Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN THE 1850s, CLICK HERE
THE FOOL KILLER (1918) – The 1918 one-shot publication called The Fool Killer collected written works by Dr Klarenc Wade Mak, poet, author and socialist political candidate for mayoral office in Kansas City, MO around 1918. Mak had also written Ekkoes (sic) from the Hart (sic) and Mental Dinamite (sic).
Mak’s Fool Killer was yet another of the many incarnations of this fictional, quasi-supernatural vigilante featured in folk tales and political satires from the 19th Century through today. The Fool Killer possibly originated among the “Hill Portugee” (Hill Portuguese) of the American south.
Those oral traditions of this deadly character may date back to the 1830s as Melungeons melded the Portuguese folk hero Longstaff with Tennessee traditions about a supernatural figure who killed any non-Melungeon “fools” who tried stealing their legendary gold.
During the 1850s Fool Killer tales were fused with political satire and commentary as Charles Napoleon Bonaparte Evans launched his series of Fool Killer Letters. Those fictional epistles, penned by Evans himself, were presented as tongue-in-cheek confessions from the Fool Killer about the political and social menaces he murdered to make the world a better place.
Evans added another element to Fool Killer lore at the start of the U.S. Civil War, as the vigilante grew disgusted with both the North and the South and hibernated in a cave for years. By 1870 Evans revived the character and his “letters” by saying the Fool Killer had emerged from hibernation dressed in the latest men’s fashions and ready to start killing fools once more. Continue reading
*** 1. IOWA WESTERN COLLEGE REIVERS (defending national champions) ### 2. HUTCHINSON COLLEGE BLUE DRAGONS ### 3. COFFEYVILLE COLLEGE RED RAVENS ### 4. NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE RANGERS ### 
MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 #20 (January 1975)
Born Theodosia Goodman in Cincinnati, OH on July 29th, 1885, Theda Bara was the first monumental “man-eating”, femme fatale sex symbol in American cinema. Theda chose – or was assigned – her screen name because it was an anagram for “Arab Death” but the supposed appeal of that has always eluded me. 
A FOOL THERE WAS (1915) – Theda Bara embodied “the Vamp” character as surely as Douglas Fairbanks would later embody the swashbuckler. In this film based on Rudyard Kipling’s 1876 poem The Vampire, Bara portrayed a metaphorical vampire whose erotic appeal drove men wild. 
This film had a Dialogue Board with Bara’s character saying “Kiss me, my fool” to her latest male victim, a line which was mistakenly quoted as “Kiss me, you fool” for decades. Because this movie was made before the 1930 Hays Code, Theda’s seductive and spiteful character was allowed to go unpunished for her actions in the storyline. 
MYRA BRECKINRIDGE (1970) – This film is based on the novel by Gore Vidal, who once called director John Waters “the pope of trash.” Well, Gore, Waters never had anything to do with Myra Breckinridge in any of its forms, so you have no room to talk. 
First up, a summary of the plot – Myron Breckinridge, played by THE Rex Reed, the famed film critic, is fascinated with Hollywood and is conflicted about his sexuality AND about societal notions of masculinity. Myron believes that the film industry has distorted and perverted masculinity into what would today be called by certain people a “toxic” stew of rabid machismo. 
Next, as Myra Breckinridge instead of Myron, the character goes to Hollywood to work at the acting school run by her uncle – former cowboy star Buck Loner … played by JOHN FREAKING HUSTON! Myra’s plan is to change the way male thespians behave and how men are portrayed in film so that she can destroy the very concept of traditional macho movie heroes forever. 
A PESTILENT VAPOR (1903) – Written by Alice MacGowan, this neglected story introduced a figure who should have become as famous in his way as H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man. 
For this weekend’s light-hearted, escapist blog post about superheroes, Balladeer’s Blog goes back to the Justice Society of America, this country’s very first superteam.
ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #39 (February 1948) 
HAPPY FRONTIERADO! 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 kicks off Thursday night, for others they wait until the actual day of Frontierado to hold their festivities. Enjoy your buffalo steaks, rattlesnake fried rice, corn on the cob, tumbleweed pizza, cactus salad and more today and tonight, and enjoy the leftovers on Saturday and Sunday.
THE DENVER DOLL – The annual Frontierado Holiday will be tomorrow, Friday August 4th. Here is yet another seasonal post while there is still time. 
DENVER DOLL, THE DETECTIVE QUEEN; or YANKEE EISLER’S BIG SURROUND (November 14th, 1882) – In this debut appearance, the Denver Doll’s two fisted, gunslinging, card playing, crimefighting nature is established, along with her mysterious past. The heroine’s secrets aren’t revealed until her fourth and final tale. 
Balladeer's Blog 