Ashley Wood's Art of Metal Gear Solid (2011 Hardcover) - Quick Review

In today's post we’re taking a look at Ashley Wood’s Art of Metal Gear Solid. First published in paperback form in 2009 and in 2011 they released a hardcover edition, the version I'll be talking about. It's exactly 120 pages long and contains Metal Gear artwork done by Australian artist Ashley Wood. More specifically it collects artwork used in the comic books based on the first and second Metal Gear Solid. As well as the art used in the cut-scenes for Portable Ops on the PSP. Unfortunately, since the book was first published before Peace Walker was released, you won’t find any of his artwork used in that game.

I’m a really big fan of Ashley Wood, his various styles and choice of colours is unlike anything else in a comic book or a video game. So it’s a real shame that the majority of Metal Gear fans hate him. Although I do have a few complaints with this book, first thing that annoys me is the artwork is all over the place. They didn’t try to categorise it in any manner, like for example. The first section would be art taken from the first Metal Gear Solid comic, then the second one, followed by Portable Ops. My other gripe is it only contains the finalised art and nothing exclusive. No rough sketches or any sort of production notes.

Of course I wouldn’t classify these problems as a deal breaker, because it’s such a beautiful book with high quality paper and a gorgeous cover. As a big fan of Metal Gear I love owning it in my collection and recommend it to other fans as well.