Art Books in 3
By Alex Ness
November 25, 2025
I LOVE ART, I LOVE BOOKS, SO WHY HIDE IT
Of course no one is telling me to hide it, I am just joking. The worlds of Fantasy rely upon the unknown and the action, the armor and the weapons. We can't live a fantastical life. You put on armor and a helmet, retrieve your sword from the weapon vault, and then go into the basement and kill monsters. You might be entered into a Mental Health ward in a hospital, if you go too far there.
If you read and enjoy Science Fiction the worlds and people of it can be best brought to light by the talents of various artists. Aliens might seem to deserve more awe as depicted by a painter of talent. A number of comic book artists have had their works collected, with forewords and narration about the pages by experts or fans, co-creators and more.
These books often are released with limited print run, in various types of book, hardcover, trade paperback or in a coffee-table book. If collecting otherwise out of print, and out of reach, the art is always awe-inspiring and might inspire more releases. The books are often lovingly published, to lavish attention upon worthy art.
Here are Four books per Category, I have one from each section, but overall, they are all quite good.
FANTASY
I have collected love White Dwarf magazine's first 100 issues, they were new, decidedly earnest and filled with gloriously illustrated pages. Over time I was exposed to many fine talents, some are was smooth and beautiful, others, gruff and viscerally mean but powerful. Ian Miller's work illustrates a variety of fantasy books and magazines, and it is brilliant. Frank Frazetta is similarly powerful, but more beautiful than scary. Brom's work is something that captured my imagination, and with Troy Denning the Dark Sun series in the TSR Dark Sun world. Jeffrey Catherine Jones was a kind soul, a wonderful painter, and someone I adored in our friendship. She sadly died just after reaching a place of contentment for the first time. Her work inspires still...
There are many great sci fi artists. I could have listed a dozen more. However, my reasons here is to show a wide variety of excellent works, and suggest that while they differ from one another, each is great. Sadly time has reduced this list to a single living artist, Michael Whelan. The books and film these artists have inspired, illustrated or enhanced are innumerable and Moebius and Giger both were creative forces in their particular areas. An imagination can be a powerful thing.
COMICS
You can argue that Jack Kirby's work is so vast you'd be hard pressed to capture it's spirit within a single volume. And interestingly the cover of the volume shown has 6 characters of his creation, and four of those shown have long been favorites of mine. Alex Ross introduced painted super realistic looking art to the comics world. Collecting his work is yet inadequate as he is prolific and able. Michael Kaluta's comic art is wonderful. Even if it isn't as great as his paintings of the same, in many genres, one can see the power of his presentation. And Wally Wood simply kicks ass. Stylish, distinct, beautiful and memorable.All works shown and/or considered are copyright the respective owners, fair use is the sole means of use asserted.
Thanks for reading my work.
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