Tag Archives: superheroes

February 24, 2024 · 12:04 am

MARVEL’S 1950s CHARACTERS

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 girlLEOPARD 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.

leopard girl 2Powers: 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.

leopard girl 3Comment: 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 →

12 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , , ,

February 17, 2024 · 12:03 am

IRON FIST: HIS FIRST EIGHT ISSUES

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. 

marv prem 15MARVEL 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.  

iron fist picNOTE: 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 →

8 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , , ,

February 10, 2024 · 1:09 am

AUSTRALIA’S GOLDEN AGE SUPERHEROES

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.

aust captain atomCAPTAIN 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 girlATOM-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.

atom girl australianPowers: 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 →

39 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , , ,

February 3, 2024 · 12:01 am

FLASH VS HIS ROGUES GALLERY

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.

fl 155FLASH 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 →

10 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , ,

January 27, 2024 · 12:01 am

MARVEL’S JANUARY 1967 ISSUES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog looks at Marvel’s January 1967 publications, excluding reprints.

ff 58FANTASTIC 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 →

8 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , ,

January 20, 2024 · 12:02 am

BRITISH SUPERHEROES FROM THE 1940s

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 from englandWONDERMAN

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.

acromaidACROMAID

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.

acromaid 2Powers: 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 →

7 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , , ,

January 13, 2024 · 12:05 am

MARVEL ISSUES: JANUARY 1968

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 s 97TALES 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. 

whiplashJasper 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 →

14 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , ,

December 30, 2023 · 1:44 am

MANHUNTER II (1973-1974)

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero blog post here at Balladeer’s Blog will examine the milestone Bronze Age attempt to revive DC’s Golden Age hero Manhunter.

manhunter 1DETECTIVE COMICS Vol 1 #437 (November 1973) Later reprinted multiple times in Trade Paperback collections of the entire new Manhunter saga.

Title: The Himalayan Incident

Villains: The Council 

Synopsis: Interpol Agent Christine St. Clair is assigned to locate the former Big Game Hunter Paul Kirk, who, decades earlier, had secretly become the costumed crimefighter called Manhunter. A new Manhunter has been reported around the world and Christine’s superior at Interpol wants the figure found due to his involvement with multiple assassinations.

mh pic anotherChristine travels to Nepal to investigate this new Manhunter’s recent actions which saved the life of a wealthy philanthropist. Via flashbacks from her informant, she learns that the new Manhunter has been battling an organization which made several clones of Paul Kirk and has been using them to carry out the assassinations that Manhunter is blamed for because the clones wear blue costumes like his red one.

The lone “good” Manhunter clone is the one thwarting the evil clones whenever he can. Recently in Nepal, the good Manhunter saved the above-mentioned philanthropist in the tale told in flashback this issue.   Continue reading →

16 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

December 23, 2023 · 12:01 am

DAREDEVIL AND THE BLACK WIDOW: EARLY STORIES

dd and bw kissingThis weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at some of the early stories during the time when Daredevil and the Black Widow were a team, like Captain America and the Falcon or Power Man and Iron Fist.

dd bw 92DAREDEVIL & THE BLACK WIDOW Vol 1 #92 (October 1972)

Title: On the Eve of the Talon

Villains: Blue Talon and Damon Dran 

NOTE: The Black Widow had been a guest star in the past several issues of this series, but the title was not changed to Daredevil and the Black Widow until this issue.

Synopsis: Unscrupulous San Francisco tycoon Damon Dran has a troop of his henchmen capture Black Widow and bring her to him. Dran wants to know what Natasha did with a very high-tech item that she recovered recently from the Top-Secret experiment called Project Four. 

Meanwhile, Dran sends his martial arts mercenary Blue Talon to kill Daredevil. Blue Talon is unaware that Daredevil has had his old friend the Black Panther come to San Francisco to disguise himself as Daredevil, complete with white-skin makeup. Continue reading →

27 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , , ,

December 16, 2023 · 12:02 am

DC SUPERHEROES FROM FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the best new superheroes from DC’s First Issue Special, in which they introduced new characters to see if they drew enough fan response to get their own series.

dc1 12FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL Vol 1 #12 (March 1976)

Title: Starman

Synopsis: A blue-skinned alien from the warlike Tradlavian race, Mikaal Tomas, was sent to Earth to start laying the groundwork for his planet’s invasion of our world. His female mate Lyssa was slain by his own people when she showed compassion for previous planets conquered by the Tradlavians and tried to warn Earth. 

Disillusioned with his own race following that, Starman battled and defeated the first wave of the Tradlavian invasion and prepared to defend Earth from the impending additional attempts. The energy crystal he wore granted him superpowers like flight, the ability to shoot energy blasts from his hands, a degree of superstrength and rapid healing. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

Tagged as , , , , , ,