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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Books on Comics

14:40 / 05.12.01

Does anyone know of some really good books on comics either how to draw them or merely showcasey? What would your ideal book on comics contain?

pointless and uncalled for

14:45 / 05.12.01

The books on comics that I'm aware of usual gear themselves towards a style of writing. Marvel, Dark Horse that sort of thing.

You'd have to choose a style of preference first before choosing a book.

I can always recommend Scot McCleod's Understanding comics for some interesting reading.

Regrettable Juvenilia

15:18 / 05.12.01

This topic really belongs in Books or Comics. Which would people prefer?

15:29 / 05.12.01

and of course Will Eisner's comics and sequential art. There are also a fair few books of comics analysis out there too

pointless and uncalled for

15:30 / 05.12.01

I'm sure people can cope with this topic sitting here until it dies.

15:42 / 05.12.01

I think it belongs in books because she is asking for input into a book she would like to edit- she's an editor.

So I'm sure any help would be greatly appreciated and you may get something worth reading out of it ...

I obviously need her help-

[ 05-12-2001: Message edited by: Sauron ]

Matthew Fluxington

16:48 / 05.12.01

I highly recommend the two books written by Mark Salisbury, Artists On Comic Art and Writers on Comic Scriptwriting. They are both recently published, and incredibly helpful and useful...they are in-depth interviews with writers and artists about their craft, process and technique.

Also, this is extremely helpful.

[ 05-12-2001: Message edited by: FLUX = reborn ]

07:31 / 06.12.01

Thanks Flux. I just want to make a beautiful book.

11:50 / 06.12.01

[ 06-12-2001: Message edited by: Sauron ]

14:49 / 06.12.01

You've read Scott McCloud, right? And Jim Steranko's History of Comics?

My ideal book on comics would include features on old newspaper strips (Little Nemo, the Kin-Der-Kids), the pulps (The Shadow, The Bat, Doc Savage), and the birth of the superhero.

It'd also have a section on non-hero, imaginative comics, including Tin-Tin, Love&Rockets, Heavy Metal magazine, Walt Kelly's Pogo, Jeff Smith's Bone and David Sim.

and another section on the 60s "comix" thing: R. Crumb, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers - might include Jules Pfeiffer and Garry Trudeau here. It'd be worth referring to EC comics (subject of senate hearings in the 50s) and Mad Magazine, which together gave birth to the freakiness & subcultural stuff.

followed by a section on the later inheritors of the 60's underground style (Peter Bagge, Dan Clowes, them Chester Brown books, possibly Jim Woodring). Harvey Pekar wrote in the 60s with Crumb, but he's still being published now - chuck him in here. He's good.

And a section on artistic experimenters: Chris Ware, Matt Wagner (see some of the early Grendels), Alan Moore (Watchmen end material, symmetrical layouts)

And maybe include vivid illustrators, like P. Craig Russel (just finished his take on Wagner's Ring cycle, and it's breathtaking), Frank Miller's Ronin (first book I read with a foldout picture) and Stephen Bissette.

You also have to talk about Maus - Spiegelman came out of the 'comix' scene, I think, but also stretched the medium a little like the experimenters.

07:51 / 07.12.01

Maus is a great book, but massively anti- Polish (the pigs) which I think a little unfair.

Eblis O'Shaughnessy

03:25 / 08.12.01

Not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but Comic Book Nation is a good history of the whole thing from Golden Age to Death of Superman, and how it influenced people. Kinda acadamic in language, but a very good pop culture kind of read.

12:11 / 10.12.01

[ 28-12-2001: Message edited by: DaveBCooper ]

12:12 / 10.12.01

My ‘How-To’ library is geared more towards the writing side of things, but I’d certainly recommend the Eisner books ‘Comics and Sequential Art’ and ‘Graphic Storytelling’ – in fact, almost any of Eisner’s work could be seen as a textbook; the aforementioned Salisbury books are useful insights, and so is McCloud’s Understanding Comics.

In my experience, almost any of the behind-the-scenes stuff you can get hold of is useful – in the case of writers, that would be stuff like copies of scripts and proposals, and for artists I guess sketchbook material for artists you admire is handy.

In a daft way, I often find works written in a language I don’t speak quite interesting, because you can see just how much of the narrative flow comes from the panel arrangements, etc. If that makes ANY kind of sense.

DBC

15:39 / 10.12.01

Oh, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (referenced elsewhere in this very forum) have quite a few sequences that are incredibly good outlines of what comics are, how they're put together, how they reflect society and psychology, the works. Excellent.

04:09 / 24.12.01

i like big, unwieldy, expensive books filled with huge colorful pages of art. Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels -- A History of Comic Art by Roger Sabin is one such awesome book, filled with a centuries worth of comic art.

comparison pages between a script and the finished art would be cool, like a director's commentary track on a dvd.

i'd like to see an exploration of the relationship between illuminated manuscripts, graphic design, scientific / magical charts, and graphic storytelling. Alchemy + Mysticism: The Hermetic Museum, published by Tashen, is the single greatest art book ever produced, though it's not about comics.

check out www.dilettantepress.com -- they've published some kickass books filled with pop/outsider art that blows yr mind; i work with them a bunch, but i promise that objectively they rule.

[ 24-12-2001: Message edited by: Mystery Gypt ]

[ 24-12-2001: Message edited by: Mystery Gypt ]

Haus about we all give each other a big lovely huggle?

23:12 / 28.12.01

Grant, that was the upmarket version of "My ideal X-Men team", and I claim my five pounds.

If What they did to Princess Paragon by Robert Rodi does not capture perfectly the world of comics, then the world of comics should be forced to change in accordance. Also, the central theme (new writer of what is in effect Wonder Woman comes to the not insupportable conclusion that she is a lesbian) is quite an interesting one.