Comics Books

If you're looking at buying this, you know what Sin City is. This collection is an oversized printing with thicker paper and darker inks. It's a very high-quality product and at ~$25 an issue, not a bad deal. I could only give it 4 stars because I noticed that at least 2 pages of story are missing from the second book as compared to the trade paperback. I don't know if those pages were added to the paperback version and not in the original comics, thus not used here, or if they were removed for some other reason, but since they are my two favorite pages in the book, I'm a tad disappointed. I'm not sure if anything else is missing; those two pages were all I noticed.

The only complaint I've heard about this collection is the lack of bonus materials. While I do agree with the argument, I believe you still get your money's worth and more in this product.

I've done some price comparisons online before purchasing these books, and amazon.com definately has the best price out there.

The packaging of the collection is eye catching; flat black with red foil lettering. The pages are quite thick and durable, a necessity for those of us who want to read them, as well as have something that looks good on a book-shelf.

The story and illustrations are now in larger print, giving you a better appreciation for the body of work.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Sin City books, this is still a good investment if you are fan of graphic novels. I was a fan of the film, and figured to give the books a try. Rather than spend a fortune tracking down the comics I thought I would try this. Not only does this series include a story-line not included in the film, but there is further elaboration on what you did not see in the film.

This is a great collection; the stories are wonderful, the packaging is great, and the price is right for what you are getting. I hope they continue to put these out. I know I'll be buying more.

If you can't guess why, you mustn't have liked the comics or the movie...

If there is a series that deserves an oversized format, it is SIN CITY. Point. No question about it. All that fantastic B&W art of Frank Miller blows away my mind every time I open up those books.But there is a problem: NO EXTRA STUFF!No sketch gallery,no unused pages or something like that.Anyway,the final design of the slipcase follows the art direction of the entire series!Take it!

Forget all the other imprints of this masterpiece. Finally Dark Horse does justice to this great series with this marvellous set. Marv, Goldie and all the others have never looked better. Just the quality of the paper and the blackness of the ink takes your breath away (matches the E.C. slipcased sets in quality printing). Just look at the other pictures above: aren't these covers awesome? Also included are beautiful color reproductions of most of the series' original covers. I would even go as far as to say that this set isn't just for fans. The panels are "ready to be framed" ... But then you'd need to buy at least two sets.... joking...
When you're interested in comic book inking, page set-ups, art in general or how to bring a plot to paper, buy this. You won't be disappointed. You'll want to read this over and over again. Each single dialogue, sharper than a razor blade, the movements frozen in mid-air. This will truely leave you breathless and in awe. When you liked the movie, buy this. It lets you appreciate the detail and leaves you the time to discover what maybe got lost through the pace of cinematic story-telling. I didn't like the movie as much as these books. Why? Here I have the time to appreciate every single frame, to let the characters grow inside my head. The movie didn't leave me that room. To me it almost became a series of scenes filled with too much senseless violence. Not that the books are any less violent or that because they leave you your own pace in reading them, they'd prepare you for anything that you have coming your way. No way. I just think they leave you more time and space to appreciate what great art it is that you are looking at - and for what a great price.

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.

It was great to see the relationship between the characters develop and as usual Fumi Yoshinaga handled both the bitter and the sweet aspects of new love with wit, humor and a unique honesty. Obviously this is not a story about the French Revolution, just one using it as a backdrop and occasional source of danger for the lovers. The core of the story and where all of Fumi Yoshinaga's stories really shine is in the characters. They are charming and wonderful to spend time with. I enjoyed both Gerard & Jacques books and recomend them to anyone who is looking for a pleasant mix of romance, humor and dry wit.

Jacques undergoes confusion due to his attraction to Gerard during this Yaoi work, which is set during the French Revolution.

Full of character development and French history, this series wraps up in volume 2 with Gerard and Jacques confessing their love for each other. I really liked the characters, the setting, and the story line. Manga that makes you think...

Like the first volume, this yaoi is a little more explict then I usually read.

As wonderful as the first volume, this one lets us see Jacques experience his confusion and his attraction for Gerard. The surprising twist in Jacques history is quite bittersweet and I truly felt bad for him. I felt even worse for him when Gerard fell asleep! Of course, he was drunk... It was so touching watching Gerard try to protect Jacques, and watch Jacques re-humanize Gerard. And they're both so cute!

As beautiful as this story is, it's not without it's humorous moments. The times when Jacques exploded were laugh-out-loud, as was his confusion on why everybody were such big fans of Gerard's work (poor boy, he just doesn't get it).

The story is set agianst the French Revolution (like you didn't know that by now), and just the right amount is brought into the story without overshadowing...yadda, yadda, yadda - it's nothing every other reviewer hasn't already said. It's very true, but I'm not going to repeat it.

The finale is heart-pounding up to the very end for our seme and uke. I would have liked them to end up physically in the same place, but I guess I'll have to be grateful with the knowledge that Gerard was going home to Jacques. This is a wonderful yaoi and if you're a fan of the genre, you should definetly read it.

I liked this volume even better then the first. Both Gerard and Jacques must deal with problems from their pasts as well as their feelings for one another. Plus France is in turmoil and life becomes quite dangerous for our couple.

And poor Jacques is having a bit of a hard time, I felt a little sorry him, even as I was laughing at his "explosive" problems. I also got a chuckle from the fact that Jacques can't understand the popularity of Gerards writing.

Once again there is man/man sex, and it is explicit - hey, it is yaoi after all.

A wonderful story, a nice end to this series.

Goblin Market, a verse fairy tale that was first published in 1862, is a rather fascinating piece of masterful poetry. It tells a wonderfully sensuous tale that has inspired a myriad of interpretations. I've spent more time reading about Goblin Market than I did actually reading it - savoring it, rather, for it really calls for a much more personal treatment than a mere reading. This pre-Raphaelite work harbors latent eroticism that echoes with both renunciation and desire. Thus, some term it a work of repressed Victorian eroticism and grin knowingly (and leeringly) as they recount the fact that Goblin Market was quite a popular children's fairy tale in its day. Christine Rossetti was herself a recluse along the lines of Emily Dickinson, allowing her heart to sing freely even as she kept herself separated from any possible objects of her latent desires.

In the poem, one sister gives in to the temptation of the forbidden fruit offered by the dark goblins forever lurking in the twilight to seduce their victims to a first taste of their exotic wares. The desire to obtain more of the passion fruit overtakes her young life, yet the goblins appear to her no more; as a result, she begins to waste away near to death. At this point, her sister, who sensibly avoided temptation, willingly seeks to bargain with the goblins, only to have them force their juicy wares upon her. The fruity residue is enough, however, to revive her sister. The act of salvation is obviously the juiciest part of the story on a number of levels - such a sensual act between sisters, with lines such as "Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices" and "Eat me, drink me, love me," cries out for interpretation of all kinds - and those quick to criticize the hypocritical prudishness of Victorian society have a veritable field day with it.

Some say this is not a poem for children's ears? Balderdash. Like any masterful work of poetry, Goblin Market can be read and interpreted on many levels. Children will delight in its lyrical rhyming patterns, its allusions to wee goblins hawking the most delicious of fruits, and interpret the salvation of the tempted sister in comparatively innocent terms. I say leave the interpretations to the adults. And what interpretations there are of this lengthy poem. Some see in it a recreation of the genesis story, a story of sacrifice and redemption, a tale of lesbian yearning, a declaration of the power of sisterhood, a commentary on women as commodities in market society, evidence of sexual molestation by Rossetti's father, etc. There's no limit to the interpretations put forth about what is, on the surface, an engaging fairy tale set to verse.

This is a fascinating work of lyrical poetry that can be read fairly quickly yet will sustain your interest through multiple readings, all sorts of fascinating research into analysis and interpretation, and just plain wonderment. As sensual as it is beautiful, Goblin Market is probably one of the most fascinating and insightful products of Victorian literature.

I wonder if the good folk at the end of the 19th century when this poem was originally published were just too obtuse to understand the gist of Rossetti's work; if so, we have an innocent artifact that has evolved into something erotic because of our twentieth century sensibilities (we have dirtier minds than our compatriots from the past).

Don't let the word "erotica" scare you away. This is not a blatantly sexual work in its language; it is not a "dirty" book. Just understand that despite what anyone else says or writes, this is about as unambiguously EROTIC as you can get. With phrasing like "Eat me, drink me, love me; Laura, make much of me; For your sake I have braved the glen; And had to do with goblin merchant men."

Since the original work is now in the public domain, if you want to read the full text online just do a search using most standard search engines with the terms "Christina Rossetti Goblin Market" and you should turn up a number of links to the actual poems, go read it, and decide for yourself about it.

This makes a wonderful gift for people you are very close too. However, it is also a very personal poem, and if given inappropriately could actually scare someone away!

Noted Italian/English poetess of the 1800's Christina Rossetti's imagination catching poetry has stood the test of time, being still loved and studied today. Because of its title, Goblin Market sometimes gets put into a juvenile category, but this is a poem for mature readers. This moral tale depicts the epic struggle between bad and good. The goblin's onslaught on virtue immediately engages the reader's inner ear and heart. This poem is really gripping reading. Goblin Market is often considered Christina Rossetti's best poem. This re-issue, replete with noted illustrator Arthor Rackham's beautifully eerie drawings, is a book worth owning.

A children tale for adults. It's a light and thoughtful reading. The story of two sisters and lewd goblin men. Innocence, temptation and emotions all together. This inspiring story has wonderful work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

This tale is not about sexuality but about redemption and the need to help others. Read deep into the story to find the meaning that Rossetti intended.

Anyone who knows what it's like to lose love, not know quite what to do with your life, and having potential--but again, being beside yourself with what to do with it--will love this book. The story is beautiful, and the drawings are too! It's very cinematic, especially as the volumes go on. I also give Doha kudos for doing such a good job with the anthropomorphic animal thing. Not many graphic novelists can do it, but he does it, and well. Bravo! A must read!

I am an avid manga reader who has read over 200 manga books. I saw the cover of the book and I thought Wow I love the art! I had no idea what it looked like inside until I purchased it.

When I got it, the book was HEAVY! Twice as heavy as a manga from Tokyopop or VIZ. The pages are in beautiful color and in shiny magazine-like paper. Flipping through the pages, it looked like part cartoon and part poemy.

After finishing the first volume, I found out I really liked it. It is different than any manga I've read. The characters are cats acting & dressing as humans. The main character loses his girlfriend and tries to move on to a new one. There's talking balloons for when he talks and then words for when he's thinking. When he's thinking, it feels like you're reading a poem. The words are well written.

It's a great realistic love story! The characters are adorable! Glad I bought it! The story is complete at 6 volumes. I look forward to reading all of them.

i loooove love love this series, and i can't wait to read the last volume. the art is gorgeous, full-color, and alternately really poignant and really hilarious. the plot lines are simple, but still totally intriguing. i'm just as into houndu's story as catsby's, and it's rare that i find side plots to be as important as the "main" plot. read these books, you'll definitely fall in love with the characters.

The first book is a little depressing. Catsby is a sad, and pissed character, it is a great book. A lot of the situations are real life, and easy to relate to.

I just had to read the 2nd one, and I just ordered the 3rd and 4th

I've been around comics for a long time, and I have finally found something that is 100% good. In fact it's genious. The art is great and the story is constantlt realing me in. The best thing is that it realstes to real life situations with relationships, friends, and basically everyday life. Pick it up as soon as you can because it truly won't dissapoint. The best

I bought this for my 10 year old son and he loved it. My 14 year old and I also read it and we agree, it's a winner. The pictures are great and its packed with information for any new hamster owner. If you are adding a hamster to your home, get this book!

This book is fun for children and adults. It gives much much information about caring for hamsters that can really be of use. Take it from me; this book has helped me so much! It talks about your hamster's needs and wants, "do"s and "don't"s, breeding, cage information and much more! This book is highly recommended by me.

I bought this book for my daughters 9th birthday because we decided to let her get a hamster. The book is very informative, has bright colorful pictures, and simply makes you want to read it! My daughter read the entire book in one setting, as did I. I liked the fact that each chapte focuses on the child reading the book, explaining everything in simple terms and then on the very last page of the chapter there is a just for parents list of everything that was covered in the chapter. I know I learned a few things from reading this book and I'm sure you child will too!

I'm huge Hamtaro fan (Anime and Manga). I had been a Hamtaro fan for about a year or more when my best friend decided to get a hamster of her own. I went to a sleepover and had met her new hamster "Harmony" named after Harmony in the 2nd Hamtaro game and future character in the Hamtaro Anime Series. With that her parnets had got her this Hamster Care Book. I only looked at a few pages and I really enjoyed it. A month later, after begging, my mom finally got me a hamster (Who's name is "Bijou"). She didn't get me any books because I had already researched about Hamsters and my brother had one a few years ago (But my brother didn't know how to take care of him). I decided to buy and borrow Hamster Care Books to gether more information about Hamsters. Along one of these books, I finally got the Hamtaro Hamster Care Book and I loved it more then the other books I had collected. My little cousin (Who's 5) who's planning on getting a hamster had looked at the book and understood it right away (Without me explaining any thing). I highly suggest this to any Hamtaro fan, hamster fan, animal fan, or someone who getting a hamster.

When I found a review of this book on hamsterific I thought it was a book about the cartoon Hamtaro, but I was wrong. It's filled with very good hamster information that's easy to read, but still more comprehensive than other hamster books I've read.
Hamtaro is just there as eye-candy.
This book is fantastic, the authors really seem to have a different, more serious perspective on hamster care.

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.

I'll have to say that this artist has a way with the graphic art form that I feel few others have demontrated thus far in the genre. The sincerity conveyed through simplicity in order to portray a wonderful series of elements that characterise the human condition is refreshing...not to mention that zombies, mummies and monsters in general NEED to be in our lives!

I just found a first edition of this wonderful story and I must say that after reading Dylan Horrock's small quote on the rear cover I was quite interested.

I lost my childhood friend to suicide three years ago and this story, while not similar in that fate, really helped me see what I have been holding inside. Guilt is a terrible suitcase, one not easily discarded, but it's nice to see no one is alone.

I knew little of the book before literally stumbling onto it and I am very glad I did. It now sits in my large collection of comics and such and will be one of my favorite conversation pieces in my local comic shop in weeks to come. I highly recommend it to all!

"Hey, Wait.." TP, is a book conceived and drawn both by Jason.This terse graphic novella uses no words,but all-pantomine.It is an allegorical genre, tackling by stretching out gradually the life of a young boy leading up, maturing & his becoming of a young man.

My givings of this short precis` is about two pubescent boys spending jovially on one of there school summer vacations. The twosome literally smell the happy air of there school-free environment, exuberantly eating the ticking time heedfully the rest of there holliday lives, & they just simply wallow the concurrent moments of what in store for them during these cherished times. However one day, a fortutious event diverges the path they both tread for the rest of there lives permanently. The other one simply could not accept the happenstance what predestined by fate. So he cope with it antipathetically as his life sinks spirally to the toilet, & as well, he tries to endure this guilt for the remainder of his adult life.

Essentially, this comic book is broken down to two halves. The first chapter is all about exploring fully the childhood lives of these two young boys. While the latter half shown us by sifting through the lives of the protagonists & that wretched and tragedic repercussions. By the way, this book utilizes anthropomorphic characters or in other words, uses animals as oppose to humans as way to smoothly deliver the story as what the author intended it to be.

Jason is a very talented & well-rounded comic book creator. he artfully etched out the story to life with his true-to-life and accurate rendition of diverse & realistic emotions of each circumstances upon dictated spontaneously by the story itself. The story turns out very profound in the dimensions of emotions and rich in psychological dealings,at least in reference to subtle, not blatant aspects. Likewise,the story is very poignant, dark & melancholic, heartbreaking and ultimately, heart-rending.

However, the grandest talent of Jason based by critique-ing this work, is his ability to leverage panels to his pluses per page (6 panels a page). He skillfully by fully delineating lucidly the essences to fruition such as those articulated prior, such as the psychological, emotional, and allegorical ranges. Most of the times, his panels do not even show people nor any interactions, neither a situation at all.Ironically, merely illustrated a tree or any object for that matter & completed, then presenting to us, only the tree & its environment for example, for all 6 panels, with the author sole purpose to starkly immersing the reader to every inch of significant emotions & other nuances of what Jason deemed neccessary & clever.

This slender graphic novella constitutes only for 64 pages, all in B&W & comic book format, softbounded & with sturdy frontage cover. A good buy and a "must own".

A bonafide, quasi literary piece of work. In the same breath alongside "Maus" by. Art Spiegelmann; "Four Women" by. Sam Kieth; "To the Heart of the Storm" by. Will Eisner & " A Jew in Communist Prague" by. Vittorio Giardino.

Highly recommended for story, price and Jason.

Jason's comic coming-of-age story has many gems. His simplistic style and steady pacing with the use of the same comic panels on every page forge a universe made of a very personal visual language. The lines between adulthood and childhood are clearly drawn (so to speak): adults are tired, working-class that rarely smile as they tread the streets on stilts; the two kids in the story have boundless imagination and their world is populated by undead bullies and comic monsters.

The second part does not read as cleverly as the first, though done with the same care. The symbolism of the first half is only seen when the main character hits his lowest ebb. Its not clear why this character is made to suffer so much as his guilt succumbs to an unsatisfying life. Jason's very linear narrative could have used a little more complexity on this end but is otherwise a work that strikes a dark chord in regards to lost innocence and lost life and the parallels between the two.

Jason, Hey, Wait... (Fantagraphics, 2001)

Graphic novel artist Jason made a huge splash with this slim volume when it first came out a few years back. It's pretty easy to see why; with a minimum of dialogue and a ot of abstraction, Jason paints a deeply affecting pastiche.

The story concerns two childhood friends who decide to start a fan club. While they're planning out the initiation, something goes horribly wrong, and the rest of the book deals with one friend's lifelong reaction to a life-changing event.

Hey, Wait... is unflinching. If you haven't yet come to the world of graphic novels, this is a great place to start; even the toughest critics of graphic novels, I should think, would be hard-pressed to deny the emotional power of this little tale (and it certainly puts to bed the idea that all comics are for kids). **** ½

"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.