Graphics Books

If you have not had the pleasure of viewing an episode of Inu-Yasha on Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network take the time to check it out, you will be hooked! One of the best anime series coming out of Japan I think. The storylines are entertaining and the content is not to questionable. There is some sexual content with some of the storylines, but it is completely within reason and not presented in any vulgar or offensive manner. The series is geared toward the adolescent viewer with funny cracks directed at the awkward stages of puberty. Your younger teens will laugh out loud and come to love every character.

As Inuyasha and company are sailing down a river they encounter a girl named Nazuna as she is escaping from a spider-head demon. It seems the whole area is infested with the spiders who take the heads of humans, except for a temple which is inhabited by Nazuna and a wizened priest. But when the spiders break into the temple, Inuyasha is at a loss because it just happens to be the time in all half-demons lives when they lose their demonic power and become fully human for a short time! Our heroes will have to use their brains instead of brawn this time. After that they will have to deal with a witch that steals Kikyo's bones in an effort to resurrect the priestess that imprisoned Inuyasha for 50 years!

What can I say about any work by Rumiko Takahasi? They are probably the best manga out there! She is a genius! The great thing about this volume is that we learn a bit more about the past conflict between Inuyasha and Kikyo and that their relationship was a bit more "involved" than we were led to believe. It wasn't just a simple battle for the possession of the Shikon Jewel. The twist of making Inuyasha become a human for a night was also a clever twist in the plot. Rumiko seems full of surprises in what is essentially an action manga. Excellent work!

There are 21 volumes of "Inu-Yasha" out as I write this, but volume 5 is still my favorite.

Inu-Yasha, Kagome, and Shippou meet a young girl whose village is being attacked by spider head demons. Strangely, Inu-Yasha is reluctant to help. We get to see Inu-Yasha's human form for the first time, and if you like the romance between Inu-Yasha and Kagome, you'll love this volume. I like the series before I read this, but this one made me fall in love with it.

If you haven't read up to this point, you'll probably want to get the other volumes first. Inu-Yasha is a must for any manga collection.

I was little surprised (given the author) that this was such a well-written manga but I was surprised that there was still humor.

Some of the action is not as well drawn as the conversation episodes of the work but still very enjoyable.

For the parents, there is one brief scene of some topless nudity but nothing overt.

I am looking forward to continuing this series.

Inuyasha a human! With black hair no ears or claws and fangs! (Gasps and faints) Buy this great book to find out more.

AWESOME! Stories and illustrations are top rate! Even my Dad (a die hard fan) would approve.

If you've never read (or wanted to read) Uncle Scrooge stories, thinking they're just funny animal comics, take a look at this book. You'll be surprised. This is an epic. The detail Rosa puts into these stories and illustrations is incredible. I find myself going mad, staring at covers and splash pages, seeking out the cleverly hidden D.U.C.K.s. The stories are enhanced by Rosa's "director's notes" after each story. I've never read much Uncle Scrooge before, but I'm going to seek out as much Rosa (and Barks) as I can, now.

I was fasinated by the way Don Rosa treated Carl Barks' story and yet put his own stamp on both the Duck, the clientele and history, even details of geografy like in Dawson. So it may be excused that Mississippi and Ohio are mixed a bit. All in all, if you care for Scrooge McDuck, the book is a must. If you do not care about him, be careful not to read it, you just might become a follower.

My kids love this book! I love this book! The only reason I give it a 4 star rating instead of a 5 is because the binding is terrible. I bought 2 of these books and after a few times of handling the book, the binding pops off the cover and individual pages start falling out. Very frustrating.

(this review encompasses both The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck and the Life and Times Companion--I highly recommend reading the two in conjunction)

I know I'm not the only duck fan who refuses to read any non-Carl Barks stories--unless they're by Don Rosa. Rosa seems to be the only one who really understands and respects Barks' work; unlike the great mass of European duck writers, he builds upon it while not dragging it off in overly cartoonish, Disney-esque directions. His best stories rival those of the master--and the work under consideration can definitely be put in that category. That he was able to synthesize so many off-hand Barks references into a coherent narrative--let alone one that astounds and delights the way this does--is really pretty incredible.

The Life and Times has its flaws, as perhaps do ALL great literary works (yes! I said it). The fact that Rosa had to work within a fairly tight framework with a specific goal in mind means that some of the stories, especially the earlier ones, can feel a little forced. The final installment, although necessary, feels a little bit pat. And--although this may be just a matter of personal preference--I feel like Scrooge's initial encounter with Flintheart Glomgold in the African section gives ol' Flinty short shrift. In Barks' stories--the first two, at least--he's a more complex character than he's given credit for here.

That said, however, this does a LOT more right than it does wrong. Rosa has worked before to expand Scrooge's character (see the absolutely essential "Last Sled to Dawson," readily available in several collections), but here he really takes it to another level. The first half of this narrative is more or less straight adventure stories (rousing adventure stories!), but things become considerably more interesting in the latter half, for several reasons. Firstly, there are the Yukon stories with Scrooge's lost love Glittering Goldie. These are particularly popular with fans, and for good reason: I don't really imagine that Barks had any notion when he introduced the character that the two of them would have had so much history, but Rosa handles it beautifully. He's SUCH a hopeless romantic when it comes to the two of them. I love it. Furthermore! "Prisoner of White Agony Creek" features an implied sex scene! Much to everyone's delight! Barks couldn't have gotten away with something like that. And if you never imagined that a duck comic could break your heart, you haven't read "Hearts of the Yukon."

Secondly, Rosa doesn't shy away from showing the less appealing aspects of Scrooge's character. In the latter part of the series, we see him gradually losing his ability to take in natural beauty for anything other than its potential for exploitation for monetary gain; we also see him being increasingly vicious and inequitable in his business dealings. "The Sharpie of the Culebra Cut"* even touches on something you wouldn't necessarily have expected; namely, the vague unease that some fans (like me) feel at the fact that Barks' archeological expeditions always involve Scrooge profiting from ancient treasures while disregarding their historical and cultural value.

The climax of the second half of the narrative comes in part eleven, though. Scrooge's highly self-satisfied account of his exploitation of African natives in Barks' "Voodoo Hoodoo" is an uncomfortable moment for duck fans; Rosa, to his credit, does not disregard this incident but confronts it head-on and makes it emblematic of Scrooge's moral downfall (of course, the fact that in Barks' story--after his alleged repentance--he's still gleeful about it doesn't make much sense, but I don't suppose there was much that could be done about that). Scrooge's return to Duckburg and subsequent abandonment by his sisters at the end of the story is quite powerfully dark. I almost wish the story had ended there--but, of course, that wouldn't have been appropriate, given the universe in which Rosa is operating.

Rosa also provides commentary on each story, which is fascinating to read. His love of and respect for this material is always apparent. It's inconceivable to me that, tasked with chronicling Scrooge's life, any other writer could have done as well. The book wouldn't exist without Barks' classic comics as a foundation, of course, but I'm going to go out on a blasphemous limb (the worst kind of limb!) and say that The Life and Times surpasses any of Barks' work. I can't read regular Scrooge comics in quite the same way since finishing it.

*Since Rosa is such a stickler for getting historical details correct, I have to be obnoxious and point out that he made a pretty big mistake here: Scrooge claims to be able to read Mayan glyphs, which is pretty impressive, since they hadn't even been deciphered at the time of the story.

This book is a bargain for FSX users. Very detailed with over 700 pages of information. I am a private pilot and throughly enjoyed reading through this manual, especially when flying my FSX program. In addition the extra missions, charts & challanges, are certainly worth the book. The extras are free off the internet, and you'll probably have to wait until the web site is "free" as I suspect it is very busy. The book is great for learning a "new" aircraft, and best of all it gets you in the air quickly if you have never flown before. The internet stuff comes up inside the FSX program itself, and it quite complete with charts etc. for each mission. This book is certainly worth the money for what you get.

This book is a fantastic guide to flight sim and flying. It has loads of details without being boring. A great reference item to keep on your desktop cockpit.

This is a good book for real pilots who would like to improve their MS Flight Simulator experience, as well as for non-pilots who would like to become pilots. The book is written in simple terms so the new student will understand, but there is clearly enough there to benefit the accomplished pilot both from a aviation knowledge and simulation point of view. I am an ATP and CFI and have found nuggets of wisdom that I will use in flying and teaching. Mostly I am making my flight simulator experience richer and more fun by getting to know the software and online world better. My simulator is complete with yoke, multi-engine throttle quadrant, rudder pedals, multi-function panel, and three monitors. The only disappointment so far in the book is the recommendation that you open multiple views on one screen, without recommending adding another monitor and opening the view there. I have found that with multiple monitors I can effectively fly VFR by looking out the left window (left monitor), placing the instrument panel and forward looking screen on the middle monitor, and radio equipment on the right monitor. This is also ideal for IFR practice, which I do every day. I also use FS2004 (not FSX) and still find the book germane, even though it is not specific to my older version.

Even though I own two airplanes, I still fly MS Flight Simulator because I can practice to perfection procedures that make my real world flying much better. This book helps me reach that goal. I am looking forward to continually expanding my sim experience, and maybe I'll see you online!

I got this book and was amazed! It is a huge book and has everything in it. I have only started and this book has all the details and covers pretty much everything you need.

I think based on the reviews below - you get the drift. Those reviews speak for themselves (and the book). I don't need to repeat every thing noted by the other reviewers. It's a great book and I learned more than I would have ever thought.

Don't let the 800 pages scare you off. The diagrams and the tutorial flights are just awesome. I have been flying MSFS since way back in the early days. The interest over the years has come and gone and I would skip a version here and there... then FSX hit the market. I since have turned this interest into a full fledged hobby. Everything from a TrackIR, Matrox (3 screens), Rudder pedals, yokes,good PC and a full set of navigational charts and IAPs - I thought I had it all together and knew everything there was to learn. What I found out from this book, I had barely scratched the surface. What I was missing was real world knowledge. This book has tied it all together and has made my hobby seem almost as authentic as the real deal. Now I can go any place at anytime in any aircraft.

Great great book! Do yourself a favor and invest the tiny expense (relative to the rest of this hobby) and enjoy. Remember, it's all about the journey and not the finish line. Soak up the knowledge that these authors have penned for your simming pleasure!

If you would like more information or would like to discuss simming in general feel free to contact me at fly-bman2006@hotmail.com

Bman.

Rattrap is an excellent book. Because of events like the Kobe Bryant case, one might think that the plot would be straightforward and predictable. It is anything but predictable. Ms Hamilton takes the characters through series of highly charged emotional events that are thought provoking in their presentation. The raw power of life comes through in many of its varieties and is dealt with in ways that leave the reader wondering about life and people in general. While some may feel that these unabashed displays of life are offensive, I find them refreshing. The characters are real and the ways that they deal with life are real.
More importantly, the book is enjoyable. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more offerings from Ms Hamilton.

Great character line it has all the good stuff! The story line is very believable it has a driving movement or action in it. The characters are very news worthy, it has drama,guns,sex,murder,drugs,and it keeps you wondering what happens next. Very good story line very good first book with great imagination, well thought out, Great effort to keep it real. Good job! Ed Abner

"In order to defeat evil, you must understand the nature of evil." This is a profound and demanding statement that occurs several times in Sarah's first novel. In many important ways it is a summary of the novel. Over the course of the novel, the reader is given the chance (choice?) to understand not only the `greater evil' of the main villain, but also the `lesser evils' of the various characters in the novel. The novel also wrestles with the idea that perception creates reality.

RATTRAP as a story can be read on many levels, from the erotic novel to a philosophic discourse on the nature of evil and thus should appeal to a very diverse audience. The novel also contains many vignettes that will amuse, arouse, disgust, enlighten, and entertain.

This one of the most intense and believable novels I've read in a very long time. I look forward to reading Sarah's next novel!

Sarah, I thought this book was fantastic. Read every word cover to cover. Graphic, but not offensive, and I think you displayed a wide array of knowledge and familiarity with sports, pop culture, history, art and so much more. It took me a while to get through all the book, but it was well worth it. A job well done and best of luck in the future.

Jose Romero
Seattle Times Seahawks writer

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Sarah's stories online I couldn't resist trying her first book, despite the fact that I read very few novels, don't care for violence, and have no particular interest in sports. But it was like getting on a wild carnival ride, once you got into this story, there was no way you were leaving until the ride was over. Be prepared for twists and turns and bumps in the road. Sarah will keep you guessing with her rapid fire short chapter style.
And be prepared to meet some larger than life characters along the way. There are enough bad guys to populate three novels. But for those of us that have witnessed examples of celebrity "justice" in action in recent history, this book will land a little close to home. Sex, professional sports, the criminal justice system, race, gangs, there doesn't seem to be a topic that Sarah is afraid to tackle head on. Where one so young gets the knowledge and confidence to do so and make the book believable and real is beyond me but more power to her. I know that Sarah's goal is to be a full time writer and I think she's well on her way. What a great first book. She's almost converted me to become a novel reader; at least when her second book comes out and I hope that's soon. Bravo Sarah, I just hope you will still have some time to titillate your online story fans as well.

For an action/drama focusing on a super team of heroes, look no further. If you haven't picked up The Ultimates yet, you don't want to start here. This is basically season 2 of the series and you'll be lost, but this is where it really takes off for me. Ultimates 1 was a very well done series and got this franchise off to a good start and Ultimates 2 still blew it away.

This is a testament to the skills of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch for giving us a mature look at super heroes that doesn't patronize the reader and pushes the realism as much as possible. Comics have certainly changed in the wake of popular serialized dramas like "Lost" for example and for the better. I couldn't be bothered to even watch NBC's "Heroes" anymore as it doesn't even come close to the action and suspense showcased in this book. Continued in this book is more focus on Hank Pym, Thor and Tony and Natasha's budding relationship. The whole team begins to fall apart due to a possible informant within S.H.I.E.L.D. but who's the traitor?

I enjoyed seeing cameos in here from Prof. X as well as Matt Murdock representing Dr. Banner in court. Helps to keep the Ultimate Universe feeling all encompassing with these crossovers. I enjoyed the dialogue between Steve and Jan as the Captain America of the 40's is still having a hard time adjusting to the 21st century. Those moments also help to ground it in reality. And that's what I'm enjoying so much about this take on The Avengers is how much more seriously I can take it than ever before. Comics are not just for kids anymore and The Ultimates is a prime example.

More of the entertaining destructive and self-destructive antics of the Ultimates. The general public now know that Banner is the Hulk, and his trial demands capital punishment.

Giant-Man is Ant-Man, Iron Man is married. There is the aftermath of the alien invasion to deal with, and now, Loki.

In a nutshell, "the Ultimates" AKA the Ultimate Avengers is far and away the best of Marvel's Ultimate titles, as evidenced by its top-rating among all of Millar's books. Interestingly, it rates higher than his other Ultimate titles...I think in general the tone is the most adult and most serious of the Ultimate books - closer to the new Battlestar Galactica or Season 5 of 24 than than to its comic peers.

While I liked Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-men, etc - this is the standard bearer of the line - even if you don't follow the avengers, this is an easy to grasp title. And Volume 2 is far better than volume 1!

Unlike the previous Batman collection I read (Batman: Officer Down), The Ultimates 2 collection was fantastic. Stories like these are what have started to bring people back to comics again following the disastrous market crash of the 1990's when people became fed up with generic art and horribly written titles.

This arc picks up 12 months following the last Ultimates book and much has happened in the Ultimates' universe. Bruce Banner is locked away and awaiting trial, Thor has broken away from the team, and Dr. Pym continues to try to find a way to rejoin the team. Captain America, Iron Man and the other Ultimates find themselves at the center of numerous debates concerning the problems with the American government and other nations pursuing super-powered groups and how they should be used, if at all. Although Bryan Hitch's art is quite strong, what separates this book from many other things on the shelf is the writing. I used to be highly critical of many of the comics being sold because the writing was often weak and depended so heavily on the art to carry the book. Now, in many ways, books like this and the work of Bendis and Miller keep producing, comics have reached the point where the writing is as strong if not stronger than the art, making the medium that much richer and more entertaining. Millar does a fantastic job of keeping an epic feel to everything and at no point do we lose sight of how all-encompassing a team that contains many of Marvel's most important icons should be. At the same time, we see the moments when everyone, including Captain America, seems all too human.

I think this is a fantastic collection and highly recommend it to seasoned and new comic readers alike.

i hated the ultimates 1 vol 1, the ultimates 1 vol 2 was a lot better but still not great.
the ultimates 2 vol 1 however is great. i still hate the idea of bruce banner being a scumbag, and there are a bunch of other ultimate universe things that carry into this that i don't like. but overall this is a great tpb and highly recommended.

I found this book to be exceptionally funny and have read several times over. I recommend this to any looking for a good laugh to cheer up a dreary afternoon.

As I read Zits, I am always stopping amid my chuckles to think that if this is how it is and boys have it this rough, then maybe we of the other half should consider we got through our teen years relatively unscathed.

The Cincinnati Enquirer's living treasure, Jim Borgman, has teamed up with writer Jerry Scott to create a funny, intelligent daily comic strip that rivals For Better Or For Worse in sheer insightful understanding of its subject matter. The four-panel stories of Jeremy, a perpetually fifteen-year-old high school freshman, and his daily misadventures on the rugged uphill climb of adolescence, tell an honest, sometimes rule-bending tale of growing up in modern America. Experiencing life through the eyes (ears, nose, emotions and wandering mind) of Jeremy as he deals with love, school, parents, friends, we are treated to some pretty good laughs. Zits has been around for most of the last decade but I only discovered it this summer, and I'm in the process of buying collections to see what I've been missing. "Sketchbook" was the first one I got and it's a jewel!

- this is a WONDERFUL, witty, funny, very true to life and very sweet representation of a teenager's day-to-day struggles. I have a teenage son who, while in high school, lived 'Zits'! I had saved many of my newspaper's strips to bring home and show him because of the similarity to what we were talking about at breakfast. I finally bought this book (I opened the first page and laughed out loud in the store!) and read it in one sitting cover to cover! I love it! It makes fun of all the teenage tragedies, parents, girlfiends, music, tests, all of it, and it does it with such wonderful sense of humor! I highly recommend it!

"Zits: Sketchbook 1" is simply wonderful! "Zits" is one of the best comic strips, full of teenager facts, personality traits, and humor! If you missed the first year of "Zits" or just want to refresh your memory, you must get this book! I recommend!

So, Calvin and Hobbes are gone.

Micheal and Elizabeth Patterson are no longer teenagers.

Where does one find the humor of teenagers and children? With this marvelous strip, we can be calmed in this world of headphones, Playstation 2's and constant self questioning. Teenagers are given the opportunity to laugh at themselves, with an excuse; they are SUPPOSED to! No one has to reveal that they are laughing at their best friend, or their boyfriend or girlfriend...because it is a comic strip! In the absense of a little boy and his tiger, of two siblings growing up together in Canada, Zits is a new addition to the childhood classics, which will come to be loved by all.

If you like Fantasy books, try this one, it will keep you on the edge of your looking glass, i would just like more movies to come out on this like the first conan movie. the second one was a laugh. the first movie was done with real swords, people acually went to the hospital with missing fingers and split open chests from acuall cuts. took 5 years to make the first movie, only 1 yr for the second

Nobody can touch Robert E. Howard when he was at the top-of-his-game. The three stories in The Bloody Crown of Conan are not only some of his best, they are some of his best Conan stories and Conan was his greatest creation. Howard was the father of Sword & Sorcery and next only to J.R.R. Tolkien in being the largest influence of fantasy today. His stories have stark imagery that's nothing short of amazing. The action moves at break-neck speed, and despite that they were written as pure adventure "pulps", there's harsh reality that's lying just beneath the surface.

In The People of the Black Circle, a princess and her kingdom are the target of an elite group of evil sorcerers, the Black Circle. Only Conan, the chief of the outlaws ranging her land, can save her.

In The Hour of the Dragon, King Conan is struck down by a resurrected wizard from an ancient evil kingdom. Now Conan must take up a long, dangerous quest to retrieve a relic of great power; the undead wizard's weakness, and rebuild his armies in order to regain his throne and achieve his revenge.

A Witch Shall Be Born is the tale of a evil and beautiful witch, who enslaves her twin sister, the queen of the border-city Khauran and allows merciless Shemite mercenaries reign of the kingdom. However, when they nail the captain of the guard, Conan, to a cross in the desert, they make the mistake of not confirming his death.

Del Rey publishing has done an excellent job putting these; The Fully Illustrated Library of Robert E. Howard, books together. They are chockfull of commentaries, letters and notes that can be appreciated by die-hard Howard fans and newcomers alike. Gary Gianni's artwork for Bloody Crown compliments the story perfectly, as do the artists in the other books. The beautiful illustrations lend a classical feel that's well-worthy of the master that Robert E. Howard was.

This is great stuff, utterly action-packed! Howard has a wonderful sense of words, and--though he makes the occasional error in cognate reuse (e.g., "the courier coursed down the corridor")--he describes people, places, and events in jaw-dropping detail. You can faint from the splendor of the fabulously wealthy cities and places he word-paints ('limns', to use a favorite term of his). I could do without the all-too-frequent brutally detailed battle scenes, indicating precisely which archers and pikemen were positioned where and whose horse slipped in whose blood. Just when you're about to lose interest, rest assured that a ferocious dragon or wacky gorilla-monster lurks around the next corner. Oh, and there's some very good black magical humor, e.g., when one wizard, in the guise of an eagle, makes off with the head of a second wizard, whose headless body runs after him, muttering curses. You've got to admit that that's imaginative. I witthold my sixth star because of the uneven nature of some of the stories: indeed, the earlier tales seem to flow better than the later ones (n.b. that Conan's character chronology is unrelated to Howard's authorship chronology). Also, the dialogue occasionally seems silly or stinted: it's hard to believe that a barbarian--even though we know he's thoughtful and good-hearted--would engage in such lengthy monologues (all but monologues, I should say) while supposedly "conversing" with other characters. His words sound like what one would write, not like what one--a barbarian, moreover--would say. But never mind these nickety-pickety nitpicks: this is great, great stuff. After enjoying these, you may want to look into the other volumes (but of course!) and Howard's other works: Bran Mak Morn, Kull, and Solomon Kane. The last of these has adventures such as battling voodoo demons in darkest Africa, chasing vampire queens into forgotten cities, and engaging in swordplay with the enchanted skeletons of murdered sorcerers. Aah! That's the ticket!

A must read book is "Blood & Thunder - The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard"
by Mark Finn. Best book I ever read! Also, go to your local comic book store and start reading Conan (Dark Horse) and Red Sonja (Dynamite) comics. You'll be glad you did! If you can find the large black & white magazines of Savage Sword of Conan and Conan Saga back in the seventies you're in for a real treat; Stories by Roy Thomas and art by John Buscema.

This includes three of Howards longer Conan stories, including one that is full novel length, one rough draft of another story, Howards notes on the stories preceding their completion, two essays pertaining to Howard and his writings by people who helped put this book together and on top of all that its full of illustrations throughout the book. Very affordable and the quality of the stories are the top of the heap of the fantasy genre. I count Howard as being one of the my favorite writers. I can't recomend this and the other two Del Ray Conan releases any more. What a shame it was that these great works were out of print for so long. Great primal blood and guts stuff that often resembles horror as much as fantasy!

This book is recommended for all art fans--you don't need to be familiar with the Sandman character to enjoy McKean's gorgeous covers. The commentary is also very interesting, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the thought process behind many of the works. McKean progresses from producing physical pieces of art to digital manipulations as the series progressed, and although some of his initial digital effects are now dated, it's still fascinating to see a modern master at work.

is there any difference between the Watson-Guptill edition and the Vertigo edition? i noticed one says '1989-1996' while the other says '1989-1997', the size also seems to be differnt, althogh the page numbers are both 208. what i want to know is, is there any difference as far as the artworks go inside? and if so, which is the better one? (one's also more price than the other, it seems).

I bought this book as a gift for a Friend, I was familiar with McKeans art from the comics and she had recently gotten into his work... So i thought it'd make a good gift.

It was a great gift! I looked through the book thoroughly myself and was amazed at not just the artwork but the presentation of it throughout. McKean and Neil Gaiman's Commentry and Notes throughout are both Fascinating and sometimes hilarious. (Ah the Fish...)

I'm gonna pick up a copy for myself, as this really is an Amazing book... ArtFans or ComicFans alike will appreciate just how Beautiful Mckeans Art is.

I don't know why I haven't gotten around to reviewing this collection of work before, but it is amazing! As the title suggests, it is the collected covers of the Sandman comic book series that ran from 1989-1996. There are no Sandman stories in here, just the collected covers of all the issues and some commentary on the covers and The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman himself.

"Just." I love this book. It's "Art" with a capital "A." So many different styles, forms, and moods. It's beauty and magic captured on paper. It calls to mind art as diverse Edward Gorey, Salvadore Dali, the movies of Tim Burtn, and on one startling cover even H.R. Geiger (in a non-Aliens way).

The introduction is very nice too.

I recommend this for any fan of the Sandman series.

When I had collected the original Sandman issues, I was always intrigued by the cover art as well as the story and illustrations inside. Sometimes, I would find myself staring at the covers for minutes before reading the actual story. This was the only time I had ever really done that. And now you can own this book full of those intricate, detailed, and amazing art pieces, along with commentary by McKean and Gaiman.

And there's a Sandman story that I have never read before! If you're a Sandman fan, buy this book.

Domu is an incredible manga. The story and artwork are both excellent. But I would expect nothing less from the brilliant mastermind behind Akira. But seriously if you are a comic book fan this is a must read. Even if you hate manga, you should read this. As I said before the artwork is stunning, Katsuhiro Otomo is an excellent artist, by far the best of all the manga artists. His stuff makes everyone elses manga look like crap. Also, while Domu isn't as intensely violent as Akira, it's still not for young kids, it does have quite a bit of violence and lot's of people get killed, including a few little kids. So if you don't like violence be forwarned. What else is there to say Domu is a classic if you liked Akira then you will most certainly love this.

An entire crowded apartment building is horrifically disturbed when violent unexplained murders upset the humdrum activities of its day-to-day residents. Seemingly mocking the monotony of inner city life and the obsessions with diversions in society, Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) injects a twisted old man into the fray maddened by intense telepathic abilities and an obsession with his own unique 'diversions'. Mainly the systematic slaughtering of his neighbors.

An unlikely challenger soon confronts the warped man-god. A young girl, a child of only about eight or nine has come to free the building of the terror. Armed with powerful telekinesis, their rivalry soon escalates into a massive battle nearly destroying the entire building.

My favorite is subtly depicted in the last scene. A silent test of wills between the two enemies amidst a peaceful playground setting.

It's obvious that Otomo loves exploring the lives of inner city characters that have very little to do with each other. Domu is one of his ealier works and should not be missed by any fan of Akira. This graphic novel is a 'single volume' and presents a quick yet very chilling read.

If only this great manga was made into an anime then we would have a greater appreciation for it's beautiful artwork and explosive action. In Domu you come across a few mysteries and until the end you'll only know about as much as the police do and that's absolutely nothing. Although it is a great read Domu has a few tiny flaws. I would have liked to see a brief explanation on how the twisted old man and Etsuko got their supernatural powers, it's little information like this that make the book seem hurried. I admire Katsuhiro Otomo most for holding nothing back; the art is very graphic at times with some gore.

The art was perfect in showing how exciting, bloody, and dangerous the final battle was.This manga shows it's intelligence by wrapping your brain around the obvious and has you asking questions that were explained but you never caught on. One question heard a lot is why does Mr. Uchida (The twisted old man) murder and torment the people in the apartment complex with no remorse but you're given clues throughout the book. His apartment is filled with toys, he likes to play with them, and he does childish things like stick his tongue out at people so either he is the most demented serial killer ever or he is something gentler.

Because this is a book from the mind of Katsuhiro Otomo who created the amazing classic Akira Domu gets the pleasure of always being compared to it. I'm not going to choose a better story because I haven't read Akira I saw the anime and that wouldn't be fair to Domu but the two have some similarities. One is the supernatural power and another is the nicely done graphic art but to give anymore might ruin the book. Domu is a great tale and an anime would be nice but I don't think today's animation would compliment the edge the manga gave but who knows what else can be done with this classic.

Domu is a graphic novel that combines great action, pathos, and some subtle commentary on urban Japanese life. The characters don't have a lot of space to develop, but seem to have a natural depth. It wasn't hard to sympathize with them, especially the dregs of society that inhabit the apartment complex the book is set in. These are the Japanese that we don't get to see very often, and that Otomo doesn't hide. This is a well-paced thriller with no missteps in the execution, which leads to an ending that gives you a lot to think about. The final scene is downright brilliant, and caps the Katsuhiro Otomo's recurring theme of powerful children. A great buy.

I read Domu the first time in the middle of the night, and after a third of the book I had to put it down because it scared me so much. The characters felt so real and that made the horrible events all the more horrible; the teenager sitting by himself in the middle of the night, struggling with his homework.. The kids playing or bullying each other.. everything felt so real. I immeadiately liked Hiroshi and Etsuko, and every time the old man appeared I was scared that anything might happen to them. In my opinion this is Otomos best work. I read this right after I had finished AKIRA part 5 and I must say that Domu was better in every way. The characters in AKIRA are mostly cardbord, in Domu they act much more like real people. Don't get me wrong, I love AKIRA, but Domu is just better. I can't explain how much I liked this manga, It's the best I've ever read. Go read it, now!

I just purchased my third copy of this book: read the first one to bits, one of my (normally trustworthy) friends jacked the second and no one will be allowed to touch the third. Take Douglas Adams craziness + Terry Pratchetts upbeat humor and imagination = a refreshingly funny novel where mankind is not perpetually cast as overly violent/barely civilized animals or whiny "get in touch with my feelings" emotional cripples trying to solve the problems of the universe. Pompous or pseudo intellectuals need not bother, you will not get it.

Like I said, Don't be fooled by other reviews on this book. I hate to read since a lot of what I had to read in High School was complete drivel to me and put me off of reading for a long time. Anybody who gave this story a bad review probably loves Henry David Thoreau poems and that was one classic author who needed to be put out of his misery before he published his acclaimed TRASH!
Phil Phoglio is more of an illustrator but also wrote in his own fair right {Myth Adventures, VERY HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED BY ME AT LEAST} but this was a cooperative effort and it paid off. This was one of the few books that I read cover to cover non-stop. Just when you thought you were going to predict what was to come the autors threw something new into the mix catching the reader by surprise. The remarks of the humor being sexist by other reviewers shows the poor level of their understanding of the 'human condition' or cultural behavior. We are all sexist pigs at heart and the idea of a New York street gang taking control of a powerful star ship and being faked out by special forces soldiers described as goergous women in bakinis delivering a huge stack of pizzas fit well. What the hell does one think a bunch of adolesent punks would want when in control of a star ship? Money, Cars, and beautiful women (none of which they could afford or get since they were adolescent punks in New York city). If you want sexist try "Star Trek the next Generation" (granted not a book but a fine example of my point). Captian Picard is a diplomacy spouting liberal sissy boy too afraid to get any woman who threw herself at him in bed blowing around in a galaxy where all the aliens have nothing more than a pat of latex on their foreheads while the second in command Will Riker was falling in love with every new alien they came across in every episode. It was nothing but the Love Boat with Photon Torpedos. Next Gen had more sex (and inter species sex) in it than all of the seasons of the Love Boat put together. At least with Babylon 5 the idea of inter species sex was covered very well. Many times there were compatability issues preventing it from happeneing and other times the non-humans being proposed didn't take it well. It would be like getting busy with a dog to them. To call Illegal Aliens sexist is short sighted. Needless to say I lost all respect with Star trek thanks to Next Gen. Illegal Aliens was refreshment for the mind in a world of mediocer sci-fi. I thought the real good sci-fi died in the mid sixties and yes I read A LOT of paperback sci-fi from the fifties and sixties. Issac Asimov was a brilliant author in his day as was Authur C. Clark so I do feel qualified to rate the quality of this story. Titles like Analog and Sci-Fi weekly should come to mind with any avid Sci-Fi reader and I liked a lot of what they contained. Red Sands of Mars was around long before the movie (which stunk) Red Planet came out. I could go on with the titles of sci-fi books I read in the past but I am addressing Illegal Aliens which was the most unique sci-fi written in recent history. it does not beat an old idea into the ground.
This story was well laid out and flowed evenly with surprise after surprise and many of the aliens were nothing like what any sci-fi autor would describe like the R'porrians. R'porrains are cockroaches with a penchant for destroying other planets' economies and stripping them of all their resources and they are so prolific they were blockaded on their homeworld by the galactic federation. Another oddity was Silverside, an intellagent Death Machine with free will who became a crime lord. What was even funnier was how frustrated the Gee (the galactic police force) got while trying to catch up with "the All That Glitters" {the stolen space ship that landed in Central Park in the beginning of the book} while it was crewed by humans trying to make it to the headquarters of the Galactic Federation.
If anything this is one book that dearly needs to be made into a movie or an animation. This is not Star Trek at all and does not take any political stance one way or the other. This is not what I would consider intellectual reading and if that is what you seek GO ELSEWHERE AND QUIT WHINING ABOUT THIS BOOK'S LACK OF WHATEVER! It was written to entertain and not in the mindless way that many other books were written. It does not cater to the least common denomonator and does not barrage you with so much technical information that it leaves many readers confused. The most technical thing said in the book was a comment the ship's engineer Trell {captured by special forces when the ship was captured from the street gang who controlled it. The original crew hated him so much he was kept locked up in the engine room because he was a pacifist and the original crew would have spaced him if they didn't need him so badly. Trell actually is an intellagent plant. Go figure.}. Trell turned out to be more than willing to tell us about the ship he manned and described the ship's need to be white as "serious mojo that made the ship go really fast" since the explanation was too complicated for us to understand. The story manages to simplify stuff that gives physics majors a bad headace and helps make the story readable.
This is one story that will not leave you behind nor is it mindless. It was written with heart and deserves to be read. The only thing this story lacks is being a more visual experience where many reviewers who had to complain might finally understand. If you need an epic go read "war and peace" and quit complaining. This is no classic like the "Illiad and the Odessy" or "MacBeth" but what the hey, This is not placed in the past or writen in the past and is not intended for scientific reading or gripping social commentery. it is a funny story and nothing else. It was not intended to be openly sarchastic about any one thing in particular. It lacks the dry sacastic tones of Monty Python but it does posses a more subtle hint of it. It is not a social commentary ever so popular to the liberal crowd. It does say some mild things about our society but not enough to detract from the main plot of the story which was us seeking admittance into the Galactic Federation once we found out about its exsistance in a stolen space ship.
Come into this book with an open mind and don't look for this to be a serious read. Nick Pollatta did a great job writing this story and as long as you are not reading this as an intellectual (the bane of entertainment) you will be pleased. You also will be wondering why nobody put this to film yet!

OK. I gave it 5 stars because I didn't want to ruin its rating, when it is evidently so beloved by every other reviewer. It was really only worth 1 or 2 stars. I read this because of its high rating,but didn't find it the equal of, say, just about any other science fiction book. Having said that -- I did get a real laugh out of the first few chapters. The street gang vs the aliens was definitely amusing. But once that was done....
I do think the authors are good at describing people. This would probably make a good "made for TV movie." And it did leave me with a certain good will towards the writers. But that is really all. Can't recommend it.

This novel was more fun than I anticipated. Aliens land in New York and the UN first contact team takes over the world to deal with them. This is almost 2 books. The first half deals with the first aliens who land on earth and the second half what earth does in retaliaton to what they find out about people-out-there.

This book sends up tonnes of standard SF stories and is fully tounge-in-cheek. It has a cast of eccentric characters and aliens who really aren't any better or worse than humanity itself.

For a fun satire on the whole SF genre this book is a good read (as long as you aren't expecting anything too sophisticated..)

So nice to see this puppy back in print! all you folks selling it for 80.00+ go soak your dirty heads! One of the great stories from TSR's heyday. I read this sucker the first time while a senior in high school way back in 89 and it still makes me bust a gut! Fun,wacky and a great read!update 2/18/06 I guess I should add this book is extremely sarcastic,sophmoric and juvenile(it was intended for teens after all)I do think the way it portrays humankind as self absorbed and unable to accept defeat is right on(its at once a strength and a weakness). I guess if you were teenager reading it for the first time never having lived during the cold war you might rate 2-3 stars