Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics (Mammoth Book of)

List Price: $17.95
Our Price: $12.21
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Manufacturer: Running Press

Average Customer Rating:

Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780786720729
ISBN: 0786720727
Label: Running Press
Manufacturer: Running Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: 2008-03-24
Publisher: Running Press
Studio: Running Press

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Editorial Reviews:

Bringing together the finest names in comic book horror, this volume features nearly 50 comics that caused a furor in the US and sparked legislation to crack down on explicit horrorā€”from the 1940s to the 21st century. Includes names like Steve Niles, Pete Von Sholly, Michael Kaluta, Mike Ploog, Rudy Palais, Rand Holmes, Vincent Locke, Frank Brunner, and many more. Reproduced in black and white for this brand-new collection.

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Great selection for the price, nicely done. One big flaw.
Comment: I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in the history of horror comics. The omission of EC comics and Warren magazines is appropriate as they are archived and written about so many other places. All the other positive aspects of this book have been covered in other reviews and most of the negatives are slightly unfair or simply a matter of opinion.

My one complaint is this; for a book where the editor tells us how striking and brilliant the art work is, it is printed rather poorly. I did not expect, or want, the book in color. I DID expect the pages not to be shrunken to the point where the lettering and many panels are hard to make out. I would have happily shelled out and additional $10 to $15 for the same book with clearly printed pages.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A FUN-SCARY TRIP THROUGH HORROR COMIC HISTORY
Comment: The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics is a steal when you compare pages (540+) and story selections (48) to the overall price. The comics are presented in black and white (as any good horror comic should be). Editor Peter Normanjon also does a nice job of dividing the tales up by decades guiding the reader along from the 50's through present day with a nice introduction page to each tale.

Some of my favorites in the bunch include:
*DREAD END - a nice giant monster tale and there's a bonus modernizing retelling with actual photographs substituting for artwork
*Fatal Scalpel and Dungeon of Doom - both have a Twilight Zone feel
*Sea of Graves - gave me goosebumps when I first read it as a child
*Home Lies - a simple story where the ending cathes you off guard
*Purgation - probably the best visual story in the lot, some of the artwork actually creeped me out...the people behind this should make movies
*Killer Planet - reads and looks like it could have been from an issue of Heavy Metal
*The Graveswellers - another story that uses actual photographs over illustrations

The only minor problem with this collection is the absence (and it is addressed) of more widespread comics from EC (Tales from the Crypt) or Eerie. As a child these were always my favorites. However this Mammoth collection does a great job of introducing readers to the wide variety of horror comics that have been published over the last 50 years. It's a great place to start your appreciation of Horror stories, and the price can't be beat for the amount of reading (and scares) that await you.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Ventage comics collections
Comment: The artwork was great with the recreation of the comic in readable and good text form. The use of printing the stories in black and white added and enhance the reading for the reader.

Now if they could only put out a publication of the collections of mysteries in space, and the complete collection of WEIRD SCIENCE (only vol 1 and 2 are available at this time).

Customer Rating:

Summary: High Quantity, Low Quality
Comment: It's great to have so many comics all bound together, but they're all black and white (I'm sure some of them were originally in color). They're also much smaller than they were in their original comic book format, making it a bit of a stretch to read. However it was fairly cheap, and the lightweight paper is nice.

Customer Rating:

Summary: This is for Lovers - not for Chart-Hoppers !!!
Comment: Having read some of the negative reviews before, I was almost sure that I would get what I hoped for - but now I see that this book offers so much more...!

Sure the book could have a bigger print in colour - and I would certainly be willing to pay a lot for this book in an edition comparable to the MARVEL OMNIBUSSES.
But as it is, the book is an affordable option to get a really wide perspective on horror comics from pre-code to postmodern.

So here are some words to the complainers:

Claiming that this is not "the best" in horror comics is kid stuff!
Sure, it's stupid to put a word like "best" on any kind of compilation or anthology - but it's actually more stupid to actually search for a concept like that.

The strong point about this book is that there is no E.C. and no MARVEL and no DC to be found in these pages.
I mean, if you are looking for those classics - go and get them from the countless sources that offer them. You can get a complete E.C. library, and if you are seriously interested in horror comics, you absolutely should.
MARVEL and DC are already busy reprinting their ESSENTIALS and SHOWCASES and OMNIBUSSES and whatnots - so there is a good chance that within the next years you can get a big lot of what they have ever published.

This mammoth book here fills the gap that really hurts - i.e. the countless comics by short-lived, small, independent or sold out publishers I have never even heard about.
That is really rare stuff, and it turns me on to get such a low-price opportunity to lay my eyes on titles like BLACK CAT MYSTERY or CHILLING TALES.
In fact I don't expect them to be "good" or (for god's sake) "the best".
I expect them to grant me a glimpse of the history of pop-culture, and this is what I get here.
And then even getting stories from the 80s and 90s, when I really lost horror comics out of sight - wow, what a treat...!!!

If you actually intend to buy only one book of horror comics in your life - or if you have so little money that you can only afford one book a year - well, I definitely say:
Go and buy any copy of HAUNT OF FEAR or VAULT OF HORROR instead of this book.
Just as I would advise you to watch SUSPIRIA or TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, if you want to watch just one horror movie this year.

But if you really dig Horror in all its forms - and if you spend a lot of dough on classics and new stuff, the good the bad and the ugly releases to broaden your horizon and to find the gems among the rubble - then this book is DEFINITELY one you should buy!!!

This book is one to devour and enjoy - not to ruminate over.
It's for lovers - not for calculators.

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