Comic Books Books

Another addition to a wonderful series to share with your children ages 7-12.

If you know anything about Akiko and her friends, or you don't, Akiko and her fiends are a little different... or alot. In the book, wait, I shouldn't give all the deails. Read it for your self. I think it's the best one yet!!!!!! :-)

If you know anything about Akiko and her friends, or you don't, Akiko and her fiends are a little different... or alot. In the book, wait, I shouldn't give all the deails. The main part is that it takes place in The Alpha Centauri 5000 in space. They might get smooshed in one part. You should read it for your self to find out. I think it's the best one yet!!!!!! :-)

Akiko and the Alpha Centauri 5000 is a wonderful addition to the Akiko series. When her friends from Smoo trans-moovulate her on board the Boach's Bullet to help them win the Alpha Centauri 5000, Akiko is a little upset. But soon enough she's pitching in to help Spuckler win against the sneaky Streed. If you like light adventure stories, you're going to love this new Akiko.

Eleven spaceships, four aliens, and a fifth grader compete in an intergalactic race from one side of the universe to the other but must face some formidable challenges during the race. When Spuckler finds his old rival is also in the running, Akiko finds herself in the competition for a trophy in Aiko & the Alpha Centauri 5000, a fun science fiction tale for young readers.

My wife and I bought a copy of the first Alex Unlimited novel about a month back for our niece. She's not a big reader and we were trying to get her interested in the activity. The cover caught our eye it sounded like the kind of thing she would enjoy, but we weren't sure. We checked some of Dan Jolley's other work and saw he had also worked on the manga for "The Warriors", a series we heard was popular with children our nieces age. We ordered it and sent it off, hoping for the best, and that's exactly what happened. She loved it! We've gotten several emails from her exclaiming how much she loves the book and can't wait to read the rest. We'll be getting those for her very soon!

Like Alex herself, this series has a lot of potential.

Don't be fooled by all this talk of adventure. When we start the novel, Alex is a frustrated young woman whose gift means that she cannot experience the missions she sets in motion. She goes to amazing places, but only because the Other Alex will vanish if the two get too far apart from each other. She spends most of her time during missions locked in a nondescript black vehicle. Fortunately for us and for her, Alex demands and gets more independence -- along with the difficult choices that come with being independent.

This is a spy story, a science-fiction story, a coming-of-age story. There are delightful villains, strange tech, allies-of-questionable-allegiance, and plenty of fight scenes. The Vosarak Code is the start of something great fun.

This book is wonderful. From a 17 year old's point of view. I'm close in age with Alex and I feel what she feels. Whenever I read this book I just feel like I'm there. I would say this is one of the most excellent book's I have ever read. It show's alot of what girls really feel. I love the action in it. The secrecy and the little hint of romance. It's not too much , but it's just enough. I really enjoy this book and I would sugest it to anybody who needed a good read. =)
~Brenttnie

When I was young, I wanted to be a writer, an astronaut, a teacher, a doctor, a catburgler, and a dancer on "Solid Gold." I remember being very disappointed when my father explained that one person couldn't do it all - at least, one person can't be the best in every profession. As we make choices in our lives, some of those possibilities become reality (I've been both a teacher and a writer), and some merely continue to exist in our imagination (I still think I would have rocked it on "Solid Gold.") Alex Benno doesn't have those limitations, though. Alex has access to every possibility, every alternate reality, which means, Alex can find a "best" version of herself for any situation.

For Alex, this gift is a mixed blessing. Yes, she can always find the alternate Alex who has the right skills for the job at hand, but she never gets credit for the amazing things these other Alexes can do. As the cover of "Alex Unlimited" explains, Alex is her own sidekick.

Dan Jolley skillfully writes Alex as a young everywoman. We feel her insecurities as she notes her frizzy hair or her frumpy clothes, especially in comparison to her alter egos. But unlike most of the usual stories in the young adult genre, "Alex Unlimited" has an interesting twist: that amazing girl the heroine wishes she could be is actually herself.

"Alex Unlimited" is fast-paced and cleanly written. Jolley, a former comic book author, is an excellent writer and has shown his skills in a number of genres. But beyond good writing, Jolley has hit on something real - the notion that we must learn how to become ourselves. Like Sethe in Toni Morrison's Beloved, we must find how to become "our own best thing."

Because of that message, Alex (for all that she is a frizzy-haired, frumpy mess) is an inspiration. So what if "Solid Gold" was canceled in 1988? Get Marilyn McCoo on the phone! I'm going to practice my signature dance moves right now.

This is the first volume in Dan Jolley's original series, 'Alex Unlimited.' It's a charmingly written story with a realistic and emotionally relatable main character. It's not full of age or genre jargon and is suitable for a wide audience. It's _most_ likely be appropriate for a 14-17 year old girl, considering that the book's strength is in representation of the heroine. It would also be enjoyed by a younger boy who enjoys youth-as-spy stories. The story reaches its stride in the middle of the volume, as both Alex's inner voice and physical actions become the focus of the reader's attention. Readers are left with a suitable cliffhanger and an ending with a lot of personality.

This is also the first prose novel published by Tokyo Pop. It's a fast read with short chapters, paced very similarly to an illustrated volume. In fact, it feels very similar to a 'youth-as-spy' genre cartoon with a slightly more mature bent. I would recommend the book to anyone above 14 who liked secret identity stories.

This was an excellent read. Although I really enjoyed Vol. 1, Vol. 2 mainly deals with the All-Star Squadron series, which is the series I read growing up. It was a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of one of my favorite super-hero teams. Highly recommended.

This book follows up on the All Star Companion, Volume One, and is a collection of articles and recollections of DC's golden age heroes (namely the Justice Society of America, and The All-Star Squadron). There are some unique insights and interesting stories about these classic characters, and the book is filled with some rare and intriguing art. The wrap-around cover by Carlos Pacheco is fantastic.

For me, the most interesting feature was a complete synopsis (issue by issue) of the All-Star Squadron comics, complete with cover reproductions and background notes. There were also supposed to be notes on the Young All-Stars comic, but space constraints pushed this material out of the book (though it will appear in volume three). This is nothing short of a phenomenal read for fans of comicdom's golden age.

Collections strong in comic book artists and art will find this history of the Justice Society of America and friends to be moving: it provides more secrets of the comic characters from the 1940s through the 1980s, surveying major issues and events, providing black and white reproductions of pages, and detailing behind-the-scenes influences on adventures and character appearances. An excellent companion for any who have followed the strip and seek more information on historical progression.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I have always been a huge fan of the JSA. In my younger days, I collected every issue of All Star Squadron. As I got older and married, I sold my collection to younger enthusiasts. Now, I can revisit my former passion in this book that describes all the issues of All-Star Squadron as well as interesting articles about the history of All-Star Comics and the JSA. If you are interested in greater understanding of the history of JSA, I heartily recommend this book.

If you liked All-Star Companion vol.1, you'll enjoy vol.2. More info on the Justice Society, plus an issue by issue review of The All-Star Squadron. I'm looking forward to vol.3!

I've never read any Alpha Flight comics before, so I figured this was a good place to start. The way John Byrne writes and draws the series makes me wanna go to Canada. I think my favorite stories were the ones with Northstar and Aurora.

It seems like Marvel's Classic series is like the Essentials but in color and on a smaller scale. I'm looking forward to the second volume that comes out in a few months and will get it not long after. My guess is it'll include #9-15 and their first annual.

Alpha Flight has been through many iterations since it premiered years ago, but the orginal series (at least Byrne's run) is still the best. This volume collects the 1st 8 issues of the series, and what's good about it is that it isn't like many other comics that you'll read that bring together groups of superheroes. Basically, everyone on the team has some sort of issue, and Byrne crafts great back stories for each character.

The artwork is dead on, and it's a great read.

Whats better than Alpha Flight?
Can't wait for Volume two to be released.....
until then I'll be Curling and drinking a beer

During Chris Claremont and John Byrne's revolutionary run on Uncanny X-Men, the duo introduced Alpha Flight: Canada's premiere superhero team that has a connection to Wolverine. Byrne would write and draw Alpha Flight during it's original run, and thankfully, the same success he brought to X-Men and Fantastic Four translated here. Byrne's talent for team dynamics and dynamic action really helped Alpha Flight shine, as he gives heart and soul to characters like Vindicator, Sasquatch, Northstar, and Puck. Byrne's artwork is wonderful as always, but it's treatment of the characters as a whole that sets Alpha Flight apart from many of Marvel's typical secod-rate hero teams, and nearly propels them to the top. This, along with many appearances from familiar faces in the Marvel universe, make this first volume of Byrne's run on Alpha Flight worth picking up for new fans and old readers alike.

John Byrne has gone on record saying that his heart was never really into "Alpha Flight", that they were basically created as a team that could successfully battle the X-Men. Despite all this, Byrne's run on AF (he did 28 issues total) are an example of his mastery of the form and yet another look at how much the comics medium has fallen since the 80s. There's never been another book like "Alpha Flight." The team had been created four years before the book came out, but Byrne was faced with the task of instilling each character with a personality and origin, which he painstakingly did, bit by bit.

Included here are the first 8 issues of the book presented in a nice new format. Some people have said the new format is a little too bright, but I think it works well and doesn't take away from the stories at all. We get the classic battle with Tundra, Snowbird's battle in a blizzard which has to be "seen" to get the full effect, the troubled twins - split-personality Aurora and gay Northstar - as well as the development of James Hudson's cyber helmet that started the whole mess. My only complaint is that there should have been more issues included because it will take us that much longer to get to my favorite part of Byrne's run: issues 18-28.

It's so much fun to revisit these characters and adventures again but those discovering them for the first time will have just as much fun. Thanks to all who finally put this book together.

I own all of the Foxtrot books, and now have three of my five children fighting with me over them. We all love Jason, especially. The daily life situations remind us a lot of ours. My husband could be Roger, constantly struggling to drag the kids outdoors, while they hide with their video games. Another great book!

The end of bill amends career is still as funny as the start. I can't wait for the sunday only collections to start.

When I bought this book, I was expecting a somewhat bland comic book as this is (or not? hopefully not.) his last book and I thought that he might have been running out of ideas. But, after reading this book I found that I can't expect less from Amend but the best! This book is great for adults, teens (me!), and even little kids. Prepare to break your ribs laughing.

Consistantly funny...with consistant characters. That's why I keep buying the Foxtrot series. And no need to waltz down to the local bricks-and-mortar, I just get them online.

I received it in just a few days. I think it took longer for it to get shipped (a week tops) to me than to actually read the book. It was a little shorter than I expected but it was still great.

I enjoyed this and remembered this from years ago and was lucky to come across it and collect and enjoy reading it and the great animation. Thanks Grant for writing these books!

To be honest, I have not read the graphic novel, but I did read the original series when it came out. Mind shattering. It was the last series I parted with when selling off my old comics, and I regret it now. So I am glad to see this on Amazon, I will definitely be buying.

I loved the series so much I generally had each issue read before leaving the comic shop. So when I read issue #19 (in this collection) around page 10 or so if I remember correctly, it had such an effect on me I went weak in the knees. This from someone who has never passed out in 40 years. Read it, you'll know what I mean even if it doesn't have the same effect. I would recommend getting book 2 as a lead-up to this, book 1 was very good but not as essential in my opinion.

This is without a doubt one of the greatest graphic novels I have ever read. It serves as an incredible culmination of Morrison's Animal Man saga, following Buddy Baker's descent into his own personal hell, and his difficult journey back out again. The art is functional-- not bad, not great either, but that's all been said before. All in all a pretty amazing piece of work. Buddy is such a fundamentally GOOD guy, you can't help but care about what happens to both him and his family. It's smart, it doesn't talk down to you, and it happens to pull off some pretty amazing stunts by the last page. Give it a shot.

There is not much in the way of a proper *story* in this book: events have little relevance or connection to one another. However, apparently this is part of the Author's intent. The idea is to discuss the relationship between creators (specifically comic writers) and their creations. A scenery is presented on "what if a comic character could actually find out that he is just so?". There is a discussion on the meaning of a comic character's reality, of the fact that he is just a puppet to a writer, of him not knowing that his "memories" are actually implanted by a writer etc.

That is the larger, main scope of this comic, which collects issues 18-26 of Animal Man (published late 1989 to early 1990), thus finishing Grant Morrison's run on the title. In a smaller-scope storyline, Morrison acknowledges the Crisis on Infinite Earths (which no character in the DC Universe was supposed to be aware of, except for the Psycho-Pirate) and discusses the meaning of such event to the existence/non-existence of comic characters in the DCU and in real life.

All this makes Deus Ex Machina a singular comic story, especially within the DCU realm. It is not a masterpiece (therefore 4 out of 5 stars), but it should always be highlighted as a very meaningful corner among the twists and turns of DC's mainstream storylines. It is an understatement to call it unusual.

Thorough annotations on these specific issues (18-26) can be found on the Web, in the "Crisis annotations" page (just google it, it's easy to find).

By the time you reach the mind shattering conclusion of Deus Ex Machina, the last volume in Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, everything he set up from the beginning comes full circle. As Buddy Baker and the strange Highwater go out to the desert, Buddy makes a shocking revelation that will take him to Arkham Asylum to confront the Psycho Pirate; a villain boasting about alternate worlds that no longer exist. Before that though, tragedy strikes Animal Man at the home front in a way he never imagined, and it isn't long before he teams up with the Mirror Master to exact revenge. Just about everything that Morrison has set up from the beginning of his run is tied up here: from the erratic behavior of Animal Man's powers, to the mysterious yellow alien's purpose, to the identity of the apparition stalking his family. All of which reaches the long hinted at conclusion in which Morrison breaks the fourth wall. The art is still take it or leave it, but Morrison's inventive story more than makes up for it. Even all these years later, Morrison's brilliant, at times preachy, deconstruction of this minor DC super hero remains one of his best works, and here's the proof. All in all, if you've never read any of Morrison's Animal Man run, now is the time to give it a look.

Jeff Smith is one of the greatest comic artists of our times, and it is inevitable that with the end of his epic series Bone, that we would have a one volume art collection of that series. If you're a fan of Bone, you won't be disappointed. Seeing the Bone covers and other color work in a larger size brings them to life. The artwork is amazing. The only reason that I give this four stars instead of five is that a lot of the work in this volume has been printed before, so if you've been following the series from the beginning, you probably already have 90% of the art that is included. This is not necessarily a bad thing since the images are printed in a larger format in this volume, but it would have been nice to see more sketchbook material. Another thing that dropped the rating is that there is hardly any text included other than a few captions. I appreciate that as much space as possible was kept for art, but it would have been nice to read about about the creation process, the origin and development of the Bone story, or Jeff Smith's philosophy on comics. Regardless of these minor quibbles, this is an excellent collection, and would make a wonderful gift to fans of Bone.

Bone was a real surprise, many years ago. B&W art was uncommon and the story was magnetic, pulling you into a world where cartoon characters wondered about with humans. From the very first issues thev reader was presented with plots and beasts that seemed like many other universes we know, but with a charm that was totally magic.
This book presents us with some marvelous art, sketches and behind the scenes info on how these stories came to be, form and style wise.
If you like to know a bit how Jeff works and structures ideas and styles and how the wonderful mix of Bone was born just don't miss this book.
There's a few extras as well... but I won't spoil you the surprise.

My son became "addicted" to the Bone series about a year and a half ago. I've never been a fan of comics but when my non-reader decided these books were what he wanted to read I was on a quest. He started by reading the color re-releases of the first few books and when Old Man's Cave had not come out yet I bought him the all-in-one book with 1000+ pages. My non-reader finished it in a short amount of time and was left with wanting more. When I came across "The Art of Bone" I was thrilled. It talked about how Jeff Smith created the characters when he was 9 years old. My son turned 9 last month so I got it for his birthday. As he was going to bed and talking about the day (which included 9 friends and The Reptile Guy) he said his favorite part was receiving "The Art of Bone"! THAT made MY day! It is a beautiful book and is very informative. I would recommend it highly to anyone interested in this series, beautiful comic book art or looking for inspiration.

(from an extended article, copyright 2007 Michael F. Hopkins)

For those who have come to treasure the Sequential masterpiece known
as BONE, this coffee-table volume will be an extra-special treat. For those who have never heard of the phenomenal epic which established storyteller Jeff Smith as a prime mover in the fields of Comics and Children's Literature, THE ART OF BONE will serve as an eye-popping introduction to one of the finest authors in any field.
The latest hardcover project from Dark Horse Comics, THE ART OF
BONE is a feast of information. Detailing why and how Smith became
a cartoonist, the book showcases his interest from schooldays to professional practice decades later.

Rich in Smith's probing, versatile illustrations, the volume
pinpoints the essential and unique balancing act which the
Sequential author must play between narrative and visualizing.
In an era where too many throw all their logs on one fire,
showboating without focus or meaning, the success of a skillful talespinner with much to say and share with all is as refreshing
as it is encouraging.
A stirring, insightful whimsy worthy of Walt Kelly (Pogo) and
Charles Schulz (Peanuts) is complemented by reflective pathos and
intense character interplay that Will Eisner (Sundiata, The Spirit)
could take great pride in.
In Jeff Smith's aesthetic, a tale can cross all boundaries, whether through animated cunning or larger-than-life Fantasy, and bring its points effectively home.

Whether lost in the wilderness, or deep in the throes of a life-shaping
quest, the imperative of journey informs the heart Smith's work. THE
ART OF BONE is a delightful look into the way of that path, and how much fun using one's head can be.
Very uplifting, in fact, for the heart and soul.

Give it a read.
Give it several.

Jeff Smith truly has lived the American Dream...he found one thing he liked to do and he's done it for his entire life. OK, that may be simplifying things a bit. But even as a child, Smith knew he wanted to be a cartoonist. In fact, inside this fantastic book you'll get to see one of the very first Bone comics, drawn by Smith when he was just ten years old. The characters had yet to be refined in terms of their look and personalities, but the spirit is still there. Bone is really one of the great comics and one of the great comics success stories of the modern era. A wacky and wise-cracking strip that is one part Walt Kelly, one part J.R.R. Tolkien, and the rest all Smith. Smith took a chance on his creations, and self-published them. While most self-publishers fail quite quickly, Smith proved that talent rises to the top. Bone soon became a cult-hit on the part of Cerebus the Aardvark.

This volume from Dark Horse Books is chock full of 200 pages of rare Jeff Smith Bone art. Some of it unpublished, some of it pencil versions, alternate covers, etc. You get a little bit of everything in this book: Finished panel pages, completed, full color covers, unfinished panel sequences, rare sketches, pencil versions of completed covers, often side-by-side with the finished product, and so much more. The editors are along to provide captions to the art at the bottom of the page, often noting Smith's influences such as the valley scene from Bone #1 and its comparison to a similar scene from one of Joe Kubert's Tarzan pages. Not that it is a copy of the Kubert scene, but rather how smith uses perspective in the scene, dwarfing the characters by the sheer expanse of the area that Bone is looking over.

The book also reprints perhaps the seminal page in Bone's history. Bone is being chased by two of the fearsome Rat creatures that are ever after him. He leaps to a tiny branch thinking he is safe as the two large predators could not possibly fit on the same branch, and would be stupid to try. When they are both on the branch, Bone screams the immortal words, "Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures!" This phrase has even been included in Random House's Cyberspeak dictionary.

The book introduces the reader to all of the main characters including Fone Bone (the star), scheming Phoney Bone, dim-witted Smiley Bone, Thorn (bone's human love interest), Gran'ma Ben, and Lucius who runs the local tavern. With heroes you need villains and we can't leave them out...they include The Lord of the Locusts, The Hooded One, and Kingdok, who rules the Rat Creatures.

Bone is so rich in its story and scope that it really humbles comics that have been put out by the "larger companies". Even if you haven't read the comics you're sure to be dazzled by the art in this book. Smith is without a doubt one of the best cartoonists and best storytellers of the past twenty years. And if you are a Bone fan then the book will provide a lot of interesting anecdotes to many of the stories that you've enjoyed over the years. The good thing is that even though the series ended in 2004, Scholastic Books is reprinting the series in collected editions and in full color. This book gets my highest possible rating. Get it...NOW!


REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

This book is big and chock full of beautiful Linsner paintings (many of which are of his greatest creation: Dawn). If you have ever seen any of his work and you liked it, I would recommend this book. There is an intro by Linsner that's pretty interesting and there are snippets about each painting throughout the book. It's a stout book that would be better as a hardcover, but that's my only complaint.

The Art of Joseph Michael Linsner is essential to any JML collector, but also an awesome item for anyone who appreciates the beauty of art. The softcover edition of this collection makes it affordable to the big fans with small bank accounts. Looking through the eyes of Joe, one will see a woman as a work of art or poetry and not a piece of meat. The colors are vibrant, the details are lucid, and the annotations throughout truly give insight into the mind of the artist, who he is, how he feels, and what inspires him.

Edited by JML and Eva Hopkins, with special thanks to Zeke Feldhaus, The Art of Joseph Michael Linsner is cleverly divided into sections. It begins with a nice introduction by Richard Kane Ferguson, then proceeds to a fabulous story by JML about the first artbook he bought which reveals how his taste for art began when he was just a boy. After that, we see exquisite images of Dawn, Death, and Dark Ivory along with many others (women, men, and vampires, oh my!) throughout the Love, Hate, Heaven and Hell sections. Then we move on to About the Art, comments by JML (about art, of course) which include images from the creation of the Dawn: Three Tiers #1 cover from its birth/sketch stage to the gorgeous finished painting. And of course, no collection of art would be complete without an About the Artist segment (with pictures). But wait, that's not all, there is also a two-page spread with photographs of Dawn Lookalikes from DragonCon, some Dawn collectors items, and a few other odd and end pictures. This definitely adds a personal touch to the entire thing. Well, if you've read this far, you must be interested, so what are waiting for? Get your copy today.

WOW! If one could give out 10 stars on the 5 star scale this would be the book to score that high.

More that just a detailed, beautiful look into one of America's leading illustrators, this is an insightful prose into the mind of that artist. Here is the successor of the great artists of the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Done in a style that is very today, and very much his own.

An amazingly well produced book, with quality throughout. From the paper, the binding, to the wonderful reproductions, everything is top notch. This is an art book you would expect to pay two to three times more for.

I feel this is a chance to glimpse into tomorrows major gallery artist, before he explodes on the scene. Live a little dangerously and venture into some unknown areas. ENJOY!

WOW! If one could give out 10 stars on the 5 star scale this would be the book to score that high.

More that just a detailed, beautiful look into one of America's leading illustrators, this is an insightful prose into the mind of that artist. Here is the successor of the great artists of the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Done in a style that is very today, and very much his own.

An amazingly well produced book, with quality throughout. From the paper, the binding, to the wonderful reproductions, everything is top notch. This is an art book you would expect to pay two to three times more for.

I feel this is a chance to glimpse into tomorrows major gallery artist, before he explodes on the scene. Live a little dangerously and venture into some unknown areas. ENJOY!

I believe the book is now out of print, but if you're lucky you might be able to pick it up at a comic book shop which is where I got mine. This book is FANTASTIC!!! Definitely one of the best fantasy art books out there. Great colors, excellent depictions of Dawn - the fiery redhead with one eye showing *grins* and some of the most imaginative and creative art pieces you'll ever see!

Even the backgrounds are incredibly detailed, with everything from dragons to architecture to detailed walls and textures. He really sets the mood in every piece he does.

Excellent work of art. Absolutely excellent.

I was impressed with both the quality and contents of this book. Mr. Kishimoto not only provides readers with amazing art (colorful and huge!), but also a variety of thoughts and concepts behind each of the 75 drawings (how they relate to the overall Naruto world, technical art details, etc.) There are also bonuses: a detailed description of how the cover art was made, a gallery (small, greyscale) of Shonen Jump covers featuring Naruto, and interview material. Believe it!

Short and sweet: If you like the artwork of Naruto, you won't be disappointed with this book. I especially liked Masashi Kishimoto's walkthrough of the cover art and his interpretation of squad 7 as a rock band (although I would have made Sasuke the guitarist as the guitarist and singer are always vying for the camera's attention but that's a personal choice). Several of the pieces would be excellent poster fodder. Highly recommended!

My daughters (pre-teens and teens) likes these types of books. It's not my favotite but it's theirs. And to encourage their love in reading, I do allow them to read some books of their choices in additional to the more academic choices books.

This book's art is top notch. Kishimoto's full color panels are collected here and they don't disappoint. What really makes this book worthwhile though is the Q&A and commentary from Kishimoto and the step by step guide through his creative process. Well worth the price.

Kishimoto Masashi's /Naruto/ art book is just as it sounds: Another manga \ pictures from the creator art book. It's been done before. The only people who would probably appreciate it are art students interested in comics, or fans of the popular Naruto series. However, for those who do buy this book, well, it's beautiful, to say the very least.

The book separated into sections, each containing a poem or snippet I assume was written by Kishimoto-san. For the publishers, VIZ Media, what I praise most about this book is the fact that they left the original Japanese print that went along with some of the pictures and translated off to the side. For some, this might be a nuisance, but for a student of the language, it's a good way to test themselves.

Now, onto the book itself. Most of the pictures are cover spreads or pictures that have appeared on the cover of /Shonen Jump/ magazine. Thus, they have more than likely been seen by fans before. However, these pictures are uninterrupted by the text that goes on the covers of that magazine, and have - in the back of the book, sort of like the index - an explanation from Kishimoto-san himself explaining the thought processes and work that went into every picture. The art showcases pictures drawn up to volume twenty-four of the manga.

The extras include an interview with Kishimoto-san basically speaking more of the creation of Naruto and ideas he puts into motion. Also, there is a step-by-step feature of how to draw the front cover using the same tools as Kishimoto-san himself.

In the end, this book is a great buy for Naruto fans and those who want to learn from Kishimoto-san's style. Or for those who just respect the art. However, in the end, it was made for fans of the series, just as all manga art books are.

The Artist Within showcases comic artists and cartoonists, usually inside their own workspaces, for a unique and thrilling look at how these creative people surround themselves (and therefore what drives them to do the work they do). The photos are stunning, the reproduction brilliant, and any fan of comic art will find many favorites represented inside, with huge black and white photos by Greg Preston, brief bios, and samples of their work.

There is no other book quite like this on the market, and it's about time we got one--and more than that, such a splendid one.

This book, without question is AMAZING! This book should be in every photography class, on every library and a standard for what the artist behind the camera can do.

Mr. Preston has run us through all emotions with this stellar work - he obviously threw his heart and soul into it - enjoy it!! The background of his shots makes one feel they are getting the best vew from his eye.

Thanks for a superior work!!

This book is an amazing study of artists and people. Even if you're not a comic book fan, these images open up the unbelievably private world of an artists' workspace and it's a fascinating study. Every time I leaf through these pages, I notice something new, some detail that you can see reflected in the pen and ink beside it.

And if you are a comic book fan... how can you resist this glimpse backstage?!

You can't. This book is irresistible. Thanks, Greg Preston!

Greg Preston has done an amazing job of photographing some of the worlds most talented and creative artists and getting that extra insight into their personalities by having them pose where they work, in their studios. Since he's been at it for well over a decade, the book luckily remembers many that have since passed away. It's fantastic to see so many people that have inspired me while turning page after page of this huge hardcover, Hogarth, Toth, Wrightson, Kaluta, Smith, Romita among, well, around 95 others! This collection should also put Greg on the map as an exceptional artist himself. You wouldn't even have to care about who he's snapping a camera at to enjoy and appreciate his knockout skill. I'm looking forward to a volume two!

As an artist myself, I am always fascinated to see the working environments of other artists. This book shows a ton of them. It's a huge, over sized book filled with gorgeous photos. I highly recommend it!