Star Ranger Funnies v. 2 #5

This is from Red Man of the Rockies. I'd wager this is the only time this character ever appeared anywhere, but he's a curious figure in comic book history. Like Big Chief Wahoo, this strip seems to be treating an Indian like a superhero just by virtue of him being an Indian -- but done in a serious adventure mood, more like Superman.

Actually, whether this particular Red Man is a fighter, mysteryman, or superhero, is the first subject of this post. Check out this first example, of Red Man being able to throw a tomahawk through a glass window and still hit its intended target. I would rule right away that a fighter couldn't do that, as a thrown tomahawk would lose too much energy in breaking the glass. Maybe Red Man could do that by burning a stunt, if he was a mysteryman. As a superhero, the Editor could ask him to wreck the glass as if it was a door in the same turn as the attack roll for the hatchet, needing both rolls to succeed for this to work.

We've looked at lots of panels like this first one before and asked the same question: is this a fighter's "combat machine" ability, or a superhero using the power Multi-Attack? If the former, then Red Man is at least a lieutenant (4th level fighter). If the latter, he's at least a great man (2nd level superhero -- or a good man, 1st level, in 2nd edition, as I'm going to let them get powers right away now).

I'm pretty sure I've already talked about taking a shot for someone else too. I'm still torn on how that mechanic should work -- if you're providing cover for the other target, or just automatically transferring the hit.

So what to make of this? Did Red Man heal him with a magic spell? Is the remedy some kind of trophy item (we never actually see how he did it)? Or did Red Man just let him get lots of rest, heal normally, and then try to take credit for it?

And what to make of that hearing hoofbeats the white man can't hear? One of them made his surprise roll and the other didn't? Red Man is using the Super-Senses power?

And how about this leaping? My first thought was, oh, this must be Leap I -- he's a superhero! But the gap also looks like it's maybe no more than 20', and that's doable for an athlete with a running start. I would require a fighter or mysteryman to make a skill check (used to be a save vs. science here) or misjudge the gap and miss, while a mysteryman could burn a stunt to automatically make the jump.

And that shooting through the rope and a man in the back with the same bullet? That's definitely an example of burning a stunt for the mysteryman class. So where does that leave us? Maybe he's a good man/charade man (1st level superhero/2nd level mysteryman -- and, yes, I do plan on using level titles more often in 2nd edition).

This is Lee Trent. I was impressed by the tactic of lassoing the chimney and then scaling up the wall by rope -- a tactic that you don't have to be a cowboy to use.  The hole in the roof offers an unconventional means of entry into the hideout; Editors should always be prepared for unconventional entry. And, lastly, hiding out in the rafters should (and probably did) give Lee a good bonus to his surprise roll.

The Ermine is back. I believe I made a case, the last time, that The Ermine was an explorer (the optional class from The Trophy Case v. 1 no. 2), but here it's quite clear that The Ermine is supposed to be a superhero (though a low-level one, since doors are still giving him trouble).

The Ermine easily chases off two full-grown bears. While it might seem he did it too easily, bears and other animals don't necessarily have a reason to attack a human, unless some magic, hi-tech, or simply hunger was coercing them. So under normal circumstances, I might always give animals an encounter check and/or a morale save to see what they do.

This feature is Kid Centaur and, unlike Speed Centaur, everyone is a centaur in this strip -- which would make for a pretty weird H&H campaign.

No, I'm more interested in the trap here, where something metal on the ground that the Heroes would be tempted to pick up is secretly electrified.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Star Ranger Funnies v. 2 #4

Today, we rejoin the first frontier-era Mysteryman, The Ermine. Or is he a Mysteryman? This ability to talk to animals puzzles me (not as much as where he produced that duck harness from, but that's less relevant to our game mechanics discussion). Except for The Ermine, there's really no reason to give this special ability to the Mysteryman class. But the Explorer class -- modeled after Heroes in Tarzan's mold -- that would make sense to give this ability to. If I resurrect the Explorer class (currently still only an optional class from The Trophy Case), I'd definitely give it this ability.

This is also the only time in comic book history where the "Hero" is saved by a duck pulling a dead muskrat. Soak it in, folks.

The Erskine makes friendly with a puma/cougar (see Supplement III for stats), but hates the Red Man. Racist much, Erskine?

"Blood on the Rio Grande" is a one-shot story played serious, even though it's drawn by one of Centaur's funny book artists in the same style. The machine gun isn't actually shown until the next page, but yes, the bad guys really do have a machine gun -- and are hesitant to use it because the good guy has cover from a tree. It's making me wonder if I don't give cover enough of a game mechanic benefit...

I've always liked bison. I like them so much that when I first statted them in this post, I may have been a little overgenerous. Let's give them 5 Hit Dice instead, with 10-sided dice. Coyotes I would stat as dogs.

Some of these Centaur stories are just so awful....This is "Pot o' Gold". A slick hoodlum sells a played-out gold mine to a sucker. The sucker sticks around, ambushes the hoodlum, and shoots him through the neck. Then -- oops! Our Hero was only looking on the wrong side of the mine; there's gold there after all! So he was never scammed and committed murder for nothing.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Star Ranger Funnies v. 2 #1

You wouldn't think someone would give these things much thought, but I have long wondered, if hillbillies were a mobster type, how to stat them differently. Apparently, hillbillies would have a big bonus to save vs. poison.

Strong drink has strange effects on people in comic book campaigns that are light in mood. In this instance, moonshine can make people save vs. science or jump right out of their clothes.

This is actually sound combat strategy (provided no one can shoot you while you're knocking the bee hives down the hill).

And just when I was thinking that everyone should have a chance to track, here comes the Frontier Mysteryman, the Ermine, making a case for tracking being a special skill.  Or maybe everyone should have a chance to cover their tracks, and then only a special tracker can still track covered tracks...?

This is so subtle that I almost missed it. We start the page in broad daylight. The sheriff is measured for a coffin and -- the implication is -- he punches the guy out cold. The guy is seen later, at night, coming around. Now, this is clearly a joke page, but it's still the first evidence I've seen of Hideouts & Hoodlums getting healing right from the start; that healing is very slow and takes hours to get a hit point back.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)