Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Who are your favorite comic book artists, and why?

The idea for this thread came to me while reading a quote from Dave Cockrum where he credited his artistic growth on the Legion to having inked John Buscema pencils for Marvel in between Legion stories.

John Buscema is my favorite comic book artist, because he did everything well. Not necessarily outstanding, but always well. I've always preferred the humble craftsmen like Big John and disciples of his such as Greg LaRocque, Steve Epting, and Kerry Gammill. Somehow, the wild visionary superstars always somehow come up short for me -- either they do cosmic widescreen stuff really well but draw ugly people, or they draw beautiful people but their layouts lack the needed oomph. It could be argued that Big John never quite equaled his late 1960s work due to some misguidedly harsh criticism from Stan Lee, and indeed his 1970s work on Thor was never quite as great as it should have been, while he was completely miscast on Fantastic Four (but then, who other than Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson was artistically right for the FF? Many would also rate John Byrne, but I beg to differ.) But even Big John's worst was still solid and professional, and that's how I like my comics. Big John was also a ground-breaker in drawing team comics thanks to his work on Avengers during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Another fun, though bittersweet, thing about being a Big John fan is that he did so little work on DC characters that I often have a blast imagining what might have been if he'd switched companies (I seem to remember reading somewhere that acquiring Big John's services was something of a Holy Grail for Jenette Kahn.)

I mean, imagine Big John drawing Wonder Woman (he actually did draw a few panels of Wonder Woman when she guest-starred in the second Superman/Spider-Man team-up.) Or any version of the JLA. Or reviving something obscure like Viking Prince. Or reteaming with Roy Thomas on All-Star Squadron or Infinity Inc. Or even -- dare I imagine -- the Legion!!

So that's my story. What's yours?

There are several, so I will hit them one at a time. These are the artists that make me want to check out a project, regardless of the publisher.

First up we have Michael Allred. His art to me is just amazing. There a simplicity to it, but at the same time can be extremely detailed. It never looks over crowded to me...unless he plans it to.

From his own Madman and Atomics characters, to the Superman crossover he did with Madman. His work at Marvel with X-Force/X-Statix to the FF and now Silver Surfer, he shos himself to be versatile yet consistent. His characters look like they are wearing clothes. Something else else that I have come to really appreciate over the years. Give me someone wearing an outfit and not a naked picture with lines and colors on it any day.

His characters are rarely static. There is constant movement, if ever so slight. A head tilt, a slight downward glance, a kid sticking their tongue out in one panel...it all adds to the reality that he is trying to convey.

I like super-clean art, all bold lines and bright colors. Back in the day, the gold standard for that was people like Dave Cockrum, but newer faces like George Perez and John Byrne and Karl Kesel and Ron Lim and Jim Lee and Brett Booth took it to a new level.

And then Image found Mike Turner, who I remembered from the Ballistic mini-series (a spin-off of Silvestri's Cyberforce), and he just brought it up another notch, and in Image's own artist-focused environment, went on to produce Witchblade, the Darkness and Fathom.

Mike Turner's art seemed pretty much the logical evolution of where the clean lines that I loved from Legion artists like Greg LaRocque and Steve Lightle were headed.

That said, his pin-up worthy art, so beautiful and big, led to an ever increasing focus on large pages of art, and decreased use of smaller panels and tighter storytelling, and to fight scenes degenerating into a big splash page of everybody jumping at each other, instead of seeing smaller shots of individual characters actually doing stuff. I'm not sure if comics have yet recovered from that notion, stylistically, and I long for the days of the Byrne's X-Men or Perez's Teen Titans, when a battle might include a dozen individual shots, and not be 'here's another two-page spread of two teams jumping at each other.'

So, I'm gonna have to change my vote mid-stream to George Perez, who managed to make clean art that did not overshadow and shift the nature of the story itself.

George Perez, for the win!

Jim Aparo - For me the quintessential Batman artist. His Batman is still what comes to mind when someone mentions the character. His Gordon was also the definitive take on the character for me. Loved his B&B, Spectre, Aquaman, Outsiders, it just goes on and on.

Bissette/Totleben - That Swamp Thing run is still magical and dynamic to me. Their individual efforts are great, but the alchemy of their collaborations are on a whole different level.

Mike Dringenberg - Gets a bad rap I think. To me, his art grounded Sandman and really helped it click for me. Other more acclaimed artists came and went, but I never appreciated their contributions as much (and often felt, like Kelley Jones, they detracted).

Second on my list (I'll probably do a top 5 in total) of artists I love...or those artists that will get me to check out a book sight unseen is Alan Davis.

Case in point. his 4 issue arc on a new Savage Hulk book.

Setting the story back in the X-Men First Class days, and the beginning of Hulks career makes me willing to commit to the four issues regardless of price point.

Why? I adore his art. From his own Clandestine, to the X-Men, to Superboys Legion. Everything he does, no matter how dark some of the subjects can be (or not be), has a feel good look to it. Some may not like his wide smiles and seemingly optimistic way of portraying things and characters, but I love it.

His Legion covers are among some of my favorites, right up there with Steve Lightle and Giffen himself.

Slap Davis' name on there, and I am at least grabbing the first issue.

Jose Louis Garcia Lopez - to me he was the next stage in comics art evolution after Neil Adams brought anatomy to mainstream comics. He combined Adams' "realistic" style with the fluid mobility of Infantino. He's an impeccable draftsman, qually adept at drawing fantastical machinery as he is the mundane, and capable of both dynamic action and character acting through body language and facial expressions. Many comics fans only know him from the style sheets he produced for DC in the early 1980s, but if you want to really experience what JLGL is capable of take a look at Twilight (http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Twilight_Vol_1) and Cinder and Ash (http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Cinder_and_Ashe_Vol_1)

I've just finished a reread of Twilight and his art is gorgeous. It's a take on the early DC sci fi series such as Star Rovers, Planeteers and Star Hawkins and Manhunter 2070. But it's a very, very dark look at them.

DC might have had plans for the Charlton characters when they asked Moore to come up with his own characters. They gave Chaykin a green light to take on the sci fi characters directly.

I think I'm missing an issue of Cinder & Ash. I think it's stopped me reading it. Atari Force is my other big Garcia Lopez favourite.

I really don't look as closely as I should about upcoming comics, so artists that I really like probably slip past.

George Perez drew comics that had an impact on me before I knew who he was. Sergio Aragones would be another one. Alan Davis would be a third. David Lloyd. I'd buy Bryan Talbot's phone doodlings...

Garcia-Lopez is another like Big John, a talented artist who is mostly associated with one publisher. The only exceptions I can think of were one or two OHOTMU pin-ups and the Batman/Hulk team-up, which is kind of a silly story, but worth seeking out for the art alone.

Wow one of the hardest questions I know, but here I go.

First top of the top at the moment is Alan Davis. God I wish he was working on Legion. I loved the Superboy and the Legion books. I can’t remember when what was the first thing I read with his art but the most memorable is Excalibur which got me to then find the old Captain Britain books. I was trying to find everything he did.

Jose Garcia Lopez was one of my favorites too. I only wish I had seen more. I absolutely loved the Atari Force series.

Here’s some others that will possibly get me to buy it just for the art.
Bryan Hitch
George Perez
Neal Adams
Steve Lightle
Eric Shanower
Charles Vess
Adam Hughes
Frank Cho
Moebius
Jack KIrby

I just saw in the June Previews catalog that DC is releasing trade of Cinder & Ash.

Synchronicity by Jove!

Lots of great artists mentioned here. I have a ton too that I hope to get to one day. Though the idea that someone will say they don't like their art has me sharpening machetes.

Count me as a big fan of Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. To me, he's THE great DC artist of the late 70's, and he stayed great for his whole career. I think I can say with 90% accuracy that we own all of his American work, even the random stuff he did in the late 80's and early 90's. He may be my favorite Superman artist of all time.

Regarding JLGL...I will be meeting him this May at a local comic convention...woot!

What always strikes me as awesome about the Batman/Hulk crossover is how Marvel and DC both had pretty strict house styles for the two characters at the time and Garcia-Lopez not only managed to nail both of them, he blended them seamlessly AND put his own distinctive touch on it. That was quite a feat considering the amount of oversight and scrutiny the project must have had.

Well said, Dave.

I like so many of the ones mentioned - Steve Lighte, Neal Adams, Dave Cockrum etc - especially the LSH ones and their Legion work...

I would add Mac Raboy because he was so great in the early 1940s - probably the godfather of comic art as comic art.

Wes, I love what little I've seen of Mac Raboy's work. I'm also glad you mentioned him because it's a good reminder that I should seek out more of his work now that a lot more Golden Age stories are available online. Thanks.

I'll start with non superhero favorites. Mike Kaluta for his Carson of Venus & The Shadow in the early 70s & Howard Chakin for his Fafhrd and Gray Mouser & Ironwolf series. They both had a pulp fiction feel to them. Basil Wolverton for the bizarre.

Superheros it has to be Curt Swan, Gil Kane & Carmine Infantino.

Eduardo Barreto is another under-appreciated artist who fits this description.

Agreed. I love Eduardo Barreto.

Thanks for bringing up Mike Kaluta, Goo! Add him to my list!

How could I forget to mention Dick Dillin? A triumphant 14-year run on the original JLA, with only 2 fill-ins. Truly, Dillin was to the JLA what John Buscema was to the Avengers.

Neal Adams

I caught pneumonia in my freshman year of high school and had to be hospitalized. Someone brought me a stack of comics taken off the rack at random. I don't remember what the other titles were, but the art in the Deadman story in Strange Adventures #209 was light years beyond anything I had ever seen in a comic book. It's sorta like the first time I heard Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze. Nothing I had heard before could even approach it.

Yes, there have been many quality artists since then, just as there have been many great guitarists since Hendrix. But none have stood out from the pack as much as Adams did in 1968.

No argument there, Neal Adams was a ground-breaker.

One artist I forgot to add to my list of craftsmanlike John Buscema disciples is Keith Pollard. Among his Marvel credits are two of that publisher's best centennial issues, Amazing Spider-Man #200 and Thor #300. At DC, he drew an early appearance of the Omega Men in an issue of Green Lantern.

Love both of those issues Fanfie. Pollard was a great utility player at Marvel in the early 80's with a plethora of great work. What ever happened to him?

As for Neal Adams, I firmly believe he's one of the all time greats. I read an interview with Jack Kirby where he said when Neal came on the scene, Kirby and all the other artists at DC and Marvel were just blown away by his work. He brought something to the table that comics had only just barely touched on before, and inspired everything that came after.

And I agree, that original run on Deadman in Strange Adventures is phenomenal. I was just talking about a poster my Dad used to have in another thread, and it's a poster size of the cover where Deadman is looking up screaming at God while he's "standing" over his own corpse. It's fucking mesmerizing!

And of course, the Adams Superman covers, to me, are the best Superman covers of them all.