I think most longtime American comics readers would count at least one Howard Chaykin work amongst their all-time favorite books, given that he's created so many to be proud of. American Flagg!, Black Kiss, The Shadow and Blackhawk are just some of his major projects, and I'm also very fond of his and José Luis García-López' Twilight for DC, his old Vertigo series American Century co-written with David Tischman, and the over-the-top satire of Cyberella with Don Cameron, which are considered lesser known works.

But before Chaykin earned a reputation as a trailblazing comics iconoclast, he toiled in the trenches of commercial art and comic book apprenticeships; spending years developing his craft and studying the medium and industry that he would eventually change forever. That journey is documented in The Art of Howard Chaykin, a new 200-page Dynamite Entertainment hardcover on sale now that features not just artwork from across the artist's long career, but also the story of how Chaykin came to be Chaykin, both in his own words and in those of the colleagues and associates who saw it with their own eyes.

Click on for a preview of The Art of Howard Chaykin. It contains some material that may be considered unsafe for work.

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