The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham - Interview with Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz
- The Artbook Collector
- Jun 26
- 5 min read
June 26th 2025
Clover Press have been busy working on artbooks and graphic novels, successfully funding many of their releases through Kickstarter. The latest campaign is for The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham, a premium hardcover book that showcases the incredible art from Kirkham on some of Marvel's most popular heroes and villains.
Before the campaign ends on July 4th, I had the opportunity to interview Hank Kanalz, Publisher at Clover Press, about this book, 'The Marvel Art of' series, and using Kickstarter. Check it out below and be sure to visit the Kickstarter page here to back the project and secure your own copy - The Marvel Art of TYLER KIRKHAM--A Deluxe Hardcover & More!
Thanks for taking the time to speak about ‘The Marvel Art of’ books! Your latest campaign is live for the 7th book in the series, The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham, which very quickly hit its funding goal. Kirkham creates incredible art for some of the most iconic characters in Marvel comics, what was it like working with him and putting this book together?
Kanalz: Tyler’s amazing - he knows his strengths, and what his fans really respond to. He’s done a ton of amazing covers, so the toughest part was narrowing down what to include in the book.
The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham will feature 200+ pages of his work for fans to pore over. What are you most excited for people to see in this showcase?
Kanalz: I think people will be surprised at how much work Tyler puts into his line work. Usually his art is always published in full color, but going through his work, it’s amazing to see the detail he puts into each piece. While most of the book features his colored pieces, we’re showing off more of the stages in his work, too.
There are a lot of incredibly talented artists that have worked at Marvel, with many different styles too, some of which you have already featured in previous books. What do you take into consideration when choosing who to give the artbook treatment to next, and what was it about Tyler Kirkham that had him join the other big names in the series?
Kanalz: Candidly, the artist has to first be an artist whose work we like. We can only publish so many books a year, so they may as well be with artists we like, right? And the crew at Clover can have some eclectic taste, so you’ll see a range of artists in our series. Plus, the artist has to have a body of work at Marvel, and have a fan following. Tyler met that criteria and more.
How did the creation of this line of artbooks and partnership with Marvel first start?
Kanalz: When I met with Ted and Robbie (Clover founders), we chatted a long while about the kinds of books I wanted to publish. First on my list was a series of comic artists art books. They agreed enthusiastically, as they were just about to roll out our first one, The Fantastic Illustrations of Timothy Truman. So we knew in that conversation that we were a good match, and I joined Clover Press as Publisher. The next conversations were with Marvel and DC, which lands us where we are now.
The Kickstarter campaigns have all been hugely successful, what is it about the platform you like that has you returning to it for your books?
Kanalz: It’s a fantastic way for our artists to connect directly with their fan base. While we are carried by comic shops and bookstores, it’s much more difficult to offer signed books or a limited number of sketches or commissions. And since we work with the artists directly, offering these books via Kickstarter benefits the artists more directly financially, as the rewards are provided directly to the backer, instead of going through a wholesaler.
What are your long term goals for this series, as well as other artbooks? Are there other ideas or changes you are working on, or want to see in the future?
Kanalz: We want the line to have “something for everyone” - we’ve done a great job of varying the styles and generations of artists represented in the line, and we want to continue that. We have a ton of new ideas to try out on future campaigns; it’s a matter of marrying the right thing with the right artists. And while we’ve focused on comic artists, we want to do more imported art books and eclectic artists art books (see My Way by Vinne, Spawn Till You Die: The Fin Art of Ray Troll by Ray Troll, or Woman & Man+ by Craig Yoe). And we’re excited to see that folks are coming back with each campaign. We have a set of supporters who only buy the artists they like, and we have a growing group of backers who have backed every single campaign.
To end the interview, let people know why they should check out The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham and feel free to highlight anything else Clover Press has going on!
Kanalz: The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham is the ultimate collection of Tyler Kirkham’s Marvel art, so it’s a must have for any fan of Tyler’s. Some of the exclusives offered are amazing, including the X-Men Danger Room homage 1,000 piece puzzle, and some super cool sticker sheets.
Coming very soon is our newest imported art book by Keisuke Unosawa, an award winning and accomplished designer and artist from Japan. He’s designed the holiday cards for MoMA for the last 30 years, and has led an extraordinarily interesting life. This book captures a taste of what he’s done.
We’re going to be stepping up our ART OF series with Marvel and DC artists. We don’t reveal them in advance, and we like to keep folks guessing - thanks so much for your continued support!
Thanks to Hank Kanalz for taking the time to answer my questions about the book! The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham can be backed on Kickstarter until July 4th with lots of bundles available that include extras such as a dustjacket, a slipcase, stickers, prints, a portfolio, and more. These extras can also be added to your order as add-ons. The book is expected to ship in November of this year and will go on sale at retail at a later date. Visit the Kickstarter here - The Marvel Art of TYLER KIRKHAM--A Deluxe Hardcover & More!
