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Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movies #1
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse -The Art of the Movie
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the creative minds behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, bring their unique talents to a fresh vision of a different Spider-Man Universe, with a groundbreaking visual style that’s the first of its kind. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduces Brooklyn teen Miles Morales, and the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse where more than one wears the mask.
Unmasking the artistry behind the hotly-anticipated movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse The Art of the Movie contains concept art, sketches, and storyboards, and will give you fascinating insights into the creative process. With exclusive commentary from the animation team, plus a foreword written by Miles Morales co-creator Brian Michael Bendis, this extraordinary collection of art will take readers into the Spider-Verse.
Book:
PAPER STOCK & WEIGHT:
Chinese Matt Art plus Spot Machine Gloss Varnish, 157gsm
BINDING:
Threadsewn
SLIPCASE SPECIFICATION:
Overall Matt Lamination with Spot Gloss UV
SIGNED:
Tip-in sheet signed by Christopher Miller, Phil Lord and several artists from the film
LIMITED TO:
Limited to 175 copies
Comic book:
PAPER/CARD COLOUR, STOCK & WEIGHT:
8-page comic book printed on glossy art, 105gsm with cover printed on glossy art, 130gsm
IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
Exclusive comic book created as a prop for the film and hand-inked by Marcelo Vignali in the pulpy, dot screen style of the Silver Age.
Unmasking the artistry behind the hotly-anticipated movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse The Art of the Movie contains concept art, sketches, and storyboards, and will give you fascinating insights into the creative process. With exclusive commentary from the animation team, plus a foreword written by Miles Morales co-creator Brian Michael Bendis, this extraordinary collection of art will take readers into the Spider-Verse.
Book:
PAPER STOCK & WEIGHT:
Chinese Matt Art plus Spot Machine Gloss Varnish, 157gsm
BINDING:
Threadsewn
SLIPCASE SPECIFICATION:
Overall Matt Lamination with Spot Gloss UV
SIGNED:
Tip-in sheet signed by Christopher Miller, Phil Lord and several artists from the film
LIMITED TO:
Limited to 175 copies
Comic book:
PAPER/CARD COLOUR, STOCK & WEIGHT:
8-page comic book printed on glossy art, 105gsm with cover printed on glossy art, 130gsm
IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
Exclusive comic book created as a prop for the film and hand-inked by Marcelo Vignali in the pulpy, dot screen style of the Silver Age.
204 pages, Hardcover
First published December 18, 2018
About the author
Ramin Zahed
33 books23 followersRamin Zahed is the Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles-based monthly publication, Animation magazine. He has been covering the animation and visual effects world for over 15 years. Before joining Animag, he was a senior editor at Daily variety. His articles have also appeared in Variety, Hollywood reporter, The Los Angeles times and The Christian science monitor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
July 26, 2020
Since Christmas 2018, I have been obsessed with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, an animated film from Sony who, without the assistance of Marvel Studios, is able to do something fresh with a comic book property that has been around since 1962. The obvious influences behind this film are producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who wanted the film to centrally focus on the origin story of Miles Morales – an Afro-Hispanic teenager created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli during the Ultimate Spider-Man comics – and to create an animated film like no other. The final result is a perfect achievement on both those tasks, leading to see it five times at the cinema and umpteen times on 4K.
Why the multiple viewings? Like I said, I'm obsessed with this film, which has so much detail in its unique mixture of 2D and 3D animation, you have to watch this numerous times to notice the tiniest little details. After devouring the special features on the Blu-ray, I still need to know more and six months after the film's initial release, I picked up the coffee table art book. Opening with a foreword by Bendis, who talks about how he and the Marvel offices came up with Miles Morales, and how this character, making his way onto the big screen has given him such delight (we were certainly delighted with what we saw).
Written by Ramin Zahed, this book is more on the artistic nature of the film as oppose to the storytelling itself, of which you can listen to the filmmakers' commentary as well as the many YouTube videos that have dissected the multi-layered narrative. In creating a thoroughly modern hero with Miles, the filmmakers talk about why this character means a great deal, in terms of diversity and representation. For a whole generation of Spider-fans, Miles is their Spider-Man and to see him treated with the greatest respect for people who are also pushing the technical merit when it comes to animation. Although this film wasn't as commercially successful as Black Panther, but there are plenty of videos on the internet that are touching tributes to the film and its youthful hero.
A big credit for the film's visual look is production designer Justin K. Thompson, who brought in an extraordinary art department. Looking at the comic books and using many of the techniques of the medium, it is also amazing to see the amount of concept art that the film recreates the style where the lighting is stylised, as well as maintaining the authenticity of New York, albeit an alternative universe version of the web-slinger's city. There are a number of pages where there is nothing but concept art and storyboards, some of which gives an idea about Spider-Verse in its numerous incarnations.
Every principal character gets their own page or two, in terms of their background and the various character designs they went through, from the rogues gallery to his roommate Ganke Lee, who originally had a much larger role. As for the Spider-people, there are the more conventional designs of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, and then there are Peni Parker, Spider-Noir and Spider-Ham, each of the three have their own style, giving more justification on why this story had to be animated. One of the best treats on the character pages are the many facial expressions drawn by character designer Shiyoon Kim.
There is only one sequence from the film where the book goes in-depth and this is the introduction of Peter B. Parker, leading to him and Miles swinging through New York, which is perhaps the most slapstick-y the film gets. It is funny and inventive with two characters have no control of the situation, during a beautiful snowy night. I wish there were more scenes – in fact, every scene – that got the spotlight, because after reading this fine book, I still feel like I'm scratching the surface and the ongoing question of how they achieved everything in Spider-Verse remains unanswered. If you are a fan of this Oscar-winning piece of animation, this is a must-read.
Why the multiple viewings? Like I said, I'm obsessed with this film, which has so much detail in its unique mixture of 2D and 3D animation, you have to watch this numerous times to notice the tiniest little details. After devouring the special features on the Blu-ray, I still need to know more and six months after the film's initial release, I picked up the coffee table art book. Opening with a foreword by Bendis, who talks about how he and the Marvel offices came up with Miles Morales, and how this character, making his way onto the big screen has given him such delight (we were certainly delighted with what we saw).
Written by Ramin Zahed, this book is more on the artistic nature of the film as oppose to the storytelling itself, of which you can listen to the filmmakers' commentary as well as the many YouTube videos that have dissected the multi-layered narrative. In creating a thoroughly modern hero with Miles, the filmmakers talk about why this character means a great deal, in terms of diversity and representation. For a whole generation of Spider-fans, Miles is their Spider-Man and to see him treated with the greatest respect for people who are also pushing the technical merit when it comes to animation. Although this film wasn't as commercially successful as Black Panther, but there are plenty of videos on the internet that are touching tributes to the film and its youthful hero.
A big credit for the film's visual look is production designer Justin K. Thompson, who brought in an extraordinary art department. Looking at the comic books and using many of the techniques of the medium, it is also amazing to see the amount of concept art that the film recreates the style where the lighting is stylised, as well as maintaining the authenticity of New York, albeit an alternative universe version of the web-slinger's city. There are a number of pages where there is nothing but concept art and storyboards, some of which gives an idea about Spider-Verse in its numerous incarnations.
Every principal character gets their own page or two, in terms of their background and the various character designs they went through, from the rogues gallery to his roommate Ganke Lee, who originally had a much larger role. As for the Spider-people, there are the more conventional designs of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, and then there are Peni Parker, Spider-Noir and Spider-Ham, each of the three have their own style, giving more justification on why this story had to be animated. One of the best treats on the character pages are the many facial expressions drawn by character designer Shiyoon Kim.
There is only one sequence from the film where the book goes in-depth and this is the introduction of Peter B. Parker, leading to him and Miles swinging through New York, which is perhaps the most slapstick-y the film gets. It is funny and inventive with two characters have no control of the situation, during a beautiful snowy night. I wish there were more scenes – in fact, every scene – that got the spotlight, because after reading this fine book, I still feel like I'm scratching the surface and the ongoing question of how they achieved everything in Spider-Verse remains unanswered. If you are a fan of this Oscar-winning piece of animation, this is a must-read.
May 18, 2020
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
BEYOND AWESOME!!
The movie WOWED me!! This book just added to that experience.
Ramin Zahed truly pulls us into the Spider-Verse via the spoken word and detailed explanations of the artwork that comes to life on the big screen. We are shown how the art, we take fore granted, is a crucial character within its own right. In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie, Zahed reminds us that the art, itself, helps draw us in; develop the story; and guide us through the Spider-Verse.
While reading this book and really seeing the art, for the first time, I found myself genuinely appreciating the time and effort that went into creating the film. The book concretely illustrates (no pun intended) a clear understanding about what Miles and his counterparts can mean for this and future generations.
In case you missed it, I highly recommend this book!!!
SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read the book, unless you’ve seen the movie. Otherwise, it may spoil your entire movie experience.
BEYOND AWESOME!!
The movie WOWED me!! This book just added to that experience.
Ramin Zahed truly pulls us into the Spider-Verse via the spoken word and detailed explanations of the artwork that comes to life on the big screen. We are shown how the art, we take fore granted, is a crucial character within its own right. In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie, Zahed reminds us that the art, itself, helps draw us in; develop the story; and guide us through the Spider-Verse.
Miles, like every incantation of Spider-Man, is someone whose nose is pressed against the window, wanting to be part of something that they think they’re not a part of. That’s a [sic] universal feeling for all of us.
While reading this book and really seeing the art, for the first time, I found myself genuinely appreciating the time and effort that went into creating the film. The book concretely illustrates (no pun intended) a clear understanding about what Miles and his counterparts can mean for this and future generations.
...anyone can wear the mask...It’s up to future generation of this country to stand up and do the right thing.
In case you missed it, I highly recommend this book!!!
SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read the book, unless you’ve seen the movie. Otherwise, it may spoil your entire movie experience.
February 11, 2022
One of my all time favorite movies was just made so much better from reading this book. This movie was one of the biggest reasons why I’m going into animation school next year, and it is so inspiring to see the process in this book. Every single piece of artwork is beautiful.
April 19, 2020
If aliens landed on Earth and asked what kinds of superhero films we produce here, we could just show them The Incredibles and Into the Spider-Verse and that would be sufficient. Into the Spider-Verse is one of my favorite movies of the decade, so reading through this collection of concept artwork and reminiscences by the filmmakers is a total delight. The book affirms how much thoughtfulness and creativity went into the film.
June 28, 2023
I’ve owned this book for so many years and finally got around to looking through it. It’s so gorgeous and I can’t wait to own the sequel art book too <3
April 4, 2019
Honestly, one of the best art books in my collection! I love all of the insight it gave to the movie, even though I wish the book itself were longer. I adore this art style and would love an even deeper look into the process of creating this stunning movie!
January 7, 2020
Una lectura maravillosa que descubre el universo a aquellos que se enamoraron de él en la película.
February 6, 2019
This is a decent movie art book that has some behind the scenes stuff but comes across as more of a PR exercise in than an incisive look into the creation of this amazing movie. (I fully expect the film to win Best Animated Film at this year’s Oscars.)
It’s a little light on character design, favoring backgrounds and storyboards, and, as always, far too many pictures cross the valley. Some are low-information bits and being a 2/3-1/3 affair it’s not as bad as some other books, but it’s continually baffling why they do this. As with the terrible Aquaman art book, the few foldout pages are devoted to small pictures. In this case, it’s storyboards. What is the point of that?
Okay overall.
It’s a little light on character design, favoring backgrounds and storyboards, and, as always, far too many pictures cross the valley. Some are low-information bits and being a 2/3-1/3 affair it’s not as bad as some other books, but it’s continually baffling why they do this. As with the terrible Aquaman art book, the few foldout pages are devoted to small pictures. In this case, it’s storyboards. What is the point of that?
Okay overall.
May 28, 2023
Por se tratar de um livro "The Art of" dessa animação que tem um visual incrível, eu esperava bem mais. Já li outros livros, como de Mulan, por exemplo, que detalham extensamente o processo de pesquisa para a criação dos detalhes do filme. O livro é lindo porque a obra por si só é maravilhosa e colocar visuais da obra numa versão impressa teria esse resultado. Porém, em questão de conteúdo, acho vazio. Não conseguiu expandir meus horizontes para além do que eu já tinha absorvido com o filme em si.
January 27, 2020
Hands down - one of THE best books I own - even though I have yet to read the texts - even if the writing is bad and details, info and insights into animator and designer's mind at play, inadequate (which I doubt it will be), doesn't matter. The art representation maybe digitally rendered but its a Work of Art nevertheless, Work of Art on a movie that itself has been a Work of Art. Stunning, stunning, stunning
June 13, 2019
Stunning art choices, neatly organized, and just the right amount of technical detail on the film's animation processes to intrigue but not bewilder this layman. I am not usually an art book person and would not have picked this up if not for the Hugos, but if you're looking for insight into modern animated films, this is a good place to start.
December 29, 2022
A STUNNING LOOKING ‘ART OF’ BOOK TO GO WITH A STUNNING LOOKING FILM!
This was the 2nd ‘Art of’ book I got for the holidays and it’s for one of my favorite films of all time. The chunk of the book goes over the story of the film and their missions to bring that comic book feel to life. Obviously there’s also a lot of great art and in-depth looks at the different types of techniques they took to make the film. Great concept art and stunning paintings, mainly by Patrick O’Keefe (Art Director).
You gotta check this out if you’re a fan of this wonderful film and I’d do it before this book goes out of print cause this is a 10/10 built book that is about a 10/10 made film.
This was the 2nd ‘Art of’ book I got for the holidays and it’s for one of my favorite films of all time. The chunk of the book goes over the story of the film and their missions to bring that comic book feel to life. Obviously there’s also a lot of great art and in-depth looks at the different types of techniques they took to make the film. Great concept art and stunning paintings, mainly by Patrick O’Keefe (Art Director).
You gotta check this out if you’re a fan of this wonderful film and I’d do it before this book goes out of print cause this is a 10/10 built book that is about a 10/10 made film.
August 18, 2019
Me dolió un poquito que no haya NADA de la escena THE RISING OF MILES MORALES porque me quita el aliento cada que la veo (todos los días; aunque no mire la peli, esa escena la veo todos los días), pero este libro es ARTE PURO Y LO AMO.
October 11, 2019
Flipped through. Concept art doesn't always do a lot for me, but this movie was so stunning and unique in its visuals, especially referencing old-school comics while being so modern that my eyes didn't know what I was seeing, that I was really interested in seeing some of the thought behind it.
January 26, 2020
I already adored the movie (who doesn't?) and seeing the creative passion behind the project has deepened my appreciation for it even further.
December 30, 2020
‘Miles, like every incarnation of Spider-Man, is someone whose nose is pressed against the window, wanting to be part of something that they think they’re not part of. That’s a universal feeling for all of us.’
June 12, 2023
i love spider-man
June 25, 2023
An excellent resource for any artist and fan of the movie. Taking a look at nearly every facet of the movie with commentary by its creators.
September 10, 2023
majorly cool! only con — i thought this would delve into the more technical elements of animating the movies, but instead it was focused on how the characters themselves were developed
December 23, 2018
A beautiful book for a beautiful movie. Wonderful pull out pages and great behind the scenes material. An absolute must additon for fans of the movie, Spider-man or both.
December 20, 2018
Its a beautiful art book of the movie that takes you deeper into the world of the movie. Everything is so vibrant and beautiful and you can 100% see all the handwork and love that went into everything that was done.
November 24, 2021
Read this to get the check mark on Reddit Fantasy's 2021 Bingo Square SFF-Related Nonfiction where this qualifies for Hard Mode as it is published within the last five years. Honestly this was a hard square to fill as my second bingo card is all BIPOC authors so I was very happy to find this book, as BIPOC authors are rare enough (for this genre) plus I rarely read "Art of the Movie" books, which this is a very, very good example of.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was extremely popular among critics AND movie goers, netting a huge box office. The introduction scene immediately grabbed and pulled me in as Miles Morales (whom I knew nothing about before the movie) strolled through New York chilling to Post Malone's Sunflower while comic book-like animation flowed across the screen. It's one of the baddest, coolest openings I've ever seen. I instantly needed to own the song.
This accompanying picture book is a great way to "fill in the gaps". The introduction by Brian Michael Bendis, co-creator, tells us of the origin of Miles Morales, the Afro-Latino teenager who takes up the Spider Man mantle in that planet. It wasn't easy and he was extremely gratified that Miles really took off with the comic reading public. It's no wonder, his origins are humble many found his struggles as a bi-cultural teenager just trying to find his place in a big city, struggling against parental authority, extremely relatable. The book goes into great detail on how his family's cultural identity is present, even in tiny things like how the Brooklyn apartment and Miles' room is decorated.
Ramin reminds us that a big part of his appeal is “Miles, like every incantation of Spider-Man, is someone whose nose is pressed against the window, wanting to be part of something that they think they’re not a part of. That’s a [sic] universal feeling for all of us. ”
There are painstaking descriptions of how they rendered the art, trying to make it look as much like hand drawn comic book like panels. Personally I'm a fan of the more realistic rendering, so it was a revelation to read WHY they made the artistic choices they did for the movie, all accompanied by pages and pages of beautiful, colored art from the movie.
There are, of course, the obligatory "character" concept art panels with less discussion than I expected on how these translated from page to screen. Panels from older comics. Even the "dot printing" method of coloring was discussed, much to my amazement. The New York skyline was consciously treated as if it is another character, which dovetailed nicely into the movie and gave us stunning scenes like this one.
Finally there is what I was waiting for which were the details on how the rest of the spider verse characters were done, from the various spider people to the side characters and villains.
Overall this is a pretty good "Art of" book, it is just missing that final "speculative" element to take it over the top.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was extremely popular among critics AND movie goers, netting a huge box office. The introduction scene immediately grabbed and pulled me in as Miles Morales (whom I knew nothing about before the movie) strolled through New York chilling to Post Malone's Sunflower while comic book-like animation flowed across the screen. It's one of the baddest, coolest openings I've ever seen. I instantly needed to own the song.
This accompanying picture book is a great way to "fill in the gaps". The introduction by Brian Michael Bendis, co-creator, tells us of the origin of Miles Morales, the Afro-Latino teenager who takes up the Spider Man mantle in that planet. It wasn't easy and he was extremely gratified that Miles really took off with the comic reading public. It's no wonder, his origins are humble many found his struggles as a bi-cultural teenager just trying to find his place in a big city, struggling against parental authority, extremely relatable. The book goes into great detail on how his family's cultural identity is present, even in tiny things like how the Brooklyn apartment and Miles' room is decorated.
Ramin reminds us that a big part of his appeal is “Miles, like every incantation of Spider-Man, is someone whose nose is pressed against the window, wanting to be part of something that they think they’re not a part of. That’s a [sic] universal feeling for all of us. ”
There are painstaking descriptions of how they rendered the art, trying to make it look as much like hand drawn comic book like panels. Personally I'm a fan of the more realistic rendering, so it was a revelation to read WHY they made the artistic choices they did for the movie, all accompanied by pages and pages of beautiful, colored art from the movie.
There are, of course, the obligatory "character" concept art panels with less discussion than I expected on how these translated from page to screen. Panels from older comics. Even the "dot printing" method of coloring was discussed, much to my amazement. The New York skyline was consciously treated as if it is another character, which dovetailed nicely into the movie and gave us stunning scenes like this one.
Finally there is what I was waiting for which were the details on how the rest of the spider verse characters were done, from the various spider people to the side characters and villains.
Overall this is a pretty good "Art of" book, it is just missing that final "speculative" element to take it over the top.
September 4, 2019
Originally published online at BORG.com.
Compared to most “art of the movie” books, a new behind-the-scenes book offers up a very different, modern update to our understanding of creating concept art for the cinema. The book is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed, an account of the design development and visual production process for this latest Sony Pictures Animation/Marvel partnership.
Concept art, sketches, and storyboards take on a different flare when you’re in the digital animation tech of today. But the images still reflect that powerful, colorful, and dynamic feel in their formation of a brand new superhero universe. Readers will find hundreds of images of developmental artistry behind the film, plus read exclusive interviews with the creators, including a foreword prepared by Miles Morales co-creator Brian Michael Bendis.
As we found with George Lucas’s groundbreaking selection of screen captures or frames found in his multi-volume book Star Wars Frames, studying the selected individual frames from the new Spider-Verse reveals a film on par with the composition of the future world of Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner–a city that is realistic, yet futuristic and still obviously sourced in comic books. It’s a gorgeous movie–and the action sweeps by so quickly that most will miss the artistry found in Miles’ graffiti, storyboard sequences, and the nooks and crannies of each set layout. Set decoration takes on a new approach, as does prop design, art direction, and costuming, in Into the Spider-Verse.
You can also pick up a rare edition of the book, limited to 175 copies, complete with one of the prop comic books made for the film (pictured above) hand-inked by Marcelo Vignali and a signed tip-in sheet by Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, and artists from the film. Check that out and the details at the Titan Books website.
A great follow-up and tie-in for fans of the film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — The Art of the Movie is now available at book stores and online retailers, and available now.
Compared to most “art of the movie” books, a new behind-the-scenes book offers up a very different, modern update to our understanding of creating concept art for the cinema. The book is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed, an account of the design development and visual production process for this latest Sony Pictures Animation/Marvel partnership.
Concept art, sketches, and storyboards take on a different flare when you’re in the digital animation tech of today. But the images still reflect that powerful, colorful, and dynamic feel in their formation of a brand new superhero universe. Readers will find hundreds of images of developmental artistry behind the film, plus read exclusive interviews with the creators, including a foreword prepared by Miles Morales co-creator Brian Michael Bendis.
As we found with George Lucas’s groundbreaking selection of screen captures or frames found in his multi-volume book Star Wars Frames, studying the selected individual frames from the new Spider-Verse reveals a film on par with the composition of the future world of Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner–a city that is realistic, yet futuristic and still obviously sourced in comic books. It’s a gorgeous movie–and the action sweeps by so quickly that most will miss the artistry found in Miles’ graffiti, storyboard sequences, and the nooks and crannies of each set layout. Set decoration takes on a new approach, as does prop design, art direction, and costuming, in Into the Spider-Verse.
You can also pick up a rare edition of the book, limited to 175 copies, complete with one of the prop comic books made for the film (pictured above) hand-inked by Marcelo Vignali and a signed tip-in sheet by Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, and artists from the film. Check that out and the details at the Titan Books website.
A great follow-up and tie-in for fans of the film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — The Art of the Movie is now available at book stores and online retailers, and available now.
July 29, 2019
4.5 for a beautiful big book of movie and concept art for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Firstly, about the movie: I LOVED THIS MOVIE. I love comic book Miles and I love Spider-Man, but this movie just knocks it out of the park on so many levels.
The writing was tight and perfect and as spot-on in character to Spidy as any Brian Michael Bendis Spider-Man comic. I cried so much during this movie -from both laughter, joy and heartbreak. It pulled at my heartstrings and didn't let me go until the credits ended.
And visually, this movie is the most stunning thing I've ever seen. The animation is out of control beautiful, trippy, and innovative. I seriously have never seen colors like that before in my life!
I can't gush enough about how visually stunning this movie is.
So, writing all that about the movie... This book captures some of that innovation, those colors, and the character concepts and spreads. I loved the notes by the creators about Spidy and the characters they designed and the inspirations they drew from to create the world for this movie: real-world colliders, mailboxes, fire hydrants, New York city streets, signs and lights, and real scientists working on the Hadron Collider for reference.
Beautiful coffee table book for a fan of animation, art, and Spider-Man.
Firstly, about the movie: I LOVED THIS MOVIE. I love comic book Miles and I love Spider-Man, but this movie just knocks it out of the park on so many levels.
The writing was tight and perfect and as spot-on in character to Spidy as any Brian Michael Bendis Spider-Man comic. I cried so much during this movie -from both laughter, joy and heartbreak. It pulled at my heartstrings and didn't let me go until the credits ended.
And visually, this movie is the most stunning thing I've ever seen. The animation is out of control beautiful, trippy, and innovative. I seriously have never seen colors like that before in my life!
I can't gush enough about how visually stunning this movie is.
So, writing all that about the movie... This book captures some of that innovation, those colors, and the character concepts and spreads. I loved the notes by the creators about Spidy and the characters they designed and the inspirations they drew from to create the world for this movie: real-world colliders, mailboxes, fire hydrants, New York city streets, signs and lights, and real scientists working on the Hadron Collider for reference.
Beautiful coffee table book for a fan of animation, art, and Spider-Man.
December 31, 2019
I really liked “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” when I saw it in the theater but, as I read think pieces and watched YouTube videos about the tremendous amount of creativity and attention to detail that went into making the movie, I fell head-over-heels in love with it. Groundbreaking on so many levels - from the plot to the score to the animation style and everything in between - the journey of young Miles Morales from insecure biracial Brooklyn schoolboy to web-slinging superhero is a feast for the heart, ears, and especially the eyes. Nothing else looks quite like “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” and perhaps not other animated film in recent memory so richly deserves an “Art Of” book. This beautiful oversized volume boasts page after page of visual brain candy. Character sketches, storyboards, lighting tests, set paintings, and so much more! I spent so much time on this first read-through just absorbing all the saturated colors and inventive designs and I know I’ve only just scratched the surface. I’m gonna be going back to this book a lot, I’m sure of it. The text was, unfortunately, a little generic (I would’ve preferred some more in-depth reporting on the moviemaking process) but when a book looks as good as “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse - The Art Of The Movie” you can’t help but dive in and soak it all up.
January 17, 2019
Really loved looking through all the concept art and reading about all the artists/art movements that influenced this movie though there's a couple things that took it down a star for me. For starters I wish we got more concept art for the character designs. Obviously some characters are more important to the narrative than others, but I think part of the initial appeal of Spider-verse (aside from the animation style) is that we get to see so many different incarnations of Spider-Man and his rogues gallery from throughout the multiverse. Seeing more about the alternate Spider-Men, the various costumes, and the villains would have pushed this book from being "great" to "awesome". This also might sound kinda picky, but I wish we got a bit less commentary from the higher-ups like Amy Pascal. Obviously Sony has a right to be proud of this movie and I LOVED the foreword by Brian Michael Bendis (who's apparently a huge fan of books like this), but I think books like this should be where we hear more from the creative minds behind the movie and less from executives. Otherwise it's a fun read and absolutely worth your time.
Also: Yeah this should kinda be obvious, but this book is FULL of spoilers so go watch the movie before you read this!
Also: Yeah this should kinda be obvious, but this book is FULL of spoilers so go watch the movie before you read this!
May 27, 2023
Book 32 of 2023 is Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse - The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed. I read this in anticipation of the upcoming sequel. Into The Spiderverse is a movie known for its art so this book is absolutely stunning and shows the insane amount of hard work, creativity, love, and passion that went into the first movie. You could pause that movie at any point and easily print and frame it on your wall and it’s clear that was the goal from the start. This book features a ton of concept art for both settings and the ensemble of characters as well as descriptions about the various designs and how they portray symbolism and mood via the shapes, textures, and colors used. It honestly could’ve been longer and more in depth but the art speaks for itself. You can tell that this movie was made by extremely talented people who were passionate about the project and the work they were doing. 5 stars
March 17, 2023
✨3.80 stars✨
*Minor movie spoilers ahead, I guess*
The art is amazing, obviously. The organization, though, is confusing. The chapter sequencing is (mostly) chronological, but a lot of scenes and moments that are visually exciting and crucial to the story (e.g., Miles' iconic leap of faith scene, the final fight scene) were left out, leaving glaring gaps in the book's coverage. It was almost like they were trying to minimize major spoilers, but dude, I'm pretty sure everyone reading this book has already seen the movie.
The editor in me would like to add that a lot of the paragraphs of text accompanying the art feel like early drafts—rife with redundancy and mechanical errors (okay, maybe "rife" is too strong, but I did catch two errors)—rather than polished, proofread final versions.
*Minor movie spoilers ahead, I guess*
The art is amazing, obviously. The organization, though, is confusing. The chapter sequencing is (mostly) chronological, but a lot of scenes and moments that are visually exciting and crucial to the story (e.g., Miles' iconic leap of faith scene, the final fight scene) were left out, leaving glaring gaps in the book's coverage. It was almost like they were trying to minimize major spoilers, but dude, I'm pretty sure everyone reading this book has already seen the movie.
The editor in me would like to add that a lot of the paragraphs of text accompanying the art feel like early drafts—rife with redundancy and mechanical errors (okay, maybe "rife" is too strong, but I did catch two errors)—rather than polished, proofread final versions.
December 30, 2018
This was a solid offering, but subtly disappointing in a lot of ways.i would have liked to have seen a lot more of the character design, for example. The biggest issue, though, is how self-congratulatory it was from executives and higher ups with little to nothing from the creators who got the whole thing started. No acknowledgement of where all those Easter eggs came from, and while Brian Michael Bendis gets plenty of credit, very few other creators are even mentioned.
But also? The innovative, mind-blowing look of the film is not as evident in this behind the scenes art book, which is all too similar to a hundred books like it.
But also? The innovative, mind-blowing look of the film is not as evident in this behind the scenes art book, which is all too similar to a hundred books like it.
August 8, 2019
I mean, I don't know what I could say about this book or movie that hasn't been said a million times before.
I saw this film after my first semester of Computer Animation classes (which was super rough, animation is very hard) but this film very much reaffirmed "this is what I want to do, I want to make art this amazing and revolutionary" and helped me going back for second semester.
If you have any interest in animation, super heroes, storytelling, art, film making, etc. I HIGHLY recommend seeing this movie, getting this book, and reading/watching any and everything you can find about the making of the film. It is absolutely amazing what these people managed to pull off.
I saw this film after my first semester of Computer Animation classes (which was super rough, animation is very hard) but this film very much reaffirmed "this is what I want to do, I want to make art this amazing and revolutionary" and helped me going back for second semester.
If you have any interest in animation, super heroes, storytelling, art, film making, etc. I HIGHLY recommend seeing this movie, getting this book, and reading/watching any and everything you can find about the making of the film. It is absolutely amazing what these people managed to pull off.
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