This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will look at early adventures of Giant-Man and the Wasp.
TALES TO ASTONISH Vol 1 #49 (Nov 1963)
Title: The Birth of Giant-Man
NOTE: Previously I covered Hank Pym’s solo adventures as Ant-Man, then the adventures of Ant-Man and the Wasp. This issue marked the 1st adventure with Hank as Giant-Man.
Villain: The Eraser
Synopsis: After last issue’s run-in with the armored villain the Porcupine and then helping form the Avengers over at Avengers #1, Dr. Pym wanted to improve his powers. While still retaining the power to shrink and control ants, he now used his Pym Particles to grow to enormous size as well.
Meanwhile, an interdimensional villain called the Eraser has been abducting Earth’s greatest scientists via his hand-weapons that teleport them to his home dimension. Because the process looks like he’s erasing them bit by bit the media dubs him “the Eraser.”
When this new villain targets Hank Pym next, Giant-Man and the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) thwart the plans of the Eraser’s people in Dimension Z to replicate Earth’s nuclear weapons, rescue the abducted scientists and defeat the Eraser in combat. Continue reading
BLACK RAIN, also released as THE LAST WAVE (1977) – This was Aussie director Peter Weir’s eerie follow-up to Picnic at Hanging Rock from 1975. If you found the excellent 1975 movie perplexing, Black Rain will redefine that word for you. 
BEACON HILL (1975) – An attempt at an American version of Great Britain’s Upstairs, Downstairs, this short-lived series was set in Boston following World War One. As opposed to the British program’s “rich pigs upstairs” and “servants downstairs” dichotomy, Beacon Hill presented the wealthy Irish-American family the Lassiters and their servants, who live in a cheaper neighborhood. 
George Rose co-starred as Arthur Hacker, head butler and quasi-patriarch of the servants. Beatrice Straight played his wife Emmeline, the head housekeeper. Arthur’s nephew Brian Mallory (Paul Ryan Rudd) was the Lassiter chauffer who was having an affair with one of the Lassiter women, and his niece Maureen Mahaffey (Susan Blanchard) worked as one of the maids. 
ANTI-DONALD TRUMP LOONS ARE REPEATING ALL THEIR ACTIONS FROM HIS FIRST TERM – Do the people who hate President Trump 24/7 have any kind of long-term memory? Last time around assorted showboating judges tried halting his perfectly constitutional actions but over the following months and years most of what Trump wanted to accomplish was upheld. 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The 4th seeded NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) took the court against the 3 seeds – the VILLA MARIA COLLEGE VIKINGS. The Builders embarrassed Villa Maria College on both sides of the ball, leading them 33 to EIGHT (!) at Halftime. From there, the Apprentice School coasted to their 2nd National Championship in a row with a 64-43 victory. Chris Hinmon’s 16 points led the Builders, and teammate Donovon Means had a Double Double of 10 points & 10 rebounds. 
A PROPHETIC ROMANCE; MARS TO EARTH (1896) – Written by Boston’s John Mccoy in the form of reports sent from future Earth to Mars. 
Balladeer’s Blog continues celebrating the FORTIETH anniversary year of this neglected cult show which debuted Saturday night February 9th, 1985. As I often mention, before MST3K came The Texas 27 Film Vault. Before Joel and Mike came Randy and Richard. Before Devil Dogs, Pearl and Deep 13 came Cellumites, Laurie Savino and Level 31. 
MOVIE: The Food of the Gods (1976). 
SERIAL: IF the February or March of 1985 date is correct – and that’s still up in the air – then the serial episode would definitely have been from The Lost City (1935). That serial dealt with a mad scientist and his futuristic city hidden in the African jungle.
THE FOOD OF THE GODS – This was one of the many, MANY “size change” movies of Bert I Gordon, “Mister B.I.G.” himself. (Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People, Earth vs the Spider, Beginning of the End, War of the Colossal Beast, The Cyclops, Village of the Giants, Empire of the Ants, etc.) 
THE PHANTOM CHARIOT OF CUCHULAINN (Siaburchapat Con Culaind) – This tale is dated to around the mid-400s A.D. because of the presence of St. Patrick. 
The next day, St. Patrick and King Loegaire are both on hand at the appointed place when Cuchulainn appears, riding in his chariot driven by his usual charioteer Laege. The demigod’s two horses – the Dub Sainglend (black horse of Saingliu) and the Liath Macha (gray horse of Macha) – are pulling the chariot. 
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