Staff Picks (July): P. Craig Russell's The Jungle Book & Other Stories Fine Art Edition

From the beginning the potential was there to be an extraordinary artist. P. Craig Russell stated with a B-level hero at best and went beyond the Kirby and Buscema house styles of the time to bring interesting layout and design to the comic book pages. He went from Marvel Feature to Killraven and everything from inking Mike Mignola on Phantom Stranger to completely illustrating an original Doctor Strange graphic novel, and soon he was ready for the creator owned market.

Now the first in a series of books scanned from the artist's originals is available. In the P Craig Russell: The Jungle Book & Other Stories Fine Art Edition, each page of this hardcover book is scanned to show everything from blue pencils to notes and corrections in their full 12 x17 glory. The stories run the gamut from his Jungle Book stories -- "The King's Ankus," "Red Dog," and "The Spring Running" --  while the "other stories" in this book are three of P. Craig Russell's most acclaimed early works: "Siegfried and the Dragon," "La Sonnambula," and "The City of Sleep" and "Breakdown on the Starship Remembrance." P. Craig Russell’s art nouveau-influenced art demonstrates the need for these original art edition-based books. While the final printed book is a satisfactory way to read a comic or graphic novel, an artist edition such as this truly allow you to appreciate the time and effort the creator put into their work.

— Steve Leaf

Publisher: Wayne Alan Harold Productions
Item Code: JUL182297
Release Date: 8/29/18
SRP: $125.00