His name is Wally West. He's the fastest man alive. He's the Flash. And he owes it all to his uncle Barry, the second Flash.

Who knew the guy would come calling the dues?

Easily the most popular story in Waid's run on the Flash, the Return of Barry Allen is a fan's dream, with meticulously researched info and an accessible story. Unfortunately, the biggest surprise isn't, and Barry's big secret is pretty easy to see coming. The final chapter also trips the line between drama and melodrama, though the opening to the final fight scene is astounding and poetic.

a lot more then what I expected , a will structured story line with lots of of action and speed heros involved in a most intresting speed fighting .

With all due respect to the great work Geoff Johns is currently doing with the Flash, Mark Waid was the writer who really defined the character for me and remains my favorite. This is the storyline that first made me take notice.

Published in the midst of the "Kill/revamp/screw around with your hero" craze that started with the Death of Superman, when Barry Allen showed up in the Flash comic book, a lot of us didn't know what to make of it. Barry, alias Flash II, had died the ultimate heroic death in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and had become the Official Martyr of the DC Universe. His nephew, Wally West, took on the Flash mantle but had always struggled, trapped under Barry's shadow.

The best way to sum up this story is with the old chestnut, "Be careful what you wish for." When Barry returns, it seems like the greatest thing that could happen. As it turns out, this isn't the case. The twist doesn't come as too big a surprise to anyone familiar with Flash history, but this story wasn't really about the twist -- it was about the legacy of the Flash, one of Earth's heroes, created by Jay Garrick and immortalized by Barry Allen, and it was about the efforts of the heir to that legacy to rise to the challenge and become not only a hero, but a man. It's a marvelous, touching story, and it's something every Flash fan should read.

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".

The Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul series is a wonderful series written by teens for teens and this book is a spin-off, if you like, of that very successful, popular series.

However, I found the stories and range of topics to be not quite as good as those found in the other teenage Chicken Soup books. The Friendship section had some beautiful stories in it as is to be expected from this series but I found some of the stores in other sections such as Growing Up to be cliched and boring. While I found it hard to put the other books down, this one was quite easy to put away.

If you are looking for a really good Chicken Soup book I would recommend Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II or even the first or third books rather than this one. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul - Love & Friendship lacks the same edge and originality as the other books.

This is an excellent book. It is so informative of real teenage problems on love and friendship. It has helped me to understand that I am not the only girl who has to deal with bad relationships between friends and boyfriends. And you can tell this is a good book because I love to shop and when I went to the mall I baught a book (this book) which I NEVER do, but I just wanted it that bad. This truly is a great book and every parent who has a teenage daughter just has to buy it!

This book was awesome. I love reading stories written by teens, especially true stories. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who loves to read and is just looking for a good book, or even someone who dislikes reading and just wants to read the romance stories. From romance to helping people, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TEENAGE SOUL ON LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP IS THE BEST!

The second collection from Mark Waid's run on JLA continues to improve upon the mess Grant Morrison made of the series. As in "JLA: Tower of Babel", these stories focus on both the individual and the team. Waid brings a human interest to the JLA, whereas Grant Morrison just brought action and chaos. Through Waid, we get to know the characters (Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Plastic Man and Martian Manhunter) both inside and out. No more are the massive team-ups from Morrison's run. These stories are tight and stream-lined. They're more about friendship than saving the world.

Half of this book follows the aftermath of Tower of Babel
(wherein Batman 'betrays' the rest of the League) and the other half deals with one component of that 'betrayal'; the necessity of harboring a 'secret identity'.
After expelling Batman via a 4-3 vote, the JLA finds itself split like Repubs and Democrats; mistrust and petty sniping abound. Finally Supes and Bats have a heart-to-heart that is one of the best stories featuring these two together that has ever been done. If Frank Miller's "Return of the Dark Knight" was about the abject difference between these two, JLA #50 points out the similarities. From there we go to another storyline, where the membership is split up again, although in a totally different way. I won't give away details, suffice it to say it's an Alan Moore-esque study into the inner stress having a "secret identity" can create. It's gets a little complicated and overwrought, but hell, the entire JLA series from ish #1 to The Obsidian Age has been complicated and overwrought, so what the hey. A necessary companion piece to Tower of Babel.

I liked the story line of this book. We all wonder what if you met your alter ego? It catches the flavor of what happens when there is a break up or split. It is worth the price

I was greatly surprised by this book. It is probably the best of the comics, and focuses on the survival of Hicks and Newt. I heard other reviewers say that the comics were better than the last two movies, and I must agree. ... The story focuses on the survivors of the Aliens mission, Hicks and Newt. After their arrival on Earth, they were seperated and unable to communicate with each other. But when an Alien Hiveworld is found the goverment needs Hicks expertise and drag him along. But not before he rescues Newt(who is much older due to the elapsed time spent on earth) and takes her with him. After barely escaping the alien mission, Newt and Hicks realize that the aliens are setting up a bigger hiveworld, a hiveworld on the planet earth.

Written before Alien3, this book is not in line with the films after Aliens. It is far better than any of them. The story is the best I have read in a graphic novel. Only one word need describe it-epic. We do not have cheesy INDEPENDANCE DAY type theatrics, we have a panorama of love, ambition, strife and perdition. The aliens' invasion of Earth is brilliantly portrayed, as is the subsequent collapse of civilization. We have human civilization and savagery juxtaposed clearly. Philosophy and terror go hand in hand in this extraordinary book. The most emotionally moving title in this series. This should have been ALIEN3. It has all the poeticism and emotional depth of that brilliant movie, while it dispenses with the plotting infelicities and sketchy characterization. Compared to ALIEN RESURRECTION, the latest title in the movie saga, this book is a prime piece of science-fiction. Ironically that movie was more like a cheesy comicbook, while this book is like an excellent movie. Comparisons th Kubrick's SPACE ODYSSEY 2001 would indeed be justified when talking of this book. The illustrations are beautiful, with special attention on the faces of the characters. One final note: this was rereleasd under the title OUTBREAK with changes made to fit it in with ALIEN3.

What can I say; an absolute classic tour de force, Paul Verheiden is Mr. 'Aliens.' for those who are in the know this is the where it all begins; the first book in the excellent Aliens graphic novel series, and it's an absolute stormer! It hits on so many levels, not just the obvious sci - fi horror of killer bugs that are born by bursting out of your stomach and grow to the size of men but also the meaning - and nature of life - what it means to be human (is a clone a human?), our psychology, the origin of the aliens, their psychology and social organisation, mankind's place in the universe, the problems of our planet, and more. Verheiden goes deep into what the aliens stand for, what they mean, their implications for us, as well as the obligatory comparisons between man and alien. He shows us that he knows aliens more than the filmmakers did. If ever there was a case study of how to take a concept and run with it, then this is it. Verheiden sensibly cuts out Alien 3 continuity: the two characters who survived Aliens along with Ripley (the girl Newt and the soldier Hicks) but were pronounced dead at the beginning of Alien 3 are central characters in this book. The book's underlying premise is the downward tendency of human nature when confronted with challenges and problems beyond our ken and normal frame of reference. We see twisted people trying to use the alien menace for their own ends: depravity that includes twisted scientific experiments, bio-weaponry and focuses for cult worship, with the resultant excesses of human suffering and dying. Indeed, it is humanity's collective weaknesses and baser desires that let the monsters in; that let them get a foothold on the planet (hence the title 'outbreak'), that causes earth's infestation as the aliens' - despite not possessing 'intelligence' - exploit our human failings. All too late do we realise that the aliens are a cancer, a cancer that has infected our earth and made it unliveable. Thus the scattered remnants of humanity have to flee, for earth is lost. A quite superb plot that leaves you speechless. A gripping, complex and ultimately tragic sci-fi horror saga from the one and only Paul Verheiden, who saw the potential in the Aliens phenomena and went into creative overdrive, giving us a timeless scince-fiction classic. Who cares about film sequels when the comics are this good?

With "Hellfire & Brimstone," Volume 4 of the trade paperbacks collecting issues of "Ultimate X-Men" (#21-25) I find myself painfully aware of all the opportunities writer Mark Millar is throwing away in revisiting the secret of the Hellfire Club. Although that is part of the title of this collection, it is but one of several major plot threads running through these issues, including the arrival of Kitty Pryde, the emergence of Phoenix, and the set-up for the next big encounter with the Brotherhood of Mutants and their leader. Obviously one of the rules of thumb in the Ultimate books is that you cannot duplicate the past; there must be all sorts of twists that should resonate those who read the original "Uncanny X-Men" of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in the Sixties and the second generation "X-Men" of Chris Claremont and John Byrne. But one of the strengths of the Ultimate series has been that instead of the original one issue/one villain/one fight format they have been providing multi-arc stories that are suited to being collected in these trade paperbacks. The result is the confrontation with Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club is not an epic, but a quickie.

The idea is that after the death of Xavier's son David and the Professor's crisis of confidence over what he has done with Magneto, the X-Men return home to Winchester trying to return to normal and opening their school to students once more. This means the arrival of Kitty Pryde, whose mother most decidedly does not want her mutant daughter running around the world as a superhero (as Cyclops points out at one point, they are all a little scare of Mrs. Pryde), which contrast with Bobby Drake who is out of his coma and being pressured by his parents to support a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Xavier, Inc. But before Kitty's education can proceed Jean Grey's mental barriers start breaking down and she is beset by strange visions of a giant bird composed entirely of flames (Asparagus people of the galaxy beware) and Cyclops and Wolverine are dispatched to the Savage Land to find out what happened to a detachment of Marines sent to ransack Magneto's complex for technology.

There is a lot of juggling of plotlines here and they do not really fit together in a way that the sum is greater than the parts. Shaw's manipulations of Jean seem to be intended as nothing more than a way of invoking the Phoenix without Marvel Girl having to apparently lose her life in the process. I did like the subplot that had the Blob, one of the truly uninspired villains of the original X-Men, pretending to be an anorexic model playing mind games with Hank McCoy on the Internet, especially once the joke turned deadly serious and upped the ante big time. But this time around the Hellfire Club has nothing like the style and flair it exhibited the first time around and there is a sense in which Millar is not really trying to come up with anything comparable. Shaw has sent Phoenix in motion and his deep pockets underwrite the X-Men and that is all there is to it.

Overall, "Hellfire & Brimstone" is the weakest collection of issues to date, and despite the interesting contrast between the artwork of Adam Kubert and Kaare Andrews, the overall effect is that the characters are treading water. Millar and company are setting up a big story with the next collection (which will come in Volume 6 because the next collection is of "Ultimate War" #1-4, where the X-Men take on the Ultimates), and that is going to either make or break this reinterpretation of the Marvel universe. It could go either way.

I really enjoy the Ultimate X-Men books, but I thought this one was the worst so far for two primary reasons:
One Kaare Andrews should stick to doing Disney cartoons and quit the comics buisness. The third and fourth parts to this book look like rejected cells from Atlantis: the Lost Empire.
Two, they try to do too much in the fith section, introducing both the Helfire Club (something I feel the series could probably have done without anyway) and the dark phoenix, as well as ressurecting Magneto all in one issue.
That being said this is still a great comic, infact the whole series is really inspired. I liked the second and fifth books the best (I thought Wolverine switched sides way too fast in the first book and proteus as a plotline is kind of blah).

This volume captures several interesting stories of the Ultimate X-Men series, and paved the way for more anticipated action for future issues. The introduction of Shadowcat, Cyclops and Wolverine at the Savage Land, the ambush at the Hellfire Club (which was done with great tribute to the Dark Phoenix saga), the manifestation of Phoenix, the return of Magneto, etc. you get them all in this volume. Once again, excellent art work on the Ultimate X-Men series. I'd love to see a better rendition on the Phoenix manifestation part, but I'm inclined to believe there'll be more to come after the Magneto return saga. Too bad we didn't see the rest of the Hellfire Club members, and Sebastian Shaw's showtime was drasticially cut. Nevertheless, still a great read. Highly recommended.

Guinness World of Records is a Fascinating Voyage of Discovery to facts, figures, feats and lots more! It's amazing to know about the Greatest, Smallest, Heaviest, Tallest, fastest, first and all about the exceptionally 'The Best of the Best'. As far as I remember, the First US edition appeared in New York in 1956 followed by editions in various languages later like the French, German in around 1962/63 and other editions in Japanese, spanish, etc. taking the flight to more than 250 plus editions in various languages. Indian dish 'Dhosa' by Sankalp in Ahmedabad, as the longest and largest size, is also on the Food Category which itself is Hall of Fame in Guiness World Records with more and more records to amaze us. Another Hotel Crown Plaza from Ahmedabad too, is featured for the Biggest Menu. The Book is divided into Categories on various topics with unique occurences and interesting peculiarities. Watching Guinness World Records on Television & Ripleys is just Great viewing but reading and possessing the Book is a Prize Collection. I recommend such Books as they make a good Useful Book Shelf Possession.

I love to have a copy of the Book of World Records handy when I knkow I may need help starting a comversation. All I have to do is open up the book and start asking questions to someone, like "Hey, guess who was 8 ft. 11.1 in. tall?"

Within minutes the ice is broken. Even though I don't always buy a copy every year, I eventually update. I can't stand to be estranged from the current record-holders.

--George Stancliffe

Tom Sawyer is the story of a 12-year old boy living up to the exception of being a kid. It is a book that is great for all ages, including adults. No matter what kind of personality you have you will enjoy it.
The story is about Tom's adventures and his trickery that gets him into trouble, and out of it. Weather he's painting fences or using his imagination he always seems to have fun. Along the way he teams up with Huck Finn, the rambunctious town outcast. They are always planning new schemes, such as curing warts with dead cats or running away and becoming pirates, yet know of their adventures are as big as their mishaps with Inguin Joe, the town criminal. Tom is also always getting into trouble at school, weather he is really to blame or not. Somehow Tom always gets out of doing non-enjoyable things, like when is supposed to take painkiller but instead feeds it to the cat. All this while searching for hidden treasure.
This book taught me how to be a kid, which is now more than ever. Also, Tom sawyer taught me what it was like to be a kid with out the pressures of being a kid in this day and age. A time when it wasn't excepted of you to be well mannered, responsible, or an intelligent young adult. Tom sawyer is a delightful read for all ages.

The classic story of Tom Swayer and his best-friend, Huckleberry Finn and their adventures. From seeing a murder to finding a cave to pretending to be dead, they have tons of adventures. This is a not to be missed novel. One of my favorites since the first time I read it in elementary school, after I saw a play of it I just had to read it and I'm glad I did.

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!

Defending the Digital Frontier starts with a patriotic forward by former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. I think that was my favorite part of the book, I know a lot of people are starting to think of 911 as old news, but I am not one of them. Giuliani issues a call to action to protect your information asset's for the nation¹s good. I started into the book quite excited.

The first three chapters say the same thing over and over again but with different word patterns. The gist is we¹re under attack and you better get ready for it. When your computers go down, so will your business. True, but that could be covered with one paragraph, and perhaps a couple war stories.

Ernst and Young's experts Mark W. Doll, Saiay Rai and Jose Granado propose that we can achieve homeland security with their 3 R¹s of the Security Agenda: Restrict, Run and Recover(SM). While it certainly is not that simple in practice, I really like the catchy slogan, it is perfect for communicating with senior executives.

The writing style is a bit dry, the repetition and lack of depth hurt the work, but the topic is very important. It does a great job of convincing a CEO class executive that they need a well founded security program. It just doesn't help them get it started. I want to be very specific with my concerns since I am scoring the book lower that the other (mostly anonymous) reviewers. I am a senior manager, the target audience for the book. People ask me for decisions or try to sell me on their product or solution all the time. It isn't that they tell me lies, they just do not give me all the information I need to make an informed decision. After a while you learn to be very careful about making decisions without all the facts. This work needs more case studies, more specific, proven examples. It also needs more takeaways, information I can use. Granted it is very unfair to ask E&Y to give away intellectual capital that took them a lot of sweat and blood to create, but at least give the reader enough information to assess our condition and understand what the next steps are.

I encourage Ernst and Young to do a second edition with some "show me the beef" hardnosed technical reviewers and produce a great book.

In a time a great tension and uncertainty this book is a terrific guide to understanding IT security and developing a strategy to protect an organization. As an executive this book is very helpful. I plan on giving it to my peers to remind them that all executives have responsibility for security.

I've been in the business game for a long time (26 yrs). During that time I've learned many things, sometimes willingly, sometimes by force. I have to admit that I was resistant to the idea of adopting the internet, especially when it came to transacting with my clients and customers. As we've all learned though, with digital and internet technologies growing by leaps and bounds, its a necessary evil. So being my pesimist self I've become semi-obsessed with understanding as many aspects of digital security, because if I don't understand it, then I can't very well expect my clients to have faith in my promises, can I?

"Defending the Digital Frontier: A Security Agenda" is the first book i've read, and I've read plenty, that is written so the right people can understand it. The "techies" already understand this stuff, but the people who make the decisions (e.g. how much budget those techies get to keep your netwrok secure), like the CEO and CFO, have never had it portrayed as a priority, like Mark Doll has been able to do in this book.

I usually don't review books, but with all of the recent news about networks being compromised, like the 8 million credit cards stollen this past week, I felt it was my responsibility to make sure I said my piece.

Buy it, read it, and use it, for yourself and for your customers.