AT THE END OF THE RIVER – More Weirdness at the End of the World, this time with an adventure featuring Spain’s answer to Mad Max: Hombre himself. This character was created by Antonio Segura and Jose Ortiz in 1981 in the Spanish publication Cimoc. Hombre went on to appear in notably “adult” comic books and magazines around the world, including reprints in Heavy Metal here in America.
In this age of non-stop comic book adaptations for movies and television I’m amazed that the excellent Hombre series hasn’t been tackled in some form. The adult sexuality, graphic violence, Alien-style mutated life-forms, relentlessly grim storylines and gratuitous nudity are tailor-made for a cable series or R-rated films.
The title character Hombre roams our post-apocalypse planet armed to the teeth and ready to kill or be killed on a daily basis. His first-person narration echoes the best aspects of hard-boiled Film Noir detective stories while the action and mis en scene combine the best elements of Spaghetti Westerns, Post-Apocalypse movies and Martial Arts flicks. Think Six-String Samurai but without the rock and roll samurai.
There is no optimism in the world inhabited by Hombre. Antonio Segura’s writing features often tragic endings which must have put 1980s readers in mind of the downbeat stories on Hill Street Blues and Saint Elsewhere.
Segura mostly avoided easy narratives and my least favorite storyline involved Atila, the badass woman warrior. The character was great, but the tale seemed very UN-Segura-like to me. I probably would have liked her in her own spin-off story but having two such nigh-indestructible figures in one tale put things too far into the realm of upbeat fictional tropes to me. I’m virtually alone on that, by the way, since most fans LOVE the Atila story.
AT THE END OF THE RIVER – Back to the main topic of this blog post, one of the Hombre tales that best exemplifies the series’ aesthetic sensibilities. Our protagonist is the best there is at what he does, but in a much grimmer and more adult way than Wolverine ever managed. Continue reading
TOP SEED 
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Privileged white one-percenter and capitalist scumbag Jack Dorsey of Twitter (right) is just one of the Techno-Tyrants or Techno-Fascists who have been abusing their influence to the degree where breaking up their monopolies or suing them for being publishers and not platforms are two options that keep getting discussed … and with good reason. 
THE TECHNO-TYRANTS OF SILICON VALLEY – The modern-day versions of the disgusting old Robber Barons might well be the corporate fascists aka techno-fascists in assorted tech industries, not just regarding Silicon Valley but also privacy-violating rich pigs at Facebook and elsewhere. 
In recent years outfits like Twitter, Facebook and others even made public noises about banning customers based on their conduct UNRELATED TO THOSE UTILITIES! Can you imagine the old, old Ma Bell monopoly cutting off people’s phone service because their operators caught those users discussing voting for political candidates disapproved of by Ma Bell’s upper echelons or expressing opinions frowned upon by Ma Bell? 
LAWRENCEVILLE BRACKET 
MACON BRACKET 
SANTA BARBARA BRACKET 
PART SIXTEEN: James Larkin Pearson, poet and newspaper man, carried on the Fool Killer tradition from 1910 to 1917, then again from 1919 to 1929. Pearson’s fellow North Carolinian Charles Napoleon Bonaparte Evans had written the Fool Killer Letters of the 19th Century so it’s appropriate that another Tar Heel continue the lore for so many years of the 20th Century. 
In August of 1917 Pearson’s nationwide publication called The Fool-Killer changed its title and format because of America’s entry into World War One four months earlier. That change from the hard-hitting satire of Fool Killing was made to show solidarity while the war raged. 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The top seeded LSU-SHREVEPORT PILOTS faced the 6 seeds – the JARVIS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE BULLDOGS. The Bulldogs held a 2-1 edge by the 2nd Inning but the Pilots knotted things up at 2-2 in the 4th.
Democrat Stacey Abrams is still denying that she lost her failed campaign to become governor of Georgia in 2018. She insists she won it. 
For Flashman Down Under, Flashman in the Opium War & Flashman and the Kings click 
The duo enjoy diving into the darker and more forbidden side of life where sex, booze and other diversions are concerned. Flashman happens to be with Burton in Egypt in early 1853 when the famous explorer begins his journey to Medina and Mecca disguised as a Muslim. 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The last 2 teams standing in this Conference Tournament were the 4 seeds – the UNIVERSITY OF RIO GRANDE (OH) RED STORM – and the 3rd seeded INDIANA UNIVERSITY AT KOKOMO COUGARS. When the Cougars grabbed a 6-1 lead in the 1st Inning few could have guessed this game would last TWELVE INNINGS.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The Cinderella 6th seeded THOMAS UNIVERSITY NIGHT HAWKS remained THE story of the Sun Conference tourney as they battled the 3 seeds – the WEBBER INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY WARRIORS – for the title. 
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