Book Review: The Best of Analog edited by Ben Bova After the death of long-time editor John W. Campbell in 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Fact needed a new person at the helm. The winner of the selection process was Ben Bova (1932-2020), who intended to stay only a few years, those years winding up… Continue reading Book Review: The Best of Analog
Tag: United Nations
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
Comic Book Review: Queen & Country: Definitive Edition Volume 01
Comic Book Review: Queen & Country: Definitive Edition Volume 01 written by Greg Rucka, art by various Tara Felicity Chace is a field agent for the Special Operations Section of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS.) She’s one of three operatives known as Minders who are assigned to the most dangerous tasks, and is code-named… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Queen & Country: Definitive Edition Volume 01
Book Review: A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman and the Birth of Modern China, 1949
Book Review: A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman and the Birth of Modern China, 1949 by Kevin Peraino In 1949, Chen Yong was an idealistic boy in his teens, his military uniform too large for him, cheering in Beijing as Mao Zedong declared that the People’s Republic of China was born. Now, he is an… Continue reading Book Review: A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman and the Birth of Modern China, 1949
Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989
Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989 by Shigeru Mizuki This is the final volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s history of Japan and his personal life during the Showa Era. It mixes events that affected the entire country with stories of his struggles as a man and an artist. As noted in the introduction by… Continue reading Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989
Book Review: Kaiju: Lords of the Earth
Book Review: Kaiju: Lords of the Earth edited by Essel Pratt Kaiju (“strange beast”) is primarily a subgenre of the monster movie that became codified in Japan. They’re mostly gigantic monsters that are nigh-unstoppable by conventional armaments, and run around destroying cities or fighting other giant monsters. The seeds of the story type were sown… Continue reading Book Review: Kaiju: Lords of the Earth
Book Review: Justicariat
Book Review: Justicariat by Nathan Bolduc In an alternate history, the newly-formed United Nations created an extra-national force called the Justicariat. Its members, the Justicars, hunt down and kill those they believe to be criminals, not bound by any authority or law higher than themselves. They have absolute immunity from local laws or regulations, though… Continue reading Book Review: Justicariat
Book Review: Herblock’s Here and Now
Book Review: Herblock’s Here and Now by Herbert Block Shortly after reviewing Herblock at Large, I discovered this volume in the local used book store. It was published in 1955, and contains many of Mr. Block’s political cartoons from the early 1950s. This included his Pulitzer-winning Joseph McCarthy work; Herblock appears to have actually coined the… Continue reading Book Review: Herblock’s Here and Now
Magazine Review: Marvel Science Fiction November 1951
Magazine Review: Marvel Science Fiction November 1951 edited by R.O. Erisman Marvel Science Fiction started as a pulp magazine titled Marvel Science Stories that was published irregularly from 1938 to 1952. The original publisher was the same one who eventually published Marvel Comics. At the point this issue is from, the magazine was a digest-sized quarterly.… Continue reading Magazine Review: Marvel Science Fiction November 1951
Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries
Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler The title of this volume is slightly misleading; “locked room” stands in for the general idea of impossible crimes in mystery stories. A man is found stabbed in the back in a windowless room with the door locked from the inside.… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries