Tag Archives: espionage

Collected war comics

Posted on June 3, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

The folks at Dead Reckoning sent a copy of Garth Ennis’ and Carlos Ezquerra’s The Tankies for me to review, so I figured it would be fun to put the book into context by discussing it together with other collections … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Alan Hebden, Alex Toth, Battle, Battlefields, Cam Kennedy, Carlos Ezquerra, Charles Biro, Cold War, Dave Berg, espionage, Fighting Mann, Frontline Combat, Garth Ennis, Gene Colan, Harvey Kurtzman, Hector Ezquerra, Joe Kubert, John Severin, Johnny Craig, Marie Severin, Mike Western, politics, R.C. Harvey, Reed Crandall, Ric Estrada, Russ Heath, The Tankies, Tony Avina, Two-Fisted Tales, Vietnam, War Dog, World War II | Leave a comment

Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1980-1982

Posted on April 15, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

This is the final installment in my overview of Bob Haney’s neglected run on The Unknown Soldier, which ended with a bang. By 1980, this World War II-set comic had turned into a fairly mechanic, well-oiled enterprise. Haney churned out … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Adolf Hitler, Bob Haney, Bob LeRose, Dick Ayers, Elizabeth Breitweiser, espionage, Garth Ennis, Gerry Talaoc, Jerry Serpe, Joe Kubert, Len Wein, Mike W. Barr, Paul Levitz, politics, Rick Veitch, Steve Epting, Unknown Soldier, World War II | Leave a comment

2020’s books of the year: honorable mentions – part 1

Posted on March 4, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

Doing a list often involves leaving out a lot of good stuff and this was certainly the case with Gotham Calling’s 2020 books of the year… Some great comics didn’t make it to the list because they didn’t fulfil the … Continue reading →

Posted in BOOKS OF THE YEAR | Tagged Abraham STone, Aco, American Ronin, Axel Alonso, BANG!, Batman's personality, Big Girls, Brian Michael Bendis, Dave Stewart, David Lorenzo, Dean White, espionage, Jason Howard, Joe Kubert, Matt Kindt, Nick Derington, Peter Milligan, politics, science fiction, Warren Ellis, western, Wilfredo Torres | 1 Comment

2020’s books of the year – part 4

Posted on January 28, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

If you read last weeks’ posts, you know what’s going on. Here are four 2020 books that reminded me of why I love comics: 8. PULP The creative duo of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (known among some fans … Continue reading →

Posted in BOOKS OF THE YEAR | Tagged Al Feldstein, Blackhawk, British Ice, Cold War, Ed Brubaker, Eduardo Barreto, espionage, Grant Miehm, Harvey Kurtzman, horror, Howard Chaykin, Jacob Phillips, Jerry DeFuccio, Joe Kubert, Joe Sacco, Ken Bruzenak, Man and Superman, Mark Verheiden, Martin Pasko, Mike Grell, Milton Caniff, noir, Own D. Pomery, Pablo Marcos, politics, Pulp, Rick Burchett, science fiction, Sean Phillips, Steve Oliff, Steve Riggenberg, Terry Beatty, Thommy Burns, western, World War II | Leave a comment

2020’s books of the year – part 2

Posted on January 14, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

If you read last week’s post, you know I’m doing a countdown of the most Gotham Calling books of 2020. Enjoy! 16. UNDONE BY BLOOD Collected as Undone by Blood or The Shadow of a Wanted Man, the first … Continue reading →

Posted in BOOKS OF THE YEAR | Tagged Adam Hughes, Alex Toth, Allan Harvey, Atlas at War, Charlie Kirchoff, Chris Brunner, Chris Weston, Christian Alamy, Chuck Dixon, Cold War, Cully Hamner, Dan Spiegle, Daniel Hillyard, David Michelinie, DC Goes to War, Doug Dabbs, Doug Wagner, Drew Moore, Ed Herron, Eduardo Barreto, espionage, Garth Ennis, Gene Colan, Gerry Talaoc, Hank Chapman, Harvey Kurtzman, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Jack Davis, Jack Kirby, Jason Wordie, Jerry Grandenetti, Jerry Robinson, Joe Kubert, Joe Maneely, Joe Simon, Joe Sinnott, John Severin, Judith Hunt, Laura Martin, Lee Loughridge, Len Wein, Lonnie Nadler, Mark Evanier, Marv Wolfman, Michael Esposito, Michael J. Vassallo, Michael Kelleher, Michael Uslan, Paul Reinman, politics, Robert Kanigher, Russ Heath, Sam Glanzman, Sam Kweslin, Sami Kivelä, Scott Nybakken, Stan Lee, The Ride, Tomm Coker, Undone by Blood, Werner Roth, western, World War II, Zac Thompson | 2 Comments

John le Carré (1931-2020)

Posted on December 14, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Although his work had little to do with Batman comics, John le Carré was a foundational writer for some of the other stuff I cover in this blog. Between the Circus series and his other novels, he became one of … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged books without pictures, espionage, John le Carré | Leave a comment

Alternative futures – part 2

Posted on October 15, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

After a week binging the growing subgenre of paranoia-inducing documentaries about paranoia-inducing social media (The Social Dilemma, Agents of Chaos, The Great Hack), a lot of science fiction has come to feel positively *quaint* in comparison with the current times… … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged Alem Curin, Alex de Campi, Alice Duke, Bill Sienkiewicz, Brian K. Vaughan, Butch Guice, Chuck Dixon, Colleen Doran, Dan McDaid, Diego Rodriguez, espionage, Felipe Sobreiro, Igor Kordey, Jesse Hamm, Jorge Zaffino, Julie Michel, Mack Chater, Marcos Martin, Milton, Muntsa Vicent, politics, R.M. Guéra, Richard Pace, science fiction, Smoke, The Private Eye, Winterworld | Leave a comment

On John le Carré’s non-Circus novels

Posted on September 24, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Earlier this year, I discussed John le Carré’s Circus novels as the perfect counterpoint to the James Bond branch of spy fiction. Yet there is much more to le Carré’s writing, which has taken this genre into all sorts of … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged books without pictures, Cold War, espionage, John le Carré, Mark Askwith, Matt Taylor, politics, R.G. Taylor | Leave a comment

12 cool James Bond covers

Posted on September 17, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

After all the covid-related postponements, it appears we finally have a date for the latest James Bond picture, (now tastelessly) titled No Time to Die. Honestly, I’m in no hurry to see it, since the last couple of movies didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in AWESOME COVERS | Tagged covers, espionage, James Bond, movies | Leave a comment

A couple of old-school detective novels

Posted on June 11, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Because I also like books without pictures, this week let’s switch gears for a bit and look at a couple of very cool non-comics detective novels: THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS (Eric Ambler, 1939) “A Frenchman named Chamfort, who should have … Continue reading →

Posted in HARDBOILED CRIME | Tagged books without pictures, Eric Ambler, espionage, noir, politics, Ross MacDonald | 1 Comment