Your favourite/not favourite comic artists

[BPP]

How about we try not to talk about art we don't like in terms of 'disgust' and 'did a big digital shit' eh?

[ghostpockets]

I'm sorry I forgot this is the friendliest forum there is, I've been hanging around in some of the nastier parts of the internet and have picked up some bad habits.

At least I used the disclaimer "Anyway this is just my opinion" which we all know works like "No offence, but..." and completely absolves me of anything mean I might say.

[The Adventurer]

For the record I like Steve Yeowell's artwork, and I love Red Seas.That isn't to say I don't have criticism (I often feel his line work is a bit on the thin side, and lacks weight and energy. Also is faces can be a bit samey) but his layouts are great(there's more to being a great comic artist then drawing pretty pictures) and gives us really cool monster designs.

On the topic of Henry Flint, while I love his artwork. I can totally accept there are people out there would can loath it. It's definitely got a love it/hate it style that doesn't nessisarily impress itself on everyone equally. As for Flint drawing Red Seas, that could have been interesting. But I'm content with Yeowell drawing the whole thing.

[Frank]

For the record I like Steve Yeowell's artwork, and I love Red Seas.That isn't to say I don't have criticism (I often feel his line work is a bit on the thin side, and lacks weight and energy. Also is faces can be a bit samey) but his layouts are great(there's more to being a great comic artist then drawing pretty pictures) and gives us really cool monster designs.

Zenith features some of the greatest, most distinctive art in the comic's history, and I still think of the brilliant The Invisibles as his book. Yeowell's the Dennis Waterman of comic art; in that he's at his best when he's the co-creator, designs the characters, pencils and inks his own finished art, and sings the theme tune.

His talents are so unique, and so very specific, he's wasted as a utility artist banging out routine stories in other peoples' strips. Colouring his work also does it a great disservice, robbing it of its power and dynamism; and giving him stock sci-fi scenarios to work with seems silly, when his strengths lie in depicting realistic people in realistic environments- and making that look extraordinary.

Like Brendan McCarthy, giving Yeowell the type of story that allows him to use his talents to their fullest extent would do 2000ad the favour of letting it stretch its conceptual muscles. 

[Syne]

I agree unreservedly with Bikini Kill. Yeowell's black and white work in Zenith is extraordinary.

I started reading Zenith mid-story, but recently got hold of the back progs containing the first few stories. I was surprised how different his art is in those episodes, much closer to "conventional" comic art. Then at some point early in the series he hit upon his technique of removing lines from the art, instead creating a sense of form by contrasting black washes against the blinding white of the page. Extremely powerful stuff.

[Spaceghost]

Dont likes: any manga

Any manga? As in 'all comics from Japan'? That doesn't strike me as a valid criteria for disliking an artist. There is so much diversity of style and technique on display across the very broad field of manga that I find it hard to believe that you think it all looks bad.

So many Japanese artists are true innovators who have influenced not only comics, but also graphic design and film around the world. Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell), Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball) and Hayao Miyazaki (Nausicaa) can all be said to have made their mark and influenced other artists.

Then there are the less well known creators with their own quirky style which is unlike any other artist such as Hino Hideshi (The Red Snake), Taiyo Matsumoto (Tekkon Kinkreet) or Naoki Urasawa (20th Century Boys).

As an example, take the art of One Piece creator Eichiro Oda. Playful, bouncy, cartoony, endlessly inventive, superficially simplistic at first glance but with real depth and a really innovative use of perspective in action scenes.

Compare that with Hiroki Endo who is the man behind Eden: It's an Endless World! His stuff is ultra realistic with a militaristic, cyberpunk aesthetic, filled with ultra-violence and superbly realised mecha and vehicles.

The two styles really couldn't be more different. They share virtually nothing in common and yet both are 'manga'. Liking or disliking either one of these artists based on the criteria that 'it's manga' is completely meaningless.

If you'd said that what you dislike is 'a generic manga style' then I would probably agree with you as there are a lot of boring, lazy artists who fall back on the same cliched, sterotypical manga staples (of which the same could be said for Western artists churning out the big muscled, grimacing, square-jawed men or pneumatic Playboy model women with huge tits who inhabit 90% of US comics), but to completely write off the comics output of an entire country is nothing short of ridiculous.

All of the artists listed above are in my 'likes' list along with the best of the 2000 AD chaps; Cam Kennedy, Mick MacMahon, Kevin O'Neill, Henry Flint, Dave Taylor, Colin McNeil, Ron Smith... I could go on and on.

Dislikes: American comic art 

[TordelBack]

Naoki Urasawa (20th Century Boys).

I hate Naoki Urasawa.  Specifically I hate the fact that I've got to Book 10 of 20th Century Boys and my library sources have dried up completely.  A visit to Forbidden Plant shows the next 12 volumes at €12 a pop.  That's €144, maths fans.  I hate Naoki Urasawa.

Other than What's Michael?, Gon (the wife's) and Akira this is the first manga I've ever managed to read more than a few chapters of, and definitely the first I've really, truly enjoyed, and been left unable to wait for my next fix of.  I fully understand that manga can be off-putting viewed en masse, but if I can be converted after a quarter century of virtual avoidance, anyone can: there's a book out there for you.   

[Roger Godpleton]

The day that we're not allowed to make fun of Clint Langley's art on this forum is the day it dies.

[The Adventurer]

Naoki Urasawa (20th Century Boys).

I hate Naoki Urasawa.  Specifically I hate the fact that I've got to Book 10 of 20th Century Boys and my library sources have dried up completely.  A visit to Forbidden Plant shows the next 12 volumes at €12 a pop.  That's €144, maths fans.  I hate Naoki Urasawa.

You hate am amazing creator of an amazing series because you are a cheapskate?

*hugs all 20 volumes of 20th Century Boys he owns*

PS: Read Pluto. Its like Watchmen meets Asimov. Its amazing.


And yeah, saying 'I hate all Manga' is a pretty LOL statement. Not to mention it writes off guys like Osamu Tezuka who is probably one the most important comic creators in history.

[Spaceghost]

Naoki Urasawa (20th Century Boys).

A visit to Forbidden Plant shows the next 12 volumes at €12 a pop.  That's €144, maths fans.

Are you sure? My local FP have a constant 3 for 2 deal on all manga. Might be worth having a look at that. It usually works out cheaper than Amazon for me to get my manga in FP.

Failing that, Amazon will definitely be cheaper.

Don't hate Urasawa, it's not his fault.

[TordelBack]

Don't hate Urasawa, it's not his fault.

It's his fault that his work is so bloody addictive.  What a story!

[mygrimmbrother]

My favourite artists are the ones who make it look effortless, as opposed to the ones who celarly sweat it over the details (although the latter are often just as gifted - it's just my preference). So that's Mignola, McMahon, Jock, Cam Kennedy, Guy Davis, Frazer Irving.

Dislike - have to say Clint Langley - every inch of me is just diametrically opposed to this man's visuals. Agree with Davey Candlish about the Marvel 'House Style' - not bad per se, just overdone and homogenous, uninspired.

[SmallBlueThing]

No lee, it really is all manga. Or at least- all the manga ive ever seen (which, to my eyes, all loos roughly the same). Im not at all interested enough to discover the greats, im afraid. I know how awful this is of me- but i just dont like manga! I tried akira, death note, lone wolf and cub and battle royale- and didnt even get through half a book of any of them. It's just not for me.

African comics though- now you're talking! Somewhere in my house is a box of nigerian comics from the eighties, sent to me by a penfriend at the time- and they were great. So im not a racist.

SBT

[Spaceghost]

No lee, it really is all manga. Or at least- all the manga ive ever seen (which, to my eyes, all loos roughly the same).

Well, as I demonstrated above, this is catagorically not the case. If you were to ask a Japanese person (I have, my wife) they would be likely to say that all Western comics look the same. 'Too busy and messy' is a common quote from my wife when looking at a typical 2000 AD strip. She's just as wrong as you are about manga though, obviously. 

Im not at all interested enough to discover the greats, im afraid. I know how awful this is of me- but i just dont like manga!

Hmmm. I'm still not detecting any logic here and logic is the only thing I understand. There is nothing to necessarily group together these wildly diverse art styles other than the fact that the artist is Japanese. So, hypothetically, if I were to give you a comic to read but didn't tell you that the artist was Japanese, you could possibly enjoy it, but the instant you found out it was produced in Japan, and therefore manga, you would immediately dislike it?

Don't be fooled by the stereotypical 'big eyes, tiny nose, blue hair' image of manga. The good stuff is out there in abundance, just like the comics output of any other country.

You big racist. 

[Emperor]

Naoki Urasawa (20th Century Boys).

I hate Naoki Urasawa.  Specifically I hate the fact that I've got to Book 10 of 20th Century Boys and my library sources have dried up completely.

Surely that is the point you have a quiet word with the librarian, as they have the first part of the series it'd make sense for them to continue. If that fails put in an interlibrary loan request - my library's charges were actually cheaper than the universities so I put quite a few things through them and if they thought the book might be of general interest they'd often buy a copy and refund me the money.