Anime Review: Dororo (2019)

"Dororo" in Japanese.

Anime Review: Dororo (2019) Lord Daigo has a problem. The lands under his control suffer from floods when it rains and droughts when it doesn’t, the crops wither, the people are afflicted with disease, and bandits and enemy soldiers roam freely. As a result, Daigo’s province is poverty-stricken and low-status. In desperation, Daigo turns to… Continue reading Anime Review: Dororo (2019)

Book Review: The Vessel of Ra

Book Review: The Vessel of Ra by Catherine Schaff-Stump It is October 1837, and the acqua alta, the fall flooding, has come to Venice. Lucy Klareon has also come to Venice, as part of her Grand Tour, but she doesn’t plan to leave in the usual way. For on her sixteenth birthday, October 31st, All Hallows Eve, Lucy must do battle… Continue reading Book Review: The Vessel of Ra

Comic Book Review: The Clandestinauts

Comic Book Review: The Clandestinauts  by Tim Sievert The Clandestinauts are adventurers for hire in a harsh fantasy world.   Currently, they are tasked with retrieving an item in the possession of the mysterious Red Wizard.  To do so, they’ll have to penetrate his fortress lair, evade or slay his many minions and monsters, make a side… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Clandestinauts

Comic Book Review: Over the Wall

Comic Book Review: Over the Wall  by Peter Wartman The girl shouldn’t be here.  Only boys come to the walled city, and only for their coming of age ceremony.  The city has nothing in it but demons who eat names, and bones. But the girl’s brother did not return from the ceremony.  Perhaps he got… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Over the Wall

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 by various creators In 1940, a year after Batman debuted, he gained the first superhero kid sidekick in comic books.  Robin aka Dick Grayson served several functions.  Kid appeal, merchandising, lightening up the tone of the stories a bit, and giving Batman someone to have… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1

Book Review: The Avon Fantasy Reader

Book Review: The Avon Fantasy Reader edited by Donald A. Wollheim and George Ernsberger Avon Fantasy Reader was a pulp magazine that reprinted fantasy and science fiction stories for eighteen issues starting in 1946.   It featured some doozies from authors who’d since become well-known, or were classics in their own right.  In 1968, this paperback… Continue reading Book Review: The Avon Fantasy Reader

Open Thread: Minicon 53

Open Thread: Minicon 53 As noted in my previous con reports, Minicon is a yearly science fiction convention set on Easter weekend.  While Minicon 50 was a few years ago, this year is the closest to the Fiftieth Anniversary of the first Minicon, so it had the subtitle of “The Pedantic One.”  This year the… Continue reading Open Thread: Minicon 53

Anime Review: Devilman Crybaby

Anime Review: Devilman Crybaby War, pollution, crime, climate change, general immorality–it sure seems like the world is going to Hell these days.  According to Ryo Asuka, a teen genius professor, it might be because an increasing number of humans are becoming possessed by demons.  He’s come up with a plan, though.  Ryo theorizes that by… Continue reading Anime Review: Devilman Crybaby

Book Review: Old Celtic Romances

Book Review: Old Celtic Romances by P.W. Joyce The Gaelic-speaking people of ancient Ireland told tales of their mighty ancestors and great men, not unlike the people of every nation and tribe.  When writing came, they began to put these tales into manuscripts.  Out of the large body of remaining literature, in 1879 P.W. Joyce… Continue reading Book Review: Old Celtic Romances

Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (2017)

Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (2017) by various This is my blog’s fifth anniversary!  And thus this is my sixth annual review of the state of Weekly Shonen Jump, the online version of the popular manga anthology Weekly Shounen Jump. The online edition, being aimed at the North American audience, is substantially different from the… Continue reading Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (2017)