How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way

Smilin' Stan and Big John Comin' at ya!
This was a fun tape for me, because I grew up reading these guy's comic books, and I bought the book version of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way years ago. I mainly got the video so I could hear artist Buscema's voice (which is great; he sounds like a character from the Sopranos scolding you for not drawing right). But all they do is read the book word for word from a teleprompter while John pretends to draw over some photocopied enlargements from it's pages! He's literally making these theatrical "drawing" motions without touching the pencil to the paper, while writer Stan Lee pontificates in his endearingly overblown and gratingly nasal Brooklynese. It's great. The original book was just Buscema's comic book drawing course, to which Stan wrote some psuedo-hip "Marvel" patter as a way of marketing it to a wider audience, and this is undoudtedly another scheme to cash in a little more, which must have taken the old partners part of a whole day to do. In...

Don't Waste Your Money
There is NOTHING in this DVD that wasn't in the book. In fact, Stan and John basically read the book to you as they show you the pictures from the book. I was hoping to actually SEE the artists do the drawings, but there is maybe 60 seconds total of footage of actual drawing. The rest of the video is just John Buscema tracing over all the images that are already in the book. If you really want to learn to draw comics, this isn't for you. If you just want a basic overview of the process, this dvd might not be TOO disappointing. But if you already own the book, DEFINITELY don't waste your money. It would be cheaper just to have your mom read the book to you.

Stan and John Create Surface Tension
This dvd first caught my eye with high expectations and a low price. The price turned out to be too much. Stan Lee and John Buscema are two of the greatest comic book creators that have ever lived, but this dvd just isn't good enough to meet their standards. It offers much in the way of comic book jargon, but displays each business element very poorly. The main focus of this "visual" video is verbal instruction. There is a very limited amount of important hands-on drawing, barely even enough to teach a learning artist anything. I think that HOW TO DRAW COMICS THE MARVEL WAY could have been done a lot better and should offer a great deal more. Unless you are an avid comic book fan, I do not recommend purchasing this dvd. And, even if you are, I would give it some serious thought.

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