Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end of year retrospective continues with this look at July’s best.
RIVERBOAT (1959-1961) – My review of this neglected television series about Darren McGavin and a young Burt Reynolds as partners who run a riverboat along the Mississippi and its tributaries during the 1830s and 1840s. Burt and Darren help Texas rebels fight Mexican tyrants, assist historical figures like Zachary Taylor and Abe Lincoln, and clash with river pirates, gunrunners and fugitives. Click HERE.
A MODERN MUSKETEER (1917) – Douglas Fairbanks’ silent action-comedy about a quixotic 20th Century man who longs for the age of chivalrous adventuring. Click HERE.
THOMASINE & BUSHROD (1974) – A western about a pair of fictional outlaws who become folk heroes from 1911-1915 as the Wild West is fading away. Vonetta McGee plays Thomasine, a female bounty hunter who winds up robbing banks alongside her true love J.P. Bushrod (Max Julien). The pair give away most of their illegal proceeds to the poor of all colors. This movie is like The Wild Bunch crossed with Bonnie & Clyde, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and more. Click HERE.
NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUPS – July 3rd HERE, July 6th HERE.
JANUARY 1972 MARVEL PUBLICATIONS – Black Bolt and the Inhumans take on Magneto, Spider-Man fights Kraven the Hunter in the Savage Land, Daredevil and the Black Widow face MK-9, Conan the Barbarian meets Omm the Spider-God and much more. Click HERE.
CALIFORNIA JIM – Real-life gunslinger and his forgotten saga. Click HERE.
THADDEUS KOSCIUSZKO: REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO – A brief look. Click HERE.
HURRICANE NELL – One of the first Dime Novel heroines created by Edward L. Wheeler in 1877. This tale follows the daring young lady sharpshooter on her revenge quest against a gang of outlaws. Click HERE.
KINGSBOROUGH COLLEGE – Cool named sports team. Click HERE.
THE LAND OF THE CHANGING SUN (1894) – “Ancient” science fiction about a futuristic underground civilization. Click HERE. Continue reading
THE CASSANDRA CROSSING (1976) – My review of this hilariously bad disaster movie starring Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Martin Sheen and O.J. Simpson. Passengers on a train are exposed to a deadly virus because of terrorists. Click 
GRIPS: ONE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SUPERHEROES EVER – From 1986-1992 Grips, a combination of Wolverine and the Punisher, had ultra-violent and otherwise adult adventures in Kris Silver’s independent publications. Only Faust exceeded Grips in the 80s and 90s, and artist Tim Vigil worked on both series. Must be read to be believed. Click 
A VERY MISSING PERSON (1972) – Eve Arden starred as amateur sleuth Hildegarde Withers from a series of mystery novels. Hildegarde solves a murder involving high-level figures in New York City. Also includes my review of the 1930s movies about the character. Click 
MOMMA THE DETECTIVE (1981) – A Mother’s Day look at this made for tv movie about Esther Rolle as an amateur detective who solves a high society murder. Think of shows like McMillan and Wife, The Snoop Sisters, etc. Click 
For overseas readers, let me be clear that the title of this blog post is no joke. Abraham Lincoln also caused Democrats to froth at the mouth with hatred even more than they usually do and he was removed from multiple state ballots in the 1860 election, which he went on to win. 
I’ll have more to say on this in the days ahead, but holiday preparations limit my time today. Here are items written by others about this latest anti-Trump travesty: 
GOLEM (1980) – My review of this Polish science fiction film that is sort of a blend of Eraserhead and Patrick McGoohan’s series The Prisoner. An authoritarian dictatorship has risen in the aftermath of a global nuclear war. Click 
CANADIAN-MADE SUPERHEROES 1941-1950 – From well-known names like the superheroine Nelvana of the Northern Lights (at left) and the superhero Thunderfist to less celebrated figures like Freelance, Nitro, the Blue Raven and Commander Steel. Plus superheroines like the Wing, Ghost Woman and many more. Thirty-eight characters in all. Click 
PATHFINDERS IN SPACE (1960) – The neglected British sci-fi television series. Includes my review of its sequels, Pathfinders to Mars and Pathfinders to Venus. Click 
JUSTICE SOCIETY/ JUSTICE LEAGUE TEAM-UPS – 1975-1979 
Here is the latest current events roundup from 
SHAKEM AKHET BLASTS THE DEMOCRATS FOR DOING NOTHING FOR BLACK VOTERS. He courageously calls out The Party. Click 
BRANDON STRAKA AND THE #WALKAWAY MOVEMENT WERE STILL ROLLING – A March of 2020 blog post about former Democrats (like myself) leaving the party over its intolerance and growing authoritarianism. Click 
FLORIS (1969 and 1975) – Rutger Hauer and Paul Verhoeven’s neglected television series starring Rutger as a swashbuckling hero caught up in the Guelders Wars of the Netherlands. Read about it 
BAD MOVIE REVIEW: HITLER – DEAD OR ALIVE (1943) My review of this bizarre movie 
JUSTICE SOCIETY AND JUSTICE LEAGUE CROSSOVER STORIES: 1963-1969 – Their first 7 meetings 
