Jumbo Comics #11 - pt. 3

This is ZX-5 again, but I don't have anything Hideouts & Hoodlums-related to share from this page, I just like that it features the word "balustrade." You don't see that every day.

This is Wilton of the West, another feature that takes place in the "Mythic West" that still looks like the cowboy genre, but exists in the modern day world. And here we see a grim example of lariats being used as lethal weapons. Since the constriction damage would be continuous, then anyone dropped to zero hit points by the lasso/noose would die the following turn.

Inspector Dayton is out on the town when someone is murdered in a nightclub. Again, like in a previous story in this issue, the Hero takes a backseat to the supporting cast female accompanying him. I complained then about the Editor lazily allowing the SCM to find clues for the Hero, but maybe I have that backward -- maybe this is an example of a player taking advantage of a SCM's better chance at skills, like picking pockets. We have seen before, ever since Jane Arden debuted on this blog, that women seem to have a natural gift for being mysterymen in comic books. The slightly exotic name of "Miss Damien" might even suggest his companion is a vamp.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Jumbo Comics #3

We've already seen a few dragons on this blog, but this is the first moon dragon. It looks like its only pair of legs are too weak for a claw attack, but it can bite and gore with its horn. It has a hot breath, possibly a steam breath weapon. It might also be particularly vulnerable to electrical damage -- or Peter's electric ray gun is particularly powerful.

There are several elements of this page to ponder. One is how far away the noise is that Peter hears through the first door; Editors will need to play it by ear (ahem) how far sound travels in their hideouts.


Two, what is the size of an anthropomorphic animal? The scale of the panels seems to suggest that Peter Pupp is short. Does that mean that a "giant" he encounters might just be 6' tall? Or is the scimitar-wielding guard more like an ogre?


Third, what should the chance be of a gun jamming? Or, because it's a raygun, does it have charges and has just run out?

 Two cents for a newspaper, according to Spenser Steel!

Inspector Dayton's player might be tempted by that check, especially if he thinks it equals 10,000 XP. However, a distinction needs to be made in the game between money earned as a trophy and money just given to them. Ripping it up in the villain's face should still be worth 100 XP for a good deed award, though.

This is ZX-5, who came up with a rather clever, if not dangerous, way of escaping from a plane's machine guns while parachuting to safety. Of course, how safe this is depends on if the Editor rules that tree tops are soft enough to cushion some of the falling damage. There are an awful lot of sharp branches in trees, after all, usually facing upwards. I might allow, if feeling generous, a save vs. plot to land "safely" in the treetops for half-damage, or else inflict full damage -- or possibly more for being impaled on branches!


(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Jumbo Comics #2

I wonder if anyone will ever run a funny animals campaign using Hideouts & Hoodlums?  In Peter Pupp, which we looked at with issue #1, all the elements of an action adventure scenario are here -- they can just be greatly exaggerated and make no sense. I would normally discourage an Editor from treating a weather control mad science device (as found in Book II: Mobsters & Trophies) from being able to affect the entire planet from space -- but in this sort of campaign it could.

Supplement III: Better Quality talked about various environments an Editor could use in a campaign and one environment that was cut and put in The Trophy Case v. 1 no. 6 was the "aerial wilderness".  I wrote "While no Golden Age comics of my acquaintance ever picked up on this notion" -- but I was unaware of Peter Pupp at that time. Clearly, the idea of exploring solid clouds has precedence here, as does hillbilly cloud giants...

I don't normally have my players stumble across mysterious Magic-Users handing out magic rings, but if I did decide, in mid-scenario, that some upcoming encounters were going to be too tough for them, I could see this as being a possible solution. A Ring of Djinni Calling is very apropos for H&H. I used a similar item recently in one of my campaigns (but it was a bottle instead of a ring), and like Peter Pupp's ring it only had a limited number of uses/charges.

The Hawk, always a class act, is here the very definition of Lawful Alignment as he consuls his men on "no wanton looting or unnecessary shooting".

I've said before that rappelling by rope should be easy for Heroes, except on challenging surfaces like a wet wall -- but here we have ten supporting cast all easily climbing a wall, while soaking wet from head to toe. Does climbing need to be automatic for everybody?

I'm not sure yet how I'd wind up statting this guy. This is the first appearance of a character called Mr. Eternity, who seems to be able to control his own shadow -- making it grow, move, etc. He also claims to be Death itself, but this bears further investigation.

This is from the continuing origin story of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. The witch doctor tells of casting a Curse spell (Remove Curse reversed?). It's unclear if he wields actual magic or if Sheena's father died coincidentally, but if is magic, then a Bestow Curse spell can be lethal.

Somehow, ZX-5 is able to look at the car behind him, see the enemy agents discussed as policemen, and tell that they are agents in disguise on sight.  This has got to be a special ability for spies.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)

Jumbo Comics #1 - part 2

I still haven't seen any spies in action, but there's some interesting aviator action here. Why does one plane simply go down and the other burst into flames? Recently, I suggested assigning hit points to cars for car chases and the same can apply to planes. But what happens when a car or plane reaches zero hit points? Is it enough to say the vehicle is wrecked? Is everything else flavor text?

I found on a fishing guide website that a 9' gar weighs about 360 lbs. -- or would be 2 HD. I would consider this a large gar, with huge gar being 4 HD, and giant gar being 8 HD!

This is Inspector Dayton in the lower right hand corner. His Editor handed him a really easy clue to follow the bad guys. But I shared this for the really good advice for novice players in the two panels preceding that one -- always cover the back exits, and always go in with flashlights.

This is Wilton of the West. I've talked plenty about disarming shots, with missile weapons, and disarming with a "called shot" type attack, but here Wilton's opponent just seems to be accidentally disarmed while they grapple. Maybe I've been going about this all wrong. Maybe all hits in combat should have the same random chance of disarming the opponent? It might help make unarmed combat more appealing...

I wonder if there should be some sort of game mechanic for drawing fire. I've already toyed with how to shield an opponent when you want to take a hit for someone else, but drawing fire is slightly different. It seems a requirement is to be behind cover, and try to trick your opponent into shooting at your cover instead of a better target. Maybe, if you spend your whole turn drawing fire, one opponent will have to save vs. plot or shoot at you, with a slight bonus to your cover adjustment (like -3 to be hit behind hard cover)?

And, lastly, I really like this pun. Bob Kane had a knack for humor strips.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)