I’ll be honest, I never really know what
exactly to do with art books. If you’ve followed my writing about comics for
any length of time, it’s easy to tell that I’m very writer-focused. While I’ve
tried many times to overcome this flaw in my approach, it never quite sticks.
I’d loved to lay it on my interest in looking at broad bodies of work by
writers or big runs focused on a character where artists aren’t consistent on
an issue to issue basis, but it’s really just the way I’m wired and prefer to
look at things. But, as anyone will tell you, comics are a visual medium and
this remains a fundamental flaw for me that I continue to work on however
incrementally. And, I mean, I love comics art. For all that I direct my
thoughts and energy to the writing (which is contributed to in a major way by
the art, of course, but that muddiness always trips me up), if there’s
something that’s going to wow me in a comic, 99 times out of 100, it’s an
image. So, I’ve slowly, when the opportunity arises, taken to getting art-focused
books like the Jim Starlin Artist Edition of his
Warlock run or the Artisan Edition of Walt Simonson’s
Thor or even the
DC WIP edition of
All-Star
Superman #1 (and told my shop I want the upcoming editions for
The Dark Knight Returns #1 and
Watchmen #1). Usually, what holds me
back is cost... and the knowledge that I’ll look through these books and
struggle a little with what else to do with him.
Books that present original art are a
challenge for me to engage with, to a degree. While I can look through and
enjoy the art, maybe even read the story in this form, I usually feel like
there’s more I can be getting out of them. Some other level of meaning and appreciation
that I lack. Not simply the expertise in visual art, which would obviously
provide a greater insight, but just something... more. Something extra.
Something that’s lacking. Yet, I persist, because... well, them sure are a lot
of purdy pictures.
My latest foray into books of this sort is
Dark Horse’s The Art of The Mighty Thor,
which came out in early June, and is focused on the works on Jack Kirby and
Walt Simonson. It’s less a new release than a compilation/combination of each
artist’s previous Artist Edition Thor
releases from IDW, taking two issues from the Kirby book and four from the
Simonson one to reproduce here along with the odd other piece of art and some
covers. If you already own those other releases, there’s not much here for you,
I imagine, besides Simonson and the editor’s introductions, and the desire to
just have another edition. Between editions, there are some notable changes
from what I can discern, with mixed results.
I only have the softcover Artisan Edition
of Simonson’s
Thor to compare. While
The Art of The Mighty Thor is larger in
dimensions than it, it’s also smaller than the full hardcover Artist Edition
releases (or Artifact Editions – see picture to judge dimensions of various
releases from the giant
Kirby Is...
Mighty! hardcover down to the regular trade paperback release), which is
still large but not unwieldy. How much the size of the page matters versus how
easy the book is to manage physically is a tough one to navigate. Too big and
the book is a bit of a burden to actually sit down and engage with; too small
and it loses the ability to really showcase the desired details.
The Art of The Mighty Thor manages to
hit that middle ground nicely as it seems like it’s trying to satisfy both the
hardcore and maybe the more regular coffee table book lover.
Which probably explains the focus on only
Kirby and Simonson.
I’ll admit that this release is more of a
‘best of’ release of their two previous original art reproduction books is a
little frustrating. Admittedly, those previous releases are out of print and
only available second-hand for inflated prices, so I get wanting to get them
back into print and doing a book with both Kirby and Simonson hits the two
‘high points’ of Thor art as
generally accepted by the masses. More than that, the scans of the original art
already exist, making this an easier book to put together than searching for
additional/previously unreleased art to use. So, I get it.
But.
There remains a part of me that would have
liked a book titled The Art of The Mighty
Thor to go beyond these two artists who have long been held in such high
esteem on the title so as to overshadow everyone else. When you’ve got artists
like John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Ron Frenz, Mike Deodato, John Romita, Jr.,
Stuart Immonen, Olivier Coipel, Esad Ribić, Russell Dauterman, Pasqual Ferry,
and so many others over the years to choose from, there’s a lack here.
Especially when you account for the previous Kirby and Simonson books. There’s
the I get it element fighting up
against the Yeah but one.
Moving past that and getting into choices
made with the material at hand. Comparing the Simonson Artisan Edition to this,
the level of detail you can see in the reproduction is much better in this
edition. The way that the use of white out is highlighted is so much easier to
see intricately than what’s visible in the pages in the Artisan Edition. I’m
sure there’s still minute details lost to the process, but that element of
production is top notch here. What I struggle with is the amount of each page
we’re given. In the Artist(isan) Editions, the pages are reproduced in full in
that the whole art board is shown, beyond the actual dimensions of the comic
page drawing, so you can see the top notation for the comic/issue/page and any
border notes. In
The Art of The Mighty
Thor, they zoom in to have the art mirror how the comic looks as much as
possible with beyond-the-borders barely visible. In the Simonson pages, this
isn’t a huge deal as there are barely any notations there; the Kirby pages are
another story. Kirby frequently wrote story/dialogue notes in the margins of
the pages for Stan Lee to reference when scripting the issue to know what
Kirby’s intent was. Those sorts of details are a big part of the appeal of
books like this, that ability to peek into the creative process and see where
Kirby’s intent and Lee’s execution was the same and where it differed. Losing
those notations is such a baffling choice. It’s probably the biggest flaw with
this book and, as far as editorial choices go, one of the worst I’ve seen when
it comes to a project like this.
The other choice that I really question
and, here we get into the question of what this book is. After all, it isn’t
simply an Artist(isan) or Artifact Edition like what IDW put out. It’s titled The Art of The Mighty Thor, emphasising
the idea of showcasing art. Not original art pages... art. So, bookending the
Kirby issues shown here and following the Simonson ones are cover collections
for each artist’s Thor runs (Journey into Mystery is completely
excluded, which is another choice, of course). Some covers are given the full
page treatment, while others are put three or four to a page. There’s a mixture
of original art reproductions and coloured-as-printed images depending on the
availability of the original art for each cover. Frustrating, to me, is that
not every original art reproduction is given the full page treatment, while
some colour images of the printed covers are. To me, the original art
reproductions should all get their own page, while the others can be crammed
three or four to a page at smaller sizes, even if that means shuffling the
order a little. That five of the six covers for the issues reproduced here have
their original art available and those images are shrunk to accommodate
additional text about the ensuing comic is also a disappointing choice. I
understand where that one is coming from, but a different solution should have
been found so those covers can be seen as large as possible.
(A minor idea that I would have liked:
maybe with some covers or pages, give a few examples of the original art next
to the printed comic to really highlight what’s different. Not required, but
one of those ‘would have been nice’ things that I couldn’t help but think
about, particularly when seeing the colour printed covers included.)
The last choice I’d like to quickly touch
on is the choice of issues selected here: for Kirby, it’s Thor annual #2 and Thor
#134; for Simonson, it’s Thor
#337-340. That means, what’s left out of previous collections are: for Kirby,
it’s Journey into Mystery #111, 117,
and 118 along with Thor #135; for
Simonson, it’s Thor #360-362. We’ll
assume that there was a relatively hard page count for this release that Dark
Horse was aiming to hit and that’s an understandable concern. We also know that
there’s the choice to limit this book to art from Thor, so the Journey into
Mystery work is necessarily excluded. The page limit means losing the three
additional Simonson issues makes sense, but I can’t see the argument for losing
Thor #135. Coupled with the cover
gallery choice, I know I would have rather had that additional Kirby issue
included than the covers – and to balance out the Simonson ‘half’ of the book a
bit more. An annual and two regular issues against four regular issues is a
pretty fair split. I’d love to know why it was left out and hope there was
something better than page count/price point as the reason.
All of that would suggest that I’m unhappy
with the book when that’s far from true. It’s really that books like this
invite diving into the details of editorial and production choices – and it’s
important to highlight that those choices exist and impact the experience of
the book. Some great choices are the inclusion of additional art peppered
through the introductions by Simonson and the editors. One that really stood
out to me was a piece that Simonson did for an ad in Marvel Age #6 to hype Thor
#337 showing Beta Ray Bill holding Mjolnir and decked out in his full
Thor-esque costume. If the art looks familiar, that’s because Simonson
repurposed it in Thor #339 for the
reveal of Beta Ray Bill after he pulls Stormbreaker from the forge for the
first time. Comparing the two pieces, you can see how white out was used to
help change Mjolnir into Stormbreaker, how Bill’s glove was changed to the
gauntlet required to grab the hammer, and even how the date next to Simonson’s
signature is taken out. It’s a neat look into the behind the scenes process
that went into this amazing page.
Actually, thanks to the quality production,
it’s the huge use of white out that really leaps off the page. Just how much it
was used to correct or accentuate the art cannot be understated. It’s kind of
surprising how each page is peppered with small and large
corrections/alterations. Or even details like the cover to Thor #362 where you can see the pasting on of a new version of
Skurge’s arm holding the gun. Those small details are so fun to examine – for
me, more the ones where it’s alterations to add additional details, like using
white out to highlight the lines on the Destroyer’s armour in parts where
there’s black shading.
Engaging with the art of Kirby and Simonson
itself... For Kirby, what stands out to me is the variety in his approaches. We
tend to think of Kirby, particularly on Thor,
as these big bold lines heavy with power and force. While that’s true, there’s
often these moments of contrast and intricate detail that leaps off the page.
When the High Evolutionary is using a wolf in his experiments, the line work on
the wolf is so fine and un-Kirby-like that it’s lost in the final comic a bit
by the colours. Here, it pops off the page for the purposeful choice that it
is. In these original pages, you get a better sense of the space being used.
That’s probably what stands out in Simonson’s pages the most, for me. Like
Kirby, he’s so good at singular images that work on their own and in their
larger context, but there are these moments where he uses the space of the page
and individual panel so well to create an effect. Or the way ‘incomplete’
renderings both suggest the final image and add the element of energy as desired.
The interplay of what’s drawn, what’s not, what’s suggested, and what’s left
entirely alone is so much more apparent here.
What I’m left with is
a book that I’m sure I’ll return to again and again despite my nit-picky
critiques of some choices. Even as much as I disagree with some of those
choices, they can’t overwhelm just how lovely it is to flip through these pages
and luxuriate in the work of these two masters. Every time I do, I see
something new, pick up a new detail, linger over a new panel for longer than
before. Maybe each time, I’m getting a bit closer to that bit of extra
understanding I’m reaching for. If not, well... there’s still Kirby and
Simonson and Thor. Hot damn.
