Douglas has commented on (29) products.

de Kooning: An American Master by Mark Stevens
de Kooning: An American Master

Douglas, September 27, 2008

This remarkable, award-winning biography of Willem de Kooning is illuminating in a number of ways, but primarily has left me with the impression of a man tortured over his work, never satisfied, reworking and reworking, and never derivative of others.
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The Comics Journal #292 by Gary Groth
The Comics Journal #292

Douglas, September 27, 2008

The Comics Journal is the long-running (over 30 years) magazine that dared to take comic book criticism seriously long before graphic novels had their own section in every bookstore. Gary Groth is the publisher of the Journal, and over the years has held lengthy interviews with an extensive list of the great artists of cartooning and comics. In this issue Groth interviews all three Deitch Brothers, Kim, Simon, and Seth, as well as their father, Academy-award winning animator, Gene Deitch. Kim's interview includes details about his underground comics days at the East Village Other and elsewhere. The Deitchs' honesty about each other's successes ansd failures is refreshing and entertaining. As well as the interviews, this issue of the Journal also contains the usual news articles about the cartooning world, reviews, and columns by regular contributors. Much of what the Journal covers can be found online, but the interviews alone are worth reading this periodical.
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A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy, 1881-1906 (Borzoi Books) by John Richardson
A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy, 1881-1906 (Borzoi Books)

Douglas, September 27, 2008

This is the first volume of John Richardson's biography of Picasso. I find the writing scholarly but quite accessable. There are many images per chapter, not only of Picasso's work, but of other artists mentioned in the text, as well as photographs of important figures in Picasso's life. These carefully selected images illuminate the text well. Richardson clearly demonstrates how the work in this early part of Picasso's life is related to his entire oevre, explaining context and place. This book is comprehensive and approachable, and speaks to many of the myths, some promoted by the artist himself, that are still extant.
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Good-Bye by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Good-Bye

Douglas, September 20, 2008

Good Bye, as well as the two previous Drawn & Quarterly collections of Tatsumi's work, is a revelation. I usually avoid manga, but had read about this work on D&Q's website and other places. This is dark and grown up work, its imagery not beholding to the tropes of conventional manga. As good fiction does, it draws you into its own world, that is, the many worlds within the many stories, worlds of desperate, lonely, depressed misfits. I highly recommend this, and any other work you can find by Yoshihiro Tatsumi.
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Shadowland by Kim Deitch
Shadowland

Douglas, September 20, 2008

Kim Deitch, part of a renowned cartooning family, has produced weird, funny stories since his undergound comic days. Shadowland is a collection of such work, his continuing odd and fantastic take on Americana and the subset that is early Hollywood. His cartooning style is unique (I tried copying it when I was in junior high school way back in 1972) and it fits perfectly with the crazy, humorous, entertaining stories he tells. You should read Kim Deitch.
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