Blog Archives

Conan (Paperback Warrior): If you look online for the definition for “convoluted”, it should just provide a link to Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp’s “Hawks over Shem” short story. In my quest to absorb as much Conan literature as humanly possible, I read half of this particular short story and found myself so confused that I re-read the […]

Cinema (We’ve Got Back Issues): By the late 50’s, Tarzan had swung through many adventures in numerous incarnations, but few would guess that Edgar Rice Burroughs’ lion wrasslin’ loin clother wearer would suddenly bust out one of his best appearances seemingly out of nowhere. Gordon Scott was already three Tarzan movies into a career that […]

Cinema (MSN.com): 40 years ago, the unlikely acting career of then-bodybuilding champion Arnold Schwarzenegger went off with a bang in Conan the Barbarian (1982). Based on Robert E. Howard’s character of the same name from 1930s pulp magazines, Arnold’s epic sword and sorcery film was helmed by writer-director John Milius, the militant filmmaker best known for writing […]

Fiction (Endless Bookshelf): In 1923, a century ago, Welsh author Arthur Machen was at the height of his literary reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. It had been a long path from his “horrible” juvenile poem Eleusinia (1881)(1881) and such early books as The Anatomy of Tobacco (1884) and the numerous translations of the 1880s and early 1890s. […]

Firearms (You Tube): Wow, ejecting shell makes bullet go off inside ammo box. RPG (Grognardia): Between 1978 and 1985, TSR Hobbies published eighteen stand-alone adventure modules carrying the byline of Gary Gygax, starting with Steading of the Hill Giant Chief in 1978. Because it was the first of its kind, module G1 does not include a suggested level range […]

Aviation (Aviation Geek Club): The SR-71, unofficially known as the “Blackbird,” is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft. The first flight of an SR-71 took place on Dec. 22, 1964, and the first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing […]

D&D (Grognardia): An old mantra of this blog has long been that “roleplaying games were born in the megadungeon.” By this, I simply mean that most of the earliest examples of what we would today recognize as RPGs were played in the context of exploring an immense, subterranean locale filled with monsters, magic, and mysteries […]

New (Cirsova): The Cirsova Winter 2022 Issue is Out Now! Sister Winter By JOHN DAKER On a cold night, Martin is confronted by a strange aetherial being calling itself Sister Winter! There are dangerous men looking for her, and she needs Martin’s help! Lights By LOU NORMANN On an isolated stretch of highway in the […]

Popular Culture (Isegoria): When Ray Bradbury passed away a decade ago, I remembered reading a borrowed copy of Fahrenheit 451 in one school day in eighth grade. I don’t know whether the teachers failed to notice, or they opted to show some discretion in ignoring my transgression that day. Cinema (Frontier Partisans): Synchronicity rides the Frontier Partisans […]

Cinema (Inverse): In the ‘80s, failed genre films could also come across as sweet and well-meaning (1984’s Supergirl, for example). The best example is also the biggest flop of ‘80s sci-fi flicks: Krull. 39 years ago, Krull hit theaters at a time when no one was ready for it. Tonally, Krull is like an animated Disney film from the 1940s brought to life […]

Comic Books (AIPT): Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures’ upcoming Conan the Barbarian series is getting a Free Comic Book Day comic. Announced today, the FCBD edition will kick off the brand-new ongoing written by Jim Zub and will feature art by Roberto De La Torre and colorist José Villarrubia. Free Comic Book Day will take place on […]