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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Jabroniville »

OMG, YOU GUYS:

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Love Shibamura Prime's stuff :).
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Horsenhero wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 4:15 am I have to agree with you Jab...I hated that "Death of a Universe" thing, where they went through and pretty much obliterated every new character who survived the "maxi-series". Only Shape (ugh!) and Haywire survive and they're both taken care of later on. Just a waste really.
Yeah, I remember at some point on the ATT forum, somebody commented that Death of a Universe took all of the interesting characters and killed them off, leaving us only with the least-interesting members of the team. Kurt Busiek's final tale on the squad put them back on their own Earth, reforming the team with a line-up that was basically the contemporary "Big Seven" JLA- Hyperion (Supes), Whizzer (Flash), Spectrum (GL), Skrullian Skymaster (J'onn), Amphibian (Aquaman), Nighthawk II (Batman), Power Princess (WW) and Shape (Plastic Man).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Jul 05, 2017 7:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Nighthawk

Post by Jabroniville »

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Image

NIGHTHAWK (Kyle Richmond)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & John Buscema
First Appearance: The Avengers #85 (Feb. 1971)
Role: The Voice of Reason, The Rebel Leader
Alternate Company Equivalent Of: Batman (ordinary human using martial arts, agility and intelligence to foil crime)
Fate: Heart ruptured by Foxfire, killing him right at the end of the Final Battle.
Group Affiliations: The Squadron Supreme
PL 10 (196)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+15)
Athletics 2 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+14)
Deception 5 (+9)
Expertise (Current Events) 3 (+8)
Expertise (History) 3 (+8)
Expertise (Politics) 9 (+14)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+8)
Insight 8 (+12)
Investigation 5 (+9)
Perception 8 (+12)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Throwing Weapons) 4 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 10 (+10)
Stealth 7 (+12)
Technology 1 (+6)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Wealth) 2, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 6 (HoverHawk, Grappling Hooks), Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Leadership, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Set-Up, Takedown, Teamwork, Uncanny Dodge, Well-Informed

Equipment:
"HoverHawk" as Helicopter (16)
"Throwing Weapons" Blast 4 (Extras: Multiattack) (12) -- (13)
"Grappling Hook" Movement 2 (Swinging, Slow Fall) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Weapons +12 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +15 (DC 25), Parry +15 (DC 25), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Vulnerable (Mind Control)- The Squadron Supreme have proven themselves very easy to take over mentally for some reason, as it has happened several times. This may be random chance, or an actual weakness.
Responsibility (Dismantling the Utopia Program)- Kyle Richmond is devoted to the destruction of the Squadron's Program, believing it to be unconstitutional, wrong, and immoral, not to mention leading to the worst possible future when successive generations get ahold of their programs.
Motivation (Heroism)- Kyle is a tried-and-true hero, becoming President to help the world even more. He believes in Civil Liberty above all, and rejects the Behavior Modification Device. He nearly falls apart emotionally when he is forcd to mind-wipe Blue Eagle from the Redeemers' plan, opposing the very idea.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 88--44 / Advantages: 33 / Powers: 81 / Defenses: 18 (196)

The Squadron's "Batman":
-Nighthawk, throughout his multiple versions, is still basically just "Marvel's Batman". Kyle Richmond is a major part of the entire series, despite not appearing for roughly half of it, and only becoming a big part of it again in the final batch of issues. Having retired and become America's President, he resigned at the beginning of the series, and quit the Squadron immediately when they announced their Utopia Program. Realizing the dangers of their program, and the loss of freedom it entailed, Kyle planned on murdering his closest friend Hyperion using an Argonite Gun. However, he ultimately shrank back, realizing he couldn't execute someone for being misguided- he vowed to find a "better way". Tragically, his way would ultimately cost MORE lives.

The Redeemers:
-Kyle instead formed The Redeemers, a clandestined operation consisting of three ex-criminal enemies of his, assorted empowered individuals from around the world, and the Institute of Evil members, now cured of their brainwashing. He'd also attempted to recruit the Avengers to help his cause, but the team voted him down. At first he was pissy ("He said I could find people to help me here. I guess he didn't mean YOU people"), but when Cap made his own decision to tag along, Kyle understood the error in asking people to handle HIS world's problems- he went back without any of Earth-616's heroes. Unfortunately for Kyle, his plan also had numerous holes in it- in undoing the brainwashing of the Institute, he put a monster like Lamprey against the Squadron, included the mentally-handicapped (and thus easily-confused) Shape as part of things, and didn't take into account Foxfire's feelings for Doctor Spectrum. Kyle also feels that he sold his soul the minute he used the B-Mod Machine on a hero- when Blue Eagle discovered the Redeemers' plan, Kyle finally agreed to have him B-Modded to forget what he saw. Just a minor thing, and a necessity to make things work... but using their own brainwashing machine against someone horrified Kyle.

-Those who know him say that Richmond was basically Gruenwald writing himself- writing a person who understood that this misguided venture of the Squadron's, while fixing much of the world, would entail giving up too much freedom from common folks. While I got the sense that he was a Democrat from reading his works (the way he wrote Conservatives tended to go from John "U.S. Agent" Walker to The Watchdogs), his beliefs are much more varied than simple left or right-wing ideology. He points out the negatives in the Squadron forcibly disarming the American populace ("I don't know about you, Cap, but my America promised the right to bear arms"), and putting all the power and control in the hands of a select few. Though of course super-science gets involved- Behavior Modification and all that (he finds this to be their worst invention- something that can actually alter a person's mind).

-Ultimately, he makes the point that the Squadron's plan would actually be GREAT... if people as good and moral as the Squadron were around to carry it out (he knew that they were ultimately good people). Kyle points out that the second they're GONE... anyone could simply swoop in, use their Force Field Belts and Brainwashing Machines, and easily take over a helpless populace. The funny thing was, as much as I was guessing plot elements and "why don't they do ____?" stuff ahead of time, I hadn't even CONSIDERED that element! Kurt Busiek writes exactly that happening in the late '90s, with the Squadron finding an Earth completely taken over by the next government that took control.

The Plan Unfurls:
-Unfortunately, Kyle's plan turned into a giant mess, as the Redeemers turned on the Squadron and went into a pitched battle. This final battle killed almost half the combined number of the super-heroes. Kyle himself didn't take part in the thing- he spent the entire time chewing out Hyperion. Richmond met the same fate as many others that day, however- to win back Dr. Spectrum's love, Foxfire betrayed Nighthawk by disintegrating the bonds of his heart, giving him a massive, sudden heart-attack. So his words to Hyperion were basically an epitaph- his final statement. Mark Gruenwald, who spoke his voice through Richmond's, would himself die of a sudden coronary years later. In another decade, Kurt Busiek would write Kyle's unseen sidekick becoming the new Nighthawk, joining a reformed Squadron to take back their Earth.

Nighthawk's Stats:
-Nighthawk is a less skilled, less capable version of Batman, and it shows. He's depicted as a tremendous acrobat and charismatic individual (he successfully became PRESIDENT, after all), and likely has a butt-load of skills, but he's decidedly lower-leveled. He's PL 8.5 on offense, PL 10 ondefense, but makes up for it by have tons of Abilities, Skills & Advantages. +14 is a damn good Attack Bonus, enought to challenge Captain America (though it's implied even in-series that Cap is WAY better- being more athletic and stronger) and the like. His Fortitude is a little low for a melee fighter, but hey- he flubbed his one important save really badly at the end there.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 9:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Ares »

Yeah, Death of a Universe was basically just one big long string of futility, the heroes doing their best against something they had no chance against, and only surviving due to Deus Ex Machina. It just felt like something of a Shaggy Dog story. Though as far as people that story killed off, I believe it was Redstone (who was just a generic brawler type), Overmind (generic conqueror), the Sorcerer Supreme of the Squadron's Earth (generic mystic), and Inertia (hey, someone with an actual personality). Though I've got to say that Redstone died in the dumbest way possible, basically just by being taken off of the planet.

Really, it just made the Squadron come off as second rate heroes, because you know the main Marvel or DC heroes would have actually managed to pull out a win.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Horsenhero »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 5:53 am
Horsenhero wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 4:15 am I have to agree with you Jab...I hated that "Death of a Universe" thing, where they went through and pretty much obliterated every new character who survived the "maxi-series". Only Shape (ugh!) and Haywire survive and they're both taken care of later on. Just a waste really.
Yeah, I remember at some point on the ATT forum, somebody commented that Death of a Universe took all of the interesting characters and killed them off, leaving us only with the least-interesting members of the team. Kurt Busiek's final tale on the squad put them back on their own Earth, reforming the team with a line-up that was basically the contemporary "Big Seven" JLA- Hyperion (Supes), Whizzer (Flash), Spectrum (GL), Amphibian (Aquaman), Nighthawk II (Batman), Power Princess (WW) and Shape (Plastic Man).
Actually Shape is injured and taken away to be given medical treatment. The Skrullian Skymaster is the 7th Squadron member at the end, because ya know...the original 7 JLA members need to be represented. It was kind of cool to see a story with a heroic Skrull though. An actual heroic Skrull, not one that was pretending to be heroic in order to be a douche later. John Byrne would have an actual heroic Skrull during his mini-series thingie featuring the First Line...but this story did it first. It was about the only really cool thing about this story.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 6:05 am Yeah, Death of a Universe was basically just one big long string of futility, the heroes doing their best against something they had no chance against, and only surviving due to Deus Ex Machina. It just felt like something of a Shaggy Dog story. Though as far as people that story killed off, I believe it was Redstone (who was just a generic brawler type), Overmind (generic conqueror), the Sorcerer Supreme of the Squadron's Earth (generic mystic), and Inertia (hey, someone with an actual personality). Though I've got to say that Redstone died in the dumbest way possible, basically just by being taken off of the planet.

Really, it just made the Squadron come off as second rate heroes, because you know the main Marvel or DC heroes would have actually managed to pull out a win.
Hm, that's right- I think it was a combination of those who'd died in the original series, PLUS the deaths and destruction of the other one, PLUS Haywire leaving later. Busiek's final squad was probably the most boring incarnation ever, owing to its weak roster (the SKRULLIAN SKYMASTER?).
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Horsenhero wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 6:35 am
Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 5:53 am
Horsenhero wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 4:15 am I have to agree with you Jab...I hated that "Death of a Universe" thing, where they went through and pretty much obliterated every new character who survived the "maxi-series". Only Shape (ugh!) and Haywire survive and they're both taken care of later on. Just a waste really.
Yeah, I remember at some point on the ATT forum, somebody commented that Death of a Universe took all of the interesting characters and killed them off, leaving us only with the least-interesting members of the team. Kurt Busiek's final tale on the squad put them back on their own Earth, reforming the team with a line-up that was basically the contemporary "Big Seven" JLA- Hyperion (Supes), Whizzer (Flash), Spectrum (GL), Amphibian (Aquaman), Nighthawk II (Batman), Power Princess (WW) and Shape (Plastic Man).
Actually Shape is injured and taken away to be given medical treatment. The Skrullian Skymaster is the 7th Squadron member at the end, because ya know...the original 7 JLA members need to be represented. It was kind of cool to see a story with a heroic Skrull though. An actual heroic Skrull, not one that was pretending to be heroic in order to be a douche later. John Byrne would have an actual heroic Skrull during his mini-series thingie featuring the First Line...but this story did it first. It was about the only really cool thing about this story.
Oddly, doing my builds, I've discovered an absolutely horrendous amount of Heroic Skrulls who betrayed their own race. I forgot to actually write their names down as I was building them, but I discovered the exact same story popping up like seven different times. Of all the things to start copying by accident, writers apparently chose "Heroic Skull" to be the thing.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 7:04 am
Ares wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 6:05 am Yeah, Death of a Universe was basically just one big long string of futility, the heroes doing their best against something they had no chance against, and only surviving due to Deus Ex Machina. It just felt like something of a Shaggy Dog story. Though as far as people that story killed off, I believe it was Redstone (who was just a generic brawler type), Overmind (generic conqueror), the Sorcerer Supreme of the Squadron's Earth (generic mystic), and Inertia (hey, someone with an actual personality). Though I've got to say that Redstone died in the dumbest way possible, basically just by being taken off of the planet.

Really, it just made the Squadron come off as second rate heroes, because you know the main Marvel or DC heroes would have actually managed to pull out a win.
Hm, that's right- I think it was a combination of those who'd died in the original series, PLUS the deaths and destruction of the other one, PLUS Haywire leaving later. Busiek's final squad was probably the most boring incarnation ever, owing to its weak roster (the SKRULLIAN SKYMASTER?).
Yeah, in the original series they killed off Tom Thumb and Nuke during the stories run, but that last battle killed off Blue Eagle, Black Archer, Nighthawk, Firefox, Thermite, Lamprey, and Pinball, which is a huge body count for what amounted to a pretty standard super brawl where generally speaking, most of them weren't fighting to kill. Then with the deaths of Redstone and Inertia, it was like most of the superhuman population of that world got depopulated in a couple of days.

To be fair, Busiek only wrote the story that sent the Squadron home, it was another writer that returned the Squadron to a "Big Seven" roster.

Haywire's eventual fate REALLY pissed me off tho. For a character who was just kind of a joker who decided to try and build a life for himself on a new Earth, his sole appearance after the Squad left was hard core character assassination. Steve Englehart wrote the horrible Celestial Quest story (featuring his favorite character no one cared about, Mantis) which actually tried to follow up on the whole Celestial Messiah thing he'd written a while back. It was . . . pretty terrible. Especially since he basically turned Haywire into this psychotically obsessed individual broken over Interia's death, and who willingly killed let the cosmic being Death end his life in order to be with her. And then he had someone comment that Haywire really didn't love Intertia, he had loved the "idea" of her, which had driven him to suicide.

I remember reading that, and even if the rest of the story hadn't been crap, the entire subplot with Haywire was just so . . . mean spirited. I wondered if Mark Greunwald hadn't pissed Steve off at some point, so he decided to kill off one of the only remaining characters Greu had personally created in the worst way possible as some kind of spite.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Dr. Spectrums! Amphibian! Power Princess!)

Post by drkrash »

Ken wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:57 am
drkrash wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:06 am Does anyone know the Avengers issue where Tom Thumb is flying around in his little saucer thing and spraying some heroine with a thick white goop?

Not specifically, but my guess would be #148. Maybe 85 or 86 otherwise.
Yup, it was 148, thanks. It was Hellcat. Tom Thumb said, "She didn't even hear my micro-module coming up from behind...and now, she's covered with paste!" My inner 12-year old still chuckles at that.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Dr. Spectrums! Amphibian! Power Princess!)

Post by Tattooedman »

drkrash wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:34 am
Ken wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:57 am
drkrash wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:06 am Does anyone know the Avengers issue where Tom Thumb is flying around in his little saucer thing and spraying some heroine with a thick white goop?

Not specifically, but my guess would be #148. Maybe 85 or 86 otherwise.
Yup, it was 148, thanks. It was Hellcat. Tom Thumb said, "She didn't even hear my micro-module coming up from behind...and now, she's covered with paste!" My inner 12-year old still chuckles at that.
My outer 40 something self chuckles at that now. :D
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Ken »

The thing of it was that the Skrullian Skymaster was really just a throwaway that Gru put in place to fill a hole. J'onn had left the League in '69 or so, and made only rare guest appearances since, until he returned in the mid-80s. Curiously, that's when Gru was writing Squadron Supreme. But basically they mention a former member who left Earth who was "Skrullian Skymaster". It communicated that the Squadron had had an alien shapeshifter/J'onn J'onzz analog in a single panel. Very quick, very concise.

It would be Len Kaminski, who wrote Squadron Supremem: New World Order, who would actually develop the Skymax/Skrullian Skymaster character to any degree (basically making him the Super-Skrull of Earth-712, powerwise.)
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Pinball

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

"And now, my imitation of North American schoolchildren over the past thirty years!"

PINBALL (Chester Freeman)
Created By:
Mark Gruenwald & Paul Neary
First Appearance: Captain America #314 (1986)
Role: Joke Villain
Alternate Company Equivalent Of: Silly Batman Foes (goofy concept, but no clear link- his Wikipedia page says he's a semi-pastiche of The Penguin, but aside from being fat, there's no similarities here.)
Fate: Spine snapped by a falling Blue Eagle
Group Affiliations: The Redeemers
PL 7 (67)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 5 (+5)
Insight 2 (+2)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Interpose, Move-By Action, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Pinball Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [16]
Alternate Form (Ball Shape) (Standard Action -2)
"Air Cushioned Lining" Protection 4 (Extras: Reflective) (8)
"Bounce" Leaping 1 (15 feet) (1)
Immunity 5 (Falling Damage) (5)

"Rolling Ball Attack" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line 4) (6) -- (7)
  • AE: "Body Slam" Strength-Damage +3 (3)
-- (19 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Body Slam +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Rolling Ball Attack +4 Area (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+6 Ball Shape), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Power Loss (Protection)- A big balloon-like cushion, Pinball's costume is still able to be punctured by sharp objects. Slashing or Piercing objects will deflate him, rendering the Protection nullified thereafter.
Enemy (Nighthawk)
Relationship (Remnant, Mink)- The three form an unlikely group of ex-Nighthawk Rogues, and are quite friendly with each other on a professional and personal level. Remnant is struck particularly hard by Pinball’s death.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 16 / Defenses: 11 (67)

-Pinball is probably the dumbest and goofiest of the characters in Squadron Supreme, though he's not depicted as a real threat or anything. He's a big fat guy who can pull a string on his collar and get super-inflated into a ball-shape, and presumably overrun people, joining The Redeemers as criminals seeking to stop the Squadron's brainwashing of their kind. Though honestly, during the entire course of the story, I don't think he actually hits anybody. Captain America & Nighthawk treat him as little more than a nuisance, with Cap casually deflating him with a side-toss of his Shield in mid-conversation with 'Hawk. In the final battle, he takes one punch from The Whizzer and is basically knocked out, ending up as a makeshift crash pad for a de-powered Blue Eagle- the landing killing them both.

-Pinball's ridiculously cheap and ineffective, having only one half-decent attack (a PL 6.5 "Body Slam" or a PL 4 Line Area Damage effect), and minor protective powers. Cap's Shield & Blue Eagle falling both did damage to him pretty easily, so he's only +6 Toughness at-best. I added Reflective just to throw him a bone- I figure any attacks at +4 intensity would just bounce back. It makes him suck less, at least. Pretty much a joke, and easily the weakest character in the entire series.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Davies »

Ares wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 7:30 am Haywire's eventual fate REALLY pissed me off tho. For a character who was just kind of a joker who decided to try and build a life for himself on a new Earth, his sole appearance after the Squad left was hard core character assassination. Steve Englehart wrote the horrible Celestial Quest story (featuring his favorite character no one cared about, Mantis) which actually tried to follow up on the whole Celestial Messiah thing he'd written a while back. It was . . . pretty terrible. Especially since he basically turned Haywire into this psychotically obsessed individual broken over Interia's death, and who willingly killed let the cosmic being Death end his life in order to be with her. And then he had someone comment that Haywire really didn't love Intertia, he had loved the "idea" of her, which had driven him to suicide.

I remember reading that, and even if the rest of the story hadn't been crap, the entire subplot with Haywire was just so . . . mean spirited. I wondered if Mark Greunwald hadn't pissed Steve off at some point, so he decided to kill off one of the only remaining characters Greu had personally created in the worst way possible as some kind of spite.
I can answer this -- I believe that Mr. Englehart may have been annoyed that his portrayal of the Contemplator during his run on Silver Surfer was retconned as an impersonator during Mr. Gruenwald's run on Quasar. Which would be extraordinarily petty, but this is comics, everybody.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Amphibian! Power Princess! Quagmire! Arcanna!)

Post by Ares »

Davies wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:05 pm
Ares wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2017 7:30 am Haywire's eventual fate REALLY pissed me off tho. For a character who was just kind of a joker who decided to try and build a life for himself on a new Earth, his sole appearance after the Squad left was hard core character assassination. Steve Englehart wrote the horrible Celestial Quest story (featuring his favorite character no one cared about, Mantis) which actually tried to follow up on the whole Celestial Messiah thing he'd written a while back. It was . . . pretty terrible. Especially since he basically turned Haywire into this psychotically obsessed individual broken over Interia's death, and who willingly killed let the cosmic being Death end his life in order to be with her. And then he had someone comment that Haywire really didn't love Intertia, he had loved the "idea" of her, which had driven him to suicide.

I remember reading that, and even if the rest of the story hadn't been crap, the entire subplot with Haywire was just so . . . mean spirited. I wondered if Mark Greunwald hadn't pissed Steve off at some point, so he decided to kill off one of the only remaining characters Greu had personally created in the worst way possible as some kind of spite.
I can answer this -- I believe that Mr. Englehart may have been annoyed that his portrayal of the Contemplator during his run on Silver Surfer was retconned as an impersonator during Mr. Gruenwald's run on Quasar. Which would be extraordinarily petty, but this is comics, everybody.
In this instance, I'd have to side with Mark. Prior to Steve's story, the Contemplator was essentially a cosmic Buddha and exestential therapist, helping people through problems and finding a degree of peace. Steve turned him into a generic bad guy helping the other Elders trying to gain the Soul Gems and destroy Galactus. So yeah Steve, great job messing up multiple characters. Just as a reminder that Bendis/Hickman style "plot re-writes the characters" writing existed long before either of them.
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Re: The Monkey King

Post by L-Space »

Ares wrote: Sun Jul 02, 2017 2:41 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Sat Jul 01, 2017 6:58 am ImageImage

THE MONKEY KING (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Nick Spencer & Ariel Ollivetta
You know, it's a shame that the Monkey King doesn't get used more in superhero comics. Yeah, he invites obvious Dragon Ball Z comparisons, but that's like noticing how many similarities John Carter of Mars has with a lot of popular sci-fi: they were both there first.

Based on the mythology, Sun Wukong (however you want to spell it) would be like some kung fu version of Thor. He was immensely strong, fast and skilled, had a magic cloud he could fly on, could shapeshift into virtually any form, change his size, could pluck out his hairs and either fling them like bullets or transform them into weaker clones of himself (who could still shapeshift and use his other abilities), had excellent perception, and knew magic that let him control the weather, bind demons and various other tricks, and wielded an indestructible staff that could alter it's length and size on command.

Plus he had an excellent story of initially being an antagonist (not really evil, but mischievous and without a real sense of the consequences of his actions) before being redeemed. A contemporary monkey king would likely be a very Spider-Man-like character, somewhat mischievous with a sense of humor, but with a sense of responsibility and a genuine desire to do good. But also capable of throwing down with the likes of Thor, which should be pretty awesome.
Heh, I was actually thinking about this not that long ago, as his abilities and attitude would make him a pretty great story. I'm actually quite shocked he hasn't been adapted more for Western comics.
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Formerly luketheduke86
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