I really like the guys behind TwoMorrows. They made a go of publishing historical magazines and books about comics at a time when few others were. However, their publications are aimed at a core, comic shop-based, male audience that is so clearly irrelevant to what I enjoy about the medium. Take, for instance, this latest volume, the 29th. (It’s labeled 30 because number 23 never came out.) As the series has progressed, the subjects have gone from well-known, acclaimed creators […]

I know a little about how these books are put together. Selection of a “master” depends on expected sales (of course), so they have to have an existing fanbase; whether the subject is willing to participate, to get all the historical art and sketchbook pages; along similar lines, possession of a substantial body of work; being a “name” to the comic market (so most often, some superhero work history); and apparently, a Y chromosome. I started thinking about this, because […]

The usual Modern Masters subjects are most famous for their superhero work, with volumes on such well-known names as George Pérez, Alan Davis, John Byrne, and more recently, Chris Sprouse, Mike Ploog, and Mark Buckingham. While there have been fantasy artists featured in the past (see book 11, dedicated to Charles Vess, for example), the artists covered are still best-known to denizens of comic shops, with success within the direct market. This volume on Jeff Smith is thus something of […]

Out this month are two new volumes in the TwoMorrows Modern Masters interview/art book series, both by Eric Nolen-Weathington, the series editor. The first is dedicated to Mark Buckingham, whose credits include Death: The High Cost of Living, Fables, and Miracleman. Note that he did not, as I first thought, draw Ultimate Spider-Man. That’s a different Mark B., Bagley. Obviously, I need the education this volume provides. Neil Gaiman’s introduction starts things off with praise for Bucky’s skill and versatility. […]

I’m still waiting for TwoMorrows to deem a woman worthy of inclusion in their Modern Masters line of interview books, but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy this Chris Sprouse volume, co-written by our friend Todd Dezago. (The other writer is nice guy Eric Nolen-Weathington.) I find Sprouse’s clean art lovely in its simplicity, and he works incredibly hard to achieve that appearance. As with the other Modern Masters books, the text is a lengthy interview in which the subject talks […]

I’ve been anticipating this entry in the TwoMorrows Modern Masters series since it was announced last spring. I don’t know why it was delayed, but I’m anticipating some lovely art examples and the typical lengthy interview. Modern Masters: Cliff Chiang is the 29th book in the series (by numbering — it’s actually 28, because Volume 23, Darwyn Cooke, never came out). Its new release date is January 29, three weeks away, and there’s a preview available at the publisher’s website. […]