Category Archives: FANTASTIC ADVENTURES

A handful of underrated sci-fi graphic novels

Posted on March 13, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

As you may have gathered from my post on Blackhawks: The Great Leap Gorward last month, I’ve been revisiting older sci-fi comics with the new hindsight of someone living under a looming era of techno-fascism by chatbot. With that in … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged 2000 AD, Chantal Montellier, City of Silence, Counterfeit Girl, Dom Regan, Ellie De Ville, Emma Ríos, Gary Erskine, Geoffrey Brock, Habitat, I.D., Jan Strnad, Jeremy Brood, Peter Milligan, politics, Richard Corben, Rufus Dayglo, science fiction, Simon Roy, Social Fiction, Warren Ellis | Leave a comment

Spotlight on Blackhawks: The Great Leap Forward

Posted on February 13, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

The original Blackhawk comics debuted way back in 1941 and revolved around the missions of an eponymous air squadron battling against the Axis powers during World War II. In typical comics fashion, though, the concept kept getting reinvented every generation … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged BIT, Blackhawks, CAFU, Graham Nolan, Guy Major, Howard Chaykin, Jacen Burrows, Jeff Lemire, Jim Lee, Jonathan Hickman, Ken Lashley, Martin Pasko, Matt Kindt, Mike Costa, politics, Rick Burchett, science fiction | Leave a comment

More comics that are COMICS

Posted on November 7, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

In case you need a break and to briefly take your mind off the news, for some reason, here is another post about scattered comics that I associate with just the kind of offbeat genre stuff this medium excels at. … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged Absolution, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Can See, Black Widow, François Miville-Deschênes, Griz Grobus, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Jess Polard, John Paul Leon, Know Your Station, Lee Loughridge, Liana Kangas, Mark Russell, Mike Deodato Jr, Patrick Horvath, Paul Cornell, Peter Milligan, Richard Connell, Sarah Gailey, science fiction, Scott Hanna, Sergey Nazarov, Simon Roy, Stefano Cardoselli, Steve Pugh, Sylvain Runberg, Tom Raney, Van Jensen, World War II, Zaroff | Leave a comment

Just a few loose thoughts on interplanetary wars

Posted on March 14, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

Last week I went to see Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve’s epic about Afghanistan on an alien planet, which overcomes *some* of my reservations about the previous film. While the screen is once again filled with masses of anonymous blind … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged 2000 AD, Alan Hebden, Alien, Angry Planet, Dan Dare, Dave Gibbons, Dune, Gerry Finley-Day, Massimo Belardinelli, movies, Peter Milligan, politics, Rogue Trooper, science fiction, Star Wars, Trigan Empire | Leave a comment

A couple of very fun sci-fi books

Posted on October 18, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

The early Cold War era was a time not just of great sci-fi cinema, but also of awesome sci-fi literature… and, contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t all doom and gloom either. Here are a couple of books, by two … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged books without pictures, Cold War, espionage, Foundation, Isaac Asimov, politics, science fiction, Stanislaw Lem | Leave a comment

A couple of grim sci-fi novels

Posted on April 14, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

Gotham Calling is still primarily a blog about comics, but I’m also enjoying posting about other books on my bedside table. They’re genre narratives as well – and many of their themes and concepts overlap with those of the comics … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged books without pictures, Cold War, horror, John Christopher, politics, science fiction, Stanislaw Lem | Leave a comment

Spotlight on Spirou & Fantasio, 1946-1957

Posted on March 30, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

Since I did a couple of posts about The Adventures of Tintin a while back, I guess it was a matter of time before I got around to writing about Spirou & Fantasio, the other major classic series of Belgian … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged Franquin, Hergé, Jijé, Maurice Rosy, politics, Rob-Vel, Spirou, Tintin | 4 Comments

When comics are COMICS

Posted on March 16, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

When I use the word ‘comics,’ it can mean different things. I can be talking about the medium itself, that is to say sequences of visibly still images that tell a story or develop an idea, including such remarkable literary … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged Adventureman, Andy Suriano, Charlatan Ball, Clayton Cowles, David Hine, Dearbhla Kelly, Fábio Moon, Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, Fred van Lente, Gabriel Bá, horror, Jack Kirby, Jennifer Blood, Jerry Choo, Joe Casey, Joseph Cooper, Kinsun Loh, Liv Strömquist, Marc Letzmann, Matt Fraction, Nate Powell, Ninjettes, Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos, Rachel Dodson, Richard S. Dargan, Roy Allan Martinez, Rus Wooton, S. Craig Zahler, science fiction, Terry Dodson, Wayne Nichols, Will Voley | Leave a comment

A couple of very cool space adventure novels

Posted on February 9, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

So, I finally started watching Andor and it’s as neat as I’d heard. It’s Star Wars as a taut cyberpunk heist, compelingly acted and with enough of a distinct vibe to feel more satisfying than the endless retread of the … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged books without pictures, Eric John Stark, espionage, Foundation, Isaac Asimov, Leigh Brackett, politics, science fiction, Star Wars | Leave a comment

A couple of deservedly acclaimed futuristic novels

Posted on September 28, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

Another post about science fiction, but this one looking beyond comic books… Reading old novels set in the future can be fun in different ways. On the one hand, it’s fascinating to see how other eras imagined (accurately or not) … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged books without pictures, espionage, Foundation, Isaac Asimov, Neuromancer, politics, science fiction, Warren Ellis, William Gibson | Leave a comment