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scans_dailyFrom one of the several Hellboy prequels, I bring you some of the second series of pulp-inspired Lobster Johnson adventures!
The action begins in 1932, when some folks in one of the poorer boroughs of New York are getting terrorised by some men dressed in stereotypical Native American clothes while covered in glowing body paint (the guys dressed up in costumes are in paint, not the people they're terrorising). They are actually a bunch of gangsters attempting a Scooby Doo-esque real estate scam, by attempting to force the locals out by pretending to be the ghosts of the original inhabitants of Manhattan Island and scalping people so they can buy their property cheaply.
The vigilante known as the Lobster isn't having any of this though, and promptly shoots them all when they attempt to murder a couple that got lost in the neighbourhood late at night.
The cops investigating the crime the next day are about as confused as most people would be at finding a bunch of dead folks in fancy dress littered about a New York street.
Plucky reporter Cindy attempts to get some more information from the detectives, only for Jake (the one with the moustache) to bluntly tell her to go away. It seems that she once misquoted him in a story, and he doesn't actually want to admit that she seems to know more about what's going on then they do.
Meanwhile, at sea, an... unusual couple are enjoying their vacation.
Cindy goes out into the neighbourhood to talk to the locals, none of which seem that eager to talk to her about what's been going on. She does bump into a handy mechanic who seems happy to fill her in on the situation.
Harry mentions that in the past few years the number of cars avaliable in New York has exploded, and that it's likely that given a few more years the city will be choked with cars. He says that he wouldn't be surprised if in a few more years the City won't build a highway along the East River, right were those houses are in order to releave that pressure. Cindy catches on quick, mentioning that she'd already heard that the city council have already stated breaking ground on Ninety-Second Street.
So, she reasons, Harry must be saying that if Wald can clear out the area he can pick up the land dirt cheap, and then sell it on to the City at a premium so they can build their new highway. Harry grins, but tells her that that's just the starting line of the story, and that there's still the job of PROVING that Wald is actually responsible and whether that's his actual motivation...
A little while later, a Peter Lorre-ish looking fella called Isog drops in on Wald, having bumped into Cindy as she wandered off to call a cab. The man tells Wald that he saw that all of his men are dead with a weird claw burnt into their heads, a fact that makes the gangster wish that he'd let them have guns.
Isog reminds him that they'd discussed this earlier, and says that it would have ruined the illusion. Wald seems happy despite this, as with all the people involved dead there'll be no one to figure him for the... frankly kind of stupid ghost scheme, which he regrets getting talked into doing. The man mentions that actually there was a reporter around asking questions, and that it might be best for her to "disappear" before people start joining the dots.
Wald dismisses the idea of using Isog's bizarre fake supernatural ideas again, considering they failed so hard last time, and says that they'll sort it out the old fashioned way he knows actually works...
Shortly afterwards, Cindy is giving her editor the low-down on the information that she'd gathered thus far, but he's more interested in getting her to cover the sudden resignation of a secretary of the treasury, as it's actually related to the Great Depression and thus more of an immediate concern than some gangsters playing dress-up.
Begrudgingly Cindy says she'll come back to her own story later and hangs up, only to jumped by two goons working for Wald.
The action begins in 1932, when some folks in one of the poorer boroughs of New York are getting terrorised by some men dressed in stereotypical Native American clothes while covered in glowing body paint (the guys dressed up in costumes are in paint, not the people they're terrorising). They are actually a bunch of gangsters attempting a Scooby Doo-esque real estate scam, by attempting to force the locals out by pretending to be the ghosts of the original inhabitants of Manhattan Island and scalping people so they can buy their property cheaply.
The vigilante known as the Lobster isn't having any of this though, and promptly shoots them all when they attempt to murder a couple that got lost in the neighbourhood late at night.
The cops investigating the crime the next day are about as confused as most people would be at finding a bunch of dead folks in fancy dress littered about a New York street.
Plucky reporter Cindy attempts to get some more information from the detectives, only for Jake (the one with the moustache) to bluntly tell her to go away. It seems that she once misquoted him in a story, and he doesn't actually want to admit that she seems to know more about what's going on then they do.
Meanwhile, at sea, an... unusual couple are enjoying their vacation.
Cindy goes out into the neighbourhood to talk to the locals, none of which seem that eager to talk to her about what's been going on. She does bump into a handy mechanic who seems happy to fill her in on the situation.
Harry mentions that in the past few years the number of cars avaliable in New York has exploded, and that it's likely that given a few more years the city will be choked with cars. He says that he wouldn't be surprised if in a few more years the City won't build a highway along the East River, right were those houses are in order to releave that pressure. Cindy catches on quick, mentioning that she'd already heard that the city council have already stated breaking ground on Ninety-Second Street.
So, she reasons, Harry must be saying that if Wald can clear out the area he can pick up the land dirt cheap, and then sell it on to the City at a premium so they can build their new highway. Harry grins, but tells her that that's just the starting line of the story, and that there's still the job of PROVING that Wald is actually responsible and whether that's his actual motivation...
A little while later, a Peter Lorre-ish looking fella called Isog drops in on Wald, having bumped into Cindy as she wandered off to call a cab. The man tells Wald that he saw that all of his men are dead with a weird claw burnt into their heads, a fact that makes the gangster wish that he'd let them have guns.
Isog reminds him that they'd discussed this earlier, and says that it would have ruined the illusion. Wald seems happy despite this, as with all the people involved dead there'll be no one to figure him for the... frankly kind of stupid ghost scheme, which he regrets getting talked into doing. The man mentions that actually there was a reporter around asking questions, and that it might be best for her to "disappear" before people start joining the dots.
Wald dismisses the idea of using Isog's bizarre fake supernatural ideas again, considering they failed so hard last time, and says that they'll sort it out the old fashioned way he knows actually works...
Shortly afterwards, Cindy is giving her editor the low-down on the information that she'd gathered thus far, but he's more interested in getting her to cover the sudden resignation of a secretary of the treasury, as it's actually related to the Great Depression and thus more of an immediate concern than some gangsters playing dress-up.
Begrudgingly Cindy says she'll come back to her own story later and hangs up, only to jumped by two goons working for Wald.
