Top 10 Marvel artists of all time !!!

[Guardian Comics]

If you were to make a list, not in any particular order, who the top 10 Marvel artists of all time, who would be on the list? You don't have to personally agree with anyone you put on the list but who would be generally accepted as the greatest Marvel artists of all time? I think as a general consensus the list would look like this.

 

John Romita Sr. (my fave)

Steve Ditko

Jack Kirby (especially his early covers)

Jim Steranko

Mike Ploog (not sure why)

Todd McFarlane

John Byrne

Barry Windsor Smith (which I truly don't understand as the cover to Avengers #100 is fugly)

Neal Adams (limited work but truly groundbreaking)

Gil Kane (whose 70's work at Marvel, surpasses his 60's stuff at DC)

 

Would this be the definitive list?

 

For me personally I would replace BWS, Ploog and Steranko with Ross Andru, John Buscema and Dave Cockrum.

 

Jim

[*paull*]

Buscema is without a doubt in the Top 10, and would probably be in my Top 5.

 

Andru, Gil Kane and Cockrum aren't in the same league as Steranko.

[tth2]

1. Jack Kirby

2. Steve Ditko

3. Neal Adams

4. Jim Steranko

5. Barry Smith

6. John Romita Sr.

7. John Byrne

8. Frank Miller

9. Todd MacFarlane

10.Jim Lee

[blowout]

I think you need to find room for Jim Starlin in there, and I would boot Todd McFarlane (who would struggle to make my top 100).

[tth2]

Barry Windsor Smith (which I truly don't understand as the cover to Avengers #100 is fugly)

Who care about Avengers #100? His brilliance was established by his work in Conan.

 

Gil Kane (whose 70's work at Marvel, surpasses his 60's stuff at DC)

I could not disagree more.

[tth2]

I think you need to find room for Jim Starlin in there, and I would boot Todd McFarlane (who would struggle to make my top 100).

Starlin would be in my top 15, as would Paul Gulacy. I actually do like MacFarlane a lot, and given his popularity and success at Marvel I think he has to rank in the top 10.

 

If my list were just about personal preference, Romita and Miller would be removed from my list.

[blowout]

Starlin would be in my top 15, as would Paul Gulacy.

 

I would have mentioned Gulacy too, but I think we are in a minority. His body of work was probably not far reaching enough to warrant a place in the top artist list in any case.

[divad]

I think you need to find room for Jim Starlin in there, and I would boot Todd McFarlane (who would struggle to make my top 100).

 

I agree, and kick Byrne the heck off the list while you're at it . . .

[divad]

1. Jack Kirby

2. Steve Ditko

3. Jim Steranko

4. John Romita Sr.

5. Barry Smith

6. Neal Adams

7. John Buscema

8. Gene Colan

9. Gil Kane

10. Jim Starlin

 

[tth2]

7. John Buscema

I'd use the "J" word, but then a horde of Buscema lovers would get all over my case.

 

8. Gene Colan

Never liked his work and had to endure it for much of the Captain America run in the early 1970s. He might have been okay for Dracula, Daredevil or Batman, but his murky, shadowy style was ill-suited for a straightforward superhero like Captain America. I think one of the reasons Cap was never a very popular title was because of Colan.

[blowout]

7. John Buscema

I'd use the "J" word, but then a horde of Buscema lovers would get all over my case.

 

8. Gene Colan

Never liked his work and had to endure it for much of the Captain America run in the early 1970s. He might have been okay for Dracula, Daredevil or Batman, but his murky, shadowy style was ill-suited for a straightforward superhero like Captain America. I think one of the reasons Cap was never a very popular title was because of Colan.

 

I agree that neither Buscema or Colan should make the top 10. Both have created a few memorable covers, but their interior work was pretty mundane in general.

 

...And yes, the 'J' word is appropriate for both!

[Kakapo]

In no particular order:

 

1- Jack Kirby

2- Steve Ditko

3- Neal Adams

4- John Romita Sr.

5- Frank Brunner

6- Jim Steranko

7- John Buscema

8- Gene Colan

9- BWSmith

10- Alex Ross (Marvels!)

 

Near-misses: Romita Jr., Byrne, and from the last ten years, Mike Wieringo drew a great Spider-man (and no one else will name him if this thread goes to ten pages).

 

326th- Frank Robbins

[blowout]

 

326th- Frank Robbins

 

[westform]

 

326th- Frank Robbins

 

 

I agree with this as long as there is no one at 327th...

 

I think you have to seperate cover from interior work. Love Byrne interiors on Xmen, think the covers are mostly mediocre. Love J.Buscema's interiors in the 70's, but think his covers are mostly mediocre. Anyway, it's all personal anyway. My list for covers since that's mostly what I collect would be:

 

Jack Kirby

John Romita

Gil Kane

Marie Severin

Gene Colan

Dave Cockrum

Bill Everett on Subby in the 70's

Steve Ditko on Spider-man

Jim Starlin

John Romita again just because he deserves it.

[Dick Pontoon]

1. Jack Kirby

2. Steve Ditko

3. Jim Steranko

4. John Romita Sr.

5. Barry Smith

6. Neal Adams

7. John Buscema

8. Gene Colan

9. Gil Kane

10. Jim Starlin

 

 

That's pretty much how my list would look, except I'd swap out Starlin for Ploog. Starlin's a great draftsman and illustrator, but he's always seemed a bit dry to me.

 

I'm surprised to see Colan and Buscema being brushed off. I think both's interiors were great. The early Surfers that Sal inked are grade-A; dramatic and moody. And Colan's stuff is similar to Kirby's in that even tossed off pages are still pretty interesting.

[AvengersFan]

My personal favorites:

 

1. George Perez (blew me away as a kid and still does)

2. Jack Kirby

3. John Byrne (his Avengers and X-men in the 70's were awesome)

4. John Buscema

5. Neal Adams

6. Sal Buscema (epitomized the House Style during the 70's-I love looking at his art although he wasn't groundbreaking in any sense)

7. Barry Smith

8. Jim Starlin

9. John Romita

10. Ayers/Don Heck (just drew everything in the 60's)

[Sal]

sacrilege alert: i'd take Neal Adams off. or at least bump him down to the bottom of the top ten.

 

he did basically five issues of Avengers, nine of X-Men, and a dozen or so 3rd and 4th tier books.

 

this is basically the same concept as leaving Michael Jordon off of "greatest college basketball players of all time" lists, as he wasn't dominant in college, likely due to the constraints of the system in and the coach he played for.

 

longevity has to count for something at the top of this list. this is why Steranko gets near the bottom of my list as well. not because i don't think he's a top artist, but because his body of work - albeit very iconoclastic and visionary - doesn't match those at the top of my list;

 

1. King - Kirby IS SA Marvel. without Jack Kirby, there is no Marvel comics.

2. John Buscema - not a huge fan of his style, but probably the most underrated draughtsman of all time

3. John Byrne - carried practically the entire franchise on his back for 5 years in the mid to late 70s

4. Ditko - duh.

5. Romita Senior - double duh

6. BWS

7. Steranko

8. Neal Adams

9. McFarlane - not because of any great love for his work, but for other obvious reasons.

10. Gil Kane - the man did about ten thousand covers for Marvel in the 70s, each one of them spectacular, even the up-the-nose shots

 

next set of guys includes Brunner, Starlin, Perez, John Severin, Frank Miller, Paul Smith and Art Adams

[tth2]

I agree that neither Buscema or Colan should make the top 10. Both have created a few memorable covers, but their interior work was pretty mundane in general.

 

...And yes, the 'J' word is appropriate for both!

Actually, I wouldn`t call Colan a journeyman. His art style was very distinctive. I just didn`t care for it.

 

On the other hand, John Buscema`s art doesn`t bug me, but it doesn`t excite me either. He`s the vanilla ice cream of Marvel artists.

[tth2]

 

326th- Frank Robbins

 

 

I agree with this as long as there is no one at 327th...

[tth2]

I`m really surprised I`m the only one who named Frank Miller in his top 10. During the long stretch from the time that Smith left Marvel until McFarlane and Lee became stars, the only artists at Marvel who got broken out in price guides were Byrne and Miller. He had a seriously fanatical following.