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  1. #31
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    It's... there's lot more to it than I think People have really talked about.
    For me, it comes down to a lot of factors, one is the move to digital colouring, it may not be for everyone, but there's certainly a lot more to play with there and it's a less tedious and cheaper than the old ways of colouring.
    The most important part however is how it's seen, and that's the paper it's printed on/ tablet you are using.

    I really, really, REALLY hate the paper Marvel uses, it's cheap, too easily destroyed and it limits the otherwise beautiful artwork on display. Compare that the paper DC is printed on, it's thicker but also the colours pop out more. The Demon Days One-shots are some of the best looking books I've seen from Marvel in a while, but the paper limits it too much. It spoils the look for me. If this was printed on the kind of paper DC uses, it'll pop out more.

    A lot of the older books, mostly from 1960's-1990's had pretty rubbish paper, but it worked for the most part. It held together and the art work pops out, there's no interference when reading it.

    Anyway, that's my war on crappy paper.

  2. #32
    All-New Member 80sForever's Avatar
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    The 1980s will always be the peak for me, with a handful of talents that continued in the 1990s and early 2000s.

    Amazing comic book cover design/artwork went the way of the dodo around the time of Previews/advanced solicitations.

    We live in a world where Jim Lee is Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics and Todd McFarlane runs Image Comics. Both men were mavericks and non-traditional, but they call the shots today and set the new standards. They also like labor on the cheap and don't put much stake in classically trained artists, so it's amateur hour with artwork processed on Macs.

  3. #33
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    Prior to this week the last comic I bought was sometime in 1979. This week I pulled out my box of 220 Silver and Bronze Age comics and started photographing and cataloging each one. At first my intent was to take advantage of the current market conditions and sell a few of my more valuable books, but I quickly discovered that I was and am still fond of comics and suddenly I wanted to add to my collection rather than sell some off. Anyways, to the point of this thread. As a 56 year old I am very set in my ways and find it difficult, at times, to enjoy newer media. I enjoy old movies and shows and hate the plethora of "Walking Dead" type entertainment, and when my college age children laugh hysterically at a 3 second Vine video of someone looking at a melon and smashing it with a sledgehammer or some such equally silly behavior, I find little humor personally. All this to say that upon visiting two local comic book stores and perusing the current offerings I found myself longing for the "old style" of art. As has been said over and over here, I am not passing judgement at all, and I am the first to realize when it's time to step aside and let a new generation take the turn it wants, but just adding to the OP's sentiment that I, too, find older comic book art more appealing than modern. Anyways, that's it for my first meaningful post here.

    Might be interesting to note that as a result the only additions I have made to my collection so far are a handful of Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, and Nova books that were missing from my string of 1-10 of each series, and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them and admiring the art in a way completely different than 10 year old me.
    Last edited by Sunvox; 10-21-2021 at 06:23 AM.

  4. #34
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    I do miss the Kirby type of storytelling. While his actual art style was very stylized (and not always pleasing), the energy in his work was amazing -- and pretty much determined the Marvel style. Even DC Silver Age artists like Gil Kane employed this style when at Marvel. That seems largely missing from new age artists. But younger generations may not like that bombastic approach.

    I also miss the old brush style of inking that gave more depth to illustrations. When everything is inked with the same line stroke -- it's boring to me.

    Oh, and covers -- rarely wow me the way they did in the Bronze Age.

  5. #35
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kcekada View Post
    I do miss the Kirby type of storytelling. While his actual art style was very stylized (and not always pleasing), the energy in his work was amazing -- and pretty much determined the Marvel style. Even DC Silver Age artists like Gil Kane employed this style when at Marvel. That seems largely missing from new age artists. But younger generations may not like that bombastic approach.

    I also miss the old brush style of inking that gave more depth to illustrations. When everything is inked with the same line stroke -- it's boring to me.

    Oh, and covers -- rarely wow me the way they did in the Bronze Age.

    Amen Brother! But I disagree that Kirby's art wasn't pleasing. It just wasn't overworked. The thing is he was dynamic and while you could tell he was interested in doing cool pictures at times (his splash and double splash pages) he made storytelling the priority over pretty pictures.
    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!

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kirby101 View Post
    Amen Brother! But I disagree that Kirby's art wasn't pleasing. It just wasn't overworked. The thing is he was dynamic and while you could tell he was interested in doing cool pictures at times (his splash and double splash pages) he made storytelling the priority over pretty pictures.
    During his early period at Marvel, Kirby's pencils were also much better than the final inked and colored comics on the stand. The rushed production process did not encourage great art and Kirby, Colleta, Infantino, etc. were more concerned about taking care of their families than achieving perfection. "Don't let perfect get in the way of good" was the defining motto.

    The 80's had John Byrne and George Perez in America and the initial wave of British artists as well, Moebius had been a strong influence in Europe and Katsuhiro Otomo really changed the landscape in Manga at that time as well - obviuously Moebius was fairly influential across the world as you can see in Manga and American comics as well.

    However, I have to admit the variety of comic book art today and the general skill level for the professionals is quite high - though the fundamentals of depicting a story in comics sometimes seem a bit lacking. However, while the 80's had great sequential storytelling, the 90's had a lot of terrific artists that weren't great at telling the story on the page.

  7. #37
    Astonishing Member Zelena's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnathan View Post
    During his early period at Marvel, Kirby's pencils were also much better than the final inked and colored comics on the stand. The rushed production process did not encourage great art and Kirby, Colleta, Infantino, etc. were more concerned about taking care of their families than achieving perfection. "Don't let perfect get in the way of good" was the defining motto.
    Kirby’s artwork works very well with some subjects and in black and white in my opinion. His style, a bit rough, a bit bizarre, is well suited for prehistoric ages…


    “Strength is the lot of but a few privileged men; but austere perseverance, harsh and continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time.” Goethe

  8. #38
    Astonishing Member Zelena's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnathan View Post
    However, I have to admit the variety of comic book art today and the general skill level for the professionals is quite high - though the fundamentals of depicting a story in comics sometimes seem a bit lacking. However, while the 80's had great sequential storytelling, the 90's had a lot of terrific artists that weren't great at telling the story on the page.
    Nowadays, a lot of artists make pretty pictures but the faces are expressionless and lack personality… I don’t think they are better artists than the previous ones. With social network, they just have quick feedback and seem to live for the praises.
    “Strength is the lot of but a few privileged men; but austere perseverance, harsh and continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time.” Goethe

  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zelena View Post
    Nowadays, a lot of artists make pretty pictures but the faces are expressionless and lack personality… I don’t think they are better artists than the previous ones. With social network, they just have quick feedback and seem to live for the praises.
    Yes - the artistry does not seem to be as much a concern for many artists. They are terrific craftspeople and the tools available make it much easier to develop those skills and the ability to interact with other artists online and get quick feedback certainly is an advantage the classic artists did not have. It's not really a serious criticism of the artists, but more that there isn't greater demand for artistry or artistic innovation from the audience.

  10. #40
    Astonishing Member Zelena's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnathan View Post
    Yes - the artistry does not seem to be as much a concern for many artists. They are terrific craftspeople and the tools available make it much easier to develop those skills and the ability to interact with other artists online and get quick feedback certainly is an advantage the classic artists did not have. It's not really a serious criticism of the artists, but more that there isn't greater demand for artistry or artistic innovation from the audience.
    I don’t think comic artists were doing experimental and audacious artworks in the past because there was a demand for it. The artists were their first critic and were just having fun in doing things.

    When you are starting doing things just for the paycheck or to hear how good you are… you are making less efforts and become lazy.

    “Strength is the lot of but a few privileged men; but austere perseverance, harsh and continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time.” Goethe

  11. #41
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    I think a lot of today's comic art is beautiful. But it lacks personality and passion. Nice to look at but nothing to revisit or learn from.

  12. #42
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    It doesn't look right to me. It looks like graffiti art, too influenced by DeviantArt (or whatever that tumblr stuff is) drawn by people who don't read comics at all or know the history of the character and influences to keep in mind. Most of it is junk. I remember people didn't like the big anime influence that Joe Mad and the Gen X'ers brought, but at the time it was offset by the traditional old guard. Now the "old guard" is even worse because they can't even draw anymore, like Romita Jr, Bagley, etc.

  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by daredevil1 View Post
    It doesn't look right to me. It looks like graffiti art, too influenced by DeviantArt (or whatever that tumblr stuff is) drawn by people who don't read comics at all or know the history of the character and influences to keep in mind. Most of it is junk. I remember people didn't like the big anime influence that Joe Mad and the Gen X'ers brought, but at the time it was offset by the traditional old guard. Now the "old guard" is even worse because they can't even draw anymore, like Romita Jr, Bagley, etc.
    I think a lot of those artists still take the "old guard" approach in that the more pages an artist has to deliver, the art will suffer. Guys like Romita Jr. who had several titles on many different books with tons of characters, are real workhorses and craftsmen who can do that amount of work, but have to have a style than can be put on the page quickly. Same with Manga which has even tighter work demands. Work ethic is even more important than talent - but that is true in any business.

    For me, though the art in comics is no worse than it ever was and can be a lot better in many cases today than ten or twenty years ago, the comics are just getting too expensive for any improvement in story or art. As prices approach $6.00 for a single 20-30 page story (that is probably just one chapter in an arc of 6 or more issues), only a few top notch comics are going to justify that, and they aren't likely to be from DC or Marvel.

  14. #44
    Ultimate Member Lee Stone's Avatar
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    I'm one of the few people out there that prefers the flat colors of old.

    I actually prefer the first of these two:



    "There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.

  15. #45
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    ditto what Lee said

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