Comic Book Review: DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #19: Doom Patrol edited by Karen Berger The Doom Patrol is one of DC Comics’ more interesting super-teams. First published in My Greatest Adventure #80 (1963), it concerned a group of people who felt isolated from normal humanity, led by a genius in a wheelchair, who nevertheless… Continue reading Comic Book Review: DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #19: Doom Patrol
Tag: test pilots
Comic Book Review: DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #22: Secret Origins of Super-Heroes
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
Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott Volume 2
Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott Volume 2 Script by Sheldon Stark, Art by Jerry Robinson Quick recap: For a few years in the early 1950s (1953-1955) comics legends Sheldon Stark and Jerry Robinson tried their hands at a science fiction newspaper comic strip. The United States Government had a Department of Scientifact that investigated unusual… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott Volume 2
Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1
Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1 by Various Creators Much like DC, Marvel Comics also had dedicated superhero team-up series. Marvel Two-in-One featured perennial favorite character Benjamin Grimm, the Thing of the Fantastic Four–and I’ve never done a review of anything with him before, so first, a bit of character history! Fantastic Four… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1
Movie Review: Green Lantern: First Flight
Movie Review: Green Lantern: First Flight (2009) Directed by Lauren Montgomery Test Pilot Hal Jordan is practicing in a flight simulator when that non-vehicle is suddenly surrounded by a green glow and transported to a nearby desert. There he finds a crashed spacecraft and its dying pilot, an alien named Abin Sur. Abin Sur bequeaths his… Continue reading Movie Review: Green Lantern: First Flight
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021 edited by Janet Hutchings “The years keep coming and they just keep coming.” It seems like just a few months ago I reviewed a 75th anniversary issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, but in fact it was five years ago, and here’s the 80th anniversary issue. It’s… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021
Book Review: If This Goes On
Book Review: If This Goes On edited by Charles Nuetzel The “if this goes on” story is a staple of short science fiction. Pick a current trend like “women not wearing hats anymore” or “cat videos” and extend it out to an exaggerated conclusion. For example, the Robert Heinlein story of that name, which posits… Continue reading Book Review: If This Goes On
Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931
Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931 edited by Harry Bates Strange Tales was published as a direct competitor to Weird Tales, the top fantastic/occult story pulp magazine of the time, starting with this issue in 1931. It had more of an action slant to its editorial policy as compared to the more idea-heavy stories of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931
Movie Review: House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Movie Review: House on Haunted Hill (1959) directed by William Castle In its hundred years of history, the house has been host to seven brutal murders. It is said that their ghosts still haunt the place, ready to add more victims to their number. Tonight, five strangers have been invited to the house on Haunted Hill… Continue reading Movie Review: House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Book Review: Skycruiser
Book Review: Skycruiser by Howard M. Brier Barry Martin is not as young as he looks. He’s had three years of engineering in college, and two years training as a pilot. But he looks like a teenager, and a perception that he was too young to handle a man’s job caused him to wash out… Continue reading Book Review: Skycruiser