4 out of 5

A comic showcasing the artwork from a limited series of Mars Attacks cars produced by IDW.  The format of the book is to place snaps of the fronts of the cards against a red background, sequenced, alphabetically, by artist, with a template Q&A (Why were you involved?  Which is your favorite card? etc.) in black text in a yellow box upon a tan background.  The book is 30 pages long and runs from page one to the inside back cover.

Obviously presentation is of importance in an art showcase, and the gallery is very well-designed.  The red / yellow color scheme is established on the cards, and it would’ve been easy to flub that and make the pages look unappealing, but the themes really do serve to make the artwork pop, and the Q&As are presented with a large enough font to be easily readable but a typeface that, similarly, doesn’t distract.  There’s a much appreciated table of contents to kick things off (which – thank you – is helpful because of the page numbers… this is forever an annoyance with TOC when page #s are only on select pages), and there’s a mindful split of one-artist per page – some artists get more than one page, just meaning no one’s double-stacked with someone else’s art.  And whether it was an editorial decision or luck, when artists face page-to-page, their styles are distinct enough to make each page unique.

I’m knocking a star here because there are a couple of questionable things lacking: these cards are part of a set, but there’s no indication as to whether we’re seeing the full thing or not.  We’re not, because some cards are mentioned by the artists but not seen, so I would’ve appreciated some reference info – maybe a full-page pic of the entire set, or some kind of overall reference to how many cards there were and how many each artist drew.  Along these lines, I realize we had to keep it to 30 pages, but I would’ve sacrificed some art for a Q&A with each creator.  I understand this might not be realistic – perhaps some had no desire to answer the questions – but such is the case when you present us with information: we want more.

Those are, admittedly, personal nits.  As mentioned, in terms of highlighting some fun Mars Attackian art, the Gallery presented by IDW is a well-designed, page-packed collection.