There are few people in the comics biz with a career like Jim Lee. He rose through the ranks with lightning speed at Marvel, only to join a group of other high profile creators in the founding of Image Comics. His division, WildStorm, was successful in creating a brand new, adult oriented superhero universe that would prove to be influential and unique. Fast forward to today, and Lee has risen to be co-publisher at DC Comics (read Interview: Jim Lee on the Future of DC Comics), leaving a trail of gorgeous comic book work in his wake.
Collecting all of said work into a single, massive hardcover collection was going to be a giant undertaking, but Titan Books tackled it. Icons is an all inclusive, infinitely informative coffee table art book that any fan of comics needs to give a look. While it’s obviously a celebration of Lee and his finest work, there’s a whole lot of info in here about the actual art process and the creation of a comic book. The work ranges from pencil thumbnail layout sketches to fully completed, over-sized reprints of images free of trade dress. There’s great exercise sketches depicting Lee’s process for trying to nail his version of Superman; you’ll see hand written notes next to the images like “head too small” or “too much like Bruce?” as you witness the artist’s formula for work.
Everything you’d expect to see in this book is present. From Batman: Hush to WildC.A.T.S, Icons divides its time well and gives most characters a fair amount of space to be treated equally. The book is divided by characters and their families, starting with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, and then moving on to the rest of the DCU. After the DC stuff, Icons moves into WildStorm territory, collecting everything from Gen 13 to StormWatch. Icons even delves into his variant cover work on various Vertigo titles, as well as his concept work for DC Universe Online, Batman Begins, Superman Returns and even the god-awful Catwoman film. When they say all inclusive, they mean all inclusive.
Although the book is chock full of gorgeous art -- my particular favorite being a gorgeous two-page black and white spread of Catwoman -- the book does have a “gallery” with great cover work and pin-ups from Lee. You’ll also get an exclusive Paul Levitz written, Jim Lee drawn Legion of Super-heroes story, which is a nice little extra to add incentive to the $40 price tag of the book -- particularly considering the meta nature of the tale that caters to everything I hold dear.
What sets Icons apart from other art books is the massive, in-depth interview with Lee that serves as a sort of narration. Conducted by William Baker, the interview provides insight on Lee’s artistic process, his learning experiences, thoughts on the iconic characters of the DCU, even seemingly menial things like the design of the new DC logo that debuted in 2005, which -- like most things do these days -- Lee had a part in.
These giant coffee table books are typically hard to shell out your cash for, but Titan’s Icons is one of the few that is worth every single penny. Even at $40, for fans of Jim Lee it feels like a bargain. The book is a gorgeous display of the iconic artist’s work and thoughts. Aspiring artists will find it inspirational and informative, and the average comic book fan will find amazing renditions -- at all stages of completion -- of their favorite iconic characters.
And good lord, someone send me a print of that Catwoman spread.
