These nice, escapist bits of fun have proven very popular with readers of Balladeer’s Blog. FOR PART 1 OF BALLADEER’S BLOG’S EXAMINATION OF MANTIS CLICK HERE
THE AVENGERS Volume 1, Number 120 (February 1974) Death Stars of the Zodiac
Obviously the February 1974 date means this was years before Star Wars, so the “Death Stars” of the title are just a generic reference to astrology. This individual issue kicks off a multi-part story that significantly advances the MANTIS narrative as we head toward the Celestial Madonna Saga.
Zodiac was a team of supervillains who had fought the Avengers multiple times previously. Periodically individual members of Zodiac would clash with individual Avengers in the pages of their own comic books.
DEATH STARS OF THE ZODIAC
Synopsis: The opening scene features Taurus, in his secret identity of billionaire Cornelius Van Lunt, visiting an imprisoned Zodiac member, Joshua Link. Link is the “evil” twin of the Gemini duo. Van Lunt, who has concealed his true identity from his teammates in Zodiac, has been forced to reveal himself to Joshua Link.
The reason for that is to get Gemini ready for an upcoming jailbreak, since Taurus wants ALL the members of Zodiac on hand as the team enacts his master plan.
NOTE: Cornelius Van Lunt had been a background figure in the Avengers’ comic books for quite a while by this point. He was one of those people from Old Money in New York and his family was friendly with the family of Janet Van Dyne (The Wasp), likewise from New York Old Money. As in all the way back to when New York was a Dutch possession in the 1600s.
For a real-life example of such types think of Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. Hell, if you go back far enough their family was known as “the Van Roosevelts.”
At any rate Cornelius had often used his family ties to try to romance Janet Van Dyne and his family fortune to hassle Tony Stark and would try plots to leverage Avengers Mansion out of their hands to force the team out of New York City. Until it was revealed that he was secretly Taurus he just seemed like the typical Marvel Comics civilian character who harasses the heroes, like J Jonah Jameson with Spider-Man, Senator Kelly with the X-Men, General Ross with the Hulk and the Yancy Street Gang with the Thing.
Getting back to the story, after Taurus busts Joshua Link out of jail and welcomes him back to Zodiac, their next move is to have Joshua move against his “good” twin, Damian Link. Damian is the New York Police Department’s Liaison with the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Continue reading
Adam Ant is STILL not dead! Hence another episode of Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead! 
THE FOOD OF THE GODS was very loosely based on part of H.G. Wells’ novel of the same name. It was directed by Bert I Gordon, “Mr B.I.G.” himself. Gordon’s Village of the Giants, about a gang of giant-sized teenagers, was likewise loosely based on an often-forgotten section of that novel. 
THE AVENGERS Volume 1, Number 119 (January 1974) Night of the Collector
The eight Avengers – accompanied by Loki, helpless and insane from what happened in the Dark Dimension – land the borrowed aircraft on the roof of Avengers’ mansion and exit from it. Exhausted, the heroes forgot that the S.H.I.E.L.D. transport did not have their Quin-Jet’s setting for disarming the defense systems of Avengers Mansion. 
MAHAKA & KOTOFETSY – Trickster deities to the Merina people of Madagascar. Mahaka and Kotofetsy are depicted like Coyote is depicted in Native American myths. In some tales their deceptive nature is applauded and in others condemned. 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY GOLDEN RAMS and the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO TRITONS were the last two teams standing in the D2 World Series. After the Golden Rams grabbed a quick 1-0 edge in the 1st Inning the Tritons responded by tying the score at 1-1 in the 2nd. 
My fellow atheists Richard Dawkins and Iraqi-born Faisal Saeed Al Mutar are often quoted here at Balladeer’s Blog because of their outspoken treatment of Islam as another irrational religion that needs criticized. 
FUNGUS ISLE (1923) – Written by Philip M Fisher. Fungus Isle has the same proto-Creature Feature feel to it that The True Inheritors (qv) had. In the case of the previously reviewed story it was a forerunner of various giant spider flicks. In the case of Fungus Isle it seems like the inspiration for Attack of the Mushroom People, aka Matango, the Fungus of Terror. 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The CHIPOLA COLLEGE INDIANS and the SAN JACINTO-NORTH COLLEGE GATORS fought it out for the NJCAA title. The favored Gators started out with a 1-0 1st Inning edge that became 2-1 in the 2nd. 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The Defending National Champions – the 5th seeded LEWIS- CLARK STATE WARRIORS – battled the 2 seeds – the FAULKNER UNIVERSITY EAGLES for the title. Runs were flying in the 1st Inning, which ended with the Warriors on top of the Eagles 3-2. 
