Books & Comics

How are Charlie Chaplin and World War I different in a world of vampires?

Kim Newman’s alternate history Anno Dracula was one of the most bracing alternate histories of its time, as well as one of the coolest vampire stories. And now, the sequel, The Bloody Red Baron, is coming out in a new edition — featuring a brand new novella set in Newman’s alternate vampiric World War I.…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

This insane children’s book artwork will ruin bedtime forever

What you’re looking at here are Heiri Strub’s illustrations from the 1956 Swiss edition of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Tinderbox, a fairly deranged 1835 children’s yarn about a trio of magic dogs with eyes the sizes of teacups, mill-wheels, and windmills, respectively. Plenty of fairy tales are mind-warping, but The Tinderbox is special in that…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

Nick Harkaway has created a brand new genre: Existential pulp

Nick Harkaway’s first book, The Gone Away World, was a dazzling, frustrating, beguiling romp with an ingenious final twist that pulled everything together marvelously. His long-awaited second novel, Angelmaker, is is equally dazzling and frustrating — but more than anything, it leaves you feeling as though Harkaway’s penchant for genre mashups has resulted in something…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

One-star reviews of Fahrenheit 451 will make you want to burn everything down

If you want to lose all your faith in the human race and surrender to the fear that we’re going to turn into some kind of nightmarish dystopia — then check out the collection of one-star reviews of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 over at Least Helpful. Sample review: I think this book was a very…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Wolverine’s 10 Most Mortifying Moments

Wolverine’s a respectable bub. This is no small feat as he’s spent most of the last thirty-odd years wearing a banana-colored body condom and a Batman hat. Nonetheless, life has kicked the snikt out of Logan. When you’re the best there is at what you, it’s inevitable that you’ll have an off day…or ten. As…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

A Letter To Batman’s Shark Repellent Bat-Spray, From A Lover Spurned

We both knew this letter has been a long time coming. Or at least I did, starting around the time The Riddler kidnapped those ichthyologists from Gotham University and forced them to custom-breed hammerhead sharks with question-mark-shaped heads. The nightwatchman at that deepwater crossword puzzle factory owes you his life. But here’s the thing —…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

In June, Ultimate Spider-Man will meet the plain old Amazing Spider-Man

Since its inception a decade ago, Marvel’s Ultimate line of comics (which occurs in an alternate reality known as Earth-1610) has been entirely cloistered from the publisher’s standard superhero books (which are set on Earth-616). For years, the “no crossovers” mandate reigned supreme. Heck, the entire concept of Marvel Zombies was initially written as a…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

World’s Largest Atlas Needs Two People To Turn Each Page

So how does the book publishing industry battle back as they watch its market share being slowly nibbled away by e-readers and tablets? Well, by churning out an incredibly massive 6 by 4 1/2 foot world atlas with a price tag of $100,000 of course. The Platinum Edition of Millennium House’s newest atlas—simply titled Earth—stands…

Books & Comics Andrew Liszewski

In this week’s comics, it’s all monster hunters and surly spies

Like clockwork, here’s your Wednesday batch of comics for reading on a beautiful spring day. Or a crisp autumn day, if you’re reading this from the Southern Hemisphere. Or a day-less season-less day if you’re reading this from the International Space Station. Shall we? First Issues To kick things off, Mark Millar and Watchmen artist…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

Some Excellent Recommendations for 1960s Science Fiction Books Everyone Should Read

Our favorite meme today is the one where people list their top 11 science fiction novels from the 1960s. It started over on Science Fiction Ruminations and then spread to Yellow and Creased. And there are some great, great recommendations in there. I’m struck by the diversity, with the two lists I’ve seen thus far…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Wicked Magicians and Shifting Glamours: An Exclusive Excerpt from Mary Robinette Kowal’s Glamour in Glass

With Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal returns to the fascinating world of her debut novel Milk and Honey, blending Regency England with magic. As she explained in our exclusive interview in March, this book takes place in 1815, on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, and our unlucky Honeymooning magicians get caught in…

Books & Comics Mary Robinette Kowal

Why Old Books Get That Old Book Smell

There’s nothing quite as pungent as walking into a book store specializing in old tomes. But why do they produce such a strong and unique smell as they age? Basically every book is an organic chemical reaction just waiting to happen. Books printed in the 19th and 20th centuries are particularly prone to breaking down…

Books & Comics Andrew Liszewski

How do you write Watchmen comics without Alan Moore? Darwyn Cooke fills us in

Come June, DC Comics will release Before Watchmen, a series of comic book prequels to author Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons’ classic superhero deconstruction Watchmen. https://gizmodo.com/dc-comics-unveils-full-list-of-watchmen-prequels-5881187 The thing is, neither Moore nor Gibbons are involved with this project, and Moore just happens to be outspokenly against it. This leaves some of the comic industry’s…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

Webcomic SuperMutant Magic Academy proves high school angst is the same everywhere

When the students of Hogwarts and Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters aren’t fighting for survival, they’re battling ennui, insecurity, and their own hormones. Jillian Tamaki’s SuperMutant Magic Academy captures all of the teen angst you’ll find at a school for magical mutants — or any school at all. Jillian Tamaki illustrated the moodiness of an…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

The Victorian Hugos: 1890

The Hugo Awards are given to the best science fiction or fantasy works of the previous year. Unfortunately, they’ve only been awarded since 1953. That’s where this column comes in — Jess Nevins will be awarding honorary Hugo Awards to the best novels of the Victorian era… and beyond. Top image: William Morris art via…

Books & Comics Jess Nevins

April Books: Stephen King’s Dark Tower, Neal Stephenson’s Weird History, and More!

The book world has some treats in store for you this month — including a brand new novel in Stephen King’s Dark Tower universe, and the first book of Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear’s Mongoliad. John Shirley revises and updates his groundbreaking cyberpunk trilogy. There are more jazz-age vampires and Regency magicians, and alien-killers learning…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Need ideas for your next science fiction story? This site is full of them

Story ideas are dime a dozen, but sometimes it can be hard to find one that feels really original, or which you connect with. That’s why TheIdeaBird is a really neat idea — every day or two, this Tumblr features another story idea, and they’re usually science fiction or fantasy. In fact, these little idea…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

What Darth Vader Would Look Like If He Was a Good Dad

In an alternate Star Wars reality, maybe Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader but realized he still wanted to take care of his kids like any not evil dad would. Maybe he did all the mundane dad things too. Maybe it looked like this. Jeffrey Brown, an artist and author, is imagining that lovely and hilarious…

Books & Comics Casey Chan

Seanan McGuire Branching Out into Medical Thrillers About Parasites That Turn Against Us

She’s tackled urban fantasy with the October Daye novels and zombies with the Newsflesh books, and cryptozoologists with the Incryptid books. And now Seanan McGuire, aka Mira Grant, is moving into the medical thriller genre. The good news is, it sounds like she’s got a really fresh spin on the “medical science gone wrong” idea.…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Writing advice from C.S. Lewis was both adorable and concise

On June 26, 1956, author C.S. Lewis responded to a fan letter from Joan Lancaster, a young Chronicles of Narnia enthusiast. In a personalized thank-you letter, the writer imparted some simple and valuable stylistic advice for budding prose writers. Behold, how to write like Aslan. Lewis began his correspondence by provided pointers on literary matters…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

How are Charlie Chaplin and World War I different in a world of vampires?

This insane children’s book artwork will ruin bedtime forever

Nick Harkaway has created a brand new genre: Existential pulp

One-star reviews of Fahrenheit 451 will make you want to burn everything down

Wolverine’s 10 Most Mortifying Moments

A Letter To Batman’s Shark Repellent Bat-Spray, From A Lover Spurned

In June, Ultimate Spider-Man will meet the plain old Amazing Spider-Man

World’s Largest Atlas Needs Two People To Turn Each Page

In this week’s comics, it’s all monster hunters and surly spies

Some Excellent Recommendations for 1960s Science Fiction Books Everyone Should Read

Wicked Magicians and Shifting Glamours: An Exclusive Excerpt from Mary Robinette Kowal’s Glamour in Glass

Why Old Books Get That Old Book Smell

How do you write Watchmen comics without Alan Moore? Darwyn Cooke fills us in

Webcomic SuperMutant Magic Academy proves high school angst is the same everywhere

The Victorian Hugos: 1890

April Books: Stephen King’s Dark Tower, Neal Stephenson’s Weird History, and More!

Need ideas for your next science fiction story? This site is full of them

What Darth Vader Would Look Like If He Was a Good Dad

Seanan McGuire Branching Out into Medical Thrillers About Parasites That Turn Against Us

Writing advice from C.S. Lewis was both adorable and concise

Tesla Goes Ahead and Admits Its Robotaxis Are Sometimes Fully Human-Controlled

School Forced to Replace Toilets After Kids Flush Vapes

‘Scream 7’ Just Won’t Stop Making Money as ‘Scream 8’ Gets Started

The Curtain Has Closed on Meta’s Movie Rating-Inspired Content Filters

Good News! You Can Finally Change That Ridiculous Gmail Address

ExpressVPN Just Launched ExpressAI: Your Prompts Are Now Invisible

VR Just Took Another Massive Body Blow

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

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