yup, 1st boba fett!

Why only Adams and not others who were just as realistic like Morrow, Heath, Swan...?

A lot of classic artists, especially those used to working in the Marvel style might have trouble adjusting to the modern style of full script done by most modern writers, where the writer, not the layout artist, determines a lot of the composition and panel layout and the pacing of the overall story. Every shot and camera angle is called out for them in the script in most cases. Also blank backgrounds with a few lines to hint at background and broad swaths of monochrome fill used by a lot of classic artists to quicken the production time to churn out more pages quickly wouldn't fly in today's market or fulfill what is called for in a lot of the full scripts that are being produced.

Talent might win out, but a lot depends on the talent's ability to adapt to the market demands. Someone like Joe Kubert, who approached comics as commercial art where you have to please the client (in this case the writer/editor/publisher) would be more likely be willing to adapt their output to the needs of the market and still retain the telltale style and talent they have, but those with an ego, thinking they are above the demands of the writer or editor (or publisher), would likely find themselves not getting work at the big 2 and not getting calls from the star writers as they launch creator-owned books with artists. Those creators who are full on cartoonists, able to do all aspects of the creation of the comic (writing/pencilling/inking, etc.) could succeed in the creator-owned market if they can find a publisher willing to work with them and an audience. But they would also have to take on a lot of the marketing and publicity related with getting the title out there which is a time and resource drain too.

Classic talent would either have to be able to adapt to the demands and realities of the current market to succeed as a start up talent these days, or be so good they redefine the market, which is a lot harder to do in the current age than it was in times past because there is a much smaller customer base in the current niche market who is much more set in their buying habits when it comes to mainstream comics, and a much smaller pie to draw from when you enter the creator-owned market unless you have been able to build an audience for your work in the mainstream market and bring it with you when you transition to creator-owned stuff. The creator-owned market is writer and story driven these days, and the mainstream market is universe/event driven not creator driven (with exceptions). It is a lot harder to make your mark on single book with a long run these days because that is not the way books are produced in the current market.

I'm not saying classic artists couldn't succeed in the current market, but it would depend on their ability to adapt to the market as much as their talent. A lot of classic talent benefited form the more freewheeling style of plot first then art then script production where they could make their mark with their draftsmanship, layouts, storytelling, etc. that they could bring to the table. In the current market, a lot of that is determined before the artist is ever brought into the creative process, done by editors and writers more often than not, so there is less room for the strengths of many of those classic artists to come into play allowing them to be standouts as they were in previous years where the market was different than it is today.

-M

All excellent points. You sir are very eloquent! Seriously this was well thought out & expressed perfectly.

My main preference for a lot of the ":classic" artists is they all had individual style. Adams, Kirby, Colan, Buscema(s), Byrne, Perez, Cockrum... they all look like themselves, whereas say Reis and Scott above (who I do like better than 95% of their contemporaries) and many of their peers look like they all came from the same studio. I look at DC lately and to a large extent the line all looks the same(like a buncha Lee clones). Yes there are some individual styles(Manapulis great) but a quick peruse of the shelves and not a lot jumps out.

Hey me too, well some of them, but look at all the newbies Marvel foist on us and tell me you wouldnt rather have Ordway or Grummet getting some love, letalone a buncha older artists still going who could do way better.

yes.  as has been the case since the 90's.

the page rate for pencils or inks goes a lot further for rent and food in yugoslavia or brazil.

plus the fact that the more issues you illustrate, the higher page rate you can ask for.  much better [economically] to hire a 'new-spark' for half the price whom can rip off the style of the 'old spark'.