Game: GOLDEN AGE BEST ARTIST SURVIVOR SERIES: Round 2

[tth2]

I talked to Steranko once and told him that I put Raboy in the "cold" artists category as he defines them and in a heartbeat agreed that it was a perfect example of beautiful art without a "soul". It's technically good but does not move the reader. Maybe I shouldn't use Steranko as a reference but I think the guy knows a thing or two about art (if not about perspective once in a while ...).

Ironic that you mention Steranko, because I'm a huge fan of his, but my main criticism of his work has always been that it's "cold", and often posed. Similar to Raboy, a lot of his panels (particularly in Captain America) looked like they were designed to be a cover or pin-up.

[Timely]

That was a short voting period, no doubt an error.

 

West

[JohnT]

That was a short voting period, no doubt an error.

 

West

 

Yes, I was still deciding how to vote!

[Scrooge]

I think "cold" or perhaps "stiff" is an apt description for his stories, but for his covers? Not so much. Raboy had more of an illustrators mentality in his ability focus on and perfect a single image and that worked against him in producing comic stories. He was very adept at producing covers of artistic grace and beauty that successfully conveyed the appropriate theme or sentiment.

 

Green Lama 7, btw, has another superb story drawn by Raboy using washtones.

 

AS, you are 100% correct of course. I will never deny that Raboy was a great cover artist. There are so many covers that evidence the fact. For this series, I will look at their work as story-tellers, hence my pegging down of Raboy. I have to use story-telling as my criteria, otherwise Kurtzman and Barks for example wouldn't make it as far as I'd like to see then do.

 

Now, I'm hunting for that Green Lama 7 to look at that Raboy story ...

[Scrooge]

Haven't had time to read the story yet but I'll share it with every one. The art looks awesome so I can't wait to be able to plunge in.

 

The Turn of the Scrooge -

[Sal]

poll closed for anyone else?

 

 

 

by the way, when you start a poll on Wed Oct 3 at 9:30 pm and say it will run for 2 days, that means it should close on Fri, Oct 5 at 9:30, not 3 and a half hours later.

 

 

wtg bro

[selegue]

Well, it was actually a toss up between Russ Heath and Grandenetti for me, but since Grandenetti wasn't in the list...

 

It's pretty much their gritty realism and attention to detail. You can look at some of their covers dozens of times and notice something new each and every time. Some of their artwork captures the human spirit, almost makes me wonder if they put a little of their emotions into their work.

 

Grandenetti's work showed dramatic improvement around the time of the introduction of the comics code (1955) so I would suggest him more for a SA artist contest.

 

Pre-code

....

Post-code

...

 

...and of course Grandenetti continued to refine his craft into the Bronze Age:

 

 

(Did Joe Simon also have a hand in this work of art?)

 

I think Heath is a realistic candidate for Silver Age top 10, but although I like (most) Grandenetti, I can't picture him cracking top 10 in either age.

 

Jack

 

 

[tth2]

poll closed for anyone else?

 

 

 

by the way, when you start a poll on Wed Oct 3 at 9:30 pm and say it will run for 2 days, that means it should close on Fri, Oct 5 at 9:30, not 3 and a half hours later.

 

 

wtg bro

Well, since Freek was a couple of days late starting this one, I say we take it as this round is over, Hogarth is gone because he`s got a pretty substantial lead already, and we should be roughly back on track time-wise. And hopefully no more snafus like this one and the first round.

[rjpb]

poll closed for anyone else?

 

 

 

by the way, when you start a poll on Wed Oct 3 at 9:30 pm and say it will run for 2 days, that means it should close on Fri, Oct 5 at 9:30, not 3 and a half hours later.

 

 

wtg bro

Well, since Freek was a couple of days late starting this one, I say we take it as this round is over, Hogarth is gone because he`s got a pretty substantial lead already, and we should be roughly back on track time-wise. And hopefully no more snafus like this one and the first round.

 

Absolutely - more votes would likely lead to the same result, and even if they didn't - it's not like Hogarth would survive much longer - too many here don't think of him as a comic "book" artist.

[adamstrange]

Thanks, Scrooge. This was the story I was referring that doesn't seem a bit "cold" to me at all.

 

[rza808]

That Green Lama stuff is beautiful!

[adamstrange]

...and of course Grandenetti continued to refine his craft into the Bronze Age:

 

I think that Grandenetti developed a unique and interesting style during the Silver Age. He then pushed it too far and, to my eyes, lost a measure of control over his drawings without producing any compensating quality to his art. I'm extremely doubtful any poll of comic fans would ever include him in the top 10 of Silver Age for the simple reason that so few people have seen his best work since it was in the war comics and drew next to nothing in the way of super-hero art.

[TheWatcher]

...and of course Grandenetti continued to refine his craft into the Bronze Age:

 

I think that Grandenetti developed a unique and interesting style during the Silver Age. He then pushed it too far and, to my eyes, lost a measure of control over his drawings without producing any compensating quality to his art. I'm extremely doubtful any poll of comic fans would ever include him in the top 10 of Silver Age for the simple reason that so few people have seen his best work since it was in the war comics and drew next to nothing in the way of super-hero art.

 

 

The best Grandenetti art I've seen is that Dr. Drew story that was posted in GOLD. Far superior to his Spirit work, and very Eisner-esque on top of it.

[Paris_Fred]

Yep, same for me

 

Could't find Wally Wood on the list, but maybe he is a minor artits for some....

[Dale Roberts]

No, Wood should have been on the list. In my mind, he is a top 10 artist, regardless of which age you are talking about.

 

How can Joe Simon be on the list and not Wally Wood?

[Dale Roberts]

the list as it should be....

 

Frank Frazetta

Al Williamson

Wally Wood

Jack Davis

Graham Ingels

Al Feldstein

Harvey Kurtzman

Jack Kamen

Will Eisner

Lou Fine

Reed Crandall

Jack Cole

Matt Baker

Russ Heath

Bill Everett

Jack Kirby

Basil Wolverton

Alex Toth

Mac Raboy

Alex Schomburg

LB Cole

Carl Barks

Walt Kelly

Joe Kubert

 

 

I would give an honorable mention to Shuster, Kane, Beck, DeCarlo, Burgos, Nodell, Moldoff, and other great creators of the Golden Age. But if we are talking pure quality of art, these guys are left off. I have also left off the strip guys due to the backlash on here. Perhaps we should do a restart with this revised list.

 

[JohnT]

Wood would likely be in my top ten.

[rza808]

Jerry Robinson? Anyone with examples of Robinson's work?

[CAP Freak]

[tth2]

So what are you going to do about this round that you ended 3 hours after you started it?