I had some credit at my local I needed to use up and I spent it on this volume. I'm not much for art books really, finding them generally thin for the money and rarely offering any real insights into the artist. I have John Buscema's from Vanguard, a lot of Frazetta's stuff of course, and I've been tempted by Vanguard's John Romita book, but rarely do I pop for these. But since I wasn't spending "real" money, I tried this. And I'm glad I did.
It's a rich collection of new Brunner alongside vintage Brunner. There is no color aside from the covers, but with Brunner that's hardly a problem, as nearly all the magic is in his skillful linework. There's stuff on his early career, and the story of how he came to work for Marvel (at least from his point of view) and you get some good illustrations of classic Marvel characters. Howard the Duck, Red Sonja, Black Widow, and more. There are also some great images of REH heroes.
My favorite section was the Alice in Wonderland stuff. Brunner gives us a somewhat more adult version of Alice, but it's still infused with a sweetness that keeps it from seeming tawdry. There's an effervesence to Brunner's work, like I find in Stephen Fabian too, that makes the whole greater than the sum.
This volume is recommended.
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