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Has an artist’s work ever changed your mind?
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30 posts in this topic

https://images.app.goo.gl/Bj3hqBPV9wuC5NR88

As we mature and grow in our response to art and the creators, we maybe learn and see things we didn’t see at first.

•Please share an artist that grew on you after initial disdain for their work.

•Please give specific examples 

•share with us how your feelings developed over time. What did you hate/dislike vs learn to love/like

He hate me, he hate me not !

For me it was Moebius. As a kid with few exceptions I loathed Jean Giraud’s work especially on Comic heroes. I thought he was maybe the worst artist I had ever seen. I didn’t get it at all.

His Iron Man poster I thought made our hero look like a heroin addict. I couldn’t enjoy the lines, the foreign and unrecognizable vision. I compared to other artists. I tried to see what he saw. Complete irritation and impatience for Jean’s work.

Then I grew up and found his work in Heavy Metal and elsewhere. He won me over. John Buscema summoned my favorite Silver Surfer and Kirby was the GOAT.

However The Surfer by Jean Giraud blows me away. It’s so singularly alien, I believe Jean Giraud saw things beyond our earthly understanding.

Without hesitation Moebius is one of my absolute favorite artists sans qualifiers.

Have fun with this. I truly respect and look forward to what you all come up with.

 

Edited by grapeape
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Great topic; probably Matt Baker for me.  I don't think I "got" his appeal -- or why there were always a gazillion Baker threads in the GA section -- until a couple of his covers legit took my breath away.  Obtaining his Seven Seas #1 OA was like a dream, and helped me graduate from just picking up nostalgic childhood faves.

Since then, that initial magnetic pull has subsided somewhat as I've broadened my horizons + discovered other (greater) greats, but I owe Baker and his art a debt of gratitude for that early momentum.

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When I first started collecting at 11 or so years of age I really disliked Kirby and didn’t understand how someone that drew so poorly could have any respect in the industry.     And then I started reading some silver age books and fame to not hate him and of course now he’s one of my favorites. 

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George Herriman's Krazy Kat.  When I fist started collecting OA in 1982, via the Russ Cochran auctions, Russ would frequently offer KK originals for sale in his catalogs.  At the time I knew zero about the strip and just thought to myself it was totally weird and the drawings were kind of Krappy.  Over time I had a big change of mind as I educated myself and grew to appreciate it as a landmark strip with wonderful artwork.

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Frank Robbins. Hated him in comics form until I saw actual originals. Then I flipped sides.

1970s Kirby...approximately the same experience as Robbins. Hate of square fingers became love of square fingers (especially in Celestial judgement form!) Still not on board with yuge fingers though.

Dave Cooper when I thought only skinny models were sexy, I've come to love well-carried filled-out look now too (with some help from Frazetta and Krenkels classic chub babes!)

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3 hours ago, vodou said:

Frank Robbins. Hated him in comics form until I saw actual originals. Then I flipped sides.

1970s Kirby...approximately the same experience as Robbins. Hate of square fingers became love of square fingers (especially in Celestial judgement form!) Still not on board with yuge fingers though.

Dave Cooper when I thought only skinny models were sexy, I've come to love well-carried filled-out look now too (with some help from Frazetta and Krenkels classic chub babes!)

Great examples with your thought process. Especially Frank Robbins as I had to overcome a good number of Opinionated collectors that loathe his work to appreciate it. 

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I didn’t come around to truly appreciate Kirby until the 90s.

I was too late to the 60s party, and by the time I got into comics, he was an old timer. Old fashioned and “boring”, with super questionable anatomy.

My appreciation of his blocky powerful style came with time. And then I started to appreciate the creativity, and his unique visual language. And ultimately his contribution to comics as a storyteller, and the medium in general.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, grapeape said:

Great examples with your thought process.

Thanks. Another was Toth. I just didn't understand his whole least number of lines aesthetic. Once I did, his entire body of worked 'clicked'.

4 minutes ago, grapeape said:

Especially Frank Robbins as I had to overcome a good number of Opinionated collectors that loathe his work to appreciate it. 

Me too. The dislike is so strong, but...a great gift to those of us that can see past...his work remains C H E A P!

Johnny Hazard dailies for $200ish (and often 100-150!)

Hazard Sundays for $300-2500 (for the very best of 'em too!)

Cap with Red Skull panel pages from 45 years ago, $500-$700

How many of all of these will the hobby keep selling me? :)

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8 hours ago, exitmusicblue said:

Great topic; probably Matt Baker for me.  I don't think I "got" his appeal -- or why there were always a gazillion Baker threads in the GA section -- until a couple of his covers legit took my breath away.  Obtaining his Seven Seas #1 OA was like a dream, and helped me graduate from just picking up nostalgic childhood faves.

Since then, that initial magnetic pull has subsided somewhat as I've broadened my horizons + discovered other (greater) greats, but I owe Baker and his art a debt of gratitude for that early momentum.

I looked the cover up and wow I really liked it. Great point about Baker’s work opening your mind to other artists. I didn’t say it but Moebius has the same effect on me. Opened my eyes and mind not just to his work but to others.

 

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6 minutes ago, grapeape said:

I looked the cover up and wow I really liked it. Great point about Baker’s work opening your mind to other artists. I didn’t say it but Moebius has the same effect on me. Opened my eyes and mind not just to his work but to others.

 

Oh, the page I was referencing: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1425736

He did some covers in that series, but not #1 : )  And I hear you re: Moebius!

Edited by exitmusicblue
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5 minutes ago, ESeffinga said:

I didn’t come around to truly appreciate Kirby until the 90s.

I was too late to the 60s party, and by the time I got into comics, he was an old timer. Old fashioned and “boring”, with super questionable anatomy.

My appreciation of his blocky powerful style came with time. And then I started to appreciate the creativity, and his unique visual language. And ultimately his contribution to comics as a storyteller, and the medium in general.

 

 

Very honest and as Kirby is so revered today it might be considered heresy to admit not knowing from the get go he was the King.

However I suspect you are not alone. By the time I bought my first Kirby OA I felt he was an amazing unique artist.

As kids though it was my youngest brother who championed Kirby as the greatest. I was on the fence on most things not FF. Over time I began to see Kirby’s frenetic vision and unmatched contributions to comics.

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1 minute ago, exitmusicblue said:

Oh, the page I was referencing: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1425736

He did some covers in that series, but not #1 : )  And I hear you re: Moebius!

Oh wow what a page. Thanks for getting me straight. When I put this out I really hoped people would share how their tastes changed. 

Many points argued on the threads come from the pov

• This artist always was great, the best

• That one sucked or was mediocre

You all are sharing the details of how you got to where you are as an appreciator of art. I appreciate the value of what you all are sharing.

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, ESeffinga said:

I didn’t come around to truly appreciate Kirby until the 90s.

I was too late to the 60s party, and by the time I got into comics, he was an old timer. Old fashioned and “boring”, with super questionable anatomy.

My appreciation of his blocky powerful style came with time. And then I started to appreciate the creativity, and his unique visual language. And ultimately his contribution to comics as a storyteller, and the medium in general.

 

 

Place me among the minority who still does not like his work. I found that “blocky powerful style” combined with questionable anatomical decisions and cluttered page panels to be distracting. 

On the other hand, after reading his biography, I am a lot more sympathetic to why his stuff often looks that way. OMG, up to 3 pages per day in some cases? I have also seen images of his early, more fluid style which I liked. 

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Aparo. I used to be put off by the squiggliness of some of his line work (particularly hair lines), preferring something closer to a photorealistic look. Now, I much better appreciate the way he controls the space on a page or in a panel, and the way he uses that squggliness to great effect in a mystery/horror setting. Similarly, Tom Mandrake, whose work I now love.

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I'm not a huge fan of either Kirby's or JSC's styles, but I came to really respect them both.  Kirby characters look alike (esp. faces and stockiness), much as JSC chars look alike (esp. faces and litheness).  Despite having plenty of detractors, both ruled their respective eras, churning out art like no tomorrow.

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Frank Miller...at first when I was a kid I thought it was blocky and sketchy at best. Now ,while I still see the same looseline seemingly hurried look to it, I see the overall beauty and a ‘complete page’ sense of design present. Doing more with less.

Edited by zhamlau
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In the 2000's I hated Mark Bagley's Spider-Man. I thought he looked too skinny with an egg shaped head....just looked like a Saturday morning cartoon. Nothing changed in his art...something changed in me....today it is my preferred Spider-man. Yes over Ditko, Romita, and McFarlane. 

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1 hour ago, Blastaar said:

In the 2000's I hated Mark Bagley's Spider-Man. I thought he looked too skinny with an egg shaped head....just looked like a Saturday morning cartoon. Nothing changed in his art...something changed in me....today it is my preferred Spider-man. Yes over Ditko, Romita, and McFarlane. 

Thanks for bringing up Bagley. I did not like him at first but he grew on me. On investment alone I think snagging a few Bagleys for later would be a good move. He is very talented. That you prefer him to some of the big guns is an eye opener for me. I'm not there with you but I think it's great that you went from disliking him to seeing him as the #1 Spidey guy.

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Jim Aparo.  He and Norm Breyfogle ran the Batman / Detective books during the late 80's and early 90's.  Given how different their styles were and how dynamic Norm was, as a kid I used to get upset whenever i had to trade over to the Aparo drawn bat books.  Now I wish I had more of Jim's artwork.

Edited by eewwnuk
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8 hours ago, Blastaar said:

In the 2000's I hated Mark Bagley's Spider-Man. I thought he looked too skinny with an egg shaped head....just looked like a Saturday morning cartoon. Nothing changed in his art...something changed in me....today it is my preferred Spider-man. Yes over Ditko, Romita, and McFarlane. 

I always liked Bagley, and had friends who felt the same way (from the 90s). I loved McFarlane & Larsen too on ASM, but Bagley wasn't as flashy. But still great.

Consistency tho! Still a great artist.

My OA collection, which was originally focused on Ron Lim (& I still want to more, there just isn't much available) has almost become a Bagley collection: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerydetail.asp?gcat=103642

I saw on IG Dexter Vines was inking an awesome piece by Bagley yesterday: 

 

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