I was so disappointed in this book! I love Van Allsburg and his illustrations, which were always accompanied with wonderful tales that I loved to read when I was little. So, when I saw this book at work I couldn't wait to start it. I ended up liking about 3 of the stories in this collection of short stories by authors I have read and also loved! I don't know what went wrong, but the stories didn't seem to be too concerned with weaving Allsburg's illustration into their story, and came out feeling empty and unfulfilled. Perhaps these great authors couldn't handle a length restriction? Who knows why this book left me feeling disappointed with the authors I really enjoy reading.

Cute buuuut... I believe the Mameshiba are best left as adorable Japanese short cartoons rather than a comic book. The art was cute, but the stories just kind of dragged on. Yes, I am much older than the intended audience, but I'm sure a kid would be just as confused and may also grow bored. It read like a translated comic (kinda confusing because of culture barriers in humor and puns), but they must have purposely wrote it like that because it was created by Americans! Sorry James Turner, leave the Mameshiba to the Japanese, they know the correct levels of cuteness. They have perfected the process.

Ah X-Files, how I love thee. I was very happy to buy three volumes of the comic at GenCon. They certainly date themselves, but they were pretty good! I don't understand why the last two stories were Tooms and the Pilot, word for word, but art-wise it was fun and interesting to read and look at.

I am really loving this story and all its characters. If only I could read them all one after another!