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Tell me an artist and his/her best work
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Started by Bird,

60 posts in this topic

Bird

Bird

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Posted
Tell me an artist and his/her best work

This thread comes about from two specific sources: the "where are all the masters today" thread and my "criticism" of Will Eisner in the Mt. Rushmore thread. In the current masters thread I was thinking about the McFarlane/Golden/Art Adams discussion going on there and wondered who would "win" in my judgment if you put each artist's "best" work against the others. That immediately led to "gee, what is Golden's best work? Or McFarlane's? Or Art Adams?" I liked the idea of that thread more than who would "win", instead which book is their bestest?  In the Rushmore thread I wanted someone to say "If you don't get Will Eisner as needing to be on this mountain all you need do is read 'X' to see his genius" but that never happened, it was more a "take it all in sum" argument. And that is fine. But what is Will Eisner's "best" work? What year of The Spirit, if indeed it is The Spirit. (Of course it is The Spirit!) ((Right?))

So, who you got? Who is your dude? And if someone needs to understand their genius in one issue or one work or one strip (that distinction is not the point here, I hope you get the idea), what work represents them best? Is Michael Golden's best work Dr Strange 55? Was Charles Schulz Peanuts at its' best in the 1950s before most of us were even born? (It was. Really.) Did Art Adams peak with little Asgaridans and trolls turning to stone? (poke poke) I'd love to hear competing points of view for why someone's work on title X is better that title Y.

I'll start. Since I think everyone's work on Dr Strange is their best (Golden yes, and Ditko too)...Tony Harris is da'Man! And he never looked better than on Dr Strange Flight of Bones. That is two issues. (Paul Chadwick finished the miniseries. He did a fine job but I so missed Tony when it happened.) Tony was really smokin' it on Liberty Files as well but that Doc stuff is his best. (He grew and matured on Starman but was even better after he left.) Most of the artists I favor have that thin line with a thick outer edge on the figure but Tony's stuff was better when more ink ended up on the page (yes I realize he doesn't ink his own stuff mostly). He comes from that German wood block sensibility that I loved in the werewolf books I read in the school library as a young child. He always was fearless in his approach but as a fan sometimes you want people to freeze in time. But I am still watching closely. In music Rush came back around, so there is hope for Tony and me as well. And being 90% in love with the guy's work instead of 100% ain't too bad either. (Tony reads. Know that I love you, you little steampunk you!)

 

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Get Marwood & I

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5 minutes ago, Bird said:

See, good one Sparky!

:nyah:

I know people dig Ross Andru so now I can target some comics! And look at Robbie, sly dog!

 

There's something about the mood of that issue. Difficult to put into words, and probably owes a lot to the pull of nostalgia, but it makes me feel good. 169 gets me like that too. And, if I'm honest, most of the others too. 

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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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Tough question in some cases.

Neal Adams - Batman 251

Pretty much throughout, an artist at his peak.

Edited by Ken Aldred
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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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For Berni Wrightson, I'd have to pick his Frankenstein illustrations.

Although, the spirit of those illustrations is also present in several of his Warren magazine stories, such as The Muck Monster, Cool Air and The Pepper Lake Monster.

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My young Padawan

My young Padawan

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I am not an authority on this topic, so I prefer to list my personal favorite comic art based on my personal Mount Rushmore of comic book artists.  Batman #227 by Neal Adams, Swamp Thing #10 by Bernie Wrightson, Star Wars #1 by Howard Chaykin and The New 52 Justice League #1 by Jim Lee.

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Aweandlorder

Aweandlorder

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14 hours ago, Murphman13 said:

Untamed Love from Personal Love #32. Incredible work by the master

 

 

Bravo. Im glad Im not the only one that was heavily influenced by this Frazetta piece.

To me Frazetta The Living Legend was a game changer. Its not a comic book, but it has many of his 50s comic covers in there. 
At the time I was reading and drawing tons and never really knew of Frazetta. My friend's dad had this book and he jokingly said, here, why dont you draw women like that (I was 10 at the time) and I was fukin blown away. I started chasing Frazetta books and couldnt find any.. Then one day I went to the library and there they had 2 massive EC books. One of which had Squeeze Play (SSS #13). I ended up going to that library a thousand times just copying each and every panel my teachers thought I was going there for homework lol

I didnt know about Untamed Love until it was released by Fantagraphics along other great Frazetta stories. That book shows you EXACTLY where such masters as Dave Stevens, Mark Schultz, Sandy Plunkett and many many others got their chops from.

Kudos to you for mentioning this one (thumbsu

Spoiler

frank-frazetta_squeeze-play_shock-suspen

frank-frazetta_squeeze-play_shock-suspen

frank-frazetta_squeeze-play_shock-suspen

frank-frazetta_squeeze-play_shock-suspen

frank-frazetta_squeeze-play_shock-suspen

frank-frazetta_squeeze-play_shock-suspen

frank-frazetta_squeeze-play_shock-suspen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Aweandlorder
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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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Great taste.

I've always preferred looking at Frazetta's art in black-and-white, possibly because of my EC Library collection, also so that none of the fine line work is obscured.

frank-frazetta-shock-suspenstories-13-19

Edited by Ken Aldred
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2 hours ago, AGGIEZ said:

My two favorites...

 

Dave Stevens - The Rocketeer

betty_full.JPG

 

Mark Schultz - Xenozoic Tales

2778069329b25f2a1c13964f403fc124.jpg

artists-editions-11.jpg

 

The art in the Dave Stevens piece is superb.  The girl on the left is stunning, and the art stands out in quality from the right hand side of the page (which is also excellent of course). Do you think Dave would have 'copied' the girl from a photo or at least used a picture for inspiration? If he drew her from memory alone he must be a genius. 

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AGGIEZ

AGGIEZ

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11 minutes ago, Marwood & I said:

 

The art in the Dave Stevens piece is superb.  The girl on the left is stunning, and the art stands out in quality from the right hand side of the page (which is also excellent of course). Do you think Dave would have 'copied' the girl from a photo or at least used a picture for inspiration? If he drew her from memory alone he must be a genius. 

Pretty sure Dave took every opportunity that he had to use live models...smart man

 

df94860b7dc6bc701df5086637cbbf46.jpg

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10 minutes ago, AGGIEZ said:

Pretty sure Dave took every opportunity that he had to use live models...smart man

 

df94860b7dc6bc701df5086637cbbf46.jpg

 

xD smart man indeed! 

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