Where were YOU on the morning of September 11th, 2001? I was at work when Howard Stern reported that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. Having been born and raised in The Bronx before moving to Rochester, N.Y., my workday immediately ended as I focused my full attention on Howard's show; He became my only link to the city I loved and would always call home. Later on came the TV reports and the images that will never leave my mind, but for those first few hours, I sat listening in shock as the man who makes me laugh every workday became my only connection to family, friends, and loved ones who were suddenly living in a war-zone.

9-11: Emergency Relief is a benefit book that is filled with true stories from September 11th. They range from touching, to infuriating, to thought-provoking, and the list of creators reads like a who's who of Indy Comics: James Kochalka, Will Eisner, Tony Millionaire, Harvey Pekar, Tom Hart, Joyce Brabner, Ted Rall, and literally DOZENS of others. Besides being entertaining, and raising money for the Red Cross, the book fulfills another important purpose: It stands as a reminder of a day we must NEVER forget. God Bless America!

Easily the best of the comics industry's myriad responses to the tragedy of September 11th, this book gets down into the nitty-gritty of human experiences and reactions to tragedy. No superheroes. No larger-than-life expostulation. Just real people - talented artists - telling amazing stories. Higlights include Gregory Benton's "Treasure," an untitled Hutch Owen story by Tom Hart that manages to toe the fine line between rage and sentiment and "Citadel Of The Night" by K. Thor Jensen and Chris Knowle. Honestly, though, the book is so full of great material that nobody should be without it.

After the September 11th terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and in the skies over Pennsylvania, some 50 graphic novelists and cartoonist ranging from such legendary names as Will Eisner and Harvey Pekar, to newer talents such as Frank Cho and James Kochalka, came together in a very special project as a way of expressing their grief, patriotism, and support of the American people in the face of naked, lethal, ideologically driven aggression. The result is 9-11: Emergency Relief, a powerful graphic novel. The proceeds will go to benefit the American Red Cross. Simply put, every school and every community library in the country should acquire a copy of 9-11: Emergency Relief for the edification of their students and their patrons.

If you have ever entertained the notion of trying to slow society's slide into stupor by giving your take on things some sort of voice, this is a great manual for using radio as your format. The format, as an iluustrated guide, takes on the feel of a Boy Scout manual or some other type of DIY instruction. and you can't beat the price.

Ira Glass' walkthrough of producing his show "This American Life" for NPR is boiled down to a primer on first focusing on the work to be presented, then the techinical aspect of broadcasting it - an itemized list that can be applied to nearly ANY endeavor with a little metaphorical flexibility.

Jessica Abel is a very competent caricaturist and graphic artist, whose presentation of a very technical (and occasionally wordy) subject matter added greatly not only to the understandability, but made it an enjoyable read and browse. I pick this up and look at it all the time.

I have to give it four stars because it's not really for every body - BUT! If you are thinking of doing radio because you love it and you can't imagine not doing it (because there's no money, apparently) this is a great map to set you on your way, and a sensible guide to assembling tools and techniques. If you are a fan of "this American Life," maybe this is the final factor in your own transition from radio listener to radio contributor.

The use of the comic book medium to portray the production of one episode TAL is uniquely informative. Not only does this book explain the essence of TAL, it also inspires the reader to sinthesize TAL with his/her own ideas to bring thoughtfull brodcasting to local radio.

'This Americian Life' brings new perspectives into the the mind of listeners every week on NPR. Buy this comic to get a new perspective on 'This Americian Life' itself. Jessica Abel wonderfully illustrates the process of making this weekly radio show.

Someone had a great idea with this book, but it was ruined by the legal dept. and higher-ups. First issue is the cover. It was supposed to be by Daniel Clowes (who is actually a talented artist) but was rejected because it was too deconstructive of DC's heroes. (You can find the black & white version on the web, just run a search.) And on into the book, which has an embarrasingly contrived "wrap-around" story that is filled with obscure DCU references and was done by half-a-dozen different "creators" -- essentially, it's mainstream. Some of the stories are good, but they could have been a lot better if the authors (talented cartoonists themselves) could have illustrated their own stories. Essentially, no one working on DC's major characters can write and draw his own story unless he has incorporated himself, because of character ownership and other legal issues. Another nail in this collection's coffin right there. All but one of the stories is in color (another nail) and much of it was colored by in-house DC colorists (another nail).

HOWEVER, there are two or three stories in here that are definitely worth reading. Better make that two. I'm talking about HAWKMAN by James Kochalka/Dylan Horrocks (art, letters, color by D.H.) that is wonderful with a wonderfulness I can't begin to explain -- just READ it, it's so heart-warming and funny and beautiful and i don't know what else. And then there's BATMAN by some writer and TONY MILLIONARE who draws the "classic batman style" in glorious *black and white* (actually black and sickly green) and it's wonderful.

There are some other nice stories in here, but those two are the only ones that really hang together and work well (and have ONE artist).

Anyway, this book will probably blow away people who've never read a good alternative comic, but for me it's not so impressive. Do read those two stories I mentioned, though.

peace out -- yakov.

Bizarro Comics presents a mixed bag of stories featuring DC's most famous characters, as portrayed by a stellar array of alternative comic's best Writers & Artists. Unfortunately, most of the stories aren't up to snuff.

The good first: Artist Stephan DeStephano's Bizarro is soooo freakin' weird, I just couldn't stop chuckling every time he appeared. And he appeared a LOT, but more on that later. Writer Chris Duffy gives Bizarro such a freaky speech pattern that the laugh quotient is high, at least in the framing story....As for the shorter stories, Wonder Girl Vs. Wonder Tot was adorable, The Silence of the Fishes and The Man Who Cried Fish (Both starring Aquaman) were hilarious, the Batcave story was touching, and the Sidekicks trying to start their own Super-Team was weird and wild. The coloring and production values in all of the stories were GREAT, and DC really serves up a georgeous package at a reasonable price. There's a lotta bang for your buck...

Now the bad: Some of the stories were just plain stupid (The Wonder Woman goes shopping story), and others were amateurish (Hawkman saving a kidnapped egg...), and the framing story, while funny and enjoyable, is WAAAYYYY TOOO LOOOONGGG!!! It's over 80 pages by itself. Why?? And why is Matt Groening taking credit for the cover that was clearly drawn by Bill Morrison?

Overall, it's a beautiful book, with a few very good stories, and I'll recommend it for those reasons.

The variety of storytelling styles by the dozens of creators who worked on this book almost guarantees that no reader will like every single story (or, conversely, hate every one). The types of humor vary widely also: there's MAD- and PowerPuff Girl-style parodies, Ren-and-Stimpy-type weirdness, also some outright slapstick. The Kyle Baker story reads exactly like a Chuck Jones cartoon. One of the Aquaman sketches reads like Spy-Vs-Spy. A few, like the Eddie Campbell story, manage to be extremely bizarre without being particularly funny.

The stories are all 10 pages or less with the exception of the two-part 75-page framing tale involving Mxyzptlk (which is entertaining although not quite as funny as the best of the shorter works). The creators are generally people who have worked on Vertigo and "indy" comics.

I'm not normally a huge fan of the indie/hipster autobiographical comix scene - too often the stories told consist of nothing but roman a clef in-jokes and angsty twentysomething whining - but Abel manages to transcend the form in high style thanks to her natural storytelling abilities, ear for dialogue, and clear, attractive draughtsmanship.

The stories are short, clearly told, and deceptively simple - perfect for digesting during a lazy lunch hour. However, they prove meatier than you might think, lingering and coming back unbidden into the mind's eye for days after the last page has been turned.

The book itself is possessed of superior production values - it's big, eye-catching, and printed on thick, creamy paper; the kind of gorgeous art object you'll find yourself wanting to strategically lay around your apartment to impress visitors. But this, of course, is merely the icing on the cake - MIRROR, WINDOW is of sufficient quality that it'd be would be worth buying if it were printed on perforated toilet paper.