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Post by dans on Mar 9, 2024 23:57:07 GMT
I'm interested in writing an introductory story about Roland DiGrasso, also known as the Stainless Steel Cat, or the Ferrous Feline, of the original Sentinels of Magic, and would like to get your thoughts... He only appeared in one story so far, and from that story, we know these things about him: He was a normal human with the ability to cover himself in (presumably) stainless steel armor: "Roland DiGrasso flexed his hands, focusing intently. Hexagonal pieces of metal materialized over his clothing and body. The metallic layers crept up his neck, converging into a helmet that resembled the head of a cat, complete with a steel tail that flicked into existence. He flexed his hands again, causing blades to spring forth from his knuckles. Known as the Stainless Steel Cat, he relaxed, allowing the retractable claws to slide back into place." In his armored form, he was extremely agile and fast; his claws are as hard as diamonds, his armor is practically impenetrable, and in deadly combat he is can be a swift and deadly killer, pouncing and striking with a single deadly slash. I think the claws are part of the armor rather than part of him? In this single story, his foes were implacable demons attempting to invade Earth from Hell, and he killed these demons without mercy. In the end, they killed him the same way. *** So... my take is that somehow he pleased a feline deity, who gifted him with magical armor, and wearing that magical armor gives him his other abilities. I'd like to stay away from Egyptian cat gods. I wonder if maybe he might have somehow encountered on of the Mayan Jaguar Gods, perhaps The Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire and War (whose name I can't find in a quick search) or the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca? Also, in order to report his exploits in a comic book, I'm presuming that he was not always a merciless killer - perhaps he learned that during his exploits in World War II? Thanks for your thoughts, as always! Oh, yeah, I think he looks something like this, that may be his patron peeking over his shoulder... |
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Post by DocQuantum on Mar 10, 2024 0:22:47 GMT
Yeah, could be.
The name comes from Harry Harrison's STAINLESS STEEL RAT series, so I would look there for the character's inspiration. Of course, James Bolivar diGriz, the title character, is a crook instead of a hero, but a noble crook.
The other inspiration is Ted Grant, Wildcat, but Roland DiGrasso is not his Earth-1 counterpart as the Earth-1 Ted Grant has already been introduced.
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Post by DocQuantum on Mar 10, 2024 0:23:54 GMT
There was a comic-book adaptation in the UK of the Stainless Steel Rat series in case you want to read it. It's on one of those Read Comics Online sites.
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Post by dans on Mar 10, 2024 0:54:34 GMT
I've read all the Stainless Steel Rat stories... among my favorites. I figured that was the source of the name, although you once pointed out that a cat was chosen as inspiration for one of the Sentinels because Immortal Wildcat was one of the most prolific writers. (I checked with him to see if he had any suggestions for powers or personality; he didn't remember that, but he also pointed me to Slippery Jim DiGriz!) I was thinking about having Roland be similar in personality at least to Slippery Jim (Crafty Rollo?) in that he started off as a crook and was drafted to the side of the good guys...
I also figured Harry Hutchinson was named after Harry Harrison, though you pointed that his name was inspired by Starsky Hutch...
I should probably go back and read the Stainless Steel Rat stories again...
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Post by dans on Mar 10, 2024 13:11:39 GMT
I had a thought - perhaps Roland DiGrasso, the Stainless Steel Cat, got his powers from a human mage, rather than a cat deity.
My first thought was Dr. Mist. Being from Africa, there is a natural tie-in with cats. But I can't imagine Dr. Mist not bringing this up with Gareth Galloway in the Founding Fathers story. Oh, well... can anyone suggest why Dr. Mist might not have mentioned to Gareth during that story that it was he who gave Roland his powers? Having shared pain between the two of them might have made things easier when the Founders tried to win Gareth's trust. It seems unlikely that Dr. Mist would have bestowed such a gift on a mortal and then totally forgotten about it...
Any other mages who were active in our stories set on Earth 1 in the first half of the 20th Century that I might tie in? Looks like some candidates might be: Zatara; Sargon; Nadir; Baron Winters... Anyone else? Do we know if any of these characters might have a special affinity for cats?
Sargon has a remote tie in to Grimoire Island through Swamp Thing and Abbie Cable... perhaps he gifted Roland with an artifact somehow related to the Ruby of Life... or maybe the powers are totally unrelated to the Ruby
In a very cursory search on Baron Winters, it appears that he operated mainly by manipulating others; giving powers to Roland may fit his MO.
How has Nadir been fit into our Earth 1 chronology? A brief bio I read about him says that he was born into Indian nobility, so there is a natural tie in with cats for Nadir as well. As well, the bio says that in his last adventure in 1938, he was abducted and never seen again. Does our continuity suggest how he was freed? Perhaps in an as-yet-unrevealed story, he somehow empowered Roland who then freed him. (It looks like Nadir appears in the present, used by Libby (of course!! <g>) but I can't find any stories set in the 30s or 40s in which he appears...)
I just had another thought. It is possible that Roland received his powers from a mystical artifact of some sort that he never told his teammates about. If so, that artifact may still be somewhere on Grimoire Island. Maybe the as-yet-unknown 7th member of the new Sentinels of Magic might discover it and become The Stainless Steel Kitten?
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Post by dans on Mar 10, 2024 15:35:27 GMT
Darn, it looks like Nadir is an Earth 2 character who was mystically transported to Earth 1 sometime after the Golden Age. In any case, it looks like he wouldn't be established on Earth 1 in 1938 or so, which is when I was thinking of using him. Narrows it down to Dr. Mist (unlikely), Sargon, Baron Winters, and Zatara.
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Post by dans on Mar 10, 2024 16:17:05 GMT
How about evil magic users operating on Earth 1 in the 30s? Maybe Roland stole a mystical artifact from a criminal magician?
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Post by DocQuantum on Mar 10, 2024 17:15:18 GMT
Darn, it looks like Nadir is an Earth 2 character who was mystically transported to Earth 1 sometime after the Golden Age. In any case, it looks like he wouldn't be established on Earth 1 in 1938 or so, which is when I was thinking of using him. Narrows it down to Dr. Mist (unlikely), Sargon, Baron Winters, and Zatara. Sargon and Zatara were on Earth-2 back then. |
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Post by DocQuantum on Mar 10, 2024 17:17:21 GMT
How about evil magic users operating on Earth 1 in the 30s? Maybe Roland stole a mystical artifact from a criminal magician? Shiwan Khan, Morgaine le Fey, Warly… can’t think of too many. Personally I wouldn’t bother trying to fit any existing Earth-1 character into the story. Just make up the characters you need, unless you find a really good fit. |
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Post by dans on Mar 10, 2024 21:02:47 GMT
I read the first Nadir story in New Adventure Comics and definitely am not impressed with his magic ability. He has a magic ring which, combined with his magic crystal ball, will sometimes allow him to track bad guys between 3 AM and dawn, if he has a small piece of something connected to the the bad guys that he can fit under the gem in his ring (so, a hair, a drop of sweat, maybe a chip of a nail), he can command people who are asleep to obey his commands (with the ring on), the ring provides him with an unreliable danger sense which may not warn him in time. He is rich, he carries enough cash to buy a small airplane if he needs to, and he knows Ju Jitsu. And he is a powerful swimmer.
I'm thinking maybe Roland DiGrasso found a magical amulet while swimming off either the Florida coast or a Caribbean island, stolen by the Spanish Conquistadors (probably from the Mayans) and lost when a treasure ship was sunk in a storm. So he won't really know much about the origin of his powers. How does that sound?
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Post by redsycorax on Mar 10, 2024 22:07:53 GMT
If you do decide to use cat gods, Egypt had Sekhmet, Bubastis/Bastet/Bast and Mefdet in that cat/egory  en.wikipedia.org/en/SekhmetGoddess of war. Particularly adept at use of fire en.wikipedia.org/en/BubastisGoddess of protection, particularly against Apep the Great Serpent en.wikipedia.org/en/MefdetGoddess of judgement, justice and execution. Ripped hearts out of adversaries. Might also translate to energy draining if you wanted to modernise it. Cheetah head. In North America, the Ojibwa have Mishipeshu (the underwater panther): Goddess of water, protection, and winter en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwater_pantherAll of these deities are female, protective and undoubted warriors. Therefore, anyone who derives their abilities from their talismans or source might be expected to have strong defensive magical capabilities and would certainly be able to go on the offensive if attacked. If it came to shipwreck recovery, let's say this happened: In a battle with a group of Ojibwa explorers, the Mayans captured one of their talismans, which subsequently ended up as loot when Imperial Spain subjugated the Mayans and Aztecs. This happened long ago enough that the origin has been lost, but the talisman retains its potency- due to its affinity to the sea, it operates quite powerfully when it's atop any body of water in any form- ice or water, and possibly steam, if it's near a geyser. Mishipeshu is the talisman's goddess. |
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Post by DocQuantum on Mar 10, 2024 22:22:52 GMT
I don't think Roland DiGrasso needs an amulet at all. As seen in his only appearance, he just wills it, and hexagonal pieces of metal appear over his body, shaping into a helmet and a tail, as well as claws that come out of his knuckles very similar to Wolverine. They don't appear out of anything he's wearing or holding -- they just appear out of some kind of hidden realm or dimension where they are kept until needed.
What if Roland was injected by some kind of metallic artifact from an advanced civilization, instead of using another magic source? Other than the odd cat-motif, the way his powers work just doesn't seem magical to me at all -- more like advanced technology from an alien civilization like New Genesis or the far future of the Legion of Super-Heroes or beyond. With it he becomes the ultimate warrior, able to battle powerful foes singlehandedly.
Whether or not his armor is alien or literally from the future, the warrior who originally had it died sometime in the past, his armor becoming dormant until Roland discovered it and accidentally got himself injected with the same kind of liquid metal that covers his body when he needs it.
Roland's bones may never be found, something that may be impossible if Gallowglass himself (the Master of the Impossible) couldn't find them, which suggests to me that they are not in the Earth at all but in Hell or the Darkworld. Still, if they should somehow reappear into the physical realm, it could be this liquid metal that attaches itself to a new host, making them the ultimate warrior. If it attached to one of the new Sentinels of Magic, the obvious contender would be Gray Murphy, who has a cat motif already with his "Black Cat" armor.
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Post by DocQuantum on Mar 10, 2024 22:36:04 GMT
BTW, it just occurred to me that Roland's first name could be significant. Roland is the name of a very famous knight of chivalry from Charlemagne's court. According to legend, he had an unbreakable sword. That could provide some inspiration for the origin story.
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Post by DocQuantum on Mar 10, 2024 22:45:35 GMT
As far as the cat-motif goes, perhaps that comes from Roland's own interest in cats. Perhaps the alien armor refashioned itself into a powerful panther-like motif because that's the kind of powerful animal Roland pictures himself as when his armor is extended over his whole body, including his face, offering complete protection. He probably looks similar to Black Panther except with the color of stainless steel.
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Post by dans on Mar 10, 2024 23:19:22 GMT
I'm thinking magic because he is part of the Sentinels of Magic. I'm trying to think of an origin that isn't the same as all the other dozens of magical origins that are tied to either Egypt or Tibet. I'd like him to get his powers from a North American source.
As to having a token, I have been thinking that he will find a token, and rather than finding it in an archeological site, he will find it on the bottom of the ocean. As to not having to wear it, I am thinking that when he put it on, it melded with his skin, becoming a tattoo. So when he dies it may disappear or it may return to the token form.
I didn't realize one of the new Sentinels already had a cat theme - having him become the new Stainless Steel Cat seems like overkill. sorry. I thought it would be a nice tribute to the original Sentinels to have a cat themed character, but you've already got that covered.
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