Flash Comics #3 - pt. 3

King Standish debuts in this issue, a prettily drawn mysteryman feature by Gardner Fox and a William Smith, who I've not heard of before. King is one of those master-of-disguise types, and an excellent pick pocket, able to remove a wallet out of a woman's purse -- while facing her! That's definitely a mysteryman stunt, not possible with a simple skill check (though maybe one at a significant penalty, like making it a 1 in 10 chance).

King's interesting gimmick, at least initially, is his anonymity. He can just show up in evening dress and either admit he's the King or deny it; all he's known by is his calling card, an actual card with a crown on it.

Deliberately walking into a trap to prove to a pretty lady that she's fallen in with mobsters, King is attacked by two thugs in an ambush. Fox doesn't seem to ever get how bulletproof vests work, as King's makes him completely immune to the impact of bullets, and they just bounce off his clothing. King also has a "specially built, high powered car," though we never see what's so special about it. His license plate reads "410-W."

King cracks a combination safe, which would be an expert skill check.

Appropriate for a first level mysteryman, King is about to be overwhelmed by the two thugs along with their boss, and needs to be saved by the aforementioned lady (who's not adverse to killing with a gun, apparently).

In The Whip's adventure, he uses a tripwire to trip at least five running people. The first person reaching the tripwire I would have make a save vs. science to avoid tripping, and then each person after him a +1 bonus. The first person to make their save stops the others behind him from falling for the trap. This is a rather mild trap, only making the runners prone for one melee turn, but since he only uses it to get their attention it is quite effective.

Quite a bit of Spanish is being tossed around in this installment, including common words like "bueno" and "amigos," but also words less common in comic books, like "adelante" (for "go ahead!") and "enredeso" (for "complicated").

The Whip's whip tricks include using the whip like a grappling hook, and then supporting his weight while he climbs a wall, and grabbing and pulling an item with the whip. I hesitant to assign game mechanics to the former; with no time limit, he could just keep trying with the whip until it caught on the balcony (though the actual climbing might require a basic skill check). In the latter case, since it occurs in combat, the grab-and-pull needs to require an attack roll, vs. an Armor Class of the Editor's discretion (it's a complex move, grabbing the shade and pulling it down over someone's head, so I'd say AC 6 or 5).

One of the mobsters the Whip encounters uses the slang "horse-podder." I cannot figure out what that means. In the context of the sentence, it seems to mean BS, and the literal definition of "podder" is "a cup." So I don't get how these things go together.

(Stories read at readcomiconline.to)