THE BALLOON-HOAX, A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS(1844)

Once again Poe tries his hand at using his ratiocinative talents to put across a hoax. But whereas "Hans Pfall" at least a few amusing moments, "Balloon-Hoax" is utterly mundane, "fantastic" only in terms that Poe couldn't know exactly what elements would be needed for a balloon-ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Forgettable in almost every way.

A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS, however, is definitely underrated "Marvelous Poe." An unnamed narrator describes his friendship with a fellow named Augustus Bedloe, whose entire body had become rather elongated due to his suffering from neuralgia. Bedloe has been treated for years by a private doctor, Templeton, who is a follower of the doctrines of Mesmer, though mesmerism seems to play no role in the story.

Bedloe disappears from Charlottesville, the city in which he and the narrator reside. When Bedloe shows up at last, he tells a story of having got lost in the neighboring mountain range, the Ragged Mountains. Bedloe tells his friend and his doctor that before going for a walk in the mountains, he had a breakfast of coffee and pain-killing morphine. He then stumbled across a city and took part in an armed conflict before finding himself alone again. Templeton believes that Bedloe experienced a flashback to an earlier life, when a man named Oldeb, an acquaintance of the doctor, died during a riot in Benares, India.  A little later, Bedloe perishes in a manner loosely similar to the fate of Oldeb, whose name is almost exactly the same.

There are strong parallels between this story and E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman," published in 1816.

SUPERHEROES ARE DAMN-NEAR EVERYWHERE #182

Primary RICHARD CARLSON (not shown, but a veteran of a half-dozen important SF films), narrated THE GOLDEN BLADE.

_________

Primary VERONICA CARLSON has one (uncredited) role in CASINO ROYALE.

___________

Primary HOPE MARIE CARLTON acted in a minor role in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST 4.

________

Primary ROGER. C. CARMEL played "Colonel Gumm" in BATMAN and "Harry Mudd" in two STAR TREK episodes, "I, Mudd" and "Mudd's Women," voiced characters in TRANSFORMERS, the 1986 JONNY QUEST, and the animated STAR TREK, and acted in THE SILENCERS and episodes of THE INVISIBLE MAN and THE MAN FROM UNCLE.

____________

Peripheral JEANNE CARMEN acted in THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS with--

Primary LES TREMAYNE (not shown) from KING KONG VS. GODZILLA.

______________

Primary JULIE CARMEN acted in episodes of AIRWOLF and the 1980s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

__________

Peripheral HOAGY CARMICHAEL acted in TOPPER with--

Primary DOODLES WEAVER from THE MAN FROM UNCLE.

 

RAR #33: RED HAWK

Red Hawk is a forgettable character who organizes his fellow tribesmen, "the Navarros," to protest against their land being co-opted by a greedy entrepreneur. Superman tries to help the tribe without overtly breaking the law. When Red Hawk grows impatient, he uses his knowledge of modern technology to create a red-sun device that saps away the superhero's powers, the better to use him as a bargaining chip.

It's a pretty simple "relevance" story by Leo Dorfman, memorable mainly for a couple of nice covers in ACTION #401-402.

RAR #32: THE WAQUO IDOL

Here's a story of "evil Indians" that almost makes Jack Cole's "Great Warrior" tale from PLASTIC MAN look classy: a rebellious tribe called "the Waquos" (Yaquis, maybe?) wants to expel the whites from their land. To this end they revive a big clay idol called "Yaho" (as in "Yahoo," I guess), which causes some limited havoc until the Black Condor sets things right.

Not only do the storytellers basically steal the idea of the clay idol from the Jewish idea of the Golem, the Waquos are given the noses of cartoon dogs for some reason. Maybe the artist, identified as one Charles Sultan, was just in an antic mood at the time, but the overall effect is pretty repulsive. From CRACK COMICS #7 (1940).

SUPERHEROES ARE DAMN-NEAR EVERYWHERE #181

Primary GEORGE CARLIN voiced "Zugor" in TARZAN 2.

_________

Primary LYNN CARLIN acted in BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS and in episodes of THE BIONIC WOMAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

________

Peripheral MARY CARLISLE acted in DEAD MEN WALK with--

Primary GEORGE ZUCCO from TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS.

_____

Primary KAREN CARLSON acted in THE OCTAGON and in episodes of BUCK ROGERS. THE MAN FROM UNCLE, and THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

SUPERHEROES ARE DAMN-NEAR EVERYWHERE #180

Primary MACDONALD CAREY acted in episodes of THE MAGICIAN and BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY.

_____________

Primary MICHELE CAREY acted in a SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN TV movie and in episodes of THE WILD WILD WEST (2 roles), MAN FROM UNCLE, MAN FROM ATLANTIS, and A MAN CALLED SLOANE (contributing "the voice of Effie.")

_________

Peripheral OLIVE CAREY (not shown) acted in BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA with--

Primary JOHN CARRADINE for his role in the WONDER WOMAN episode "Gault's Brain."

_________

Primary ROLAND CAREY played "Jason" in THE GIANTS OF THESSALY.

_______

Primary TIMOTHY CAREY acted in episodes of AIRWOLF, KUNG FU, MAN FROM UNCLE, and THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO.

_________

Primary GIA CARIDES  acted in the second AUSTIN POWERS film and an episode of THE LIBRARIANS, and played a regular on ULTRAMAN: TOWARD THE FUTURE.

SUPERHEROES ARE DAMN-NEAR EVERYWHERE #179

Peripheral CLAUDIA CARDINALE acted in the 1977 JESUS OF NAZARETH with--

Primary LAURENCE OLIVIER from the 1980s CLASH OF THE TITANS.

____________

Primary HARRY CAREY SR acted in THE NIGHT RIDER.

___________

Primary HARRY CAREY JR. acted in CHERRY 2000 and in shows like KNIGHT RIDER, THE LONE RANGER, and THE BIONIC WOMAN.

SUPERHEROES ARE DAMN-NEAR EVERYWHERE #178

Primary KATE CAPSHAW acted in DREAMSCAPE and INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.

________

Primary CAPUCINE acted in ARABIAN ADVENTURE.

_________

Primary ANTONY CARBONE, best known for CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA, is not shown for his episode of MAN FROM UNCLE.

_______


Primary NESTOR CARBONELL acted in the movie DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and the serials THE TICK and LOST, as well as voicing characters in JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, AMERICAN DRAGON, and KIM POSSIBLE.

___________

Primary LINDA CARDELLINI is most famous for her "Velma Dinkley" in the two live-action SCOOBY DOO movies,  and also acted in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.

SUPERHEROES ARE DAMN-NEAR EVERYWHERE #177

Peripheral EDDIE CANTOR acted in ALI BABA GOES TO TOWN with--

Primary JOHN CARRADINE for his appearance in THE GREEN HORNET TV-show.

__________

Primary YAKIMA CANUTT (going only by his credits as an actor, not as stuntman) appeared in PERILS OF NYOKA, SPY SMASHER, MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR SATAN, and assorted other serials, usually in very minor roles.

_________

Peripheral TRUMAN CAPOTE acted in MURDER BY DEATH with--

Primary DAVID NIVEN from CASINO ROYALE.

____

Primary AHNA CAPRI acted in ENTER THE DRAGON.

RAR #32: THE BIRD MAN

Making four appearances in WEIRD COMICS #1-4 (1940), the Bird Man may be the first Native American superhero, preceding even the Bronze Terror. The only thing that makes him problematic, apart from the fact that his depiction varies between white and red skin, is that he has no origin as such.

Still, since the first story states that the Bird Man is "a descendent [sic] of an ancient Indian god," he fits my definition of a Real American, since even if he were white, he would still be steeped in Native American culture. His wings seem to be a real part of his body, and he patrols the deserts of the American West. His only weapons are a knife and a bow-and-arrow.