Dial H for H2 Again

That's right, we're not done with Dial H #2, in fact we barely started last time. Didn't get beyond page 1. But don't worry, it starts moving a little faster from here on out.

Case 81: Dial H #2
Dial Holder: Nelson Jent
Dial Type: Phone booth Dial
Dialing: Nelson retains the memories of past identities, but they're a jumble. Each identity "stays with him". While the duration of each transformation is unclear, and Nelson can't carry the phone booth to "dial out", he does get a funny feeling when it's about to lapse, enough headtime to flee the scene.
Name: Skeet (add just one letter and you've got Booster Gold's robot sidekick)
Costume: A baggy red number that covers the entire body, with a bird-like helmet (though it has a toothy mouth under the beakish visor) and a giant skeet - for lack of a better term - tutu 'round the waist.
Powers: Flight, and when Skeet is shot/damaged, he explodes, sending shrapnel towards his assailants before reforming intact.
Sighted: In Littleville, fighting jewel thieves.
Possibilities: Sometimes you come up with crime-fighting technology that can't help but look silly. But you give it a go anyway. Doesn't explain all his abilities, though. It's almost like he got bit by a radioactive skeet...
Integration Quotient: 10% (fun idea, but it's too silly for the DCU proper)
Name: Control-Alt-Delete (the computer age didn't give us this name already? I'm a bit surprised)
Look: A head like an 80s computer monitor, his features green emojis on a black screen. His body is lean but muscled, shimmering and white, with black gloves and boots.
Powers: The extent of his powers are unknown, as his name implies a number of functions. He is shown to "reboot" his environment which causes another dialer-type (more on Manteau later) to revert to non-powered form. Presumably, he can control, alter or delete things in his surroundings. Note that he sees everything with an overlay of binary code, which may be how he "reprograms" reality (à la Matrix)
Sighted: In Littleville, fighting Manteau.
Possibilities: A machine intelligence or at least a cyborg, I might see C.A.D. as someone who found a way to hack the God Code and give himself partial power over reality, which he uses to fight crime. Perhaps an early hack was to give himself a machine body, or if always a computer, to give himself a humanoid form. His techno-savy series lasts about a year before DC pulls the plug
Integration Quotient: 50% (of potential interest back when The Matrix was a hot property)
Name: Iron Snail (is it a weird pun with "iron nail"?)
Costume: A bulky army type (camo pants, pounches, helmet, dog tags) with a definite 90s Image vibe. He wields a big gun with caution stripes on it, and wears a gigantic techno snail's shell on his back, green and tan, with tracks under it and lots of portals for weapons, including one with a glowing radioactive symbol. He perpetually chomps on a cigar.
Powers: While unwieldy in close combat, his shell is motorized and can be used as a vehicle to get to places. It has several weapons, some energy, some projectile, and at least one that shoots a slimy liquid called "snailtrail". This is in addition to his gun, which seems to fire an energy blast. The shell can act as a shield, and he can retire inside it. Iron Snail also has the benefit of ferrocochlean sense, which identifies who his enemies are in a crowd (his goggles seem to make this assessment, though they are on his forehead, not his eyes). And he's quite strong as well.
Sighted: In Littleville, fighting the Squid and his goons.
Possibilities: A parody of 90s comics, but little else, Iron Snail is actually pretty cool, but who would take him seriously as a hero or super-soldier? So you'd expect him in a story paying homage to the EXTREME! 90s, then to fall off the world.
Integration Quotient: 20% (I like the concept, but it's a non-starter)

Next: Who is Manteau?

Comments

The Iron Snail struck me as a riff on the Mock Turtle from Wild Cards. Which is more workable.

I think you underestimate Skeet as a drone hero for a technological type. More gadget, less individual.
Siskoid said…
Ooh I like that. We don't have enough "remote" heroes. Maybe it doesn't seem as heroic if you don't have skin in the game (but tell that to Oracle).
I think Iron Snail might be a reference to the Metal Slug games, which seem to feature dudes in tanks and mechs somewhat similar to IS's design.
Haven't played them myself, but it feels like it makes sense. Unless 'Metal Slug' is a phrase outside of the games.
Siskoid said…
That's interesting. "Slug", of course, is a word for "bullet", so the pun lies there are the very least.