The Silver Age of Comic Book Art

Rating:
Summary: Artists Doing Their Jobs
Review: I recently acquired the excellent book The Silver Age of Comic Book Art by Arlen Schumer, and have been joyfully looking it over ever since.

The timing is interesting, since I just finished incorporating several thousand newer comics into my main comics collection, something that gave me the opportunity to revisit comics from the 1930s to the present time, with a lot of the material being from that same 1950s/1960s era that is covered so well in Arlen Schumer's book.

I've tried to stay away from the type of thinking that elevates the things of the past and denigrates current works, and I do realize that great things exist in all time periods. Still, I've found that the comic books of that time period (and especially the examples that are covered in Schumer's book) have an honesty and a lack of pretension about them that exemplify true artistry and offer a timeless quality, while contemporary examples of the same type of stuff seem cold and calculated and so blatant in their attempts to be "on the cutting edge" that they are often hopelessly dated by the time they see print. A lot of current comics material seems to be a more cut-throat version of the lesser works of the latter 1960s wherein misguided and inept ... but straightforwardly innocent ... attempts were made by forty-year old comics creators to speak to their assumed young readership in what they mistakenly took to be those readers' own "fab" and "groovy" language.

It's wonderful to contrast that artificiality with the examples that Schumer offers in The Silver Age of Comic Book Art. He introduces the uninitiated to ... and not-too-subtly reminds the long-time devotees of ... a group of men who, in the process of simply "doing their jobs," wound up creating important and lasting art.

It can be hoped that the book will do well. So many recent books, either made up of cobbled-together "graphic novels" or hurriedly written commentaries on the form and its interesting history, have been foisted on the public (since its been found that there is some interest and, thus, potential sales among bookstore denizens), and it would be a real shame for the superior Silver Age of Comic Book Art to be lost among them.

This book is a precious gem amid a plethora of worthless baubles.

Rating:
Summary: A Blast from the Past
Review: If you were to ask me, I learned how to read by reading Silver Age Comics. Through them, I discovered all about the outside world, and ultimatly made friends with other comicbook readers that have lasted to this day. Reading Mr. Schumer's book brought that back to me, the power of the pictues, the mastery of the design of that four-color world. I recommend this book to everyone who ever picked up a comic. The book is an amazing road map of the '60s comic book experience

Rating:
Summary: What can you say about a book that overwhelms you?
Review: Not since Jules Feiffer's "Great Comic Book Heroes" has one book caught the majesty and imagination of a single era of Comic Books. Arlen's Schumer's book does just that.

"The Silver Age Of Comic Book" surveys the greatest and, perhaps, final great creative period of American Comic Books.

The book is a tad deceiving. While you think you are taking a journey, through pictures, of this era of comic books, Schumer interlacing the pictures with fascinating commentary. Not just but him but by the artists themselves. Infantino says that his work did not mature in the seventies; Steranko discusses his "psychedelic" Art; Gil Kane mentions that he drew more different types of characters than even Kirby and so on. This actually caused me to read the book twice: once for the unbelievable artwork and layout and another for the great commentary.
But what can you say about a book that overwhelms you with great, full color, detailed and enlarged art of the Masters like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. We see Ditko's the development of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, his creation of Mr. A and the Question and, finally, The Creeper and the Hawk and the Dove for DC. Wow!

Kirby's section, which could easily fill an entire book, takes us through his Marvel era into the Fourth world. Schumer compares the first cover of the Fantastic Four to the Justice League and we can see the similarity! We get a glimpse of the real face of Dr. Doom and a host of untraditional collages, none of the typical, usual artwork or layout. The material seems to by flying of the page.

While Schumer covers the material of Infantino, Kubert, Adams and many others, my favorite section is his on "Steranko." Steranko himself could not have put together a better tribute. This section just blows me away. I am not going to explain it; you have to see it to believe it.

If you are more interested in the creations than the creators, they are here too. Spider-Man, Daredevil, Iron Man, Superman, Batman, Deadman, Green Lantern, the Flash, are here in glorious (and restored?) color.

If there is any problem with the book is that it is too short. Another couple of hundred pages would have been fine. Although the book is about the Silver Age Artists, Schumer does not back away from showing the influence of Will Eisner, famous for his work in the Golden Age on such Artists as Infantino and Steranko. I hope that there are more books like this to come.

Rating:
Summary: Softcover buyer beware
Review: Take heed. The softcover omits 16 or so pages from the hardcover, so you don't get the mini-features on Wallace Wood, Curt Swan, Nick Cardy, Murphy Anderson, and John Buscema which I really wanted to see. I think it's a really cheap move on Collectors Press' part. Why couldn't they have included those 16 extra pages? If they are trying to entice people to buy the hardcover, why bother making a softcover edition at all? Otherwise, a beautiful book.

Rating:
Summary: silver age of comic book art
Review: The author, Arlen Schumer, hit home on three levels. Not only did he nicely juxtapose what was going on in the world with what was transpiring in the world of comics, he also put comic art's advancements in context with developments in so-called fine art (especially the pop art movement). Finally, he beautifully captured, through his commentary and through their direct quotes, what each artist was bringing to the table in terms of personal philosophy. By allowing each of the creators to express what they were striving to accomplish as they honed their talents to the optimum, he gives a whole new meaning to the "integrity of comic book art."

Rating:
Summary: Homage to comic book artists
Review: The period 1956 to 1970 is considered to be a very influential one in the history of comic books. This book looks at the careers of eight influential artists of the time, including Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane and Jim Steranko. These artists redefined the art form and created timeless comic book characters.

The author also looks at the literary and sociological aspects of this period and how these were reflected in the work of these pioneering artists. The actual art is presented in an enlarged form on full or double pages. There is biographical information on each of the eight artists as well as some of their own quotes and thoughts. I found the section on Steve Ditko especially interesting and enlightening.

The layout is most impressive and Schumer is a great analyst of the trends and styles of comic book art. I think The Silver Age Of Comic Book Art is a masterpiece and the definitive investigation of the art of the important period that it covers.

Rating:
Summary: neal adams=arrogant moron
Review: This book concludes with a brief chapter on Neal Adams who in the author's words "set the bar higher than any other artist could reach." He goes on to say how incredibly realistic his anatomy is and how emotive the facial expressions are. Neal Adams is the worst artist in this book. His figures are stiff, awkward, and uninspired. The "emotion" rings hollow and is frequently overdramatic. e.g. tears running down faces, scenes of forced anguish, despair. stomach-churning stuff. Adams also seems to have an inflated view of his drawing abilities. The book ends with this off the wall quote from Adams: "Nobody says they want to draw as well as Jack Kirby. His work is like a wall ... its just there - it fufills itself. ... My work is more like a promise. In a sense my work said you now have permission to do great work in comics. I now present comic books as potential. The challenge is, this is what I've done. What can you do?"
Some of the other creators, in contrast to Adams, present bizarre evidence of self-hatred, claiming that comics aren't art but merely "storytelling", as if the fact that their pictures told stories somehow precluded any possibility of art. clearly, a ludicrous suggestion. take, for example, the sistine cieling. tells the story of genesis. comics are art. just not necessarily good art.
overall an interesting book with compelling imagery esp. kubert and steranko, unfortuneately marred by neurotic and misguided commentary.

Rating:
Summary: High Voltage
Review: This book is a milestone--an audacious take on book design and a great read. Of course I'm a fan of the subject, but this was a new way to look at the art and the period. Arlen Schumer presents the Silver Age in the sprit of the time: sensory overload. Don't expect the usual historical presentation or conventional layout--that's been done before. Schumer has collected a wealth of surprising connections between Silver Age comics and the tumultuous times that inspired them. I was particularly interested in the influence Ditko and Kirby had on 60's poster art. Having worked at the Fillmore East I treasured the work of Stanley Mouse, David Bryd and the other Bay area poster artists who clearly were fans of the comics. Schumer's insights are a tribute to both.

I have a shelf full of histories of comic book art and have read many more that I don't own-THE SILVER AGE OF COMIC BOOK ART stands out for the turned on layouts and the author's passionate text.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful book
Review: This book is fantastic. Anyone with an appreciation for comic books will love this.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly assembled
Review: This book is virtually worthless to those of us who are iunterested in owning a quality collection of the silver age comics we remember from '66-71. The writing is printed in a fake "comic book" lettering style that is impossible to read against the jumbled mess of cluttered color underneath. Extremely amateurish in layout and design, it has nothing to offer the art lover. The choices in artwork are not the classic images one would hope for, and have nothing to do with the most important developments in the medium. I would not have bought this book if not for the rave reviews here, and now I regret it. Bad on all accounts, I will porobably never open the book again. An insult to the great creators that contributed so much to my youth, this book is virtually a total rip-off.