The 100 Greatest Comic Book Artists

[Derrick]

www.acomics.com/best.htm

[grubl]

Before I even look I'll say that I am going to be very disappointed if I don't see Neal Adams, Gil Kane, Jim Steranko, Jack Kirby, Curt Swan, Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Mac Raboy, Frank Miller and John Byrne somewhere at the top. And for once give Jim Aparo his due in the top twenty, at least! I like Steve Ditko and Jim Lee quite a bit too, I'm sure they'll fair well.

[tombitd]

Dec 26, 2010 20:31:09 GMT -5 grubl said:

Before I even look I'll say that I am going to be very disappointed if I don't see Neal Adams, Gil Kane, Jim Steranko, Jack Kirby, Curt Swan, Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Mac Raboy, Frank Miller and John Byrne somewhere at the top. And for once give Jim Aparo his due in the top twenty, at least! I like Steve Ditko and Jim Lee quite a bit too, I'm sure they'll fair well.

One of the things I have endeavored to do with DJ Comics Cavalcade is not only give some of my favorite artists--people like Kane, Aparo, Nick Cardy and Grey Morrow--their due and illustrate what in their mechanics makes them so great.

[tombitd]

Okay...after skimming that list, I'm pleased Lou Fine and Grey Morrow made the top ten...but it's criminal that Kane and Howard Chaykin are listed so low, and that Alex Ross is listed at all--the man's not an artist, he's someone who managed to turn his cosplay fetish into a career. I will take any of the lower artists--and many of the people who didn't make the list, like Tom Mandrake, and Jim Aparo.

[james]

Jim Aparo is my favorite Batman artist. Even more than Neal Adams, when I think of "Batman" I see Aparo's rendition of the character (which, admittedly, owes something to Adams'). I loved his work on Detective Comics in the early 90s. (even better, by working on DC's "secondary" Bat book, Aparo had the gift of working on scripts that were a bit more unusual and interesting than those in the "main" title). When many comics fans were drooling over Liefeld, Lee and McFarlane, I was way into Aparo's 'Tec, even though he didn't work on the book for very long (about two years, I think).



James

[grubl]

I have to give Aparo second to Adams when it comes to Batman. Sounds like you missed out on the great Aparo years, though. He worked on various Batman titles throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s. His run on THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD went on for over a decade. Adams and AParo were the BAtman artists that I grew up with.

Also, noone can match Jim Aparo when it comes to Aquaman, The Spectre and The Phantom Stranger.

And Thomas, thanks for what you do.

[tombitd]

I do think, in the last years of his life, Aparo's work suffered from his using the same poses and facial expressions repeatedly--but you're right, those issues of Brave and The Bold, Batman and The Outsiders, Aquaman, and especially The Phantom Stranger just kicked all sorts of ass in alphabetical order. In those issues, around the 60s-80's, Aparo was at the height of his form and should be studied for his storytelling.

[grubl]

Tom, from what I've read and heard you and I have very similar taste in comics. But mostr importantly, as much as you hate Geoff Johns' writing, I really hate Geoff Johns writing. I shouldn't even start because it would take me pages to describe everything that bothers me about his work. If I ever get on the show again you have to let me go on about it. That, or The Little Rascals.

[Derrick]

Lemme hit the high points here...


Like grubl, I'm pretty much old school when it comes to comic book artists. Anybody who doesn't think Jack Kirby is the greatest comic book artist ever I don't even wanna know. Will Eisner and right behind him with Jim Steranko third.

Tom: where do you get that Alex Ross has a cosplay fetish? Just because the man relies heavily on using models?

When I think of Aquaman or The Phantom Stranger I see Aparo's versions. Nobody drew a better Aquaman than Jim Aparo. When I think of Batman I always see Marshall Rogers version.

And we are not...I repeat NOT going to go into why everybody hates Geoff Johns again. Let it GO, awreddy.

[grubl]

Derrick, I should have mentioned Marshall Rogers. He would be my number three Batman artist. That run in the seventies had me captivated.

I have to side with Tom on Alex Ross. He's a one trick pony. I will always look in wonder at the sublime KINGDOM COME and a few other pieces, but I've had my fill.

[Derrick]

Dec 30, 2010 22:47:54 GMT -5 grubl said:

Derrick, I should have mentioned Marshall Rogers. He would be my number three Batman artist. That run in the seventies had me captivated.

I have to side with Tom on Alex Ross. He's a one trick pony. I will always look in wonder at the sublime KINGDOM COME and a few other pieces, but I've had my fill.

"The Laughing Fish" is my all time favorite Joker story. And I forgive you for not mentioning Marshall Rogers. Most people forget him when mentioning favorite Batman artists as Jim Aparo and Neal Adams usually get mentioned first. And understandably so.

And I forgive you for siding with Tom. You're not responsible. It's my fault for teaching Tom the Jedi Mind Trick.

[chrisj]

Speaking of Batman artists, Dick Sprang is a notable absence on the list. I'd rate him the best Batman artist of the Golden and Silver Ages.

[james]

The problem I have with Alex Ross' work is that they look too much like photographs. I don't mean that he necessarily uses photo references (I have no idea if he does or not), and I don't think using photo references is at all a bad thing for an artist to do. My issue is that Ross' panels look like detailed, visual accurate replicas of photographs. And every human form in his panels look like they are posed for a photograph. I never get a sense of kinetic action or even movement from Ross' art. His art is stiff and resembles fumetti. And with the intense detail, there's no room for expressionism, or any contrast between light and shadow. It always looks two dimensional because Ross' style leaves no room to visually imply any depth (which isn't necessarily a bad thing - Charles Schultz rarely suggested depth - but for the type of super hero comics Ross draws, it doesn't work at all).


James

[tombitd]

See, James....you've tapped into a lot of why I don't consider Ross an artist. His work is nothing but these static, stiff images with no energy or flow or power. They're literally representations of his friends playing dress up--he pays them to dress in costume (I don't know if he paints them in life, takes photo references and uses those, or a combination of both). The only reason fanboys cream all over him is because his work is 'so realistic'...but they're realistic representations without any life to them, where the actual live people have no more storytelling effectiveness than those sad paintings of fruit that you can buy in Sears.

I still contend that the fact that he dresses people up in these costumes, that he goes to these elaborate rituals to do his work indicates that he a) does not wish to tap into his imagination for his work and b) is servicing something in himself rather than his fans. That's why I claim he has a cosplay fetish.

And, as it's been mentioned elsewhere, Ross does have this cool, open animation-like freehand drawing style I see...well, pretty much nowhere save for rare insets in articles about him. The fact that he chooses not to put the effort into generating even one short story in this style indicates to me that he doesn't want to put an effort into anything without indulging his fetish.

There are a number of other reasons I can't stand the man...but the fact that he's hailed as a god for these cookie cutter, lifeless images that don't even have one percent of the storytelling that a panel by Jim Aparo or Lou Fine or Will Eisner or Howard Chaykin has pisses me off the most.

[chrisj]

I take it you aren't a fan of Tony Harris either?