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

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Bladewind
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by Bladewind »

Ares wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 3:45 pm
Goldar wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:17 pm Was there another yellow legion character called Telepath? Or was that an earlier form of Tellus?
That character was from L.E.G.I.O.N., the weird idea someone had over at DC. Basically it was DC's version of what Marvel did with Guardians of the Galaxy, having an earlier Guardians team suddenly appear in the 616 setting despite the original team taking place in the far future. LEGION was even weirder in that it was basically an intergalactic private security force where they would charge planets a fee in order to protect them from harm. And it included the son of Brainiac/ancestor of Brainiac 5, Pre-Phantom Zone Valor/Mon-El, an ancestor of Blokk, a time-displaced Phantom Girl, and got into shenanigans with the Emerald Eye.
You forgot (willingly, I hope) two things regarding that mess.

1) L.E.G.I.O.N. came out of the INVASION ! miniseries. Which in itself isn't horrible. It`s just that the original members IIRC were the result of the Dominators trying to research the metagene.

2) Phase. (The timelost Phantom Girl). OMG. So, her origin was retconned that her father in the LSG future was a Carrgite. When born, he stole one of the babies (when they first triplicated) to pay off a gambling debt (yes. a gambling debt). The third one just disappeared. The stolen one wound up in the 20th century and became phase.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by Ken »

MacynSnow wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 6:01 pm
Ken wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:25 pm I remember being very underwhelmed by Fabian Nicieza on the first thee issues of The New Warriors (vol. 1).
I actually like what Fabian did with them,especially in the team's first fight with Terrax.Night Thrasher knew they couldn't beat him,so they stalled untill he discorperated(at least i think that's what happened to him,i haven't read the issue in forever).I especially like how Thrasher got Nova's power back....It was highly original and worked. ;)
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by catsi563 »

I enjoyed it as well. Dropping Nova off a building was inspired. threatening to out Firestars identity was equally as ruthless and got her interested.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by MacynSnow »

catsi563 wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 8:42 pm I enjoyed it as well. Dropping Nova off a building was inspired. threatening to out Firestars identity was equally as ruthless and got her interested.
The man told them that he wanted a team based on the "Family" concept of the Fantastic Four only larger.He just didn't realize it wasn't gonna work if the "Team Leader"(Re:Him) was being a Superdick all the time...... :lol:
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by catsi563 »

true but what made it interesting was that the rest of the team was able to give as good as it got most times :)
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by MacynSnow »

And let's not forget their first Run-in with Cable's X-Force.Namorita getting hit on by old man Cable was priceless..... :lol:
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Element Lad

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That curly hair, man. The first Aqualad has the same fandom.

ELEMENT LAD (Jan Arrah, aka Alchemist, Progenitor)
Created By:
Edmond Hamilton & John Forte
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #307 (April 1963)
Home Planet: Trom
Origin of Powers: Racial Abilities
Eras: All Three
Relationships: Shvaughn Erin, Triplicate Girl (Threeboot)
Role: Team Leader, Pretty Boy, Uber-Powerful Guy
PL 12 (294)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (Space Hero) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+8)
Insight 2 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 2 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+7)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 10 (Legion Gear), Leadership, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Trommite Physiology"
Transform 18 (100 tons- Anything to Anything) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Continuous) [144]
"Detect Chemical Make-Up" Senses 3 (Detect Chemicals- Analytical) [3]

"Air to Solid Elements" Create 12 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Continuous) (37) -- [41]
  • AE: "Costume/Air to Solids" Snare 8 (Extras: Perception Range) (32)
  • AE: "Robots to Semi-Solid Blobs" Weaken Toughness 12 (Extras: Perception Range +2) (36)
  • AE: "Make Space Into Air" Immunity 2 (Suffocation 2) (Extras: Affects Others, Area) (6)
  • AE: "Air into Helium" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Fatigued/Asleep) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 30ft. Burst) (30)
Equipment:
"Legion Gear"
"Telepathic Ear Plug" Comprehend 3 (Languages) (6)

"Legion Flight Ring"
Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
Immunity 7 (Hot, Cold, Vacuum, Pressure, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (7)
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) (2)
Communication 5 (Flaws: Fifth Rank is only towards Legionnaires) (18)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Snare -- (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Melt Stuff -- (+12 Weaken, DC 22)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Shvaughn Erin)- The Science Police Liaison to the Legion is quite close with Jan. And by "close" I mean they are totally doing it.
Responsibility (The Last Trommite Alive)- Jan's entire race was wiped out by Roxxas the Butcher (Daxamites in the Reboot continuity).

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 188 / Defenses: 12 (294)

Silver Age Element Lad:
-Element Lad has been a recurring Legion character since the early days, usually with some form of "E" on his chest, along with a variety of pink. With the ability to change ANYTHING into ANYTHING, he basically got focus every time the writers needed to have one guy just walk in and save the entire day by himself (though he often went under-used for a long time, until Paul Levitz or somebody realized how effective his power could be). Probably the cast of writers either not recognizing how powerful he really was until it was too late, or other writers just going NUTS with the insane capabilities of a guy who could do almost anything- though he never really did it to living beings. He was powerful enough that his entire race was written out in all three versions of continuity, and I get the impression that a lot of writers were a combination of annoyed at having to deal with him, or happy to have him around to just change the elemental composition of Daxam to include more lead once in a while.

-His best stuff aside from his Team Leader days in the mid-80s was whenever he encountered the guy who murdered HIS ENTIRE RACE. Yes, there was once an entire PLANET of people with massive Transmutation abilities. Element Lad nearly killed him once, but realized the error of his ways (when Chemical King made it LOOK like Element Lad had offed the bastard), so the guy kept showing up in various states of misery as a result of his crimes, being tortured by the ghosts of the people he'd slain.

-Jan is a beloved Legionnaire, and becomes Deputy Leader for several Levitz-era stories, eventually getting a costume that lacks the "E", but features an arrow pointing from his junk to his face. He engaged in a serious relationship with the Science Police liaison to the Legion, Shvaughn Erin, for a number of years, and was one of the more stoic, serious Legionnaires. He becomes Legion leader once, but quits and goes away to re-center himself. When Shvaughn turns out to be "Sean", Jan says "what we shared physically was in SPITE of the Profem (sex-changing drugs), not BECAUSE of it", confirming to many the long-held belief that the pink-clad, curly-coiffed Jan Arrah was a homosexual all along. It reads to me like he was MOSTLY gay, but loved Shvaughn as an "If it's you, it's okay" deal, but then was like "oh yay!". Or he was always asexual, and loved Shvaughn anyways, and didn't care WHICH sex she was.

-This verison of Jan eventually faded out with the others- he'd met his "SW6" clone by this point, but was largely away from the rest of the Legion during the "Five Years Later" era. The clone took the name "Alchemist".

Later Element Lads:
-His post-Zero Hour "Reboot" days again made him the sole survivor of Trom- here, they had been killed by the Daxamite "White Triangle" terrorists. Traumatized, Jan had become the villainous "Starfinger" (... really?), but eventually joined the Legion. A battle against Mordru sees Jan gain further power, transforming his OWN chemical composition as well as that of other elements. However, the character ends up going "Dark Phoenix"- he's lost in space for billions of years, going insane and becoming "The Projenitor". Much like Hank Hall & Hal Jordan did around the same time... DC was kind of in a rut there, Dark Phoenixing all their heroes out. Jan is eventually killed by Live Wire, who also dies in the process- he later reappears using Element Lad's biological body as a place for his spirit. Before this plot could be resolved, continuity was again rebooted in 2004.

-The "Threeboot" era Element Lad has to touch objects in order to transmute them, and is againt the sole survivor of his lost homeworld. This version finds physical fights "Barbaric" and crushes on Triplicate Girl, but is killed by Superboy-Prime in Legion of Three Worlds, getting a Kryptonite rock (which he'd formed around the villain) thrown through his body. He was last seen being sent to save the 21st Century by R.J. Brande.

Element Lad's Remarkable Powers:
-Another pricey Legionnaire, but that'll happen when you're written halfway competent AND you possess one of the most powerful abilities in the game- he can Trasmute a TON of stuff from Perception Range, ensnare people (he turned a dude's clothes to a big rubbery trap once), help others breathe in space, Create Objects (just turning the air into diamond or some junk), and melt Robots basically by looking at them (Perception-Range Weaken). He's theoretically unbeatable at full-power, but is noticeably suffering from "Glass Cannon" syndrome, and can be taken out by just some dude with a brick in his hand. Though note that he's one of the very few Legionnaires who could f-up Superboy in a straight-up fight: he can turn stuff into KRYPTONITE at-will. Not to mention what he did to three billion Daxamites- turning their entire atmosphere to a few parts lead per million owned pretty much ALL OF THEM- it's a lot of mass, but he can spend a Hero Point and over-do it if necessary.

-Post-Zero Hour Jan had the ability to transmute HIMSELF (basically gaining Shapeshift- Limited to Singular Elements), and also well full-bore crazy, and the Threeboot version was de-powered into changing stuff only temporarily, and by touch only, but all the later versions lack Original Continuity Jan's charisma and leadership abilities.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon May 30, 2022 1:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by Hoid »

...clearly he can also can transmute his abs into Glorious Perfection. Mmmm...perfec—-

...right then, ok.

*backs out of the thread slowly*
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl! Element Lad!)

Post by Ken »

What he did to that super Agent of Darkness in the Great Darkness Saga was also pretty wicked.
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Re: Element Lad

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:44 pm Image
And, yes, that weird symbol on his chest IS the letter 'E' in the Interlac alphabet.
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Re: Element Lad

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:44 pm Image

That curly hair, man. The first Aqualad has the same fandom.

ELEMENT LAD (Jan Arrah, aka Alchemist, Progenitor)
Created By:
Edmond Hamilton & John Forte
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #307 (April 1963)
Home Planet: Trom
Origin of Powers: Racial Abilities
Eras: All Three
Relationships: Shvaughn Erin, Triplicate Girl (Threeboot)
Role: Team Leader, Pretty Boy, Uber-Powerful Guy

-Jan is a beloved Legionnaire, and becomes Deputy Leader for several Levitz-era stories, eventually getting a costume that lacks the "E", but features an arrow pointing from his junk to his face. He engaged in a serious relationship with the Science Police liaison to the Legion, Shvaughn Erin, for a number of years, and was one of the more stoic, serious Legionnaires. He becomes Legion leader once, but quits and goes away to re-center himself. When Shvaughn turns out to be "Sean", Jan says "what we shared physically was in SPITE of the Profem (sex-changing drugs), not BECAUSE of it", confirming to many the long-held belief that the pink-clad, curly-coiffed Jan Arrah was a homosexual all along. It reads to me like he was MOSTLY gay, but loved Shvaughn as an "If it's you, it's okay" deal, but then was like "oh yay!". Or he was always asexual, and loved Shvaughn anyways, and didn't care WHICH sex she was.

I think that would make him bi-sexual. Or going by that image, metrosexual.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl! Element Lad!)

Post by Jabroniville »

"Mostly Gay" IS bisexual, really. Just leaning more towards one side. The Kinsey Scale and what-not.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl! Element Lad!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 11:15 pm "Mostly Gay" IS bisexual, really. Just leaning more towards one side. The Kinsey Scale and what-not.
The Kinsey Scale goes from zero to six; At a “0” you’re exclusively heterosexual, a “3” means a more or less even mix of hetero– and homosexual contacts, and a “6” is exclusively homosexual. (There’s also a little mentioned “X” classification, for people who have no sexual contacts or responses. What we’d now call “asexuality.”)

But, of course, the scale is meant to measure current relationships and orientation. People can and do move from one category to another over time... although the vast majority of people are firmly “0.”

Also, Kinsey was doing his work in the late 40’s to 50’s. Social sciences have moved on and we have a wider perspective to draw on now. It was still groundbreaking work and immensely important in moving the Overton Window regarding how we treat gay people and talk about no heterosexual relationships.

For what it’s worth, I always assumed Element Lad was a gay man who had one heterosexual partner, making him a “5” on the old Kinsey Scale.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by L-Space »

Batgirl III wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 6:50 am Anarky -- note the "Xtreme Kool Letterz" trope guys -- was actually a very interesting character in his initial debut story, Detective Comics (Vol 1) #608-609. He was a pretty basic 'serial killer with a theme' that we'd seen plenty of times in the Bronze Age Detective Comics, but it was interesting to see his motivation was political instead of garden variety* insane psychopathy. It was also fun to see the Batman working the case as a detective and not just punching people until they confessed. Their were clues, false leads, more clues, and then the punching. The twist ending** that he was just a little kid was unique at the time too.

* Gotham City has weird gardens, okay?
** It happened in 1989, you don't get a spoiler warning.

Then Fabian Nicieza had to come in a few years later and go all Nineties on him. The stupidity of the character all traces back to Nicieza. Allow me to relive some of my reactions to these changes when I first read these issues, my comments are in parenthesis. Ahem. Fusing his brain hemisphere to increase his intelligence ("Wha--?"), getting into a fight with Etrigan ("What the--!"), thinking that he was the son of the Joker ("What the $%&#!?") and doing battle with Darkseid ("WHAT THE ACTUAL $%&#!?").

Roderick Long is a professor of philosophy and political science at Auburn University, he's a very influential voice in the circles of academia that study libertarianism, praxeology, and anarchism. He's also "One of Us" and a comic book nerd. Dr. Long "summarized" the changed Fabian Nicieza made to Anarky as a mock-dialectic:

Thesis: Anarky is too interesting a character not to write about.
Antithesis: Anarky is too interesting a character for me to write successfully about.
Dialectical Synthesis: Therefore, I will make Anarky less interesting so I can write about him.
Completely agree. When I loved Anarky's first appearance and thought he made a good, different, Batman villain that was a good foil to Batman. It's too bad he really started to go off the rails later on.

He was also really interesting in the Batman: Arkham Origins and they gave him an updated look which I found fitting for his motif.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Thunder! Brainiac 5! White Witch! Kinetix! Supergirl!)

Post by MacynSnow »

L-Space wrote: Wed Apr 25, 2018 12:50 am
Batgirl III wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 6:50 am Anarky -- note the "Xtreme Kool Letterz" trope guys -- was actually a very interesting character in his initial debut story, Detective Comics (Vol 1) #608-609. He was a pretty basic 'serial killer with a theme' that we'd seen plenty of times in the Bronze Age Detective Comics, but it was interesting to see his motivation was political instead of garden variety* insane psychopathy. It was also fun to see the Batman working the case as a detective and not just punching people until they confessed. Their were clues, false leads, more clues, and then the punching. The twist ending** that he was just a little kid was unique at the time too.

* Gotham City has weird gardens, okay?
** It happened in 1989, you don't get a spoiler warning.

Then Fabian Nicieza had to come in a few years later and go all Nineties on him. The stupidity of the character all traces back to Nicieza. Allow me to relive some of my reactions to these changes when I first read these issues, my comments are in parenthesis. Ahem. Fusing his brain hemisphere to increase his intelligence ("Wha--?"), getting into a fight with Etrigan ("What the--!"), thinking that he was the son of the Joker ("What the $%&#!?") and doing battle with Darkseid ("WHAT THE ACTUAL $%&#!?").

Roderick Long is a professor of philosophy and political science at Auburn University, he's a very influential voice in the circles of academia that study libertarianism, praxeology, and anarchism. He's also "One of Us" and a comic book nerd. Dr. Long "summarized" the changed Fabian Nicieza made to Anarky as a mock-dialectic:

Thesis: Anarky is too interesting a character not to write about.
Antithesis: Anarky is too interesting a character for me to write successfully about.
Dialectical Synthesis: Therefore, I will make Anarky less interesting so I can write about him.
Completely agree. When I loved Anarky's first appearance and thought he made a good, different, Batman villain that was a good foil to Batman. It's too bad he really started to go off the rails later on.

He was also really interesting in the Batman: Arkham Origins and they gave him an updated look which I found fitting for his motif.
What i loved about the Original interpretation of Anarky wasn't that he was a child(though it WAS a neat twist),it was that it took both Bruce and Tim Drake to figure out the pattern of murders(with bruce almost getting hit himself 'cause he was on the Forum list Anarky printed out).

I also took some time to figure out his fighting style:It's a form of British martial arts called Baritjutsu,which uses Canes and other "Gentlemanly" objects and clothing to disable an opponent's offensive capability.He just added a couple of other moves to shore up the weaknesses....
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