Manga Review: Showa 1926 1939 a History of Japan by Shigeru Mizuki This is the first volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s massive history of Japan during the reign of Emperor Hirohito, the “Showa Era,” It was a long reign, covering most of the Twentieth Century, from 1926-1989. In addition to the larger story of Japan, it… Continue reading Manga Review: Showa 1926 1939 a History of Japan
Tag: poverty
Book Review: Famous Nathan
Book Review: Famous Nathan by Lloyd Handwerker and Gil Reavill Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was requested or given. Nathan’s Famous was the number one hot dog stand in the world for several decades, and synonymous with the… Continue reading Book Review: Famous Nathan
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine July 2016
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine July 2016 edited by Janet Hutchings Frederick Dannay, who along with Manfred B. Lee wrote the Ellery Queen mystery stories, was asked by Mercury Press to be the editor of a new magazine that would print a higher class of detective stories than the general run of pulps, with… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine July 2016
Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2
Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2 written by Kazuo Koike, art by Goseki Kojima Yamada “Decapitator” Asaemon is the o-tameshiyaku, sword-tester for the shogun and official executioner of criminals. It’s not a pretty job, but at least he has one in Edo-era Japan, during a time of peace. Without wars to fight, many of the samurai… Continue reading Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2
Comic Book Review: Essential Tomb of Dracula, Volume 2
Comic Book Review: Essential Tomb of Dracula, Volume 2 mostly written by Marv Wolfman and art by Gene Colan. When the Comics Code restrictions on horror were loosened in the 1970s, DC primarily went in for horror anthology comics, while Marvel Comics based entire series around horrific heroes and villains. One of these was the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Tomb of Dracula, Volume 2
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
Book Review: The Financial Expert
Book Review: The Financial Expert by R.K. Narayan In the South Indian town of Malgudi, across from the Central Cooperative Land Mortgage Bank, there is a banyan tree under which sits Margayya, the financial expert. Margayya (“the one who shows the way”) is an unofficial middleman who helps the unlettered villagers apply for small loans… Continue reading Book Review: The Financial Expert
Book Review: The Marsco Dissident
Book Review: The Marsco Dissident by James A. Zarzana It’s a Marsco world. Much has changed by the last years of the 21st Century. The rot started to set in with the Abandonment Policy (euphemized as “Divestiture”) where countries with prosperous sections and not-so-prosperous bits split off the not-prosperous sectors as “another country now, not… Continue reading Book Review: The Marsco Dissident
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories edited by Otto Penzler I have a fondness for Sherlock Holmes, as I am sure the majority of my readers do. Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of Holmes fanfiction over the years. Pastiches that try to capture the feel of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prose, parodies… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 18
Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 18 by Rumiko Takahashi Recap: Rinne Rokudo is a shinigami (“death spirit”) a psychopomp who helps ghosts and spirits move on to the afterlife. Because he’s part human, his powers are relatively weak, and he must rely on often expensive gadgets to do his job. That, and debts his deadbeat dad Sabato… Continue reading Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 18