Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51387 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

INSPIRING.
First i bought 'Draw Comics The Marvel Way' which in my opinion is one of the most important books of the genre. I'm not a huge DC fan but i figured i better get the best of both worlds to stand a chance if i decide to present my work professionaly. Well, what can i say? This book delivers alot of info, not unlike the Marvel book in many respects but in a very different way. Essentially its more advanced than the Marvel book with a more proffesional overview also with great advice on breaking into the proffesion. If your an aspiring comic artist and DC fan then buy this book. If your a Marvel man (or woman!) buy this book so you can appreciate DC,i've had a 180 turn around since buying this book - DC i officially appologise for not appreciating you sooner!!

A solid introduction to the pencilling end of comic books
"The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics" by Klaus Janson introduces wannabee comic book artists and fans of the art form to a more detailed appreciation of what goes into drawing pages for "Batman" than they will have picked up through osmosis or imitation to date. Janson divides the fifteen chapters in this volume into three parts focusing on Drawing, Storytelling, and Pencilling designed to provide an introduction to one of the most difficult of art forms:

Part One Drawing: (1) Materials outlines what supplies an artist needs in terms of paper, pencils, erasers, rulers and templates; (2) Shapes are presented as the foundation of the creative process of drawing, the general concept from which the artist moves to more specific ones; (3) Faces looks at both the basic geometric elements in composing a face and the artistic range available through example of faces drawn by Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, and Neal Adams; (4) Anatomy covers both the structure and design of the human body, including all the muscles, with special attention paid to the most difficult thing in the world to draw, the hands; (5) Clothing establishes the four basic dynamics that shape the folds and wrinkles of a person's clothing; and (6) Perspective, which is covered from the fundamentals to the use of vanishing points and systems of perspective. This unit is the most instructive in the book since it deals with the basic building blocks.

Part Two Storytelling: (7) Juxtaposition establishes the uniqueness of comic book art in terms of how sequential art functions in the eyes of the reader, featuring diverse examples by Eduardo Risso, Sean Phillips, and Dave Taylor; (8) How to Lay Out a Page starts with the grid approach and then moves to the free-form end of the spectrum, starting with an example by Jack Kirby and then moving on to some by Neal Adams and Walt Simonson. Janson explains the value of insert panel and breaking borders, along with the larger pictures need for covers, splash pages, and double-page spreads; (9) Storytelling is considered as being judged by the criteria of clarity and entertainment, just like telling a joke; (10) Composition takes us down to the level of individual frames, looking at how the process of combining elements together to form a united whole; (11) Shots and Angles parallels what we know about such things from cinematography; and (12) Movement examines the one inherent disadvantage of comic art, which is trying to show movement in a static image.

Part Three Pencilling: (13) Procedure lays out how most comic books are written, so you can see where the penciller comes into the process; (14) Breaking In has Janson offering advice on how to break into the business in a professional manner; and (15) Anatomy of a Story has Janson walking us through the drawing of "Good Evening, Midnight," a story he wrote and drew for "Batman Black and White" #3.

"The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics" provides exactly what it promises: a clear-cut introduction to the fundamentals of drawing comic books. As to the fact that the vast majority of illustration examples in this volume are not pencilled but inked, I would point out a couple of pragmatic facts that would explain why. First, inked examples look better than pencilled examples. Second, given that Janson is using examples from real DC Comics, these are covers and pages of art that are already inked. Still, I would agree that more examples of pencilled art would have been nice, although I certainly like what Janson does in Chapter 15, "Anatomy of a Story," where we see layouts, pencilled, and inked pages side-by-side to have a full appreciation of the transformation wrought by the inker.

The companion volume to this work, "The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics," is authored by Dennis O'Neil. Along with Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" and "Reinventing Comics," as well as Will Eisner's "Comics and Sequential Art" and "Graphic Storytelling," and John Buscema's "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," these two DC volumes are worthy additions to the limited library that every aspiring comic book writer/artist should have next to their computer/drawing table.

It's good but
As a stand-alone book on learning to illustrate superhero figures and comics etc it is pretty good. If you are thinking of purchasing this book then you must already be aware of the DC main characters - way cooler than the Marvel ones.
However, if you already own How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way, then I wouldn't say you need to rush out and buy this book. The Marvel effort may look a bit old fashioned by today's standards, but in my opinion it is well written and lays it all out effortlessly.

I of course bought the Marvel book first. DC Comics Guide to Pencilling is a great accompaniment, and it further helps you along your way to drawing top notch superheroes and comics alike. It has a couple of bits which give you a bit more of an insight than the Marvel book, but really if you want to learn how to draw a comic then go and get the Marvel version.