This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog looks at some of the long-running characters from Indonesia.
PUTRI BINTANG (Star Princess)
Secret Identity: Yati Suryanegara
Debut Year: 1954
Powers: Putri Bintang was one of the greatest martial arts fighters on Earth. She could outfight multiple opponents at once, whether armed or unarmed.
Comment: This costumed superheroine was engaged to fellow superhero Garuda Putih (White Garuda). Continue reading
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This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will take a look at the very first series starring Marvel’s alien from Zenn-La – Norrin Radd, called “the Silver Surfer” by the media. These are the Silver Surfer stories that Richard Gere talked about in the remake of Breathless (1983).
SILVER SURFER Vol 1 #1 (August 1968)
Title: The Origin of the Silver Surfer
Villain: Galactus
NOTE: After his impressive debut in the Fantastic Four story in which he turned against his master Galactus the world-devourer in order to help save the Earth, the Silver Surfer kept rising in popularity as he guest-starred in other stories. Now he got his own series.
Synopsis: The Silver Surfer saves astronaut John Jameson from the Spider-Man series when his latest space flight goes wrong. A misunderstanding causes the military to attack our hero, who simply flies away rather than risk lives.
This latest reminder that he’ll always be an outsider here on Earth, where Galactus exiled him to after the Surfer turned against him causes him to reflect on his past. Flashbacks show us his life back on his home planet Zenn-La. Continue reading
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This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will look at the world of Iberia Inc. Since the 1990s those Spanish-made superheroes and the detailed world surrounding them have made them – in my opinion – Spain’s premier home-grown comic book I.P. since 1996. Sadly, there’s been no new material since 2009.
TRUENO (Thunder)
Secret Identity: Miguel Angel Roldan
Debut Year: 1996
Origin: Miguel Roldan was a two-time winner of the Nobel Prize in physics. After a laboratory accident destroyed both his hands and part of his arms, he designed cybernetic replacements that he customized with potent superweaponry. From then on he went into action as the superhero Trueno.
Powers: Trueno’s cyborg parts possess superhuman strength and can shoot energy blasts of varying levels. They can also generate a force field around him. If he is separated from his artificial arms he is able to control them remotely.
Comment: This hero was the leader of the superhero team called Iberia Inc. (Named, of course, for the Iberian Peninsula.) The group was headquartered on Isla de la Cartuja in Seville. Continue reading
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This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the 1950s characters of Marvel Comics – then known as Atlas Comics.
LEOPARD GIRL
Secret Identity: Gwen (no last name ever given)
First Appearance: Jungle Tales Vol 1 #1 (October 1954)
Origin: Gwen supernaturally bonded with a pack of jungle leopards as a little girl.
Powers: Leopard Girl employed her supernatural “cry of the leopards” to use a small army of leopards to help her fight the forces of evil in Africa. She could interact with the Dark Continent’s ghosts, who saw her as an ally.
This heroine also had greater than human strength, agility and speed. Her senses were heightened as were her healing abilities.
Comment: In her secret identity as “Gwen”, Leopard Girl worked with research scientist Dr. Hans Kreitzer. Her fellow assistant was named Peter, whom she once carried with one arm while swinging through the jungle.
In time, Gwen became a cook for Sandra Danning and her husband. Continue reading
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This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will examine the first eight issues of Iron Fist’s adventures in 1974 and 1975.
MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 15 (May 1974)
Title: The Fury of Iron Fist
Villain: Shu Hu the One
Comment: In the 1970s “Everybody was Kung Fu fight-iiiiing” and Marvel Comics jumped onto the bandwagon with a series of martial arts characters. By this point in 1974 the company had already introduced Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu, the female Avenger called Mantis and the Sons of the Tiger. Now would come Iron Fist, real name Daniel Rand, later modified to Daniel Rand-Kai.
Synopsis: The origin story of Iron Fist is told through flashbacks this issue and the next. This story starts with action and THEN delves into the superhero’s origin, a formula I think works best, but I’m not a comic book expert. In the Himalayan Mountains, in the mystical city called K’un-Lun, Iron Fist is battling four opponents under the watchful eyes of K’un-Lun’s ruler Yu-Ti the August Personage of Jade and his subordinate Dragon Kings.
NOTE: This K’un-Lun is not THE K’un-Lun from Chinese mythology but it uses the same name and many of the inhabitants go by names corresponding to Chinese gods. Yu-Ti is one of them, Lei Kung the Thunderer is another. This K’un-Lun is an enchanted city that appears on Earth only once every ten years before returning to its pocket dimension home for another ten.
Back to the story – Iron Fist defeats his four opponents and, having survived this Challenge of the Many, now asks Yu-Ti for permission to face the Challenge of the One (Shu Hu). Yu-Ti wants Iron Fist to be sure that is what he desires, so he tells him to contemplate the path that has led him to this Day of Days. Continue reading
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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
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This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the 1960s and 1970s Flash stories in which several of his recurring villains would team up against him.
FLASH Vol 1 #155 (September 1965)
Title: The Gauntlet of Supervillains
Villain Roster: Captain Cold, the Top, Mirror Master, Heat Wave, Pied Piper, Captain Boomerang and Gorilla Grodd
Synopsis: Gorilla Grodd (the mysterious villain referred to on the cover) engineers prison breakouts for the six other Flash foes mentioned above. Grodd uses the other villains to wear down the Flash and erode his powers, hoping to then kill the hero himself.
NOTE: The semi-annual team up of Flash villains soon becomes referred to as his Rogues Gallery Convention and/ or “Convention of Flash Villains.” For a time the event was almost as frequent as the annual Justice Society/ Justice League get-togethers. Continue reading
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This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog looks at Marvel’s January 1967 publications, excluding reprints.
FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #58 (January 1967)
Title: The Dismal Dregs of Defeat
Villain: Dr. Doom
Synopsis: Picking up from the previous issue’s cliffhanger ending, the Fantastic Four’s archenemy Dr. Doom, monarch of Latveria, has succeeded in stealing the Power Cosmic from the Silver Surfer. With the drained and helpless former Herald of Galactus lying on the floor, Dr. Doom summons his “surfboard” and flies off on it.
Doom reaches New York, where he publicly defeats the Fantastic Four with ease. He taunts them about having stolen the Silver Surfer’s incredible power and – in Supervillain Cliche Number 18 – refrains from killing them right now because he wants them to witness his conquest of the Earth and know he’s now too powerful to stop. Continue reading
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This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will take a look at British-made comic books from the 1940s in the same spirit as my examination of Canadian-made superheroes from the 1940s.
WONDERMAN
Secret Identity: John Justice
Debut Year: 1948
Origin: A lifelong wealthy playboy, John Justice enlisted in the army during World War Two and rose to the rank of captain. A few years after the war ended, his scientist father’s atomic experiments granted him superpowers with which John fought the forces of evil as Wonderman.
Powers: Wonderman possessed massive super-strength and invulnerability, could fly, had x-ray vision and super-hearing as well as limited telepathy.
Comment: During his superhero career, which lasted into 1951, Wonderman continued to pretend to be merely a good-timing playboy in his John Justice identity. Nobody recognized him as Wonderman despite his lack of a mask and not even his girlfriend Jan Barrie knew about his double-life.
ACROMAID
Secret Identity: Christine McCall, Surgical Nurse
Debut Year: 1947
Origin: After fighting off a criminal who invaded the operating room to try killing the patient, Christine McCall wanted more action. She adopted the costumed identity of Acromaid and fought crime.
Powers: Acromaid was in peak physical condition and excelled at unarmed combat. She was as agile as an acrobat and was also very skilled at knife-throwing. In addition, Acromaid carried vials of truth serum with her so she could inject it into criminals she was interrogating.
Comment: This superheroine was another crimefighter who wore no mask yet maintained a secret identity with no problem. Her roommate and fellow nurse was named Penny. Continue reading
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This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will examine Marvel Comics’ publications for January of 1968, excluding reprints.
TALES OF SUSPENSE Vol 1 #97 (January 1968)
NOTE: At this time Tales of Suspense featured two series – one for Iron Man and one for Captain America. Beginning with issue #100, Tales of Suspense would be retitled Captain America while Iron Man was moved over to his own new title beginning its issue count at #1.
Title (Iron Man): The Coming of Whiplash
Villain: Whiplash
Synopsis: Picking up from the previous issue’s cliffhanger, Iron Man lies helplessly on the pavement at Stark Industries’ Long Island headquarters after exhausting himself while defeating Thor’s old supervillain foe the Grey Gargoyle.
Jasper Sitwell, S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to Stark Industries, tries to revive the fallen hero while a crowd gathers. Iron Man (believed back then to simply be “Tony Stark’s high-tech bodyguard”) has a sleazy cousin named Morgan Stark. Morgan ran up a huge gambling debt with the Maggia (Marvel Comics’ version of the Mafia) and, to save himself from harm at the hands of their thugs, betrays Iron Man into their clutches by transporting the nearly motionless hero to where he told Sitwell that Tony Stark was waiting to repair the armor. Continue reading
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