Balladeer’s Blog’s posts about neglected Pulp Heroes like the Nyctalope, G-8 and His Battle Aces and others have proven enduringly popular over the years. My work on the then-obscure Moon Man from the 1930s caught the eye of author Greg Hatcher, who was kind enough to thank me for my synopses of all 38 original Moon Man stories AND to send me a copy of his story in the 2014 collection of new Moon Man (and other hero) tales by modern authors.
Since I’m as vain as the next guy I’ll even thank Mr Hatcher again for his kind November 2013 note that read in part: “I was writing to thank you for your invaluable index (Of Moon Man stories). I literally couldn’t have done it without your scholarship to fall back on … I thought the least I could do was let you have mine in advance as a thank-you, and also let you see the afterword where you and your blog are acknowledged.”
Anyway, writing a blog isn’t JUST about getting death-threats and such. You sometimes hear from very kind-hearted people like Greg Hatcher.
This brings us back to the Nyctalope, the neglected bionic French Pulp Hero created in the VERY early 20th century by France’s sci fi icon Jean de la Hire. My review of some of the Nyctalope novels in the original French predated a couple of the recently published English language translations and assorted readers were wondering when I would finish the whole series, like I did with G-8, Silver John and Northwest Smith.
Rest assured my reviews of The Moroccan Sphinx, The Amazons of Everest, Voyage of the Nyctalope, The Nude Sorceress, Assassination of the Nyctalope and The Mysterious Skeleton are forthcoming … Just like my completion of the Son of the Black Mass samurai films & novels, The Flashman Papers and other items. Hopefully we’ll all still be alive by then.
FOR MY ORIGINAL NYCTALOPE ARTICLE CLICK HERE
Balladeer’s Blog’s original reviews of The Top Five Harry Flashman Novels were such a hit I followed it up with bonus reviews of what I consider the 6th through 10th novels. It may be a few weeks until I finish any of my reviews of the remaining books in the series so here’s quick links to the 6th – 10th place selections. 
SIXTH PLACE
SEVENTH PLACE 
EIGHTH PLACE 
9. FLASH FOR FREEDOM (1971) 
For his part our scurvy protagonist gleefully anticipates all manner of graft money and getting to vote to send other people off to war for a change rather than being sent himself. With Morrison’s financial backing, Flashman finds himself in the political arena – an arena where other people are more skilled at cheating than he is. 
With very few transportation options open to the on-the-lam scoundrel, Harry ends up on an outbound ship owned by his father-in-law but finds that he has once again gone from the frying pan into the fire. To Flashman’s great shock he learns that the ship he’s stuck on is a slaver – and that the illegal trade is a large part of John Morrison’s shady fortune. 
Here’s Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of Don McGregor’s 1973-1975 Black Panther story Panther’s Rage. I’m no comic book expert but in my opinion Panther’s Rage surpasses much of the work done by the overrated and overpraised Alan Moore. 
For Balladeer’s Blog’s Number One Harry Flashman Novel click 
8. FLASHMAN (1969) 
That’s what our protagonist wanted in the first place, and the Guv-nor buys Harry a post as a Cornet (Second Lieutenant for us Yanks) in a Cavalry Regiment. The unit selected by the ever-calculating Harry has just returned to England after years overseas, so Flashman assumes he won’t be sent to war while enjoying the benefits of a gentlemanly life of riding, sporting and letting his dashing uniform help him attract ladies. 
Sword in hand, pistol at his side and a long line of beautiful ladies on his arm, Harry spends the next three years getting swept up in the feuding in Lord Cardigan’s Cavalry unit, the Rebecca Riots in Wales, Scotland’s labor revolt and ultimately the long string of British military disasters in the First Afghan War. 
Projected Title: FLASHMAN ON THE GOLD COAST 
In June the advance of the Ashanti was halted at Elmina and back in England Her Majesty’s Government made plans to send additional troops to the Gold Coast to deal with the situation. By August 13th General Garnet Wolseley was chosen to lead the army. 
8. THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC (1982) 
The now-adult Havelock saw the clear similarities between Nazi and Soviet totalitarianism and in order to oppose the Communists he gravitated to Intelligence work. Michael’s mentor and fellow Czech-American (more on him shortly) had brought him into the State Department, just like Robert Winthrop had brought Brandon Scofield into the State Department in The Matarese Circle. 
For Balladeer’s Blog’s Number One Harry Flashman Novel click 
7. FLASHMAN AND THE REDSKINS (1982) 
Synopsis: The plot of Flashman and the Redskins picks up immediately after the end of Flash For Freedom (1971). Still stranded without funds in 1849 America our antihero returns to the welcoming arms – and bed – of brothel madam Susie Willink. That voluptuous MILF has been bitten by the Gold Bug and invites Harry to join her and her stable of prostitutes as part of a wagon train headed to California. 
Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’m about responding to you readers. Some of you responded very strongly to the way I sprinkled my reviews of Robert Ludlum’s Top Seven Novels with observations of what I would have liked to see in terms of offshoots or spin-off stories. So, since Expanded Universes are becoming all the rage in recent decades here’s an outline of my fan fiction-style view of an Expanded Robert Ludlum Universe. 
I. BEOWULF AGATE – Series of short stories or a made for cable series. The tales would be set from the 1950s to late 1970s, ending just before the events in The Matarese Circle. Ludlum’s fictional intelligence organization Consular Operations would take center stage.
II. OPERATION: MEDUSA – Another series of short stories or a made for cable series. Ludlum’s Operation: Medusa was his fictional version of the Vietnam War’s real-life Phoenix Project. Operation: Medusa was the top-secret, paramilitary Black Operations outfit in which David Webb aka Jason Bourne got his first covert experience. 
IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN (1904) by Robert W Chambers. Previously Balladeer’s Blog examined Chambers’ underrated horror classic The King in Yellow. The work we’re looking at this time around is a collection of short stories about Francis Gilland the Zoologist. Gilland was a forerunner of the real-life Frank “Bring ’em Back Alive” Buck and the fictional Indiana Jones. 
I. THE HARBOR MASTER – Gilland is sent north to Hudson Bay where a Harbor Master has reported capturing a pair of Great Auks, flightless birds which went extinct in the mid-1800s. The two-fisted scholar finds the Great Auks are for real but the Harbor Master harbors (see what I did there) a sinister secret. 
II. IN QUEST OF THE DINGUE – The Graham Glacier melts, unleashing a number of animals from species that were long thought extinct. Among the crowd of academics converging on the unexplored area are Gilland and Professor Smawl. The Professor is a sexy, strong-willed female scholar that our hero has been forced to accompany into the region. 
Balladeer's Blog 