Movie Review: Paradise Canyon

John signs up with the medicine show.

Movie Review: Paradise Canyon (1935) directed by Carl Pierson There’s been a flood of counterfeit bills in the southwest territory recently. Federal agent John Wyatt (John Wayne) has been sent to investigate. The local law enforcement do have one lead. A while back, two suspects were caught flogging very similar funny money. One turned state’s evidence… Continue reading Movie Review: Paradise Canyon

Comic Book Review: DC Special No. 23: Green Arrow

Comic Book Review: DC Special No. 23: Green Arrow edited by Len Wein Green Arrow was created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp for More Fun Comics #73 in 1941. Oliver “Ollie” Queen was originally an old-money anthropologist with a special interest in Native American cultures, who’d learned archery from the tribes he was studying.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: DC Special No. 23: Green Arrow

Comic Book Review: Best of DC #20: World’s Finest

Art by Ross Andru & Dic Giordano

Comic Book Review: Best of DC #20: World’s Finest Art by Dick Dillin & Joe Giella For a few decades, World’s Finest Comics was by default the Superman/Batman team-up book, featuring DC Comics’ two top characters working together to handle various cases and crises. This 1982 reprint digest presents three of these stories from 1971-1972,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Best of DC #20: World’s Finest

Book Review: The Ghost Ninja of Hong Kong Island

Book Review: The Ghost Ninja of Hong Kong Island by Lukas Krueger Johnathan Zhang isn’t content with being a crimelord. True, he has substantial power in the underworld of Hong Kong, and has never been arrested for his many murders due to his habit of leaving no witnesses. But he wants more, and a certain… Continue reading Book Review: The Ghost Ninja of Hong Kong Island

Movie Review: Papillon (1973)

Papillon is introduced to his new solitary quarters.

Movie Review: Papillon (1973) directed by Franklin J. Schaffner Henri Charrière (Steve McQueen), nicknamed “Papillon” after the butterfly tattoo on his chest, is convicted of a crime he did not commit and sentenced to imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana often referred to as “Devil’s Island.” On the ship taking the convicts there, he… Continue reading Movie Review: Papillon (1973)

Book Review: Deck the Pulps

Book Review: Deck the Pulps published by Brick Pickle Media Pulp magazines, like most forms of media, liked to celebrate holidays. Such as, you know, Christmas. But being the pulps, they leavened the usual sentimentality of the season with more of their usual action and excitement. This set of nine tales covers a variety of… Continue reading Book Review: Deck the Pulps

Comic Book Review: Golden Age Marvel Comics 2

Comic Book Review: Golden Age Marvel Comics 2 by Various This volume reprints the contents of Marvel Mystery Comics #5-8 from 1940. The introduction by Roy Thomas points up the contrast with the publisher’s other anthology title of the time, Daring Mystery Comics. This one had star characters like the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Golden Age Marvel Comics 2

Movie Review: T-Men

O'Brien and Genaro interview for a job.

Movie Review: T-Men (1947) directed by. Anthony Mann When an informant who was supposed to deliver a paper sample to the Treasury Department turns up dead (with no paper) in Los Angeles, the investigation of a major counterfeiting ring is stalled. It’s determined that new agents who won’t be identified so easily will be needed. They’ll… Continue reading Movie Review: T-Men

Movie Review: Key Largo

Nora and Steve discuss their pre-War lives.

Movie Review: Key Largo (1948) directed by John Huston Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) was a major in the United States Army during World War Two. During the Italian campaign, one of his men (and a friend), George Temple, perished in combat. While initially an idealist, the violence of the war left Frank disillusioned, and the America… Continue reading Movie Review: Key Largo

Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021

Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021 edited by Sheila Williams Back in 1977, Isaac Asimov was one of the top three or so science fiction writers in the world, and had a very strong personal brand. So when Davis Publications wanted to create a “name brand magazine” for science fiction like Ellery Queen Mystery… Continue reading Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021