This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here on Balladeer’s Blog continues from my 2021 look at the earliest Iron Fist martial arts stories.
MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 #25 (Oct 1975)
Title: Morning of the Mindstorm
Villains: Angar the Screamer and Khumbala Bey
Synopsis: This issue picks up right after Iron Fist (Danny Rand) stopped the Skrull robot called the Monstroid before it could kill Princess Azir from Marvel’s fictional Arabic nation Halwan. Lt. Rafael Scarfe and the rest of Azir’s New York City police bodyguards are grateful, but the princess’s hulking Halwan bodyguard Khumbala Bey feels shamed and attacks Iron Fist.
Soon, Azir stops the fight and returns to the Halwan consulate in New York City. Next, Iron Fist learns that Colleen Wing has been abducted by minions of his archenemy Master Khan, who is secretly running a plot in Halwan. On Master Khan’s orders, Daredevil and the Black Widow’s old foe Angar attacks our hero with his Mindstorms. Iron Fist defeats the villain. Continue reading
TIGER ON TIGER VIOLENCE – The BENEDICT COLLEGE TIGERS welcomed the storied TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY GOLDEN TIGERS last night. The Golden Tigers led 14-7 to end the 1st Quarter but Benedict College was up 28-17 by Halftime. After the break, the Tigers outscored Tuskegee 17-7 to win the game by a final score of 45-24.
UPSET IN THE RANKINGS – In this game the ITAWAMBA COLLEGE INDIANS took the field against the visiting number 12 team in the nation – the EAST MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE LIONS. At the Half the Lions were on top 17-3 but Itawamba College came out of the locker room ready for a comeback. The 3rd Quarter saw the Indians tie things up at 17-17 before winning it in the 4th 34-24. 
Before MST3K there was … The Texas 27 Film Vault! In the middle 1980s, way down on Level 31 Randy and Richard, machine-gun toting Film Vault Technicians First Class, hosted this neglected 1985-1987 cult show. Balladeer’s Blog continues its celebration of the program’s FORTIETH anniversary year. 
SERIAL: Before presenting Gorilla at Large our machine-gun wielding Film Vault Technicians First Class presented an episode of Mysterious Dr. Satan, a Republic serial from 1940. The serial featured a mad scientist called Dr. Satan trying to take over the world with a very, VERY goofy-looking robot while a pulp-style hero called Copperhead tried to thwart his plans.
THE MOVIE: Gorilla at Large provided a wealth of material for our hosts to work with. Remember, their previous show had been The Trivia Guys and this film about a murderous gorilla at a circus was packed with opportunities for pop culture shoutouts. 
* George Barrows, the man in the gorilla suit as our title monster Goliath, was the same guy who wore the ape/robot outfit as Ro-Man in that staple of Bad Movie shows Robot Monster (previously shown on The Texas 27 Film Vault).
PSI CASSIOPEIA, or STAR: A MARVELOUS HISTORY OF WORLDS IN OUTER SPACE (1854) – Written by Dr Charlemagne Ischer Defontenay, a French M.D. and author. Long before J.R.R. Tolkien churned out obsessive amounts of fine detail about his fictional Middle Earth, Defontenay produced this volume of history, poetry and drama from his fictional planets in the star system Psi Cassiopeia. 
The system where that planet is located is a three-star system. Ruliel is the large, white star at the center, around which orbit the two lesser stars Altether (green) and Erragror (blue). The planet called Star is orbited by large planetoids/ moons named Tassul, Lessur, Rudar and Elier. Throwing all science to the winds the planet is also orbited by a small red star called Urrias. 
WAR HUNT (1962) – Unusual little movie that was sort of like a Korean War forerunner of Platoon. Redford is Private Roy Loomis, a new arrival who would be the film’s Charlie Sheen equivalent, right down to his first-person narration. John Saxon would be the Tom Berenger equivalent as Private Raymond Endore, who uses the war as an excuse to give his violent tendencies full reign. 
GEORGES (1843) – Published just one year before The Three Musketeers, this novel is not only a rollicking adventure full of action, romance and double-crosses but it deals with racial issues in such a way that you would have thought it would have been adapted for film four or five decades ago. The title character uses his sword to fight slavery! 
SALTY (1974-1975) – From some of the team behind Flipper came this short-lived series about a trained seal named Salty. The program was based on the 1973 film Salty, which featured Clint Howard in the role now played by Johnny Doran. 
KNOCKING OFF NUMBER THREE – In NCAA Division Two the UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AT DULUTH BULLDOGS took the field against the visiting number 3 team in the country – the MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS. The Mavericks were up 7-3 at the midpoint but UMD rallied from there to topple Minnesota State 17-14. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER FIVE – In this game D2’s number 16 PITTSBURG (KS) STATE GORILLAS played their guests, the 5th ranked GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS. A scoreless 1st Quarter was followed by a 10-0 Gorillas advantage by the break. The Lakers made it a 10-7 game to end the 3rd Quarter, but Pittsburg State held on in the 4th for a 17-14 win. 
ANOTHER NUMBER FIVE IS TOPPLED – Over in the NAIA, the 11th ranked MONTANA TECH OREDIGGERS faced the visiting number 5 team – the UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA-WESTERN BULLDOGS. The Orediggers were in control 27-9 at the Half, then kept UMW at arm’s length to win the game 34-23. 
CRACK COMICS Vol 1 #17 (Oct 1941) 
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