Who are the most under-rated Comic Book Artists?

[samurainoir]

Who are your favourite comic book artists that don't seem to have the "name" recognition that they deserve? What books/issues do you recommend that best shows off their talents?

[BlackKnight]

Lopez & Breyfrogle...Thier work is Everywhere with Batman,..( Ok More so Lopez) But either one Rarely Gets Mentioned.... Neither one has a Black & White Batman Statue yet,.. & Both have Drawn more Batman Comics than 75 percent of the statues in that line that were Made. :sarky:

[thunderbolt]

^^^ Really enjoyed Breyfogle's Detective run. As for my pick, Bruno Premiani. His Doom Patrol work in the 60's was amazing. It was so unsuperhero like for the time.

[johnnystorm]

Jose Garcia-Lopez- designed almost every iconic DC character there is, his art is on hundreds of Dc products from glasses to t-shirts.
Jim Aparo- the Brave & the Bold artist could draw anybody and make them look good, and his Spectre & Aquaman work is classic.
Jordi Bernet- I love his work on Jonah Hex, very much like Alex Toth.
Dick Giordano- nobody as adept at drawing beautiful women.
Dan DeCarlo- Archie Comics owed so much to this man and done him wrong at the very end.
Jesse Santos-fantastic artist on Gold Key's Doctor Spektor & Tragg.

[PNGwynne]

^^^ Really enjoyed Breyfogle's Detective run. As for my pick, Bruno Premiani. His Doom Patrol work in the 60's was amazing. It was so unsuperhero like for the time.

Amen, brother! Premiani's style was a major factor in making DP a unique, cult favorite.

[kryptosmaster]

You stole my nomination. I was going to say Garcia-Lopez as well.
Rich

[MegoSteve]

Paul Grist.

[Random Axe]

Dan Jurgens - He's highly influenced by early 80's Byrne work, but he's always on time, does great backgrounds and is excellent with his layouts.

Renato Guedes - I love his super clean line work. It's a very distinct style. He draws a great Superman.

Jim Aparo - I agree with everyone else, this guy NEVER got his due respect. His style, to me, was a mixture of Neal Adams and Carmine Infanto.

Steve Lytle - I hope I spelled that right. I have no idea what this guy is doing now, but his run on Legion of SUperheroes in the 80's was terrific. I'm not sure what drew me to his work. He's probably out of the game now.

Bob Hall - He drew one of my favorite comic stories of all time, Squadron Supreme. He highly influenced me in high school.

Scott

[johnnystorm]

Lytle just did some variant covers for Action Comics, did he not?

Here's one I forgot, but it looks like she'll be getting some respect- Ramona Fradon, one of the great women to draw comics, doing Aquaman, Metamorpho, Plastic Man, & Super Friends:

Newsarama.com : Dynamic Forces Announces Ramona Fradon Retrospective (http://www.newsarama.com/comics/050922-Fradon-Dynamite.html)

I was gonna say I hope this gets released in a signed edition, but it's Dynamic Forces- there will probably 17 variant cover signed & unsigned versions. It's all good, so long as Ms. Fradon gets a cut.

[The Toyroom]

Some of my favorites that just don't get the recogintion that their peers do...

Marshall Rogers (everyone seems to forget about his version of the Batman when they mention the 70s...always Neal Adams it seems but never Rogers)

Dan Jurgens (I agree with Scott....this guy has been solid for a long time...glad to see he's back in the spotlight with Booster Gold)

Jim Aparo (he seems to top everyone's list of under-rated but deservingly so...his work on Batman and a slew of other characters on Brave and the Bold is legendary. It's his version of a character I see when you mention Aquaman, The Phantom Stranger, Deadman, Metamorpho...)

Paul Smith ( I loved his work on Uncanny X-Men and was sad to see him replaced by John Romita Jr. :yuk: His "Golden Age" is amazing)

Mike Sekowsky (yeah his early JLA featured barrel chested super-heroes but I think he got better with age)

Wayne Boring (and speaking of barrel chested super-heroes, Boring's stint on Superman is one of my favorites. Nobody could draw gangsters and thugs like Boring. His artwork was anything but...)

[The Toyroom]

Lytle just did some variant covers for Action Comics, did he not?

Yes LIGHTLE did some variants during the Legion arc recently

[BlackKnight]

Jurgens is a very good one....
I think Aparo gets mentioned alot,.. & is not under rated... Maybe not for Brave & the Bold ( even though it was Batman) & Aquaman,.. but the Dude gets some serious nods for his Batman work ingeneral. He is also a Fav of mine.. :cool_y:

[Captain]

Sergio Aragone!
Just met the guy for the first time recently.Great guy. He actually looks exactly like his little cartoon self portrait in the Groo letters pages.

[kingdom warrior]

Golden Age Artist Matt Baker.......Amazing artist!!!!

Steven Hughes Lady Death

[madmarva]

He's getting more attention lately particularly with Blackest Night about to kick off, but I've loved Ivan Reis work since he worked on Superman in Action Comics.

As for old timers, I loved Irv Novick on Batman and the Flash in the 1970s.

Ernie Chau on Batman and Savage Sword of Conan

Don Newton was another great Batman artist and I liked his work on Captain Marvel in World's Finest.

Rich Buckler did great work for Marvel and DC.

I never thought Curt Swan got enough credit, and if you've ever seen his raw pencils, man they are beautiful.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I wouldn't consider Swan, Giordano or Aparo under-appreciated. They all have had numerous retrospective books and articles dedicated to them. And they all most definitely deserve them!

Good point on Breyfogle. I really liked his Batman stuff. It reminded me somewhat of a modern version of Infantino's raw pencils. Very ethereal, when not handled by a smooth inker.

Marshall Rogers does seem to get overlooked somewhat. Lots of love for him in The Batcave Companion book. Personally, of the modern Batman artists he's my favorite. I like Adams better overall, but Rogers drew the better Batman.

Don Newton was fanstastic, and had he lived longer, I think he would have gotten the accolades with more work and varied series under his belt.

Graham Nolan did a nice run on Detective back in the 90s with Chuck Dixon and Scott Hana. Real classic Batman-type stuff with the modern aesthetic. He left comic books to work on comic strips, unfortunately for us.

Jerome K. Moore is an artist who is rarely mentioned. He did the Green Arrow/Black Canary backups in Detective for some time in the 80s, and then eventually wound up on DC's Star Trek books. His realistic renderings are on par with Brian Bolland, and his ability to capture the Trek actors' likenesses were second to none. I'm not even sure what he's doing now.

Chris

[johnnystorm]

Yes LIGHTLE did some variants during the Legion arc recently

My bad!

Hey, how about Dick Dillin? What a run on JLA and all those characters per issue- not to mention Blackhawk?

Another guy I liked in the 70s was Mike Nasser, who did a handful of stuff and disappeared.

[Riffster]

Jose Luis who's doing some issues of JLA now
He also did these 2 pics for me
http://usera.ImageCave.com/Riffster/Art/JL_Shazam2.jpg
http://usera.ImageCave.com/Riffster/Art/JL_Hawkgirl.jpg
Mariah Benes the artists for Ms.Marvel she's pretty talented even compared to her brother Ed Benes

[kingdom warrior]

Sal Buscema.....Loved his 70's work for Marvel

[jaypiscopo]

Sal Buscema.....Loved his 70's work for Marvel

right on!

Don Heck too

check out Don Heck when he inked his own work-

Don Newton is a good choice

Dave Simons is a major creator-

[ctc]

>Jesse Santos

Oh, HELL yeah! Others I'd add:

-Carlos Esquezera
-Alex Nino
-Ron Smith
-Stan Sakai
-Ernie Colon
-Mike Sagara

Don C.

[thunderbolt]

Frank Espinosa

[aquatroy]

There have been a lot of great names mentioned. I want to second the Renato Guedes & Wayne Boring. Romona Fradon is a freakin Hall of Famer. Dave C0ckrum deserves more love. He had a big hand in shaping Marvel comics in the 80's and his LoSH stuff is legendary. Without Dave C0ckrum your don't get John Byrne or Mike Grell.

[Captain]

Eduardo Barreto....guy was incredible with anything he did from Batman to western stuff. Not sure if hes still in the business, or even if he's still around?

[kryptosmaster]

Alfredo Alcala (R.I.P.) was a master. Up there in the ranks with Nestor Redondo.
Although I really hated his art as a kid (he was given Kamandi at the end of it's run and I was so not liking it) I have fallen in love with his style now and wish he was still around to do more stuff today.
Rich

[GreenLantern9999]

Mike Magnolia (I know people know who he is I just feel he in under appreciated)
Eric Powell I loved his Action Comics run!
Pat Gleason beautiful work on GLC but I think his colorist ruins it for me.
and of course Art Baltazar!

[aquatroy]

Mike Magnolia (I know people know who he is I just feel he in under appreciated)
Eric Powell I loved his Action Comics run!
Pat Gleason beautiful work on GLC but I think his colorist ruins it for me.
and of course Art Baltazar!

Pat Gleason. I love his stuff! His work on the short lived Aquaman, Sub Diego arc was really good. DC needs to get that inker back on his pencils.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Eduardo Barreto....guy was incredible with anything he did from Batman to western stuff. Not sure if hes still in the business, or even if he's still around?

Seconded! I've always liked his stuff. He's kind of like a more dynamic Curt Swan, great with the characterization and quiet moments. He had the unfortunate task of following both Perez and Garcia-Lopez on New Teen Titans, but did a fine job. It was always a treat to see him draw Batman. He did some style-guide licensing work for DC for years as well, really the only other guy besides Garcia-Lopez to do much at the time. So that shows you he's got chops.

Chris

[johnnystorm]

Baretto just did a backup story in the current issue of Captain Action Comics #4 from Moonstone. Fantastic classic CA! A great artist.

[Surfsup]

I haven't heard a lot of praise for JH Williams III or Gabriel Hardman (Done some issues of Agents of Atlas). They are both outstanding artists, especially Williams III, his design work is superb.

[jwyblejr]

Herb Trimpe. Had some good stuff on Incredible Hulk. Plus did the early issues on G.I. Joe for Marvel.

[thunderbolt]

^^^ In the 90's he tried to ape the Image/Leifeld style and really trashed himself.

[thunderbolt]

Ross Andru's another one. Great work on the Metal Men and Wonder Woman.

[D-McMEGO]

Mike Grell

[Earth 2 Chris]

Ross Andru's another one. Great work on the Metal Men and Wonder Woman.

I really liked Andru. He seemed ahead of the curve with the cut musculature back in the 60s. In the 80s he kind of fell into a rut of redrawing the same poses over and over, but it was still good clean stuff.


^^^ In the 90's he tried to ape the Image/Leifeld style and really trashed himself.

Oh yeah, I remember that. That was unfortunate.

Chris

[kingdom warrior]

^^^ In the 90's he tried to ape the Image/Leifeld style and really trashed himself.
I think that had a lot to do with the Idiot Editors who wanted to cash in on the Image crap Look during that time. Older artist either adapted or wouldn't get work.

[samurainoir]

Given the audience restrictions that most Avatar books have, I'm not surprised that Juan Jose Ryp doesn't get more attention. Hopefully his books with Alan Moore and Warren Ellis will raise his profile. It's unfortunate that the colorists at Avatar often muddy up the detail in his images rather than enhance them.

To me, Ryp is the crackbaby offspring of Jim Lee and Geof Darrow.
hhttp://www.comicbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/annam2w.jpg

[Earth 2 Chris]

He's gone now, but Irv Novick is definitely under-rated. He had a very kinetic style, and he adapted with the times, but still managed to keep the same flavor to his art. He co-created the Shield, and had LONG runs on Batman and the Flash. Sure his Batman was influenced by Adams quite a bit, but he brought enough of his own tricks to the table to make a memorable impact on Batman. I always really liked his Robin. Mego did too apparently!!!

Chris

[aquatroy]

Rags Morales. I loves me some Rags Morales!

[thunderbolt]

^^^ Whatever happened to him? I really liked his work on Black Condor.

[aquatroy]

He did the "robot" Hourman series. He and Johns had a magnificent run on Hawkman. Say what you want about Identity Crisis, Morales did a great job on that book. He had a short run on Wonder Woman. It was good, but I feel like the inker let him down. He's doing the Starbreaker ark on JLA right now.

[The Toyroom]

He's gone now, but Irv Novick is definitely under-rated. He had a very kinetic style, and he adapted with the times, but still managed to keep the same flavor to his art. He co-created the Shield, and had LONG runs on Batman and the Flash. Sure his Batman was influenced by Adams quite a bit, but he brought enough of his own tricks to the table to make a memorable impact on Batman.

I always liked his artwork on The Joker's short-lived book too....

[Earth 2 Chris]

Ooh, Rags Morales. Fantastic artist. And nice guy too. His Black Condor art was a lot better than most of DC's output at the time. They should hand the art chores on Batman to him.

Chris

[thunderbolt]

And I just read that Rags will be the artist on the Spirit/Doc Savage/Blackhawk/Batman/ Rima the Jungle Girl project. Great news. DC's got the rights to The Avenger, too. Maybe he's in this book?

[The Bat]

Another Guy I don't think gets enough credit is Gil Kane. I love his Spiderman stuff...and his version of "the Lizard" is my favorite to date!:yes:

[Earth 2 Chris]

Gil Kane drew the best fight scenes in comics, ever. No one drew a punch like Kane. When his characters hit someone, the victim was sent flying backwards off the page!!! Love his stuff, but like him best when he's not inking himself.

Chris

[The Bat]

Love his stuff, but like him best when he's not inking himself.

Chris



Agreed!:wink:

[thunderbolt]

Kane's Micronauts work in the 80's was pretty blahh, might have been the fault of Danny Bulanadi, tho. He was a pencil killer.

[The Toyroom]

And I just read that Rags will be the artist on the Spirit/Doc Savage/Blackhawk/Batman/ Rima the Jungle Girl project. Great news. DC's got the rights to The Avenger, too. Maybe he's in this book?

Yup Avenger's in there as well...

[thunderbolt]

^^^ Man, that book just keeps getting better. Wonder if they are tying to land the rights to the Shadow, too.

[The Bat]

Kane's Micronauts work in the 80's was pretty blahh, might have been the fault of Danny Bulanadi, tho. He was a pencil killer.


Yeah...I've seen many a bad Inker ruin a good Artist's Pencils. If I remember correctly...Dan Green was one such Inker?:yuk: I always wanted to see Gil Kane work with early Terry Austin.

[kingdom warrior]

Another Guy I don't think gets enough credit is Gil Kane. I love his Spiderman stuff...and his version of "the Lizard" is my favorite to date!:yes:

I never thought Eli (his real name) was ever under rated. He was the top cover artist for Marvel during the 70's did great work with DC and always gets mentioned with the top artist.

I met him several times in the 80's through one of his old art assistants. He drew Better than anybody I knew at the time. Man knew his anatomy and could draw anyone from any position off the top of his head.

When I met him he was inking with Felt tip markers. I saw many of his pages and I watched him ink a page. That's why later in his career his line work had the same weight.

[samurainoir]

I used to think I really hated Mike Mignola (on Hulk and Alpha Flight) and Kelly Jones (on Comet Man).

Looking back, I realized that they were terribly mismatched with inker Gerry Talaoc.

Amazing that anyone would pair two artists who rely so much on solid shapes and heavy blacks with someone so "scratchy".

Imagine my surprise when I saw finally saw their work on Cosmic Odyssey, Hellboy, Gotham by Gaslight, Batman Red Rain and Sandman.