Vanguard's Frank Brunner collections
Mythos - The Fantasy Art Realms Of Frank Brunner
Eyes Of Light - The Fantasy Drawings Of Frank Brunner

Mythos - The Fantasy Art Realms Of Frank Brunner (2007 - Vanguard Productions) (compiled by J. David Spurlock & Dean Motter) This is a great book, or to my mind, an excellent *beginning* since Vanguard's other Brunner collection, EYES OF LIGHT, pales in comparison to this one and all the other gatherings of his work are systemically flawed. There could certainly be another volume compiled of all Brunner's work from the unacceptable publications (both amateur fan ones and the professional portfolio materials). Anyway, until such time as there is another collection, this one has to stand as a solo treasure. The paintings pop and the drawings have been processed & framed to look as good as possible. The book is 128 pages with 119 of those featuring large reproductions (and 68 of those are full-bleed). Another two pages have multiple images and most of the rest is text. Unfortunately, eight of the images are spread across the central gutter and while not ideal like that, only three out-&-out flunk. The thematic chapters are Women & Adventurers, Sirens & Amazons, Chimeras & Behemoths, Wizards & Magi, Demons & Villains, and Leda & the 'Swan'. There are many pure creations by Brunner himself, but the 'celebrities' that come under his pen are Conan, Red Sonja, Bran Mak Morn, Elric, Hawkmoon, John Carter, Dejah Thoris, Batman, Sandman, Death, Spectre, Man-Thing, Dr. Strange, Clea, Vampirella, Merlin, Alice In Wonderland, and Howard the Duck. Note that Alice is nude, as are many other characters throughout. Almost everything is captioned, most with title, size, medium, creation year and sometimes a short anecdote from the artist.

Eyes Of Light - The Fantasy Drawings Of Frank Brunner (2002 - Vanguard Productions) (compiled by J. David Spurlock and Dean Motter) This is a smaller book, 6.5-by-10-inches and 112 pages. This would be a good format to collect the artist's ink pieces and indeed there's no lack of them here, but a good number of pages are lost to bad double-page-spreads and pieces that have appeared in color elsewhere. Vanguard's more recent Brunner collection, MYTHOS, is clearly recommended before this one, but you do get here 55 new 'well-presented' drawings and the front & back covers are better presentations of their two paintings. You get more of his personal creations and his renditions of Elric, Bran Mak Morn, Conan, Red Sonja, Doc Savage, Dr. Strange, Clea, and the nude Alice in Wonderland. There is a good amount of text here that allows the artist to share his philosophies, observations & thoughts about the comic & animation industries, story-telling and life in general. Captioning is very haphazard and about a third of the pieces are left without any comment or identification. If you are a Brunner fan, you will want this book, but I think you will join me in wanting someone to save the day with a third collection, well thought-out and produced.