J-Mart OG: Closed for a new location!

[Bear]

Love the builds Thor, long time lurker first time commenter. It looks like all he needs is a decent device and Marvin would make a good street-level hero!

[Ares]

And OK, I admit it. I liked The Batman. I'm actually rewatching some of it on Netflix. Yes, it a was purely designed to sell toys and yes, the animation is iffy and yes, they made all the Gotham villains move like freakin' luchadores (even Penguin, it was unnerving at times) but it was fun. And some of the ideas, like Ellen's partner, Ethan, were good, they just didn't carry through with them like they should.

I accept your scorn as you see fit...

I loved The Batman. Sure, some of the designs were iffy, everyone who wasn't a mob boss, a tech genius or had superpowers was turned into a martial arts expert, but overall it was a great show. As Kreu pointed out, it did what even Batman: TAS couldn't do and made Maxie Zeus cool. The fight scenes were often exceptional, some of the villain remakes were solid, the stories were fun, and it had the most likable Bruce Wayne I've ever seen. Really, it was a fine show that people only have issues about due to it following Batman: TAS (which as much as I love, did have some crappy episodes and suffered some seasonal rot), and because it caused the whole "Bat Embargo" that kept Batman villains from appearing in Justice League Unlimited.

One thing I always loved about the show was its Superman team up. The Batman had made a lot of Batman's rogues powerful, enough that they were more comparable to Spider-Man's villains than Bruce's normal guys. Working together they actually came fairly close to killing Superman. It makes you think that enough of Batman's villains working together could have been a Justice League level threat.

In any case, the real genius of the show was that it reversed what people commonly believe about the two. Superman is often seen as the friendly guy who likes to work with other heroes, gets along great with everyone, and is the social butterfly, while Batman is the creepy, moody loner.

In The Batman, the show points out that Bruce constantly surrounds himself with friends, allies, people he can trust, a support network, and otherwise works well with others. He was one of the first recruits for the Justice League, easily accepting their offer while Superman turned them down. Because Superman prefers to work alone, out of a combination of worry for the safety of others and a not undue arrogance in his own abilities. He believes he can handle anything, he doesn't want others to get hurt in the kinds of battles he faces, so he tries to shoulder the burden of heroism by himself as much as he can.

BATMAN is the team player. SUPERMAN is the loner. And it takes Batman and Robin rescuing Superman three times for it to get through his Kryptonian skull that teamwork has its place, and to join the League.

[Ares]

Regarding Batgirl, I agree that it was always something that just "fit" Barbara. I liked Cassie and Steph, but Babs as Batgirl was just iconic. It's funny because there have been almost a half-dozen Robins by this point, but while Dick grew into Nightwing, Jason died (and should have stayed dead), and Tim really became the iconic Robin in my mind, Babs was always Batgirl. It was just something you couldn't take away from her.

Which is a shame, because as Oracle she was a badass hacker, had a fun run in Birds of Prey and was a hero for folks with disabilities. So her time as Oracle was potentially as important as her time as Batgirl in a lot of ways.

I think an easy retcon would have just been to say that the initial injury Joker gave her sidelined her for a long time, required a couple of years of surgeries and physical therapy to overcome, and then more training to build herself back up, allowing her to be Oracle while unable to be Batgirl, but still able to eventually reclaim the role.

While I love Babs, I'm not a fan of a lot of what's been done with her. The last book I saw with her seemed to have devolved her into a "barely out of high school" girl in an effort to make her quirky and relatable, despite being someone about to graduate college in her first appearance. I didn't like the motorcycle leathers outfit, and didn't like the route they took with "The Killing Joke". The genius of that story was we got something plausible about the Joker's background, but instead of trying to give Batman his "one bad day", he focused on Jim Gordon, the other guy considered incorruptible in Gotham. And in the end, despite what Gordon went through, he still wanted to take the Joker in by the book. It sucked for Babs that she was basically used solely for a couple of pages to torment her father . . . but the animated movie did her and several characters an even worse diservice. Instead of actually focusing on Barbara, on her story, we instead make her story all about Batman. His attachment to her basically allows their relationship to become a sexual one, he's the one that pushes her away over it, and she winds up quitting her job as a superhero because of him. All of this is to make what happens to Barbara less about being something tragic for HER or her father and more about how it impacts Batman. Instead of fleshing out Barbara and making what happens to her a tragedy, it instead makes her crippling a tragedy for Batman.

And don't get me started on the "Barbara and Dick as the one true couple" thing DC tried to force on us. Nightwing and Starfire forever.


Regarding Marvin and Wendy, yeah, it sucked how they were treated when they were brought back in the comics, and showed that crappy DC stuff had been happening way before the Nu-52/Flashpoint (albeit that was when things really hit the fan). They were brought in as this funny nod to the older stuff, and then were brutally killed/crippled by a demonic Wonder Dog. Seeing them in any kind of positive light, like Young Justice or here, was refreshing.

[Jabroniville]

Yeah, the Teen Titans book was pretty horrible- they just kind of used Wendy & Marvin as a gag, and then were like "LAWLZ- the Dog killed them!" That's why Wendy ended up crippled, too.

[Ares]

It was just so pointlessly mean-spirited.

[Goldar]

And don't get me started on the "Barbara and Dick as the one true couple" thing DC tried to force on us. Nightwing and Starfire forever.


Regarding Marvin and Wendy, yeah, it sucked how they were treated when they were brought back in the comics, and showed that crappy DC stuff had been happening way before the Nu-52/Flashpoint (albeit that was when things really hit the fan). They were brought in as this funny nod to the older stuff, and then were brutally killed/crippled by a demonic Wonder Dog. Seeing them in any kind of positive light, like Young Justice or here, was refreshing.

I agree---absolutely the Babs Dick thing was forced and just didn't feel real or natural.

I always liked schloppy Marvin, Wendy and Wonder Dog. They deserve better treatment.

[Jabroniville]

It was just so pointlessly mean-spirited.

It came off like a Family Guy/Robot Chicken gag or something, but in a serious comic. Like the characters were obviously throwaways in there for an "inside joke", but then it's all like "HAHAHAHAHAAHAH NOW HE'S DEAD!!!" It was FUNNY in a way- like you would tell someone about it and laugh... but this is an actual superhero comic, where these things have after-effects.

[Ken]

The Dick-and-Barabara thing vs Dick-and-Kory thing is a weird thing.

Part of it, is the age of the reader. If one is old enough to remember the flirty relationship between the Dynamite Duo, back when the Dynamite Duo was the lead feature in "Batman Family", then one is probably okay with Dick-and-Barbara. However, if one started reading DC during the "New Teen Titans" era, then one is going to be Dick-and-Kory should be together.

Part of it is the age of the writers and editors. And the Bat-book editors in the late 90s and early aughts were are old enough to be in the Dynamite Duo camp.

Part of it is editorial. Remember, Dick Grayson was turned into Nightwing specifically to get him OUT of Batman's world. And then, post New Titans he fell back into it. And gold-skinned, half-naked alien space babes don't really gel well in the whole dark, grimy streets of Gotham and the bizarre criminals who live there.

Keep in mind that I'm in the situation of being old enough to barely remember the Dynamite Duo, but the NTT era was when I started collecting. So, I have no real recollection of the Dick-and-Barbara years. But the Dick-and-Kory thing... it smacked of teenagers-with-nothing-in-common-except-great-sex-thinking-they're-in-love. They were from two different worlds, both figuratively, and literally. I suppose there was suppossed to be some opposites-attract thing. But Kory was always worried about Dick being too uptight and not being passionate enouigh, and Dick was always worrying about Kory being too unrestrained.

Conversely, the Dick-and-Barbara thing.... that smacked of two people who had been friends and collegues for years, with a wealth of shared experiences realising the depth of their love for one another after many years.

Basically, Dick-and-Kory their relationship seems to be built strictly on eros, while Dick-and-Barbara have a relationship rooted in philia and into which eros grew.

[Ares]

I'm old enough to remember when Bruce and Dick were the Dynamic Duo with occasional help from Batgirl, as well as the New Teen Titans run, Batman: TAS, and various other iterations of both the Dick/Kory and Dick/Babs relationship. And I've got to say, I never say Dick and Barbara as anything but co-workers. Any flirting that happened between the pair during his Robin days was usually Barbara just messing with Dick's head a little, usually because he'd said something chauvinistic or dumb.

I mean, at the time, Dick was largely in his mid-teens during the time Barbara was active as Batgirl, while she was in hear early 20's. They weren't two kids growing up together, Dick was a teenage partner and Barbara was an occasional ally working on her college degree.

Now, retcons happen, age changes occur, and it's certainly possible that some writers feel that Dick and Barbara make for a better couple. But it seemed to me that the biggest driving force behind the sudden Dick/Barbara relationship was editorially based. When Dick became a Titan, he fell under the management of the Titan editorial team, and grew into the popular Nightwing character. So much so that when Dick left the team, then temporarily, the Bat Editorial snatched him back and did everything they could to keep him. And to further separate him from the Titans books and more firmly place him in the Bat-Family books, they tried to hook him up with Barbara.

Now, the two of them dating while Dick and Kory were broken up is not necessarily a bad idea, and if they'd left it at that I could have viewed it as simply Dick playing the field now that he was single. After all, he had a lot of other relationships after he broke up with Kory, though some writers tried to put him and Starfire back together.

The main problem was that they tried to retcon this big love story background into Dick and Barbara's past. Things like Barbara going to visit Dick during his Titans days and finding Starfire there, and being so heartbroken that Dick was with another woman. This was despite them, again, never being romantic inclined before. Or when they had Dick visit Barbara when he was changing into his Nightwing identity, and it being clear that Dick was fully prepared to cheat on Kory with Barbara if Barbara hadn't stopped him. And then later it was shown that Dick HAD cheated on Kory with Barbara when Dick had gone there to give Babs the invitation to his wedding.

It was this massive retcon that never let any romance develop between Dick and Barbara naturally because it was never meant to develop naturally, it was just something that had now happened in the past and we were suppose to accept it.

Meanwhile, Dick and Kory's relationship came about more naturally. At the time Dick was leading the Titans, Dick had become much more serious and grim, having left Batman due to an injury and being directionless in his life. Kory had just escaped from being sold into slavery and being exiled from her people. They didn't have a lot in common, they were literally from different worlds, but they were different in that complimentary way that helps two people grow. Kory helped bring some joy and love back into Dick's life, reminding him of when he'd been a much more fun loving individual, while Dick helped her adjust to the world and was a stable rock for her in an uncertain time. They both came to really know each other and care for each other, going through the growing pains of their first really serious relationship.

Basically, Dick and Kory was a genuine relationship we got to see develop over time, go through all of the ups and downs, and see it grow into something that could have eventually grown into a steady marriage. Meanwhile Dick and Barbara was 90% retcon that we were just suppose to accept, and included moments that actively damaged Dick's previous relationship due to what had to be included to make it work.

I also don't really agree that Dick couldn't have been operating as a vigilante hero while also dating Starfire. Batman similarly fights street crime and does detective work while also being best friends with and regularly teaming up with Superman, is part of the Justice League, and one of his on-again-off-again girlfriends is the daughter of a near immortal super terrorist with a vast army of minions.

[Devastation Bob]

It was just so pointlessly mean-spirited.

It came off like a Family Guy/Robot Chicken gag or something, but in a serious comic. Like the characters were obviously throwaways in there for an "inside joke", but then it's all like "HAHAHAHAHAAHAH NOW HE'S DEAD!!!" It was FUNNY in a way- like you would tell someone about it and laugh... but this is an actual superhero comic, where these things have after-effects.

I had SuperFriends sheets with Wendy and Marvin on them, but was much more familiar with the Wonder Twins. Considering that Wendy and Marvin references would be too dated for the younger audience, ya have to wonder who that joke was aimed at and it's intent. Just a bad robot chicken, or more a GO TO BED OLD MAN for us longtime readers.

[Ken]

I said "Dynamite Duo". It was the name given to the Batgirl & Robin team that appeared regularly for about 5 years between 1975 and 1980 in the pages of Batman Family and Detective Comics (starring the Batman Family)*. It wasn't "occaissionally". It was a regular feature in a book that sold well. And this was while Batman was still doing hiw swinging solo act from the Wayne Foundation Penthouse.

And, as far as the absence of romance between the two of them, the fact that they found each other attractive, despite the age difference was an element of their characterisation. And the creators defeinitely new that they had "shippers" (as we call them today) reading the book.



I'm not refuting that the Kory and Dick relationship came about naturally. It did. It also felt like a lot of teen romances where for all the romance, there was little underneath it to sustain it long term.

I am refuting the "90% retcon". Was there retconning? Yes. Was it "90% retcon"? No.

And since I know couples that went from flirty-just-friends-of-several-years to happily-married, I found the Dick-Barabara relationship of the late 90s just as believable, and more solid, than the "you're beautiful" - "so are you" relationship of Dick and Kory.

And, at the end of the day, it's irrelevant. At the end of the day, Dick Grayson is DC's male sex symbol. They're not going to let him get tied down. Unless it's by Taratula III looking for some hot Dick action.





* - Detective Comics was on the chopping block during the "DC Implosion" along with a full 1/3rd of DC's lowest sellers. Rather than cancel the title that gave the company their name, they opted to cancel the much better selling Batman Family and turn Detective INTO the Batman Family book.

[StarGuard]

I'm 53, I remember Dick and Babs being a thing as much as they did that kind of thing back then. Writing styles changed as the early eighties came upon us. I've always liked Starfire, but Kori and Dick never felt right. If it weren't for his own messed up past I always thought she and Roy would be a good thing, but that's me shipping

[Thorpocalypse]

Yeah, the Teen Titans book was pretty horrible- they just kind of used Wendy & Marvin as a gag, and then were like "LAWLZ- the Dog killed them!" That's why Wendy ended up crippled, too.

No doubt. Like Ares said, it felt mean spirited and really unnecessary. But I figured I could at least turn it into something decent in the Thorpocaverse since I will always have a soft spot for them.

I'm 53, I remember Dick and Babs being a thing as much as they did that kind of thing back then. Writing styles changed as the early eighties came upon us. I've always liked Starfire, but Kori and Dick never felt right. If it weren't for his own messed up past I always thought she and Roy would be a good thing, but that's me shipping

They did put Kori and Roy together in the Red Hood and the Outlaws book back when the New 52 started. Despite the uneven nature of that book, I thought it was one of the best incarnation of Roy Harper in decades. One of the few good things the New 52 was retconning Cry for Justice and what it did to Ollie and Roy afterwards. Talk about mean spirited and unnecessary...

[Thorpocalypse]

We've got the first part of a FAMILY AFFAIR SPECIAL as we drop more items from our Gotham location!


A guy asked me a question the other day... about why people run when things get tough. That's easy -- you can become someone else, wherever you land, right? Who's gonna know the difference? So why stay? Why set yourself up for more failure? For more pain? Also easy -- because we don't know how to do anything else. So why stay? Why open yourself up to all the bad you've tried to leave behind? "The only variable you can control is yourself." You can forget who you are, or you can be who you want to be. That's why you stay. You stay for a second chance. - Batgirl

BATGIRL (STEPHANIE BROWN)
PL8

OPL: 8; SPL: 4; DPL: 8; FWPL: 6; HP: 1
Real Name: Stephanie Brown
Age: 18
Height: 5-5
Weight: 120
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Skin: Fair
Race: Human
Identity: Secret
Alignment: Hero
Status: Active
Occupation: Student; Adventurer
Base of Operations: Gotham City, NJ, USA
Team Affiliations: Batman Family

ABILITIES: STRENGTH 1, STAMINA 2, AGILITY 5, DEXTERITY 4, FIGHTING 11, INTELLECT 3, AWARENESS 2, PRESENCE 2

SKILLS: Acrobatics 10 (+15) [Accelerated Acrobatics, Agile Feint], Athletics 6 (+7), Close Combat [Unarmed] 2 (+12), Deception 6 (+8), Expertise [Computers] 11 (+14), Expertise [Pop Culture] 4 (+7), Expertise [Streetwise] 2 (+5), Insight 5 (+7), Intimidation (+2), Investigation 8 (+11), Perception 5 (+7), Persuasion 5 (+7, Ranged Combat [Throwing] 3 (+11), Sleight of Hand 6 (+10), Stealth 7 (+12), Technology 7 (+10), Treatment 1 (+4), Vehicles 4 (+8)

ADVANTAGES: Accelerated Acrobatics*, Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll (1), Defensive Strike* (1), Equipment (8), Evasion (1), Grabbing Finesse, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative (1), Luck (Improve Roll) (1), Move-by Action, Power Attack (2) (Bow Staff, Unarmed), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack (4), Redirect, Set-Up (1), Takedown (1), Throwing Mastery (1), Weapon Bind

POWERS:
Batgirl Costume: 18 pts Traits, Removable (-4 pts); 14 pts
Kevlar Weave: Protection 2, Immunity 7 (Critical Hits, Flaw: Limited [Ballistics only], Fire Damage [Limited: Half effect]); 6 pts
Monitors: Feature 1 (Monitors Vital Signs); 1 pt
Mask: Senses 2 (Low Light Vision, Infravision), Commlink (Communication 3 [Statewide/Small Nation, Extra: Subtle, Flaw: Limited to Bat Family]); 11 pts

EQUIPMENT:
(40 pts)
Grapple Gun: (3 pts)
Grappling: Move Object 2 (Flaw: Limited to pulling towards); 2 pts
Swinging: Movement 1 (Swinging); 1 pt
Bo Staff: Bludgeoning Strength-based Damage 2, Reach [5 ft], Collapsible, Double; 5 pts
PDA: Feature 1 (Technology checks involving computers); 1 pt
Utility Belt: (27 pts)
Bat Flash Bang Grenade: Burst Area Affliction 6 (Resisted, Overcome by Fortitude; 1st: Visually and Auditory Impaired, 2nd: Visually and Auditory Disabled, 3rd: Visual and Auditory Unaware, Extra: Burst Area [30 ft radius], Extra Condition); 18 pts
Batarangs: Ranged Bludgeoning Strength-Based Damage 2; 1 pt
Bat Shuriken Shuriken: Ranged Multiattack Piercing Damage 2 (Flaw: Unreliable [5 uses]); 1 pt
Bolo: Ranged Grabbing 3, Flaw: Diminished Range (10/25/50); 1 pt
Taser: Affliction 4 (Resisted by Fortitude; 1st: Dazed, 2nd: Stunned, 3rd: Incapacitated, Extra: Reach 2 [10 ft], Flaw: Unreliable [5 uses]); 1 pt
Smoke Grenade: Cloud Area Concealment 4 (Visual, Extra: Cloud Area [15 ft radius]); 1 pt
Mini-Tracer: Feature 1 (Tracking, 2 Mile range); 1 pt
Rebreather: Immunity 2 (Flaw: Limited -20 Rounds of Oxygen); 1 pt
Handcuffs: Feature 1 (Toughness 9, DC20 Sleight of Hand/Technology) 1 pt
Flashlight: Feature 1 (Illumination); 1 pt

OFFENSE:
Initiative +9
Close Attack +11 [Bo Staff +3; Taser Affliction +4]
Unarmed +13 [Unarmed +1]
Ranged Attack +8
Throwing +11 [Batarangs +3; Bat Shuriken +2, Multiattack]
Special Attack [Flash Bang Affliction +6, Burst Area ]

DEFENSES:
Dodge +11 [DC21] Parry +11 [DC21]
Toughness +5 (+3 without Defensive Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +6

COMPLICATIONS:
Acceptance: Stephanie craves acceptance by the Bat Family, especially Batman.
Daddy Issues: Her father is the Cluemaster, a third rate Gotham villain. She tries to make up for his mistakes.
Hatred: Black Mask for torturing and nearly beating her to death.
Relationships: She is close to Tim Drake-Wayne, Cassandra Cain-Wayne, Barbara Gordon and she idolizes Batman.

Abilities 60 + Skills 46 (92 ranks) + Advantages 31 + Powers 23 + Defenses 13 = 173 / 173

Build Comments: I didn’t really care for Steph much when she first started getting some good run in Robin’s book, but she grew on me over time. So even though Babs and Cass were better Batgirl's overall, Steph is the current Batgirl of Earth-217 with Barbara remaining as Oracle.

She’s a great mook sweeper, but way out of her league any against any big guns. The Penguin’s and Two-Face’s of Gotham are a tall order for her but when she teams up with other members of the Bat-family, she can give them a great boost.

Secret Origins: Stephanie Brown was born the daughter of the Cluemaster, one of Gotham City's third-rate villains. Stephanie's father spent most of her childhood in prison or away from the family. Though he claimed to be "rehabilitated" upon his return to Gotham, Stephanie was furious to discover that he was actually returning to crime without his need to leave clues behind. She decided something needed to be done. Stephanie tailored a costume for herself, and called herself the Spoiler.

The Story so Far: She knew where her father was hiding out, found out his plans, and left clues so that the police and Batman could stop him. Robin (Tim Drake) tracked her down, and she joined in on the capturing of Cluemaster. She also became attracted to Robin, and it annoyed her that he knew her identity but she did not know his.

The two of them ended up working together several times and began an on-and-off relationship. Unfortunately, because he needed to maintain the Batman Family secrecy, Robin was unable to reveal his true identity to Spoiler. At first, she seemed more than happy with this arrangement.
Unfortunately for Stephanie, she found out she was pregnant by an ex-boyfriend who had left Gotham City during the Cataclysm. Tim, in his cover identity Alvin Draper, took Stephanie to Lamaze classes, and the two became even closer. Unfortunately Robin was moved temporarily to Keystone City during the last few months of her pregnancy. However, he returned to her when she was giving birth. With Tim's help, she was able to deal with giving her child up for adoption. Although a painful experience, she felt it best to give her daughter a chance at a better life.

When his father discovered his secret identity, Tim was told to hang up his cape, and he did. He was forced to live a normal life for a time. During one day after school, Stephanie attempted to surprise Tim with a visit. Unfortunately as she arrived, she caught a female classmate of Tim's attempting to put the moves on him. Assuming yet again that Tim was being unfaithful, Stephanie broke off ties with Tim and angrily decided to put her attention elsewhere. Creating a homemade Robin costume, Stephanie snuck into the Batcave and demanded that Batman train her as the new Robin. Despite his past belief that Stephanie was an inept crime fighter, Batman accepted her, put her through several months of intensive training and made her a costume with the same modifications as Tim's. As Robin she patrolled with Batman, and for a time seemed like a capable replacement for Tim. After Stephanie disobeyed Batman's orders (in order to save his life), Batman later fired her and told her that she was done being a hero because he couldn't trust her in the field.

In an effort to prove her worth to Batman, Stephanie stole one of his long-range plans for dealing with the entirety of Gotham's criminal underworld. Since this plan was predicated on the involvement of "Matches Malone", who she did not know was actually one of Batman's alter egos, it quickly spun out of control. The result was a citywide gang war in which Stephanie was captured by the Black Mask, who tortured her to get information about Batman. Although she escaped and made her way to Leslie Thompkins' clinic, she had been severely injured by the villain, and died in a hospital bed as Batman sat beside her.

About a year later, a Spoiler appeared. Although her identity had yet to be revealed, she had blonde hair and knew Tim Drake's secret identity, leading to confusion and anger on his part. When Robin confronted this new spoiler, it was revealed that Stephanie did not die in the above mentioned adventure, but was severely wounded to the point of near-death. Seeing this as a chance for a new life, Stephanie asked Dr. Tompkins to help her fake her death. The two went to Africa, where Stephanie worked as a missionary during her recovery. After recovering, Stephanie returned to the United States and took up her former identity as Spoiler and has resumed her friendship with Drake after announcing her return to her mother. Stephanie also enrolled in the same school with Drake under an assumed name to prevent those criminals who think her already dead to prevent them from resuming their attacks on her in her real name.

Stephanie Brown not only worked beside Cassandra Cain, but also succeeded her as Batgirl. One night, after Bruce Wayne's apparent death, they were fighting a group of thugs; when the fighting ended, Cain simply took off her outfit saying that since Batman was gone she saw no reason to continue wearing the costume. Stephanie took it and began to wear it, saving people as Batgirl. However, everyone noticed that something was a little off about Batgirl. Barbara tried to reason with Stephanie to get her stop being a vigilante, as she still saw Stephanie as an impetuous youth and remembered her role in causing a city-wide gang war and her near-death experience at Black Mask's hands. However, a new type of recreational drug was hitting the streets of Gotham known as "Thrill," which they discover was manufactured by the Scarecrow and Black Mask. Both women find themselves needing each other to stop this drug trade. Stephanie eventually confronts and defeats Scarecrow, which impresses Barbara and shows that she now has the maturity for the responsibility and is capable of facing her fear and failures. She allows her to continue on as Batgirl. Barbara later takes a job as an assistant professor at Stephanie's school in order to continue to keep in contact with her. Barbara also designed Stephanie a costume for her to replace Cassandra's tattered costume.

Characterization: Stephanie is a tenacious young woman, with a passion for crime fighting and natural athletic skill.

Friends and Foes: She remains closest to Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain in the Bat family.

[Thorpocalypse]

We've got the companion piece to our FAMILY AFFAIR SPECIAL that's also kicking off a run of our JOB SQUAD LINE for our Gotham setting!


Still nothing? That's just perfect, Batman... because you see... that's the whole damn point. The beauty of it all. You never did consider every option, did you? When all you needed to do from the beginning... was just follow the clues. - Cluemaster

CLUEMASTER
PL8

OPL: 8; SPL: 4; DPL: 8; FWPL: 6; HP: 1
Real Name: Arthur Brown
Age: 41
Height: 5-11
Weight: 170
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Skin: Fair
Race: Human
Identity: Secret
Alignment: Villain
Status: Active
Occupation: Criminal
Base of Operations: Gotham City, NJ, USA
Team Affiliations: None

ABILITIES: STRENGTH 2, STAMINA 3, AGILITY 4, DEXTERITY 4, FIGHTING 8, INTELLECT 6, AWARENESS 2, PRESENCE 3

SKILLS: Acrobatics 6 (+10), Athletics 5 (+7), Close Combat [Unarmed] 4 (+12), Deception 4 (+7), Expertise [Trivia] 8 (+14), Insight (+2), Intimidation 2 (+5), Investigation 3 (+9) [Contacts, Well-Informed], Perception 5 (+7), Persuasion (+3), Ranged Combat [Throwing] 4 (+10), Stealth 3 (+7), Technology 4 (+10)

ADVANTAGES: Contacts, Eidetic Memory, Equipment (5), Favored Foe (Costumed Adventurers), Languages (2) (French, 4 others, Base: English), Ranged Attack (2), Set-Up (1), Well-Informed

POWERS:
NONE

EQUIPMENT:
(25 pts)
Cluemaster Costume: Protection 2; 2 pts
Pellets: (19 pts)
Pellet Array: 19 pts
Paralyzing Pellets: Ranged Burst Area Affliction 6 (Resisted by Fortitude; 1st: Impaired, 2nd: Immobile, 3rd: Paralyzed, Extra: Burst Area [30 ft radius], Flaw: Diminished Range 2 [15 ft radius; 10/25/50]); 16 pts
Smoke Grenade: Ranged Cloud Area Concealment 4 (Visual, Extra: Attack [Resisted by Dodge], Cloud Area [15 ft radius], Flaw: Diminished Range [10/25/50]); 1 pt
Incendiary Flare Pellets: Ranged Burst Area Affliction 6 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Fortitude; 1st: Visually Impaired, 2nd: Visually Disabled, 3rd: Visual Unaware, Extra: Burst Area [30 ft radius], Flaw: Diminished Range 2 [15 ft radius; 10/25/50]); 1 pt
Explosive Pellets: Ranged Burst Area Ballistic Damage 6 (Extra: Burst Area [30 ft radius], Flaw: Diminished Range 2 [15 ft radius; 10/25/50]); 1 pt

OFFENSE:
Initiative +4
Close Attack +8
Unarmed +12 [Unarmed +2]
Ranged Attack +6
Throwing +10
Special Attack [Explosive Pellets +6, Burst Area; Incendiary Flare Pellets Affliction +6, Burst Area; Paralyzing Pellets Afflictions +6, Burst Area]

DEFENSES:
Dodge +11 [DC21] Parry +10 [DC20]
Toughness +5 (+5 without Defensive Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +6

COMPLICATIONS:
Follow the Clues: Arthur is compelled to leave to clues at the scene of his crimes.
Motivation: Proving his mental superiority over others and gaining money and power in the process.
Relationships: Despite her constant "spoiling" of his plan, he does still love his daughter, Stephanie.
Rivalry: The Riddler doesn't like him as he feels he is a knock-off version of him and he has constant issues with Spoiler and Batman.

Abilities 64 + Skills 24 (48 ranks) + Advantages 14 + Powers 0 + Defenses 16 = 118 / 118

Build Comments: My first real exposure to Cluemaster was in The Batman series where his origins were slighted changed from being a game show host, to young contestant who lost on a trivia game show called Think Thank Thunk and he becomes an insane, obese genius who seeks revenge on the people he blames for rigging his last question. He had a bunch of little people minions, which was kinda cool and I almost added them to my version, but I decided not to for now.

The mainstream Cluemaster was pretty much a Riddler-lite character that actually had a pretty good number of appearances over the years in the Bat books and Suicide Squad. He was mainly famous for being Stephanie Brown’s (Spoiler, Robin, Batgirl) father. He was pretty much forgotten for a while, but his magnum opus came in the Batman: Eternal weekly series for a couple of years back where he was a main player. He and some of the other D listers did a lot of damage, mainly because no one paid that much attention to them and I really liked that angle. We need more of the jobbers jumping up every now and then to score a few wins.

I didn’t have a great grasp on his gear, so I winged it, but The Cluemaster I saw in Batman: Eternal was a strong tactician and pretty good fighter, so I probably went too high with his abilities compared to his overall history. But I certainly didn’t want Steph to be able to beat him straight up, so he gets to at least be better than her.

Secret Origins: Arthur Brown was the host of a celebrity edition of the program benefiting the Zero Year reclamation fund, which included Bruce Wayne as a contestant. In that episode, Arthur Brown grew increasingly frustrated with a particular contestant's stupidity that he blew up on camera, causing scandal for himself. He had been unemployed and broke, angry that the intellectually inferior got rich while he had to scrape by on food stamps. So, he became a thief calling himself the Cluemaster. He had been so sure he was smarter than everyone else that he left clues - and he was never caught until the Batman proved he was smarter by catching men like the Riddler, a villain who didn't leave clues.

The Story so Far: He crossed paths with Batman several times in his career, including after he had taken on his first Robin.

Arthur always managed to escape with his secret identity intact, until the day he returned home and was caught by Batman there, who only let him go without harm due to seeing his young daughter, Stephanie, a family to provide for that Arthur used as his alibi.

During one of Joker's schemes, Arthur came up with the idea of having the smaller time villains band together and wreak havoc while Batman's attention was elsewhere. While he was turned down as foolish, this scheme stuck in his mind.

Characterization: Cluemaster has a lot of gadgets including plasti-glass pellets attached to the front of his uniform. The pellets contain offensive weaponry including: blinding incendiary flares, smoke, incapacitating gas and explosives. He also has above average intelligence and is fairly adaptive.

Friends and Foes: Cluemaster has a lot of allies in the C-D List villain element of Gotham. He and his daughter have a rivalry due to his villainous ways and her heroic stance, but deep down, they still have a love for each other. He longs to take down The Batman.