SpineTic Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 What are your thoughts on Alex Ross and Jack Kirby, or is there no comparison? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wardevil0 Posted March 13 Popular Post Share Posted March 13 I'm not aware of anything Alex Ross is attributed to have created, so there's no reason to consider them on the same, or even similar, level. Ross has a popular style of depicting well-known characters, but is otherwise not especially influential in the creative or business side of comicdom, as far as I know. crazyhips, Inhuman Fiend, grendelbo and 19 others 18 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post shadroch Posted March 13 Popular Post Share Posted March 13 While I like Ross's art much more, he will never reach Kirby's status. jimjum12, BA773, Rip and 4 others 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougC Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 (edited) on first instinct I view Kirby as an generational comic book artist and creator, my first thoughts on Ross is that he is an amazing painter and cover artist. I don't believe Ross has done extended internal comic work over 10 issues more than a small handful of times and without looking it up the only one I can name off hand is his work on Justice (DC). I believe the work of both Ross and Kirby are just to different to try and compare to one another. Edited March 13 by DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/13/2024 at 9:16 AM, wardevil0 said: I'm not aware of anything Alex Ross is attributed to have created, so there's no reason to consider them on the same, or even similar, level. Ross has a popular style of depicting well-known characters, but is otherwise not especially influential in the creative or business side of comicdom, as far as I know. You could say that about Schomburg but he has gained mythical status. You have to really search to find books he did any interior work on, and I am not aware of him creating anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black_Adam Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/13/2024 at 9:11 AM, SpineTic said: What are your thoughts on Alex Ross and Jack Kirby, or is there no comparison? No comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlextherobot Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/13/2024 at 9:24 AM, DougC said: on first instinct I view Kirby as an generational comic book artist and creator, my first thoughts on Ross is that he is an amazing painter and cover artist. I don't believe Ross has done extended internal comic work over 10 issues more than a small handful of times and without looking it up the only one I can name off hand is his work on Justice (DC). I believe the work of both Ross and Kirby are just to different to try and compare to one another. Even on Justice he was basically painting over Doug Braithwaite's layouts and figure work (is my understanding). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Cataldo Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Kirby is a visionary and his creations changed the industry. Alex is a far better artist. By FAR. Rip and D84 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post F For Fake Posted March 13 Popular Post Share Posted March 13 I don't care for Alex Ross .His art has no dynamism, it just looks like a bunch of cosplayers standing around. There's no energy, there's not momentum. Kirby was all energy, all momentum. He was a master of creating motion on a static page. He also created nearly everything worth a damn in superhero comics over the course of a couple of decades. Man was a legitimate artistic genius. Alex Ross paints pretty pictures. There's no comparison. bc, Readcomix, Happyfarm and 11 others 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B2D327 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 The body of work Kirby has achieved will never be matched. He's known as the "King" for good reason. KCOComics, SpideyFein and KirbyJack 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Dr. Balls Posted March 13 Popular Post Share Posted March 13 I agree with @F For Fake - Alex Ross’ art isn’t dynamic, but ultra realistic like Normal Rockwell. He fabulously illustrates with great realism characters were used to seeing in dynamic, simplified styles. It’s cool to see realistic renditions of these characters, but I believe that’s where the nostalgia for his work ends. Immensely talented - even iconic - him and Kirby are not really comparable in my opinion. Two very different ways of creating a product. Ecclectica, Chaz G., csaag and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F For Fake Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/13/2024 at 1:14 PM, Dr. Balls said: I agree with @F For Fake - Alex Ross’ art isn’t dynamic, but ultra realistic like Normal Rockwell. He fabulously illustrates with great realism characters were used to seeing in dynamic, simplified styles. It’s cool to see realistic renditions of these characters, but I believe that’s where the nostalgia for his work ends. Immensely talented - even iconic - him and Kirby are not really comparable in my opinion. Two very different ways of creating a product. Well said, and I should clarify, when I said I "don't care" for Ross, I specifically mean as a comic artist, a storyteller. He definitely paints very lovely portraits, they look cool, but it's not really "comics" to me. Black_Adam, Dr. Balls and Readcomix 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D84 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 "No energy, no momentum" on Alex Ross? Point Five 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post grendelbo Posted March 13 Popular Post Share Posted March 13 Point Five, Ken Aldred, MatterEaterLad and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F For Fake Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 (edited) On 3/13/2024 at 1:29 PM, D84 said: "No energy, no momentum" on Alex Ross? Yeahhh...just not my thing. Same deal with why I was never a Neal Adams fan, I don't really like realism in comics. The more "real" you make it look, the less active and interesting it becomes. Pretty pictures for sure, but not great comics. Edit to add: I totally understand why people might love Alex Ross, some folks really like for things to look "real", and that's fine. I'm a big proponent of "let people like what they like". Just not my bag. To me eye, when you make superheroes look to "real", it gets silly. A lot of Alex Ross's stuff looks like he got one of his neighbors to come over and put on a costume so he could paint it. That makes me titter. Tee hee. Edited March 13 by F For Fake AJD, Mr Sneeze and Dr. Balls 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 It's an odd comparison, as their skill sets are pretty wildly different. I prefer looking at Alex Ross's work for many reasons, but as some of the reactions above indicate, he's more of an excellent niche artist than a groundbreaking visionary. KCOComics and Shadow 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Aldred Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 (edited) I’ve always admired the energy pouring out of Kirby’s art, which really drew you into the story and made it a very engaging read. There’s much less of that dynamism in Ross’ art, which makes me feel I’m reading more at a distance. Very well executed, but a colder and a much more sterile experience for me. Also, no competition when it comes to Kirby’s almost relentless, manic ability to create characters. Of course, not everything works well, with a spectrum running from, say, Black Panther to Paranex, but, with that level of torrential outpouring, conceptual quality control issues aren’t too surprising. Ross is extremely prolific and driven in his own way as an illustrator, I particularly like some of the camera angles and figure work in his more recent Captain America covers, he’s clearly immensely talented at reinterpreting extant characters, which is safer ground than Kirby’s, and with page layout and graphic narrative progression, but, overall, Kirby’s on an entirely different level as as all-round, defining, creative force, and, for me, much more entertaining. And, that last factor is a very primal reason as to why I’m still reading comics after four decades. It doesn’t have to have fine art pretensions, and maybe a faction will eventually canonise Ross as a more modern equivalent to BWS, for example, but, I still can’t see the broader significance of Kirby’s being attributed to him in terms of a retrospective legacy. Edited March 13 by Ken Aldred SpineTic, Jayman and PopKulture 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperheart Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 No The humble Watcher lurking, Ken Aldred and Mr Sneeze 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Aldred Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/13/2024 at 7:34 PM, paperheart said: No Simple, pithy, but very effective. paperheart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Not dynamic? SpineTic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
