Samuree (Icons Writeup)

Samuree
aka Darryl Sheppard

Prowess 6
Coordination 6
Strength 5/6
Intellect 3
Awareness 5
Willpower 4

Stamina 9/10

Powers
*Sword – Strike 4
*Sai – Strike 4
*Ability Boost – Increases Strength to 6 (Limit: Uncontrollable, berzerker rage)
*Trance State 5 (Extras: Regeneration, Life Support – Heat, Cold, Hunger; Limit: Concentration)
*Ropes – Swinging 3, Binding 3
*Gadgets – 3

Specialties
Athletics (Expert +2), Martial Arts (Expert +2), Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Weapons – Edged (Expert +2), Wrestling

Qualities
*Member of the Revengers
*Mistress of the Martial Arts
*Sense of Honor

Background

Darryl Sheppard was only a young child when the U.S. Air Force transport plane she was on crashed down on a small island to the north of Japan, leaving her the sole survivor. The locals took the youth in, and raised her as a member of their community, complete with their devotion to the martial arts. Samuree was trained in a broad array of Eastern martial arts (her adoptive island was a centuries-old polyglot of martial artists and warrior cultures) and is one of the deadliest martial artists on Earth. Then her adoptive home island was invaded by a corporation with US military ties who proceeded to perform hideous experiments on the islanders they did not immediately execute for fighting back. The experiments conducted on her as a child included super-steroids to induce greatly-enhanced musculature.

Eventually she was found and adopted by a U.S. Air Force Captain, Gideon Pierce. She grew up to be a strong willed woman with a desire to do right, and when terrorists took control of New York’s Museum of Natural History, she teamed up with the Revengers (Megalith, Armor, and SilverStreak) to stop them.

Baron Karza (Icons Writeup)

Baron Karza
aka Hraal Karza

Prowess 5
Coordination 5
Strength 7
Intellect 7
Awareness 5
Willpower 6

Stamina 13

Powers
*Battle Armor: The Baron wears modular battle armor that provides him with several potent abilities. Among the powers it grants him are – Energy Blasts 7, Damage Resistance 6, Interface 6, Life Support 10, Gadgets 5. Without the armor, Karza’s Strength is reduced to 5 and his stamina drops to 11.
*The Body Banks: The Baron has invented a procedure that allows the harvesting of body parts for the citizens of Homeworld, granting them virtual immortality by changing out damaged or missing body parts. His Dog Soldiers make frequent use of the Banks to repair damaged parts and the Baron himself gains Immortality 2 due to his access to the Body Banks.
*Centauroid Transformation: The Baron can use the Body Banks to merge with his steed, becoming a powerful centaur. In this form, he has the following abilities – Prowess 5, Coordination 4, Strength 6, Stamina 12; Energy Blasts 8, Force Field 8.

Specialties
Leadership, Military (Expert +2), Science – Biophysics; Genetics (Master +3), Weapons – Battle Armor (Expert +2)

Qualities
*Undying evil
*Craves ultimate power
*Arcturus Rann, my former pupil…

Background

1000 years ago, Baron Karza was the head scientist of the royal academy of Homeworld in the Microverse. He was one of the first instructors of Prince Arcturus Rann, and helped him prepare for his 1000 year mission to explore The Microverse. In the intervening years while Rann was away on his mission, Karza killed Rann’s parents King Dallan and Queen Sepsis, and used his super advanced technology to completely subjugate Homeworld and a good portion of the Microverse. Karza’s creation of the Body Banks allowed him to harvest limbs and organs, recycling corpses and living beings alike to extend the lifespan of anyone who was willing to pay. He created a military force of Dog Soldiers to enforce his will and to help maintain order within his empire. Over the years Karza has proven himself a master strategist, and a source of pure unadulterated evil that has a nasty habit of turning up again just after it seems everything is recovered from his last resurrection.

New Straw-Man Review

Longtime reader therealtony posted a new review of The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Volume 14 on Amazon. He gave the book 5 stars and titled his review hero? maybe… interesting character? totally!

Here’s his review:

Another interesting character from the mind of Barry Reese!
The Straw-Man reminds me of those great 1970’s Marvel horror comics, action, drama and super natural action…read this book!

Thanks, Tony! You really nailed my inspirations with your reference to the Seventies Marvel horror — I wanted to recapture that feeling of a hero caught between worlds and with multiple threats all around him. Glad it worked for you!

Marionette (Icons Writeup)

Marionette
aka Mari

Prowess 5
Coordination 5
Strength 3
Intellect 3
Awareness 4
Willpower 4

Stamina 7

Powers
*Laser Pistol – Blast 4
*Sword – Strike 4
*Glider-Pack – Flight 2
*Immortality (Slowed Aging Only) – 1

Specialties
Athletics, Leadership, Martial Artist, Pilot, Weapons – Guns, Weapons – Edged Weapons (Expert +2)

Qualities
*Princess and Rebel
*Well-versed in royal protocol and interplanetary xeno-diplomacy
*They came from inner space!

Background

Princess Mari of Homeworld, along with her brother, Prince Argon, were the only survivors of the slaughtered figurehead royal family just before Rann’s return. They had the hapless job of initiating a rebellion against Baron Karza. Argon, who became Force Commander after his alteration in Karza’s Body Banks, eventually died after being the temporary host for a resurrected Karza. Marionette called the Micronauts family and Commander Rann her love. She served as nominal leader of the Micronauts during a brief, trying period when a demoralized Commander Rann removed himself from active duty following a major defeat. Strong-willed and independent while still warm and generous, she showed no mercy to those who willingly served Karza’s evil. But she would risk her life to persuade any who serve Karza because they saw no other hope that there was an alternative. Her hand of friendship brought one of Karza’s former creatures, Huntarr, into the fold.

Bug (Icons Writeup)

Bug
Real Name Unknown

Prowess 4
Coordination 6
Strength 3
Intellect 4
Awareness 4
Willpower 3

Stamina 6

Powers
*Wall-Crawling 5
*Danger Sense 5
*Leaping 2
*Rocket Lance – Material 4, Blast 4, Flight 1 (Bug can ‘fly’ by holding onto the Lance and projecting a continuous plasma burst out of the back end)
*Glider-Pack – Flight 2

Specialties
Athletics (Expert +2), Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Weapons – Guns, Weapon – Rocket Lance (Expert +2)

Qualities
*Whoopee! We’re a –tik– team again! There ain’t –tik– no way Karza can –tik– stop us now!
*Guardian of the Galaxy
*They came from inner space!
*Water?! –tik– Yuck!

Background

Bug is an Insectivorid master thief and adventurer from the planet Kaliklak in the Microverse (a.k.a. Inner Space), a “sub-atomic” realm actually accessed via the energies of shrinking. Known as a humorous, lighthearted flirt, he is also a charismatic leader and adept warrior. Bug was raised on Kaliklak during the tyranny of the near-immortal evil Baron, and he trained under a master thief. He eventually rose to lead a gang of rebels, running raids against Baron Karza’s forces, before joining forces with the Micronauts. He formed a close friendship with Acroyear despite their vastly different personalities and was romantically involved with Marionette for a time. Bug later escaped the Microverse and served as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy before returning to the Micronauts (also known as the Microns in current Marvel continuity).

Note: Bug’s speech is interspersed with a “tik” sound due to an Insectivorid’s chitinous membrane in the throat. Bug also has an aversion to water.

Commander Rann (Icons Writeup)

Arcturus Rann
aka Space-Glider aka Captain Universe

Prowess 5
Coordination 5
Strength 5
Intellect 5
Awareness 4
Willpower 5

Stamina 10

Powers
*Telepathy 2
*Pressure Suit – Resistance (hostile environments) 4
*Glider-Pack – Flight 2
*Laser Pistol – Blast 4

Enigma Force – Rann is the vessel for the Enigma Force, a cosmic power from the microverse which creates Captain Universe. When empowered by the Enigma Force, Rann has the following abilities: Cosmic Power 9 (Extras: Blast, Flight, Force Field, Telepathy, Cosmic Awareness)

Specialties
Aerial Combat (Expert +2), Athletics, Leadership (Expert +2), Martial Arts, Military (Expert +2), Pilot, Science (Physics), Stealth, Weapons – Guns (Expert +2)

Qualities
*Human vessel for the Enigma Force
*Time-lost hero
*They came from inner space!

Background

Commander Arcturus Rann is a Micronaut who went aboard the HMS Endeavor on a 1,000-year journey throughout the Microverse in search of alien life. When he returned, he found that the alien life he had discovered had also been discovered with warp technology while he was gone and had already come to and populated Homeworld. Upon his return, he was captured by Baron Karza and thrown in the Body Banks. There, he befriended Acroyear and Bug, and with the aid of the Time Traveler, escaped along with his companion Biotron, Princess Mari and Microtron. His parents are Homeworld’s deities Dallan and Sepsis.

“One of the first of the space-gliding Micronauts–adventurer/explorers dispatched in suspended animation 1,000 years ago to the farthest reaches of the Microverse–Rann has returned to a Homeworld vastly changed from that which he knew! Yet he has spent ten centuries telepathically probing the unknown and never much cared for the predictable, anyway!”

–Micronauts, Vol. 1, No. 1

Acroyear (Icons Writeup)

Prince (later King) Acroyear

Prowess 6
Coordination 3
Strength 7
Intellect 3
Awareness 4
Willpower 4

Stamina 11

Powers
*Heavy Combat Armor – Damage Resistance 5
*Glider-Pack – Flight 2
*Energy Sword – Strike 4, Blast 3

Specialties
Leadership, Martial Arts, Military, Weapons – Energy Sword (Expert +2), Weapons – Guns

Qualities
*Born under the flight of a comet
*Outcast
*They came from inner space!

Background

Acroyear was crown prince of the ebony-skinned race whose name he bore. A comet blazed over the skies of Spartak when Acroyear was born, indicating his significance as a future king to his people.

For a time, Acroyear’s people served Karza under the mind control of Shaitan, Acroyear’s traitorous, albino brother. Acroyear was imprisoned by Karza to fight in the Body Pits, but was freed by Arcturus Rann and his allies, joining the Micronauts.

To help defeat Baron Karza, Acroyear sacrificed the Worldmind of his home planet Spartak, thus rendering it incapable of supporting life. For this, he was branded a traitor and cast out by his people while his bonded mate Cilicia ruled as regent.

Acroyear vowed to redeem himself and continued traveling with the Micronauts, most of whom are also outcasts. He eventually sacrificed his life essence to engineer the rebirth of homeworld, along with the other Micronauts.

Although several of his fellow Micronauts resurfaced after their apparent sacrifice, Acroyear’s survival remains a matter of debate.

The Pulp Super-Fan: Lazarus Gray 14

Michael Brown, aka the Pulp Super-Fan posted the following at ThePulp.Net:

Recently we got a new Lazarus Gray book: The Adventures of Lazarus Gray, Vol. 14, from Barry Reese. This one has a novel: Lazarus Gray vs. Fantômas.

Lazarus Gray is a New Pulp character from Reese (The Peregrine, Gravedigger, and other characters and works). Gray is sort of inspired by the classic pulp hero The Avenger and has a group of associates organized as Assistance Unlimited.

Gray is located in a fictional town called Sovereign City (created by Pro Se Press publisher Tommy Hancock), and thus is part of the larger Sovereign City Project. He is also set in the same universe as Barry’s other characters, so has crossed over with them.

In addition to the current members of Assistance Unlimited: Morgan Watts (now the new leader of AU), Eun Jiwon, Samantha Grace, Abigail Cross, The Black Terror (absent here), Wynonna Jones, The Observer (formerly The Eidolon), and the Blue Flame. We get a new member in Daredevil, the classic Golden Age comicbook character (not the Marvel comics character).

This story, set mainly in 1944, has Lazarus come up against Fantômas. Yes, the French proto-pulp criminal and terrorist is coming for Lazarus. And it is somehow connected to his uncle, whom we meet for the first time in flashbacks. Fantômas forms a new version of Murder Unlimited to attack Lazarus, consisting of a woman named Black Diamond, Count Orlick, and Lazarus’ uncle.

But what is the aim of Fantômas? He attacks other Sovereign City heroes as well as AU. Along the way, a member of AU as well as one of their support staff is killed. Can they figure out what Fantômas wants and put an end to his reign of terror?

The epilogue gives us a small hint of what will happen in the next volume, with the appearance of another Golden Age comicbook character. I can’t wait to see it.

The timeline at the end of the volume has been updated, with three more Straw-Man volumes, and five volumes of a new series called “The Dark Society.” I have no idea when these will appear.

Michael has been a tremendous supporter of both classic and new pulps over the years and I’m always pleased when he takes the time to look at one of my books. Hopefully you’ll see those Straw-Man and Dark Society books soon!