Into the Wilderness

I have the rudiments of an idea for a setting. A wilderness not unlike Middle-earth's Wilderlands, but also not unlike America's early frontier between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River--and at a 1820s level of technology. A place of dark forests, mighty rivers, skin-changers, and dragons, but also rivermen in keelboats, ancient mounds, and perhaps the skeletons of ancient giants. 

Not really the American Frontier any more than Middle-earth is Europe (and no need to tell me Tolkien intended it to be Eurasia in the distant past, please). No colonialism as we know it, though likely some clash of cultures and plenty of room for man's inhumanity to man, of course. Probably no demi-humans as usually constituted but maybe something with more Biblical resonance. After all, the Garden of Eden could be in Missouri.

Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1980 (wk 2, pt 1)

My goal: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands around August 28, 1980.

Action Comics #513: It feels like the late 90s idea of riffing off the Silver Age for a "Neo-Silver" approach, wasn't actually original to the 90s. This Wolfman/Swan story features the return of Superman Island, which was an island shaped like Superman that Superman had thrown into space for reasons he doesn't want publicly known. At the opening of the story, it's heading back to Earth! Two hoods know the secret, so Lois is trying to track them down to keep them from talking, but H.I.V.E. wants to know what they know. Turns out Superman Island has a core of Kryptonite. Luckily, a group of friendly aliens have made the island their home and use Kryptonite as an energy source, so they are eager not to let any of it get away. The aliens help Superman defeat H.I.V.E., then Superman gives the island a super-push toward a planet the aliens can settle on. In the Airwave backup, our young hero teams up with the Atom and his inexperience and lack of caution get them both in trouble.

Adventure Comics #477: DeMatteis and Orlando have a really desperate Aquaman going to the mayor of New Venice to get his help (how?) to find Mera. This seems particularly pointless since Aquaman had previously said he would help the Mayor find his brother and didn't, and the people of the city are upset due to his recent attacks on them while controlled by Poseidon. A little girl asks for Aquaman to help her cousin. Cal Durham whose a former henchman of Black Manta and now can only breath water. He tells him Manta is again up to no good. They go to check it out, but are captured. Manta and his crew of dissaffected and marginalized surface folk plan to attack Atlantis. Starman wasn't dead, but also his series wasn't ending (yet), just changing direction. Levitz and Ditko have him going through a number of almost Starlin Cosmic trials to rescue Mn'Torr. This is the best installment of this in a while. The Plastic Man story manages to work in roller-skating and disco, and swipes at 70s pop songs Pasko must have found annoying. Staton's art is up to the semi-comedic challenge as always.   

Brave & the Bold #168: Burkett and Aparo bring us a Team-Up with Batman and Green Arrow. This could be tricky, because Green Arrow can be seen as a low rent Batman with a more limited schtick, but by 1980, they have distinctive personalities. Green Arrow volunteers Batman to appear a charity benefit performance of escape artist Samson Citadel, a reformed criminal who Green Arrow took set on the straight and narrow. When crimes are committed requiring the skills of an escape artist, Citadel falls under suspicion. Batman investigates and discovers a hypnotist who has been mesmerizing folks to commit his crimes for him. Green Arrow confronts Citadel who he saw leaving the scene of a crime and realizes he's hypnotized. Ultimately, his appeal to his friend breaks the spell, while Batman escapes from a deathtrap in full Houdini style. In fact, the last page is Batman describing step by step how he made the escape. 

The backup story continues Nemesis quest for justice. Spiegle's art works well for the pulpier fair.

Detective Comics #496: The "dollar" days of this title are over, and it returns to being a normal-sized comic, meaning we only get a Batman lead story and a Batgirl backup. Fleisher and Newton bring back the Golden Age Clayface who has appeared since 1968 (in his single, previous "Earth-One" appearance). Batman drops in a Horror Film Exposition held aboard a luxury yacht belonging to actor/director John Carlinger. Batman seems familiar with and enthusiastic about Carlinger's films, which is a surprising bit of characterization. Anyway, when this event is televised in the psych hospital of Basil Karlo, the original Clayface, he's offended he wasn't invited. So offended he kills a nurse and two other people to sneak onboard and attempt to kill Carlinger. Meanwhile, we learn that Carlinger is in a dispute over money with his production partners. Then, Clayface show's up and starts trying to murder people--specifically those partners. After a tussle with Clayface, Batman realizes the truth and uses that knowledge to trick Clayface, who isn't Basil Karlo, after all. Fleisher delivers a nice (if simple) little mystery here worthy of the title "detective comics" and it's good to see Basil Karlo back.

The Batgirl story by Burkett and Delbo has her facing off with a Dr. Voodoo (no relation to Brother Voodoo, who is also a doctor) who is using music to put people into a trance state to do his biding. Batgirl does some good observation to figure this out, and use some sound equipment to break Voodoo's hold.

Green Lantern #134: Wolfman and Staton have Dr. Polaris thoroughly defeat Green Lantern. He takes the power ring and leaves Jordan in the Arctic. Jordan plans to make his way to a national geographic research station--on foot. This section portrays Hal Jordan as a badass, walking across the ice, battling a bear and a wolf, and going snowblind before reaching his destination in his torn uniform. (Wolfman supplies the idea that the Green Lantern costume, made for space, is protection against the cold to a degree to make this work.) When he's back in California, he seeks out his friend Tom Kalmaku for help, who seems to contemplating suicide due to work setbacks. Jordan slaps him around, and the two set out to somehow defeat Polaris. 

In the backup story by Sutton and Rodriquez, Adam Strange is being tortured by Kaskor and his men. Strange tricks them to make his escape, but the base is going to explode for some reason, and he only gets out via zeta beam. A beam that returns him to earth! 

House of Mystery #286: This issue is rougher than the last--and the last was not top shelf DC horror. Jameson and artists Hasen and Bulnandi take us to the distant future of 2023 where a cop gets a cybernetic arm following a vicious attack by a criminal, then gets obsessed with seeking revenge and makes himself judge, jury, and executioner--because he's got a mechanical arm, and he can! The punchline is he programs the arm to seek out evil and--wait for it--the hand strangles him! The next story is a perfunctory "mummies curse" yarn by Kelley and Patricio. One savvy archeologist figures out the mummy is degrading its ability to move with every attack, so he figures he'll let it get his colleagues first, then he'll be in the clear. He's almost right, but the mummy catches him on a pier. It isn't strong enough to finish him, but in their struggles, they tumble from the pier and the archeologist is hung on the bandages. 

The last story is kind of a Twilight Zone thing. A aging man in the 1890s, regretting he is in tough financial straits and never able to provide for his wife in high-style, crosses a bridge into a peculiar purple smoke and is transported back in time three decades. As a young man, he resolves to become rich, even if that means selling to both sides in the Civil War. The Confederates pay him off after a deal, but he has to flee the union forces and is shot crossing a bridge into that same magical fog. He collapses dead back in the 1899, and drops his much fought for sack of loot--which turns out to be Confederate money.

Talislanta Returns

The word on the Talislanta facebook page is that the setting will be returning (via Kickstarter) in a 5e compatible form. While I don't know that 5e is the optimal system for Talislanta, I'm glad to see it back and will definitely kickstart it. 

This announcement puts me in a mind to get back to the series I started in 2020 but never finished where I did an in-depth look at setting. Those posts can be found here.

Mysterious Trinkets

I realized we had a Land of Azurth 5e session weeks ago I didn't blog about. Here's the belated news from Azurth...

The party finally reached the eastern border of the Country of Virid. Immediately, the fae influence became apparent in the more fanciful foliage. As evening approached, they decided to seek lodging for the night in the town of Carabas, nestled at the feet of the Crooked Hills. It turned out there was a fair going on.

Our heroes joined the celebration and took part in various contests to win what the townsfolk call "trinkets." Erekose wins a dueling competition. Kully takes a storytelling prize. Shae won in dancing, showing off her Elven moves. Kairon managed to pull out a victory in kite-fighting. Dagmar, however, only succeeded in getting drunk in the drinking competition.

They still took the trinkets they were awarded, even after seeing a man with too many of them explode (the townsfolk didn't seem over-bothered by this). 

The party was confounded by the strange devices. Each was unique and their use was not obvious. Also, while the items appeared to have spell-like effects in some cases, they did not register as magical.

With no rooms available, the party rented a pavilion on the edge of the fair grounds near the hills. That night, after a strange, shared dream, they were attacked by sallow-skinned, nonhuman somnambulists with strange, branch-like, metallic golden growths out of their foreheads.

The party managed to kill a couple of the creatures and drive off the others, but they are left with the idea that the things were after the trinkets.

Savage Swords of Middle-earth: Magic

Re-reading those old posts got me thinking about the "Middle-earth in the style of Robert E. Howard" idea, and with some time to read in travel, I was thinking about the similarities and differences in Tolkien's and Howard's approaches to magic.  The comparisons are interesting, and I don't think they would be difficult to fuse to a degree.

Compared to modern fantasy literature or rpg fantasy, both the Hyborian Age and Middle-earth are decidedly what we might term "low magic," which is not to say there is little magic in them. In fact, both worlds are full of things we would consider magical in the real world sense. There are any number of specially wrought items and substances that in D&D would be "magic items." Magic-users are not necessarily less powerful either, but they tend to use magic less and in less flashy--and certainly less "zappy" ways--than the D&D standard.

In Howard, you could say spellcasters are thinner on the ground. In Tolkien, that's true to an even greater degree; there are only like 6 wizards! But that's ignoring the special (magical) abilities so many people seem to evidence: the abilities of elves and dwarves to craft magical items, Bard and other Men of Dale having the ability to speak with thrushes, etc.

In an unsent letter, Tolkien addressed magic in LotR, drawing a distinction between magia (physical magic) and goeteia (charms, enchantments). For elves and spirits both of these are entirely naturally parts of the world, it's only the mortal races that view them as magic. Tolkien notes there do not rely on spells or "lore," and that humans can't perform them. This letter was unsent, though, and this last part contradicts elements of published works. The Hobbit speaks of dwarves casting spells (though maybe this is just superstition on their part and doesn't work), and even in the margins of the letter Tolkien reminds himself about Numenoreans using spells in making swords.

While Howard has the trappings of classic Sword & Sorcery spellcraft with summoned demons and dark, magical tomes, there is also an element of the psychic to his portrayal. In "People of the Black Circle" it's implied that belief plays a role in susceptibility to magic, even when it seems to be manifesting as physical phenomena, and that a lot of it's effect is hypnotism. Both Thoth-Amon and Xaltotun seem to accomplish a lot merely by directing mental energy without spell or obvious ritual.

For a more Sword & Sorcery Middle-earth, it goes without saying that Morgoth and Sauron, at least, taught sorcery to mankind. Sorcery that arises from evil and risks corruptions fits in well with a Howardian vibe (though, as I've mentioned before, not all spellcasters in Howard are evil. Just most of them!) Also, I would also have evil magic-users (Sauron, Saruman, etc.) perform more magic and more visual magic than in LOTR as written, more along the lines of things we see in Hour of the Dragon--where interestingly, keeping a magic item of power out of the hands of an ancient, awakened evil out to conquer the world is the key to that evil's defeat.

Pulp Middle-earth

Listening to the audiobook of The Hobbit got me thinking about this couple of posts I did about giving Middle-earth the Robert E. Howard touch. I won't repost them in their entirety, as I did that last year, but you can read the first here and the second here.

Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1980 (wk 1, pt 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm continuing my look at the comics at newsstands on the week of August 14, 1980. 

Justice League of America #184: The second part of the JSA/JLA journey to Apokolips opens with a bang as the return of Darkseid from the dead is revealed. In time honored crossover fashion, the heroes have been divided into smaller groups to have their own adventures. Orion, Firestorm, and Power Girl discover the Injustice Society is behind this, but they prove unable to stop them. Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, and Oberon find and free Himon, when Superman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda bring some hope to the kids in Granny Goodness' school. Huntress, Mr, Miracle, and Batman discover Darkseid's sinister plan: to transport Apokolips into Earth-2's universe, destroying Earth-2 in the process!

A good story here from Conway. Perez's art under McLaughlin's inks is more "70s" looking in a way I probably can't define than in the Teen Titans, but still looks good.

New Teen Titans #1: This series looms large in DC's (and comic's in general) emergence from the Bronze Age, and it starts out feeling a bit different from many of the other comics this month at its start. Perez's art (perhaps aided by Tanghal) and layout seem more sophisticated here than in other places he's turned up at DC. Wolfman's story and characterization is "of the era" but doesn't seem of the DC 70s. In many ways, this is a "Marvel style" story with occasionally bickering characters with "issues." He packs a lot of story in this issue, too. 

A couple of things I noticed: for one, it's hard for me to buy the original Titans as still "teens." I know, comic time and all that, but Perez doesn't really make them look like teens, and Robin has been in college a while. That's only going to get worse, I know. The riff between Batman and Robin over Robin dropping out of college is created here. That hasn't shown up in Batman stories as yet (even one's written by Wolfman!) Also, Robin comments something to the effect that it's great to be in a team where he isn't second fiddle, but it's not like he's only been Batman's partner all this time. It feels like Wolfman wants you to ignore most everything that happened with Robin over the 70s. Continuity quibbles aside, it's a solid, if a bit overstuffed first issue.

Secrets of Haunted House #30: The first story here is weird, but I think the best of the three playing as it does (indirectly) off the fear of clowns. In the Middle Ages, a Court Jester rudely mocks a wizard who lays a course on him. Krokla is now unable to remove his make-up. Only death "at the hands of another" will bring him peace. He works as a clown down through the ages until a jealous circus co-worker, Marco, accidentally kills him in a confrontation. The two men exchange faces, and the other clowns think Krokla murdered Marco. They pursue him, and he falls off a cliff--then they all get Krokla's grease-painted face! In the next story by "Ms. Charlie Seegar" and Don Newton, a witch seeks to find a new body for her dead lover to inhabit. She finds a guy, but when she realized he's wearing a toupee, he just won't do. She marries a wealthy silver fox, but as she starts her ritual, the man calls out for his house keeper, who turns out to be a witch herself. The last tale by Kupperberg and Jodloman has kind of a Hitchcock Presents vibe. A projectionist and film buff wants to acquire the gun used in an obscure but celebrated suspense film, but it's in the hands of a rival. He tries to use a Russian Roulette trick just like the film to get it, but the other collector is on to him. When he calls him later as "a voice from the dead" the projectionist has a heart attack and dies.

Superman #353: Bates is back this issue for another of his very Silver Age stories. An alien keeps showing up and committing crimes, and Superman finds himself on an alien world just as these things are occurring, so it looks to the people of Metropolis like he has become a coward. In fact, the alien is just using his science to switch places. It seems his world has effectively wiped out crime and antisocial behavior with brain modification, but this guy is immune. Superman, in Silver Age fashion, has to use trickery to defeat a foe he never actually meets in person--and he improves their brain modification tech so this never happens again! The backup story by Rozakis and Swan is an imaginary tale of a infant Kal-El found on the outskirts of Gotham by beat cop, Jim Gordon, and raised by Thomas and Martha Wayne. Same basic concept as the 1993 Elseworlds, Superman: Speeding Bullets, but here the story is less tragic because young Bruce Wayne uses his powers to keep his parents from being murdered. 

Superman Family #204: In the lead story by Harris and Mortimer, Linda "Supergirl" Danvers returns to her job at the New Athens Experimental school. It has apparently gotten really experimental and hired "an expert in sorcery," June Moone. Suddenly, unnatural earthquakes start occurring, and Supergirl finds herself in conflict with the Enchantress, which I met originally in the 80s Suicide Squad, but first appeared in 1966 and hadn't been around much since. The Enchantress hasn't done a full heel turn yet, but she's looking to complete a ritual to give her power to defeat evil and doesn't care who gets harmed in the process. Supergirl kicks the moon slightly out of orbit to spoil her plans, then kicks it right back. With June Moone, the Enchantress, still around, it's not over...

Rozakis and Calman give us a very un-Marvel and certainly not "New DC" story: Clark Kent goes to the super-market for double coupon day for his elderly neighbor with limited mobility. We are "treated" to a number of overzealous shopper gags of the sort you saw in 80s daytime tv commercials and Superman foils a pickpocket. In the Bridwell/Schaffenberger "Mr. & Mrs. Superman" feature, Thunderbolt shows up to fill us in on what has happened to Johnny Thunder. It's very Silver Age-y as you might expect form those creators. Then we get into the modern (well, 70s TV style) action and suspension of Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, whose storylines appear about to interweave. Lois still doesn't have her full memory back but, dodging guys trying to kill her, she makes it to a memory expert who at least restores enough for her to remember who did this to her. She confronts the crooked deprogrammer, but his machinery catches fire, and Lois may not make it out alive! Jimmy is also on the run from dumb thugs, but he finally manages to figure out that politician, Al Diamond, is crooked. This one includes an escape from a car crusher. Most of this stuff is fine, but it clearly isn't what most comics fans were looking for in 1980.

Weird War Tales #93: The lead here is the first appearance of the Creature Commandos by deMatteis and Broderick. I really liked these characters as a kid, though this first yarn isn't great. The concept is solid: the U.S. Army decides to combine psychological warfare with covert action (not completely unlike Aldo Raine's speech in Inglourious Basterds), and creates a team of horrors. The problem is the script wants them to be supernatural creatures in a Universal horror mode, when their stated origins are different, and none of them have nailed down characterizations. Still, the promise is clear, and this isn't the last we'll see of them. 

Everything else in this issue pales in comparison. Kashdan and Denys Cowan give us the tale of the search for a superweapon in a neo-caveman post-apocalypse. That weapon is the wheel! Barr and Zamora deal with the U.S. internment of the Japanese Americans and have the sun itself punish a sadistic guard who's actually a spy for the Japanese. The last story, by Wessler and Alcazar, is a curious one, apparently affirming the superstitions of wartime pilots. All the pilots carry a "lucky charm," and a new kid (whose charm is a teddy bear) is a bit embarrassed by it and doesn't fully believe it. When his bear is getting patched up by a friendly nurse, one of his squad-mates doesn't want to let him fly, and punches him out. When the young pilot comes two, he rushes to join his squad, only to see his friend shot down--and his friends good luck charm, a death's head key medallion--hanging in his own plane.

Wonder Woman #273: Wonder Woman tangles with Angle Man in some sort of weird dimension, but mostly this issue is Conway establishing her new status quo in her secret identity. She also goes out on date with Steve Trevor as Wonder Woman. She just accessorizes her costume with a blue, Dracula-style cape, and they go to a disco. In the back-up story, Huntress is put in a golden cage by Solomon Grundy while Gotham's DA supports a crackdown on costumed vigilantes. Staton draws a neat Grundy, I think.