We open near an island off the Scottish coast. Hunter and explorer Walter Chatham is on a pleasure cruise when the weather starts getting rough, the tiny ship is tossed and Walter goes overboard. Walter awakens on the island and is shocked to be confronted by three disfigured men; the men grab Walter and drag him to meet their mistress: Duchess Donna Savage, rightful queen of Scotland!
Walter is brought before this fearsome figure to find... she's actually a very pleasant-looking young woman dressed in contemporary garb. She doesn't even have an accent in her dialogue. The men identify Walter as a spy; he explains he's a hunter and explorer who fell overboard. Donna replies that she doesn't trust him but she's glad he's there: "But it is good that you are a hunter! At least you'll have a chance in my hunting game!" She explains that she loves to hunt but there are no animals left to hunt on the island so she has substituted the game with humans.
Donna shows off her trophy room, the human heads of other castaways who had the misfortune of landing on her shore. But Donna is excited that as Walter is a hunter he'll "make the game more exciting!" Walter spends a night in a cell, then in the morning it given a dagger (from Boma, a Senegalese warrior) and released into the wild. Walter runs through the woods but finds himself at a cliff; he quickly climbs a tree but Donna and her men arrive and shake the tree; Walter falls over the cliff but lands safely on a ledge, unseen by Donna and her men. Donna assumes he's dead and whips her men for ending the hunt so quickly.
From the ledge Walter crawls into a tunnel which leads into the cellar of Donna's chateau, where many barrels of gunpowder have been stored for Donna's supposed rebellion. Returning to the grounds of the island Walter is attacked by Donna's mute servant and stabs him to death with the dagger. Much to his surprise, the mute's body is instantly disintegrated! Boma charges him next but Walter throws a rock at Boma's head, takes Boma's sword and slices him clean through; Boma dissolves as well. Then Walter kills the blind sailor and returns to the chateau where he finds Donna standing before the heads of three of her trophies - the three servants he just killed! It seems Donna has supernatural powers! "These creatures you killed were dead men, who lived only at my command!"
Donna draws a pistol to kill Walter but he shoves her into her fireplace; the whole chateau goes up in flames and the gunpowder destroys everything while Walter escapes. By now a rowboat has arrived at the island to rescue Walter. When he begins to relate what happened the sailors tell him Donna Savage died in a struggle with three mutilated servants 200 years ago!
My thoughts: It isn't a bad idea to mix the supernatural with The Most Dangerous Game but this story is a bit too wild for its own good. She's a insane Scottish duchess who wants to start a rebellion to claim the throne -- but she's also a ruthless hunter who hunts men for sport -- but she's also a necromancer who raises dead men to help her hunt!
All images from The Digital Comic Museum
The Hunter:
- A
Russian noblemanScottish noblewoman (2/4 points) - Who is a big game hunter (4/4 points)
- But
is no longer challenged byhas no access to big game (2/4 points) - So she hunts men on
hisher secluded island (3/4 points) Justifying this through a eugenics/Darwinian philosophy(0/4 points)- She is aided by
hisher servants, including a disfigured mute (4/4 points) And his vicious hunting dogs(0/4 points)He obtains his prey by scuttling nearby ships(0/4 points)His victims are given a time limit of 3 days; if they are alive at the deadline, they win the hunt(0/4 points)- As a further example of
hisher sense of "sportsmanship", she will deliberately prolong the hunt if she finds it interesting (3/4 points) HisHer victims are placed on display inhisher trophy room (4/4 points)
The Hunted:
- A famous big game hunter (4/4 points)
Who philosophizes about what (if anything) animals sense while being hunted(0/4 points)- He is cast overboard and finds himself on the hunter's island, alone (4/4 points)
The hunter knows him because of his reputation(0/4 points)When he learns the hunter's scheme he refuses to hunt alongside him(0/4 points)- Hunted by the hunter, he flees into the wilderness trying to avoid detection (4/4 points)
- His only tool is a knife which the hunter gave him (4/4 points)
In time he constructs traps to kill the hunter or his servants(0/4 points)- He survives the ordeal by leaping over a cliff (4/4 points)
- Although the hunt is over, he confronts the hunter and
duels himthrows her into a fireplace to the death (3/4 points)
The Island:
- Is a
tropicalisland inthe CaribbeanScotland (2/4 points) - Surrounded by dangerous reefs which wreck ships (4/4 points)
- The island has a dangerous swamp (0/4 points)
- And high cliffs (4/4 points)
Total score: 57/100
The game's afoot! More to come!
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