Average customer rating:
- limited in its bio's
- Tons of good information!
- The Marvel Encyclopedia
- so many errors!
- It's not an encyclopedia
|
The Marvel Encyclopedia
Daniel Wallace ,
Tom Brevoort ,
Andrew J. Darling ,
Tom DeFalco ,
Peter Sanderson , and
Michael Teitelbaum
Manufacturer: DK ADULT
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Illustration
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Comic Strips
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Superheroes
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
History & Price Guides
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Criticism
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Art
| Encyclopedias
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Encyclopedias
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
History
| Encyclopedias
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Humor
| Encyclopedias
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Encyclopedias
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Defalco, Tom
| ( D )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
History & Criticism
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
History & Criticism
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Reference Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The DC Comics Encyclopedia
-
Avengers: The Ultimate Guide
-
The Complete Visual Dictionary of Star Wars: The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga
-
Justice League Unlimited - Season One (DC Comics Classic Collection)
-
Civil War (Marvel Comics)
ASIN: 0756623588 |
Book Description
Marvel Comics' character roster boasts some of the best known and most popular characters ever conceived-heroes that are international household names, both as comic book stars and movie stars, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk and Wolverine. This unique, one-volume encyclopedia contains more than 1000 of Marvel's greatest, with full details of their powers and their thrill-packed careers. The encyclopedia's range of spectacular art features eye-popping work by Marvel's finest artists, while the authoritative text is supplied by a team of top Marvel comic book writers. In addition, double-page features, illustrated with classic covers, trace the fascinating story of Marvel Comics through the decades. The Marvel Comics Encyclopedia is an essential book both for new fans and for those who grew up loving the excitement, heroism and humor of the Marvel Universe. Includes a foreword by Stan Lee.
Customer Reviews:
limited in its bio's.......2007-09-19
Though the book is imformative, the bios are very limited. There are no scales to properly determine strength and intelligence. Also there are a lot of typos, leading me to believe that they didn't care much when they created this. If you want a short overview on marvel characters then this book is for you, otherwise don't bother.
Tons of good information!.......2007-08-06
Great book for anyone. Being an avid marvel fan I thought I knew most everything, but I have learned a lot from this book. It is a good buy.
The Marvel Encyclopedia.......2007-06-11
The book is well illustrated and has exhaustive description of each character of Marvel Comic Books.
so many errors!.......2007-06-07
Like any Marvel fan I was very excited about getting my hands on this encyclopedia, only to be sorely disappointed by the amount of errors found within it's pages. Error examples include: page 46, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, an image of Nightcrawler is found under a listing for Black Tom Cassidy. Page 212 , an image of the Shiar imperial guardsman Nightside is shown under the character listing for Nightshade. Page 171 An image of the Asgardian character Lorelei is shown under the character listing for the Savage Land mutate of the same name. These are few example of the many errors throughout the book.
It's not an encyclopedia.......2007-06-06
There isn't enough information on individual characters. (There are a lot of them, and there are pictures, but the pictures take up some much space that there's none left for details.)
Book Description
170 pages, with over 200 illustrations of futuristic designs and illustrations by artist Syd Mead including full color rendering for movies such as Bladerunner, 2010, Startrek;The motion Picture, as well as designs for Honda, Norweigen Carb. Cruise lines and many others. This publication is a staple for design studios in Hollywood and Detroit as well as bookshelves of Syd Mead's fans around the world.
Customer Reviews:
Gorgeous, but not what I was after.......2003-01-28
Ive loved the work of syd mead ever since I first saw the movie blade runner. Since then I knew I wanted to be a concept artist. So I figured, what better way of becoming one, than studying the art of the masters? Hence, I bought this book.
Only giving this book 3 starts feels kinda sad, since the works are gorgeous and the concepts, amazing! nevertheless... I was searching for rougher material... less color, more testy stuff. For you who want to be inspired as a concept artist, as I did, buy some "the art of starwars" books instead, they rule. On the other hand, if youre just lookin for a bunch of pretty work. BUY THIS.
Phenomenal views of future possibilities!.......1998-05-07
I recently got this book, and absolutely loved it. If you're of a futurist bent, and thirst for views of how things *might* be, then this is a book for you.
The illustrations are lavish, and the explanations of the design concepts behind the art give you a better idea of some of the planning that has gone into the picture, as well as possible avenues for future construction technologies.
I'm hooked. I have another book on order, and am saving up for other books of his. (He also has a mailing list. I got details in a flyer tucked into my copy of this book...)
A must-have for industial design students and illustrators.......1997-12-18
Syd Mead sometimes calls himself a "futureist" and his credits in the sci-fi classic Blade Runner read "Visual Specialist". This is an amazing collection of Syd Mead's visual art of the future and is not only beautiful to look at but is an intelligent view of future machinary and cuture.
Book Description
If you want to take your Flash Professional 8 skills to a new level while learning how to produce games that rival anything available on the web, this is the book for you. Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Game Development is written by a professional game developer. Using the power of Flash and the most recent advancements in ActionScript, the book progresses through the entire development process to teach programmers and Web developers how to create professional quality games quickly. It teaches techniques for producing fast 3D effects that can be used with "cheat" techniques to produce powerful, high-performance results. It details the actual science of game development, including design, character development, the physics and motion of a game, and audio issues. And in this new edition, all of the latest features of Flash Professional 8 are covered, including the new sound channels, bitmap caching, texture pages, and more. The book covers many advanced topics in a simple, easy to understand way. It emphasizes the incredible power of the new BitmapData class and teaches how it can be used to take the performance of Flash games to a whole new level. It has never been easier to get right down to the pixel level and manipulate things at blazing speeds, making previously impossible games a breeze to make. So get to your computer, insert the CD-ROM, and prepare to begin your journey into the world of Flash Professional 8 game development.
Customer Reviews:
Good for the intermediate Flash programmer.......2007-07-30
The book provides several examples that progress the reader through the programming of gradually more complex games. The reader should have a basic knowledge of Flash and Actionscript, as the book brushes over beginner-level concepts. At the time, the book is fairly up to date, however there is supposedly quite a jump between Flash 8 and Flash CS3, which uses Actionscript 3.0. Nonetheless, the concepts taught in the book are universally applicable regardless of what Flash version you are using. The inclusion of a CD-ROM is an added bonus and a must with this kind of book.
Great Book.......2007-06-11
I found the book easy to read and very practical. The use of examples to explain things is great. And of course, examples that do work is great also!!!
It's the right book for those that already know something about flash and actionscript (doesn't need to be an expert), and want to learn to develop some games in flash, and perhaps aplly those technics on other apllications.
The book is great fun!!!
very limited discussion of incorporating physics.......2007-05-29
As a physicist, I looked at the chapter on "Physics for Games". It's very introductory Newtonian mechanics. Applying these in time-discrete form for moving objects in the game. Gravity is considered for vertical motion, and wind is incorporated to affect horizontal motion. Freshman level stuff. If you are developing a game where you need to seriously incorporate physics, there are entire books devoted to it, like Physics for Game Developers.
Though to be fair, the book is about learning Flash and its effects. Other chapters offer code fragments. Of necessity, these are all elementary, from a programming complexity standpoint. But they help explain how to apply Flash.
The most intricate part of the book seems to be when you model a 3d world. Nice rendering examples. Doesn't go very deeply here. Flash almost certainly has more advanced functionality.
In-Depth game Development!.......2007-05-17
I've bought this book with the purpose of starting to make flash games. Well, i couldn't have chosen a better way! The book is very easy to read and understand and the the examples are incredible. It explores the appropriate tools to create games like the BitmapData while giving other tools an explanation too. 5 stars!
Specifics for beginners, bad habits for mid-levels.......2007-04-28
If you've worked with strongly type languages like Java/C++/etc then this book might make you cringe a bit. First, the code is very terse with clever tricks to shorten the number of lines. Eventually it makes sense but methods like makeFader() don't really make a fader, they do other things like remove a game object from the scene.
So along with softreferences ( for i to 10, make a variable box_i=i ) - ew, and bad naming conventions, it plays out more like an Oreilly Cookbook that encourages bad habits. Granted, I ordered it and I'll keep it as a book full of complete examples. But I think any of the examples that I copy/type/study, I'll refactor later to be more clear and well-coded.
It's a fast ramp-up to ActionScript 2.0. If you're looking for smarter and more mid-level code then maybe wait for a book on AS3.0 that is more class oriented and less procedural like this book. Else, if you just want to see end-to-end examples as fast as possible the author does a good job of explaining code blocks as he goes even if he's encouraging bad habits.
Average customer rating:
- Steinbergiana
- Great Art, Weak Writing
- A must have
|
Steinberg at the New Yorker
Joel Smith
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Illustration
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Cartooning
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Artists, Architects & Photographers
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Media Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Deals
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Arts & Photography
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Biographies & Memoirs
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Comics & Graphic Novels
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Arts & Photography
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Biographies & Memoirs
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Saul Steinberg: Illuminations
-
Reflections and Shadows
-
Saul Steinberg Masquerade
-
Discovery Of America, The
-
The Comic Worlds of Peter Arno, William Steig, Charles Addams, and Saul Steinberg
ASIN: 0810959011 |
Book Description
For six decades, Saul Steinberg's covers, cartoons, features, and illustrations were a defining presence at The New Yorker. As the magazine became a standard-bearer of taste and intelligence in American letters, Steinberg's drawings emerged as its visual epitome. This richly illustrated book, featuring Joel Smith's astute text and a captivating introduction by the artist's friend and colleague Ian Frazier, explores the remarkable range and unceasing evolution of a major American modernist-one whose art reached a grateful public not from museum walls but from the pages of the periodical he called "my refuge, patria, and safety net."
All Steinberg's New Yorker covers appear here in full color, along with over 130 examples of inside art, from black-line drawings to elaborate color portfolios. Also included are Steinberg's most beloved, intuitive, and brilliant inspirations, among them a New York populated with stoical cats, precocious children, puzzled couples, and a menagerie of vivid grotesques. A vibrant celebration of one of the most original and engaging artists of the 20th century, Steinberg at The New Yorker brings alive a genius, a magazine, and an era. AUTHOR BIO: Joel Smith has been the Fisher Curator at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College since 1999. He is the author of Edward Steichen: The Early Years. Ian Frazier is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. His previous books include the national bestseller Great Plains.
Customer Reviews:
Steinbergiana.......2005-11-02
"Steinberg at The New Yorker" makes an important, even indispensable contribution to the understanding of Steinberg's work and life. Not since Harold Rosenberg's discriminating essays on Steinberg has there been such a good source of insight about his procedures and concepts. Ian Frazier's memoir fleshes out this otherwise mysterious character, Joel Smith's commentary offers brief but appropriate insights, the images themselves are wonderful, copious, superbly reproduced--many in full size. A monument to Steinberg and a key historical document at the same time.
Great Art, Weak Writing.......2005-07-17
This book was a disappointment to me. The writing is too removed from the subject. It has a strong chronological structure, however it is very impersonal. Most of the quotes seem to be pulled from interviews. I would prefer more information about Steinberg's life.
What did he like to eat? Write more about his relationship with Abstract Expressionists. Aren't there any stories about him being funny or having funny experiences in his travels? More about his relationship with Hedda Sterne. Did he speak with an accent? Was he fussy or snobby? Would he have a conversation with the newspaper vendor on the street? Did he feud with anyone besides Tina Brown? More about other New Yorker cartoonists and their relationships.
The book lacks insight and a personal feel. It is shallow and superficial account of his life. If this book were a trip to Europe, it would be like a package deal with a strict itinerary.
Every morning, you get on the bus and travel to another city. All meals are timed with great food. It is over planned and comprehensive. All major sights are seen. As apposed to a trip with a friend, who shows you their favorite restaurant, the unknown museums. Renting a car and exploring the countryside in a spontaneous that is open to discovery.
The art is superior. An awesome selection that shows the breadth and facile charm that attracts me to Steinberg's work.
A must have.......2005-06-05
Magnificent. Beautifully reproduced artwork of my favorite cartoonist/illustrator of all time. From pen and ink drawings you've never seen before to full-size New Yorker covers, this book is an amazing resource. I also like the fact that Steinberg's New Yorker covers are reproduced in miniature at the end, in chronological order. But this book is more than an art portfolio. Joel Smith's contributions, which range from the biographical to the curatorial, bring a new level of appreciation to Steinberg's work.
Book Description
If you are anime/manga collector or fan, you have had a burning desire to learn how to draw the popular characters by yourself. However, you may be worried that you cannot draw as well as people in art clubs or in cartoon clubs because drawing is difficult - don't worry, many people feel the same way. This series was written to help those who are interested in drawing, but are worried about the challenges involved with it. If you change the way you look at an object - even just a little, you can succeed.
Customer Reviews:
total waste of money!!!.......2007-04-07
this book was not helpful at all!!!i had just recently got into manga and anime drawing so i thought that this book would be helpful to me you know with the title being "basics for beginners" and all. all it did was show me useless information.all it does is show you characters made out of these weird rectangle type things only and then the finished project (but thats all no hair no clothes no nothing), instead of step-by-step directions on everything. if you are a beginner i would highly reccomend NOT, i repeat NOT getting this book!!! it confused me and didn't actually show me how to draw anything!!!if your a beginner and don't know where to start, your not alone!!! although this is the first book i ever got on the whole anime subject i would suggest some other how to draw manga books but definately not this one. try how to draw manga ultimate manga lessons volumes 1-6 and more how to draw manga volumes 1-4. believe me if you want, if you think diferently and want to try it any way be my guest but in my oppinion it's a total waste of money!!! hope this helped!!!
How to Draw Anime & Game Characters VOL.1 Review.......2007-01-18
I would say pick this book up, because i am not a beginner but i still got alot out of it. If you want to get into drawing anime or game characters or you want to be pick this one up. This book really helped me brush up on my basics.I also fully intend to follow up with all the rest of the books in this sereies.
Nice Book.......2007-01-10
Bought it as a Christmas gift for one of my nieces. I looked through it before I gave it to her. The book looks like it's got alot to offer. Maybe I'll get one for myself in the future.
tasteless.......2006-06-28
This book tasteless. There are comics in the back of the book where there is a pedophilia scene. A young boy is seduced by a older man. It's not very nice. It also shows how to draw seductivley. This book is not appropriate for young people.
It's awesome .......2005-11-06
I would recommend this for all beggining artist in magna, it has helped me alot, now i'm on the search for a magna book that teaches to draw clothing. This will really increase your drawing prowess
Customer Reviews:
Important for Reference and Historical purposes.......2007-02-19
This is an excellent collection to own.
The visuals in Little Nemo are excellent, leaps and bounds above what most filmmakers can do, even with technology and money.
And Little Nemo was probably one of the ten most important comic strips of the early part of the 20th century.
And this is a reasonably affordable edition that contains all (or at least claims to contain all) of the strip.
That being said, I'm not sure that Little Nemo is really something that would hold the interest of a lot of contemporary readers, comic and otherwise. This was kind of a hard thing for me to write because it is an important work in terms of comic history.
If you do plan on buying this, think of it as a reference book or a picture book (when I bought this at the comic store, the employee said it really existed solely for the art and, history aside, I'm not entirely sure I disagree with him). It is incredibly useful in that regard. In terms of an actual plot or characterization, don't really go in with high expectations. This is an attractive volume worth having on a shelf and consulting every few months but it isn't something that you are probably not going to read cover to cover.
Little Nemo has little to speak of in terms of plot or characterization. And, like the Walt and Skeezix collection, racial stereotypes come in occasionally, something that would probably have flown in 1905-1914 but something that is unacceptable now (though I regret that the dislike of such things often comes at the expense of a reasoned view of the historical context).
And I really wish that I could give this a better review due to its historical importance. Overall, it gets three stars but with a qualifier of some kind.
What Dreams May Come!.......2006-12-12
Little Nemo in Slumberland was introduced to America over a century ago, and these pages still have the power to astonish and touch anyone that reads them. The utter timelessness of this strip, both in artwork and vision, is the kind of testament to genius that very few graphic artists ever receive. Winsor McCay was such a genius and his major work, Little Nemo in Slumberland, is a vastly rich exploration of human dreams.
What is it about Little Nemo that was so special? First and foremost, we have the pure draftsmanship of Winsor McCay. The man could (and with his imagination, often did) draw anything. Where a great deal of comic art from the time was somewhat static and stiff, McCay's figures had fluidity. His characters seemed to be caught in motion, captured in very difficult angles and postures to draw. McCay handled it all with incredible ease. When McCay drew Little Nemo climbing over a wall, it captured perfectly the struggle of a nine-year-old boy, fighting both his own small size and his pajamas. The man had a sense of perspective and composition that was nearly superhuman. He could portray an entire make-believe city, with shimmering towers and distant castles, in a single panel and give it a quality of detail and depth that barely seems possible.
Secondly, of course, was the breadth of McCay's imagination. Sometimes little Nemo dreamt beautiful fantasies, sometimes disturbing nightmares (Nemo's journey toward Slumberland at times resembled Dante's journey through the nine circles). Suffice to say that the details of these dreams are simply mind expanding. One can only imagine the impression they made on a 1905 comic strip reader.
Lastly, and for me most importantly, was the character of Nemo. McCay's portrayal of a six year old boy was completely spot on and timeless. Anyone that has ever had a boy child will instantly see their own son in Nemo, and this superb characterization was done more visually than with text or dialogue (if this doesn't make sense, have a look at the strip to see what I mean. Nemo's very posture suggests all the heartbreaking vulnerability and innocence of a young child). There is a subtle and complete sweetness that underlies the entire work that makes it emotionally memorable and captivating. The staggering beauty of McCay's panels often overshadows the fact that Nemo was nearly always the terrorized victim of his dreams. Yet no matter how hostile and threatening his dream world became, he never responded with anything but trust and hope (amazingly, this quality never seemed sentimental but always rang true - such was the power of McCay's art). It is the kind of work that has a place in both your heart and your mind.
This is a very affordable and worthwhile edition of McCay's historic series. The colors are well reproduced, the paper stock is excellent, and the binding is superb. Lovers of the graphic arts should be very grateful to Evergreen for producing this well-done and reasonably priced book. I highly recommend it. ---Mykal Banta
An intensely imaginative and creative road, though with some bumps along the way.......2006-11-30
Little Nemo has been praised as one of the most original comic strips ever created, and it certainly is. It is surreal, imaginative, and very well-drawn and colored. It doesn't keep up all these qualities through to the end, but there is tremendous gold to be found in this treasure.
Little Nemo is a comic strip about the adventures of a young boy as he encounters a great many surreal situations in his dreams. Each comic starts off with Nemo either in the dreamworld at the start, or in bed, and about to enter it. Each comic contains one final panel of Nemo waking up, often startled by what happened in the dream.
Things start out on a fantastic note. In one early strip, Nemo is taking a walk through a forest made of giant mushrooms. He is told not to touch the mushrooms, because they are very delicate. At one point, he accidentally bumps into one, and it breaks neatly into several giant pieces, which then fall and hit another mushroom, which in turn breaks onto another, and so on, thus starting a chain reaction. Another early comic has Nemo accidentally causing disaster in a world made out of living glass people.
The early strips are more about individual surreal adventures rather than telling a continuing story, and they work quite well. At one point, however, McCay must have decided that he had to create a storyline to tell, and that is where each comic tends to be directly related to the story in question.
That's not a bad thing. The stories at first are generally used as vehicles to get him from one original dream sequence to another. Sometimes these sequences are directly related to the story at hand, but oftentimes they are detours. The comic continues in this style for a long while.
At one point, the character of Flip the clown is introduced, and quickly becomes one of the main characters. Flip is a troublemaker who is not allowed to join the Princess of Slumberland, but he eventually does so anyway after a great many failed tries. He soon joins Nemo as a constant companion, with plots that occasionally result in him being thrown out of or separated from the group, with him later either trying to rejoin, or just causing trouble on his own.
Once Flip gets involved in the comic, the comic begins to slowly revolve more and more around him, but for a long time, the stories continue to be largely Nemo-centric affairs about the strange and unusual experiences he has in Slumberland. One wonderfully creative plot had Nemo and the Princess visit the North Pole, and experience, among other things, a snowmaker, which ends up causing more trouble than it's worth when Nemo climbs up a tower to see it in action. During this plot, Flip constantly tries to catch up with the group, often getting thwarted, and serving as a mild sideshow rather than the main attraction.
Later in the strip, though, McCay begins to have an increasing reliance on story arcs. That becomes a problem, however, when some of these story arcs don't really fit in with the dream-like stories that make the comic so original. For instance, at one point there is a story arc that revolves exclusively around Nemo and a crew on an airship traveling to famous cities around the US and Canada, visiting them, and learning facts about them. There is nothing surreal or dream-like that happens in these stories, and they contribute nothing to the comic. As if realizing this, McCay later had Nemo and his crew land on Mars, where the story becomes wonderfully surreal and creative again.
After continuing that re-energized creative spark, McCay loses it again late in the book. During the last two years of Little Nemo, the comic degenerates into slapstick comedy involving Flip and his efforts to break into Slumberland. The title begins to reflect this. This is where "Little Nemo in Slumberland" is now known as "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams", and each story now has its own title. Each title tends to be about Flip; i.e. "Flip Breaks In", "Something's Up, Must Be Flip", etc. This only shows that Flip has succeeded in hijacking the comic. What was once Nemo's story about his trips through surreal dreamscapes is now changed into Flip's slapstick comedy. Some surreal dreamlike elements continue to present themselves, but the story had gone downhill, and the collection ends on a sour note.
I loved this comic collection and I'm very glad I got a chance to read through 10 years worth of the most original newspaper comic I'd ever seen. However, I did notice the comic's bumpy quality, ranging from fantastic to downright bland.
My recommendation is to check out this collection. There's a lot going for it, and don't let the later drop in story quality get to you - all great things go through that kind of phase. McCay may not have kept up his creative spark forever, but when he had it going for him, he turned out wonderful, amazing, truly original work, work that is worth seeing for yourself.
Outstanding collection.......2006-08-30
If you are looking for a great, affordable complete set of the Little Nemo comics, this is it! Taschen always does a great job and this book is no exception. The quality of the images are excellent and the reproductions, though not the same size as the originals, are large enough to easily read.
Nice Reproductions of McCay's Seminal Strip.......2002-04-28
This Taschen book adequately reprints the first run of Winsor McCay's seminal comic strip, Little Nemo in Slumberland. Little Nemo is a 9-year old who drifts off to sleep each night only to be transported to Slumberland, a hallucinogenic world of circus performers, royal court attendants, exotic personages of all stripe, and animals both tame and wild. I loved looking at these strips as a child, but I didn't understand them until much later.
McCay worked on an epic scale. Each strip ran to dozens of dialog baloons and hundreds of clearly rendered people and things, and often involved a half dozen characters or more. The most notable denizen of Slumberland other than Nemo is Flip, Nemo's arch-nemesis, who is set on nothing more than casting Nemo out of Slumberland by tricking him into waking up. The stories are scary in the amorphous manner of dreams -- characters grow large and walk over cities, or so small they are dwarfed by raspberries, inducing a dreamlike sence of vertigo and plasticity. Another recurring dream-like theme is flight, effected by baloons, stars, giant dragonflies or even Nemo's own out-of-control bed.
The strips, originally filling a 15x23 inch newspaper page, are perhaps the most intricate and well rendered comics ever to be produced. At just over 12 inches tall, these reproductions are disappointingly small. And although the text is clear, it is tiny. Each panel is exquisitely composed and could stand on its own as a compelling work of graphic art, drawn with a beautiful art nouveau line and a rainbow pastel palette that makes one wonder what they knew about printing comics in 1905 that's been since forgotten. Although numbered for readers at the time, McKay's control of flow leaves no doubt as to the order of panels in the mind of the modern comic entusiast; he would routinely stretch time and space, and think nothing of propelling action from one panel to the next -- tricks in the bag of every modern comic artist. (As an aside, Scott McCloud's book "Understanding Comics" is a most excellent treatise on comic book art in general and page flow in particular.)
Book Description
The follow-up title to the hit title Drawing Cutting Edge Comics, which has been translated into seven languages, this drawing tutorial shows artists how to draw the exaggerated musculature of super-sized figures in action poses. The guesswork is taken out of figuring out which muscles show through to the surface and how muscles appear through clothing. This instructional manual even gives both the Latin and the common terms for particular body parts such as scapula/shoulder blade. Hart covers all aspects of extreme anatomy. The book opens by providing detailed diagrams of all of the various muscle groups, including chest, back, shoulder, arm, and leg muscles. Then he covers many of the various extreme comic book types including good guy, bad guy, insane guy, punk, genius, and brute for men; and the heroine, bad gal, trashy gal, seductress, fighter babe, and cyber chick for women. As an added bonus, this book closes with two invaluable sections to all aspiring comic book artists. One provides a roadmap of all the steps an artist must take if he or she is going to get started in the comic book business, and advice on how the comic book business works. The second section features interviews with people from two of the most significant companies in the world of comics, Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics.
Customer Reviews:
Nothing useful at all........2007-10-03
This is really a boring book. It does not tell you anything about how to draw the human body at all. No depth, no advice on how large a figure should be, or perception. There is nothing here at all.
Great Book.......2007-09-29
This is a great reference book. I really like it, BUT for any really REALLY serious people who wish to really improve their drawings, Riven Pheonix "Drawing the Human Figure From Your Mind" lessons are key (google it). It shows you how to draw the whole skeleton - from your mind. Then the muscles - from your mind. The fruits are astounding. I completed all 227 lessons and must admit that reference books are much more helpful when you actually LEARN how EXACTLY mucles and bones look the way they look on people.
Great buy, Well worth the Money.......2007-09-18
I'm a beginner to drawing in general but the descriptions and pictures presented make reproducing presented information/techniques easy
Amazing book - totally recommended for any and all artists.......2007-08-24
For starters, this is written by Christopher Hart, so it's probably one of your best options if you are interested in the subject of the book...
This is great for learning how muscle groups work, since it focuses on different parts of the body for both men and women, and how the skeleton structure is set up, not only in general, but in different positions, explaining how muscles move with the different poses, and which ones 'pop' depending on the pose. It's a great book for any beginning artist to start getting a sense of how the body is put together, and great for more advanced artists to make their pictures more and more realistic. Also gives great ideas for characters.
A great buy even if you are not overly enthusiastic about the graphic novel; if you love drawing, you'll love this book!
Drawing Cutting Edge Anatomy: The Ultimate Reference for Comic Book Artists.......2007-07-24
Great book for muscles... I had problem drawing muscles and this book helped great book
Book Description
In the tradition of the smash hits Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles comes the newest film from Pixar Animation Studios, Cars, the story of a race car who learns that it's not all about the fast lane. (In fact, life begins at the off-ramp.) Offering an insider's view into the artistic development of Cars, this gorgeously illustrated book celebrates the whimsical yet painstaking research that fueled Pixar's directors, production designers, and artists. Fascinating storyboards, full-color pastels, on-the-road snapshots, and hundreds of character sketches reveal the origins of Pixar's charming and clever automobile-based world. Gleaned from the team's trips to racetracks and down the famed Route 66, The Art of Cars is as colorful as its memorable story and characters, making this book the only movie tie-in for adults a spirited ride down the road of a masterful animated feature film.
Cars is a Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film. 2006 by Disney Enterprises, Inc./Pixar Animation Studios. All rights reserved.
Book Description
A companion to Comics & Sequential Art, this book takes the principles examined in that title and applies them to the process of graphic storytelling. Eisner shows comic artists, filmmakers and graphic designers how to craft stories in a visual medium. They'll also learn why mastering the basics of storytelling is far more important than the hollow flash and dazzle seen in lesser work. Readers will learn everything from the fine points of graphic storytelling to the big picture of the comics medium, including how to: * Use art that enhances your story, rather than obscuring it * Wield images like narrative tools * Write and illustrate effective dialogue * Develop ideas that can be turned into dynamic stories These lessons and more are illustrated with storytelling samples from Eisner himself along with other comic book favorites, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Art Spiegelman, Robert Crumb, Milton Caniff and Al Capp.
Customer Reviews:
4 out of 5.......2007-03-05
First off, Eisner does a great job of combining visual elements with his text in this book. The whole thing is illustrated with cavemen working on their storytelling technique, and I have to admit that the cavemen illustrations were great fun and always helped to clarify the how side of what he was saying in the text. Beautifully done. (Yes, I know, this is like saying, "Hey, y'know that Hemingway guy? Some of his stories were really good.")
Does it have any issues? Yes. It's 164 heavily illustrated pages. You can read it in an afternoon. And some of the illustrative pieces feel over-long for the point they are trying to prove. I hit the point on a couple of them where I found myself saying, "Yes, I get it. We needed the X in the beginning so we would understand Y now. Can we move on?" I also felt that, at 164 pages, he didn't really have the opportunity to go into depth on some areas. There's a point where he provided two bad examples of a comic script... and no good example. Aaaaah!
Even with those issues in mind, I have to give the book 4 caped crime-fighters out of five. It's well-written (though there are also some grammatical gaffs that make me want to scream), it's engaging, and it's instructive. Worth the read.
Clear instruction.......2006-11-03
Eisner is one of the old pros who helped create the way sequential art is done. This book demonstrates the thinking that goes into producing sequential art, how to pace and create emotions in your audience. A must have for film artists, storyboard artists, comic and graphic novel artists and it opens new ways of thinking for illustrators and painters.
A Comics Pro Gives It The Thumbs Up.......2003-01-25
As a veteran comic book illustrator (You can find my work here on Amazon.com; I am the CO-creator and artist of Transmetropolitan), I am often asked to recommend books to aspiring professionals in comic book illustration. In that case I always enthusiastically recommend any of Eisner's instructional books as essential reading for anyone serious about their craft and dreams of getting into the industry.
From the earliest work of his career, Will Eisner was an innovator in writing as well as illustration. Even in his twilight years the man is still a vigorous and creative artist producing work that pros as well as fans can't wait to get their hands on.
These books display his genius in an entertaining and easy to follow method, and if put to practice will inspire and reveal hidden keys to making your work truly professional grade. A great companion book to Eisner's "Comics & Sequential Art".
- Darick Roberston
When you need help - ask the professional!.......2001-08-26
Whether you just love comics or intend to start writing some yourself, you'll probably need a helping hand. Will Eisner might just be the right hand for you. As a true pro, who's been in the field since 1930, he might just have the kind of hints, tips and interesting details you need to know as a beginner. Graphic Storytelling will reveal to you the world of telling a story in drawings and words combined, the art of comics and caricature. In my very humble opinion, this book is one giant step forward for you, on the way of expressiong yourself on paper. And hei, if Neil Gaiman recommends it, who am I to say anything else?
Book Description
THE ART OF S. CLAY WILSON is the long-awaited career retrospective of the most extreme of the Zap cartoonists of the late 1960s. A self-described "graphic agoraphobe," Wilson draws manically dense scenes of lurid mayhem that rank among the seminal works of underground, counterculture American art. It's all here, from the classic chronicles of the Checkered Demon to salacious stories about the pirates, prostitutes, and poets that inhabit Wilson's divinely depraved world.
Customer Reviews:
nice day for somethin'.......2006-08-12
The ART of S. CLAY WILSON is one hundred fifty-four pages of non-stop art. As always, Wilson's art is wild, visceral, violent, sexual, sincere, and enormously playful. The work is arranged chronologically, 1961 through 2006, and it's a helluva freewheeling ride.
This book opens with six short (1-3 pages) introductory pieces written by R. Crumb, Mark Pascale (Associate Curator of Pints & Drawings, The Art Institute of Chicago), John Francis Putnam (writing in The Realist), Charles Plymell (Wilson's first publisher), Geoffrey Young (Curator, The Geoffrey Young Gallery), and Bob Levin (author - his "Outlaws, Rebels, Free-Thinkers and Pirates" includes a chapter on Wilson). Most are funny, revealing, or sentimental (!), all provide some background information for the work that follows.
The book itself is a beauty, surprisingly understated in design and layout. The clean presentation complements the relentlessly detailed art. There are nice touches throughout, including checkered endpapers and a title page self-portrait.
You'll find very few pages of comics or stories in this volume. The ART of S. CLAY WILSON is a life-spanning collection of mostly full-page drawings and illustrations. If you're looking for Wilson comics, try Last Gasp's THE COLLECTED CHECKERED DEMON.
If you're a Wilson fan, snatch this book up. It's a good one.
Books:
- The Metrosexual Guide to Style: A Handbook for the Modern Man
- The Qin Terracotta Army: Treasures of Lintong (National Museums & Monuments of Ancient China Ser.))
- The Secret
- The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
- There's No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System (Cat in the Hat's Lrning Libry)
- This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band
- Tickle His Pickle: Your Hands-On Guide to Penis Pleasing
- Toda Mafalda
- Track Your Plaque: The Only Heart Disease Prevention Program That Shows How to Use the New Heart Scans to Detect, Track and Control Coronary Plaque
- Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 5: Crossover
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape:Vermont's Champlain Valley and N
- The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2007: The Year's Best Recipes, Equipment Reviews, and Tastings
- Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age: A Novel
- My Side of the Mountain
- Night Embrace
- Self-Organizing Maps
- Pride of Place: A Contemporary Anthology of Texas Nature Writing
- The Politics of Taxation: A Comparative Perspective
- Power Tools for Women: Plugging into the Essential Skills for Work and Life
- A Basic Guide To Importing
