Tag Archives: book reviews

MARVEL SUPERHEROINES OF THE 1970s

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog deals with some of Marvel’s superheroines.

THE CAT – Greer Nelson caught on to a conspiracy to take over the world via armies of women clad in superpower-granting costumes. She donned the prototype and called herself the Cat before taking down the entire sinister organization. 

Operating out of Chicago, the Cat also clashed with the Owl, Commander Kraken, Man-Bull and the supervillainess called Man-Killer. Click HERE.

TIGRA THE WERE-WOMAN – After the Cat’s series got canceled from low sales Marvel added Greer Nelson to their 1970s horror characters as Tigra. The Cat was mortally wounded in a battle with Hydra, but Marvel’s race of cat-people saved her life by granting her an amulet that turned her into Tigra the Were-Woman.

Now with far greater powers, she thrived in this new identity and is still in the Marvel universe to this day. Click HERE Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: BABYLON ELECTRIFIED (1888)

Babylon ElectrifiedBABYLON ELECTRIFIED (1888) – Written by Albert Bleunard. In the tradition of his fellow Frenchman, Jules Verne, Bleunard crafted this work of science fiction with an international cast.

British magnate Sir James Badger wants to reestablish old trade routes leading from Europe eastward through Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. He and his associates plan a railroad but lack of coal in sufficient quantities seems to be a project-killer.

Jack Adams, one of Badger’s colleagues, recommends the new invention of a French electrical engineer and inventor named Cornille. This inventor has designed a method of generating electricity from sunlight aka solar power. He agrees to let his technology be used to construct an electric train for the railroad project. 

Things get underway, with hydroelectric dams built in the mountains of Kurdistan and wind plus tidal power-stations set up in the Persian Gulf. Cornille’s solar tech will be used for the overwhelming majority of the territory to be covered. Continue reading

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NELLIE BLY’S NOVELS

Back in November, Balladeer’s Blog covered female journalist Nellie Bly’s journey around the world. I mentioned the lost but rediscovered novels she had written and fellow blogger The Introverted Bookworm inquired if I was going to cover them. So, here we go:

EVA THE ADVENTURESS  – This was the second of the novels that Nellie Bly (Elizabeth J. Cochrane) wrote between 1889 and 1895. They were considered lost until being rediscovered in 2021.

Eva the Adventuress or A Romance of a Blighted Life was inspired by Nellie’s interview with the convicted criminal Eva Hamilton, wife of a descendant of Alexander Hamilton. The novel features the fictional Eva Scarlett rising from poverty to marrying a dynamic man of means.

Before long Eva learns that the marriage is a sham and she is tossed into the streets, marked as a fallen woman. Our title character begins a climb back up the ladder, seeking revenge on anyone who wrongs her.

Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: ROLAND BATTLES MOROCCAN CORSAIRS

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

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ROLAND BATTLES MOROCCAN CORSAIRS – The Paladins recently freed by Astolpho from the prison of the sorcerer Atlantes all hastened to rejoin Emperor Charlemagne’s army. The war against the Muslim invaders from colonized Spain and North Africa was still raging. 

Roland, the greatest of those Paladins, was so anxious to link up with the forces of his uncle the Emperor that he tried riding his horse up a mountainside as a shortcut. Part way up, Roland spotted light emerging from the entrance of a cave.

Our hero investigated and found a young woman being held against her will by a toothless hag who threatened and abused her repeatedly. Roland entered the furnished cave and asked the captive about her plight. Continue reading

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DC SUPERHEROES OF THE SIXTIES TO EIGHTIES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog picks up from last weekend’s look at DC’s 30s-50s characters by examining some of their 60s-80s heroes. 

FLASH VS HIS ROGUES GALLERY – I looked at the 1960s to 1980s stories in which Flash did battle with many of his foes assembled during their Semi-Annual Convention of Flash Villains and its related mayhem.

Readers got some landmark tales as the Scarlet Speedster took on his recurring foes like Mirror Master, the Trickster, Captain Cold, Pied Piper, Captain Boomerang, the Golden Glider and others. Click HERE.

BLACK LIGHTNING – Beginning in the 1970s, High School teacher Jefferson Pierce became the costumed superhero called Black Lightning. He used his new powers to fight crime and other dark forces in Metropolis’ Suicide Slums.

Black Lightning faced a variety of villains, like the Whale, Syonide, Cyclotronic Man, Steel Fist, the Annihilist and the criminal organization called the 100. Click HERE. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: ASTOLPHO REUNITES BRADAMANTE AND RUGGIERO

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

ASTOLPHO REUNITES BRADAMANTE AND RUGGIERO – The last Paladin to depart the island realm of the good Queen Logestilla was Astolpho, as he and the queen savored each other’s company. Finally, Astolpho announced his departure, knowing his duty was to return to the war raging on the Continent between Emperor Charlemagne’s forces and the Muslim invaders from North Africa and colonized Spain.

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Queen Logestilla provided her swiftest ship and best crew to transport Astolpho from her island west of Ireland back to Charlemagne’s Empire. The good fairy queen gave the Paladin a mystic tome which included instructions on how to overcome all manner of enchantments. 

Her final gift to Astolpho was a magic horn which, when blown, could drive off supernatural creatures and/or shatter the strongest of spells. The ship carried the Paladin to the port city he requested and, astride his horse Rabican, he was soon on his way to rejoining the bulk of Charlemagne’s army.

Along his way our hero clashed with groups of brigands who were taking advantage of the unsettled state of the Empire due to the ongoing war by acting as bandits. Astolpho also overcame a wolfpack and then a giant serpent, which he drove off with a blast from the horn given to him by Queen Logestilla. Continue reading

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FOR NATIONAL SCIENCE FICTION DAY: AN 1888 TALE OF A SENTIENT TRAIN ON A RAMPAGE

I just learned at Jacqui Murray’s great blog that this is National Science Fiction Day, so here’s a post to mark the event. 

TrainA MEXICAN MYSTERY (1888) – Written by W. Grove. (No other name available) This is the first of two novels by Grove. This one features a sentient and evil train referred to only as The Engine.

In 1864 Mexico the Emperor Maximilian holds a contest for the best design of a new locomotive. The winner or winners will be awarded a lucrative contract to build trains to run all across Mexico on rail lines already laid – a project overseen by a Scottish engineer named John Brown.

Brown meets Pedro da Luz, the wealthy descendant of Montezuma AND Spanish Conquistadors. The brilliant but mysterious da Luz works out of the Mexican town of Xiqipu and his train engine is a marvel of technology, capable of automatically handling many duties that other trains require human workers for.

One of those duties is piloting the train and another is the feeding of wood into the Engine’s furnace to keep it running. At the contest before Emperor Maximilian da Luz’s creation outshines all the other entrants, but then things begin to go wrong. The Engine has depleted its on-board supply of wood and, in its hunger, uses its mechanical arms to uproot telegraph poles, chop them up and feed them into its furnace.

train 2The furious Emperor disqualifies Pedro’s Engine and awards the prize to another designer. Da Luz rants and raves to such a bloodthirsty degree that his fiancee Inez dumps him, adding to his anger. Meanwhile, the Mexican people begin regarding the Engine with superstitious awe and claim it is possessed by the Devil.

Pedro da Luz pretends to be repairing the technical glitch in the Engine in order to remove it from the vicinity but in reality he makes further “refinements” to its programming. The next day da Luz feigns surprise when daybreak reveals that the Engine has apparently left on its own and is nowhere to be found.

The story unfolds as diary entries by the Scottish engineer John Brown, mentioned earlier. Da Luz turns up dead days later, a victim of a stabbing in Mestra. Mysterious events start happening at train stations throughout Mexico, like fatal accidents and the disappearance of wood for train engines. Water towers are drained in the dead of night as well. The missing Engine, apparently acting on its own, is sighted around the country.   Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: ATLANTES VS RUGGIERO AND BRADAMANTE

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

ATLANTES VS RUGGIERO AND BRADAMANTE – We left off with Ruggiero and Princess Angelica resting in Brittany from their long flight on the hippogriff after Ruggiero had saved Angelica from the Orc sea-serpent near the enchanted islands west of Ireland.

Overnight, the selfish Princess Angelica surreptitiously searched among Ruggiero’s belongings and found the mystic ring which the clever dwarf Brunello had stolen from her several installments ago. She put the ring back on her own finger, turning invisible as she did so, then fled eastward.

As soon as Ruggiero noticed that Angelica had vanished, he began searching for her before ultimately giving up. By now far away, the scheming princess used her invisibility to steal food and a horse from a poor shepherd and rode hard toward her father’s distant kingdom in Cathay.  Continue reading

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TALES OF CHARLEMAGNE: RUGGIERO AND PRINCESS ANGELICA MEET

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

During the post-Christmas period through at least Twelfth Night in January Balladeer’s Blog covers tales of Charlemagne and his Paladins.

RUGGIERO MEETS PRINCESS ANGELICA – When we last saw Bradamante, the Paladin in White Armor, she was continuing her quest to find her beloved Ruggiero. He was a Muslim warrior who was allied with the Saracens who had invaded the realm of Emperor Charlemagne from colonized Spain. 

Muslim sorcerers had been throwing menaces in their way to keep them separated because of the prophecy that said Ruggiero would convert to Christianity over his love of a woman. That woman was obviously the skilled and courageous Bradamante of the White Armor. 

After having freed many noble fighters held captive by the Sorceress Alcina in our last installment, Ruggiero mounted his winged hippogriff and flew off eastward toward Continental Europe from the island realm of the good Queen Logestilla. Continue reading

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DC SUPERHEROES: THIRTIES TO SIXTIES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at assorted DC characters from the 1930s to 1960s. DC fans have mentioned how Marvel-heavy my posts can be, but I also cover DC and independents.

BATMAN: THE REAL YEAR ONE

As fans know, this figure debuted in the May 1939 issue of Detective Comics and over the next 12 months he earned an eponymous second series.

The first appearances of the Joker, Catwoman, Hugo Strange and others were featured. Continue reading

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