Manga Review: Mao Volumes 16-18 by Rumiko Takahashi Note: This review contains SPOILERS for the first 15 volumes, so you might want to go back to earlier entries if you’ve missed one or more. Quick recap: Nanoka is a 21st century girl who was cursed by the cat ayakashi Byoki. She discovered that a certain… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 16-18
Tag: thieves
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024 edited by Janet Hutchings Despite the cover date, this issue of the venerable mystery story magazine hit newsstands in December 2023, so is the Christmas issue as well as the Sherlock Holmes tribute. I bought this issue and promptly had it buried under a to read pile,… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024
Book Review: Swords Against Wizardry
Book Review: Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber We return, gentle readers, to the fabled world of Nehwon, home of those bold rogues, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. But they are not in their favorite city, Lankhmar, but in Fafhrd’s home territory of the Cold Wastes to the north. For they have learned of fabled… Continue reading Book Review: Swords Against Wizardry
Manga Review: Case Closed Vols. 80-82
Manga Review: Case Closed Vols. 80-82 by Gosho Aoyama It’s time once again to catch up on the adventures of Conan Edogawa, boy detective, who is secretly Shinichi Kudou (Jimmy Kudo in the dub), teen detective who was shrunk by an experimental poison. See my many prior reviews of this series, titled Meitantei Conan (“Detective… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed Vols. 80-82
Manga Review: From the Red Fog 1
Manga Review: From the Red Fog 1 by Mosae Nohara The place is England, in the late Nineteenth Century. Ruwanda Bailey is twelve years old, and from his earliest memories, his mother has kept him locked in the cellar. Miranda Bailey is beautiful, often compared to a rose, but her “thorn” is her habit of… Continue reading Manga Review: From the Red Fog 1
Manga Review: The Crater
Manga Review: The Crater by Osamu Tezuka In the late 1960s, Osamu Tezuka’s career was facing a crisis. He was still popular, with publishers quite willing to buy more of the kid-friendly material he’d become famous for. But he wasn’t a trend-setter anymore. The new generation of manga creators was into gekiga, more serious and… Continue reading Manga Review: The Crater
Book Review: The Crystal Stopper
Book Review: The Crystal Stopper by Maurice Leblanc Arsène Lupin should probably have been more cautious when two members of his gang, Vaucheray and Gilbert, asked him to assist with the burglary of the Enghien country home of government deputy Daubrecq. But Vaucheray is experienced, and Lupin is impressed with Gilbert’s good character (for a… Continue reading Book Review: The Crystal Stopper
Movie Review: Casablanca
Casablanca (1942) dir. Michael Curtiz It is early December, 1941. In French Morocco, the port city of Casablanca, the hot night spot is Rick’s Cafe Americain. With an abundant supply of liquor, gambling, and the music of pianist/singer Sam (Dooley Wilson), it’s no surprise that “everyone comes to Rick’s.” The owner, Richard “Rick” Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), was… Continue reading Movie Review: Casablanca
Book Review: Ding Dong Bell | Certain Sleep
Book Review: Ding Dong Bell | Certain Sleep by Helen Reilly It’s time for another Ace Double, paperbacks with two short books bound upside down from each other. This one, G-528, is from the Giant Double Novel Book series of mysteries. Although it wasn’t advertised as such, this line was entirely devoted to female authors.… Continue reading Book Review: Ding Dong Bell | Certain Sleep
Anime Review: Super Crooks
Anime Review: Super Crooks Johnny Bolt used to be, well, not a “sweet” kid, exactly, but one with at least a little idealism. Comic books based on the Utopian and other superheroes gave him hope that there could be a better life. One night he discovers that he has electrical powers (his mother never has… Continue reading Anime Review: Super Crooks