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
Tag: publishers
Movie Review: Spider-Man (2002)
Movie Review: Spider-Man (2002) directed by Sam Raimi When perpetual loser teenager Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by a genetically modified spider during a school trip, he gains amazing spider-like powers. At first, his plan is to use these gifts for profit and to impress the girl he loves, Mary Jane “M.J.” Watson (Kirsten… Continue reading Movie Review: Spider-Man (2002)
Book Review: Enter the Jackal
Book Review: Enter the Jackal by Jonathan W. Sweet As you may have noticed by now, I’m a fan of the pulps. But I’m certainly not the most enthusiastic one, or most knowledgeable. Some folks have made the pulp magazines their main focus. Jonathan W. Sweet runs a reprint press, Brick Pickle Pulp, and does… Continue reading Book Review: Enter the Jackal
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
Movie Review: The Green Hornet Strikes Again
Movie Review: The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940) directed by Ford Beebe A little background first. The Green Hornet was created for radio in 1936 by Fran Striker, who had also created the Lone Ranger. In the backstory, Dan Reid, nephew of the Lone Ranger, eventually grew up to become a newspaper publisher in an unnamed… Continue reading Movie Review: The Green Hornet Strikes Again
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021 edited by Janet Hutchings “The years keep coming and they just keep coming.” It seems like just a few months ago I reviewed a 75th anniversary issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, but in fact it was five years ago, and here’s the 80th anniversary issue. It’s… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021
Magazine Review: Science Fiction Adventures May 1954
Magazine Review: Science Fiction Adventures May 1954 edited by Harry Harrison This is the final issue of the magazine, one of the Lester del Rey-edited issues of which I reviewed earlier. We open the issue with “The Science in Science Fiction”, an editorial by Harry Harrison. He’s thrilled about the expansion of types of science… Continue reading Magazine Review: Science Fiction Adventures May 1954
Book Review: Lovecraft Country
Book Review: Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff Atticus Turner knows about dangerous people. They’re everywhere, though some locations have more concentration of danger than others. If you go traveling, you have to bring a special map to show the safest places to eat and sleep. Of course, between those places the dangerous people could ambush… Continue reading Book Review: Lovecraft Country
Comic Book Review: Comic Book History of Comics: Birth of a Medium
Comic Book Review: Comic Book History of Comics: Birth of a Medium written by Fred van Lente, art by Ryan Dunlavey As a long-time comic book fan, I’ve been reading books and articles about the history of comic books since the early 1970s. It was inevitable that at some point there would be a comic… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Comic Book History of Comics: Birth of a Medium