Book Review: Studio Space: The World's Greatest Comic Illustrators At Work

December 7, 2008 by Parka

Comic book readers are in for a treat with this book. 20 renowned artists come together in this book to talk about their life, career and art.

These artists write in first person, talking about how they got started in art, their influences, their schools, studio space and work flow. Included are artworks they have done over their careers with their thoughts. There are really interesting stuff like cringing at old work, or reading about the artist wanting to be with their girlfriends than at the drawing board.

The writeup is authentic and raw. It's very inspiring and motivating to know a bit about the people who create great comics.

At 320 pages, some might complain that the pages devoted to each artists might not be enough. True, but there's a always a compromise between variety and depth.

Since the book is titled Studio Space, there's a good amount written on the artists' working style. Read about their choice of medium, the preparation they do for their projects, where they work and other things they think about. Oh, no, this book doesn't contain a lot of photos into their actual work area.

This book provides incredible depth to comics we read, by giving us the back stories through the eyes of the creators.

Here are the list of 20 artists featured:

Brian Bolland (Judge Dredd, Invisibles)
Dave Gibbons (Watchmen, The Originals, Green Lantern)
Tim Bradstreet (Punisher, Hellblazer)
Howard Chaykin (American Flagg, Mighty Love)
Sean Phillips (Hellblazer, Criminal)
Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy, Enigma)
Joe Kubert (Sgt Rock, Enemy Ace, Kubert School)
Mike Mignola (Hellboy)
Tim Sale (Heroes, Batman Long Halloween)
George Pratt (Batman, Enemy Ace)
Tommy Lee Edwards (Matrix, Batman Begins, Star Wars)
Adam Hughes (Star Wars, Ghost, Wonder Woman)
Sergio Toppi
Walter Simonson (Elric, Thor, Manhunter)
Jim Lee (Batman, X-Men, Superman)
Frank Miller (Sin City, 300, Dark Knight Returns)
Bryan Talbot (Luther Arkwright, Alice in Sunderland)
Alex Ross (Superman, Batman, Marvels)
Steve Dillon (Preacher, Wolverine)
Dave Taylor (Tongue Lash, Batman)

There should be another volume coming up as I've read on blogs that the authors, Joel Meadows and Gary Marshall, are looking for more artists to interview.

Special thanks to Jonrob for providing the book for this short review.