Taraco wrote:


Conversely, there are artists whose work I didn't like at all then -- Andru is a good example, so is Don Heck, Bob Haney, Jim Mooney and even Jim Aparo -- who today I realize were terrific storytellers and communicators.
I've always hated anything done by Andru. All his faces look like evil people afflicted with Down's Syndrome. And those elbows and knees! Someone's gonna put an eye out with those pointy things! I remember a long run of great stories while Andru was drawing Spiderman, and I remember praying on the way to the drugstore every month that he'd been replaced with a good artist, only to have to grit my teeth and endure it. Carmine Infantino is Andru's soulmate in bad art, and Rudy Nebres is their long lost triplet. Such similar styles, which I always hated.

Don Heck I've always referred to as Don Hack, because his art was so scratchy and sloppy looking. I've always suspected that Don Heck, Bob Brown, and George Tuska were merely different personalities in a single Sybil-like being, none of whom could draw a straight line. I refer to them as the Chicken Scratch Triplets because their art was so similarly scratchy.

However, Frank Robbins, Al Milgrom, and Mike Sekowsky take the cake as bad artists. I have never in all my decades of comic book reading even once read an issue drawn by any of them and not wanted to gouge my eyes out with a rusty spork to take the pain away! image image

Aparo I have always liked. To me, he is the definitive Batman artist. I can't ever recall seeing his work and not liking it. He was so consistently awesome!

Then there's the original JLA's Mike Sekowsky who, I'm sorry, was the worst artist on a major book I've ever seen. If not for the wonderful covers, some by Sekowsky but smoothed out and redeemed by DC's top inkers, the JLA would have been a total loss. The only DC Archives book I've told my wife NOT to get me for Christmas.
Sekowsky rendered all the early JLA stories impossible to enjoy for me. Not that many of them were very good. But with that hideous art, I can't imagine enjoying even the best stories. Was he drawing with broken hands or something?

Dick Dillin, while not a famous/fan favorite, was the best JLA artist ever. I've only grown to like his work more and more over the years. I think one of the saddest moments ever for me fan-wise was when I was enjoying JLA # 183-185, where the JLA and JSA meet the New Gods. The New Gods was one of my top 2 favorite DC comic titles (the other being Kobra). But I had tears in my eyes when, after initially being excited to see George Perez (my #2 favorite artist of all time behind Kirby) drawing it, I discovered that he was drawing it because Dick Dillin had died. Talk about bittersweet moments! image

I've always considered Brunner to be the definitive Dr. Strange artist, light years beyond anything Ditko ever did. A very close second would be Marshall Rogers, who overall is my 3rd favorite artist. Brunner's style just fit Dr. Strange a bit better.

I think Marvel has always had a far better stable of artists than DC ever had.

Professor Leibstrum wrote:

Well said, the greatest rogues gallery ever (apart perhaps from Batman). And that perfect costume.
Wow! I agree with the perfect costume part, but I'd never compare Batman's rogues' gallery to Spideys. Batman's enemies all seemed carbon copy and boring. Catwoman likes cats. The Joker likes jokes. The Riddler like riddles. The Penguin likes birds. Tweedley Dee and Tweedly Dum and dumb and dumber. They're all so one-dimensional. Spidey had Electro, Green Goblin, Mysterio, the Rhino...just way more exciting and original.

I love John Romita's work and he is a far more versatile artist than Steve Ditko. JR could draw just about any book and his women were gorgeous.
We're on the same page there! Romita always did have a knack for drawing women well. He's my definitive Spidey artist.

Finally, I say that these reboots aren't necessary, and the only reason they happen is that the characters have been overused. How many Spiderman titles are there? When you have one character and that character appears in 3-4 of his own titles every month, along with another team-up title, you simply burn the character up too quickly. That's why Superman became a boring joke so early on. He was in every damned thing DC ever did! It's greed, trying to make tons of money really quickly, that burned out the characters.


"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted in a profoundly sick society."

- Krishnamurti