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Artists you didn't like at first, but grew to love because...
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49 posts in this topic

Are there any artists whose art you didn't like when you first came across it, but eventually grew to love for whatever reason? I have 2 personal examples that actually translate to pieces I currently own: Damion Scott and Jim Calafiore. Scott's art is not something I'm normally attracted to as far as comic books are concerned. I like detailed, sexy, and/or powerful-looking art from the likes of Jim Lee or Ed Benes. But Scott did a lot of work on my favorite DC character, including her first appearance, origin, and a chunk of her own book: Cassandra Cain - Batgirl. In the beginning, I just didn't like his stuff at all honestly, but I LOVED the books. Of course a lot of that was the writing, but in comics, the art is part of the story. Cass grew as a character in her stories, and Scott also grew as an artist, becoming more and more fluid with his artwork, which became even more stylized and graffiti-like. So I started to really appreciate and enjoy that art. It became part of Batgirl for me, and I enjoyed seeing it in other books like Robin as well. The first 2 pieces of comic book art I bought were pieces from Batgirl, drawn by Damion Scott, and I absolutely love them.

Calafiore, to me, seemed very boxy and flat. I found him when I was reading Exiles from Marvel. That book started with Mike McKone, and Clayton Henry came a little later. I liked both of their work. But Calafiore, I simply didn't. However, just as with Scott's Batgirl, I grew to appreciate Calafiore's work on Exiles. It didn't really change, but I guess I became familiar with it, for lack of a better explanation. I was comfortable seeing his art. Heck, later he did the Batgirl limited series (which was not great storywise, but that's off-topic), and I thought it was cool seeing one of "my" artists work on another of "my" characters, like a crossover event! Now I own a Calafiore piece from Exiles, and I can really see and appreciate the detail he uses, especially for texture. He has a lot of boxy lines, yes, but it's a definitive style that lends to nice detail. And that's another thing about both of these artists: they have their own individual and recognizable styles. That's more that can be said for a lot of other artists.

How about you? What artists did you not like at first but find later that you wanted original artwork from?

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19 minutes ago, BuraddoRun said:

Are there any artists whose art you didn't like when you first came across it, but eventually grew to love for whatever reason? I have 2 personal examples that actually translate to pieces I currently own: Damion Scott and Jim Calafiore. Scott's art is not something I'm normally attracted to as far as comic books are concerned. I like detailed, sexy, and/or powerful-looking art from the likes of Jim Lee or Ed Benes. But Scott did a lot of work on my favorite DC character, including her first appearance, origin, and a chunk of her own book: Cassandra Cain - Batgirl. In the beginning, I just didn't like his stuff at all honestly, but I LOVED the books. Of course a lot of that was the writing, but in comics, the art is part of the story. Cass grew as a character in her stories, and Scott also grew as an artist, becoming more and more fluid with his artwork, which became even more stylized and graffiti-like. So I started to really appreciate and enjoy that art. It became part of Batgirl for me, and I enjoyed seeing it in other books like Robin as well. The first 2 pieces of comic book art I bought were pieces from Batgirl, drawn by Damion Scott, and I absolutely love them.

Calafiore, to me, seemed very boxy and flat. I found him when I was reading Exiles from Marvel. That book started with Mike McKone, and Clayton Henry came a little later. I liked both of their work. But Calafiore, I simply didn't. However, just as with Scott's Batgirl, I grew to appreciate Calafiore's work on Exiles. It didn't really change, but I guess I became familiar with it, for lack of a better explanation. I was comfortable seeing his art. Heck, later he did the Batgirl limited series (which was not great storywise, but that's off-topic), and I thought it was cool seeing one of "my" artists work on another of "my" characters, like a crossover event! Now I own a Calafiore piece from Exiles, and I can really see and appreciate the detail he uses, especially for texture. He has a lot of boxy lines, yes, but it's a definitive style that lends to nice detail. And that's another thing about both of these artists: they have their own individual and recognizable styles. That's more that can be said for a lot of other artists.

How about you? What artists did you not like at first but find later that you wanted original artwork from?

Moebius (super heroes)

Sal Buscema (Spider-Man)

Jeff Foxworthy 

 

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Kirby

Cockrum

Bill “She Levi has” well that is what spell check put in when I attempted to type Bill S’ name without looking it up.

All are insanely good artists. I started to come around to appreciate their work in my early 20’s... hey get off my back I was a dumb kid! 

Edited by gumbydarnit
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I didn't like Miller/Jansen when I saw Daredevil.  A schoolmate said he liked it because of the art and Miller was a genius so I didn't give up on it.  Of course now I think the work was genius.

I think I didn't take to it originally because it wasn't the house style.  Now I think that is why it is so good.

 

 

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9 hours ago, gumbydarnit said:

Kirby

Cockrum

Bill “She Levi has” well that is what spell check put in when I attempted to type Bill S’ name without looking it up.

All are insanely good artists. I started to come around to appreciate their work in my early 20’s... hey get off my back I was a dumb kid! 

Don’t forget that some artists work can change dramatically over time, and Bill Sienk’s work is a good example. I am not particularly impressed with his New Mutants work, but as he matured, his voice soared. On the other hand, I have seen early work by Kirby that I like, but much of his Marvel work, which many people do like, I find cluttered (as I later learned, due to his absurd production rate schedule). 

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‘70s Kirby. I found his blocky style not palatable at all as a kid. Now to me that is the most distinctive Kirby. Still prefer his late ‘60s style as the perfect balance, but right now I like late Kirby much better then his pre-Hero and early Marvel work. 

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10 hours ago, Drewsky said:

BWS Conan. I still like Buscema better, but I enjoy the BWS issues way more than the first look at them.  

My brother loved BWS and I didn’t get Conan at all. John Buscema Savage Sword was my introduction to the Barbarian. Once I started reading Conan the Barbarian Frost Giants Daughter and Elric issues I was blown away.

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1 hour ago, Timely said:

Gil Kane

John Carter Warlord finally won me over. His art was “different” and I didn’t react positively to his covers on the rack.

Then I saw Green Lantern work also.

Wow!

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When I was a young kid first reading comics, I hated Gil Kane, especially on Spider-man (my favorite). I still don't much care to read the comics he did the story art on (unless finished by Romita), but man oh man, I have grown to really appreciate his Marvel cover art during the prime Bronze Age years ('72-'75), especially when paired with a quality inker. Just some amazing work, that probably doesn't get enough recognition.

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Rob Liefeld.

Graduates high school and with NO formal/professional training gets a job with DC at 19. Nobody wanted to work on Hawk and Dove so Mike Carlin gives it to him while telling him nobody else wanted it. He does 5 issues with Carlin telling him how bad he is. Marvel offers him a job around the same time. Within 3 years at Marvel he co-creates a comic at Marvel whose fist issue sells 4 million copies. At 23 when most of us are fresh out of college he partners up and creates the third largest comic book publisher. Even today he is enthusiastic about what he does. He is a comic book fan who would do what any of us would have done and more. I'ts not his fault people gave him jobs and bought his comics. 

Over the years I have softened up on the guy and even purchased a few pages, not because of the work, but because I admire the kid.

 

Here's a great video on Rob that might give you a better appreciation. 

 

 

Edited by Blastaar
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2 hours ago, Blastaar said:

Rob Liefeld.

Graduates high school and with NO formal/professional training gets a job with DC at 19. Nobody wanted to work on Hawk and Dove so Mike Carlin gives it to him while telling him nobody else wanted it. He does 5 issues with Carlin telling him how bad he is. Marvel offers him a job around the same time. Within 3 years at Marvel he co-creates a comic at Marvel whose fist issue sells 4 million copies. At 23 when most of us are fresh out of college he partners up and creates the third largest comic book publisher. Even today he is enthusiastic about what he does. He is a comic book fan who would do what any of us would have done and more. I'ts not his fault people gave him jobs and bought his comics. 

Over the years I have softened up on the guy and even purchased a few pages, not because of the work, but because I admire the kid.

 

 

Liefield is one of my "dirty secret" appreciations. His stuff has a lot of problems that can be pointed out, but I still like it.

 

 

 

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"Artists you didn't like at first, but grew to love because..."

The OP's title for this thread.  Honestly, there are several artists I didn't like at first, but I did grow to tolerate them or appreciate them...don't think I've come to love any yet.

Sal Buscema is my prime example.  I really didn't like his artwork, but over time, I've come to realize that the books he illustrated had good pacing and were never confusing so I'd say that I've come to appreciate his ability to layout a story.  There are artists who can illustrate better than Sal, but can't layout a story nearly as well as Sal.

I don't own any Sal Buscema art currently, but I'm looking, and I know I'll pick up a decent piece eventually.  I mean, the guy's been around for so long, and he's illustrated just about anything and everything at Marvel, right?

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52 minutes ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

Honestly, there are several artists I didn't like at first, but I did grow to tolerate them or appreciate them...don't think I've come to love any yet.

For me, it's Don Heck.  I wasn't fond of his work when he started drawing Flash.  I totally forgot Heck's earlier work for DC (e.g. Batgirl backups in Detective Comics) about 10 years earlier.

Also, not being steeped in Marvel, I didn't know those comics so well.  After following original art, I saw more of Heck's art (but still didn't read the comics) and had more of an appreciation for Heck.  At least for his older work.

And not related to Don Heck.  At a local comics show, a comics pro (who seems to be inactive these days), once said about another pro (still very active), that he was good but "was never going to surprise you".  Those pros will go un-named.  But considering the pro who was being referenced, Actually, I'm not even sure he said he was good.  Anyway, I was really surprised to hear that.  Mainly because of the quality and volume of the work he produced.  I wasn't a really a fan but... wow.

 

Edited by Will_K
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