Available Now: NUELOW Games Summer Special!

The NUELOW Games Summer Special continues our ongoing project of unearthing interesting material from the Golden Age of Comics and bringing them to modern audiences. This book documents entries in the teen comedy comics genre which thrived from the early 1940s until the mid-1970s, tracking roughly with the rise and fall of romance comics. In fact, there is much overlap between the two, with the teen comedies often involving romantic entanglements of some sort or another.

Artwork by Harry Sahle

The NUELOW Games Summer Special presents half-a-dozen summer themed stories, in which comic book teens hit the beach, and Black Cat hits the bad guys. It features work from such industry legends as Harry Sahle (one of the artists who established the look of Archie, the sole surviving teen comics character from those days), Al Feldstein (who went on to be a celebrated satirist and editor of MAD Magazine), Lee Elias (one of the Kings of Good Girl Art), and others.

In addition to classic comics, the book features a full-blown ROLF! supplement... although if you are a regular visitor to this blog, you've already seen much of it, since it's an expanded version of the "Kathy" battle scenario that was presented here earlier this month.

Click here to check out previews of the NUELOW Games Summer Special. It's currently on sale for half of its regular price. The sale price will remain in effect through June 21, the first day of summer.

S is for the Sword

By 1941, it was obvious to all comics publishers that masks and capes is what the readers wanted. A flood of costumed superheroes swept onto the newsstands/ Even some established characters took to wearing costumes, such as Quality's crusading crime-beat reporter Chic Carter.

In Smash Comics #24, Carter was framed for murder, so he adopted a costumed identity to clear his name. When his series moved to Quality Comics' new title Police Comics (which featured such soon-to-be legendary characters as Plastic Man) he continued to operate as the Sword.

Carter's masked mystery man phase was very short-lived, however. By Police Comics #5, Carter hung up his cape for good, making the Sword's career a total of four adventures before Carter went back to his standard issue blue suit and fedora. The real-world reason was that series writer/artist Vern Henkel had no interest in superheroes. The in-world reason for Carter giving up the mask is probably found in the last panel of the story from Police Comics #3:

That smart cookie is Gay Nolan, Carter's co-worker and girlfriend. In that panel, she proved herself to be smarter than 98% of all comic book characters.

Marking 4/20: Chic Carter Takes Down the Marijuana Ring

Two-fisted, pistol-packing investigative reporter Chic Carter set out to protect America's youth from the Devil Weed in issue #8 of Smash Comics, originally published in 1940. Read this story carefully, take it to heart! Click on the individual pages for larger, more legible versions.

You can carry Chic's crusade for truth and justice in ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters by using these pre-generated characters:

CHIC CARTER (Male)
Brawn 20, Body 14 (Includes +1 Hat Bonus), Brains 5
   Traits: Honorable, Short-tempered
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Dodge, Murderous Mitts,  Seduce, Walk and Chew Gum
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Fedora (Hat, +1 to Body ATT when worn). Nice Suit (Clothes). .45 Colt Automatic (Small Ranged Weapon, deals 2 points that ignore Armor).


MARY NEEL (Female)
Brawn 14, Body 12, Brains 4
   Traits: Improv Master, Left-handed
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disarm, Dodge, Strategic Bleeding
  Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Fashionable Dress (Clothes).

GENERIC MOBSTER, SMOKING DOPE OR OTHERWISE (Male)
Brawn 11, Body 10, Brains 3
   Traits: Coldblooded, Improv Master
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Dodge. Knock Out
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Pistol (Small Ranged Weapon, deals 2 points of damage that ignore armor) OR Tommy Gun (Large Ranged Weapon, deals 4 points of damage that ignore armor).