Wonder Comics #2 - pt. 2

Yarko has a spell that lets him see in the dark. Infra-Vision?

This is one weird building, by the way. The view of the manor we saw on page 1 of this story looked like a lone building standing on a hilltop. Now there's a moat around one building, or part of the same building, cut off from the rest, that wasn't visible before. Is there a moat inside the house, or is the layout of the place different once you're inside, because it's magic?

Yarko's Rope Trick spell. Rope Trick usually raises a rope vertically, but here it is shown being horizontal as well.

Under hypnosis (like the 2nd level spell Hypnotic Pattern?), victims can be commanded to perform skills better than normal. Maybe at a +2 check?

This is Shorty Shortcake again, one of the properties to carry over from the first issue of Wonder Comics. We have previously only seen temporary amnesia as a complication Heroes suffer from being reduced to zero hit points. Now we can add losing their senses to the short list. The effect leaves the Hero temporarily mumbling incoherently and stunned to the point where the Hero can do nothing more complicated than sitting upright.

Patty O'Day returns -- and we get more evidence that Hideouts & Hoodlums needs leopards statted in the next main book.

Whoa, what the- ?  Patty's new supporting cast member Ham is suddenly a Superhero! He's clearly wrecking things on those bars (which should wreck like doors), and in combat he's either using the power Multi-Attack, or he's a Fighter/Superhero and using combat machine as well!  Way to recruit the SCMs there, Patty!

Dr. Fung and Dan Barrister are back. Dr. Fung has invented a potion that ...well, the science behind it is highly questionable, so let's just call it a Potion of Water Breathing. The Scientist class has seen a little playtesting over the years since it debuted in Supplement III. One of the disappointments has been that scientists are supposed to relegate their inventing to downtime between scenarios, but that's exactly what we see here. A Scientist Hero, then, would have to be lucky enough to be working on something that will be useful in the next scenario (though the Editor could always help make that happen).

I'm not sure what's going on in that top tier of panels. Is Dr. Fung looking to buy lots of pearls to help Dan (who is undercover already as a deep sea diver)? Is he looking for someone the murderers might be unloading stolen pearls to? Or is he just going around, telling people he's loaded with dough, and looking for trouble? All of them are valid investigative angles for a Hero, I suppose.

The cross-section map of the hideout isn't as helpful as an overhead map would have been for running a scenario there, but it's interesting nonetheless.

I don't know that I really needed to share this page. I just think that's one of the goofiest octopi drawings I've ever seen, it's a rare instance of not being called a giant octopus in the comics (is "giant" now always a given?), and -- really -- that leash on its tentacle that holds it close to the villain lair is too comical to ignore.

Listen to Tex Maxon -- if you're going to stuff dynamite in your shirt, store the caps separately!

Man, the quality of these microfiche scans seems to be getting worse. I can still make out Tex saying that'll "seal 'em in for five hours". I wonder how he knows it'll take that long? Can x amount of manpower at y hours of digging duplicate the Dig power for Superheroes?

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)