One of the most exciting things about comics for me personally is the team-ups. I'm not talking about Superman/Batman or Beast/Wonder Man, but the team-ups between an artist and writer. And with the current state of mainstream superhero comics being predominantly writer-based, it's all about which artists are chosen to write those individuals strips. Most times the decision on talent falls down to the editors of the books, but sometimes the writers themselves seem to have a say in it.
And there are some writers who, either by choice or luck, attract a unique quality of artist that fits with them perfectly. You can see the taste a writer has in comic art when you look at their creator-owned work, but when that taste shows through on their work-for-hire projects then you know they're what I like to call "talent magnets". This subset of writers seems to bond more with the artist, write to a particular artist's strengths, and cultivate that relationship. But who are they?
The chief prospects to spring to my mind start with Jeph Loeb. Loeb has had a long, fruitful partnership with Tim Sale, as well as Ed McGuiness and Ian Churchill. I've read interviews with both of the latter artists where they describe how Loeb picks their brain for things the artist wants to draw and tries to incorporate that into the script. A happy artist makes a better book, right?
Another one that springs to mind from a different corner of comics is Brian Wood. Wood made his name in the independent comics scene, but even then he had a regular crew of artists he liked to work with most: Rob G., Becky Cloonan and Ryan Kelly. Apart from Rob G. (who has largely left the comics scene), Wood continues to collaborate with Cloonan and Kelly on his current series DMZ and Northlanders, and has worked numerous times with the likes of Kristian Donaldson, Riccardo Burchielli, Nikki Cook, Nathan Fox and Danijel Zezelj.
A third and final name for my trifecta of "talent magnets" is Rick Remender. Remender, who worked as an inker and illustrator for years before transitioning to writing full-time, cultivated strong bonds with artists like Jerome Opena and Tony Mooreon the creator-owned scene. And now with him under exclusive at Marvel, he's continued that bond by working with Opena on Uncanny X-Force and Moore on both Frankencastle and the upcoming Venom series. I wouldn't be surprised if he pops up with a big project with his Last Days of American Crime collaborator Greg Tocchini, and I'm still aching for the day where he reteams with Kieron Dwyer on something.
It's not to say other writers don't attract great artists, but these three are at the top of my list for consistently building a collaborative synergy with an artist and re-teaming with them often.
Who do you think are talent magnets?
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Jimmy Palmiotti on Hex. He’s worked with virtually everyone he’s wanted to work with.
I would think Grant Morrison would be great fun to draw for/with. Bright colors, explosions, crazy costumes, and a huge variety of subjects and settings. Seems like fun to me.
Brian Bendis (Coipiel, Yo, Chueng, McNiven, Lafuente, Pichelli, Immommen, Finch, Cho, Maleev, Rimita Jr. , etc…)
Bendis with Bagley and Immonen
Jay Faerber
Morrison + Quitely
Scott Snyder: Jock, Francesco Francavilla, Rafael Albuquerque, Sean Murphy.
Even the fill-in artist on American Vampire looked great.
Mark Millar gets great high profile artists (Romita Jr, McNiven, Hitch, J G Jones) although a large part of that could be that his name sells, and publishers want to match a big-selling writer with a big-selling artist.
I think Jason Aaron attracts decent artists, I can’t think of a single bad or average artist on Scalped. Not many of the people he works with are “high profile” I guess, but they appeal to my personal tastes, certainly. Plus, you know, Jock.
How Morrison isn’t at the top of this list baffles me. Frazer Irving, JH Williams, Cameron Stewart, Yanick Paquette…just some of the frequent names that are associated with Morrison. Better yet, Morrison has brought out the best in all of those artists. Whether it be Batman or Seven Soldiers, Morrison has an unmatched skill of bringing the best out of the best.
Ennis & Dillon?
Claremont and Byrne?
I don’t think anybody’s mentioned Jeff Parker, but whenever I open one of his books I can count on seeing great work. Not necessarily superstar artists but interesting up-and-comers who are good storytellers. Over the run of Atlas, there was Leonard Kirk, Chris Samnee, and Gabe Hardman to name a few. Parker also worked with Roger Cruz and Colleen Coover in X-Men First Class, Salva Espin on Exiles, and of course Steve Lieber on creator-owned work. I don’t know if it has to do with Parker’s background as an artist — some combination of taste and networking — or just good luck but just the sheer number of excellent artists he’s worked with is notable.
Even though he was mentioned, I think Mark Millar has had some great people work with him. Almost every up-and-coming artist has worked with him, and they only make each other better.
Others that haven’t been mentioned are Warren Ellis and Brian K. Vaughan. These guys have written some of my favorite books, but what I love is not just the many names they get to work with them, but how those different artists work with the writers. With Ellis and Vaughan having works that differ from the next to such a degree, they really have a knack for picking people who not only do fantastic work, but people that they can play off of, who really add something special to each product.
Joe Casey is my gold standard for picking guys who make it big. Charlie Adlard, Guiseppe Camuncoli, Dustin Nguyen, the list goes on and on.
First person who comes to my mind is Morrison:
Frank Quietly, JHW3, Cameron Stewart, Ryan Sook, Fraiser Irving, Doug Manke, Yanik Paquette, Chris Sprouse, Sean Murphy, Ed McGuinness
Also Mignola attracts some pretty amazing guys
kriman got Ottley, which is awesome.
This is an old older one but Neil Gaiman attracted great artists (not just Dave McKean) and would write his scripts like a letter to the artist he was working with. And he was able to get great work out of them.
Palmiotti, Morrison, Millar, Johns, and most recently Snyder are drawing the big talent.