CBR ranks the Top 10 Justice League artists

[Jim Kelly]

If I remember correctly, the reason Perez came over to DC Comics in the first place was that he wanted an opportunity to draw Justice League. I think he was hoping to do it as a fill-in since he knew that Dick Dillin had been drawing the book for years. Sadly, it fell into his lap when Dillin passed away.

But by then, he was drawing DC's #1 book New Teen Titans. I guess not even Perez could continue to draw two comics full-time.

What set me up for more disappointment was when I'd pick up an issue with a great Perez cover only to find another artist's work on the inside.

Hughes is awsome, but no way he is number one in this list.

I read the list as a countdown to the two best--Dillin and Sekowsky, obviously for their sheer volume of output, and for the fact that Sekowsky did it all at the beginning, setting the record for everyone else.

As Mike said on hearing of Dillin's passing, "Yeah, that book would kill anybody."

Hughes was okay, but no way his run tops Kevin Maguire's which was the definitive Justice League for that era. It's Maguire who created such a buzz among fandom--I remember the conversations in the comic shops at the time. Maguire was it.

Another personal favourite was Bart Sears on JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE. It was so . . . European.

[caj]

There was an interview with Dillin's inker, Frank McLaughlin about 15 years ago. Here's what he said about inking Dillin:

JLA Satellite: What was it like to work with Dick Dillin? Did you interact much with him?

FM: It was really a pleasure working with Dillin. Dick, I don't know how he did it--he put a lot of work into his drawings. He would take the logo, the JLA logo, every single tiny bit of it, and trace it onto the page, in pencil, and I had nothing to do with it--they [DC] would just put a paste-up right over it. I don't know why, all he had to do was an outline to indicate where it was. But no, he did the whole thing.

JLA Satellite: How complete was his stuff to ink?

FM: Very, very complete. Occasionally you'd have to leave something out where he overworked it, but that was rare. I would change little things that I thought needed it--very, very little. He did all the heavy lifting.

[Timothy Hunter]

This is a pretty solid list. Really appreciate that Adam Hughes is number one considering that he is my personal favorite Justice League artist. The fight scene between Desparo and Martian Manhunter that he drew might be my favorite fight in a comic book.

I'd definitely add Mark Baguely, Doug Mankhe, and Chuck Wojtkiewicz to the mix.

[caj]

I'd definitely add Mark Baguely, Doug Mankhe, and Chuck Wojtkiewicz to the mix.

I've been out of comics for far too long. I don't recognize any of those names.

[caj]

What set me up for more disappointment was when I'd pick up an issue with a great Perez cover only to find another artist's work on the inside.

And it was usually Chuck Patton. Patton wasn't a bad artist but his work wasn't anything to write home about either.

Dillin and Perez definitely had us spoiled.

[Nomads1]

And it was usually Chuck Patton. Patton wasn't a bad artist but his work wasn't anything to write home about either.

Dillin and Perez definitely had us spoiled.

Don Heck, with great inks by Romeo Thangal, was also another who befefited from Perez's awsome covers. I actually liked both, Patton and Heck, but they really were no George Perez.

Peace

[caj]

Don Heck, with great inks by Romeo Thangal, was also another who befefited from Perez's awsome covers. I actually liked both, Patton and Heck, but they really were no George Perez.

Peace

I had forgotten all about Don Heck. Yeah, he was pretty good as I remember.

Thanks for reminding me.

[kcekada]

That list is crap. Hughes, Hitch, and Ross are all great artists -- but I don't really think of any of them as JLA artists -- especially Ross. I'd actually rank Maguire above Hughes - as he really set the state for Giffen's Justice League. I may be biased, but I'd put Perez at top.

[kcekada]

Don Heck, with great inks by Romeo Thangal, was also another who befefited from Perez's awsome covers. I actually liked both, Patton and Heck, but they really were no George Perez.

Peace

Don Heck's style was dated by the 80s. I love his work on Avengers from the 1960s. Even his 70s work was pretty strong. But replacing someone like George Perez with Don Heck was a disservice to the book and its fans -- despite some pretty great Perez covers -- which actually made the interiors look that much worse.

[kcekada]

Sure Perez did the covers for some twenty-five issues--but cover art doesn't count. Otherwise, we'd have to talk about Murphy Anderson, Neal Adams and Nick Cardy.

OMG! As much as I loved Adams' DC work in the early 70s, I still rank Cardy's covers from that era higher. His JLA covers, in particular, we phenomenal.

[caj]

Don Heck's style was dated by the 80s. I love his work on Avengers from the 1960s. Even his 70s work was pretty strong. But replacing someone like George Perez with Don Heck was a disservice to the book and its fans -- despite some pretty great Perez covers -- which actually made the interiors look that much worse.

It still shocks me that most great artists weren't lined up to draw JLofA at the time. I guess they were happy at Marvel and didn't want to work for DC Comics.

[Stanlos]

Love Phil Jimenez. I remember him doing the artwork on most of the JLA/Titans miniseries and it was beautiful work.

That giant wall scroll of all the covers was EPIC!!!

[Jim Kelly]

It still shocks me that most great artists weren't lined up to draw JLofA at the time. I guess they were happy at Marvel and didn't want to work for DC Comics.

This was around the time when writers and artists wanted to leave Marvel and had attractive offers from the Distinguished Competition. Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Al Milgrom, Jim Starlin, Gil Kane, Gene Colan, Steve Gerber, Carmine Infantino, Len Wein, Ross Andru--just to name some--all came over (granted most had already worked there in the past, but they were all employed by Marvel during the 1970s).

It was probably JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA itself that proved so difficult. Perez was not that fast that he could juggle two monthly books consistently. Ideally, José Luis García-López would have been the artist, given his great talent at drawing every character--but he was too valuable to waste on a monthly comic book and made most of his money drawing the characters for merchandising.

[caj]

You're probably right about that.

[The Darknight Detective]

For sheer volume of production, no other artists have yet to reach either Dick Dillin's or Mike Sekowsky's records. Those guys were in a league of their own. (I'll see myself out.)

These polls should have something like what they do with baseball and other sports records: a certain minimum to meet. But instead of needing so many plate appearances or innings, a minimum number of stories or pages would be the threshold to meet here.