Comic Books Books

i'm not sure why this collection is so highly rated; maybe it's because it's the end of the claremont/byrne run.
the tpb is a disjointed collection, which goes from the x-men going through the 9 levels of hell a la dante's inferno, to wolverine and nightcrawler in canada fighting the wendigo, to some x-men fighting mystique and the brotherhood trying to kill senator kelly, to kitty pryde and some other x-men trying to change the past and thus the future.
altogether they are solid if somewhat unrelated stories.

ok let me clarify...x-men 141 and 142, the days of future past, is a great classic comics storyline. but this tpb collects some unrelated stories before and after i guess just to be longer, so it kind of throws off the storyline if you think this whole tpb is one long connected story which it isn't.

This are the two comic books that thrust just about every encarnation of the X-Men into a whole new ball game. Did you ever watch the old X-Men cartoon in the 90's where politicians were about to mess with mutants? Remember the Sentinels? How about X-Men Evolution? Sound familiar? What about the first X-Men movie? That's right folks. All these shows have this in common: whole story arcs based on Days of Future Past.

These two comics started it all. It launched ideas for numerous future/alternate timeline stories in the X-Men comics as well. The trade paperback reprints issues 141 and 142, but I hear they added more issues with new printings. Doesn't matter which one you get because to me is the focal point is those two issues. Still getting more comic for your money isn't bad. Especially when they are all written by Chris Claremont (whom I consider THE scribe for the X-Men).

Why do these comics hold so much clout? This was something totally new to comicdom. Stan Lee never fled from serious content, and racial profiling is what you have here. The story shows a future where mutants are stripped of their human rights and are regarded as inferior. The parallels between this story and what happened in Nazi Germany are obvious, but it puts a different angle on the issue that makes it something younger audiences can click with.

The artwork is solid and striking without being gaudy and flashy. The background (future) story you get is going to blow you away. And the "modern" activity will give you the classic team you know and love. There is no reason for any X-Fan not to have this TPB... other than if you have the original issues.

"X-Men: Days of Future Past" is the epilogue to the Dark Phoenix saga, the swan song for the team of writer Chris Claremont and penciler Johny Byrne as the co-plotters for "The Uncanny X-Men," and the arrival of Kitty Pryde as the newest and youngest pupil in Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters on Graymalkin Lane outside the Westchester County Township of Salem Center. What you will find in this trade paperback collection are issues #138-143 of "The Uncanny X-Men" and Annual #4, where the artwork is handled by John Romita, Jr. & Bob McLeod.

"Elegy" (#138) begins with Jean Grey's funeral and ends with Scott Summers leaving the X-Men for a while. It really is the true epilogue to the Dark Phoenix saga and most of the issue is a walk down memory lane, recapping the history of the X-Men from when Jean first showed up at the school. Fans of the series will enjoy recognizing issues from the past (remember Grotesk and the Living Pharaoh).

The Annual story, "Nightcrawler's Inferno," has a demon who is fighting Doctor Strange yanking the X-Men off into another dimension, leaving Professor X and Kitty behind. This one involves a more classical interpretation of Hell, what with Minos and Cerberus from Dante coming into play, but like most Annual stories seems a bloated attempt to do something big as opposed to the much bigger impact of a solid multi-part story (see below).

"...Something Wicked This Way Comes!" (#139) has Kitty being introduced to training in the Danger Room, and Wolverine and Nightcrawler head to Canada to meet up with Alpha Flight and an old problem. That would be the Wen-Di-Go, who they fight in "Rage!" (#140), while Ororo takes Kitty to dance lessons with Stevie Hunter. Then we get to the two-part story that gives this collection its title and which remains a classic X-Men story.

"Days of Future Past" (#141) begins with Kate Pryde making her way through a New York City slum in the 21st century (remember, these stories were published in 1980). She is meeting Logan and wearing an inhibitor collar that neutralizes her power to phase through solid objects and an "M" that marks here as a mutant (number 187 in fact). At the South Bronx Mutant Internment Center she walks by graves of the victims of the Sentinels, which includes most of the X-Men and all of the Fantastic Four. Only four X-Men remain: Logan, Ororo, Kate and her husband Peter, and are joined by a wheel-chair bound Magneto, Franklin Richards and his girlfriend, Rachel, a telepath. There last hope is to change the future by changing the past, when the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants murder presidential candidate Robert Kelly and others. To do this, Rachel sends the mind of Kate Pryde back to the present to inhabit her body at age 13.

"Mind Out of Time!" (#142) juxtaposes the battle in the present between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, with the attempt by the few remaining mutants in the future trying to keep Kate's body alive and away from the Sentinels. You know how this one is going to work out in the end, but Claremont and Bryne know how to milk the emotions. This two-parter is the reason that fans of the series would want this one on their shelf.

"Demon" (#143) is basically Kitty Pryde "Home Alone," as the X-Men go out to a Christmas party. While doing a basic gymnastic workout in the Danger Room, an intruder enters the mansion and Kitty finds herself going up against an alien monster. I would say that the alien monster actually looks a bit like the monster in "Alien," but you will find that there are other aspects of that film that come into play as well. Basically this is Kitty's baptism under fire and underscores that "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is ultimately about the littlest X-Man.

I am in complete agreement with the other reviewer's sentiments regarding the "Dark Phoenix" saga. There's just one problem: THIS IS NOT A REPRINTING OF THE DARK PHOENIX SAGA!!! This is a reprint of the also classic "Day's of Future Past" storyline, which was also penned by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. That storyline actually consists of only two issues, but for this latest edition the good folks at Marvel were kind enough to also include issues 138-140, and issue 143 in addition to issues 141-142. A wonderful collection consisting of the issues that FOLLOWED the "Dark Phoenix Saga". This book also features one of the best comic book battles ever as the X-men face off against the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. So buy this book people, but please Amazon, get your act together.

Though it's really only a two-issue event with more stuff crammed around it in this graphic novel, everything about Days of Future Past is just plain awesome X-Men adventures from the golden age of Chris Claremont's prolific run on the title. Picking up after the Dark Phoenix Saga, Cyclops quits the team and reminisces about all the events that took place up until the death of Jean Grey, Wolverine gets his classic brown costume for the first time (and gets called Logan for the first time too) as he treks to Canada and takes on the Wendigo. Angel rejoins the team, and Kitty Pryde becomes a new member as well, just in time as the X-Men get a visit from the future, and we get a glimpse at the future world ruled by Sentinels and get to see the future versions of Magneto, Wolverine, Storm, and Colossus get slaughtered. This prompts the present day X-Men to stop an assassination plot of Senator Kelly by Mystique and co., and concludes with a demonic Christmas visit. The art by classic X-Men penciler John Byrne and early art by the great John Romita, Jr. has been remastered here and it looks great, as does the revamped cover by Byrne. All in all, Days of Future Past was one of the best stories from the golden age of X-Men comics, and while not as influential or groundbreaking as the Dark Phoenix Saga that came before it, if you missed out on it, then you've missed out on a great deal.

Taken by itself, this book is a masterpiece of sophisticated humor *and* political relevance masked as a "Super Friends"-like cartoon book knock off. There are obscure references to famous utterances associated with each of the ex-Presidents that I hadn't thought of in 25 years or more. To see Jimmy Carter taking on a villian with the line "I have lust in my heart...to kick your ass." Man, that's funny stuff.

But now, after the terrorist attacks on NYC and the Pentagon, there it is right on Page 1 of the New York Times: "Bush Appeals to Ex-Presidents for Coalition-Building Efforts." Life imitates art to a 'T'. Absolutely amazing.

X-Presidents is a strange, screwy parody which mixes bad 1970s Saturday-morning cartoons, Marvel comic books, and politics into a pastiche of weirdness like none other published to date.

There's a fine line between parody and parroting the liberal party line; unfortunately, while X-Presidents hits the mark most of the time, the authors can't help but devolve into Bush- and Reagan-bashing from time to time. For example, the "From the X-Presidents' Mailbag" section consists of nothing but cheap shots against the three Republican X-es -- and in predictable ways, too: Reagan, Iran-Contra and firing the air-traffic controllers; Bush, Iran-Contra and son W.; and Ford, stupidity.

Also, there are multiple gratuitous sexual references that are simply nonsensical. True, the whole book is gratuitous, but seeing Bush having sex with Babs on every page, or Carter having a threesome with Imelda Marcos and a mystery mullet-dude, lends little to the plot except to make it strangely embarrassing.

These aside, X-Presidents did contain the most hilarious bits of humor I've read in this dark post-September 11 world. Best of all were the peculiar "Archies"-style interludes wherein the X-es play and sing various tunes (yes, they even play the same instruments that the animated Archies did) summarizing the plot action.

This is a bizarre little book, no doubt.

A very clever and extremely fun read. This graphic-novel is a MUST-HAVE for all SNL's 'TV FUN-HOUSE' fans. It has all the elements that we have come to love and expect from 'TV FUN-HOUSE' plus more great stuff that SNL cannot broadcast over network television!

When I first saw the cartoon on Saturday night live I laughed until I fell out of the chair. The same thing happened when I read this book. From the giant tornado hitting an axe factory to our former presidents smoking crack and then singing an American Bandstand-syle song about it (9 out of 10 times it's just plain wrong) this book rocks. Even the little legal disclaimers (a direct parody of real comic book legalese) on the first page are twistedly funny. Buy this Book!

Based on a popular Saturday Night Live skit, this book (for those few who have not seen the segments) chronicles the adventures of what might happen if our former presidents had superpowers and an international mandate to save the world from a vaugley identified evil.

Granted, the animation style screams cheap 70's cartoon, but this is precisely the point of the animated sketches. The humor is subtle enough for adults and others to grasp it, and the undeniably cheesy and fun sketches will keep you rolling on the floor with laughter and guffaws.

Out of all the things Saturday Night Live has transformed into a skit post Wayne's World, the X Presidents is surely most deserving of this tribute, as well as an entire movie of their very own. You don't have to be a political freak or even like the particular presidents featured to know that sometimes something this silly is needed.

CLAMP, xxxHolic vol. 2 (Del Rey, 2004)

Some new characters and a better idea of where the story arc is going make this a stronger volume overall than the first, but there's still something about it that bugs me. I can't quite put my finger on what, but it's something in the tone; too flighty? Maybe. But it's still enjoyable enough, and so I still keep reading it. ***

I think that this series is very enjoyable. The boy who is the protagonist in the story is a bit annoying but he is truly funny as a man in love. And what a girl to fall in love with! Recommended.

Have you started this series yet?You should.You're missing out on great art, a fantastic story and a good laugh.Although it's heavy a read, it's worth it.It's delves into the world of Japanese myth, lore, magic and superstition.Ghosts and odd occurances abound in this delightful series and I look forward to each ne eddition.

Watanuki had no idea what he was getting into when he asked Yuko to get rid of his ability to see spirits. Now he's forced to be her indentured servant until he works off his debt. At the beginning of this volume, Yuko has some strange guests that just happen to become another world. Fans of Tsubasa will recognize the characters and situations from the first volume of the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle manga. The second half of this volume is much more horror centered. In a desperate attempt to get a date with Himawari, Watanuki agrees to visit the house of one of his biggest rivals. Here, the three students and Yuko tell ghosts stories. Unfortunately, it looks like the spirits are refusing to stay in their stories! The second volume of xxxHolic has many of the strengths of the first. The artwork is typical CLAMP fare but there is something about it that gives it a mysterious touch. The bold and colorful covers, I think, are probably the best manga covers that I have ever seen. The characters remain their lovable selves, and continue to get in humorous situations that you'll find yourself chuckling over. The story is a little different from the first volume. Instead of just focusing on Yuko's clients, we get to see her interact with the Tsubasa characters, and signs of a more complex plot in future volumes. xxxHolic is a truly unique series. I cannot wait until I get to read the next volume!

This has to be one of CLAMPS better series. You will not be dissapointed! In this volume, they cover the story of "One tales of Ghosts" (or something like that.) And the other half of what is happening in Tsubassa Resivoir Chronicles. The artwork is just stunning. The characters are hysterically funny Especially when Yuuko is going to jokingly "cure" Watanuki with a Peep Show (but it never happens, she was just kidding) This is my favourite series right. And I say buy it!

I loved it. I'm sure I didn't understand all Vollmann wanted me to. The writing style, while difficult, is extraordinary.

I do not have the literary background to do justice to any deep analysis, so I'll just give you a reader's appraisal. The closest comparison I can make is to David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest". The method of writing and the characters reminded me of "IJ" within a very few pages. I feel safe in saying that if you do not care for DFW, you will not care for this book.

We are taken on a journey in an unrecognizable USA (and world). There is a bare bones description of what is happening to people and places other than that necessary for us to follow the characters through their travails. The list of characters at the beginning is of benefit so you can remind yourself of who is on what team.

The other reviewers have done an excellent job of describing the story and the other literary devices. I read this at about a third of my regular reading speed, and at times had to go back to reread a page or two because I had lost the thread.

To put it in a nutshell - I had fun reading this, which is my goal with any book I read.

Great book, much overlooked and underestimated by the reading public. Actually, I like it as much or better than the later work by Vollman and the comparison to Pynchon by the earlier reviewer here is apt.

I've been a Vollmann fan for years, but his first novel had always given me fits. I have what I refer to as the 'permanently unfinishable' shelf (4 attempts to read over the course of a couple of years), and I was on the last attempt for this novel. Finally finishing Coover's The Public Burning definately helped me relax into the quasi-cartoony world that YBARA offers. If you like the parody and allegory of this novel, then I think you would also like The Public Burning.

It is overwhelming in its scope and pathos. It takes on history and politics and love--all the bad forms of it anyway--with a very dark sense of humor and with a lush (sometimes too lush) use of language. It is a fantastic adventure that requires a total suspension of disbelief, and that is where I think I failed early on. The novel is part science (or at least computer) fiction; what I mean specifically is that the world he creates has its own scope and honesty though it takes place 'here.' If something, like a praying mantis bartender that no one really seems to mind except Wayne, really doesn't make sense, just mark it in your head and move on. In the end, it will either make sense or drop off like the molting shell of certain beetles.

I did have 2 problems with the novel. The first is the language. Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy, DF Wallace and Vollmann are heroes of sorts for me because they don't fear complex language if using it makes the story more enjoyable. YBARA commits the first novel sin of going just a little too far in that arena. But it is an astounding first novel regardless.

The second problem is one that I also have with Wallace's Infinite Jest. It seems to assume that there will be a second part. YBARA refers to dozens of events that will eventually occur, but then it stops far short of getting to those events. I understand that this is a mode of storytelling (not unlike the epics and eddas that Vollmann takes up after his first novel), but the structures of the two are different. YBARA didn't read like those epics, it read more like a serial. This is both somewhat exciting and somewhat daunting. I mean . . . What if he does write a sequel?

The first 50 pages took me almost three hours to read. I was worried I made a big mistake in reading this book. And then Vollmann's world captures you. By the end my opinion had changed: this is the best book I've read.

It's only about America. And Capitalism. And History. And Violence. And what draws people to Fascism. And how fighting Fascism can make you a fascist yourself. The writing will be difficult to read, at first--then it will get into your head. You will hear Vollman's voice talking to you at odd moments, gently, quietly telling you things you don't want to know, but must. Sometimes it will break into song or fire a gun. Remember the Republican congressional aides rioting at the doors of Florida's election committee in 2000? They're in this book. So are the blue globes that ran Enron. And the insects? They are the rest of us. So don't, under any circumstances, read this book. It's dangerous. It's not worth it. Vollman is our 21st century Melville. Why not try Franzen, or Wallace instead?

100 Days of Monsters is a fun journey through 100 days of artist Stefan G. Bucher's life. Each day starts with a great drawing of a "Monster," and includes stories and comments from many of his avid readers. Each monster is endearing in its own way, and Stefan's unique way of creating these characters, only makes them more endearing.
I highly recommend this book. Just think of it as a really good picture book for adults!

This is a great book. Very well put together. The little unexpected tidbits of an off the wall comment here and some all but hidden messages in the the fine print there make it not your everyday, ordinary book. This one is fun in all respects. The Monsters are all distinct personalities and the stories accent their lives. I love it!!

My friend would go to the blog site and she would make up stories about the picture's. Not being as artistic as she is I thought oh well. But once I started to get into Stefan Bucher's method's and thought process I realized how great it was to read the book. Thank You Stefan Bucher. ( please look for
Sequena/Annie Nordmark in the book my friend writes great stories for the pictures )Thanks

This book was just a neat thing to check out everyday. Still. It gives me a smile every time he starts with just one blot of ink and spreads it, from there it becomes a living, personified, under the bed madness!, type creature that lurks off every new page. Its grand, most definitely worth checking out!!!

Once upon a time, a control enthusiast with a pen drew himself a monster--and the rest is history.

You can test-flight this book at Bucher's site, www.dailymonster.com, where all 200 of the monsters he eventually released still live--going to their jobs, having their babies, reading and writing and dancing and taking over the world--doing all the things monsters do. I encourage you to do so, and then buy this book.

Someday someone you are talking to will rail against the web, talk about all the terrible things on it, all the bad people. Then you can point to 100 Days of Monsters, and you can say, "Things like THIS--people from all over the world sharing a creative moment, interacting to make something beautiful and funny and playful--how would you make something like THIS happen, if not for the internet?" And if not for, it goes without saying, Stefan G. Bucher and his band of authors.

I came to the game too late to be part of the book--but oh, it was a lovely thing to have my child come downstairs every morning and say, "Mom! Did you monster yet?"

What a wonderful time. I thank you, Stefan. You did good. You didn't just talk the talk, you walked the walk. You followed your heart, and it shows. :)

Yukinobu Hoshino's 2001 Nights is not your average manga.

With precise and detailed drawings, and a tangible indebtedness to Arthur C. Clarke, Hoshino tells in a series of short stories the future of mankind's journey into space. Beginning with a classic Cold War sf story, continuing on with the discovery of life--of sorts--on the moon, and furthering outward to the utmost boundaries of the solar system, Hoshino tells his stories with steadily increasing imagination, pulling the reader gradually from more mundane hard sf to weirdly handled (but very Clarkeian) cosmic and religious issues in the volume's final, lengthy chapter, "Lucifer Rising," which smacks of Clarke's "The Star" as well as Gene Wolfe's "All the Hues of Hell."

Not only are these excellent comics, they are some of the best sf short stories you're likely to read, though Hoshino sometimes plays fast and loose with science if it helps the plot.

Okay, ditto all the other glowing reviews; I normally don't post my opinions unless it's different from others', but this is one of the few times when a product has got me so enthused that I simply must join in the praise. IT'S GREAT!...I got chills all over just like I first did as a kid when it dawned on me how vast the universe could be, and how alone humankind seems in it...I must say, this is quite an effective "twist" on one's usual expectations of Science Fiction, a twist which actually in effect restores the sense of melancholia which a deep, prolonged contemplation of outer space usually seems to instill sooner or later...

[have edited original today 2008 MAR b/c I finally really do realize that even with a spoiler alert people are just going to read on anyway, of course, and get the surprising though very simple ending, which I was commenting about, and that would just totally destroy the beautiful cumulative effect of reading all three volumes to get there, to that beautiful, majestic, haunting, and chilling vision....]

Has Yukinobu Hoshino done any other stuff, I wonder??? Now that I'm "onto him", I'm gonna go look for his other works....

This is an amazing trilogy (read my other 2 reviews of vols. 2 & 3). The below reviews are so accurate to what I want to say, that I won't repeat them. I love this series. It's some of the best sci-fi comics I've ever read. There's an overwhelming sense of vastness to the universe and a sad feeling for mankind in the stories - no matter how far they get in space, it's still not enough - there's no end to the immenseness!
The stories are wonderfully believable and the Japanese artwork is not the `big eyed', Hello Kitty stuff one comes to expect of manga.
Whoever decided to translate this series for America should be given an award for recognition of intelligent comic work. It's that good. I've read the 3 books several times and they're wonderful with each read.
Each volume ends with an epic tale. Volume 1 has "Lucifer" which is a great concept of an anti-matter universe which may be responsible for the Big Bang theory. Great stuff. Get these books - they're wonderful. This is the way comics should be done!

I bought this book in the spring while I was in college studying comics. When you read so many comics, even the good ones seem to go pale. This graphic novel made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. With mature visuals and sensitive writing Yukinobu Hoshino sows accurately the vastness of the universe and the importance of human destiny within it and beyond it. The occasional over-explaining takes away very little in this epic. A great read by anyone's standards; comics fan or not.

2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my favorite movies for its detailed and believable vision of a future that is still largely unrealized. I was pleasantly surprised to see Yukinobu Hoshino pay homage to Kubrick's visual style throughout much of 2001 Nights, in scenes that were recognizably inspired by the film. The skillfully-rendered black-and-white panels throughout the book are evocative of the silence and vastness of space, yet the human characters are drawn with grace and style, without the occasional cartoonish facial expressions that mar other manga I've read. This stylistic discipline helps to keep the work focused and believable.

Aside from the fantastic artwork, the author lays out a sweeping story of humankind's quest to find its destiny beyond Earth, told in a series of time-separated vignettes. He touches upon issues of cooperation, isolation, exploration, greed and even religion -- and manages to pull this off without becoming trite.

It's pretty tough to describe in words something that is so visually distinctive and compelling. I originally ordered this book on a whim, but it has just blown me away.

Ditko's love for the exceptionally boring teachings of Ayn Rad come into full play in this volume of Action Heroes. Amidst all the daring-do and super baddies, we have super heroes spouting off objectivist clap-trap while lesser men try to get them to compromise to society's mediocrity.

Ditko's art is great, and the pace in these stories is very good . . . until the hero appears in his secret identity to face down faceless armies of dickish citizenry that cramp his style and attempt to convince our hero to stop being such an a-hole.

Captain Atom returns. His powers include, uh, atomic stuff like flying, shooting stuff, lifting stuff, somehow not contaminating stuff, etc.

Blue Beetle plays like Spider-Man with more gadgets and less physical might. Blue Beetle would eventually have his brains used as wall decoration by Maxwell Lord in the prelude to Identity Crisis.

The Question solves mysteries. He's nowhere near as cool as the Justice League Unlimited version.

Pretty good!

Those of you who read my review of the first volume of ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES know I was enthusiastic about DC reprinting the Charlton "Action Heroes" in these quality hardcover editions. Volume 2 is no exception, and I'm giving it a qualified 5 stars rating (as explained below).

As I somewhat surmised when Volume 1 was published, in addition to continuing the Captain Atom reprint stories, this volume includes Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle tales -- plus The Question to boot! It also makes sense that Volume 2 picks up the good Captain's adventures with issue #83, considering that issue was the start of big changes for Captain Atom, and also began the back-up adventures of the "new" Blue Beetle, scripted by Gary Friedrich with art by the awesome Ditko. It was during this period that Charlton Comics was attempting to emulate Marvel Comics, and was strengthening the characterization in its stories. (Indeed, shortly thereafter Gary Friedrich would leave Charlton to work for Marvel Comics, and no doubt for a larger paycheck.)

Fan-turned-pro Dave Kaler penned some enjoyable scripts for Captain Atom, beginning his run with CAPTAIN ATOM #82, the last story in Volume 1, and continuing through the "Captain Atom Meets Thirteen" tale (from CAPTAIN ATOM #89) reprinted in this volume. CAPTAIN ATOM #89 was the last Charlton issue published, and as a kid I was bummed out because of that and because the storyline involving Cap's nemisis, The Ghost, had been unresolved. But this volume also reprints the "final" Captain Atom tales with The Ghost ("Showdown in Sunuria" and "Two Against Sunuria") which were only heretore published in Charlton's "fanzine," CHRLTON BULLSEYE. Like the printing in CHARLTON BULLSEYE, these tales are published in black-and-white in this volume.

The Blue Beetle reprints are fantastic, especially the back-up stories originally published in CAPTAIN ATOM, and the first two issues of the Beetle's own comic mag. Reading them is like immersing yourself in the Marvel Comics of 1966-67, and is a delightful treat. Like the Captain Atom bonuses that originally saw print in CHARLTON BULLSEYE, this volume reprints the unpublished BLUE BEETLE #6 cover and story, which only previously saw print in CHARLTON BULLSEYE (in black-and-white both therein and herein).

A perhaps unexpected bonus here are The Question stories, back-up tales contained in the BLUE BEETLE comic plus the full-length MYSTERIOUS SUSPENSE #1 comic from 1968. The "bonus" for The Question fans is the black-and-white story drawn by comics legend Alex Toth, reprinted from CHARLTON BULLSEYE #5 (and also including Toth's cover for that issue reproduced in full color). The Question, of course, was based on Steve Ditko's Mr. A character (first published in Wally Wood's WITZEND), and much later metamorphasized into the Rorshach character in Alan Moore's WATCHMEN.

The only problems with this volume are some of the tales penned by Steve Ditko. Ditko was used to working "Marvel style," both plotting out and drawing the tales, which would later be dialogued and captioned by the writer. How much of this was done on the Captain Atom stories is hard to say, but they seem pretty tight, and my guess is that Ditko at least was working in the "traditional" mode, from Dave Kaler's scripts, on those efforts. But the early Blue Beetle tales have a lot going on, and it appears Ditko was perhaps using the Marvel method with writer Gary Friedrich.

With the departure of Friedrich on the Blue Beetle, Ditko inherited the scripting duties as well (using the assumed name "D.C. Glanzman"). But while Ditko has ability as a writer, he's also had the problem of his Ayn Rand philosophies exerting a heavy influence on his his stories. Mr. A was a perfect example of this (where everything was "black and white," and there was no "gray" in moral values), as is the story "Blue Beetle Faces the Destroyer of Heroes" (reprinted from BLUE BEETLE #5), where the extremes of values are unbelievably comical. The "A Specter is Haunting Hub City" story, originally intended for the unpublished BLUE BEETLE #6, is likewise ridiculous. In that tale we have the public up in arms -- against SCIENTISTS ("It's a plot! The scientists want to rule the world!")! Now, certainly, continuing advances in technology can be used for "bad" efforts as well as "good" -- but some of the Ditko dialogue in this story would make more sense in Mad Magazine. My criticisms of Ditko's writing aside, however, Ditko was still at his artistic peak in 1966-68, and it is an absolute joy to behold his story-telling techniques along with his basic art talent. This volume is worth the price for Steve Ditko's art alone!

A negative regarding the Ditko art is the finale Captain Atom "Sunuria" 2-parter reprinted from CHARLTON BULLSEYE. Apparently Ditko had only penciled those stories, and they had remained uninked for some time -- which would have made sense with no plans to publish them. When they finally saw print, a young John Byrne was called upon to ink them (and it would be interesting to know whether he inked Ditko's actual penciled pages or only phostats). I've never been a big John Byrne fan, having felt that he's never truly taken his artistic ability to its maximum level. Early John Byrne art is pretty rough, as is his inking on Ditko's Captain Atom (which Byrne also lettered, and didn't do a great job there as well). In my opinion, Byrne didn't really make an effort to remain faithful to Ditko's pencils, and the art winds up being downright sloppy in spots.

But that substandard inking involves only 21 pages in this volume, and the remainder of of the Ditko art is inked by Sturdy Steve himself, or by Rocke Mastroserio and Frank McLaughlin. And that work is great!

As noted by Dick Giordano (Charlton's editor back in 1966-68) in his forword, it's unlikely that the other Charlton "Action Heroes" of that Silver age era (among them The Peacemaker, Judo-Master, and Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt) will ever see the reprinting light of day. But the Ditko-driven characters certainly deserved hardcover editions for posterity. Don't cheat yourself -- make sure to purchase both volumes 1 and two of ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES!

If you want an addition to your library of serious comics..something that will set you aside from the norm; this is certainly a good investment..

Action Heroes Archives vol 2 is definately worth the price that its being offered. This edition has nearly 100 pages more than the average DC Archive edition for starters. This book is filled to the brim with some of steve ditkos best work with the exception of his work on Spiderman, Dr. Strange and his charlton monsters series Konga and Gorgo. This volume has the revamped Caption Atom, Blue Beetle and the Question stories in their full glory. Another nice feature is the addition of the Charlton Bullseye, the black and white fanzine that featured the wrap up of the captain atom storyline featuring his final battle with the ghost. My only complaint is that they didnt include some of the relevant back up stories, I.e the Jim Aparo Nightshade stories which would have fit nicely with this volume. But thats really nitpicking. If you love Ditko, this is a must have. Nobody draws action and human movement with as much excitment and fluidity as Steve Ditko. He's one of the few artists that can tell a story soley with his art. Todays art is simply poses, and much too much reliance on photo references with all due respect to alex ross and others of his style. Reading a steve ditko drawn story is like watching a movie. I sincerely hope they reprint more under rated Charlton stories. Id love to see reprints of Ditko's Konga and Gorgo work. Buy this book.

This awesome TICK volume collects pratically almost every issue - of Captain Atom, the Blue Beetle and the Question - Steve Ditko did in his second and most famous run working for Charlton after his departure of Marvel Comics. In my opinion, this wonderfull material is FAR BETTER than most of the stuff DC published at that time. One of the "lost" treasuries of the 60's!!If you dig Ditko's Spidey and Doc Strange, BUY IT NOW!!And, by the way:It includes an adventure of the Question by Alex Toth!!

A terrific book, what a way to experience the silver age Adam Strange. These are the three stories from Showcase # 17,18 & 19. And also the Mystery in Space stories from issues 53 - 65. Just great stories that would otherwise be very expensive to read.

While I think that everyone who reads comics is familiar with Adam Strange, speaking for myself, I was never that interested in him. That's because that the editorial offices of DC never seemed to interested in him after the 1970s. Yeah, he popped up on occasion in "Justice League of America" or any series or story that featured aliens (e.g., the 1980s crossover series "Invasion!") where Adam Strange would be useful.

Then in 2004, DC began publishing a nifty mini-series about their space hero. And to tie in, they released an archive edition. And both are great.

As the other reviews pointed out, Adam Strange is an Earthman who is periodically transported to the planet of Rann, and to his lady-love, Alanna. Naturally, Adam frequently battles menaces to Rann's safety, usually in the form of bizarre aliens attempting to conquer Rann, or the occasional menace grown on Rann. Of course, Adam is far better equipped to handle these evils than your average Rannian.

That sounds derisive, although it's not meant to be. Like most comics of the Silver Age, Adam Strange followed a formula, and it worked for the strip. The stories are clever actioners by DC stalwart Garnder Fox with nice art by first Mike Sekowsky, and brilliant art by Carmine Infantino. Plus, Adam is an empathetic character. He's never able to stay on Rann for very long, and spends much of his time on Earth waiting for the next zeta-beam to take him to Rann and Alanna. And when he does arrive, he's only there long enough to save the day and vanish again.

Again, DC has done an excellent job of diversifying its Archive line. I hope, given renewed interest in Adam Strange by both the editors and the readers alike, that more volumes of this archive series come out sooner rather than later.

Wow.
i was waiting and hoping that someday DC would do right for this character and these stories and they have.
i first ran into Infantino stories from reprints in late 60s/early seventies Strange Adventures.
i used to buy beat up copies at the local flea market on the cheap purely for reading material and became hooked by Infantino's slick, fine lined, modernistic style- which for once perfectly complements the characters and milieu, as well as for the tight, fast paced, and very creative scripting.
i quickly realized that Adam Strange stories were just plain fun to read with oodles of wit and a refreshing lack of the usual cheese found in DCs pre-Denny O'Neil/"relevant" work.
While a good chunk of the book (the first 87 pages) features the first stories illustrated by Mike Sekowsky, the Sekowsky on display here looks a little more refined than the Sekowsky that i know from Justice League.
he seems to be operating in a Ross Andru/Al Toth mode, and his page breakdowns look a tad more sophisticated, and his anatomy less clunky.
not bad, but once the Infantino work kicks in the book really soars.
i've purchased about 10 of the archives so far- there is a ton of great work reprinted in these from Jack Cole to Joe Kubert, CC Beck to Gil Kane, Reed Crandell, Jack Burnley, etc but the work here- both story and art, puts this book at the top of the heap for me.
i agree- Vol 2 can't come soon enough!!!!!

just one request, if anyone from DC is listening- how about collecting the Gil Kane Batgirl back-ups form the late 60s/early 70s Detective Comics?
great work in there, would be a shame to let them gather dust in the vaults.

Amazing! D.C., thanks for for bringing back an authentic comic book hero and a sentimental favorite. Gardner Fox, Adam Strange's creator, was an icon for those of us who came of age in the late 50's and early 60's.
Other reviewers feel the same way about the Fox-Infantino collaboration that I do: A first rate comic with incredible and tantalizing covers, imaginative drawing, and entertaining stories.
Indiana Jones meets Buck Rogers meets Casablanca. Adam Strange, an earthman and archeologist, used no superweapons to defeat his superior foes. All he used were his brains (Wow! This guy rivaled, or surpassed, Batman in the sheer use of brainpower without the benefit of a utility belt!), a rocket pack, and an semi-useless ray-gun (considering the impregnable quality of the aliens.). His alien girlfriend and equal, Alanna, seldom left his side. At the very least she inspired Adam Strange to persevere in the face of hopeless odds, so she shares the glory.
On an aside, I agree that this was formula-writing; so was the original "Star Trek" for the matter(which in my opinion cribbed the Adam Strange "endings" quite a bit), but I also second the reviewer who said that Adam Strange was an inspiration and role model for the rest of us. Brains counted! Gardner Fox, an attorney and prolific writer, projected a lot of his ideals and values unto Strange. This character made a difference in my life. Too bad Fox is no longer around to receive my praise and gratitude.
Adam Strange managed, issue after issue, to save an entire civilization/planet using his powers of observation and quick wits. Sadly, Strange--after risking his life--then remained on Rann just long enough to reap a grateful half-kiss from the excellently drawn Alanna before the teleportation zeta-beam effects wore off and sent him back to earth. Why and how writer Fox and his formula tormented Adam Strange (and us) with heartache remains a mystery to this day. But we couldn't wait for the next issue...hoping Strange would remain with Alanna for good (which he finally did).
In this respect, Gardner Fox anticipated the pain of Marvel's superheroes, especially Spiderman.
By the way, before there was "Playboy" my friends and I would gab and speculate hours on end about Strange's female equal, side-kick, and lady-love. What a babe!
The melancholy, if not heart-wrenching, endings certainly prepared a generation emotionally for Sophoclean tragedy, or so it seemed to me when I was in junior high. If you recall the haunting, Adam Strange-like ending from "Shakespeare in Love," you know what I mean. But don't kid yourself, these were love stories in an "acceptable" format for pre-teen and young teen males.
And yes, Adam Strange patented the, "I'll be back" trope long before Arnie ever did...and gave it a tender significance. I am glad Adam Strange is back.
If you enjoyed the Silver Age, Adam Strange is an Archive to treasure. I can't wait for Archive #2.

If, as I was, you were born when everyone "liked Ike", and Captain Kangaroo was the nation's babysitter, if you read comic books, you knew Adam Strange! An adventurous archeologist long before Indiana Jones made the profession fashionable, he would experience a kid's ultimate fantasy, at the dawn of the Space Age...transporting to a distant planet, fighting incredible enemies armed with only a 'ray gun', a rocket pack, and a keen intellect, and winning the heart of an exotically beautiful alien girl. It was Edgar Rice Burroughs, updated, and it was IRRESISTABLE!

While his uniform was straight out of pulp SF magazines of the '30s and '40s (sort of 'Flash Gordon Meets the Rocketeer'), he never looked ridiculous, particularly when illustrated by the legendary Carmine Infantino (who, with his pioneering work on the Flash, proved that superheroes didn't have to look like overweight wrestlers). While Mike Sekowsky's earlier work lacks the simplistic grace of Infantino, there is no doubt that Adam Strange was cut from a different cloth than Superman and Batman. He was a thinking man's hero, lean and graceful, and willing to rely on his wits rather than on unbelievable powers, or an overstocked utility belt. That his intellectual exploits would earn him the title of the planet Rann's 'Champion' became an inspiration to me to study harder, and to understand that nearly any problem could be solved if you simply "used your head".

And oh, the bittersweet irony, when, after saving Rann, Strange would always be returned to Earth, before he could get more than a kiss from his beloved Alanna! Hokey, maybe, but what a hook for the next issue of "Strange Adventures"!

I never forgave DC Comics for yanking Gardner Fox and Infantino away from Adam Strange and using their talents to 'juice up' the "new" Batman of the mid-sixties. Perhaps the 'Adam Strange Formula' was a limited one, but even the lesser efforts of the creative 'dynamic duo' were a cut above anything else of the period. Certainly, under new hands, the Strange stories quickly lost their magic, and the series died. Subsequent 'limited' reappearances have only served to reduce Adam Strange's stature even further, as if DC, in turning the hero into a tragic figure, hoped to justify earlier abandoning him. Certainly, the 'Adam Strange' of recent years is NOT the hero I grew up admiring!

So treasure this first volume, when Adam Strange was pure of heart, and a whole planet believed in him...You have a treat in store for you!

It is a great work by a classic 20th century cartoonist. An outstanding 1930s black and white story about drug and arms smuggling. For all ages, full of mild humour, suitable for young children.

First published in Le Petit Vingtième between 8/12 1932 and 8/2 1934. The book appeared in 1934 . Redrawn in 1955. It was first published in English in 1971.

A colurful and detailed adventure , Tintin and his dog Snowy meet up with an eccentric Egyptologist on a cruise , taking Tintin on a danger-filled adventure from Egypt to Arabia to India , in a hunt for whoever is behind the mystery of the Cigars of the Pharaoh , he is framed for heroin possesion , caught up in an Arabian war and sentenced to be executed , lost in the desert , locked up in a mental assylum in India , before being led to an international ring of drug trafficers. It is amazing the amount of detail Herge worked into these adventure comics.

Many of us grew up on them and love them for the nostalgia value.
I loved the animation in the underground Pharaoh's tomb.

On a journey to Egypt Tintin meets absentminded Egyptologist Professor Siclone. The professor is in search of mystery. The only clue is a symbol drawn on a piece of parchment. Once in Egypt Tintin and Snowy follow the professor into an underground passageway marked by the symbol and find empty sarcophaguses marked with their names. They escape and find themselves pursued by mysterious criminals. All the while the mysterious symbol keeps turning up on stone walls, painted on trees, and on cigar labels...

This comic is fun because of the exotic landscapes. Tintin travels through Egypt and India which are drawn with exotic flare. Whenever he thinks he has entered the traditional untouched east, western civilization intrudes: He rescues a lady from bandits only to discover that he has just spoiled a scene from an adventure movie. He is captured by Bedouins who recognize him as a celebrity reporter and are happy to have him as a guest. He approaches two arabs to ask directions and finds that they are in fact the Thompson and Thomson team who have donned robes to blend in. The east meets west theme, inherent even in the mysterious cigars marked with an ancient Egyptian symbol, kept me guessing through the book.

The Cigars of the Pharoah maintains the quality of other books in the series. There are jokes for children and for adults, so it is a good purchase for families and public libraries. There are some loose ends which are tied up on part 2 of the story: The Blue Lotus.

On a journey to Egypt Tintin meets absentminded Egyptologist Professor Siclone. The professor is in search of mystery. The only clue is a symbol drawn on a piece of parchment. Once in Egypt Tintin and Snowy follow the professor into an underground passageway marked by the symbol and find empty sarcophaguses marked with their names. They escape and find themselves pursued by mysterious criminals. All the while the mysterious symbol keeps turning up on stone walls, painted on trees, and on cigar labels...

This comic is fun because of the exotic landscapes. Tintin travels through Egypt and India which are drawn with exotic flare. Whenever he thinks he has entered the traditional untouched east, western civilization intrudes: He rescues a lady from bandits only to discover that he has just spoiled a scene from an adventure movie. He is captured by Bedouins who recognize him as a celebrity reporter and are happy to have him as a guest. He approaches two arabs to ask directions and finds that they are in fact the Thompson and Thomson team who have donned robes to blend in. The east meets west theme, inherent even in the mysterious cigars marked with an ancient Egyptian symbol, kept me guessing through the book.

The Cigars of the Pharohs maintains the quality of other books in the series. There are jokes for children and for adults, so it is a good purchase for families and public libraries. There are some loose ends which are tied up on part 2 of the story: The Blue Lotus.

As you might or might not know, most early Tintin was originally published in B/W format, with old style drawing. Yes boys and girls, it wasn't the colour edition we have now in hands. The first 9 titles are sceheduled to be released in English. This Cigars of the Pharaoh is one of them.

Most early Tintin might look very old to us. The drawing weren't that smooth, compared to the later coloured edition. If you're a die-hard Tintin fan, I'm sure you really wanted to know what the book originally looked like. You will notice that the panels also changed. Not just the size, but also the sequence. Some panels were even edited or deleted. Some panels are added. In short, you can compare both editions.

The book was carefully printed and packaged. From the looks, people would already guess that this book (and also the others) is a lux book. The paper was good. The hard cover was good. The binding was good. The printing inside was also good. What more can you expect? Here the book also provided several pin-ups or covers in colour. It's a very nice gift!

If you feel you're a die-hard fan of Tintin (and Herge) then no doubt you must have all these 9 B/W original editions.

There is no doubt this is a nice book, but the material is abundant elsewehere and a LOT less expensive. If you are a completist or money comes easy to you, by all means get this. If five hundred dollars seems ridiculously expensive even for a limited run, you can buy Wallace Wood books in bookstores, comic stores, and online very easily.

I recently purchased this volume, along with Starger & Spurlock's "Wally's World," and this is by far the superior of the two books. Rather than attempting to write a biography, as S&S do, Bhob Stewart has assembled some 35 essays about Wood, including four by Stewart himself. These range from one page to 46 pages in length, and from breezy to scholarly in tone. Some are more interesting and better-written than others, but collectively they add up to a fascinating portrait of a uniquely talented artist whose life ended far too soon.

As you'd expect with any book about Wood, there are copious illustrations, including 16 pages of full-color reproductions on glossy stock in the hardcover edition. (The paperback omits these.) The quality of the reproductions is generally good, although there is just the tiniest bit of bleed-through in the black-and-white pages. I wish they'd used a better grade of paper!

If you are a hardcore Wood fan, you should probably get both this book and "Wally's World." If you have to choose, this is the one to go with, assuming you can find a copy at an affordable price.

I came upon this book while browsing a comic shop in Cambridge, and soon realised it was the long promised comprehensive survey of Wood's art and career. I applaud Bhob Stewart for his perseverance and obvious passion in bringing this book to publication. Any fan of Wood's will want to read this book. It contains tons of great art ; some of it obscure and previously unseen, and the biographical information it presents is thorough, and illustrated with great photos. A blurb on the back of the book proclaims, "Hooray for Wally Wood" and sure enough the vivid and imaginitive genius of Wood is on full display between its covers. This is the triumph part of his story, and it makes it a must have art book. But this book bravely explores the person of Wood as well,including the negatives, and the price he paid for his obsessive genius. It's a tragedy that anyone who knows Wood's story is familiar with, and it speaks loudly to the American culture at large, and how we have in the past, sometimes treated our heroes like throwaway commodities. After seeing some of the gorgeous art in the book, it seems incongrous to imagine the same Wood staying up for 3 days on Dexdrine to ink a Wonder Woman comic, but it happened, and frequently. A giant like Wood routinely worked on mediocre jobs just to scrape by. This warts and all approach is as honest as it is heatbreaking, and in my opinion transforms the book into a work of art of another variety, in its portrayal of a gifted but tortured individual. Attention, Hollywood!
Assistants Paul Kirshner, Nick Cuti and others contribute amazing , written tributes to Wood that say just how much they loved the guy, all the while dealing with his difficult personality. For these heartfelt rememberances alone, this book is a welcome, if sobering addition to the legacy of the great Wallace Wood.
I don't know if the author's intent was to produce anything more than a beautiful art book and tribute to his friend, but the fact that this book also functions as a cautionary tale that provides insight into the creative process and inner workings of such an American icon as Wood, is a facinating by product that should be of interest to any general reader.

"Against the Grain" is an excellent collection of artwork by the late comic book artist Wally Wood, accompanied with essays by his friends and associates.

If you've never heard of Wood, you are in for a major treat here: Martians, robots, other-world landscapes, elves and dinosaurs have never looked better before or since Wood's time. Wood's crisp handling of pen-and-ink, his superb attention to detail (which fans called "beautiful clutter") and his extraordinary use of shadow and light are here for the reader to behold. The illustrations cover the entire range of his career, including his work from the 1950s with EC comics, his illustrations for Galaxy and other sci-fi magazines and his final masterwork, "The Wizard King".

Whether it was a grotesque monster from an unknown planet or a parody of Superman, a complicated machine from the 24th century or a fighter jet battle, a lush female in a tight-fitting spacesuit or a caricature of a contemporary politician, Wood could draw it. He could have you reeling in terror from space aliens or laughing out loud with "Batboy and Ruben." His influence on future generations of cartoonists was extensive, and some of them pay tribute to him in this book.

He had both friends and fans, some of them aspiring artists who probably would have paid him just to work in his studio. He could play guitar and entertain a group with his conversation, which tripped from art to politics to science.

Thomas Edison once said that invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, and Wally Wood must have understood that perfectly. His creations were the result not just of skill but of hours of labor. This is obvious from the fine details of such pieces as the spaceship interiors of "There'll Be Some Changes Made," his use of high contrast lighting in "Atom Bomb", the precisely-falling raindrops and slanted spears of "Joan of Arc," the exact movements of a medieval duel in "Trial by Arms"...

Phew! It's hard to know where to stop.

As a teenager and amateur cartoonist, I would imagine Wood as living in a Manhattan penthouse (for surely someone that talented would be rich) overlooking the New York skyline, working at his drawing board and surrounded by futuristic machines, while gorgeous women lounged about his bizarre-looking furniture. (He depicts himself in that manner in "My World", a tribute to science-fiction artists.)

Nothing could have been further from the truth. Despite his talent and his fans, Wood became a life-long alcoholic who worked in dank basements, spending weeks at his drawing board, half-wishing he could enter the fantastic environments he was creating and flee all his problems with publishers, bills and imperfect women. It was as if all his emotions had been bottle-necked and could only come out on the drawing board. (One of his three wives was a psychiatrist who concluded that he just had to control everything or else.) In the end, he just walked away from it all, putting himself to sleep with a handgun in 1979.

Still, his fans and associates have assembled this superb collection and hopefully there will be more of them.

Although it had been promised to be a "definitive biography" by the publisher, Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood continues the piecemeal format of everything that has been available about Wood and his contemporaries (Severin, Elder, Ingels, Crandall, Williamson, Craig, Davis, et al) for the last 40 years. -Which is to say it's a rambling book of personal essays/reminiscences, panel discussion excerpts and brief, fan-flavored interviews. The books one undeniable saving grace is that it is very generously embellished with samples of the artist's work. But overall, it feels like a blow-out issue of Squa Tront.

This will scratch the itch of the diehard and casual fan who wanted a coffee table browser on the subject. For those, like me, who hoped, finally, to see the subject's life drawn in one cohesive portrait by an insightful Boswell, it's a letdown, or "more of same."

I hope the book does well. It is, perhaps, an urgently needed Wood intro for newer generations who lack a sense of history. It is a welcome public reminder/declaration of Wood's place in The Comic Pantheon, where he clearly stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Roy Crane, Milt Caniff, Walt Kelly, Al Capp, Chester Gould and, dare one utter it, the Great Charles Schulz. Honest, it's not a bad little read. But I wish it had offered something new on the subject, or at least somehow extended the genre of fan appreciation/criticism established by Squa Tront during the 60s and 70s. As it is, this book has an odd way of making me feel that an entire generation, my generation, never really grew up.