The Use Of Comic Book Tropes In Character Building

[Cassandra]

"Up, Up, and Away!"

 

These famous words were spoken by the Man of Steel on "The Adventures of Superman" Radio Show (1940-1951) whenever he began to fly.  The reason for this was simple.  Since you couldn't see him on the radio it was necessary for the actor to have a way of describing the action.

 

Many superheroes have famous quotes they say before going into battle, and perhaps this could be used to active a power or two.

 

Wonder Woman, for example, could get a boast in STR by using the Incantation "Hera, Give Me Strength!"  Hulk could do the same by saying "Hulk, Smash!", and the Thing "It's Clobbering Time!"

 

Superman could activate his powers (OIHID) by saying "This looks like a Job for Superman", and begin to use his flight by saying "Up, Up, and Away!"  Green Lantern could do the same by saying "In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night, No Evil Shall Escape My Sight.  Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's Light!"

 

[Andrew_A]

If it was me, and I were running a traditional silver age campaign, I'd prefer to make something like that a bonus. Maybe the player would get an extra 5DC free at dramatically appropriate moments or an extra Action Point or a +1 to CV. I don't think I'd use it for a bronze age campaign though and I'd need to read some more golden age comics to see if it's appropriate.

 

I have no interest in running anything iron age, so it's a given that I wouldn't use it.

[Cassandra]

If it was me, and I were running a traditional silver age campaign, I'd prefer to make something like that a bonus. Maybe the player would get an extra 5DC free at dramatically appropriate moments or an extra Action Point or a +1 to CV. I don't think I'd use it for a bronze age campaign though and I'd need to read some more golden age comics to see if it's appropriate.

 

I have no interest in running anything iron age, so it's a given that I wouldn't use it.

 

You might also want to remove the "Pulling Punch" OCV penalty to encourage acting like heroes.

[Andrew_A]

You might also want to remove the "Pulling Punch" OCV penalty to encourage acting like heroes.

 

Making KAs rare might be a good idea too. Maybe save them for "easily escapable situations involving an overly elaborate and exotic death."

[Cassandra]

Silver Age Supervillains (especially Adam West's Batman) had the same Psychological Limitations.

 

Overconfidence

Showoff

Obsessive

 

Of course, the heroes were easily captured.  Superman would be winning until someone produces a piece of kryptonite, and then he'd be dumped into a death trap and be left alone to figure out how to escape.  Good thing he had Deduction ("Supermind")

 

Wonder Woman would lose her strength is she was handcuffed by a man (they really were making it easier for the bad guys then).

 

Green Lantern would be helpless if he was coated with yellow pain, Martial Manhunter with a match (actually happened in Justice League #9).

 

Most other heroes of the era would get hit in the back of the head, sprayed with sleep gas, shocked with electricity, or chloroformed (my personal favorite).

 

Then the villains would leave the hero alone because they want them to live to see them take over the world, or whatever was their evil goal.

 

Good times.

[Cassandra]

Making KAs rare might be a good idea too. Maybe save them for "easily escapable situations involving an overly elaborate and exotic death."

 

An Rx from your Doctor?  

[Doc Shadow]

Silver Age Supervillains (especially Adam West's Batman) had the same Psychological Limitations.

 

Overconfidence

Showoff

Obsessive

 

Of course, the heroes were easily captured.  Superman would be winning until someone produces a piece of kryptonite, and then he'd be dumped into a death trap and be left alone to figure out how to escape.  Good thing he had Deduction ("Supermind")

 

Wonder Woman would lose her strength is she was handcuffed by a man (they really were making it easier for the bad guys then).

 

Green Lantern would be helpless if he was coated with yellow pain, Martial Manhunter with a match (actually happened in Justice League #9).

 

Most other heroes of the era would get hit in the back of the head, sprayed with sleep gas, shocked with electricity, or chloroformed (my personal favorite).

 

Then the villains would leave the hero alone because they want them to live to see them take over the world, or whatever was their evil goal.

 

Good times.

 

[Yosemite Sam] GREAT HORNEY TOADS! Silver Age Villains is so stupid! [/Yosemite Sam]

[Cassandra]

In the Silver Age villains were more focused on defeating the heroes then carrying out some evil scheme.  

 

In Adventure Comics #389 (Feb 1970) Brainiac recruits a space convict named Kim to serve as a model of a robot double.  Kim is a Con Artist serving time in an interstellar prison, and Brainiac wants to duplicate his seduction abilities to use against Supergirl.  The plan is to have her fall in love with him, then break up with her and then have the Robot destroy itself with a bomb necklace to make Supergirl think she caused him to commit suicide, forcing her to retire because she would be responsible for taking a life.  This would be using her Code Versus Killing (Common/Total) against her.

 

Supergirl realizes that Kim is trying to con her, and turns the tables on him by flying him to a Dragon shaped asteroid.  There Supergirl pretends to show him ex-lovers, all turned to stone by the astroid's strange properties.  Kim finds himself turning to stone, and Brainiac shows up.  It turns out that Kim took the place of the Robot, and Brainiac knows it.  Supergirl is deterred from capturing Brainiac because of his indestructible Force Field, which he demonstrates by firing a blast from his energy pistol against it.  Then he pulls a last minute trick by turning the pistol on Supergirl, and coating her from head to toe with adhesive liquid kryptonite.  Brainiac teleports away, and Supergirl uses the last of her Heat Vision to free the now turned to stone Kim.  His legs are still stone, and he can't help her, but Supergirl has Kim throw his necklace, and sets off the bomb with blows away the kryptonite.

 

http://blogintomystery.com/2011/09/27/super-bitch-super-ditz-super-suck-adventure-comics-389/

[Andrew_A]

An Rx from your Doctor?  

 

That went right over my head.

[Andrew_A]

In the Silver Age villains were more focused on defeating the heroes then carrying out some evil scheme.  

 

In Adventure Comics #389 (Feb 1970) Brainiac recruits a space convict named Kim to serve as a model of a robot double.  Kim is a Con Artist serving time in an interstellar prison, and Brainiac wants to duplicate his seduction abilities to use against Supergirl.  The plan is to have her fall in love with him, then break up with her and then have the Robot destroy itself with a bomb necklace to make Supergirl think she caused him to commit suicide, forcing her to retire because she would be responsible for taking a life.  This would be using her Code Versus Killing (Common/Total) against her.

 

Supergirl realizes that Kim is trying to con her, and turns the tables on him by flying him to a Dragon shaped asteroid.  There Supergirl pretends to show him ex-lovers, all turned to stone by the astroid's strange properties.  Kim finds himself turning to stone, and Brainiac shows up.  It turns out that Kim took the place of the Robot, and Brainiac knows it.  Supergirl is deterred from capturing Brainiac because of his indestructible Force Field, which he demonstrates by firing a blast from his energy pistol against it.  Then he pulls a last minute trick by turning the pistol on Supergirl, and coating her from head to toe with adhesive liquid kryptonite.  Brainiac teleports away, and Supergirl uses the last of her Heat Vision to free the now turned to stone Kim.  His legs are still stone, and he can't help her, but Supergirl has Kim throw his necklace, and sets off the bomb with blows away the kryptonite.

 

http://blogintomystery.com/2011/09/27/super-bitch-super-ditz-super-suck-adventure-comics-389/

 

Sometimes, I do miss the silver age.

[Cassandra]

That went right over my head.

 

Rx is prescription, from Dr. Evil.

[Cassandra]

Comic Books in the Silver Age were written by men, and that meant that super heroines might have been powerful and brave, but also overly romantic.

 

In Brave and the Bold #78 (June 1968) the super villain Copperhead it attempting to rob Gotham City of it's wealth.  Batman foils his schemes, but is unable to catch him because of his ability to climb walls (he's also very tricking.)  Shortly afterwards both Batgirl and Wonder Woman begin to wage a very public war to become Batman's girlfriend.  They both offer him gifts, and begin to interfer with Batman's efforts to catch Copperhead.

 

When Copperhead makes his move believing Batman is too distracted to stop him, the truth is revealed.  Batman had Batgirl and Wonder Woman play up the romantic rivalry in order to lure Copperhead into a false sense of security.  With the trap sprung, Batman is about to capture the villain when it turns out that both Wonder Woman and Batgirl have really fallen in love with him.  They actually begin to fight over him, preventing him from catching Copperhead.  Worse, the Villain has planted a listen device that picks up the revelation that both Heroines have placed proof of their secret identities in a remote location for Batman to find.

 

Both Heroines are shocked back to their senses, and Wonder Woman manages to get to the location before Copperhead can get the information revealing her and Batgirl's true identities.  She destroys both of the IDs (without looking at Batgirl's, Code of the Hero and all that), and chases Copperhead to his lair in a swamp.  Before Wonder Woman can capture him he traps her with a spray of poisonous venom.  Although her Amazon physiology allows her to survive the poison, she's unconscious and at Copperhead's mercy.  Before he can finish her off, Batgirl arrives, but is also knocked out by the tricky Villain.  Batman comes in and manages to tie Copperhead up, but not before he inject him with poison.  Batgirl comes to just in time to give Batman an anti-toxin while Wonder Woman recovers and keeps Copperhead from getting away.

 

The weird part is this is not the most sexiest comic book of the era.

 

http://mailittoteamup.blogspot.com/2012/02/brave-and-bold-78.html

[Cassandra]

Brave and the Bold #63 (Dec 1965) 

 

"The Revolt of the Super-Chicks"

 

Supergirl rescues a glamorous female movie star and becomes jealous of the attention men give her.  Deciding her costume is "Frumpy" (Blue Dress version she had wore since coming to Earth), she quits being a super heroine and flies off to Paris to become a fashion model.  Superman tries to talk her out of it, but when he fails he goes to Wonder Woman (pretty much the only other super heroine he knows), and asks for her to talk to Supergirl woman to woman.

 

Wonder Woman meets Supergirl in Paris, and gets a few words out on why it's important to be a super heroine when she loses her train of thought seeing how glamorous the Kryptonian looks in her evening gown.  Supergirl gives her a dress, and Wonder Woman confesses to also thinking she looked "frumpy" in her costume.

 

Let that sink in for a moment.

 

Soon Wonder Woman has quit being a super heroine, joined Supergirl as a model, and lets herself be romanced by suave playboy (so much for being an Amazon, or for Steve Trevor).  They even pretend to be helpless females and hiding the fact they are using their powers when their boyfriends are in danger.  Almost by accident while on a vacation to a remote island they stumble on the villain Clown Face ("Who?")  and his plan to steal rockets containing gold being sent to Fort Knox.  Supergirl changes into her costume and grabs one of the rockets, and begins a tug of war with Clown Faces tractor beam.  Meanwhile Wonder Woman is chased by a huge metal disk, which captures her by magnetizing her bracelets to it's surface.  She's rolled into Clown Faces lab and is coated with kryptonite, and then sent via tractor beam toward Supergirl.  Thinking quickly Supergirl uses her heat vision to melt the gold the rocket is carrying which coats Wonder Woman, not only blocking the kryptonite rays, but the weight of the gold causes it to call back into Clown Face's lab.  The impact breaks Wonder Woman free, and she takes out Clown Face with one punch.  His minions arrive with guns but Supergirl swoops in, and takes them out with one punch (A move through in game terms.)

 

When their new boyfriends see them they disapprove and both Heroines realize they're not cut out for the glamorous life.

 

http://supergirlthemaidofmight.blogspot.com/2009/11/supergirl-in-brave-and-bold-63-revolt.html

[IndianaJoe3]

Brave and the Bold #63 (Dec 1965) 

 

"The Revolt of the Super-Chicks"

 

Supergirl rescues a glamorous female movie star and becomes jealous of the attention men give her.  Deciding her costume is "Frumpy" (Blue Dress version she had wore since coming to Earth), she quits being a super heroine and flies off to Paris to become a fashion model.  Superman tries to talk her out of it, but when he fails he goes to Wonder Woman (pretty much the only other super heroine he knows), and asks for her to talk to Supergirl woman to woman.

 

Wonder Woman meets Supergirl in Paris, and gets a few words out on why it's important to be a super heroine when she loses her train of thought seeing how glamorous the Kryptonian looks in her evening gown.  Supergirl gives her a dress, and Wonder Woman confesses to also thinking she looked "frumpy" in her costume.

 

About this point I was hoping they'd fallen victim to a plot involving mind control. It would have made more sense.

[Doc Shadow]

Let's face it most guys had, and still have, no idea how to write for female characters. Particularly back then. So they went to the stereotypes that conveniently fed their fantasies.

[Cassandra]

Let's face it most guys had, and still have, no idea how to write for female characters. Particularly back then. So they went to the stereotypes that conveniently fed their fantasies.

 

Which explains why Wonder Woman carries a magic lasso and loses her powers when cuffed by a man.

[SKJAM!]

The Brave and Bold author was also well known for not really reading the characters' own stories before writing the crossovers.  Thus, for example, Green Arrow, everywhere else at that point an angry lefty with an overactive social conscience, became in Brave & Bold a get-rich-quick sucker who was desperate to return to his playboy days.

 

And in the Copperhead story mentioned above, Barbara Gordon, at that point in time a grown woman who had a PhD and was head librarian at the Gotham City Library, worries about explaining spending so much of her allowance to her father.

[clsage]

If it was me, and I were running a traditional silver age campaign, I'd prefer to make something like that a bonus. Maybe the player would get an extra 5DC free at dramatically appropriate moments or an extra Action Point or a +1 to CV. I don't think I'd use it for a bronze age campaign though and I'd need to read some more golden age comics to see if it's appropriate.

 

I have no interest in running anything iron age, so it's a given that I wouldn't use it.

While I cannot currently locate my copy of 1st Ed, there were (as I recall) suggested rules for 'monolog/soliloquy use'. It included such things as pluses for PRE attacks, etc.....

 

-Carl-

[clsage]

Silver Age Supervillains (especially Adam West's Batman) had the same Psychological Limitations.

 

Overconfidence

Showoff

Obsessive

 

Of course, the heroes were easily captured.  Superman would be winning until someone produces a piece of kryptonite, and then he'd be dumped into a death trap and be left alone to figure out how to escape.  Good thing he had Deduction ("Supermind")

 

Wonder Woman would lose her strength is she was handcuffed by a man (they really were making it easier for the bad guys then).

 

Green Lantern would be helpless if he was coated with yellow pain, Martial Manhunter with a match (actually happened in Justice League #9).

 

Most other heroes of the era would get hit in the back of the head, sprayed with sleep gas, shocked with electricity, or chloroformed (my personal favorite).

 

Then the villains would leave the hero alone because they want them to live to see them take over the world, or whatever was their evil goal.

 

Good times.

 

Deathtraps!!!

 

Because sometimes, you just need some sharks with frickin' lasers attached to their foreheads!   

 

-Carl-

[Cassandra]

The Batman TV show at the time always had death traps.

 

Superman The Motion Picture (which given that Hollywood Comic Book Adaptions are ten years behind the time) had a death trap.

 

There was a Super Villain Campaign Game in an issue of the old Adventures Club, where the villain got to put the hero into a death trap for no cost (they would have to capture them first, of course.)   The Villain would determine which Primary Characteristics it would work against (STR, DEX, INT, EGO, etc), and to escape the Hero would have to make their Characteristics roll.  If they failed they would take an amount of damage (KA 1d6) per how much they missed the roll by.

 

For example, lets say Superman was lured into a kryptonite trap (6d6 NND [Not versus Lead or in Red Solar Radiation], Only against those vulnerable to kryptonite).  The Man of Steel takes 2x from being vulnerable and 2x for Surprise (It was a bucket full of liquid kryptonite on top of a lead lined door).  He passes out and Lex puts him in the death trap.

 

Luthor, knowing that Superman is very strong, sets the death trap to be used against his INT, which he considers inferior (Overconfidence).  When Superman wakes up he gets one REC, and must deal with the Trap.  Superman INT Roll is 12- (The special effect is he's in a room filled with Red Solar Radiation Lasers, and has to figure out their pattern of attack to escape). 

 

If he makes the roll he escapes.  If he misses the roll he takes KA 1d6 times the amount he missed the roll by, and is still in the trap.   Each time he tries to escape after the first attempt he takes a -1 cumulative to his Escape Roll.

 

I think that works.

[Doc Shadow]

Which explains why Wonder Woman carries a magic lasso and loses her powers when cuffed by a man.

 

Unfortunately, yes.

[Cassandra]

Unfortunately, yes.

 

They made Wonder Woman less kinky on TV by changing it to a Magic Belt.

[kahuna's bro]

The Brave and Bold author was also well known for not really reading the characters' own stories before writing the crossovers.  Thus, for example, Green Arrow, everywhere else at that point an angry lefty with an overactive social conscience, became in Brave & Bold a get-rich-quick sucker who was desperate to return to his playboy days.

 

And in the Copperhead story mentioned above, Barbara Gordon, at that point in time a grown woman who had a PhD and was head librarian at the Gotham City Library, worries about explaining spending so much of her allowance to her father.

he took the name "batGIRL" too literally

[Cassandra]

Back then, a "Girl" was a young unmarried woman.

 

Yvonne Craig seemed tough enough.  She once threatened to let a bank guard shot Egghead unless he told him the location of Olga's hideout.

[kahuna's bro]

Back then, a "Girl" was a young unmarried woman.

 

Yvonne Craig seemed tough enough.  She once threatened to let a bank guard shot Egghead unless he told him the location of Olga's hideout.

 

Back then, a "Girl" was a young unmarried woman.

 

 

i'm aware of that I was thinking the writer had her confused with the underage betty kane batgirl