We had a few moments to stop by a signing for 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking last night, and snapped a picture of Nina Weiner, Taschen’s Managing Editor for Pop Culture, author Paul Levitz, DC’s Steve Korte, and Taschen Art Director Josh Baker. I have seen a lot of books about comics, but I have never seen a more beautiful one than this — the reproductions are incredibly crisp and vibrant, and there are double page pull-outs, charts and even a chromium insert to mark the “modern age.” With the text, Levitz proves that if knowing everything there is to know about a company’s history qualifies you to run that company, he was the best qualified president in history.
I spoke to Baker briefly about the making of the book and its remarkable imagery — nearly everything was shot from the collection of a single person, Ian Levine, and they photographed as much as they could; the photos were then processed by Taschen’s mysterious black ops art department in Germany to a crystalline purity.
The result is almost scary in its massive size and heft — people joked that you could make a coffee table from the thing. As a scrapbook of DC’s history with comics, panels, photos, and bibliographical material, it’s a comprehensive overview of 75 years of storytelling. The $200 price tag is also daunting, but if you want the ultimate DC art book, it’s worth it.
More on Levitz’s work on the book here.
Please do not touch the display, because it might fall over and crush someone underneath it! :-)
The book is rather light for the size… With box, it’s about eleven pounds. I held it one arm and it wasn’t uncomfortable.
If you’re near the Taschen store in NYC or Beverly Hills, stop in and marvel at the pages! Lots of great covers, many taking up the full page! My fave: a Nick Cardi Aquaman http://www.comics.org/issue/24075/cover/4/?style=default
Yeah, the price is a bit much, but various websites have it on sale.
Here’s hoping this is the DC holiday gift to freelancers this year!
Amazon had it for $126, a price I’m hoping they extend to us on our library order…
This brings out my inner Larfleeze.
I got it from Amazon, but if given no other choice I would have paid the full $200 for it. This is a remarkable piece of publishing.
Anyone who bought this through Amazon, did they manage to get it to you relatively un-damaged?
I actually took the unprecedented step of having it gift-wrapped for no reason, just thinking it might provide a little extra protection — no such luck. There was no padding in the box at all, and it showed on every bashed-in corner. For an item this expensive, even discounted, that’s just ludicrous to me.
Mine was okay, but Amazon definitely needs to pack the better.
“Them”
Want want want!
I ordered this from amazon but it won’t ship until Dec. 14. I don’t think I can wait so I’ll pay full price at my LCS.