Plymouth Books

This is another great Thanksgiving book that I read aloud to my family after we ate our Thanksgiving dinner this year. Everyone enjoyed it, adults down to my 5 year old. (the 2 yr olds could care less:) But I bought it because we homeschool our 5 yr old but it ended up being a book that everyone enjoyed listening to. We'll get this one out year after year.

Jean C. George's book may look good and sound nice, but it leaves out some critical facts and totally misrepresents others. Ms. George claims that the pilgrims came to the new world to seek their fortune and leaves out the real reason--religious persecution and a desire to worship God in their own way. Pilgrim leader William Bradford wrote in his diary that his motivation was, "a great hope... for advancing the Kingdom of Christ."

She also states that Thanksgiving itself "was not a day of pilgrim thanksgiving," but "pure celebration." This would also be news to Bradford, who wrote: "Through [the Lord's] blessing [there was] a fruitful and liberal harvest... for which mercy, they set apart a day of Thanksgiving."

Ms. George is free to write whatever kinds of children's books she wants, and she has done some very good ones. But this book does a disservice to the truth. Being politically correct must never be taken to the extreme of distortions and untruths. If Ms. George can't accurately, and in a fair and balanced way, give credit to the faith and belief in God which was central to the lives of the pilgrims and the main reason they risked the dangers they did, then she should leave the writing on this important part of our history to someone else.

Thanksgiving is given a new point of view and retelling in this very special picture book. Jean Craighead George, the Newbery Medal-winning author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES, as well as nearly 100 distinguished nature books for young readers, presents the story of the first Thanksgiving with warmth, fascinating detail, and lyrical as well as informative storytelling. Thomas Locker's colorful, classical paintings beautifully complement the author's words. The story begins with the formation of Plymouth Rock, a huge, two-million year old glacial mass that comes to rest in Cape Cod. Then the Pawtuxet tribe arrives, earning their living from the land, including Squanto, who is later captured by Englishmen and sold into slavery. Across the ocean, Pilgrims seeking religious freedom set out on a perilous voyage to America. Upon reaching the New World, they must deal with many hardships including disease, starvation, and death. Still the Pilgrims endure. In the springtime, Squanto, freed from slavery and now a member of another Indian tribe, arrives, bringing peace to the people of Plymouth. He teaches them how to grow crops, catch fish, hunt deer and turkey, showing the Pilgrims the importance of respecting the land and using it wisely. In 1621, after a bountiful harvest, a great celebratory feast takes place for three days, in which the people gather and eat and play games--the first Thanksgiving. This story is a unique portrayal of historical events, always keeping the reader intrigued and awed, with its terrific writing and inspirational illustrations. As she does in every one of her books, Jean Craighead George reminds us of the need to honor our natural resources and every living thing on the planet. In this story, too, she sends a message of peace that will inspire every person and reach beyond one day in November, to give thanks every day for what we have.

Want to know where Plymouth Rock came from and what it has to do with the pilgrims? What happened when the Mayflower finally sighted land? This is the book for you. The First Thanksgiving is history, community, geology, and science in a very beautifully illustrated and believable story of the colonization of Massachusetts. The pilgrims came to the New World looking for religious freedom only to be met by fear, death, hunger, and an insightful and helpful Pawtuxet, Squanto. It was from his willingness to share his knowledge that we have the celebration of Thanksgiving.

We loved this product. We use it as an addition to our current curriculum, My Father's World. We liked the books and the word cards in addition to the other projects. I would recommend this product to anyone. 12x18 construction paper can be found at Millers Pads and Paper on line. Great hands on project with easy to follow instructions.

I agree with all of teachingmytwo's comments, so I'll try not to repeat her points. I would add that while the projects have too much coloring, we minimalized this by just not coloring everything. The projects still look good not fully colored.

I do feel that if History Pockets are one's only hands-on supplement for your history/social studies program year after year (from one grade to the next), the projects from the various books do start to feel repetative. However, as each book stands on it's own, I think they're very well done, including this one, Life in Plymouth. The authors seem to choose just the right things in terms of subject matter to highlight from one's history study. So while one is, of course, reading text, real books, viewing videos, etc., Life in Plymouth will provide each child a way to walk away with a "scrap book" of the topics typically touched on.

By the way, the projects could actually be done as a family or in small groups in a classroom with each child doing one of the several projects per pocket. It would just depend on how independently your kids can work and what pace you'd like.

While the History Pocket books are great for making a book, they are a little boring by themselves. There is too much coloring and not enough learning. We have learned more by reading library books, the encyclopedia, watching an educational show, or talking about the subjects.

When we purchased these, I liked the idea. But, after wasting a lot of our homeschool day with the children coloring (by day 3, coloring had turned into scribbles) I decided to use these as supplemental activities. We read and do art projects. We talk about the subjects.

My kids liked their pilgrim puppets, the diorama of the room... and that is about it...

We have several of the HP products. Now, we let the kids chose which ones looked "fun", and skip the rest.

While it is nice to have a book to look at afterwards, I feel they do not serve a great purpose. (And they are a waste of printer paper and ink.) They are nice if you need a "work sample" for school, but I feel they are just "busy work". History can be learned in much more interesting ways.

I used this with my children, ages 7 and 9, to supplement our study of the colonies. It is a fun, hands on way to learn about the different aspects of colonial life. There are eight chapters with simple projects to do in each, and a pocket to store the things in for each chapter. The eight chapters are Voyage to the New World, The New World, Building a Village, Home Sweet Home, The Family, Working in Plymouth Colony, Going to School, What Did the Pilgrims Give Us? The projects involve paper, cutting and pasting, some writing, coloring, diaramas, and a vocabulary page for each chapter/pocket. My only complaint is that some of the projects get pretty repetitive, lots of cutting and glueing. I have other History Pockets books and we will probably only use parts of them, rather than do all the projects in all the pockets.

Its usefull if you want to use tones and learn about perspectives and shadeing but if you dont then save your money for something else, also there is a bit of nudity so I would suggest 13 up.

Has a amusing section on the making of manga with the Assistants slaving away . It's got some H moments with a guy drawing a girl he knows nude. So its probalby not for a 13 year old unless your a guy. I really used The Complying
Characters more than this sense i dont use Toner.

A complement to the first book in this series, this edition focuses on backgrounds and effects. That said, it covers action lines, perspective, and toning with insider techniques such as drawing motion lines using a thumb tack, etching, applying tone, and creating tone effects. I also rather liked how it used actual panels from manga's printed like Those Who Hunt Elves, Angel Arm, and Lucky Rakuun.

This book is more for the aspiring mangaka who will use the knowledge of toning to great use unlike the average artist who just want to learn the drawing style. This book has four pages of nudity near the end as it covers shading the body using tones. If you're buying a toning book for a younger reader, get the Pen & Tone Techniques edition which has no nudity present. Other than that, is you're not adverse to nudity, then this is the best book to start learning how to tone.

This is good book, but really expensive and short.This is about backgrounds in manga,and this book teaches how to make background , what shows mangahumans feelings.This book has about 4 pages whit naked mangahumans, so this is up 13 aged.Im 13 and i like this series

The Plymouth Brethren are indeed a fascinating group, with influence in North American and worldwide Christianity out of all proportion to their small numbers. They deserve more considered reflection than they have received heretofore, and a memoir informed by scholarship indeed would be an excellent mode of such reflection.

Alas, Brett Grainger's book is an almost total failure.

He demonstrates only an elementary academic acquaintance with American fundamentalism and none with the Canadian fundamentalism or the Christian/Plymouth Brethren movement that are the focus of his memoir.

Recollections of incidents in his own family and his various vignettes of American fundamentalist institutions portray the spectacular extremes, not the actual normal existence, of most fundamentalists. (He does occasionally consider daily life and he is at his best when simply depicting the quotidian.)

Grainger is also mean-spirited in this book, and that's a shame. His undeniable gift for the catchy phrase frequently makes him look merely clever and sarcastic rather than acute and articulate. For instance upon his conversion, "My grandmother stood at my side, showing me off as if I were a prize pumpkin at a fair." Yet he gives us no reason to see his grandmother in this cynical way, and he seems otherwise to quite like and respect her.

Most disappointing of all, he connects the memoir with the academic context only in the most superficial ways, offering nothing in the way of actual insight. So what if the Brethren believe in creationism and there is a big creationism movement in the U.S.? So what if Brethren have been fascinated by the Tabernacle and American fundamentalists support the state of Israel? At the end, one wonders, What does all this mean? What new, interesting thing does any of this actually tell us about the true nature of the Brethren, or American fundamentalism, or the Grainger family, or anything?

The book comes off half-baked at best, and Grainger's publisher did him no service in bringing this to print without asking him to read and think a lot more about what all these bits and pieces might signify. We await the book this one promises to be.

This is an excellent book for anyone curious about what fundamentalism means to fundamentalists, and to our country. The most compelling point Grainger makes is that fundamentalism isn't a monolith, but a decentralized, multitudinous movement that gives expression to a fascinatingly wide range of beliefs and practices.

Grainger weaves together his personal experiences with fundamentalism with sharp, vivid reporting on various fundamentalist groups across the States. He strikes a graceful balance between the personal and the objective - he has the hard-won sympathy of someone who grew up with fundamentalism and left it behind, without losing his fascination with what fundamentalism means to other people.

The book is slim and beautifully written - an excellent, fair minded introduction to a charged topic. Fundamentalism is as powerful a force in our culture as you may think, but not in the stereotyped ways outsiders tend to believe in. Grainger's engaging discussion of 'creation science' alone makes the book worth reading, but you will also come away with a vivid insider's stories - his and others' - of one of the most misunderstood forces in our culture.

It is indeed a shame that John Stackhouse found the book mean spirited. I do not share the same perspective. Grainger's reflections are an authentic look and self-portrait of his experience. His connections are in personal and cultural insight and open a space for more questions. Stackhouse's "so what" may not be of interest to him as they are to me. His dismissive attitude, especially clothed in "scholarly critique" leave me wondering if he understands the value of personal narrative to some readership populations. Prompting continued questions about a powerful American religious and political culture are never "Ho-Hum". We are saturated with the unquestioned influence of popularly packaged and staged religious beliefs that fail to address the greater complexity of individual lives lived.

I found Grainger's writing to welcome readers into an excerpt of his personal narrative. The research text was both helpful and appropriate, given the compactness of his book. There were many meaningful themes, questions and thoughts addressed or suggested that speak to the human condition and human heart. I particularly valued the notions of our human responses to the uncertainties in life and the desire to hold onto beliefs for comfort, hope and rescue from the cruelties of our culture and society, whichever the decade and place.

I identified a fellow traveler seeking to live an integrated life in a world that would readily pull us in only one direction/interpretation (pick one of many), thereby neglecting the more difficult task of understanding complexity of being human in a personal, family, and societal context.

I highly recommend Brett Grainger's first book. It is a most intelligent and compassionate work based on experience and thorough research. So much writing has been done on the subject of fundamentalism filled with either disdain or uncritical praise neither of which brings much illumination to the subject. Grainger manages both sympathy and critique with insight and humor. One senses that he has no axes to grind merely revelations to make. The product is simply wonderful. Grainger's book works as both memoir and expose (meant here in the best since of the term).

Invincible is a half breed alien, his dad being an extremely powerful superhuman. He is dealing with finishing high school, and defending the planet when his dad is busy with the Guardians of the Globe. Said Guardians are a Justice League parody that his dad may just have bumped off.

He also has two chicks chasing him, a friend who knows his secret identity, and bad guys to fight.

I really like Kirkman's Incredible and Volume Two is the pick of the bunch. Simple but honest writing still allows him to deliver a shock and maximum emotional impact. I can't give it five stars because it does feel a little light - each trade paperback will not occupy your time for that long. But, you will pick this series up to reread again and again.

I first picked this series up for the artwork, but then became captivated by the story. I bought the trades to catch up on what I missed, wow I was missing one of the best stories in comics today. Kirkman does a wonderful job bringing the characters to life with twists and turns around every corner. Ottley's artwork fits it perfectly grade A stuff on both parts. This trade also comes with pages of neat extra sketches and writings.
This is well worth the money, if your not reading Invincible I would HIGHLY recommend picking it up, it's amazing!

This trade actually tells four individual stories. The first has Mark dealing with Alan the Alein a creature his father had fought many times before and never bothered to talk to. This is a comedic high point for the series so far. The next has Mark and his best friend checking out colleges and fighting a strange robotic zombie creature. Finally, the series introduces the super hero team the Gaurdians of the Globe who are all murdered. The funeral sets up the big twist that will put this series on the fast track and make it more then a funny silver age super hero homage.
If you pick up the first two trades in this series and like it's fun cosmic super hero adventure well, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Great artwork. John Romita. Gene Colan. Stan Lee at the helm. 'Nuff said.

But what's interesting is to compare these issues with the Lee/Ditko Spiderman issues of the same time period. Daredevil's personal problems are weak and insipid, especially in comparison: "Karen can't love me because I'm blind, etc." An ace lawyer with super hearing should be able to detect her pulse picking up when he's near. Then later, "I can't tell her I love her because Foggy loves her too." Some of it reads like a bad "Millie the Model" issue. I can only think that the early issues covering DD's personal storyline were hindered because the artists (though all great) kept changing.

Even with some lousy thought-balloons and odd plot twists, it's still early DD. It's still Marvel when it was creating one of its most unique characters. It still ran circles around the DC issues of that day.

I see that some people criticsized the previous Daredevil Masterworks volume for the coloring -- i.e. coloring was too garish. Well, unfortunately that again is the case with this volume. The coloring is garish and simplistic. This really backfires on the Gene Colan issues since his rendering technique had a subtletly and style to it. That type of illustration really calls for a corresponding subtlety and style in the coloring. Unfornatunately that's not what we get with these reprints. And didn't Frank Giacoia ink issue #20? ...

This is the best, though flawed, collection of the first 11 issues of Daredevil by Marvel Comics. Some recoloring of a few pages are funky, but readable. The artwork by the late Wally Wood is dramatic and inking/shading supurb. Of special note is the issue 7 guest star by Prince Namor, the Submariner. Stan Lee has referenced this as the definitive example of how a comic book should be written.

The theme of this Volume 2 collection of "Daredevil" comics for the Marvel Masterworks series ends up being not about the character but rather who was going to be the definitive artist for the series. These ten issues of "Daredevil" start with John Romita (Sr.) doing the illustrations over Jack Kirby's layouts and then his own pencils, but then we have the first appearance of Gene Colan, who I always considered the definitive artist for the Man Without Fear. Yes, Frank Miller has few peers when it comes to creative layouts and he redefined the character when he was writing and drawing the comic book, but nobody draws better looking women in the Marvel Bullpen than Colan. Actually, "Daredevil" was not his best work, which appeared when he drew "Dr. Strange" and "Dracula," but this was the comic book where he established himself as a first rate artist.

"Daredevil" was always one of my favorite comics, long before Miller gave it cult status. Part of it was Colan's distinctive artwork, but I also liked the character's secret identity of Matt Murdock, attorney for the downtrodden. I always thought this made DD the ideal Marvel character to have his own television series, which could involve equal parts courtroom drama and superhero action, but the movie pilot they did a few years back simply did not click. This particular collection of ten issues are dominated by a couple of team-ups between old hornhead and a pair of other Marvel heroes, Ka-Zar, Lord of the Jungle, and the Amazing Spider-Man (check out the classic cover on issue #16). I always liked the scene where Spidey figures out Daredevil's secret identity and tries to get Foggy Nelson to confess. In terms of villains there is a two-issue fight with the Gladiator (whose whirling circular saw blades on his gauntlets always struck me as a rather bad idea) and Colan's debut involves a two-part return engagement with DD's old nemesis the Owl.

On the interpersonal level the love triangle between Matt, Foggy, and Karen Page hits a low point when Foggy dresses up like a rather frumpy Daredevil to impress Karen and has to be rescued by the real article. The Spider-Man issues are above-average but you will not really find any classic "Daredevil" tales here. What you do have is the stage being set for the first period of glory days in the history of the comic book, when Matt had to create his twin brother Mike and the Jester first showed up to cause headaches for old hornhead.

Work fine, Lacks part numbers for replacement pieces and such, little odd to follow at places unless you really know your car.

Much better than the Hayes repair manual that doesn't even show the 1995 trough 1998 models on the cover. Chilton has always been my favorite repair manual. It's a drag that they seem to be so hard to find these days at the local auto parts store. This manual covers everything from normal maintenance to engine overhaul and all that falls in between. A must-have for the do-it-yourself people at any level.

This book is simple if you don't know a socket wrench from a regular wrench, but when you need details to make the repair you just did not need a professional mechanic later, chilton's lacks. usefullness.

This is a very big book that covers the Eclipse series. The illustrations are in a mechanical diagram layout and are pretty easy to follow. The wiring diagrams are a must for anyone that wants to play with the car electrical system (for example: Car Stereo additions, fog lights etc). It covers just about every system in the car. It's also nice to find out how to remove panels or parts so you don't have to tinker around trying to find out how they come apart. It also includes a complete preventative maintanance section and tune up section, which will help you keep you car in top shape so you won't run into problems down the road. I cannot say much about all the step-by-step instructions, as some of them are rather vague, while others go into great detail. I have really used this book a lot and it is one of the best things I have got for my car! I would recommend this book to someone in the automotive hobby or someone with technical background. If you don't want to get your fingers dirty, then this book won't be of much help. But then again, I would NOT recommend this book to automotive professionals. There is no replacement for a factory service manual, which the dealers have. For under 20 bucks, this book is a must for any die hard Eclipse owner!

This TPB (also available in hardcover), collecting the entire five-issue run of the first Ultimate Iron Man volume, has come under quite a bit of fire. However, I applaud the unique take that Orson Scott card took on this iconic Marvel character. The Ultimate Universe is all about recreating the world of Marvel for contemporary readers, many of whom are completely new to comics in general. As such, it provides a wonderful opportunity for the writers who are fortunate enough to work on these projects to try something new (the Bendis origin for Venom- lab project gone awry, rather than extraterrestrial- is a perfect example). Card was tasked with adding a whole new take on the Iron Man canon, making the story unique and accessible for new readers all the while. Not a particularly easy assignment, but my personal verdict is that he succeeded.

There are three reasons in particular why I feel this book is valuable not only to the Iron Man character, but the entire Ultimate Universe. It masterfully explains the root causes for 1) Stark's genius, and why he displays almost inhuman levels of productivity and innovation, 2) why he is obsessed with constantly building and improving armor, and 3) his affinity for the consumption of alcohol. I will not reveal any specifics or spoilers here, but for those of you who have read the book (or plan on reading it), pay close attention to those three points, and ask yourself if Card did not do an excellent job of giving credence to Stark's character. For instance, after reading this volume, it seems that Stark's drinking is not a way for him to escape the burdens of reality (which would make no sense for a man so driven by the need to constantly build his empire and legacy), but is in actuality a means of enhancing his productivity. This may sound like an implausible theory to those who have not yet read the story, but once you learn of Stark's origin in the Ultimate Universe, and his unique genetic makeup, it all comes together (it also explains how he can drink so much without suffering any permanent damage).

The Ultimate Universe is all about new ideas for old characters. It runs parallel (exists outside of) the original Marvel Universe, and so a new take on a character like Iron Man should not offend any of the die-hard fans. For those of us who do not have the benefit of having been around the past 40+ years to absorb all the background of Marvel, this is like being a kid again, and witnessing the birth of legends.

The Ultimate Universe has resulted in some truly unique treasures, jewels in the glittering crown of Marvel Comics, but sadly this is not one of them.

For both the casual and dedicated fan, I recommend Iron Man: Extremis by Warren Ellis instead of this book. It is without question the book this should have been -- and in continuity to boot!

While I don't want to say that Ultimate Iron Man *ruins* or conflicts with anything essential in the Iron Man character, I will say that this ought to have been the third or fourth trade in the Ultimate Iron Man series.

Why? because it asks us to devote an extraordinary amount of time and effort to a story whose conclusion we already know without adding anything substantive -- at least nothing substantive that couldn't have been handled in Lost-style flashbacks to greater effect.

In an Ultimate Universe that I prize for its forward-looking stance on its characters, this book mires itself in the past and cannot seem to escape a story that, honestly, didnt really even need to be told.

Again, for your Iron Man fix, check out Extremis. Great dialogue, solid story, amazing art.

- r

At First Glance:
When I first saw that Marvel had started Ultimate Iron Man i was ecstatic. Not only am i a big fan of Iron Man, But the Ultimate universe as well, and I eagerly awaited the paperback; my wait was not in vain.

New Take on Stark:
When I first started reading the new Ultimate Iron Man, written by Sci-Fi legend Orson Scott Card, I was surprised my the new spin he took. Tony Stark, due to an accident that occurred while he was still in his mothers womb, has brain cells that are developed through his whole body. This causes him to be in constant pain, which becomes the reason for him becoming an alcoholic. It also leaves him with the ability to regrow limbs that he loses (based on the properties of the chemical his mother got infected with while pregnant).

Brief Plot:
The story follows both Tony Stark's growth from a mere toddler into the adult he will become, and the creation of his Iconic Iron Man suit from its meager beginnings. I know to some this may sound lame, or a horrible take on a classic character, but believe me it is not. I honestly believe i do not have the ability to convey the greatness of Ultimate Iron Man Vol. 1.

Is Ultimate Iron Man 1 for Me:
If you are dying to know the back story of "The Ultimates" Tony Stark, Love Iron Man, or just looking for a good read while you wait for your next issues of whatever comic you read, this is defiantly worth getting.

I'm a big fan of Marvel's Ultimate line, and Iron Man is one of my all-time favorite characters, so when I heard about the Ultimate Iron Man limited series I was more than a little excited. After seeing how well Tony Stark's character was handled in the Ultimates, I was looking forward to seeing him in the spotlight here.

Marvel pulled off quite the coup in getting bestselling sci-fi author Orson Scott Card to write this series. Unfortunately it doesn't really pay off. I'm not familiar with Card's previous work, but he seems ill-suited to this particular task. I'll try not to give too much away here, but some of the plot points are just not right for Iron Man. Everyone can accept Tony Stark the boy genius. But Tony Stark the blue-skinned science mutant with weird powers? That is not what Iron Man is all about. A big part of Iron Man's appeal is that he had no superpowers. He used his intellect to create the Iron Man armor and hold his own among gods, mutants, and other super-heroes.

The story had some good points. The Stark/Stane corporate rivalry was handled well, and the secret government school for science prodigies (the same one from Ultimate Fantastic Four I assume) was a good setting for the young Tony Stark. I just wish it was explored a bit more.
The dialogue between characters is awkward, and the supporting cast never seems to gel, especially compared to the other Ultimate books.

I'm sure Card is a good writer, but I think his talents would have been better utilized elsewhere (perhaps in the regular Marvel Universe). There is a certain standard in the Ultimate line established by writers like Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Warren Ellis, and Orson Scott Card just doesn't live up to that standard.

Andy Kubert's artwork is as always, quite good, and in this case is the book's only saving grace. It would have been nice if he had managed to finish the entire series, but Mark Bagley does a decent job on the book's closing chapter.

I suppose I was going to be disappointed with an Ultimate Marvel book eventually, I just wish it wasn't Ultimate Iron Man.

If you already own the original issues from Giant Sized X-Men to X-Men 137 or Essential X-Men Vol. 2, or some other TPB then this collection of stories from Classic X-Men is perfect for you. These collections of vignettes reveal much of the characterizations not revealed in the original issues and provide some key moments in the history of certain characters (especially the Magneto stories).

Otherwise, I suggest trying to collect the original Classic X-Men comic books. If the condition of the comic book doesn't matter to you, and you only care about the stories, you could probably find all the Classic X-Men comics for under a dollar each. It's probably cheaper to do that than to buy all the trade paperbacks, plus I always preferred handling a comic book, than a TPB.

This volume collects the backstories printed in X-Men Classics from it's beginning through it's reprinting of the Dark Phoenix Saga.

Basically, it's a collection of short stories about what happened "between the lines" of Uncanny at this period of the X-Men's history. Often they're quieter, relationship-driven stories as opposed to the action of the series proper. It helps if you have the stories that the vignettes are backing up in front of you for reference if you don't think you'll remember them - if you don't know what's going on you might be lost.

Some of the vignettes are better than others, and of course your opinion will be colored by which characters you like most. Certainly two of the Nightcrawler stories are essential reading and some of the best material ever written for him. The first is "The Big Dare" - the notorious buddy classic in which Nightcrawler and Wolverine play a famous game of tag that results in Logan getting Kurt a little tipsy and daring him to walk down the street in public undisguised. The second is the beautiful tearjerker "The Gift", in which Kurt bonds with a little boy to whom he self-appoints himself guardian when he sees the child walking down the street alone in the middle of the night.

Vignettes reprints the back-up stories from Classic X-Men #'s 1-13. As usual, Writer Chris Claremont's stories are too wordy, often giving extraneous information that the reader could glean from the art (By John Bolton, making a rare pen and ink appearance, a nice change of pace from his usual painting; The art is just as beautiful, no matter what medium he uses.).

As a longtime Marvel fan, I found the stories complimented the older X-Men stories perfectly, giving me new insight into the old stories. The problem is, without the old stories, a new reader would be totally lost with most of these stories. The book is also over-priced for the scant 175 pages. Older X-Men fans will find a lot to cheer about, but readers who aren't up on their Mutant history will probably want to take a pass....

If you enjoy character-driven stories about the X-Men of Marvel comics, if you like the X-Men stories of the 70s and 80s, or if you're a fan of Chris Claremont's writing, pick this up. Also, if you really like the Dark Phoenix Saga, you'll probably enjoy some of the Phoenix back-stories here.

The baker's dozen of stories in this trade paperback are reprints of some of the early back-up stories from Classic X-Men. All are written by Claremont and illustrated (in color) by Jon Bolton. His style is less super-hero/comic book and more akin to illustration. The lines are softer and the emphasis is on storytelling and facial expressions.

The stories show some of life behind the scenes of Uncanny X-Men stories from Giant-Sized X-Men #1/Uncanny 94 to about the Uncanny 120s. (I being specific for the rabid collectors). This book would be a great companion to Essential X-Men #1 (and #2 as well). It would also accompany The Dark Phoenix Saga book very well.

The stories cover the aftermath of the battle against Krakoa, the impact of Thunderbird's death, the beginning of friendship between Jean and Storm, Nightcrawler's struggles with his appearance, Colossus' first love, the politics of the Hellfire Club, etc.

I think the most powerful pieces are the ones about Jean/Phoenix. The idea is this: what if you were 24, in love, a hero, and one day you gained nearly unlimited power? How would you live life as a human once you became a god? The pieces here show Jean before her trip to space, during her transformation, and later, dealing with the effects. And they are beautiful.

Buy yourself a treat: Get the first 2 Essential collections (or the DP Saga) and this collection and indulge your deep abiding love of the classic X-Men comics. Yes, they're about super heroes, but at heart they're about what kind of people we are and what kind of world we want to make.

Then get Claremont's X-Men: Visionaries collection and be indulged further.

Though I count myself as a devoted Christian, Bible student and interested in all things religious, the "Rapture" leaves me decidedly unecstatic and still willing to meet Christ anywhere He chooses, not just midway in the air on a date to be announced. When asked, by certain among the believers, if I'm afraid to be left behind on Judgement day when the chosen elect will be carried away to heaven, my answer is definitely 'yes' if that's where God would like me to be. This has earned me hostile tongue-lashings in some quarters. However, there are also those who don't know anything about the subject, want to learn more and ask me to recommend something. I recommend this book. The author is a seasoned professor, speaker and author, able to pack complex theological contructs into succinct, understandable prose. If the reader is looking for something to validate the Rapturist view, this is not the book for the job. For a concise history, theological explanation, and Biblically-based refutation of same, buy this book and share. I have and will again.

This book presents a clear and concise statement about the rapture, the antichrist, and the millennium. The Epilogue is a summary that many bible students need to read. In a time of so many poor interpretations, Dr. Efird presents what the scripture says. I have been in his class room and the book is as close as can be to hearing him speak.

This little book is meant to be an introductory critique to popular eschatology or "end-times views" as they have come to be known. Efird divides his book into two basic sections: historical and theological. He examines both dispensationalism and darbyism in their historical context, then examines what he considers to be the three key themes in popular eschatology--the Millennium, the Antichrist, and the Rapture. The book does not assume any prior exposure to biblical studies and is good to use as a starting place.

The book does suffer from its brevity. While I'm certain he has more to say than what he actually said, there are times when he could have elaborated a bit more and at certain points you are not certain if he is disproving a particular view or rather just asserting his own without mention.

A solid book, all in all.