Your favourite artists for your favourite heroes.

Pictures. Without them, where would comics be?

Probably in the Literature section of your local library and taken far more seriously by intellectuals.

However, those intellectuals would be wrong. It's the pictures that make comics great and it's artists who make the pictures great.

Therefore, we must all, at some point, address the issue of who our favourite artist is on each of our favourite strips and, in the absence of any better ideas for a post right now, that's exactly what I'm about to do.

Spider-Man. Ross Andru. For me, he was the perfect middle ground between the styles of John Romita and Gil Kane.

The Fantastic Four. In my youth, it was John Buscema but, now that I'm older, I can properly appreciate the work of Jolly Jack Kirby and put him at Number One.

Thor. Jack Kirby again. Who else could so perfectly capture the glory and grandeur of Asgard? Or the stupidity of Odin?

Dr Strange. I love Steve Ditko's work but, for me, there's nothing quite like the magic of Genial Gene Colan.

The Hulk. Happy Herb Trimpe. Not the most fluid of artists but just about every issue of the strip that he drew was great.

Iron Man. Dashing Don Heck, in his early stint. He gave Shellhead roller skates. What more could you demand of a man?

The X-Men. Dave Cockrum.

The Avengers. John Buscema, although Neal Adams did have a great, if short, run.

The Silver Surfer. John Buscema.

Daredevil. John Romita. He wasn't there for long but his simple style felt perfect for such a low-key strip, and his romance comic background made him the ideal man for the interminable Matt/Foggy/Karen love triangle that Stan was so keen on.

Captain America. Gene Colan.

Conan. It's a tough choice between Barry Smith and John Buscema but I'll go for Big John, if only for the sheer quantity of exemplary work he produced.

The Sub-Mariner. John Buscema. A strip perfectly suited to his elegant figure work and dynamic layouts.

Superman. I think the only artists I ever saw draw Superman with any regularity were Curt Swan and Kurt Schaffenberger. As Schaffenberger's man of steel was slightly more cartoony, I shall go for Curt Swan.

Batman. Jim Aparo. I know a lot of people prefer Neal Adams but I prefer Aparo's more rough-hewn look.

Supergirl. Jim Mooney. No matter how weird and perverted her stories got, Gentleman Jim managed to make them not look weird and perverted. In light of what was going on in some of those tales, that was a serious achievement.

Wonder Woman. I think that all the stories I ever read were drawn by Don Heck, well after his peak and, therefore, I have to leave this vacancy unfilled.

The Justice League of America. Dick Dillin because he's the only artist I ever saw drawing them.

The Legion of Super-Heroes. Dave Cockrum. He reinvented them just as brilliantly as he later reinvented the X-Men.

Aquaman. I think the only artist I ever saw draw him was Mike Grell, so I'd better go for him.

The Green Lantern. Gil Kane.

Anyway, those are my nominations. Feel free to voice your own opinions on your favourite artists for your favourite heroes, should you feel any need to.