Tag Archives: Cold War

Brilliant horror short stories

In theory, horror shouldn’t be an easy fit for stories of ten pages or less. For a narrative to be truly scary or disturbing, the stakes should be painstakingly set up, the atmosphere should breathe, the fearful anticipation should be … Continue reading

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Spotlight on Fury MAX

Way before Samuel L. Jackson embodied the role, Colonel Nick Fury was already a household name for Marvel fans, having starred in a string of seminal psychedelic spy comics by Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko back in the 1960s… Strange … Continue reading

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Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1975-1976

In the early 1970s, the Unknown Soldier feature of Star Spangled War Stories told exciting spy adventures set in World War II, starring a disfigured operative turned master-of-disguise who undertook secret missions under direct orders from Washington. As I explained … Continue reading

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More brilliant sci-fi short stories

Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone has started off on the wrong foot. It’s not just that most episodes so far have been weaker than 90% of Rod Serling’s original series  (or, at least, 90% of the first three seasons, since … Continue reading

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Brilliant sci-fi short stories

As much as I enjoy sci-fi epics, I’m also a huge sucker for a tauter brand of science fiction.  Short stories are an ideal form for this genre: since sci-fi often revolves more around ideas than characters, it can be … Continue reading

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Weird futuristic war comics

It has become a kind of winter tradition here at the blog to do a post spotlighting cool sci-fi comics about warfare. This started out years ago, as a one-idea post prompted by Rogue One, but there is an endless … Continue reading

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Spotlight on Aquaman / Batman team-ups

I tend to give DC’s live-action movies a lot of crap in this blog, so I guess it’s only fair to admit I had a great time watching James Wan’s Aquaman. It’s a fun slice of schlock that manages to … Continue reading

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2018’s book of the year

This is the time of the year when bloggers share their best-of-the-year lists. I don’t usually play along because I mostly read old stuff and don’t have enough of a grip on current publications to make any authoritative claim about … Continue reading

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On Mission: Impossible, the original TV series

After a whole month looking at spy fiction, it’s only fair I give you my take on the latest summer blockbuster, the spy thriller Mission: Impossible – Fallout. I’ll do that in the next post, though. First, some words about … Continue reading

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Spotlight on Polar

July is the month of spy comics at Gotham Calling. This year, I’ve discussed the black & white indie series Queen & Country and the over-the-top early adventures of the one-eyed super-spy Nick Fury. Today, I’m looking at a more … Continue reading

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