A is for Atomic Thunderbolt

I'm going to be spending the A to Z Challenge writing role-playing game material for comic book characters published between 1939 and 1954 who only appeared in 1 - 6 stories and then slipped into oblivion. In some cases, I will throw in a game tidbit or two, or I will beg L.L. Hundal to step up the plate and lend a hand. (Anyone out there can play along, too, if you want to add something to an entry. That's what the comments section is for.)

By the time i'm done, a couple dozen more heroes will have been added to the NUELOW Games line-up, and you will have received previews of the content for upcoming issues of Complete Golden Age Oddballs and other of our comics/rpg hybrid books.

And here's today's hero:

A is for Atomic Thunderbolt

Comics writers (and readers) for the past 20-30 years have liked to congratulate themselves on how mature and edgy their comics are these days. They like to describe the comics of previous decades as kiddy stuff. Well, the truth of the matter is that there were mature themes in comics from the earliest days.

Take for example Atomic Thunderbolt. Here's title the star of which came into existence because a mad scientist, frightened by the destructive power of the atom bomb, had devised a method to transform humanity into creatures who could survive atomic blasts and radiation. Willy Burns, a WW2 vet suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and severe depression, volunteers to be the scientist's test subject, because he feles he has nothing left to contribute to the world. It perhaps goes without saying, but the scientist's experiment goes horribly wrong, causing a massive explosion that kills him, destroys his laboratory and all his inventions... but leaves a transformed Willy as the only thing standing in the wreckage. Willy vows to use his newly gained powers for good, to fulfill the scientist's dream of a better tomorrow for humanity. (Those "newly gained powers" included the ability to fly, to create explosions with his bare hands, and to generate waves of force at will.)

Atomic Thunderbolt, drawn by Mort Lawrence

In the space of less than a dozen pages, the debut story of Atomic Thunderbolt tackled the long-term damaging effects war can have on those who wave it, the threat that atomic weapons posed (and still pose) to life on Earth, and even the dangers of scientists who feel their ends justify their means--the to Willy apparently benevolent scientist was willing to force someone to be his test subject if he hadn't happened upon Willy. Even more, the story makes it clear that he was one of the minds behind the invention of the atom bomb. I think this maturity level of the ideas in this story measure up to anything that we saw in the 1980s and 1990s when it was hip to blather on about how "grown up" comics were. And the anonymous writer of Atomic Thunderbolt told his story without needing to resort to profanity.

Aside from his origin story, Atomic Thunderbolt appeared in one more adventure. In it, he crossed paths with Rigor & Mortis, a pair of screwball immortal alchemists whose sorcery might be as dangerous as atomic weapons if they weren't so inept. The adventure with Rigor & Mortis was the second story in Atomic Thunderbolt #1, as in 1946 it was still typical for a comics magazine to contain numerous short stories in various genres and featuring different characters.

While each of the four stories included in Atomic Thunderbolt #1 ended with a plug for issue #2, no such issue ever saw print. In fact, this was the one and only comic book to ever be published by the Regor Company. Atomic Thunderbolt never flew again... until now! He will return in a future issue of Complete Golden Age Oddballs along with Rigor & Mortis and an all-new ROLF! battle scenario!

Coming to a bookstore near you -- "Ginger & Snap"!

It began as a joke when someone hinted that if 1940s gender-swapping twins "Ginger and Snap" were created today, the series would have a totally different tone and thrust. We found the joke so amusing that we even worked up a mock ad for the "modern" title Ginger & Snap.

Guess what? What started as a joke will be reality by this time next year! A deal has been signed between NUELOW Games and Catalan Communications to create an all-new 64-page graphic novel featuring a more mature/adult take on Ginger and Snap's gender-bending exploits. It will be illustrated by Milo Manara (of "Click" and "The Great Adventure"  fame) and co-scripted by NUELOW's Steve Miller and L.L. Hundal. The graphic njovel will also feature a 16-page d20 OGL supplement that will make Feats of an Adult Nature look like a Kindergarten ABC primer.

Our little comics projects are bringing us success beyond imagination... and we didn't even have to do a Kickstarter to make it happen!

If you want to check out the Ginger and Snap e-book reprinting the four original stories, clock here. 

It's a One-Shot Sale!

Lady Satan. Veiled Avenger. Ginger & Snap. Dynamic Man. Dynamic Boy. Yankee Boy. Mother Hubbard. The Rainbow. The Bronze Terror. The Red Demon. The Queen of Evil. Green Knight.

Those are some of the extremely cool characters we've retrieved from the scrapheap of pop-culture and introduced to the 21st century audience. While we mostly reprint their original adventures in these books, each one also contains all-new roleplaying game material for d20 OGL Modern (which is easily used with almost any d20 System variant, including the ever-popular Pathfinder game.

Through 4/15/2014, we are selling all the "one-shot" titles in our comics/rpg hybrid line of books at the reduced price of $0.99. You should take this chance to check some of them out while saving a few pennies. Maybe you'll meet your new favorite conic book character, while finding some great ideas or new rules for your next RPG session.

Here are the great books that can be yours for next to nothing for a limited time! (By the way, all NUELOW Games products are currently pdf-format ebooks. That may change soon, but for now, it's the only format we offer. But it works great on the various tablets, pads, and computers!)

Real American #1 presents the four best adventures of one of the earliest ethnic lead heroes to appear in main stream comics. A Native American lawyer who put on a mask to fight crime, the Bronze Terror stood as a unique figure in comics until Marvel Comics introduced Red Wolf in the 1970s. Written and drawn by Dick Briefer, with an all-new ROLF! scenario by Steve Miller where he crosses paths with another crime-fighting jurist, the Red Demon. (Click here to see preview pages from Real American #1 at the Shades of Gray blog.).

New Adventures of Frankenstein presents the first two chapters of Dick Briefer's legendary "Frankenstein" series, together with a tale starring Armand Broussard, the Werewolf Hunter. The book also features a brand-new ROLF! scenario in which Victor Frankenstein joins forces with Herbert West, Re-Animator to defeat Frankenstein's Monster... which a surprise foe waits and watches in the shadows.

Ginger and Snap presents all four published adventures of a pair of twins who solve problems by trading places. It's a cute, kid-friendly series that revolves around light gender-reversal humor. In fact, it's such a good-natured, innocent series that it probably couldn't be made today. (Click here to read more about this book at Shades of Grey blog.)

Al Pastino Early Works: 1940 - 1941 brings you the first creation of one of the most prolific Superman artists during the 1950s. Included in this collection of never-before-collected in one place historical rareties is perhaps the first-ever self-referential comic book superhero tale.

His Honor and... the Demon presents the best adventures of Bill Draut's Red Demon, a character some historians speculate may have been co-created with Joe Simon or Jack Kirby. The book also includes story with NUELOW Games' mascot, the Black Cat, and an all-new ROLF! scenario where she crosses paths with the Red Demon.

When a corrupt priestess of Isis uses dark spells to escape divine wrath by resurrecting herself thousands of years past the time of her gods, she failed to take into account the tenacity of the righteous contemporary Kalkor... who is known in the modern age as John Kerry!  John Kerry vs. the Queen of Evil spotlights the current U.S. Secretary of State in

Lady Satan brings together the stories featuring the original Lady Satan–a cold-blooded assassin stalking Hitler's minions in occupied France during WW2–and all four appearances of the Veiled Avenger. This book is the first time all these stories have been collected in one place. The book also features ROLF! game stats for Lady Satan and Veiled Avenger.

Carnival is an example of the diverse sort of comics that were on newsstands during the 1940s. It contains two circus-themed mysteries and one tale that sees the Black Cat busting crime under the big top. The book also features OGL Modern d20 rules for circus-themed heroes.

Madden's Boys spotlights the work of NUELOW Games' favorite forgotten artist from the early days of comics, Bill Madden. The book collects five stories drawn by Madden for the first time in one place, including both appearances of the original Dynamic Boy, and the three initial Yankee Boy stories from 1941. The book also includes an all-new set of superhero rules for use with OGL Modern d20 games.

Mother Hubbard presents all three stories featuring Bill Madden's nursery rhyme-inspired horror series, together with OGL Modern d20 game adaptations of the magic items in them.

The Unholy 3 and OGL Trickery is another display of the variety of genres Golden age comics covered. It contains both episodes of Bill Madden's screwball comedy series The Unholy3, and a weird superhero adveture with Black Cobra fighting cross-dressing gangsters at the ballet. The book also features all-new OGL Modern d20 roleplaying gane rules for making con artist characters.

Introducing the Golden Age Oddballs!

Complete Golden Age Oddballs brings together every appearance of obscure, off-center characters from the earl years of the comic book medium. Most of these stories will never have been collected in one spot before.

The first installment of this new series from NUELOW Games, Complete Golden Age Oddballs: Prankster & Purple Tigress is now available for your enjoyment. Aside from the classic comics, it contains brief publication backgrounds for each character, as well as the roleplaying game content you've come to expect from a NUELOW Games comics project. Additionally, we place the Prankster and the Purple Tigress in our emerging "universe," which will be featured in Lester Smith's CORE Roleplaying Game.

Click here to see previews of the book, or to get your very own copy. And be sure to let us know what you think of it. Without your feedback, we can't make our releases better!

Riyadh Roullete: All-New from a Prestigious European Game Designer

This game was designed in the course of a 25-minute trip back and forth between the grocery store, with minor revisions taking place as it was being typed up and posted to the blog, such as the requirement the hands be played face up.

Is it a good game? Play it, and let me know... but just remember that it's the product of a Prestigious European Game Designer. That means it has to be good, right? (Full context: This was created in response to a challenge to make a game where the winning condition meant you lost.)

 RIYADH ROULETTE: A GAME FOR 3-5 PLAYERS
*NO GIRLS ALLOWED*! 

By Steve Miller

(Copyright 2014 by NUELOW Games and Steve Miller. All Rights Reserved. Duplication Allowed for Personal Use, or for Inclusions in Fatwas and Magazines Published for the Enlightenment and Entertainment of the Lions of Islam)

 Designer Introduction 
There has been no proofing or play-testing of this game.

Objective 
Be the first to blow yourself up for the glory of the Prophet and go to Paradise, in this fast-playing, fun-filled simulation of what it's like to be a Lion of Islam and a Martyr for Mohammed!

Play Requires
One six-sided die, one deck of cards (including Jokers), one bowl (the bigger the better), and 72 Raisins (can be substituted with Jelly Beans).

 Set Up 
Put the Raisins or Jelly Beans in the bowl at the center of the table. Remove all 2s but the 2 of Spades, 7s, the Jack of Hearts, and all Queens from the deck and play.

 Game Play
Each player is dealt five cards, from the bottom of the deck, one at a time, clockwise around the table. The cards are placed face up in front of the player. The moment a Joker is revealed, the player who received that card must roll the die. If he rolls a one, he has blown himself and a bunch of Enemies of the Prophet to bits with bomb that was cleverly hidden up his ass. Any other result, the Joker is discarded, and he is immediately dealt another card.
   Once everyone has five cards in front of them, the youngest player discards the lowest possible card.Other players, going counter-clockwise around the table, must discard a lower card. If a player is unable, he must roll the die. If he roll a one, he has blown himself and oodles of Enemies of the Prophet to itty-bitty pieces with a bomb. cleverly hidden in the bra he was wearing. Any other result, and he draws cards from the top of the deck until he has a full five cards on the table in front of him.
   If a player runs out of cards in front of him, every player discards their remaining cards, and is dealt five new cards (from the bottom of the deck).
    When no player can refresh his hand up to five cards, all remaining cards are discarded. Players roll the die, starting with the player who couldn't get a full hand and going counter-clockwise around the table, until one of them rolls a 1. That player has blown himself and a bunch of Enemies of the Prophet into gory chunks with a bomb cleverly hidden in his Crocs.

 Ending the Game
The player who goes to Paradise with a large boom and a blaze of glory is the winner. He gets to watch the remaining players eat the 72 raisins or jelly beans.

The Reward

Meet the Morgans

If you haven't already noticed, there's been a NUELOW superhero universe developing in our comics and ROLF! titles. A version of it is slated to appear as part of the CORE RPG project headed up by Lester Smith, but it will also continue to develop here and in our publications.

For your enjoyment, here's a text piece that I wrote last night and some version of it will end up in Complete Golden Age Oddballs, the next NUELOW release. It focuses mainly on the Prankster and the Purple Tigress, establishing them as brother and sister. Other luminaries show up as well.

MEET THE MORGANS
The Morgan family had been the beating heart of the Guardian City’s financial and political power since a gold rush in 1842 caused it to explode from a tiny stagecoach way station into a thriving trade hub. Always canny power brokers and highly diversified with their investments and income sources, the Morgans not only survived the Great Depression, but they emerged from it wealthier.

As a result, Michael Morgan (b. 1923) and Anita Morgan (b. 1925) grew up in luxury, even while large parts of Guardian City fell into squalor. Their parents weren't indifferent to the suffering of the less fortunate among the city's population, and they kept businesses running at a loss and sponsered soup kitchens, all while trying to instill the same sense of community responsibility in their children.

Some say they succeeded a little too well with their son Michael. In love with both the spotlight and helping those less fortunate, he spent his early teenage years putting on magic shows at orphanages and children's hospitals. When the Nazis grew to be a real threat to America, Michael tried to enlist, but is father used his influence and wealth to make sure that the armed services refused to take him. Micheal angrily turned his back on his family and set out making a name for himself as a nightclub performer--and he quickly became very successful, much to his parents mortification. His angry father disinherited him, making sure that the entirety of the vast Morgan fortune went to his sister, Anita.

While it is almost certain Michael would have reconciled with his parents eventually--if for no other reason that his sister Anita was working hard to mend the rift between her father and brother--fate intervened. The elder Morgans were killed in a car accident in June of 1943, and Anita, at the tender age of 17, became the sole possessor on a commercial and financial empire.

Her first act was to set her brother up with a trust fund that he could draw upon as he chose. She then set out to enhance a reputation she had already began to gain by chance--that of a jaded, somewhat foolish rich girl. Behind this facade, she began to watch for corrupt government officials, predatory industrialists, Fifth Columnists, gangers, and run-of-the-mill criminals, taking them down in her secret identity as the Purple Tigress. By early 1944, the Purple Tigress was the talk of Guardian City.

The Purple Tigress in action against the nefarious Flasher

While Anita had dreamed of being a costumed crime fighter since she saw the mysterious Blue Lady in action a few years earlier, and  planned her career as a superhero, Michael dabbled in being a masked crime fighter, too, assuming the identity of the Prankster.

INTO THE FUTURE
For Michael, crimefighting is never more than a lark and his dual identity quickly becomes something of an open secret. His "career" as the Prankster barely lasts six months--from late 1943 through early 1944.

Anita, however, carefully guards her identity, relying on an innate power that allowed her to appear differently to anyone who saw her to conceal it. On Christmas of 1945, she reveals that she was the Purple Tigress to Michael, and he often assists her when she needs to slip away from the eyes of the press and the would-be future husbands who were always hanging around.

Michael supports his sister's crime-fighting activities on-and-off until  late 1948. During these years, Michael becomes one of America's leading comedians and by 1950, he has relocated to Hollywood where he stars in his own weekly television variety show. In 1953, he starred opposite  Linda Turner in the romantic comedy A League of Redheads. They became fast friends and eventually fell in love and were married.

In 1955, Linda reveals to Michael that she is the masked crimefighter Black Cat. and her sidekick Black Kitten her ward Kit Westin; Michael finds himself once again assisting a superheroine in her duties. Linda and Michael marry in 1956. By 1960, with their show business careers waning, Michael and Linda both enter semi-retirement. Linda also retires as Black Cat so she and Michael can have a child together, and Kit adopts the name.

Meanwhile, Anita Morgan continues her career as the Purple Tigress. She is admired and loved in both her identities. In 1949, she began teaming up with the Yankee (formerly the teenaged hero Yankee Boy, who relocates to Guardian City to attend college in 1945). Their heroic team-ups soon develop into a personal one, and in 1952, Anita Ann Morgan and Philip Victor Martin are married.

The Purple Tigress drops out of sight for almost two years--between 1954 and 1956--and Anita gives birth to the next heir of the Morgan financial empire in 1955. She resurfaces every now and then after that, usually with the Yankee during particularly dangerous battles. By 1959, the Purple Tigress vanishes forever, as Anita becomes pregnant with her second child, and turns her attention to her family and running overseeing the operation of her many businesses.

Miller's latest attempts at cover design

Here's what in all likelihood will be the covers of two upcoming NUELOW Games releases. Both were put together by Steve Miller, who does not claim to be much of a graphic designer.