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  1. #1
    Ultimate Member babyblob's Avatar
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    Default Does bad art work kill a good story?

    Does bad art work kill a good story for you? For me it does. I head about Captain America Truth and loved the idea of the story. Yet when I read the book I could hardly make my way through it because in my view the art work was just so bad. It really took it away from me. I did finish it and enjoyed the story but I wont be reading it again.

    What bad art work has killed a story for you?
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  2. #2
    Fantastic Member RickWJ324's Avatar
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    I tend to ignore bad art if its a story I really want to read. As much as I hate Rob Liefeld's or John Romita Jr's artwork, I can look past it if the story I'm reading is engaging. Still, I'd much rather have decent artwork to go along with a good story. The same can be said for the opposite point-of-view. For example: Jim Lee's artwork is beautiful to me, but even that couldn't make me read Frank Miller's All-star Batman beyond the first couple of issues! That title was probably the first Bat title I ever unsubscribed to in my decades of collecting. I just couldn't take reading another page of it.

    Now the third option of "bad art AND bad story" is inexcusable. I'll lump the "Superman Year One" book into that category. I don't like the artwork at all, and from what I've read about the story so far it falls into the category of "Frank Miller should not be writing superhero books anymore". I'm skipping that title entirely.
    Last edited by RickWJ324; 07-12-2019 at 09:39 AM.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by tbaron View Post
    Does bad art work kill a good story for you? For me it does. I head about Captain America Truth and loved the idea of the story. Yet when I read the book I could hardly make my way through it because in my view the art work was just so bad. It really took it away from me. I did finish it and enjoyed the story but I wont be reading it again.

    What bad art work has killed a story for you?
    Wow! Kyle Baker, a bad artist?!!! He's one of the best visual artist at work (Why I hate Saturn), the laureate of numerous Eisner awards!
    My take is no, a bad artist doesn't kill a good story, and I had some troubles reading some parts of Invisibles! But a bad story, for me, is worst.

  4. #4
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    Yes. It’s a visual medium. Alan Moore couldn’t salvage a story with shitty art

  5. #5
    Astonishing Member Kusanagi's Avatar
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    I have a comparatively high tolerance for bad art, it can certainly detract from a story but the only time it ever killed it for me was when Larry Stroman did X-Factor in the late 2000s. The one time I dropped a book solely for art reasons.
    Last edited by Kusanagi; 07-12-2019 at 10:15 AM.
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  6. #6
    Mighty Member Javasaurus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kusanagi View Post
    I have a comparatively high tolerance for bad art, it can certainly detract from a story but the only time it ever killed it for me was when Larry Stroman did X-Factor. The one time I dropped a book solely for art reasons.
    My tolerance for bad art sounds similar. When I look back at titles that I've dropped, the overwhelming majority were on the basis of the writing just not holding up.
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  7. #7
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Cary Nord's art on Wonder Woman suffered not from bad art per se (from some respects it was excellent), but it managed to put the least effort into the main character and to consistently portray the opposite emotional effect that was required by the story. I think it really managed to hurt the initial reception of G Willow Wilson's run.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  8. #8
    Ultimate Member Phoenixx9's Avatar
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    Yes, most definitely!

  9. #9
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    Definitely, I have dropped books because the art changed, and i won't pick up a new title if i don't like the art. I have seen good stories ruined when a bad or inappropriate artist takes over.
    I remember the Snyder Swamp Thing with amazing art by Yanick Paquette. The final issue(s) he was replaced by someone who just didn't work.

    I also did not like Mark Hempel on The Kindly Ones in Sandman. Hempel is a good cartoon artist, but his style was so off for me on Sandman that I could not enjoy that very important story.

    I don't have time to read comics with bad art.
    There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!

  10. #10
    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
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    Other than Rob Liefeld (WAY too easy a target for haters), my tolerance for bad art is also rather high, though with two particular exceptions: Bill Sienkiewicz who makes EVERYBODY look rail thin and seven feet tall, and Keith Giffen who, in latter years has been aping Jack Kirby, something I dislike.
    Last edited by WestPhillyPunisher; 07-12-2019 at 11:26 AM.
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  11. #11
    The Spirits of Vengeance K7P5V's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KNIGHT OF THE LAKE View Post
    Yes. It’s a visual medium. Alan Moore couldn’t salvage a story with shitty art
    In all honesty, if it hasn't been attempted yet, I would love to see Alan Moore try this.

  12. #12
    Hold your machete tight! Personamanx's Avatar
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    As others have said, comics are a visual medium. If the art is unable to convey the narrative it was created to do than the comic is essentially dead on arrival. It may have very well been trying to convey an intriguing story, but who besides the scripter or editor would even know?
    Continuity, even in a "shared" comics universe is often insignificant if not largely detrimental to the quality of a comic.

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  13. #13
    Latverian ambassador Iron Maiden's Avatar
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    Yes, it can. There was a few key issues in Hickman's spin off title called FF that had to do with the final plan to hold off the Mad Celestials. Luckily, Hickman's story was well worth plowing through the awful art. But it could have been a much better


  14. #14
    Surfing With The Alien Spike-X's Avatar
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    I guess it depends what you mean by 'bad' art. There's art that I find unappealing to look at, but I'll put up with it because the story is so great, and it's still being told.

    Then there's art where the storytelling is so bad/nonexistent, that I honestly can't follow what's happening on the page. That's when bad art ruins the story for me.
    Last edited by Spike-X; 07-13-2019 at 06:08 PM.

  15. #15
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    I hate to say "bad art". Yes there is some art out there I find bad, it is just unprofessional. But often it is an artist whose style I just don't like, or find inappropriate for the comic they are drawing.
    There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!

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