First published in '74, Robinson's THE COMICS -an informal history of the newspaper comic strip- stands the test of time better than most formal histories attempted in the years since. The book's format (no strip represented with more than one or two examples) allows Robinson the elbow room to go beyond simply recounting a chronological series of high points. Where the Bill Blackbeard anthologies concentrate on generous continuities of landmark strips (and these books are terrific as well), THE COMICS covers more terrain. All of the acknowledged Grand Masters are paid appropriate homage, but in addition, Robinson covers dozens of little-known or forgotten strips (Etta Kett, Willie Doodle, Rusty Riley), single gag-panels, and even a chapter on foreign comics to close out the book. His text is refreshingly down-to-earth and devoid of snobbery, yet always respectful of the various creators and always reverential to the form itself...no doubt due to Robinson being a toiler in the same vineyards himself (among others, the very funny CLASSROOM FLUBS & FLUFFS). He makes no claim for the book as an encyclopaedic reference work, yet this is as comprehensive and carefully-researched a history as you're likely to find, even a quarter-century later. Certainly they whip the tar out of the better-known Perhaps the best facet of THE COMICS is Robinson's uncanny knack for describing the various styles of the artists with startling accuracy in a sentence or two. Each of his analyses on the rendering techniques of McManus, Gould, McCay, et al, is a small revelation: quick, precise and dead-on. (A born cartoonist, even in prose form.)....

I totally recommend this book (to any/everyone)! Being a former student at Tennessee State University (a Historically Black College or University/HBCU), I could personally relate to the essays that Mr. Ingram shared. He discussed issues that have challenged the black community for years. But not only that, he countered every negative that's been thrown at us with something positive for us to build on. I was especially impressed by the the way he expressed his views without disrespecting anyone else's. If you are a person with interest at all in the history and pride of HBCU graduates, then this is definitely a good book to read. Ingram shares personal experiences with us. And, it's very easy reading. I finished the book in less than 24 hours. I normally don't finish a book, unless it really has my attention. So, I think it's safe to say that Jerry Ingram (in my opinion) is on his way to being a very successful writer! Much success Jerry, I'm riding with you!

THis is a good book for baseball fans all over. It's more of a kid's book, but it's got great info. It even has his "luckiest man in the world" speech in it!

This book gives you all the ways to work each muscle group without weights. And beleive me you still can get a real good workout without weights. The book also includes diagrams of each muscle and what body movement activate it.

This is an excellently written and illustrated account of the history, development and natural history of the Caribbean National Forest in Puerto Rico. Although the title implies concentration on the dwarf or cloud forest, at the highest elevations, the book is a balanced account of the whole forest.

The author has taken great pains to talk to those who live and work in the forest and who know it well, and her interpretation of their stories is accurate and readable. I have worked in this forest and, always suspicious of 'journalists' accounts of 'science', I was very pleased to note that the descriptions of visits to the forest, and the research which is done there, give a very vivid account of what it is like. The author has a nice style, and is able to introduce aspects of basic biology without being condescending to the reader.

After an Introduction the author covers, in 15 chapters, the early history of the forest, from pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial times through to the last century of US sovereignty; the effects of hurricanes, to which the forest is very well adapted; the effects of man from both agricultural and forestry activities; the geology and natural and social history of the area; and past and relatively recent conflicts on how the forest should be managed to satisfy the varying requirements of recreation [including the deleterious effects water extraction], forestry, research and the desire to preserve/restore the forest to something like its original virgin condition. There is a list of 80+ useful references for those who wish to follow up topics in more detail. The few typographic and spelling errors do not detract from the well produced and presented aspect of the book.

Last August I noticed a very slight pain in my upper right shoulder. It didn't seem like a structural injury, so I continued to train normally. One day, after about twenty minutes of crawl laps in an Olympic size pool, the pain in my shoulder increased suddenly and dramatically. I iced it and took some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and resolved to rest a few months. A few months later, I was no better, and I went to the University medical center. The range of motion tests I underwent actually worsened my condition, and I nearly went to the hospital emergency room two days later. After the typical rigmarole with hospital administration, I finally got to see a sports medicine specialist and then received a referral to physical therapy. A month later, I had spot numbness in my arm, and was still unable to jog, swim, lift...anything.
So my mom bought me this book. I didn't pick it up right away, and I regret it. After only three days following the rehabilitation exercises in this book, I am back to almost full strength and mobility, and have taken up Brazilian Jiujitsu, and returned to regular weight-lifting.
At first, I was leery about the book because one of the authors is a chiropractor. But none of the material in the book is controversial or esoteric. It's extremely common sensical, and includes very helpful information about exercises you may be performing which could permanently damage the health of your shoulders. Further, it presents anatomical information in a manner that is clear and approachable. The doctors I saw didn't bother to inform me of the distinction between internal and external rotators, and all the exercises they gave me were for the internal rotators.
As a young man, I frequently took my health for granted until this shoulder injury. Anyone who is suffering similar problems, and the same confusion and ambiguity that I did, should give this book a chance. At the very least, it presents a wholly scientific and reasonable alternative to surgery and debilitating steroid treatments. Good luck...

This book is really well done. It is written in a language anyone can understand and perfectly illustrated. For each passage the author talks about, there is a small illustration showing exactly what is being described. It makes the information very easy to understand and utilize. I have never had any rotator cuff problems but I am a personal trainer and I have many clients who have had problems with this area. This book outlines routines for rehabilitation, and also for injury prevention. It also includes some fabulous stretches for the chest, shoulders, and biceps, as well as the rotator cuff muscles. This book is a great resource to have in your library of training texts and I highly recommend it.I wish that all books on injury prevention and rehabilition were done as well as this one.

Some of the other reviews have mentioned how this book has helped overcome an injury. I recommended this to a tennis playing friend with a rotator cuff injury and he was able to return to his former level and then some. That's my anectdote.

The shoulder tries to be a ball-and-socket joint and to some extent it is. Two common analogies are that it is like a baseball on a golf tee or like a large beach ball on a saucer -- a very shallow ball-and-socket joint. The shoulder joint also has a large range of motion, but the price for this range of motion is instability. The book's diagrams show how various muscles act to keep the joint stable. But the degree of stability depends on how well all the muscles are developed. Unfortunately, many exercises and sports act to create an imbalance by developing the internal rotator muscles and not the external rotators. Add to this some commonly performed exercises that can cause injury either through impingement or stressing an unstable shoulder and it is no wonder that injuries occur even without a direct blow to the shoulder. This book shows how many injuries occur in addition to showing how to strengthen the shoulder joint to make it more stable and less susceptible to injury.

More and more weight training books (i.e, THE POLIQUIN PRINCIPLES and MUSCLE MECHANICS) are including exercises for the rotator cuff. Everett Aaberg, the author of MUSCLE MECHANICS lists 15 references and, sure enough, THE 7-MINUTE ROTATOR CUFF SOLUTION is one of them. Horrigan and Robinson's book may have started or at least contributed mightily to the trend. Injuries alone are not the reason for this. Including rotator cuff exercises often produces a sudden increase in bench pressing poundages. In fact, the WestSide Barbell Club bench press workout videos include exercises specifically for the rotator cuff.

The book also includes a lot of material applicable to other aspects of shoulder health. Page 54 illustrates Lying Flyes which I have found to be a most effective exercise for the rear deltoid -- for me better than bentover laterals or bentover cable laterals. And if you're fond of doing weighted parallel bar dips be sure to read what this this book has to say about them before you suffer some degree of shoulder separation.

In short, if your sport involves the shoulder at all you'll find THE 7-MINUTE ROTATOR CUFF SOLUTION an excellent investment. Plenty of text, plenty of diagrams and routines for both rehabilitation and prehabilitation.

I just started paintball and this book describes just about everything a newbie would want to know about the sport. A lot of really good pictures give you an idea of what type of clothing, camoflauge, marker accessories you might want to try. The more experienced player would probably use this book to get an idea of other types of games to play since quite a number of different games are described. A great book for beginner players and a very good book for the experienced players

This is a great book that i would recomend to anybody interested in paintball. It covers it all from the basic skills need for your first day of play all the way up through skills pro players work on everyday. Not only does it cover skills but many other things like equiptment, tactics, the history of this new sport, interviews with top companies like WDP Smart Parts and WGP, and much much more. This book is a worthwhile investment to improve your game or start it.

This is a great book for both the weekend warrior, and those wanting to join a competitive team. Regardless of your skill level it holds something for you. It covers history, game rules and in depth gear and accessories information. The book outlines game tactics, techniques, equipment and how to use bunkers and cover to your advantage. Professional players are interviewed, and their tips to success are revealed.

For the battle hardened players,there are analysis' of guns and air systems, along with advanced strategys and training drills.

I enjoyed this book because it was informative and fun to read when I was a beginner, and I am still learning advanced techniques such as capturing and defending a building/fortress.

Chapters are well sectioned off, so it is easy to dip into or re-read an area of particular interest. Well worth a look for those who enjoy the game.

The "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year" series has been around for at least 30 years now.

I know this because I actually remember the 1972 and 1973 editions. The differences between those editions and this one show how far the art of political satire has declined and how far the Matriarchy has progressed.

We're never told what standard is used to rate a particular cartoon as among the "best" of the year, and it's fairly safe to say that it's purely based on the subjective preference of the editor, Charles Brooks. And this much has to be said for him - he includes cartoons from a number of perspectives but leaves out left-wing heavy hitters such as Conrad, Trudeau, and the recently deceased Herblock (did they hit him in the head with a shovel to make sure?). This is important for balance, simply because there are no right-wing heavy hitters among political cartoonists to even the score.

For the most part, the cartoons included in all collections have been from relatively obscure contributors - both left and right. This is all to the good.

But this year's edition was just a lot of pap. For one thing, Gary Condit had been the big story before September 11. Where are the Condit cartoons?

Of course, the biggest story in 2001 turned out to be the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. So the "best" cartoons mostly repeat conventional sentiment - what a tragedy, but we're strong and united now so we'll get the bastards, blah blah blah.

How many cartoons were drawn which showed the Statue of Liberty, Uncle Sam, and the American Eagle alternatively weeping, praying, retaliating etc. etc.? What a self-replicating show of pompous victimologistic self-assuming virtue!

Incisive masculine wit is disappearing from the modern political cartoon, and cartoons that are supposed to make you EMOTE without THINKING have become the rule.

Get a load of the contribution from Richard Wallmeyer of the Long Beach Press Telegram about "anti-bully" legislation. In the penultimate panel, one kid suggests that people just live by the Golden Rule instead of passing a law and in the last panel, his friend responds by reminding him that religion isn't allowed in public schools.

That's it. No wit; no nuance; no attempt to make the reader THINK about what the cartoonist is trying to say. No symbolism even. Wallmeyer tells you straight out what you should believe.

And Jeff Parker's post-September 11 contribution from Florida Today showing two Floridians wearing "I Love NY" paraphernalia and agreeing between themselves that "We are all New Yorkers now".

No biting masculine wit, no nuance, no intellect, no symbolism. And suck a lozenge, Jeff Parker. All of the terrorists attacks in the world won't turn the average New Yorker into a human being, any more than the 1989 earthquake could do so for the average San Franciscan. Parker is just engaging in cheap sentiment masquerading as patriotism.

The decline in quality of political cartoons stems from the fact that as women continue to make war on men and as the Matriarchy's grip becomes more crushing, male cartoonists have become softer and more effeminate (this is happening in other settings too, obviously).

And more women have become political cartoonists. There's an Ann Telnaes cartoon in which Joseph Lieberman's statement at Notre Dame that public morality should be based on faith is juxtaposed against a picture of Moslem women wearing veils.

Even assuming that it's BAD for women to hide their features, is it really accurate to suppose that a faith-based public morality would require an imposition of the burqua? No more than it would require baptism or a kosher diet but in a feminized world, the reader is not supposed to think but to emote, emote, emote.

Of course, as anyone who has seen her recurring appearances on C-SPAN knows, as a political cartoonist, Ann Telnaes is one hot babe whose face definitely should NOT be covered. But her cartoons would only be improved by the camouflage that a veil would provide. They are hardly worthy of inclusion among the country's "best".

And the feminization of the American political cartoon isn't just limited to matters of style.

Resistance to the Matriarchy has become unthinkable. In the 1973 edition, there is an entire section devoted to "Women's Lib", most of the contributions deliciously skewering the feminazis.

In one uproarious example, a man is standing at the altar looking apprehensive while hooked in his arm is his "bride", a man in drag. The preacher performing the "marriage" ceremony asks the "groom", "Do you, John, promise to love, honor and obey the Equal Rights Amendment?"

Go try to find a cartoon like that today! We've come a long way from when Thomas Nast cartoons afflicted and ultimately defeated party bosses such as Bill Tweed. Today's feminist bosses have no reason to moan, "Stop them damned pictures!" The people drawing them come from the same New Class that their masters do.

So where gender issues are concerned, the drawing board cult members bow their collective heads in deference to the "women are strong and good; men are weak and bad and deserving of punishment" party line. The 2002 edition shows an androgenized Statue of Liberty punching a Taliban member in the face in a display of women's "rights" (get it? She'll throw her "left" at him next).

The Evil Rights Amendment might not have been enacted, but feminism has still become the official state religion of both left and right. As such, it stifles masculine energy, independence, and creativity. These can only return when and if a younger generation of males rebels against the imposition of public morality in the name of this particular faith.

Until then, the quality of written protest, in the form of political animation, can be expected to continuously decline. But I wonder what the 2032 edition of "Best Editorial Cartoons" will look like.

First, a set of rejoinders: (1) One of the bedrocks of the patriarchy is private property and there are plenty of noted cartoonists, such as Garry Trudeau and Pat Oliphant, who I suspect do not allow their work to be reprinted in a collection such as this because all of their cartoons are going to be published in their own collections. (2) The absence of heavy weight conservative editorial cartoonists is compensated for by the abundance of right wing radio talk show hosts; however, this begs the question of whether a list naming heavy weight conservative editorial cartoonists can be produced in the first place. (3) As a rule of thumb, it is always more fun to attack than the praise, especially when it comes to sitting Presidents. (4) There are, in point of fact, eight cartoons on Gary Condit, appearing on five pages in three different sections of "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year, 2002." (5) Yes, editorial cartoonists around the country responded in exceedingly similar fashion to the events of September 11th. A lack of creativity is indeed one explanation, but so is the fact that the destruction of the World Trade Center and its aftermath present exigencies and constraints that suggest a particular iconography: two towers suggests two legs or two figures. An attack by terrorists on the United States means the latter will be represented in editorial cartoons by icons like Uncle Sam or a Bad Eagle; because the attack was on New York City within sight of the Statue of Liberty, she serves as an appropriate symbol as well. Using the eagle as America's totem makes it easy to cast the terrorists as rats, snakes, or other vermin.

Beyond that, I am certainly curious as to what sort of cartoons conducive to provoking thinking rather than emotion would be appropriate to depicting September 11th, not to mention those that would display wit or patriotism that could not be dismissed as cheap. For that matter, I would also add that there are some cartoons displaying such qualities amongst those depicting The Response to the attack.

Still, the idea that sexual equality is responsible for the lack of true genius in the over 400 editorial cartoons from 175 cartoonists instead of the ennui that has afflicted every other commercial art form in the world is certainly provocative. I suppose that if the Equal Rights Amendment was still on the political table there would be some choice cartoons on the subject, but since it is not pillorying Hillary Clinton and her spousal unit will just have to do.

Besides September 11th and related subjects (e.g., the administration of George W. Bush, the anthrax scare), this collection of editorial cartoons looks at other major news stories from 2001 such as the surprise takeover of the U.S. Senate by the Democrats, the execution of Timothy McVeigh, China trying to get the Olympics, the death of Dale Earnhardt, and the (stupid) economy. In each of these collections I also find the work of a couple of cartoonists standing out. This time around for me it was Nick Anderson, who won the 2000 National Society of Professional Journalists Award for his cartoon on the Florida recount circus and Rick McKee for his cartoon following McVeigh's execution, a drawing which is doubly icon, and therefore quite powerful.

As always, I find these visual excursions down memory lane to be quite effective for recalling the topics and tenor of the times. It would not have been difficult to devote an entire volume to editorial cartoons just about September 11th, although we could certainly anticipate that not everybody would be interested in seeing the recurring iconic elements that would be worked into dozens of similar cartoons.

Leading editorial cartoonists are presented in a volume which focuses on concerns over terrorism and political actions. Best Editorial Cartoons Of The Year, 2002 Edition packs in popular black and white editorials that reflect the major concerns of the Year 2001: any that wants a record of events and opinions will find Best Editorial Cartoons Of The Year, 2002 Edition intriguing and fun.

This has been one of the more interesting biographys I read. This book focoses in more on his childhood than more on his life in polotics.

My mom was always encouraging me to read biograhies. One day, my mom sat me on a chair and forced me to read at least one chapter. I didn't think I would like it, but I loved it! Tons of info on Abe Lincoln! Some conversations were added to make it more interesting, but most of it was true. I am reading tons of bios from the same series (the Childhood of Famous Americans series). I would encouage everyone to read this book and other books of the series!

This collection is a potpourri of tales involving Jack with Captain Marvel, a jarring crossover that serves neither character well, and tales of the past which all lead to Jack's eventual journey to the stars. This book merely serves as a connecter to a more epic adventure and probably would have worked better if divided among the other collections. As it is the stories barely hold together and leaves you just waiting for the next journey.

The climax nears. This book, the sixth compilation of James Robinson's alternative cutting edge quasi super hero series-Starman, is the turning point of the series. This book in my opinion provides the best read since Sins of the Father, Robinson and artist Tony Harris' first story arc. The characterization, mood and most especially the big revelations spotlighted in this collection is worth the price. Though not printed in glossy paper, like the first three compilations, and a little more espensive than the other books, the last story arc of original creators Robinson and Harris makes it really worth it. This thing elevates James Robinson among the elite comic writers up there with Chris Claremont, Alan Moore, John Byrne, Peter David, etc. Definitely a must have for DC, Golden Age (for Jack's roots)and JSA fans alike.