Is Swift's A Tale of a Tub a great novel? Is Carlysle's Sartor Resartus a great novel? Is Tristram Shandy a great novel? Each of these works takes as its basis another form, whether the controversialist pamphlet, the philosophical treatise, or the biography, and comes out the other side with a new type of work, as well as a new work. These books occupy an originary and terminal position: they are the first and the last of their kind. For readers, these works are stones -- either the stones that become the foundations for understanding or the stones that drag them down. At Swim-Two-Birds takes as its foil the popular novel and the Irish renaissance myth discovery and the personal narrative. Why should a novel have only one beginning, O'Brien (aka Brian O'Nolan, aka Brian Nolan -- a man who got into university with a forged interview with John Joyce) asks? Why one ending? If, as some reviewers have suggested, you try to find the "structure," you're missing the point. Trying to mash this book into a novel's mold is misguided, and O'Brien will eventually make that clear. In fact, it is the story of a college student (fictional), who is writing a novel about a man (fictional) who is writing an Irish western (which cannot be). Additionally, the student's translation homework -- tales from the Dun Cow Book -- emerge in a full Lady Gregory parody and begin to interact with the other fictions, and the characters of the Irish Western themselves begin to resent their lots in life. The book plays games on so many levels that reading it the way one reads a novel is useless. This is not about information and straight lines, but about play -- sometimes rough and tumble and sometimes gentle. All of the narrators lie, by the way, and there is always one more frame of fiction beyond the one in action at the moment. Do not buy this book if you're intolerant of play. Do not buy this book if you look at books for "what happens." If, however, you're one of those who enjoys, instead of resents, reading milestones like Sartor Resartus or think that Italo Calvino is extremely sophisticated, this book (not novel) will be the greatest delight the 20th century can offer you.

I'M HERE TO TELL YOU: THIS IS THE FUNNIEST BOOK IN THE WHOLE WORLD YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF. But don't believe me -- Graham Greene, Dylan Thomas, John Updike, and yes, Jimmy Joyce himself all felt the same about this impossibly convoluted Irish stew of mythology, poetry, drunken banter, and scatological humor. The book is constructed (to use the term loosely) as a UC Dublin student's journal during his final year, including his "spare time literary activities" interspersed with his "biological reminiscences". The former consist of a series of fitful forays into ancient Irish mythology, coupled with a book-within-a-book (within-a-book) attempt to write a highbrow novel. The latter involve the narrator's recountings of his (mostly inebriated) carousals and daft philosophizings with his odd cronies, admixed with his tense and tenuous relationship with his straightlaced uncle, with whom he boards. But to concentrate on the book's plot or content, such as they are, would be pointless. The book's real magic lies in Flann's virtuosic use of unabashed verbosity, unblinking descriptiveness, and just plain words, words, words, to provoke laugh after laugh after laugh after laugh. Nobody -- not Sterne, not Joyce, not even Groucho -- could string together words as funnily as Flann. It's as though an Irish Robin Williams had been locked up in his room with a pencil, pad, pint after pint, and his own mad (but very well-read) imagination. Read this book, you could use a good laugh (everyone can use a good laugh). Just don't drink anything while you're reading, guaranteed it'll end up coming out your nose.

This just might be the funniest book of the 20th century. I have seen this book and read it and . . . do you know what I'm going to tell you, I have loved this book. Do you understand what I am saying? Now you go read your chapter 12 of Ulysses and many other passages that might incriminate my good author here by the proof of that book's very burdensome influence which became like a terrible complex for the man who became after the writing of this book the Dublin columnist known as Myles na Gopaleen but was at this time still the man of imagination, Flann O'Brien . . . and you come back here, with all your expectations about first novels and incomprehensible, overindulgent spaghetti-messes of plots . . . and try to tell me that every aspect, those and all the others, one might apply to this type of book that could have been fatal faults are here made in its favor by the undeniable force of its whole, a power that cannot be denied in the same way that a frigging cloud cannot be denied to resemble a plate of hot mashed potatoes or what-you-will . . . you come back here and try to tell yourself that you didn't like it . . . and then I will ask you to kindly try to read it again, this time with your skull-boned eyes open. P.S. This is a much better book than The Third Policeman.

I just bought this book and found it very easy to read, as well as helpful with using my brand new telescope.
It starts off by giving a very entertaing general history of astronomy, with plenty of illustrations.
It then covers astronomy concepts, such as star types, azimuth, etc. Also included is a section on telescopes.
Then it has 12 or so full scale maps of the sky, for every time of the year in both southern and northern hemispheres.
The best section is the constellation section. It has at least one page for each constellation, with a map showing a detalied view of it and surrounding stars/clusters/galaxies. It gives the history of the constellation, other interesting objects to look for nearby, and a photograph showing what the constellation really looks like (without the lines connecting the stars). Very helpful.

This richly illustrated and clearly written book is a pleasure to read. Its author, David Levy, (discoverer of many comets, including Shoemaker-Levy which impacted Jupiter in 1994)is one of the great amauteur astronmers, and communicates his love of the heavens well. The star charts are done by Wil Tirion, the foremost celestial cartographer and author of many important sky atlases.

The book itself starts with a valuable historical perspective, discussing ancient astronomy and classical and modern astronomers. It progresses through a presentation of our place in the solar system and the universe, and discussons of planetary and deep sky objects. Various types of instruments for observing are also discussed. Finally, there is a section on each of the constellations, and the objects within them, enriched by historical information and even a guide to pronouncing some of the Arabic and Latin tongue-twisters one encounters.

The quality of the publication is first-rate. The illustrations range from ancient Chinese star charts through medievil earth-centric maps to images from the Hubble space telescope.

This is a book that will capture your interest, and supply many hours of pleasurable perusing on cloudy nights. The only drawback it that its hardcover, fairly thick format makes it less that ideal for the field.

This glossy covered handbook is a treasure trove of information aimed at the beginner and amatuer astronomer. The quality of the production is what impressives me most. Wonderful diagrams and photographs throughout compliment informative text. The sky charts are easily accessible and make for a ready reference when identifying constellations. The other chapters include "Skywatching through the ages", "Stars and Galaxies", "Skywatching tools and techniques", "Understanding the changing sky", "A tour of the solar system" and "Probing the universe". This book would make an ideal gift for persons just starting out in astronomy, as well as the more experienced. Highly recommended and a bargain price to boot.

One of the finest stories from Claremont and Byrne before they broke up. A tense drama which introduces many concepts and plot threads which affect the book to this day. Rachel Summers is introduced here as well as Mystique, Destiny, and the witch hunting of the mutants. A clever story taking place in two time eras, one a frightening, yet familiar view of New York City twenty years into the future. This story and the Dark Phoenix saga should be required reading for all X-Men fans to get a better understanding of the comic and its popularity.

It is up to each X fan to decide if subsequent events have diluted the power of the Dark Phoenix saga, but it is still the one story that everyone who really wants to know the X-Men must be familiar with.

Seemingly by a miracle, Jean Grey's life was recently saved by psychic melding with an elemental force called the Phoenix. Unfortunately, a price soon becomes apparent. At first in small ways, it starts to become obvious that the Phoenix has started to change Jean, wheather for good or ill not immediately apparent. As the obscene Hellfire Club - which makes Magneto look like a boy scout - tries to find a way to make use of Jean, it slowly becomes evident that the power of the Phoenix is becoming beyond her control. This time, not even her teammates - not even Scott - may be able to save her.

This story is still powerful, and younger readers should be aware that, at the time, it sent shockwaves through the comic reading world because nothing like the tragic resolution had ever been done before. It was grim indeed.

There is, however, a light at the end of the tunnel. As the remaining X-Men grieve, a young girl hesitantly arrives at Xavier's to begin schooling - a girl who had a peripheral involvement in the Phoenix events. She's Kitty Pryde, who will eventually become the love of Colossus' life, like a foster daughter to Storm and like a little sister to Nightcrawler.

Newer fans will be surprised in particular by the beginning of Kurt and Kitty's friendship. "I don't think the little Fraulein likes me", Kurt notes to himself during the calm before the storm. The matter is dropped in the whirlwind of events, but it will come back to haunt them both. The truth is that Kitty, in spite of her best efforts to hide it, WAS a bit frightened by Kurt for quite some time. It would take alot of mental conditioning on her part and patience and sensitivity on his before she became his fiercely adoring Katzchen.

The Dark Phoenix Saga by Chris Claremont and John Byrne was simply the best comic book story I have ever read. While this trade paperback contains most of it, the story really ran for about 25 issues *before* the issues in the TPB.

It started as a subplot when the mutant X-Man, Jean Grey, was possessed by the Phoenix entity, a being of great power that slowly transformed her into one of the most powerful superbeings in the universe. The story contained in this book is the climactic end to the story. As Phoenix, Grey becomes more and more powerful to the point where she can no longer fully control the urges that her godlike abilities give her. A shadowy organization called the Hellfire Club seeks to control her and manipulate her power to their ends. Meanwhile, her fellow X-Men, including her love Scott Summers (a.k.a., Cyclops), seek to infiltrate the Hellfire Club. Ultimately they end up defending Phoenix after she has unleashed her powers in ways they never dreamed imaginable.

The Dark Phoenix Saga is a story of power, love, subterfuge and tragedy. Each of the X-Men has their moment to shine in this story. Of particular note is the sequence wherein Wolverine singlehandedly rescues the entire team, one of the best single-issue stories ever, in my opinion.

Claremont and Byrne were at the peak of their abilities in this story. Neither has shone as brightly before or since. While stories like The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen are often said to be the best comic story ever created, my vote goes to the Dark Phoenix Saga.

John Byrne has presented a fascinating portrait of the fall of Al Dunlap at Sunbeam. He goes into great detail on all the irrational decisions that were made, the impossible targets, the pressure to fudge numbers and the final inevitable collapse. Byrne also spends some time on the rather unsavory private life of Dunlap (he didn't attend his parents funerals, he never meets his son or his sister). By and large I agree with the other positive reviews.

Byrne writes very well. Many business writers tend to get bogged down in detail when writing a book (as opposed to a small article) or get distracted or get stuck in flashbacks. Byrne does none of these and keeps your interest level high throughout.

If I have one gripe with the book (which is why I give it 4 rather than 5), its that it relies too much on people who dislike Dunlap or were trying to shift responsibility to him. Yes, the man is an egoist, a hypocrite, a braggart etc. But its a little hard for me to believe that every bad business decision at Sunbeam can be traced to Dunlap (or his consultants), and it seems to me that at least some of the other managers are trying to shift responsiblity to Dunlap on occasion. Also, Dunlap's attitude at Sunbeam was wrong in most ways -- still the company itself was unhealthy when he came in. The original management deserves at least some blame for the pre-Dunlap situation.

Similarly, a number of people in the book claim that they were always skeptical of Dunlap's business skills. Maybe after the Sunbeam collapse -- but I find it hard to believe they were all skeptical initially. Example -- an analyst claims that he doubted the Sunbeam turnaround story from the beginning, but he still kept on churning out positive reports on Sunbeam for his securities firm.

I found "Chainsaw" in a discounted book bin and picked it up because I wanted to learn more about the man who was hailed by Wall Street analysts as a fast turnaround artist but hated by the many employees who felt the wrath of his cost-cutting sword at the companies in which he was in charge.

Chainsaw primarily chronicles Chainsaw Al Dunlap's rocky two year tenure at Sunbeam Corp., where he closed numerous plants, fired almost half of its employees, ran roughshod over the half who remained, heaped more praise upon himself then the most conceited athlete or movie star and pretty much ran the company into the ground.

The author, John Byrne has spoken to several hundred people who have dealt with Dunlap's rage and unrealistic expectations and has been able to piece together a non-fiction work that reads like a novel. Significant amounts of dialog between Dunlap and his cronies are displayed and it basically says one thing. Chainsaw Al Dunlap ruled through total intimidation and with the exception of his right hand man, listened to nobody but himself, even though he had no experience with the products that Sunbeam sold. He fired (or actually had somebody else fire) everybody who didn't appear to him to be part of the team. Byrne perfectly sets out the tension that occurred when Dunlap was on a rampage.

The reader gets to see the desperate measures a company will go through to try to meet investor and Wall Street expectations, including accounting games which have come to the forefront as a result of the Enron debacle. I'm not an accountant, but I even have to admit that things they did were pretty shady.

Byrne wraps the book up with the final straws that led Al Dunlap to go down in flames at Sunbeam, ending in his firing at a secretive board meeting in New York City. I see that a paperback version is coming out soon, which I hope will bring the story of Dunlap up to date, including his required payment to a trust fund to settle civil lawsuits against him.

Byrne's only fault is that he is not totally objective. It's easy to tell that he despises Dunlap (he calls him a loudmouth, comments on the large size of his teeth, attacks his love of his dogs over everything else), so I knock the rating to four stars, but it's still a pretty good business case book. Bryne would be a great candidate to writeup the Enron story as he does have a way with story telling and research.

If John Byrne's "Chainsaw" were a work of fiction, it would likely be considered unpublishable because its main character is so absurdely evil. Unfortunately -- especially for those who had to endure his wrath -- the story of Al Dunlap is all too true. Byrne's portrayal of Dunlap, who was hailed by Wall Street as a turaround genius before his leadership of Sunbeam ended in debacle, is that not of an admirable business leader, but of an hysterical, violent sociopath who, if his life had turned slightly differently, might well have ended up in prison, a mental hospital, or an early grave. "Chainsaw" paints a portrait of a man who was abusive -- mentally, emotionally and even physically -- to nearly everybody in his life, from his business associates to his family to the few whom he considered friends.

"Chainsaw" chronicles the rise and fall of "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap so compellingly that even those who wouldn't think to read a business book will be hooked. However, the book is in many ways fascinating the way that a car wreck is fascinating. The reader will marvel at the amount and intensity of abuse Dunlap hurls at even his closest friends and allies, the coldness with which he treats his family (he abandoned his son at age 2 and couldn't be bothered to attend the funerals of either of his parents), and the near-perverted bounds of his ego. In fact, as Sunbeam lurches toward collapse, his only apparent interest was in signing copies of his autobiography.

Defenders of Dunlap will say that he did the dirty work of downsizing and layoffs to save dying companies, sacrificing the needs of the few for the good of the many. And true, the modern business world is filled with harsh realities and tough decision-making. But Dunlap's approach to downsizing in "Chainsaw" teeters between indifference to those downsized and pure sadism. At points in the book, he actually seems to enjoy cutting jobs and closing factories (though he usually had others do the dirty deeds). As the author says, there is a business world between being tough and being cruel -- and Byrne leaves little doubt about where he places Dunlap. Worse, Dunlap's moves at Sunbeam didn't seem to have been done with any level of intelligence, other than to get Dunlap a quick win so he could cash out fast. The result was the near-total destruction of Sunbeam rather than long-term gains from short-term pain.

In "Chainsaw," Byrne stresses that either through fear, greed or naivetee, others enabled Dunlap. The way that each of these characters is drawn creates a fascinating if morbid portrait of a dysfunctional, cannibalistic organization revolving totally around Chainsaw Al.

Byrne is a terrific writer, and "Chainsaw" is a great read. My only quibble is that, since Byrne and Dunlap apparently have had great animosity toward each other, Byrne often sacrifices any attempt at objectivity. But perhaps objectivity isn't possible when chronicling such an extreme personality.

It's good to see "Chainsaw" returning to print in paperback. Now, in the era of Enron and WorldCom, Sept. 11 and the War on Terror reminding us what real toughness is all about, and with the Wall Street euphoria of the '90s in the rear-view mirror, its perspective is needed now more than ever...

I think it's excellent that Marvel has made these important issues readily available for a very reasonable price, but the fact that the issues are reprinted in black and white on paper that's so cheap it hurts your fingers are cost-cutting sacrifices that may have gone too far.

If you really want to read these issues but don't want to shell out the money to buy the originals, let me recommend purchasing the Classic X-Men series from a local comic shop or online retailer. These issues reprint the original comics in full color and usually sell for $1 a piece or less. Some content is added by Claremont in the early issues, but you can choose to ignore the added pages or simply enjoy the enhanced version (no original content is removed other than the original cover art). It's only a little more pricey than the Essential X-Men compilations and I think the difference is important. As you get to the less collectible issues covered in vol. 4 of this series, it may make sense just to obtain the originals. Essential X-Men was a great attempt by Marvel, but it just wasn't good enough for some of us.

First - a warning - there's a very specific reason why this book, which ordinarily would warrant 5 stars, only get 4, and that's because it's printed on very cheap paper, in black & white and with a very soft and fragile cover.

There. Grumbles out of the way, this is THE place to start for those curious about the saga of the X-men, but can't be bothered to search out the original comic books in second hand stores and feel intimidated by the massive amount of other titles readily available.

Another thing, this really should be called "The Complete X-Men, vol. 1", not the "Essential", because this is the entire "modern day" saga, starting with Professor Xavier assembling the "new" team of X-men.

It's well deserved that this version of the X-Men became a leading force in modern comics, as Chris Claremonts writing, which was excellent throughout his entire spell with the series, for the first time brought focus to the STORY. Sure, there were good stories written within the field of super-hero comics (DC were better than Marvel, in my opinion), but this was the first time quality of writing became as much a tour de force as quality of drawing.

Later on, Claremont drew upon the (then) formidable talents of John Byrne, more or less re-defining what super-hero comics were about.

The fact that Claremont also managed to make all the characters, supporting cast included, come alive within the confines of the genre, rather than just including a card-board-cut-out supporting cast, stands as a testament to the quality of the series.

Long live the X-Men.

This book features the first giant size X-men number 1 and X-men issues 94-119. It introduces the new roster of X-men including Collosus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine and Banshee. Teaming up with Cyclops we are taken into a whirlwind of great stories. Facing off against Magneto, Juggernaut, the Sentinels, the Shi'ar, and many others. Overall this book is great and an excellent price for this many issues(though in black in white).

Ok, first of all, "only" 4 stars, and that's based on the packaging (black'n'white + cheap paper), not on the quality of the material.

These are more of the classic X-men stories that turned Chris Claremont into a comic-book superstar. Found within are some of the best stories ever written, the "Dark Phoenix Saga" and "Days of Future Past", stories that by far and wide supercedes anything else written in those early days of the "modern" comic-book.

John Byrnes art is flawless, and manages to almost look as good in black and white as it does in it's original glorious coloring.

Quite simply, buy this if you are at all remotely interested in the X-Men. There are 4 issues in this series of "Essential" X-Men, but this one is probably the one that has the most to offer for a new fan. Heck, buy 2 and give one to a friend!

This is where the two (along with Terry Austin) really hit their stride. When these first came out, I couldn't wait for each issue to reach the newsstand each month. There are some incredible stories in this budget volume, including the Dark Phoenix saga, the Hellfire Club, Days of Future Past... Some of these stories laid the groundwork for major storylines that have affected this series' continuity for decades! If you are an X-Men fan, this is one volume worth picking up, if only for the fact that you can read over twenty issues of continuity in a single volume! It is because of stories such as these that the X-Men are among the most popular comics around today.

This black and white collection is the best comics has to offer. Featuring over 20 consecutive issues, "Essential X-men Vol. 2" is the crux of the Byrne/Claremont magnificent run on the X-men.

It features:
*The greatest line-up of X-men ever: Cyclops, Phoenix, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and Nightcrawler.

*Guest appearances by Alpha Flight, Spider-Man, Havoc and Swamp-Thing.

*Death/Loss - the death of Jean Grey; Cyclops and Banshee leave the X-men.

*Villains galore - Proteus, Hell-fire Club, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Sentinals, Wendigo.

*The 2 Greatest X-men storylines ever: Dark Phoenix and Days of Future Past!

Even colorless, this is a phenomenal value. Maximum recommendation.
Also recommended: "Dark Phoenix" and "Days of Future Past" (in color!).

If you know John Byrne, you know he likes to alter and change superhero origin stories, when the original stories done by the original writers were much better. This is such a case, Byrne takes Superman and basically makes him a Marvel-wannabe character. No wonder the Man of Steel has never recovered from this drek of a retelling of his origin.

John Byrne does not reinvent Superman in this collection. He returns the character to what he originally was. He strips away much of the mythos which only came into Superman's life after Siegel and Shuster left DC (Superboy, Supergirl, Krypto, multi-colored Kryptonite, god-like power levels, and Kryptonian heritage), and leaves us with the character as he was meant to be when he was created.

John Byrne's strength as a writer/artist is that he sees clearly to the heart of the character. Here, as he did with the Fantastic Four, he not so much re-invents as clarifies the character. All of the fat and foolishness is stripped away, and new details are added that fit so well that you wonder how the feature went fifty years without them. Byrne is totally respectful of what has come before, and yet makes it all fresh and new. This is truly Superman reborn and reinvigorated. Landmark comics, and also a great "starter" book for the fledgeling comics reader.

For those interested in the history of Batman you probably find this story an entertaining, though not great, story about the Pre-Crisis Batman. This is a consolidation of all the history, origin, and first meetings of the character before Crisis and Year One. I liked the story but I have say to that I'm glad they don't write Batman this way anymore (the dialogue's pretty bad even for an exposition story) and I very much prefer the scaled back origin that they character has now. On the art Jim Aparo is in top form in this black and white story, being inked by John Byrne. I found this to be the perfect companion piece to Batman: Strange Apparitions.

For those interested in the post-Crisis retelling of these stories: Year Two retells Batman's confrontation w/ Joe Chill (Chill's role was thrown into doubt after the Zero Hour tie-in of DETECTIVE; a LOTDK story from 2000 called "Siege" retells the story of the 1st Bat-costume and the penthouse; and Lew Moxon was retold last year (2001) as part of the Brubaker/Mcdaniel run in BATMAN, with Thomas Wayne dressed as Zorro instead.

Also the shipping cost for this will be more than the actual price of the book.

This nice little story of early-modern age Batman is not so much a story in its own right but more something of a clip show. The actual scripts and drawings are all original, of course, but very little of the plot is. The plot itself is mostly an excuse for a thorough retelling of the story of the Batman, his allies and his foes. It doesn't make any shocking new discoveries about the Batman's past, as do the Killing Joke or Year One; the stories told are taken directly and fully from classic silver and golden age volumes such as 'The Origin of the Batman'(Batman#47, 1948), or 'The First Batman'(Detective Comics#235, 1956).

The plot itself is lacking and simply not very interesting. The ending is quite well done, but there's simply no building up to it. Whatever plot there is is constantly interrupted by flashbacks from practicaly every character. However, what 'the Untold Legend of the Batman' attempts to do, and does quite well, is put some order into the Batman world, settle some old contradictions and set one formal history of Batman. Indeed, the early 80s were a time when super-heroes were recreated, especially Superman and Wonder-Woman, and Batman had to be fitted into the new DC universe.

So, while 'the Untold Legend of the Batman' is hardly a decent story itself, and does very little to develop the characters or the plot in any way, it's still an interesting read for all Batman fans and anybody who wants to know a thing or two about the Dark Knight, and is a fine addition to any comics collection.

Over a decade ago all 3 issues from this series came with some cassettes. I'd kept the comics, but I'd lent all 3 of the half hourly tapes to a boy named Jeff. Unfortunately, he'd quickly lost all of the tapes! I should have copied those tapes before lending them to him! This action had affected my relationship with him. Now, he's a much more responsible adult, but I somehow doubt that I'll ever forget about this. I should probably put this behind me because this happened 11 years ago, and I still have the comics. However, some things are easier said than done. If anyone still has the tapes and would copy them for me, I'll gladly either trade something else for it, or pay for the shipping. Either way, please post a follow-up review if you can help me, and I'll gladly email you. Thanks in advance for your help.

Despite it's misleading moniker (It's actually Reed Richards who is on trial.), The Trial of Galactus does a decent job of truncating Writer/Artist John Byrne's epic Galactus story that ran (sporadically) from Fantastic Four #'s 242-262.

The book starts out with what might just be THE Galactus story: After a devastating battle against the big G's Herald, Terrax the Tamer, The FF is faced with a momentous decision: Let the weakened Galactus perish, or try to save him. FF leader Reed Richards, along with Dr. Strange, Iron Man, Thor, and a host of others, restore the planet-eater to his former vim & vigor, and off he goes to destroy the Skrull Throneworld. The races that have been victimized by Galactus in the past assemble, and put the abducted Reed Richards on trial; Since he saw fit to save Galactus' life, he will be held accountable for Galactus' atrocities. Richards' defense is that Galactus fulfills a Celestial purpose, and we have no right to judge him; Don't we all kill to eat? Well, yeah. But I personally think he should just mind his own bees-wax and let Galactus croak. Does Richards' have the right to condemn Billions of sentient being to death, just to salve his own conscience..?

Byrne has re-done some of the pages in the collection to make the story flow better, and it works, to an extent. There are refrences to other adventures that seem jarring, considering this is all supposed to be one seamless story. Why redo anything if there are still going to be captions pointing out things that aren't in the book? Especially that Sub-Mariner refrence...

Byrne not only delivers THE Galactus story in these pages, but also throws in one of the best Dr. Doom arcs ever, as Doom attempts to imbue the now-powerless Terrax, or should that be Tyros, with the power cosmic, and use him to kill the FF. In one line of Dialogue ("I never thought Doom would strike a woman! KILL one, yes, but never strike one...") Byrne perfectly encapsulates Doom's mania and strange ethical code better than I've ever seen it done.

The problem came at the end......The climax of the trial sees one of the most LITERAL Deus ex Machina examples EVER, and I actually had to check the book's binding to make sure pages weren't stuck together or missing. No such luck. The climax is so abrupt and forced that I really felt cheated. Up until then, though, The Trial of Galactus is The Fantastic Four at it's best. The book also contains Byrne's mildly amusing Fantastic Four vs. Superman spoof from Marvel's "What The?!?" book.

....John Byrne injects *himself* into the actual storyline. The climax has creator Byrne actually drawing himself -- having conversations w/the FF, and even traveling with them to the trial of Reed Richards -- who's on trial for his saving of Galactus back when the FF and Avengers had him at Death's door. This TPB collects this generous act by Richards, as well as the death and rebirth of Terrax the Tamer, his battle against Dr. Doom and the Silver Surfer, and the abduction and trial of Richards, for whom Galactus and Eternity themselves testify.

Well, what can be said about the fabulous Fnatastic Four? I love them to the highest degree. I was in the second grade when this story arc fisrt appeared on the news stand. I was totally fascinated by it when I saw the cover. The Fantastic Four, since their inception, have dealt with science fiction. I love that trait about the book. The story revolves around the ethical question of "Must one destroy another if he destroys others?" The story is fast-paced and at times very poignant. It is one of the best stories that came out of the 80's in mainstream comics. John Byrne write and illustrates a wonderful work. The Trial of Galactus is a story that shows the high marks in the pictorial literature called comics. I hope you enjoy every panel.

This is NOT the best Superman stories of all time. What it is however , is a look at some of the best Superman stories from 1938 to 1989. if you enjoy stories from the Golden and Silver Age then you'll enjoy this collection. It has a very good Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons(the team that did Watchmen) story , "For the Man Who Has Everything" , which was selected by Wizard magazine as the #1 Superman tale of all time. Also , it contains an entertaining John Byrne story in which Lex Lethor learns Superman's secret ID(NOT an imaginary tale!!). Lots of work from Curt Swan and Jerry Siegal. The first Luthor , Mxyzptlk , and Bizarro appearances are inside. A very fun book.

I began reading comics right at the end of their Golden Age, and they were instrumental in fostering my life-long love of reading. That's why I would never denigrate them, and I always encouraged my children to read them. One of my favorites was, of course, Superman, not only the comic, but the television series. I had a very large collection of all types of comics from the 50s and early 60s, but they were sold (except for my complete set of Classics Illustrated) several years ago, to help pay for home remodeling. I'm sorry they're gone, so when I saw this book on a bargain table at Borders, I knew that I would buy it, and I'm glad that I did. Several of the early stories were from books I had as a youngster, and even the ones with which I was not familiar were very interesting. This is a good collection to have, as there are some interesting written articles, and the stories themselves give a good chronology of Superman's evolution through the years. It's a great nostalgic work for the aging Baby Boomer!

this book has the best collection of superman stories ever. It is a must-buy.