War Comics #1 - pt. 1

This is an interesting filler page; I'm skeptical that these numbers are accurate, but they're probably close enough that you could use these to keep track, as a roster of enemy planes, in a war-themed campaign.

This is Scoop Mason, War Correspondent. Scoop and "Sleepy" Samson make their expert skill checks, as they can tell these shells are duds just by looking at them.

Does Baron Treville need to make any kind of roll to identify Scoop and Sleepy? He's seen them before and they have only changed clothes. On the other hand, a costume is also a change of clothes. I would, however, rule that the saving throw required to identify a disguised person would be waved under these circumstances.

This is not the first time we've seen someone jump from a height into a car and land safely on this blog. Am I going to have to make this a thing? Maybe save vs. science and take no damage if you land in a car?

Not the first time we've seen carrier pigeons used in comics, but perhaps the first time they were owned by the Hero.

Now, think about this in context -- because this is during the period of American non-involvement in the war, it's okay that Scoop's solution to the scenario is to reveal Treville is selling dud armaments to the Germans. Two years later, the scenario would be tricking the Germans into taking the dud armaments.

This is 1940, remember, so an employer taking advantage of his position to sexually harass an underling of the opposite sex is still funny.

More interesting is the fact that No Man's Land, as described here, sounds an awful lot like Wonder Woman's Paradise Island, well in advance of its debut.

This is the stereotype of the Russian anarchist that has served as the Hideouts & Hoodlums anarchist since Supplement I: National.

Sky Hawk is essentially DC's Red, White, and Blue played more serious. A $50,000 bribe is more money than most players would need to bait them into a scenario, but it's interesting how Allen, Lane, and Magee all turn it down.

Allen remembers something very suddenly at the end, almost as if he had asked the Editor if he knew anything about Ah Fong and was told he would if he made a save vs. plot.

Not all Heroes in the same group need to be of the same Alignment. Note how Allen is Lawful and won't think of being bribed, while Magee is Neutral and, being more of a mercenary, wishes they had been given separate checks to cash.

This is an interesting scenario because the Japanese are clearly the antagonists in this story, but America is still officially neutral in their war on China, so they have to dogfight without shooting at each other.

Forcing down a plane is a special kind of stunt where the pilot still has to burn a stunt slot, but instead of getting an automatic success, the opposing pilot then has to fail a save vs. science to avoid being forced to land.

Also note that neither the Chinese nor the Japanese in this story are depicted in stereotypical racist ways.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)