JacinB's House of Heroes: The Secret Society of Supervillains
 

The Secret Society of Supervillains

This week, JacinB’s House of Heroes has been infiltrated and overrun by the new Supervillain power-group in the DCU: The Secret Society of Supervillains (aka: Villains United)

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Just in case you haven’t been reading what DC Comics has been doing lately, let me give you a quick rundown (without too many spoilers).

At the end of the first arc in Superman/Batman, Lex Luthor swore vengeance against the two title heroes, promising that there would be a ‘reckoning ... a crisis’. Then Lex, supposedly broke and crazy, disappeared.

Well, he apparently wasn’t actually broke or crazy.

Then, we had the ‘Identity Crisis’ story arc which used what Lex had been doing since he’d been gone as red herrings to lead you away from the true killer (who, ironically, was not found on a golf course).

Since then, we’ve seen little bits in each comic in the DC Universe of the alliances that Lex has been building, and the villains of beginning to work together.

Then, we had ‘Countdown to Infinite Crisis’ which is the beginning of the ‘next chapter’ for all the major stuff that’s going to come down in the DCU over the next year or so, including the OMAC Project, the Rann-Thanagar War, the Day of Vengeance, and Villains United.

So, in this week’s ‘House of Heroes’, we’re going to take a look at the Secret Society of Supervillains that Lex Luthor has been putting together, and seeing how well they translate to ‘Clix.

(please click on Comments below to continue...)

Team of the Week: The Secret Society of Supervillains
Who We’ve Got: Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Black Adam, Talia, and Cheetah
Who We’re Missing: Doctor Psycho, Calculator, Dr. Light, Zoom, and Captain Cold

The main part of the Society is made up of founding members Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Black Adam, Talia Head, Doctor Psycho, and the Calculator.

They’re expanding the team with whatever villains that they can talk into joining them (and, hey, if you were a supervillain and you got a call from Lex and the gang asking you to join them, wouldn’t you do it?). So far, we know that includes Dr. Light who appeared in Countdown, and Cheetah and Zoom that were recruited at the end of the recent Flash/Wonder Woman crossover arc.

So, let’s take a look at the characters that we’ve already got:
Lex Luthor: Lex is, unfortunately, horribly overpriced for what he can do. Why? Well, because he’s got the Philosopher’s Stone, of course. That said, I can’t tell what exactly it is that the Philosopher’s Stone does for him because he’s got exactly the powers that I would have thought that he would have even without the Stone. Right now, we’ve only got one choice for Lex Luthor (and hopefully that’ll change with DC Icons), so let’s just use what we have.

Deathstroke: Willpower, Stealth, and Outwit all in one little efficient package. What’s not to like? No, he won’t be taking out Flash, Atom, Hawkman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary by himself (unless your opponent really, really stinks at this game), but he’s still a decent piece. We’ll go with the Experienced version and save those extra 8 points to see what we’re looking at when we’re done building. And, if we’ve got room, we’ll upgrade him.

Black Adam: One of the powerhouse bricks of the Unleashed set, Black Adam has long been one of the most widely used characters. Why? Well, because he’s Hypersonic Speedster with Flight and Super Strength. That means that not only can he pull the *YOINK!* maneuver of yanking an object out from under a Stealthed character, but that he can also hit them (or one of their friends) for big damage and then still be able to get back to safety. The Experienced version is with the JSA, so we’ll go with the older, more evil Veteran here.

Talia: Talia is surprisingly deadly and efficient for her point cost. For an in-depth review of her figure, check out azs’s figure review HERE. Otherwise, if you don’t want to read that excellent review, just imagine the potential of a Stealthed Incapacitater with Willpower who, after she takes a hit (which will usually have to be in close-combat), gets Flurry and Exploit Weakness. Yeah, that’s right. Pure evil.

And, let’s see who we can get to stand in for the missing figures ...
Doctor Psycho: Admittedly, this is a character that I wasn’t immediately familiar with, mostly because he’s a Wonder Woman villain and I don’t read her comic much.

However, after just a little research, from what I can tell ‘psycho’ doesn’t even begin to describe him. No one knows his origins, no one knows his name, he’s just a creepy little guy with insane mental abilities ranging from plain ol’ mind control to perception and dream manipulation.

So, ideally, we need a character with Mind Control, maybe Psychic Blast (which he apparently displayed in a battle with Saturn Girl in Legion ... though I never saw that either) or Incapacitate, good range, multiple targets, and maybe even a little Perplex or Outwit. If he had more than one target, I’d go with The Key. But, Doctor Psycho has displayed the ability to manipulate groups, so I think I’m going to skip over The Key in favor of Shadow King.

Calculator: Let’s see, Calculator is a guy who provides the villain’s network with details about heroes, feeds jobs to the lesser villains, and helps the network figure out the weaknesses of the heroes. Oh, and he’s rarely to never actually seen (except by his allies).

I don’t think that we have a character that really represents him. I mean, they would ideally have to have Leadership, Outwit, and Perplex. And, maybe even a feat that would take them off of the board, while giving all of their allies bonuses of some sort for the information that he feeds them and maybe even allows them to somehow share his powers.

Clearly, there’d be no way to accurately represent that in Clix, so we’re going to have to settle fo- ... what’s that? Oh, yeah. You’re right. I guess Oracle does do all of that stuff when combined with her ‘In Contact with Oracle’ Feat. So, there you go.

Let’s see what that looks like on a team.

The Secret Society of Supervillains
U Lex Luthor (+ ICwO) – 79pts.
E Deathstroke (+ ICwO) – 60pts.
V Black Adam (+ ICwO) – 160pts.
E Talia (+ ICwO) – 56pts.
U Shadow King (Doctor Psycho) (+ ICwO) – 116pts.
U Oracle (Calculator) (on ICwO) – 27pts.
Total: 498pts.

Really, that isn’t a horrible team. No, it likely won’t win any tournaments, but the same thing can be said about most themed teams.

However, you’ve got three characters that are considered to be pretty capable in their own right teamed together linked with the uber-powerful ‘Calculator’ on ‘his’ Feat. There’s some real power potential there.

Now, let’s take a look at who we’ve got for the ‘expansion team’ ...
Cheetah: Cheetah isn’t a great figure, but she’s not horrible either. Charging Blades/Claws can be found cheaper on other figures (like V Kobra Fanatics), and her Battle Fury is going to keep her from being too mobile on a team that won’t have much, if any, Telekinesis. But, all the same, we’ve got her so let’s use her. We’ll go with the Experienced version just to scrimp on points.

And, we’re still missing ...
Doctor Light: Originally, Dr. Light had to rely on the devices and concealed weapons in his costume to fire concentrated blasts of light that could either have concussive of incinerating effects. Then, he was imprisoned in Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern battery for a while an emerged as a being made entirely of light and that seems to have given him the ability to turn invisible and phase through solid objects. In his recent appearance in Teen Titans, he seems to also now be able to manipulate anything made of light.

How does that translate into ‘Clix? Well, he should have a ranged attack, probably with Energy Explosion and maybe even some Range Combat Expert. That could be changed out for Psychic Blast or Pulse Wave if we have to. He should also have Phasing and/or Stealth, and maybe even have Outwit to simulate his ability to take away his opponent’s powers (like Superboy’s heat vision and the lightning from Wonder Girl’s lasso).

Unfortunately, there isn’t a ‘Clix character that has all of those powers in combination. The closest that I can think of is E Jade, who has the Phasing, Energy Explosion, and Ranged Combat Expert but is missing the Outwit. However, I have a bit of trouble justifying the Telekinesis, the flight, the Barrier, the Toughness, and the Green Lantern Corps team ability on a Doctor Light dial.

So, rather than go for everything that he could possibly have, I’m going to take his potential power level back a notch (after all, even though he could take out Green Arrow and the Teen Titans, he still needed Deathstroke to protect him from some of the weaker JLA members) and substitute in V Jinx for him. She’s got Psychic Blast, Pulse Wave, and Energy Explosion to accurately represent his attack capabilities, her Phasing fits, the Energy Shield/Deflection is pretty accurate, and the Probability Control could be a reasonable approximation of his opponents underestimating him ... or something.

Zoom: Zoom’s powers aren’t that he’s super-fast. It’s that he exists just outside of our timestream so that he can step out and step back in somewhere else a fraction of a second later. Still Hypersonic Speed is the best representation of it ‘in game’. So, there are a few Hypersonic Speedsters in the DCU sets of figures that we could use. However, the one that best represents Zoom’s ‘speed’, how difficult he is to hit, and adds the utility of using his Hypersonic move-and-attack option ‘for free’ is E Impulse. And, he’s inexpensive enough that we can add him in with Cheetah and ‘Dr. Light’ along with making them all agents of ‘Calculator’ for less than 200pts.

That would give us ...
The Secret Society of Supervillains
U Lex Luthor (+ ICwO) – 79pts.
E Deathstroke (+ ICwO) – 60pts.
V Black Adam (+ ICwO) – 160pts.
E Talia (+ ICwO) – 56pts.
U Shadow King (Doctor Psycho) (+ ICwO) – 116pts.
U Oracle (Calculator) (on ICwO) – 27pts.
V Jinx (Dr. Light) (+ICwO) – 64pts.
E Impulse (Zoom) (+ICwO) – 69pts.
E Cheetah (+ICwO) – 64pts.
Total: 695pts.

That’s all of the villains that DC Comics have revealed are currently working with Luthor’s group, though there are sure to be more signing up in the next few months as the story progresses.

Now, let’s take a look at making the stand-in villains on your team look more like the villains in DC’s Villain United.

We’ll start with Zoom, as he’ll be the easiest. Remove Impulse from his base, replace him with Flash. Repaint Flash into Zoom’s yellow costume and you’re done.

The Calculator is just a guy in a suit, so take your pick of Two-Face, Mr. Bones, or Lex Luthor and replace their head with the plainer Gotham Undercover’s head. I’d recommend not using Lex since Lex will also be on your team. Cut little (really, really little) rectangular pieces of plastic from the clear lid on your fountain drink, and carefully superglue them onto his face for his glasses. Maybe add a little wire running from his ear to his mouth for his phone headset. Repaint him to suit your taste.

Dr. Light actually has a number of options and its just a matter of what you’ve got in your spare ‘Clix box. For a head, you’ll need a Kree Warrior. But, for the body, it could be anyone from Hourman to Vanisher to Obsidian (though you’d need to replace his cape) to Sidewinder. Each will require that you shave off some bit or another of their costumes, but it really just comes down to what pose you’d like him to have (Sidewinder looks most like the Dr. Light VS card art, by the way).

For Dr. Psycho, initially I was going to recommend using the diminutive Puppet Master. But that doesn’t really fit. Instead, use a Moloid. Take his club off, and sculpt some clothing onto his tiny body (I’ve looked for a reference photo for him and can’t find one, but maybe you’ll have better luck). Then, replace his head with the one that you took off of Two-Face. Repaint him and you’re done.

So, there you go: Lex Luthor’s Secret Society of Supervillains.

Next week we’ll take a look at ... well, I haven’t decided yet. If you’ve got suggestions, PM ‘em to me. Thanks for reading.


Previous House of Heroes articles:
Week 1: The Outsiders
Week 2: The Teen Titans
Week 3: The Justice Society of America

Best part of the article:


The O.J. joke.


Nice work!!!

Here's how mine went down, and was successful!:

V Black Adam + Fortitude + ICWO
R Gorilla Grodd (great Dr. Psycho fill in)
V Talia
V Deathstroke + ICWO
U Lex
R Cheetah
E Doombot
Professor Pog


yeah I know, I'm cheating with the Doombot, but I'll be ####ed if I'm paying that many points for Luthor and not using the TA. That's my sub 500 Point team that rocks.

Luke B.

You know what I think would have really made this article better? Proof-reading. Proof-reading, and not trying to write it at work.

I think DeSaad makes a nice stand in for Dr Psycho, or at least the sculpt.

You dhould do Alpha Flight next week.

Nice article Jacin. ;)

Formerly Known as the JL/ The JLI.
Missing pieces:
Fire = Human Torch or Firestorm
Ice = Killer Frost or Iceman
Guy = Kilowag
Mr. Miracle = ? super escape artist who can fly.

Great article! It's nice to know that I wasn't the only one thinking about putting this team together. I like using Shadow King for Dr. Psycho. And Junx for Dr. Light, he's probably the toughest one to subsitute for, kind of had me stumped. I probably won't do the mods for the individual figures, mostly because I'm guessing that this is going to be a relatively short-lived team/story arc. Plus, I can't imagine playing this team all that much. Although having a Calculator to use with ICWO would be worth it. Don't know where I'm going to get the extra Oracles to use their base, though.

Um, Jinx, I mean. I actually quite like the figure.

Recruited Villains of the Society (known so far, there will be more):
Multiplex
Cheetah
Black Manta
Gentleman Ghost
Prometheus
Gorilla Grodd
Cicada
Sabacc
Fatality
Shrapnel
Knockout
Phobia
Skorpio
Body Doubles
Probably Plasmus (but could be Clayface. Some confusion there).
Zoom
Captain Cold
Mirror Master
Doctor Light
Crazy Quilt
Ocean Master
Scarecrow

There are others, too. And Note: these are villains that are being recruited. As of right this instant, only the base six and Doctor Light have taken up the offer.

The BEST thing this series could do is get us some of these in Clix form!

Truthfully, I'm hoping for more clix getting made from Day of Vengeance:
Detective Chimp
Blue Devil
Ragman
Spectre
Shazam (the Wizard)
Nightmaster

Already clixed:
Demon
Captain Marvel
Eclipso
Enchantress
Dr. Fate

Oh, and lest I forget, Zatanna and Madame Xanadu are in it.

But really, my life won't be complete until I get a Detective Chimp heroclix.

Regarding Dr. Light...he's a flier, and he has been known to create hard-light constructs, which could equate to TK and/or Barrier.

So using Green Lantern to represent him isn't that far-fetched, as long as you used one without the team faction ability. And might Sinestro work, too?

Heck, according to the reports, it sounds like every villian except a group of six will be joining VU...

I thought Plasmus was dead . . . . . but then again, this is the DCU, so he's probably back.

I love that they bring back Zoom, Hal and several others and not Barry.
:(

Another fun and informative article, sir.

Great Article!I am really looking forward to this mini series.

Sometimes, when trying to figure out the future, we must look to the past. Here's a list of past Secret Society members, some of which haven't been made into clix yet, and may end up on this new version:

Recruited Villains
 

On your list, I know when most of them were recruited, ala the Villain's United preview. And I know Zoom was recruited in Wonder Woman. But what about Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Scarecrow, Crazy Quilt and Ocean Master?

i would love to see Captain Cold or Mirror Master as a clix

I read Manhunter & Calculator sent Cheshire to kill Shadow Thief, so I think she might be part of it (Phobia will give her shot at the Manhunter in #9). That & Deadshot & Cheshire are on the cover of Villians United #2

I'm hoping for a Dr. Light REV (especially if we got a different, unique, female sculpt as a JLA team member). My 'Bandai Titans' need more villains!

(Professor?) Zoom and Captain Cold are non-brainers for future sets: They mimic existing characters dials, and they can easily fulfill the quota for certain powers in future sets.

Cheshire is going to be a part of the Secret Six. That means that she'll be working against Luthor's group.

ahha... figured after Deadshots little "good guy" stint Luthor wouldn't trust him... Raise your hands if you want a good ol' last man standing between Deathstroke & Deadshot.