X Books

This is probably Kienzle's best book yet. From the very start, you're engrossed in the novel, trying to guess whodunit. The ending is surprising, and as always, I enjoy Kienzle's references to the Detroit area of which I'm familiar.

John Byrne had drawn a couple of issues (#108-109) of "The Uncanny X-Men" before the issues (#111-121) collected in this third volume of the Marvel Masterworks series devoted to the merry mutants. But the Chris Claremont-John Byrne period began in earnest with issue #111 as the Beast finds the rest of the X-Men as side-show exhibits in a carnival: the Banshee is the carnival barker, Wolverine is the shackled Man-Beast of the Yukon, Phoenix is aerialist named Miz Destiny, and the rest are being shown as freaks. At first it seems that it is their old enemy Mesmero who is playing "Mindgames" with them, but then on the stunning last page full panel shot it turns out to be Magneto himself.

The stories collected here remind me of the period in the Sixties when Jim Steranko and Neal Adams were drawing the pictures to go with the scripts of Roy Thomas; not just because of the artwork but because many of the super villains are the same. Claremont and Byrne not only continue their story with another two issues devoted to Magneto defeating the X-Men but then having to run away when they escape and he is tagged by Wolverine, but they then split up the group. The Beast and Phoenix escape into a blizzard while the rest are plunged into the depths of the Savage Land where they again encounter not only Sauron but Ka-Zar and the transformed human who became Garokk, the petrified man and god to a local tribe. While Charles Xavier takes a walk down memory lane in "Psi-War" (#117), the lost X-Men make it to Japan for another meeting with Star-Fire and then to Canada where Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau sends Alpha Flight to capture Wolverine again.

The battle with Magneto is the high point of "Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 3," not only in terms of Byrne's artwork (the close up of Magneto at the end of #112 is nice), inked by Terry Austin, but also in terms of the story that Claremont comes up with. By the end of the saga Claremont and Byrne are co-plotting the comic book that was about to become the hottest on the planet. I had been a fan of the X-Men from early on, preferring them to the Avengers, and while they had their moments right before the comic was given over to reprints for several years, "The All-New, All-Different" version of the X-Men was a big improvement. You still had the star-crossed lovers with Scott Summers and Jean Grey, but now you had the loose-cannon Wolverine and the foreign flavor of Storm, Colossus and Nightcrawler, all played out against the growing social prejudice against mutants. Banshee is a bit of a stick in the mud, but he gives Professor X somebody his old age to talk to, and I certainly like the improved Beast as the group's resident tragic figure.

For fans of the Claremont-Byrne years of "The Uncanny X-Men" be aware that if the Marvel Masterworks series keeps to a dozen issues of the comic reprinted in color in each volume that Volumes 4 and 5 will take you through Byrne's stink as the book's artist. Volume 4 will begin the Hellfire Club saga and introduce both Kitty Pride and Dazzler, while Volume 5 will have both the Dark Phoenix epic and the powerful "Days of Future Passed" issues that are still one of the best time travel stories I have ever read in a comic book.

What was once a failing Marvel title is now a mainstay, so to speak. This excellent collection covers Roy Thomas' valiant attempt to save this title. A great read for nostalgic fans of early X adventures.

Finally the Masterwork title lives up its name here. Most of the X-men stories before this laid some solid groundwork, but are for the most part Marvel's version of the Doom Patrol, and rudimentary in that Silver Age way. Both early X-men and Doom Patrol had much to owe to Arnold Drake and Don Heck basic talents.

Here the Silver Age X-men are transformed into the Modern Age X-men by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams. Both Thomas and Adams have received more praise and recognition from other works, but it's these X-men stories that work best for me. This volume collects the end of the original X-men stories. The series continued on for some 30-some issues as reprints until the All New All Different Uncanny X-men kicked off the huge X-men phenomenon some years later, which was helmed by editor Thomas.

Man, reading these stories again... they still feel new and they are better most of the X-titles currently in print. I'd love to see Thomas and Adams team up again to pick up where they left off at the end of this collection.

Highly Recommend.

This Masterworks edition features The original X-Men series (later titled 'The Uncanny X-Men' numbers 22-31. For $35, it is definately a great buy. Although Stan Lee ends his run as writer with issue 22 (taken over by Roy Thomas), the stories remain great and Jack Kirby's artwork is impressive, even for 30 years ago.

Unlike the Essential X-Men series, these Masterwork editions are in full color with glossy covers. If you're looking to elarn the histroy of the X-Men or are new to the series and can'ty afford spending the money to buy all the old issues, this is the place to start. I definately recommend getting the first three Masterwork editions and then following up with the Clarement "Essential" books later to learn all the important storylines.

Jack Kirby was the King. He was the greatest and most powerful of all comic book artists. If you love comics and don't know Kirby, you owe it to yourself to explore his work -- much of which, thankfully, is available between book covers. There have been other great artists, but there was only one Kirby.

This pocket-sized book consists of four topics: Mary and God, Mary and her son, Mary and others, and Mary and us. The topics are further divided into seven titled meditations, each based on scripture and accompanied by quotations from the writings of John Paul II, Chiara Lubich, Mother Teresa, and others.

The week devoted to Mary and others contains two reflections on the wedding in Cana, the first stressing Mary's sensitivity to the bridal couple's predicament and her response; the second, her trust that Jesus would help. Both include quotations from John Paul II in which he prays, "Speak to your Son about our times, for he is the hope of our future," and "Help us in our day to understand your Son, even when his words are hard and demanding." Links like these, which appear frequently throughout the 28 meditations, help us to connect our lives to Mary's in a practical and prayerful way.

This book clearly explains why we are not yet human beings--how can we be when we do such inhuman things. Like one of the quotes used in the book to introduce each chapter says: "Man is the missing link between the ape and the human being." This book helps us understand how we can each work towards our individual and societal evolution into humane beings, particularly in this time of ecological disaster and the technological potential to destroy all existence.

This is a hugely readable book covering the most prolific period of David O. Selznick's career helming pictures like KING KONG and GONE WITH THE WIND, among other important projects. This massive accomplishment (for a constantly busy, successful indy producer) has sometimes been ignorantly and unfairly dismissed by critics for being the memoir of a man who may have been using stimulants throughout his career and in particular while writing many of these long memos and therefore much of the content of the book.

But let's say here and now that the quality and detail of the information in this large tome, as well as the quality of the man's movies speak for themselves -- a severely debilitating drug habit would have prevented the creation of a sensible book, let alone one with this power, detail, wisdom and insight.

Every film student should read this book for his or her own benefit, to learn in detail the thought processes behind the hundreds of challenges and decisions involved in the mounting of major motion pictures by one important producer who was also essentially a studio head of his time. Things in Hollywood have changed in some aspects, but not so much that Selznick's tribulations and triumphs are any less valid, informative or fascinating for the discriminating reader.

There is increasing recognition of how significant metabolic syndrome is in the degradation of general human health, bringing a need for a solidly researched view of the topic.

So Scott Mendelson's cogently written book is extremely timely. In language that is both erudite enough for professionals but clear enough for more general readers, he explores the roots of metabolic syndrome, its its causes and effects on the body and the up-to-now little explored area of metabolic syndrome's effects on psychiatric illness. Dr. Mendelson's book is an important contribution to the field, and just a plain good read.

Yeah, Scott is my brother, but that shouldn't detract from my view that this book is a great one, an important addition to our knowledge of metabolic syndrome.