One of my all-time favorite comic books
353087
I was unfamiliar with Conan beyond the two Schwazzeneger movies when i picked up this trade paperback (which I picked up mainly for the art) so I do not know how accurate Busiek's vision of Conan is. I do know that I absolutely fell in love with this depiction of the character.

The Conan of the movie was a bit of a bore to me, brooding and melancholy with the most cliche back story of them all, avenging the deaths of his parents. The Conan of this comic on the other hand, has a lust for life that I found very appealing. His only concern is having as many adventures and experiencing as much as possible before he dies.

Also unlike the movie, there no silly, contrived love story. Conan makes it clear he is only interested in short-term flings with the opposite sex. Conan kills if necessary but only to achieve what he needs, not out of revenge or some higher purpose. While, not caring much for the laws of civilized men, Conan does have a personal code that he honors. This keeps him from crossing the line between anti-hero and villian.

As stated above, the art is phenomenal. Cary Nord is clearly a master of fantasy art with a solid understanding of anatomy and a massive imagination. The decision to not ink over his pencils (or render his pencil lines more tightly) really gives the art a loose and sketchy feel that breathes life into the stories. Dave Stewart is possibly the finest Comic Book colorist I have ever seen. I loved the combination of the sketchy penciling and Dave Stewart's immaculate, clean digital coloring.

I remember reading a critique saying that his art was like if Frazetta painted an entire comic book instead of just doing the covers. While it may be sacreligious in the fantasy art world to compare anyone to Frazetta, I think this comic comes as close to living up to that compliment as possible.

I absolutely can't recommend this comic book enough. The disappointing recent Conan the Barbarian movie could have been a success if it had just taken this comic and copied and pasted it into movie storyboards.
4306461
This is certainly one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. It presents a brilliant blend of religious imagery and classic superhero mythology. It tests of limits of the superhuman presence in human society, and takes the consequences of this 'clash' to the field of Armageddon. I have nothing but good things to say about this comic.
4899838
This is one of the most classical comic books of the 90s. When this story was published in Brazil, we did not have many books in American format, because in Brazil the comic book size was small and in a low quality paper, for low expenses purposes. But an adventure of Spiderman (one of the main characters of Marvel Comics) with an art by Todd McFarlane could not be sold in a small format, because it would be a true crime. McFarlane's art was revolutionary, with details never explored until that date, as per example, its webs. All pages of Torment were amazing, causing more expectative during the reading. And more than it, was the first time that we had a story showing the Lizard in his darkest version. Connors left the scene, and we had a true killing machine seeking for Spiderman. I think everybody that likes comic books is a fan of McFarlane's art, so this book is mandatory in the collection.
3722626
As a long-term admirer of the first edition, I'm delighted to see this unique work of comic book history back in print. The 2014 reissue sees some minor amendments to the text of the first edition and, more importantly, notable improvements to the print quality and typography. These make a book which was already visually stunning book look even sharper, more vivid and more beautiful.

What's not changed is the brilliant, unreplicable concept - using blow-ups and collages of art from the key players of the Silver Age to show just how talented and important they were, with telling quotes and interpretative commentary taking the place of the text in the original captions and balloons. The book includes visual essays on Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby (the longest chapter, and quite rightly so), Gil Kane, Joe Kubert, Gene Colan, Jim Steranko and Neal Adams, plus shorter pieces on Murphy Anderson, Wallace Wood, John Buscema, Nick Cardy and Curt Swan. The focus is almost entirely on superhero art (Kubert's war work being the main and wholly honorable exception), not because this was the only genre of mainstream comic book publishing over the years concerned, but because the superhero titles were where the genuine artistic innovations were happening. Schumer's Silver Age starts in 1956 and ends around about 1970: this aligns with conventional wisdom, but also, and more pertinently, reflects the fact that Infantino's sleek design work and Adams' dramatic hyper-realism mark clear boundaries between what's gone before and what goes after.

Each chapter/essay is commendable for how much information is conveyed so quickly and clearly in a deceptively simple manner. The key stylistic traits, innovations, and themes of each artist, and other pertinent information, are all covered, with the text integrated into the gorgeous, often over-sized reproductions of their art. These are in turn selected and presented in a way which is frequently breathtaking, even if the imagery is very familiar to the reader. Gene Colan is quoted on the dust jacket as saying this was "the best representation of my work ever!" and that surely applies to all the artists covered here. The book is not only a fitting tribute to exceptional artists whose work deserves to be more widely known and appreciated, it's surely a major step in making that happen.

At the risk of repetition, it's visually gorgeous and utterly original, and you could enjoy it without reading a word. But verbally, it's clear the author's research and learning is wide-ranging, his insights are acute and his text is apposite and razor-sharp, and his love for this art and its creators comes across with great passion and great clarity. I have one huge complaint - I wish it was twice as long, and can only dream of the 400-page version originally pitched to the publishers!

Overall, as a work of comics history, this is as important, substantial and involving as Charles Hatfield's "Hand of Fire" and Sean Howe's "Marvel Comics: The Untold Story". Heady company indeed, but those are textual histories. As a visual history, this is number one in a field of one.
3535320
This comic book was full of stunning and beautiful artwork. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I was a wonderful story on its own and also made me want to read the original novel again.
3109417
This is a beautiful book with an incredible wealth of comics inside. If you like the Marvel movies, especially Guardians of the Galaxy, and you're excited for Infinity War, you should think about picking this up. If you're just a comic book fan, especially cosmic Marvel, you should pick this up. It spans one of the most brilliant comic stories I've ever read, with some of the most incredible art. Thanos is a fascinating character. This was my first omnibus, but it won't be my last!
2530370
One of the top superhero cartoons of all time.
106031
I love this graphic novel so much, I've not even finished it and I feel the need to go review (read: rave) about it. I've been reading a chapter a night, it makes a fantastic bed time read. It's beautifully bound, the book is a piece of art in and of itself with it's specialty cut pages and ribbon and textured binding. Art inside is glorious. It's smoothly inked.

AND THE STORY ITSELF IS AWESOME. I've never found bearded ladies so wonderful, ever.

If I had friends who weren't into graphic novels, I'd give this as a gift to them. I haven't got any such (lame) friends though ... but as it is, I'll gift this as a gift anyway.
849074
I have loved this comic since I was a child.  I still own all the original and the 2 volume sets, but I had to buy this
4171893
As a middle-aged woman who recently expanded into comic and graphic novels, I have to say this is one of my favorites. The art is expressive and full of physicality. The characters are very well defined and their relationships have dimension. Forever (Eve), the main character, elicits a combination of respect and sympathy. She is deeply relatable, her motivations are very clear, and shes very likable. The depth and detail of her character is such that I can easily see the little girl in the grown woman, and I care about them both. There are currently five collections, and from what Ive read, there may be another five. Lets hope so; the current pacing is wonderful!
1048497
just do yourself a favor and buy this book, this was one of the first x-men stories i ever read back when i got into comics and still remains as one of my all time favorite books
633038
It's honestly been a while since I read a Spider-Man related issue as good as this one. When it was announced that there would be a one-shot featuring an alternate universe where a Teenage Gwen Stacy got Spider-Man's powers instead of Peter Parker, I was intrigued. It was a good idea but could falter if written or drawn poorly. Fortunately the writer and artist team of Latour and Rodriguez deliver on EVERY page of this issue.

In only 20 pages, Latour gives us a fully fleshed out character and gives us familiar aspects of the Spider-Man mythology while at the same time making it feel completely fresh and new. Rodriguez perfectly delivers on the artwork. The whole issue felt like I was looking at a 90's punk bad album cover. Both the Action and Dramatic moments are drawn and colored wonderfully, again really feeling like a combination between a drawn punk album cover and a comic book. This book is so well done that I wouldn't be surprised if Marvel makes this into an ongoing series. I would certainly buy and read it! At the very least give us a mini-series devoted to her origin. Make it happen Marvel!
1152894
I'm a huge comic book collectors and I have a slew of graphic novels.  I own the print version of Watchmen and had to get it on the kindle.  It's excellent to keep a copy on hand whenever you need something to read.  This is written by comic book legend Alan Moore who takes comic book characters and really sets them into reality.  They're not your typical batman or spiderman but characters created in an alternate version of the 80s.  The kindle edition is very nice and the coloring looks great.  I highly reccomend getting this for your kindle if you're a fan of comic books in general.
4914571
I love this comic, it's that simple. I'm not even a huge fan of Justice League, but this is sort of THE iconic JL story, so perfect and literate and mythical. And the artwork by Alex Ross is some of the finest in all of comics -- his photo realism water colors are of course famous to most comics fans, but if you've never seen it you owe it to yourself to check it out, because it's pretty amazing. No other story has better depicted the narrative themes about "Gods and Mortals" in the DC Universe so well as this one. I recommend this to every fan of comics and literature, it is on my shortlist of graphic novels that everyone should read in their lifetime. My copy came used, in very good condition and right on time, with a good price to boot. I'd be happy to buy from this seller again.
546123
Hands down one of the best comic books produced over the last 20 years! I can't recommend it enough. Locke and Key is phenomenal.
4718648
I have been wanting to read this series ever since I first heard of it years ago during the (frankly awful) Avengers vs. X-Men crossover event (I'm sure most other comics fans out there will understand how much of a bitter aftertaste that word leaves). I finally picked this up from Hastings on sale and I'm pleased to say that if there was anything good that came out of AvX, it is this series.

Remender and Cassiday are a dream team of Marvel comics creators, with the former penning one of my favorite X-Men series, Uncanny X-Force, and the latter illustrating my absolute favorite X-Men series, Astonishing X-Men. The art is phenomenal, the characters each have a unique voice and interact in exciting ways, and the story is excellent...even if the ending felt a bit rushed. While we're on the subject of poor choices in this book, why is Red Skull suddenly mutant-phobic? He's never displayed that trait before (to my knowledge). Don't get me wrong, it fits his character, it just seems like it's something that should have come up earlier.

Even with those few gripes, this book was still very good, and I wholly intend on picking up the remaining volumes of this run under Remender's pen.
1677756
Thanks to Magnetic Press for providing an ARC of Golem in exchange for honest review.

I read a lot of comics. A lot. I have since childhood.  It helps that they're part of my professional life, but even in my personal life, I make it a point to read as many comics as I can, so I'm always thrilled when I come across an advance copy of a new comic trade.  I hadn't heard anything about Golem before coming across the ARC, but I'm glad I chose to pick up this book.

The story is set in a very strange future Italy, where people can change their appearance at will with on-demand cosmetic surgery, purchase home goods by pressing a button on their mirror while they get ready in the morning, and nourishment is no longer provided in the form of food, as cooking is too dangerous.  As you can imagine, this hyper-capitalist dream world has a dark side beneath the surface, and we delve deep into the "terrorists" plaguing the leaders of this new Italy early on in the story.  The story explores some complex moral choices, such as loyalty and "the greater good" versus compassion, and is definitely an engaging read.

Visually, Golem is stunning.  The color choices throughout the book are so incredible, with different color palettes signifying setting and tone.  The art style, too, seems to shift in certain scenes.  The bright and colorful look of the early pages of the book are contrasted sharply in places.  I love the subtle touches that give away, even in the earliest pages of the book, that this brilliant new world is not as it seems.  (Look for some truly gruesome deaths in the early pages, like a macabre Where's Waldo!)

I can see where some would draw comparisons to Otomo's work, and he is definitely an inspiration for this book, especially during the climactic sequences.  However, I'd also draw strong comparisons to Shirow's work and style.  A lot about this book feels like Ghost in the Shell to me, especially the combat sequences and the design of the armor.

As a bonus, Magnetic Press includes a section of "extras," including an exploration of the symbols and metaphors shown throughout the comic.  I loved reading through this section, and while I think most avid comic readers and even film fans will see a lot of the visual metaphors themselves, it's nice to have an analysis that lines up with what I was already seeing within.

All told, this book is well worth a read, especially if you're a fan of dystopian and action stories.  I was shocked to learn that this is LRNZ's first graphic novel!  Looking forward to more work from him in the future.