X-Men: The Art and Making of The Animated Series

Showrunners Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald reveal the story behind the creation of one of the most celebrated, revolutionary animated series of all time.   X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series takes fans behind the scenes of the landmark cartoon that laid the groundwork for the dozens of Marvel Comics adaptations that followed. Interviews with series writers, artists, producers, and executives reveal the razor’s edge that Marvel and Fox navigated in order to bring the X-Men to television, and detail the tough decisions, compromises, and brilliant solutions that resulted in a series that has been lauded by critics and fans for nearly three decades.   Along the way, readers will encounter comics and entertainment luminaries Stan Lee, Margaret Loesch, Avi Arad, and Haim Saban, as well as exclusive production art and commentary from key X-Men: TAS artists such as supervising producer/director Will Meugniot, producer/director Larry Houston, producer/director Frank Squillace, storyboard artist and model designer Rick Hoberg, model designer Frank Brunner, and character, prop, and model designer/cleanup artist Mark Lewis.   This book gives a firsthand account of what it’s like to develop, pitch, design, write, draw, direct, and produce a hit animated series, and is jam-packed with never-before-seen concept sketches, storyboards, character models, background layouts, cels, and production and promotional materials.   “Many a comic fan considers the 1990s X-Men animated series to be the definitive screen version of Marvel’s iconic mutant team — and this encyclopedic new volume is the definitive guide.” —Yahoo! Entertainment