Comic Book Artist Collection, Vol. 3
Since 1998Comic Book Artistmagazine, a genuine labor of love by editor Cooke, has documented and celebrated classic comic books by publishing in-depth interviews with their creators and reprinting some of their contents. The first half of this collection of earlyCBAissues presents the creators of some of the more outre 1970s Marvel Comics titles, includingMaster of Kung Fu, which capitalized on the martial-arts craze and was executed with surprising grace and complexity, andHoward the Duck, which brought satire and social commentary to the world of superheroics. These efforts to stretch genre confines within Marvel's corporate culture presaged the independent comics of the eighties, when comics creators abandoned mainstream publishers to produce stories with greater freedom (and for smaller audiences). Similar titles, includingNexus(with its avenging space hero), the brashly irreverentAmerican Flagg, and the whimsicalZot, are spotlighted in the collection's second half. Most of the interview subjects have been eclipsed by newer talents, but baby boomers who once followed their work avidly will relish this retrospective.Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved