Sweet Revenge

Book Description

At twenty-five, Princess Adrianne lives a life most people would envy.  Beautiful and elegant, she spends her days dabbling in charities and her nights floating from one glamorous gala to the next.  But her pampered-rich-girl pose is a ruse, a carefully calculated effort to hide a dangerous truth.

For ten years Adrianne has lived for revenge.  As a child, she could only watch the cruelty hidden behind the facade of her parents' fairy-tale marriage.  Now
she has the perfect plan to make her famous father pay.  She will take possession of the one thing he values above all others--The Sun and the Moon, a fabled necklace beyond price.

Yet just as she is poised to take her vengeance, she meets a man who seems to divine her every secret.  Clever, charming, and enigmatic, Philip Chamberlain has his own private reasons for getting close to Princess Adrianne.  And only when it's too late will she see the hidden danger...as she finds herself up against two formidable men--one with the knowledge to take her freedom, the other with the power to take her life.

From the Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Nora begins crafting her style --but the middle east aspect mars it. . ........2007-07-16

This was my very first Nora Roberts book. I read it when I was thirteen or fourteen, having just read Sidney Sheldon's If Tomorrow Comes, and was on a thief-as-heroine kick. This book began a long love affair with Nora's books, as she was just beginning to break away from the Silhouette serial format and perfect the Nora formula--very strong heroines far from the romance novel stereotype, beautiful, witty, main characters who you'd love to have as your friends, alternative family structures when biological families fail (the heroine's "Aunt Phoebe"), and the suspense plot (the paranormal and Irish element would not begin to dominate her books for a few years).

Those are the things I love about Roberts. However, one of her big flaws is here too. Nora's prolific writing habits result in a diversity of settings and professions for her books, but no human being could know enough to portray the complexity of all of her subject matter in a competent way. I have often been annoyed at her unrealistic portrayal of people in a variety of professions at the top of their fields at impossibly young ages, but that, of course, is part of the fantasy. Here, the absence of complexity is a more disturbing and damaging, because the depiction of the despotic, harem-owning, Middle-Eastern leader is pretty over-the-top (the frequent over-the-top villain is another one of her less than fabulous plot features). Please don't write this off as a "PC" critique. This is only a warning for people who, like the reader from Alabama, comments that this teaches her about the the Middle East, or for readers like the one who picked the book up and was understandably offended by the cartoonish depiction of the evil Arab father. I am not denying that there is misogyny in the Middle East (there is all over the world). But there's no doubt that this feeds into a representation of the Middle East that, if we read more widely, is far from the the complex histories and social structures in a variety of different countries.

As my first Nora, it holds a special place in my heart, but it does not hold up for me almost twenty years later because of the stereotyping.

Great book!.......2007-03-15

Written in true Nora Roberts style. This will be a book that I read over and over again.

She didn't live up to the hype!.......2007-01-23

I bought this book on a whim at the grocery store because a good friend of mine loves her books. What a waste of $8.00! Between the blurb on the back of the book, the blurb inside the front cover, and the first two chapters, I figured out how the story ended and completely lost interest in finishing it. I realize this book was released 18 years ago, but I have no interest in seeing if her writing has improved over time. She just didn't live up to the hype!

fantastic book.......2007-01-10

I love Nora Roberts books. She never lets me down. Great read.

Typical, Eurocentric Stereotypes About Muslims.......2006-11-04

I couldn't read past the second chapter. Roberts is just perpetuating the same old stereotypes about Muslims. It really steamed me that she used a verse of the Quran out of context for the title page of "The Bitter". "Your wives are your fields, so go to your fields as you like" isn't meant as a justification of sexual abuse and has never been interpreted as so by real scholars of the Quran. I'm not going to finish this book, because I'd rather not be reminded of how much I am viewed as some sort of exotic, oppressed "other" type of woman, thanks.

Average customer rating:

Another wonderful book from Fulmer
Another by an Award Winner
Satisfying mystery novel
"He went into action like the sneak thief he was."
Murder mystery exposes corruption in 1923 Atlanta

The Dying Crapshooter's Blues
David Fulmer
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0151011753

Book Description

On a cold December night in 1920s Atlanta, a drunken white cop shoots a black gambler in one of the worst parts of town, and a cache of jewels goes missing from a mansion in one of the best. Joe Rose—rambler, gambler, and professional thief—has just hit the city. He soon finds himself caught in a three-sided puzzle that involves a black-hearted police officer called “the Captain,” the pimp and crapshooter Little Jesse Williams, and a wicked beauty named Pearl Spencer. Behind it all is Atlanta, the city once nothing but dust and ashes, now the richest, busiest metropolis in the South, mixing sin with success and vibrating with mayhem and music.

In his acclaimed Storyville series, David Fulmer brought the jazz-soaked streets of New Orleans to life. Now he brings us another absorbing mystery in a new setting raucous with music and rich with history.

Customer Reviews:

Another wonderful book from Fulmer.......2007-10-09

First Sentence: From down the alley, a voice cut through the falling night like a honed blade.

Joe Rose is white or Indian, he doesn't know. He does know he had been a cop, and a Pinkerton man but turned to being a rambler, gambler and professional thief. Joe is back in Atlanta, both attracted to yet trying to stay away from Pearl Spencer, a black working girl, and her brother, Sweet. Within forty-eight hours, he is the prime suspect in the jewel robbery of a wealthy white mansion, and comes across the scene where Jesse, a black gambler. Amongst a setting of racial prejudice, police corruption, and a funeral song being written for Jesse by a blind musician, Joe is trying to protect both his friends and himself.

Fumler is a wonderful, atmospheric writer. As in his New Orleans series, Fulmer focuses on the disadvantaged, gamblers, drunks, [...] and thieves. He humanizes the people and brings the period alive with the underlying strum of the blues in my head. I found the different characters interesting and thought it rather fun that the traditional good guys, the police, here were mainly the bad guys. Following the trail to see how Joe would bring things to resolution, and stay out of jail, was suspenseful and engrossing. I highly recommend this book.

Another by an Award Winner.......2007-06-13

"The close relationship between police officers and street criminals in the 1920's is the focus of this Atlanta mystery. Fulmer is an award winning mystery writer and proves why in this impossible to put down book."

Satisfying mystery novel.......2007-03-19

Writer David Fulmer has carved out a very thoughtful niche for himself with his satisfying mystery novels that are steeped in blues and jazz lore. His previous novels Jass and Rampart Street followed detective Valentine St. Cyr through the Storyville section of New Orleans as Buddy Bolden and King Oliver began to turn brass bands into jazz bands. For this novel, Fulmer moves north pre-Depression Atlanta, which is finally shaking off the effects of the Civil War and coming into its own as a center of blues and hillbilly music. Former detective turned sneak-thief Joe Rose pulls into town as a major jewel heist goes down. Soon, his acquaintance, pimp and rounder Little Jesse lies dying from a drunken cops bullet. Street singer Blind Willie McTell (yup, that McTell) begins to compose the epic song of the title as he keeps a vigil at Little Jesse's bedside and encourages Rose to find the killer. Meanwhile, Rose and his lady are being framed for the heist by a racist cop and the clock is ticking for him to find the answers. Fulmer always cooks up a satisfying story and this is no exception. Just like his Storyville novels, the city of Atlanta becomes a character - divided between black and white, rich and poor, old and new, the city is revealed in all its contradictions. Fans of the blues should not miss this beautifully written story.

"He went into action like the sneak thief he was.".......2007-01-17

The setting for Fulmer's new novel is 1920's Atlanta, the heyday of high society, flappers, bootlegging and the usual underworld of illegal enterprise. One Saturday night on Decatur Street, just before Christmas, Little Jesse Williams, a rounder, is shot by a dissolute police officer, JR Logue, and a daring robbery is committed in the very building where the nabobs of society gather for the Annual Charity Christmas Party at the Payne Mansion. Joe Rose, a peripatetic thief who arrives on the scene of the shooting, realizes that he has returned to Atlanta at the wrong time as things go bad from the start. Little Jesse doesn't die immediately from his wound, suffering the agonies of a slow death, his friends gathered around the bedside, including blind Willie McTell, a talented musician who is writing a ballad to commemorate Little Jesse's eventful life.

Rose is sad to see Little Jesse go for all the wrong he's done in his lifetime, this particular segment of society quite forgiving of each other's faults. It has been Joe Rose's habit of late to do a burglary and leave town, striking again when in need of replenishing his funds. A rounder himself, and known to many of the Atlanta criminal element, Joe still has some contacts from his short stint as a police officer and Pinkerton before falling into the life of crime that suits him so well. Like a black widow spider, "the Captain", Grayton Jackson, directs the investigation from the dark confines of a twisted mind, angry over being passed by for a promotion and in a mean mood when it comes to recovering the jewels and solving the robbery.

Determined to locate the cop who shot Little Jesse, Rose seems to be always one step behind, as bodies begin to fall, clouding the investigation by removing any witnesses. Then Joe, Pearl Spencer and her brother, Sweet Spencer are arrested, accused of collusion in the robbery. The beautiful Pearl is one of the reasons Joe has remained in Atlanta against his better judgment. Like moth to flame, Rose can't quit Pearl, even though he suspects she has something to do with the robbery and her brother has warned him off in no uncertain terms. When Rose suggests there may be a connection between Little Jesse's murder and the theft, he meets with much resistance from the Atlanta PD.

The treacherous plot of a devious mind is underscored by the rollicking jazz and soulful blues of Fulmer's Valentin St. Cyr novels, reflecting the author's appreciation for the music of a certain element of society. Mix in an eccentric cast of characters, from Little Jesse Williams and his ladies-of-the-night, to the blind musician, the speak-easy's with an unlimited supply of bootleg liquor, the exotic Pearl and the hard-nosed Chief of Detectives for a heady brew of crime and punishment in Prohibition Atlanta. Once more, the people tell the tale, bringing the era vividly to life, the sweet notes of The Dying Crapshooter's Blues sliding through the night. Luan Gaines/2007.

Murder mystery exposes corruption in 1923 Atlanta.......2007-01-14

With his latest book, "The Dying Crapshooter's Blues," mystery writer David Fulmer has written an entertaining whodunit set in Atlanta in 1923. Taking us into the underbelly of a thriving, bustling Southern city, he spins an intriguing tale of police corruption, covetousness, conspiracy, and crime.

The plot is set in motion on a cold December night, when Little Jesse Williams, a small-time hoodlum and pimp, is shot by Patrolman J.R. Logue on Courtland Street, near Atlanta's scarlet boulevard.

Little Jesse is well known in the speakeasies and gambling dens of Georgia's capital city. Although he uses marked cards and loaded dice to cheat his fellow blacks, he is basically a harmless fellow.

The question then arises: "Why would Logue want to shoot Little Jesse, a no-account rounder who really didn't bother anyone much. It didn't make sense."

On the same night when Little Jesse is shot, a cache of expensive jewels is stolen from the stately Payne mansion during a charity Christmas party. Coincidence? Or is there a connection between the crimes?

The central character of the novel, Joe Rose, has a history of burglaries from New York to Chicago to New Orleans, but he is innocent of the heist at the Payne mansion. As Little Jesse lingers between life and death, Rose promises to get to the bottom of this seemingly senseless attack. He becomes an unofficial private investigator, seeking clues that will unravel the mystery, although at great risk to his continued existence.

At this point the logic of the plot is weak: Why doesn't Rose simply shake Atlanta's dust from his shoes and head for healthier climes? Readers of crime novels know what one must often "cherchez la femme." Although Rose is a guy who "loves 'em and leaves them," he has a special attraction to and affection for a beautiful black woman named Pearl Spencer, a fellow thief who happened to be employed at the Payne mansion on the night the jewels were stolen.

Fulmer's chosen medium may be the mystery story, but he has long nurtured a deep passion for music. The jazz and blues of the Deep South figure prominently in his previous efforts, "Rampart Street," "Jass," and the award-winning "Chasing the Devil's Tail."

The author takes the title of his newest book from a song by the legendary Georgia bluesman blind Willie McTell. In one scene, as Little Jesse's life flickers away, McTell sits in a local nightclub, strums his 12-string Stella guitar, and compose a eulogy to the dying man: "The Dying Crapshooter's Blues."

For Fulmer, the blues is more than just part of the book's setting. It's a vehicle through which he can conjure the essence of a time and place, through which he can evoke the sense of dread and mortality that surrounds his characters.

Indeed, it's not long before more people are killed, and it becomes clear that a deep-seated cover-up is at work, a conspiracy stemming from corruption in the Atlanta Police Department.

As the reader unravels a nefarious scheme set in motion for police Capt. Grayton Jackson, Fulmer's underlying theme emerges. Who will protect us when the protectors cross the line into criminality? What defense remains for honest citizens, when "the defenders" are rotten apples in the civic barrel? As Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, in "The Canterbury Tales," "If gold rust, what shall the iron do?"

"The Dying Crapshooter's Blues" vividly reveals the injustice that police abuse wreaked on the life of a Southern city in an era before the freedom rides of the Civil Rights Movement. It resounds with the clash of race, caste, and class, exposing the corrupting influence of power in the hands of those who use it tyrannically.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David Fulmer's first novel, "Chasing the Devil's Tail," was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Mystery/Thriller Book Prize and the winner of the Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel. Two other novels by Fulmer are "Rampart Street" and "Jass." He has written about blues, jazz, and other subjects for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Magazine, Southline, National Public Radio, the All Music Guide, and Blues Access magazine. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his daughter, Italia.

Average customer rating:

Peter Plate is magnificent

Police and Thieves
Peter Plate
Manufacturer: Seven Stories Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Fogtown

ASIN: 1583224823

Book Description

Fast, ferocious, gritty, and bleak, Police and Thieves -- the final tale of the Mission Quartet -- is contemporary noir at its best, from “one of the most intriguing novelists writing now” (Review of Contemporary Fiction). Doojie is a small-time drug dealer who lives in a garage with his two partners in crime and sells dope of questionable quality. But when he sees a renegade cop shoot an unarmed Mexican, Doojie knows that things are about to change. Soon he and his buddies are running for their lives. “Plate's sixth novel in the past decade and probably his best.” — San Francisco Chronicle

Customer Reviews:

Peter Plate is magnificent.......1999-05-18

Plate is brilliant. There isn't a writer like him. Every book he has published has been a flawed masterpiece, and this one is no exception. If you only read one book this year, make Police and Thieves the one.

Average customer rating:

Couldn't put the book down!
Highly recommended reading for all mystery buffs
Trail of Vengeance

Trail of Vengeance
Peter James Quirk
Manufacturer: Hopewell Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Moonlight in Vermont: a novel

ASIN: 1933435038

Book Description

Lisa Rossi, a young Brooklyn police detective, is pitted against international jewel thieves, who, during the course of a spectacular heist in Manhattan, murder Lisa's partner. The trail begins in a New York strip club and spans across Europe, introducing Lisa to a French ski instructor and a more sophisticated lifestyle, while she eliminates the gang one by one. Trail of Vengeance is a classic tale of good and evil, racing downhill to the last page.

Customer Reviews:

Couldn't put the book down!.......2006-08-18

For a first time author, Peter James Quirk really got this fast-paced novel right. The story is about a female detective, Lisa Rossi who is trying to catch the killers of her dead partner. Along the way, she meets and falls in love with a ski instructor, Jean Loup. The romance component of this book is just right for a suspense novel (although personally I wouldn't have minded a bit more of it). Both the characters and story are believable.

You learn fairly early on who the murder(s) is, but there are so many plot twists along the way that the story keeps you guessing until the very end. Even the end leaves you wondering about some things which I won't divulge. Makes me think that there may be a sequel some day. If there is, I'll definitely buy that one too.

Highly recommended reading for all mystery buffs.......2006-05-08

Trail Of Vengeance by Peter James Quirk is the enticing tale of Lisa Rossi, a young detective for the Brooklyn Police Department, who is faced with a case of jewelry thievery and murder, be the murder that of her own partner. Readers will follow Lisa through her investigation as it leads her through Europe and the introduction to a more appealing life as she works to solve the seemingly bottomless case. Trail Of Vengeance is very highly recommended reading for all mystery buffs.

Trail of Vengeance.......2006-01-25

Hold on - this story moves at break-neck speed!
Great suspense novel with a female lead - Lisa Rossi is great!
She's hot on the trail to find and bring to justice the men who murdered her partner.
The story moves around the globe with twists and turns everywhere.

Average customer rating:

Not Stella Cameron's best effort
bad guys good, good guys bad
Not Interesting Enough
Can You Say "Trite" and "Unbelievably Predictable"?
Poor

Glass Houses
Stella Cameron
Manufacturer: Kensington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1575665867

Customer Reviews:

Not Stella Cameron's best effort.......2004-12-23

Glasshouses falls down for me in the rather cliched (American)portrayal of Olivia as a supposedly eccentric Englishwoman. She calls her parents 'Mummy' and 'Daddy.' Ick. Honestly, who does this past the age of 5 to 7 years today? The numbers of adult people who do this today must surely be getting smaller...some UK upper class, some southern US states? The rest of us just cringe. Add this to her poor clothes sense, and being considered 'wacky,' and it adds up to a sense of her as someone to whom you want to say 'grow up!'

The dialogue is corny as another review has noted. Not only for the English characters, but also the New York cops. Olivia's mother says, for example, that she is 'bemused' by Olivia. It just doesn't read as something most people in the English-speaking world would say today.

The dialogue and characerisations give a cliched and somewhat old fashioned view of English people (twee upper class dialogue, darling) juxtaposed with a cliched view of New York cops.

bad guys good, good guys bad.......2002-09-16

The bad guys in this book -- Kitty, Ryan, Fats, Rupert, Winston -- were interesting and even funny. But the good guys -- Olivia, Aiden -- were stilted, boring, and overly talky. Even the sex scenes, by both good and bad guys, were unrealistic, boring and not even erotic. And these good guys TALK SO MUCH! There's supposed to be action in a thriller. Oh, and the few action scenes there were, were also unrealistic. Just how many tries does one have to knock the gun out of someone's hand?
I love a good thrillers and mysteries, but this was not one of them.

Not Interesting Enough.......2001-10-30

This is my first Stella Cameron novel and it may be my last. I gave the book's first 100 pages the benefit of the doubt but then I started skipping pages, then chapters and finally decided that I didn't care what happened to the characters and skimmed to the end. The storyline of a Brittish photographer who flees to a NYPD detective for help after meeting online wasn't convincing and didn't flow. I found myself asking "why would they do that?" a lot. I couldn't get into the characters and found the dialogue boring.

Can You Say "Trite" and "Unbelievably Predictable"?.......2001-10-04

I have to admit it... I'm a book snob and normally don't sit around reading this type of (ahem) "novel". In fact, the only reason a Stella Cameron book found its way into my possession at all is because my mother left it behind after a visit. I read it out of sheer boredom and within ten minutes could have told anyone interested enough to ask who, exactly, was tipping off the "bad guys". Needless to say, I wasn't surprised at the ending but the REASON for the actions of this mole was far-fetched, to say the least.

As for the characters themselves, I agree with everyone who referred to Olivia as a "dishrag". Give me a break! Okay, let's see... someone breaks into her house, comes to her door, follows her, pushes a "lookalike" over a rail platform and the only recourse she can think of is asking advice from an e-mail stranger???? Somehow, I think at that point a normal person would be suspicious of all strangers (and probably half her friends... except she seems to have none) and would be seriously considering 911 (or the British equivalent). And, yes, there was some extremely choppy writing. I, too, noted the fact that Olivia mentioned that she was on the pill for reasons other than birth control (I don't remember her "crying" over it, though) and Aidan wondering what other possible reason there could be for taking the pill (here, Cameron is, apparently, subtly opining that all men are stupid). The only reason for this conversation in the first place is, I assume, to indicate that yes, Olivia is a responsible woman but she's not some floozy who takes the pill just so she can sleep around. Either way, she certainly finds her way into Aidan's bed quickly enough. The rapidly building passion and its almost immediate dance between the sheets was odd... Olivia certainly didn't seem the type and Aidan, her protector, was someone you would think would have a bit more self-control.

This story flip-flops from locale to locale and the reader is left wondering what the point is. And, if they were on the run, how did they get on a plane to England without the enemies catching on (didn't they have a heck of a time in airports at the start of their adventures?)? Overall, this is a rather poorly written book that seems slapped together rather than well plotted. I literally guffawed at the sudden appearance of Olivia's agent, or whatever she was, as a nemisis (again, a very shabby reason for behaving badly and why pick on Olivia, anyway?). At that point the book went from merely bad to laughable. I can't imagine seeking out any further Stella Cameron tomes... not even if they're left behind.

Poor.......2001-08-13

Before Glass Houses, I had read one Stella Cameron book (The Best Revenge) and although I hadn't been too impressed I decided to give her a second shot. I was *very* wrong to have done so. I slogged my way through GH and ended up skim reading the last quarter of the book so that I could finish and forget about it. Not only was the plot and writing very poor, the characters were trite and cliched. Speaking as an Englishwoman, I was appalled how Olivia was portrayed...

Average customer rating:

How to catch 5000 thieves,
Gerard Luisi
Manufacturer: MacMillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Central Governments | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007DYYH0

Murder among thieves: A C.I.D. Room story

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Murder among thieves: A C.I.D. Room story
Peter Alding
Manufacturer: Long
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0090995902

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Murder Delayed
Roderic Jeffries
Manufacturer: Severn House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0727863363

Book Description

An Inspector Alvarez mystery It seems impossible: to find a man who stole half a million pounds from among thousands of tourists, with only a visual description. And not only does Alvarez have to do it, he also has a female dragon to contend with ? Raquel Rexach, Dolores's old and much disliked schoolmate, whose jewellery has been reported stolen. Alvarez likes the quiet life, but even he cannot foresee where this investigation will lead.

Rogues, Thieves And the Rule of Law: The Problem Of Law Enforcement In North-East England, 1718-1820

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Rogues, Thieves And the Rule of Law: The Problem Of Law Enforcement In North-East England, 1718-1820
Gwenda Morgan
Manufacturer: UCL Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1857281160

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Thicker'n thieves
Charles Stoker
Manufacturer: Sidereal Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0007HZG1Y

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Metal Men - robots provide insights into human behavior

Return Of Some Old Friends

The Metal Men Archives are a MUST HAVE!

Grew Up On Metal Men

PURE EARLY 60'S BLISS!
The Metal Men Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)
Robert Kanigher
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Green Lantern Archives, Vol. 6

ASIN: 140120774X

Book Description

Created in the laboratory of the brilliant Dr. Will Magnus, the Metal Men were a most unlikely group of heroes - a team of robots outfitted with a revolutionary device that (unintentionally) gave them human emotions. Assembled in this hardcover volume are the earliest escapades of Doc Magnus and his robot friends: flirtatious Platinum, shy Tin, hot-headed Mercury, dull-witted Lead, powerful Iron and brilliant Gold, reprinted as they originally appeared in the 1960s.

Customer Reviews:

Metal Men - robots provide insights into human behavior.......2007-10-07

In the early '60s, my mother would sometimes bring home a comic book for me to read. One I remember best was a band of robots known as the Metal Men.

Constructed by the genius Dr. Will Magnus, each of these robots had abilities which reflected the metal of which they were constructed, i.e. Gold was very malleable, and could form very thin sheets or stretch to extraordinary lengths. Iron was strong, and often formed battering rams, girders, cranes, and other tools. Lead frequently formed barriers against radiation, as well as heavy objects which Iron would throw or swing against their foes. Mercury frequently boasted that he was the only metal liquid at room temperature, and so could flow into narrow spaces. Tin was physically weak, a flimsy robot easily crushed, but would sometimes form a plating over one of the other robots as a protection against some corrosive agent. Tina (the only robot with a personal name) was made of platinum, and was often observed to stretch herself into a fine wire, ensnaring their enemies by winding herself around them.

Over the years, I would sometimes recall their individual personalities, level-headed Gold, strong, resourceful Iron, stalwart Lead, boastful, argumentative Mercury, timid, insecure Tin, and most of all, Tina, the stunningly beautiful platinum robot who was more warm and loving than many human women. These were basic qualities which are seen as ideals in humans, examplified in not-quite-human form.

Each adventure would pit them against some peculiar foe which would give them an opportunity to demonstrate their personality characteristics, as well as a simple science lesson involving the characteristics of their metal bodies.
In many adventures, one or more of the team would sacrifice themselves, only to be reconstructed by Dr. Magnus, where we would be given a peek into the manner in which they were formed. As it turned out, they weren't assembled like an automobile, but more correctly cast or forged from pure metal, which was somehow animated by a device called a "responsometer". This was what allowed them to change shape without losing alignment of internal parts. They were drawn in a manner which suggested their human characteristics, with very human facial features and physiques with visible muscles, and only small hints at their robotic nature, such a exposed rivets in a few locations, notably at the edge of their face, on their abdomen, and near their wrists and ankles. They resembled living metallic statues with human personalities rather than mere automatons assembled out of parts, and the stories portrayed them essentially in this manner as well.

Most adventures included a bit of an ongoing drama of unrequited affection, in which Tina was in love with Dr. Magnus, who was obviously in denial. He would sometimes slip up and say something kind to her, then correct himself and remind her usually in an unfeeling way, that she was "only a robot". But what a robot she was! I felt her anguish when he would caustically reject her. Seeing her tears wrenched my heart just as it did years ago. Who wouldn't want a companion such as Tina, robotic or not?

Some of the plot points were a little naive, for example their very first adventure has them battling a prehistoric flying stingray which has been mutated by radioactive meteorites.
In another story, an evil robot from another planet was abandoned on a "junkyard" planet, and tried to construct a "queen" to rule alongside it. Why? Apparantly because that was the natural thing to do. When it was unable to build anything other than duplicates of itself, it decided to capture Tina as its queen.
In another adventure, another planet inhabited by robots had exact robot analogies to Earth life forms, so we saw robot birds which laid metal eggs, robot crabs, robot rulers who hunted with robot falcons, etc. Food on this planet resembled oranges, lemons, grapes, etc, although with unique properties.

None of this detracted from the entertainment value of the Metal Men, who were, after all, the reason we were reading in the first place.

I was very pleased to find The Metal Men Archives, which collects their earliest nine adventures from March 1962 to December 1963 into one, hardbound volume. The book is printed in full color, on much better paper than the original comics, and includes the original cover art as well as the contents. These nine adventures were all new to me, apparantly the issues I had read came from later in their run, which lasted until December 1969. At the current price of comic books, this volume is a bargain.

Reading this was very entertaining. I was elated to see the Metal Men in action once more, and especially to see Tina professing her devotion to the (totally undeserving) Dr. Magnus.
I enjoyed the team spirit of the group, their positive interactions as well as the occassional bickering between Mercury and Tina.
I eagerly look forward to Volume 2 (as well as the Metal Men movie which is currently in the works).

Return Of Some Old Friends.......2007-01-10

Metal Men was one of my favorite comics as a child, even though it's a lot less well known than most. Maybe I liked it because getting super-powers is hard (the near-fatal freak accidents that were required seemed scary), while it didn't seem so impossible to become a scientific genius and invent some super-heroes who would look up to you (or even, in the case of Tina the platinum robot, fall in love with you in a kind of reverse-Pygmalion kind of way.)

Looking at the series from decades farther along, you see the plot problems- the amazing coincidences that helped Dr. Magnus (such as always having a "magnetizing ray" on hand when you need one); the fact that Dr. Magnus and 5/6 of the Metal Men had a pre-adolescent male contempt for women (apparently Tina was originally intended by Dr. Magnus only as a pretty thing to look at, and he neither thought of her as a woman nor as a useful fighting member of the team- so she had to struggle mightily to be accepted on both those fronts.) And while the series tried to be conscious of the chemical and physical properties of the metals the Metal Men represent, there are occasional goofs, my favorite being a scene of Dr. Magnus carrying Tina- it's only credible if he has the strength of a construction crane.

On the other hand, Metal Men had some of the most bizarre villains in the comics, and two of the most memorable debut in this collection: Chemo, whose chemical blasts had as unpredictable an effect on things and people as red kryptonite did on Superman; and the Missile Men, an army of duplicates created by a renegade robot who had actually been trying to create a Queen.

The Metal Men Archives are a MUST HAVE!.......2007-01-04

The Metal Men Archives Vol.1 is a MUST HAVE for any serious DC Comics collector. They were way ahead of their time and it's easy to see after only a chapter or two why they still grab and hold your attention after all these years. The artwork is amazing and the characters seem to jump right off the pages. Don't be left out, order your copy today and enjoy...it's pure platimum from cover to cover!

Grew Up On Metal Men.......2006-09-29

I grew up from about 1st grade to high school on comic's and one of the first I remember is The Metal Men. I really loved this group and I remember nothing of the Doctor who made them only of the robots themselves. Something tells me though that reading these comics now would be a big disapoinment as I am no longer 6 years old. I also was a huge Gigantor fan (the robot theme is a recurring one for me, I loved the villan Ultron vs the Avengers, I loved the robot called The Recorder in Thor, I loved robots in TV shows like Lost In Space, movies like Forbidden Planet, it goes on and on), any way I had found Gigantor on a few VHS tapes in the early 90's (should have sold them for big bucks), and now its on Cartoon Network and watching a show that was awesome when you were 6 and seeing it now is a pretty big letdown. So, I'll just take comfort to know that what I read as a 6 year old, Metal Men, was so good that it was reprinted as a hardcover book, I always had such good tastes, lol.

PURE EARLY 60'S BLISS!.......2006-09-05

The Metal Men was one of those tiles that so typified Dc Comics of the early and Mid-1960's. It was slightly quirky but innocent. Not groundbreaking but always fun. Many people have criticized DC for being too staid and formulaic during this era but the fact is that many of their titles, particularly like the Doom Patrol and the Metal Men are very underrated. The bottom line is they never failed to entertain the reader.

This first Archive collection reprints the first four appearances of the team from Showcase # 37 -40, as well as the first five issues of their regular series. The Metal Men debuted in March 1962, just a few months after Fantastic Four #1 and I think you can see some of the influence that Marvel's first super team hand on the development of the Metal Men. The robots were the creation of scientist Doc Magnus and one wonders if it was a coincidence that Gold Key would release "Magnus: Robot Fighter" just one year later in 1963. The five robots are Gold, Lead, Mercury, Iron, Tin, and Platinum, who have the chemical properties and abilities of those various metals. While they are robots, Doc Magnus' responsometers end up giving them human emotions as they take on the personalities of their various names. Mercury is the hot head, Iron the powerhouse, and tin the meek, sheepish one, unsure of his own abilities. And then there is the only female member Platinum, the only member given a name by the Doc--Tina. Tina is infatuated with Doc Magnus despite his repeated attempts to ship her off to a museum. It certainly shows the sexism of the times as Magnus considers everything too dangerous for her as a female...even if it is a female robot!

The team first come together to battle a flying, radioactive sting ray, a creature obviously influenced by the great giant monster films of the 1950's like "Them!" and "Godzilla". At the end of the first few appearances in Showcase the characters openly address the reader and tell them to write DC if they want to see more adventures of the Metal Men! Gosh I love the Silver Age! In Showcase # 39 & 40, they would battle the chemical construct known as Chemo, who would become one of their most frequent foes.

The Metal Men would get their own title one year later in April, 1963 as they would battle a defective, alien robot who fashioned a legion of robotic clones, using them as missiles to attack the Earth. In the second issue, Platinum becomes jealous when Doc Magnus goes out on a date, so she decides to use Doc's lab to make a robot clone of him! But the Clone has his own ideas and he soon creates his own group of Metal Men and plans to replace the old team!

Robert Kanigher writes all of the stories with art by Ross Andru and inker Mike Esposito, bringing a strong consistency to the book. Andru and Esposito teamed for years and would later go on to do Spiderman for many years at Marvel. One of the great things about the Metal Men is that even though it was a comic, it was pretty darn educational. Kids could learn the correct atomic symbols for the metal as well as other facts such as their various boiling points and properties. Fun and educational...what more could you ask for? The Metal Men had a pretty good run, lasting all the way until 1978 and while they've only been seen very infrequently in recent years, these Archive Editions are a fantastic venue to show off the silver age in all its glory.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

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