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.

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

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

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

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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.

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

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

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

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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).

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Primary GEORGE CARLIN voiced "Zugor" in TARZAN 2.

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

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Peripheral MARY CARLISLE acted in DEAD MEN WALK with--

Primary GEORGE ZUCCO from TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS.

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

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

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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.")

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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."

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

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

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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.

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

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

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Primary HARRY CAREY SR acted in THE NIGHT RIDER.

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