The Matrix Comics Vol 1

Good stories, excellent artists. If you like good comics and the universe of Matrix, this book is for you.

Great comic book.Graphics are nice.Not like your average comics.Worth the price.If you're K.R. fan,a recommended collectible.FREEDOM ISN'T FREE.WE'RE FREE BECAUSE OF OUR TROOPS.SUPPORT THEM LIKE THEY'VE SUPPORTED US.

I adore this volume of Matrix Comics. I never read them online, but after seeing all three movies again recently (and Animatrix), these comics are a wonderful supplement to anyone wanting more... or wanting more clarification. The artwork is fantastic and diverse, and the writing is odd and strangely filled with truths as well as more questions on existence. Considering that many of the stories were written before the first Matrix film hit theaters makes these stories more intriguing and creative. I love the artists and writers who signed on to work on this project, and I can't wait to get Volume 2. My biggest gripe with Volume 1 is that the trade paperback began falling apart on the first reading. Perhaps I was a bit too rough (which I don't think I was), but considering that I owned it for 5 minutes before the pages of the first story began coming loose means it was not properly bound. I'm a little gentle Asian guy, much like the Keymaker (but I'm not that old... yet). So before I had finished reading the third story, I got frustrated by my slowly-page-flaking book and carefully opened the book wide every two pages to assist in letting the rest of the pages "fall out" with a little help. It took a bit of care and restraint, but I took the whole 160 pages out very carefully over about an hour (while watching TV) and then took it to Kinko's to have it bound with plastic coil. That cost $5, but was worth it to be able to read it in one piece again. Nevertheless, the pages are high-quality and should hold up quite well now. I highly suggest this trade paperback for anyone who enjoyed the first Matrix film... and perhaps if you didn't like the sequels, then perhaps this trade will help foster your desire to go back and give them another chance with a greater appreciation of the world the Brothers created from the beginning. And be prepared to take your trade to Kinko's for minor repairs (that are well-worth having done).

Just from looking at a few comments on this book, I can see that many who might be interested in buying this book might need to know a little bit about the collection before they read it, or they might not fully enjoy it.Many have criticized the book for not expounding on the matrix and instead dwell around the foundation of the first film. This is because many of these stories were started before the first film was even released, to be used as content for the movie's website. This is a collection of many of the older stories, and only a few of the more recent comics. For example, the first story, which tells essentially the same story as "The Second Renaissance, Part 1" from the Animatrix was written well before work on any of the sequels had begun. So keep in mind that this book is primarily works based on the world of the matrix before the sequels. For those of you looking for an expansion on the sequels, you definitely should check out the entire collection for free at thematrix.com. And then look for the other volumes to follow that will collect the rest of the comics, which DO expand on what we saw in Reloaded and Revolutions and the Animatrix.The art has been attacked as well, which is too bad since the purpose was to get more people into comics who might not normally pick one up. Even if you don't like any type of comics, I would still recommend this. Sure, a panel drawing can't capture the splendor of an elaborately choreographed fight scene, but it's not supposed to. The intention here is to tell a good story. For anyone who enjoys the occasional graphic novel, you'll definitely appreciate the collection of very talented artists and writers assembled.Overall, I would say that while this collection doesn't collect only the best stories from the series, it does collect many of the better ones, including my 2 favorites, making it an excellent start to the books. Instead, this collection is intentionally varied in it's art and story-telling style, so that there's something here for everyone. So if you liked comics like Star Wars Tales, you'll appreciate the variety to this collection. The two outstanding stories here are "Butterfly" and "There are no Flowers in the Real World". They are not to be missed, whether you enjoyed the sequels or not.To be honest I think there were as many mediocre stories in this book as great ones, but this is offset by the beautiful artwork and the fact that when all the comics are finally collected, it will be an amazing book collection. Since many of the best stories are still only on the website, I'm looking forward to the subsequent volumes since reading them online just doesn't compare to actually having the book in your hands.

Like the "Animatrix" shorts, this book is a clever expansion into the Matrix universe -- 12 comic book stories (well... 11 comic book stories and one prose short story) that tell new tales playing with the toys the Wachowskis created. It's not essential reading for people who are fans of the movies but just want to know what's going on, but most of the stories in this book are clever and inventive in their own right.Ted McKeever's entry may be the best in the book -- the story of a woman who, when given a choice between a blue pill and a red pill, chose the blue. The Wachowskis chime in with their own story, about the robot B1-66ER, whose murder of its owner sparked the first war between humans and machines -- this story in particular tied in with The Animatrix. Neil Gaiman, one of the best writers on the planet these days, did a short story with a couple of illustrations rather than a comic book story. His tale, about a man forced to live several lives in the Matrix, plays with the nature of time the way the films play with the nature of reality. It's one of the standouts.A couple of the stories are just so-so -- John Van Fleet and Bill Sienkiwicz, I'm afraid, didn't add too much to the world of the Matrix, but the rest of the stories are fantastic. Recommended for anyone who wants to delve deeper into this still-fascinating world.