Rough Justice: The DC Comics Sketches of Alex Ross [Hardcover]

Alex Ross (Author), Chip Kidd (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: March 30, 2010

Alex Ross opens his private sketchbooks to reveal his astonishing pencil and ink drawings of DC Comics characters, nearly all of them appearing in print here for the first time.
 
Thousands of fans from around the world have trilled to Alex’s fully rendered photo-realistic painting of their favorite heroes, but as they may not realize, all of those works start as pencil on paper, and the origins of the finished images are rarely seen. Until now.
 
From deleted scenes and altered panels for the epic Kingdom Come saga to proposals for revamping such classic properties as Batgirl, Captain Marvel, and an imagined son of Batman named Batboy, to unused alternate comic book cover ideas for the monthly Superman and Batman comics of 2008-2009, there is much to surprise and delight anyone who thought they already know all of Alex’s DC Comics work.
 
Illuminating everything is Alex’s own commentary, written expressly for this book, explaining his though processes and stylistic approaches for the various riffs and reimaginings of characters we thought we knew everything about but whose possibilities we didn’t fully understand.
 
As a record of a pivotal era in comics history, Rough Justice is a must for Alex’s legion of fans, as well as anyone interested in masterly comic book imagination and illustration.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ross’ ultrarealistic, painted renditions of iconic superheroes have made him a superstar of the comic-book world. In this selection from his sketchbooks, his legions of fans can view some of the bases of his finished works. The drawings include layouts for published and rejected covers as well as story pages for such DC mainstays as Superman and Batman and Ross’ grandiose Kingdom Come series. There are also sketches for noncomics work—among them, the ALA posters showing DC’s iconic heroes enjoying books in outer space, in the Batcave, and on Paradise Island—and character designs, including suggested revampings of Captain Marvel and Batman that didn’t make it past the proposal stage. These pencil and occasionally ink renderings possess less elegance but more dynamism than the glossy end products, and they accentuate Ross’ powerful compositions. Ross provides commentary for the drawings, explaining his conceptual intentions. Edited and designed by Chip Kidd—no slouch in the design world himself—the volume opens the curtain on Ross’ creative process, revealing the sinews that underlie his acclaimed paintings. --Gordon Flagg

Review

“For any artists wanting to break into comics, Rough Justice is a visual treasure trove to guide them, as surely as any by Da Vinci or Michelangelo. But more important, it’s a volume that gives comics fans a rare opportunity to celebrate a top artist in action. Alex Ross is a master shaper of superhero worlds.”
—denofgeek.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; First Edition edition (March 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375714901
• ISBN-13: 978-0375714900
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 1.2 x 11.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 out of 5 pencils March 30, 2010

By Parka TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Length: 0:30 Mins

I would say this book is as good as Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, his other art book featuring his paintings.

In this book, we see the groundwork he lays for those paintings. There are sketches storyboards and layouts, character designs, covers and hand scribbled notes. Many of the sketches, like various iterations for covers, are appearing from the first time. And it's not really all black and white, there are a few pieces painted quickly with colour for quick colour tests. I've to add that the scans are really good also, showing off the marvelous shading and grain.

You get to see the final pencil stage, before shadows and paint are added, as he focuses on the contours and surfaces. The usual powerhouse cast of DC characters are all in: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Black Canary, and many more. But it's not all character art. There are also design sketches for the Justice Batmobile, logo designs and concepts he did for a literacy campaign (which shows Batman hanging from a stone gargoyle from some skyscraper while reading a book).

The drawings look really quite different without the colours and I could barely recognise to compared with the original paintings from his previous book. But make no mistake, the same flair and realism is still there on every page. You can still see the intense attention paid to the detail of musculature, composition, lighting, facial expression, drapery and mood.

There's also commentary by Alex Ross himself, in addition to the hand scribbled notes. He talks about his designs, the creative process and on why some ideas just didn't make the cut.

Highly recommended to fans and comic artists.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Awesome Sketches April 7, 2010

By bat fan

Format:Hardcover

I was really looking forward to this since first hearing about it. This really is an excellent companion to any of Ross's other books , being that this book is mostly pencil renderings with a few colored works. It also gives Alex's own personal insight on a lot of the projects that did and didn't make it past the proposal stage. That to me is really some of the coolest stuff because this might be the only real chance to see some of that work that isn't going anywhere. (Alex's rework of Captain Marvel) . If you are a fan of Alex's work or concept ideas in comics, then you should pick this book up !

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I look at it everyday December 27, 2010

By Nossy

Format:Hardcover

This is an extremely good book for any artist or fans, whether you like comics or not. I had to choose between this book and Jim Lee's ICONS this year and I chose this book (eventually I'll get ICONS too). The rough stuff is very tight and Alex's pencil skills rivals his painting skills (if not better). He has a very good understanding of shadows, form, and composition.