(NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (fb) ) - Phil Grayfield was an All-American linebacker at Notre Dame College.
(NFL SuperPro#2 (fb) ) - During his time at Notre Dame he played with Karl Moore in the football Team. Moore was jealous because Grayfield stole his show all the time which slowly turned him crazy.
(NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (fb) ) - Phil became the number one draft pick. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, whose coach Buddy Ryan said that Grayfield was the final piece Philadelphia needed to win the Super Bowl. A few months later he finished college with a degree in journalism and criminal justice at the side of his girlfriend Jane Dixon. That spring he went to the Eagles' training camp and injured his knee on the first day. He was in a cast for weeks with a torn anterior cartilage. The following months Jane motivated Phil in rehab and the next year Phil was back in the training camp and worked through it. Then in the Eagles' first exhibition game against the Giants his leg was broken again and he was out for the season with a broken femur. This time Phil was alone in rehab because Jane got a job as a reporter, but Phil got back again. Although the Eagles had cut him he got an offer from the Chicago Bears where he met Ron and his son Jeremy at his tryout. Phil impressed everyone the first week in the camp, but when one day at training little Jeremy Macedon fell down the bleachers; Phil did the right thing and saved him. On their way down Phil's leg was broken again and his knee was now so messed up that his football career (which career?) was over. Ron and Jeremy visited Phil in the hospital and Ron introduced Phil to Gesserman and Harriss from Sports Inside. They wanted to do an interview with him, but Phil declined at first. Ron convinced Phil to do it because it was not just an interview, but also a tryout for Phil to become a reporter. Phil did the interview, got the job as reporter and his first assignment was a report on sports memorabilia trade which involved an interview with the famous collector Rudy Custer. Phil had a hard time finding Custer's place because Custer had never given an interview before and it was kind of secret. Custer showed Phil some pieces of his collection including his pride, the NFL SuperPro uniform, an invention Custer made in the 70s (which had to be individually molded on a per player basis). The next second a bunch of robbers broke into Custer's secret house, thanked Phil for leading them there (they followed him), took as much as they could carry (which wasn't much because they had not much space in their van) and even kidnapped Custer. Before they left they wrapped Phil up in game films, spilled gasoline on the ground and set the house on fire. Phil tried to get free and kicked over a vat with experimental plastics (the one used to make the SuperPro uniform) and it burnt until the overhead sprinklers extinguished the fire. Drenched in a mixture of chemical foam, gasoline, plastics and chemicals from the old films Phil Grayfield was mutated. The house exploded, but Phil survived due to the powers he gained from the chemicals and put on the SuperPro uniform (which could surprisingly be worn by Phil). He followed the robbers, jumped onto their car, stopped it and saved Custer from them. SuperPro then beat them up and kept the most expensive item in Custer's collection (it was worth $5,000,000) the SuperPro uniform. First down for SuperPro!
(NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1) - A warehouse in Newark, New Jersey just after sunset. SuperPro tackles crime (literally) and takes out some guys working for an illegal steroid production ring before leaving the crime scene when the police arrived, but not before telling them what the bad guys did. SuperPro then took the way over the roofs to get to his car and meet his girlfriend Jane Dixon thirty minutes later at a North Bergen restaurant. He was sorry for his lateness and then avoided her questions about his current story.
The next morning Phil visited with his cameraman Ken Reid the Giants Stadium. Phil talked with the players and they watched a pretty brutal player named Carl Bennings. Phil thanked his old pal Ron Macedon for the tip on the steroid ring, but Macedon revealed that he only knew about it because of the big mouthed Bennings. Later on the way to their van Phil and Ken talked about the tip and Bennings. Coincidentally they watched Bennings on the parking lot taking a package from Henry Morrison. They followed Morrison to the New Jersey State University where Phil got his name from a secretary. At the Sheraton Hotel Ken checked his computer for Morrison's records and they learned that he worked as a consultant for JAKOBS. One hour later Phil jumped as SuperPro over JAKOBS fence, passed the security and found Morrison with two other scientists inside the building. Unfortunately he didn't find any info about illegal steroid compounds in JAKOBS' computers (he used "illegal steroid compounds" as a search term on the computer; it sounds as stupid as it was). Phil then returned to his hotel room where Ken revealed to him that he knew that Phil was NFL SuperPro. Phil then told Ken his origin. After hearing the whole story Ken decided to help Phil in fighting crime. He showed Phil images of Bennings that proofed that he was using steroids since college and that he was heavily involved with Morrison since then.
The next morning Phil and Ken confronted Morrison in his office with camera and microphone. Morrison told them everything they needed to know, but when they heard that Bennings was going to take the final component of the steroid compound at 9:00 they immediately left to stop Bennings, but they arrived too late at Bennings' hotel. SuperPro fought the now monstrous Bennings until he collapsed with a heart attack (During the fight SuperPro also saved a falling child. BTW: Fumble!) He asked for an ambulance, but sadly he couldn't reanimate Bennings and he died. He was really sorry about this, but at least his pal Macedon could get Bennings' friends off of the steroids. Phil smiled when he heard them flush their steroids down the toilet.
One week later Phil sat with Jane in her house and they watched Phil's report on Morrison's arrest. Phil gave Jane a bagel and she wanted to know how got his scoops. Phil winked (to the reader) and told her that this would be the story of her career.
(NFL SuperPro#1 (fb) - BTS) - Ken and Phil were assigned to do a report on Tim Pressman, who was accused to be connected to a gambling ring.
(NFL SuperPro#1) - SuperPro stopped on a rooftop across a hotel in L.A. an assassin that was sent by Sanzionare to kill John Murtaugh. But during SuperPro's speech towards the assassin another assassin killed Murtaugh at his car (Fumble!). SuperPro heard the shot and saw that the assassin Edison had posed as the hotel's valet. Edison escaped in Murtaugh's car despite SuperPro's attempt to stop it. SuperPro was watched by Spider-Man during this and the New Yorker hero shot a Spider-Tracer onto the fleeing car. SuperPro called Ken over his helmet microphone to pick him up and a few minutes later he arrived and they returned to their hotel. On their way back they talked about Pressman. Phil called his girlfriend Jane from his hotel room to talk about the Pressman case and she promised to help him.
The next morning Phil and Ken filmed Pressman at the L.A. County Courthouse. Phil saw Murtaugh's murderer Edison fall from a building after Spider-Man tried to stop him. That night Sanzionare sent a bunch of masked killers to Pressman's house, but SuperPro already waited for them. He saved Pressman's life and beat them all up. The police arrived to arrest the assassins and SuperPro was sure that their testimonies would help clear Pressman's name.
(NFL SuperPro#2 (fb) - BTS) - Phil and Ken were assigned to do a report on Michael Frazier's community work, but Frazier was shot.
(NFL SuperPro#2) - SuperPro tried to find the men responsible in Miami and beat up a local gang. Afterwards he returned to the Sports Inside van where Ken worked on his computer. Phil drove them back to their hotel and visited the next morning together with Ken Michael Frazier's community center. There Phil learned from two former Blood Tigers the location of weapons that were stolen by the Los Tiburones gang. Ken drove SuperPro to the Schulmann Airport where Phil found Quick Kick, who was sent to retrieve the weapons. Quick Kick revealed that he was Karl Moore and attacked SuperPro. After a hard fight Quick Kick tried to escape with the plane and the gun, but due to a damaged wing it crashed into the ocean. SuperPro hung onto it, but jumped off before it crashed. SuperPro was saddened by the death of his former teammate (Fumble!) when Ken arrived with the cops and fire-fighters.
(NFL SuperPro#3) - In Philadelphia Phil and Ken watched tapes of the Eagles Gang. Phil was interested in doing an interview with their leader and set up a trap together with Ken by putting Eagles' stickers on their van. The Eagles Gang attacked the van, but suddenly SuperPro jumped out of the van and beat them up badly. They escaped when Ken cut off SuperPro's way with the van (Stopped by his own defense!). SuperPro didn't get a believable answer when he asked Ken why he did that. An hour later Phil and Ken waited with the police at the house of Ken's sister and they watched the arrest of Ken's nephew.
The next night SuperPro went to a destroyed Eagles fanshop. He talked about the Eagles Gang with the police and was surprised when Ken told them that he knew who was behind the gang. Suddenly Instant Replay attacked SuperPro, who only survived the fight because he tackled Instant Replay through the fanshop's destroyed window and the assassin's suit got somehow short-circuited and he disappeared (Fumble!).
(NFL SuperPro#4) - Phil interviewed a few players in L.A. and met Pressman, who thanked him for clearing his name. Ken and Phil headed back to the L.A. Sheraton where Phil tried to call Jane Dixon, but a voice on her answering machine told him that she was in trouble. Phil went to Ken's room to tell him about this and they immediately went to Manhattan where Jane was held hostage by Sanzionare. In their van Ken told Phil about a few improvements in the SuperPro uniform. Inside the building Phil was allowed to take the elevator to Sanzionare's penthouse. Inside the elevator he put on his SuperPro uniform and left it through the emergency hatch before arriving at the apartment because he was sure that it was a trap. SuperPro climbed to the next floor, but Sanzionare awaited him there as Sanction (How did he get there? Hm, interception!). A trap door opened and SuperPro fell onto a boobytrapped playfield where Jane, who learned from Sanzionare that her boyfriend was SuperPro, was tied to a pole. SuperPro tried to save her, but was nearly knocked unconscious by a gas grenade. Sanction took his chance to kill SuperPro, but Ken Reid told SuperPro where to attack Sanction's armor to take out his weapons and it worked. Sanction, now without weapons activated all the weapons on the field, but SuperPro got through to Jane Dixon and took her to the roof. Sanction followed them and after a failed attempt to knock Sanction out with a kick, Sanction tossed him from the building (Fumble!). In mid-air SuperPro turned around and grabbed Sanction's arm to pull him down with him. Sanction tried to save his own life by using a grappling hook, but the armor's arm was ripped off and while he fell down to the pavement, SuperPro managed to stop his fall by grabbing a flagpole (Foul play!). Five minutes later SuperPro and Jane met Ken on the street and SuperPro wanted to know from Jane what the future would bring for them, now that she knew about his career as SuperPro. Jane decided to help him like Ken.
(NFL SuperPro#5) - Phil and Ken were present on the sideline at a game between the Giants and the Dolphins. They were going to do an interview with Lawrence Taylor, but suddenly L.T. was pulled into a hole on the playfield and kidnapped. Phil and Ken went into the hole and crawled through it only to arrive on the stadiums parking lot where they saw the Head Hunters throwing L.T. into a van. The Head Hunters ran after them and while Ken distracted them, Phil turned into SuperPro. He beat up three members of the Head Hunters only to be nearly knocked out with a kendo stick by their fourth member Kabuki-back (Interception!). Head Hunter Hans then used hit SuperPro hard with both fists and the hero crashed hard onto a parked car. The Head Hunters escaped (Fumble!).
Later at Jane Dixon's apartment Phil got a massage from Jane and saw on TV that more players were kidnapped. He realized that with the kidnapped players a whole roster could be filled and only a quarterback was still missing. The next day he went to the Chicago Bears and told Ron Macedon that he was likely the next target of the Head Hunters. Phil made a joke which Ron didn't take too well (Foul play!). Mercy Custer was so sorry that Macedon poured Gatorade over Phil that she allowed him to take the shower of the owner's suite. Phil talked with her about the kidnappings, but she was sure that the NFL's extra precautions were enough. In that moment a blimp appeared and Phil could only watch as Ron Macedon was kidnapped. He put on his SuperPro uniform when Mercy left to call security and SuperPro still managed to jump onto the blimp. Head Hunter Flinch hit SuperPro with an electrical blast and SuperPro fell from the blimp. In the last second he caught the rope ladder hanging from the blimp, but it was cut by Flinch. Again SuperPro saved his own life by holding onto the van that was used as a cabin and held onto it until it arrived at an abandoned stadium. There SuperPro followed the Head Hunters to the inside, but Kabuki-back spotted him and used a football bomb to knock him out (Fumble!). SuperPro woke up in a cage and was introduced to the Head Hunters by Coach Sutter, the father of Mercy, who was also there and couldn't understand why SuperPro thought her father was insane. SuperPro broke out of the cage during the game between the Head Hunters and the NFL players and interfered in the game. He kicked another one of Kabuki-back's football bombs away to the cages of the still trapped NFL players, who also joined the game. SuperPro tackled Kabuki-back, who was revealed to be Mercy Sutter (Foul play). Flinch and Bullet were defeated as well by SuperPro while the other Head Hunters were caught by the NFL players. They were put into the cages except for the Sutter's, who got away in their van.
(NFL SuperPro#6) - Phil and Ken watched world champion figure skater Laura Eagle at her training until the Kachinas attacked her. Phil was knocked to the ground when he tried to help and then returned as SuperPro to save Laura, but one of the three villains cut the refrigeration coils with his chainsaw and the hall was flooded with poisonous gas (Fumble!). SuperPro left the hall with Laura and then nearly got into trouble with the police. Afterwards they went with Laura to Jane Dixon's apartment where Laura told them her lifestory and her assumption that her sister was behind the attacks. Phil decided to help her and joined Laura with Ken on her visit to her birthplace. There Phil met the Casino manager Tyler Gaunt, who recognized Phil from TV. Phil talked to a few locals and realized that everyone loved Laura. Phil then drove with Laura and Ken to the Hopi dissidents into the mountains. Everyone was angered by Phil's stupid racist remarks (10-yard loss!), but Laura's sister assured everyone that she wasn't involved with the fake Kachinas because it would dishonor their culture. Afterwards Ken drove Laura and Phil back, but on their way they were attacked by the false Kachinas (Fumble!). Phil saved Ken from the van before it was blown up by the Kachinas and then told him to get help. Phil himself followed them as SuperPro and found them at an abandoned mission with their leader Tyler Gaunt. SuperPro was nearly defeated again by a gas arrow, but He'e'e came to his aid. Back on his feet SuperPro could rough up the powerless villains and then stopped Gaunt from escaping. A short time later the police arrived and SuperPro watched the arrest of the bad guys and went with them to file the report.
(NFL SuperPro#7) - Phil and Ken planned to interview soccer superstar Claudio Juarez in Brazil. They watched a game between Brazil and Argentina from the media lobby until fans started to riot. Ken saw it, told Phil about it and Phil stopped the riot as SuperPro by putting the media lobby's wall (I wonder who paid for the damage.) between the rioting fans. Some fans still tried to make some trouble, but SuperPro just tossed them to the ground. After the game Phil and Ken met Claudio, who wanted to do the interview at home Amapa and not in Rio. Phil and Ken flew to Amapa where they were picked up by Claudio and his fiancée Felicita, who drove everyone in a jeep to the rainforest. On their way Claudio told Phil about the destruction of the rainforest and Phil reminded him that Sports Inside was not an environmental show (Egoistic, ignorant jerk! Foul play!). Claudio didn't care and hoped that American's would learn something if they watched the show. When Claudio told Phil about a super-powered hitman, Phil got interested. Inside the rainforest Phil saw the Protectors of the Rainforest, who had chained themselves to trees. Then Ripsaw arrived on the scene and everyone fled except for Phil and Ken, who was attacked by Ripsaw. Phil distracted Ripsaw until Ken told him that the box with the SuperPro uniform fell from the jeep. Phil got it, put on his helmet kicked Ripsaw against a tree. Ripsaw got stuck with his blades and Phil put on the rest of the SuperPro uniform. Ripsaw attacked him as soon as he was free again and nearly killed SuperPro (Fumble!), but he got too close after cutting SuperPro's ankle with one of his flying blades and SuperPro hit him so hard that Ripsaw was thrown against the returning jeep. Ripsaw was defeated and SuperPro destroyed his weapons before leaving. Twenty minutes later Claudio told Phil that he had missed NFL Man and Phil played stupid (not too hard for him) and told him that he was searching for help while this happened. Phil now finally got the chance to do the interview.
(NFL SuperPro#8) - At Soldier Field Phil and Ken were ready to do a report on the Anti-Drug Campaign led by John Macaphee. During Macedon's speech Phil saw a guy with a brown coat leaving the locker rooms and followed him as SuperPro. He attacked the stranger and it was Crossbones, who was hired by Sanzionare to take out. Crossbones hit SuperPro's leg with a poisoned knife and was ready to shoot him (Fumble!), but in that moment Captain America arrived to save him. Crossbones escaped and Captain America sucked the poison out of SuperPro's wound (its so stupid to do this). SuperPro got a glimpse of Crossbones licence plate and memorized it. Afterwards he thanked Cap, who gave him his card. Cap left and Ken ran out of the building to tell SuperPro that Macedon was arrested for drug possession during his fight with Crossbones. SuperPro couldn't believe it and told Macedon that he would help him. In Ken's apartment Phil watched as Ken found a way to find Crossbones. They went to the Taylor that made the coat Crossbones had left behind and he gave them an address. Ken then showed Phil the newest improvement for his helmet: night vision. That night SuperPro found with Ken's help the best way to enter the mansion the address belonged to, but a guard awaited SuperPro on the roof. SuperPro tackled the guard and both crashed through the skylight and SuperPro dropped right in front of Sanzionare (5-yard loss!), who wanted to kill SuperPro himself even though Crossbones was there to do it. Sanzionare failed against SuperPro and then asked Crossbones to kill him, but this time SuperPro couldn't be surprised that easy and he avoided everything Crossbones threw at him (including bullets). SuperPro turned off the lights (Foul play!) to have an advantage and was nearly shot by Sanzionare, who then escaped together with Crossbones. The next day SuperPro gave a press conference when the charges against Macedon were dropped. Macedon thanked Captain America, who told him that he should thank SuperPro for everything.
(NFL SuperPro#9) - Phil visited his sister Lynn and her family and wanted to give his niece Melanie a football as a present, but she wasn't too happy about it (Fumble!). Phil was surprised and asked her what was wrong and she told him that she was forced off the team because the parents of other players didn't want to have her on the team with their boys. Phil decided to talk to her coach and went to the Windsor Middle School. Coach Henchey recognized Phil, the famous uncle of Melanie, and told him that he never wanted her off the team. Suddenly Instant Replay appeared behind Phil and he told Coach Henchey and the other to get away. Instant Replay followed Phil, who still got to his car to get the SuperPro uniform, but Instant Replay's powers had become so uncontrollable that various time-displaced versions of him could attack SuperPro at once (Fumble! And another 10-yard loss!). Melanie saved her uncle by throwing a football against Instant Replay's head. Distracted by this move SuperPro could land an uppercut. Melanie recognized Phil in the uniform and tried to get him to a hospital, but he asked her to get away fast. SuperPro missed Instant Replay a few times, but then he finally hit one kick and two uppercuts. The second one elevated Instant Replay high into the air against a transformer and electrical wires. SuperPro broke the pole to save Instant Replay (and he seemed to have died). The next day Phil visited his niece at her football training and signed her football as SuperPro.
(NFL SuperPro#10) - Grayfield and Ken Reid were sent to Camp Runamuk by their boss Gesserman to do a report on the camp for Sports Inside. Their arrival at the camp was watched by Carragone and they soon met some of the losers visiting the camp to awaken the superhero within them. Phil talked with them and then met a few of the pro athletes, who told him that they were not clients of the camp, but working there. That evening Phil and Ken put on their togas and participated in an initiation ceremony at a campfire. Phil was one of the participants that were brought to Carragone's mansion during this ceremony (Fumble!). Carragone used his machine on Phil and for the first time it seemed to work because Carragone's instruments showed that Phil had superpowers. Carragone told his client Dood about his success. Phil was then brought back to his room and couldn't remember much about the incident when Ken asked him where he had been.
The next morning Phil was asked by Dood to come with him. Phil was attacked by Dood and the other athletes, but knocked them all out (except for Dood) before they could use their stun guns on him. Phil put on his SuperPro uniform and watched as the other clients of the camp were rounded up and pushed into a bus. SuperPro caught his partner Ken, who tried to run away, and they hid in the bushes until the bus was gone. SuperPro and Ken then went to Carragone's mansion where they found the bad guys and the captured camp visitors. SuperPro jumped through the window and attacked the pro athletes, but a concussion grenade nearly knocked him out, but seconds later he wasn't alone anymore in his fight. The captured camp visitors broke their chains and fought at SuperPro's side with their new superpowers (Carragone's machine actually worked). They defeated the greedy athletes and Carragone with SuperPro and then asked SuperPro if they could become his partners as the Happy Campers. SuperPro bonked his head against a wall upon hearing this. (I think he seriously thought about their offer.)
(NFL SuperPro#11) - In a charity Basketball game SuperPro (How unfair is that?) defeated the Gulls single-handily and everyone cheered for him including his opponents, which were very impressed by his big (ego) show. After the game SuperPro watched Gulls player Corkin talk with his sleazy agent named Leech. Without armor Phil asked Corkin if everything was okay, but the player told Phil nothing. The next day Phil visited Hal Leech's office to talk about Corkin, but Leech just asked him to leave. In the parkhouse Phil was attacked by some of Leech's henchmen (Interception!). Phil ran away jumped from the building and returned seconds later as SuperPro to beat up Leech's men. He recognized one of them as Zip Ramirez and later told Ken Reid to find a connection between Ramirez, Corkin and Leech. The connection Reid found was that Ramirez and Corkin used Leech as their agent and both were at the same college like many other of Leech's contracted athletes. Phil and Ken confronted Clinton University's Dean Shahidi, who denied any connection to Leech, but Ms. Morrissey gave Phil and Ken a tip to check the test scores of some of the athletes. Phil and Ken then found out that the athletes' scores were tinkered with. Phil called Corkin, who admitted that he was basically illiterate and that Shahidi and Leech worked together. Corkin arranged a meeting with Phil at the basketball arena he normally played. Phil arrived late at the meeting as SuperPro because Ken and Corkin were already under attack of Constrictor, who was defeated by SuperPro in short fashion and then arrested by the police. A few days later Phil reported from the county courthouse where Leech was found guilty of collusion and fraud. Later Phil gave an inspiring speech (20-yard loss! Is that even possible?) at Clinton University with the new Dean Morrissey at his side.
(NFL SuperPro#12) - Phil stopped some bank robbers in Philadelphia and then showed the footage to Gesserman, who didn't want more on SuperPro but some new stories (Fumble!). He decided to send Phil and Ken to the opening game of the Baseball season. Seconds later Phil saw on TV the most recent attack of Repulsor, who proclaimed that SuperPro would join him in his crusade against the destruction of the environment. After watching this, Gesserman told Phil and Ken that he would get those tickets for the Baseball game. The next day Phil and Ken attended the game and became witnesses of Repulsor's attack on Roxxon associates. Phil left only to return as SuperPro and save a guy Repulsor dropped from the sky. SuperPro then fought Repulsor, who knew that SuperPro was Phil because he was Claudio Juarez. SuperPro remembered him when Claudio took of his helmet and said something stupid (Foul play!). Repulsor continued his attacks on SuperPro until he sank to his knees (Fumble!). Phil and Ken then talked some sense into Claudio and he surrendered because he realized that violence was wrong. SuperPro told everyone that although Claudio's actions were wrong his message to take care of the planet was right. SuperPro then posed for the camera. (Which gives him in my book a lifelong ban from the field!)
(Marvel Team-Up III#9 (fb) - BTS) - SuperPro was beaten up pretty bad by Stilt-Man (Fumble! It wasn't even the original Stilt-Man, but just a guy who stole the Stil-Man designs off the internet.).
Comments: Created by Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils) and various inkers.
The first printing of NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 was called NFL SuperPro Super Bowl Special#1.
SuperPro is a very unlikeable character. I like to call him SuperDoh! And let's not forgot about the annoying Football references in each fight and how often the big bully dropped the ball. He lied allies straight in the face all the time, couldn't hide his freaking secret identity for three seconds and was overall a total doofus. His origin is laughable especially if you remember that he shouldn't even be able to wear that stupid uniform. It is just a really bad comic (train wreck bad!), but bad stuff can sometimes be fun.
The writers involved such greats as Fabian Nicieza (Special Edition with the illogical origin and issues #1-4; brought us a steroid monster, an issue guest starring Spider-Man (to push the sales), an enemy that originated in SuperPro's past (driven insane by the spotlight hugging SuperPro himself), Instant Replay (he was kinda cool despite the lame name) and Sanction (the recurring villain of the title). It wasn't a good comic, but at least nobody got offended. The origin was filled with plot holes (maybe Fab suffered from insomnia at that point) and the story surrounding it was a really lame "Say no to drugs/steroids"-story. Issue #1 vs gambling featured the big guest star (It's a sign that Marvel doesn't trust a new property if they put one of their flagship characters into the first issue to push sales.). After Fab's first few issues it was clear that SuperPro was very limited by the fact that he was only involved in adventures somehow connected to Football. The first time around Nicieza tried something else he played out the girlfriend-in-peril card and dropped SuperPro on a boobytrapped Football field against his nemesis Sanzionare (Sanction).
Then there was Buzz Dixon (#5-6 and #10). Just read the profiles for the Head Hunters to see how cool they were (including the stereotypical German musclehead and the evil woman that never got a chance to play in the NFL because she was too...I don't know...weak and blonde). Issue #6 made the Hopi nation angry although there are different rumors around why they were angry and Dixon tried to defend himself in the past by saying that his stereotypical depiction was too accurate (his words, not mine). Dixon turned SuperPro into an even bigger jerk than he already was by turning him into a racist and women beater, but at least I think that's what Dixon wanted to do. Dixon's one-issue return to the title featured the ridiculous Happy Campers, a team consisting of average Joes with superpowers. It also had some greedy athletes in it, who wanted to become the best in their sport by gaining superpowers.
Another writer with more then one issue was Evan Skolnick (#7, #9 and #12). He had SuperPro visit the rainforest, introduced relatives, and brought back Instant Replay (unfortunately he died). In his return to the title in the last issue he had SuperPro's former ally from the rainforest issue turn evil because SuperPro just forgot about the promises he made. Very cliché, but not offensive!
There were also P.C. Foye and Matthew Morra with issues that featured big guest stars like Captain America (USA will save SuperPro), Crossbones (I like that guy!) and Constrictor (okay, he is not that big). Both issues were pretty boring and tried to get moral messages across (drugs are bad and go to school and learn something). This was not the reason these issues were lamer than the other issues because anti-drug and other morality talk were part of other issues as well. Skolnick even brought back Sanzionare (who didn't have a good time in prison and went crazy). Captain America, like Spider-Man before, was just there to push the sales and didn't do much in his appearance. Constrictor was just beaten up and Crossbones made the best comment about SuperPro in the whole series (Superwho?).
Why should somebody in their right mind create something like SuperPro? It only survived 12 issues and due to its craptasticity became something like a cult object. The saddest thing about SuperPro is that a guy like Fabian Nicieza was involved from the start (and here at the Appendix we really like that guy).
The full story from Fabian Nicieza himself: We'd signed a licensing deal with the NFL to develop a property. The writers the editor had used were having trouble finalizing a plot to the satisfaction of the NFL, so editor Bob Budiansky asked me if I could help out.
No problem. A co-worker asks for your help, you help them. Simple as that. I offered to write the Special Edition to get the ball rolling. NFL was happy with what I did, so I was asked to write the first few issues of the monthly series. Which I agreed to do if I could get tickets to a Jets game. So... little do most people know (or want to accept), but: The above statement from Nicieza was copied from The CBR Forums. Special thanks go to Madison Carter, who gave me the link! Not too long ago Robert Kirkman wanted to use him in an arc in Marvel Team-Up, but wasn't allowed to use him because of legal issues with the NFL (understandable that they didn't want their logo to be seen anymore on Phil's chest after that turd of a comic). Kirkman had already used him in his Marvel Team-Up title, but called him just SuperPro likely to avoid any legal problems. For the legal issues with the NFL Marvel is also not allowed to reprint the SuperPro title. Maybe Phil could scratch the NFL logo off of his uniform and return to the Marvel Universe at some point in the future (Slott should use him in Avengers: Initiative. I'm sure SuperPro would be a good reserve member for the team of Rhode Island or maybe he should be drafted to Alaska). IMHO SuperPro is the Al Bundy (Married with Children) of the Marvel Universe. A star in College Football and afterwards a total loser (and both are really funny and politically incorrect)! I was surprised to learn that SuperPro actually sold well. Who would've thought? And for all those millions and millions of SuperPro fans out there: Don't take this profile too serious! I'm just a troll and you know what trolls on the Internet like to do. Profile by Markus Raymond. CLARIFICATIONS: Rudy Custer has no known connection to: Gesserman has no known connection to: Harriss has no known connection to: Rich Henchey has no known connection to: The Ridgway family has no known connection to: Custer was a famous NFL memorabilia collector. Sports Inside's Phil Grayfield was the first person he ever granted an interview. Phil a hard time to find Custer's place, but he found it and Custer took him inside his home and showed Grayfield his collection. He even showed Grayfield his personal football dream, the SuperPro uniform, Custer's had invented in the 70s. At that moment some burglars, who had broken into the house, attacked Custer and Grayfield. They took as much with them as they could carry, kidnapped Custer and burnt the rest with Grayfield trapped inside the room with the SuperPro uniform. Grayfield survived, put on the SuperPro uniform and stopped the burglars' van. Custer was saved and a new hero was born. (Damn you Custer!) --NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (fb)/NFL SuperPro#1 (fb) (NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (fb) ) - Gesserman and Harriss visited Phil Grayfield in hospital with Ron Macedon. They wanted to do an interview with him about his life, but he declined until Macedon told him that it was not just an interview, but also a tryout for Grayfield. Soon afterwards Phil worked for Gesserman as a reporter for Sports Inside. (NFL SuperPro#10) - Gesserman sent Phil Grayfield and Ken Reid to Camp Runamuk to get the inside scoop on the scam of awakening the "Super Hero" within normal people. (NFL SuperPro#12) - Gesserman asked Grayfield and Reid to report about something new instead of SuperPro. About something that has to do with sports and not with football because the season was over. He'd rather have something on Repulsor if they wanted to do stories on superpowered people, but Grayfield had nothing on Repulsor. Gesserman then sent Phil and Ken out to get some footage of the opening day for the Baseball season. Before they left they watched with Gesserman the newest attack of Repulsor. Gesserman thought that Repulsor was crazy and left. --NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (fb), NFL SuperPro#10, #12 Harriss was a reporter from Sports Inside. On a request of Ron Macedon he visited Grayfield after his third knee injury in hospital together with Gesserman. They wanted to do an interview with Grayfield, but he declined until Macedon told him that this was also a tryout for Grayfield to become a reporter. --NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (fb) Henchey was the coach of Windsor Middle School's football team. Grayfield talked to him after his niece Melanie was thrown out of the team. He was honored to meet Grayfield and explained to him that it wasn't his decision to take Melanie out of the team and that he thought himself that it was ridiculous. Phil told him that he should've been more determined to keep her on the team. Suddenly Henchey saw Instant Replay appear behind Grayfield, who told him to get away. The next day Henchey put Melanie back on the team. --NFL SuperPro#9 She was Phil Grayfield's older sister and lived with her family in Windsor, Connecticut. She liked to invite her famous brother, who hardly ever had time to come. When Phil visited them one day she tried to tell him that his present (a football) wouldn't improve Melanie's current bad mood. Some time later Melanie asked her where Uncle Phil was and she told her that he went to her school to talk to Coach Henchey. --NFL SuperPro#9 He was Lynn's husband and was worried about his daughter. He read the "Life" magazine when Phil showed him and Lynn what a great present he had for Melanie. --NFL SuperPro#9 images: (without ads) Appearances:
First Posted: 04/11/2007 Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know. Non-Marvel Copyright info Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
The great bane of my creative history... okay, the #1 bane of many banes of my creative history... was done simply and solely as a favor. Period.
NFL SuperPro has no known connection to:
NFL SuperPro#12, p22 (main image)
NFL SuperPro#6, p13, pan5 (head shot)
NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1, Cover (awesome cover)
NFL SuperPro#3, p17, pan2 (Instant Replay kicks SuperPro's head)
NFL SuperPro#7, p20, pan1 (SuperPro flees from Ripsaw)
NFL SuperPro#11, Cover (SuperPro plays Basketball)
NFL SuperPro#1, p7, pan7 (SuperPro)
NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1, p22, pan2 (Rudy Custer)
NFL SuperPro#12, p6, pan3 (Gesserman)
NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1, p21, pan2 (Harriss)
NFL SuperPro#9, p7, pan6 (Rich Henchey)
NFL SuperPro Special Edition#1 (September, 1991) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jose Delbo & Bob Hall (pencils), Tom Morgan, Mike DeCarlo, Kim DeMulder & Bob Hall (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
NFL SuperPro#1-2 (October-November, 1991) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Mike DeCarlo (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
NFL SuperPro#3 (December, 1991) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Charles Barnett (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
NFL SuperPro#4 (January, 1992) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Mike DeCarlo (inks), David Wohl (editor)
NFL SuperPro#5-6 (February-March, 1992) - Buzz Dixon (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Mike DeCarlo (inks), David Wohl (editor)
NFL SuperPro#7 (April, 1992) - Evan Skolnick (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Mike DeCarlo (inks), David Wohl (editor)
NFL SuperPro#8 (May, 1992) - Matthew Morra (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Mike DeCarlo (inks), David Wohl (editor)
NFL SuperPro#9 (June, 1992) - Evan Skolnick (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), David Wohl (editor)
NFL SuperPro#10 (July, 1992) - Buzz Dixon (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Mike DeCarlo & Don Hudson (inks), David Wohl (editor)
NFL SuperPro#11 (August, 1992) - P.C. Foye (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Mike DeCarlo & Crew (inks), David Wohl (editor)
NFL SuperPro#12 (September, 1992) - Evan Skolnick (writer), Jose Delbo (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), David Wohl (editor)
Marvel Team-Up III#9 (August, 2005) - Robert Kirkman (writer), Scott Kolins (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Last updated: 03/10/2011
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