The Strange Death Of Alex Raymond

"The story traces the lives and techniques of Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon, RipKirby), Stan Drake (Juliet Jones), Hal Foster (Prince Valiant), and more, dissecting their techniques through recreations of their artwork,and highlighting the metatextual resonances that bind them together"--Page 4 of cove

Alex Raymond was one of the most influential comic strip artists of the 20th Century, creating action-packed art for Secret Agent X-9, the spectacular, classic imagery for Flash Gordon, and the nuanced, brilliant artwork for the detective/film-noiresque Rip Kirby. Now, for the first time, Hermes Press presents a comprehensive, definitive, art monograph covering Raymond's complete artistic output with an authoritative text by noted comics historian Ron Goulart. This new exhaustive full color art book features over 400 images, many scanned directly from Raymond's original artwork, and is being published under license from King Features as part of their 100th anniversary celebration. See original artwork from Raymond's work on Secret Agent X-9, Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, and Rip Kirby together with numerous examples of his earliest strip artwork, commercial illustration, and more. This extra large format art book is presented in a 10 by 13 inch size, so collectors can savor every detail of Raymond's artistic genius.

In the wealthy city-state of Iest, Cerebus the Aardvark finds himself being manipulated into the fast-paced world of business and politics, especially at the hands of the mysterious Astoria, who takes him under her wing for unclear reasons of her own.

Beginning the complete library of the greatest science fiction hero of all time. Volume One will spotlight the work of Alex Raymond, legendary for some of the finest storytelling of the 20th century. Raymond illustrated the Sunday strips until 1944; with his clear and much-imitated style forming the original aesthetic of the most popular and easily recognised science fiction hero for decades to come. Introducing Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, Dr. Hans Zarkov, and Ming the Merciless, this volume will catapult readers to the deadly planet Mongo. These are the strips that influenced George Lucas to create Star Wars, and which illustrator Al Williamson said were "the reason I became an artist."

Presenting the first volume of Alex Raymond's modernist classic Rip Kirby from its start in 1946. Created by Alex Raymond when he was deactivated from the Marines after World War II, Rip Kirby was a fresh approach to the genre, a departure from the prevailing hard-boiled style of detective fiction. Rip Kirby was urbane and cerebral, and used scientific methods as often as he used his fists when solving crimes and mysteries. Edited and designed by Eisner Award-winner Dean Mullaney, the strips are reproduced from pristine syndicate proofs that will allow readers to see, for the first time, the full luxurious detail of Raymond's brushwork. Includes a biographical and historic essay by Brian Walker, and an introduction by Raymond biographer and authority Tom Roberts. -The Library of American Comics is the world's #1 publisher of classic newspaper comic strips, with 14 Eisner Award nominations and three wins for best book. LOAC has become "the gold standard for archival comic strip reprints...The research and articles provide insight and context, and most importantly the glorious reproduction of the material has preserved these strips for those who knew them and offers a new gateway to adventure for those discovering them for the first time." - Scoop

This book looks at comics through the lens of Art History, examining the past influence of art-historical methodologies on comics scholarship to scope how they can be applied to Comics Studies in the present and future. It unearths how early comics scholars deployed art-historical approaches, including stylistic analysis, iconography, Cultural History and the social history of art, and proposes how such methodologies, updated in light of disciplinary developments within Art History, could be usefully adopted in the study of comics today. Through a series of indicative case studies of British and American comics like Eagle, The Mighty Thor, 2000AD, Escape and Heartbreak Hotel, it argues that art-historical methods better address overlooked aspects of visual and material form. Bringing Art History back into the interdisciplinary nexus of comics scholarship raises some fundamental questions about the categories, frameworks and values underlying contemporary Comics Studies.