Cartoons Books

This collection of Tony Carrillo's wonderful new comic strip F MINUS shows why he is gaining in popularity across the country. His offbeat humor is both original and right on the money.

His Spartan art only complements the humor and makes it a stand out in the current field of The Far Side wannabes in today's newspapers and bookstores.

Here's hoping there are many more collections of this laugh out loud strip in the years to come.

Having spent a few years at Arizona State when F-Minus was run in the campus paper, I've seen pretty much the whole collection. This book is an excellent collection of comics run over the first year of syndication, and it contains some of my favorites.

That being said, it needs more of the work Tony did in the ASU newspaper. I'm not sure if there's an issue with the syndication/copyright/whatever that prevents those from being included, but there are only about five pages worth of ASU-era F-Minus comics. Hopefully the rest surface (or have surfaced) somewhere for posterity's sake.

I really enjoy this book, my kind of sense of humor. With this book, now I don't have to refer back to my hard drive where I save my favorite F-Minus comics when I need a laugh. If you enjoy Garfield comics or not, you will definitely enjoy this book!

This book is excellent for any fan of f-minus. It always fun to see comics from his college years as well as his comics from the first year of syndication. I highly recommend getting this book.

What a great book. I've been a fan of F-Minus and Carrillo for a while, but this book is full of comics that I have read and some that are new to me and each one is better than the last. I'm just waiting for the sequel.

I bought this book expecting one of those 'Making of . . .' creations, but ended up being pretty disappointed. Don't get me wrong, this guide is very informative, amusing and candy for the eyes . . . but for children. Or, for adults with inner children. Seeing as I'm a cynical teenager, it didn't do much for me :)

If you want to learn even more about the ocean -- check out Captain Jon Explores the Ocean on DVD - also available on Amazon.

This book is really cool and it gave me a lot of information on Finding Nemo that I didn't know about before.
But I did see a couple of errors in the book.
But the only errors were length and stuff like that....so it really doesn't matter that much.
Besides that the book gives you information on just about everyone in the movie and information on the type of fish that the characters are,like I never knew that Dory and Bubbles were related,let me tell you how:
Dory is a Regal Tang.
Bubbles is a Yellow Tang. cool huh....?
Anyway, its a good book to read when you're bored or while you're watching the movie.
This book is auesome.
sincerly,
Kenny (jellyman)

I have been researching Finding Nemo for three months now and of all the stuff I might get besides two books ( including this one)and a CD, this is probably the most awesome. When I first read it, I knew everyting and I have read it five times. I have memorized this awesome book and I highly reccomend it for all those fans out there!(But none as dedicated as me.)Also, I reccomend Don't Invite A Shark to Dinner and Other Lessons from the Sea. It, too, is an awesome book and I have memorized that as well. Hi, Erin Wilser!!!

This was the neatest Finding Nemo book! It has all you need to know about the little secret things about Finding Nemo! In fact, it's my favorite book! Finding Nemo is my favorite movie, and now I have a favorite book to match it! I especially like how even the moonfish and jellyfish get their own page full of information. The tank gang's bios were very interesting, as were overlooking of the dentist's office. Thank you Nemo!

I've been a professional animator for over 10 years and I found this to be a valuable resource. It's written by some very talented people over at Animax Entertainment, who have tons of production experience. It offers great organizational tips and tricks for building and animating your characters. It also gives so much insight from the perspective of working on a larger productive team. Sure it's easy to develop your own ways of working when you work by yourself, but the suggestions in this book are a very smart and efficient approach for working on any sized project. They also give you a list of plugins that will help... and even describe how to make them work for you. And the information on how to make use of After Effects is just fantastic. I've adopted so many time-saving ways to work... things I never knew about in all of my years using Flash! I am using this book constantly for reference as I work on my new cartoon project. Thanks guys!

I found very helpful the guides given by the authors. I was trying to figure out how develop a short cartoon animation in a correct way and after I read this book I found the answers. Thanks!

If you're looking for a book that teaches you how to draw in Flash, this is not the book for you. It will, however, teach you the nuts and bolts of animation, the technical information necessary to make animation less time consuming, which is a must-have imo.

This book is a must for everyone who is tired of animating on paper and wishes to digitalize their work completely in Flash or After Effects. The book covers many great aspects including; making shortcuts of your workflow with user made extensions, brilliant tips & tricks and personal advices how to make life easier for the animators.

This book is also amazing for those who already have knowledge of Flash or After Effects, but wish to enhance their skills or take their production to the next level.

After reading this book, my animation workflow and quality improved.

Best recommendations from here.


-Alex Volkov (Flash Animator)

There are many books about cartoon animation in Flash. What sets this book apart from the rest is the approach the authors have taken to make this book much more than just another step-by-step book about drawing and animating characters. Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation is for the animator who needs to stretch beyond the mechanics of the Flash tools and perfect the decision-making process necessary to become a productive animator. One of the biggest questions that is answered in this book is when to use Flash and how to use it most efficiently. The next question is what tasks are beyond Flash's capabilities and when to turn to another software such as After Effects.

The authors assume that the reader has a basic knowledge of Flash and the principles of animation. Because of this, you will find only a few step-by-step examples. What they do cover thoroughly is every phase of the production process for cartoon animation from planning, storyboards and animatics to post-production and delivery. The approach for this book is to examine working examples which can be downloaded from the publisher's website.

If you have ever created a complex character animation including lip synching and facial expressions, then you know that your character must be divided into a large number of individual animated parts. This is why the authors dedicate a whole chapter to organization and using the Flash library system to build character libraries. As you progress through the process from head comps and onward, the authors show when it is best to draw from scratch and when to use Flash symbols. Storyboards and animatics are next in the production process and the book covers several decisions that must be made such as choosing between traditional, hand-drawn storyboards and the digital method in Flash.

Moving from the planning stages to character creation, the authors discuss the technical and organizational issues such as Flash file structures and project architecture. They take a look at several working examples to give the reader a comprehensive overview of this topic. One of the most helpful aspects of this book is how the authors help you decide when Flash is not enough to get the job done and how to expand Flash's capabilities with plug-ins. They discuss several of their favorites, how to find more on the web and when to make your own.

One of the most important decisions that an animator will need to make is the choice between traditional frame by frame animation and tweening. The authors share their four step process for frame by frame animation and then discuss tweening and how to avoid common mistakes.

I mentioned earlier that the authors discuss the use of a dedicated motion graphic software such as After Effects to take your Flash project to a higher level of quality and sophistication. They discuss some of the advantages to using After Effects for editing and composition such as complex camera movements and 3D effects.

Flash has been plagued by one major drawback since its conception a decade ago and that is the extreme "digital" look of the vector artwork created in Flash. The authors share several tips and suggestions for enhancing your Flash project to achieve a more "hand-drawn" appearance to your animation including line styles and color choices. They also cover the digital equivalents for traditionally hand-drawn special effects such as distortion, drag, fade in/out and blurs.

This book was a joint effort of several authors. Tim Jones is an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer and head of production at ANIMAX Entertainment. Barry J. Kelly is an Emmy Award-winning editor and artist and is also a member of ANIMAX Entertainment. Allan S. Rosson is animation director at ANIMAX Entertainment and has over twenty years experience as an animator. David Wolfe was an animator at ANIMAX Entertainment and is now with Cartoon Network Studios.

Is Jim Davis trying to pull a George Lucas on us? All of these re-released full-color books are missing the final page of the original release books.

This re-release Third Book (Bigger Than Life) is missing the "Garfield Up Close And Personal" special page that was the final page of the original release.

It would be a shame to have the special comic lost to time. Luckily I have all the originals.

Normally I should give a 1-Star rating to show my displeasure with the missing content of this release. However, I simply can't bring myself to give a poor rating to a Garfield book.

Garfield is great! I love his books, I want my mom and dad to get the newspaper every day just so I can get more Garfield! In his third book Jim Davis' illustrations are at their best. Also I am just bummed that the Garfield books are finally on color. Odie is my favorite character.

Gotta love Garfield the cat. He says things that a lot of us don't have the guts to say. He is lazy, loves to sleep although I think eating outweighs his love for sleep even more, doesn't enjoy getting physical exams, and enjoys abusing the family dog. As hysterically funny as the first two Garfield books are, I really think that "Bigger Than Life" takes Garfield to a whole new level of laziness and gluttony. The animation is a lot better as well. Here the reader is introduced to the world's cutest (and annoying) kitten Nermal. Originally Nermal belonged to Jon's parents however over the years, Jim Davis just had Nermal drop in unexpectedly. The early drawings of Nermal was just as crude as the early Garfield drawings were. One of the greatest moments in this book was when Garfield sneezed and Jon's breakfast ended up on his face. The other greatest moment that I still love is when Jon leaves the house to go jogging, and Garfield finds a loose thread. Garfield pulls it until...well, Jon returns home unepxectedly in his birthday suit. An absolutely priceless moment for me. I also thought when Garfield caught a code was hilarious.
Whenever I feel down, I know I can always count on Garfield making me laugh with his antics.

Although his first two books are good, this book is better and I would consider this to be Garfield's best book of the pre-'82 era. I like the part when Garfield scratches on Jon's chair and Nermal got blamed for it, that was hilarious, if you're a Garfield fan then you can't go wrong getting this book and be sure not to let your cat do what Garfield does otherwise there will be a lot hell to pay.

Contains all the daily and Sunday strips August 27, 1979 through March 30, 1980.

This is a great Garfield book! One of my favorites! Classic and Newie Garfield are both awsome. Some of the coolest strips eva in this one!! I love the one where Garfield sticks the chicken leg in Jon's ear: Jon: "Stay Away from my chicken leg, Garfield." Garfield: "Aw, stuff it in your ear! ROWR, FFT!" Jon: "What was that?! (chicken leg gets stuffed in his ear) Oh." Hahahahaha!!! How can you not laugh at that? I also like it when Jon tells this joke about Garfield sitting on the sofa: Jon: "Now Garfield, I wouldnt say that you're fat... But when you sit aroung the sofa, you SIT AROUND the sofa!" Garfield: (kicks Jon in the air) "Heads, he lives, tails, he dies!" Now, that was violent of Garfield 2 do dat, but, it wuz hilarious. Oh, its also funny when Irma first comes and finds a bad potato.

OK, thats all im doing for now. Buy this, NOW! Its the best classic ever!

This book is the best Garfield book of them all. Garfield is always embarrasing Jon and punting Odie. If you ask me my favorite strips are where he destroies the mailman and punts Odie.

I remember the first time I read this book 10 and 1/2 years ago. It is true 'classic' Garfield at his best. This is a must for any hardcore Garfield fan. New fans of Garfield will probably like this book, even though Garfield looks a lot of different as compared to his 'modern' look. I guess that goes to show how much Garfield has evolved in his 21 years, without losing his witty and sarcastic humor. If you do not have this book, then what are waiting for, buy it now! :)

"Garfield At Large" introduced the public to a fat, orange tabby cat named Garfield who has an enormous appetite for everything that is pasta, has a dork for an owner, and loves to sleep as much as he hates Mondays. The animation is a lot different from the Garfield we all know and love today. His body is bigger, smaller eyes, a t-shaped nose but his personality remains the same. "Garfield Gains Weight" is the second book of Garfield comic strips. Towards the end of "Garfield At Large", the animation begins to slowly evolve. In "Garfield Gains Weight", you can see the difference between the Garfield of the late '70s and the Garfield of the early '80s. The eyes are bigger and the ears are more pointy but Garfield's sharp wit remains firmly intact. One of my favorite strips in the book is when Jon makes a fat joke about Garfield and Garfield kicks Jon so hard that he spins. The reader is introduced to two new characters; Liz, Garfield's vet and Jon's unrequited love interest, and Irma, the sassy diner waitress. No matter how many times Jon asks Liz out for a date, Liz always finds a way to shoot Jon down which is always hilarious. I also love those moments when Jon tries to give Garfield a bath and Garfield fights back. Other great moments in the book is when Jon has Garfield performing tricks. That is probably the most exercise I have seen Garfield do in the 20 plus some years I have been reading the popular comic strip. My favorite strip in this book has to be when Garfield was so bored that he shoots a small pebble through a straw at Odie and total chaos breaks loose. That still cracks me up to this very day. Although I am a dog person at heart, Garfield the cat is my favorite cat. I have yet to be tired of the sarcastic fat cat.

Contains all the daily and Sunday strips January 23, 1979 through August 26, 1979.

I stopped reading the comics regulerly when Bloom County stopped. I didn't find the comics funny anymore. This work, which shows some of his earliest strips are funny, and if you understand the poltical references because you were alive then, which I was, it makes this all the more funny.

As one progresses through this book, as well as the other outstanding volumes in the Bloom County "Anthology," you remember the quirky concepts, ideals, and opinions of your childhood. You didn't understand much of the strip growing up, as I did, but in retrospect it offers a frank, comical, unyielding, and nostalgic trip through our lives. True Bloom county fans will share my utter sorrow when the last few pages bring an end to an amazing book. I hope Breathed has some more projects in the future.

This book was very sad.For those who have read Bloom County before it is a must read.And the ones who haven't,still,it is a must read.The ending to this magnificent comic strip was done in excelent taste.You can feel the sorrow as it is over,never to be done again.The charcters are great,which makes it so sad.It truely is a gift on what he did in this last book.I cried,I laughed,I jumped on dandylions.

It is a testament to the talents of Berke Breathed that well over ten years after he suspended "Bloom County," it is still sorely missed by its legions of fans, myself included. Once described as "Doonesbury with animals," "Bloom County" took on a life of its own, and what a life it was. "Happy Trails" consists of strips from the County's last year, and all the familiar characters are here--Opus, Bill, Steve Dallas, Cutter John, Milo, and Hodgepodge--as well as a couple of new characters who would star in Breathed's follow-up strip "Outland." Breathed's observations are dead on, and the strips will often have you thinking--once you get enough oxygen back to your brain after laughing so hard. With the possible exception of "Dilbert," no comic today has the fan loyalty that "Bloom County" did--and now that Charles Schultz is no longer with us, I doubt any will again.

Happy Trails begins with Opus deciding to get an illegal back-alley liposuction of his nose, and ends with him saying "Good-bye" to all of the familiar faces and places of Bloom County on the way to the sequel "Outland". On the pages that intervene Berkeley Breathed gets in some hilarious and dead-on pokes at religious fanatics, Donald Trump, Swimsuit Editions, and phone solicitors.

Not quite as coherent a collection as the previous books as Breathed tries to get in his "last shots" before retiring Bloom County forever, this book is still hilarious and interesting, and a must-have for those looking to complete their BC collection.

"OVER 400 HIRSCHFELD DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS MANY NEVER BEFORE COLLECTED
Essays by Whoopi Goldberg, Arthur Miller, Mel Gussow, Kurt Vonnegut, Grace Mirabella, Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, and Nina!

Commentary by Hirschfeld Throughout.
[from the book of the back cover of the jacket]

What a joy of a book. Not just the great grafics but very interestng information about the Great Hirschfeld

I really enjoyed looking through this book. I am absolutely in love with theater and I love seeing how he depicts all of my favorite shows and actors. He's been through the "Golden Age" of theater and has also done so much work for modern entertainment. I also have tons of fun looking for all the hidden "Nina"s. Just in case you might not know what I'm talking about, let me explain. After his daughter was born, Hirschfield began hiding her name in his drawings. The number by his "signiture" indicates the number of "Nina"s in the drawing. "Nina" is also written all in caps. Because of this, this book is not going to be just some ordinary coffee table book that only his fans might check out. It could also be a great deal of amusement for those who like to play the kind of "Where's Waldo" games.

Al Hirschfeld rose above titles like "cartoonist" and "illustrator", and every other tag specifically applied to visual artists who inject design and humor into their work. His intelligent blend of the caricaturist's eye and the designer's sense of the beauty in flat forms add up to an entirely unique contribution to twentieth century popular culture- and a highly influential one. His recent passing at age 99 marks the end of the century that he witnessed and commented upon so wittily and so stylishly. His legions of admirers (and imitators) will be well served by this 1999 book, assembled by the artist himself, with an excellent selection from his career, his invaluable commentary, and a fairly satisying selection of his amazing (and less celebrated) color work. The reproductions are fine here, and the volume is designed and presented well. It can only be hoped that more comprehensive releases and reissues of earlier books are in the near future.

Here is the indispensible Hirschfeld book - a must for any fan of his work, or of line in general. From his earliest pieces, all the way through his long career with New York theatre, his work is showcased - and done so through his eyes. Each piece is described by this great artist - his inspirations, methods, and thoughts. I cannot imagine a better way to present his wonderful drawings, and I am so very, very thankful that this collection was printed before his death. Although, yes, the work would show just as beautifully without, his commentary alongside each piece just opens up an entirely new viewpoint. This is a truly timeless book, and I highly recommend it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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