Witness The Majesty Of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez’s 1982 DC Comics Style Guide

Even if you don't know his name, you're almost certainly already familiar with the art of the incredible José Luis García-López. Over the course of a forty-year career working with DC Comics, his incredible design sensibility led him to be the primary artist for DC's licensed products, meaning that it's his art that reached the widest possible audience and, in a lot of ways, defined how characters like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman looked in the eyes of the public.

And it makes sense that he would, too, since he was also the one who defined how those characters looked for DC Comics itself. In 1982, he was the primary artist of The DC Comics Style Guide, an incredible set of model sheets, color guides and dynamic reference poses --- and thanks to the Facebook group for García-López fans, you can have a look at the entire thing now!

Despite the fact that it contains some of the best-known art of DC's characters --- they're still making T-shirts and lunchboxes with these images on 'em --- the Style Guide was never released to the public. It was never meant to be, either; the three-ring binder full of art by García-López, inked by Dick Giordano, with lettering by Todd Klein was only meant to be used as an in-house reference document.

As a result, it's become a pretty sought-after item for collectors and fans --- a complete set of the Style Guide can set you back about five hundred bucks. So, you know, getting to check out all the art online is a definite plus.

That said, if the love folks have been showing to the art ever since it went up on Facebook is any indication, then maybe it's time for a new version of the 1982 Guide to be released to the public --- or maybe something that also collects the similar art García-López created in 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006 and 2012. There's a lot of great art out there that I think we'd all love to see!

For the whole set, check out the Jose Luis García-López Fans group on Facebook.

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