Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

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Jabroniville
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The Black Lama

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE BLACK LAMA (King Jerald)
Created By:
Mike Friedrich & George Tuska
First Appearance: Iron Man #53 (Dec. 1972)
Role: Living Macguffin
Group Affiliation: Earth-7511's Kingdom of Grand Rapids
PL 8 (97)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Expertise (Business) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment (The Golden Globe- Dimensional Travel to Earth-7751), Ritualist

Powers:
Teleport 10 (20) -- [22]
  • AE: Intangibility 4 (20)
  • AE: "Telepathy" Communication (Mental) 2 (8)
Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +2, Fortitude +2, Will +2

Complications:
Responsibility (King of Grand Rapids, Michigan)- King Jerald tires of the responsibilities of the throne, and wishes to hand them over to another.
Responsibility (Insane)- As King Jerald, he'd likely have AWA 2- madness has taken his wisdom away.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 7 (97)

-This weird little character with his goofy origin (the bored King of Grand Rapids, Michigan, hailing from an Alternate Earth) was oddly the centrepiece of a YEAR-LONG STORY ARC in the Iron Man book under Mike Friedrich (one of those old-school writers that I've scarcely heard of, despite apparently having some long runs). It was interrupted by various delays and fill-in issues, however, and the era is probably most-famous for the odd Iron Man Armor with the NOSE (allegedly created from a misinterpretation of Stan Lee's "He's supposed to have a NOSE, isn't he?" to an overly-flat-against-the-face image of Iron Man's face-mask). Overwhelmed by his responsibilities, Jerald disguised himself as The Black Lama and used his magic skills to come to the main Marvel Earth after being driven insane by some cosmic imbalance. After watching a successor go mad (Iron Man stopped him), the Lama decided that the next one should be a SUPER-VILLAIN.

-Thus, a competition was formed: The War of the Super-Villains was the arc's title, and various bad guys Friedrich had access to (no major guys from other books- it was The Mandarin, The Yellow Claw, The Mad Thinker, M.O.D.O.K. and... Firebrand?) competed for The Golden Globe of Power. Doctor Doom, The Red Skull and Fu Manchu considered the contest "petty" and rejected the Lama's offer. After most of the competitors had defeated each other, Iron Man beat the Mad Thinker & Yellow Claw, only to be beaten himself by Firebrand. However, The Lama's madness disappeared upon returning home with Firebrand in tow, and he & Iron Man put an end to a coup against Princess Susan, Jerald's daughter. Firebrand, along with the agents of the coup, were stopped.

-I would bet actual money that this story was conceived from, and written on, severe amounts of drugs. A weird Mad Mystic Lama making villains fight for like year's worth of stories, only to end in a Shaggy Dog Story that basically renders the whole excercise pointless? Weird, WEIRD stuff. That Friedrich's creative partner for a number of years was the Drug Superfan Jim Starlin does not dissuade me of this notion :). The Black Lama thus disappeared for FORTY YEARS, randomly popping up in 2015 getting Whiplash to kill Iron Man, for the glory of becoming his champion. Iron Man beat Whiplash and resisted the Golden Globe, which now threatened to drive him insane.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Iron Man! MAULER! The Raiders! The Unicorn!)

Post by Ares »

Seeing Abe reminds that, taken as a whole, Tony did have a remarkably well developed supporting cast that, if used all together, would have rivaled Spider-Man. You had Rhodey as pilot and best friend, Pepper as a personal assistant, Happy as chauffeur and other best friend, Miss Abogast as general site manager and secretary, Abe Zimmer as consulting science expert, Scott Lang as additional science expert and occasional helper in superheroing and sneaky stuff, Bethany as love interest and head of security, etc.

I honestly preferred Bethany as Tony's love interest, given she was there to support him in some of his darkest moments. The fact that she went underutilized after such a strong introduction and regular appearance is just a crime. She was honestly a better fit for Tony than Pepper, who was more of your standard "Stan Lee Love Interest. I much rather Pepper and Happy got and stayed married, with Tony having kept Pepper at arm's length due to his heart condition, Iron Man secret and general Stan Lee shenanigans, while Happy was the constant, reliable guy in Pepper's life.
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Pepper Potts

Post by Jabroniville »

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PEPPER POTTS (Virginia Potts, aka Hera, Rescue)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #45 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Hero's Love Interest
Group Affiliations: The Order, The Initiative, Stark Industries, A-Force
PL 3 (54), PL 5 (54) Saves)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Secretary) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 2 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Technology 3 (+6)

Advantages:
None

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +1, Fortitude +2, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Tony Stark)
Relationship (Happy Hogan)- The two were once married.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (54)

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PEPPER POTTS (Virginia Potts, aka Hera, Rescue)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #45 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Hero's Love Interest
Group Affiliations: The Order, The Initiative, Stark Industries, A-Force
PL 9 (134)
STRENGTH
0/11 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4/7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Secretary) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 2 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 2 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Technology 3 (+6)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
Senses 2 (Detect Electromagnetic Fields- Ranged) [2]
"Levitation" Flight 1 (4 mph) [2]

"Rescue Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [80]
Enhanced Strength 11 (22)
Protection 9 (Extras: Impervious 9) (18)
"Turbine Boot Jets" Flight +6 (250 mph) (12)
Immunity 6 (Cold, Heat, Radiation, Pressure, Suffocation 2) (6)
"Armor Sensors" Senses 11 (Extended & Infravision, Extended Hearing, Radar 4, Detect Energy- Ranged, Acute & Accurate) (11)

"JARVIS Tech"
Enhanced Fighting 3 (6)
Enhanced Dodge 4 (4)
Enhanced Parry 1 (1)
Enhanced Advantages 12: Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 5 (7)

"Electromagnetism" Move Object 12 (Flaws: Limited to Metals) (12) -- (13)
  • AE: EM Blast 10 (Flaws: Limited to Metal Targets) (10)
-- (100 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Powersuit Unarmed +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
EM Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +0 (+4 Suit)

Defenses:
"Outside Rescue Armor" Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +1, Fortitude +2, Will +7
"Inside Rescue Armor" Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +10 (+5 Impervious), Fortitude +2, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Tony Stark)
Relationship (Happy Hogan)- The two were once married.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 84 / Defenses: 9 (134)

Pepper- The Token 1960s "Stan Lee's Girlfriend" Character:
-There were about a billion "Peppers" in the old days of comics- a pretty typical Hero's Love Interest; a walking Complication for the hero's Secret Identity. Under Stan, they were mostly the same woman- histrionic, maudlin crybabies who mooned over the aloof superhero, never knowing why he was so unreliable and seemingly careless with her feelings- you had Jane Foster (Thor), Karen Page (Daredevil), Betty Brant (Spider-Man), and Betty Ross (Hulk), plus Pepper for Iron Man. Artist Don Heck based Pepper off of Schultzy from The Bob Cummings Show (I have heard of none of that), but the resemblance was so strong that somebody turned her into a redhead to disguise it. A big part of the early concept of Iron Man tales was that Pepper (who'd been hired from the secretary pool after catching an accounting error of Tony's) was infatuated with Stark, and rejected the clumsy advances of Stark's chauffer/assistant Happy Hogan, who adored her. Tony himself was a bit anti-romance in those days, fearing his inevitable death via the artificial heart (which used to break down and get damaged a lot), but soon came to care for her, dropping his aloof attitude. A Love Triangle formed, but within sixty issues, Pepper had eloped with Happy, eventually leaving Stark Industries!

-This actually happened to a lot of the "early love interests"- either new writers or Stan himself would get sick of the "hysterical woman" characters and replace them. Betty Brant was rapidly pushed into the arms of Ned Leeds, who was closer to her age anyhow- Peter Parker would end up mooning over Gwen Stacy (who was a bit more like the old school women, but certainly LOOKED better). Jane Foster was dropped for a relationship of near-equals with Sif. You know- stuff like that- writers wanted bolder, more exciting women a lot of the time, and so the '60s Girlfriends would just get dumped. It's no accident that most of this happened in the late 1960s, when new writers were taking over much of the line. This would all complicate matters as the Marvel Cinematic Universe would actually use those ancient characters again, necessitating rebirths for the lot of them!

Pepper Moves On:
-So all of these girlfriend characters actually returned, but usually in differing circumstances. Jane mostly disappeared, Betty Ross was on-and-off with Bruce and sometimes was married to another guy, and Betty Brant stuck around as a side-character (but never hooked up with Peter again). Karen Page... had less luck than most. However, Pepper & Happy actually disappear from the Iron Man book when they get married, no longer being part of the overall narrative. They have scarcely ANY appearances for the next few decades- David Michelinie's monster run almost never uses them. They end up becoming recurring characters post-Heroes Reborn. She & Happy turn out to have adopted several children, divorce after she has an affair, then remarry when they return. Happy bites the bullet during the Civil War era, and she becomes a member of Stark's Initiative program, helping out The Order as a "Central Control" kind of character named "Hera".

-She was still a fairly-minor character, but then those Iron Man movies became a thing. And oddly, the Marvel movies ALSO throw in the Token Female Love Interest, but for different reasons- the old comics drew them in for genre conventions. The movies throw them in for DEMOGRAPHICS- wimmins apparently like the romantic subplots, and might be more willing to get dragged to the superhero punchfests if that's a focus as well. And for Pepper Potts, the studio brought in semi-A-Lister-but-without-many-recent-hits Gwyneth Paltrow, playing a smart and fashionable, but still quite girlishly-cute, Pepper. And it WORKED- she's a good actress, and can trade verbal blows with Robert Downey, Jr. (it helps that she's a LOT taller than the guy in real life). Eventually they're treated as "One True Loves" and even marry in the time-skip of Infinity War before Tony's heroic sacrifice!

-And as we've learned before, making someone cool in a MOVIE means that it's soon reflected in the COMICS. Comics Pepper gets injured by Ezekiel Stane, necessitating her gaining a heart-protector-tech thingie like Tony used to have. She therefore gains SUPER-POWERS from magnetized stuff. She soon discovers (now that Tony is disgraced following Secret Invasion) a suit of armor he'd left for her, and she becomes the super-heroine "Rescue". This is hilariously NEVER MENTIONED in 99% of the rest of the Marvel books, as she ONLY seems to do stuff in Tony's book (compare that to the Young Avengers or Agents of Atlas, who crossed over into friggin' EVERYTHING at various points). She and Tony finally hook up for real around this point, but split up when his mind is "rebooted" to erase his memory of the past few years (including Civil War). She stopped being Rescue when her JARVIS-tech broke down, but has recently reappeared wearing the Rescue armor again. A fiancee turned into a supervillain temporarily, ending THAT, and she's now just kind of... one of those random side characters helping out others, like Tony or Riri Williams once she showed up. So like she & Tony became a "thing" inspired by the damn movies, yet only for a second before that went sideways and now she's just another aimless spinoff hero. COMICS.

Pepper's Capabilities:
-Pepper at her base is a slightly-better-than-normal Bystander, thanks to some experience as Rescue. The suit, however, greatly enhances her capabilities, making her a much faster, more-skilled fighter. Her Blast & TK powers are REALLY hampered by requiring that her opponents have lots of metal on them... except of course she's an IRON MAN supporting character, which means that most of her enemies will probably be Powersuit Guys.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Iron Man! MAULER! The Raiders! The Unicorn!)

Post by Jack of Spades »

I don't believe Pepper's actually limited to metals; IIRC, she's blasted the Sandman in the past. At least in the early days, the same "electromagnetism" descriptor was attached to repulsors; I think Pepper's just using repulsor tech.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Iron Man! MAULER! The Raiders! The Unicorn!)

Post by Jack of Spades »

And I'm with you on Bethany Cabe, Ares. One of my favorite parts of Matt Fraction's run was him bringing back Mrs. Arbogast and Bethany as part of Stark Resilient; the dynamic between Bethany and Pepper was fun. And Mrs. A. monetized hippies!
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Jabroniville
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Happy Hogan

Post by Jabroniville »

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HAPPY HOGAN (Harold Joseph Hogan)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Don Heck
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #45 (Sept. 1963)
Role: Big Dumb Buddy
Group Affiliations: Stark Industries
PL 5 (47)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+5)
Expertise (Assistant) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+2)
Vehicles 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +4, Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Involuntary Transformation (The Freak)- Happy has, on numerous occasions, been turned into the superstrong "Freak" when exposed to cobalt rays.
Relationship (Pepper Potts)- At first, he had a one-sided crush on her. Eventually, they married, then divorced, then married again.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (47)

-A big part of the early Iron Man adventures was the Love Triangle between Tony, Pepper, and Happy Hogan. Happy was a dumb palooka of a Boxer who got hired as Tony's chauffer & assistant when the man saved his life. He also becomes one of the first to discover Tony's secret identity, way back in 1965. Humorously, Happy turned into a goddamn super-powered monster named the Freak TWICE in those early years, including an arc that lasted a few months- stuff that gets completely ignored these days. In 1967, he and Pepper marry, and soon leave the Iron Man books, as things shift around. Eventually, they would return, divorce (Pepper cheated on him), then REMARRY, going through the "Long-Lost Supporting Characters Blues". Happy turns out to be a confidante of Tony's by this point, and someone he genuinely respects, dropping the old "Dumb Guy" persona. Eventually, he is killed fighting The Spymaster after Civil War, with Tony personally taking him off of life support (this was implied more than shown, but Happy is one of the faces that an increasingly-unstable Stark sees giving him occasional information at points when he deliberately messed with his sanity so Norman Osborn couldn't mine his brain for classified information).

-Happy is sort of a standard-issue Bystander, but with some leftover talents from his boxing career.
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Eddie March

Post by Jabroniville »

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EDDIE MARCH
Created By:
Archie Goodwin & George Tuska
First Appearance: Iron Man #21 (Jan. 1970- March), Iron Man #67 (Dec. 1973- The Freak)
Role: The First Black Iron Man
Group Affiliations: None
PL 9 (143)
STRENGTH
3/10 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 2 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defenses, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Iron Man Armor- 1970s Version" (Flaws: Removable) (Feats: Restricted 2- Only Tony or Eddie) [80]
Enhanced Strength 7 (14)
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 9) (16)
Immunity 6 (Cold, Heat, Radiation, Pressure, Suffocation 2) (6)
"Boot Rockets" Flight 9 (1,000 mph) (18)

"Targetting & Environmental Sensors"
Enhanced Advantages 6: Extraordinary Effort, Improved Aim, Ranged Attack 3, Withstand Damage (6)
"Armor Sensors" Senses 11 (Extended & Infravision, Extended Hearing, Radar 4, Detect Energy- Ranged, Acute & Accurate) (11)

"Repulsor Rays" Blast 10 (Feats: Split, Improved Critical, Variable Energy Descriptor, Penetrating 4) (27) -- (29)
  • AE: "Repulsor Stun" Affliction 10 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Split) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (31)
-- (98 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Armored Strength +8 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Repulsor Rays +7 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Repulsor Stun +7 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+10 Iron Man Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Disabled (Injury-Prone)- Eddie had to retire due to a blood clot, and needs frequent medical interventions. Every superhero fight he gets into also leaves him crippled.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 80 / Defenses: 7 (143)

-A forgotten side character that was the second Iron Man AND the second "Freak" (Happy Hogan was the first), Eddie March debuted in 1970 as a successful black boxer from a poor neighborhood. He was a sparring partner and friend of Happy Hogan's in that era where a lot of heroes were meeting "Black Friends" (Spider-Man, Cap and others were doing this, too, as the media in general opened up to black characters)- his career had ended due to a blood clot, and medical bills quickly mounted. He was given a job at Stark Industries, and Tony soon trusted him enough to reveal his secret identity as Iron Man! Tony's heart strain was getting to him, and he felt he might have to step down as the Armored Avenger, and so Eddie, feeling that if he was going to die, it might as well be as a hero, offered to take his place. However, despite weeks of training, Eddie was quickly badly-injured in taking on Crimson Dynamo. Tony took care of his medical bills and offered him a spare suit of armor as thanks. So we were back to basics with Tony, naturally.

-Eddie later helped Iron Man against the villainous Doctor Spectrum- Tony left to make repairs, and Eddie was quickly overwhelmed and taken over by the bad guy, who used "Iron Man" to attack Thor. Eddie was hurt even further by THIS fight, and Tony finally returned to smash Spectrum's Power Prism and save the day. Tony attempted to save Eddie via his old "Enervation Intensifier Ray", but the results turned him into The Freak, like had happened to Happy. Eddie was restored to normal, then asked Tony to help him find his injured brother Marty in Vietnam- Marty was located in a hidden city and chose to stay there. Years later, Eddie would be remembered by James Rhodes, who got him to put on a spare suit and help against Ultimo- Eddie was injured yet again, but put up a valiant effort.

-Okay, this is just weird, lol- there's some random background character who became Iron Man, but oh no he wasn't that good and got hurt every single time he put on the suit? It's STRANGE! Like that there was a "Black Iron Man" before Rhodey is just unexpected.

-Eddie is actually a great fighter naturally (a former champion boxer!), but ill-equipped as Iron Man, sporting Blasts too low in PL for his tier. He's still PL 9 thanks to the boosts the suit offers (I can't imagine a boxer in Iron Man's gear being any worse than that, to be honest), despite his lack of experience.
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The Freak

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE FREAK (Happy Hogan or Eddie March)
Created By:
Stan Lee & Gene Colan
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #74 (April 1966)
Role: Super-Powered Evil Version
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (48)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS -2 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Intimidation 8 (+5)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +4

Complications:
Disabled (Mute)- The Freak is essentially a mindless beast.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (48)

-Most comics just ignore the dumb "Freak" story, and for good reason- when Happy Hogan was injured and in need of an "Enervation Intensifier Ray" (god I love Stan Lee, lol), the results saved his life, but transformed him into the bald-headed, muscular Freak! The Freak went all "King Kong" and wandered around aimlessly. Iron Man ran out of suit power and collapsed while chasing him (not wanting to hurt his friend), and Pepper Potts came across the scene, naturally fainting at the sight of the monster (oh, Stan). The Freak then picked her up and started carrying her around like Kong, but dropped her when the police opened fire on him (GUN SAFETY, YOU GUYS!). Iron Man recovered and turned the Enervation Ray on him again, turning his own armor red-hot, but finally working on Happy and turning him back to normal in what is apparently the cap-off to the previous issue.

-Two years later, new writer Archie Goodwin had Happy exposed to cobalt rays while working on the Iron Man armor with Tony, transforming him back into The Freak. Pepper naturally fainted AGAIN, and the Freak now went "Full Kong" and climbed up a building carrying her, but Iron Man tricked him into a car and pumped it full of anesthetic gas, and drained the radiation off of Happy, turning him back to normal again. Two years later, Archie wrote The Collector kidnapping Happy in order to add The Freak to his collection- Iron Man made a deal with him to give him a "Solar Sword of Val-Larr" in exchange for Happy, but the Collector reneged on the deal and tried to capture all of them- Iron Man defeated him and took the Sword back.

-In 1974, shortly after Eddie March temporarily took over as Iron Man, writer Mike Friedrich turned HIM into The Freak via the same Enervation Ray when Eddie was injured. The cops open fire on him and Tony manages to KO him with some "nerve punches", because it's the '70s now and those work. And then finally, two years later, Len Wein & Roger Slifer write a story where Tony uses the Ray on Happy AGAIN, thinking he's fixed the issues, but he just turns back into The Freak. Happy/Freak then walked into a room storing cobalt materials (JESUS!) and used those to BOOST his power, making him not only stronger, but let him shoot Cobalt Rays, too. He nearly exploded from the power, but burned out Iron Man's armor, fusing his circuits via a bearhug powered by energy. Tony had to escape and build his first polarized suit of armor, returning to fight again- Tony manages to build a tiny Enervator that trains Happy of energy, changing him back. And finally, this 1976 story is the last we ever see of the goofy-ass Freak, as the '80s crew never uses him and others just forget about it.

-The Freak is a basic PL 8 brawler who can hang with '60s Iron Man, but later boosts up to PL 10-ish and has probably an Aura and a +10 Blast. Otherwise he's just a big, dumb brute.
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Re: Pepper Potts

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 4:16 pm Artist Don Heck based Pepper off of Schultzy from The Bob Cummings Show (I have heard of none of that), but the resemblance was so strong that somebody turned her into a redhead to disguise it.
Schultzy? Pepper was based on Ann B. Davis??? Pepper looked like a younger version of Alice from "The Brady Bunch"???? Dafuq?
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Unicorn! Pepper Potts! Happy Hogan! The First Black Iron Man!)

Post by Davies »

Ann B. Davis in the early 1960s.

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I can see the resemblance.

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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Unicorn! Pepper Potts! Happy Hogan! The First Black Iron Man!)

Post by Ken »

Davies wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:35 pm Ann B. Davis in the early 1960s.

Image

I can see the resemblance.

Image
Cool. Thank you.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Unicorn! Pepper Potts! Happy Hogan! The First Black Iron Man!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Yeah, I didn’t realize the redesign went THAT extensive.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Unicorn! Pepper Potts! Happy Hogan! The First Black Iron Man!)

Post by Ares »

I wonder if Happy was particularly inspired by Doc Savage aid Renny Renwick, an engineer who was also a former boxer. Outside of his skills and association with Doc Savage, Renny was known for 3 things:

1) His size, especially the size of his hands. Renny was a big guy, and his hands in particular were oversized and powerful. He had a habit of punching down doors that were in his way, and when he knocked his knuckles together it sounded like two bricks being slammed against each other.

2) His long face had a weird quirk where the less happy he looked, the happier he was, and vice versa. So him smiling meant he was very unhappy. Sort of like how "Happy " rarely smiled.

3) His pet phrase of "Holy Cow!", which he often said so loud that nearby plants would bob up and down from the sound waves.
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Bambi Arbogast

Post by Jabroniville »

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BAMBINA "BAMBI" ARBOGAST
Created By:
David Michelinie & John Byrne
First Appearance: Iron Man #118 (Jan. 1979)
Role: The Secretary

-Debuting in the same issue as James Rhodes, as new writer David Michelinie appeared to want to expand the core cast around Tony promptly, Bambi was a middle-aged woman and Tony's secretary. She immediately impressed Tony when she arrived for an interview, then appeared completely un-phased when Iron Man appearerd battling the supervillain Whirlwind- Bambi answered phone calls, protected items in Tony's office, and even provided the distraction that let Iron Man win- Tony promptly hired her. Bambi had been an administrative clerk in the army, then worked for the Department of Defense, so David seemed to want to make her "legit", too- like actually detailing that a full admin assistant job is a serious career and not just something a pretty young girl does before she gets married.

-Bambi actually appears in like a hundred comics, seemingly just as a backgrounder, as I can't find any serious stories featuring her, but she even outlasts the 1996 revamping of the concept and Tony's rebirth before disappearing following Kurt Busiek's run. She reappears in modern times as a millionaire investor who joins Tony's new company.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Bethany Cabe

Post by Jabroniville »

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BETHANY CABE
Created By:
David Michelinie & Bob Layton
First Appearance: Iron Man #117 (Dec. 1978)
Role: Sexy Bodyguard
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (116)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+13)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Bodyguard/Security) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Technology 2 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+6)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Equipment 2 (Pistol), Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Seize Initiative, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Pistol +10 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Alex Von Tilburg)- Bethany's husband was an addict who was thought-dead. When he turns up alive, she leaves Stark to be with him.
Relationship (Tony Stark)- They've entered into a relationship on two separate occasions- her husband's return ended the first one, and Tony's betrayal/death (in The Crossing) ended the second.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 12 (116)

Bethany Cabe- Michelinie's "Best Girl"?:
-Bethany Cabe was an interesting mid-tier Stark Girlfriend- unlike most, she could handle herself in a fight, and was a sexy bodyguard, as she eventually revealed to Tony. She also helped him through his first bout of alcoholism, and even FIGURED OUT HIS SECRET IDENTITY (making her smarter than Lois Lane, at the very least). She's also kicked Madame Masque & Whiplash's asses before. She has left and rejoined the Iron Man book numerous times without leaving much of a mark on the rest of the Marvel Universe, but she was clearly the top-tier lady long-running creators David Michelinie & Bob Layton had created.

-Bethany debuted as a respected bodyguard to high-level individuals- diplomats, royals, and socialites. She was a tough-talking woman who kept others at an arm's length, not wanting to be emotionally dependent on another. Despite this, she & Stark started a relationship soon after Stark hired her as part of his security team. She was the one who oversaw a lot of his drinking problem, fearing it'd take him like it took her late husband. She had left the man, feeling like a trophy wife he'd used to impress his diplomatic colleagues, and tiring of his own addiction (to pills). When he "died" in a car crash, she felt guilty for abandoning him, but decided to never depend on anyone else.

-Eventually, she helped Tony overcome his dependence, but also disliked Iron Man, always being "away" when her boss needed him. But then she discovered the truth- that her boss and lover WAS Iron Man! Around the same time, Bethany's thought-dead husband was revealed to have been alive the whole time, and she quickly abandoned Tony. She entered the East German prison where her husband had secretly been held (she'd gotten herself arrested), and when Tony arrived to free her, she told him to change into Iron Man and save both she and her husband. The man was now comatose, filling Cabe with guilt. She chose to stay with him- he recovered, but soon went back to the pills, losing his career. She sought out Stark's help when her husband couldn't break his dependence, but was abducted by Obadiah Stane's organization, who switched her mind with Madame Masque's. Masque, in Cabe's body, tried to assassinate Tony Stark, but Cabe-in-Masque's body thwarted the attempted, and Stark used the mind-switching machine to reverse things.

Cabe Leaves the Books:
-Cabe had fallen back in love with Stark by this point, but felt obligated to return to her husband, but eventually chose to divorce him... only to find he'd been murdered by drug dealers. She had them arrested, then disappeared from Tony's life. Years later, she was recruited by James Rhodes alongside numerous other Stark allies to wear Iron Man suits against the threat of Ultimo. Tony, impressed, hired her back on as head of security. Their romance seemed to rekindle, but then The Crossing happened, Stark "died" and was replaced by a teen version. It was many, many years later when she turned up again following Secret Invasion, working as tactical support to Rhodes, then being a security head at various Stark companies- she was temporarily controlled by The Controller, but overcame it, and was later fired by Arno Stark, Tony's adoptive brother, when he took over Tony's companies. More-recent issues have featured her and Pepper Potts being super-catty with each other, trying to undermine the other's position, but she later helped Pepper and others in a scheme involving Arno & Bain.

Bethany's Capabilities:
-Bethany is way above your usual "Hero's Girlfriend" character, being a kick-ass martial artist in her own right, who can beat up actual super-villains (Jobbers, but still).
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