If you look at my writing resume here on Top Hat Sasquatch, you’ll find quite a few Art of… books from Titan Publishing.  While Titan does an excellent job producing these titles, they have generally followed a fairly standard format: foreward by someone famous, the designs of the main characters, then the supporting characters, the sets and props, and then it wraps up with some technical jargon on special effects, with the occasional paragraph of text from the director, the stars, the set designer, the producers, and lead animators scattered throughout.  It’s a bit by-the-book, but the format works.
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Although the comic strip Flash Gordon might not have invented the space opera genre, it certainly helped define it.  And for nearly a decade, the creator and visual maestro behind Flash, Alex Raymond, drew a weekly strip that continues to inspire young artists today.  Since 2012, Titan Books has been issuing reprints of these classic comic strips as part of The Complete Flash Gordon Library.  Their latest offering, Volume 3: The Fall of Ming, covers the years 1941 – 1944, a time of great transition for not only the world, but also Raymond and his beloved creation.

It might surprise you to hear that it’s not absolutely necessary you read the previous installments of Flash Gordon in order to jump into the weekly comic strip.  While there are occasional references to earlier characters and events, for the most part the plot is simple enough to understand even without a complete backstory.  So chances are you’ll be caught up and know everything you need to know within a couple of strips.  However, I have read some of the early adventures of Flash, and knowing how the strip started back in 1937, helped put a better context on what it had become by the beginning of this volume in 1941.

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If you read this site, chances are you’re familiar with Alex Deligiannis. He is a super talented artist and a friend of the site (he designed our Sasquatch!) and we’ve had him on Bubble Pipe Theater as well as featured some of his awesome geek art.

Well, he’s been busy drawing these awesome Mars Attacks! sketch cards for IDW Limited’s upcoming book. If you’re lucky enough to snag the Red Label edition you’ll get 40 sketch cards by Alex. From the official press release:
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When comic book geeks hear the names Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, they probably think of the duo’s most famous and enduring character: Captain America.  And rightfully so.  But these two talented creators didn’t stop at the star-spangled Avenger; they also wrote and illustrated dozens of other comic book stories throughout the Golden and Silver Ages.

Over the past few years, Titan Books has been releasing some of the best work from these groundbreaking collaborators in the form of the Simon & Kirby Library collections.  The latest edition covers science fiction comics spanning the heyday of space opera, to the atomic era, and everything in between. Read More

One of the great things about animation is its ability show us people, places, and things we’ve never dreamed possible.  Distant planets, mythical lands, or even more grounded subjects, like ancient history, can come alive thanks to the work of a team of dedicated artists and animators.  And when the canvas is so limitless, it’s great to see when creative minds really go for it and bring us something unique.

When the artists sat down to start visualizing the prehistoric world of the new Dreamworks Animation film The Croods, it would have been very easy for them to fall back on conventional caveman tropes.  Naturally, the characters could look like they were pulled straight from The Flintstones, who would anachronistically interact with run-of-the-mill dinosaurs like Triceratops and T. Rex, and they’d live in a world filled with big rocks, rumbling volcanoes, and bubbling tar pits. While there are still echoes of these old standbys, for the most part, The Croods is a feast for the eyes.  Thankfully Titan Books has released The Art of the Croods, so you can visit the best part of the movie – the art design – anytime.

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