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As you can probably tell I'm a fan of story compilations, trade paperbacks, hardcovers, etc. It's something very convenient about having the whole story at your fingertips. Here's a list of some of the hardcovers I'm proud to have in my library along with a quick and concise description and rating. Some of these books are out of print, where possible I've linked the images or titles to sites where you can purchase or find more info about these books. Good hunting, and enjoy.

DAVE MCKEAN'S CAGES(KITCHEN SINK PRESS 1998 ORIG PRICE $44.95-now out of print and no longer carried by any of the major bookstores, click here though to read some additional reviews or e-mail your friendly neighborhood grendel and I'll attempt to locate a copy for you.)This review was a long time in the coming. I wrote it a while ago, immediately after finishing this very large novel, this work of art. But because of other reviews this review kept getting put off. Finally, for your pleasure here is my review of the last book published by KITCHEN SINK PRESS before going out of business, Dave McKean's CAGES.

I just finished Dave Mckean's CAGES, all 496 pages of it. It took me roughly three hours of on again off again reading.

The book has been widely praised in circles as being one of the greatest works to come out in the last ten years. That's there opinion, this... this is mine.

The first thing that hits you about the book is the size. It is just a massive production, In length , depth, weight, it speaks of a forgotten old world quality. A forgotten, love, passion , for our words and images.

And upon opening the bookyou know you are entering something weird and new and brillaint. Some new different way, some new different voice, for our old stale world.

Cages tells on the surface a very simple, very mundane story of an old world building, and the lives of those people who make it home and how those lives intersect, cross, fracture, and ultimately grow.

It is a slice of life, that speaks of life. Dave McKean uses a variety of abstractions, abstractions in art, abstractions in story, abstractions in time, to speak, to argue,to grapple. It is a book about questions and the fallicy of answers.

It is a book that is exceedingly hard to describe, because like life it is not about a single thing it's about everything, like life it's not about endings, so much as the moments on our way to the end.

It is a deeply personal,deeply beautiful, and for me deeply effective book. Is it the greatest work ever published in the graphic format? In my opinion, no. But what it is is a great work, a stunning peice of work, and one you will find yourself coming back to many times over the years.

There are parts of the book that will make you smile, and chuckle, and fear, and hope, and turn the page with both trepidation and expectation. There are parts of this work that will confuse you, parts that will challenge you, and parts, parts that shall remind you. There are not many books that can do that.. this was one.

This is a beautiful, endearing work, now (because of Kitchen Sink's unfortunate demise) out of print,  that deserves a place on everyone's bookshelf. Highly Recommended! 

PREACHER the complete run, issues 1 to 40-From across the pond we have Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's work on Vertigo's PREACHER. If you haven't read PREACHER, it really is like nothing else being published, it is a story of sometimes overwhelming ugliness, marked by some of the finest and weirdest writing in the business, complemented by near cinematic visuals. Add to that the covers by Glen Fabry, which are nearly by themselves worth the price of the book. Sometimes I truly cannot stomach this book, but it cannot be denied that this is technically a perfect book. A near perfect marriage of words and pictures. The characters are just so repellant that it becomes hard to recommend it, but sometimes from the ugly we learn things, we grow. And I have to say that admidst the horror there are some moments of calm, of humor... oh heck , this book has moments that are laugh out loud funny. I read six tradepaperbacks, a total of 1357 pages virtually in one sitting. The writing is just that addictive, compulsive, and intriguing. The six tradepaperbacks covers issues 1 to 40, over three years of PREACHER comics, along with specials. If you can afford all six tradepaperbacks, do it. But if you can't the first two books are must reads, Book1:GONE TO TEXAS and Book2:UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD. Book2 is the best of the lot, and will leave you with images... that haunt. Try one for yourself but remember, these books like this site is not for the meek, nor the sane. Must Reads!   HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!

Ancient History TP (STAR07504, $14.95)

Dixie Fried TP (STAR08261, $14.95)

Gone to Texas TP (STAR01618, $14.95)

Proud Americans TP (STAR06817, $14.95)

Salvation TP (STAR09958, $14.95)

Until the End of the World TP (STAR02994, $14.95)

War in the Sun TP (STAR08831, $14.95)

ThE CoMpLeTe FrAnK mIlLeR BATMAN (Longmeadow Press 1989 Orig. Price 29.95)-This is a beautiful Leather covered hardback, with silver gilded pages that collects the Batman Stories of one of the most gifted artists in the medium... Frank Miller. Included is his most popular work for DC, 1986's DARK KNIGHT RETURNS that revitalized a flagging character, and redefined how good a comic book could be. A book that truly deserves the description... Masterpiece. Book also includes Batman:Year One, Miller's take on the wonder years of the man who would become his Dark Knight. Again, another bullseye for the man called Miller, just a solid, valid, literary work. And in-between these two Masterpieces is Miller's first Batman Story, Wanted Santa Claus:Dead or Alive. Simply an indispensable work, and long out of print. If you can pick this book up, consider yourself charmed. Highest Recommendation, A+. This title is out of print but click here for the latest printing of Frank Miller's DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, this is the 10th Anniversary softcover edition.

MaRsHaL lAw:FeAr AnD LoAtHiNg (Graphitti Designs Limited Hardcover Edition 1990 Orig. Price $45.95)-What Miller did in 1986 to reinterpret the safe confines of the Superhero mythos into the bleak, near apocalyptic landscape of a future devoid of clear concepts of villain and hero, right and wrong; Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill took even further, taking the concept of hero not just to Millers point of near villain, but crossing that line, and through extreme parody and satire examining a world where those we are told are heroes are in truth villains, and what we are told is right and just, is neither. Where the wars America fights, are for odious goals and through horrible means. It is a world where American "advisors" train revolutionaries to destabilize competing nations, and give classes on torture. a world where sex is a cheap drug to life, and death an even cheaper solution. It is a tale told yesterday, that resembles too closely our todays. Comprised of two stories FEAR AND LOATHING and CRIME AND PUNISMENT it hasn't received as much attention as Miller's DARK KNIGHT, which is unfortunate, because these two brits Mills and O'Neill create perhaps one of the best examinations of a culture of American Propaganda, and American Delusion; ever to appear in the graphic format. A highly valuable work. Limited to only 1500 copies, if you can get someone to part with one its definitely worth the money and time to add it to your Library. A great read. Highest Recommendation!

This title is long out of print, all Pat Mill Hardcovers are. But CLICK HERE to read some additional reviews, and you might want to have them do a search for you. It's free and you might get lucky.