Barry Windsor-Smith: Opus

Barry Windsor-Smith: Opus #1

by Barry Windsor-Smith

The first in a series of stunningly designed hardcover art books
featuring hundreds of the artist's works from throughout his remarkable
30-year career. These full-color editions — chronicling the
life and works of one of the most acclaimed artists from the worlds of
comics and Romantic Art — present scores of never-before-published paintings and drawings
from the artist's personal collection, while also re-presenting many of
his classic works from the '70s and '80s. The extensive texts in the
series of books are sure to create excitement and controversy among his
legion of fans, while at the same time attracting new audiences through
Windsor-Smith's involvement in, and observations regarding, the
paranormal. The author recounts his life's adventures not so much as a
painter, storyteller and comics artist, but in the mysterious realms of
cosmic experience.

Genres: Art, Comics, Graphic Novels

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Barry Windsor-Smith (born Barry Smith) is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States. He is known for his work on Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian from 1970 to 1973, and for his work on Wolverine – particularly the original Weapon X story arc.

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic overview of BWS's career. I just recently read (re-read) all of his comic book work. Maybe I missed an issue here or there, but I tried to get in everything even his early Daredevil stuff. This is a fantastic recap with a focus on his fine art pieces.

[Buddy Scalera · Rating 5 out of 5]

An art book that challenges you to think. BWS offers insightful prose pieces that enhance the art experience. The oversize pages and high-quality paper make this book a true delight.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stopped reading, just enjoyed the art.

[Johnathon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychedelic autobiography by the comic book legend that while doesn't deliver a lot of biographical details, backs it up with some brilliant artwork. Windsor-Smith prefers to delve into his more spiritual side matched with some of his gorgeous work and does drop a detail or two, like how he immigrated to the Unite States. While not satisfying for those looking for a straight forward autobiography, still intriguing for comic book fans.

[Barry Bridges · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved BWS style and Opus shows off some stunning imagery as well as insights into his very own meta functions!

[Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous coffee-table book reprinting some of BWS's most beautiful work. After rising to fame as an artist on the early Marvel Conan comics of the late 60's, BWS had an on-again off-again relationship with the US comic industry. His work was always sought after by fans, but the artist railed against the constraints of the industry - the work-for-hire mentality, the characterizations and story-telling approaches, the deadlines, etc. As a result, his comic work appeared only sporadically. Eventually, he took matters into his own hands, writing and drawing his own stories in the oversized short-lived Storytellers series. For those longing for beautiful reproductions of his work, this is the place to start (followed by the second volume of Opus). For those looking for his best comics work, I suggest the collections that were gathered from the Storyteller work (that is, The Freebooters, and Young Gods and Friends, along with Adastra in Africa). My only reason for not giving this five stars, was some of the narrative that accompanied the artwork. While it was clearly heartfelt, it went far afield of what I was most interested in.