Mystery Men Comics #8 - pt. 4

We're back for one more installment of perusing this issue of Mystery Men Comics and seeing what we can apply to the Hideouts & Hoodlums role-playing game (you could try and apply these observations to other RPGs -- but why would you?).

Anyway, we're still in the middle of Denny Scott and the Bengal Lancers' story. Our unnamed lady sees through Denny's disguise (save vs. plot on her part?) and outs him.

The rug trick might be one of the few exceptions to when I would allow a stunt to be used in a combat situation. He's essentially making two grappling attacks at once, but the only result he's going for is to knock them prone.

I'm not sure what game mechanic would account for "perceiving something wrong." I almost hate to make save vs. plot too big of a catch-all, and yet it works perfectly for situations like this when it's difficult for the Editor to make the call.

Now I'm going to talk about just how confusing this story was. The lady -- is she a femme fatale? A spy? On who's side? It seems like she was planted here to take down Khan's operation from the inside, but she takes no action until she can frame Denny to make it look like he took down Khan instead. For what purpose? Could she have known Denny was coming?

And -- as much as I personally loathe Heroes solving problems with guns...why does Denny sneak into Khan's audience chamber with guns if not to shoot him? Was the whole gun-selling ruse to get some kind of evidence against Khan? Or trick him into becoming an ally? Maybe the alliance is what our unnamed spy is trying to stop.

Part of the fun of these golden age stories is that they are often so incomplete, we have to read the story between the panels!

We're going to be talking about locations for much of the rest of this post. Secret Agent D-13 starts out with the destination of Scapa Flow. And, as much as that sounds like a medical condition, Scapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay, and Hoy. This bridge would hold no great strategic value, but a student of WWI might know why this would have meaning for the Germans; Scapa Flow is where the remains of the German Navy was scuttled after WWI. 

I believe the UK Armed Forces uses "No. 3" instead of "3rd" to designate this squadron, if I'm correct and this refers to the No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron. It was first formed on 13 May 1912 as one of the first squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps – being the first to fly heavier than air aircraft.

This story has a really unusual ending. A British pilot and a German pilot both die in this story, on the same field, and are both labeled as heroes for their respective countries. D-13 waxes nostalgic about how he doesn't want to see Americans made into heroes in the same way. Bob Powell did the art on this; the writing is likely either Powell himself, or perhaps Will Eisner, who is known for deeper stories. Regardless, two years from now this would have been denounced as isolationist dogma

Again, we're looking at this story for the locations it names. The Paracel Islands are real; also known as Xisha Islands and Hoang Sa Archipelago, they are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. 

This story is also prophetic; the Japanese invade the Philippines for real in December 1941. Clearly, it was common knowledge as early as the beginning of 1940 what countries Japan would target next if they expanded their conquests beyond China.

Lastly, we have an unusual morality tale from usual artist George Tuska and, again, likely Eisner as auteur. The backstory you've missed is that Zanzibar followed this mobster onto a cruise ship, and the mobster said he was going to turn himself in, but instead he blows up the boat. The mobster is one of the people who survives and winds up in this lifeboat, and that's when Zanzibar teleports onboard (or maybe even just the Poof! spell if he was actually nearby in the water).

The ghost ship is seemingly a random wandering encounter, unless Zanzibar somehow summoned it to test the passengers. I'm skeptical of the latter, since the others are innocents and only one person deserves what happens.

Three undead skeletons turn up. Easy XP! Not so...these guys are not only tougher to kill, but if they kill you, they turn you into an undead skeleton! Do I need to toughen up the stats on skeletons? Or...are the skeletons just the physical manifestation of a powerful curse spell? It seems only Zanzibar knows!

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Mystery Men Comics #7 - pt. 3

We're back with Chen Chang and here Richard Kendall teaches us what a replacer is. Or at least he would be if my father wasn't an expert on trains. One look and he explained to me those are called derailers. But, yes...other than the name mistake, those are real things.

This is Lt. Drake of the Naval Intelligence, with examples of the dangers of shooting into a melee (uh-oh, shot your friend in the back!) and surprise rolls coming up in the Hero's favor (vs. guards, a mobstertype that is easily caught off-guard or easily overpowered in almost all instances).

Keeping someone submerged, as Drake does to the poor guard, is handled as a grappling roll; whoever has advantage forces the other one under. Three turns under in a row and it's save vs. science or drown each turn.

This is likely the first and last instance of a dead fish being used as a throwing weapon in a comic book.

This is Denny Scott of the Bengal Lancers. Torture never works on Heroes because they don't have to save vs. plot to resist giving out information like non-Hero characters would have to.

Putting your slaves to work along a river doesn't seem to be a good idea, especially in a comic book universe where water always acts as hard cover.

Moving on quickly, this page is from D-13, Secret Agent. Being dizzy and weak seem like complications from being low in hit points, but when it comes time to aim a gun steady enough to shoot through the heart, these "complications" don't seem to have any game mechanic effect on him and turn out to be merely flavor test.

This is from Captain Savage, Sea Rover and is an extremely rare example of a Hero succeeding by simply giving up and doing exactly what the bad guys tell him to do.

Nope, I'm calling you wrong on this one, comics.org. I know the art is credited to George Tuska, but there's no way that was inked by Tuska. A better artist, likely Bob Powell, inked over him on this one.

Anyway, Conjure Sand Storm seems like a pretty narrowly useful spell -- unless you plan on running a desert-based campaign. More likely this is Control Weather on display. You really do get a sense for how deadly Control Weather would be in the desert, though, as you can suffocate almost an entire caravan with it.

Melosh's next spell is Insatiable Thirst, a spell that wouldn't find its way into D&D until the 2nd edition book, Tome of Magic.

Melosh also has Polymorph Other and Protection from Normal Missiles in his spell arsenal. Pretty powerful for a guy who doesn't even own pants!

How Zanzibar casts Dispel Magic in his leopard form is unclear. Or the water has magical properties?

Having burnt through his higher level spells, Melosh is left with only Charm Person.

Zanzibar claims to have just won a "duel of wits", but it seems like what he did was cast Insatiable Thirst back on Melosh, then maybe used an Phantasmal Image spell to conceal the water hole. Then Z uses Dispel Magic on Audrey.

And in the end he gets to claim Melosh's Flying Carpet as a trophy! (Say...was Melosh wearing the carpet as a robe the whole time??)

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Mystery Men Comics #6 - pt. 3

This is Lt. Drake of the Naval Intelligence.  The grappling rules, as written, do not specify, but strongly imply, that both combatants have to be mobile and non-prone. In this case, I would give Drake a penalty of -4 to his attack roll and his opponent a +4 bonus to his save roll. With lucky rolls, Drake could still get this head lock.

The thug (there's that very common mobstertype again!) "sees Drake's shadow and wheels," meaning that Drake didn't manage to get a surprise action. The thug got to go first (this could have been the result of a dice roll-off, or the Editor making a common sense ruling that a missile weapon should go before an unarmed tackle).

The tackling attack -- a grappling attack, really -- caused a disarm (you automatically get that as a bonus when your opponent has a firearm).

Then Drake trades damage for pushing distance to get the thug knocked down the stairs. That's a sweet trade-off because he still gets some falling damage out of it, and it leaves the thug prone at the feet of the "black gang."

This is from Inspector Bancroft of Scotland Yard. We see the work of a sniper here, who are statted as assassins in 2nd edition.  The mobster entry will even mention how they always hit and kill non-Hero characters about to reveal crucial plot information.

I've never owned an umbrella made in 1940, so I can't say for certain, but I have this suspicion that there were no parts inside an umbrella sharp enough to cut rope. I'm also suspicious of how long the mobsters hung around before driving away, giving Bancroft so much time to get free and catch up to them. Still, an Editor who hadn't done a lot of planning on how to get the Hero from point A to point B might need to allow for this much leniency.

Speaking of leniency, it looks like either Bancroft got lucky on saves vs. science to keep from being thrown off the back of the car and vs. plot to keep from being spotted, or was given this as another freebie. Speaking of freebies -- that's exactly what the dropped bomb is, as there's no game mechanic for mobsters accidentally dropping trophy items while fleeing.

I'm amused by that ending. "I'll take care of the rest of your report. No reason to investigate me for reckless homicide. No reason at all!"

This is Secret Agent D-13. It's true, the British were not loved by the Egyptians, and understandably so; since the 1890s, Britain had been increasingly taking over the Egyptian government, cutting out self-representation of the ethnically indigenous population.

I'm much more skeptical of machine guns being able to be fired from camel-back. For one thing, the camels are just not going to like that, and I suspect the recoil from a machine gun might throw the camels off their feet.

This is Blue Beetle. I did eventually settle on what class to stat Blue Beetle as (for spoilers, see Supplement IV: Captains, Magicians, and Incredible Men), but this early in his career it was still hard to pin down what BB was, as it changed from issue to issue.  This page, with Blue Beetle playing along with being a ghost, makes me feel like he's using the Spook Bad Guys power, making him a superhero -- for at least this issue. 

This is Denny Scott and the Bengal Lancers. I've been wondering how I would stat a femme fatale differently from a vamp. This page makes me think that a Hero will always have to save vs. plot to go first against a femme fatale, even when you know she's a femme fatale.

This is Zanzibar.  It's weird how Zanzibar just happens to be there at the time of the crime, and it's unclear if this is just coincidence, or Zatara somehow mystically sensed this would happen. Perhaps he even just goes around town randomly casting Detect Evil on people and follows the ones he gets readings from...

At the bottom of the page, it seems Zanzibar has cast Poof!, although we don't see the poofing part. It also looks like, since Zanzibar is able to keep dodging around the room on the following page, that this could be our first evidence of the Blink spell being cast.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Mystery Men Comics #5 - pt. 5

As much as I'm repulsed by this Captain Denny Scott story, I have to say this tiger is a really impressive fighter. How many bullets has it taken, and it keeps on fighting? I think I'm going to have to revisit my tiger stats and up the HD and lower the morale save.

Zanzibar came a long way to find out if a rumor he'd heard about walrus men in Antarctica was true. Walrus Men look like cavemen, but with tusks, and apparently are immune to cold. As common as the "frozen caveman thawed in modern times" cliche is, maybe I should have always made cavemen immune to cold.

Zanzibar seems to be temporarily unconscious after taking a single arrow, proving that magic-users are right to have the smallest hit die of all the classes.

Apparently, Antarctica is unusually warm...

Zanzibar has a spell identical to the Turn Gun on Bad Guy/Turn Missiles power.

The monster looks like a giant lizard to me.  An odd thing to find on Antarctica, but so are nearly naked cavemen. It makes me wonder if this issue was remembered years later when Stan Lee created the Savage Land.

It's unclear what spell Zanzibar is casting on the lizard and the caveman chief -- it could be as simple as Poof!, a new spell that teleports an opponent a short distance away.

It seems odd that Zanzibar, with all his spells, has to run from the walrus men, but he must feel vulnerable with his hit points still being so low.

My first thought was that the "snow avalanche" was an Ice Storm spell, but this is Antarctica -- he doesn't need to create snow there. Maybe he cast Stone Shape to start the snow avalanche.

Really, Zanzibar? She almost suffered a fate worse than death from a walrus man this same day, and you think it's appropriate to hit on her?  *sighs*

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Mystery Men Comics #4 - pt. 3

Blue Beetle drops from a height of at least 15-20' onto the head of that hoodlum. So he's doing kick damage, plus transferring his falling damage, while the hoodlum is cushioning the fall for him so BB only takes half damage from the fall. Unless, of course, he's using a Leap I power here, but I think Blue Beetle is still a mysteryman, not a superhero, at this point.

It would appear that BB's flying tackle makes the gun miss, but the more accurate description, game mechanics-wise, is that they had simultaneous initiative, BB went for a grappling attack and hit, and the hoodlum shot and missed.

More specifically, Blue Beetle is tackling a gangster (now statted for 2nd edition) and a thug.

Although we don't see it happen, BB apparently lets the hoodlums go so they can return to their boss. Despite the fact that they failed, the master criminal still pays them. That's a good boss!

It's really unclear how BB got into the office and slipped his blue beetle calling card into each pay envelope, or why he would choose to do that and then leave the hoodlums for the police to deal with. Maybe BB was low on hit points after that jump from the roof...

This is Inspector Bancroft of Scotland Yard now. I'll be working on chase rules for Hideouts & Hoodlums as I get into part 3 of the 2nd ed. basic rules book. I'll have to remember to make them universally applicable -- for car chases, airplane races, and even swimming after each other.

And now we're on Secret Agent D-13. Note that your surprise action does not have to be attacking. Here, D-13 spends his surprise turn sneaking up into melee range.

Nice interior of a blimp. This is Bob Powell art, so I'm going to assume this was well-researched.

In Denny Scott of the Bengal Lancers, the civil war being referenced here might be the Second Waziristan Campaign. 

So, according to this, if you were the British in India in 1939, then drowning your enemies was a perfectly honorable military tactic. I'm almost concerned about how much TNT they have there -- is that 21 barrels of it? I would be afraid for the future of my campaign setting if some of my players got their hands on 21 barrels of TNT...

Most any hero can disguise himself, but Zanzibar uses a Phantasmal Image spell to make it appear that he's someone else's ghost.

Here, it seems Zanzibar uses an illusion spell, possibly another Phantasmal Image, to make Simone look like a skeleton, even to herself. Coupled with that, he might be using Hold Person to pin her to the chair so she can't move.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)

Mystery Men Comics #3 - pt. 2

The figure floating around in near-background-less panels here is Wing Turner, Air Detective. And if I seem too flip about the art, know that I am earnestly appreciative of the story details here. The pulling of the parachute cord to defeat an opponent and the intention of using the net to tangle the propeller are both good ideas -- and ones unsupported by any game mechanic in Hideouts & Hoodlums. But that's okay; when your player comes up with a clever way to win a fight quickly, sometimes you should just let it work without any dice rolls.

Maybe it's less okay when the Editor does this for himself, of course. Rather than working out ensnaring rules for non-human targets in every instance, one could just use a blanket save vs. plot or science (for the pilot, in this case).

Dan Garrett is revealed to be The Blue Beetle in this story. Here, the mysteryman punches a guy and knocks him back about 15'. And this isn't even a superhero. I have rules for pushing in combat in 2nd edition, but over time I may find my rules are too conservative as combat scenes gradually push this envelope.

This is Inspector Bancroft of Scotland Yard and this is at least the second time I've seen the "he can't talk because his tongue is cut out" cliche in comic books. And...as gross as it is, and I hate to do it to even my own mobsters as Editor -- I have to admit, it's an awfully good way to keep the Heroes from being able to question your bad guys and find out too much.

Now, Bancroft could have easily gone back to Scotland Yard and tried to enlist 20-odd policemen armed with shotguns for this raid, but he decided to go back in, unarmed, with one beat cop with a billy club as back-up. The Editor here could have had a hideout prepared full of well-armed mobsters with flak jackets, sub-machine guns, grenades -- the works -- and just stuck to his guns and killed off Bancroft. It could have been a lesson in playing smart for the future, but it wouldn't have been very fun. So a smart Editor pairs down the occupants, and limits their weapons to swords and knives, just enough to keep it challenging.

 Secret Agent D-13 is a perfect example here of one of the special abilities of the spy class (found in TTC v. 2 no. 5) that doesn't port over well to any other classes -- the ability to requisition trophy items (the seaplanes, in this case).  I guess, though, that this could be the result of a really positive encounter reaction roll, when first being given a mission.

I don't know what's going on here. Why is the radio in the wireless room hooked up to a huge dynamo? It's a radio, not a mad scientist's lab. And why is this radio able to knock out power to the whole rest of the ship? Is there no fuse box? Sometimes an Editor can go too easy on the player(s).

One nice thing about having your Heroes under orders -- they can't just commandeer captured submarines and sail off in them, unless you want them to have the sub. In this case, D-13 has to chose between a motor launch and riding around in somebody else's destroyer.

Also, 12-inch cannons are hugely dangerous in the hands of a superhero with lifting powers, so be careful putting them out there.

This is Zanzibar the Magician. He found this opium den, not by spell, but by smell -- exploring rooftops until he detected the odor from the building below.

The bad guy looks too non-threatening to be a Fu Manchu villain and is probably a Master Criminal at best.

The spell Zanzibar uses on the blowgun dart -- Protection from Missiles, with the bubbles as flavor text?

Is the hatchet turned into a snake an illusion? The spell descriptions are not crystal clear on the subject, but I believe an illusion spell could kill. That, or this is some Polymorph Weapon spell (such as we've seen Zatara cast many times already). The spell on the sword is some time of Shatter spell. Sanchoo (an absolutely terrible attempt at a Chinese name) is polymorphed into something frightening, but I don't think it's the spell that terrifies the mobsters as much as a missed morale save after all these spells.

2nd edition will be talking about magic-users casting spells and how they can do it with their hands tied.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Mystery Men Comics #2 - pt. 2

Richard Kendall is getting his butt kicked by Chen Chang's men, in part, because they have a +1 height advantage bonus to hit while on horseback.

I thought it was refreshing to see a Dragon Lady-like villainess here, not falling for the Hero ala Terry and the Pirates.

 The narrator says Richard "missed", but it appears that he tried to grapple, Chen got the upper hand, and flipped Richard instead. I've finally worked out what I think is a fairly elegant, one-table grappling system that would allow for those results within 1 turn.

Again I have to question the narrator; there is no real reason for Chen to "stumble", either game mechanics-wise or even visually explained in the story. More likely, Richard grabs Chen successfully this time and throws him so hard that he lands without his coat!

It does seem odd that stopping to open secret doors never gives Richard a chance to catch up during this chase through a hideout, but maybe Chen is making better skill checks to pick up speed in the long stretches (this is a new game mechanic from 2nd ed.!).

Wing Turner, Air Detective, executes a power dive to give him an advantage in this aerial dogfight. This is actually a good example of a stunt from 1st ed. that isn't translating well into 2nd ed's skill system. Aerial combat will probably need more complex rules that will have to wait for the Advanced Hideouts & Hoodlums game.

Normally I like Zanzibar the Magician, but this story is just plain loopy. When a famous statue goes missing, instead of looking for it...Zanzibar goes back in time to get the statue from the past? Way to mess with all of time and space, Zanzibar!  Not to mention that a time travel spell that lets one go back over 2,000 years is super high-level.

"Hey, I'm in ancient Greece! I might as well visit the most powerful of the Greek gods while I'm here!"

What interests me is the serpent dragon guarding Zeus' house.

We don't get to see what it can do because Zanzibar blows it up with a single spell on the next page, but the serpent dragon looks huge and must have had a good chunk of Hit Dice.

And then thinks get even wackier! Hercules is polymorphed into a bird. Zanzibar takes on Zeus in a wrestling match, and is winning. I'm having a very hard time believing these are the actual gods of myth, and not some guys using the same names.

Zeus doesn't appear to have been petrified into stone, so I'm guessing this is Hold Person. Zanzibar releases the manacles with a Knock spell. But then he...takes Venus (actually Aphrodite, if this is Greece) into the future...to replace the missing statue? Is she going to turn into a statue as soon as she reaches the future, to close up the time paradox Zanzibar is creating? Way to be a total jerk, Zanzibar!

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)