Tell Us About Your Favorite Comic Book Artist

[monsterphile]

I stopped collecting comics about 17-18 years ago because the prices were skyrocketing and a bunch of the titles that I liked had lost a lot of the levekl of quality that had originally enticed me to collect.  I liked to find the first appearances of characters, oddball comics (such as the tiny Marvel Mini Books to the Wham-O Giant Comic Book), and comics with art by some of my favorites.  Most of the time my favorites were artists with a lot of detail.  Just about anything by John Byrne and George Perez.  I tried to track down the work of Neal Adams, Berni(e) Wrightson, Mike Kaulta, Mike Mignola (from his earliest days), Marshall Rogers's run on Detective Comics was great.  Michael Golden , Mile Nasser, Mike Grell, and yes, our own Terry Beatty's Ms. Tree was a favorite as well.  Just about anything that Terry Austin inked looked perfect. 

Get ready to throw rocks.  I was not a huge fan of Kirby, Ditko, Infantino, and others of that generation of artists.  I absolutely respect their contribution to the world of comics.  I just didn't enjoy the style of their art.  Even as a kid, the block-y style of Kirby and the cartoon-y style of Ditko bothered me.  Like I said, I know that comics would never hecome what they were without these individuals and I had a lot of comics with their art.  They just weren't my favorites.  I sold off a good portion of my comics on Ebay years ago to keep the wolf at the door.  Wish I hadn't had to.  I sold a prostine Incredible Hulk 181 (1st full Wolverine) and a Fantastic Four 48 (1st Silver Surfer) with a double cover.  -sigh-  Life sucks.

Rob

[Hinchley_and_Trumbull]

There's a reason Kirby had the title "The King" and I think no further explanation is needed. But as far as my personal fave, I go with Arthur Adams. I so wanted to be this guy, that I adapted my drawing style to try to look like his! This was the first comic artist that really took hold of me, and when he drew the adaption of my favorite movie monster, The Creature from the Black Lagoon? Pure awesomeness!

[Flower]

Hi Rob!

No stones or rocks!  I believe that we all have a right to our own opinions ... likes and dislikes. If you don't like someone or something that I like (or collect) then there are more for me .. 

Btw ~ I don't like Ditko either.

[horrorhunter]

Hi Rob!

No stones or rocks!  I believe that we all have a right to our own opinions ... likes and dislikes. If you don't like someone or something that I like (or collect) then there are more for me .. 

Btw ~ I don't like Ditko either.

That's a good point, Flower. We don't always agree, but life would be a little more boring if we all like exactly the SAME things. As long as we are respectful of the opinions of others it's all good. I've developed new interests or opinions on occasion because of trying to be receptive to other's ideas. As I've gotten older I fear my attitude toward certain things has become a bit rigid, but I still try to keep an open mind about things. I think it's great that we can freely express ourselves on UMA without excessive ridicule. Opening up about something you really love is a powerful thing.

     And, yes, my Holy Grail monster toy is still a MIB Haunted Hulk, even if it was put out by ringhand making MPC. When I first posted that in the appropriate thread I was berated by a member who thought to tell me what MY Holy Grail should or should not be. It's like telling someone they're wrong for having a favorite food or color. It was bad form. Tolerance is a wonderful thing. Venting sometimes is pretty cool, too.

[Hepcat]

And, yes, my Holy Grail monster toy is still a MIB Haunted Hulk, even if it was put out by ringhand making MPC.

I don't understand your reference. Please explain.

[horrorhunter]

I don't understand your reference. Please explain.

MPC produced pirates, soldiers, and cowboy figures with ring-shaped hands made to hold various loose weapons and accessories. The way it was stated to me I took it to mean that "ringhand" figures were cheaply made and looked down on. It is true that MPC played second fiddle to Marx some of the time concerning size and general quality, however many of the MPC pieces are presently held to be the equal of, or even better than, many Marx pieces by collectors. The MPC monster toys such as Unbreakable Weird Monsters, Pop-Top Horrors, and the Haunted Hulk are beloved by many monster collectors, as we know. In the context I was speaking of it seemed to be a clumsy attempt at toy snobbery. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it, but just the idea of being "corrected" for choosing a Haunted Hulk as my Holy Grail seemed very rude. Haunted Hulks are pretty high on many collectors lists, especially one that is MIB.

     Oh, and the "ringhand" remark wasn't anything that I typed in the original Holy Grail posting. That attempted slight was wielded by the berating party. Anyway, let's drop it. It was just an example I used of what to avoid doing if you are tolerant of others opinions. It's okay to say you don't like something anytime, but it's bad form to ridicule someone else just for saying they do like something.

[horrorhunter]

     Getting back on topic, I would like to mention some of Bernie Wrightson's best work:

Early work in House Of Mystery and House Of Secrets is some of Wrightson's best. House Of Secrets #92 is a great example (1st Swamp Thing).

Swamp Thing #s 1-10 are probably what he is best known for. Spectacular work.

Marvel's Frankenstein Graphic Novel is another book that added to his fame. Very detailed labor of love.

Web Of Horror #s 1-3 are simply beautiful. When Jim Warren saw them he knew he was up against the best. Luckily for Warren, Sproul turned out to be a crook and left without paying Wrightson, Jones, & co. so Web Of Horror died before it really took off. This may have been the best monster mag EVER.

Badtime Stories is a fantastic fanzine from the early '70s that is "all Wright....Son", as the tagline read in early issues of The Monster Times. Bernie poured his heart into it and it showed. This book is very hard to find now, but well worth looking for. I hunted for years before I found a copy. If not for evilBay I would probably have never found one.

The huge coloring book called The Color The Creature book is very cool. Also very hard to find in nice condition.

Bernie's work for Warren in the '70s, along with Richard Corben's color stories, helped to stabilize Warren as the monster magazine powerhouse. Superb work.

The most important Wrightson book has to be Bernie Wrightson, A Look Back (1978). It covered Bernie's first decade of work. The first 350 copies of the signed and numbered slipcased edition included a very evocatively macabre signed and numbered print called Don't Look Back. If you love Wrightson's work this book is awe inspiring....his very best work so beautifully printed. It was reprinted in the early '90s. Highly coveted, even the reprint. Expect to pay handsomely even for the bonus print.

I could keep going. These are just the highlights. To me Wrightson personifies the designation "monster artist.

[horrorhunter]

     In the late '60s/early '70s Wrightson was the premiere monster artist at D.C. His counterpart at Marvel in the early '70s was Mike Ploog. Ploog patterned his style on the great Will Eisner. Ploog's art was lush and vibrant, with just the right amount of exaggerated anatomy, ala Jack Davis. Mike Ploog worked on most of the Marvel monsters in that period, including Werewolf By Night, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, and Frankenstein's Monster. Ploog did excellent work, and I really hated when he left those titles. Later, he did an excellent trading card set just bursting at the seams with monsters galore.

     The early '70s was the boom-time for monster comics and monster magazines. There were the D.C. "mystery" titles including House Of Mystery, House Of Secrets, Unexpected, Ghosts, Weird Mystery Tales, Secrets Of Sinister House, Dark Mansion Of Forbidden Love, etc. These were really just horror anthology titles but they were marketed as the "mystery" line to soften it for parents. Comic companies were still a little gun-shy from the witch hunt of the 1950s. Marvel had their stable of monster characters in both color comics and black and white magazines. Charlton had around a dozen horror titles on the stands around this time. Warren ruled the roost in monster mag territory, but they got some competition from the excellent Skywald titles, as well as some good stuff from Marvel. Between the mid '60s and the mid '70s it was a great time to be a monster comic/mag lover. We will never see it's like again.

[Hepcat]

If you back me into a corner and force me to pick one artist, it would have to be Neal Adams. Here in alphabetical order are scans of my ten favourite Neal Adams'  covers from my collection:

[MDG]

My top five favorite comic book artists are probably Alex Toth, Dan Clowes, Xaime Hernandez, Johnny Craig and Harvey Kurtzman. This is purely based on "telling a story in pictures." So add Eisner.

Jack Davis is one of my favorite artists, but mainly for stuff other than comics. Kim Deitch is my favorite cartoonist whose style I don't really care for (great storyteller, though).

I have a real love for the Silver Age artists, esp. Infantino, Anderson, Kirby, Ditko and Oksner. Big fan of Wrightston and Corben and the first wave of underground cartoonists, esp. Crumb, Wilson, Spain, Green and Griffy.

[horrorhunter]

If you back me into a corner and force me to pick one artist, it would have to be Neal Adams.

Neal Adams did spectacular work in the '60s and '70s. I was especially taken by his covers for the D.C. "mystery"(horror) line in the late '60s and early '70s. There is nothing like picking up an issue of House Of Mystery with a great Adams cover and interior art by Wrightson, Adams, Aragones, and Kaluta. Now that's some real Monster Goodness right there.

[Wicked Lester]

This is like asking me about my fave Beer. I AM a beer guy and have like 600+ ratings on a beer site.
Long story short I like 30's cheese reprints to Simon Bisley,Richard Corban ,Feldstein -Johnny Craig Charles Biro , Wally Wood, C. Crumb etc etc. Can't like just one.
Thin line -THICK line doesn't matter as long as the story is cool and the art resonates the story.

[Hepcat]

Joe Kubert is another of my very favourite comic artists. Here are scans of ten of my favourite Joe Kubert covers from my collection:

[Hepcat]

Agggghhhhh! I included the wrong From Beyond the Unknown cover from my album! The #3 I included above was by Neal Adams.



I meant to upload this one with the other Joe Kubert covers:

[horrorhunter]

Kubert is the master concerning great eye-grabbing cover layouts. He didn't have Neal Adams beautiful fine line work, but he is definitely one of the all time greats. Hardly anyone could match Adams when it came to dynamic figures, and gorgeous line work. Even though Wrightson is my personal fave, I have to admit that Adams could do as pretty an illustration as anyone.