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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 17, 2015 9:04:47 GMT -5
It's hard to think of something new to say about today's entry, a genuine original whose impact on the comics industry and popular culture is impossible to overstate. He is, simply, the King. #8. Jack Kirby  Some of you may find it odd, then, that he placed so low on my mist. Because we're only considering his solo work, however, I couldn't in good conscience place him higher. Don't get me wrong. I love the Fourth World, Kamandi, Machine Man, The Demon, The Eternals, heck, even Devil Dinosaur, but let's face it: Jack's scripting style is, to be charitable, eccentric. Clunky dialogue notwithstanding, the power of Kirby's art and the scope of his imagination are breathtaking. I’ve told the story of my one-and-only encounter with Mr. K elsewhere so instead I'll just mention that the New Gods, the Forever People, Mr. Miracle and Etrigan represent a major turning point in my life as a comics connosieur. It was following Jack from Marvel to DC that finally got me interested in collecting the latter's product. I knew DC's characters, of course, and liked most of 'em but it was not until Kirby that I began actively seeking their comics out. Even were he not the creative titan he was, he would've earned his spot on my list for that alone. Cei-U! Long live the King! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2015 9:40:39 GMT -5
Charles Schultz - PeanutsHis simple, clean-crisp, and all the Peanuts Gang, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Woodstock, and others has delighted fans for all ages and to me is one of the most beloved newspaper comic strip of all-time. It's even had Television Specials, Peanuts Movie, currently playing in Theaters everywhere is a delightful and highly recommended movie for all ages and it's will charm your way in. I just love Charles Schultz - The Man that created Peanuts and I just loved the way he puts all his characters together so flawlessly that will stands for the test of time. If you haven't seen the current Peanuts Movie ... I would strongly advises everyone to see it and it's a great family movie for the Holidays! .... 4 Stars!  Charles Schultz working on his Peanuts Strip ... Drawing of Snoopy in his left hand!  Lucy, Linus, and Charlie Brown one of the most iconic images of Peanuts History!  Charlie Brown and Snoopy together ... I just loved this scene!
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Dec 17, 2015 10:09:34 GMT -5
#8 on my list is.. Johnny Ryan! Sorry for lateness on #9 : I had to excavate some issues...)   Most of my favorite work from him is not possible to publish on this site, mostly due to a healthy dose of penises drawn on the cover, but without any of the recently here discussed and loved outside input.   the last page of that story featuring a dimensional portal 2 users complained about because it looks like a vagina... on a wall... 4 pin ups with one feat a cat with boobs I didn't even notice but two people complained about as well :-)   Ryan probably is the cartoonist who pushed the boundaries of politiclay correctness the most, ever. Absolutely nothing is sacred as he tests our limits and our tolerance with the most disturbing images drawn in the most naive and plain style. The thing is that he is really really good at storytelling, so much so that he earned an Ignatz award and many many Eisner and Harvey nominations. OUtside of regular comics, his work can be found in Vice, MAD, LA Weekly, National Geographic Kids, Hustler Magazine, The Stranger, and elsewhere. But lately his focus has been on the work he cocreated with one of his two fave collaborators (the other one being his mentor Peter Bagge), the wonderfull Pig Goat Banana Cricket he runs on Nickelodeon alongside Cartoonist extraordinaire Dave Cooper.  But I guess my fave of his work is the wondefully abstract and violent (violence right? Totally ok here, it's just the love-making that is inappropriate, right?  ) Prison Pit. So far, five volumes have been published and htose all are a joy for the eye as abstract forms move further or closer to reveal a narative on a nalien prison planet.       Ryan's work is even more amazing as it also acts as a revelator of people's dirty minds and bigotery  (a pair of boobs and a dimensional portal that looks kind of like a vagina are far more shocking then the violence on those pages)
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 17, 2015 10:16:43 GMT -5
On the fifth day of Christmas, Santakukoru gave to me... #8, Jiro Taniguchi I'll be frank: I don't much care for manga. Especially comics with saucer-eyed characters and nearly absent noses. Even among the more realistic ones, even among the ones I do like, I find it hard to tell one artist from the other, generally speaking. Oh, sure, I enjoyed Akira to death; I was flabbergasted by Katsuhiro Otomo's designs and sheer power (each of his pages look like they took five years to do, so rich are they in accurate detail!)... however all in all, I'm not a manga fan. But then there is Jiro Taniguchi. The man is a poet. Pure and simple. His work has frequently brought me to tears, and usually only music can do that. Each and every one of his books has moved me. Each and every page of his I've read has enchanted me by its quiet strength, by its sheer beauty. Especially when he draws very mundane things that are not particularly moving in and of themselves, like an ordinary balcony or a typical sliding door. He really masters the beauty of the quiet moment.  He can also do the Big Scene with brio. The Summit of the gods (adapted from a novel) benefits from an already strong story; but it Taniguchi's adaptation gives it a whole new dimension. A particular scene is so beautifully prepared and executed that I wanted to run out on the street and put the book under the nose of perfect strangers so they could appreciate the sheer brilliance of it. (I ended up buying the entire series for my mom, because I thought it was that important). But it's not all about dramatic exploits, as in that mountaineering series or in adapting Jack London's stories; it's also about the very quiet and subtle joys of the human experience. Taniguchi manages to have a book where the main character does nothing but try out restaurants. And it's a brilliant book!!!  In another, all the main character does is walk around, and it's also brilliant! When you manage that, there's pretty little you can't do. Daily Japanese life is rendered in a quiet and authentic way that is probably worth a voyage to the far east as far as the wonders of discovering a new culture goes. Whether it be in the early days of the XX century or today. And despite all that, the main strength of Taniguchi may rest elsewhere: it would be in his deep humanity. His tale of a student grown to adulthood falling for her old professor is more touching than my meagre words could convey. I still don't like manga as a general rule. But I really, really love the work of Jiro Taniguchi. |
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Post by DubipR on Dec 17, 2015 10:23:57 GMT -5
#8 on my list is.. Johnny Ryan! Sorry for lateness on #9 : I had to excavate some issues...) Excellent choice! I'm a huge fan of Johnny Ryan's work. He was another last minute cut. I'm glad to see his work on someone's list. First time I met him at Meltdown Comics I was so happy that he signed my comics and drew me a Boobs Pooter and a Blecky Yuckerella in my sketchbook. |
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Post by DubipR on Dec 17, 2015 10:36:53 GMT -5
Get your gin and tonic on and rage with today's selection!
#8- EVAN DORKIN
In the 1990s, the independent market was flourishing with some amazing self-published titles and brilliant indie companies like Slave Labor Graphics. Evan Dorkin was one of the masters of small press comics with brilliant creations like The Murder Family, Hectic Planet and his most famous creation, Milk & Cheese. A brilliant satirist and an amazing artist Dorkin's dark humor was a fresh breath in the 90s speculative market. Along with Johnny Ryan, Dorkin's humor shaped my humor during those college years.
Dorkin's other great work, The Eltingville Club is another biting satire on comic culture and pop culture.
One of my favorite comics of the 90s was Marvel's Bill & Ted Excellent Adventures. Marvel gave Dorkin pretty much carte-blanche to continue the mythos of the movie franchise.. nothing short of brilliant
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 17, 2015 10:42:14 GMT -5
8. Osamu Tezuka...for his work on Buddha Even a novice in the art of Japanese comics such as myself cannot help but witness the influence Osamu Tezuka on an entire country. Everyone to follow, from Ishinomori to Miyazaki draws from Tezuka. Nobody in other counties quite seems to compare, not even Herge or Eisner. But my list does not consist of influential artists. I leave off far too many to claim otherwise (for example Herge and Eisner). And I don’t know the works of Tezuka nearly well enough. Basically, I’ve read two great works of his, Blackjack and Buddha. He’s on this list mainly because I love Buddha. I hope to read Adolf one of these days. People become my favorites because there is some work of theirs that sticks in my mind and that I want to revisit.  Buddha is a sprawling 8-volume epic chronicling the life of Buddha. It incorporates history and fable. It can be funny and sad. Most of what I know about Buddhism comes from this book, and it fascinated me from the first page to the last. The story of Buddha’s birth has so many striking parallels with Christianity. And, sadly, so does the course of the religion. Born of an idea of peace, transformed into a message of war. The great tragedy depicted in the comic is that Buddha saw this happen within his own lifetime. His disciples heard his message of peace and declared war in his name. It’s a heartbreaking and powerful journey. 
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 17, 2015 11:13:11 GMT -5
Get your gin and tonic on and rage with today's selection!
#8- EVAN DORKIN
"Dairy products gone bad" was a very absurd and funny concept. I loved Milk & Cheese during the 90s!!! There's a M&C hardcover available, which is a very good thing. Unlike dairy products gone bad. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 17, 2015 11:41:14 GMT -5
On the fifth day of X-mas I bring a creator who is more appropriate to Halloween... Charles Addams. Addams was a panel cartoonist whose work appeared primarily in the New Yorker. He is best known, of course, for his work giving rise to The Addams Family. Even when not using those characters, who weren't named until the show was produced, Addams' world was usually very dark. And incredibly funny.     |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2015 12:03:46 GMT -5
Day 5...Ernie / Piranha Club Bob Grace Hands down, one of my two top comic strips since I was a little girl.  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 17, 2015 12:07:20 GMT -5
I came damn close to picking Addams but opted for Gahan Wilson instead. Glad somebody else rose to the occasion.
Cei-U!
I summon Lurch!
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Post by Rob Allen on Dec 17, 2015 12:16:14 GMT -5
Number 8:
Jim Steranko
Because he was the first person in my experience to both write and draw a series set in one of the main superhero universes. I literally had never even thought it was possible for one person to do both. And his Nick Fury was fantastic - a high point in the series that no one was able to match.
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 17, 2015 12:48:18 GMT -5
I had no idea the Addams family had come from a series of cartoons. Live and learn!!!
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Dec 17, 2015 13:00:48 GMT -5
8. Jack KirbyI know he gets flak for his scripting, but. Since I use any possible opportunity to sing the praises of Our Fighting Forces #152, you know, give it a shot for Kirby at his best. I think he might make my list just for this one issue even without all the other awesome stuff he's done. I did a big writeup for this issue for last year's list as well, so I'm going to re-present it. I'm very into recycling. I'm Earth-conscious like that.  I've talked about this issue before, and will probably continue to talk about it for as long as I'm talking about comics. Every time I read it, it's better than the last time. And last time, it was about the best thing ever. When Jack Kirby took over The Losers strip, he was happy to be working on a war book, but not very happy with the title and concept. No American soldiers were losers, he said. Either despite or because of this, Jack did some of his best work during this all too brief run, with the highlight undoubtedly being the second issue, "A Small Place in Hell," which was published with a cover date of December, 1974. The premise of the story is simple. During the Battle of the Bulge, the Losers - a four man squad led by former Navy officer Captain Storm, with former Air Force pilot Lt. Johnny Cloud, and former Marine grunts Gunner and Sarge - are trying to make their way to the rear for some r + r. When they enter a small town supposedly safely behind their own lines, however, they soon discover it has been taken over by the advancing German forces. Now they are trapped inside the tiny town, with only one way out: Fight or die. Kirby hits you with the hammer right from the opening two page spread - where he also adds some realism by making the group look like real soldiers, with only their distinctive hats setting them apart:  As the story progresses, it gets tighter and tighter, more and more claustrophobic, and the Losers are herded through town. First they fight in the street, then they are pushed into a building, where we get some nasty, dirty door-to-door house fighting. Kirby's art is like a punch to the face in every panel:  Fighting from house to house, the Losers are finally pushed up onto the roof, where the engage in a desperate struggle for survival. This is gritty, real war, done as only someone who has lived it can do. The violence - the close, personal, intimate one-on-one violence - in these scenes is as real as anything EC was able to do pre-code, and as shocking as anything modern war writers like Garth Ennis have been able to do post-code. Maybe my favorite action sequence in comics:   Every single panel is a masterwork, an absolute masterwork:  When they finally get off the roof, they are still trapped, almost to the edge of town but still not yet safe. And then, in a great twist ending, the town is suddenly bombarded by artillery. The nightmare of all infantry. It's no longer the Germans fighting the Americans - it's both sides, being pummeled by forces outside their ken, trying together to survive an unsurvivable onslaught. Sides and nationality no longer matter, they are all in it together now:  Kirby's use of sound effects also needs to be mentioned. It's an absolute genius use of graphic design. The words hit you like a sledgehammer here. You don't just hear the bombardment - you can feel it, reverberating in your chest. Nothing that "pop art" hack/thief Lichtenstein ever did can come close to the raw power of the way Kirby uses sound effects as part of his page and story design here.  Just the greatest.
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Post by MDG on Dec 17, 2015 13:01:34 GMT -5
8. John StanleyJohn Stanley was a very, very prolific writer for Dell Comics, often working on other people’s characters like Nancy, Charlie Brown, Andy Panda, Woody Woodpecker, and especially Little Lulu. He also wrote books like Ghost Stories and Tales from the Tomb in the 60s, while staying in a cartoony vein with Melvin Monster. Some he wrote and drew—some he wrote and did layouts. His work ran a gamut of styles, content, and tone, but it’s always fresh, frenetic, and funny. To me, his best work came in the 60s, with Kookie, Dunc and Loo (these two drawn by Bill Williams), and Thirteen (Going on Eighteen).     A long-running blog devoted to his work? You bet!
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) Prison Pit. So far, five volumes have been published and htose all are a joy for the eye as abstract forms move further or closer to reveal a narative on a nalien prison planet.
