Spectrum 2: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art [Paperback]

Cathy Fenner (Editor), Arnie Fenner (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 2006

The acclaimed Spectrum series is the premier venue for fantasy and science fiction artwork. The only book to thoroughly address the amazing variety and quality of fantastic art created each year, the release of each annual issue is an eagerly anticipated event for artists, readers, and art directors alike. The early issues in the series had very small print runs, sold out quickly, and today, are much sought-after by collectors. Now in print for the first time in ten years, Spectrum 2 features works by Hugo Award-winner Michael Whelan; Caldecott winners Diane and Leo Dillon; James Gurney, creator of Dinotopia; and more than 200 other pieces created by artists from Germany, England, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Canada, France, and America. Drawn from books, comics, magazines, art galleries, advertisements, and artist’s portfolios, these visionary portraits of the future offer fans an intriguing look at the evolution of fantastic art over the past decade.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The best artwork by creators of fantasy and horror characters has been culled from books, comics, ads, magazines and other sources to provide an unusually well-rounded, expansive view of the creators of science fiction images. Usually such collections revolve around the art of a single selected individual: in juxtaposing the approaches and works of many, Spectrum 2 creates a fine and diverse presentation of award-winning images. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Underwood Books (November 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599290057
• ISBN-13: 978-1599290058
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Just Ok, August 18, 2011

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Cullen W. Monk "CM" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spectrum 2: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Paperback)

I first found Spectrum in it's 17th iteration, which I found to be fantastic. So maybe its not far to give this a lower ranking because they have obviously improved over the years.

I found the pictures in here underwhelming compared with the later iterations. They were also kind of small. I only found a few pictures inspirational

5.0 out of 5 stars I found this enjoyable, August 14, 2010

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Christopher R. Travers "Einhverfr" (Chelan, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spectrum 2: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Paperback)

This book, like Spectrum 1, is largely a collection of the best fantasy and science fiction illustrations from comic books, book covers, and the like. This also includes a number of previously unpublished works by various artists. For what it is, it's excellent.

In fact, this is quite a bit better IMO than the first issue. There is more variety in images. Some are bone-chillingly creepy, some are beautiful. A few may make you laugh. The range of art combined with the quality makes this worth getting. Indeed I am finding it a hard to pick out a few favorites because there are so many wonderful works in this collection.

Highly recommended.

4.0 out of 5 stars oh, shiny pretty pictures..., November 23, 2009

By 

H. Bala "Me Too Can Read" (Just moved to posh Marina Del Rey, CA - where if you drop a quarter, why, you just keep on walking) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spectrum 2: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Paperback)

Lavishly, lovingly put together, the fairly awesome SPECTRUM annuals have been rolling along now since 1994, and each one has been worth the getting, each one an ideal centerpiece for your coffee table. SPECTRUM 2: THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY FANTASTIC ART was published in 1995 and it's more of the same stuff, a visual feast compiling the very best art from the sci-fi/fantasy genre for that past year and rendered in various mediums. Familiar representation comes in the persons of Donato Giancola, Jim Burns, Don Maitz, and other much-in-demand contemporaries. For those with a taste for the surreal, Phil Hale and John Jude Palencar grace these pages and what they offer is very offbeat indeed. Even the veteran John Berkey, whose paintings are generally sci-fi themed, contributes, doing his best John Harris impersonation (or, wait, is that the other way around?). I feel almost sheepish listing the names on this roster of artists because, if you've checked out the other SPECTRUM entries, these names pop up repeatedly.

These annuals are broken up into several categories: the editorial segment, from the advertising field, book covers, from comics, and institutional (which includes statues and busts). The final two pages give a nod to the 1993 Chesley Award winners. Meanwhile, the inaugural Spectrum Grandmaster Award goes to the unbelievably deserving Frank Frazetta. To plenty of illustrators, Frazetta is God and, honestly, any accolade ceded to him is merely giving him his propers.

An always neat thing for me is that, what with my reading so much sci-fi and fantasy literature, I end up recognizing plenty of the artwork on these pages. In this one, off the top of my head, I remember the covers to Simon Green's SHADOWS FALL (cover by Donato), Spider Robinson's THE CALLAHAN TOUCH (cover by James Warhola), and Roger Zelazny & Robert Sheckley's A FARCE TO BE RECKONED WITH (cover by Don Maitz). Except that, here, we get to ogle the full untrimmed original art pieces.

What captured my eye? Donato Giancola's fantastic "Construct of Time" (pg. 57), Steven Assel's realistically rendered "The Light Bearer" (pg. 67), Rick Berry's contemplative "Death" (pg. 82), young stud Luis Royo's "The Neverending Sparkle" (pg. 95), Gregory Manchess's "Morning Angel" (pg. 119), and Carl Lundgren's very cool "Impudence" (on pg. 136). By the way, it's always a treat checking out Lundgren's ever recurring angel motif, and "Impudence" is probably my favorite one, never mind that it's actually featured in the brief Chesley Awards portion of the book, and not in the main SPECTRUM segment. To put a pretty bow on things, Rick Berry lands the cover to the originally published SPECTRUM 2 and his subject happens to be Neil Gaiman's Death, my all-time favorite Sandman character. Meanwhile, the 2006 reprinted edition of SPECTRUM 2 features Steven Assel's "The Light Bearer." I don't exactly know how this happened, but I own both editions.

SPECTRUM has always showcased some of the most imaginative and creative imagery out there, and flipping thru these pages is like gazing at marvelous eye candy after eye candy. SPECTRUM 2 brings it with 237 glossy, full-colored works done up by 137 artists (138, if you count Frazetta - and, by Crom, why wouldn't you count Frazetta?). SPECTRUM is up to sixteen annuals by now, with the earlier editions being very, very hard to come by. Me, I'm lucky enough to have just about all of them in my collection. But you can't really see over my coffee table anymore.