Superheroes continue to dominate pop culture. And not just on the printed page, but on the big and small screens as well. Readers of Balladeer’s Blog are always quick to ask for more superhero entries whenever I go too long without one.
Most recently I finished up my examination of the Killraven stories at Marvel Comics. Prior to that I had looked at the Celestial Madonna Saga, the Kree-Skrull War, Panther’s Rage and the original Magus storyline with Adam Warlock. From DC Comics I reviewed the World War Two-era Justice Society stories.
This time around I’ll do a story-by-story examination of B.C. Boyer’s neglected superhero called the Masked Man. Boyer wrote AND drew the character at Eclipse Comics in the 1980s. Back then Eclipse represented the kind of bold and visionary storytelling that comic book readers of today look for with artistic mavericks like Ethan Van Sciver, Richard C Meyer, Jon Malin and others.
Just as Van Sciver, Meyer and Malin (NOT a law firm) blaze new creative trails today, Eclipse Comics did decades ago, supporting both established names AND new talent, all producing work that the Big Two publishers would have been too corporate-minded to publish.
All of which brings us back to the Masked Man aka Dick Carstairs. This creation of B.C. Boyer, who also illustrated and wrote all the character’s adventures, debuted in Eclipse Magazine in November of 1982. Continue reading
The NFL draft is just a few months away and the internet is in overdrive with speculation on how the draft could play out. Rather than bore readers with another of the countless mock drafts out there here is a more light-hearted item – a look at some of the worst draft picks ever made. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s coverage of corporate fascism continues with this look at Michael Lind’s brilliant book The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite. Lind often writes for Salon and Politico and in this book deals with the way in which the global trend toward populism started in response to oppression from what he calls “The New Class.” 
Lind’s work criticizes the new corporate fascist elite, like last year’s Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas (previously reviewed here at Balladeer’s Blog). Lind, a professor at the University of Texas, argues that the plutocrats of today don’t just guard their money and privilege, they disguise their self-interested pursuits under the pretense of “social activism” and other deceptive buzzwords while lecturing the working class and the poor.
Lind writes, “The new class war is very real—and the managerial class is winning.” Lind’s “managerial class” quite rightly includes not just the wealthy elite themselves but also the facilitators of these privileged fascists – the bought and paid-for politicians, the unelected bureaucrats, biased journalists, media propagandists and the politically prejudiced lawyers and “educators” who promote the interests of the wealthy while pretending to be championing the underclasses. 
KNOCKING OFF NUMBER ONE – The CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY TIGERS took it on the road to face the number 1 team in the nation – the GEORGETOWN (KY) COLLEGE TIGERS. (Have I mentioned there are way too many college sports teams called Tigers?) Campbellsville U put Georgetown on Upset Alert with a 49-44 Halftime edge then held on for a tight 94-92 victory. Taiveyhon Mason led CU with THIRTY-FIVE points. 
OTHER UPSETS IN THE RANKINGS – The (16) MASTER’S UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS toppled the visiting (4) WESTMONT COLLEGE WARRIORS 80-75 ### Meanwhile the CENTRAL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE OF KANSAS TIGERS (ahem) upset the (13) SOUTHWESTERN ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY LIONS 99-94 in Overtime ### And the MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY PIONEERS used DOUBLE Overtime to defeat the (23) CLARKE UNIVERSITY PRIDE 104-102. 
CENTURY CLUB – Teams scoring 100 points or more in Regulation: The (6) LSU-SHREVEPORT PILOTS (Riverboat Pilots) trounced the (8) LSU-ALEXANDRIA GENERALS 110-80 ### The (11) PROVIDENCE (MT) ARGONAUTS hammered the ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE BATTLIN’ BEARS 117-86 ### The (17) ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY FIRESTORM won 106-80 at the LIFE PACIFIC COLLEGE WARRIORS ### And the EVANGEL UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS won 108-106 at the GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS. 
THE SINISTER SPHERE 
ANGUTA – This father of the sea goddess Sedna was originally the god who ruled over Pugtulik Island. He was responsible for inflicting punishments on deserving souls when they reached Sedna’s subaquatic realm of the dead. 
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with the way I refer to “the Chicago cesspool” of political corruption. Well, in the recent study by UIC the Windy Cesspool remains the most corrupt city in America! From 1976 to 2018 there were 1,750 political corruption CONVICTIONS in Chicago. So that’s not even counting the many times the city’s corrupt machine thwarted justice.
I emphasize this for overseas readers who seem to think that only America’s Republicans are criminals, when in fact BOTH Democrat AND Republican career politicians are white-collar criminals. 
With the flood of unimaginative new television programs, especially on various cable channels, I’m often surprised that some of the most entertaining shows in history don’t have their very own following of people who know waaaaay too much about them. 
THE INVISIBLES (1903) – Written by Edgar Earl Christopher, this novel nicely anticipates cinematic serials and integrates science fiction and slight occult touches into its storyline. 
The organization can also help the British youth get revenge on Czarist Russia for the torture of his Russian mother years earlier. It turns out that the Invisible Hand is a secret society determined to overthrow the Czars and install a new Russian government. 
Among the most popular posts here at Balladeer’s Blog are this series of items regarding comical – sometimes hilarious – failed predictions from psychics. In the spirit of shameless pandering, here’s another! 
DOCTOR N (This was the actual alias of a supposed physician and/or psychiatrist who did not want their identity known when they gave predictions.)
