The Art Of Howard Chaykin
                                             (2012 - Dynamite)  

     (by Robert Greenberger)    This is a very wordy 256-page celebration of Chaykin's career.  93 of the pages have to be considered more text than art (but 68 of those do also spot some example of his craft).  All that text is a very frank exploration of his life, both from his own perspective and other creators who have worked with or known him and appreciate his 'vibe'.  After counting all those, you will then score 92 pages that each feature a singular exhibit of his work and another 45 that showcase two-or-more images together.  Only one work spans across the book's central gutter, but that causes enough of distortion in it to be not acceptable to us.  There are many examples of his sequential art . . . so many that 23 pages could be said to be dominated by it.  The captioning clearly spells out to what use all these works were put.  The book is promoted as 'mature' and certainly meets that standard, but some might feel it goes far enough beyond that in a couple of places to stray into adults-only territory.  There are quite a number of displays showing how Chaykin has participated in many well-known 'properties' (some of which he figured in their creation or resurgence) like:  Rueben Flagg, Dominic Fortune/The Scorpion, Cody Starbuck, Ironwolf, Monark Starstalker, Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, Blackhawk, The Shadow, Batman, Catwoman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Tarzan, Killraven, Nick Fury, Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Man, The Avengers, Conan, Red Sonja, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Dracula, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars.

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