I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on a copy of “I Shall Destroy All the Civilised Planets: The Comics of Fletcher Hanks” yet, though Tom Spurgeon’s interview with the book’s editor, Paul Karasik, just whets my appitite all the more:
SPURGEON: Why did you go with such a straightforward presentation of Hanks’ work? There’s no written material, as I think many might expect, just Hanks’ comic and then your own.
KARASIK: I really like the work of the American painter George Bellows.
There are several books on Bellows containing lengthy essay by art historians gassing-off about why his work is so Essentially American.
This is the sound of me sleeping: “ZZZZZZZ”.
I cannot find a single book on Bellows that simply has page after page of full color reproductions of his juicy wet brushwork. I like art books that allow the work to speak for itself. Hanks’ work roars.
