Manga Review: Ooku

Manga Review:  Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga In an alternate history version of Japan, disaster strikes during the reign of Shogun Iemitsu (circa 1630).  A plague that becomes known as the “red-face pox” sweeps the islands, with a fatality rate of 80% among boys and young men.  Within a couple of years, the gender imbalance among… Continue reading Manga Review: Ooku

Magazine Review: Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue

Magazine Review:  Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue edited by David Shields and Bradford Morrow Conjunctions is a literary journal published twice a year by Bard College.  Each issue contains essays, short fiction, poetry and less classifiable writing on a given subject, with this issue being about death.  Literary journals tend to have a connotation of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue

Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible

Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible edited by Nancy Holder & Joe Gentile Moonstone Books is a publisher that specializes in new material about pulp magazine characters.  This is their third anthology of stories about Richard Henry Benson, the Avenger, and his organization, Justice, Inc. For those who have not heard of the… Continue reading Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible

Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service by Eiji Otsuka & Housui Yamazaki. Five students at a Buddhist college discover that each of them has a talent or skill relating to death.  The corpse that brings about this revelation is restless, and they help it find peace.  In exchange it wills them just enough money… Continue reading Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service