Fantastic Comics #2 - pt. 4

Welcome back! We're still on January 1940 and this is still Space Smith. Unlike many features, "Space" doesn't seem to be his nickname -- it's his actual first name!

The science is wacky here -- especially weird, being a Fletcher Hanks story. The effect of "long range power lights" is not altogether clear, but they seem to be holding Space's ship in place.

The same applies to "radio-phonic detectors." It's not just a radio, but some sort of eavesdropping device for listening across the vacuum of space. And how did the ogres hear Space's radio call? Do they have some sort of "radio-phonic detector" too?

And then there's "anti-Earth demolishing rays." How exactly are they anti-Earth? Would they not work against other planets?

Ray-resistant shielding is new. If your campaign has too many rayguns floating around in it, your players will want ray-resistors too.

Ramming with spaceships seems fraught with peril, but ogre's must be very confident in their own shielding. Vehicular ramming damage is something that can be found in the 2nd edition basic book's trophy-transportation section, and even for airborne flying objects the ramming damage can be extremely high. I can't imagine how much damage to assign to ramming with a spaceship.

Are the ogres flying without any aid? The demolisher guns can be fired by ogre-sized opponents as if handguns, and superheroes should be able to do the same regardless of size.

Quick-shrinker bombs can take a 10' tall ogre and reduce them to...not sure, but probably under 3' tall, or at least 70% shrinkage, with a corresponding loss in strength (and, I would presume, carrying capacity, and damage). Of course, I'm assuming Martian ogres are 10' tall; given how stocky they look, perhaps they are shorter.

This is the next story, Captain Kidd, and the real mystery here is, where is Morgia Island? This page says it is in the tropics, and the legend of bamboo torture comes from Asia. But where would you find an island in that area? The South China Sea? Well, maybe; there are over 250 islands there, but none of them are known for having gold...

What interests me far more is the design of that temple. Windowless, accessible only by a front door that is only accessible by going underwater, and vaguely shaped like a cubist elephant -- brilliant stuff!

I'm not sure how the hat keeps the gun dry, but maybe we do need a mechanic to see if guns still work once they're wet. 2 in 6 chance of not firing? Anything to discourage players from overly relying on firearms!

I like the idea of a large statue that works like a slot machine; tug the arm and out pops a whiskey bottle from where his kidney should be!

I like the detail of the grenades mounted on the wall -- thank goodness the natives never mistook them for torches!  It would also be a nice encounter for Heroes to walk into an occupied room, see grenades on the wall, and then whoever wins initiative has a chance to grab the grenades first.

Those gold ingots look pretty heavy, and gold was worth $34.50 an ounce back then.

Oh...so that's why you don't want your front door underwater. Actually, I think the real lesson here is to always have a secret escape route from your temple.

Not sure how Kidd knows the bad guy was called "The Voice," since only the narrator called him that up to this point. Maybe one of the natives told him.

This is from a short humor strip called Professor Fiend. People are out to get the Professor for inventing a raygun that fires (*ahem*) permanent waves and curls people's hair.

Shrinking in order to hide is actually a good tactic, if you have the magic or the science for it. A "normal" potion of shrinking (as found in the H&H basic book's trophy section) stops at shrinking you down to about 6" tall. Here, the Professor shrinks to one-quarter of an inch tall, pauses, and keeps shrinking to the size of an atom (not unlike some future superheroes!).

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Amazing Man Comics #8 - pt. 4

This is from Minimidget. Minimidget and Ritty are captured and taken to the island hideout of The Power. The Power uses wealth and influence to take over nations, and it is suggested that he already controls several behind the scenes. His hideout is outfitted with television-phones, as you can see here.

Minimidget barely does anything in this story; he carries the note from a captured scientist and then gets strapped to a bird, but the scientist could just as easily have strapped the message to the bird.

We do get to see what a sleeping bag harness for two tiny heroes would look like strapped to the back of a bird. Previously, I've stated that shrinking heroes don't need separate game mechanics, as their special ability at tiny size is usually being able to do whatever a full-grown person can do. There will be situations, though, like when the tiny hero wants to ride on the back of an eagle, where the Editor will still have to do a lot of hand-waving.

Assuming an eagle's average flying speed is 30 (30 MPH), and the eagle flies for two days before sighting land, The Power's island must be 1,440 miles from shore, or roughly the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

This is Brad Hardy, the really bad Dan Dixon clone. Here's a rare moment of gold and silver pieces occurring in a comic book setting.

I didn't bother including the previous page, but it had Brad being put on a quest to find fire, or at least the special fire that can rekindle their hollow world setting's mini-sun. The natives have been "getting by" on geothermal energy in the meanwhile, but they're doing just fine from what I see. Why not just just stick with the new energy source? One of the benefits of a long quest is that it buys you time to think up rationales for it before it's over, and if you're lucky your players will come up with an even better explanation for you.

The steam seems to cause them only discomfort; perhaps they have to miss a saving throw vs. science to take any damage from it.

The two-headed reptilis doesn't look too dangerous, since it has no claws and doesn't appear to even have teeth. It looks big and heavy -- maybe it flops on top of its victims and crushes them, then swallows them whole?

One thing the reptilis has going for it is a really low (low is good) Armor Class and resistance to heat and fire.

I'm unsure what a steam rifle is. Is it like an air rifle, firing a cartridge or bullet with steam pressure, or is it actually shooting a thin ray of steam? The former makes more sense, except for how the reptilis' heat resistance has anything to do with making it bulletproof. More likely, it has an AC of 4 or better simply because it's hide is so thick and rubbery.

Is Mighty Man not a superhero? Here he doesn't think he has a chance of wrecking through that steel door, like most any superhero would be able to do. Or maybe it's the sleep gas making him too woozy to wreck? That's a good example of combining challenges in a trap.

Here we see giants (10-12' tall) created by mad science (giants created by science must have only a 3 Intelligence). Giants can be encountered in groups of 1-10, apparently.

What is going on here? This is The Shark. Does he now have access to the power Teleport through Focus, like The Flame does? Or is he using some sort of projected image that appears to be coming out of the water? The ghostly look of The Shark makes me suspect the latter.

Here's a rather clever tactic, with The Shark sneaking into the hideout, finds the crooks are out, and before even gathering up evidence he takes all their weapons and disposes of them. When they return, they have no choice but to fight unarmed!

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)

Feature Comics #27

This issue is the debut of Dollman and, while I prefer The Flame from Lou Fine's ouevre, Dollman seems to be the one who lasted the longest.

Aqua regia is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid.

Dollman's ability to throw a syringe really far, relative to his size, is not so surprising if shrinking is only flavor text. Then Dollman's throwing range doesn't change at all.

It does seem like he's about to lose two supporting cast members here, though...

Wait, where did this idea that Dollman has the strength of 20 men come from?  Did they do some testing on him between the 2nd and 3rd panels?

Still...if he does have the strength of 20 men, then it sounds like he has access to the Get Tougher power already!

This is Reynolds of the Mounted and...man, that is one weird pillow! I don't think I will ever again see a pillow used in a trap, but placing radium ore inside it is devilishly weird and perfect for Hideouts & Hoodlums. I suppose there is a saving throw vs. science required every hour before the radium gives you amnesia?

This is Rance Keane, and here's an interesting fact: if you want to know if a mine has been played out, you can just call the U.S. State Department and they can tell you over the phone.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus.)