Heroes and their definitive artists

[doctorchallenger]

Just so its clear, I'm not trying to go tit-for-tat on this thread. I just wanted to point out that Wally got some mention, here.  I've picked up as many of the original issues of THUNDER Agents, pretty much for Wood's art.  I agree competely that he is overshadowed. 

[daglob]

In defense of my answer...   ;)

I went with the vibe of the answers (FR is a pretty carefree bunch) rather than the strict question. So, Wally Wood (and alot of the artists I listed) aren't what I would consider "definitive". Wally Wood's run was brief, but I really liked the art style he employed. It reminded me of Ditko's Daredevil taken another step further. I don't know that anyone can truely improve on Ditko's art, but Wally Wood seemed as close as one could get.

I actually asked this same question in another forum and got more definitive answers. The crowd there is pretty much an older, strictly comics bunch though.

... older than me?

AH! A Ditko fan. Me too.

Wood works well on Ditko because their styles are so similar. No, really. I think it's because they had a lot of the same influences growing up, and as a result they use a lot of the same techniques to solve artistic problems. On The Ditko Looked Up site, there are (were maybe, haven't looked lately) a couple of pages of un-inked art. While all that is needed to tell the story is there, there is not a lot of detail. Ditko added that in the final inking. Wood seemed to know what details Ditko left out, and was able to put them in.

Wood's Daredevil stint was my first introduction to his art. From then on, I looked for and looked forward to seeing his stuff. It is a tragedy that a man that good had a life like that.

Man... what if Wood had stayed on DD for three-four YEARS. What wonders might we have seen? And have you ever seen Wood's run on The Spirit?

Jim Steranko would be the definitive Nick Fury, Agent of SHEILD artist, and nearly became the definitive artist of The X-Men and Captain America on the basis of a few fill-in stories on each. Think about what would have happened if those few issues had been a few years worth.

Neal Adams, like Steranko (and Wood, too, I guess) has always seeme to have trouble staying in one place. His Deadman was more than a change in the hero, it was a change in comics. His Batman became an Icon, yet his Specter never really took hold.

Steranko and Adams both changed the way comics were drawn.

Bruno Premani was the definitive Original Original Doom Patrol artist, but, except for a few fill-ins and crossovers, he was the ONLY Doom Patrol artist in the '60s. And nobody's mentioned Russ Manning on Tarzan and Magnus-Robot Fighter or Alberto Gioletti on Turok.

Da Glob, whose first off-the-rack Spider-Man comic was #11 (then got #9 and #10, which were still on the rack)

[psychopanda]

... older than me?

...possibly? I think if we did an age average on this forum, it would be less than the average age over there. Nothing wrong with either of course, everyone has something to bring to the table. Younger people bring a fresh point of view to things, older people bring the history of characters and artists.

AH! A Ditko fan. Me too.

Definitely! My avatar  :psychopanda is based off of quirky Ditko characters like Spider-Man, Blue Beetle, Shade the Changing Man, etc.

While all that is needed to tell the story is there, there is not a lot of detail. Ditko added that in the final inking. Wood seemed to know what details Ditko left out, and was able to put them in.

Yes, that's the perfect explanation.

Man... what if Wood had stayed on DD for three-four YEARS. What wonders might we have seen? And have you ever seen Wood's run on The Spirit?

Like many characters, I didn't really understand the Spirit, till later. Sadly in my younger days..."if it isn't a superhero comic, it's ^#$%!..". I think I've seen some of Wally Wood's Spirit stuff. Will Einer's Spirit sure knocked my socks off. I really need to get some Spirit collections and sit and read them someday. I have the Eisner's A Contract With God: And Other Tenement Stories on my bookshelf but still haven't sat down to read it.  :blush:

Da Glob, whose first off-the-rack Spider-Man comic was #11 (then got #9 and #10, which were still on the rack)

Well that makes you older than me! ;)

My first remembered comic was the origin of the Vision in Avengers. I thought I had the original back then, till I looked up the date  and found out it was printed nearly a year before I was born!* It's only lately that I've discovered most of the comics I grew up on were actually reprints or back issues.

*most likely, I had the Marvel Super Action copy