Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without An Eraser

by Dewey Cassell, Jeff Messer, Mike Grell (Artist)

From a seminal turn on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and creating the lost world of the Warlord, to his work on Green Arrow―first relaunching the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series with Denny O’Neil, and later redefining the character in Green The Longbow Hunters―Mike Grell made an indelible mark at DC Comics in the 1970s and ’80s. But his greatest contribution to the comics industry was in pioneering creator-owned properties like Jon Sable, Starslayer, and Shaman’s Tears. Grell even tried his hand at legendary literary characters like Tarzan and James Bond, adding to his remarkable tenure in comics. This career-spanning tribute to the master storyteller is told in Grell’s own words, full of candor, optimism, and humor. Lending insights are colleagues Paul Levitz, Dan Jurgens, Denny O’Neil, Mike Gold, and Mark Ryan. Full of illustrations from every facet of his long career, with a Foreword by Chad Hardin, it also includes a checklist of his work and an examination of “the Mike Grell method.” It is a fitting tribute to the artist, writer, and storyteller who has made the most of every opportunity set before him, living up to his own mantra, “Life is Drawing Without an Eraser.” By Dewey Cassell, with Jeff Messer. (This Limited Hardcover Edition is limited to 1000 copies, and includes 16 extra full-color pages, not found in the Softcover Edition.)

176 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 2018

Reviews

[Tim Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know what you're going to get with these artist books from Twomorrows and this was no exception. Essentially a book-length interview of Mike Grell with a minor amount of digressions from other people and a ton of art. I was probably predisposed to think highly of this one because I've been a huge fan of Grell's work for over 45 years. I do think this was one of the better books of this sort. Structurally it hit all of Grell's major works and many of his minor ones. Grell was an interesting interviewee.

I don't think I'd heard the full story behind Grell leaving Jon Sable and First Comics or the entire story behind Shaman's Tears and its quick ending. So there was definitely new history here. If you're a Grell fan this is a must have. If you're a fan of comics from the 70s through the 90s it is probably still worth your while.

[Joel Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grell is a creative powerhouse and this chronologically follows his projects and gathers his thoughts and discusses his creative process. Also includes some nice artwork. There's a little bit of repetition as it republishes some old interviews so, in some cases, we read the book repeats the same thing two or three times.