Manga Review: Yukarism

Manga Review: Yukarism by Chika Shiomi Teen author Yukari Kobayakawa was born with a birthmark that resembles a sword wound.  His books set in the Edo period of Japan are best-sellers; but curiously he never does any research for them.  It’s as though that knowledge is his birthright.   Yukari’s life goes from odd but… Continue reading Manga Review: Yukarism

Book Review: The Partnership

Book Review: The Partnership by Pamela Katz Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.  This copy was a bound galley, and changes have been made in the published edition (most notably, a proper index.) The Weimar Republic, Germany after World War One and before the… Continue reading Book Review: The Partnership

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg This was my Halloween season read this year, an anthology commissioned for the Barnes & Noble stores in 1995.  There are indeed one hundred stories in this hefty tome, averaging about six pages.  They are not all about… Continue reading Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By

Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By This 1946 musical, filmed in glorious Technicolor, is loosely based on the life of songwriter Jerome Kern (Robert Walker).  It opens with the opening of Showboat, the famous Oscar Hammerstein play he wrote the music for.  After several numbers, we skip to the end of the performance.  Mr. Kern… Continue reading Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By

Movie Review: Doll Face (1945)

Movie Review: Doll Face (1945) “Doll Face” Carroll (Vivian Blaine) is a burlesque queen who wants to move into Broadway productions.  When slightly snobbish producer Flo Hartman (Reed Hadley) scorns her audition because Doll Face isn’t “cultured”, her manager Mike Hannegan (Dennis O’Keefe) comes up with the idea of making her seem more accomplished by… Continue reading Movie Review: Doll Face (1945)

Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014

Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014 edited by Hydra M. Star Disclaimer:  This magazine came to me through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Infernal Ink is a horror fiction and poetry magazine aimed at ages 18+.  As such, it contains sex, violence, sexualized violence (Trigger Warning for rape)… Continue reading Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Super Friends

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Super Friends by Various Back in the 1970s, there was a Saturday morning cartoon titled Superfriends.  It featured several superheroes from DC Comics,, plus “Junior Super Friends” Wendy and Marvin, trainee superheroes with their pet Wonderdog.   Each episode taught valuable life lessons to kids across America.  While reruns of the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Super Friends

Magazine Review: Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue

Magazine Review:  Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue edited by David Shields and Bradford Morrow Conjunctions is a literary journal published twice a year by Bard College.  Each issue contains essays, short fiction, poetry and less classifiable writing on a given subject, with this issue being about death.  Literary journals tend to have a connotation of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue

Book Review: Jet Set

Book Review: Jet Set: The People, the Planes, the Glamour, and the Sex in Aviation’s Glory Years by William Stadiem Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.  My copy was an Advance Uncorrected Proof, and there will be considerable changes made to the final product,… Continue reading Book Review: Jet Set

Comic Book Review: Uptown Girl: A Long Forgotten Fairytale

Comic Book Review: Uptown Girl: A Long Forgotten Fairytale by Bob Lipski Once upon a time, in a land far away (possibly Maine), there was a cursed village.  No one could leave the village, because it was ruled by the King of Birds.  The villagers did not know much about their king, save that he hated… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Uptown Girl: A Long Forgotten Fairytale