+ level power, a unique physical make-up (a big part was his being unable to become tired at all), a brief phase where he was the only hero to actually FEAR DEATH (owing to his, y'know, actually dying), and more. Yet none of it actually makes the CHARACTER interesting- it just provides an interesting overall story. He & Wanda are basically the dullest, most lame couple in the Marvel Universe, having zero chemistry (ESPECIALLY compared to Wanda & the Vision), despite getting trotted out again and again.

Wonder Man's Power:
-Wonder Man is one of the tougher Avengers to place on the scale, really. His power level varies as badly as Thor's does, if not more- it's easily pointed out that he's weaker, as it was virtually a common occurrence to see Simon step up against a big tough bad guy, only to get his ass kicked, necessitated Thor flying in to save the day. They fought in Clash of the Champions, resulting in a big win for Thor as well. I've also seen Simon get his ass handed to him by Mantis (OK, it was Engelhart writing, but c'mon), struggle when fighting Luke Cage in that guy's eponymous '90s series (seriously, they looked like total peers in terms of combat there, which is ridiculous writing, but it still exists), and get handled decently by Ms. Marvel and Iron Man. In all, I'd say Simon is a PL 12. VERY powerful, equivalent to Iron Man or a boosted Carol Danvers, but a notch below Hercules and Thor. This gives him immense strength (just below both Gods), half-decent fighting capability (he's never been shown to be wildly-skilled, but he's no klutz either), etc. Sometimes he seems to be boosted to PL 13 (or others lowered), but I think PL 12 covers all the bases, and the rest is good rolling. Especially since he jobs so often.

-He's pretty much a generic Flying Brick, though he's unique with his Immunities, making him impossible to tire out (I think he was the only guy with a "7" in Stamina in the old Marvel Cards, back when they thought THAT was a bigger stat than Fighting Ability- hell, as a kid, I was SURE that Punisher-type guys sucked because their overall stats looked so low due to lack of Fighting), drown, age, etc. (his Fortitude is also higher than Thor's by 2). There's been a couple variants out there that make his Flight come from a Jetpack (Equipment- it got broken A LOT), and during the Busiek/Perez years he could turn into an Energy Being for a while. Sometimes he can shoot an Energy Blast, but I can't recall ever seeing that.

[catsi563]

fun trivia my brick Rolling Thunder had Simon get in his face back in his WCA jerkface actor days. the battle was over ina few short rounds and ended up all over TMZ with a KOd simon

[Thorpocalypse]

So I was gonna post Rasputin as Russia's other great villain, but it turns out I already did when I did Anastasia builds, so go read that instead : https://www.echoesofthemultiverse.com/v ... 102#p11102

The greatest Russian villain by far is vodka, at least to my experience.

[Thorpocalypse]

It's a shame because I actually liked some of Hickman's ideas, they were just kinda too much ambitious scope and not enough exploration of the characters and the way it affected them.

It's almost unfair to compare most writers to Busiek though because he's one of the strongest writers to work for either company.

Hickman always seems like the GM who does all this deep, extensive prep work on a massive campaign, tells you how awesome it's going to be, starts the game off fantastically and sets the stage really well in the first 3 sessions so you're invested. He lets you level up really fast and you start to get your character where you like them, then bails on the game because he got a new girlfriend and they set their "date night" on your game night.

Then two weeks later you see him at the game store running the same game with a new group of players.

[Jabroniville]

Huh, everyone was expecting Cap & Iron Man builds? I wasn’t planning on them until after this set, since they each have their own worlds. Similarly, I only statted Vision like last month, and Thor for my mythology set.

Looks like I’ll need to make a poll to figure out what people want to see next:

Captain America Builds
Iron Man Builds
Image Comics Builds (this was GOING to be the next big set, since people kept asking about it)

[drkrash]

I love them all, but I think my order would be Image, Cap, Iron Man.

[Thorpocalypse]

I love them all, but I think my order would be Image, Cap, Iron Man.

Ditto

[KorokoMystia]

I'd say my order would go Image, Iron Man, Captain America.

[Jabroniville]

OK, so I slept in this morning and there was no way to do this list before I had to get to work, but here's the list of Avengers ALREADY statted and posted to Echoes. These characters will not be included in this set, as there's nothing to add to them.

The Avengers:
Amadeus Cho
Ant-Man II (Scott Lang)
Ant-Man III (Eric O'Grady)
The Black Panther
The Black Widow II (Natasha Romanov)
Captain Universe (Tamara)
Enigma (Pod)
Firebird
Gilgamesh (The Forgotten One)
Hank Pym (Giant-Man)
Hank Pym (Yellowjacket I)
Hank Pym (WCA)
Hercules
Hyperion III (Alternate Universe)
Jessica Jones (Jewel)
Jocasta
Lionheart (Captain Britain II)
Luke Cage
Moon Knight
Power Man III (Alvarez)
Quicksilver
The Scarlet Witch
Sersi
Shang-Chi
Spider-Woman I
Spider-Woman II
Starfox (Eros)
Stingray
Thor
Thor II/Thunderstrike
Thor III (Jane Foster)
Toni Ho
The Vision II
The Wasp I (Janet Van Dyne)
The Wasp III (Nadia Van Dyne)
White Tiger V (Ava)
Yellowjacket II (Rita DeMara)

[Jabroniville]

It's a shame because I actually liked some of Hickman's ideas, they were just kinda too much ambitious scope and not enough exploration of the characters and the way it affected them.

It's almost unfair to compare most writers to Busiek though because he's one of the strongest writers to work for either company.

Hickman always seems like the GM who does all this deep, extensive prep work on a massive campaign, tells you how awesome it's going to be, starts the game off fantastically and sets the stage really well in the first 3 sessions so you're invested. He lets you level up really fast and you start to get your character where you like them, then bails on the game because he got a new girlfriend and they set their "date night" on your game night.

Then two weeks later you see him at the game store running the same game with a new group of players.

LOL, sounds like you've had personal experience with that one .

[Jabroniville]

LOL, forgot to add the most horrendous costume of all time:



I love how in the comic, the characters are all gushing over it, then a couple of months later they run the letters page and are like "So apparently most of you don't like Wonder Man's new costume" and they're pleading for understanding . That's gotta suck for an artist.

Always got a kick out of this gag, too:



Oddly, both looks appear better on women!

[RainOnTheSun]

Wait, what's Nightwing doing here

[Jabroniville]

WONDER MAN CHARACTERS:
-Simon's book was short-lived, producing only one villain of note- Splice. However, a bunch of his supporting characters became the "Crazy Eight".

Crazy Eight (Team) (a bunch of supporting characters given powers as a short-lived thing)
Lady Lotus (as "Lotus Newmark", she was a recurring villain who acted as a crime-boss type)