Doug McCrae

Re: Death with Dignity : An examination of the Golden Age So, what part of the Comics Code actually prohibits superheroes from killing?

Re: Death with Dignity : An examination of the Golden Age DC cleaned up its act long before 1954. In fact I believe Superman and Batman cut out the killing (apart from in war) after about a year. I think you'd be hard pressed to find an example of either character killing anyone post 1945, which would be 9 years before the code was introduced.

Re: Death with Dignity : An examination of the Golden Age Given that the Comics Code was created in 1954 and that the Silver Age is usually accepted as starting in 1956 that would give us a Golden Age 2 years long, which seems a trifle short.

Re: Death with Dignity : An examination of the Golden Age

Re: Need clues and style of lackeys for a kidnap plot The kidnapping is performed by seven foot tall owl-demons summoned by the nefarious mastermind. They leave behind a feather and a noxious stench.

Re: The City/Hero Connection I had a team based in LA called the Superstars (before Busiek used the name - he totally ripped me off, man). They fought crime to get publicity for their movie careers. They were run as PCs in a oneoff and very brief campaign.

Re: PLEASE ! No more 'What would your character do ?' threads There's too many of them. Last time I checked 10 out of the 20 threads on the first page were WWYCD.

Re: Arrows of the Gods Hercules: A boxing glove arrow

Re: Please help me with "The Star Chamber" The Authority has cool modern versions of Superman (Apollo), Batman (Midnighter), Dr. Strange (The Doctor), Iron Man (The Engineer), Hawkman (Shen), Aquaman (Jack Hawksmoor) and Lightning Lad (Jenny Sparks). So all you have to do is come up with cool modern versions of some other superheroes. Here's a few suggestions: Ocean (Professor X) - Ocean is a telepath to the Nth power, a 'hyperpath'. Drawing on the thoughts and memories of the entire human race he has the skills of the world's greatest experts, is a martial artist par excellence and knows what the PCs are going to do before they do (by accessing their subconscious minds). The Soldier (Wolverine) - Genetically modified by a secret government project to be the perfect killing machine. Soldier has a battery of biological enhancements inspired by the animal kingdom. She has the vision of an eagle, the sense of smell of a bloodhound, a whole range of extra senses, enhanced strength and speed, electrical discharges, box jellyfish venom, a limited shapeshift ability similar to an octopus and so forth. Adam Farpoint (The Vision) - A quantum computer AI, Adam's consciousness controls a variety of robotic bodies of his own design. None are humanoid, but resemble the animal-like constructions in the Matrix. Gaea (Thor) - A powerful psychic/mystic with control over natural phenomena such as earthquakes and the weather, Gaea is a devout pagan who believes herself to be the avatar of the earth mother. An extreme environmentalist she seeks to put an end to pollution, preserve biodiversity and prevent global warming. Lure (Namor) - Lure is a bizarre looking humanoid resembling a deep sea fish. He has a large mouth filled with enormous teeth, whip-like filaments and bioluminescent patches. He is a representative of an ancient species that dwells on the ocean floor and predates human civilisation by tens of thousands of years. Wearing a protective suit to survive the low pressure environment on the surface, the equivalent of power armour, Lure wields a variety of advanced gadgets. Fortress (Colossus) - Composed of neutron star material, Fortress is practically indestructible and very strong. Shift (Scarlet Witch) - Capable of accessing the other membranes (dimensions) predicted by M-Theory, Shift can transpose locations in our universe with those in another. By selecting specific worlds she can alter the laws of physics in a limited area. For example she could control gravity, making it weaker or far stronger or change the strength of the forces holding atoms together, with catastrophic consequences.

Re: So I have some Golden Age Characters in outer space... And to prove that superheroes in space get up to exactly the same activities as spacemen... www.samuelsdesign.com/comics/pages/wonder11.htm

Re: So I have some Golden Age Characters in outer space... And also these...

Re: So I have some Golden Age Characters in outer space... And these...

Re: So I have some Golden Age Characters in outer space... In space in the 1940s I would expect to see scenes such as these...

Re: So I have some Golden Age Characters in outer space...

Re: How would you modify humans I'd have a dark skinned evil race to be non-politically correct. None of them would be good, not a single one. A race that lives in harmony with nature is de rigeur. Can't avoid modern day environmentalism. Some sort of gender weird race. They have three sexes, or only one, or they switch or something. A race with an extreme communist ant-like mentality. Perhaps they're a psychic gestalt.

Re: How would you modify humans I believe neanderthals had an 80% meat diet.

Re: Conan vs. Elric It all depends on whether Elric and Conan are enemies or allies. If the former then Elric, who fails at everything he attempts, will never kill him in a million years. If, on the other hand, Conan has foolishly allied himself with Elric then the Cimmerian is dead meat. Elric will lose control of Stormbringer and it'll suck out Conan's soul. Or he'll summon a god who'll kill everyone in a 5 mile radius.

Re: Good places to have battles...and stuff Good one!

Re: [iron] Iron Age-y character for review What's with the name Shidoku? Doesn't seem like a superhero name to me.

Re: What Gold/Silver/Iron Age story or series do you love? Golden Age - Agree with you, Captain Marvel's the best. I don't really enjoy reading most GA stuff, it's too crude. Silver Age - I like virtually every DC comic from the late 50s and early 60s, especially Superman. Bronze Age - I enjoy the slightly sinister dark twist to a lot of 70s stuff, both Marvel and DC. As a kid I had a brilliant Batman comic in which Gotham's worst criminals think Batman is dead and hold a reverse-trial where all the defendants want to be found guilty. There's a gruesome scene where the Joker dissolves a man's face with acid. Wolfman & Perez's Teen Titans is probably my favourite Bronze Age series. Iron Age - Alan Moore's Captain Britain, Dark Knight Returns, Walt Simonson's Thor, John Byrne's She-Hulk, Marshal Law #1-6, Supreme, Moore's Judgement Day, Moore's Youngblood (okay, it was only three issues, but it was still the best superhero team book ever written), Astro City and Busiek's Avengers run.

Re: [4color] Why do you dislike the Iron Age style? (No flames, ok?)

Re: Looking at the Iron/Silver Age threads (not a flame) Oh man, if you think Four Color vs Iron Age is bad you should have a look at the political threads on NGD. This is nothing.

Re: Four Color, Silver Age, etc. Defined somewhere? I think you're a bit off with this. 70s/80s = mainly Bronze Age by most people's definitions. And the Silver Age is usually assumed to begin in 1956, certainly no later than Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. Totally agree with you about Four Color = Classic comics though. Some say Four color = Golden Age and Silver Age but there's a lot that happened then that doesn't really fit most people's idea of Four Color, such as killer vigilantes. Also some things like annual cosmic crossovers, endless guest appearances and side-switching (villain becomes hero, hero becomes villain) are regarded as very comic booky but only really took off in the mid-80s. OTOH DC Silver Age comics seem closest to most folk's idea of what Four Color means.

Re: Four Color, Silver Age, etc. Defined somewhere? Showcase #4 was published in 1956. Golden Age = 1938 - some time between the end of WW2 and the start of the Silver Age. Silver Age = 1956 - 197? The Bronze Age/Iron Age boundaries are highly debatable, there's plenty of disagreement about whether we're still in the Iron Age or not. The dates I use are: Bronze Age 1970 - 1985/6 Iron Age 1985/6 - present

Re: [4color] Why do you dislike the Iron Age style? (No flames, ok?) I like my superhero roleplaying to be distinctively different from other genres, otherwise what's the point? Every game might as well be the same. If the PCs are just a bunch of mercenaries wielding advanced powers or weaponry, killing things and taking their stuff it doesn't feel much different from a game of Traveller or Vampire or DnD.