Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Oh, my! The new Beasts! hardcover from Fantagraphics is a wholly amazing book. It is a gorgeous encyclopedia of all kinds of mythical monsters often obscure ones, with original art by some of the greatest visual artists of today. It is edited and designed by Jacob Covey, art director of Fantagraphics.

This book is truly a delight for lovers of mythology, great art, or just very pretty books. Beasts! would be quite at home on any bookshelf or coffee table. I could even see a it becoming the favorite book of a kid who really enjoys playing make-believe (as long as they didn't get too afraid of the illustrations or too offended by occasional semi-nudity ok... maybe it's best left to the grown-ups).

Publisher's Weekly gave it a glowing review, and also give a little more background on where the idea from the book came from.

A couple of my favorite pieces are Katy Horan's rendition of the Banshee, Jeremy Fish's Kraken (with a t-shirt that says "What's Kraken?) Attaboy's Melusine, and... you know what, they're all my favorite. So there.

illustration above by Tim Biskup

-Elizabeth