DC Comics the Sequential Art of Amanda Conner

I was expecting an art book about the process and with art at various stages of completion, sketches, some full page final pieces and maybe some never before seen pieces. What I got was some comics collected into a hard cover.I am more likely to purchase an 300+ page art book. I am far less likely to purchase this collection of comics, some of which I already own.The actual contents of this book are not even listed here. I will do my best to list them for other potential buyers.According to the inside flap of the dust jacket:Superman: Lois Lane #1Secret Origins 80-Page Giant #1 (short story)Joker Last Laugh Secret Files #1 (short story)Birds of Prey #47-49JSA Classified #1-4Supergirl #12Wonder Woman #600 (short story)And a few pages of art in the back.Bottom line; I am disappointed with the description and with the product in my hand, however it still gets 4 stars because Amanda Conner's art is that good. I just wish there was more of it in this book.

Since this book was about artwork, and not the actual stories, that's what I'll focus on.I read Powergirl from the old DC Comics (pre-52). One of the highlights was Conner's work. I didn't like it at first because I thought it was too cartoony. However, the more that I read, and looked at it, her art just fit the tone of the book. For the most part, the stories weren't too heavy, and the artwork was perfect for it. Conner's specialty to me was always been in the way that she's made her female characters look, sexy, and believable. They don't have unbelievable measurements that's the norm today. When she draws a male hero like Superman, he doesn't look like he's on a steady regiment of some kind of synthetic drugs designed to make him look the ultimate body builder. One of her trademarks though, is the expressiveness on faces.The first story was about Lois Lane. This was a Lois Lane that you haven't seen before. Reddish-brown hair, secret agent. Looking at it, and Conner's later work, you can see the evolution. Lois's face just doesn't have the expression that you'll see on other female character's faces in later Conner work.The next big story was a Birds of Prey story. Looking at the character's faces, you can see that Conner's work has evolved, and you can kind of tell what characters are thinking just from their faces. The highlights, seeing Oracle walk, and the fight between Black Canary and Talia Al Ghoul.After this, the next big story we get is a Powergirl story from JSA Classified from when Infinite Crisis was going on. This was the story that got me interested in Powergirl, and Conner's art was one big reason. This is Conner at her best. She draws Powergirl sexy, without making her over-sexualized like most of the male artists that you saw drawing her. She draws her in a way that teases, without being mean. Check out the looks on supporting characters faces throughout the story during different situations, and you'll see what I mean about how Conner does expressions.Next up is a Supergirl story. This is when Supergirl first came to Earth and is still trying to find herself. She wants to just be a teenager and have fun, going to clubs and partying. She's at a club where everyone is dressed as Super heroes. It's interrupted by a fight between a dinosaur and the new Terra! Conner does a great job with the mock super heroes at the club look like real people trying to dress like super heroes. The look on the guys face when he finds out that he was dancing with the real Supergirl is priceless.Then we get the Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special. Just check out the look on the couples faces in the early pages. Then, check out the artwork with Superman and Wonder Woman discussing the wedding. The highlight has to be the wild bachelorette party. Some of the best parts are in the background of the panels.Ame-Comi Girls featuring Wonder Woman is up next. The story is different, so the art is a bit different, particularly when it comes to Diana. It's not Conner's signature style, but it's still for the most part recognizable as her work. The highlight, Diana in battle.The final story is from Wonder Woman #600. It is written and drawn by Amanda Conner and stars Wonder Woman & Power Girl. It features Power Girl asking for Wonder Woman's help using a little known power to talk to animals. The action is in the beginning, but it's a solid story, and was one of my favorite parts of Wonder Woman #600.At the end of the book, there are sketches from some of Amanda Conner's cover work. There's a lot of Power GIrl covers and even shows one from this year's Phantom Lady & Doll Man book.

Amanda Conner draws a stunning Power Girl (and Huntress). Excerpts from various stories make me want to read more.

I've never met Amanda Conner, but I love her. Since I first read The Pro, a bit of Garth Ennis inspired insanity about a prostitute who gets super powers, I've loved her clean, beautiful art. Excellent smooth pencils with beautiful women (her power girl is my favorite rendition), and she tells a story well, her art supporting the writer so beautifully it's like they are a combined brain. I expect we'll see more out of Amanda in the future. I can hardly wait.

I too thought this would be an art book of Amanda Conner's work. Instead, you get a sampling of her comics from 1998 to 2010. Its neat to see how the quality of her work has kept improving over 12 years, but if you are already a fan of hers, you probably won't find anything new here. Otherwise, if you have been away from comic books like me, its a great way to enjoy the work of very talented artist because you get to also see her non-Power Girl comics. The cover and page quality are top notch, so it would be a nice addition to your shelf.My only problem is with Amazon's description. Besides the script for one of the Wonder Woman comics, I don't think there is single word from the artist herself in the book, which is disappointing as I would have loved to read the stories behind her illustrations or her experiences in the industry. In that regard, this book is definitely NOT on the level of Adam Hughes's wonderful  Cover Run . There is an 8-page gallery of covers and sketches at the end, but they squeezed four of them onto each page so it not a great showcase of Conner's talent. Compared to other DC collections (such as  Power Girl ), you miss out on each story's cover art. I know they are probably done by a different artist, but without them, each of the included stories feel a little incomplete.Overall, 4-stars because of the quality of the book itself and because it's Amanda Conner. Just don't expect anything new.

But, it's still a very good addition to my DC artists collection,I was figuring on a basic art book. Think Adam Hughes' "Cover Run". I was very surprised to see that this book not only showcases Ms. Conner's work, but I aso get to read stories that I never saw before.Hard to beat that.I highly recommend this book.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  I bought this book because I really like Amanda Conner's work. She's able to convey so much to the reader through her fun, expressive drawing style. So, why am I only giving the book 4 out of 5?Well, mainly it's because I'd been hoping for more extra stuff to supplement the strips that are presented here. Most of them have already been collected in book form before and the publicity blurb for the book seemed to imply that there'd be plenty of covers, preliminary sketches... and "more". In reality there are a few sketch pages at the back with a selection of covers presented at less than 1/4 size.I know the "Art of Amanda Conner" book already exists but I'd got the impression this book was going to have a bit more behind the scenes stuff as well as the stories. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice collection showcasing Ms Conner's work for DC but I guess I was hoping for it to be more of an all-in-one book.Also, whilst I'm being picky, the different stories just flow back to back with no covers or text to break the sections up apart from one instance where a sketch page is inserted due to the story prior to it being an odd number of pages. A minor quibble maybe but at times it's almost like reading a book with no chapters and it's not so easy to skip to a particular story. It would have been nice to have seen the original covers in context, for instance.So, there you go. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh and I know some of what I've said above was based on preconceptions but am I the only one who felt there was going to be a little "more" in this book? Still, if you like Amanda Conner's artwork you won't be disappointed and 4 out of 5 ain't bad, right? :)**VIDEO** I've also uploaded a video giving you a brief look inside the book. My camera didn't like focussing very much so sorry if it's not amazing quality. Incidentally, I'd taken the dust jacket off and the cover underneath is different as you can see.EDIT: Also, contrary to what some websites had said, the 12 Wednesday Comics strips *aren't* included.

Its ok more of a collection of her work for DC

Dans le monde des comics de super-héros, Amanda CONNER est une sorte de bénédiction. OK, elle est pratiquement la seule dessinatrice de ces satanés capés ! Mais, par exemple, personne d'autre n'a son tour de main pour les expressions sur les visages. Et bien d'autres choses qui font que quand un de ses albums est dans un des colis reçus de la part d'Amazon, la journée n'a pas été perdue.Probablement "bien née" (parents artistes), ancienne élève de l'école du regretté Joe KUBERT, heureuse épouse de Jimmy PALMIOTTI (encreur et scénariste), Amanda développe un style apparemment proche de l'école "franco-belge" mais tellement agréable dans le contexte pas si rarement lourdingue des comics de super-héros (faisons nous des amis pour la vie en citant quelques noms : LIEFELD, FINCH, et pourquoi pas SILVESTRI).Et pas n'importe quels comics de super-héros : ceux de la firme DC Comics.Grand bravo à cette filiale de Warner Bros. pour avoir consacré cet ouvrage HC de 300 pages aux meilleurs comic books de la Dame.Rien que la couverture devrait, si vous ne connaissez pas Amanda CONNER, vous inciter à creuser le sujet. On n'a rien vu de mieux depuis la campagne de publicité d'Eva HERZIGOVA pour WonderBra en 1994 !Précisément, le 1er comic book d'Amanda ici repris date de Juin 1998, c'est une aventure de Loïs Lane. Suivent bien évidemment le célébré relaunch de Power Girl avec Geoff Johns (cf. le TPB ' Power Girl ' et les suivants, avant je ne sais quel crossover ou event qui a tout gâché) mais aussi une superbe série de "Birds Of Prey", le mariage mouvementé de Green Arrow et de Black Canary et de magnifiques épisodes de Wonder Woman. Entre autres et des plus rares.Personne ne dessine avec la justesse et la sensibilité d'Amanda CONNER aujourd'hui. C'est pourquoi rien moins que 2 ouvrages cette année ont célébré sa patte (cf. ' The Art of Amanda Conner ').Darwyn COOKE, qui rédige le mot introductif, ne sait pas comment dire son admiration.Amanda et Darwyn collaborent en ce moment pour une des controversées séries "Before Watchmen" ("Silk Spectre") réalisées sans l'accord de MOORE et GIBBONS, et leur boulot est le plus beau de toutes ces séries pour lesquelles pourtant DC a recruté la crème de la crème ! Power GirlThe Art of Amanda Conner

The only bad thing is that you want to buy every comic that is featured. Her art compliments the excellent stories and her rendition of Power Girl is amazing.

Attention, il ne s'agit pas d'un livre d'art mais d'un livre regroupant plusieurs histoires de l'excellente Amanda Conner qui cartonne en ce moment avec le personnage d'Harley Quinn