John Kendrick Bangs was an American satirist in the Gilded Age and a contemporary of Mark Twain. He’s largely unknown today, and I wouldn’t know of him were it not for his Sherlock Holmes writings. He wrote several comic novels; one of them, A Houseboat on the Styx, features Sherlock Holmes in the afterlife afterContinue reading “Mrs. Raffles”
Monthly Archives: November 2014
The RNC: Normalizing the Unthinkable
Is the Republican Party trying to forment an armed rebellion against the government? I am forced to ask this question because of the fundraising e-mail I received today from the Republican National Committee. The e-mail from RNC press secretary Kirsten Kukowski begins: In just ONE week, under the tyrannical leadership of President Obama and theContinue reading “The RNC: Normalizing the Unthinkable”
The Once and Future King: The Queen of Air and Darkness
While listening to “The Queen of Air and Darkness,” the third episode of Brian Sibley’s adaptation of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King for BBC Radio 4 for a third time, something I had overlooked or had passed over me came to the fore and I had an unexpected insight. Am I an atheistContinue reading “The Once and Future King: The Queen of Air and Darkness”
Morning in America
The Republican National Committee emailed me again over the weekend. The first time was to get my input on who I thought their 2016 presidential nominee should be. I’ve done this before, and there wasn’t anything new to it, so I let it pass by. Yesterday, they sent me this: Allyn, “It’s morning again inContinue reading “Morning in America”
The Once and Future King: The Sword in the Stone
“I realize it’s hard to believe, but the great dream you and Lancelot once shared won’t ever die. One day, like the phoenix, it will rise again.” — Merlyn A little more than a week ago I wrote about the first episode of Brian Sibley’s adapation of T.H. White’s The Once andContinue reading “The Once and Future King: The Sword in the Stone”
Harlan Ellison’s Batman ’66: The Lost Episode
Batman ’66: The Lost Episode DC Comics Written by Len Wein, based on a television treatment by Harlan Ellison (inspired by “The Crimes of Two-Face” by Bill Finger) Art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez For the last two years, DC Comics has been publishing original comics based on the Adam West Batman television series, ranging fromContinue reading “Harlan Ellison’s Batman ’66: The Lost Episode”
Harry Truman’s Defense of Liberal Principles
Yesterday, I discovered this remarkable campaign speech, delivered by Harry S. Truman in 1948. What fascinates me is that what Truman said nearly seventy years ago could be said today without changing a word. To whit: Today the forces of liberalism face a crisis. The people of the United States must make a choice betweenContinue reading “Harry Truman’s Defense of Liberal Principles”
The Peanuts Movie Trailer
Yesterday, the first trailer for next Christmas’ Peanuts film was released. Wait. What? There’s a new Peanuts movie? How can that be? Yes. Next Christmas, Blue Sky Studios, the animation studio behind the Ice Age and Rio series, will be releasing The Peanuts Movie, the first Peanuts film since 1980’s Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (AndContinue reading “The Peanuts Movie Trailer”
Above the Dreamless Dead
Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics :01 First Second Books Edited by Chris Duffy This year, the centenary of the start of World War I, has seen the release of a number of projects that celebrate… no, no, that’s the wrong word… reflect on the war, those who fought inContinue reading “Above the Dreamless Dead”
The RNC and “Conservative Principles”
Have I mentioned recently how much I enjoy receiving e-mail from the Republican National Committee? Though they’re never a box of chocolates, I never know what I’m going to get. Sometimes the e-mails read like they’re written in English-esque gobbledygoop. Other times, the RNC’s e-mails appear to originate from a universe one step removed fromContinue reading “The RNC and “Conservative Principles””