There was some discussion in another thread about Gary Frank's Superman artwork in Action Comics, and that inspired me to think of a topic: for various comic characters, what artist comes to mind as the one that does the most definitive depiction of that character? Whose art stands out in your mind as "what (a given character) really looks like?
Some of my picks:
Superman: Curt Swan (especially inked by Murphy Anderson). Honorable mention to Gary Frank's Chris Reeve-inspired version.
Batman: Neal Adams or Marshall Rogers
Flash (Barry): Carmine Infantino
Flash (Wally): Mike Wieringo
Green Lantern (Hal): Gil Kane or Neal Adams
Guy Gardner: Kevin Maguire
J'onn J'onnz: Howard Porter or Kevin Maguire
The Legion: Curt Swan or Keith Giffen (Giffen's had so many stylistic changes over the years; my favorite incarnation of Giffen's Legion would be circa The Magic Wars, before he went into the slightly more stylized look he used in the Five Years Later series--partly because I liked the look of the art, and partly because of the cool futuristic redesigns he did on the costumes.)
(Man, did I have to search to find something by Giffen from this era! At least we've got shots of Ultra Boy in his kickass reworked costume...)
Spider-Man: Jazzy Johnny Romita
The X-Men: Neal Adams for the original team, Paul Smith for the all-new, all-different (with strong honorable mention for Dave Cockrum and John Byrne; for a more recent take, I like Frank Quitely's New X-Men version)
The Fantastic Four: King Kirby all the way (though Byrne and Wieringo both did some pretty outstanding versions, too)
Out of left field, I have to mention Guy Davis' reimagining of the Golden Age Sandman from Sandman Mystery Theatre. For one thing, I liked his realistic rendition of Sandman's 'costume' as a suit, hat, and trenchcoat with a real gas mask, as opposed to the deeply stylized 'classic' version of the character with the weird yellow gasmask, green suit, orange hat, and purple cape. Moreover, though, his version of Wes Dodds as a less physically-imposing, almost pudgy, bespectacled type was a refreshing change from the strapping, square-jawed, black-haired Bruce Wayne clone. To this day, most artists seem to go along with the retconned realistic version... and the Simon & Kirby yellow-and-purple tights outfit seems to have been almost completely swept under the rug.
What do you think, sirs?
--g
Some of my picks:
Superman: Curt Swan (especially inked by Murphy Anderson). Honorable mention to Gary Frank's Chris Reeve-inspired version.
Batman: Neal Adams or Marshall Rogers
Flash (Barry): Carmine Infantino
Flash (Wally): Mike Wieringo
Green Lantern (Hal): Gil Kane or Neal Adams
Guy Gardner: Kevin Maguire
J'onn J'onnz: Howard Porter or Kevin Maguire
The Legion: Curt Swan or Keith Giffen (Giffen's had so many stylistic changes over the years; my favorite incarnation of Giffen's Legion would be circa The Magic Wars, before he went into the slightly more stylized look he used in the Five Years Later series--partly because I liked the look of the art, and partly because of the cool futuristic redesigns he did on the costumes.)
(Man, did I have to search to find something by Giffen from this era! At least we've got shots of Ultra Boy in his kickass reworked costume...)
Spider-Man: Jazzy Johnny Romita
The X-Men: Neal Adams for the original team, Paul Smith for the all-new, all-different (with strong honorable mention for Dave Cockrum and John Byrne; for a more recent take, I like Frank Quitely's New X-Men version)
The Fantastic Four: King Kirby all the way (though Byrne and Wieringo both did some pretty outstanding versions, too)
Out of left field, I have to mention Guy Davis' reimagining of the Golden Age Sandman from Sandman Mystery Theatre. For one thing, I liked his realistic rendition of Sandman's 'costume' as a suit, hat, and trenchcoat with a real gas mask, as opposed to the deeply stylized 'classic' version of the character with the weird yellow gasmask, green suit, orange hat, and purple cape. Moreover, though, his version of Wes Dodds as a less physically-imposing, almost pudgy, bespectacled type was a refreshing change from the strapping, square-jawed, black-haired Bruce Wayne clone. To this day, most artists seem to go along with the retconned realistic version... and the Simon & Kirby yellow-and-purple tights outfit seems to have been almost completely swept under the rug.
What do you think, sirs?
--g
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