borg.com (2024)

26/06/2024

Review by Elizabeth C. Bunce Hiding behind this peculiar and unexciting title (from a quotation about time) is one of the best mysteries in years. Jeremy P. Bushnell’s Relentless Melt follows the exploits of an aspiring investigator and a magic student in 1909 Boston as they unravel a criminal conspiracy that stretches from the depths of the city’s sewers to the very top of its government. ...

Review by Elizabeth C. Bunce Hiding behind this peculiar and unexciting title (from a quotation about time) is one of the best mysteries in years. Jeremy P. Bushnell’s Relentless Melt follows the …

25/06/2024

After Paramount+ unceremoniously dropped its new animated series Star Trek Prodigy after its first season last year, Netflix has picked up the show and is releasing all 20 episodes for the second season July 1. So look forward to more of the Star Trek Voyager reunion with Kate Mulgrew as Janeway, more Robert Beltran as Chakotay, and more Robert Picardo as the EMH....

After Paramount+ unceremoniously dropped its new animated series Star Trek Prodigy after its first season last year, Netflix has picked up the show and is releasing all 20 episodes for the second s…

24/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce Storybook adaptations of movies have been around a long time, successful as Gold Key comics, and exploding in popularity with Disney animated movies. My own first encounter was via a boxed set of storybooks based on the original Star Wars trilogy--the kind of thing you ordered in the early 1980s via newsprint book orders in school. VIZ Media's successful line of great storybooks based on Studio Ghibli classics have included tie-ins for…...

Review by C.J. Bunce Storybook adaptations of movies have been around a long time, successful as Gold Key comics, and exploding in popularity with Disney animated movies. My own first encounter wa…

23/06/2024

Review by Elizabeth C. Bunce The American Society of Magical Negroes, the new “romantasy” from debut writer/director Kobi Libii, is The Adjustment Bureau meets Men in Black meets The Kingsman, with a satirical sting. First up, a little definition: the “magical Negro” is a storytelling trope (possibly coined by BlacKkKlansmen and Do the Right Thing director Spike Lee) where a preternaturally wise Black character exists only to counsel and support the (typically male) white main character. ...

Review by Elizabeth C. Bunce The American Society of Magical Negroes, the new “romantasy” from debut writer/director Kobi Libii, is The Adjustment Bureau meets Men in Black meets The Kingsman, with…

22/06/2024

Review by Elizabeth C. Bunce Fans of Britain’s Royal Family take note: Eliza Knight’s new release, The Queen’s Faithful Companion: A Novel of Queen Elizabeth II and her Beloved Corgi, Susan, takes a fond look at the early days of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Told partly from the perspective of Elizabeth’s real-life dog Susan, the matriarch of the Windsor Corgi dynasty, this tale is less historical fiction and more a slice of royal life. ...

Review by Elizabeth C. Bunce Fans of Britain’s Royal Family take note: Eliza Knight’s new release, The Queen’s Faithful Companion: A Novel of Queen Elizabeth II and her Beloved Corgi, Susan, takes …

20/06/2024

Following a mysterious scream through the space-time vortex (revealed in a Free Comic Book Day preview), the 15th Doctor and Ruby arrive in England 1739, where they discover a Cyberman's gauntlet, which leads them to a venue we all have witnessed: a closed shopping mall. Only this is in the distant future, and it's the last mall on Earth. Is it a trap? ...

Following a mysterious scream through the space-time vortex (revealed in a Free Comic Book Day preview), the 15th Doctor and Ruby arrive in England 1739, where they discover a Cyberman’s gaun…

19/06/2024

You wouldn't think any more could be said about the history of Dungeons & Dragons. Just check out books like Art & Arcana (reviewed here) or Lore & Legends (reviewed here). But apparently those just scratched the surface. This week sees the release of what promises to be "the ultimate record of how Dungeons & Dragons came to be." In…...

You wouldn’t think any more could be said about the history of Dungeons & Dragons. Just check out books like Art & Arcana (reviewed here) or Lore & Legends (reviewed here). But …

18/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce French illustrator, painter, and comics creator Jean-Marc Rochette is best known internationally for illustrating Snowpiercer, the dystopic adventure merging theories from Plato with the impact of climate change. Best his best work has only just arrived. The Last Queen available now here at Amazon from Self Made Hero, is a landmark work for the comics medium. How many graphic novels have you read that are truly impactful, truly life changing? ...

Review by C.J. Bunce French illustrator, painter, and comics creator Jean-Marc Rochette is best known internationally for illustrating Snowpiercer, the dystopic adventure merging theories from Plat…

17/06/2024

The 40th anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is well underway, and the latest comic celebrating the milestone is a return to one of our favorite matches made in heaven (OK, the only thing better might be a team-up of Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo and Jaxxon from Star Wars). In the fun look back to Saturday morning cartoons with its…...

The 40th anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is well underway, and the latest comic celebrating the milestone is a return to one of our favorite matches made in heaven (OK, the only thing b…

16/06/2024

The father changed the way American filmmakers tell stories. One daughter is having a breakout year as a director, and another daughter is having a breakout year for her singing career. It's a big year for the Shyamalan family. Of course M. Night Shyamalan is an auteur in a small league of directors that includes Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Wes Anderson, and the Coen Brothers. ...

The father changed the way American filmmakers tell stories. One daughter is having a breakout year as a director, and another daughter is having a breakout year for her singing career. It’…

15/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce We discussed the surprising find of the burial place of King Richard III--the monarch made famous if not immortal by William Shakespeare in his drama--a decade ago here at borg. Back in 2012 an "ordinary British citizen" after researching medieval documents, books, and maps, prompted a legitimate archaeological dig, and a team dug into a nondescript parking lot in Leicester. ...

Review by C.J. Bunce We discussed the surprising find of the burial place of King Richard III–the monarch made famous if not immortal by William Shakespeare in his drama–a decade ago he…

14/06/2024

It's predecessor series made the #2 spot on our list of best series of the decade. Truth is stranger than fiction, and although the series is a marriage of historical characters and legends, Vikings: Valhalla met the challenge--showrunner Jeb Stuart continued Michael Hirst's Vikings series with a compelling story of the Viking people and how they spread across the known world....

It’s predecessor series made the #2 spot on our list of best series of the decade. Truth is stranger than fiction, and although the series is a marriage of historical characters and legends,…

13/06/2024

The past six months saw Dynamite Entertainment bring back the 1980s Rankin/Bass animated series from Japan ThunderCats in their own new monthly series. This week the fifth issue arrives in comic shops everywhere, bringing to conclusion the first round of stories led by writer Declan Shalvy and artist Drew Moss. Readers can jump into a standalone story this week written and drawn by Stephen Mooney. ...

The past six months saw Dynamite Entertainment bring back the 1980s Rankin/Bass animated series from Japan ThunderCats in their own new monthly series. This week the fifth issue arrives in comic s…

12/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce With little panache, no major league stars, but tight writing, the Netflix series The Night Agent did something other series have failed to do: make a suspense-thriller TV series as exciting as reading a Tom Clancy novel. Prime Video's Jack Ryan didn't come close, and neither did Reacher. Even FUBAR with Arnold Schwarzenegger himself couldn't capture the adrenaline rush as a mid-level government worker gets sucked into a dark and murky world of high stakes politics that leads directly to the White House....

Review by C.J. Bunce With little panache, no major league stars, but tight writing, the Netflix series The Night Agent did something other series have failed to do: make a suspense-thriller TV seri…

11/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce In the pantheon of genuine, sincere goodness over the past century, the world has been rewarded with several greats that have used their knowledge and creativity to influence young and old alike. For me that includes people like Fred Rogers, Charles Schulz, Jane Goodall, Steve Irwin, Bob Ross, and John Denver. But nobody touched audiences across the world both at home on the television set and in movie theaters like Jim Henson. ...

Review by C.J. Bunce In the pantheon of genuine, sincere goodness over the past century, the world has been rewarded with several greats that have used their knowledge and creativity to influence y…

10/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce Seven episodes down, two to go. I love this season of Doctor Who and I love it for many reasons. Not all Doctors and their companions share the job of holding up the series as much as the new duo of Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. Gatwa is a strong Doctor, making the role not only his own but doing it in such fresh, unique, and surprising ways. ...

Review by C.J. Bunce Seven episodes down, two to go. I love this season of Doctor Who and I love it for many reasons. Not all Doctors and their companions share the job of holding up the series a…

09/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce Stamped from the Beginning is a 2016 non-fiction work by Professor Ibram X. Kendi, a scholar whose works on racism have received popular acclaim internationally. The title was a phrase used by Confederate Jefferson Davis, who referred to the inequality of whites and blacks as "stamped from the beginning"--according to him racial inequality was the "will of God." A new graphic novel by cartoonist Joel Christian Gill takes Kendi's book and explains the history of racism in America in vivid detail, using five biographies of Americans as mile markers in the nation's four centuries of black inequality. ...

Review by C.J. Bunce Stamped from the Beginning is a 2016 non-fiction work by Professor Ibram X. Kendi, a scholar whose works on racism have received popular acclaim internationally. The title was…

08/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce Is Dune Part Two just Denis Villeneuve trying to make his Zach Snyder movie? It's the puzzle--the distraction--I had watching and re-watching the sequel to the director's much better 2021 first installment (reviewed here at borg). Somehow the franchise's lead Timothée Chalamet takes a backseat to Elvis actor Austin Butler as his competition for the Emperor spot in an endless series of…...

Review by C.J. Bunce Is Dune Part Two just Denis Villeneuve trying to make his Zach Snyder movie? It’s the puzzle–the distraction–I had watching and re-watching the sequel to the…

07/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce Comic book cookbooks are the next way to educate and entertain foodies. We looked first at a comic book cookbook about bread (reviewed here) and now we're moving to Thai food in Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice, available now here at Amazon. Cookbooks have been around for centuries, with their popularization globally taking off in the middle of the 19th century. ...

Review by C.J. Bunce Comic book cookbooks are the next way to educate and entertain foodies. We looked first at a comic book cookbook about bread (reviewed here) and now we’re moving to Thai…

06/06/2024

Before you watch the trailer below for Alien: Romulus, try this: Watch it without the sound (it's one of those things everyone does now and then while sneaking a peek at their social media throughout the business day). You might agree the version without sound is quite different. Better. Kudos to the trailer's editor for piecing together bits that evoke the original…...

Before you watch the trailer below for Alien: Romulus, try this: Watch it without the sound (it’s one of those things everyone does now and then while sneaking a peek at their social media th…

05/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce You've heard all the recommendations. The Academy Award winner for best visual effects, Godzilla Minus One has been celebrated as the latest reboot of the famous kaiju monster hero in 70 years of Godzilla movies. It's from the same studio as the first--Toho Co. Ltd.--adding to the catalog of 32 Japanese films that came before. At last it has arrived on Netflix for everyone to check out. ...

Review by C.J. Bunce You’ve heard all the recommendations. The Academy Award winner for best visual effects, Godzilla Minus One has been celebrated as the latest reboot of the famous kaiju m…

04/06/2024

Everything is related. That's what you learned if you watched Marvel over the past few years, beginning with Black Widow, threading into Hawkeye, Loki, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, weaving into Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the animated…...

Everything is related. That’s what you learned if you watched Marvel over the past few years, beginning with Black Widow, threading into Hawkeye, Loki, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Te…

03/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce Of the 19 novels from Titan Books adapting Marvel Comics (most reviewed here at borg), Loki: Journey Into Mystery may be its biggest undertaking: taking a complex series of comic book stories from a less familiar part of Marvel Comics and condensing them into a coherent narrative. Those who only know Loki from Tom Hiddleston's trickster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or his two-season series will get an even deeper dive into what makes the world of Marvel's Thor tick. ...

Review by C.J. Bunce Of the 19 novels from Titan Books adapting Marvel Comics (most reviewed here at borg), Loki: Journey Into Mystery may be its biggest undertaking: taking a complex series of com…

02/06/2024

Quick--what do Space Ghost and Jonny Quest have in common? Quite a lot, actually. Both are beloved Hanna-Barbera animated series. Both featured the voice of a young actor named Tim Matheson (as Jace and Jonny), who would grow up to star in Animal House and Fletch, and have key roles in shows like Magnum Force and 1941, and guest star in several TV series from…...

Quick–what do Space Ghost and Jonny Quest have in common? Quite a lot, actually. Both are beloved Hanna-Barbera animated series. Both featured the voice of a young actor named Tim Matheson…

01/06/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce Wow! If you thought Space Ghost Issue #1 was fun, wait 'til you get a load of Issue #2. The power of the new series can be found in Jonathan Lau's strong pencils and inks. His Space Ghost is all passion, power, and grit, the kind of energy that comic book fans woke up to in decades past with Bill Sienkiewicz, Michael Turner, Mauro Cascioli, and Frank Miller's different takes on Batman (the cowl is so similar that Space Ghost will no doubt conjure Batman for many readers). ...

Review by C.J. Bunce Wow! If you thought Space Ghost Issue #1 was fun, wait ’til you get a load of Issue #2. The power of the new series can be found in Jonathan Lau’s strong pencils …

31/05/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce From Ashes to Ashes, The Five, and Stay Close writer Mick Ford comes an atypical British police story. After the Flood doesn't feel like any other UK series, and it's that refreshing, different approach to the police procedural/crime drama that is its greatest strength. Sophie Rundle (Shetland, The Bletchley Circle) is next in line, Fargo-style, as the series lead, pregnant cop trainee Joanna Marshall, proud daughter of a celebrated, deceased local cop. ...

Review by C.J. Bunce From Ashes to Ashes, The Five, and Stay Close writer Mick Ford comes an atypical British police story. After the Flood doesn’t feel like any other UK series, and it& #821…

30/05/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce We you aware a James Bond tie-in story of the King Charles III era called His Majesty's Secret Service has already been published? It's a novella by Charlie Higson, author of several earlier tie-ins for the franchise. (Hey, I shared the idea for this tie-in title in my review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service here…...

Review by C.J. Bunce We you aware a James Bond tie-in story of the King Charles III era called His Majesty’s Secret Service has already been published? It’s a novella by Charlie Higson…

29/05/2024

A reminder for fans of fantasy, comedic actors, Jim Henson, and his beloved Muppets: Celebrating the 45th anniversary of The Muppet Movie, Fathom Events is partnering with The Jim Henson Company and Universal Pictures to show the classic big-screen debut of the Muppets on screens nationwide for two days, beginning this weekend. Order tickets now before they sell out at the Fathom Events website…...

A reminder for fans of fantasy, comedic actors, Jim Henson, and his beloved Muppets: Celebrating the 45th anniversary of The Muppet Movie, Fathom Events is partnering with The Jim Henson Company a…

28/05/2024

It's been forty years since we first met one of Eddie Murphy's most popular creations: Axel Foley, in 1984's Beverly Hills Cop, 34 years since we last saw him in the less successful sequel, Beverly Hills Cop 2, and 30 years since even fewer moviegoers saw him in the second sequel, Beverly Hills Cop 3. As much as it seems like Eddie Murphy has been away, he never really left, including movie appearances in hit series…...

It’s been forty years since we first met one of Eddie Murphy’s most popular creations: Axel Foley, in 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop, 34 years since we last saw him in the less successf…

27/05/2024

Review by C.J. Bunce Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels wasn't really a book for kids, despite the cartoons that survive as many generations' only exposure to the famous political satire novel. But every kid has imagined themselves as someone like one of the Liliputians--or personally meeting one whether in a fantasy world or sci-fi world like Ant-Man's. The Secret World of Arriety…...

Review by C.J. Bunce Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels wasn’t really a book for kids, despite the cartoons that survive as many generations’ only exposure to the famous po…

borg.com