Graphics Books

Without a doubt this book is the most user friendly book on technology I've read. It is packed with essential information for everone using digital photography today. It provides help in setting up shots as well as streamling your workflow and a lot more. There is nothing extraneous out this, it's great from start to finish!

Just fininshed reading Lee Varis's new book. It's a great overall treatment of digital photography for any student of graphic design or even the seasoned art director that may be new to digital technology. The technology discussed is current, and in common use professionally. The discussions of critical concepts of resolution and color are presented in a user friendly, easy to grasp manner.

This book should well prepare the designer going into their first digital photoshoot. It can help in understanding how to achieve all the technology is capable of, and how to get the most from the shoot.

This is a must have book for designers and photographers, especially designers of the old school who have been more then a little afraid of going digital and there are many out there. For the beginer designer, this book puts on the page what they will be told about the digital work flow as it exists today.
Lee Varis takes the reader on a digital ride explaining more then enough to get the reader to appreciate the digital workflow.

This book is a must-have for designers and photographers who are moving towards a fully digital production process. DPFGD is a well-organized linear treatment and full of extremely useful guidance relevant to both the broad creative issues and nitty gritty details that we face in our profession. Varis is precise, clear, experienced, and is well backed up by artfully selected examples on every page. This is one book that I expect to look back to again and again.

Even though there are many books as there are about digital imaging, none discuss in detail the relationship of designers and art directors with the process (and people) involved with creating digital images.
This book covers a great many of the complexities of digital imaging with a clear, casual style that does a great deal towards clearing up many misconceptions people have about digital photography. Not only does it cover that, but the book goes further into aspects such as pre-press, proofing, editing and printing, and and does so with a very enjoyable, non-technical narrative. Anecdotal writing, along with supporting photography (beautifully printed) helps lend creedence to this book. A necessary text for anyone in graphic design and/or advertising.

We are not the oprah show or any book club that people know but Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Wonda and I represent a group of women who meet once a week to share our thoughts on books we're reading, what we like and what to stay away from, and while we can't offer you any real prize, we can congratulate you on being unnanimously chosen as our author of the month! The ladies all agreed that your novel A doll for Amy was like a breath of fresh air and made us all shed a tear or two, (always a good thing!)lol, we wish you every success in your career, we just wanted to let you know, the ladies of Southport think you're #1. Sincerely Wonda & The Readerbeez Club

Hey anna -- remember me? Damien? Prob not, but i still think of you -- stupid me blew it with you -- still seeing that marco guy?: I did get your book and you write really good i knew you were special. if you ever think of me drop me a line ok? just trying is all ,,, smiles Damien

What a fresh new book! My family have all read your book and we are thankful and inspired by your insights into the plight of the differently-abled, we have a daughter almost exactly as Amy was in your book and she was thrilled when she learned of A Doll For Amy. Even moreso when she learned of the dolls you are making, may you be blessed always for your compassion. Sheila & the gang!

I am the founder of a company called booksnthings, which is precisely that, we sell books n just about anything else. I personally am very particular in the books we purchase because the quality has to be of a certain standard. I would like you to know that I have purchased your first book and now this one as well and have been very pleased with your writing ability and sense of intrigue, as well as compassion for your characters. I do wish you well with your writing and will lok forward to future works that bear your name. Sincerely, Thomas Trussel

I'm the father of 2 disabled kids, but I like it better the way you call them, differently-abled kids, cause they are able to do just about anything! I was real surprised when I saw your book with the little girl in the wheelchair on the cover and I got it out of curiosity more than anything at first but then I read it and my wife did too, we both loved it. You wrote a great story and my kids are going thru it now as well. we'll keep looking for your work from now on and thanks from all of us for showing everyone that these kids count too! Bruce, Jane, Michael & Jenna

The folks making this comic have clearly invested a lot of themselves into their art. It's a truly astounding piece of work.

I can't recommend this enough to fans of the comics medium in general, fans of mythical retellings, or fans of the Oz mythology in specific.

It's works like this one that make me want to create art myself.

There are a lot of reworked versions of Frank L Baum's WIZARD OF OZ, but Illusive Arts' DOROTHY blows them all away! A 21st century teenaged Dorothy, living with aunt and uncle in Kansas, runs away from boredom taking their truck and ignoring the radio's tornado warnings. She's carried up in a funnel and dropped in Oz. She encounters vicious flying monkeys, a wizard and eventually a scarecrow who is at once a wonderfully funny and tragic character. There's a sense of a mythic cycle at work when some of the players understand that, somehow, this has happened before. Dorothy is acerbic but not overbearing, an appealing character humorously out of her element at first ("Munchkins? Yeah, I could use some little donuts!"). Wise and innocent she deftly adapts to her new reality and is soon confronting dragons and gearing up for the Evil Queen. Fumetti, using retouched photos instead of art, is not a new form in comics but rarely used in the US, and even more rarely as stunning as what's presented here. It helps to have as attractive and talented an actress/model as Catie Fisher. Think how challenging it must be to act a role in a series of still pictures! I promised to avoid the obvious comparison of writer Mark Masterson to Neil Gaiman, so I'll just say that if
you enjoy Gaiman you will love DOROTHY.

This is not your mother's "Wizard of Oz"! It's a combination of photography and graphics that builds into a chilling story that kept me turning pages straight through and I am so looking forward to seeing what the next book brings. Illusive Arts Entertainment has done a great job with this story and I recommend it highly.

I've never really been a comic-book reader, until Dorothy came along that is. The strong and funny (and deeply-flawed) lead character in this tale is highly compelling, and the revamped land of Oz that she finds herself in is the dark kind of magical place that would make the Brothers Grimm nervous. Oz is racked by civil war and overrun with spies and killer robots, and Mz Gale travels through this Technicolor war-zone with brash defiance that only thinly masks the fact the she hasn't got a clue as to what is going on. ("If this was a theme park, I'd sue!" she exclaims at one point.) This mix of personality traits makes our heroine far more innocent than Judy Garland surrounded by lollipops, and much more satisfying than the two-dimensional babes that annoy me in so many other comic books. Rock on, team Dorothy!

Told through computer-altered photography in a computer-generated world, "Dorothy" blends the look of reality and fantasy so clearly, it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Dorothy (modeled by Catie Fisher) lives in a gray environment, with little besides her green eyes, red lips, jewelry and hair dye to set her apart from the surrounding drabness. Oz, of course, is bursting with color, but there's a great deal of danger, too -- making itself known first through the attack of a vicious flying monkey. But this Dorothy is no shrinking violet, and her grim matter-of-factness seems to get her through tough situations more easily than a "golly gee" attitude would do.

Creator Mark Masterson has taken Dorothy someplace new. It's not over the rainbow, for sure, but I'm very curious to see where this path leads.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

The book is well layed-out, and descriptions are clear and concise. The first 95 pages or so are relatively basic. I have used a crusty version of Homesite to create a few basic Websites in-the-past, so those first 95 pages didn't teach me anything that I didn't already know. Except perhaps for the design and paper and pencil preparation.

After page 95 (or so), you jump right into Dreamweaver and are instructed as to its' functions. The Webpage you're building is a basic HTML page, and does not use any server-side technology like ASP, or PHP, or CGI/Perl.

It too is well layed-out, and step-by-step. I only wished that a deeper discussion of CSS integration was employed.

So, for the beginner, or for someone who likes to paper & pencil prep, I'd have to say that this is a worthwhile buy.

For the more advanced user, I'd have to say that you may be better off with more of a reference-style tome.

All said, I do not regret the purchase.

This book takes you from web-site zero through building a basic client-side only web site using Dreamweaver 8.

My only critique is that it seemed like we didn't even get to actually using Dreamweaver 8 until about page 100. Before that was an intro to general web-site concepts and HTML.

Anyway, it's an attractive and informative book that is priced lower than most.

If you are looking for website building software, you might want to take a look at Dreamweaver 8: Design and Construction. This book educates the reader on the various aspects of Dreamweaver 8. It also shows the reader, step by step, how to build a website using this software. The author also includes all sort so tips, illustrations of what the reader will see as he or she builds their site, and helpful tech talk boxes that explain some of the more technical issues in an easy to understand way. Everything in this manual is suitable for those with little or no knowledge of website design or website design software.

I believe that the best way to choose website software is to understand what that particular program can do and how this may or may not suit your needs and your abilities. It doesn't help to buy software that can do seemingly magical things if you don't have a clue how to actually make it work. This book helps the reader understand the basics of the Dreamweaver 8 program with a taste of some of the more complex things that can be done.

This book is well written and laid out well (for the most part), but the lack of color really, really hurts this Dreamweaver 8 guide. Perhaps I am being a bit of a stickler, but a book in 2006 not only needs to have good content, but it need to also have a great layout as well. Deciding to go with 5 major colors (white, black, grey, blue, dark blue) not only makes the book seem dull and drab, it detracts from the reader the good content within.

For anyone that uses Dreamweaver 8 on a daily basis this is a great reference guide but the layout editor could have done a much better job. If you care about content more than pizzaz, I think you will be happy with this book

**** RECOMMENDED

Are you new to Dreamweaver 8? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Marc Campbell, has done an outstanding job of writing a book for people who are new to creating their own web sites from the ground up and all that it entails.

Campbell, begins by showing you how to devise your plan. Then, the author shows you how to develop a blueprint for your site. Next, he shows you how to add just about anything to the pages of your site. Finally, the author shows you how to take the working prototype that exists on your computer and publish it to the Web for all of the world to see.

This most excellent book serves an introduction to creating web sites using Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. More importantly, the focus throughout this book is that sound design and usability are inextricably linked.

Not being unfamiliar with the corruption so heavily pertinent in our so called "War on Drugs" it was a pleasant surprise to find new things in this book that I didn't know before. I do disagree with what they feel an "adict" is, but that doesn't change that this is a very telling and touching little story. I ordered it so I could lend it to friends who are really just too damn lazy to read a full book and I figured if pictures were involved they just might find it o.k, I recommend it to anyone in 6th grade and above with any amount of knowledge on the topic.

"A Drug War Carol" may seem derivative at first blush, but it is a unique and entertaining vehicle that skillfully introduces the basic history of our misguided national crusade against drugs. It is also a good, non-exhaustive primer for those already familiar with the underlying policy debate.

The famous Dickens story is reworked into a modern tale where a Drug Czar is forced to contemplate the history of drug prohibition. He also witnesses the human toll that government policies have on people like cancer and pain patients. Unlike Ebenezer Scrooge, however, this Czar's "change of heart" is less than certain.

The historical record of the federal government's War on Drugs carries many of the same hallmarks of its current efforts: third-rate bureaucrats setting national policy; self-serving grandstanding by political leaders; doctors being jailed for providing treatment; the criminalization of addiction; a judiciary that sanctions the erosion of fundamental individual liberties; the wanton bureaucratic rejection of medical and scientific opinion; dubious efforts aimed at international drug control; and a media that is all too complicit in providing sustenance to government sensationalism. The institutional dynamics that were in play seventy years ago are still prevalent today.

Thankfully, the American public is no longer subjected to the naked racist appeals employed by "drug morality" advocates found here. Coke-addled black men raping white women and crazed Mexicans preying upon schoolchildren and executing people served as popular bogeymen. (The book overlooks the virulent anti-Chinese sentiment used to crusade against opium.) Instead, the Drug War now simply incarcerates a disproportionate number of racial minorities under a plethora of state and federal laws like mandatory minimum sentences, all under the "due process of law."

This "graphic novella" deserves a wide readership, especially among high school students, who are the principal targets of endless government propaganda and invasive practices like random drug testing, body searches and drug-sniffing dogs. The future is theirs, and that is why the federal government is finding novel ways to indoctrinate them and humiliate them into submission. Hopefully they will consider the examples of 1920's anti-prohibition advocates Pauline Morton Sabin and Henry Joy: Principled individual action can indeed make a difference.

When it comes to sharing my viewpoints on America's "War on Drugs", I have always struggled with replying to the simplistic catchphrases which seem to come from those who are blind to the destruction caused by this politically and economically motivated war. As such, it was with great pleasure to find this little gem.

Through a narrative employing Charles Dickens' classic storyline, "A Drug War Carol" comprehensively, yet succinctly covers the often ignored/suppressed history that gave rise to this immoral and self-serving--but significant--U.S. policy. From its inception during 1920s prohibition, the war on (some) drugs (and some users) has been waged with zeal and corruption, and in the process, has eradicated the Bill of Rights. In the past 80 years, our country (and many other countries which the U.S. can influence or control) have suffered, while arrogant and power-hungry politicians continually feed this monster with our tax-dollars, and in exchange, give us half-truths, exaggerations, or just outright lies.

Trying to explain this to others however, is challenging. This is simply because most of us have lived our whole life eagerly lapping up this propaganda.

I encourage everyone to buy as many copies of this book that you can afford and give it to friends and family. We need to wake up!!!

Also, for a richly detailed investigation into the origins and first 40 years of the U.S. drug war, see Douglas Valentine's "The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs". It is a facinating and compelling read.

This book reveals the truth around the WOD and who imposed the current devastating situation where much human dammage is related to prohibition and War on Drugs. I recomend the book and i'm sorry there is no chance of giving it six stars.
Joergen

I had seen this story in an online form, and was greatly impressed by the quality of the art. I was pleased to see that the print edition is even stronger. Highly recommended.

First released in 1989 Earthian is more of a classic fantasy with a twist of BL that may bring a nostalgic feeling to some who read it. I picked up this series immediately after watching the anime for Earthian. In my opinion I love the manga much more as the character are presented with better background and depth.

The series, especially the first volume starts off a little rough and the art takes a bit of getting use to. Really, so many of the characters don't seem much different from each other but the story quickly captivated me and it didn't take much effort to tell which character is which. Personally I have grown to love the art. Earthian is also Kouga Yun's very first series so while I may have given her some slack based on that fact I am truly in love with this series.

The story revolves mostly around two angels from Eden, Chihaya and Kagetsuya who have been placed on Earth as plus and minus checkers respectively. The angels on Eden have come to the decision that the humans should be eliminated but before that, humans are at least given the chance to be judged, which is the job of plus and minus checkers. Though this is the premise, Earthian is an emotional story full of character development and the relationships the characters struggle to attain and keep. This is a BL series, the dialogue is pretty clear that there are some taboo relationships but this is also a fairly light shounen-ai series clearly more focused on devotion and the relationship itself.

Each book is bound in a lovely textured pearly cover and there is a color illustration on the first page of each volume. The quality of the pages are also better and smoother than the average domestic manga. An extra perk is the occasional new illustrations done by Kouga Yun, such as the cover and inside color illustration.

I have been praying that this manga would come to America and now I am rejoicing. First of all it's thick, which gives me plenty to read. Secondly, it describes the relationship with Chihaya and the other angles back in heaven. Which the anime never fully explained.

This manga is a must have for all if you Shonen-ai lovers out there. As the story goes along, you will discover secrets of angels

Over 400 pages Earthian is worth thrice its price. Strong plots with 2 endearing protagonists, Earthian a somewhat gentle Shounen-ai can do no wrong. It is much better than so many of those Yaoi/Shounen-ai released nowadays. I watched the Anime first and was captivated by the idea of 2 angels deciding the fate of humans and of course their love. The Anime definitely fell short of the Manga, disregarding important backgrounds and choppy and distorted towards the end. I am very glad Blu has released Earthian. This series should not be missed by those of us into Shounen-ai/Yaoi and those who are not should try it too. If nothing just for the captivating story line!

Yes, the plot meanders more than it should, and yes, Kouga Yun's drawing style here is a bit dated, but getting hung up on these issues means you'll miss out on a classic tale, one that not only becomes increasingly satisfying as it goes on but that also inspired a host of later works. Read anything with angels in it lately? Read Earthian and then go back and look at that newer manga again--chances are you'll notice some elements that look mighty familiar . . .
And a tip 'o the hat to Blu for producing such a pretty volume.

My seven-year old, now eight, has read this book over and over again! I like the descriptions of game rules that are worked into the text.

An Important Business Man runs into another Important Business Man on Wall Street:

I.B.M. 1: So, have you heard about the story/illustration merger?

I.B.M. 2: Yes, yes, but that's only affecting teens.

IBM 1: Well that's true, male teenagers have been reaping big rewards. But it's having trickle-down effects to younger children as well.

IBM 2: Ha! Look, the next thing you're going to be telling me is that girls will be seeing some benefits. Man, are you out of touch or what?

IBM 1: Well then let me show you (hands over a copy of "Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen Will Travel"). The evidence is right here. The merger has been very successful. It's about a girl who is forced to go camping with relatives she doesn't like. The book itself is the sketchbook that she brought on her trip. It's amazing, she documents everything that happened.

IBM 2: Alright, some kid's drawings. How is this a book?

IBM 1: The story is in there too. It's sort of like a cross between a sketchbook and a diary. Over the course of seven days, Ellie gets to know these people that she had judged as being weird. You ever meet someone you didn't think you'd get along with and end up becoming friends? Ellie goes through that in this book.

IBM 2: So there's some stuff in there about being open-minded and giving people a chance?

IBM 1: Yep. There's a lot of humor too. If you've even been camping you know there's a lot of situations to draw from.

IBM 2: What's camping? It that like when you have to go to your second choice restaurant?

IBM 1: Uh, no. I'm sure you've seen it: tents, forests, campfires. Although in "Have Pen, Will Travel" Ellie and her relatives do "fake camping", as she calls it - they stay in a cabin. Look, you're a friend, so I'm going to let you in on this. I just bought 1000 shares of Graphic Novels for Upper Elementary Girls, and I suggest you do the same.

IBM 2: Well that stock has been on the rise lately, especially when the "Babymouse" IPO went public. I may just take your advice.

IBM 1: (iPhone rings) Well, I have to take this call. Back to work!

IBM 2: (Putting book in briefcase) Is it okay if I borrow this book? I think my daughter might be interested.

IBM 1: (Cracking a sly grin) Not a problem.

This story is the book I would have loved to have read as a kid. It is on for 9-12 year olds, and makes the reader feel every part of what it is like to feel unheard, unseen, and unappreciated. A great debut for this new writer/illustrator. Can't wait for the next book!

It's camping time for Ellie McDougal but she's not happy about it. Ellie's parents have to go out of town, so she and her baby brother, Ben-Ben, will be going with their Aunt Ug, Uncle Ewing and cousins Erick, Deanna, and Tiffie. All of the camping supplies are packed and ready to go, including Ellie's sketchbook. Will the trip be as bad as Ellie is afraid it will be?

Through the pages of Ellie's sketchbook, she tells the story of her camping trip. She meets a 13-year-old boy by the name of Scott. He is one interesting character, as he speaks French, Japanese, and English. He wants to learn to draw, which is something that Ellie can help him with. He has to leave but never tells Ellie that he is leaving Campsite 137. She is saddened by her friend leaving. Her opinions of her relatives change throughout the book. In the beginning, she thinks of Erick as being a dinosaur but that changes as it goes along. Erick also collects frogs and thinks he has found the best frog, but holds him too tight -- Oh, no!

The illustrations are very cute and add meaning to the story. The characters you meet in this book are very unusual. The storyline keeps young readers interested. This is a must read for children ages 9-12 who would love to be entertained with a good story and a very easy read. With fewer words and many pictures on each page than most books for this age group, this is a delight. Pack up your bags and get ready for a camping adventure with Ellie along -- it's bound to be a great time! I hope that there are more exciting adventures of ELLIE MCDOODLE books in the future.

Reviewed by: Bri P.

As far as I can tell, there's no known solution to the problem of being an adult reviewer who reviews children's books from an adult perspective. I don't care how immature you are or how stuck you might be in your second childhood, since you will never be able to replicate the feeling of being a kid picking up a book and reading it for the very first time. It just ain't gonna happen. No, see, when YOU pick up a book you're carrying years worth of baggage on your shoulders. You're viewing the story through the filter of your own perspective and what you see will inevitably be tainted by your past. I'm telling you all of this up front because in order to convey just how much I adored "Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel," I need to make it clear that a significant percentage of that love is rooted in my own experiences as a kid. Author Ruth McNally Barshaw has successfully nailed what it feels like to be a child going on a summer vacation in Michigan. I was a Michigan child. I "camped" in cabins and experienced many of the same things as the heroine of this book. But even if I'd grown up in Bemidji, Minnesota or Walla Walla, Washington, I'm almost certain that I would still have adored this book as a kid. It's another example of the "illustrated novel" brought to brilliant, vibrant life.

How would you go about defining the word "torture"? If you were Ellie McDougal (McDoodle, to those in the know) you might define it as, "a family vacation with your monkey-boy little brother, annoying cousins, and boring aunt and uncle in the woods of Higgins Lake." Which, of course, is exactly what Ellie has been subjected to. Stuck with intolerable relatives, she decides to make the most of her ordeal by recording everything in her sketchbook (the one you, the reader, are reading) and getting some time away from the craziness. Of course, a series of incidents shows Ellie that maybe her extended family isn't the crew of monsters she thought they were. Maybe, in fact, they can all be a lot of fun and the summer isn't totally ruined after all. Maybe.

So what is this book exactly? I mean, on the outset it looks like a sketchbook with sentences in between the pictures. Obviously there are a lot more written sections than drawn sections, but the pictures are pretty steady throughout. So how do you categorize this book? It's not a graphic novel, since the pictures are sporadic and pop up only at random intervals. It's not a comic book either, nor is it a straight written novel. At this point in time, the only option left is the phrase, "illustrated novel". It's not perfect, but it's the only thing I've found to describe Barshaw's style. Plus it's a style, moreover, that I think is going to inspire a whole generation of kids. I can picture young 'uns bugging their parents to buy them sketchbooks and blank pages, just so that they can create highly illustrated personal diaries like Ellie/Ruth. Heck, while reading this I myself wished I knew how to draw, just so that I could jazz up my own life with pictures galore. And I know I can't be alone.

And man, did I like it. First of all, there were the obvious Michigan connections that drew me in. Using your hand to describe where you live in the state (complete with an image of a bunny jumping a mitten, in terms of the Upper and Lower Peninsulas). A kid from Kalamazoo (woo-hoo, hometown!). Visiting with other kids and finding that you don't like their cereals. Man, did that ring some bells! Ms. Barshaw has an almost eerie ability to either remember or channel instances from a kid's daily life that are all but forgotten by adults. Plus she just hits characters dead on. The "villains" at the beginning successfully become real three-dimensional people by the story's end. The sketches are great fun, and then there are some great ideas for games. Ms. Barshaw knows that you have to break up your narrative sometimes with an interesting little sidenote here and there. In this case, the sidenotes are games complete with instructions for Human Pretzel, Spoons (something I'd like to try out), Sardines, and others.

The temptation here is to call this book something trite like, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid but for girls!" or some such nonsense. Don't get me wrong. I loved "Diary of a Wimpy Kid too, but I am of the firm belief that, like this book, it is a title that goes beyond gender. Everyone can relate to Ellie. I mean, seriously, who likes to be peed on in the middle of the night? Nobody. But any book with a girl on the cover can be a hard sell to boys. Here's what I'm suggesting, then. When a kid comes to you asking for a copy of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and you're all out of copies, cough surreptitiously into your hand and say, "Sorry, kid. All out. We got something just as good in the back, y'know. As funny as `Wimpy Kid' and there's a lot more pranks and games and wars between kids but ...," shake your head, "I dunno. You might not get it. I mean, it's hilarious, and gross, and it has all these great drawings and sketches, but maybe you're just too young..." After that, reel `em in, give them the book, and watch it fly off your shelves in no time.

Part Harriet the Spy, and part Amelia's Notebook, "Ellie McDoodle" is just one of those books you can't help but enjoy. It flies low on the radar, so I suggest discovering it for yourself. There's never been a better time to indulge in a book that can offer you cool pictures, great characters, a fun story, and a little redemption on the side. A small pure gem.

This is only the fifth in the series of 15 graphic novels for this series and there are some great single stories here, but the value of this series is in the whole series. It is in my opinion the best Japanese Manga series available. It's overall story is close to earth with no robots or aliens and the problems encountered are true to life, which makes this such a great series. I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a great Manga series that is touching, romantic and heart warming.

When Kyoko gets together with her family to commemorate the 3 year anniversary of her husband's death, an uncomfortable topic comes up. Her relatives begin to pressure her about when she's going to remarry, settle down, and have some kids! Kyoko begins to scout what Yusaku and Mitaka's attitudes towards marriage are and what they would expect out of a wife. Neither prospect seems especially attractive. Kyoko isn't the only one wavering between two lovers as Yusaku is still seing Kozue a bit, and Kyoko even catches him trying to sneak an inebriated girl he just met into a love hotel! The big event in this volume is that Yusaku's ancient and tiny grandma who could almost double for Yoda comes to visit Maison Ikkoku. She has her own designs on hooking up Yusaku with a good woman, and she's willing to step on his toes to get it done.

Maison Ikkoku reads to me like a slice of life independent American comic. This would be a good manga for a non-manga reader because it's just about normal life. Rumiko Takahashi is a genius when it comes to taking ordinary events and milking them for comedy. It's almost like watching Seinfeld in its mix of surreal moments of humor with human truth on how the human animal reacts to situations. Volume 5 of Maison Ikkoku continues the excellence this series started with and gives you the feeling that it will never decline as it goes forward.

The fifth Ikkoku graphic novel is good. But they're all great, so this being great is nothing special.

OH, BABY
Kyoko's mom pressures her to remarry so she can have grandchildren.
MY NOTES
Contains some pretty funny visions Kyoko has of whether she marries Godai or Mitaka. And it all ends in a SLAP!

A VERY TIGHT GAME
The Cha Cha Maru baseball team steps up at bat!
MY NOTES
18 to 11 already?! Are they playing baseball or basketball?!

SHALL WE... REST A WHILE?
Godai goes to a love hotel with a girl, but is caught by Kyoko.
MY NOTES
Godai truly needs to grow a brain cell.

GRANDMA GOES TO TOWN
Grandma Yukari arrives at Ikkoku to visit. Also, Godai and Kyoko are forced to take Yukari to her Tokyo reunion.
MY NOTES
These old women are SENILE! Getting names confused and jumping from emotions are proof!

STOP FOLLOWING ME!
Yukari follows Yusaku on his date with Kozue.
MY NOTES
No important notes. It's just a funny chapter.

COME ON A MY HOUSE
Mitaka invites Grandma Yukari and her grandchild (who he thinks is Kyoko) to his house.
MY NOTES
REALLY funny! Especially when Yukari tells the story of her marrying Grandpa Godai.

GRANNY'S OL' PLUM WINE
Soichiro (the dog) gets drunk!
MY NOTES
That's one grabby little pooch!

PLAYING HICKEY
Kyoko gets jealous over a hickey on Godai's shoulder. Little does she know, Sakamoto accidentally gave Godai that hickey.
MY NOTES
Just cause he's spineless and clumsy doesn't mean he doesn't have-Plenty of GIRLS!

A HOT WIND
On a trip to Okinawa, Godai runs into a very `talkative' girl name Konatsu.
MY NOTES
A good chapter. It's pretty appealing, but I can't figure out why.

OK. That's all.

Another delightful book in the Maison Ikkoku series. I seem to be repeating myself quite often with these words, but anyway good book. The book begins off with the usual struggle: Kyoko vs her parents this time the topic of argument is grandchildren, and leave it to Mrs. Chigusa to drive bamboo shoots underneath Kyoko's fingernails. Mrs. Chigusa even invites Mitaka out for coffee, and of course Mrs. Ichinose and Yusaku are with them. The main highlight of this book, however, is the arrival of Godai's Grandmother Yukari. She meddles in Yusaku's life trying to find out his loves, so she seems to pick up very quickly that Godai has feelings for the beautiful Kyoko. She even gets Mitaka to take the gang to his apartment so Godai can check out his competition, and let's say that Godai falls quite far behind Mitaka in the material world, but Godai is our hero he will persevere. hehe

After a long stretch of melodrama, Rumiko Takahashi deals with some more lighthearted material in the fifth "Maison Ikkoku" volume. Now rereleased in their original order, this charming little collection mixes drama, comedy, and romance in equal measure.

Yusaku Godai has just returned from his stint in self-imposed exile... and he has a bad cold, Kyoko isn't home, and the other tenants are tormenting him. No sooner has he recovered than it's the holidays, and despite his poverty Yusaku manages to give his beloved manager a special gift for Christmas. But Valentine's day brings a new set of problems when Kozue gives him a gift of pansies (meaning: Keep me in your heart), and Kyoko finds out about them.

Things get more complicated when a frustrated Kozue asks Mitaka for advice on men -- and people think that Mitaka is secretly involved with Yusaku's girlfriend. But Yusaku has bigger problems: he finds himself threatened by the memory of Kyoko's late husband Soichiro, when Kyoko's father-in-law asks him to bring her Soichiro's old diary. And Kyoko finds a strange entry in the diary, but the postcard that was tucked inside is missing. It fell out in Yusaku's bag. Will he do the right thing and return it to her?

Since the previous volume of "Maison Ikkoku" had lots of drama and misery and angst, Takahashi lightens things up here. Kyoko's imagination runs wild when she's urged to have kids -- she sees herself surrounded by dozens of squalling babies. Soichiro's food-diary is pretty odd. Yusaku's hormones run wild when Kyoko buys a leotard. And finally the "ship of fools" plays dress up with their high-school clothes -- yes, even the relatively sane Kyoko joins in.

But the romance ante is upped too, as Yusaku and Kyoko accidently kiss (after Akemi drunkenly smooches both of them), and Yusaku goes to great lengths to prove himself to the woman he adores. The two of them aren't involved -- and won't become so for a long time -- but Takahashi knows how to stretch out romantic tension without making it snap.

Our loser hero has grown up a little, and become more responsible and less of a goofball. And Kyoko (who is having sexy dreams about Yusaku) is definitely starting to move past Soichiro, although she's still definitely hung up on her late husband. And except for the beleagered preteen Kentaro, the other inhabitants of Maison Ikkoku are as nutty as ever.

In its fifth volume, "Maison Ikkoku" opts for fluffier standalone fare, but it's still quite touching and romantic. An entertaining continuing story.

This collection of Tony Carrillo's wonderful new comic strip F MINUS shows why he is gaining in popularity across the country. His offbeat humor is both original and right on the money.

His Spartan art only complements the humor and makes it a stand out in the current field of The Far Side wannabes in today's newspapers and bookstores.

Here's hoping there are many more collections of this laugh out loud strip in the years to come.

Having spent a few years at Arizona State when F-Minus was run in the campus paper, I've seen pretty much the whole collection. This book is an excellent collection of comics run over the first year of syndication, and it contains some of my favorites.

That being said, it needs more of the work Tony did in the ASU newspaper. I'm not sure if there's an issue with the syndication/copyright/whatever that prevents those from being included, but there are only about five pages worth of ASU-era F-Minus comics. Hopefully the rest surface (or have surfaced) somewhere for posterity's sake.

I really enjoy this book, my kind of sense of humor. With this book, now I don't have to refer back to my hard drive where I save my favorite F-Minus comics when I need a laugh. If you enjoy Garfield comics or not, you will definitely enjoy this book!

This book is excellent for any fan of f-minus. It always fun to see comics from his college years as well as his comics from the first year of syndication. I highly recommend getting this book.

What a great book. I've been a fan of F-Minus and Carrillo for a while, but this book is full of comics that I have read and some that are new to me and each one is better than the last. I'm just waiting for the sequel.

There really was something compelling about Factory when they started. I still have many of the original UK records on vinyl (Joy Division, Section 25, New Order). CDs don't do the designs justice - too small ! They were concieved as RECORD sleeves and worked as art objects that way. I remember my delight at figuring out the color coding on Power, Corrruption and Lies after staring at it for a while.
Has any other label managed to build a design mystique like it (Blue Note perhaps ?). Their output got less interesting and less elaborate later on.
This book is a great nostalgia trip for any original factory fans, and hopefuly conveys the same sense to younger readers. Nice coffee-table book.

Complete catalog of the Factory cover art, posters, etc. Factory perfected the symbiosis between the music and art.

This book is an awesome look back at some of the best artwork and packaging of its time. The footnotes for each "Fac" are interesting and the reproductions of the artwork are showcased nicely. I only wish there were some photos of the packaging, for instance the famous Blue Monday single with the die-cut, it would have been nice to see how it looked. Still, I think this is a great book!

I've always been a huge fan of Factory Records and the designs of Peter Saville so this book was a dream come true. Pictures of all the artwork from Fac 1 onwards, all the New Order, Joy Division, Happy Mondays, Durutti Column - everything you could want.
A wonderful gorgeous book, the pictures are bright and clear, plus history and stories on major aspects of the artwork - highly recommended fro any Factory / New Order / Peter Saville fan.

This is an excellent book for fans of Factory Records. Factory was label that always had beautiful graphic design work. The album covers and poster art were a showcase for the design work of Peter Saville. I highly recommend this thorough book to fans of the label.