art books
Come for the Shelf Porn, stay for the massive “to read” pile
Hello and welcome to Shelf Porn, our weekly voyage into the home of a comic fan. Today’s collection comes from Steve Tabala, a digital illustrator who shows us his shelves of comics, trades, statues, art books and more. His “to read” pile looks like he’s building a fort, making my own pile look not quite as intimidating. It’s certainly a good way to spend more than a few Saturday afternoons.
If you’d like to see your shelves featured right here on Robot 6, check out the details here.
And now let’s hear from Steve …
Don’t miss UDON Entertainment’s ‘Boxing Day Super Sale’
If you’ve been eyeing that Marvel vs. Capcom: Complete Work hardcover for a while now but just couldn’t talk yourself into shelling out a hundred bucks, today’s your lucky day: UDON Entertainment is holding a “Boxing Day Super Sale,” with all items in its online store offered at 50 percent off their original price. So today (and today only) that art book can be yours for $49.99. You can also get your hands on issues of series like Street Fighter and G.I. Joe Vs. Transformers III, posters, prints and softcover collections — all at a 50-percent discount.
Mark Torres to launch Ink:Toxicated at Singapore convention
IDW Publishing staple Mark Torres is launching an art book Ink:Toxicated this weekend at the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention. The book is published in a very rock ‘n’ roll 12-inch by 12-inch format, and features 48 pages of work done for IDW, Image and Dark Horse alongside assorted pin-ups and sketches. The book also includes “an exclusive mini-graphic concierto” (sic) called Sliver. There’s a large gallery of great-looking preview art at Parka Blogs.
Scott C’s Amazing Everything debuts this weekend
Scott Campbell (who goes by Scott C, presumably to avoid confusion with J. Scott Campbell) has completed an art book (his first collection of watercolor paintings) called Amazing Everything. If you’re familiar with Campbell’s work, you understand how appropriate that title is. It debuts this weekend at APE, but there’s also a launch party Thursday at San Francisco’s 111 Minna Gallery from 7 – 10 p.m.
Among other things, Campbell promises:
SDCC Wishlist | Skottie Young’s Junk
Junk
Artist Skottie Young, whose The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from Marvel is up for a couple of Eisner awards this year, sends word that he’ll have copies of his artbook, Junk, in San Diego next week.
“This book is filled with everything you could want out of an art book. Sketches, doodles, experiments, paintings, concepts, digital drawing, success, failures, and everything in between. JUNK ONE gives you a look at the personal work of a fan favorite comic book artist and cartoonist,” reads the book’s description on Bigcartel.com, where it can be purchased online. “JUNK ONE is a limited edition art book of only 1000 copies.”
And speaking of Young, he’s working on a new graphic novel and has started chronicling its creation on his blog and in video form. Check out entries here, here, here and here.
Straight for the Art | The Art of Blade of the Immortal
The Art of Blade of the Immortal
Dark Horse posts a flipbook preview of their upcoming art book, The Art of Blade of the Immortal, with some nice samples of what Hiroaki Samura can do once he really gets going.
Jim Lee reveals his ICONS cover [Updated]
ICONS by Jim Lee
Scooping his own company’s blog, DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee posted the final pencils for the cover of ICONS: The DC Comics and WildStorm Art of Jim Lee to his Twitter account last night. Trinity-tastic! Anyone else having a hard time getting used to Batman being in the forefront of the Batman-Superman-Wonder Woman pose-offs these days, though?
ICONS comes out this August from Titan Books. You can check out a less dark’n'dramatic rejected cover composition for the book at The Source.
UPDATE: The Source also has the final inks, if you like your Dark Knight extra dark.
A roundup of best-of comics lists
Final Crisis
Best of the year, best of the decade — these best-of lists are coming out so quickly that it’s difficult to keep up with them. But let’s try:
• Comics critic Douglas Wolk selects the best graphic novels of 2009, from Asterios Polyp to Final Crisis, for Barnes & Noble.
• At The Daily Cross Hatch, a roster of creators ranging from Jeffrey Brown to Lilli Carre to Dean Haspiel select “the best damned comics of 2009.”
• At io9.com, Graeme McMillan spotlights 10 of the decade’s best science-fiction comics, including 100%, Planetes and Casanova. He also names Batwoman as one of the best new characters of the decade.
• Drawn! contributors Matt Forsythe and John Martz roll out lists of their favorite comics and art books of the year.
• Writer-artist Gerry Alanguilan discusses his favorite comics of the year with the Forbidden Planet International blog.
• Matt Price, feature editor and comics blogger for The Oklahoman, includes A Drifting Life and A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge among his choices.
• At Geek To Me, Marissa Meli selects her Top 8 comics of the year.
• A contributor to The Inkwell Bookstore blog takes the “Best Comics I Read in 2009″ approach with a rundown that includes Cold Heat, Pluto and The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.
• Mike Williams at Techland counts down the Top 10 superhero deaths of the decade.
