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Every artist needs this BOOK!!!2 Beards One review

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How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way Paperback – Illustrated, September 14, 1984

by Stan Lee (Author), John Buscema (Author)

4.7 6,349 ratings

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Written by the iconic Stan Lee, How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way is a must-have book for Marvel fans and anyone looking to draw their first comic strip.

Stan Lee, the Mighty Man from Marvel, and John Buscema, active and adventuresome artist behind the Silver Surfer, Conan the Barbarian, the Mighty Thor and Spider-Man, have collaborated on this comics compendium: an encyclopedia of information for creating your own superhero comic strips. Using artwork from Marvel comics as primary examples, Buscema graphically illustrates the hitherto mysterious methods of comic art. Stan Lee’s pithy prose gives able assistance and advice to the apprentice artist. Bursting with Buscema’s magnificent illustrations and Lee’s laudable word-magic, How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way belongs in the library of everyone who has ever wanted to illustrate his or her own comic strip.

Reading age

8+ years, from customers
Print length

192 pages
Language

English
Grade level

Kindergarten and up
Dimensions

8.5 x 0.5 x 11 inches
Publication date

September 14, 1984
ISBN-10

0671530771
ISBN-13

978-0671530778
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About the Author

Stan Lee (1922–2018) began his long career with wartime Timely Comics, but “the Man” made comic book history with Fantastic Four #1, harbinger of a bold new perspective in comic book writing that endures to this day. With some of the industry’s greatest artists, he introduced hero after hero in The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Uncanny X-Men, and more, forming a shared universe for rival publishers to measure themselves against. After a lifetime’s worth of writing and editing, Lee was involved in movies and television via his company POW! Entertainment. He was Marvel’s chairman emeritus and best-known public representative.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

THE TOOLS-

AND THE TALK- OF THE TRADE!

Since very few of us draw with just our fingernails, let's start off with what you'll need. Then we're got to make sure we're all speaking the same language. This part's the easiest.

Here we go! On these two pages you'll find just about everything you'll need to get you started. One of the nice things about being a comicbook artist is the fact that your equipment is no big deal. Let's just give the various items a fast once-over...

Pencil. Some artists prefer a soft lead, some like the finer hard lead. It's up to you.

Pen. A simple drawing pen with a thin point, for inking and bordering.

Brush. Also for inking. A sable hair #3 is your best bet.

Erasers. One art gum and one smooth kneaded eraser -- which is cleaner to use.

India ink. Any good brand of black india ink is okay.

White opaquing paint. Invaluable for covering errors in inking.

A glass Jar. This holds the water for cleaning your brushes.

Pushpins. Handy for keeping your illustration paper from slipping off the drawing board.

Triangle. A must for drawing right angles and working in perspective.

T square. Invaluable for drawing borders and keeping lines parallel.

Ruler. For everyone who says "1 can't draw a straight line without a ruler." Now you've no excuse!

Illustration paper. We use 2-ply Bristol board, large enough to accommodate artwork 10" x 15".

Drawing board. This can be a drawing table or merely a flat board which you hold on your lap. Either way, you always need some such thing upon which to rest your sheet of illustration paper.

Rag. This plain ol' hunk of any kind of cloth is used to wipe your pen points, brushes, and whatever. The sloppier you are, the more you'll need it.

Ink compass. Well, how else are you gonna draw circles? While you're at it, you might as well get a pencil compass, too-even though Johnny forgot to draw one for you.

Of course, there are some things we omitted, like a chair to sit on and a light so that you can see what you're doing in case you work in the dark. Also, it's a good idea to have a room to work in-otherwise your pages can get all messy in the rain. But we figured you'd know all this.

And now, onward!

Just to make sure we all use the same language and there's no misunderstanding when we refer to things, let's review the various names for many of the elements that make up a typical comicbook page.

A. The first page of a story, with a large introductory illustration, is called the splash page.

B: Letters drawn in outline, with space for color to be added, are called open letters.

C: Copy which relates to a title is called a blurb.

D: The name of the story is, of course, the title.

E: An outline around lettering done in this jagged shape is called a splash balloon.

F: A single illustration on a page is called a panel.

G: The space between panels is called the gutter.

H: You won't be surprised to know that this "ZAT" is a sound effect.

I: Copy which represents what a character is thinking is a thought balloon.

J: The little connecting circles on thought balloons are called bubbles. (We'd feel silly calling them "squares"!)

K: The regular speech indicators are called dialogue balloons.

L: The connecting "arrows" on dialogue balloons, showing who is speaking, are called pointers.

M: The words in balloons which are lettered heavier than the other words are referred to as bold words, or bold lettering.

N: This is my favorite part-where the names are. We call it the credits, just like in the movies.

O: All this little technical stuff, showing who publishes the mag and when and where, usually found on the bottom of the first page, is the indicia (pronounced in-deeé -shah).

P: Copy in which someone is talking to the reader, but which is not within dialogue balloons, is called a caption.

Chances are we left out a few other things, but this is all we can think of right now. However, not to worry; we'll fill you in on anything else that comes up as we keep zooming along.

Movin' right along, we now introduce you to one of Marvel's many widely heralded close-ups, so called because the "camera" (meaning the reader's eye) has moved in about as close as possible.

This type of panel, in which the reader's view of the scene is from farther away, enabling him to see the figures from head to toe, is called a medium shot.

And here we have a long shot. In fact, since it shows such an extreme wide-angle scene, you might even call it a panoramic long shot without anyone getting angry at you.

When you're up above the scene, looking down at it, as in this panel, what else could you possibly call it but a bird's-eye view?

On the other hand, when you're below the scene of action, as in this panel, where your eye, level is somewhere near Spidey's heel, we're inclined to refer to it as a worm's-eye view.

A drawing in which the details are obscured by solid black (or any other single tone or color) is called a silhouette. And now that we agree upon the language, let's get back to drawing the pictures...

Copyright © 1978 by Stan Lee and John Buscema

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atria Books; Reprint edition (September 14, 1984)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0671530771
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671530778
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8+ years, from customers
Grade level ‏ : ‎ Kindergarten and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.5 x 11 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Illustration and Graphic Design
- #4 in How to Create Comics
- #5 in Pop Culture Art

Customer Reviews:
4.7 6,349 ratings

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Stan Lee

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Stan Lee is a man who needs no introduction. Nevertheless: Having begun his career with wartime Timely Comics and staying the course throughout the Atlas era, Stan the Man made comic-book history with Fantastic Four #1, harbinger of a bold new perspective in story writing that endures to this day. With some of the industry’s greatest artists, he introduced hero after hero in Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men and more — forming a shared universe for rival publishers to measure themselves against. After an almost literal lifetime of writing and editing, Lee entered new entertainment fields and earned Marvel one opportunity after another. He remains one of Marvel’s best-known public representatives.

-----------------

Stanley Martin Lieber (Manhattan, Nueva York; 28 de diciembre de 1922 - Los Ángeles, California; 12 de noviembre de 2018), más conocido como Stan Lee, fue un escritor y editor de cómics estadounidense, además de productor y ocasional actor de cine. Es principalmente conocido por haber creado personajes icónicos del mundo del cómic tales como Spiderman, Hulk, Ironman, los 4 Fantásticos, Thor, los Vengadores, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, X-Men y Bruja escarlata, entre otros muchos superhéroes, casi siempre acompañado de los dibujantes Steve Ditko y Jack Kirby. El trabajo de Stan Lee fue fundamental para expandir Marvel Comics, llevándola de ser una pequeña casa publicitaria a una gran corporación multimedia. Todavía hoy, los cómics de Marvel se distinguen por indicar siempre «Stan Lee presenta» en los rótulos de presentación. También tuvo un programa televisivo en History Channel en donde buscaba superhumanos "reales".

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4.7 out of 5

6,349 global ratings

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Ryno's Stuff

Son is getting lots of use.

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024

Verified Purchase

Got it for my son who is getting into making comics. He really seems to like this one, He’s picking up some good poses and techniques, too.

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telia dalton

The BEST for step by step drawing

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2023

Verified Purchase

I bought this as a graduation gift for my 8 yr old son who absolutely LOVES to draw !!! We homeschool so I was looking for something that is very detailed with step by step instructions so it could also serve as an addition to curriculum . This was definitely it ! My son has not stopped drawing since getting it ! We have bought many how to books , but nothing quite like this one ! He is over the moon! He is a very eager little boy that has a natural passion for art ! I was worried about his age but this is definitely age appropriate for advanced beginners!

5 people found this helpful

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Jack

Great

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024

Verified Purchase

This book helped me with perspective and how to make a drawing’s motion look natural👍

One person found this helpful

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Craig Mayhem

Invaluable for any artist or filmmaker. No, really.

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2016

Verified Purchase

I've owned and lost, destroyed, lent and given away many copies of this book over the years. It's probably the best resource out there for an aspiring comic-book artist. Or animator. Or filmmaker. Or illustrator. Repeat ad nauseam.

Sure, you could read a book by its cover as merely a hero-book resource and keep walking but you'd be doing yourself a disservice.

True, in HTDCTMW Stan and John's focus was on creating hero books. But they accidentally also created a veritably indispensable resource for animation, storyboarding, filmmaking and more.

It teaches shot selection (close up, worms-eye-view, long shot), perspective, figure drawing, character dynamics, shot composition, and more.

One of my favorite sections features a side-by-side comparison of a few 6-panel 'comic pages', but they could easily be film/animation storyboards. It compares a drab, 'nothing wrong with it' versions of the pages with slightly tweaked versions. By subtly altering 'camera position', composition and character dynamics a much stronger, far more interesting tone is achieved - even without the use of dialogue or sound.

I can't think of a better way to teach how these factors can greatly enhance a comic, film or animated project.

Have I mentioned I'm a professor of animation? Well I am. This book from 1984 does it better than anything else I've seen since.

If you just want to draw comics, it is second-to-none. If you want to be a filmmaker, artist or animator, it's also hard to beat.

It's not going to turn you into Jim Lee overnight. But it gives you the tools you need to get started. It's up to you to practice but I think you'll find, as I do, that I keep returning to it.

A must for your artist/animator/filmmaker toolbox.

139 people found this helpful

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Johnny

There are good things and bad things...

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
There are good things and bad things about this venerable classic, so I'm going to start with the bad things and end on a positive note.

This is a great book for time-travelers who want to go back to 1975 to get jobs as hack assembly-line illustrators for Marvel. By this I mean that it is full of archaic technical information and artistic cliches-it actually advises artists to draw the same archetypal hero face over and over for every single hero. It also steers readers toward the homogenized Marvel style, so if you take its advice too seriously, you will be a generic illustrator with no personal style, whose drawings are indistinguishable from anybody else's. And it doesn't really tell you how to do any of the things it tells you to do. There are no in-depth instructions on how to construct figures such as one might find in Loomis's book on figure drawing. Instead, it just gives a quick overview and moves on.

At this point, you're probably thinking that I'm going to tell you not to waste your time with this book, but wait; I'm not done yet.

If you're a beginner, learning the cliches is actually not a bad place to start. Devices that are overused tend to be so because they work. The book nicely collects, in one volume, overviews on every topic you will need to study more in-depth; anatomy, perspective, gesture drawing, and so forth. This is valuable, because now you at least know what topics to research elsewhere. Lastly, there are some things that Marvel legitimately does do better than anybody. Making scenes more dramatic. Making figures more heroic. John Buscema's clean, uncluttered drawings make the concepts easy to grasp.

So in the end, I recommend this book to anyone who does sequential art, especially since you can often pick up a used copy for $6. Just take its advice with a grain of salt.

11 people found this helpful

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Patricia King

Great for my great grandson who loves to draw

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2024

Verified Purchase

Lots of pages with Marvel characters to draw.

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Robert Beechly

If you have a little artistic talent and a lot of stick to it -ness you can do it !

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2023

Verified Purchase

I like the fact that “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” is clearly written and instruction is presented in a logical manner step by step

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Joel D. Wynkoop

Had this when I was 15 don't know what happend to it so I ordered another one very cool!

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2024

Verified Purchase

Very cool to have again!

One person found this helpful

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Kalan

Such an amazing book

Reviewed in Canada on August 15, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book absolutely pushed me beyond my mental limit and imagination when it comes to drawing
This book breaks down the hardest things with drawing in such an easy and simple way
Such a great book for beginner artists
Totally Recommend

Alejandro

Excelente

Reviewed in Spain on October 17, 2023

Verified Purchase

Este es un libro básico para todo aquel que sea principiante en el mundo del cómic. Consejos de dibujo de personajes y narrativa para comprender cómo se debe proceder para ingresar en este mundo.

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