Customer Reviews

Rough Justice: The DC Comics Sketches of Alex Ross

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.)

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 !

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.

Chip kidd designed a hardbound collection of Alex Ross's concepts, which turns out to be spectacular stuff indeed.
I am WOWed by this and so glad that it graces my book collection: This is what the "process" actually is, and rarely do we have this type of insight into what could be.

I was impressed by a weird spread, typical Kidd stuff: an extreme blow up of what was probably faxed Ross sketches of two heroines. That kind of stuff is what makes Chip Kidd the patron saint of book designers: he catches something mysteriously there but overlooked in the pencil lines, the xeroxed image and the flair of a brushstroke: everything that is the soul of the work. Here it is all over again, the Kidd touch to homage an artist's work, and like his PEANUTS collections, showing us that he's at an atomic level of examination of the work.

Ross contributes notes on it all, which shows where the good ideas generate and why.

If eery picture tells a story, ROUGH JUSTICE is a lot of stories. Your fav fanboy will adore this! I sure do!

As I look at the reviews, I see this book gets a lot of effusive reviews, and I have to say, this is another one. I have been a fan of Ross since his work on Terminator: The Burnning Earth in 1990. His evolution in his technique has been a joy to experience over the years. Any of his books areva worthy addition to any artists' library. But that is the rub with this particular book as it shows how he comes to his great, photo-realistic portraits of DC superheroes. A particular joy of mine is to peek behind the curtain and see how great artists arrive at their finished product, and I think Alex ranks up there with the best to include the greats. Just as The Agony And The Ecstasy showed how Michaelanfelo made the Sistene ceiling, this book shows a great at his work and is a virtual how-to book. It shows the craft behind the art, a fascinating process with any good artist. If you are interested in learning great craft, get this book and save every page. But if you just want cool pics, best you check out his many other art books and graphic novels. If you've never experienced his stuff before, go on, treat yourself. Start with Kingdom Come or Marvels. You won't be disappointed.

One of my first purchases, and I'm happy the excellent service I received for my book!
I recommend it 100%

THIS BOOK FRIGGIN ROCKS. THE ART IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL AND THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT. Process books can be so hard to find, it's very difficult to find collections of rough work but this is a great one right here. Love it. Love it. Love it.

ALL I WANTED AND MORE! his artwork is unbelievable, and to see them in sketch mode. . . Just the book ive been looking for.

i would have paid 3 times as much for this book and still would have gotten more then expected.
Great work, Great book.

If you are a fan of Alex Ross then you will enjoy this collection of his rough drafts and developmental work, if you dont know his work and are intersted in the DC characters only then another title would be more suitable... once again though, if youre a fan of Alex then enjoy!

4-1/2 stars. I actually like seeing these pencil drawings as much as the finished works. If you're a fan of photo realism, this is easily a volume worth getting.

Alex Ross' near photographic efforts are a fresh take on superhero realism, and he's one of the best there is at what he does. The images here are mostly black & white, although there are a fair amount of colored images added for variety. It's important to note that most of these drawings were likely produced without any real anticipation of a collection like this, so they're mainly but not always a bit on the unfinished side. Many are truly spectacular, whether we'd consider them finished or not. My favorite aspect of the book, besides the great pictures, is that Ross shows us some of his designs & proposals that never really saw the light of day. I particularly find his takes on a teenaged Captain Marvel, Superman Jr. & Batman Jr. to be really interesting stuff. This is a great look inside a popular artist's overall creative process. I consider this a very solid purchase.

Production Quality- With extremely high production values, this book is just a little on the heavy side. It's probably due to the somewhat thick, super-slick & sturdy paper used. While I'm not always a fan of moderately heavy books, the quality here makes this easily worth recommending.