This book is an excellent view into the highlights of M. Parkes work. One could sit for hours gazing at the paintings that are in this book. Also a very inexpensive way to preview prints I might buy in the future.

A beautiful book, one that you can keep as a reference on on the coffee table. Beautful, beautful book

This is a magnificent book. The large illustrations and text that accompany them are beautiful to look at and insightful. We all interpret his work in our own way, it's nice to see how the artist himself interprets his work. I have several of his books and like them all, but this is my favorite.

I remember ordering this book,about a year ago,through the mail and just couldn't wait until it arrived. I've proudly made "Gladiator" a part of my DVD collection and have seen it many times since. Once I got this book I was not in the least disappointed with it. In it was absolutely everything and more I ever wanted to know about this spectacular movie. This book has it all! MANY photos, some history, costume design, about the cast, some drawings by Sylvain Despretz(storyboard artist), the making of "Gladiator", and more. I just couldn't get enough of this book. If you're crazy about the movie as I am then buying this book is highly recommended! "Gladiator" has a great book, great soundtrack, and SPECTACULAR film! ~Did You Know all the armor was made out of foam covered with leather?

A visually stunning book, which portrays the movie 'Gladiator' in detail. Lots of photo's from the movie that were not part of the media blitz that promoted the movie in magazines and other publications. The book is well written using interviews from the filmmakers as well as actors. The best aspect of this book are the full page color photographs, production drawings as well as costume sketches and architectural drawings of the sets used. Overall a great book for the 'Gladiator' fan.

Presuming that prospective buyers of this book probably saw the movie, this book will not disappoint you. The movie was epic in scope, and although some historical inaccuracies existed, they did not detract at all from the movie, nor the performances of Russell Crowe, Connie Nielsen, Joachim Phoenix, and Richard Harris.

If you like to know the 'nuts and bolts' behind the making of a movie such as this, this is your book. If you are curious how they managed to 'reconstruct' the Coliseum complete with gladiator 'fans', this is your book.

A great gift for Gladiator and Russell Crowe fans alike.

Commodus was in fact Marcus Aurelius' son and the downfall of Rome, while already in progress, hastened when Commodus was made Caesar.

Enjoy! And watch the movie again.

In "The Outward Urge" (1959) John Wyndham writes, along with his alter ego Lucas Parkes, a story describing four generations of a British, space-faring family - the Troons. The title of the book refers to a compulsion felt by this family to leave Earth and head for the stars. In their eyes there is a destiny to be fulfilled: to spread out and conquer ever-widening reaches of space.

The first chapter takes place in 1994, when the first space station is being built and mankind is yet to claim the Moon. (Wyndham never dreamed there would be footprints on the Moon just four months after his death.) The rivalry between the United States and the Soviets is intense. Britain is somewhat neutral. Ticker Troon, 24, is taking part in the construction of the space station when the project is almost sabotaged by an unknown, wandering missile. Ticker's bravery saves the lives of his fellows and the project but he never sees his new-born son Michael...

Fifty years later Michael Troon is the commander of a British station on the Moon. On Earth the northern hemisphere is being pounded in a nuclear bombardment. The extent of the damage can only be guessed at but casualties are known to be in the millions. Shocking statistics for a war that has only been going for ten days. Much of the northern hemisphere is reduced to ash.

After the Great Northern War countries of importance are now in the southern hemisphere. The strongest of these is Brazil. In 2094 Geoffery Trunho, the first man on Mars, becomes stranded after a misadventure with the landing module. He writes an account of what happened, in the hope that someone will find it one day. From his description, Mars is a dreary, desolate place to be marooned.

By 2144, Australians have landed on Venus. (One of the Troons became an Australian citizen.) This causes something of an uproar among the Brazilians, who consider space to be their province. It looks as if their monopoly of space is being challenged and plans are made to save face. Will Australia and Brazil come to blows?

At the time "The Outward Urge" was written space travel was still a dream. The best views of space were in the paintings of Chesley Bonestell, even though they were fanciful. Lucas Parkes wrote the parts of the story detailing the science (such as it was then), in an effort to make the book more believable. In the end you can't help but agree with the Troons - space needs to be colonized, and soon. In the event of an apocalyptic meteor smashing into the Earth it would be comforting to know that other planets are populated. The human race needn't become extinct.

After reading (and loving) Pat McGreal's previous Vertigo/DC work- Chiaroscuro: The lives of Leonardo Da Vinci & Veils, I picked up I, Paparazzi with great expectations. Ummm.....can I have my money back, DC...?

I, Paparazzi centers on Jake "Monster" McGowran, a celebrity photographer, who runs afoul of a mean-tempered Sean Penn-type celeb, and stumbles into a bizarre conspiracy; actually, this one is THE conspiracy, the one from which all of the other ones were born,

The problems with the book were few, but large:

1)- The "Scooby-Doo" ending renders the whole story pointless. Why travel down such a bizarre road if it's only gonna end in Normalville? If you're going to deliver that kind of ending, it would have been better if the whole story had stayed believable.
and.....

2)- To this long-time Comic reader, the "Fumetti" style (using photographs instead of drawings) will always seem cheap-looking. I have no doubt that the book was expensive to produce, and very time-consuming, and the photography and digital imaging WERE impressive, but no matter how much of this type of work I see, it still doesn't click for me.

I would advise people with $30.00 burning a hole in their pocket to try McGreal's Veils instead.

I, Paparazzi is a graphic novel that is relatively unique in format. All of the artwork consists of photography that has been digitally altered (with added special effects, etc.). While this is an interesting gimmick that is used here quite appropriately given the subject matter, it is not always perfectly executed. For example, the colours can get garrish and the layouts are not always the most visually pleasing, but the effort that has been put into this title is worthy of admiration.

I, Paparazzi doesn't have the emotional depth of McGreal and Phillips' Veils (another highly recommended graphic novel in photographic format), nor does it have the beautiful lyrical paintings of Rebecca Guay which provided a nice break from the photographic art, but overall I did find this graphic novel to be more entertaining. The story is about a paparazzi who winds up on an X-Files/Robert Anton Wilson inspired adventure that is a lot of fun to read. To add more depth to the story, the author explains why the main character (and others) became paparazzi and defends the lifestyle pointing out, e.g., that it was a drunk driver who killed Princess Di and the fact that stars on their way up warmly welcome paparazzi until they reach the point where they, unlike most of society, no longer have to struggle to support themselves. Being photographed by paparazzi after deliberately placing yourself in the public eye is a small price to pay for such comforts.

The characters are all quite interesting, the dialogue is enjoyable, etc., making this a great read. Those who aren't familiar with McGreal et al's work might want to put off getting this graphic novel until it is available in a cheaper softcover, but I personally found the hardcover format worthwhile. And given the rarity of photographic comics (at least in North America), it also makes an interesting conversation piece.