The Marvel Art Of Mike Deodato
(2011- Marvel)

A 240-page book divided up into chapters titled Cover Gallery, Bringing The Thunder-Thor, Assassin-Elektra, Meeting The Monster-Hulk, Amazing Artistry-Spiderman, Osborn Unleashed-Thunderbolts, Earth's Mightiest-Avengers, All-New All-Different-Xmen, Sensual Shadows, and Closing The Book. Looking away from the many examples of Deodato's sequential art and photos of him working out his dramatic compositions himself, there are still 178 pages dominated by his single-image work, of which 143 are large-reproductions each spanning a page. The endpapers are each a double-page spread that work well, with only half of two internal ones being as successful. The works are all well-captioned with each identifying the inker and/or colorist, if those tasks were not completed by Deodato, and many times the artist injects his own comments about the displayed piece. The text is introduction, biography and commentary, frequently by fellow comics creators, about his artistic progression during his career with the publisher. The subjects of the work gathered are from all over the 'Marvel Universe' of the mid-2000's and there's quite a diversity in place, but some of the perception of that is taken away by the grouping together of the major projects to form the chapters listed above. Many of the pages with a dominant piece of art are, in my opinion, then somewhat cluttered by the insertion of preliminary sketches & thumbnails that were part of the process of creating that particular work. This book is grouped with others on a page here showcasing collections of Marvel Comics art, but because of its focus on a single artist, it merited its own separate entry.

Other comic cover collections

Action ! Mystery ! Thrills ! - Comic Book Covers Of The Golden Age 1933-1945

DC Comics art & cover collections

Comic Book Covers

The Photo-Journal Guide To Comic Books Vol. 1 & Vol. 2

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