Customer Reviews

Modern Masters Volume 3: Bruce Timm

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was very glad to recieve this book. As a fan of Timm's artwork more than the comics themselves, i was very interrested in his history in the industry and his journey from Filmation to the Batman series'. It is a good read with lots of images and characters, storyboard images and a selection of full colour pages of his art work....although i must admit i would ofloved some more...but thats just me. Its a great book in the series of Modern Masters of a really cool stylistic artist.

Bruce's work is masterful in it's simplicity and emotion, a second coming of Jack Kirby. Although many argue, myself included, that "the King" can never be equalled. Mr Timm has come close. There are a few artists, comic books may it be, that can show emotions for their characters without going overboard. I can only wish that the book could have provided a more elegant way of presenting that talent.

This book covers the career of Bruce Timm, the man responsible for the Batman animated series. It is very interesting to see how his career developed from wannabe comic book artist to animation director. It was interesting to see how the world of TV animation works. It's quite different from the world of film animation. Of course the volume is filled with the artwork of Bruce Timm, which is done in a very retro-cool style that is reminiscent of the cartoons of the 50's and 60's. One nice surprise is that there is even a section of color artwork.

The reason that I rated this 4 stars instead of 5 is that the quality of the book isn't very good. It feels much more like a magazine than a book. When I first picked it up, I was afraid that it would fall apart in my hands. Just be aware that it's a bit more fragile than the average paperback. Other than that it's a great read with lots of great artwork. I recommend it for anyone who is interested in retro-style cartooning, animation, or the Batman animated series. You won't be disappointed.

This is book is really an extensive interview with Bruce Timm covering the various projects he has work on (particular the animated series, batman, Justice league etc).
The format is similar to "Draw" magazine with the text interspersed with b/w artwork. There are only eight colour plates but numerous b/w images. This is an essential book for any Timm fan but it is not a coffee table book of his art.

You don't know Bruce Timm unless you've read this indepth interview. Passionnate, accurate, detailed, this is another welcome one in Modern masters Series. I won't give it a 5 stars rating as iconography unfortunately falls behind text (you can find much more on the internet). There are manys pics and drawings anyway, some unveiled for the first time. Comments accompanying those reveal a lot, kind of behind the scenes stuff about one of the greatest all time artist. A must have for Bruce Timm fans, comics books fans and animation fans alike!!

I have always been a fan of Bruce Timm so this book seemed like a no brainer. This book covers his life up to the end of the Justice League cartoon (and has a few of his early JLU designs). It is an interesting book when he is talking about his early years in animation and his comic work, but anyone who has watched the special features on his DVDs already knows most of the story.

However, like a comic itself the story is only half the battle. This book is filled with tons of Bruce Timm art and if you like his style this is a real treat. There are pictures of monsters, marvel characters, DC characters and of course lots of sexy women. The end of the book has a color art gallery, which looks great.

If you want to learn more about Bruce Timm's life and style you should pick up this book.

I've been a fan of Bruce Timm's work since I first watched Batman the Animated series in the early 90s. This book is more of a biography than anything else, for it's content it's definitely an excellent read if you want to hear Bruce's story of how he broke into the animation business coming from his self-taught background to how be became the biggest name in the industry. For somebody who loves that sort of stuff, this is definitely worth it but it won't be anything you probably haven't already heard from commentary or a bonus feature interview on any Bruce Timm DVD.

I rated this book 3 stars because all in all, it was ok and worth the price. It does have a nice range of illustrations from stuff Bruce did back in the day all the way up to some of his professional work. Sadly though the illustrated content is rather sparse and 90% of all the illustrations are in black and white (this is a shame because Bruce is the master of marker/ink/paint color work).

Summary:

GET THIS BOOK IF: You're a fan of Bruce Timm and would like to read about Bruce's journey of being a complete nobody to becoming the guy who brought us one of the most amazing American Cartoon television series ever made and you'll be content with a few small (mostly B&W) drawings with a couple of older color Bruce Timm drawings you've seen online before passing as a lackluster "gallery" towards the back.

DON'T GET THIS BOOK IF: You're not that interested in lots of back story, text, and only a few smaples of artwork. If you're looking for a comprehensive art book, with color illustrations, conceptual sketches, etc this is not for you.

Bruce Timm is a huge influence on cartoons. He started in animation many years ago, and his work took him from an animator at Filmation to the producer of the current DC Universe direct to video movies. A life long comic fan, he was suddenly put in charge of bringing Batman back to cartoons in the early 1990's, and the rest is history. His vision of a darker Batman, from 'Batman the Animated Series' revolutionized the superhero cartoons so prevalent on TV today.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to read about an artist that I admire quite a bit. Not only is his style so distinctive, but his off the beaten path take on the entire DC Universe (dubbed by some as the 'Timm-verse') managed to make many tired heroes fresh again. The book features several of Timm's sketches and artwork spread throughout each page, from character designs to excerpts of his comic book work, including the art from those little He-Man mini-comics (they used to come in the He-Man action figure packages- remember those?!!). The book is largely an extended one-on-one interview. His take on some of the influential animators he both knew or worked with, like John Kricfalusi (Ren & Stimpy) and Don Bluth (Secret of N.I.M.H.) are quite interesting. It's also pretty amazing to learn all the shows he worked on, from Fat Albert to Freakazoid!

Overall, if you love the DC Universe that Bruce Timm has put on the screen for almost 20 years, you'll appreciate the book. The major downfall is the limited amount of color artwork included, which amounts to only a few pin ups. It's a great companion to Batman Animated, but more focused on Timm than any one particular project. Recommended for true art fans and animation fanatics alike.

Take some Jack Kirby, add a little bit of Harvey Kurtzman, a drop of Jhon Buscema, and some Frank Frazetta and to finish a lot of Alex Toth and you will have Bruce Timm, a master who have takes the best from the past to build the best for the future. We are talking of comics, of course, but we are also talking about art. Everyone knows Bruce Timm works, must of them probably dosen't know that Bruce Timm signs a path for the comics and cartoon artist. In this book we have the chance to know all the Timm's works, form the early years till's today. Full of images, must of them are unpublished, a pleasure for the eyes of a cartoonist, but also for the comics fan.
The long interwiev its full of anectodes, curiosities and skills,the experience of a master available to all those who wants to learn, or are simply curious.

This book is written as an interview, to get the thoughts of the artist directly from himself. A lot of background information on the artists influences, as well as his techniques. Bruce Timm was heavily involved with the WB animated series of Batman, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and many others. Great information on how these series came to be and how the art was developed from his viewpoint. The book has art throughout, mainly sketches of how a character and TV series came to be. It's facinating to see the various versions of an animated super hero before it's finalized for production.