The Art of Neal Adams Book Review

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The Art of Neal Adams Book Review

About the Book: From his Ben Casey newspaper strips to Creepy magazine work to groundbreaking comic books, Adams' work serves as an inspiration for every illustrator who works in the field to this day. His topflight 60s and '70s Marvel and DC work are perennial sellers in infinite repackaging. Coinciding with the launch of his Continuity Studio, Adams expanded into cutting-edge advertising work, amusement park ride design, magazine illustration, animation, and paperback book covers. Included in this collection are classic and rare works spanning the artist's noted career and a unique selection of Neal's seldom-seen paintings. Fully annotated by the artist.

Our Take: Neal Adams is one of the most prolific and talented comic book artists of the past quarter century.  His work in fantasy, horror and savage art is world-renowned, but my favorite examples of his work come from the iconic world of Dc Comics' Batman!   Not only was he responsible for a good portion of the merchandise designs from the Batman Forever movie, but he co-created Ra's Al Ghul with Dennis O'Neil!  His talents gave the iconic villain a face.  This new art book features a TON of artwork from all facets of Adams' work, including the Bat.  A lot of pencil work and sketches, along with full-color artwork.  This one is a must for any huge nerd, such as myself!

How to Buy: The Official Vanguard Productions website

The Art of Disney Tangled Book Review

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The Art of Disney Tangled Book Review

About the Book: A lighthearted twist on Rapunzel, the beloved fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, Tangled brims with thrilling adventure, a distinctive cast of characters, a daring heroine, and, of course, seventy feet of golden hair. Featuring the stunning concept art behind the newest Disney masterpiece, The Art of Tangled also includes a preface by John Lasseter, a foreword by Directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, and interviews with the artists, animators, and production team—including Art Director David Goetz—that shed light on the history and artistry of this landmark film.

Our Take: Disney has taken a step back towards classic hand-drawn 2D animation and we couldn't be happier about it!  Tangled turns out to be the best 2D Disney feature we've seen since the Little Mermaid.  Its charming and delicate on one side and absolutely hilarious and fun on the other.  The film is so well-rounded that my all-boy 8 year old boy absolutely enjoyed it.  This one is great for the little princess AND prince in your life!  Mom and Dad enjoyed themselves too!  This one is for the whole family.

This fantastic hardcover book features a full-color dust-jacketed cover with artwork from the film.  The artwork by Glen and Claire Keane features a lot of great character design and development.  The work by David Goetz also stands out amongst the frey.  The book offers everything from storyboards and character development to backrounds and production paintings.  Its an amazing look behind the scenes of a Disney animated feature!  The forward by the great John Lasseter is a great draw too.  We highly recommend this one!

How to Buy: Amazon.com

The Ballad of Rango: The Art & Making of an Outlaw Film Book Review

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The Ballad of Rango: The Art & Making of an Outlaw Film Book Review

About the Book: Unlike any animated feature you’ve seen before, Rango is an utterly unique story from acclaimed director Gore Verbinski, and features the voice of Johnny Depp and other regulars from Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean films. Blending off-beat humor with a Gonzo visual style and the enduring heroic archetypes of the Western, this highly entertaining adventure marks the debut for Verbinski’s production studio, BlindWink, and is the first animated feature from Industrial Light & Magic.

An actor by nature, Rango has developed a habit of trying on different guises while in his lonely cage—his head filled with dreams of being a swashbuckler, a musician, a knight, and many other leading man types. When this hapless reptile wanders into the town of Dirt, he can’t help but play to his audience, assuming the role of the Western hero. Boasting of his gun-slinging prowess to the locals, he inevitably stirs up a hornet’s nest. Soon he finds himself at the center of action, wearing the sheriff’s star and forced to take on the fearsome gunman Rattlesnake Jake.

Rango, like its lead character, is a film that set out one day to find itself and did, to great effect. Illustrated with some of the most vivid and visually creative concept art produced for any animation to date, The Ballad of Rango tells its story like it is.

Our Take: This beautiful hardcover book has a high-quality dust jacket.  The book entails how director Gore Verbinski took time after his hit Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy to make an animated feature..and thus Rango was born!  Rango has become the little feature that could.  In a market when films are having trouble making money it has consistantly made good profits week after week and after home video sales its sure to make a decent profit.

The book features a lot of great character and production art that shows some evolution to the character designs. We also get backrounds and painted production artwork.  The general story of the film is detailed in the book, along with a lot of behind the scenes peeks into what went into making this delightful animated feature.   A must for any fan of the film..or just of animation in general.

How to Buy: Amazon.com

The Stink of Love: Pepe Le Pew's Guide to L'Amour Book Review

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The Stink of Love: Pepe Le Pew's Guide to L'Amour Book Review

About the Book: Learn from the master of l’amour! In The Stink of Love, Monsieur Pepé Le Pew tells readers how to charm a belle femme with helpful chapters on Grooming, The Chase, and Couplehood. Let Pepé tells how to put one's best paw forward on the path to love, how to anticipate a potential mate’s needs and desires, how to woo and romance, and — most importantly — how to hold on to her! As Pepé says, “there is very little difference between men and women, but vivre le difference!" Mais oui, love is a many splendored thing! As the world turns to shades of pink and red, cynics can warm their hearts and laugh out loud to Pepé’s cheerful self-delusion. Deems-Mogyordy’s writing is pitch-perfect Pepé Le Pew, completely in character. As Pepé might say, “Cherchez la femme!”

Our Take: This fun little novely book is a release from Insight Editions.  The hardcover book features an image on each page, mostly from past WB animated features, and little love quotes and tips from Pepe Le Pew!  This is a great present to give to your sweetheart to show him/her you're thinking of them. 

How to Buy: Amazon.com

The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons Book Review

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The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons Book Review

About the Book: In a world of rascally rabbits, megalomaniacal ducks, and stuttering pigs, what defines greatness? This question was posed to thousands of cartoon fans, historians, and animators to create The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons, the definitive Looney Tunes collection. Evaluated on their comedic brilliance, innovative animation, historical significance, and creative merit, cartoon historian Jerry Beck and the Cartoon Brew team of animation experts reveal the amusing anecdotes and secret origins behind such classics as “What’s Opera, Doc?,” “One Froggy Evening,” and “Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century.” Featuring more than 300 pieces of original art from private collectors and the Warner Bros. archives, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons settles the debate on the best of the best, and poses a new question: Is your favorite one of the greatest?

Our Take: We love animation here at the Legion.  If you enjoy animation at all you have to concede that some of the best animated shorts of the 20th century came from the Warner Brothers studio and the Looney Tunes franchise.  This new book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons, chronicles some of the greatest.

This hardcover book features over 200 pages with a nice title logo for each episode, along with full-color pictures, synopsis of the story and commentary of memories from someone in the industry.  We also get a list of the crew for reference.  This book is fantastic for anyone that enjoys archiving animation history.  Although I take umbridge with a few of the selections, its still a great book.

How to Buy: Amazon.com