Monthly Archives: October 2021

SPIDER-MAN: 1970s CLASSICS 7 – MORBIUS, MAN-WOLF AND DR STRANGE

Here’s Part Seven of Spider-Man 1970s Classics. For Part One click HERE. By sheer coincidence this weekend’s installment fits the Halloween Month theme.

giant size superheroes 1GIANT-SIZE SUPERHEROES Vol 1 #1 (June 1974)

Title: Man-Wolf at Midnight

Villains: Morbius the Living Vampire and the Man-Wolf

NOTE: The Giant-Size comic books were quarterly publications that Marvel Comics briefly experimented with in the 1970s. They came out in addition to the monthly installments of their other titles.

Synopsis: Spider-Man is swinging his way around New York City, reflecting on Liz Allen’s recent return to the lives of Peter Parker and his friends. He also contemplates the Jackal, who is still at large after trying to kill Spider-Man twice – once through an alliance with the Punisher and a second time by maneuvering our hero into the middle of another clash between Dr Octopus and Hammerhead.

On the streets below is former astronaut John Jameson, the son of J Jonah Jameson, owner and publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper. John has been out at a restaurant with his fiancee Kristine Saunders and the sight of Spider-Man swinging along high above calls to mind John’s previous nocturnal transformations into a scientifically based werewolf called the Man-Wolf.

Those transformations were caused by the moon rock which John had been wearing around his neck as a souvenir and which was a dangerous object that rooted itself into John’s neck and throat to prevent him from removing it. Continue reading

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LARAINE NEWMAN’S CANNED FILM FESTIVAL (1986)

ritzTHE CANNED FILM FESTIVAL STARRING LARAINE NEWMAN (1986) – Halloween Month continues at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at a neglected Movie Host show, since Movie Hosts/ Horror Hosts are as associated with Halloween as are monsters and cosplay.

In this post I won’t be covering the entire history of movie hosting and the “So Bad They’re Good” film subculture. For that, there are my many other blog posts covering movie hosting from Vampira and her contemporaries, through Moona Lisa, then Son of Svengoolie, Elvira, and programs like Saturday Night Dead, The Texas 27 Film Vault and MST3K

canned film festival castTHE SHOW: The Canned Film Festival Starring Laraine Newman. From June 21st to September 13th of 1986 this syndicated program sponsored largely by Dr Pepper aired on Saturday nights in various time slots around the United States. Elvira’s show Movie Macabre had run from 1981 to 1986 and was winding down. The Texas 27 Film Vault, which had debuted on February 9th, 1985 was still on the air and would run for roughly two and a half years in Texas and Oklahoma.

Along came The Canned Film Festival, which, with a nationally known name like Laraine Newman attached to it, may well have been the reason that one of the attempted syndication deals for T27FV fell through. Be that as it may, Laraine Newman’s show would – like The Texas 27 Film Vault – show more than just lame horror and sci-fi films and would cover the whole spectrum of bad and/ or campy cinema of the past.

laraine as the usheretteTHE HOSTESS: Laraine Newman may be best known for Saturday Night Live and for her character actress work, but she had been a member of The Groundlings improvisational comedy troupe … As had Cassandra Peterson aka Elvira. Newman was also known as an aficionado of horror and fringe cinema. Continue reading

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NCAA DIVISIONS TWO AND THREE FOOTBALL RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

West Florida Argonauts helmetNCAA DIVISION TWO – 1. UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS (Defending National Champions)    ###     2. NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE BEARCATS    ###     3. FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS    ###     4. COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES OREDIGGERS    ###     

Grand Valley State5. GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS    ###     6. VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS    ###     7. UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA TIGERS    ###     8. HARDING UNIVERSITY BISON    ###      Continue reading

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JOE BIDEN’S FASCIST FOLLIES CONTINUE

joe biden slovenly messAs senile yet corrupt Joe Biden’s owners in the Chinese government assume possession of Bagram and other former American bases in Afghanistan, here at home the doddering demagogue continues to divide the nation while using the apparatus of government to try silencing dissent. Meanwhile the accused rapist’s Underboss Hunter Biden is still funneling bribe money to the Biden Crime Family via six-figure “sales of his artwork.” (LMAO) 

JOE BIDEN, INCOHERENT, INARTICULATE AND ILLEGITIMATE AS EVER, JUSTIFIES SICCING THE DEMOCRATS’ FASCIST MOBS ON SENATOR KYRSTEN SINEMA FOR DARING TO DISOBEY HIM. The authoritarian scumbag actually justified mob harassment as “part of the process.” More HERE.

CREEPY, SLEEPY JOE’S SON AND UNDERBOSS HUNTER BIDEN STILL STALLING REGARDING HUNTER DIVESTING FROM CHINESE FINANCIAL FIRM. It can’t be stated often enough – Joe Biden and his Crime Family are apparently owned by China.

MICHIGAN’S DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR WHITMER VETOES ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURES THAT WOULD PREVENT RECURRENCES OF THE WIDESPREAD “CHEAT BY MAIL” AND SIMILAR 2020 ELECTION SCAMS. And remember when Whitmer was pushing her Big Lie that Trump was involved in a plot to kidnap her? Is Whitmer all there? 

democrat republican or awakeBRAZEN ANTI-TRUMP LIES CALLED OUT IN STEPHANIE GRISHAM’S NEW BOOK. She’s being called out by Steve Scalise, victim of Democrat fascist violence-mongering.

MORE AND MORE ANTI-BIDEN CHANTS RINGING OUT LOUD AND STRONG ACROSS THE NATION. Despite the demented dolt’s ongoing attempts to suppress them. More HERE from New York. And more HERE. For Michigan HERE.

POLL: SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT FEEL BIDEN HAS DIVIDED THE COUNTRY MORE THAN IT WAS A YEAR AGO. Plus, remember the Quinnipiac poll showing only 42% thought the Biden Regime was competent? I wonder how low that figure has become since then?

JOE BIDEN’S POLITICIZED DEMOCRAT PAC CALLED THE DOJ BEING UNLEASHED ON PARENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. Joe Biden is totalitarian trash. Is he hoping to provoke a show of defiance that he can once again falsely label an “insurrection?”

427,000 PARENTS RESPOND TO THE BIDEN REGIME’S ATTEMPT TO LABEL THEM “DOMESTIC TERRORISTS” FOR SPEAKING OUT AT SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS. More HERE. And by the way, most school board meetings REQUIRE I.D. AND PROOF OF RESIDENCE to speak at. In other words school board meetings are more securely run than America’s fraud-infected electoral process.  Continue reading

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FAUST (1987): THE PRE-SPAWN VERSION OF SPAWN

faustFAUST: LOVE OF THE DAMNED (1987) – Written by David Quinn with artwork by Tim Vigil. Halloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with this review of the 1987-2012 “adult” comic book series Faust. This series included very graphic and very unusual sex and violence while offering a twisted update on the story of Faust selling his soul to Mephistopheles. The year 2000 Brian Yuzna (’nuff said) movie version of Faust: Love of the Damned is pretty bad but does capture the blood-soaked, anarchic WTF air of the series.  

Before I get into plot details I’ll point out that, despite the criticism that Quinn and Vigil get for providing stories featuring extreme sex and gore in a purely sensational manner they never sold out their indy comic vision by watering down either the sex or the violence just for wider distribution and more money. Continue reading

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14 NEGLECTED GOTHIC HORROR STORIES

Halloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at some of the neglected literary horror tales I’ve reviewed.

ensouled violin picTHE ENSOULED VIOLIN (1880) – Written by THE Madame Blavatsky. A gifted Austrian violin player named Franz Stenio is drawn to occult studies while away at college. Hearing dark legends about how Niccolo Paganini supposedly acquired his otherworldly skill with the violin, Franz carries out some of the rumored rituals in real life, to bloody and deadly effect. The fallout is horrific. CLICK HERE.  

CITY OF VAMPIRES (1867) – Written by Paul Feval. This criminally neglected story depicts a fictionalized young version of the Gothic horror writer Ann Radcliffe when she was still Ann Ward. To try to save some friends she trails them to the Belgrade city of vampires called Selene as well as the Sepulchre. In that perpetually gloomy and overcast village Ann and company must deal with vampires of varied abilities from back in the era before vampire lore was as set in stone as it later became. CLICK HERE

werwolvesTHE WERWOLVES (1898) – Written by Honore Beaugrand. A pack of werewolves prey upon victims in Canada. Plenty of unusual takes on lycanthrope lore with a north of the border touch. These particular werewolves are of Iroquois extraction which, along with the cold and snowy backdrop, helps to make this Canadian horror tale stand out from the rest. CLICK HERE. Continue reading

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DEMOCRAT ATROCITY ROUNDUP: OCTOBER 4th

biden who is at faultIndependent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog as always comes to you from the corporate fascist state of the U.S. We’re that surreal realm where Joe Biden’s entrance into a room should be announced by the playing of The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down instead of Hail to the Chief. “C’mon, man” listen for yourself if it’s been awhile.

Senile Joe BidenNeedless to say, Biden’s departures, where he flees the room because he’s not allowed to answer questions that further reveal how mentally unsound he is, would then consist of propagandist Jen Psaki saying “Th-th-th-th-that’s ALL, folks!”

Nah, all of that is too dignified for the Biden Regime considering its countless crimes against humanity. So let’s look at the latest from senile yet corrupt Joe Biden and his political party which combines the worst elements of fascism and organized crime (office-holding Republicans are irrelevant trash and do nothing but chase money):

DEMOCRAT FASCIST MOBS HARRASS EVEN THEIR OWN SENATORS FOR NOT BEING FASCIST ENOUGH. Also HERE. And HERE. But give Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema credit -even though the mob harrassed her in the ladies room RIGHT OUTSIDE HER BATHROOM STALL she did NOT pull an AOC and pretend she felt “in danger of being assaulted” like the repulsive Ocasio-Cortez did earlier this year.

repub dem otherMORE CALLS FOR BIDEN TO RESIGN.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE, ANTI-BIDEN CHANTS CONTINUE TO RING OUT AT COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES AROUND THE COUNTRY.

THE DEMOCRATS AT FACEBOOK CONTINUE CENSORING POLITICAL CANDIDATES IN OTHER COUNTRIES, TOO. Bloated rich pigs of social media continue to decide what political candidates around the world should be allowed to say.

BIDEN REGIME STILL PUSHING OLD, DISPROVEN LIES. What good does such partisan dishonesty do for anyone?

BIDEN STOPPED FROM ANSWERING QUESTIONS EVEN FROM FELLOW DEMOCRATS DURING HIS VISIT TO CAPITOL HILL. I guess there have been too many incidents of Biden showing how much of a blithering idiot he is. Continue reading

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 2nd

HEADLINES

Charleston Golden Eagles helmet NEWTOPPLING NUMBER SIX – In NCAA Division Two, the UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON GOLDEN EAGLES played host to the number 6 team in the nation – the NOTRE DAME COLLEGE FALCONS (School Motto: “No, not THAT Notre Dame”). The Golden Eagles put the Falcons on Upset Alert with a 17-14 Halftime lead and ultimately won the game 38-28.

West Alabama Tigers helmet NEWNUMBER NINE FALLS, TOO – Staying in D2 for a moment, the 23rd ranked UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA TIGERS took it on the road against the country’s number 9 UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA WOLVES. A 24-17 lead for the Tigers at the break ended up in a 38-20 Upset victory for them.   

erskine flying fleetHISTORY IN THE NCCAA – The ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET, in their very first year of intercollegiate football, notched their first ever victory yesterday. It came against their guests the VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG DRAGONS. The Flying Fleet were chasing the Dragons 7-3 in the opening Quarter but were on top 24-7 come Halftime. They never looked back on their way to a 59-13 blowout. Continue reading

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SPIDER-MAN: 1970s CLASSICS PART SIX – THE MOLTEN MAN

Here’s Part Six of Spider-Man 1970s Classics. For Part One click HERE.

spider man 132SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #132 (May 1974)

Title: The Master Plan of the Molten Man

Villain: The Molten Man

Synopsis: With Peter Parker’s Aunt May finally out of the clutches of Doctor Octopus and being taken care of by her new roommate Anna Watson (Mary Jane’s aunt), Peter as Spider-Man is swinging his way around New York City one night a few weeks later.  He comes across a few cops investigating a strange break-in at the Metropolitan Museum.

Clinging to the ceiling and staying out of the way of the investigating officers, Spider-Man goes unnoticed as the investigation reveals that the break-in was committed by a supervillain who could burst through walls as well as melt locks and leave burned-in footprints in the floor. The thief stole meteor fragments from one of the displays then left.

Just as Spider-Man realizes this must have been the work of his old foe Molten Man, whom he fought two times previously, the cops notice him and open fire. At this time our hero is still wanted in regard to a pair of murders – of Captain John Stacy and Norman Osborn. (He won’t be cleared for years.) Continue reading

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THE OLD GODS WAKEN (1979): HALLOWEEN MONTH BEGINS

Silver John

Silver John

THE OLD GODS WAKEN (1979) – Another Halloween Month begins here at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at the first novel featuring Manly Wade Wellman’s iconic Pulp Hero Silver John. In 2011 I reviewed all of Wellman’s short stories and vignettes about this figure. The Old Gods Waken was the first of five Silver John novels.

For newcomers to these tales I’ll point out that Silver John aka John the Balladeer was a wandering guitar player in the Appalachian Mountain communities of yore. He would do battle with assorted supernatural menaces from mountain folklore like a combination of Kolchak and Orpheus. John’s silver guitar strings and silver coins were powerful repellants against much of the evils he faced down.

For more details on this neglected fictional hero click HERE or HERE or HERE. If you want an easy comparison the Silver John stories were based on the same type of mountain/ country folklore about music and the supernatural that the song The Devil Went Down To Georgia was based on.

silver john another coverThe Old Gods Waken deals with Silver John performing with other musicians at a music festival, then getting drawn into a property line dispute between the Forshay family and two sinister British men calling themselves Brummitt and Hooper Voth. As usual in our hero’s travels there are dark supernatural forces at work behind this boundary dispute – forces ultimately dealing with Pre-Columbian entities and transplanted Druidism.

I enjoy the Silver John short works far more than the novels and this book reflects plenty of reasons why. If The Old Gods Waken is a reader’s first exposure to the wandering balladeer then they might like it much better than I do based on the strength of the character and Manly Wade Wellman’s ear for old mountain dialects. As for me, I’ll explore the reasons why I think this novel embodies all the shortcomings of the (still very good) long form Silver John adventures.    Continue reading

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