Book Description
Described as "the closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design today (USA Today), Chip Kidd is universally recognized as an American master of contemporary book design. At the forefront of a revolution in publishing, Kidd's iconic covers, with their inventive marriage of type and found images, have influenced an entire generation of design practitioners in many fields.Chip Kidd: Book One collects all of his book covers and designs for the first time, as well as hundreds of developmental sketches and concepts-annotated by Kidd and by many of the best-selling authors he's worked with over the years. The result is an important contribution to the design canon today as well as a visually dazzling (and often hilarious) insider's look at the design and publishing process.The book also showcases Kidd's work with comics and graphic novels, including his collaborations with leading artists and writers in the field. Featured are projects for DC Comics, including Batman and Superman, as well as Kidd's award-winning exploration of the art of Charles M. Schulz. Chip Kidd: Book One is sure to enthrall design aficionados, book lovers, pop-culture fanatics, comics fans, and design students.
Customer Reviews:
Why are you reading this itstead of buying the book?.......2006-03-23
This book is bound with a split hardback/softback cover, so if you appreciate design -- which I assume you do since you're considering a compilation of book designs -- the book is worth buying for this odd cover arrangement alone.
FUN COVERS.......2006-01-26
This an excellent ,colorful book with very useful and informative comments,they are also humorous.Kidd mentions that he shows failed designs when he lectures to show that even a successful designer has failures.Unfortunately,in my opinion,the jacket for this volume falls in this category,its clever but not practical.because the cover is split in two parts its an irritation to hold and eventually the cover will be bent when laying down or storing in shelf.Still a must have in this genre.Now how about a Susan Mitchell collection?
ps.i followed my advice and bought the hardcover .Amazing its even more unwieldy,the cover is half hard and half soft,yikes!I ended up buying the soft cover to keep and treat it very carefully ,was that the point of this nutty design?I guess this cover will enter the hall of fame and certainly will be a collectors item if its never opened.Argghh!!!
Excellent book on the process of graphic design........2006-01-16
I highly recommend this book to any graphic designer. He details nearly every cover design, and its great to hear the back story, and see preliminary designs and alternate final designs. Ironically, my only complaint about the book is its cover. I have the paperback edition, the cover only covers half of the book, and this makes flipping through the pages kind of unwieldy. The cuteness of this cover design wears off quickly. It will be interesting to see how he rates this cover in the sequel to this book in 20 years.
Inspirational.......2006-01-11
Chip Kidd is one of those people who makes me think about the work that I do, and inspires me to try to be more creative. Some design lends itself to stealing and there is a tendency to try to emulate styles, but you can't do that with Kidd's work because it is the idea itself which is so fantastic. He manages to find a perfect way to complement the work of the author and create an ideal package. While his work doesn't conform to any particular style, I find that I can easily spot Kidd's covers on a crowded bookstore shelf. (Sometimes his colleague Carol Devine Carson can fake me out with a well designed spine, but I can pretty reliably pick out a "Kidd" 90% of the time. I find that I sometimes buy books on the strengths of his covers alone.)
Kidd makes me try to expand the way I think about what I'm trying to say, and for that reason, this book will be a frequent reference.
Stunning.......2005-11-21
Wow. This book - much like Chip Kidd's design work - is simply stunning. Every page is engaging.
Fortunately, Chip Kidd happens to be a very good writer. There is no ego here, Kidd keeps a sense of humor throughout.
This is a beautiful book for every designer to add to their library. My one suggestion would be to spend a few extra bucks for the hardcover edition...
Book Description
From Emmy Award-winning-producer Paul Dini and acclaimed designer Chip Kidd comes Batman Animated, the behind-the-scenes story of the hit show that revolutionized television animation and brought a stunning new look to the legendary Caped Crusader. Since its premiere in September 1992, Batman: The Animated Series has been acclaimed by enthusiastic viewers and longtime fans of the Batman character as the defining image of the Dark Knight onscreen.
Now readers are offered an inside look into the creation of the series. Granted unprecedented access to the archives of the Warner Bros. Animation Studio, Chip Kidd has combined breathtaking photographs by Award-winning photographer Geoff Spear and fashioned an imaginative layout of never-before-published preproduction and finished artwork that echoes the boldness of producer-designer Bruce Timm's powerful TV show.
Paul Dini's text offers entertaining and informative commentary on the series history, development, and continuing production. It includes glimpses into the making of the Batman animated features Mask of the Phantasm and SubZero, and a sneak peek into the future projects.
Featuring a detailed episode guide, comments from the series creators and voice actors, and an introduction by Bruce Timm, Batman Animated is a must-have for Batman fans young and old.
Customer Reviews:
Batman Animated.......2007-08-09
A very good buy, i was waiting to have this book in my hands for a long time and i finally have it, it's just excellent for those who love the batman animated series and animation. It has a lot of tips and information "behind the scenes" of the series.
very recomendated, the only bad thing is that it was the only book this kind, i'm still waiting for something similar but of justice league and batman beyond.
Must-Have for the B:TAS Fan!.......2007-06-04
"Batman: The Animated Series" was one of the most revolutionary and influential cartoons ever created. This book, written by B:TAS writer/producer Paul Dini, is an essential look into the creation and phenomenon of the series. While a little slim on actual reading, what is there gives you that most coveted "behind-the-scenes" info on what it took to make "Batman". (For another perspective on the show's creation, check out the "Modern Masters: Bruce Timm" interview book.)
The real meat of the book lies in its visuals: photos, line art, animation cels, background keys, licensed toys, etc. The layout of these materials seems a bit haphazard (for being done by the "design-god" Chip Kidd), with captions sometimes hard to correlate with their images and numerous fold-out pages (which I really don't care for). However, the sheer number and quality of images is amazing, and some of the full-page renderings of production key art is breath-taking. I question some of the image choices in the character-design section, particularly the villians. But, again, there's a lot of ground to cover here and the quality and quantity of pictures is overwhelming.
The book was published before Batman Beyond and Justice League, so the ending comments might seem a little off. Still as a retrospective on the "B:TAS", you can't ask for much more. This would have been a 5 star review, if only there'd been a little more reading and a bit less visual confusion.
Bottom line: Love "Batman: The Animated Series"? Buy this book.
A great book for a great animated series.......2006-03-09
Who best to write a book about this justifiably award-winning animated series than one of the series writer/producers--Paul Dini (who wrote one of my favorite episodes--"Heart of Ice")? And with graphic designer Chip Kidd involved, you have a book that looks great on the coffee table. The best word I can use to describe this book is "thorough." It contains superlative art in full color, storyboards, character designs, in-house memos, licensed products, an episode guide from the animated series, plus great information on why the series was created, why the censors said no to certain aspects, as well as facts about the movies based on the series (SUBZERO, MASK OF THE PHANTASM). My only complaint is that the book isn't longer. But that's not the authors' fault. They put together such a great book, you'll want as much insight into the creation of this series as you can get (like a good DVD provides). And these guys deliver! This is a great "backstage" look for fans of the series.
The Greatest Book Companion to Any Series.......2005-04-07
I really was blown away by how meticulously put-together this book was. Besides the animation being great, this documentive source included everything from the episode guide title cards, merchandise (including ice cream and bubblegum cards), storyboards, character concepts, and a hell of a lot more! It also includes a great photo of Bruce Timm's drawing desk- complete with all the references he uses such as G.I. Joes & knick knacks. Color photos are adorned throughout, but besides that, there are also great stories of what the animation department went through with the head leaders of Warner Bros. There is even a charicature drawing that includes everything that the animators were restricted to draw (a nude, smoking Catwoman, a boozin' Joker, Batman strangling his foe, etc- it's really a treat!)
Even if you've had the misfortunate of not being familiar with this cartoon series, owning this book will make you realize how much effort is needed to create something this vast, and how much more we need to practice to ever reach this level!
Best of its type.......2004-01-23
The best compendium of modern TV animation layout and design currently available. These artists revolutionized TV animation, and this book is something that everyone interested in the field must have. Strong work, and very good presentation here, especially the storyboard sequences. Good for artists as a learning aid, or as entertainment for fans of the show, whatever age. Clear, uncluttered presentation from the Warners studio archives. A good history of the show, and a great lesson in how to develop an animated project. You should have this sense of design based on strength, simplicity, drama and clarity.
Book Description
From People Who Liked It
"It is rare for a book to produce uncontrollable laughter as loud as this one did. The narrator is at art college in the 1950s, and after failing to get the courses he wants, finds himself attending 'Introduction to Graphic Design,' taught by the inspiring, sadistic, and compelling Professor Winter Sorbeck. Through humiliation and excess he shows his naive young charges how to see the world through new eyes. This is a brilliantly entertaining debut -- intelligent, pitch-perfect, and enlightening."
-- The Times (London)
This story about growing up and finding your calling is funny and, almost despite itself, moving. Here the big ideas -- about growing, working, loving -- are all inside."
-- New York Times Book Review
An irresistible comic voice that sounds so modern, and so right, even as it re-creates the undergraduate life of the late 1950s."
-- Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Channeling Holden Caulfield via David Sedaris, Kidd produces a stellar debut."
-- Publishers Weekly
"A Joyride."
-- Miami Herald
Not only is [The Cheese Monkeys] sharp and funny, it's also one of the year's most original American novels."
-- Toronto Globe and Mail
From People Who Didn't
"Retro kitsch. Thoroughly sophomoric."
-- Entertainment Weekly
"The first section veers dangerously towards the predictable. Kidd has a way to go before his literary skills equal his artistic genius."
-- Time Out (New York)
Download Description
A hilarious debut novel that could only be described as a portrait of the designer as a young man. "Um...so what exactly is a Cheese Monkey?" Good question. But strictly off-limits. We can tell you that The Cheese Monkeys is a witty and effervescent coming-of-age novel about headless waterfowl, fake plastic babies, and the basic tenets of graphic design. It's 1957, long before computers have replaced the trained eye and skillful hand. Our narrator at State U is determined to major in Art, and after several risible false starts, he ends up by accident in a new class called "Introduction to Graphic Design." Art 127 is taught by the enigmatic Winter Sorbeck, professor and guru (think Gary Cooper crossed with Darth Vader) -- equal parts genius, seducer, and sadist. Sorbeck is a bitter yet fascinating man whose assignments hurl his charges through a gauntlet of humiliation and heartache, shame and triumph, ego-bashing and enlightenment. Along the way, friendships are made and undone, jealousies simmer, the sexual tango weaves and dips. As readers, we too are under Sorbeck's bizarre spell, spurred on by his demand: "Show me something I've never seen before and will never be able to forget-if you can do that, you can do anything." By the end of The Cheese Monkeys, the members of Art 127 will never see the world the same way again. And, thanks to Chip Kidd's insights into the secrets of graphic design, neither will you.
Customer Reviews:
Spectacular!.......2007-03-09
I haven't finished yet, but I LOVE this book. It is too funny and smart. Chip Kidd is THE design god and apparently a great writer too.
Interesting and original.......2007-01-25
This is the story of a graphic design class, except it really *is* a graphic design class. Our hero is enrolled in an art class at a state university, and the offerings are, at best, sleepy. Until Winter Sorbeck, graphic design teacher, strides into the narrative and wakes everyone up. The characterization of this charismatic, brutal teacher is no less than masterful, and also an interesting study in power and the dark sway of advertising ("you infect them with your obsessions").
Chip Kidd has a sharp, sure way with language and tells the story of beleaguered art majors like no one has before. The only drawback is an inconclusive ending, a fizzled wreck that detracts from the rest of the story. Up until then, though, it's 5 stars.
Not bad for a first novel.......2006-09-14
But Kidd needs to work on character development. Cheese Monkeys has the standard key players in this kind of scenario - Naive Young Narrator, Shocking Misfit Who Dresses Oddly, Southern Transplant, Egotistical Professor Who Teaches Through Fear, etc. No idea who these people really are or how they became the sketches of personality we are presented. Kidd also needs to work on better endings. Read Donna Tartt's Secret History instead.
Good is Dead.......2006-05-29
I dove into this book and devoured it with ravenous pleasure. I loved it all the way up to the last chapter "The Final Exam," when the whimsical insanity and humour which had defined the book thus far deflated and was replaced with an ending which left me scratching my head and muttering "what the hell?" Perhaps this was Kidd's purpose. I know one thing is for certain, this book presented me with images that I had "never before seen, and will never be able to forget."
Art School Confidential.......2006-02-25
If you ever went art school, you will love this book. Everything you loved, everything you hated, right down to the teacher(s) that you both loved and hated. Hilarious, endearing, and sometimes soulcrushing, just like art school.
Chip Kidd has proven himself to be a great designer, and this is a good start for him becoming a good writer. It's a quick and engrossing read. Even if you never went to art school, I would recommend it.
Book Description
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and illustrator Art Spiegelman joins forces with designer Chip Kidd to pay homage to the comic book hero Plastic Man and his creator, Jack Cole. Plastic Man is more than just a putty face--with his bad-boy past, he literally embodies the comic book form: the exuberant energy, flexibility, boyishness, and subtle hints of sexuality. And as cartoonists "become" each character they create, it can be said that Jack Cole himself resembles Plastic Man. Cole revealed the true magnitude and intensity of his imagination and inner thoughts as Plastic Man slithered from panel to panel--shifting forms and dashing from male to female, or freely morphing from a stiff upright figure to a being as soft as a Dali clock. With a compelling history, a V-necked red rubber leotard, a black-and-yellow striped belt, and very cool tinted goggles, Plastic Man is truly a cult classic, and this art-packed book will delight any fan.
Customer Reviews:
An all American boy.......2006-11-09
In his short life, Jack Cole, a hick from New Castle, Pa., managed to find himself at the center of three of the premiere cultural events of the 20th century.
As a youngster just before World War II, he developed the goofy, idiosyncratic Plastic Man comic character, which remains among the most admired strips of the Golden Age of pulp, though Cole drew his last Plas in 1950.
About then, too, a single panel of Cole's in another comic, True Crime, became the prime exhibit in one of the McCarthyite Congress's more ridiculous crusades, the one that said comix were sending our youth to hell. This brought the Golden Age of comix and the Linoleum Age of Congress to an end.
After that, Cole -- now using a completely different medium (water color) and style -- became the signature artist of the new Playboy magazine.
And not long after that, he shot himself, for reasons none of his friends could quite guess.
Art Spiegelman, who brought comix to their highest peak of respectability (at least in the eyes of people who never read comix) with his "Maus" comix about the Holocaust, wrote a sensitive and complex appreciation of Cole and Plas in The New Yorker in 1999, and that text is reprinted here, along with a generous selection of Cole's output.
This includes several adventures of Plas and his sidekick Woozy Winks, which rival Fontaine Fox's Toonerville Trolley strips, if not quite George Herriman's Krazy Kat, in wackiness; as well as Congress' favorite panel (a hypodermic needle aimed at a woman's eye) and the rest of that whole episode, "Murder, Morphine and Me."
"Murder, Morphine and Me" is no raunchier than the TV ads placed by the National Institutes of Mental Health ("This is your brain on drugs") nowadays, but Cole was always before his time.
Cole represented that nose-thumbing, razzberry-blowing strain of sez-who? Americanism that has just about been stamped out today, when we need it badly. If not the greatest, he was perhaps the most characteristic American limner of his generation.
This collection was designed by Chip Kidd, in a sort of paper version of MTV film editing. Plas, always frenetic, holds up very well to this kind of contemporary treatment.
A hero for the ages.
Jack Cole the real Plastic Man.......2003-11-04
Biographies of comic creators are few and far apart. This by a short reach is the best of the lot. It contains all the stories we have heard about Cole (his bike trip across America, his Playboy years, his mysterous suicide).
Interlaced through are reprints of some of his best works. What I liked was that the comics within seem to be reproduced from the originals, yellowing and all. If anything it added to my pleasure instead of took away from it.
For fans of comic history or tragic artists this is the one book that must be on your shelf. See Jack Cole stretch his mind as far as Plastic Man stretched his body.
Cole Mine.......2003-02-14
Jack Cole is better served by this fairly strange book than many other great cartoonists of the golden age of the medium have been in print. Spiegelman's somewhat sparse text is full of useful information and valid critique, but he wisely lets the material speak for itself, and that's the main attraction here, though those words and the book's design seem to have distracted some readers. This is not an anthology of "Plastic Man"- that can be found elsewhere, fortunately- nor is it an in-depth biography of Jack Cole. It's more like a large catalogue for an exhibition, covering all aspects of his varied career. Material seems to be reproduced from original art in a few cases- mainly his Playboy stuff- but the comic book stories are shot from original issues, with four-color separation and page-yellowing quite evident- and speaking as a sometimes-comic artist, that's close to the way I think they should be seen (I HATE modern re-coloring, and especially airbrushes!). And as for the book's unconventional design.....I like it. (Would've preferred a hardcover, though!)
Not to stretch a point, but..........2002-08-09
I've bought and read many, many books dealing with comics history, and this volume is one that proudly sits with the rest of the collection! If you have even the slightest interest in the Golden Age of Comics, Jack Cole or Plastic Man, you definitely owe it to yourself to get this book (and Amazon's offering it cheaper than I got my copy!). There are several complete Plas stories included in this book, making it worth the price by itself, but the retrospective of Jack Cole's career also makes for fascinating reading. I couldn't put it down, read the thing in one sitting!
Draft Portrait of the Artist.......2002-06-26
This biography/retrospective of cartoonist Jack Cole is certainly eye-catching with its chaotic design, popping full-bleed artwork, rounded corners, and varying paper stock, but as a portrait of the artist it never really amounts to more than a draft sketch. Spiegelman's text is slightly expanded from an article he wrote in 1999 for The New Yorker, and while it's a fairly decent biographical sketch of Cole's life and career as creator of Plastic Man, Playboy illustrator, and syndicated cartoonist, it never does more than skim the surface. Most indicative of this is the skimpy treatment Cole's unexpected and unexplained suicide is accorded. It's clear that Spiegelman (creator of the acclaimed Maus) loves Cole's work, but other than some generic plaudits that could apply to a number of cartoonists, it's never really clear why he considers Cole a genius (or for that matter, why the reader should).
A graphic tribute it's more successful, combining reproductions of complete strips and stories (including the True Crime Comics classic "Murder, Morphine, and Me"), pieces from Playboy, family photos, unpublished sketches, covers, and collages. Some people are bound to hate renowned book designer Kidd's treatment of the material (and indeed, some of the text is a strain to read), but it seems wholly suitable to Cole's own frantic graphic style from the Plastic Man series. In the end, the book is unlikely to appeal to those outside the world of comics.
Book Description
2ndsight is the sequel to The End of Print, the first monograph on David Carson's work. Rather than simply being a collection of the work produced since the first book was published, however, 2ndsight is a sequel in the true sense of the word. While The End of Print showed the world Carson's radical new approach, his rejection of the traditional 'rules' of communication, 2ndsight examines the creative process behind the work, and considers the broader implications of his intuitive approach to graphic design. Intuition is central to the book's thesis, and its meaning and influence is explored both in Lewis Blackwell's writing and in the evocative texts by leading designers and thinkers interspersed throughout the book.
As well as presenting Carson's commercial work-- his latest ideas in advertising, magazine and book design, web sites, film and video-- 2ndsight examines work inspired by exhibitions, talks, and workshops. The student workshops Carson conducts in design colleges around the world throw particular light on his creative process. The workings of these sessions are examined: their chief aim being not to teach computer skills or encourage participants to mimic the master, but to help them find their own voice. Collages put together by Carson of selected work pay tribute to the thousands of designers who have taken part.
Finally, a conversation between Blackwell and Carson probes Carson's working methods-- his collage technique of using two or more files at once on screen; of working in black and white; of moving to and from the computer, printing out each stage of a design before developing it further; his experimentation with the balance of type and image. Above all, his respect for intuition and his conviction that it is the key to truly individual graphic expression.
Customer Reviews:
Intuition.......2005-11-13
This is up to date brain food. One of the few books that gets graphic design as it is today. Yes, you have to have the intuition to understand the book, here he instructs you on how to use it. Wish there were more books like this.
Ephemereal.......2005-08-30
If you like David Carson's design aesthetic, you'll like this book. The book doesn't have much written content on graphic design technique and skill. According to Carson, it's just about intuition -- you either have it or you don't.
inspiration.......2003-02-23
This book is artistic inspiration in every sense of the word. The graphical lay out of the book is exceptional and was the basses of multiple pieces of coursework for myself. I love his use of quotations and expression through graphical design. He is a true legend and I will continue to buy his books for may years to come.
Very cool.......1999-08-13
If you liked his first book you are sure to love this one. Carson clearly maintains his position as the most cutting-edge designer today.
If you liked his first book, you'll love this!!.......1999-08-12
His unique attack at graphic design is displayed again in awsome splender
Book Description
A new hardcover collection of one of America's most popular weekly comic strips. Tony Millionaire's Maakies is one of the best and most popular weekly comic strips in America, running in over a dozen of the largest US weekly newspapers including the Village Voice, L.A Weekly, and Seattle's The Stranger. Maakies features the comical adventures of a drunken crow on the high seas, blending vaudeville-style humor and a breathtaking line that harkens back to the glory days of the American comic strip. Designed by publishing's foremost graphic designer, Chip Kidd, When We Were Very Maakies is our second hardcover collection and features over two years' worth of Maakies in a beautiful, deluxe, landscape hardcover format that complements the strip's elegant and classical style.
Dave Eggers, the bestselling author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, contributes the introduction to When We Were Very Maakies. Reading Maakies is like reading a beautifully illustrated diary. If you pay attention you can watch the evolution of the cartoonist as he grows from a drunken penniless ne'e'r-do-well to a drunken million-dollar-less som'tim's-do-well. This book collects the latest of Tony Millionaire's weekly strips, and includes such gems as the story of a pregnant butterfly,a motorcycle-riding leprechaun and a worm who lives inside the bowels of a frozen dead monkey in a NASA space capsule orbiting the Orion constellation. Of course Drinky Crow, as always, steals the show.
Maakies suggests a contemporary collaboration between E.C. Segar, creator of Popeye, and seafaring novelist Patrick O'Brian (Master and Commander). Millionaire has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards and Maakies has appeared as a series of animated segments on NBC's Saturday Night Live. He is also the creator of the popular Sock Monkey line of comics and children's books.
Customer Reviews:
Drunk! Violent!.......2005-04-22
This book is good and raunchy. Maakies is not for everyone, but neither is cancer medication. Drinky Crow and Uncle Gabby get hammered, are offensive, sometimes don't make sense, and they're usually hilarious.
Book Description
Chip Kidd is renowned and revered as a maverick graphic designer. Specifically, Kidd's book jacket designs for such major New York publishers as Alfred A. Knopf are among the most significant and innovative of our time. This richly illustrated book-the first critical selection of Kidd's design work-looks closely at this contemporary visual pioneer. VŽronique Vienne presents a full and nuanced view of Kidd, discussing how he has developed celebrity status as a designer, design critic, lecturer, and editor. She also relates how Kidd is greatly influenced by popular culture, noting his vast collection of Batman memorabilia. Vienne concludes by examining Kidd's editorial involvement with books on cartoonists as well as his own first novel, The Cheese Monkeys, published in 2001 to critical acclaim. Chip Kidd reveals the fascinating life and career of a revolutionary graphic designer with a winning public persona, whose ambitions now also lean toward editing and writing. The book will appeal to anyone involved in design and popular culture as well as admirers of Kidd's extraordinary creative spirit.
Customer Reviews:
Clarity, wit and the horizontal split.......2005-02-21
This is a slim, handsome book spotlighting the work of graphic designer, Chip Kidd, and featuring crisp, clean photographs of roughly five dozen of the covers he designed for books under the Alfred A. Knopf imprint.
People tend to either know exactly who he is or have no idea, but Kidd's the guy who did the T-Rex for the cover of "Jurassic Park." He also did landmark jackets like Tartt's "The Secret History" ; Cormac McCarthy's border trilogy ("All the Pretty Horses"); the reverse canvas of Robert Hughes' "Nothing if Not Critical" ; Martin Amis' big paycheck "The Information" ; the evocative Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy covers; and the stark, bloodstained Richmond Lattimore translation of the New Testament.
The book also touches on Kidd's novel, "The Cheese Monkeys," and his books about "Peanuts" and "Plastic Man" and his surprisingly absorbing books on "Batman" memorabilia.
Vienne's introduction - a little under 18 illustrated pages - provides a solid mix of biographical and technical information and the pictures, though somewhat reduced, are still large enough to appreciate.
The notes are also insightful. For some reason, I'd never really identified Kidd's tendency toward covers with a horizontal split; I also wasn't aware that he'd godfathered (though not designed) the jacket of Chris Ware's "Jimmy Corrigan," and was amused to learn the story behind the cover of Edmund White's bio of Jean Genet (Kidd found the signed photograph of Genet in an East Hampton bookstore but couldn't afford its $3,000 pricetag so he rented it; in route to his office, the glass over the photo cracked and Kidd kept the pane with the starburst crack rather than replacing it with a new one).
Overall, an engrossing look at a guy whom I know mostly through his art which, ironically, almost always adorns the art of others.
Average customer rating:
- Novel concept
- Strange read
- Best Novel of the 90s?
- This book is a work of magic
- a disturbing, stunning, even heartrending meditation
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Voice Of The Fire
Alan Moore
Manufacturer: Top Shelf Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Gaiman, Neil
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Moore, Alan
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ASIN: 1891830449 |
Book Description
In a story full of lust, madness, and ecstasy, we meet twelve distinctive characters that lived in the same region of central England over a span of six thousand years. Each interconnected tale traces a path in a journey of discovery of the secrets of the land. In the tradition of Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, Schwob's Imaginary Lives and Borges' A Universal History of Infamy, Moore travels through history blending truth and conjecture, in a novel that is dazzling, moving, sometimes tragic, but always mesmerizing. This edition presents Voice of the Fire for the first time in hardcover format, with full color illustrations by Jose Villarrubia.
Customer Reviews:
Novel concept.......2006-06-30
Alan Moore's first prose novel, which combusted onto the scene some ten years ago now, still has yet to receive much attention. This occurrence is strange, but understandable. The book, to give a brief overview, is a collection of twelve short stories taking place in twelve different time periods (stretching from 4,000BC to AD1995), all sharing the same setting of the central area of England that eventually becomes Northampton.
Moore, who is so famous I can trust to odds that you know the top three or four works he's most famous for, as revolutionized the comics industry in terms of storytelling, style, and tone time and again. And yet Voice of the Fire remains low on Amazon.com's list of books sold, its decade in the 84,450s list include the English Teacher's Book of Instant Word Games and a certainly captivating Dictionary of Financial Terms.
This, inasmuch as concerns what the public is fed through the New York Times Best Seller List, is unsurprising. Moore's book begins with a 40+ paged chapter about a Neolithic cave-boy's exile from his hunter-gatherer tribe. An emotional and moving story to be sure...if you can make it to the end. The story is told in the first person, using what Moore estimates to be less than five hundred words--his creative attempt at mimicking Neolithic speech and thought.
If you're wondering what to expect from the story: expect fire. And blood. Horror. Nightmares. And more fire besides. Be it ancient, Roman, Norman, or modern, Northampton has never been a very safe place to live, an issue Moore addresses personally as the protagonist in the final chapter, written in a stream-of-consciousness style.
Expect a smorgasbord of writing styles. Moore takes the driver's seat with his characters, and with a Dickens-esque talent to create new personalities the reader sees this single geographical area from such varied points of view as a murderess who plots to get rich quick, a Roman agent come to find a local money counterfeiter, and even a disembodied head upon a gate. Many of the novel's characters are based off of actual historical figures, giving the whole work a cryptic echo that weaves in an out of the story. This echo, this voice of the fire, is the most captivating part of the book, and for which reason I obnoxiously give this book its 5-star rating. Learning history is fun. Learning history within the context of history--even if it is fiction--is perhaps one of the most thought-provoking experiences one can have with a book.
I recommend this book to any reader who has an interest in history or anthropology. For writers, read this if you want to study up on character development or telling first-person stories in a myriad of ways. Moore fans, just read this; he's done it again.
Strange read.......2004-03-15
This is a rather difficult book and it will not fare very well for a casual reading. It forced you to think, to look and rather more to feel what it is around you. It actually demand a lot from a reader, which is not a problem as long as the pay off is this good.
This is one of the most visual book I read. I think the writer have a picture of the events in his mind and describe it, rather than just thought of it as a prose. The think is, this will not work very well if the structure of the book allow it to be. And amazingly, I think it works quite well. The last chapter of the book make me look around in my dark room, feeling a breath of someone else on my neck.
Just don't read it when you are alone.
Best Novel of the 90s?.......2004-03-09
Most comics readers have heard of Alan Moore, and EVERYONE working in comics has been influenced by him. So when he released his first prose novel several years ago (1995?) I bought a British import and read it in a few days. Devoured it. Savoured every concrescence manifesting through the man's words. Loved it.
And then the book went out of print...
Until Top Shelf brought it back! (yesh)
Watchmen? From Hell? Tom Strong? Swamp Thing? A Small Killing? Halo Jones? Naw, it's different from all of them. Here's a quote from a current Moore interview: "I'd like to think that if I've shown anything, it's that comics are the medium of almost inexhaustible possibilities, that there have been...there are great comics yet to be written. There are things to be done with this medium that have not been done, that people maybe haven't even dreamed about trying. And, if I've had any benign influence upon comics, I would hope that it would be along those lines; that anything is possible if you approach the material in the right way. You can do some extraordinary things with a mixture of words and pictures. It's just a matter of being diligent enough and perceptive enough and working hard enough, continually honing your talent until it's sharp enough to do the job that you require."
He does the same thing with prose, pushing the medium in surprising directions. The closest literary equivalent I know of is 'Ulysses' - but that takes place in one day. 'Voice of the Fire' covers a few thousand years. Both are equally dulcet and disquieting. It's a book worth owning. And rereading.
This book is a work of magic.......2004-02-27
I think that Rebecca Scott explains the book best in her greenmanreview.com review. Here is an excerpt:
"If Voice of the Fire has a protagonist, it must be Northampton itself, because this is the story of the formation of the mythology of that place. It is a geological study of the strata of the collective unconscious of the area. Each of its twelve chapters is the first-person story of an individual who crystallized into the forming stones in the hill of tales, whose bodies fed its grass and trees. Their histories wind through that of the land, bringing us closer and closer to the present day.
Each of the chapters includes a full-color plate, a photographic character portrait by Jose Villarrubia (who contributed to the very fine graphic novel Veils). These glow softly, and have a painterly quality about them that makes even the grimmest a gem. Yet this is a text novel, not a graphic novel, and the words are the things. Very fine words they are, too: "Trust in the fictive process, in the occult interweaving of text and event must be unwavering and absolute. This is the magic place, the mad place at the spark gap between word and world." The language is vivid, graphic (sometimes too graphic for someone who reads while eating). Each chapter, each story, has a distinct voice, radically different from the others...
This book is a work of magic ... If you let it, it will work a change in your consciousness ... So come, climb this hill of tales in the night of myth, draw close to the flames, listen to the voice of the fire, and let it work its spell in you." -- Rebecca Scott, GreenManReview.com
a disturbing, stunning, even heartrending meditation.......2004-02-25
These reviews I found would express what I think better than I can.
"Part mythic cycle, part fictional history of Moore's hometown, part collection of fireside ghost stories, Voice of the Fire is as clever and well-crafted as Moore's other genre experiments, and by taking his dialogue out of word-balloons and panel arrangements, it gives his limitless literary ambition room to stretch out into new and fascinating forms." -- Tasha Robinson, The Onion
"[Voice of the Fire] blends witchcraft, savagery, subjectivity, and the darkness that lies within each of us. The resulting narrative is a meditation on the twisting annals of history, the supernatural world between life and death, and the oft-thin line between fantasy and reality." -- Lloyd Babbit, MetroPulse.com
By summoning up the voices of the dead and burned, Moore stakes his claim as a grand magician and, unlike his colleague in Oz, he invites us to look at him behind his curtain of fire. Now singing, now screaming, he signals his message through the flames." -- Adam White, Indyworld.com
Book Description
This second volume displays the work of 37 of the best designers and design firms from across the United States. Organized by DK Holland of the Pushpin with Chip Kidd and Jessica Helfand, the selection presents such firms as Looking, Los Angeles; Post Tool, San Francisco, Modern Dog, Seattle; Carlos Segura, Chicago; Go Media, Austin Texas; Greteman Design, Wichita, Kansas; P. Scott Makela, Minneapolis; Werner Design Works, Minneapolis; and Design!, Atlanta.
Customer Reviews:
I really like this book........2001-10-22
I can appreciate the work of others and just think this book is beautiful. I get a great sense of how others express themselves by the way this book is presented. The cover and pages are wonderful quality paper and the images are crisp and freshly laid out. I am not a super power pro but as I mentioned, I appreciate and enjoy how artists perceive their world. Nice big book with the quality to be placed on anyone's coffee table.
Creative Insight.......2000-09-28
Like most others in the Rockport series this book has an intriguing preface and a conglomerate of great work. The book features several prominent firms while highlighting the designers that work there. It's a good source of information because it explains the communication problem, and then how the use of good design solved it. It does this across several different media, from the aesthetics of store architecture to the traditional printed brochure. Like the others from Rockport, certain projects are repeated in their other books, but overall, any individual with an eye for the intangible will appreciate this book.
Book Description
From the late 1930s to the mid-1950s, DC Comics blazed a creative, innovative trail in popular culture, and the company has remained at the forefront of the comics industry ever since. In one milestone after another, DC Comics introduced the fantastic characters that became everyone's favorite super heroes: Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Shazam! This brilliantly illustrated volume features entirely new, large-format photography of the original comic books, showcasing the fabulous visual world of the DC comic-book heroes and artists.
Comics historian Les Daniels, graphic designer Chip Kidd, and photographer Geoff Spear have delved deep into the DC archives, to which they were granted unprecedented access, highlighting not only the classics that have become pop-culture icons but also lost gems like More Fun Comics and Comics Cavalcade. The 365 images, shot especially for this book, along with the impeccably researched text and informative introductory essays, ensure that this blast from the past will have a huge appeal for both comic-book devotees and newcomers. AUTHOR BIO: Les Daniels is the author of the official histories of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, as well as DC Comics: A Celebration of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes and Abrams' Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. Chip Kidd is an award-winning graphic designer and author of The Cheese Monkeys. His work has been featured in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Time, Graphis, and Entertainment Weekly. Geoff Spear's award-winning photographs have appeared in magazines such as Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, and Newsweek, and in numerous books on comics.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect Gift for Any Comics Fan !.......2007-07-02
Set up as 365-day calendar, this small coffee table book is anything but. What it is is a wonderful collection of comic book covers and pages from the 1930s through the 1950s. Artfully photographed and cropped by Geoff Spear, each of the 365 pages are a visual treat from the DC Comics universe.
Graphic designer Chip Kidd has set up the book not as a stuffy museum piece of days past, but as an explosion of Americana. Vibrant and alive, the pages burst with excitement and fun. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and others are alive again as our parents or grandparents first saw them. It is quickly obvious why these characters inspired generation after generation, and are still alive and well today in the American consciousness.
Les Daniels does a superb job, as always, of summing up a character's history and importance, but has fun at the same time. Wit and sly commentary on Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Robin the Boy Wonder line these pages. If there is a `comics historian' out there, Daniels is it. And never is it more obvious than in this book, where he comments not only the big characters such as Superman and Batman, but on the smaller characters, the ones long-forgotten, and the myriad of villains.
And for one more bit of fun, the back cover of the book is a display of the ubiquitous advertisements of the day. Everything from X-ray glasses to whoopee cushions, all for just pennies!
Recent movies of Superman, Batman, and the like show that these characters of a by-gone era (and books like this) are still a constant gift and joy in America today. The Golden Age of DC Comics - 365 Days is a delight.
cruddy.......2007-05-12
dissapointed with this one , I expected to see some really quality illustrations, instead it looks like someone has got some really old comics and scanned them into this book right down to the newspaper style dots, I guess I didnt read the description properly before I bought this book, to me it is really a breif historical account in pictures using old comics, I dont know it might appeal to the purist comic freak, but I didn't like it. BEtter off relegated to being a paper weight or door stop nothing ground breaking in this, a boring book.
Classic Comic Pop Culture.......2007-01-10
This book is really fun to look at for those who love comic books. It showcases the art work in a fun new format. All the art used, is classic illustrations, and is a great way to look at classic art.
A collage of comics organized as a year.......2006-05-23
While the idea of making a book with 365 days may seem odd, this book is quite special. It can be read as a coffee table book. But it's really a remarkably well-informed collection of images from comics. The commentaries sometimes run for a paragraph, giving background on the artists or comic, and sometimes just a few lines, as an informative caption. What Daniels, Kidd, and Spear have done is create a unique compendium of images from DC comics that function like a quirky and very intelligent collection of often forgotten cultural icons. This book is a very worthwhile addition to a library, whether you're a comics freak, a student of popular culture, art history, or you just like beautiful books. The wealth of images is incredible. It can't be appreciated at one sitting.
365 pages of old memories.......2004-12-12
I agree that as you first glance at this book it seems like a calender. It's a hefty book that has some charm in its views of days gone by. I bought it for myself and wasn't dissapointed in its focus. Les Daniels always has an interesting view and smartly entertains as you go page to page. If one wants a more detailed overview of the subject there are many fine books to seek out. This one is more for a night when one doesn't want to read but rather to remember.Its well bound, excellently to the point concerning its subject. If one wants full covers go to the Photo Journal guide to comics by Gerber. It doesn't have everything but like this book is a visual companion.
Books:
- Columbia River Basketry: Gift of the Ancestors, Gift of the Earth (Samuel and Althea Stroum Book)
- Creative Activities for Young Children
- CREATIVE LICENSE, THE: GIVING YOURSELF PERMISSION TO BE THE ARTIST YOU TRULY ARE
- Different Views in Hudson River School Painting
- Don't Look Back : Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball
- Drawing The Female Nude
- Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons in the United States
- Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil: Why Church Fathers Suppressed the Book of Enoch and Its Startling Revelations
- Figure Drawing for Fashion Design (Pepin Press Design Books)
- From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know And Must Communicate to the Public, Second Edition
Books Index
Books Home
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By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design
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