Comics Books

Dykes to Watch Out For has been my favorite comic strip since I discovered it 15 years ago. It pushed the boundaries of what a comic strip is and has some of the best characterization of any fictional series I can think of.

In this installment, Ginger's love affair with Jasmine has ended, and Lois has begun dating Jasmine - and mentoring her son Jonas, who is becoming Janis. Sparrow is pregnant (whoa)and Toni and Clarice are trying to raise Raffi right in a world of XBoxes and Pokemon.

If you've loved this series in the past, I don't need to tell you how much you'll enjoy this one. All the elements that make this series great are here - the little additions in the drawings (like the clever newspaper headlines changing from box to box), the political rants, and all the crazy stuff that makes up real life is in here. Don't miss it.

Bechdel has been chronicling the lives of a group of lesbians in an unnamed town (probably near Minneapolis) for a couple of decades now. Her characters are three dimensional in spirit, although two dimensional on paper. There is politics, romance, food, housepets, librarianship, one utilikilt, and so on. I have the whole set of Bechdel's books and enjoy re-reading them frequently. Bechdel is purportedly amused that so many people are fascinated by the lives of a group of fictitious middle aged lesbians, but I'm not. There are a lot of middle-aged, older, and younger people who think the stories are absorbing and entertaining.

Alison Bechdel has really outdone herself in this latest collection of DTWOF. The clear (but not in-your-face) theme in this one is the chronic anxiety that underlies everyday life, but an anxiety Bechdel thinks has been manipulated and artificially enhanced by the current "war on terror" culture in which we live. Enemies abroad and domestic, heightened security alerts, on-going vigilance against the homeland's enemies, suspicion, paranoia, anger, aggressiveness, and on top of it all the oppressiveness of war: these are internalized sources of anxiety that play themselves out here in the on-going stories of the DTWOF regulars. The trenchant humor is still present, but there's little light-heartedness, and Bechdel makes all of her adult characters--even Stuart, easily one of the most lovably unflappable of them all--look slightly haggard.

Some of the vignettes: Raffi, son of Clarice and Toni, is imbibing macho norms of honor (aka violence) at school and on computer games; Ginger is dealing with self-absorbed students indifferent to social injustice and clueless about the war, but up in arms about class requirements; Sidney comes down with breast cancer, and her oncologist, a walking encyclopedia of martial slogans ("war on cancer"), progressively riles Mo, who's already wigged-out about the state of the world; and relationships (I won't give away which ones) are seriously threatened by loneliness and desperation-inspired infidelities. Everyone feels the pressure. As Ginger tells Mo at one point, "I'm managing. When my panic about Bush provoking a nuclear terrorist attack gets too intense, I switch to my fear of being rounded up and shipped to a gulag for intellectuals in Kentucky" (p. 119).

Still, there's hope. Sparrow and Stuart become parents--life renews itself--and Ginger falls in love (with Samia, a voluptuous and uninhibited middle eastern woman, of all people!). And then there's Cynthia, a red-white-and-blue student of Ginger's who's discovering that the world isn't as simple as she once thought.

Bechdel is angry in this volume, and she pulls no punches (not that she ever has). Perhaps the single best panel is #409, "We interrupt our regularly scheduled comic strip for this important message" (the panel title itself gestures as the panicky headlines loved by the media)in which the characters speak to readers directly about the anxiety that's the theme of the book.

An excellent, excellent piece of work.

The author warns us that she's not going to make us laugh very much. But there were one or two good chuckles for me anyway. The characters continue to lead believable, interesting lives and they face the sort of dilemmas that don't crop up in everyone's life, actually, as well as the moral posers that do. I hope I can interest my kids in the series at some point.

The graphic novel, Invasion of the Dykes to Watch Out For, by Allison Bechdel, confronts contemporary societal issue such as the "War on Terror," breast cancer, homosexuality, rampant consumerism, motherhood, and popular culture. Bechdel's use of humor challenges authority by refusing to take it seriously. She attacks the deliberate choices people make: hypocrisies, affectations and mindless following of social expectations. The text does not do away with women's feelings of powerlessness; instead it highlights the political nature of women. Invasion of the Dykes to Watch Out For inspires as well as entertains.

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.

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

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 love this book. Jeremy reminds me so much of my son. My son just turned 16 and is still so much like Jeremy. My son and I laugh together over these comic strips.

I hope you've had a chance to enjoy this wonderful comic strip. It's one I faithfully read every day and it never fails to give me a chuckle. I've been cutting out the ones that really strike a chord and leaving them on my teenage son's placemat for years.

Scott and Bergman perfectly capture the joys and tribulations of raising an adolescent male - messy bedrooms, sneakers and clothes everywhere, a seemingly bottomless pit of an appetite, learning to drive and so many more.

I borrowed this from the library. The fun part - I caught my son reading it and chuckling as well!

I laughed out loud on multiple pages - if you're a mom of a "good boy" teenage son, I hope you purchase this book.

My wife swears that the authors have been looking in the window while my youngest son is growing up. She swears that the comic is right on the money; she loves it!

I swear Zits is sometimes the only reason I don't fling heavy objects at my son....(plus when he sleeps he is kind of cute). This particular anthology of Jeremey and his mom really hits home. The dialog is so real, it's clear a lot of parents feel they are reading a repeat of last night's attempt at conversation! The nice part is that the authors give equal reality to both Jeremy's point of view and his Mom's. They find the humor among the frustration and misunderstandings that litter this time of life.

Is nothing more compelling than the JSA?? I mean come on! This book is so sweet, I got diabetes from reading it!

I got to say I'm absoluetly loving Goyer on JSA. He really gets you to like the characters and he has seemed to master what is so great about the JSA they aren't about conflict like the JLA but, they are a family. And with that being said Goyer has managed to balance all the characters on the team and make you want to know more about each one. I reccomand this to anyone but, do yourself a favor and pick up the first two trades first.

A little unexpected, but he wasn't going to stay gone forever. It was handled quite well, and made Hawkman a more interesting character, who I started following. Thus, it certainly did what it set out to do, in that it made me want to read Hawkman again afer such a long time.

DC went crazy in the 1990s. Thinking that all their characters have become too archaic for the cutting-edged tastes of today's readers, they systematically set out to eliminate all their "old" characters and replace them with "new" characters. Thus we have all the big "events" of the 1990s - the "death" of Superman (to be replaced by FOUR Supermen - and finally the original returned with long hair), the "maiming" of Batman (to be replaced by a psychotic, badly-drawn Jean Paul Valley), the "defeat" of Wonder Woman and the "amputation" of Aquaman.

And there were the "events". Underworld Unleashed. Zero Hour. Final Night. Day of Judgment. Our Worlds At War. Joker's Last Laugh. etc. etc. Mega-crossovers that involve a million titles.

Here in this book, we have DC doing what DC should have been doing. Silver-Age storytelling with a modern sense of the epic. Goyer and Johns here stick to the "comic-characters-as-absurd-heroic-visions" view of past-writers like John Broome and Gardner Fox. There are no attempts here to force the characters to become unneccessarily "adult" ala' the pretentious Vertigo attempts. The characters here dress and talk like comic characters. And that's what they should always have been. And finally, no crossovers. The whole saga happened within ONE title - JSA.

Of course, as the title implies, Hawkman returns. And what an awe-inspiring scene that was. I still get that familiar tingle down my spine looking at that full-page blast of Carter Hall resurrected and proclaiming, "Arise, my once and future love!" And his return was just in time too. As the JSA then rush off to face Onimarr Synn.

Finally, there is that JSA meeting at the end of the story. Hawkman is back. And they do a little re-examination of what the JSA stands for - "Young Justice and the Titans, they look up to the Justice League. But the Justice League... they look up to US!" That's what the JSA is all about - LEGACY, what with being the original super-team in human history.

GET THIS BOOK! THEN GET THE HAWKMAN : ENDLESS FLIGHT TPB ALSO!

I have never been much of a JSA fan, or of any of the older character's like Alan Scott (formely known as Green Lantern, now known as Sentinel), Jay Garrick (the first Flash), or Sandy Hawkins (originally Sandy the Golden Boy, now Sand). Then I picked up this book just cause it had been written by David Goyer (who wrote the three "Blade" movies) and my whole perspective of the JSA changed forever. The story was excellent, the character's are incredible (especially the reformed Black Adam), and the artwork is amazing. This has to be one of my top 10 favorite comic stories (Marvel and DC put together) of all time, and I highly recommend this book to any comic lover.

Security guard (in front of a bar): "You goin' in here, Gaunt?"
Gaunt: "Yeah."
Security guard: "There gonna be a fight?"
Gaunt: "Maybe."
Security guard: "Guess I better move then."

Damn, I love GRIMJACK! With this comic book it's always been hard for me to properly convey my feelings without resorting to cuss words, I get so into it. I was a mere teen when I first picked up GRIMJACK, and I was simply blown away by the title's flawed, world-weary anti-hero and by the fantastic concept of Cynosure. Grimjack is the street name of John Gaunt, a nasty, surly, grizzled mercenary for hire. Grimjack is a bit past his prime (he's in his 50s), but he makes up for that with vast experience, street savvy, and an implacable streak of ruthlessness. Oh, and he fights dirty.

John Gaunt is one of the most tortured souls in comics, and the man can certainly brood with the best of them. We learn why as, thru the course of GRIMJACK's run, Ostrander unveils Gaunt's sordid past and recounts the tragedies what slapped the poor bloke upside the head. Gaunt's seen everything. He's an ex-everything: an ex-gladiator (from boyhood), an ex-soldier, ex-temporal bounty hunter, ex-transdimensional cop, ex-spy...His base of operations is the dubious Munden's Bar, located on the lip of the Pit, the most murderous part of Cynosure. And, sure, Grimjack swishes a stylish cape and sports a purple beret, but there's no foo-foo in this cold-blooded killer. He's no-nonsense meat and potatoes, charnelhouse mean and alley cat vicious. He's not exactly a swell guy, but he's faithful to his friends and rigorously follows his own code of honor.

Equally instrumental to the series' popularity and success are the grimy, dank Munden's Bar and the wondrous Cynosure metropolis, these two venues being characters in their own right. Munden's continues to reflect Gaunt's melancholy nature, while Cynosure, the nexus of all dimensions and realities, presents Ostrander and Truman (and Grimjack) with an endless and exotic playground in which to romp. In these stories, steampunk technology tends to bump heads with eldritch sorcery. Because of the nature of Cynosure, GRIMJACK presents a mishmash of genres, ranging from swashbuckling adventure, to film noir, to sword & sorcery and sci-fi, to western, then horror, and even comedy. Naturally, a dash of the hard-boiled is peppered throughout.

A brief history: GRIMJACK started out as a backup feature to First Comics' STARSLAYER series. But it wasn't long before John Gaunt bullied his way into his own series. GRIMJACK's monthly issues ran from 1984 to 1991, for a total of 81 issues, after which its publisher First Comics went bankrupt and placed this title in hideous red tape. It's only been since 2005 that co-creators John Ostrander and Tim Truman were able to wrest back the rights to GRIMJACK.

The fallout to this is that, not only are we being treated to new Grimjack stories, but there's also the release of THE LEGEND OF GRIMJACK volumes, which collects the regular series' entire run (it's up to 9 volumes now). THE LEGEND OF GRIMJACK VOLUME 1 collects the 8 Grimjack backup stories in the short-lived STARSLAYER series (from #10-17), as well as STARSLAYER #18, which guest-stars John Gaunt in the main story. Here in these initial tales is where we first meet Gaunt's fellow merc and staunch buddy BlacJacMac, Gaunt's gruff ex-partner cop Roscoe Schumacher, that unmatched barkeep Gordon, and, of course, the popular and ever inebriated Bob the Watch Lizard.

With GRIMJACK, writer John Ostrander's always had the knack for seamlessly meshing a hardboiled approach with crisp dialogue and fast-paced narration. He knows how to make the weird and the fantastic seem normal in Gaunt's environment. A pulp flavor colors Gaunt's adventures. There's a taste here of Burroughs and R.E. Howard, of Lovecraft, and Raymond Chandler, as well. In these pages you can just about see the rapid improvement in Tim Truman's artwork, originally vigorous and raw but then speedily metamorphosing into more polished but still energetic illustrations. For THE LEGEND OF GRIMJACK VOLUME 1, eight new pages are constructed to frame the stories. Those curious to see the evolution of Truman's art need no further than to compare these eight pages to the early issues. But it must be noted that Truman's rendition of John Gaunt was so immediately definitive that Ostrander, as he mentions in his foreword, didn't hesitate to hand over co-creatorship honors to Truman. At 128 pages, this volume also comes with three forewords, respectively by Ostrander, Truman, and longtime editor Mike Gold. If you're a Grimjack junkie, these are revealing must reads.

Finally, you know you're doing something righteous when Roger Zelazny declares himself a fan.

SPOILERS here.

Here are the stories reprinted in THE LEGEND OF GRIMJACK VOLUME 1:

"Mortal Gods" (2 parts) - Grimjack is hired to search for a missing God. He finds Him in a bar.
"Buried Past" - (5 parts) - This one details Gaunt's relentless pursuit of a mysterious vampire. Character developments galore as we first learn of Gaunt's lost love, of the devastated land of Pdwyr, and of Gaunt's espionage days at the Cadre.
"Night of the Killer Bunnies" - Holy Poot! John Gaunt grimly trains cute talking animals in waging war against homicidal wabbits. He gets paid in funny money.
"Blood and Thunder" - During a rescue mission Grimjack encounters Torin MacQuillon, the Starslayer.

The only reason that this gets 4 stars instead of five is that the books aren't as solid as I remember them being. Still, if you are a fan of Grimjack (as I am), this collection is for you. I hadn't read any of these books in well over a decade (probably closer to 20 years), and they are not as great as I remember them, but they are still pretty darn good. Grimjack is a cool character in a cool universe with cool stories... there is a Frank MIller-esque appreciation for noirish action and dialogue that will entertain anyone who liked Sin City. Enjoy!

I was overjoyed to hear about this publication. Taking the fabulous Grimjack series and making it available again to all. This has a quite lengthy and interesting introduction into the various trials, tribulations and stuff-ups along the way.

A very nice book, and looks great. Grimjack in all his glory from the start. John Gaunt is a troubleshooter or sword for hire, operating out of a bar in Cynosure, a city where many planes of reality meet, and anything might be seen. An ex-arena fighter, ex-demon fighting soldier, he now tries to get by and do the right thing.

This also includes a bonus new story done by the old team.

Grimjack was the book for me back in my college days. When First Comics (the book's original publisher) folded, the character and his universe fell into a sort of legal limbo. Now, I'm gratified to see that it's back, with new stories and this fine collection of reprints for you young whippersnappers to get caught up.
The eight-page introduction story (mainly consisting of familiar characters saying "welcome back") lets the old-time fans know that they were missed as much as they missed the book. It also gives the reader a chance to see how Tim Truman's art has evolved from the early days in the back pages of "Starslayer". Those stories are collected here, with the book ending in a crossover with the parent title, which is the weakest part of the book. One gets the impression that it was included for the sake of completeness only.
Ostrander shows considerable depth as a storyteller, especially in light of the limited space he had to work with at this point in time. The stories move forward briskly without ever feeling rushed. John Gaunt's internal monolgue is pitch-perfect, a steady voice of reason in a city where reality is markedly unreasonable.
Any fan of good adventure comics should start collecting Grimjack. Scroll up. Do clicky thing. Major credit cards accepted.

It seems amazing to me that it has been so long, but there it is. The Legend of Grimjack is staring at me, and I'm transported back to the early 80's and my halcyon days of comic book collecting as a young teen. I had broken out of the spell my mother had laid upon that kept me reading Richie Rich and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories well beyond when I should have, and I'd discovered not only Marvel and DC superhero comics but a wonderful world of alternative titles put out by smaller publishers. Grimjack was one of the first ones I discovered, and I was immediately hooked. The hero: a taciturn and scarred mercenary based out of a place that offered up a touch of just about any kind of genre you wanted since it was a multi-dimensional time and place - the city of Cynosure.
The Legend of Grimjack presents all of the original Grimjack stories in their original order and presentation, in color. I bought this collection when I saw the hardbound offered on an auction site and I didn't want to pay the exorbitant price they were asking. This collection is the same as the hardbound but in a trade paperback/graphic novel type format and I do not think it suffers in any way for being cheaper.
Twenty years later, Grimjack still seems just as well written and illustrated as it did to me back then. Many of the other comics from that era that I was entranced with have not held up nearly as well! Truman and Ostrander's work is well presented here and there's also the promise of new Grimjack stories to be released (I believe they have been released already in single issue format, with trade soon to come.)
The overall genre is certainly sci-fi, but there's (as I said) just about any flavor you could want and all of them are well done. I highly recommend this. It stands up to any hero book of the same era, and far surpasses many of them. First-rate stuff! (pun intended)

My boyfriend chanced upon this book at our local library where we were perusing graphic novels for a lark. Not only is Eden cleverly written but the art work is fantastic! I loved the section at the end with cover pictures and rough sketches.
The characters are endearing, its hard not to fall in love with the adorable antics of duckling Truman, and his best friend, weiner dog, Oscar. Both of the main human leads, Frank the vet, and Brandy, the psychiatrist are also likeable and I found myself rooting for poor Frank to finally get the nerve to ask Brandy out. Their relationship alone is enough to keep me reading!
Overall a very smart, very funny comic strip that I have now bought for myself and am collecting the rest. A must have for any comic fan and a must read since this book starts from the beginning of the strip.

From University^2 to Liberty Meadows, Frank Cho has created a masterpiece. The humor is fresh and laugh out loud funny. The best part about the comics, or in this case, the trade paper back, is that the strips are unedited.

If you want to laugh about something clever this is the book for you. Oh, and the art is great, too.

First of all, this book was supposed to come out in August. Now, the availability is 1 to 2 months? How long till the next book? 1 year?

I gave this 3 stars because:

5 stars: I love Liberty Meadows
1 star: The time for waiting

I first picked this book up thinking it was just another stupid anonymous comic book that I'd glance at and put down immediately, but upon browsing a few of the pages I started chuckling and then laughing out loud, and at one point I laughed so loud that I startled myself because I realized of course that I was in a book store and it was very very quiet except for my LOUD laughing.

A fantastic read, with realistic and believable characters that I suspect are probably taken from either the authors life or his dreams and imagination. I'd recommend to EVERYONE, however some of the jokes are aimed at older at least teenaged people, and some adult themes are weaved throughout.

The main characters are short-but-average-joe, a bunch of super-smart but WIERD animal-like characters, and the tall beauty naned Brandy that pretty much makes the book.

I wouldn't say I'm anxiously waiting for the next Frank Cho book because I have other interests that take up much of my time, but really, I'M WAITING ANXIOUSLY FOR FRANK'S NEXT BOOK! lol

Thanks for reading, I hope this review helps you decide on whether to purchase or not.

Before its voluntary departure from the Washington Post, "Liberty Meadows" had gained a loyal following that brought it back from possible cancellation more than once. Now this kooky strip and its bizarre characters are back in this book, "Liberty Meadows 1: Eden."

Welcome to Liberty Meadows, an animal preserve overseen by timid vet Frank and beautiful animal shrink Brandy. As Frank tries to muster the courage to ask Brandy out, the two of them also have to deal with the nutty animals there: a crazed Cow, Leslie the hypochondriac bullfrog, Ralph the tiny belligerant bear, Truman the water-fearing duck, and Dean the chauvinist pig in rehab.

This loony crew tries to deal with dates (where Brandy's crazed ex tries to kill Frank), the evil catfish Khan, camping trips with psychedelic mushrooms, falls into mine shafts, severed noses, truck-sized ticks, the insane stalker Cow kidnapping a celebrity and -- worst of all -- Dean's trip through the land of Cold Turkey.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a weirder comic strip than Liberty Meadows. Frank Cho combines the realistic drawing style (Frank and Brandy) with more traditional cartoon styles (the animals, and supporting humans like the handyman). Filled with wry pokes at pop culture and political correctness, it's refreshing and amusing in a sea of stale comics.

If you weren't lucky enough to read "Liberty Meadows" during its stint in the papers, check out "Liberty Meadows: Eden." Silly, weird, bizarre, and immensely entertaining, this is definitely worth a read.

If you've EVER been to college, even for a short time like me ;) then these comics are for you. Being a comp. sci. major (same as the main characters) these especally appealed to me. Visit the website and read them for yourself, and then buy this book so you can read a hard copy again and again.

Six young men live in a high-occupancy dorm. They love video games, goofing off and parties. Not much of a plot, just weird, twisted fun as they deal with school, girls and low grades.

I've been a fan of Mac Hall from near it's beginning online. It was great, and I had a lot to relate with since I was in college at the time. I've finally gotten the book and it's great. Not only do you get the comic in a form that allows you to get away from the computer :) the commentary from the artist and the writer make for some even funner insite.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for fans of the comic, and fans of web comics in general.

I have to say, this is the first comic collection that I have ever read beginning to end in less than twenty-four hours and it is my absolute favorite among the now vast amount of webcomics out there. Matt and Ian are a writer and artist duo unlike any pair I've ever seen collaborate together before; and I am so happy to see how far MacHall has evolved under their hobby-style devotion to it.

My boyfriend is obsessed with old Calvin & Hobbes comics, and I'm happy to tell him that MacHall's my "Calvin & Hobbes".

Production values for this book are wonderful; the colors are true; the art is engaging and interesting; a number of the strips are laugh-out-loud funny even for someone who hasn't attended college for -- well, let's just leave it at Some While. For these things alone, this book is worth buying and reading.

But.

What I found even more compelling than the comic are the notes from Matt and Ian along the side of every page. The notes not only detail the beginning of the collaboration and the development of the comic, but offer insight into college life, and paint vivid pictures of the authors, and the creative process. *Well* done.

I bought this book for my brother as a gift and he was thrilled! He loves the artwork of Roger Dean and owns another book of his art, which is falling apart. Thanks for the great service and good condition of the book!

great collection of Roger Dean's artwork... if yer a Roger Dean art fan this book is a must have if you can still find one for sale.

I met artist Roger Dean after being invited to an exhibition of his art in San Francisco, 1991. I had long admired, no, worshipped his art in the release of "VIEWS", the 1st collected work devoted solely to the Dean brothers, Roger and Martyn. The color schemes combined with the visions of alternate landscapes of exploded planets and truly wondrous terrains have become iconic landmarks in the art world. It is a vision so deep, it is often hard to fathom, and evokes the seldom used Japanese phrase, Yugen! The work is unmatched anywhere else. The artist is as warm and human as anyone I've ever met, and one hopes for their continued success. He is currently designing communities in his vision in the UK named "Willowwater", and has done much art for the Prog scene in Penn; "Nearfest", if you are looking for other printed examples of his work.

Magnetic Strom continues the record started in "Views," documenting the ongoing work of Roger and Martyn Dean. There's lots of Roger's famous artwork, album covers for Yes, Asia, and others. This also features the stage sets for Yes tours - amazing fantasy constructions, even more amazing for the rigorous demands imposed by the need for easy transportation and setup. It even shows some of the Deans' experiments in biomorphic architecture. There are also some covers from books that the Deans' Paper Tiger published, including some that I still enjoy.

This collection appeals to anyone who remembers those times, who enjoys fantasy art, or who likes to see the breadth that creative minds can span. Enjoy!

//wiredweird

The Dean brothers are 2 of the most innovative artists of the 20th century. Roger has designed many of Yes and Asia's album covers (Drama, Yesshows, Asia, and Alpha are all featured in this book!), designed tour posters and booklets for other major rock bands and contributed on the Album Cover Album books. His brother Martyn has designed many of Yes' stage sets (Topographic Oceans, Drama, and Relayer) and has acted as Yes' photographer both for album shots and on tour. Together and seperately, Roger and Martyn have also worked on animation, video games, architecture, and an invention of Martyn's which is called a retreat pod (sort of like a futuristic sleeping bag with the options of an entertainment center!). I'd like to see this gem back in print and see a 3rd volume where Roger and Martyn have left off since this was published.

This book came with another one that I ordered. It's another great book to have.

Had good drawings of eyes, face, and etc. But is for more beginners than advanced drawers. It's kind of show steps you would take to get to the final product.

This book is adorable. The art is stunning (That's because Christopher Hart only drew about 22 illustrations out of the whole book.)Christopher was never a good artist in the style of manga. I'm was never a fan of his art and still isn't.
But this book is great to have for refrence, most of the book is not for beginners, But it might be useful for them to buy it anyway. It does has some simple steps for them in drawing the heads.
It starts you off drawing beautiful eyes. Then the many lips and mouths and their expressions.
Then drawing the head in different poses.
And then it goes to teaching you how to draw the Cheat between the Pretty Girl (only two pages though.)
It shows you 9 pages on hair, when wind is blowing, between short, long, medium, and wild hair. The many curves of hair and style. Also "When you change a hair style, you change a character" page. It gives you 12 pages on body expressions and poses and Body Language.
3 pages on the poses of hands and (2 pages)
on feet (note all feet pictures except one, is wearing some kind of shoe.) It also tells you between a Stylish Figure and a Seductive Figure,a Cool Figure, and Warrior Figure(4 pages.)
It also have Advance Action Poses (11 pages.)
It also has Bishoujo Clothing from Primitive to Techno Soldier to School to Professional Uniforms to Magical and non-Human costumes (11 pages.) They have Drawing Characters in Costume
(17 pages)(the following is in order); Futuristic fighter and in medieval Futuristic Fighter, Fantasy Elf Princess and Rich Elf Princess, Traditonal in Country and Tropical, Athlete in Gymnast and Runner, Villian is Fantasy and Sci-fi, Scientist in Pretty and Beautiful, School Girls and their many uniforms.
Glamouring up a Character (9 pages) shows you how you can make a character more glamourous by changing the hair, outfit, or pose. But afterwards it's Creating Chemistry (7 pages).
And last but not least "Magical Girl Special Effects" (on the last 7 pages.) <--That might be very useful if you creating a Magical Bishoujo Manga.
I'll give it 5 stars cause it was a very good book and most of the illustraions were amazing. It was worth the money.
A Super Good Book for Kids. Cause it contains no nudy at all.
But I think that this book is better than Christopher Hart's Shoujo Book.

I must say, that looking at this cover is exactly what you will get throughout all of this book, well almost. Hart put his drawing in their as well, but it's not alot of it. Anyway, This book gives you examples of hair styles, facial expressions, clothes, and girl type. Although Hart's simple so called manga style is in some of the pages,the book is still very good. The contents of this book includes:
The details of the head
Character types
Bishoujo hair
The bishoujo body
Advanced poses
Bishoujo clothing
Drawing characters in costumes
Creating glamour
Creating chemistry (only very little images of this section.)
Magical girl effects. (Only a small portion of effects in this section)

This book is a good start to giving you the basic idea of giving your girl character a appealing standing pose, as well as attractive hair. I definitely recommend this book for those who are having a slight problem with giving their female characters sex appeal, and if this book isn't your cup of tea, then I would recommend "More how to draw manga Volume 1: The basics of character drawing." That is another great book. Other than that Hart picked some good artists' for this book, so it's definitely worth buying.

Manga Mania was actually not bad. Chris Hart's books are rather hit or miss for me, but this book was very comprehensive. It covers the female figure in great detail in Japanese style. The contributing artists were wonderful and did a good job of showing the female figure and face from various angles.

The sad thing about Chris Hart's books is that his own artistic style is so very poor. Frankly I could've done without his own illustrations, which is really too bad since he is the author.

I think the couples illustration at the end, and the drawings of the face from various angles were worth this book's price alone.

5 stars. A book I'll use again and again!

This has become one of my favorite comics. Great addition to your Batman Library

If I have a chance to grab only a few graphic novels in a fire, this is one of them. A story that made a lasting impression and I can still visualist many panels from. A fabulous tale of one man's quest to do right, break his conditioning and stamp out an evil.

It doesn't help to have the help of a beautiful woman, Batman, and a master ninja. There are lots of ninjas and clones around, as well.

Masterful art and storytelling.

I was too young to appreciate these stories when they appeared in the Detective Comics I bought (for the Batman appearances) as a young kid. But I remembered them because of the artwork, and was really glad to have found this collection recently. While many of the elements that were fresh in 1974 are conventional today, this is still an example of fully dedicated comic book craftsmanship at its very best. Those who loved the clean, detailed, draftsman's approach to finished comic art that Terry Austin once brought to the pencils of John Byrne and Marshall Rogers will find similar satisfaction in Simonson's work here. A really great collection that shouldn't be missed.

This is an excellent "old" comic book. Through this compilation you can see the evolution of Walt Simonson as an artist, guided by the expert hand of Archie Goodwin.
The stories are short, fast and crisp. A real pleasure to see how an able writer can shrink in 8 pages a plot that many others would need a full book or more to develop.
The final chapter is excellent. Simonson doing his best art, and a silent tribute to Goodwin's writing abilities. A must read.

...A must-read for any true comic fan. Some of the best storytelling, reviving the 1940's hero for the modern age. That a story so pure could be told through a series of 8-page back-up tales is a testament to the skills of Archie Goodwin and the newcomer Walter Simonson. A self-contained story, this is one of the best books you can buy today. It is truly a must-have!