Linda Sunshine

I first encountered this book in my hometown library, when I was a kid. I don't know what prompted me to check out the grown up books, but I do know I was delighted to find comics in the library. (This was the seventies, mind you.) (The nineteen-seventies, you smart alec.) I read it from cover to cover, again and again. Sometimes I'd also check out the companion volume, Superman From the 30s to the 70s, but Batman was the tome I preferred. Time passed and the book eventually vanished from show more the library shelves. I was buying my own comics then--usually heroes other than Batman--so I wasn't heartbroken. But the book always had a spot in my heart.

Anyway, now it's almost 40 years later and I see this book in the antique and book collections room at the Library Sale. I wrestled with my conscience for a minute or two, but I knew I'd regret not snatching it up when I had the chance. So what is this treasure I acquired? Merely a hard-bound collection of reprinted Batman stories from the 30s to the... well, you know. (As it was first published in 1971, most of the 70s stories are actually from the late 60s.) (But hey, the comics in the stores are always dated a couple of months ahead. Maybe comics publishers are calendarly challenged.) They offer the first appearance of Robin, the Joker, the Riddler, Batgirl (both Batgirls, actually) and,of course, Batman himself. Most of the stories are in black and white, but a couple are in full color. In these days of trade paperback reprints, a collection of comics may not seem so special. But back in the day, this book was a real treasure. It still is.
--J. show less

A grand, humorous, and shocking fictional biography of Bambi Goldbloom, who was born and lived in New Jersey and rose to fame--but not without an assortment of trials, tribulations, and some outrageous characters.

The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2 by Linda Sunshine is a folio highlighting the artistic process behind the film. It's a full color, glossy affair.

The reproduced artwork is gorgeous and something any fan of the film will probably enjoy being able to linger over. There are photographs of the inspiration behind the the landscapes and sets. There are comparisons with the old film to see how characters were aged for the new one.

The unfortunate part of this book, though, is the conflict show more between the luscious artwork and the tiny text for the captions. The book needs to be read under good lighting, or with a magnifying glass, and there's no excuse for that. The book is huge. All it would have taken would be slight larger type face or some white space behind the text blocks. show less

Just a delightful gift book. I do wish the illustrators had been credited, so I know which editions to try to find, or at least so I could google for more art by certain names. But it's a fun book, not a scholarly one. Bonus star because it makes me want to read the sequels to the original story. I wonder if any of my libraries has a print omnibus of some, or some way to make it easy for me to read them....