Secret Teachings of a Comic Book Master

Fascinating insight into the life and work of one of the comic book greats. Useful for both artists and other creatives! Beautifully illustrated with Alcala's own work.

~3.5 I think the most important factor determining whether you will enjoy this book is your expectations. When I picked it up, I was more focused on the "Secret teachings" bit of the title and description than the "Art of Alfredo Alcala" bit. I'm not actually a reader of comics, and before reading this, I had absolutely no idea who Alfredo Alcala was. I have an amateur interest in art, and I was mostly interested in any potential tips for figure drawing, scenery, or dynamic composition.

In actuality, however, I think this book is geared towards fans of Alfredo Alcala rather than anyone interested in an art manual. The book itself is very short--under 80 pages, and probably under 60 if you don't count the introductions-- and spends most of the pages detailing Alcala's origins and experiences, as well as his own comments on his life and career. The book is positively chock-full of his art; I'd guess that at least half of the content is given over to imagery. As seems reasonable in retrospect, the actual art tips are minimal. There is a very brief description of composition, and a much longer (and quite interesting) discussion of Alcala's stylistic influence on comics. Overall, if you are a fan of Alcala, or you're interested in the changing styles of comics, this is definitely worth a look.

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1460492190?book_show_action=false BookLikes: http://pagefault.booklikes.com/post/1303344/

Having met this publishing house through their compilations of public domain texts, it was a surprise to find something as esoteric as this on their books – a thirty-plus-year-old appreciation of a master comics artist from the Philippines. Certainly he'd never come my way before now, or not knowingly. But Alcala was worth learning about – his character, his work ethic, background and style – even if nothing had been updated or added to prove his continued influence or indeed the value of this old text. It makes itself most valuable, not in the lengthy hagiographic introductions, nor the guides to style, craft and composition Alcala gives the author, but in his making-of discussion of an incredibly choppy but exceedingly artistic sword-and-sorcery epic, from his own self-created muscleman that predates the comic Conan while looking exceedingly similar. The writing here, regarding everything he was clearly very good at, from page design, visual narrative and more, clearly bests just about any DVD-extra styled bonus sections from the current crop of comic publishers, meaning this really would go down well with anyone interested in emulating a past master. A small audience is expected for this volume, but a very appreciative one.

This book is amazing it is all at once a illustrator's text book giving insight from a master in the field a personal biography of an incredible artist and best of all an collection of his incredible, groundbreaking comic illustrations

I remember in the 1970's being eager each month for the latest issue of The Savage Sword of Conan to be on bookseller's shelf. The black and white art in this over-sized comic book typically was much more impressive than that in the smaller color comics, and a big part of the reason for that was because of Alfredo Alcala. And so, when I saw this book was available (again), I couldn't resist getting my hands on it.

First...this is not a portfolio. This is not just drawing after drawing to ogle over, though there is plenty of art inside, it's not being reproduced on a frame-able quality.

Second...this book is only eighty pages long and more than a quarter of it is taken up with introductions (by Gil Kane and Roy Thomas, at least).

Third..."Secrets Teachings" is a bit of a misnomer - there really aren't any secrets here, but we do get some insight into Alcala and his technique and his thought process as he develops a comic book. And this is what makes the book worth-while.

Before his work on Conan, Alcala created and illustrated a series called Voltar (a clear predecessor to Conan), and this book selects one issue of Voltar and Alcala walks the reader through the entire issue, explaining his thought process to the layout of the page and for each panel and even why some things are light, some dark, etc. It was really fascinating to read how much thought goes into this from the artist's point of view.

Because, when I think of Alcala's work, I think of his incredibly detailed work, I would have liked to have more insight into his actual process of inking. I did appreciate his mentioning how artists need to be able to draw (not just 'finish'), and how learning about the human body and how it reacts in different poses is important (and he gives an example of when it doesn't work).

Alcala mentions using both pen and brush as tools in his art, and here again I would like to know more. I had always assumed his work (look at the drawing on the cover as pictured above) was purely pen and ink. Where and when would he use a brush?

Though I still have questions about his work, I really enjoyed this book, both for the art and for what I learned. I recommend this book very highly for anyone interested in art, not just comic books.

Looking for a good book? Secret Teachings of a Comic Book Master: The Art of Alfredo Alcala is a wonderful look at the thought process of one of the best artist/inkers in comic book history and should be read, not just by comic book fans but by anyone who appreciates great art.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This book purports to be the teachings of a comic book master; an artist’s teachings for other artists. Specifically those who like to paint and draw. And there’s a lot of good advice in here if that’s what you want to do. But the thing I really like about this book, and about Alfredo Alcala, is that this applies to any kind of art - not just drawing.

The thing about this book is it’s a real insight into the external world - things that we all deal with from day to day; but also real insight to the internal world - looking at ourselves and what makes us tick.

The author says something interesting about Alfredo when they began this book:

“When we began this project, Alfredo was going through a period of his life when he wasn’t doing a lot of comic book work. The majority of the new batch of editors have short memories and little respect for age and wisdom (are they any different from the rest of youth-obsessed America?).”

The reason this is so interesting is that I’m experiencing it at my own job (20 years after this book was published! It’s as if everyone is saying, “Let’s get rid of these old, experienced people who we have to pay more money, and replace them with young, inexperienced people because they’ll be cheap.” How is that good business? (See what I mean about this book being about insights into the real world?)

The author suggests 10 secret teachings gained from studying Alcala:

1. Look inside yourself to find the artist. Not the craftsman who can merely do the work, but the artist who sees the world in a fresh, new way, and creates something beautiful.

2. Don’t do what’s popular at the moment. Create honest art. Don’t follow the crowd. Create from your heart.

3. Seek knowledge from an older person who has real wisdom. The hard part here is finding that person.

4. Sit down and work and you will finish the job. This one seems obvious. But it’s really not; and, as any artist knows, it’s not always easy to do.

5. Travel light and always carry your art supplies. Well, as a writer, this means always having something to write on. Since that’s my phone, I can keep that with me, and concentrate on the traveling light!

6. Learn to observe everything around you. It may save your life some day. Interesting, and maybe important, advice.

7. If you really want to be smart, READ on your own. I’m amazed at how many people don’t get this. It’s why I’m reading this very book.

8. When reading or watching a film, learn to think like the director or author. The creative process is so fascinating, sometimes it’s hard not to think about the creative process that came about for a film or book I’m experiencing.

9. Learn to draw and talk at the same time. Hmmmm…this is the first one that is difficult to apply. Maybe, “Learn to multitask”?

10. Don’t get into the arts for the money. Yeah. The only problem with this, is if you get a job first, it’s hard to get back.

Alfredo is a fascinating character. While famous for his inking, he could create a comic from beginning to end - writing, layouts, pencils, inks, lettering, publishing - and has done it. He would hardly ever sleep - and when he did, it was often at his drawing table.

One of the things he suggests is to have a reference library for pictures of things you might have to draw. One of the resources he left out that some modern artists use is porn. Ha! (I’m sorry - if you have no idea what I’m talking about, Google “Greg Land” or read this article - not really NSFW, but the link does contain the word “porn”.)

And there’s some great stuff on composition. He walks through a comic describing how he laid it out - this would be great info for any artist - or any movie director.

Although it seems like the publisher just got the rights to this book written 20 years ago and republished it, I might be tempted to get a hardcopy of my own.

'Secret Teachings of a Comic Book Master: The Art of Alfredo Alcala' is like sitting over coffee with an amazing artist and having him tell you all his secrets.

The introductions alone should make you take notice. There are intros by Gil Kane and Roy Thomas, who are comics legends, and they express their deep respect of Alfredo. There is a more personal introduction by Phil Yeh that talks about travelling with Alfredo. The bulk of the book is called, The Art of Observation, and Alfredo's tips to young artists are to draw everything and pay attention to everything around you. The book finishes with a kind of artist's commentary to an unpublished Voltar story.

Throughout the book are examples of Alfredo's work here in the States and from his early years in the Philippines. He was an influential artist on Conan the Barbarian and his own book Voltar. His style is bold and action-oriented. His figures have muscular anatomy and are finely detailed. I really appreciated learning more about this artist and getting to understand how much work he puts into every panel.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.