Underappreciated droids appreciation thread

[Barrington Boots]

Reg Parlett drew Mustapha Million as well as Ivor Lott, Disappearing Trix, Fright School and many others. Really love his work, I've got one of his Buster pages in my office. There's a lot of humour artists like him that never really get any love on forums and stuff.

From Battle I really loved Vanyo, who was actually two artists. From the Prog, I really liked James Mckay's early work on Flesh and wish he'd stuck around.

[davidbishop]

Under-appreciated droids - 90s edition
Writers:
Chris Standley
Si Spencer
Paul Neal
Pete Hogan (totally my bad)
Dave Stone

[Link Prime]

Simon Harrison was another artist I really, really liked.  Yep, even his Strontium Dog stuff.  While I still don't have a clear understanding of what Feral or Revere's faces actually looked like, I think they were perfect the way he did them. Other very good artists have tackled both characters, but for me, they're Harrison's guys, vivid facial features or otherwise.

Which brings me on to Dean Ormston, who also didn't bother with clarity of phizog, but again didn't need to.  His electric colours jumping out of twilight blue backgrounds were Mega City 1 in its essence, purified and bottled. 

100% with you regarding The Dean and S. Harrison.

I'd add:

Dermot Power - Much more than A Biz / Fabry fill-in on Slaine. Omega level talent.
Dave D'Antiquis - A monochrome master of the genre. And he can paint.
Nigel Dobbyn - Some page layouts still etched into my brain. Underrated painted artwork too.
Kevin Cullen - If only he'd been given a shot at an A list series.
Paul Johnson - Very unique artist. Rarely see his name mentioned.
Simon Jacob - The designs. The energy. Huge talent.
Mick Austin - Seemed to be on the cusp of greatness, then disappeared. Some wonderful covers.

[Jim_Campbell]

Dermot Power - Much more than A Biz / Fabry fill-in on Slaine. Omega level talent.

I think the Power droid was always pretty popular with the readers, he just didn't do that much work for Tharg because he quickly got offered far more lucrative Magic: The Gathering card gigs, and then game/film concept work.

[davidbishop]

Dermot Power - Much more than A Biz / Fabry fill-in on Slaine. Omega level talent.

I think the Power droid was always pretty popular with the readers, he just didn't do that much work for Tharg because he quickly got offered far more lucrative Magic: The Gathering card gigs, and then game/film concept work.

Dermot was not well served by the scripts he was given. His artwork elevated the material, but he deserved better stories to tell. Book of the Dead? Treasures of Britain? Stunning art, lesser scripts.

As Jim notes, Dermot found he could make more doing other work and has build an amazing CV for himself doing that. All (pun intended) Power to him.

[Woolly]

Anthony Williams for me.
Alas he was rarely given good stuff to draw, but that one-off Tharg strip from a few years ago was superb.

Think that was the last thing he did in the prog?

And another vote for Simon Jacob. Nobody does giant robots and fantasy weirdos like he did.

[IndigoPrime]

It baffles me Geoff Senior didn't get more work from the House of Tharg. Him + ABC Warriors surely should have been A Thing?

Pete Hogan (totally my bad)

He's a very certain type of writer. Strontium Dogs might or might not have worked long-term. But Resident Alien shows what a great talent he is. What a superb comic. A pity you couldn't make things work during your time on the Prog. (And I rather wish he'd do a bit more now.)

[Link Prime]

Anthony Williams for me.

Yes, good shout.

Regarding The Power Droid - I guess you'd have to be blind not to appreciate his raw talent, but I always felt he received significantly less fanfare than his more well known contemporaries at the time.

Had heard before that he's done well for himself with design work, and glad to hear it.


And regarding Ho-Gan; I was a pretty big fan of Strontium Dogs and many of his US projects.
Great writer, and 2000AD could certainly benefit from his regular input today.

[JayzusB.Christ]

The Hogan lad was alright by me too. I really didn't like Garth Ennis on Strontium Dogs - his first effort was ok* but everything else was just all the violence of the classic Dog but none of the wit, humour or irony.  Hogan just did his own thing with it, which was be quirky and oddball, but for my money it picked up immensely in his hands.  Obviously not Wagner and Grant, but way more enjoyable than what came before.

I think Dermot Power suffered a bit by having to fill in for Glenn Slowcoach Fabry.  His first crack at Sláine was great but everyone just wanted more painted Fabry.  His second go was far better - he'd really found his own direction, and very fecking good it was too.  Shame it wasn't amazing scriptwise, as BishOP has pointed out.

Has anyone mentioned Dave Stone yet?  I genuinely believe Armitage's Brit Cit is the yardstick by which all world-building of locations within the Dredd universe should be measured. Well, apart from Mega City 1 and environs, of course. And Luxor from Book of the Dead (of course I'm joking about that one).

*Which reminds me, there's another overlooked artist who was great. He was a Pugh,I seem to remember, but not the one that drew Sláine.

EDIT - Steve Pugh, that was him. I can't remember anything else he did, sadly.

[IndigoPrime]

I enjoyed a lot of Dave Stone's work. Wagner's Brit Cit was MC-1 with lions and tea. But Stone transformed the city into a quite horrific and really intriguing mess of cartels, cops and corruption. I read a couple of his paperback novels in that space, and recall they were pretty good too.

[Richard]

I'm a big fan of Dave Stone's work, he's produced a marvellous body of work. Where's he gone? We haven't had any new Armitage in yonks.

Completely agree about Geoff Senior. Can Tharg get him back please?

[JayzusB.Christ]

I enjoyed a lot of Dave Stone's work. Wagner's Brit Cit was MC-1 with lions and tea. But Stone transformed the city into a quite horrific and really intriguing mess of cartels, cops and corruption. I read a couple of his paperback novels in that space, and recall they were pretty good too.

I just read one - Deathmasques, I think it was called? - but it was a fiendishly detailed description of Brit-Cit's history, and of how precariously but intricately its component parts were balanced on the plans of criminal overlords and politicians.

Also Brit-Cit juvie gangs had a very different style from those of the Big Meg. I don't know if Dave Stone predicted that Caribbean-tinged 'chav' London accent that's ubiquitous today or if he just heard it decades before I did, but he totally nailed it.

[Dash Decent]

Reg Parlett drew Mustapha Million as well as Ivor Lott, Disappearing Trix, Fright School and many others. Really love his work, I've got one of his Buster pages in my office. There's a lot of humour artists like him that never really get any love on forums and stuff.

Reg Parlett, that's the man!  Yes, a very talented artist, with nice clean work.

Agreed, the fun comics have got some great stuff going for them and deserve more recognition.  I'm very grateful Rebellion have given us Sweeny Toddler and Badtime Bedtime Stories.  I'd also love to see a companion non-Baxendale Sweeney Toddler volume, and a Clever Dick collection.

[norton canes]

Ramon Sola. I think there was even a Nerve Centre letter once bemoaning the standard of his art when he filled in for Belardinelli on a couple of Blackhawk instalments.

I can see why his sketchy, imprecise style might not have appealed to everyone but man, he was the master of gore and carnage.

[nxylas]

Ramon Sola. I think there was even a Nerve Centre letter once bemoaning the standard of his art when he filled in for Belardinelli on a couple of Blackhawk instalments.

I can see why his sketchy, imprecise style might not have appealed to everyone but man, he was the master of gore and carnage.

Pat Mills speaks very highly of Sola's work on Flesh. Says he really managed to give Old One Eye a personality, despite her being a reptile with a brain the size of a walnut.