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

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #44

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #44 by various creators Archie Comics wasn’t the only company doing digests, of course. DC Comics also had a vast library of back issues able to be reprinted in a smaller, checkout aisle friendly format. At one point, it was used as part of a… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #44

Book Review: Generation Wonder

Book Review: Generation Wonder edited by Barry Lyga This young adult superhero anthology has the mission of creating characters across a spectrum of diversity and not being derived from previous properties. There’s thirteen stories ranging acrpss multiple subgenres, comedic, science fiction, fantasy… Let’s see how they did! “Love to Hate” by Lamar Giles starts us… Continue reading Book Review: Generation Wonder

Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973

"Astronauts on Deimos" by David A. Hardy. Not illustrating any of the interior stories.

Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973 edited by Ejier Jakobsson This issue of the magazine also known as “If” opens with the “Hue and Cry” letter column. One reader was especially impressed with the negative review Lester del Rey gave of a book on cloning, which taught the reader something to look for in… Continue reading Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973

Comic Book Review: Forbidden Worlds Vol. 15

Comic Book Review: Forbidden Worlds Vol. 15 edited by Richard E. Hughes Forbidden Worlds started as a horror anthology comic book series from American Comics Group in 1951. In 1955, it ran foul of new restrictions on horror in comics, but soon retooled as “stories of strange adventure” which conformed with the Comics Code and… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Forbidden Worlds Vol. 15

TV Review: Flash Gordon #TV1-A

Alien spy.

TV Review: Flash Gordon #TV1-A Digging through my pile of random DVDs, I have come across this set of three episodes of the 1950s German/American TV series of FLash Gordon starring Steve Holland. As previously mentioned, the three lead characters, Flash, Dale Arden, and Dr. Zarkov, were played by American actors while almost everyone else… Continue reading TV Review: Flash Gordon #TV1-A

Magazine Review: Science Fiction Adventure Classics #12 Winter

Magazine Review: Science Fiction Adventure Classics #12 Winter edited by Sam Moskowitz This is a magazine I could find very few details about. It reprinted 1920s and 1930s tales from Amazing Stories; it’s listed as quarterly, but seems to have been published on a more irregular basis. This issue is apparently from 1970 though there’s… Continue reading Magazine Review: Science Fiction Adventure Classics #12 Winter

Comic Book Review: Indestructible Hulk Vol. 3: S.M.A.S.H. Time

Comic Book Review: Indestructible Hulk Vol. 3: S.M.A.S.H. Time written by Mark Waid, art by Various The Hulk, a.k.a. Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, has gone through multiple status quo changes over the years. Indeed, the fluid nature of just how smart the Hulk is, when changes happen, and the relationship between Banner and his (usually)… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Indestructible Hulk Vol. 3: S.M.A.S.H. Time

Book Review: New Tales of Space and Time

Cover by Charles Frank

Book Review: New Tales of Space and Time edited by Raymond J. Healy This 1951 anthology opens with an introduction by Anthony Boucher. In it he notes the proliferation of science fiction anthologies at the time, most of which were reprints of magazine stories. Often the same stories, over and over–not bad because they are… Continue reading Book Review: New Tales of Space and Time

Manga Review: Mao Volumes 1-2

Manga Review: Mao Volumes 1-2 by Rumiko Takahashi Now that I’ve finally caught up to the end of Rumiko Takahashi’s previous series, Rin-Ne, it’s time to look at her new shounen fantasy manga, Mao! Nanoka Kiba was in a horrific accident when she was a child. It killed her parents, leaving her in the care… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 1-2