What Would It Take For a Newcomer to Become One of the Best Spider-Man Artists?

[Mister Mets]

Last week, I asked what it would take for a newcomer to become one of the best Spider-Man writers. Now it's time for the artists.

Is it a matter of being very good, or is there more to it?

This is something I'm trying to figure out myself. I think Ryan Stegman is very good, but not necessarily great. Marcos Martin is great, because in addition to the quality and storytelling prowess, he changed the series, reminding readers that Ditko can essentially be a genre of art, and getting some solid imitators (Javier Pulido for one).

What's your take?

[Highland Chicken]

A good sense of acrobatics that won't snap his back, there's a bit of leeway given the concept of superhuman agility, but Peter isn't Mr Fantastic.

[Celgress]

A lot of talent along with the freedom to show it.

[Metamorphosis]

For me, and this is all my subjective opinion and what I like, I prefer the cleaner styles of artists like Martin, Paolo Rivera and Stefano Caselli. I think they are among the best artists to come down the pike for a very long time. Pulido is often outstanding as well.

I don't like the sketchy, messy, anime-inflected look of stuff like Ramos that much. The sketchy/messy quality is something Romita Jr. would sometimes have in his work, but his figures are more solid in the Kirby tradition. Stegman seems to veer into this territory sometimes.

I think Camuncoli falls somewhere between Ramos and Romita Jr.

What would it take for a new artist? I don't know, but I know what I like when I see it.

[Mister Mets]

For me, and this is all my subjective opinion and what I like, I prefer the cleaner styles of artists like Martin, Paolo Rivera and Stefano Caselli. I think they are among the best artists to come down the pike for a very long time. Pulido is often outstanding as well.

I don't like the sketchy, messy, anime-inflected look of stuff like Ramos that much. The sketchy/messy quality is something Romita Jr. would sometimes have in his work, but his figures are more solid in the Kirby tradition. Stegman seems to veer into this territory sometimes.

I think Camuncoli falls somewhere between Ramos and Romita Jr.

What would it take for a new artist? I don't know, but I know what I like when I see it.

So you're looking for an artist who draws a style you like, but does it very well?

[Fiasco Jones]

Its already happened: Mark Bagley.

These days, its harder to say. I don't think it would be too hard. If there's a style out there that an editor likes for the book, and the time is right, anything is possible.

[Mister Mets]

Its already happened: Mark Bagley.

These days, its harder to say. I don't think it would be too hard. If there's a style out there that an editor likes for the book, and the time is right, anything is possible.

Obviously this is something that's happened before, and it will probably happen again at some point in the near future.

[BlitheringToot]

I personally think Cammo is the best new(ish) Spider-Man artist out there.

And even though he was an established artist loooooooong before he tackled Spidey, I was completely blown away by Adam Kubert on "Renew Your Vows."

I like Stegman's style an awful lot, but he's not one of my favorites ... yet. Better than Ramos, though.

As for Bagley ... eh. I found him to be hit-or-miss. His style was too slick for my taste, and even though I loved his work on "The New Warriors," "Thunderbolts" and even "Batman," probably the only thing I really liked about his Spider-Man run was really defining Venom's look (although Larsen still draws the best overall Venom in my opinion).

[Scott Taylor]

This is trickier to answer than the writer one. As much as writers and artists work collaboratively to create a new comic, I think the industry favors giving new artists a shot rather than new writers on its biggest franchises.

[Tuck]

I think Pichelli already is.

Don't know if there's a consensus on that though.

[Pav]

There are a lot of really great Spidey artists out there right now who each do their own distinctive thing and do it well.

For someone new to be "one of the best" and to really get people's attention, well...

I only know what I'd personally like to see:

I want someone who can do with Spidey what Aja did for Hawkeye.

I want the whole "style" of the artwork to really look fitting for a Spidey comic and yet be bold and new - and not just the actual art itself but panel layout and borders and use of white space and all that stuff.

-Pav, who's having a hard time describing this...

[MarioHerald]

Should this conversation also include colorists (and inkers)? For example, taking Pav's mention of Hawkeye: sure, David Aja's creative design of the pages really set the book apart. But would the same result have been achieved without Matt Hollingsworth's colors and palette helping give the book that look?

Another example: I loved the first issues of Scarlet Spider because of that cinematic "feel" achieved by Ryan Stegman. But the GLASSY COLORS, sharp contrasts of blacks and reds of Marte Gracia Pazuzu and the lines of Michael Babinski' inks really gave it that marvelous, dangerous atmosphere. Look for example to that that scene where Kaine first arrives at the hotel and starts reminiscing about his past!

[JackDaw]

It depends on how high you set the bar.

For me there's only two great Spider-Man artists: Steve Ditko and John Romita.

Without Steve Spider-Man wouldn't have had the classic costume, and may well not have had that typical teen-age look that's serve him so well in so many of his adventures. And Steve D drew a wonderful Peter Parker, Aunt May and Unle Ben. Their characters...plain, loving, honest...leapt off the page. For me no one has ever drawn Peter so well since.

John Romita made a load of small changes that were profoundly well thought out to make Spider-Man more commercially successful...most notably he made Peter substantially better looking. Most of it not to my taste...but blimey, what he did, he did exceptionally well.

For me for another artist to join those two, he (or she) would have to improve upon the "classic John Romita Spider-Man/ Peter Parker look" that has held sway for so many years. It's almost certainly not going to happen.

[Mister Mets]

It depends on how high you set the bar.

For me there's only two great Spider-Man artists: Steve Ditko and John Romita.

Without Steve Spider-Man wouldn't have had the classic costume, and may well not have had that typical teen-age look that's serve him so well in so many of his adventures. And Steve D drew a wonderful Peter Parker, Aunt May and Unle Ben. Their characters...plain, loving, honest...leapt off the page. For me no one has ever drawn Peter so well since.

John Romita made a load of small changes that were profoundly well thought out to make Spider-Man more commercially successful...most notably he made Peter substantially better looking. Most of it not to my taste...but blimey, what he did, he did exceptionally well.

For me for another artist to join those two, he (or she) would have to improve upon the "classic John Romita Spider-Man/ Peter Parker look" that has held sway for so many years. It's almost certainly not going to happen.

You probably set the bar higher than most. Though technically the question is about best, which allows for the top ten or so, even if you think two are in a much higher category than the rest.

Should this conversation also include colorists (and inkers)? For example, taking Pav's mention of Hawkeye: sure, David Aja's creative design of the pages really set the book apart. But would the same result have been achieved without Matt Hollingsworth's colors and palette helping give the book that look?

Another example: I loved the first issues of Scarlet Spider because of that cinematic "feel" achieved by Ryan Stegman. But the GLASSY COLORS, sharp contrasts of blacks and reds of Marte Gracia Pazuzu and the lines of Michael Babinski' inks really gave it that marvelous, dangerous atmosphere. Look for example to that that scene where Kaine first arrives at the hotel and starts reminiscing about his past!

This is an excellent point.

A great colorist can help a great artist reach their potential. Advances in technology can also be a factor, in allowing colorists to be effective. A shift in colorists between Mackie's run and JMS's run helped John Romita Jr. (Amazing Spider-Man artist with both of these guys) shine.

Spider-Man comics will typically have good production budgets, so it's a title that's more likely to have impressive colorists.

This is trickier to answer than the writer one. As much as writers and artists work collaboratively to create a new comic, I think the industry favors giving new artists a shot rather than new writers on its biggest franchises.

That's an interesting point. Part of it is that it's easier for an artist to prove themselves than it is for a writer. Smaller samples can be more meaningful.

Though artists for the Spider-Man books tend to have been in the industry for a while. Marcos Martin worked on the mini-series Batgirl Year One five years before he was on Amazing Spider-Man.

Humberto Ramos and John Romita Jr. had worked on Spider-Man before they illustrated some of Dan Slott's stories.

Giuseppe Camuncoli worked on Vertigo and Wildstorm books for several years, before going to some Marvel comics, and becoming a regular on Spider-Man.

[Gemini Saga]

Knowledge about human anatomy. There is Spidey's artists who don't know anything about it and they still have fans.