Funny Pages #9

I don't have much to talk about from this issue, which is just as well given the quality of the scans I have to work from.

I haven't included much of anything from the early Clock stories yet; George Brenner's art was so stiff that most of his characters just stood around and talked. But here he tries his first action page with a dive and rescue scenario.

Hideouts & Hoodlums doesn't have rules for things like holding your breath, buoyancy, or swimming in general.  Using 1-minute turns makes it very hard to talk about holding your breath in any game mechanic sense. Basically, any Hero diving has just 1 turn in which to act before needing to surface -- unless protected by spell, power, or trophy item.

Comic book characters, originally, often didn't start with any back story, but leaped straight into action.  With superheroes, you often needed some explanation of how they got that way, but even then it could often be summarized in a single page.

One way to give a character back story, without needing a lengthy explanation, is to make it a mystery -- like how Jerry Frost here was found as an abandoned infant with a mystery locket, and odd facts about the boat he was found in. These facts could have come from the Editor, or maybe the player.  Neither even has to know the meanings behind them yet, leaving it for the other one to explain during game play, or to work on together as a puzzle.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Funny Pages #8

Not much to report from this month's Funny Pages...

Just like the aviation genre was really all about the planes, some creators tried to invent a nautical genre that was all about the boats, and the jargon of sailors. Jerry Frost here teaches us exactly what a sloop is, which turns out to be a useful trophy item.

Not technically a goat joke, but again -- we have goats.

Skipper Ham Shanks and his pals learn about the wow bird -- part mobster/part trophy item. The wow bird is like a living lie detector.

And, being a Centaur comic book, there's rampant racism. Remember their motto:  if it's Centaur, it's racist.

And here's the bird itself.  As a non-combatant animal, it probably wouldn't get statted at all, but would either be considered a living trophy or a Supporting Cast Member, if the Editor wanted to ever roleplay a flightless bird that shouts "wow".

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)