Pogapalooza!

Yesterday at Big Monkey, we had the third of the five legs of the Starro tournament series. Starro; five legs. I love that.

Anyway, there were sixteen players and Rambo took pictures of some of them so that I could "convert" them into goon pogs.

The Punk Kid is Big Mike Pellegrino, who beat me today by 8 points. Not that I'm bitter, mind you. I only picked him for the Punk Kid because of his baby face and his pose. Not because he beat me. By 8 points. Which is four times what his pog is now worth.

The weaselly Gunsel is, of course, Dr. Ben Hatton, host of the Big Monkey Podcast. Note the Stealth (the dial's based on the superstitious and cowardly Joe Chill).

Can't you just picture Ben, cowering behind potted plants, with a little pearl-handed 22 in his trembling hands? Ah, well; the customers have gotten used to it... .

The Scrapper is that pugnacious Irishman, Jon Carey, who writes (and spends his Friday nights) Facedown in the Gutters.

Note that John has Leap/Climb so he can run away from whomever he insulted most recently on the Big Monkey Podcast. Or when someone whom I insulted decides to attack Jon instead.

If you think Chris Peleo-Lazar, the Enforcer, looks mobbed up, that's because he is. His roommate sells cement overshoes for a living, if you catch my drift.

The Hoodlum is supposedly Joe Kroc, but I've always suspected that's some sort of anagramatic assumed named, forced on him after he turned State's Evidence.

Gabe is the smooth Con Man (whose stats I borrowed from Space Phantom). His glib tongue can convince you not to attack him (Shape Change) and his fast-talking can keep you fixated on him (Elasticity).

PJ Rusk is the Accomplice, sinking deeper and deeper in the depravity of underground heroclix clubs. I find it so sad. Profitable, but sad.

Steve is the Bruiser, and bruise me he did during our first game yesterday. But I would have won, if the judge had let me cheat. Darn it. That's okay. Now the judge doesn't get a pog. But I'm not bitter.

The Tough Guy, with the Toughness to go with the title, is none other than Jonnie Hex of Jon Hex Lives and the Big Monkey Podcast. Jonnie always looks as if he's about to shank you or buy you a Courvoisier; nothing in between.

The Innocent Dupe is Mick, a.k.a. Superman's Pal. But in that picture, he looks like just the kind of person a deformed psychopath could convince to help break into the Gotham Gold Depository.

And Yonaton plays the role of Fodder, those indispensably dispensable goons you throw at Batman and Robin while you make good your escape. Have you noticed that Fodder are always male? Do they have female counterparts who work for supervillainesses, and are they called Mudder?

In case you didn't recognize him in the cap, Judo Guy is our local judo student, Brandon Hallmark III. When your name is Brandon Hallmark III, I guess you kind of have to study judo just to stay alive.

Judo Kid is actually "Judo" Kiet. Like Judo Guy, he's got Combat Reflexes, so if you're going to try to hit him, better do so from a distance.

Of course, the worst goon of all -- almost a full-fledged villain in his own right-- is the devious, insidious Pusher.

He acts swiftly to get you hooked on plastic crack. He knows he's got Willpower, but you don't... .

"Sure, kid; you can have a booster. The first one's free...!"