Webtoon Review: Mari-Kari

Webtoon Review: Mari-Kari Mari and Kari (both voiced by Shannon Doherty) are twins who attend Gilles de Rais Elementary School.  Mari is a chipper young blonde who’s well, a little air-headed.  Kari is a rather creepy young lady who is violently protective of Mari and is undead.  Mari wants to be friends with all her… Continue reading Webtoon Review: Mari-Kari

Book Review: Universal Station

Book Review: Universal Station by Beth Brown. This volume is by the Beth Brown who also wrote “All Dogs Go To Heaven”. Like that book, it’s a light fantasy about the afterlife. (Indeed, one of the main characters is a dog.) Broadway musician Johnny dies in a plane crash during World War Two, and is met… Continue reading Book Review: Universal Station

Manga Review: HeroMan Volume 1

Manga Review: HeroMan Volume 1 by Tamon Ohta and BONES, from a concept by Stan Lee. Joey Jones is a young orphan living with his grandmother in Center City, California.  He’s a sweet kid in a bad situation, who has to hold down a part-time job to help with the bills and can’t afford nice… Continue reading Manga Review: HeroMan Volume 1

Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service by Eiji Otsuka & Housui Yamazaki. Five students at a Buddhist college discover that each of them has a talent or skill relating to death.  The corpse that brings about this revelation is restless, and they help it find peace.  In exchange it wills them just enough money… Continue reading Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

Book Review: If I Were You

Book Review: If I Were You by L. Ron Hubbard Before L. Ron Hubbard got involved in…you know, he was a middling-good and prolific pulp author. The Golden Age Stories line is reprinting many of his stories in attractively designed paperbacks. This volume contains two short stories, , a preview of another, a glossary (really… Continue reading Book Review: If I Were You

Manga Review: Anesthesiologist Hana

Manga Review: Anesthesiologist Hana by Hakua Nakao and Kappei Matsumoto One of the manga genres that doesn’t get a lot of press in the US is “work manga”.  These are more realistic looks at an unusual career, showing the day-to-day life and challenges, as well as what it takes to get and keep the job.… Continue reading Manga Review: Anesthesiologist Hana

Open Thread 12/23/12

Open Thread I’ll be off until after Christmas.  When I return, I hope to have reviews of several books handy, including the manga “Anesthesologist Hana.”  (I might even get an interview with the translator!) In the meantime, if you have any relevant questions or  statements, such as what you’d like me to put in the… Continue reading Open Thread 12/23/12

Book Review: Blood Lance

Book Review: Blood Lance by Jeri Westerson This is the fifth Crispin Guest novel, featuring a disgraced knight of the Fourteenth Century who takes up a career of detection, earning the nickname “Tracker.” I have not read the previous volumes. Guest happens to witness a man falling from a bridge into the Thames. By the… Continue reading Book Review: Blood Lance

TV Review: Northwest Passage

TV Review: Northwest Passage This 1958 television series is set during the French & Indian War (1756-1763).  A Colonial militia named Roger’s Rangers battle the perfidious French and their Native American allies in what later became upstate New York and Quebec.  Both this series and the 1940 movie were based on a 1937 novel.  (The… Continue reading TV Review: Northwest Passage

Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger)

Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger) The Avenger is one of the classic hero pulp characters, a man so strongly affected by a horrific crime that all color drained from his skin and hair, and his face became frozen.  Determined that no one else… Continue reading Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger)