The Devils Playground
Its referred to as a 'new gas' and I suspect its an early version of Savage's amazingly effective tranquilizer gas.Where do we start? The setting is before World War Two.
Its somewhere in Northren Ontario (Canada).
As an opener, we discover that the Ojibway Indians are still using stone tomahawks. This is referred to repeatedly, despite the fact that by 1900, it would be unlikely you could find an Ojibway that even knew how to make a stone 'tomahawk', let alone had one. They also use message drums, which I was given to understand were only to be found in Africa.
Savage has his associates stake out a mysterious iron mine; Littlejohn has actually joined the miners, while Monk and Ham pilot a birchbark canoe up and down the nearby watercourses, pretending to be some sort of sports fishermen. Sports fishermen accompanied by a weird pig and a weirder ape. Definately inconspicious.
Its important to note that while it seems to be a birchbark canoe, its actually a submarine with two different modes of operation. In one mode, a cover is drawn over the canoe made of fine metal mesh that somehow repels the water and extracts oxygen. The hydrogen is left to bubble to the surface. In its second mode, a 'glassite' cover is unfolded from a compartment and drawn over the top of the canoe, replacing the mesh. This plastic material is clear and rubbery, yet immensely strong.
In either mode, the canoe has ballast pumps, and a form of chemical rocket propulsion. The propulsion sounds like the machinery used in Savage's glass sub of Haunted Ocean, so I would geuss this farce is supposed to have subsequently occured. (Grammer terrible is. Muppet I am.)
The canoe also has extensive lockers, containing a complete chemical laboratory.
Lockers on a birchbark canoe.
Oh, and did I mention that the canoe slash submarine can be submerged and then recalled via a jolt from an induction coil? Convenient for those moments when the baddies might find your birchbark canoe with many useful additions and decide that something is amiss.
The ape continues to demonstrate his 'knot'ical prowness, able to untie Ham on command. Also able to tie the pig to a stake. This ape is making considerable progress. Next he'll be picking up rifles (Like that scene in Jurassic Park where the velociraptor picks up the man's rifle, and all I can think is Raptors with Rifles!! {The movie refused to become that cool.}.).
Monk and Ham engage in direct telepathy in order to exchange insults while underwater.
Its not just iron being mined, there is also nickel, which is being smuggled to Russia by six bearded dwarves, plus their ringleader Igor. They have a 'perfect defence' in the form of an enormous magnet which holds our heros helpless until they can take their shoes off and empty their pockets.
They are killing their enemies by terrorizing them with Indian drums and warwhoops played from hidden loudspeakers, and when the victim is sufficently demoralized, he's bundled into a Iron Maiden conveniently disguised as a tree, a stump or a boulder.
Savage is in the Fortress of Solitude and broadcasting instructions to his aides. His enemy use radio triangulation to find his poistion and dispatch a pair of twin engine attack bombers (Apparantly pulling them out of their ass, to use the vernacular). Luckily, the planes don't find the fortress, they find one of Savage's planes droning along through the sky.. They attack it, it fights back and finally is destroyed. Luckily, its a robotic plane, with a dummy at the stick. Savage is flying some distance away, and explains to the chorus that he expected radio triagulation and flew five hundred miles from the Fortress to transmit. He then hung around, apparantly to see what would happen. A pair of bomb-loaded twin engine bombers is what happened. Amazing, you never know what might fall out of the sky at you, over the cold Canadian North.
Now at one point he does use a gas that "[...] instantly effective, slowed up all motor processes of those who breathed it. He and Monk had held theirbreath. "It will only be effective for a few moments," Doc advised."
Its somewhere in Northren Ontario (Canada).
As an opener, we discover that the Ojibway Indians are still using stone tomahawks. This is referred to repeatedly, despite the fact that by 1900, it would be unlikely you could find an Ojibway that even knew how to make a stone 'tomahawk', let alone had one. They also use message drums, which I was given to understand were only to be found in Africa.
Savage has his associates stake out a mysterious iron mine; Littlejohn has actually joined the miners, while Monk and Ham pilot a birchbark canoe up and down the nearby watercourses, pretending to be some sort of sports fishermen. Sports fishermen accompanied by a weird pig and a weirder ape. Definately inconspicious.
Its important to note that while it seems to be a birchbark canoe, its actually a submarine with two different modes of operation. In one mode, a cover is drawn over the canoe made of fine metal mesh that somehow repels the water and extracts oxygen. The hydrogen is left to bubble to the surface. In its second mode, a 'glassite' cover is unfolded from a compartment and drawn over the top of the canoe, replacing the mesh. This plastic material is clear and rubbery, yet immensely strong.
In either mode, the canoe has ballast pumps, and a form of chemical rocket propulsion. The propulsion sounds like the machinery used in Savage's glass sub of Haunted Ocean, so I would geuss this farce is supposed to have subsequently occured. (Grammer terrible is. Muppet I am.)
The canoe also has extensive lockers, containing a complete chemical laboratory.
Lockers on a birchbark canoe.
Oh, and did I mention that the canoe slash submarine can be submerged and then recalled via a jolt from an induction coil? Convenient for those moments when the baddies might find your birchbark canoe with many useful additions and decide that something is amiss.
The ape continues to demonstrate his 'knot'ical prowness, able to untie Ham on command. Also able to tie the pig to a stake. This ape is making considerable progress. Next he'll be picking up rifles (Like that scene in Jurassic Park where the velociraptor picks up the man's rifle, and all I can think is Raptors with Rifles!! {The movie refused to become that cool.}.).
Monk and Ham engage in direct telepathy in order to exchange insults while underwater.
Its not just iron being mined, there is also nickel, which is being smuggled to Russia by six bearded dwarves, plus their ringleader Igor. They have a 'perfect defence' in the form of an enormous magnet which holds our heros helpless until they can take their shoes off and empty their pockets.
They are killing their enemies by terrorizing them with Indian drums and warwhoops played from hidden loudspeakers, and when the victim is sufficently demoralized, he's bundled into a Iron Maiden conveniently disguised as a tree, a stump or a boulder.
Savage is in the Fortress of Solitude and broadcasting instructions to his aides. His enemy use radio triangulation to find his poistion and dispatch a pair of twin engine attack bombers (Apparantly pulling them out of their ass, to use the vernacular). Luckily, the planes don't find the fortress, they find one of Savage's planes droning along through the sky.. They attack it, it fights back and finally is destroyed. Luckily, its a robotic plane, with a dummy at the stick. Savage is flying some distance away, and explains to the chorus that he expected radio triagulation and flew five hundred miles from the Fortress to transmit. He then hung around, apparantly to see what would happen. A pair of bomb-loaded twin engine bombers is what happened. Amazing, you never know what might fall out of the sky at you, over the cold Canadian North.
Now at one point he does use a gas that "[...] instantly effective, slowed up all motor processes of those who breathed it. He and Monk had held theirbreath. "It will only be effective for a few moments," Doc advised."
I suspect from Chemistry's knot abilities that this is written by the same person as Land Of Fear.
Oh, and did I mention that the ringleader kept wearing a 'waxy mask' in public? That was so Renny could tell he was the bad guy, I suppose.
