Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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| Image by Tumisu from Pixabay |
As UK readers will know, there was once a chocolate bar called a Topic. And its adverts boasted that it contained a hazelnut in every bite.
But there is a topic that contains nothing but pure, spun gold.
And that's the topic we're going to be discussing tonight.
Granted, I don't know what that topic will be, as it's up to you the Reader to decide upon that. But such is my level of faith in the users of the internet that I have no doubt my prediction of triumph shall be fulfilled.
Therefore, feel free to ask, in the comments section below, whatever question it is you feel needs answering.
And we shall see just what we shall see.
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13 comments:
Our buddy Redartz had a good idea at the trail end of the previous thread, so I’m stealing it for Speak Yer Brain :
Are there any ‘new’ or ‘current’ comics artists that stand out for you ? And if so, do you think people like us will be talking about them half-a-century from now?
As always, if anyone has a different SYB topic to suggest, please feel free…
b.t.
‘TAIL’ end, not ‘trail’
b.t.
Most of the new comics I buy are by artists that have similar styles or have been influenced by classic artists, but they are obviously very talented artists. My favourites are:
Chris Samnee, very much influenced by the great Alex Toth. He is currently drawing DCs Batman and Robin comic.
Robert De La Torre, his style is very much like the great John Buscema . He is the artist on Titans Conan the barbarian.
Mike Deodato jnr. Very much his own style but for me he has a hint of Gene Colan and Neal Adams . Very realistic style and draws very unnatural but stunningly sexy ladies.
Bruce Timm, not really a regular comic artist as he is more an animator and was responsible for the look of the animated Batman Adventures, he just a fun artist that sometimes has a hint of Kirby to his art
The people I like tend to be not-great-storytellers, but great cartoonists.
I like Brandon Graham’s stuff - always fun and imaginative. If a little hard to follow at times - I’m re-reading Moonray books 1 & 2 in preparation for book 3 because my brain didn’t take in what was going on.
As a spin-off from this, because they worked together on the remarkable Prophet a while back: Simon Roy is a really good writer who’s not a technically brilliant artist but whose art is perfect for his stories. I recommend ‘Habitat’.
I’ve come to really like Tradd Moore’s stuff. His Silver Surfer and Doctor Strange books are lovely.
I just read a recent 2000AD collection called ‘Silver’. Art by Joe Currie. I really liked it. Does anyone remember that brief moment when Frank Miller was on issue 3 of Ronin and was doing a sort of Moebius clear line style? A bit like that. The colours are too dark and muddy things a bit, but I’ll be looking out for his stuff in future.
Don’t know if anyone will be talking about them in decades to come though!
Oh, and really into Mitch Gerards’ work with Tom King.
Yeah, I like Tradd Moore. Rafael Grampa’s stuff is cool too. About à year ago, I picked up one issue of a BATMAN / DYLAN DOG mini-series with beautiful, stylish art by a guy named Luigi Cavenago. It was super-cool but I never bothered to pick up the other issues. I should see if it’s been collected….
b.t.
Paul McScotty mentioned Robert De La Torre being "like" John Buscema but De La Torre's art is so similar to Buscema's that you'd be hard pressed to see any difference between them!
I haven't read too much current material, but a couple artists I've liked:
Michael Cho. Has some fabulous covers; his work hearken back to the latest Darwyn Cooke.
Joelle Jones. Really liked her work on Batman.
And like McScotty, I've a fondness for Bruce Timm's renderings.
Finally, there's Stephanie Buscema- haven't seen much of her output but liked what I have seen...
Alas, CH can only comment obliquely on a very fine subject.
I have tried new series over the past handful of years notably:
- Worlds Finest with Supes, Bats, and Metamorpho, and Batgirl (?)
- Thor
- Inhumans
As mentioned above, i consistently (!) cannot follow portions of the story because the flow of the art is either indistinguishable or nonsensical.
because I never had this challenge in the 60s, 70s, 80s, this may be derivative of the “Image Explosion”of the early 90s, now 35 years ago?
I certainly remember all the hullabaloo about Liefeld, et al and their art not advancing the, perhaps already very minimal, story. And indeed they were big on splash pages, contorted women, etc.
But the art was for art’s sake, not the story’s it seemed. And now 30 years on we have incomprehensible panels and pages which doesn’t make for memorable artists and does make for confusing stories.
Ah well…
CH
I agree 100% with Charlie. The main reason I don't read many new comics is because the art does not seem to follow the storyline. It just seems that the artist is telling his or her own story and trying to outdo other artists by drawing overly elaborate pages that deviate from the writers vision .
Even now after all these years I still can't understand why anyone like Rob Liefelds art. Not that this would have worried Mr Liefelds who must have made a lot of money in the 1990s producing his comics.
....Oh and another reason I no longer read new comics may be due to the fact I'm a really old git!
Im with you McScotty! O how I tried over the past 10-20 years. But my experiences were problematic art and feckless story lines stretched to fill out the inevitable graphic novel.
Hence Charlie seems to buy a dozen or so marvel True Believers or DC’s equivalent which reprint 100% of the original for like $4 now. Fun to read those old FFs, etc
What is interesting is how irrelevant DC’s output was during the silver age. It seems genuinely hard for them to find a back issue worth reprinting From 40 to 60 years ago. I mean besides the Neal Adams art work, there are no earth shattering new characters or plots or developments. Well… besides Kirby’s Kamandi and Dingbats!
Footnote -
If anyone would like to see some gorgeous, stylised art that also tells a story really, really well - try the Human Target series by Tom King and Greg Smallwood.
MM - That Human Target book sounds really cool. Thanks! CH
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