Wonderworld Comics #3 - pt. 1

I read a page like this and wonder, what am I going to do with my Hideouts & Hoodlums campaign after my players get a hold of one of these? This page calls the Boeing Y-B-17 a "flying dreadnought", but this 1936 plane you would probably know better by its WWII-era nickname "the flying fortress". One of the Heroes in one of my campaigns has an advanced VTOL plane, but it's a two-seater so he rarely uses it. Now, if he gets a Flying Fortress, that can zoom in at 250 MPH over the enemy hideout and drop bombs from above, while the whole group of Heroes rides along in comfort...? *shudders*

I've talked about nitroglycerin before here, usually as a means of blowing up hideouts. Here, we see a wily pirate using nitro-filled mines to foil pursuit. This trick would work on sea or land.

This is The Flame, Lou Fine's first superhero, and the third superhero ever. We can see that he has a base somewhere along the Hudson River, he has a stylized launch that matches his flame motif, and a butler-assistant named Jarvis.

We also see how a hideout entrance doesn't have to be on land. And the entrance doesn't need to be obvious.

I've said before that the superhero powers introduced in Book I: Men & Supermen are mostly examples from Superman's early adventures. This is the first time we see a superhero doing something Superman can't do. I called the power Teleport through Focus, leaving it up to the player to decide what the focus is. In The Flame's case, it's being able to teleport to anywhere there's fire.

That Flagg has heard of The Flame before bears out, since The Flame seems to be clearly over first level here. That the sub-machine guns don't affect him suggests he already has Imperviousness, if not Invulnerability, as a power. The flame powers seem to be coming entirely from the gun so I didn't make up superhero powers for those. He does seem to be able to create a Wall of Fire, like the Magic-User spell, with the gun.

We've seen smoke inhalation causes damage before. Here we see Feather Landing when they land safely in the boat.

Not sure how the "flourish of the crimson cloak" sets the boat on fire, but this might be some supernatural flavor text for wrecking things.

I statted The Flame as 7th level in Supplement IV: Captains, Magicians, and Incredible Men, but it seems he's already 6th level here.

The Death spell was introduced in Supplement I: National. It's very appropriate, for this is Death. So we know Death is at least a 12th level Magic-User.

Yarko foils the ambush by sending in a Phantasmal Image first (still working on the name of that spell). Then he casts Melting Things (that's another new spell I'm working on), and follows up with Invisibility so he can follow the mobsters when their morale fails them.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)