Crackajack Funnies #3

Let's see what Dell Comics has for me today. Captain Frank Hawks, Air Ace, is tied up and tossed down a well to die?  Seems like a standard day for a comic book hero. Granted, it's not much of a deathtrap, since the well is dry and not stocked with piranha fish or alligators. Though, since there is a long-term chance of starving to death, it is technically still a death trap.

If Heroes, or their Supporting Cast, should find themselves missing equipment, like rope, that they need to complete the scenario they are on, the Editor should feel free to introduce a mysterious stranger into the scene who shows up with just what they need. An explanation for the mysterious stranger can always be given later, when the Editor has had time to come up with one.

Following up on yesterday's discussion of organ grinder's monkeys, Myra North is dealing with two hoodlums with an ape trained to rob banks. But what kind of ape is this supposed to be? It's a bit small for a chimpanzee. A gibbon? As poorly drawn as it is, it might be either. A large chimpanzee could have up to 1 Hit Dice, while a gibbon would be hard-pressed to qualify for 1/2 HD.

I find it humorous that the doctor emerges from the secret room with a bottle of anesthetic -- and then uses it to bash the hoodlum over the head with it. Weirder is that the hoodlums are being made to drink it once they're subdued, since anesthetics are usually administered by inhalation or injection.

Our mystery ape -- which now is drawn more closely like a chimpanzee -- has more than one skill of a Mysteryman.

What an odd argument -- if it has human intelligence, it's better off dead!

"Human gland secretions" might serve as a hi-tech potion for increasing Intelligence in animals.

Giving your players more resources gives them more options. To keep things really simple, keep your Heroes poor. The pursuit of basic necessities is the most basic carrot you can dangle in front of your players. Want the Heroes to follow your plot hook? Or move on to the next town? Dangle the $2 they need to eat in front of them.

Of course, this is seldom going to work past the first or even second levels, so enjoy it while you can.

In the optional expanded weapon damage system for Hideouts & Hoodlums, punches do 1-3 points of damage, but wear brass knuckles and you do 1-6 points of damage. This is reflected in this page of Wash Tubbs, with boxing gloves containing plaster doing much more damage than ordinary punches.

Also note the salary of a boxer in a traveling carnival.

This is the first appearance of Don Winslow villain Dr. Centaur in the comic books. But Dr. Centaur has an older history with Hideouts & Hoodlums, going back to the original H&H campaign I ran on rpol.net and the third scenario I ran there (sometime in 2010-2011?).  So sad that rpol recently deleted that campaign!

Oh, and Dr. Centaur has an "ultra short sound wave generator" (ultrasonic soundwave raygun?) that can broadcast over a wide range and potentially stun large numbers of people (save vs. science to resist).

Note how different phone numbers worked back then. You didn't call a phone number, you called an exchange (or had your local exchange call a distant exchange, if long distance) and had the operator look up the person for you.


(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)