Review: The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics

THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO CREATING COMICS
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS/DC Comics – @CrownPublishing and @dccomics

WRITERS: Carl Potts
COVER:  Jim Lee, Bill Reinhold
ISBN: 978-0-385-34472-2; paperback (October 8, 2013)
192pp, Color, $24.99 U.S., $27.95 CAN

Forward by Jim Lee

Comic book writer, artist, and editor, Carl Potts joined Marvel Comics’ editorial staff in 1983.  Potts co-created Alien Legion, a comic book series published by Marvel’s Epic imprint, and he helped develop The Punisher as the character went from supporting/guest player to title character.

Potts may be best known for working with numerous comic book artists early in their career, including Jon Bogdanove, Whilce Portacio, and Scott Williams, among many.  Potts also helped Jim Lee and Art Adams break into the comics industry.  Potts’ work as an editor and his work with young comic book creators make him the perfect author for books about creating comics.

Potts is the author of The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling, the latest book in the DC Comics Guide series.  The series previously focused on drawing comic books:  The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics, The DC Comics Guide to Inking Comics (both authored by Klaus Janson), and The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics (by Freddie Williams II).

With such a pedigree and with so many accomplishments, it should be no surprise that The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics is not a book for beginners.  It is not that this book is highly technical; it actually goes into great detail about the art and craft of creating comics.  It discusses everything from the goals and principles of “visual sequential storytelling” to how a creator can affect the comics reader’s experience.

To me, at least, the people who can get the most out of The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics are writers and artists, especially the latter, who have created comics.  Those writers and artists who have some professional experience or who have produced comic books (even if they have had to self-publish) will get the most out of this because they already either already understand comics (either by theory or practice) or have attempted to make comics.

The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics is generously illustrated book, but this is not about pretty pictures and slick comic book art.  It is about teaching and guiding.  Potts makes his points with covers, whole pages, thumbnails, pencils, inks, details from larger pieces, etc.  I think my favorite part of the book is Chapter Twelve: Watching the Pros Work.  Three artists:  Whilce Portacio, Bill Reinhold, and Phil Jimenez take the same three-page script and provide breakdowns or thumbnails and then, turn those into pencil art.  Seeing how three veteran artists interpret the same script in ways that are both graphically and visually similar and different is a joy for a comic book fan and will likely be of use to someone wanting to learn the DC Comics’ way of drawing comic books.

So readers wanting to learn more about creating superhero comic books will want The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling.  Carl Potts is a good teacher, and this is one good looking book.

A-


An incomplete list of the artists and writers whose work appears in this volume:
Arthur Adams, Joe Bennett, W.H. Haden Blackman, Brett Booth, Doug Braithwaite, Rick Bryant, Greg Capullo, Nick Cardy, Tony Daniel, John Dell, Steve Ditko, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Dave Gibbons, Russ Heath, Adam Hughes, Klaus Janson, Phil Jimenez, Geoff Johns, J.G. Jones, Joe Kubert, Andy Lanning, Jim Lee, Francis Manapul, Mike Mignola, Grant Morrison, Kevin Nowlan, Yanick Paquette, George Perez, Whilce Portacio, E. Potts, Bill Reinhold, Ivan Reis, Eduardo Risso, Alex Ross, P. Craig Russell, Walter Simonson, Scott Snyder, Ryan Sook, Ardian Syaf, Bruce Timm, Alex Toth, J.H. Williams III, Scott Williams, and Jorge Zaffino

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: STAN LEE'S How to Draw Superheroes

STAN LEE’S HOW TO DRAW SUPERHEROES
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS/Dynamite Entertainment – @CrownPublishing and @dynamitecomics

WRITERS: Stan Lee with Danny Fingeroth, Keith Dallas, and Robert Sodaro
COVER:  Ardian Syaf; back cover by Alex Ross
ISBN: 978-0-8230-9845-3; paperback (July 9, 2013)
224pp, Color, $24.99 U.S., $28.99 CAN

Excelsior!  Stan Lee’s back!  And he is here to teach us about comic books – this time focusing on superheroes.  That is the case in the recently released Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes.

This paperback book is the third in a series “how-to” books published under Stan Lee’s name by Watson-Guptill Publications (a division of the Crown Publishing Group).  Under a cover by Ardian Syaf, this 2013 book is co-written by Danny Fingeroth, Keith Dallas, and Robert Sodaro.  Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes is a follow-up to Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics and Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics.

The stated purpose of Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes is to give aspiring superhero creators information on just about everything related to the comic book superhero genre: from sidekicks and secret hideouts to super-villains and monsters.  The book also has 24 step-by-step exercises designed to help readers learn how to draw a variety of superhero types – from poses and powers to secret identities and secret bases.

I did not have to peruse through too many chapters of Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes before I began to think that the book was about superheroes as much as it was a “how-to” art book, if not more so.  There are 13 chapters in this book, and all of them are basically written surveys of superheroes, costumed heroes, and super-powered humans and heroes, from Gilgamesh all the way to the new superheroes being introduced by Dynamite Entertainment.

With chapters devoted to “Sidekicks and Teen Heroes” and “Robots, Androids, and Cyborgs,” Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes is a broad overview of the elements that make up and the ideas that shape and structure superhero comic books.  This book can either be a refresher course for those familiar with superheroes or a guide for those unfamiliar who want to enter the unique world of reading that is American superhero comic books.

As a book about superheroes, Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes is good.  As a how-to art book:  well, there are better, and that includes Lee’s own How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (1978), produced with the late John Buscema.  In fact, the earlier Watson-Guptill book, Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics, offers more about drawing theory and procedure than Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes.  So buy this book for what it is (about superheroes) and not for what it is advertised as (a how to draw book).

B

www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com


Contributing artists:  Vinicius Andrande, Javier Aranda, Mark Bagley, Ed Benes, John Byrne, Tim Bradstreet, John Buscema, J. Scott Campbell, Jim Cheung, Chris Caniano, Will Eisner, David Enebral, Francesco Francavilla, Ale Garza, Phil Hester, Joe Jusco, Jack Kirby, Jim Lee, Adriano Lucas, Steve McNiven, Frank Miller, Ivan Nunes, Lucio Parillo, Paul Renaud, John Romita, Jr., Alex Ross, Tim Seeley, Joe Shuster

Review: Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics

STAN LEE’S HOW TO DRAW COMICS
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS/Dynamite Entertainment

WRITERS: Stan Lee with David Campiti
COVER: John Romita with Dean White (limited edition cover: Francesco Francavilla)
ISBN: 978-0-8230-0083-8; paperback
224pp, Color, $24.99 U.S., $27.99 CAN

He was born Stanley Martin Lieber in 1922, but the world of arts and entertainment knows him as Stan Lee. For Marvel Comics, Lee has been a writer, editor, and publisher and has been associated with Marvel Comics since 1939 when it was Timely Comics.

Collaborating with artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Lee created such characters as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the Hulk, among many others. In addition to writing comic books, Lee has also authored several books. Perhaps, Lee’s best known non-comic book, book is How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (1978), which he co-authored with the late artist, John Buscema.

Stan Lee’s latest how-to book is Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics. Co-written with David Campiti, Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics is essentially an update of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, but with less emphasis on “the Marvel Way.” In his introduction, Stan writes that it was time for a new book, one with “a cornucopia of cutting-edge, techno-savvy instructions.”

I have a copy of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, one through which I’ve thumbed countless times, and the difference between the 1978 book and this one is jarring. Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics is, for one thing, bigger, and there is much information on digital lettering and computer coloring. How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way is essentially analog, but obviously that’s because computers weren’t being used to produce comic book art and graphics when it was written. Campiti’s hand is all over the sections on computers and digital processes to create comics because he runs Glasshouse Graphics, a company that provides everything from story and art to pre-press and custom publishing for comic book publishers and other clients.

Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics provides a broad overview of creating visuals for comic books. There are sections on penciling, inking and coloring; lettering and word balloons. Readers can learn about creating costumes; what makes great action; perspective and foreshortening; page and panel layout; and how to create visually appealing covers. There is information on digital advances, creating a portfolio, and getting work in the industry.

Not to dismiss the earlier book, Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics, but Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics is a complete book offering both theory and procedure. A budding comic book creator can get tips on penciling, inking, coloring, and lettering a comic book using both new and traditional methods, and he or she can examine numerous black and white diagrams that illustrate the basics of creating comic book graphics. Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics is a text book because it explains the why’s and how’s, often using the advise and expertise of industry professionals. There is even a section on using Google Sketchup to create skyscrapers, buildings, and other exterior landscapes.

There is apparently a limited edition of Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics. I don’t know whether or not it’s a hardcover, but this paperback edition is the one to get if you have an eye on becoming a professional comic book artist. The paperback is made to be handled a lot.

A-

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS:
Neal Adams, Erica Awano
Dan Borgones, Nick Bradshaw, Ariel Burgess
Aaron Campbell, J. Scott Campbell, Chris Caniano, Eman Casallos, John Cassaday, Frank Cho, Vince Colletta
Bong Dazo, Mike Deodato, Jr., Steve Ditko
Tina Francisco
Ken Haeser, Tabitha Haeser
Bob Kane, Gil Kane, Michael Kelleher, Jack Kirby
Fabio Laguna, Jonathan Lau, Jae Lee, Jim Lee, Jun Lofamia
Gemma Magno, Jezreel Morales
Earl Norem,
Ariel Padilla
Cliff Richards, Al Rio John Romita, Alex Ross, Mel Rubi
Steve Sadowski, Gaspar Saladino, Edgar Salazar, Mel Joy San Juan, Alexander Sicat, Joe Sinnott
Anthony Tan, Wilson Tortosa, Michael Turner

Review: YOUNG ARTISTS DRAW MANGA

YOUNG ARTISTS DRAW MANGA
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS

AUTHOR: Christopher Hart
ISBN: 978-0-8230-2657-9; paperback
144pp, B&W, $14.99 US, $16.99 CAN

I like how-to-draw books, although I’ve been plugging away at them for 20 years, and I’m not really any good. I own many books by Burne Hogarth, and I’m still in love with my beat-up copy of The Figure by Walt Reed. One of the recent authors of how-to-draw books that I’ve discovered is the prolific Christopher Hart.

Hart is a bestselling author of illustrated art books that focus on drawing and cartooning. His website describes him as “the world’s leading author of How-to-Draw books on the popular arts, including cartoons, manga, comics and classic subjects such as figure drawing, anatomy and realistic animals.” I discovered Hart a few years ago and have his 2008 book, Drawing the New Adventure Cartoons: Cool Spies, Evil Guys and Action Heroes.

Hart has a new series of art instructional books and it launches with the just-released Young Artists Draw Manga (Watson-Guptill, 144pp, $14.99). The book not only gives step-by-step instructions on how to draw a basic face and the rest of the body, but it also presents a way to draw character types from manga, Japanese comic books. Taking characters from anime, books, movies, and video games, as well as manga, Hart offers more than 120 original characters for young artists to learn to draw. Each character gets a full page, and Hart breaks the character down into six basic steps along the way to drawing the character.

I think children and teens that are interested in manga and anime and want to draw characters from them will like this book. The entire book package and its contents are clearly directed at young readers and artists, in an open and friendly way. With so many different characters offered, Young Artists Draw Manga seems determined to both reach as many young artists as possible and to offer lots of material to inspire them. If a young artist has talent or a young reader wants to begin drawing, Hart meets her or him halfway with plenty of material to try.

http://www.chrishartbooks.com/

Review: STAN LEE’S HOW TO WRITE COMICS

STAN LEE’S HOW TO WRITE COMICS
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS

WRITERS: Stan Lee with Bob Greenberger
COVER: Jonathan Lau
ISBN: 978-0-8230-0084-5; hardcover
224pp, Color, $45.00 U.S. ($24.99 paperback), $53.00 CAN

Born way back in 1922, Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) has been a writer, editor, and publisher of comic books. He is most famously associated with Marvel Comics; Lee began with the company back in 1939 when it was Timely Comics. For Marvel Comics, Lee co-created such characters as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the Hulk, among many others

Stan Lee is an American comic book legend, but he is also known internationally and is the co-creator of a Japanese comic book series, a manga entitled Karakauri Dôji Ultimo. In addition to writing comic books, Lee has also authored several books. Perhaps, Lee’s best known non-comic is How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (1978), co-authored with artist, John Buscema.

Stan Lee’s latest how-to book is Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics, which is available in both hardcover ($45.00 U.S.) and paperback ($24.99 U.S.) editions. Apparently, the purpose of the book is for Lee “to teach everything he knows about writing and creating comic book characters.” Lee offers tips, advice, and even a few secrets (or at least what he thinks are secrets).

Truthfully, this book has a misleading title. Yes, it does offer some how-to advice, and yes, it is rather interesting. However, this probably should be titled “Stan Lee’s About Writing Comics,” because the book is really about writing comics rather than being a how-to, guide to, or advice book, although this tome does all three things at different sections of the book.

Unless you open this book, you won’t know that Lee has a co-writer, Bob Greenberger. I wouldn’t be surprised if Greenberger did much of the writing in this book based upon interviews he conducted with Lee. Reading Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics, I got the sense of a collaborative process in which Lee strolled down memory lane recalling how he wrote, how he created, and how he collaborated with different artists, such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

Much of this book includes quotes from current comic book creators and editors like Alan Moore, Kurt Busiek, Bryan Hitch, Doug Moench, Jerry Ordway Richard Pini, and Mark Waid, among others. There is even a script sample by Neil Gaiman. That’s why I say that Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics is about writing comics rather than a pure how-to book.

Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics is lavishly illustrated by pages, covers, and details from a wide assortment of comic books. There are also reproductions of original art, pencil art, and preliminary art of various kinds. To me, this book is worth purchasing because there is an entire chapter devoted to the benefits and shortcomings of using the full script or “Marvel Style” script, which is a plot-first way of telling the artist what to draw.

Upon first glance, I honestly didn’t expect much of this book, but Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics is a book that beginning and novice comic book writers should have. Even if they keep it for simple reference, they will like having this book because it has a lot to say about writing comic books.

B

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS - work by the following artists appears in this book:
Neal Adams, Ross Andru, Erica Awano
Mark Bagley, Diego Bernard, John Byrne
Aaron Campbell, J. Scott Campbell, Chris Caniano, Milton Caniff, John Cassaday, Cliff Chiang, Gene Colan
Steve Dillon, Steve Ditko
Glenn Fabry, Francesco Francavilla, Frank Frazetta,, Frank Kelly Freas
Dick Giordano
George Herriman, Bill Hughes, Bryan Hitch
Dan Jurgens
Gil Kane, Jack Kirby
David Lafuente, Jonathan Lau, Bob Layton, Sr., Larry Lieber
Mike Mayhew, Bob McLeod, Frank Miller, Tom Morgan
Katsuhiro Otomo, Richard Outcault
Carlos Paul, Frank Paul, George Perez, Windy Pini
Joe Quesada, Frank Quitely
Carlos Rafael, Caesar Razek, Wagner Reis, Paul Renaud, John Romita, John Romita, Jr., Alex Ross, Mel Rubi
Edgar Salazar, Manuel Clemente Sanjulian, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Shuster, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Sim, Vin Sullivan
Rodolphe Topffer, Michael Turner,
Mike Zeck

Joe Murray Offers Advice

I read Creating Animated Cartoons with Character: A Guide to Developing and Producing Your Own Series for TV, the Web, and Short Film

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has a new Android app).  This is guide to creating animation and selling it from Joe Murray, the Emmy Award-winning creator of Rocko's Modern Life and Camp Lazlo.