Here’s Part Ten of Spider-Man 1970s Classics. For Part One click HERE.
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #138 (November 1974)
Title: Madness Means the Mindworm
Villain: Mindworm (First Appearance)
Synopsis: The morning after Harry Osborn was taken away by the authorities in the previous issue, Spider-Man sits, mask off, amid the wreckage of what had been his and Harry’s apartment. NOTE: The apartment was demolished by the bomb Harry set hoping to kill Peter a few issues back.
He switches to Peter Parker before Mr Templeton, the landlord, enters for an inspection of the damage. He angrily mentions all the destruction to the floors above and below Peter’s apartment as well, tears up the lease and orders Peter to vacate the premises by the next day.
The following morning, Peter gathers what few belongings he was able to salvage from the destruction and stops by the adjoining building’s rooftop to retrieve the spare Spider-Man costume, web fluid cartridges and web shooters that he tossed there days ago to prevent them being found in his apartment after the bomb went off.
To Peter’s shock, they are all gone. Alarmed, he suspects that maybe Harry found them and made off with them during his brief period as the new Green Goblin. He adds replacing those stolen items to his list of things to do.
NOTE: Our hero is not yet aware that the Jackal, who had been keeping Peter and Harry’s apartment under video surveillance, saw Peter toss out the bundle of Spider-gear on the day of the explosion and has taken the items for his ongoing vendetta against Spider-Man.
An hour later, at a pay phone, Peter has nearly exhausted all the names in his contact book but no one has room for another roommate at present. The only name left in the book is Flash Thompson, his old enemy since high school.
With nothing to lose he tries Flash anyway, only to be surprised that Flash heard about how Harry blew up their apartment and volunteers to let Peter stay with him until he finds a new place. Peter is pleasantly surprised. He hails a cab, loads his things and rides it to the Far Rockaway apartment building in which Flash Thompson lives. Continue reading
IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1994) – Directed by John Carpenter and written by Michael De Luca, this movie was an unabashed valentine to H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King’s imitations of Lovecraft, and The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers. The King in Yellow, of course, is the 1895 book 
Soon, Trent is visited in his padded cell, where he has used a black crayon to cover his body and the padded walls with crucifixes for protection. His visitor is Dr Wrenn, played by David Warner, the panicked, crucifix-surrounded man from The Omen, now talking to the panicked, crucifix-surrounded Sam Neill in this film. (I admit that’s a sly touch in keeping with the style of the movie. It even has echoes of the victim in Equinox fixating on his protective crucifix.) 
THE AUTOMATIC BRIDGET (1889) – Written by Howard Fielding (pen name of Charles Witherle Hooke). This was an early short story about a robot run amok. 
Free Speech has been under assault by both Liberals and Conservatives in recent decades, but mostly by Liberals in the past twenty years via Political Correctness and Cancel Culture. There was a time when Liberals actively supported freedom of expression because they understood it was THE primary freedom from which all other freedoms flowed. The early figures from my own country’s history protected speech with the FIRST Amendment to the Constitution because they knew all too well that ideas that are considered taboo and offensive today might be considered essential truths by future generations.
They became the Political Correctness Police and anyone who offended their 1960s attitudes had to be silenced because – as they knew so well from their own experience – when controversial ideas are given the room to breathe they can often thrive. The totalitarian asses of the 1960s left can’t bear the fact that younger people might have opinions that offend THEM as much as their opinions offended their parents’ generation. 
Keep in mind Spinoza’s wonderful line “Every man should think what he likes and say what he thinks.” That still rings true because no matter what the hypersensitive fools who want to censor the rest of us find offensive NONE of them has the right to try to extinguish one single product of the human mind. 
THE NIGHT AMERICA TREMBLED (1957) – This is a reasonably enjoyable television movie sponsored by Westinghouse. The Night America Trembled presents what may be the very first dramatic production of the supposed panic caused by the 1938 Mercury Theater radio production of War of the Worlds. I’m always fascinated with accounts of this possibly overblown event, but the actual event – not so much. 
NCAA DIVISION THREE – 1. UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS ### 2. NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE CARDINALS (defending champions) ### 3. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT WHITEWATER WARHAWKS ### 4. SAINT JOHN’S UNIVERSITY JOHNNIES ### 
5. UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT UNION PURPLE RAIDERS ### 6. LINFIELD COLLEGE WILDCATS ### 7. CORTLAND STATE RED DRAGONS ### 8. WHEATON (IL) COLLEGE THUNDER ### 
Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at the ongoing disaster that is the Biden Regime and its enablers. 
GENERALS CONQUER DIVISION TWO – NCAA Division Three’s WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY GENERALS took it on the road to face NCAA Division Two’s EMORY & HENRY COLLEGE WASPS. (This is like when an FCS team upsets an FBS team) A 7-7 1st Quarter tie became a 21-14 edge for the Wasps at Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended with the Generals up 24-21 before winning the game 30-28. 
TUSSLE IN THE TOP FOUR – Up in NCAA Division Two the number 2 team in the nation – the VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS – welcomed the 4th ranked UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA WOLVES. The Blazers held a 27-13 lead by the Half. The Wolves pulled to within 33-27 in the 3rd Quarter, with their rally falling just short in the 4th as Valdosta State held on for a 36-34 victory. 
EASY AS ONE, TWO, THREE – Over in the NAIA the (1) LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE BLUE RAIDERS won 41-30 at the (22) BETHEL (TN) WILDCATS ### The (2) NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS obliterated the visiting (20) DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS 63-28 ### And the (3) MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS utterly annihilated the UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN JIMMIES 70-7. 
THE GHOST PIRATES (1909) – HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Balladeer’s Blog wraps up another Halloween Month with a look at this novella written by William Hope Hodgson. Just a few years ago my review of Hodgson’s 1908 
That sole member of the original crew, Williams, tells Jessop and other new crew members about the ship being haunted and worse, but Jessop, like the other replacement hires, dismisses such claims. Williams seems a bit unnerved and maybe even unhinged by whatever happened on the original journey to San Francisco. He is bitterly obsessed with completing the round trip and collecting his pay despite horrific incidents that he is obviously hiding. 
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #136 (September 1974) 
NOTE: Not only would that have been a Kung Fu flick from the still-flowing initial wave of Bruce Lee-inspired Martial Arts Mania here in the U.S. but it would also have been when Forty-Second Street theaters showed everything from grindhouse movies on up. 
Balladeer's Blog 