Book Description

It's the swinging 80's period of Crumb's career now featured in the multiple award-winning Complete Crumb Comics series.The mid-1980s period of Crumb's career is compiled in this 15th volume of the series, a period that many critics consider to be the richest of Crumb's career.Anchored by Crumb's contributions to the seminal anthology Weirdo, created and edited by Crumb, this volume includes the first several appearances of classic Crumb character Mode-O-Day, the networking fashion plate that serves as a foil for some of Crumb's most biting satire about America's cultural elite.Also included are Crumb's first collaborations with the late writer Charles Bukowski, as well as several collaborations with Harvey Pekar from his autobiographical series American Splendor. The book is rounded out with a color section that includes rare album art for various jazz and blues greats, as well reproductions of his various comic book covers from this period. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Social commentary and raunchy behavior
Fans of Crumb's biting comics of social commentary and raunchy behavior will find this set of comics continues the chronological series covering his complete work. Here Mode O'Day and Her Pals are the feature, covering his cartoons from 1983-85. A centerfold of fine color images provides lively full-page panels; most of the presentation is in classic black and white. ... Read more

Book Description

The multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards series collecting one of America's true national treasures, Krazy Kat.

This is the fifth in a series reprinting George Herriman's early 20th Century comic strip masterpiece. Most of these strips have not seen print since originally running in Hearst newspapers over 70 years ago. Each volume is edited by the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum's Bill Blackbeard. Krazy & Ignatz 1933-1934 will be a hot-baked brickbat of a volume, adance with nearly two full years of the Sunday Krazy Kat (Herriman did not use color until 1935), snug between multiple pages of Herriman extras, not the least of which include an introduction by Blackbeard, a new "Debaffler" page, and a stunning layout front and back and throughout by the inimitable Chris Ware!

Krazy Kat is a love story, focusing on the relationships of its three main characters. Krazy Kat adored Ignatz Mouse. Ignatz Mouse just tolerated Krazy Kat, except for recurrent onsets of targeting tumescence, which found expression in the fast delivery of bricks to Krazy's cranium. Offisa Pup loved Krazy and sought to protect "her" (Herriman always maintained that Krazy was gender-less) by throwing Ignatz in jail. Each of the characters was ignorant of the others' true motivations, and this simple structure allowed Herriman to build entire worlds of meaning into the actions, building thematic depth and sweeping his readers up by the looping verbal rhythms of Krazy & Co.'s unique dialogue. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Epic..all there is to say, oh and it;s great.
johns, can he ever do wrong? here we have so many characters, enemies, and yet he juggles it along with goyer like it was nothign at all, each character stands out, you get caught up in their struggles.

the story is this, in JSA 45-51 you get the darkness story, the terrorist cobra is on trial but a breakout happens, his people are on the move, the methods needed to stop him spktis up the team, just then the son of green lantern alan scott shows up, he has went insane, and teamed with the evil wizard mordru, they cast the world into darkness,this allows eclipso free run, they are now the prince's of darkness, a battle with be waged, father against son, team mate against team mate, chaos against order.

johns tells that very well, but we get more issues 52,53 tell the story of the new crimson avenger, a woman who has guns who control her, those with sins must die, and the JSA wildcat is the next victim, what can one ever do to find forgivness? how far is too far? johns explores all of this and really makes you wish you could see more of this new crimson avenger.

54 is a holiday special, in the first we see a nice low key issue the JLA and JSA meeting for thanksgiving dinner, see hawkman and green arrow fight over a turkey leg, see batman almost go nuts due to lack of action, it's all heartwarming, fun and funny.

then 55 is a christmas special, a very special one, the old guys go see a long forgotten member, it's a tale of christmas cheer and what a real hero is, what a real hero does to save those they care about.

if you like this then picks up the rest, they are all as good
JSA : Returns (mini series)
JSA: All-Stars (a mini series)
JSA vol 1: justice be done
JSA vol 2: darkness falls
JSA vol 3: Hawkman returns
JSA vol 4: Fair Play
JSA vol 5: Stealing thunder
JSA vol 6: Savage time
... Read more

Reviews (3)

GIL KANE's Spider-Man
This answers the question, "When exactly did AMAZING SPIDER-MAN as a series go completely to HELL?" No-it WASN'T when John Romita stopped inking. It WASN'T when Gwen Stacy was murdered (which, after all these years, it turned out it was John Romita's...idea). And no-it WASN'T even when Stan Lee stopped writing "his" main character!!! NO!!! It was when GIL KANE started DRAWING the [darn] book, THAT'S when!!! Kane's people are UGLY, his anatomy is AWKWARD, and his storytelling has NO sense of fun or humor about it at ALL!!! Most of these I'd never read before, and I got the book mainly because it was a CHEAP way to fill these huge gaping holes in my Spidey collection. MY GOD!! Reading these is like watching the 6th season of HUNTER. Sure, Dee Dee McCall was still there, but the whole tone, balance and focus of the show had gone terribly astray, thanks to Fred Dryer's massive ego getting in the way.

There's a few issues with pure JOHN ROMITA art, which are a joy to behold compared to the rest. (Romita plotted "Vengeance In Viet Nam" all on his own, it was his big Milton Caniff tribute!) There's also a couple near the end which had Romita pencilling over layouts by JIM STARLIN! But overall, the tone of the series had gotten very dark, downbeat and pessimistic. In a word-- unbearable.

For anyone who'd wonder why I have NO interest in reading ANY new Spider-books ever again, here it is. I have BOXES of the stuff in my back room, and don't have the time for that right now-and that's the GOOD stuff! To me, there are 2 and ONLY 2 Spider-Man artists who matter-- Steve Ditko and John Romita. Everybody else is just wasting their time trying to fill their shoes. 30 years is a LONG time for a character to be living off his past reputation!

Stan "the Man" Lee ends his run as the writer of Spider-Man
Volume 5 of the "Essential Spider-Man" covers the end of Stan Lee's run as the writer on his most famous comic creation. Lee wrote through issue #100, then Roy Thomas penned issues #101-104, Lee returned for issues #105-110, and then Gerry Conway (the man who killed off Gwen Stacy) became Spidey's scripter with issue #111. Spider-Man's artwork features some major revolving door action as well, with John Romita (Sr.) inking Gil Kane and then doing the pencils again, then Kane taking over with a different inker, then... (you get the idea). Anyhow, the cover is wrong because John Buscema does not do any of the artwork (brother Sal does some of the inking); it is Conway's name that should be there instead.

Anyhow, this volume includes several pivotal moments in Spider-Man's history: the death of Captain Stacy, the infamous Green Goblin/Harry Osborn on drugs trilogy where the comic did not receive Comics Code approval, and the 100th issue where Peter Parker decides to concoct a magic formula to take away his spider powers and ends up growing two extra sets of arms instead (talk about weird science, huh?). The Marvel tendency to try and be realistic pops up as well as Flash Thompson returns from Vietnam with a story to tell. There is a nice bookend effect to this volume, which begins and ends with Doctor Octopus. I know the Green Goblin is the most important of Spider-Man's villain (knowing Spider-Man's secret identity sort of makes that a moot point), but overall I think some of the best Spider-Man stories involve Doc Ock, and it is not just because of the similarities of their animal totems. Also includes in these issues are Spider-Man visiting Ka-Zar in the Savage Land and the first appearance of Morbius the Living Vampire (a character that I could never take seriously). But then there is the Gibbon, a "villain" so bad even Spider-Man laughs at him.

It looks like Volume 5 might be the last of the "Essential Spider-Man" series, although this is just a bad hunch on my part. After all, Stan Lee stopped writing the comic at this point and the key issues of what would be the next volume are currently available as "The Death of Gwen Stacy." I have to admit that I do not mind that these comics are in black & white; certainly this helps to keep this a remarkably inexpensive series and the strengths of some of these artists (most notably Steve Ditko) actually stand out more without the color being added. There is also something to be said for not having to take your comics out of their bags to read them (or for having to pay big bucks to go out and buy all these back issues). I am looking forward to picking up some more of the classic Marvel comics from the Sixties in this format.

Truly Enjoyable!! Tells the Original Storyline in Movie!
My only complaint is that the book opens halfway through a continued comic with Spidey battling Dr. Octopus that should have included the comic just before. I actually haven't finished reading this yet because I have been enjoying it so much that I don't want it to end! I have read a chapter or two (monthly issue) each night. After just seeimg the movie SPIDER-MAN, I bought this on an impulse. I found it fascinating to see the "real" story as told by Stan Lee of how Peter Parker felt about Mary Jane (MJ), and there is an exciting battle with the Green Goblin that explains much about that character. In fact, even the first storyline of how Peter became Spider-Man is retold. What made me sad, however, was to realize that the movie messed up a wonderful opportunity of bringing these "classic" comics to life and instead followed a mediocre script that was inaccurate to the early comics. No wonder I hate how Hollywood retells historical events just for "entertainment value!" Still, these are fun and priced inexpensively. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Weird, Weird, Weird
Even for a Vertigo/Grant Morrison title, this is strange.
First off I can tell you that if you are a fan of Vertigo or Morrison or Heavy Metal magazine, you will probably enjoy this. If you loved Alan Moore's Watchmen, or Frank Miller's Give Me Liberty you will almost definitely love it. And if you liked
The Matrix films there's a good chance you'll like The Filth.

As explained in the description, you have a regular, older-than-middle-aged guy who used to be a top agent in a top-secret organization known as the Hand. (Not Elektra's old employers; different comics company anyway) Now he's had his memory wiped and he lives quietly in England. Picture James Bond being brainwashed to believe he's a UPS driver in Des Moines, Iowa and you'll have a pretty good idea of what this setup is like. The basic premise of this episodic 13-issue collection is that the Hand takes care of all sorts of gnarly dangers to the world.
Ned Slade is an agent but he prefers the quiet life that they have made up for him, but now they need him back.
Among the other agents of the hand are a communist, human hating Chimp who can boast that he shot JFK.

Now that's the basics, but of course, nothing's ever basic in the world of Vertigo. Morrison tacks on some truly out-there stuff that is a bit difficult to understand, including a metaphysical breakdown of the fourth wall involving a spandex clad superhero who's tragically lost his way. Fans of the Doom Patrol will probably get this part -- I honestly didn't. A few re-reads may change that.

There are massive amounts of sex and violence. If the Filth were made into a movie, I don't know if it could get an R-rating. But the biggest stumbling block that readers may have is that by the 11th issue it just gets too murky, and the ending may leave some unsatisfied. But I will give it points simply for continuing to deliver the atypical, earth-scorching, rebellious attitude that makes Vertigo as valuable as it is.

The Hand Evokes
In an interview with Disinformation guru Richard Metzger, Grant Morrison claimed he had moved to Los Angeles to [sic] "change bull{-} into money, turn pure thought into pure cash." With Hollywood's recent trend of adapting the counterculture concepts Morrison excels at (recent examples including the plethora of debased Dick, the Matrix, etc.), the transitional move - physically and artistically - of this Glasgow native to the City of Angels probably seemed fortuitous at the time. And *The Filth* is, by all appearances, the hard(core) result of L.A.'s influence on this highly-assimilative pen-prophet: a po-mo epic of human frailty, sci-fi surrealism, over-ambition and gutter abandon, a metaphor-medicine for our junk-glutted species. Or so it attempts, at any rate.

It takes roughly ten pages for the story to erupt into utter weirdness. Before that mark we follow the life-pattern of one Greg Feely, a cubicle serf with a peculiar taste in pornography and a co-dependant affection for his cat Tony. One night he finds a naked black woman in his shower; he half-wittingly engages in a day-glo romp session with the vixen and Feely's 'para-personality' is stripped away to reveal his 'true' self, Ned Slade, a policeman - or, more technically, a garbageman - for the Hand, an underground organization which cleans up and disposes all aberrations, perversions, and social threats to the Status:Q. Unfortunately Slade is an amnesiac: due to a severe trauma during a previous assignment, he has regressed so severely into his Feely persona that he's now forgotten the details of his existence. . . or so he is told over and over by the mysterious minions of the Hand.

Like the Invisibles and other media of this nature, *The Filth* benefits immensely from a re-read or three (or, as I did, read the first four issues and start over) - information is given erratically, with purposeful intent, and certain visuals/dialogue will only make sense after one has progressed with the main text. Overall *The Filth* reminded me strongly of a Philip K. Dick novel, or more precisely a conglomeration of the Horselover's stranger entries like *A Scanner Darkly*, *Ubik* and especially *The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich*; the time-distortion/control-resistance/drugs/schizo themes updated with mainstays of 21st century pulp, particularly nanotechnology and the smirking post-modern deconstruction of genre boundaries (a literal deconstruction, in this case). Morrison is no copycat, though, and the Filth abounds with willful debauchery and overt bizarreness: a dope-smoking chimpanzee KGB assassin with a vocal distaste for human beings; nanotech I-Life existing upon a "bonsai planet"; brainwashed children compared to ants; and, among the more vulgar moments, a porn-star who possesses black semen of high fertility rate - a seed captured and transformed into a viral weapon by Tex Porneau, a film 'auteur' obviously based on Max Hardcore (the most overt L.A. reference in the book, IMO). Morrison tackles alternative dimensions, conspiracy theory, bacterial influence, identity crisis, comic-book critique (possibly a reaction to his stint on mainstream titles like X-men and JLA??), and much, much more in this kitchen-sink 13-issue series. But the question remains: does it _work_?

Unfortunatly, no. . . not quite. From a recent interview, Morrison states: "...The Filth can be seen [sic] a healing inoculation of grime. I'm deliberately injecting the worst aspects of life into my reader's heads in small, humorous doses of metaphor and symbol, in an effort to help them survive the torrents of nastiness, horror and dirt we're all exposed to every day - especially in Western cultures, whose entertainment industries peddles a mind-numbing perverted concoction of fantasy violence and degrading sexuality while living large at the expense of the poor of other countries." Yeah, I agree, Grant. However, while *The Filth* does bring up some nice points and climatic thought-caps to the wretched build-up of humanity at its nadir, Morrison neither captures the truly _worst_ aspects (censors wouldn't allow it, though any and all are easily accessible these days via the Pandora's Box that is the Net), and, more importantly, his revelations are too few, too far between, and too sparse in content to really make an effective impact. I blame the kitchen-sink approach. There is so much here to digest - not a bad thing in itself - but the side-tangent stuff tends to bloat and lessen the overall intent. The comic-book deconstruction elements are a good example, as they seem to me almost unnecessary. I understand what Grant was getting at here, in the metaphorical sense of perfect ideal/stasis superman vs. the corrosion of realty alongside the 'need for suffering' drive; I just don't feel he achieved it as well as he might have in so limited a space, so crammed a vessel. The art is nothing spectacular, either, very workmanlike and lacking most of the innovative framing and visual/symbolic depth of the *Invisibles,* although according to the author this was intentional.

It's difficult not to compare *The Filth* with Morrison's past conspiracy-theory magnum opus: when done so, I'm afraid this graphic novel really does far short of the mark *The Invisibles* set. But, as an artist myself, I fully understand and support the need to grow, to take a directional change. . . at least as long as it delivers in a new and interesting way. . . and this comic certainly does that in spades.

Four stars. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

A Classic Hero Improved on by the Creator
Having read some of the original Jack Kirby stories from the 1940's, the difference between those stories and the stories in this book are like night and day. While the original stories do have the rough feel and the original inspiration of the young master, the 1960's stories contained in this book are Kirby, whom I consider the principle writer of this series with Stan Lee only rewriting dialogue, at his peak. While his Marvel stories at that period contain his most famous works like the Fantastic Four and Thor which are awesome for sheer grandure and spectacle, it is Captain America that stands apart as his most kinetic work ever. Forced to work on a human scale with the relatively earthbound limits of the character, Kirby more than compensated with sheer action. Few other artists could show battles that were so wild with Cap regularly taking on dozens of foes at a time, or in single combat against the seemingly invincible, and yet, make it feel so believable that he would win in the end. Combine that with thrilling stories that serve as the perfect framing for the thrills that never feels like padding, and you have superhero excitement at its finest in its own manner.

Jack Kirby set much of the style of what superhero stories are like, and even if you think that that Kirby's influence has straightjacketed the medium, it is still worth seeing how the master did to get that influence, and if you read this book, you'll see why.

Volume 2: The final Kirby, the few Steranko, the first Colan
Apparently Brad Pitt has agreed to play Captain American in a movie that wil start filming next year, so it is time for Steve Rogers to get the summer blockbuster movie treatment. If the people writing the script or Cap's fans want to check out the glory days of the character Volume 2 of the "Essential Captain America" would be a good place to start because it contains both the final issues of "Captain America" drawn by Jack Kirby, the definitive Captain America artist for many, and the three striking issues drawn by Jim Steranko. Ironically, while the names of Kirby and Steranko, along with writer Stan Lee, appear on the cover of the book, it is penciller Gene Colan who draws over half the issues (#103-126 of "Captain America") collected in Volume 2.

The three main storylines of note in this collection are the Lee-Kirby epic where Cap and Shield take on the Red Skull and his Nazi minions, the Steranko issues where Rick Jones becomes a temporary sidekick and Cap regains his secret identity, and the Lee-Colan storyline where the Red Skull swaps places with Cap courtesy of the Cosmic Cube and the strip introduces the Falcoln in an effort to make the comic more relevant. There is also a complete issues devoted by Lee & Kirby to the origin of Captain America and one in which Cap is captured while in Vietnam. Of course, in the years ahead the Falcoln would become Captain America's partner and his name would become part of the title for the comic book.

I prefer these issues of "Captain America" much more than the "Tales of Suspense" days when the stories were ten page installments that cut off the story just as it was getting interesting (i.e., "to be continued"). It is not surprising that the art work is more impressive than the stories, because Kirby was arguably at his peak at this point: most of his issues start with splash pages of Cap bigger than life and in action. Steranko experiments with the comic book form, having pages with over a dozen panels, panels with multiple images of the same characters, and page without panels that are clearly influenced by the art of Salvadore Dali. Why more would you want for 12 cents? No wonder the issue of "Captain America" #111 was appropriated for the cover of this trade paperback. Colan might only finishing the show position in this collection, but he brings the same sort of fluidity to his artwork that he did with "Daredevil" and "Tomb of Dracula." Three different styles each working to tell the story of Captain America, "Living Legend of World War II."

kirby and kane
like most adolescents i grew up on comics and like most i left them upon my latter high school years.
i dont follow up on the comic industry but have memories of my two favorite comic artists; jack kirby and gil kane and a half dozen characters, one of which is capt. america.
sadly both kirby and kane are gone now and i have no idea what turns the characterization of cap has taken.
but, i purchased this at a used bookstore and recalled why i loved these two artists so much in the first place.
i prefer later kirby.
as he got older his style became more and more pronounced and one never mistakes kirby for anyone else.
in particular, his women were a class apart and from what i've read all of his women were based on his beloved wife.
his work had an almost cubist abstraction to it and what he did in his art was inimitable.
kane, on the other hand, was more elegiac in his rendering and he too had an instantly recognizable style. kirby seemed to draw his pop art sensabilities from the likes of fine artists such as picasso while kane seemd to draw from klimt and el greco.
looking again at cap,and his politcs and morales are pretty liberal, even by todays standards.
and that, is surprisingly refreshing.

Great artwork, but the stories don't work
Captain America goes up against vast super-scientific organizations who sport some astonishing weapons. This gives Jack Kirby a chance to draw some brilliant fantasy environments. His illustrations of high technology, while far from scientifically accurate, are a kind of mythical representation of the modern world.

However, it's hard to get around the fact that Captain America is an acrobat whose only weapon is his shield. He's really out of place in these stories. It takes the whole Avengers to defeat a foe like the Living Laser or the Swordsman, but Captain America can single-handedly topple an organization made of hundreds of men, all of them armed with sophisticated firearms?

A nice way to complete a collection
So there's no way I'm ever going to buy these as actual comics. Wanting to complete my collection, the "Essential" series is a nice way to read up on stories that were published before I was collecting. (Indeed, in this case, before I was born.)

This is cheaply printed and bound, (Mind you this is not necessarily a criticism) the B&W art starts to hurt your eyes after a few pages. Some of these stories are so badly dated that they're barely worth reading anymore.

If you're a fan, you need this, but don't expect any of it to surpass the mediocre. ... Read more

Book Description

The World's Greatest Comic Magazine - for more than five hundred issues, nearly every cover of Fantastic Four has boasted this bold proclamation.Forty years ago, writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby created a team of adventurers like no other that had come before.Now, Marvel Comics is proud to present the definitive guide to this groundbreaking title.Never before has the Fantastic Four's complete history been collected in such a comprehensive volume.This book covers it all, from their first days to the team's landmark 500th issue and beyond! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

This book is pretty good
i felt this book was pretty well done. if you are not familiar with spider-man history or marvel history, this book will be a little less enjoyable. but, if you are familiar with the history, this book is sure to entertain you. Peter reminisces( did i spell that right?) about his days in college and his short sad ending relationship with gwen stacy. Jeph Loeb does a great job...i felt he captured peter's thoughts and feelings quite nicely. Tim Sale's artwork makes you nostalgic. The story is drawn in a way resembling artwork from the 60s and 70s. Nice tribute to Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and John Romita.

Blue is right...
Being a fan of the Loeb/Sale team (I was swtiched on after Long Halloween), I was naturally excited to find out they were doing their own take on Spidey. After all, they had done a great job with Superman and Batman, so the Marvel icon should be a great read too right? Well...

The artwork was amazing, as usual, Tim Sale adds his own flavor in creating a very 60's pop art feel to Spidey Blue. Sale has always delivered top-notch American artistry to his comics. Loeb's exposition is smartly written, but then the book lacks that universal appeal that would grab readers almost immediately. Inasmuch as the aim is to bring out Pete's blues over Gwen's death, Loeb fails to focus on the actual death for any first-time reader to understand what happened. It would have been interesting to see how Jeph Loeb would approach this milestone moment of Marvel Comics. In the end, it made me feel pretty blue...

Emotional without the Emotions
I, for one, cannot understand what is going on with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. After being a part of some of the best stories to ever be written and illustrated, their work has become stale with no magic to them. It seems that this is mainly seen when they came to work for Marvel projects. It's not caused by the fact that the characters are not colorful or interesting, it's more along the lines of what premises of these characters life Loeb wants to delve upon. This started with Daredevil: Yellow and continues with Spider-Man: Blue.

The story begins with a Peter Parker talking to a handheld recorder and recalling the past, mainly his life with Gwen Stacy. Though this story is a sure tear-jerker, but it has been played over and over by many books out there and I have to admit, some were even better than this latest offering. I cannot think of what this latest addition provides for the Spider-Man mythos. We know that Peter loved Gwen. OK, now what? Nothing. I truly wanted to feel more with this book. I wanted it to touch me and make me think of how bad it can be to lose a person you love, but Loeb doesn't deal with that much. All he and Sale are interested in is showcasing as much of Spidey's rogue's gallery as possible. Something that might have worked successfully in Batman's books, but not here and not with the focus he had in mind.

I have to admit though, Sale's art is really great. I think he captured the essence of characters really well. He draws a beautiful Gwen and an attractive Mary Jane, but you still cannot beat the magic of John Romita. I'm impressed that he doesn't have that ghastly long faces that he had with his Batman characters. Sale worked his magic to its best and carried the story further.

When the book was coming, Loeb swore that the Blue was the premise and not a color theme that Marvel was working on when DD: Yellow came out. With the same team working on the upcoming Hulk: Gray, it makes you think who was speaking the truth here.

One of the best single volume Spidey stories ever!
Jeph Loeb crafts a brilliant retelling of a story originally created by Stan Lee, when he was at his storytelling best. Peter Parker, the classic beautiful loser, has two stunningly beautiful women infatuated with him, and he must somehow make a decision that won't cause him to lose any friends. In this deceptively simple story, Peter Parker struggles with many difficult questions. Is there only one true love? Is it possible to love more than once?
After seeing Tim Sale's recreation of the Batman villains (in The Long Halloween), I was eager to see what he did with the second greatest rogues gallery in comics, and I loved his versions of the Green Goblin, the Lizard, the Vulture, Kraven and others, as well as his glamorous representations of Gwen and MJ. It was a brilliant homage to the definative Spider-Man artist, John Romita Sr.

For Gwen Stacy fans only
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have built a well-deserved reputation as chroniclers of early chapters in the lives of iconic superheroes. Their two 'Batman' volumes, 'The Long Halloween' and 'Dark Victory,' are mystery masterworks. 'Superman For All Seasons' was so good that Loeb got hired to write for the 'Smallville' TV show.

Their work for Marvel hasn't been as eye-popping, though. 'Daredevil: Yellow' was pretty good, but for the most part, 'Spider-Man: Blue' left me pretty stale, and I think I know why. Gwen Stacy.

So many of today's comic pros grew up in the days when Gwen Stacy was the 'it' girl, Spider-Man's girlfriend, the woman he was meant to be with. Then, in a stunning act for comics of the 1970s, she was killed off. As those readers became the creators, a wave of Gwen nostalgia was kicked into high gear.

Problem is, I'm a child of the 80s, by which time there was a new 'it' girl, Mary Jane Watson. She was the love of Spider-Man's life. She was the woman he wound up marrying. But over and over again, the writers at Marvel seem to keep churning out these long, aching love letters to Gwen Stacy. I can appreciate her place as a character and as an important chapter in Spider-Man's history, but she's not a character I've ever really felt for.

Out of all these love letters, 'Spider-Man: Blue' is probably the best done. It's written well and Sale's artwork, as always, is beautiful. Any one of the covers in this series has poster potential. But for all that, it's just not for me. Gwen Stacy fans, this one is for you. As for the rest of us, I'm waiting for the days when Spidey fans who grew up with Mary Jane start writing the stories. ... Read more

Book Description

Divorce is tough for any teenager, but when your mother is a typical suburban soccer mom and your dad is a 300-foot-tall, city-trampling, battleship-devouring monster, things get even tougher. This is Duncan Rosenblatt's reality. His mom wants him to get into a good college, his dad wants him to go into the family business: namely, conquering the earth and ascending to his rightful place as king of all monsters. Featuring lots of extras, behind-the-scenes artwork by series co-creator Andy Kuhn and a pin-up gallery by many of today's finest funnybook talents, including Erik Larsen, Mike Wieringo, Keith Giffen, Derec Aucoin, Joey Mason, and Phil Hester & Ande Parks. ... Read more

Book Description

The century-spanning war between Midland and Chuder continues unabated. The two warring kingdoms, vying for supremacy, launch headfirst into what will become the final battle. Leading the Midland forces are the Band of the Hawk, lead by the charismatic Griffith, with the fearless Guts as his trusted champion. But should the Hawks triumph again on the battlefield, the war with Chuder may end, but the secret war within Midland may begin as those who seek to rise within the court see the ambitious Griffith as an obstacle to obtaining power. And nothing is more formidable than an enemy unseen! ... Read more

Book Description

Anotsu Kagehisa, master swordsman and leader of the rogue Itto-ryu dojo, has sheathed his blade for the moment to join in marriage with the daughter ofyet another dojo soon to be brought under his dark wing. But for a man of action, the formal traditions of feudal Japan can be just as tense and fraught with hidden agendas as the battlefield. And while Anotsu may indulge in a moment of peace, his enemies are not at rest, among them Rin, who has stalked him for years to take revenge for the murder of her parents. Anotsu had best make sure that if he stops to smell the flowers, he doesn't end up losing his head! ... Read more

Book Description

With his clean, distinctive art style and poignant storytelling, up-and-coming indie comics sensation Paul Hornschemeier has earned comparisons to and accolades from today's top graphic novelists. Mother, Come Home is Hornschemeier's graphic novel debut -- the quietly stunning tale of a father and son struggling, by varying degrees of escapism and fantasy, to come to terms with the death of the family's mother. The story seamlessly weaves through the surreal and the painfully factual, guided by the careful, somber colors and inventive pacing unique to Hornschemeier's storytelling. Mother, Come Home extracts almost tangible drama from the most tranquil of moments, making that which is unspoken in each panel easily audible, and almost uncomfortably experienced. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The wood between the worlds...
Phenomenonal book! The drawings are clean and crisp, but there is something about the way that the prose manages to be at once straight-forward and surreal that reminds me of Edward Gorey. Great, sad, compelling.

Seriously over-rated
Paul Hornschemeier can draw pretty well. His design sense and use of color is relatively evolved...but is clearly derivative of Chris Ware's. In fact, Hornschemeier is embarrassingly under the sway of Mr. Ware's work. He manages to capture certain superficialities, but none of the depth. Also, Thomas's ever-present mask in the story seems to be a trope stolen from Daniel Clowes's "Immortal, Invisible." These are great influences to have, but it's also an enormous Bloomian agon to overcome and Hornschemeier is nowhere near the task. This book bears the distinct mark of a gifted and intelligent young man who has not yet learned how to assimilate his influences into a style of his own...The major problem with this book though is its undernourished writing. Characters lack believable dimension. They fail to act or talk with the weight of any kind of logical motivation behind them (The teacher is overly grotesque in conception; NO ONE is that clueless. The nurse talks to Thomas in a way no one would ever to a young boy. The father/son motivations at the end are troubled.) You can see the gears shifting on forced plot devices (the phone conversations with the "Teaching Assistant"; The ending again.) The scenes in the mental hospital betray a serious lack of research (the sessions with the doctors are unbelievable.). Certain conversations between father and son are well done, but not consistently enough. The conversations at the end particularly don't work. I won't spoil it for those who wish to read it, but suffice it to say that it fails to ring true on almost every level...I seem to be the lone dissenting voice on this book so far, but I feel that hard-core fans of serious literary comic books need to be warned. This is obviously not on a par with the work of Ware or Clowes, but it also needs to be said that Hornschemeier is lagging behind his peers in age as well: Anders Nilson, Wayne Huizenga, Ariel Schragg, and Adrian Tomine (to name a few) are all still well ahead of him. I still have a certain amount of hope for Mr. Hornschemeier and think he may well end up being one to watch...but he's not there yet.

Best Graphic Novel EVER
This is the most beautiful I have ever read, and I really mean that. This is the sad story of a young, seven-year-old boy whose mother has just died and whose father is slipping deeper and deeper into an incredible depression and how the both of them, father and son, escape wherever they can to find solace.

Buy this book twice because the first copy will be ruined with your tears.

Stunning
"Mother, Come Home" breaks away any preconceived notion of what comic books are and takes you on an intense, emotion-filled journey. The art is subtly beautiful, the story is very powerful and you find yourself not only feeling for these characters but also wondering what your life could be if encountered with the same situation. Highly Recommended.

A perfect meld of pathos and insight.
If you are interested in discovering why the comic book medium is getting the same respect that more traditional media such as the novel and the short story enjoy, this is a good place to start. ... Read more

Book Description

This deluxe hardcover collects the trade paperbacks Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 1: The Fantastic and Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 2: Doom, plus a hefty helping of DVD-style extras. In The Fantastic, witness the beginnings of the Four - Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Susan Storm and Ben Grimm - super-hero icons for the new century! When high-school genius Reed enrolls at a secret government-sponsored school for the most gifted minds in the world, he unwittingly embarks on the journey of a lifetime! In Doom, Reed and his friends must learn to adapt to their amazing new situation. But before they can even begin to get accustomed, former classmate Victor Van Damme - who was transformed by the same experiment as the Fantastic Four - returns to exact his revenge! ... Read more

Reviews (8)

My Favorite in the Series
Wow, this is definatley the best of the series so far. Frist, Keitaro and Naru are left alone in the Hinata House while everyone else is away. Mutsumi invites them to come to Okinawa with her and things start to heat up between Keitaro and Mutsumi. But Mutsumi falls off a tree and hits her head on Naru's. Mutsumi comes down with amnesia and only remembers things from when she was five. She remembers Kei-kun and Na-chan, as her two best friends. Also, this is the time when she was in love with Kei-kun. Naru also recalls somethings from her childgood. As Naru finally relizes who the promised girl (or girls ;) ) is, her feelings for Keitaro are a little hard for her to deny anymore. Also, she finds that Mutsumi will always be her best friend FOREVER because of what she did in the past and in the present. But what will she do when she finds out Keitaro might leave on an expedition with Seta to the USA? What will Keitaro do? Will he stay or will he go? This manga also includes some other chapters, one where Su and Keitaro have their "first date" and guess who's back? Heyas! Its grown-up Su! Plus, Keitaro's parents want him back home! He says he'll be gone for 4 days but, it turns out to be a week? Just what is he doing there? Find out and buy this great manga!

The best book series......EVER!!!
This is the best book series of all time! It is well drawn and is REALLY funny! The story revolves around 2 consepts: Getting into Tokyo U(niversity) and keeping the childhood promise he made when he was 5 years old, and trying to balace the relations going on around him, and his own. This is a book that you can read over and over again. I say that you have to be insane not to buy a book like Love hina. It is also romantic from time to time. It is about 180 pages long. It is so addictive, I read an entire book in one night! Wether it is the firsst time reading an anime comic or not, READ IT!!!!!!!!

The importance of time- Or, how stubborness saves the day.
While you can certainly find a summary anywhich way you look, the most important thing that most leave out is development. All of the caracters you come to know and love definitly have expanded in the time between Volume 1 and now, which is all to the better. After all, doesn't everyone by now care whether "Kei-kun' and Naru finally _do_ get together? Especially after the "April Fool's" confession...

Excellent!
In this volume Keitaro, Naru and Mutsumi visit Mutsumi's parents. But the promise comes into play again. Just when they think they are about to find who the promise was made to, the only person who can answer that question (Mutsumi), comes down with a severe case of amnesia. Not to mention the fact that in order to try to get her memory backtehy have to act out one of her fantasies. That fantasy just happens to be where the two get married. But very quickly things start to become very realistic... And finally for the second half of his classes Keitaro decides to study abroad in America with Seta. Can Naru come to terms with her feelings yet? Find out in this volume of Love Hina!

Not quite what it could've been...
You have to realize that on the Love Hina scale, a rating of 3/5 stars means that I'll be reading this one 70 times over instead of 100. The book is still lots of fun, as is every book in the series, but #10 tries to squeeze in some new plot developments and revelations, but isn't quite successful in doing so.

The first half of the book deals with Keitaro, Naru, and Mutsumi's return to Okinawa, all part of Mutsumi's plan to get the two lovebirds together. An accident happens, and Mutsumi loses her memory. In order for her to get it back, Keitaro must pretend to marry her (I forget how this works exactly, but it's basically a plot device to make Naru jealous and uncomfortable). As Mutsumi relives her childhood, some long-forgotten memories resurface.

Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of Ken Akamatu's snippets of what really happened with the childhood promise. They were fun at first, but now they seem slightly jumbled and incoherent (a common problem with memories, but this is still a narrative here). I hope we get a full flashback before the series ends, because at the moment these glimpses aren't very satisfying. On the flip side, this particular glimpse offers a very touching moment in itself. And for those who have seen the anime, I'm guessing that if the wind-up doll doesn't actually appear in the manga, this is the inspiration for her story, since it ends on the same bittersweet note.

Another chapter deals with Su and her transformations into an adult when a red moon appears. This is another story arc that has been woefully underdeveloped. It worked fine in the anime, where it was given more development and the sci-fi/fantasy aspects of the series were played up, but so far in ten books we've only gotten 2 transformations and 1 more mention of Su's brother. I hope we get more with the last few books, but since those should focus on the Keitaro/Naru relationship and a new character, Kanako, I highly doubt it.

The last arc deals with Keitaro and his decision to follow his dreams and go with Seta to study overseas for half a year. This should've been the main focus of the book, as it will lead to events that further develop and change Keitaro, not to mention impacting the rest of Hinata House. However, here the development given is adequate, but could've been better. The Mutsumi arc should've been shortened to develop this one. As it is, Keitaro's decision comes completely out of left-field. Maybe this was the intention, but it didn't work for me.

Some important plot points in this one, but the execution could've been better. Still worth picking up, though. ... Read more

Book Description

Gemma is the bored, pretty second wife of Charlie Bovery, the reluctant stepmother of his children and the béte-noire of his ex-wife. Gemma's sudden windfall and distaste for London take them across the Channel to Normandy, where the charms of French country living soon wear off. Is it a coincidence that Gemma Bovery has a name rather like Flaubert's notorious heroine? Is it by chance that, like Madame Bovary, Gemma is bored, adulterous and a bad credit risk?

Reviews (2)

New take on an old classic
This graphic novel begins in Bailleville, Normandy with the death of 31-year-old Gemma Bovery.Narrated alternately by the French baker Raymond Joubert and through excerpts from Gemma's diary, Gemma's story slowly unfolds. The beautiful British decorator marries Charlie Bovery, becomes caught up in a dead-end career, and is reluctantly involved in Charlie's domestic conflicts with his ex-wife and children. She decides to flee her dreary London life, and she talks Charlie into buying a home in the rural French countryside. Small town life seems no better for her, however, as her charming country cottage develops water leaks and is infested with pests. She tries to escape her boredom through adulterous love affairs and a spending spree that causes financial problems. Joubert, her next-door neighbor, becomes obsessed with Gemma, spies on her, and becomes jealous of her lovers.

If you have any familiarity with French literature, the title "Gemma Bovery" shouldimmediately remind you of the Flaubert novel "Madame Bovary."And if that's not enough, the parallels in the two story lines should make it obvious that this is not mere coincidence.But this story is more than a retelling of the classic novel, and there are as many differences from as there are similarities to the original. It is a witty modernization of a timeless tale that satirizes the aspirations and foibles of the yuppie middle class as well as thecultural differences between the French and British. In no way are the similarities between Emma Bovary and Gemma Bovery subtly presented. Author Posy Simmonds revels in them through the observations and machinations of Joubert, who warns others of parallels between the two and tries to prevent Gemma from coming to the same tragic end as Emma did.

For a graphic novel, there is a lot of text. But the cartoon panels are interspersed with the text, diary entries, and snippets of partially translated French dialog in a wonderfully layered fashion and are rich in detail. There are twists in the story as the details about Gemma's death are revealed. Whether you have read the original French classic or not, and whether you are a graphic novel fan or not, this is a creative and entertaining story you will enjoy.

Eileen Rieback

Interesting Marriage of Art and Text
This may be best described as a novella illustrated with cartoon sequences that are more-or-less integral to following the story.For a graphic novel it is extremely text heavy and there is a good deal of redundancy between the "narration" text blocks, the diary text blocks, and the cartoon sequences.

The story is a comedy of manners of the "Bridget Jones" school rather than social criticism.Gemma, a frustrated young designer, marries furniture restorer "Charlie" Bovary on the rebound and moves from London to a French village.There her life begins to parallel that of the heroine of Flaubert's "Madame Bovary."However the similarity is really being played for laughs and the twist ending is almost literally a whimper rather than a bang, consistent with Simmond's easygoing cynicism.

Simmond's art is reminiscent of the late Will Eisner's, and there is a nice sense of observation in the depiction of place and character.An altogether entertaining read. ... Read more