Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026

Cover by Jeffrey Ray Hayes

Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026 edited by Robert Greenberger Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this book, and there’s an advertisement for this blog on page 44. It’s time for another annual installment of this pulp-style anthology! Some returning authors, some new ones, and some familiar characters to follow. This year, the genres… Continue reading Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026

Manga Review: Billy Bat 1

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

Comic Book Review: Dark Mysteries Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Dark Mysteries Vol. 1 by Various Artists This is another of the PS Artbooks softcover collections of pre-Code horror comics, collecting the first five issues of Dark Mysteries from Master Comics, published in 1951-1952. These comic books may have been read by the youth, but the shaping underwear ads indicate an older… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Dark Mysteries Vol. 1

Movie Review: Final Encounter (2000)

The team inside the Wall.

Movie Review: Final Encounter (2000) directed by David Douglas. aka For the Cause It is several centuries into the future. Two human colonies have been established on an Earth-like planet to get away from the constant wars on the mother world. Alas, Brecca and Obsidian eventually turned hostile to each other for reasons now lost to history,… Continue reading Movie Review: Final Encounter (2000)

Book Review: The Last Quarry

Cover by Robert McGinnis

Book Review: The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins Quarry is a professional killer, a hitman if you will. He was good at the job, too. He tried retiring once, only to have political enemies track him down and kill his wife. They’re very dead now. At loose ends, he accepted an old friend’s (from… Continue reading Book Review: The Last Quarry

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #30: Detective Comics

Cover by Aparo.

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #30: Detective Comics edited by Len Wein Detective Comics is one of DC’s longest-running comic book series, and indeed, they’re named after it. While it’s best known as the birthplace of Batman, over the years it’s hosted several other features involving some form of detection or mystery solving.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #30: Detective Comics

Movie Review: The Ballad of Andy Crocker

Andy Crocker is just about done with the shambles his life has become.

Movie Review: The Ballad of Andy Crocker (1969) directed by George McCowan Corporal Andy Crocker (Lee Majors) is a hero. At least that’s what the medal he won for bravery and getting wounded in action in Vietnam says. But his draft obligation is finally over, and Andy is flying back to the States with his best… Continue reading Movie Review: The Ballad of Andy Crocker

Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 8

Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 8 by Naoki Urasawa Note: There will be SPOILERS for earlier volumes of this series. If you don’t want to be spoiled, read those earlier volumes before reading this review. Quick recap: Asa Asada was kidnapped as a child, but a typhoon and a mysterious monster forced her and her kidnapper,… Continue reading Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 8

Book Review: Cryogenic Nightmare

Cover art by George Wilson.

Book Review: Cryogenic Nightmare by Lionel Derrick “Preacher” Mann got that nickname when he converted to vegetarianism and became one of those obnoxious people who insist on telling you about it and their newfound superiority for not eating meat. But because he’s a murderous crimelord who controls West Palm Beach, very few people are willing… Continue reading Book Review: Cryogenic Nightmare

Book Review: Head of a Traveler

Book Review: Head of a Traveler by Nicholas Blake (pen name of Cecil Day-Lewis) Nigel Strangeways, a writer and literary scholar when he isn’t being distracted by his private investigation work, is thrilled to have a chance to meet Robert Seaton, one of Britain’s greatest living poets. Plash Meadow, Seaton’s house, is in Oxfordshire near… Continue reading Book Review: Head of a Traveler