This thing is a monster, likely the biggest, heaviest, most unwieldy book I own. But Gene Simmons loves to do things big, and with this book, he succeeds. Physically, it was a bitch to read.

But what about the content? It's broken up into some distinct parts. There's the Marvel years, that are, pure and simple, cheese. The stories are dumb, the artwork is passable, but overall, it's candy floss. The last section, the Dark Horse years, isn't much better. The stories are just about as dumb, with the author almost trying to show Marvel how it should have been done, and failing almost as spectacularly. And the art is far too cartoonish for my liking.

But then there's the middle two-thirds of the book. The Image years, where it was the Psycho Circus run. The art is gorgeous, first by Angel Medina and later by Clayton Crain, but--and here I'm going to completely disagree with some of the others--it's the writing that really shines in this section.

Image went where no other company would go. The four mythic KISS personalities are not centre-stage. They aren't the main focus. Instead, they are the eternal gods, the watchers and the gate keepers, meting out punishment and reward as deemed necessary. And for the first time, they do become larger than life, and much more serious than the goofy rock musicians they're modeled from. Through the stories of different, mostly common peoples' lives, the veil is sometimes held aside and we're given a glimpse into the world of the Celestial, the Starchild, the Beast, and the Demon.

I was pleasantly surprised not only by the great writing and the various easter eggs strewn through both the art and the writing, but also by the depth and emotion of these stories...something never seen in any other iterations of the KISS brand.

If the Psycho Circus series had not been included in this collection, I likely would have given it a two, mostly for the actual design and feel of the book, but on the story and art, a one at best. It's the Image content that pushes this all the way up to a four.

But, I gotta say, it was a relief to put this one back on the shelf, though I do believe I did gain a little muscle tone but lugging it around and holding it while reading. ( )

I'm not a huge KISS fan, so it was really just impulse that lead me to get this book from the library. That being said, it was a pleasant surprise. The first few comic collections are pretty decent and you can tell Gene Simmons must be a comic fan. (Harder to tell with the other members of the band).

The KISS Psycho Circus comics are easily my favorite out of the lot. Some of the issues are certainly melodramatic, but they're a great range of stories. Any horror comic fan should give these comics a chance.

The "Dark Horse" years aren't bad. Again a tribute to earlier comics they take much more of the "revival" style that's been getting popular lately. Of course, here the revival has a double-meeting as it reflects some of the actual issues the band seemed to have from what little I know of KISS.

My only complaint is I'd rather have seen this as a three volume series. It took a while to read this since I didn't want to be lugging this book around too much. Three volumes would have made it a bit easier to read without worrying about muscle strain ;). ( )