Magazine Review: Saucy Romantic Adventures August 1936 by various This was one of the “spicy” pulp magazines, sold “under the counter” to readers wanting something more titillating than the standard action fare. By modern standards, this is pretty tame stuff, mostly consisting of descriptions of women’s naked bodies (minus genitalia) and strong hints that the… Continue reading Magazine Review: Saucy Romantic Adventures August 1936
Book Review: Enchantment Lake
Book Review: Enchantment Lake by Margi Preus Francine Frye isn’t a detective. She played a detective on TV. On a children’s show. For a few episodes. But that still makes her the closest thing to a detective Francie’s eccentric aunts Astrid and Jeannette know. So when a series of perfectly explainable but statistically improbable deaths… Continue reading Book Review: Enchantment Lake
Comic Book Review: Savage: Taking Liberties
Comic Book Review: Savage: Taking Liberties written by Pat Mills, art by Charlie Adlard In 2000 AD #1 (1977), a feature entitled Invasion! began, created by Pat Mills. Set in 1999, Great Britain is attacked and occupied by the Volgan Republic, which uses nuclear weapons to force a quick surrender. Hardline anti-Volgans in the government are eliminated,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Savage: Taking Liberties
Manga Review: Oh My Goddess! Volume 27
Manga Review: Oh My Goddess! Volume 27 by Kosuke Fujishima Keiichi Morisato is an engineering undergraduate at the Nekomi Institute of Technology when his overbearing upperclassmen stick him with watching the all-male dorm over a holiday weekend. (It’s not like it’s going to interfere with his social life.) Getting hungry, Keiichi tries to order delivery,… Continue reading Manga Review: Oh My Goddess! Volume 27
Book Review: Nine Lessons
Book Review: Nine Lessons by Nicola Upson A churchyard in a village not too far from Cambridge in England has one too many bodies in its graves. The victim, a respected organist, was entombed alive, and odd details about the scene make it clear that this was murder most foul. Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose… Continue reading Book Review: Nine Lessons
Book Review: Respectable Horror
Book Review: Respectable Horror by K.A. Laity Horror is a wide-ranging genre, which can be tailored to a variety of tastes. Some folks prefer their scary fiction with a maximum of gushing blood and sharp objects being plunged into soft flesh; others like a more genteel approach that emphasizes the subtle wrongnesses and growing atmospheric… Continue reading Book Review: Respectable Horror
Magazine Review: Fantastic Universe October 1955
Magazine Review: Fantastic Universe October 1955 edited by Leo Margulies Fantastic Universe was a digest-sized science fiction and fantasy magazine that ran from 1953 to 1960, originally coming out from King-Size Publications. Its quality is considered to have fallen off after 1956, with lesser stories and more emphasis on pseudo-science articles, but this particular issue… Continue reading Magazine Review: Fantastic Universe October 1955
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Blackhawk Volume 1
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Blackhawk Volume 1 art by Dick Dillin and Charles Cuidero In September 1939, Poland was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union. The valiant Polish people battled bravely against the two-pronged attack, but it was to no avail. One aviator was shot down, as it happens, near his family’s farm,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Blackhawk Volume 1
Book Review: All Quiet on the Western Front
Book Review: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque We open on a good day for Paul Bäumer and the men of the Second Company. The sun is shining, there’s a light breeze to cool them, and they’re getting double rations. The reason the men are getting double rations is that half… Continue reading Book Review: All Quiet on the Western Front
Manga Review: Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 10
Manga Review: Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 10 by Hiromu Arakawa. In the country of Amestris, the highest form of science known is alchemy, the ability to transmute substances into another form. It seems limited only by the Law of Equivalent Exchange “to obtain an object, something of equal value must be lost.” Transmutation of humans is… Continue reading Manga Review: Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 10