4 comments about Batman: Faces.

1. Batman: Faces, is Matt Wagner's first attempt at a Batman story, and it is a decent one, however it lacks the punch of say The Dark Knight Returns, or The Long Halloween, however, Wagner's stunning artwork is what helps Batman: Faces remain in the mind of the reader, long after the book is finished. If you enjoy either Grendel of Batman, and are looking for something to read, pick this up, and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Peace.



2. this story is basically about two-face wanting to start a nation for deformed people. bleh.

   heros: batman, alfred, Jim gordan.

   villans: two-face.




3. The way the art and story of this novel combine to form a uniquely immersive and powerful story is amazing. This book is symbolica and provocative. The images in it will stay with you long after you're done reading.



4. Having read Wagner's most recent Batman entries (Monster Men and Mad Monk, highly recommended!), I was anxious to get my hands on anything else this guy had done, specifically anything involving Batman. I was finally able to track down the out of print Faces, which was previously printed as three issues in Legends of the Dark Knight. While this is my least favorite Batman story he's created, I still found it worth the long search.
   
   Faces deals with Two-Face and his attempts to create a "deformity nation" on a secluded island. Wagner's version of Two-Face looks great, while his Batman is not quite as polished as he has been more recently, he still looks good as does the rest of the artwork. Wagner's style looks very much like an old film noir in color with his excellent use of shadows and his covers are always pleasing to the eye.
   
   There are some good secondary characters in here as well that we get to know but don't make appearances beyond this trade. I usually prefer a longer more in depth character study (The Long Halloween is a personal favorite) but Wagner is smart by restraining himself and not going off in too many directions. He does in 3 issues what might take other skilled writers 6 issues to do.
   
   If you're a Two-Face fan it's worth checking out, however I still prefer TLH as the definitive Two-Face tale, and I also prefer the previously mentioned Wagner Bat books.

3 comments about Classical Architecture for the Twenty-first Century: An Introduction to Design.

1. i am of two minds about making classical, beaux arts buildings today. on the one hand it does make for fine and elegant buildings. i believe that it is easier for a mediocre designer to produce a decent classical building than a decent modernist building. but i have misgivings about building 21st century buildings aping the style but not the construction systems of 300 years ago. we can't build they way they did, classical buildings today are like stage sets, they look great, but behind the canvas, it's all ropes and scaffolding. so, i was interested to read how and why to do classical buildings in the 21st century.
   
   the author, jean francois gabriel, one of the last graduates of the ecole des beaux arts in paris, now teaches in the united states. he has legitimate classical credibility, unlike graves or the krier brothers.
   
   it is a peculiar book, one part manifesto, one part text book, one part pattern book. it satisfies in none of these catagories. it seems to be written for the student, but has sections clearly directed at teachers, and has appeals to professionals to jump on the classicist bandwagon. the illustrations, many of them hand drawn in ink by the author or hand rendered in washes by his students, are lively, lovely, and engaging. i wish the same could be said of the text. the text is clear, but suffers from poor relationships between the prose and the subject illustrations, making reading somewhat difficult and jerky as your eye scans for the appropriate illustration.
   
   the book's biggest problem, in my opinion, is that it lacks two crucial chapters. had it had a chapter on the orders, described in detail how the orders are rendered, their parts, the proportions of each part to the others, and a chapter on beaux arts planning and methods of composing buildings in plan, this book would have been far more useful to students, teachers and professionals. the orders are discussed, but not in depth or detail. thomas gordon smith's book, classical architecture/rule & invention provides a fine example of what is missing with regard to describing the orders. and frustratingly, the only mention of beaux arts organizational planning is a single throw away line about using axises and enfelades. okay...how?
   
   the organization of the book seemed peculiar to me. in the midst of the discussions of how to treat rooms and outdoor spaces, there is a chapter on how to make watercolor wash renderings, followed by more chapters about massing and facades. the rendering chapter might have been better omitted, or placed at the end as an appendix.
   
   there is little discussion of why classical architecture should be adopted in the 21st century, nor is there any discussion of how classical architecture gets adapted to the very different needs, uses and building types of the 21st century. it's a pretty book, i love the drawings, but of very limited usefulness to students, teachers or professionals.



2. THis book is a critically important and necessary tool for anyone wanting to understand classical architecture, whether to gain greater appreciation of historic buildings or in order to make new ones. Professor Gabriel's book is intended as a textbook for the study of classical design, whether in a formal architectural course or independently. In pursuit of this aim, the book presents thorough treatments of the major principles and techniques related to the discipline. His presentation of the underlying principles of classical planning, the orders, proportion, and ornament are very accessible and complete. The author manages to de-mystify the subject, while at the same time giving us an enhanced sense of the artistry behind all the examples he uses. Exhaustive treatment of the individual subjects is not his aim, but I found his comments both informative and subtle. Readers wishing to pursue any of the subjects in greater detail can avail themselves of the many references cited.
   One the great advantages of Gabriel's book is that it includes so many examples from his native French tradition. Americans tend to know little in detail about French architecture and theory. This book deepens our acquaintance with the well-known architects, such as Mansart and Ange-Jacques Gabriel, but also introduces lesser known and modern French masters, most notably Emilio Terry.
   Gabriel's instruction in watercolor wash rendering technique is very helpful, and the examples he illustrates, all by his former Syracuse University students, demonstrate that these skills can be learned and a high degree of proficiency attained today.
   I found the book excellent in presenting this material in a way that appeals to both younger and more mature students of design. It is a welcome and needed resource.



3. This book was recommended to me by an architect. It clearly explains and illustrates the basic principles of classic architecture. The drawings and photographs are particularly well chosen. Though this book is not a difinitive guide, it is the best book that I have found for the reader looking for a basic understanding of the principles. I particularly enjoyed reading the chapter on "the ten timeless cannons" of classical architecture as well as the chapter entitled "The language of classical architecture: fifteen things to know."
   
   I think that the reader would find it very useful to combine reading this book with another book: Traditional Construction Patterns, by Stephen A. Mouzon.
   
   I highly recommend Classical Architecture, which was written in association with (and recommended by) CLASSICAL AMERICA.

2 comments about Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change: A 21st Century Survival Guide.

1. How will we live when the oil runs out? How will we live when the climate is even hotter, with more floods, high winds, droughts? What kinds of buildings will be livable? How can we change what we build now to better serve humankind? Sue Roaf and co-authors argue that we won't be able to do it in "thin-skinned", windowless twentieth century buildings of glass and steel that keep out neither cold nor heat and require tremendous energy resources just to be usable. This is a great book about the many ways in which we need to and can change our thinking--particularly in architecture, in which a slavish adulation of "maestro-built," difficult-to-use buildings must be abandoned for a commitment to buildings and communities that will protect, preserve and comfort us in the resource-scarce times ahead.



2. Every American planning professional or aspiring city planner should include this book in their personal library. Besides the fight against standard American-style sprawl, planners are going to have to take the long view (it's why they're hired!) when designing buildings, cities, energy supplies, and transport systems in a much warmer world. This book is a start. In my opinion, any school that fails to include plannning aspects of climate change in its curriculum is derelict.
   As you can see from my other book reviews I harp on the need to examine nuclear energy as an option for our quickly urbanizing world. Besides good coverage of alternative energy for buildings and cities, the authors mention the aging UK nuke plants, the problem of relying on French nuclear power during the last heat wave, and other issues, including Sweden's policy reversal on shutting down its nuclear program. But this assessment on p 278 stood out for me:
   "However with the approaching oil crisis the UK govt may well have to review this (nuclear) policy. It is difficult to see how we will cope without nuclear power."
   Whether the UK will modernize its nuclear infrastructure is another matter.

4 comments about Cosmic Odyssey.

1. Even though this book gets a 3, I wish it were in print for others to experience. It's much better than 99% of the crud that DC collects in trade paperbacks these days.

   Written by Jim Starlin, "Cosmic Odyssey" contains his standard "cosmic" themes apparent in much of his other work (Dreadstar, Warlock). Reading a bit like a Silver Age adventure, a group of DC's more powerful heroes must team with the New Gods (yes, including Darkseid, who in turn teams with Etrigan the Demon) to defeat a threat to the universe... and of course, they split off in teams to cover more ground. There's some good drama here, including the personality clashes of Superman and Orion, and the mistake made by an over-confident Green Lantern which results in the destruction of a planet. You also get Adam Strange, Highfather, Dr. Fate, the Thanagarians, Martian Manhunter, Lightray, Starfire, and many others. The story quality varies in parts, especially concerning the segments with Batman. Even though he's Earthbound for the majority of the book, he just doesn't belong in the company of the aforementioned heroes and gods, and his closing confrontation with Orion is laughable. Assuming he didn't break his knuckles on Orion's jaw, Orion would more than likely have put Batman's head though the wall.

   This was an earlier phase of artist Mike Mignola's career, where he didn't use so much shadow, concentrating more on figures and detail. It's still his trademark work, however, and it looks great as always. The art alone is worth the price of the book.




2. I initially bought this just because Mike Mognola did the art, which by the way is absolutely amazing and proved furthermore that he is one of the most versitile and gifted artists out there today. But then I found there was much more there, and I honestly very impressed by the story. Straight out of 1988, this "cosmic" tale is typical of the time, and today seen as cliche', but it is still very fun to read. It was great to see so many characters, mainly of the "space adventurers" such as Superman and the New Genesis people, and their colaborations with each other. The most interesting aspects of the story were amongst the characters themselves. I wasn't so much concerned with the end of the universe, but how well Batman and Forager got along, or Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter (this part of the story proved most personal as we a see a very distraught GL who goes through a devestating event). Even though I didn't know half of the characters or their backgrounds, I could still understand them and not feel left out. We know they will win, but how is so much more fun. One promising thing is that there is enough action and driving story that you can read it again and again. I can't think of the last time I read something this good and clear-written. I was also very happy that Starlin didn't focus on just Superman and Batman (the two usual big guns), but rather focused on this alliance of super beings. Buy it if not for the art alone, but a solid, fun story that won't let you down.



3. I remember this when it was a four issue prestige format mini series. It was printed on lovely heavy stock paper and looked beautiful. Now, for this reprint, DC have elected to publish it on the cheap fish wrap quality comic paper. Why? Because cutting costs and giving the consumer less is more important than quality obviously. What do you have to say for yourself DC?



4. A treat to have this combination. Mike Mignola in a rare foray into the superhero world, and Jim Starlin's flare for space hero adventures. The Justice League must join forces with the New Gods to have enough firepower to stop a really serious threat from Darkseid.
   
   They screw up, bigtime.

5 comments about May the Force Be With Us, Please (A FoxTrot Collection).

1. I absolutely loved this book. It was absolutely hilarious. With Jason seeing Jurrassic Park, The Fox family going on vacation, and Jason and Marcus's 83 story Comic Book Store this book was great. 5 Stars!



2. A kid thinks that they are immortal. And will try this. So thekid in us, is in the sled enjoyingthis.



3. the only problem i had with this book is that it took me no time to read through it. very funny, wish it had lasted longer. a must read.



4. I've been a Foxtrot reader for a long time and personally I think there is something suspiciously wrong with people who don't find Bill Amend's characters funny as all get out. If you want a good laugh, check out Bill in your local newspaper, or better yet, get one of the Foxtrot books. They are all great, really, they are.
   
   Like many of Mr. Amend's fans I'm a bit disappointed he's switching his strip to Sunday-only, but fortunately I can still read him daily in the Foxtrot books. Get them one and all and you can keep right on a laughing.



5. I have been a faithful FoxTrot reader for years. Roger, Andy and their kids Peter, Paige and Jason are always good for a reality check with a large dose of laughter. I've got two girls and let me tell you, I see a lot of my kids in Paige with, I believe, even a healthy dose of Jason thrown in. And they have Peter's bottomless stomach. Of course, they're faithful FoxTrot readers too. I used to read the strip to them, explain what was going on, but now they get it just fine and we three all laugh together. Then my girls try and explain the strip to their dad, who pretends he doesn't get it.
   
   The FoxTrot folks are a great family, one we sort of got used to checking up on every day, so we took the news that Mr. Amend was going to cease daily distribution of his wonderfully funny people and turn his strip to Sunday only, with a bit of sadness. Still, we have these terrific FoxTrot books to keep us going with our FoxTrot fix. Mr. Amend is to be commended for his great gift to our culture and his great gift to so many lives. I truly believe a laugh a day, helps keep the blues away and the FoxTrot gang are always good for a laugh. Heck there are a lot of laughs in the FoxTrot books. I know, I have them all and I am, along with my girls and my hubby dear, eagerly awaiting the next one.
   
   Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we don't have an iguana, but my girls do have a pet gecko and, you guessed it, his name is Quincy.

5 comments about Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro.

1. Pop quiz: Name an artist whose wildly popular daily cartoon frequently promotes veganism - and who is not Dan Piraro. Stumped? Well, there really isn't anyone else. Indeed, Piraro has that niche pretty much covered and is regarded as the veg community's most-recognized comic voice. His print cartoon, "Bizarro," which began two decades ago, is syndicated in more than 200 newspapers and routinely takes on topics ranging from animal rights and religion to gay rights and politics. The surreal cartoon has spawned a number of equally surreal book-length collections, the latest of which is "Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro."
   
   But this new volume is no mere anthology of "Bizarro" cartoons. Accompanying the pages of comics, paintings, sketches and personal photographs is an extended autobiographical essay that is at turns hilarious and a compelling indictment of agribusiness. The author-artist never misses an opportunity to promote the cruelty-free lifestyle (mentioning, for example, that he won't buy paint brushes made from animal hair), and the book chronicles Piraro's transformation from, as he puts it, "a creative misfit class clown in Oklahoma to a passionate animal-rights advocate in New York City."
   
   As an outspoken vegan activist, Piraro proves himself to be articulate, well-informed and clever. He writes: "Some argue that while we started as vegetarians, we have `evolved' to eat meat. Biologically speaking, we haven't changed at all in this regard. You might as well say we've evolved to smoke tobacco. We've been doing it for centuries and we enjoy it, but we haven't developed a natural need for it, or a defense against its ill effects." You can bet I'll be keeping that analogy handy.
   
   Among the biggest treats in Piraro's revolutionary cartoons are the richly detailed backgrounds and extra jokes for those with the time (and eyesight) to look closely. Regular "Bizarro" readers know that Piraro hides symbols in his cartoons, such as spaceships, sticks of dynamite and pieces of pie. While he purports to explain these objects on his website, bizarro.com, he includes them simply for fun. More serious are the animal-rights messages punctuating his comics. A typical cartoon reproduced in Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations depicts several men at a bar; one guy has a "no veal" button on his jacket while another sports a "Farm Sanctuary" tattoo. Yet another cartoon shows two characters (actually Piraro and his wife Ashley) walking past a vegan café. Perhaps best of all, the themes in these particular cartoons aren't even animal rights, making the premise of compassionate living all the more mainstream.
   
   Even if you're not a fan of comics or Piraro's work, this oversized paperback will look great on your coffee table (even if you don't like coffee - or tables, for that matter). Who knows how many houseguests, unaware of the inhumane practices involved in factory farming, will peruse this colorful, hip-looking book, get to laughing and then realize the deeper truths within its pages? Piraro could be contributing these books for some time. He writes: "People in my family tend to live well past life expectancy, no matter how badly they abuse their bodies, so I figure with regular exercise and my vegan diet, I should live well into the next century." Let's hope so.
   
   Mark Hawthorne, author of Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism



2. This book provides insight into Dan Piraro, the most consistently humorous cartoonist of our day. Buy this book!



3. Dan Piraro is undeniably one of today's most talented newspaper cartoonists, and there's much to enjoy in this overview, if you can get past the tiresome, unrelenting narcissism and vegan proselytizing. More art (there's room on the pages) and less smug self-righteousness would've served this book better (and I AGREE with most of Piraro's politics).



4. Bizzaro is one of the best comic strips I have ever seen. Even on the all too numerous occasions when it is clear that my political etc. views are diametrically opposite to Mr. Piraro's I find his comic strips funny and very clever. I even have a reproduction of one his 'strips framed and hanging on a wall in my house. This collection is one of the funniest comic strip collections I have seen and it is also published in a very high quality (for a paperback) format- it is *not* your typical flimsily bound and poorly printed paperback collection. I also like the fact that he reveals where his ideas come from. This brings me to my second point: it's one thing to include your political and religious beliefs in your book. These illuminate the origin of many of his ideas, but it's another to have them constantly shoved down your throat in a very childish fashion. He writes with the style of an angry and idealistic high school student with no thought that anyone else with very differing views could have valid ideas or - gasp- could even be correct. It get's tiring to be constantly told that anyone with opposing views is "whacked out", to use a common phrase of his. He replaces his idealized wishful thinking for facts, and it gets annoying. Here's one example: he writes about how he admires the native American Indians for living in harmony with nature. Clearly he has not read much on this matter because, I am sorry to inform this vegan, it is pretty much accepted by anthropologists and other scientists involved that "native" Americans wiped out the pleistocene megafauna, just like the "native" New Zealanders pretty much wiped out thier megafauna. I point this out because I grew tired of his constant know-it-all attitude, and I am sure other readers will as well. I only write this because I think even this very personal book goes way overboard for a comic book collection in his attacks on people whose views he dislikes and I expect a little more restraint more from an adult author- even a cartoonist with a poor formal educational background. Still in all, I would highly recommend this book to any fan of the daily comics and plan on buying his new hardcover collection upon it's release.



5. One of the few good reasons to spend retirement years in America is the dependable presence of at least one laugh in your morning newspaper, aside from those sardonic guffaws you suppress with a sob when you look at the front page. Now, none of you techno-whippersnappers had better tell me that the comics are available on-line anywhere I wander, anywhere I roam, cuz looking at Bizarro on a computer screen is about as gratifying as staring at a photo of a snifter of cognac. It's the smell of the newsprint and the satisfaction of snatching the pertinent image from your lovey at her sudoku. Yes sir, that's livin'! Gets you all stirred up for tooling around Sun City in your golf cart.
   
   Dan Piraro has been amassing a comprehensive dossier of my own particular world-view for many years, one frame at a time, but I've been abroad enough to have missed any number of his sharpest insights. But with this here book in my suitcase, I can face moving to "The Sequoias" with equanimity. What name for an assisted living facilty, eh? The Sequoias. Piraro would appreciate it.

No comments about AutoCAD 2009 Fundamentals.

No comments about Technical Sketching with an Introduction to AutoCAD (4th Edition).

No comments about Engineering Graphics Essentials with AutoCAD 2008 Instruction.

4 comments about Structure as Architecture: A Source Book for Architects and Structural Engineers.

1. I am a student studying architecture, and have found this book to be a very useful reference.
   
   The first time I used it, I was looking for specific examples of "expressive" architecture. In the index, I found a long list of qualities such as "grounded", "light", "dynamic" etc. with references to pages illustrating specific projects whose structure has those qualities. The clear, full colour photos really help you get the feel of the buildings.
   
   I don't know of any other book that I could have looked to for that purpose. Of course, the content is useful for numerous other reasons as well.



2. As per name, this book provides an excellent reference to building structures that expresses its architectural ideas. The book is well written and provides examples from around the world! ^_^



3. Although Architecture and Engineering are really only different sides of the same coin, they are often treated in completely different ways. Certainly they are normally approached from different directions. Charleson's book addresses this lack of continuity, and reduces structural diagrams down to a simple level (good for architecture students) as well as opening up the ideas of light and air and structure to thoseof a more engineering bent... And from all accounts he's a pretty inspirational lecturer as well, with the students fizzing away with excitement.
   
   End result: if you are a student of Architecture or Engineering, then rush out and buy this book. Invaluable source of knowledge - guaranteed to help you through those exams...



4. If architecture is viewed as ideas of establishing different relationships between people and space, then structure is the first step to achieve these relationship in reality. How do we appropriately use different structure elements in reality, what kind of architectural effects will them create? These questions are answered in Andrew W.Charleson's book 'Structure as architecture'. The book is divided into chapters such as function/exterior/interior of buildings,structural detailing, light and structures and so on, which are discussed from both theoretical and practical approach. With enormous amount of first hand photo illustrations, the book also gives a comprehensive visual case studies to the reader. It is enjoyable to read and I recommend this stunning book to all architectural, building science students as well as architects and engineers in practice.