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Who is your LEAST favorite comic book artist?

Started by daglob, May 13, 2009, 03:47:29 AM

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daglob

You know you have at least one-that guy whose art just sets your teeth on edge, or hurts our eyes.

I once had four: Tony Tallarico, Don Heck, Jack Sparling, and Jerry Grandinetti. In recent years, I've looked back at them. It was weird to look at The Essential Avengers and realize that Don Heck could
DRAW! He was as competent as anyone else at Marvel or DC in the mid-60s. It was his later, looser stuff that I disliked. I had seen an old SF story by him, inked by himself, from the '50s that I actually liked. I had forgotten that his early Avengers was nearly as good.
The owner of the comic shop I frequented showed me a comic book, asked me who I though was the artist. I responded that it almost looked like good Tallarico art. It was a series called Geronomo Jones, and it WAS good Tallarico art. I've also seen illustrations for bible stories done by him, and they were good too. It was enlightening.
Jack Sparling did the last few issues to many of my favorite comics. While that earned him no love from me, I just plain didn't like his style. A couple of years back, I was looking for comics that had Sparling art (some of the Harvey super heroes). I looked at his art with new eyes. Now, I had seen two stories from him back in the '60s that had had been inked by someone else: a Captain America story inked by Frank Giacoa, and a Green Lantern story inked by Sid Greene. These were good. Looking at his own inks, I could see he had a decent sense of layout, and could move a story right along. His anatomy was as good as anone else's, and the action sequences were pretty good. He was just a sloppy inker.
Then there was Jerry Grandinetti. I've seen his work inked by Murphy Anderson and Wally Wood; it didn't help. His figures were distorted in a disturbing and unsightly way, and I just COULD NOT STAND IT. So Jerry Grandinetti has been my least favorite artist for many years. And then he surprised me: I saw one of his Dr. drew stories, and I felt sorry for him. To go from Dr. Drew to what he did in The Specter...
Then he surprised me again. I got an issue of Tower Comics Fight the Enemy with a story by Grandinetti in it. It was the same style he had used on The Specter and some stories for Warren comics, BUT IT FIT! It made me wish that he had done more war comics. Maybe it was a fluke, or maybe he liked war comics. While he is still my least favorite artist, I have a respect for him that I didn't before.

Mystik

alex ross and that rob guy who thinks he's an artist

thanoson

Rob "No Feet" Leifeld followed closely by Mr. Porno Face Greg Land.
Long live Slaanesh, Prince of Pain!!!

Carravaggio

Oh I was going to say Tang en Haut (sp?) but yeah, Greg Land. Guy is in the wrong business. He's been caught stealing a number of times, even from other artists, and he still gets work? If there is a comicbook blacklist, he outta be on it.
Anyone who says Frank Quitely in this thread, I'll meetcha out by the bike shed after school :P

Star

Don Kramer and Michael Ryan, off the top of my head.

GhostMachine

I actually dislike Greg Land more than Rob Liefeld, because Land is more or less just a swipe artist and tracer.

My least favorites:

Greg Land
Rob Liefeld
Frank Quitely. So lets go to that shed, Carravaggio. (Though I must admit its mostly his work for Marvel I didn't like)

The Enigma

I wonder how many times we'll see Liefeld's name. He makes my list, as does Frank Quitely (his people are always lumpy and potatoish, which freaks the hell out of me at times.) and, maybe a controversial one this, Frank Miller (I really like his contrast of light and dark in Sin City and that smiling guy in Elektra: Assassin, but The Dark Knight Returns has a near-Quitely level of vegetable bulk).
On the other side of the coin, good artists are Dave McKean, Mark Buckingham, Darick Robertson, Howard Porter, Paul Duffield, Ben Templesmith, Gillen McKelvie and probably plenty of others I've forgotten.
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The Hitman

Larry Stroman- His recent run on X-Factor made my eyes hurt. Proportions were off, and everyone looked like a burn victim.

Greg Land- The guy has no ability. All he does is trace. And if I want to see Jenna Jameson, I'll go to my local video store or internet search engine.

Rob Liefield- I mean, c'mon!

Quitely's art is about 50/50 for me.

Podmark

Larry Stroman
Greg Land
Rob Liefield

Yeah same ones everyone else says. Also I don't like Alex Ross much, but I don't think I'd group him with those three.
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lugaru

This is more of a "who does the internet sanction people to hate". Seriosly, it is just a continuation of all those Liefeld and Land threads I see elsewhere.

I've had artists I've hated but I never bothered learning their names... there was this one guy who did a lot of work on X-Men and Batman who was incredibly muddy, it was like he spilled ink on his sheet and smudged it into vaguely human shapes.

BWPS

Frank Miller. The man should be working at Wendy's.
I had this Catwoman comic that had some kind of really plain and weird-looking artwork, but I can't find it so I guess I threw it away. It was stupid.
Everyone in the world can draw better than me though, so I dunno.
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detourne_me

Ed Benes
guy's terrible, he's the 2000's version of Rob Liefield,  way too much hatching, and everyone looks way too buff,  and is built from the same body type, from john stewart to superman to black lightning.


also,  i really dislike Robert Crumb and Peter Bragge, and the guy that does Zippy,  That art just sickens me for some reason.
Dan Clowes is okay, cause it looks like Allred and the Hernandez Bros. a bit, but Bragge and Crumb just rub me the wrong way.

I've really come to enjoy Tang en Haut (sp?) from his Ghost Rider run. Him, Howard Chaykin and Frank Quitely can make fun comics that are indy looking without going into 'disturbing' territory.

thanoson

Hmm... had to go and check out that Quietly guy's stuff. I agree that his X-Men stuff wasn't that good. The characters all look constipated. However, for his DC stuff it looks fitting for some reason. Weird.
Long live Slaanesh, Prince of Pain!!!

lugaru

Quote from: thanoson on May 13, 2009, 03:50:09 PM
Hmm... had to go and check out that Quietly guy's stuff. I agree that his X-Men stuff wasn't that good. The characters all look constipated. However, for his DC stuff it looks fitting for some reason. Weird.

Check out We3 by him, it is incredible. Quietly is one of my favorite artists but his style puts off a lot of people, I think it is because most artists exagerate their characters into sterile barbies and Kens while Quiety exagerates flaws, making his characters seem a little perverted when they are sexy, brutish when they are tough or demented when they are geniuses.

yell0w_lantern

I can't remember this bum's name but I think it might have been something like Howard (Don't think it was Chaykin though). He did a Batman cover within the last year or so and it had the joker's face but the thing was quite elongated and had a bunch of messy looking lines like he did a quick sketch and didn't erase anything before the inker arrived. Anyway I've seen some other stuff by the same guy and it looks pretty similar - messy with tons of lines. Why is it lousy drawing is okay as long as someone pays you for it?

As far as Liefield - I've avoided that guy since the early 90s so I cannot comment on anything recent.

My biggest beef about the art is with the current style of big splash pages where its so busy I can't figure out 1) the order to read the text and/or what the heck is going on! At least with 4 color it was easy to tell where one thing started and another began but with all these gradations- sheesh! How about an arrow every once in a while? Or always sticking with the Western Top to Bottom and Left to Right convention?
Yellow Lantern smash!

AfghanAnt

Rob Liefeld
Ed Benes
Greg Land
Mike Deodato Jr


DrMike2000

Paul Pope - I understand he has a certain something, and his creator written and owned work is said to be amazing, but I cant stand his faces and the way he composes everyone with their heads far too close together all the time. Well, in that one X-Statix filler he did, which is pretty much all I know of him...

Adam Kubert - his early work on Morrison's Batman never did it for me. Actually, I think I'm pretty cold on all the Kuberts.

By the way, Frank Quitely drew my avatar. He's also Scottish. That makes him a god amongst comic artists. Fact! OK, opinion then... :)

Oh and just to be controversial, I'm not a massive fan of Bryan Hitch's. His work's good and all, its just a bit kind of soulless somehow, and together with Millar he gives off this "we're being serious and spandex and superheroes is a bit silly really" vibe. I dont cry when I hear Hitchy's doing the art on anything, but I dont get as excited as most people seem to.

Oh yeah, Jim Lee's another one who doesnt quite float my boat as much as he should. Not hate, just indifference.
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Carravaggio

Quote from: detourne_me on May 13, 2009, 03:19:17 PM
Tang en Haut ...can make fun comics that are indy looking without going into 'disturbing' territory.

I always felt his brief run on JLA crossed that line  :unsure:

Silver Shocker

Besides the obvious (Land, Liefeld), ones that I particularly dislike:

-Frank Quitely
-Larry Stroman
-Juan Bobilo
-Keith Griffen (not really a fan of him as a writer or artist)
-Scott Kollins (though I don't hate his art, just dislike it and often wonder why so many people seem to love it, but there are stuff by him I liked ex. Rogue's Revenge)
-Marcos Martin - people to love this guy but to be honest I don't really like his art.
-Terry Dodson - don't hate it, just something about his style doesn't sit with me)
- Lenil Francis Yu - his more recent art is too sketchy for my tastes
- Howard Chaykin - I don't know why some people have spoken well of him, everything I've seen by him (in recent years) is awful
- Pascal Ferry - can't stand his art.

There might be one or two I forgot but that's a pretty good list for now.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
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Star

I can't believe people dislike Quitely! I love how detailed his work is, plus the way he conveys movement and motion is amazing. Please read All-Star Superman and We3!

I also thought he was great on The Authority.

bredon7777

Quietly draws lumpy people. People are not supposed to be lumpy.

He'd be fine on an all-alien book or something similar, just stop the man from drawing people!
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lugaru

Quote from: bredon7777 on May 14, 2009, 12:54:57 PM
Quietly draws lumpy people. People are not supposed to be lumpy.

Maybe not in Playboy (which is what most comic artists remind me of) but if you pick up a photo journalism book, you will see plenty of lumpy people...

BentonGrey

Quote from: Mystik on May 13, 2009, 05:50:35 AM
alex ross and that rob guy who thinks he's an artist

Wha? :blink:

Hehe, and Lugaru, maybe YOU'RE lumpy. ;)

The only one who really bothers me is Liefeld, but Shawn McManus really rubbed me the wrong way with his work on Aquaman.  It wasn't really his fault though, since he was assigned the book despite the fact that his style was completely and totally wrong for that kind of work.
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GrizzlyBearTalon

#23
A lot of comic artists do suffer from everyone is beautiful syndrome. Heck just take a gander at anything they draw that isn't superhuman, crowds full of nothing but sexy young hipsters. Quietly... does not do this... not even a little bit...

I personally kinda flip flop on him, sometimes I really disliked his art on The Authority other times I really dug it. I didn't like anything he did X-men side but maybe that was coupled with my indifference of Grant Morrison's X-men run. I thought maybe it was how different his art was compared to how I was used to seeing the X-men, however I loved his work with All Star Superman. Another piece that really completely made me just go... wow... was WE3.

I'm not indifferent on him, I am very bipolar in my feeling on Quietly. Sometimes I just adore his lumpiness but other times I loathe him and his lumpy ways. So yeah, never indifference it is always complete hatred or complete love each time I pick up a book with this artwork.

Also on a side note I had never seen Greg Land's work enough to recognize it, however after googling it... welp porno faces is terrifyingly accurate. I would link some examples it had up but they didn't really feel... acceptable for display here. Still man alive porno faces was dead on accurate for that guy.

JKCarrier

There's something about Quitely's style that just absolutely repels me. I wouldn't put him in same category as Rob Liefeld, who is obviously just all-around poor on a technical level. But Quitely's work looks... I dunno, sleazy or slimy or something. It's hard to describe, but it literally makes me ill to look at it.


GhostMachine

I've seen Ed Benes on this list, and I can understand. Frankly, he comes off to me, at least, as someone who should be a pin-up artist rather than a comic book artist. Apparently his brother and sister also draw, as well.



tommyboy

Going back to Daglob's original post:
I used to hate Don Heck's art. I look at it now and love it. There was a period when he seemed to (to my young and ignorant eyes) get far too much work at marvel, and all of it on my favourite book, the Avengers.
Now I see a draughtsman, a storyteller, a man with a style as distinctive as Kirby, Ditko or Colan. A man who could tell a story in pictures.
Back then I used to think his art too "sketchy", and dull. Now I look at it in black and white, in Essentials, and it doesn't look that way at all. It looks tight and detailed, different to Romita or the Buscema brothers, but as good in its own way.
It's funny how a few decades can make one think again.
Now I don't hate any artist. But by the same token, there are few whose art alone makes me buy something. Starlin, Rude, Cooke for new material, Kirby, Eisner, Ditko, Steranko for reprints.
I've seen a number of comics where I literally cannot tell from the art what is supposed to be happening in the last few years, and where the "show not tell" writing style is even less help than the art. But I don't hate those artists, nor would it bug me or deter me if they were to draw a comic I "follow".
Higher production standards, of paper, printing and colouring, and computerised art assistance mean modern comics often look "better", superficially, to comics from the 40's-80's, which might explain my lack of anti-favourites, or maybe art is better, or maybe I've grown up a little in at least one area.

thalaw2

I join the ranks of those not liking Frank Miller.  IMO he is waaaaayyyy over hyped.  I was also never a big fan of Kelly Jones.  I'm glad he only did the covers of the comics I have with his work.  For me RL is rather hit and miss.  I don't know his latest stuff (is he still adding a "package" to his male characters?) though.
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Zippo

I would take Liefeld over Larry Stroman any day. Leifeld is bad, but Stroman is simply an assault on my eyes.

Silver Shocker

I recently read Frank Miller's famous Batman stories and for the ones where he did the art I didn't think it was that good either. But I think a big reason why was because of the hype.

There's actually an inker I really dislike: Dan Green. He inked for JRJr and Silvestri on Uncanny X-Men in the 80s and inked Garney on Busiek's JLA arc, and I've always strongly disliked how the art comes out looking (sketchy and scratchy IMO) when he's inking.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
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