Steranko: The Greatest Comic Book Artist of the Late Silver Age?

[Zonker]

I realize John Buscema is well-loved on these boards, but I think "journeyman" is the accurate appraisal of his work. Not intended as a slam at his memory, and I'd put someone like Gil Kane in the same category.

 

Did you learn nothing from the last time someone called Buscema a journeyman?

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=750868&page=&fpart=1&vc=1

 

Sorry, looks like I owe some royalties to tth2

[october]

Better than Adams

 

 

Sterako's interior work couldn't hold a candle to Adams. Steranko's covers might be superior to some of Neal's stuff, but Adams was FAR more prolific. I think the best of both artists are about on par with each other....though it doesn't get much better than Cap 110.

[Sharkey]

I detest these types of threads where somebody asks who was the best artist of ___ era. Unless the whole point was to have everyone rehash why they think the artist they like is the best of all time and argue about why the artist they like is better than the one you say is the best, there's really no point to starting a thread. Just do an appreciation thread and let people post the stuff they like. Instead, prepare to have this thread come down to "so and so sucks" "no he doesn't, YOU suck!" yada yada yada.

 

Whether or not you like an artist depends on your individual taste.

 

 

So here's my general take on Steranko:

 

The guy was (is?) a phenomenal artist. He was a true innovator. He had an uncanny ability to create mind-blowing, eye-catching covers. He brought an entirely different look and feel to comics because of his abstract, surreal homages and his incorporation of pop art into the comic layouts. The Nick Fury covers and the cover to Hulk Annual 1 are among some of my all-time favorites. However, I never thought as highly of his X-Men covers.

 

That said, I think Steranko was far better doing covers and splashes and really cool looking stuff for the sake of grabbing people's attention. I never felt that his artistic style helped "tell the story" INSIDE the comic better than others. So if he had a weakness I would say it was the he created "WOW" graphics without necessarily furthering the telling of the story. I love to look at his art, but I don't like trying to read the stories in the comics he drew. Maybe the stories just sucked, but I have a hard time reading any of the comics he did the art on.

[burntboy]

Better than Adams

 

 

Sterako's interior work couldn't hold a candle to Adams. Steranko's covers might be superior to some of Neal's stuff, but Adams was FAR more prolific. I think the best of both artists are about on par with each other....though it doesn't get much better than Cap 110.

 

gotta agree on the Cap 110 - everytime i see that cover, i'm just sucked into the moment...........i can just hear the hulk thinking - "come here you little sh*t".......and Cap looks like he's about to wet his pants - great stuff......

[Silver Surfer]

I realize John Buscema is well-loved on these boards, but I think "journeyman" is the accurate appraisal of his work.

 

I respect your opinion but I can't think of a more insulting way to describe probably the best artist of that era. Setranko in my mind is vastly overrated. Even Buscema work in the 80's with the Avengers was spectacular and its no coincidence that the series has suffered ever since he left it 200 plus issues ago. Besides we can probably all agree that the greatest cover of all-time (SS#4 ) came from Buscema's fingertips. However, lets carry on with this thread.

[Norrin_Radd]

And the SS fans come out of the woodwork to berate Zonker for his offending remark about Buscema.

[Zonker]

Oh well, you tried to warn me. I thought I might have limited the blowback by comparing Buscema to Gil Kane. No offense intended towards either of those guys ('journeyman' must have more negative connotations for others than it does for me).

[october]

. Besides we can probably all agree that the greatest cover of all-time (SS#4 )

 

Top 10, no doubt.

 

 

....and I still don't have one! I got outbid about 5 minutes ago on one with a crappy scan.

[Silver Surfer]

And the SS fans come out of the woodwork to berate Zonker for his offending remark about Buscema.

 

[uclapeterg]

Better than Adams

 

 

Sterako's interior work couldn't hold a candle to Adams. Steranko's covers might be superior to some of Neal's stuff, but Adams was FAR more prolific. I think the best of both artists are about on par with each other....though it doesn't get much better than Cap 110.

 

gotta agree on the Cap 110 - everytime i see that cover, i'm just sucked into the moment...........i can just hear the hulk thinking - "come here you little sh*t".......and Cap looks like he's about to wet his pants - great stuff......

 

umm, ok, if you say so.

[Moondog]

Zonker misinterprets the word "journeyman". He's using it to refer to an above average artist with a long tenure. When it actually means experienced, capable workman.

 

Buscema and Kane had long careers but were not journeymen in any sense.

 

Herb Trimpe. Don Heck. Frank Giacoia. Etc., etc., etc...

 

These are journeymen. Guys who turned in a job and collected a paycheck. An editor's dream. Competant story tellers. Always on time with their assignments.

 

Buscema and Kane were true artists in every sense who produced innovative, exciting, dramatic work.

 

Journeymen, indeed!

 

Zonk: get a dictionary for chrissakes!

[The Brain]

Zonker misinterprets the word "journeyman". He's using it to refer to an above average artist with a long tenure. When it actually means experienced, capable workman.

 

Buscema and Kane had long careers but were not journeymen in any sense.

 

Herb Trimpe. Don Heck. Frank Giacoia. Etc., etc., etc...

 

These are journeymen. Guys who turned in a job and collected a paycheck. An editor's dream. Competant story tellers. Always on time with their assignments.

 

Buscema and Kane were true artists in every sense who produced innovative, exciting, dramatic work.

 

Journeymen, indeed!

 

Zonk: get a dictionary for chrissakes!

 

 

 

IN DEFENSE OF ZONKER: From Webster's New World Dictionary: journeyman,1(a) a worker for a

 

daily wage (b) a worker who has served an apprenticeship and is therefore qualified to work at a specified

 

trade. 2. (here it comes!): any sound, experienced, but not brilliant craftsman or performer.

[BillyBatson4360]

I would agree that Kane & Buscema are better than journeymen. In fact, I really like Kane's work a lot.

 

All this adulation over buscema has me frankly puzzled.

 

He's good, but hardly remarkable. That Silver Surfer cover is nice, but it would never make my top 100 comic covers (admittedly, I'd be including EC, Disney and lots of other companies in the mix). In fact, I think Steranko alone cranked out ten covers better than the Silver Surfer.

 

I'm also puzzled at the comments from some about Steranko's comic stories being hard to follow. I just pulled out the 3 trade paperbacks collecting Steranko's career at Marvel. The interiors are brilliant and exceedingly easy to follow. This is a guy who consciously studied the greats of comic story-telling. His panel layout and positioning of figures within those panels consistently tells your eye where it's supposed to go next.

 

I would scan them except I will damage the spines if I try to lay them flat on my scanner bed. But look at pages 2-3 of SHIELD # 1 - a wordless series of panels that quite cleanly and smoothly tells a story.

 

Check the two-page splash from SHIELD # 3 where he tells a story in pictures inside the first two letters of each word of the title - culminating in a drawing at the bottom of the page that then leads over to a hellhound howling on the second page of the spread.

 

The entire story "At the Stroke of Midnight" - extremely easy to read and yet each page is rich in graphic detail and bold coloring schemes.

 

If you grew up reading Buscema & Romita and think those guys are the titans of the industry, that's fine. But neither were innovative. The were solid craftsmen who produced an exceptional volume of work at a very high level.

[Zonker]

Thanks, I have a dictionary.

 

I did intend to call Buscema and Kane experienced, capable, reliable workmen, and my reading of Websters supports that take on "journeyman." (I tend to think of it as interchangable with "craftsman.") I feel the same way about someone like Curt Swan or Irv Novick. And I like lots of stuff by these guys, no doubt. "Solid" but not brilliant. I'd reserve "brilliant" for guys like Adams, Eisner, Kurtzman, Wally Wood in his better days, and yes Steranko.

 

But since the initial feedback on this thread, I did go back and see that the related word "journeywork" can be used in place of "hackwork," and that was certainly not my intent regarding any of the above folks' work.

[namisgr]

OK, since most here would rather argue over an unarguable matter of personal taste, and just to be provocative, I'll put forth the notion that ROBERT CRUMB is the greatest comic book artist of the late Silver Age. He certainly influenced more subsequent comic creators than Steranko, and arguably anyone else from the late 60s (with the possible exception of Adams). His original art from that era commands the highest prices. He produced both classic covers and amazing interiors. His artistic style was derivative of and paid homage to classic cartoonists and comic artists like Basil Wolverton, yet was wildly innovative. His work had more cultural impact than any other comic book artist of the late '60s.

 

Comments? Criticisms? Rotten tomatoes?

 

 

[october]

His original art commands more that an Adams or a Steranko page/cover? Not disputing this (I don't know much about OA) it's just suprising. Can you provide any sales prices or data? I would be very interested.

[ft88]

Crumb is sweet but even a classic cover by Crumb would not command more than a Batman 251 cover or a Hulk Special #1 Original art. Cant even imagine what those two would go for.

 

Point take though: in terms of originality, style, influence, design, impact and even artist mystery - Crumb is tough to beat. I've never been a fan but he is up there on a top ten list.

[namisgr]

His original art commands more that an Adams or a Steranko page/cover? Not disputing this (I don't know much about OA) it's just suprising. Can you provide any sales prices or data? I would be very interested.

 

$28K for a Crumb cover that isn't one his better known or most sought: Cover art to Motor City #2

 

The mid-60s covers featuring Fritz the Cat may have been the first from that era to have hit 6 figures. You can only imagine what the original "Keep On Truckin" art could sell for.

[october]

Interesting, but I think many Steranko or Adams covers would easily crack 100K if they came up. Hell, Neal's repro covers sell for 10K+.

[Silver Surfer]

not brilliant craftsman or performer. [/b]