Fantastic Comics #4 - pt. 4

Oh boy. Today, we're going to start with a look at Fletcher Hanks' Space Smith. Now, as goofy as it all looks, it doesn't actually read any goofier than most science fiction comic book stories of the time, and by that I mean that he gets the facts about as wrong as anyone.

Obviously, there's no such thing as a solid gold comet. But, comets can be big enough to land spaceships on. The largest known comet, Hale Bopp, is 60 miles in diameter. But, a comet would also be frozen, atmosphere-less, and shedding ice in a constant ice storm.

If I thought Flip Falcon was inspired by Thuvia, Maid of Mars, Fletcher here outright borrows the Kaldanes from it, with the only difference being the eye on their chests and the fact that no alien heads are around to ride on top of them. The narrator refers to these only as "headless soldiers," which is just as well since Kaldanes is still copyright protected.

There are 14 headless soldiers in panel 3, the most we see of them at one time.

Where was Space hiding that telescope before he used it...?

This is an unusual use of wrecking things, vibrating the windows so that they all open? And yet, it's the only mechanic that makes sense for this.

The headless ones aren't all that tough, as Space is decking them with ease. Maybe 2 Hit Dice?

The descending pincer trap is okay as long as it hits on the first try, and must be pretty easy to dodge after that. A cage surrounded by fire seems like a much deadlier trap. Probably too deadly; judging from the height of those flames, I think it would do 1-6 points of damage to Dianna per minute!

I can imagine a random result table for the controls with results like "blinding flashes" and "energy crackles around you," and with the top of the chart being "everything blows up."

The headless ones not only can't fight very well, but they aren't as fast as Space and Dianna, and when not controlled, they beat each other up.

This is Captain Kidd, and is it a doozy of a wacky adventure this time. You wouldn't expect an aviator Hero to be exploring D&D-like caves and encountering what appear to be a cross between gnolls and troglodytes, along with a gorilla. How weird that, when confronted with such bizarre monsters, it's the gorilla Kidd is worried about.

"Sulphur" fumes could be a trap in a hideout, as a failed save vs. poison could suffocate you, as it makes it harder for you to breath.

And it gets weirder! The ape can talk. And the ape is advised by four drugged oracles. Oracles, if I treated them as a mobstertype, can apparently whip people into a fighting frenzy with their weird chanting, maybe giving their allies +1 to hit and damage?

Gnollglodytes (I totally made that up just now) are not very fast despite their deer-like legs, as Kidd easily outpaces them here.

This is what worries me, when running modern campaigns -- "hero" hops in his plane and mows down all his opponents from high above. I'd be tempted to lay down a new house rule that, if you don't put yourself in any danger, you get no XP from the encounter. Hey, maybe his Editor did make that house rule, because sure enough he heads right back inside to take on the talking gorilla.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)