Since we touched a little bit on artists in my last post, wanted to follow that up with some positive ramblings.
Some of my favorite artists:
Kevin Nowlan
- I’ve always been a fan of his work, especially the covers he did in the 80s, but the recent ROUGH STUFF magazine (Issue #1 from TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING, Edited by the great Bob McLeod) allowed me to see his pencil work… and it’s…it’s…. I’m going to use a word that I never use… sublime. He’s a phenomenal inker, so his inked pieces are amazing. However, his penciled, non-inked work… is even better!
It’s jaw dropping the rendering Nowlan can add, the levels, using just pencils. And ROUGH STUFF lets you see his pencils compared to other iconic artists, Bryne, Adams, Simonson… Nowlan’s Penciled rendering takes it to another level over those great pros. Much like Gene Colan’s penciled work is an order of magnitude better than most of the work you see of his that has been inked by someone else.
He isn’t currently working in comics and not sure if that’s choice, or if he’s simply not able to find a place in a crowded market. If the latter that’s a shame, because based on his penciled work, would love to see him working on a black and white book… no colors, no inks, just Nowlan penciling. Based on seeing his work in ROUGH STUFF I’m buying his Modern Masters Art Book.
Jamal Igle
- Helped make Firestorm a must read book for me in 2006. Bummed about him leaving that book, one that had great writing and an interesting character, for a title that I’m not interested in… NIGHTWING. But hopefully the writing on the NIGHTWING title will be able to crank up, to the quality of Jamal’s visuals.
Don Newton
-Don Newton in his life never got the respect he deserved, it was a different time. But even back then, as a kid, not really paying attention to who wrote or drew a book, I was mesmerized by books drawn in this singular, hewn, lovely, naturalistic style. They made a great impression on me. The artist for all those great books was Don Newton, and time has only made me more appreciative of his work.
His work on Batman, is never mentioned in the same Breath as Neal Adams and Marshall Rogers, mostly because his work was fill-in mostly, no long runs. But the work he did do, remains to my eye the finest, the best, the most true. The most fondly remembered. There was a humanity in Newton’s work, that walked a line, that no one else before or since has so clearly touched.
Drop in next installment for more of my favorite artists!
