One of the standout artists of the past 20 years, British artist Jock’s work has appeared on comic book covers and movie posters, and his concept art has provided the vision behind the look of movies like Dredd, Ex Machina, Battleship, and in the works is next year’s Star Wars: Episode VIII.  A new high-quality hardcover from Insight Editions available this month is showcasing some of his best images.  The Art of Jock establishes a new standard for photographic reproductions, with some of the very best color and crisp detail found in any recent coffee table edition we’ve reviewed.  It features hundreds of illustrations from a creator really only at the early stages of his career.

Born in Scotland as Mark Simpson, Jock broke into comics with the British sci-fi comic book 2000 A.D., and today is an internationally-recognized artist and Eisner Award nominee.  We’ve seen his work in DC Comics series like Green Arrow and Batman, in Marvel series like Savage Wolverine and Daredevil, in the Image series Wytches, and in Vertigo series Scalped and Losers.  Highlights of early sketches and final versions of his work on these series can be found in this book in large, full color pages.  Fans of Jock will love the many original comic book covers and interior art included.

The Art of Jock was written by DC Comics editor Will Dennis, with commentary by Battleship director Peter Berg, and DC Comics’ Jim Lee and Scott Snyder.  But the most valuable insight is provided by the artist himself.  Jock recounts his process and critiques his own work, comparing his style between phases of his own development.

Jock’s projects has been part of many diverse projects and successes.  He co-created The Losers with Andy Diggle.  His covers for titles including X-Men, Daredevil, and Jason Aaron’s Scalped led to his being nominated as Eisner Award Best Cover Artist.  Jock and writer Scott Snyder won the Stan Lee Award for Best Series for their work on Batman: The Black Mirror, and his visuals on Green Arrow: Year One have been adapted almost verbatim into CW’s Arrow series island scenes.

The Art of Jock was co-produced by exclusive poster company Mondo.  Jock’s key marketing projects include limited release posters for Shaun of the Dead, The Thing, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Dark Knight Rises, Iron Man 3, and Halloween.

This book is a must for Jock fans, students of art, and design aficionados, particularly anyone trying to establish their own style.  We can’t rave enough about the format of this book.  It includes large, thick, foldout pages to highlight horizontal poster art and inserted transparency pages that cause certain pages to pop with color and style.

The Art of Jock is available now here at Amazon.com.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com