Balladeer’s Blog’s year-end retrospective continues with this look at June’s best:
DARK SHADOWS: A review of the Phoenix storyline from Dark Shadows HERE plus the Leviathan Cult and more HERE
THE CHOICE OF THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR – The title says it all. CLICK HERE
FLASHMAN’S GUIANA – Harry Flashman on the hunt for gold in the part of British Guiana being fought over by Great Britain and Venezuela. CLICK HERE
KILLRAVEN: WAR OF THE WORLDS – The first part of my ongoing look at the 1973-1976 Marvel Comics science fiction series about heroic rebels fighting Earth’s alien conquerors. CLICK HERE
FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: JUNE 6th – Another look at the Theater of the Absurd called the American “educational” system. CLICK HERE
GLADIATOR: AN OPERA VERSION OF THE 1930 PHILIP WYLIE NOVEL – An opera about a man granted paranormal abilities by science. CLICK HERE
FIRST BATTLE OF MACHIAS – A forgotten Revolutionary War action. CLICK HERE
HARRISON FLOYD: A MARTIN LUTHER KING PERSON OF COURAGE – A courageous iconoclast. CLICK HERE Continue reading
YELLOWHAIR AND THE FORTRESS OF GOLD (1984) – A review of this movie’s attempt to cross Indiana Jones with Spaghetti Westerns. CLICK 
EVEN MORE MEDAL OF HONOR WINNERS FROM THE PHILIPPINE WAR (1899-1902) – Another installment of Medal of Honor winners from a forgotten war. CLICK 
GOLDEN AGE JUSTICE SOCIETY – Reviews and recommended revisions to the 1940-1945 run of the very first superhero team in history: The Justice Society of America. CLICK 
THE CHANCELLOR MANUSCRIPT – My review of the Robert Ludlum novel. CLICK 
THREE NEGLECTED SWASHBUCKLER NOVELS FROM ALEXANDRE DUMAS – Reviews of Georges, in which a master swordsman fights slavery in Mauritius; Captain Pamphile, another anti-slavery tale from Dumas, this one about a pirate captain; and La Dame De Monsoureau, about a 16th Century rogue and his bed & battle adventures. CLICK 
MARDI GRAS MASSACRE (1978) – A review of a classically bad seasonal slasher movie which featured human sacrifices and inept police work during Mardi Gras. CLICK 
POST-APOCALYPSE MOVIES – Balladeer’s Blog’s reviews of 1980s imitations of Mad Max. 
ADAM WARLOCK, THANOS, GAMORA AND DRAX – A review of the 1975 tale of Adam Warlock tangling with the Magus and his 1,000-world empire. Featuring the VERY FIRST appearance of GAMORA. CLICK 
THE FOOL KILLER – Balladeer’s Blog’s exhaustive examination of 19th and 20th Century Fool Killer folklore, beginning with the Fool Killer Letters in the Milton Chronicle in the 1850s. 
HARRY FLASHMAN NOVELS – My reviews of George MacDonald Fraser’s series of Flashman novels have been very popular items. January saw three items: 
ROBERT GINTY MOVIE MARATHON – Six of the most psychotronic movies from the one and only Robert Ginty. 
FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: JANUARY 21st – Yet another look at the Theater of the Absurd known as the United States “Educational” System. CLICK 
GENTLEMAN JEKYLL AND DRIVER HYDE (1950) – One of Canada’s most bizarrely entertaining Driver’s Ed shorts. CLICK 
THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC (1982) – My review of the Robert Ludlum novel. CLICK 
The “greater” variation, to the proud, sea-faring Athenians, who “ruled the waves” long before Britons came along, involved throwing their wine-lees at plates floating in a pool, with the winner being the one who sank each plate. This small-scale equivalent of naval warfare was, according to Athenaeus, the more prestigious version and was characteristic of a more “high-end” party. 
Joe Biden’s hilariously bizarre but endlessly entertaining political campaign continues. Nibbling on his wife’s fingers while she was trying to deliver a speech on his behalf, telling pervy stories about little kids rubbing his “hairy legs” around a public swimming pool, claiming he comes from “the black community” and that he went to “an HBCU,” Joe always brings the crazy. 
Biden’s inept coverup of his and his son Hunter’s corruption, the inane “gang member Corn Pop” tall tale, and so much more came to mind when I learned Quid Pro Joe’s newest slogan: “No Malarkey!” Seriously. THAT’S what he and his staff came up with. I guess they feel that slogan is the bee’s knees. Or the cat’s pajamas. 
I can’t wait for insider accounts of the Biden campaign so I can read all about the bitter in-fighting over whether or not to use an exclamation point or a more statesmanlike period after Malarkey in that slogan. And did Joe’s advisers warn him that Americans might not be ready for a Malarkey-denier in the White House?
Happy Thanksgiving from Balladeer’s Blog and my very special guest J.J. Abrams (left). Yes, I know that’s Harold Lloyd. I’m a Silent Movie geek, remember? 
MALCOLM BESSENT 
*** During the 1980s consumption of the chemicals in food will cause generations of freakishly tall people. Their abnormal size will weaken their bodies and personalities. 
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