Blog Archives
sComic Books (Fandom Pulse): Marvel Ultimate’s stretch has been going for some time now, but the most recent Ultimate Spiderman, which started in January, brought waves of excitement back into the comic industry. The main cover of the first issue hit over $100 on eBay! This had some fans weary that Marvel would not stay […]
Sensor Sweep: Swords Against Darkness, Blue Star, Ian Fleming
Monday , 3, June 2024 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentFiction (Syfy.com): An oft-discussed, but seldom seen, short story written by a young Rod Serling has finally entered our dimension. Now available to read in the latest issue of The Strand Magazine, “First Squad, First Platoon,” is a semi-autobiographical tale based on The Twilight Zone creator’s harrowing experiences during Pacific combat in World War II. Told from […]
Sensor Sweep: Sax Rohmer, Marvel Comics, LotR Radio
Monday , 27, May 2024 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentComic Books (Fandom Pulse): Disney might have accidentally dropped some damning news for the mainstream comic industry in the form of a job listing. Comic shops have been struggling at all-time lows for sales heading into the second half of 2024, and now, it appears as if Marvel Comics may be on the chopping block. […]
Sensor Sweep: James Bond, Hobbit Comic Book, Conan Comic Book, Warhammer
Monday , 20, May 2024 Sensor Sweep 1 CommentComic Books (Rip Jagger Dojo): As far as I can remember the Eclipse Comics adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit came out of left field. I don’t remember much buzz about it at the time, but it was a period when I was less connected to comics overall. After the burst of interest in fantasy […]
Sensor Sweep: Genre Distinctions, Disney X-Men, Solomon Kane Movie
Monday , 13, May 2024 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentConan (Sprague de Camp Fan): The Conan Companion, Hall Publications, is a 24-page booklet published in 1976. It consists of articles by Michael Resnick, David and Susannah Bates, John Meyer, L. Sprague de Camp, and Bill Crlikov and artwork by Gene Day, Richard L. Farley, Ken Raney, Bot Roda, and Wayne Warfield. Genre (Wasteland & […]
Sensor Sweep: The Witcher, Brak, Michael Moorcock, Free Comic Book Day
Monday , 6, May 2024 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentConan (Sprague de Camp Fan): “Lethal Consignment” by Shaun Hamill is the newest Heroic Legends Conan e-book. Shaun Hamill lives in north Texas, so he is a neighbor of mine. Perhaps he’ll make it to Howard Days on June 7th in Cross Plains. At only $1.99 Mr. Hamill’s consignment writing of this Conan short story […]
Sensor Sweep: Warhammer, Arkham House, Michael Shea
Monday , 29, April 2024 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentPublishing (Wasteland & Sky): We’re going back to that seminal year in 1939. This was back when Fandom were holding conventions and looking towards the glorious utopic future. Meanwhile, a set of writers were more concentrated on preserving a past in danger of being forgotten. This is the story of Arkham House! Fantasy (Echoes of […]
Sensor Sweep: Wizards of the Coast, D.C. Comics, Kull, Tolkien, Bradbury
Monday , 22, April 2024 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentSword & Sorcery (Echoes of Crom): Join me and co-host, Matthew Knight as we discuss the Elak of Atlantis tale “Dragon Moon” by Henry Kuttner. This is the story that inspired the Cauldron Born song, “Dragon Throne”. Conan (Sprague de Camp Fan): “Hyborian Names” is an article by L. Sprague de Camp that appeared in […]
Sensor Sweep: Poul Anderson, Prince Valiant Game, Blue Sonja, Ballantine Fantasy
Monday , 15, April 2024 Sensor Sweep 1 CommentScience Fiction (Type Bar Magazine): A recent Washington Post articleindicated that only 12% of the reading public were interested in reading science fiction. A perusal of bestseller lists for science fiction shows an even more alarming truth: the science fiction books that do sell are a shrinkingly small number of reprints, classics and novels that […]
Sensor Sweep: Bad Books, Ramsey Campbell, Weird Tales
Monday , 8, April 2024 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentReading (John C. Wright): Readers who do not want to read a curmudgeon (me) being curmudgeonly, please go away. This is not a review or a philosophical analysis. No attempt at balance or fairness has been made: the following consists of merely a description of negative reactions. These are some books I just could not […]
H. P. Lovecraft (Aeon): Lovecraft honed these elements through his short stories (along with two novellas and a single novel), developing a unique version of the weird fiction pioneered by authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Machen and M R James. However, Lovecraft did not enjoy mainstream success during his lifetime. Fantasy (Sprague de […]
Sensor Sweep: Elden Ring, James Ward, Hyperborea RPG, Appendix N
Monday , 25, March 2024 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentRPG (Grognardia): When I first read Astonishing Swords & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, two things about it greatly impressed me. Most significant was that this roleplaying game of “swords, sorcery, and weird fantasy” demonstrated an obvious love for the pulp fantasies of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith. Robert E. Howard (Echoes of Crom): […]