THE SOVEREIGN GUIDE: A TALE OF EDEN (1898) – Written by American William Amos Miller and published under the title My Sovereign Guide: A Tale of Eden, so I have no idea why everyone now starts the title with The instead of My. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that many works of “ancient” science fiction mixed in religious elements with the sci-fi. The Sovereign Guide is one of the most inventive and features angels using advanced technology. Taking the novel section by section:
PART I: JOURNEY TO ROME – Miller himself serves as our narrator. He has received word that Manethoe, a former household aide who had embezzled money from him long ago, is on his deathbed in Rome.
Miller is filled with such a strong desire to see the man one last time and openly forgive him that an actual angel appears to him and offers to take him to Rome to see Manethoe. The angel – who has neither eyes nor ears but functions perfectly without them – has our narrator fly off with him in his chariot.
High above the Earth they pass by a multitude of angels singing a song which William’s guide joins in. At length the chariot descends toward Rome.
PART II: A SCENE IN THE CHAMBER OF DEATH – At Menethoe’s bedside, our narrator and the angel behold the Angel of Death waiting to claim the dying man’s soul. Miller sees the Angel of Death studying a high-tech instrument which it has implanted in Menethoe’s heart.
William forgives his former aide and when the device in the dying man’s heart indicates that he has died, Mary, Mother of God appears at the bedside, a vision so dazzling that our narrator faints. He comes to later on his angelic companion’s chariot. The angel informs him that he is taking him to see Eden and what is left of its Garden.
A weakness of the book is that we never get any indication why William Amos Miller is being granted this privileged tour.
PART III: SUBTERRANEAN VOYAGE TO EDEN – The chariot lands at the seashore, where our narrator is accompanied aboard a futuristic submarine crewed by angels. The vessel is egg-shaped but with spires at both ends. Continue reading
THE BLACK SPIDER 
Powers: The Black Spider was in peak physical condition and exceled at unarmed combat. He was also a skilled investigator and handy with a gun. Luckily, Ralph’s lifelong hobby was the study of spiders, so he used trained tarantulas and black widows from a package on his belt against his foes. 
SUPER MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #3 (Oct 1940) 
Meanwhile, D.A. Nelson goes to his secret lair – a cave in the woods called the Web, where he keeps his spiders and other items. He becomes the Black Spider and trails Harrigan like Peggy is doing. Our hero arrives in time to save her from Harrigan and a Risko gunman, but she tears off his mask and learns the Black Spider is really Ralph. 
THE UNCLE GODDAMN MOVIES – Over the years, several people have asked me if there are any weird films that I won’t review. Believe it or not, there are. First would be the decades-old version of A Christmas Carol performed by a class of mentally challenged students. 
Over time, that film became one of the products sold by the now-defunct mail order site called Blackest Heart Video. So far, it has been the only version of A Christmas Carol that I’ve neither bought nor reviewed. 
THE SON OF THE SHEIK (1926) – Having had more flops than hits in recent years, Valentino jumped at the chance to try reviving his box office mojo by playing both father and son in this sequel to his mammoth hit The Sheik. 
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) 
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) DIVISION ONE
SCARTICIA – From 1971 to 1975 Annette Stutzman starred as the witch Scarticia, hostess of Horrible Movie late Saturday nights on WAPT-TV in Jackson, MS. Stutzman also worked as the personal secretary of the station manager. 
Soon, Jackson, MS teens and 20-somethings began holding Horrible Movie viewing parties on Saturday nights. Inevitably, hundreds of fan letters began pouring in every week. 
OHARA (1987-1988) – In this 1-hour detective show’s case “Ohara” is NOT O’Hara and is instead a Japanese-American cop played by the venerable Pat Morita, who also co-created the program. During its run Ohara went through THREE changes of format, starting out with a very innovative approach before poor ratings prompted desperate network scrambling for tired old approaches. 
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