Customer Reviews

The Marvel Art of Joe Quesada

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Length:: 1:00 Mins

This book has great art, but you already know that. Joe Quesada is the current editor in chief for Marvel after all.

The gallery features covers, panels and penciled roughs. Most of the usual Marvel heroes are in. Some pieces of art are incredibly, almost insanely, detailed. I wonder if drawing Spider-man's webbing - strand by strand - took more time than drawing Spider-man himself. That's dedication. There are also some colour pencil works which I thought are pretty cool.

What I really like is the insightful commentary by Joe Quesada and his peers. They talk about the art, stories, concept and characters. You get an idea of how editorial works with him explaining certain editorial decisions he made when he's an editor. It ends with an interview with some great pictures of his studio - like him working on one table and his cat (sleeping) on the other.

Great book for fans and artists.

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

Its not a bad book, but Marvel made some bad choices about it that prevent it from being a great book.

First of all, that stupid horizontal design, which makes that the drawing in each space, being vertical, is reproduced at a relatively small size leaving lots of blank space at one side in each page. Stupid, stupid, stupid. When I buy an Art of Book, I want to see the art BIG, and not lots of blank space.

Secondly, the content choice. It spends many pages reproducing just pages and pages of quesada's more known comics work instead of covers and more rare pieces. Do we ready need to see so many Daredevil Guardian Angel's pages, or Daredevil Father pages? If you buy this book, you surely like Quesada's work and probably already own these comics. Instead of that, I would have liked more alternate B covers by Quesada, more Wizard Covers, DVD covers, more promotional pieces, more Marvel Knights covers... more rare work. There are some, but there are many wonderful pieces missing (the Iron Man DVD cover reproduced big, the Iron man #1 B cover, the Spider-man 573 Colbert Variant Edition, etc).

Marvel, if you want to see an Art Of book well done, just take a look at DC's The Cover Art of Adam Hughes, or DC's Mythology by Alex Ross. As it is, this book is just mediocre. A pity, because Joe Quesada is a wonderful artist and deserves better.

Some might find this review subjective, but at this point in my career I believe it to be necessary. Along with my partner Shirley Miranda-Rodriguez, the two of us operate our own creative services studio Somos Arte ([...]). We believe strongly in celebrating the work of artists, not because of their cultural background, but because of their talent, hence our studio's name in Spanish, Somos Arte which translates to "We are Art." In 2006 we were working on the re-branding of one of our clients The Caribbean Cultural Center. At the time I was reading a copy of Wizard magazine when I came across an article for an upcoming group of characters that were to be introduced by Joe Quesada in his book "Daredevil: Father." These characters were to be known as The Santerians, an all Latino group of superheroes with powers and characteristics based on the West African Yoruba traditions, more commonly referred to as Santeria in Cuba. Joe's parents are both from Cuba and he was raised with an understanding of these spiritual traditions. Since I've known Joe, he's wanted to create a team of Latino heroes, but he did not want to do so as a publicity stunt. He wanted these characters to be introduced into Marvel's universe organically. When I learned of his latest project at the time, I reached out to him and organized a meeting between myself and my client Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, Phd (The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria) of the Caribbean Cultural Center. From that meeting came my idea to curate what would be Joe's first solo art show "Santerians: The Art of Joe Quesada" ([...]). Both Shirley and I found it so necessary for our studio to produce this art exhibition because we wanted to celebrate one of America's biggest talented artists. In his day to day of running Marvel Entertainment, Inc. as Editor in Chief and now as Chief Creative Officer, Joe doesn't always have the time to sit back and be celebrated for being an amazing visual artist. We truly enjoyed producing his first solo art show and because of its success, Joe helped us out to produce our second comic book art show Marvelous Color ([...]). He gave us his blessing and first piece of original art that lead to a show of over 25 artists that was covered by The New York Times ([...]), MTV, NBC and various other media outlets.

Joe Quesada is one of a few talented individuals that truly represent the mosaic that is the United States, not because he is Latino, but because he is an artist. I'm so happy to promote "The Marvel Art of Joe Quesada" because it is so very necessary that Joe be recognized as an artist that has contributed so much of his fantastic visions to Marvel's catalog. These amazing renderings and inside look into his process and thinking are so important for artists of all backgrounds to learn from. You can truly see how Joe has evolved as an artist in his intricate compositions, perspectives and renderings. I will share this book with my son and with other young artists for generations to come so that they to can learn from this master of illustration.

Recently I attended the 2010 New York Comic Convention with my son, his first convention, so that he could experience a cultural phenomenon that has taking over popular culture. We sat down to watch Marvel's screening of their animated series geared to children, and my son was very excited. As we sat down to watch I hear a familiar voice from behind say "Hey bro, how're you doing?" I look over my shoulder to see Joe and his family, who then sat next to us to watch the cartoons. There we both were, parents and fans sharing a moment with our children and culture.

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez

Art Director, Curator & Partner

Somos Arte, LLC

The book is fantastic, more than 100 pages. It contains lots of sketches , most of JQ covers, and some detailed articles about latest work ( one more day , father ).

Paper quality and HC format is extremely good. Not much is said about JQ as penciler of X-factor ( just some pages )... it is more focused on current JQ arts.

Would have liked more text and "not so much celebrative" comments.

There are some beautiful pieces but i think too much of the book focused on his work on Daredevil. Definitely could've had more cover art instead. And some more interior art from ALL his Marvel work.

Beautiful book and a pefect homage to Joe Quesada. It presents several of his drawings from Marvel and evem from his Event Comics days (with Ash and Painkiller Jane). Most part are recent drawings as Daredevil, Spider-Man and Iron Man. A must-have for Joe's fans.

This is an outstanding collection, full of amazing art from cover to cover. If you're familiar with Marvels excellent 'Art of Marko Djurdjevic' then you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

This volume features a host of Marvel heroes, with Dare Devil featuring most prominently. You also get loads of Wolverine & Spider-Man amongst others. The art work is just out of this world, done in a variety of styles & consisting of cover art, interiors & preliminary sketches, showcasing Joe Quesada's awesome talent. Honestly, comic book art doesn't get any better than this! There's also plenty of commentary from the artist & his associates, giving you all the inside info your little heart could desire.

The only fly in the ointment...well Marvel really need to print these beautiful art books on better quality paper. If you own books published by Underwood, Image, DC etc. you'll know what I mean.

I'd definately recommend this book to all fans of comic book & illustration art. Buy it now & be amazed!