Manga Review: Billy Bat 1 by Naoki Urasawa with Takashi Nagasaki Billy Bat is a private detective in a world of anthropomorphic animals. He’s a hard-boiled type in the noir tradition with a cynical personality who refuses to use his wings unless he absolutely has to. (Or perhaps he can’t fly at all.) His current… Continue reading Manga Review: Billy Bat 1
Tag: spies
Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume II
Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume II by Ernest Bramah Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this project. To recap from my review of the first volume, Max Carrados is a blind detective published in stories from 1913-1934. A resident of a ritzy London suburb who’d been blinded in a riding accident, Max… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume II
Book Review: Mayday Orbit | No Man’s World
Book Review: Mayday Orbit | No Man’s World by Poul Anderson and Kenneth Bulmer, respectively. It’s time for another science fiction Ace Double, two books in one! It is the 31st Century, and the Terran Empire has passed its peak. Oh, to be sure it’s still very large and powerful and the vast majority of… Continue reading Book Review: Mayday Orbit | No Man’s World
Magazine Review: High Adventure #164: War Fiction – F. Van Wyck Mason
Magazine Review: High Adventure #164: War Fiction – F. Van Wyck Mason edited by James Gunnison Filling in a back issue here, this one is World War One stories, mostly by the fellow mentioned in the title. Francis Van Wyck Mason (1901-1978), the introduction tells us, was a veteran of the French Army and then… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #164: War Fiction – F. Van Wyck Mason
Comic Book Review: Asterix Volume One
Comic Book Review: Asterix Volume One Written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo It is the year 50 B.C. and Gaul has been conquered by the Roman forces under Julius Caesar. Well, almost conquered. There’s one small village that refuses to surrender, and although it is surrounded by four Roman encampments, has managed… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Asterix Volume One
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
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
Movie Review: Spy Smasher
Movie Review: Spy Smasher (1942) directed by William Witney Alan Armstrong (Kane Richmond) was an American journalist working in France when Germany invaded. Unable to stay neutral, Alan faked his own death so he could operate as freelance operative Spy Smasher. As our story opens, Spy Smasher is captured by the Gestapo, tortured and sentenced to… Continue reading Movie Review: Spy Smasher
Movie Review: The Life of Emile Zola
Movie Review: The Life of Emile Zola (1937) directed by William Dieterle We first meet Emile Zola (Paul Muni) when he is a penniless writer sharing a freezing garret with his friend, starving artist Paul Cezanne (Vladimir Sokoloff). They favor the “realist” schools of their respective crafts, which is not only unpopular with the buying public,… Continue reading Movie Review: The Life of Emile Zola
Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact June 1969
Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact June 1969 edited by John W. Campbell The editorial for this issue of the venerable science fiction magazine talks about two “elegant solutions” to technical problems, the first one being a better spacesuit, and the other being a better microphone. Neither of these notions worked out in real… Continue reading Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact June 1969