Champion Comics #5 - pt. 2

I'm not as big a fan of any of these other features, so we're going to jump through a bunch of them rather quickly this time.

This is a page of Neptina, the evil queen sub-genre done underwater. Sure, the Krakan just looks like a giant octopus and, to be honest, I would probably just stat it that way. It would be much more terrifying, though, if the guards were right, and krakan's had some kind of death gaze -- save or die if in line of sight of it.











This page illustrates how much fun random encounter reaction rolls are. This scene with the suspicious police chief plays out much more interesting than if the Editor had rolled a friendly reaction and the chief just believed the whole crazy story.

I share this story for the example of how cloth covered in wet clay can serve as a concealed door.

Blood-sucking moths, alone, are not very scary. Find them in their lair, where there are hundreds of them, and...

This is Blazing Scarab, by the guy who goes on to create Green Arrow for DC next! It's pretty goofy fair, but this priestess is pretty powerful, having teleported into their presence on the previous page.

What I didn't know, until I looked it up, was that Ammon was a real place. According to Wikipedia, it "was an ancient Semitic-speaking nation occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Arnon and Jabbok, in present-day Jordan."










This is the last appearance of Penny Wright, second best feature in Champion Comics. This chase scene has several London-specific complications in it, including military patrol cars and hedge-placed anti-aircraft batteries. Details help establish a sense of place, even in a chase scene.

The Owl, just one of many comic book characters to have that name, is called that simply for having thick glasses. The wrinkle here is that the Owl is really a woman, dressed as a man, making this one of the first cross-dressing villains.

I have trouble taking Jungleman seriously, not least for being called Jungleman (should Superman be called Cityman for living in a city?). While most jungle heroes would snap the net with their great strength, Jungleman is as helpless as a fish.

Ape people have been in Hideouts & Hoodlums since the beginning, but now we have a new name for them, the Moo-Nang. In the jungle, ape people live in numbers great enough to be village-worthy. So, several hundred?

Further embarrassing Jungleman, two tigers show up to rescue him (actually, it's not clear if Jungleman summoned them or if they are just a wandering encounter), but the ape men are too much for the tigers too.

In the conclusion of Yaqui Gold, a character called the Black Panther is challenged to a duel that goes against him -- surprisingly similar to when Killmonger challenges the Black Panther in the movie Black Panther.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Champion Comics #4 - pt. 2

This is Penny Wright, girl reporter. We can see here how useful it is carrying glass compacts, especially if you get tired up a lot.

I still do not plan on statting henchmen as their own mobstertype. Hair-pulling? This henchman fights like a girl...

Although, according to Penny Wright, the way a girl fights is to put out a cigarette in your opponent's eye. Normally I wouldn't allow a called shot, but a lit cigarette to any other part of the body would barely qualify for a point of damage. An eye is going to be a small target -- AC 2? If it hits, I would let it do 1-6 points of normal damage.

The people in the sewers are not labeled, but they are "Apaches," also known as bloodthirsty hoodlums.

Waist-deep in raw sewage, Penny is going to have to save vs. poison or be diseased after this.

Doormen are good bad guys because they see everyone who's coming and going.

Until this page it wasn't clear what Nina's scheme was or that she was mesmerizing people. That would be simple skill-based hypnosis, rather than a magic spell.

The guy from the window is actually smart to put away his gun, since Penny can save vs. missiles to dodge getting shot...

But he's maybe not so smart to choose grappling, because grappling can always turn against you.

Typewriters, particularly 1940 typewriters, are heavy. I would let that do normal 1-6 damage.

The French police talk about being indebted to Penny, but it seems like the squad did all the hard work, except for the one guy she hit with the typewriter.

This filler page has an interesting image of what a Martian could look like. It's distinctly different from any other Martians we've seen. Do I need to stat another Martian??

This is Neptina, Queen of the Deep, though the cast is expanding so fast that Neptina only gets a cameo on this page. It is worth pointing out that the top two tiers of panels are told from point of views that no hero in the story is present to witness. This kind of "set-up" scene is common in modern comics with their infinite subplots, but is virtually unheard of this early in comic books.

That second tier of panels clearly illustrate what bothers me the most about so many underwater adventures -- how do merpeople or fish-men smelt ore to make things out of metal underwater? And these giant tools we see in the background, winches and cranes -- would they really be the best way to move things underwater?

Now, what interests me on this page are the fish-men "shadowers," which makes me think of allowing fish-men to be classed as mysterymen, or the obscure 1st edition class, the spy. But, on the other hand...they aren't very good secret agents, are they? They fail to blend in, inside a city of fish-men, and then easily fall prey to an ambush.

Note the merwomen's antiquated weapons. Brad's tuning fork, as we've seen previously in this serial, is a thought transmitter, which explains how the merpeople can talk to each other underwater (except for, again, how they smelt the ore to make the metal to make the tuning forks).

Sub-plane? Why would it need to be a plane underwater?

I'm half-convinced I should make some kind of a joke about revolting seamen here, but probably won't.

Remember how the merwomen "took care" of the shadowers on the previous page? So they've already been beaten or surrendered, but here's our murderous Brad, still going around stabbing them to death and getting to the battle at the palace late. Way to lead, Brad!

Lastly, note the hydraulic jet pack on Brad's back, which would be a handy way of getting around underwater.

These are the Liberty Lads, appearing three years before Johnny Tremain was published.

Liberty Lad Tom here demonstrates what not to do when trying to find the American Secret Service headquarters -- walk up to complete strangers on the street and openly ask them.

Sgt. Upjohn triggers a morale save with just a trip attack.

This is from the Adventures of Bill Handy. Here we get a rare look at a wild boar in comics. Curiously, guns are less effective than stabbing weapons against boars. Who knew?

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)

Champion Comics #4 - pt. 1

Time to revisit the only comic book published by Worth Publishing, before being absorbed by Harvey. And the first feature is still The Champ.

I'm already intrigued by this first panel, and the suggestion that the helping hand helps the "dwarf" win the foot race. I've just recently talked about offering assistance in combat, but what if you could assist any roll in the game, like a skill check in a chase scene?

The traffic cop is an obstacle in a vehicular chase, even though only one party in the chase is using a vehicle.

The flying tackle is an attack roll, but desperately clinging is a skill check and not a grappling attack because the spare tire can't attack Champ back. 

By hitting the hedge, the driver introduces a chase obstacle; this means the chase rules are still in effect, even though Champ seems to have won the chase by catching up to the car. Because Champ is on foot vs. in a car, he is going to have to make his roll to overcome this obstacle at a severe penalty.

The Yellow Spider is Champ's first named villain.

The theta-ray is a new name for a raygun so cliched that I should just assign a 1 in 4 chance for every mad scientist to have one.

I'm much more interested in whatever device the Yellow Spider is using to make untraceable phone calls and, presumedly, monitor conversations in the room using the same phone while it's not in use.

Here's an unusual entrance to a hideout -- a cylinder suspended on a single cable that is lowered from and hoisted back up to an airship (blimp?) concealed in the clouds. The sleeping gas in the cylinder makes it difficult for guests to get the drop on the guards up top.

The ominous curtain, and talking from right behind the image of the huge yellow spider, are good details for a hideout.

The lie-detector chair is a good invention for both bad guys and good guys to have.

The midget has been called both a dwarf and an imp up to this point, but to be fair he does turn out to be the main villain, so I guess it's more fair to have made fun of him.

The Champ beats 7-to-1 odds -- pretty good for a fighter who would only be 2nd-level so far.

I really like the detail of how the airship has a catwalk around it and sections of it can be made to drop away by pulling levers. Sounds really dangerous for Heroes without parachutes!

This is from the next feature, Yaqui Gold. The Aztec sculptures look suitably authentic and were probably taken from photo references, but what I'm really interested in is the feel of the discovery of an underground passage and slowly exploring it with a flashlight -- this is what Hideouts & Hoodlums is all about!

I've talked on here long ago about how splashing water doesn't revive people at zero hit points, game mechanics-wise. I might, however, be willing to hand wave that if the victim was only stunned and about to wake up anyway.

Gold is not really a good substance for chains; I would give Jose a +1 bonus to wreck his way out of them.

Here at the beginning of 1940, it's interesting that Paris is still a city for espionage and not for open warfare.

Here we see thugs working for spies (I'm guessing I would stat Nina as a spy and not as a palm reader).

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)

Champion Comics #3 - pt. 2

Picking up where I left off, Penny Wright is tied to a tree by Santos and just left there (I guess he has to go somewhere to get his favorite whip).

While Penny's not that bright, Gus seems to be a quite capable assistant -- so much so that I hope he represents a played Hero and not supporting cast. Making a rope out of a blanket is clever, and I don't think I've ever seen a snare trap used like this.

There's a couple freebies from the Editor here, though. One, I'm not crazy about allowing a snare to do knockout damage. At best, I would treat it as an improvised weapon and have it do 1-3 points of damage (of course, it could also just be a very weak guard). Second, the keys in easy reach is either a freebie or the result of a save vs. plot.

Government Man seems to be a wandering encounter, though he could also be a third freebie. Or a third played Hero who's player showed up late to the session!

Liberty Lads had me fooled with Wonocco for a bit there, as it sounds just convincing enough that I thought it might be an actual Indian name. I can't find any evidence of that being true, though. If this is Richmond, Virginia, then Wonocco is likely Algonquin or Sioux.

The mother bear, apparently, attacks just to defend her cub, but Wonocco ruthlessly guts her and then, also apparently, they just leave a motherless cub to defend for himself. Way to live with nature there, Wonocco!

Now I have to decide if I need to stat militiamen as a mobstertype. I could just leave them as fighters, but they are also characterized here as "yellow backed" (low morale), and we know their number appearing goes up to 400. They are shown to be racist -- but then, when even the good guys call you Possum, you know you're a black man in a racist society.

Quinine is a a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis -- an odd remedy for a fever, but what do colonial-era kids know?

And maybe it's my modern sensibilities at play here, but that wood-cutter's intentions seem more perverted than "wily" to me. Maybe, if read from a 1940 perspective, it would seem more obvious that the wood-cutter is in league with the redcoats.

This is Jungleman. Evidence that the white (-ish) tiger is a supporting cast member and not directly under Jungleman's control is seen in how Jungleman leaves it behind to guard his prisoner.

That Jungleman's ability to speak with animals is not limited to one animal at a time is demonstrated by this communion with a small army of apes and monkeys (all living together, as if they were interchangeable).

Angkor is incorrectly described as a living city here, when it was actual already in ruins well before 1940.

Kalu is an actual name, but more often an African name than an Asian name.

The Blazing Scarab picked up where it left off.

More proof that languages spoken is unimportant in comic books.

Evidence of an unusual magic-user "wand" -- in this case, the scarab -- and evidence of a visual manifestation of the spell being cast.

It seems that the spell was Hold Person, but Walt can still follow commands. Hold Person II?

Interestingly, these men-at-arms that can step through walls are very similar to the hieroglyph guardian mobstertype that I introduced in the 2nd edition Basic book, only full-sized and not monstrous-looking.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Champion Comics #3 - pt. 1

We return to the adventures of The Champ. A wrinkle on the cliche of "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" is that the walking stick with the treasure hidden inside is missing (it turns up later in a secret compartment; a second compartment inside a secret compartment).

Here we see a shadow figure, which was a mobstertype introduced in Supplement V: Big Bang and will be returning in 2nd edition.

The Champ laid a trap for the missing assistant by pretending to already have the formula.

Pointing a gun and delaying still means that you have to roll for initiative to see who goes first, at least if your opponent is withing charging distance.

Chloroforming your opponent should be an automatic action if you already have an ally pinning him down. The Champ still gets a save vs. poison for each turn he is pinned, though. Looks like he rolled poorly on the first try.

This may be the first time a length of chain is used as a whip in comics.

I have serious reservations about this supporting post and how easily the champ broke it. Now, if it was not a supporting post, and just ornamental, then maybe I could see The Champ wrecking it as a door (or as a machine, as a penalty for being tied to it and lacking leverage). This has to be at least wrecked as a generator, which a fighter has no chance to do (even in 2nd edition) until at least 3rd level.

 

The Champ takes 1 point of damage from the fire, but it burns his bonds alright.

Again showing wrecking abilities, the Champ makes mincemeat out of that door, but that is something a 1st level fighter can do. By the end of this adventure, the Champ will likely be 2nd level.

He shows he is Lawful by going back in to save the bad guys.

At last, we have a clue that several of these orientals are thugs. In the past, I would have statted them as yellow peril hoodlums, but I'm thinking it's time to lose that mobstertype. I wanted them, initially, as a way to build something like the monk class into Hideouts & Hoodlums, but orientals in the Golden Age are rarely martial artists. Instead, they are usually wimpy hoodlums or bloodthirsty hoodlums.

You would think Katsu would have learned by now not to try firing a missile weapon while in melee range.

Katsu, incidentally, is an actual word, a word shouted out in Zen Buddhism. It's not an authentic Asian name, but it's closer to being one than the usual fare, like Fang Gow.

It's an interesting tactic to have reinforcements riding in the car behind you, in this case a "horde" of five "yellow men."

The Champ has been in a lot of fights so far in quick succession in this story, suggesting that he has an awful lot of hit points. At 1st level, he could have a maximum of 9.

In Neptina, we learn that the fish men have the ability to surgically remove human lungs and install gills. They must have high Intelligence (and be of Evil Alignment).

The fish men have a fog-making machine that they can use on the surface (it would, understandably, be pretty useless underwater).

It's not clear, but it seems to be implied that all fish men are male, and the mermaids are all the females, of the same species. Or did the fish men just capture human women and convert them into mermaids?

Fish men (and their merwomen) are telepathic, but they have the technology to block telepathy. Not only to block it, but apparently to make people forget they can read minds -- since Neptina doesn't seem the least but suspicious when she cannot read Brad's mind.

This is Penny Wright, Feature Writer. Penny wanted to find stories in South America to write about, but winds up getting kidnapped by an unnamed country's rebel leader. Santos is, curious, not a fighter but a robber -- a strange position for leadership.

Penny tries for a surprise attack but fails. She loses initiative and Santos delivers a grappling attack. Now Penny can't attack with her knife; she can only defend herself from the grappling attack and try to escape it or reverse it.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)