Tag Archives: superheroes

November 18, 2023 · 12:01 am

JUSTICE SOCIETY: 1978 STORIES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog resumes looking at the Justice Society’s revived series in the 1970s. 

asc 70ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #70 (February 1978)

Title: A Parting of the Ways

Justice Society Roster: Wildcat, Star-Spangled Kid and the 2nd Huntress (Helena Wayne)

Villains: Strike Force

Synopsis: With most of the Justice Society leaving the team after the events of the previous issue, only Wildcat and the Star Spangled Kid are on hand to deal with a crime wave launched in Gotham by the new villains called the Strike Force.

wildcatThose villains are helmeted criminals known by numbers instead of names and led by the mysterious Number 1. Strike Force has over a score of members, and they wield high-tech weaponry and equipment.

Wildcat and the Kid are captured when they try stopping the villains from robbing a bank.

The Huntress, daughter of Earth-Two’s Bruce Wayne and the late Selena Kyle, saves the two heroes and joins the Justice Society. Continue reading →

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November 11, 2023 · 1:01 am

NICK FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will take a Veterans Day theme with this look at some of the early stories about Marvel’s Nick Fury during his pre-eyepatch World War Two service. For some of my more serious Veterans Day posts click HERE.

sgt f 1SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS Vol 1 #1 (May 1963)

Title: Seven Against the Nazis

Roster: Captain Sam Sawyer, Sgt. Nick Fury, and Commandos Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jonathan “Junior” Juniper, Reb Ralston, Dino Manelli and Izzy Cohen. 

NOTE: A few years before Marvel Comics created S.H.I.E.L.D. their Nick Fury character led this World War Two series. The characters were the same basic walking cliches that many B-Movie actioners rehashed in war story after war story.

        Nick was the tough-talking New Yorker, Dugan was the mouthy Irishman, Juniper was the naive Ivy Leaguer, Gabe Jones was “the black guy”, Reb Ralston was the Southerner, Izzy Cohen was the sardonic Jewish guy and Dino Manelli was the ladies’ man movie star who enlisted after Pearl Harbor.

Synopsis: Our title heroes, a special missions force, were sent to France to exfiltrate a French Underground leader who possessed vital secrets.  Continue reading →

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November 4, 2023 · 12:01 am

JUSTICE SOCIETY: 1977 STORIES

With Halloween Season behind us, this weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog resumes looking at the Justice Society’s revived series in the 1970s. 

asc 64ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #64 (February 1977)

Title: Yesterday Begins Today

Justice Society Roster: Hourman, Power Girl, Wildcat, Star Spangled Kid, the original Superman, original Flash, original Green Lantern and original Hawkman

Villains: Vandal Savage and his android army

Synopsis: The original Superman postpones his retirement as the JSA is urgently summoned by former Seven Soldiers of Victory member the Shining Knight. Our heroes wind up in Camelot helping King Arthur against the Justice Society’s old enemy Vandal Savage.

That villain is leading an army of robot Roman Legions in a bid to conquer Camelot. Continue reading →

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October 21, 2023 · 1:35 am

THE SPOOK (1974-1975) – FROM ICONIC EERIE MAGAZINE

This weekend’s superhero blog post will go with the Halloween theme. The Spook was one of the recurring characters in Warren Publications’ iconic magazine Eerie.

eerie spookEERIE #57 (June 1974)

Title: Stridespider Sponge-Rot

Oh, what is the fungus that digests moist wood? 

STRIDESPIDER SPONGE-ROT!

The xylophagus fungus that eats what it should

STRIDESPIDER SPONGE-ROT!

Breaks down hemicellulose all well and good

STRIDESPIDER SPONGE-ROT!

Okay, I’ll stop right there. Had to be done, though. We were all thinking it.

vampirellaNOTE: Warren Publications are fondly remembered for their horror and sci-fi magazines like Creepy, Eerie, 1984 and Vampirella (at right). As magazines and not comic books, Warren’s output was not limited by the comics code and could therefore delve into adult themes and intense violence.

        Marvel Comics even imitated Warren for a while in the 1970s with their own magazine-sized publications with black & white interior art, like Vampire Tales, Haunt of Horror, etc.

        Which brings us back to Eerie #57, in which one of the stories introduced the magazine’s latest recurring character the Spook. Continue reading →

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October 14, 2023 · 12:01 am

THE SPECTRE: SOME HALLOWEENISH COVERS

As Halloween Month continues, this week’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at DC’s character the Spectre.

adv c 431ADVENTURE COMICS Vol 1 #431 (February 1974)

Title: The Wrath of the Spectre

Villains: Armored Car Robbers

NOTE: For people unfamiliar with the Spectre, here’s the basics. His secret identity is Police Detective Jim Corrigan who was killed in the line of duty. Through a special dispensation from Heaven, Corrigan’s soul was permitted to reanimate his corpse and resume his detective duties, but he was really an undead avenger carrying out God’s justice.

spec over plane        When situations demanding greater than human intervention arose, Jim could become the Spectre, his ghostly form in which he wielded vast powers that he used against earthly villains as well as supernatural menaces.

Synopsis: An armed gang robs an armored car loaded with money. The criminals kill four guards while carrying out the robbery, so Homicide Detective Jim Corrigan is assigned the case. Continue reading →

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October 7, 2023 · 12:15 am

MORBIUS: HIS MOST HALLOWEENISH COVERS

morbius hitting smBalladeer’s Blog’s month-long look at Halloween continues! In the past, I examined the most Halloweenish covers for Marvel horror figures like Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider, the Simon Garth Zombie, Blade the Vampire Slayer, Satana, Lilith the Daughter of Dracula, Gabriel the Exorcist, Daimon Hellstrom and others. Last October I even looked at DC’s Creature Commandos.

“It’s Morbin’ time,” to quote the most ridiculed line from the ill-fated Morbius movie that starred Jared Leto.

vt 1VAMPIRE TALES Vol 1 #1 (June 1973)

Title: Morbius

Villains: Madame Laera and Nilrac

NOTE: This science-spawned vampire was mutated by the blood of vampire bats and other chemicals he used in an attempt to cure his own rare blood disease. After his debut in Spider-Man #s 101 and 102 plus clashes with Spider-Man, the Human Torch and the X-Men in Marvel Team-Up, Michael Morbius got his first solo story in Marvel’s black & white horror publication Vampire Tales.

jared leto in morbius movieSynopsis: One night in Los Angeles, Morbius tries to find his lady love Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona in the movie), whom he was separated from shortly after his transformation into vampire form. He encounters Carolyn, a female member of the Children of Satan cult. Continue reading →

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September 30, 2023 · 12:01 am

JUSTICE SOCIETY: 1976 STORIES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog features the return of the Justice Society’s series in the 1970s.

asc 58ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #58 (February 1976)

Title: All Star Super Squad

Justice Society Roster: 1st Flash, 1st Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, Wildcat, Power Girl, Star Spangled Kid, 1st Hawkman, 1st Robin and Dr. Mid-Nite

Villain: Brain Wave

NOTE: This issue of All Star Comics resumes its numbering from #57 back in 1951, when the JSA’s 1940-1951 series ended. Since then, beginning in 1963 came the annual Justice Society/ Justice League crossover stories. The JSA regained its popularity and now had its series resume. 

power girlSynopsis: Dr. Fate, Flash, Hawkman, Robin, Wildcat, Green Lantern and Dr. Mid-Nite are joined by the Justice Society’s newest members – Power Girl, Earth-Two’s equivalent of Supergirl, and the Star Spangled Kid, former member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and now the wielder of the retired Starman’s Cosmic Rod.

After fighting eruptions of earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters around the world, the Justice Society learns from Power Girl that the villain behind it all is the JSA’s archenemy Brain Wave. Continue reading →

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September 23, 2023 · 12:09 am

MARVEL SUPERVILLAIN TEAM-UP

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at a short-lived VILLAIN series.

gssv 1GIANT-SIZE SUPERVILLAIN TEAM-UP Vol 1 #1 (March 1975)

Title: Encounter at Land’s End

NOTE: Marvel’s Giant-Size comics in the 1970s were an experiment in quarterly publications which would offer a slightly lengthier new story with the rest of each issue filled up with reprinted stories from years or decades earlier. None of these “giant-sized” series even made it to their 9th issue.

Villains: Dr. Doom, Sub-Mariner and Diablo

Synopsis: Dr. Doom’s armored body lands in the Atlantic Ocean following his most recent clash with the Fantastic Four, which ended with him seemingly being killed. Instead, he survived but was knocked unconscious and fell back to the Earth below.

Sub-Mariner, aka Namor, the monarch of Atlantis, caught sight of the falling object while piloting his Atlantean submarine which can also serve as an aircraft. Sub-Mariner rescues Doom, whose armor protected him from re-entry, and the two contemplate an alliance even though their few previous attempts ended with the pair falling-out. Continue reading →

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September 16, 2023 · 12:02 am

KAMANDI: THE LAST BOY ON EARTH – HIS EARLY ADVENTURES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero blog post will look at DC’s variation on the original Planet of the Apes. The Kamandi series was a post-apocalypse tale with animals mutated into quasi-human forms and with human intelligence.

kamandi 1KAMANDI Vol 1 #1 (November 1972)

Title: The Last Boy on Earth

Villains: Wolf-Men, Tiger-Men and Leopard-Men

Synopsis: Years after an event remembered only as The Great Disaster, a teenage male named Kamandi lives with his grandfather in the remains of a military post called Command D. (Yes, the post name inspired our hero’s name Kamandi.) 

Kamandi is rowing around flooded Manhattan and vicinity in his daily recon. When he returns to the command post he sees that anthropomorphic wolf-men have killed his grandfather.

Kamandi slays the wolf-men in turn and abandons his former home, driving off in the late wolf-men’s wagon. (Oddly, horses did not gain human form and intelligence and are still used to ride and as beasts of burden.)

kamandi and tiger menAfter some time, the young man gets caught in the middle of a large-scale battle between an army of tiger-men and an army of leopard-men, all wearing the clothing and wielding the weapons of the humans who used to rule the world.

Kamandi winds up taken prisoner by the tiger-men and their general, Great Caesar. Continue reading →

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September 9, 2023 · 12:12 am

NOVA: HIS EARLY STORIES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero blog post will look at some of the earliest stories of Marvel’s character Nova.

nova 1NOVA Vol 1 #1 (September 1976)

Title: Nova

Villain: Zorr

NOTE: This was the very first appearance of Nova and by extension, the Nova Corps of Xandar, the space force that became reasonably popular in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Synopsis: We meet Rhomann-Dey, a member of the intergalactic Nova Corps of superpowered police/ military forces from the far-off planet Xandar. In his spaceship, Rhomann-Dey pursued the villainous alien Zorr into Earth’s proximity but was mortally wounded in battle with that criminal.

Rhomann settled his Xandarian vessel into orbit around the Earth and summoned test pilot Hal Jordan to become his successor as a Green Lantern hurriedly selected an Earthling to pass his incredible Nova powers on to.

Hempstead, Long Island teenager Richard Rider is Rhomann’s selection and he transfers his uniform and powers to him as he is dying. While Richard learns to cope with his new abilities his Nova uniform makes him a target for Zorr. In the end, Zorr is destroyed and Rhomann-Dey’s ship remains in orbit. Continue reading →

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