Comic Book Artist Collection, Vol. 3

• It's the '70s Marvel Monster Marching Society versus the Independent Comics of the '80s in the Eisner Award-winning CBA's third compilation, re-presenting that acclaimed mag's seventh and eighth sold-out issues.
• Behind a new cover by Michael T. Gilbert ― featuring his great creation Mr. Monster doing battle with various Marvel monsters ― you'll find interviews with Gilbert, Steve Rude, Paul Gulacy, Steve Gerber, Don Simpson, Howard Chaykin, Scott McCloud, Rich Buckler, John Byrne, Denis Kitchen, and many others

Since 1998 Comic Book Artist magazine, a genuine labor of love by editor Cooke, has documented and celebrated classic comic books by publishing in-depth interviews with their creators and reprinting some of their contents. The first half of this collection of early CBA issues presents the creators of some of the more outre 1970s Marvel Comics titles, including Master of Kung Fu, which capitalized on the martial-arts craze and was executed with surprising grace and complexity, and Howard the Duck, which brought satire and social commentary to the world of superheroics. These efforts to stretch genre confines within Marvel's corporate culture presaged the independent comics of the eighties, when comics creators abandoned mainstream publishers to produce stories with greater freedom (and for smaller audiences). Similar titles, including Nexus (with its avenging space hero), the brashly irreverent American Flagg, and the whimsical Zot, are spotlighted in the collection's second half. Most of the interview subjects have been eclipsed by newer talents, but baby boomers who once followed their work avidly will relish this retrospective. Gordon Flagg
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