This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at some of DC’s Swamp Thing covers that fit the Halloween Season.
SWAMP THING Vol 1 #3 (March 1973)
Title: The Patchwork Man
Villains: Dr. Anton Arcane and his Patchwork Man
NOTE: Scientist Alec Holland developed a bio-restorative chemical formula to help plant and animal life survive under hostile environmental conditions. A group of villains called the Conclave wanted the formula for their own purposes and murdered Alec and his wife Linda when they would not sell them that formula.
Alec’s body was dumped in the swamp, where the bio-restorative chemicals his body had been soaked in interacted with his own anatomy, the mud and the plant life in the swamp, letting him rise from the dead as a murk-monster. The Swamp Thing retained Alec Holland’s intelligence but could not speak for the first several issues.
Synopsis: The Swamp Thing was searching through the laboratory of his foe, Anton Arcane, genetic engineer and sorcerer combined. He winds up battling another of Arcane’s macabre creations, the Patchwork Man, one of the villain’s Un-Men. Continue reading
The Halloween Season has rolled around once again! For newcomers to Balladeer’s Blog let me point out that I post about more than just horror topics in October. I also cover my usual recurring subjects but throw in reviews of neglected, centuries old novels and short stories from around the world in a Gothic Horror equivalent of my Ancient Science Fiction blog posts. I also review horror films throughout the month. 
A NOVA CALIFORNIA (1921) – This short horror story from Brazil was written by Lima Barreto. The tale is set in a fictional Brazilian town called Tubiacango after the river along whose banks it stood. Tubiacango’s population was roughly 4,000. 
NOTE: Something I’ve been struck by as I read more and more Brazilian literature is how even the smallest towns could boast an international population. There will be native Brazilians, newly arrived Portuguese, white Europeans, and – as the literature itself points out – every shade of dark colored people from all over the world. 
THE DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU SPECIAL Vol 1 #1 (June 1974)
Synopsis: Storywise, this tale features three separate sections as Iron Fist, the Sons of the Tiger and Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu go up against Fu Manchu in three separate stages of his “master plan.” 
THE FALLEN RACE (1892) – Written by Austyn Granville. If you’ve ever thought to yourself “How come nobody ever combined science fiction, H. Rider Haggard-style Lost Race tales AND kangaroo-human hybrids” then THIS is the story for you.
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #37 (June 22nd, 1977) 
The event is crashed by a new supervillain called the Highwayman, who rides a high-tech motorcycle which uses laser cannons and other weaponry. The villain also wears a monocle that shoots energy blasts and wields a battle chain. 
THE GERM GROWERS (1892) – Robert Potter wrote this work of “ancient” or vintage science fiction dealing with biological warfare and alien abductions. 
MICRONAUTS Vol 1 #29 (May 1981) 
Acroyear’s wife, Cilicia, condemns her husband for using the Worldmind against Karza, thus causing so much damage to Spartak that it is now uninhabitable. Even now, the survivors must be leaving the planet to find another home elsewhere in the Microverse/ Quantum Realm. Cilicia quits the Micronauts in disgust.
A MODERN DAEDALUS (1887) – By Tom Greer. No, the title’s not referring to James Joyce’s character Stephen Dedalus (sic) but this tale IS about Ireland. The main character is a young man named Jack O’Halloran, a recent college graduate who returns to his native Ireland. 
2. THE BOURNE IDENTITY (1980) 
LONGSHOT Vol 1 #1 (September 1985) 
At length, Longshot escapes through a random portal and ends up on Earth. We readers learn he has lost his memory and has two hearts and only three fingers and a thumb on each hand. His first superpower (aside from his incredible agility) is revealed to be incredible “luck” and that luck prevented his pursuers’ blaster fire from actually hitting him and instead hitting everything around him. 
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