Manga Review: Case Closed Vols. 80-82

Manga Review: Case Closed Vols. 80-82 by Gosho Aoyama It’s time once again to catch up on the adventures of Conan Edogawa, boy detective, who is secretly Shinichi Kudou (Jimmy Kudo in the dub), teen detective who was shrunk by an experimental poison. See my many prior reviews of this series, titled Meitantei Conan (“Detective… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed Vols. 80-82

Book Review: The Invaders: Alien Missile Threat

Book Review: The Invaders: Alien Missile Threat by Paul S. Newman The Invaders was a Quinn Martin production that ran on American television from 1967-1968. Architect David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) discovers that aliens from a dying planet are infiltrating Earth (particularly America) in human disguises for the purpose of making our planet their planet. Since… Continue reading Book Review: The Invaders: Alien Missile Threat

Movie Review: Jailhouse Rock

Vince sees Hunk's guitar for the first time.

Movie Review: Jailhouse Rock (1957) directed by Richard Thorpe Vince Everett (Elvis Presley) is a nice enough young man, even if he maybe spends too much time in bars. But once he loses his temper, he doesn’t know when to stop. When another patron at the bar starts abusing a woman who was hitting on Vince,… Continue reading Movie Review: Jailhouse Rock

Book Review: The Unsleeping Eye

Book Review: The Unsleeping Eye by D.G. Compton (also published as “The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe” and “Death Watch”) It is the near future year of 2006, and things have changed in Britain. Marriages are now licensed for five years, after which either party can refuse to renew. Most fatal diseases have been eradicated, which means… Continue reading Book Review: The Unsleeping Eye

Open Thread: Top Ten Lists for 2022!

Cover photo by Jim Giles of Loch Voil.

Open Thread: Top Ten Lists for 2022! Yes, it’s that time again, winding up a year of blog posts by listing the ones you, the audience, felt worthy of attention. Top 10 Posts of 2022 Book Review: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round TableAnime Review: Baki (2018)Manga Review: Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Volume 1Movie Review:… Continue reading Open Thread: Top Ten Lists for 2022!

Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III

Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III by Richard Lamparski The vast majority of my readers will have at some point encountered one of those clickbait articles titled something like “8 CW stars of the 1990s, what they’re doing now, #3 will shock you.” Nostalgia is a powerful force, and most humans have at least… Continue reading Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III

Comic Strip Review: Devil’s Candy Volume 1

Comic Strip Review: Devil’s Candy Volume 1 Art by Rem, Story by Bikkuri When Kazu Decker creates a ninth-grade science project for his biology class, he fully commits. With the aid of his best buddy Nemo (who’s more of a technology buff), Kazu puts together an artificial lifeform he names Pandora. She may look like… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Devil’s Candy Volume 1

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

Manga Review: Wild 7 Vols. 1-4

Manga Review: Wild 7 Vols. 1-4 by Mikiya Mochizuki In the late 1960s, Japan was faced with a rising crime wave. Student radicals, terrorists, gangsters, corrupt politicians; it seemed all too much for the ordinary police to handle. Police Supervisor Katsu Kusanami, a brilliant rising star from a top university, had an idea. What if… Continue reading Manga Review: Wild 7 Vols. 1-4

Book Review: Great British Fictional Villains

Book Review: Great British Fictional Villains by Russell James For a wide swath of fiction, a well-written villain is essential.  They provide the impetus for the hero to act, scatter obstacles in their way, and act as a dark mirror to the hero’s personality.  In many cases, the villain of a story turns out to be… Continue reading Book Review: Great British Fictional Villains