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Glenn Greenberg Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 6792
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 2:30pm | IP Logged | 1
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Hi, Gail. Since you post here occasionally, I hope
you (and the rest of the gang here) don't mind if I ask
you a question or four about VILLAINS UNITED #1,
which I read last night.
I've been reading DC comics since I was around four
years old, and I have a fairly good working
knowledge of the DC Universe and its
characters--even though my entire professional
career in comics was spent at Marvel!
Anyway, some things in the first issue left me a bit in
the dark, so I'm wondering:
1) Is Mockingbird a new character, or has he/she
appeared before? If so, which super hero is his/her
main enemy?
2) Same question goes for Scandal and Doctor
Psycho. I don't think I've ever seen them before.
3) What does it mean that Cheshire would "be giving
up Asia?" Is this something that she wants,
something that's supposed to make her willingly
work for Mockingbird? I know who Cheshire is, but
this was unclear to me, especially coming on the
heels of the threat to her daughter, Lian.
4) Are we going to find out more about some of the
other characters who were in this issue? I'm afraid I
have no idea who Parademon, Ragdoll, Mister
Sands, Multiplex, and most of the characters on the
"montage page" were.
This is like one of those dreams where you're back
in college and you show up for your final exam after
you've spent the entire semester not showing up for
class! :-)
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Andrew Hilsmann Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 16 June 2004 Location: United States Posts: 847
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 2:57pm | IP Logged | 2
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Hi, Glenn -- till Gail replies, this should get you up to speed on Multiplex, who is the "fission-formed fiend" created in the same nuclear accident that created the original Firestorm (Don't ask me to explain the physics of this!). Firestorm #2 from 1978 by Gerry Conway, Al Milgrom, and Bob McLeod, published right before the DC Implosion, IIRC, and one of the first comics I remember collecting the first time around. Hope this helps.
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James C. Taylor Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 4749
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 2:58pm | IP Logged | 3
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Doctor Psycho has in several incarnations been a villain of Wonder Woman.
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Dave Phelps Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 2243
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 3:09pm | IP Logged | 4
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Since she doesn't post that often, I can help you with some of them. If I've overstepped my bounds, I'm sure the mods will be happy to do their duty.
Re: Mockingbird. In the original version of the Secret Six, Mockingbird was the one who directed their actions. Also, it turns out that Mockingbird was one of them. (He/she kept his/her id a secret because the other 5 were blackmailed into being a part of the Six.) So Mockingbird is a "mystery character." Don't know if s/he is supposed to be one of the new Six.
Re: Doctor Psycho and Scandal - Psycho is a Wonder Woman villain. Has been since the 40s in fact. Never heard of Scandal before. Might be new.
Re: Chesire and Asia. The impression I got was the Mockingbird's ultimate golas was to take over the world, with the continents being divided up amongst the Six.
Re: Parademon, Ragdoll, Mister Sands, and Multiplex. Can't help you with the Parademon. Ragdoll is the latest incarnation of a 40s villain (IIRC, he most recently popped up in the Starman series a few years back - can't remember if it's the original or a protege). Mister Sands is the Shadow Thief, a Silver Age Hawkman villain currently causing trouble in the Manhunter series. Multiplex comes from the Firestorm series. (Don't know if it's supposed to be the original, who had been killed by the Parasite, or a new one.)
Don't have the montage page handy to help you with the rest.
Hope that helps.
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Troy Nunis Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 4008
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 4:06pm | IP Logged | 5
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For some reason I assumed the Parademon was just A random Parademon (Darksied's footsoliders -- they were all over Generations III (just to tie this thread to JB by some tenuous means)) who wound up on earth - but i guess we'll see. Really enjoyed the first issue greatly - it is nice to see someone who can nail the personalities of so many characters from over such a wide span of time.
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Dave Phelps Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 2243
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 4:35pm | IP Logged | 6
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Okay, got my copy handy now. On the montage page, we have:
1.1 Gentleman Ghost - Hawkman villain (Golden and Silver Age) 1.2 Don't know. 1.3 Fatality - Kyle Raynor Green Lantern era villain. Doesn't like all Green Lanterns in general and John Stewart in particular since he accidentally contributed to the demise of her home planet in COSMIC ODYSSEY 1.4 Shrapnel - First appeared in the Kupperburg/Larsen Doom Patrol run and has popped up here and there ever since. Most recent appearance I know of was in Outsiders #20 (where he died... apparently he got better) 2.1 Knockout - From Karl Kesel's first run on the Superboy series (current DCU version). Native of Apokalips. She likes to break things (and people). 2.2 Phobia - From the Wolfman/Perez Titans incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil. Currently appearing in Manhunter. 2.3 Don't know. 2.4 Prometheus, from Morrison's run on JLA. Intended as a "Dark Mirror" version of Batman, in a way. 3.1 Plasmus - Also from the Wolfman/Perez Titans incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil. He melts things. 3.2 The Body Doubles - Regular opponents of Resurrection Man, from his short live series. Also got a mini-series of their own. Callous assassin for hire types. Mainly appear in "crowd sequences" these days. Case in point... 3.3 Looks like Gorilla Grodd to me. I'm sure you know all about him. 3.4 I think it's Satanus (from the Superman titles), but I may be wrong.
Edited by Dave Phelps on 11 May 2005 at 4:38pm
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Gail Simone Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 08 January 2005 Location: United States Posts: 105
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 4:53pm | IP Logged | 7
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Hey, Glenn!
Some of these questions got answered by others, and some are going to stay spoiler-free for a bit, but...
The thing is, it's a book with a huge cast, but most of the cameos are so brief that introducing them fully would really have slowed the book down to a crawl, and would have exaggerated their importance, I felt. The Six (Catman, Cheshire, et all), and the core group of the Society (Luthor, Black Adam, etc) are the key players.
Mockingbird is indeed a shadowy character in two previous versions of the SECRET SIX title. Familiarity with that fact is not necessary to this book, but may provide clues for those who are interested.
Scandal is...I'm hushing for now. Dr. Psycho is a long-running Wonder Woman villain.
And quite right, Mockingbird was literally promising them each a part of the world.
And we'll find out lots more about all the leads, not so much about the cameo characters.
And Dave, I think you missed only SKORPIO and SABBAC, if I'm remembering correctly. More to come, too. It's a big bad guy party. ;)
Best,
Gail
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Jason Schulman Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 08 July 2004 Location: United States Posts: 2043
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 7:04pm | IP Logged | 8
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Sabbac is a Marvel Family villain, I think.
Where does the lone Parademon hail from? (Yes yes I know, "Apokolips"...what's his backstory?)
Oh, and enjoyable issue Gail, I wonder how much guff you'll get for killing you-know-who.
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Peter Svensson Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 30 January 2005 Location: United States Posts: 1413
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 7:35pm | IP Logged | 9
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Mike the Parademon, an intelligent Rogue Parademon appeared in Total Justice (a miniseries meant to sell the Total Justice line of toys.) His speech patterns were based off of Usenet poster Michael Chary. He made some later cameo appearances here and there. Some people think that the Parademon that appears in Villains United is Mike, while others (like myself) think that it's just a random Parademon, left on Earth during any of the dozen or so times that Darkseid's hordes have struck Earth.
Only Gail, resplendant in her glory, knows.
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Glenn Greenberg Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 6792
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 8:51pm | IP Logged | 10
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Thanks to Gail and everyone else who answered.
Incidentally, and for what it's worth, I liked the issue--even read it twice to absorb it all--and am looking forward to #2.
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Mike Nebeker Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 773
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| Posted: 11 May 2005 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | 11
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The new Sabbac's origin was seen last year in the Outsiders.
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