Manga Review: Case Closed (Detective Conan)

Manga Review: Case Closed (Detective Conan) by Gosho Aoyama Shin’ichi Kudou (Jimmy Kudo) is a teen genius detective, well known for solving cases that baffle the police.  One day while visiting an amusement park with his female friend Ran Mouri (Rachel Moore), he witnesses a murder by two men in black.   They catch him,… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed (Detective Conan)

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

TV Review: Public Defender

TV Review: Public Defender “If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”  The office of the Public Defender is a special government department that  specializes in handling the cases of indigent defendants.  The first such office was opened in Los Angeles in about 1914. This series, which aired in 1954-55, was… Continue reading TV Review: Public Defender

TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow

TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow Decoy is a 1957-58 series about Casey Jones (Beverly Garland), a female police officer in New York City.  She often goes undercover, thus the series title.  This show is noteworthy as the first TV cop series to star a woman in the lead role.  Like Dragnet, the series fictionalized real… Continue reading TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow

Book Review: They Talked to a Stranger

Book Review: They Talked to a Stranger by Len O’Connor This book is centered around ten interviews with juvenile delinquents by then-radio reporter Len O’Connor in 1950s Chicago.  Each of the boys is identified with a nickname, some their actual nickname, others chosen to protect their identities.    They’re asked how they got into a… Continue reading Book Review: They Talked to a Stranger

Movie Review: Hissatsu (Sure Death)

Movie Review: Hissatsu (Sure Death) A group of seemingly ordinary Edo citizens, mostly of the merchant class, are in fact a loose team of assassins.  But fear not, they’re good guy assassins who only take money to kill people who really deserve it.  Problem!  There’s a new assassin in town, who’s exclusively targeting the local… Continue reading Movie Review: Hissatsu (Sure Death)

Comic Strip Review: Dick Tracy

Comic Strip Review: Dick Tracy by Joe Staton and Mike Curtis. The Dick Tracy comic strip was started way back in 1931 by Chester Gould, who saw criminals constantly in the headlines of Chicago newspapers and imagined a brave and clever police officer fighting back against them.The thrilling stories and colorful villains made it a… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Dick Tracy