
BALLADEER’S BLOG
A reader requested that I review the Marvel Comics sci-fi dystopia/ alien invasion series Killraven, the Warrior of the Worlds. I already did from 2019-2020, but in honor of New Year’s Eve here is a look back at one part of that review, which was posted on New Year’s Eve of 2019 into 2020, the exact date that the story itself was set on.
FOR PART ONE OF BALLADEER’S BLOG’S EXAMINATION OF THIS OLD, OLD MARVEL COMICS STORYLINE CLICK HERE The revisions I would make are scattered throughout the synopsis below.
AMAZING ADVENTURES Vol 2 #37 (July 1976)
Title: Arena Kill
Synopsis: NEW YEAR’S EVE, 2019 into 2020, which is why I held off the extra day or two to post this review, since I wanted it to actually appear on the REAL December 31st, 2019.
Northern Florida, in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge along the Suwanee River. Killraven and his Freemen continue their guerilla uprising against Earth’s alien conquerors. They have encountered another of the pitifully few bands of humans who also defy the aliens.
We jump right into the middle of some action, as Killraven is pitting his sword against the two battle axes wielded by Brother Axe, the leader of this rebel colony. Brother Axe’s dozens of followers and Killraven’s own Freemen stand in a large circle around the combatants, watching the battle.
The cause of the conflict soon becomes clear – Brother Axe is skeptical that Killraven really is THE Killraven, the world-famous scourge of Earth’s alien conquerors. He suspects KR and his band may be fakers trying to bamboozle him or – even worse – undercover human quislings trying to pinpoint the location of Brother Axe’s rebel band so they can betray the band to their alien masters. Continue reading

MODERN PARODY HALL OF FAME – My look at NINETEEN of the greatest comedies which parodied entire genres or specific movies. Needless to say, expected films like Blazing Saddles, Airplane, plus Monty Python and the Holy Grail got inducted into this Hall of Fame, but many unexpected and/or obscure examples made the list, too. Click
CHASE (1973-1974) – From Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television category came this review of Chase, a one-season series about a special police unit that used experts on motorcycles, helicopters, speedboats and other such vehicles.
ROBERT E. HOWARD’S REAL RED SONYA (1934) – My review of the only story that THE Robert E. Howard ever wrote about his often-misrepresented woman warrior Red Sonya (not Sonja). He depicted her in action during the 1520s, not during the same time period as Conan the Barbarian. Read it
SAMSON MYTHS AS DEPICTED IN ANCIENT ISLAMIC LITERATURE – I examine the differences and similarities to more widely known Samson tales 

NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association)
Here at Balladeer’s Blog my fascination with Movie Host shows of the past and present is pretty well established. I’ve written about such programs from the 1950s onward. Not long ago I covered “
This program was created, written and produced by Joel Stephens, famous for his many Movie Host programs that combine assorted old movies, cartoons and serials with the tradition of attractive female hosts introducing and commenting upon such superannuated programming. Similar Movie Host shows from Stephens include Frightmare Theater, Six Gun Theater, Mobster Theater, Your Afternoon Movie and others.
Getting back to Dark Jungle Theater, here is an overview:
BRIDE OF WILLIAM SHATNER – My review of several movies featuring Marcy Lafferty-Shatner, William Shatner’s wife from 1973-1996. I take a look at Marcy’s appearances in Paper Man, Coffee, Tea or Me?, Hunter, Stat, Want a Ride, Little Girl?, Kingdom of the Spiders, The Day Time Ended and a Bacardi Rum short with Bill at her side. Click
365 DAYS (2020) – The hilariously bad movie version of the equally lame novel that combined the worst elements of Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey with Dark Mafia “romances.” My review is
GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1963-1964) – Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the Forgotten Television item The Greatest Show on Earth, with Jack Palance, Lucille Ball and others in Desilu’s series about a circus. Read it
BUCKSKIN FRANK LESLIE: NEGLECTED GUNSLINGER – A Frontierado Holiday look at the saga of the one and only Buckskin Frank Leslie, and his exploits in Tombstone, San Francisco, Guadalupe Canyon and at Yuma Territorial Prison. 
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Balladeer’s Blog’s Christmas Carol-a-Thon 2022 comes to a close with this look at Simon Callow’s one man show A Christmas Carol. Under Tom Cairns’ direction, Callow’s lauded performance, this time taking place in an abandoned warehouse, gets just enough goosing from smoke, sound effects, fake snow and other enhancements to justify capturing it on film. 