I like Triathlon

Monk · 19 Jun 2006

And I'm not ashamed to admit it. The character got a lot of crap when he debuted, but I honestly think he's one of the better new characters of the last few years. Lately he's been relegated to Avengers: The Initiative as an Instructor-in-training, so I'm holding out hope that someone will do something interesting with him.

Besides, he was created by Busiek and Perez, and he's not nearly as lame as Silverclaw.

Monk · 19 Jun 2006

Also,

Quote:

Imbued with the spirit of 3-D Man, Delroy has three times the physical abilities of a man in peak physical condition.

That means he has three times the physical abilities of CAPTAIN AMERICA.

Jim Yingst · 11 Feb 2006

Which is less impressive right now, of course...

Hanzo the Razor · 24 Jun 2007

I liked Triathlon myself. And Silver Claw.

Kevin · 08 Aug 2004

Isn't he a modern version of the 3-D Man?

Monk · 19 Jun 2006

He is, though without the brother's sharing one body thing.

Darin · 14 Aug 2004

I liked Triathlon, but I didn't care much for his attitude.

Bob · 05 Aug 2004

I liked Triathlon, too.

What were the objections to the character, anyway? I don't even remember, anymore.

Jim Yingst · 11 Feb 2006

Chiefly his attitude and his initially lame-seeming powers. In his first appearance he was being described as "three times as strong, fast, and agile as an ordinary human" - later this bacame three times as strong, fast, and agile as humanly possible. Busiek had to spend some time re-explaining what that meant in later issues, because the lameness of the initial description had stuck with him.

Monk · 19 Jun 2006

I think Darin pretty much hit on it. Triathlon was being used as part of a plot to discredit the Avengers, so whenever he showed up he had a pretty arrogant attitude.

From Wiki:

Quote:

Triathlon's first involvement with the Avengers came when he assisted them in defeating arms dealer Moses Magnum. Soon after, Triathlon also helped the Avengers battle Lord Templar and Pagan at the dedication ceremony of a new Triune Understanding building. The battle ended with Lord Templar and Pagan escaping. Jonathan Tremont publicly blamed the Avengers for the destruction, then covertly set up a smear campaign against the team to suggest they were religiously intolerant and racist.

Tremont then had the mercenary Taskmaster frame a number of Avengers for the destruction of an important Triune building. Tremont then publicly "forgave" the Avengers which the team grudgingly went along with to avoid further bad publicity. It was during Tremont's media event at Avenger's Mansion that the building was attacked by a terrorist. Triathlon aided the Avengers in defeating the terrorist. In the aftermath, Duane Freeman, the Avengers government liaison suggested that the team add Triathlon as a member to quell the bad publicity that the team had recently engendered. With some animosity on both sides, Triathlon was made a member of the Avengers when their new line-up was announce to the public.

At first, Triathlon, although a capable member, constantly complained and argued with his teammates, thinking that they were intolerant and included him on the team only because of the public image. But soon, with the help of teammate Warbird, Delroy saw that his teammates were good people and became an eager and willing team member.

I think part of it was also the usual, "Why is he on the team when my favorite member isn't?"

Jim Yingst · 11 Feb 2006

Monk wrote:

Also,

Quote:

Imbued with the spirit of 3-D Man, Delroy has three times the physical abilities of a man in peak physical condition.

That means he has three times the physical abilities of CAPTAIN AMERICA.

Um, three times the strength, agility, and speed, at least. (And one would guess endurance should probably be in there too, but it doesn't fit the "3" motif; oh well.) But "physical abilities" sounds like it would cover all of Cap's skills as well, and Trialthlon does not have those. Not at Cap's level, anyway. Though Busiek did seem to try to expand the scope of Triathlon's powers over time, trying to counter initial perceptions of the character.

Monk · 19 Jun 2006

Well, yeah, he doesn't have the training Cap's had, but the "three times" thing covers everything from what I understand. So his senses would be three times as good, his reflexes three times as fast, etc.

Jim Yingst · 11 Feb 2006

In his initial appearances they very specifically said he was three times as strong, fast, and agile. Reflexes would fall under "fast" I guess. They may have said something about senses or other abilities later, when Busiek was trying to convince people that Triathlon wasn't as lame as initially perceived. I have the vague recollection that he was retroactively improved over time, but haven't had time to track down exactly how & when.

Monk · 19 Jun 2006

I get the feeling Busiek's attempts might not have swayed you...

Dave Toxik · **Joined:** 12 Mar 2007 **Posts:** 25349

I enjoyed the whole Triathlon/Triune storyline. I do think the character has a lot of potential.

Mark · 28 Jul 2005

So, he's almost as awesome as me.

Kevin · 08 Aug 2004

From what I've read, his physical strength, speed, and agility were all 3x what was possible for a human being. Also, his senses such as eyesight and hearing were similarly enhanced, and he could heal injuries 3x faster than a normal human.

In comparison, Captain America possessed agility, strength, and speed at the pinnacle of human abilities. The Super-Soldier serum did grant him a couple of borderline super-powers, a very high resistance to disease, exceptional healing abilities, and near-superhuman endurance (due to his body eliminating the poisons that produce fatigue in his muscles.)

On paper, it's obvious that Triathlon's physical abilities were greater than Cap's, but Cap's experience and combat knowledge obviously gives him more than an edge. His gymnastic and combat skills were second-to-none. Even though Triathlon was an Olympic athlete, he was a sprinter. Prior to joining the Avengers, he probably had no training at all in hand-to-hand combat.

So if the contest were a race or seeing who could bench-press the most weight, Triathlon wins. Any type of combat, though, and Triathlon is toast.

Jim Yingst · 11 Feb 2006

Monk wrote:

I get the feeling Busiek's attempts might not have swayed you...

Well, I'm willing to accept later retcons to add more powers; I'm just saying I don't remember what they were, at this point. Wikipedia tells me that he can heal three times as fast, and his perceptions are enhanced as well. OK fine, but I don't remember when this was added; it was not part of the original description.

A later decription from issue 27:

Thug: You shouldn't'a butted in, jerk! I hear you're as tough as three men -- but there's five of us left --

Triathlon: You heard wrong, Jack! I've got triple the best possible strength, speed, reflexes and more a man can have -- an' with power like that -- buster, I could take on a regiment!

This seems to be the first mention of "and more" - I'm not sure what it may cover though.

I did like the storyline with the Triunes. And it's interesting to have an Avenger doesn't really fit in at first. Unfortunately, about the time he was getting accepted by the others, Busiek left, and so Delroy left, and little else was seen of him until he recently was mentioned in The Initiative. I'd like to see them continue to do more with him.

Crouton Jim · 09 Aug 2004

Batman would beat him.... given enough time to prepare.

Hank · 01 Dec 2004

I'm doing another triathlon next month. I'm hoping to do better than I did on the same one last year, because I'll be swimming with a wetsuit (which increases buoyancy, so you don't need to use as much energy to get your head above water to breathe) and I built up a new sub-20 pound stupid-light Italian racing bike. Maybe it's placebo effect, but I'm riding something like 7 or 8 percent faster on the Guerciotti than on my old Peugeot (specifically, my rides to work are averaging 16.5mph, vs 15.3 mph, which includes some big hills; on the flats, if winds aren't too big, I have no problem cruising at 19 or 20).

I'm still gonna suck at the running, though.

Judge WAN · 01 Aug 2005

Hank is Triathlon.

Pope Krysak · 11 Dec 2006

Monk wrote:

And I'm not ashamed to admit it. The character got a lot of crap when he debuted, but I honestly think he's one of the better new characters of the last few years. Lately he's been relegated to Avengers: The Initiative as an Instructor-in-training, so I'm holding out hope that someone will do something interesting with him.

Besides, he was created by Busiek and Perez, and he's not nearly as lame as Silverclaw.

Triathlon=Meh Silverclaw=Less than meh Both really didn't do anything very interesting. Triathlon mostly complained. Silverclaw mostly went to school. Weak parts of the Busiek Avengers run. Too little story stretched out for too long.

I like Triathlon

Who is WANline