Amazing Mystery Funnies #19 - pt. 1

Followers of Great Scott! Press are probably aware that I've been working with the Fantom of the Fair much more recently than the last time he came up on this blog. This is ahead of where I am in reprinting his stories and...whew, this one is probably going to need some serious reworking before I would use it. I was never a huge Paul Gustavson fan, but I like his stuff a lot more than whatever fill-in artist this is (I've seen on Comic Book Plus this might be Al Anders or Will Roland). 

I think it's interesting that the Fantom has left New York for Maine because, in my fiction pieces detailing some of his backstory, he came to New York (and the new world) through Newfoundland and spent some time there, and maybe this was him heading back that way. Also -- plug here for the next issue of Funny Picture Stories where that Newfoundland story will be published -- plug plug! 

This is convenient, but also really weird and creepy, that the Fantom was hanging out in this guy's house for no other reason than to eavesdrop on his conversation with himself. 

But how "near" does the Fantom need to be to hear that? There is no exact limit in the rules for distance, but a common sense ruling from any Editor should tell you he would need to be inside the house or just outside an open window from the house at the furthest. But is the Fantom using a spell, like Clairaudience? Or a magic crystal ball off-panel to scry? But that still brings us back to the question: why was the Fantom monitoring this man?

I like the carnival setting because it seems a natural progression from stories set at a fair. 

Just like it's hard to believe the Fantom just happened to hear that conversation, suspecting Professor Trepper was a near-impossible leap in logic without using some sort of magic spell. Divination? 
 

The narration of panel 5 is interesting. Is the narrator unsure if the Fantom was surprised or not, or is only talking from Agar's perspective? 

Trepper has called in some roustabouts to help him, but as soon as one of them goes down the rest all fail their morale save, which was probably a single roll for the whole group. 

We're going to jump off of that pedestrian story and gaze upon the works of Basil Wolverton. Ooooo.  Ahhhhh. Seriously, those panels 5 and 6 are gorgeous. I've got nothing game mechanic-y to say about this page, so just enjoy.

One of the standard tropes of bad science fiction is to take Earth resources, give them an extra adjective, and then try to pass them off as something exotic and alien. True, green diamonds would be something new on Earth and probably really valuable, but what practical value would they have worth interplanetary travel for...?

We now know Mercury stopped being volcanically active 3.5 billion years ago, but Wolverton was right about it having volcanoes!

We learn that atom-needle pistols are more powerful than flame guns.

Thermo armor -- trophy armor that makes the wearer immune to heat damage.

I wonder how much $1 billion will feel like in the future. Assuming inflation never ends, I'm guessing it's going to be worth more like millions today, and that makes interplanetary diamond mining even less plausible. 

But -- oooh! We get a new monster, the vulkite, which looks exactly like an alien wyvern.

Here we get an explanation for what atom-needle pistols can do -- the ammunition explodes (like little atomic bombs?) once they're inside you. That seems like it must do a lot of damage -- at least 4-24? 

We also learn that vulkites have really good Armor Class because of their "heat-hardened hide" -- so maybe 1 point better than a wyvern -- and they are probably immune to heat and fire too. 

It's weird how a wooden door is surviving just fine on Mercury...

Mercurians are sure cool-looking and quite villainous, but stat-wise I can't see any reason in the story to stat them as anything other than human. I mean, he might as well be human since he can't do anything special.

Now, Mercurian Mole-Men, on the other hand, are really sneaky and have "deft movements." I would probably give them a low AC, fast Movement rate, and a good chance to pick pockets or perform sleight of hand.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Amazing Mystery Funnies #18 - pt. 3

We're going to speed through the rest of this issue today, picking up where we left off with Larry Kane. This old castle is so like Old School dungeon design, with random layouts that don't make much real world sense -- like coming in through the main entrance and finding a long hallway lined with doors instead of, oh, maybe a foyer or something.

I didn't know this, but a garret is an attic that's been finished so it can be lived in.

Well, darn! Instead of some spooky ghosts, it's just some mobsters making all the noises. From the descriptions, if I was running this as a Hideouts & Hoodlums scenario (and don't think I wouldn't!), I would stat them as two robbers and a thug. Though I would personally shake things up in this story by having mobsters and undead in the house -- much like my Palace of the Vamp Queen module.

Spoilers: Larry wins. So let's jump ahead to the next feature, Spy A-5 (we're also told his name is Storm King, but that feels an awful lot like an alias as well).

The story is pretty run-of-the-mill, with this being like the eighth or ninth story I've read about an inventor with a stratoplane since I started reading these stories. The only thing worth considering here, then, is the game mechanic issue of the splashing-liquid-in-their-faces-to-distract-them trick. If I was a fan of the new edition of D&D and its mechanic of advantage and disadvantage, I might say the distraction gives them a disadvantage on their next attacks. While the mechanic is clearly popular with today's players, it's a big game-changer in that it alters the dice rolls far more than a small modifier does. I would have to say it goes against the flavor of H&H.

Speaking of flavor...the other use for this trick is simply flavor text to explain how Storm wins initiative on that turn. In H&H, the dice rolls determine the result, and then the result is described; you don't normally pick the result you want and then the mechanics help you get that result (although there are situational modifiers that will give you a 5-20% bonus).

Anyway, on to this next page. First, I wanted to point out that the mobsters are able to use escape artistry as a skill; normally we only see that working for Heroes.

We see corners being used for hard cover. We also see a Hero taking a rare hit and needing first aid afterwards.

For game balance, sometimes it's good to introduce trophy items with a built-in drawback, and this stratosphere has a doozy. Unless the pilot can keep the fuel mixing just right (skill check? Per take-off?), the plane explodes for, I'm guessing, a lot of dice of damage.

And now we get to Fantom of the Fair, and a really nice location for a hideout. I can imagine some cool, water-based traps in that place.


Is Dr. Loy babbling, or does he have voice-activated machinery?

So how tough are these things? We're not talking about golem-level tough if Loy can mass produce a thousand of them. Probably not even gargoyle-level tough, to make them immune to normal weapons. Rather, I'd say they have good Armor Class and that's why the bullet doesn't harm him.

But what to call them? Loy calls them his masterpieces, but that's a terrible name for a mobstertype.  "Weird hideous creature" is too long. I would shorten that, then, to The Weird.

Although the weird are undoubtedly tough, their chief advantage against The Fantom seems to be only numbers. I would give them maybe 2, no more than 3, Hit Dice.

The Fantom has gone from a mysterious figure with a fascinating backstory to just some redheaded guy in long underwear and cape. Or is the Fantom in disguise, as he definitely seemed to have black hair in his earliest appearances...?

I had to look up "water bubbler" and learned that it's a slang term for a water fountain, used in New England.

That the weird melt into puddles when hit with water makes them pretty useless, but also easy for low-level Heroes to face.

Fantom's chemical analysis seems like a longshot, depending on a) the weird's creator to not be from some foreign country, or smuggle the chemicals into the country, and b) that they were all made in the last six months.

And what is up with that ugly cowl the Fantom is wearing? It's like he has a red condom pulled down over his head...

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Amazing Mystery Funnies v. 3 #1 - pt. 1

And we're back to Centaur Comics! This is Fantom of the Fair, though you wouldn't know that from this page. I really liked the early Fantom stories where he's hidden in the shadows and it looks like he could be Superman, so it's particularly interesting how much he looks like Clark Kent while in disguise here.

It makes sense to go in disguise when checking out a situation out of costume, and pretending to be a doctor may get you into places you would not normally be permitted to enter. But the fake English accent seems a strange addition.

That it takes the Fantom two punches to take down a rather ordinary mobster suggests to me that I was on the right track to keep superhero damage low except when they are buffed with powers.

And here, the same superhero who needed two punches to take down one guy, "literally mashed to a pulp" two guys. "Crashing blows" sounds like a good name for a new power, but most likely he activated his Get Tough or Get Tougher power.

Ever felt bad for hand-waving encumbrance rules in a RPG? Here, encumbrance is so unimportant that no one notices this nondescript English doctor is carrying three men at once.

This is going on behind the scenes in Daredevil Barry Finn. Bear in mind that, at the end of 1939/beginning of 1940, many Americans still want to remain isolated from the war in Europe, so people who want to arm for war can still be bad guys and not patriots.

I had to look up lemon soda. I'm only familiar with lemon-lime soda, but apparently lemon soda is still a thing, just not mass marketed (specialty grocery stores tend to carry it).

I'm liking Frogga as a character. Maybe more mermen should be like him in my campaigns.

Frogga's difficulty in wrecking through the hatch, even with a crowbar, makes me think he's a fighter rather than a superhero.

Note how "daredevil" Barry Finn does nothing this whole adventure but talk to people and tell Frogga what to do; like if Matt Murdock made Foggy Nelson do all the work...

This is The Inner Circle. I wasn't sure what "Itoria" was until the "Mafio" reference and then it all fell into place; the Inner Circle is about to tangle with the Italian Mafia, and the first time the Mafia has been named (or nearly named) in a comic book.

I suspect the blue hand tattoos are made-up...

Now, bear in mind that Carlos isn't supporting cast; the Inner Circle is presented as a group of equal Heroes -- so the IC committed the "cardinal sin" of splitting up the party. Now, I am not the type of Editor who forces Heroes to stay together as a group all the time; and in fact I am comfortable with having entire sessions where Heroes can pursue side projects or mini-quests during group downtime. But sending one solo and deep into enemy territory for such a risky mission -- even I would likely step out of character and advise the players against this.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Amazing Mystery Funnies v. 2 #12 - pt. 1

I have been surprisingly enjoying The Fantom of the Fair, so I was wondering what this feature would do once the World's Fair closed down at the end of the year. It turns out he wasn't so tied to that location after all, as he's already just packed up and gone off to Pennsylvania to fight crime!

Swinging out of nowhere to save a falling woman is pretty typical comic book fare, but on just the page before this, Jane was using that whip on her employees! Things aren't cut and dried here; should The Fantom be rescuing Jane, or her employees from her? It would be interesting if a Hideouts & Hoodlums Editor had been running this and intended for the player to do the later, but the player misunderstood the situation and did the former. Editors need to be flexible in what players can justify as good deeds, and award them with XP accordingly.

I'm tempted to say this is evidence of a new power called Unpassable. You would not be able to move past the Hero and the Hero could block an area 10' wide. It would probably be a 1st level power.

The Fantom probably gets called a tough guy because he's using the Get Tough power -- which makes sense; he can now transfer his extra damage into feet pushed, via the pushing rule for combat. He must also be buffed with Multi-Attack, since he's able to push multiple opponents at once.

I don't think we need a power for swinging. I do like that this combat takes place both horizontally and vertically. Multi-level encounter areas give the Editor and players that much room for creativity.

I've written before about using saves vs. plot to see through disguises, which would also apply to recognizing voices -- but the real reason I shared this page was so that I could rant about the changes made to the Fantom strip in this issue. Before, the Fantom did not appear to be masked -- his hair was visible in silhouette, and he was always somehow magically in silhouette no matter what the lighting, and with his blue costume and red cape...he could have been Superman. Now, he's very clearly not and is so much less interesting for it.

We've briefly seen Daredevil Barry Finn on this blog before, though he really seems more like a soap opera star than a daredevil. We first met Frogga back in issue #5 and he seemed more monstrous; here he's a comic sidekick character, despite being an artificially created merman.

Frogga fights a huge octopus (which, if we keep the large/huge/giant dynamics, we know falls halfway between the other two Hit Dice-wise).

Oil of Corrosion is a powerful consumable trophy that destroys everything it touches and does at least 1-6 points of damage to living targets.

Basil Wolverton's Space Patrol debuts here (Basil Wolverton's debut too!).  We see here how cleanly Basil lifts the tropes of the cowboy genre and transplants them in space, from the patrolling lawman and loyal sidekick, to bank robbing, to chasing bandits.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)

Amazing Mystery Funnies v. 2 #11 - pt. 1

Well, this story jumps right into the action, doesn't it?  The "electro-robot" (introduced months before Timely's robot Electro) looks to be about 10' tall, making it a huge robot. The narrator claims it has electrified hands, but that makes it odd that it needs the dynamo to attack The Fantom with, then.

That the spear crumbles on contact suggests that the robot is so electrified that ordinary (non-trophy) weapons touching it will shatter.

That the "million volts of electricity crackle above The Fantom" suggests that it missed. Normally, an attack like a lightning bolt would get a saving throw for half damage, not a save to be missed.

When The Fantom says he "won't be able to hold this robot back forever," he means that he's grappling the robot and the robot may, with a lucky dice roll, the robot might eventually escape or even reverse the hold.

Which brings up the question, why doesn't The Fantom just wreck it? He's surely strong enough to. But, in this scenario, this robot doesn't belong to hoodlums; it's someone's legal property and he's trying to stop it without harming it. It certainly makes the scenario more challenging.

Now, why there's a chandelier in a science exhibit hall, is even more questionable...

This is how big the remote control device for a huge robot is.

Narrative voices can often be forgiven for exaggeration, but I wonder if there's more to this one about The Fantom striking with the force of a meteor. It's not likely because he fell 20' or so before hitting the robot, though that would have added to his damage, as indicated in previous posts. Now, he could also have buffed himself with Get Even Tougher, or a similar power, and that would be cumulative with his falling damage bonus. That would be enough to put some serious hurt in a robot!

The robot is using a bear hug, a maneuver possible in 2nd edition's grappling system.

Finally, when all else fails, The Fantom wrecks the robot --- though he seems to have a hard time of it! Unlucky dice rolls? Maybe this robot was hardier than usual?

This is Daredevil Barry Finn, and this is a very combustible car!  Usually, when a crash happens, the Heroes inside only have a small chance of being killed. If there's a chance of complications after a crash, full immolation must be a small percentage chance.

The boys of The Inner Circle have a sound tactic here -- arrange a meeting with the enemy, then have someone else follow the enemy back to their hideout to find out where it is. Just be wary of successful evasion checks!

Here's more good tactics. If you can't find a secret or concealed door, but you know there must be one about -- keep searching! Even come back the next day.

If you don't want to go through the trapdoor at the end of an underground passage to find out where it goes, mark how long it is and then go try to find on a map where that passage would come out at. Warning: in higher level hideouts, expect magical teleport traps and the like!

The giant snake with the whale tail is not the bogvetch in this picture, which is a shame because that seems like an appropriately cool name for this creature. It likes to coil around trees and can use its tail smack to paralyze foes.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)

Amazing Mystery Funnies v.2 #9

We rejoin the Fantom of the Fair as he's chillin', just watching a circus act, when ...well, let's think about what's happening here.

The Fantom somehow senses that something is amiss, but we don't know how. Perhaps he was using Super-Hearing for some reason and overheard the man at the tank, far below, over the din of the crowd. Perhaps the Fantom just has a really good sense of volume and figured out that the water was low from looking at it. Or maybe he was using some kind of heretofore unknown Detect Danger power/spell (or would Find Traps duplicate that?).

Then The Fantom defies physics by leaping after Jane, and less aerodynamically than Jane (and with the drag of the cape no less), and still manages to hit the water before her. Some new power called Fall Faster?

There's more going on, unsaid, here too. The Fantom claims this man looked suspicious because he was standing around nearby. But this is the 1939 World's Fair -- there should be hundreds of people standing around nearby! So this has to be The Fantom using Detect Evil to sense the wrongdoer.

And then there's The Fantom throwing the guy and him landing dead. In Hideouts & Hoodlums you cannot kill in one hit, no matter how much damage it does. I could change that rule -- say, adding an amendment where if you do 10 or 20 points of damage more than what would drop you to zero hit points, then it can be an instant kill, but this is a throw attack that shouldn't possibly do that much damage. Unless The Fantom is using some new power called Super-Throw (with increased grappling damage), or Killing Blow (that gets around the not killed at "zero hp" rule).

This page I include for trivia. From Jane's comments at the end, coupled with the clear outline of a face on The Fantom -- I'm beginning to suspect that The Fantom isn't wearing a mask at all. Rather, his face is always masked in shadow, thanks to magic, and we're just seeing him in silhouette.

A prototype for Marvel Comics' High Evolutionary. More proof that Carl Burgos invented the Silver Age of Marvel Comics back in 1939...?

Now I'm trying to decide if rocket cars needs to be a trophy item. A commonplace rocket car might seem futuristic, but a rocket car held the land speed record (345 MPH) as of 1938. Maybe the Thunderbolt (#7 on this list) will get a stat.

I think I've just solved my problem of how to justify keeping the acetylene torch on the trophy list. A "blue ray" acetylene torch makes it seem more exotic, and could maybe justify boosting the damage it causes a little.

A note to myself that a large transport plane can be a trophy item. A large transport plane has several benefits for a group of Heroes -- it can easily transport them all in one trip, as well as storing all the supplies they might need on adventures (you can see how the interior side of this plane is set up like an armory).

This is Don Dixon. Don't drink was apparently drugged with a Potion of Madness. It makes him gibber and sound like an egomaniac.  Hmm...did someone slip this to Donald Trump?

Oh, Speed Centaur, you goofy feature! I guess Speed cut off his arms in order to fit his torso into that fake horse head? The lesson here is that you don't have to think too hard about disguise for it to work in H&H.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)