Underrated Artist Snapshot #1 - Mike Perkins 1 1

[babsrocks31]

   As someone who can rarely afford art from any of the truly big artists in comics, I thought it might be fun to post about an artist I think is underrated once a week or so. Each time I'm going to spotlight a different artist I personally have dealt with, that I consider to be underrated. Of course, we all have our favorites!

   To start this off, I've gone with UK based artist Mike Perkins.

    Mike Perkins has worked on a solid handful of big titles, mostly for Marvel. He is probably best know for working on Ed Brubaker's Captain America run. Personally, I think some of his best work was on Deathlock.

   I got in touch with Mike a few years back and inquired about getting a commission from him. He was quite to the point but in a very personable and friendly manner. I never felt out of the loop when conversing with him. He let me know he was travelling at the time but encouraged me to contact him again later that summer, and said he'd be happy to fit me in when he could, but didn't want to make any promises until he could give me an actual timeline. I really appreciated him not stringing me along.

   Sure enough I got back in touch with him and he completed a Domino commission for me quite promptly. His prices were reasonable, too. The commission Mike did for me is a huge favorite of mine. I asked him to do a pinup of Domino from his Deathlock run, without making it a total cheesecake piece. He took the setting and her attire from a poolside scene in that run and just knocked it out of the park, proving that good art can be sexy and fun without resorting to disproportionate body types and outlandish poses.

   I also bought a few pages from Mike's Deathlock run via Ruben from ComicBookArtGallery.comR Ruben had to get the pages from Mike in order to send them to me, and both fellows were great to deal with. One of the pages, featuring a close-up of Domino's face as she's having an intense clandestine conversation, is one of my favorite Interior pages I own.

So, Mike Perkins everybody.

[Rick2you2]

3 hours ago, babsrocks31 said:

 As someone who can rarely afford art from any of the truly big artists in comics, I thought it might be fun to post about an artist I think is underrated once a week or so. Each time I'm going to spotlight a different artist I personally have dealt with, that I consider to be underrated. Of course, we all have our favorites!

You can also make a pretty strong case that some of the "truly big artists in comics" are overrated. People sometimes ignore the obvious: it's not the artist, but the art.

Very nice work. Top image is great.

[babsrocks31]

6 minutes ago, Rick2you2 said:

You can also make a pretty strong case that some of the "truly big artists in comics" are overrated. People sometimes ignore the obvious: it's not the artist, but the art.

Very nice work. Top image is great.

Good point. If I was more ballsy I'd do an overrated spotlight series.

[Rick2you2]

5 minutes ago, babsrocks31 said:

Good point. If I was more ballsy I'd do an overrated spotlight series.

I think part of the problem involves different styles, as compared to a qualitative "excellent" or "eh" rating. How does one realistically compare, say, John Romita, Jr. to Mike Mignola or Bruce Timm? Is Rembrandt really better than Jackson Pollock?

No reason not to be ballsy, just decide if you think you are right.

[Brian Peck]

I agree Mike Perkins is such on over looked artist. A real work horse who does some great work. He is a great penciler and inker.

 

Mike did this commission for me a while back, he was the cover artist for Steed and Mrs Peel.

 

 

A great splash from Tales from The Dark Universe just release this month. (pencils and inks)

 

 

 

 

Plus a Swamp Thing one shot he did (he is penciling and inking the new series).

 

[babsrocks31]

The shading he does on character's bodies to add texture to their clothes or skin is really unique and comes across as very realistic, if just a touch surreal. It's evident in my Domino commission, as well as the floating character in that swamp thing piece above.

[Doc McCoy]

Mike is a fantastic artist and an all around great person to speak to.  He did this Iron Fist commission for me not long after he started his run on the book.  It was only supposed to be a penciled piece, but when I went to pick it up from Mike at MegaCon in 2017, he said he enjoyed working on the piece so much that he hoped I didn't mind that he inked it.  Two years later when he returned to the show, he was my first stop to finish up the Wolverine jam piece I had been working on.