Comics Books

although this is a great book at a great buy, the shipping took about a month. this book seems to have a low avaliability so if you can just go the the local book store and buy it instead.

I really enjoyed this book even though it doesn't really have many words in it at all. I really like the art for Evangelion and also the other series in here as well. I also found out that Yoshiyuki also did a few album covers for some famous American singer. This book features the art of Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Wings of Hominese, and a two more I am not very sure about. This book is just a must have for anyone who likes anime and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. I absolutely love his work because of the way it is portrayed on paper with cg, and water color. Not only that it is also because I have something that is from one of my favorite series (Eva). He is a great big insparation to me and I know what the truck I am talking about because I am a fellow Anime artist as well.

The artwork of Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is simply amazing to behold. One cannot help but be moved by it. Even Eric Clapton, who'd never seen Sadamoto's anime designs, was impressed, and asked Sadamoto to design the cover to his Pilgrim album, the art for which is found in this very collection.
It's gorgeous renderings of his work from Evangelion, Nadia, and Wings of Honneamaise, as well as some original pieces created for this collection.
It's a beautiful collection, well worth picking up.

Given one glance through this book, otaku or not, you'll find yourself immersed in this man's art! Not to be underestimated, and most importantly, to be appreciated by all, this book gives new meaning to the term Art Book.

Wow! Almost every single page has a full-color, full-page painting. No tiny thumbnails, no rough sketches, and very few works that spread across the spine. Among art books (whether English or Japanese), this is very rare. A majority of the pieces focus on Evangelion, but they are so beautiful that anyone could appreciate them even if they had never heard of Evangelion. The other works, on series like Nadia and Fatal Fury, are just as nice. The large format makes it even easier to admire. I own over 150 illustration-art books in several languages, and "Der Mond" is definitely on my essentials list.

We are very lucky that an artbook as great as "Der Mond" has been published in English, at a reasonable price. Be sure to pick this one up before it goes out of print.

We are not the oprah show or any book club that people know but Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Wonda and I represent a group of women who meet once a week to share our thoughts on books we're reading, what we like and what to stay away from, and while we can't offer you any real prize, we can congratulate you on being unnanimously chosen as our author of the month! The ladies all agreed that your novel A doll for Amy was like a breath of fresh air and made us all shed a tear or two, (always a good thing!)lol, we wish you every success in your career, we just wanted to let you know, the ladies of Southport think you're #1. Sincerely Wonda & The Readerbeez Club

Hey anna -- remember me? Damien? Prob not, but i still think of you -- stupid me blew it with you -- still seeing that marco guy?: I did get your book and you write really good i knew you were special. if you ever think of me drop me a line ok? just trying is all ,,, smiles Damien

What a fresh new book! My family have all read your book and we are thankful and inspired by your insights into the plight of the differently-abled, we have a daughter almost exactly as Amy was in your book and she was thrilled when she learned of A Doll For Amy. Even moreso when she learned of the dolls you are making, may you be blessed always for your compassion. Sheila & the gang!

I am the founder of a company called booksnthings, which is precisely that, we sell books n just about anything else. I personally am very particular in the books we purchase because the quality has to be of a certain standard. I would like you to know that I have purchased your first book and now this one as well and have been very pleased with your writing ability and sense of intrigue, as well as compassion for your characters. I do wish you well with your writing and will lok forward to future works that bear your name. Sincerely, Thomas Trussel

I'm the father of 2 disabled kids, but I like it better the way you call them, differently-abled kids, cause they are able to do just about anything! I was real surprised when I saw your book with the little girl in the wheelchair on the cover and I got it out of curiosity more than anything at first but then I read it and my wife did too, we both loved it. You wrote a great story and my kids are going thru it now as well. we'll keep looking for your work from now on and thanks from all of us for showing everyone that these kids count too! Bruce, Jane, Michael & Jenna

I've never really been a comic-book reader, until Dorothy came along that is. The strong and funny (and deeply-flawed) lead character in this tale is highly compelling, and the revamped land of Oz that she finds herself in is the dark kind of magical place that would make the Brothers Grimm nervous. Oz is racked by civil war and overrun with spies and killer robots, and Mz Gale travels through this Technicolor war-zone with brash defiance that only thinly masks the fact the she hasn't got a clue as to what is going on. ("If this was a theme park, I'd sue!" she exclaims at one point.) This mix of personality traits makes our heroine far more innocent than Judy Garland surrounded by lollipops, and much more satisfying than the two-dimensional babes that annoy me in so many other comic books. Rock on, team Dorothy!

The folks making this comic have clearly invested a lot of themselves into their art. It's a truly astounding piece of work.

I can't recommend this enough to fans of the comics medium in general, fans of mythical retellings, or fans of the Oz mythology in specific.

It's works like this one that make me want to create art myself.

There are a lot of reworked versions of Frank L Baum's WIZARD OF OZ, but Illusive Arts' DOROTHY blows them all away! A 21st century teenaged Dorothy, living with aunt and uncle in Kansas, runs away from boredom taking their truck and ignoring the radio's tornado warnings. She's carried up in a funnel and dropped in Oz. She encounters vicious flying monkeys, a wizard and eventually a scarecrow who is at once a wonderfully funny and tragic character. There's a sense of a mythic cycle at work when some of the players understand that, somehow, this has happened before. Dorothy is acerbic but not overbearing, an appealing character humorously out of her element at first ("Munchkins? Yeah, I could use some little donuts!"). Wise and innocent she deftly adapts to her new reality and is soon confronting dragons and gearing up for the Evil Queen. Fumetti, using retouched photos instead of art, is not a new form in comics but rarely used in the US, and even more rarely as stunning as what's presented here. It helps to have as attractive and talented an actress/model as Catie Fisher. Think how challenging it must be to act a role in a series of still pictures! I promised to avoid the obvious comparison of writer Mark Masterson to Neil Gaiman, so I'll just say that if
you enjoy Gaiman you will love DOROTHY.

This is not your mother's "Wizard of Oz"! It's a combination of photography and graphics that builds into a chilling story that kept me turning pages straight through and I am so looking forward to seeing what the next book brings. Illusive Arts Entertainment has done a great job with this story and I recommend it highly.

Told through computer-altered photography in a computer-generated world, "Dorothy" blends the look of reality and fantasy so clearly, it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Dorothy (modeled by Catie Fisher) lives in a gray environment, with little besides her green eyes, red lips, jewelry and hair dye to set her apart from the surrounding drabness. Oz, of course, is bursting with color, but there's a great deal of danger, too -- making itself known first through the attack of a vicious flying monkey. But this Dorothy is no shrinking violet, and her grim matter-of-factness seems to get her through tough situations more easily than a "golly gee" attitude would do.

Creator Mark Masterson has taken Dorothy someplace new. It's not over the rainbow, for sure, but I'm very curious to see where this path leads.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

Not being unfamiliar with the corruption so heavily pertinent in our so called "War on Drugs" it was a pleasant surprise to find new things in this book that I didn't know before. I do disagree with what they feel an "adict" is, but that doesn't change that this is a very telling and touching little story. I ordered it so I could lend it to friends who are really just too damn lazy to read a full book and I figured if pictures were involved they just might find it o.k, I recommend it to anyone in 6th grade and above with any amount of knowledge on the topic.

"A Drug War Carol" may seem derivative at first blush, but it is a unique and entertaining vehicle that skillfully introduces the basic history of our misguided national crusade against drugs. It is also a good, non-exhaustive primer for those already familiar with the underlying policy debate.

The famous Dickens story is reworked into a modern tale where a Drug Czar is forced to contemplate the history of drug prohibition. He also witnesses the human toll that government policies have on people like cancer and pain patients. Unlike Ebenezer Scrooge, however, this Czar's "change of heart" is less than certain.

The historical record of the federal government's War on Drugs carries many of the same hallmarks of its current efforts: third-rate bureaucrats setting national policy; self-serving grandstanding by political leaders; doctors being jailed for providing treatment; the criminalization of addiction; a judiciary that sanctions the erosion of fundamental individual liberties; the wanton bureaucratic rejection of medical and scientific opinion; dubious efforts aimed at international drug control; and a media that is all too complicit in providing sustenance to government sensationalism. The institutional dynamics that were in play seventy years ago are still prevalent today.

Thankfully, the American public is no longer subjected to the naked racist appeals employed by "drug morality" advocates found here. Coke-addled black men raping white women and crazed Mexicans preying upon schoolchildren and executing people served as popular bogeymen. (The book overlooks the virulent anti-Chinese sentiment used to crusade against opium.) Instead, the Drug War now simply incarcerates a disproportionate number of racial minorities under a plethora of state and federal laws like mandatory minimum sentences, all under the "due process of law."

This "graphic novella" deserves a wide readership, especially among high school students, who are the principal targets of endless government propaganda and invasive practices like random drug testing, body searches and drug-sniffing dogs. The future is theirs, and that is why the federal government is finding novel ways to indoctrinate them and humiliate them into submission. Hopefully they will consider the examples of 1920's anti-prohibition advocates Pauline Morton Sabin and Henry Joy: Principled individual action can indeed make a difference.

When it comes to sharing my viewpoints on America's "War on Drugs", I have always struggled with replying to the simplistic catchphrases which seem to come from those who are blind to the destruction caused by this politically and economically motivated war. As such, it was with great pleasure to find this little gem.

Through a narrative employing Charles Dickens' classic storyline, "A Drug War Carol" comprehensively, yet succinctly covers the often ignored/suppressed history that gave rise to this immoral and self-serving--but significant--U.S. policy. From its inception during 1920s prohibition, the war on (some) drugs (and some users) has been waged with zeal and corruption, and in the process, has eradicated the Bill of Rights. In the past 80 years, our country (and many other countries which the U.S. can influence or control) have suffered, while arrogant and power-hungry politicians continually feed this monster with our tax-dollars, and in exchange, give us half-truths, exaggerations, or just outright lies.

Trying to explain this to others however, is challenging. This is simply because most of us have lived our whole life eagerly lapping up this propaganda.

I encourage everyone to buy as many copies of this book that you can afford and give it to friends and family. We need to wake up!!!

Also, for a richly detailed investigation into the origins and first 40 years of the U.S. drug war, see Douglas Valentine's "The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs". It is a facinating and compelling read.

This book reveals the truth around the WOD and who imposed the current devastating situation where much human dammage is related to prohibition and War on Drugs. I recomend the book and i'm sorry there is no chance of giving it six stars.
Joergen

I had seen this story in an online form, and was greatly impressed by the quality of the art. I was pleased to see that the print edition is even stronger. Highly recommended.

First released in 1989 Earthian is more of a classic fantasy with a twist of BL that may bring a nostalgic feeling to some who read it. I picked up this series immediately after watching the anime for Earthian. In my opinion I love the manga much more as the character are presented with better background and depth.

The series, especially the first volume starts off a little rough and the art takes a bit of getting use to. Really, so many of the characters don't seem much different from each other but the story quickly captivated me and it didn't take much effort to tell which character is which. Personally I have grown to love the art. Earthian is also Kouga Yun's very first series so while I may have given her some slack based on that fact I am truly in love with this series.

The story revolves mostly around two angels from Eden, Chihaya and Kagetsuya who have been placed on Earth as plus and minus checkers respectively. The angels on Eden have come to the decision that the humans should be eliminated but before that, humans are at least given the chance to be judged, which is the job of plus and minus checkers. Though this is the premise, Earthian is an emotional story full of character development and the relationships the characters struggle to attain and keep. This is a BL series, the dialogue is pretty clear that there are some taboo relationships but this is also a fairly light shounen-ai series clearly more focused on devotion and the relationship itself.

Each book is bound in a lovely textured pearly cover and there is a color illustration on the first page of each volume. The quality of the pages are also better and smoother than the average domestic manga. An extra perk is the occasional new illustrations done by Kouga Yun, such as the cover and inside color illustration.

I have been praying that this manga would come to America and now I am rejoicing. First of all it's thick, which gives me plenty to read. Secondly, it describes the relationship with Chihaya and the other angles back in heaven. Which the anime never fully explained.

This manga is a must have for all if you Shonen-ai lovers out there. As the story goes along, you will discover secrets of angels

Over 400 pages Earthian is worth thrice its price. Strong plots with 2 endearing protagonists, Earthian a somewhat gentle Shounen-ai can do no wrong. It is much better than so many of those Yaoi/Shounen-ai released nowadays. I watched the Anime first and was captivated by the idea of 2 angels deciding the fate of humans and of course their love. The Anime definitely fell short of the Manga, disregarding important backgrounds and choppy and distorted towards the end. I am very glad Blu has released Earthian. This series should not be missed by those of us into Shounen-ai/Yaoi and those who are not should try it too. If nothing just for the captivating story line!

Yes, the plot meanders more than it should, and yes, Kouga Yun's drawing style here is a bit dated, but getting hung up on these issues means you'll miss out on a classic tale, one that not only becomes increasingly satisfying as it goes on but that also inspired a host of later works. Read anything with angels in it lately? Read Earthian and then go back and look at that newer manga again--chances are you'll notice some elements that look mighty familiar . . .
And a tip 'o the hat to Blu for producing such a pretty volume.

Another great Foxtrot. Its creator retired while he still had his edge and this book displays every bit of his wit. RIP Roger Foxx and family - and iguana. Buy this before they all disappear.

I have been a faithful FoxTrot reader for years. Roger, Andy and their kids Peter, Paige and Jason are always good for a reality check with a large dose of laughter. I've got two girls and let me tell you, I see a lot of my kids in Paige with, I believe, even a healthy dose of Jason thrown in. And they have Peter's bottomless stomach. Of course, they're faithful FoxTrot readers too. I used to read the strip to them, explain what was going on, but now they get it just fine and we three all laugh together. Then my girls try and explain the strip to their dad, who pretends he doesn't get it.

The FoxTrot folks are a great family, one we sort of got used to checking up on every day, so we took the news that Mr. Amend was going to cease daily distribution of his wonderfully funny people and turn his strip to Sunday only, with a bit of sadness. Still, we have these terrific FoxTrot books to keep us going with our FoxTrot fix. Mr. Amend is to be commended for his great gift to our culture and his great gift to so many lives. I truly believe a laugh a day, helps keep the blues away and the FoxTrot gang are always good for a laugh. Heck there are a lot of laughs in the FoxTrot books. I know, I have them all and I am, along with my girls and my hubby dear, eagerly awaiting the next one.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we don't have an iguana, but my girls do have a pet gecko and, you guessed it, his name is Quincy.

I've been a Foxtrot reader for a long time and personally I think there is something suspiciously wrong with people who don't find Bill Amend's characters funny as all get out. If you want a good laugh, check out Bill in your local newspaper, or better yet, get one of the Foxtrot books. They are all great, really, they are.

Like many of Mr. Amend's fans I'm a bit disappointed he's switching his strip to Sunday-only, but fortunately I can still read him daily in the Foxtrot books. Get them one and all and you can keep right on a laughing.

I've always been a good fan of foxtrot, so I found this book quite good. Its kinda short though, and you finish it in about a half-hour to an hour. If you like long books, this wouldn't be to fun for you.

i think this book is sort of funny.i also think it needed some work.i like my other foxtrot book better.

This is only the fifth in the series of 15 graphic novels for this series and there are some great single stories here, but the value of this series is in the whole series. It is in my opinion the best Japanese Manga series available. It's overall story is close to earth with no robots or aliens and the problems encountered are true to life, which makes this such a great series. I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a great Manga series that is touching, romantic and heart warming.

When Kyoko gets together with her family to commemorate the 3 year anniversary of her husband's death, an uncomfortable topic comes up. Her relatives begin to pressure her about when she's going to remarry, settle down, and have some kids! Kyoko begins to scout what Yusaku and Mitaka's attitudes towards marriage are and what they would expect out of a wife. Neither prospect seems especially attractive. Kyoko isn't the only one wavering between two lovers as Yusaku is still seing Kozue a bit, and Kyoko even catches him trying to sneak an inebriated girl he just met into a love hotel! The big event in this volume is that Yusaku's ancient and tiny grandma who could almost double for Yoda comes to visit Maison Ikkoku. She has her own designs on hooking up Yusaku with a good woman, and she's willing to step on his toes to get it done.

Maison Ikkoku reads to me like a slice of life independent American comic. This would be a good manga for a non-manga reader because it's just about normal life. Rumiko Takahashi is a genius when it comes to taking ordinary events and milking them for comedy. It's almost like watching Seinfeld in its mix of surreal moments of humor with human truth on how the human animal reacts to situations. Volume 5 of Maison Ikkoku continues the excellence this series started with and gives you the feeling that it will never decline as it goes forward.

The fifth Ikkoku graphic novel is good. But they're all great, so this being great is nothing special.

OH, BABY
Kyoko's mom pressures her to remarry so she can have grandchildren.
MY NOTES
Contains some pretty funny visions Kyoko has of whether she marries Godai or Mitaka. And it all ends in a SLAP!

A VERY TIGHT GAME
The Cha Cha Maru baseball team steps up at bat!
MY NOTES
18 to 11 already?! Are they playing baseball or basketball?!

SHALL WE... REST A WHILE?
Godai goes to a love hotel with a girl, but is caught by Kyoko.
MY NOTES
Godai truly needs to grow a brain cell.

GRANDMA GOES TO TOWN
Grandma Yukari arrives at Ikkoku to visit. Also, Godai and Kyoko are forced to take Yukari to her Tokyo reunion.
MY NOTES
These old women are SENILE! Getting names confused and jumping from emotions are proof!

STOP FOLLOWING ME!
Yukari follows Yusaku on his date with Kozue.
MY NOTES
No important notes. It's just a funny chapter.

COME ON A MY HOUSE
Mitaka invites Grandma Yukari and her grandchild (who he thinks is Kyoko) to his house.
MY NOTES
REALLY funny! Especially when Yukari tells the story of her marrying Grandpa Godai.

GRANNY'S OL' PLUM WINE
Soichiro (the dog) gets drunk!
MY NOTES
That's one grabby little pooch!

PLAYING HICKEY
Kyoko gets jealous over a hickey on Godai's shoulder. Little does she know, Sakamoto accidentally gave Godai that hickey.
MY NOTES
Just cause he's spineless and clumsy doesn't mean he doesn't have-Plenty of GIRLS!

A HOT WIND
On a trip to Okinawa, Godai runs into a very `talkative' girl name Konatsu.
MY NOTES
A good chapter. It's pretty appealing, but I can't figure out why.

OK. That's all.

Another delightful book in the Maison Ikkoku series. I seem to be repeating myself quite often with these words, but anyway good book. The book begins off with the usual struggle: Kyoko vs her parents this time the topic of argument is grandchildren, and leave it to Mrs. Chigusa to drive bamboo shoots underneath Kyoko's fingernails. Mrs. Chigusa even invites Mitaka out for coffee, and of course Mrs. Ichinose and Yusaku are with them. The main highlight of this book, however, is the arrival of Godai's Grandmother Yukari. She meddles in Yusaku's life trying to find out his loves, so she seems to pick up very quickly that Godai has feelings for the beautiful Kyoko. She even gets Mitaka to take the gang to his apartment so Godai can check out his competition, and let's say that Godai falls quite far behind Mitaka in the material world, but Godai is our hero he will persevere. hehe

After a long stretch of melodrama, Rumiko Takahashi deals with some more lighthearted material in the fifth "Maison Ikkoku" volume. Now rereleased in their original order, this charming little collection mixes drama, comedy, and romance in equal measure.

Yusaku Godai has just returned from his stint in self-imposed exile... and he has a bad cold, Kyoko isn't home, and the other tenants are tormenting him. No sooner has he recovered than it's the holidays, and despite his poverty Yusaku manages to give his beloved manager a special gift for Christmas. But Valentine's day brings a new set of problems when Kozue gives him a gift of pansies (meaning: Keep me in your heart), and Kyoko finds out about them.

Things get more complicated when a frustrated Kozue asks Mitaka for advice on men -- and people think that Mitaka is secretly involved with Yusaku's girlfriend. But Yusaku has bigger problems: he finds himself threatened by the memory of Kyoko's late husband Soichiro, when Kyoko's father-in-law asks him to bring her Soichiro's old diary. And Kyoko finds a strange entry in the diary, but the postcard that was tucked inside is missing. It fell out in Yusaku's bag. Will he do the right thing and return it to her?

Since the previous volume of "Maison Ikkoku" had lots of drama and misery and angst, Takahashi lightens things up here. Kyoko's imagination runs wild when she's urged to have kids -- she sees herself surrounded by dozens of squalling babies. Soichiro's food-diary is pretty odd. Yusaku's hormones run wild when Kyoko buys a leotard. And finally the "ship of fools" plays dress up with their high-school clothes -- yes, even the relatively sane Kyoko joins in.

But the romance ante is upped too, as Yusaku and Kyoko accidently kiss (after Akemi drunkenly smooches both of them), and Yusaku goes to great lengths to prove himself to the woman he adores. The two of them aren't involved -- and won't become so for a long time -- but Takahashi knows how to stretch out romantic tension without making it snap.

Our loser hero has grown up a little, and become more responsible and less of a goofball. And Kyoko (who is having sexy dreams about Yusaku) is definitely starting to move past Soichiro, although she's still definitely hung up on her late husband. And except for the beleagered preteen Kentaro, the other inhabitants of Maison Ikkoku are as nutty as ever.

In its fifth volume, "Maison Ikkoku" opts for fluffier standalone fare, but it's still quite touching and romantic. An entertaining continuing story.

This collection of Tony Carrillo's wonderful new comic strip F MINUS shows why he is gaining in popularity across the country. His offbeat humor is both original and right on the money.

His Spartan art only complements the humor and makes it a stand out in the current field of The Far Side wannabes in today's newspapers and bookstores.

Here's hoping there are many more collections of this laugh out loud strip in the years to come.

Having spent a few years at Arizona State when F-Minus was run in the campus paper, I've seen pretty much the whole collection. This book is an excellent collection of comics run over the first year of syndication, and it contains some of my favorites.

That being said, it needs more of the work Tony did in the ASU newspaper. I'm not sure if there's an issue with the syndication/copyright/whatever that prevents those from being included, but there are only about five pages worth of ASU-era F-Minus comics. Hopefully the rest surface (or have surfaced) somewhere for posterity's sake.

I really enjoy this book, my kind of sense of humor. With this book, now I don't have to refer back to my hard drive where I save my favorite F-Minus comics when I need a laugh. If you enjoy Garfield comics or not, you will definitely enjoy this book!

This book is excellent for any fan of f-minus. It always fun to see comics from his college years as well as his comics from the first year of syndication. I highly recommend getting this book.

What a great book. I've been a fan of F-Minus and Carrillo for a while, but this book is full of comics that I have read and some that are new to me and each one is better than the last. I'm just waiting for the sequel.

Well, Yusaku's dream has finally come true! He's gonna get to see his great love Kyoko in a revealing swimsuit as he agrees to take little brat Kentaro to the beach. It's too bad that his rival, tennis coach Mitaka is also along for the ride. But he has one thing on his side! Mitaka is deathly afraid of dogs, including Kyoko's Mr. Soichiro. Maybe Yusaku will get to show his macho side and prove he's the better man? That's if he can endure Mitaka and Kyoto going out on a date. Yusaku himself has his own miniature shojo romance going too, when he meets up with Kozue, a former co-worker, when he's desperate for a date.

Rumiko Takahashi is a master, or should I say mistress, of creating awesome and endearing characters. Her designs are beautiful and her style is very recognizable. The great thing about Maison Ikkoku is that no single element overwhelms you. The comedy, romance, and at times deep emotion all work in harmony with each other. Very well written and funny. Masterpiece.

Not only do Yusaku and Kyoko have to deal with the other tenants and Coach Mitaka, they have to deal with Kyoko's parents! Her dad is a tad bit overprotective, and when we first meet him he is slinking around the building in a trenchcoat, looking very suspicious. And her mother is a conniving witch who actually makes her daughter move out of Maison Ikkoku!

Kyoko knows she should love her parents like a good daughter should, but it is so hard with parents like these!

Not only do Yusaku and Kyoko have to deal with the other tenants and Coach Mitaka, they have to deal with Kyoko's parents! Her dad is a tad bit overprotective, and when we first meet him he is slinking around the building in a trenchcoat, looking very suspicious. And her mother is a conniving witch who actually makes her daughter move out of Maison Ikkoku!

Kyoko knows she should love her parents like a good daughter should, but it is so hard with parents like these!

Another stellar volume of Maison Ikkoku. In this volume the primary focus is Kyoko's parents. It is obviously not unusual for parents to want the best for their children, but Kyoko's parents take it a bit too far. So in this volume the Ikkoku gang are faced with Kyoko's overprotective father and domineering mother. The mother even tries to enlist the help of Mrs. Ichinose in order to make Kyoko go back home and go back to her maiden name. It is all good fun, and also we get to see a doubles tennis match: Kyoko and Godai vs Mitaka and Mrs. Ichinose! Of course we also cannot forget about Kozue Nanao; she seems to want Godai and her relationship to go to the next level. kono manga o yonde kudasai!! (please read this manga!!

Rumiko Takahashi's funny, romantic series "Maison Ikkoku" is being rereleased in a cheaper edition, allowing more people to check out this unique story. It's a twist on the boy-meets-girl story, in which the girl is a haunted widow and the boy is a struggling college student.

Yusaku Godai's life changed forever when the beautiful Kyoko became manager of the rundown Maison Ikkoku. His attempts to get closer to her were thwarted when he learned that her beloved husband died not long ago. Now he has another problem -- Shun Mitaka. He's rich, handsome, debonair, nice, and he's in love with Kyoko too.

To make things even more complicated, Yusaku has to deal with Kozue, a girl he once worked with who has a massive crush on him. He likes Kozue, but not that way. Misunderstandings about restaurants, dog phobias, stinging jellyfish, puppet shows and a sprained ankle make Yusaku's life even harder -- and that's not including his crazy, obnoxious neighbors.

"Maison Ikkoku" is hard to describe -- it's a little too dramatic to be a romantic comedy, but too funny to be a straightforward drama. There are a lot of situations that Takahashi does well and often, like Yusaku bursting in on the bathing Kyoko. The story is more streamlined and fluid, and even the dramatic interludes burst into comedy quickly enough (usually because of the crazy inhabitants of Maison Ikkoku).

Yusaku grows up a little, gaining confidence and backbone (although he's still a pushover). Kyoko's jealousy and temper are shown more vividly here, when she thinks Yusaku is playing around with several girls. And one of the nicest things about Takahashi's work is that romantic rivals are not portrayed as mean or bad. Mitaka and Kozue aren't bad people, just unfortunately in love with the protagonists. They both actually seem quite pleasant, especially the dog-phobic Mitaka (which presents a major obstacle to a relationship with Kyoko).

Both longtime fans and newcomers will enjoy the second volume of "Maison Ikkoku," with all its embarrassing humor and sweet romance. Highly recommended.

My good friend, a comic shop owner, gave me his signed collection of "Keef's" first collection. I remember Keith wandering around the San Diego Comic Con wearing a paper mache' head of his comic character which was, of course, himself. He was having a blast. His strip is full of good belly laughs and his poigniant take on contemporary living is bare bones hilarious. He can be considerably less than tactful but then so is life. So, do yourself a favor and buy his books, all of them. So what if he has brown skin. Who cares? Just dump the "race" crap. His life is full of the same triumphs and disappointments as the rest of us "white" folks. That's the key; he's clearly in there with the rest of us just struggling to make his life make sense even when it's obviously, often senseless, to no fault of his own. To have to make that point is pretty obsequious in itself.
You don't have to fully agree with his take on things to get the points he's making.
And....best of all, he's funny!

Knight's second "K Chronicles" collection is as zany as his first. From birthdays to family relations to touring with his band the Marginal Prophets to being subjected to "The Phantom Menace" movie, his cartoons's themes are full of social commentary, neurotic humor, and skewed realism. I think his ones about working at youth hostels and seeing the cultural-centrism of America at work are so perfectly calibrated. He's definitely worth reading, and I certainly wish his comic appeared in my area!

Oh, and his comics inspire me daily to stare at the walls and envision drawings of snowstorms (like page 103).

I have met Keith several times and not only are his comics swell but he is a really great guy. His humor shines. I have bought this for friends as a gift and it has not ever disaappointed.

Listen, just get this book. This is not one of those reviews where I'm going to say funny things, or make up gorgeous metaphors for anyone's catastrophic talent. Just get this book. It's really funny, and you like funny, right? Everyone likes funny!

I'm not African American, or a guy, and I don't live in California, and I'm not an artist, and I don't have a twin, but I can relate to this guy-- OK, we're the same age, and yeah, that helps, but the point is, he's just some guy. He's not married to Jane Pauley, or earning six figures, but really, he's better than them all.

The very best thing about Wednesday is that a new K Chronicles comic is posted to Salon.com! Keef is exceedingly talented and I wish my local newspaper ran his strip daily instead of the mostly boring and awful ones they feature presently. Unfortunately, this will not happen in my lifetime - luckily there are books like this to fill the gap!