Book Palace Books kindly sent me a copy of their limited edition hard edition of illustrators issue 41, now available to pre-order. The editorial team are deservedly excited about, and should be very proud of this issue, featuring articles on artists Greg Staples, his striking Dracula art on the cover, James Montgomery Flagg, Sergio Toppi and R. Kikuo Johnson.
This edition leads with a wide-ranging and informative interview with Greg Staples, well known for his work on 2000AD, his illustrations of Robert E Howard characters such as Conan the Barbarian, and bringing the Universal film monsters to startling life.
Covering his work across comics, conceptual designs for movies, and his art for trading card games, it’s a fascinating and wide ranging interview, full of anecdotes and background information on some of Greg’s many works, worth the admission fee alone.
Not content with this we also get insights into the digital artwork of Hawaiian-born New Yorker R Kikuo Johnson, and a fantastic profile of James Montgomery Flagg, arguably responsible for recruiting every American male into the army with his iconic World War One poster.
Finally, there’s a superb profile of one of Italy’s most original comic strip artists, Sergio Toppi, whose work stunned and delighted his fans for decades during his lifetime, leaving behind an incredible body of influential work still marvelled at today.
The level of research and amount of information offered in these profiles is, as ever, a delight; the stories of the profiled artists told in style and an enjoyable manner, never drily. Alongside carefully chosen example well captioned artworks, the combination of words and pictures offers an entertaining, absorbing read.
The hardcover edition isn’t cheap, the cover price reflecting its short run and editorial cost of securing image usage permissions, but if you’re a fan of the creative process this is another fine edition of this terrific ongoing title you may not wish to miss out on.
John Freeman
A Book Palace Books publication.
Artists: Greg Staples, R Kikuo Johnson, James Montgomery Flagg, Sergio Toppi
Publisher: Book Palace Books, Due July 2023
Number of pages: 96
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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