I though it was ninjas and pirates that didn’t get along. Did Doctor McNinja lie to me all those years? 
2 Likes
There are lots of people who don’t get along with pirates! Pirates are kind of renowned for not getting along.
But knights, pirates, ninjas, cowboys, and vikings seem like maybe they’re the big five, with cavemen and astronauts occupying their own niche.
2 Likes
I’d like to think that every time someone wrote in asking, “Okay, but why her?” the writers were just like, “Just you wait and see!” and they attempted to answer the letter by writing her more, and this never actually worked.
4 Likes
I can definitely see that, yep!
The irony is, if she’d been introduced as a Skybreaker enemy with more banter and less flirting, she probably would have been a decently popular C-list villain.
1 Like
The Randomizers:
Background 4, 7, 9 [Options: Military, Law Enforcement, Tragic, Dynasty, Medical, Created]
Power Source 7, 9, 10 [Options: Powered Suit, Radiation, Tech Upgrades, Unknown, Higher Power, Multiverse]
Archetype 2, 9, 2 [Options: Shadow, Marksman, Elemental Manipulator, Sorcerer, Psychic]
Personality 9, 9, 3 [Options: Impulsive, Inquisitive, Nurturing, Apathetic, Jaded]
Pardoner
Real Name: Pierce Hudson, First Appearance: Pardoner #1, January 1993
Background: Tragic, Power Source: Higher Power, Archetype: Marksman
Personality: Jaded, Principles: Justice, Rage
Status Dice: Green d10, Yellow d8, Red d8. Health: 30 [Green 30-23, Yellow 22-12, Red 11-1]
Qualities: Conviction d10, Ranged Combat d8, Imposing d8, Sense for Sin d8
Powers: Vitality d10, Radiant d10, The Gun d10, Presence d8, Absorption d6
Green Abilities:
- Resolute (I): At the start of your turn, remove any -1 penalties on you.
- Rifle [A]: Attack using The Gun. Defend using your Min die.
- Pistol [A]: Attack two different targets using Ranged Combat, one target using your Mid die and the other your Min die.
- Principle of Justice [A]: Overcome to stop an act of injustice in progress and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
- Principle of Rage [A]: Overcome a situation where you can channel your rage for good and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
Yellow Abilities:
- Shotgun [A]: Attack using Ranged Combat. Use your Max die. If you roll doubles, use Max+Min instead.
- Divine Vessel [A]: Attack multiple targets using Radiant. Use your Mid die. Hinder all targets damaged by this ability with your Min die. Hinder yourself with your Max die.
- Knit Wounds [A]: Boost yourself using Vitality, then remove a penalty on yourself or Recover using your Min die.
- Killing Intent [R]: When a new target enters close range, Attack that target by rolling your single Conviction die.
Red Abilities
- The Gun’s Tool (I): Once per issue, if you would go to 0 Health, roll Absorption + Conviction + Red zone die. Your Health becomes that number.
- Rocket Launcher [A]: Attack using The Gun and at least one bonus. Use your Max+Mid+Min dice. Destroy all of your bonuses, adding each of them to this Attack first, even if they are exclusive.
Out
- Remove a bonus or penalty of your choice.
As the speculation boom reached its peak, Venture Comics introduced its most extreme hero yet, someone who would be a violent, grim, serious protagonist fighting against violence in a world gone mad. He was called the Pardoner.
Pierce Hudson was a simple businessman working for a Neulyon shipping company who stumbled onto a gun smuggling operation using his company’s shipments as cover. Coming after him to find out what he knew, the mobsters killed him and his entire family, then set fire to his house to cover their tracks. That should have been the end of it, but as the flames consumed him, Pierce felt the handle of a gun in his pocket, and a voice asking him if he was going to let it end like this. Moments later, the Pardoner erupted from the house, gunning down the mobsters in a frenzy of violence. It was only after it was done that Pierce came to himself, realizing what he had unleashed.
And that was the start of the Pardoner’s quest to take down the mobsters of Neulyon and to try and understand how he had been saved. He was aided in his quest by the Gun - a powerful object he could manifest at will, which took the form of any long-range killing weapon, whether a pistol, missile launcher, or simple knife. The Gun would always return to the Pardoner’s hand, and no one else could wield it; it was a living manifestation of his rage and need for vengeance, powered by his will. When he was on the verge of death, it could possess him, turning him into a living avatar of fury.
The writers of the Pardoner had no idea what the Gun’s deal was. They figured they’d take some time to establish the character, introduce and kill a few bad guys, and go from there. They went so far as to introduce another character with a similar gimmick, the Butcher, who wielded the Blade, and who twice survived being killed by the Pardoner, and began to hint that there might be something larger going on. But before they could reach that point, the speculator market collapsed, and Pardoner was the first comic on the chopping block, ending at #13.
But this wasn’t the end of the Pardoner. In May 1994, he was re-introduced in the pages of Covert Tactics #113, helping the team to defeat the Butcher once and for all by destroying him while he was possessed by the Blade, then joining up. The hope was that he would provide some tension, a counterpoint to Madame Liberty. But the Pardoner wasn’t much more popular on Covert Tactics than he’d been alone, and the main writer chafed at having had a character added against his will. Ultimately, Pardoner only lasted fifteen issues there, as well. In 1995, he was tricked and killed by Fatale, who used the same tactics against him that he had wielded against the Butcher to destroy the Gun and end his life. Aside from a brief appearance in Night of Lost Souls, that was the end of his time at Venture Comics.
Behind the Scenes
Guns guns guns guns guns!
A guy whose emotions take the form of a shapeshifting weapon could be a neat concept, and if it weren’t for the collapse of the speculator boom maybe Pardoner would have had enough time to become a consistent C-Lister. But he came in too late in the ultra-edgy 90s, and became a vessel for someone else’s heat instead.
4 Likes
On the plus side, getting 13 issues of a (presumably monthly) book out on time was a fair accomplishment in the chaos of the 90s. At least the creative team(s) involved could point to having displayed the ability to meet a deadline competently.
1 Like
howdy, Pardoner
3 Likes
Advantage of a smaller company; stronger editorial oversight.
Ooooooooof. 
2 Likes
Image’s track record in the 90s strongly suggests otherwise.
2 Likes
Well yes, you don’t get editorial oversight when your editors work for your writers.
Randomizers:
Approach: 9, 6, 10 [Options: Disruptive, Specialized, Overpowered, Adaptive, Dampening, Ancient]
Archetype: 2, 3, 2 [Options: Inventor, Bruiser, Guerrilla, Indomitable, Thief]
Upgrade: 5, 2, 9 [Options: Hardier Minions, Power Upgrade I, Defense Shield]
Mastery: 12, 3, 4 [Options: Conquest, Enforced Order, Malice]
Acid Rain
Real Name: Wayne Alton, First Appearance: (as villain) Spectacular Skybreaker #100, May 1993
Approach: Dampening, Archetype: Guerrilla
Upgrade: Power Upgrade, Mastery: Malice
Status Dice: 4+ Opponents: d10. 2-3 Opponents: d8. 0-1 Opponents: d6. Health: 45+5H (Upgraded 65+5H)
Qualities: Close Combat d10, Imposing d8, Otherworldly Mythos d8, Resurrected Demigod d8
Powers: Toxic d10, Presence d8, Flight d8
Abilities:
- Fallen Judgement [A]: Hinder using Toxic and use your Max die; that penalty is persistent and exclusive. As long as that penalty is on the target, reduce their highest power die of your choice by one die size. Attack using your Mid die.
- Curse of The Briny Depths [A]: Hinder multiple targets using Toxic. While a hero has this penalty, reduce all their power dice by one size.
- Devouring Strike [A]: Attack using Close Combat, using the Max die against one target, Mid die against a different target, and the Min die against a third target. If you Attack three different targets, the damage is irreducible.
- The Answerer [R]: Defend against an Attack by rolling your single status die. Deal that much damage to a different nearby target.
- (U) Stolen Assal (I): Increase your Toxic to d12, and your Presence and Flight to d10.
- (U) Master of Malice (I): When you take an action to demonstrate or indulge in cruelty, automatically succeed at an Overcome to inflict pain or fear.
Common Scene Elements:
- Corrupted Fomorian Soldiers: d10 minions. For each penalty on a target a Formorian soldier is Attacking, they gain +1 to the Attack.
- Corrupted Fomorian Commanders: d10 lieutenants. Once per action scene, a Fomorian commander may use an action and destroy a Fomorian soldier to advance the scene tracker.
- A Toxic Storm. A dangerous environment filled with high winds, stinging rain, and Fomorian soldiers.
In 1993, the second Iron Age Skybreaker writing team stepped down. Their replacements pitched a bold new direction for the series, something to make it more epic and extreme, and Venture was all on board. The result was pitched as the final issue of Spectacular Skybreaker, at #100 - Acid Rain, featuring the return of the long-missing Wayne Alton.
Alton’s backstory was retconned; when he and Lewis Lamont had defeated the Fomorians in the 1950s, Alton had been trapped in the Dark Sea, using his power over the waves to shut the gates on Balor. There, he had been slowly infected by Fomorian energies, becoming twisted and corrupted while retaining his burning hatred for Balor and his realm. He began to infect Fomorian soldiers, gathering an army of sacrificial minions with which to return to Earth.
When he arrived, however, he discovered that his mentor was long dead, and a usurper held his spear! Declaring himself to be an Acid Rain upon the world, Alton attacked Skybreaker and his allies, and shattered the spear of Assal, taking its power into himself and conquering Grovedale.
Over the next year, Spectacular Skybreaker was replaced by Broken Sky. Grovedale was locked away from the rest of the world, and the Champions of Truth were unable to intervene as a now-powerless Skybreaker sought to undo the damage that Acid Rain was causing as he gradually expanded his domain. Over the course of the storyline, Cooper learned that he didn’t need the Spear for his power, and he ultimately challenged Acid Rain alone and defeated him, reclaiming the spear and tearing the corruption from the tainted hero, destroying him forever.
To say that this storyline was not popular would be a dramatic understatement.
To begin with, Skybreaker’s spear was iconic. His readers didn’t want him to learn to channel divine energies unarmed and throw bolts of radiant energies. The bleak, apocalyptic Grovedale also upset and annoyed not just his own readers, but the readers of Into the Green and Champions of Truth, both of which had ongoing storylines pre-empted by the editorial mandate to lock the city away. On top of that, turning a beloved Golden Age sidekick into a bleak, edgy supervillain annoyed almost everyone. It had happened far too late and far too forcibly to feel like a reasonable continuation of his storyline.
The writing team responsible for the storyline left in late 1995, and their replacements developed a storyline soon afterwards in which Shadowspear forced Skybreaker into a series of challenges to repair the Spear of Assal. Acid Rain stayed dormant until the Night of Lost Souls, in which he returned from the dead as a member of Greyheart’s army, was purified by Solace, and joined with Lewis Lamont one final time as an agent of justice before finally being sent to a peaceful rest.
Behind the Scenes
I was thinking “what would be the most ridiculous, edgiest, worst decision that the 90s could produce” and nothing seemed more over-the-top than “beloved character who hasn’t been seen in decades goes murderously evil and wrecks multiple comics while also making a hero do a costume change.”
So that’s what we got!
Can’t imagine why he wasn’t more popular.
4 Likes
The readers were clearly unable to appreciate creative genius when they saw it.
2 Likes
another meta question and don’t try using it for the weird variant heroes (unless you really want to)
Thanks to marketing what hero (or villain) that does not have [Signature Vehicle] has an inexplicable connection to a vehicle of some kind?
Spider-Man with a dune buggy that goes up walls
Thanos with a Thanos-copter
a car with the Flash’s colors and logo
Inexplicable? Probably not many inexplicable ones, although I’ll have to think about it. The Vanguards have a unique sci-fi jet that can travel through dimensional ruptures. Covert Tactics has a stealth jet. The Steward has his Xur’Tani shuttle, which he keeps as a way for Covert Tactics to go to two places at once, then takes with him and leaves with Earthwatch when he dies.
Flatfoot has the Patrol Car, his unique souped-up car, and Dawn Rider and Prometheus have a beat-up van.
Okay, I’ve got one. In Champions of Truth #112 (Aug 1974) Flatfoot builds a set of Patrol Cars for the other five members of the Champions, each one tailored to them. Most of them do not appear again; it’s implied that Wonderer has stashed his somewhere, and Greenheart just straight-up ignores hers. Steward drives his in a few issues. Reverie actually keeps hers, and it’s implied that it’s her main mode of transportation for the next couple decades.
Skybreaker does not know how to drive because he’s an ancient demigod who never learned. He refuses to admit this, and one month after being given the car, in Skybreaker Stories #206, he drives it directly into a wall when, in pursuit of a villain, he confuses the brake and gas pedal.
Roxy never lets him live it down.
4 Likes
Sure, Cú Chulainn should not know how to drive but are you telling me there was never an action figure with a motorcycle or muscle car?
2 Likes
Oh, probably! It may even have been the one he crashed.
Randomizers:
Approach: 5, 7, 3 [Options: Prideful, Bully, Focused, Mastermind, Overpowered, Tactician]
Archetype: 2, 4, 9 [Options: Inventor, Guerilla, Overlord, Loner, Fragile, Invader]
Upgrade: 2, 10, 6 [Options: Hardier Minions, Power Upgrade II, Calming Aura]
Mastery: 3, 4, 10 [Options: Conquest, Enforced Order, Total Chaos]
Terminatrix
Real Name: Ilsa von Bauer, First Appearance: Remnants #38, April 1994
Approach: Tactician, Archetype: Invader
Upgrade: Hardier Minions, Mastery: Total Chaos
Status Dice: Based on environment minions, lieutenants, and/or challenges. 0: d10. 1-2: d8. 3+: d6. Health: 40+5H
Qualities: Close Combat d8, Leadership d8, Alertness d6, Battalion Commander d8
Powers: Teleportation d8, Intangibility d8, Presence d6, Vitality d6
Abilities:
- Flash-Fire Serum (I): Reduce physical damage by 3 while the scene tracker is Green, 2 while it is Yellow, or 1 while it is Red.
- Need to Lead (I): As long as you have at least 1 nearby ally, you may reroll all 1s on your dice.
- Hunter-Killer [A]: Move to a new location in the current scene, and then Attack or Overcome with Teleportation. Hinder with your Max die.
- All For One [A]: Make a basic action using Leadership and use your Max die. One nearby ally also makes that same basic action as their reaction.
- Sow Hatred [R]: When the environment targets you with an Attack or Hinder, redirect it to a hero or environment target.
- (U) Ubermensch Serum (I): When you enter the scene with minions, or deploy villain minions using your own abilities or the environment, increase them by one die size to a maximum of D12.
- (U) Master of Total Chaos (I): If you are in a situation where everything is spiraling out of control, automatically succeed in an Overcome to accomplish a task by throwing out the rules.
Common Scene Elements:
- A Civic Event. A parade, mall opening, or similar event that Terminatrix is attacking to prove the weakness of decadent modern society. There are opposed challenges to save civilians or infrastructure before Terminatrix and her forces destroy them, and confused security forces may confuse heroes for the attackers.
- Goddamn Nazis: d8 minions. If any other minions or lieutenants are nearby, this minion has a +1 to their actions. If not, they have a -1 to their actions.
- War Machines: d10 lieutenants. War Machines have +1 to their save rolls, and when they take an Attack action, they may apply -2 to the result to Attack a group of targets close to each other.
By 1994, after three years of strong sales, support for the Remnants was beginning to slip. With Pardoner and Broken Mirrors already cancelled, the writers began to fear that their cool super-team was in peril, and frantically brainstormed a villain so vile, so terrible, that everyone would have to tune in and see what was coming next.
The result was Terminatrix.
Introduced in Remnants #38, Ilsa von Bauer was the grand-daughter of a Nazi super-scientist who had died in World War II after supposedly perfecting a formula to turn humans into superhuman monsters. Ilsa tracked down and took the formula, only to discover that it was dangerously unstable, leaving her body prone to dissolution. Turning a negative into a positive, she learned to control her powers, dissolving into air and reforming distances away, and formed a New Reich to lay waste to what she saw as a weak and tolerant West.
The Remnants were alerted to Termatrix’s activities and deployed to stop her from launching a terrorist attack on a major Easter parade, which she and her forces attacked with poison gas weapons derived from the formula she had created. Although they were able to save most of the civilians and kill most of Ilsa’s forces, the Termanatrix escaped, vowing that she would return to wipe the “genetic misfits” from existence.
Termanatrix’s appearance was meant to lead to several more, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide, and while plans were being laid the writers of Remnants were informed that the series would be ending at #48. Her second appearance was quickly revised, and in Remnants #44, Termatrix returned for a final two-parter with a new, more powerful Ubermensch formula with which she could turn even the weakest racist into a Nazi super-soldier. Unfortunately for her, the formula was still dangerously unstable, and her soldiers continued to mutate, becoming ever-more aggressive and monstrous. Undaunted, Ilsa attempted to attack Washington to kill Congress, and the Remnants successfully stopped her; she was ultimately killed by her own soldiers as she lost control of them.
The Termanatrix would make one final appearance in Liberty’s Dream #9 in 2003, in which the serums coursing through her revived her as an undead monstrosity that nonetheless tried to created an Immortal Reich, standing against a collection of heroes that were very used to fighting both Nazis and monsters. At the end of the three-part arc, Alchymia successfully broke apart the bonds holding Terminatrix together, allowing the heroes to scatter her on the wind, and she has not been seen since.
Behind the Scenes
Continuing our edgy nineties series, we get a Very Bad Nazi.
There are probably other Nazi supervillains in Venture Comics; all of the big name heroes fought quite a few in the 40s, and I can’t imagine they all vanished. But the highest-profile one went Soviet (and then presumably picked up a new cause after the Soviet Union fell), and the others are probably just C-Listers who gradually fade out or get de-Nazi’d over time. So an attempt is made to create an even WORSE Nazi, and she’s really just too much. But it does give me a chance to remember that Liberty’s Dream existed. So that’s nice!
3 Likes
Randomizers:
Approach: 1, 10, 8 [Options: Relentless, Mastermind, Specialized, Overpowered, Generalist, Leech]
Archetype: 8, 6, 3 [Options: Bruiser, Overlord, Inhibitor, Loner, Fragile, Domain]
Upgrade: 4, 5, 11 [Options: Villainous Vehicle, Power Upgrade II, Power Dampening Field]
Mastery: 7, 8, 9 [Options: Mysticism, Profitability, Superiority]
Shatterpoint
Real Name: Owen Nash, First Appearance: Covert Tactics #155, October 1997
Approach: Leech, Archetype: Domain
Upgrade: Power Dampening Field, Mastery: Profitability
Status Dice: Based on environment minions, lieutenants, and/or challenges. 3+: d10. 1-2: d8. None: d6. Health: 45+5H (Upgraded 55+5H)
Qualities: Science d8, Investigation d8, Criminal Underworld d8, Reality Twister d8
Powers: Sonic d10, Transmutation d8, Intuition d6
Abilities:
- Out of Phase (I): Ignore damage from an environment source during the environment’s turn.
- Absorb Vibrations [A]: Hinder multiple targets using Sonic. Recover Health equal to your Min die. If you roll doubles, also Attack one of those targets using your Max die.
- Shake The World [A]: Activate one of the environment’s twists in its current zone or one zone closer to red.
- Dimensional Shift [A]: Roll any number of environment minion dice. Attack every target in the scene (other than yourself) with those dice. Remove those minions.
- Retcon [R]: When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Transmutation die. If this negates the Attack entirely, Hinder that target and Boost yourself with that same die roll.
- (U) Dimensional Lock (I): While the scene is in the Green zone, all heroes’ power dice at d8 or above are reduced one size. In the Yellow zone, all heroes’ power dice at d10 or above are reduced two die sizes. In the Red zone, all heroes’ power dice are treated as if they are d4. Heroes may remove this ability with three Overcome successes. If a hero takes a minor twist, the hero must lose access to a power entirely until this ability is removed.
- (U) Master of Profitability (I): If you have access to great wealth and other resources, automatically succeed at an Overcome to leverage those resources to get even richer, no matter who else pays the price.
Common Scene Elements:
- A Dimensional Breach: An environment with interdimensional minions, dangerous flares of energy, and challenges to keep the area from imploding.
- Hired Mooks: d6 minions chosen for their expendability. Hired mooks who are reduced to a d4 will flee at the end of their next turn.
- Dimension-Locked Agents: d8 lieutenants. Dimension-locked agents are immune to damage from environment twists and from “Dimensional Shift”.
In 1997, the writing team in charge of Covert Tactics decided to reverse one of the more controversial decisions of the post-Sovereign age, one which had been going for twelve years now. Earlier that year, Covert Tactics had taken part in the destruction of Guardian Industries and the defeat of the Overseer; in the process, a writer involved in the crossover had included a mention that the team’s temporal energies were a mess due to having their timelines so thoroughly meddled with by the Sovereign. Rather than leaving that detail to lie, Covert Tactics delved into it, and in April 1997 the team faced off against Shatterpoint.
Owen Nash was a powerful lieutenant of Hank Ferris who ended up cut loose after the Overseer’s defeat. Grabbing what he could, he stole a collection of technology he didn’t fully understand, and accidentally activated several pieces of alien gear, sending himself careening into a dimensional vortex. Nash was just barely able to save himself, but in the process he ended up dimensionally unstable, vibrating between energy frequencies and bringing entire regions with him.
Searching for more dimensional energies to stabilize himself, Shatterpoint discovered that Covert Tactics were a potential source of deeply locked-down temporal power. He attacked the team, siphoning power away from them and using it to reshape the world according to his desires. In the process, Covert Tactics’ lost memories of their old lives resurfaced, and Madame Liberty reclaimed her shapeshifting abilities, mingling them with her psychic impressions to combine her classical and new capabilities. Using their newly-recovered decades of experience, the team was able to defeat Shatterpoint, sending him careening into the void.
The villain vanished for a couple years as Covert Tactics focused on AEGIS-related plots, but returned in 2000 with a new criminal empire and a machine to stabilize him dimensionally while sealing away the superhuman abilities of his foes. With this machine, Shatterpoint hoped to establish himself as an untouchable mob boss. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of targeting Covert Tactics, and by the end of a three-issue arc his dimensional lock was broken and he was cast back into dimensional chaos. The writers had planned to have him return after the defeat of AEGIS, but didn’t reach that point before the series was cancelled in 2002. Instead, they brought him back as a villain for Liberty’s Dream; in 2004, Shatterpoint found his way to Anima, destabilizing the Underhill nation and opening a path for Animaster to invade again.
When Liberty’s Dream ended, Shatterpoint went with it; he didn’t make any further appearances in dimensional stories, and was generally considered to be lost somewhere in the depths of dimensional space.
Behind the Scenes
I’m bending the rules a little bit here, since Shatterpoint technically had a major impact on the setting by returning Madame Liberty’s classic memories and powers (something I’ve hinted at having happened in other places, but never detailed.) But no one cares about him, so I’ve decided he still counts.
Venture has a lot of dimensionally-unstable villains, and I think he just didn’t end up unique enough to be interesting. Or possibly he got canned because he was too damned hard to draw in that outfit. Who knows, maybe someone revives him in the 2020s to face Venturer.
Also: as of this entry, I now officially have written 500 issues into my timeline of Venture Comics. This is out of control, and it will not stop.
4 Likes
I don’t know, his costume’s a little fiddly but nowhere near Jack of Hearts territory - who’s been making appearances on and off for 50 years now and was dating She-Hulk last time I looked. Of course, it probably helps that Kurt Busiek is notoriously fond of the guy, costume and all.
Congrats, I guess?
To quote myself from post #4 over on the mirror thread:
This can only lead to whiteboards and walls of crazy. I heartily approve.
2 Likes
#1, never stop! 
Awesome!
#2, this guy’s look is immediately awesome, and he made me realize that you basically have to have an edgy character with “Shatter” in their name for the 90’s, so now I have Doomshatter, thanks a lot <_<;
1 Like
Yeah, that was more what I meant. Someone with a ridiculous costume needs to be beloved to get tossed into things, whereas someone with a simpler costume just needs to be remembered.
You’re welcome, and also I love the idea. We could put together a “League of Characters With Shatter In Their Names”.
1 Like