Amazing Man Comics #7 - pt. 4

In an unprecedented move for this blog, I'm going to spend a fourth day looking at this issue, because there's so many pages I think we should look at from it.

Up to this point, I was thinking the Magician from Mars would be, you know, a magic-user. And she is -- but, there's growing evidence here that she has two classes and is also a superhero. At first I was overlooking the jumping through a wall as creative flavor text for the spell Passwall, but jumping through walls and taking super-leaps? This has "superhero"written all over her now.

Also note how easily they just happen to encounter a meteor, just one day out from Mars. Despite the vastness of space, wandering encounters can come just as frequently in space as they would anywhere else (I would roll once per rest turn,1 in 6 chance).

Jane uses the spell Phantasmal Image, or maybe the power Change Self, here, but the guard makes his morale save and stays put.

It's a little odd that the Martians use dollars as currency, but maybe our narrator is just translating their term for us.

Make no mistake; our "hero" Jane is robbing the ship of its gold. She wrecks her way into the vault to take it.

Remember that Mending spell she used on the vase? Apparently it's much more powerful than that. Has to be at least a 2nd level, if not a 3rd level spell. In fact, it may be almost as powerful as the 4th level power Raise Building.

Because Jane has stolen $3 million in gold, but donates half to a worthy cause, maybe in That Other Game we could call that Chaotic Neutral with Good tendencies.

Infantile paralysis, of course, refers to polio. It's useful for dating this adventure that polio is still around, since it was wiped out in the U.S. by vaccines from 1955-1979.

This is Minimidget -- and Ritty, who doesn't get billing. Here, armed with a mini-spear, MM demonstrates how it can be set to receive a charge, just like you can do with spears in the Advanced version of That Other Game.

Surprisingly, this is the first weasel we see in comics. Against normal sized foes, a weasel isn't going to be anymore of a threat than an owl, though giant-sized versions of each are tempting.

I include this page, not because I enjoy seeing weasel's murdered in grisly fashion, but because this is the first indication that there might be super strength in Minimidget's "super-midget body."  There is no discussion of anything science-y, like density, and in fact his strength might wind up being nothing that adrenaline can't explain.

Chuck Hardy visits the royal palace of the Aquatanians (but not true mermen) in this issue, and we get some sense of its layout here. From the previous page, we know the outside entrance is one long staircase flanked with green dragon statues. Inside we have this brightly-colored checkered hallway flanked by columned arcades. It seems that the hall empties into a surprisingly small audience chamber, dominated by a long table worthy of the Justice Society of America. The next page actually shows how large the audience chamber is, with the table on a large checkerboard dais. Overlooking the throne room is an observation gallery where commoners can sit and watch their rulers, but a heavy curtain can be drawn over the balcony in case they need privacy.

The king probably rules by virtue of being the only person who can sit comfortably in a throne with upright seashells for armrests. There are multiple wings to the palace, including this one where the king's advisers have their private rooms.

This page explains the geography of the hollow world of Aquatania.  Roara must be a constantly active volcano to light their world, which seems a pretty dangerous situation to live in. That the frog men live in the cold side of Aquatania seems to defy biology, but they are only frog-like in appearance, I guess.

This page establishes that Mighty Man is only 12' tall -- when he seemed to be more like 18' tall in his first appearance -- and reveals that the Valley of the Giants is in Nevada.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)