January sure was popular with readers. The most popular article at Black Gate last month was… our summary of the most popular articles at Black Gate the previous month. If that patterns hold, this will be the most popular article on the blog in March. To guarantee that, I’ve put a big picture of Godzilla at the top. You’re welcome.

Getting back to more regular fare, the second most popular post on the blog last month was Elizabeth Crowens’ epic interview with Buffy the Vampire Slayer author author Nancy Holder. Third on the list was a Vintage Treasures feature on Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane 1: Skulls in the Stars (which just proves Bob Byrne’s thesis that REH is a sure ticket into the Top Ten). Rounding out the Top Five were our look at a much more recent book, the new Looming Low anthology from Justin Steele and Sam Cowan, and my salute to a vanished book imprint, A Farewell to Roc Books.

As always, games were well represented in the Top Ten. Andrew Zimmerman Jones scored the #6 slot with his feature review of the new RPG Tales from the Loop, and M Harold Page entertained us with his report on I Love the Corps, which was good enough for #7. No Top Ten list would be complete without Ryan Harvey, and he made his appearance at #8 with the latest installment of The Complete Carpenter, this time featuring Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Wrapping things up was our look at Unbound Worlds on A Century of Sword and Planet, and the debut effort of new BG blogger David Neil Lee, with his review of Kong – Skull Island.

The complete list of Top Articles for February follows. Below that, I’ve also broken out the most popular overall articles, online fiction, and blog categories for the month.

The Top 50 Black Gate posts in February were:

1. The Top Black Gate Posts in January
2. The Poison Apple: Remember Buffy? An Interview with Tie-in Author Nancy Holder
3. Vintage Treasures: Solomon Kane 1: Skulls in the Stars by Robert E. Howard
4. New Treasures: Looming Low edited by Justin Steele and Sam Cowan
5. A Farewell to Roc Books
6. Modular: Trouble in the ’80’s with Tales from the Loop
7. Modular: First Time Out With I Love the Corps
8. The Complete Carpenter: Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
9. Unbound Worlds on a Century of Sword and Planet
10. Deep Pockets, Abyssal Regions: Kong – Skull Island (2017)

     

11. The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
12. The Return of OMNI Magazine
13. Taking the Prize for Strange Worldbuilding: Jon Sprunk’s Book of the Black Earth
14. Gods, Mortals, Sons, and Daughters: Storm Seed by Janet and Chris Morris
15. Vintage Treasures: The Long Way Home by Poul Anderson
16. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
17. Vintage Treasures: The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
18. Goth Chick News Anniversary Interview: Aliens Carrie Henn
19. Bridging the Cultural Gap between Canada and the USA
20. The Time of Woe is Upon Us: Chaos in the Old World

     

21. Criminals, Invading Armies, and a Dragon Hoard: The Six Kingdoms Novels by Bruce Fergusson
22. The Last Dragon (1985): My Big Trouble in Little China or Black Panther Double Feature Pick
23. The Black Panther’s Magical World of Wakanda
24. Larque Press on Genre Magazine Sales in 2017
25. Plants as Protagonists: An Interview with Semiosis author Sue Burke
26. Incendiary Conspiracy Theory Suggests Possible Collusion Between She-Ra: Princess of Power and Hordak
27. Birthday Reviews: Jack Dann’s “Rings Around the Moon”
28. Future Treasures: Warhammer 40k: The Magos by Dan Abnett
29. Shark Ships and Marching Morons: The Best of C. M. Kornbluth
30. Vintage Treasures: The Snail on the Slope by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky

     

31. The Silver Eggheads by Fritz Leiber
32. Birthday Reviews: Richard A. Lupoff’s “Black Mist”
33. Birthday Reviews: Gahan Wilson’s “The Sea Was Wet as Wet Can Be”
34. Vintage Treasures: The Exile Waiting by Vonda N. McIntyre
35. Amazing Stories, December 1961: A Retro-Review
36. Birthday Reviews: August Derleth’s “The Return of Hastur”
37. Birthday Review: Selina Rosen’s “Food Quart”
38. Birthday Reviews: Iain M. Banks’s “A Gift from the Culture”
39. I Need A Vacation – Or Is It A Holiday?
40. Tell Me A Story: UnSpoiled

     

41. Birthday Reviews: Richard Matheson’s “Third from the Sun”
42. Tell Me A Story: Levar Burton Reads
43. Birthday Reviews: J.T. McIntosh’s “Hermit”
44. Birthday Reviews: Andre Norton’s “The Gifts of Asti”
45. Heroic Fantasy Quarterly 35 Now Available
46. Birthday Reviews: John Shirley’s “Occurrence at Owl Street Ridge”
47. Birthday Reviews: Theodore Sturgeon’s “The Girl Had Guts”
48. Reading The Lost Oases by Ahmed Hassanein Bey
49. Birthday Reviews: Daniel F. Galouye’s “Sitting Duck”
50. Beowulf: A New Telling — Almost Forgotten Childhood Classic

There were plenty of older articles popular last month as well. The 25 most popular blog posts written before February were:

1. Death Knight Love Story: WMA meets WTF
2. Goth Chick News: Samuel L. Jackson Takes On Japanese OVA – Hold On To Your Butts…
3. AD&D Figurines: Youth In a Box?
4. “Are You Not Still Entertained?”: Gladiator’s 10-Year Oscar Anniversary
5. Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 5: Teana: 10000 Years Later, Crimson Whale, and The Shamer’s Daughter
6. My Fantasia Festival, Days 5 to 7: Cold in July, The Fatal Encounter, and Huntresses
7. Eccentric in Retrospect: Helen Simpson’s The Woman on the Beast
8. Solitaire Adventure with Victory Point Games
9. Heroic Fantasy with the Sharp Edge of Reality: The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
10. The Return of the King (1980)
11. Blowing the Doors Off the Barn: Expanding the Iron Fist Mythos
12. Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link
13. Haunt the House: The Music and Art of Will Houlihan
14. Andrew Liptak on 18 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read this January
15. Adventures In Gaming: The Temple Of the Sea Gods
16. Living it Large: How Larger Than Life Characters Work
17. The IX by Andrew P. Weston
18. New Treasures: The Library of America Publishes Elmore Leonard
19. Return to Thieves World in Beyond Sanctuary: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
20. The Series Series: Shieldwall: Barbarians! by M. Harold Page
21. Battles with Blades and Bows, and Creatures Charming and Terrifying: Journeys, edited by Teresa Edgerton
22. Exploring the Subterranean
23. Tribulations Herculean and Tragic: Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris
24. Why I’m Here – Part Two: Some Thoughts on Old Books and Appendix N
25. Enough, Part II
26. In Alone Against the Flames You Face the Horror of Cthulhu the Way the Universe Intended: By Yourself

The Top Black Gate Online Fiction features were:

1. An excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
2. “Seven Against Hell” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
3. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” by Joe Bonadonna
4. Tempus Unbound, edited by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
5. An excerpt from Pirates in Hell, edited by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
6. An excerpt from Waters of Darkness by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna
7. “Goat-Beard the Pirate, Part 2: Evil Angel,” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
8. An excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong
9. An excerpt from Shards of the Glass Slipper: Queen Cinder by Roy A. Mauritsen
10. An excerpt from Mouth of the Dragon by Tom Barczak
11. “The Poison Well” by Judith Berman
12. “Queen of Toads” by Joe Bonadonna
13. An excerpt from A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden
14. “Stand at Duben-Geb” by Ryan Harvey
15. An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto by Mike Allen
16. The first chapter of The Wreck of the Marissa by M Harold Page
17. “The Sorrowless Thief” by Ryan Harvey
18. “Nero Wolfe – Stamped for Murder” by Bob Byrne
19. An excerpt from The Power of the Sapphire Wand by Erika M Szabo and Joe Bonadonna
20. “Seeker of Fortune” by David Evan Harris
21. An excerpt from “Night of Two Moons” by David B. Coe
22. “Niola’s Last Stand” by Vera Nazarian
23. “Disciple” by Emily Mah
24. An excerpt from Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin by Erika M Szabo and Joe Bonadonna
25. “The Highwater Harbor,” by Aaron Bradford Starr
26. An excerpt from “The Mudslinger” by David Evan Harris
27. “Disciple” by Emily Mah
28. “Vestments of Pestilence” by John C. Hocking
29. Fiction Excerpt: “Tumithak of the Corridors” by Charles R. Tanner
30. “Iron Joan” by ElizaBeth Gilligan

The top categories last month were:

1. Editor’s Blog
2. Books
3. Art of the Genre
4. Blog Entry
5. Conan
6. Art
7. Comics
8. BG Staff
9. Black Gate Goes to Summer Movies
10. Convention Report
11. Contest
12. Vintage Treasures
13. Discovering Robert E. Howard
14. Reviews
15. Pulp
16. Magazines
17. Music
18. Future Treasures
19. New Treasures
20. Reviews of Black Gate
21. Interviews
22. Game Reviews
23. Fiction
24. Uncategorized
25. Role Playing Games

The Top 50 Black Gate blog posts in January are here, and you can see all 104 posts we made in the month of February here.