I just discovered this book. In 1995 when it first appeared it was probably state of the art, but now some of the stats need to be updated because they don't match what's in the new edition of Total Baseball, etc. Otherwise this book is terrific.

Anyone out there know if this book is scheduled to be updated or reissued? Some of the stats are no longer current or consistent with what's in other reference books and I'd sure appreciate it if they were. Otherwise this book is blue ribbon all the way even if I wish it gave more on Va.'s only major league team ever.

The baseball element in this book is only part of its charm. The author, with help from the publisher, has also assembled an aesthetic treat for the reader. As the cover suggests, the book is an artful prose and pictorial rendering of an early epoch in our National Pastime. A must I would think for every even mildly serious collector--and that is how I'd describe myself. I'm very glad to have found it and added it to my shelf.

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Another of these short, enigmatic books I have been lent in recent months (twice...) by one of those people with an unnerving gleam in their eye.

So it is supposed to contain hidden clues, riddles of "secret learning" only passed down millennia by word of mouth? Something "older than the kabbala" said my first, more disturbing, acquaintance. Having read it, I can say, yes, all too possible.

Please be careful what you look for. Those seeking power have a terrible way of finding it. Do not enter the labyrinth.

After reading it many times, I still can't do justice to its beauty and subtlety; its mix of lyricism and metaphysics; its sense of wonder and mystery: the pathos of its philosophy and prose.

Not enough weirdness in your life? This book is totally unlike anything else I have ever read.

Black Panther is probably one of the least respected characters ever to emerge from the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby era of comics. He's been around forever, has a great pedigree, and has had some top-notch talents take a crack at him, yet he's never really been embraced by the readers. Looks like his time has finally come....

Writer Christopher Priest (Quantum & Woody) has done the seemingly impossible, and made The Panther interesting! Rather than just concentrating on his crime-fighting, Priest focuses on The Panthers role as King of the African nation of Wakanda, a phenomenally wealthy Country caught up in a brutal civil war. When The Panther leaves his troubled Nation to avenge a child's murder in Brooklyn, he finds himself caught up in a web of political intrigue and Supernatural terror.....(Although, come to think of it, The Panther isn't really TOO terrified; He's a pretty cool customer.)

As Priest explains in his introduction, his goal in reviving The Black Panther was to make The Panther a distant, mysterious character; He succeeds admirably on that front. By keeping the reader from being privy to the inner workings of King T'Challa's mind, he becomes an almost mythic figure of menace and mystery. His final showdown with Mephisto is unforgettable. The art (By Mark Texiera & Vince Evans) is great, and fits the mood perfectly. The only problem with the book is one that seems all too common for Marvel trade paperbacks: A double-page spread is misprinted; Instead of being printed on facing pages, you have to turn the page to see the second half. Doesn't anyone proof these things? Other than that, Black Panther: The Client is a phenomenal read; I highly recommend it.

Priest's reinvention of Black Panther is the finest comic book currently being published anywhere, and the five issues contained in this trade-paperback make up the best story of the series.
Whether you read comics or not, Black Panther: The Client is an absolute must read. This is comics at their best. If you are not reading this comic, or if you are not reading comics, I dare you to buy this book. You will not regret it.

Writer Christopher Priest takes the super hero comic and turns it on its head in his landmark BLACK PANTHER series. This volume collects the first five issues of the current monthly comic.

The Black Panther is the king of the fictional African nation, Wakanda. Wakanda's claim to fame is that it is the world's sole source of vibranium, the most rare and valuable metal on Earth due to its ability to absorb sound. Occupying the space between the proverbial rock and hard place, the Black Panther, a.k.a., T'Challa, is a crafty leader who is always 10 steps ahead of all his would-be detractors, assassins and infiltrators.

"The Client" tells the story of the Panther's arrival in New York City to investigate the murder of a little girl who was the beneficiary of a Wakandan charity. It turns out that the Panther's enemies sought to lure him away from his wealthy nation with this heinous ploy. From there the mystery unravels with the Panther as the protagonist, and the narrator, Everett Ross, a U.S. foreign affairs agent who draws the unlucky task of escorting the Panther during his stay here. Ross is plucky, sarcastic and downright funny. His narration keeps the book light even though the themes are often very dark.

Priest uses out-of-sequence storytelling to simulate Ross' narrative, much in the manner that the film, Pulp Fiction, is told. It makes sense. After all, when we tell stories, it's very rare that we tell them in a linear fashion from start to finish. Ross bounds from one snippet to another. The reader puts the story together in the process.

I highly recommend this story and consider it one of the very best comic stories of the last five years. If you enjoy it, as I think you will, look for the sequel, BLACK PANTHER: ENEMY OF THE STATE, which should be coming out in November 2001.

This is a mini encyclopedia of Boeing Jetliners. It provides coverage from the 707 to the 777 (the 777-300 is a future product for the book) including the requirements that led to the design of each, design considerations, all the variants, civil and military, and unique features of each. This is a nice historical reference anytime you want to know more about a particular Boeing Jetliner complemented by beautiful photographic material to match the content. For an overall read about the birth and development of the giant airliner market with a focus on technology and progress consider "Giant Jetliners" by the same authors.

Boeing jetliners was an excellent book because the photographs correspond with the story very well. Even to someone who dosn't know much about aircraft can understand most of the book because of the real life examples in the pictures, which are wonderful peices of photography compared to many other books.

This book has plenty of colorful pictures that help teach the history, present, and future of the Boeing 7*7 series and how it has led the world to using jets.

It is almost great, and I don't think it's Christensen's fault that it isn't. It is clearly the portrait of an obsession that consumed his life--all his money, his home, his family, but frankly, the editing leaves something to be desired. Several times while reading this book I turned to my wife--an editor--to ask if a confusing passage made any sense. It never did. This is a terrible frustration in an otherwise engrossing book.

In a way, it reflects the naivete that Christensen himself exhibits--why did a man who, frankly, knows almost nothing about cars think he can shanghai one of the most brilliant young designers of his generation and build a supercar for peanuts? Because he didn't know any better, is why. It's the same reason he doesn't know you can't run a car on water, and why you can't expect to raise millions of dollars without some sort of business, and why he gets suckered in by half the shysters in California. The force of his will and his dream are almost enough to overcome the obstacles of his ignorance and blind faith. If I had a million dollars, Mark, I'd give it to you.

As someone who was involved in this project, the story is unbelievable but true. It is trully amazing to me that the car was ever built after so many years of frustration, but it was.
... The finished car is mindboggling and has received great press as a car and work of art. Nick Pugh is a genius and deserves all the credit in the end to complete the car when he could have walked away from it a hundred times. There is nothing like preserverance and a dream to overcome every sort of obstacle imaginable starting with no money. Durring the Don Quiote journey no one knew how Mark Christensen would interpret this ordeal. It was so painful for so many years. The finished book was very different then I would have imagined it to be. No one involved saw any of Mark's writing until the book was printed. But then again Mark has a amazing way of seeing events unfold from his own perspective. Please read the book. I think you will find it great read.

A joyous ride down the rocky road of modern car design, with a pack of inspired lunatics fronted by Christensen (The Sweeps, not reviewed), on a journey to "build the greatest car in the world." By the greatest car, what Christensen is really talking about is speed: "I want to keep my dream car's mission simple: A) Start; B) Hit the horizon." The designer, Nick Pugh, a prodigy in the car-of-the-future department, speaks convincingly of automotive art ("I want my car to make sense the way a cloud makes sense or a tree, design with nonlinear symmetry. . . . Like a babe who has soft curves but talon nails, who could maybe kill you"), but when Christensen chats up the idea of beauty, he sounds like a junior-high kid trying to convince his mother to subscribe to Playboy for the great fiction it prints. For Christensen splices into this classily hip story of building the Xeno III (the greatest car ever made) his history as a fool for fast cars-a disease he has harbored since he was eight and one that has run through his life like a mighty, naughty river, shaping him, getting him into endless trouble. When a friend ponies up $100,000 for him to build the car, Christensen admits: "I feel what Leopold must have felt when he met Loeb," and it just gets worse. In tandem the stories proceed: Christensen the young boy frustrated because he never has car enough; Christensen the middle-aged guy frustrated because he never has money enough ($100,000 won't even buy the front bumpers on the car his team envisions). While the Xeno III does get built, in a stop-and-go process akin to learning the clutch, the real beauty of this story is the extended portrait Christensen paints of the family he grew up with and the family he now inhabits as a husband and father. A gorgeous love song to swift cars-parents will want to keep it away from their teenaged sons.

The "Operation Rebirth" storyline was a major factor in reintroducing Captain America to a new generation in the late 90s. After Cap suffered a terrible run in the late 80s-early 90s (D-Man, anyone?), Waid was able to re-invigorate the character and give him something to fight for and against. The story is taut and tense; the art is crisp and clean. And the Red Skull is there as well. What more could you ask out of a Captain America story?

While Waid and Garney's relaunching of the Captain America title and franchise didn't last beyond a handful of issues, this story still stands as one of the strongest ever. Read and enjoy.

With the Super-Soldier Serum wearing off, Captain America's body decays, and begins to die. Left alone in his death throes, Cap is spirited away, and revived by his old enemy, the Red Skull. Working with Cap's old flame, Sharon Carter, the Skull needs Cap's help to defeat a common enemy. Can Captain America trust the Red Skull? No. But, to save the free world, he might have to work with him.

It is great to see Captain America again, and this comic novel carries him forward as the great hero we remember. The story is very good, and the illustrations are nothing short of excellent. I bought this book for my son, who liked it a lot, but I just had to steal it away and read it for myself. It's a great book, and my son and I both highly recommend it to you!

For the realists, this is a great explanation of why Cap was thawed out in the '60's, but hasn't aged 30 years today. The only story better than this is the follow-up "Man Without A Country".

a good read. well enoug story. some good details, and some great descriptions. i'm keeping mine. but on the other hand, the story isn't better than that. an evil cult doing evil things. a relationship building (always interesting to read some irrelevant romance in a horror story, right?). all done in a little too naive way. not great (except at times), but good.

This book goes from a somewhat mysterious plot loaded with atmosphere and slow pacing to a breakneck, full-fledged horror story near the end. The characters are great and believable, and Balak the villain is something to be seen for yourself. Sometimes the imagery was almost too much to take as the protagonist is put through physcal and psychological torture before the mind-blowing climax. This is a book to read late at night but hopefully while not alone, because you'll jump at any sound in the house. I thought it was just a little long-winded sometimes but otherwise effective and entertaining. A very good horror novel!

A wonderful horror novel, filled with suspense and outright terror. Definitely one to haunt one's dreams! I'll be on the look out for more of Rainey's works. Recommended highly.

page 26
"There is no excuse for spelling errors in your essay!"

Okay, authors, so please take your own advice - it's "Seuss" not "Suess" (page 19), "Dave Barry" not "Dave Berry" (page 9). These are the authors' mistakes, not from the students' essays. Good ideas - Sloppy editing = Lost credibility.

This book helped me come up with essays that ultimately led to my acceptance at all 12 schools to which I applied (two of which are IVY league schools and all of which are ranked by US News at within the top 50 Doctoral Universities in the Nation)! I honestly don't think I would have had a chance had it not been for this book!

This book helped me come up with essays that ultimately led to my acceptance at all 12 schools to which I applied (two of which are IVY league schools and all of which are ranked by US News at within the top 50 Doctoral Universities in the Nation)! I honestly don't think I would have had a chance had it not been for this book!

Although it wasn't the greatest comic book story I've read, it's definitely a good first effort by co-writer Mark Hamill. A rather interesting look at the potential of being a so-called superhero in the real world. It's also a story about how certain situations and circumstances can blow things way out of proportion, especially when the news media's involved. This is exactly what happens to a man who's basically a stalker turned superhero, and a notorious media celebrity (allegedly made in the mold of entertainment/media sensationalists like Jerry Springer & Tom Green) takes advantage- and fans the flames- of the craze that follows.

Originally a screenplay for a proposed film, Hamill and co-writer Eric Johnson turned to the original superhero medium- comics- to tell the tale. After reading this mini-series, I saw that a few parts of it would've been better translated part of a movie. But as well, there are several scenes that are pure comic book moments.

My only problem with the trade paperback is that Dark Horse edited a few parts that were in the original mini-series. All of the panels that originally depicted exposed female mammaries have now been covered with brassieres and halter tops. I guess I'll have to read 'The Black Pearl' for more wholesome reasons now...

'Late!

The Black Pearl is an excellent comic book mini-series for the following reasons: it's original, has character depth and exceptional art work. But above all, Hamill himself astounds me; he's multi-talented and for him to be able to pull me into a movie screen as well as a comic book is nothing short of genius. Good job, Mr. Hamill!

mark hamill is soooo talented! he can not only pull my attention into the big and little screens, but also to this comic book. i love the fact that he drew some of the pictures himself. the story is a little awkward. a hero made solely by the media, who in reality is basically a stalker. i love this book, and mark hamill!

To me, this was a well written but small minded book, about a very limited world -- italian american, New york City, mafiosi, boxing. Unless your life touches on one of these catagories, you'll have a hard time relating to this book, because the author has an inability to go byond his subject to show me why I should care.

Kriegel has a great sense of New York and brings his characters to life. As you read this book, you'll feel like you've known the character your whole life.
Having met Mark Kriegel and discussing the book with him, he is an author that is down to earth and extremely modest.
Great Read. Can't wait for more from Kriegel.

Kriegel's Bless Me, Father is often lyrical and always important. Superbly written, exceptionally descriptive and perfectly plotted, there's more twists and turns than an old wooden rollercoaster. Loved it!