Book Review: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Once, Mars was a place of mystery. Humans looked at it from the blue Earth with feeble telescopes, and imagined what life, if any, might inhabit that red dot in the sky. Were there canals filled with water? Bloodsucking tripod operators? Beings that had never fallen from grace… Continue reading Book Review: The Martian Chronicles
Tag: Illinois
Comic Book Review: Essential Captain Marvel Vol. 2
Comic Book Review: Essential Captain Marvel Vol. 2 by various creators. Back in 1967, Marvel Comics became aware that the name “Captain Marvel” for a superhero had fallen out of trademark status. It was too good a name for Marvel to pass up, so Stan Lee quickly came up with a character to appear in Marvel… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Captain Marvel Vol. 2
Book Review: The Black Bat #1: Brand of the Black Bat & Murder Calls the Black Bat
Book Review: The Black Bat #1: Brand of the Black Bat & Murder Calls the Black Bat by Norman Daniels (writing as G. Wayman Jones) Tony Quinn was a handsome, wealthy and highly competent district attorney until the day of Oliver Snate’s trial. This time he had proof of the gangster’s illegal activities, actual recordings… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Bat #1: Brand of the Black Bat & Murder Calls the Black Bat
Book Review: Kaiju: Lords of the Earth
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
Book Review: Superheroes
Book Review: Superheroes edited by Rich Horton Superheroes as we know them more or less started in the comic books of the late 1930s, with the most obvious first “true” superhero being Superman. And comic books have largely shaped our perceptions of costumed superheroes ever since. But sometimes prose is a perfectly acceptable way of… Continue reading Book Review: Superheroes
Magazine Review: The Saturday Evening Post 6/10/61
Magazine Review: The Saturday Evening Post 6/10/61 edited by Ben Hibbs The Saturday Evening Post ran weekly from 1897-1963; after several format changes, it is now published six times a year. The Post was well known for its lavish illustrations and a combination of current event articles and short stories by popular writers. I got… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Saturday Evening Post 6/10/61
Book Review: These Honored Dead
Book Review: These Honored Dead by Jonathan E. Putnam Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of writing this review. This review is of an Advance Reader’s Edition, and there may be changes in the final product. Joshua Speed is the junior partner at the Springfield, Illinois store of A.Y.… Continue reading Book Review: These Honored Dead
Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate
Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate edited by John Gaterud Yes, this is yet another literary magazine; I picked up a bunch inexpensively at the book fair. This one seems to take its title from Jack Kerouac’s writing; this first issue was published in 2007. The index is unusual for this kind of… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate
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
Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 18: All We Cannot Alter
Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 18: All We Cannot Alter edited by Mary François Rockcastle. This is the latest volume of Hamline University’s annual literary magazine, which I picked up at the Rain Taxi Book Festival. The subtitle comes from one of the poems in this issue, “Is This What Poets Do?” by Elizabeth Oness.… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 18: All We Cannot Alter