Eyes of Light: Fantasy Drawings of Frank Brunner [Paperback]

I always considered myself more sophisticated than the average kid when it came to comics and comic book art. When I began reading comics in the early 1970's most other eleven and twelve year-olds were just reading comics for the characters but I always was captivated by superior artists since I was an aspiring artist myself. Guys like Neal Adams, Barry Smith, George Perez, Jim Starlin, Berni Wrightson...and Frank Brunner. Brunner, I always found to be the most enigmatic out of all of these artists because while the rest have remained active or semi-active in comics...Adams even had his own company for a time...Brunner seemed to virtually disappear from the comic book landscape after the 1970's.

With an introduction by Michael Moorcock, this book from Vanguard Productions features a glorious sampling of Brunner's art from the late 1960's through present day. Throughout, Brunner shares anecdotes about his career in comics and after comics and catches us up with what he is doing today. Much of this information was new to me such as Frank's initial desire to want to work in underground comics as opposed to mainstream books and his early days working for Warren Publications.

Like many, however, it was his work on Doctor Strange that first made me a Brunner Fan. Doc Strange has always had the benefit for having superior artists do to the unique milieus the book features. Guys like Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, Paul Smith...all talented but it was Brunner's vision of the Sorcerer Supreme that I will always remember. Great covers like Doctor Strange #1 and #4 still are among my favorites, as well as the memorable Howard the Duck #1. And then there are the stories with Death and, of course, GOD! Brunner relates an interesting story about that rather famous issue when Stan Lee told Brunner and writer Steve Englehart that they needed to print a retraction saying it wasn't THE God but rather A God! Their resolution is quite hilarious.

Like many great artists of the 1970's, Brunner doesn't hesitate to show his disdain for many of today's splash-page heavy, techno artists and the lifeless, unoriginal characters which permeate comics. I've heard similar comics from both Neal Adams and John Buscema. Eyes of light not only reprints a lot of his great comic art of the 1970's but also work from his classic portfolios like his modern take on Alice in Wonderland. There's also a lot of great new work, some commissions for classic Brunner renditions of Doctor Strange and Red Sonja.

Brunner covers much of what he did after leaving Marvel including his work in TV, film, and animation of projects such as Pirates of Dark Water, Dino Riders, Skeleton Warriors, Jonny Quest, Robocop, The Ed Grimly Show, and much more. It's truly a fascinating and intimate look at one of the legends of illustration and highly recommended. Like most of the books from Vanguard Productions the book is available in softcover, hardcover, and a limited edition hardcover signed by Frank Brunner!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

There are two characteristics that should be pointed out about this book:
1 - It's a black and white book
2 - It has the dimensions of a comic book, which are quite smaller than a normal art book

If you're looking for great colour art check out Mythos: Fantasy Art Realms of Frank Brunner.

SPECIFICS:
Page Count: 112
Number of images: 103
Small images: 28
Half page images: 17
Full page images: 49
2-page spreads: 9
BW images: 103

TEXT:
Introduction: 1 page
Bio: 1 page
The book has 6 main chapters which cover the artist's career in some detail, and it's written by Brunner himself.

ART:
3 images: 5 stars
32 images: 4 stars
62 images: 3 stars
6 images: 2 stars
0 images: 1 star

Overall: 3,5 Stars