Amazing High Adventure #3 and Napoleonic Extras
Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:26 pm
AMAZING HIGH ADVENTURE #3 (Oct 1986)
1st Story:
By Mike Baron
APPEARANCES:
US Army, Pvt. Johnny Beacham, Castor (camel), Pollux (camel), Sgt. Dodd, Native Americans, Tega, white settlers, Apache war party, horses
SYNOPSIS:
1874, Fort McCutcheon, Arizona Territory: Two camels, Castor and Pollux, are delivered as an Army experiment in whether they would work better than horses in the hot southwest. Sgt. Dodd and Pvt. Johnny Beacham are ordered to begin training with the camels. Dodd finds riding them difficult and has to tie himself into the saddle. An Apache raiding party led by Tega begins attacking white settlers, so the Army is ordered to stop him. They fail, and Tega succeeds in cutting Fort McCutcheon off from outside assistance. Dodd and Beacham are ordered to take the camels during the night through the flats in the hope that the Apache won’t be patrolling that area (it’s too far for horses without water). They’re wrong, and the Apache ambush them. Dodd is killed by an arrow through the back, but since he is tied into the saddle, his corpse remains in the saddle, pistol still clutched in its fist, as the camel races off into the wilderness. The Apache chase Beacham and kill his camel. Instead of killing him, they decide to take his canteen and leave him for dead. Beacham survives, though, but cutting into the camel and using its guts to make another canteen and drink the water the camel had stored within. He manages to stagger into Tuscon and pass on word of the war party. Reinforcements are dispatched and chase Tega and his men into Mexico, rescuing Fort McCutcheon. Beacham is promoted to corporal, but he has had his fill of Army life and musters out, becoming a scout.
1877: Tega returns from Mexico and begins raiding again. The Army calls in all of their scouts and orders them to locate Tega. Beacham finds Tega’s trail, but he is captured before he can return and report. Tega recognizes him and announces that this time Beacham won’t survive the encounter. Before Tega has the chance to kill him, a camel with a mummified corpse in the saddle bursts into camp, terrifying the Apache. Tega throws his spear into the corpse which shakes the pistol in its grip, firing and killing Tega. Beacham is left behind and marvels at what has just happened. In the coming years he will occasionally hear stories about a half-man/half-monster that roams the desert.
2nd Story:
By Steve Englehart
APPEARANCES:
French Army, British Army, Napoleon Bonaparte, horses, Mameluke (pet monkey), Cruard, Francis, Jean-Paul, Ahmad
SYNOPSIS:
1798: Napoleon’s forces beat back an attack by the British in Egypt. The French troops are exhilarated. Napoleon is also enjoying himself, all the more because he has taken a local monkey, Mameluke, as a pet. That night, a French sentry is silently killed. The attack appears to have been some kind of wild animal, so the next night the guards are increased. Three are still killed, so on the third night Napoleon himself takes guard duty, determined to kill this animal. Eventually he is attacked, but it is not an animal. Two Egyptian assassins attack him, but he easily kills them. Taking the garb of one of the assassins, Napoleon walks back to the British lines, guessing that they hired the Egyptians. Sure enough, they allow him into the camp, but before he can walk far, Mameluke suddenly arrives, apparently having been bored or lonely. Napoleon is forced to kill Mameluke to keep him quiet, but it’s too late, his cover blown. He kills two British guards and escapes back to his own lines, but his joy is gone. Not long after, the French campaign in Egypt fails, and this presages Napoleon’s future losses.
NOTE:
I have to wonder if the two French sentries named Jean-Paul and Cruard are intended to be the same characters as in issue #2. Englehart was the author of both stories, so he may have intended this connection, but I didn’t see anything that would definitely establish that. It would be quite a coincidence if that weren’t the case, though, so I’m going to assume these are the same characters. As a bonus, that would help pin down the timing of the story in #2. This story in #3 has to take place before the story in #2, since in that story Jean-Paul and Cruard die. Apparently, after the French invasion fails, Jean-Paul and Cruard either remained behind or sometime later returned to Africa.
3rd Story:
By Mike Baron
APPEARANCES:
Dewa Njoman, Ida Bagus, Leper, Rolf, Hoerst, Pu Li, Col. Takimoto, Japanese Army
SYNOPSIS:
FLASHBACK 1:
1935, Jakarta: Dewa Njoman and Ida Bagus study kung fu from a Japanese sensei. One night they go to a local bar, but racist Dutchmen start a fight. Dewa quickly ends the fight with an amazing display of his skills.
FLASHBACK 2:
1939, Burma: Dewa and Ida have been studying with the great Wang Chun master Pu Li. They agree to deliver a message for him, knowing that they risk being caught by the occupying Japanese forces. Sure enough, they are caught. Fortunately, the Japanese commander, Col. Takimoto, is quite proud of his karate skills, so they challenge him to a martial arts duel. If they win, they are free to go. Takimoto agrees and the next morning fights Dewa. While Takimoto is quite skilled, he is no match for Dewa and is killed. Dwa and Ida walk free.
1978: Dewa and Ida, now old men, think back on times when they were young and hotheaded. As they walk out to harvest rattan to sell to Japanese tourists, are attacked by a tiger. They both fight back and manage to mortally wound the tiger. Unfortunately, they both sustain lethal wounds as well. As they lie dying, they agree it is a good day, and they can both die happy, having lived full lives.
4th Story:
By Mark Wheatley
APPEARANCES:
George Rogers Clark, British soldiers, American revolutionary soldiers
SYNOPSIS:
FLASHBACK 1:
George Rogers Clark leads men against the town of Kaskaskia during the Revolutionary War.
FLASHBACK 2:
George Rogers Clark leads men in an attack on Vincennes during the Revolutionary War.
1807: George Rogers Clark receives a letter from Thomas Jefferson informing him that he will not be compensated for his expenses during the Revolutionary War. Clark gets himself drunk and contemplates suicide. He begins hallucinating old friends and enemies, but he eventually decides not to kill himself, drinking himself into a stupor.
1st Story:
By Mike Baron
APPEARANCES:
US Army, Pvt. Johnny Beacham, Castor (camel), Pollux (camel), Sgt. Dodd, Native Americans, Tega, white settlers, Apache war party, horses
SYNOPSIS:
1874, Fort McCutcheon, Arizona Territory: Two camels, Castor and Pollux, are delivered as an Army experiment in whether they would work better than horses in the hot southwest. Sgt. Dodd and Pvt. Johnny Beacham are ordered to begin training with the camels. Dodd finds riding them difficult and has to tie himself into the saddle. An Apache raiding party led by Tega begins attacking white settlers, so the Army is ordered to stop him. They fail, and Tega succeeds in cutting Fort McCutcheon off from outside assistance. Dodd and Beacham are ordered to take the camels during the night through the flats in the hope that the Apache won’t be patrolling that area (it’s too far for horses without water). They’re wrong, and the Apache ambush them. Dodd is killed by an arrow through the back, but since he is tied into the saddle, his corpse remains in the saddle, pistol still clutched in its fist, as the camel races off into the wilderness. The Apache chase Beacham and kill his camel. Instead of killing him, they decide to take his canteen and leave him for dead. Beacham survives, though, but cutting into the camel and using its guts to make another canteen and drink the water the camel had stored within. He manages to stagger into Tuscon and pass on word of the war party. Reinforcements are dispatched and chase Tega and his men into Mexico, rescuing Fort McCutcheon. Beacham is promoted to corporal, but he has had his fill of Army life and musters out, becoming a scout.
1877: Tega returns from Mexico and begins raiding again. The Army calls in all of their scouts and orders them to locate Tega. Beacham finds Tega’s trail, but he is captured before he can return and report. Tega recognizes him and announces that this time Beacham won’t survive the encounter. Before Tega has the chance to kill him, a camel with a mummified corpse in the saddle bursts into camp, terrifying the Apache. Tega throws his spear into the corpse which shakes the pistol in its grip, firing and killing Tega. Beacham is left behind and marvels at what has just happened. In the coming years he will occasionally hear stories about a half-man/half-monster that roams the desert.
2nd Story:
By Steve Englehart
APPEARANCES:
French Army, British Army, Napoleon Bonaparte, horses, Mameluke (pet monkey), Cruard, Francis, Jean-Paul, Ahmad
SYNOPSIS:
1798: Napoleon’s forces beat back an attack by the British in Egypt. The French troops are exhilarated. Napoleon is also enjoying himself, all the more because he has taken a local monkey, Mameluke, as a pet. That night, a French sentry is silently killed. The attack appears to have been some kind of wild animal, so the next night the guards are increased. Three are still killed, so on the third night Napoleon himself takes guard duty, determined to kill this animal. Eventually he is attacked, but it is not an animal. Two Egyptian assassins attack him, but he easily kills them. Taking the garb of one of the assassins, Napoleon walks back to the British lines, guessing that they hired the Egyptians. Sure enough, they allow him into the camp, but before he can walk far, Mameluke suddenly arrives, apparently having been bored or lonely. Napoleon is forced to kill Mameluke to keep him quiet, but it’s too late, his cover blown. He kills two British guards and escapes back to his own lines, but his joy is gone. Not long after, the French campaign in Egypt fails, and this presages Napoleon’s future losses.
NOTE:
I have to wonder if the two French sentries named Jean-Paul and Cruard are intended to be the same characters as in issue #2. Englehart was the author of both stories, so he may have intended this connection, but I didn’t see anything that would definitely establish that. It would be quite a coincidence if that weren’t the case, though, so I’m going to assume these are the same characters. As a bonus, that would help pin down the timing of the story in #2. This story in #3 has to take place before the story in #2, since in that story Jean-Paul and Cruard die. Apparently, after the French invasion fails, Jean-Paul and Cruard either remained behind or sometime later returned to Africa.
3rd Story:
By Mike Baron
APPEARANCES:
Dewa Njoman, Ida Bagus, Leper, Rolf, Hoerst, Pu Li, Col. Takimoto, Japanese Army
SYNOPSIS:
FLASHBACK 1:
1935, Jakarta: Dewa Njoman and Ida Bagus study kung fu from a Japanese sensei. One night they go to a local bar, but racist Dutchmen start a fight. Dewa quickly ends the fight with an amazing display of his skills.
FLASHBACK 2:
1939, Burma: Dewa and Ida have been studying with the great Wang Chun master Pu Li. They agree to deliver a message for him, knowing that they risk being caught by the occupying Japanese forces. Sure enough, they are caught. Fortunately, the Japanese commander, Col. Takimoto, is quite proud of his karate skills, so they challenge him to a martial arts duel. If they win, they are free to go. Takimoto agrees and the next morning fights Dewa. While Takimoto is quite skilled, he is no match for Dewa and is killed. Dwa and Ida walk free.
1978: Dewa and Ida, now old men, think back on times when they were young and hotheaded. As they walk out to harvest rattan to sell to Japanese tourists, are attacked by a tiger. They both fight back and manage to mortally wound the tiger. Unfortunately, they both sustain lethal wounds as well. As they lie dying, they agree it is a good day, and they can both die happy, having lived full lives.
4th Story:
By Mark Wheatley
APPEARANCES:
George Rogers Clark, British soldiers, American revolutionary soldiers
SYNOPSIS:
FLASHBACK 1:
George Rogers Clark leads men against the town of Kaskaskia during the Revolutionary War.
FLASHBACK 2:
George Rogers Clark leads men in an attack on Vincennes during the Revolutionary War.
1807: George Rogers Clark receives a letter from Thomas Jefferson informing him that he will not be compensated for his expenses during the Revolutionary War. Clark gets himself drunk and contemplates suicide. He begins hallucinating old friends and enemies, but he eventually decides not to kill himself, drinking himself into a stupor.