Four Color #2: Don Winslow of the Navy

This special issue includes just about every page of the Don Winslow comic strip Dell had reprinted up to this point. Here's some things I missed discussing the first time round.

There needs to be limits to trophy items. A good rule of thumb would be to set a weight limit. For the basic book, nothing weighing more than 3 tons will be available. At 10,000 tons, a tramp steamer is going to be way out of bounds, not to mention the naval carrier.

Here we see what the international code flags are for distress. We also see how much easier you make it for your players when your villains aren't smart enough to board ships under fake names.

Centaur's paralyzing machine is different from a raygun in that it effects all targets with a radius instead of in a straight path. That would make this a mad science invention instead, categorically.

Sound-muffling hoods that can protect against sound-based machines could also be a trophy item.

I'm having some serious deja vu here, having shared this page way back when.

The reference to the "Cyclops" is explained here.

Not sure why Dr. Centaur keeps a handkerchief soaked in cobalt salts, but apparently cobalt salt is a good ingredient for invisible ink.

When a villain endangers innocents in order to escape, the Heroes have to save vs. plot to pursue the villain instead of saving the innocents.

I'm skeptical that you could turn a ship at just the right angle to make a smokescreen, but smokescreens are another classic villain strategy. When I get to the evasion rules, I'll have to make mention of smokescreens.

Centaur's lair is this ring-shaped island, but like every island it has a door. This is a big one, though, a concealed drawbridge made to look like part of the wall. It could be a clue to the scale of the hideout on the other side, or just a trick to make it look more impressive than it is inside.

The entrance to the hideout is trapped, there's a dynamite charge here that will create a landslide. On the next page it sends tons of rock crashing down. That's a lot of potential damage.

A school of sharks is the proper term. This school seems to have five sharks, which isn't a lot, but it's probably the most sharks I've seen in one panel yet.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)