Does bad art work kill a good story?

[babyblob]

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?

[RickWJ324]

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.

[mogwen]

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.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

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

[Kusanagi]

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.

[Javasaurus]

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.

[kjn]

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.

[Kirby101]

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.

[K7P5V]

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.

[Personamanx]

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?

[Iron Maiden]

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

[dancj]

In all honesty, if it hasn't been attempted yet, I would love to see Alan Moore try this.

Moore has been drawn by Rob Leifeld and and Chuck Austen (back when he was called Chuck Beckum)

[numberthirty]

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.

Moore has been drawn by Rob Leifeld and and Chuck Austen (back when he was called Chuck Beckum)

Depending on how much leeway are willing to give Moore, you might want to look into Spawn/WildC.A.T.s(1996).

[Steel Inquisitor]

It does with me. The artist in question can be a dealbreaker for a comic book, despite being a big fan of the writer. Some artists I didn't like can grow on me, like Igor Kordej (not sure whether that's his name) who was on Grant Morrison's X-men run. Now I'm perfectly ok with his work, unlike someone like Rob Liefeld.

[dancj]

ISome artists I didn't like can grow on me, like Igor Kordej (not sure whether that's his name) who was on Grant Morrison's X-men run.

His art on New X-Men was pretty bad, but it was drawn to ridiculous deadlines. When you give him enough time he's a good artist.