Magazine Review: Planet Stories Summer 1949 edited by Paul L. Payne As previously discussed on this blog, Planet Stories was a science fiction pulp magazine published from 1939-1955. It was heavy on the space opera and planetary romance, and usually had a curvy and/or scantily-clad woman on the cover. This Adventure House reprint is of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Planet Stories Summer 1949
Tag: undercover work
Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932
Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932 edited by Farnsworth Wright Oriental Stories was a mostly-quarterly pulp magazine published from 1930-1933, with a name change to The Treasure Chest Magazine for an additional year. Its remit, as you might have guessed from the title, was tales of the exotic, mysterious East, from Islamic North Africa through… Continue reading Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932
Comic Book Review: DC’s Saved by the Belle Reve 1
Comic Book Review: DC’s Saved by the Belle Reve 1 created by Various A fairly long-standing tradition of DC Comics is the “Holiday Special”; an anthology issue themed around a particular holiday or season. It started, naturally, with Christmas specials, now more general “winter holiday”-themed, but Halloween specials with horror-type stories were an obvious addition,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: DC’s Saved by the Belle Reve 1
Movie Review: T-Men
Movie Review: T-Men (1947) directed by. Anthony Mann When an informant who was supposed to deliver a paper sample to the Treasury Department turns up dead (with no paper) in Los Angeles, the investigation of a major counterfeiting ring is stalled. It’s determined that new agents who won’t be identified so easily will be needed. They’ll… Continue reading Movie Review: T-Men
Movie Review: Supercop
Movie Review: Supercop (1992) directed by Stanley Tong After two spectacularly successful cases, Chan Kar Kui (Jackie Chan, “Kevin” in the dub) has acquired the nickname “Supercop.” And now there’s a new dangerous assignment on the horizon. His superiors trick him into volunteering by letting overhear a conversation about how they feel the case is too… Continue reading Movie Review: Supercop
Book Review: American Gothic
Book Review: American Gothic by Robert Bloch It’s so sad that G. Gordon Gregg’s wife died when she drunkenly set their house on fire. And just when things were looking up for the couple. Gregg has just completed creating a new transient apartment building with a castle-like facade and a thriving pharmacy on the ground… Continue reading Book Review: American Gothic
Book Review: London Falling
Book Review: London Falling by Paul Cornell It’s New Year’s Eve, and Operation Goodfellow is about to end. The years spent infiltrating Rob Toshack’s organized crime network, the money spent, it’s all produced nothing they can use to pin a charge on the kingpin. So at midnight, the Metropolitan Police are pulling the plug. But… Continue reading Book Review: London Falling
Book Review: Nexus
Book Review: Nexus by Ramez Naam In the not so distant future, technologies for human alteration and augmentation have advanced rapidly, so that many people are considered “transhuman” and there are a few that are possibly “post-human.” One of the new developments is Nexus, a “nanodrug” that allows humans to communicate mind-to-mind to some degree.… Continue reading Book Review: Nexus
Book Review: The Queen of Zamba
Book Review: The Queen of Zamba by L. Sprague de Camp (Also published as Cosmic Manhunt) It started out as a normal missing person case. Victor Hasselborg was hired to find runaway heiress Julnar Batruni. Her trail is easy to pick up, as she used her own name to buy tickets off-planet with her lover, one Anthony… Continue reading Book Review: The Queen of Zamba
Book Review: Jewish Noir
Book Review: Jewish Noir edited by Kenneth Wishnia Many of the themes of noir fiction, alienation, hostile society, darkness and bitter endings, resonate with the experience of Jewish people. So it’s not surprising that it was easy to find submissions for an anthology of thirty-plus noir stories with Jewish themes. (Not all of the authors are… Continue reading Book Review: Jewish Noir