Titan Books

This would've done better as a totally original sci-fi novel, being put into an established universe like Star Trek's was a bad idea. Kirk, Spock and the other characters we know all act very out of character in this book. There is so much thick, sludgey, pedantic psychobabble in this story that it seems like the authors were trying to write a Dune or a Fellowship of the Ring, and failing miserably. If the characters had spent less time talking in circles like drunk philosophy students, maybe they would've had the time to plan and take more successful action against the antagonist Omne.

I'm kind of embarrassed to review this book. I loved it and the sequel when I was about thirteen. I had no concept of the idea of slash at the time. Now? It's thinly disguised fanfiction. And let me add that there is really, really good fanfiction out there, but this is not it. Every Star Trek book by these authors has heavy duty Kirk/Spock subtext and the subtext is practically text in this one. Add the melodramatic storyline and...it's just not good Star Trek.

I've read many Star Trek books throughout the years and can unequivocally say this is the best one. This book is for serious readers only. It tackles many deep issues and is loaded with metaphors. The central theme is whether immortality is worth the price of your soul. The prose is amazing and is almost poetic. It is very dark compared to the original series but the loyalty and pure friendship that made the series great is captured here and taken to new heights.

The sequel to this book is nearly as good and I've wished for years that the authors would write a final third installment to the series. Read this book if you're looking for substance and an incredibly ominous villain rendered compelling and at moments even symptathetic. This novel stands on its own outside the science fiction genre as one of the best reads of all time.

I grew up a Star Trek fan. I grew up watching the 1960's Star Trek Television show. It's important to understand this to put some perspective on this review; i.e. I liked Star Trek as a young man. And to this day I still have some fondness for that show.

I bought and read all the Star Trek novels I could growing up. I've even read a couple of them more than once. But the two that I wished I had never read were Sondra Marshak's and Myrna Culbreath's "The Price of the Phoenix" and "The Fate of the Phoenix."

It's been over twenty years since I've read either, and I would rather keep it that way. Both books were very difficult to get through, and follow at times the first time I read them. At the time I thought reading through such books was a great accomplishment. Afterall, our English teachers in high school and college asked to read books that at times could be difficult to read. But the difference between the two is that popular sci-fi, as artistic as a lot of it can be and is, was never meant to be so hard, or so tedious as the "Phoenix" books. Certainly not like a Virginia Woolfe novel, and neither "Phoenix" book can hold a candle to any mandated scholastic reading material.

And it's a real shame too. Largely because both authors edited "Star Trek: The New Adventures" and "The New Adventures 2" books, which were fairly good reads, though nothing sterling.

One of the problems with writing for a popular sub-genre like Star Trek is that everyone's got a story for their favorite characters (Kirk and Spock in this case), which makes for a large pool of talent from which interesting tales should be forthcoming. The downshot is that everyone's got their take on what the U.S.S. Enterprise does, is doing, has done, and will do in the future. Add to this you have people who want to add their own social twist and messages to the story, all in an effort to push their way of thinking.

Well, all I can say is I "got" the messages in both "Phoenix" books, and believe you me they're not worth contemplating (and are somewhat insulting to the true sci-fi fan, though a Trek fan may be blinded by his love for the franchise). The prose is tiresome, the story meandering, the action rather sadistic and pointless at times, and overall it's just not very good.

If you want to read the classic 1970's Trek novels published by Bantam, then go look to Gerrold's "The Galactic Whirlpool," James Blish's "Spock Must Die" or Gordon Eklund's "Devil World." The original Trek novels are largely hit and miss deals. The ones that are good are passing, but the ones that are bad, like the Phoenix books, are exceptionally horrid. Read at your own risk.

I've been waiting two decades to vent that ... I feel better now.

The fourth of the original Star Trek novels, this was part of the attempt by Bantam to step up publication of Star Trek-related material, with interest increasing in the syndicated reruns and word of a new TV show/movie becoming a hot topic. Already the editors on a book of short stories, the authors tried their hand at a book-length adventure. Reportedly, this was planned as a short story for the "New Voyages" book, but turned into a longer story. It would probably have been better at short story length. As the book opens, Captain Kirk is dead. He has been killed through the machinations of the leader of a planet peopled mostly by political and other refugees, and the man named Omne has caused Kirk to be at the scene of a burning building, and the Captain has sacrificed himself to save a mother and baby. Spock, livid at the turn of events, returns to the planet to confront Omne, and finds that there is a surprise: Omne has created a process to clone bodies, and also to snatch away a person's conciousness at the moment of death: he has created a duplicate Kirk! The plot comes to a showdown between Omne, Spock, Kirk, and the female Romulan commander. Omne is defeated, but there is doubt that he is really beaten, later turned into a sequel, "The Fate of the Phoenix." The writing is at turns interesting and tedious. The book is melodrama, and has a tendency to switch between fast-paced fight scenes and long conversational pieces, usually with one or more hostages in Omne's custody to attempt to heighten the tension. The melodrama also results from the authors' tendency to cast Spock as a superhero, with Kirk in the Lois Lane role of damsel-in-distress. Much is made of "Vulcanoid strength," and superhuman abilities. The long conversational scenes tend to take on a Jungian tone, with the characters in the guise of archetypes. Spock in particular gets his character rewritten to fit the authors' impressions, and the Kirk here often feels unfamiliar as well. It plays something like many of the third-season episodes, where Spock had some kind of emotional outburst on every other show to heighten the dramatic tension, since he was acting against Vulcan type. It might work once, but regularly it gets tiresome as it does here. For all that, the story is gripping, as good melodrama always is. One does wonder how this can be resolved, and even though the conclusion is somewhat unsatisfactory, it does wrap up the plot and leave loose ends to ponder. There is much sound and fury here, but not much is signified. If you want to see an early version of a Trek novel, see if you can get this one cheap. It's a summer beach type of book, throwaway entertainment.

This story is a direct follow up to the events that took place in the fantastic Planet Heist mini featuring Adam Strange, and the ramifications that arose from it. At first one may think they need a scorecard to keep track of all of the diverse pieces in this cosmic chess match. There are more involved here than just the two main opponents of Rann and Thanagar. Every major faction of this sector of the universe has chosen sides, with Thanagar itself being divided into two separate and opposing forces, along the lines and directly related to the Seven Devils religious cult, and in the process creating major loyalty problems for Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Shayera. The question often asked is "Whose side are you on?" The strategic element also comes into play on two fronts, first with the search for the powerful Nth metal and its' significance to the cult and the revival of their proposed savior Onimar Synn, and also the military and practical importance of Rann's highly coveted zeta beam device. Of course it was the omega beam device, a more advanced version of the zeta beam, that apparently initiated this war in the first place, or did it. The prominence of Synn originally seemed overdone, until one understands the relevance of fanatical religion and the major role it plays in Thanagarian culture and to its' recent past history. Dave Gibbons does a superb job of juggling the large and varied cast of characters while keeping the somewhat complex happenings quite cohesive and rational. The story fortunately does not just resort to a series of pointless action scenes. The ones contained here, and the art in general, are fantastic thanks to the superb pencils of Ivan Reis, whose artwork has never looked better. This story was a natural extension of the aforementioned and highly recommended Planet Heist mini, and itself led directly into Infinite Crisis; plus it still has current relevance with the new R-T Holy War series that just started. Kudos to Gibbons and Reis for combining to create this entertaining space opera and their continued solid contributions afterwards on Green Lantern Corps and GL respectively.

Nice to read, but it has a lot of text explaining all the war background and it becomes boring. The storyline doesn't really add to the Crisis storyline either, so I recommend it only if you're a fan of Hawkman or Adam Strange (a TRUE fan).

The space part of the whole Infinite Crisis saga, as manipulations and supervillainry have led the inhabitants of the Polaris system to erupt into violent conflict.

Adam Strange, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and others get to try and sort that whole thing out, while staying alive and trying to keep a lot of people from both planets the same way.

This book was a little to busy and hard to follow. I'm not a fan of Adam Strange and only a fan of Hawkman and Hawkgirl because of their connection to the JLA. I bought this book because of its connection to "Infinite Crisis" but I think you could get by without it unless you are like me and just want to have the complete story line.

Of the four mini-series' that lead up to DC's mega event Infinite Crisis, the Rann-Thanagar War was the most promising. A massive, interstellar war written by the artist of Watchmen and creator of the the Originals? Needless to say, this was the mini I was looking forward to the most. That's what's so disappointing when you pick up this TPB and start reading, realizing just how much potential got wasted and lost in translation. Rann, the home planet of space hero Adam Strange, gets involved in a brutal war with Thanagar; home planet of heroes like Hawkman and Hawkgirl. In between all this is Strange, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern's Kyle Rayner and Kilowog; all of whom are trying to make sense of the whole thing, which you'll be doing too. What really kills Rann-Thanagar War is the convoluted storyline and weak dialogue, with the best moments coming in the concluding chapter, which sets the stage for Infinite Crisis. The book's saving grace is definitely the artwork by rising star Ivan Reis, which is excellent. Other than that though, unless you absolutely need every Infinite Crisis tie-in TPB, the Rann-Thanagar War is better left on the shelf.

I suppose this book's presence in the bargain rack is testimony enough, but I will pile on anyway. I believe Mr Wolff's point is that the media industry is in constant disarray becuase media moguls really don't know what they are doing, with the possible exception of Rupert Murdoch. Trouble is, to get there one has to endure a 365 page rant which has all the (and maybe more) free-associative ramble and digression of a drunk guy at a bar who WILL NOT SHUT UP. A disaster from the get-go.

The dialectic in this book is Wolff's inability to resolve his attraction to the titans who run the media industry with his understanding that these are the same people who have corrupted the business. Wolff is as aware of this tension as anyone. On several occasions he describes this, in his disarming and disconcertingly honest way, as one of his key failings.
I have read several reviews which, in fact, seem to regard this ambivalence of Wolff's as a literary failing of the book. But that is, I think, a mixing up of some new Enron-like morality with a deeper literary strategy. Wolff's special contribution here is to explore the predicament of knowing in your head that these are all bad guys--driven exclusively by ego, money, and grandiosity--who have, while making themselves rich, brought nothing but harm to the businesses they have accumulated, while in your heart being drawn to their size, their wealth, their ambition, their determination, their assurance, their mastery, and their charm.
I would argue that only by exploring this conflict can we understand just who these moguls are--the Redstones, Eisners, Murdochs, Dillers, et al, who, likely, will rank with the Vanderbilts, and Goulds, and Rockefellers, as the Robber Barons of their age.
Along with the psychological and literary insight here--the portraits in Autumn of the Moguls are surely as compelling and nuanced as any character studies in any recent nonfiction--it's important to note the writing itself. Wolff may be the best nonfiction stylist writing today. You have to go back to a different time (the seventies) to find surprising, stylish, personal, lyrical writing like this. This is essay writing in the league of Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe, Michael Herr, and Norman Mailer.
What's more, it's hard to describe just how impish, satirical, scabrous, rude, and hilarious this book really is.
I agree with an earlier reviewer here that this is a very unlikely business book. On the business shelf, it is miscast. Otherwise it is an extraordinary piece of social commentary.

I read Autumn of the Moguls in disbelief. This is the "journalist" New York magazine was paying a half million dollars a year to for his supposed insights into the media business? What insights? What a lazy book this is. I was insulted by Wolff's arrogance, relentless posing, and absolute lack of any substance. So, cool. He got to sit at the same table as Rupert Murdoch. He's met Sumner Redstone. He gets invited to "mogul" meetings now and then. Big deal. The guy comes off as a total loser. No, wait: "total loser"--that's me. I paid full price for this meaningless rubbish.

Let's face it, Wolff is a writer and is paid to write. Therefore, he has to fill the covers of this tome with enough chapters to justify it's existence. In reality, the book could be boiled down to about 5 really good chapters and still get his point across nicely. But then, it wouldnt be very thick and thick books make for nice ego-feeders, they also feel "right" when you pick them up and pay for them. It's almost like you are getting something for your money, right? Wrong.

Bottom line: it should have been a 2-part article. I don't need to know nearly what I've been told to get the "point" (and I think he had one) of this dreary and politely mean diatribe.

Don't waste your money, just read his articles online instead. You get the same venom without wasting your time reading about large apartments, snobby luncheons and all the would-be, has-been, wanna-be's of the media world.

Also, be sure to note that nearly all the favorable reviews here are from the NYC area or the east coast. Draw your own conclusions.

I don't know why this is called a business book. It reminds me much more of Norman Mailer. It's a social and personal essay. I know Wolff's work well. His column in New York magazine is one of the best things there or, for that matter, in any other magazine. It's incredible writing. Who else is writing prose like this? Who else is this funny? It's deep, subversive, blasphemous humor. This book, like his column, is theoretically about the media business, but it's really about the sanctimony of American culture. Wolff rips it apart. He says what every person knows, but is too well-mannered, or repressed to say. Wolff is a great writer and this is a great book.

Trust me, because I was. It may sound like a good idea to throw these three iconic monsters together,... but alas, there is always the problem with execution, yeah? Convoluted and contrived in the extreme. Definitely leaves a sour taste like the last silly Alien movie did. And I personally thought that the manga styled art was too benign looking and underwhelming for characters of such a terrifying and imposing nature. Good for a laugh maybe, but little else.

This is pathetic. A spin off of Alien Ressurection is bad enough, but to mix it with the terminator is complete stupidity. And then to make me disgusted to say that the predator is my favorite movie hurts. this is a good concept, but it really needs to be redone and fast.

Which is fair enough. I mean, to get these three classic movie bad guys together, you need to bend a few rules. A damn good idea, but in this case, extremely poorly executed. They should have just left it alone. One star for the monsters, one star for the cover.

AvPvT is a very interesting plot, but the it gets one star off because the Aliens are only featured in three pages at the most, and they weren't drawn as well as the predators or terminators. How do each of the three races fit in the story? The Terminators are using Alien anatomy to perfect their combat effeciency, and the Predators have come in to stop that. The story follows Ripley, after Alien Resurrection. She is forced to follow Call and her friends to infiltrate a military compound to stop the Alien research that is going on there. The mission goes wrong when they encounter a Terminator/Alien hybrid and a band of predators that kill most of the team and cause havoc, and you figure it all out from there. The story was rushed for a book of this length, and a lot of events happen waaay too quickly, and some events take too long. For instance, one part where the team witnesses a terminator/alien hybrid fight a predator takes 12 pages, while an event where two terminator/alien hybrids single handedly attack and destroy 2 military bases, and wipe out an entire fleet of ships takes 10 pages!!!! AvPvT gets a point off for that. However, it gets 3 points for art and creativity. The art is about as close as you'll get to an anime styled AvP comic, it was all well drawn with a lot of effort and very original. The idea of how the story continues off Alien Resurrection is very original, the way the plot uses the three sides is original as well, though the aliens deserved more credit. Its a unique book. If you want an AvP book with unique art and story, this is it. But if you want something with more bite, with more of a realistic yet cinematic feel, consider getting Stronghold.

Well I can't deny it...i absolutely love the Alien, Predator and Terminator. So when I heard of the crossover that pit all 3 against each other, I was thrilled...until I bought it and read it, that is.

This is probably the most convoluted and bizarre story yet in the Aliens vs. Predator universe. It hardly consists of any of the 3 fighting each other at all...at least not to the extent of which the cover and blurb on the back would have one assume. The story tells of John Connor and the resistance defeating Skynet, only to have Skynet reawakened years later by Terminators that have gone into deep cover, posing as scientists. To assure victory, samples of Alien DNA have been used to construct a new generation of Terminator, which the Predators see as a great threat of war.

If it sounds ridiculous...it is. The story is bizarre and goes in all different directions. And worse yet...it spins off of Alien: Resurrection. That alone makes me not like this comic, aside from the bizarre story and sub-par artwork. The story even has Ripley 'become' a Predator. So...she's human, she's Alien, and now she's Predator. The book just gets worse and worse as you go on.

I suppose if you are a fan of any or all of the characters, like I am, it should pique your interest. But the sloppy and senseless story combined with the elements that made Resurrection such a bad movie, not to mention the lack of attention paid to detail both in artwork and in story, just make this comic unreadable. This is a crossover that had so much potential, and it could have been in so many different, better ways...but it turned out to be nothing more than an attempt to throw 3 popular franchises into one book as a cash-graber. Buy this if you are a collector and want it for your collection, but don't bother reading it. Otherwise just stay away from it completely.

The Enterprise is on a mission to rescue a Vulcan science team on an asteroid where they are observing some protostars as they evolve to full status as a star. The Enterprise contains the regular crew and some significant additions. Mason is a female reporter who grew up on a small planet where prejudice against non-humans was prevalent. She is along to chronicle the performance of the monitors, which is a set of computer program created using the knowledge and experience of experts in several fields. There are separate sets of Star Fleet commanders and medical doctors encoded in the program. However, the programs are not there in an advisory role only, but are capable of taking control of the Enterprise's function in their area if the situation is judged serious enough. This can occur even if the captain or chief medical officer is still in full control of the situation.
This premise was one that was very difficult to accept. Space exploration is full of unknowns where you don't know what you don't know. To apply reasoning that has been effective in the past and to override the command judgement of the human in control and on the spot seems too far beyond what would be acceptable in Star Fleet. You would have thought that the lesson of the "The Ultimate Computer" would have lasted longer than it did. Of course, the monitors override Kirk at a critical point; in fact much of the storyline was based on whether altering or bypassing the monitors was accepted command procedure. Veblen is a crew member who is obsessed with maintaining the functioning of the monitors, even when it is evident that it is not in the best interests of the Enterprise or the Vulcans they are trying to help.
When the Enterprise arrives at the asteroid, the Vulcan science team has been taken over by Corona, a sentient force in the protostars. It is the goal of Corona to unleash another Big Bang, returning the universe back to an earlier time. The new Big Bang would wipe out the previously existing universe, destroying all life in the process. After some initial setbacks, the Enterprise crew learns the truth and manages to convince Corona not to move forward with its plans. This is due in large part to the information Corona receives when it enters the personality of Mason, taking partial control of her actions.
I found this episode to be good, but there were spots when I grew tired of the debates over the monitors. A large part of my fatigue was due to the fact that I could not suspend my disbelief over their very existence. I simply could never reach the point where I could believe that such a system would be installed on a Star ship. Install it and have it act in an advisory role would be acceptable, but to have it capable of taking total control with no manual override was far too much for my tastes.

While this story doesn't really follow ST canon, it still an average story on its own. Like a computer that can overide the captain's orders, or the ship exceeding Warp 9. Hhhmmm! I didn't like some of the new characters. I didn't think they fitted into the story. But, after saying all that I liked the moving of the story from beginning to end.

Average read!

Russ

This book was short, but full of action. A few chapters in the middle of the book were a little slow going due to the amount of technobabble, but the ending was unexpected. I like the way the reporter in the story is weary of Vulcans and all aliens at first, but is the one who ends up saving the day. It's a good moral at the end of the story type book.

Those of you who know me know that I like Star Trek because it's a visit with old friends. Authors who can give voice to the ST character, write so that I can hear their voices, are considered to me to be top of the line. Authors who have a grasp of the ST universe, who can write the situations well enough are also top dog. Greg Bear doesn't even come close!

Greg Bear is a marvelous sci fi author. Sadly, I'm afraid, he cannot recreate the Star Trek Universe. Now mind you, he was writing _Corona_ before TNG came out so I tried to give him some slack. But the technology they were installing into the Enterprise was far advanced of anything in TNG. Eventually that fact got on my nerves.

But the worst thing of all is that he had no grasp of the characters, how they speak, what they would do. Captain Kirk would never have ignored another crew member's warning the way Greg Bear has him doing.

I could not and finally did not finish this book. As I was not really visiting old friends or the ST universe, it was a waste of my time. If you want to read a good Greg Bear book.... any other book he's done is heads and shoulders above this one.

In my reviews of Classic Star Trek novels, it must be understood that I adhere to the original canon
as invisioned by Gene Roddenberry, and not the "Star Trek" universe accepted by Rick Berman and company.

I generally rate a classic novel thus:

Adherence to Canon -- does this novel adhere to the vision of the original Star Trek?

Marginally.

Believability (within the confines of 23rd century Star Trek viability) -- is this novel well-plotted and well-written? Can I picture this novel or imagine myself in it?

No. Sorry, but no. A group of sentient PROTO-STARS with an affinity for young Vulcans?

Coherence and Consistency -- does this novel internally consistent? Is it consistent with other Star Trek novels by the same author? Is it consistent with what is known of the CLASSIC Star Trek universe?

Nope! Warp factors in excess of 10? A new (hostile) alien empire that isn't used by anyone else? A computer which can override command decisions? (Hasn't that theme been beaten to death already?)

Mitigating Factors -- pluses or minuses which dramatically affect the enjoyment of this book

Sorry -- this one is just plain bad.

I became a fan of Wonder Woman when George Perez rebooted the series in the 80s. This was a truly great time in comics with Man of Steel and Batman Year One, and finally WW was given the treatment she deserved. Unfortunately, since that time, the amazing Amazon's creative teams have been sketchy at best. At times, inspired. At times truly awful. The Dodson's gave been really amazing on the art chores, and these pages sing. they really do. Jodi has done a capable job on the writing as well. My only gripe with this is that, it is a collection--a book, so it should be self contained. This isn't an issue, but a series of issues, and just as it seems the atory is about to climax, it says to be continued. When i buy a book, I expect a beginning a middle and and end. This one doesn't end, not at all, and that is a major turn off to me, especially as it continues into a book that has received less than stellar reviews.

I've never read any of Jodi Picoult's novels, so I can only judge her by what I read in this book. I like what I read. The humor is in the British style, leaning toward the droll. Anyone who is a fan of the "Danger Mouse" series will enjoy this book. I had issues with Tom Tresser - Nemesis - his repartee is juvenile. Having known the character since his inception I don't care for him as he is being written. This is not on Ms. Picoult - this appears to be the way DC is framing the character. Hopefully this aspect of him will be shown to be a facade. The repeat dialog bit (one character says a phrase that another repeats in a different context or setting) is getting old. I will give props for the bug that hits Nemesis in the face. That is the first time I've seen that aspect of flying addressed. (I know - the reason most fliers are shown with their arms stretched out in front of them is that the splitting air creates a plane that acts as a windshield.) But rating Ms. Picoult as a comic author I'll give 5 stars. She states that she knew she was going to leave a cliff-hanger. She left a good one. It looks like she had fun. I would love for DC to hand her the reins again.

I really enjoyed reading this. Terry and Rachel Dodson's art is excellent as always, and Piccoult's writing seemed pretty good to me. I've heard a few bad things about this series, but being a Wonder Woman fanatic but not much of a comic book reader I can't complain. This was my first ever graphic novel and I thought it was really good. The Dodson's Wonder Woman is the most beautiful version of the Amazon princess I have yet laid eyes on.

I must say I'm so glad I did not buy this book.
The main problem with this trade, I believe, lies in the lack of continuity. Not universe continuity, but within this small arc itself.
I have not read Picoult nor kept up on the Wonder Woman series, so I was unfamiliar with both the author and where Wonder Woman was in the DC Universe. Unfortunately, there was little to ground me. Picoult's writing, while at times amusing, jumps from action to humor with little transition. (Nemesis' innuendo continuously fell flat for me because of its placement.) While Wonder Woman struggles to find her identity, casual readers are left non-plussed and confused by the lack of explanation (there isn't even a summary page in the beginning) and the disjointed nature of the writing and the art. With numerous artist changes, there is no flow to the visuals from chapter to chapter. Not only is there no preface, there's no resolution.
I cannot say I enjoyed this book. It left me confused and a bit annoyed. I will NOT follow up with Amazons Attack.

What's going on? Lately, I've been collecting graphic novels of Wonder Woman after focusing just about my entire life on Marvel's X-Men. However, I'm disappointed in the storylines and artworks of Wonder Woman.

Admittedly, I got this book only because I was surprised to see Jodi Picoult penning a graphic novel for Wonder Woman. In *Love and Murder*, Special Agent Diana Prince has just been given an impossible mission. She's been ordered, along with her partner, to capture Wonder Woman.

The question is how is this possible?!?!

While figuring this impossible task, Wonder Woman suddenly finds herself battling against her Amazon sisters and her resurrected mother, Queen Hippolyta.

Ugh, how many times does Wonder Woman have to fight her Amazon sisters and get into it with her mother? Is that all Wonder Woman is good for? I found the storyline disappointing. However, I don't blame Picoult since I believe she's stuck with the storyline as it is a tie-in to another novel. She did her best to spice up the dialogues with humor here and there. Alas, it was not enough to do Wonder Woman justice.

So here is the much-hyped reunion of Englehart & Rogers. Don't believe the hype. A lot of people look back fondly on their Bat-stuff from the 70's (collected in the Strange Apparations trade), but I'm not one of them. You can read my review of that book to find out why, but let me say that Strange Apparations - for all its (many) faults - is a lot more enjoyable than this dreck.

The story arc in Strange Apparitions at least had the great, iconic artwork by the late Marshall Rogers. I believe Dark Detective was his last project, and I'm sorry to say that this just wasn't up to par with his influential 70's work. More distressing, however, is Englehart's writing. It was the lousy writing, plotting and lack of belivability that sank Englehart's 70's writing for me, and it looks like he didn't get any better over the last three decades. His dialogue was, and still is, incredibly hokey.

Comics have come a long way, and so has Batman. Maybe I expect more after the greater sophistication that began with The Dark Knight Returns. Maybe others will enjoy this "old school" approach more than I did. Regardless, I didn't feel like there was any depth to this story or the characters. Silver St. Cloud comes and goes from Bruce Wayne's life yet again, and I'm left wondering what the point was. I also tired of watching the mighty Batman, expert martial artist that he is, get pummeled and knocked around by lesser opponents on page after page. Aside from some nice political humor early on, I can't think of a single thing I liked about this series.

I'm just grateful that the bookstore I bought this from was kind enough to let me return it. There are a lot of great Batman tales out there. Try something other than this one.

There has been some criticism here about the storytelling here - that it's old school, etc. It's SUPPOSED to be that way. This is a sequel to Englehart and Rogers' classic run on DC's Detective Comics from the late '70s.

One criticism was that the lettering was done by hand. Well, back in those days, it was done that way. You could tell back then just by looking at a word balloon or caption who did the lettering. It was distinctive, unlike generic lettering done by computer.

If you liked the classic stories from the '70s, this is a fine reprise of that period's storytelling conventions (thought balloons, expository captions, etc). If you are looking for a modern approach to the Batman, there are several alternatives that can be found here.

Enjoy this story for what is - a fun, colorful revival of a great period in comics storytelling by the people who were there in the first place.

In the story, Batman is reunited with possibly the closest he's ever had to a real girlfriend, Silver St. Cloud. She is engaged, however, to a candidate for governor who is campaigning in Gotham. However, a late write-in candidate threatens the man's campaign... the Joker! His slogan: "Vote for me or I'll kill you!" Batman must try and prevent the murder of many innocent people at the hands of the Joker.

I think this writing team has put forth some of the best Batman stories ever made. The 1970's was a good decade for the Batman character. Many of the writers had gotten sick of all the campiness of the TV Batman, and returned the character to his dark, mysterious, gothic roots.

This team also knows how to write a good Joker story. I believe these are the same guys that wrote "The Laughing Fish" story, an infamous Batman tale. The characters are all pretty accurately done, and the mysterious "Joker house" laden with death traps is a sinister twist at the end of the story. This is a good story.

I just happened to see this in a local bookstore while browsing the other day and my first thought was, when did this come out? At first I thought it was a collection of old books. I was pretty excited to see that it was new however. Like the other reviewers I was a fan of the Englehart/Rogers Batman and just a huge fan of Marshall Rogers period. I loved his deceptively simple, elegant artwork and it remains a pleasure to the eyes still. I am really happy to see Terry Austin return as well. He was one of the first inkers I really started to notice when I was a kid. As a young boy you tend to pay more attention to the artist than the inker but Terry always brought something extra to the titles he worked on. So it goes without saying, although I will that the art is satisfying on this title. It's a little uneven at times but it takes me back and has a classic feel to it. And it looks like Geoff Darrow may have been influenced a little by Marshall.

Where I have some trouble is the story. Steve Englehart was a writer I always enjoyed when I was younger but I also wasn't very discriminating as a child either. I was reading any comic I could get my hands on but I do remember his name being on several titles I liked back than. The story itself is a mixed bag I guess. I like the classic feel of Batman here. He's not as brooding as when he's at his grim worst. The theme seems to be more Batman: Year One then The Dark Knight Returns which I like. I don't think the story offers anything new however. We are presented with the same rouges gallery we always get. It seems like there are too many villains stuffed in here. It makes for a "classic" tale while at the same time giving us the same old thing. I got a chuckle out of some of the Joker's rants but at the same time felt some of the dialog was stilted and a little awkward.

I would say it's not as good as some of the best Batman trades out but it's better than the majority of stuff out.

As a huge fan of the original Rogers/Austin run, with its clean, meticulous detail and sophisticated style, I was shocked at the poor quality of the artwork in this collection. Hints of the old flair are very few and far between, and most of the book is simply unattractive. Additionally, the lettering is atrocious. Once the disappointment wears off, you've got a halfway decent story to enjoy.

This comic is terrible, in fact that's doesn't go far enough. The story is rubbish and puts in details that are not supported by the OVA series. The charaters are bland and boring and in some cases the spelling of their names has been changed. Adam Warren cannot, no matter how hard he tries draw otaku manga, he should give up and try something else. And he can't write neither.

If any of those below had bothered to do their research, or had the original paper back of this book, they would have known that Kenichi Sonoda approved this manga. Who is Kenichi Sonoda? Only the creator of Bubblegum Crisis, no one special. Characters were true to form with an Adam Warren twist. Sonoda was very proud of this comic, and the fact he didn't have to draw anything in it.
~ Highly recommended.

I bought this book and have to say I enjoyed it alot. It was a cool and original story with fantastic artwork. The story gets kind of shaky at times with complicated and confusing panels thrown in, but overall it was enjoyable and I do recommend it to any Manga fan.

GEN 13 writer and creator of the English DIRTY PAIR comics Adam Warren gave of us this sweet slice of colorized manga heaven in this U.S. interpetation of Keichi Sodana's "babes in armour". This 4-part mini-series is actually a prequal to the original BUBBLEGUM CRISIS video series, but taking place after A.D. POLICE FILES. A runaway Boober threatens to destroy Megatokyo, and the Knight Sabers assemble to take care of him. This was one of Warren's best anime off-shoots and he did a brilliant job of colorizing it. The action is hot hot hot, and Priss is even hotter than that. If you liked either the BGC OVA or the BGC: 2040 remake, then you must try this out for size!

I must admit, I am more than a little confused by the somewhat violent and decidedly unpleasant reaction others have given this graphic novel. I actually rather enjoyed the thing, and I believe the main reason for that is this: I never saw ANY of the "Bubblegum Crisis" animes before I read "Grand Mal." Science fiction fans, on the whole, are a rather obsessive and unforgiving lot. I should know, I'm one of them. However, my obsession with all things sci-fi has not left me so closed-minded that I will not accept any variations on some favorite characters of mine. A fan of the original "Star Trek" first, I stll gave "Next Generation" a chance, and ended up liking it better. Here, unfortunately, the BGC fans who have read this comic do not appear to have given it a chance, which is exemplified by the somewhat angry remarks I have seen, which were colored by this. For point of clarification: the story is good sci-fi, and the artwork is a good example of Adam Warren's "middle-period" drawing style. Now, as for whether or not this is good "Bubblegum Crisis," I still can't say. However, on it's own, I can say that this is a good comic.

Adam Warren is somewhat well known for his deeply sarcastic, satire-ridden, dark humor-laced writing style. Interestingly, he does not do much of that in "Grand Mal," which has to be the darkest and most serious of all the stories he has worked on(and I've read them all). However, some of that satire is still present, particularly in the depiction of the media, and in the "poetry" seen in the story, which is a blatant humorous imitation of the incredibly pretentious urban street poetry of New York, Paris, London, and yes, probably Tokyo.

The story itself is nice little piece of "cyberpunk"-class science fiction, involving an attempt by a brain-damaged, seizure-prone, and decidedly suicidal ex-mercenary to complete his final mission, two years after it originally failed. The "Knight Sabres," the main characters of "Bubblegum Crisis," just happen to be in his way, which is likely why so many BGC fans were miffed. The mercinary is the true main character of the story, and everything centers around him. Personally, I find it interesting when one can see known characters through the eyes of a third party, so I see no reason why a BGC fan wouldn't like this story.

The artwork: yes, it's a bit lacking compared to some of Warren's other work from the period, but there is a reason for that. This was the first comic Warren ever did in color, and an artist must alter their style accordingly to go from black and white to color. Warren didn't quite catch on here, but did make the proper shift eventually with "The Dirty Pair: Fatal But Not Serious" the following year, which looks excellent. Even so, the artwork is still clean, and nice to look at, and as I've said elsewhere, bad Warren art is still good art by most sandards.

So, "Bubblegum Crisis: Grand Mal" may not be ideal BGC, but it is still a good book. Personally, I like variations on a theme, and I thusly enjoy all four incarnations of "The Dirty Pair," especially Warren's version. Any long-time "Bubblegum Crisis" fan should have no problem enjoying "Grand Mal," so long as they keep an open mind. Highly recommended to sci-fi fans, manga fans, Warren fans, and yes, BGC fans. After all, there really isn't much BGC manga out there in the first place.

I suppose this comic TPB would be great if you couldn't read and just looked at the pictures. The artwork is solid and detailed. The problem is with the writing. It seems like writer Chuck Austen always wanted to write Spiderman and got stuck with Supes. The plot is scattershot and Superman spends his time making lame one-liners. There is a contrived sub-plot with Clark Kent being demoted and neither his boss or his wife will tell him about it. The soap opera BS of Lana Lang's pining for Clark and questioning of Lois Kent's commitment to her husband was pathetically weak. And there was the inexplicable fight sequence mixed in with that sub-plot that had nothing to do with anything. What was that all about? Zero stars for writing and 4 for art. If you want to have some cool pictures for your kid to look at, pick this up. If you want to read a Superman trade that is up to expected standards, forget it.

After years of being foretold in cameos, mentions, and future-set/Elseworlds stories, Gog - one of the DC Universe's ultimate villains - finally arrived in current time-frame, non-'just-a-glimpse' DCU continuity in the epic arc starting in Action Comics # 814. "The Wrath Of Gog" reprints Action #s 814-819, plus the 'prequel' back-ups from Action # 812 & 813 (the main bulk of those issues can be found in the collection "Superman: Godfall").

The main saga takes place in Action Comics #s 814-818, which kicks off with the Man Of Steel informed by an unlikely source that the Doomsday monster is back on Earth, leaving Superman to recruit a small team of allies to begin the search for Doomsday, now apparantly - according to the source - possessed of intelligence. It's in Smallville, where a trio of the Teen Titans are dispatched to, that Gog abruptly and catacylsmically makes his very public arrival. Armed with mega-powerful future weapons, and himself among the most powerful metahumans in existance, Gog also wields his ability to dart in and out of time to make himself practically invincible.

In the wake of the titanic clash between Superman and Gog - which ends quite strangely and leaves it clear that the full story has only begun to unfold, a terribly damaged Superman finds himself under siege by a host of long-time adversaries hoping to take advantage of his weakened state. After years of having come to the aid of virtually every major DC hero, Superman finds himself in the relatively rare circumstance of having to depend heavily on a group of hastily assembling champions to protect him. Incidentally, kudos to the creative team for adding in a couple of less expected, less frequently seen characters to the Doomsday-searchers and the 'cavalry' in addition to characters like Wonder Woman and Superboy, who are often in on Superman adventures that feature a group effort. After the big saga comes Action Comics # 819, which might normally be called an 'aftermath' issue, but is so good I don't really want to use that tag, and which also veers off from just following up events from the main saga quite a bit. Every so often an issue of the Superman titles will focus on the relationship between Superman/Clark and one or members of the so-called 'supporting cast' - Ma and Pa Kent; Jimmy Olsen; etc. In 819 Lana Lang takes center stage in a quite surprising and exceptionally well done 'personal' kind of storytelling. # 819 also introduces two new villains, Sodom and Gommorah - whose names derive from their ability to cause living tissue to turn into salt - who are original enough but who will have to wait for another day to really be developed; their role, and the battle role in the issue, takes a backseat to the main story.

We're presented with a slightly different take on Superman in these issues, one who fits well with the brief humorous respites amidst all the grand action and drama, but I don't think it's an inconsistent take. Even Superman's spirits and tones have to occasionally vary over the years, and at its heart I feel it's a more faithful version of the character than has occasionally cropped up, i.e. the incarnation of the Man Of Steel from the "Ten Cent Adventure" one-shot a couple of years before these books, and the immediate issues of "Superman" following it. I'm not trying to slam Steven Seagle, who wrote this issues - his take on the character improved rapidly after his debut to where, just a few months later, he was putting out really excellent issues. But those first couple, I didn't even recognize the character. There've been a few other instances like that with Superman over the years, but the little nuances Chuck Austen added in here worked fine, I thought. Characterization was a strong point across the board, with a few new characters introduced, and very proficient handling of Wonder Woman, Gog, Lana, and the others. The art by Ivan Reis and Mark Campos was outstanding; a few of the far-off facial expressions could have used a touch of work (definately Not a problem with any of the closeups), but other than that flawless. One thing I really liked was that no matter how fast or slow the story was progressing, the art flowed with it extremely well.

The issues collected here are indispensable for the Superman fan. "Wrath Of Gog" is followed by the collection "Superman: In The Name Of Gog", which reprints Action #s 820-825.

I enjoyed this comic but had one problem with it, Superman just wasn't...well Superman. Several of the other review's of this book have said pretty much the same thing, and I have to agree. I saw this book in my local comic shop and the art caught my attention it was spectacular. I didn't take the time to read any of the story I just went home and ordered my own brand new copy. The story was good, well paced with plenty of action. The best part of the story was the ending when you could see the direction the whole thing had been leading to, very well done. The problem was the characterizations, they were off. Most were just a little of, somewhat uncomfortable. But it was Superman, the focus of the story and the series, the character that everyone knows, who was unrecognizable. Yes the outfit was there, the cape and the "Big Red S", but the character just wasn't Superman. You could have pulled this plot, and even the sub-plots, substituted any of a number of different superheroes into the lead roll and fit their friends, family and enemies into the other roll's and this would have been a great book. But this wasn't a Superman story because Superman just wasn't in it.

I just want to say that Ivan Reis' artworks here stand cool. Also, the first time of Gog's appearance.

I just finished reading this tpb yesterday, and I must say that I couldn't put it down until I was finished. First off, the art was top-notch, and I loved all the single- and double-page spreads where the action practically leapt off the page. Awesome!

Now, on to the writing... I have heard many bad comments on the writing of Chuck Austen, and very often I have agreed with much of what was said. I have always thought that he does marvelous build-up and good action, but then his stories tend to fall through and lose any real hard-hitting point or make any progress at the end--almost like he squeezes his endings too short when he should take another issue to flesh out the possibilities. However, this was NOT the case with this storyline. Here is the point--normally I don't buy or read Superman because the character is too Pollyanna-ish for me. He is normally too much of the squeaky-clean boy scout. In this story, he had some grit. And come on, aren't superheroes allowed to get upset and pissed off when they are constantly being attacked? Especially when a bunch of second-string villains attack when they know he is injured?

Yes, the whole Lana Lang side-story seemed a bit forced, but sometimes maybe a writer has to push to make changes in characters that haven't really evolved or developed in the past 40+ years. At least this kept my interest. Normally with Superman's personal life, I just couldn't care less about reading more of the same drivel that I read when I was a child.

Overall, this was a good solid read with great action and awesome art, and it even managed to interest this 25+ year reader in the possibilities for Clark's personal life.

The book was ok but kind of boring in places. Would have been nice if it would have had more technical info about the missile and sites.

Don't waste your time or money with this lame book.I bought it and wish i never did.It is so boring the only good part of the book is right up to when Womack got to launch a Titan missile otherwise besides that this book is a dud don't buy it.I don't need to know what this guy did on vacation or the fact that his station wagon kept breaking down-lame.I want to know about the missile itself.It's that sad so don't get this book i would reccomend Titan 2 a history of a cold war missile program now that is a history book you need to read.

if this is the major womack that i'm thinking of, i was on a crew with him. i wouldn't buy the book as i wouldn't want to advantage him in any way as i thought that he was a jerk.

Having been down this road myself, I found this book engrossing, especially for the realistic accounts in the silos. I also liked the personal viewpoint of telling family stories amongst the military duties. Many of us like Major Womack led dual lives -the tough and pressured life with the missiles and the gentler side with our children. Top notch!

It was with great interest that I read this book having been a missle crew member on alert at the same locations. This book is a diary where the author gives you a rare personal look at his experiences as a leader, instructor and caring family man. Titan Tales describes the experiences of being on a SAC missle combat crew much as I remember it...the feeling of accomplishment from successfully working as a team solving simulated launch sequence problems, pulling 24 hour alerts, driving through the hills and small towns of Arkansas or riding in a "Huey" to the missle sites.(BMAT,USAF 1967-1971)