Book Review: Kaiju: Lords of the Earth edited by Essel Pratt Kaiju (“strange beast”) is primarily a subgenre of the monster movie that became codified in Japan. They’re mostly gigantic monsters that are nigh-unstoppable by conventional armaments, and run around destroying cities or fighting other giant monsters. The seeds of the story type were sown… Continue reading Book Review: Kaiju: Lords of the Earth
Tag: gangsters
Comic Book Review: Jacked
Comic Book Review: Jacked written by Eric Kripke, art by John Higgins. Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was offered or requested. Josh Jaffe is hitting a mid-life crisis. His body is beginning to fall apart, he doesn’t really talk to his wife… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Jacked
Book Review: Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory
Book Review: Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory by Thomas E. Sniegoski Disgraced doctor Jonas Chapel, on the run from the mob in Mexico, stumbles across a mysterious skeleton dripping a fluid that turns humans into monsters. Soon thereafter Chapel’s back in New York, teaming up with the very gang boss who’d ordered the hit on… Continue reading Book Review: Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory
Anime Review: Young Black Jack
Anime Review: Young Black Jack Black Jack was a manga series by Osamu Tezuka, about a renegade doctor who performs miraculous feats of medicine, but demands outrageous fees. (Unless he decides to do it for free or a token.) As Dr. Tezuka was an actual M.D. before he chucked it to become a full-time artist,… Continue reading Anime Review: Young Black Jack
Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (2015)
Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (2015) by various creators. It’s the third anniversary of this blog, and as is my custom, I’ll be looking at the current lineup of Weekly Shonen Jump, the online version of Shounen Jump. For those just joining us, Shounen Jump is the top-selling shounen manga (boys’ comic book) in Japan. Many of its series… Continue reading Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (2015)
Magazine Review: High Adventure #143: Planet Stories Issue
Magazine Review: High Adventure #143: Planet Stories Issue edited by John P. Gunnison Planet Stories was a science-fiction pulp magazine published between 1939 and 1955; it specialized in interplanetary action and daring-do. (See my review of Planet Comics, its sister magazine that started publishing about the same time. Covers tended to the formula of busty, scantily-clad… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #143: Planet Stories Issue
Book Review: Justicariat
Book Review: Justicariat by Nathan Bolduc In an alternate history, the newly-formed United Nations created an extra-national force called the Justicariat. Its members, the Justicars, hunt down and kill those they believe to be criminals, not bound by any authority or law higher than themselves. They have absolute immunity from local laws or regulations, though… Continue reading Book Review: Justicariat
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
Comic Strip Review: Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy Volume 14: 1951-1953
Comic Strip Review: Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy Volume 14: 1951-1953 by Chester Gould Another of the fine IDW reprints which are trying to cover the entire Chester Gould run of Dick Tracy, moving into the early 1950s. As mentioned in the Max Allan Collins introduction, the stories shifted focus a bit. Dick Tracy is a full… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy Volume 14: 1951-1953
Comic Book Review: The Batman Adventures Volume 2
Comic Book Review: The Batman Adventures Volume 2 written by Kelley Puckett, pencils by Mike Parobeck, inks by Rick Burchett Batman: The Animated Series ran on Fox 1992-1995, and is considered one of the best animated TV series of all time, as well as one of the best adaptations of Batman outside comic books. It… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Batman Adventures Volume 2