By
LJ Douresseau
February 8, 2005 - 15:19
THE COMICS JOURNAL LIBRARY VOL. 4:
The Comics Journal Library from Fantagraphics is a lavishly produced series of 12” x12” coffee-table books, each one collecting interviews drawn from the leading magazine of comics news, criticism, and opinion,
The Comics Journal. Previous volumes have collected TCJ’s interviews with Jack Kirby and Frank Miller. Volume 4 of this series is entitled DRAWING THE LINE, and it collects TCJ interviews with four superb cartoonists who are also savvy political and social commentators: Jules Feiffer, David Levine, Edward Sorel, and Ralph Steadman.
These are basically four epic and exhaustive interviews of four major cartoonists and satirists. The book’s editor and designer have also made this compilation a bountiful tome of cartoon art and illustrations – some in beautiful and rich color, others in sharp black and white, all of it embarrassingly wealthy in subject matter.
It’s hard to pick a favorite interview, but comic fans with a broad knowledge of the medium will likely gravitate towards Gary Groth’s 1988 interview of Jules Feiffer because of Feiffer’s collaborations with Will Eisner and the great Wally Wood. However, the final section holds a career-spanning interview with Ralph Steadman (some of it covering his volatile relationship with Hunter S. Thompson) and a treasure trove of reprinted Steadman art.
A
ComicBookBin
