Slam-Bang Comics #1 - pt. 4

 He may not deserve it, but we're back with another look at Lee Granger, Jungle King. The mentally augmented lion -- something Lee was not only able to do with 1940-era science, but with whatever equipment he was able to find in the jungles of Africa -- comes to Lee for healing, which makes me wonder if the Scientist class should be allowed to heal, or if this is just the first aid skill.

I feel obligated to point out how unlikely it would be for this plan to work in any game session I run. It's predicated on the Arabs splitting up so much that they not only can't see Hassan caught in the snare, but they can't hear his cries for help either. If not the first, surely the second would have happened and reinforcements would arrive before Lee has time to change out of his clothes.

Now this part of the plan is more sensible, and I like the extra detail of an underground stream with a fast-moving current being under a pit trap. The unusual thing is the shape of the pit trap, seemingly 5' x 30', which is great, I suppose, only if the enemy insists on traveling in single file.

By now I've seen a lot of fake names for Germans, but Kazilians has got to be the weirdest. "How many Germans are coming?" "Kazilians of them, sir!"

Also, and I know this is petty and nitpicky of me, but those have got to be the thickest lips I've ever seen drawn on a white man in a comic book.

Using logs dropped in the water to foil torpedoes sounds like a great tactic, and one likely to work. The torpedo then angling off the top of the log and shooting entirely over the ship seems entirely less likely...

This tactic would be difficult to duplicate in H&H with combatants on foot, as a shield between combatants only improves AC by one, and it is too easy to run around obstacles. With slower-moving and less maneuverable ships this should be more effective, so much so that I can't think of much in the way of game mechanics to assign to this. Maybe a skill check for each pilot to outmaneuver the opponent?

Aerial torpedoes look like rockets to me... 

This is from the next feature, Mark Swift and the Time Retarder. Mark is the boy in shorts, going back in time with his scientist neighbor friend (because it goes only back in time, that's why he calls it a retarder; no explanation how they get back if it only retards time...). The strip's author pulled 940 out of his hat as the year Vikings landed in North America, but it's not a bad guess; even today we can only guess the 10th century is when it happened. 

I've no idea why a Viking princess would have come along on this expedition...

How convenient that Mr. Kent just happens to know Old Norse! Perhaps he knows modern Icelandic, which is closest to Old Norse still spoken today. But then, in H&H, it doesn't really matter; we let everyone talk to everyone, like it happens in most comics.

It's typical racism of the period that the Indians are "savages" and the Vikings are "brave," but not savages. 

Mark and Mr. Kent don't make for good action heroes, but they can still be useful, as can your non-combat supporting cast during adventures. Just give them torches and tell them to set everything they see on fire!

Oh, and we also know that Vikings didn't wear horned helmets; that's a myth that came from 19th century art. And while I'm getting nitpicky, this likely is happening in Newfoundland, which means the Indians are Beothuk, and the Beothuk lived in conical dwellings known as mamateeks, not teepees. It's also unlikely they're all running around shirtless in Newfoundland, since only Alaska is even further north.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)