Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Men of War

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Men of War edited by Paul Levitz In 1977, African-American male leads in mainstream comic books were still countable on one hand (and don’t even ask about African-American women!)  But this also had the effect of making a comic with a black person on the front attention-getting.  And I suspect… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Men of War

Comic Book Review: Corpse on the Imjin! and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman

Comic Book Review: Corpse on the Imjin! and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman edited by Gary Groth In later years, Harvey Kurtzman was better known  for his humor work, among other things being the first editor of MAD.  But while he worked at EC Comics in the early Fifties, Mr. Kurtzman was also known for some… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Corpse on the Imjin! and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman

Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate

Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate edited by John Gaterud Yes, this is yet another literary magazine; I picked up a bunch inexpensively at the book fair.  This one seems to take its title from Jack Kerouac’s writing; this first issue was published in 2007. The index is unusual for this kind of… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate

Book Review: The Art of Empathy: Celebrating Literature in Translation

Book Review: The Art of Empathy: Celebrating Literature in Translation edited by Don Ball This thick pamphlet is a collection of essays by literary translators on the art of translation.  It’s a product of the National Endowment for the Arts, and is available from them as a free download (or in paper form at NEA… Continue reading Book Review: The Art of Empathy: Celebrating Literature in Translation

Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad

Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad by E. Randall Floyd American history is full of offbeat people, some downright weird.  The author was (like many a lad) fascinated by their stories when he was young.  Then he got to interview Erich von Daeniken (Chariots of the Gods) and decided to make writing about… Continue reading Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad

Book Review: Aeroplane Boys on a Cattle Ranch

Book Review: Aeroplane Boys on a Cattle Ranch by John Luther Langworthy Construction on the new high school is going slowly, so classes won’t start for another two months.   Don’t worry, cousins Frank and Andy Bird will not be bored.   It seems the two young aviators have been invited to spend their extra… Continue reading Book Review: Aeroplane Boys on a Cattle Ranch

Book Review: The Vanishing Airliner

Book Review: The Vanishing Airliner by Van Powell Rodney Ellis is the son of an aircraft designer whose firm is on the verge of bankruptcy after the Crash of 1929 and the crash of a previous airplane designed by his company.  Mr. Ellis’ one hope is his new airliner, the Oakland Queen.  He hopes to demonstrate… Continue reading Book Review: The Vanishing Airliner

TV Review: The Man Behind the Badge

TV Review: The Man Behind the Badge It’s back to the big box set of old TV shows with this anthology series that ran 1953-55, with Charles Bickford as the host.  This one is interesting because it didn’t concentrate on one law enforcement agency or type of crime, instead featuring public servants of all kinds.… Continue reading TV Review: The Man Behind the Badge

Magazine Review: High Adventure #127: Masked Rider Western

Magazine Review: High Adventure #127: Masked Rider Western edited by John P. Gunnison High Adventure is a pulp reprint magazine, reprinting stories (and sometimes whole issues) from the adventure magazines of the 1930s and 1940s.  They switch up so that no two consecutive issues are the same subject, although certain character series recur frequently.  In this… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #127: Masked Rider Western

TV Review: Man with a Camera

TV Review: Man with a Camera Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) is a World War Two veteran who works as a freelance photographer.  He’s a tough fellow who’s known for getting the shots other shutterbugs can’t make.  As a result, he’s often called in to help investigate incidents for newspapers and private citizens.  Mike is aided… Continue reading TV Review: Man with a Camera