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Post by String on Mar 19, 2020 16:27:10 GMT -5
I love JRjr, his style is one of the most distinctive and identifiable on the market. Along with Layton, his image of Iron Man is my quintessential image of the character. JRjr is my third favorite Daredevil artist behind Miller and Mazz.
Well, nice to see Rogue get so much love around here. Look, I waited a decade for the X-Men to appear on the small screen so to finally get to hear 'Sugah' on the cartoon was worth the wait, it doesn't bother me. But as for the character herself, I thought she presented Xavier with a legitimate challenge that he never overcame. Yeah, the mimic ability was neat but the fact that she could never properly touch anyone because she couldn't control it, that was the hook for me about her. How that affected her every day life not to mention any chance at proper romance and a relationship. It was slightly tragic which is why when Age of Apocalypse happened and she was with Magneto and they had a child, it was so endearing. Xavier never really helped her though which is why I think Rogue belongs on his list of failures.
I love Taskmaster. Photographic reflexes has to be one of the most underrated abilities in comics. Yeah, he may not have the enhanced strength of some of his targets but the fact that all he has to do is watch their movements to match their ability is sweet. Throw a shield perfectly like Cap? Heck yeah! But it's the potential of this ability that's amazing. For example, in one of his mini-series (I think in the mid 2000s?) he studied crazy hyper kung fu films and he could fight that well and that fast but only for a short period of time because those speeds were unnatural for a human body. A creative writer could come with some great applications of this ability.
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Post by beccabear67 on Mar 20, 2020 0:55:22 GMT -5
I thought Romita Jr. suited Spider-Man and Thor reallywell, but I didn't like his X-Men a whole lot. I don't remember him on Daredevil, just his father way back. His Iron Man with Layton was great, but so was Jerry Bingham/Layton Iron Man. Uncanny X-Men #176 (well, part of #175) onward was all very uninspiring... maybe with an Armando Gil or similar (over) inker? I like Wiacek on many artists, and Dan Green on others, but they didn't do much of anything for Romita Jr. whereas Joe Rubinstein and Bob MacLeod could really bring out subtleties. I did like X-Men Annual #4 which was Romita Jr. and MacLeod.  |
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Post by berkley on Mar 20, 2020 1:40:15 GMT -5
The Eternals is probably the best looking work I've seen from him in the later style. Some good, some bad, for me: his Ikaris and Makkari looked all right, but Thena, Sersi, and Zuras were pretty weak, to my eyes. The Celestials mostly didn't work either, apart from a few close-ups. Often they gave me the impression of giant, inflatable balloons rather than striking the note of awe they should.
But I don't think he's a bad artist, I just don't like his style or share his aesthetic sense of what looks good and bad.
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Mar 20, 2020 12:43:54 GMT -5
I like John Romita Jr's art a lot. I really enjoy his 80s stuff on Amazing Spider-Man, around the Roger Stern era. But, while his later blockier style isn't quite as instantly appealing to the eye, once you've gotten used to it, I think it's actually better than his more conventional 80s fare. Certainly he improved as a visual storyteller through the 90s and 2000s. His time on ASM in the 2000s with J. Michael Straczynski writing is one of the best and most underrated eras of Spider-Man IMHO. You are right about his 2000s run. That is quite good. I just still cannot love his blocky faces. But when mask is on and action is happening (and Stracyznski is writing), it works fine for me! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 18:45:37 GMT -5
Bear in mind this is only my finicky opinion
But I don't like this cover, or McFarlane Spidey.
I don't care if it's valuable...I resold every copy I owned or acquired to guys who swoon over Todd McFarlane.
I can't really appreciate a book if I don't like the artwork...
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Apr 6, 2020 18:58:21 GMT -5
I like the figure fine.
But I hate the 300 background. Its hideous!
They used this same design for several anniversary issues around this time, like Web #50, and it's just terrible.
When this came out, I didn't buy it. But I did buy 301, which has the same exact figure, but in the classic costume with a blank white background. It looks infinitely better than this mess on 300.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 7, 2020 8:18:58 GMT -5
I quite like that cover for ASM #300, text and all. But then, I quite like Todd McFarlane's work on the character. I mean, he's not my favourite Spidey artist by a long chalk, but his artwork depicting Spider-Man in full flight is dynamic as hell, and I love his so-called "spaghetti webbing". In fact, I think his redesign of the look of Spider-Man's webbing -- by accentuating the messy, tangled, detail of it, as it comes spraying out of his web-shooters -- might be the most important and influential addition to the look of the character since the Ditko and Romita days.
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Post by rberman on Apr 7, 2020 8:39:47 GMT -5
I quite like that cover for ASM #300, text and all. But then, I quite like Todd McFarlane's work on the character. I mean, he's not my favourite Spidey artist by a long chalk, but his artwork depicting Spider-Man in full flight is dynamic as hell, and I love his so-called "spaghetti webbing". In fact, I think his redesign of the look of Spider-Man's webbing -- by accentuating the messy, tangled, detail of it, as it comes spraying out of his web-shooters -- might be the most important and influential addition to the look of the character since the Ditko and Romita days. McFarlane was cueing off of the ropy, squiggly look that Arthur Adams debuted on the cover of Longshot #4 in 1985.  |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 7, 2020 9:36:39 GMT -5
I quite like that cover for ASM #300, text and all. But then, I quite like Todd McFarlane's work on the character. I mean, he's not my favourite Spidey artist by a long chalk, but his artwork depicting Spider-Man in full flight is dynamic as hell, and I love his so-called "spaghetti webbing". In fact, I think his redesign of the look of Spider-Man's webbing -- by accentuating the messy, tangled, detail of it, as it comes spraying out of his web-shooters -- might be the most important and influential addition to the look of the character since the Ditko and Romita days. McFarlane was cueing off of the ropy, squiggly look that Arthur Adams debuted on the cover of Longshot #4 in 1985. Oooh...interesting. This is why I love this forum! So much to learn from folks.  I Googled this for a bit more info and actually, it turns out, that both Arthur Adams and Todd McFarlane have stated that they were both inspired by Michael Golden's depiction of Spidey's webbing in a drawing of the Defenders that he did for a Marvel Team-Up Portfolio in 1981... Here's the specific piece of art...  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2020 8:12:38 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong....I love the mini-series itself...but not the cover which started it. He may be over-exposed in books over the past 20 years, but some of those covers are so good, makes this one look a bit primitive.
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Post by impulse on Apr 9, 2020 14:04:01 GMT -5
I've never liked JR Jrs artwork in any variation. He has done stuff that is less awful, and I've seen him at times tone down the "everything is made of rounded rectangular box tubes" but it has never clicked with me. Memory might be faulty, but I feel like he did something not terribly long ago where he did layouts and someone else finished it, and it was miles better.
I liked McFarlane's style on Spawn which I read for a few minutes. His stuff is dynamic and heavily stylized, kind of like Tim Burton. Also like Tim Burton in that I only am in the mood for it about 2 hours every decade.
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Post by berkley on Apr 9, 2020 14:30:46 GMT -5
I've never liked JR Jrs artwork in any variation. He has done stuff that is less awful, and I've seen him at times tone down the "everything is made of rounded rectangular box tubes" but it has never clicked with me. Memory might be faulty, but I feel like he did something not terribly long ago where he did layouts and someone else finished it, and it was miles better. I liked McFarlane's style on Spawn which I read for a few minutes. His stuff is dynamic and heavily stylized, kind of like Tim Burton. Also like Tim Burton in that I only am in the mood for it about 2 hours every decade. Yeah, I feel the same way about Romita Jr - but again, I think it's a deliberate choice on his part, not a lack of ability.
MacFarlane is one of those artists, I can see why a lot of people like his style but it does nothing at all for me.
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 9, 2020 14:47:56 GMT -5
I've never liked JR Jrs artwork in any variation. He has done stuff that is less awful, and I've seen him at times tone down the "everything is made of rounded rectangular box tubes" but it has never clicked with me. Memory might be faulty, but I feel like he did something not terribly long ago where he did layouts and someone else finished it, and it was miles better. I liked McFarlane's style on Spawn which I read for a few minutes. His stuff is dynamic and heavily stylized, kind of like Tim Burton. Also like Tim Burton in that I only am in the mood for it about 2 hours every decade. Yeah, I feel the same way about Romita Jr - but again, I think it's a deliberate choice on his part, not a lack of ability.
MacFarlane is one of those artists, I can see why a lot of people like his style but it does nothing at all for me.
MacFarlane...just awful. The only reason I could get through his run on ASM (barely) was due to the character alone, but I would have felt better just reading a novel version instead of having to look at his hideous scribblings. |
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Post by impulse on Apr 9, 2020 15:28:37 GMT -5
I've never liked JR Jrs artwork in any variation. He has done stuff that is less awful, and I've seen him at times tone down the "everything is made of rounded rectangular box tubes" but it has never clicked with me. Memory might be faulty, but I feel like he did something not terribly long ago where he did layouts and someone else finished it, and it was miles better. I liked McFarlane's style on Spawn which I read for a few minutes. His stuff is dynamic and heavily stylized, kind of like Tim Burton. Also like Tim Burton in that I only am in the mood for it about 2 hours every decade. Yeah, I feel the same way about Romita Jr - but again, I think it's a deliberate choice on his part, not a lack of ability. MacFarlane is one of those artists, I can see why a lot of people like his style but it does nothing at all for me.
Agreed, a lack of sense, not ability (kidding!) Yeah, he chooses to draw that way. It's just not for me. |
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Post by badwolf on Apr 10, 2020 13:28:28 GMT -5
There was a time when I liked McFarlane. I bought Spawn for a while, starting with that set of issues written by Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman and Dave Sim. (I think Greg Capullo got on the art at some point.) I also bought his Spider-Man series that had the Lizard/Calypso storyline.
Now I look back on that stuff and don't know what I was thinking.
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