List your most underrated/overrated comic book writer and artist

[dancj]

Have you read his Parker books?

I read one and it was pretty good - but Cooke adapted it from someone else's story so he can't take all of the credit there. (Not that adaptation isn't a skill - it's just not the same skill as writing a story from scratch)

And the thing about New Frontier is it was a "standard Silver Age" story at a time when comics became different and darker.
The reason it was so good was he was able to re-capture the spirit of the Silver Age while adding modern "relevant" elements.
The greatness in it is that it seem simple while actually being more complex.

I can see all of that appeal. The problem is I never actually found the story interesting.

[Kirby101]

I read one and it was pretty good - but Cooke adapted it from someone else's story so he can't take all of the credit there. (Not that adaptation isn't a skill - it's just not the same skill as writing a story from scratch)


I can see all of that appeal. The problem is I never actually found the story interesting.

Each to his own.

He also is the only creator who's take on The Spirit came anywhere close to Eisner.

But, he just doesn't do it for you.

[Kirby101]

There is no way to overrate Ditko.

[JBatmanFan05]

Do you know what the difference is?

Just one extra page that appears to tip the scales on the mystery in the story if Batman is real or if Batman is a...schizophrenic vagrant alcoholic with delusions of being a millionaire crimefighter.

[Timothy Hunter]

Most overrated artists and writers:
Steve Ditko
Todd McFarlane

While I disagree with you about Steve Ditko, Why do you hate Steve Dikto? he is amazing! I do have to agree with you about Todd McFarlane, I see many artists from the early to mid nineties (Todd Mcfarlane, Jim Lee, Marc Sylveresti, Eric Larson, Jim Valentino, Chris Bachalo) being beloved by fans and fondly remembered, but artists from the Early 2000's like Michael Turner, Ian Churchill, Humberto Ramos, and Ed Benes, who have a very similar style are hated to a relatively general extent, and I feel this is because of mainstream comic book fans nostalgia for the nineties ear in comics, if any of the aforementioned nineties artists appeared were more prominent in the 2000's rather than the Nineties I think they would be ripped to shreds by the fans.

[Timothy Hunter]

Just one extra page that appears to tip the scales on the mystery in the story if Batman is real or if Batman is a...schizophrenic vagrant alcoholic with delusions of being a millionaire crimefighter.

Wow that story sounds really cool now that I think about it!

[dancj]

He also is the only creator who's take on The Spirit came anywhere close to Eisner.

Have you read Alan Moore's Greyshirt stories from Tomorrow Stories? They're spot-on.

[dancj]

Steve Ditko

Yeah. I don't dislike his art any more than most art from that era, but I see nothing about his art that stands out.

When I think of classic old school artists I go to Will Eisner, Wally Wood, Alex Toth, Frank Frazetta and Jim Steranko. The likes of Ditko and Buscema don't get a look in.

[dancj]

I do have to agree with you about Todd McFarlane, I see many artists from the early to mid nineties (Todd Mcfarlane, Jim Lee, Marc Sylveresti, Eric Larson, Jim Valentino, Chris Bachalo) being beloved by fans and fondly remembered, but artists from the Early 2000's like Michael Turner, Ian Churchill, Humberto Ramos, and Ed Benes, who have a very similar style are hated to a relatively general extent, and I feel this is because of mainstream comic book fans nostalgia for the nineties ear in comics, if any of the aforementioned nineties artists appeared were more prominent in the 2000's rather than the Nineties I think they would be ripped to shreds by the fans.

I generally hated that era. Out of that list you quoted, Todd McFarlane and Erik Larsen are the only two who get a pass. IMO, McFarlane is the absolute master of that early Image style - and kept his art nice and loose (which is something Jim Lee sorely needs). I don't really consider Larsen's art to be that similar to the Image style. That just has a great infectious energy to it.

[Overhazard]

I sort - kind of - not really disagree with you about Geoff Johns, he's not like Brian Michael Bendis or a Judd Winick where everything they writes now-a-days is dreck, he's really a mixed bag, I found The Sinestro Corps War to be a failure in the scope it was trying to accomplish, his Justice League farcical, but I found Green Lantern Secret Orgin while not exactly necessary, since there was already a Hal Jordan Origin Story, very stellar, his Superman Origin Story, while being even more redundant than Green Lantern, a very sweet, wholesome story, and I found his run on Hawkman, a character I originally thought to be a joke, but have recently realized his narrative potential, so honestly Johns is a mixed bag.

Holy cow I didn't know Joss Whedon co-wrote Toy Story!

I like Johns for the most part, but he loves him some ultra-violence. If johns is writing a book, chances are that someone is getting maimed, burned, beaten, stabbed or killed in a gratuitous manner. I used to be able to handle bendis and whedon but now I can't.

Overrated.
Bendis, Whedon, and Claremont.

Underrated.
Ian Flynn. Ian wrote Archie's sonic the hedgehog, Mega Man, and New Crusaders. The books were fun and enjoyable. Ian's a pretty talented guy, and now that Archie has given Sonic the axe, I hope he can find his footing somewhere.

Jeff Parker. His run on Aquaman was great. Future Quest was a million times better than it had any right to be. He and Doc Shaner made it feel like a classic comic book.

James Roberts. A few years ago, If anyone told me that there would be more character development, humor, and tension in a transformers comic than anything by marvel or dc, I would have said you were crazy.

[Jeremi]

Overrated
Brian Bendis
Jason Aaron
Matt Fraction

Underrated
Al Ewing
Jeff Parker
Fred Van Lente
Ann Nocenti

[Kirby101]

Underrated:

Rick Leonardi and George Freeman, two artist who came up in the late70s-80s, whose work i liked a lot but never got a lot of buzz.

[Starter Set]

Grossly overrated :

Geoff Johns.

Disliked pretty much everything i have read from him and i find his obsession with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen just plain disturbing so...yeah...

But eh, just poor ol' me, don't feel angry if you like his works, it's fine.

[Judge Dredd]

Pretty shocked someone listed Alan Moore as underrated, he is one of the most acclaimed writers in comics. He may not be what he once was, but I would never call him underrated.

I would say at least in America that John Wagner is criminally underrated true comic genius, does not really do to many new books, but still working on characters he created 40 years ago like Johnny Alpha delivering high quality stories with co-created with Carlos Ezquerra who is also underrated in the states.

[Arfguy]

Underrated - Eduardo Risso. Drew 100 straight issues of 100 Bullets with an amazing style. He is one of the few artists that can draw a face from different angles and there's no mistaking who that character is.