Tag Archives: superheroes

May 30, 2026 · 12:01 am

MARVEL’S KA-ZAR STORIES (1971-1973)

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog continues on from when Astonishing Tales became Ka-Zar’s title alone after Dr. Doom’s departure.

ASTONISHING TALES Vol 1 #9 (Dec 1971)

Title: The Legend of the Lizard Men

Villains: Queen Iranda and her Lizard Men

NOTE: The next part of the Neu Deutschland/ New Brittany storyline was not completed in time for publication, so this pre-prepared fill-in story was used instead.

Synopsis: Men and women are disappearing from various tribes across the Savage Land. Ka-Zar and his saber-tooth tiger Zabu investigate. He traces the disappearances to Queen Iranda and her army of Lizard Men.

Ka-Zar fights his way through Iranda’s guards and manages to steal the queen’s crown. This causes her to turn into her true lizard form and reverts all of her Lizard Men to their human forms as the missing villagers.  Continue reading →

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May 23, 2026 · 12:00 am

X-MEN: THE NEW TEAM IN 1975

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the first twenty stories of the “All New, All Different” X-Men beginning in 1975. I have a soft spot for superhero stories because reading them as a kid served as a gateway to two of my adult passions – mythology and opera.

new x-men 1

GIANT-SIZE X-MEN Vol 1 #1 (May 1975)

Title: Deadly Genesis

Villain: Krakoa

NOTE: This was the very FIRST appearance of the new team of X-Men who replaced the original, blander team launched in 1963. That team’s original series had been canceled and reduced to reprints (reruns).

Synopsis: The story opened with a series of vignettes featuring Professor X traveling the world rounding up a new batch of mutants detected by his invention Cerebro. Three of them had prior history in the Marvel Universe:

*** WOLVERINE (real name unknown at the time), who had fought the Hulk and the Wendigo in Canada. Wolverine willingly joined the X-Men and angrily resigned from Canada’s Department H, which had been sending him on missions up to that point. This would have repercussions down the road.

*** BANSHEE (Sean Cassidy), a sometime foe and sometime ally of the original team of X-Men. This Irishman had also fought Captain America and the Falcon.

*** SUNFIRE (Shiro Yoshida), a Japanese mutant who had fought the original X-Men as well as Sub-Mariner, Iron Man and Captain America.

The rest of the mutants Xavier rounded up were new:

*** STORM (Ororo Munroe), from Africa, where her weather-controlling powers had made her revered as a goddess by an isolated tribe.

*** NIGHTCRAWLER (Kurt Wagner), a German circus performer whose monstrous appearance made him the target of a mutant-hating mob from which Professor X saved him.

*** COLOSSUS (Piotr Rasputin), a Russian teenager working on a Collective Farm in the Soviet Union.

*** THUNDERBIRD (John Proudstar), a Native American mutant from a reservation in the American Southwest.

Once they were all assembled at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, the professor introduced them to Cyclops (Scott Summers), the leader of the original X-Men, who briefed them. He had led the original team – Iceman, Angel, Marvel Girl, Polaris and Havok (Beast was joining the Avengers at this point) to investigate a new mutant detected by Cerebro on a Pacific Ocean island called Krakoa. The original team vanished and only Cyclops escaped in their aircraft, but with no memory of what happened there.

Continue reading →

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May 16, 2026 · 4:27 am

ASTONISHING TALES 1-8 (1970-1971)

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at Marvel’s Astonishing Tales Vol 1 when it featured separate stories about Dr. Doom and Ka-Zar.

ASTONISHING TALES Vol 1 #1 (Aug 1970)

Ka-Zar Title: The Power of Ka-Zar

Villain: Kraven the Hunter

Synopsis: After several guest appearances in series like The X-Men, Daredevil, and Spider-Man, Ka-Zar got this tryout for a series of his own. He is a Tarzanesque hero who operates in Marvel’s Savage Land, a hidden prehistoric jungle in the middle of Antarctica – a jungle heated by geothermal sources. Kraven the Hunter arrives in the Savage Land to capture Ka-Zar’s saber tooth tiger Zabu.

After a clash with our hero in the dinosaur-ridden jungle, Kraven wins and flees with Zabu in a net. Ka-Zar trails the villain to his ship where he plans to transport Zabu in a cage to the U.S. Ka-Zar defeats all of Kraven’s crew members but falls to a sneak attack by the Hunter himself. He survives a fall into the ocean and resolves to follow Kraven to America to rescue Zabu.   

Dr. Doom Title: Unto You is Born … the Doomsman

Villain: Andro the Doomsman

Synopsis: Marvel’s popular villain Dr. Victor Von Doom got this tryout for his own series. From his castle in the fictional nation of Latveria, Dr. Doom watches the latest American Apollo flight to the moon. He teleports one of his communication devices to the moon right in the astronauts’ way on the lunar surface. Through the device he taunts the world that his teleportation technology is superior to any country’s rocket tech.

Meanwhile, Prince Rudolfo, the rightful ruler of Latveria, leads an attack on Doom’s castle with his freedom fighters. This distracts Victor from his just-finished android creation called Andro the Doomsman. While Dr. Doom defeats Rudolfo and his forces, Andro comes to life and wanders off. Continue reading →

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May 9, 2026 · 12:00 am

FRENCH-CREATED SUPERHEROES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at several superheroes created in France.

FANTAX

Debut Year: 1946

Secret Identity: Horace Neighbour

Origin: Horace Neighbour was a diplomatic attache at his country’s embassy in Washington D.C. He decided to fight international and purely American menaces by adopting the costumed identity Fantax. As Horace he was suave & sophisticated and as Fantax he was tough & streetwise. 

Powers: Fantax was in peak physical condition and was an expert at unarmed combat. He was also more agile than an acrobat and was skilled with a knife. This hero would periodically wield a gun or blunt objects. In addition, Fantax was a master detective.

Comment: Fantax’s wife Barbara sometimes assisted him, as did his butler Murph and muscular aide P’tit Louis. This hero’s foes included the Cobra, the Black Tigers, Nazi fugitives, the Gentleman Ghost, the Mafia, the Werewolf, the Ku Klux Klan and the Mikado. Later, Fantax’s son Horace fils became the costumed superhero Garcon Noir (Black Boy).

SALTARELLA 

Debut Year: 1980

Secret Identity: Priscilla “Bibi” Conway

Origin: The insectoid alien race called the Svizz wanted to conquer the Earth with an army of human slaves granted insect-related superpowers. As the costumed Saltarella, this heroine rebelled against the Svizz and helped defeat the interstellar invasion, then battled other evil forces afterward.

Powers: Saltarella could fly via the wings added to her body by the Svizz, possessed super-strength (say, the proportionate strength of a winged insect), was capable of long leaps and could shrink. Priscilla was a former Olympic gymnast and was very agile.

Comment: Priscilla Conway was a top-level research entomologist. Among her other foes were Psi, the Gondolier Noir, Microbios, l’Executeur, Cagliostro and Vaudou. Continue reading →

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May 2, 2026 · 12:01 am

ACE PERIODICALS SUPERHEROES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog is a look at the neglected Golden Age superhero pantheon from Ace Periodicals.

Captain Victory bigCAPTAIN VICTORY

Secret Identity: Jack Wilson, Diplomatic Attache

Origin: Jack Wilson was serving as a Diplomatic Attache at the American Embassy in the fictional Central American nation of Centralvo. While there he gained superpowers but Ace Periodicals’ writers never got around to explaining how during this character’s brief run.

First Appearance: Our Flag Comics #1 (August 1941). His final Golden Age appearance came that same year.

Captain Victory smallPowers: Captain Victory (No relation to the Jack Kirby character of that name) could fly and had massive super strength. The upper limits of his flying abilities and his strength were never established before the character disappeared. 

Comment: Since America had not yet entered World War Two, Captain Victory’s adventures had to walk a fine line. The hero thwarted an Axis Powers attempt to trick Centralvo into entering the war on their side, stopped a Nazi sub from secretly sabotaging the Panama Canal and – in a prescient bit – defeated a Japanese sneak attack on the American Navy. 

Lightning GirlLIGHTNING GIRL

Secret Identity: Isabel Blake

Origin: Isabel’s Naval Officer father John was brainwashed by Lash Lightning’s supervillain foe the Teacher and forced to help the Japanese forces against the U.S. When Lash Lightning was in one of the Teacher’s death traps he transferred some of his power to Isabel so she could help him.

Her father was freed from his brainwashing and died a hero. Isabel vowed to continue fighting the Axis nations to avenge her father and became Lightning Girl, Lash Lightning’s partner.

First Appearance: Lightning Comics Volume 3 #1 (June 1942). Her final Golden Age appearance came in 1946.

Powers: Lightning Girl could fly at lightning speed, shoot lightning bolts from her hands, generate lightning-heat and track Lash Lightning through their shared electrical impulses.

This superheroine could recharge herself with any electrical outlet. Continue reading →

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April 25, 2026 · 12:00 am

THE BLACK SPIDER (1940-1942): NEGLECTED GOLDEN AGE SUPERHERO

This weekend’s superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the Black Spider, a neglected Ace Periodicals character from the 40s. FOR MANY MORE ACE CHARACTERS CLICK HERE.

THE BLACK SPIDER

Secret Identity: Ralph Nelson

First Appearance: Super Mystery Comics Vol 1 #3 (Oct 1940)

Origin: District Attorney Ralph Nelson grew disgusted with seeing criminals escape justice through loopholes, so he donned a costume, called himself the Black Spider and set out to take down those malefactors who seemed untouchable by the law.

Powers: The Black Spider was in peak physical condition and exceled at unarmed combat. He was also a skilled investigator and handy with a gun. Luckily, Ralph’s lifelong hobby was the study of spiders, so he used trained tarantulas and black widows from a package on his belt against his foes.

Comment: Nelson’s secretary Peggy Dodge was aware of his dual identity and often aided him on his adventures while wearing a mask herself. I feel she should have gotten her own alias, like Arachne or something. “The Black Spider and Arachne” has a Green Hornet and Kato feel to it.  

SUPER MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #3 (Oct 1940)

Title: The Black Spider

Villains: Gangster Sol Risko and his men

Synopsis: We learn that the Black Spider has been active for some time already and is hated by the city’s organized crime chiefs. Peggy Dodge, the D.A.’s secretary, has a crush on him, not yet realizing he is her boss Ralph Nelson.

Peggy is disgusted at Ralph’s seeming lack of gumption when Sol Risko’s men manage a spectacular theft of evidence in the court case against him, jeopardizing any conviction. She dons a mask and trails Harrigan, a politician in Risko’s pocket.

Meanwhile, D.A. Nelson goes to his secret lair – a cave in the woods called the Web, where he keeps his spiders and other items. He becomes the Black Spider and trails Harrigan like Peggy is doing. Our hero arrives in time to save her from Harrigan and a Risko gunman, but she tears off his mask and learns the Black Spider is really Ralph.

She vows to keep his secret and slips away. The Black Spider takes Harrigan to the Web and gets information out of him by threatening to have his spiders bite him. Then, he recovers the stolen evidence from thugs at the Green Moon Cafe and Risko is found guilty. Continue reading →

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April 18, 2026 · 3:01 am

CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN: EARLY ADVENTURES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at DC’s team of adventurers called the Challengers of the Unknown.

SHOWCASE Vol 1 #6 (Feb 1957)

Title: The Secret of the Sorcerer’s Box

Villains: Morelian and creatures from Pandora’s Box

Synopsis: In this origin story, wrestling champion Rocky Davis, scuba diving marine biologist Professor Walter Haley, war veteran jet pilot Ace Morgan and circus daredevil Red Ryan miraculously survive a plane crash. Deciding that the odds of them surviving were so low they consider themselves living on borrowed time. They devote themselves to challenging the unknown.

After attracting publicity over some minor escapades, the Challengers of the Unknown are hired by millionaire Mr. Morelian to open Pandora’s Box and survive. Our heroes take the box to a remote desert island and open the relic.

The Challengers defeat the menaces unleashed by Pandora’s Box – a giant lizard, a miniature sun, a giant stone warrior and more. With the dangers eliminated, Morelian steals the ring he wanted from the box and flees, only to die when his escape craft crashes. Continue reading →

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April 11, 2026 · 12:34 am

THE BLACK PANTHER VS THE KU KLUX KLAN (1976)

This weekend’s superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at Marvel’s clash between their Black Panther character, the actual Ku Klux Klan and fictional Dragon’s Circle.

JUNGLE ACTION Vol 2 #19 (Jan 1976) 

Title: Blood and Sacrifices

Villains: The Ku Klux Klan and the Dragon’s Circle

Synopsis: With the 12-part Killmonger storyline Panther’s Rage and its epilogue chapter behind him, the Black Panther accompanies his romantic partner – singer Monica Lynne – back to the U.S. They go to the grave of Monica’s older sister Angela who was murdered recently.

This lands T’Challa and Monica in the middle of a mysterious war between the Ku Klux Klan hate group and a separate group of multiracial conspirators called the Dragon’s Circle. Angela’s murder was somehow linked to whatever was going on between the two groups.

Just as the Dragon’s Circle tried to kill Monica and the Panther at Angela’s grave, the KKK attacks Monica’s mother & father plus T’Challa, Monica and white anti-Klan reporter Kevin Trublood at the Lynne household that night. Our hero drives off the attacking Klansmen. Continue reading →

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April 4, 2026 · 12:19 am

SUPERHEROES OF SKYWALD PUBLISHING

mascot sword and gun pic

How much Seventies can you handle? If dialogue like “Think I’ll take the money and just groove for awhile. Man, I can dig it!” appeals to you get ready for some “relevant” “now” and “with-it” comic books! Skywald Publishing tried to make its mark with adult black & white comic books in the 1970s. Some of their horror and sci-fi titles picked up a little momentum but when it came to superheroes, Skywald made the biggest blunder imaginable. They screwed up the copyright, making their superheroes like Hell-Rider and Butterfly public domain.

Their female horror character Lady Satan partially suffered that same fate, but changes to copyright law in 1974 made it so that only her first two issues from 1973 fell into the public domain and from the third story onward she was an owned IP. Anyway, the adventures of Hell-Rider and Butterfly (the first black female superhero) stood out with their toplessness, drug use and references to sex. Otherwise they were mediocre. Here are Skywald’s two public domain superheroes. Solid! … And all that stuff.

Hell-Rider

VICTIM: Hey, stop shooting that flamethrower in my face! WOMAN: That man is the worst nuisance on the beach!

HELL-RIDER

Secret Identity: Brick Reese (“Brick?”)

First Appearance: Hell-Rider #1 (August 1971)

Origin: Brick Reese (“Brick?”) rebelled against his affluent background. After graduating from Harvard Law School he drifted around the country, experimenting with sex and drugs, eventually joining the roguish but “heroic” biker gang called the Wild Bunch (Think the Howling Commandos meet the biker gang craze of the 60s and 70s).

After 6 months of this lifestyle, Brick got drafted and sent to serve in the Vietnam War. When he had just a few weeks left in his tour of duty he was seriously wounded, with his injuries being such that they threatened to paralyze him at any moment for the rest of his life. Rather than live with that forever hanging over his head, Brick volunteered to be a human guinea pig for the experimental drug Q-47. Injections of that drug every day for a month cured Reese but, unknown to anyone but him, also granted him superpowers with which he battled the forces of evil as the superhero Hell-Rider. Continue reading →

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March 28, 2026 · 12:26 am

THE BUTCHER (1975) – EERIE’S GUN-WIELDING VIGILANTE PRIEST

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at one of Warren Publishing’s most neglected 1970s characters from Eerie magazine – the disfigured, gun-wielding vigilante priest called the Butcher.

EERIE #62 (Jan 1975)

Title: Forgive Us Our Trespasses 

Hero: The Butcher

Villains: The New Orleans Mafia 

NOTE: Along with Eerie‘s recurring characters the Spook (a big, black zombie in the 1840s American South who slaughters slave owners, evil Voodoo practitioners and their zombie armies) and Coffin (an undead and disfigured gunslinger in the late 1800s West who suffers under an Indian curse), I consider the Butcher to have tragically wasted potential.   

     Written by Bill DuBay and drawn by iconic artist Richard Corben, the Butcher combined Marvel’s the Punisher with its horror characters and paperback novel antiheroes like the Executioner and the Destroyer.

Synopsis: In June of 1932, New Orleans Mafia Don Carlo Gambino (no relation to the real-life New York Mafia boss of the same name) is on his deathbed. He has an unnamed priest brought to him to hear his last Confession. Continue reading →

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