Heroes & Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross

This doesn't quite fit the technical definition of a comic book, even though it's presented in standard comic book format. It's actually the program for the Andy Warhol Museum's exhibit of the artwork of Alex Ross.

To make matters slightly more confusing, I bought this on my recent trip to western MA, at the Norman Rockwell Museum, which is currently (only through February 24, 2013, so go see it soon!) hosting the Alex Ross Exhibit.

Title: Heroes & Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross
Date: October, 2011
Publisher: The Andy Warhol Museum
Artist: Alex Ross
Editor: Jesse Kowalski

This is the program from the museum exhibit of Alex Ross' comic art. Originally displayed at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh PA, I caught the exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge MA.

This book spends a lot of time talking about comics in general, and less time than I would have liked talking about Alex Ross. It does include some pretty interesting material on Ross' influences, which include Andrew Loomis, Lynette Ross (his mother, also an illustrator), J.C. Leyendecker, and of course Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol.

Ross' painting of Warhol flying in Superman style adorns the cover of the book, and quite a bit of his art, as well as art by the various artists who influenced him is printed inside. Unfortunately, most of it is reproduced her in very small size.

The general comic book information is aimed at readers who are new to comics, and who might be surprised to find comic art in a museum. As such, the book spends a lot of time working through concepts that comic fans have long since dealt with. Comics are serious art, they're not just kids' stuff, etc.

There was some good historical information here, but the general tone came off as simplistic at best and condescending in a few moments, even when that was the opposite of the intended effect. A piece on "superheroes through the eyes of a novice" by Alissa Osial made a couple of funny points, but largely fell flat.

The book is also organized in a very scattered way, jumping around topics and highlighting certain characters seemingly at random.

It could have used a stronger unifying narrative. I understood that many of the oddly-placed pieces were included because they were particularly influential on the work of Alex Ross, but the case could have been stated more coherently.

This is a good read for the Alex Ross completeist, and it's a nice look back on the comic industry, but aside from the connections to classic illustrators, there isn't much here for the dedicated comic fan.

Rating: 5.5/10