The Greatest Artist

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Hawksmoor

Amazing Spiderfan
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Inspired by willblade's link to that fantastic pisstake of the terrible skills(?) of Rob Liefield, it got me thinking: which artists would you guys nominate to fill the top 5 spots in your collection? Who is a master of composition, or a god of character design? Who can bring lustre and sparkle to even a mediocre writer?

For me, my top 5 would go in this order, top down:

Jim Lee - for me, he can do no wrong
Bryan Hitch - brought life to such greats as The Authority and The Ultimates
John Romita Jr - managed to far outstrip his father in skill and style
Gary Frank - master artist of the awesome Supreme Power
Adam/Andy Kubert - the guys who breathed life into Ultimate X-Men, FF and Iron Man

So, who do you guys love for artwork? Conversely, who do you really hate?
 
my personal favs:

Marc Silvestri- i grew up with his work...as i started with the Uncanny X-men back in 1987 when he was involved with that title. the characaters were edgy looking..right on the pulse of the fashion/looks of the 80's. especially Storm and Rogue.

Alan Davis- he made Exaclibur the magickal and majestic book that it was...ANYTIME he lends his hand to the x-characters...its a beautiful thing. when he came to the uncanny x-men after bob harras took over and revamped the core team back in 1998/1999...his work was as awesome as it ever was.

John Byrne- He did the Dark Phoenix saga...(among other things) and his work remains timeless and instantly recognizable to this day. i saw his work in Wonder Woman back in 2000 and for that reason alone i snatched up each WW issue that featured his work. Although i DID think he got a bit sloppy in X-men: The Hidden Years...he was still the reason i gave that short lived series a look.

Jim Lee- brought a fresh look to the Uncanny X-men in 1990 during Acts of Vengeance and the transitory X-men team featuring Banshee, Forge, Callisto, Polaris and Amanda Sefton. His work is awesome. I bought the special 3 issue edition of the characters in the X-universe (the trading cards printed in comic book form) that were done by him and i LOVED his interpretation of Magik , Mystique, Psylocke, Saturyne, Shadowcat and others.

Glynnis Oliver/Brett Blevins- i think this was a husband/wife team (if i remember correctly) but i grew up with them as well while they did New Mutants from 1988 till about the end of the "dark valkyrie/asgard/hela" storyline. Their work was polished and gave the New Mutants a very nice , stylishlook. the coloring was awesome.
 
I knew I'd forgotten someone! Marc Silvestri will always be immortalized for me, not as the X-Men artist (although he aquitted himself very well there), but as the penciller on the Wolverine solo series when Larry Hama was writing. As far as I'm concerned, those two made the best pairing for his creative team that has ever been seen before or since!
 
I would have to say that I can only Truly pick three top artists in my book and this is in no order

Alex Ross
Jim Lee
Adi Granov
 
Too many to choose from. By me being an artist, I have numerous influences some of which include:

Neal Adams
Steve Rude
Adam Hughes
George Perez
Alex Ross
Jack Kirby
Don Newton
Marc Silvestri
Jim Lee
lots more
 
Tough one, on any given day I may change my mind depending my mood.

Neal Adams – If you’re looking for realism you’d be hard pressed to top him, this man knows anatomy.

Jim Lee – His faces tend to look alike and his characters never seemed relaxed but either in a dynamic action pose or a moody stance, but he is at the tops for detail and style.

John Romita JR – He does what Lee can’t with less detail, he gives characters a life and mood that doesn’t look contrived.

Steve McNiven – I’m becoming a fan of this guy, I can appreciate clean simple but quality art, after reading Civil War #1, duly impressive.

Ron Lim – I miss him, no one does Silver Surfer like him.

Michael Turner – Can he draw an ugly person would be my only criticism of him, all his characters look like supermodels but I can’t knock his talents. I many ways I like him more than Lee, he has a subtly Lee lacks.

Bryan Hitch – In a word,…’Ultimates’. I’m all for freewill, live and let live and all that, but he and Millar should be forced to stay on this book.

Adam Hughs - Even though he focuses a lot on pin up art, he's still consistently good at it.

Those most likely to be interchanged with above list; Art Adams, Marc Silvestri, David Finch, Chris Bachalo, Salvador Larroca, Joseph Michael Linser, Frank Cho, John Byrne, George Perez, among others.
 
Finch I really like, except for his faces. His bodywork is superb, and always has a nicely dynamic feel to the action sequences, without making them feel overhyped in any way. His less-good facework is still excusable, since he himself has recognised it as a failing, and vowed to correct it.

Another dude that I've started to appreciate, after only a few pieces of work, is Ryan Benjamin, an artist who recently returned to WildStorm; the pieces he posted on the "Sun Of Gelatometti" WildStorm BlogSpot were fantastic, to say the least. It was no surprise he won the Iron Gelatomettista contest with his Wonder Woman...
 
I would have to go with Finch on this one. I love his detail and I have to admit even his faces look ok to me. He is just so talented with the New Avengers. I also like the one and only Jack Kirby. He is just so talented and of course drew the very first IRON MAN! Speaking of Iron Man, I have to give the floor to Adi Granov. What he did with the Extremis arc in the Iron Man series is breathtaking. I have fallen in love with that kind of art!
 
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Hmm. I'm not as familiar with comics as you guys. Let's see...


Definitely on board with Alex Ross. Marvels, and Kingdom Come...beautiful books. Amazing.

Steve McNiven's Civil War stuff is a pleasure. So much care taken with the line work, the faces. I like how naturalistic it is in its own way, not distorting the human form too much.

Gotta throw in John Cassaday. Really like his work on Planetary, and Astonishing X-Men. It's very clean, sparse, sometimes a little cold maybe. But the compositions are just dead on. Very cinematic. Amazing covers for Astonishing. Deceptively simple.

I love Michael Gaydos' stuff. Alias, one of my faves. Just glancing at it, you might think it's sloppy, but no. The guy understands anatomy, subtle gestures, human expressions so damn well. It fit the tone of Bendis' story so well.

And I haven't read it, but plan to check out Darwyn Cooke's DC: The New Frontier. Normally, "cartoony" isn't something that gets me psyched about art. But his stuff is special. He's coming out of advertising, into comics. He's mastered this retro, sort of 50's advertising poster style. I dig it.
 
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