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Mount Rushmore of Comic Book Artists, who you got?
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Started by eschnit,

62 posts in this topic

Funnybooks

Funnybooks

Posted
Posted
On 8/10/2021 at 11:02 PM, Readcomix said:

@Funnybooks thanks for the info on Hogarth in response to OP; I was tied up. He also founded the School of Visual Arts; students included Al Williamson, Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott. I wish I could remember the other names Sinnott told me he attended with; the conversation was years ago but I recall he named an all-star team of comics artists. Frazetta and Wood also cited Hogarth’s influence. To hear Joe Sinnott speak reverently and enthusiastically of Hogarth and his experience learning under him was powerful. Here was a comics legend describing the inspiration he looked up to. The tone of voice and look on Joe’s face sticks with me.

He was a master without dispute :foryou:

His work continues to reverberate to this day. Thanks for the additional info.

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Readcomix

Readcomix

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On 8/10/2021 at 11:13 PM, Funnybooks said:

He was a master without dispute :foryou:

His work continues to reverberate to this day. Thanks for the additional info.

Thank you; he was before my time but I dug into learning about him a bit after interviewing Sinnott and hearing him speak that way of his experience. I mean, if we did the same thing with inkers, Sinnott is pretty much a lock for that Washington bust, so it really struck me coming from him.

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Funnybooks

Funnybooks

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Posted
On 8/10/2021 at 11:16 PM, Readcomix said:

Thank you; he was before my time but I dug into learning about him a bit after interviewing Sinnott and hearing him speak that way of his experience. I mean, if we did the same thing with inkers, Sinnott is pretty much a lock for that Washington bust, so it really struck me coming from him.

Mount Rushmore of inkers..

 

Sinnott

Williamson

Frazetta on his own work ^^

Everett

 

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Terry JSA

Terry JSA

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On 8/10/2021 at 10:59 PM, Funnybooks said:

I can't argue Bob Kane's dubious history...a bit sleezy but his name is synonymous with Batman and thus has to be on the Mount

Fair point, he did come up with the initial idea and capitalized on it with the help of Bill Finger. Can’t blame him after all. (shrug)

(Regardless, his history with Batman is still shady.)

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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Posted (edited)

It is far easier for me to come up with a Mount Rushmore for artists working in newspaper cartoons (which had better artists than comics):

* Winsor McCay (do I really need to explain why?)

* Hal Foster (better than Frazetta, Wood, and all his other imitators)

* Alex Raymond (better than Moldoff and all his swipers)

* Noel Sickles/Milt Caniff (only Toth in comics came close to mastering their style)

 * Honorable Mention: Bill Watterson (just can't leave him off the mountain, even though he is modern, and his creativity gets him above Shulz)

 

The comic book Mount Rushmore is hard because I pick based on covers AND interiors (giving more weight to the interiors) and am not trying to pick the prettiest artist:

 * Will Eisner (do I really need to explain why?)

 * Carl Barks (his art was so good that he was called the "good Duck artist" for drawing stories within the constraints of the Disney style because even so they stood head and shoulders above all others)

 * Bill Everett (hugely important and long career in which he mastered both covers and interiors - something his contemporary Schomburg didn't really do - and evolved his always appealing style to fashion both some of the greatest early GA covers and some of the greatest PCH covers of the 1950s, without ever looking cartoony)

 * Harvey Kurtzman (over Bernie Krigstein) (like Krigstein he revolutionized the way in which comic stories were told, and the art styles that could be used to tackle the most mature subjects).

Honorable mentions: Shuster (way underrated) and Baker (revolutionized mature romance art and storytelling).

 

 

 

 

Edited by sfcityduck
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Professor K

Professor K

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I love renaissance era art, particulary the paintings. How real the faces and all look in so many of those works. Amazes me how artists like Da Vinci, van Eyck, Holbein, ect ect could paint with such detail. So my favorite artists especially GA artists are the ones who drew with strong  detail and realism. My Rushmore would be Moldoff, Flessel, Raboy , and Fine and about 5 others tied for 5th place.

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telerites

telerites

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On 8/10/2021 at 10:13 PM, Funnybooks said:

He was a master without dispute :foryou:

His work continues to reverberate to this day. Thanks for the additional info.

 

On 8/10/2021 at 10:02 PM, Readcomix said:

@Funnybooks thanks for the info on Hogarth in response to OP; I was tied up. He also founded the School of Visual Arts; students included Al Williamson, Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott. I wish I could remember the other names Sinnott told me he attended with; the conversation was years ago but I recall he named an all-star team of comics artists. Frazetta and Wood also cited Hogarth’s influence. To hear Joe Sinnott speak reverently and enthusiastically of Hogarth and his experience learning under him was powerful. Here was a comics legend describing the inspiration he looked up to. The tone of voice and look on Joe’s face sticks with me.

When I aspirations of becoming an artist, I bought so many of his how-to-draw books in the 70s.  I still have them.  Admittedly I set a low bar but my daughter was such a good artist and I gave her some of the books and bought others.  I wanted her to pursue art in college but she was worried about making a living.  She is now a Speech Pathologist but can still wield a pretty good pencil.  So yeah, Hogarth deserves lots of props.

My Mt. Rushmore:

Lou Fine

Mac Raboy

L.B. Cole

Alex Schomburg

If another head was carved, Frazetta is it.  And yes, 

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Yorick

Yorick

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No love for Leo O'Mealia?  He's the top of the GA DC pile for me.  I'd also put Flanagan there, but he really didn't do "comics".  Flessel worked his backside off and there are some perfect images he produced.

Al Williamson is near the top in all comic "ages".  Golden through moderns.

Frazetta's Personal Love comics are the best romance interiors ever produced.  He can have the title of "comic artist".

Schomberg, Fine and Baker are already mentioned....

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telerites

telerites

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On 8/11/2021 at 4:07 PM, shadroch said:

I don't think I've ever read a comic that Schomburg drew.  He did wonderful covers, and is my favorite cover artist but I have no idea how his story-telling abilities were.

I know he did the interior of this one and think it may be the only one.   He may have done some other interiors but I am not sure and didn't search GCD.

 81roHQklP1L._AC_SL1185_.jpg

 

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Mmehdy

Mmehdy

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Posted (edited)

top 3

1- Jack King Kirby....great in 1941 with Cap 1, great in 1961 with FF1 and hits the peak in 1966's  FF51 "this man this monster"...and still is great for another 50 issues

2-Robert Crumb-godfather of the underground comic book movement...could do the most controversial comic books ever made in  1970, that is right 1970....or "68...incredible impact of comic books on the cultural evolution of free thought and you have to live this to understand this. A genius, just check out on Ha website a story from the 1970's  Tales of the Future.....

3-Tough call here, on overall impact is my major factor ....Steve Ditko...great great early  Charlton work with Captain atom and SFD, Classic and I mean classic SF Amazing fantasy horror and SF stories for marvel, ASM 1-38 and Ann's 1,2 and ST ANN2 .....cannot be duplicated for the time and went on to do a lot more material which need to be relooked at both in terms of art and story meaning...

Close but no cigar

Fletcher Hanks ...Genius on a level above...held back by his lack of work 1939-1941..."The complete works of Fletcher Hanks" is a must own for any GA comic book collector as well and SF comic book collector, his true life story, his true fight for real justice in comic books when it comes to a villian's end , what could of been with 10 years of his material ....wow, great stuff, super stuff.

Alex Raymond....there were a few years along with Windsor MCcay that no body could do it better, probably nobody has...limited by the comic strip format and freedom.

Wally Wood- his WS and WF and Thunder Agents were up there, he cut his life too short, but the life that lasts half as long shines twice as bright

Frank Frazetta ..the greatest artist of the 20th century hands down, but not really comic book artist, more of a painter, I agree the greatest comic book cover besides Action 1 is WSF 29 and those Buck Rogers covers, but he elevated his game when he went into Conan...

 

Edited by Mmehdy
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