Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! POLL: U pick 2! Favorite LSH Artist!

You might be right on that. I remember really liking Batista's art in 52, though I never really gave it a second glance in the Legion. I'm considering an entire reread of the Reboot too to take a second look at Moy's work.

And yeah, Swan's work is so essential to the Legion. I really like John Forte's work a lot too, maybe as much as I like Swan's.

Like you, I like all the versions of Giffen's work. That's actually what tips him into being my #1. He's just been able to change and grow so much over the years. I don't mind the Trencher style, just not on the Legion (Trencher was kind of a cool/weird comic).

Probably Grell is my #3 (though this is where it gets more difficult).

It was really a tough vote for me...lots of very, very good names there! In the end I didn't go with either Cockrum or Grell.

I've read Cockrum's stories, and the costumes were certainly innovative. But I think I didn't go with him because many of the stylistic elements I enjoy about his art didn't really evolve until after his Legion work and specifically on his X-Men stories. I wasn't going to vote for someone whose non-Legion work I preferred. Do most people here feel his Legion work really ranks with his X-Men work?

As for Grell, I simply haven't seen most of his Legion art. From what I have seen, though, he's again likely have gotten my vote due to his post-Legion work. Both he and Cockrum were undeniably excellent on the Legion, but neither was really in the running based on my criteria.

It was still tough, though because I connected a lot with artsits like Copiel, Immonen, Batista, Moy, Pearson, Laroque (I was sad to see he's gotten no votes) and Kitson. Giff was hard, but end the end I decided some of his style choices left me cold, especially during the late Baxter run.

So I went with Lightle and Swan. These are two beautiful timeless styles that I love a lot.

Lightle's run was pretty short, but, combined with his staying on covers a good while, possibly the most gorgeous Legion art I've ever seen.

And Swan...definitely the best of the Silver Age which was so crucial to defining the Legion. Swan's style definitely had that DC "Silver Age" look to it, but simultaneously was ahead of its time. He drew the definitive Superboy and Superman and definitely the definitive classic Legion.

So it was a hard choice, but definitely one I feel pretty good about. I wonder what the results would've been had we only been allowed to pick one?

re: Cockrum's LSH work... I do find it on par with his X-stuff (FIRST run only) by the Duo Damsel-starring "War Between the Night & Days". But all-time absolute favorite Cockrum artwork has got to be on X-MEN # 100, possibly the most-beautifully drawn comic book of ALL time.

Didn't care as much for his second run on X, Lash?

It was still Cockrum, but the lines were thicker and less elegant... it may have been the inker or a change in Dave's style... but it was ever-so-slightly DIFFERENT. Blockier.

For me, the last top-level Cockrum art was on FUTURIANS, which I just re-read recently (the graphic novel and issues 1-3 & 0). His stuff from the sexond X-run on was still enjoyable but not in the top-tiers with his Avengers, LSH, first X-Men and Futurians run.

I still, however, count him as my very first FAVORITE artist, and I treasure ALL the comics he drew.

What did you think about it, Lardikens? Other Cockrum fans, too. Am I just seeing things wrong?

Honestly, as a teenager, Cockrum's style on X-Men (which is still my main exposure to him--haven't read his Avengers or Futurians) took some getting used to. I guess in a way it seemed somehow more exaggerated and cartoony than, say, Byrne's style.

Note: I should also mention that I was only recently exposed to Dave's Legion work thru the Archives. Obviously his art is great and really helped transition LSH out of the Silver Age. I do think that the overall low quality and relative insignificance (obviously with some exceptions) of the Cary Bates scripts he drew don't help my view. It's hard for me to extoll a great artist's run when the stories didn't exactly impress me.

As I got older and looked back, Dave was clearly one of the very best X-Men artists, and I feel the style that evolved over both runs was the definitive Cockrum. One signature of this, for me, is that "thicker line" you refer to, I think. Some of my favorite stories of his are the Belasco arc, the Nightcrawler miniseries and anything he did with the Starjammers. I also think his new X-Men, Starjammers and Futurians costumesIare the best he ever did. I think the stylistic flair I associate with him really shine in those stories and designs. To me, they're miles away from his Legion run.

In an odd way, I was introduced to Cockrum's work through various fill-ins (Spectacular Spider-Man and Iron Man I think), and then I first saw his X-Men stuff before the Legion. Which was spectacular, and I loved.

But it wasn't until after I met the LMB online and probably just before Legion World opened that I first saw Cockrum's Legion stories, which (to me) had this whole mystique to them as the Legoin stories I never got to see. And I loved them; these were the issues that made me really 'find' Dave Cockrum and learn about how great he was. I read those X-Men stories first, and maybe it was because I was so pumped on Byrne's run (which I read even before that) that I didn't give them the credit they deserve. But his Legion stuff...many it just blew me away.

His Dream Girl, Tenzil, Cham, even Superboy, all felt so different and fresh to me. And I was reading these in 2002 (in the Archive volume with the majority of his Legoin stuff).

So yeah, I like his Legion work better than his X-Men work. There are a handful of times when I've read an era of the Legion where I really felt like there was suddenly a whole new world to this concept I've been aware of for a very long time. And both Giffen's run with Levitz and Cockrum's run are probably the two most dramatic times I've felt that sense of fresh/grandiose/something just feels really different. Certainly other eras have that, but those in particular.

PS - I've never even opened a Futurians comic before. Suddenly I feel the urge to do so!

PPS - I can understand why some people might pick Copiel for the reasons I stated in my post. To me I think his best work has been all the stuff he's done since. He's been able to take mediocre stories (House of M) and make them look magnificent. I keep hoping JMS will shock me with Thor and give us a writer/artist combo on Thor that will be simply amazing.

In a funny way, I always thought of Cockrum's work on the X-Men almost as if he were still drawing the Legion.

Especially with the Imperial Guard connection.

But the Krakoa issue introducing the All-New, All-Different X-men could easily have been a LSH issue, too.

Sub Saturn Girl for Professor X, make the vignettes introducing the characters occur on different planets, rather than different nations, make Krakoa a living planetoid instead of a living island and it could read like a LSH tale.

Then again, I was exposed to Grell before Cockrum on the LSH-- though I'm pretty sure I read a couple of Cockrum's issues before getting my hands on GS X-men #1, which I recall buying off the comic rack at a 7-11, as I do remember thinking of Cockrum as a LSH artist... which is a jumbled way of saying that my early comic book reading memories ain't so clear-cut.

47 votes in ,and it looks like the battle of the G's!

I voted for Curt Swan & Jim Sherman. Dave Cockrum & Keith Giffen were a close 3rd & 4th.

I voted for Grell and Coipel. I regretted not voting of Swan, Cockrum, Sherman, Giffen, Lightle, Calero, and Manapul.

This vote was easy for me. Dave Cockrum #1 and Steve Lightle #2.

Wow! At 14 votes apiece we currently have a tie!

(and I didn't vote for any of them :rolleyes: )

#1 for me is easy - Giffen. It was his non-traditional, dark style that drew me to the Legion in the first place with the TMK relaunch. (after Giffen did an issue of "Justice" I bought the "Dr Fate" mini because of his art, then found the Legion) I was also a fan of the other styles he went through (especially during that last Emerald Empress story)

#2 wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be - Coipel. It was maybe the only time I've been more excited about looking at the art when a new issue would come out more than reading the story.

Sprouse is also up there in my mind and I'd also like to throw in for honorable mention someone who I think would've been a huge fan favorite had he worked on the title longer or on more memorable stories -- Terry Shoemaker.

Sherman! Sherman! Sherman!

Greg LaRocque -- Sensuous and sensitive, with women who look like real women. Also had a sense of scale that's been truly unsung.

Dave Cockrum -- The definitive LSH costumes in my opinion; he was the first fan-turned-professional to draw the Legion, and his enthusiasm was in every line.

Pat Broderick was always my favorite.

I chose Swan and Cockrum, but it was really hard to pass up Sherman, Coipel, and Kitson.

Can't BELIEVE so many people are voting for Grell. BLECCCCHHH!

72 votes in, and we have a fairly firmly established top 5, and one that I can actually completely agree with...


order of first LSH work


Swan-- Unforgettable Silver-Age tales, reprinted fairly often in the 70s during the reigns of...

both Cockrum and Grell-- Who were no-doubt key to the title's success in the 1970s.

Giffen-- Indisputably rules the Legion's 1980s era artistically. That 5YL stuff wasn't so bad either.

Coipel-- Instrumental in throwing some much-needed attention toward the Legion after a long period of decline saleswise.

Of course it should be noted there's over 2 weeks of voting left, but I don't see the stats changing too much... (I'm just ASKING for it, aren't I?)

Oh, and that's pretty nice that 60s, 70s 80s AND 90s Legions are represented...

Gif and Lightle (top three would have included Coipel) with Manapul coming up on the outside.

It's interesting that DC is doing so well...I think he only actually drew about 10 Legion stories, and about 6 of them were backups.


He got my vote too FWIW, but I'm surprised he's doing as well as he's doing.


Just out of curiosity...

Does anyone know which artist has actually drawn the most Legion stories?


I think it's between Giffen, Kitson and LaRoque. If you include L.E.G.I.O.N., I believe Kitson has drawn the most Legion stories, in a runaway..if you don't include L.E.G.I.O.N. I think it goes like this:

Giffen
LaRoque
Kitson.


Swan might possibly sneak in there after Giffen...I think he drew about 40 Legion stories.

Curt swan definitely not getting the love he deserves. He's simply one of the best comic artists ever. Probably too many youngsters here, who are not that familiar with his Legion work.

Giffen is an interesting choice. At his his best, he was right up there with the top Legion artists. At his worst, he drove me off the book after following it for almost 20 years. He might score high in a best artist poll as well as a worst artist poll.

I ended up voting for Swan and Grell, if I got to choose a third, it probably would have been Kitson.

Dang you Lash, for restricting us to a mere two votes!

I couldn't give Giffen a vote, as I've never been a fan of his artwork (outside of Ambush Bug).

In the end I went with Lightle and Sherman. I'm sure I gave Sherman the vote because he was drawing the book as I first discovered it!

What an awesome caliber of artists to have to choose from!! The Legion has been blessed!