Review by Ryan Schafer

Wow. This is pretty much purely awesome. I had my doubts about a graphic novel translation that preserves ALL the original text... I thought the pages might be excessively wordy and that certain text and image combinations might prove incredibly redundant. But I never got that feeling when reading this! It is maybe a little more dense than some other graphic novels, just because there is a lot to read. But it never seemed excessive to me. The art is beautiful, and makes Dick's dystopian future very easily imaginable. The writing, is of course, brilliant. The dialogue is sharp, smart, and thoughtful, the descriptions beautiful, and the setting is further illuminated by the images in this "illustrated edition". So many social issues are adressed that are perhaps even more relevent today than when Phillip K. Dick first published the book. As much as I enjoyed Blade Runner, there is a lot more depth here. Already, (and this is only the first of many volumes) we have a deep character study of Rick Deckard and his wife and a portrait of their troubled, subversively complex domestic life. All the technology seems eerily relavent to modern social issues: a machine used to control and moderate emotions (psychiatric drugs?), mechanical animals for those who can't afford real animals, since it's unethical not to care for an animal (being humane is really more about social image). Although it might seem that a single book drawn out into 24 issues would be slow moving and dry, the rich dystopian setting and the complexity of the characters creates enough intrigue to keep things interesting. Right now, we only have the first two volumes at the alt lib. I would encourage anyone looking for a good read in the Sci-Fi realm to check this out. If you like it (which I think you will) put in a vote for Vol. 3 in our request list.

Review by David Zhang

I used this book during my Natural Building internship. It has awesome examples of how patterns in human built environments influences social interactions and affect our quality of life. Highly recommended

Review by Ryan Schafer

It's been a while since I read this book, but it's been a favorite of mine for a long time. The world it takes place in is original and with fascinating allegorical possibilities. There is no black and white "good and evil" in this book, not in the way they're usually represented in epic fantasy. This world is divided into Order and Chaos, and Lerrin finds himself stuck in the middle. It's sort of a coming of age story, and I think part of the reason that this book always appealed to me so much is that I felt I could relate to the main character. I would recommend this book to fantasy readers tired of Tolkien-derived worlds, and to anyone who loves a good, meaningful story with likeable, accessible characters.

Review by Strangely

A world of yes! I've always maintained that Hellboy, though awesome in every way, is not necessarily the only interesting thing going on in his universe. This book is the proof in that pudding! Mignola has created a vast and rich comic book universe that almost feels like ours, and yet different. This is my personal preference for fantasy storytelling of any kind, that's why I like "Harry Potter", "Fables" and "American Gods." Instead of investing a huge amount of time in 'World Building,' a practice which often simply descends into 'world copying.' The greatest modern example of this would be George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series; anyone who thinks the Dothraki are an amazing creation has never bothered to google Mongolians. Granted there are some minor changes, and dragons, but I'm sure the main intent of my point is understood. The B.P.R.D. series picks up where the Hellboy series Conqueror Worm left off, and honestly it's a wonderful moment to begin. The bureau is falling apart without H.B. as a clear figurehead and conscience, Liz has been gone for years, and it's up to Abe, Kate and Roger to hold it together. Into this volatile mix comes Johan Krauss, who has one of the most badass powers in all of comicbookdom, I won't spoil it, but when this guy comes unhinged, I'm pretty sure even The Batman would wet his trousers. The art isn't drawn by Mignola, but that's hardly a bad thing, the artists for Hollow Earth, totally get the style of Mignola's world and have found a way to make it their own. The color palette remains intact, as do a hundred tiny details like peoples fingers and the shape of Abe's gills. The only thing keeping this from getting a perfect 5 Star review from me is the inclusion of a backup feature about Abe and a new agent exploring a ghostly occurrence in the Mid-Atlantic. I'm not sure who did the art on this, but it is, frankly, awful. There is a warthog demon thing, that if Mignola had drawn it half in the darkness would have been something curious and vaguely sad. Instead we have a roaring, spittle flecked, technicolor monstrosity, that just feels, well campy. Something like that is wonderful for a Buffy Monster of the Week episode, (Or an episode of Mighty Ducks) but honestly I felt nothing for this beast. That is one of the genius things about Mignola's monsters, they are often genuinely sorrowful creatures. The last of their kind who are finally coming up against the wall of the modern world, which inexplicably is being championed by Hellboy's massive stone hand and Abe's freaky gills. More than once these things have moved me to tears as I see them weep for their past glories, not so with the Pumbah-demon. All in all, I wholly recommend this book, not only for fans of Hellboy, but also for those curious about good modern fantasy, who aren't yet ready to sigh on with a 7 foot tall, bright red demon.

Review by Jasmine (Jammys) Chang

Hard to put down. I love how bell hooks' writing is personal, political and poetic all at once. Her stories are honest and raw, which is at times unnerving, yet poignant and powerful. As a reader, you get a sense of intimacy and trust.

Review by Helios Wilson

This is an Amazing Comic. Dash Shaw, has a rather scientific approach that I find very appealing. The use of a grid based map allows the reader to know where (physically) any part of the story is taking place. The art is so wonderfully, calculatedly diverse. The People intertwined by story are rich, like multilayered cake. Also, damn, there are some incredibly funny moments in here. Tragic Ones too, but what rules it all and gives it power is the sense of realness in the dialogue and events. Also some really complex intercolliding planes of existence and altered states. Way back when, I read this comic as it was written, on the Internet. It is very pleasurable to absorb it in the paper form, a well bound, appeasingly designed package.

Review by Helios Wilson

OK, so Brandon Graham has great style. His art is gently treading the line between complex and simple, striking that perfect balance of presentable readability and dense explorabilty. I Just love looking at the art. The Story Itself is rather pulpy, which is fine, I guess, although a bit disappointing. It's kind of like an action movie, and I felt as though though story built in intensity and then collapsed into it's own hollow core to some degree around the end. Nonetheless, I was entertained, and inspired by the art. Also, Lotsa cool supplementals including guest comics in the back and a board game in the middle.

Review by Helios Wilson

Are Your Eyes Hungry? Tired of looking at carpet and street signs? Try Art Forms In Nature! Filled to the brim, with amazing renditions of plants, protazoa, animals, sea sponges, seed pods, mushrooms, you name it. When your eyes are full, try letting some of those painstakingly, detailed drawings out through your own hands. What I'm saying is, this book is great inspiration for art of your own. Or just the simple Meditation of ingesting beauty. This is the colored version, by the way, which is at least 80% better than the Black and white edition. Don't deprive yourself, look at this book!

Review by Helios Wilson

what a fricken' frackin' cool book! You might remember Pinocchio, if you don't : Whatever, you still run the large risk of enjoying this book. If you Do : Watch as the picture in your mind gains incredible and malevolent depth. The Story shatters into many delightful fragments, each following a characters spin through space and time. Beautiful Drawings, Lush Colors, Spiraling Styles, Violence, Sex, Radioactive Waste, Spectacular!

Review by Helios Wilson

A man's Journey through the fright, shame, degredation, inebriation and eventual liberation that courses through him as he wrangles with Herpes. Though I was often amused, this book made me feel pretty bad at points, as though I was very personally experiencing this mans aliments. I almost didn't finish it, My hypochondriatic nature assuring me that I too was infected, but I'm glad I did. The redemption at the end made me feel a lot better, and as a whole, educated and entertained. The drawing style is well sharpened and conveys much that the text only hints at. yay.

Review by Helios Wilson

Holy Damn. This is a very effective Comic. Jim Woodring wrings much content, both mechanical and emotional, from simple drawings with very minimal wordage. The Story's herein echo archetypical. They dance Elegantly, captivating anyone willing to look a bit deeper. The characters gain surprising depth, though no real lasting consequences incur. Morose, Diverse, Sacred, Spectacular.

Review by Kyle Beckhorn

Get ready to experience "Doc" a private investigator (our main character), as he tries to find out what happened to his kidnapped ex-girlfriend... she just happens to have been plotting to steal money from a rich home developer, who has gone missing with her... This is a great story that takes place in the greater Los Angeles area in the 1970's. Lots of surf rock, marijuana smoking, and acid dropping hippie scum as the L.A.P.D. call them...

Review by Tony Flores

Review by Tony Flores

Review by Tony Flores

Review by Strangely

This lovely little book is framed as Marco Polo telling stories of his travels to Qublai Kahn. At the aging king's request Marco details the fantastical places he has seen, and yet we quickly get the picture that these are not real cities at all. Vast landscapes of dream and emotion are painted by Calvino in the short chapters of this book, as one after another we visit places that exist, not so much in reality as they do in our own hearts. This will only take you about two hours to read, and you'll instantly want to read it again. Better yet, read it aloud!

Review by Strangely

I wasn't sure what to make of this book at first. It's one of those things that's firmly decided to walk the line between fantasy and science fiction for the time being and we the audience just have to deal with that. If you can get past the sheer wonkiness of the concept what you have is perhaps the first truly midwestern apocalypse story in comics. I grew up visiting the midwest every summer with my family and these landscapes are as part of my childhood imagination as they clearly are of Jeff Lemire's. The story is a simple concoction that echos Cormac Mccarthy's The Road and Mel Gibson's Mad Max as readily as it does Carnivale and The X-Files. We don't learn much about the world Sweet Tooth is inhabiting at first, but it certainly grabs you from the get-go. The Apocalypse is long over and humanity is barely hanging on, in the middle of all the madness as the icing on the cake, you get children who are being born as half-animals. (Now that's a pretty big pill to swallow, and I must admit I had three false starts getting into this book but I'm really glad I did.) These hybrids are the only ones who are immune to the strange virus that has killed most of the human population, and thus, may be the key to salvation for the survivors. As such they have become the target of a small holdout of the American Military and a few scientists. This volume barely get's Sweet Tooth off and along on his journey but it left me hungry for more. Check your predispositions at the door and dive into this one, you'll be glad you did!

Review by Strangely

Okay, where to start on something like this? On the one hand, the entire narrative is penned by one of my favorite living British authors and thus I can recommend the entire 10 Volume saga (and some of the ancillary materials) heartily and without question. And yet... One of the selling points of this series has always been a point of contention with me. Every issue/arc (sometimes artists return) is illustrated by a different artist, and the results are (while always a cut above average) predictably, all over the map. In some ways this is a wonderful thing, as it got me reading funnybooks drawn by people who's work I probably would never have encountered, and yet, these books lack the cohesion and depth that can be achieved by a truly collaborative effort between artist and writer. In some ways this sort of process makes the characters seem a bit less grounded, which I guess works for a series about the Lord of Dreams. Aesthetic Quibbles aside, this series is a must-read and a truly affecting, emotional journey. This first Volume finds Dream of the Endless trapped in a magical prison by a sorcerer in England for a human lifetime. Eventually he gets out and, boy howdy, is he ever pissed off. What follows is a whirlwind tour of the universe he's going to inhabit for the forthcoming series, as Dream collects the accoutrements that were taken from him during his imprisonment. With stops as varied as Constantine's L.A. and the Justice League watchtower as well as Hell itself it's hard not to get swept up in the grandeur and scope of it all. We also learn that as one of the Endless, Dream has responsibilities which must not be neglected, and dire consequences have arisen in his absence, consequences which will resonate throughout the series till it's final pages. Also included in this volume is the first Sandman "One-Shot" in which we meet the sorcerer's original intended victim "Death." She is Dream's older sister, and the artistic choice to portray her as a cute, punky Goth chick may seem to instantly date the series to it's late 80's origins but give Gaiman some credit for making her THE Goth Chick. Somehow Death and Dream, in a fashion that was never quite right with the rest of the Endless in later books, transcend their appearances and portrayals to become archetypes totally fitting of the intention of the stories. This little tale, more-so than the four issue series that preceded it, really sold me on what this series was going to be, epic yes, but even more so it was going to be emotional.

Review by Gavin Ray

It all started with a sword that he wasn't yet ready to hold. Finding the sword involves a long hike through Northern Spain, with everything from demons to Knights Templar adding to the adventure. In this book, Paulo Coelho allows us into seemingly very personal parts of his life and religious undertakings. He is humble, shameless. It is with ease that he tells about how he came up short along the way, and what he learned from the process. It is apparent that he truly wants us to to learn from his experiences; and from reading this book, it might even be possible.

Review by Strangely

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! Hellboy's story returns to the main thrust of things in volume five and we get out first look at Lobster Johnson in the main continuity. This time H.B. is teamed up with Roger (The Homunculus from earlier volumes) to check out what appears to be the return of a Nazi space probe launched decades earlier. Along the way he encounters the wacky badass Lobster Johnson from a generation earlier as well as some shape-shifting alien assassins, a cyborg Gorilla and of course Nazis! This is by far the most fun outing with Hellboy yet, and it feels like Mignola has finally locked in all the elements. We finally get some really great discussions of what it means to be a person, as Hellboy stands up to his bosses on behalf of Roger, eventually leaving the bureau as a result. This is Hellboy finally and truly embracing his humanity to the point that he's actually pointing an accusing finger back at the rest of us and making us really question just exactly what that means. Grigori shows up unexpectedly as does everyone's favorite Russian witch-queen and the results are awesome as you'd expect. Not only that but the titular Conqueror Worm is loads of fun, and for once H.B. isn't the one delivering the Coup de Grace, which is a nice change of pace. Also back is the Psychotic Nazi head-in-a-jar and this time he's got a body, so there is again, much more fun to be had. The shock belt sequence about half-way through the adventure is probably one of the most enjoyable "you know Hellboy will break out soon and lay the hurt down" sequences of the entire series thus far. This book is a fine example of what Hellboy stories can be, packed with humour, thrills and some truly touching moments of introspection. I can't recommend this one highly enough, read it, thank me, read more, the dark days are coming for H.B. and I'm along for the ride!