Manga Review: City Hunter Omnibus Edition 01

Manga Review: City Hunter Omnibus Edition 01 by Tsukasa Hojo Shunichi Ogino is an up-and-coming young boxer who’s got a title shot coming up. He’d previously been hit and run by a car, and during his recovery fallen in love with his physical therapist, Dr. Megumi Iwasaki. They’re planning to marry after the big fight.… Continue reading Manga Review: City Hunter Omnibus Edition 01

Manga Review: Happy Kanako’s Killer Life Volumes 1-4

Manga Review: Happy Kanako’s Killer LIfe Volumes 1-4 by Toshiya Wakabayashi Kanako NIshino has had a pretty miserable life until now. She was relentlessly bullied in school, and once she got a job as an office lady, harassed and belittled every day there. Kanako’s boss bullied her into quitting, and then mocked her for being… Continue reading Manga Review: Happy Kanako’s Killer Life Volumes 1-4

Movie Review: Tears of the Black Tiger

Manehuan and Black Tiger have their first confrontation.

Movie Review: Tears of the Black Tiger (2000) directed by Wisit Sasanatieng Dum (Chartchai Ngamsan) and Rumpoey (Stella Malucchi) first met as children, when her wealthy father was visiting his father’s farm village. An encounter with a trio of bullies wound up with Dum being scarred and Rumpoey nearly drowned. Rather than find out what had… Continue reading Movie Review: Tears of the Black Tiger

Movie Review: GoldenEye

Janus Revealed

Movie Review: GoldenEye (1995) directed by Martin Campbell Nine years ago, MI6 agents 006 Alex Trevelyan (Sean Bean) and 007 James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) infiltrated a Soviet chemical weapons plant hidden inside a dam. A alarm was tripped early, and 006 was caught and shot by the base commander, Colonel Ourumov (Gottfried John). Bond shorted the… Continue reading Movie Review: GoldenEye

Manga Retrospective: Undead Unluck

Most of the cast!

Manga Retrospective: Undead Unluck by Yoshifumi Tozuka Fuuko Izumo has had a miserable life due to her curse of Unluck. Anyone Fuuko touches suffers a statistically improbable misfortune, often to lethal effect, with the first victims being her own parents. At age 18, the only thing that has kept her alive has been wanting to… Continue reading Manga Retrospective: Undead Unluck

Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024

Cover art by Tom Roberts

Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024 edited by Janet Hutchings Despite the cover date, this issue of the venerable mystery story magazine hit newsstands in December 2023, so is the Christmas issue as well as the Sherlock Holmes tribute. I bought this issue and promptly had it buried under a to read pile,… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024

Book Review: Binary Star #4: Legacy | The Janus Equation

Book Review: Binary Star #4: Legacy | The Janus Equation by Joan D. Vinge | Steven G. Spruil “Binary Star” was a short-lived series of paperbacks from Dell SF in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Their gimmick was pairs of novellas with a loose theme, something like the classic Ace Doubles. #4 was the first with… Continue reading Book Review: Binary Star #4: Legacy | The Janus Equation

Book Review: Thuvia, Maid of Mars

Book Review: Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs It has been some years since Thuvia, princess of Ptarth, was rescued from her captivity by the Therns, thanks to John Carter and his son Carthoris. In the process, she and Carthoris had become attracted to each other, but having been returned to her rightful… Continue reading Book Review: Thuvia, Maid of Mars

Book Review: The Crystal Stopper

Book Review: The Crystal Stopper by Maurice Leblanc Arsène Lupin should probably have been more cautious when two members of his gang, Vaucheray and Gilbert, asked him to assist with the burglary of the Enghien country home of government deputy Daubrecq. But Vaucheray is experienced, and Lupin is impressed with Gilbert’s good character (for a… Continue reading Book Review: The Crystal Stopper

Movie Review: Better Off Dead

You might be thinking, "oh, Lane has such a vivid imagination" but a later scene indicates this actually happened.

Movie Review: Better Off Dead (1985) directed by Savage Steve Holland Al Meyer (David Ogden Stiers) is a lawyer in the small Northern California town of Greendale, a short drive away from the mountains. Life is rough for him. His wife Jenny (Kim Darby) is an improbably bad cook who refuses to stop trying and is… Continue reading Movie Review: Better Off Dead