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The Strange Death of Alex Raymond

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The Strange Death of Alex Raymond

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Overview

"Comics' answer to Finnegan's Wake, an inspired work of obsessive genius that will take a long time to untangle." - Rob Salkowitz, Senior Contributor, FORBES

"The Strange Death of Alex Raymond is one of the most spectacular comics I have ever read or seen. I can't recommend it enough, although you may hate it. Bizarre and beautiful and completely unique." - Jim Rugg, Cartoonist Kayfabe, Street Angel, The P.L.A.I.N. Janes

"This is a master work. I'm honoured to have even laid eyes on it." - E.S. Glenn, author of Unsmooth, cartoonist for The New Yorker

"A must-read for anyone interested in the history and craft of comics" - Brandon Graham, King City, Warhead, Prophet

"Grubaugh provides a brilliant and fitting conclusion to what would have otherwise been one of the most notable unfinished works of recent times. I for one am excited at holding the completed Strange Death of Alex Raymond in my hands." - Gary Spencer Millidge, Strangehaven, Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman

Legendary creator Dave Sim is renowned world-wide for his groundbreaking Cerebus the Aardvark. Now, in The Strange Death of Alex Raymond, Sim brings to life the history of comics' greatest creators, using their own techniques. Equal parts Understanding Comics and From Hell, Strange Death is a head-on collision of ink drawing and spiritual intrigue, pulp comics and movies, history and fiction. The story traces the lives and techniques of Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon, Rip Kirby), Stan Drake (Juliet Jones), Hal Foster (Prince Valiant), and more, dissecting their techniques through recreations of their artwork, and highlighting the metatextual resonances that bind them together.

Foreword by Eddie Campbell.

Product Details

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781736860502
Publisher:	Living the Line
Publication date:	08/17/2021
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,159,849
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 16 Years

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

09/20/2021
Nearly a decade in the making, with Grubaugh joining to complete the ambitious undertaking, the Eisner Award–winning Sim (Cerebus) unveils his obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling history of Alex Raymond, a comic strip golden age great. The Flash Gordon, Rip Kirby, and Secret Agent X-9 series artist is viewed through a 20th-century photo-realist comic style, mimicking Raymond’s own true-to-life fine-line illustration technique. In the tradition of Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, Sim as narrator recounts history and art theory in a conversational analytical tone, using scenes to demonstrate technical details, such as how Raymond’s trademark inking style arose via tweaks to his brushes. Other period figures who make appearances include Hal Foster (the Prince Valiant series), Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates), and Al Williamson (EC comics). Sim's storytelling weaknesses, though, are jarring and sometimes self-indulgent: a wobbly foray into metafiction of a comic shop manager reading the book, and recreations of uncited conversations or imagined inner thoughts that undermine legitimacy. Grubaugh capably completes final chapters that Sim had paused due to physical and mental health issues (as well as his misogynist public comments, which left him with a tarnished reputation). While sometimes baffling, the passion for comics history is evidenced in each dense and detailed page. Sim’s enthusiasm for the subject is contagious and his imposing artistry undeniable. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Bottom line is that The Strange Death of Alex Raymond is a beautifully designed volume with endlessly clever use of pages, panels, black ink, and blank space. It's clear that before his unfortunate medical issue, Sim has mastered the very photorealistic techniques he writes about as the art is the kind one continues to stare at long after one has finished reading the page." - Forces of Geek

"The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment." — Kirkus Reviews

"Bottom line is that The Strange Death of Alex Raymond is a beautifully designed volume with endlessly clever use of pages, panels, black ink, and blank space. It's clear that before his unfortunate medical issue, Sim has mastered the very photorealistic techniques he writes about as the art is the kind one continues to stare at long after one has finished reading the page." - Forces of Geek

"The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment." — Kirkus Reviews

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"Bottom line is that The Strange Death of Alex Raymond is a beautifully designed volume with endlessly clever use of pages, panels, black ink, and blank space. It's clear that before his unfortunate medical issue, Sim has mastered the very photorealistic techniques he writes about as the art is the kind one continues to stare at long after one has finished reading the page." - Forces of Geek

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment." — Kirkus Reviews

"The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment." — Kirkus Reviews

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment." — Kirkus Reviews

"The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment." — Kirkus Reviews

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"It's a magnificent piece of work and should be read by lovers of the medium." - Down The Tubes

"It's a magnificent piece of work and should be read by lovers of the medium." - Down The Tubes

"It's a magnificent piece of work and should be read by lovers of the medium." - Down The Tubes

"The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment." — Kirkus Reviews

"The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment." — Kirkus Reviews

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..." - Publishers Weekly

"It's a magnificent piece of work and should be read by lovers of the medium." - Down The Tubes

"Bottom line is that The Strange Death of Alex Raymond is a beautifully designed volume with endlessly clever use of pages, panels, black ink, and blank space. It's clear that before his unfortunate medical issue, Sim has mastered the very photorealistic techniques he writes about as the art is the kind one continues to stare at long after one has finished reading the page." - Forces of Geek

"It's a magnificent piece of work and should be read by lovers of the medium." - Down The Tubes

"Bottom line is that The Strange Death of Alex Raymond is a beautifully designed volume with endlessly clever use of pages, panels, black ink, and blank space. It's clear that before his unfortunate medical issue, Sim has mastered the very photorealistic techniques he writes about as the art is the kind one continues to stare at long after one has finished reading the page." - Forces of Geek

From the Publisher

05/21/2021
Sim (Cerebus the Aardvark) delves into the early days of comic strip artistry in this challenging graphic novel. Its title refers to the death of artist Alex Raymond in a car crash in 1956. Sim introduces Raymond's death and investigates the reasons behind the crash. The book then wanders into the realm of the photorealist style of artwork in comics; this technique brings clean brushstrokes to the page with the look of photographs. Three men who pioneered realistic comic art, Raymond, Milt Caniff, and Hal Foster, are intertwined in this story. Their own competition led to harsh feelings among the group. Sim displays how he taught himself the difficult style of photorealism through trial and error and intense study of his predecessors. The reader is taken on a winding road of technical prowess, ingenuity, history, and betrayal, with the death of Raymond as the binding story. VERDICT Written for readers wishing to learn about the history of the photorealist style in comic strips, this book may be dense for casual readers. Fans more familiar with the history of comics will rejoice in the depth of research and analysis provided within.—Jason L. Steagall, Arapahoe Libs., Centennial, CO

Library Journal

2021-07-08
A metaphysical examination of 20th-century comics artists takes an odd turn.
With both metafictive and metaphysical slants, this exploration of midcentury photorealistic comics artists introduces Jack, a pretty young White woman working at Local Heroes Comic Books & Graphic Novels. She finds a strange comic on the counter called “The Strange Death of Alex Raymond,” and as she finishes reading it, the next issue suddenly appears. Chronicling the untimely death of artist Raymond, Sim and Grubaugh’s work transports readers along a comprehensive and dense history of the photorealistic style and the cadre of artists that shaped its evolution. However, about halfway through, the narrative switches course, eliminating Jack almost entirely and instead drawing increasingly tenuous and esoterically obsessive links to Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell. As the title dives down these rabbit holes, the text increasingly descends into incomprehensibility, punctuated with recursive chants and repetitive numerology. This devolution makes further reading extremely challenging, as intricate panels become cramped and text bubbles obscured. The finely detailed, highly stylized art, however, is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment. Ultimately, this is overly complex for a casual comics history buff and perhaps best appreciated by an academic audience.
Exhaustive but exhausting. (Graphic fiction. 17-adult)

Kirkus Reviews

The Strange Death of Alex Raymond

The Strange Death of Alex Raymond

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