Comics Books

Akira is simply amazing. The art is beautiful, the story is genius, the characters are incredibly likeable, and the themes are disturbingly cool. 'Nuff said.

The entire series is an essential item in the library of any aspiring graphic artist or graphic novelist. This is my most important resource concerning the modern styles that predominate manga and anime today. Taking on the complete set, I expected to be blown to pieces but instead I found myself slow cooked in a pot, sliced into thin slivers over the course of a few weeks, and put back together again. If you can stand the pain, it turns out to be quite a ride. Perhaps because of their experience of being the only nation ever to suffer the effect of nuclear war, I suspect that the Japanese have mastered the depiction of post-apocalyptic dystopia. However, Japanese graphic art has a long history dating back hundreds of years. I am not surprised that this is an excellent example of visual elements taking charge of the storytelling where words provide the common ground on which you may stand with others in the audience. I suspect that even in its original language this work would captivate just the same. Perhaps not to the taste of many avid readers of graphic novels because of the sparse dialogue. Personally, I tend towards more graphic elements so this was a treat.

Akira is awesome. Even from a time when you would have just about had to commit a crime against the person of a Japanese tourist, or pay ridiculous amounts of money to get anime and manga and things like that, Akira was available.

It is no surprise that it was, as is an example of that artform at its finest.

Neo-Tokyo is a city recovering from devastation and world war.

When a young bikie gang leader rescues a young boy named Tetsuo, after almost running him down, Kaneda soon comes to realise this is no ordinary boy, because of the government interest in him.

I have heard many people say that the books are better than the movie, I don't think this is true. The movie version of Akira is much better than the books. I'm not insulting the books but the story of Akira is better in the movie. The books contain much more detail and character development but lots of the events I thought didn't move the story along; like Tetsuo taking over the clown gang and that society Tetsuo starts in Vol. 5. The movie moves along very quickly and all of the detail's are important. It moves along faster and the ending is better. The books are still much better than most I have read and Akira is the only anime I find really interesting but the movie version is better. I would recommend this after seeing the film.

One of the best comic/manga books in the history, with the original black and white artwork in a nice and decent package.

I only wish they released it in the japanese original reading, not the americanized left-to-right reading. At least they made a great job and didn't leave backwards texts and other mistakes like that. I'm curious to read the other volumes to see if they inverted Tetsuo's "mutated" arm.

From story board to stunning completed product, an overview of Mr.Ross' DC comics work, focusing particularly on the big three; Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, with loving attention to the rest of the JLA as well.

Lots of beautiful 'work in progress to completion' pictures and even a few that never got to see the go light of editors.
Inspirational for the new painter or seasoned storybook artist - makes quite the case for gouache!

Please note! this is NOT an 'origins' book or even a story, this is meant to specifically address the artwork itself and the processes by which it is done.

By the by, many a comic book irritates me no end with its sexist imagery -this book is a rare exception in supehero comics.
None of the women are bimboes and the men are, dare I say, as beautiful as the ladies.

For my part, the explanations of the new Kingdom Come versions of the classic DC cast were the finest aspect of this book.
If you're at all a fan of Alex Ross' incredible way with a brush, you must own this, if only for the most drool worthy versions of beloved heroes.

If you love the classic DC pantheon, you need this book, 'nuff said!

Mythology collects the stellar art work of Alex Ross showcasing the worlds finest images of the major DC characters such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. This book highlights key points of the characters beginnings and evolutions with clear and informative writing. Gorgeously illustrated by Alex Ross coupled with wonderfully laid out design work the reader will find it quite difficult to put down this handsome book.Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross

An amazingly illustrated montage of Ross's work. A beautiful book for fans of comic book art and art in general.

AMAZING. Totally worth buying. If you like Alex Ross, you will not regret this purchase. The book includes Ross' comments on inspiration, collaborations, thoughts, insights, and much more. Truly inspiring.

It's a great work, detailing all the work of Alex Ross in DC Comics. In this book, we get the notions of how he figures out the characters, their concepts and ideologies, etc. Moreover, with this book we can see how the Art is transported from the artist's mind to the paper.
There's just one book better than this one: it's hardcover version, much more beautiful.

Tommy Tomorrow is a genious! His comics do an amazing job of summarizing just what's wrong in politics, while making the situations incredibly humorous at the same time. Very highly recommended.

Ruled by incompetent right-wingers for the last 8 years, liberals like me need an injection of humor. Here we get it, with sharp sarcasm from Sparky the Penguin. Funniest part is when Sparky, the leftist Bush critic, get hits by a toilet and becomes a Republican for about 50 pages. I highly recommend this book to anyone depressed by the current state of America and needing a good laugh. Thank you, Tom Tomorrow!

Tom Tomorrow has done a fantastic job of putting humor into a political situation that one would think impossible to find humor in. "Hell in a Handbasket" is a further example of Mr. Tomorrow's ability to mix biting political satire with the funny bone. He can cut through much of the non-sense that is allowed to float around out there and make that hypocrisy painfully evident. God, I hope he gets some joy out of his own writing and cartooning, because I would very much hate for him to disappear from the shelves. Buy this book if you are leftie, just to keep the insanity away. Buy this book if you are a winger, just to cure yourself of the insanity.

This book is a must read for all the Limbaugh-listening, neocon, Bush-backers out there! Every page is filled with poignant scenes of the Bush administration. The real humor lies in the irony involved--the jokes are so "tragically true" that they make you snicker, rather than laugh. My fellow Bush-BASHERS will agree...the book is a capsulized summary of the darkest period in American politics. Hope you learned your lesson--next time, vote for Democrats!

Let's face it: outside of wealthy oilmen and Halliburton stockholders, there haven't been that many people who've benefited from the Bush years (which, as of this writing, continues to be at its nadir of popularity). Of course, one other group that has benefited are political cartoonists, who should be grateful to Bush and company for providing so much material. There are few better at working with this material than Tom Tomorrow in his comic strip, This Modern World.
Hell in a Handbasket is the title of a collection of his strips from late2002 into 2005, a period when Bush was still doing okay, but the strips point out the signs of rot that would soon become evident to others: the distortions necessary to get us into the war in Iraq, the incompetence once the invasion took place, the advocacy of torture and the branding of any dissenters as sympathizers with the enemy. (As you might guess, I'm not much of a Bush fan.)

Democrats and the political left, however, do not get off lightly either, as Tomorrow appropriately takes them to task for their willingness to accept the lies and corruption and not put up any sort of real resistance to the run up to the war. All of this is done with a sharp humor and an interesting, rather static style of art with characters that often look like they're out of some 1950's educational film.

Obviously, if you lean to the right, you probably have a different view of Tomorrow, and probably consider him (and me) as folks who hate the troops, support terrorism and want America to fall. Of course, that isn't the case, and in fact, Tomorrow actually embraces the virtues of the country and calls to task those who damage it. This Modern World is really a patriotic lament for the U.S. that has been going, well, to Hell in a handbasket.

Calvin in Hobbes in some ways reminds me of Mark Twain's writing in comic form. Calvin is a rebellious rapscallion of a little boy who lives a life filled with picaresque adventures and imaginary exploits. His imagination and personality are boundless, yet he is a total failure in school, he has no human friends, and he is bullied. Despite his poor grades, he exhibits an astounding vocabulary and often muses on the deeper aspects of life. Calvin struggles in the real world but that doesn't bother him because he knows what truly matters in life: friendship (he has a very close one with Hobbes), adventure, and imagination. And he's irresistibly charismatic despite his flaws.

The other main characters are strong supporters. Hobbes is essential to Calvin's well-being, and most of Calvin's exploits take place with Hobbes at his side. They scuffle, but they love each other. Every day when Calvin comes home from school, Hobbes is waiting to pounce on him in joyous greeting. Calvin is annoyed to be tackled every day, but deep down he cherishes it; without that daily pounce, what would Calvin's life be? Calvin's parents take background roles in the strip, since the protagonists are the boy, his stuffed tiger, and the world he lives in, but they are calming presences, always stepping in when Calvin gets in too much trouble. Sometimes they're a little strict, but they're good role models. Susie, the neighborhood girl, always tries to be friendly with him but Calvin, in an age-old young boy's strive to assert his masculinity, insists that she is gross and constantly picks on her in a light-hearted manner. Many strips, however, just involve Calvin and Hobbes, getting into trouble, discussing ideas, exploring, relaxing...

One would be a complete curmudgeon whose heart is not warmed by this touching, happy, and filled-with-life exploration of the mind and adventures of a young boy. As long as Calvin is dreaming up Spaceman Spiff adventures while stuck in a desk at school, as long as he and his tiger are taking walks in the forest or wild wagon rides down and off of cliffs while philosophizing about life, as long as Calvin is pelting Susie with snowballs on a cozy winter day, and as long as Calvin and Hobbes are running and jumping in the backyard in a rollicking game of Calvinball, there is peace in this world.

So it is pretty much a fact that Bill Watterson is a comic genius! This collection holds with it the comics with which I grew up and remember from my childhood. Watterson is excellent with a pen, and his wit and intelligence shines through via his solid characters and humor. He balances boyish silliness with concepts bordering both on philosophical and just plain cynical. And somehow it all goes straight to the heart.

If you love C&H, you'll like this book. For me, Calvin is like pepperoni pizza... when it's good, it's really good, and when it's bad, it's still good.

This Calvin and Hobbes book is the best i've read by far. Its 250 pages long and each page contains 3 strips.
The strips in this book are especially funny and i am sure you'll enjoy them.
I highly reccomend this book.

I could relate to Calvin and Hobbes, from the moment I first started following the adventures of the devilish, eternal six year old (Calvin) and his scruffy, stuffed pal tiger (Hobbes). Though, many of the plots appear simplistic (example: Calvin makes a mess and his mother yells at him!), there is so much more to the little strips than meets the eye. For starters, Calvin and Hobbes ponders the meaning of life, the voicelessness of children in society, and self image (among other themes).

Though, this comic strip is something that definitely appeals to little children, because it presents a little boy that we all can relate to (or maybe spent time avoiding on the playground if he teased us), and his stuffed animal. Anyone who owned a stuffed animal and knows what an important bond that is for a child, knows the feeling when that toy crosses over from the identity of "inanimate object" to "lifelike being." The creature that we relate to truly embodies the qualities who want in a best friend and companion, and we aren't doing the talking for that creature, because it truly does have a mind of its own! (in the eyes of a child) Wonderful, very funny and beautifully drawn. I've had mine for almost fifteen years and I just went back to look at it today. It feels like no time has passed between now, and the time I first looked at it. Buy this today and make it a part of your collection.

When most people think of Yu-Gi-Oh, they think of the children's cartoon series. They see weirdo characters battling with monsters sported from the trading card that's all the rage among children and a select few teenagers. They wouldn't begin to suspect seeing the iconic Yami Yuugi (whom those have normally seen trying to rescue his grandpa or just generically "saving the world" time and time again) making a life-threatening bet with an escaped convict, whom ends up incinerating himself with his own cigarette--or driving other corrupted delinquents to madness while twisting their own distorted flaws to ironic pain and suffering.

No, this isn't something made for kids, and perhaps not even suitable for someone under thirteen. If I am not mistaken, this particular volume shows implications of murder, domestic violence, death, corporate misdemeanor, attempted rape, among other suggestive material that would have parents of children who watch the American adaptation of Yu-Gi-Oh confused beyond all doubt.

The story begins with Yuugi Mutou, an self-doubting high-school freshman who usually finds himself alone in a corner playing games. Being unpopular and subject-able to teasing and peer harassment, Yuugi wishes more than anything to have friends whom he can cherish and relate to. In possession of the Millennium Puzzle, a cursed relic that when put together, can grant its holder one wish, Yuugi is determined to assemble it in order to make his wish come true. What he doesn't realize, however, is the fact that the puzzle contains the soul of a three thousand year blood-thirsty gambler, whom later possesses Yuugi once he completes it. With that, every person who assaults or threatens Yuugi, later finds himself competing with the ancient spirit in a duel that usually results with death, injury or insanity.

Despite this however, the story within this graphic novel series conveys themes of friendship, loyalty and trust. Through Yuugi's pain, he finds connections with some of the most unlikely people, including Jounouchi Katsuya, a former offender whom Yuugi defended from a greater common enemy, Honda Hiroto, who defended by Yuugi from an inflexible and dogmatic instructor, and Mazaki Anzu--his childhood friend whom he rescued from a hostage crisis in a fast-food restaurant.

This particular graphic novel is packed with seven suspenseful teen-based stories, each one with distorted outcomes that will have your mind spinning yet begging for more. Among the shonen-genre, this is among perhaps one of the more over-rated franchises--but is still very, very good and well told.

Among manga readers, this one is a good buy, though I find it silly if you already have the paperback. Unless you are dying for a better chance at preserving your comics and wishing to see the first five pages in color--than what the heck, go nuts!

I bet there is a few people who are thinking about buying this for a younger relitive, thinking it's like the 4kids anime....you better back away unless you want your 7-10 year old pulling the perverted prank "panty tank". Yu-Gi-Oh! was originally intended for teens until 4kids messed it up so if your looking for some Yu-Gi-Oh! for your kids try "the pyrimid of light" ani-manga (its colored and has the same dialoge as the movie its self)

The first 7 volumes of the manga is pretty much what happened in the series that wasn't shown in the US. I recommend this to manga readers 11+ but be warned, there is violence and a lot of swears in this manga. I am 13 years old

Try, for a moment, to put aside all you think you know about Yu-Gi-Oh! and imagine something completely unexpected. Forget about the children's TV series. Don't give the card games another thought. And try to get past the tons of merchandise featuring Yugi's image. Let's begin to reconceptualize the character of Yugi.

That is, essentially, all that is needed in order to more fully enjoy Kazuki Tanahashi's creation, Yu-Gi-Oh! In the Manga, Yugi isn't the tough-talking little Goth boy you might expect. Instead, Yugi seems to be the polar opposite of this characterization - and deliberately so. A comparatively small teen with awkwardly-proportioned hands and feet, the slightly-effeminate Yugi struggles daily with schoolyard bullies, cruel adults, and even the doldrums which epitomize teenage life. While everything seems stacked against him from the get-go, Yugi finds himself optimistic, enjoying life whereas other similarly-affected kids would be beaten down by these oppressive forces.

And this is because he has a mind which is constantly stimulated by the games his grandfather provides him with. You see, Yugi loves puzzles more than anything, and can make a game out of anything. This is the quality that both alienates him from his peers, and gives him limitless courage to face each trial of the schoolyard. In this sense, there's some degree of all of us - after all, who doesn't love a good game? Who among us hasn't daydreamed about getting lost in some fancy labyrinth, or of solving a particularly challenging mind game?

As a result of his passion for puzzles, Yugi becomes someone different from time to time - a personality over which he has no conscious recollection or knowledge. This Yugi is a sadist, one who has no qualms over hurting those who tread upon the weak as a means of poetic justice. This Yugi plays games of a different sort, ones which torture the players unfortunate enough to lose ("Penalty Games," dished out to those who seemingly deserve such extreme punishments - blindness, insanity, death by fire, etc.), but only those who have manipulated others and exploited their helplessness. This Yugi later becomes known as "Yama Yugi" (or, "Dark Yugi").

In creating this series, creator Mr. Tanahashi explains that he had no concept of how popular his little character would become in the marketplace and in the media. Having met with no prior success, Mr. Tanahashi had no way of anticipating what would become of his little "strange story... that centered around 'The Mysterious' in everyday life." The first appearance of the ubiquitous card game based on the Manga does not even make an appearance in this first volume (a 7-issue series which spins off into Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist and nearly concurrently, Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World, and today's hot property Yu-Gi-Oh! GX).

While this book is - as one might expect - very popular with the kids, it certainly isn't the average American-written "kids' book." Inside these pages are tales of abuse, murder, torture... and, sometimes, even some bawdy humour ("Never play basketball in a skirt," says Anzu, the book's female protagnist). Certainly, it is filled with goofy stories light on the plot and occasionally, heavy on the characterizations - so it's a nice, light read. It's a children's title by way of Suzuki Koji, much the same way Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro was almost a grown-up movie disguised as kids' fare.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a fun ride, packed with calculated fear and excitement, and endowed heavily with humanizing imagery (especially poignant is the image of Yugi reaching into a box, having nearly completed the 3-D puzzle he had kept with him for eight years, his clumsy hand searching for the final puzzle piece... only to discover it was missing, for all his pains. After watching him get beaten and extorted by a much larger classmate, knowing that the puzzle was what gave poor Yugi the most enjoyment out of life... This painful little scene is almost too much for dry eyes to absorb). It may not be the best of the genre, but it does deserve the attention it has received.

It also deserves a little more respect as well, but with marketing ever the ceaseless beast, this probably isn't too likely.

Many American children, especially those in the 7-12 age bracket, watch Yu-Gi-Oh regularly. Kids love the action and strategy. Parents love the 'appropriate' factor. Teens, however, hate the kiddiness, and anime purists abhor the editing.

Guess what? It's a lucky day for teens and anime fans.

Threats, fist-fights, and disturbing games (with disturbing conclusions) run rampant in this first volume of Yu-Gi-Oh, and although most people will love it, parents need to be warned--this is not for children under the age of 12.

Also, you won't find the card game 'Duel Monsters' anywhere in this first volume--in fact, it doesn't become the main part of the story until later on in the Yu-Gi-Oh anthology. Instead, however, you'll find out the origins of Yugi and his friends (with their original, un-Americanized names). And while all of this was originally created for a Japanese TV show, when 4Kids brought YGO over to the US, they skipped over the first few story arcs, and got right to the card battles.

Also, it's important to note that as this is a manga (Japanese comics, for the uninitiated) graphic novel, it reads from right to left, in traditional Japanese fashion. Of course, this means that you read the panels and text bubbles from right side to left side, but the translated text is written from left to right. It's ok if you don't understand--VIZ (the publishing company) provides a key in the graphic novel to help you learn how to read it. After 30 or 40 pages, reading like this will become second nature, so don't fret about that.

VIZ translates the sound effects, which is nice. The artwork is very nice (though not amazing), consistent, and easy to look at. The translation is very well done, with footnotes explaining any Japanese pop-culture references you might miss.

Overall, I'd highly reccomend it--to anyone over 12, and especially to older Yu-Gi-Oh fans who want to see a little bit darker take on the story.

Honestly, I was already familiar with every strip in this book; however, these strips never fail to make me laugh, cry, die, laugh again. The book also has the ability to trap souls. I've personally collected many of my friends' souls. Collect them all!

The Perry Bible Fellowship is a hilarious comic available for free on the internet, so why would you pay for a book that you can read on the internet for free?

The answer is because of the book. Perry Bible Fellowship is a kind of comic with art and humor rarely found in other comics. The book itself is high quality, with a very nicely drawn cover and comics not on the site that are definitely worth the price of the book. You can also spread the joy of PBF by putting it on your coffee table and not having to sound like a nerd by telling everyone about "this awesome webcomic that you have to read!"

The title is how I described PBF to someone who hadn't heard of it before.

It's a wonderfully perverse and hilarious comic and this collection is presented very well. The comics have been produced in really nice color and the cover art is awesome. This book is a great way to have an offline copy of the comics you've enjoyed on the web site.

I was already familiar with his work and bought this book so I could enjoy the beautiful illustrations. I was surprised that my wife and her father both loved the twisted humor. This would be a great gift for someone who has the same sick sense of humor you do but has not seen the work. It is fun to watch them start to realize what they have just picked up.

I went to Syracuse and looked forward to the PBF comic in the daily paper. I'm so glad i can finally own a hard copy of these raunchy, ridiculous and witty comics.

First of all, I will admit that this was my first time reading the Sandman, when I got this version. I was drawn in and the $70-ish price tag is, as well as way cheaper than you'll find at book stores, a great deal. The amount of content is staggering, and even if you've read all the Sandman comics, the extras are pretty great as well.

If you're not sure if you'll enjoy the series, go out to a library and see if they have Preludes and Nocturnes, the first mini-collection, and see if this is your style. I took a plunge and just got this immediately, and it was very well worth it. Actually, I got Volumes 1 and 2, so I guess I'm really lucky I enjoyed these.

Regardless, Sandman contains some of the best fantasy stories I've ever read, and Neil Gaiman is a genius that has it shining through in these stories.

I always love Mr Gaiman;'s work. Sandman is probably his opus given the size and the eclectic nature of the themes. The Endless as interpreted by a Master like Gaiman represent an amazing world that weaves the deepest recesses of the collective consciousness, mythology, history and keep it living enough to be interesting. Aesthetically, the books are great and the artwork is just as eclectic as the are the themes. I wish I was exposed to this stuff as a kid...

I found this book a very creative exercise in perception, script and artwork. The story is mainly told from the perspective of one of the "Endless", Dream, with cameos from Destiny, Death, Desire and Dispare (see satirical opening quote from Jack Dee - "Lots of things begin with D") :-) The third brother in a family of seven, these Endless are anthropomorphic personifications of ideals/concepts and exist, apparently, across even species (one of the stories is told from a cat's point of view). The issues dealt with in the varied stories are some of the usual collection of welcoming death, forgivness, murder, society, slavery etc - in other words what appears to be standard fare for any sci-fi buf. However, there are a few interesting twists with takes on several points of history, biblical references and different points of view of the same issues but told from a different species' perspective which is somewhat unusual. The artwork throughout the collection is consistent and uses high contrast in many of the captions to great effect. The artwork on the covering page for each story is quite exceptional and could even be viewed as works in their own right.

All in all, this is well worth a read, whether you are a fan of the comic genre or if you're new to it, this collection will suck you into the world of the Endless...

Comprising Sandman numbers 1 to 20, the Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1 is the first of four oversized, slip-cased hardcover books that will reprint Neil Gaiman's Sandman completely (all 75 numbers, plus some extras). That alone would be highly recommended, but this book has also a new coloring, aproved my Neil himself, plus a new introduction by Paul Levitz, forewords by Gaiman, a copy of the script with sketches for Sandman #19 (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and also sketches from Gaiman and Michael Dringenberg on the Sandman proposal to DC back in the 80s. Ah, and also all 20 covers from Dave McKean.

All of this would mean nothing if the book wasn't really good, and really good it is. Here you'll read the capture of the Lord of the Dreams and his comeback (early collected in "Preludes and Nocturnes"), his encounter with the deadly nightmare "The Corinthian" (previously collected in "The Doll's House), and four short stories from the past of Dream (as seen before in "Dream County" collection). Many great moments from the series are here: the confrontation in Hell with demons over his helmet, the serial killer convention, the encounter with his sister Death, and the already mentioned A Midsummer Night's Dream, the first and only comic book to win a World Fantasy Award.

This book is a work of art, and high recommended. Can't wait to have the 4 of them on my bookshelf!

I was actually surprised by two things reading these first twenty issues of Sandman: by how many of the characters I already knew, and by how much these comics actually tied into the mainstream DC Universe at the time. I'm used to the current age of Vertigo comics where the characters can NEVER cross over into regular superhero books, or vice versa (the days of Swamp Thing teaming up with Superman are gone). Of course, some of these characters can still pop up from time to time (I'm pretty sure Morpheus was in an issue or two of JSA and Starman, and even more recently Destiny was in The Brave and The Bold).
I was also impressed with the overal mythology Gaiman gave this world, one I didn't really knew existed. I was aware that The Endless existed, but I had always just assumed that Sandman was a series of somewhat interconnected tales, almost an anthology series, that featured him as a central character, but nothing much else. Turns out he had a very large story-arc planned through the whole 80 issue run, and I could see elements of what he would later do with American Gods. I'm glad I stuck it out and waited for the Absolute editions.

Ah...Sluggy Freelance. One of my many, many, MANY addictions. For those who don't spend at least part of every day checking out the latest adventures, SLUGGY FREELANCE: IS IT NOT NIFTY? is the essential reading. Our heroes are Torg (blond, dumb, web-site designer) and Riff (blond, ponytail, trenchcoat, builds stuff). Our heroines are Zoe (brunette neighbor of Torg and Riff) and Gwynn (Zoe's best friend, wears huge eyeglasses). Then boy (Torg) buys cute fuzzy-wuzzy bunny (Bun-Bun)...things get interesting...be prepared to laugh, giggle and wanted to post photocopies of strips in your cubicle.

Bun-Bun! Read Sluggy! Even just for Bun-Bun -- he's the best! Sluggy is entertaining -- the plots are really in-depth and easy to get into, and ... spoofs! Spoofs are the best. XD

Ahhh, Sluggy!...This is the first book in the Sluggy universe, where demons are summoned for beer, a mini-lop carrys a switchblade and a glock and your neighbours travel to other dimensions to bring aliens back with them, and well, let me check my notes . . .
The writing is sharp, funny, clever, funny, and lots of other words for funny. Sluggy Freelance is compelling, with the neverending storyline that makes you rave more. As Torg and Riff battle and befriend aliens, and try to fight off their pet bunny you become so much a pert of it that you can't let go... This book is bound for a title as not just a comic classic, but a classic comedy/tragedy/soap opera/addictive drug.

Ah...Sluggy Freelance. One of my many, many, MANY addictions. For those who don't spend at least part of every day checking out the latest adventures, SLUGGY FREELANCE: IS IT NOT NIFTY? is the essential reading. Our heroes are Torg (blond, dumb, web-site designer) and Riff (blond, ponytail, trenchcoat, builds stuff). Our heroines are Zoe (brunette neighbor of Torg and Riff) and Gwynn (Zoe's best friend, wears huge eyeglasses). Then boy (Torg) buys cute fuzzy-wuzzy bunny (Bun-Bun)...things get interesting...be prepared to laugh, giggle and wanted to post photocopies of strips in your cubicle.

The first-ever Sluggy book! Introducing our cast of characters: Riff: an inventor and freelance bum who summons Satan on the Internet. Torg: a mild-mannered web designer. Bun-bun: Torg's pet rabbit, a cute talking mini-lop with a dark past. Zoe: innocent college student, neighbor, and straight-woman. Kiki: the friendly ferret who says, "Don't plan Torg's death! Stay good, Sam!" Including parodies of Star Trek, X-files, and a bonus story not found on the Internet: A Day in the Park with Bun-bun and Teddy Weddy.

This book and the other two in this series don't make history less complex but they sure make it readable!

My older sister originally bought me and my younger sister the computer program. That was a few years ago, but it was a nice dry sarcastic, but silly humor.
Then I ordered this book, which has much the same type of humor. I wish it were in color instead of black and white, but otherwise, a fun way to "read" history.

I highly recommend this book. It's well written, it's occasionally funny and very readable. Volumes 1 to 7 starts with the Big Bang, to the evolution, to the first great civilizations (Sumer, Egypt and the Greeks), and ends with Alexander the Great reaching India.

I was so impressed about the presentation that I thought - why isn't there an animated version of this book (and the other volumes)? Wouldn't it be nice for kids to be able to get their history lessons via Cartoon Network?

But then I reached the part about what early Greek women did with their goats and sheep and how the Spartans treated young boys and I thought "well, maybe it's better if it stays in book form".

My only gripe is the lack of an index. Certainly handy when important names and places are regularly mentioned (like any other history book) .

This book is amazingly good. It is funny and educational and incredibly well drawn. You should BUY it.

You know it takes a comic to get to heart of humanity. In most history books you get a narrow point of view, and one that is usually "politically correct" according to the standards of the day. By making a comic version of history, the author can get around all of the "PC"ness of most history books and really hit home with the way humanity *is* and *always was.* The "sheep love" of early humans was a laugh riot. I never learned so much while having such a good time.

I recommend these for history buffs and non-history buffs. Really it's just a good read period. Forget that it's history.

I am an avid manga collector and had been wanting to check out Mars for a long time since I saw a write up on it in Newtype magazine. It did not disappoint. The artwork is lovely and the storyline isn't skimpy or cheesy, it is a manga with substance and relatable charaters, I am 20 and love this manga. I currently own volumes 1-6 and am looking forward to number 7! :)

I thought this is a great romantic seires. Kira and Rei a weird couple yes. Shy and sweet quiet artist girl to Dangerous bad boy that does what he wants. But I loved how the started the first volume. It already showed so things that will come ahead to this couple. Some people look for the art in manga but it wasn't like that for me. I liked the art and this a old manga but has been proveing to this girl that many has loved this series for the beauty of it's story and art. For romance I recommend this book. They already get this couple in some very sweet moments :). I get lost in this series every time I read it. To know more about the series I so recommend buying the fullength series which is 15 books. I love reading them over and over. I hope you find yourself swept away as I was when I read the first book then I couldn't stop reading after that I had to the next one then the next one. You get so later yo.

GREAT MANGA!!!!
I'm in my twenties and this is one of the best mangas

this book rocked. Not gonna drone on like the rest of my reviews except to say read this. I loved how you could tell just how different these two were. Short book, but had me on the edge of my seat all the way. Finished in twenty minutes, but came back to read my favorite parts. And the picture when they kiss and they're sparkling! AWESOME ART MAN! Get this book.

This is Jumaane

If you dig love stories and like manga, this series is a MUST READ. The artwork is very good and the characters are expressed very well, the plot is insanely good, and its fifteen volumes long, meaning that there's a lot more to love! And, the main character drives a Ducati Monster, the awesomest bike in the universe. What more could you ask for???