Introductory Artists Post: Aja, McKean, Rivera

[bethbethbeth]

As promised, I'm making an initial post to share some favorite comics artists, and I'd love for you to do the same.

Embed or link in the comments below - or make a separate entry as you please - and it's up to you whether or not you say much of anything about why you like the artist's work.

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(Note: it struck me as I was checking over the coding for this post that all three works make extensive use of...the color brown. I swear I like other colors. Really!)

My first pick - and really only the second comics artist I ever took any notice of - is David Aja. A Spanish artist, who came into comics after some time as a professional illustrator and art teacher, Aja was probably best known until recently for his work on Immortal Iron Fist, but at the moment, it's his work on Hawkeye with the writer Matt Fraction that's drawing the most interest:





[Hawkeye #3]

Apart from having such a distinctive drawing style, I'm really impressed by the way Aja is able to create movement in his work. Honestly...a comic book car chase that feels like a real car chase? Aja's something special.

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I mentioned that Aja was the second comics artist I took notice of. The first was Dave McKean.

McKean is known for many things, but for me, he's always going to be associated with Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which was the first comic series (or should I be saying "graphic novels?) I gave more than a passing glance to between my childhood and...last year.





This cover for "Brief Lives" demonstrates the perfect use of collage to create something rich and original and both creepy and strangely beautiful.

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And finally (not that I couldn't include another half dozen favorites) is Paolo Rivera, who I met at New York Comic Con (2012) and...okay, I had absolutely no idea who he was when I met him (I had no idea who anybody was that I met at NYCC), but the prints on his table drew me in. This was the one I really wanted though:





Sadly, it was not to be. It turned out that Rivera had created this poster on spec, but by the time he showed it to Marvel, they'd already contracted another artist to do the poster for the Captain America movie. They really loved it though, so he turned it into a limited edition print for the cast and crew. I think that's the story as I remember it? In any case, it wasn't available for purchase, much to my sadness.

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Okay, so that's that, at least for the time being. Your turn!

Comments

[naushika]

Ugh I LOVE David Aja's art. So much. And that Captain America poster is SOO COOOL, I'm really sad now it wasn't the official one. :(

One of my most recent faves is Filipe Andrade. His style is super unique and I just love how fluid it feels.



He catches a lot of flack for how different it is but I have grown to adore it.

Another of my faves right now is Fiona Staples. Everything she does is so pretty, and full of color and texture.



(Btw if you are not reading Saga, which is what this art is from, YOU SHOULD BE.)

[bethbethbeth]

I actually did a little review of the first trade of Saga a while ago, and yes...it was Fiona Staples [cover] art that drew me in.

And I absolutely agree about Andrade. it took me a little time to get his style, but I love how much movement there is in his work.

(I'm updating the tags to include your artists)

[rexluscus]

I also really like Aja - I gravitate toward the cleaner, simpler, more old-school-lookin' stuff that's more about storytelling and less about beautiful or detailed rendering. So, more Paul Smith than Bryan Hitch (although I adore Alan Davis, the guy Bryan Hitch spent his early career imitating). Not very many lines and a judicious deployment of spotted blacks - that's what I like. :) Another guy with a nice clear elegant style that Marvel has working for them these days is Chris Samnee. And McKelvie, he's something special too. And of course Allred, always Allred.

OTOH, there's Esad Ribic, who's a genius, and his style is anything but minimal. He's a clear and effective storyteller, though, which is what's most important to me. I don't care how pretty it is - if I can't tell what's going on, if the layouts don't propel me through the narrative with quasi-physical force, then forget it. That's why I've never been crazy about Olivier Coipel, despite the admitted prettiness.

My favorite American-market artist, Marvel or otherwise, though, is Mike Mignola. I will never get enough of that guy's work. (These days he mostly just writes, which breaks my heart.)

[bethbethbeth]

I love Ribic too, but in large part because is work is so gorgeous (I mean, yes...storyteller, but I'm all about the visceral reactions *g*)

Meanwhile, I'd never seen any of Allred's work before now, so thank you!

[rexluscus]

Yeah, Ribic is basically the Second Coming of Frank Frazetta. (Whose work in comics I've actually never seen, but I know he did a bunch.) It's just...real purty.

Allred! I love that guy. LOVE.

[laurakaye]

I started reading the Hawkeye book (and from that, comics, period) because I saw the covers and fell in love. Aja is amazing. He does action scenes that are actually exciting to read. The arrow fight in Hawkye #2 was masterful.

My other TRUE LOVE in comics art is Jamie McKelvie.

And the pop-art work in FF by the Allreds is so compelling it keeps convincing me to buy just one more issue.

[laurakaye]

Oh! And how could I forget Skottie Young? His baby variant covers fill my heart with gladness.

[bethbethbeth]

Oooh...add a link (or embed) one or two representative pieces of his art and I'll add a tag, because yes. I'm not usually a "cutesy" fan, but the baby variants are great.