Book Review: The Marvel Art Of Marko Djurdjevic

The Marvel Art Of Marko Djurdjevic

This is the last art book review I'll post before my trip to San Diego Comic Con 2009.

When I found out the book was in stock at the local Kinokuniya, I left for the bookshop immediately. It's finally here!

Marko Djurdjevic is a German illustrator who has only started drawing comic covers for Marvel since 2006. In these three years, he has amassed a ton of top quality art to create his first portfolio art book, The Marvel Art Of Marko Djurdjevic

This book features the cover art he has drawn for X-Men First Class, Blade, Thunderbolts, Daredevil, Mystic Arcana, Wolverine: Origins, Thor, Spider-man-One More Day, Avengers, Hulk, Magneto and many more. The lavishly painted illustrations are accompanied by the original sketches, including rejected pieces by editors. In the last chapter, there are even character designs and sketches which got him talent scouted by Chris Allo, talent manager at Marvel.

The hardcover opens up to a concept sketch of Thor battling skeletons drawn with intense cross hatching. Straightaway you know this book is going to be good. The comic covers are reproduced brilliantly and big on the semi glossy paper. The quality of art is amazing, of course. He's got all his foundational skills down - composition, form and anatomy.

Although he has a lot of dynamic pieces, his strongest ones are actually the quieter and subtle pieces which capture the mood perfectly. The piece I like is the one with young Magneto in tears watching people being burnt in Nazi camp furnaces. It makes readers really feel for him. It's incredibly difficult to tell a story with only one panel. This illustration did it. It's really a powerful and emotive piece.

All the illustrations are accompanied by captions. Marko Djurdjevic shares his thoughts on the covers, colour choices, comments and criticisms, among others. There's also the story of him breaking into the comics industry, which is really inspiring considering he did it through sheer determination, discipline and passion. The closing interviews by Coro Kaufman and Andrew Jones give even more dimension into his personality. He self taught everything himself, was a heavy drinker before he met his wife, draws with a pen to build confidence. Very interesting read.

I love art books that talk about the artists in addition to the art. This is definitely one of my favourite art books in 2009.

Most highly recommended.

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The Marvel Art Of Marko Djurdjevic is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | JP | CN)

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12 Comments

Hi Parka, I wanted to thank

Hi Parka,

I wanted to thank you for the great job you're doing with your reviews. I'm a 3D artist living in India, and Amazon isn't usually a realistic option for me since shipping is usually very expensive and takes ages. I tend to ask local bookstores to order books for me, which works out a bit cheaper. Your reviews give me a great headsup on the wonderful books out there, and have a great impact on whether I choose to buy them or not. Thank you, and keep up the great work.

So this actually does focus

So this actually does focus on Marvel covers as I first thought... slightly disapointing as I would have wanted to see more of his personal art, since I'm not a huge comic book guy.

The cover art looks excellent though and this is still something I'll want to pick up. Thanks for the review.

Dear Sir, I highly appreciate

Dear Sir,
I highly appreciate the service that you are doing to us through your great reviews on amazon. After considering various friends I finally stumbled upon your blog and your review of this amazing book on amazon site. I waited till i the book was delivered and was blown apart by its masterpiece. I am a big comic geek but i spend most of my money on Hard Cover stuff due to my PREVIOUS love on writing and never wanted to buy an art book. I can't thank you enough for guiding me through buying this and now I am a proud owner of a wonderful art book among my friends. :)
keep up the good work and thanks again.

Marko Djurdjevic's work is

Marko Djurdjevic's work is amazing, the highlights and shadows using the anatomic care and great expression of his characters is simply overwhelming, this is one of those books fatastic to see many times.
I would like to find a book in the library of the School of Art (National School of Fine Arts in Lima - Peru) in which estud ied painting.
thank you for showing interest books and blogs

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