Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee [Hardcover]

Jim Lee (Author), Bill Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2010

One of the most successful and popular artists to work in comics, Jim Lee is revered by fans worldwide thanks to his hyper-dynamic artwork and innovative character and costume design.

Now, his work on Batman and Superman — not to mention his legion of WildStorm heroes including WildC.A.T.s, Divine Right and Deathblow — is celebrated in this beautiful hardback, which includes an exclusive interview with Jim Lee, a tour of his studio and hundreds of full-colour illustrations and pencils spanning his entire career!

 

Plus an all-new cover by Lee and an exclusive, all-new eight-page comic strip, written by Paul Levitz (Legion of Super-Heroes) with art by Lee!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A Glimpse Inside Icons

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Review

"A stunning retrospective of his prolific artistic career... Titan Books has completed the almost impossible task of compiling a generous amount of the last twenty years of Lee’s work into the 296-page hardcover" -- Publisher's Weekly

"Titan Books has absolutely outdone themselves with this book. Not only is it filled with page after page of fantastic Jim Lee artwork, it is a beautifully designed and gorgeously executed tome." - Ain't It Cool News


"Icons is the most all inclusive collection of Lee’s work you’ll find anywhere." -- Crave Online

 "A gorgeous coffee table collection." -- Big Shiny Robot

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845765192
• ISBN-13: 978-1845765194
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 1.1 x 12.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Comic book illustrator Jim Lee is the editorial director of WildStorm Studios (which he founded in 1992) and the artist for many of DC Comics' bestselling comic book and graphic novels, including All Star Batman and Robin, Batman: Hush, and Superman: For Tomorrow. He also serves as the creative director for the upcoming DC Universe Online videogame. Prior to DC, he was one of the founding fathers of Image Comics and best known for his run on the X-Men for Marvel Comics during which he co-created such characters as Gambit and Agent Zero. In his spare time, Jim enjoys a good laugh or two.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring dedication to comics, December 5, 2010

By 

Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee (Hardcover)

Length:: 1:04 Mins

2010 has seen some great comic artists with their art books getting published. There's Alex Ross, Joe Quesada, Adam Hughes and now Jim Lee. What a fantastic year!

Jim Lee's Icons is a bargain for the price. It's hardcover with 296 pages of amazing artwork printed on good paper. Just one look at the cover and you can tell that it's really good. Publisher Titan Books has done a very good job with the printing and construction.

The amount of work featured is stunning.

Right from page 1, it's a non-stop flow of beautiful artwork featuring the superheroes of DC Comics and WildStorm -- Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. There are sketches, inks, layouts and full coloured illustrations. Many are printed at full page size, some across two pages, showing off all the intricate line work, grain left by the pencil hatches, details in the characters and background. You won't see any work from his days at Marvel though.

I spent a while on each page marveling at the quality of work, thinking about his dedication to comics. It's really inspiring.

You probably won't get as many page-pausing moments with other art books in 2010.

Highly recommended.

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You just can't ask more from a book, November 6, 2010

By 

R. Marisi "Mareasy" (Argentina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee (Hardcover)

Jim Lee is finally honored with a long time deserved perfect quality art book showcasing all of his work (at least at DC and WS).

The reproductions are excellent, same as the paper stock and binding. The design is really well done: you can compare Jim Lee Icons to Alex Ross Mythology and Desperado's The Art Of Brian Bolland and it stands on his own. A beautifull detail is that when you remove the dustjacket you get the same image of cover printed in raw pencils in your hardcover.

Nonetheless I have to say there's a catch with the design of the book: a lot of the images are cropped. I guess it was done to let us appreciate the artwork in an even deeper detail, but I think it would have been much better to reproduce said artwork in its entirety.

But don't let this disencourage you from getting this book, because all in all it's an excellent product and a real must have for any Jim Lee fan and comic art aficionado in general.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mother Lode!, November 13, 2010

By 

Jocko (CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee (Hardcover)

After waiting for what seem to be ages for this book to be released, it appears that the wait was well worth it!

Released in line with the Jim Lee collaboration, the DC Universe Online video game, ICONS: Jim Lee displays the progression of a young Jim Lee, at first co-founding Wildstorm Comics and then eventually moving on to working on the ICONS of DC comics (hence the double meaning in the book's title). Included are his labors of love on Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Wildcats, Deathblow, DV8, and a multitude of his lesser known efforts.

My reaction: The art is gorgeous! ICONS: Jim Lee contains page after page of colorful artwork, with black and white pencils side-by-side with his accomplished finished work. The printing is outstanding and the book itself is quite sturdy.

(Note: due to the book being shipped with a lack of bubble-wrap around the book, I had to exchange my dented copy for a new one; but as usual, Amazon's exchange process was seamless.)

If you leave this on your coffee table, I guaranteed it will be the quickest dog-eared tome you'll have in your living room. A true bargain at ~$30; get it before the price goes up!

My only regret is that, with Jim Lee now being a corporate big wig at DC, we'll not be seeing his Marvel X-men work any time soon in this format.