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Best How to Create Comics

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. “If you read, write, teach or draw comics; if you want to; or if you simply want to watch a master explainer at work, you must read this book.” (Neil Gaiman). “Cleverly disguised as an easy-to-read comic book, Scott McCloud’s simple-looking tome deconstructs the secret language of comics while casually revealing secrets of time, space, art and the cosmos!
Reviews
"Helpful for not just understanding comics, but also the concepts of semiotics."
"Excellent book selection for learning the history of comics!"
"This book is an incredible read for anyone interested in comic books."
"I consider this book as important as Richard William's Animator's Survival Kit and The Illusion Of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson."
"This book is very well written and the ideas are clearly explained."
"It's everything I wanted a comic about comics to be."
"For example, it isn't a history of comics or a how-to book for aspiring comics artists, but McCloud does show different ways of drawing the same thing, and points out how each different style carries a slightly different message for the reader."
"McCloud's books are amazing!"
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How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
One of the first and still one of the best, Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way has been the primary resource for any and all who want to master the art of illustrating comic books and graphic novels. One of the nice things about being a comicbook artist is the fact that your equipment is no big deal. A simple drawing pen with a thin point, for inking and bordering. Handy for keeping your illustration paper from slipping off the drawing board. Invaluable for drawing borders and keeping lines parallel. This plain ol' hunk of any kind of cloth is used to wipe your pen points, brushes, and whatever. Of course, there are some things we omitted, like a chair to sit on and a light so that you can see what you're doing in case you work in the dark. Also, it's a good idea to have a room to work in-otherwise your pages can get all messy in the rain. E: An outline around lettering done in this jagged shape is called a splash balloon. L: The connecting "arrows" on dialogue balloons, showing who is speaking, are called pointers. O: All this little technical stuff, showing who publishes the mag and when and where, usually found on the bottom of the first page, is the indicia (pronounced in-deeé -shah). P: Copy in which someone is talking to the reader, but which is not within dialogue balloons, is called a caption. Movin' right along, we now introduce you to one of Marvel's many widely heralded close-ups, so called because the "camera" (meaning the reader's eye) has moved in about as close as possible. This type of panel, in which the reader's view of the scene is from farther away, enabling him to see the figures from head to toe, is called a medium shot. In fact, since it shows such an extreme wide-angle scene, you might even call it a panoramic long shot without anyone getting angry at you. On the other hand, when you're below the scene of action, as in this panel, where your eye, level is somewhere near Spidey's heel, we're inclined to refer to it as a worm's-eye view. A drawing in which the details are obscured by solid black (or any other single tone or color) is called a silhouette.
Reviews
"This is pretty neat."
"I have a some drawing books (like the Andrew Loomis ones), and found everything here, of course, more broadly put, but there."
"Bought it at a great discount!"
"Product is great and will give hours of fun and excitement whom ever uses the book.... Great Service A++."
"Great references for a pretty specific set of art styles which is extremely useful when trying to develop your own style but do so in a more polished way."
"I had this book when I was a young an up starting artist."
"You get to learn movement forms and how to build a character and then how to increase dramatic effects, all things that are self evident from reading a marvel comic."
"My nephew loved this book to learn how to draw his own comics."
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Draw With Jazza - Creating Characters: Fun and Easy Guide to Drawing Cartoons and Comics
Whether sci-fi or steampunk, comic book heroines or tattooed action heroes, animal familiars or alien races, you will discover the limitless possibilities of creating your very own characters for comic books, cartoons, video games and more! Learn techniques just like the pros use for developing characters--their backstory, personality and physicality; decide your drawing style; and explore and organize your inspiration. Josiah "Jazza" Brooks is an artist and animator best known for the educational and entertainment content on his YouTube channel Draw with Jazza.
Reviews
"Through the design process, you learn how to focus on portions of your entire project through these stages, so you do not get overwhelmed, and it's how the process works in a studio setting if you're interested in that kind of work. I don't want to give too much away, but here's what you learn in each stage: Stage 1 - you learn to research and develop your character before you start designing him/her. Stage 2 - This is the stage where you design your character and there are some tutorials to help with character anatomy. Stage 3 - You learn to polish the character design. Stage 4 - You learn to properly present your characters for yourself or a client, such as turnarounds and poses. Stage 5 - There are various characters that Jazza takes you through the design process and we see how each process works with actual characters."
"It's easy to understand for all levels of ability and most ages."
"As a long time Jazza viewer I am happy to say this book holds up to the normal content I consume from him daily."
"I did notice that this helped my daughter to figure out several issues she was having with drawing people."
"just got the book and love it."
"I am an aspiring video game illustrator and i use to draw about 6 years ago when i was in middle school, but that stop and now im starting from scratch again and this book has definitely been helpful with angles, character development, ect."
"You are not going to learn how to draw off one book, no matter what book you get."
"I haven't read this book in its entirety yet, but it has pretty much repeated my 2 years of college design classes and offered so much more on top of it, so I consider it an excellent source of information as well as inspiration."
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Best Comic & Graphic Novel Literary Criticism

DC Comics Encyclopedia All-New Edition
Formatted in an easy-to use A-to-Z layout, this guide is packed with information and thrilling comic book art and features more than 1,100 characters including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Joker, and much more. Matthew K. Manning has contributed to over 40 books and comic books, including DK's Batman™: A Visual History , DC Comics: A Visual History , and DC Comics: Year by Year .
Reviews
"My 12 year old son got this book at our local library and then kept renewing it over and over again because he liked it so much."
"So far so good."
"Awesome encyclopedia for newcomers to DC comics or fanatics like me!"
"This book is so awesome!"
"I had no idea the history and detail of the superhero world."
"My brother received a marvel encyclopedia for his bday so I gave him this for Christmas."
"I purchased this book for my son as a birthday present."
"This was a gift for my ex husband and he absolutely loves it."
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Best Stenciling

The Farting Animals Coloring Book
This farting animal coloring book for kids (of all ages) is just what you've been looking for, even though you probably didn't know it! Be sure to check out his FARTING MAGICAL CREATURES COLORING BOOK too!
Reviews
"My daughter-in-law wanted adult coloring books for Christmas, so I got her a couple of nice ones....then when looking around for one with animals, this one came up."
"The coloring pages or very simple and non-detailed, but it's more for the laughs than the coloring."
"A great addition to my two daughter’s stockings this Christmas."
"This was a gift for my mother-in-law."
"Bought this for my mom because she likes to color to relax."
"Gave this to my teenage son at Christmas."
"Bought this for a white elephant party."
"This coloring book is a perfect gift for silly people in your life."
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Best Erotic Arts & Photography

Tom of Finland (Multilingual Edition)
The work was gathered from collections across the United States and Europe with the help of the Tom of Finland Foundation, and features many drawings, paintings, and sketches never previously reproduced . The elegant oversized volume showed the full range of Tom’s talent, from sensitive portraits to frank sexual pleasure, to tender expressions of love, and haunting tributes to young men struck down by AIDS, and was completed by eight commissioned essays on Tom’s social and personal impact by Camille Paglia, John Waters, Armistead Maupin, Todd Oldham , and others, plus a scholarly analysis of individual drawings by art historian Edward Lucie-Smith . Dian Hanson produced a variety of men’s magazines from 1976 to 2001, including Juggs, Outlaw Biker, and Leg Show, before becoming TASCHEN’s Sexy Book editor.
Reviews
"This is the same calendar available from the Tom of Finland Foundation."
"A great collection of his works from early years to the latter ones we are more familiar with."
"Great Book and worth the price."
"Possibly the greatest purchase of my entire life."
"WAY beyond what I expected."
"It's waaaaay much more bigger and heavier than i expected."
"the book its perfect just i spected to be im in love with it."
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Best Cartooning in Graphic Design

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life
So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator of Dilbert , one of the world’s most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years? In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big , Adams shares the game plan he’s followed since he was a teen: invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket. As Adams explains, your best bet is to study the ways of others who made it big and try to glean some tricks and strategies that make sense for you. Adams pulls back the covers on his own unusual life and shares how he turned one failure after another—including his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and his two restaurants—into something good and lasting. Adams’ own list of failures is—given his spectacular success as a cartoonist—surprisingly lengthy: a couple of unsuccessful restaurants as well as computer games, inventions, and online businesses that all tanked. --David Pitt “Adams has a funny, refreshingly considered set of ideas about how to find success—and what that success will look like when one gets there.”. — Kirkus Reviews “Scott Adams has drawn nearly 9,000 Dilbert cartoons since the strip began, in 1989, and his cynical take on management ideas, the effectiveness of bosses, and cubicle life has affected the worldview of millions.
Reviews
"The book was a joy to read. His key ideas are easy to follow because he keeps it simple and Scott Adams writes in a clear and witty manner. For example the chapter on applying a system vs setting goals and trying to follow them was worth the price of the book many times over for me (and this is reinforced through the book)."
"My official score, being a tough grader, is a 4.6/5.0 and I wouldn't resell it for twice what I paid ... especially now that it's fully highlighted and sticky-noted throughout (which makes the book more valuable to me now because I've identified the portions that spoke directly to me and my own experiences). For instance, choosing an opportunity for which one has some sort of inherent advantage rather than blindly prescribing "you can do whatever you want" appeals to my pragmatic mind. This is where Scott talks about his mental model of not wanting to sell his time due to limited upside and finding a product that is infinitely scalable. Having a system that embraces and anticipates failure, in particular, is an essential tool to avoid letting temporary results bleed over into derailing what could be a highly successful longer-term career choice. Plan on a good chunk of your initial tests, ideas and hypotheses being off the mark and blindly plowing time and effort at soft-starts is a recipe for disaster. Scott urges the reader to not accept anything at face value, and my personal model embraces a good chunk of this body of wisdom with a few of my own twists."
"I read this book on the recommendation of a friend who is a life coach."
"This book offers common sense in a whimsical tone characteristic of its author."
"From the way we mark the passage of time to the ordinary routines of household and society, we are surrounded by systems. At times, it reads like a series of blog posts, and there are a few whole chapters that are simply two pages."
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Best How to Create Manga

Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley: 30 drawing lessons from the creator of Akiko
In these action-packed pages, graphic novelist Mark Crilley shows you step-by-step how to achieve an authentic manga style—from drawing faces and figures to laying out awesome, high-drama spreads. This is the book fans have been requesting for years, packed with expert tips on everything from hairstyles and clothing to word bubbles and sound effects, delivered in the same friendly, easy-to-follow style that has made Mark Crilley one of the "25 Most Subscribed to Gurus on YouTube." Mark Crilley is the creator of several manga books, including the Akiko series, Miki Falls , the Billy Clikk novels and Brody's Ghost .
Reviews
"I've watched lots of Mark Crilley's tutorials, but there's something special about seeing the drawing printed on the page in front of me, there as a reference. The written instructions give tips about showing the gender, age and personality of the characters. There's information about inking drawings, laying out panels and adding speech bubbles and sound effects. Everything included in the book is great and it's absolutely packed with helpful information on every page, but I do think the author has even more to offer and I'd love it if this turned out to be the first part of a series. One final note: There's no nudity in this book; all figures are drawn either fully clothed or wearing simple underclothes."
"My son loves to draw and he uses this for his artwork."
"my daughter and niece draws these even before the book."
"I bought this for my son who loves to draw."
"I'm currently going to University for Art, so I already have a bit of training in drawing, but I don't think this would be very hard for absolute beginners to understand."
"I've been wanting to grab this book for ages, but the paper copy was cost-prohibitive for me at the time."
"but what i think of this book is that the art isn't very "eye-catching"."
"I saw other books with more pages, but this seems to be newer."
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Best How to Create Anime & Cartoons

The Animator's Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators
In this book, based on his sold-out master classes in the United States and across Europe, Williams provides the underlying principles of animation that every animator--from beginner to expert, classic animator to computer animation whiz --needs. Richard Williams has won more than 250 international awards for his animation.
Reviews
"One of the best well written art books I have read in a long time, Mr. Williams is full of knowledge, which he generously shares with others."
"This is a must have for everyone learning animation, it could be used by yourself or by teachers to teach about animation principles, and the amount of knowlege in the content of the book and animation exercises is amazing."
"It has so much detail to it that it still blows my mind every time I. open it."
"If you are getting into animation this is the book for you; in depth information on all the necessary topics that you need."
"An excellent book."
"Bought this as a gift for a friend when she started her Animation degree."
"This is one of the most useful animation books I have every purchased."
"One of the most detailed animating books I have purchased so far, it is really helpful."
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