Mothership Adventure Inspiration from the Pulps

The varied worlds appearing in the short fiction of science fiction magazines in the 30s through the 50s have a lot to offer any of the recent sci-fi horror games. Few of these stories are actually horror, but elements of them can easily be viewed through a horror lens. Here are few examples:

"Immortals of Mercury" (1932) by Clark Ashton Smith. Explorers on a tidally locked Mercury have to deal with resentful indigenous people, one a known, primitive, group, and another an advanced subterranean species that would like to wipe humanity off the planet. In many ways, this story is in large part of dungeon-crawl, but the basic set-up could be played all kinds of ways.

"Salvage in Space" (1933) by Jack Williamson. This one is reminiscent of Alien. A down-on-his-luck asteroid prospector finds a derelict ship floating in the Belt and attempts to salvage it. The ship is loaded with jewels, but also taxidermied alien monsters. The crew have all apparently been killed by violence, but the bodies are gone. It turns out the ship had carried an expedition to the Titania, the moon of Uranus, which is covered with "unearthly forests sheltering strange and monstrous life." The miner must discover what happened and find a way to survive the danger still stalking the ship. 

"Parasite Planet" (1935) by Stanley Weinbaum. Weinbaum's Venus is probably the most "ready to be used for horror" setting that isn't already already a horror setting in science fiction. This is how it's described in this story:

A thousand different species, but all the same in one respect; each of them was all appetite. In common with most Venusian beings, they had a multiplicity of both legs and mouths; in fact some of them were little more than blobs of skin split into dozens of hungry mouths, and crawling on a hundred spidery legs. 

All life on Venus is more or less parasitic. Even the plants that draw their nourishment directly from soil and air have also the ability to absorb and digest—and, often enough, to trap—animal food. So fierce is the competition on that humid strip of land between the fire and the ice that one who has never seen it must fail even to imagine it.

Humans have to wear full body suits with respirators least mold spores get into their bodies. And if all that isn't enough it's terrifically hot and humid. "Prospectors" come to Venus to get rich acquiring native plant life with pharmaceutical value.

"Love Among the Robots" (1946) by Emmett McDowell. As the title suggests, this story is light in the way it plays out, but absent the "meet cute" there's an isolated asteroid mining operations with a small human crew testing learning and adapting robots, where the robots begin to gain a bit too much freewill. If it can't be gotten under control, the company will nuke the asteroid.

Adventuring on Mongo

 

I've often thought that Mongo would be a good setting (or at least good close inspiration) for a D&D setting. Ditch Flash Gordon and visitors from Earth, and (for maximum ease), replace comic derived cultures with analogous D&D "races"/cultures: So the Magic Men of Azura's subterranean kingdom become drow, and maybe the half-orc gets reskinned as Lion Men.

That could certainly work, but this guy went an adapted the most recent Flash Gordon rpg to 5e, so if you want to play in the "real thing" you can.

Wednesday Comics: DC, July 1981 (wk 2 pt 2)

My goal: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands around April 23, 1981. 

Detective Comics #504: Conway and Newton present "The Joker's Rumpus Room Revenge." The Joker has escaped from prison and has gotten a number of deadly toys from a toymaker to set a trap for Batman. The Dark Knight predictably, overcomes the Joker's machinations. 

The backup is a Tales of Gotham City story by Kupperberg and Delbo/Giella where Gordon finds out the son of an old friend is actually a dirty cop. I like that this story goes against the mold, because a stern talking to by Gordon doesn't turn the kid around, instead he tries to run out on Gordon and dies of his own incompetence.

New Adventures of Superboy #19: Bates and Schaffenberger reveal that, before adopting Kal-El, the Kents took in a juvenile delinquent, Cory Renwald, and attempted to reformed him into a model citizen. They never knew if they succeeded, but years later, Renwald and 2 Soviet agents cross paths with Clark and Jonathan on a camping trip--and Renwald shoots them both with a poison dart. All is not as it seems, of course, as Cory is revealed to be a U.S. agent in deep cover pretending to work for the Russians. He switched out the darts so Jonathan was only sleeping. Superboy nabs the spies. The Kents find out they did right with the kid in the end. The Rozakis/Calnan Superbaby backup is Easter themed and features young Clark naively thwarting jewel thieves at a Easter egg hunt.

Sgt. Rock #354: Kanigher and Redondo give the first Sgt. Rock story I've read with a hint of the supernatural. Something is stalking both U.S. and German troops as both sides try to get to a noble in an isolated castle. Was he a werewolf? We never find out. The next story is a grotty, post-apocalyptic yarn by Tim Truman where the last human is killed by a mutant sniper leaving the earth to the robot soldiers and the mutants. 

There's an uncredited short about the introduction of the flamethrower, then Kanigher and Mandrake serve up a short about the merciless tick of the watch and death in the trenches of World War I. In another uncredited story, a G.I. in Vietnam loses his life and his Stones tape to the VC as he writes a letter to his mother. The "Men of Easy" feature has Tag-A-Long Thomas learning the value of sticking close to Rock.

Super Friends #46: The team the Justice League up with the Global Guardians to free villains captured by the mysterious Conqueror continues. When that's done they confront the Conqueror himself and defeat him with the help of Dr. Mist.

The Seraph backup by Oksner has the Israeli hero taking on the ghost of a Roman soldier at the site of Masada.

Superman Family #208: Harris gives the title a shake-up by having Linda quit the New Athens Experimental School after getting insulted by her boss and head of to New York City to become a soap opera actress. Supergirl precedes her to New York to establish her presence so as not to have them both arriving at the same time. She foils an Middle Eastern coded terrorist. Bridwell and Schaffenberger have Clark and Lois on a plane to Europe that gets hijacked to Zrfff by the Mr. Mxyztplk of Earth-Two. The imp lets it slip he can't stand anything that reminds him of Superman, so Supes causes images of himself to appear everywhere and drive Mxyztplk crazy until he sends everyone home.

In the Private Life of Clark Kent story, we find out Edge is a big fan of a 50s sci-fi show and was a collector of memorabilia as a kid (and also that he anglicized his name and is probably Jewish). Edge tries to by a branded clock he never got in his childhood, but an old childhood friend (and rival) tries to steal it. In a another somewhat humorous Lois Lane story by Conway and Oksner, Lois stumbles upon what she thinks is "another Abscam" but it turns out to be an FBI sting against some Middle Eastern types, that Lois almost spoils. Conway and Tuska have Jimmy stumbling unto an actual story when he tries to impress Edge's niece and her college friends after she denigrates his skills as a reporter.

Unexpected #211: Barr and von Eedon/Breeding start a new Johnny Peril storyline where Johnny returns to his office and finds a mysterious woman going through his mail, who pretty much disappears before his eyes. He's hired to guard a necklace called The Angel's Smile--and he sees a painting of a 19th century actress that's the spitting image of the woman he saw earlier. That night thieves with a knockout gas try to steal the necklace, but Johnny is ready. What he isn't ready for his the reappearance of the woman, who steals the necklace and his gun, shoots the guy who hired him, then disappears.

The other stories this issue are less interesting. Wessler and Sparling/Colletta have a Southern fried crime boss failing to keep a promise to Death to not kill anyone. Drake and Mortimer/DeMulder have a son run afoul of a real stickler of a funeral home owner who refuses to bury the man's parents side by side because his mother committed suicide, so the father rises from the grave to get revenge. Finally, Kashdan and Nicholas/Colletta give us the well worn trope of a spaceship crew being used as lab rats by advanced aliens.

Green Lantern #142: Wolfman's and Staton's Omega Men introduction continues. Jordan and Ferris are captured by the Omega Men, which gives Kalista time to provide the secret origin of the Omega Men. Their escape from the Citadel was secured by the sacrifice of Lambien, a god-like energy being. They made it to Earth with the Citadel on their heels. Jordan convinces them to let him help, just as the Citadel attacks.

In the Adam Strange backup by Sutton and Rodriquez, Strange escapes his ice cage in the city of Kryys and saves Alanna. When he once again refuses to unite with Alva Xar, the dictator from the past turns Alanna into crystal and shatters her, then sends and enraged Strange back to Earth with an Anti-Zeta-Beam. It's a shame these backups have never been collected, so as I know.

Warlord #47:  Read more about it here. The OMAC backup has our hero saving the city of Marseille from a runaway giant protozoa. I'm not even completely sure why that's happening to be honest, and I think this arc his finished, so I have no desire to refresh myself on earlier installments.

Zephyrus to the Rescue

Our Land of Azurth 5e game continued last night with the party trying to find a way to free Queen Desira of Virid from the influence of the shadow man. They have no magic with which to uncharm her and it doesn't seem reason alone will do it. Not wanting to fight the shadow man and his magic-using victim, the party retreats to the castle to seek the advice of Glafko.

Glafko is not particularly helpful, offering to write a strongly worded missive to his Queen making the party's points forcefully. Just as they are about to return to the garden folly and resort to violence, Glafko suggests the crystal winged horse Zephyrus might be helpful. He has freed her from magical influence before. The majordomo summons the crystal horse and he agrees to help.

Back in the garden, the shadow man isn't pleased when he sees Zephyrus, but contact with horse does the trick and Desira falls unconscious. Then, the fight breaks out with Erekose whipping out the ray pistol he got from the future, and blasting the shadow several times. Kully forces the shadow to retreat further with dissonant whispers, but that may not have been the best move, because then he's hidden in the deeper shadows of the garden.

Black tentacles erupt from the ground and grab Waylon and Erekose. Dagmar casts a light spell and reveals the shadow, and Shade puts two magic arrows in him. The shadow disappears. It's unclear whether he is dead or he just fled, but they can't find him anywhere and the tentacles are gone.

They return to the palace and find the Queen is still sleeping. They establish a watch, using Celestie (Waylon's owl familiar) as a window guard. 

During the night, Desira awakens and summons the party via Celestie. She appears to be her normal self again (as much as they can determine that). She listens to what they have to say with interest, particularly when she shows them the Triumph of the Wizard of Azurth volume. She tells them she believes the book to possibly be connected the the Pleasure Dome of Yai--or at least she believes that is where they are likely to find out about it.

To make her point, she has Zephyrus bring out a device. 

And produces a thin black box and puts it in the machine. He makes images of a play where actors appear to be portraying them appear! Desira says she got this from a demon who said it was from Yai and called it a "bootleg." The party is intrigued, to say the least.

The party stays the night and samples the local cuisine in at the Silver Unicorn Inn. In the morning, Desira sees them off, offering to take them to the entrance to Subazurth so they can pass through the kingdom of her friend Prince Gheode, ruler of the earth elemental fae (kobolds or gnomes they are called), which she believes will ultimately be the safest way to the Noxian northern border.

The Belt

The Asteroid Belt between the orbits of Marva and Wanaxar is the remnant of an ancient, inhabited world shattered in some cataclysm. The nature of calamity is unknown, though an encounter with contraterrene matter is a possibility.

The mineral wealth of the asteroid belt has drawn prospectors from all over the System and the fragmentary remains of the progenitor planet's civilization have drawn scientists and researchers. Despite these visitors, the Belt remains a relatively lawless frontier. Zerene, the largest of the worldlets in the Belt, is famed as the raucous port of pirates and smugglers.

Art by Jordu Schell

A particularly rapacious group of outlaws are the mysterious Gith. A species of folk seemingly native to the Belt, these marauders are fearsome in appearance: skeletally thin, with parchment yellow skin, and emaciated, corpse-like faces. The Gith. seemingly materialize from nowhere, gutting ships and taking no prisoners, then vanish--sometimes while still in the scopes of pursuers.

There are rumors of a related group of beings, the so-called adepts of asteroids, who tend to remain hidden. They are less aggressive, but not much more friendly to outsiders.

It has been suggested that the Gith races are the descendants of the people of the lost progenitor world, but the iconography of large-craniumed, tentacle-mouthed beings found in the ruins on some asteroids is puzzling, if that's true.

Pulp Inspirations: Uranus from Captain Future

Uranus figures prominently in the Captain Future story The Magician of Mars published in 1941. Here are some details on Hamilton's version of Uranus, which is not at all scientifically accurate, but very useful for gaming inspiration. Quotes are provided from the issue of the pulp magazine.

Geography

• Mountains are Uranus's best known feature.
• Mystery Mountains: "And there is one colossal range in the northern hemisphere, called the Mystery Mountains, which have an altitude of at least twenty miles and possibly much more."
• "The Mystery Mountains’ eternally cloud-wrapped upper heights have never been explored. It is believed that strange creatures inhabit those lofty hidden heights, since occasionally men have found grotesque bodies floating down the North River that flows from those mountains toward the Polar Sea."
• Meteor Peak: "In the wilds south of Losor is the remarkable mountain called Meteor Peak. It is not a natural mountain like the other peaks of Uranus, but is in fact a huge meteor which fell there in times past and half -buried itself in the ground. Because of its unique metallic nature the meteor did not shatter, and still rises from the wilds as a great, dome-like mass of metal. It has sometimes been used as a quarry for certain metals, but that has now been prohibited."
• Valley of Voices: "...in the Valley of Voices, sheets of a talc-like material exuded from the cliffs seem to have the power of recording in some way any sound vibrations which fall upon them. These queer talc-sheets, whenever the wind strikes them, give forth all the sounds they have “recorded.” The result is that in the Valley of Voices one can still clearly hear sounds and human voices which are echoing after thousands of years."
• Endless River: "It was a foaming river that roared ceaselessly around the planet in the titanic canyon it had eroded for itself, its current being the result of tidal pull of the four moons."
• Shining Sea: "It is a sea whose waters are so impregnated with radioactive material from deposits in its bed that it glows at night like a great lake of light. The Uranian city of Lulanee is built on the shores of the Shining Sea, and is considered by inter- planetary travelers to possess one of the most beautiful settings of any city in the System."
• The Great Caves: "Beneath the surface of the planet is a natural wonder almost as great as the mountains, the great caves of Uranus. The interior of the planet is honeycombed by a labyrinth of caverns unmatched anywhere else in the System...Men have explored some of the upper caverns. There is a tiny amount of light in them, emitted from the radioactive minerals in which Uranus is rich. And there is a whole range of life-forms that exist in the caverns and never emerge into the sunlight."

Lifeforms

• Floating Flowers: "Perhaps the most distinctive plant-life of Uranus are its Floating Flowers — flowers that drift in the air by means of sacs into which pure hydrogen is exuded, and whose trailing air-roots supply them with water and nutrition from the air."
• "The animal life of Uranus is abundant, and comprises many of the most ferocious carnivores in the System."
• Cliff Apes: "are the most dreaded, being not really apes but huge bear-like animals whose six limbs are adapted for clambering over the sheer precipices."
• Cloud Cats: "haunt the cloud-wrapped up- per heights of the peaks, and stalk their prey in the eternal mists."
• Thunder-hawk: "has vast wings which can shadow a whole village and can carry off huge beasts in its claws."
• Harpies: "Their human-like appearance is mere accident, and they are in no way as intelligent as the Qualus, the famous winged men of north Saturn."
• Uranians: "have yellow skins, dark hair, and small, dark eyes." 
• "they are perhaps the most conservative and tradition-ridden people in all the nine worlds. They revere custom, and practice a suave courtesy that most people find rather wearying."
• "they are perhaps the most skilled miners in the System, due to their long acquairitance with the underground labyrinth of their world."
• People of Darkness: "humans of a primitive kind who dwell in the caves and are known as the People of Darkness. They are presumed to be descendants of Uranian stock who ages ago went down into the caves and developed eyesight capable of seeing well there. These People of Dark- ness never appear on the surface. Intense light dazzles them."

Wednesday Comics: DC, July 1981 (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 April 23, 1981.

Action Comics #521: Conway and Oksner had pitched Vixen (which is her official name here, but she's called Lady Fox more often this issue) for the DC Explosion, but that was not to be. She is introduced here, stealing a truck load of furs belonging to Mordecai Mule. Superman views her as a criminal at first, but Lois and Clark discover that Mule is dealing in illegal furs, so instigates an elephant herd to stampede, hopping to kill them. Superman and Vixen  team up to stop them, then Vixen apprehends Mule.

In the Aquaman backup by Rozakis and Saviuk, Aquaman is practicing his fish telepathy because he's envious of Hawkman's ability to talk to birds, because Aquaman can only send thoughts, not hold a conversation. This dubious premise laid out, Aquaman soon discovers a gelatinous sea creature with the power to shrink. He calls in the Atom, who's the only shrinking expert he knows. Ultimately, they discover the creature changes size in response to threats and Aquaman's telepathy frightened it. I bet that never happened to Hawkman.

Adventure Comics #483: The first story here is the most interesting for it's world-building. The villain is the Games-Master who uses various game themed gadgets. We are told he was a former hitman for the Joker and his lieutenant also is a former member of the Joker's gang. He's unusually stiff opposition for the Dial H kids--or maybe their just off their game. The rest of the issue they have a tough time with a big game poacher in a furry outfit called the Wildebeest. The kids dial up their first superhero duo with Black and White. In a subplot, the parents of the kid whose always antagonizing Chris are getting divorced, so he starts ditching school and falls in with a street gang like out of a 60s tv show.

Brave & the Bold #176: Batman teams up with Swamp Thing in a story by Aparo and future Saga of the Swamp Thing writer, Martin Pasko. Selina Kyle asks Batman to help save the life of her sister (who knew she had a sister?) who is going to be killed in the Louisiana prison she's in by former criminal associates. Batman gets there too late, and Felicia has already escaped into the swamps, but she's being pursued by hired killers. She's killed, but Swamp Thing mistakes her for his wife Linda and attacks the killers. The killers escape, but Batman and the Swamp Thing team up (after the required initial confusion and conflict) to track down the killers and bring them to justice. The lack of success in saving Felicia makes them story a bit more the ending more downbeat that typical.

Madame Xanadu #1: This was DC's first comic exclusive to the direct market, and their second publication to not be available on the newsstand. It's pretty much like an issue of her cancelled 70's title Doorway to Nightmare. In the main story by Englehart and Rogers, Madame Xanadu deals with two difficult visitors. The first is a drug addict that tries to rob her, but she convinces him to go to treatment. Then, a woman shows up with a book of spells wanting to learn witchcraft. Xanadu refuses to teach her and tries to warn her off, but the woman storms out and runs into the addict and they have an instant attraction. Next Xanadu sees them, they're swingers living together with drugs and magic. They throw a big party and the night of debauchery culminates with the demons Ishtar and Tammuz being summoned, but Xanadu reveals her presence. She appeals to the couple's sweeter, more tender side and the two break the spell. The guy gets clean and the woman swears off magic.

The other story reminds me a bit of The Martian Chronicles. It's by DeMatteis and Bolland. A native of an alien world takes an injured human from a spaceship crash into his home. His wife, who seems ill herself, demands he kill the human, blaming him for the deaths of her friends and children. The alien uses his powers to heal the human and sees into his mind at the same time. Including the desperate search for resources that drove humans to strip the resources of other worlds (like this one). This man, however, tried to stop the other humans and was an outcast because of it. The alien's wife believes he is being deceived and again demands he kill the human before succumbing to her illness. The alien considering that humans killed his wife too in a way looks at the unconscious man with anger. Later, other humans come looking him. The alien and his wife tell them the man Turner has died. They go away laughing that he won't get his back pay. The alien drops the illusion. He and Turner are left alive.  The alien comments on the disease of hate, and the two go together to bury his wife.

These two stories are above average for anthologies of the period. Maybe they felt they could stretch a bit more in the direct market?

House of Mystery #294: Kaluta's cover is more intriguing than the stories, per usual. The first story by Conway and Infantino/Beatty is about wealthy financer Craig who is completely afraid of the dark since he stole a charm from a voodoo practitioner in Haiti as a boy and felt the presence of something in the darkness. When the power goes out in his home, taking all his lights with it, Craig panics and has a heart attack. It turns out his subordinate (looking to take over his company) did it, but when he turns out the lights whatever it was that had haunted Craig bites him in two. 

The second story by Jones and Yeates is a bit better, and "samples" The Haunting of Hill House in some of its narration. Jud periodically visits a an abandoned old house where a murder took place and meets a beautiful woman who only appears at night. She claims to be ghost who killed herself after catching her husband in an affair, but Jud discovers the truth. She isn't a ghost at all but a living woman "haunting" her old house in her guilt over the accidental death of her husband after he caught her in an affair. Jud coaxes her out of the house and back into the world, but disappears--and she sees his grave in the yard.

The last story by Kupperberg and Tuska/DeZuniga is a EC sort of tale updated for the 80s. The Bates family has a new baby, but John Bates doesn't want the baby to grow up in the witch coven he and his wife are members off. He starts a legal preceding to stop her, but in the course of the trial his wife asks they consider the child's wishes--then John Bates disappears, his baby having changed him into a teddy bear.

Legion of Super-Heroes #277: So, the Legionnaires are back on Earth trying to save a cargo ship of these camel-headed aliens when Phantom Girl is attacked by kelp that has somehow been brought to life. her teammates are distracted, but luckily a costumed guy called Reflecto shows up to save her and whisk her off to Legion HQ for medical attention. Some of the Legion (well, Wildfire) is suspicious of Reflecto but other than refusing to say who he is or what his deal is, he seems a decent guy, so they let him fly off. Meanwhile, Grimbor the Chainsman is out for revenge for the death of Charma, so he wraps the Earth in light-chains to hold it hostage. The Legion flies off to help, and Reflecto follows. Conway and Thomas wrote this nonsense, but hey, Janes is back on art, so it's better than it could be.

The Unknown Solider #253: Haney and Ayers/Tlaloc manage to contrive to have the Soldier fighting Nazi spies at the Statue of Liberty. The actually events of the story aren't as cool as the cover, though. The Solider has to bring a German American corporal back to New York City from Europe. The government wants the corporal to help stop his grandfather who is apparently spying for the Germans. The corporal is reluctant to do the mission, in part because it's his grandfather, but also because he knows the mob will be after him once he's back in New York. In the end, the Soldier takes care of the mob interference and the corporal's grandfather takes a dive from the crown of the Statue of Liberty after refusing to see error of his ways.

The Enemy Ace backup is a disappointment. Von Hammer takes the young woman he caught signaling the British up with him to protect the German zeppelins. She gets hit by stray shot and dying, she reveals she is the sister of the soldier he's been looking for, showing her matching bracelet. She the first person he happened to tell the story to was the one he was looking for.