Beyond Watchmen and Judge Dredd: The Art of John Higgins Paperback – Import, 14 February 2017

Great book, full of great art too.

When I was younger, so-called comic book art was highly collectible, but not particularly appreciated by the more sophisticated art lover. They rather tossed comic book art and later the graphic novel, into the heap with illustrators like N.C. Wyeth. Good, but not great and certainly not artists. As a huge fan of the old-time illustrators, it was no surprise that I ended I loving the graphic novel. Many youngsters I’m privileged to know and deal with use the graphic novel as their main form of entertainment. The much-loved comic book was, in my generation, a similar phenomenon.The interest for me with this particular book was the hows and whys behind the art ... and it is art. I have seen some of the early or preliminary work of N.C. Wyeth and in fact, own one. This book is fantastic in that we learn about the world of the “comic book artist.” There’s even stuff on the art of the deal and how to negotiate wisely, but never “give them your best ideas ... but rather keep your own completely original ideas to yourself.” Unless of course their offer is irresistibly fame ‘n fortune making. This book is simply a treasure trove on the art and the artist, something that drew me to the book.Whether you are a graphic novelist / comic book artist or just a fan of the art form, you’ll love taking a journey down memory lane in this book. The illustrations are plentiful and absolutely stunning. In the back of the book is a very comprehensive bibliography from 1975 to 2017. The perfect book for the freelance artist, but also for someone like me who loves the history of illustration and the illustrators as well as the graphic novel. A somewhat pricey book, but with the number of illustrations and high gloss paper, it’s well worth the asking price.

this book really is fantastic. any fan, comic book enthusiast or aspiring artist will love it. glossy pages, lots of detail. highly recommended. the only thing that could top this book is a hardcover version.

This is simply an outstanding tome of comic art knowledge. Highly appealing to either the practitioner, student or admirer of technique in modern comic book art, coloring, and design. The book is loaded with great color images by John Higgins. Most table top books aimed at artful collections sort of bore me, they seldom display the art in a manner superior to the way it was originally displayed (and this book occasionally falls into the "cross the center seam" or shrink it up too small to appreciate the detail) but in Beyond Watchmen the works are not simply displayed with some tidbit of historical information you are likely to forget in a few weeks after reading, it serves as a true study of technique. The dedication to returning to a visual and written explanation of design choices, color systems, and modern manufacturing of comics books is the real payoff for investing into this work.If you are more than a "that's so cool" follower of art, if you want to know more about how the art is made, the business of comics, the relationship between authors and artists (when they are not the same) the complexity of layout, the methods of design - then this is a MUST HAVE for you! If you are more of a patron of the art - it will be more revealing than other "art of" books you are used to - and well worth adding it to your collection. And if you are just a fan, there is enough high quality art to serve. Really a solid effort a more than a few notches above the norm.

A nostalgic read for me — John Higgins brilliantly illustrated my GrailQuest series of gamebooks back in the 1980s snd recalls the experience as pleasurably as I do in an early chapter of his autobiographical Beyond Watchmen. If you’re interested in the work and times of one of the finest fantasy artists of our era, grab this book. You’ll love it.