Redartz: Comics, obviously, are a visual medium. Composed of images, in combination with text; both elements working together to produce that unique art form we all know and love. And many of us have, on our bookshelves, collected volumes of comic stories: whether a gigantic Omnibus, or a small digest format. Graphic novels, Masterworks, TPB's, there are many formats and many names. All of these showcase the complete union of word and picture that is the comics medium.
For consideration today, however, I'm concentrating only on the artistic side of comics. "Just the pictures", if you will. In the space of a couple months, I've added two such books to my humble library.
First off, "The DC Comics Art of Brian Bolland".
This gorgeous volume came courtesy of a huge discount sale at a local outlet store. The book is brimming full of rich reproductions of Bolland's fine penwork, represented mainly by the covers for which he is best known. The breadth of his career is covered, from the early 80's to the 2000's. What I found particularly interesting are his discussions about the technical aspects of drawing, and his 'behind the scenes' tales involving his DC comics work. Here are a couple examples of what lie within the pages...
A wonderful collection of Bolland's artwork, and a great book I'd recommend to any art aficionado.
My second book was acquired most recently: "DC Comics' Comic Art Colouring".
As opposed to the Brian Bolland volume, this book is 'just for fun'. You probably are familiar with the current popularity of 'adult coloring books'. Even my mother loves to exercise her creative side with them. Well, once I saw this at a Half Price Books store, I couldn't resist it. The whole book is comprised of black-and-white reproductions of various DC comic covers, panels, pages, and even some actual page swipes from vintage childrens' coloring books. Some great covers are featured, and also some rather pedestrian ones. My only minor gripe with this book is the overwhelming focus on Superman and Batman. Probably 90 percent of the book depicts one or both of them. There are, though, JLA appearances, Green Lantern, Atom, and others. I'd have thought they'd give Wonder Woman more print here, she doesn't get a single page to herself.
Anyway, what could be a better relaxation pastime (and, for an artist, a good skills sharpener) than doing a bit of coloring? With that said, here are a couple shots from the book, including my first attempt at a page. Incidentally, I changed the color scheme on that Justice League cover; the original purple robot and dark green background didn't work for me...
So there you have two different examples of art in comics, have you more? Again, there are many great books out there on the subject; here's a few more to kindle your thoughts.
8 comments:
That DC coloring book does look fun!
I have a coloring book by Byrne; STOWAWAY TO THE STARS. It's been loads of fun putting my colored pencil skills to the test.
Speaking of Byrne I also have his Modern Masters Volume 7. And the classic THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE. i guess you can tell I'm a fan.
A couple of my favorites are, KIRBY KING of COMICS by Evanier, just chock full of Kirby goodness. Then there's THE GREAT COMIC BOOK ARTISTS by Goulart, a great book on comic artists from the Golden Age on up to the Bronze.
Also still have the first comic art book I ever got ,the hardcover of HOW TO DRAW COMICS THE MARVEL WAY. I still use it as a drawing reference, 40 years and counting.
Coming soon, JOHN BYRNE'S X-MEN ARTIFACT EDITION.
I don't have many of these books/collections-- but boy, I LOVE a couple of them that are on my shelves.
KIRBY: KING OF COMICS was something I (amazingly) picked up at a deep discount at Barnes & Noble a few years back, and while it clearly is Evanier's unabashed Valentine to his early mentor and friend, it also does a great job of presenting not only the scope of Kirby's art, but of painting a more realistic picture of The King as a surprisingly blue-collar artist with a huge imagination, big heart, and maybe less-than-ideal grasp of the executive functioning necessary to navigate successfully in post-WWII society. (I feel like his wife is the under-recognized hero in his own story--) It also REEEEEALLY verified a phenomenon I think many of us can relate to: The wave-pattern of fan-base appreciation for his work. Marvel Silver Age: "Love Kirby! He is the BEST EVER!"; DC-era: "COOL looking, wild ideas. . . but uh, kinda hard to read. And TOO MANY books!"; Return to Marvel: "Ugh- so old-timey. This guy is done-- why are they wrecking titles by bringing him back??" That was certainly me-- although I was still sad when he finally left Kamandi. But this volume makes it clear that his talent was available to him to the end. There's an astonishing unpublished pencil splash page from Destroyer Duck that could hang in a museum. A central eruption of Kirby-esque industrial piping, with a hard-hammering Duck deep in the center. It would make the best, most obscure poster ever.
The other is Alex Ross' MYTHOLOGY-- and the only thing I'd add to the obvious beauty of his work on display is that his accompanying text and commentary is so surprisingly easy and engaging, giving you very much a sense of this guy as a person, happily chatting away about his childhood, his work, his models, etc.
HB
I've always been more of a "writing" guy than an "art" guy, so I don't have any books that are all about the art. I enjoy looking at great comic art, but I can't draw to save my life, so I guess the process has never really fascinated me.
as Humanbelly, I cherish my edition of KIRBY: KING OF COMICS. Great insides from Mark Evanier.
I've got more stuff related to Jack Kirby's art:
Jack Kirby Pencils and Inks Artisan Edition with pencils for the DC titles The Demon #1, Kamandi #1 and Omac #1.
A very interesting read is The Thin Black Line: Perspectives on Vince Colletta, Comics’ Most Controversial Inker. I kind of hated Vince Colletta all my life, because he does this thin ink line and the original thick line pencils form Jack Kirby on Thor are lost because of Vince. But this book describes the comic industry, the time pressure and the importance of deadlines which Vince always met. Its a really nice insight to the Marvel comic book process in the 1960s.
I would love to own some of IDW's artist editions with these original pencil and inks reprinted in high quality and in original size. But they are just to huge for my appartement.
IDM Artist Editions or IDM Artist Editions (Wikipedia)
I've also got some history chronicles, such as
American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s
A super great chronicle is
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: The Wonder Years (Jack Kirby Collector / Presents, Band 58), which has an in-depth discussion about the Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four run. It discussed the development and the artistic changes over time and has a critical review of every one of the 102 issues. Of course there is also a lot of original pencil art.
OMG Chim. . .
I. . . I hate to be That Guy, but---
I checked out your link on that Wonder Years book, remembering that it had caught my own interest awhile back, and saw that even used paperback copies ranged in price from eye-popping to astronomical on Amazon. Except for the very first listing. . . from the San Francisco Goodwill (bless 'em). $20 + shipping. Next listing is $100. I wasn't remotely planning on making a self-purchase today. . . but I just did. (Ebay also has one copy listed at the same price--- and then they range from $32 on up, up, up----)
HB (COMPLETE victim of the suggestive-selling impulse-buy---)
:)
Every couple of years I turn to my Jack Kirby Fantastic Four Masterworks and usually after or before reading an issue I also check the "Wonder Years Book" for the review of that issue. It is like having a lovely little chat about the issue.
I don't have many comic book art books, just two: Opus, v1 & 2 by Barry Windsor-Smith. They are two handsome hardcovers chock full of paintings and pen & ink art by one of the best in the business. I wish v3 had come out, but I don't think it ever will.
The text in the two BWS books describes an encounter with an alien presence. No, really. Make of that what you will.
- Mike Loughlin
Killraven- Kudos to your John Byrne library! A very worthy subject of reading; I'd love to pick up that "Art of John Byrne" sometime...
And that "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way", wasn't that largely John Buscema?
HB- "Kirby, King of Comics" sounds like a great read. Good pick up; don't you just love drastic price cuts at the bookstore?
Chim- your "Thin Black Line" also sounds interesting. Nice to hear that it gives Colletta a fair shake.
Mike L- Any art book featuring the work of Barry Windsor-Smith is money well spent. I'm not familiar with those volumes, but they have now been added to that endless list of 'must finds'...
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