Book Review: Way of a Buccaneer by Davenport Steward It is 1663, and young Wayne Thorp, late of Cambridge University, is assisting his father Captain Thomas Thorpe in a smuggling voyage to Spanish-controlled Panama. Unfortunately, their trading partner, Irish-Spanish minor government official Don Timóteo O’Bannion y Salazar, has decided he can make even more money… Continue reading Book Review: Way of a Buccaneer
Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #498
Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #498 edited by Carl Gafford & Nicola Cuti I just keep having these pop up out of my boxes o’ stuff! “Plastic Man” written by Len Wein, art by Joe Staton & Bob Smith, is the first in a revival series. At the National Bureau of Investigation, shadowy figures in… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #498
Movie Review: Batman vs. Two-Face
Movie Review: Batman vs. Two-Face (2017) directed by Rick Morales It is night at Gotham Penitentiary, and a small group of people have gathered to witness a bizarre experiment. Doctor Hugo Strange wants to use his new Evil Extractor to remove the criminal impulses from Gotham City’s super-criminals in order to make them not evil anymore.… Continue reading Movie Review: Batman vs. Two-Face
Book Review: Science Fiction Adventures in Mutation
Book Review: Science Fiction Adventures in Mutation edited by Groff Conklin Mutation and the mutants resulting from it have long been a popular subject of science fiction stories, but really took off as a topic after World War II and the atomic bomb made exposure to radiation much more a public fear. This collection was… Continue reading Book Review: Science Fiction Adventures in Mutation
Movie Review: 984: Prisoner of the Future
Movie Review: 984: Prisoner of the Future (1982) directed by Tibor Takacs It is the indefinite near future, and 984 is a prisoner…somewhere. Previously, he’d been Tom Weston (Stephen Markle), a slightly smarmy corporate executive. It’s not clear what his corporation did, as the flashbacks are maddeningly vague, but they were somehow either involved with or… Continue reading Movie Review: 984: Prisoner of the Future
Magazine Review: Golden Fleece June 1939
Magazine Review: Golden Fleece June 1939 edited by A.J. Gontier, Jr. & C.G. Williams Golden Fleece Historical Adventure was a short-lived pulp magazine that ran for nine issues in 1938-1939, with this being the final issue (not identified as such in the issue itself.) As the subtitle mentions, it specialized in historical adventure fiction and… Continue reading Magazine Review: Golden Fleece June 1939
Book Review: Worst Hero Ever
Book Review: Worst Hero Ever by Archer Thorn Disclaimer: I received a download of this book through the Booksirens program for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested. Jim Riven used to be a minor superhero along with his sister Summer. She was Lock, with computer powers, while he… Continue reading Book Review: Worst Hero Ever
Book Review: The Best of Shrdlu
Book Review: The Best of Shrdlu by Denys Parsons Denys Parsons put out a series of books reprinting not just fun typographical errors (which he attributed to the mischief of Gobfrey Shrdlu, a mysterious goblin-like creature) but also what might be called “news of the odd”, alternating pages between “Funny Ha-Ha” and “Funny Peculiar.” This… Continue reading Book Review: The Best of Shrdlu
Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #36: Superman vs. Kryptonite
Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #36: Superman vs. Kryptonite edited by Nicola Cuti Kryptonite is Superman’s most famous weakness, the shattered, radioactive fragments of his homeworld Krypton. The prototype version, “K-metal” was created by Jerry Siegel for a 1940 story that would have revealed Superman’s secret identity as Clark Kent to Lois Lane,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #36: Superman vs. Kryptonite
Movie Review: The Case of the Velvet Claws
Movie Review: The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936) directed by William Clemens Perry Mason (Warren Williams) invades the night court of Judge Mary F O’Daugherty (Clara Blandick) with an urgent matter–marrying his secretary, Della Street (Claire Dodd)! As the happy couple pose for the press photographers, Perry announces his retirement from criminal law. From now… Continue reading Movie Review: The Case of the Velvet Claws