Last Update 12/18/24

Horror Comics and Religion edited by Brandon R. Grafius and John W. Morehead, McFarland, 2024, $49.95, ISBN 978-1476696379 

I read a lot of the horror comics of the 1950s because I was the right age, but other than Marvel, I lost interest by high school and have only the most minor contacts with comics from that point onward. So this collection of essays was a very mixed bag for me. I found the first several articles quite interesting because they dealt with material with which I was familiar. After that, it was hit and miss. I was so clueless about some of the titles discussed that I could barely follow the article. A couple of them sounded interesting, but not enough so that I would go out of my way to find the original work. This would likely appeal more to enthusiasts of the modern field than us old fogies who fondly remember Vault of Horror and Tales from the Crypt. 12/18/24

Analyzing the Marvel Universe edited by Douglas Brode, McFarland, 2024, $49.95, ISBN 978-1-4766-9066-7 

The title led me to think this might be some kind of comprehensive analysis of the MCU as a whole, but it’s not. It is a collection of essays which examine different components of the MCU without reference to each other. This does not mean that it was not an interesting and informative book, only that the title might be misleading. And some of the essays are quite good. They cover a small subset, obviously, including the Sub-Mariner’s love life, Tony Stark’s personality contrasts from comic to movie, the response of superheroines, particularly the Black Widow, plus aspects of Wolverine, Thor, Black Panther, the X-Men, and others. A few essays examine a single issue – feminism for example – across multiple characters. The academic style prose is a bit overdone in a few cases but most of these are very readable. 11/17/24

The Extreme Life of the Sea by Stephen & Anthony Palumbi, Princeton, 2014 

This is a frequently interesting book about how life works in extreme environments within the oceans. Extreme in this case ranges from the deepest to the shallowest, the hottest to the coldest, the earliest, the fastest, and so forth. This covers so much ground that the individual chapters are less thorough than I had hoped. The writing is fine. The pictures are a mixed bag. The color photos are good but some of the black and whites are so lacking in detail that they really do not show the features to which our attention has been drawn. The section I was most interested in – whales and squids – told me virtually nothing that I did not already know, and there is only passing reference to octopi, which fascinate me.  11/11/24

Crocodiles and Alligators of the World by David Alderton, Facts on File, 1991

This is just what you'd expect from the title, a guide to the two related species. Most of it I already knew, at least vaguely, and I was chiefly interested in the photographs. Alderton examines the way various historical cultures regarded the creatures, how current societies protect them and protect citizens from them where necessary. There are 22 different breeds - which I did not know - and there is a section discussing each of these. They are more extensively distributed around the world than I had realized. 10/12/24

Had She But Known by Charlotte MacLeod, Mysterious, 1994

Mary Roberts Rinehart was once a world renowned author of both mystery novels and romances, most notably The Circular Staircase, Miss Pinkerton, and The Man in the Lower Ten. She is acknowledged as the origin of the "had she but known" school of suspense and is wrongly credited with the phrase "the butler did it" because of The Door, although that phrase does not appear and in fact other writers had already picked the butler as the killer. She also led an exciting and - for her time - unusual life. She was a battlefield nurse, wife of a prominent doctor, and survived a murder attempt. She was unconventional, outspoken, and lived an elaborate lifestyle that sometimes exceeded her resources. This is a nicely organized and well researched account of her life. 9/28/24

The Cinematic Boogeyman by Kevin McGuiness, McFarland, 2024, $49.95, ISBN 978-1476693279

The Boogeyman is a kind of amorphous term that refers to shadowy, supernatural figures whose origin, abilities, and even appearance is quite varied. It can be anything from the relentless masked killer of the Halloween movies, to the grotesquely malformed Freddy Krueger, to the faceless killer in the Friday the 13th series, to the mirror dwelling ghost of the Candyman films. This short book is an examination of the way Hollywood has presented the concept over the years, with allusions to traditional folklore, psychological symbolism, and the messages conveyed - intentionally or otherwise - by these movies. Film buffs might be disappointed because this is not so much about the movies as it is about the base concept and how audiences react to its presentation. 9/26/24

The Dragon in World Mythology and Culture by Robert M. Sarwark, McFarland, 2024, $39.95, ISBN 978-1476685298

The title pretty much sums up the purpose of this book, to examine the legends of dragons from diverse cultures - some of them new to me - comparing them and attempting to explain the role they play in myths and legends in general. Then there is a lengthy discussion of the dragon in modern culture. A little of this is about fantasy fiction, but this is really a small part of the book. There is some speculation about the impact of dragon legends in the future. The author alludes to a quite diverse range of topics, from children's drawings and books to the naming of military aircraft and so on. The Dungeons & Dragons game has its own section as well. There are some interesting photographs and drawings as well. I found most of this enjoyable and several items new to me. 8/24/24

Methods and Meaning in the Novels of Stephen King by James Arthur Anderson, McFarland, 2024, $39.95, ISBN 978-1476695051

This is a discussion of all of the published novels by King, except for the Gunslinger series, plus a couple of novellas, in more or less chronological order . The author discusses the author's possible intentions with each story and analyzes the methods of plot construction, characterization, and other details which affect how the story was prepared. I found it to be a pleasant journey back through his work - I have never reread any of King's novels although I have read every one of them and liked all but a very few. This is supplemented by commentary which reveals King's recurring themes and devices and provides a few tidbits of information of which I was previously unaware. A nice companion book that I will keep at hand when I finally get around to a second reading. 8/10/24

The Star Wars Radio Dramas by Maria Jose Tenuto & John Tenuto, McFarland, 2024, $39.95, ISBN 978-1476695631

I had not even known that these existed, so I was curious about them as soon as I saw this title. Shortly after Star Wars hit the theaters, National Public Radio was facing financial disaster and decided to adapt the story for radio in an effort to drive up their ratings. According to the authors, this was a success and saved the NPR from collapse. This is a history of the production which emphasizes the role of the late Brian Daley, whose scripting was apparently exceptional. It describes the mechanics of the production, the personalities of the actors, the difficulties that had to be overcome, and various associated issues. The writing is clear and concise and the context was so new to me that I found it immensely readable as well as informative. 7/24/24

Strange Novel Worlds edited by Caroline-Isabel Caron and Kristin Noone, McFarland, 2024, $55, ISBN 978-1476693194

Star Trek has inspired a flood of tie-in novels - nine hundred according to this book, although I would thought it considerable fewer - by dedicated fans and established writers. This is a collection of essays about those books, although it necessarily only touches on a few of the individual titles. Most of them, admittedly, are pure hack work. David Mack opens the book with an interesting essay about the difficulties facing writers who want to be original but cannot violate canon. There is an article about the brief series of fotonovels. Individual authors who receive direct attention include Garfield & Judith Reeves-Stevens, Vonda McIntyre - who wrote my all time favorite in the series, Theodore Cogswell, Peter David, Diane Carey, J.M. Dillard, and Jean Lorrah. The essays are mostly entertaining and occasionally informative. 7./7/24

The First Geeks by Orty Ortwein, McFarland, 2024, $39.99, ISBN 978-1476686301

This is a history of the early days of science fiction fandom, dealing primarily with the lives of three of its more famous members - Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, and Forrest J. Ackerman. They were respectively a major writer, a major special effects master for movie making, and a collector and avid fan, perhaps the only one to effectively live as a professional fan. The book is filled with anecdotes, several of them new to me despite having read about this era several times before, and a handful of interesting photographs. The prose is very good and the history is well organized and vividly described. The world is so different now that at times I felt like I was peeking into an alternate world. Definitely for devoted fans of the history of the genre, and quite interesting I suspect even for those who are not. 6/3/24

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