By Jim Burns (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-133-2
Yet another non graphic novel item here, but I’ll stretch a point for a fairly obvious reason. Jim Burns is a big name in science fiction circles, and if you buy a lot of books, chances are you’ll have a few of his covers on your bookshelf. Oddly enough, I’m not a great fan of his paintings, which are a little stiff and over-worked for my tastes. Still, that does seem to be the fashion for most book-covers these days.
Imago, however is a bit of a departure, as it features his working drawings and delves into his creative processes, which reveals something about the guy that I’d never noticed. Jim Burns can really draw.
It’s easy to forget in an age of such accessible drafting technology that all the things we love about our medium truly begin with a line on paper. There’s a world of seductive possibilities that stem from that initial creative kiss and they are all there to see in the pencil thoughts of a master draughtsman. Look at the sketches of Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Hergé, Adam Hughes, Brian Bolland, Moebius, or any of the other peak purveyors of our craft and you see pieces of pure creative excellence.
Burns has this mastery too, and in this book you’re treated not only to wonderful slices of that process, but also to that other shared mainstay of both SF and comic books, beautiful women in exotic, outlandish costumes and various stages of undress. Go get it, and then start agitating to get him drawing some comic books too!
© 2005 Jim Burns. All Rights Reserved.