Comics Books

I'll have to say that this artist has a way with the graphic art form that I feel few others have demontrated thus far in the genre. The sincerity conveyed through simplicity in order to portray a wonderful series of elements that characterise the human condition is refreshing...not to mention that zombies, mummies and monsters in general NEED to be in our lives!

I just found a first edition of this wonderful story and I must say that after reading Dylan Horrock's small quote on the rear cover I was quite interested.

I lost my childhood friend to suicide three years ago and this story, while not similar in that fate, really helped me see what I have been holding inside. Guilt is a terrible suitcase, one not easily discarded, but it's nice to see no one is alone.

I knew little of the book before literally stumbling onto it and I am very glad I did. It now sits in my large collection of comics and such and will be one of my favorite conversation pieces in my local comic shop in weeks to come. I highly recommend it to all!

"Hey, Wait.." TP, is a book conceived and drawn both by Jason.This terse graphic novella uses no words,but all-pantomine.It is an allegorical genre, tackling by stretching out gradually the life of a young boy leading up, maturing & his becoming of a young man.

My givings of this short precis` is about two pubescent boys spending jovially on one of there school summer vacations. The twosome literally smell the happy air of there school-free environment, exuberantly eating the ticking time heedfully the rest of there holliday lives, & they just simply wallow the concurrent moments of what in store for them during these cherished times. However one day, a fortutious event diverges the path they both tread for the rest of there lives permanently. The other one simply could not accept the happenstance what predestined by fate. So he cope with it antipathetically as his life sinks spirally to the toilet, & as well, he tries to endure this guilt for the remainder of his adult life.

Essentially, this comic book is broken down to two halves. The first chapter is all about exploring fully the childhood lives of these two young boys. While the latter half shown us by sifting through the lives of the protagonists & that wretched and tragedic repercussions. By the way, this book utilizes anthropomorphic characters or in other words, uses animals as oppose to humans as way to smoothly deliver the story as what the author intended it to be.

Jason is a very talented & well-rounded comic book creator. he artfully etched out the story to life with his true-to-life and accurate rendition of diverse & realistic emotions of each circumstances upon dictated spontaneously by the story itself. The story turns out very profound in the dimensions of emotions and rich in psychological dealings,at least in reference to subtle, not blatant aspects. Likewise,the story is very poignant, dark & melancholic, heartbreaking and ultimately, heart-rending.

However, the grandest talent of Jason based by critique-ing this work, is his ability to leverage panels to his pluses per page (6 panels a page). He skillfully by fully delineating lucidly the essences to fruition such as those articulated prior, such as the psychological, emotional, and allegorical ranges. Most of the times, his panels do not even show people nor any interactions, neither a situation at all.Ironically, merely illustrated a tree or any object for that matter & completed, then presenting to us, only the tree & its environment for example, for all 6 panels, with the author sole purpose to starkly immersing the reader to every inch of significant emotions & other nuances of what Jason deemed neccessary & clever.

This slender graphic novella constitutes only for 64 pages, all in B&W & comic book format, softbounded & with sturdy frontage cover. A good buy and a "must own".

A bonafide, quasi literary piece of work. In the same breath alongside "Maus" by. Art Spiegelmann; "Four Women" by. Sam Kieth; "To the Heart of the Storm" by. Will Eisner & " A Jew in Communist Prague" by. Vittorio Giardino.

Highly recommended for story, price and Jason.

Jason's comic coming-of-age story has many gems. His simplistic style and steady pacing with the use of the same comic panels on every page forge a universe made of a very personal visual language. The lines between adulthood and childhood are clearly drawn (so to speak): adults are tired, working-class that rarely smile as they tread the streets on stilts; the two kids in the story have boundless imagination and their world is populated by undead bullies and comic monsters.

The second part does not read as cleverly as the first, though done with the same care. The symbolism of the first half is only seen when the main character hits his lowest ebb. Its not clear why this character is made to suffer so much as his guilt succumbs to an unsatisfying life. Jason's very linear narrative could have used a little more complexity on this end but is otherwise a work that strikes a dark chord in regards to lost innocence and lost life and the parallels between the two.

Jason, Hey, Wait... (Fantagraphics, 2001)

Graphic novel artist Jason made a huge splash with this slim volume when it first came out a few years back. It's pretty easy to see why; with a minimum of dialogue and a ot of abstraction, Jason paints a deeply affecting pastiche.

The story concerns two childhood friends who decide to start a fan club. While they're planning out the initiation, something goes horribly wrong, and the rest of the book deals with one friend's lifelong reaction to a life-changing event.

Hey, Wait... is unflinching. If you haven't yet come to the world of graphic novels, this is a great place to start; even the toughest critics of graphic novels, I should think, would be hard-pressed to deny the emotional power of this little tale (and it certainly puts to bed the idea that all comics are for kids). **** ½

The shipping was really fast. I bought this book as a gift and they liked it!

This book is so good it's scary it teaches stuff from poses to move ment step by step so you can get it really easyly. At first I was terrible at drawing movement so every piture I drew was a charater standing but then I got this book at the libray. And now I know how to draw people jumping running and much more. Very helpful and useful it should have ten stars. Cool as it gets the person who made this book worked for Studio Ghibli!
~*~Purin~*~

I must say, I really enjoyed this book. I love how the book displays the body in different views and in different positions. This is especially useful when you can't draw a character from a certain sitting position. For those who are a little concerned about nudity, don't worry. There is some nudity, but it's mostly the guys. I really wouldn't call it nudity though, since they do not draw the nipples on the females at all. It's merely a silhouette of the naked form. Other than that, this book is a must have. It really shows daily activities (like the book suggests)it also has some activities like karaoke. I wouldn't call that a daily activity, but that pose can come in handy if one wishes to draw a karaoke scene in their manga.

The third book in the series picks up right after the last with perspective. The first chapter is dedicated to it, and provides many great tips. It then moves on to basic character movements such as walking, running, sitting, sleeping, and much more. From there it even goes into greater detail by showing you variations of the previously mentioned movements, and a lot of them. After all, no two people are made the same. This is a great book for any artist period who wants to learn the different poses of the body.

Ozawa does a wonderful job again! He inititally starts the book on drawing your character using perspective giving a numerous amount of pointers and examples. Then giving basic action poses (walking, running, sitting, standing, laying down, etc) and going into variations of those actions by using multiple examples of characters. A typical example page consists of a stick figure in a particular pose, a block figure, and the actual finished character in the same pose. Front and back, or other view of the pose is common and he even gives pointers and tips of details to look out for.

Besides teaching you how to draw real believable characters, this book is an excellent edition that you may later use as a reference book for poses. Like his earlier books, Ozawa covers nudity tastefully and this book can be used by young artists without fear. A book well worth the money, imo.

As a cartoonist and author myself ( of "Let's Toon Caricatures"), I have quite a collection of how to draw books that I've amasses over the years. This book is my all time favorite for drawing great, cartoony animals.

Christopher Hart's how to draw books are all wonderful. I own this one and a couple others and I often go back to them when I just can't get my sketches perfect. When I first received them I couldn't tear myself away. I was drawing up a storm 24-7. I've drawn realistic pictures all my life, but until buying these books, I'd never been able to whip out anything cartoony. Unexpectedly, his instructions and tips on cartoon drawing also helped me out in my realistic drawing and creativity.

I can't say enough about this book! You won't be disappointed! It's well worth the price and more. One great thing about it is that not only does the author really know his stuff, he's managed to present it wonderfully. It's a fun & easy read!!!

I actually have some of my own characters now just from reading this book. Keep up the good work

I love the idea of putting cartoon animals into humorous situations, and this book shows exactly how to do that! Shows simple ways to draw some of the most seemingly complex cartoons! Highly recommended!

This book is by far the best one in my collection:) It's stuffed with inspirational pictures and it's very easy to read:) It took me only about a half hour to create my very own cartoon character after reading a bit in this book:D

The step-by-step drawing guides in here are so easy to follow, and the book also show you different degrees of hardships in creating a character. You have the easily drawn characters, the medium hard-to-draw characters, and the really hard-to-draw characters:S

I'd say i was already in the "Medium" category when i bought this book, so the easily drawn characters were just to simple for me to even bother with. But still, they make good reference::)

If i am to say something about what audience this book is aimed for, then i'd have to say it's for beginners and people like me(A bit past beginner:p). There are VERY few hard-to-draw pictures in here, so i'm gonna have to buy another book soon if i keep progressing like i do:p

Different animals you can learn to draw from this book: Cats, dogs, horses, sharks, elephants, lions, tigers, bears and a few other critters...

I love this book :) I do not regret buying it at all:) I can actually REALLY reccomend this book to people who are out for learning this subject:)

For those of us who struggle from time to time with drawing animals, especially if the animal is sitting or standing a certain way then this is a great book to buy. Another book from the brilliant Hikaru Hayashi, he shows you some steps of drawing the animals with the use of shapes to start off with so that you can give the animal form. He also give you examples of each animal from different angles, as well as their routines. The only bad thing about this book would be that he doesn't give you detail throughout the whole entire book. Only the the first couple of pages start you off with shapes. I would definately recommend this book for those who already know how to draw to some extent and above. I do not recommend it for beginners. The only nude picture in this book would be of a woman holding her cat, but her back is facing towards you, so it really isn't a big deal at all. This book is far from tasteless.

I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING THIS BOOK. JUST RECENTLY STARTED DRAWING MANGA AND ANIME, AND LOVING IT. THIS BOOK IS GREAT FOR THE VARIETY OF ANIMAL IT COVERS, BUT I REALLY FAIL TO SEE HOW THEY ARE MANGA ANIMALS. I HAVE MANY BOOKS ON DRAWING ANIMALS, AND COULD HAVE JUST ADDED MANGA "EYES" TO THEM AND SAVED MY MONEY. LOTS OF PICTURES BUT LACKS INSTRUCTIONS.

I'm glad to see thay made a book on how to draw animals i am especialy happy to see they show how to draw ferrets and other animals u realy don't think abou drawing.

This book waa really helpful. It has a lot of pictures that makes up for its lack of information. It includes a lot of different animals from the simple hamster to the complexity of the orangatang and the lion.

It is broken down into four main sections. The first section includes basic information. While the other three include the actual animals.

The Second section has most household animals but also a few exotic ones such as meerkats. The first few pages are mostly dogs and then it goes into cats. I believe that these are the animals that the author goes into most detail. But for each animal it has a number of different poses and includes a look inside their mouths which I find helpful when drawing bite marks.

The third section includes wild animals and also becomes more difficult. It gives a huge variety but the sections become increasingly smaller. And the last chapter labeled birds is very small and has a lot of detail but seems very crammed to the point where you can become confused. This section also includes one page of fish, angel fish and goldfish, which was pretty upsetting. They could have included a lot more bony fish and on more than one page.

If you need written instuctions on how to draw an animal, this is not the book for you. But if you can look a step by step drawn instructions then you should do fine and will find it very helpful.

ok, this book is one of the BETTER BOOKS in the HTDM series (the male book is pretty good too) and it does have a nice variety of animals in it, like giraffes, camels, tapirs, birds (tho not many *frown*) etc...it WILL NOT show step by step, so beginners beware...it just provides basics, and it kinda expects you to be able to take methods and put them to use in drawing animals...

out of all the books i own and have seen, this is probably one of the only books that is realy useful...it actualy teaches you something, in which others do not, b/c all manga books in this series have naked girls in them (disturbing...so utterly disturbing...everytime i see the HTDM female book, i feel like im going to lose my lunch)...tho wat DID get to me is even tho this book is SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO TEACH YOU TO DRAW ANIMALS, IT STILL MANAGES TO STICK A FEW UNCLOTHED WOMEN IN THE CAT SECTION...my response, as you can guess, was "wat...the...crap?"...i thought it was animals only, not humans! geez! that aside, the book helps w/ geting the animal proportions down right, and differences between some species and genders...

one of the only books you should get if you like manga...most others are useless, and a big waste of money...the ones you should also consider when learning to draw are listed below:
Tadashi Ozawa's 5 Volume collection "HTDM: Anime and Game Characters" (they have the pretty colorful covers...they teach u how to draw different types of characters, expressions, and actions both daily and battle)
HTDM Bodies and Anatomy (female nudity, males r covered...just get it for the muscle structure)
HTDM Male Characters (nudity curiously omitted...*raises eyes b/c all others make sure "body parts" on women are very detailed*)
HTDM Animals (but you already knew about this one *laugh*)

My version of I Gave at the Office is worn and torn from the use it's had from me and my fellow office folks. We are eagerly looking forward to another collection as good as this one.

Enjoyed this very much. A non-nasty Dilbert. Plus a domestic strip as well.

It's really Funny, & A good read, my only complain is that the sunday strips are in Black & white , What? No color? that aside, I recommend it , By God!

This was an excellent collection! Only complaint is that it's not (and never is) long enough.

Sally Forth is my favourite comic and I think Mr. Howard has one of the best senses of humour. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially since my local paper no longer carries this strip and I am starved for the hilarious episodes of the life of the Forth clan. I know there are old Sally Forth books which are no longer in printing. Please consider re-releasing these books so I may spend more hilarious hours with Sally, Ted & Hillary.

This is a detail review of Garfield. Not only Garfield but also the products of Garfield in whole world. If you didn't know much about garfield, you can find a lot of information in the book. It's a great book for Garfield's Fans.

If your a Garfield fan this book is a must! It's great!! It gives you lots of info on what's become of Garfield over the years. Jim Davis is the "King of Humor" to have come up with so many funny ideas. I was a fan when I was growing up and now my step-kids are all fans thanks to all my old books.
I bought this book for the kids but I ended up reading it as well. This book is the link of where Garfield came from, and celabrates his wonderful 25 years.
Thanks for making people laugh for so many years all around the world Jim Davis!

This book makes a wonderful gift for anyone! You'd wish you got one for yourself too!

If there is one thing from my childhood that has remained a part of my life as an adult, it is my love for that fat, orange, cranky tabby cat named Garfield. I recently received "In Dog Years I'd Be Dead: Garfield at 25" as a present. It is a coffee table book that looks back at the history of the fat, orange tabby. This book is an extremely comprehensive look at everything Garfield. It goes into details about everything from commercial ads to the classic cartoon series "Garfield and Friends". As a diehard Garfield fan and an artist, I appreciated seeing the earlier, rough sketches of Garfield strips. This book may be a couple of years old but it certainly covers pretty much everything that the fat cat has given to the public. I especially loved seeing some of the more sillier photos of Jim Davis and Garfield. Another favorite moment is the section with all the counterfeit Garfield products. For some reason, I find something fascinating about something as ugly as those counterfeit products. "In Dog Years I'd Be Dead..." is the ideal coffee table book for diehard Garfield fans. Great intro by columnist Dave Barry.

This book is soooo awesome! it was so cool to see what the old garfield comics looked like! I recomend this book for any garfield fan! Soooo AWESOME!!!

Extremely cleverly cartoon with a wonderful "cast" of believable sea creatures. Pure delight and full of great humor.

Shermans Lagoon has to be the best comic I have ever read! (and trust me I read a lot of comics) This book deserves no less than 10 stars,it is so funny because of its cast of characters. They range from a fish genious to a big mean giant squid. But the top character has to be Hawethorne the hermit crab who seems to endlessly take advantage of Sherman the shark. BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One word describes the book--------FUNNY, FUNNY, FUNNY----OK, that's three words.

This is a really fun compilation. They did a great job selecting the cartoons for this one. If they start a thread, they finish it.

I love these - such a fun spot on the comics page. Hawthorne reminds us that sneaky lives everywhere.

I have really grown to love this series. It is Spider man, meets the good parts of Justice league. It is fun, and awesome. I highly recommend it.

The book got here quick, packaged well and in great shape. What more is there to say.

Invincible is quickly becoming one of my favorite comics, the art, pacing, characterization and plot are all very solid. It has a great cast of characters and has something new to say about superheroes.

The only reason this collection does not get 5 stars is it ends on a very abruct note. While some collections focus on including an entire story arc, this one ends halfway through a story and leaves literally dozens of subplots hanging.

After reading volume 1 I had one thing to say: WOW....OH WOW!!!
This is the most innovating comic series in ages. It combines humour, clean-styled drawings and a great storyline.
That style continues in this long awaited volume 2... Lots of hints and pokes at other comics and movies (expecially the star wars one in this volume.... you just have to appreciate it..).
Kirkman picks up events where vol.1 one took a dramatic turn in the plot....gives us an insight in the spendings of the taxpayers money (haha) and Allan the Alien, my god.. was that NECESSARY ?!!?!?! **crying **

I hope this series keeps on going forever. If there is going to be a volume 3 out soon I will definately buy that one as well... and 4 ...and 5 ..... and....

In this second hardcover collecting Robert Kirkman's Invincible Volumes 3 & 4 (issues 14 - 24 and Origins) we see Mark Grayson maturing into the world's soon-to-be most powerful superhero. After the climactic and disturbing events in the first collection where Mark discovered the truth about his father our hero is left to figure out things for himself. Without the guidance of his super-parent Invincible sets off for college and starts working for Cecil Steadman and the government, which pits Mark against villains and monsters capable of mocking his superhero monicker by actually hurting and beating him. Relationship troubles with Amber and his Mom who is still dealing with his dad's absence put a strain on Mark's life that not even his superpowers can alleviate (a la Spider-man). I am glad to say that I enjoy this comic because of the fact that Invincible is, strangely enough, NOT invincible. Sure, Mark doesn't have a weakness like Kryptonite, and can't be hurt by conventional weapons, but other supers can with a bit of trying inflict some damage upon him, either by thrashing him physically or going after his loved ones, showing that a secret identity is not as easy to hide as in the Superman universe. Kirkman handles his character much like Alan Moore handled Miracle Man all those years ago, pointing out that even the most invulnerable of beings has limits, and that the world does not always recover when these creatures cut loose. Often violent and bloody, the Invincible comics in this collection also contain moments of tenderness and genuine feeling between characters that make each story addictively readable and leaves you begging for more.

Pat Brady is a very expressive artist and I absolutely love these comic strips!

This book is one collection of the Rose is Rose comic strips that should be running on your newspaper. Buy it to see what you are missing.

If you bought this Rose Is Rose book then you've probably purchased some previous books. If not, then what are you waiting for?! This book reminds us that life does not always have to be so grim. We all share humanity. This comically reminds us that life is a treasure and we should value it like gold. You will love this book, as I do. Enjoy your reading.

Though my local paper does not get this strip, even I can tell that it has recently blossomed. In its earlier stages it seemed cutsie and corny, now that Pasquale is talking, and Rose's alter-egos are in full gear, we are full experiencing the world of this adorable family. Roses frequent meetings with her ladybig, Pasquales guardian angels slip ups and Jimbo's constant teasing (Pasquale! Did you remember to pay the moon bill?") have kept me laughing and sympathizing. A strip to go down in history.

Although I admit to being a long time Calvin and Hobbes fan, I have to say that I've grown to prefer Rose is Rose. I love the strip and all of it's sweetness - even selfish cousin Clem. I've seen a lot of people compare this strip to Calvin but I have to say that Pasquale holds his own. While Calvin and his father have anything but a loving relationship, Pasquale worships his father and the teasing between the two is always a gentle sort.

For anyone who loves a family strip without biting sarcasm this is the book for you.

I'm a huge fan of Bill Willingham's FABLES series, but I was rather loathe to give the Jack books a try. Why? Of all the characters in FABLES, Jack was easily my least favorite. I found nothing about him to be at all interesting and in fact found him to be quite unlikable. So, I figured that this would be an unlikable, unpleasant book.

Was I ever wrong! To be honest, I still don't like Jack, but the book introduced a whole new collection of Fables, many of American origin (like Paul Bunyan and Babe or Dorothy and her buds from the WIZARD OF OZ). Maybe of the others seemed to be of more recent origin, like the several characters from Lewis Carroll who populated the story, including Alice. The most surprising fable was Sam, who for the life of me I couldn't identify until very late in the book, when he ran so fast he turned tigers into butter. Very few people today are familiar with the widely reviled former children's classic LITTLE BLACK SAMBO, but Sam turned out to be that story's title character. Goldilocks was back and we learned about her unpleasant (though deserved) fate after her attempt to kill Snow White and Bigby Wolf. All in all, this was just a great collection of characters and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of their story.

So if you are like me and don't like Jack, no worries. If you love FABLES, you'll love this. It has all of the magic, originality, humor, and charm of the main series. Even before I had finished reading this I had run to my computer and ordered the second Jack book.

Although I adore the Fables series, when I first saw that Jack had his own series, I wasn't interested because Jack is my least favorite character.

However, I wanted something to fill the void between the release of Vol. 9 (in June!), so I turned to Jack...and loved it. Even though I continue to dislike Jack, the plot is quick and fun, and the supporting characters intriguing enough to draw me into this new series.

Bill Willingham's "Fables" series has already taken some of the world's best-loved characters in a new and thoroughly modern direction. Now, Jack of the Tales -- a.k.a. Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack Horner, Jack Frost, John Trick and Jack B. Nimble -- has broken with the fold (OK, he was banished) and is out on his own. It doesn't take him long at all before he's tossed unwillingly into the Golden Boughs Retirement Community, where the dread Scissorman keeps story characters captive until they fade from the collective subconscious and lose their power.

On the bright side, the revolutionary and homicidal maniac Goldilocks is there, not at all dead as previously believed, and without Baby Bear to sate her, she's willing to get kinky with Jack. (There's nothing explicit, but this isn't a book for youngsters.) But Jack wants to escape the inescapable, and with the help of Humpty Dumpty, a handful of fairies, a large flock of birds and an elderly Sambo, he just might do it.

Anyone who enjoys the "Fables" series will love this. And since everyone should enjoy "Fables," you might as well pick up your copy now.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

Jack of Fables gets his own spin-off series! I have to admit, at first, I was sort of like, why? But, now I understand. It's because Jack kicks butt! In case you don't know, Jack also goes by Jack of the Beanstalk, Jack B. Horner, Jack of the Tales, and apparently Jack Frost in colder climates.

When we last saw Jack in the Fables comics, he had become a huge player in the Hollywood scene, with fame, money and lots of girls, only to have it all taken away from him by the sheriff of Fabletown, The Beast (from Beauty and the Beast, of course). Left to fend for himself, we meet up with Jack as he walks along a highway with the million dollars Beast let him keep. Suddenly he is picked up with a strange woman and two bagmen (men who are, well, bags, it's weird I know) and taken to a place called The Golden Boughs Retirement community. There he finds Goldilocks (missing from the Fables comics for awhile as well) and other various and sundry fable characters many of whom are very obscure. Someone did their research! Among them are Mother Goose, the Pathetic Fallacy, and a quick little guy called Sam. There are also cameos by Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Toto, and many others.

There Jack meets a rather nefarious guy called Mr. Revise who runs The Golden Boughs. Mr. Revise's mission is, apparently, imprison fairy tales until the world at large forgets about them, making them less magical. Mr. Revise's sinister intent is to do away with them and rid the world of magic forever

As I said before, I was surprised when they decided to spin-off Jack. Now that I can see where the story is going, I totally understand. This series looks to be completely separate from the Fables universe (no Adversary, none of the regulars from that comic) and has a great story going. The parallels to our own world and the issues we face with censorship are expertly addressed in the story arc with Mr. Revise and the Golden Boughs. I can't wait to see where Bill Willingham and crew go with this in the next part of the series.

And, as always, the art was simply amazing, especially James Jean's beautiful covers. And, I would advise catching up on the Fables comics, not because this can't stand alone because I think it really can, but because they are just so fantastic they need to be read too!

If there was still the least doubt that Bill Willingham was a masterful writer in the pantheon of comic book genius along with Alan Moore, Kurt Busiek, Linda Medley, and Neil Gaiman, this book surely dispels it. Wit, erudition (absolutely spot-on research on often obscure characters --- loved seeing Little Black Sambo again!), and fast-paced engaging storytelling abound.

Toward the middle of the collection, when we find out how Dorothy really has felt about Toto all these years, well, this writer was still trying to compose himself and stop rolling on the floor in spasm of laughter a good forty-five minutes later. Absolutely delicious.

As with the other FABLES stories, these are not for the young. Rather, Willingham brings these wickedly flawed characters back to the shady and earthy sexiness and violence from which they originally sprang, before they were tidied up for Victorian and 20th century nurseries. Ironically, this is one of Willingham's themes throughout the FABLES tales (which are all also wonderful and highly recommended).