The Incredible Upside-Downs of Gustave Verbeek [Hardcover]

Gustave Verbeek (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Rajah Pr (June 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0911204016
• ISBN-13: 978-0911204018
• Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 9.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,628,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely great, March 11, 2000

By 

"deloew" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Incredible Upside-Downs of Gustave Verbeek (Hardcover)

Some of the miracles of publishing today is that great books go out of print and never, never will be available again....unless maybe e-books bring them back. Gustave Verbeek is a genius only to be compared with Escher. All the stories are perfectly drawn and as soon as you come to the end you turn them upside down and .....they continue. Incredible! How in the world can we admit that cultural treasures like these vanish and get forgotten? Once I got hold of some issues I bought five of them: One to keep for myself and some to give them as presnts to my best friends. Imagine: there was an issue in my language (german) and the holder of the copyrights won't bring this out again! There are more exemples of cultural tragedies like this! Just like "Cinderella" this book aproaches to be a childrens book but is of the same value for adults as well. Timeless, eternal, simply monuments of everlasting value. Buy it, enjoy it, give it to friends, show it to Your children, use it as presents for well-beloved, have your heart enlighted by this masterpiece which is really unequaled. I love it, all those who got it from me love it.....You will love it as well!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant mind-boggling fun!, November 28, 1998

By 

A. J. Watson "Bones" (Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Incredible Upside-Downs of Gustave Verbeek (Hardcover)

I first saw these strips twenty-odd years ago in a comic book my brother had. They immediately captivated me, (despite being initially perplexed by the weird hair and funny hats - then suddenly it all made sense), I tried (unsuccessfully!) to emulate them and immediately realized that one needs the brain of a genius / savant to overcome the problems of creating a cartoon that makes sense upside down, as well as continuing a sensible story. I told my brother I'd bought him a copy and he was ECSTATIC, as if I'd given him a crock of gold! Verbeek is in the same class as M.C. Escher when it comes to creative talent, I'm so pleased to be able to own examples of his work at long last! Do yourself a favour and get this - it's $10 of lasting pleasure. Gets my 5 stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The M.C. Escher of cartooning!, February 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Incredible Upside-Downs of Gustave Verbeek (Hardcover)

Gustave Verbeek's "The Upside-Downs" , published in The New York Herald between 1903-1905, was the M.C. Escher of cartoon strips! Pure genius, a visual wonder, extremely difficult to create (especially weekly), quaint and both simple and complex simultaneously. The cartoons could be read right-side up, and then again upside-down - the characters, scenery, etc., are transformed before your eyes, akin to an optical illusion, and the story continues. In other words, there are really 12 different cartoons and captions within only six panels. Amazes children and adults alike! Drawing "Doonesbury" shouldn't cause burn-out, but it's easy to understand why Verbeek only created 64 weeks' worth of the cartoon.