Book Addict – DC Comics Style Guide
Art by Jose Luiz Garcia Lopez
Do any of you understand how special of a time it is we live in now? For instance, there was a time when this book was considered, by fans and collectors, a myth. That is what this book is. For years, this was a book that artists, fans and collectors only talked about in hushed tones to each other.
‘I saw one once, at the DC offices’
‘I heard they’re gonna mass-produce one’
‘My father’s, brother’s, nephew’s, cousins, former roommate, on my mothers side, saw it once too, they have a whole closet full of them in the DC Offices archives’
Kind of statements. It could get to be a little much.
But FINALLY, after 30+ years DC finally got their wits together and put this mythical tome out. Though, unconventionally. You would think, being a book publisher, with some of the best book designers at your fingertips, DC would just publish it themselves.
Nope.
They went a different route and went through Standards Manual.
https://standardsmanual.com/products/1982-dc-comics-style-guide
Why?
I have no idea what went into the thinking of finally publishing this book.
And it’s probably where my criticism of this book will come in because there are things in the book that I question.
But first, seriously, let’s marvel at some of Jose Luiz Garcia Lopez’ truly gorgeous designs and art from the book itself.
See there? Incredible.
Now back to the book. It’s a nice, hefty, well put-together hardcover book. It looks great on the shelf. It reads super easy; it has some new essays from top writers in the opening pages. Also, this Style Guide was meant for Marketing purposes. Not necessarily for comics. This was so they knew without a doubt what the characters would look like on pillowcases, canned foods, t-shirts, and lunch boxes. Comic artists could use it to adapt their style to the stories they were telling but its first use, was for Marketing.
My biggest question is, there are LOTS of blank pages in here. Like, A LOT. That is disconcerting because the book could probably be half the size it is if they’d just laid it out differently. The blank pages are a mystery to me, and, obviously, it bugs me. It just does.
But if you’re in it, like me, for JLGL’s beautiful art inked by the great Dick Giordano, with just about every corner of the DC universe stable of characters at your fingertips, then this is the book for you.
Here are some more images of JLGL’s beautiful renditions.
