The Art of Steven Universe: The Movie

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Danny Hynes drew hundreds of Stevens in preparation for the eventual task of tying down the final series design into an iconic standard model.

I really loved seeing all the art in the book, especially concept art and seeing how many different versions there were before what actually ended up in the show - obsidian was probably my favourite because of how different each artist drew her and getting to see where the elements in the final version came from. I also loved getting to read about some of the imagery that was involved in the show, which even though I've been following it since around the time season 1 was finishing airing and I have watched tons of breakdowns and theory videos etc I was unaware of. There's also some discussions about how the crew's personal experiences made it into the show, most of Rebecca's I was aware of already, but she's not the only one whose experiences were depicted in the show, and there's some cut content discussed as well as reasons behind certain key decisions. Rebecca Sugar apparently just pops up with concepts she wants the writers to work in. Like "I want Steven to be in a mushroom forest" (which hasn't happened yet) or "I want Steven to have cats on his fingers" (which, obviously, happened early on). Rebecca gets little concepts that are sort of dreamlike, and they figure out which episode they can put them in. Working those things in sometimes seems like as much of a priority as getting plot elements in! Music nerds like me will very much appreciate the photographed notes on music motifs--the Diamonds each have a solfège syllable and a chord (White is F#M7/Sol, Yellow is BM7/Fa, Blue is EM7/Fa, and Pink is AM7/Mi), and Steven's powers and modes are coded with instruments and styles.

There's a section in it about the network pushing the Crew to make Steven get identified as the leader of the team, and they emphasized that he is not the leader. (It's Garnet.) I love Garnet. :) N.K. Jemisin's foreword was really inspiring, and that along with some reflection from Rebecca Sugar about the importance of identity and the power of reclaiming the right to exist was some of my favorite stuff in the book. It is very hard to be left out of the stories the world is telling, and it was about time some of these very specific but also broadly relatable stories were told. Bismuth is another undeniable example. She's strong, bullheaded, and jovial on the outside, but deep down she's unafraid to voice her thoughts and opinions.

Rebecca always had to "fight" notes against Ruby and Sapphire's relationship, but once she didn't fight a note because it was just for a signing card. She was also scolded over her book The Answer because the powers that be expected her to downplay that relationship. She always argued that queer youth deserved these things.

Customer reviews

Steven Universe: End of an Era, like its predecessor Steven Universe: Art and Origins, is a collection of developmental documents, character sketches, concepts, and commentary from various creators and insiders. Whether you really like to get down into the guts of how it's produced or whether you want to hear reflections from Rebecca Sugar and other Crew members about what it was like to make the show or whether you're just here for the amazing art, this book is for you. (Personally, I'm excited about all three of those things.)