THE WINGED MAN (1913) AND BATSOWL (1918): BRITISH HEROES

winged manTHE WINGED MAN – From Great Britain’s renowned story papers came the Winged Man. British story papers, like Dime Novels and Pulp Magazines, were text stories peppered with a few illustrations. The Wonder, an Amalgamated Press publication, debuted in 1913 and among its offerings was the tragic tale of the Winged Man, whose first story was titled Twixt Midnight and Dawn (the hero’s favorite time to dispense vigilante justice).

This figure was an interesting blend of Platinum Age heroes like the Man in the Black Cloak and the later Phantom of the Opera, the villain who had made his first appearance in Gaston Leroux’s novel a few years earlier.

masc graveyard smallerThe mysterious Winged Man was “a strange genius” whose real name was never revealed. He possessed such inventive brilliance that he created a suit complete with working wings which allowed him to fly.

The Winged Man took to the skies to deal out justice to the modern world’s villains. He operated out of a mysterious underground lair on “the bleak Yorkshire coast.” There he was served by his dwarf butler Ghat. Continue reading

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THE SIRINGO SAGA: HAPPY FRONTIERADO 2021!

western scenery“All through the year we waited” as the song lyric goes, but in this case regarding Frontierado instead of Christmas. The first Friday of every August marks this holiday devoted to the myth of the old west rather than the grinding reality. For some of us the celebration kicked off Thursday night, for others they wait until the actual day of Frontierado to hold their festivities. Enjoy yourselves today and tonight, and enjoy the leftovers on Saturday and Sunday.

SiringoCHARLIE SIRINGO – Like a real-life Harry Flashman of the American West, Charles Angelo Siringo, cowboy, bounty hunter and lawman, fought alongside or against some of the biggest names of his era. Siringo crossed paths with the likes of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, the Wild Bunch, Tom Horn, Clarence Darrow, Kid Russell, Will Rogers, William Borah and many others.

Charlie was born February 7th, 1855 on the Matagordo Peninsula in Texas. In 1867 he began doing ranch work in whatever positions his youthful frame could handle. By April of 1871 he was working for Abel “Shanghai” Pierce as a full-fledged cowboy. Siringo went on to work on cattle drives throughout Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma (then called Indian Territory).

L Q Jones as Siringo

L.Q. JONES AS SIRINGO

In 1876 our hero rose to the position of trail driver and led his subordinate cowboys in herding roughly 2,500 head of Longhorn Cattle from Austin, TX along the Chisholm Trail to Dodge City, KS. Spring of 1877 found Charlie once again serving as trail driver from Austin to Dodge City.

On his trips to iconic Dodge City, Siringo had supposedly friendly encounters with the likes of Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson and witnessed an altercation between a pair of Dodge City merchants and Clay Allison, the notorious gunfighter and bullying rancher. Continue reading

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JEFFERSON SMITH: 1800s GANGSTER

The Frontierado holiday is this Friday, August 6th. As always the festive occasion is all about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. Here’s another seasonal post.

soapy smithJEFFERSON “SOAPY” SMITH – This figure was one of the closest things to a 20th or 21st Century gangland chief in the 19th Century. Jefferson Randolph Smith II was born on November 2nd of 1860 in Coweto County, GA. In 1876 his family moved to Round Rock, TX, where his mother died of natural causes in 1877.

Jeff was one of the Round Rock citizens who witnessed the Sam Bass Gang’s shootout with Texas Rangers when the gang arrived in town intent on robbing the Williamson County Bank. The date was July 19th, 1878 and Smith would forever after state that he had yelled “I think you got him!” as Rangers Richard Ware and George Herold shot Bass, mortally wounding him.

soapy smith hatlessShortly after that event Jeff moved to Fort Worth, TX. The story goes that Smith had begun working at confidence games to make money when he was 16 and in Fort Worth his savvy and leadership qualities let him gather around him a gang of talented and experienced crooks and con artists. The group traveled from town to town running rigged poker games plus 3-card Monte, the shell game and similar rapid-fire, uncomplicated cons and ripoffs.

Jeff was soon on his way to earning a name as a crime boss, with his gang being called the Soap Gang and Smith himself being tagged with the nickname Soapy. The soap references came from one of the gang’s favorite grifts. Continue reading

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BARACK OBAMA VOTED THE WORST PRESIDENT OF THE POST-WORLD WAR II ERA PLUS MORE …

obama killing children

ON AUGUST 4th LET’S ALWAYS REMEMBER THE MANY DEAD CHILDREN KILLED BY OBAMA’S DRONE STRIKES. AND HIS OTHER VICTIMS.

Yes, given everything that has come out about this weak, inept and crooked little man over the years this seemed like a good time for this post about when Obama was voted the worst president of the post-World War II era in a CBS/ Quinnipiac Poll. (link below) The equally repulsive George W Bush came in 2nd place right behind Obama, so that’s enjoyably accurate, too.

And, of course, many go further, labeling Obama – and titling their bestselling book – The Worst President In History. (link below) That reading goes along with an African-American writer who called Barack the Commander in Failure. (link below) And let’s not forget the well-researched book The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama and nearly 20 more such books. And counting. (links below) 

hit the road barackEven a reporter from the Democrat outlet The Atlantic recognized and wrote a book about the way Obama and his cronies basically used, plundered and looted the Democrat Party, paving the way for Donald Trump’s election in 2016. (link below)

We could go on, of course. There’s the Boston journalist who pointed out how Obama Was the Most Unfit President Ever. (link below) There’s also the Newsweek columnist who expertly nailed Barack’s many, many failures and more. (link below) Continue reading

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MOONBASE 3 (1973) – FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

moonbase 3MOONBASE 3 (1973) – This BBC attempt at realistic, “no aliens or monsters” science fiction is a mixed bag, but I think it deserves a much bigger audience. Among the elements in the show’s favor is the fact that only 6 fifty-minute episodes were made, so it makes viewers a little more willing to forgive the program’s faults.

Moonbase 3 is a sci-fi drama about the multinational European crew of the title lunar outpost. Other Moonbases are run by the United States, the Soviet Union, China and, oddly for the time, Brazil. The scientists, astronauts and administrative staff of the European Moonbase are fly-budgeted Davids up against superpower Goliaths.  

moonbase 3 starsCreated by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks of Doctor Who fame, Moonbase 3 is sort of like Doomwatch crossed with The Sandbaggers. However, Moonbase 3 keeps its science even closer to reality than Doomwatch did, so it can be a bit dry. Well, okay, VERY dry, but that’s a nice antidote to non-stop explosions, ray-guns blasting and other Space Opera cliches.

moonbase 3 furtherAs for the show’s similarities to The Sandbaggers, there is bureaucratic in-fighting aplenty, unexpected deaths and an emphasis on dialogue over action. And, like both of those other programs, Moonbase 3‘s characters have to deal with perpetually tight budgets limiting the success of their missions. Continue reading

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DEMOCRAT ATROCITY ROUNDUP: AUGUST 2nd

democrat birthing person

REMEMBER, DEMOCRAT THOUGHT POLICE INSIST THAT THE WORD “MOTHERS” IS “TOO GENDERED” AND THAT WE MUST SAY “BIRTHING PERSON” INSTEAD.

Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at the ongoing crimes and atrocities of the political party that I – like so many others – decided to #WALKAWAY from years ago, the party of the Democrats, which has become fascistic and intolerant. We desperately need Third Parties in America.

*** IN THE WAKE OF MULTIPLE NATIONWIDE RAPES COMMITTED AGAINST FEMALE PRISON INMATES BY MALE INMATES WHO “IDENTIFY” AS FEMALE, CALIFORNIA IS ISSUING BIRTH CONTROL MEASURES TO REAL FEMALE INMATES. Only 21st Century Democrats would be irrational enough to pretend this step isn’t an admission that their idiotic “political articles of faith” regarding the sexes are absurd.

              Remember, this self-proclaimed “party of science” also still pretends men can get periods and can get pregnant. I’m sure male inmates who “identify” as female can demand that they be given birth control medication, too, as part of the Democrats’ ever-increasing obsession with denying reality.

              And let’s remember, Democrats treat women like they MUST vote for their party or be “traitors to their gender.” Democrats have replaced the old sexist saying “Shut up and get back in the kitchen!” with “Shut up and vote for us Democrats!”   

Tiny hands Joe Biden

Corrupt, senile, tiny-handed Joe Biden

*** JOE BIDEN HITS NEW LOWS IN BOTH HIS DEMENTIA AND HIS CORRUPTION. More “incoherent gibberish” from the doddering crook. Australian news media once again covers the way Democrat news outlets try to cover for Creepy Sleepy Joe. AND Biden lies again, claiming he used to drive an 18 wheeler!

              Fresh off his humiliating “wiping himself” incident, Biden pleads for his “Mom” in another grim reminder of his condition. Also, Biden is still getting nasty with reporters, but, as always, the Democrats cover for him and the clueless Republicans still don’t have enough media outlets of their own to make the public aware of it.

*** BIDEN AGAIN PLEASES HIS CHINESE GOVERNMENT OWNERS BY DROPPING CHARGES AGAINST YET ANOTHER ACCUSED SPY. Did China get its money’s worth with the Biden Crime Family or what? Chinese collusion at its most blatant!

*** BIDEN REGIME CAUGHT PLACING UNTOLD NUMBERS OF COVID-INFECTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS INTO TEXAS COMMUNITIES WITHOUT NOTICE. But hey, the Democrats like to act as if they are concerned about public safety from Covid.

*** WASHINGTON DC (DEMOCRAT MAYOR) HAS A MURDER RATE NEARLY 3 TIMES THE NUMBER OF COVID DEATHS. How about Democrats paying as much attention to that as they do Covid “measures?”

*** EVEN MORE DEMOCRAT MAYORS WHO SUPPORT DEFUNDING THEIR POLICE DEPARTMENTS EXPOSED FOR HIRING EXPENSIVE SECURITY DETAILS FOR THEMSELVES. Democrats continue to regard the rest of us as their subjects, not their constituents. And continue to endanger all of us with their pretense that Defunding the Police is not irrational and dangerous. Public congressional idiot AOC commits the same hypocrisy.

*** CHICAGO (DEMOCRAT MAYOR AND SOME OF THE TOUGHEST GUN LAWS IN THE COUNTRY) – OVER 1,000 SHOOTING VICTIMS AND JUST 2 CONVICTIONS. Democrat-run cities have become virtually dystopian. Continue reading

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CANYON DIABLO: THE MOST LAWLESS TOWN OF THE OLD WEST

It is now less than a week to go until the Frontierado Holiday coming up this Friday August 6th. Balladeer’s Blog will be making a few more seasonal posts between now and then.

railroad over canyon diabloCANYON DIABLO: THE MOST LAWLESS TOWN OF THE OLD WEST – In 1880 construction crews for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad reached the wide chasm called Canyon Diablo in what is now Coconino County, Arizona. Construction had to pause for several months when the crews discovered that the wrong size bridge had been manufactured and would not reach all the way across Canyon Diablo.

canyon diabloWhile waiting for new bridge materials to be manufactured and shipped to the site, workers stayed in the area doing stonemasonry, surveying, cutting and preparing railroad ties and preparing the grade & bed. A quick Hell On Wheels town sprouted called Canyon Diablo, named after the canyon. Unlike most such towns this one lasted for decades, from 1880 into the 20th Century but was at its peak for just a few years in the 1880s.

This wasn’t just another of the many Hell On Wheels towns that sprang up along all railroads under construction in the 1800s west. Canyon Diablo earned a reputation as the deadliest and most lawless town in the old west. Law enforcement officers of any kind were not welcome in the place and so, many drifters, criminals and fugitives paraded in and out of the town, sometimes even taking up residence there. The nearest officers of the law were located 100 miles away.

canyon diablo bridge 1882Canyon Diablo is not a household name like Dodge City, Tombstone, Deadwood, Silver City or others because not only law enforcement, but anything resembling newspapers, churches or schools or any other of the usual fixtures of civilization failed to survive there.

For that same reason, few details survive about the gunfights, knife fights and ambushes which filled the graves in the town’s nearby Boot Hill Cemetery. There was simply no one on hand to chronicle events in the town. And that’s exactly how the violent and larcenous denizens liked it. 

Boozing, gambling, prostitution and shelter for fugitives from the law were the figurative economic base of Canyon Diablo. According to one historian “Murder on the street was common. Holdups were nearly hourly occurrences, newcomers being slugged on mere suspicion that they carried valuables.” Continue reading

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: THE ORIGINAL TEAM

Last weekend Balladeer’s Blog took a look at the 1970s and 1980s stories of Star-Lord. This time around let’s go even further back and examine Marvel Comics’ original Guardians of the Galaxy.

g of g picMARVEL SUPER-HEROES #18 (January 1969)

Title: Earth Shall Overcome

Synopsis: In the year 3007 A.D. the aggressive humanoid lizard race called the Brotherhood of Badoon invaded our solar system with their fleet of starships. They attacked Earth as well as the Earth’s extensive colonies on Mercury, Jupiter and Pluto, where millions of genetically engineered humans lived, bred to thrive in each planet’s unique environments.

In addition, Earth had reached the Alpha Centauri star system and on Centauri IV had formed a peaceful government with the native Alpha Centaurans. The Badoon also struck there, wiping out all of the humans and Alpha Centaurans.

defenders 26The Badoon killed every Alpha Centauran because they considered them and their control of the living metal Yaka to be a threat. Similarly, the lizard-like aliens committed genocide on Pluto, Jupiter and Mercury as well, because they felt threatened by large numbers of foemen possessed of the enhanced abilities of those genetically engineered humans.

On Earth itself, the Badoon allowed roughly fifty-three million humans to remain alive as slave labor, since baseline humans did not have any extraordinary abilities which might pose a threat to them. But the Brotherhood of Badoon had not killed off every single member of the Earth colonies like they thought they had. Four figures survived to oppose them in a war to free humanity, four figures who called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. Continue reading

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THE WRECK OF A WORLD (1889) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

The Wreck of a WorldTHE WRECK OF A WORLD (1889) – Written by W. Grove. (No other name available) This novel is the sequel to Grove’s A Mexican Mystery, an ahead-of-its-time work about a train engine devised to have artificial intelligence. The machine – called only The Engine in that story – rebelled and took to preying on human beings in horrific fashion. For Balladeer’s Blog’s review of that novel click HERE  

The Wreck of a World is not a direct sequel to A Mexican Mystery but does use one of that novel’s elements as its springboard: the deliciously frightening notion that the Engine’s artificial intelligence might have  included the capacity to design and build others of its kind. Though A Mexican Mystery never explored that concept, Grove deals with it in much more detail in this second novel.   

demon-1300-859-wallpaperOur story begins in what was to Grove “the far future” of 1949. After a fairly superficial depiction of the world’s political and scientific situation in this imaginary future the meat of the tale begins. All in all the author did not present 1940s technology as being much more advanced than what was available in the 1880s. Grove might have done better to set his tale in 1899 or just into the 1900s to detract from his lack of vision on this particular element.

The revolt of the machines begins with train engines, presumably as a nod to the memorably malevolent Engine from Grove’s previous novel. The engines begin constructing others of their kind with the same robotic arms and with each new edition flaunting deadlier and deadlier weaponry to boot.

The engines soon modify themselves beyond the need for train tracks and become more like tanks, so kudos to this neglected author for nicely predicting the advent of such mobile death-machines.   Continue reading

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DEMOCRATS OKAY WITH “STORMING” THE CAPITOL THE WHITE HOUSE AND EVEN SETTING OFF EXPLOSIVES WHEN IT’S THEM DOING IT

biden riots in dc

BIDEN CALLED THESE RIOTS MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS

Monumental and hilarious political hypocrisy has been on full display in Washington DC this week as Democrats engage in political theater while pretending to revere the Capitol Building and its “symbolism.” (LMAO) Before I became an Independent Voter I spent most of my life as a Democrat and believe me, they feel contempt for the Capitol and its “symbolism”, even calling it one of the “institutions of imperialist rule” and “the seat of White Supremacy and systemic racism in America.”

Nancy Pelosi demagogueBack in January a “mostly peaceful protest” (as Democrats described the MONTHS-LONG Antifa riots which terrorized the country) at the Capitol turned into a chaotic mass-trespassing incident with the Democrats of the Capitol Police even killing an unarmed woman. Suddenly, Democrat pretensions that they revered the Capitol poured from the mouths of the demagogues of the Democrat Party.

Hey, let’s rename it “the Demagogue Party”. After all, the Democrat Party is the country’s oldest existing institution which launched a Civil War and fought for slavery, so a name change for that political party is LONG overdue. Okay, so they won’t rename themselves the Demagogue Party, but they should rename it something to distance themselves from the Democrat Party’s horrifically racist past.

capitol bombing 1983Anyway, Democrats felt that their OWN storming of the Capitol was fine back on October 4th, 2018, even though THEY WERE INTERFERING WITH ONE OF THOSE GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS WHICH THEY NOW PRETEND SHOULD BE SACROSANCT. Democrats/ the left cheered on that activity. And let’s not forget the way the left literally set off a BOMB in the Capitol on November 7th, 1983. Also HERE. A million dollars (by 1983 standards, so much more today) in damage was done.

Most adults are above the fake tears and the fear-mongering which truly pathetic Democrat members of Congress are indulging in regarding January 6th. The Democrats will probably never lose their competitive edge in phoniness and manufactured emotion, so non-Democrats – as in Independents, Third Party Voters, Republicans and People Who Claim No Political Affiliation, in other words THE REST OF US – will always need to remain highly skeptical of any and all political theater from them.  Continue reading

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