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Post by Pól Rua on Dec 19, 2015 5:38:33 GMT -5
I had a feeling you'd have something to say about this choice.  |
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Post by Dr. Hfuhruhurr on Dec 19, 2015 17:48:04 GMT -5
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 19, 2015 22:57:32 GMT -5
You know its just struck me, at this stage of his career, late 70s, early 80s, how much of the visual language of DD was Miller, and how much was Janson. I know he goes on soon to doing most of the art, but at the start did he have a major influence ? When you look at even the pages above I find it hard to think of any inkers who would have complimented Millers work as well.
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Post by berkley on Dec 20, 2015 0:52:52 GMT -5
8. SterankoAnother obvious choice, but after much hesitation I decided I had to include him since he's left a pretty big impression on my imagination - though unfortunately almost as much because of the work he never got around to doing as for the stuff he actually completed, which basically amounts to Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, a few scattered issues and stories in other Marvel series, Chandler, his solo detective story experiment, and other odds and ends. But he showed such a flair for innovative story-telling techniques in that relatively small body of work that I can't hear or read his name without a pang of regret for all the comics he didn't draw. Here's a short story that might give an idea of his style:
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Post by Pharozonk on Dec 20, 2015 16:32:20 GMT -5
#8. Darwyn CookeWhat more needs to be said about Cooke that hasn't been said by everyone else this year? He's the quintessential retro superhero writer in my eyes, able to seamlessly blend old school characters and concepts with modern sensibilities without descending into pretentious drivel or forced maturity. The New Frontier is, without a doubt, his magnum opus, a wonderful treatise on superheroes in the atomic age and just how much those characters are defined by the era they were created in.  His style is almost a fusion of psychedelic Silver Age coloring and line work and Golden Age simplicity with character design. The blocky character designs are very reminiscent of Kirby's work, though stripped of the more ornate line work that Kirby would infuse in his style. Cooke represents everything that superhero writers should strive to be: celebratory of what makes these characters great and why we should strive to be more like them.
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Post by benday-dot on Dec 20, 2015 17:09:04 GMT -5
You know its just struck me, at this stage of his career, late 70s, early 80s, how much of the visual language of DD was Miller, and how much was Janson. I know he goes on soon to doing most of the art, but at the start did he have a major influence ? When you look at even the pages above I find it hard to think of any inkers who would have complimented Millers work as well. I totally agree. If you look at IDW's Miller Artifact Edition it's full of Janson's notations. I think at the stage Miller was still doing the pencilling chores the composition and layouts were pretty much all his, but all those duo-shade and zip-atones and layover affects seem to have all been Janson. What a pair! |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 21, 2015 5:54:17 GMT -5
8. SterankoAnother obvious choice, but after much hesitation I decided I had to include him since he's left a pretty big impression on my imagination - though unfortunately almost as much because of the work he never got around to doing as for the stuff he actually completed, which basically amounts to Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, a few scattered issues and stories in other Marvel series, Chandler, his solo detective story experiment, and other odds and ends. But he showed such a flair for innovative story-telling techniques in that relatively small body of work that I can't hear or read his name without a pang of regret for all the comics he didn't draw. Here's a short story that might give an idea of his style: That's an amazingly well-told story. I didn't realize just how much Gene Day had been influenced by Steranko.(Well, a Steranko influence was obvious, down to a homage/swipe shot of Fah Lo Suee/Valentina de Fontaine in MoKF, but here we can see the basis for many of Gene's intricately designed backgrounds). I fully agree that Steranko is a precursor, a trend-setter... and that it's really a pity that, like Leonardo da Vinci, he didn't finish as many things as he could. I particularly remember his sword and sorcery series, Talon, that is basically one or two pin-ups. But then, if even your failings warrant a comparison to da Vinci, I guess you don't have much to worry about! |
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 21, 2015 6:01:18 GMT -5
8. SterankoAnother obvious choice, but after much hesitation I decided I had to include him since he's left a pretty big impression on my imagination - though unfortunately almost as much because of the work he never got around to doing as for the stuff he actually completed, which basically amounts to Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, a few scattered issues and stories in other Marvel series, Chandler, his solo detective story experiment, and other odds and ends. But he showed such a flair for innovative story-telling techniques in that relatively small body of work that I can't hear or read his name without a pang of regret for all the comics he didn't draw. Here's a short story that might give an idea of his style: Nice story. Thanks for posting it. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 21, 2015 12:32:39 GMT -5
8: Doug Allen Steven. Man, do I love Doug Allen's Steven. It's absurd, it's hilarious, it's crudely drawn but effectively so. Another weird one attuned to my sensibilities, Steven's world is that of a third-rate character living like he's a cartoon icon, surrounded by a cast of characters who stay in the "Characters Lounge" when they're on hiatus from the strip. And what pathetic, mysterious, and fascinating characters they are, drawn often from 60's kitsch culture and advertising: Schuman the teddy bear (with the creepy plastic face), Snap-E-Tom, the hot pepper mascot, Mr. Owl Ph. D., Tiki Man, and Woodrow, whose main role is to desperately beg to please be in the strip, only to be routinely rejected. Diving into this world is unsatisfying in small doses to me: I want to drown in a ceaseless parade of Steven's hot-tempered ennui. There is nothing like this: it's like a diseased Nancy comic that hates its readers but amuses despite itself. 
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 21, 2015 20:52:26 GMT -5
Mr. Gallagher, I wish you posted more often, but the sheer quality of what you do post is guaranteed entertaining.
I have to dig this out and re-read this someday.
Wasn't that printed under Piranha Press ?
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Post by berkley on Dec 22, 2015 4:31:12 GMT -5
That's an amazingly well-told story. I didn't realize just how much Gene Day had been influenced by Steranko.(Well, a Steranko influence was obvious, down to a homage/swipe shot of Fah Lo Suee/Valentina de Fontaine in MoKF, but here we can see the basis for many of Gene's intricately designed backgrounds). I fully agree that Steranko is a precursor, a trend-setter... and that it's really a pity that, like Leonardo da Vinci, he didn't finish as many things as he could. I particularly remember his sword and sorcery series, Talon, that is basically one or two pin-ups. But then, if your even your failings warrant a comparison to da Vinci, I guess you don't have much to worry about! Excellent point - Steranko's influence on that other famous MoKF artist, Paul Gulacy, is often pointed out but you don't hear much about Gene Day's debt to the master, and it certainly seems apparent in some of these pages. All told, where would MoKF have been without Steranko - and he never drew a single panel for the series (if only he had been hired to do a guest issue or two). Talking about Steranko's influence makes me wonder - are there any other comics artists who might be considered part of the Steranko "school"? And yes, Talon is the unfinished (unfinshed? more like "unstarted"!) work I especially had in mind. The few ads and illustrations he produced for it look so good! A great loss! |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 22, 2015 8:23:31 GMT -5
Mr. Gallagher, I wish you posted more often, but the sheer quality of what you do post is guaranteed entertaining. I have to dig this out and re-read this someday. Wasn't that printed under Piranha Press ? Thanks, hondobrode! I wish I had more time to post here, myself! I once maintained a better than once a day frequency on the old boards, but it's hard for me to manage anything close to that anymore. All the issues of Steven that I have were published by Kitchen Sink Press and Fantagraphics, not Piranha Press. I'm glad to hear that someone else here even has some issues of this! It's an under-noticed gem that deserves some attention. |
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Post by MDG on Dec 22, 2015 9:00:43 GMT -5
Talking about Steranko's influence makes me wonder - are there any other comics artists who might be considered part of the Steranko "school"? There was, but they all were all graded "Incomplete." |
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zilch
Full Member
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Post by zilch on Dec 25, 2015 0:10:13 GMT -5
Meanwhile, back in the Great White North...
.... a story years in the making by an artist who grew into the work and brought us along for the ride...
Lynn Johnson!
(HA! Thought i was gonna go all aardvark on ya!)
She built her story from a simple gag-a-day style to bring us along raising a family and meeting both birth and death with simple grace and humor. She dealt with such issues as homosexuality, homelessness, children growing into adults, morphing into a grandparent and finding her voice and place in the world.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2015 18:34:12 GMT -5
Making time for this today, and not looking at anyone else's choices (yet). I know I'm leaving some "big" names off, but (blasphemy): Kirby, Ditko, Jeff Smith, Los Bros Hernandez,etc. . never really did it for me. So my list is gonna be MY favorites that affected me over the years. .although I absolutely acknowledge that the above mentioned, as well as many others, vastly have influenced the medium over the years. ok. #8: James A. Owen I stumbled across his "Starchild" at a convention, and was immediately drawn in by the sheer level of detail that Owen puts into the pages. Seriously, the craftmanship in this work? It reminded me very much of Geoff Darrow, but in Black and White:   And then I got into the story? wow. . blown away. When Owen started doing less and less comic work, I was disappointed, but he has found even greater success with his "The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica" series of novels (the first one being:  of which, I believe he's already up to book 8. .and they are all not only wonderful reads, but filled with gorgeous artwork that Owen does himself (and I always go to the bookstore when he comes on a promo tour, to buy a signed copy from him). |
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