Arthur Suydam - The Art Of The Barbarian
(2005 - Heavy Metal) 
[subtitled 'Conan - Tarzan - Death Dealer'] O.K., there are few editions you might encounter in trying to secure this volume, but you need to focus on only one, the hardback edition release by Heavy Metal, additionally entitled "Special Edition". Image Comics had a 62-page edition that has on the cover "Arthur Suydam: The Art Of CONAN The Barbarian" and is referred to as "Volume/Chapter 1" (and was indeed followed-up by a "Volume/Chapter 2" that unfortunately uses the same painting for its cover as does the Special Edition). Then the same company released a staple-bound edition, entitled as is our entry here, that has 78 pages. The more desirable Heavy Metal edition has 94 pages with 61 art pages (53 being large reproductions). The group of paintings seem to all be presented in color, rather than some of the black-&-white presentations that are given in the other editions. Most everything is captioned with creation year and use the piece was put to. The text that winds though the book is a biography and an interview along with short essays about Conan, Tarzan and Death Dealer, as well as a broader treatise on 'The Barbarian In Art'. There are some rough sketches and the paintings have been mentioned above, but it is mostly precise pen & ink drawings that are on display. There is a bit of barbarian nudity. Note that two other collections, THE FANTASTIC ART OF ARTHUR SUYDAM and VISIONS-THE ART OF ARTHUR SUYDAM, are both recommended by us before this volume, but if you are a fan of Suydam's art you will want this one as well, as there aren't too many repeated images to be found in it.
Related Books
The Fantastic Art Of Arthur Suydam
Visions - The Art Of Arthur Suydam
Other Heavy Metal releases
Arantza Sestoya: Wicked Kisses
Luis Royo: Prohibited book 1, 2 & 3
Heavy Metal - 25 Years Of Classic Covers
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