On sale date: September 7, 2014
This collects Drew Friedman’s portraits of famous and not-so-famous cartoonists: the men and women who created superheroes, Mad magazine, and much more.
Featuring over 80 full-color portraits of the pioneering legends of American comic books, including publishers, editors and artists from the industry’s birth in the ’30s, through the brilliant artists and writers of behind EC Comics in the ’50s. All lovingly rendered and chosen by Drew Friedman, a cartooning legend in his own right. Featuring subjects popular and obscure, men and women, as well as several pioneering African-American artists. Each subject features a short essay by Friedman, who grew up knowing many of the subjects included (as the son of writer Bruce Jay Friedman), including Stan Lee, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner, Mort Drucker, Al Jaffee, Jack Davis, Will Elder, and Bill Gaines. More names you might recognize: Barks, Crumb, Wood, Wolverton, Frazetta, Siegel & Shuster, Kirby, Cole, Ditko, Werthem… it’s a Hall of Fame of comic book history from the man BoingBoing.com call "America’s greatest living portrait artist!"
Praise
"Drew Friedman's Heroes of the Comics is a singular book, hard to categorize and yet sure to appeal to many fans. …Heroes of the Comics… shows the medium's defining faces in new, sometimes touching, and sometimes grotesque lights." — Tim O'Neil - The A.V. Club
"...[T]his collection of 85 mostly unknown faces is as exciting to my eye as most comics are -- and the short biographies are nice to have, too. Friedman is known for adroitly capturing gesture, mood, and psychological nuance in vivid portraits somehow combining elements of caricature and realism. ... Each of his portraits feels so alive, it is like being welcomed into each artist's private world." — Steven Heller - The Atlantic
"Heroes of the Comics by Drew Friedman is one of the best books of the year! If you love comic books and the people who created them -- this is a must-have!" — Jerry Beck - Cartoon Research
"Drew Friedman… has done it again, with his lovingly crafted collection of comic book creator portraits… Next to each portrait is a short lovingly written appreciation." — HEEB
"The portraits are a genuine insight and reflection of the person and their contribution. Special kudos to Drew for his careful research so that the bios are accurate and help to add to the ongoing study of how it all began in comics." — Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson - The Beat
Specs
- Pages
- 184
- Format
- Hardback
- Color
- Full color.
- Dimensions
- 9.3" × 12.4"
- ISBN-13
- 9781606997314