As I mentioned in the other post, to give fans an idea of the power level of The Black Flag, I compared his fighting ability and how he would match up with someone like The Hulk. Now I want to point out the flaw in Flag's ability. Although Flag is a great fighter on his own, his enhanced abilities require a certain amount of focus and concentration. Just like lifting a heavy couch, Flag must take that moment to focus on the task at hand, at which point the Super Adrenaline will kick in and allow him to do what he needs to. But an opponent like Spider-Man would be almost impossible for Flag to defeat. The guy is just too formidable. Spidey is incredibly strong, nowhere near the Hulk level but far beyond guys like Cap and Black Panther.
Add to that his spider-sense, reflexes and annoyingly bad puns meant to distract you and Flag would simply not be able to adapt to Spider-Mans fluid, agile means of combat. Multiple opponents would cause the same problem, Flag is a one-on-one type of guy and just doesn't do well against a group.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Side Note on The Black Flag
I was recently talking with a friend of mine about Flag over on Facebook. He wanted to know how powerful the Black Flag was in comparison to other superheroes. He is roughly in the same power category as Captain America. But who he can beat depends on each character he faces. For example, it would be tough for him to beat Cap. But he could take the Hulk in one punch. Why? Because the Hulk can't fight. He's a rampaging monster, exactly the type of big muscled goon Flag has fought all his life.
The problem with guys like the Hulk is that they can't fight. They have no real ability to inflict pain, only damage and destruction. A good straight punch to the jaw on a creature the size of the Hulk will put him down for the count.
http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=204300
Moving onto the issue of KO. This is a much more elusive commodity than people think and ensuring that you achieve one is not always easy. The aim as you may know is to achieve "brain shake" whereby the brain, which is suspended in fluid in the skull is made to collide with the interior of the skull. This causes neural overload and KO results. The best way to bring about this state of affairs is to strike as near to the point of the jaw as possible without expending your power by sliding off. It should be noted that strikes from the side (hooks etc), to the jaw tend to make the opponent fall in the same direction as that from which the hit came. This may result in a head connecting nastily with a hard object such as the pavement. A harder but more skilled strike is over the top and down onto the jaw which can cause the opponent to virualy sit down, thus lestening the chance of subsidiary head injury.
Not my words, but I've studied this stuff and trust me, the guys in comics have relied on their powers so long, they've forgotten what real fighting is all about.
The problem with guys like the Hulk is that they can't fight. They have no real ability to inflict pain, only damage and destruction. A good straight punch to the jaw on a creature the size of the Hulk will put him down for the count.
http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=204300
Moving onto the issue of KO. This is a much more elusive commodity than people think and ensuring that you achieve one is not always easy. The aim as you may know is to achieve "brain shake" whereby the brain, which is suspended in fluid in the skull is made to collide with the interior of the skull. This causes neural overload and KO results. The best way to bring about this state of affairs is to strike as near to the point of the jaw as possible without expending your power by sliding off. It should be noted that strikes from the side (hooks etc), to the jaw tend to make the opponent fall in the same direction as that from which the hit came. This may result in a head connecting nastily with a hard object such as the pavement. A harder but more skilled strike is over the top and down onto the jaw which can cause the opponent to virualy sit down, thus lestening the chance of subsidiary head injury.
Not my words, but I've studied this stuff and trust me, the guys in comics have relied on their powers so long, they've forgotten what real fighting is all about.
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Black Flag Part 2
Jesse Patrick Cash was taken along with six other Canadians to a secret facility in Knoxville, Tennessee for treatment by Chem-X's Military Bio-Engineering division lead by Dr. Kelton Nuttall. By injecting Cash with Adrenal-X, Chem-X was able to stimulate Cash's natural healing ability. After six months, he was able to take his first steps. Within no time, Cash was able to walk normally. His body began rebuilding itself, faster and stronger than before. Except there was one thing Adrenal-X could not do; it could not fix his face. The terrible scars left from the injuries he took were not able to heal. Although the bones rebuilt themselves and the wounds closed, the scar tissue had become a part of him, a part that would not heal. Out of the six patients Nuttall treated, Jesse was the only one to advance past the healing stage. His body was able to push itself past normal human limits when Jesse needed it to. Just as people in life threatening situations were able to do amazing things. Jesse's body began pumping his new physique full of Super Adrenaline and with it, he could jump, run, or lift weight beyond his normal capacity when he needed. Frightened that their experiment had gone off the rails and dealing with the fallout of another experiment known as RAGER, Dr. Kelton Nuttall decided to terminate the treatments.
Chem-X had chosen six Canadians who nobody would miss, who the U.S. government wouldn't even know about, foreigners who were not protected by U.S. law. Cleaning up the mess was as simple as putting them all asleep that night, once and for all. Except Jesse and his nurse had bonded, they had become close and she knew her time was up as well. Together they escaped the facility but they were lost deep in the Tennessee wilderness. Jesse managed to hide the woman by luring the Chem-X assassins after himself. What happened to her remains a mystery, Jesse was hurt badly and eventually was thought dead when his body, wounded and exhausted, fell into a lake during a severe rainstorm. He was found half buried in the mud the next day by the man who owned the property, a old country singer who was intrigued by the wanted man with the initials J.P. Cash on his hospital gown.
TO BE CONTINUED
Chem-X had chosen six Canadians who nobody would miss, who the U.S. government wouldn't even know about, foreigners who were not protected by U.S. law. Cleaning up the mess was as simple as putting them all asleep that night, once and for all. Except Jesse and his nurse had bonded, they had become close and she knew her time was up as well. Together they escaped the facility but they were lost deep in the Tennessee wilderness. Jesse managed to hide the woman by luring the Chem-X assassins after himself. What happened to her remains a mystery, Jesse was hurt badly and eventually was thought dead when his body, wounded and exhausted, fell into a lake during a severe rainstorm. He was found half buried in the mud the next day by the man who owned the property, a old country singer who was intrigued by the wanted man with the initials J.P. Cash on his hospital gown.
TO BE CONTINUED
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Black Flag
Jesse Patrick Cash was born in a small town just north west of Ft. McMurray, Alberta. His father was the kind of man that could best be described as a right wing oil baron. Their great grandfather was the brother of Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premiere of that province and their family was very well connected to politics in the region. It was his father's vision that prepared the way for Alberta's current economic growth but to Jesse, his father was a tyrant who often literally took him out to the woodshed and beat him with a stick when he was unhappy with the boy.
When Jesse was 15, his father was running for a seat in the Social Credit Party, a political group that held great power in Alberta during the 40's, 50's and 60's. Social Credit is a socio-economic philosophy in which consumers, provided with adequate purchasing power, establish the policy of production through exercise of their monetary vote. They firmly believed that banking institutions were behind many of our modern economic woes by claiming ownership to the money they create. William Forsberg Cash was a powerful man with powerful enemies and the stress of his daily life inevitably landed on the shoulders of his son until the day he ran away. After an argument at the Party office, Jesse went home, packed his bags and never saw his father again. His mother was a simple farm girl with a great wit and a big heart but she was from a very old fashioned, Christian family and never took a stand against her husband. To this day Jesse has not seen either one of them.
For the next five years Jesse travelled across the country. He was already violent before he left home, but travelling through the roughest country roads of Canada honed his fighting and survival skills. He worked whatever jobs came his way and stole what he needed if it was required. Even during these early years some part of him was protecting the innocent; he would often pick fights with people that would prey on those weaker than themselves. It was during these years that he first met Snowfall, the magician who would become his only friend. At one point Jesse spend a few months in Texas and Mexico where he met Mister Eight, a man who would become his teacher after he gained his powers.
Right before his 20th birthday Jesse took a job on an Alaskan fishing boat. While docked at a small port, Jesse made the worst mistake of his life, he picked a fight with a truly bad group of men. The leader of the group, a monstrous bear of a man, was also a police officer. The beating he took was life-threatening, he only survived because the bartender called an ambulance before the men were finished with him. His injuries were so severe he did not wake up for four months; a piece of his skull had to be removed to take the pressure off his swollen brain. The right side of his face had to be reconstructed, the right arm was so damaged the doctors had to remove bones from his legs to repair them. Unable to walk and terribly scarred, Jesse sat alone in a little hospital in Alaska, contemplating whether he even wanted to go on living. And then Dr. Kelton Nuttall of Chem-X showed up . . .
TO BE CONTINUED
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Lost Legion
The Lost Legion are a group of heroes that existed before the 21st century as a super-team in the world of the The Canadian Legion. Victor MacDonald, head of the CSIS Super-Human Division worked briefly with the team on their only active missions during the 80's. The goal of the Lost Legion was to protect humanity from outside influences; primarily evil beings that might use mankind for their own purposes or supernatural devices that could alter the course of human development. All of them were refered to in modern literature as a cover story, by using their personalities and stories to entertain the masses, they were able to remain men of myth and legend. This allowed them to operate in secret for decades.
The members of the team are:
Ebenezer Scrooge
Gifted with the ability to see the dead, Ebenezer used this ability to make himself incredibly wealthy. His greedy, selfish ways indirectly lead to the death of his business partner Jacob Marley. Marley cursed Scrooge, forever denying him an end to his lift until all the wrongs he had done were made right. For over a century Scrooge has tried to break this curse, financing the Lost Legion and doing his best to make right the evils of his past.
The Martian Machinist
On Halloween, 1938, the Martians attempted to invade the Earth. Unfortunately they were not prepared for Earth's atmosphere and died from disease right before their moment of victory. The Lost Legion covered up the invasion to protect humanity from the knowledge that Martians existed, a fact the world was not ready for. One lone Martian survived and was given a chance to help repair the damage the Martians cost. Although his body is small and weak, the technogy at his disposal is incredibly powerful.
The Yankee Fighter
Bruce Carter III obtained his superhuman powers when the ghost of his ancestor Bruce Carter I, a hero from the American War of Independence, appeared to him and showed him the location of a magical cloak that could give the wearer the ability to become intangible, teleport and immortality as a living spirit. He also carries a Civil War era rifle that fires mystical, explosive shells.
The Terror
In 1941 Chemist Robert Benton discovered a chemical known as "Dark Ether", an almost living substance of great power. The Ether grants him invulnerability and great strength, but it taints his soul every time he uses it. The evil within has changed him, but has so far not corrupted him.
The Sphinx
For centuries Ramses the Immortal ruled Egypt, fighting for his people and protecting Africa from supernatural threats. But immortality proved a great weight for Ramses to carry and he made many mistakes, including the famous battle between himself and Moses. Ramses was granted his powers by The Sphinx and when Cleopatra betrayed him to the Greeks, he became known only as The Sphinx and did not return to Egypt for many, many years. Ramses is incredibly strong, fast and invulnerable. He can predict the future moves of his opponents as well as see major world events. His loneliness has been a great weakness to him, one that has often caused him to make grave errors in judgement.
The Jungle King
His name remains a mystery, but he has lived in the jungles of Africa for over two hundred years. The King was born with a unique gift; any animals he encounters will see him as one of them and he can communicate with them when needed. It is believed he was raised to manhood by animals, until he discovered the Fountain of Youth and became an immortal. He does not speak, but he does not need to. He is strong, fast, an almost superhuman hunter and tracker and a wildman in combat. He uses a knife like an extension of his hand and can do things no mortal man could do. His only flaw is his lack of respect for human law, to the King, the law of the jungle reigns.
The members of the team are:
Ebenezer Scrooge
Gifted with the ability to see the dead, Ebenezer used this ability to make himself incredibly wealthy. His greedy, selfish ways indirectly lead to the death of his business partner Jacob Marley. Marley cursed Scrooge, forever denying him an end to his lift until all the wrongs he had done were made right. For over a century Scrooge has tried to break this curse, financing the Lost Legion and doing his best to make right the evils of his past.
The Martian Machinist
On Halloween, 1938, the Martians attempted to invade the Earth. Unfortunately they were not prepared for Earth's atmosphere and died from disease right before their moment of victory. The Lost Legion covered up the invasion to protect humanity from the knowledge that Martians existed, a fact the world was not ready for. One lone Martian survived and was given a chance to help repair the damage the Martians cost. Although his body is small and weak, the technogy at his disposal is incredibly powerful.
The Yankee Fighter
Bruce Carter III obtained his superhuman powers when the ghost of his ancestor Bruce Carter I, a hero from the American War of Independence, appeared to him and showed him the location of a magical cloak that could give the wearer the ability to become intangible, teleport and immortality as a living spirit. He also carries a Civil War era rifle that fires mystical, explosive shells.
The Terror
In 1941 Chemist Robert Benton discovered a chemical known as "Dark Ether", an almost living substance of great power. The Ether grants him invulnerability and great strength, but it taints his soul every time he uses it. The evil within has changed him, but has so far not corrupted him.
The Sphinx
For centuries Ramses the Immortal ruled Egypt, fighting for his people and protecting Africa from supernatural threats. But immortality proved a great weight for Ramses to carry and he made many mistakes, including the famous battle between himself and Moses. Ramses was granted his powers by The Sphinx and when Cleopatra betrayed him to the Greeks, he became known only as The Sphinx and did not return to Egypt for many, many years. Ramses is incredibly strong, fast and invulnerable. He can predict the future moves of his opponents as well as see major world events. His loneliness has been a great weakness to him, one that has often caused him to make grave errors in judgement.
The Jungle King
His name remains a mystery, but he has lived in the jungles of Africa for over two hundred years. The King was born with a unique gift; any animals he encounters will see him as one of them and he can communicate with them when needed. It is believed he was raised to manhood by animals, until he discovered the Fountain of Youth and became an immortal. He does not speak, but he does not need to. He is strong, fast, an almost superhuman hunter and tracker and a wildman in combat. He uses a knife like an extension of his hand and can do things no mortal man could do. His only flaw is his lack of respect for human law, to the King, the law of the jungle reigns.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Responses to Comments
Since you guys were cool enough to comment, I wanted to answer the questions here for other people to read!
So here goes:
That was some web guys mistake, probably off a template webpage maker. When Arcana decides to solicit it with Diamond, all the info will go up there for you to order from your local comic shop. The first issue is almost done and the second is pencilled, so we've got a couple in the bank, but Sean O'Reilly is really big on honor and so we won't be soliciting it unless we're sure you will actually get it! Too many creators talk about their books and then never actually bring it when the time comes.
Marcell was named the Horse because of his stamina, in fact it had nothing to do with his powers at all. I wanted to create a character with defensive powers to round out the team, but I didn't want your typical Sue Storm force field projector. I've tried very hard to keep the powers at a reasonable and realistic level. The Horse got his nickname because of the large quantity of drugs and alcohol he can take and still remain standing. The ladies of France and Quebec called him Le Cheval, the men assumed it was because of his stamina and not his sexual abilities. So when he joined the Legion, they asked if he wanted a codename and he couldn't resist the chance to brag to the world in such a subtlely French manner.
So here goes:
I went over to the Publishers page and there doesn't yet seem to be a release date. Both #1 and #2 have "buy now" written next to them. Does that mean they have been released? Or does it mean that they are available to pre-purchase? Big difference.
That was some web guys mistake, probably off a template webpage maker. When Arcana decides to solicit it with Diamond, all the info will go up there for you to order from your local comic shop. The first issue is almost done and the second is pencilled, so we've got a couple in the bank, but Sean O'Reilly is really big on honor and so we won't be soliciting it unless we're sure you will actually get it! Too many creators talk about their books and then never actually bring it when the time comes.
Btw, can't wait to see Black Flag's back story. He is still my favorite so far (appearance wise).Soon! I promise! (Damn now I feel like real comics writer with the begging and the pleading). . .
Oh I was also wondering, if there is significance behind Horse's name? I know you said that there are no Native Americans on the team. But it does seem very much like a Native American name. And it doesn't appear to reflect his powers. What's the story behind it? It is intriguing.
Marcell was named the Horse because of his stamina, in fact it had nothing to do with his powers at all. I wanted to create a character with defensive powers to round out the team, but I didn't want your typical Sue Storm force field projector. I've tried very hard to keep the powers at a reasonable and realistic level. The Horse got his nickname because of the large quantity of drugs and alcohol he can take and still remain standing. The ladies of France and Quebec called him Le Cheval, the men assumed it was because of his stamina and not his sexual abilities. So when he joined the Legion, they asked if he wanted a codename and he couldn't resist the chance to brag to the world in such a subtlely French manner.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)