Here’s Part Seven of Spider-Man 1970s Classics. For Part One click HERE. By sheer coincidence this weekend’s installment fits the Halloween Month theme.
GIANT-SIZE SUPERHEROES Vol 1 #1 (June 1974)
Title: Man-Wolf at Midnight
Villains: Morbius the Living Vampire and the Man-Wolf
NOTE: The Giant-Size comic books were quarterly publications that Marvel Comics briefly experimented with in the 1970s. They came out in addition to the monthly installments of their other titles.
Synopsis: Spider-Man is swinging his way around New York City, reflecting on Liz Allen’s recent return to the lives of Peter Parker and his friends. He also contemplates the Jackal, who is still at large after trying to kill Spider-Man twice – once through an alliance with the Punisher and a second time by maneuvering our hero into the middle of another clash between Dr Octopus and Hammerhead.
On the streets below is former astronaut John Jameson, the son of J Jonah Jameson, owner and publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper. John has been out at a restaurant with his fiancee Kristine Saunders and the sight of Spider-Man swinging along high above calls to mind John’s previous nocturnal transformations into a scientifically based werewolf called the Man-Wolf.
Those transformations were caused by the moon rock which John had been wearing around his neck as a souvenir and which was a dangerous object that rooted itself into John’s neck and throat to prevent him from removing it. Continue reading
THE CANNED FILM FESTIVAL STARRING LARAINE NEWMAN (1986) – Halloween Month continues at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at a neglected Movie Host show, since Movie Hosts/ Horror Hosts are as associated with Halloween as are monsters and cosplay. 
THE SHOW: The Canned Film Festival Starring Laraine Newman. From June 21st to September 13th of 1986 this syndicated program sponsored largely by Dr Pepper aired on Saturday nights in various time slots around the United States. Elvira’s show Movie Macabre had run from 1981 to 1986 and was winding down. 
THE HOSTESS: Laraine Newman may be best known for Saturday Night Live and for her character actress work, but she had been a member of The Groundlings improvisational comedy troupe … As had Cassandra Peterson aka Elvira. Newman was also known as an aficionado of horror and fringe cinema. 
NCAA DIVISION TWO – 1. UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS (Defending National Champions) ### 2. NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE BEARCATS ### 3. FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS ### 4. COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES OREDIGGERS ### 
5. GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS ### 6. VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS ### 7. UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA TIGERS ### 8. HARDING UNIVERSITY BISON ### 
FAUST: LOVE OF THE DAMNED (1987) – Written by David Quinn with artwork by Tim Vigil. Halloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with this review of the 1987-2012 “adult” comic book series Faust. This series included very graphic and very unusual sex and violence while offering a twisted update on the story of Faust selling his soul to Mephistopheles. The year 2000 Brian Yuzna (’nuff said) movie version of Faust: Love of the Damned is pretty bad but does capture the blood-soaked, anarchic WTF air of the series. 
THE ENSOULED VIOLIN (1880) – Written by THE Madame Blavatsky. A gifted Austrian violin player named Franz Stenio is drawn to occult studies while away at college. Hearing dark legends about how Niccolo Paganini supposedly acquired his otherworldly skill with the violin, Franz carries out some of the rumored rituals in real life, to bloody and deadly effect. The fallout is horrific. CLICK 
THE WERWOLVES (1898) – Written by Honore Beaugrand. A pack of werewolves prey upon victims in Canada. Plenty of unusual takes on lycanthrope lore with a north of the border touch. These particular werewolves are of Iroquois extraction which, along with the cold and snowy backdrop, helps to make this Canadian horror tale stand out from the rest. CLICK 
TOPPLING NUMBER SIX – In NCAA Division Two, the UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON GOLDEN EAGLES played host to the number 6 team in the nation – the NOTRE DAME COLLEGE FALCONS (School Motto: “No, not THAT Notre Dame”). The Golden Eagles put the Falcons on Upset Alert with a 17-14 Halftime lead and ultimately won the game 38-28. 
NUMBER NINE FALLS, TOO – Staying in D2 for a moment, the 23rd ranked UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA TIGERS took it on the road against the country’s number 9 UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA WOLVES. A 24-17 lead for the Tigers at the break ended up in a 38-20 Upset victory for them. 
HISTORY IN THE NCCAA – The ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET, in their very first year of intercollegiate football, notched their first ever victory yesterday. It came against their guests the VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG DRAGONS. The Flying Fleet were chasing the Dragons 7-3 in the opening Quarter but were on top 24-7 come Halftime. They never looked back on their way to a 59-13 blowout. 
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #132 (May 1974) 
The Old Gods Waken deals with Silver John performing with other musicians at a music festival, then getting drawn into a property line dispute between the Forshay family and two sinister British men calling themselves Brummitt and Hooper Voth. As usual in our hero’s travels there are dark supernatural forces at work behind this boundary dispute – forces ultimately dealing with Pre-Columbian entities and transplanted Druidism. 
ROLLER BLADE (1986) – They’re the Cosmic Order of the Roller Blade and they’re female Jedi Knights on roller skates. Well, sort of. Where does one begin when reviewing this film that is so beloved by all of us fans of bad movies? Let’s start with the setting and then tackle the characters as well as Roller Blade’s legendary director Donald G Jackson (R.I.P.). 
“Skate or Die” is the ugly motto of the survivors in this kill or be killed future. That’s because the filmmakers absurdly pretend that traveling via roller skates or skateboards is the only way to move swiftly enough to have a chance of evading the dangerous gangs and mutants. 
MOTHER SPEED (Katina Garner) – The Mother Superior of the Order of the Roller Blade. She is in a wheelchair yet still wears roller skates on her feet since such skates are part of the Order’s sacred garments. Mother Speed, like all the good guys in Roller Blade, speaks in grandiose faux-Shakespearean littered with “thees” and “thous” and “yea, verilies.” ESPECIALLY “yea, verilies.” 
NUMBER SIX TAKES A FALL – In the NAIA the BETHEL (TN) WILDCATS played host to the nation’s number 6 team – the REINHARDT UNIVERSITY EAGLES (should be the Rottweilers). In this tale of two Halves the Wildcats were on top 21-0 by the midpoint. In the 2nd Half a furious Reinhardt University rally fell just short as Bethel U won out 34-33. 
HILLSDALE HOME STAND – The storied HILLSDALE COLLEGE CHARGERS took the field against the visiting MISSOURI S&T MINERS. The Miners led the Chargers 10-7 in the opening Quarter and 24-17 at Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended with Missouri S&T in front 31-24 before Hillsdale College came back in the 4th for a 38-31 victory. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER SEVEN – NCAA Division Two’s 22nd ranked HARDING UNIVERSITY BISON welcomed the number 7 team in the nation – the OUACHITA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY TIGERS. A 14-7 1st Quarter edge for the Bison became a 24-7 advantage by the Half. After the break both teams scored 14 more points as Harding University upset OBU 38-21. 
