You'd be a Drunk Too if Your Dad Was a Nazi

Joe is the de facto leader/mentor of the Extras. While having no powers himself, he is without a doubt the most knowledgeable on the teenager's powers and how they acquired them. His knowledge and close relationship with Matt is what brings this ragtag group of kids together. He tries his best to train and educate this group but he is not quite prepared for the responsibility of maintaining a group of teenagers with superhuman abilities. This promo has gone through several steps but we think we've finally found the final touch, as done by the wonderful Kelly Williams. We wanted to relate to Joe's Nazi heritage with the font for Shepherd as well as the fairly obvious swastika.

Joe McCoy (formerly Josef Mahler)

Height: 5’10

Weight: 185

Hair: Salt and Pepper

Powers: Joe has zero powers. A former government scientist, now an independent researcher. He owns a small lab on the outskirts of Shepherd. He understands the “Extras” powers and is super-intelligent. He has a record of experimenting with Extras in the past.

Weakness: Since Joe’s older brother and sister in-laws’ death, he has become the guardian of his niece, Mary Carter. Because of her ability, he becomes too obsessed with her abilities and ignores her personal problems. When Joe isn’t working with the Extras, he can usually be found nursing a bottle of whisky. Like most alcoholics, Joe refuses to believe he has a problem. He sees drinking as an outlet to his social, family and economic problems. He is very trusting and has a history of being duped by those he trusts.

Personality: When Joe isn’t drunk, he is a great uncle. However, out of 24 hours in the day, he is either working or drunk for 17 of those hours. When training the “Extras”, Joe is very demanding and a little too strict. At times, it seems that he has become too obsessed with his niece and her friends’ powers and cares little about them as people.

Secret: His father is a Nazi. ‘Nuff said

Relationships: His niece is Mary Carter. Most nights, he falls asleep next to a bottle of whiskey and usually she drags him to bed and tucks him in. During the first five issues of Shepherd, Joe is a mentor to Matt. However, Matt becomes s very aware that Joe cares more about his powers than Matt’s safety.