The DC Comics Guide to Inking Comics Paperback – July 1, 2003

I've read a lot of books on how-to-do comic art, some on writing and publishing, and this book stood out as soon as I began reading it. Last night I finished, and have to recommend this as the best book I ever read on the subject of comic book inking, and there is little need to improve over it as a feast of information. What Janson leaves out can be found in other books, but he carved the meat off the bone where others before were clawing off unappetizing chunks.Absolutely brilliant tips, tricks and approaches are found in these pages. The reviewer that calls this book 'preachy' merely is set to stumble into the holes awaiting most comic book artists on their way to mediocrity. Janson's primary lesson through every chapter is TO CONVEY INFORMATION TO THE COMIC READER. An inker clarifies and improves on the pencils, tightens them, and makes sure the storytelling in improved from pencils if not maintaining. Inside he covers light and dark, feathering, line weight, textures, and other basics that just aren't touched on in other books with the insight Klaus provides. And to help, he provides lots of lush B&W inked art from a period that probably influenced him - the Adams/Giordano/Wrightson/Kane period of DC comics. He also compared pencils to inks with more current art he inked over from Kane and Miller.While Janson's own ink style is rough and appears heavy handed, it does everything it has to with grit. Sometimes the art cries out, "USE THE CIRCLE TEMPLATE!!" but over all it demonstrates how he thinks in planning textures, placement of black and white or tone, and use of feathering to describe form. What the neo-Amero-Japo-manga artists need to learn, as does any art student going anywhere, is that art books give you information, and the more information they give you then the more their worth. Super enticing, glossy, sex bent art work should be reserved for the books people buy to enjoy the art and story, not the training manuals telling you info you use to plug into your own work. Janson hit it right on with this book, the rest is left up to you to DO and IMPROVE.Other books with good inking information - "Marvel Way" by Lee/Buscema has nice beginning info, and quick but pertinent info on weak and strong inking examples. "Rendering in Pen and Ink" by Guptill is a genius book on how to render and draw in ink for illustrators (or comic artists). "How To Draw Manga: Pen & Tone Techniques" by Ryo Touda handles a brilliant look at manga pens and tones. Everything else I fail to mention by name because it really isn't worth buying. You can put together a foundation of inking information with these 4 books that can't be beat at any art school in the nation.

When I purchased this book, I made a mistake thinking it was for coloring comics. At first, I was upset about my error, but as I thumbed through it, my disappointment was replaced by excitement! This book is GREAT!If you are new to inking comics, this book will be a good read for you! It discusses the tools of the trade (pens, brushes, paper, etc.) in great detail explaining the advantages of each, the techniques artists employ to achieve their inking effects, and basic rules about line weight and inking for clarity of design.I've been producing comics for decades, and after all of my personal experience in inking, I LEARNED some NEW STUFF that will improve both my technique and workflow.If you are a novice, this will be a welcome addition to your library. It's well written, has plenty of examples of technique from MANY artists, and is easy to mentally digest. You'll get a great idea of what goes into this aspect of comic production.If you are an experienced artist, you may not read all of this book. For example, I skipped all the sections dealing with using brushes for inking because I'm a PEN guy, and have zero interest in using brushes to ink. No problem though! There's plenty to read about using pens effectively, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything!Everyone interested in inking comics should read this book. It's a fantastic resource for understanding how to create comics with visual impact!

I do recommend this book for anyone interested in comics, whether or not you're into writing, penciling, inking, coloring, or just reading. Inking, I think, is one of the most underappreciated art in comics because it really is the one of the most defining characteristics of the medium, as the book will explain. Much of the look and feel of comics is transmitted directly through the inking. The book shows, through example inked comic pages, the different effects (mood, weight, shadow, color, texture, etc.) which inking can create in a page, and generally how to go about achieving them. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because it's a bit short and I think it could've been made beneficially longer if they had added some tutorials or exercises which could help with the different techniques that are described. Especially for techniques like feathering and cross hatching for texture and shadow it would've been a bigger help to have examples or drills which the artist could perform to increase their skill. Other than that, the reading was laid back and so interesting that you'll find yourself remembering parts of this book for long after you set it down, especially if you practice your inking. Enjoy!!!!

In my opinion, there are two ways to aproach this book.1) you want to be an inker and are looking for lessons. Buy this book and follow it's advice in every way. You will learn a lot. Take your time in each lesson, don't be afraid to copy some of the illustrations, and do READ everything Janson writes. He does not waste a word, all of it is important advice.2) you want to be a rounded illustrator, doing pencils, inks and whatnot. All the advice from the previous paragraph applies, except for the simple, good old detail: YOUR BASICS MUST BE SOLID. If you practice all these inking tricks before being real good at anatomy and perspective, you'll be causing more troubles for yourself than getting benefits. You'll end up with solidly finished pieces over poor figures and backgrounds. How do I know this? It happened to me.Klaus Janson goes a long way to explain why inking and drawing are one and the same, but the truth is: you will never really understand how much of that is true until you grab a pen or brush and try your hand at it. So do it! Get yourself some ink and this book, and extract all the knowledge that you can, one chapter at a time. I guarantee you'll make much progress.

This is the best book I've read on inking. It is also very well written and to the point which is rare with this kind of book. Everything is explained clearly and simply. There's no waffle. Lots of examples of art work are given which demonstrate the principles laid out by the author. After a couple of days of digesting the material my artwork improved. That's what I wanted. Excellent! This book is helpful for those seeking to become illustrators of any kind, story board artists or those simply seeking to improve their drawing. This is money wells pent.

This book is a must for budding comic illustrators. It may seem long worded in part but it's necessary as a whole package to gleam the wealth of experience of Klaus Janson. To become an illustrator it's important to embrace the techniques or the past with it's firm place in todays market. Plenty of pictures to get your imagination started. Read and learn, you won'regret adding this tool to your craft.

This book was bought was bought as a present and has come in very useful.

It's not a bad book, but in comparison to the book on penciling I had much higher expectations. The question then becomes whether to review this book on it's own merits or as part of the series it belongs to. On it's own it own DC Comics Guide to Inking has a lot of good information and some great examples/artwork which seem to cover a fairly large time frame which is evident in style and quality. The publication and release date is on most of the art for what it's worth. It is also a great follow up to the penciling volume, but I think the two really could have been rolled into one volume.18 pages on supplies and the book is also roughly 20 pages shorter than the penciling volume. Is it useful information? Yes, if this is your first purchase, as the "why" for each product is flushed out to varying degrees of detail. This isn't a step by step "How To" book. There are examples and explanations which essentially guide you through the inking process.

If you're looking for a history lesson on inking styles from the 50's to the 80's then this book is for youif you are looking for tricks of the trade examples of refined modern inking styles then forget it.I don't like this book, it failed the first rule of a how to guides, I wasn't inspired to go forth and ink, it mademe angry, buy Wizards how draw the best of basic training, there are lost of examples by a number ofinkers, showing you how to ink in different textures. I'm holding on to this book as a guide on how not towrite a guide.