Miracle Comics #2 - pt. 1

This is Sky Wizard's feature, but we're going to start focused on the bad guys. It's not easy being a Sky Wizard bad guy; not only does Sky Wizard have way more resources than you, but he's got you outnumbered if you count both kids! They are a handy source for slang, though. "Croaked" and "deader than a mackeral" make plenty of sense, but "he did a Brody" took a little research. It's a phrase that was still in use at least up to the 1960s, but actually dates back to 1886. Steve Brodie was a saloon owner from Manhattan who claimed to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and survived, so any seemingly impossible jump became "doing a Brodie/y."

Remarkably, no one seems cold at 10,000 feet, even though they should be freezing already.

New to the author? Modern hydroponic research began in earnest in 1925. Of course, there is little preventing this story from taking place in the past..

The science here might seem more plausible if Hawk had some super-sciency-looking device to send the damaging frequency from. Instead, it looks like he's using a ham radio he picked up at Sears for $5. 

It does not seem in keeping with Arabic culture to suggest djinni come from the underworld. Although, if you believe Wikipedia on this one, the jinn entry conflates jinn with ghouls, and ghouls definitely are from the underworld. I think the entry is wrong on this, though.

Spoiler: Sky Wizard saves the day, though the kids are nearly killed. Oops!

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the New York Blade wasn't a real newspaper -- at that time. Interestingly, a newspaper with that name, focused on gay rights issues, first appeared in New York in 1997.

300 MPH is actually an unusual speed for a plane of that time. It's much faster than a trainer, a little faster than a transport plane, but slow for the average small passenger monoplane, like this. 

Now, the story isn't clear about this, but I'm guessing the blimp island needs to at least get close to the ground before it gets its helium chambers refilled, so it's not like he's giving them glider wings at 10,000 feet and sending them over the side of the island...right?

Oh, and "hey, Jerry, you're, what, 10? Here's a gun. I'm not even going to show you how it works. Just have fun!"

Why does a 10 year old have a paralyzing gun with a kill setting??

C'mon, kids, it's a 25 lb bird, 1-1 HD at best. If the condor is bothering you that bad, how about just flying back to the island and asking Sky Wizard to help?

I like how Vera is so mean-spirited that even when throwing the message she hopes it hits Sky Wizard. It's a pretty innocuous way to deliver the message; if they had really wanted to hurt SW, they could have at least taken the time to find a bigger rock.

Maybe SW should try negotiating. Is there a softer part of Guatemala (consistently misspelled here) they could throw the kids out over instead? Maybe over some peat moss?

You know, rather than take the time to paralyze them, it looks like they could have just hit Sky Wizard with their plane and been done with it.

The paralyzer leaves them free to talk, so this must be its lowest setting.

 

We know how long the Paralyzer's effect lasts from this page (although I suspect the lethal setting is more permanent). One hour is a duration that doesn't fit well with 4-hour rest turns. Of course, since SW is in danger, it's not appropriate to count this in rest turns. One hour is six exploration turns. He's not exploring except to find out how comfy the floor is, but that length of time fits the scenario here.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)