Crackajack Funnies #1

For months now, I've been reviewing pretty much the same cycle of comic books each month; now I've got two new ones in consecutive posts!  Though, to be honest, Crackajack Funnies has a lot of familiar content in it...

We've certainly seen Dan Dunn before! Sometimes I share particular pages for the history they teach us; this time, I share this page because of how accurately it predicts the future. Here, Dan and Irwin predict the prevalence of security cameras in modern society. Next stop, red light cameras!

Speaking of predicting the future -- this notion of mobsters using a naval destroyer seemed novel to me when I thought of it for The Trophy Case no. 9, and here Norman Marsh had already done the same thing 77 years earlier!

Here's an aviator we haven't seen before! So, what stunts is Captain Frank Hawks, Air Ace, using? Conjure Parachute? Deadstick? These both come from the Aviator-themed issues of The Trophy Case, vol 1. nos. 6-7, of course.  Broken oil line sounds like one of the plane mishaps identified in The Trophy Case no. 8.

Is Hawks a two-classed Hero, an Aviator/Scientist? Naw -- he's using the Repair Plane Damage stunt. With all the stunts Hawks has used so far, he must be at least 3rd level.

I've never been satisfied with the Scientist class, and it may be that I made inventing things too difficult. It turns out, any crackpot tinkerer working in a movie theater can invent a death ray!  The things special nurses have to deal with...

Hmm...a rubber finger tip sure seems handy for framing people (and I just saw how you can make your own in the Ant-Man movie!). I wonder if this should be a trophy item...?

Hunting for food is something that could come up when Heroes are on long expeditions, or simply run out of money. I don't think there needs to be a separate game mechanic for hunting, though one should dispense with the rule about only being unconscious at zero hit points.

Ventriloquism, largely forgotten now except by the occasional stand-up comedian, used to be a skill that seemed to fascinate comic book/strip writers. Not everyone could do it (given the confused and surprised reactions in The Nebbs), but you also didn't have to be a Hero (or even an adult) to use it. I'm thinking now that this needs to be more accessible than a stunt; perhaps a basic skill, like finding secret doors and hearing noises, that everyone has a flat chance to do?

We haven't touched on the Spanish Civil War in a while, but Don Winslow reminds us that neutrality poses its own challenges and a scenario can be built around "get in, get out, don't attack either side".


(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)