This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero blog post looks at the 1940s & 1950s Australian-made superheroes. Back in 2015 I examined Australian-made superheroes of the 1970s and 1980s HERE.
CAPTAIN ATOM
Secret Identity: Larry Lockhart
Debut Year: 1948
Origin: A nuclear accident fused scientist Dr. Bikini Rador with his brother, who was a federal agent using the cover identity Larry Lockhart. This accident granted incredible superpowers and spawned the superhero called Captain Atom.
Powers: Saying the word “Exenor” would let Larry turn into his superhero form. He had Superman level strength, could fly at amazing speeds, was largely invulnerable and could shoot atomic energy blasts from his hands. Captain Atom’s ears could “hear” radio transmissions.
Comment: This Captain Atom ran from 1948 to 1954 in the Golden Age. America’s totally different Captain Atom did not debut until 1960.
ATOM-GIRL
Secret Identity: Lynn Sanders
Debut Year: 1949
Origin: Lynn became Atom-Girl when gifted the futuristic technology of her brother-in-law John Grant.
She fought crime and other menaces, including aliens.
Powers: John Grant’s discovered “ray” gave Lynn a degree of super-strength and made her invulnerable to bullets, other weaponry and deadly gasses.
Atom-Girl wore an “atojet” flying pack on her back, an antigravity harness, a belt that could turn her invisible, plus goggles which could provide x-ray vision. She also wielded two atomic pistols and piloted an aircraft called Miss Hotshot which could change from a jet to a helicopter to a submarine.
This superheroine’s HQ was Voltara, a secret lab in central Australia. Continue reading
QUENTIN DURWARD (1971) – This French-German television series ran for 13 half-hour episodes in Germany but just 7 52-minute episodes during its initial French run. 
Amadeus August stars as Quentin Durward, a fighting young Scotsman who is the sole surviving male from his Scottish clan after a brutal clan war wiped out the rest of his family. At present he is being sheltered in a monastery where the monks have told him the only way to stop the enemy clansmen from killing him to blot out his entire bloodline is to become a monk under a vow of celibacy.
TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF JAMES MASSEY (1714) – This is Part Two of 
I’ll spare all of us any details of the actual cockfights. When the fighting was over, the family whose cock lost the fight welcomed the winner’s family over to their home. The winner’s family brought along all of the food they had prepared for this eventful day, and the two families feasted and drank together the rest of the day. 
Gina Carano has proven how impressive she can be in action roles, and that got me thinking about various roles I’d like to see her in. 
BELIT, THE QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST – For people who aren’t fans of Robert E. Howard I’ll mention that the female pirate captain was the great love in the life of Conan the Barbarian. 
Z-Bear, her husband and their children are a family in Hawaii who deejay the terrific YT channel Villa Vybes Vinyl. Z-Bear and her hubby are professionals and periodically let their kids take center stage for some of the DJ chores. It adds considerably to the charm of this eclectic channel. 
No matter how good digital is, many people still thrill to the sound of a needle pressing down on an actual vinyl record and the slight whispering and popping before the music begins to play. Z-Bear and company don’t waste the time of listeners/ viewers with DJ patter, they just let their audience see them going through all the vinyl DJ activities!
The VVV folks lovingly select, clean and otherwise care for the musical artifacts they proceed to play. They have an incredible setup with multiple turntables and other equipment that many will envy. Multiple camera angles are provided, plus Z-Bear and her family change up those angles over time.
CLOSE CALL FOR NUMBER ONE – The number 1 team in the nation – the SOUTH PLAINS COLLEGE TEXANS – visited the 11th ranked ODESSA COLLEGE WRANGLERS. 
CENTURY CLUB – The (25) WALTERS STATE SENATORS won by a final score of 109-81 at the DYERSBURG STATE EAGLES ### Meanwhile, the WAUBONSEE COLLEGE CHIEFS routed the visiting WILBUR WRIGHT COLLEGE RAMS 111-76 ### And the CASPER COLLEGE THUNDERBIRDS downed their guests the EASTERN WYOMING COLLEGE LANCERS by a final score of 101-90. 
FLASH Vol 1 #155 (September 1965) 
If you enjoy serious analog horror like 
Around 2012 Richard Littler began mocking up some fake 1970s public health posters and government pamphlets for schools and general consumption. He presented them with an enjoyably twisted slant that perfectly captured the vaguely menacing, often insulting approach of such material. 
TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF JAMES MASSEY (1714) – By Simon Tyssot de Patot. Supposedly written in 1710 but not published until 1714, this novel dealt with the travels of the title character to exotic lands. 
Balladeer's Blog 