Cartoons Books

I bet there is a few people who are thinking about buying this for a younger relitive, thinking it's like the 4kids anime....you better back away unless you want your 7-10 year old pulling the perverted prank "panty tank". Yu-Gi-Oh! was originally intended for teens until 4kids messed it up so if your looking for some Yu-Gi-Oh! for your kids try "the pyrimid of light" ani-manga (its colored and has the same dialoge as the movie its self)

This is a good volume, of course it starts the series so don't expect anything too deep.The art is okay compared to takahashi's later style in duelist.The best story in this volume is duel 1:the puzzle of the gods cause that is where it starts.The others are fair but in my favorites includes duel 4 and 5.Note this is not for kids since it's too violent,doesn't feature the cards and the names and storyline are completely different from the edited tv show.

The first 7 volumes of the manga is pretty much what happened in the series that wasn't shown in the US. I recommend this to manga readers 11+ but be warned, there is violence and a lot of swears in this manga. I am 13 years old

Try, for a moment, to put aside all you think you know about Yu-Gi-Oh! and imagine something completely unexpected. Forget about the children's TV series. Don't give the card games another thought. And try to get past the tons of merchandise featuring Yugi's image. Let's begin to reconceptualize the character of Yugi.

That is, essentially, all that is needed in order to more fully enjoy Kazuki Tanahashi's creation, Yu-Gi-Oh! In the Manga, Yugi isn't the tough-talking little Goth boy you might expect. Instead, Yugi seems to be the polar opposite of this characterization - and deliberately so. A comparatively small teen with awkwardly-proportioned hands and feet, the slightly-effeminate Yugi struggles daily with schoolyard bullies, cruel adults, and even the doldrums which epitomize teenage life. While everything seems stacked against him from the get-go, Yugi finds himself optimistic, enjoying life whereas other similarly-affected kids would be beaten down by these oppressive forces.

And this is because he has a mind which is constantly stimulated by the games his grandfather provides him with. You see, Yugi loves puzzles more than anything, and can make a game out of anything. This is the quality that both alienates him from his peers, and gives him limitless courage to face each trial of the schoolyard. In this sense, there's some degree of all of us - after all, who doesn't love a good game? Who among us hasn't daydreamed about getting lost in some fancy labyrinth, or of solving a particularly challenging mind game?

As a result of his passion for puzzles, Yugi becomes someone different from time to time - a personality over which he has no conscious recollection or knowledge. This Yugi is a sadist, one who has no qualms over hurting those who tread upon the weak as a means of poetic justice. This Yugi plays games of a different sort, ones which torture the players unfortunate enough to lose ("Penalty Games," dished out to those who seemingly deserve such extreme punishments - blindness, insanity, death by fire, etc.), but only those who have manipulated others and exploited their helplessness. This Yugi later becomes known as "Yama Yugi" (or, "Dark Yugi").

In creating this series, creator Mr. Tanahashi explains that he had no concept of how popular his little character would become in the marketplace and in the media. Having met with no prior success, Mr. Tanahashi had no way of anticipating what would become of his little "strange story... that centered around 'The Mysterious' in everyday life." The first appearance of the ubiquitous card game based on the Manga does not even make an appearance in this first volume (a 7-issue series which spins off into Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist and nearly concurrently, Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World, and today's hot property Yu-Gi-Oh! GX).

While this book is - as one might expect - very popular with the kids, it certainly isn't the average American-written "kids' book." Inside these pages are tales of abuse, murder, torture... and, sometimes, even some bawdy humour ("Never play basketball in a skirt," says Anzu, the book's female protagnist). Certainly, it is filled with goofy stories light on the plot and occasionally, heavy on the characterizations - so it's a nice, light read. It's a children's title by way of Suzuki Koji, much the same way Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro was almost a grown-up movie disguised as kids' fare.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a fun ride, packed with calculated fear and excitement, and endowed heavily with humanizing imagery (especially poignant is the image of Yugi reaching into a box, having nearly completed the 3-D puzzle he had kept with him for eight years, his clumsy hand searching for the final puzzle piece... only to discover it was missing, for all his pains. After watching him get beaten and extorted by a much larger classmate, knowing that the puzzle was what gave poor Yugi the most enjoyment out of life... This painful little scene is almost too much for dry eyes to absorb). It may not be the best of the genre, but it does deserve the attention it has received.

It also deserves a little more respect as well, but with marketing ever the ceaseless beast, this probably isn't too likely.

Many American children, especially those in the 7-12 age bracket, watch Yu-Gi-Oh regularly. Kids love the action and strategy. Parents love the 'appropriate' factor. Teens, however, hate the kiddiness, and anime purists abhor the editing.

Guess what? It's a lucky day for teens and anime fans.

Threats, fist-fights, and disturbing games (with disturbing conclusions) run rampant in this first volume of Yu-Gi-Oh, and although most people will love it, parents need to be warned--this is not for children under the age of 12.

Also, you won't find the card game 'Duel Monsters' anywhere in this first volume--in fact, it doesn't become the main part of the story until later on in the Yu-Gi-Oh anthology. Instead, however, you'll find out the origins of Yugi and his friends (with their original, un-Americanized names). And while all of this was originally created for a Japanese TV show, when 4Kids brought YGO over to the US, they skipped over the first few story arcs, and got right to the card battles.

Also, it's important to note that as this is a manga (Japanese comics, for the uninitiated) graphic novel, it reads from right to left, in traditional Japanese fashion. Of course, this means that you read the panels and text bubbles from right side to left side, but the translated text is written from left to right. It's ok if you don't understand--VIZ (the publishing company) provides a key in the graphic novel to help you learn how to read it. After 30 or 40 pages, reading like this will become second nature, so don't fret about that.

VIZ translates the sound effects, which is nice. The artwork is very nice (though not amazing), consistent, and easy to look at. The translation is very well done, with footnotes explaining any Japanese pop-culture references you might miss.

Overall, I'd highly reccomend it--to anyone over 12, and especially to older Yu-Gi-Oh fans who want to see a little bit darker take on the story.

This book and the other two in this series don't make history less complex but they sure make it readable!

My older sister originally bought me and my younger sister the computer program. That was a few years ago, but it was a nice dry sarcastic, but silly humor.
Then I ordered this book, which has much the same type of humor. I wish it were in color instead of black and white, but otherwise, a fun way to "read" history.

I highly recommend this book. It's well written, it's occasionally funny and very readable. Volumes 1 to 7 starts with the Big Bang, to the evolution, to the first great civilizations (Sumer, Egypt and the Greeks), and ends with Alexander the Great reaching India.

I was so impressed about the presentation that I thought - why isn't there an animated version of this book (and the other volumes)? Wouldn't it be nice for kids to be able to get their history lessons via Cartoon Network?

But then I reached the part about what early Greek women did with their goats and sheep and how the Spartans treated young boys and I thought "well, maybe it's better if it stays in book form".

My only gripe is the lack of an index. Certainly handy when important names and places are regularly mentioned (like any other history book) .

This book is amazingly good. It is funny and educational and incredibly well drawn. You should BUY it.

You know it takes a comic to get to heart of humanity. In most history books you get a narrow point of view, and one that is usually "politically correct" according to the standards of the day. By making a comic version of history, the author can get around all of the "PC"ness of most history books and really hit home with the way humanity *is* and *always was.* The "sheep love" of early humans was a laugh riot. I never learned so much while having such a good time.

I recommend these for history buffs and non-history buffs. Really it's just a good read period. Forget that it's history.

Everything about this is great. Besides the story, which mixes action and comedy in the right amount, the printing and paper quality is SO much better than most "normal" manga. With artwork this beautiful, you need it to be larger so you can really drink in the details and immerse yourself in the story. I only wish more manga were printed in this high quality format. Plus it's cheaper than buying them individually in an inferior format! Now if they'd only release them quicker...I hate waiting to see what happened next!

As a dabbler only in the manga field I was familiar with the ttile but decided based on the price, this was a good try out book. I was not wrong!! Defintly worth your money as you get alot of story for the money. Actually cheaper than buying the individual books. Printed on strong paper with a handful of color pages at the front this is a compact beautiful apckage with a great starting story and I intend to buy all of the VIZBIG editions!

There are many manga that use themes that are similar to this one, but among all these, Rurouni Kenshin stands out as one of the best. Part of what makes this series so good is the great set of characters. There is also the wonderful recreation of the era in which the story develops; we truly feel like being at a different time in history. The impressive drawings are also a trait that makes this a successful series, and I particularly like how they use the distorted facial expressions for humorous situations. Finally, there is the story in itself, which has many layers and the deeper we get into it, the more mesmerized we are. The fact that this volume is not at the level seen later, in terms of the complexity and richness of the plot, is the only reason why it gets four stars instead of the top rating.

Hitokiri Battousai is a warrior that with the help of his sword slew many rivals of the imperialists and contributed to entering the Meiji era, and then, he disappeared. A few years later, in the eleventh year of the Meiji era in Tokyo, times are such that carrying swords is forbidden, and Kenshin, the former Battousai wanders around with a reverse-blade sword, after having vowed not to kill anymore. Soon Kenshin runs into a murderer impersonating the Battousai and trying to discredit the Kamiya Kasshin School. Luck has it that before running into the killer, he met Kaoru, the young woman who is in charge of the school, and therefore, soon gets involved in helping her clear her name. This is the first bond that will stop Kenshin's wandering, but there are even more to come.

Kenshin is a man with deep convictions, and nothing can steer him away from the goal he set after abandoning his previous life: to build a world where people can pursue happiness. He is one of the most interesting characters I have met in the world of manga, but he is not the only notable character in this series. Far from it! In this first volume we meet Kaoru, a brave young woman that provides the series with some fine humor, and there is romance to come. And we meet Yahiko, a kid that has somewhat of an attitude problem and that hopes to become a samurai and become strong. Maybe most importantly, towards the end, we encounter Zanza (Sagara Sanosuke), the street fighter who will become a central character in this series, so pay attention! He is a very complex character, with an unconventional weapon and a baggage from the past that makes him hate the Ishin-Shishi (imperialists).

This is the start to a wonderful series, and one that goes way beyond the fighting, humor and romance. The quality of this volume should be enough for most people to want to read further, but even if that is not the case, trust me, this series gets much better, so I urge you to keep reading the next volumes. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

A mysterious warrior named Hitokiri Battôsai arose in Kyoto 140 years ago. A fiercesome warrior, he slew countless men, his efforts helping bring to a close the Bakumatsu era and bringing in the age of the Meiji.

Then he disappeared.

In the 11th year of the Meiji, a rurouni--a vagabond--named Himura Kenshin surfaces in Tokyo and befriends the spunky Kaoru, the owner of a student-less dojo.

With the aid of young new friend Yahiko, a boy wanting to be a samurai himself, Kenshin and Kaoru must ward off those looking to kill them.

And so the story begins...

Despite its label being a "romantic comedy," this is by far the most serious out of the manga I read. Nobuhiro Watsuki has crafted an incredible tale, an important story, one that had captured my full attention the second Kenshin showed up in Tokyo (which is pretty much the first page of the book).

His art is stellar. The detail is astounding (even after the first 22 pages when the art goes from ultra detailed to "just" super detailed). His rendering of Japan from 140 years ago is believable, each panel transporting you directly to the past.

The big deal about this book is the fight sequences, each chapter in this volume containing at least one battle. I've never seen action like this before--so huge, so intense, so detailed, so explosive, with speed-lines everywhere--AMAZING!

This volumes also includes a special bonus story that was originally published about a year before the now-complete-twenty-eight-volume series began.

This is a great opening story to what is sure to be a fantastic saga this reviewer looks forward to finishing. (I'm also now eager to check out the anime for this.)

Language warning: Cursing

Applauds should be given to Viz for taking a step in this direction, we can only hope they add more series to their VizBig line up!

In this book, you get the first three volumes of the series (Vol I: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Vol II: The Two Hitokiri, and Vol III: A Reason to Act). Pages 11 - 32 are in full color, which adds another dimension to the story, I was sad the color had to end. The last few pages also give us some wonderful color pictures from the original volumes, without text. We also get 2 end of volume specials, the first occurs a year before the series begins and the second is, as the author describes, sort of the 'pilot' episode of Rurouni Kenshin, where the details are a bit different than the actual story, but it's still the Rurouni we all love!

The size of the book allows us to look at the detail a bit better. Another feature I noticed was page numbers, which are great if you lose your place.

If you're new to the series, I recommend buying this version over the original 3 volumes as you get more for your money.

There's Treasure Everywhere--A Calvin and Hobbes Collection. Great going Internationalbooks!!!!
The book I received was in VERY good shape.
Thanks,
garyR

I bought all of this series as used books. I love to read Calvin and Hobbes. The price and deliver were both excellent.

i bought this book for my husband and he loves it. instead of reading like an itty bitty comic strip he has a whole book to himself and all the strips flow much like a story. these characters should be in a cartoon series!

It's a great book and got here in perfect conditinons.
MY only complai is that amazon gave me a deadline and the product only arrived five days later....

Bill Watterson is a genious. There's no other way to put it. Calvin and Hobbes is one of the Great Comic Strips of our times and this collected edition is an incredible read. Highest possible recommendation.

This book is so hilarious. Sometimes I try to sneak in a few pages before I go to bed. I like everything about this comic strip, the friendship, the fighting, the get rich quick schemes, (Calvin and Hobbes, keep dreaming.), Hobbes when he's ready to pounce, Calvin's naughty behavior, and it's also funny when Calvin and Hobbes both do naughty and bad things. If they were well mannered all the time, (Yawn) Then this comic strip would be boring.
I'm rating this book five stars. It's a great book, and I recommend this to other Calvin and Hobbes fans. Whether your one or ninety one, normal or mentally challenged, you should enjoy Calvin and Hobbes always. This is a kids review, and I'm typing this on my mom's account.

The title alludes to the four legged part of this classically funny duo. The thing that causes Hobbes, Calvin's tiger, the most joy, is pouncing on, and scaring the crap out of, his owner. Calvin is a willing participant, most of the time going along with it for the thrill. A lot of satire and insightful observation delivered along with the clowning, here.

An only, lonely child. Bullied at school. Clearly a genius level intellect, he's unchallenged and stifled since nobody, not his parents, and not even his teacher, recognizes this. A father who's always too busy to spend any time with his son. A father who's often seen, get this, reading --*reading* -- rather than paying his only son some attention! A mother, who literally, in strip after strip, throws him out the door. Throws, as in "child flying through the air". A child, and a small child at that, allowed repeatedly to wander alone through the woods! A child denied even a pet. His only friend -- a stuffed tiger.
Makes the "Peanuts" look like "The Family Circus".

This collection takes place mostly in winter/spring/summer and is not themed (as you would think) along the lines of Hobbes "pouncing" which made me hesitate to purchase it at first because I wasn't that keen on all that pouncing. If you are into that aspect of C&H, however, you can get the C&H Lazy Sunday Book Collection. This one DOES however contain a lot of his priceless snowman sculptures which I AB-SO-LOUTELY LOVE, a great deal of interation with Susie, and escapades in Miss Wormwood's class. 5 *s for another fantastic collection!

This collection has a few of my favorites in it (especially the girls/bugs analogy - priceless!) Great for any age - I read C&H starting around age 7 and I still read it today! I enjoy it just as much, though I see it from a unique perspective now. Every kid should grow up with this.

This is a great collection of brilliantly dark cartoons. Laugh out loud funny and very clever. The characters are excellent.

I'm telling you Red Meat comics are the most sick, twisted, disgusting, and preverse cartoons you'll ever lay eyes on and that means naturally I think their great. I laughed so hard I thought I'd piss my pants. The poltically incorrect humor had me thinking "this is just F'ing wrong" while I had to catch my breath. Its so different from anything out there and the comic humor isn't "Beetle Bailey or Peanuts" type humor to put you to sleep. This humor doesn't tap you on the shoulder it bludgeons your head till your brains spill out. Get this piece of garbage it is gold and you'll be a better person because laughing is what makes you that way.

This is laugh out loud hilarious if you have this kind of humor. Then you show it to some people and they are like "ok... yeah I guess thats your kind of humor" Well if your the type of person to enjoy newspaper comics, this will actually be funny so that is a hard transition to make. The genius is of it is that I could have written this stuff (and the 'drawings') but I didn't and He did and now he's probably making millions and millions of dollars. I remember making comic strips like while sitting in class. I would crack myself up back then too.

Like Gary Larson and Tom Tomorrow, people either "get" Max Cannon or they don't. If you "get" him, this collection is invaluable. If not, maybe there's a Mallard Filmore collection out there somewhere. The Family Circus is always good, too. For an anti-Family Circus, non-politically correct good time, Red Meat is a great read. Is it political? Everything's political. This is just a little something from the smartass anarchist lobby. :)

If you have any appreciation whatsoever for morbid humor, buy this man's books immediately. There's really nothing else to it.

This is the best book I have ever read. It is mainly about a half-naked boy who is a hero. The part I like the best is when the toilet and him fought. This is very cool book.

I love spending time with my grandson and this book is fun to read with him. I also love to hear my grandson laugh.He likes to read now and he takes the book to school for others to read.He likes all the Captain Underpants books.This is an excellent read...

Captain Underpants is a great epic novel series by Dav Pilkey.With his new book Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking toilets we discover his power against talking, eating, mad toilets. He uses cafeteria food and his underware.This book also has more flip-o-ramas than ever.The flip-o-ramas are filled with even more juicy underware fighting.Captain Underpants beats the talking toilets with underware and his extreme power.
George and Harold,the main characters,try to help Captain Underpants but just stir up more trouble.Captain Underpants not only has to worry about the evil talking toilets but also freeing George and Harold.Captain Underpants ended up winning the battle and freed George and Harold.Over all,Captain Underpants is an awesome fighter and awesome warrior.

My book review
What I'm writing for my book review is Captain Underpants. The reason why I'm writing Captain Underpants is because the book is funny and I want to share how the book was funny with the class.
In Dave Pikley's second adventurous book he talks about Captain Underpants and the attack of the talking toilets. Captain Underpants runs around in his underpants saving the world. I know, your wondering why he can't just do these things with his clothes on instead of doing it in his underpants. It was not his fault that he runs around like this.
The top-secret truth about captain underpants. There were two boys named Harold and George. In the book Harold and George are the narrators. Their principal (Mr. Krupp) was always mean to them. So Harold and George bought a hipno-ring that could hypnotize people. Here comes the funny part. Harold and George hypnotized Mr. Krupp! Then they turned him into Captain Underpants! Now whenever Captain Underpants hears a scream, he runs off and says "tralalaaaaaa!" Every time he does this Harold and George have to watch over him, then catch him.
The whole book is a comic book that Harold and George made to make fun of their principal. Harold and George are known around the whole school because of the pranks they pull. One time they put bubbles in the band instruments. Another time they glued everyone in the lower school to the auditorium seats, and another time they changed the words around on the school board to make it say come and see our hairy armpits.
Captain underpants is a funny book and I hope a lot of people read it.

By Jordan

My eight-year-old loves this book, and I think it's hilarious myself. If fighting vicious toilets using underwear and cafeteria food sounds funny to you, you'll love this book.

This book does teach a certain amount of contempt for adults and suspicion of cafeteria food to children. In that sense maybe it's emblematic of our society. I have found it necessary to sit down with my son and explain that all of this is FICTION, and has nothing to do with the real world. Did that have any effect? I don't know. I suppose it's worth it to have him reading.

A pleasure to review. Wonderful illustration talent (a là Bill Watterson), with a deranged humor we've never seen before. One can read the same comic over and over again, and continue to laugh. And because Nicholas Gurewitch has announced a semi-retirement, we may have to.

Nicholas Gurewitch's Perry Bible Fellowship is a refreshing exception among webcomics: it combines good ideas, great visuals (most webcomics seem to manage just one of these two) and twisted humor that has more than just shock value.

Not that it's all perfect: some of the strips are - in all honesty - quite mediocre. But when PBF hits the mark, it is just about the funniest thing around. If you're not already familiar with the comic, you should just read it on the official website to see if this is your thing.

This Dark Horse collection has all the PBF strips up until its publication and some previously unseen material as well. The overall quality is very good and does justice to Gurewitch's visual stylings. What I missed was more background: information about the author, origins of the comic, how the whole phenomenon grew online. In my opinion, it would be nice to have something more than hard covers (good as they might look) around the things that are already available for free online.

However, I don't regret my purchase one bit. The price was right, the book looks good and, most importantly, the content is great. I just wish there would have been a bit more of it.

I've been reading the Perry Bible Fellowship for a few years now and I was looking forward to this book. It's just as good as I hopped it would be. These are the best strips I've ever read anywhere. The humor is hilarious from every direction. At 10 bucks, you can't afford not to have this book.

If you could somehow harness the powers of pure awesomeness (even more rare than dark matter) and contain it in the form a book, this would be the end result...

Proudly display it on your coffee table, or wear it around your neck; just spread the word of PBF!!! Either way, it is by far one of the best Graphic Novels you will have ever owned.

Ever!!!

I'd read a lot of these comics on The Perry Bible Fellowship website, but my goodness, it is just so good having them all printed in a lush, glossy-paged book. Truly, the sick humor comes to life in a way that the internet simply could not dream of. Buy this book. Seriously. You won't be sorry.

Calvin is every parent and teacher's nightmare child, with limited attention to everything except what he is interested in. His antics disrupt the classroom, disturb the home and keep his mother, father and neighbors on edge for the next event. Yet, his imagination knows no bounds, he is certainly the type of child that may grow up to be a writer, filmmaker or perhaps a cartoonist.
Watterson has a sense of humor and an outlook on life that he has channeled into one of the funniest and yet most profound comic strips ever inked and colored. Calvin's attitude towards the world at some point reflects that of every child and adult, he is a misfit and tries to cope by imaginative acts. His mouthy, yet intelligent companion Hobbes, a stuffed tiger who comes alive in his fertile imagination, assists him in his coping.
This is a funny and entertaining book of some of the best installments of the "Calvin and Hobbes" strip, it will enliven your world, no matter how conformist that world is forcing you to be.

The days are definitely packed with adventures for this dynamic, but very short duo. From spaceships and interplanetary hideous monster beasties, to creeping around the backyard and generally getting up to suburban kidlet nogoodness, the fun is never in short supply. Neither is the wit, even if delivered under thread of Spaceman Spiff's raygun.

Another great slab paperback filled with the very best of this over active duo. Themed for the holidays, Calvin and Hobbes get up to their usual mischief at the detriment of Mom, Dad, Susie and others. Read it over and over again just to get a little laughter in a boring day. Highly recommended.

Fans of Calvin & Hobbes who used to read the newspaper strip in the 80s and 90s will find great pleasure in reading this collection of C&H comics. These witty comics about the 6-year old Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes, named after the famous philosophers, will amuse people of all ages. The perceptiveness and humor of Watterson deserve the highest of cartoon awards, while his artistic creations exude hilarity. This cartoon is perhaps one of the most piercing yet funny critiques of modern society.

Summer is the time when Calvin and Hobbes can hang out in the treehouse and plot their next attacks on Susie, if they're not busy fighting with each other, that is. This book also contains some of Calvin's best snowman art. Procrastinators will love Calvin's newest invention - the Time Machine, or perhaps not? This is definitely one of the best C&H books around.

Note that there are two series of C&H collections: individual wide-format albums, each covering an entire year of strips (will call it "regular"), and the vertical aspect ratio "treasury series" which covers selected comics from two regular C&H books. Note that C&H ran for a year in newspapers, so there's 10 regular books and 5 treasury books. Though the cartoons are slightly smaller in the treasury collection, each treasury book is far thicker and contains more strips than a regular book, and is furthermore less expensive, so treasury books are a real bargain. "The Days Are Just Packed" belongs to the regular series and was published in 1993.

Our boys love the C&H cartoons. They are expanding their vocabularies without even knowing it! I refrain from telling them this though because they usually shy away from "educational" books.

No,its not just a bunch of random stuff, its a bunch of random funny stuff!! Its funny for Calvin being a little scared of Hobbes, and all that really funny stuff. Although Calvin's only a 1st grader, he sounds like he's really smart. So, I guess whoever is looking at this I have convinced them to buy it, just because it's so funny!!!!!!!

I am not sure I have ever met anyone who has read some Calvin and Hobbes comic strips and hated them. I suppose there might be a person or two out there allergic to stuffed toy tigers, perhaps, or had a horrible accident involving one. Those would be the only people I could think of that would not find these strips entertaining, no matter what age.

And so it began.

This treasury included the strips from the first two collections of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. And if you don't know what you have been missing, you are in for a treat.

The comic strip follows the misadventures of Calvin, a highly imaginative, hyperactive six year old. How imaginative? His only real friend is Hobbes, his stuff tiger. But that isn't a problem because Hobbes is really a real tiger, at least in Calvin's mind.

Since this is the first book, things are still being established. But many of the strips staples are here already. We meet Calvin's parents, teacher Miss Wormwood, neighbor Susie Derkins, and bully Moe. We even get the first couple of run ins with babysitter Rosalyn. While we don't get the hilarious social satire that would show up later, we do get some comments on the environment and Calvin's obsession with polls. (He is constantly trying to get his dad to bend to political pressure by showing his standings with household six year olds and tigers.) And we get plenty of adventures from Spaceman Spiff, Calvin's imagination again as he tries to deal with the various aliens in his life like his parents or teacher.

I tend to read the later books more often, so I had forgotten just how go the early strips are until I picked this up. There are so true classics here, most of the time at Calvin's six year old nature. Not that I'd want my kids getting any ideas from Calvin. He doesn't see anything wrong with pounding nails into coffee tables or popping popcorn without the lid on the pot.

And that does bring up the only possible flaw with the book. These strips originally appeared in 1985-1987, so at times they are a little dated. Calvin makes reference to renting a VCR or wanting to get cable. But that doesn't bother me in the slightest.

This "treasury" collects the strips from the first two books. As a bonus, there is a story told in poem form at the beginning and the Sunday strips are in color. If you have the two books, you probably don't need this one. But if you don't have them, this is the way to go.

The day this strip ended was a sad day indeed. But thanks to books like this one, we can relive it over and over again.

This collection contains earlier C&H cartoons. Being accustomed to seeing a slightly different looking Calvin in the more modern works it takes a little getting used to. His head is HUGE! His mouth...HUGE...and also very much like those Peanuts characters. The way his body and feet are drawn is also like them. Maybe they were Watterson's inspiration? Aside from the bigger head and mouth, Calvin in drawn shorter and wider than we are accustomed to and Hobbes is also bigger than him (when he is a stuffed tiger) which makes Calvin look even smaller. I thought at first that he was four or five but then he refers to himself as a six year old so that hasn't changed. I'm guessing that Watterson refined his craft in the years following...after all, this was originally published in 1988!!!

In this collection we see:
Calvin meets Hobbes
Calvin meets Susie...and does some serious flirting???
Calvin goes to the doctor and lives to tell the tale
His mom lets him try smoking
Shrunken heads for dinner anyone?
Calvin vs Rosalyn...who wins?

Many, many more memorable episodes in this collection that will keep you coming back for more!

CAUTION!!: When the information said "Includes cartoons from Calvin & Hobbes and Something Under the Bed is Drooling" I was under the impression that it contained just a few of those. Not so! It actually COMBINES those 2 books so that ALL of those cartoons are contained herein. I learned this because I ordered this together with Calvin & Hobbes...I am assuming it will be like this for other collections as well.

This calvin and hobbes collection is one of my favorites. I own every single one, but this one is better to me because it has more Sunday comics in it. The adventures, the fun, the snow, the beach...Bill Watterson shouldn't have quit. 5 Stars