Graphics Books

Yukinobu Hoshino's 2001 Nights is not your average manga.

With precise and detailed drawings, and a tangible indebtedness to Arthur C. Clarke, Hoshino tells in a series of short stories the future of mankind's journey into space. Beginning with a classic Cold War sf story, continuing on with the discovery of life--of sorts--on the moon, and furthering outward to the utmost boundaries of the solar system, Hoshino tells his stories with steadily increasing imagination, pulling the reader gradually from more mundane hard sf to weirdly handled (but very Clarkeian) cosmic and religious issues in the volume's final, lengthy chapter, "Lucifer Rising," which smacks of Clarke's "The Star" as well as Gene Wolfe's "All the Hues of Hell."

Not only are these excellent comics, they are some of the best sf short stories you're likely to read, though Hoshino sometimes plays fast and loose with science if it helps the plot.

Okay, ditto all the other glowing reviews; I normally don't post my opinions unless it's different from others', but this is one of the few times when a product has got me so enthused that I simply must join in the praise. IT'S GREAT!...I got chills all over just like I first did as a kid when it dawned on me how vast the universe could be, and how alone humankind seems in it...I must say, this is quite an effective "twist" on one's usual expectations of Science Fiction, a twist which actually in effect restores the sense of melancholia which a deep, prolonged contemplation of outer space usually seems to instill sooner or later...

[have edited original today 2008 MAR b/c I finally really do realize that even with a spoiler alert people are just going to read on anyway, of course, and get the surprising though very simple ending, which I was commenting about, and that would just totally destroy the beautiful cumulative effect of reading all three volumes to get there, to that beautiful, majestic, haunting, and chilling vision....]

Has Yukinobu Hoshino done any other stuff, I wonder??? Now that I'm "onto him", I'm gonna go look for his other works....

This is an amazing trilogy (read my other 2 reviews of vols. 2 & 3). The below reviews are so accurate to what I want to say, that I won't repeat them. I love this series. It's some of the best sci-fi comics I've ever read. There's an overwhelming sense of vastness to the universe and a sad feeling for mankind in the stories - no matter how far they get in space, it's still not enough - there's no end to the immenseness!
The stories are wonderfully believable and the Japanese artwork is not the `big eyed', Hello Kitty stuff one comes to expect of manga.
Whoever decided to translate this series for America should be given an award for recognition of intelligent comic work. It's that good. I've read the 3 books several times and they're wonderful with each read.
Each volume ends with an epic tale. Volume 1 has "Lucifer" which is a great concept of an anti-matter universe which may be responsible for the Big Bang theory. Great stuff. Get these books - they're wonderful. This is the way comics should be done!

I bought this book in the spring while I was in college studying comics. When you read so many comics, even the good ones seem to go pale. This graphic novel made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. With mature visuals and sensitive writing Yukinobu Hoshino sows accurately the vastness of the universe and the importance of human destiny within it and beyond it. The occasional over-explaining takes away very little in this epic. A great read by anyone's standards; comics fan or not.

2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my favorite movies for its detailed and believable vision of a future that is still largely unrealized. I was pleasantly surprised to see Yukinobu Hoshino pay homage to Kubrick's visual style throughout much of 2001 Nights, in scenes that were recognizably inspired by the film. The skillfully-rendered black-and-white panels throughout the book are evocative of the silence and vastness of space, yet the human characters are drawn with grace and style, without the occasional cartoonish facial expressions that mar other manga I've read. This stylistic discipline helps to keep the work focused and believable.

Aside from the fantastic artwork, the author lays out a sweeping story of humankind's quest to find its destiny beyond Earth, told in a series of time-separated vignettes. He touches upon issues of cooperation, isolation, exploration, greed and even religion -- and manages to pull this off without becoming trite.

It's pretty tough to describe in words something that is so visually distinctive and compelling. I originally ordered this book on a whim, but it has just blown me away.

Ditko's love for the exceptionally boring teachings of Ayn Rad come into full play in this volume of Action Heroes. Amidst all the daring-do and super baddies, we have super heroes spouting off objectivist clap-trap while lesser men try to get them to compromise to society's mediocrity.

Ditko's art is great, and the pace in these stories is very good . . . until the hero appears in his secret identity to face down faceless armies of dickish citizenry that cramp his style and attempt to convince our hero to stop being such an a-hole.

Captain Atom returns. His powers include, uh, atomic stuff like flying, shooting stuff, lifting stuff, somehow not contaminating stuff, etc.

Blue Beetle plays like Spider-Man with more gadgets and less physical might. Blue Beetle would eventually have his brains used as wall decoration by Maxwell Lord in the prelude to Identity Crisis.

The Question solves mysteries. He's nowhere near as cool as the Justice League Unlimited version.

Pretty good!

Action Heroes Archives vol 2 is definately worth the price that its being offered. This edition has nearly 100 pages more than the average DC Archive edition for starters. This book is filled to the brim with some of steve ditkos best work with the exception of his work on Spiderman, Dr. Strange and his charlton monsters series Konga and Gorgo. This volume has the revamped Caption Atom, Blue Beetle and the Question stories in their full glory. Another nice feature is the addition of the Charlton Bullseye, the black and white fanzine that featured the wrap up of the captain atom storyline featuring his final battle with the ghost. My only complaint is that they didnt include some of the relevant back up stories, I.e the Jim Aparo Nightshade stories which would have fit nicely with this volume. But thats really nitpicking. If you love Ditko, this is a must have. Nobody draws action and human movement with as much excitment and fluidity as Steve Ditko. He's one of the few artists that can tell a story soley with his art. Todays art is simply poses, and much too much reliance on photo references with all due respect to alex ross and others of his style. Reading a steve ditko drawn story is like watching a movie. I sincerely hope they reprint more under rated Charlton stories. Id love to see reprints of Ditko's Konga and Gorgo work. Buy this book.

Those of you who read my review of the first volume of ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES know I was enthusiastic about DC reprinting the Charlton "Action Heroes" in these quality hardcover editions. Volume 2 is no exception, and I'm giving it a qualified 5 stars rating (as explained below).

As I somewhat surmised when Volume 1 was published, in addition to continuing the Captain Atom reprint stories, this volume includes Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle tales -- plus The Question to boot! It also makes sense that Volume 2 picks up the good Captain's adventures with issue #83, considering that issue was the start of big changes for Captain Atom, and also began the back-up adventures of the "new" Blue Beetle, scripted by Gary Friedrich with art by the awesome Ditko. It was during this period that Charlton Comics was attempting to emulate Marvel Comics, and was strengthening the characterization in its stories. (Indeed, shortly thereafter Gary Friedrich would leave Charlton to work for Marvel Comics, and no doubt for a larger paycheck.)

Fan-turned-pro Dave Kaler penned some enjoyable scripts for Captain Atom, beginning his run with CAPTAIN ATOM #82, the last story in Volume 1, and continuing through the "Captain Atom Meets Thirteen" tale (from CAPTAIN ATOM #89) reprinted in this volume. CAPTAIN ATOM #89 was the last Charlton issue published, and as a kid I was bummed out because of that and because the storyline involving Cap's nemisis, The Ghost, had been unresolved. But this volume also reprints the "final" Captain Atom tales with The Ghost ("Showdown in Sunuria" and "Two Against Sunuria") which were only heretore published in Charlton's "fanzine," CHRLTON BULLSEYE. Like the printing in CHARLTON BULLSEYE, these tales are published in black-and-white in this volume.

The Blue Beetle reprints are fantastic, especially the back-up stories originally published in CAPTAIN ATOM, and the first two issues of the Beetle's own comic mag. Reading them is like immersing yourself in the Marvel Comics of 1966-67, and is a delightful treat. Like the Captain Atom bonuses that originally saw print in CHARLTON BULLSEYE, this volume reprints the unpublished BLUE BEETLE #6 cover and story, which only previously saw print in CHARLTON BULLSEYE (in black-and-white both therein and herein).

A perhaps unexpected bonus here are The Question stories, back-up tales contained in the BLUE BEETLE comic plus the full-length MYSTERIOUS SUSPENSE #1 comic from 1968. The "bonus" for The Question fans is the black-and-white story drawn by comics legend Alex Toth, reprinted from CHARLTON BULLSEYE #5 (and also including Toth's cover for that issue reproduced in full color). The Question, of course, was based on Steve Ditko's Mr. A character (first published in Wally Wood's WITZEND), and much later metamorphasized into the Rorshach character in Alan Moore's WATCHMEN.

The only problems with this volume are some of the tales penned by Steve Ditko. Ditko was used to working "Marvel style," both plotting out and drawing the tales, which would later be dialogued and captioned by the writer. How much of this was done on the Captain Atom stories is hard to say, but they seem pretty tight, and my guess is that Ditko at least was working in the "traditional" mode, from Dave Kaler's scripts, on those efforts. But the early Blue Beetle tales have a lot going on, and it appears Ditko was perhaps using the Marvel method with writer Gary Friedrich.

With the departure of Friedrich on the Blue Beetle, Ditko inherited the scripting duties as well (using the assumed name "D.C. Glanzman"). But while Ditko has ability as a writer, he's also had the problem of his Ayn Rand philosophies exerting a heavy influence on his his stories. Mr. A was a perfect example of this (where everything was "black and white," and there was no "gray" in moral values), as is the story "Blue Beetle Faces the Destroyer of Heroes" (reprinted from BLUE BEETLE #5), where the extremes of values are unbelievably comical. The "A Specter is Haunting Hub City" story, originally intended for the unpublished BLUE BEETLE #6, is likewise ridiculous. In that tale we have the public up in arms -- against SCIENTISTS ("It's a plot! The scientists want to rule the world!")! Now, certainly, continuing advances in technology can be used for "bad" efforts as well as "good" -- but some of the Ditko dialogue in this story would make more sense in Mad Magazine. My criticisms of Ditko's writing aside, however, Ditko was still at his artistic peak in 1966-68, and it is an absolute joy to behold his story-telling techniques along with his basic art talent. This volume is worth the price for Steve Ditko's art alone!

A negative regarding the Ditko art is the finale Captain Atom "Sunuria" 2-parter reprinted from CHARLTON BULLSEYE. Apparently Ditko had only penciled those stories, and they had remained uninked for some time -- which would have made sense with no plans to publish them. When they finally saw print, a young John Byrne was called upon to ink them (and it would be interesting to know whether he inked Ditko's actual penciled pages or only phostats). I've never been a big John Byrne fan, having felt that he's never truly taken his artistic ability to its maximum level. Early John Byrne art is pretty rough, as is his inking on Ditko's Captain Atom (which Byrne also lettered, and didn't do a great job there as well). In my opinion, Byrne didn't really make an effort to remain faithful to Ditko's pencils, and the art winds up being downright sloppy in spots.

But that substandard inking involves only 21 pages in this volume, and the remainder of of the Ditko art is inked by Sturdy Steve himself, or by Rocke Mastroserio and Frank McLaughlin. And that work is great!

As noted by Dick Giordano (Charlton's editor back in 1966-68) in his forword, it's unlikely that the other Charlton "Action Heroes" of that Silver age era (among them The Peacemaker, Judo-Master, and Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt) will ever see the reprinting light of day. But the Ditko-driven characters certainly deserved hardcover editions for posterity. Don't cheat yourself -- make sure to purchase both volumes 1 and two of ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES!

This awesome TICK volume collects pratically almost every issue - of Captain Atom, the Blue Beetle and the Question - Steve Ditko did in his second and most famous run working for Charlton after his departure of Marvel Comics. In my opinion, this wonderfull material is FAR BETTER than most of the stuff DC published at that time. One of the "lost" treasuries of the 60's!!If you dig Ditko's Spidey and Doc Strange, BUY IT NOW!!And, by the way:It includes an adventure of the Question by Alex Toth!!

If you want an addition to your library of serious comics..something that will set you aside from the norm; this is certainly a good investment..

I saw these guys at the Alternative Press Expo, looked interesting, I wasn't prepared for how much I was going to like their comics. The stories are accurate,informative and funny. I've always been interested in philosophy, even took a couple of classes in college, but trying to read through their books and understand their ideas was difficult to impossible.

Action Philosophers presents the lives and basic ideas of great minds in an easy to understand way (with humour), citing their major influences and showing their place in the bigger picture. They also provide a reading list if you would like to learn more about your new favorite philosopher. It never occurred to me that anyone could make philosophy fun, but these guys have done it. I'm almost through this book, and I eagerly await the next issue of their comic book. If you want to read a comic book with a little more to it than just *biff* and *bang*, get this book.

While the Action Philosophers series is better used as a gateway drug to some hard core philosophy than a substitute for actual study of the source materials, it has amazingly lucid graphic explainations of both Plato's Allegory of the Cave (vol. 1) and Descarte's Cogito, Ergo Sum (vol. 2).
I give it my heartiest reccomendation. In fact, so long as it's part of Amazon's 4 for 3 deal, I'm stocking up. I plan to give a set to each of my MA professors who teach literary theory, to gift one to my younger brother, and to keep one in my bookbag for work--tutoring high schoolers. AP is quick, portable, and nutritious.

A great intro into some of the great thoughts and thinkers. The humour is very witty. If you like Monty Pythonesque silly intellectual humour, then this book will be a treat.

This is hysterically funny. For anyone who knows the history of philosophy and likes to laugh. Philosophically accurate.

I have never been a comic fan, however I work with two die hard comic guys and they came to me all jittery and excited telling me I had to see this comic book about philosophers. You see, I've studied philosophy for 10 years, edging closer and to the elusive BA. I am a natural skeptic but I caved in and looked. I laughed out loud at least four times merely leafing through the pages. When I had time to sit down and actually read through the "big red thing" I was very impressed at the blending of humor and accuracy. The spin put on these brilliant thinkers offers true laughter while remaining very accurate to the spirit of their ideas. I had to bring the book to my philosophy professors to test them out and to my pleasure they found it as funny and accurate as I! Nothing like a little brown nosing through comics! I am very impressed with this book and I will purchase every issue of the comic from now on! well done=)

A terrific book, what a way to experience the silver age Adam Strange. These are the three stories from Showcase # 17,18 & 19. And also the Mystery in Space stories from issues 53 - 65. Just great stories that would otherwise be very expensive to read.

While I think that everyone who reads comics is familiar with Adam Strange, speaking for myself, I was never that interested in him. That's because that the editorial offices of DC never seemed to interested in him after the 1970s. Yeah, he popped up on occasion in "Justice League of America" or any series or story that featured aliens (e.g., the 1980s crossover series "Invasion!") where Adam Strange would be useful.

Then in 2004, DC began publishing a nifty mini-series about their space hero. And to tie in, they released an archive edition. And both are great.

As the other reviews pointed out, Adam Strange is an Earthman who is periodically transported to the planet of Rann, and to his lady-love, Alanna. Naturally, Adam frequently battles menaces to Rann's safety, usually in the form of bizarre aliens attempting to conquer Rann, or the occasional menace grown on Rann. Of course, Adam is far better equipped to handle these evils than your average Rannian.

That sounds derisive, although it's not meant to be. Like most comics of the Silver Age, Adam Strange followed a formula, and it worked for the strip. The stories are clever actioners by DC stalwart Garnder Fox with nice art by first Mike Sekowsky, and brilliant art by Carmine Infantino. Plus, Adam is an empathetic character. He's never able to stay on Rann for very long, and spends much of his time on Earth waiting for the next zeta-beam to take him to Rann and Alanna. And when he does arrive, he's only there long enough to save the day and vanish again.

Again, DC has done an excellent job of diversifying its Archive line. I hope, given renewed interest in Adam Strange by both the editors and the readers alike, that more volumes of this archive series come out sooner rather than later.

Wow.
i was waiting and hoping that someday DC would do right for this character and these stories and they have.
i first ran into Infantino stories from reprints in late 60s/early seventies Strange Adventures.
i used to buy beat up copies at the local flea market on the cheap purely for reading material and became hooked by Infantino's slick, fine lined, modernistic style- which for once perfectly complements the characters and milieu, as well as for the tight, fast paced, and very creative scripting.
i quickly realized that Adam Strange stories were just plain fun to read with oodles of wit and a refreshing lack of the usual cheese found in DCs pre-Denny O'Neil/"relevant" work.
While a good chunk of the book (the first 87 pages) features the first stories illustrated by Mike Sekowsky, the Sekowsky on display here looks a little more refined than the Sekowsky that i know from Justice League.
he seems to be operating in a Ross Andru/Al Toth mode, and his page breakdowns look a tad more sophisticated, and his anatomy less clunky.
not bad, but once the Infantino work kicks in the book really soars.
i've purchased about 10 of the archives so far- there is a ton of great work reprinted in these from Jack Cole to Joe Kubert, CC Beck to Gil Kane, Reed Crandell, Jack Burnley, etc but the work here- both story and art, puts this book at the top of the heap for me.
i agree- Vol 2 can't come soon enough!!!!!

just one request, if anyone from DC is listening- how about collecting the Gil Kane Batgirl back-ups form the late 60s/early 70s Detective Comics?
great work in there, would be a shame to let them gather dust in the vaults.

Amazing! D.C., thanks for for bringing back an authentic comic book hero and a sentimental favorite. Gardner Fox, Adam Strange's creator, was an icon for those of us who came of age in the late 50's and early 60's.
Other reviewers feel the same way about the Fox-Infantino collaboration that I do: A first rate comic with incredible and tantalizing covers, imaginative drawing, and entertaining stories.
Indiana Jones meets Buck Rogers meets Casablanca. Adam Strange, an earthman and archeologist, used no superweapons to defeat his superior foes. All he used were his brains (Wow! This guy rivaled, or surpassed, Batman in the sheer use of brainpower without the benefit of a utility belt!), a rocket pack, and an semi-useless ray-gun (considering the impregnable quality of the aliens.). His alien girlfriend and equal, Alanna, seldom left his side. At the very least she inspired Adam Strange to persevere in the face of hopeless odds, so she shares the glory.
On an aside, I agree that this was formula-writing; so was the original "Star Trek" for the matter(which in my opinion cribbed the Adam Strange "endings" quite a bit), but I also second the reviewer who said that Adam Strange was an inspiration and role model for the rest of us. Brains counted! Gardner Fox, an attorney and prolific writer, projected a lot of his ideals and values unto Strange. This character made a difference in my life. Too bad Fox is no longer around to receive my praise and gratitude.
Adam Strange managed, issue after issue, to save an entire civilization/planet using his powers of observation and quick wits. Sadly, Strange--after risking his life--then remained on Rann just long enough to reap a grateful half-kiss from the excellently drawn Alanna before the teleportation zeta-beam effects wore off and sent him back to earth. Why and how writer Fox and his formula tormented Adam Strange (and us) with heartache remains a mystery to this day. But we couldn't wait for the next issue...hoping Strange would remain with Alanna for good (which he finally did).
In this respect, Gardner Fox anticipated the pain of Marvel's superheroes, especially Spiderman.
By the way, before there was "Playboy" my friends and I would gab and speculate hours on end about Strange's female equal, side-kick, and lady-love. What a babe!
The melancholy, if not heart-wrenching, endings certainly prepared a generation emotionally for Sophoclean tragedy, or so it seemed to me when I was in junior high. If you recall the haunting, Adam Strange-like ending from "Shakespeare in Love," you know what I mean. But don't kid yourself, these were love stories in an "acceptable" format for pre-teen and young teen males.
And yes, Adam Strange patented the, "I'll be back" trope long before Arnie ever did...and gave it a tender significance. I am glad Adam Strange is back.
If you enjoyed the Silver Age, Adam Strange is an Archive to treasure. I can't wait for Archive #2.

If, as I was, you were born when everyone "liked Ike", and Captain Kangaroo was the nation's babysitter, if you read comic books, you knew Adam Strange! An adventurous archeologist long before Indiana Jones made the profession fashionable, he would experience a kid's ultimate fantasy, at the dawn of the Space Age...transporting to a distant planet, fighting incredible enemies armed with only a 'ray gun', a rocket pack, and a keen intellect, and winning the heart of an exotically beautiful alien girl. It was Edgar Rice Burroughs, updated, and it was IRRESISTABLE!

While his uniform was straight out of pulp SF magazines of the '30s and '40s (sort of 'Flash Gordon Meets the Rocketeer'), he never looked ridiculous, particularly when illustrated by the legendary Carmine Infantino (who, with his pioneering work on the Flash, proved that superheroes didn't have to look like overweight wrestlers). While Mike Sekowsky's earlier work lacks the simplistic grace of Infantino, there is no doubt that Adam Strange was cut from a different cloth than Superman and Batman. He was a thinking man's hero, lean and graceful, and willing to rely on his wits rather than on unbelievable powers, or an overstocked utility belt. That his intellectual exploits would earn him the title of the planet Rann's 'Champion' became an inspiration to me to study harder, and to understand that nearly any problem could be solved if you simply "used your head".

And oh, the bittersweet irony, when, after saving Rann, Strange would always be returned to Earth, before he could get more than a kiss from his beloved Alanna! Hokey, maybe, but what a hook for the next issue of "Strange Adventures"!

I never forgave DC Comics for yanking Gardner Fox and Infantino away from Adam Strange and using their talents to 'juice up' the "new" Batman of the mid-sixties. Perhaps the 'Adam Strange Formula' was a limited one, but even the lesser efforts of the creative 'dynamic duo' were a cut above anything else of the period. Certainly, under new hands, the Strange stories quickly lost their magic, and the series died. Subsequent 'limited' reappearances have only served to reduce Adam Strange's stature even further, as if DC, in turning the hero into a tragic figure, hoped to justify earlier abandoning him. Certainly, the 'Adam Strange' of recent years is NOT the hero I grew up admiring!

So treasure this first volume, when Adam Strange was pure of heart, and a whole planet believed in him...You have a treat in store for you!

I just loved reading this book. I loaned out my original copy, the person to whom I loaned it to moved away, so of course I bought another. It is one of my favorite books, made me wished I lived in New Orleans. Loved the descriptions of the place and although I am a little younger than the author, can relate to pre-Vatican II memories.

Almost Innocent is a rare find. I read this book several times and found something different to love every time. The second novel, Slow Poison is also another classic. Sheila Bosworth is an incredible storyteller. Her characters leap off the pages and become a part of your existance. Her writing flows as smoothly and certainly as a river. This would make a wonderful movie. Please Ms. Bosworth, more!

Sheila Bosworth has written a novel that is deserving of all the praise it has gotten from the other reviewers on this site. The characters are unforgettable and the story unfolds at such a perfect pace. We are introduced and then guided through this intimate family history by Clay-Lee the daughter who shares with the reader the perspective of a child as she describe events and people that are encountered by her parents and their immediate circle. The childhood recollections are structured in such a clever way that the reader anticipates and percieves motivations that are not clearly evident to the young Clay-Lee as narrator. Her "innocence" doesn't prevent us from seeing something more sinsister implicit in the scenes she witnesses.

In addition to the wonderful characters and plot the novel has the added quality of just dripping with New Orleans flavor. If you love the city and are familiar with the settings described the novel provides that added dimension of placing you right there.

After finishing this I immediately ordered Bosworth's other novel Slow Poison. She is a fabulous writer.

Almost Innocent is a rare find. I read this book several times and found something different to love every time. The second novel, Slow Poison is also another classic. Sheila Bosworth is an incredible storyteller. Her characters leap off the pages and become a part of your existance. Her writing flows as smoothly and certainly as a river. This would make a wonderful movie. Please Ms. Bosworth, more!

With this quote from Seneca, author Sheila Bosworth capsulizes the theme of innocence lost and nearly restored in "Almost Innocent," her first novel. Set in New Orleans and evocative of the sights and sounds that any native will recognize, Bosworth's novel traces the process by which the main character, Clay-Lee, attempts to reconstruct her mother's life through stories and memory. In the process of facing herself through her mother's life, Clay-Lee finds redemption for her perceived guilt in her mother's death. Her penitence restores her innocence and allows her to shape her own life and move on. This novel was both entertaining and thought-provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who has ever borne the guilt of a burdensome secret--or who simply wants a taste of New Orleans.

The Kingdom of the Ganges, ruled by the good King, Rajah Watzit, is in crisis.
Not one drop of rain has fallen during the monsoon season.
The evil Guru, Hoodunnit that if no rain falls before the end of the Monsoon season, then the Rajah's daughter, the sweet and lovely Princess Orinjade, must be sacrificed to appease the wrath of the gods.

The only hope lies in the plan by the wise Fakir Watziznehm, who has heard that in far-off Gaul, there is a bard who's singing causes rain. So Watziznehm, flies on his magic carpet to Gaul where he enlists the help of Cacofonix, Asterix and Obelix (and who wouldn't want to rescue the gorgeous Princess Orinjade)

So our friends for the first time travel by air, and after an exciting journey, in which, among other things, they engage in an aerial attack on the Scythian pirates.
When they land in India, they have to deal with various snags, before they can save the Princess.

Asterix and Obelix really get to travel and explore exotic locations. And while the India, the authors of Asterix write about in no way of course, resembles the real Ancient India, neither the other Asterix albums resemble the locations our friends visit. It is all tongue in cheek, and pokes fun at everyone, but in a gentle way.
Asterix and the Magic Carpet is great fun.

A wonderful story set in an India that never existed except in the minds of western authors. It was lots of fun seeing cacofonix turn out to be the hero.

In this enthralling tale the lovable Gaulish duo hitch a ride on a magic carpet with the village bard, Cacofonix to the mystical land of India. And yet in this far away country, the natives have heard of the "village of madmen where a voice makes it rain" - a man that the Indians could use to end the long spell of drought that they have fallen under. Finally! An audience that appreciates the (incredibly annoying) vocal talents of Cacofnix! But as luck may have it, the great bard loses his voice...

With the life of a princess at stake, a race against the clock to get the bard's voice back and dodging evil fakirs at every corner, this is an adventure to remember - an episode in which the oft-neglected bard comes in to his own.

Although the book was well laid out with a funny, interesting plot, some of the laughter comes at the expense of an ethnic stereotype. As long as it is understood beforehand that life in India doesn't follow such a pattern, this book would be a whole bunch of constructive fun. For that reason alone I felt the need to drop a star from my rating.

Most Asterix titles are aimed at a teen/adult audience and they cleverly integrate many historical events in to their plots. There is also a deeper satirical presence throughout these books, and for that reason I feel that children under the age of 12 or so would not quite appreciate the humor. The violence is more along the lines of black eyes, dented armor and missing teeth, and hence should not worry a parent too much. This is another good Asterix comic - I recommend it!

At last Cacofonix is the real hero! They come to India! Like all books in the series, a real fun to read!

Despite the fact that this comic is written by Mr. Uderzo, as well as illustrated by him, it is quite as good as any of the classics, like Asterix and Cleopatra or Asterix and the Goths. The art is up to the old standards, the pacing and flavor remain the same, and the same excruciating-yet-oddly-satisfying puns are sprinkled throughout the text. It's a rollicking, good-natured adventure from first to last.

A couple of notes here. In the first place, it IS interesting to see an Asterix comic focused on Cacophonix, rather than just sticking the bard in an introductory cameo and showing him tied up at the feast at the end. In the second place, it's good to see Dogmatix, Obelix's pet pooch, play an active and sometimes important role in the story .... okay, so I'm a dog lover, but it is good to see another character being used, rather than just being an afterthought like he was in Asterix and the Belgians (my only quibble with that excellent comic).

The only other thing that strikes me is that certain other reviewers have remarked on the "ethnic stereotypes of Indian life" that appear in this comic. I'll admit that I'm hard-pressed to see this. I suppose that to the hypersensitive, merely mentioning India or Indians makes the book some kind of ethnic horror-show of lies and stereotypical fabrications. Lighten up, guys! Other than showing the Hindus bathing in the Ganges (which you can see in any National Geographic with an article on India) and wearing Hindu clothing (which is hardly a 'stereotype,' any more than showing a businessman wearing a suit) it doesn't show much of the "Indian way of life" at all. All this talk of stereotypes boggles me, since only the most convoluted, tortured logic could squeeze any type of ethnic slur out of the story.

All in all, a fine addition to a fun and light-hearted series! :)

I have hundreds of books and manuals on various techie subjects and Ellen's AutoCAD 2004 Bible ranks high on my list for books worth the purchase. I have used AutoCAD for years but after moving up to Acad 2005 from Acad 2000 I thought I could use some tutoring. The book didn't disappoint. For nearly every topic there is a step by step, hands-on, example that the reader can perform. There are around 160 drawing files on the accompanying CD; one for each example in the book. You can open that file in Acad and follow the steps in the book and experiment to your heart's content.

All in all, this book won't disappont you like some I could mention.

I have had R14, 2000 AutoCAD Bibles on my shelf for many years now. I picked the 2004 Bible to use as a textbook in an advanced AutoCAD class that I teach 6 or so times a year.

I was very pleased with how well it meshed with the way I have always taught this class (13 years last month.) Plus it is a nice "value added" item that the students can take back to work. My first class was very pleased about getting to use the 2004 Bible while in class and also about having a reference to study after the class.

It was funny because I started saying "take your Bibles and turn to page ..." it was like we were in church! I can not say enough good about Ellen's writing style, her use of graphics throughout the book and her expertise! It is all there in the Bible.

I bought this to get refreshed in Autocad for a new job and would recommend it to anyone. I can't do without it.

A marvellous and first class, well written and referenced, extremely clear and as if having an AutoCAD instructer sitting next to you. I was a new user to this product and I feel today very comfortable to do my tasks on AutoCAD and feel that this book will be a good guide even for advanced users. Thanks to Ellen Finklestien and I laud your efforts and higly recomment the book to all.

I have read various book of autocad, but they all seem very complicated and dificuolt to understand. I found this bible and let me tell you that is the best book I have ever seem. I recomended to a friend of mine who wants to learn autocad. This book will challenge you as a beguiner, intermedite or advance user. It has lots of examples and this author know what she is talking about. Believe me this one of the best if not the best autocad book I have seem in the market in my 10 years of autocard experience.

It is a beautiful book with easy to follow instructions arranged in a very organized way to help a student progress step by step. The spiral binding inside the traditional binding cover also makes it really easy to actually use this manual. It stays open flat on your table for easy reference while not looking cheap when standing in a bookcase. This book is actually worth buying and keeping. Unlike a lot of others, it doesn't disappoint and is truly informative rather than just being another pretty flower book.

If you want to learn to draw and paint flowers and plants from a botanist point of view, this is probably a great book for you. I have the DVD that can be purchased to go with this book and it is also great. Bente Starke King is an incredible artist with an impressive background in botanical illustration. She begins with teaching about basic form and perspective and then teaches about the use of graphite pencil in botanical drawing and how to depict a 3-D surface using 2 step-by-step demonstrations. Next, the book progresses to Pen and Ink with two stepped demonstrations. Next, you learn ink wash and again, demonstrations are given. Chapter 5 is Transparent Watercolor and 7 step-by-step demonstrations are given. Chapter 6 is Mixed Media, where watercolor is combined with other media such as pen and ink and colored pencils, along with 6 step-by-step demonstrations. The end of the book ties the loose ends by including how to choose a mat, framing,exhibiting,
copyright, etc..

This a beautiful book that can teach you a lot about drawing and painting flowers and plants. It is well-designed and written. I like the way Bente King combines the medias and demonstrates how this method enhances the richness and textures. Her DVD is excellent. I would recommend buying both the book and DVD if you want to speed up your progress. She is a wonderful teacher.

This gorgeous, well-written "how to" book for drawing and painting
beautiful botanicals is a treasure! It is spiral bound so the book won't flip closed on you. It is written by Bente Starcke King, a Botanical Illustrator who teaches at Cornell University. She covers everything from form and perspective, materials that she uses in her demonstrations, and beautiful illustrations.

She covers, with clear, easy-to-follow instructions, lessons in drawing with graphite pencil, using pen and ink, ink wash, transparent watercolor and mixed media. It's like having an instructor in a book, and you can go at your own pace.

The most fascinating aspect to me is how she layers watercolors to create her luminous color illustrations. Fabulous.
Sharyn from Portland, Oregon.

Whomever thought of the spiral binding inside the traditional binding should be knighted. That was a stroke of genius. If I am trying a new technique, I usually scan and copy a page but with this book, I just leave it open.

Bente's book would be useless (as well constructed as it is,) if it weren't for her terrific explanations. She shows the same painting in different stages, tells the reader where she or he can take short cuts and is over-all a great book for the beginning or advanced student.

As someone who is just beginning in botanical illustration, I could not find a better instructional book. The author teaches you what materials to buy, what typse of paper to use, and leads you step-by-step through a number of lessons covering several different types of media.

I could not believe how well my first efforts turned out! I've looked through a lot of drawing books, and this is by far the best I've come across if you are interested in botanical drawing.

This is a concise, easy to read book that seems to cover a large variety of publications and projects. I can open it up to any page and get new ideas and insights on projects I'm working on.

This book explains the basics (and some more advanced concepts) of good graphic design without overwhelming the reader with technical terms nor "dumbing down" the vocabulary for the novice. There are plenty of colourful examples and the book follows its own advice! This book lacks, however, the specific steps to accomplish the different design goals, but this is probably due the many publishing packages available. It assumes the reader will figure that out for himself (or herself.) The book is a compact 200 page document that is filled with useful information from cover to cover and is a great addition to any designer's reference library.

Yet another great book from the folks at Before & After. I have the Before & After Page Design book and subscribe to the PDF magazine. Even with all that, I still liked the addition of this book. It covers the usual business situations like newsletters, stationery, logos, forms and charts. The ideas illustrated and dissected here were found to be light bulb creating. I was able to apply a few of the tips right away to some projects I was working on at the time.

Some of the nuggets I enjoyed most were the comparison and discussion of what typefaces are best for what text that can be applied to all sorts of type, logo creation and thought process and the charts. The charts were not just your average pie charts, but great design elements.

Again, I'm impressed by another Before & After project. The illustrations and explanations help new and intermediate designers improve the craft. I'm sure seasoned professionals can pick up a few tips too.

I am a former graphic worker and I now teach this matter to students who have no ideas of the state of the art.
The book is professionnal and easy to use, and all examples are so helpfull to any people who need advices in business graphics.

Before & After is one of my favorite design magazines. The project examples, step-by-step guidelines and practical articles have always been excellent resources for designers of all education and experiences levels. With Graphics for Business, author, designer and teacher John McWade teaches the reader how to make their business look great. The book is not logo or corporate identity specific. In addition to logo design, McWade covers the creation of newsletters, stationery, sales pieces and forms, and charts, reports, calendars and maps. Still, the logo and identity section of the book (44 pages of the volume) explains logos very well and provides great examples of how to design lettermarks, wordmarks, monograms, ligatures and other forms of identities. Playing with type, words, shapes and illustrative elements are all presented in fun and well-illustrated manner. The book will be a great addition to the design library of anyone interested in producing a strong image for their business, or that of a client. - Jeff Fisher, writer of bLog-oMotives and the "Logo Notions" column at CreativeLatitude.com

From beginning to end, this book had me on the edge of my seat. It is extremely well-written and obviously reflects an amazing amount of extensive research. It's a wonderful novel and well worth the read! I can't wait for the movie!

It is obvious from the outset that you're not going to be able to put this book down until you finish. I finished at 2:00 A.M. I was amazed at the amount of research necessary to write this book. It is totally amazing as a first novel. I wouldn't be surprised to see it as a movie.

A can't be put down adventure through the history of property in the deep south. This novel offers the reader a true to life view of how property was transferred or taken from the poor. The story is very well written for a first time author and is as entertaining as informative. A must read book

I particularly enjoyed the author's extensive knowledge of his multiple subjects--the oil and gas business, title law and the historical period. Sounds dull? It's not! The characters are well-crafted and the locales interesting and well-drawn. Rogers does a great job of making an exciting story that doesn't collapse or bog down under the weight of technicalities. I lent my copy to two friends, a retired title lawyer and an oil and gas geologist from Texas. Both raved and purchased several copies each to give as gifts.
Hope Mr. Rogers is already at work on another book.

This is a richly detailed, beautifully written book with fascinating characters. The blending of historical events, geography, the legal profession, and real and fictional characters is exceptionally well done. Bravo!