Tag Archives: Warren Ellis

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 →

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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 →

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On Dynamite’s James Bond – part 1

Posted on September 23, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

After much delay, the latest James Bond movie is finally coming out next week. Hopefully, No Time to Die will bring the kind of super-spy thrills Black Widow kept threatening to deliver but never really did. In fact, aside from … Continue reading →

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Another Watchmen sequel

Posted on June 10, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

The main reason The Ludocrats was Gotham Calling’s 2020 Book of the Year is that, by the time I did the list, I hadn’t yet read Portrait of a Drunk (a nihilistic piece of ribaldry that lives up to Seinfeld’s motto: … Continue reading →

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A month of Batman moments – Day 30

Posted on May 30, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

The Batman’s Grave #3

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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 →

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Spotlight on Injection

Posted on April 9, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Between the dystopic aesthetics of armed forces sealing people in their homes while drones patrol the empty streets, the apocalyptic vibe of the world stopping over a contagious invisible menace (not to mention the sheer death toll), the process of … Continue reading →

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Brilliant sci-fi short stories

Posted on February 21, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

As much as I enjoy sci-fi epics, I’m also a huge sucker for a tauter brand of science fiction.  Short stories are an ideal form for this genre: since sci-fi often revolves more around ideas than characters, it can be … Continue reading →

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My ideal deluxe omnibus volume – part 3

Posted on November 28, 2018 by I.M. Baytor

If you read the last posts, you know what’s going on. Here are another ten stories that would definitely be included if I had a chance to put together a giant Batman omnibus collecting personal favorites:   ‘Devil’s Advocate’ (Joker: … Continue reading →

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Spotlight on Jim Steranko’s Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Posted on July 17, 2018 by I.M. Baytor

In 1966, Jim Steranko took over the adventures of Marvel’s secret agent Nick Fury. The result was one of those comic book runs in which a creator was able to carve out a personal project at the core of the … Continue reading →

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