Comic Book Review: Essential Defenders Vol. 6 written (mostly) by J.M. DeMatteis, Pencils by Don Perlin The Defenders are one of Marvel Comics’ more oddball teams, beginning with a line-up of Doctor Strange, Hulk, Silver Surfer and the Sub-Mariner, four of Marvel’s most powerful characters who did not belong to other teams. After a couple… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Defenders Vol. 6
Tag: retirement
Book Review: Army Wives
Book Review: Army Wives by Midge Gillies Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was requested or offered. The life of a soldier is hard and often dangerous, but the life of a soldier’s spouse has its hardships and hazards… Continue reading Book Review: Army Wives
Manga Review: Vagabond Volume 2
Manga Review: Vagabond Volume 2 by Takehiko Inoue Quick recap: In 17th Century Japan, failed soldier Shinmen Takezo has reinvented himself as wandering swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Dedicating his life to perfecting his own style of swordsmanship, he travels to Kyoto and starts a feud with the Yoshioka school of kendo. Unknown to him, his childhood… Continue reading Manga Review: Vagabond Volume 2
Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology
Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer As the subtitle of this volume indicates, it’s a collection of 29 short stories written from a feminist perspective. There are selections from the 1960s through the 2000s–SF, fantasy, horror and a couple of stories that seem to… Continue reading Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology
Book Review: Superheroes
Book Review: Superheroes edited by Rich Horton Superheroes as we know them more or less started in the comic books of the late 1930s, with the most obvious first “true” superhero being Superman. And comic books have largely shaped our perceptions of costumed superheroes ever since. But sometimes prose is a perfectly acceptable way of… Continue reading Book Review: Superheroes
Book Review: The Infinite Arena
Book Review: The Infinite Arena edited by Terry Carr Science fiction, in a way, is a very broad genre, that can easily contain stories of other genres within itself. Thus space westerns, fantastic romance, star war novels and so forth. In this case, we have a sample of sports stories set in science fiction… Continue reading Book Review: The Infinite Arena
Magazine Review: Gamma 3
Magazine Review: Gamma 3 edited by Charles E. Fritch Gamma was a short-lived science fiction magazine (five issues in 1963-64), known for high-quality cover art and snagging stories from authors connected with the film industry. (Indeed, I picked up this issue because of the sweet Morris Scott Dollens art.) It was digest-sized and relatively thin. … Continue reading Magazine Review: Gamma 3
Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 2
Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 2 edited by John Denning Quick recap: In the 1970s, Marvel Comics started doing larger magazines for newsstand distribution, most of them in black and white. One of these was The Rampaging Hulk, which originally featured adventures taking place between the Hulk’s appearances in the first year of his… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 2
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories edited by Otto Penzler I have a fondness for Sherlock Holmes, as I am sure the majority of my readers do. Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of Holmes fanfiction over the years. Pastiches that try to capture the feel of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prose, parodies… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Book Review: The Silence of the Loons
Book Review: The Silence of the Loons edited by The Minnesota Crime Wave The long-time reader may by now have realized that I have something of a weakness for anthologies. Collections of short fiction are an excellent use of limited lunch reading time. And I am also a faithful son of Minnesota. So this book… Continue reading Book Review: The Silence of the Loons