Tag Archives: science fiction

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

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (20 January 2025)

Posted on January 20, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

A gizmo-centric reminder that comic books can look awesome… Strange Tales #143 Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #15 Superman: Space Age #2

Posted in GLIMPSES INTO AWESOMENESS | Tagged Artie Simek, Dan Mora, Dave Sharpe, Howard Purcell, Jack Kirby, Laura Allred, Mark Waid, Michael Allred, S.H.I.E.L.D., science fiction, Stan Lee, Steve Wands, Strange Tales, Superman, Tamra Bonvillain, World's Finest | Leave a comment

2024’s Book of the Year

Posted on January 1, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

The fact that the second volume of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters finally came out should’ve made the pick for Gotham Calling’s 2024 Book of the Year a clincher. Emil Ferris’ long-and-eagerly-awaited continuation of her dense, brilliant debut opus keeps … Continue reading →

Posted in BOOKS OF THE YEAR | Tagged Bill Everett, Cold War, David Small, Emil Ferris, Gene Colan, horror, Joe Maneely, Michael J. Vassallo, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Pete Morisi, science fiction, Venus, Werner Roth | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (25 November 2024)

Posted on November 25, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

This week’s reminder that comics can be awesome is a tribute to Ian Kennedy’s covers for the 1980s’ anthology Starblazer, with their deadpan combination of breathtaking vistas, psychedellic colors, and oddball concepts:

Posted in GLIMPSES INTO THE FUTURE | Tagged covers, Ian Kennedy, science fiction, Starblazer | 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

80’s-style action comics

Posted on October 3, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

Predator: Concrete Jungle #2 With its foul-mouthed, sweaty badass men (and women), anti-government attitude, and casualty-heavy set pieces, the 1980s’ wave of outrageous action movies had a specific vibe that has become affectionately known in some circles as ‘absurd macho … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged Alien, Chris Chanelor, Chris Warner, Denis Beauvais, Diana Schutz, Evan Dorkin, John Arcudi, Mark A. Nelson, Mark Verheiden, movies, politics, Predator, Randy Stradley, Ron Randall, Sam Kieth, science fiction, Terminator | Leave a comment

Explaining super-powers

Posted on September 26, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

One of the main joys in superhero narratives is, once a character’s power set has been established, to see it put to different uses. In a genre that’s often close to speculative sci-fi, there is something particularly gratifying when writers … Continue reading →

Posted in SUPER POWERS | Tagged Chris Moeller, Global Frequency, Irredeemable, Mark Waid, Ruins, science fiction, Stormwatch, Terese Nielsen, Warren Ellis | Leave a comment

Third Gotham Calling Manifesto

Posted on September 19, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

Detective Comics #483 I started this blog a decade ago in the spirit of entertainment – for others as much as for myself. I spent much of my life reading and thinking about Batman comics, so I wanted to share … Continue reading →

Posted in MANIFESTO | Tagged Brendan McCarthy, David Lopez, Erica Henderson, espionage, movies, politics, science fiction, western, Will Pfeifer | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (8 July 2024)

Posted on July 8, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

A reminder that comics can be awesome… and yet another tribute to the gloriously pulpy covers of Strange Adventures:

Posted in GLIMPSES INTO THE PAST | Tagged Bernard Sachs, Bob Oksner, covers, Gardner Fox, Gaspar Saladino, Ira Schnapp, Jack Adler, Jack Sparling, Murphy Anderson, science fiction, Strange Adventures | Leave a comment