Titan Books

The premise of the book is that the Joker has finally crossed the line and can be traced to a crime for which he cannot plead insanity. He is convicted, and given the death penalty. However, the World's Greatest Detective cannot shake the suspiction that this crime is not the work of the Joker.

In an epic crisis of conscience, Batman follows the evidence objectively to find that Joker did not commit the crime. He does so in spite of the fact that the world without the Joker would be a much better place; the Joker is an inhumanly cruel monster. There is one scene in the book in which a priest and Joker are left alone before his execution. Soon, the priest begins screaming in horror. Scared, the guards rush to the cell. The priest is exuding a cold, horrified sweat. The guards asked, what is he doing? The priest answered, "he is confessing!"

What I especially like, however, is the closing dialogue between Joker and Batman. At the end of "Batman: A Death in the Family" Batman watches as Joker falls from a helicopter into the water, presumed dead. He comments: "It looks like things between he and I will end as they usually do- unresolved."

However, in "Devil's Advocate",the plot ends with a dialogue in which,for the first time, Batman appears to have an upper hand in his war against the Joker. One of the disturbing characteristics about the Joker is that he seems unscathed by anything; yet Batman finally did something that seemed to reach even to whatever is left of Joker's soul. I find a closure with this plot that is rare and refreshing. A good, self-contained storyline.

Chuck often gets dismissed as an action writer...if you can "dismiss" someone for putting a lot of action into a *comic book*; another way to say it is that he's one of the masters of the action-packed book. Chuck even states in his "10 Commandments of Comic Book Writing" lecture that his methods won't result in the kind of comic books that will get you Alan Moore-like kudos. Despite all that, with "Devil's Advocate" Chuck produces one of the best analyses of Batman's relationship to the Joker, to justice, and to vigilantism. This is one of the rare comics that could lead to a book club discussion afterward.

Joker's insanity has saved him from the justice system's death penalty, and Batman will not kill him because it is against his morals and his respect for the law. Unfortunately, the end result of such high principles on the part of The State and Batman are that Joker is left alive to murder again and again. He is a mass-murderer and an international menace. With his newest crime, poisoned stamps, he has engaged in a premeditated federal crime and is finally looking at a visit to The Chair.

Except for one small problem: Batman doesn't believe the Joker did it. Is it right or wrong for Joker to finally face long-overdue justice (and be removed from the pool of future Arkham escapees who will commit more murder in the future) if he is innocent of this particular crime?

So withThe Dark Knight coming up so soon and having already achieved classic status, I thought I'd do a tribute to my very favorite comic book villain. The Joker is simultaneously among the most likable and utterly despicable characters ever to grace a work of fiction. While he regularly commits the most grotesque and demonic atrocities on a simple whim, his carefree attitude and capacity for black humor make him a joy to read. He was even more fun when Mark Hammil voiced him for many years beginning with the legendary Batman Animated Series of the 90's following Jack Nicholson's utterly brilliant portrayal of the character in Tim Burton's iconic film Batman. While you can have a true love for this character having never even picked up a comic book in your life, to get to the heart of The Clown Prince of Crime one must go get proverbial ink on their fingers. "The Devil's Advocate" is one of my favorite incarnations of the character and is as revealing as any Joker tale one is likely to read aside from the quintessential volume The Killing Joke (which I may or may not be doing a video review for soon, depending on if I can find the time to shoot it). This story explores the relationship between Batman and Arkham's most deranged resident in a brand new light; with the Caped Crusader attempting to prove his murderous arch-enemy's innocence in time to save his life.

The story begins simply enough; the post office issues a series of commemorative stamps for the greats of comedy. The Joker, offended that he was not included among them, arrives and shoots up the place before being reminded that one must first be dead before being commemorated. Batman and Robin show up, the villain is foiled, case closed. Okay, maybe not. That particular run of stamps comes with an odd little quirk: whoever licks them dies laughing with a disturbingly large permanent fixed grin. Gee, I wonder who could be behind such a thing? The Joker, confident of his ability to pull of an insanity defense (who could argue?) laughs it up all through his court case even as talk of the death penalty swirls. Meanwhile, a couple with a supply of the tainted stamps hatches a plot to extort a large sum from Gotham City. When The Joker is found guilty, he goes berserk shrieking his innocence even after spending the proceedings leering at jurors and having his goons show up at their homes for intimidation. Justice is served, Mr. J gets his first real taste of the big house (he's always been sent to the asylum previously), and everybody is happy, straight arrow Commissioner Gordon included. But one man is not satisfied. The man with the most reason to want Joker gone: The Dark Knight. Convinced that they have the wrong man, Batman ignores an angry Jim Gordon, an apathetic Robin, a wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon (see the aforementioned "Killing Joke"), and even an uncooperative Joker and continues investigating knowing full well that his success would mean unleashing Gotham's most evil villain.

What I like about the best modern Batman stories are the shades of grey where it is hard to determine right from wrong. If anybody in the DC Universe deserves to die, surely it is The Joker, but if leaving the real culprit out on the streets is the alternative, could a true hero just look the other way? The Joker himself is at his psychotic best here, going so far as to bring a "wrongful life" lawsuit against the city for not executing him immediately after the trial. His way of staying in the limelight and going down as a legend rather than rotting away forgotten in prison. He also requests a final confessional with a priest which produces one of the finest laugh-out-loud moments I can recall in a comic book. Batman may have the heavy choices on his hands and his investigation and other subplots really flesh the story out, but make no mistake: this is all about The Joker, and the man proves again and again that he is the most psychologically unbalanced creation of fiction out there, shifting moods like a mountain biker shifts gears. One minute, he's lightheartedly cracking corny jokes, the next he's slamming his head into a desk until his face is covered in blood or sticking a fellow inmate's harmonica in an uncomfortable spot. Nobody ever said the guy was predictable.

As far as Batman/Joker stories are concerned "The Devil's Advocate" is as good as they come. Why this hasn't earned a hardcover re-release like "The Killing Joke" and the brilliantly twisted The Man Who Laughs -which was most likely the primary inspiration for the Joker's latest film incarnation- is beyond me. If you can get access to this comic, I highly recommend it to Batman and Joker fans and anybody who would like to see what the characters are all about. Batman's unflinching integrity and respect for life and Joker's complete disregard for it (even his own) is on full display in this epically personal narrative featuring the two deadly enemies. And the ending? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!

Really, these two should just get it over with and get married...
SPOILER ALERT -- nothing huge though since the whole story is less about "Is the Joker really going to bite the dust?" (ch-yeah, right) than the overall hamster wheel that is the Batman/Joker relationship.

In "Killing Joke" Batman says to Joker "I've been thinking about you, me. We're going to kill each other aren't we?"

In "Death in The Family" Bruce Wayne thinks to himself, "we've been linked together so long, neither of us truly understanding the bond"

And now comes another chapter, with a twist. After all he's done--crippled Batgirl, killed Jason Todd (one of them, anyway) -- Batman finds himself in the position of having to actually save the monsters' life. He's accused of distributing poison stamps, which translates into premeditated murder, and you can't plead insanity on that (let's remember of course that this is the DC universe law book here, and that the Joker's done dozens of things that could just as easily be construed that way. But then, he'd have been fried in the chair years ago, and what fun would a world without Joker be?)
Against everyone else's wishes -- Gordon, Alfred, the cops, -- Batman solves the murder and gets Jokey off. Reason would dictate that he just wait until the Joker's executed and THEN find the real killer, but as he says to Gordon "It doesn't work that way." Once again, Batman is the iconoclast, going his own way. This only rates three stars because there's not much that has a lasting impact on the reader, unlike KILLING JOKE and DEATH/FAMILY.

There is one poignant sequence featuring Oracle (nee Batgirl) when Batman actually has the gall to ask her to help him in his case. This draws on the suggestion that Joker and Bats really are intertwined in some twisted binary string. Joker is madness and chaos. Batman is rational and intellectual. Yet, Batman uses his rational thinking to preserve the existence of the Joker's madness. To some, Batman's madness may be worse, since it comes cloaked in friendly attire. (Well, you know what I mean...)

Of course, this does go back to the point of KILLING JOKE. Batman will not--cannot--sacrifice his ideals on the altar of the Joker's madness, no matter what. (Ok, so he left him to die in Death in The Family, but he went a little insane after Robin's death. He would later save Joker's life AGAIN in both Hitman #3 and the Legends of the Dark Knight arc "The Demon Laughs")

A good book, get it for [$$] or under if you can.

For people who are fan of the character Joker this is a very good book. It's one of the best books in defining the personality and characterization of the Joker even, both through art as through the story. In a way it's off course a Batman-book but the title rightfully states "Joker: ..." instead of Batman. The story and by far the biggest attention-span focuses on the Joker. Batman is mostly used as a supportive character. Nothing more, nothing less. So from an objective point of view this is not a Batman-book, but a Joker-book, and a good one at it.

Storywise:
The Joker is put on trial, being accused of masterminding the recent spree of "Stamp-Deaths", a period in which several people are found dead carrying the trademark "Joker-smile" after licking stamps of the "Great Comedians Series".
Where the Joker always claimed insanity in previous occassions in court, having him come off with milder punishments, this time he furiously claims to be innocent of these crimes. By this taking the risk of getting the maximum penalty, the death-sentence. He refuses to carry the punishment for crimes he hasn't committed and were executed so amateurish, or so he claims. Obviously the jury finds him guilty and he IS sentenced to death. Once in death-row the Joker is enraged at first, but once he notices the attention he is getting from the outside world he starts to love it ..... more and more.
In the meanwhile Batman has his doubts wether the Joker is guilty or not and starts his own investigation.

Together with "The Killing Joke" this is the book that defines the Joker better than any other Batman (or Batman-related) title and for fans of the character this is a must-have. And I don't say that a lot of times ! (which can be seen proven in my other reviews). Especially look for he scenes which are set in the court-room where they have the Joker communicate brilliantly with his facial expressions instead of words. A big plus for the art there. Also nice is that this book works as a self-contained story so people who are less familiair with the Batman-mythos can enjoy this just as much.

Nothing like seeming cool to a sixteen year old. I loved this series when I was a teen and was scared it wouldn't hold up over time. The return of Trigon and the battle of hearts, minds and souls of Raven and the Teen Titans is still a compelling read, and more of guilty pleasure because you don't have to wait a month between issues.
Perez and Wolfman created the best Titan storylines that haven't become completely hokey overtime. Buy it, borrow it, read it, share it.

Overall, I like the clever, crafty Marv Wolfman, the master of subterfuge and misdirection--the man who juggles multiple subplots while building severe tension throughout, oh, maybe twenty issues of a comic book. Marv Wolfman pulls tricks involving behind-the-scenes villains very well. Marv Wolfman likes to tantalize the reader with some new hidden menace lurking in the shadows, just as the one main storyline is wrapping up. He has often been so ambitious in his multi-issue plotting that he leaves a series--or a series is cancelled--before all plotlines are resolved.

The Terror Of Trigon is not written by that Marv Wolfman. It is written by a Marv Wolfman (okay, okay, it's the same guy) who favours the direct approach. No subplots, no intricate build-up, no fighting through five minor villains to find out who's behind it all, no lurking in the shadows, no subtlety, no slowing down. Trigon just comes to Earth to claim the planet, and his daughter's spirit. But his daughter is Raven, of the Teen Titans. And Raven does not fall under the thrall of her father without a fight!

Actually, she does fall under the thrall of her father without a fight. Just some screaming. Raven is my favourite Teen Titan, but considering that this is a key "Raven story", she's not in it very much--she's been claimed. It's up to the rest of the Titans to follow her to another dimension, to the pacifist realm called Azarath, which has been torn apart by Trigon's legions. The Titans battle nightmare creatures in a last-ditch struggle to protect Azarath's few survivors. Meanwhile, Trigon and a hideously transformed Raven finally leave the dimension that held Trigon prisoner, and arrive on Earth. Awesomely powerful, Trigon remakes the Earth in his image, and all superheroes are incapacitated; we see disturbing images of a "frozen", helpless Superman. And forget Batman.

It's up to the Teen Titans--along with Lilith and Wally West, who had been Kid Flash and closer to Raven than anyone--to find a way back to Earth and use whatever powers (and hidden weapons) they have to stop Trigon, even if Raven is beyond saving. But they don't get much chance; no sooner are they back on Earth when, almost immediately, we see their physical forms embedded in one of Trigon's huge tendrils of stony matter that now cut across the black sky of New York, their frozen faces in eternal torment as, Somewhere Else, they each fight shadow versions of their own worst selves.

Pretty intense, eh? Have I captured the mood? I like this story, a lot, but it is a simple, direct piece of in-your-face writing...which does allow for some amazing visuals as rendered by penciller George Perez, with a lot of the inking by Romeo Tanghal. The splash pages of demonic city-scapes, while a towering Trigon stands over all, are just as effective as some of the close-ups of the anguished faces of the characters. You must see this artwork...because it ultimately locks in my four-star rating. Perez's art makes any type of paper look like the glossy kind, and the colours here are astonishing.

So I accept what is essentially a story with no real complexity. One might argue that the sequences where we see each Titan, in his or her turn, fighting a shadow-shelf spouting soul-destroying temptations, add an emotional complexity, but I don't think so. This is a fairly regimented, perhaps too orderly, treatment of each hero's weak spot--a summing up of each character's doubts in a few predictable panels. I'm far more impressed by the real-world Wally West, who's sense of hopelessness during all the battles seems very realistic. He's basically recruited for this mission almost against his will, and his reactions to Raven, and the large-scale destruction, and being wrenched out of his formerly quiet life, make him the most interesting character here.

Don't misunderstand me; I love this story, for what it is. But I don't love this TYPE of story, as compared to say, The Judas Contract--in fact, the whole Terra era--where subtlety rules, and things simmer for a while and then boil over. Yes, there had been build-up to Raven's capitulation to her father, but it still wasn't complicated cloak-and-dagger stuff (though I do love her cloak! oh, Raven, you are a visual treat, Perez'd or not), and it's not part of this graphic novel.

The Terror Of Trigon is an ode to The Main Event, The Battle Royale (hold the cheese, hold the lettuce, hold the pickles, hold the mayo but not the mayhem), The Final Confrontation--and as such, you couldn't ask for more. You certainly couldn't ask for more suitable art. I have to give Wolfman credit for versatility, I guess; he can stop juggling danger and simply throw it at you, when it works better. But I still love him best when he's up to something sneaky.

I just picked up my copy of this trade and reread it as I have countless times since the story's original run in the summer of 1984 prior to starting high school. As always, I was THOROUGHLY entertained! George Perez is the MASTER artist and it shows throughout the story. The high points of his art are the first two parts inked by himself and the staggering amount of detail he always throws in. Look at the "spires" twisting through the city and you'll know what I mean. I just wish he could've inked his pencils through the entire story although Romeo Tanghal backs him up quite well in parts 3 thru 5. Marv Wolfman expertly handles the execution of the subplot he and George had set up since the very beginning in 1980...Raven walking her father's road. I don't find it derivative of X-Men's Phoenix as implied by others since this subplot was around since the first story arc in '80. The subplot of the Titans each facing their fears and evil selves is effectively chilling. Just check this book out along with The Judas Contract. You don't find many stories like these in comics OR in most novels these days. Enjoy!

I've collected and read every story with the Teen Titans, New Titans, Team Titans, ect. but this story line is most felt by all Titans fans. The emotions felt by the characters is also felt by the readers...the art work is superb in itself. Plenty of times the world thought that the Titans were a knockoff of the X-men but they have proven time and time again that they are in a league of their own. Especially with this storyline with Trigon, a creature of almost limitless power, whos daughter is a member of a team who opposes him.
To show the extremity of the situation they show that even Superman,Batman (who usually can figure a solution to anything), and the entire Justice League couldn't stop him.
The creative minds of Wolfman, Perez (both my favorite), and the others brought out our own fears when they had the Titans go through theirs. The most horrifying was a tie between Nightwing and Changeling.
I was hoping that they would make an animated movie with this storyline (not with the current Teen Titans cartoon).
The cover of this paperback is the only thing I disagree with.
It's a minor glich with Cyborg when they should show the Nightmarish Cyborg without the cybornetic implants.
To make this story more monumental they should have it with crossovers with the other DC titles to show the sitiuations during the storyline.

Now, i read this collection some years ago, perhaps as many as four years ago, but every single time i re-read it, it is no less effective in its original goal, which was no doubt to bring a fresh, slightly skewed perspective to comic storytelling. More often than not, by mainstream America, comic books are seen as mere children's entertainment, as they've been viewed since their strange conception. This read was one of the very first(alongside Mr. Warren Ellis's works, Mr. Clarmont's tales, and Mr. Moore's yarns)character driven comic tales i'd ever read in which the character's motives and actions actually mattered. You could see the emotion in the drawings. You could feel every sharp taunt, every shocking revelation, every crass word, every desperate betrayel, and what's more, you knew how the characters felt upon the terrible devestation visited upon New York, and more to the point, their team. Their family. Nightwing. Evolution. Starfire. Emotion in it's most pure, achingly honest form. Cyborg. Hope, strength and insecurity unified. Kid Flash. Extremely human. Changeling. A Normal eye into the terror of the situation. Wonder Girl. Morality and Honesty personified.Team Heart. Raven. Terrifying. You felt the hopelessness of the team's situation, you actually felt their love for each other. Outside of X-men and The Avengers, you don't feel that kind of thing anymore. Or rarely, if so, thanks to Mr. Morrisson, Mr. Johns, Mr. Winnick, among others, though few they be. More than any other comic, which, because books like this one, are now being viewed as a slightly more adult format of mature, meaningful storytelling, this book, The New Teen Titans, allowed me to see just how real these paper and ink characters could be. To this day, i compare every other work i read, as far as character driven tales and interesting interaction, to this book, in it's heyday. Wolfman & Perez, what can i say? They sit upon the nigh unattainably high crest of storytelling greatness alongside Claremont & Byrne, Moore & Curtis, Moore & Veldt, Millar & Hitch, Ellis & Hitch...this is a read that i reccommend to anyone willing to see comics as they truly are in the 21st century....extremely intelligent, innovative, very creative and thoughtprovoking.
Adult.
Hawksmoor..From The Bleed
All Things Serve The Beam

THIS IS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSTON OILERS NOW THE TENNESSEE TITANS. THE AUTHOR GOES IN GREAT DETAIL GIVING US A LOOK AT THE COACHING, FREE AGENTS, DRAFT, GAME BY GAME INFO AND THE ANTICS OF OWNER BUD ADAMS. THE BOOK IS LOADED WITH FACTS, STATS AND PHOTOS. IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO READ THIS FOR THERE IS A TON OF INFO DONE IN GREAT DETAIL. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL DIE HARD FANS WHO WERE DISAPPOINTED YEAR AFTER YEAR. A GREAT READ.

I found this book to be a definite read for any (or former) die hard Oilers/Titans fan. Growing up and loving the Oilers and then seeing them leave Houston, we are fortunate that Pirkle took the time to write this incredible summary of the franchise now known as the Titans.
Pirkle does a great job of breaking down the seasons, one by one, and the draft picks the team makes (or could have made). It's incredible to see the potential that the team posed. It also makes you sit back and realize how much talent some of the teams had, especially during the 70's and 90's to make a run for the Super Bowl.
Pirkle really does a nice job of explaining the death of the Oilers franchise in Houston, from the arguments in city hall to Bud Adams' demands, which today still is head-scratching to everyone. I strongly recommend this book to any football fan, especially those who are Titans fans.

Go Titans!
Pat

Once I started reading it when it arrived, I honestly had a hard time putting it down for the night. It was definitely worth what I paid for it.

The title of this book best sums up being an Oiler fan: frustrating. Despite the fact that the team made the Super Bowl last year, they did it as the Titans and not in Houston, but Tennessee. There are so many other near misses and could have beens with this franchise and this book humorously accounts the almost 40 years of Oilers history. The book is nicely broken up into chapters for each season and although there is some historical inaccuracies, the book isn't about stats or names. The book is about the missteps and blunders the team's management has made through the years, so it's kind of appropriate that John Pirkle makes some errors along the way. If you're an Oiler fan, this is a must read and if you are not fan, this book is still enjoyable as it is funny and has a nice cynical edge to it.

1. It brings back a lot of old memories, not so painful in the rearview mirror. Wouldn't you be happy to pay one dollar and sit with all the other Jr. Q'Backs at Jeppesen again? Reading this book is like that.

2. It's full of errors in player names, place names, and typos ("felled by a viscous hit" is my favorite). For example, Pirkle tells us about "Dan" Floyd for 40 pages, then for some reason he starts getting it right ("Don"). Trust me, I'm not picking on Pirkle; there are dozens of these. It gets to where you look forward to the next booboo as much as the next game you remember being at. Did anybody think to edit this thing? Is Pirkle too young or too sloppy to do it well himself? Oh heck it doesn't matter. 4 stars, well deserved.

My son loves the Simpsons and wasn't too into reading. I thought what better way to get him into reading than buying him books about his beloved Simpsons. Sure enough he sat down with it and read it cover to cover without getting off the couch.

Woo-hoo!!! All right! a Simpsons comic book! me and my bud both luv the Simpsons TV show and when my friend had seen a Simpsons comic book she just had to have it. so i took the liberty of ordering it off of here b/c you get it so much cheeper than at the store. she luved it and so did i.

it has several small stories w/ the same laughs and crazy adventures the yellow family goes thru on TV. and if youre very familiar w/ the characters youll notice their small quirks and way of talking...like Dr Hibert and his laugh at the end of his sentences...ah hee hee hee hee!!! ;-D

one of my friends favorites was "Homer vs. the Wallpaper"...typical Homer trying to "do it himself", redoing maggies bedroom walls and creates a bunch of laughs getting tangled up in wallpaper and glue...great fun!

it is a rather quick read, but its good for a laugh or two (heck more than that!). if youre looking for something new to read whenever get this book and enjoy!

ps if anyone has read a comic in any of the Simpsons comic books that has Sideshow Bob in them please put it in your review! i do anything to see that crazy red-hair jail bird go after Bart again! lol

Belly Buster is another solid Simpsons comic book with the same type of art and humor you get from the television shows. There are a lot of shorts in this one but, for the most part, the comics offer good story lines with lots of typical Simpsons satire.

"Maggie Come Home": Lisa joins a demanding baby sitter union and Maggie ends up caught in the middle. A familiar person ends up behind the union mess. A fun, original comic.
"Storeroom Raider": Lisa must go into the school storeroom to fetch some chalk; a storeroom from which two students failed to return. Short but has a funny ending.
"What Would Possibly Happen if Cletus Went to College": Short about Springfield's "slack-jawed yokel." Can a "common man" save a financially-challenged university?
"Bart & Lisa & Marge & Homer & Maggie (to a lesser extent) vs. Thanksgiving": Follow each Simpson on his/her Thanksgiving adventure. Very contrived at the end but moderately amusing and creative.

"The Beer Boys": Homer takes over Moe's while Moe undergoes a gallstone operation. Feeling he is now "somebody," Homer starts his own bar. Ends abruptly but is still funny.
"Around Town w/ Ned Flanders": Ned is supposed to show us different sites in Springfield but his plans are abruptly cut short. This comic had possibilities but I think it came up as short as its 4 pages.
"Bart in `Fork it Over'": One-page short featuring Bart, Nelson, and Milhouse in the school cafeteria.
"Tanks for Nothing": Gampa gets a tank from the government in exchange for forfeiting unpaid back veteran benefits. The owner of the Shelbyville Nuclear Power Plant, Aristotle Amadopolis, who you may remember from the TV episode "Homer Defined," sees the tank parked at the Springfield plant and accuses Mr. Burns of breaking their arms treaty. Will their be a nuclear war? In this comic we get a glimpse of Mindy from the "Last Temptation of Homer" (I did not know she still worked there).
"Homer vs. the Wallpaper": In this 4-page short, Homer tries to put up Krusty wallpaper (with Krusty wallpaper paste, of course) in Bart's room and failing to "book" the paper isn't his only problem. Since when does Bart call him "Homeslice" and "Homefries"?
"Picture Perfect": Someone is graffiti-tagging the neighbor (I wonder who that could be?). Groundskeeper Willie is the hero in this 4-page short.

"Siege on Evergreen Terrace": Flanders prepaid for a pool to be built in his backyard while he was away. When the pool guys mistakenly go to Homer's house, Homer pretends to be Ned to get the free pool. After the pool is installed, Flanders alerts the pool builders of the mistake. Rather than give up the pool, Homer and his pool buddies stage a stand-off (at one point, the pool builders try to break the compound's spirits by blasting Kajagoogoo).
"Duff Daddy": An advertising agency for Duff beer hires Barney and Homer to do a Fruity Pebbles style commercial. This comic is lame.
"Ned Flanders in Blind Luck": A 4-page short where widower Ned takes a skanky gal on a date. The shooting range they go to is endorsed by "Charlton Heston of the NRA and Allen Iverson of the NBA."
"The Yes-Man Who Would Be King": Smithers might be the sole heir to the Swedish throne and the people of Springfield begin asking for his kingly advice: "Liberte, Egalite, Malibu Stacia."

I think it was funny and I also showed some of my freinds that dont even watch the Simpsons and they thought it was good.

"Simpsons Comics, Belly Buster" is a collection of stories captured from approximately 6 issues of "The Simpsons" comic books. Clocking in at 176 pages this book provides great value for a graphic novel, especially when factoring in Amazon's usual discounting. The problem with "The Simpsons" comics in general though is that they are typically not close to being as funny as even the most mediocre episode of the TV show. Therefore I would not recommend this book for purchase if you are expecting the same high quality of humor found in the TV series, but if you are fine with slightly weaker writing then by all means you'd be hard pressed to find a better value of reading for the Simpsons fan.

I want to start out by saying that I live in the part of Long Island where a lot of the scenes take place so for me that added to the suspense. Second, don't pay any attention to that Kirkus garbadge!! For some reason he hates Tim Green If that idiot had botherd to read the book and not just skim it he would know that it does say exactly why Logan places the bet. Third, I have read all of Tim Green's football books and this is the best one. There aren't many surprises but the mafia vs. FBI depiction is excellent. This book is great for football fans especially for New Yorkers. It has a typical Tim Green ending but it is still a great read. It really does move like a two-minute drill.

Tim Green returns with another tale of NFL corruption. This time the star player is a quarterback who has gone bad by giving into mob influence, becoming a pawn in the plot of a mob lieutenant who himself wants to step into the big leagues. This book does a little more with developing its characters and stays true to the formula of delivering an interesting football-based scandalous plot. It delivers a good ride and a satisfying conclusion.

When I read Green's book, I was startled to realized that I could predict what was going to happen next. It was one of those bad guy/good guy books that have not a whole lot new to offer. Except the ending. I wouldn't have guessed it in a million years. It's worth reading just for that.

TITANS centers around New York Titans All-Star quarterback Hunter Logan on the event that elevated him to hero-worship: winning the Super Bowl. What his teammates and wife don't realize is that Hunter also has a slight problem. To make sure that he remains in the cash and to satisfy a urge to play chance, he makes side bets on basketball games with the help of a bookie meadiated by his friend and former teammate, Metz. Chance plays a heavier hand in Hunter's life when buddy Metz takes his latest cash bet from Hunter and places every dime on the Titans to win their latest game. The amount betted alerts Tony Rizzo, ganster and begging to be leader of his uncle's mafia family, to tail Metz and discover Hunter's involvement, then blackmail him into a points shaving racket that will involve Tony going to the owner of the Titans and exposing him to the NFL if he doesn't comply. Need more incentive, then how about killing Hunter's wife, then his daughter? What neither realizes is that Ellis Cook, FBI agent and leader of a mob task force, is trailing Tony and looking for evidence to send him to prison and close down the connecting families operating in New York. What Cook doesn't realize is that within the walls of the FBI, a traitor is spilling the developments of the impending case against Tony to his uncle, Vincent Mondolffi, one of the ruling families. The mole is easy to figure out, but the development of the story is not, and just when it looks like there is no way out, another door opens and the suspense kicks in on another level. Lengthy, yet worthy of more football-suspense stories. Good work, Mr. Green!

Titans rates as my favorite fiction book of all time! As an avid reader of fiction and lover of professional football, Tim Green brings the best of both worlds. And for those who could only dream of playing in the NFL, Green gives a "back stage pass" into the locker room we always desired to be a part of (although after reading all of Green's books, I now question that desire). Titans is a nonstop page-turner filled with excitement at every turn. If you love football, you'll love Titans! (If you ever read this Mr. Green, keep it up! There are some die hard fans of yours out here. By the way, how about a book on a team made up of illegal man-made Terminator-like robots; a story of teams dominated and controlled by unscrupulous and player mind-controlling shoe manufacturers; or a maverick owner who will stop at nothing short of murder to win?) CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY HANDS ON THE UPCOMING "RED ZONE!"

Mandatory Retirement concludes the Rogue Squadron comic series, and does so with slick action, camaraderie and polish. For those who have the X-wing: Isard's Revenge book, you'll find the backstories of Admiral Krennel and Ms Isard here.

The art is worthy of The Phantom Affair in quality, and just as fantastic, certainly above other issues of this series. The background detail in frames are not fuzzy or lacking, and some scenes are actually rendered from creative camera-points.

Plenty of characters here, and their interaction is fun and not left to idle. Though the Imperial scenes are short they are adequate. The dialogue is vintage Stackpole; readers of his X-wing books will recognise his style of speech sentence structure. Wedge's face has changed so often per issue you wonder what his cosmetic secret is. It was nice to see all the Rogues having R&R in the beginning, though beware---Wedge and Tycho have bulging muscles without their shirts!

The plot is great and never a dull moment. Baron Fel's lines stand out, but it is Pestage that stands out here. He goes from being a pest to a pestilence on everyone's nerves, particularly when you have to protect someone who's your enemy. There are many links to the X-wing books; Krennel's cryptic comment scoffing at studying an enemy's art when a tactical hologram will tell all you need to know is better explained in Isard's Revenge, where Thrawn booted him out of his forces, is one.

Other nice touches was Wedge's long eulogy, some sharp lines from General Carvin, and more Dendo scenes; the man likes his cape, doesn't he? Though Salm and Dendo have similar faces, apart from the latter's head horns.

Overall, Mandatory Retirement is a great issue and a fitting finale to this series. If you're looking for a comic with good action, dialogue and an actual story, not just a tale, this is the one for you.

If Michael Stackpole has written the storyline, you are virtually guaranteed a great Star Wars Tale. He, like Timothy Zahn, and maybe one or two other writers always deliver material that is faithful to the saga, and well written as well. These collections of illustrated stories bound between a single cover are not as widely visible as the more traditional books. However they can be fun, and when they are good, they are extremely good. And just as the other forms of written material that bring the Star Wars Saga to fans, bits and pieces of information are here for the learning as well.

Another fan, Mastage, has already written a good summary of the contents, however there was one other aspect that I enjoyed. At the end of these books the cover art from the installments are generally included. This time they took several pages to document the creation of the cover art for this final volume from start to finish. Not unlike the movies these books that are a branch of the movies and other books, traditional attention and praise is rarely given, as it is deserved. The movies consistently are the biggest box office events of the year when they are introduced, yet other than technical achievement they are ignored.

Ysanne Isard is one of the better female villains that have been created, and if the Emperor even becomes an Empress, she will head the list of candidates. This is not the best of these I have read, as I continue to feel earlier books were more complete. The storylines were more developed, and many of the books were a full 50% longer than the more recent releases.

For fans of Star Wars all the written material are fun, so if you have yet to try one of these, do so, you will enjoy the experience.

Vol 9 MR returns the Pencil and Inking people I have liked the least in this series. But this was their best effort and is one of the 3 best comics in the 8 TPB series visually. The characters are drawn with sufficient detail so that there is little confusion on who is who, which was a problem in Vol 8.
As good as the artwork is, it is still not up to the best that Dark horse has done so it get a 4.

The story is an important addition to the further understanding of the characters that will appear in the novels to come. The story is the perfect ending of the series of comics and leads us right into the novels. The novels will take us to the conquest of Coruscant and ultimately the defeat of Ol'Iceheart.

This is a solid 4 star comic and I strongly recommend it, with a ps. For Mr's. Nadeau and Crespo. I accused you of lazy art in previous work. Very good job here.

Stackpole ends his series with a bang. 'Mandatory Retirement' is indeed second only to 'In the Empire's Service' in the series in my opinion (as I prefer the larger-scale arcs) and is indeed uniquely Star Wars.
The story begin with light scenes of the various Rogues intermixing, socializing, and so forth, building the characters enhanced over the course of the series. Intermixed with these, however, are grim scenes of the events on Coruscant and Cituric. Pestage, intermin Emperor, goes into hiding, and the hunt for him begins. Dinner, dancing, and enjoyment ends for the Rogues and they are suddenly thrown into the mix of things.
One of the high points in this story are the many philosophical conversations about the Empire and the Repulbic and the differences between them. The conversations between Fel and Pestage and the clash between Nrin, Fel, Pestage, and Wedge after one of the Rogues is lost are both some of the best SW I've ever read. One must also take note of the dire contrast between the first and second halves. The Rogues begin by relaxing and enjoying themselves (except for to lonely, rejected Fel) and events transpire that put these same people in a dire, morbid situation where their hope for survival looks bleak. superb writing by Stackpole.
Onto the art. The Nadeau-Crespo team is a success, with and very good mix of people and technology. X-wings, Y-wing, Bantha-class shuttles, and Star Destroyers all look superb, in particular a jaw-dropping two-page battle shot towards the end. Crespo does very good faces and their expressions. One of my favorite parts of the whole arc is the full-page shot of the Rogues and Kapp Dendo's commandoes standing over the cloth-covered body of a fallen Rogue. (Who will remain nameless, of course.) The expressions on each and every face is a virtual window into what each one must be thinking. And once again the coloring by Dave Nestelle is superb, perfectly conveying the feelings of bleakness and hopelessness in some scenes while conveying one of tranquility and enjoyment in others.
In a series like Rogue Squadron, when you have dozen of characters, its hard to balance it out. But Stackpole does it just as well as he has throughout the series. Fel once again is a superb character, while others like Nrin show both their good points and their flaws very well. Pestage starts out as an almost sympathetic character, but as time goes on he becomes more and more loatheful.
Not perfect, but still highly reccomended. It's also one of the few examples in Star Wars where an actualy deep, philosphical reason against the Empire is established. Bravo to Stackpole and crew for a great ending to a great series.

Michael Stackpole has done it again. He has written the best book in this series since "In The Empire's Service". The book is filled with everything you've grown to know and love about this series:awesome space battles, the best art in any Star Wars comic book, backstabbing, betrayal, love, and funny subplots. The story, which covers an attempt by the Alliance to rescue former villain Sate Pestage, is very well written. There are many great twists, which we have all come to expect. Ysanne Isard, the vilain, is portayed especially well, with her treacherous path covered in full detail. Isard's attempts at assasination against her enemies is reminiscent of Crimson Empire, another great series. In conclusion, if you are looking for a great Star Wars book, look no further.

I still remember the night when the original television movie "Battlestar Galactica" first appeared on television. As a science fiction buff, I was transfixed by the quality of the special effects and the Cyclons. The storyline and the action made for an excellent beginning. Unfortunately, the remainder of the series failed to live up to the start. With all the wide and empty slate of space to work with, the writers and producers found it difficult to get beyond simple human concepts.
This book is the novelization of the original movie and compared to other books in the genre it is quite good. The authors manage to capture most of the wonder and drama of the movie and avoid the common mistake of adding inconsequential filler. I still enjoy (re)reading it nearly three decades after the movie first appeared.

Your standard novelization type deal. The start of the series turned into a book, which is certainly fun for a kid wanting to go through it again.

Robots blowing everything up, robot dogs, cool space pilots, and all that sort of thing. Nothing really wrong with this effort from that point of view.

When I was 7 Battlestar came out, and i was instantly a fan. I wanted everything i could find related to the series, from action figures to comic books. This was published soon after the movie and series premiered. I recall it being in my elemetary school library, and I checked it out repeatedly.

Back then we had no VCRs to record and rewatch shows, so having this book was the closest thing. It was like a comic book, but with actual photos from the movie, with word balloons like comics. It told the whole movie. It was also very nicely done on high closs paper.

I treasured this book until it disappeared from the school library. What a trip back down memory lane it is to find this now some 26 years later.

I bought this book with Amazon from "bying from me". She sent it by priority mail. I am very pleased with this book because Battlestar Galactica is my favourite tv series ever. So, I wanted to "live" and understand the story. This book will help me.
Thanks a lot.
Laurence

There are those who believe that life here began out there with tribes of humans who could have been the ancestors of Aztecs, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans... Welcome to Battlestar Galactica. The short-lived, mistakenly cancelled Space: Above and Beyond of the '70s. BG was a series about a war between the 12 Colonies of Man and the machine-ruled Cylon Empire. It's the story of Adama, the Commander of the last surviving Colonial Battlestar Galactica. Like S:AAB, peace talks are used as a ruse. The human traitor Count Baltar, has sold the human race down the proverbial river. While the peace conference is in session, aboard the Battlestar Atlantia, the Colonial Fleet's flagship, Captain Apollo and his brother, Lieutenant Zac, who took Starbuck's place on the routine patrol because Starbuck, a gambler, wanted to play Pyramid, a game like poker, in which the object is to get the capstone. Starbuck's partners in crime are Boomer and Jolly. In the book, they're described as being like Mutt and Jeff. The Sci-Fi Channel used to air the series. If they do it again, watch for a young Jane Seymour.

A collection of Birds of Prey one-shots/specials. If you're a recent newcomer to the Birds of Prey comic book, then this is a great place for you to start.

The comics included in this book are:
Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey
Birds of Prey: Manhunt #1-4
Birds of Prey: Revolution
Showcase '96 #3

BIRDS OF PREY trade paperback explains just how different, yet similar both the Black Canary and Oracle are. Seperate, they are formidable. Together, they are deadly. I have the MANHUNT mini-series and the REVOLUTION saga, so I just enjoyed the origin of the partnership between the two and the extra story with Lois Lane. Just so you know, I collect the monthly comic as well. These two characters have something special and they compliment each other well. For all action junkies looking for something different, this is your book. After all, it's not everyday that two beautifully drawn women take center stage to save the world and kick butt until their ankles are sore. Maybe it should be.

In this book, the girlfriend of the late Green Arrow, Black Canary, gets into and out of all sorts of adventures with the help of Oracle, the crippled, one-time Batgirl. It features the first issue of the comic Birds of Prey, as well as issues that include Lois Lane, Catwoman, Huntress, and Lady Shiva. The interaction between Black Canary, devil-may-care adventuress, and Oracle, the responsible Comissioner's daughter, is amusing. It's a good book full of fun. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys women in action.

Birds of Prey is one of my favorite comic books. Not only does it feature two strong female characters who act without the assistance of male heroes, but the stories also read like straightforward adventure stories, rather than typically fantastic superhero adventures. The fact that Black Canary and Oracle exist in a superhero universe is almost completely incidental to these tales (guest appearances by other Batman characters Catwoman and Huntress notwithstanding). The fact that Oracle is a positive role model for the handicapped is just an added plus.

Chuck Dixon's gripping plots and terse dialogue are ably assisted by a number of talented artists. Not only do they manage to draw realistically proportioned women, but they put those women in equally realistic, real-world settings.

In a perfect world, there would be plenty of superhero comics that appeal to a broader audience than male superhero readers. In that perfect world, Birds of Prey would still be a shining example of quality.

I admit, in this tradepaperback it can get a little confusing, (hence the 4 out of 5 stars) since they compile a few storylines together and sometimes they end one section and start another without a full explanation. But it's all worth the last section where Black Canary teams up with the Huntress and Catwoman and aggravate poor Oracle to no end. That alone (plus the art work is excellent) is worth the price of this book.

Chris Claremont.

The name is usually synonymous with the Uncanny X-Men, and their finest swashbuckling superheroics. Think Claremont, and you think of "The Phoenix Saga," "Inferno," "The X-Tincton Agenda," and dozens of other stories told with richness and depth.

"The Black Dragon," publushed in 1982 by Dark Horse comics, is no less gripping and compelling than the finest of the X-Men's stories.

Drawn in a beautiful black-and-white style by John Bolton (who would later collaborate with Claremont on stories collected in X-Men Vignettes, volumes 1 and 2), this fantasy epic features some of the finest points of Claremont's collaborations - a gripping, epic story, strong, sympathetic characters, dynamic, impacting moments of drama and action, and a traditionally heart-wrenching last-minute rescue - but unlike some of his X-Men work, the story is complete and self-contained, with no "loose ends" or dangling strings left to hang for years on end.

Bolton's deft pen does justice to action and drama alike, giving each character a face and personality all their own. The limitations imposed by black-and-white art means that the artist must create clear differentiations between facial features, and Bolton does a marvelous job of this, especially with his female characters. The nightmarish monstrosities brought to life from his pen will give even the hardest person chills to look at, with edges so sharp you could feel them cut you, a marked difference from the soft realism of his human flesh.

The story itself is very adult-oriented, with occult references galore and a rich, complex history. Don't buy this for young children or teenagers. However, historical and mythic references - Brian Griffon, Robin of the Hood, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eamonn the Faerie King, and Morgan le Fey - make this a must-have for any aficionado of Old English mythology.

Overall, If you're looking for a comic that reads like an old english myth, get this. You will not be disappointed.

This is a short but enthusiastic recomendation of this graphic novel.You get great art and a deep , complex , surprising , story.This is one of the best comic novels I've seen and I've seen hundreds.

I knew after the first 10 pages of this graphic novel that the story was not going to interest me one bit. I forced myself to read four or five more pages, and then I had to give it up.

I AM NOT SAYING THE STORY WAS BAD. It's just that for some reason I couldn't get interested in it and therefore couldn't read it all the way through. I can't help but get the feeling that if this story was presented in a text only fantasy novel that I might have gotten more out of it.

Strange indeed. Most of the time I enjoy sword and sorcery graphic novels.

On a more positive note I must praise the black and white artwork of John Bolton. The art was simply fantastic!

A masterful story by Chris Claremont, and beautiful art by John Bolton. This is graphic novel storytelling at its finest. The hero is remarkably realistic; it is very easy to identify with him. Good attention has been paid to historical details; I found myself wanting to know more about Eleanor of Aquitaine. This is one of Claremont's finest works ever. Features a new introduction by Anne McCaffrey. Very highly recommended.

Demonstrating a great knowledge of the folklore and mythology of the British Isles, "The Black Dragon" weaves a story of intrigue around the time that Christianity began displacing the original religions of the Isles. The story is mature, but frankly presented, which may make it unsuitable for young readers. While the story does not contain gratuitous violence or sexuality, it does deal with these issues as real occurences of life. Those easily offended by frank displaying of this subject matter may want to investigate further before buying. However, the story and the artwork make this an enjoyable graphic novel for those mature enough to handle such sensitive materials.

It's tough to know how to express gratitude to the Publishers. Once again Charleys war can be read by a new generation.
This comic series from Battle and Battle action in the seventies and early eighties is simply the most moving, shocking, profound, detailed, magically drawn, superbly scripted Graphic war story ever.

The characters will suck you in, they have the depth and belivabilty that i remember as a boy reading and it making me think...ahh..this is what the war was really like.

Just dont waste any more of your time. Buy this book and the others NOW. You might die next week having never known Charleys War. And that would be a big mistake.

Absolutely fantastic just as emotional and visually exciting as when I first read them as a child. Beautifully presented and reprinted. Highly reccomended to anyone interested in the first world war or looking to get into studying it as a hobby. Keep em coming !!!

This beautifully produced black and white hardcover collects the first thirty or so episodes of the nearly 300 originally published in the British comic book "Battle Action" from 1979-85. The story follows Bethnal Green teenager Charley from his enlistment in 1916 through the end of the war, with this initial volume focusing on his acclimation to the Western Front and the Battle of the Somme. The book opens with a fiery foreword from the series' writer, who positions it as the antithesis of both the heroic "Boys Own" genre and the false anti-war sentiments of the "War is Hell" genre. Mills explains how his intent was to highlight the true class nature of warfare via the common man character of Charley -- not that smart, but brave and honorable when it counts.

At first I wasn't that drawn to Charley, he seemed like a pretty typical wisecracking Cockney lad, but as the story advances, you see his sunny disposition get realistically worn down, and a bitterness emerging. Some of the supporting cast are a bit stock, such as Mad Mick, the massive Irishman who can't hold his drink, or Ginger, the perpetual whiner, the straight-arrow Sarge, and the odious Lt. Snell. But others are a little more interesting, like Pop, who enlisted after both sons were killed in the war, or Lonely, the lone survivor of a platoon, or Smith 70, the nerdy machine gunner. The Germans are reasonably well done as Mills does take pains to point out the difference between the Bavarians and Prussians, and the dieharders and the casual soldiers, and there's an obligatory scene with a prisoner where the Brits learn "he's just like one of us."

On the whole, Mills succeeds in his objective of peeling the mythology away from the war, and the comic is truly subversive (especially for its time). He clearly did massive amounts of research and it shows in both the writing and artist Joe Colquhuon's amazingly detailed artwork. In fact, the artwork is the true strength of the series -- each page is jam-packed with visual information and there are tons of small details and mordant humor lurking in the background for the reader to discover. It's amazing to learn in the afterword that Mills and Colquhuon didn't slave away together over each episode. Rather, per the working processes of the day, Mills would write the script and it was edited and sent off to Colquhuon -- and they only spoke a handful of times over the run of the series! I can't speak to whether or not the series would appeal to children of today, but it certainly held the attention of this adult reader.

PS. A very minor quibble with the supplementary material is that it can be hard to match Mills' comments to the corresponding episodes, since they aren't numbered in any way.

I must admit that I had my doubts about Charley's War before reading it. It just didn't seem possible to even come close to capturing the horrors of war through a comic.

But then I realized that this wasn't a valid doubt. Because of course you can't. Nothing - books, movies, comics, documentaries, and so on - can truly make someone understand what war is all about. Only war itself can do that. You must thus go to war in order to fully understand war.

Yet still, through the use of different means, especially the written word and still or moving images, one can gain a sense of appreciation that at least comes close to something resembling the beginning of an understanding about warfare and everything about it, the First World War included. This is not for everyone though - warfare is a complex thing that requires an understanding in not only weaponry and military tactics, but also history, politics, sociology, and more - but by trying to capture what war is all about most people will if nothing else realize that people actually fought and died by the millions in the filthy trenches and what this really means; while the stubborn monarchs, the incompetent military leaders, and the stupid politicians relaxed in their easy-chairs miles and miles away from the front and the atrocities that took place there.

An interesting dilemma is mentioned in the introduction to this book. Trench warfare was everything but mobile, stalemate was the order of the day (and year after year), and doesn't this make the setting the worst possible to include in a comic, since the environments doesn't really change that much, if at all? Well, true, but on the other hand, this enabled the creators behind Charley's War to explore the characters in depth and create complex personalities, and no, just because you constantly don't have new environments doesn't mean the plot becomes boring.

The story centres around Charley Bourne, who joins the army in 1916 by lying about his age. Like millions of men and young boys at the time, Charley goes to war with an extremely romanticized, and severely flawed, view of what war is all about. This was a war like no other, ancient traditions and tactics clashed with modern and mechanized weaponry, which led to a conflict thought to be over and done with in a few months got stretched out for years and year, resulting in millions after millions of men being senselessly slaughtered.

You don't have to be a Word War One buff to understand everything that happens in Charley's War, but obviously you'll appreciate it more if you for instance have some knowledge beforehand about the Battle of the Somme. The drawings are extremely well done, all characters are quite believable (the Brits as well as the Germans), the chain of events is not the least predictable, and it's definitely never boring.

However, it's all in black and white, and while this in a way gives the filthy trenches a rough and unpleasant look (just like in real life), I still think the lack of color is highly unfortunate. There are no nauseating close-ups of bodyparts shot of by enemy fire, you'll never see the remnants of young men blown to pieces by murderous shelling, and the red blood that fertilized the ground all over Europe is nowhere to be found.

And that's too bad, because you need the nauseating stuff in a story such as this one. After all, in war, bodies are torn apart and mutilated in truly horrible stuff, and everyone should be aware of this. But not it's just like in the old and highly inaccurate war movies: grenades and shelling cause people to fly through the air, but their bodies remain intact and not a drop of blood is spilled.

If only this gruelling realism had been added to the mix; then Charley's War could've been a true masterpiece. But instead it ends up as "only" great, and nothing more. Which is still, however, not bad at all.

I have been a student of the first world war for some time and I have also been a fan of comics. I ran across this book around a month ago at my local library and was positively thrilled to finally find a comic book treatment for world war 1. The art style is very reminicent of the old war comics from the 50's and 60's but the work itself dates from the 70's so this is not surprising and really works well in the story, the tales are well balanced if a little short(due of course to the format they were originally published in) and shows the level of research that went into the making of the strip.

In the 70's there were most likely plenty of WWI veterans still around (my own great grandfather did not pass away himself until 1984 at the age of 93)whom the writer no doubt could call upon for his research of this story, and the book reflects this all the way through. I even got information on aspects of the war that I've yet to read about in serious history books. I'm an artist myself and I always like to find a good graphic novel, I was amazed when I first pulled this book down off the shelf at the library because I had been hoping someone would do a graphic novel of the first world war for some time now (I was surprised to log onto Amazon.com that same day only to see that they had the book listed as 'not yet relesed' while I had a copy in my hands), I am now looking foreward to when the second volume is released although I suspect I wont be finding it at the library, perhapse this will help launch more WWI graphic novels, it shows that there was more to the war than endless slaughter and all the characters are well developed. Really this book is reminiscent of All quiet on the western front except it's with the British army rather than the Germans. The books introduction gives a brief review of the entire series which manages to cover nearly every aspect of the great war. If the rest of the strips are like the first published volume then this book is truely worth every penny spent.