Kiss Me Sadly

Book Description

This is the tale of two parallel lives. He is a man who loves women too much, but still seeks to fill the puzzling emptiness that eats away at his insides. She grows up in an Eastern European backwater, in a culture where sex is a commodity and surviving is the name of the game. They travel down separate roads, both hunting for thrills and new emotions, until coincidence brings them together. The encounter between their respective brands of loneliness is passionate, heartbreaking, and tender, yet also desolate.

Customer Reviews:

I couldn't put it down!.......2003-09-19

No wonder they call Maxim Jackubowski the King of the Erotic Thriller. KISS ME SADLY is a truly engrossing read. Loveable for their sad foibles as well as their tender strengths, Milduta and Jack's parallel sexual histories burn up the pages. You know these characters are destined to meet and collide and can't wait for the moment. The ending will haunt long after you close the book.

Book Description

In celebration of its 65th anniversary, the House of Ideas proudly presents a timeless testament to a true Marvel visionary! Comics' premier storyteller for more than 40 years, Jack "King" Kirby brought new vitality and imagination to the medium, and set the standard for every artist to follow. This deluxe keepsake edition collects some of the most monumental moments, created in concert with the likes of legendary writers such as Joe Simon and Stan Lee - some never before reprinted: "Mercury in the 20th Century," RED RAVEN COMICS #1, Kirby's first work for Marvel; "The Vision," MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS #13, Kirby's first regular Marvel series; "Meet Captain America," CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #1, the first Captain America story; "UFO the Lightning Man," YELLOW CLAW #3, from a strip Kirby wrote and drew during the '50s; "I Defied Pildorr, the Plunderer from Outer Space!," STRANGE TALES #94, from the moster era; the first time Joe Sinnott inked the King; "I Am the Amazing Dr. Droom!," AMAZING ADVENTURES #1, the origin of Stan and Jack's first super-heroic character of the '60s; "Beware the RawhideKid!," RAWHIDE KID #17, the first revamped Rawhide Kid story and the beginnings of the Marvel style; Plus: "The Origin of the Hulk," HULK #3; "Spidey Tackles the Torch," AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #8; "Captain America Joins the Avengers!," AVENGERS #4; "The Fangs of the Fox,"SGT. FURY #6; "The Coming of Galactus," FANTASTIC FOUR #48-50; "This Man. This Monster," FANTASTIC FOUR #51; "The People Breeders," THOR #134-135; "To Become an Immortal," THOR #136; "This Is A Plot?," FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #5; "The Inhumans!" AMAZING ADVENTURES v.2 #1-2' "America Will Die!," CAPTAIN AMERICA #200; "The Fourth Host," ETERNALS #7 and "What If the Original Marvel Bullpen Was the Fantastic Four?," WHAT IF #11.

Customer Reviews:

Kirby fans will enjoy it but many of the choices are mediocre .......2007-01-13

I was expecting more from this book considering Jack Kirby did more for Marvel and comic books than anyone outside of Stan Lee. There is a brief introduction that reads like it was written in 5 minutes and lacks any insight or historical distance to Kirby's impact on comic book art. Yes, there are some key 1960s glossy reprints that show off Kirby's magnificent and muscular pop-art -- particularly FF 51 (w/Sinnott's inks) that gets my vote for the best work ever by Kirby/Lee. The other FF reprints are outstanding examples of Kirby. The Thor reprints are good but his earlier Thors, particularly Tales of Asgard with inker Vince Colletta, are better examples of Kirby's dynamism. Similarly, the Captain America choices in this book are OK but not his best CA. Ditto for Sgt. Fury and the Avengers. The Golden Age stuff is worthwhile and needs to be in here, but the most baffling reprints are the schlockly 50's horror/SF work, which are utterly forgettable. This should be Kirby's best work. Far from it. Try again, Marvel.

A Bittersweet Career Retrospective..........2005-12-31

Without a doubt, Jack Kirby brought some of the most majestic and powerful illustrations to comic-books. No doubt he was also a driving force behind much of the plotting and pathos that so marks many of Marvel's finest stories. Still, this collection should lay to rest any of the oft-told stories that it was Kirby who did the writing (while some went so far as to say that Stan Lee could not write a simple sentence in plain English). While the art-work remains stellar throughout the entire collection, one does see a decline in the writing once Lee leaves Kirby to script his own stories. While the art-work seldom suffers (if anything, it remains as glorious as anything Kirby ever produced), the scrips for the Kirby-penned issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA and THE ETERNALS are wooden/stilted, at best. In the case of the Kirby-penned "What If..." issue (one that tackles the concept of what if the Fantastic Four were made up of members of the Marvel Bullpen), the writing is downright cringe-worthy. While this book is a fine primer to introduce the unintitiated to the grandiose and marvelous artwork of Jack Kirby, it also serves to remind one that Kirby was often at his very best when he had a talented writer on hand to help him guide his unique vision and talents.

The King Deserves Better Than He Ever Got From Marvel..........2005-01-05

As delighted as I might be to see this sweeping together of work into a kind of career overview of the comic book genius, the deal-breaker for the project comes, for me, in the truth that every Kirby fan knows: Jack Kirby and Marvel ended their relationship in acrimony, at least from the King's side. --And he had plenty of reason. He felt deeply, to the end, that someone else at the company took substantial credit for some of the best work he ever did, and he could never get over the fact that thousands of pages of his art, art that was being held in the company vault, were never returned to him. (The eventual grudging return of a tiny fraction of his pages for Marvel before his death raised more questions than it answered-- to where on earth had all this art, under lock and key for "safe-keeping" for decades, disappeared? Most frustratingly, through the period when he campaigned to get his art returned, Kirby said that he kept seeing his vintage Marvel boards for sale at conventions!)

I can, with effort, set aside the way Marvel treated Kirby. --It's a question of keeping the karma good. But, on the other hand, I will never give them another dollar for anything that cashes in on Kirby's name. No way. I have too much respect for the man's work, for his personal memory and for what I would assume to be his wishes in the matter.

Those interested in prime Kirby can check out his Fourth World books for DC, currently available in a nice set of fat trade paperbacks, at very affordable prices. Of course, Kirby's time at DC during his Fourth World period was not always a walk in the garden. But any mistreatment of Kirby by DC at this time seems to have been more like mishandling, the result of the company's growing desperation and panic reaction at the fact that nothing, not even Kirby with his magic hit-making touch, could pull them out of their perpetual number two sales spot. But there was certainly no theft of credit or of his actual boards.

Return of the KING!.......2004-12-28

See why Jack Kirby became known as the "King of Comics". This archive covers 40 years of Kirby's work for Marvel. It is a good introduction to see how his style and storytelling evolved.

Including the now classic introduction of Captain America, the Fantastic Four with Galactus and Silver Surfer, Thor, and the whimsical take on the "What If" with the Marvel Bullpen.

The Visonaries is a great addition to the Marvel Masterwork library.

Long the live King Kirby........2004-11-16

Would there have been a comics industry without Jack Kirby? Yes, I think there would have, but it might not have been as fun. This book reprints a wide format of stories (see the Amazon description above) in a format worthy of Kirby.

Particularly nice was the inclusion of the "What-If?" story that has
Kirby and Stan Lee becoming members of the Fantastic Four. It is great fun to watch the King of Comics actually join in the action in the comic universe he helped create.

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Fantastic & MARVELOUS

Marvel Visionaries: Stan Lee
Stan Lee , Jack Kirby , John Romita , and Steve Ditko
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0785116931

Book Description

In celebration of its 65th anniversary, the House of Ideas proudly presents a timeless testament to another true Marvel visionary! In 1961, writer Stan Lee penned Fantastic Four #1, an historic issue unlike any comic book that had come before. This super-hero team had true personalities - they doubted their own abilities, battled problems of money and illness, and even fought among themselves. The monumental popularity of this realistic comic-book style inspired Lee to create similarly themed titles - including Hulk, X-Men, and Avengers with artist Jack Kirby; and Amazing Spider-Man with artist Steve Ditko. By 1965, Lee had successfully established Marvel Comics as a cohesive universe populated by world-famous comic-book characters. Now, this deluxe keepsake edition collects his greatest moments - some never before reprinted: "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" (Captain America Comics #3): Stan's first story, a two-page text piece! "The Red Skull's Deadly Revenge" (Captain America Comics #16): The defining Golden Age Red Skull story! "The Raving Madman" (Suspense #29): Stan's satire on Frederick Wertham and the comics witch hunts of the '50s! "Your Name Is Frankenstein!" (Menace #7): A modern Frankenstein story, featuring many of the elements of the later Marvel books! "Where Walks the Ghost" (Amazing Adult Fantasy #11): A short, twist-ending story by Lee and Ditko! Plus: "Spider-Man" (Amazing Fantasy #15); "A Visit With the Fantastic Four" (Fantastic Four #11); "How Stan and Steve Create Spider-Man" (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1); "In Mortal Combat with Sub-Mariner" (Daredevil #7); "The Final Chapter" (Amazing Spider-Man #33); "Bedlam in the Baxter Building" (Fantastic Four Annual #3); "And Who Shall Mourn for Him?" (Silver Surfer #5); "Brother, Take My Hand" (Daredevil) #47; "And Now, The Goblin," "In the Grip of the Goblin," and "The Goblin's Last Stand" (from Amazing Spider-Man #96-98); "No Longer Alone" (Captain America #110); "No More the Thunder God," "When Gods Go Mad," and "One God Must Fall" (from Thor #179-181); "While the World Spins Mad" (Marvel Premiere #3); and "The Circle of Life" (Spectacular Spider-Man Super-Special 1995)!

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic & MARVELOUS.......2005-12-31

(REVIEW WRITTEN BY BILLY INNES)

For the generations whose first exposure to stellar comic-book writing came from reading the likes of Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, the Hernandez Brothers or Art Spiegelman, then Stan Lee might seem a bit wooden or stilted by comparison. Still, it is pretty important to remember that many of the fine writers listed above may not have ever written a word for comic-books if not for the ground-breaking innovations brought forth by Stan Lee.

During the height of the "Marvel Wars"...when the artists who had worked for Marvel (including such greats as Jack "King" Kirby) were fighting to get their original artwork (a way of generating extra revenue for these artists is to sell their original penciled pages)...there was much criticism hurled towards Stan Lee. Criticism towards Stan Lee regarding his business practices...after all, it was Lee who failed to relinquish access to the Marvel artists' original artwork...may have been justified. In the midst of that controversy, though, came criticism aimed at Lee regarding his writing abilities. Rumors began to spread that Lee seldom fully scripted or plotted a full issue of the comic books that bore his name. Some rumors went so far as to claim that Stan Lee could not write a complete sentence in English to save his life.

All one needs to do is look at other of the books in the MARVEL VISIONARIES series to dispel such rumors. Granted, Stan Lee was often as good as those with whom he collaborated (and with artists such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Wally Wood...just to name a few of many greats...one could not ask for finer artists) and, without a doubt, such artists were often elemental in helping Lee with plotting and pathos. Still, if one looks at the MARVEL VISIONARIES book devoted to the work of Jack Kirby, one notices that the finest stories are those where Kirby is given the credit as artist and Lee is given the credit as writer. When Kirby is credited as writer (issue 200 of CAPTAIN AMERICA or the issue of THE ETERNALS), the art remains majestic, but the writing is stiff and wooden. In other cases...such as Kirby's "What If" take on what life would be like if the Fantastic Four were the Marvel Bullpen, the writing is downright cringe-worthy.

The collection devoted to Stan Lee is probably the finest of the MARVEL VISIONARIES series. Much of this is due to our being able to see Lee's development as a writer (going from one-dimensional stories from Marvel's Golden Age to stories of great might and power as represented by the DAREDEVIL and SILVER SURFER issues included in this collection). And, of course, another joy of this book is being able to feast one's eyes on the wide range of talent that comes from the palette of wonderful artists who laid pencil to paper for Marvel.

As one who remembers many of these issues when they first appeared, reading this volume was much like a happy trip back in a Time Machine. It brings to mind the days when I found the soap-opera-like story of a superheroes true identity to be every bit as engaging (if not more so) than the grandiose battles of good versus evil. It brings back memories of story-lines that crossed over various comic-book titles, so that one had the feeling that the Marvel Universe really existed on some other plain (all one need do is read the titles from DC titles...or the lesser Charleston or Dell to see how profound this method was). Lee elevated many of the characters from cardboard caricatures and breathed life and believability into them. Sure, they've probably not aged as well as our imaginations remember many of these comic-books and characters, but they still are often breathtakingly a wonder to behold when one considers just how innovative and revolutionary these works were!

Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby Volume 2 HC (Marvel Visionaries)

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King Kirby

Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby Volume 2 HC (Marvel Visionaries)
Stan Lee , and Jack Kirby
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0785120947

Book Description

Humor, horror, westerns, war, romance, espionage and, of course, super-heroic adventure... many domains, but only one King. From the Two-Gun Kid, Sgt. Fury and Agent Jimmy Woo to the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and beyond, the talent of Jack Kirby underlies the history and future of Marvel! See Captain America's first appearance... all three of them! Witness the first Avengers/X-Men battle, and learn the origin of Professor X! Cower before Doctor Doom, wielding the power of the Silver Surfer! The Yellow Claw! Mangog! Fin Fang Foom! Otherworldly dinosaurs, mutant seagulls and more await as comicdom's commemoration of Kirby continues! Collects Captain America Comics #1; Marvel Mystery Comics #23; Yellow Claw #4; Strange Tales #89, 114; Two-Gun Kid #60; Love Romances #103; X-Men #9; Tales of Suspense #59; Sgt. Fury #13; Fantastic Four #57-60; Not Brand Ecch #1; Thor #154-157; Devil Dinosaur #1.

Customer Reviews:

King Kirby.......2007-03-18

Jack Kirby was the King. He was the greatest and most powerful of all comic book artists. If you love comics and don't know Kirby, you owe it to yourself to explore his work -- much of which, thankfully, is available between book covers. There have been other great artists, but there was only one Kirby.

Marvel Visionaries Jack Kirby Volume 1 HC

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Marvel Visionaries Jack Kirby Volume 1 HC
Jack Kirby , Joe Simon , and Stan Lee
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: B000LSBSY8

Book Description

Book Description

A planet orbiting binary suns, Helliconia has a Great Year spanning three millennia of Earth time: cultures are born in spring, flourish in summer, then die with the onset of the generations-long winter.

It is the summer of the Great Year on Helliconia. The humans are involved with their own affairs. Their old enemies, the phagors, are comparatively docile at this time of year, yet they can afford to wait, to take advantage of human weakness?and the king?s weakness. How they do so brings to a climax this powerfully compelling novel, in which the tortuous unwindings of circumstance enmesh royalty and commoners alike, and involve the Helliconia continents.

This is the second volume of the Helliconia Trilogy?a monumental saga that goes beyond anything yet created by this master among today?s imaginative writers.

Customer Reviews:

Best book in the series.......2007-08-29

This is by far the best book in the series - not quite great, but an interesting book to read. The characters are vibrant, their motivations understandable, the plot at least somewhat plausible. As with all the Helliconia books, there are many loose ends and the author never quite made me care about his characters, but it does a reasonable job of delivering on the "grand sweep of history" motif that Aldiss apparently intended for Helliconia.

Almost as good as Spring.......2006-04-03

I have already stated somewhere my disgust over the translation of this book that is avaliable in my country, better to say of the translation of the volume one. The volume two didn't get any better in that sence.

But that is beside the point. As much as I enjoyed Helliconia Spring, finding myself able to feel on the top of the planet surface which was torchured by the immense cold climate and hostile enviroment, I have found something lacking in the Summer part of trilogy.

Summer part much resembles Renaissance and the birth of the modern age on our planet and in our own history. Struggle between dogma and numerous religions, scientific approach and exploration mixed with political struggle of all kinds, all of that seems much to familiar, and in sa sense, boring.

It is not that I do not enjoy history, and that I cannot perceive weird and almost twisted loggic (or better to say illogic) behind it all, but problem can be placed in an inadequate, lets call it, effort from the side of the author, who felt much more confident in rewriting and adapting humankind history than to create one of his own.

It is still amazingly interesting (and fun) book, but for me it lacked that feeling of new world being created in front of my eyes. Thus the four stars though I am aware that that rate is of questionable value.

One of the best.......1999-03-02

Continuing his very successful (critcally at least I have no idea how well it sold, though the book trumpets that it's an "international best seller") Helliconia series about a planet with a two thousand year long revolution and two hundred year seasons (give or take), he expands and clarifies all the stuff that happened in the first book, which you don't even need to read to understand. So much time has passed since the first book that everything that happened is mostly the stuff of distorted legend if they even remember it at all. This time around he chooses to focus on one group of people over a period of maybe ten years or so instead of the massive scope of the first book and he proves he can pull off both with ease. Court intrigue, suspense, the slow heating of the planet amidst the politics of the planet, it's all there. And just so you remember that Aldiss is a science-fiction writer, he expands on the notion of Earth watching the planet and shows that they'll have more of a role in the series than you would expect. All in all, incredibly detailed planetbuilding by someone not normally known for that sort of stuff, this is the type of book that people label a "classic" and for good reason. Everything works, even the plot technique of showing us the aftermath of something and then bouncing back in the narrative to show us what happened before (and they passing it at some point, it can get confusing if you're not paying attention) works. Even with the heat and whatnot, Helliconia becomes a place you want to live. I know I do. Criminally this book is out of print, something that should be recitified by someone (listening publishers, this series should not only be available in Britian!) but if you ever find it used, snap it up, it might be hard to find but definitely worth the time spent searching for it.

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HELLICONIA SUMMER
Brian Aldiss
Manufacturer: Berkely Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MVI8L0

Helliconia Spring, Helliconia Summer, and Helliconia Winter

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Helliconia Spring, Helliconia Summer, and Helliconia Winter
Brian W. Aldiss
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K089JY

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Helliconia Summer

Manufacturer: Berkley Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HJI48E

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Helliconia Summer
Brian W. Aldiss
Manufacturer: Berkley Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000Q77QM2

Helliconia Summer - Book Two Of The Helliconia Trilogy

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Helliconia Summer - Book Two Of The Helliconia Trilogy
Brian W. Aldiss
Manufacturer: Collier Books / Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LVC4BQ

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Helliconia Summer
Brian W. Aldiss
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HK9FT0

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HELLICONIA SPRING/ SUMMER /WINTER
ALDISS BRIAN W.
Manufacturer: ATHENEUM
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PGHYQM

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Helliconia Summer
Brian W. Aldiss
Manufacturer: Collier Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8VY5S

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Helliconia Summer
Brian Aldiss
Manufacturer: Triad Granada
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M635JU

Book Description

The Tibet Center and Gere Foundation present one of the world's great spiritual leaders and author of An Open Heart and the New York Times bestseller The Art of Happiness.

In Training the Mind, The Dalai Lama explains the basic Buddhist system and lays out a foundation for practice. Through daily practice, we pay homage to Buddha for his great kindness as teacher, we contemplate the impermanence of life, and dedicate our positive activities to the benefit of all in order to build a better world.

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The Dalai Lama in America: Training the Mind
Dalai Lama
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: B000MHR4CS

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