Cartoons Books

Release Control Art Restriction to Level "0" and 2nd coming of card shark and rip van.

Number seven in this fantastic series is a continuation on a point. We're at war now, and the vampires are tearing people apart left and right. Blood, guts and gore flow thickly across the pages. While all this is fantastic, for those looking for plot, this volume has less of a delivery. Its mostly blood this time around, but if youre collecting the series and want to keep up, you can't miss it! There is one major plotpoint stuck right in the middle bookended by carnage so pick it up and read it you Hellsing fan!

The plot is really good!Graphics are great and I almost cried becuase Seras looses her love, Captain Vernadead.It's really sad but so good!

If you've made it this far, you know that the graphics are superior, the story is awesome (you can't beat Nazi vampires and the Vatican trying to take out a Protestant vampire killing organization, Hellsing). The best part about this book is that it focuses just on the fight at the Hellsing Headquarters and goes in-depth just about Seras and the other people there. I can not wait for #8 because Alucard arrives in London at the end of this book.

If this is this end then perhaps my rating is a bit too high, but still, Hellsing, from volume 1 though 7 was one of the most solid manga I've had the chance to read. It doesn't veer at all from its base storyline, it's bloody and violent and lets you know this early, and the characters are lovable, even if they are monstrous creatures who enjoy gore. And in volume seven, though the story definitely isn't finished, the action is non-stop and quick-paced. I blasted through this manga in less than an hour.

Of course, the story in this volume follows the continuing struggle against the undead Nazi invaders who have targeted England as the focal point for their "var". The battle focuses mainly on Seras and the Captain's efforts to keep the Hellsing Organization headquarters intact as an undead invading force led by a tattooed, sorcery-wielding vampire. Let's just say that things don't go so well for the Hellsing members and the Captain's mercenaries, but their is one big surprise that had me sitting up straight as I read. I won't spoil it, but it's a spurring moment indeed that appears as things seem to be at their grimmest. And Alucard, the hero of the story, doesn't have much of a role in this, so don't expect him...

Then comes the super ambiguous ending. It's a kind of face off that shows that things definitely aren't finished yet, but by all indications this is the last manga in the line, at least in the States, and a new volume isn't planned as of yet as far as I know. The soon-to-come anime, though, is planned, one that actually follows the storyline of the manga and doesn't go off on it's own course. Maybe the story will be finished there, or maybe it will be as ambiguous as it was in the manga. If it is, I'll be one disappointed Hellsing fan, that's for sure.

Either way, I still highly recommend this manga to anyone who loves darker manga such as Berserk. It's easily the goriest manga I've read, with a story that promotes action over plot, which will appeal to fans of quick-paced manga. Hellsing is a great manga, all around, and should it continue from this volume, I'm considering making it my personal favorite (which is now held by Berserk).

Alison Bechdel is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I'm sorry to say that although I've known about her "Dykes to Watch Out For" for years, I only recently began reading the series after discovering her gripping memoir Fun Home. I'm not reading the DTWOF volumes serially (although perhaps I should), but rather as I can get my hands on them. But what I'm discovering even in my haphazard reading of them is that Ms Bechdel's artwork and narrative gets richer as time passes, that her characters become increasingly complex, and that the deep reflectiveness coupled with a playfully mordant sense of humor I discovered in Fun Home enlivens DTWOF as well.

"Hot, Trobbing..." is an excellent title for this collection, because the story lines in it collectively build in tension until the reader is virtually panting for some kind of release. The main story centers around Mo and a new character, Sidney, a big-city, snooty, and frequently unbearable assistant professor of feminist theory. Mo takes an immediate dislike to Sidney, which eventually morphs into a sexual attraction that's overwhelming. In the meantime, Clarice and Toni are experiencing their own tension in their longstanding relationship, Lois is on prozac and losing her sexual joi de vivre, Ginger has reached the do-or-die point on her dissertation, and the bookshop Madwimmin is on the skids. Everything and everyone is in crisis mode and the tension steadily builds until, thankfully, it's released in exquisite simultaneity at the book's end (which, by the way, is also one of Bechdel's most erotic finales).

Along the way, there are some delicious digs at bad feminist poets, the sheer silliness (and fun) of sexual toys, the difficulties of juggling parenthood, marriage, and a hectic, demanding job (in the story line of Clarice, Toni, and Rafael), the hazards of dating ex-lovers of current friends, and the pain involved in coming out to one's family.

Wonderful, joyful, bittersweet stuff.

After having read the occasional DTWOF in the local gay and lesbian press, I finally bought this collection of strips. I was incredibly impressed! Not only is this book *VERY* funny, but all of the characters seem to embody the diversity withing the gay and lesbian community. I couldn't put it down!

I love Bechdel's characters (my husband - yes, husband - says I remind him a *lot* of Mo when I go off on a tangent). The Madwimmin-a-go-go benefit at the end had us both laughing till we cried. Long live the mad women of Madwimmen!

Warning: if you haven't read this book, this review is a spoiler!

I really liked this latest book by Ms. Bechdel. It's nice to see good things happening for the characters: Mo stirs herself and goes after Sidney instead of whining about her lack of a girlfriend. Ginger finally gets her PhD. Toni's parents seem to be ok her lesbianism, and Clarice and Toni revitalize their partnership which has been languishing since the arrival of Raffi, and one of the most important items, Clarice's second parent adoption is approved!

I can't wait for the next book! Unfortunately, Ms. Bechdel only comes out :-) with a new book every 2 years or so. I hope she never stops this comic strip

Fox Trot is one of my sons favorite comic books. He has read this one many times!

I read through all of Bill Amend's comics...each one funier than the next, he knows how to make you chuckle and he knows how to make you happy. I cried a little when the strip was "semi" retired but life goes on.

Any Foxtrot fan will love this. Any newbie curious will love the strip.

I swear it will tickle your funny bone.

I always love FoxTrot!!!

I'm very sad the dailies are ending, but am happy for him that he was so successful.

I own all the books, and love them all!

Amend once again delivers in what may be the last of the Foxtrot books, now that he's stopped doing the dailies that made up the bulk of these books. The collection is filled with the best of his last strips, and makes a great addition to the previous sets.

I can't believe that Amend is retiring the strip. Nonetheless, I deeply appreciate this little book - combining some of his more recent strips.

I love this comic strip and recommend this book highly.

This is really a great book for cartoon drawers. Great for all ages. You will enjoy this book.

this is a cool book. i wish it had more breeds, though. at the end it goes wacky with tips on how to make dogs appear more human. the dobes look awsome(Dobermans are my fav. breed.)

I bought this book on here(Amazon.com) a few months ago and, So far this is the best book I have come across on how to draw cartoon dogs and puppies. It has everything you need to know like: in one section each page has a diffrent kind of breed like the, Cocker Spaniel, Chow Chow, German Shepherd,or Chihuahua just to name a few. it has dog expressions, how to draw puppies and wolves,foxies, then at the end of the book it shows you how to draw dogs in human form, and has costumes you can look off of. this book has nothing but fun in it and entertains you for hours! its also great when you have kids over or if its a raining day. My book's pages are always open, someone in my house is always useing it, It's so worth the buy, and its cheap too. Buy it!

Dogs are the best and most common animals that are drawn by countless cartoonists. This book is without a doubt, the ultimate in canine cartoon art! It has easy to follow instructions on drawing angry Dobermans, to sleek collies, to feral wolves. Not only does Christopher Hart tell you how to draw the dog, but he also includes tips and pointers on the many expressions and roles capable of cartoon dogs.

Even though I own this book and keep it on my bookshelf at home, everytime I run into it at a store I always have to pick it up and look through it. Hart does it once again but this time focuses on dogs and dogs alone. He covers all dogs from the common mutt to the great English Bulldog. After you have read this book once at a library or at a store, you will have this great temptation to buy it. Once you start reading it and looking at the great pictures you will never want to put it down. Adam.

How to Draw Disney's Mulan was a fun look into the art of animation. Foster gives a detailed lokk at both the story and drawing techniques. Very enjoyable

Just like one girl could make the difference to China's future, some little details made this book excellent. Since I used paints to re-create the characters, the color palattes were great to help me mix the right colors. But the single distinguishing feature that made this "how to draw" book better than the others I've used were the little notations scattered on everypage that highlighted the keys to each characters. My Mushu was ready to jump off the page and fight the Huns!

This book was truly amazing...but instead of giving directions on how to draw the character...it gives you pictures on each step on the character...it also gives you advice when you draw a certian part of the character...so instead of a classic 1 2 3 step book...you actully learn how to draw the characters...this nothing like I've seen before...It may seem hard, but it really isn't...when I was done...my drawing really looked like Mulan. I reccomeng this book if you love Mulan and want to have fun drawing.

This book is a wonderful how-to book for drawers. It shows how they made the characters from simple shapes and goes into detail about costumes and more. I aspire to become a Disney animator someday and this book helped improve my drawing techniques. It is surely worth your buying, be you a kid or an adult. -S.K.S.

Wow!!! I was amazed by the quality of the drawings I made from this book. I'm 13, and Mulan is my favorite movie. I tried drawing the characters from memory, but I'm not much of an artist, and they turned out badly. Then I ordered this book (from Amazon.com, I might add) and suddenly the cast started leaping out of my pencil! A great how-to with two pages devoted to each of the main characters, this book has pencil sketches and full-color illustrations to help you along. It is even crammed with hints from the animators!How to Draw Disney's Mulan can guide even the most amateurish artist from choosing the right materials to painting the background, with wonderful results. GET THIS BOOK TODAY!

This book will give understanding not only to animation but drawing all together and will allow you to elevate your understanding of composition

A complement to the earlier editions of this series, this book teaches you how to draw mecha's (daily machines), nature and animal characters, rounding off on how to put together a short story. There are helpful tips such as time-savers when drawing effective backgrounds even if there is less detail. The book is geared towards the aspiring mangaka, showing how drawings begin in sketches, inked, and toned in a step-by-step manner.

All in all, this book is more for the person interested in drawing manga. Not recommended for the average learner who just wants to draw manga style and not interested in creating a manga.

I loved this book the moment I cracked it open. Lots of great tips on how to draw houses (inside and outside), trees, clouds, water, rocks, and all sorts of nature things that I couldn't draw before. I highly recommend this book to any artist. Some drawing skills are needed for this book to be very effective, though.

this book is the BEST
because when I reed this book,
there were hundreds of infomation that I didn't
Know before...

This is one of the best HtDmanga books.The book cover and name isnt all.The book is full off nature drawing like trees, sea, fire, cat.It also have about drawing houses and cars.

This book is for people who want to know how to draw the Peanuts characters, such as Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally, Linus, etc etc. However the problem was that they only show the characters in one position. Some characters have two positions. For example, there is Linus standing up and Linus clutching his blanket for dear life. They never show Lucy yelling at Charlie Brown on the baseball field, or Peppermint Patty talking on the phone with her secret love, Charlie Brown. Otherwise I guess it's ok...buy it if you want to keep up the hard work of Charles M. Schulz!

This book shows just how versatile an artist Matt Busch is. Those familiar with his usual, fully painted works will appreciate how he is able to capture Schultz's signature style with ease! For those of you not familiar with Matt's work, you should really check out his web site...!!

Since my daughter read this book, she knows how to draw very well peanuts characters. This book is extremly good. Stronly recommended!

I am no artist, but even I can draw Snoopy now if I look at the instructions! Lots of Fun!

Great book for those of us who love sketching Peanuts' characters. My two granddaughters were using the book already and I can't wait to enjoy it too.

Seriously the best "how to" drawing book I've seen thus far. I've seen ones that are simply: "How to draw a vampire girl, how to draw a bad pirate guy" and are below the level of technique the buyer is looking for. Then there are the really complicated ones that are not easy to understand without basics. This book is just perfect in so many ways because it teaches you the basics of anatomy in a way that's understandable and comprehensive.

i'm an aspiring artist and have lots of drawing books. This ones so different and the drawings are so good and funny. i know this guys work from the comics too, he is good! This teaches you lots of diffrent things you dont see in alot of the other books like each muscle parts and different types of people. and the pics of tom nguyen and the girls are funny too!

The "Ultimate Guide to Creating Kick Ass Comic Art" delivers!
Incredible Comics with Tom Nguyen is fantastic for tons of reasons! First, it gets you excited and pumped to draw. As a bodybuilder himself, Tom clearly understands how bodybuilders' minds work and utilizes that psychology when he readies his readers for getting going on lessons of how to draw comics. I was excited (Pumped!) by reading his book before I even tried to draw anything -- It gives you the sense that YOU can do it, and it helps you understand what is important in an easygoing, humorous, yet, I repeat, charged-up manner. Be your own Superman, or Superwoman! Draw it yourself, with Tom's help! How does Tom do this? As an author myself, I am not sure I know, but he does it really well.

What I particularly like is that, because he is a bodybuilder, he can deliver through his drawings accurate renditions of anatomy. Before you learn to play the piano, you have to learn your scales. Before you learn to draw comics, you have to study the human form. As a bodybuilder, Tom knows every muscle, every part of the body. He delivers his information in a fun and interesting way so that the beginning artist (who is also told what tools he or she will need) can have that crash course in drawing which begins this book. An essential.
As you progress along, you begin to enjoy his sense of humor (I would read this book just for that alone!) as well as the lessons you are learning. A big part of his teaching style involves as many "don'ts" as "do's", which, because he is so fun, is an easy way to understand how to correct common mistakes you might make while drawing. For example, in a small section which is a part of "Drawing Stud Muffins and Real Bad Dudes", entitled "Dial M", he has explained that one way to view the trap muscles is to see them as forming the shape of an M. On the other hand he has a "Don't" with that, and illustrates it, with an alarmed looking dude sporting a little bitty M on his back, not at all correctly proportioned.
On the next page, we see the "Do" -- the guy's back muscles are "aesthecially pleasing", as Tom says! There is a lot of action on all the pages: suited to comics. For example, above what I just described is a full-on view of a back where the author has explained the "Christmas tree" shape manner of drawing the erector mucles in the lower back of a guy wearing little pink lacy briefs with hearts on them. haha. I wanted to draw that immediately. I don't care, I'm saying it! Same page: a hot babe saying "Hey, nice sssssspine!" to a half turned he-man, accompanied by an explanation of how to draw a more dynamic picture by rotating your character into a half turn.The "s" for spine is the way to remember this. Tom is not wasting our time with his drawings or information.

This is just part of the first section: I gave you an in depth on a tiny bit. We learn to draw "studs", and then how to draw "babes" : their hair (even "what hair says"!--I would hate to think what mine is saying)!, faces, breasts, total bodies, everything. These are the gorgeous super girls you see in bikinis with the high hips, flat stomachs and fine chests...he has his "do's" and "don'ts" going strong here as well and it is very informative and amusing, the way he explains it. This guy is a famous judge in pin up competitions in his spare time. He knows what he is talking about. Yet he wastes no space. I think this is due to the fact that he is a comic book inker (among many other things), and the book reflects this.
That was just part one: your crash course in drawing. If you followed, step by step, chapter by chapter, you would end up at part four, which is "Your Own Kick-Ass Comics". Now doesn't that sound fine? Just follow this through, and practice. You obviously have to love comics (I have a son who loves comics who is getting this as a gift from me -- he is a total comic book freak) and it makes a great gift for anyone who does. It is printed on really nice paper, it's a fine high quality book in every aspect, it's terrific and fun to read; I thoroughly recommend it. Get it! It's GREAT! Incredible Comics RULES!

This book was a change in pace for me. There are plenty of focused fine art books covering anatomical approaches to drawing and then there's the glut of "I want to draw comics" titles. Tom has found the balance here, humor with a focused approach to the development of whatever natural abilities you have. A great book... highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn how to be the best from the best. Not at all gay.

There's a plethora of how-to comic book drawing titles out there and far too many are worthless, I've seen more than my fair share. Not to worry, Nguyen's effort is far from the bottom of the barrel. This work is a fair blend of humor with quickly crisp examples of what to and not to do.

The rather fast-pacing of this title belies a simple and unfortunate fact, that it's all too brief. There's a good bit of ink devoted to muscle groups and how they should be drawn. However, much of the book whips past in a jack-of-all trades master of none manner. I have seen each and every concept in this book conveyed in other books with more depth, detail and instruction.

For parents considering this title for their young artists, there are a few drawings of bare female breasts. It's nothing that's salacious or out of context with anatomical drawing (or any number of manga books for that matter) but I know a good many parents would rather their kids not be exposed to such artwork.

All said, given Nguyen's obvious talent and engaging style... I wish this book was more thorough than topical. It may whet the appetite for some just starting out but there really is better to be had elsewhere.

OK, here's the deal, if you wanna get down with your bad self and figure out if your childhood really did suck, read any or all of Lynda Barry's books. Not only will she prove to you that it did suck, but she will also show you that everybody else's childhood sucked too! However, she will also demonstrate to you, in a very amusing way, that we were all, mostly, too dumb to let it get in the way or really bother us. In fact, many of us will relive the pain and pleasure through Lynda's therapy and will actually enjoy it.
So, do yourself a favour and read all her stuff. And if you don't get her books, then, not only did your childhood suck but your adulthood is even worse! Yolo tendo! Namaste Leenda Namaste!!!!

I completely agree with San Diego reviewer below. Why is it out of print? Lame!!! She (lynda B.) is so good and Marlys so wonderful. Joy and pathos, that is what is here.

Lynda Barry saved my life with Ernie Pook's Comeek when I lived in Washington DC, and in return I feel obligated to purchase every book she's ever written. Not that that's an awful thing. The continuing saga of Marlys and Maybonne keeps me in tears, both from laughter and from sadness. The only reason this only gets four instead of five stars is that I'm starting to get a little burned out on them. Barry is so precise in tales of growing up, she's in a league with Groening, Judge, et al, in perfectly capturing, in a crude drawing, such common elements to our childhood as cereal boxes, bad haricuts, and boys who smoke. I highly recommend any Lynda Barry collection, and this chapter does not disappoint.

This is an absolutely amazing work. If you can get your hands on it it is definately worth the effort. I first read it a few years ago and must have read it about six times since then.

It deals with love, friends, family, homosexuality, and life in general. I found it one of the most true and beautiful peices I've ever read.

This super duper book is a compilation of Lynda Barry's comics about two weird sisters named Marlys and Maybonne. Some sections are told through older sister Maybonne's diary and they usually involve the dramas of junior high, like moving back to your old school and finding out that your best friend has told everyone that you've become a lesbian slut. My favorite sections are the ones told through Marlys' eyes. She writes book reports about bats, and draws her own comics about her sister's favorite things. Marlys' drawings of people and the caption bubbles coming out of their mouths are so creative and authentically first graderish.

Why oh why is this book out of print? I checked it out of my library, but maybe we can start a revolution and bring it back.

"Comic" is inadequate to describe the vehicle for the art and genius of Katchor. Left me giddy and disoriented at the beautiful strangeness of the world of Julius Knipl. Brilliant.

Julius Kniple is the love child of Bruce McCall, Jules Feiffer, and Zippy the Pinhead.

This is my 2nd compilation of Knipl - the first being the "Evening Combinator". Once again, we're taken on a tour of mysterious urban setting that seems equal parts WWII-era New York, and another city mourning for the first - at once the ghost of a city and its beloved survivors. Artist Katchor deftly etches his cityscape using tragic camp - postcard artists who depict unloved streets that nobody will visit, semi-professional gravediggers, a man who seems to own some huge industrial facility on an island in the south pacific, losers who answer wrong numbers at pay phones and the obsession that men have with cafeteria buffets.

I may have been overdosed on Katchor's Knipl Camp, but something about "Beauty Supply" left me wanting. Earlier stuff like "Combinator" had their darker side, but were also balanced - Katchor sketched a city that was terrifying, depressing and yet oddly inviting, populated by characters who seemed victimized at the same time as being inspired. Here, the accent is on the dark and defeated, and the result is unsympathetic - as if his characters had grown more than tired by their own dark jokes. It's Katchor & Knipl, yet not at their witty best.

Ben Katchor's work is unique. He notices all the things that otherwise go (undeservedly after you see his work) unnoticed. His humor is on a par with the best of all media: Keaton, Chaplin, Fields in films, for example. His artwork brings to mind Herriman & Holman. His text is as inventive as Kafka. No question about it, the guy's a genius, yet always enjoyable & entrancing.

The third bound installment of Ben Katchor's "Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer" series finds his lonely observer at quite a distance from the simplicity and candor of "Cheap Novelties". Complex, arcane, and beautifully detailed, "The Beauty Supply District" represents, at last, a finely tuned rendition of Katchor's altogether fantastic and fully fictional Gotham. Arguably less accessible than "Cheap Novelties" or "Real Estate Photographer Stories", (I would suggest that the uninitiated read one of the aforementioned books first) it's a satisfying read for this Katchor fan, and it certainly will be for those who appreciate the moves he's made in "Cardboard Valise" and "Hotel and Farm". Katchor has sacrificed some degree of empathy in grounding Knipl increasingly less in "the actual world" but the allegories he creates in its stead are delights to be picked apart, and like a stranger's obscure promotional cap, ruminated over. The narrative that closes "Beauty Supply District" may be a sly metaphor for the real-life loss of New York City's individuality amid the burgeoning stampede of chain stores and attendant homogeneity; whatever the perspective, those 26 pages read like a warts-and-all requiem for an imperfect yet more people-oriented time. Alas, when the narrative's pretentious art fiend character makes a fateful purchase with no thought to aesthetics, the past, with its valued individuals and labored attention to detail, seems to be dealt a near-fatal blow. I can't wait to read it again and, like Knipl himself, discover what I've overlooked. Maybe I'm all wrong. That's what I love about it.