Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2

Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2 by Various Creators 2023 would have been Osamu Tezuka’s 95th birthday year, and in commemoration of the great manga and anime creator, this series was commissioned to show other artists’ take on his famous (and not so famous) works. For reasons, most of these were French and Spanish… Continue reading Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2

Comic Book Review: Best of DC #8: Year’s Best Comics Stories

Can you name all the characters on this cover?

Comic Book Review: Best of DC #8: Year’s Best Comics Stories edited by Julius Schwartz If you were going to have a digest comic called “Best of DC” it only made sense to present a collection of what the creators considered best stories for a given year, in this case, 1979. As the text feature… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Best of DC #8: Year’s Best Comics Stories

Book Review: Stories from Everywhere

Book Review: Stories from Everywhere by various authors One of the joys of picking up random old books from Little Free Libraries, garage sales and discard bins is discovering rare volumes that have strayed far from their starting point.  In this case, it’s a Developmental Reader from the California school system printed in 1954.  A… Continue reading Book Review: Stories from Everywhere

Comic Book Review: Zita the Spacegirl

Comic Book Review: Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke Zita and her friend Joseph are engaging in horseplay in the meadow when then stumble across what appears to be a meteorite crater.  Within the crater they find a curious device with a big red button.  Zita pushes the button, and Joseph disappears.  When Zita gets… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Zita the Spacegirl

Book Review: The Best of Planet Stories #1

Book Review: The Best of Planet Stories #1 edited by Leigh Brackett Planet Stories was a pulp science fiction magazine that ran from 1939-1955.  Its specialty was “space opera”, exciting tales of adventure set in the future and on other worlds, full of square-jawed heroes, scantily clad damsels and bug-eyed monsters.  Not always the most… Continue reading Book Review: The Best of Planet Stories #1

Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences

Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences by Pere Romanillos “Serendipity” is the good fortune that comes when you discover something useful or interesting while you were looking for something else.  Knowing how to grasp the opportunity offered by serendipity is one of those skills that every scientist and artist should have at their disposal.  This book, originally… Continue reading Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences

Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition

Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition edited by Judith Merrill This 1960 book features a selection of speculative fiction short stories published during the 1958-60 time period.  Editor Judith Merrill provides an introduction about the concept of wonder, chatty introductions to each story (she doesn’t think much of Kingsley Amis as a… Continue reading Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition

Book Review: Headstrong

Book Review: Headstrong by Rachel Swaby This is a collection of short biographical sketches of women who made advancements in various scientific fields.  According to the introduction, it was inspired when the New York Times ran an obituary of Yvonne Brill that listed her home cooking as her most important accomplishment, followed by being a wife… Continue reading Book Review: Headstrong

Manga Review: The Twin Knights

Manga Review: The Twin Knights by Osamu Tezuka This is a sequel to the classic Osamu Tezuka work Princess Knight (“Ribon no Kishi” or “The Ribbon Knight” in Japanese), about Sapphire, a princess raised as a boy due to strange circumstances.  Queen Sapphire is now married and gives birth to twins, Prince Daisy and Princess Violetta.… Continue reading Manga Review: The Twin Knights