Comic Book Review: Athena Voltaire and the Volcano Goddess by Steve Bryant Our story opens in Malaysia, as premiere pilot and adventurer Athena Voltaire and British agent Desmond Forsyth deal with a recently hatched garuda (a gargoyle-like creature.) Once that’s taken care of, Athena heads back to California for a debriefing by her secret patron, millionaire… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Athena Voltaire and the Volcano Goddess
Tag: movies
Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014
Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014 edited by Paula Guran Even the fastest, most dedicated readers can’t read everything that’s published each year. Not even in relatively limited genres like fantasy or horror. That’s where “Year’s Best” collections come in handy. Someone or several someones has gone through the enormous pile… Continue reading Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Blackhawk Volume 1
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Blackhawk Volume 1 art by Dick Dillin and Charles Cuidero In September 1939, Poland was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union. The valiant Polish people battled bravely against the two-pronged attack, but it was to no avail. One aviator was shot down, as it happens, near his family’s farm,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Blackhawk Volume 1
Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989
Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989 by Shigeru Mizuki This is the final volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s history of Japan and his personal life during the Showa Era. It mixes events that affected the entire country with stories of his struggles as a man and an artist. As noted in the introduction by… Continue reading Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989
Comic Book Review: Batman Archives Volume 1
Comic Book Review: Batman Archives Volume 1 written by Bill Finger & Gardner Fox, art by Bob Kane & Sheldon Moldoff Batman was the second full-fledged superhero published by National Periodicals, soon to be better known as DC. The kernel of the idea was proposed by artist Bob Kane, and fleshed out by writer Bill… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Batman Archives Volume 1
Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu
Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu edited by Ross E Lockhart Fantasy and horror author H.P. Lovecraft wasn’t a big seller during his lifetime, but the loose setting he created of the Cthulhu Mythos, where humans are only the most recent inhabitants of a cold and chaotic universe, and many of the previous inhabitants are… Continue reading Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4 edited by Julius Schwartz The Flash is Barry Allen, a police detective who was working during a thunderstorm one night when a bolt of lightning struck a shelf of chemicals, spilling the mixture on him. Barry quickly realized that he’d been gifted with super-speed, making… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4
Book Review: Ready Player One
Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Wade Watts is a gunter. That’s short for “Easter egg hunter,” which has nothing to do with the holiday. Born into grinding poverty as the child of refugees in the energy-starved dystopian future, Wade was orphaned at an early age and put into the hands of a neglectful… Continue reading Book Review: Ready Player One
Open Thread: Minicon 52
Open Thread: Minicon 52 I was fortunate enough to attend the 2017 iteration of this venerable science fiction convention thanks to the generosity of another member. As usual, Minicon was held over Easter weekend at the Bloomington Doubletree (known as the RadiShTree to longtimers.) This may or may not be the last year at… Continue reading Open Thread: Minicon 52
Magazine Review: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 2015
Magazine Review: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 2015 edited by William Blazek F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is considered one of America’s great writers, best known for The Great Gatsby, his 1925 novel (which didn’t really get much traction until after he died. He was a colorful figure, and his contentious relationship with his wife Zelda… Continue reading Magazine Review: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 2015