Comic Book Review: Essential Hulk Vol. 1 Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Mild-mannered nuclear scientist Bruce Banner worked in America’s weapons program, and developed their latest improvement on the atomic bomb, the gamma bomb. As it was about to be tested, Dr. Banner spotted a teenager named Rick Jones, who’d wandered into the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Hulk Vol. 1
Tag: scientists
Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories
Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer This is the first collection of speculative fiction stories by Naomi Kritzer, headlined by the title piece, which won a Hugo Award in 2016. There’s seventeen stories in all. “Cat Pictures Please” is a sweet story about an artificial intelligence accidentally created from a… Continue reading Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories
Book Review: The Lost Millennium | The Road to the Rim
Book Review: The Lost Millennium by Walt & Leigh Richmond | The Road to the Rim by A. Bertram Chandler It’s time, again, to review an Ace Double, one of those formats so dear to my youth that has since vanished. The Lost Millennium has as its frame story an engineer being approached by an archaeologist about his… Continue reading Book Review: The Lost Millennium | The Road to the Rim
Book Review: Secondhand Origin Stories
Book Review: Secondhand Origin Stories by Lee Blauersouth Opal’s father should have been a superhero, but he used his powers to protect a neighbor illegally and wound up in jail. Ever since, Opal has kept her nose clean, excelling in school and decorum, in the hope of being licensed and redeeming the family name. Now… Continue reading Book Review: Secondhand Origin Stories
Manga Review: Hayate the Combat Butler Vol. 2
Manga Review: Hayate the Combat Butler Vol. 2 by Kenjiro Hata Nagi Sanzenin, for all her wealth, is a lonely 13-year-old girl who must constantly be on guard against those who would harm her to gain some of her money, even her own relatives. On Christmas Eve, Nagi is saved from kidnappers by an outstandingly athletic… Continue reading Manga Review: Hayate the Combat Butler Vol. 2
Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains
Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason On an alternate Earth, the mammoth lived into historical times, abiding with the bison and the Native Americans. But then Lewis and Clark saw their first mammoth, and reported on it to President Jefferson and the teeming masses of the East. This is the story of… Continue reading Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 by various creators In 1940, a year after Batman debuted, he gained the first superhero kid sidekick in comic books. Robin aka Dick Grayson served several functions. Kid appeal, merchandising, lightening up the tone of the stories a bit, and giving Batman someone to have… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1
Book Review: Escape from Earth: New Adventures in Space
Book Review: Escape from Earth: New Adventures in Space edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois Per the introduction, in the Fifties and Sixties, many young science fiction fans’ introduction to the genre was “juveniles”, books aimed at an age above “children’s” but not quite “adult.” In the 1970s or so, this category was re-labled… Continue reading Book Review: Escape from Earth: New Adventures in Space
Book Review: The Best of Planet Stories #1
Book Review: The Best of Planet Stories #1 edited by Leigh Brackett Planet Stories was a pulp science fiction magazine that ran from 1939-1955. Its specialty was “space opera”, exciting tales of adventure set in the future and on other worlds, full of square-jawed heroes, scantily clad damsels and bug-eyed monsters. Not always the most… Continue reading Book Review: The Best of Planet Stories #1
Comic Book Review: Essential Killraven Vol. 1
Comic Book Review: Essential Killraven Vol. 1 by various In the far future Earth of 2018, the Martian invaders rule. Having learned their lesson from their last attempt, this time the Martians immunized themselves against Earth diseases, and neutralized the humans’ nuclear stockpiles before landing. Scattered free humans scrabble for survival in the ruins of… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Killraven Vol. 1