Comic Book Review: The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy

Can you decipher the flags?

Comic Book Review: The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy edited by Craig Yoe Don Winslow of the Navy was created as a newspaper comic strip in 1934 by Lieutenant Commander Frank Victor Martinek, a Naval Reserve officer. He wanted to encourage enlistment in the U.S. Navy during a time of relative peace, especially… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy

Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1

Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1 edited by Cory Sedlmeier As has been mentioned on this blog before, by the late 1940s, superheroes had become passe in comic books. A handful continued to be published over at National Publications (DC) on a regular basis, and there was the odd minor publisher title,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1

Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3

Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3 by Robert Bloch Robert Bloch (1917-1994) was a prolific author of horror, science fiction and mystery works. (You may have seen, read or at least heard of Psycho.) This volume, originally “Selected Stories” and by no means complete, features 39 stories published between 1960 and… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3

Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016

This scene does not appear in any of the stories this issue.

Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016 edited by Matthew Moring Every so often, someone tries to relaunch a once-popular magazine. Most of these efforts fold quickly. The subject of this review is one such, lasting a single issue. As you’ll recall from a previous review, Famous Fantastic Mysteries was primarily a reprint title, presenting… Continue reading Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016

Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales

Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz The definition of “thriller” is a little loose in this fun anthology, though most of the stories do have at least some suspense.  It feels more like the compiler picked a bunch of the public domain stories he liked, but didn’t have a strong… Continue reading Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales

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

Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1

Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1 Edited by Craig Yoe EC was not the only publisher putting out lurid horror comics during the brief period between the post-World War Two decline of superhero books and the installation of the Comics Code.  Others quickly followed in their footsteps.  Robert Farrell was one of those… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 6

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 6 edited by Julius Schwartz By 1971, the Batman television show had been off the air long enough that its sales boost to the Batman and Detective Comics series had faded, and with it, the incentive to model the magazines on the show.  Bruce Wayne moved from stately Wayne Manor to… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 6

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Rip Hunter…Time Master

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Rip Hunter…Time Master written by Jack Miller After the success of Jack Kirby creations The Challengers of the Unknown in 1959, DC Comics took a chance on two other quartets of non-powered adventurers in the pages of Showcase, their try-out comic.  The more successful of these was Rip Hunter’s team of time… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Rip Hunter…Time Master