The Genius and Magic of Alex Ross
Taking Classic Superheroes From Line Drawings to Hyper-Realism
Nov 11, 2008
Chip Kidd provides the text and organization for Mythology, but the real draw is the art of Alex Ross, lavishly strewn throughout the book. Kidd and co-author Geoff Spear wisely plaster page after page with Ross and keep their contributions to an unobtrusive minimum. It would be an enjoyable hour just to flip through the pictures without reading a word. The reader would be missing a lot of context and explanation, but it would be easy not to notice.
Evidence of a Misspent Youth
Even the inside cover is filled with a gorgeous Ross painting as are the pages leading up to the first actual section of the book. In this opening chapter the reader is introduced to the artist as a young man through a priceless selection of artwork from his childhood. Early crayon sketches, toilet roll superheroes and an obvious natural talent for drawing the human form are all showcased.
Early work from the artist's time at The American Academy of Art show the progression from amateur to master to be well under way.
Superman, Super Artist
"I very much wanted to create the new standard by which Superman should be drawn, and by that I mean: take him back to his roots," says Ross. He admits that his "new standard" wasn't a goal he actually achieved, but he did something even more important for comic books and graphic novels. With his various reinterpretations of the Man of Tomorrow, most notably the world weary version that blasts off the pages of Kingdom Come, he showed that superheroes could be taken seriously by artists, writers and fans alike.
A full 43 pages of Mythology are devoted to studies of the Man of Steel.
Bats in his Belfry
Like Superman, Ross reinvented Batman in an unexpected way. While movies and comic books turned the Dark Knight into an armoured warrior, Ross pared the costume back to its cloth roots. Subtle folds and creases in the fabric of both the body suit and the cape ground Batman in a real, gritty world. Rather than making him mundane, the simplicity of the suit Ross designed and executed actually reinforce the character's drive and obsession. Ross effortlessly elevates him to the level of extraordinary.
36 pages of Mythology belong to Batman, his friends and foes.
Bullets, Bracelets and Babes
The Amazon Princess gets surprisingly short shrift in Mythology, filling only 10 pages of the book. Beautifully rendered though she is, the version of Diana that Ross created for Kingdom Come doesn't appear in the section devoted to her and it is sorely missed.
SHAZAM!
One of his personal favourites, Ross has devoted a great deal of time to the Big Red Cheese, Captain Marvel. Sadly, not in this book. Shazam and friends only get only 8 pages devoted to them, but some of the most personal commentary in the book shows up when Ross talks about his first exposure to Captain Marvel as a child, watching Michael Gray play Billy Batson who becomes Captain Marvel. "Whenever I watch a tape of it I shiver with the feeling I'm six years old again."
Reinventing the DC Universe
The next section of the book takes a brief look at the myriad DC heroes that Alex Ross has reinterpreted, updated or simply painted in their classic form. Fans of classic DC publications like The Justice Society of America will be thrilled to see gorgeous Ross portraits of Dr. Fate, Black Canary, Jay Garrick (the original Flash) and many more.
...And Finally
In the final pages, details of the various techniques Ross uses are chronicled. Artistically inclined fans will get the most out of this section, but it's interesting even for the layman.
Mythology is a must for fans of Alex Ross, DC Comics or comic book art in general.
Mythology is published by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House Inc., New York. Copyright 2003. ISBN: 978-0-375-42240-9
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