Tech Noir: The Art of James Cameron Review

I have always been an art and science fiction fan, and as soon as I saw designs of the Terminator world for the first time back in the days, it's machines and hardware, James Cameron had became my favorite designer, and to this day his designs and his style remain my absolute favorite. In simple terms, I think his designs are badass. As a lifelong fan of (now vintage) comic books, I always really enjoy his drawing style especially. He would have been a phenomenal comic book artist, in addition to begin a phenomenal designer, painter and sketcher. 

So I always thought, and have been vocal on forums throughout the year about how cool it would be if there was someday a collection of Jim Cameron's artwork. I though of hanging some of his work in home but could never find a good enough resolution. And now, here we are, and Tech Noir: The Art of James Cameron has become a reality thanks to the Insight Editions (who also released the great Exploring The Deep book), and as soon as I opened it I was blown away by it. 

There is sooo much art, and better yet, every single piece and even doodle or quick sketch is described and has a story about itself from Cameron. This book not only collects designs and art from his now iconic classics, but is full of his early, and some modern paintings, drawings and sketches. If youre a fan of science fiction, and especially vintage scifi, this is bullseye. 

And if you're simply a fan of classics such as The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and Avatar, this book is also a bullseye. Trust me, as a fan of Jim since 1991, I've read and seen everything available to the public on his movies, their designs and production. I even have a large collection of vintage magazines. Having said that, there's so much stuff there has never been seen before. And it's not just the art, but stories you haven't heard before, ideas for the movies we've never heard before or ideas that went past some of us. For example, I did not realize the Alien Queen has a, to quote Jim, a "vagina-esque" design on her neck, framed with mechanical tubes, to represent Giger's sexual/mechanical style. Now when it's been pointed out I see it so clearly, I can't believe I haven't seen a giant vagina on the Queen's neck all along!

Cameron also designed weapons, grenades, environments (I was surprised at how much of the colony is actually Cameron's design, with Ron Cobb adding to it, rather than coming up with it mostly by himself as I have heard before), there's costume designs for The Terminator and Aliens, original photo used for the Rose sketch in Titanic, I mean this book has it all and more. For example, Jim also did designs for the movie Alien Nation, which weren't used, but it's all here - character designs, ship designs, creature design, environments and more

And I was always right about Cameron being potentially a great comic book artists, because you can see his comic books in the book. He's also a terrific inker

Obviously I'm not going to reveal all the stuff in the book, especially the unseen one, but from those pics you can kind of get a taste of what's there. I devoured this book in a day, and already starting to read it over again, taking time to admire the art. One of, if not the best book on Jim Cameron so far

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