Beasts! Book One (Hardcover)

by Jacob Covey (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Another stroke of genius from the folks at Fantagraphics. (Boston Globe)

Captivating, wistful, funny and truly extraordinary—a Bestiary of the traditionally fantastic for the dreary twenty-first century where imagination and wonder have been formularised as crypto-zoology... a vivid package of sheer fantasy and artistic excellence. (Win Wiacek, Now Read This!)

Really kick-ass, fun and well-done. (Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter)

The Best Cryptozoo Art Book of 2007. (Cryptomundo.com) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
A bestiary of the ages by a cavalcade of popular artists.

Beasts! is a classic mythological menagerie, comprised only of creatures that were thought at one time to actually exist, depicted by about a hundred of the most acclaimed artists and cartoonists coming from the most avant-garde ambits of the art world. The Beasts project has fired the imaginations of luminaries such as Craig Thompson, Souther Salazar, Jeff Soto, Glenn Barr, Dave Cooper, Tim Biskup, Seonna Hong, Jeremy Fish and Jay Ryan, who will present never-before-seen art completely original to this book, superbly laid out in breathtaking, full-color two-page spreads.

Beasts! collects many of the best visual artists from the worlds of comics, skateboarding, rock graphics, science-fiction, children's books, commercial and fine art. The book is conceived and designed by Jacob Covey, lead art director for Fantagraphics (Dennis the Menace, Billy Hazelnuts, Hanging Out With the Dream King, etc.) and a well-regarded designer and artist in his own right in the Northwest rock and arts community. Other contributors include: Anders Nilsen, Art Chantry, Brian Chippendale, Brian Ralph, Bwana Spoons, Colleen Coover, Jason Miles, Jesse LeDoux, Johnny Ryan, Jordan Crane, Keith Shore, Kevin Scalzo, Marc Bell, Martin Cendreda, Mat Brinkman, R. Kikuo Johnson, Richard Sala, Sammy Harkham, Stan Sakai, S. Britt, Steven Weissman, Ted Jouflas, Tom Gauld and many more!

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics (February 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156097768X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560977681
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 8.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #485,944 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unexpected Book!, March 14, 2007

By	Monique DuMeurei "Mona DuMeurei" (San Francisco, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

If you're really into vampires, trolls, loch ness monsters, and beasts that don't even have a name but were finally given one just so they could have a place in this book because they were just so darn interesting (seems like it, though apparently that's not ~really~ the case), then this is the book for you. A really beautiful binding plus lovely artwork and snappy but smart descriptions makes the perfect Beasts! book.

The descriptions probably won't go over three sentences long and are snappy and to the point. There are times when I wish they could have provided more information, but really, they've just managed the right amount to keep the book engaging but not overactive with information, and it's nice to know how such a truly different book can make you go, "how weird but cool". You wouldn't believe what some of these beasts can do and what kind of names they have - Laestrygonians, man-eating giants, for instance.

All of the illustrations are delightfully creative and stay true to form. They all match their descriptions extremely well and just harmonize with the page, giving you an excellent visual representation of the beast. They're not like creatures from Pan's Labryinth sketchbook or whatever, but they each have distinctive style from the other and the imagination is just amazing. One of my favorites is the vampire image - just so clean with so much contrast, long, needle-point fangs, a bloody mouth and arm, and piercing, white eyes; it really makes me scared. All of the illustrations are fantastic, really.

This book will make an interesting add to your bedside, coffee, work, or whatever table you put it on. The monsters are something to look at, and you'll just admire how everything was done from the layout to the pictures to the nice descriptions. Personally, I also love the cover of the book. It looks even more elaborate and beautiful in real-life.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book, April 6, 2007

By	Paula S. Wallace "'you know dat right'" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've never seen anything like it, highly original and entertaining. A fascinating look at creatures and the span of artistic style throughout the various fields of art. Ranging from gig poster designers to children's book illustrators. It's a solid addition to anyone's collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book with a lot of highpoints., August 28, 2007

By	Jeffrey A. Dickinson (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I expected to like this book since it features several of my favorite artists such as Richard Sala and Dave Cooper. But I was surprised by how cool this book is. The production and design are top-notch and the different artists really turned out some of their best work. Even people you've never heard of will impress you. Everyone seems to have had fun with this idea.
To sum up-this is one of the best purchases I've made all year.