Manga Review: Case Closed, Vols. 89 & 90 by Gosho Aoyama Quick recap: Shinichi Kudou (Jimmy Kudo in the dub) is a genius teen detective who is shrunk into a preteen by an experimental poison administered by agents of the Black Organization. (So called because they all wear black.) Taking the psuedonym Conan Edogawa, Shinichi… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed, Vols. 89 & 90
Tag: coincidence
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
Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932
Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932 edited by Farnsworth Wright Oriental Stories was a mostly-quarterly pulp magazine published from 1930-1933, with a name change to The Treasure Chest Magazine for an additional year. Its remit, as you might have guessed from the title, was tales of the exotic, mysterious East, from Islamic North Africa through… Continue reading Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932
Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers
Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers by W.F. Harvey W.F. Harvey (1885-1937) was born in Yorkshire, of Quaker family, and became a doctor. However, his health was poor and he was often unable to practice, so he wrote short stories on the side, many of them falling generally into the “weird” category. This volume… Continue reading Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers
Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales
Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz The definition of “thriller” is a little loose in this fun anthology, though most of the stories do have at least some suspense. It feels more like the compiler picked a bunch of the public domain stories he liked, but didn’t have a strong… Continue reading Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 by various creators In 1940, a year after Batman debuted, he gained the first superhero kid sidekick in comic books. Robin aka Dick Grayson served several functions. Kid appeal, merchandising, lightening up the tone of the stories a bit, and giving Batman someone to have… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1
Manga Review: Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
Manga Review: Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe adapted by Stacy King When I was young, a half century or so ago, there was a line of educational comics called Classics Illustrated. These presented classic public domain works of literature in a comic book format. The art tended to be static and pedestrian, difficult… Continue reading Manga Review: Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences
Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences by Pere Romanillos “Serendipity” is the good fortune that comes when you discover something useful or interesting while you were looking for something else. Knowing how to grasp the opportunity offered by serendipity is one of those skills that every scientist and artist should have at their disposal. This book, originally… Continue reading Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences
Book Review: Battling the Clouds
Book Review: Battling the Clouds by Captain Frank Cobb It is shortly after World War One, and two boys, both sons of majors, have come to be stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Frank Anderson’s father is in Aviation, while Bill Sherman’s stepfather is a teacher at the School of Fire (Artillery.) Bill is new to… Continue reading Book Review: Battling the Clouds
Book Review: Better than Bullets: The Complete Adventures of Thibault Corday and the Foreign Legion Volume 1
Book Review: Better than Bullets: The Complete Adventures of Thibaut Corday and the Foreign Legion Volume 1 by Theodore Roscoe The Légion étrangère was created in 1831 as a way to remove disruptive elements from French society, primarily foreigners of all sorts, and put them to good use fighting far away. Their first and primary posting was… Continue reading Book Review: Better than Bullets: The Complete Adventures of Thibault Corday and the Foreign Legion Volume 1