Barry returns with a look at Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom # 4 (June 1963). Thrill to the evil Nuro’s latest plan! Gasp as Doctor Thor Neilsen and Gail experience a love connection that threatens to derail her relationship with Doctor Solar! Plus: a detailed look at the career of writer Paul S. Newman.
The Fly
aka Thomas Troy
Prowess 4
Coordination 5
Strength 6
Intellect 5
Awareness 8
Willpower 5
Stamina 11
Powers
*Damage Resistance 3
*Flight 5
*Blast – Sonic Burst (Wings) 4 (Limit: Tiring)
*Wall-Crawling 5
*Super-Senses – The Fly can see in all directions at once. This is factored into his Awareness.
*Buzz Gun – Sonic Attack 6
*Fly Ring – allows Dimensional Travel (10) to the Fly Dimension
Note: During the Silver Age, the Fly also possessed Growth 4 but this ability was never used nor mentioned in later stories. In some stories he also displayed the ability to radiate the light of “a million fireflies in one”. In game terms this would be Dazzle 7 but since it was used so rarely it would have Limits: Tiring and Preparation).
Specialties
Aerial Combat (+1 bonus), Investigation (+1 bonus), Law (Expert +2 bonus), Leadership (+1 bonus), Occult – Fly People (Expert +2 bonus), Weapons – Buzz Gun (Expert +2 bonus)
Qualities
Pure of Heart
Core Member of the Crusaders
Champion of the Fly People
Background
Tommy Troy lived in the Westwood Orphanage. The superintendent, Aaron Creacher, hired him out to raise money.
Tommy thus worked for elderly Ben (aka Ezra), and Abigail March. Tommy learned that they were wizards. Late one night, he tried on a fly shaped ring he found in the attic.
It glowed and a door opened to another dimension , from which stepped Turan of the Fly People. He explained that millions of years before, Fly People ruled the Earth but they waged war with magic, reducing most of the population to common houseflies.
Only a few Fly People were able to escape, fleeing to a dimensional plane outside the Galaxy. There they have waited patiently for “one person… pure of heart” to make war against greed and crime, which were their own downfall. Troy has these qualities.
Thus whenever he rubs the ring and says, “I wish I were the Fly,” he is projected into the other dimension and returns as a costumed adult called the Fly. To become his civilian identity, all the youth has to do is utter his name.
Tommy continued as the Fly into adulthood, cleaning up crime in Capital City and becoming a lawyer. He became a founding member of The Mighty Crusaders and partnered with Kim Brand, who became Fly-Girl. At some point their relationship came to an end and Kim married Firefly – her daughter has used both Fly-Girl and Firefly as heroic identities. It’s unknown what ultimately became of The Fly.
In many of the Crusaders stories, The Fly was depicted as one of the “big” heroes in the Red Circle reality. In his Thomas Troy identity, all of his physical stats are 3, his Intellect is 5, Awareness is 4 and Willpower is 5.
The Hammer
aka Judah Maccabee (יהודה המכבי)
Created By and Copyright Rik Offenberger
Prowess 5
Coordination 5
Strength 6
Intellect 4
Awareness 4
Willpower 6
Stamina 12
Powers
*The Hammer from God 10 (Limit: Powered by the user’s faith. If the user begins to doubt in himself or his holy mission, the power level of the hammer’s bashing damage decreases accordingly)
Specialties
Athletics (Expert +2), Martial Arts (Expert +2), Military – Israeli (Master +3 bonus), Weapons – Military Issue (Expert +2 bonus), Weapon – Hammer from God (Master +3 bonus), Knowledge – Jewish Faith (Expert +2 bonus)
Qualities
*“Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be strong enough of faith, shall be blessed with the power of the hammer from GOD”
*Defender of Israel
*Priest and Warrior
Background
Judas Maccabaeus, (יהודה המכבי) was the third son of Mattathias ben Yochanan Maccabeus, (תִּתְיָהוּ הַכֹּהֵן בֶּן יוֹחָנָן), a Kohen (כֹּהֵן) (Jewish priest) from the village of Modi’in (מודיעין), ancient Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם).
In 167 BC Mattathias, together with his sons Judas Maccabaeus, (יהודה המכבי) Elazar Avaran Maccabeus (אלעזר המכב), Simon Thassi Maccabeus (שמעון התסי), John Gaddi Maccabeus (יוחנן הגדי), and Jonathan Apphus Maccabeus (יונתן אפפוס), started The Maccabean Revolt (מרד החשמונאים) against the Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής), ruler of the Greek-Seleucid Empire (Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν).
In 175 BC Antiochus issued decrees that made Jewish worship illegal. Torah (תּוֹרָה), (The Old Testament) was confiscated and burned. Sabbath (שַׁבָּת) (the holy day of prayer), brit milah (בְּרִית מִילָה) (circumcision) and Kashrut (כַּשְׁרוּת) (Jewish religious dietary laws) were all prohibited under penalty of death and he mandated Hellenism (ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΣ) as the only religion.
Hellenism is modernly referred to as Greek Mythology and was the worship of the Olympians (ΔΩΔΕΚΑΘΕΟΝ): APHRODITE (ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ), APOLLO (ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ), ARES (ΑΡΗΣ), ARTEMIS (ΑΡΤΕΜΙΣ), ATHENA (ΑΘΗΝΑ), DIONYSUS (ΔΗΜHΤΗΡ), HADES (ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ), HEPHAESTUS (ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ), HERA (ΗΡΑ), HERMES (ΕΡΜΗΣ), HESTIA (ΕΣΤΙΑ), POSEIDON (ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ), TYCHE (ΤΎΧΗ), and ZEUS (ΖΕΥΣ)
Mattathias was a warrior priest who led The Maccabean Revolt (מרד החשמונאים) for his people’s religious freedom until his death in 166 BC. After Mattathias death, Judas assumed leadership of the revolt as the warrior priest and commander of the Jewish forces. He took on the name Judah “the Hammer” Maccabee (יהודה “פטיש” מכבי).
After Judah Maccabee’s death, his brother’s carried his hammer on to victory over the Greek-Seleucid Forces. The Kohanim (כֹּהֲנִים) hid the physical hammer of Judah Maccabee and protected it. The hammer has been passed on to the descendants of Judah Maccabee and his wife Leah Maccabaeus (לאה מק’קבאוס) over the centuries. It is said in every generation, in times of need, a new Maccabee would come forward and take the hammer and through the sheer force of his faith power the hammer to protect his people.
Judah Maccabee named for his forefathers is the latest wielder of the Hammer from GOD (פטיש מאלוהים). He has spent his entire life in the study of his religion and since birth, he has been on a mission to protect his people. It is his calling.
The Hammer from GOD is the ancestral weapon of the Maccabees. It has been passed down through the generation and protected by the Jewish priesthood. The hammer’s power is a blessing from GOD and gets its strength from the user’s faith. Therefore, any failure is considered a failure of the user’s faith. The hammer has the inscription “כל מי שמחזיק את הפטיש הזה, אם הוא חזק מספיק מאמונה, יהיה מבורך בכוח הפטיש מאלוהים” – (“Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be strong enough of faith, shall be blessed with the power of the hammer from GOD”)
The Fox
aka Paul Patton Jr
Prowess 5
Coordination 5
Strength 4
Intellect 4
Awareness 4
Willpower 4
Stamina 8
Powers
*Costume – Damage Resistance 2
Specialties
Art – Photography (Expert +2 bonus), Athletics (Expert +2 bonus), Investigation (+1 bonus), Martial Arts (Expert +2 bonus), Stealth (Expert +2 bonus), Wrestling (+1 bonus)
Qualities
*Head of a superhero household
*Heir to a legacy
*Attracts the weird
Background
Paul Patton Jr. was raised as a child in the town of Beaver Kill where his father, Paul Patton, operated as the Fox. Patton took up a career in photography and eventually got a job as a photographer in Impact City. His wife, Mae Patton, operates as the She-Fox while his son, Shinji Patton, follows in his father’s footsteps as the Ghost Fox.
Because Archie’s continuity is a malleable concept, there have been multiple origins and backgrounds featuring Paul Patton, Jr. The current version dates from 2013 and is not too dissimilar from the 1980s incarnation. One thing that’s kind of neat about the current version is that his family are all superheroes, much like The Incredibles.
Firefly
aka Kelly Brand
Prowess 4
Coordination 5
Strength 6
Intellect 3
Awareness 5
Willpower 3
Stamina 9
Powers
*Blast – Fireballs 6
*Super-Senses – Vision 1
*Extra Body Parts (Wings) 4 (provides Flight, Extra: Blast- Wind Attack)
*Wall-Crawling 5
During her Fly-Girl days, she used the Buzz Gun – Sonic Attack 6.
Specialties
Aerial Combat, Performance – Acting
Qualities
*Eternal Optimist
*Legacy Hero
*Daddy Issues
Background
Kelly is a bright, outgoing and active member of school with a bit of a geeky side to her. She is the proud daughter of superhero royalty, her mother having fought crime as Fly-Girl. Estranged from her father, Ted Tyler (aka Fireball), Kelly was raised by her mother, who instilled in her a sense of responsibility and loyalty. In the third issue of Dark Tomorrow, Kelly abandons her Fly-Girl identity and becomes Firefly.
Turan is an emissary of the Fly People. His world exists on a dimensional plane outside our galaxy. Turan bestowed the powers of The Fly on Tommy Troy and, later, Kim Brand. Kim later passed the gifts of Turan to her daughter. Firefly can create wings that give her the power of flight, she can crawl up walls, she has super strength and superior sight. Firefly can generate wind currents by beating her wings. Firefly can also throw fireballs or flames.
Americommando
aka Roger Stevens
Prowess 5
Coordination 5
Strength 6
Intellect 5
Awareness 5
Willpower 6
Stamina 12
Powers
*Chainmail – Damage Resistance 3
*Shield – Damage Resistance 6 (Limits: Coordination roll required, still subject to stuns and slams) (Extra: Damage 7 when used as a bashing weapon or when thrown; shield is magnetically summoned back to Americommando the next round)
*Resistance 3 (Disease, Poison, Aging)
Specialties
Leadership (Expert +2 bonus), Military (Expert +2 bonus), Weapons – Shield (Expert +2 bonus), Athletics (+1 bonus), Wrestling (+1 bonus), Martial Arts (+1 bonus), Driving – Motorcycles (+1 bonus)
Qualities
Extremely Patriotic
Treats Rusty as a surrogate son
Living Legend
Background
This version of The Americommando was a fictional character on Earth-1 in DC’s pre-crisis multiverse. He was the leader of a team of Nazi-busting heroes known as The Crusaders alongside his sidekick Rusty, the sea-king Barracuda, and the flaming heroes Fireball and Sparky. At some point after the Freedom Fighters had made their trek from Earth-X to Earth-1, a group of people appeared claiming to be the actual Crusaders. They went after the Freedom Fighters, who were wanted for murder at the time, but eventually it was revealed that the Americommando was actually the Freedom Fighters’ arch-enemy, the Silver Ghost, in disguise. He had used technology to transform comic book fans into the other members of the Crusaders.
This writeup is of the fictional Americommando. Roger Stevens was a skinny 4-F army reject that took a super-soldier serum to become America’s crimefighting ideal. If he reminds you of anyone, that’s purely by coincidence.
Well, not really.
You see, the same month that the Freedom Fighters fought these Invaders-like Crusaders, the Invaders at Marvel fought a group of Crusaders modeled after the Freedom Fighters. It was all part of a stealth crossover that the Big Two used to do from time to time. I based this writeup on what little we were told about the fictional hero in the Freedom Fighters’ storyline. You’ll note that he’s not quite the equal of Captain America – since the Americommando is supposed to be based on the Invaders’ Cap, I figured he’s not quite as good as the later versions of Captain America.
Barry takes a look at Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom # 3 (March 1963). In this classic Gold Key issue, Doctor Solar battles an invisible criminal working on behalf of Nuro! In the backup, Solar must confront an out-of-control weather satellite while dealing with the fact that he’s been split into positive and negative versions of himself! Plus: Who was Bob Fujitani? Listen to find out!
Silver Ghost
aka Raphael Van Zandt
Prowess 4
Coordination 4
Strength 5
Intellect 5
Awareness 3
Willpower 4
Stamina 9
Powers
*Transmutation 8 (Limit: Can only be used to turn items into inanimate silver; Limit: range is touch)
*Armor – Damage Resistance 4; without the armor, lower the Silver Ghost’s Prowess, Coordination, and Physique to 3; Stamina is reduced to 7.
Specialties
Leadership, Science, Technology (Expert +2 bonus)
Qualities
*A Nazi immigrant from Earth-X
*Archfoe of the Freedom Fighters
*Villainous leader of men
Background
Inspired by the works of his entrepreneur ancestor, Raphael Van Zandt sought to carve a niche for himself by taking control of the island of Manhattan. He acquired a group of thugs and a simple-minded strongman named King Samson and tried to achieve his goal by taking out New York’s telecommunications network. This invariably brought him into conflict with the Freedom Fighters, who had only recently emigrated to Earth-One from Earth-X.
During his first encounter with them, he unwittingly phased through an intangible Phantom Lady causing him to accidentally kill one of his own thugs. He avenged himself against the heroes by turning Phantom Lady, the Black Condor and Doll Man into statues of solid silver. With half the team incapacitated, it was easy for the Silver Ghost to blackmail the other Freedom Fighters into working for him as his slaves. This infuriated Uncle Sam, the Ray and Human Bomb, but they felt like they had little choice but to concede to the Ghost’s demands.
After being forced to commit random acts of property damage through the city, the three Freedom Fighters turned against the Silver Ghost when he threatened to poison the New York Reservoir. It was the Ray who finally defeated the villain by using his powers and a nearby body of water to short-circuit the Silver Ghost’s armor. Afterward, the Human Bomb was able to use his knowledge of physics to turn Black Condor, Doll Man and Phantom Lady back to normal.
The Silver Ghost returned to oppose the Freedom Fighters on several subsequent occasions with a variety of schemes, including impersonating the comic book hero Americommando as the leader of the Crusaders and hiring the Secret Society of Super-Villains. He was eventually revealed to be an immigrant from the Freedom Fighters’ home world of Earth-X, a Nazi who had traveled to Earth-One in pursuit of Firebrand, the alleged ‘collaborator’ who had seemingly betrayed him, and was apparently killed in battle with Firebrand. He later turned up alive during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Prowess 4
Coordination 4
Strength 3
Intellect 4
Awareness 5
Willpower 6
Stamina 9
Powers
*Shadow-Bending (Darkness Control) 7 (Extras: – Dimensional Travel, Energy Drain, Phasing; Limits: +2 Difficulty when operating in bright sunlight or extremely well-lit areas)
Specialties
Occult, Power: Shadow-Bending (Expert +2 bonus), Stealth (Expert + 2 bonus)
Qualities
*“Bright sun. No clouds. Makes shadow-bending impossible out in the open. In the dark? Different story.”
*“You’re right. You are lousy at this. But thanks. Jerk.”
*The Mysterious Maiden
Background
(part of this comes from The Mighty Crusaders Network)
The mysterious Darkling first appeared during the Crusaders epic battle against the combined forces of Eterno, the Brain Emperor and the Malevolent Legion of Juggernauts. She aided the team with her mystic cloak and was quickly accepted into their ranks. Darkling never revealed anything about herself, though she seemed to forge a quick friendship with Kim Brand, aka Flygirl.
Serious without being overbearing, Darkling was a sensual woman with an appreciation for the paranormal. During the alien invasion that united the Crusaders with Thunder Bunny, it was Darkling who sensed that the rabbit hero was not a threat to the Earth. She also proved her usefulness in dispatching the Druid when the mystic villain attempted to steal the Jaguar’s magical belt.
Unfortunately, Darkling’s promising career as a hero came to an abrupt end when the evil Brain Emperor returned with the Riot Squad at his side. Seeing that Darkling posed a threat to him, the Brain Emperor wiped her mind clean and left her floating adrift in Limbo.
When the New Crusaders were formed, Darkling was included amongst the members. While at first it was unclear if this was a new heroine or the same woman from the original Crusaders, it was eventually established that she is the same person. Her attitude and appearance are quite different now as she’s very somber – and her powers, which used to be a part of her cloak, now seem to be internally generated. We can assume that the shift in personality comes from her recovery from being mind-wiped but the alteration in powers has yet to be explained.
The energy drain power works a little differently than described in the Icons rulebook – generally, she dispatches foes into a “shadow dimension” and while they are there, they are ‘attacked’ by the power. In issue four of the most recent Mighty Crusaders series, we see that she can also do this by touch.
Steel Sterling
aka Johnathan “Jack” Sterling
Prowess 5
Coordination 4
Strength 7
Intellect 3
Awareness 3
Willpower 4
Stamina 11
Powers
*Damage Resistance 7
*Leaping 2
*Electrolized tongue 4 (Jack was able to rub his tongue against his teeth to tap telephone wires, the sound then coming from his mouth)
Specialties
Athletics (Expert +2), Martial Arts (Expert +2 bonus), Performance – Acting (+1 bonus), Wrestling (Expert +2 bonus)
Qualities
Not as young as I used to be.
A good, solid guy.
Misses his family.
Background
Jack was enjoying life as a career bodybuilder and movie star when he agreed to help a friend with a “little debt problem.” What his friend failed to mention was that he was indebted to the mob for a few million. John was thrown in molten steel at an industrial metalwork facility to send a message.
Miraculously, Jack survived, his body tempered into something super-human. Using his stage name, Steel Sterling joined the Mighty Crusaders to combat all forms of villainy.
After many years of service, he retired as mayor of the small town of Red Circle to raise a family. However, he and the other veteran heroes were ambushed by the Brain Emperor and sent to a strange pocket dimension. His son Johnny became the new Steel Sterling, swearing to find vengeance for his missing father.
Jack and the others were eventually rescued by the New Crusaders. Jack returned to find his family slain and his town destroyed. With nothing left, he rejoined the Mighty Crusaders to continue the fight for peace. Due to his advancing age, Jack sometimes becomes winded easier than his younger teammates.
Note: Steel Sterling’s origin has been revised several times. At one point he created the process that gave him his powers. In another version, the light of a star led him to the vat of molten steel and then to his costume, which was found in a nearby trash can. What is depicted above is the current version of his past.
Barry Reese - Writer of Badass heroes 
