Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* One of contemporary comics' classiest acts, fantasy artist Vess is even more stunning as a book illustrator. It's altogether fitting, then, that book illustration looms large in this gorgeously produced retrospective album (the heavy, translucent section frontispieces are especially impressive). Vess provides his own very economical notes, which downplay technique in favor of autobiographical and art-appreciative remarks, the latter about his beloved influences, beginning with Arthur Rackham and Aubrey Beardsley, both of whose fluidly slender figures have their ilk in Vess' creations. He also lauds the premier Victorian painter of fairies, Richard Dadd, whose mastery of crowded compositions Vess thoroughly learned; comics artists Hal Foster and Russ Manning, renowned for the ornate and graceful vigor of their work on Tarzan and Prince Valiant; and all manner of literary fantasists, starting with the Scots and English ballad makers and the Shakespeare of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which Vess has rendered in both comics and an illustrated edition of the full text. No wonder he's the preferred artist of premier modern literary fantasists Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, and Susanna Clarke, the last of whom contributes an aptly breathless yet not giddy introduction.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
