If Jack from 24 had a cyborg decoy assistant, Gunslinger Girl would be it.

Looking for some high-action fun? You will love this manga. Although there is no horror or fantasy in this book, it is enjoyable. What’s cuter than a little girl in a school uniform sporting an uzi and shooting up terrorists? Maybe that same little girl collecting teddy bears and attempting to play the violin.

This manga raises an ethical question. The premise is that the social welfare agency has rounded up all the physically challenged girls and modified them into cyborg assassins. On the one side, these once disabled kids now have full happy lives where they can walk, go to school, and play with teddy bears. However, the government sees them as cybernetic toys -mechanical- and completely disposable. The kicker is that they also use some sort of drug to “condition” the girls to obey their handlers and risk their lives for them.

What would you do? If you could make a disabled girl walk again, but the trade up was to have them lose part of themselves mentally, would you do it? What if that girl could help track down terrorists and aid homeland security? How high of a price are you willing to put on our safety? If the quality of life is increased, must the life-expectancy be decreased?

All these questions and more will go through your head as you read this. You will also find out what happens when one of the girls starts falling for her handler.

The art in this manga is well done and has a sort of police show feel. There is one glossy color page in the front and no extras in the back.

Get your copy here from amazon:  Gunslinger Girl

When asked "Do I love Speculative Fiction?"  The answer is yes I know in my heart that I love Speculative Fiction and would consider myself a fan.  If that question is followed up with "How do you know?"  Then the answer is more difficult and involves a man in a batman suit playing guitar at a street light but more on that latter.

One could just claim "I know because that is how I feel."  It is my first answer to this question but people feel many different things throughout the day and even have feelings that contradict previous feelings or their own believed position.  This does not belittle the gut check but it does reduce it's value to one method of discerning one which should be tempered with something else.

Actions speak louder than words.  A phrase that has so much truth to it and is very applicable to this process of discovery.  Our actions toward Speculative Fiction gives us evidence of our true feelings toward it.  Take this real life experience as an example.

Friday, traveling in my car through town I noticed a man standing in the grass near a three way intersection.  This was not ordinary man for he was wearing a Batman costume and jamming away on a guitar with a smile of joy on his face.  I realized by my own thoughts that this is the moment of truth, what are your thoughts about this man?

My thoughts first went toward protection of Speculative Fiction by discerning if the man was doing this out of mockery.  Satisfied that he was not, my mind turned toward fraternal thoughts.  I celebrated in his expression, became excited, thought about which Batman suit he chose and found myself wishing he could have a catwoman singer and a robin playing drums.  If your thoughts turned destructive, toward mocking this man tearing him down and robbing him of his joyous moment then your feelings are in question because your actions say your  not a fan.

How Do You Know If You Love SF?  You know that you love Speculative Fiction if you celebrate it, cherish it and express those feelings in fraternal /constructive actions.  If your actions are hateful, mocking and destructive than you do not love SF.  You are not a fan.

By the way his Batman costume was blue and grey 1960’s style Batman costume.

These are my links for April 22nd through April 23rd:

• X-Men: First Class To Be A Comic Book Movie For Kids? | /Film -


• Sci-fi TV pilots, part two: The CW and Fox shows that will live or die | SCI FI Wire -


• Will Smith Inks Deal With SyFy -


• multipleverses.com » Blog Archive » GHOST HUNTERS SCORES WITH TITANIC RATINGS! -


• Iron Man: Armored Adventures | Tony Stark | Nicktoons Network -


• New Live-Action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie in 2011 | /Film -


• PBS Launches Video Portal -


• Which sci-fi TV pilots will live and which will die? We take a look | SCI FI Wire -


• How Dollhouse Made Me My Best | dashPunk -


• Author Kevin J. Anderson sets his sights on Wonder Woman | SCI FI Wire -

These topics and more covered in our daily podcast, Project: Shadow Informant.

These are my links for April 15th through April 21st:

• Google bringing pay-per-view to YouTube | Digital Media - CNET News -


• Third Da Vinci Code Film The Lost Symbol Announced | /Film -


• Toy Story 3 Teaser Premiered at NAB | /Film -


• Lionsgate developing modern Merlin tale, Reborn | SCI FI Wire -


• Dollhouse's Eliza Dushku on why Fox might renew the series | SCI FI Wire -


• Green Lantern Has $150 Million Budget, Shooting in Sydney | /Film -


• The Underworld saga will continue, but how? | SCI FI Wire - I would watch, read, and buy these


• GameCryer.com: Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide | Nuketown - This is a book I might pick up even if I don't play the game.


• Joss & Co. reveal plans for a Dr. Horrible sequel: Maybe a movie? | SCI FI Wire - I vote for the movie!


• Steven Spielberg Thinks Transformers 2 Might Be Michael Bay’s Best Film; New Trailer Cut | /Film - If Spielberg likes it, it must be awesome, right?


• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 15th | /Film - I am getting a little tired of them moving the release date.


• Michael Chabon Writing John Carter of Mars | /Film -

These topics and more covered in our daily podcast, Project: Shadow Informant.

These are my links for April 14th from 15:40 to 15:41:

• Ghostbusters 3 to Feature “Lots Of Cadets, Boys and Girls” | /Film -


• Zac Efron Confirmed for Johnny Quest? Film To be Retitled? | /Film -


• 147 Minutes of Giant Robots in Transformers 2 | /Film -


• StarWars.com | Fanboys Coming to DVD -


• Amazon update: Tweets, boycotts and "ham-fisted errors" | AfterElton.com -


• April Convention Appearances!  | The Guild -


• Evernote Blog » Blog Archive » Evernote + Twitter = Instant Memories -


• Amazon Accused of Removing Gay Books from Rankings -


• Starlog ceases print publication; will remain on Web | SCI FI Wire -


• Michael Sheen Returns to Vampire Land for Twilight | /Film -


• Star Trek on May 7th | /Film -

These topics and more covered in our daily podcast, Project: Shadow Informant.

These are my links for April 10th from 14:49 to 14:49:

• YouTube Concedes to Music Industry With Off-Site Vevo Hub for UMG -


• Fanboy.com » Blog Archive » Space Invaders Icecube Incubator -


• Transformers 2 Character CGI Concept Art | /Film -


• GateWorld » Third SG-1 movie has a go! -


• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince International Trailer | /Film -


• Clearing up the F.U.D. about Dollhouse | dashPunk -


• Walking Papercraft Mech Warrior -


• Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes Cast in Clash of the Titans | /Film -


• Dollhouse Finale to be Preempted? | dashPunk -


• Video: Knights Templar hid the Shroud of Turin, says Vatican - Times Online -


• Downey suits up as `Iron Man 2' starts filming - Entertainment News -


• Victorian 'ghost' picked up by Google Street View - Telegraph -

These topics and more covered in our daily podcast, Project: Shadow Informant.

A Yoda-themed cross-stitch from flicker user Krupp.  This is great it’s like something I would hang in my kitchen for those bold cooking days.

(via Club Jade)

These are my links for April 7th through April 8th:

• Greg Bear to Write Halo Trilogy -


• Get an exclusive look at concept art for SCI FI's upcoming Riverworld | SCI FI Wire -


• Harry Potter's 'Crabbe' is busted for pot in London | SCI FI Wire -


• Gary Oldman NOT in Iron Man 2, First Look at Garry Shandling as Senator Stern | /Film -


• Ian McShane Interview - Deadwood and NBC Kings TV Show Actor Ian McShane - Esquire -


• 'Kings' exiled to Saturdays by NBC - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety -


• MySpace.com Blogs - OTEP MySpace Blog -


• The Clone Wars gets ‘enhanced’ for rerun season -


• Hulu Blog The Search Continues -


• TV’s Web Revenues: $1.63B in 2008 -


• Netflix Nabs SpongeBob and South Park -


• Sony's Movies May Be Coming to YouTube -


• Cryptomundo » Giant Sea Worm Discovery -

These topics and more covered in our daily podcast, Project: Shadow Informant.

These are my links for April 6th from 22:18 to 22:19:

• Sanctuary begins season two production; Agam Darshi joins cast | SCI FI Wire -


• Cryptomundo » DT After Lake Van Monster -


• Jason Katims develops Oz-themed Dorothy Gale for NBC | SCI FI Wire -


• Fox Leaning Toward 'Dollhouse' Renewal | Airlock Alpha -


• Fox News Columnist Roughed Up by Wolverine Leak -


• StatShot: 1M Downloads of Wolverine in Less than a Week -


• LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit!? | /Film -


• Jackie Earle Haley Cast as Freddy in Nightmare on Elm Street Reboot | /Film -


• Zack Snyder on Watchmen’s Box Office and Director’s Cut Theatrical Release | /Film -


• Animated Green Lantern DVD movie gets new July release date | SCI FI Wire -


• Video: Vin Diesel and Dungeons and Dragons -

These topics and more covered in our daily podcast, Project: Shadow Informant.

These are my links for April 3rd from 15:44 to 15:50:

• Review: Chuck 218 Versus the Broken Heart | dashPunk -


• Cool Stuff: The Jokers Wild Art Show | /Film -


• Effects company denies leaking 'Wolverine' online - Entertainment News -


• StarWars.com | Timothy Zahn Returns with a New Novel -


• Free Library: April New Addition! - Suvudu - Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, Movies, and Games -


• Pandora Adds Song Lyrics -


• Apex Magazine open to submissions - SFScope - Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror -


• GateWorld » Richard Dean Anderson will be on Stargate Universe -


• BBC - Doctor Who - News -


• Legend of the Seeker Season 2 and the Books | dashPunk -


• First glimpses of Scott Bakula and Chevy Chase on 'Chuck' | The Watcher -


• FBI called in over Wolverine leak | Gay Sci-Fi Nerds (GSFN) Podcast Show -


• News briefs: Hannigan baby pops, Big Blu-ray drops | SCI FI Wire -


• DIY Craft: Yoda Finger Puppet | dashPunk -


• Angel's James Marsters still up for Spike spinoff, but he's not getting younger | SCI FI Wire -

These topics and more covered in our daily podcast, Project: Shadow Informant.