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
Tag: abduction
Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries
Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler While stories that could be considered “mysteries” in some sense have existed as long as writing, and perhaps a bit before, the short story mystery came into its own during the lifetime of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This volume collects forty-nine notable stories from… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries
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
Movie Review: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Movie Review: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) directed by Steven Spielberg We are not alone in the universe. There are beings from beyond the stars, who have visited Earth from time to time. Sometimes there have even been “close encounters”, sightings and nebulous evidence. Now, perhaps, it is time for a true meeting in… Continue reading Movie Review: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1
Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1 by Various Creators Much like DC, Marvel Comics also had dedicated superhero team-up series. Marvel Two-in-One featured perennial favorite character Benjamin Grimm, the Thing of the Fantastic Four–and I’ve never done a review of anything with him before, so first, a bit of character history! Fantastic Four… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1
Movie Review: The Hunter
Movie Review: The Hunter (1980) directed by Buzz Kulik Frank “Papa” Thorson (Steve McQueen) is an old-fashioned kind of guy. He collects antique tin toys, struggles to show his emotions, and is a bounty hunter, going after those who have jumped bail to bring them back–usually alive–for a reward. Right now, he seriously needs the money… Continue reading Movie Review: The Hunter
Movie Review: The Searchers (1956)
Movie Review: The Searchers (1956) directed by John Ford Texas, 1868: Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) finally returns to his childhood home, three years after the end of the American Civil War. He evades questions about where he’s been, though he was emphatically not in California. Ethan gets reacquainted with his brother Aaron’s family: wife Martha, eldest… Continue reading Movie Review: The Searchers (1956)
Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files
Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files edited by Max Allan Collins and Martin H. Greenberg In 1990, the venerable Dick Tracy comic strip got a movie adaptation, Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty and Madonna. To cash in on the publicity, the then-writer of the strip, Max Allan Collins, was asked to do both a… Continue reading Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files
Movie Review: The Mask of Fu Manchu
Movie Review: The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) directed by Charles Brabin Once again, representatives of the British Museum, led by Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant), plan to rob a tomb and steal another country’s treasures. Now ordinarily that would make them seem like bad guys. But as Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) explains, in London, shorn… Continue reading Movie Review: The Mask of Fu Manchu
Anime Review: Marvel Anime: X-Men
Anime Review: Marvel Anime: X-Men The Tohoku region of northern Japan has an unusually high number of mutants in its population. Recently, some of them have gone missing. Given the general prejudice against mutants, there hasn’t been much interest in looking for them, especially after a couple of police officers who tried wound up dead… Continue reading Anime Review: Marvel Anime: X-Men