Greek Gods
King – Zeus
Queen – Hera
Rook – Ares
Bishop – Hermes
Knight – Hercules
Pawn – Greek Warriors
Norse Gods
King – Odin
Queen – Frigga
Rook – Loki
Bishop – Heimdall
Knight – Thor
Pawn – Viking Warriors
WereVerse Universe Baby!
WereVerse Universe at Google Drive Link
Posted in Art, Comic Book Critique
Tagged Ares, Bishop, chess, Chess set, Frigga, Greek Gods, Greek Warriors, Heimdall, Hera, Hercules, Hermes, King, Knight, Loki, Norse Gods, Odin, Pawn, Queen, Rook, Viking Warriors, Zeus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracleman
The main superheroes of the Miracleman universe include Kid Marvelman, Miracleman, Miraclewoman and Young Miracleman. The Miracleman universe is the third reboot alphabetically but Moore’s first reboot chronologically. Moore did this reboot before the Watchmen that led to his ascendance as the premiere comic book writer of all time. In the sixties in Great Britain there was a superhero called Marvelman. Marvel comics book sued the English publishers and this lead to the demise of Marvelman. Marvelman never made it to the US. Years later, Moore decided to reboot Marvelman but due to the same copyright issues could not use the name Marvelman and changed the name to Miracleman.
A mad scientist working for the British government has figured out alien technology thousands of years ahead of ours and has created Miracleman, Miraclewoman and Young Miracleman. Their powers are more or less than same as Superman’s but they are in world much more like ours than Superman’s so their relative power is much higher. The beings are kept in a state of stasis and they are programmed with adventures which are the same as the adventures of the original Marvelman series. This is the first use of the comic book within a comic book that will become Moore’s trademark signature in all other reboots except in the case of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Miracleman ultimately does all the things that Superman will not even though he could. Miracleman creates paradise on Earth and guides humanity towards the next level of evolution as part of an interstellar community. The Miracleman family takes over the Earth in order to bring order at the “molecular” level and the does just that. The Miracleman family exists as a pantheon of gods sitting above humanity. This theme of super beings dealing with the fundamental issues of human existence such as worldwide pollution, bad governance and unequal distribution of resources and opportunity will later be explored in two other comic book series including DC’s Squadron Supreme and the Authority. The absurdity of Superman using his vast powers to stop bank robbers and dealing with the symptoms of human suffering rather than the causes of human material suffering if not existential suffering was identified by no less an literary giant than Umberto Ecco in his essay about Superman.
Miracleman is not only a more “realistic” version of Superman but a much darker version. If a mere mortal messes with Miracleman then this mortal can expect instant death. Gods do not suffer disrespectful mortals. Superior characterization is shown throughout the series but certain characters stand out. Miraclewoman is very different than Miracleman in attitude. She is much more positive about her condition and revels in her super powers. This is in contrast to Super Girl who is a clone of Superman who happens to have breasts in most treatments of her. Miraclewoman is smarter than Miracleman. When faced with the leader of the aliens from which their powers are derived she suggests a radical diplomatic solution. Earth will be a neutral ground where the two great powers that govern the galaxy can meet. When Miracleman is rude to Margaret Thatcher, Miraclewoman intervenes and takes some of the sting out of their coup de tat. Miracleman is a brooding character that has transcended material suffering but not existential suffering. Miraclewoman is a cheerful happy person as well as she should be given her position as the queen of the gods.
Dr. Gargunza is probably the most fleshed out mad scientist in the history of comics. Dr. Gargunza is given credit for being a genius who as one of the aliens points out was like a gorilla that got a hold of a camera and made technological discoveries using that camera. Miracleman has to admit that Dr. Gargunza is his father and chooses to kill him with a kiss. The kiss is given while in orbit around the Earth where there is no air so the kiss is fatal and the subsequent meteor like fall is most certainly fatal. Miracleman must kill Dr. Gargunza because his intelligence and mastery of the alien technology makes him too dangerous but Miracleman does so with regret. And don’t gods always have to kill their fathers to ascend to the top of the pantheon? Zeus must kill Chronus to fulfill his potential as a god.
Dr. Gargunza comes from the most humble beginnings in Mexico and after making a sufficient amount of pocket money, from gang activities, moves to Europe and starts a new and seeks out the likes of Heidegger and leaves the red dust of Mexico behind him forever. Dr. Gargunza realizes from his conversation with Heidegger that the ultimate problem of human existence is death and the solution is for him to create a baby with the alien technology that is super powered and immortal. Dr. Gargunza is not driven by some desire to take over the world but a desire to survive. Dr. Gargunza is a student of animals and hunts cheetahs for fun and would argue the will to survive transcends all other morality and the ends do justify the means. Issue 15 of the series shows a Kid Miracleman rampaging through London and is generally considered some of the darkest work in comic books period. I own every issue of the Moore version of Miracleman except this one and have heard the issue is extremely gory.
I give this reboot a rank of three out of the five reboots.
My other website at:
WereVerse Universe Baby!
Badtz-Maru has had dreams of greatness for years now. The fact that he cannot seem to graduate from 1st grade in the Gorgeous Academy has been the one stumbling block to his dream to be the boss of everything. Badtz-Maru strokes the scales of his alligator, Pochi. Pochi rolls over unto his back because he especially loves to be scratched on his tummy. Pandaba calls Badtz-Maru and tell him she has a plan to make him the boss of everything!
Legal Disclaimer:
The author of this post is not responsible for any children who lose their hands because they attempted to scratch the tummy of an alligator at the local zoo!
Pandaba hangs up. She had been crying alone because the movie Panda Master has done so well in movie theaters and yet another cartoon Panda has upstaged her. Pandaba has long ago given up being a famous toon and would just be content to be the most famous panda toon. Later she gave up on this ambition since the Ranma 1/2 anime. Ranma’s father becomes a panda when exposed to water. This anime became super popular in Japan and Pandaba just wanted to be the second most famous panda toon. Now it looks like she will have to settle for being the third most famous panda toon. Pandaba really likes Badtza-Maru but knows his place in Sanrio Land is second or worse compared to the Kitty and Pandaba is not even the star of the of the Badtz Maru toon.
Heck even Kitty’s cat Charmmy Kitty is better known than her. Once again she ponders the paradox of a cat owning a cat and not going to jail for slavery. Still Goofy the dog has owned Pluto the dog for years, at their arch-rivals land Disney Land, for years longer than Kitty and her cat without any legal problems.
Pandaba knows more about Disney Land than most Sanrio characters. She has been in secret negotiations with Donald Duck. Donald Duck eliminates Kitty. Pandaba eliminates Mickey Mouse. Suddenly, the number twos at Sanrio Land and Disneyland are number one and no one is the wiser! Sanrio Land and Disney Land have a long history of difficult diplomatic relations and extradition from one land to the other would be impossible if even suspected. But they are both just drawn too darn cute for such nefarious acts. As Jessica Rabbit has said more than once “The way you are drawn is your destiny if you are a toon”
“Still” Pandaba thinks “Badtz-Maru is pretty popular and there are any number of characters in Sanrio Land that are less popular. There are a lot of losers in Sanrio Land like Deery Lou and Patapata Peppy.” But there are the serious rivals to Badtz-Maru like Chibi-maru, Chococat, Cinnamoroll, Keroppi Hasunoue, Kuromi, Landry, Little Twin Stars, My Melody, , Picke Bicke, Pochacco, Purin and Spottie Dottie.
Pandaba is especially worried about Chococat. Pandaba thinks “Chococat might already be number two in Sanrio Land” Chococat was yet another cat and cats seemed to have a special luck in Sanrio Land. Chococat was spunky and male as opposed to being well mannered and female like Kitty but as far as Pandaba was concerned a cat is a cat.
Pandaba reflected that dogs didn’t do as well as cats in Sanrio Land. Pochaccowas a popular dog. Cinnamoroll aka, Baby Cinnamon, was even a flying dog but was third tier at best. That also went for Chococats friend, Cookie-Bau. Spottie Dottie was also popular. Purin, aka Pudding Dog, was the probably the most popular dog in Sanrio Land but nowhere near as popular relatively as Pluto or Goofy in Disneyland.”
Rodents seemed to do well in all toon lands. Mickey Mouse was a rodent and even more popular than Kitty in the toon world although Sanrio Land would never admit this. Sanrio Land was filled with rodents like all toon lands!
Charmmy was friends with Sugar, a white jungalian hamster who is also Hello Kitty’s pet. Chococat had Nutz the hamster and Jellybean the bunny as friends. Unlike other toon lands, Sanrio Land cats and rodents coexisted in a way that would have befuddled Tom and Jerry.
Rodents in all toon lands got along with other rodents. My Melody and her rival, Kuromi were rabbit-like if not actual rabbits. My Melody was friends with a blue mouse named Flat, and an orange squirrel named Risu. Kuromi has a white rat named Chumi in her gang. There was Landry the raccoon. Picke Bicke was a fairly popular mouse.
Sanrio Land canines seemed to have a thing for rodents. Pochacco the dog had several rodent friends including Choppi a small brown mouse, Guri a grey rabbit, Mogumogu a mole, Mon-Mon a brown flying squirrel and Rachel a skunk. Purin the dog was friends with Muffin the hamster, and Scone the mouse.
This was ok since in most toon lands rodents and dogs got along in a way they never did in none-toon lands. Most toons did not believe in none-toon lands but Pandaba was a rare believer. There must have been creators of the toon world. The argument that then you had to explain where the none-toons came from was yet another mystery.
Pandaba had often reflected that while Donald Duck was firmly number two at Disneyland there was no clear number two in Sanrio Land. Getting rid of Kitty might just lead to a Sanrio Land character other than Badtz-Maru becoming number one. And the fact that Badtz-Maru can’t seem to graduate from first grade had caused Pandaba to question if Badtz-Maru was ready to be the leader of Sanrio Land.
The last reason Pandaba had never taken the negotiations with Donald Duck to the next level was a fear that events might get out of hand and an out and out war between Sanrio Land and Disney Land could erupt. Sanrio Land only had cute characters and no real warriors. Sure Disney had plenty of cute toons like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck but they also had fearsome toons like Hercules who could single handily wreak havoc on Sanrio Land.
Kitty might be the princess of Sanrio Land but in a fight with the Disney Princesses she would be in trouble. Mulan had military experience. Pocahontas was pretty buff. Even nice princesses like Belle, Sleeping Beauty, aka Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine and Ariel were a lot taller than Kitty. The Little Sisters were mythical god like beings and probably the most powerful beings in Sanrio Land but how did they compare with Disney gods like Hercules dad Zeus?
Pandaba was very philosophical for a toon! Getting upstaged by yet another toon panda was the last straw and she had spent hours coming up with a plan by which their gang could take over Sanrio Land once and for all! Pandaba gorged himself on yet another shumai, a Chinese steamed meat dumpling, to erase her worries and thoughts.
Hana Maru was practicing ball acrobatics when she received the call from Badtz-Maru. As a seal she has a natural aptitude for such antics but you never know when her current toon job might not work out and she might have to get a job in a toon circus. Hana Maru was a white seal and figured this might get her the edge in circus work since there weren’t many white seals but still you need to hone your skills just in case. Hana Maru in turn alerted the rest of the Badtz Maru gang including: Hanatare Kame, Soga Iruka, Ogawa Same Otto, Nogaki Goroo, Mochizuki Anko , and Kobun. They would meet in the Gorgeoustown Park near the swings in order to hear Pandaba’s plan.
Next week! Pandaba’s Plan!
WereVerse Universe Baby!
Posted in Fiction, Hello Kitty, What if comic book situations?, What if TV dates?
Tagged Add new tag, Ariel, Aurora, Baby Cinnamon, Badtz-Baru, Belle, Charmmy Kitty, Chibi-maru, Chococat, Choppi, Chumi, Cinderella, Cinnamoroll, Cookie-Bau, Deery Lou, Disney Princesses, Donald Duck, Flat, Goofy, Gorgeous Academy, Gorgeoustown, Guri, Hana Maru, Hanatare Kame, Hercules, Hugh Fox, Japan, Jasmine, Jellybean, jungalian hamster, Keroppi Hasunoue, Kobun, Kuromi, Landry, Little Sisters, Little Twin Stars, Mickey Mouse, Mochizuki Anko, Mogumogu, Mon-Mon, Muffin, Mulan, My Melody, Nogaki Goroo, Nutz, Ogawa Same Otto, Panda Master, Pandaba, Patapata Peppy, Picke Bicke, Pluto, Pocahontas, Pochacco, Pochi, Pudding Dog, Purin, Rachel, Ranma 1/2 anime, Sanrio Land, Scone, shumai, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Soga Iruka, Spottie Dottie, Sugar, Tom and Jerry, white seal, Zeus
Dungeons and Dragrons vs. Marvel
I like Marvel characters more than D&D characters. I grew up on Marvel and was only introduced to D&D because all my buddies were playing this weird minis D&D game that I got addicted to. I do like the D&D miniatures system much more than the HeroClix system.
I have thought of porting some of the Marvel characters into the D&D system but am way too lazy and I haven’t been able to come up with good conceptual system to make this happen but this got me to thinking about how these two universes compare. As much as possible I tried to create battle scenarios between characters that are similar in a manner similar to the DC vs. Marvel Mini-series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_vs._DC) For example Aquaman vs. Namor the submariner.
D&D vs. Marvel 1: Avengers Assemble
There is no preparation.
Both opponents have been suddenly teleported to a gladiatorial amphitheater surrounded by a force field.
Colossal Red Dragon vs. Hulk
Tordek vs. Captain America
Storm Archer vs. Hawkeye
Blackguard on Nightmare vs. Black Knight
D&D vs. Marvel 2: The Big Boys
There is no preparation.
Both opponents have been suddenly teleported to a gladiatorial amphitheater surrounded by a force field.
RPG stats for the D&D side since no minis for the characters listed
Nerul vs. Galactus
Night Walker vs. Marvel Thor
Hextor vs. Marvel Odin
Tiamat vs. Marvel Hercules
Kord vs. Marvel Zeus
D&D vs. Marvel 3: Battle of the Elements
There is no preparation.
Both opponents have been suddenly teleported to a gladiatorial amphitheater surrounded by a force field.
Fire Elemental vs. Human Torch
Ice Elemental vs. Ice Man
Earth Elemental vs. Sandman
Water Elemental vs. Hydro-Man
Iron Golem vs. Iron Man
D&D vs. Marvel 4: Battle of the Mages
There is no preparation.
Both opponents have been suddenly teleported to a gladiatorial amphitheater surrounded by a force field.
Elminster of Shadowdale vs. Doctor Strange
Mordenkainen the Mage vs. Doctor Strange
D&D vs. Marvel 5: Creatures of the Night
There is no preparation.
Both opponents have been suddenly teleported to a gladiatorial amphitheater surrounded by a force field.
Count Strahd Von Zarovich vs. Blade
Count Strahd Von Zarovich vs. Marvel Dracula
Average D&D Werewolf vs. Average Marvel Werewolf.
Average D&D Zombie vs. Average Marvel Zombie
Average D&D Vampire vs. Average Marvel Vampire
D&D vs. Marvel 6: Others
There is no preparation.
Both opponents have been suddenly teleported to a gladiatorial amphitheater surrounded by a force field.
Storm Rage Shambler vs. Man Thing
Wolverine vs. Troll. Both can regenerate and are brawlers with sharp claws
Ghostly Consort vs. Invisible Girl
All the D&D characters mentioned are minis and their picture and stats can be easily found at:
http://www.vesivus.com/minis/All.htm
My other website at:
This paper was found on the internet minus authorship, that I will be more than happy to give credit to, if I am contacted, and is a brief primer in how d20 (D&D 3rd Edition) statistics can be used to describe wildly inhuman abilities, such as would be seen in comic-book type superheroes or, presumably, deity-level entities.
Fortunately, the D&D Player’s Handbook provides an excellent starting place on p. 142 with Table 9-1, “Carrying Capacity”, which shows a geometrically increasing maximum load as the Strength ability increases (the text notes that maximum load is the same as maximum dead-lift, the amount a character can lift over his or her head). Each +10 Strength connotes a x4 increase in maximum load; so, each +5 Strength indicates a x2 increase in max. load; and for a perfectly smooth interpolation, each +1 Strength means a x1.1487 increase in max. load. Note that this progression breaks down at the lowest level; if it were perfectly consistent, the max. loads at the bottom end would be something like Str 0 = 25 lb./ Str 1 = 30 lb./ Str 2 = 35 lb./ Str 3 = 40 lb./ Str 4 = 45 lb. (as opposed to Str x10 lb. as it officially stands). Further note that the actual carrying capacity is also proportional to a creature’s size, according to the text; for example, a Colossal creature can lift x16 the weight that a man-sized creature with the exact same Strength ability score could.
The abbreviated table for d20 Strength below includes the Marvel Super Heroes game rank indicated for each approximate block of Strength scores. (Keep in mind that very large creatures listed with a certain lift capacity will in reality have a lower actual Strength score, as noted above.) Using this as a basis allows us to convert any of the Marvel Super Heroes abilities into approximate D&D-style statistics. It seems sensible to convert MSH abilities in the following way: Fighting = Base Attack Bonus (according to “modifier” on the table below); Strength = Strength; Agility = Dexterity; Endurance = Constitution; Reason = Intelligence; Intuition = Wisdom; and Psyche = Charisma. The notable systemic changes in this regard would be that in MSH, Agility is the basis for ranged attacks (in D&D, BAB modified by Dex), and Intuition provides the modifier to initiative rolls (in D&D, it’s Dex, not Wis).
(Note also that the chart below has had some smoothing performed on it, since the official MSH strength categories are quite irregular. By the book, the categories would convert to the following Strength values: Feeble:5, Poor:10, Typical:15, Good:20, Excellent:25, Remarkable:32, Incredible:48, Amazing:60, Monstrous:63, Unearthly:65.)
Superheroic characters, of course, will also have a variety of Special Abilities as listed in the D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide p. 71-83. Of particular note will be things like rays, regeneration, resistance to energy, cold and fire, incorporeality, invisibility, and so forth. Damage reduction (“body armor” in the MSH system) should be analyzed with an eye toward being able to protect against a blow with a Strength modifier of the same rank (as shown below). Most MSH-style magicians will be Sorcerers in the D&D system.
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D&D Tremendous Strength (Abbreviated) |
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As per D&D 3rd Edition PH p. 142 (Table 9-12) |
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Dead Lift/ |
Marvel Super Heroes |
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Strength |
Modifier |
Max. Load |
Equivalent Rank |
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10 |
0 |
100 lb. |
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15 |
+2 |
200 lb. |
Typical |
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20 |
+5 |
400 lb. |
Good |
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25 |
+7 |
800 lb. |
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30 |
+10 |
1,600 lb. |
Excellent |
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35 |
+12 |
1½ tons |
Remarkable |
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40 |
+15 |
3 tons |
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45 |
+17 |
6 tons |
Incredible |
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50 |
+20 |
12 tons |
Amazing |
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55 |
+22 |
25 tons |
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60 |
+25 |
50 tons |
Monstrous |
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65 |
+27 |
100 tons |
Unearthly |
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70 |
+30 |
200 tons |
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75 |
+32 |
400 tons |
Shift X |
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80 |
+35 |
800 tons |
Shift Y |
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85 |
+37 |
1,600 tons |
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90 |
+40 |
3,200 tons |
Shift Z |
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95 |
+42 |
6,400 tons |
Class 1000 |
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100 |
+45 |
12,800 tons |
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WereVerse Universe Baby!
Posted in D&D vs. Marvel, Marvel Comics, What if comic book fights?, What if comic book situations?
Tagged Avengers, Black Knight, Blade, Captain America, Colossal Red Dragon, Count Strahd Von Zarovich, Doctor Strange, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons vs. Marvel, Earth Elemental, Elminster of Shadowdale, Fire Elemental, Galactus, Ghostly Consort, Hawkeye, Hercules, Hextor, Hugh Fox, Human Torch, Hydro-Man, Ice Elemental, Ice Man, Invisible Girl, Iron Golem, Iron Man, King Kong, Kord, Marvel Comics, Mordenkainen the Mage, Nerul, Night Walker, Odin, Sandman, Storm Archer, Thor, Tiamat, Titano, Tordek, Troll, Vampire, Water Elemental, Werewolf, Wolverine, Zeus, Zombie
