This week's recommended comic is not actually a comic but an artbook, Process Recess: the art of James Jean.

James Jean is arguably the best cover artist working in comics right now. I've gushed over his work here before and for good reason. His work is weird and whimsical and unlike anything anyone else is doing in comics. He's sort of like Mark Ryden
but with an incredibly strong sense of design and color.

This small, horizontal hardcover reproduces Jean's elaborate sketchbook musings, travelogue sketches as well as numerous fully finished personal works revolving around the concept of children at school. Every page is overwhelming in the amount of work put into even the smallest sketch. Considering Jean is only a recent graduate of the School of Visual Arts, it is amazing to see how much work he has produced, not even counting his published comics work.

My only gripe with this book is it's rather small reproduction size. The books is about the size of a smallish sketchbook but it reproduces two of Jean's sketchbook pages per each page. He has lots of writings and details embedded in his drawings that are too hard to make out at that size. That aside, I love nothing more than looking at a talented artist's sketchbook and this is a very enlightening and awe-inspiring view into James Jean's.

Check out your local comic shop today. If you don't know where your local comic shop is, find it here: http://www.the-master-list.com