Favourite comic book artists

Since I like the idea of Hellboy and Spawn, I had a look round the web, and it turns out I really like Mignola's and McFarlane's styles. So who are some of your other favourite artists?

As well as the above, John Burns is probably my favourite artist of all time, and I also like the work of Henry Flint and, when it's in colour, Lee Carter. For humour, you really can't go wrong with Albert Uderzo, but that might just be my love of Asterix talking.

Who else is good with the crayons?

Ukrainian Red Cross

Agree on Mike Mignola. When was the last time he drew Hellboy? I miss his art.

My favorite artists in comics are;

Bryan Hitch, the master of making superheroes look convincing in a real-world setting

John Cassaday, one of the best storytellers in any medium, able to mix equal parts characterization and scenery porn

Ashley Wood, one of the most unique and stylish artists (I know it's not quite comics, but look at his illustrations in the Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Peace Walker PSP games)

Moritat of Elephantmen, who's great at both humorous cartooning and horrific detail

Darick Robertson, one of the best cartoonists and world designers out there (just look at Transmetropolitan and the Boys)

We Are The Wyrecats Needs Tropes!

Oh, and Frank Quitely too. I curse myself for forgetting him and his utterly genius compositions.

We Are The Wyrecats Needs Tropes!

Mignola and Spaz.

I also like what Stuart Immonen did in Superman: Secret Identity quite a bit. Dave Mc Kean's work is loved as well.

edited 17th Jun '11 4:28:18 PM by Aondeug

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby, first off. I'm a big fan of Frank Miller and Steve Purcell, too. Oh, and Don Martin as well as Sergio Aragones.

Weird in a Can (updated M-F)

Darwyn Cooke, Chris Samnee, and Amanda Conner

They are amazing. AMAZING, I SAY.

"If there's a hole, it's a man's job to thrust into it!" — Ryoma Nagare, New Getter Robo

Whoever illustrated Johns' Flash run. Was it Scott Kolins?

The pig of Hufflepuff pulsed like a large bullfrog. Dumbledore smiled at it, and placed his hand on its head: "You are Hagrid now."

Mignola drew "In the Chapel of Moloch", which was collected in The Crooked Man and Others.

I like Doug Ten Napel's style. It's rough and expressive in the same way that Calvin And Hobbes often was.

I didn't write any of that.

For classics, Gil Kane and Steve Ditko can't be beat. In terms of modern artists, my favorites are definitely Humberto Ramos and Paco Medina (love the cartoony style they use), Jim Lee and Mark Bagley, and the Dodsons.

EDIT: Totally forgot Ed Mc Guinness. His Supes will always be the definitive version for me.

edited 20th Jun '11 4:33:18 PM by 11Numb

Jock. As of Detective Comics #880. That smile... The horror...the horror...

With blood and rage of crimson red ripped from a corpse so freshly dead together with our hellish hate we'll burn you all that is your fate

Definitely. While Snyder's run is great as it is, he certainly helped to make it even better (though he didn't do the art on all of the issues).

Some of his previous work (The Losers and Green Arrow: Year One) have been great as well.

edited 28th Jul '11 1:14:13 PM by brc2000

For detail/accuracy:

Carlos Pacheco (Avengers Forever)
George Perez (JLA-Avengers)
Ivan Reis (Green Lantern Corps)
Hiroaki Samura (Blade of the Immortal)
Mike Mc Kone (Avengers Academy)

For stylization/clarity:

Jim Lee (Wildcats-Divine Power)
Francis Manapul (Adventure Comics vol 2)
Todd Nauck (Young Justice)
Paul Pelletier (The Hulk)
Ed Benes (Birds Of Prey)
The Dodsons (Spider-man)
Frank Cho (The Avengers)
Kia Asamiya (The X-Men)
Masamune Shirow (Ghost In The Shell)
Tite Kubo

This is just off the top of my head, mind you.

edited 28th Jul '11 1:40:09 PM by KingZeal

George Herriman, easily, followed by Winsor Mc Cay. For actual comic books, Steve Ditko, especially on work for Doctor Strange, Will Eisner, and Herge.

What is this 'social life' of which you speak?

I also have to recommend Francesco Francavilla. He's the other artist that Scott Snyder has been collaborating with on his Detective Comics run. His style looks like a young child did it, right down to the watercolor art and the key use of two colors, orange and blue, which is one of the easiest tricks in the book for visual contrast. But the subject matter and what he's drawing makes the aforementioned childlike style even more horrifying.

With blood and rage of crimson red ripped from a corpse so freshly dead together with our hellish hate we'll burn you all that is your fate

Humberto Ramos is fantastic, even though I really haven't read many comics featuring him (need to read that Big Time arc people keep raving about).

I've also gotta give praise to the late Gene Colan. His realistic style was a perfect fit for Howard The Duck, the serious parts looked serious, and the weird parts looked really weird. Also he was great on Doctor Strange. He was a master at drawing creepy creatures and moody atmospheres (which is why I also need to start reading Tomb Of Dracula).

Weird in a Can (updated M-F)

Bumpèd.

Can I add comic strip artists to the list?

Favorite comic book artists: Robert Crumb, Robert Armstrong, Carl Barks, Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Will Elder, Sergio Aragones, Antonio Prohias, Bobby London, Kim Deitch, Lynda Barry, Mike Kazaleh, Jack Davis, Albert Uderzo, Lewis Trondheim, Jack Chick (no, really), Fred Carter (same), and of course, Jack Kirby and Will Eisner (to pay some respect to the masters).

Favorite comic strip artists: Winsor McCay, George Herriman, Walt Kelly, Stephan Pastis, Floyd Gottfredson, Billy DeBeck, Rudolph Dirks, Harold Knerr, Richard Outcault, Lyonel Feininger, Cliff Sterrett, E.C. Segar, Chester Gould, Al Capp, and of course, Gary Larson, Bill Watterson and Charles Schulz (to pay some respect to the masters).

There's probably a few artists who are missing in this list...

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

Emma Rios is my absolute all-time favourite. Her work is gorgeously stylized. She does motion better than any other artist, and she can also convey a lot of feeling. I love it so much.

Second is Stephanie Hans. Her painted work is just beautiful. It is ridiculously beautiful work.

Jamie Mc Kelvie's up there. Fantastic eye for vision, great talent for layouts, lots of beautiful characters, and he's a master of expressions, especially subtle ones.

Bill Sienkewicz was one of the best artists of the '80s. His work was stylish and cool.

John Byrne, obviously. I'm an X-Men fan, I think I'm morally obligated to like John Byrne. But he did a shitload of other amazing stuff, too.

Mike Allred's awesome.

Some current artists whose work I always enjoy seeing are Stuart Immonen, Olivier Coipel, the Dodsons and Dexter Soy. Michael Del Mundo's been impressing me on Elektra.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.

Romita Sr.

Darwyn Cooke

Amanda Conner

Mark Bagley on Spider-books

Ryan Stegman when he has a really good inker

Lafayette Strong

Not a bad call on Jack Chick (strictly as a visual stylist). This would appall both men, but I tend to think of him and S. Clay Wilson (R.I.P.) as very similar outsiders, with a similar mixture of talents, unschooled flaws, and sheer gonzo zest.

"She was the kind of dame they write similes about." —Pterodactyl Jones

I'd thought someone would blow up because I named Jack Chick as one of my favorites.

For my money, though, Fred Carter, the man behind the more realistic tracts, is a better artist. Chick produced a film called The Light of the World which features nothing but oil paintings done by Carter, and some of them are beautiful.

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

Personally, I'm a big fan of Gurihiru. It probably helps that most the stuff their art is attached to makes for a great read to boot.

I think I'd like to add Carl Barks to my list of favorites. He was a fantastic visual storyteller.

And Monkey Punch, creator of Lupin III (manga counts as comics). Clearly influenced by MAD Magazine, his stuff's got a raw energy to it with expressive characters and great comedic timing. He's also great at action and scenery (his establishing shots can get almost cinematic at times). It's kinda hard to look past the Values Dissonance of the stories sometimes, but they're crafted by a very skilled cartoonist.

Weird in a Can (updated M-F)

David Marquez's work in Ultimate Spider-Man has been phenomenal.

My favorites include Simon Colbey, and Steve Dillon.

I burst into the room, the unmistakable cries of 200 small lizards are heard. (cue dramatic lightning)

Adding some Image artists. Fiona Staples really brings Saga to life. The colour and vibrancy and Hazel's narration all come together so well. Chip Zdarsky is the funniest artist I'm reading right now. Adrian Alphona is great at background gags, but also teenagers and endearing goofiness.