Rating: 
Summary: Scintillating
Review: A fantastic book! Every amazing page is scintillating, pulsing, vibrating, churning, swirling, swooping, writhing, and exploding with visual energy. Arlen Schumer combines comic book images, history, quotations, bibliography, theory, criticism, and his own indefatigable enthusiasm, to create a stunning evocation of an dazzling cultural era and the artists who created it. I should make a disclosure. Twenty-five years ago at the Rhode Island School of Design, I was supposed to teach Arlen Schumer modern typography and he was supposed to learn it. I knew he loved comics - it was impossible to know him and not know that - but I didn't want to distract him from type, so I didn't mention that I, too, loved the comics of the 60's, particularly Steve Ditko's phantasmagoric "Dr. Strange" and Jim Steranko's cinematographic "Nick Fury". Arlen's RISD senior design thesis was a wild blend of corporate image design with super-hero personality cult. It was like, "How to portray yourself as a super-hero, graphically speaking". When Arlen gave his presentation to the design faculty and distinguished visiting critics, he had apparently gone without sleep for several days to finish his thesis - maybe that's what super-designers do - and he did seem like a character recently arrived from another world, dazed but ambitious to tackle daunting tasks as soon as he swam up from his subconscious. One of the visiting critics said he didn't understand any of it, but I said that someday we would. And now that day is here. I haven't seen Arlen for a quarter-century, but in December I read John Strausbaugh's superb New York Times review of "The Silver Age of Comic Book Art", and I knew that Arlen has now put his enthusiasm, his insights, his research, and his selections of the silver age comics into a book that shows the rest of us not only the images and the history, but the dynamism of comic book art, ranking it with the other lively and popular arts of America.
Rating: 
Summary: No, this one's not good
Review: After reading the gushing reviews here, I bought this book sight unseen (a personal rule I resolve never to break again, as returning these books to Amazon is a royal hassle). The beauty of the so-called "Silver Age" of comics (mainly, the 1960s) is the elegance and harmony of the art and story. This book is another one of that endless invasion of in-your-face, sliced-and-diced compilation pieces that seek to razzle-dazzle the viewer who doesn't think. Everything is piecemeal, with montages overlapping other montages, fragments of recognizable works blown up to Roy Lichtenstein proportions and overlaid with small, cluttered, unrelated tidbits. It reduces the work to Pop Art, like printing comic book panels as wall paper, or on kid's bedsheets, for a "campy" effect. I expected an insightful presentation of what made that decade's comics so meaningful; something coherent, at least. This book is for people with no attention span (maybe people addicted to video games), who don't even try to understand a story or appreciate a composition, they just want frenzied details flying everywhere so you can't sort it out, like a kaleidoscopic segment of "Entertainment Tonight" compiled by a "hot" editor. I especially hate magnified images that go off the page with no border, trying to give a "hip" look to the layout. The value of Marvel comics, especially, was their accessibility, their clarity, their visual solidity. The comics industry went into a tailspin in the '80s when it was overrun by immature artists who tried to confuse the viewer by losing the center of interest and get by on pyrotechnics. The text, consisting of a snippet of catty gossip about Stan Lee here, a fragment of anonymous, truncated, corny dialog there, is sprinkled throughout with unrelated "factoids" no more than two or three sentences long, often in the gimmicky type you see in "trendy" magazines about pop music. It has nothing to say except how smirky and post-modern it is to chop up pieces of the past in a pop-culture blender and splash out a meaningless jumble of images for people to idly glance at, without context or narrative direction. For the distracted amusement of superficial illiterates only, not for knowledgeable people who like the beauty of an image that hasn't been tampered with, or seek a legitimate history of those creative years.
Rating:
Summary: No, this one's not good
Review: After reading the gushing reviews here, I bought this book sight unseen (a personal rule I resolve never to break again, as returning these books to Amazon is a royal hassle). The beauty of the so-called "Silver Age" of comics (mainly, the 1960s) is the elegance and harmony of the art and story. This book is another one of that endless invasion of in-your-face, sliced-and-diced compilation pieces that seek to razzle-dazzle the viewer who doesn't think. Everything is piecemeal, with montages overlapping other montages, fragments of recognizable works blown up to Roy Lichtenstein proportions and overlaid with small, cluttered, unrelated tidbits. It reduces the work to Pop Art, like printing comic book panels as wall paper, or on kid's bedsheets, for a "campy" effect. I expected an insightful presentation of what made that decade's comics so meaningful; something coherent, at least. This book is for people with no attention span (maybe people addicted to video games), who don't even try to understand a story or appreciate a composition, they just want frenzied details flying everywhere so you can't sort it out, like a kaleidoscopic segment of "Entertainment Tonight" compiled by a "hot" editor. I especially hate magnified images that go off the page with no border, trying to give a "hip" look to the layout. The value of Marvel comics, especially, was their accessibility, their clarity, their visual solidity. The comics industry went into a tailspin in the '80s when it was overrun by immature artists who tried to confuse the viewer by losing the center of interest and get by on pyrotechnics. The text, consisting of a snippet of catty gossip about Stan Lee here, a fragment of anonymous, truncated, corny dialog there, is sprinkled throughout with unrelated "factoids" no more than two or three sentences long, often in the gimmicky type you see in "trendy" magazines about pop music. It has nothing to say except how smirky and post-modern it is to chop up pieces of the past in a pop-culture blender and splash out a meaningless jumble of images for people to idly glance at, without context or narrative direction. For the distracted amusement of superficial illiterates only, not for knowledgeable people who like the beauty of an image that hasn't been tampered with, or seek a legitimate history of those creative years.
Rating:
Summary: Shining Silver
Review: An immersive, epic piece of work that succeeds on all levels, THE SILVER AGE OF COMIC BOOK ART is page after page of hyperkinetic energy - - the electricity that shot through every page of the best Silver Age pulps crackles in Schumer's layout and text. The artists are given ample space to speak for themselves through word and deed; the mastery of Ditko, Adams, Kirby, Kane, Kubert and company burst from each page and spread. Members of the Pop Culture intelligentsia searching for another opaque sociological/psychological study of "the comic book as art" can look elsewhere; this is a trip for those of us who spent countless childhood hours poring over dog-eared (non-mint!) pages of slam-bang high adventure, courtesy of artists who should be household names. - John Michlig, author of IT CAME FROM BOB'S BASEMENT and GI JOE: THE COMPLETE STORY OF AMERICA'S FAVORITE MAN OF ACTION
Rating:
Summary: High Art
Review: Arlen Schumer has done for comic book art what Roy Lichtenstein failed to do...he has elevated, and rightfully so, the art of the comic book to its place as a true art form. And in so doing, he brings the overdue respect to the brilliant creators of the silver age who shaped the art form. This book transcends the idea of comic book art as merely popular culture. This is art folks! A true art form in itself. Schumer had the brilliant notion to show the art as it was meant to be seen...printed from the original comics. Past books that vainly tried to pay tribute to the form would perpetually shoot black and white stats of the original pages, sans color. Here we see the bold colors of the printing process that is so crucial to the form. This book is such a fitting tribute to the talent of these men. If you appreciate art, you will want to own this volume and I will guarantee you will fall in love with every page.
Rating:
Summary: Top-of-the-line Coffee Table Art Book!
Review: Arlen Schumer is perhaps the perfect person to step back and write about the ART of comics from a historical perspective. Not only is he a fan of the medium (and it shows) but he trained under the legendary Neal Adams himself. Mr. Schumer has also presented several lectures about the art of comics, as well as having published a few books (Neal Adams the Sketch Book) and written several articles about specific artists (including Comic Book Artist, Print, Comic Book Marketplace, and others). His commercial work (as half of the team "The Dynamic Duo" constantly evokes images of comicbook superheroes. However, in this work, he goes beyond himself by graphically displaying several of the acclaimed masters of the field from the medium's Silver Age. In this book, he visually presents us with the works of Infantino, Adams, Kirby, Ditko, Kane, Kubert, Colan, Steranko, and more showing us just how these men took an already extraordinary filed, and turned it on its collective ear, while simultaneously catapulting it into the stratosphere. Simply stated, this is THE book to own if you are interested in Comics (especially the Silver Age)!
Rating:
Summary: "Silver Age" is not forgotten!
Review: As a producer, I know execution is the most important part of communicating ideas, and Arlen Schumer understands this too! The Silver Age of Comic Book Art effectively portrays the changes in comics during 1956-1972, and it showcases the illustrators who brought credence to an overlooked uniquely American art form. The featured artists include Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Joe Kubert, and Neal Adams among others. The contributions of each are outlined with their artwork, quotes, and the author's commentary to make a brilliant case that this era replaced throw away pulp fiction with an influential communicative outlet. Don't miss this book!
Rating:
Summary: Silver Age, Tarnished Book...
Review: Before this volume came out, I was really enthused about perusing a volume dedicated to SILVER AGE COMIC ART. But, silly me, I thought the author and publisher would at least obtain the original art pages (or same-size stats of the original pages) from which to shoot the comic art for this book. After all, various prozines/fanzines (most notably Alter Ego) have been able to utilize originals or clear copies thereof from which to reproduce comic art by many classic artists. Sadly, this book reproduces Silver Age comic art from the ACTUAL Silver Age comics themselves, hardly providing any greater clarity or presentation than when the comics were originally published. Printed actual size, the reproductions are no better or worse than the original publication comics. And, the author and publisher go further with questionable production philosophy, printing other art pages and panels too small in size, while printing other items grotesquely large. (By the way, Mr. Schumer, when you greatly ENLARGE a published Silver Age comic book page, you also enlarge all those "red dots" that serve as the "flesh color" for a comic book character -- and it looks downright hideous!) Bad layout and an unnecessary limitation of the classic Silver Age artists presented are also flaws with this volume, one that fails to deliver the quality expected for a book sporting its suggested price tag. My advice is to go "mining" for classic Silver Age art elsewhere, as this publication offers only a new incarnation, "Fool's Silver."
Rating:
Summary: Silver Age, Tarnished Book...
Review: Before this volume came out, I was really enthused about perusing a volume dedicated to SILVER AGE COMIC ART. But, silly me, I thought the author and publisher would at least obtain the original art pages (or same-size stats of the original pages) from which to shoot the comic art for this book. After all, various prozines/fanzines (most notably Alter Ego) have been able to utilize originals or clear copies thereof from which to reproduce comic art by many classic artists. Sadly, this book reproduces Silver Age comic art from the ACTUAL Silver Age comics themselves, hardly providing any greater clarity or presentation than when the comics were originally published. Printed actual size, the reproductions are no better or worse than the original publication comics. And, the author and publisher go further with questionable production philosophy, printing other art pages and panels too small in size, while printing other items grotesquely large. (By the way, Mr. Schumer, when you greatly ENLARGE a published Silver Age comic book page, you also enlarge all those "red dots" that serve as the "flesh color" for a comic book character -- and it looks downright hideous!) Bad layout and an unnecessary limitation of the classic Silver Age artists presented are also flaws with this volume, one that fails to deliver the quality expected for a book sporting its suggested price tag. My advice is to go "mining" for classic Silver Age art elsewhere, as this publication offers only a new incarnation, "Fool's Silver."
Rating:
Summary: This Book is GOLD!
Review: I don't know Arlen Schumer from Adam, but I know that if I were to have someone design my book, this is the guy I'd go to...Now I don't want to seem like some kind of Comic Book Degenerate...But this book is the equivalent of Fan Boy Porn...When I started reading this tome, my palms began to sweat and my heart started beating uncontrolably, and my breathing...well, I can't go into that. This book is like holding a multimedia documentary on Silver Age comics...It's bold, colorful and each page jumps out at you like a perfect frame from the documentary on this subject you've always dreamed about...but instead of disappearing in a rapid succession, this book allows study of each frame until your eyes get tired, and then with the turn of a page, Boom! the sensation starts again! All the artists covered in this book are the ones I grew up with, and collected so I'm there, right from the beginning! But unlike the Marvel and DC Archive/Masterworks books where the designers think they're doing everyone a favor by cleaning up the artwork, and re-coloring the art...this book somehow looks like a real comic...dots and all! Therein lies it's real charm! From the moment I opened it I could not take my eyes off of it...Hell, I want to sleep with this book! This is what a history of Comics should look like, and I can't wait for it's sequel...if you buy the Hardcover, the extra pages seem like they could be taken as a preview of such...Well worth the extra 20 bucks! This might just be the book you've been waiting for!
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