BOB: Sure. Because of mainly McFarlane and Rob Liefeld, the new guys coming into comics got the rep of being all flash and no substance. They often didn't draw backgrounds; they didn't know storytelling; and their figure drawing was weak. When I drew Peter Parker, he had to look a certain way or [John, Sr.] Romita would re-ink the heads. Todd's Peter Parker and Mary Jane usually looked very little like the traditional characters. There was a consensus among the older artists that industry standards had reached a new low, and that much of the work being published was not really at a professional level.

BOB: Definitely. Originally, mostly 3rd rate artists drew comics, because there was so much more money and prestige in illustration and advertising. Comics were considered a ghetto business. But as the fans grew up and entered the business, they started writing stories to fulfill their own fantasies instead of just writing for kids, who were most of the audience. This has led to very violent, sexual comics, and almost the exclusion of comics for kids and young girls, and almost no humor in comics. Where are CRAZY, PLOP, BRAND ECCH, HERBIE, PLASTIC MAN, etc.? Where are all the Harvey comics? Neal Adams, renowned for adding realism to comics, entered the business drawing Jerry Lewis comics!

The new generations of artists started trying to do the best art they could, not caring whether they made any money. Which doesn't mean the older artists didn't try to do great work, but they were usually trying to make a living as well. The new, younger artists often lived at home or willingly lived in poverty in order to spend 16 hours a day or more on a single page.

Frank Giacoia, a wonderful artist, groaned when he saw all the detailed work Barry [Windsor] Smith was doing on Conan, because he knew that would become the new standard, meaning less money and longer hours for everyone. And many of the new artists were not well trained, and lacked a sound knowledge of the fundamentals of art, so their efforts were spent in adding more details and superfluous line work, creating art that often wowed the fans, but was in fact not on a professional level. Even the often denigrated old inker Vinnie Colletta could draw rings around many of the new younger artists of the '80s and '90s.