Jim Smith takes to the stage of the Theatre Passé Muraille Backspace to pay homage and share his memories of science fiction writer Judy Merril. A writer, I’m ashamed to admit I had not heard of, especially when confronted by the list of titles she’d penned. Merril crafted tales during the heyday of pulp science fiction…
Tag: science fiction
Flash Gordon (1936) – Frank Stephani
As my exploration of the pulp heroes of science fiction continues with the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, I thought I should have a look at one of the original Flash Gordon serials starring Buster Crabbe. And let me tell you this… It was so much more fun than I thought it would be! I grew up…
Triplanetary (1948) – E. E. ‘Doc’ Smith
I’ve been loving my time with the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. And as I believe I’ve mentioned before, the book doesn’t only cover film and television, it deals with stage, music, comics and novels. Being in the midst of the pulp era of science fiction, I thought I would take a look at one of…
Issues Vol. 6
Kirk continues his sterling work at West End Comics, and sent a couple of new titles my way in addition to my pull list, which wasn’t huge this week, but was very entertaining! First up is Star Trek (IDW) Issue 46. This is written by Mike Johnson, with art by Rachael Stott, colours by Davide…
Killjoys S01E01 – Bangarang
Tonight, Space uveils its latest series from Michelle Lovretta the creator of cult hit, Lost Girl, the futuristic show filled with all manner of bad-assery (totally a word), Killjoys. The series follows a trio of bounty hunters, who follow the credo, The Warrant is All, in a far-flung tomorrow as they make a living amongst a cluster…
Issues Vol. 5
This week, what with being on stay-cation, I got to catch up on a few graphic novels and not just my usual pull-list this week. Kirk at West End Comics recommended a couple of titles, and I was finally able to dig into them… Goners Volume 1 – We All Fall Down collecting issues 1…
Buck Rogers: Planet Outlaws (1939) – Ford Beebe & Saul A. Goodkind
We dive into a whole new era in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, the previous chapter was about the beginnings of science fiction, and now we enter the pulp age, so there will probably be a number of fun books to read as well as some familiar faces in terms of movies and television… Buck…
Issues Vol. 1
I’be been meaning to start this blog for awhile as I have a great little comic store at the end of my street, West End Comics, and the gent who runs it, one Kirk by name has been very kind to pull my weekly comics and always has great recommendations for me… So what’s in…
Smoke and Mirrors (1998) – Neil Gaiman
This collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman was just what I needed. All the tales deal with magic or illusion, whether in the form of creatures, sex, drugs, or life, the power of each is examined under the eye of this brilliant author in this wonderful collection of stories, some of which I…
The Last Policeman (2012) – Ben H. Winters
This week’s perusal of the Book Shelf brought me this, the first in a trilogy, that combines a whodunnit with some light science fiction. Not too long from now, an asteroid, Maia, is discovered, way too late to do anything about it, on a direct collision with Earth. They have until the beginning of…
The Mind Reels 