Thrilling Comics #3 - pt. 3

Well I'll be...I called this issue #2 in my last two posts, but it's been issue 3 I've been reviewing all this time! Sorry if I confused anyone.

It's been a long while since we last visited The Ghost, but you might recall he was tossing around Wish-level spells all over before the scenario even got started. Now that he has mobsters to fight, we get - Knock, Mirror Images, and throwing a dagger instead of casting a spell. Wow, this is what a mid-level magic-user looks like!

In my current Hideouts & Hoodlums campaign, we just had a long scene of the Heroes mixing it up with police in a precinct house, so it's interesting to see how quickly The Ghost is able to muscle his way in to see the ...Captain? Commissioner? - after just levitating a beat cop out of his way.

That is a strange spell that gets cast mid-page. It's not a Phantasmal Image because The Ghost doesn't know what the spell will reveal. It seems closer to Object Reading, the psionic power. It's also unusual to have a golden age Hero's initial hunch turn out to be wrong.

Now this is interesting! Only some magic-users have ever shown Achilles Heels - like needing to be holding their wand, or needing the use of their hands - The Ghost has to be facing you.

Wall of Force stops the car. 

It's interesting how The Ghost only sometimes bothers to use his "ghost" look and other times just walks around like a normal guy. I wonder how he decides...?

I also wonder -- is that chair a Chair of Scrying, like a comfy Crystal Ball?

The Ghost uses Levitate to save himself from bullets. I find it so refreshing to see so many 2nd-level spells getting used!

Hypnotism, or Charm Person spell? 

We don't know exactly how many hit points The Ghost has, but a surprise head blow can take him out.

The Ghost casts Wizard Eye through the door.

I like the details of that trap; it's a trap that, if you play it just right, helps the Heroes free themselves from it. Of course, you need to have Heroes weak enough not to be able to break rope...

Normally, in a Hideouts & Hoodlums campaign, exploring an entire hideout from cellar to roof could take multiple play sessions; here, we see it come to pass in a single caption. It's rather remarkable, I think, that the only clue he finds in the whole building are the pigeons on the roof. I wonder how many "secret door" rolls he failed on his way though the house...

I'm not sure what to make out of a spell that makes pigeons leave flaming trails. Some sort of Feed Jalapenos to Birds spell? Or perhaps this is just a generous interpretation of the Find the Path spell?

I believe I already have a Detect Lie spell in my game (or should if I don't). Is there any difference between Detect Lie and Speak Only Truth?

Out of all the spells in The Ghost's repertoire, what impresses this guy is the Change Self spell. 

I've never heard of a trick gun like that, but now I think it should be a minor trophy item. 

When did The Ghost cast that spell, turning the bullets to vapor? While writing the suicide note? After grabbing the gun away? As the bullets are being shot? Possibly the first two options, if the spell was cast off-panel, but it's hard to believe Tanko didn't notice. I think he could realistically have cast it at the beginning of the melee turn before being grappled by Tanko.  

Also...Tanko? That's an African name. Is it a nickname here? 

Ignoring the panel where the lights go out, but we can see everything...there are some strange reactions to magic in this story. Like, the phantasmal faces trick the chief into confessing...instead of just running away?

Was the matchbox ever admissible evidence? I bet it's not now, since a roomful of witnesses saw this appear out of nowhere. How do you prove it's the same matchbox? 

Moving on...I'm more amused than anything else by this page of the next story. For one, the "Three Comrades" are hanging out in what appears to be a middle class German restaurant, and the two German spies dressed up for a fancy nightclub aren't attracting any attention to themselves. What amuses me even more is how much Books looks like Peter Parker.

At least Cal thought the spies were suspicious. You can always count on Non-Heroes controlled by the Editor to fail to notice anything suspicious about a name like Baron Von Sneer, even though that just screams "comic book villain!" to the rest of us. 

Wow...you can also always count on European villains to have castle hideouts, even when just visiting the U.S. The caption calls it a mansion, but I know a castle when I see one...

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)

 

All-American Comics #12 - pt. 2

In Popsicle Pete, the Typical American Boy, Pete and his pals go in search of a pot of gold and find, coincidentally, $10,000 in gold bullion hidden by mobsters in a hidden stewpot. That's good news for Pete, but an interesting challenge for Pete's Editor, who just gave away enough XP to level up four half-pint fighters between the ages of 3 and 10 (provided they are all classed, of course; Supporting Cast Members do not all have to have a class and are simply noncombatants if they don't).

In Gary Concord, the Ultra-Man, Gary and his sidekick Guppy are placed in a prison more villains should consider; a completely transparent one that his guards can constantly watch and hear him through. The weakness in this approach, of course, is the guards themselves, and Gary is able to convince one into switching sides with a lucky encounter reaction roll.

This feature has the unusual distinction of being the first time in comics history the term "bunghole" has been used in print. It's unclear if the term is being used in its original meaning, an aperture through which a cask can be filled or emptied, or its slang meaning. It does appears that Guppy is about to flip off his guards right afterwards, though.

A lot of downtime happens in the last few pages. During it, Tor's forces conquer one-quarter of the United States. Gary has been busy leading the effort to counterattack on two fronts: first, a wave of thousands of atomic-powered plastic stealth ships armed with anti-metal rays (they are not called plastic, but made of "synthetics") to take on Tor's air force directly, and then a series of intercontinental ballistic missiles filled with sleep-inducing foam to be aimed at Tor's home country. Next issue we'll find out if all that works. My question is, if they had the resources for all this, why was the initial defense of the country apparently limited to conventional anti-aircraft guns?

(Read at readcomiconline.to)

Prize Comics #1 - pt. 3

Today we start with the third feature, Jupiter the Master Magician. He's our second alien magic-user after Magician from Mars (in fact, the inspiration should be obvious).

Is Jupiter using magic words, or just talking in his native tongue?

Since Jupiter is "sent" to Earth, we don't have to speculate about what spell he used to cover   628,743,036 km. Perhaps it is some super-teleporter that his people have back at home. 

That Jupiter is "in his visible form" means that people from Jupiter are naturally invisible. This does not conform to the alien race available to players...but then, we never see him invisible, so perhaps this is just flavor text.

It's hard to blame this passerby for being suspicious. For one thing, your name being the same as the planet you're from is just plain weird, like being an Earth magician called Earth. Weirder still are those antennae that look like tiny pencils on his forehead.

---

Jupiter appears to be using a Telekinesis spell to move about 400 tons of railroad cars -- which is way, way beyond what the Telekinesis spell can currently move in Hideouts & Hoodlums. We might need some new variations of Telekinesis, like:

Telekinesis I (1st-level spell): Can move 30 lbs.

Telekinesis II: (2nd-level spell): Can move 300 lbs. 

Telekinesis III (3rd-level spell): Can move 1 ton.

Telekinesis IV: Can move 6 tons.

Telekinesis V: Can move 50 tons.

Telekinesis VI: Can move 400 tons.

This goes a long way towards balancing out spells to powers, with powers currently being much more powerful. However...I'm not comfortable enough with this yet to make it official.

Of course, this also means Jupiter has a whopping 11 brevet ranks.

The super-fast flying that takes place between panels 3 and 4 could just be Teleport.

Jupiter either has a Crystal Ball as a magic item, or this is flavor text accompanying the use of a Clairvoyance spell.

As uncomfortable as I am with Telekinesis being as powerful as I made it above, I'm about equally uncomfortable with the caster not needing line-of-sight with what he's mentally moving.

*Sigh* Am I going to need a new spell called Crack Mountain? Actually, the 7th level spell Earthquake might account for this geological behavior, but that still puts Jupiter in Stardust territory for being ridiculously overpowered.

It amazes me that a mob boss can hear that Jupiter split a mountain in half, and then is ballsy enough to think siccing three hit men on Jupiter is going to be sufficient to deal with him. I'm not saying Golden Age mobsters are all dumb, but they are incredibly naive about the risks they are dealing with.

How to determine when torture is effective? Jim Johnson could get a save vs. science to resist the pain of the foot toasting, but if he's supporting cast and no Hero is present, I would probably just wing the results.

This time, Jupiter seems to be scrying through a real Crystal Ball, as the Clairvoyance spell would not let him find a person far away like that.

There's so much wrong with this -- is Jupiter sure he has the right address? Is he sure no innocents live -- lived -- in that building?

Mechanics-wise, he's either cast Earthquake again, or...perhaps like Stardust, Jupiter needs to be statted as a Magic-User/Superhero and has used wrecking things on the building.

So, when someone says invisible in this story, what they really mean is intangible. This makes me think we should stat Jupiter as a ghost instead of an alien.








Wall of Steel isn't a far cry from the 5th level spell we already have, Wall of Iron.

That is one strange-looking emergency chute -- is it lined with copper wire? Also, where was it? Behind a secret door?


Jupiter makes some cryptic comments about Jim being able to learn magic someday. The H&H rules deal with sharing XP with your Supporting Cast when they have a Hero class, but what if they don't? The rules don't deal with how long it takes to become a classed character, and this is entirely left to the discretion of the Editor. Unless future issues actually show Jim learning magic, we don't even have an example of this yet to emulate with the rules. 





It's completely unclear what spell Jupiter casts that makes them lose control of their car. What is clear is that Jupiter can casts spells through the Crystal Ball, making that one very powerful Crystal Ball.

Lastly, for today, we're going to take a peek at the next story, Jaxon of the Jungle, by Tarpe Mills.

Let's discuss what a "portable wireless set" would be in 1940. It looks pretty clear from the picture that it is a wireless telegraph, and that tech has been around since 1830. Wireless radio has been around since 1900. 

It's interesting reverse psychology to have a non-Hero character try to stop your Heroes from pursuing the scenario at gunpoint. It might make them all the more determined to finish the scenario -- or they might just beat up this first guy and think they're done!

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)