Fabian Books

The story behind "Stake to the Heart", the final arc in the Buffy: Year One series, is hard to follow, but not in the way that one would feel stupid because they couldn't understand. It's just that the writing is just so completely convoluted that it makes the story indecipherable. We are left with unanswered questions aplenty: At what point did Buffy see the demons? If she couldn't see them all along, how did she fight them in the end? What changed TO make her see them? Could they harm other people? Because--I'm not going to spoil it--but something happens to a character other than Buffy that SHOULD have killed that character, but in the end said character was left unscathed. However, in the final part (Part Four) of this trade paperback, the story gets back on its feet as Buffy, Dawn, and Joyce enter Sunnydale and settle into their new home. All I have to say about that is writer Fabian Nicieza has 'brass testes' for that joke/reference he made as Joyce laid exhausted in the couch when they first arrived in the new house. The joke is ballsy, creative, and perhaps a bit tasteless... and it's also memorable.

Angel's story line is interesting, and makes for the best reading in this trade paperback. We see him hanging out with Whistler, the demon introduced in Season Two of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" who helped Angel get back on his feet, and they inadvertently cause most of the trouble in this book. Angel tries hard to correct his mistakes, and that's where a major error occurs. Whistler and Angel discuss options, and Whistler goes to WOLFRAM AND HART for help. In the television show ANGEL, Angel had never heard of Wolfram and Hart. Though I realize that this trade paperback isn't part of the Buffyverse canon, an error in the continuity so large is very hard to ignore.

So what went wrong here? We know that Scott Lobdell, who co-wrote the first two arcs of "Buffy: Year One" with Fabian Nicieza was absent for this volume. But previous arc, "Slayer Interrupted", wasn't much better than this. I guess "Buffy: Year One" will go down as a one hit wonder.

As far as the art, Cliff Richard's pencils are good; nothing at all different from the previous arcs of Buffy: Year One. What makes this arc special is that some of the pages are actually painted, the art here done by Brian Horton. The monsters are especially beautiful, and I can say the same for the covers (also painted by Brian Horton). So, while this trade paperback doesn't have much in the way of story, the art is something to be treasured. But, sorry Mr. Fabian Nicieza... Good art isn't enough to rescue this trade paperback from the depths of suckage. Buffy: Year One started off strong with "Viva Las Buffy" and plummeted to the aforementioned depths as quickly as Sisqo's career fell off.

4/10

The story predates the series. It is a nice prequel with the exception of the addition of Dawn. Dawn muddies the mythology and the back story. However in this case it doesn't matter. The artwork is extraordinary. It should be framed. The demons are very creative. The stills take my breath away. Angel in his birthday suit doesn't hurt the eyes either. I love the use of poetry with the artwork. The monsters are real in the sense that we all have encountered them. The artists have given them form and personality. Perhaps they are easier to fight that way. Bravo!!!

A Stake to the Heart is the final tale that links the movie storyline with the television series. First Buffy ran away to Las Vegas but then returned to be committed. Now she has to face the divorce of her parents.

Angelus and Whisper enter the scene and Angelus wants to end Buffy's pain by casting a complex spell. Unfortunately it results in the release of the Malignancy Demons that feed off of Buffy's negative emotions.

First Buffy must deal with Deceit but Guilt, Abandonment and Trepidation follow. Angelus tries to help with another spell and the demons get drawn to Sunnydale. Also in Sunnydale is newly arrived Rupert Giles who braces himself for sunshine and a slayer named Buffy.

Overall I felt this was the weakest of the three stories but it does tell the tale of the move from LA to Sunnydale. The story is very angst-ridden and metaphysical with animal scenes acting out the demons but then becoming a place Buffy can journey to (you'll have to read it to know what that means).

I recommend this one only because it completes the transition from LA to Sunnydale. It also sets up a few characters and situations t be seen on Buffy and Angel.

This little Marvel Civil War companion shows us whats going on in the lives of Cable and Deadpool during this event. Deadpool is sent out by the government to help round up mutants that don't want to register. His good friend Cable has different ideas. You also get to see whats up in Mutant Town with X-Factor when Quicksilver shows up. Still on the run after the events of M-Day, he has some explaining to do.

The two issues of X-Factor are drawn a little different and there really isn't any action that takes place. The X-Men show up, but they are portrayed almost as bad guys. The Deadpool/Cable issues (3) are a little better as the merc with a mouth gets into some battles with mutants who don't want to register and even with his own buddy Cable. These three issues help save this collection as a whole in my opinion. Pick it up if you like Deadpool or if you just want to get the entire Civil War picture.

At the time of this writing, N. Durham is the only other individual to review this collection. While I agree on some points, I strongly disagree on others.

This collection includes two different crossovers from Marvel's Civil War event. One is a set of three "Cable/Deadpool" issues. While they are a bit light on plot (though not as light as the "X-Factor" portion) I find them to be a rare source of highly developed, yet still occasionally lowbrow, humour. Deadpool joins the registration side, not due to any strong philosophical viewpoints, attitudes, or any other sign of forethought and character depth, but because he wants to get himself some of those lucrative government contracts. Cable, on the other hand, is firmly on Cap's side of the battle, and he will do whatever it takes to sway Deadpool to his side.

The two "X-Factor" issues are in a completely different style, with a completely different approach. While the "Cable/Deadpool" tone is that of an action comedy, the "X-Factor" tone is most definitely noir with some cynical humour and loads of pathos. The story here is only tangentially related to the Civil War, though it is well handled.

In short, we have two quality entries of wildly varying types. I doubt that most readers will find the two stories equally satisfying, though they could well enjoy one or the other greatly. My advice is to use this more as a cost-effective sampler of the two titles to decide if you'd like to see more of either. It's not a critical part of the Civil War event.

If you read Mark Millar's main Civil War story, you'll notice how little a part the X-Men played in the massive turning point of the Marvel universe. Civil War: X-Men Universe attempts to add some depth to the proceedings involving Marvel's merry mutants that weren't covered in the Civil War: X-Men mini from David Hine. This tie-in collects issues of Cable & Deadpool and X-Factor, but what you get as a whole is a mixed bag. Cable & Deadpool focuses on, well, Cable and Deadpool. Each man is on opposite sides of the fence in regards to the superhuman civil war between Captain America and Iron Man, resulting in a showdown between the two. Fabian Nicieza's story is boring as a whole, but if you ever read any of his X-Men work from the early 90's, you know this already. X-Factor finds Jamie "Multiple Man" Madrox at a cross roads as Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, and the rest of the crew find themselves on opposite sides of the Civil War fence too. The X-Factor chapter, written by the great Peter David, is undoubtedly the best part of the TPB. Oh yeah, in the middle of all this, Quicksilver makes a comeback, for some reason or other. All in all, there's nothing particularly bad about this Civil War tie-in that features some nice artwork, but in terms of picking up various Civil War tie-ins, not picking this one up won't kill you.

I first got into Cable and Deadpool because I've always thought both characters were pretty cool, but knew very little about either. After buying vol.3, The Human Race, I was hooked. I quickly bought them all up and patiently awaited this volume to be released. I had a great time reading and rereading it. I agree with other reviews that the plot is a bit thrown together, but it is refreshing to see my man Deadpool move up the ranks of Marvel, teaming up with A-List heroes, and gain a bit of recognition for it. His new teammate, Bob, Agent of Hydra, may very well be my new favorite character and is a great partner to Deadpool's humor. I also had understood that author Fabian Nicieza was not able to write the last two issues, and artist Reilly Brown took over to finish the series, and it is clear that Brown is faithful to the character, and the type of book he is writing. Also, Brown's artwork gets better and better in this volume. It's not the greatest comic I've ever read, but its a fitting end to one of my favorite series.

This is my least favorite of the Cable & Deadpool series. You can literally see the plot, (what was left of it after Cable kicked the bucket) fall into ruin. It seems like they were just trying to get to #50, and since there weren't really any loose ends to tie up, Marvel simply stuck Deadpool in a bunch of different team-up style comics. Which frankly, don't work for him. Although, I did enjoy the Wolverine bit, Wolverine and Deadpool just work off eachother well. Deadpool cracks a joke, Wolvie stabs him in the face...it's all good.
Deadpool needs a solid plot or his comedy will come off as cheesy. Don't get me wrong, you need to read this part of the series, Cable & Deadpool had a great run. You should read all of it, not just the parts that are good.
I'm just saying, this isn't a buy, this is a DCP. (Download, don't buy.)

I love this arc. Deadpool is the greatest marvel character ever made, so keep that in mind when reading this review. Nonetheless, I had the most fun reading this arc than any other arc in this whole series. I got really bored with Cable, not that hes not cool, just Deadpool was that awesome! And hes (cable) not in this series. Funny and full of action. Cool stuff, I recommend this whole series.

I have used better books. As a massage instructor I was looking for a book with more detail. The author used terms that he didn't completely explain in the text. I wouldn't recommend this book for an experienced therapist.

When I became a Licensed Massage Therapist, I decided to focus mainly on relaxation massage and energy work. However, I am finding more and more clients need Deep Tissue/NMT work. I bought this book to help me refresh my skills in that modality. I have found it to be an amazing reference book and the DVD is fabulous. I find it very beneficial to have the indications and contraindications right at my fingertips. Although I may not follow the exact routine that is in the book, it always provides me with a great starting point. It is so helpful to have both the written instructions and then to see the work being done. This book should be added to the "must haves" for any massage therapist.

This is a well intentioned handbook, but, unfortunately in my opinion, falls short of it's intended goal. For anyone that has prior training in Neuromuscular Therapy in it's various incarnations, this will seem extremely basic. The book gives a decent basic overview of trigger point therapy, and a guide to which muscle areas to work on for each condition. What drags this book down, however, is the over-emphasis on incorporating basic relaxation massage methods/strokes at the expense of further detail on specific trigger point locations and referred pain patterns.

As commented by other reviews this book is rather dated in its wildness athough at the time of its initial release was a a mild shocker. The Boyfriend was in fact Spike Hawkins. "Who had a wife and three children in Edgware". His middle son ended up in the Rock Group 'Big Audio Dynamite' with Mick Jones from The Clash.

This is hardly the best book written by a groupie (those honors, in my opinion, go to Pamela Des Barres' classic "I'm With The Band") but it's not a terrible read either.

"Groupie" may have raised eyebrows in 1969 when it was first published, but there's nothing too shocking in here by today's standards.

The book is based on Jenny Fabian's real experiences as part of London's music scene, and the bands are given aliases to "protect" their identities. (But you can figure out some of the identities based on Jenny's descriptions.)

I was expecting to read about more famous bands in this book, but the only "big names" are Pink Floyd (aka Satin Odyssey), the Jimi Hendrix Experience (aka Jacklin H. Event), and the Animals (aka the Savage). The rest of the bands mentioned in the book had moderate success in England and never really crossed over in a big way in the U.S. or much of the rest of the world.

The '60s counterculture lingo in the book is somewhat hilarious ("groovy" and "scene" are two favorite words), but much of Jenny's story goes downhill after she describes "pulling" (having sex with) a musician she calls "Ben," who's obviously Syd Barrett from Pink Floyd.

After telling that story, the reader has to wade through too many chapters describing Jenny's slide into an emotionally abusive relationship with the manager of a local band. Jenny also dates other men from the local music scene, but the relationships ultimately end up nowhere.

The book ends on a disappointing note, leaving the reader wondering if the '60s really were as much fun as Jenny would like us to believe.

"Having a scene", getting high on "tincture" and "plating", it's all there in the story of Katie, a groovy 19 year old, living in swinging London in 1969. It's based on true facts and you can play a guessing game with who Katie's conquests really are from all the happening English bands of these times. It's fun, risque for having been written in the late 1960's, but always serious, as Katie searches for the ultimate scene... Read it! As they say "the only place for chicks in rock and roll is in the back of the van"!!

"The Blackburne Covenant" is a horror/dark fantasy graphic novel written by veteran comic scribe Fabian Nicieza with art by Stefano Raffaele. It's firmly rooted in witchcraft or, perhaps more appropriately Wicca with its concepts of earth magic and the divine. Richard Kaine is a novelist who's never written anything of importance until his fantasy novel "Wintersong" becomes a runaway bestseller. Kaine becomes an overnight sensation and media darling but some think his tale of middle ages witch-hunting and murder is almost too real.

Kaine himself is starting to experience many strange things such as visions of nature growing and running amuck, virtually covering entire buildings and cities in weeds and vines. Of course, there are those that think Kaine's issues are more about his loved for booze than anything supernatural and he's soon off on a quiet vacation with his girlfriend for some relaxation from the media. The vacation is brought to an abrupt halt when his girlfriend is brutally murdered and a sinister message is written on the floor in her blood reading "your truth...your death". A secret cult is keeping tabs on Kaine as he descends more and more into alcohol addiction and delusion, monitoring him to see if he manifests any powers or abilities.

This group, the Blackburne Covenant hints that Kaine's novel was no mere accident or product of his imagination, but that the events truly happened and they intend to see Kaine dead before he can discover the truth behind his story.

Nicieza does a nice job developing the character of Kaine. While an alcoholic writer is nothing original, Kaine does come across as genuine. The villains though are strictly two-dimensional baddies. The story is steeped in a mix of mythological witchcraft and Wicca and trust me, I am no expert on either. There are some elements which come across as a bit un believable such as the secret Wiccan coven living in a hidden city among the treetops for centuries, undetected.

The art of Stefano Raffaele is above average and the scenes set in the middle ages are done in kind of sepia tone that gives it a unique look. Overall, a quite attractive looking book.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

This is another one of those stories with a great idea and excellant artwork to back it up. The only fault I would have with it is that the ideological motivations for the characters' actions are never developed to a point where they were meaningful to me. I'm used to Gaimen, Ennis, Ellis and Carey and, when you're talking about "world in crisis" stories, I expect some meaningful insights into a character's emotional development. That wasn't the case here. Mostly, I think, because of the brevity of the book. That said, however, this was a good read.

I bought this book based upon its previous glowing reviews, however after reading several Rainy Dohaney books, this just doesn't stack up.

The artwork is beautiful, but this book is not engaging enough for any child over the age of 20 months or so. My 3 1/2 year old liked the art, but was bored by the story and kept asking questions wanting to know MORE about what was going on. She was intrigued, but bored.

It's not a TERRIBLE book, it's just a dull book. If you like this art style I highly recommend TINKA or MY BEST SWEET POTATO, which have become steady favorites in our home, and others whom we have given them to.

I found this book in the library one day, and I was charmed by the illustrations and the sense of humor. I love to own children's books that really appeal to me, and I immediately ordered it. It gives me a lot of pleasure.

Based on the design philosophy of Scandinavian R.O.O.M. shops, Katherine Sorrell's Modern Comfort is an ideal, "reader friendly" sourcebook for interior design ideas and inspiration. Featured are profusely illustrated chapters on living rooms as multifunctional spaces, offices as creative work spaces for the home, kitchens & dining rooms as integrated spaces for food and conversation, bedrooms as inspirational spaces for relaxation, bathrooms as practical spaces for pure indulgence, and garden rooms as outdoor spaces for enlightened living. As a very highly recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library interior design reference collections, Modern Comfort is further enhanced for the reader with an impressive section of resources for department stores, furniture, lighting, flooring, window treatments, fabrics, bed linen and more.

"Modern Comfort" turned out not to be what I was looking for - I wanted to look at some really high-style, upscale modern classic designs to kind of pop my rusty sensibilities back into the groove before starting a remodel of my own modest home. I should have realized that in an esthetic sense "modern" and "comfort" are not words that really should follow one another (unlike say, "Southern Comfort"). But for ideas on achieving an accessible modern look -- like the vignettes at Crate N' Barrel, for example -- this is an OK book. The gist of "Modern Comfort" is to show design looks that can be called "modern" but not so modern that anyone would find it objectionable. The rooms rely on middle-of-the road furniture with plumper cushions and lots of pillows, rather than the spare look associated with high-style modern design. Lots of 'texture' in fabrics, woods, stone, plants, etc. These photos remind of a style you'd expect your psychiatrist to have in his waiting room and at home, if he followed the same decorating scheme.

My PCs had become a little too powerful, and in the beginning I felt this adventure would be a breeze for them. Suddenly, they're facing the main enemy and I have to bring in an NPC priest to stop them all from dying. This adventure will let your PCs know they are not immortal.

A fairly good introduction to Ravenloft for DMs and players, but yet seems to fail to provide the necessary level of horror that the writers of Ravenloft materials are always stressing. Certain elements seem glossed over, and other suggestions are impossible to carry out. A chase scene is called for, but based on the map, it seems hard for a chase scene to ensue--there is much space between houses and one does not get the sense that in this small town anything resembling an alley or a wrong turn could actually exist. Despite an attempt to create an atmosphere of horror, the action seems largely driven by a gradual increase in number and strength of opposing creatures. There are other adventure modules for low level players still in print that are also more interesting. The one benefit of Night of the Walking Dead is its brevity--it can be completed in two or three sessions.

I used this as a teacher for many years. Our district got a new adoption thyat is not as well organized, nor are the videos as interesting. I still use the original videos in my class now that I have digitized them!

Note: The following review has been provided by my younger brother:
I've been taking Spanish for 3 years and this is by far the worst Spanish book I've ever read. The comics are dull, the exercises feel more like time wasters than actual lessons, and overall this book has taught me little if anything. It doesn't even have a English into Spanish Dictionary and it doesn't teach me anything I'd use in Mexico. If you want to know how to conjugate a bunch of verbs and fall asleep while trying to complete homework than this is your book, if you want a book that teaches you phrases in Spanish look somewhere else.

Frankly, Dime Uno is a waste of time. It does not even teach Spanish well, nor is its design conducive to wanting to study it. Even looking at it tends to make me want to go to sleep.

It is illustrated with pictures and cartoons of people talking in Spanish, and it introduces a new part of grammar (with a new setting in the cartoons) every week. The scenes are corny, and, to the modern mind, will seem very old-fashioned.

My advice is, do some research and find a book that will actually work. Not only is this boring, it's not very educational. This is not worth the money you spend on it.

This book should not be used to teach beginning students Spanish. I think it is confusing, and many grammar and verb tense rules are not clearly stated in the book. Honestly, I didn't use the book much....I relied more on the teacher's notes. Plus, the stupid videos and comic-type strips become annoying and monotonous.

I used the Dime series for about five years in a high school setting until moving to a different state. My experience with the program was extremely positive! After a few weeks, my students were writing paragraphs, and by the end of the school year they were able to understand and participate in a majority of conversations, even if they didn't understand or know every word they wanted. (They could at least describe what they wanted to say.) If a gramatical concept needed better explanation, it was usually sufficient to refer to the "G" pages in the back of the book, where there were also more grammatical exercises for practice. I have routinely used this section.

Although grammar wasn't explicitly taught in the chapters (the book and teacher are intended to get the student to figure out the pattern themselves first before an explanation or referring to the "G" pages), I need to point out that the testing was largely of grammar- in addition to listening and writing sections being tested each time. (Writing is graded with a rubric, which the program provides, and which I distributed a copy of to each student.)

While I see that some people might view the accompanying videos as largely "corny," my students had a sense of humor about them and we laughed a lot about the situations. I did, personally, tend to ignore the cartoons in the book, which were a basic copy of the videos.

I have used a few other series of books which paled in comparisson to Dime. They tended to be "drill and kill" which bores everyone to death, or they didn't expect the same level of skills that Dime does - for example, the past tense might not have even been covered during the first year. After using the other series my students could produce very little in either speaking, writing, or understand much during reading or listening.

I found that practicing listening & reading comprehension in more "realistic" ways, as with Dime, helped with understanding other areas, such as Shakespeare! The idea is to use context clues for comprehension, rather than expecting students to read or listen to something very watered down which really only includes the vocabulary or grammar that they've been exposed to.

My high school was on a traditional 6-period schedule. Instead of trying to cover the entire book in one year, we covered the first 4 chapters during first semester, and the next 4 during second semester. That is sufficient for continuing on to Dime Dos, which does have a review of those eight chapters before heading on to new material. It would be more of a challenge to cover those 8 chapters competently on a block schedule.