Movie Review: The Man They Could Not Hang

Dr. Savaard in a rare good mood.

Movie Review: The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) directed by Nick Grinde Dr. Henryk Savaard (Boris Karloff) has a radical idea to improve the chance of successful surgery. Much of the risk of an operation comes from the fact that the patient is alive, their body still functioning. Make a mistake, and you kill the… Continue reading Movie Review: The Man They Could Not Hang

Comic Book Review: Superman Smashes the Klan 1

Comic Book Review: Superman Smashes the Klan 1 written by Gene Luen Yang, art by Gurihiru It’s 1946 in the city of Metropolis, and times are changing fast in this post-War world. The Lee family is moving from the isolated neighborhood of Chinatown to the heart of the city, the first Chinese family to live… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Superman Smashes the Klan 1

Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 62

Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 62 by Gosho Aoyama It’s time for yet another volume of the manga series about a teen genius detective trapped in the body of a child! We open with the conclusion of a case where Cafe Poirot’s waitress Azusa has vanished after her brother was accused of killing his boss… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 62

Book Review: The Shadow #61: The Triple Trail & Murder Genius

Book Review: The Shadow #61: The Triple Trail & Murder Genius edited by Anthony Tollin It’s time for more exciting pulp reprints of the mystery man known as the Shadow! “The Triple Trail” is by Walter B. Gibson, the original Maxwell Grant. Stanton Treblaw, collector of letters written by notable people, has been contacted by… Continue reading Book Review: The Shadow #61: The Triple Trail & Murder Genius

Movie Review: Big Trouble in Little China

Lo Pan's pet beholder.

Movie Review: Big Trouble in Little China (1986) directed by John Carpenter. Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), owner of a small restaurant in San Francisco, probably shouldn’t have stayed up all night gambling with his recently arrived trucker friend Jack Burton (Kurt Russell). After all, he’s supposed to pick up his fiancee Miao Lin from the airport… Continue reading Movie Review: Big Trouble in Little China

Book Review: New Stories for Men

Book Review: New Stories for Men edited by Charles Grayson This 1941 anthology’s title is a trifle misleading, as some of the stories were up to twenty years old at the time of publication. It turns out it’s a sequel to Stories for Men by the same editor a year or two earlier, which became… Continue reading Book Review: New Stories for Men

Comic Book Review: Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman Volumes 1&2

Comic Book Review:  Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman Volumes 1 & 2 edited by Kristy Quinn Wonder Woman is a favorite character of many comics readers, but her regular series often disappoints.  The powers that be will assign writers that are a poor fit, or a promising storyline will be derailed by needing to tie… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman Volumes 1&2

Book Review: The Mystery of the Timber Giant

Book Review: The Mystery of the Timber Giant by Fran Striker Tom Quest, teen adventurer, and his newspaper columnist friend Whiz Walton are at the San Francisco airport to see Tom’s scientist father Dr. Hamilton Quest off on a vacation to Hawaii. Once done with that, they’ll be off on their own flight to Texas.… Continue reading Book Review: The Mystery of the Timber Giant

Magazine Review: High Adventure #160: Ten Detective Aces Special

Magazine Review: High Adventure #160: Ten Detective Aces Special edited by John P. Gunnison Ten Detective Aces started publication in 1928 under the title The Dragnet Magazine and primarily featured gangster stories. Public interest in gangsters as a separate subgenre was fading, so in 1930 the magazine started featuring more general crime and detective stories under the title Detective-Dragnet Magazine, and in 1933 switched to Ten… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #160: Ten Detective Aces Special

Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales

Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz The definition of “thriller” is a little loose in this fun anthology, though most of the stories do have at least some suspense.  It feels more like the compiler picked a bunch of the public domain stories he liked, but didn’t have a strong… Continue reading Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales