In 1948 a young Al Williamson accepted his first commercial assignment—for an issue of Famous Funnies comics, which launched his career as a professional in the field. Developing an elegant and illustrative style, he soon gained prominence in the highly influential EC Comics line of the 1950s. Over the next few decades, his exquisite art also illuminated many Atlas comics, various incarnations of Flash Gordon and the comic strips Secret Agent Corrigan and Star Wars, as well as a host of other titles and properties. This extraordinary body of superior work cemented Williamson's longstanding popularity. By the end of his career in the early 2000s, he had become one of the most highly regarded comic and strip artists in the industry, especially noted for the graceful ink line that he spent a lifetime pursuing.
This first compendium in a new series is the perfect introduction to Al Williamson's work. You will find samples that span his fifty-year career along with anecdotes and historical details salted throughout. Cover art, interior pages, drawings and sketches—plus photographs of Al and his friends posing as reference for his sequential art—are included. This volume contains a mixture of both his most-obscure and best-known works, all meticulously reproduced from the original art.
Until now, this captivating original artwork has only been seen by those fortunate enough to visit the Williamson studio in person. For the first time, readers will be able to view the artist's most-cherished works. Williamson's love of 1920s and 1930s adventure, fantasy and science-fiction pop culture—and his admiration of artists such as Flash Gordon creator Alex Raymond—grounded his drawing technique and storytelling, which evolved throughout his life. He was able to take these inspirations and carry on the legacy of the past masters while becoming a unique icon in the industry. In this collection, readers will be able to witness Williamson's development as an artist.
Industry Reviews
"Al Williamson was simply the best. His men were heroic, his women were beautiful and his monsters were ghastly. He could do it all. His brush control was graceful, and his ink work was lush and second to none. To me, Al Williamson was a true grand master and one of the greatest comic-strip artists who ever lived." --Frank Cho
"When I was first starting in comics, I'd get up in the morning and pore over Al's Star Wars strips. Then I'd turn to my own work and do my best to 'be' Al Williamson. A foolish effort, of course. I will never be able to touch the grace and elegance of Al's work. He was too good. But I learned so much from trying. In some ways, I'm still trying. Trying to measure up to Al's impossible, magical standard." --Ron Randall
"Al Williamson's extraordinary career extended from the late 1940s into the early 2000s--an incredibly prolific six decades. No cartoonist remains popular for that long without being a great talent, a dependable pro and a good guy. Al was certainly all three, and he loved comics. He carried forward the traditions of heroic adventure illustration, melded them with his own exhilarating flair, and left a legacy for future generations of fans. "Motion pictures and comics were the two great visual art forms of the twentieth century. Movies deal in kinetics, while comics deal in still images placed in context with one another, but both forms were built to tell stories. Al Williamson was a bridge between the two, inspired as much by action-packed adventure movie serials as by the illustrative comics work of Alex Raymond. Al had the uncanny ability to clock the perfect split second within the most dynamic movement of a movie character and to interpret that discreet pose in a still image, capturing the impression of headlong motion in the unique terms of the cartoonist. That magical skill of Al's has never been matched--and I suspect never will--but anyone interested in how storytelling works in comics can learn much from the choices he made." --Mark Schultz
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