Chroma - The Art Of Alex Schomburg
                                             (1986 - Father Tree Press / Warp Graphics)  

     (by Jon Gustafson)   A lot of people talk about how much they like this artist, who found front-runner success in both comics and pulp science-fiction, but only this book and a comic-cover collection called THE THRILLING COMIC BOOK COVER ART OF ALEX SCHOMBERG exist to pull his work into single gatherings.  I haven't yet seen that second one, but it's reported to have very little overlap with what's presented in CHROMA.  I'm of the opinion that another overview of Schomburg's career is called for, because CHROMA is not as good as it could be.  I have some sensitivity to the dynamic that such artwork cannot be crammed densely into a book, but among this one's pages, there's just too much white space accompanying reproductions that are needlessly small.  80 pages (including the cover) of this 112-page book feature the art, but only 50 of those have a single dominating image on display.  There are five large images that are allowed to spread to the other side of the gutter - Since my paperback edition does not open flat, all five are less than ideal, but only two are out-and-out losers.  The 30-odd pages of text elaborate the highlights of Schomberg's not-particularly-well-known biography & career, as well as presenting several appreciative essays by science-fiction, comic and art luminaries.  The book is divided into chapters and, strangely, while their titles appear in the table of contents, they don't among the text.  Anyway, those chapter headings are:  The World Of 1905, The Roaring Twenties, The Drums Of War, War's End And Technology's Growth, The Sixties, and Into The Future.  While there is a healthy selection of his action-packed World-War-II superhero comic-book covers, there is, enjoyably, an even larger gathering of his science-fiction illustration work.

SEND US A COMMENT (goes via e-mail - all info kept anonymous, but comment itself may be shared . . .)