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Continuing right where the first book left off,
The Cartoon History of the Universe II once again combines Gonick's superb cartooning with the lessons of history. Find out what Lynn Johnston, creator of
For Better of Worse, calls "a gift to those of us who love to laugh and who love to learn." Part II contains volumes 8 to 13, from the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome (and India, too!).
Book Description
Here's a new installment of the phenomenal bestseller that Publishers Weekly selected as one of the twelve graphic books of all time. Spanning ages and continents from Ancient India to Rome and China in A.D. 600, Volume II is hip, funny, and full of info.
B & W illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
From the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome.......2007-05-18
This is the second volume of Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe. The series tells the history of the world, in comic book form. Lots of bad puns are thrown in to keep things interesting. This particular volume focuses on India, China and Rome. This is a fun way to learn history.
my favorite of the series.......2007-02-06
Every book in this series is both funny and intelligent. Much of the dumb humor comes from getting the facts straight. Even small details like Galba jumping into his boyfriend's arms after learning that he has been declared emporer is from Tacitus.
This is my favorite by virtue of being about Ancient Rome, its rise as a Republic, the height of Empire and its collapse into the dark ages. The fact that he doesn't flinch from the more scandalous details (such as Tiberius' proclivities towards little boys) or skimp over some of the more interesting controversies of the time (Josephus comes off as a wily con artist) makes it that much more entertaining. And I also would have never read The Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire had it not been for this book. And trust me, Edward Gibbons rocks.
Besides, the Western History, Gonick also spends a great deal of time with Indian and Chinese history. One of the major crimes of our education system is the fact that this is all probably very basic material, but the best source for it is probably in a cartoon book. Still, it's a great cartoon book and you can't fault the cartoon book for the deficiencies in other educational venues.
The universe in comics... finally..........2007-01-25
Comics have no limits. Anything can get depicted with words and pictures. And, after Larry Gonick completes his "Cartoon History of the Universe" series, most everything will be. Over the past three decades Gonick has stretched modern comics from the purely fictional into the scientific and historic. He has cartoonified esoteric subjects that would bore most medieval scriveners. Snoozers like statistics, genetics, physics, chemistry (and the one exception, that great unmentionable - blush, blush - puritans look away quick!) come alive like golems to terrorize despisers of knowledge. These collections make learning palatable even for those with Beavis and Butthead mentalities. As such, that unobtainable indefatigable unreachable, almost paradoxical, oxymoron of oxymorons, the "educational comic," seems close to fruition and perfection. Somewhere an educator just gagged. Above all, as if turning the comics industry on its head wasn't enough, Gonick has undertaken his magnum opus: a multivolume chronological multicultural history of our known universe in cartoon form. Overachiever detector! Bzzzt! Bzzzzt!
Book I, volumes 1-7, of this pen and paper masterwork started with a BIG BANG and wormed its way to Alexander the Great's voluminous conquests. Book II, volumes 8 - 13, picks up where it left off, but not before taking a dizzying tour through India and China. Volume eight covers India from Harappa to the Bhagavad-Gita (with its eerie page length depiction of Krishna's "revelation" to Arjuna) and Ashoka with the origins of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism tossed into the cultural salad. Gonick also manages a stunning two page summary of the Mahabharata, the 74,000 verse Hindu epic creation poem. Only comics could pull this off. Volumes 9 and 10 grapple with the infinity of Chinese history. Court intrigues, gory wars, philosophers such as Sun Wu, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Chuang-Tzu, and a breakneck tour through the Hsia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties make for entertaining and brain bursting reading. Knowledge overload. Be sure to cool the brain often. These sections provide an efficient gloss of Chinese history up to 9 A.D. Then to Rome for volumes 11 - 13. Via a detour through the short life of Alexander the Great, King Romulus (after rudely impaling Remus on a sword) founded the city that still bears his name. That's what killing your brother gets you, apparently. Great morality tale there, indeed. Later, after love-starved Romans hauled off the Sabine women, one of Tarquin the Proud's cronies raped Lucretia ("Don't blame me! I never heard this word before..."). Out of honor she stabbed herself and Junius Brutus led the charge to overthrow the corrupt kings and initiated the Roman Republic. All was sort of fine until the Gauls invaded, (depicted here with various characters from Asterix), the Ides of March, and Caesar Octavianus took full power. The Roman Empire began. Book II ends with the fall of the Western Roman empire. Lots more happens in between, of course, but world history often defies even cursory summary.
One interesting interlude involves Jesus or, as the book calls him, "Jeshua Ben Joseph" ("Jesus" doesn't come along until the Greeks name Jeshua "Christ" or "Messiah"). Gonick makes brief mention of the Gospels of Mary Magdalene and even depicts the unmentionable. (Oooh! NOW you want to read it, don't you? Slobber! Drool!) Gonick takes a unique look at this pivotal point in history. His ultimate viewpoint emanates from the asides.
"The Cartoon History of The Universe" won't transform anyone into a historian. Information overload sags the brain quick and often. Chinese history in particular will seem like a blur. So much happens. Regardless, this series has the power, unlike most text-based histories, to suck any skeptic into the bizarre narrative that makes up human history. If nothing else, readers will get a good overview of just how varied, strange, violent, provocative, and sometimes cruel our past is. We're goofy creatures. No series has made this point better, or more humorously, or with better cartoons, than this one.
Great Service!.......2007-01-12
The book is really funny. It arrived quickly, with no hassle at all!
Great Book!.......2006-07-18
I teach 6th grade social studies and have found that these books are very popular as well as informative. In fact, I am replacing the ones I have because they are falling apart!
Average customer rating:
- Part of one of the greatest series of fantasy books every written
- Amazed
- Elven Star - Great Book...Not one to be skipped!!!!
- A decent second book
- Don't even bother, skip this and move onto 3
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Elven Star: The Death Gate Cycle Volume 2
Margaret Weis , and
Tracy Hickman
Manufacturer: Spectra/Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Fire Sea: The Death Gate Cycle, Volume 3 (Death Gate Cycle)
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Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle, Book 1)
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Serpent Mage (The Death Gate Cycle, Vol 4)
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The Hand of Chaos: A Death Gate Novel, Volume 5 (Death Gate Cycle (Paperback))
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Into the Labyrinth (Death Gate Cycle)
ASIN: 0553070398
Release Date: 1990-10-01 |
Book Description
On steamy Pryan, never-ending sunlight and plentiful rain have created a jungle so vast that humans and elves dwell high in the trees and only dwarves live anywhere near the ground. From the treetops the aristocratic elves sell weapons to the other races, whose incessant warfare sends a steady steam of profits and essential resources skyward. Now, generations of dissent and race hatred will not heal -- not even under the threat of annihilation at the hands of legendary Titans. Armed with little more than their wits and prophecy, an elf, a human, and a dwarf must unite to try to save the world from destruction.
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
Part of one of the greatest series of fantasy books every written.......2007-08-07
In this sequel to Dragon Wing, Haplo moves on to the second of the four worlds created by the Sartan, Pryan, the world of fire. But, things are working differently than Haplo ever expected. Doom and disaster are coming to those mensch (humans, elves and dwarves) he has found, and to make matters worse there's a crazy old wizard who predicted Haplo's coming and has proclaimed him the people's savior. Just what is going on in this strange world, and where are the Sartan, the hated enemies of the Patryns? Once again, something has gone terribly wrong.
This is an excellent book, part two of one of the greatest series of fantasy books every written. I first read this book when it came out in 1991, and every few years I read it again - it's that good! I love books that include elves, dwarves and wizards, but this series takes that genre and moves it in a direction you might have never expected. I love the fascinating worlds that the authors created, and also the interesting characters and institutions that fill them.
Overall, I think that this is one of the greatest series of fantasy books, if not the greatest. I highly recommend this book, and the other six that make up the series. Believe me, they are well worth your time!
Amazed.......2007-07-09
I have read the entire cycle twice and I do admit the after the exciting and exhilarating ending of the last book this one seemed to start out real slow. BUT then I realized that it is getting you in the mind-set of the unknowing characters before chaos comes to town. With all the excitement that all the other books of the series has it also has love, lust, and passion thrown in too! Again I must advise this WARNING - this collecting is addicting!
Elven Star - Great Book...Not one to be skipped!!!!.......2006-02-21
Like most people who browse Amazon, I like to read the reviews on whatever I'm looking at. While considering reading the Death Gate Cycle, I looked through the reviews. A lot of them said this was an "Eh" book and should be skipped. Reading reviews that say this made me a bit nervous about the series, but my friend (who had already read the entire series), pushed me to begin reading them. And I'm glad I did. I read Dragon Wing and immediatly went out and got Elven Star. But remembering all those reviews made me anxious about reading it. I read it, and as soon as I got into it I was so glad I read it and didn't skip it.
Elven Star takes place on Pyran, The Realm of Fire. Elves, Humans, and Dwarves live alone, avoiding contact with the other races, making contact only when needed. The main characters in this story (besides Haplo, who comes in later) are a family of Elves who sell arms to Humans and Dwarves. Rumors start flying around Pyran that some mythical creatures called "Tytans" are attacking and destroying cities to the North. The story then progresses and leads to a satisfying conclusion. The ending is a bit confusing, but it is all clarified in Haplo's letter to the Lord of the Nexus at the end of the book.(Sorry about the vague plot details, I don't believe in spoiling the plot for people.)
The story is not just filler, as some people say, because it provides some much needed answers to some questions opened up in Dragon Wing. It answers what the Labyrinth is and what the Death Gate is. The story is interesting and gripping as soon as you get into it. I'll admit, the beginning isn't WHAM POW WOW! shocking, gripping fast, but it gets the concepts of the story introduced.
Elven Star, although not as good as Dragon Wing, is still an excellent book, which should not be skipped if you enjoyed Dragon Wing at all. So please read and enjoy this amazing second entry in the Death Gate Cycle series.
PS: As always, read the appencicies at the end...They're important!
A decent second book.......2005-09-06
As you read along in the series and get to books six and seven, you get this funny feeling of nostalgia for a time in the series before all hell breaks loose and this book is it. No, nothing of any signifigance to the overall plot of the series is really brought to bear and it could be justifiably called 'filler' but if you're gonna read any of these books you should just read them all in the order they were written. Also, Zifnab is introduced in this book and he is far and away my favorite character in any book ever... but that's just me. Zifnab fan club anyone?
Don't even bother, skip this and move onto 3.......2005-07-30
First, I will tell you how to get the most enjoyment out of this series. Start with going to the library and renting all of these books. Do not buy them as they are not worth it. Then read books 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 without reading the footnotes or the appendixes. You have the option of reading books 2 and 5 if you are really enjoying the series, but they are only filler and do not even need to be skimmed. Finally, accept the fact that Weis and Hickman may only be one hit wonders and move on.
Second, I write reviews for those who seek good fantasy and not for the zealots who hang on every Weis and Hickman word. You would think from some of the reviews of this series that these books were greater than War and Peace and written by Bronte and Conrad. In reality, this series is not very good. I am not trying to trash Weis and Hickman, I found the Dragon Lance series to be extremely enjoyable and would give at least the first two series of that line four stars. This series deserves no more than 2 stars. The books are incomplete thoughts that may have been much better had the authors taken more time to flesh out the story. Beware of fantasy books that contain footnotes and appendixes. Usually, these are the telltale signs of poor writing. Having said that, I did manage to read most of these seven books and here are some thoughts.
Many reviewers have made a lot of the fact that Xar is actually tsar or czar. I fail to see the significance here. Xar is a ruler and a tsar is a ruler. So what? What I found to be much more interesting and ultimately distracting was the use, by the authors, of the word mensch. Mensch is a Hebrew word. It is not close to a Hebrew word, it is a Hebrew word. If you look it up, mensch means a person of integrity and honor. What are the authors trying to say here? That all people without ambition or power are full of integrity and honor. I read all seven books trying to understand the use of this word to no avail.
Not surprising considering the books are filled with errors and inconsistencies. Some of these errors and inconsistencies are no doubt addressed in the footnotes and appendixes, but it would take an additional seven books to address all the problems. I believe that most of these problems occurred because the authors did not take the time to complete their work. Perhaps they were pressured by their publisher.
Most of the characters are thinly veiled shadows of those characters from the Dragon Lance series. Only, these characters are not as interesting or as engaging. Part of the problem is that Weis and Hickman never determine where they want the story to go. They blur the line between good and evil, then they erase the line, then they re-draw the line in bold. In Dragon Lance, it was intriguing to see how the characters dealt with the discovery of the duality of their own nature. In this book it is just confusing.
Average customer rating:
- Graphic SF Reader
- Junk
- Wonderful
- Great Sequel, with some flaws
- a good read
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Universe X, Vol. 1 (Earth X 2)
Alex Ross , and
Jim Krueger
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 078510867X |
Customer Reviews:
Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03
The Celestial at the heart of the Earth is dead, and a war now rages on the planet. The human population is now mutated and empowered, and looking to take over from their guardian heroes.
Mephisto is at the heart of this, but Captain Mar-vell is leading a revolution, and looking to bring an end to Death.
Junk.......2007-05-24
This Book is an absolute worthless piece of JUNK. How it gets a rep for being some deep piece of Marvel philosophy is beyond me. It is the most RAMBLING NON SENSICAL COMPLETELY PLOTLESS piece of trash I have ever read...Believe it or not, fans of this work, philosphy doen NOT merely consist of a pair of people trading lines like "All meaning is thrown into question." and "Everything-ness is the same as nothingness." God. I thought I was gonna puke. Look, this says it all: There's a point in the story when Capt. America is killed. And, you don't care. Its boring! It doesn't even make sense! A buncha Pilgim Monsters are mad at him! They take im out! What an Epic Ending for Captain America. And of COURSE he hates his country. Sure. Pathetic. And at 384 pages, O GOD it goes on FOREVER! What a waste of my life!
Wonderful.......2004-01-09
I bought both volumes of Universe X without knowing Earth X was the first part of the story and proceeded to read them the second I got back from the store. I absolutely loved them. I imagine reading Earth X first would have illuminated certain areas of the story but everything was explained very well and I thought the story overall was great. I have always liked alternate reality comics, such as "What If".....Peter Parker hadn't gotten bitten by the spider?......Germany used the super soldier formula first?....etc.etc. So when I saw a huge graphic novel written and drawn by Ross and Krueger I had to get it.
While Universe X mentions in passing what happened to some of the more mainstream hero's and villians in Earth X so you don't get lost, I have to go out tomorrow and buy it to get a more detailed account. I recommend this highly! This series is wonderfully drawn and extremely well told. I found it to be entertaining and very enlightening as Krueger's story was at times very philisophical.
Also, since this story is very complex, a high level of knowledge of the Marvel Universe and it's characters is recommended.
Great Sequel, with some flaws.......2003-01-15
Actually it's probably misleading to call this a sequel; its not so much an all-new adventure as it is "Act II". The same trials and tribulations that took place in Earth X are still going on, its just now there are different players and goals. With Earth X, you probably thought every dark corner of Marvel Lore had been fully plumbed. You were wrong, as Ross and co, go even farther, bringing back lotsa characters the average Marvel zombie might have long forgotten (Gargoyle! The Micronauts!)
Like Earth X, Universe X (and this review applies to both volumes) is indispensible and you'll go back to it over and over again.
There are however two problems with the book: the big one being the artwork. It's not bad but a project like this deserves more majesty--something along the lines of what Ross did in Marvels. If painted pages would have been too costly, you would have liked to see some computer enhanced imagery as is so common today. You might have though Marvel would take a page from DC's books --when they've got a big deal story they get Ross the painter or George Perez or someone along those lines. But the art here is strictly run-of-the-mill; it's to the story's credit that it can rise above. I had the same complaint with Earth X, but at least there the drab, grim art complemented the story. Here, the art is too 'comic-booky'. The only part where this is good is in the Spider-Man 'flash-forward' scenes. (you'll see what I mean)
The other problem is the lack of reference material. If you don't own the complete run of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, or havent been reading Marvel comics for at least 20 years you could be hopelessly lost trying to make heads or tales out of this story. I'm grateful that they didn't stick
90 mutants in this epic, and also for the many in-jokes and sight gags, but some of the more obscure people, places and things deserve a footnote of sort so that younger readers wouldn't be completely left out.
Those objections aside, this is a worthy buy.
s
a good read.......2002-12-01
universe x has better art and is easier to follow than its predecessor, earth x. both are highly recommended though
Book Description
Where is the earth? Where is the sun? Where are the stars?
Now in a Dragonfly edition, here is an out-of-this world introduction to the universe for children. With earth as a starting point, a young astronaut leads readers on a tour past each planet and on to the stars, answering simple questions about our solar system. In clear language, drawings, and diagrams, space unfolds before a child's eyes. Colorful illustrations, filled with fun and detail, give children a lot to look for on every page and a glossary helps reinforce new words and concepts. A terrific teaching tool, Me and My Place in Space is an easy and enjoyable way to introduce the concept of space to the very youngest astronomers.
Customer Reviews:
Okay, but inaccurate........2007-10-01
I liked "Me on the Map" MUCH better. I ordered the space book because the map book was very useful in explaining the concept of map representation to my four year old. This book simply wasn't as good. It is inaccurate, also, as it includes Pluto as a planet, though it is no longer considered to be one.
Me and My Place in Space.......2007-04-01
This book is great! Excellent teaching tool. Engaging for children.
Great resource for home or classroom.......2007-02-14
I bought this book to introduce a unit on Saturn for my third grade class. When I first scanned the book I thought maybe I'd made a mistake and bought something beneath their level. Not so! I read it aloud to them & they loved it. They all wanted to take it home to read again.
Great non-fiction for young Children........2006-10-16
Great illustrations, and informative non-fiction for preschoolers. I am a big beleiver in improving young children's vocabulary through non-fiction reading. This book series will help keep your youngsters attention while you talk to him/her about the world around us. A couple sentences per page. If you want to read another science series with more reading and more detail, but still great illustrations try the "Let's read and find out science" series including "Why Frogs are Wet" and many others.
Wonderful for my 1 year old.......2005-12-16
My one year old daugher and I read this book at least once a day. She loves the illustrations-like the space suit with pop beads for the oxygen line. It is not too wordy, so she stays engaged, yet provides all the basic information about our solar system and planets. She can now identify the pictures of the moon and the earth by name and knows that earth is where she lives. An animal lover, she also likes that the cat journeys into space. My daughter and I often look at the night sky, and she knows the ASL signs for moon and stars. I think that is why she loves this book so much despite her young age. This is a wonderful introduction to basic astronomy, and has spurred me to order more books on space for us to share.
Book Description
Here is an inspiring introduction to the planets, the stars, the solar system, the whole wide, wonderful Universe. Hundreds of exciting, instructive experiments that show how the Universe actually works using everyday materials. For ages 8-14.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful illustrations, good presentation of information, poor experiments.......2006-01-08
It was very hard to rate the books in this series, How the Universe included. In many ways, the book is excellent. The concepts and information are presented clearly and accurately, often in much more detail than usual in late elementary/early middle school. This series is produced by Dorling Kindersley, and though the organization is different (two-page spreads but with illustrated "experiments" and explanations rather that lots of picture-factoids), a flavor of the Eyewitness books remains.
HOWEVER, there are no experiments in this book. There are projects and demonstrations, but not one experiment. About 1/3rd to 1/4th of the activities are written as demonstrations that could be make into experiments with an adult's guidence so that a child is led to hypothesis and to test his hypothesis through experimentation, but as written, none of the activities can qualify. The remaining activities are either demonstrations that can't be easily turned into experiments or are simply projects, like making a telescope or a sundial. Some of the activities are also made ridiculously complicated and lengthy for the amount that a student would get out of it. For example, instead of sticking a sticker on a ball and turning the ball in the dark while illumated with a flashlight to show how day and night works, the child skewers a rubber ball to make an axis, uses two pieces of posterboard to place the axis at the exact right angle, paints the ball like the earth, puts a pin where he lives, and FINALLY, after several hours, uses a lamp to demonstrate something that without all the cutesy overhead would take less than a minute. Sure, you have a neat little globe as a result, but you just spent several lesson times on an activity that should have been a fraction of a lesson! The learning from the activity doesn't justify the time spent on it. Not every activity has this problem, but enough do that the overall effect is to lower the quality of the book.
Quite simply, this book would be a great resource for a flexible, knowledgable homeschool or institutional school teacher, but its educational usefulness exactly as it is written is limited by its flaws. On the basis of its flaws, I would give it a 2, but because of its great usefulness for the knowledgable user, I'd give it a 5. A 4 is a compromise.
The main topics in this book are:
Spaceship Earth
The Moon
The Solar System
The Sun
The Stars
The Cosmos
"Not Another Science Fair!".......2000-03-28
Heather Couper has scored a coup in writing this fun and exciting book to help you and your child be successful in school science. We used this book as a guide to a curriculum we wrote for a private school here in Washington. The students used to cheer when I came in the room with the lesson of the week which always came with an experiment from this book. Science was exciting and I never had any discipline problems. When you can properly engage a student and take away the fear of failure, you have won. This approach helped all the students but was especially impactful for the students with learning disabilities who struggled with the written word only approach. Get excited about science with your children! This book removes all fears.
GREAT BOOK.......2000-03-27
This book teaches much information about the universe, from quasars to black holes. It has many, many experiments kids can use to learn about different planets and topics. Great book!
Book Description
The next chapter in the critically acclaimed and award-winning "X" trilogy! The Earth is in a state of civil war. Within, the demise of the Celestial at the planet's core has left the world a hollow Earth indeed, with a re-polarization process that will lead to the deaths of every man and woman on the face of the planet. Upon the world, the mutated populace of Earth now seeks to unseat the authority of the heroes who protected and served them in the days when they were only human. Leading them in this charge against the powers that be is Mr. Church - who, unknown to the masses, is Mephisto, the very devil of ancient legend. And in the wake of Captain America's death, the remaining heroes on Earth have rallied around the reborn Captain Mar-Vell and his crusade to bring an end to the power of Death itself. A crusade that will lead to a series of revelations that will unearth the secret of multiple realities, the lie at the heart of the Kree-Skrull War and the very nature of heroism itself. Collects Universe X #8-12, X, Beasts, Iron Men and Omnibus.
Customer Reviews:
There is a hole in the center of the Earth and guess who gets to fil it?.......2007-07-04
"Universe X, Volume 2" is the second half of the middle part of the "X" trilogy created by writers Alex Ross and Jim Krueger. If you have not read "Earth X" and "Universe X Volume 1," then you have no reason to pick up this trade paperback collection because you will be completely lost as to why Peter Parker is a policeman, T'Challa is half-man and half-panther, Thor is a woman, and dozens of other twists on the regular Marvel Universe. This volume collects "Universe X" #8-12, "Universe X: X," "Universe X: Beasts," "Universe X: Iron Men," and the "Universe X Omnibus." Now, the whole idea of the "X" saga is to really go out on a limb with the Marvel Universe, but by the time we get to these stories we are way out there and I do not think the branches are capable of supporting the weight.
In terms of what has happened in the first half of the "Universe X" story the big problem is that because the Celestial embryo is gone the mass of the Earth is reduced, which causes shifts in both polarity and orbit resulting in catastrophic climate changes. Meanwhile, the Tong of Creel is running around collecting the pieces of the Absorbing Man, Pope Immortus has founded a church advocating mutant rule, and Captain America ends up sacrificing his life to save the Mar-Vell child. In the wake of Cap's death, the superheroes that remain on Earth are following the reborn Captain Mar-Vell in his quest to bring an end to Death. At this point memories of various stories in which Death dies and human existence becomes much worse, immortality aside, and I am reading everything with one eyebrow arched. But killing Death actually matters more for the dead, who are still "alive" as far as they know, then it does for the living, who all have superpowers because of the Terrigen Mists that Reed Richards is trying to negate with his string of "Human Torches."
I read one issue a night in this collection to get a sense of each story on its own and re-create how it came out originally, where you could not race through the entire thing in one sitting. But by this time in the sage the weight of everything is achieving an escalating sense of pomposity (I only made things worse because every time I picked up this book my inner voice would announce, "And now more deep thoughts..."). Beyond that, the effort to account for seemingly everyone and everything in the Marvel Universe is complicating the narrative at an exponential rate. On balance, what was happening with the traditional Marvel villains (Loki, Doctor Doom, Thanos, etc.), was proving to be more interesting than what was happening with the heroes. Ultimately the focal character here become the Absorbing Man, and why it was rather intriguing that because of his powers it is Crusher Creel who becomes the most dangerous person on the planet. But when we get to the end game here and how the Absorbing Man becomes the solution instead of the problem, I was taken to the comic books of my youth where all sorts of outlandish things happened (albeit, not in the Marvel Universe, if you get my drift), which is not a good thing.
The "X" trilogy concludes in the two parts of "Paradise X," which will be republished as trade paperbacks in the future and I am going to see how this one plays out. Given what happens at the conclusion of "Universe X" I can readily understand how a paradise will need be created, and I hold out hope that I will better appreciate the direction Ross and Krueger take the story and their characters. I may well end up limiting my recommendation to just "Earth X" by the time I have read the entire saga, but I am not there quite yet. In the afterword to this collection, Ross revels in the carte blanche they had in these comic books to play with the characters in the Marvel Universe to their heart's content (and beyond). Once you buy into that idea I think you are ultimately doomed, because when it comes to alternative reality comic book stories I would once again take refuge in the commonplace that less is more.
Average customer rating:
- A Must-Have for hard-core Marvel Fans
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Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials)
Mark Gruenwald ,
Peter Sanderson ,
Eliot R. Brown ,
& others ,
John Byrne ,
Dave Cockrum ,
Bob Layton , and
John Romita Jr.
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials)
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Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials)
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Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Update 89, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials)
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Essential Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe Volume 1 TPB (Essential)
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The Marvel Encyclopedia
ASIN: 0785119353 |
Amazon.com
Marvel's late-'80s Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Deluxe Edition) was a wildly ambitious attempt to collect definitive biographical information on every single Marvel character. It's perfectly suited to Marvel's Essentials line: Since the series is intended more for reference than for reading cover to cover, the black-and-white lightweight-paper format isn't that much of a drawback, and the inexpensive price makes it affordable to collect all three 400+-page volumes. (The earlier non-Deluxe version is short enough to fit in one volume.) Volume 2 covers issues 8-14, and characters from Magus to Wolverine, with stops along the way for Man-Thing, Moon Knight, Shanna the She-Devil, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Ultron, and the Valkyrie among others. Yes, the information is dated, and these days you can probably find something similar on the Web somewhere, but this kind of nostalgia is exactly what the Essentials line is for. --David Horiuchi
Book Description
Full-blown infotainment marks the halfway point of the encyclopedia of the Marvelous - highlighting members of the Avengers and the X-Men, and most of the Fantastic Four! Iron Man! Luke Cage! The Punisher! The horrors of Hydra and the menace of the Maggia! Magneto, Mystique and more! Special Feature: mapping the mysteries of Marvel's Manhattan! Collects Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition #8-14.
Customer Reviews:
A Must-Have for hard-core Marvel Fans.......2006-10-03
Okay, so granted the info here is nearly 20 yrs. out of date, but it still is the paragon to which any and all comic book guides should strive to emulate. When Marvel undertook the Delux Handbook series they went didn't hold anything back. The history of even the most obscure characters is delved into with great detail, and the specs on all armor, wepons, etc... is beyond fantastic. Also, the section of each entry relating to the various powers or applications of weapons and armor and such are given great consideration; the authors do their best to give a logical and scientific explaination to each and every one of these subjects, as well as to how said individual got their powers or skills.
I can't say it enough, NO bit of info was deemed too mundane or irrelevant to leave untouched... and the scope of the material covered goes above and beyond the major players of the Marvel Universe. Granted, not EVERY SINGLE last person, place or thing is covered, but they went as far as possible to do so, and no other source book for any single form of writing in the genre has ever been as grand in scope and detail; the more recent Marvel Encyclopedias, although fun and more up-to-date are nothing like the Delux Handbook series, and only the volumes focusing on the Fantastic Four and Spiderman even come close to this land-mark achievement. Also, the wealth of artwork presented here is stunning, though not all of it is the best, the people who put this together did a great job of covering the entries at their best representations over the years.
In this, the 2nd volume (of three, though there is one that came before, the non-delux, and one that is due out that served as a late-1980s update) the latter half of all things marvel from "M" (Magus) to "W" (Wolverine) are covered.
If you happen to have any of the "prestige format" reprints of the series, it might still be worth it to you to pick up these volumes, as those books, which were reprints of the orig. series but collecting 2 issues per volume and on better quality paper, left out several entries per issue that are found in these "Essential" reprints.
There is little to nothing to say that is bad about this series, but I will give a few "constructive warnings" to those interested in buying the series.
1. The reprints, like all those in the "Essential" reprint line of Marvel Comics, are not in color and are in black and white. Personally, I prefer the black and white over the color versions, as it gives it the nostalgic feel that to me makes it all the better.
2. The appendix to the series directs the reader, many, MANY times to appendix entries that will never show, namely any and all refering to any characters, objects or teams simply do not show up, ever, in the appendix of any of the issues. It is possible this was remedied in the late-'80s update, but I never got those when they first came out so I can't say for sure. However, the appendix of alien races, seen in the 3rd volume of the Essential reprints, does not dissappoint.
3. As I said before, this series came out nearly 20 years ago, so if you are looking just for up-to-date info, this series is not for you (and due to the short-commings of the more recent Marvel Encyclopedia hard-backs you pretty much will have to rely on the internet for USEFUL current info., and on-line, its all free!)
All in all, I highly reccomend this volume and the 1st and 2nd to any and all Marvel fans. I randomly picked up and issue of this series in the '90s, and its what truly sold me on Marvel Comics when I first started out. Even then the series was about 10 yrs out of date but it was a big help in getting into Marvel regardless.
Book Description
Sam is getting nervous. The Big Test is coming. The older kids claim that the Big Test booklet is as huge as a telephone book. They say that when it's over you have to put your arm in a sling. "Nobody finishes", they tell Sam. Are they telling the truth? Can this really be the biggest test in the universe? Nancy Poydar helps take the terror out of test-taking in the humorous and assuring picture book for students facing their own Big Tests.
Book Description
Planet Earth is in the Milky Way Galaxy, the cloudy band of light that stretches clear across the night sky. How many galaxies are there in the universe? For years astronomers thought that the Milky Way was the universe. Now we know that there are billions of them. Gail Gibbons takes the reader on a journey light-years away.
Books:
- Charlie Bone and the Time Twister (The Children of the Red King, Book 2)
- Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit of Hope, Healing and Forgiveness (Chicken Soup for the Soul)
- Child Care Design Guide
- Corals: A Quick Reference Guide (Oceanographic Series) (Oceanographic Series)
- Dan Dare: Project Nimbus (Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future)
- Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest
- Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR Fourth Edition (Text Revision)
- Duty, Honor, Country: A History of West Point
- Fish! Sticks: A Remarkable Way to Adapt to Changing Times and Keep Your Work Fresh
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