Detective Archives | Otaku No Culture

The Science of Ghosts. Just How Hard Is It To Make One Up?

One aspect in what makes The Science of Ghosts ideal to real this Halloween season is that some spectres can be manufactured, especially when the plot seems Scooby Doo (revenge driven).

The Science of Ghosts Graphic Novel Cover — Available to purchase on Amazon USA

Legendary Comics

Although The Science of Ghosts had delays in getting to print after it was first announced, thankfully this graphic novel release isn’t vaporware. When the topic concerns why they manifest and what their importance is to family legacies, just what’s told isn’t necessarily mind-shattering! As for encountering one for real versus manufactured, that’s a detail I rather enjoyed discovering while reading this book.

Here, the portrayal of ghosts suggests that some old black magic needs to be involved more so than trauma to cause them to remain on this earthly plane. As Halloween approaches, I finally cracked open this book written by Lilah Sturges and illustrated by El Garing. This graphic novel doesn’t really delve into the physics behind what makes up a ghost (it would’ve been interesting to offer ideas). Instead, what it offers is a great hard-boiled type mystery concerning this spirit appearing to specific individuals.

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Dick Tracy. All Noir All The Time in Mad Cave Studio’s Commitment to Release More Pulps!

Fans of the pulps might want to consider looking at Dick Tracy’s new adventures in this new comic book series being distributed by Mad Cave Studios.

Dick Tracy #5 Comic Book Cover Some comic book series are better reviewed as fully stories rather than by individual chapters, and Mad Cave Studio‘s Dick Tracy flows better when I can see the tale in full. As a monthly series to provide an experience similar to the pulps, I don’t think I’d have the patience to wait for the next chapter/broadcast. I held off on publishing this review until that first adventure comes to an end, and what’s presented here feels more hard boiled than I can recall from other takes.

After enjoying this release, I also wanting to watch Warren Betty’s take on this detectvie and swoon over Madonna again. This hero made his debut in the early 30s, and I’m reasonably sure writers since then have rewritten or retconned his early life. In this latest, he’s a war veteran turned police detective. And it seems some of his past has arrived to haunt him. While his bosses say the war is over, the trauma he’s faced and everything that defines him now is worse than a ghost knocking at his door!

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Seeking Mavis Beacon, Because Her Face is Well-Known All Around The World

When not everyone can touch type, is Seeking Mavis Beacon important? What this documentary is effective at examining is in why a certain look was needed, and how that would later influence a generation of not only black women in the corporate world, but also shape the state of an AI industry, especially chatbots.

Seeking Mavis Beacon Movie Poster — **Test your typing speed with the online version here.**

To find if this documentary is playing at a theatre near you, please visit the official website.

When the people Seeking Mavis Beacon think of the software designed to teach typing as a videogame, I’m sure this telling documentary can ask Where in the World is Mavis Becon instead of Carmen Sandiego. At least, when comparing Broderbund/The Learning Company’s product to The Software Toolworks‘ deception, the lines of reality is not as blurry. Back when both games were released, everyone thought these characters were real!

However, for a generation who grew up learning how to touch type and improving their typing speed with this “person,” she’s an iconic role model many people will not dispute. Until the information was made public, not everyone knew she was a made up figure. A real person was involved in selling the product, but that was only for a day. Renee L’esperance was already a well established fashion model who was mostly better known in Haiti than other parts of the world. And when Les Crane, Walt Bilofsky, and Mike Duffy knew she was the one to become the face of their learning app, their plan can be scorned now instead of back then.

They only offered her $500 to pose for a simple photo shoot, and never offered her a contract for residuals. Had she known just how influential this program would become, she’d be as rich as Bill Gates! The last software release occurred in 2020, a detail this film journal did not take a deep dive into.

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The Private Eye. Who’s Watching Whom?

Maybe what Mort has to do in The Private Eye is to simply change his attutide, if he’s to succeed.

Matt Rife is The Private Eye. And if you’re watching him in his first leading role, then he hopes you’ll love everything that’s offered in this detective story. As Mort Madison, he’s down on his luck even worse than those attempting to survive the Dirty 30s. Although this work is set in the modern day, what it pays homage to is very much of the cliches from yesteryear.

However, I can’t shake the feeling this work also touches on what’s great about Magnum P.I. (the original series). That’s because Mort is seen more often seen wearing a Hawaiian shirts; it’s a detail I can’t stop noticing. Although he’s not savvy enough like Thomas Magnum to win over Michelle (Clare Grant), that’s because she still has her eyes on David (credited as Elliot in the IMDB). And when he decides to eliminate this unintended rival, he hopes he can win over the dame and live happily ever after.

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Apparently, Limbo Exists Somewhere in Australia’s Savage Outback

When people are lost in desolation, Limbo isn’t a state of mind, but is just a place to be.

Bunya Productions
Now Available to Stream on Amazon Prime

The Australian outback is not a place of Limbo as this movie’s film title suggests. Instead, it’s a world of isolation. Here, crimes can go unsolved for years, and by the time authorities get wind of a situation, rushing to a commune named after this place of purgatory to catch a criminal is often too late.

In this movie’s case, Travis Hurley (Simon Baker) comes to this migrant hovel to look at a homicide left to rot. Charlotte went missing. She didn’t go on a walkabout, as hinted in the opening moments, otherwise she’d be back. Had she been a person of European descent, I’m sure the authorities would’ve been on the case sooner. This detective came here to investigate. But when not everyone wants to talk, I wonder what they are hiding. This work isn’t like Twin Peaks by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m sure Ivan Sen got some ideas from this cult classic.

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At Campton Manor, The Race is On to Find Whodunit

Technically, this movie has no relation to the folk tune about being at the races. Instead Campton Manor deals with something else that the hero has to find before time runs out!

Available on VOD (YouTube, Google Play & Apple)

A mystery is afoot at Campton Manor! It’s rare to feature a detective who admits he sees dead people. And when Cat Hostick‘s film is about such a hero, I was curious. What’s delivered is fairly engaging as the film switches back and forth from what he sees to how others watch him at work. The excellent lighting design lets viewers know when the tale is taking place.

Here, Teddy (Shawn Roberts) is a detective who also moonlights as a writer of cheap fiction. While I question his work ethics of taking inspiration from the cases he’s done, apparently the income is good. Unlike Murder She Wrote, what’s done here shows how nobody’s the wiser. He changes the names in the stories. As for how close he’s gotten to solving the crimes before writing it down depends on who you ask.

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