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Category Archives: Book Review
Paperbacks from Hell by Eric S Brown
In 2017 Quirk Books did the world a great service by releasing Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of 70’s and 80’s Horror Fiction. The book is over two hundred and fifty pages of glorious vintage art and … Continue reading
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Nightblood by Eric S Brown
Vintage horror paperbacks have made an astounding resurgence in the last few years. This new popularity was helped by Grady Hendrix’s nonfiction book Paperbacks from Hell and his own effort to keep older horror novels from being forgotten. Because of … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Columns
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The Best Vampire Series Ever by Eric S Brown
UK author Brian Lumley wrote many things in his long career but chief among them was the Necroscope Series. The first book was released in 1986 and was a massive hit, spawning fifteen more books, two comic series, a graphic … Continue reading
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Nova: The Human Rocket by Eric S Brown
Though the seventies gave birth to many iconic Marvel characters, Nova the Human Rocket may be one of most beloved by comic fans. Nova wasn’t a very original character. He was essentially Marvel’s take on DC Comics’ Green Lantern. A … Continue reading
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Power Man and Iron Fist: Heroes for Hire by Eric S Brown
The seventies was a time of diversity and exploration for Marvel Comics in terms of the genres they published. Luke Cage, aka Power Man, premiered during this time. He was a street hero despite having powers that put on the … Continue reading
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The Ultimate Marvel Nostalgia by Eric S Brown
Back in the 1980’s, there was no Google or even an internet. People relied entirely on other means for their news. Marvel had released fan magazine before but at that time, they took things to a whole other level. Each … Continue reading
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Marvel’s War of Kings Omnibus by Eric S Brown
Marvel Comics is known for having a vast events that span the lengths and depths of their universe. Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, and War of Kings form a loose trilogy of sorts that are among the company’s best cosmic stories. Annihilation … Continue reading
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The Thor by Matt Fraction Omnibus by Eric S Brown
Weighing in at over thirteen hundred pages, The Thor by Matt Fraction Omnibus collects several Thor one shots, Thor: Secret Invasion 1-3, Thor (2007) 615-621, Thor (2011) 1-22, the entire, core mini-series of Fear Itself, and more. The omnibus starts … Continue reading
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She-Hulk: Jen of Hearts by Eric S Brown
Jen of Hearts is the second collected trade paperback from Rainbow Rowell’s current run on She-Hulk. It picks up with issues 6 through 10 of the series, continuing to deal with the mystery of how Jack of Hearts has returned … Continue reading
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Invaders Classic Vol. 1 by Eric S Brown
In the 1970’s, Marvel Comics was experimenting with a lot of genres. Roy Thomas (mostly known for his work on the Conan books by Marvel) created a super hero team called the Invaders that didn’t so much battle crime but … Continue reading
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Conan the Barbarian Omnibus Vol. 10 by Eric S Brown
Though the comic rights now belong to Titan Comics, Conan’s first appearance was in a Marvel series that ran for 275 issues with numerous annuals. Marvel has reprinted that entire run in 10 giant omnibus volumes averaging around 1000 pages … Continue reading
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Batman/Catwoman: The Wedding Album by Eric S Brown
Batman/Catwoman: The Wedding Album is a sleek, black hardcover. At a retail price of $18 for 130+ it’s fairly priced. The hardcover collects stories leading up to the big event. Including a large amount of artwork from variant covers as … Continue reading
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Spider-Man 2099 by Eric S Brown
For decades, Marvel has tried to create other universes than the main one (aka 616). These attempts began in the 80’s with the New Universe. In the 90’s, they tried series based in the future with the 2099 line of … Continue reading
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Rom returns to Marvel! by Eric S Brown
Based on a toy from Parker Brothers, Rom the Space Knight was adapted by Marvel in 1979. Legendary writer, Bill Mantlo, brought the character to life in a series that ran for 75 issues and … Continue reading
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Earth X by Eric S Brown
Created by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, Earth X is a dark and disturbing take on the Marvel Universe. Released in 1999, the mini-series ran for 12 issues, telling the story of a world where … Continue reading
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Hulk: Crossroads by Eric S Brown
The epic collection of Hulk entitled Crossroads collects a very interesting part of Bill Mantlo’s run on the title. Mantlo is one of those Marvel writers who worked on as many or more titles than Stan Lee, creating characters like … Continue reading
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Thor: Heroes Return Omnibus by Eric S Brown
Everyone remembers comic books in the nineties, right? Bad girls, bad writing, over the top art, market chaos, lackluster writing, and even Marvel declaring chapter 11 bankruptcy defined the decade. Still, that didn’t mean everything released in the nineties was … Continue reading
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Jim Valentino’s Guardians of the Galaxy by Eric S Brown
The 1990’s was a strange time for the world of comic books. Sexy girls on covers taking over a huge market share, badly written stories filling the pages of many books, and Marvel fighting bankruptcy created quite a challenge for … Continue reading
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Daredevil and Elektra: The Red Fist Saga by Eric S Brown
The Red Fist Saga is the first TPB collecting issues from the latest, ongoing Daredevil series which began in 2022. It picks up in the wake of the Marvel Universe-wide event titled Devil’s Reign. Matt and Elektra are struggling to … Continue reading
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Immortal Hulk: Apocrypha by Eric S Brown
The 11th and final Immortal Hulk trade paperback titled Apocrypha lives up to its name. The book collects all the one-shots and specials that featured the Immortal Hulk before the character was again revamped by new writers at Marvel. Overall, … Continue reading
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Incredible Hulk by Peter David Omnibus 2 by Eric S Brown
One of the best overlooked runs by causal readers of the Hulk is that of Peter David. Marvel has collected the run in several omnibus-sized volumes, each with a cover price of $125 and weighing in at over one thousand … Continue reading
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Babylon 5: The Shadow Within by Eric S Brown
In the 1990s, Babylon 5 was one of the best SF series on TV. Today, it lives on as a classic of the genre that SF fans can currently stream for free on Tubi. There is talk of a B5 … Continue reading
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Marvel Two-In-One: Cry Monster by Eric S Brown
In recent years, the Epic Collection has become a very popular format for Marvel trade paperbacks. The beauty of the Epic Collection is that they contain a hulking four hundred to five hundred pages plus of reprinted material while not … Continue reading
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Maximum Carnage: The Epic Collection by Eric S Brown
The 1990’s was a strange time for comics. Everything was hyped up in the stories, and the art was desperate to be either sexy or flashy. Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy while DC was killing Superman and breaking … Continue reading
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The Adventures of Red Sonja Omnibus by Eric S Brown
Red Sonja has been a force to be reckoned with in the world of comics since her very first appearance in Conan the Barbarian #23 back in Januray, 1973. Yet, so far her stories have only been collected in standard … Continue reading
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Savage Avengers Volume 3 – Enter the Dragon
By Eric S Brown City of Sickles and To Dine with Doom, the first two collected trades of Marvel’s Savage Avengers series set the bar very high. Sadly, the third trade, Enter the Dragon doesn’t live up. It opens with … Continue reading
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Savage Avengers Volume 1: City of Sickles
By Eric S. Brown Just when comic readers likely had thought they had seen every type of Avengers team Marvel could come up with, the company introduced Savage Avengers in May of 2019. As crazy as it sounds, this is … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Columns, Comic Book, Non-fiction, Review
Tagged avengers, comics, DC, marvel, X-Men
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Secret Wars: Prelude
By Eric S Brown Never let it be said that Marvel doesn’t like to milk an event for all the money that can be made from it. Often with popular events such as the X men’s Inferno, Daredevil’s Devil’s Reign, … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Columns, Non-fiction, Review
Tagged comic, Eric S. Brown, marvel, Review, secret wars
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Secret Wars
By Eric S Brown ***Possible Spoilers Below*** The original Secret Wars mini-series in 1984 was a first of a kind event for Marvel. It was a year long story, spread over twelve issues, intended both to help promote a line … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Columns, Non-fiction, Review
Tagged Black Panther, comic, Dr. Doom, Eric S. Brown, Fantastic Four, marvel, Review, Thanos
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Sherlock Holmes and the Army of Dr. Moreau by Guy Adams
Sherlock Holmes and the Island of Dr. Moreau by Guy Adams proved to be a first-rate book. You know the kind where you get sad its over and instead of it being a page turner, you only try to read … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Science Fiction
Tagged Altered Reality Magazine, Book Review, Science fiction, Sherlock Holmes
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Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Not long ago I looked through the books I had been sent to review and pulled some of the more promising out and made a pile. Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke was on the top and, … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Science Fiction
Tagged Altered Reality Magazine, Book Review, Cyberpunk, Science fiction
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Trial of the Wizard King by Chad Corrie
Trial of the Wizard King by Chad Corrie is the second book in the Wizard King series. I am reading the first two books back-to-back which is a privilege I have rarely enjoyed of the past 10+ years of writing … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, Fantasy
Tagged Altered Reality Magazine, Book Review, fantasy, Trilogy
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