Top 70 Covers in Marvel History

[Cimm]

bob lubbers ahead of kirby?

 

Lubbers never made me recoil in distaste... Kirby frequently does.

[Bronty]

OK, but I think you're equating being a good artist with drawing pretty pictures, and the two are not the same.

 

Even if we ignore kirby and ditko, I can't think of any other reason for having esteban maroto 90+++ spots ahead of carl barks on a list of all time great comic book artists (you have your right to your opinion of course but I have trouble with your list on that alone and it tells me that you're probably not taking storytelling ability into account which was the bread and butter of guys like kirby and barks and the reason they are nearly universally admired).

 

I love the diversity on your list as you clearly have a wide range of tastes... that's great and I'm not the kind of guy who is into SA marvel and nothing else... that attitude bugs me too. But some of the omissions (crumb?) and inclusions are really striking

[thehumantorch]

OK, but I think you're equating being a good artist with drawing pretty pictures, and the two are not the same.

 

Even if we ignore kirby and ditko, I can't think of any other reason for having esteban maroto 90+++ spots ahead of carl barks on a list of all time great comic book artists (you have your right to your opinion of course but I have trouble with your list on that alone and it tells me that you're probably not taking storytelling ability into account which was the bread and butter of guys like kirby and barks and the reason they are nearly universally admired).

 

I love the diversity on your list as you clearly have a wide range of tastes... that's great and I'm not the kind of guy who is into SA marvel and nothing else... that attitude bugs me too. But some of the omissions (crumb?) and inclusions are really striking

 

Dead on. I love Kirby because he helped create and bring to life many of my favorite characters. He isn't the greatest artist of all time, far from it, but he can tell a great story using dynamic pictures as well as anyone in the business. He was an editor's dream because his art sold comics, he was constantly coming up with original concepts and characters, and he was incredibly fast.

 

By the way, I love your list Cimm, it would take me a week to create a list of my top 100 and I'm amazed that you could do it on the fly.

[Mighty Hal]

By the way, I love your list Cimm, it would take me a week to create a list of my top 100 and I'm amazed that you could do it on the fly.

 

Thanks for the list. Like thehumantorch, I'm impressed that you could do it so quickly -- and with some strong choices on it, too.

[comix4fun]

By the way, I love your list Cimm, it would take me a week to create a list of my top 100 and I'm amazed that you could do it on the fly.

 

 

I am pretty amazed at that list too. To be done so fast like that.

 

However, one of the HUGE elements of what makes a great comic artist for me is sequential storytelling, sense of suspense and motion, and ability to make the unbelievable believable.

 

That's where I think you miss the boat on dismissing Kirby and Ditko from your list.

 

Frankly, you have at least 2 guys on the list that ink over scans of photographs to create their images. With a little practice I could be in your top 50. Maybe you aren't familiar with their technique but I can't imagine jettisoning legends for xerox machines.

 

C

 

 

[Cimm]

OK, but I think you're equating being a good artist with drawing pretty pictures, and the two are not the same.

 

Even if we ignore kirby and ditko, I can't think of any other reason for having esteban maroto 90+++ spots ahead of carl barks on a list of all time great comic book artists (you have your right to your opinion of course but I have trouble with your list on that alone and it tells me that you're probably not taking storytelling ability into account which was the bread and butter of guys like kirby and barks and the reason they are nearly universally admired).

 

I love the diversity on your list as you clearly have a wide range of tastes... that's great and I'm not the kind of guy who is into SA marvel and nothing else... that attitude bugs me too. But some of the omissions (crumb?) and inclusions are really striking

 

Crumb was 52, man

[comix4fun]

Is #71 supposed to be Fregredo?

[Cimm]

By the way, I love your list Cimm, it would take me a week to create a list of my top 100 and I'm amazed that you could do it on the fly.

 

 

I am pretty amazed at that list too. To be done so fast like that.

 

However, one of the HUGE elements of what makes a great comic artist for me is sequential storytelling, sense of suspense and motion, and ability to make the unbelievable believable.

 

That's where I think you miss the boat on dismissing Kirby and Ditko from your list.

 

Frankly, you have at least 2 guys on the list that ink over scans of photographs to create their images. With a little practice I could be in your top 50. Maybe you aren't familiar with their technique but I can't imagine jettisoning legends for xerox machines.

 

C

 

 

It's a bit like music for me... I seldom if ever read the backstory, or watch the behind the scenes footage or the extra stuff on DVDs... all I care about is the aesthetic of the final product.

 

As for not including artists known for their storytelling capability, if I don't like their art, I will never know if they can tell a story or not, because I won't read the comic. What has always pulled me into comics is the art, seeing a thing of beauty. The storytelling, or the story told, has always been secondary.to the craftsmanship of the art.

 

Not that I don't appreciate a good story, or that there are not books that I own that have craptacular art in a good story (a large chunk of Sandman has art that I really don't like)... But what has always sustained me as a comic collector is the art, first and foremost. I am not driven to have every Batman book, because while I like the character, I don't like all of the art.

 

As for the inclusion of or non-inclusion of certain artists, the above list is merely the first hundred artists that I like that I could think of... If you want a list of my actual top 100, it'll take a few days.

[Cimm]

Is #71 supposed to be Fregredo?

 

No, it is Frezzato... not sure if I spelled it correctly, but he is an Italian artist that worked on a story in Heavy Metal that I liked (Margot in Badtown).

[comix4fun]

Is #71 supposed to be Fregredo?

 

No, it is Frezzato... not sure if I spelled it correctly, but he is an Italian artist that worked on a story in Heavy Metal that I liked (Margot in Badtown).

 

 

Oh ok. It was the first name that threw me...Duncan.

 

I normally see him listed just by his last name being that his first name is so long. Massimiliano, I had never seen him go by Duncan, so I started looking for Duncans with similar last names. Now it makes sense.

 

C

[Cimm]

heh... I think I actually have cross-referenced that first name with Fegredo... sorry about that

[jbud73]

Included in my signature the 2006 results

 

We might program a new one for 2010

 

Fred

 

Interesting. As an old fart, I'm more partial to this list Fred. Having said that, and accepting that we all have our own biases and favorites to be sure, what caught my eye is that the only Neal Adams Silver Age cover was a Tomahawk cover. I would think any number of GL/GA covers (#76 in particular) or a Batman cover (Detective #400 or Batman #244) would outrank the Tomahawk. But, you know what they say about opinions--everyone's got one.

 

Scott Williams

 

Scott I think it's because those other NA covers you mentioned are Bronze books and that list is only Silver Age. I believe the Tomahawk cover is late 60's, so it is Silver Age. Although I like the executioner Tomahawk cover better...

 

Fair enough! I always thought of those books as being generally Silver Age, but if 1970 is the cutoff, so be it!

 

Here is he CGC BA list, voting was done by private email verified by 3 board members (to keep out the shills) and I believe we had 82 votes

 

Batman 227 Neal Adams 1971

Amazing Spiderman 122 John Romita 1973

Green Lantern 76 Neal Adams 1970

Batman 251 Neal Adams 1973

Wonder Woman 199 Jeff Jones 1972

Superman 233 Neal Adams 1971

House of Secrets 92 Bernie Wrightson 1971

DC 100pg Super. Spec 4 Bernie Wrightson

Amazing Spiderman 136 1971 John Romita 1974

Defenders 10 John Romita 1973

Conan Annual 1 Barry Windsor-Smith 1973

Conan 24 Barry Windsor-Smith 1972

DC Special 6 Neal Adams 1970

Action Comics 419 Neal Adams 1972

Giant Size X-Men 1 Gil Kane 1975

Batman 244 Neal Adams 1972

X-Men 141 John Byrne 1981

House of Secrets 88 Neal Adams

House of Secrets 96 Bernie Wrightson 1971

Detective Comics 423 Mike Kaluta 1972

[stinkininkin]

Included in my signature the 2006 results

 

We might program a new one for 2010

 

Fred

 

Interesting. As an old fart, I'm more partial to this list Fred. Having said that, and accepting that we all have our own biases and favorites to be sure, what caught my eye is that the only Neal Adams Silver Age cover was a Tomahawk cover. I would think any number of GL/GA covers (#76 in particular) or a Batman cover (Detective #400 or Batman #244) would outrank the Tomahawk. But, you know what they say about opinions--everyone's got one.

 

Scott Williams

 

Scott I think it's because those other NA covers you mentioned are Bronze books and that list is only Silver Age. I believe the Tomahawk cover is late 60's, so it is Silver Age. Although I like the executioner Tomahawk cover better...

 

Fair enough! I always thought of those books as being generally Silver Age, but if 1970 is the cutoff, so be it!

 

Here is he CGC BA list, voting was done by private email verified by 3 board members (to keep out the shills) and I believe we had 82 votes

 

Batman 227 Neal Adams 1971

Amazing Spiderman 122 John Romita 1973

Green Lantern 76 Neal Adams 1970

Batman 251 Neal Adams 1973

Wonder Woman 199 Jeff Jones 1972

Superman 233 Neal Adams 1971

House of Secrets 92 Bernie Wrightson 1971

DC 100pg Super. Spec 4 Bernie Wrightson

Amazing Spiderman 136 1971 John Romita 1974

Defenders 10 John Romita 1973

Conan Annual 1 Barry Windsor-Smith 1973

Conan 24 Barry Windsor-Smith 1972

DC Special 6 Neal Adams 1970

Action Comics 419 Neal Adams 1972

Giant Size X-Men 1 Gil Kane 1975

Batman 244 Neal Adams 1972

X-Men 141 John Byrne 1981

House of Secrets 88 Neal Adams

House of Secrets 96 Bernie Wrightson 1971

Detective Comics 423 Mike Kaluta 1972

 

Wow, that's a lot of Neal Adams! That makes me happy....

 

Scott Williams

[jbud73]

Included in my signature the 2006 results

 

We might program a new one for 2010

 

Fred

 

Interesting. As an old fart, I'm more partial to this list Fred. Having said that, and accepting that we all have our own biases and favorites to be sure, what caught my eye is that the only Neal Adams Silver Age cover was a Tomahawk cover. I would think any number of GL/GA covers (#76 in particular) or a Batman cover (Detective #400 or Batman #244) would outrank the Tomahawk. But, you know what they say about opinions--everyone's got one.

 

Scott Williams

 

Scott I think it's because those other NA covers you mentioned are Bronze books and that list is only Silver Age. I believe the Tomahawk cover is late 60's, so it is Silver Age. Although I like the executioner Tomahawk cover better...

 

Fair enough! I always thought of those books as being generally Silver Age, but if 1970 is the cutoff, so be it!

 

Here is he CGC BA list, voting was done by private email verified by 3 board members (to keep out the shills) and I believe we had 82 votes

 

Batman 227 Neal Adams 1971

Amazing Spiderman 122 John Romita 1973

Green Lantern 76 Neal Adams 1970

Batman 251 Neal Adams 1973

Wonder Woman 199 Jeff Jones 1972

Superman 233 Neal Adams 1971

House of Secrets 92 Bernie Wrightson 1971

DC 100pg Super. Spec 4 Bernie Wrightson

Amazing Spiderman 136 1971 John Romita 1974

Defenders 10 John Romita 1973

Conan Annual 1 Barry Windsor-Smith 1973

Conan 24 Barry Windsor-Smith 1972

DC Special 6 Neal Adams 1970

Action Comics 419 Neal Adams 1972

Giant Size X-Men 1 Gil Kane 1975

Batman 244 Neal Adams 1972

X-Men 141 John Byrne 1981

House of Secrets 88 Neal Adams

House of Secrets 96 Bernie Wrightson 1971

Detective Comics 423 Mike Kaluta 1972

 

Wow, that's a lot of Neal Adams! That makes me happy....

 

Scott Williams

 

Well it made intuitive sense to me as well; in just thinking about the BA, I always thought the art was synonymous with Adams, Wrightson, BWS and Romita with a little Kane and Kaluta thrown in. You get Byrne creeping in at the end with Miller. The exclusion of Ploog was the surprise for me, I believe one of his covers was nominated but I can't remember which one (there were 100+ nominations if I remember correctly).