Book Review: Great Science-Fiction

Cover by M. Seltler. I like this smug-looking cyborg/alien.

Book Review: Great Science-Fiction edited by Tony Licata This anthology was, Wikipedia says, originally intended to have the title “Bizarre”, but that might have drawn the wrong kind of attention, so the publisher gave it this much more generic title. “The Wind” by Ray Bradbury starts us off with a spooky tale of a man… Continue reading Book Review: Great Science-Fiction

Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1

Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1 by Ernest Bramah Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this collection. Ernest Bramah Smith, who dropped his last name for his literary efforts, was born in 1868, and was a school dropout and farmer before becoming a writer. His first published book in 1900 was The… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #7: Superboy

Cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #7: Superboy edited by Julius Schwartz With the success of Superman as a character and a cash cow, it was pretty much inevitable that the comic book company would find ways to expand the franchise. Thus in 1944, Jerry Siegel was convinced to create tales of Superboy, Superman… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #7: Superboy

Book Review: The Guns of Sonora | Black Buzzards of Bueno

Book Review: The Guns of Sonora | Black Buzzards of Bueno by Ben Smith and Tom West respectively Let’s look at another Ace Double Western, two exciting short novels upside down from each other! The Guns of Sonora takes place in Mexico, on and around the rancho of Don Valentine, a wealthy cattle baron. It’s… Continue reading Book Review: The Guns of Sonora | Black Buzzards of Bueno

Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction February 1956

Art by Kelly Freas; this is a symbolic cover showing the three sides of the protagonist.

Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction February 1956 edited by John W. Campbell, Jr. We begin this issue of the classic science fiction magazine with an editorial on “The Science of Psionics.” While the study of psychic phenomena is large discredited in the 21st Century, back in the 1950s it was still considered a serious if… Continue reading Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction February 1956

Anime Review: Tanzaburou Toujima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider

Toujima and Okada initially butt heads.

Anime Review: Tanzaburou Toujima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider First, let’s talk about Kamen Rider. It’s a children’s superhero television show that started airing in 1971 in Japan. In it, the evil organization Shocker, founded by surviving Nazis and their collaborators, wants to take over the world. To do so, they used cybernetic and… Continue reading Anime Review: Tanzaburou Toujima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider

Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #501

Cover by Hannigan & Paris

Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #501 edited by Nicola Cuti After the all-Legion issue #500, the digest-sized Adventure Comics returned to featuring multiple characters. Let’s see what it has to offer! “Codename: Pinkeye!” story by Martin Pasko, art by Joe Staton & Bob Smith, picks up right after the killing of foreign agent Dmitri Dervish.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Adventure Comics #501

Movie Review: Demonia

One of the crucified nuns. But is she victim or monster?

Movie Review: Demonia (1990) directed by Lucio Fulci In 15th Century Sicily, five nuns are crucified in a chamber of their convent. This is somehow seen by Liza Harris (Meg Register), an archaeology student, during a seance in Seattle in 1990. Her mentor, Canadian archaeologist Professor Paul Evans (Brett Halsey) scoffs at her vision as superstitious… Continue reading Movie Review: Demonia

Movie Review: Death Walks at Midnight

Sure, let's go out to the graveyard in a thriller movie. What could go wrong?

Movie Review: Death Walks at Midnight (1972) directed by Luciano Ercoli Dateline: Milan, Italy in the early 1970s. Valentina (Nieves Navarro) is a model whose primary job is appearing in fumetti fotoromanzi which are basically comic books done with photographs instead of drawings, a popular medium of the time. As a lark, she agrees to take an LSD-like… Continue reading Movie Review: Death Walks at Midnight

Manga Review: Case Closed, Vols. 95 & 96

Manga Review: Case Closed, Vols. 95 & 96 by Gosho Aoyama Note: SPOILERS for past volumes, start with an earlier review if you’re new to the series! Quick recap: Conan Edogawa appears to be a child, but is actually the famous teen genius detective Shinichi Kudou (Jimmy Kudo in the dub), who’s been reverted to… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed, Vols. 95 & 96