My Favorite Comic Artists for Particular Series

Tone is the general attitude or feeling of a narrative. Good comic books often have a clear and focused tone throughout the story. Great comic books will have that tone perfectly expressed through the art. In this brief entry, I want to showcase my favorite artists on some of my favorite comic series. Every one of these artists use their art to perfectly sync with the tone of the writing, which makes them memorable in my brain.

Spider-Man: Mark Bagley

Mark Bagley and Brian Micheal Bendis' run on Ultimate Spider-man was the longest run of a single creative team in Marvel history. Just let that sink in for a minute. Both of these guys rocked at perfecting a super down-to-earth and relatable tone that Spider-man has always been known for. Bendis does this through his trademark dialogue, which isn't as theatrical and scripted as most comics, and successfully replicates the nuances of real conversation. Bagley is an expert at realistic and natural facial expressions and body language that communicate just as much (if not more) than Bendis' writing. Additionally, Bagley's proportion-altering style fits really well with a character who is supposed to be a 15-year-old nerd.

Daredevil: Alex Maleev

When I first got into reading comics, I was all about the classics. I read a lot of Stan Lee runs on characters like Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Hulk. Then I picked up a newer Daredevil book, and was blown away by how stylized Alex Maleev's art was. Angular, flat, heavily textured, and overflowing with grit, Maleev's work on Daredevil was perfect for bone-crushing action and seedy crime stories.

Punisher: Steve Dillon

Punisher books have had varying tones through the years. My favorite ones have always been the more flamboyantly violent; the ones done in ridiculous and larger-than-life fashion. Nobody owns this side of the character like Steve Dillon. From hundreds of head shots with shotguns to people getting mauled by bears and everything in between, Steve Dillon can make these things feel not nearly as disgusting as they sound. I am elated to hear that he is returning to Marvel to once again illustrate the character. 

Fantastic Four: Mike Allred

Disclaimer: Allred has never drawn a main-series Fantastic Four book to my knowledge. This is both wishful thinking on my part and reference to his art on the spinoff book FF. Allred has a classic silver-age style that is incredibly reminiscent of Fantastic Four co-creator and comic legend Jack Kirby. Additionally, Allred's work has a quirky charm that is present in the best Fantastic Four books, and his incredible details are icing on the cake that would shine in Fantastic Four (note the censored double deuce we're getting from Bently 23, a sort of reformed clone of the FF villian, Wizard, in the third picture). Behold some of his work on FF:

Thor: Esad Ribic

It's really hard for me to describe why I like Ribic on Thor. I think at the end of the day his softer line work (combined with the more muted palette that the colorist uses) makes the art look a bit archaic and mythological, which obviously works with Thor. He is also really good at rendering otherworldly creatures that often show up in this universe that is a perfect mix of sci-fi and fantasty. As a final note, the first picture here shows Malekith, whom many of you will remember from the lukewarm Thor: The Dark World. Let's just appreciate how much better and Dark Elf-y Ribic's design is. 

Batman: Jim Lee

Again, this one is hard to describe. Jim Lee has a quasi-realistic style heavy with cross-hatching texture. This style has really become a mainstay in modern DC comics, but nobody does it better than Jim Lee himself. I'm gonna show instead of tell this time. 

Star Wars: Stuart Immonen

Artists on the new Marvel Star Wars family of comics tend to do one of two things. They abandon all style in favor of hyper-realism, like Salvador Larroca on the Darth Vader series, or they abandon all need for visual representation in favor of their own style, like Terry Dodson on the Princess Leia series. Despite only having illustrated 3 issues of Star Wars at the time of this writing, Immonen has impressed me by the ability to incorporate both. The characters all resemble the original actors who portrayed them in the OT, but the art still undoubtedly has Immonen's distinct style. I could only find pencils to show you, but they make my point.

That's all for now. I may do another entry featuring other series in the future. Hope you enjoyed! Like, comment, subscribe, visit our sponsor, buy our t-shirt.