Unhuman: The Elephantmen Art of Ladrönn

Elephantmen

by José Ladrönn, Richard Starkings, John Roshell

Designed by Comicraft's Secret Weapon, John JG Roshell, and the perfect companion to Hip Flask: Concrete Jungle, this comprehensive collection of unpublished art, sketches, and drawings by Ladronn offered in a beautiful hardcover tome. The very first American art work by the Eisner award-winning artist Spotlights the career of the cover artist behind the industry's biggest titles, including The Incredible Hulk

Genres: Comics, Art

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 19, 2007

Reviews

[Jamil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ladronn is an almost perfect synthesis of Kirby & Moebius. I just wish he drew faster. & finished Hip Flask so he could go draw other things. (His sci-fi Atom covers for DC are so phenomenal you almost buy the comic even though it pales in comparison on the insides). Grant Morrison is waiting for you, Ladronn. Heed to my will!

[Parka · Rating 4 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

The hippo in a coat on the cover looks interesting enough for me to get the book. I've no idea what Elephantmen is. Well, according to wikipedia, The Elephantmen series is a spin-off from the series Hip Flask, set in the same universe and expanding on details of various minor characters from that series.

This book is the concept art book for the comic series drawn by José Ladrönn. Since the story is character based, there are tons of character designs for the unhumans as well as the humans. These are sketches, lineart, paintings and character profiles. There are lots of iterations included and you can see what works and not, and they are all explained.

Particularly impressive are the ridiculously detailed paintings which took months to draw. There are several pieces and each are shown with the work-in-progress shots from sketch to the colouring stage.

In some of the drawings, 3D models were created to help in painting the environments and vehicles. These 3D screenshots, with wireframes, are also included. The amount of effort and work is just staggering. Many of these are just going to appear small in the final art anyway but still...

Dedication screams out in this book. This Ladronn guy really works hard for his money.

[Zanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

29.99

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome art and a very comprehensive commentary by Richard Starkings.