Phil Davis

Mandrake the Magician began as a daily strip on June 11, 1934, and whether Lee Falk knew it as a sophomore at the University of Illinois, he was making history. The daily strip ended after a 79-year run, and the Sunday strip, which started in 1935, ran for 68 years. Any fan of comic strips is almost certainly familiar with Falks other creation, The Phantom, which started in 1936 and continues to this day. Mandrake the Magician whisked readers to exotic locales (often fictional amalgams of the Orient, the Middle East, India or Eastern Europe) and immersed them in extended narratives with memorable villains and a colorful support cast. The strips presented in this series of reprints feature two staple characters in addition to the master magician: Lothar and Princess Narda (princess of the mythical European kingdom Cockaigne). Lothar appears within the first few days (June 14, 1934), and Narda is introduced in Mandrakes second adventure. Narda is similar to Flash Gordons Dale Arden: beautiful, constantly in need of rescue, and the love interest of our hero. A Prince of the Seven Nations of Africa, Lothar is Mandrakes devoted servant, friend and companion. He is, the strongest man in the world, and decked out in a fez, shorts, and a leopard shirt. Comics historian Don Markstein commented that, Some people say Mandrake the Magician... was comics first superhero, and we at Hermes Press couldnt agree more.

Feeling betrayed by your religion? After 24 years in the Evangelical movement, Phil Davis decided to leave his "first faith." It was not a decision he took lightly. Feeling sick of the institutional church, tired of the manipulative "voice of God" drummed into his head, and trusting that the real God was somewhere beyond the theology he was taught, the author deconstructed and then reconstructed his view of the Divine Presence. In Leaving God for God, Davis takes us on his journey to de-program himself and open himself to the God beyond any one religion. Along the way, he asked himself some hard questions: - How much of our faith is based upon a set of church "doctrines" that we are told to believe?- Is God just a theological construct? - Wouldn't a truly divine Superior Being be above and beyond our religious beliefs?- Is it possible that religion can be a major obstacle to discovering the truth about the Divine? In the end, Davis wound taking a wrecking ball to his old theological house of cards. Is that a dangerous proposition? Perhaps so. But the journey was worth the drama, the surprises were worth the risk, and the rewards were quite beyond expectations. Leaving God for God is one seeker's story of leaving the parochial "god" of one faith for the God over all faiths. Reading it will make you ask some hard questions, too. Buy Leaving God for God today, and join Phil Davis on a journey out of organized religion into the truth of a God bigger than any human faith.

This fourth edition of Beyond the Zone System makes the science of photographic sensitometry both accessible and useful to interested photographers. It will appeal to any serious photographer interested in knowing how the materials and processes of black-and-white photography work. Instead of describing rote procedures to be followed blindly, this book provides the basis for understanding what needs to be done and why. This book relates theory to practice in a way that promotes a true partnership of science and art. Beyond the Zone System bridges the gap between the more theoretical aspects of the photographic process and the popular empirical procedures used by many photographers in the attempt to predict and control the quality of their photographs in practice. This book is intended primarily for photographers who use large-format cameras and black-and-white sheet film, but the basic information about how the B&W photographic materials and processes work will be useful to users of any B&W film format. Beyond the Zone System, 4th ed. will appeal to any serious photographer interested in knowing how the materials and processes of black-and-white photography work. Instead of describing rote procedures to be followed blindly, this book provides the basis for understanding what needs to be done and why. This book relates theory to practice in a way that promotes a true partnership of science and art.

This fourth edition of Beyond the Zone System makes the science of photographic sensitometry both accessible and useful to interested photographers. It will appeal to any serious photographer interested in knowing how the materials and processes of black-and-white photography work. Instead of describing rote procedures to be followed blindly, this book provides the basis for understanding what needs to be done and why. This book relates theory to practice in a way that promotes a true partnership of science and art. Beyond the Zone System bridges the gap between the more theoretical aspects of the photographic process and the popular empirical procedures used by many photographers in the attempt to predict and control the quality of their photographs in practice. This book is intended primarily for photographers who use large-format cameras and black-and-white sheet film, but the basic information about how the B&W photographic materials and processes work will be useful to users of any B&W film format. Beyond the Zone System, 4th ed. will appeal to any serious photographer interested in knowing how the materials and processes of black-and-white photography work. Instead of describing rote procedures to be followed blindly, this book provides the basis for understanding what needs to be done and why. This book relates theory to practice in a way that promotes a true partnership of science and art.