Magazine Review: The Spider #85: The Council of Evil

Magazine Review: The Spider #85: The Council of Evil by Norvell Page While Richard Wentworth, the Spider, is well known for having a policy of “shoot first, take no prisoners” towards criminals, he doesn’t always kill. If a crook is knocked out or otherwise incapacitated, the Spider will merely brand their forehead with a spider… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Spider #85: The Council of Evil

Movie Review: Ma Barker’s Killer Brood

The Barker family, solid church-going citizens.

Movie Review: Ma Barker’s Killer Brood (1960) directed by Bill Karn Kate “Ma” Barker (Lurene Tuttle) was born into a hardscrabble family as the tenth child and suffered many privations growing up. She stepped up a bit by marrying the first young man to take notice of her, George Barker (Nelson Leigh) but by the time… Continue reading Movie Review: Ma Barker’s Killer Brood

Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942

Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942 The Black Hood was one of the superheroes created for the MLJ (later Archie) Comics line, first appearing in Top-Notch Comics #9 in 1940. Matthew Kipling “Kip” Burland was originally a rookie cop who was framed for grand larceny and injured to near death by a criminal known as… Continue reading Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942

Book Review: Deck the Pulps

Book Review: Deck the Pulps published by Brick Pickle Media Pulp magazines, like most forms of media, liked to celebrate holidays. Such as, you know, Christmas. But being the pulps, they leavened the usual sentimentality of the season with more of their usual action and excitement. This set of nine tales covers a variety of… Continue reading Book Review: Deck the Pulps

Comic Book Review: Golden Age Marvel Comics 2

Comic Book Review: Golden Age Marvel Comics 2 by Various This volume reprints the contents of Marvel Mystery Comics #5-8 from 1940. The introduction by Roy Thomas points up the contrast with the publisher’s other anthology title of the time, Daring Mystery Comics. This one had star characters like the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Golden Age Marvel Comics 2

Book Review: Flash Evans Camera News Hawk

Book Review: Flash Evans Camera News Hawk by Frank Bell Seventeen-year-old Jimmy “Flash” Evans is an ace photographer for the Brandale Ledger, his home town’s only daily newspaper. His new steady income has been a blessing to his family since his father died during the Depression. In fact, the Ledger’s management has been so impressed… Continue reading Book Review: Flash Evans Camera News Hawk

Book Review: The Pocket Book of Adventure Stories

Book Review: The Pocket Book of Adventure Stories edited by Philip Van Doren Stern In his introduction, the editor talks about the thrill of adventure stories, how often they are churned out as cheap entertainment, and that he has selected twelve really good ones for the reader. This 1945 book was designed to be easily… Continue reading Book Review: The Pocket Book of Adventure Stories

Book Review: The Circular Staircase

Book Review: The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart Miss Rachel Innes is a woman of independent means who raised her brother’s children Halsey and Gertrude after he and his wife passed away. They’re now in their early twenties, and have at long last persuaded their maiden aunt to rent a summer house out in… Continue reading Book Review: The Circular Staircase

Movie Review: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Sundance and Butch discuss the outcome of their latest escapade.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) dir. George Roy Hill Parts of this story are true. There actually were outlaws named Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) who belonged to the Wild Bunch. They did indeed rob banks and trains. They did indeed move to Bolivia when things got hot for… Continue reading Movie Review: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Book Review: Case File: FBI

Book Review: Case File: FBI by Mildred & Gordon Gordon, as “The Gordons” When FBI agent Zack Stewart is murdered, it’s a sure bet that it’s connected to one of the cases he was working. So it’s up to his old partner John “Rip” Ripley to take over the cases and figure out which one… Continue reading Book Review: Case File: FBI