Seasons Books

This book was written in mid 1994 before the mid-term elections returned Bob Dole to the position of Majority Leader of the Senate.

Bob Dole has since stepped back from the center stage of politics since his failed run for the Presidency in 1996. Nonetheless, it is one of the best books about one of the giants of the Senate.

This book covers Bob Dole's early years in Russell Ks and his near-fatal injury in WWII that led him being partially handicapped. It covers his political rise from county attorney to US Senator and when he served as Gerald Ford's VP candidate in 1976.

This book covers Dole's controversial re-election bid for the Senate in 1974, an election in which his credentials as a bare-knuckled political brawler were born.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to know who Bob Dole was and what he accomplished while on the national stage. I think many will be surprised that he wasn't the dour and inflexible conservative that many tagged him as.

Lastly, this best part of this book is its length. At 270 pages, it's an easy read and a good book for someone who doesn't want something too deep or complex.

If you want to know anything about who Bob Dole is, this is the book to read.

Books that blend poetry with photography typically feature either good poetry or good photography, but rarely both. "Both Feet On The Land" is an amazing exception. Narayan's poetry is world-class, reflecting the consciousness of a man who has spent decades becoming acutely intimate with his surroundings as well as mastering the craft of the word. His his mastery of the structure and meter of poetry makes for polished compositions, and his subtlety and sense of humor lull the reader while the seriousness and devastating insights of his subject matter take you by surprise. His black-and-white photography reminds me of the artistic genius of Ansel Adams. But unlike Adams, Narayan's photography is more intimate and more real. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys poetry, photography, and/or reflections on nature.

In "Both Feet on the Land" the poet/photographer/philosopher has pulled off a real challenge: to create an integrated book, cover to cover. Tautly crafted and expressive poetry demonstrate mindfulness and wit; apt photographs express their own beauty and enhance the poems. The reader is brought to personal relationship with Woman-as-World in her many guises and disguises.

This is a literal "coming out" story! We see that the poet has
transformed his life (or been catapulted by forces beyond his control!)from indoor "civilized" introspection and contemplation to an outdoor direct interaction with animals, plants, trees, stream, cottage, rocks, flood, and the sometimes treacherous weather of each season on a creek in the foothills of northern California.

The poet has created explosive yet sharply hewn poetry unlike any I have ever encountered. Images leap out, capturing the imagination and bringing the senses alive. We find ourselves right there, in the midst of the activities, struck with sudden insight into truths always readily at hand, could we but give full attention to what is right here. Great humor-at different moments dry, or outright hilarious-noticing the intimate instants within and without.

Every black and white two-page layout of the book is complete in itself, photo and poem acting upon each other, much as Japanese haiku and watercolors are often paired.

Very unusual features of the book are the introduction, "Starting on the Same Page," a poetic essay about the whys and whens of this work. Then at the end, "Terms and Notes" where we meet cultural antecedents and indicators. Finally, "Gifts Received," honoring the poet's background, life choices, and ancestors.

"Both Feet on the Land" is a gift-quality book of great artistry,
substance, and insight that certainly captivated me-and I'm rarely captivated!

Roxanne Bartlett

If you want to be the Champion of your fantasy league,don't go to the draft without this book.Best I've seen.

This is the best fantasy football book out there. The stats are incredible, the cartoons are hilarious and the fantasy history from 1991-2003 is worth the price alone. There are also 2004 player projections and many extras. I reccomend this one to anybody involved in fantasy football.

Words can't really describe the impact this small but powerful book has had on Cleveland's football fans. Given up for naught in 1995 and 1996, the spirit of the Browns was secured in our hearts with the emergence of Browns Memories in late 1996. Browns fans all over the country latched onto this work as "chicken soup" for a Browns fan's soul. It's pure Browns, through and through...not about the move, not about the politics, but why we all became and remain Browns fans. Right time and the right book, it got us all through the tough times. Great work and very enjoyable.

Words can't really describe the impact this small but powerful book has had on Cleveland's football fans. Given up for naught in 1995 and 1996, the spirit of the Browns was secured in our hearts with the emergence of Browns Memories in late 1996. Browns fans all over the country latched onto this work as "chicken soup" for a Browns fan's soul. It's pure Browns, through and through...not about the move, not about the politics, but why we all became and remain Browns fans. Right time and the right book, it got us all through the tough times. Great work and very enjoyable.

This is the one in which a woman's husband wrote in to Joss's contest and asked that he immortalize her within the pages of Dark Horse's BUFFY SEASON EIGHT. She, Robin, was slowly losing her grip, and her devoted husband feared that the only thing she was going to be able to understand sooner or later was seeing her own face in the pages of her favorite comic. From what I understand, she is drawn wearing one of her own favorite dresses. I haven't heard the follow up but I hope that this brings Robin some much needed peace and happiness. Good for Joss for reaching out to help a fellow sufferer on our benighted planet.

While in Scotland Xander continues to question Dawn on why she is so big, and Dawn reluctantly tells him the truth--finally!--far away from home Robin guards a ramshackle bungalow shack that is one of the portals to another world. As Willow and Buffy traipse up and down a series of wonderfully drawn steps to nowhere, it becomes apparent that whatever this place is, it is a place in which fantasy reigns, and soon the girls find themselves imagining some heated daydreams featuring all their favorite imaginary playmates. I love the one where Buffy imagines herself as a marquise or something at a grand ball, pictured between two handsome and eerily similar men in period dress. "Little Women Christian Bale," she commands, "you and I will waltz obscenely close in plain view, while Reigh of Fire Christian Bale, you will saddle the horses." In another panel superblond Daniel Craig wades up to Buffy in the same skyblue skintight speedo he wore in CASINO ROYALE and offers her his sunblock. "That's a little generic," Willow sighs. Her own tastes, we find, run to "Television's Tina Fey."

Between Buffy and Willow some old resentments, dormant for many months, come blazing back to life in the exciting "Anywhere but Here."

*This item is the same as Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #10 Jo Chen Cover Edition The only difference is the cover. This cover is the variant, which makes the rarer of the two. The ratio of regular cover vs. variant is 4:1*

"Anywhere But Here" is the most fully realized Buffy: Season Eight comic released by Dark Horse. It offers a solid, twenty-five page story that reads as if it were an entire arc. It's not perfect (the way they defeat the villain is a bit lame), but it's just so crammed with story and dialogue that it did more than I could have ever expected a one-shot to do. The structure of the story (what with Buffy and Willow's 'fantasy' sequences and, later, their visions of the future/past) is a bit experimental but, unlike the previous one-shot (The Chain) this actually worked. Well.

There were a lot of revelations (How did Dawn become a giant? Can we get a look at Kenny? How does Buffy have money for all these high-tech thingers? Where the blip is Kennedy?) as well as references to past events, all of them with new plot twists attached on the end. Also, a spin is finally put on the Willow/Kennedy relationship, giving it the spice it lacked during the televised run. With Dawn finally revealing how she was "embiggened" and Buffy reeling from Willow's revelation of why she doesn't bring Kennedy around, this series continues to heat up like a tea kettle that Giles has left on for too long.

Cliff Richards handles the pencils for this one-shot and he does alright here, but I don't like how he shades by simply drawing lines across the character's faces. Also, when he depicts a character with a shadow across their face, he simply draws a hard line down the center of their faces. It just doesn't look real. That being said, he is good enough that his art doesn't take away from the enjoyment.

I also have to mention--and I know you've heard this before, but it's a must I mention this--how nice it is to see a fan of this show, Robin Balzer, immortalized in the pages of this comic. Robin and Jerrod, congratulations on this. Robin was chosen well (in real life, as well as the character!) and I think it's awesome of Dark Horse and Joss to reach out to the fans like this. It warms a guy's heart, no?

9/10

Very fun issue. Tatsu and Buffy have a very entertaining conversation, a seed is planted for future issues (rogue slayers with guns O_O), and an awesome fake-out near the end (about 13 pages into the issue). Also worth mentioning, I'm continually amazed by the value of this series; nice quality paper and longer than average.

Joss Whedon is back in a big way.

If you've entertained the idea that he might have "lost his touch," get ready to be wrong. Joss scores another 100 points for this one-shot comic, "A Beautiful Sunset," which has a lot of stuff we've been waiting a long time for.

+ Buffy fights the Big Bad of the season for the first time, which is always entertaining. The fight/flying scenes are the best action panels that Jeanty has shown thus far, and the Mid-Fight-Dialogue made my spine tingle. Twilight is worthy of "Big Bad" status in a big, bad way.

+ Qe get a lot of development on the "Satsu Loves Buffy" storyline, and a lot of cool character moments in the beginning and the end (the eye-weller of a scene where the injured Buffy and Satsu lean against a grave after the climactic fight).

+ Also, there's some vamp slayage, something the series has been sorely missing.

Overall, this is what you've come to expect from Joss, the man who brought us episodes like "Becoming," "The Gift," "Chosen," etc. While the issue may not be as BIG as those ones I just mentioned, it succeeds brilliantly in what it is trying to be. It's big on character development, plot-set up, drama, and humor, all of which Joss is the master of. If this is only the fifth episode of the season (figure it out), this is looking to be by far the strongest since Season Five.

Also, I have to give it up to Joss for the "itchy neck" moment. What a great "gotcha!"

10/10 Classic.

*This is the same comic as the regular version, the only difference being this one has a cover by Georges Jeanty instead of Jon Foster. This is the 1:4 variant, so is the rarer of the two*

Comic shops were told to double their orders. People debated "What's going to happen in Issue 12?" online since before #10 came out. It's the first comic we get from one of the series' vets (other than Whedon, of course). Talk about hype.

Well, I'm obviously not going to spoil the big event here, but it's big. Probably not "something we'll be talking about for years" like Jeanty was quoted saying, but it's huge enough for the hype, and it leads to even huger comedy. It looks like "Wolves At the Gate" is going to be a comedy-centric episode, sort of like "Something Blue" and "Tabula Rasa." What I mean is, it doesn't compromise the integrity of the series like "Beer Bad" and "Doublemeat Palace" did, but it still focuses heavily on comedy. We've got Andrew. We've got Xander dealing with his whole "Dracula's Manservant" issue. We've got a sexually awkward situation. All hilarious.

Most of this issue deals with the personal relationships between the residents of the castle, but there is also a lot of action at the end. While the issue didn't flow as well as #11 did, the transitions are quite a bit smoother than those of "The Long Way Home." What we've got here is a solid introduction to the arc with hilarious--and in-character--moments that all push forward all of the character arcs. And can I express how great it is to have vampires taken as a real threat again? I felt that the show lost something in the latter seasons when vampires stopped being serious enemies and became more of a joke, so this is good stuff.

9/10

Again, Spoiler Below!

But first, a preparatory paragraph to hide the big event of Issue No. 12. There had been a great deal of forewarning that something big was going to happen in No. 12. And something unique does happen. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting, though there were hints in No. 11. What happens was actually set up very early in the season, when Amy put Buffy into a magical sleep from which she could only awake by the kiss of someone who truly loved her. Someone did awaken her, but the identity was kept hidden until No. 11.

This is also the beginning of Drew Goddard's sequence in the series. Goddard, of course, has rapidly become one of the better-known scriptwriters on television, though he also recently achieved some renown from having the script he wrote for J. J. Abrams, CLOVERFIELD, made into a movie. Goddard's first work in the business came in Season Seven of BUFFY, during which he wrote some of the better episodes of that season. After the end of BUFFY he went over to ANGEL where he wrote several episodes during that show's final season. He then went over to ALIAS where he wrote a number of superb scripts (including the series finale), and then joined LOST fulltime after that. This represents his first return to the Buffyverse as well as his first comic work, at least that I am aware of.

The next paragraph will contain the spoiler. Let me add that the reason I will give the spoiler in the review is that a couple of people have contacted me before, saying that they enjoy getting the info since they are unable to get the comics where they live (instead waiting for the whole arc in a collected paperback). For me one of the biggest surprises in the big event was that it happened so early in the issue. I got my issue, sat down to read it, and fully expected for "the big thing" to happen on the last or next to last page of the comic. Nope. We get two pages of Xander and the dark-skinned slayer he is romantically interested in, and then you turn the page, and Wham! there it is.

OK, time for the spoiler. We turn the page and what we see is Buffy and Satsu, the slayer who was revealed in No. 11 as being in love with Buffy and the one whose kiss woke her up, in bed together in a state of complete disrobement. Then we get several pages of Willow flying Andrew to the castle and Xander with his slayer on the ramparts of the castle, noticing that a large number of wolves are congregating at the gates (hence the title of this and the next issues). Then we get back to Buffy and Satsu, where it is obvious that their hook up was not something that was planned (at least not by Buffy). And it is not something that Buffy claims she wants to repeat, though she does tell Satsu that she can spend the night. Then immediately ensues the funniest sequence of events in the entire run of Buffy Season 8. As Buffy tells Satsu, "Don't mention this to anyone," Xander plunges into the room with news of the wolves. The cell with Xander holding his hand over his one good eye is hysterical. As Buffy and Satsu attempt to cover up Xander's slayer also enters the room. And hearing the hubbub Andrew (completely in old-fashioned night cap and sleeping gown) walks in, switching on the light. With complete aplomb he says, "Oh, hi Buffy. Hi nude Asian girl." It is a classic Andrew moment. Next, Dawn, who is still a giantess, sees what is happening through the window. Finally, Willow literally crashes through the ceiling (why she does is another story). Though battered and beaten, even she has to ask Buffy, "Why are you naked and in bed with Satsu?"

So, that is the big event. More happens in the issue. Baddies, who possess remarkable shape-shifting abilities, come onto the grounds of the castle and steal Buffy's scythe. And the issue ends with Xander visiting the most famous vampire of them all, one would assume for advice on who the shape-shifters might be.

Obviously, this is one of those things that will have lots of ramifications for future issues. The event itself is almost one of the innumerable slash fictions coming to life. After all, this is canonical since Joss Whedon authorized it. It will be interesting to see what happens next. Will this go anywhere? Buffy insisted to Satsu that it couldn't and perhaps it won't. Buffy is definitely coded in the series as "straight" and I doubt if this changes things much. It isn't as if Buffy has many romantic options. She has always been very difficult to pair up with anyone else. I'm anxious to see the next conversation between Buffy and Willow, not to mention Buffy and Dawn. Time will tell if this was a one-time event with ongoing consequences or if it leads to a real relationship. I doubt it will be the latter. My guess is that Buffy is never going to be happy in a relationship, whether with male or female.

So, all in all, a pretty good issue. It wasn't the kind of Big Event that I was expecting and the overall effect was comic rather than dramatic. Honestly, I was expecting someone to die.

Warning! Littered with spoilers!

I had the option of buying either of the two covers at my local comic book store, but I really disliked this alternate cover. It is rarer, but to be blunt, simply not very attractive.

I really enjoyed this issue. The A plot focuses on Xander and Renee's visit to Dracula, where we learned a great deal about Master and his Manservant. One of the ongoing jokes on BUFFY involved non-homophobic pokes at Xander's sexuality. That is taken to a new level here, where we learn that Dracula and Xander have more of a relationship than we'd have ever expected. It turns out that Xander actually spent some time with Dracula following the death of Anya and after he left the Count apparently missed his servant. There are some pretty funny moments as one realizes that the two like each other more than either would admit.

The B plot deals with the Japanese vampires who stole Buffy's sythe in the previous issue. After learning where the vampires are, Buffy and entire slayer army go off to Japan to confront the vampires and recover the sythe.

There is surprisingly little in the issue about the big event of Issue No. 12, in which Buffy and Satsu were found in bed together, after a bout of passionate lovemaking. Willow and Satsu talk a bit in a nice scene, where Willow tries to minimize any expectations on Satsu's part by explaining the Buffy is, well, straight. After explaining all this in detail, Willow comes right out and asks what Buffy was like in the sack. Despite Willow's insistance on details -- e.g., in making love does she make the same sound she makes when shrieking about shoes being on sale -- Satsu seems determined not to share any details.

All in all, this was another thoroughly enjoyable issue in a superb string of stories. Those who have been keeping up on Season 8 will definitely not be disappointed.

*This is the same comic as the regular version, the only difference being this one has a cover by Georges Jeanty instead of Jon Foster. This is the 1:4 variant, so is the rarer of the two*

Whedon and Goddard rule.

This, as I suspected, it going to be a very comedic arc. This issue is basically set-up for things to come, but it does its job very well. We've pretty much got three things going on at once:

+ Xander and Renee try to enlist Dracula's help. Not only do we get some insight into why Antique happened (as well as confirmation that it is canonical), we also get great Xander/Dracula banter, hilariously pretentious/angry Dracula moments, and even a scene where Andrew explains (with a chalk board and all!) what's the dealio with Dracula and Xander. Loved this.

+ We've also got stuff going on back at Slayer Central, though admittedly not much. Satsu is dealing with the night she spent with Buffy, but Buffy is pretty much not dealing at all. We get some emotional and hilarious stuff from Willow, and the characterization for all the leads in this section of the story is spot-on. Willow's voice has been very weak this season, but this is the issue where I felt it getting stronger.

+ Finally, a few pieces of the story deal with Toru (the main villain of this miniseries) and his vamps. Not going to reveal much, because the scheme they have cooked up is spoileriffic, but it's a really inventive idea.

The art is consistently good at this point. Jeanty seemed to struggle with Toru in Issue #12, but here things are much better. And really... this man draws Dracula perfectly. I'd almost go as far as to say that his depiction of Dracula is his best likeness so far. As far as the characters he's been drawing, I'd say he's improved most with Andrew's likeness. I mean, compare his Andrew in this issue to the almost unrecognizable Andrew from #12. Hell, compare any of this to his work in the earlier issues. Jeanty keeps getting better and better.

This issue of Buffy has me once again waiting with bated breath for the next part of the story, because each of these twenty-two pages burst with laughs and shocks. If you don't laugh at loud at a few moments in this issue, you might want to check your pulse.

9/10

Warning! Multiple spoilers and explicit plot reveals!

The was not merely a terrific wrap up for Drew Goddard's splendid "Wolves at the Gate" sequence in BUFFY SEASON 8, but the best comic so far in the series. Previous episodes had set up multiple plot lines -- Buffy and Satsu's lesbian tryst, the unexpected friendship and connection between Xander and Dracula, the growing attraction between Xander and the slayer Renee, and the main story of the Japanese vampire gang that intended to use the slayer Scythe to strip all of the slayers of their powers -- and this issue resolved them all in amazingly compelling fashion. When the four episodes are collected under one cover as WOLVES AT THE GATE, it will definitely be THE Buffy graphic novel to get, the one closest to a "must own."

There were great scenes on nearly every page of this issue. The first couple of pages where Renee, who had been stabbed through the heart at the end of the previous issue, gradually loses consciousness and then life were compelling, as was Buffy's bracing herself for a long leap through the air onto the back of a witch vampire endangering Willow. And a wonderfully funny sequence where Dawn finds herself confronted by a giant Mecha-Dawn, which spouts things that parody Dawn like, "I cry a lot" follows. Luckily, Dawn is aided by the über nerd of all über nerds, Andrew, who impossibly understands precisely what needs to be done to defeat it.

Not all comic issues can be this good. Previous issues have to engage in set up and scene setting to allow this kind of resolution. But even if the earlier issues did load the bases, this one did deliver the home run that brought them all home. This was not just the best issue in the Buffy series so far; it was the best issue of any comic series that I have read in the past couple of years. Drew Goddard has not, to my knowledge, written for comics before, but I hope to god that this is not his last venture. Since starting off in BUFFY Season 7, in which he wrote or co-wrote many of the best episodes of that season (including "Conversations with Dead People," "Lies My Mother Told Me," and "Dirty Girls"), he has gone on to establish a reputation as one of the great writers on television on ANGEL, ALIAS, and LOST. Ironically, his weakest script to date, filmed by J. J. Abrams as CLOVERFIELD, has brought him the most attention. But the writing here is up there with the best he has done, which is saying a lot. If I were a television executive producer, I'd be putting myself in a position to hire Goddard in two years when LOST comes to an end. (Parenthetically, with Goddard's newfound success as a comics writer and with Brian K. Vaughan as executive story editor, LOST definitely has the most impressive group of comics writers on staff of any show on television.)

And for the answer to the $50 million question, what of Buffy and Satsu? Well, Satsu understands that Buffy is not a lesbian. She stays in Tokyo to work with the slayers there. But not before the two spend a night saying good-bye.

This issue didn't just have a great story. It also had a great promo for Issue No. 16. Somehow, some way Buffy is going to encounter Joss Whedon's first great comics slayer, Fray. Will Buffy travel forward in time? Will Fray travel back? I don't know, but I can hardly wait.

I'll end by saying that Goddard's WOLVES AT THE GATE has completely rekindled my interest in and excitement over this series. I liked the first sequence a good deal and then really, really liked the Faith arc that followed, but this was on a completely different plane. Fans of BUFFY should definitely check WOLVES AT THE GATE out. It will make you miss the television series more than ever.

Easily the best conclusion to an arc so far, which alone justifies the rating I'm going to give it. But there is so much more at work in this book that just makes it a really stellar end to a good story.

We get an inside look at a dying Renee's final thoughts with the first few pages. The tragedy of the thing really hits home for those pages, but we're only given a moment to digest it. It's such an amazing writing technique, and it worked to a T here, giving the whole thing a very surreal feel. What I thought was admirable, and very true to the nature of the show, was that the book didn't lose the comedy in the midst of all the tragedy and intensity. There was a particularly funny moment with Giant Dawn battling a huge "Mecha" Dawn robot, which could have been the biggest flop of all time. I mean, a freaking Giant vs. Robot fight? But seeing the robot imitate Dawn ("I like blue jeans. And irony.") was quite possibly the funniest moment of Season Eight. And Andrew, knowledgeable as he is in the field, coached Dawn through the entire thing. Gold.


And speaking of ______est moments, Dracula fighting Toru was such a great moment, and totally sells Dracula as a character I'd be glad to see recurring. Talk about taking an arc to the next level at the eleventh hour. There's a lot more too. I'm purposely not really delving into much of what happens in the issue, because that's something you'll need to see on your own. Just some stuff to look forward to:

+ We finally find out a little about the Snake Lady from #10

+ A very Buffy-like end, that definitely would have a song playing over it (think the end of "Seeing Red")

+ Xander growing as a character

+ Vampire slayage


At least as good as "Anywhere But Here," maybe as good as "A Beautiful Sunset." As near to perfect writing as we've seen. Great, great issue.

10/10 Classic.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Issue 2 continues the tale after the destruction of Sunnydale. A giant Dawn is still uptight about her bossy slayer sister, Zander's now in charge of the organization, and a major plot point is revealed halfway through the issue. Amy is back, working with the government and lets say she's one taco short of a combination plate.

I really loved the cover art. This is one reason I didn't wait for the omnibus that is coming out in November. Plus, I couldn't handle waiting. I also like the twist in the relationship of Buffy and Zander. I hope Joss Whedon explores this issue more in future issues.

Buffy fans will be expecting a lot after seven stellar seasons on television and the success of the first issue of "Season Eight." So the question here is this: Does Issue #2 deliver?

In short, yes. I have to say though--there is so much going on, so many jokes, and so much foreshadowing that I wasn't able to completely enjoy the Jossy goodness until my second read. The first read intrigued me, but the second wow-ed me.

The plot continues directly from the previous issue. Amy (the former rat) is working with the government to take out Buffy and the slayers, and she has an army of zombies to back her up. The ending sequences are amazing--I'm already itching for May 2nd to come so I can get my hands on the third issue. There was a big revelation about half-way through the comic, and clues to who the Big Bad of the season will be as well. Giant Dawn is great, Buffy is true to herself, and Xander is playing the biggest role he's played since the first season.

This issue also re-introduces two fan favorites: Giles and Andrew. So, all in all, this issue is just as good as the first. But did anybody expect anything less? I mean, come on--Joss Whedon wrote it.

9/10