Jab’s Builds! (Lawnmower Man! Samus Aran! Metroids!)

[Jabroniville]

ROCKET RED #4 (Dmitri Pushkin)
Created By: Steve Englehart & Joe Staton
First Appearance: Justice League #3 (July 1987)
Role: Powersuit Guy, Russian Guy
Group Affiliations: Justice League International, The Rocket Red Brigade
PL 9 (133)
STRENGTH 9 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat 2 (+8)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+6)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Technology 3 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Benefit (League Member), Ranged Attack 7

Powers:
"Forced Evolution"
Blast 9 (Feats: Split) [19]
"Mecha-Empathy" Affliction 8 (Tech Skill of Creator; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) [4]

"Rocked Red Power Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [15]
Protection 2 (2)
"Rocket Boots" Flight 8 (250 mph) (16)
-- (18 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Blasters +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+9 Armour), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (The Justice League)
Relationship (Wife & Children)- Maxwell Lord arranged for Dmitri's wife Belina and his children (Mischa & Tascha) to live with him in Paris.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 38 / Defenses: 13 (133)

-The whole "Rocket Red" concept is something I've only heard of- never actually seen. Dmitir Pushkin joined Justice League International as Rocket Red #4 after the first, Rocket Red #7, was revealed to be a Manhunter android. Dmitri was kind-hearted, jolly and loved American culture, unlike most Russian characters over at Marvel, who were typically brusque super-patriots who hated the US. The Rocket Reds were invented by the Green Lantern Kilowog in tandom with the USSR (apparently Kilowog was a Commie sympathizer; his own people being collectivist by nature), and involved super-evolution and Powersuits. His armor kept getting destroyed, but he had a solid friendship with Buddy "Animal Man" Baker, since both were family men. Like most of DC's foreign heroes, he tends to vanish for years at a time, and doesn't really matter after his creator left. He self-destructed in an OMAC-related story in order to save the rest of the JLI members.

-Rocket Red's another D-League backgrounder on JLU, but his comic run is pretty "small time", which is honestly not that much of a bad thing- "high concept" books often suck, and since they had lower-end characters, lower-end books could kill off characters, give them families, or even alter their whole personality, which often gives the writers more creativity and freedom, hence the fan-love. But I know so little of the guy I had to check which of his powers actually come from his ARMOR- I made him a generic Powersuit Guy/natural Flying Brick, plus "Mecha-Empathy". PL 8.5 like a lot of the lower-tier Leaguers, he isn't TOO bad, but far from the elites.

[Jabroniville]

I sometimes feel Captain Atom suffers from what I called "Adopted Child Syndrome". Like Blue Beetle or Captain Marvel, Captain Atom isn't a DC original, he's someone DC acquired and have tried to half-heartedly push every now and then, but it's telling when Hawkman and Aquaman get more attempts at an ongoing series than Ted, Billy or Nathaniel here. Worse, when DC DOES push characters with those names, it tends to be the dramatically re-branded version (Jaime Reyes), or a severely re-vamped version ('Nu-Shazam'). With Captain Atom, there was a time when writers kept trying to turn him either in Monarch or Dr. Manhattan.

This is DEFINITELY something I recognize with the "adopted" characters DC has, and it's always kinda funny. Like... they gobble up other companies' IPs, add them all to their universe with increasing complications, but then they're like "oh EW they're from ANOTHER COMPANY!" and screw around with them so nobody thinks that these adopted kids are near the equals of DC's originals. Like... you OWN those guys now! They're YOUR GUYS!! You don't need to whip out Kal-El's dick and measure it against Billy Batson's to prove your guy is the best and the other is some also-ran, or turn Captain Atom evil, or deliberately write-out most of those guys!

This is like if Disney bought Stars Wars, but instead of a bunch of TV shows & movies they just released one movie and then had the characters cameo in a Disney movie where all the characters lost and vanished so Snow White & Peter Pan could be established as bigger stars.

[Jabroniville]

For the completists out there, I didn't skip Charlton's Nightshade or the final Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes- they're old builds I've already posted here.

Nightshade
The Blue Beetle IV (Jaime Reyes)

[Jabroniville]

THE CHAMPIONS OF ANGOR:
-With Marvel making a big, obvious parody of the Justice League in the 1960s stories featuring The Squadron Sinister, it was perhaps inevitable that DC would do the same- creating The Champions of Angor. At the same time over at Marvel, the Squadron was being re-imagined as The Squadron SUPREME, this time being real, heroic characters that were obvious nudges to DC's JLA- since Roy Thomas (writer of The Avengers) and Mike Friedrich, writer of the JLA book, were friends, they corroborated to make a cute lil' pseudo-crossover. Alas, Thomas' characters had MUCH more success, as his Squadron went on to many reappearances, with Mark Gruenwald later turned them into a phenomenal 12-issue series. The Champions of Angor (a group of aliens travelling to Earth to fight a robot that'd attacked them, then running into and brawling with the JLA, who were doing the same thing)... basically disappeared.

-The Champions were Wandjina (an Australian Weather Spirit), The Silver Sorceress, Blue Jay and Jack B. Quick- parodies of Thor, The Scarlet Witch, Yellowjacket and Quicksilver. Only three Champions survive the destruction of Angor by nuclear weapons (Jack apparently didn't make it), coming to Earth and trying to stop nuclear war there- Wandjina is killed preventing a meltdown in Bialya. The remaining two do some stuff on Earth, but Time Travel involves someone going back to save Angor, allowing us to meet Tin Man (Iron Man), The Bowman (Hawkeye), T.A. (The Wasp, probably- one of the most skin-baring costumes I've yet seen) and Bug (Spider-Man). Most were only shown in a small handful of panels and are barely characters at all. Tin Man once set up "Metahuman Registration" while elected American president, but was killed by a supervillain during a live address.

[Jabroniville]

BLUE JAY (Jay Abrams)
Created By: Mike Friedrich & Dick Dillin
First Appearance: Justice League of America #87 (Feb. 1971)
Role: Yellowjacket Homage
Group Affiliations: The Champions of Angor, The Justice League of America
PL 9 (110)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 3 (+4)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 1 (+3)
Perception 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Blue Jay Size"
Shrinking 12 (+6 Dodge/Parry, +12 Stealth, -6 Intimidation) (Extras: Normal Strength) (Quirks: Full Power Only -1) [35]
"Tiny Sized Fighting" Enhanced Advantages 2: Close Attack 2 (Flaws: Limited to Smaller Sizes) [1]
Flight 5 (60 mph) (Flaws: Winged, Limited to While Shrunk) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Tiny Sized +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
"Normal Size" Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +1
"Blue Jay Size" Dodge +14 (DC 24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +1

Complications:
Responsibility (Self-Doubt)- Blue Jay, a true Pym Homage, is riddled with self-doubt, and wants to make a difference in the world.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 6 (110)

-Blue Jay was a parody of Yellowjacket, which was Hank Pym's identity at the time. He is the only Champion to remain free after a point, and joins the Justice League to help spring Silver Sorceress. He joins Justice League Europe, while racked with self-doubt (oh yeah, he's a Pym Parody alright), but is eventually made leader of the team. A minor character, starring in a book that was soon cancelled, he ended up largely vanishing into "Comics Limbo", where he stayed until James Robinson used him as a background name in his JLA run. He is thought-dead, but returns and eventually leaves Earth for the Multiverse, realizing that he's never made much of a difference on Earth.

-PL 9 defensively thanks to the bonuses given by being a Shrinking Hero, Blue Jay is nonetheless a very weak PL 6.5 offensive fighter. Lacking self-worth, major Skills or any kind of hitting power, he's very much Doll Man-Lite.

[Jabroniville]

… why is the Silver Sorceress wearing gold? In every picture? Is she named after her hair?

THE SILVER SORCERESS (Laura Cynthia Neilson)
Created By: Mike Friedrich & Dick Dillin
First Appearance: Justice League of America #87 (Feb. 1971)
Role: Scarlet Witch Homage
Group Affiliations: The Champions of Angor, Justice League Europe
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+3)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Magic) 10 (+11)
Insight 2 (+3)
Perception 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4, Ritualist, Teamwork

Powers:
"Vague Magical Powers"
Flight 4 (30 mph) [8]

"Mesmerize" Affliction 8 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (24) -- [26]

• AE: "Doorway" Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel 3) (Extras: Portal +2) (12)
• AE: "Telepathy" Communication (Mental) 2 Linked to Mind-Reading 8 (24)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Mesmerize -- (+8 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Doing Good)

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 13 (99)

-The Silver Sorceress (a take on Wanda Maximoff) stayed on Earth with Blue Jay, later joining the Justice League. She ends up being killed by someone called The Dreamslayer, a being that destroyed her homeworld of Angor. There is so little out there about her powers that this probably misses a ton of stuff. Also, in every picture I can find, she is clearly wearing GOLD AND BROWN. What the frick part of her says "Silver"?

[Ken]

Yes, apparently she's named after her hair. In her first appearance, she didn't even have that excuse, as she was ginger then.

The Dreamslayer was one of the Extremists (the others being Lord Havok, Doctor Diehard, Gorgon, and Tracer). They are analogues of Dormammu, Doctor Doom, Magneto, Doctor Octopus, and Sabretooth.

And a Scarlet Witch analogue, and you're surprised there's not much detail on what her powers are?

[Skavenger]

THE JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL- The "BWA-HA-HA!" League:

-By 1986, DC had a Legends event that attempted to restart certain things (the Crisis on Infinite Earths helped, too). Keith Giffen & DeMatteis would write what would be know as the "BWA-HAH-HAH!"-era League, featuring the wacky antics of Blue Beetle & Booster Gold, in addition to Batman (editor Denny O'Neil "took pity" on the new creative team and was good enough to allow the A-List Batman to join), Black Canary, Captain Marvel, the new female Dr. Light, Martian Manhunter, Mr. Miracle and Guy Gardner (Hal Jordan's asshole replacement GL, written as a male chauvinist). Soon, the roster would be glutted with Captain Atom, Fire & Ice, and Rocket Red, and be bankrolled by Maxwell Lord. This five-year run proved popular, but I think it kind of lacks some dignity to have the freaking JUSTICE LEAGUE be the "Funny Book"- I remember Silver Age fanboy Unca Cheeks' old website often going on about this- the book was a tad too goofy to be what was supposed to be the Big World-Shaking Events Book.

I touched on this briefly on Discord, I think you can trace a link directly from the Giffen/Dematteis Justice League to the success of the MCU right now, and it's all because their version of the Justice League played up the characters as being a lot more human. You'd have arguments in other versions of the League, but this version was the one that would really juxtopose the heavy, serious moments (the Despero storyline is DARK, and written really powerfully) with the silly goofiness that you'd later see in your Joss Whedons. It was actually pretty well balanced, with an issue either having tolerable parts of both humor and superhero action, or you'd get a silly plotline suddenly balanced with a really powerful one immediately afterward.

Considering at the mid-80s and early 90s comic books were getting a lot darker across the board, I feel people just unfairly dismissed this book because "if it's funny, it can't be anything else" and the sudden swing away from it with EXTREME JUSTICE (ugh) later on just showed that writers didn't think you could have any humor in your comics and still be taken seriously.

"But Marvel was doing humor and pathos in books for decades!" Well, yeah, but Fantastic Four was always based around family, not just teammates. And while Claremont's characters were ones you felt a connection to and felt genuinely human, he has NEVER been able to write like people actually talk. Justice League threw out paragraphs of speech in favor of pop culture and more realistic conversations amongst superheroes and made them suddenly be really human people, so when they suddenly have to fight Soviet doppelgangers or space monsters, you care a lot more because you've seen them be relatable just beforehand.

Without this version of the Justice League leading the way, I don't think you get Geoff Johns' version of the Justice League, Bendis' chatty version of the Avengers, or the sudden success of writing styles of people like Joss Whedon (who's an entirely DIFFERENT topic) who came in to do stuff in the MCU.

I mean, if nothing else, there has to be a link to the creation of one Rocket Raccoon by Giffen and his sudden success as one of Marvel's most bankable characters.

[Jabroniville]

See, when you debut a new character like this in the biggest comic book ever written, the original characterization is the one that sticks with people, lol.

DOCTOR LIGHT II (Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi)
Created By: Marv Wolfman & George Perez
First Appearance: Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (July 1985)
Role: Bitchy Lady, Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Doom Patrol, Kord Enterprises, The Birds of Prey, S.T.A.R. Labs
PL 11 (159)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+14)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Light) 2 (+8)
Technology 4 (+10)
Treatment 1 (+7)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
Light Blast 12 (Feats: Precise, Split, Variable- Light or Force, Dynamic) (Extras: Penetrating 8) (36) -- [52]

• AE: "Light Wave" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone) (21)
• AE: "Light Flare" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (21)
• AE: Dazzle Visuals 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (25)
• AE: "Light Flash" Dazzle Visuals 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception) (Flaws: Touch Range) (23)
• AE: Illusion 10 (Visuals) (Feats: Dynamic) (21)
• AE: "Absorbs Light" Weaken Energy Powers 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: 120ft. Burst +3) (Flaws: Limited to Light) (31)
• AE: "Hard Light" Create 8 (Feats: Dynamic, Subtle) (Extras: Movable) (26)
• AE: "Turn Into Light" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Feats: Dynamic) (5)

"Hard Light Field" Force Field 6 (Extras: Affects Others 8) [14]
"Light Rider" Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Light Blast +8 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Light Area Attacks +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Dazzle Visuals +8 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Light Flash +11 Area (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Absorbs Light +10 Area (+10 Weaken, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+9 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Reputation (Bitch)- Dr. Light was introduced as a heinous, crabby bitch, and reverted to that personality on-and-off over time, because writers don't understand Character Development.
Relationship (Rising Sun)- The two were adversaries at first, but eventually hooked up. I mean, there weren't many Japanese characters AROUND, y'know? Who were they gonna sleep with- other characters?
Relationship (Imako & Yasu- Children)- Apparently she's a single mother. I can't remember ever seeing this, but there you have it.
Power Loss (Darkness)- Areas of absolute darkness will weaken her abilities severely.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 78 / Defenses: 13 (159)

-While the Crisis on Infinite Earths did away with a ton of characters Wolfman & Perez thought were dumb and/or not useful in the modern era of comics, they also felt the need to CREATE a few- and so we had a new, superheroic Doctor Light. An older-looking, nasty Japanese woman, she lectured her male colleagues about their cowardice and uselessness, coming off as a heinous bitch immediately. As the story went on, she gained superhuman powers from The Monitor (in order to combat The Anti-Monitor and save the multiverse), put on the villainous Dr. Light's costume (Perez must have liked it), bitched out the various heroes, but became inspired by the brave sacrifice of Supergirl ("I have wasted my life with selfishness!"), making a huge turnaround by story's end, putting an enormous hole in the Anti-Monitor's body (in part of the rapid pile-on to the villain).

-After the Crisis, Kimiyo Hoshi revealed a medical degree (I would bet money the writer forgot she was a Doctor in ASTROPHYSICS, not Medicine), joined variations of the Justice League (such as Justice League Europe for a spell), and reverted to the personality she'd been introduced with- a nasty, lecturing bitch. See, while she had made a big turnaround by the end of the Crisis, she was still MOSTLY KNOWN for being mean, which is a nasty little lesson to writers about introducing characters with a persona that they'll drop by story's end- the second you LEAVE that book, the next writer might treat them like that character development never happened, and we have rapid-fire Back-To-Basics Syndrome.

-And also unfortunately, Kimiyo kinda vanished during the 1990s. Wolfman had REALLY wanted to give DC some added racial dynamics (it was white-washed even more than MARVEL was), but it didn't take with Dr. Light. As such, she had basically been gone for like TEN YEARS by the time Arthur Light got his re-push as a Serial Rapist Super-Villain. This little quirk actually gave Kimiyo a new lease on life, as she had to deal with Dr. Rape for a while, and got a re-push on the JLA. Unfortunately, this was the unpopular McDuffie Era, and she didn't get up to much (going through some story where her powers fluctuated), and eventually left. And oddly enough, she used to be drawn as fairly-old-looking in the 1980s by Perez (who generally did not do such things by accident), but suddenly looks like she's 25 years old in more recent books. I know Asian women are legendary for aging absurdly-well, but they don't age IN REVERSE.

-Dr. Light has some good, well-rounded Powers (but is only PL 11 with her Area Dazzle), and a pretty high-end Blast, but never really went beyond "Standard DC Hero" in terms of Power Feats except for that one-off shot against the Anti-Monitor (and note that she was specifically-created to fight him). She can throw down Force Fields, but isn't overly-defensive (like most Blasters, she's a bit of a Glass Cannon), and lacks significant Combat Advantages.

[Jabroniville]

I touched on this briefly on Discord, I think you can trace a link directly from the Giffen/Dematteis Justice League to the success of the MCU right now, and it's all because their version of the Justice League played up the characters as being a lot more human. You'd have arguments in other versions of the League, but this version was the one that would really juxtopose the heavy, serious moments (the Despero storyline is DARK, and written really powerfully) with the silly goofiness that you'd later see in your Joss Whedons. It was actually pretty well balanced, with an issue either having tolerable parts of both humor and superhero action, or you'd get a silly plotline suddenly balanced with a really powerful one immediately afterward.

Considering at the mid-80s and early 90s comic books were getting a lot darker across the board, I feel people just unfairly dismissed this book because "if it's funny, it can't be anything else" and the sudden swing away from it with EXTREME JUSTICE (ugh) later on just showed that writers didn't think you could have any humor in your comics and still be taken seriously.

"But Marvel was doing humor and pathos in books for decades!" Well, yeah, but Fantastic Four was always based around family, not just teammates. And while Claremont's characters were ones you felt a connection to and felt genuinely human, he has NEVER been able to write like people actually talk. Justice League threw out paragraphs of speech in favor of pop culture and more realistic conversations amongst superheroes and made them suddenly be really human people, so when they suddenly have to fight Soviet doppelgangers or space monsters, you care a lot more because you've seen them be relatable just beforehand.

Without this version of the Justice League leading the way, I don't think you get Geoff Johns' version of the Justice League, Bendis' chatty version of the Avengers, or the sudden success of writing styles of people like Joss Whedon (who's an entirely DIFFERENT topic) who came in to do stuff in the MCU.

I mean, if nothing else, there has to be a link to the creation of one Rocket Raccoon by Giffen and his sudden success as one of Marvel's most bankable characters.

Wow, a POSITIVE review of the "BWA HAHAHAHA!" era! Hooray! Like... it's not an era I've read, and I mostly recall old-schoolers hating it while a handful of Giffenmaniacs adored it, so it's nice to see an actual measured response from someone who actually read it.

That is an interesting point about it being a more "balanced" humor-themed book- most funny-books before that are pretty much ALL humor (in the vein of What Th--!? or Forbush Man) or action/adventure books with some funny moments (most Stan Lee stuff is good for that, especially Thing/Torch banter and Spider-Man's battle-chatter). Claremont indeed had very deep characters having very distinctive vocal patterns (though I will confirm that he pretty much talks like his own characters in real life- even full paragraphs, lol).

The interesting thing is it seems this version of the JLA was made more comedic in retrospect, even by its own writers.

[Skavenger]

I touched on this briefly on Discord, I think you can trace a link directly from the Giffen/Dematteis Justice League to the success of the MCU right now, and it's all because their version of the Justice League played up the characters as being a lot more human. You'd have arguments in other versions of the League, but this version was the one that would really juxtopose the heavy, serious moments (the Despero storyline is DARK, and written really powerfully) with the silly goofiness that you'd later see in your Joss Whedons. It was actually pretty well balanced, with an issue either having tolerable parts of both humor and superhero action, or you'd get a silly plotline suddenly balanced with a really powerful one immediately afterward.

Considering at the mid-80s and early 90s comic books were getting a lot darker across the board, I feel people just unfairly dismissed this book because "if it's funny, it can't be anything else" and the sudden swing away from it with EXTREME JUSTICE (ugh) later on just showed that writers didn't think you could have any humor in your comics and still be taken seriously.

"But Marvel was doing humor and pathos in books for decades!" Well, yeah, but Fantastic Four was always based around family, not just teammates. And while Claremont's characters were ones you felt a connection to and felt genuinely human, he has NEVER been able to write like people actually talk. Justice League threw out paragraphs of speech in favor of pop culture and more realistic conversations amongst superheroes and made them suddenly be really human people, so when they suddenly have to fight Soviet doppelgangers or space monsters, you care a lot more because you've seen them be relatable just beforehand.

Without this version of the Justice League leading the way, I don't think you get Geoff Johns' version of the Justice League, Bendis' chatty version of the Avengers, or the sudden success of writing styles of people like Joss Whedon (who's an entirely DIFFERENT topic) who came in to do stuff in the MCU.

I mean, if nothing else, there has to be a link to the creation of one Rocket Raccoon by Giffen and his sudden success as one of Marvel's most bankable characters.

Wow, a POSITIVE review of the "BWA HAHAHAHA!" era! Hooray! Like... it's not an era I've read, and I mostly recall old-schoolers hating it while a handful of Giffenmaniacs adored it, so it's nice to see an actual measured response from someone who actually read it.

That is an interesting point about it being a more "balanced" humor-themed book- most funny-books before that are pretty much ALL humor (in the vein of What Th--!? or Forbush Man) or action/adventure books with some funny moments (most Stan Lee stuff is good for that, especially Thing/Torch banter and Spider-Man's battle-chatter). Claremont indeed had very deep characters having very distinctive vocal patterns (though I will confirm that he pretty much talks like his own characters in real life- even full paragraphs, lol).

The interesting thing is it seems this version of the JLA was made more comedic in retrospect, even by its own writers.

Yeah, I think they leaned more in to it as time went on and they realized they had that reputation as "goofy" writers. But Giffen was writing a balance between light hearted and dark storylines back in the Legion days, and I think Dematteis helped him balance it out a bit when they were initially working together.

But the Formerly Known As and I Can't Believe It's Not still had their moments of darkness mixed with real human moments. In one portion, you had several characters cracking wise about how mind control works, then you switch to Mary Marvel being mind controlled to beating Captain Atom nearly to death, cracking his armor, and then you get this real heartfelt moment between Barbara Gordon and Blue Beetle where he's freaking out because the EPA wants to haul Atom off to a nuclear dump site and he's desperate for her help to get him to a real hospital instead.

[Ian Turner]

ROCKET RED #4 (Dmitri Pushkin)

I always liked the idea of the Rockets Red, but never really grokked how much of their power was inherent, due to this 'forced evolution,' and thought of them as mostly armored-battlesuit-dudes with a smidge of boosted strength (more like Marvel's Titanium Man or Crimson Dynamo characters, boosted dudes who can lift like, a ton, with Iron Man-lite armors).

I'm even more intrigued by the idea that they are almost entirely self-powered, with just a flight-suit and some extra protection (over their own superhuman toughness)! That's not something we see as often, powered people who *also* wear armor. I like variations like this!

(Powered Archers, for instance. Archer characters always seem to be more or less Hawkeye or Green Arrow-esque, so the notion of someone like the Greek goddess Artemis joining a team, and the 'archer' also being the 'Thor' would be a bit of shiny and new.)

[Jabroniville]

BLOODWYND
Created By: Dan Jurgens
First Appearance: Justice League of America #61 (April 1992)
Role: Forgotten Hero, '90s Anti-Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice League of America, The Sentinels of Magic
PL 9 (108)
STRENGTH 5/8 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 5 (+5)
Expertise (Magic) 6 (+7)
Expertise (History) 2 (+3)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Ranegd Combat (Magic) 2 (+8)
Stealth 1 (+4)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Necromancer"

"The Blood Gem" (Flaws: Removable) [35]
Senses 4 (Postcognition) (Flaws: Limited to The Presence of Death) (2)
Senses 1 (Danger Sense) (1)
Flight 5 (60 mph) (10)
Comprehend 2 (Spirits) (4)

Teleport 10 (20) -- (26)
AE: Magical Blast 8 (16)
AE: "Darkness Manipulation" Concealment 2 (Extras: Attack, Area- Shapeable) (8)
AE: "Siphon Abilities" Weaken Magical or Energy Powers 10 (Extras: Ranged) (20)

• AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 8 (16)
• AE: Enhanced Strength 3 (6)
• AE: "Penance Stare (basically)" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Extras: Ranged) (Flaws: Limited to Those Who've Murdered Others) (10)

-- (43 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Strength Boost +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Penance Stare +8 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Weaken Powers +8 (+10 Ranged Weaken, DC 20)
Magical Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Enemy (Rott)- Rott is the demonic soul of slave owner Jacob Whitney, and seeks vengeance on Bloodwynd, the descendent of the slaves who murdered him.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 35 / Defenses: 4 (108)

-Bloodwynd is the descendent of black slaves who'd performed a magical ritual, killed their master, and passed down a Blood Gem to him. The master became the demon Rott, who mimicked Bloodwynd & took over The Martian Manhunter and used the JLA to give himself some incredible power. Ted "Blue Beetle" Kord sorted out the facts, and soon the real Bloodwynd saved the day. He decided to put himself on reserve status after he chose not to help out the League against another magical opponent (sensing a kinship with him). He helps the JLA out against Amazo, and then disappears, likely because he was a SUPER-'90s character, and Dan Jurgens left the book. He was seen during Day of Judgement as one of the Sentinels of Magic, but it's only a cameo- that's pretty much his only role these days.

-Bloodwynd isn't terribly great, but has a Blast, a Weaken, and a Penance Stare-ish thing.

[Tattooedman]

Despite his horribly 90s name, I liked how Bloodwynd (geeze I hate typing that, just a horrible name) came with this on-going mystery that spanned several issues until it was finally solved. Although I hated how it was the Martian Manhunter impersonating him, so I was looking forward to seeing his "true" personality but then like you said - Jurgens left the book and the next writer didn't care to use Bloodwynd so thus his permanent cameo status.

The idea is an interesting one though for the time it came out - a moral necromancer. Too bad DC SUCKS using magic users.

[KorokoMystia]

His name really is so, so 90s. Back when spelling things wrong on purpose was cool. "Because poor literacy is KEWL!"