Rejoice, DC fans! Standards Manual has teamed up with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products and announced the official — and long-awaited — reissue of the 1982 DC Comics Style Guide!
Back in the early 1980s, legendary Spanish-Argentine artist José Luis García-López was hired for an ambitious project: the total standardization of DC’s Super Heroes. What resulted was a three-ring binder full of character profiles, colour swatches, and rules put together with help from comics artist Dick Giordano. This impressive portfolio was intended to help create artwork for packaging and a wide range of products spanning lunchboxes to trading cards. Never made available to the public, and with just a few hundred copies believed to have been produced exclusively in-house, the DC Comics Style Guide also aimed to assist licensees in delivering a consistent look for characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl across different mediums like magazine ads and television commercials.
Prior to this initiative, most licensed DC products would simply use images taken straight from the comics without any additional compensation being given to the talent. However, under the leadership of president and former comic book editor Jenette Kahn, the company updated this policy. Now, licensees who wish to collaborate with the renowned publisher and gain access to their catalogue of colourful characters must use artwork created specifically for that purpose — either in the Style Guide or newly drawn.
The all-new Standards Manual version of this highly coveted publication has been reproduced from a rare original copy and revamped into a beautiful hardcover. It includes an introduction by former DC Comics president Paul Levitz and features over 165 highly detailed scans of García-López’s work, thus allowing fans to experience his artistic style as never before. In addition, an amalgam of pages from later editions is included, spotlighting everything from the original Kenner Super Powers toy line to the Nightwing-era Teen Titans!
Specifications:
- 384 pages
- 165+ image plates
- 5 × 11.5″
- 1 × 29.2 cm
- CMYK + 1 Pantone® spot color
- Stochastic screen offset
- Perigord Matte 135 gsm paper
- Case-bound (hardcover)
- Soft touch laminated cover with spot varnish
- Individually packaged in custom protective mailer
- Printed in Italy
Perhaps one of the most desired pieces of pop culture history, the 1982 DC Comics Style Guide is sure to be an essential addition to any reference library. Currently available for pre-order through the Standards Manual website at an early-access price of $125 USD, fans should expect the book to begin shipping out by August 31st, 2024.
Have you made space on your bookshelf yet?
