Book Review: Slow Dancing Through Time

Book Review: Slow Dancing Through Time by Gardner Dozois in collaboration with Jack Dann, Michael Swanwick, Susan Casper and/or Jack C Haldeman II. The art of collaboration is an interesting one; two authors (rarely three) blending their skills to create a story neither could produce individually.  Ideally, the reader should be able to see the… Continue reading Book Review: Slow Dancing Through Time

Book Review: Jewish Noir

Book Review: Jewish Noir edited by Kenneth Wishnia Many of the themes of noir fiction, alienation, hostile society, darkness and bitter endings, resonate with the experience of Jewish people.  So it’s not surprising that it was easy to find submissions for an anthology of thirty-plus noir stories with Jewish themes.  (Not all of the authors are… Continue reading Book Review: Jewish Noir

Manga Review: Ranma 1/2

Manga Review: Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi Soun Tendou, a widowed martial arts instructor in the Nerima suburb of Tokyo, has three daughters: gentle Kasumi, cunning Nabiki and fiery Akane.  They are surprised to learn one day that their father made an agreement with his old friend Genma Saotome to marry one of them to… Continue reading Manga Review: Ranma 1/2

Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 1 story by Doug Moench, art by various. Doctor Bruce Banner was one of the nation’s top physicists, and an expert in gamma radiation, when he was drafted into creating a new kind of nuclear weapon called a “gamma bomb.”  Just before the device was about to go… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 1

Manga Review: Bokurano (Ours)

Manga Review: Bokurano (Ours) by Mohiro Kitoh Fifteen middle-schoolers are at summer camp when they discover a seaside cave and decide to investigate.  Inside, they find a man called Kokopelli, who is surrounded by electronic gear.  He claims to be developing a new game where you pilot a giant robot to defend the Earth against… Continue reading Manga Review: Bokurano (Ours)

Comic Strip Review: Shutterbug Follies

Comic Strip Review: Shutterbug Follies by Jason Little It is the 1990s, before the digital photography explosion.  Bee works in a one-hour photo shop as a finishing technician.  She enjoys her job, not least because she takes copies of the more…interesting pictures shot by the customers home for her own collection.  One day, Bee notices… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Shutterbug Follies

Anime Review: Elfen Lied

Anime Review: Elfen Lied There is a secret laboratory off the coast of Kamakura, Japan.  There a naked woman wearing an eyeless helmet, codenamed “Lucy”, is undergoing experimentation.   When the helmet is damaged, allowing Lucy to see, she sets about freeing herself, slaughtering many of the lab’s personnel in the process.  Yes, even the… Continue reading Anime Review: Elfen Lied

Comic Book Review: Boxers & Saints

Comic Book Review: Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang Disclaimer:  I received this boxed set as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Little Bao is a farm boy who loves the Chinese operas performed at the spring festivals every year.  But one year a foreign devil, a missionary, appears… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Boxers & Saints

Manga Review: Ayako

Manga Review: Ayako by Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka is best known in the United States for his early children’s manga and their subsequent animated adaptations like “Astro Boy” and “Kimba the White Lion.”  But later in his prolific career, he also produced quite a few works for more mature readers, such as “MW” and “Ode… Continue reading Manga Review: Ayako

Book Review: Koko

Book Review: Koko by Peter Straub Four Vietnam veterans, among the very few remaining from their old unit, meet at the Vietnam War Memorial’s dedication.  One of them has noticed a series of murders that indicate another member of their unit is alive and a serial killer.  He convinces the others to go searching for… Continue reading Book Review: Koko