Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #38: Superman Vs. the Supernatural

Cover by Hannigan & Smith

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #38: Superman Vs. the Supernatural edited by Nicola Cuti As I’ve mentioned before, Superman’s impressive array of powers at the top of the super-scale make him a hard character to write challenges for. This led to the invention of Kryptonite and its subsequent overuse as a plot device.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #38: Superman Vs. the Supernatural

Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2

Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2 by Various Creators 2023 would have been Osamu Tezuka’s 95th birthday year, and in commemoration of the great manga and anime creator, this series was commissioned to show other artists’ take on his famous (and not so famous) works. For reasons, most of these were French and Spanish… Continue reading Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2

Open Thread: YARPP Stats Update 2023

Created for me by Indigo Caldwell; please do not reuse without permission.

Open Thread: YARPP Stats Update 2023 If you visit a lot of blogs, you may have noticed “related posts” at the bottom of current posts, inviting you down a rabbit hole of content that in theory will also interest you. The plugin I use to create that selection is YARPP, and back in 2020, I… Continue reading Open Thread: YARPP Stats Update 2023

Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973

"Astronauts on Deimos" by David A. Hardy. Not illustrating any of the interior stories.

Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973 edited by Ejier Jakobsson This issue of the magazine also known as “If” opens with the “Hue and Cry” letter column. One reader was especially impressed with the negative review Lester del Rey gave of a book on cloning, which taught the reader something to look for in… Continue reading Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Men of War

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Men of War edited by Paul Levitz In 1977, African-American male leads in mainstream comic books were still countable on one hand (and don’t even ask about African-American women!)  But this also had the effect of making a comic with a black person on the front attention-getting.  And I suspect… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Men of War

Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book

Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book edited by Andrew Lang Once upon a time, (1889 to be specific), British children did not have access to collections of fairy tales.  Educators of the time thought fairy tales were too unrealistic and harmful to children, and beneath adults.  Mr. Lang felt differently; he had delighted in such… Continue reading Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book

Book Review: That Ain’t Right

Book Review: That Ain’t Right edited by Jeremy Zimmerman & Dawn Vogel Disclaimer:  I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Howard Phillips “H.P.” Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a minor writer of horror fiction in the early 20th Century.  But thanks to a gift for purple prose, a… Continue reading Book Review: That Ain’t Right

Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries

Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler The title of this volume is slightly misleading; “locked room” stands in for the general idea of impossible crimes in mystery stories.  A man  is found stabbed in the back in a windowless room with the door locked from the inside.… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg This was my Halloween season read this year, an anthology commissioned for the Barnes & Noble stores in 1995.  There are indeed one hundred stories in this hefty tome, averaging about six pages.  They are not all about… Continue reading Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic

Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic edited by David Sklar & Sarah Avery Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This fantasy anthology has a dual theme, as indicated by its title; magic as transaction, and magic while traveling.  The former theme brings… Continue reading Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic