Marvel Team-Up: Dark Horse And Marvel To Publish A New Line Of Art Books
by Austin Gorton
Dark Horse has made a name for itself in recent years with its high quality hardcover art books, covering everything from Masters of the Universe to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to a wide variety of video games. Recently, Dark Horse and Marvel Comics announced a new multi-year publishing collaboration for a range of art books focusing on subjects as diverse as new video games to artist monographs highlighting legacy Marvel talent, typography and graphic design, and even retrospectives celebrating the history of Marvel collectibles!
The collaboration begins with the launch of “Bullpen Books” — a line of deluxe books showcasing the works of legendary Marvel characters and creators. The first volume is The Art of the Amazing Spider-Man by John Romita. Releasing in Fall 2024, the oversized hardcover features essays on Romita’s work, covers, and original art scans from Marvels archives.
“Our initial projects will concentrate on exploring the extensive artistic and design legacy of Marvel Comics, including the substantial contributions made by its iconic creative teams. Combining the incredible depth and content within Marvel’s art archives with Dark Horse’s exceptional design and production will offer fans unparalleled editions of this material,” said John Lind, creative director, editor and designer of the collaboration.
Dark Horse previously announced two art books tied to the Marvel’s Spider-Man video game franchise including The Art of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales—The Poster Collection. Additional details on the books that make up the new publishing collaboration between Dark Horse and Marvel will be announced soon.
“I grew up with the Marvel characters and their creators from my earliest days, so I’m very excited about this new collaboration,” said Dark Horse President and Publisher Mike Richardson. “We’re very excited about working with Marvel to highlight some of the greatest art and artists from their extensive library. I’m sure these books will be a special treat for comics fans everywhere.”
Within these deluxe art books, fans will discover brand new perspectives on the Marvel process and its catalog of content through the lens of award-winning designers including Mike Essl (co-founder of The Chopping Block Inc., dean of The Cooper Union School of Art) and Vincent Iadevaia (owner/curator of kirbycovers.com).
The Art of Amazing Spider-Man is available for pre-order at your local bookstore, comic shop, TFAW, Amazon or Barnes & Noble for $59.99. This oversized (10” x 14”, 200 page) art book is set to arrive in bookstores on October 15, 2024 and comic shops on October 16th, 2024.
