Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4 edited by Julius Schwartz The Flash is Barry Allen, a police detective who was working during a thunderstorm one night when a bolt of lightning struck a shelf of chemicals, spilling the mixture on him.   Barry quickly realized that he’d been gifted with super-speed, making… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4

Book Review: Inferior

Book Review: Inferior by Angela Saini Disclaimer:  I received this Uncorrected Page Proof as a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review.  No other compensation was requested or offered.  Some material may be changed in the final product, due out 5/23/17. Today there was a news story about a member of the European… Continue reading Book Review: Inferior

Magazine Review: Astounding Science-Fiction January 1946

Magazine Review: Astounding Science-Fiction January 1946 edited by John W. Campbell, Jr. Before Analog (see previous reviews), there was Astounding, the science fiction magazine that led the field for many years.  Having gotten a copy of an issue from the pulp days, let’s take a look at what wonders lie within.  Despite the cover date, the ads… Continue reading Magazine Review: Astounding Science-Fiction January 1946

Book Review: Creatures from Beyond

Book Review: Creatures from Beyond edited by Terry Carr This 1975 speculative fiction anthology has the theme of monsters from outside human experience.  The question of what lies in the outer darkness has haunted humanity since we developed imaginations.  These nine stories look at the possibilities, from implacable enemies, to beings a lot like us… Continue reading Book Review: Creatures from Beyond

Book Review: The Time Machine

Book Review: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells H.G Wells (1866-1946) was not the first science fiction author, nor even the first one to write about time travel.  But he was the first writer in English to produce multiple important works in what would become the science fiction genre.  The Time Machine was published in… Continue reading Book Review: The Time Machine

Manga Review: Batman: the Jiro Kuwata Batmanga

Manga Review: Batman: the Jiro Kuwata Batmanga by Jiro Kuwata In the mid-1960s, the Batman TV show was a huge hit not just in America, but also in Japan.  As a tie-in, 8-Man creator Jiro Kuwata was hired to create a manga version of Batman for the local market.  While the television show was more based on… Continue reading Manga Review: Batman: the Jiro Kuwata Batmanga

Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People

Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People by Jared Diamond, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff Disclosure:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This is a young adult version of Jared Diamond’s The Third Chimpanzee, originally printed in 1992.  I have not read that book, so will… Continue reading Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People

Book Review: The Why of Things

Book Review: The Why of Things: Causality in Science, Medicine, and Life by Peter Rabins Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. The author of this book is a professor of Geriatric Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, and it started as a clinical teaching presentation.… Continue reading Book Review: The Why of Things

Anime Review: Kill la Kill

Anime Review: Kill la Kill In the indefinite future, Ryuko Matoi is the delinquent daughter of a mad scientist who arrives home after a long time away at school to find him murdered with one blade of a giant scissors.  The killer, too far away to identify, has the other blade.  Ryuko vows vengeance. In… Continue reading Anime Review: Kill la Kill

Book Review: After the Vikings

Book Review: After the Vikings by G. David Nordley This collection of “tales of future Mars” was first published as an adjunct to a conference on possible first contact and the planet Mars.; the stories had individually appeared in Analog and Asimov’s magazines.  When the author realized he’d written them from furthest in time to closest, he decided… Continue reading Book Review: After the Vikings