Humor Books

I purchased this book as a Christmas gift for my sister. I enjoyed the book when I read it. I am still waiting to hear if she enjoyed it as well.

Everything about this book was great. So TRUE! If you are a woman in the South, you will really dig this book!

I have laughed and cried (from laughing) through this book! I feel like this is the story of my life sometimes. Great read...especially for 40-somethings and up! Or mothers of any age...I'll be reading more by this author.

Though I am from a different region of the South than the author, the truisms smack you in the face like the humidty on a hot Southern summer's day. She has captured the essence of all of us who were reared in the South. And it is true, that most of us over a "certain" age prefer red lipstick. After all, Revlon wouldn't lie to us, would they?
I vary between gales of laughter and nodding in agreement while reading and wish someone were here so I could read it aloud to them.
She has captured our little customs, the SOP of our daily lives in a way no Yankee could ever do, but still it is an inspiration to those women who grew up North of the Mason-Dixon line and want to understand the mystique of Southern women. Men should read this as well. It is full of insights on how to survive with a Southern woman in a close personal relationship.
G Hileman, Middle TN and now FL

Although I'm not aging all that gracefully, my grandmother certainly did. Unlike her I'm approaching 40 and can't decide on the proper thing to wear. I Love this glimpse into southern womanhood as it should be lived out - and in some cases is. Like Ms. Thompson, I have told my husband to clean me up and dress me in something cute if he should have to take me to the hospital or, heaven help him, the funeral home. I just hope he picks something that I think I look good in, and not something he's always wanted to see me in.

Lucy Adams, author of If Mama Don't Laugh, It Ain't Funny

I have been a faithful FoxTrot reader for years. Roger, Andy and their kids Peter, Paige and Jason are always good for a reality check with a large dose of laughter. I've got two girls and let me tell you, I see a lot of my kids in Paige with, I believe, even a healthy dose of Jason thrown in. And they have Peter's bottomless stomach. Of course, they're faithful FoxTrot readers too. I used to read the strip to them, explain what was going on, but now they get it just fine and we three all laugh together. Then my girls try and explain the strip to their dad, who pretends he doesn't get it.

The FoxTrot folks are a great family, one we sort of got used to checking up on every day, so we took the news that Mr. Amend was going to cease daily distribution of his wonderfully funny people and turn his strip to Sunday only, with a bit of sadness. Still, we have these terrific FoxTrot books to keep us going with our FoxTrot fix. Mr. Amend is to be commended for his great gift to our culture and his great gift to so many lives. I truly believe a laugh a day, helps keep the blues away and the FoxTrot gang are always good for a laugh. Heck there are a lot of laughs in the FoxTrot books. I know, I have them all and I am, along with my girls and my hubby dear, eagerly awaiting the next one.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we don't have an iguana, but my girls do have a pet gecko and, you guessed it, his name is Quincy.

I've been a Foxtrot reader for a long time and personally I think there is something suspiciously wrong with people who don't find Bill Amend's characters funny as all get out. If you want a good laugh, check out Bill in your local newspaper, or better yet, get one of the Foxtrot books. They are all great, really, they are.

Like many of Mr. Amend's fans I'm a bit disappointed he's switching his strip to Sunday-only, but fortunately I can still read him daily in the Foxtrot books. Get them one and all and you can keep right on a laughing.

You see the list on the side, and obviously, I am a FoxTrot fanatic & own all of the books. Just why would I own something that is dumb? Besides, if you haven't heard of FoxTrot, you either: don't look at the newspaper, or haven't visited the bookstore in about a year.

Among all of the halarious one-day strips, outrageous series include:
-Moby 2000
-Thanksgiving
-Jasoneezer Scrooge
-Christmas
-Jasonzonbayhoodotcom
-Paige vs. Red Orb Guardian
-Babysitting
-Baseball's suprising spectators
-Where's the coffee???
-Summer Dayz
-To Boonhurst...To the hospital...To Wall Street

Aren't intrigued yet to buy this book?

Admit it. We all have one or more family members that resemble the characters in the FoxTrot comic strip. Whether it's the tofu cooking mom, the morning-coffee addicted dad, the hollow leg older son, the self-absorbed daughter, or the geeky younger son, every family can relate.

"Think iFruity" is a collection of daily and Sunday FoxTrot comic strips. It starts with the dad, Roger, buying a Mobycom-2000 cell phone (think Titanic), and ends with Peter being disappointed with his Physics Lab. In between, the family gets their new "iFruit" computer (mango-kiwi, thank you), Roger goes a day without coffee (not a pretty sight), Paige fills her aquarium before taking it upstairs, and Jason kills off the Internet (makes the "I Love You" virus look like the sniffles).

The fun and hilarity never ends with the Fox Family. There's always some kind of chaos or mayhem going on--mainly created by the youngest, Jason Fox. If there hasn't been a problem that has confronted the Fox Family, just wait. They're always having to deal with a crisis that leads to hilarious results.

"Think iFruity" is yet another fabulous FoxTrot collection that is 127 pages of fun-filled comic antics from Roger (the father), Andy (the wife), Peter (the oldest son), Paige (the daughter), and Jason (the youngest son who has a pet iguana). One of the main story points that surrounds this collection is when the family must buy a new computer, and to Jason's absolute horror it is an "iFruity." How will the family cope with the change? Will Jason lose his mind and trash the computer himself? You'll have to wait and see what happens.

Other funny scenarios included in this fine collection:

*Roger's "Mobycom-2000"*
*Jasonezer Scrooge*
*Paige Defeats the Red Orb Guardian*
*Giving Up Coffee*
*Peter's Summer Gig ("Star Wars" Phobia)*
*The Paige Witch Project*
*Roger Quits Work (A Classic "Fox" Saga)*
...and more!

Bill Amend has never failed to get more than a few laughs out of me with his funny characters. The strips are topical, witty, clever and downright hilarious. He never runs out of ideas or storylines, and he always uses his characters to their full potential. This collection is just as funny as the previous ones, if not more. I am never bored when reading FoxTrot, and I was never bored during my reading of this particular collection. A job well done on all fronts.

"Think iFruity" is another hilarious FoxTrot chapter that definitely needs to be a part of your FoxTrot collection. And if you have not read FoxTrot, the more reason to check this out! If you're looking for an entertaining read that won't take up a lot of your time, this FoxTrot collection is just the fix for you. A great read that will have you laughing from the start. -Michael Crane

I just have to say alot of people said what this is about. About a girl that is gothic scarey and 4 boys that are beautiful as the light of the sun trying to make her a lady to get free rent. If I was them I do it too man, "free rent oh yeah" You get some new art in the manga, that is really new to us. But in anycase the art you learn to love I did. Just because this manga series is just so funny. Every page I was laughing so hard I couldn't even finish the page. You start looking at the art as if it beautiful the first couple of pages. I love the art now these people look Japanese. KEWL. I fell in love with these characters. I have alot of manga all kinds. But this is new to me, it's funny, cute, funny, and you get some romanitic times. I just love it. Just go to a book store and read the first one and if you don't like it. Then something is Seriously wrong with you. This is SO FUNNY PLEASE IT IS SO WORTH THE MONEY FOR TYPE OF PEOPLE IT'S JUST SO FUNNY YOU CAN'T SAY NO. OK maybe you can but don't.

One more thing this series goes to 20 volumes I checked it out. So I got 6 to go now. But they're not going to be out till next year. :(. I really do hope you like this series, as alot of people did here.
Later and Smiles ;P

I am not, by a long shot, what you would call an avid shoujo manga reader. It was actually never even my intention to read this, but my sister put a little annoying bug in my ear so (needless to say) I decided to give this manga a shot. I could not have been more grateful for actually doing so. This is, by far, one of the best mangas that I have ever read. The characters are highly entertaining and well developed, the art is beautifully done, the storyline is just awesome, and the author's ability to thrown in serious issues (such as self-esteem, beauty, and self-acceptance) is just amazing. It can be a bit over the top sometimes (not in an angsty way thank goodness), but its a comic so all is well!

I'm actually able to read and understand the Japanese version of this series, so I'm lucky enough to have read all the way up to vol. 19. All that I can say is that I'm still a fan, I will always be a fan, and I hope that you will become one too. The Wallflower isn't for everyone (obviously), its a little bit on the gothic side and sometimes that turns people off. I'm no goth either, but I can set aside my personl preferences to read and enjoy these books like there's no tomorrow. They're just that good.

the description doesn't do it justice; it comes off sounding like another coming-of-age girly story(which i guess it is but in a fantastic weird way). I give it five stars but with a few draw backs.
The good:

the most hilarious story i've read. i've never laughed so hard; Sunako is just awesome and completely different than the squealing girly mold of most shoujos. The leading lady is a horror obsessed recluse thrust into the light of four normal, handsome boys. The artwork ranges from mostly cute, funny chibi form to incredible beautiful artwork (mostly when Sunako is pissed or dressed up). There are some actual real poignant points in the manga. One scene that that i enjoyed was in the middle of 'turning Sunako into a lady' Sunako sits in her room surrounded by her horror comforts and asks Jason 'if they took away your mask and your chainsaw and made you be something you aren't what you would you do, Jason?' or something to that extent.

A couple of bad points:

though i'm going to get flamed for this the leading four men are waaaay too girly. Kyohei looks like a woman. Look at the front cover! If you didn't know any better you'd think it's a woman. I had a lot of trouble seperating the boys because they pretty much looked alike. Though the general thought is unique and funny there isn't a lot of go power for this manga. the slapstick gets old fast and starts to meander and looses the plot thread. you could read the first manga and be satisfied without reading the rest, i mean you can pretty much guess how it will end.
so. buy the first one and enjoy a laugh.

After reading through the other reviews I thought there wasn't too much to add, but . . .

I had to say something about the art. The art is extremely different. The author bases her characters on real Japanese musicians and due to this the characters actually look Japanese. Not a single character falls under the perfect looking, big eyed, shojo character that this type of work is prone to (think Fullmoon, anything by Yuu Watase). Due to this the art may be off putting to some. I think it is beautiful and completely original.

The only downside to the art is that Sunako (the main character) is usually drawn as a simple cartoon. When she is drawn she is beautiful and it makes you wish the author drew her like this more often. Also, the backgrounds are extremely sparse and sometimes there is nothing at all.

The plot lines (I have up to volume 11) are somewhat episodic (but there are cliffhangers), but it works. It feels like you're getting snipets of the life that the four boys and Sunako have together and their interactions. Plus, this is a truly funny book. Sunako tries to kill people, Kyohei is constantly being kidnapped or abused, Ranmaru has dated every women in the tristate area, and so on. There really is nothing like it.

All in all, if you want something funny, fresh, and original give this series a shot. Just know that you'll have to be patient to get the next vol. New works come out quarterly.

Calling Sunako Nakahara morbid is a huge understatement. She enjoys watcher slasher flicks and scary movies, her best friends are anatomical dolls Hiroshi-kun and Akira-kun, and she has black curtains in her room to keep out the sun-light. It's easy to say that she would be happy living in darkness for the rest of her life. However, Sunako's aunt, a flighty but rich woman, is worried about her niece, Sunako used to be `normal', she used to care about things like beauty and fashion and Ms. Nakahara doesn't like the new, dark Sunako, because frankly, she's a little scary. Ms. Nakahara strikes a deal with 4 incredibly handsome boys, if they can turn Sunako into a real lady; they can live at her super posh mansion rent free for 3 years. How is Sunako supposed live with 4 men so attractive, so `bright' that she has a nosebleed (in Japan, it's said that nosebleeds are caused by lust) each time one comes too close?

On the flipside, Kyohei, Yuki, Takenaga, and Ranmaru are forced to live with a girl so scary that they are still not quite sure if she's real or a ghost, and what's more, how can they teach her to be a lady? The first day they meet her and realize that they have a huge problem on their hands: Sunako appears in an old, stained, sweatshirt, an ugly skirt and hair that covers her face, it was remarked that she looked like the girl from `The Ring'. Having never met a girl who could resist their charms, the group is determined not to be fazed by her fearsome façade.

The series, although unrealistic, is hilarious. Each of the male protagonists adds their own style of humor: Ranmaru, a notorious lady killer with so many women he must loose count, is always the one hitting on women and is often used when a parody of a corny love scene is needed. Takenaga is the intellectual who, next to Kyohei, is the best at coping with Sunako's dark side. In the beginning, he was the only person that could see inside Sunako's room. Yuki is the cute one and also the one most disturbed by Sunako and her love for horror, he normally cries after prolonged contact with her because she will do something disturbing. Kyohei is the most attractive, lead the hardest life and as a result is the toughest of the four. Kyohei is stubborn and rude; he fights with Sunako on a regular basis and he is the only one that can keep her under some form of control.

It was easy to get confused in the beginning because Tomoko Hayakawa draws Sunako in half-chibi form (Sort of small and cartoon like) and Sunako looked like she was 12 years old to me. As the series progresses Sunako gets smaller and rounder until she is in full fledged chibi mode, the author explains her reasons for this in book 2 or 3. You rarely get to see Sunako as her true self but when you do she is either incredibly beautiful or disturbingly threatening, which ever is more appropriate to the plot. The artwork is magical, with the right touch of darkness surrounding Sunako and exploding light around Kyohei and his friends. There are scenes with Kyohei and Sunako together that are so beautiful and intricately drawn it's easy to become spellbound; you can practically feel their emotions radiating off of the page. The series is very goth, but it's entertaining enough that anyone can read it.

The Verdict:
Beautiful art paired with hilarious characters and dialog makes this series one you should not pass up. It is such a relief to read a shoujo manga that dares to break the mold! A+

Perhaps looking forward to this book raised my expectations. I thought the previous two in this series were simply some of the best space opera combined with social commentary scifi available. This book simply does not deliver.

First, there are continuity errors. In one page of the novel, literally, one page, prepackaged meals are called 'prepacks'; in the rest, they're suddenly 'preheats'. Huh?

Second, she changes POV character waaaay too often. You can't even really call this a Koscuisko novel because he appears in less than half of the scenes, and is very rarely the POV character. I don't mind multiple POV novels, but someone as accomplished as Matthews should know that readers need some kind of clue at the beginning of a section as to who is narrating that section. Even just some geographical locator "on board _ragnarok_" or some such would have been an immense help. Half the time I had to go back after a page, when I'd figured out where and who 'we' were, to realign that information in my brain. Sometimes I had to stop in the middle of a section and wonder if she'd changed POV character on me or just got her pronouns confused (which she did, at least twice).

The whole novel has a sloppy feel to it. There's no compelling plot for Andrej; one never feels an awful lot of empathy for Ivers, and even though the surface plot tensions are resolved at the end, the internal problems for Andrej or Ivers are never resolved. And I don't mean 'unresolved' in a way that screams 'sequel'. She wraps everything up pretty tightly, so that I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last novel in the series--everyone's off to a Brave New World, inside the Judiciary or not, and hope is in the air, and.... all the loose ends are just oh so conveniently tied up. (Except the rioting and bombing and looting and why have a prologue in a place that's never EVER mentioned again in the novel?) It's a fuzzy and unfocussed novel that actually at times was a chore to read. I loved her other Andrej novels, but this...well, I wish I could go back in time to a week or so ago and still have hopeful expectations for this novel.

I think Matthews is taking the Conan Doyle approach and chucking Holmes off the cliff in a hope to be done with the whole mess. A shame, really.

You should buy this book.

HOWEVER, I reccomend doing so only if you've read the other Jurisdiction novels-- Exchange of Hostages, Prisoner of Conscience, Hour of Judgement, and Devil and Deep Space. It's not that Warring States isn't a coherent tale on its own-- it is, and a good one. But you won't enjoy it as much if you don't know the context, especially since a fairly major plot in the book hinges on a conflict begun two books ago. Besides, these are all fine characters who deserve some getting to know.

To those who have read the others-- Warring States is a little different from what we've seen before. There's a little less focus on Andrej Koscuisko, and a little more on the workings of Jurisdiction. It isn't a bad thing. All the old themes are still there-- love, and sacrifice, and willful stupidity, and good intentions. And they're just as satisfying as they've ever been.

As in the previous books, the author demonstrates a really refreshing grasp of a universe that exists outside of her main protagonists. Conflicts do not arise in a void; they exist because of other characters-- whose point of view you also get to see things from. None of the characters in Warring States are just handy plot devices.

One of the really nice things about reading Susan Matthews' writing is that if a person is antagonistic, she does not tell you so. She shows you so, by letting you into their head and letting you see how they understand the world. Look, ma, they've got motivations! Ditto her protagonists, and she doesn't exactly attempt to gloss over their flaws, either. None of these people fell from Krypton to leap tall buildings in a single bound. They're just people-- like the villains-- doing what makes sense to them.

It's nice.

So she's got a bunch of great characters. And? And they exist in a well-planned world. There are well defined cultures and governments and it makes SENSE that thus-and-such a character came out of this-and-such a culture. It's all internally consistent, which means there's nothing to jar you out of what is really a fascinating universe.

In the end, Warring States is a compelling book (and we shouldn't expect anything less of this particular author) and a well written one (ditto) and a satisfying one (see previous).

Well, as satisfying as a cliffhanger could be.

Susan R. Matthews returns, after a long wait, with "Warring States," the latest in her "Judiciary" novels featuring Andrej Koscuisko. It's packaged well--a large-size paperback on good paper, and it solves the murder of First Secretary Verlaine that occurred at the end of "The Devil in Deep Space." This time Andrej, after setting one of the two plots in motion, becomes more or less tempest-tossed as the action switches to the doings of Bench Specialist Jils Ivers, who's part of a convocation assembled to pick the next First Judge (while also being a suspect in the murder).

Ms. Matthews tries hard to overcome the inherent clunkiness that she's set for herself by blending the two plots together, and if she doesn't quite succeed, she certainly fails honorably, and it's definitely worth your time. As before her sense of place is extraordinary (when Jils orders a meal in a luxury hotel suite, you'll almost taste the food; when she descends underground where the convocation is being held maybe you'll feel claustrophobic too), and her chilly prose is as lucid as ever. Unfortunately, Andrej, who's worked hard to overcome his sadomaschoism (he refuses to torture people anymore), is a crashing bore after the tempest starts tossing him about after that opening act of his--he seems to have no willpower, nor control over his own life, and his motivations seem principally to have become those which Ms. Matthews assigns him, rather than having grown organically from the story.

In short, the author probably would have been better off writing two novels instead of cramming two stories into this one.

Notes and asides: Bench Specialist Vogel, who used to be Garol Vogel has become Karol Vogel. The handsome cover, by Christian McGrath, depicts, almost certainly, Jils Ivers, but who the man in uniform is could be any one of several characters. That might just be the point.

This is a thoroughly enjoyble book! Especially if you've been reading Susan Matthews before, you'll like this one.

Why? I think that, in the previous 2, Susan couldn't make up her mind about giving Koscuisko a happy ending or getting him killed. The fact that she couldn't make up her mind, hurt those plots. Now she's made up her mind: not to kill him, not to give him a happy ending and nevertheless to change his entire universe. And that brings so much new freshness to this book...!

The plot? Warring states (I think) refers to colliding realities: the Judiciary order with its rules and regulations versus the chaos and turmoil because of the departure of its Enlightened ruler (the First Judge). Free individuals versus slaves. Loyalty to principles and people, versus loyalty to ambition and selfishness. In Koscuisko the warring states are guilt (over the anguish caused by his legal exercising of torture) versus eagerness to relive the thrill caused by the adrenaline rush provided in the act of torturing.

It's a good book in this series, on many levels. Sometimes it's a bit slow, because the dramatic tensions makes you want the action to speed up (skipping forward solved that problem for me).

You'll enjoy it.

The eagerly awaited next installment of The Life & Hard Times of Andrej Koscuisko is here! All major points having been covered in previous reviews, I'll just add my opinion that Susan has done it again. Our beloved favorite characters are all here (even Joslire through his family), including cameos from those we might have forgotten about. The emotions run just as high or higher than in previous books, despite the reformation of certain characters. Hints of what is yet to happen in this universe will keep you checking to see when the next novel is scheduled for release.

I will reiterate the warnings of previous posts, however. This is a volume of a series, so it's best to begin at the beginning with Exchange of Hostages. Otherwise, some of the shocking page-turners in this book just aren't as shocking.

A great book with many lighthearted, thought provoking stories. It gives real life situations in which everyone can relate. It is definately a book that you would read on more than one occassion. I have recommended it to all of my friends....

This is a great book to read together with a non-Christian. No matter the religious beliefs of your friend, he or she will find Babb's writing witty and entertaining. But the nuggets of Christian truth are written in a non-threatening way that can foster conversation on to something deeper.

This book can simultaneously tickle your funny bone and bring a tear to your eye! The author has laced this book with precious memories and experiences of his own that are relative to mine, and he does it with great perception and wisdom in the "lessons." Both humor and insight--there's not a better combination!

What an uplifting and inspirational book! Martin Babb has a way of making real life situations down right hysterical. Babb has an amazing ability to make you smile and laugh all while learning a valuable lesson. This is a book that I could read over and over!

This book was not only funny and entertaining, but each story had a thought provoking message that hit home. Babb took everyday situations that we all encounter and made us realize how they fit into our life as Christians. This is a book you can read over and over again.

I am a big matt groening fan so I bought this. One out of every 10 was funny and the others...

This book is really funny,and yet so realistic (apart from the talking bunnies). You can definitly see some simalarities between the charactors in the Simpsons and the characters in the book. I plan on buying all 5 books

I must say, Big Book of Hell is 10 times better than Huge Book of Hell. Funnier, less preachy, bigger, and just plain better. It's honest, and extremely observant of the little stupid things we do every day. Matt's detailed descriptions of school and work are so true, I wish I would have written them. Bongo's anti-school agenda is so funny and true. The strips with the eyes and Bongo strapped in a chair are among my favorites. Another thing Big Book has that Huge Book doesn't, is that it is TOUCHING! Witness the 8 Steps of Handling a Divorce (or something to that nature). I almost cried when I read it. In some ways, its more personal than Huge Book, other times, more universal. Which is why Greoning's work (and the Simpsons) are so brilliant: touching, personal yet universal, bitter yet hilarious, observant without being fake. Big Book also has TREMENDOUS re-read value. I highly suggest anyone looking for a laugh or some delicious insight to purchase Big Book of Hell.

It's one thing to say that life is hell and sit back and sulk. It's another thing to turn it into hysterical, scathing humor. Matt Groening's "... is Hell" series is by far the darkest and funniest exploration into our modern life. If Mark Twain were a cartoonist, this is what he would have produced. Compare these cartoons to those animated yellow people (Bart, Homer, et al.), and The Simpsons are no longer a dysfunctional family.

I've been a huge fan of the Simpsons since they first aired, and recently I decided to check out Matt Groening's other works. I bought this book used and it was worth every penny. The comics here are unlike any other. I particularly enjoy them because they are totally irreverent, yet honest about the state of American society today. Many of the 'School is Hell' series appear in this collection. They are my favorites--they get me through long nights of studying. It makes me wish there was a 'Life in Hell' TV series to go along with the Simpsons.

This collection from Fantagraphics Comics is sooo beautiful! Besides having the whole Peanuts production, the box sets are collector items themselves with brilliant forwards and an overall excellent graphic packaging.
In one of the volume a note from the Editor explains how in the original of certain strip was damaged or lost and they had to reconstruct somehow. One strip out of 700 of that volume alone and it deserved an explanatory note! This just to give you an idea of how much carefulness and passion is behind this Peanuts collection.
A must!

Come on! It's the Peanuts! Quit reading the reviews and start reading this set. Besides, if you have to read the reviews, you haven't read the Peanuts.

My wife is getting every one of these when they come out, and she couldn't be much happier.

This handsome box contains The Complete Peanuts 1963-1964 and The Complete Peanuts 1965-1966. That's four complete years of one of the greatest comic strips of all time. What more do you need to know?

The Complete Peanuts is definitely complete! It's a real collectors' item!

Each book contains 2 complete years of Peanuts - the funniest comic strip of all time (IMHO). So this two-book set contains four complete years of Peanuts - all the strips that were published between 1963-1966.

Note that both books included in the boxed set are exactly the same ones that are sold separately. The books also contain full book jackets (i.e. if desired can be shelved separately). As of this review date it is cheaper to buy the two-book set than to buy them separately at Amazon and we get an added attractive slipcase with the two-book set.

Unfortunately the Sunday strips are in black and white - a minor gripe. However other such comic strip collections (including Calvin and Hobbs) have the Sunday ones in color.

Recommended.

(Note: I have essentially copied my review of the other peanuts sets for this one)

With each new Bone book I get, I never get disappointed. Each book is more and more engrossing. While the black and white issues are the originals, the colors add more to the overall story than I would have guessed. The art is great, the epic story is amazing and the colors just help bring everything together even more.

I gotta say that once you get into the Bone series, it's hard to stop reading it, and I really enjoyed this volume, which is mostly about the antics and schemes of Phoney Bone as he tries to swindle people out of their money, hurting others along the way as things backfire terribly. Definitely great stuff!

The Bone series really hits its stride in this volume. Continuing the excellence from previous volumes, the story deepens and builds into a truly great fantasy tale, on par with classics of the prose fantasy world. I'd give this volume more than 5 stars if I could. Highly recommended.

Side note: - While I understand the all ages appeal of the Bone series; I find it odd that these books get shelved (and buried from a wider range of readers) in the young adult sections of the major chain stores. It would be better to shelve them with Graphic Novels or SciFi/Fantasy.

Jeff Smith's BONE: THE DRAGONSLAYER provides another fine graphic novel in Book 4 of the Bone series. Here the forces of evil are growing - and the roots may be within the Bone family itself. Full-color graphic novel pages entice kids to read the Bone adventures, and even newcomers will find it easy to jump in.

Action, suspense, mystery, with a winning plot and great characters, this beautifully mastered chapter in the bone series is top notch! I can't wait for the next book in the (assumed nine-part) series to come out!

I have been a faithful FoxTrot reader for years. Roger, Andy and their kids Peter, Paige and Jason are always good for a reality check with a large dose of laughter. I've got two girls and let me tell you, I see a lot of my kids in Paige with, I believe, even a healthy dose of Jason thrown in. And they have Peter's bottomless stomach. Of course, they're faithful FoxTrot readers too. I used to read the strip to them, explain what was going on, but now they get it just fine and we three all laugh together. Then my girls try and explain the strip to their dad, who pretends he doesn't get it.

The FoxTrot folks are a great family, one we sort of got used to checking up on every day, so we took the news that Mr. Amend was going to cease daily distribution of his wonderfully funny people and turn his strip to Sunday only, with a bit of sadness. Still, we have these terrific FoxTrot books to keep us going with our FoxTrot fix. Mr. Amend is to be commended for his great gift to our culture and his great gift to so many lives. I truly believe a laugh a day, helps keep the blues away and the FoxTrot gang are always good for a laugh. Heck there are a lot of laughs in the FoxTrot books. I know, I have them all and I am, along with my girls and my hubby dear, eagerly awaiting the next one.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we don't have an iguana, but my girls do have a pet gecko and, you guessed it, his name is Quincy.

I've been a Foxtrot reader for a long time and personally I think there is something suspiciously wrong with people who don't find Bill Amend's characters funny as all get out. If you want a good laugh, check out Bill in your local newspaper, or better yet, get one of the Foxtrot books. They are all great, really, they are.

Like many of Mr. Amend's fans I'm a bit disappointed he's switching his strip to Sunday-only, but fortunately I can still read him daily in the Foxtrot books. Get them one and all and you can keep right on a laughing.

If there's one cartoon comic book you should get, it's "Enormously Foxtrot." Entertaining, witty, and comical, it's the perfect reading during your spare time. Jason continues to play tricks on his sister, Paige continues to physically torment Jason, and Peter is just a regular teenager who has an appetite of a vacuum cleaner. Meanwhile, the parents try to deal with them and their own lives and still be a happy family. This gigantic collection is enjoyable and would help you pass those long hours at home.

Yet another amazing foxtrot anthology, The best word to describe it is just plain funny, this is a good long book, so the humor goes on and on.

FoxTrot follows a family of five through their bizzare everyday lives. Roger, the father, is a mid-level office worker, and his wife Andy is a successful columnist. Peter, the oldest child, is a high school senoir with a passion for sports but without the skill. Paige, the middle child, enjoys shopping but hates schoolwork. Jason, the youngest child, enjoys schoolwork and harrassing his sister.

Bill Amend had been writing Foxtrot for about four years when he drew the comic strips in this collection, so at this point he had refined his humor without needing to reuse any older storylines. Most of the comic strips play up the sibling rivalry between Peter, Paige, and Jason very well. The book also features a number of comic strips that feature Peter's girlfriend Denise, who is not featured as much in more recent strips, and it also includes a large number of references to pop culture. The longer storylines in the book include two vacations by the Fox family: one to an amusement park, and one to the hot desert in the summer. Amend also drew several new panels for the center of the book that show Paige's dreams about her idealized French lover Pierre. The book still occasionally tocuhes on serious subjects, too, such as when Peter experiments with chewing tobacco.

Overall, this is classical Foxtrot humor. Foxtrot fans should definitely buy this book, but even casual readers of Foxtrot comic strips will find something to enjoy in this book.

It's a great book. I love the way you get to know more about Frazz. I also love the relationships Frazz has with some of the students and teachers.

I really would rate this a 7! It's also really good to see children put in a good light. All parents and teachers should read this and the second one.

The first of the author's Frazz series, hilarious and real life from the first strip to the last. All will enjoy reading this and reliving our youth, a keen insight into the minds of the youth and all others. Read it, you will put this in your library and refer to it often.

My first encounter with Mr Mallet's work, and definitely a case of love at first sight. I'm astonished at how deeply Mr Mallet can make his characters come alive, while still being at least as funny and deep as any other of my favourite comics.

If you are not familiar with Frazz (or Mr. Frazier) the Janitor at Bryson Elementary School, let me take a moment to introduce you. Frazz is a triathlete, a song writer, a poet, a literary buff and, surprisingly, a janitor at an elementary school. He is into healthy living, good food, good fun, and loves a good battle ball/eraser fight. He is the shining star of Bryson and is loved by all the kids there. He is a better teacher than some of the other paid staff at the school.

I sometimes think that Frazz is a grown up Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbs)

I really love Frazz. This collection allowed me to catch up on a lot of the old Frazz cartoons. Mr. Mallett's drawing style is very consistent from beginning to end. His humour is always gentle, loving caring, thoughtful and morally sound. The lessons Frazz provides to the kids of Bryson elementary school are deep, valuable, honest, socially responsible, healthy and usually indirect and subtle. If I take the time, I even learn new words from Mr. Mallett.

My teens also love Frazz. Then again, they like Garfield a lot too, so there is no accounting for taste.

My family and I will be reading and re-reading this collection of Frazz cartoons over and over again in the coming weeks.

Gotta love Frazz!