Jumbo Comics #13 - pt. 2

We return to Hawk of the Seas and the treasure hunt already in progress. The treasure is concealed by a boulder that looks to be the size of two men, and that's going to be a really heavy boulder.

Since we imagine these stories as scenarios of Hideouts & Hoodlums on this blog, I'm guessing nobody present is a superhero with the Raise Car power. So let's consider our alternatives.

The easiest solution is that the boulder is fake and mostly hollow inside. The next best solution is for the Editor to assign a target number of combined Strength, say 40, and if the party has at least that high a combined Strength they can all make Strength checks. If all succeed, they move the boulder. This is any official use of the H&H rules, as written, but not a great departure either, with precedent in that Original Game.

Another example of healing, when the Hero isn't simply stunned, taking a long period of time. This one even suggests that healing would not take place without the first aid skill being used first, which seems a tad excessive to me.

This seems a clever strategy, both to make your opponents think they've killed you (stated here) and to make them use up their ammunition (implied?). Perhaps rumor of this strategy would later inspire Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Empty House."

Order of combat needs to be determined by random initiative roll, to account for how Hawk was able to close the distance to this musketeer before the shot goes off.

Snyde has reason to feel confident; all but Chaotic Heroes are going to need to save vs. plot or be held by the Editor to whatever agreement they make during this parlay. 

Hawk is sometimes too good a man, to the point of naivety, like accepting Snyde's surrender without searching him first for concealed weapons. 

You'll just have to trust me that everything works out for Hawk in the end, as we jump into the next feature Spencer Steel. Artist George Tuska's inking seems unusual crisp, but maybe that's from skimping on the background art so much.

The backstory of the "famous Rembrandt that was brought over from Italy" seemed so precise that I did some quick research to see if that was a thing, but couldn't turn up any news stories about Rembrandt paintings coming to the U.S. during the late '30s.

Noticing that a rug has recently been tacked down might require a basic skill check/find concealed doors check.

Sometimes I'm just baffled by what Golden Age Heroes will do in comics. Spencer has two really good suspects to question or follow as soon as he remembers they are ex-cons -- and instead he goes back to the empty room to look for more clues.

It's like the Editor tossed him a bone, having that missing key turn up there, but then got tired of Spencer's player's poor attempt at detective work and tossed a wandering encounter into the room to shake things up.

The last game mechanic issue we'll look at today is combining grappling with pushing. Can grappling damage be substituted for distance pushed? I don't see why not, after reading this page. But would Spencer really want to? The falling damage on the stairs must be affecting both of them. Perhaps Spencer's player hopes he has the higher hit point total and will come out on top (which he does)...or, maybe Spencer's player was hoping that crashing him into the door would do enough damage, but forgot to ask if the door was closed...

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)