Part One Drawing: (1) Materials outlines what supplies an artist needs in terms of paper, pencils, erasers, rulers and templates; (2) Shapes are presented as the foundation of the creative process of drawing, the general concept from which the artist moves to more specific ones; (3) Faces looks at both the basic geometric elements in composing a face and the artistic range available through example of faces drawn by Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, and Neal Adams; (4) Anatomy covers both the structure and design of the human body, including all the muscles, with special attention paid to the most difficult thing in the world to draw, the hands; (5) Clothing establishes the four basic dynamics that shape the folds and wrinkles of a person's clothing; and (6) Perspective, which is covered from the fundamentals to the use of vanishing points and systems of perspective. This unit is the most instructive in the book since it deals with the basic building blocks.

Part Two Storytelling: (7) Juxtaposition establishes the uniqueness of comic book art in terms of how sequential art functions in the eyes of the reader, featuring diverse examples by Eduardo Risso, Sean Phillips, and Dave Taylor; (8) How to Lay Out a Page starts with the grid approach and then moves to the free-form end of the spectrum, starting with an example by Jack Kirby and then moving on to some by Neal Adams and Walt Simonson. Janson explains the value of insert panel and breaking borders, along with the larger pictures need for covers, splash pages, and double-page spreads; (9) Storytelling is considered as being judged by the criteria of clarity and entertainment, just like telling a joke; (10) Composition takes us down to the level of individual frames, looking at how the process of combining elements together to form a united whole; (11) Shots and Angles parallels what we know about such things from cinematography; and (12) Movement examines the one inherent disadvantage of comic art, which is trying to show movement in a static image.

Part Three Pencilling: (13) Procedure lays out how most comic books are written, so you can see where the penciller comes into the process; (14) Breaking In has Janson offering advice on how to break into the business in a professional manner; and (15) Anatomy of a Story has Janson walking us through the drawing of "Good Evening, Midnight," a story he wrote and drew for "Batman Black and White" #3.

"The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics" provides exactly what it promises: a clear-cut introduction to the fundamentals of drawing comic books. As to the fact that the vast majority of illustration examples in this volume are not pencilled but inked, I would point out a couple of pragmatic facts that would explain why. First, inked examples look better than pencilled examples. Second, given that Janson is using examples from real DC Comics, these are covers and pages of art that are already inked. Still, I would agree that more examples of pencilled art would have been nice, although I certainly like what Janson does in Chapter 15, "Anatomy of a Story," where we see layouts, pencilled, and inked pages side-by-side to have a full appreciation of the transformation wrought by the inker.

The companion volume to this work, "The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics," is authored by Dennis O'Neil. Along with Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" and "Reinventing Comics," as well as Will Eisner's "Comics and Sequential Art" and "Graphic Storytelling," and John Buscema's "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," these two DC volumes are worthy additions to the limited library that every aspiring comic book writer/artist should have next to their computer/drawing table.


VERY Little Info on Penciling   September 30, 2005
 21 out of 36 found this review helpful

I can't recommend this book, which falls firmly in the category of works aimed at milking the purses of comics-artist wannabes. It also teeters right on the edge of the stuff that seems driven by an urge to discourage potential competition from entering the field. Plus it doesn't have any valuable info on penciling!!! Mitch Byrd's "Notes to Draw From" is a better resource.

Klaus Janson has worked on some major DC titles and apparently also teaches at the School of Visual Arts. Here he seems to be trying to pad out grudgingly little info on penciling with a sort of "why comics require super skills to draw" pedagogy that consumes more than 110 pages of an essentially 142-page book!

There's some good info in here I suppose, but the technical stuff always needs to be taken with a large block of salt. No one ever became a great artist by studying art. People become great artists by doing what they enjoy! The way to become an artist is by creating art. As you encounter challenges you look for solutions to problems and develop. In that sense this book might be useful. B-S- statements like "Drawing... requires study" etc etc do more harm than good IMHO.

The most important thing for would-be comics artists to remember is that the most successful guys in the field are Matt Groening and Scott Adams. They didn't get to the top through their knowledge of anatomy! Frank Cho is a brilliant draughtsman, but "Liberty Meadows" will never have the kind of circ "Doonesbury" had - back when Garry Trudeau was drawing little better than stick figures!

There are lots of books written from a viewpoint of encouraging young artists to learn while supporting them through their inevitable frustrations. Look for those books before wasting your time with this.


Great concepts, though not a "how-to" book   April 28, 2002
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

This book is really split into two major parts: figure drawing and storytelling. The former is treated very lightly and only hits the high points of anatomy, but there are some tremendous illustrations within. Buy Elliot Goldfinger's "Human Anatomy for Artists" if this is what you're looking for.

The storytelling section is the real core of this book, however. Janson really doesn't present particularly new or revolutionary ideas (for that see Will Eisner's Comics & Sequential Art), but he does clearly explain the concepts of composition, balance, contrast and reader eye movement. Honestly, I felt like there was so much more that could have been said on each of these and the dozen other topics within. Clearly Janson knows what he is talking about as each subject is supported by actual DC comic book examples (covering a lot of genres over the last 30 years, so this is not just aimed at current comic book styles).

There is a third section called "Pencilling", but it is more of an appendix of notes such as how to talk to editors and present your portfolio. Janson also breaks down a short Batman story he wrote and illustrated, showing thumbnail sketches and reference photos along the way - very insightful.

Klaus Janson is a tremendous artist with an energetic style, which is exemplified by his inking (see Frank Miller's Daredevil or The Dark Knight Returns as examples). There are over 200 illustrations within, about one third are Janson's.


Hmmm... more ink work than pencil here...   August 26, 2002
 9 out of 22 found this review helpful

All right, I have to admit that in terms of attempts to lay down solid info about composition, layout, and some basics of linework, the book isn't terrible. But... I had to laugh when flipping through a copy. There were more inked examples than pencilled. Ummm....
I know that Klaus has got some skill, and some of the folks who have pencilled for DC, I work with a couple, have done some amazing work. Still, this doesn't have much about the quality of work I am used to seeing from some of their past great pencillers. That is, not visually anyway, and isn't that what this was supposed to be about? Visuals? How to use tones, what you convey to an inker in the way you block in forms and indicate depth, shadow (which reveals your form, light only helps with color), and the infinite variety of line work. The necessity of knowing anatomy, light and perspective and how to use them effectively in a comic format.
Haven't read the entire book, so I can't say if the reasons for the amount of inked examples are ever spelled out, but I had to keep looking at the cover/title of the book to be sure I was holding the volume dedicated to pencils...


A review from a fan....   August 25, 2002
 2 out of 12 found this review helpful

I'm a huge fan of Klaus Janson, and this book gives me incrediable insight as to how he creates thes amazing works of art.