Category Archives: Superheroes

KILLRAVEN TWENTY-TWO: ARENA KILL

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.

Killraven Arena KillAMAZING 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.

Killraven 2The 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

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BEST OF AUGUST 2019

Balladeer’s Blog’s end-of-year retrospective continues with this look at August’s best. Enjoy your Christmas leftovers of 11 + Sauce and read:

Son of SupermindDELL SUPERHERO PANTHEON – From World War Two to the Cold War, a look at the Dell Comics pantheon of superheroes. CLICK HERE  

DAVID J HARRIS, JR – Looking at yet Another Martin Luther King Person of Courage. CLICK HERE

hammett 2HAMMETT (1982) – A review of the movie depicting Dashiell Hammett mixed-up in a murder investigation. CLICK HERE

TOP MYTHOLOGICAL PANTHEONS COVERED HERE AT BALLADEER’S BLOG – My look at the gods of the Vietnamese, Ainu, Navajo, Hawaiian, Inuit and more. CLICK HERE

FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP – The August 24th edition HERE

Ethan Van SciverETHAN VAN SCIVER: THE FUTURE KING OF ALL MEDIA? – A look at the mad genius Ethan Van Sciver and his YT shows about pop culture. This man is a MUST watch. CLICK HERE

ANCIENT GREEK COMEDY: COTHURNUS (circa 405 B.C.) – An examination of the comedy by Philonides. CLICK HERE Continue reading

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A LUKE CAGE CHRISTMAS CAROL (1973)

Yes, it’s a Marvel Comics crossover with Balladeer’s Blog’s TENTH Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon! With all of the Marvel superheroes conquering the big and small screens here’s an action-packed Christmas Carol adaptation from the 1970s.  

luke-cage-christmas-carolJingle Bombs was the real title of this holiday tale which pitted superhero Luke Cage aka Hero for Hire aka Power Man against the one-off supervillain called Marley. Like a Guest Villain from the Adam West Batman show Marley uses a campy Christmas Carol motif for his nefarious plan … yet, oddly the story is kind of quaint.  

On Christmas Eve, Luke Cage is hanging out with his then-girlfriend Claire Temple, a nurse who worked at a clinic in the New York ghetto. Later on in the series Claire would be the center of a romantic triangle between Luke Cage and another of Marvel’s black superheroes – Black Goliath, Hank Pym’s former lab assistant who used Pym’s inventions to turn to giant-size and back. 

As night approaches Luke sees a ruckus outside the clinic: a man in Dickensian 1800s clothing is using his walking stick to beat a little handicapped boy named Timmy. Our hero goes out to save the little boy and is attacked by the strange man, who identifies himself as “Marley.”   Continue reading

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BEST OF JUNE 2019

Balladeer’s Blog’s year-end retrospective continues with this look at June’s best:

Dark ShadowsDARK 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 1KILLRAVEN: 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 2GLADIATOR: 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

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MAY OF 2019: THE BEST OF BALLADEER’S BLOG

Balladeer’s Blog’s end of year review continues with this look at May’s Best:

Yellowhair and the Fortress of GoldYELLOWHAIR AND THE FORTRESS OF GOLD (1984) – A review of this movie’s attempt to cross Indiana Jones with Spaghetti Westerns. CLICK HERE

INTERVIEW WITH THE FOOL KILLER – It’s an Interview with the Vampire-style letter from the Fool Killer to Balladeer’s Blog. CLICK HERE and HERE

HOMBRE: SPAIN’S POST-APOCALYPSE HERO FROM THE 1980s – A look at the unjustly overlooked hero from Spain’s adult comic books. Mad Max meets The Walking Dead meets Wolverine in this riveting series. CLICK HERE

FLASHMAN OF ARABIA – Harry Paget Flashman’s adventure on the Arabian Peninsula alongside the famous explorer Richard Burton. CLICK HERE

Medal of Honor picEVEN MORE MEDAL OF HONOR WINNERS FROM THE PHILIPPINE WAR (1899-1902) – Another installment of Medal of Honor winners from a forgotten war. CLICK HERE

TRANSGRESS WITH ME: MAY 3rd – Another journey into transgressive thoughts and ideas. CLICK HERE

FOOL KILLER: MAY INSTALLMENTS – For the O Henry and Joel Chandler Harris takes on the Fool Killer, CLICK HERE . For James L Pearson’s Fool-Killer, CLICK HERE , HERE , HERE , HERE

DEMOCRAT ATROCITY ROUNDUP: MAY 15th – The latest look at the historical and recent outrages from the infamous gang of white-collar criminals. CLICK HERE

All Star 22GOLDEN 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 HERE 

BALLADEER’S BLOG’S CLASH WITH THE TECHNO-FASCISTS – My own run-in with the zealous censors of Silicon Valley. CLICK HERE

Chancellor ManuscriptTHE CHANCELLOR MANUSCRIPT – My review of the Robert Ludlum novel. CLICK HERE

FOUR NEGLECTED MILITARY UNITS FROM AMERICAN WARS – A Memorial Day tribute to some overlooked units from assorted American wars. CLICK HERE Continue reading

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BEST OF APRIL 2019

Balladeer’s Blog’s end of year review continues:

Chinatown ConnectionCHINATOWN CONNECTION (1990) – A review of one of the most hilariously lame “buddy cop” movies ever made.

Starring Lee Majors’ son. CLICK HERE

FOOL KILLER PART FOUR – The neglected Nineteenth Century folk figure takes on the Ku Klux Klan and political corruption in the Reconstruction South this time around.

The greatest impact comes from the fact that this is from 1870. CLICK HERE 

POLITICIZING THE WORD “INTELLECTUAL” – The title of this particular piece pretty much says it all. CLICK HERE 

Curse of the Crying WomanCURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN (1961) – My review of this Mexican horror film, just in time for the release of La Llorona. CLICK HERE 

SECRET EMPIRES: HOW THE AMERICAN POLITICAL CLASS HIDES CORRUPTION AND ENRICHES FAMILY AND FRIENDS – Peter Schweizer’s latest book on American political corruption. – CLICK HERE

POLO: THE 2019 U.S. OPEN – Polo is the world’s oldest team sport and had already been around for centuries when Alexander the Great’s men played it. One of the reasons I cover contemporary polo is because of the way men and women can play on the same team. CLICK HERE 

Ellen RipleyAMERICA AS PART OF THE ALIEN FRANCHISE – A humorous look at the similarities. CLICK HERE

SLAUGHTER HIGH (1986) – A review of the April Fool’s Day themed slasher film with horror icon Caroline Munro. CLICK HERE

FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: APRIL 10th – The latest edition. CLICK HERE   Continue reading

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KILLRAVEN TWENTY-ONE: RED DUST LEGACY

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.

Killraven Red Dust LegacyAMAZING ADVENTURES Vol 2 #36 (May 1976)

Title: Red Dust Legacy

Synopsis: Windsor Forest, GA. December, 43 years in the future. Killraven and his Freemen continue their guerilla war against Earth’s alien conquerors – Zetans in my revisions, Martians in the original, just because of the tenuous War of the Worlds connection.

NOTE: The cover reaches DC levels of deception with its depiction of Carmilla Frost, the scientist of the Freemen, trying to slay Killraven while he is restrained by the tentacles of some of the aliens. You’ll see what really happens below.

Synopsis: IN THIS STORY KILLRAVEN AND HIS REBELS INFLICT THEIR GREATEST BLOW AGAINST THE ALIENS SINCE DEATH-BIRTH. December, 43 years in the future. Killraven kneels in the red dust of the alien homeworld of Earth’s conquerors. Craig Russell’s art is incredible, and Don McGregor’s narration starts us off with:

“He had touched the blade of grass … and it turned into red dust beneath his hands. The sand sifts through his fingers now, and Killraven knows for a certainty that the desert he kneels upon is located on the homeworld of his alien foes. He is alone with that truth, and the truth is staggering! But not as staggering as the events yet to occur.” Continue reading

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CHRONO MECHANICS: JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT!

Chrono MechanicsThe one and only ART THIBERT, famous for his comic book run on the X-Men and Cable at Marvel Comics before moving on to Image, is producing his new graphic novel CHRONO MECHANICS via Indiegogo. Pamela Thibert is co-writing. Just a few days are left to order your copy.  

What’s it about? Well, to quote Thibert:

“Chrono Mechanics is a self-contained 48-page PG-13 comic. 

This action/adventure time travel story follows a team of highly diverse and ego-driven Time Repairmen as they race the clock to keep the earth’s erratically merging time lines from imploding.  To compound their problems is a self-centered work-a-phobic new recruit who may be the one thing they can’t fix before the whole earth falls apart!” Continue reading

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KILLRAVEN TWENTY: DEATH’S DARK DREAMER

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.

killraven dream domeAMAZING ADVENTURES Vol 2 #38 (September 1976)

Title: Death’s Dark Dreamer

Killraven and his Freemen continue their guerilla war against Earth’s alien conquerors of the future.

NOTE: Another fill-in issue by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen. Once again I’m having to adjust the order of a fill-in issue like I did with Sing Out Loudly … Death awhile back. This undated fill-in issue was originally set in Miami but because we have Killraven and his Freemen’s adventures in other parts of Florida ahead of us – including the Killraven graphic novel from the early 1980s – I am instead setting it in Prosperity, SC. I’m setting it in November to place it between October’s The 24-Hour Man and December’s Red Dust Legacy.

Unrevised story: The lone Killraven has “ridden ahead of ” his Freemen in response to some troubling feelings he’s having courtesy of The Power, a pre-Star Wars variation of the Force. Riding his pinkish-red scaled stallion he has come upon a large domed structure at seaside. Continue reading

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KILLRAVEN NINETEEN: THE TWENTY-FOUR HOUR MAN

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.

Killraven 24 hour manAMAZING ADVENTURES Vol 2 #35 (March 1976)

Title: The 24  Hour Man

Synopsis: The ruins of Atlanta, GA. October, 43 years in the future. Killraven and his Freemen continue their uprising against Earth’s alien conquerors. The rebels are walking through Oakland Cemetery overlooking the city and encounter a beautiful but crazed young woman in tattered garments kneeling beside the emaciated corpse of a green-skinned humanoid clad in gold armor and matching helmet.

24 hour manWe readers watch the Freemen through the eyes of a yet-unknown character named Emmanuel who has been watching them enter his domain from hiding. The crazed, kneeling woman is his mother. Narration tells us that her unhinged whimpering is the same noise she made when bringing Emmanuel into the world.

“But that was a lifetime ago … All seven hours of that lifetime.” (Remember the story’s title.) The insane woman finally notices the presence of Killraven and company. In a panic she says “Who is there? Not G’Rath! G’Rath must stay away!”

The woman looks over our heroes then says “Do I know you? Have you come to … to save me? Don’t you know it is too late! Too late to save me. You are too late, you see. I have borne G’Rath’s child! Yes, I have.” Lightning flashes overhead and thunder rumbles.

The woman’s frantic rant continues: “My body nurtured it, yes, and sustained it, yes, and gave it life … midnight life, yes. Because it WAS midnight, you know … midnight when G’Rath’s child left my womb! And now it is morning, yes. And the spawn of G’Rath and I will seek its OWN.” So saying the woman runs off through the cemetery and our heroes run after her.      Continue reading

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