Who is the best Batman artist of all time?

[brainticket]

Dave McKean

[Lee Stone]

I went with Mazzucchelli, also, mostly because of Year One.

But removing him, I'd go with Neal Adams and/or Dick Giordano.

With honorary mentions to Bruce Timm, Mike Parobeck & Rick Burchett and Mike Allred.

[Custodes]

Aparo
Rogers
Adams

In that order.

[Jim Kelly]

I went with Mazzucchelli, also, mostly because of Year One.

But removing him, I'd go with Neal Adams and/or Dick Giordano.

With honorary mentions to Bruce Timm, Mike Parobeck & Rick Burchett and Mike Allred.

The thing with David Mazzucchelli and Dick Giordano is they did so little work. Sure the stories they did are important to Batman readers (and Dick Giordano paid his dues inking so many other Batman artists), but it almost seems a slap in the face to guys like Irv Novick, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Gene Colan, Dick Sprang, Graham Nolan and Sheldon Moldoff who contributed so much to Batman. And if you include David and Dick then why ignore Brian Bolland, Todd McFarlane, Walt Simonson or Bernie Wrightson?

Mike Parobeck is one of the glaring omissions on the poll. Not only do I think of him as one of the greatest Batman artists, I think of him as one of the greatest comic book artists, full stop. As with Don Newton, we were all robbed when he died at such an early age. Parobeck had enough confidence in his own vision to go in a completely different direction from the artists of his day--and I think the way he adapted Bruce Timm's Batman to his own style (just like Dick Sprang with Bob Kane's style) was truly a wonder to behold.

[JBatmanFan05]

I went with Marshall Rogers, despite wanting to vote for Norm Breyfogle or Neal Adams.

The reason for Rogers is that he kinda pastiched Golden Age touches into his Bronze Age Batman. I have a soft spot for things that keep the Golden Age alive in Batman's look and all.

The only knock against Rogers is that he didn't do as many stories as Aparo, Norm, Adams, etc. But if he drew some of their tales?...probably just as classic or more.

Matt Wagner draws a helluva Batman too IMHO.

[Aioros22]

I don`t think the number of stories an artist have made bears much in this sorta discussion. Did he/she made an impact? Was the quality of the rendition the sort that makes you see the character right away when you think about it?

Don Newton only had one single run on the Phantom when it was published by Charlton in the 70`s, but I`d dare to say that the quality of his work in rendering the character has made me consider him to be in my top 5 artists of the Phantom almost easily, regardless of other quality artists having longer to considerably longer runs. His paintings for the covers alone were worthy of price of admitton, nevermind the cinematic quality of his interiors.

[Jim Kelly]

The only knock against Rogers is that he didn't do as many stories as Aparo, Norm, Adams, etc. But if he drew some of their tales?...probably just as classic or more.

Rogers drew the Batman comic strip for awhile in the early '90s. So if you add that, plus various cover art and special stories to his run in the '70s then it starts to add up. But really I just wish he and Terry had stayed on DETECTIVE in the late '70s as I really liked their combo of new/old style. Of course, then we might not have got Don Newton.

I don`t think the number of stories an artist have made bears much in this sorta discussion. Did he/she made an impact? Was the quality of the rendition the sort that makes you see the character right away when you think about it?

The reason I point out the brevity of their contributions is to show how hard it is to come to any definitive choice. The thing I liked about Walt Simonson is every time he did Batman, it was a different version. There is no one definitive Walt Simonson Batman.

It depends how you read the question in the poll. I read it as the best artist (who also happened to work on Batman). Like who was a really great all-around artist. It's kind of easy for some artists to do something that looks really cool if they have enough time and they only have to do one story. But I look at consistency when I evaluate comic artists. That's why guys like Neal Adams and Norm Breyfogle are great, because they could always produce their best work every time (Adams, though could be the victim of art directors taking his pencils and murdering them on occasion).

Bob Kane wasn't a great artist, but there's nobody who could have invented quite the look that Batman had. It's the same with something like Stardust the Super Wizard by Fletcher Hanks. Nobody else but Hank Fletcher could have come up with that. Sometimes being a really great artist doesn't equate to doing a great Batman.

[Scott Taylor]

Tough choice between Adams and Aparo. Because I could only choose one, I chose Adams simply because he did that style first. But really Aparo is equal, to me, just because of Batman's longer ears, which rocked.

[ABH]

Aparo, followed by Adams.

[Aioros22]

Bob Kane wasn't a great artist, but there's nobody who could have invented quite the look that Batman had. It's the same with something like Stardust the Super Wizard by Fletcher Hanks. Nobody else but Hank Fletcher could have come up with that. Sometimes being a really great artist doesn't equate to doing a great Batman.

Aside of being a poor artist I think it`s been already debunked for years the notion that Kane actually came up on his own with the Batman as he was first designed when published. The public has been cleared that most if not all sketches he made with that Batman weren`t actually made at the time, despite his own claims of contrary.

Which bears the question when mentioning him. What the frag did he actually do that resembles even the Batman that showed up in Detective Comics? No matter how much you scretch it I`m banking on not much. Which erases him in absolute terms of any artistic endevour list or even character creation.

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

[Martin Sinescu]

I voted for Adams. If it had been my personal favorite, I think Breyfogle would've gotten the nod, but "best" Batman artist? I feel Adams really set the gold standard that laid a foundation for the rest to build on. The atmosphere, dynamics and originality (especially in regards to composition) of so much of his work is still fresh and compelling for me. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these choices, really. Rogers, Aparo, Giordano, Kubert, Capullo are all favorites of mine, as well, but as soon as I saw the question, I thought "Adams" first and then all the rest occurred to me.

[Bri]

While Alan Davis will never be considered as influential as Adams or Rogers he is a great artist and his take on Batman is certainly worth a look. His run with writer Mike W. Barr is great fun, featuring stories where Batman actually enjoyed being Batman. d5eb7eeabcf42942e143dedcb92fd32a.jpgSin título-3.jpg

[Mace Dolex]

Don Newton, my first Batman comic featured his art and I was hooked, his Batman was muscular and lean but didn't look like a musclebound ape.

Bronze age
Neal Adams
Jim Aparo
Gene Colan

Modern age
Jim Lee
Greg Capullo
David Finch

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

I think it's Breyfogle, Capullo, Adams, or Mazzucchelli. I voted for Miller for some reason. Jones is up there for me, but obviously not for technical reasons.