Rating: 4 out of 5
Comics and graphic novels are a really interesting storytelling medium. I've always particularly enjoyed the superheroes of comics. READING COMICS by Douglas Wolk is an entertaining and informative book for comic lovers. Wolk writes on the history if comics and what makes them appealing to people.
While the first part of the book covers the theory behind comics and their history, the second part of the book is the most interesting. The second part of the book delves into specific comics and their creators, presenting them in a review type of style. While I recognized the likes of Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and Grant Morrison, many of the others presented an introduction to some artists I wasn't familiar with.
READING COMICS is a fun book if you're interested in a broad view of comics throughout the course of their existence.
Review copy provided by Da Capo Press
Showing posts with label Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comics. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Review of THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY: THE COMPLETE SCREENPLAYS
Photo Credit: Opus Books
Rating: 5 out of 5
I've always been a fan superheroes and Batman particularly. I love Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY. Nolan is one of the most creative filmmaker's out there and seems to really know how to tap into the human condition. Of course, he hasn't worked alone. Writers David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan helped Nolan shape the Batman trilogy into a fantastic story of not only Batman, but the city he has sworn to protect.
Great movies don't just start as visuals on a screen. The screenplay is the foundation of any movie. Opus Books has compiled the screenplays for all three Batman movies into THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY: THE COMPLETE SCREENPLAYS. I've always loved writing, and I love seeing how words on a page become something incredible on the screen. Having seen all three movies, reading the screenplays was like replacing the movie in my mind. The visuals described in the scripts came to life in my imagination. The writers of the movies told a great story of Batman's origin in the first film, a raising of the stakes in the second film, and the standard all-bets-are-off anything goes kind of situation in the third film. It's truly a hero story, and I love that it was a story about the people of Gotham city. It seemed like Gotham was as much a character as Batman in the story.
Included in the book is a great interview with writers at beginning that tells how the story evolved into a trilogy and some storyboards for some of the key scenes in each film, further illustrating how the words on the page evolve into the visuals we see on the screen. Batman fans will love this book, and I think aspiring screenwriters could learn much from this book as well.
Review copy provided by Opus Books
Review of THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO PENCILLING COMICS by Klaus Janson
Photo Credit: Random House
Rating: 5 out of 5
THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO PENCILLING COMICS by Klaus Janson is a great book for fans of comic books and especially those interested in drawing comic books. Pencilling is the first stage in comic book making before moving on to inking, coloring, and lettering, so this a foundational text for anyone wanting to learn how to draw comic book characters and settings.
What I loved about this book is the time the author took to really break down the drawing process, especially for comic book art. From explaining the standard tools an artist needs to have, to showing how to draw faces and human anatomy, to understanding perspective in your drawings, to composition, angles, movement, etc, this book is a fun guide to learning how to draw well.
Because several of my favorite comic heroes are from the DC Universe, it was fun to see examples of heroes like Batman and Superman used throughout the text. THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO PENCILLING COMICS is a trustworthy resource for learning how to become a comic book artist.
Review copy provided by Watson-Guptill
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