Dial V for Vicki

She's back! Vicki Grant! And she's come for Hero's Dial! We've got a lot of identities to cover, so let's jump right into it!

Case 63: Superboy and the Ravers #13
Dial Holder: Hero Cruz and Vicki Grant
Dial Type: Pendant Dial and Vicki's internalized ability
Dialing: Vicki Grant has had the Dial "spinning in [her] head" since we last saw her. Unable to change back to her human identity, she just jumps from (in her case) villain to villain and needs the H Dial to stop the cycle of madness. Thankfully, she appears to be able to track the Dial, though with Hero moving around so much, it hasn't been that helpful. His own heroic identities continue to have a mind of their own, and they prevent him from surrendering the Dial. Vicki says he's undergoing the same kind of change she did, but much faster, suggesting that he could lose himself. Seeing him change from one identity to another, she accuses him of tampering with the Dial's "safety-timer". Once she gains access to the Dial, it changes both of them back to their human selves. She is exhausted and confused, but remembers her name after riming off a few of her former super identities. It remains to be seen if her use of expressions like "My name is V-I-C-K-I" and "Dial F for food" are signs of permanent trauma.
Name: Captain Elastic (old-fashioned and a little silly)
Costume: In Plastic Man red and black, the line in the middle becomes a giant "E" on the front. Unlike other stretching heroes we know, he wears a mask that covers her head, with goggle-like protection for the eyes. His gray gloves and boots are less skin-tight than the rest of the costume.
Powers: Stretching, at about Mister Fantastic's level (more than Elongated Man, less than Plastic Man). It is inferred that his rubbery body is insulated from electricity.
Sighted: Fighting Vicki Grant in a glade near Sparx's home.
Possibilities: Maybe Hothead from last time needs a partner to start him Fantastic Four analog. Captain Elastic looks like a throwback to a simpler era, so the character would be youthful and naive. That's a different take than DC's high profile stretchos, at least, so he might fit in with the Titans or the Young Heroes in Love.
Integration Quotient: 25% (looks cool, but does DC need another elastic hero?)
Name: Diamond Lord (sounds like a member of the Legion of Super-Villains)
Costume: A mohawked bruiser completely made of smooth, flexible diamond in a  black and dark blue muscle man suit with added gloves and boots. The trim on all elements has triangular patterns, evoking a diamond shape.
Powers: Diamond skin that makes him near-invulnerable and super-strong.
Sighted: Fighting Vicki Grant in a glade near Sparx's home.
Possibilities: Bricks are team players more than solo stars, and DL's Mr. T look has that dated trendiness you'd associate with a group like the Conglomerate, although if I take the Mr. T connection to that old cartoon of his, he'd be fighting for the little guy more than corporate interests. I sort of want him to be friends with Vibe during the JLDetroit days, y'know?
Integration Quotient: 25% (there's something there, but neither the name nor the look have much beyond a retro appeal)

Bonus Villains
Name: Harpy (not actually named, but that's what she is)
Look: Like a mythical harpy, a gold-skinned woman with wings, the legs of a giant bird, pointed ears and clawed fingers. She wears a purple one-piece bathing suit to protect her dignity.
Powers: Winged flight and claws at the end of every limb.
Sighted: Fighting Hero Cruz and Sparx in a glade near the latter's home.
Possibilities: Though the obvious choice is as a Wonder Woman foe, Diana would fight harpies plural, not a single character by that name. But how about making her a Hawkman villain instead, perhaps a new breed of Manhawk that leads their legions into battle?
Integration Quotient: 75% (several possibilities cuz you can't go wrong with mythology)
Name: Volcano Girl (a Legionnaire who never was?)
Look: A woman made of purple and orange stone (what's costume and what's skin is unclear), cracking all over with flame and lava.
Powers: Though she has a hard shell, she is made of flowing lava she can use to burn or cover her opponents. Her skin is constantly regenerating, cracking and releasing lava again. The lava that covers her foes also hardens quite quickly, smothering them in a rocky shell.
Sighted: Fighting Hero Cruz and Sparx in a glade near the latter's home.
Possibilities: Girl falls down a volcano, survives and gains metahuman powers from the incident. It's a story as old as time. The elemental nature of those powers might make her a good Flash villain. Her somewhat heroic name means she'll probably be "turned" by story's end.
Integration Quotient: 60% (an interesting power application takes you a long way)
Name: Sister Scissor-Limbs (sounds right out of the China MiƩville series)
Costume: A punky red mohawk atop a human head is the most human thing about her. She wears a banded black one-piece with an armored chest and shoulder pads that are a mess of blades. Her limbs end in more of those blades.
Powers: Sharp blades coming out of everywhere. Though these can slash and impale, they are layered so they can scissor through things and people as well. They cannot cut through diamond.
Sighted: Fighting Hero Cruz in a glade near the Sparx's home.
Possibilities: The problem with a strong, crazy visual is that it's hard to give that visual a sensible origin. Sister Scissor-Limbs might be a Doom Patrol villain, if the book had gone for a 90s X-TREME aesthetic (Doom Force doesn't count, or does it?).
Integration Quotient: 15% (body modification gone wrong)
Name: Cobress (when you really need to feminize a word ending in -bra)
Costume: A slinky black and scaly green leotard with long gold bracelets snaking down the arms and legs. A similarly-colored plated neck piece goes up the face to frame her red eyes. She has green patterned skin, reptilian claws, and a long greenish hair coiffed to look vaguely like an irritated cobra.
Powers: Claws that can chip diamond and probably the proportional strength of a reptile, Cobress definitely also has a cobra's speed, perhaps especially when she leaps at an opponent.
Sighted: Fighting Hero Cruz in a glade near the Sparx's home.
Possibilities: The Serpent Society is always hiring--oh wait, wrong universe. Well, no biggie. There's always room for snaky villains in whatever universe. Kobra's probably hiring too. Or looking to date inside his circle.
Integration Quotient: 80% (a cool-looking classic type of villainess)

Next: Vicki's fate, after an interruption by Genesis.

Comments

The Harpy looks alarmingly like Fal Tal, so a Manhawk connection seems good.