Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book

Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book edited by Andrew Lang Once upon a time, (1889 to be specific), British children did not have access to collections of fairy tales.  Educators of the time thought fairy tales were too unrealistic and harmful to children, and beneath adults.  Mr. Lang felt differently; he had delighted in such… Continue reading Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Weird War Tales Volume 1

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Weird War Tales Volume 1 edited by Joe Kubert & Joe Orlando As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, the relaxation of the Comics Code in the early 1970s created a horror anthology boom at DC Comics.  At the same time, the once best-selling war comics were going into a slump,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Weird War Tales Volume 1

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg This was my Halloween season read this year, an anthology commissioned for the Barnes & Noble stores in 1995.  There are indeed one hundred stories in this hefty tome, averaging about six pages.  They are not all about… Continue reading Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Anime Review: Invaders of the Rokujyoma!?

Anime Review: Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? Satomi Kotaro’s father has gone abroad on business, but he’s staying in Japan to attend high school.  Their family is not well off, and to stretch his living allowance as far as possible, Satomi jumps on Room 106 at Corona House because it costs the equivalent of $50 a… Continue reading Anime Review: Invaders of the Rokujyoma!?

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights by too many to list.  Trust me, a lot of great names. Between the late 1940s and somewhere in the 1990s, one of the most pervasive fears of the American public was atomic war. For the first time in known history, humans were… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights

Movie Review: The Crusades (1935)

Movie Review: The Crusades (1935) It is the 12th Century, and the Holy Land has been seized by the Saracens, under the command of Saladin (Ian Keith).  Crosses, Bibles and other Christian symbols are burned, and the Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem taken into captivity.  A hermit (C. Aubrey Smith) confronts Saladin and declares that he… Continue reading Movie Review: The Crusades (1935)

Book Review: The Boy Knight

Book Review: The Boy Knight by G. A. Henty G.A. Henty (1852-1902) was a writer of children’s historical fiction, who began his career as an author after a friend heard him telling bedtime stories to his kids.  Like many Victorian authors, he’s out of favor these days, but my parents found this book at an… Continue reading Book Review: The Boy Knight

Book Review: Blood Lance

Book Review: Blood Lance by Jeri Westerson This is the fifth Crispin Guest novel, featuring a disgraced knight of the Fourteenth Century who takes up a career of detection, earning the nickname “Tracker.” I have not read the previous volumes. Guest happens to witness a man falling from a bridge into the Thames. By the… Continue reading Book Review: Blood Lance

Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark)

Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark) by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert When DC Comics rebooted their mainline universe in 2011, this left them free to rearrange the past of that universe .  To fill in part of that timeline, we have this title. After a brief moment… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark)