Tag Archives: Cold War

2025’s books of the year – part 5

Posted on February 5, 2026 by I.M. Baytor

As the countdown of my favorite graphic novels of 2025 reaches the top five, we are now in that stage where almost every pick had a fair shot at being Gotham Calling’s book of the year. I probably spent more … Continue reading →

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2025’s books of the year – part 4

Posted on January 28, 2026 by I.M. Baytor

When considering candidates for Gotham Calling’s book of the year, I tend to gravitate towards graphic novels that more or less stand on their own, providing such a satisfying read that I can recommend them as isolated objects. For instance, … Continue reading →

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A dozen swinging sixties’ super-spies – part 2

Posted on December 18, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

If you’ve read last week’s post, you know what’s going on. Basically, these were the cinematic cousins of Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., back in the 1960s: OSS 117: Mission for a Killer (1965) We’ll start with yet another bonkers … Continue reading →

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A dozen swinging sixties’ super-spies – part 1

Posted on December 10, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

I’m finally getting a hold on work and family life, so 2026 is bound to be a more regular year for Gotham Calling, but, for now, I’ll just keep throwing in some idiosyncratic stuff I’ve been digging into… Last time … Continue reading →

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More global film noirs

Posted on August 28, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

Once again, I’m complementing the latest lists of film noir gems with a handful of foreign-language recommendations that are just as good as – or, in some cases, much better than – their counterparts from the USA and the UK. … Continue reading →

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More cool film noir thrillers – part 1

Posted on June 27, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

The times are dark, so I suppose it makes sense to go back to my favorite type of cinema: film noir. Cinema Purgatorio #18 Aesthetically and ideologically, those stark, moody postwar thrillers about chain-smoking anti-heroes, doomed lovers, dirty cops, femmes … Continue reading →

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2024’s Book of the Year

Posted on January 1, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

The fact that the second volume of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters finally came out should’ve made the pick for Gotham Calling’s 2024 Book of the Year a clincher. Emil Ferris’ long-and-eagerly-awaited continuation of her dense, brilliant debut opus keeps … Continue reading →

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Back to Slough House

Posted on December 5, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

Having recently read what may very well be my favorite Mick Herron novel so far, The Secret Hours, I was going to write one of Gotham Calling’s occasional pieces about spy yarns without pictures inside… Between this and catching up … Continue reading →

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Even more Batman movies without Batman – cult movies edition

Posted on October 24, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

I get a huge kick exploring various connections within pop culture, including the thematic and stylistic links between Batman comics and cinema. To be fair, many of the comics are quite open about their influences, to the point that one … Continue reading →

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A couple of offbeat spy novels

Posted on October 10, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

When I’m not compulsively watching spy shows on TV, spy fiction tends to occupy a sizeable portion of my reading time, so I thought I’d share a few impressions on a couple of novels that approach the genre in very … Continue reading →

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