Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #502

This cool cover by Hannigan + Janson.

Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #502 edited by Nicola Cuti We are getting towards the end of the digest version of Adventure Comics, and presumably the people putting these together were already aware of this, but there’s no hint about that in this issue. “Plastic Man” (no subtitle) written by Martin Pasko, art by Joe… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #502

Book Review: Great Science-Fiction

Cover by M. Seltler. I like this smug-looking cyborg/alien.

Book Review: Great Science-Fiction edited by Tony Licata This anthology was, Wikipedia says, originally intended to have the title “Bizarre”, but that might have drawn the wrong kind of attention, so the publisher gave it this much more generic title. “The Wind” by Ray Bradbury starts us off with a spooky tale of a man… Continue reading Book Review: Great Science-Fiction

Magazine Review: High Adventure #164: War Fiction – F. Van Wyck Mason

Magazine Review: High Adventure #164: War Fiction – F. Van Wyck Mason edited by James Gunnison Filling in a back issue here, this one is World War One stories, mostly by the fellow mentioned in the title. Francis Van Wyck Mason (1901-1978), the introduction tells us, was a veteran of the French Army and then… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #164: War Fiction – F. Van Wyck Mason

Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1

Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1 by Ernest Bramah Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this collection. Ernest Bramah Smith, who dropped his last name for his literary efforts, was born in 1868, and was a school dropout and farmer before becoming a writer. His first published book in 1900 was The… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1

Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #501

Cover by Hannigan & Paris

Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #501 edited by Nicola Cuti After the all-Legion issue #500, the digest-sized Adventure Comics returned to featuring multiple characters. Let’s see what it has to offer! “Codename: Pinkeye!” story by Martin Pasko, art by Joe Staton & Bob Smith, picks up right after the killing of foreign agent Dmitri Dervish.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #501

Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #500

Cover by "Keith & Larry"

Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #500 edited by Nicola Cuti For this milestone issue of the anthology comic book in digest form, DC decided to go with the most popular feature, all Legion of Super-Heroes stories! “The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire” story by Jerry Siegel, art by John Forte, opens with a reminder that… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #500

Comic Book Review: Dark Mysteries Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Dark Mysteries Vol. 1 by Various Artists This is another of the PS Artbooks softcover collections of pre-Code horror comics, collecting the first five issues of Dark Mysteries from Master Comics, published in 1951-1952. These comic books may have been read by the youth, but the shaping underwear ads indicate an older… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Dark Mysteries Vol. 1

Book Review: Lost in Underspace

Cover by 100 Covers.

Book Review: Lost in Underspace by Kate Dane Kate Dane is a Minnesota speculative fiction author whose first novel is a romance between a lawyer and a werewolf. This is the second collection of her short stories. “The Interplanetary Olympics” starts us off with the story of Jackie, a world-class swimmer who’s trying to get… Continue reading Book Review: Lost in Underspace

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #14: Batman’s Villains

Cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #14: Batman’s Villains edited by Dick Giordano One of the things that has kept Batman a popular superhero over the many years of his existence is that he has a good rogues’ gallery, a set of colorful recurring villains that drive fun stories for the Caped Crusader. This… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #14: Batman’s Villains

Comic Book Review: Lost Marvels No.1: Tower of Shadows

Comic Book Review: Lost Marvels No. 1: Tower of Shadows edited by Dr. Michael Dean The “Lost Marvels” series of books reprints Marvel Comics publications that have not been previously collected in reprint volumes, looking to be mostly short-run series and one-offs that match a theme. This first volume reprints most of a horror anthology… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Lost Marvels No.1: Tower of Shadows