World Famous Comics: Classic Comics Illustrators: The Comics Journal Library (Burne Hogarth, Frank Frazetta, Mark Schultz, Russ Heath and Russ Manning)
Classic Comics Illustrators: The Comics Journal Library (Burne Hogarth, Frank Frazetta, Mark Schultz, Russ Heath and Russ Manning)
Book Description: Edited by former Comics Journal editor Tom Spurgeon, the fifth volume in the acclaimed Comics Journal Library series celebrates five of the great all-time comic book artists.
Frank Frazetta, Burne Hogarth, Russ Manning, Russ Heath and Mark Schultz are the modern masters of illustration, here collected in their own words under one gorgeous, wrap-around cover. Together, these artists bridge almost 70 years of comics and fantasy art tied to tradition, craft, and an emphasis on the human form.
Frank Frazetta is unquestionably the preeminent fantasy and science fiction painter and illustrator of the second half of the 20th century. He began his career in comics, and from there he revolutionized the paperback cover aesthetic with his paintings that graced the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and other sword & sorcery and fantasy authors. In his longest and last great discussion recorded for posterity, the painter and cultural touchstone throws down the gauntlet to interviewer Gary Groth and a generation of adventure painter wannabes.
Burne Hogarth is well known as the visionary illustrator of the Sunday Tarzan series from 1939 to 1950, and the innovative educator who founded New York's school of Visual Arts in 1947. His educational books—Dynamic Anatomy, Dynamic Light & Shade, etc.—have become staples of colleges and universities all over the world. Hogarth gives one of the most charged interviews by any artist in any art form over the last 30 years, passionately and decisively explicating the value of great art and the moral foundations upon which all great art rests.
The Classic Comics Illustrators is also proud to present extensive interviews with three other artists who continued the tradition of men like Hogarth and Frazetta. Russ Heath was born in New York in 1926, and his best work was on Westerns, especially Arizona Kid and Kid Colt, Outlaw, which stood out for their realistic artwork and details. Other genres Russ Heath drew were love stories, science-fiction and adventure, such as MAD and Frontline Combat for EC Comics. In 1950, he joined National, where he worked on the full range of comic book features, among which were Silent Knight, Sgt. Rock, Sea Devils and Golden Gladiator.
Russ Manning, meanwhile, created the fondly-remembered science fiction comic series Magnus, Robot Fighter, a superhero series that stood out because of Manning's excellent artwork. It was published by Gold Key Comics and started in 1963, and Manning drew it until 1968; Dark Horse Comics is currently reprinting the series.
Last but not least, Mark Schultz (Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) is a man caught at the apex of his work's influence within the field and provides an altogether different perspective on great art's role in great comics, discussing his forays into Hollywood and more. Copiously illustrated.
Nice Artwork I haven't finished reading all the text yet... actually I would have preferred somewhat less text (it could have been edited down considerably) and more space devoted to the artwork. Also I wouldn't have included Russ Heath, whose focus is more on war and westerns while the other artists seem to have more in common with each other... more sci-fi, fantasy, Burroughs based illustrations. Oddly the picture of the cover posted by Amazon shows Dave Stevens as one of the artists featured in the book, but in fact he is not in it at all... though that would have been nice. Anyway, if you have room for this large sized book on your shelves it is a nice one. These guys are great artists, all you have to do is include proper quality reproductions of their work and you can't go too wrong.
EXCELLENT THROUGHOUT Although some of these interviews may have been printed elsewhere, much of it was new to me and the illustrations are large, excellently reproduced and stunning. There is a wealth of information here and the production values are exquisite. I heartily recommend this book.
Another crass moneygrab book Old interviews rehashed from the magazine. Just another example of The Comics Journal trying to wring big sack of cash out of dead artists (not all of them I know). There's some nice artwork here, that's unavoidable, but it would be better served in a book by a publisher that respects these artists, not one that's just trying to cash in.
More like 3 and 1/2 stars from me I'll try to be brief. This is a great book for anyone who hasn't read the old interviews contained within this volume. However, I have read these interviews over the years and so there are no insights for anyone else who read them in The Comics Journal over the years. The art contained within this volume, on the other hand, is quite wonderful and a good deal of it is different, an update from the original interviews. Make no mistake, this book is a great art collection with insightful, if older interviews to round it out. The large format is guite nice for showcasing the art as well. If you've somehow missed the interviews this is an opportunity to get into the heads of some stellar talents in the illustration and comic art field. With a line up a talent featuring the works and words of Frank Frazetta, Russ Manning, Burne Hogarth, Mark Schultz and Russ Heath, it's hard to imagine how the editors at TCJ could mess this up and, of course, they didn't. My big beef is the lack of better Manning and Heath art. The examples are fine but I hoped for better, perhaps rarer samples. That's a small complaint.
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