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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2022 6:00:37 GMT -5
It looks like it's been a few years since there was a similar dedicated thread, and it's a comment that comes up all the time:
"Insert creator name" is so underrated...
Give a shout out to those who never seem to make the "top lists" but you know deserve better!!
My list in no particular order:
Ken Steacy: Loved his airbrush art and quirky style, his Marvel Fanfare issues are my favorite in that series by far. Also loved when he did some of those Baxter Legion covers.
Keith Pollard: I've named him before including recently, and I know I'm not alone on this. And yet...he still never makes any top lists! It's a crying shame IMO.
Steve Rude: Probably more in the category of well respected with less mass exposure versus truly underrated as he didn't work on higher profile titles so much. Still, I think he's massively talented and deserves more recognition. In addition to those smooth pencils he's known for, he can paint a mean cover as well!
Larry Mahlstedt: I'm going to put him in the "criminally underrated" category. Best know as an inker on the Legion, I think he had more to do with that book looking good in the 80's than he's given credit for. I actually started to piece that together when he was inking Greg LaRocque's issues for a bit, and I was like, "why does LaRocque look so much better here than on Web of Spider-Man"? I think Larry was more important to the Levitz/Giffen run as well than he's usually given credit for (when he's given credit at all).
Steve Lightle: Speaking of the Legion, I had never really thought of Lightle as underrated per se up until more recently, but I'm not sure I see his name as often in the "classic lists". I could be wrong on that. But man, he may have actually had the smoothest pencils of any Legion artist and that's saying a lot!
Bill Reinhold: Probably not enough high profile work again here, but I also sometimes think he's considered more in the "serviceable" category of pencilers. Maybe I'm wrong on that as well, but I really loved his run on the Badger. I don't know what to say other than I thought his stuff just looked really good. Was also pleasantly surprised years later to see him doing interiors on Earth X, I thought he did a great job on that as well.
Bob Larkin: Before there was Alex Ross there was Larkin. Ok, probably not "underrated" to those who remember his work, but I feel he's a bit lost to time at this point and his painted covers (I'm thinking of a whole bunch of those Marvel ones) completely amazed me as a kid.
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Post by MWGallaher on May 13, 2022 7:19:59 GMT -5
Bob Larkin: Before there was Alex Ross there was Larkin. Ok, probably not "underrated" to those who remember his work, but I feel he's a bit lost to time at this point and his painted covers (I'm thinking of a whole bunch of those Marvel ones) completely amazed me as a kid. Your mention of Larkin reminds me of something that happened here before you were a member, I think, @jaska . We had a few posts from Charlie Armenatano, who revealed himself as the artist of the cover of Super DC Giant S-21, a.k.a. "Love 1971". The artist was little if at all known by comics fans who had been curious about the distinctive artist, whose signature was hard to read and whose work didn't show up in other than one or two other romance comics of the era: Armentano shared that he was a friend of Bob Larkin's, and he served as a model for many of Larkin's cover paintings! Sure enough, there's one guy who crops up a lot--here he is as Dr. Strange: Now as for my own list of underrated artists, high on my list would be Pablo Marcos. His somewhat distorted but highly distinctive artwork was a key ingredient in making Marvel's TALES OF THE ZOMBIE one of my favorites, but I also have fond recollections of his work on Morbius, MAN-BAT #2, and much more.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on May 13, 2022 7:40:33 GMT -5
My default answer to this question whenever it comes up in the forum is writer/artist Frank Hampson, just because he's not terribly well known by name here in the UK, and he's basically completely unknown in the U.S. Hampson was the creator, writer and artist of the Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future strip that thrilled kids in the pages of Eagle comic back in the '50s and '60s. His characters and stories on Dan Dare were all fantastic, but its his gorgeous, painted artwork -- with its delicious post-war, "future retro" aesthetic -- that really elevates him as a creator for me. Like I always say, if you're a classic comics fan and you've never read any of Frank Hampson's Dan Dare, do yourself a favour and check it out soon.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2022 8:50:48 GMT -5
MWGallaher - I just checked out Pablo Marcos, wow, that's some lovely art! Love the the Bob Larkin trivia as well, that's a neat bit of info. Confessor - that art looks extremely cool, immediately easy on the eyes. I definitely want to read this.
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Post by berkley on May 13, 2022 9:08:27 GMT -5
Of the ones mentioned so far I'd like to second:
Frank Hampson - I've just started getting into Dan Dare the last year or so and it is probably tied with Caniff's Steve Canyon for the most consistently enjoyable comic I've been reading over that time.
Pablo Marcos - a favourite inker who made most pencillers look their best, but I wish he'd done more pencilling himself as everything Ive seen was fantastic.
Keith Pollard - inked by others, his work looked like a solid but fairly standard Marvel 70s house style, but when he inked himself he had a unique style that made him stand out form the crowd.
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 13, 2022 9:46:44 GMT -5
My default answer to this question whenever it comes up in the forum is writer/artist Frank Hampson, just because he's not terribly well known by name here in the UK, and he's basically completely unknown in the U.S. (...) Interesting. I'd always thought he was, in fact, pretty well known and loved in the UK.
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Post by MDG on May 13, 2022 9:51:49 GMT -5
My default answer to this question whenever it comes up in the forum is writer/artist Frank Hampson, just because he's not terribly well known by name here in the UK, and he's basically completely unknown in the U.S. (...) Interesting. I'd always thought he was, in fact, pretty well known and loved in the UK. I often get him mixed up with Frank Bellamy, though, admittedly, I've only seen scattered examples of both.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2022 9:52:34 GMT -5
A few come to mind... Jan Duursema-a superb narrative visual storyteller; her work is always clear and easy for the eye to follow, but still dynamic and interesting. Also tends to work on projects longterm allowing her work on characters to evolve and grow. Tom Mandrake-If just his work on Spectre were available, it would be a masterclass on packing emotion and tone into a story with visuals, but his body of work is more expansive and varied than that. But his style is visceral and packs a lot of punch in the visuals. Estaban Maroto-despite not liking his design for Red Sonja and preferring the original look by BWS, Maroto is a dynamic artist who creates often breathtakingly beautiful imagery while also have visual storytelling chops. His art has a certain "fantasy flair" that evokes more fantasy tropes than super-hero comic art tropes, but that's part of the appeal to me. Dan Brereton-love his painted covers and his sense of composition. He is also a talented visual storyteller and evokes a lot of mood with his visuals. Steve Epting-I wasn't that impressed with his early stuff on Avengers, but it grew on me quickly. By the time he was doing Cap with Brubaker though, his stuff was amazeballs. Add in the stuff he did for Crossgen (I especially love his covers for El Cazador) and on Velvet with Brubaker at Image, and he's become one of those artists whose presence on a project always gets my attention. Two more modern artists I have my eye on as well, really like their stuff but waiting for them to have a bigger body of work to assess and waiting to see how their style evolves as they do more work Chris Mooneyham-a Kubert school grad whose early work on Five Ghosts was strongly influenced by Joe Kubert. Dynamic visuals and strong storytelling skills. and Stephen Mooney-a writer artist with a clear style that evokes pulp action flavor, dynamic storyteller; I first discovered his creator-owned series Half Past Danger about 0 years ago now (that makes me feel old) and he has gone on to do stuff for Marvel as well. (It also helps he has a proclivity to include red dress covers in his stuff) -M
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Post by tonebone on May 13, 2022 10:17:25 GMT -5
Dan Spiegle - one of my all time favorite artists. I first discovered him through Mark Evanier's Blackhawk in the 80's. And at the time, I recognized his style from the Gold Key "Clash of the Titans" and "The Black Hole" adaptations... Later I found he had done hundreds of issues of other Gold Key comics, like Scooby Doo... He teamed up again with Evanier on one of my favorite series, Crossfire.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,051
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Post by Confessor on May 13, 2022 10:22:40 GMT -5
My default answer to this question whenever it comes up in the forum is writer/artist Frank Hampson, just because he's not terribly well known by name here in the UK, and he's basically completely unknown in the U.S. (...) Interesting. I'd always thought he was, in fact, pretty well known and loved in the UK. Well, Dan Dare is definitely still something of a pop cultural icon over here, but I bet most folks who recall the strip or know of it couldn't tell you who created, drew and wrote it. Unless they happen to be comics nerds, of course -- and even then, maybe not. I often get him mixed up with Frank Bellamy, though, admittedly, I've only seen scattered examples of both. Well, they both worked on Dan Dare; Bellamy took over when Hampson left the strip due to ill health. They both used that highly detailed, photo-realistic painted artwork that was prevalent in British comics at the time too. So, I get the confusion.
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Post by tonebone on May 13, 2022 10:47:19 GMT -5
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Post by berkley on May 13, 2022 11:05:40 GMT -5
I think of Maroto as pretty highly acclaimed but perceptions can vary, of course, and perhaps other people will feel the same of a couple other of my favourite Spanish artists:
Gonzalo Mayo - loved his intricately detailed, phantasmagoric work on El Cid in the Warren mags
Vicente Alcazar - great on atmospheric, supernatural black and white comics; I wish the Kull and the Barbarians mag had lasted as long as SSoC and that ALcazar had been the regular artist on it.
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Post by tonebone on May 13, 2022 11:08:55 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2022 11:13:42 GMT -5
I thought of one more to add to my list... Tom Sutton-love his sense of composition and the almost surreal tone to a lot of his stuff. I love a lot of his Charlton horror covers as well. Ghostly Haunts #41 is a particular favorite. -M
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Post by tonebone on May 13, 2022 11:14:13 GMT -5
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