Famous Funnies #67 - pt. 2

Just a few pages left to share from this issue...

Jack Kirby isn't doing the art anymore on Lightnin' and the Lone Rider at this point, but it's still an interesting set-up with some unusual additions to the cowboy genre -- a Dragon Lady-like femme fatale, and "advanced" technology, like television, in the villains' lair.

This is from Mescal Ike, and while I think the top strip is pretty funny, I'm including this for the interesting turn of phrase in the middle tier. "Head of the class" is still a common term in use today, but if there's a head it stands to reason there's also a "foot of the class," with the bottom scores. Today's school system would not emphasize this fact and humiliate the student, but in 1940...?

This is from the one-page gag filler, Life's Like That. I'm partial to librarians, even though the "Squeaky" panels aren't as funny. What I found really funny was the baby panel.

We're checking in on Homer Hoopee again for the first time in awhile for several reasons. One, even though the chase sequence is over, it alludes to two important factors -- attack penalties for hitting a target moving at great speed (found in 1st edition Hideouts & Hoodlums' vehicular combat rules, but should also apply to attacking movement-buffed speedsters), and ranges on missile attacks. Further, Homer's prize is an example of how generous monetary rewards can be at the end of a long adventure ($50,000 -- in 1940 no less!).

If you can ignore the racism in this page of Spunky Dory, you'll see perhaps the first critical hit to the groin in comic books, and delivered by a goat no less (longtime readers of this blog are aware of the importance of goats in golden age comics)!

The question then is, is this evidence of the need for a critical hit mechanic in H&H, or does the headbutt to the groin simply explain how it did maximum damage on the damage die? I lean towards the latter.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)

Famous Funnies #45

Dickie Dare was fast becoming one of my favorite pre-Superman comic strips, though the storyline seems to be floundering a little here. That's not to say it's devoid of ideas -- here, we see a plane that lowers pontoons to transform into a seaplane.

Much has already been said about unarmed combat on this blog and I have already addressed the issue of needing a flip/throw attack for rendering an opponent prone. But do we need a special attack for pinning an opponent immobile as well? And should open hand jabs do anything special besides damage? I'd be inclined to say not; Tubby just ran out of hit points there.

An amnesiac Homer Hoopee has engaged in that most venerable of heroic traditions -- beating up bad guys and taking all their stuff. The $1,000 that Homer pools off their persons is a surprisingly large amount. Hideouts & Hoodlums has only loose guidelines for assigning money to mobsters, but a tighter rule of thumb would be keep the amount, per mobster, to between his hit points and his experience point value -- so, for a cowardly hoodlum, this would be between $5-20 carried.


(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Book Museum)

Famous Funnies #42

Back to Eastern's Famous Funnies!

We don't see much of Napoleon here on the blog, but this page reminds us that hot dogs and hamburgers could be purchased for just a dime in the late 1930s.

Skyroads has a history lesson for us today - this page is taking place during the little-known (today) Second Italo-Ethiopian War!

Hairbreadth Hairy continues its bizarre space epic. Here, they are terrorized by a giant named Gwuncho.  Gwuncho seems to be between 40-60' tall, making him a titan in H&H terms (statted in Supplement I: National).

What Hero doesn't want a box of dynamite? The Heroes in my Home Campaign of H&H recently acquired 12 sticks of dynamite and it will be interesting to see what they do with them. They'd best be careful, though, as dynamite has a habit of going off prematurely in the comics!

Motor launches would also make good transport-trophies.

Is this another new spell? The Phantom Magician seems to be protected by a spell that turns all impaling weapons into rubber...or is this just flavor text for the Shield spell (this spell is from Supplement I)?

The Phantom Magician's Cloak of Flying is only a slight variation on the traditional Flying Carpet. It can even, apparently, carry more passengers like a flying carpet, without choking the wearer to death.

Ride a street car for just a dime, according to Connie.

According to Homer Hoopee, an average doctor can whip up a powder from an ordinary medicine cabinet that can put someone to sleep for 12 hours. More likely, though, this doctor has a level or two in the Scientist class (as found in Supplement III: Better Quality).






(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Famous Funnies #25

In this installment of Captain Easy, I thought these were ridiculously long blowguns until I saw this -- so apparently Roy Crane did his homework. This is tricky for me -- are blowguns going to be common enough weapons that they need to be statted for Hideouts & Hoodlums?  They should have a short range of 30' and do normal, 1-6 weapon damage.

I marvel over the way Roy Crane was able to get away with drawing topless women and getting them published in the funny pages. The benefits of abstraction!

The Alley Oop mobster-type of the day is plesiosaurus. Plesiosaurs were statted in Supplement II: All-American.

Dickie Dare joins the Famous Funnies cast and is trapped on a U-Boat taken over by pirates. Submarines can double as transport trophies and hideouts -- a larger submarine hideout was provided in The Trophy Case no. 9.

Homer Hopee demonstrates the usefulness of having a locksmith as a Supporting Cast Member. Although called a burglar here, Homer's brief antagonist would be statted as a robber.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)