Comic-Con News:  Dynamite Entertainment has announced The Art of Painted Comics, a deluxe hardcover collection overseen by Alex Ross that covers the entire history of the use of painted art work in the comics medium.  Dynamite’s Nick Barucci noted that the project began with a desire to create a retrospective volume devoted to Alex Ross’ painted art, but Ross had wider ambitions.  He wanted to demonstrate the rich and varied history of painted art in comics, and he has assembled a sparkling collection of painted covers to pulp magazines and comics through the decades.

 

As Ross explains: "I've always found that painted art in comics is regarded by most people as a recent application and not a mainstream part of how comics are made.  Painted covers and stories for the comics medium has been around for decades, with some of it going back to the beginnings of the art form.  This much labored-over, lushly illustrated book will finally set the record straight and expose the reader to a rich history of how painted art has shaped the popular art form of comics."

 

Certainly Ross and writer Chris Lawrence have assembled a powerhouse collection of painted comic work from a wide range of artists including Greg Hildebrandt, Frank Frazetta, Joe Jusko, Michael William Kaluta, Bill Sienkiewicz, Neal Adams, Julie Bell, Joseph Michael Linsner, Glen Orbik, Simon Bisley, Dave Dorman, Phil Noto, Greg Horn, Brian Bolland, Ashley Wood, Charles Vess, Mark Teixeira, Arthur Suydam, Dave McKean, and of course Ross himself, who is considered perhaps the premier modern exemplar of the painted comic (see "Alex Ross Painting First Issue of 'Pulp' Crossover Comic").