AGON: ATOMIC DRAGON, also called Phantom Monster Agon and Giant Phantom Monster Agon, is an overlooked miniseries from Japanese television. It was produced in 1964 but due to legal action over the monster’s similarity to Godzilla its creator’s old Toho contract was invoked to prevent the miniseries from being televised until 1968. This black & white miniseries ran just four half-hour episodes and aired on four consecutive nights, from January 2nd – 5th, 1968.
THE STORY: On a night when a typhoon is lashing Japan, a truck transporting uranium is blown off a cliffside road and into the sea. The uranium is devoured by a VERY Godzilla-looking monster called Agon after the supposed Jurassic Period dinosaur it resembles.
When an irritating reporter named Goro Sumoto aka “the Suppon” arrives to report on the police and the Atomic Energy Authorities scouring the beach for the lost uranium, Agon rises up from the sea in the exact same “bubbling waters first” technique favored by Godzilla. Goro photographs Agon, who vogues for a while, then submerges again. The reporter also meets Monta, the obligatory wise-ass little kid character so common to kaiju stories.
The atomic scientist Dr Ukyo, his female assistant Satsuki and Police Detective Yamato consult with Goro, and the good doctor theorizes that Agon has been in suspended animation since the Jurassic Period and that atomic bombs mutated him, making him hungry for the uranium which fell into the sea, waking him. Continue reading
THE SCARLET PLAGUE (1912) – Written by THE Jack London. Years ago Balladeer’s Blog reviewed London’s mad scientist horror tale A Thousand Deaths, now I’ll examine The Scarlet Plague, London’s post-apocalypse plague story set in the year 2073. 
James Howard Smith is that elderly survivor in a world returned largely to hunting and gathering. He is cared for by his three grandsons, Edwin and two others whose absurd names probably contribute to keeping The Scarlet Plague so underappreciated – Hoo-Hoo and Harelip. (?) They get by as well as they can in northern California, raising dogs to help them herd the goats that they raise for meat and milk, and relying on the ocean for much of the rest of their food supply. Primitive weapons like bows and arrows are all they have on hand to use against wild bears and other menaces. 
THE BAKARIDJAN KONE EPIC – Djeli, the poet-historians of the Bambara people for over 300 years, would often recite, chant and sing this epic myth while playing their stringed instruments called ngoni. 
FIRST QUARTERFINAL – The NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS traveled to face the GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS (should be the Zebras). A 7-0 1st Quarter lead for the Vikings became a 14-7 advantage by Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended with the Red Raiders on top by a score of 17-14, then both teams notched 10 more points in the 4th as Northwestern College won the game 27-24. 
SECOND QUARTERFINAL – This game pitted the 2-time defending National Champions – the MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS – against the visiting BAKER UNIVERSITY WILDCATS. The Wildcats were as tough as ever, leading the Mustangs 14-9 in the opening Quarter and holding a 21-9 lead at the Half. After the break Morningside College came stampeding back, going up 24-21 in the 3rd Quarter, then winning out by a comfortable final count of 45-29. 
THE SHIELD
Powers: The chemical formula that the Shield rubbed onto his skin followed by bombardment with flouroscopic rays endowed him with massive super-strength plus invulnerability and the ability to leap enormous distances. His name came from an acronym for the areas of the human anatomy affected by his chemical formula: S – Sacrum H – Heart I – Innervation E – Eyes L – Lungs D – Derma. The Shield also wore an indestructible costume which encased his torso like a shield.
PEP COMICS #1 (January 1940) 
Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’ve long found Midnight’s Edge to be the most accurate site when it comes to entertainment news. I would put Clownfish TV in second place. As for Midnight’s Edge, not only do they carefully label what has already been proven and what is merely word from sources, but over the past few years they have been the only entertainment site I’ve seen that winds up being ACCURATE, especially in the long run, after all the facts have come out. 
VIDEODROME (1983) 
A.D.A.M. (1973) – Written by Donald Jonson and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, this made for British tv item served as an episode of ITV Sunday Night Theater on April 8th, 1973. The story is part science fiction and part horror with the A.D.A.M. of the title being an acronym for a super-computer called an Automated Domestic Appliance Monitor. 
THE CAVERN OF FIRE (1888) – Written by Francis W Doughty. This novel was originally serialized in The Boys of New York from September 15th to November 3rd of 1888. The main character is Professor Hardcastle, head of Merton College in Illinois. Hardcastle’s pet theory over the years has been that America’s mound builders were really from ancient Greece. 
ROUND ONE: GAME ONE – The BAKER UNIVERSITY WILDCATS hosted the OLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY TIGERS (should be the Purple Tigers). By Halftime in this shootout the score was knotted up at 24-24. The 3rd Quarter ended with the Tigers on top 41-38 but the Wildcats came from behind to win the game in the 4th. The final score was Baker U 59 Olivet Nazarene 54. 
ROUND ONE: GAME TWO – This game pitted the NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS against the visiting DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS. The Red Raiders parlayed a 7-0 1st Quarter lead into a 17-7 advantage by the Half. After the break Northwestern College shut out the Blue Hawks while adding 14 more points of their own for an authoritative 31-7 triumph. 
