Customer Reviews

SPIES, VIXENS AND MASTERS OF KUNG FU PB

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I first started collecting comic books in the early 1970's and then sold the bulk of my collection several years later to pay for my first car when I was in high school. One of the runs I held onto, however, was Master of Kung-Fu, and the main reason I kept those books was the outstanding art of Paul Gulacy. Master of Kung Fu was unlike any other title in the 1970's. Far different than the primarily super hero and horror titles of the time, this was a gritty, action filled thriller, long before books like Sin City and others came out. In fact, Frank Miller's art on Sin City was strongly influenced by Gulacy's work on this title.

"Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy" is the latest outstanding title from Vanguard Productions. The book covers Gulacy's mercurial career starting with his getting assigned to Master of Kung Fu at the age of twenty, along with writer Doug Moench. Gulacy's style was unlike any other artist of the time. His fight scenes were choreographed like a Hollywood film with an emphasis on realism and his depiction of the menacing villain Fu Manchu recalled the days of sinister "yellow menace" pulps. If Jim Steranko (who provides the Afterword to this book) introduced pop art to comics then Gulacy introduced a truly cinematic approach to comics. Sitting down and reading a run of MOKF was like watching a good movie. This title was often worth buying just for the Gulacy covers and splash pages alone.

The book then goes onto cover Gulacy's post MOKF life on projects such as Sabre for Eclipse comics and then onto his short, but memorable time working on projects for Jim Warren in the pages of Eerie. Gulacy was always one to experiment with new techniques and his work on those issues of Eerie showcase him using lamp black washes on the stories for an exceptionally unique look. The book provides several examples from the stories so you can see what I mean. It's gorgeous work! Gulacy would to on to do several runs on various Batman titles for DC Comics including the recently completed Batman/Ra's Alghul mini series just this year, as well as stints on Legends of the Dark Knight in 1900 - 1991. Never was there an artist more suited to draw Batman than Gulacy.

The last third of the book is sure to delight his legion of fans as it provides a dazzling gallery of Gulacy's work including paintings and numerous comic covers from books such as Catwoman, Vampirella, Sabre, Batman, and of course, The Master of Kung Fu. The cover to MOKF #64 is included and has always been one of my favorite pieces featuring Shang Chi holding a pair of Escrima sticks as he descends a set of steps in Fu Manchu's palace.

The book is filled with commentary by Gulacy's peers such as Tim Bradstreet and Steve Rude who discuss how Gulacy's art has influenced their own and no less than director Quentin Tarantino has called Master of Kung Fu his favorite comic book. Like most of the books from Vanguard Productions it is also available in a hardcover edition, as well as a limited, signed hard cover edition. A first class production!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Length:: 0:14 Mins

Paul Gulacy has drawn comics and covers for titles like Star Wars, Batman, James Bond 007, The Terminator, Master of Kung Fu and Catwoman, etc.

This art book is a selection of some comic pages and covers, accompanied by personal commentary, with a few guest quotes. I like the Noir style he applies to some of his panels. Additionally, there are a few personal unpublished ink sketches as well.

In the commentary, he talks about his career, inspiration, techniques, the comics and the characters he draws. Being a big fan of Bruce Lee, he once photographed the movie Enter the Dragon frame by frame because there wasn't videotape at that time. Master of Kung Fu was also inspired by Bruce Lee.

The main comics that were given more coverage in this book are Master of Kung Fu, Batman and James Bond. The other series are mentioned briefly, with illustrations included.

The art book is in a way a mini biography, recommended for fans.

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

While the text was ok, more magazine level than real insight, the breadth and depth of this collection of Gulacy's comics, paintings and sketches is amazing and added new depth to my appreciation of both the Master of Kung Fu comic in story and art and his other works. It was also fun to see some art from Six for Sirius without having to understand the plot!

I can add very little to what the other reviewers have already stated, except that unlike many other comic book artists (and there are many great, great comic book artists) Gulacy's characters seem to actually breathe and sigh and come alive on the page.
Steranko is a master of the craft, no doubt, but Paul takes it further and he's one of the first to do so. Couple his ability to bring these characters to life with his amazing cinematic eye for storytelling and you cannot deny he's a unique and amazing artist but also a Master in the comic book medium.
Paul's art does more than entertain you, it will move you.
If your a fan of Paul's you've been waiting for this book your entire life.
The title say's it all, if your a fan of Spies, Vixens, or Master's of Kung Fu, this book is for you.
James Bond? Buy this book. Star Wars? Buy this book! Batman? BUY THIS BOOK!
And if your a fan of comics or if your a comics artist, or want to be a comics artist, your doing yourself a grave disservice by not having a copy of this to enjoy and be inspired by.

Paul Gulacy is an extraordinary artist. One of the best to apply his talents to the comic book medium.
The notion that he is a second rate Steranko is absolute nonsense, put forth by people who feel it proves their comic book knowledge.
With all due respect to Jim Steranko, I believe Mr.Gulacy to be the better comics artist of the two.
Although Gulacy was greatly influenced by the innovations of Steranko's Nick Fury run (the first half of which was massively based on Jack Kirbys incomparable style) Pauls style soon became unique and distinctive. Gulacy's Master of Kung-Fu series was his claim to fame, and indeed was an awsome achievment. One
needs only to compare this series to Sterankos Fury to see the power and individuality of gulacy's work. His figures are on a higher level of grace and dynamism, his faces are infinitely more expressive, and his layouts are a thing of sheer beauty. Another thing which distinguishes him from Steranko is that he continued to produce an incredible body of wonderful work (Steranko produced almost no comics work after the 70s, except for a few covers). Gulacy went on to produce many classics, such as the lush Six from Serius, the groundbreaking Sabre, Slash Maraud, a brilliant James Bond series, some beautiful Batman stories and dozens of other titles. This Book on Gulacy is very enjoyable, although it only scratches the surface of his huge output.Some things were left out, but overall the Book gives a very good overview of his work, and the reproductions are beautiful. There are some wonderful unknown works in the gallery as well. This is a fitting tribute to one of comics best artists who has tirelessly entertained us over the last few decades.