Blackwing (Icons Writeup)

Blackwing
aka Charley Bullock

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

Stamina 8

Powers
*Costume – Damage Resistance 2, Gliding 4
*Utility Belt – Gadgets 3

Specialties
Aerial Combat (+1 bonus), Athletics (+1 bonus), Investigation (+1 bonus), Law (Expert +2 bonus), Martial Arts (Expert +2 bonus), Stealth (+1 bonus), Technology (+1 bonus)

Qualities
*Wants to inspire others
*Trained by Wildcat

Background

This DC Comics character appeared in 1981, and was seen but briefly. He existed on Earth-Two.This means that in his world, Batman had been a Golden Age  hero who had since grown old and retired. His daughter the Huntress (Helena Wayne) had succeeded Bruce as a vigilante.

This continuity ceased to exist with the Crisis on Infinite Earths but it could be intriguing to have another version of Blackwing exist somewhere in the multiverse.

Charley Bullock grew up as a kid on the streets of Gotham City. He was searching for a direction in life in a city where the Batman was seemingly everywhere. During his teenage years, he met Ted “Wildcat” Grant, and the two subdued some local troublemakers.

Ted, as is usual for him, invited Charley to join him at his new gym, and became his unofficial mentor. This, along with growing up watching the exploits of Gotham’s premier crime fighter in his early years, greatly impressed young Charley.

These influences gave Charley’s life a purpose : helping the less fortunate. The clincher came when Charley defended a local store owner from some extorting thugs. When the owner asked Charley what could be done, particularly without Batman, it all clicked for the young man.

Attending law school, he was soon accepted as a junior partner (and top-notch researcher) to the law firm of Cranston, Grayson and Wayne. Here, he met Helena Wayne and, soon, would come into contact with the Huntress.

When the criminal named Karnage broke into the office, looking for Charley’s boss Arthur Cranston, this motivated him to pursue even loftier goals. When a shopkeeper that Charley knew was attacked by gang members of the crime boss named the Boa, Charley proceeded to make a costume and a whole new life as the costumed crusader known as Blackwing.

Unfortunately, his first (and only recorded) case proved unsuccessful. One thug ripped his glider harness with his belt and Bullock was taken captive by the Boa’s gang. However, he later freed the Huntress from the deadly embrace of one of Boa’s snakes, and had the presence of mind to record evidence that could be used against the Boa and his men.

Blackwing (Icons Writeup)

BLACKWING
Joseph “Joey” Manfredi

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

Stamina 6

Powers
*Animal Control 5 (Limit: Bats only)
*Bat-Shaped Flying Platform –  Handling 5, Speed 5, Structure 4
*Uniform – Damage Resistance 5
*Razor-Bat Shuriken 3
*Truncheon 4
*Gadgets 4

At various times, Batwing has used mutant bats of large size. Since leaving Hydra, he has not had access to those genetically-modified creatures.

Specialties
Aerial Combat (+1 bonus), Pilot – Flying Platform (+1 bonus), Stealth (+1 bonus)

Qualities
*Wants to prove himself to his father.
*“Attack him, my dark ones!”
*Functions best in a team setting.

Background

Joseph Manfredi is the son of Silvio Manfredi, a powerful head of one of New York’s Maggia families. However, when he first appeared, it was as the costumed animal trainer Blackwing, a recent addition to the Circus of Crime. Before his first outing, the Ringmaster hoped the Circus would eliminate Daredevil in order to make Blackwing’s robberies go off without a hitch. But when the team failed to do this, the Circus performed anyway. Blackwing used his trained bats to steal from the audience the Ringmaster hypnotized. As predicted, though, Daredevil burst onto the scene, foiling the Circus’ plans, and Blackwing escaped.

In fact, Blackwing was a division leader of HYDRA when it was under the leadership of Silvermane, and he retreated to HYDRA’s secret base. When the organization arranged the kidnapping of Foggy Nelson, at the time one of New York’s District Attorneys, Daredevil tracked the culprits to their headquarters. Silvermane revealed his role as Supreme Hydra, and his son tried to stop Daredevil but was unsuccessful.

Later, when Silvermane’s mansion was taken over by the Red Skull, Blackwing teamed up with Jack O’Lantern to stake it out. When Captain America also came to investigate, the two villains jumped him, viciously attacking him even when he was on the ropes due to Jack O’Lantern’s hallucinogenic gas. The Red Skull had been observing the battle and was impressed enough to order Mother Night to recruit the two for his Skeleton Crew. Mother Night arranged for Captain America to see an illusion that the Scourge of the Underworld killed the villains, and Blackwing and Jack O’Lantern agreed to join the Skull’s Crew.

Blackwing served as a member of Crew, fighting off Crossbones and Diamondback before the two joined them as well. He also tried to fight off Captain America and the Falcon when the heroes came to rescue Diamondback. He was defeated by the Falcon and remanded to custody along with many others of the Crew.

Blackwing next appeared as a member of the Crimson Cowl’s Masters of Evil, joining the team’s attempt to extort the world’s governments with the use of a weather manipulation machine. The team was tracked down by the Thunderbolts and defeated, with Blackwing and most of its members captured.

This last defeat was too much for Joe Manfredi. Abandoning the idea of being a costumed super-villain, Manfredi instead turned his attention to being a crime boss, creating his own private army of villains in Heavy Mettle. He ordered the team’s leader, Firestrike, to bring him the battlesuit used by Turbo of the New Warriors. Not only did Manfredi hope to gain a sophisticated piece of technology, but he was also hoping to prove himself, both to his father, Silvermane, and to other New York crime bosses. Instead, however, the New Warriors defeated Heavy Mettle, and Firestrike found himself falling in love with Turbo. Ultimately, the Warriors turned the members of Heavy Mettle over to the police, and Firestrike agreed to be placed in the witness protection program in exchange for providing testimony against Joe Manfredi.