Comics fans and pop culture aficionados are quite used to art books--whether it is for a famous cartoon, a blockbuster visual effects film, or an immensely popular video game, numerous books devoted to these mediums fill the shelves.  When it comes to comics artists, however, the choices and quality have been quite varied and limited, often time resulting solely in publisher-specific studies.  For the first time, comics fans can rejoice at the publication of an artist tribute collection that is now the model for how artist books should be done and one comics fans truly deserve.

Following a short foreword by writer and director Peter Berg, and an introduction by DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee, Will Dennis's Art of Jock begins where it should--in Jock's studio among his desk, supplies, and walls strewn with finished and unfinished pages.  Some readers may wish that Dennis spent more time on Jock's formative years, particularly on his influences and first attempts at producing his own work.  Instead, readers learn of his early success at 2000AD.   Yet, within Jock's breakthrough are some of the most significant aspects Insight/Mondo bring to the table with The Art of Jock--amazing color reproductions, process sketches, and behind the scenes insights by both Jock and Andy Diggle on their first collaboration, Lenny Zero.  The outstanding print quality and dedication Insight/Mondo have put into reproducing Jock's work cannot be understated

As with many UK illustrators and writers, 2000AD and its sister title Judge Dredd Megazine served as a gateway into American comics and Dennis moves swiftly from Jock's two to three year stint with the British comics into his debut with Vertigo comics in early 2003, a move that resulted in The Losers, Green Arrow Year One, and later Scalped.  Given Dennis's direct role in this transition as Jock's editor at Vertigo, these segments are quite revealing and given ample and rightly deserved attention.  It is with Green Arrow that Insight/Mondo move beyond their competition with the inclusion of an acetate overlay that shows Jock's layouts over the final, printed version.  There is no better way to capture the raw nature of Jock's style and process than these full page overlays and the publisher deserves special commendation for including them. 

Still in the fold of DC Comics, Jock's next endeavor was on the publisher's premier character Batman.  Again, Dennis includes commentary from Scott Snyder about the collaboration. Here are all of Jock's memorable Detective Comics covers alongside process sketches and treatments, as well as oversized interiors that highlight Jock's strengths with composition as a sequential artist.  Additionally, Insight/Mondo provide audiences with a full color acetate overlay of Jock's Frank Miller tribute cover from DK3: The Master Race.

Following a brief discussion of Jock's time at Marvel working on Daredevil and Wolverine projects, Dennis moves into one of Jock's creator-owned endeavors Wytches.  This is one of the strongest sections of Dennis's examination of Jock's comics art as the importance of the series coupled with the creative freedoms afforded it significantly impacted Jock's evolution as a visual storyteller.

The final two sections of The Art of Jock cover Jock's forays into film and cinema with various posters he has created for the industry and limited editions for Mondo, as well as his role as a conceptual artist and designer for several movies, including Man of Steel, Dredd, Ex Machina, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII. 

What Will Dennis has produced here should serve as a template for other writers wanting to do an artist profile or tribute book.  Expansive, inclusive, detailed, and insightful not only for Dennis's experiences as Jock's editor, but also for the addition of Jock's collaborators, The Art of Jock is a brilliant, beautiful book that will appeal to both comics and film audiences as it showcases the important contributions of a true modern master of popular culture, Jock. 

--Nathan Wilson