Graphics Books

This is it, the original manga that started a worldwide franchise. Before the anime, before the card game, before the video games, there was this.

Actually, this first volume is actually Volume 8 of Kazuki Takahashi's manga-meaning that readers will learn as much about Yugi's beginnings as they do from watching the first few episodes of the anime. The source material for the first season of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the manga follows Yugi and his friends from their first encounter with Maximillion J. Pegasus to their arrival on Duelist Kingdom (Yugi's first duel with Kaiba is left out). Those familiar with the anime will also be pleased to know that characters like Insector Haga (Weevil) and Mai Kujaku/Valentine will make appearances. Also featured is a rundown on the Duel Monsters cards used in the current storyline. While those who have watched the anime may not find much to talk about here, it's worth a look for those who want to know what all the buzz is about. But if you're a diehard fan who's got to have Yugi on the go, this is good place to start.

This book is rated T for Teen: Violence, Adult Situations

Ummm...Hello? Why are you people talking about volumes 2, 3, and 5 of the regular YGO manga series? This is Yu-Gi-Oh: Duelist, the original story line of the Duelist Kingdom tournament. It is rated teen...that's been established by my fellow YGO fans. Seriously, if you're a parent, don't get this book for your 7-year-old kid who thinks he knows everything about YGO...these are the mangas that you read backwards, so good luck explaining that to your child, and then there are some (...) situations in the other YGO books (there aren't really any in this one, that I remember). Actually, Mai Kujaku (Mai Valentine for all you dubbies) is very, VERY clad...her (...) are practically falling out of her "shirt." But anyway, I wasn't too enthusiastic about reading this because I own three versions of Duelist Kingdom including this, so I know what happens already. It's kind of hard for me to read through all the duels because I have practically memorized every duel in the DK saga. I am usually very tempted to skip the duels the first time I read this, but I didn't skip them, but now I only read through entire duels every once in a while...but I do really like this book!

i would give this book a A+ cuz its so cool to no the character's origins. as some of the other pple mentioned Seto Kiaba doesnt look to good though that doesnt matter to me since i like yami more. anyway the plot of this story sorta sounds like the episode where kiaba tore up Yugi's granfather's bwd(blue eyes white dragon). The only difference with that is that yugi doesn't duel kiaba right off the bat. i'm not gonna tell more cuz that's 4 u to find out.

another thing is that if ur under 12 u shouldn't read this. someone i no read this when he/she was 10 and wouldn't stop asking questions about it. It has a little bit of perverteness cuz of tristan/honda's nephew jojhi. dont get me mad if ur 7 years old and say u like yu gi oh cuz u dont even no the 1/2 of it.

anzu(tea 2 u unkwoning freaks) is not that bad in this manga. but she does draw the smiley face as the friendship sign and makes the litle speech. actually its the only speech she makes on friendship in the entire series. it's still a great book and i would recomend this book to all my friends if they read yu gi oh.

From the title of the item, I would have to say that this is the new Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist. The Duelist series is supposed to be based on what American viewers saw, Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, those things, without the annoyance of fillers like Noa's Arc and DOOM. This manga shows the first introduction of Pegasus, how Yugi-tachi got to the island, and the introduction of Mai and Insector Haga (Weevil Underwood for the American fans.) This is a lot more violent, though, as such, you should obey the "Teen" rating on the series.
Other than that, great book, great series, and help in the cause of getting pictures of the thing onto the Amazon.com site, so people will stop giving reviews for manga 2 and 5!

I really like this book. Well, I'm a big fan of Yugioh, so duh! This is the book in which we first see the Duel Monsters cards and meet the young CEO (though at the time we don't know he is one) Seto Kaiba and the mysterious Shadi.

Beware though, Seto, who usually looks all hot and sexy, doesn't look too spectacular. I'm not sure why, but some of the images of him look rather awkward, so if you are used to watching the anime, this is the manga, note the change. It's not like it matters to anyone but me anyway. (I'm an absessive Seto fangirl).

Also, if you are some silly little kid who's under ten and "thinks" he/she likes Yugioh, back away before I get angry. Don't even READ this if you're under 12.

I'm fourteen, and when I see f'ggin FIVE YEAR OLDS saying they like Yugioh I get real pissed...... So, if you are some baby, this book is too sophisticated for you. It is rated TEEN, whatever it says up there, and includes a lot of (minor) swears and violence and drugs and alcohol and more mature stuff.

Joey and Yugi and Honda (Tristen, to all you unknowing twerps) are known to pull perverted pranks. Once, they watched a movie that mentioned "censoured" girls and Joey trying to see through the censoring....O.O...... but that wasn't in this book, so don't worry about Yugi wanting to watch digitized porn.

Yugioh as a whole is awsome. It's my favorite anime for many reasons. It includes hot guys (SETO KAIBA!!! & Malik, Bakura, Yami), Millenium magic, dueling action (I love action/violence, I don't know why) and everyone else that makes it so unique and awsome.

Buy, or at least READ this book, (if you like Yugioh) because it is NOT some cheesy kid's book like the dubbed TV show has become. Now I'm going to get angry at 4kids and the dubbers..... *throws computer at dubbers, they scream and run, I follow them laughing like Yami Marik swinging the Millenium Rod DAGGER!!! (which, to all you unknowing dub-following YGO babies, DOES exist.... but any true Yugioh fan knows that, right?)*

I had received PSE 2 from a peripheral purchase (printer or scanner, I can't remember) and was intrigued by what I had heard in general about Photo Shopping pictures. However, the tutorials that came along with the help file weren't all that helpful so I put off learning the program. For some reason a bee got in my bonnet and I decided to look into the program again. I searched Amazon and found this book and after reading the reviews ordered my copy.

I can honestly say I was quite impressed. Usually, How-To books can get you headed in the right direction but for the most part you will only go to the chapters that you are interested in. This book is different. Each session leads into the next building upon what you have already learned. The instructions are fantastic. They are clear and the visuals that accompany them are easy to see and follow. The CD provides all of the photos you work with so there is no guess work. You can stop in a session and come back a few days later without having to reread everything again. At the end of each session there is an excellent review over what you have just learned. The author definitely has a good teaching style.

I can't say enough positive about the book. If you have ever been interested in learning Photo Shop here is your perfect opportunity.

This book has some good practice lessons. One thing I didn't like is that every lesson involves creating a project using sports pictures. I would have liked to seen lessons creating projects other than sports, like portraits or landscapes. Other than that, good basic lessons.

I like the book very much, BUT "DID NOT RECEIVE" THE TRAINING CD THAT WAS TO BE INCLUDED. Is there a chance of getiing, I will even pay for!!!!!!
Thats what prompted me to purchase book.

Thanks much and have a good day. Jerry

Both my wife and I love this book. I received Photoshop Elements 2 with my camera and had trouble figuring out how to use it. My wife read somewhere about how good and easy this book was to use. The key to this book is that it explains step by step how to use all of Photoshop Elements 2s' tools. It is a lot to learn and takes time, but you can redo each leasson to get better and better at it. The key is to use it! It's nice to have this book to fall back on when you forget how to use a certain tool because you haven't had to use it for some time. The lessons are well planned out and the samples and photo work are all excellent. If you only work part time on your photos this book is a must have to make using this program easier.

Probably the most helpful computer book I have ever used. Purchased a second copy for a friend just starting with digital photo printing. As a professional photographer I would encourage anyone interested in digital printing to buy it.

When I saw this book and seen the reviews, I figured that it was just going to be "cool". Then when I finally got this in the mail I was completely overwhelmed by the imaginative visions that Barlowe puts into each of the paintings. Each picture is filled with detail and rich color. The captions get really in depth with what the picture stands for and which Demon is shown and when you think about it, it can be fairly creepy if this is what Hell was really like. Barlowe talks about making his way into the lowest reaches of Hell and bringing back the images to share with the world. The artwork in this book will completely blow you away.

Wayne Barlowe has long been one of my favorite artists, up there with Bekinski and Giger. He has a real talent for pulling the viewer into his world, so that we can almost smell the sulfur. This and its companion piece Brushfire are my (current) favorite art volumes, as I seem to be in a very hellish phase right now. But even when I'm not feeling hellish, I'm in awe of Mr. Barlowe's talent. I love the texture of the worlds and characters, the deep, roaring, ash-filled atmosphere of the environs of hell he portrays. I am always inspired by his work.

Normally I am reserved in my reviews but this one stands out as an entity that deserves high praise. I had been researching visions of Hell for some years when this book came out. It was an exquisite find as the author's vision was finely detailed and provided a wealth of information. His Hell is different yet similar to Dore's vision which appealed to me. It is as if he took Dore's vision and placed his own ideas and concepts on top of Gustave's.

This is highly recommended. The pictures are stunning and the text adds some nice thought as well. One reviewer wrote that he thought the souls looked to much like statuary and while I do agree with that criticism it is a minor quibble and is not always the case.

The book was not as good as I thought it was going to be. When I read certain passages of it at the bookstore I thought it was going to be a fictional narrative of a doomed person's experience in Hell. Instead it was more of an artists explanation about his paintings. The book still drew me in and made me think and feel about what Hell might be like. For this reason, the books ability to make me seriously think about Hell in a literal sense, I will give it four stars.

This collection is basically Barlowe's visual interpretation of Dante's Inferno from The Divine Comedy. Each painting has a page of description pointing out the purpose and reason for every detail in the image. From a tortorous picture of Lillith, to the haunting painting of a minor demon riding on the backs of several tortoured souls held together with muck, they are each fascinating to examine. Like Dali and other fantastical artists, one can look at these paintings and see something new every time. The color work is fantastic, and in some paintings actually appears to be digital photography until one looks closer. A ver well-thought-out project, it is pleasing to see another side of Barlowe's intelligent work.

These heirloom quality, hardbound books are well received by my middle school aged son. Peanuts has a timeless feel, and the complete run in these books are a great tribute to this comic. I am buying all of the books in sequence for my son, and I think they will be enjoyed forever.

These are beautiful reproductions, bringing the joys of my youth back with full vigor and force. To be able to share them with my 6-year old daughter, listening to her playing out the parts as we read them together is all the more rewarding. Spectacular acheivement. I hope someday to amass the entire collection. The prices on Amazon are without parallel.

My wife is getting each one of these, couldn't wish for a better result from a gift.

All Peanuts Box Sets are worth to collect. Each book is well edited with a beautiful cover and package. Due to the long history of the story, it should be quite expensive to collect them all. However, they're still worth to try.

Like many others I grew up with Charlie Brown & gang. I bought some of Peanuts comic books when I was a kid. But with my meager allowance I missed out many of them. Now, even though I'm a mom with 2 kids, I was so excited when the box sets were released. I've bought the 1st 3 box sets and can't wait for the next. My son loves it too. It's wonderful going through the strips with my son on Sunday afternoons.

I used to read all these strips when they were in paperback form. I remember being around 12 or 13 and pouring over them again and again, with the added luxury of checking out the action every day in the daily paper. It's very gratifying, now that my six-year old daughter is reading, to share these volumes with her and watch her lose herself among the pages, and then ask to be quizzed on the many special characteristics of the kids in Charlie Brown's neighborhood. The printing quality is extremely high, the panels are crystal clear and the detail is really sumptuous.

My favorite so far is the Sunday strip where Charlie Brown is attempting to fly a kite in heavy wind and his cap keeps getting blown off, which he doggedly replaces atop his head every time. In the end Linus posits this classic: "I have a suggestion. Why don't you wear the kite and fly your hat?" I long for the day when we will have the collected volumes, and the prices on Amazon reallyl cannot be beat. But I must say, I miss those cheap little paper back volumes from my early youth. Rats!

If you already bought the previous releases of this collection, you know exactly what you'll find inside: intelligence, emotion and depth of the human relations.

Here you will get some of the Peanuts smartest movements, just like when Snoopy is locked under an ice piece and starts a reflection of his own life or when Linus sees himself without the safety of his blanket.

Even if you prefer the "modern version" of the strips (with Spike, Woodstock, the Red Baron, school scenes and stuff which would appear later, more precisely in the 70's), in this issue, you may find some of the roots and the reasons for the diamond that Charles M. Schulz carved on his life.

Thank you Charles, you really changed my life with these "guys" and "The Complete Peanuts 1961-1962" is another jewel from the master.

I bought all the items in the series and found them simply irresistible.
The strips are the integral version by the great master himself, Charles M. Schulz, and the edition is very, very good, with a robust hardcover and classy paper.

A special note for Italian speaking people: these are the "integral" strips, not the censored ones published for many years in Italy, where the religious quotations and remarks were systematically erased.

I gave this book to my dad who really enjoyed going through all of the comics. This is a very nice hard cover edition and is a good value.

This volume of The Complete Peanuts cover the years 1961 and 1962 in their entireties. The most noteworthy event of this book is the introduction of Frieda, the girl with the "naturally curly hair". Soon after her debut, the running gag where Frieda tries to get Snoopy to chase rabbits is used for the first time. Also introduced at this time was Frieda's cat Faron, who only made a few appearances before disappearing. Many of the jokes from this volume were later used in Peanuts television specials, most notably the Christmas and Halloween specials. Peanuts was one of the greatest comic strips of all time, and 1961 and 1962 are certainly among it's best years. Highly recommended.

A good addition to this series. The only let-down is that we're seeing more and more strips that have already been collected in other Peanuts books. It was bound to happen though, so I'm not knocking off a star for this.

There are two real gems to this book.
One is the story where Linus (my absolute favorite Peanuts character) runs for class president. I'm betting Schultz had a lot of fun with this. He lampoons the entire election process. This includes the speeches and promises, the press coverage, the polling, and everything else.

The other gem is even more important to me. This is where the title of my review comes into play. They had the great Bill Melendez write the foreward for this book.

Mister Melendez was an animator who wound up directing every single Peanuts movie and special ever made. In addition to this, he also did the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock on most of them (the exceptions being those few specials where Snoopy actually talked). Considering his close association with Schultz and his creation, he really should have been the one to write the foreward back in book 1 when this series started. Instead, throughout this series, we'd get nothing but celebrity endorsement after celebrity endorsement.

I was actually afraid that they'd do this entire series without so much as mentioning the man. Thankfully, these fears came to naught with the release of this book. Like I said, "they finally got it right".

The foreward itself is only 3 pages, but the quality makes up for it. Melendez talks about the events that led up to him meeting Schultz, his first impressions of the man, and how they went from a car commecial to a Peabody Award-winning special ("A Charlie Brown Christmas"), and then to a long and enjoyable career making other animated Peanuts titles (some great; some not so great). This is a story that certainly merits more than 3 pages, but Melendez takes the space he's given and manages both to inform and to satisfy.

If you're a Peanuts fan (especially if you're a Linus fan), click on that buy button. Trust me, you won't regret it.

This book, along with the rest of the collection, is simply marvelous. The complete work of Schulz is nicely presented. It reads itself so fast that we can't keep up buying the next one!

Much of this was more of the same, the continued development of the characters. There is a set of new characters (Five, with Four and Three coming later) but they turn out to be little more than props, good for a week or two and afterwards for when Schulz needed a generic male for Charlie Brown (Shermy now only shows up for group strips). Three and Four look like little Peppermint Patties, and since Peppermint Patty ends up coming from a single-parent family (father only) one wonders if this is sort of backstory for that.

Foreshadowing some of the changes coming up on the next volume are a couple of developments. The baseball mound has become a scene itself, where the characters come up to chat on various things. As for this volume (1963-64), it's just a couple of characters coming up with things to talk about.

As for the red-headed girl, she has changed from a merely distant figure (distant implying "out of Charlie Brown's League) to a seemingly active source of shame and humiliation. Not that Charlie Brown needs her to humiliate him (as some of the baseball groups show, he could do that all by himself), but it definitely adds an accent point to what's going on around him with those he talks to.

One of the most interesting comics has Charlie Brown actually coming on top, although it's more his father than him. Violet spends a few panels bragging about her Father, which Charlie Brown doesn't so much parry but amplifies by explanation. However, CB stops Violet short and explains that his father makes an honorable living and always has a minute for him no matter what he's doing. The last panel has Violet walking with a slight downward tilt of her head and a seeming sadness in her eyes, as if she had finally been devastatingly bested.

In the end, this is worth getting, although I'd get the 1959-1960 and 1961-1962 before this one.

This edition of The Complete Peanuts covers the years 1963 and 1964. Probably the most significant event during this time period was the introduction of "5", along with his sisters "3" and "4". 5 may not be well remembered, but he is still a pretty interesting character. These are classic comic strips from one of the masters of the medium. Great stuff, highly recommended.

I came to peanuts cartoons late in my life, but for the past five years I have bought every book available. Luckily for me as I have been a customer of amazon both in america and england and bringing out yearly books has been marvelous. Whenever I feel down I just read a few pages and I'm fine. The trouble is Im' going to be around 80 years old before this complete series is printed!!!! Is there anyway we can move this along? Doreen uk

Elfquest - Fire and Flight has to be one of my favourite fantasy books that I have read. At first I was skeptical about reading a novel based on comics, and it has been sitting on my shelf for about 2 years before I thought about reading it. At first I thought it was very childish and rather silly but after the part about the meeting with the trolls, I started to get into the story. To summarise the plot as simply as possible, the story is basically about a group of elves (Wolfriders), driven from the forest after it has been destroyed by humans, and their journey across a desert to a place known as Sorrow's End, which is inhabited by another group of elves. There Cutter, the leader of the Wolfriders, meets Leetah, a healer from Sorrow's End and they know each other through what the elves call "Recognition".(Read the book to find out about this!). An elf, called Rayek, who is in love with Leetah, is hateful of Cutter and is jealous of him.

I really enjoyed how the authors drew out all the characters, especially Cutter and Leetah, and because of this and the simplicity of the story, one can guess how the story would evolve and pan out as one can guess how the characters would behave. That is not a bad thing. Believe me. Even though the story is short, it is an engrossing and entertaining read.

I believe the reason why I liked this book a lot has to deal with the emotions and feelings the Wolfriders undergo, especially the part where they travel through the desert. We have Cutter trying his best as leader trying to hold his tribe of Wolfriders together, Skywise and his trust in the "magical stone" and the love Nightfall has for Redlance, and the anguish of the elves and wolves. All the emotions are portrayed briefly and powerfully. You see many examples of the good and bad side of elven nature which can easily be translated into our lives and which makes the reader feel good all over.
I recommend this story/comic to anyone who wants to read an inspiring story, abut the strength of the elven (human) spirit and how love overcomes all.

I bought this one for my 9 year old son who loved it but ended up reading it myself. I plan on buying all of them!

I first read this book ten years ago, and I have read it at least twenty more since. Aside from being the best comic book ever written or drawn, it is a sensitive, exciting, and fantastic epic anyone can enjoy. If you are not into fantasy just yet... don't worry. You will be after reading the story of the Wolfriders. The World of Two Moons does not let go of its captives easily! Happy reading!

I picked this up about 9 years ago and have been hooked ever since. At the time i was not a comicbook or fantasy fan, but this book has changed that. This is a series that can keep you glued to the pages for hours. Wendy Pini is an amazing author, and her artwork is just as great. You will love this series.

ElfQuest impacted my life in ways I'll probably never be able to comprehend. I first read the comics that make up this graphic novel when I was 13, and I was hooked. I collected all the reprints of the original series I could find, and then found my way to more. This story of love, honour, betrayal, and being one with nature is a must-read for anyone from 8-80. If you find comic books a little daunting and/or simplistic, there are novels as well. Perhaps read those and then come back to the comics and allow them to fill in the blanks. A marvellous gift for a creative kid or an adult who hasn't lost that gleam in their eye.

Ayane Yamano's work is always top noth quality. Interesting stories, beautiful drawings. The only reason why I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that only a half of this manga is devoted to the Finder series. The rest are bonus stories that have nothing in common with the main story. They are very good themselves but I would have prefered less bonus, more main material :(

This book is a MUST have for any true yaoi fan. Beautifully erotic, dramatic, and action-packed. Ayano Yamane churns out believable, sexy characters and a plot that will have you begging for more. I loved it!!! Totally worth the buy!

The whole series of Finders books are hot, beautifully drawn, and have good story. The sex scenes are really quality. The creator knows how to give you just enough build-up, romantic tension, and character development before diving into quality sexing that gives your tummy flip-flops because of the tense character intrigue!

The art is meticulous, perfect! Thats why so many artists imitate her. I don't think there's a better manga artist out there in my opinion.

I completely love this series, but it's not for anyone who does not enjoy the prospect of explicit sexual scenes of men with other men. Everyone else can enjoy to the fullest! Truly lovely. Your eyes are drawn back and forth over the dark, stoic Asami and the shiny new penny Akihito. The play between them is palatable.

Akihito is a tabloid photographer, and Asami is a mob boss. Akihito is caught taking compromising pictures of a politician, and Asami and his goons corner him on a rooftop. They begin to interrogate the photographer, and none too nicely. Luckily Akihito daringly escapes before they could discover his source. Akihito even taunts the Yakuza as he clings to the side of the building he jumped from to elude them. Despite a warning from his source, a cop (and apparently father figure) named Yamazaki, Akihito goes on yet another assignment. Possibly one that Yamazaki has set Akihito up on. This gets him snagged by Asami and his men. It's a trap. Akihito had no idea, until Asami stares directly at his camera just as he takes a shot. (A lovely knowing smile on Asami's face in that shot!) What follows is the kidnaping and seriously hot debauching of poor Akihito. Lucky for Akhito, Asami seems to have done this once or twice. (Scoff!) He dances expertly on the line between cruelty and kindness. He teases Akihito with several things, the best among them was taunting him with his own camera by taking some choice shots of his very naked and vulnerable body. There are times when Asami's even quite tender, but he is always in complete control. He makes sure that Akihito enjoys himself very well in the end. Can you say "screaming orgasm"? I knew you could.

The morning after finds Akihito reflecting on the previous night. Attempting to retrieve the equipment left behind during his kidnapping, he stumbles upon a deal between another mob boss and his friend Yamazaki. Akihito waits until the Yakuza leave, then tells Yamazaki that he's ok with him dealing with the mob, that he trusts him and his judgement as a policemen. Stunned at being found out, Yamazaki draws his gun and aims for Akihito shakily. Asami steps out of the shadows. He's been there the whole time. He pushes Akihito out of the line of fire to the floor, stepping into that line himself to kill Yamazaki. The cops are called, and the scene is left with Akihito sitting on the dock crying and feeling used. Asami comes back and consoles Akihito. Angry that Asami has used him too, Akihito tells Asami that he will find out his weakness and use it to his advantage. Asami grinning cooly and smoking a cigarette says he looks forward to being in Akihito's viewvinder, and looking forward to having Akihito watching him.

There is more. It gets even better, (Wait 'till you see Fei Long!) but if this hasn't hooked you nothing that follows will. The artwork is full of excellent detail, and the expressions are beautiful and believable. Asami is sexy and sleek in his tailored and neat business suits, his eyes are part of a well controlled mask. They show just a little emotion, but the satisfaction is completely evident when he's with Akihito. I'd even say he can't quite help himself. Akihito's beauty is his youth and his innocence. His expressions are wild and uncontrolled. He wears the uniform of the young: jeans, t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, layers that do little to hide his lithe masculine frame. There is no doubt by the end of the manga that Akihito is craving Asami's calculated cruelty every bit as much as Asami craves Akihito's crumbling resistance.

This is my first real yaoi. It's really good but very short for my taste. When it arrived I have thought: good, it's really thick, so I have a lot to read. But of 200 pages, less than 100 are about Akihito and Asami, the two main characters, and the other are all short stories by the same author (some really interesting, like Love Lesson).

Akihito is a young photoreporter; he captures the attention of Asami, a business man who probably is engaged in a drug traffic and with the mafia. Asami kidnaps Akihito and during a night of passion and non consensual sex, marks Akihito as his property. When he frees the boy the next day, Akihito knows he could never forget this domineering man. Everytime he meets him, he can't deny the passion he feels.

And Akihito lets the guy fly away everytime, knowing that he will return back to him. But he will do also everything to protect him from his enemies that could use Akihito as a pawn to draw him in a trap.

Akihito is really young. Maybe not in age, but in experience. But he has a strong wit and Asami is fascinating by his free spirit. And he is really possessive: Akihito could be free, but not free to fly in the arms of another man.

In this graphic novel Akihito is not ready to admit his desires for another man, above all a man with a not so clear past. If I had not yet ordered the next two books in this series I would be a lot disappointed in not knowing if ours two characters will continue their game of love.

Count me as one of those who felt slightly disappointed with how the Infinite Crisis (IC) mini series went. It didn't quite compare to it's 80's predecessor Crisis on Infinite Earths (COIC) in both plot, characters and overall story line.

But out of nowhere you suddenly have the Sinestro Corps War saga. I had read a few issues when it was originally released but decided to just wait for the collections instead. I was not disappointed at all.

The plot was pretty straight forward and the action was non-stop. There are a ton of characters involved. Of course, there are Green Lanterns galore and plenty of villains: Sinestro (of course), Hank Henshaw, Superboy/Superman-Prime and the big baddie from COIC, the Anti-Monitor.

That is why it is too bad that the Sinestro Corps War couldn't have been the sequel to COIC. There are some things in IC that had to occur to bring the Anti-Monitor back to life. Regardless, it was great to see the Anti-Monitor back again.

A can't miss collection for any Green Lantern or COIC fans.

Welcome to the forbidden chapter of the book of Oa ! One of the most serious stories written by geoff johns and dave gibbons. The war is inminent and inevitable, every space sector are involved. The sinestro corps want to establish a new oder in the galaxy and the GL's are determined to win. The drawing art is the best and the colours are amazing . A big story...builds to an epic climax. Let the war begin !

Geoff Johns is the current king of DC mythology. As he completes the second leg of his Green Lantern trilogy, it's obvious that Johns has learned from his mistakes in INFINITE CRISIS, because this book is the most accessable event to be written in years.

The only GREEN LANTERN book I'd ever read before this was Johns' excellent "Rebirth" arc from a few years ago. This is so much better. I had little knowledge of the Lantern Corps and its history going in, but coming out I felt like I knew everything there was to know. I was never lost, and no one should be when they read this.

Despite the contribution of four different pencilers, the art is good throughout and, like the writing, never confuses the reader. So, Kudos to Van Sciver, Reis, Gleason and Unzeta for a job well done.
The one qualm I have with this package is that this is only the first half of the story. You'll have to buy Volume 2 separately, and DC doesn't appear to have any 13-issue giant edition ("Absolute" or otherwise) on the horizon. Until that time, this is the best way to enjoy 2007's best comic book event.

Highly recommended for longtime readers as well as those just interested in reading a great comic.

I don't usually enjoy reading comics week to week or month to month, so I always wait for collections to come out. This is one comic that I would have wished I had read every new issue.

Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 1

I am a Comic Book geek! I love a good story about heroes and villains. This is not a good story, it is an EPIC Masterpiece! What Geoff Johns has done with the Green Lantern mythos will resonate for decades. Since the "Rebirth" storyline, Johns has made Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps relevant again.

By playing upon themes of revolution(Sinestro's ultimate goal), police states(the GL Corp itself), and the failing of a smug and over-confident establishment (the Guardians), Johns has brought much needed intrigue and passion to the Green Lantern imprint and set the bar for the rest of the DC universe.

To fully enjoy Volume 1 you should read Green Lantern: Rebirth. Sinestro's master plan begins in Rebirth and the scariest part of the whole Sinestro Corps War series is in knowing that after the battle is done, thanks to Sinestro's plan, who don't know who is the hero and who is the villain.

Decades from now this graphic novel will rank up there with essential reads like The Watchmen, Grant Morrison's run on New X-men, and Crisis.

Do yourself a favor and pick this up, trust me I'm a geek.

The GIMP is a powerful image manipulation package, provided under a free software license. It is very much the PhotoShop of the open source world. This book is an excellent introduction and tutorial to the GIMP's many powerful features. However, it is not intended to be a user manual. There is a separate and complete user manual for the GIMP available on the web. This book is also available on the web, and it is published under an open-source license - although cleverly they don't mention this in the paper copy itself. However useful it is to have the on-line copy, I cannot stress enough the quality and value in having a hard copy of this book.
Each chapter covers a different theme including layers, selections, masks, color spaces and blending, photo touchup and enhancement, compositing, rendering and web-based image production (including animated GIFs and imagemaps). The material is thoughtfully presented as a series of walkthrough examples.
The physical production of the book itself is very good. Every page is in full color and each chapter's start has a color flash at the edge of the page to allow you to easily locate it. The content has been equally well thought out. There is a very comprehensive index. At the end of each chapter is a list of FAQs correcting common misunderstandings about that chapter's subject. All diagrams are very clear and instructive.
My only gripe with the book is that there is no overview of the use of the standard toolbox of tools. I feel a simple explanation of how to use the various painting controls at the start of the book would have set the context for some of the later chapters on the image manipulation facilities of the GIMP, which indeed is the main thrust of the package.
It has been several years since a major book on the GIMP was published. What would be great would be a book that focuses more on programming and on plugins specifically - how to write them and a description of the ones currently in circulation. The next book set to be published on the GIMP, "Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional" is due to be released in April 2006. Until its arrival, this is still the only book on the GIMP worth reading.
For those of you interested in the vast amount of GIMP plug-in source code, just type "Koders Search GIMP" into Google. The first link in the resulting list is what you want. From there you can search through the folders and find the source for the many GIMP plug-ins.

I have read through a lot of this book and it has helped me tremendously in understanding the basic concepts and techniques for creating and manipulating digital images and graphics using the GIMP. Although it does not cover plug-ins in any great detail, it does lay a solid foundation for learning and using them in the future. Aside from that, almost every other conceivable topic is covered.

After I finish reading this book, I am confident that I will be able to read through (and understand) the many GIMP tutorials available online without difficulty. If you are looking for a good introduction to image manipulation and the GIMP, this book does not fail to deliver in any regard.

I have referenced the on-line version of this book several times and found several useful ideas and techniques out of it---especially those dealing with color correction and enhancement. However, there is no comparison to actually haveing physical pages to flip through and seeing the photos "in person". After reading through this book, several other Photoshop tutorials available make much more sense as well. My only complaint is that there is not much attention paid to any use of plugins or "advanced" clone tool techniques for repairing marred photographs without destroying the natural film grain etc. Also, some of the keybinding shortcust appear to have changed, and his examples using Layer masks did not always work for me as described in the book. Overall, though, purchasing this book is a great way to support open-source projects and learn a good deal about the Gimp as well.

I have searched high and low for a decent book on the Gimp. There are a several, good references ("Learning the Gimp in 24 Hours", "Essential Gimp for Web Developers", etc.) though many are out dated due to the rapid progress progress the developers. The Gimp, an excellent example of what open source cooperation produces, is well represented in this book. The author illustrates the use of the Gimp with clear diagrams, concise descriptions, and excellent examples of the Gimp's functionality. Apart from the official Gimp documentation, this book has served me well.

Exelent introduction to a complex subject. Still up-to-date as the fundementals apparently have not changed in 7 years. A few menus have changed slightly but I found this not a problem. This book appears to be out of print but you can download the HTML version and read it on your computer. You'll be trying out all the techniques while you read, so you just need an extra window for the text. I found the writing concise, the organization logical, and the examples helpful. You will find that the GIMP user manual also covers this material but does not really teach you what to do with it. It's not easy to learn--I've been doing photography for years so I thought I'd pick it up just fooling around with the software. It's not so easy!