Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible

Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman There are two narrators for this story, neither of whom has all the pieces. The first is Doctor Impossible, a supervillain and mad scientist who has a compulsion to take over the world. The other is Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the… Continue reading Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible

Movie Review: Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

Dr. Goldfoot relays instructions to Number Eleven

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) dir. Norman Taurog Craig Gamble (Frankie Avalon) is a SIC man. That is to say “Secret Intelligence Command”, a minor government agency, the San Francisco branch of while is run by his uncle Donald J. Pevney (Fred Clark). The budget is so low that he’s his uncle’s only agent,… Continue reading Movie Review: Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

Comic Book Review: DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #22: Secret Origins of Super-Heroes

Cover by Ross Andru & Mike DeCarlo

Comic Book Review: DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #22: Secret Origins of Super-Heroes edited by E. Nelson Bridwell “Secret origins” are a big part of the superhero genre. Since, back in the day, most superheroes had secret identities, just how exactly they’d come to gain powers or the motivation to fight crime was also a… Continue reading Comic Book Review: DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #22: Secret Origins of Super-Heroes

Magazine Review: High Adventure #193: Underworld Detective

Magazine Review: High Adventure #193: Underworld Detective edited by John P. Gunnison This issue of pulp reprints draws from Underworld Detective, which also published as The Underworld and The Underworld Magazine between 1927 and 1935. It focused on crime action stories, and it appears all the stories reprinted here are from the October 1933 issue.… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #193: Underworld Detective

Webtoon Review: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Roxie and Ramona have a moment.

Webtoon Review: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Scott Pilgrim is not exactly the most successful young man on Earth. He’s between jobs, crashing at his gay friend Wallace’s apartment in Toronto, playing bass in an indie band “Sex Bob-Omb” and kinda-sorta dating high school girl Knives Chau. He’s weirdly good at fighting, but this is a… Continue reading Webtoon Review: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Manga Review: Gyo

Manga Review: Gyo by Junji Ito Tadashi and Kaori, a handsome young couple, thought a vacation by the sea would be an excellent idea. That’s why they’re in Okinawa, living in his uncle’s seaside home and diving off his boat. One day while SCUBA diving, Tadashi comes across a wrecked battleship on the ocean floor.… Continue reading Manga Review: Gyo

Movie Review: Atom Age Vampire

Professor Levin mid-transformation

Movie Review: Atom Age Vampire (1960) directed by Anton Giuilo Majano (original title “Seddok, l’erede di Satana”) Brilliant scientist Professor Alberto Levin (Alberto Lupo) is working on a revolutionary cure for skin cancer and scarring, inspired by his research on radiation survivors. With his faithful assistant Monique Riviere (Franca Parisi) and mute manservant Sacha (Roberto Bertea),… Continue reading Movie Review: Atom Age Vampire

Anime Review: Case Closed: The Culprit Hanzawa

Phrasing, Dr. Agasa!

Anime Review: Case Closed: The Culprit Hanzawa I’ve reviewed several volumes of the long-running Detective Conan (“Case Closed” in the American dub) manga. The “teen genius detective trapped in the body of a pre-teen” premise has remained popular, and the associated anime has run for over twenty years and a thousand episodes. This has caused… Continue reading Anime Review: Case Closed: The Culprit Hanzawa

Book Review: Enter the Jackal

Cover by Krocker Klaus

Book Review: Enter the Jackal by Jonathan W. Sweet As you may have noticed by now, I’m a fan of the pulps. But I’m certainly not the most enthusiastic one, or most knowledgeable. Some folks have made the pulp magazines their main focus. Jonathan W. Sweet runs a reprint press, Brick Pickle Pulp, and does… Continue reading Book Review: Enter the Jackal

Manga Review: Mars Red Vol. 1

Manga Review: Mars Red Vol. 1 Story by Bun-O Fujisawa, art by Karakara Kemuri It is 1924, and the Great Kanto Earthquake has hit Tokyo. In the ruins of a lavish performance hall, the star actor awaits death. A girl comes to rescue him, amusing to him as he is a vampire and she a… Continue reading Manga Review: Mars Red Vol. 1