Silver Streak Comics #2 - pt. 2

This strip is called Captain Fearless, but you won't see Capt. Fearless on this page. Dugan seems to be presented as a Supporting Cast Member, but he plays such a significant role in the story that he must be a played Hero.  

The hideout door closes behind Dugan, seemingly of its own accord. This is interesting to me because a staple of Old School D&D is that dungeon doors are resistant to opening, difficult to keep open. Could this be true of H&H hideouts too?

We get a told more than we're shown of Dugan's battle with six yellow peril hoodlums, so it's unclear if Dugan was able to start using the knife on the same turn he disarmed the hoodlum who had held it, or if he had to wait until the next turn. I would wager the latter is the case.

Ting Ling makes a good case for why more hoodlums should not be armed with guns in hideouts.  I'll have to recall it later, as the struggle is constant to downplay the importance of guns in an active Hideouts & Hoodlums campaign.

Dugan must be at least 2nd or 3rd level (a detective or sergeant, by level title), allowing him to come across three off-duty marines and easily recruit them to follow him into combat.

Did I say three?  Because now it seems Dugan has six marines fighting with him (maybe a wandering encounter of marines heard the fighting and joined in?).  This is one well-defended hideout; I count at least 15 yellow peril hoodlums in this fight, and possibly more.

I've not given this much thought yet, but I wonder if there is room for a hoodlum class?  The one on the left definitely seems to be a cowardly hoodlum, while the one on the right, with "more experience," seems to be a robber. I may work on this and see if I can produce an optional hoodlum class by next year's The Trophy Case issue.

Our cowardly hoodlum makes a surprisingly good case for turning to crime in 1940.  We also learn the value of a complete set of silverware in 1940.

Boy, that Aladdin movie sure would have turned out different if the Genie could have just kept his own lamp away from Jafar!  

Like the example in the basic book about how Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt-genie is a living wand for his spell focus, I think we're seeing the same thing play out here. Tom is casting Minor Telekinesis (a 3rd level spell!) to acquire the gun, but the magic appears to be coming from the Genie.

Normally I go with the narrator when he's naming mobster archetypes, but I've already established this guy is a cowardly hoodlum, so no burglar for you!

I think there's more magic going on here than meets the eye.  Somehow, Tom winds up at the judge's bench right next to the judge.  It makes no sense that any judge would allow this...unless Tom has cast Charm Person on the judge?  

Some subtle legerdemain seems to have allowed Tom to keep the gun he confiscated!  He could have made a skill check for sleight of hand, or maybe he cast a spell and made it invisible.  

Phantasmal Image spells would normally not be permissible in court, but then anything goes once you have the judge charmed!

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)