Recently a friend had asked me my opinion on this book and to get back to him after I'd read it. I thought it would be much more productive to review/share my thoughts on this book here... also being as the holiday season is right around the corner, it would make a great gift.

Now, I can pretty much sum it up in one word, DANGEROUS!

Here's why, this book will pretty much walk you though creating comic pages digitally, from concept to final. It also provides some very helpful tips into creating elements you might find yourself using again and again...

Which is why I find this book to be so Dangerous. You see, it opens allot of doors to information that could easily be abused by some less then honest/dedicated arts. However, I can safely say this book has complied information on creating comics that I myself have spend almost 20 years learning from the real world and by reading countless other books on digital art.

Which is the other reason it's so Dangerous. Sometimes when people don't have to put forth any real effort to acquire knowledge, they act irresponsible with it... they don't respect it. Which is my biggest fear about this book. It really gives you every step, and compares the pros and cons to working traditionally as well as digital...

However, with that being said, every comic artist working digitally or in a hybrid of traditional and digital should read this book... I found myself saying many times while reading it, "Yup, figured that out the hard way" or "i've come to that very same conclusion myself" and even "oh yeah, that would be faster wouldn't it".

To be 100% honest, it's probably as important (if not more so) then Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" and it's a very productive read no matter how much you think you know about creating comics digitally, much less traditionally.

THIS IS NOT A "HOW TO DRAW BOOK"! It's a production book, it mainly focuses on how to create a digital work flow and create comic pages from start to finish. It works on the assumption you know how to draw already and picks up from there. It does make some points about the pros and cons to drawing on paper then scanning, vs drawing completely on the computer. It doesn't cover anatomy or things like that. Some of what's shown could be misconstrued or taken the wrong way when it comes to creating art digitally, which is another reason I feel it's dangerous. Some of what's presented might cause people to take short cuts (like tracing reference) rather then dedicating the time to actually learning to draw, which is a HUGE issue in art today. I'm sorry, tracing isn't drawing no matter which famous artist do it, it's wrong. No debate, no discussion.

That being said, if comics or manga is your passion, read this book, you won't be sorry and you will really learn something... if not many things ;)

The DC Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics is one of the best if not the best Guide out there to creating comics. What makes the book so good is Freddie's ability to convey information so clearly and in simple, straight-forward, easy to understand terms.

This book is mainly aimed at people with some knowledge of various design software such as Adobe Photoshop which was the main tool the author uses. That in itself is my only warning to anyone thinking about buying this book. Don't expect to be taught Photoshop inside and out. If you know photoshop pretty well then this will be a Gem for you. I've been working on my own comic book project mainly in Corel Painter however most design software is at its core kind of the same. Freddie explains things so well that I could actually apply his Photoshop techniques to Corel, so even if you don't use Photoshop the ideas presented here cross software boundaries. Seeing how well presented and coherent Freddie explains his workflow I am strongly considering drawing everything in Photoshop then using Corel Painter for color only.

Freddie will carry you from beginning to end, from the digital sketch to the digital inks. He will give you hints, tips and so much useful ideas for creating a speedy workflow. I got the book this evening and sat down just to flip through some pages. Before I knew it I had read through more than half of the book, it was that interesting! I feel like I've just been sitting down with a friend who for hours was patiently helping me to understand the proper way to go about creating the comic book of my dreams.

Finally I was so happy to see a proper section on creating backgrounds using perspective grids digitally. This is what I've been looking for everywhere for a couple years. This guy has covered all the obstacles that you will encounter, the only thing left is to pick up the Wacom pen and draw. Thank you so much Freddie for an excellent Guide or rather a BIBLE in my opinion. This book is priceless.

This is one of the most interesting and helpful books out there. I'm a professional comic book artist and I find this book invaluable. The chapter on making a collection of stat backgrounds is important for anyone getting into the comic book art industry. I love how the direction of comic book art is being streamlined digitally, and would highly suggest this as required reading for any young person interested in drawing comics. The streamlining and tips for inking and shading are wonderful to see in a book. I have been doing a digital comic for about a year now, and am delighted to read about things I haven't tried yet.

I was excited when I first learned about this book coming out because it's difficult for me to set up a normal artist's station in my house. Not knowing who this Freddie Williams guy was, I ended up going to his website and checking him out. It was here that I first became dismayed.

His website has a section labeled "DigiArt Quick Tools," in which one can find several Photoshop tools Freddie has available. These include several variations of his MasterPage file, which tend to cost a little bit of money (the bundle pack that gives you all the Master Pages runs I think about $125). I also noticed a blurb in which Freddie mentions that an entire section of the upcoming book is devoted to the Master Page. I immediately started thinking that the book was going to end up being a $15 commercial for the various tools he has to offer.

Never have I been so glad to be so dead wrong.

The section on Master Pages walks you through the process of making your own Master Page, and while he mentions his website, he never tells the reader to go buy anything. Instead, he teaches you how to do it yourself. In fact, there's only one thing that Freddie tells the reader to download, and that's the perspective tool that he created... and its free (as is a generic version of the Master Page, if you don't want to make your own or pay money for a company-specific Page).

As far as the rest of the book goes, it was a massive wake-up call in regards to realizing how powerful and how fast creating sequential artwork on the computer is. In fact, it seems that Freddie's main goal is to get the reader to create better artwork, faster, and he constantly discusses ways to make your work faster and more streamlined.

Be warned, though... this is NOT a "how to draw" book. If you don't know how to draw, this book won't be that helpful to you. This book is more accurately described as a "how to use the computer to draw" book. Additionally, if you don't know how to do any basic drawing in Photoshop, you might want to learn, quick. I have a very basic understanding of how to draw and paint with Photoshop, and this book has my mind racing with all the possibilities I have available to me now. Be prepared to think and imagine when you read the book.

Not every aspect of Freddie's work method will work for everyone, and he acknowledges fact. He describes his methods to the reader, and for key areas offers alternative paths for the reader to take that may be more comfortable for the reader.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes, I did. Did I learn anything from this book? Almost every step of the way. Would I recommend this book to the serious hobbyist or the artist getting into the comics field? Without a doubt and with no reservations, yes!!!!

I own almost all of the DC Comics Guide series. This one is informative and motivational. Step by step and easy to follow.