Comics Books

This book is recommended for all art fans--you don't need to be familiar with the Sandman character to enjoy McKean's gorgeous covers. The commentary is also very interesting, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the thought process behind many of the works. McKean progresses from producing physical pieces of art to digital manipulations as the series progressed, and although some of his initial digital effects are now dated, it's still fascinating to see a modern master at work.

is there any difference between the Watson-Guptill edition and the Vertigo edition? i noticed one says '1989-1996' while the other says '1989-1997', the size also seems to be differnt, althogh the page numbers are both 208. what i want to know is, is there any difference as far as the artworks go inside? and if so, which is the better one? (one's also more price than the other, it seems).

I bought this book as a gift for a Friend, I was familiar with McKeans art from the comics and she had recently gotten into his work... So i thought it'd make a good gift.

It was a great gift! I looked through the book thoroughly myself and was amazed at not just the artwork but the presentation of it throughout. McKean and Neil Gaiman's Commentry and Notes throughout are both Fascinating and sometimes hilarious. (Ah the Fish...)

I'm gonna pick up a copy for myself, as this really is an Amazing book... ArtFans or ComicFans alike will appreciate just how Beautiful Mckeans Art is.

I don't know why I haven't gotten around to reviewing this collection of work before, but it is amazing! As the title suggests, it is the collected covers of the Sandman comic book series that ran from 1989-1996. There are no Sandman stories in here, just the collected covers of all the issues and some commentary on the covers and The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman himself.

"Just." I love this book. It's "Art" with a capital "A." So many different styles, forms, and moods. It's beauty and magic captured on paper. It calls to mind art as diverse Edward Gorey, Salvadore Dali, the movies of Tim Burtn, and on one startling cover even H.R. Geiger (in a non-Aliens way).

The introduction is very nice too.

I recommend this for any fan of the Sandman series.

When I had collected the original Sandman issues, I was always intrigued by the cover art as well as the story and illustrations inside. Sometimes, I would find myself staring at the covers for minutes before reading the actual story. This was the only time I had ever really done that. And now you can own this book full of those intricate, detailed, and amazing art pieces, along with commentary by McKean and Gaiman.

And there's a Sandman story that I have never read before! If you're a Sandman fan, buy this book.

It would have been better if the description said this was a library book. Overall the item was fine, just had the library name printed on it, and I had to remove a plastic cover from it.

This series is going to be a regular drain on my bank balance for the coming decade, as that is how long it is going to take Fantagraphics to finish publsihing this collection, if they stick to their published schedule.

Be warned: The Sunday strips are not in colour unlike the Calvin & Hobbes and the Farside collection in which even the black and white strips are printed on colour pages. This quite pisses me off...

Finally, a Peanuts collection in chronological order and nothing left out. It's going to be a long wait indeed...

I've always thought of creating a bookshelf of hard cover with all my favourite comic strips, when I could afford them... Calvin & Hobbes, Farside, Tintin, Asterix & of course Peanuts.

I have the first two, and I'm on my way with Peanuts... It's going to be a long and interesting 11 years...

I'd give it seven stars if I could. As a kid, I would go down the street to the local store every week and buy the latest "Peanuts" book for 50 cents each. It was pure genius then, and it still is now. The cartoons are classic, timeless and wonderful.

When I read the comics page in the newspaper, I find some good strips and some bad ones. Often the most annoying are what I call "institutional" strips: they haven't been funny in years or even decades, but they've become institutions and no one is willing to get rid of them. Peanuts, however, was always something of an exception: it was an institution, but it remained decent, even if in later years it was not quite the same caliber as it once was. There's a reason that modern comic artists (for example, Matt Groening in this volume) write glowingly about Peanuts; it was good. I doubt there is similar appreciation for Marmaduke, Heathcliff or Momma.

The comic strips in this volume are fifty years old, yet with limited exceptions (such as references to Davy Crockett hats), they fit just as well today. Some of the characters have disappeared over the years: what every happened to Patty, Violet or Shermy (or the loud-talking Charlotte Braun)? Other characters have yet to appear, significantly Peppermint Patty, Woodstock and Sally. But the core characters are here in this book, with their identities still evolving.

Snoopy is beginning to develop his alternate identities, practicing with being various animals (pythons, alligators, etc.) which will (in future volumes) develop into full-blown alternate personalities such as Joe Cool and the World War I Flying Ace ("Curse you, Red Baron!"). Lucy is a world-class fussbudget filled with incorrect information that she loves to impart to others. Linus still has his bursts of childishness, but is showing the signs of his budding genius, able to erect massive snow forts and blow up square balloons.

In the end, however, it is Charlie Brown who is the centerpiece of this comic, the ultimate hard luck character who the world seems to conspire against; the other kids often treat him poorly and even things like kite-flying go awry when he does it. It is the Lucy-Charlie Brown relationship that causes the most aggravation for our hero; a typical series of strips will have Lucy debating an issue with him and instantly changing the subject as soon as she is proven wrong.

Deceptively simple in their presentation, the Peanuts strips actually is filled with dark humor and angst. Yes, the only characters are kids (and a dog), but Schulz never relies on cuteness. Both fun and funny, this is a worthwhile read for both children and adults.

There's almost nothing to complain about in this set of books - the print quality is great, the accompanying artwork good, the commentary insightful and useful!

I give this five stars, and yet I have some desires...

Color!! The Sunday funnies were great because they were longer and had color! Without color, they are just long daily strips. Reprint the color, guys, at least, if you can.

More history! What happened in those two years? How many more newpapers picked up the strip, and what other things did Sparky do during that time?

Even so, these books are very well done, nicely thought out, and bring back all the classic strips without any obstrusive other stuff. I am thrilled to have these on my shelf!

I love starting the day with this, eveyone wants my old ones when I finish. I think Dilbert seems to relate to every office.

This daily comic helps to relieve the stress and tension in my office. Scott seems to have his finger firmly planted on the pulse of corporate America with Dilbert, Asok, the "pointy-haired guy", Dogbert the evil HR guy, Catbert and more. If you need a therapeutic laugh to make it through your sometimes insane days at work, this is the calendar for you.

You'd think Scott Adams would run out of material. Sadly, today's workplace seems to provide plenty of fodder. Good calendar.

i look forward to getting to the office a little early, tearing off yesterday's sheet, reading today's calendar sheet, and laughing out loud. i use the old sheets to write notes for colleagues (instead of stick-it notes), which usually are apropros to the office goings on that day. i love adams' creativity - the ironies and utter stupidity are something that we all can really relate to at work! for the amount of laughter that this calendar has given me and my colleagues, it was well worth the price and i'm destined to purchase it again next year!

I've had this on my desk the last 3 or so years. This time around I ordered the desk diary by mistake.
I tried to persuade myself that I could use that one, and do without the daily, but I caved in, and ordered this again. Makes the working day get off to a routinely funny start, always a chuckle. A great gift too.

I can't fault it.

Domu is an incredible manga. The story and artwork are both excellent. But I would expect nothing less from the brilliant mastermind behind Akira. But seriously if you are a comic book fan this is a must read. Even if you hate manga, you should read this. As I said before the artwork is stunning, Katsuhiro Otomo is an excellent artist, by far the best of all the manga artists. His stuff makes everyone elses manga look like crap. Also, while Domu isn't as intensely violent as Akira, it's still not for young kids, it does have quite a bit of violence and lot's of people get killed, including a few little kids. So if you don't like violence be forwarned. What else is there to say Domu is a classic if you liked Akira then you will most certainly love this.

An entire crowded apartment building is horrifically disturbed when violent unexplained murders upset the humdrum activities of its day-to-day residents. Seemingly mocking the monotony of inner city life and the obsessions with diversions in society, Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) injects a twisted old man into the fray maddened by intense telepathic abilities and an obsession with his own unique 'diversions'. Mainly the systematic slaughtering of his neighbors.

An unlikely challenger soon confronts the warped man-god. A young girl, a child of only about eight or nine has come to free the building of the terror. Armed with powerful telekinesis, their rivalry soon escalates into a massive battle nearly destroying the entire building.

My favorite is subtly depicted in the last scene. A silent test of wills between the two enemies amidst a peaceful playground setting.

It's obvious that Otomo loves exploring the lives of inner city characters that have very little to do with each other. Domu is one of his ealier works and should not be missed by any fan of Akira. This graphic novel is a 'single volume' and presents a quick yet very chilling read.

If only this great manga was made into an anime then we would have a greater appreciation for it's beautiful artwork and explosive action. In Domu you come across a few mysteries and until the end you'll only know about as much as the police do and that's absolutely nothing. Although it is a great read Domu has a few tiny flaws. I would have liked to see a brief explanation on how the twisted old man and Etsuko got their supernatural powers, it's little information like this that make the book seem hurried. I admire Katsuhiro Otomo most for holding nothing back; the art is very graphic at times with some gore.

The art was perfect in showing how exciting, bloody, and dangerous the final battle was.This manga shows it's intelligence by wrapping your brain around the obvious and has you asking questions that were explained but you never caught on. One question heard a lot is why does Mr. Uchida (The twisted old man) murder and torment the people in the apartment complex with no remorse but you're given clues throughout the book. His apartment is filled with toys, he likes to play with them, and he does childish things like stick his tongue out at people so either he is the most demented serial killer ever or he is something gentler.

Because this is a book from the mind of Katsuhiro Otomo who created the amazing classic Akira Domu gets the pleasure of always being compared to it. I'm not going to choose a better story because I haven't read Akira I saw the anime and that wouldn't be fair to Domu but the two have some similarities. One is the supernatural power and another is the nicely done graphic art but to give anymore might ruin the book. Domu is a great tale and an anime would be nice but I don't think today's animation would compliment the edge the manga gave but who knows what else can be done with this classic.

Domu is a graphic novel that combines great action, pathos, and some subtle commentary on urban Japanese life. The characters don't have a lot of space to develop, but seem to have a natural depth. It wasn't hard to sympathize with them, especially the dregs of society that inhabit the apartment complex the book is set in. These are the Japanese that we don't get to see very often, and that Otomo doesn't hide. This is a well-paced thriller with no missteps in the execution, which leads to an ending that gives you a lot to think about. The final scene is downright brilliant, and caps the Katsuhiro Otomo's recurring theme of powerful children. A great buy.

I read Domu the first time in the middle of the night, and after a third of the book I had to put it down because it scared me so much. The characters felt so real and that made the horrible events all the more horrible; the teenager sitting by himself in the middle of the night, struggling with his homework.. The kids playing or bullying each other.. everything felt so real. I immeadiately liked Hiroshi and Etsuko, and every time the old man appeared I was scared that anything might happen to them. In my opinion this is Otomos best work. I read this right after I had finished AKIRA part 5 and I must say that Domu was better in every way. The characters in AKIRA are mostly cardbord, in Domu they act much more like real people. Don't get me wrong, I love AKIRA, but Domu is just better. I can't explain how much I liked this manga, It's the best I've ever read. Go read it, now!

I'll start with the good. The artwork is excellent. There is a rich and addicting story line. The characters have enduring personalities. I really love this series. I typically always start reading Manga and then watch the anime if it goes that far. However, with Inuyasha it was the opposite for me. One of the reasons I was originally hesitant to read the manga was that it goes from front to back instead of back to front. This means the manga has bad editing issues. Basically to do this the editors have to flip every single image and reverse the image order. At first it wasn't too bad, but there is always a character like Sesshomaru... Every time he is in the manga it's like nails on a chalkboard. Because of the flipping everything about him just screams 'Those idiot American Editors Abused me!' His fluffy and armor are on the wrong side. His crescent moon is backwards. And Because of the flipping he always looks like his right arm was cut off and not the left. Because of this technical glitch the manga appears sloppy. However, the poor choice of flipping the contents doesn't take away from the amazing story. It is still a really good read. One just has to get over all the glitches.

I won't spill anything but this second book is very actiony for a second book. Be sure to read all the booms and other thinks like that (it's kinda fun) (^-^). I hope you buy it you won't be sorry

When I first saw InuYasha, it was about a year ago on TV, and I thought it was the weirdest show(of course, I had no idea it was Inuyasha, I was flipping channels. I discovered that recently when they re-aired the episode.). Some guy with long white hair and fangs? Demons weren't my thing. Then, about three weeks ago, after recently getting hooked onto Japanese manga, I was browsing the designated aisle at Borders, and the bright yellow spine caught my eye. I had remembered my little brother going on about it, and so curiosity got the better of me, and I started reading it in the store. I was immediately hooked. It's a thrilling tale, really, with humor, a bit of bad language, and innocent romance. And that's why, after three days of no trips to Borders, I couldn't take it. I resorted to Amazon. It came in pretty quick too, I was surprised. Afterward I got myself hooked on the show, but I'm not here to review that, am I? Anyways, a long review short, it's a great story by a great author, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The first half of this volume concerns the continuing battle with Yura of the Hair, a witch who is able to puppeteer corpses and use her hair to cut off body parts. Yes, she's always having a bad hair day! Sorry about that. In what I believe will be an ongoing trend, Inuyasha finds that he can't defeat Yura alone because only Kagome can see Yura's strands of hair. In the second story arc in this volume, a talking flea named Myoga, with the inappropriate title "Divine Grace" shows up to tell Inuyasha that someone is trying to rob his father's grave! That would-be graverobber is Sessho-Maru, Inuyasha's half-brother and full-blooded demon, which makes him more powerful than our anti-hero. Let's just say there's no love lost between the two, because there isn't any love at all! Looks like Inuyasha might have to call on Kagome again as the two square off.

Rumiko Takahashi is a true manga genius. Her artwork is beautiful. You find yourself actually seeing an anime in your head when you read her manga, because they are so exquisitely detailed, and the characters spring to life. The action is never confusing, and she never shrinks from realistic blood. There is also a sort of warm charm in the relationship between Inuyasha and Kagome that seems more real than even most shojo. Classic series.

In Inuyasha volume 2, the story of Inuyasha and Kagome continues. If you haven't read volume 1 and haven't seen the anime, go read it! otherwise you won't understand the following review:

Our two main heroes Inuyasha and Kagome return to the Feudal Era to confront Yura, an evil being that has the power to control hair. Such a power might not seem too dangerous, but she really is deadly! How will our heroes fair in their first fight as a team?

When the volume continues, we are introduced to several new characters, but very important ones since they'll be in the story for its remainder. First, an old flea named Myoga,a vassal to his late demon father, tells Inuyasha someone is trying to break into his father's tomb to steal his treasure. As Myoga explains what's happening, Inuyasha's late mortal mother is also discussed.

Just who is the theif? Why it's Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's older full demon brother! Sesshomaru is arguably the most popular character in the series and definitely my favorite. He has brought with him his toad like servant Jaken who wields the Staff of Two Heads(sometimes referred to as Staff of the Skulls) to locate the tomb. It soon becomes clear that Sesshomaru will have to confront Inuyasha to get to their father's treasure. This makes for a very interesting and emotional meeting leaving you with a sense of Sesshomaru's huge level of cruelty(for now).

Just what is the treasure though? It's the Tetsusaiga, a sword made from a fang of Inuyasha's father! The powerful sword can slay 100 demons in one sweep, but it rejects Sesshomaru. When Inuyasha is also unable to get it, Kagome surprises all! Inuyasha eventually gets the weapon, but now that Sesshomaru has transformed into his full demon form, can Inuyasha win?

Overall, this is a roughly 200 page terrific installment of Inuyasha. It reads from left to right which may bother some, though not me personally. I suggest this for all 13 and up as their is nudity and much violence including multiple decapitations. This volume is EXTREMELY action packed. The volume has much fighting, but does a nice job of blending emotion and character introductions. This volume definitely has a great story, introduces interesting new characters, and has much action. The story will only continue to get better!

This book was an entertaining easy read. The detail is as good as any book I've read and entirely what a werewolf book should be. It pulls no punches and gives gory and ravenous details that will truly make you think twice about what's in the dark. A must read for any science fiction lover.

If the last 70 pages had been more satisfying this would be 5 stars, easy. But, as it stands we have a disappointing climax, a weak ending for most of the main characters and an unnecessarily long denouement. On the plus side, the werewolves are cool, described as massive, vicious, demonic remorseless monsters, and there's an interesting werewolf hierarchy that's unique to this book. It also violent, and action packed, with a good story and interesting first person narrative. I did find the main character to be a bit cliche, but he was still filled with monkeys. All and all, a good bleak, violent, gritty horror novel/character piece. Recommended for fans of werewolf fiction.

The only book I've read more than once, and thats saying something. A book about a man who spends his days, and nights fighting werewolves. Its so in your face, its absolutely fantastic reading. Brian P. Easton makes it crystal clear right away that the Beast, as werewolves are often referred to in this book, are completely and absolutely vicious and evil. Nothing humorous or cute about them. Not this story. The main character Sylvester is the toughest SOB you'll ever read about. The things he endures physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritally are terrifying. Its hard not becoming what you hate. "The beast will kill you one piece at a time, Sylvester. Bite by Bite", said his mentor early on in the story. I highly recommend this truly exhilarating novel to anybody. Without a doubt my all time favorite book. As good as the vampire masterpiece I am Legend.

I profoundly regret that this seems to be the only novel produced by Mr. Easton. You don't have to get very far into his prose to decide that he is no amateur as a writer. This book is of exceptional quality for any genre, but is particularly outstanding in the wolfman category. It certainly stands out among today's popular fare of werewolves humanized as sexy heroes in romance potboilers, or as noble saviours of the environment (viz., White Wolf Publisher's lupine Green Peace-niks). In this book, though, the werewolves are all big, truly scary, and irredeemably malevolent toward humanity. Having read about 300 fiction and nonfiction books about werewolves (not counting short stories) over the years, I'd put this in my top 10 of favorites. This novel has plenty of lycanthropic action and gore enough to satisfy any aficionado of the genre. Yet the saga of Sylvester's journey from orphan to manhood as a werewolf hunter is also a thoughtful examination of the psychology of hatred, and how it can make you strong enough to endure incredible sacrifices---yet ultimately rob you of your own humanity. This is the kind of book that leaves the reader reporting for work the next morning still groggy from lack of sleep, because you simply can't put this book down.

I have been a horror fan, especially a werewolf fan for many years. Usually, it's quite hard to find a decent werewolf book. However, this is a great book, and a must read for any werewolf fan out there. It is a bit brutal at times, and the werewolves are not cute and fluffy. But that's what makes the book so wonderful.

Wonder Woman: The Complete History is a delightful book for fans of the character, even if you only know her from the old TV show. The background of her creation by a clinical psychologist was very enlightening.

The illustrations throughout are excellent and all in all, it's terrific book, exceptionally well written by Les Daniels.

I have always enjoyed Les Daniels and his carefully researched books of comics history, but everyone has a blind spot. Wonder Woman is obviously his. This book, beautifully designed as it is, fails to capture what has made Wonder Woman such an enduring character and icon. It's clear on almost every page, Daniels is unimpressed by her. It's fine if he doesn't like her -- no one character can be everyone's favorite -- but it does make for a frustrating read at times when one wishes to celebrate Wonder Woman's unique place in comics history. His fascination with her creator is evident to the point that it seems clear Daniels would much rather write about Marston than Diana. His heavy emphasis on the bondage subtext of the Golden Age incarnation undercuts the more postive surface elements of those stories. Indeed, he sneers at Gloria Steinem's endorsement of those early years, casting great disbelief that there could be anything of substance taken from them.

Also, as another reviewer points out, Daniels gives short shrift to George Perez's post-Crisis revamp. Widely acknowledged by fans as the high point of her modern career, it's strange to see Daniels blandly note the support Perez got from female collegues in overhauling Wonder Woman's character and deride it by calling the later issues akin to ADVENTURES OF MENOPAUSAL MOM (I'm paraphrasing but only slightly). Daniels here suffers from the same fanboy syndrome that infuses the industry these days -- the idea that if HE doesn't appreciate it, it must be terrible. Meanwhile, Mike Deodato's art is viewed favorably, despite that being universely considered a lower point in the post-Crisis stories.

At the end of the book, it really seems as if Daniels only reluctantly churned it out because of a contractual obligation. His Superman and Batman books are excellent and filled with total respect for the characters and their appeal. If only he could've retained enough objectivity for the Wonder Woman assignment. Despite it all, it is a beautiful book and the history is thorough and still fascinating if somewhat subjective. Good for historical nuts, not so good for WW fans.

Not only do you get hte nostalgic book with the history of this heroine, you get the figurine that you can display and become the envy of all your friends! The statue is of classic Wonder Woman, the one from the 50's. She's still wearing the skirt.

This is truly rare. It's fantastic for all collectors and a MUST-HAVE for all die-hard fans!

First off, loved the book. It was nice to read the comments from Lynda Carter and see the multitude of changes that WW has gone through. But I did notice two things, the actress that played Wonder Woman's mother in that tiny demo in the 60's was named Maudie Pricket and the photo of Ms. Carter's costume says it is from the first season and it's not, it's from the CBS years as are the bracelets and tiara on the following page. I know Ms. Carter preferred the CBS years updated costume but the original on worn while fighting Nazis in the more humorous years will always be my absolute favorite! Thanx...

Les Daniels' Wonder Woman: The Complete History is the third book in a 3-volume series (the first two addressed Superman and Batman). While not without its flaws, it's overall a well-researched and enjoyable treatment of the character.

Wonder Woman first appeared in 1941, the brainchild of Dr. William Moulton Marston (writing under the pen name Charles Moulton), by any standard a bit of a weirdo who's remembered today for two things: (1) he invented the polygraph, (2) Wonder Woman, of course.

I could pick a few nits with Daniels' text. In places he does reveal an ignorance on certain topics. For instance, when speaking of Marston's World War I U.S. Army service, he states Marston "rose to the rank of second lieutenant." False. No officer (and I can't imagine someone of Marston's high educational level ever being an enlisted man) "rises" to Second Lieutenant because that's the absolute lowest officer rank.

Daniels is extremely opinionated. How much space is allocated to any of Wonder Woman's creative teams over the decades is very much controlled by how much Daniels likes their work. Obviously the Marston stories, with artwork by Harry G. Peters, are his favorites thus receive the most attention, though he devotes surprising time and positive comment to the generally despised stories written by Robert Kanigher. This is fine. Half the fun of a book like this is getting the writer's likes and dislikes on the character and her creators. Where I part company with Daniels is his low opinion of the George Perez stories of the mid-1980s thru early '90s. Daniels devotes an entire chapter to Kanigher's creation of such fascinating (hah!) characters as Glop (a "shapeless mass of grinning goo from outer space [which] absorbed everything in its path including 100 rock 'n' roll records"), Wonder Tot ("Mommy be proud to see me now!"), and Egg Fu (a Chinese Communist agent inexplicably shaped like an egg the size of a house, who used his mustaches as weapons and had a Charlie Chan speech pattern). After that, it was more than a little disappointing to have the Perez stories, considered by many Wonder Woman fans including myself the character's finest hour (especially the stories on which Perez did the artwork in addition to scripting) dealt with in a mere seven text pages, much of that explaining how they weren't really all that hot.

The only truly major flaw in this book involves its layout. These days, book publishers are terrified of the Internet. And well they should be. However, instead of focusing their efforts on what books do better that the 'net - provide one, continuous, uninterrupted stream of information - publishers' response has been to make their book pages look as much as possible like web pages. Lots of bright colors, lots of sidebars. I hate sidebars. I don't appreciate having to flip back and forth between pages, sometimes reading blocks of text in four or five different locations, to get all the info. More to the point in this particular book, choice of color on some of the sidebars is extremely poor, so much so it's difficult to read the text. Black lettering against a dark blue or dark red background just doesn't make it.

With those few negatives out of the way, this book is a delight. It's all here: a biography of Marston, on to the creation of Wonder Woman, all the creative teams of note and their storylines up til this book's publication date (2000), the Cathy Lee Crosby made-for-television movie, the Lynda Carter TV show, Wonder Woman merchandise, her appearance on the cover of Ms. magazine's first issue, etc. This book is a must-have for fans of one of the 20th/21st Century's most fascinating fictional creations.

Is it possible that just 20 years ago that Calvin and Hobbes - - one of the finest comics strips ever created - - was fresh and poignant every day in the paper?

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us," says Calvin, looking at the chain-sawn stump of a tree, in 'Weirdos from Another Planet' by Bill Watterson. The demise of Calvin and Hobbes is reason enough not to contact Earthlings.

Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau is sometimes still incisive, with the same brilliance in political observations as when it was new and Richard Nixon was newly president. But brilliance is boring after 40 years of repetition. Doonesbury is dated. Nixon is long disgraced, dead and gone.

Calvin remains relevant, because like Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' he dealt with the universal human condition - - - as it applies to small boys and to the grown men they become without ever losing their small-boy outlook on olife.

"Do you believe our destinies are shaped by the stars?" Calvin asks Hobbes.

Ever the logical one, Hobbes replies, "Nah."

Calvin counters with words as relevant today as in 1988, because, "Life's a lot more fun when you're not responsible for your actions."

How do we greet strangers? Calvin went to Mars and, after mugging for the Viking Lander "to blow some circuits at NASA" he met a live Martian. Hobbes thought the Martian must be as scared of them as they are of the Martian. Like many of us when meeting a foreign culture, Calvin explains, "We're just ordinary Earthlings, not weirdos from another plsanet, like HE is."

Doonesbury was similarly brilliant in portraying Nixon as a weirdo; but, Nixon nostalgia remains firmly Nixon. "Weirdos from another planet" is sadly reminiscent of the usual reaction to the current resident of the White House, and most likely The-President-to-Be.

Calvin's Dad isn't all that slow either, as when he sets him up in the first three panels of one daily strip by asking, "Hey, Calvin! Guess what time it is!"

"Why? What time is it?

"It's a very special time!

"Oh boy, oh boy! What time is it?

"Do you really want to know?

"Yes, Yes! Tell me! Tell me! Quick! Please! Yes!

"IT'S YOUR BATHTIME! OH BOY!!

Gettting Calin into a bath is about the same agony as pilling a cat. In the final panel, a dejected Calvin is up to his nose in sudsy water and commenting, "You know how old people always write to Dear Abby, complaining that their kids never write,call or visit? Those letters really crack me up."

Calvin had his own four-panel approach to homework, "When I grow up, I want to be an inventor. First I will invent a time machine. Then I'll come back to yesterday, and take myself to tomorrow, and skip this dumb assignment."

Personally, for me, it was lima beans. Any time lima beans appeared, it was lima beans or no desert. Calvin and his Mom had more imagination; Calvin looked at his bowl of soup and horrified, "Hey! What's this stuff in my soup? Yeccch! Is this rice? It had better NOT be!"

His Mom was very worried, "Rice? Let me see!"

Calvin was insistent, "Look! These little white things! See, there's rice in my soup. I hate rice!"

His Mom looked closely and explained, "I didn't put any rice in. These are maggots."

Calvin was delighted, explaining, "Gosh, wait till I tell everyone at school what WE had for dinner.".

His Dad lamented, "Another lovely meal at home with my family. I wish my job required more travel."

Evolution? As Calvin explains, "Just think, Earth was a cloud of dust 4.5 billion years ago . . . 3 billion years ago, the first bacteria appeared, then came sea life, dinosaurs, birds, mammals, and finally, a million uears ago, man. Now, in 1988, there's me. The acme of evolutuion."

Hobbes, rolling his eyes, responds, "Oh, PLEASE."

Even Richard Feynman can't come up with better answers. Trudeau is always wordy, as Watterson was at times. But the genius of Watterson was the ability to draw a 14-panel Sunday strip showing Calvin filling a water balloon and sneaking up on Hobbes . . . . panel after panel. Only one dialoguie panel was needed, when Hobbes drily explains, just before he was otherwise to be doused, "As if life isn't short enough."

It ends with a thoroughly frustrated Calvin resting beside Hobbes.

This is the Master.

Calvin and Hobbes has always been a great read. This was the first one in book form that I read and thoroughly enjoyed.

The book has many good strips and quite a lot of Sunday strips as well. The aliens show up towards the end and there is a good many strips on that series where he explores the Martian surface and rightly is told by Hobbes that if one is not potty trained would you invite them to your home? So of course after damaging Earth, men need not expect a welcome from the Martians or anyone else.

There is a lot of wisdom and good humour in the book. The opening splash page itself is attractive about why intelligent life hasn't contacted us - with a picture of deforestation.

Other favourites are of course being a tiger, or the tiger's welcome to the kid coming home from school, Dad's approval ratings in the election, the family outing, room service for the ill kid, etc.

The parents are delightfully tolerant of the crazy nutty Calvin. The family outing to the woods is a riot. Calvin wonders what kind of vacation is it if he has to be with his parents, LOLz. Even Calvin's vulnerability is explored when he panics after breaking Dad's binoculars.

This book is cute as hell - and especially a great gift to pretty young girls who thank me endless for making their day. You won't ever be disappointed, probably not with any Calvin & Hobbes collection - they are a gem, a treasure, a laugh riot, a piece of modern art and culture.

Beware of Captain Spiff, the T-Rex, the paleontologist, the incredible comic strip from the best graphic art has to offer.

I am a Calvin and Hobbes fan. And this book did not dissapoint me.

I love all Calvin and Hobbes books, but this collection has a few of my favorites that never cease to make me laugh out loud, including:

"The Disembodied Hand That Strangled People" (I snicker just writing it)

The trip to Mars ("We're going in the wagon?" "Of course! What did YOU want to do? Flap your arms?" "I guess I hadn't thought about that part."
"Obviously."

Calvin is the kind of child that we all dread when they are a child and would admire and pay money for when they are an adult. His life and the life of his parents are summed up in the cartoon on page 77 when Calvin says, "Golly, I'd hate to have a kid like me." He is destructive, uncooperative, mean to his parents and extremely imaginative. Clearly, if he were to ever grow up, the quality of the entertainment that he would produce would be outstanding.
Fortunately, Calvin and his stuffed Tiger friend Hobbs are cartoon characters so they don't have to grow up. Cartoonist Watterson can keep them this age as long as he wants so that we can continue to be entertained by their antics. This collection of cartoons is funny, imaginative and is an exaggerated view of the life of a child. There is no question in my mind that Watterson was an imaginative child and probably got in a lot of serious trouble during that time. We should be grateful for that, as he grew up to be an outstanding cartoonist and this book is an existence proof of that.

My girlfriend got me into Strangers in Paradise, after reading the first pocket book I was hooked. The characters are really deep and the artwork is equally as good. I recommend this series to anyone interested in relationships.

Terry Moore's series Strangers in Paradise is a fantasic study of modern life and love. It's about breaking down social stereotypes and learning to love a person for who they are not what they are. It's about true friendship and how hard and how beautiful that is. It's about growing up and knowing yourself and being yourself and rising above your history. It's also an action/adventure thriller with twists and turns and plenty of surprises. There are stories within stories. It's a multilayered, many splendored thing. It's such a good read. Read it.

Katchoo and Francine are roomates, and Katchoo has a crush on Francine. Francine loves Katchoo but prefers men. David is in love with Katchoo, but she hates men. This is the love triangle that anchors this multivolume series. In volume one we learned that prior to living with Francine, Katchoo worked for David's gang boss sister, Darcy Parker, as a call girl and also was her lover. She went into hiding when she ran away from Darcy with a whole lot of Darcy's money.

Now in Volume 2 Darcy has found Katchoo and forces her back into her mob with threats on Francine's life. Darcy needs Katchoo in her biggest blackmail project to date. The main theme of the volume is how Katchoo and David, with help from Francine, escape Darcy's nefarious plans.

Terry Moore takes us through three different time periods in this book. The main story takes place in the time when Darcy's plans are foiled by Katchoo. Then Mr. Moore takes us back to when Francine and Katchoo first met in high school. It is in there that we learn about the troubles that have shaped their current inability to develop loving relationships. Then we find that the high school flashback is just a reminiscence of Francine who hasn't seen Katchoo for ten years and is a wife and mother in a loveless marriage. If she ever needed Katchoo's love, it is at this moment.

The book ends with a short fantasy piece where Francine and Katchoo role play Zena, Warrior Princess. All in all, a delightful book with lots of twists and turns to keep you wanting more.

I was late jumping on the SiP bandwagon, but in the end I'm sure glad I did. If it's one thing Terry Moore is good at, is writing stories that pull on the strings of your heart. It's certainly the most unconventional comic to say the least as all of the characters seem like real people, with no superpowers to be found. Yet all of them do have a real villain- reality. The pain of a love relationship gone wrong, gang crime, brutal murders and dissapointment of dying dreams. It is also a book filled with genuine warmth of friendship, romance and happiness that simply doesn't exist in other books.

All in all, I recomment this a must read for any comic fan. I do agree with what the reader below me said, that the faces of Casey and Katchoo are almost identical. But it's still a damn good book and I'm sorry to see that it will soon becoming to and end.

I have to say that I have tried to read the individual comics that comprise this book. I just couldn't really get into the characters and had no desire to read the series. These pocket books are the way these characters need to be represented. With this format, the reader has a greater chance of seeing the depth and all the turns in the lifes of Francine, Katchoo and David. We see how minor characters interact and come back again. I have really come to enjoy these books.

If I had one complaint it would be in the art work. Now stop booing me. The art work is really excellent but the faces of most of woman are drawn the same. It takes me a few minutes to figure out who I am looking at and her role. Fancine is no problem. Just the characters that I believe to be blonde all look the same.

Other than that, the real strength of the series is in the writing which is top notch. I have come to care for these characters and look forward to book 3.

This book is mostly about romance and drama.if you are into that genre of books then get this one.Its about a girl named christie and she meets this boy she really likes.They're feelings grow for eachother while she struggles to keep te realashionship with her boyfriend.Im not going to spoil the book but you really should get this book if you are into mushy things such as this book.Trust me you will love it.Once you read this value i guarente you that you will want to get the next volume.

Dramacon is a FUNNY, romantic dramady. The story is believe able, the chibi's are adoreable, and did I mention how funny it was? Why WOULDN'T you buy it???????
Book 2 is even better ^_^

This book is excellent! In this story there is nothing but drama. The story is basiclly about being at a anime convention and then the drama begins plus this book follows on with a love story too. Dramacon is one of the most interesting stories I have ever read because of the way they act in this book and it's very ironic how they each act in a way that real people do in the real world. So I highly recomend that you check this book out.

This managa was one of the best I've read. I love the story and where it takes place.

The author really got the energy of anime conventions down. I've been to Otakon quite a few times and I must say it's just like that!

Great read!

The first thing you will probably notice about Dramacon is that it's origins are not from Japan or Korea but Canada. However, even though it's of Western origins, Svetlana Chmakova has brought us a great and totally sweet Manga that captures the very essence of what we love about shojo stories - better than many from Japan.

Christie, a high school amateur Manga writer, goes to an anime convention in the U.S. with her boyfriend Derek to show off their joint Manga in the Artist Alley. However through the days of the convention, Christie learns that her boyfriend is actually an insensitive and selfish jerk as he spends his time flirting with other girls in their cosplayer costumes. Meanwhile, through a series of accidents and coincidents, she forms a bond with a good-looking college student, who despite being constantly rude to her, is always there when she needs him.

Christie is an instantly likeable character with honest feelings who finds throughout the Convention her true spirit. Always torn by her feelings of attraction to the mysterious college student and loyalty to her boyfriend she learns to stop being subdued and to voice her own opinions. So this is first and foremost a romantic shojo about self-discovery, however, it is also truly funny. Throughout the book their are touches of comic genius that you cannot help but grin from ear to ear.

Svetlana embraces the life blood of anime conventions and does not make fun of them. We are always laughing with the anime convention, not at it. She picks classic moments like our heroine's obsession with "Pawky" (meaning Pocky - the addictive chocolate covered breadstick - yummy!), finding new releases from "Mangapop" (aka Tokyopop), the prospect of watching hentai, and cosplayers dressed very scary ways. Little touches, like a plush of Totoro being present in the background almost as an afterthought, brings forth Svetlana's genuine love of Japanese sub-culture.

Near the end the story takes a more serious turn with a confrontation between the main characters and the learning of the college student's secret. Svetlana does a brave move in showing the hero's faults to the audience and does not present him as "too good to be true."

The artwork, though not breathtaking, is pleasant and funny, with the hero looking suitability sexy. It sometimes has similar artwork to Van Von Hunter and Sokura Refugees. The story is touching and funny. This is really worth buying so please do not be put off by the fact that it has a Western author. 4.5 stars.