It seems to be the biggest news coming out of San Diego Comicon the past few years has been focused on reprinted material. IDW took top spot in my SDCC reading as they announced three new Artist’s Editions. For the uninitiated Artist’s Editions are reprints of original comic pages at full size with no colours, notes, stains and all. The first volume was last year’s Dave Stevens The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, followed by Walt Simonson’s Thor Artist’s Edition hitting stores next week. These are gorgeous volumes that present readers with a very rare opportunity to see the work as the artist (or artists if there was a different inker) handed it in for colouring and printing.
[quote]San Diego, CA (July 20,2011)—Kicking off the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con with a bang,IDW Publishing today announced the latest expansion to thecompany’s revered art book series with WALLYWOOD’S EC STORIES: ARTIST’S EDTION. The third in the Artist’s Edition series, focuses on one all-time greatest comic book artists, and at the absolute his creative powers: Wally Wood. What Bill Gaines achieved with EC Comics was quite likely, pound for pound,the finest comics line ever produced, and Wally Wood was one of their mainstays, who set an incredibly high artistic standard.
“It’s wonderful to see such an amazing tribute to Wally Wood. IDW has done a top notch job,” said Cathy Gaines-Mifsud. “My Dad would be thrilled, as would Wally.”
An oversized, hardcover collection, WALLY WOOD’S EC STORIES: ARTIST’S EDITION will present Wood’s art the same size as it was originally drawn, and in a book measuring an amazing fifteen inches by twenty-two inches. As with all of IDW’s Artist’s Editions, the art presented will be scanned from the original pages to ensure the highest possible quality reproduction. While appearing to be in black and white, each page was scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—for instance, white-out corrections and blue pencil notations.
WALLY WOOD’S EC STORIES: ARTIST’S EDTION ($125, hardcover, black and white, 144 pages, 15” x 22”) will be available in October.[/quote]
[quote]San Diego, CA (July 21, 2011)—The second day of the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con featured yet another stunning announcement from IDW Publishing: the company’s second Marvel Artist’s Edition collection, JOHN ROMITA’S THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. This must-have collector’s hardcover is the fourth in IDW’s Artist’s Edition series and will offer one hundred and forty-four pages of original Romita Spider-Man art.
Romita took over the art duties on Spider-Man after series co-creator Steve Ditko left the book. It was a hard act to follow, but Romita would soon make the book his own and go on to be arguably the most popular Spider-Man artist to ever draw the wall-crawler.
“John Romita Sr. is one of the most beloved artists to ever pencil for Marvel,” said Artist’s Editions editor Scott Dunbier, “his work is beautiful, the lines he lays down exquisite!”
An oversized, hardcover collection, JOHN ROMITA’S THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: ARTIST’S EDITION will feature 144 pages of beautiful stories and a gorgeous cover gallery. All the pages in the ARTIST’S EDITION will be scanned from original art to ensure the highest possible quality reproduction. While appearing to be in black and white, each page will be scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—for instance, white-out corrections and blue pencil notations.
JOHN ROMITA’S THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: ARTIST’S EDITION ($100, hardcover, black and white, 144 pages,) will be available in stores in 2012.[/quote]
[quote]On this third day of San Diego Comic-Con 2011, IDW Publishing was proud to announce yet another impressive addition to the company’s lauded Artist’s Edition series, with WILL EISNER’S THE SPIRIT: ARTIST’S EDITION. This fifth book in IDW’s series, WILL EISNER’S THE SPIRIT: ARTIST’S EDITION will be only the second edition in the larger, Golden Age size and will available in 2012.
Eisner created The Spirit in 1940 but was soon drafted. Upon his return from War World II, he once again took up the reins of his most notable creation. Eisner went on to produce some of the most memorable and influential stories ever published, and in seven page installments on a weekly schedule! After the Spirit ended in 1952, Eisner explored other commercial ventures until returning to popular sequential storytelling in 1978 with the groundbreaking A Contract With God.
“Will Eisner was a giant in the comics world,” said Artist’s Editions editor Scott Dunbier. “His work is like a how-to textbook for cartoonists, and absolutely breathtaking for fans.”
An oversized, hardcover collection, WILL EISNER’S THE SPIRIT: ARTIST’S EDITION will feature 144 pages of beautiful Will Eisner stories. All the pages in the ARTIST’S EDITION will be scanned from original art to ensure the highest possible quality reproduction. While appearing to be in black and white, each page will be scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—for instance, white-out corrections and blue pencil notations.
“I’ve had the thrill of holding most Will’s original Spirit art in my hands,” said Denis Kitchen, Eisner’s longtime publisher and now art agent for the estate. “But no publication of The Spirit that I or any other publisher has issued over the years has done true justice to Will’s originals. The delicate brush feathering, hint of pencils, even areas of White-out, are effectively lost with standard reproduction. That will finally change when IDW’s large Artist’s Edition comes out. I’m delighted to finally be able to share the sheer pleasure of these authentic reproduction with other aficionados.”
WILL EISNER’S THE SPIRIT: ARTIST’S EDITION ($125, hardcover, black and white, 144 pages, 15” x 22”) will be available in 2012.[/quote]
