Cartoons Books

This recoplilation of Mcfarlane's Spiderman colaboration, shows the origin of VENOM, and what Jim Lee did to X-men, Mcfalane did to Spiderman, he reinvented the "spagetti" web, he gave strong to the spider character, the draws are spectacular, and the plots are simple but interesting.

its ya boy caleb...on my moms account...just bought the book and love it...this book shows a couple pages of #298,#299, and all of #300,#315,#316,#316,#317...the beginning is awesome cuz it leads up to venom finding spider-man...and its chilling and spine tingling to see how ruthless and how vengeful he was against spidey...as the story moves on you see mary jane being a real trooper...and being such a great wife for peter...then the major battle happens...defenitly fun to watch...and makes you actually think "is spidey gonna get out of this"...it was awesome!...later it gets more tense...but im not going to spoil it for u...its an awesome book...not that big of a book...but its good...really good

This graphic novel contains some scenes from Amazing Spider-Man # 298 and #299. It contains full Amazing Spider-Man # 300, 315, 316, and 317. It tells about the first issues of Venom. It contains one comic about the Hydro Man. If you like Venom then buy this.

Ir you're a fan of Todd McFarlane's art and you don't have this yet, what are you waiting for? This book contains Amazing Spider-Man #300 which is the first full appearance, origin of Venom, and his first fight with Spidey. It also has, I think, issues #315-317 which is the Venom rematch. Not really a great story but it's a good enough backdrop for McFarlane where he started to do his best work and this is full of some great pictures. I recommend this for Mcfarlane and Venom fans.

Todd McFarlane took over the penciling chores on "Amazing Spider-Man" in March 1988, and quickly took the book straight to the top of the mountain as the #1 comic book in the industry. The reason why is contained within the pages of "Spider-Man vs. Venom", collecting two cameos from Venom in ASM #298 and #299, and then the epic first confrontation and return match between Spider-Man and Venom from ASM #300, 315, 316 and 317.

After seemingly destroying the alien symbiote he picked up during the Secret Wars, Spider-Man is dismayed to find out that the alien symbiote has not only survived, but has joined with someone who likewise shares an intense hatred of the superhero. The result is Venom, a monsterous opponent who has all of Spider-Man's strengths, can cancel out his spider-sense, and lives for only one purpose: The annihilation of Spider-Man. Far from the countless pretenders who have sought to kill Spider-Man, Venom is the one opponent who actually has the hatred and raw strength and savagery to get the job done. Spider-Man barely survives their first encounter after Venom overwhelms him with his massive strength and similar spider-powers, and Peter Parker realizes that he has to figure out a way to out-think Venom lest their second encounter lead to his death.

Writer David Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane created one of the most exciting Spider-Man adversaries in years, as well as one of the most talked-about and sought-after series of books in comics history. McFarlane's pencils are at their best here, and he takes to Spider-Man like a fish to water. Almost immediately he adds a visual flair to Spider-Man that hadn't been seen since the days of Lee/Romita. Likewise, Michelinie earns his kudos with the story arc he constructs, leaving the reader more on the edge of his proverbial seat with each successive issue, until finally the two adversaries meet in a fight which might ultimately lead to BOTH their destructions. If anyone wants to see what the big fuss was with Todd Mcfarlane's run on Spider-Man, THIS is the book to own.

I have known Barry well for thirty years now and have loved this book for the last fifteen. His book was highly inspirational to me in the writing of I Never Liked Those C-130's Anyway.
It is as germain today as it was in 1992 after the first Gulf War,which is when I first read it.
It is chocked full of humor and Barry McWilliams' special take on the every day. As the creator of the JP Doodles cartoon he has used his skills to full advantage by creating the wonderfull art within.
A worthy read.

If you REALLY want to find out how things were in the "First Gulf War", buy a copy of this book! It was sent to me by my best friend while I was over there digging in the big sand box, and while it does help provide some comic relief and allowed me to laugh at the situation I was in at the time, it sure tells it like it was at the time.

I met Barry at King Fahd International Airport when he interviewed me and several folks in my unit, the 511th Tactical Fighter Squadron. My story didn't make the final cut but you've got to read about our Flight Surgeon, Major Smith, and his war trophy!

This was an awesome book and I have read it numerous times. Being a Gulf War Veteran I read just about every book that came out right after the Gulf War to see what the various authors had to say about a war that affected millions of us and that 500,000 plus American attended/participated in. I no longer read books on the Gulf war because most of it is political dribble trying to explain what did not happen, Now it seems that it is more convient for some to write lies then the truth, no such thing as Gulf War Syndrome right. Enough of politics that is why I like this book, because it put everything in perspective using humor.

If you are not a veterans it will still be funny to most of you.

This will always be one of my favorite books on the Gulf War. I especially liked the chapter on the Red Rope Ranger. I laugh out loud every time I think about it!

Ahh, how I love Tokyo Babylon. Its probably my favorite work by CLAMP (and one of their oldest). The story, the characters, its all just so wonderful. A bit bittersweet though, and some of the stories will bring a tear to your eye while others will turn your stomach..or maybe both. =) I find it to be an endearing story.......but maybe I'm just an evil tokyo babylon fangirl.

....but it really isn't. Actually, that is the last thing I would call this master work from the four woman powerhouse with the awesome stories and the drool-worthy men that is CLAMP. "A save Tokyo City Story" denotes that this would be a story full of giant robots and superheroes, rather than delicate men with supernatural powers and the secrets they hide. I'll summarize for you: Subaru is a naive(ish) sixteen year old boy who follows his family's profession as the Onmyouji (literally yin-yang magician)for Tokyo, where he sorts out the spirits of the dead and their (often multiple) problems. Along the way he is accompanied by sometimes shallow twin sister Hokuto and his crush, the older, mysterious Seishirou. And that's all I'm gonna say! Heh heh. Buy it, rent it from the library, borrow it from a friend or read it in the store, you won't be dissapointed by the fabulous artwork and dark atmosphere of this "Save Tokyo City Story".

As the title says, this is my absolute favorite CLAMP manga, and i have the utmost faith that anyone who reads it will love at the very least one scene. me, i love it all....

From start to finish, this is an amazing and gripping manga. CLAMP does an amazing job with the illustrations, every character and scene thoroughly CLAMP. The story and characters are amazingly complex and human, making this very worth reading.

The summary on the back of Tokyopop's cover doesn't do it nearly justice. I love it thoroughly, but if I had just picked the first volume up and read the back cover, I probably wouldn't have read it. The back cover makes it seem slightly horror creepy-ish, and while that element is there, it is by no means the main focus of the manga. It's the story of Sumeragi Subaru, the 13th head of the Sumeragi clan, an onmyoji who does exorcise spirits, but it is his relationships with the rest of the characters that really make the story. These relationships range from sibling bonds, friendship, love, and everything inbetween. The manga is filled with almost every human emotion, especially CLAMP's early favorite, angst, which is very apparent in the last two volumes. *cries over vol. 7*

Tokyopop does an actually pretty good job with the translations. They leave in the oh-so-important honorifics, and leave the characters intact, with Subaru-kun's 16-year-old uber-cuteness, naivete, with all his blushing and stammering, and the adorable pull-the-hat-over-the-eyes trick *squee!!*, Hokuto-chan's "Ohohoho"'s, her attempts to set up Sei-chan and Subaru-kun, her outrageous outfits, and the ability to be goofy and seemingly shallow one scene and sweet and deeep the next, and Seishirou-san's seductions of Subaru-kun, the feeling that underneath the kind vetrinarian exterior, there's more....(*alter ego hits w/ fan to prevent spoilers*), and his speeches. All of the trio are as complex characters as to make them completely unforgettable, and all three of them have made a permananet spot in my heart. You really should go out and at the VERY least read the first volume.

It's an amazing series, and a lot of fun to read.

OH! and the sakura petals!!! ^_^ ...the sakurazukamori.....read and you'll find out...^_~

I absolutely loved this manga. It was the first time I'd read anything by Clamp, and I can't say that I was disappointed! Don't let the somewhat bland covers or common "Save Tokyo City" summary fool you - inside is an absolutely brilliant work of art.

You've read the summary already, so I won't bore you with the details on that. I will tell you, though, that it is definitely worth the read - and that shounen-ai, or boy love, plays a fairly large role in this. I would still recommend this to almost everyone, even if you're uncertain on whether to pick up a manga in which men love men.

Anyway.

The artwork is absolutely, positively beautiful - the characters are distinctive and wonderfully done, and the backgrounds and scenery are startlingly realistic. Some may not like the blacks, but I personally rather like the high contrast. It was quite a surprise to see that the twins were so similar in appearance but you could still tell them apart easily - something that can't be easy. And Subaru may be distinctly feminine, but Seishiro is definitely not - something that isn't extremely common in this type of manga. Panels with artwork in colour are on the inside of the front cover and are absolutely wonderful.

The plot is very nice. Subaru is an onmyoji who seeks to aid souls of the dead and the living. Doesn't seem too exciting yet? Throw in his overly exuberant twin sister, Hokuto, and his suitor, Seishiro (who happens to be the heir of the rival Sakurazuka Clan), and events in his past that he can't quite remember, and you've got quite an interesting story going on!

The characters are wonderful. Subaru is the innocent, almost naïve protagonist who is willing to do anything to help others; Hokuto is wonderfully different, loud and enthusiastic; and Seishiro is the one you can't be too certain about, for his family - for the Sakurazuka Clan is one of assassins - belies is kindly and amicable nature. When you take Seishiro's romantic advances, Hokuto's consistent attempts to get her brother and Seishiro together, and Subaru's embarrassment at the whole ordeal into consideration, you've got plenty of comic relief. And yet, the main plot - Subaru's attempts to ease wounded souls - overshadows a more serious and sinister secondary plot involving Subaru and Seishiro, their onmyoji powers, and that mysterious event that Subaru can't remember all too clearly and that is hinted at from volume to volume....

Left in its original, unflipped format, Tokyo Babylon is definitely quite a read. The translation doesn't seem to be all to bad, and suffixes and name order are left untouched, each of which is a definite plus. This series has, so far, gotten progressively darker, so be careful what you get into. The rating of 13+ is deserved, warranted by some violence, blood and gore, minor sexual references and dark themes, and while the first volume never gets too serious, these do show up in later volumes. You have been warned.

This is a manga that you definitely get into and can read over and over again; it's worth the money to buy it. Tokyo Babylon is definitely a manga to read.

A tale of good and evil, light and darkness, innocence and corruption, Tokyo Babylon is a powerful drama.

Subaru Sumeragi is a deeply compassionate sixteen year old medium/exorcist who uses his gift to aid lost spirits and the possessed. After a hard day or night's work, he comes home to his devoted, vivacious twin sister Hokuto, whose favorite hobby seems to be trying to hook Subaru up with their friend Seishirou - a veterinarian nine years their senior - in spite of reservations due to the fact that he belongs to a family with a reputation of being in the assassination business that they both choose to ignore.

The interaction between the three reaches it's climax in the final volume, with hints throughout the series about how things might ultimately turn out, but Subaru's interaction with the people he tries to help is interesting in itself. The series handles such topics as gang rape, child abuse, treatment of the elderly, and the ethics of organ transplantation - pretty heavy subject matter.

Subaru himself is a highly unique hero. Professional and competent but without a shred of conceit, he would prefer to lead a quiet life but cannot turn his back on the suffering. Not arrogant enough to believe he can change the world, all he knows how to do is unconditionally love everyone who comes his way, and he's one of those special people who make the world a better place just by being in it. But no one can fix everything, and the underlying question of the series is whether or not Subaru will break if and when he finally faces an evil that might be more than he can handle...

At a relatively short seven volumes, Tokyo Babylon is a manga any fan of either angst or the supernatural should have in their collection.

That's really all I can say. It's not my favorite comic strip (that honor belongs to CALVIN AND HOBBES) but it is the laugh-out-loud funniest. BILL THE CAT LIVES!

The beloved characters all appear. Milo remains well-supplied with nightmares from his anxiety clost, Steve Dallas remains un-supplied with tact or charm, and Opus displays his huge supply of innocent bafflement. Winsome Yaz Pistachios appears a few times, as does Bill the Cat (the anti-Garfield) and Oliver Wendell Jones, computer geek extraordinaire.

The humor is still there, but some of the freshness rubbed off during the quarter-century since these first appeared. Some grey heads will remember Phyllis Schlafly and all the other Reagan-era targets of the Bloom County barbs. The problem with topical humor is that topics change in the real world, but remain frozen on the printed page, becoming gradually more antiquated over time.

No matter. You'll find plenty of timeless humor and maybe a bit of nostalgia between these covers, as well as a reminder of how the early 80s looked to one cartoonist of the era.

-- wiredweird

These strips aren't just funny. They're laugh out loud, roll on the floor, tears streaming down my face, people coming into the room to see "WHAT-are-you-laughing-at?!" funny.

Berkeley Breathed has created a perfect 'toon universe populated by funny and poignant humans, along with funny and poignant penguins, groundhogs, Bill the Cat and purple critters that hide in your closet of anxieties waiting to grab you as soon as you sleep. Breathed was an absolute genius at seeing some topical issue of the day (circa 1984 for this voume) holding it up to the light so that we could see it just the way that he did, then skewering the thing with what would be the humor equivalent of cupid's arrow.

I had no idea this book was still around. I had picked it up in the mid-eighties, lent it to a friend in the early nineties, and it was gone. I never thought I would see it again. What a surprise to find it again. Immediately, I picked it up and started where I had left off years ago... roaring with laughter. This collection of Bloom County golden oldies is hysterical and clever. The years have been very kind to this strip because it is as fresh as it was during the Reagain administration. Pick up "Toons for Our Times: A Bloom County Book of Heavy Metal Rump 'N Roll" and laugh your rump off!

The first time I ever picked up a Bloom County book at a bookstore in the mall...and this was the book. After a few pages, I found myself having to close the book in order to gather my wits about me, wipe the tears off my face, then attempt to forge farther ahead...usually having to immediately close the book because glancing at the same page instantly initiated another wave of helpless laughter. Had this only happened once, I could have dealt with it as the adult that I believed myself to be...but, since it happened every few pages, I realized myself to be captivated in the tormented world of Opus and friends. Unfortunately (and much to my surprise, I didn't really care), this resulted in more than a few patrons of the bookstore in question to raise their eyebrows in my direction. I would like to thank the kind person that finally joined me (they picked up a copy of their own) and together we chortled together, pausing at times to close our books at our respective pages to momentarily regain our composure. Whimsical, thoughtful, introspective, silly, hilarious, thought-provoking...If you never read another comic, even if you think you're too old for silliness, you owe it to yourself and Berke to read this...and yes, I bought the book!

For those of you new the the series, yes, the manga and anime known as "Wedding Peach" (WP) looks a lot like "Sailor Moon" (SM). Why? Well, not only is it a typical magical girl shoujo (such as "Magical Girl Pretty Sammy" and "Tokyo Mew Mew"), but the producers of Sailor Moon have actually worked on the series. I also find WP different in that it has a more focused storyline (saving love versus saving the whole universe), fewer magical warriors, and one singular body of evil. So, if you enjoy SM or like series but want something more digestable, I highly recommend WP.

As for the sixth volume, I admit, it was rushed. Nao Yazawa, the creator, admits it to being rushed. And frankly, I like her honesty. I do not see many manga writers that own-up to such things; at most, I see them tip-toe around the subject. (Of course, this could just be my experience; if you've read of others that have acted similarly, be thankful.) That being said, the storyline is wrapped up well with a mix of drama, action, and a fitting happily ever after.

I really like this Manga. It has action romance, and surprises around every corner. I reccomend this to any Manga reader. I plan on getting all of the Wedding Peach books.

I love Wedding Peach, and when I found out it was being published into the English language, I was pshyced! I've been into Wedding Peach for about three years, and I never thought it would make it to the USA, but it has. Anyways, this manga was pretty good. It is obvious that it wasn't translated from the original Japanese version, but from the German version because there seems to be german words in the backround scenes that are supposed to be sound effects...kind of strange. Other than that, its worth buying. I definately recomend!

You've just transformed into an angel of love and told that you must fight devils. WHAT ON EARTH JUST HAPPENED HERE!!!?!?!?!?!?!
That's exactly what happens to Momoko Hanasaki, daughter of the angel Celestia. Devils from the Demon Realm are on earth, threatening to steal all energies of love and replace it with hatred. Momoko and her friends Yuri, Hinagiku, and Scarlet are out to battle with the demons as the angels Wedding Peach, Lily, Daisy, and Salvia!
Along the way, new friendships are found, and many secrets are revealed.
Don't miss out on this new shoujo sensation! Be sure to get the anime too when it comes out on DVD in APRIL 2004!!!

This is the volume that actually jump starts the Wedding Peach plot. Before was a very long introduction and character establishment. Now that it has passed, volume three sends the Love Angels into understanding the history of the war they're fighting and comprehending how important their role is. Though the story doesn't become darker, it's a bit somber at times (especially in later volumes) which, I think, most will find refreshing.

Volume three is a reward for getting through the first two, and a nice passage into the final volumes that are definitely worth reading (especially if you've come this far).

Yeats once wrote, "None other knows what pleasures man/At table or in bed." Bil Keane, however, seems to have found in his latest 'Family Circus' opus a treasure-chest of pleasures for each and all of us.

There are some who chafe at the seeming repetitive themes within Keane's major works; I would respectfully submit that all great stories are about life and death, love and loss, fear and triumph. If not Keane, then so go Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz and Callimachus, too, for good measure. It is not originality that spawns thought and wonderment; it is the vessels of those themes (Billy, Grandma, Barfy, PJ) that inspire and enlighten.

Keane, as carrier of these vessels, reminds us of a truth so eloquently immortalized by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Some books leave us free and some books make us free." In 'What Does This Say', it is clear that the tome achieves the latter, with gusto and aplomb.

There is a certain sadness one feels in remembering happy times: turning over the last page of a good novel, and reflecting over the wonders we have just experienced, the characters who have become our friends; discovering old pictures, seeing ourselves in the halcyon throes of youth, silly smiles on our innocent faces; the plangent last notes of a Chopin nocturne, the theme, growing softer and softer now, floating across the room to rest against our face like the rhythmic breaths of a peaceful, sleeping lover.

I don't know how: but Keane captures this feeling, this happy sadness - "Oh heavy lightness," as Shakespeare put it. Billy romps around the yard. He runs all over town. His parents are in love. His family is love with itself, each unto each. Can our lives ever be like this? Perhaps not, but we can watch, watch ever single day, and wrap ourself in that happy sadness. And maybe forget, if only for a little while, the way our lives really are, the way they have to be: our heavy lightness. Thanks, Bil Keane, for that, and thanks to Amazon for letting people express themselves. Thank you all.

I absolutely love this book! It is so, so funny. I have loved the Family Circus all my life. This book is filled with funny moments as well as some touching moments involving everyone. I have developed quite a collection of Bill Keane's "Family Circus" books, and this is another wonderful, funny book to read and laugh out loud about for years to come.

If there is a finer piece of work every written in the history of comics, I have yet to see it! Once again Bil Keane has published an anthology just as sure to raise the bar for his peers in the comic industry as it is to delight his legions of fans. Though he utilizes only a single, circular panel in his art, time and time again Keane has proven that in no way does this format limit his genius of comic delievery. He consistantly produces panels of a dazzling scope and depth, which hide layers upon layers of humor that seem to demand multiple readings. Although enourmously complex and even at times displaying a dark sense of humor, Keane nevertheless is able to keep even the youngest of readers amused through his delightful art and the uplifting messages his panels hide. Sad to say, but since the death of Charles Shultz, Bil Keane has been left without a true peer in the world of comics. ...No, truly each period of human exsistence has produced a select few men whom society can look up to. Just as the Roman Historian Sallust could proudly say he lived in the Republic of Caesar and Cato, and past generations could say they lived in the days of Washington and Jefferson, so can we say we knew the time of Keane and Roy, and thus are we more fortunate than all others who came before.

Hear me people! The scribble on the front cover held up by PJ is not an origianl scribble! I knew I had seen it before, but I could not quite place it. Finally like a bolt of lightning, I sat up in bed at 2:45 AM and knew where I saw that scribble! I quickly opened my bottom drawer and pulled out my copy of the Necronomican. It was right there on page XVIII!!

I only had two hours before I started my shift at McDonald's. It was Thursday morning and that meant I had to be there very early to unload the truck delivery. I looked at the cover of this Family Circus book and could not unlock my gaze on Jeffy. "What does this say?" "What does this say?" "What does this say?" It mocked me, it called me, it demanded my attention.

Then from out of nowhere I got an idea. I opened this Family Circus novel to the LAST page. I then proceeded to read the book BACKWARDS! Then true horror struck my heart.

Start with the last cartoon, write down the last letter of each caption and work your way backwards to the first cartoon where Dolly is trying to take the skin off a cupcake. When you have all the letters written down, this message will appear.......

"Thel is the goddess of lust and desire. She lives for the pleasure of the flesh. Prices slashed at Jerrys, all items must go. Buy one spatula get one free."

Cold chills ran up and down my spine as I deciphered the what I now call the "Da Keane Code". I have quit my job at McDonald's and now work full time at home with a mountain of Family Circus books, the Necronomican, and the Book of Revelation, I believe I can pinpoint the exact time of the Rapture. I will report my findings as I discover them.

Cartoons of the NEW YORKER variety are a long way from comic books or most newspaper comic strips when it comes to social commentary. Byrnes is a well-known practitioner of the slightly cynical cartoonist's art, often giving the reader pause: "Wait -- What did he just say?" Like the businessman asking on the phone, "What's our policy on honesty?" Or the magnate remarking to a younger manager, "When I lost my sense of humor, I lost my sense of compassion, which is how I got where I am today." And sometimes his commentary is sharper, such as with the parents in front of a family camp-tent addressing their youngest child: "I'm sorry, Tommy, you've been voted out."

Thankyou very much for these comics. LOL happen with each of them.

Hilarious is one way to describe the cartoons in here.Especially the few "Adam and Eve" ones..but youd have to buy this book to understand what I mean by that.Heh.The only reason I give it 4 stars is because I admit I didnt quite get atleast 5-7 or the cartoons.But thats only due to my ignorance in the subject that is joked about.

Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of really funny cartoons here. But, given the subjects we could choose from (normal business operations, radical religions, absurd politics, etc.), I expected more absurdity. Twenty of the included cartoons are from the "New Yorker." I have often read an entire issue of "New Yorker" cartoons without "getting" them, although I appreciated the artistic skill involved. Once, I interviewed a cartoonist who had sold a single cartoon to the "New Yorker." He could not explain why the editor had bought the cartoon or why he could never sell another one. Now, Pat Byrnes' cartoons are much funnier than the average. His art, though it looks dashed off, is certainly not. A great deal of thought and effort has gone into these well-crafted pieces. Here's hoping that Byrnes will publish a companion volume of even darker humor. Perhaps, the devil will make him do it. By the way, his introduction is just as humorous as his drawings.

Pat Byrnes's cleverly caustic "What Would Satan Do?" is a collection of the artist's outrageous cartoons on the delights of deviltry. In his amusing introduction, Byrnes points out that the temptation to transgress is all around us; after all, society's moral compass went permanently haywire a long time ago. Therefore, the author decided to profit from the wages of sin by ridiculing such human shortcomings as greed, selfishness, incompetence, sadism, rationalization, one-upsmanship, hypocrisy, insensitivity, and other obnoxious traits that we see all around us every day--but never in ourselves.

The cartoons, some in black and white and others in color, are deliciously satirical and skillfully drawn. Nasty nuns, putrid parents, curmudgeonly CEOs, creepy criminals, and scenes from hell (literally)--they're all here for your reading pleasure. Byrnes also takes aim at reality show hosts, newscasters, computer geeks, slimy lawyers, and other easy-to-lampoon targets. "What Would Satan Do?" is timely and biting social commentary that makes us laugh at the expense of those self-centered and nasty individuals who delight in making everyone else's lives miserable. Although a few of the cartoons fall flat and others may be too naughty and tasteless for some, the book's blend of artistry (I love the facial expressions) and merry mockery make it a good purchase for misanthropes with a sense of humor.

Taken by itself, this book is a masterpiece of sophisticated humor *and* political relevance masked as a "Super Friends"-like cartoon book knock off. There are obscure references to famous utterances associated with each of the ex-Presidents that I hadn't thought of in 25 years or more. To see Jimmy Carter taking on a villian with the line "I have lust in my heart...to kick your ass." Man, that's funny stuff.

But now, after the terrorist attacks on NYC and the Pentagon, there it is right on Page 1 of the New York Times: "Bush Appeals to Ex-Presidents for Coalition-Building Efforts." Life imitates art to a 'T'. Absolutely amazing.

X-Presidents is a strange, screwy parody which mixes bad 1970s Saturday-morning cartoons, Marvel comic books, and politics into a pastiche of weirdness like none other published to date.

There's a fine line between parody and parroting the liberal party line; unfortunately, while X-Presidents hits the mark most of the time, the authors can't help but devolve into Bush- and Reagan-bashing from time to time. For example, the "From the X-Presidents' Mailbag" section consists of nothing but cheap shots against the three Republican X-es -- and in predictable ways, too: Reagan, Iran-Contra and firing the air-traffic controllers; Bush, Iran-Contra and son W.; and Ford, stupidity.

Also, there are multiple gratuitous sexual references that are simply nonsensical. True, the whole book is gratuitous, but seeing Bush having sex with Babs on every page, or Carter having a threesome with Imelda Marcos and a mystery mullet-dude, lends little to the plot except to make it strangely embarrassing.

These aside, X-Presidents did contain the most hilarious bits of humor I've read in this dark post-September 11 world. Best of all were the peculiar "Archies"-style interludes wherein the X-es play and sing various tunes (yes, they even play the same instruments that the animated Archies did) summarizing the plot action.

This is a bizarre little book, no doubt.

A very clever and extremely fun read. This graphic-novel is a MUST-HAVE for all SNL's 'TV FUN-HOUSE' fans. It has all the elements that we have come to love and expect from 'TV FUN-HOUSE' plus more great stuff that SNL cannot broadcast over network television!

When I first saw the cartoon on Saturday night live I laughed until I fell out of the chair. The same thing happened when I read this book. From the giant tornado hitting an axe factory to our former presidents smoking crack and then singing an American Bandstand-syle song about it (9 out of 10 times it's just plain wrong) this book rocks. Even the little legal disclaimers (a direct parody of real comic book legalese) on the first page are twistedly funny. Buy this Book!

Based on a popular Saturday Night Live skit, this book (for those few who have not seen the segments) chronicles the adventures of what might happen if our former presidents had superpowers and an international mandate to save the world from a vaugley identified evil.

Granted, the animation style screams cheap 70's cartoon, but this is precisely the point of the animated sketches. The humor is subtle enough for adults and others to grasp it, and the undeniably cheesy and fun sketches will keep you rolling on the floor with laughter and guffaws.

Out of all the things Saturday Night Live has transformed into a skit post Wayne's World, the X Presidents is surely most deserving of this tribute, as well as an entire movie of their very own. You don't have to be a political freak or even like the particular presidents featured to know that sometimes something this silly is needed.

Once upon a time, a control enthusiast with a pen drew himself a monster--and the rest is history.

You can test-flight this book at Bucher's site, www.dailymonster.com, where all 200 of the monsters he eventually released still live--going to their jobs, having their babies, reading and writing and dancing and taking over the world--doing all the things monsters do. I encourage you to do so, and then buy this book.

Someday someone you are talking to will rail against the web, talk about all the terrible things on it, all the bad people. Then you can point to 100 Days of Monsters, and you can say, "Things like THIS--people from all over the world sharing a creative moment, interacting to make something beautiful and funny and playful--how would you make something like THIS happen, if not for the internet?" And if not for, it goes without saying, Stefan G. Bucher and his band of authors.

I came to the game too late to be part of the book--but oh, it was a lovely thing to have my child come downstairs every morning and say, "Mom! Did you monster yet?"

What a wonderful time. I thank you, Stefan. You did good. You didn't just talk the talk, you walked the walk. You followed your heart, and it shows. :)

100 Days of Monsters is a fun journey through 100 days of artist Stefan G. Bucher's life. Each day starts with a great drawing of a "Monster," and includes stories and comments from many of his avid readers. Each monster is endearing in its own way, and Stefan's unique way of creating these characters, only makes them more endearing.
I highly recommend this book. Just think of it as a really good picture book for adults!

This is a great book. Very well put together. The little unexpected tidbits of an off the wall comment here and some all but hidden messages in the the fine print there make it not your everyday, ordinary book. This one is fun in all respects. The Monsters are all distinct personalities and the stories accent their lives. I love it!!

My friend would go to the blog site and she would make up stories about the picture's. Not being as artistic as she is I thought oh well. But once I started to get into Stefan Bucher's method's and thought process I realized how great it was to read the book. Thank You Stefan Bucher. ( please look for
Sequena/Annie Nordmark in the book my friend writes great stories for the pictures )Thanks

This book was just a neat thing to check out everyday. Still. It gives me a smile every time he starts with just one blot of ink and spreads it, from there it becomes a living, personified, under the bed madness!, type creature that lurks off every new page. Its grand, most definitely worth checking out!!!

There is no doubt this is a nice book, but the material is abundant elsewehere and a LOT less expensive. If you are a completist or money comes easy to you, by all means get this. If five hundred dollars seems ridiculously expensive even for a limited run, you can buy Wallace Wood books in bookstores, comic stores, and online very easily.

I recently purchased this volume, along with Starger & Spurlock's "Wally's World," and this is by far the superior of the two books. Rather than attempting to write a biography, as S&S do, Bhob Stewart has assembled some 35 essays about Wood, including four by Stewart himself. These range from one page to 46 pages in length, and from breezy to scholarly in tone. Some are more interesting and better-written than others, but collectively they add up to a fascinating portrait of a uniquely talented artist whose life ended far too soon.

As you'd expect with any book about Wood, there are copious illustrations, including 16 pages of full-color reproductions on glossy stock in the hardcover edition. (The paperback omits these.) The quality of the reproductions is generally good, although there is just the tiniest bit of bleed-through in the black-and-white pages. I wish they'd used a better grade of paper!

If you are a hardcore Wood fan, you should probably get both this book and "Wally's World." If you have to choose, this is the one to go with, assuming you can find a copy at an affordable price.

I came upon this book while browsing a comic shop in Cambridge, and soon realised it was the long promised comprehensive survey of Wood's art and career. I applaud Bhob Stewart for his perseverance and obvious passion in bringing this book to publication. Any fan of Wood's will want to read this book. It contains tons of great art ; some of it obscure and previously unseen, and the biographical information it presents is thorough, and illustrated with great photos. A blurb on the back of the book proclaims, "Hooray for Wally Wood" and sure enough the vivid and imaginitive genius of Wood is on full display between its covers. This is the triumph part of his story, and it makes it a must have art book. But this book bravely explores the person of Wood as well,including the negatives, and the price he paid for his obsessive genius. It's a tragedy that anyone who knows Wood's story is familiar with, and it speaks loudly to the American culture at large, and how we have in the past, sometimes treated our heroes like throwaway commodities. After seeing some of the gorgeous art in the book, it seems incongrous to imagine the same Wood staying up for 3 days on Dexdrine to ink a Wonder Woman comic, but it happened, and frequently. A giant like Wood routinely worked on mediocre jobs just to scrape by. This warts and all approach is as honest as it is heatbreaking, and in my opinion transforms the book into a work of art of another variety, in its portrayal of a gifted but tortured individual. Attention, Hollywood!
Assistants Paul Kirshner, Nick Cuti and others contribute amazing , written tributes to Wood that say just how much they loved the guy, all the while dealing with his difficult personality. For these heartfelt rememberances alone, this book is a welcome, if sobering addition to the legacy of the great Wallace Wood.
I don't know if the author's intent was to produce anything more than a beautiful art book and tribute to his friend, but the fact that this book also functions as a cautionary tale that provides insight into the creative process and inner workings of such an American icon as Wood, is a facinating by product that should be of interest to any general reader.

"Against the Grain" is an excellent collection of artwork by the late comic book artist Wally Wood, accompanied with essays by his friends and associates.

If you've never heard of Wood, you are in for a major treat here: Martians, robots, other-world landscapes, elves and dinosaurs have never looked better before or since Wood's time. Wood's crisp handling of pen-and-ink, his superb attention to detail (which fans called "beautiful clutter") and his extraordinary use of shadow and light are here for the reader to behold. The illustrations cover the entire range of his career, including his work from the 1950s with EC comics, his illustrations for Galaxy and other sci-fi magazines and his final masterwork, "The Wizard King".

Whether it was a grotesque monster from an unknown planet or a parody of Superman, a complicated machine from the 24th century or a fighter jet battle, a lush female in a tight-fitting spacesuit or a caricature of a contemporary politician, Wood could draw it. He could have you reeling in terror from space aliens or laughing out loud with "Batboy and Ruben." His influence on future generations of cartoonists was extensive, and some of them pay tribute to him in this book.

He had both friends and fans, some of them aspiring artists who probably would have paid him just to work in his studio. He could play guitar and entertain a group with his conversation, which tripped from art to politics to science.

Thomas Edison once said that invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, and Wally Wood must have understood that perfectly. His creations were the result not just of skill but of hours of labor. This is obvious from the fine details of such pieces as the spaceship interiors of "There'll Be Some Changes Made," his use of high contrast lighting in "Atom Bomb", the precisely-falling raindrops and slanted spears of "Joan of Arc," the exact movements of a medieval duel in "Trial by Arms"...

Phew! It's hard to know where to stop.

As a teenager and amateur cartoonist, I would imagine Wood as living in a Manhattan penthouse (for surely someone that talented would be rich) overlooking the New York skyline, working at his drawing board and surrounded by futuristic machines, while gorgeous women lounged about his bizarre-looking furniture. (He depicts himself in that manner in "My World", a tribute to science-fiction artists.)

Nothing could have been further from the truth. Despite his talent and his fans, Wood became a life-long alcoholic who worked in dank basements, spending weeks at his drawing board, half-wishing he could enter the fantastic environments he was creating and flee all his problems with publishers, bills and imperfect women. It was as if all his emotions had been bottle-necked and could only come out on the drawing board. (One of his three wives was a psychiatrist who concluded that he just had to control everything or else.) In the end, he just walked away from it all, putting himself to sleep with a handgun in 1979.

Still, his fans and associates have assembled this superb collection and hopefully there will be more of them.

Although it had been promised to be a "definitive biography" by the publisher, Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood continues the piecemeal format of everything that has been available about Wood and his contemporaries (Severin, Elder, Ingels, Crandall, Williamson, Craig, Davis, et al) for the last 40 years. -Which is to say it's a rambling book of personal essays/reminiscences, panel discussion excerpts and brief, fan-flavored interviews. The books one undeniable saving grace is that it is very generously embellished with samples of the artist's work. But overall, it feels like a blow-out issue of Squa Tront.

This will scratch the itch of the diehard and casual fan who wanted a coffee table browser on the subject. For those, like me, who hoped, finally, to see the subject's life drawn in one cohesive portrait by an insightful Boswell, it's a letdown, or "more of same."

I hope the book does well. It is, perhaps, an urgently needed Wood intro for newer generations who lack a sense of history. It is a welcome public reminder/declaration of Wood's place in The Comic Pantheon, where he clearly stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Roy Crane, Milt Caniff, Walt Kelly, Al Capp, Chester Gould and, dare one utter it, the Great Charles Schulz. Honest, it's not a bad little read. But I wish it had offered something new on the subject, or at least somehow extended the genre of fan appreciation/criticism established by Squa Tront during the 60s and 70s. As it is, this book has an odd way of making me feel that an entire generation, my generation, never really grew up.