Top-Notch Comics #3 - pt. 3

We're still looking at the third issue of MLJ's second series and the aviation/espionage adventure of Wings Johnson. I'm looking at the German seaplane bomber and am unable to identify what type of plane that is...though, the artist is correct to use the 'plus' sign on the side of the plane.

Now, it looks like the plane coming after Wings is a Dornier Do 24, a 1937 flying boat, and not what one expects to see in an aerial dogfight.

Already moving on to Swift of the Secret Service. I include this page because the technique of getting the gems off the ship interests me. It's a daring ploy, and it's carried out right in front of the Hero, so if the player is paying attention there is a good chance of catching it.

The unfortunate engine accident is an unusual complication, especially since it occurs inexplicably.

Swift made his save vs. plot very well (maybe a natural 20) to find not only a convenient motorcycle, but one conveniently with its key still in it.

We have two more chase complications here -- the "has to beat the train to the tracks" complication and the "bridge is going up" complication. Both require an expert skill check -- or stunt -- to overcome.

We'll also look at Scott Rand on Mars today. Here we see Martian pirate saucers, with four weapons on opposing 'sides.' It's unclear what these weapons are, whether some kind of projectile weapons or rayguns.

As if we didn't already have enough versions of Martians, now we get Pink Martians, bald, with pointy ears and fangs. In one previous panel they were yellow, suggesting that they can either change their colors chameleon-like, or was miscolored for one page.

Four-to-one odds are too much for Thor, meaning these Martians are super-tough, or this is not an Asgardian god (something that was never clear).

I'm as big a fan of my wrecking things mechanic as anybody, but I don't think throwing a rock into the gears should have this big an effect...unless maybe you roll triple 6's?

I haven't showcased some filler in awhile, and picked this page to discuss condors. If a normal sized condor has a 15' wingspan, then a large condor would have a 30' wingspan, a huge condor 45', and a giant condor 60'. A large condor would weigh as much as a full-grown man, so would have 1 HD (if a particularly ferocious fighter, it might have 2). That would also be as large as the largest flying animal ever, the quetzalcoatlus. As such, I can only speculate as to how much a huge or giant condor would weigh. Maybe enough to be 4 and 8 HD...?

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)

Top-Notch Comics #2 - pt. 3

This is Stacey Knight M.D. still, even though it looks like a more nautical-themed hero's adventure. Here, we see hoodlums in 1940 are still torn between traditional sailboats and modern patrol boats.

Brass knuckles are a popular weapon for heroes in Hideouts & Hoodlums, but there is little evidence of them being used in comics. Here is a rare instance of a mobster using them.

Stacey must have surprisingly narrow hips to squeeze through a porthole. I'd give him a save vs. science or he'd do 1 point of damage to himself and get stuck.

Splash pages were rare things in 1940. The feature is Air Patrol and the narration makes it clear that this was a random encounter with at least 3 aviators. It's also clear that these are Nazi planes by the swastikas, an image most comics shied away from still this early in 1940.

I'm struck, on this page, by how hard it is for people to hit their targets with missiles. The anti-aircraft gun is a powerful weapon, but fired by 1st level fighters, only has a 50/50 chance of hitting (less, if the modifiers for hitting moving targets at great speed, found in 1st edition, are used). The depth charges, against a stationary submarine, should have been an easy hit, but then the same modifiers could apply to dropping from above. Area of effect damage does not seem to impact vehicles, only direct hits.

I offer this page as evidence that skills, like identifying counterfeit money, need to get better as heroes gain experience, like Experience Points.

Not a bad strategy, pretending to be a delivery boy so Swift can listen outside the door of the hideout. Bad guys often happen to be saying something important just when Heroes might be listening.

Joe's not very smart. Tony just told him that there's a cop in the pit, but Tony doesn't seem at all suspicious when he sees Don Carlos below. We've long seen that disguises work really well in comic books, but even here I might give the thug a +1, or even a +2, as a common sense modifier to his save vs. plot to see through this deception.

Here's a nice dystopian future for those who like such things: a New York in the year 2000 where rocket cars race along really high overpasses without guardrails. I think they've solved overcrowding in this future!

Hmm. Now, they just left 1940 because taxis were too dangerous, but they are happy to fight to the death against overwhelming numbers of Martian invaders.

And the Earth forces are so desperate for fighters that they're willing to take in a man dressed like a Viking. This actually reminds me of so many RPG campaigns where the DM/GM/Referee/Editor had a fixed story line and tried to shoehorn all the player characters into it, even though some of the players insisted on making gonzo characters that don't fit into that story line.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)