Manga Review: Homunculus Volume 1-2

Manga Review: Homunculus Volume 1-2 by Hideo Yamamoto “Car Man” is called that because he’s living in his car. For the last few weeks, he’s placed his automobile at the edge of a city park, marking the border between a homeless camp and the fancy hotel he used to visit frequently. He hasn’t quite fit… Continue reading Manga Review: Homunculus Volume 1-2

Book Review: I, Barbarian

Artist uncredited. That's very clearly not blonde James on the cover.

Book Review: I, Barbarian by Jay Scotland (John Jakes) James the Frank is not called that because of his honesty, though he does have a tendency to tell the truth even when it’s not convenient. He’s called that because his Crusader father got very lost and wound up at a yam station (kind of an… Continue reading Book Review: I, Barbarian

Comic Book Review: Plastic Man Archives Volume 3

Comic Book Review: Plastic Man Archives Volume 3 by Jack Cole Plastic Man was first published in Police Comics #1 in 1941. He wasn’t the first stretchy superhero in comics, but quickly became the most popular. Much of this was down to the talent of Jack Cole (1914-1958), who did both the writing and art… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Plastic Man Archives Volume 3

Movie Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone By Night

The Girl gets an invitation.

Movie Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) directed by Ana Lily Amirpour Bad City may be an oil town, but black gold hasn’t brought prosperity to the majority of its inhabitants. Arash (Arash Marandi) is a hard-working young man who works as a handyman for a wealthy family, but himself lives in the… Continue reading Movie Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone By Night

Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 2

Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 2 by Kazuo Umezz Quick recap: The Cat-Eyed Boy (who has no “real” name) is the child of nekomata cat monsters who for unknown reasons was born looking unusually humanoid. His mother died in childbirth and his father dumped him at a shrine. Fortunately, the baby was taken… Continue reading Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 2

Movie Review: Oldboy (2003)

A central dilemma of the film.

Movie Review: Oldboy (2003) directed by Park Chan-wook On his daughter’s birthday, Dae-su Oh (Choi Min-sik) got stinking drunk and taken to the police station. He was still pretty drunk when he was picked up by his friend No Joo-hwan (Dae-han Ji). So when Dae-su vanished while No’s back was turned in a phone booth, at… Continue reading Movie Review: Oldboy (2003)

Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu II

Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu II edited by Ross E. Lockhart It’s spooky stuff month again, so I sat down with this thick volume (24 stories) of tales inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft for a couple of weeks. This is a sequel to The Book of Cthulhu that I reviewed earlier on… Continue reading Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu II

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

Yuki's profession is so hazardous in itself that she's never thought about the possibility of dying of plague instead.

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) directed by Toshiya Fujita So, it turns out Yuki (Meiko Kaiji) survived the ending of the previous film, much to her own surprise. Problem is, people remember she did all that murder beforehand as Lady Snowblood. We pick up several years later after the end of… Continue reading Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

Movie Review: The Man with the Iron Fists

The Blacksmith checks out his new fists.

Movie Review: The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) directed by RZA Jungle Village is a lawless town, inhabited by various clans (most named after animals) that engage in frequent turf wars. The Blacksmith (RZA) is one of the few important neutral parties. He uses his skills to make superior weaponry for anyone who can pay… Continue reading Movie Review: The Man with the Iron Fists

Movie Review: The Return of the Five Deadly Venoms

Avengers Assemble!

Movie Review: The Return of the Five Deadly Venoms (1978) directed by Cheh Chang, aka Crippled Avengers Tao (Kuan Tai-Chen) once used his Tiger-style kung fu for good, clearing out bandits and such, and became prosperous as a result. Unfortunately a gang (coincidentally also called “Tigers”) decided to strike back at Tao, and when they found he… Continue reading Movie Review: The Return of the Five Deadly Venoms