The Best Artists of 2010

Over the past few years, we have been very fortunate to experience the work of so many incredible artists.  Almost every week I find myself oddly frustrated that more people are not given the opportunity to look at the art in the pages of our comic books. I mean, while comics are seemingly more popular that ever, I think it is fair to say that they are still not taken seriously as a legitimate form of art. People may look at the pages I show them and comment on the color, the character design, the detail, but visual impact is obviously just one aspect of the work.  The comic book artist is a camera operator, a movie editor, a makeup artist, a costume designer and a lighting designer.  Over the years I have found myself appreciating these other aspects more and more, and I find myself thinking that being a comic book artist has to be one of the most difficult and under appreciated jobs in the art world today, but here we are, year after year, bringing up names new and old, that are pushing the comic book art form to different levels of brilliance. It is truly my honor to share with you my thoughts on the artists that made an impact on me over 2010.

And that's the big caveat, folks. These are the artists that have made an impression on me. I will have missed a few of your favorites (witness the omission of Amanda Connor from last year, an omission so great that I felt compelled to apologize to her about it when I met her at Wonder Con), and, in some cases, I will not have felt the same way you might have felt about an artist's work and have not included their name in this list. Art is intensely personal, of course, both in the experience and the production.  There are some artists that I love that others just shrug at.  You might appreciate someone's take on a character more than I, and that's what's wonderful about the whole endeavor.  Art is a direct conversation between viewer and artist–we get to see how an artist thinks, how she feels, how he sees, based on these graphite paths on art board.  The very act of highlighting a few artists is disturbing–the work of all artists is completely legitimate, is utterly correct, in terms of legitimate creative work…there is no "better" than the others, there is only "I related to this artwork, I felt something more intensely, than another's work." It's like judging acting, really. One actor will do a part differently than another. If the work is honest, if the work is focused and fully realized, if it's the result of that best effort in an actor, than how can we deem it "better" than the same role done by a similarly focused performer?

 

This year, for me, was much harder than last year, when I suggested that J.H. Williams was the "Best" Artist of 2009.  You can read that article to get the full discourse, but suffice to say, his work on Detective Comics really took everything to another level and it was, for me, pretty easy to make that argument. This year I don't have a clear and favorite choice — though I will suggest one. 

 

Like last year, we're splitting this into a few categories. The first one is…

 

I – Consistent Quality

 

In acting, you are only as good as your last review, and it is very easy for someone to shine at one point and then slip away into obscurity.  This is not the case with Francis Manapul's work in The Flash or Dave Lafuente in Ultimate Spider-Man.  If there is a knock on either of these two wonderful artists, it's that we don't get to see their work often enough.  Manapul had a strong start with The Flash, but, and maybe this is just me, the book's delays lost a bit of the refreshing momentum he had with Adventure Comics.  The book was consistently good, with some stirring moments (I can't get the shot of The Flash running across the helicopter blades out of my head), so the wait was always worth it.  Lafuente continued to work his magic (thanks cutting Pete's hair) and delivered just wonderfully dynamic pages.  His takes on classic Spidey characters have been particularly inventive and exciting to behold.  

 

I suspect Rob Guillory (Chew) will be included in many a "Best of" list for years to come.  He followed up his particularly stunning 2009 debut with even better work, and continued to show us that comic book artists can still use the comic book page in new and disarmingly cool ways.  His work on Chew #15, with the gatefold cover (click on the image to the right to see it) and the great scene when isolating John's sister from a host of memories was a fantastic way to close 2010.

II – Flashes of Brilliance

 

When I thought about 2010, I kept finding myself looking at books that were released late in the year and limited run series. I wasn't sure, honestly, that they should be discussed for overall artistic impact for the whole year, but there were enough artists whose work impressed me in these brief encounters that I hope you won't begrudge my discussing them. Strange Tales Vol II keeps coming to mind, just because it actually outshone the previous volume, which I thought was terrific, and exposed readers to a bevy of independent artists whose work just blew me away, and I wasn't able to find the first issue (I looked in six stores)!  Marvel deserves praise for releasing these books–they remind me of the Solo series that DC released years ago, in terms of just giving a platform to some really great talents that mainstream comic book readers may never encounter normally.  The third issue of Strange Tales II, by the way, was Ron's Pick of the Week a few weeks ago, so it's not just me.

 

Brian Wood's DMZ had a solid five part series that featured a different artist on every issue, and I had to point out Nathan Fox's incredible issue (#56). I've seen his commercial work in various magazines and had sometimes dismissed him as a Paul Pope wannabe, but that issue is a tour de force in every way, and while his work recalls Pope, Fox is definitely doing his own thing. These are explosive and vibrant pages and are just gorgeous to behold.  #57 featured work by Cliff Chiang, whose artwork I have been missing ever since he left Green Arrow/Black Canary, and it is clear he hasn't missed a beat.  It was so great to see his art again, so I was thrilled to see him on Zatanna #8, which was Conor's Pick of the Week. 

 

The waning months of 2010 meant the return of Bruce Wayne as Batman and, apparently, a return of some truly kick-ass artwork as well.  Honestly, Jock on Detective has been a revelation (and was Josh's recent Pick of the Week), but that's hardly surprising, right?  The end of November brought us Batwoman #0, with art by J.H. Williams III and Amy Reeder and was, as far as I am concerned, an artistic triumph.  While I know many folks out there don't like Finch, I think his work on Batman: The Dark Knight #1 has been some of his best work to date. Finch is not messing around here, and his vision of Batman is appropriately powerful, brooding and dark, which stands in stark contrast to Yanick Paquette's bright, exciting, and fabulous work in Batman Incorporated (the first issue being Conor's Pick of the Week in November.) 

 

Next in this list is Jerome Opena in Uncanny X-Force.  There were only three issues of this published in 2010, but if things stay the same for 2011, he's pretty much a lock on Artist of the Year.  If you are already reading this title, you know what I am talking about, if you are not reading this book (I was late on this, grabbing all three at once a few weeks ago), make sure to check it out next time you get to a shop.  Opena's art is intensely gorgeous, it literally makes my stomach tense up just thinking about these pages (I am incredibly psychosomatic); the way he treats fabric, his camerawork–this is an amazing artist at the top of his game.  He's just… I mean, do people really get how good he is?  (Deep breath.)  I can't wait to do a full on retrospective of his work later this year.  

 

Finally, I've always liked Leinil Yu, though I admit his work in Secret Invasion was slightly less satisfying than his previous work. I like my art kind of sketchy, and it just felt too clean in that series, so I admit I was nervous when I saw his name on Mark Millar's Superior.  Well, suffice to say, that three issues into this book, the Lenil Yu that I like is back, in full force. Not only is his character work right on point, but there are some pages that are just jaw-droppingly impressive.  You see the last issue with the whole space station falling out of the sky? Incredible. The detail, the energy, the skill–it's, well, superior.  (Sorry.)  I think he's having a lot of fun on this book, his images are a bit racier, his acting a bit epic–this book is a lot of fun and definitely worth checking out.  If you ever read Silent Dragon, you'll see that he's right back, with incredibly detailed vehicles and buildings…he's one of those artists that could make things easy on himself, but he just loves the work so much that he goes that extra mile (or four) to create a tremendous immersive experience in his pages. Truly inspiring work, both technical skill and storytelling prowess.

 

So, you can see the dilemma, right?  All of these books, all of them, have had some fantastic art, but we only had a few issues in 2010, so I don't feel "right" in having these artists run for overall Artist of the Year — though you could rightly argue that Jock has been sharing fantastic art throughout the year, and I would just say, yes, I am listening to your argument, thanks.  But I have to hand it to DC, the Bat-books are inspiring, so much so that I am actually bagging and boarding them!  For me, the return of Bruce Wayne has been a joyous experience, a feast to behold.  As a Batman fan, I can't really remember a time when I have looked forward to so many of them at once.  Like, I am really excited about Batman Incorporated.  And Detective.  And Batwoman…and…well, you get the idea. Thanks for not screwing this up, DC.  (And just assume that I wrote three paragraphs on Opena here and then deleted them because I know this article is already kind of long.  You'll see more Opena opining later this year.)

 

Special mentions: Gabriel Hardman and Mark Robinson on Hulk. I really wanted to include them in the next section, but with only four issues in 2010, I just can't rationalize it. I really think this team is fantastic and, along with Jeff Parker's writing, have done something I thought never possible–got me reading Hulk again.  Sarah Pichelli deserves  a huge shout out as well, and it pains me, I have to say, that I can't include her in the next section–she just doesn't have enough issues in 2010 to be in the running.  She's awesome, though, like, seriously, I had a whole paragraph in my head devoted to her, and now that I realize her issue count…well, let's just say that the next section is shorter than I thought it would be.  Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Darwyn Cooke on Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit.  He showed so much range, so much style, so much skill in this book…he is doing more than graphic novel work in his Parker books, it's something different, something special.  Again, I could write a whole article on just that book, indeed, when I was talking to Josh about this article that I boasted I was going to write two paragraphs on The Outfit alone!  Another time.  We have to move on to…

III – Best Ongoing Artists of the 2010

 

Finally, the moment I have been dreading – my finalists for Artist(s) of the Year in 2010.  

 

So, originally, I had Pichelli, Hardman and Robinson in this list, but, for me, the artist has to have worked on more than four issues on a single title in a given year to really be in the running for Artist of the Year.  These artists created books that are so much their own that one finds it hard to imagine anyone else working on them.  Let's see what you think!

 

Kev Walker on Thunderbolts.  Now, I know that Walker has been around for awhile, but he's completely and utterly new to me.  I think his work on Thunderbolts has been nothing short of a revelation. He reminds me a bit of Opena, with really striking character design and excellent faces.  I had never read Thunderbolts before, but his work has me looking forward to reading the book whenever it comes out.  There's both a sense of humor and a sense of gravitas to his work, which is a odd contradiction to express, let alone represent, but he manages create emotional and physical environments that really celebrate everything that the comic book medium has to offer.  His character work is uniformly stunning, but I particularly love his take on Ghost, which is just a fantastic character. I love how Walker draws little bits of matter following Ghost around, it reminds me of my favorite Peanuts character, Pigpen!

 

Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba on Daytripper.  If you read this book, I bet your heart skipped a bit just remembering some of the images from this incredible series. The sundrenched beaches, the crowded streets, the wonderfully lived-in homes…the art in the stories just takes your breath away.  The whimsical lines, the expressive faces, the lush environs…these books were less stories than meditations on life, love and family, adult fairytales for a new century.  In my heart, I would hope that DC/Vertigo is at least considering doing an Absolute Daytripper book.  What a gift that would be; what a treasure.  

 

Rafael Albuquerque on American Vampire.  I don't know about you, but Albuquerque came out of nowhere and just blew me away from the first issue of this series, this crazy vampire series that just surpassed everyone's expectations.  Albuquerque showed such an incredible range from the very first issue, doing both the main story and the backup piece, month after month—that alone would be impressive, but the quality of his art, his attention to period detail, the way he draws faces and figures, let alone backgrounds and buildings…this is some art, people.  There's a beautiful tension in his figures, his "big moments" are jarring, the way his characters transform into vampires, the way you can feel the flesh getting torn apart when they fight. But then you look at his cover for Superboy a month or so ago, and you see a joy in his work, a love of comic book art, that is infectious.  

 

Michael Allred on iZombie. I struggled with this one, a bit.  I was like, "Well, it's just the same thing that Allred always does," and then another voice in my head responded, "You mean, that amazing, awesome artwork that he 'always does' that you are always gazing at, each and every issue, shaking your head, dreaming of being able to draw like that? Is that what you mean, loser?" So, I am including him. There's a beautiful whimsy to his work that is undeniable. He can make you chuckle with one panel and make your stomach turn the next (he does a great brain-eating crunch).  While his art my not be as detailed as other artists, while his drawings may seem flat…this is his art, this is his skill, this is the way he sees things in his head.  I love the art. I love it. When I read the book, I linger on the images and marvel at his line work. Hey–how about an iZombie/iFanboy t-shirt? Get it? iWant it!

 

Chris Samnee on Thor: The Might Avenger.  This can hardly be a surprise, of course. This book made an impact of most of us (apparently not enough, I literally gasped when I heard that the book was cancelled) and Samnee's art was a big reason why.  Usually when I get goosebumps from a book, they come from intense emotional moments, you know, like the ones where you need to put the book down and stare into space for a second. With Thor, the Black Swan-worthy bumps came from the joy, the heartfelt glee, behind Samnee's characters.  Much has been written about this book, so I will resist going on, but suffice to say that when this is collected into a single volume, it will be one of those books that I will be recommending to any person even thinking about reading comics.

 

R.M Guéra on Scalped.  When something is excellent each and every time, it's actually easy to overlook–Aaron and Guéra have made the most reliably excellent book on the market, and Guéra's is just so intense, so emotionally wrenching, each and every issue.  But it's more than the anguished emotionality in the faces–look at the weathered backgrounds, the beaten vehicles, the glitzy-yet-dingy casinos.  From burning summer days to cold winter nights, Guéra's command of the elements is mighty and unforgiving.  Guéra is a true artist; each issue is a master class on visual storytelling.

 

So, those are my finalists for artist of the year. Issue after issue, these artists have delivered consistently impressive and inspiring artwork, and have, in many ways redefined just how good comic book art could get in 2010.  Not only have these artists created incredible interior art, but many, if not all, have designed and produced fantastic covers for their titles as well.  

 

While I am resisting the whole notion of having to choose, I think I have to.  So, in my opinion, the Artists of the Year are…Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba in Daytripper. I can't escape this conclusion, those are the names that rise to the top of this list of truly inspired, truly gifted and innovative artists.  I have gone to sleep thinking about this article for weeks — literally — and the imagery in Daytripper is where my mind ends up resting. Moon and Ba created something very special, each issue was, as I wrote above, a treasure, artistically and emotionally.  
 

  

 

And with that, I hand it over to you all.  Who did I leave out? Whose was your favorite artist of the year?  What did you think of 2009 overall, in terms of artistic quality?

 

Happy New Year to you and yours! Thanks for reading!

 

---

Mike Romo is an actor in LA, and will be attending more Drink and Draw parties this year.  You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter.