James Blocker

James Blocker is the main character in the Starlord and 2000 AD strip Timequake. He was a tramp steamer captain who inadvertently caused the end of the world and the Great Fire of London (in that order), initially by unwittingly giving transport to a terrorist called Kemal Azwan. Azwan had been paid by the alien Droon to assassinate world leaders and cause a nuclear war in the 20th century so that mankind could not oppose them in the 40th.

Saved from certain death by Suzi Cho and the other agents of Time Control (based on prehistoric Earth), Blocker was tasked with going back to prevent the chaos he'd caused. He only later discovered that Time Control had been less than forthcoming with the full truth about his new situation: major time jumps permanently altered a human's metabolism, with the result that he was now incapable of living in his own time period for more than six months without crumbling into dust! With nowhere else to go, the furious Blocker reluctantly joined Time Control, and started his new job by promising to kill his boss when he got the chance.

Despite working in the most space-age, futuristic job imaginable, Blocker carefully maintained the speech patterns of a South London gangster, and treated aliens and Nazis as though he were an exasperated pub landlord at chucking-out time who was faced with a group of particularly recalcitrant drunks. This down-to-earth approach made him an entertaining character to whom readers could easily relate. It also compensated for him being less intelligent and less powerful than Suzi Cho, who kept bailing him out when his big mouth had got him into trouble. Had the strip continued, they might have progressed from being colleagues to having an intriguing 'odd couple' friendship.

The last we saw of James Blocker in Starlord, he was attempting to sexually harass his co-worker Suzi Cho, and being rebuffed by her turning into a huge slimy monster. Which basically served him right.

Powers and abilities

Abilities

Seamanship; unarmed combat.

Strength level

Human male who takes regular exercise (i.e. running away from Droon, fighting Nazis, fighting other Time Control agents, etc).

Weaknesses

Nicotine addiction; hot temper.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Cheroots; time-strap (can transport user 500 years; needs an hour to recharge).

Transportation

The Mary Ann Trinder (his ship); an Aston Martin; a Zeppelin.

Weapons

Shotgun; 40th century blaster (needs occasional recharging); Aztec spear.

Notes

Blocker was the lead character in the strip Timequake, which ran in both Starlord and 2000 AD.

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