In the past few years I have read a lot of adventure and lost-world novels. I find most of them to be great fun, and it is a bonus that you can read them for free since most of them are old enough to be in the public domain now. My latest venture into this genre was James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon.

"Profession" is a 1957 science fiction novella by Isaac Asimov. It is about a young man in the 65th century who dreams of being a computer programmer.

Daredevil #254

• Date: May 1988
• Publisher: Marvel Comics
• Cover Price: 75¢
• 2013 Price Range: $1.00 - $8.00
• Stats: 31 color pages plus Bullpen Bulletins and ads
• Writer: Ann Nocenti
• Artists: John Romita Jr, Al Williamson, Joe Rosen, Max Scheele
• Notable Notes: Origin and 1st appearance of Typhoid Mary!

Another of Daredevil's Crazy Girlfriends!

So, after reviewing Daredevil #168 (which includes the origin and 1st appearance of Elektra) I was in the mood to try another of Daredevil's femme fatale firsts: Typhoid Mary! By the way, did you know there was a real Typhoid Mary? Yep, poor lady! I'm not sure how much she influenced this comic book version - but I'll let you know as I get more into the storyline. Anyway, I remember when this comic book hit the stands - and although I didn't read it then I figured it was high time to give it a try. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! Here are my thoughts about it...

The Scary Round VI was our Halloween-themed contest for 2011. It also marked six years of our writing group! My entry for that round wasn't really scary, or based on Halloween in any way, but it ended up being my favorite story of all the ones I had ever written! (Still true, by the way.)

For the village of small, wooden men in this story, I had taken inspiration from a variety of sources, but the biggest one was a drawing by my 9 year old son. He was trying to draw a Cyberman from Doctor Who, but I mistook it for a person with an hour glass on their chest! We had a good laugh about that, but I was fortunate in that it provided me with a nice burst of creativity. Add to that the idea I had often entertained, of an alien being in the large pine tree of our backyard, and you have one strange story on your hands! I liked this story so much, in fact, that I have outlined an entire novel based on it. Now if I would just get it written!

"Last Contact" is a 2007 science fiction short story by Stephen Baxter. It is about a field of dark energy that is devouring the entire universe.

Captain America #8 (Vol. 3)

• Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Marvel Comics
• Cover Price: $1.99
• 2013 NM Price: $3.00
• Stats: 22 color pages plus "American Graffiti" letters page, Bullpen Bulletins and ads
• Writer: Mark Waid
• Artists: Andy Kubert, Jesse Delperdang, Jason Wright and Todd Klein
• Notable Notes: Cap battles the Lunatic Legion!

More Plays on World War II

The opening scenes of this comic were reminiscent of a WWII labor camp - a lot like the opening of the X-men movie from the year 2000. It seems that Marvel comics and World War II will forever share a type of "bond". This issue plays on some of the atrocities of WWII to emotionally suck the reader into the story. I'm not sure it worked so well - see what you think.

I have read most of Isaac Asimov's science fiction novels. So when I was recently in a mood to read another of his books, I turned to one of the few that I hadn't yet read: Nemesis. If you like Asimov's style and/or other books, then you will probably like this one too. Here's what I thought of it.

"Second Skin" is a 1997 science fiction novelette by Paul J. McAuley. It is about a man who visits Proteus as a secret spy of a trade delegation.

Dial H For Hero #1

• Date: July 2012
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Cover Price: $2.99
• 2013 Price Range: $3.00 - $4.00
• Stats: 22 color pages plus ads and "The Dark" column
• Writer: China Miéville
• Artists: Mateus Santolouco, Tanya & Richard Horie, Steve Wands, Brian Bolland
• Notable Notes: Strange phone booth creates even stranger super-heroes!

One of my Favorite Authors!

I have been a big fan of China Miéville for several years. After reading the bizarre Perdido Street Station^† I was totally hooked on his writing style. Embassytown^†, a wonderfully good alien story, only sealed the deal for me. Anyway, when I discovered that he was writing this comic series I knew I had to give it a go! The series has been getting good reviews and hasn't been canceled yet so I figured it was time to give it a try. It is hard to judge a series or writer by one issue, but after reading this one I am impressed by Miéville's quirky and dark humor!

Our writing group was slowing down. It was almost a whole year between rounds - but we weren't dead! After six years of writing several stories per year, we were all losing a bit of excitement I think. This was my entry for Round 30 in 2011, and I wrote a super short story once again. I had become really fond of trying to trick the reader into thinking that a certain thing was happening, and then revealing something completely different in the end. This was probably the best story in which I executed that idea, and many people in our group told me the ending really "got" them!