Modern Masters Volume 14: Frank Cho (Modern Masters (TwoMorrows Publishing)) [Paperback]

Eric Nolen-Weathington (Author), Frank Cho (Author)

Book Description

Series: Modern Masters (TwoMorrows Publishing) | Publication Date: October 17, 2007

Monkeys! Dinosaurs! Beautiful women! These are the things Frank Cho loves to draw... especially beautiful women! Luckily for his fans, he excels at it. In 1997, the writer and artist introduced Liberty Meadows to the world, which quickly gathered a dedicated following. The winner of many prestigious awards - including The National Cartoonist Society Award and the Charles Schulz Award - Frank Cho ranks as one of Marvel Comics' top current artists, and his work on Liberty Meadows, Shanna the She-Devil, Spider-Man, and The Mighty Avengers, among others, is simply irresistible. Now, learn about the man behind the monkey in Modern Masters Vol. 14: Frank Cho, as Eric Nolen-Weathington takes an extensive look into Cho's career and creative proces. The 120-page book features a career-spanning interview with tons of art, including many rare and unpublished pieces, a large gallery, and an 8-page color section on this true Modern Master: Frank Cho!

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

One of the most popular superhero artists going, Cho entered the genre in a roundabout fashion. In the late 1990s, he drew a moderately successful humorous newspaper strip, Liberty Meadows, set in an animal sanctuary, that intermingled anthropomorphic critters and human characters, notably curvaceous animal psychiatrist Brandy Carter. The strip boasted slick, supple brushwork and facile gags, but Cho’s flair for depicting exaggeratedly gorgeous, scantily clad women really garnered him a devoted following among the overwhelmingly young, male comics-reading demographic. Hence, Marvel hired him for such titles as Shanna the She-Devil and The Mighty Avengers. This volume in the Modern Masters series on contemporary comic-book artists features a lengthy interview, in which Cho discusses his career, including the clashes with the syndicate over Liberty Meadows’ treatment of sex that led him to discontinue it, and his creative process. The book’s true appeal lies, of course, in the reproductions: comics pages, “pinups” of Cho’s women, and a color section including jungle paintings distractingly derivative of fantasy-art master Frank Frazetta. --Gordon Flagg

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: 4th Dimension Entertainment (October 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893905845
• ISBN-13: 978-1893905849
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #523,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some new art would have been nice, January 25, 2008

By 

Richard A. Tucker "Tucker at large" (Pembroke Pines, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modern Masters Volume 14: Frank Cho (Modern Masters (TwoMorrows Publishing)) (Paperback)

For anyone who has not seen Frank's work this might be considered quite the treat. The interview is in depth, revealing a lot of what makes Frank tick. Unfortunately, for anyone who has been following Frank for the last ten odd years this is pretty much the same thing as has been seen in other publications. I read a revealing interview with Frank in The Comics Journal, Comic Book Artist and other sources so there really isn't much that's new. Frank is a candid subject, he's comfortable in his skin and it shows. His story of his formative years as a 6 year old from Korea, moving to and growing up in America, moving a lot after he arrives and life with his working class, practical parents, is nice. His efforts as a regular comic strip artist creating Liberty Meadows is all good and fine but I was hoping to find out the final fate of that comic strip and the comic book carrying it that was supposed to continue where the strip left off. After 38 issues, nothing.
He's a busy artist, very much in demand, and that's a good reason to put his creation on hold but I'd like to read if there are plans to continue his very funny Liberty Meadows.
The artwork featured ranges from his days in his late teens all the way up to his recent work on the Avengers. Unfortunately a lot of it has been used on other occasions. I was hoping to see more from his sketchbooks and some of the rare work from unfinished projects as well as little seen pin-ups.
Bottom line, seeing as this book is primarily for the same people who are likely to have already been following Frank's career, there's not much new here. That's not so much a complaint as it is an observation. The title's worth owning and certainly worth the read but it's not something that reports on anything not already presented in other sources.
Frank's a wonderfully talented guy. I'm waiting for the book that really drives that fact home in no uncertain terms. First step; stop asking him if he likes drawing bombshells and proceed forward.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure fun to read for any comic lover, January 4, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Masters Volume 14: Frank Cho (Modern Masters (TwoMorrows Publishing)) (Paperback)

The latest in TwoMorrows Publishing's tribute series to great comic book artists of today, Modern Masters Volume Fourteen: Frank Cho is an in-depth interview with award-winning Korean-American comic writer and artist Frank Cho, known for his penchant for drawing monkeys, dinosaurs, and beautiful women. Author of the popular comic strip "Liberty Meadows" as well as acclaimed runs on the Marvel comic titles "Shanna the She-Devil", "Spider-Man", and "The Mighty Avengers", among other works, Cho brings a refreshing balance of action, humor, and unabashed love for his work to the comic page. In Modern Masters Volume Fourteen, Cho talks about the pressures to pursue more traditional careers rather than become a comic artist, his efforts to break into the industry, the creators who most influenced him, the creative storytelling process, life, the universe, and everything. "I was all geared to go to the Maryland Institute of Art until I visited the campus... It was a bunch of modern art nonsense - abstract art and splatter paint and weird stuff just for weird's sake. It wasn't an art school, it was basically a playground for pretentious rich kids." Illustrated with black-and-white samples of Cho's work and art pieces that inspired Cho, including some rare sketches from Cho's college days, Modern Masters Volume Fourteen is not only a "must-have" for any fan of Frank Cho's comics; it's pure fun to read for any comic lover.