Comics Books

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.

Max Cannon will ween you off the Pablum you've been reading, and he'll put you on an intellectually-stimulating Red Meat diet. Become a cerebral carnivore and read Red Meat; it's good for you!

Get ready for the rudest, nastiest, meanest, and black as pitch humor you're ever likely to see! This collection of strips are absolutely horrible and yet so lovely, and all drawn in a charming, clinical style. It's in fact so fun, that I'm carrying my copy around in my back pocket for whenever I need a good laugh!

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.

If you remember your childhood, you will understand the aptness of the title. Many things, such as rocks, snake skins and twigs are some of the most valuable items you can ever possess. Calvin, being the inquisitive and imaginative boy that he is, can find treasure and adventure in places where other children cannot. That is demonstrated once again in this collection of captions from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.
Calvin is my all time favorite fictional child because he is so imaginative, even though that trait gets him into deep trouble with every adult he encounters. He is also the type of child that will grow up to be an historic nonconformist, someone who will see things so differently that he will change the world.
Down through history, many of the people who actively changed the world were problem children. Let us hope that Calvin is a virtual inspiration to many children in that it will help them to understand that sometimes being different is being best.

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....

Calvin is a hero to all who were imaginative, difficult children and somehow managed to grow up into imaginative, difficult adults. He drives his parents, teachers and neighbors crazy as he lives in his self-centered world of imagination and resents the intrusion of reality and necessity. If it were not for his best friend, the stuffed tiger Hobbes, he most likely would be completely unable to cope.
Calvin and Hobbes have always made me laugh and reminisce about my childhood, for I needed few toys, more than happy to play what my brother called "pretend." I would stay in the kitchen for hours acting out various scenarios and oblivious to everything else. It annoyed other people, but kept my mind active and was far more interesting than anything that I could have seen on television. This collection made me smile and mentally toast Calvin for his imaginative nonconformity and for his being proud and unapologetic about it.

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!

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.

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.

Calvin is a young boy that is a hero to all people who had wild and vivid imaginations as a child and suffered for it. I possessed a very vivid imagination as a child and that made my years in elementary school difficult. I was constantly daydreaming of doing things like flying, sailing on a boat and inventing wonderful devices. Unfortunately, I regularly did them in class.
My major problem was when we were reading a story in our reading groups. I read the story very fast and then was required to sit there quietly while the others finished. Naturally, that was a problem and I spent some time in punishment. Coincidentally, the principal at my elementary school closely resembles Calvin's teacher.
Calvin is an inspiration to all people who imagine in their youth and then try to maintain that quality into their adulthood. If they can, they become the authors, artists, poets and architects and otherwise free thinkers that our society so badly needs.

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.

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.

The Kindly Ones encompasses the direct consequences of the earlier volume, Brief Lives. In Brief Lives, Lord Morpheus (Dream) changes, for better or for worse. The actions that lead to such change must have ramifications, and The Kindly Ones details such repercussions.

In The Kindly Ones, Lyta Hall, a character who has made sporadic appearances throughout The Sandman series, is convinced that Dream has stolen her baby, Daniel. She goes to the women known as the Kindly Ones for vengeance, and even she couldn't predict the outcome.

Making use of virtually every character in The Sandman mythos, The Kindly Ones is a truly epic tale that brings us to a point in Dream's existence that would seem, based upon Brief Lives, inevitable. At times The Kindly Ones gets a bit muddled and verbose, but in the end, it was all worth it.

I've had the privilege of reading The Sandman series in completion and for the first time in the last few months, and The Kindly Ones is testament to the genius of Neil Gaiman. I don't know if it was on purpose or a happy accident, but The Kindly Ones makes use of virtually every storyline preceding it and concludes such a mammoth story ... it's nearly unimaginable someone could dream up such a story.

My only suggestion: Skip the introduction and read it after you finish The Kindly Ones. It does reveal a fairly major plot point, which, upon retrospect seems obvious, but even so, I would have liked to have avoided the introduction's cataclysmic revelation.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

Lyta Hall's son Daniel is taken from her. She shows that, when a superhero, she wasn't called Fury for nothing.

Finding her mythological namesakes, she decides to put an end to Morpheus, the Lord of Dream. Morpheus is not without his own plans and defenses, however, but a promise made to a former servant costs him dearly.

This is my favorite volume of "The Sandman," by far (I still haven't read the last one, so I can't say it's my all time favorite yet). The artwork is very different from previous volumes, featuring Mark Hempel's work, which is very abstract, especially compared to the more realistic styles of other volumes. Still, I think it was well suited for such an emotional part of the story, because the expressions and moods of each character were excellently portrayed.

I don't see why a fan of "The Sandman" would ever not want to own this volume. It features the return of several past characters, including Rose Walker, Lyta Hall and her son, and Lucifer, among others. By tying in virtually all the previous volumes, it can be considered the climax of "The Sandman" storyline.

It's beautiful, poetic, heart-wrenching, and colorful; a masterpiece I can't help but flip through every time I pick it up.

Neil Gaiman once attempted to summarize the Sandman series in one sentence:

"The king of dreams learns one must change or die and then makes his decision."

As Morpheus makes that decision in the course of The Kindly Ones, it forms the climax for the entire series. And, what a climax it is.

The Kindly Ones is the story of the various "enemies" that Dream has accrued during the Sandman series (including Lucifer, Loki, the Puck and the diminutive witch, Thessaly) as they, either through conspiracy or just happenstance, take action to destroy him. The largest threat comes from Lyta Hall who, believing Dream to have kidnapped her son, sets out on a mission to envoke the wrath of the Furies against him.

This is not an easy volume to read, necessarily, though it is maybe the best of the lot. Amazingly, Gaiman picks up characters and plots from almost all of the works that had come before (some just get brief cameos, but are still represented) and weaves them into one whole story that burns to a moving conclusion.

If you're a fan of Sandman already, I don't need to tell you to read this volume. If you've just stumbled on this review, however, and are wondering about it, let me tell you that the Sandman is one of the greatest comics, ever, and compares very well to other great literature in any medium.

Perhaps the best book in a five star series.

A friend bought me the first Sandman book a few weeks ago, and upon finishing it, I immediately went out and bought the entire rest of the series. They are all wonderful, but this one is my favorite. It ties together all of the other story arcs - both the larger arcs and the stand-alone short issues - into a cohesive climax that is gorgeously written and drawn.

One thing: DO NOT READ FRANK MCCONNELL'S INTRODUCTION UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE READ THE NOVEL. There is a MAJOR spoiler on the first page of the intro; I was so mad about it that I started yelling out loud at the book. In one of the earlier volumes - I forget which - the intro contained spoilers, so Gaiman moved it to the end of the book and wrote his own short intro. I don't know why they couldn't have done that here.

Don't start with this book; start at the beginning with Preludes & Nocturnes and work your way here. It is beautiful, mythical, heart-rending. And don't read that intro!

I great book, over looking Schulz's body of work, as well as bits about his life and quotes from the man himself. Kidd's design is the perfect showcase for the art. This is a book you never really finish reading, cause you always come back to it again and again.

What more could a Peanuts lover ask for?! If you're not yet a Peanuts lover, you will be if you get this book:) Definite multi-gen bridge-gapper!

Muy lindo, sobre todo el formato!
Además de las historietas contiene fotos de los primeros muñecos que se hicieron en su momento.

This is my first Peanuts hardback, and it's already taken a special spot in my heart. I've been a Peanuts fan from my childhood, and this book gives a glimpse not just into the history of the strip, but also into the history of the creator of the strip. As I understand it, in this book are never-before-seen examples of Mr. Schulz's sketchpads. Some that were never published before in their raw, unfinished form.

Throughout this beautifully bound book are pages that chronicle "Sparky's" life and career -- childhood photos of his family, his page in his high school yearbook, his sketchpad from his time in the Army, various pictures of his first strip "Li'l Folks"... the list goes on. There are also pages here and there showing some of the Peanuts collectibles such as slateboards, games, comic books, ViewMaster reels, and figurines etc. And of course, this 336 page book is full of Peanuts strips --in black & white and in color-- taking you through the years in your memories.

Also included is a touching introduction written by his wife, Jean Schulz, and his 'signature' on the inside cover. If you are a Peanuts fan, you won't be disappointed with this book.

The Peanuts are pretty much everywhere you go. It is kind of sad in a way that their creator, Charles Schulz, is not. Makes you kind of appreciate the fact that our creations go on long after we have departed. Like the Chinese Philospher Lao Tzu said, "We will never know the results of our actions..." Contemplate this for awhile and it will really begin to blow your mind. We don't really know who we will affect in life with our thoughts, with our words, and with our deeds. We all have an inward duty to be the best that we can be, because the world is just a bunch of individuals and if each one of us decides to think better and do better with the gifts we've been given, then the world will be an even better place to live.

Charles Schulz and his comic strip, The Peanuts, bettered my world and it continues to do so. He has been gone almost six years now and I still miss him. Isn't that strange? I never met the man. I never heard him speak. The only thing I really know about him and his life is through his comic strip.

I was introduced to the Peanuts when I was four or five years old. My dad used to read me his comic strips and do the voices of Charlie Brown, Linus, Schroder, and Lucy...his impression of Lucy still makes me crack up when I dip into my fondue pot of memories.

I got this book because I wanted to really know more about Charles Schulz. What kind of man was he really? What drove him? What inspired him? Turns out that he, himself, was baffled by the Creation Process just like all "true" artists are. True artists are very humble beings. They know deep inside that they are not responsible for their creations, they are merely the channels through which the power of creation takes place. Being an artist and a writer myself, I know that sometimes I'm in this zone where the process of creation is moving through me so powerfully that all I need do is surrender to It and everything is all taken care of. Not to be preachy, but that's Spirit, that's Love, that's the Light we were all created in and out of. And because all of us are made in the Image and Likeness of Light, of Spirit, of Love, we are all creative and we are all creators. The question then becomes, "What am I willing to create?"

This book makes me cry. Not in a sad way, but in a way that just makes me miss my friend. And although I see evidence of his being here all around me, I know that this world is never going to be the same without him.

Peace & Blessings, Mr. Schulz.