When did you start noticing different artists and authors?

[HardyGirl]

OK, I'll admit I'm not much of a comic afficienado, I know the very basics. As kids, I don't think we notice writers and illustrators, we just love reading about our favorite characters. I glance at some of these threads, and a lot of you seem to know your stuff about who wrote what and what style an artist has. When did this start for you?

(side note: I do like Neal Adams and discovered his work on Power records covers and I like Alex Toth b/c of the Superfriends, but that's all I know!)

[Earth 2 Chris]

I noticed it very early. I was probably 4 or so when I noticed the guy who drew Superman drew the Hostess ads in comics (Curt Swan). And the guy who drew the Power Records covers drew the cover of my little Batman paperback novel (Neal Adams).

So, actually before I could even read!!!

Chris

[thunderbolt]

Noticed Kirby in a lot of those early 70's Marvel reprints, then Trimpe on Godzilla after I saw a lot of him on the Hulk.

[johnmiic]

I didn't start recognizing styles differed until around 1980 or so. I started to recognize Michael Golden was different from Pat Broderick, Carmine Infantino & Gil Kane, John Byrne & Walt Simonson were different from Dave Cockrum, Steve Ditko, Curt Swan and Jack Kirby.

Herbe Trimpe & Keith Giffen made it difficult as they emulated Kirby's style for a short time. Then Giffen started drawing like Paul Smith on Legion. I saw Totleben & Bissette and was really freaked out by the difference in style. I had been exposed to some Wrightson but these guys went off the deep end in Swamp Thing.

Then the independents came out and I started to read Dave Stevens Rocketeer, Nicola Cuti on E-Man and Steve Rude on Nexus. Klaus Janson and Paul Smith also caught my eye in the mid-80's and I was looking at everyone's style very closely by then.

[kingdom warrior]

Yeah, Same here Curt Swan was the first artist I recognized. then it was Joe Shuster doing the Golden-age Superman which I still to this day have a real fondness for. Then Kirby's Marvel and Dc work. It was John Bryne's Iron Fist work that really made me take notice of artists

[torgospizza]

You can tell we're all about the same age. The first artists I could recognize were Swan, Adams, and Kubert--probably about five or six years old. In fact, as early as kindergarten, I could tell the difference between Marvel and DC by the interior art alone...I couldn't wrap my head around Marvel until probably age ten.

[madmarva]

I think I first noticed differences when the covers of certain books were drawn by someone other than the person who drew the inside story.

Also when a new artist moved on to a book or when certain particularly dominant inkers worked on a penciler and totally changed the look of the art.

One of the best examples I can remember is when Sal Buscema took over the Hulk from Herb Trimpe.

I always loved Swan's art, but his work looked better under some inkers than others. You can say that about any penciler though.

Around that time I began to notice the style of inkers like Dick Goirdano and Terry Austin, who generally improved the look of whomever they worked with.

And as long as Joe Sinnott was inking the FF, the book carried his style rather than the pencilers, which I'm sure is exactly what the editors wanted.

Neal Adams and Jack Kirby's work always stood out in diametrically opposed but equally fantastic ways.

When I was young there were some artists work that I didn't care for that have come to at least respect. Learning more about the industry, the stuff that seemed really bad was probably rushed work.

But by the time I was nine or 10, I could recognize most super hero artists styles.

[The Toyroom]

VERY early on....I remember disliking Kirby's 70s stuff right off the bat...never realizing of course that this was the same guy that had drawn for early Marvel...his style had become blockier and thicker by then.

Neal Adams was another you couldn't help but notice...his photo-realism really set him apart from other artists at the time.

And I remember being able to tell on reprints that the stuff signed by "Bob Kane" wasn't by him....Other artists did "Bob Kane" better than the real Bob Kane. Atrocious....

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I think I noticed very early on, too. Must have been 4 or 5 and like so many others Swan was who I got to know as a name first.

[Surfsup]

I remember reading Marvel reprints here in the UK in the mid 70s and noticing Ditko, Kirby, Colan, Romita and John Buscema. I loved their artwork from the start and wouldn't read any other comics for a while if they weren't involved. I also remember loving Steranko, Curt Swan and Irv Novick (I couldn't get enough of the Flash) a few years later.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Irv Novick is vastly underrated. I really liked his Batman work. He was another one I noticed early on. In fact, I thought the Remco Energized Batman looked like his version when I got it in Christmas of 1979!

Chris

[The Toyroom]

Irv Novick was phenomenal! Loved his stuff on the Batman and Joker books as well as his great run (pun intended) on the Flash. It was like night and day when he left the Flash and Alex Saviuk took over and then later Don Heck. That was probably the first time I ever dropped a book I had been enjoying based on a change in artist.

[The Toyroom]

Another artist I remember instantly identifying was Herb Trimpe....I just wasn't into his style and would actually avoid it...

[boynightwing]

I think I noticed early on, but I didn't start to care till I was about 8. The kid next door was about 5 years older then me and he really gave me the first crash course in all things comics. Every week I'd go over to his house and read the new comics he got with him. I didn't start really buying my own till I was around 10. By then I had a pretty good idea of what was what.

[HardyGirl]

Wow, you guys might as well be speaking a foreign language. I never realized that artists and authors made such a difference to kids. I never had that many comics growing up, but I guess when I did get one, all I cared about was the characters and the story, not who drew it or who wrote it. I guess there's just different levels of geekdom.

Thanks guys.