Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 25

Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 25 by Rumiko Takahashi Quick recap:  Rinne Rokudo is a shinigami, a psychopomp who guides stray spirits to the afterlife for rebirth.  But he’s part-human, so he has to use (often expensive) tools to make up for his weak powers.  That, plus debts his deadbeat father Sabato saddled him with, and being… Continue reading Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 25

Open Thread: Scavenger Hunts

Open Thread: Scavenger Hunts This year, I participated in Beat the Backlist (2017), which had a Harry Potter theme.  As part of this, there were four scavenger hunts, three of which I completed.  Let’s take a look at them! Related posts: Manga Review: Sword Art Online: Aincrad Comic Strip Review: Dick Tracy Movie Review: Magnum… Continue reading Open Thread: Scavenger Hunts

Comic Book Review: The Building

Comic Book Review: The Building by Will Eisner This is a ghost story.   In New York City, a brand new building has risen where another one stood for eighty years.  But not all remnants of the old building’s history are gone.  Today, four people from the past appear, their tales entwined with this site. Will… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Building

Book Review: Sex with Kings

Book Review: Sex with Kings by Eleanor Herman One of the advantages of being a king is that the rules don’t apply to you the same way as they do to commoners.  For centuries in Europe, this also extended to tolerance of extramarital affairs, to the point that many kings had maitresse-en-titre, the “official mistress.”  This… Continue reading Book Review: Sex with Kings

Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944)

Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944) directed by Phil Rosen Six months ago, Thomas P. Manning, businessman and chess expert, was shot to death in his study, the door locked from the inside.  The police have been unable to solve the case.  Daughter Leah Manning (Joan Woodbury) is dismayed to discover that a new book… Continue reading Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944)

Manga Review: Fire Force Volume 01

Manga Review: Fire Force Volume 01 by Atsushi Ohkubo On an alternate Earth, the majority of Japanese people have been converted (at least on the surface) to the religion of the Sun God.  This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that the biggest threat to human life is now spontaneous… Continue reading Manga Review: Fire Force Volume 01

Book Review: Black Bird of the Gallows

Book Review: Black Bird of the Gallows  by Meg Kassel Cadence, Pennsylvania used to be a mining town.  The economy never fully recovered from the mines closing down, but the town survived.  But there are some disturbing signs.  There’s an unseasonably high number of crows for February, and an even more unseasonable number of unusually… Continue reading Book Review: Black Bird of the Gallows

Comic Book Review: Daring New Adventures of Supergirl Volume 1

Comic Book Review: Daring New Adventures of Supergirl Volume 1  written by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Carmen Infantino, inks by Bob Oksner In the late 1950s, DC Comics decided to protect its “super” trademark by creating a character named Supergirl.   (“Superwoman” had been used in individual stories as Lois Lane’s codename when she temporarily gained… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Daring New Adventures of Supergirl Volume 1

Manga Review: Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

Manga Review: Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe adapted by Stacy King When I was young, a half century or so ago, there was a line of educational comics called Classics Illustrated.  These presented classic public domain works of literature in a comic book format.  The art tended to be static and pedestrian, difficult… Continue reading Manga Review: Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

Book Review: In Winter’s Kitchen

Book Review: In Winter’s Kitchen by Beth Dooley When Beth Dooley first moved to Minneapolis from New Jersey in 1979, she was dismayed by the poor selection of fresh food in the commercial supermarket.  She’d heard that Minnesota was a farm state, yet the wilted vegetables and sallow fruit seemed to come from somewhere else… Continue reading Book Review: In Winter’s Kitchen