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Big Book of Urban Legends [Paperback]

Robert Fleming (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 223 pages
Publisher: DC Comics (Jan 1 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1563891654
ISBN-13: 978-1563891656
Product Dimensions: 27.4 x 21.6 x 1.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 585 g

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #659,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #42 in Books > Nonfiction > Education > Reference > Encyclopedias > Humour
- #54 in Books > Reference > Encyclopedias > Humour

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Product Description

From Booklist

Urban legends--those apocryphal, happened-to-a-friend-of-a-friend stories of such outlandish incidents as "the microwaved pet" and "alligators in the sewer"--are inherently fun, but they've never been as entertainingly presented as in this collection of some 200 told in comic strip format by a stunning variety of artists drawn from the comics mainstream (e.g., Howard Chaykin, Keith Giffen, Dick Giordano), underground (e.g., Tina Robbins, Justin Green, Shary Flenniken), and everywhere in between. Although the contributors' work is of uniformly high quality, some of them relate the tales in realistic, deadpan fashion, whereas others take a cartoony approach that exaggerates the already outlandish nature of the yarns. An introduction and commentary by urban folklore scholar and entrepreneur Jan Harold Brunvand (The Vanishing Hitchhiker [1981] et seq.) legitimizes the project, but as Brunvand points out, comics are just another manifestation of the same popular culture that spawned the legends in the first place. All told, the big paperback is a promising, affordable launching of DC Comics' new Paradox Press imprint. Gordon Flagg

Book Description

This collection of strange and bizarre anecdotal tales drawn (ostensibly) from real life contains 200 stories that have circulated across metropolitan areas--all invariably sworn to be true. "The Poodle in the Microwave, " "The Mouse in the Coke Bottle, " and "The Accidental Cannibals" are just a few of the legends presented in this volume. Illustrated by artists from DC Comics. Mature readers.

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Customer Reviews

40 Reviews

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (40 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Legend is True a Funny Book of Urban Legends Exists, Nov 16 2003

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Book of Urban Legends (Paperback)

I have read a few similar books to this one such as the Darwin Awards trilogy and can say without doubt this is a lot better and funnier. This urban legend collection is also in a different format to the other collections in that every tale is presented as a one or two page comic book strip which adds imagery to the tale. To be honest the artist's imagery is not always as good as your imagination would have been without it though. There are two hundred stories in here, some you will have undoubtedly heard before or maybe slightly different versions of the same basic tale but there will also be a lot you will be unlikely to have come across in the past. Even the big multinational company urban myths are in here too which I thought would have been left out due to legal reasons but no they are here for you to read and laugh at. There are some myths not covered in this collection but how big would this book be if everything was in here? This is a great collection which will entertain you and probably leave you searching for similar books after. Enjoy!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Best of a Great Series, May 21 2003

Miranda Prince "Punky Monkey" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Big Book of Urban Legends (Paperback)

This is the first book in Paradox Press's "Big Book of" series, and it's also the best (they are all worth reading, though).

Written by the most knowledgable -- and funniest -- expert on urban folklore, Jan Harold Brunvand, "The Big Book of Urban Legends" is a treasure trove of too-good-to-be-true stores. The artwork, by a crowd of comic book artists, is great too.

This is one of those books you'll keep re-reading, over and over. It's that good. Trust me.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Losing our touch a bit, are we?, Jan 12 2003

Takis Tz. (InYourHead) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Book of Urban Legends (Paperback)

While the "Big book of..." series contains some seriously good installments this here is sadly not one of them.
Strange, because the topic (urban legends) should have actually provided more inspipration than the offerings in the book. What's missing is the commentary. Urban legends you do get, but you get'm simply presented and even then not in the best comic form the series has accustomed us to. It's as if the contributors were dealing with this book in a "lets get this assignment out of the way" type of attitude.
Start out instead from the stunning "The big book of conspiracies" or the truly great "Big book of the unexplained" and you will spot the difference in quality too.
This here is only for the passionate collectors of the series allthough i think even they will feel a bit cheated with this one.
I know i was..

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› Go to Amazon.com to see all 42 reviews 4.3 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I heard it from a friend-of-a-friend of mine
BOOK REVIEW:

This book combines two of the things I really like--Urban Legends and Comic Books. This book features urban legends with illustrations in comic book format! Read more

Published on April 15 2002 by moviefanatic

4.0 out of 5 stars EVERY URBAN LEGEND YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW
This is the best out of the Big Book series. It has every urban legend I could think of and more. The stories are short but sweet. Read more

Published on Dec 3 2001 by Genevieve Leja

1.0 out of 5 stars The Big Book Of Urben Legends
I have 4 words for this book.BAD,NASTY,AND STINKS

Published on Oct 17 2001 by ROGER D CARPENTER

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Freaky
This is a pretty entertaining compilation of urban folklore. Please take note, however, anyone who might be expecting a scholarly tome -- THIS IS PRESENTED IN THE FORMAT OF A... Read more

Published on Mar 26 2001 by absent_minded_prof

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfecft book!
This is one of my favorite books! I LOVE it! There aren't enough books like this! I hope to get ahold of the rest of the Factoid book set! This surely will be my fave though! Read more

Published on Mar 5 2001 by Monty Moonlight

5.0 out of 5 stars A friend stole this book
Which shows how interesting it is. To this day I still meet people who tell me "true" stories that are obviously urban legends. Read more

Published on Feb 10 2001 by R. Wallace

2.0 out of 5 stars not a comic book fan
The stories are interesting, but I bought the book intending to be scared and by putting it in comic book form that was taken away from me. Read more