Mount Doom

The Black Condor never had a book of his own. But that wasn’t so uncommon back in the golden age when anthology books were the rule. The really big guys like Plastic Man, Uncle Sam, Doll Man, and of course the biggest big guy himself, Blackhawk, all had books of their own, but smaller characters like Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, and Black Condor were stuck in anthologies.

The Black Condor’s anthology was Crack Comics. Unfortunately named? Perhaps. But remember, there was a time when “crack” meant something like “a crack team of experts” instead of “a CIA tool used to ferment urban decay in America.”

In Crack Comics 4, the Black Condor travels to a distant land disguised as an old wiseman with a cane (spoilers for a comic older than television). This unnamed land is menaced by a giant science fortress built atop Mount Doom (inspired by Tolkien? Maybe.). Mount Doom is ruled over by Singh Fang, your typical Fu-Manchu clone, and his scientist minion De Graf. Singh Fang, of course, wants to rule the world, and is using the valley below Mount Doom as a testing bed for De Graf’s weapons. The people of the valley have been cowed into submission, and its up to Black Condor to not only fight Singh Fang, but convince the people of the valley to join him in the fight.

It was a simple story, but fun, and crammed in so many pulp clichés that it stands as something of an archetypal 1940’s superhero story.

Evil fat Fu-Manchu clone? Check.

His beautiful but evil daughter who has a thing for the hero? Check.

A vaguely Germanic mad scientist? Check.

Innocent civilians being cowed into submission by a militaristic authority as a commentary on the escalating war in Europe? Check.

An army of minions that dress like they came out of Buck Rogers? Check.

An invincible science fortress bristling with death rays? Check.

A medieval torture chamber that looks like it came out of a haunted house? Check.

All this in only a handful of pages! It’s easily if not the best Black Condor story, then one of the best, and Mount Doom was so cool that I had to make a SOTM deck for it.

It’s so archetypal that at times it feels vaguely like Star Wars, especially when the bad guys go over how the only weakness to their super-fortress is a single shaft that the hero, of course, uses to defeat the fortress. Maybe Lucas peeped some old Quality Comics issues at his local comics shop when he was a kid?

In the Eternal Universe, after Mount Doom was destroyed, Black Condor built his secret headquarters, his “Condor Nest,” in the ruins. The thankful citizens of the valley below kept the Condor Nest’s secret for generations and gave their support to his daughters, the Phantom Sisters, when they moved in during the 1960’s.

Sentinels of the Multiverse Deck

Mount Doom is, appropriately for a supervillain’s combined headquarters and superweapon, a dangerous place. It’s many, many beam weapons will chew through the HP of heroes and villains alike. Singh Fang cares as little for the supervillain the heroes are fighting as he does the for the heroes themselves, but lower HP totals for the heroes means that ultimately the constant damage works against the heroes more than the villains. That being said, villain minions are going to be pulped in this environment, and a few redirection abilities can make certain big explosions work in your favor.

The Mad Science Lab cards are sort of the “reward” cards for the deck. If you can endure all the lasers and death rays and make it deep into the fortress, you get a little card support, and I love randomly playing cards off the top of the deck.

Conspirators (6)

Singh Fang

8 HP

When this card enters play, shuffle the trash into the deck. Draw until 1 Personal Guard is revealed and put it into play, then shuffle the deck.

At the end of the environment turn, play the top card of the environment deck.

With De Graf’s inventions I shall make the whole world like this valley–fully submissive to my will!

Singh Fang’s Daughter

4 HP

At the end of the environment turn, Singh Fang’s Daughter deals the non-environment targets with the lowest HP 2 energy damage.

If Singh Fang’s Daughter is destroyed, she activates Mount Doom’s self-destruct sequence. Oh no! Ignore the above text. Instead, the following is her text:

Cannot be destroyed or removed. At the end of the environment turn, Heroes may discard a card to place a timer token on this card.

At the beginning of the environment turn, remove H-1 timer tokens from this card.

If there are no timer tokens on this card, Mount Doom blows up. GAME OVER!

I am not like my father. If I cannot rule the world as empress, then there will be no world!

De Graf

4 HP

When this card enters play, shuffle the trash into the deck. Draw until 1 device card and 1 Personal Guard are revealed and put them into play, then shuffle the deck.

At the end of the environment turn, heal all environment devices 3.

What? How did you get in here? 

Personal Guard (3)

6 HP

At the end of the environment turn, deal the two non-environment targets with the highest HP 2 energy damage.

These guys not only dress like they came from Blaze Barton’s world, they’re packing similar hardware.

–The Black Condor

Devices (6)

Aura Atomizer

6 HP

At the start of the environment turn, deal all non-environment targets 4 energy damage.

I don’t care who these intruders are. Sweep them from my mountain like the bugs they are!

–Singh Fang

Unconquerable Defenses

10 HP

Reduce damage dealt to environment targets by 1.

Mount Doom is as much a marvel of defensive technology as it is offensive.

–The Black Condor

Multi-ray Projectors

8 HP

At the end of the environment turn, deal the target with the highest HP 3 energy damage, the target with the second highest HP 2 radiant damage, the target with the second lowest HP 2 sonic damage, and the target with the lowest HP 3 fire damage.

It’s like if Neon the Unknown was a building. It’s got a beam of light that eats things up like a moth chews through clothing and another beam that makes a high-pitched whistling sound that sets things on fire, and all these beams are perfectly calibrated and aimed.

–The Black Condor

Mind Control Chamber

5 HP

At the end of the environment turn, the non-environment target with the lowest HP and the non-environment target with the highest HP deal each other 1 melee damage.

Were you two already enemies? Oh, it doesn’t matter.

–De Graf

Death Ray Defenses

5 HP

At the end of the environment turn, deal all non-environment targets 1 energy and 1 toxic damage.

This specific wavelength of energy interferes with the body’s natural bioelectric processes. In other words, it kills people.

–De Graf

Lightning Ray

3 HP

At the start of the environment turn, deal the two targets with the highest HP and all environment targets 8 electrical damage.

Behold, the late De Graf’s deadliest invention–the lightning ray. Dare you think I not use it against you?

–Singh Fang

Labs

Mad Science Lab (3)

Ongoing

At the end of the environment turn, one hero may play the top card of their deck.

De Graf was insane and power hungry, but he was able to do things with light that even Wizard Wells and the Ray couldn’t do.

–Black Condor