dadaluholla

Just to keep this place from going stagnant, I thought I might throw a random topic or two out here and see if they catch on...

Who is your favorite Spider-Man artist of all time? He's had quite a wide variety of styles of the years...some draw him like a regular guy, some make him look like a jointless freak.

Feel free to post your LEAST favorite interpretations of Spidey as well.

zombiezilla

John Romita, hands down.

Least fave? Well...hard to say. But even though he's a "classic", I've never cared for Ditko (I know, I know, let the hating begin...LOL).

Bronkster

This is a tougher question than would seem on the surface! I could lose sleep over this!

As an older collector I figure my tastes won't line up with any current artists, and I'm going to say that Steve Ditko is my favorite Spidey artist, followed closely by John Romita SR. To me, Ditko was perfect for the character back in the early '60s and made Spidey unique. Romita's take was cleaner, but helped define Spidey over the next few years.

I know a lot of people loved McFarland's run, and I give him credit helping jump-start Spider-man, but I don't see his contribution as anything more than just another artist who drew Spidey for a few years.

Least favorite artist: hmm.. since I don't recall Leifeld ever doing Spider-man, I'll have to vote for Ross Andru.

Bronkster

Ha! I just finished my post and see zombiezilla's comments!

B5Erik

This one's easy.

My favorite Spider Man artist (who I also think is the all time greatest comic book artist) is John Romita Sr.

The man's style was just so clean and neat - and yet still conveyed action and emotion.

I also enjoyed the brief run where Gil Kane did the pencils and Romita inked the art. It was a great combination of styles that created a great hybrid. Loved it.

My least favorite Spider Man artist? Probably Keith Pollard. Probably. I know I'm forgetting a few, but he immediately comes to mind.

An interesting note on John Romita Sr. Joe Sinnott is my all time favorite FF inker, and his style was VERY similar to Romita's (they came out of the same era, and both improved the detail and realism of their art throughout the 60's). But whenever Sinnott inked Romita's pencils it never quite worked right. Their styles were too similar, maybe, with the differences clashing just ever so slightly in a way that they didn't when they worked with artists with wildly different styles than their own.

(My favorite FF art team BY FAR was George Perez with Sinnott inking. 2nd being John Buscema with Sinnott inking. 3rd might be John Byrne - with Sinnott inking!)

I like what I've seen over the years from Romita Jr - and I love it when Sr inks Jr's pencil work!

Havok83

Romita Jr. He;s the one that did ASM a few years back right?

davidh777

I'll go with Romita as well though I like Ditko and McFarlane. this should be a poll.

ytrez

Ditko
Romita
Bagley
Romita Jr.

Spiderbite

McFarlane revolutionized Spider-man and comics in general when he first started on Amazing Spider-man. McFarlane's art made me want to read comics again at a time when I was on my way out of comics. It just seemed so different at the time (especially when he did his own inks). People still ape his style today.

I do still have a soft spot in my heart for John Romita Sr. with his simple yet arresting artwork...but that comes from reading all the oldies under Marvel Tales as a kid (along with Ditko).

DVD Josh

McFarlane.

Fielding Mellish

Ross Andru. Really.

madcougar

Tough question. I really liked Sal Buscema. I thought he was doing really good work at about the same time that McFarlane was getting all the love. I've always enjoyed John Romita Jr.'s artwork on Spidey too. While it was cartoony, I was a huge fan of Erik Larson's run on Spider-Man. More artists with a cartoony style recently have been Mike Wieringo and Humberto Ramos. So to answer your question - I don't know.

boredsilly

Not the popular choice, but I actually really like Humberto Ramos' Spidey.

Bronkster

Really?

slop101

As much as I hate the guy, my favorite Spidey artist has to be McFarlane. And I'm not even that big a fan of his art overall, but he just had a knack for Spidey.

Shiv Shankly

It's always been John Romita Jr. for me. Just love his work overall, especially on Spidey. Worst would be a tie between Al Milgrom and Sal Buscema, both of whom I can't stand, period. They both suck. I would have to give the edge to Milgrom if forced to choose, though. Ironically, the only Spidey book I had a complete run of was PPtSSM, where they both fouled the pages for years. Ditko and Romita Sr are both great, of course. Liked Gil Kane. Charles Vess did a nice Spidey in the few things he worked on. McFarlane I liked at the time, but I don't care for his work as much now. Ross Andru...meh. Didn't care for Greg LaRocque either.

Jacoby Ellsbury

McFarlane, unless theres been someone better since

fujishig

I liked Wieringo's (RIP) style most recently, but I loved his style in general. Art Adams drew Spidey for that Fantastic Four stint, and I've always loved his style too.

Always had a soft spot for Romita Jr as well... though sometimes his work can appear somewhat rushed.

I loved Mcfarlane's work at the time, but it just doesn't seem the same when I reread it now.

Bagley's gonna be looked over, I think, but he did the character for so long that, much like Ron Lim's Silver Surfer, I will always associate his art with that character.

Worst? I stopped collecting in the 90's, but some of that art was fill-in at best. Also, I remember Liefeld drew Spidey in an early X-Force crossover...

boredsilly

Oh you're right, Ringo had a really fun Spider-man. How awesome was his Spidey/Human Torch mini? But like you, I pretty much just loved his style over all, not specifically his Spiderman.

Bronkster

WillDLeeEsq

Bagley really should get more due. I don't recall him ever being late unlike so many of the so-called superstar artists who can't seem to get a monthly book out on a consistent schedule.

I'd count John Romita Sr, Todd McFarlane, and Mark Bagley as my favorite Spidey artists.

TylerDurden_73

In no order
Ditko
Romita Sr
Romita Jr
Mike Weiringo
McFarlane
Larsen
Steve Skroce (short lived run, and the writing wasn't worth crap, But the man gave him elegance)

dadaluholla

I think Sal Buscema had a heck of a run on Spectacular. I'm not sure if I'd call him my favorite, but he's certainly up at the top for me. He had quite a unique, thick lined look to his characters.

I do not like Mark Bagley. It might just be because he was originally such a let down after great runs on Amazing by McFarlane and Larsen. He's just so dull. And even though I really liked the book itself, I didn't really care for his artwork on Thunderbolts either.

True_Story1011

J.Scott Campbell was pretty impressive with his covers.

But Alex Ross' Marvels was nice because of the realism.

slop101

I'm with you on that. There's a reason why he's so quick and never misses a dead-line - because there's really nothing to his art.