Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues! There are plenty of Marvel Comics authorities who could give you the story of the in-depth evolution of horror comics in the 1970s, from the relaxing of the Comics Code around 1970 onward. I’ll spare all of us a trip down that particular alley and cut to the chase. Marvel Comics is THE comic book publishing house in pop culture right now with nearly every movie that ever gets made being based on a superhero figure from The House of Ideas.
The 1970s saw Stan Lee and company churn out countless horror comics to cash in on the new flexibility in four-color storytelling. Some were long-lasting successes, like Tomb of Dracula, and others weren’t, like The Frankenstein Monster. When Marvel ventured outside established works by Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and others they actually produced some very intriguing characters who had more potential than many actual horror films from the 70s. Excluding the overworked Drac and Frank here are five of Marvel’s most intriguing horror figures from that experimental decade.
1. SATANA THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER
Comment: How has this character NOT been the subject of multiple movies by this point? You’d think that Marvel would have learned long ago not to let its strong female horror figures lie unused. For decades Stan and friends let their character Rachel Van Helsing, the young blonde descendant of a long line of vampire slayers go unexploited only to watch potential millions of dollars fly away as Buffymania took hold in the 90s.
Satana Hellstrom was the half-sister of Damian Hellstrom, Marvel’s Son of Satan character. Like Damian she was the offspring of Satan and a mortal woman. Unlike Damian, who went goody-goody to spite his infernal father, Satana was a loyal Daddy’s Girl who was happy to try to spread her father’s ways in the human world.
When she wasn’t battling her half-brother or serving as the Earthly object of worship for a Satanic Cult or facing down covens of demons conspiring to overthrow her father’s rule of Hell Satana was a very successful succubus, and it’s easy to see why.
Even the more “adult” black and white horror comics of the 1970s couldn’t show what a succubus REALLY does, so Satana set about harvesting souls by simply kissing her victims, despite occassional dialogue panels indicating that something a little more … involved … might be going on. Mortal souls would emerge as black butterflies from the mouths of the dead, shriveled bodies of Satana’s prey and our sultry protagonist would then crush those butterflies between her fingers, proud to send another soul to her father’s domain.
A cinematic Satana could be given full-blown horror treatment and be a female franchise-spawner to compete with Freddy Krueger and the like. Continue reading
Paul “Jacinto Molina” Naschy was Spain’s King of Horror decades ago. Many of his films featured his recurring character Waldemar Daninsky, a tormented lycanthrope who was seeking a cure for his curse.
I’ll start with a reminder that it’s just one week til the start of the #WALKAWAY MARCH ON WASHINGTON. Many people from among the millions of former Democrats driven away by the Party’s fascism and intolerance will be there.
With Antifa (really KLAN-tifa) blocking traffic and beating up the elderly in Portland while the Democrat Mayor orders the police to stand down and with Democrats like Nancy Pelosi STILL refusing to denounce the violence (this week she actually referred to the victims of Democrat violence as “collateral damage”) here’s a look at the apparent 2018 Democrat Platform. 
*** THE POLICE ARE THE REAL CRIMINALS AND MUST BE HAMSTRUNG AT EVERY TURN! 
THE ENSOULED VIOLIN (1880) Written by Helena Blavatsky, aka Madame Blavatsky, famous for the Theosophy Movement and its premier work Isis Unveiled. Later she wrote The Secret Doctrine, another milestone theosophical opus. 
HELLRAISER (1987) – “Jee-zuz WEPT!” Clive Barker helped translate his novel The Hellbound Heart to the big screen in this film. It’s incredibly rare for a novelist to get to DIRECT a movie version of one of his own works but Barker made the most of it. 
Recently Balladeer’s Blog wrapped up an in-depth examination of all 17 episodes of Patrick McGoohan’s pioneering 1967 series The Prisoner. Before Lost, before The X-Files, before Twin Peaks, there was this innovative British series which was equal parts science fiction and existentialism. 
FRANKENSTEIN (1973) – 
NUMBER THREE FALLS ON THE ROAD – In NCAA Division Three the 8th ranked SAINT JOHN’S UNIVERSITY JOHNNIES played host to the number 3 team in the nation – the UNIVERSITY OF SAINT THOMAS TOMMIES. After a 7-6 1st Quarter lead for the Tommies the Johnnies went on top 19-7 and 33-20 in the 2nd and 3rd Quarters respectively. From there Saint John’s University won it 40-20. 
KNOCKING OFF NUMBER SEVEN – Up in the NAIA the number 24 EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY MOUNTAINEERS visited the country’s number 7 team – the SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY RAIDERS (should be the Sea Gulls). The 1st Half was a defensive epic resulting in a 3-3 tie at Halftime. After the break the Mountaineers outscored SOU 24-14 for a 27-17 upset triumph. 
SEVENTY-EIGHT – In the NJCAA the ASA (NY) COLLEGE AVENGERS took the field against their guests the CAPP CRUSADERS. The Avengers dominated on both sides of the ball, utterly annihilating the hapless Crusaders in the process. When all was said and done ASA College won by a final tally of SEVENTY-EIGHT to SIX! 
alladeer’s Blog CONCLUDES its examination of the 1967 science fiction/ existential drama The Prisoner
