BEST OF JULY 2024

Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end-of-year retrospective continues with a look at July’s best.

SHOTGUN JOHN COLLINS: NEGLECTED GUNSLINGER – A look at his real-life experiences and encounters with Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Johnny Ringo, Bat Masterson and others. Click HERE.

ONE LAST RUM MAKES THE LIST OF BALLADEER’S BLOG’S FAVORITES – I squeezed it in right before July 4th. Click HERE.

RIN TIN TIN: HIS SILENT FILMS – I examined the real-life original Rin Tin Tin from his adoption as a puppy by American troops during World War One. From 1918 to 1928 the canine superstar became an international sensation who had more endorsement deals than some human actors. Click HERE.

COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM: SUSSEX COUNTY COLLEGE – Click HERE.

THE BLACK SOLDIERS OF THE CHASSEURS DE SAINT-DOMINGUE DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR – I examined the often overlooked soldiers of color fighting on America’s side during the war. Click HERE.

THE TOUCH OF BREEZE (2023) – Pritilata Nandi’s latest literary work. Click HERE.

SILENT FILMS ABOUT THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR – I reviewed silent films about that war made in 1914, 1916, 1917, 1922 and 1924. Plus, an infamous court ruling on one of them. Click HERE.

HAS TO BE SAID: JULY SEVENTEENTH – Daring and irreverent takes. Click HERE.

DEADWOOD DICK (1877) – The very first adventure of this gunslinging Dime Novel character. Click HERE.

PONY EXPRESS RIDERS – A look at Pony Bob, Irish Tommy, the man called Boston and others. Click HERE.

JANUARY OF 1976 STORIES FROM MARVEL COMICS – An examination of every issue published by Marvel that month. Click HERE. 

JUDGE ROY BEAN: HIS REAL-LIFE SAGA – A look at the stranger than fiction adventures of this old west gunslinger and judge. Click HERE.

THE JAYBIRD-WOODPECKER WAR (1888-1889) – The real-life war of bullets and ballots in Texas. Click HERE.

THE CLOCK – The pre-Superman and pre-Batman character from 1936 and his 1939-1940 stories. Click HERE.

THE ALASKANS (1959-1960) – England’s Roger Moore starred in this series set during the turn of the century Gold Rushes in the Yukon and Klondike. Click HERE.

CRAZY MIKE: NEGLECTED GUNSLINGER – The man remembered as “the Jesse James of the Pacific Northwest.” Click HERE.

CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE FALCON: MADBOMB – Cap and Falc must save the U.S. from an elitist coup set for July 4th of the Bicentennial Year. Click HERE.

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: UN AUTRE MOND (1895) – The birth of a mutant possessed of extraordinary abilities. Click HERE.

COWBOY G-MEN (1952-1953) – Before Jim West and before Briscoe County Jr. came these old west Secret Service Agents from a forgotten television series. Click HERE.

KEITH RICHARDS AS JESSE JAMES, JUDAS, VICTOR HUGO AND CRAZY HORSE – Plus Pat Garrett and others. Click HERE.

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE FORGOTTEN LAND (1917) – Armies from Japan conquer the western half of the United States with high-tech weapons. Native Americans manage to retake their ancestors’ lands. A bio-engineered plague threatens to kill everyone on the continent. Click HERE.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN: NEGLECTED MARVEL HERO – His 1970s stories, featuring the first ever appearance of the X-Men’s Psylocke. Click HERE.

O. HENRY’S ORIGINAL CISCO KID STORY – He was a VERY different gunslinging figure. Click HERE.