Magazine Review: Other Worlds December 1951

Cover by Malcolm Smith, illustrating "Yelisen."

Magazine Review: Other Worlds December 1951 edited by Ray Palmer Let’s have another look at this long-running science fiction magazine! The opening editorial by Ray Palmer hypes up the serial which will start in the next issue, Rog Phillips’ These Are My Children, advertised here as something truly special. Sadly, the book version seems to… Continue reading Magazine Review: Other Worlds December 1951

Comic Book Review: Botticelli’s Apprentice

Comic Book Review: Botticelli’s Apprentice by Ursula Murray Husted Sandro Botticelli actually has several apprentices, from senior apprentice Nino to rookie Datus. But the person we’re concerned with here is Mella, the chicken girl. Her duties include feeding and tending the chickens and collecting their eggs to make tempera paint with. She also cleans paintbrushes… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Botticelli’s Apprentice

Magazine Review: Spicy Mystery Stories June 1936

Cover is symbolic; the "cat person" in the story is male.

Magazine Review: Spicy Mystery Stories June 1936 by various creators As I’ve previously mentioned, the “spicy” pulps were racy for their time, with descriptions of women’s breasts and thighs, and it being obvious that the characters are having sex, but never actually describing the sex or genitals. This particular magazine, despite the title, has little… Continue reading Magazine Review: Spicy Mystery Stories June 1936

Book Review: Way of a Buccaneer

Book Review: Way of a Buccaneer by Davenport Steward It is 1663, and young Wayne Thorp, late of Cambridge University, is assisting his father Captain Thomas Thorpe in a smuggling voyage to Spanish-controlled Panama. Unfortunately, their trading partner, Irish-Spanish minor government official Don Timóteo O’Bannion y Salazar, has decided he can make even more money… Continue reading Book Review: Way of a Buccaneer

Movie Review: Fatal Attraction

Dan and Alex fail to recognize the foreshadowing in the environment.

Movie Review: Fatal Attraction (1987) directed by Adrian Lyne Dan Gallegher (Michael Douglas) has a pretty comfortable life. He loves his wife Beth (Ann Archer) and daughter Ellen (Ellen Latzen) and has a well-paid job as the house lawyer for a publishing firm in New York City. Things are going so well that the family is… Continue reading Movie Review: Fatal Attraction

Anime Review: Saint Seiya: Hades Chapter

Persephone plays the harp while waiting for the main plot to begin.

Anime Review: Saint Seiya: Hades Chapter Quick recap: The Greek gods are real, in that they’re energy beings who periodically reincarnate in human bodies. Most of the gods are hostile to humanity, but Athena is its protector. Currently she inhabits the body of Saori Kiddo, an heiress who was raised in Japan. Saori/Athena is served… Continue reading Anime Review: Saint Seiya: Hades Chapter

Comic Book Review: Holmes: The Bento Cases

Cover by Myung Hee Kim

Comic Book Review: Holmes: The Bento Cases by various creators Bento Comics was an artist collective that allowed fans to select stories from their members to put together in bespoke anthologies. At conventions, they’d sell themed volumes to demonstrate the concept; I reviewed their Peter Pan anthology some years back. This collection is on the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Holmes: The Bento Cases

Book Review: Great Science Fiction About Doctors

Cover by Don Ivan Punchatz

Book Review: Great Science Fiction About Doctors edited by Groff Conklin and Noah D. Fabricant, M.D. While medical doctors are common and important in science fiction, stories directly about them or the field of medicine are a bit rarer. It was one magazine’s speculation that it would be difficult to fill an anthology with really… Continue reading Book Review: Great Science Fiction About Doctors

Anime Review: Time Patrol Bon

Bon and Ream deal with the realities of their job.

Anime Review: Time Patrol Bon (aka T.P. Bon) Bon Namihira is a fairly normal (his name would translate to something like “Joe Average” in English) middle schooler. His grades are in the middle of the pack, he’s not particularly athletic but no wimp, he’s not particularly popular but does have friends. But when time starts… Continue reading Anime Review: Time Patrol Bon

Comic Book Review: Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #19: Superman

Cover by Ross Andru & Dick Giordano

Comic Book Review: Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #19: Superman edited by Julius Schwartz This is an imaginary story–aren’t they all?” –Allan Moore, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” Back in the Silver Age of DC Comics, especially in the Superman titles, status quo was very much a thing. The Superman/Clark Kent/Lois Lane… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #19: Superman