Comic Books Books

Yes,Im still laughing at superficial man.Fianally a book that tells the truth about dating....Wish I had read it twenty years ago. Im giving it to my daughter as a gift...I can't wait to read AJ.S SEQUEL.I loved the illustrations they reminded me of a superficial man i knew.

The content of this book certainly rings true to each and every one of us at one time or another in our lives. It reminds us that human beings do indeed have a common thread. A.J. Pascale certainly captures that in a fabulously humorous way, with creative and entertaining illustrations to match. It's obvious he has a good sense of humor about the path of his own life, and we can all appreciate the fact that he so openly shares his perspective with us. We've certainly all been there, and it sure would be a far better world if we could all laugh at ourselves like this!

This book is like the movie "Groundhog Day". Deja vu all over again. Page after page of funny and poignant reminders of the unconcious state in which we men wander around. I would like to see the woman's pov on this one. A great gift for that guy in our life that needs HELP

WOMEN BE WARNED: reading this book could cause you to laugh out loud as you flash back on those "Superficial Men" you have known!

If you like HBO's "Sex in the City", you'll love this collection of devastatingly accurate snapshots, caricatures and x-rays of the naked male libido.

Okay, I'll admit it - I laughed....and laughed. We've all been there: your ears start burning the second you turn to walk away from your 'superficial boyfriend'and you know you'd be a fool to ask what was said. Thank god for the superficial men in the world - they keep us from taking ourselves too seriously. Pascale's honesty about the superficial man's motives is either a walk down memory lane or a glance backwards toward the road not taken. I'm thinking we'll all do both after reading it! Good book!

I tend to do things without paying as much attention as I should, like buying this book without researching it's details.

I bought the book because my 5 year old daugher loves to draw, and because she's nuts over the Lion King at the moment. I figured it would be great for her to see not just finished work (like what winds up on television) but to also see sketches, concept drawing and paintings, and the like.

So I bought it. When I received it and saw it's pocket size I was so happy! It's absolutely the perfect size for a little kiddo like her, but the content is professional, serious and mature as I had expected. It's hard cover, totally full of pictures, and has glossy pages printed on high-quality paper. Some folks might have been put off by the size but for my purposes it was more than perfect!

We have great fun looking through it together and looking at all the different styles of artwork. If you or your kid likes to draw or paint, and likes this movie, You'll really be sorry if you don't buy a copy. No I don't work for Disney or Amazon. I just like to encourage and support my childs love for art any chance I get, and boy was this a great addition to her library.

Apart from the fact that my copy was close to pocket size, i thought that this book was fantastic. Not only does it come filled with amazing concepts, it also is accompanied with the Lion King Storyline. As an illustrator and student animator, it is a wonderful addition to my resources. The sketches through to the complete full colour images are for any Lion King fan, artists or just someone wanting a beautiful coffee table book. If your from overseas like myself and cannot get these kind of books in Australia, i reccommend Amazon and their associate stores. Buy this, its great.

I received this book as a birthday present last month. To say the least, I was overwhelmed with all the artwork in this book. I love it! The artwork and production animation is breathtaking! It's a really awesome book, I'd get it if I were you! You can't go wrong with "The Art of The Lion King"!!!

This book is one of the most exquisite things to come out of The Lion King. The graphics are beautiful. Most of the pictures are ones that are used for the storyboard and layout scenes. I reccommend it to anyone who loves The Lion King, or just Disney in general. Order with confidence - the book is worth much more than its price tag. It is also much more convient than the larger, more expensive version which I believe is no longer being produced.

"The Lion King," Disney's 32nd animated film proved to be a smashing success, appealing to young, old, and those in between. As it filled movie houses, Disney mania swept the country again. The breathtaking visual effects that fascinated so many are brought to stunning life in "The Art of the Lion King" by Christopher Finch.

This lavish folio-size volume traces the creative process utilized in making the film, from black and white sketches to glorious full-color reproductions and even splendid fold-outs, one exhibiting the surreal beauty of the African natural world.

Actor James Earl Jones, the voice of Mufasa the Lion King in the film, contributes the foreword, while the text is by Christopher Finch, author of "The Art of Walt Disney."

Those fascinated by the art of animation and those touched by the story of Mufasa, Simba and Scar will treasure this color and fact filled memento.

- Gail Cooke

The Kingdom of the Ganges, ruled by the good King, Rajah Watzit, is in crisis.
Not one drop of rain has fallen during the monsoon season.
The evil Guru, Hoodunnit that if no rain falls before the end of the Monsoon season, then the Rajah's daughter, the sweet and lovely Princess Orinjade, must be sacrificed to appease the wrath of the gods.

The only hope lies in the plan by the wise Fakir Watziznehm, who has heard that in far-off Gaul, there is a bard who's singing causes rain. So Watziznehm, flies on his magic carpet to Gaul where he enlists the help of Cacofonix, Asterix and Obelix (and who wouldn't want to rescue the gorgeous Princess Orinjade)

So our friends for the first time travel by air, and after an exciting journey, in which, among other things, they engage in an aerial attack on the Scythian pirates.
When they land in India, they have to deal with various snags, before they can save the Princess.

Asterix and Obelix really get to travel and explore exotic locations. And while the India, the authors of Asterix write about in no way of course, resembles the real Ancient India, neither the other Asterix albums resemble the locations our friends visit. It is all tongue in cheek, and pokes fun at everyone, but in a gentle way.
Asterix and the Magic Carpet is great fun.

A wonderful story set in an India that never existed except in the minds of western authors. It was lots of fun seeing cacofonix turn out to be the hero.

In this enthralling tale the lovable Gaulish duo hitch a ride on a magic carpet with the village bard, Cacofonix to the mystical land of India. And yet in this far away country, the natives have heard of the "village of madmen where a voice makes it rain" - a man that the Indians could use to end the long spell of drought that they have fallen under. Finally! An audience that appreciates the (incredibly annoying) vocal talents of Cacofnix! But as luck may have it, the great bard loses his voice...

With the life of a princess at stake, a race against the clock to get the bard's voice back and dodging evil fakirs at every corner, this is an adventure to remember - an episode in which the oft-neglected bard comes in to his own.

Although the book was well laid out with a funny, interesting plot, some of the laughter comes at the expense of an ethnic stereotype. As long as it is understood beforehand that life in India doesn't follow such a pattern, this book would be a whole bunch of constructive fun. For that reason alone I felt the need to drop a star from my rating.

Most Asterix titles are aimed at a teen/adult audience and they cleverly integrate many historical events in to their plots. There is also a deeper satirical presence throughout these books, and for that reason I feel that children under the age of 12 or so would not quite appreciate the humor. The violence is more along the lines of black eyes, dented armor and missing teeth, and hence should not worry a parent too much. This is another good Asterix comic - I recommend it!

At last Cacofonix is the real hero! They come to India! Like all books in the series, a real fun to read!

Despite the fact that this comic is written by Mr. Uderzo, as well as illustrated by him, it is quite as good as any of the classics, like Asterix and Cleopatra or Asterix and the Goths. The art is up to the old standards, the pacing and flavor remain the same, and the same excruciating-yet-oddly-satisfying puns are sprinkled throughout the text. It's a rollicking, good-natured adventure from first to last.

A couple of notes here. In the first place, it IS interesting to see an Asterix comic focused on Cacophonix, rather than just sticking the bard in an introductory cameo and showing him tied up at the feast at the end. In the second place, it's good to see Dogmatix, Obelix's pet pooch, play an active and sometimes important role in the story .... okay, so I'm a dog lover, but it is good to see another character being used, rather than just being an afterthought like he was in Asterix and the Belgians (my only quibble with that excellent comic).

The only other thing that strikes me is that certain other reviewers have remarked on the "ethnic stereotypes of Indian life" that appear in this comic. I'll admit that I'm hard-pressed to see this. I suppose that to the hypersensitive, merely mentioning India or Indians makes the book some kind of ethnic horror-show of lies and stereotypical fabrications. Lighten up, guys! Other than showing the Hindus bathing in the Ganges (which you can see in any National Geographic with an article on India) and wearing Hindu clothing (which is hardly a 'stereotype,' any more than showing a businessman wearing a suit) it doesn't show much of the "Indian way of life" at all. All this talk of stereotypes boggles me, since only the most convoluted, tortured logic could squeeze any type of ethnic slur out of the story.

All in all, a fine addition to a fun and light-hearted series! :)

"Batman: Bloodstorm" is so satisfying as a sequel it makes "Red Rain" a much more satisfying read. One review really hits the nail on the head when asserting that the vampire plot and characters such as Catwoman and the Joker are really device to explore Batman's struggle with his fallen condition. He is more powerful physically, but the inner struggle of his nature is a fight between the will and the "condition" of who he now is. The line of demarcation is the drinking of blood - it calls, but he wills against it for it is wrong.

The dialogue is much cleverer in this book as well and helps the reader ask his or her own questions: "Are we looking for hope or answers?" Probably like Batman, we are looking for "both."

This book explores all the dark side of batman. The Catwoman is also great, and the game of the Joker is great.

This is the best book of the trilogy (I bought the other books because of this one). This book summarizes the personal hell of one man, addicted and alone, unable not to bring death to those he loves. It is about conflict, guilt, isolation, alienation ...about heroism in its rawest, truest form.

I first read this over five years ago, and it continues to fascinate me to this day. I don't care about the vampire monsters, per se, for to me they are only a necessary plot device. The same can be said for Selina's character. They only exist to further the true story, which is Batman's struggle with his own nature ...the horror of recognizing we receive pleasure from another's harm, the helplessness of an addiction to things we've not necessarily even experienced -- the overwhelming urge to satiate a thirst at the cost of our own soul. That is the heart and soul and core of this book for me.

What would we do, given his power, his isolation, and his horrible thirst? At one point he narrates this for us:

"Thirst haunts me,
Life tempts me,
Death mocks me.

Together, the three, they curse me."

That moment for me, sitting in that bookstore, galvanized an experience I had never been able to put words to ...his isolation, his thirst, his utter loneliness and despondency -- they were so real! Deep calls out to deep, as I've read elsewhere, and in spite of this book's gore and melodrama, that moment called out to me and still does to this day. I felt connected to his guilt, his shame, to his sinful pleasure and self-disgust in a way that no media ever has before or since. Selina's character, the strength and nobility she provides, and the heartbreak of her loss, bring the entire story to an unstoppable head between the maniacal Joker and a Batman now drenched in the blood of his lover.

The authors deserve top credit for making a Batman that is, ironically, more human as an undead vampire than he ever was in life. May he rest in peace...

Get this if such things interest you.

In a pitch meeting, this might sound like one of the dumbest ideas ever: What if Batman turned into a vampire? [A vampire *bat*, get it?!] But writer Doug Moench actually manages to create a powerful and affecting tale from this premise - one whose Edgar Allan Poe-like meditation on guilt and monstrousness ends up rivalling "Arkham Asylum" and "The Killing Joke" as one of the most penetrating psychological studies ever drawn of the Dark Knight. And if there has ever been more dynamic and expressive pencilling in a Batman story than Kelley Jones's outstanding work here, I haven't seen it.

In many ways, Bloodstorm is superior to the book that is continues, Red Rain. Whereas Red Rain was bogged down by the need to introduce the concepts of vampire lore, character reaction and setup, and other formalities, this book can leap right into things and get to the important business of telling the story.
In this Elseworld's tale, Batman is now a vampire. In many ways it is a vindication of his self image as a creature of the night apart from normal humans. At the same time, Batman is built on the one thing that separates him from the monsters he fights- he will not kill. As the vampiric urge to kill grows, however, he must go to extraordinary measures to fight it or lose all that he is.
Great storytelling with an ending that even shocked the hell out of me. If you liked Red Rain, you'll love Bloodstorm.

This book and "The Giving Tree" are the 2 best books ever written. My father read "The Bear" to me when I was young, and when I was in high school he found a copy that he gave to me and inscribed, "Read this often to remind you that who you are is who you are, and that's not bad." 20 years later, I still do.

This is an amazing book that will teach your children to have confidence in themselves... and make them laugh at the same time. It also has an underlying message stressing the importance of our environment. I truly believe that every child should have this book.

I have seen the cartoon,but I haven't seen the book yet

One of my all-time favorites. Right up there with "Ferdinand, The Bull", as cutting the crap about childhood. For, however much they tried to brainwash the bear, he comes to accept that he was a bear, after all, no matter what the world tried to tell him. I regret that, by reducing the format, Dover has lessened the impact of the illustrations; which kept me enthralled for hours. They are immensely detailed. Also, one wonders if this was not something of an allegory for sophisticates, as Frank Tashlin was a sophisticated Hollywood writer of great note.

This book has been a personal favorite ever since I can remember. I make sure to read it to any child that visits my house. My affinity to the material and the subtile presentation of the importance of being an individual was a clear indication of my political orientation from a very early age. I'm so glad that I can now get copies for the next generation to take home and cherish.

This book reminds me of the beavis and butthead movie and the TV show, not that I miss them because I have all the episodes on DVD, and the movie, thats besides the point. This book really is entertaining to read and doesn't take very long to finish. It has pictures of various artists from their videos and they talk about them, make fun of them, whatever. Since I only paid like $1, it was well worth it for this book.

This book is about as funny as watching the show! The way beavis and butt-head are so stupid sometimes in the book crack me up. They even have a list of funny words like Tungsten, cocky, sextet, and so on. If you are a diehard fan of Beavis and Butt-head such as moo-ah you MUST buy this book!

This book sucks is so great. For any Beavis and Butthead fan it is the must have collectors item. It has many detailed photos of, their town, the house, old B&B and many more pieces of impotant(huh-huh) background. My personal favorite which still makes me laugh is the list of words.

This is one book that does not live up to its name This is a very funny book- If you think Beavis and Butthead are funny-- If you don't like Beavis & Butthead you probably won't like this book

Many die-hard fans from my generation would remember the summer of 1993 when Beavis and Butt-Head first graced MTV. With the premiere episodes FROG BASEBALL and PEACE, LOVE, AND UNDERSTANDING in 1992, followed by the first season episodes, Mike Judge's ongoing series of two braindead cartoon nitwits was born.

Just reading through this, the first of many feature books, brings to mind flashbacks of the first season episodes in particular. Like many other cartoon shows, the animation is cruder and the characters look and sound slightly different, and the music videos added the real class to it. The book is loaded with pages of fun activities from house painting (coloring) to word matches to songs to progress report incidents from Highland High School.

All of it together makes this book a tour through time in the evolution of the show itself. For any of you fans who really loved the early episodes, this book is definitely for you. You will be laughing long and hard. Huh huh huh huh. I said "long and hard". That was cool!

I YEARN TO SEE WHEN EVERY SINGLE EPISODE WILL BE RELEASED - UNCUT AND UNCENSORED - ON DVD!

One of the common diseases of the 21st century is computer-induced stress. We've all suffered from it, but now there is medicine for this malady in the form of "The Best of The Joy of Tech," a book collection of comic strips from the intelligent and very funny online comic strip, "The Joy of Tech".

The comics in this book touch on all aspects of life with computers, and range from laugh out loud funny to thoughtful, and the situations flow from absurd to so spot-on real that you might think that the authors were secretly watching you.

Buy this book if you'd like to keep a dose of laughter at hand.

Snaggy and Nitrozac show their teeth in this wonderful display of Geek Comedy. Whether you're a geek, or not, you can't help but laugh at the comic misfortunes of Windows users, Linux users and Mac users alike as they try to live in a world full of people who have normal sleep patterns, and have no idea what it's like to have a 3:00 AM call from your boss screaming at you begging to know why the third line of the second paragraph on page 5 of the online catalog isn't bold, or why the server is returning an error. Prepare to stretch your laughing muscles when you buy this book. A must have for all geeks. Makes a great gift, and will never let you down when you need a pick me up. Buy two, because surely you'll want to give on to someone you love.

Nitrozac and Snaggy have been delighting me on the web for awhile now. So I couldn't wait to get the book. They know just how to poke fun at our operating system obsessions and loathings. The foibles of geekdom exposed.

Keep an eye on your copy though. Mine has almost walked away with friends several times. Since not all the friends were geeks, even technophobes should give it a this book a try.

The dead-tree debut of the popular online comic "The Joy of Tech," by Canadian artists Nitrozac and Snaggy, is a terrific introduction to the comic for the uninitiated and a must-have for Superfans and just plain ordinary fans. Featuring a foreword by Steve "The Woz" Wozniak and an introduction by David "Missing Manual" Pogue, this collection of cartoons features geeks, aliens, cats, Macintosh, Apple, Steve Jobs, Tux the Linux Penguin, Klingons, cartoon babes that'll leave geeks everywhere saying, "I'd hit it!", and much more! I also appreciated the reproduction of the original JoyPolls at the back of the book, together with the "liner notes" for the featured comics. An all-around winner!

I must be crazy; I was flamed so badly after my last review of a cartoon book (published on a much less friendly site) that I had to replace my asbestos review suit. 'The Best of Joy of Tech' may be worth the risk.

Of course it's easy to enjoy a cartoon book by a pair of cartoonists that share your prejudices. It is obvious from the cartoons that Nitrozac and Snaggy are Macintosh loving, Linux leaning, Microsoft loathing geeks. Hmmm, sounds like me.

Not that Nitrozac and Snaggy are totally one-eyed. They still have a dig at Apple and Macintosh owners along the way. Unlike quite a lot of cartoons about tech these two also see the more human side, just as likely to make a joke about your cat's relationship to you and the computer as poke fun at LARTing end-users or pointy-headed bosses. Their cartoons are more about living with technology than working with it.

The book reproduces a couple of hundred of 'The Joy of Tech' cartoons from their website, in improved color and resolution. The website features a new cartoon every couple of days. There are also a small number that are original for the book and some funny marginalia in a couple of spots. It also has the matching JoyPoll and a short comment about the cartoon in a 'JoyWorld' section at the back of the book.

I find a fairly large number of the cartoons repeatedly funny and most of the rest worth a chuckle. These two have a good eye for the whimsical, ironic and downright funny side to a wired in, geek life. They even manage to get in a sly reference to geek site Slashdot with a fake O'Reilly book, "Trolling In a Nutshell" with a troll wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "FIRST POST" on the cover and an Introduction by 'Anonymous Coward'.

Oh, that reminds me. The book has a very Wozniak foreword by Steve himself and an introduction by David Pogue that is nowhere near as good as the book (I'm sorry David, but any self-respecting geek [male or female] would rather do almost anything than edit the Windows registry, starting with install a decent operating system and working all the way through to changing jobs, heck, I'd rather sleep with Jobs.)

The book is broken up into various sections, each with a theme. It starts with "Boot-Up" and continues with "4nim4l cr4ck3rs" (most about cats), the whimsical "Geek Love", "Hacks and Cracks" (I loved the couple who want to get housing within 50 meters of a war-chalked wall), "Techie-daze", "How about them *nix" (featuring the luscious 'Linux Lass'), "The Joy of Mac", "Who do you want to poke fun at today?" (You'll enjoy the 'Stress Relief Dartboard'), "Sci-Fi The Comic Frontier" and "Do You think I'm Xexy" before finishing with "The World According to Geek" (with 'The Lord of The Root - One Geek To Rule Them All', the two good looking woman who don't shy away from maths and the Barbie 'DotCom Rescue' CD-ROM game)

If you go to Joy Of Tech you can grab a copy from the authors that has been signed (you even get a chance to ask for a custom inscription) and for an extra fee Nitrozac will even bless your book and attach a lucky sticker. You could go to the O'Reilly page, but since they don't have example cartoons and I don't imagine a cartoon book will ever have errata there isn't much point.

It's not easy to review a cartoon book. Suffice to say that I found the 'toons in this book to be a good variety from amusing through to funny with some that are just a little too true to make me do more than groan. If you've never come across this pair then check out the site and if you like the last few examples then the book will not disappoint(...)

What can I say? Cagle is unquestionably the best. I read his website every day religiously. So what's not to like about his year-in-review books? They're spectacular.

Br. Randall Horton

I grew up in the sixties with in an interesting family. My father was a typical sixties Republican and my mother a typical sixties Democrat. I think I was reading political cartoons before I was even reading the comics in the paper, and that developed into a life long love affair with political/editorial cartoons.

I found this collection to be good, but there were a few that could have been left out. Also, the author did tend to put a lot of his cartoons into the book. It is, however, a collection that will make you laugh, cry and most importantly, think.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to think with a broad mind and who can see humor, however dark, in most situations.

Well organized with clear discussions and each group of political cartoons were very interesting and entertaining. They were well chosen and described a variety of world incidents with great insights and a variety of opinions. The book did have a definite point of view.

This book is published once a year and gives the best editorial cartoons. There is only one negative point.. the lay-out is a bit unpleasant because sometimes there are to many cartoons on one page.. also some are published too small for no reason. Another thing .. mr Daryl Cagle puts his cartoons up front too much.. His are not always the best mind you.. But it is a very nice contribution to my editorial cartoons collection for sure..

The best book to stay up-to-date with the world's madness. Since we can't avoid it, better to learn about it: and laugh at it!

One year flows too quickly: this collection of cartoons stills the time and make events understandable by giving us a chance to slow our breath for a while. Also, the short explanation about each news event displayed in the book is very useful to recollect what it was all about.

This is an invaluable tool for all those who leave outside the U.S. but love America, deal with America and/or simply want to stay attuned: what happened in D.C. last year is most likely to come on show in Bern the year next. So, it's a magic ball.

i just HAD to make a review on this!
i got this in the mail today and after a couple cartoons i was on the floor laughing like crazy. this book is for everyone- even people who don't like to laugh! they will think it's witty

This is hilarious stuff! I wish my wife understood this kind of humor.

As good as any of the other books in the far side, this book shows an intelligent witty humor! I regret having not read the Far Side comics earlier than I did, because they are honestly funny! A highly recommended read!

With the classic bear not wanting to be shot pointing at his friend seen through a rifle's telescopic lens cartoon on the front cover you know that you're in for a treat.

Beyond the Far Side contains some of the all time classics such as Superman checking for change in the coin slot of a phone booth while getting changed, "Say what's a mountain goat doing way up here in a cloud bank?" seen through the cockpit window of a plane and the classic smoking dinosaurs picture with the caption "the real reason dinosaurs became extinct."

Once you have one Far Side cartoon you have to own them all. The only way you can do that is to buy every single one of these Far Side books. This isn't a bad one to start off with.

Tip it may be cheaper to buy The Far Side Galleries which are three of these books put together so compare prices.

Most cartoons may come across as a bit dumb, but not the Far Side. If you like to think and laugh at the same time and are sick of the same old silly antics, don't miss this little book. The drawings are great and the subtle, implied humor even better. This is my favorite cartoon book to date.

Highly recommended.

One more excellent entry from Paradox Press! Here, you learn about all the good/bad things of life. Learn the pros and cons of all vices. If you're hooked on Big Books, it's an obvious must-have!

From undoubtedly one of the best quality comic-book series ever comes the Big Book Of Vice:
fans of this incredible series know all too well that what's to be expected here is a very-in-depth look into the subject (vice) with the aid of some of the best contemporary comic-makers around.
Your illustrated journey includes:
-tobbaco. Its superbly interesting history plus the all (not) too well hazards it pertains to as well as all the marketing trickeries involved in its spread.

-prostitution. Again, its history as the "world's oldest profession" (you'll discover stuff beyond imagination on this one) plus the wide spectrum of vice and illegality it brings with it..
-gambling. Probably the most spectacular and eye-opening section of the book. Check out the stunningly imaginative scams of lotteries, pro-betters and pro-cheaters, card playing, and some of the most infamous bets ever made!
-and a "general" section on vice which even includes the "danger" posed by comics as seen by some of society's less liberal sectors.

As usual, drawn with tremendous gusto and funny as hell, this is a proud addition to the series. Even if your acquaintence with this series begins here be warned: odds are you will be hooked. And yes, i'd take a nice lil wager on that too.
Precious stuff.

Another outstanding entry in the Big Book series. They make learning fun

I've been hooked! This book is definitely one good read- page after page this is one of the most entertaining books i've read.

192 pages is just not enough- this volume is an informative and entertaining compendium of mankind's best (or worst- depending on the reader) pastimes.

This volume contains everything you want to know about sex, drugs, booze, and everything in between.

This book is definitely worth your $13.50

As a lover of bizzare facts, I felt that I hit the mother-load. The Big Book of Vice is an incredible well of information, with great a bibliography that serves as a roadmap for the dedicated kookologist. For anyone else, it is an extremely entertaining, fun and easy to read book, as are all the "Big Books" Paradox press puts out. The art is wonderful, and the short, comic style is the perfect addition to your bathroom reading list. Highly recommended!