Frazetta The Definitive Reference (Vanguard Classics) Paperback – Illustrated, November 19, 2008

I preface some comments with an apology; I'm in the print design field and so I'm visual. Indenting problems galore here, along with bullet issues, spacing, and overall formatting problems in the text... Photo selection is random and haphazardly placed in juxtaposition to the items they refer to. It's tough to follow, and there are inconsistencies in the nesting/hierarchy of the listed items. Many line items are missing. Bad editing, perhaps? If the author would have consulted Milton Courter (Frazetta Index Bonanza), who sort of paved the way for this project. I know Milton's project fell short in many areas as well, but his was easier to track and cross-reference. I'm sure with a little line of credit, he'd have been happy to offer anything willingly...Paperback catalog numbers are also poorly researched. For example, the NON F-Series later printings of the same title -- ie: Tanar of Pellucidar, has the true catalog number 79792 (the original catalog number in this revised series) -- NOT 79796-2 as published (I'm sure the author owned this particular reprinting, and didn't bother researching). Maybe with some of these things corrected [at reprint time?] I'd relax my stance on the randomized placement of images. In the author's defense, it's firstly a REFERENCE index and not an ART BOOK. The Art Books have been done in the form of the Underwood coffee tables books, and certainly the original Art of Frazetta series of 5 volumes. So, as a REFERENCE volume, it ought to be easy to use. Zines should be with zines. Comics should be with comics. Posters should be with posters. I think I understand why, say, in the Movies & Television section, there are references to soundtracks, Pressbooks and such -- they are ALL movie-related afterall. But it makes searching for things difficult. Also, should UNPUBLISHED works be listed among these sections? Ie: unpublished movie posters than never made it to press (From Dusk Til Dawn). Perhaps a new section with completed works but never seen in print.One BIG suggestion would be to somehow reference the FIRST PRINTINGS and set them apart from the subsequent REPRINTINGS of the same image. Perhaps tinted type or something; Gray always seems "secondary" to black, maybe? That way, chronology can be maintained, but at a glance, one can see the first printings juxtaposed to the subsequent printings.It's a nice full-color print job, but not enough research went into this. I keep a tidy and comprehensive catalog of Frazetta's work in a spreadsheet, and seeing the last two projects fall so short of being accurate and user-friendly, makes me want to publish my own. At least, a collaboration should be considered -- or at minimum, a willingness to accept comments from some of us geeks who might have some valid suggestions? I'm not vying for credit -- just wanting to offer some input that might really make this a great reference piece... a lot of work done here. Happy to own my copy, but I'm sorry the interiors (content and layout) were a little weak...

Don't know what the low reviews are for. I own all the currently in-print fraz. books, and a lot of out of print ones.This isn't the first one I would buy, but I really love it.It shows a lot of his art how it originally appeared, gives a lot of history.And it does have a lot of art in it! Not just a "reference" I feel it is an art book, for me.It's really cool.If you want the very best full-page prints, the other books are better, but this is a fantastic addition to have as well.Sounds like the other reviewers didn't read the product description.

This really is a reference of his commercial works, which magazines he published covers for who when, it is not for example a commulative collection of his artwork, it looks great on my shelf, I'm a painter not an illustrator I really enjoy Frazetta's figurative compositions, if your looking for his works try books I, II, & III for his comics, look elsewhere.Definately a cool reference on his professional career.

was less reference in the images sense and more of an exhaustive list of everything that has been done by Frank. I must've misunderstood when ordering this.

Maybe I am just a chump but I feel terribly mislead by the lead in advertising for this book. I was hoping for a rather complete book of full page plates by Frazetta, of my favorite book and magazine covers. Instead this is a reference for a collector, ultimate fan or bibliographer. FOr them it may be useful, who knows. It is composed of lists of what Mr. Frazetta published, in what format and when. There are very very few full page plates, and not even a very comprehensive depiction of his work. Many of the reproductions are in very small side panels. I wanted an art book to enjoy. Now I guess I'll be dumping this off at the used book store. I can't express how disappointed I am with this product.

A must for any Frazetta fan looking for definitive chronological history of the grand master's works.

Just like Adrien and Matthew I was expecting something totally different. I bought it as a pre-order book and there were obviously no reviews yet. Amazon delayed the shipping for about 2 months and when I finally get it what do I receive? A guide??? Is that it?Where are the wonderfull full pages with Frazetta's amazing artwork? There's just pages and more pages with guide reference. I'm so disappointed with this product and leave this as a message for those who expecting an art book - RUN AWAY FROM THIS, THIS IS NOT AN ART BOOK!!!

Incredible reference work!!!

This is a catalogue of image titles/publications across the course of Frazettas career. There are only about 12 pages with images on them, the rest is just text. If you need a complete catalogue of Frazettas work by title and publication, here it is. Do not purchase if you want visual imagery.

If you're a fan of Fantasy art , then this is a must have . Frazetta has a huge body of works bridging cover art, to comics, to movie posters and many paintings. When you open this you realize just how prolific this man was as an artist , and the quality of his works just got better and better over the decades . This man was responsible for inspiring me to do fantasy and sci-fi art as a young man and keeping me for ever trying to one up myself over the years ...and thats been almost 40 years . Money well spent .

The bad rating is not because of the content as much as how it’s showcased. I was expecting bigger images , less text... like an actual artbook , focused on showcasing the art. I thought that with a title like that , id be happy haha. Still a cool book i guess, if you like annexes and itsy bitsy pictures

Volume restituito. Non è una raccolta di lavori ma un elenco dei lavori eseguiti da Frazetta per chi e quando. Se cercate una collezione di opere cercate in altri volumi.

very good