The Art of Marc Silvestri: Deluxe Edition (Top Cow Productions, Inc. Presents) [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Marc Silvestri was among the half-dozen or so artists who broke away from the mainstream to form Image Comics in 1992. In many ways, this move was one of the many factors that led to the comic book industry "Jumping the shark" in the mid-90s. Hot artists became the rage and soon the stories became secondary. Fans clamored for heroes with bigger muscles and women with disproportionately large boobs, and Image was a hit. The biggest loss, however, wasn't Todd McFarlane, the coattail-riding Erik Larsen, or the insipid Rob Liefeld, it was instead two other artists who were not quite as well-known at the time, Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri.

Early on in their Image runs Lee and Silvestri developed super team titles (WildC.A.T.S & Cyberforce) that while not particularly outstanding, showcased artistic talent that was beyond the rest of their partners. Under the Top Cow Imprint, Silvestri co-created one of the most popular and long-running characters outside of Marvel and DC, Witchblade in 1995. A year later, he created another stalwart Top Cow character, The Darkness.

Top Cow has released the Art of Marc Silvestri, a 96 page, over-sized hardcover showcasing his art throughout different periods of twenty year career in comics. The first chapter is simply titled "The Icons" and focuses on his Top Cow characters. Most of the pieces in the book provide side-by-side comparisons between the penciled and finished versions of the illustration. The design of the Witchblade "costume" remains one of the more ingenious in history.

Next up is the "Classic Covers" chapter and includes several of Marc's most famous cover art illustrations including the Wolverine crucifixion from X-Men #251 and the cross-overs between Batman and the Darkness and the JLA/Cyberfoce team-up.

The book rounds out with selected works from Dynamite Entertainment, Image Comics, and recent Top Cow work. These include illustrations of Red Sonja, Aphrodite IX, Hunter-Killer, and Wanted. One of the more intriguing illustrations is actually the last one in the book. A commissioned pencil drawing not of a superhero or one of Silvestri's well-known characters, but rather a portrait of a middle-ages or Renaissance-era woman.

It's a welcome change to see Marc doing a classical piece of illustration and it's extraordinary. It's the kind of work that could be considered on the same par with illustrators such as Roy Krenkel, J. Allen St. John, or Burne Hogarth. I think fans would love to see more of this kind of work from Silvestri as it displays his pure talent and shows that he is much more than just a comic book artist.

The $29.95 price tag seems a bit steep considering the book is just 96 pages and, as mentioned, you are getting quite a few comparison pages between the penciled and finished product so the number of different pieces if fewer than the page count. That said, it's great to see Silvestri get a dedicated collection of his work.

I am a huge fan of fantasy art. You can take pictures of people and everyday events all you want, but the art in this book is of things straight out of the imagination. That is true creativity. Don't discount this as just comic book art, it is well done and will be appreciated by those who have an eye for detail. Marc Silvestri has obvious talent, but I was put off by the endorsements of his underlings and co-workers, seemed kind of patronizing. Art speaks for itself; and should have been left to it's own story. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this book says volumes. Most all the finished colored pictures has a black and white drawing that it came from. It will help you appreciate not only the creativity that it took to make the drawing, but also the skill it took to colorize it. Most images have a dark theme and some contain sensuality. This is probably not for younger children, but teens who show an interest in art will probably be inspired by this book. Highly recommended.

Bought this the same time as the Art of Jim Lee book. This book is about 1/10 the size of the other one and it's filled mostly with artwork that I already own from his comic books. If you're as big of a fan of Marc Silvestri as I am, then you already have all the art that's contained in this book - therefore, no need to buy it.