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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Brothers Grimm! Tatterdemalion! Dansen Macabre!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Wait, was this a Shooter-era book? Because "I can't do it. I must. I can't. I can!" sounds vaguely like an accusation John Byrne made that Shooter once insisted that every single comic one month had to have an "I can't... and yet I must!" moment in it.

Though that's pretty funny- a murderer goes nuts and leaves his weapon, so a regular person can just ice him with it.
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Davies
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Brothers Grimm! Tatterdemalion! Dansen Macabre!)

Post by Davies »

Yep, that magazine came out in 1981, towards the start of the Shooter era.
Last edited by Davies on Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sidney369
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Brothers Grimm! Tatterdemalion! Dansen Macabre!)

Post by Sidney369 »

KorokoMystia wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 5:47 am And despite him dying in that issue, this Hangman still managed to appear as one of the characters captured by the Locksmith in Spider-Woman #50.
Although that was explained by saying the Bizarre Adventures story took place after that.
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Jabroniville
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Runaways

Post by Jabroniville »

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RUNAWAYS:

-One of the most notable Cult Hits in comics in the past two decades was Runaways. Initially created by Brian K. Vaughan to be a 6-issue Limited Series meant to appeal to younger audiences and manga fans (it was for Marvel's failed Tsunami line), it's unexpected popularity saw it become an ongoing. However, it was cancelled with the eighteenth issue due to falling sales. That would've been the end of it, but the "Cult Hit" thing took over, and soon the Trades started doing REALLY well, and so the book was revived only a handful of months later! The book actually has a huge amount of stuff that would only become somewhat common in comics later, making it seem very influential- "non-standard body types" (the overweight Gert was then a stand-out, but nowadays it seems nearly every book has a fat female friend in it), a multiracial cast, a sexual minority or two, etc. This is, in fact, a big part of what made the series a "Cult Hit" in the first place. That and it kind of captures that "Us against the World" aspect of adolescence- it definitely knew its audience.

The core of the series' concept is that six kids meet up at an annual meeting for their parents- barely getting along, they nonetheless uncover a deadly secret: their parents are actually "The Pride", a gang of evil super-villains that've been ruling Los Angeles for decades! And they've made a deal with some evil demons in order to do so- six of them will be allowed to survive the ensuing holocaust that the Gibborim- a trio of huge demon-things- will create! The Pride eventually decide that their six children will be allowed to survive in their place. Most of the kids have inherited powers and abilities thanks to their parents' origins- The Pride is made up of various couples- ordinary human Crimebosses, Scientific Geniuses, Aliens, Mutants and Mages. However, the kids are disgusted and horrified to see their parents committing human sacrifice, and so run away from home.

With the Pride controlling the police force, the kids (soon called the "Runaways") go off on their own, refusing help from anyone. It doesn't help that superheroes Cloak & Dagger end up being manipulated into fighting the kids, which sets off a bit of a tendency for super-heroes to be treated as arrogant know-it-alls by the kids, who are IMMEDIATELY volatile and controntational to anyone older than sixteen. The group is multi-ethnic and tends to look a bit... different from the typical Comic Book Superhero team. First off, nobody wears costumes. Most are called by their real names. One girl is supposed to be fat (drawn as... basically a normal build, but in unflattering clothes). One is a young child. And naturally, since it's a Teen Superhero Team created after 2001, at LEAST one member of the team must be a homosexual. That's like, absolute law these days.

Vaughan left the book after issue #24 of the second volume, and was replaced by Joss Whedon of all people for six more. Eventually, a number of other talents (some pretty decent names) took over, but the book's sales eventually fell enough that 2009 saw the end of the series.

The book's legacy is pretty small, as few of the characters mattered much outside the book. Molly Hayes kind of became a Squirrel Girl-like meme for being an "Unexpected Bad-Ass". But it wasn't until 2015 that we've seen a new semblance of the characters, with a new Runaways series featuring a disparate group (Bucky Barnes? Cloak? Skaar?) alongside Molly. Nico Minoru showed up in A-Force, as well as her & Chase being stuck in Avengers Arena and Undercover. Nonetheless, the book maintains somewhat of a loyal fanbase- reasoning by fans includes the diversity of the line-up (an Asian girl AND a fat girl?!?), the largely-female cast, and a lack of Fanservicey tropes. Incredibly, it got a TV SERIES in 2017... but on Hulu only, which meant that I've never seen so much as a clip of it, and the characters remain horrendously obscure. Like, the show lasted for three seasons and got 33 episodes, but it feels like it might as well have never existed. The show led to a revival of the series in 2017, which I've never read- it lasted 38 issues.

My builds were done in 2015, which means that the show & new series took place after, so I'll actually have some new stuff to talk about, hopefully.

---

The Negatives:

-A bunch of things annoyed me about the series straight-away (I was slow to start reading any of it): I think Child Superhero books are dumb- I absolutely cannot get into Power Pack, and the whole "Molly Hayes" thing annoyed me (I was under the impression the rest of the team was super-young, too, but it turned out I was wrong). I think superhero books that drop the costumes are dumb and pretentious, as if they're "too good" for that sort of thing (if that was the POINT of the book, to make fun of that mindset, then I'd have had no problem with it). But oddly, my biggest Pet Peeve when I read the first issue was that their parents were NOBODIES- just some nameless background guys! I was actually hoping for their parents to be a group of recognizable, legitimate Super-Villains. I mean, I hate the whole "Undiscovered Children" thing with SUPER-HEROES, but it's completely understandable that Villains could have some condom-failures running around, even if (ESPECIALLY if) we'd never seen them before! And if they're old enough, you don't have to do the stupid "they were super-aged in a lab" thing.

And when I read the issue where they absolutely DEMOLISHED The Wrecking Crew? I was basically like "oh, f*ck this book." Like... I don't care that the Crew LOST, right? They're the WRECKING CREW. They're huge, huge Jobbers. Jobbing is what they DO- it's like a rite of passage for a team of super-heroes to skoosh the Crew. But... this team just completely annihilates them. The Deinonychus wipes the floor with Thunderball, Magic Chick takes out The Wrecker in one second, and the others go down just as quickly- even with the Crew's powers split five ways instead of four, that was ludicrous.

And the fact that the kids keep demolishing OTHER established characters like that just makes it even worse- they embarrass heroes like Cloak & Dagger, one-shot Spider-Man (with Sleep Gas, sure, but still...), and Molly knocks Wolverine out of a building with a single punch. "Excelsior!", a team made up of failed Teen Heroes (including Darkhawk, Ricochet, Turbo & Chamber), starts trying to convince the kids to give up super-heroics, but end up looking like a bunch of incompetent idiots (and goes against a lot of their existing characterization, to the point where later stories try to just gloss this all over). A huge amount of the book is the team ROFL-stomping established characters. It's actually weird to me that a FAN of any of Marvel's characters would like this series, as it's so relentlessly-devoted to its heroes being humiliated.

And the kids are so frickin' CONFRONTATIONAL about everything! I understand the sentiment- it's a "Kids' P.O.V." version of everything, where they're the victims and they're acting out teenage rebellion against the world- it's essentially a comic book version of all those '80s Teen Movies we all watched back in the day- they're pulling a Ferris Bueller or The Wizard on these guys. But those movies usually use uncool, loudmouthed, arrogant adults as victims- in Runaways, the targets are actual Marvel super-heroes, who are taken seriously in other books. The Runaways basically act like giant pains in the ass to EVERYONE AROUND THEM, and never, ever receive their comeuppance for being such little shits. It feels like something a kid creates when he hates the world (several characters are observed stating that all adults are terrible)... except Vaughan is an adult.

So essentially, it's like an entire team of Moondragons. Or basically, that the poor GM wants to integrate them into his great "Homebrew World", but the players are easily-bored griefers who instead just attack absolutely every P.C. they come across. I really, really want every character to suffer a horrible demise.

What's funny is that the book has this extremely-vocal Doom Patrol Fanbase about it- when I bashed the characters and the Wrecking Crew fight, people got up in arms on a couple sites. When I told a friend about this, he immediately went "OH MY GOD I F*CKING HATE THE RUNAWAYS!!!" I didn't even realize he'd heard of them, but apparently in all the comics HE'S read, they're depicted as a bunch of smart-assed, confrontational loudmouths, too! It's to the point where I felt no sadness whatsoever when any of the cast-members bite it. And given that this is Brian K. Vaughan, the man who specializes in making me fall in love with a character immediately before he writes a bullet into their brain (Saga has done this THREE TIMES to me already; Y The Last Man is like an entire comic devoted to it), that's a bit weird.

Other Weird Stuff:
* There's some other weird stuff, too- Xavin is introduced, given this monster of a backstory, and Karolina just RUNS OFF WITH HER with barely a thought. It feels like mountains of backstory used on something that... doesn't get treated like it's a big deal. Stuff even happens OFF-PANEL, too!

* Nico Minoru in particular is ridiculously-overpowered, to the point of wrecking the drama. She has a "win fights instantly" super-weapon and it's remarkably poor storytelling.

* I find the whole overall plotline with The Gibborim to be rather weak, as well- the beings themselves have no personalities whatsoever, the whole "sacrifice one soul to us every year" thing is ridiculously-small-time, and they also LOOK stupid!

* And for all their importance to the overall plot, the Pride aren't really well-developed or visually-interesting characters aside from Geoffrey Wilder. There's some good backstory with Chase's abusive parents as well, but for the most part, the Pride are non-entity characters who barely matter aside from being a group of characters with boring designs. Their individual characteristics are barely-shown, as is any kind of interplay between them- basically, everyone but Mr. Wilder & Mr. Stein are given zero personality aside from "Evil Douchebag."

* Adrian Alphona's art is also kind of weird- it's this combination of being realistic but oddly-deformed, giving the characters an Uncanny Valley effect (particularly the exaggerated mouths with all the visible gums).

Parts of this story being in-continuity with the rest of the Marvel Universe are odd as well- Vaughan wanted a book unrestrained by it, but I can't help but think that it would've been better to make it an Elseworlds-type Alternate Universe kind of thing. Hell... there's a pair of powerful Wizards that Doctor Strange has apparently never met, the West Coast is run by ganglords that no superhero has ever heard of (despite NUMEROUS California-based heroes), and the Gibborim are apparently super-powerful, despite Marvel already having like fifty characters who do the same thing.

The Positives:

HOWEVER...

Despite all the early annoyance, and various things in assorted issues I read, the vocal fanbase of the book, and the fact that Vaughan's Y The Last Man was a great read (HARDCORE depressing ending, though- almost made me never want to re-read it), and Saga is one of the best books currently going (Prince Robot IV is THE BEST), made me actually sit down and "Byrne Steal" the first collection at the local Chapters, and eventually the second. And really, it wasn't BAD. Various things still annoyed me, but it's a classic mediocre read- not too bad, not too good. I like the various personalities on the team, and how they play with some of the old archetypes (the Dumb Jock is actually a bit of a bad seed and the abused son of GENIUSES; The Chubby Girl is kind of a bitch; The Everyman has a dark secret). Karolina being a lesbian was SUPER-OBVIOUS but rather neatly-done. Gert was a pretty-realistic character, in that OF COURSE the chunky one would be a snarky "Daria" about everything.

The entire concept is classic, and SO, SO EIGHTIES- if it wasn't so bloody and doom & gloom with the Human Sacrifice, this could have easily been The Goonies, with the whole "Runaway Kids Who Hate Adults" thing. I mean, the notion that these kids would be all uppity around glorified Truant Officers and other authority figures was very much drawn from stuff like The Wizard and Ferris Bueller's Day Off... it's just too bad that the series had to use Marvel's active heroes to do it. Ultimately, it seems very clear to me that this whold thing would have been better in a vacuum- the Pride wouldn't have been so dumb, the Gibborim more impactful, etc.

Overall:
It's solidly-written, but the characters are so freakin' annoying that I find myself wishing torturous demises on each and every one of them. I suppose I should give Vaughan props for so-accurately recreating teenagers :).
Jabroniville
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The Cast

Post by Jabroniville »

The Cast:
Alex Wilder- Ordinary kid with no powers. The son of Crimebosses.
Chase Stein- Ordinary kid with no powers. The son of Super-Geniuses.
Gertrude Yorkes- Sorta-chunky girl. Know-it-all and bitter. Linked to Old Lace, a super-powered Deinonychus. The daughter of Time Travelers.
Molly Hayes- A walking meme- a little girl with a silly hat. Acts immature, but is incredibly-strong. The daughter of Mutants.
Karolina Dean- A pretty, flying alien with a multi-colored Blast. Totally a lesbian. The daughter of Aliens.
Nico Minoru- Wields an all-powerful Staff that can literally do anything so long as she's bleeding. The daugther of Mages.

Later, the team adds:
Xavin- The only nice Skrull in the entire universe (except for the other fifty). Basically a Mini-Super-Skrull. Switches gender to be with Karolina.
Victor Mancha- Cyborg "son" of Ultron. Magnetic powers. A smarty-pants know-it-all, and the team doesn't entirely trust him (save Gert, who's kind of into him).
Karla Prast- Plant-Controller from the past.

THE PRIDE:
I'll also be statting their D-Bag parents. The Steins are Super-Geniuses, the Hayeses are Telepathic Mutants, the Minorus are Dark Wizards, the Deans are Aliens, the Yorkeses are Time Travellers/Gadgeteers, and the Wilders are Criminal Masterminds.

Their origin: the Gibborim appeared before a collection of adults with secrets (see above), saying that they'd ruled over the world when it was a utopia- they promised the assembled that six of them would be allowed to live on should the Pride assist the Gibborim in wiping out the present Earth, forming a NEW utopia. The Pride's abilities and wealth were enhanced to enable them to gain power, so long as they offered the Gibborim one sacrifice per year, for twenty-five years. Once Janet Stein becomes pregnant, the Pride plan on giving up their six spots to their children.

However, when the kids discover the Pride's secret and run off, the Pride turn on them, and begin hunting them. And it turns out that the Deans and Hayeses have been plotting to murder the others and attain the six spots in paradise for themselves and their children. Eventually, everything is uncovered (Alex Wilder had spotted the conspirators doing their conspiring). The Pride are finally killed as the Gibborim turn on them for failing to offer up the soul-sacrifice.

The Pride are odd in that they're supposedly SUPER-dangerous, evil and powerful, but are shown in-story to be rather pathetic Jobbers, largely able to be handled by their strictly JV-League children.
Sidney369
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Tatterdemalion! Dansen Macabre! Runaways!)

Post by Sidney369 »

Gib, the big green guy in the first picture, joined the team in the latest series. He is one of the spawn of the Gibborim.

Also, the new series revealed that Molly and her parents were genetically altered by Molly's maternal grandmother and were not mutants. This was probably done to match the series up with the Hulu product and part of Disney's effort to annihilate the X-Men in the Marvel Universe due to Fox having the rights at the time. That has been ignored since then as Now Disney has the rights back, and Molly was confirmed to be a mutant in one of the final storylines involving Wolverine and Pixie (who didn't drag her to Mutants Above All Island like they would have done if it had of been a X-Men title).
Always ask before you use someone's Original Character.
Never ever use them without permission. Only Villains do that.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Tatterdemalion! Dansen Macabre! Runaways!)

Post by Shock »

I really liked Runaways when I read it. But it's clearly something that works a lot better in its own universe instead of crammed into Marvel's. They just don't fit in. The idea that there's a crime syndicate (involving 12 people!) that runs LA behind the scenes for more than a decade and nobody ever heard of them is just silly.

Also, everything involving the Runaways that hasn't involved Vaughn has been straight up awful.
Jabroniville
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Alex Wilder

Post by Jabroniville »

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ALEX WILDER
Created By:
Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona
First Appearance: The Runaways #1 (July 2003)
Role: The Normal Guy, The Secret Villain
Horrible Fate I Wish Upon This Character: Forced to become the new minority replacement for The Atom.
Group Affiliations: The Runaways
PL 3 (47)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+2)
Deception 6 (+8)
Expertise (Current Events) 4 (+6)
Perception 1 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+4)
Technology 1 (+3)

Advantages:
Inspire, Leadership

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

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +1, Fortitude +1, Will +5

Complications:
Secret (The Mole)- Alex was secretly the "Mole" in The Runaways, giving information to The Pride. He learned a full year ago that his parents were super-villains, and wants to join them.
Relationship (The Wilders- Parents)- Alex looks up to his parents, and feels he's never earned their respect (his father does not support Alex's obsession with super-heroes).
Relationship (Nico Minoru)- Alex never thought much of Nico, but seeing her as a Sexy Goth changed his mind. The two formed the beginning of a relationship, but things soon fell apart thanks to the Complication above.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (47)

-Alex Wilder is initially the main character of Runaways- a geeky-looking black teen with no powers, who nonetheless becomes the axis by which the rest of the team turns. He discovers a secret passageway that he soon leads the rest of the kids down, during one of those "Annual Get-Togethers" their parents do, at which point they discover that- *gasp*! Their parents are SUPER-VILLAINS! Alex runs off with the rest of the kids, helps turn them into vigilantes, and even grows closer with the Sexy Goth Nico Minoru...

-However, there's a Big Reveal at the end of the first arc- Alex in fact has known for a YEAR that his parents were evil, and had gone into their inner sanctum to discover all their secrets! When he was leading the Runaways around, he was leading them to where HE wanted them to be (hence why they "just happened" to come across Old Lace in the second issue)! He'd even discovered that some of the Pride had planned on betraying the others, and his Master Plan was to enable his own parents to kill the traitors. He reveals all this by betraying the Runaways and taking them down, especially when Nico refuses to go along with his plan- when the situation falls apart, Alex bravely takes full responsibility for the Gibborim's sacrifice being wasted, and is incinerated by the creatures.

-Alex actually reappears later on, floating around a white limbo-like dimension with The Gibborim, aiding the team in order to make penance for his evil deeds. He is finally resurrected by Daimon Hellstrom to guide Nico through her increasing Dark Magic. He eventually joins the Young Masters, but later works solo in Power Man & Iron Fist, where the heroes stop his attempt at creating another Pride and erasing villains' criminal records. He's stated repeatedly that his evil actions are to ensure his and his family's survival in the face of global armageddon, and includes Nico's in this as well.

-Alex is no physical powerhouse (in the finale of the first part of the series, he has to grab weapons from the other kids in order to do ANYTHING), but he's a good planner with a lot of advanced information (having read all of The Pride's history and their plans). Essentially, in an RPG, he's the guy with the player who wanted to "Role Play" instead of hit stuff- despite his low stats, he's always got the plan for victory.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Tatterdemalion! Dansen Macabre! Runaways!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Sidney369 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:58 pm Gib, the big green guy in the first picture, joined the team in the latest series. He is one of the spawn of the Gibborim.
Ah, I was wondering who that was. He didn't appear on my overall list and I didn't see him at all until today when I looked for pics!
Also, the new series revealed that Molly and her parents were genetically altered by Molly's maternal grandmother and were not mutants. This was probably done to match the series up with the Hulu product and part of Disney's effort to annihilate the X-Men in the Marvel Universe due to Fox having the rights at the time. That has been ignored since then as Now Disney has the rights back, and Molly was confirmed to be a mutant in one of the final storylines involving Wolverine and Pixie (who didn't drag her to Mutants Above All Island like they would have done if it had of been a X-Men title).
Oh, that's funny. I forget if Wikipedia had gotten that far so I'll have to update my bio if not.
Jabroniville
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Geoffrey Wilder

Post by Jabroniville »

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GEOFFREY WILDER
Created By:
Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona
First Appearance: The Runaways #1 (July 2003)
Role: Crime-Boss
Group Affiliations: The Pride
PL 5 (84)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Criminal Kingpin) 9 (+12)
Insight 2 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Perception 1 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Benefit 5 (Wealth & Status), Connected, Contacts, Leadership, Ranged Attack 4

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +2

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

Complications:
Motivation (Greed & Power)- The Wilders are willing to sacrifice nearly anything for power.
Relationship (Alex Wilder- Son)- Geoffrey is a very strict father, looking down on his son's obsession with super-heroes.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (84)

-Geoffrey Wilder and his wife Catherine are unusual in The Pride- being simple humans with nothing special in terms of Powers (even Super-Genius). Initially, they were common criminals, but with their having been recruited by the Gibborim, they are given enhanced mental capabilities, becoming very shrewd crimelords. In effect, Geoffrey is the leader of The Pride thanks to his numerous connections as The Kingpin of the East Coast, but he is not respected by some of the super-powered members, who plan to betray him. At the end of the first run, he discovers that his own son was a "Mole" in The Runaways, half of the Pride are against him, and then... he dies. He and The Pride are killed by the collapsing of the Pride's base, just after Geoffrey watches his son die.

-Geoffrey reappears in a different context later in the series, as Alex's old Online Gamer buddies perform a ritual to resurrect their friend- they screw up, and instead GEOFFREY is brought back from the dead... but decked out in '80s clothing, and at a much younger age! "Geoff" has in fact been plucked from 1985, and has only been the The Pride for one year! Upset over the general turn of events, he plans to gain favor with the Gibborim by sacrificing one of the Runaways, forming a NEW Pride with Alex's friends. He impersonates Chamber as part of "Excelsior!" (a team of former Teen Heroes out to stop The Runaways' vigilante actions), and manages to actually impale and KILL Gertrude Yorkes. The Runaways choose not to kill him (it would wreck the timeline), and instead erase his memory and send him back to 1985.

-Geoffrey is powerless, but has great connections and a ton of PERSONAL power, which can be a great deal more effective. He has numerous moles on the LAPD, vast personal wealth, and is the Kingpin of the West Coast. His wife Catherine is basically a lesser version of him, who really doesn't do or say much.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Catherine Wilder

Post by Jabroniville »

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And the prize for "Least-Written About Runaways Character" goes to...

CATHERINE WILDER
Created By:
Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona
First Appearance: The Runaways #1 (July 2003)
Role: Crime-Boss
Group Affiliations: The Pride

-Catherine was a low-level thief with Geoffrey when they were abducted by the Gibborim and formed the Pride. She is essentially a non-character, hanging around the Pride while Geoffrey acts as their overall leader. She does not reappear after they are killed by the collapsing Pride base.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Gertrude Yorkes

Post by Jabroniville »

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GERTRUDE "GERT" YORKES (aka Arsenic)
Created By:
Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona
First Appearance: The Runaways #1 (July 2003)
Role: The Daria, The Know-it-All
Horrible Fate I Wish Upon This Character: For the entirety of existence, every song she ever hears will appear to be as played by Nickelback.
Group Affiliations: The Runaways
PL 3 (39)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+3)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Old Lace) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +1, Fortitude +2, Will +5

Complications:
Obsession (Being Snarky & Rude)
Relationship (Chase Stein)- Gert fell in love with Chase, despite their disparate attractiveness levels and intellects.
Relationship (Nico Minoru)- Gert shares a sisterly-bond with Nico (they are the oldest friends of the group).
Rivalry (Karolina Dean)- Gert doesn't care much for the flighty, skinny blonde.
Vulnerable (Mental Link With Old Lace)- Gert feels Old Lace's pain- if the dinosaur is injured, then she is Stunned, if not Incapacitated.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 8 (39)

-Gertrude Yorkes is basically the Daria Morgendorfer of Runaways, but with the change that... no, she's just Daria. Okay, more mouthy and snide than dryly-snarky (Daria rarely insults people to their FACE; she just snarks to her friends. Unless it's Quinn). She's introduced as that enormous rarity in comics- a major character who is both female and overweight. Not like "Big Bertha" obese or nothin', just standard-issue-pudgy, but not so much that she's porcine. This became a lot more common as Marvel changed its hiring practice and target audience, but back in 2003 this was pretty rare, especially for major characters and not "The Hero's Friend". "Gert" has one sole mission in the book: to snark about everything and rip on everyone around her at all times. This is a pretty standard character type in many books and things like it- I've previously gone into how a lot of productions include these "cynics" in order to take the place of any cynics in the audience- they both appeal to the cynics, and sort of show that the work isn't afraid to make fun of itself (Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a great example- anyone in the audience skeptical over the idea of a Feature Length CARTOON has a "voice" in this guy who's rolling his eyes at Snow White's lovey-dovey singing, and more).

-HOWEVER... this kind of character can become INCREDIBLY-ANNOYING, to the point where they become an insufferable bitch to anyone around them, often snarking at perfectly-nice people for no reason. And they so very rarely seem to get smacked down for their attitude. Gert shares this with Daria herself (who, despite ripping on everyone around her in a trademark monotone, almost never seems to deal with anything I'd recognize as actual bullying from her classmates, and only ever gets insulted by her sister and her dumbass friends), as well as the infamous Danny Chase from The Teen Titans (who constantly ripped on Changeling for no apparent reason, and very rarely had anyone just walk up and pop him one). There's an important balance to strike with characters like this (Terra, who had the "Snarker" role earlier in the Titans, had the same snide personality, but notably got it just as badly from everyone else, especially Gar & Cyborg).

-So this kind of mouthy character REALLY needs a counterbalance, which is the issue with Gert... because she just kind of lips everyone off. She calls Dagger's outfit "slutty" (granted, you're not gonna find many better examples on the heroic side of things), makes fun of Karolina for being skinny and pretty (and therefore stupid), etc. She's really rather hard to tolerate, and it got to the point where I didn't feel anything when she died (sorry, SPOILER ALERT).

-Gert, snarking all the way, reluctantly goes along with the Runaways when they discover their parents' dark secret (though Gert has suspected her parents were evil ever since her pet pig disappeared). Without powers, she nonetheless is given a telepathic link with a dinosaur she calls Old Lace (as her would-be-superhero name was then "Arsenic"). Of the group, she's the first to antagonize adult super-heroes, and refuses to trust anyone over sixteen. However, she's given a relationship with the tall, striking bad-boy Chase, despite his lack of smarts and her lack of looks- this seems largely to stem from him nearly dying and her saving him, plus the old "Belligerent Sexual Tension" thing (she usually snarked at him, while he was kind of dimwitted in return). Gert gets pissy at Nico & Chase for kissing (it was more Nico's doing), but jumps in the way of a blade meant for Chase- she dies from her wounds, unable to finish saying "I love you."

-Gert is later revived when Chase uses time travel to revisit her demise and arrange to have various circumstances take place to enable her survival (such as summoning a doctor via Nico's magic). Gert is stunned to see how badly the Runaways fell apart without her, and rejoins them.
-A very Bystander-y... Bystander, Gert is not physically-capable in a fight, and her only real advantage is that she can lead Old Lace around in battle. She's one of the smarter members of the team, however, and is quick-witted enough to figure out how Cloak's powers work.
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Sidious
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Tatterdemalion! Dansen Macabre! Runaways!)

Post by Sidious »

I read Runaways and had an interesting observation....

The older I get, the more I root for the psycho killer decapitating teenagers.

This book brought a lot of that to the surface.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Old Lace

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image
Image

OLD LACE
Created By:
Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona
First Appearance: The Runaways #2 (Aug. 2003)
Role: Team Pet
Horrible Fate I Wish Upon This Character: Killed, cooked, and eaten by The Wrecking Crew
Group Affiliations: The Runaways
PL 9 (91)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+12)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+7)
Intimidation 10 (+8)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+7)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Claws) 2, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
"Terrible Claws" Strength-Damage +3 [3]

"Genetically-Engineered Link" Senses 1 (Communication Link- Gertrude Yorkes, then Chase Stein) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+6 Damage, DC 1621
Claws +9 (+9 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +6

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Dinosaurs cannot speak to humans, nor use their limbs to easily manipulate objects.
Weakness (Cold Climates)- The Age of Reptiles was a much hotter time period than our own. Creatures from that era will be more susceptible to Cold and Ice-based attacks.
Responsibility (Genetic Coding)- Old Lace has been genetically-engineered for certain traits. Notably, she must follow Gertrude's orders, and cannot attack anyone in Gert's immediate family, such as her evil parents. She will also feel any pain inflicted upon her Tele-Emapthic Bonded friend. She also follows Chase's orders, but is able to resist and argue.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 11 (91)

-Old Lace was introduced in the second Runaways issue- a "Velociraptor" with a genetically-engineered link to Gertrude Yorkes (who was then going by Arsenic- thus making the team Arsenic and Old Lace, named after an old classic movie and play). The whole "Raptor Buddy" thing is part of the whole "Appealing to Kids" bit, naturally. It would take an odd amount of time for the know-it-all Gert to be corrected that Old Lace is in actuality a DEINONYCHUS, given its large size. Old Lace was a classic Animal Buddy, doing Animal Buddy things like comically-attacking any villains who got close- her tele-empathic link to Gert is eventually transfered to Gert's boyfriend Chase Stein upon Gert's demise. Chase begins using her in a more lethal context, but she is enabled some free will. In the end, she is killed saving the life of Klara Prast. Old Lace reappears years later in Avengers Academy, having been revealed to have been transported to an alternate dimension for some reason. When Gert is restored in the new series, Old Lace returns to her old position. So like, one writer kills Old Lace off and writers are immediately like "No wait! I was using that!".

-Old Lace is a Deinonychus, which is a highly-dangerous adversary in any sense of the term, but she also appears to be an ENHANCED version, as certainly no common Deinonychus could take apart Thunderball of the Wrecking Crew with such surprising ease. She's also immune to Dagger's "Light Dagger" power for whatever reason, and has taken down numerous members of The Runaways' parental units.
Sidney369
Posts: 328
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:18 am

Re: Jab’s Builds (Tatterdemalion! Dansen Macabre! Runaways!)

Post by Sidney369 »

Old Lace has been established to have human level intelligence, due to genetic engineering. She is indeed a clever girl
Always ask before you use someone's Original Character.
Never ever use them without permission. Only Villains do that.
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