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Lobster Johnson is a member of the Bureau of Paranormal
Research and Development, which was brought into the mainstream with the
well-done Hellboy movie that came out this past summer. I don’t know much
about him other then he wasn’t in the first movie and rumors say he won’t be
in the second. Supposedly he is a ghost or something like that.
His Rookie is only 41. With that you get a typical hide in
cover and Outwit style of figure. He has 4 clicks of Stealth with a
starting Speed of 8. His Attack is low at 8, but his Range of 6 with 2
Ranged attacks may come in handy. With a Damage of 2 he can wound someone
with Toughness, but not do much else. His Defense is right on average with
a 15 to start, but he has no powers to reduce damage, or avoid it.
Otherwise his dial is rounded out with a staring click of Outwit. The
B.P.R.D. team ability is a wild card, so he plays well with members from
CrossGen and Danger Girl. I’m not really thrilled with the Rookie. For one
I can get the same basic thing from Rookie Black Panther at 27 points.
The Experienced is basically a 12-point higher version of the
Rookie. His starting Speed goes up 1, his Attacks amazingly goes up 2, and
he gains a click of Toughness. The higher Attack makes him a much better
offensive threat then his Rookie. The Toughness helps protect him against
Energy Explosion and small peons, but not much else. Overall he is a better
well-rounded figure and if I had him I would give him a lot more playing
time then the Rookie.
The Veteran jumps up to 72 points. For a 19-point cost
increase surprisingly his starting stats don’t change. The biggest
difference is that he gains Phasing after 2 clicks of Stealth, and the big
change is he starts with a click of Impervious before getting 2 clicks of
Toughness. If he is a ghost then Phasing and Impervious make sense. The
Veteran is an interesting figure because the Impervious is really helpful,
but for the price it’s hard to use Veteran LJ in lower point games. 72
points is a lot to spend on a simple Outwitter. If you play him a medic is
a must. After his first click he loses Outwit and becomes a basic support
piece. Use his Phasing to get him back to a medic and healed. Outwit
combined with Impervious will make him hard to hit so the longer your
opponents waste actions trying to wound him the better for your team.
Overall Lobster Johnson isn’t horrible, but not great either.
I think I like the Experienced the best, but the Veteran would play nice in
big point games. I think LJ comes into his element mostly in Indy only
games. In those styles of games Stealth and Outwit are two useful powers to
have. Without a Superman Ally or Ultimate TA he will be safe unless
someone moves into close combat, and I don’t think Charge is that common in
Indy. In open style games there are to many figures that do the same thing
he does, or can take him down to easily. But if I had the Experience or
Veteran I could see myself playing him once in awhile.
Overall Score: (Out of 10. Score of: 4 = horrible, 5 = below
average, 6 = slightly above average, 7 = great, 8 = outstanding)
Rookie Lobster Johnson – 5.75
Experienced Lobster Johnson – 6.25
Veteran Lobster Johnson – 6.25
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