Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners

Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners written by Alan Moore, art by Gene Ha In an alternate America with science heroes and other weird or wonderful “characters”, it’s been decided to move everyone who isn’t “normal” to one city, Neopolis.  It’s 1949, and war veterans Jetlad and Sky Witch are reunited on the relocation… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners

TV Review: Michael Shayne

TV Review: Michael Shayne Michael Shayne is a private detective who works out of Miami.  He was created in 1939 by Brett Halliday (pen name of David Dresser) for the novel Dividend On Death.  He went on to star in a long-running book series (the later ones produced under the Halliday house name by other authors),… Continue reading TV Review: Michael Shayne

TV Review: Miami Undercover | Richard Diamond, Private Eye

TV Review: Miami Undercover | Richard Diamond, Private Eye Miami Undercover was a 1961 series shot in Miami Beach, with Lee Bowman as private investigator Jeff Thompson and Rocky Graziano as “Rocky.”  Mr. Thompson was employed by the hotel owners to perform undercover investigations to avoid alarming guests with the presence of an overt hotel… Continue reading TV Review: Miami Undercover | Richard Diamond, Private Eye

TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow

TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow Decoy is a 1957-58 series about Casey Jones (Beverly Garland), a female police officer in New York City.  She often goes undercover, thus the series title.  This show is noteworthy as the first TV cop series to star a woman in the lead role.  Like Dragnet, the series fictionalized real… Continue reading TV Review: Decoy | The Shadow

Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible

Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible edited by Nancy Holder & Joe Gentile Moonstone Books is a publisher that specializes in new material about pulp magazine characters.  This is their third anthology of stories about Richard Henry Benson, the Avenger, and his organization, Justice, Inc. For those who have not heard of the… Continue reading Book Review: The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible

Book Review: The Saint: The Man Who was Clever

Book Review: The Saint: The Man Who was Clever by Leslie Charteris, with art by Dave Bryant Simon Templar, the Saint, was created by Leslie Charteris in the late 1920s and went on to become a major franchise.  Mr. Templar (not his birth name) was a roguish young man with a murky past, and a… Continue reading Book Review: The Saint: The Man Who was Clever

TV Review: Front Page Detective

TV Review: Front Page Detective This series was broadcast on the DuMont Network from 1951-1952, starring Edmund Lowe as David Chase.  Mr. Chase was a newspaper columnist in the style of Walter Winchell, seeking interesting tidbits of news and gossip, with many people sending him items.  Often, his column or his investigative activities involved him… Continue reading TV Review: Front Page Detective

Book Review: Blood Aces

Book Review: Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster who Created Vegas Poker by Doug J. Swanson Disclaimer:  I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway in the expectation that I would review it.  This was an Advance Uncorrected Proof copy, and there will be changes to the final… Continue reading Book Review: Blood Aces

Book Review: The Spider #7

Book Review: The Spider #7 by Grant Stockbridge When the Shadow kickstarted the pulp hero magazines in the 1930s, it was no surprise that a similar character, the Spider, was featured at a rival publishing house.  Written under house name Grant Stockbridge (usually Norvell Page), the Spider was wealthy socialite and amateur criminologist Richard Wentworth.… Continue reading Book Review: The Spider #7