Comic Strip Review: Digger Volume One

Comic Strip Review: Digger Volume One by Ursula Vernon Digger of Unnecessarily Convoluted Tunnels, “Digger” if you’re not being formal, is a wombat. In her world, wombats are an intelligent bipedal species which otherwise resemble Earth’s wombats. Digger’s primary job is being a tunneler, but when we meet her, she no longer remembers where her… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Digger Volume One

Comic Book Review: Simpsons Comics Confidential

Comic Book Review: Simpsons Comics Confidential published by Matt Groening The Simpsons started as a number of short cartoons shown on The Tracy Ullman show in 1987. A dysfunctional family partially named after creator Matt Groening’s own family, they were popular enough to spin off into their own prime time series in 1989. It was… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Simpsons Comics Confidential

Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1 by Various Creators Much like DC, Marvel Comics also had dedicated superhero team-up series. Marvel Two-in-One featured perennial favorite character Benjamin Grimm, the Thing of the Fantastic Four–and I’ve never done a review of anything with him before, so first, a bit of character history! Fantastic Four… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell edited by Russell Nohelty I hope you’re not tired of Lovecraftian cosmic horror yet, because I’ve got more to come. In this case, it’s an anthology of Cthulhu Mythos-related comics, focused on the “gods” of that cycle, and new critters that fit in with that theme. Despite… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Anime Review: Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy (2022)

Dark Schneider before his death.

Anime Review: Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy (2022) Centuries ago on a planet named Earth, there was a great scientific civilization. But Man grew proud, and created its own new god, Anthrasax, Goddess of Destruction. Naturally, they could not control it, and the old world ended. Now, science is virtually unknown, magic and wizards are… Continue reading Anime Review: Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy (2022)

Book Review: The Pocket Companion

Book Review: The Pocket Companion edited by Philip Van Doren Stern This 1942 paperback anthology was designed for people who wanted a lot of reading in a pocket-sized book, so has a novel, short stories, articles, poetry and trivia. The closest thing to a theme is the connection between the British and Americans, now allies… Continue reading Book Review: The Pocket Companion

Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957)

Cover by Frank Kelly Freas--not illustrating any of the stories in this volume.

Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957) edited by Gideon Marcus As the introduction by Janice L. Newman points out, women have written science fiction all along. The percentage of them getting published at any given time in the magazines and books waxed and waned, but they were always there. In the… Continue reading Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957)

Manga Review: Magu-chan: God of Destruction

Manga Review: Magu-chan: God of Destruction by Kei Kamiki In a sleepy seaside village in Japan lives a middle-school girl named Ruru Miyanagi. Her father passed away some years ago, and her mother is working overseas, so Ruru is taking care of herself and money is tight. When she finds an unusual crystal on the… Continue reading Manga Review: Magu-chan: God of Destruction

Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969

Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969 edited by Sol Cohen The opening editorial is by Ted White, the new managing editor. He talks about the decline in “fiction magazines” (the Saturday Evening Post had recently ceased publication for the first time) and is sad, but points out that times are always changing. He also mentions his… Continue reading Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969

Movie Review: Wonder Woman (2009)

Diana stands tall.

Movie Review: Wonder Woman (2009) directed by Lauren Montgomery Diana has always lived on Themyscira. Her mother Hippolyta, it is said, made her from clay infused with godly power, making Diana the only child (now grown) of this Amazon society. The Amazons live on the isolated island both to protect themselves from the male-dominated outside world…and… Continue reading Movie Review: Wonder Woman (2009)