Customer Reviews

The Education Of A Comics Artist

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This book is one of my two favorite books on comics. I'm content to check most books out of the library, to save space in my house, but this is one that I had to buy. I carry this book around with me, and I read it any old way I like. There are countless treasures between the covers, and you don't have to read it in linear style to find them. Like anyone else, I need to be inspired and motivated, and this book really does it for me. I'm years away from fully plumbing all the depths. Many sincere thanks to Michael Dooley for producing such a fine and significant book!

While there are many books out there that can show an aspiring comic artist how to write and draw comics The Education of a Comic Artist gives one the inspiration to keep going especially when you're a lone aspirant as myself. It's truly encouraging and humbly honest about the craft and I often turn to it when I find myself questioning whether or not my desire to create my own comics is worthwhile.

This book is arranged in the following sections:

Magazine cartoons -- Editorial cartoons -- Political cartoons -- Comic strips -- Kids' and teens' comics -- Action/adventure comics -- Alternative comics -- Graphic novels -- Miscellany -- Comics in art and illustration -- The business of comics -- The creation of comics -- Teaching comics -- Lesson plans.

Each section contains maybe 10 interviews or essays by different authors, averaging about 3-4 pages in length. If you're already a serious comics artist, this is a handy book to pick up and flip to almost any section to read an intriguing or inspiring piece about the industry.

Personally, I was looking for a comprehensive history/analysis of comics, so this wasn't too useful for me because each essay is really too short to contain a detailed, focused analysis. Also the subjects and writing style can vary widely between authors so there's not much continuity. I would recommend this as a gift to a comics artist, or something to read for personal pleasure. However I would not particularly recommend it for research, and I didn't find it very helpful in designing a curriculum to teach comics.

The Education of a Comics Artist, a collection of short essays and interviews edited by Michael Dooley and Steven Heller, offers a fascinating look into the methods and motivations of some of the top practitioners of visual storytelling. The book presents an amazing lineup of contributors--Jim Steranko, David Mack, Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi, Kim Deitch and many more legends in the field--weighing in on disciplines ranging from editorial cartoons to comic strips, Archie Andrews to alt comics.

Every section is insightful, with creators reflecting on the influences and insights that inform their work. Some articles are accompanied by black-and-white illustrations, but text is the main focus, with artists elaborating on the creative process that results in ink on paper.

Later portions of the book examine the conceptual framework that surrounds visual storytelling, with articles and interviews on teaching, understanding and--oh yeah--making money from comics. The thoughts on display are diverse, lively and occasionally contradictory, making for a rewarding view into how comics of all types are created.