Book Review: Beau Geste

Book Review: Beau Geste by P.C. Wren Fort Zinderneuf is silent now, manned by the dead. Each of its defenders shot by Tuareg raiders and propped up on the walls to make it appear their numbers were undiminished. In the finest tradition of the French Foreign Legion, they have fought to the last man. But… Continue reading Book Review: Beau Geste

Book Review: Tombstone & Speedy, Range Detectives

Book Review: Tombstone & Speedy, Range Detectives by W.C. Tuttle W.C. Tuttle (1883-1969) was a prolific author of short stories and novels, almost entirely Westerns. One of his specialties was comedic detective Western stories, with cowpokes solving mysteries, not always with their brains. This volume collects three such stories starring the duo of Speedy Smith… Continue reading Book Review: Tombstone & Speedy, Range Detectives

Movie Review: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Movie Review: Night of the Living Dead (1968) directed by George Romero Daylight Savings Time can screw with your head. Here it is, already 8 P.M. and it’s still daylight. Even so, this old graveyard in rural Pennsylvania (about 200 miles from Pittsburgh) is plenty spooky. Johnny teases his sister Barbra about her childhood fears that… Continue reading Movie Review: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Comic Strip Review: Al Jaffee Gets His Just Desserts

Comic Strip Review: Al Jaffee Gets His Just Desserts by Al Jaffee Al Jaffee was born in 1921 and is as of this writing still alive and working! He’s perhaps best known for his “Fold-Ins” and other features for MAD but also had enough of his independent work published to fill several volumes. In this… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Al Jaffee Gets His Just Desserts

Book Review: Zorro and the Little Devil

Book Review: Zorro and the Little Devil by Peter David Don Alejandro de la Vega may not be the famed hero his son Diego (also known as Zorro) is, but when a petty robber accosts a woman in the sleepy village of Reina de Los Angeles in Spanish California, he steps up to do a… Continue reading Book Review: Zorro and the Little Devil

Book Review: Under the Andes

Book Review: Under the Andes by Rex Stout Paul Lamar has a rather high opinion of himself. It’s not entirely unwarranted. True, he inherited wealth, but he’s managed it well and increased it to the point that he can buy anything he desires and not feel a pinch. He’s highly educated, an expert gambler, and… Continue reading Book Review: Under the Andes

Manga Review: Big Order 01

Manga Review: Big Order 01 by Sakae Esuno It has been ten years since the woman called Daisy first appeared. Like a genie, she finds a person and grants them one wish. The wish then grants that person a superpower called an Order to fulfill the wish. Daisy is no automaton, and she can interpret… Continue reading Manga Review: Big Order 01

Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992)

Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992) directed by Peter Jackson Times have been tough on Skull Island since the colonialist exploiters stole the island’s biggest attraction, King Kong, back in the 1930s. And now another colonialist has come for a specimen of the Sumatran Rat Monkey, which despite the name is found only on Skull Island. Explorer Stewart… Continue reading Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992)

Book Review: A Wish Upon a Fallen Sky

Book Review: A Wish Upon a Fallen Sky by Rob Callahan Rob Callahan is a Minnesota journalist and author; this is a collection of his short fiction, some of which appeared in chapbooks that are no longer available. There are twenty-four pieces in the main section, beginning with “Episode for a New Hope”, a cautionary… Continue reading Book Review: A Wish Upon a Fallen Sky

Comic Book Review: No Hero

Comic Book Review: No Hero story by Warren Ellis, art by Juan Jose Ryp Forty-five years ago, the Levellers appeared in San Francisco, superhuman beings created by psychoactive chemicals. Led by maverick scientist Carrick Masterson, they were the world’s first superheroes. Decades later, the membership has changed, except the still-youthful Masterson, and they’re known as… Continue reading Comic Book Review: No Hero