Tag Archives: book reviews

October 14, 2023 · 12:01 am

THE SPECTRE: SOME HALLOWEENISH COVERS

As Halloween Month continues, this week’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at DC’s character the Spectre.

adv c 431ADVENTURE COMICS Vol 1 #431 (February 1974)

Title: The Wrath of the Spectre

Villains: Armored Car Robbers

NOTE: For people unfamiliar with the Spectre, here’s the basics. His secret identity is Police Detective Jim Corrigan who was killed in the line of duty. Through a special dispensation from Heaven, Corrigan’s soul was permitted to reanimate his corpse and resume his detective duties, but he was really an undead avenger carrying out God’s justice.

spec over plane        When situations demanding greater than human intervention arose, Jim could become the Spectre, his ghostly form in which he wielded vast powers that he used against earthly villains as well as supernatural menaces.

Synopsis: An armed gang robs an armored car loaded with money. The criminals kill four guards while carrying out the robbery, so Homicide Detective Jim Corrigan is assigned the case. Continue reading →

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October 7, 2023 · 12:15 am

MORBIUS: HIS MOST HALLOWEENISH COVERS

morbius hitting smBalladeer’s Blog’s month-long look at Halloween continues! In the past, I examined the most Halloweenish covers for Marvel horror figures like Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider, the Simon Garth Zombie, Blade the Vampire Slayer, Satana, Lilith the Daughter of Dracula, Gabriel the Exorcist, Daimon Hellstrom and others. Last October I even looked at DC’s Creature Commandos.

“It’s Morbin’ time,” to quote the most ridiculed line from the ill-fated Morbius movie that starred Jared Leto.

vt 1VAMPIRE TALES Vol 1 #1 (June 1973)

Title: Morbius

Villains: Madame Laera and Nilrac

NOTE: This science-spawned vampire was mutated by the blood of vampire bats and other chemicals he used in an attempt to cure his own rare blood disease. After his debut in Spider-Man #s 101 and 102 plus clashes with Spider-Man, the Human Torch and the X-Men in Marvel Team-Up, Michael Morbius got his first solo story in Marvel’s black & white horror publication Vampire Tales.

jared leto in morbius movieSynopsis: One night in Los Angeles, Morbius tries to find his lady love Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona in the movie), whom he was separated from shortly after his transformation into vampire form. He encounters Carolyn, a female member of the Children of Satan cult. Continue reading →

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October 6, 2023 · 12:08 pm

FROM OUT OF THE SILENCE (1920) – HALLOWEEN READING

Halloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at some ghost stories from over a hundred years ago.

from out of the silenceFROM OUT OF THE SILENCE: SEVEN STRANGE STORIES (full title) (1920) – Written by Lady Bessie Kyffin-Taylor. The stories are:

OUTSIDE THE HOUSE – A veteran of World War One (called the World War or the Great War at the time), who lost the use of a leg during the conflict, at last meets his fiancé’s relatives, the Falconer family. They are gracious hosts but aggressively warn the man to never leave the house after dark. Only at sunrise is it safe to venture out.

        Hearing odd, menacing sounds outside during the night, and intrigued by the way even the windows are blocked off after dark, the man disregards the warning and goes outside one night to investigate. While walking the eerie, moonlit grounds of the estate he learns why no one leaves the house at night. Continue reading →

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October 2, 2023 · 3:55 am

HALLOWEEN SEASON HORROR TALES FROM THE 1800s and EARLY 1900s

masc older picHalloween Season is underway here at Balladeer’s Blog! This time around I have so many new readers that I’ll start out with this look at some VERY old horror stories that are basically Halloween versions of the Ancient Science Fiction reviews I write.

CARL BLUVEN AND THE STRANGE MARINER (1833) – Fans of the supernatural elements in the Pirates of the Caribbean films may really enjoy this Norwegian short story. Businessman Carl Bluven strikes a dangerous bargain with the undead Kahlbranner, whose ghost ship haunts and commands the Maelstrom off the coast. Kahlbranner also guards the countless valuable cargos from all the ships to sink in that whirlpool. Continue reading →

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September 30, 2023 · 12:01 am

JUSTICE SOCIETY: 1976 STORIES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog features the return of the Justice Society’s series in the 1970s.

asc 58ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #58 (February 1976)

Title: All Star Super Squad

Justice Society Roster: 1st Flash, 1st Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, Wildcat, Power Girl, Star Spangled Kid, 1st Hawkman, 1st Robin and Dr. Mid-Nite

Villain: Brain Wave

NOTE: This issue of All Star Comics resumes its numbering from #57 back in 1951, when the JSA’s 1940-1951 series ended. Since then, beginning in 1963 came the annual Justice Society/ Justice League crossover stories. The JSA regained its popularity and now had its series resume. 

power girlSynopsis: Dr. Fate, Flash, Hawkman, Robin, Wildcat, Green Lantern and Dr. Mid-Nite are joined by the Justice Society’s newest members – Power Girl, Earth-Two’s equivalent of Supergirl, and the Star Spangled Kid, former member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and now the wielder of the retired Starman’s Cosmic Rod.

After fighting eruptions of earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters around the world, the Justice Society learns from Power Girl that the villain behind it all is the JSA’s archenemy Brain Wave. Continue reading →

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September 23, 2023 · 12:09 am

MARVEL SUPERVILLAIN TEAM-UP

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at a short-lived VILLAIN series.

gssv 1GIANT-SIZE SUPERVILLAIN TEAM-UP Vol 1 #1 (March 1975)

Title: Encounter at Land’s End

NOTE: Marvel’s Giant-Size comics in the 1970s were an experiment in quarterly publications which would offer a slightly lengthier new story with the rest of each issue filled up with reprinted stories from years or decades earlier. None of these “giant-sized” series even made it to their 9th issue.

Villains: Dr. Doom, Sub-Mariner and Diablo

Synopsis: Dr. Doom’s armored body lands in the Atlantic Ocean following his most recent clash with the Fantastic Four, which ended with him seemingly being killed. Instead, he survived but was knocked unconscious and fell back to the Earth below.

Sub-Mariner, aka Namor, the monarch of Atlantis, caught sight of the falling object while piloting his Atlantean submarine which can also serve as an aircraft. Sub-Mariner rescues Doom, whose armor protected him from re-entry, and the two contemplate an alliance even though their few previous attempts ended with the pair falling-out. Continue reading →

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September 22, 2023 · 12:04 pm

AN AUTOMATIC ENIGMA (1872, 1878) – ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

julian hawthorneAN AUTOMATIC ENIGMA (1878) – By Julian Hawthorne, son of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the past Balladeer’s Blog has reviewed some of Julian’s horror stories, but this time around it’s a sci-fi tale. An Automatic Enigma first appeared under the title The Mullenville Mystery in 1872 before Hawthorne revised it and had it published in 1878 under the new title.

In Mullenville, a traveler named Ned Holland charms Nellie Swansdowne, who is considered the greatest beauty in the area. After a time, Nellie accuses Ned of acting too machine-like, provoking a fierce argument and a breakup. Continue reading →

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September 16, 2023 · 12:02 am

KAMANDI: THE LAST BOY ON EARTH – HIS EARLY ADVENTURES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero blog post will look at DC’s variation on the original Planet of the Apes. The Kamandi series was a post-apocalypse tale with animals mutated into quasi-human forms and with human intelligence.

kamandi 1KAMANDI Vol 1 #1 (November 1972)

Title: The Last Boy on Earth

Villains: Wolf-Men, Tiger-Men and Leopard-Men

Synopsis: Years after an event remembered only as The Great Disaster, a teenage male named Kamandi lives with his grandfather in the remains of a military post called Command D. (Yes, the post name inspired our hero’s name Kamandi.) 

Kamandi is rowing around flooded Manhattan and vicinity in his daily recon. When he returns to the command post he sees that anthropomorphic wolf-men have killed his grandfather.

Kamandi slays the wolf-men in turn and abandons his former home, driving off in the late wolf-men’s wagon. (Oddly, horses did not gain human form and intelligence and are still used to ride and as beasts of burden.)

kamandi and tiger menAfter some time, the young man gets caught in the middle of a large-scale battle between an army of tiger-men and an army of leopard-men, all wearing the clothing and wielding the weapons of the humans who used to rule the world.

Kamandi winds up taken prisoner by the tiger-men and their general, Great Caesar. Continue reading →

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September 14, 2023 · 6:13 am

ANOTHER WORLD (1873) – ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

another worldANOTHER WORLD (1873) – This highly detailed account of life in Montalluyah (“God’s own city”), the capitol city of Mars, was written by British author Benjamin Lumley under the pen name Hermes. The book is presented as excerpts from historical accounts, including a biography of the Great Martian Reformer Tootmanyoso.

Mars is depicted as geographically similar – but far from identical – to Earth. Water on Mars is violet colored, hills are more numerous, and there are several species of plants, animals and insects not found on Earth. Technology on the Red Planet is far beyond Earth’s, due largely to the way Martian science learned to extract the “innate electricity” in every object, even unliving ones. 

As the Earthling “Hermes” translates Martian documents, he finds that much is made of the historical figure Tootmanyoso. Before the coming of that great man, Mars was prone to war, crime, poverty and disease. Continue reading →

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September 9, 2023 · 12:12 am

NOVA: HIS EARLY STORIES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero blog post will look at some of the earliest stories of Marvel’s character Nova.

nova 1NOVA Vol 1 #1 (September 1976)

Title: Nova

Villain: Zorr

NOTE: This was the very first appearance of Nova and by extension, the Nova Corps of Xandar, the space force that became reasonably popular in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Synopsis: We meet Rhomann-Dey, a member of the intergalactic Nova Corps of superpowered police/ military forces from the far-off planet Xandar. In his spaceship, Rhomann-Dey pursued the villainous alien Zorr into Earth’s proximity but was mortally wounded in battle with that criminal.

Rhomann settled his Xandarian vessel into orbit around the Earth and summoned test pilot Hal Jordan to become his successor as a Green Lantern hurriedly selected an Earthling to pass his incredible Nova powers on to.

Hempstead, Long Island teenager Richard Rider is Rhomann’s selection and he transfers his uniform and powers to him as he is dying. While Richard learns to cope with his new abilities his Nova uniform makes him a target for Zorr. In the end, Zorr is destroyed and Rhomann-Dey’s ship remains in orbit. Continue reading →

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