Greatest American comic book artists of all time. 2 2

[kav]

On 5/13/2020 at 5:27 PM, Electricmastro said:

Jim Steranko’s art from Our Love Story #5 (June 1970, Marvel Comics).

steranko was more than an artist-he designed his panels.

[joeypost]

Liefeld and Romita Jr. should occupy the first 4 spots. Each getting an honorable mention for spots 3 and 4. 
 

Romita Jr. ruined World War Hulk. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by joeypost

[William-James88]

On 4/23/2020 at 8:43 PM, aardvark88 said:

Do tell. Worst USA comic artist:

1. Frank Robbins

2. Rob Liefeld ?

3. Sal Buscema

4. JR Jr.

5. ...

Jr Jr is my number 1 pick for worst artist, i just don't get the appeal, it's really ugly art.

And while modern artists, I must say Jim Lee and Mike Mignola would be on my list for best American artist of all time.

[Electricmastro]

Covers by L. B. Cole, one of the best cover artists of his time:

[JJ-4]

On ‎5‎/‎25‎/‎2020 at 11:32 AM, Electricmastro said:

Some of Frank Frazetta’s comic covers:

The neck on the horse from Ghost Rider #4 looks really odd.  Like he was distantly related to a dragon or other mythical creature.  But I do think Frazetta is pretty amazing.

[Electricmastro]

28 minutes ago, JJ-4 said:

The neck on the horse from Ghost Rider #4 looks really odd.  Like he was distantly related to a dragon or other mythical creature.  But I do think Frazetta is pretty amazing.

I suppose either Frazetta intended it to be dragon-like or got a little over-zealous in wanting the horse to seem cool, but yeah, he was pretty great. He was quite ahead of his time, making his art darkly and detailed like he was a 70s artist even though he worked in the 50s.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Electricmastro

[Skylath]

Also would like to throw in Michael Netzer. Some of his work on Batman was superb!

Edited June 4, 2020 by Skylath

[Electricmastro]

9 minutes ago, Skylath said:

Also would like to throw in Michael Netzer. Some of his work on Batman was superb!

The Huntress as well!

[Ken Aldred]

14 minutes ago, Skylath said:

Also would like to throw in Michael Netzer. Some of his work on Batman was superb!

Adams-influenced style when he started, back in the Bronze Age.

Tom Grindberg was good as well.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[telerites]

9 hours ago, Skylath said:

Also would like to throw in Michael Netzer. Some of his work on Batman was superb!

 

8 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

Adams-influenced style when he started, back in the Bronze Age.

The Netzer/Nassar - Adams feud over Ms. Mystic is an interesting read.  

[Prince Namor]

On 6/1/2020 at 8:32 AM, William-James88 said:

Jr Jr is my number 1 pick for worst artist, i just don't get the appeal, it's really ugly art.

And while modern artists, I must say Jim Lee and Mike Mignola would be on my list for best American artist of all time.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and in general, I prefer Mignola's work usually to Jr Jr's, but... why? Why do we?

Here's an example of a splash type of page from each: To the untrained eye, a non-artist, non-comic book person, they might look at these and see JrJr's for a much clearer vision of what is being portrayed. JrJr is in the real world and his work reflects that in it's clarity. Mignola is in a fantasy environment, his work reflecting that as well, and his use of minimal colors, and blacks gives unique expression to his presentation.

Both seem to convey what they’re trying to represent, and really it’s maybe unfair to compare the two. Two completely different type of comic book artists. (Mignola as an example does very little superhero work anymore… it’s not exactly… great.)

JrJr has his good and his bad… I somewhat liked his early X-Men and ASM, but really, maybe Kick Azz is the only thing I really like that he’s done in the last 10 years. Hard for me to put him on a worst artist list though.

[Prince Namor]

On 4/23/2020 at 8:43 PM, aardvark88 said:

Do tell. Worst USA comic artist:

1. Frank Robbins

2. Rob Liefeld ?

3. Sal Buscema

4. JR Jr.

5. ...

And once again, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I'm going to try a defend a few of these other guys as well. 

Sal Buscema was a guy who, for ME, really bummed me out with his work on Spectacular Spider-man in the mid-80's. I HATED it. I wasn't a big fan of his to begin with, but on my favorite character, it just bummed me out every month. And he was inking his own work on it!

Now... Sal got the job at Marvel because his brother was great, and much loved, and Sal picked up the story style of Marvel pretty quickly. But he was cheap, and they put him with cheap inkers on 'extra' books to save money. He earned a living but it probably didn't do his rep much good.

But let's look at his art when he has, say, Tom Palmer inking him. Who does he remind you of now?

And yeah, I realize that on some of these, Palmer (an exceptional draftsman in his own right) probably did 'finishes', but... so what? How could Marvel not see that THIS was a great team in its own right? Why'd we have so little of it? In well over a decade at Marvel they did less than 10 full stories together. Why? Oh yeah, Money. 

I can NOT call Sal Buscema one of the worst artists. No way.

Avengers #78 (July 1970 - First Two pages), Nova #3 (November 1976), Ms. Marvel #10 (October 1977), and Star Wars #93 (1985 - First Two pages)

[Prince Namor]

On 4/23/2020 at 8:43 PM, aardvark88 said:

Do tell. Worst USA comic artist:

1. Frank Robbins

2. Rob Liefeld ?

3. Sal Buscema

4. JR Jr.

5. ...

There's no question that Liefeld is probably one of the most hated artists in comic books, and yet, he's also one of the most loved. It's easy to pile on - the anatomy, lack of feet, the pouches, the guns, etc. 

But to me, Rob was always more of an idea guy than an artist. He brought a LOT of ideas to Marvel and kick started that whole scene. At first his art wasn't too obnoxious (I was personally never a fan), but man he made his comics like a kid in a candy store. 

He's had some BAD instances of art... without a doubt... but the guy has sold more American comic books than Mike Mignola, Art Adams, and Dave Stevens combined.

Is he one of the worst? Well, he certainly didn't get any better...

[Ken Aldred]

4 hours ago, telerites said:

 

The Netzer/Nassar - Adams feud over Ms. Mystic is an interesting read.  

Thanks!  I'll have a look at it.

[seanfingh]

13 hours ago, Skylath said:

Also would like to throw in Michael Netzer. Some of his work on Batman was superb!

Netzer did some 6 or 8 issue backup stories (most likely right before the DC implosion when the books went to "44" pages) I remember an Aquaman and a J'onn J'onzz. As a little kid I liked them as much or more than Byrne or Marshall Rogers who were my absolute childhood favorites.

[Ken Aldred]

5 hours ago, seanfingh said:

Netzer did some 6 or 8 issue backup stories (most likely right before the DC implosion when the books went to "44" pages) I remember an Aquaman and a J'onn J'onzz. As a little kid I liked them as much or more than Byrne or Marshall Rogers who were my absolute childhood favorites.

Adventure Comics had the Martian Manhunter stories.  

Edited June 4, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[seanfingh]

1 minute ago, Ken Aldred said:

Adventure Comics had the Martian Manhunter stories.  

Yes!  Also, that reminds me Don Newton's Shazam! was also awesome.

[kav]

8 hours ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

But let's look at his art when he has, say, Tom Palmer inking him. Who does he remind you of now?

And yeah, I realize that on some of these, Palmer (an exceptional draftsman in his own right) probably did 'finishes', but... so what? How could Marvel not see that THIS was a great team in its own right? Why'd we have so little of it? In well over a decade at Marvel they did less than 10 full stories together. Why? Oh yeah, Money. 

I can NOT call Sal Buscema one of the worst artists. No way.

Just cannot agree.  Even with Palmer his work is stomach churning to me. And 99% of his characters had that stupid gaping maw expression.  Plus the beady eyes.  Sal Beady Eye Buscema.

8 hours ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

Sal Buscema was a guy who, for ME, really bummed me out with his work on Spectacular Spider-man in the mid-80's. I HATED it. I wasn't a big fan of his to begin with, but on my favorite character, it just bummed me out every month. And he was inking his own work on it!

THIS

Edited June 4, 2020 by kav

[Electricmastro]

16 hours ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

There's no question that Liefeld is probably one of the most hated artists in comic books, and yet, he's also one of the most loved. It's easy to pile on - the anatomy, lack of feet, the pouches, the guns, etc. 

But to me, Rob was always more of an idea guy than an artist. He brought a LOT of ideas to Marvel and kick started that whole scene. At first his art wasn't too obnoxious (I was personally never a fan), but man he made his comics like a kid in a candy store. 

He's had some BAD instances of art... without a doubt... but the guy has sold more American comic books than Mike Mignola, Art Adams, and Dave Stevens combined.

Is he one of the worst? Well, he certainly didn't get any better...

Mentioned this before, but I feel that Liefeld would have come across as less polarizing and more serviceable artist if he didn’t constantly overshade, use extreme poses, or attempt to clog up his art as much as possible to the point of being obnoxious.

I will say that I can understand why someone may find his newer covers more likable than his 90s ones though.

[kav]

16 hours ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

There's no question that Liefeld is probably one of the most hated artists in comic books, and yet, he's also one of the most loved. It's easy to pile on - the anatomy, lack of feet, the pouches, the guns, etc.