The Collected Sam and Max

Writing a rave review for Sam and Max is a kind of public service. Everybody who encounters this book enjoys it; it's one of those way-too-rare pieces of work that prompts laughs of recognition, surprise, and delight. In a world full of crap marketed as treasure, it's pretty unusual to encounter something that exceeds all expectations. This book gets read and re-read; even those who are familiar with it find new stuff all the time. It just gets better. And those who read it because it's been so hyped never fail to say that it's a whole level better and funnier than they had been led to expect! What else in the known universe causes that kind of result? Other reviews will describe the contents; I'll just say that the visuals are brilliant, from the most dashed-off panel to the refined paintings, and Purcell's dialogue kicks Shakespeare's mumblings right to the curb. Surfin' the Highway is simultaneously a hilarious escape from life and the most faithful rendition of the nature of existence ever encountered.

Never would I believe this collection of Sam and Max would be going for as much as it is now. Truely. Well, maybe... I dug my copy out of the closet during a routine (read yearly) cleaning, and was blown away yet again. Every time I read this I find something new. The pop culture references keep poping out, and something generally strikes me anew from the massive detail he puts into his backgrounds (mice fishing for poodles, etc.). Bug your friends to let you read a copy. You ain't gettin' mine.

Sam and Max are the greatest thinkers of our time. Well, what they do can't exactly be called thinking, but that is what sets them above the rest. This book has changed my life, re-written my entire value system, and forever altered the way I look at rats and cockroaches. Steve Purcell is a jaw-droppingly good draftsman whose every panel is crawling with little things to savor. And big things. Lots of things. You can see more in one page of Purcell than in an entire afternoon of cable TV, including all those expensive add-on channels. Purcell is apparently now working at Pixar. Nemo is fine but Sam and Max can save humanity from itself, Steve. DEATH FROM ABOVE!! AAIIIIEEE!!

The book is great - it contains extremely creative ideas, and its like a big explosion of wild imagination. I felt I want more as soon as I unfortunately finished it - and I'll buy the next one as soon as it comes out! Twisted unusuall humour, hilarious violence and even in the bad situations - everything is psycothicly funny (like when max dies and turns into a soup in a lab).WARNING: you will become addicted.I never thought that the great SAM & MAX quest is based on this marvelous comics. Steve Purcell at his best.

What can I say? Sam and Max - Surfing the Highway is by far the greatest piece of literature to grace this once-monotonous planet. Steve Purcell is a veritable grandmaster of high-speed, edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting, pulse-pounding, heart-throbbing, non-stop, intense action thrill-ride comic antics. One look at the incredible attention to detail in this book will cue a "Hey, that ain't half bad" response from even the most cynical and bitter reader of bizarre literature! Despite Fraggler?'s false sense of self-worth and delusions of grandeur, his review is essentially correct - BUY THIS BOOK!!! BUY TWO!!! OR THREE!!! OR MORE AT DISCOUNT PRICES AT ONE OF THOSE COOL BULK STORES!!! The more you read it, the better it gets. So get it! Now! Go! Why are you still here? Go!