Art of Amanda Conner HC

This book was getting postponed so many times I thought it was never going to get published. So finally it's out and IDW did a great job with the publishing, as usual. It's a 224-page hardcover.The book presents a retrospective look at the Amanda Conner's illustrious work. You can see from her student work that she has that sense of humor all along.Every chapter starts with several photos of Amanda Conner. It's usually her in funny situations like being chased by a T-rex, or necked choked by Powergirl. To quote from her facebook description, "Amanda Conner is the first (and hottest) female artist to crack Wizard Magazine's Top Artist list." You'll see just why from the photos.Her art is beautiful and charming. I like the occasion doses of humor either in the story or the way it was drawn. She can turn bar fights into mud wrestling with just a few panels. There are also down-to-earth humor like Supergirl bringing her dog and cat out for a fly. And her comic The Pro is just hilarious.The incredible variety of work featured shows that she's a very versatile artist. There are even examples of character designs created for animation. More of her DC comics work will be included in another book coming up later called The DC Comics Art of Amanda Conner.Her included candid commentary are refreshing to read. She talks about the art pieces got her into trouble - the one with Vampirella on the toilet bowl - and other drawing mistakes, and whenever possible the remedy, like including a cat-washing sequence for Powergirl's cat that was coloured wrongly.It's an inspiring and enjoyable book. Highly recommended to fans of hers and comic art.(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

With the release of the third generation iPad, I've gotten back into reading comics after a 20 year absence, and by chance decided to buy JSA Confidential #1, which lead to quickly to 2,3 and 4, and looking through comiXology for everything they have by Amanda Connor which led me to Power Girl 1-12, and eventually to buying this book. What a clean style, filled with the little emotions of daily life and dialing in a pleasant balance between cartoony and realism. When Power Girl slouches down and pouts or is a little sad until someone gives her a hug, well that's hard to convey and isn't something you'd expect to see in an action packed superhero yarn, but there it is.This book is a nice personal look at Connor's professional life with snapshots of her personal life. She complains about her time drawing Barbie, but really that's a cute bit of kitsch that would be lost to time without this collection. I've been compelled to read a fair amount of awful Barbie drivel at my daughter's request and I could have done with some of her artistry.The testimonials from other artists get a bit tiresome, but nobody makes you read those, and it would be fun to see the young Connors in her Electra modeling getup, but all in all, a fine retrospective to an artist who's been producing great work from a young age.

If you love Amanda Conner, get this. It's a pretty insightful overview of a very prolific artist and their growth over their career. You get peeks at work long out of print or sketchbook pages that Jimmy P. would be privy to only. This isn't just her work at one company either, it's Amanda at DC, Marvel and everything inbetween... which is a ton btw. Like awesome sequential art and want to see the evolution of a master at it? Get this.

I was a bit disappointed in this book, despite the fact that it's a 220 page hardcover that I got for $17 or so. Basically, I was kind of expecting an art/sketch book similar to a lot of the other ones I have, containing artwork that you can't see anywhere else, character concepts, and random nonsense the artist sketched up when they were bored, but that's not really what this is.Most of the art I saw in this book, I could easily have seen browsing the internet or looking in the comics I have that were drawn by Amanda Conner. This book seems more geared towards people who are more fans of Conner herself than just fans of her artwork, as I am. I got this impression because of the chapter breaks which had full page images of Amanda Conner doing different things and other sections that were also devoted to Conner with more pictures of her, which I found distracting.It's a good book, and I can't argue with the price, but I was hoping for something that included more sketches and artwork you couldn't see anywhere else, and what I got was mostly a bunch of finished artwork from comics she's done in the past and pictures of her. If I would have known ahead of time, I wouldn't have bought it and would have just looked through my Conner comics for an art fix.

When I buy a book about an artist, I expect a full coverage of their work. DC's editions of "The Art of..." have always been lacking in this to me, as they nearly always are merely reprints of work the artist did for them. IDW however bypasses that issue by giving a full and generous showcasing of Amanda Conner's work, all the way back to juvenilia and student work as well as the seminal masterpiece of American literature that is the Bayou Billy video game comic adaptation.Sketches, roughs, multiple samples of comics unpublished and unknown this is an essential book for fans of Amanda Conner, and comics period, covering as it does decades of the industry directly from one of the masters of the form.

A beautiful book full of personality and great art. I have been a fan for nearly 20 years and will be meeting Amanda in August at the Boston Comic Con. I hope to get her to sign my edition. If you are also a fan of Ms Conner, then you should have this book. :-)

I just discovered Amanda Conner's work and am now a fan. This book is surprisingly thick with predominately artwork (yay!) and notes from the Artist herself. I like how the sketches and the final artwork are displayed and I have to say this is one of the best Art Of books I have seen! I wish they were all this well done!

Emotion and humor are a very tough mix, just ask anyone who is not Joss Whedon. Amanda Conner puts the joy into creating and story telling, and to have it collected in such a quality book such as this, it is a must have. She understands pacing either thought study or repetition, and the importance of the reveal. She is in her prime, and I will pick up anything she puts out in a heartbeat. Rock on Amanda!

Ancienne élève de l'école d'artistes de comic books gérée par Joe Kubert, Amanda Conner a toujours dessiné. Avoir des parents artistes a sans doute aidé pour que, contrairement à bien d'autres jeunes filles, Amanda persévère dans la voie qu'elle s'est choisie et devienne dessinatrice de comic books.Cet ouvrage expose avec images et commentaires les débuts et la progression d'une carrière diverse bien qu'encore jeune, les rencontres avec notamment le scénariste et encreur Jimmy Palmiotti (devenu aussi son mari !), le scénariste Justin Gray et le formidable coloriste Paul Mounts. Tous quatre allaient donner une vraie... profondeur à Power Girl pour un "run" encore récent, magnifique voire exemplaire, sur lequel se termine ce recueil.Les citations de la part de collègues et confrères qui agrémentent cet ouvrage sont toutes extrêmement pertinentes en ce qui concerne l'art d'Amanda Conner. Oui, elle aime dessiner les armes, les engins de toutes sortes, et les jolies filles. Mais elle est surtout très très douée pour les expressions, faciales et corporelles. La reproduction, sans dialogues, de plusieurs planches du run sur 'Power Girl' ou de la série 'Terra' (à quand un "omnibus" du tout ?) le montre sans contestation possible. Ce qui la place, évidemment, à des années-lumières au-devant de bien d'autres auteurs souvent mieux considérés, adeptes des poses figées autant que martiales et ineptes.Amanda Conner est l'un(e) des meilleures artistes de comic books du moment. Et elle ne fait que progresser ainsi que cet ouvrage en administre toutes les preuves.

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. All that needs to be said.

Amazon usually told me "buy this, buy that" it usually gets what I want.But this time it was not the case.I am sorry Amanda, your work is good but now worth of my money.Also the book has an astonish lack of art for an art book, is more like a self recreation of the life of the artist and halft the book has no art at all, or is extremely small.Bad book, Medium art ...How can I read this, it does not have any pictures!!Gaston.