Favorite Comic Book Artists

Like most kids, I got into comic books. At the beginning of my college life, I even wanted to be a comic book artist and was drawing quite a bit. I guess that was a way of telling myself I wanted to be a storyteller. Now I'm a writer but have recently been wanting to get back into reading comics. They have changed so much since the nineties, when I was really into them. But like most kids, a few artists have stuck with me. Below are some of the ones I loved as a kid and still do today.

Dan Jurgens
Working primarily for DC most of his career, Dan Jurgens created the heroes Booster Gold and Waverider, the iconic villain Doomsday (who killed Superman in the Death Of Superman storyline), as well as the Cyborg Superman. I was and still am a fan of Superman. He had four monthly titles going for him: Superman, Superman: Man Of Steel, The Adventures of Superman, and Action Comics. Superman artist Dan Jurgens was the first artist I remembering taking notice of. I liked his art more than the other three Superman artists, it was more heroic and well-drawn. He is the definitive Superman artist for me. You can follow him on Twitter.

Greg Capullo
On the complete flip side of Superman was Spawn. It took me a while to like Greg Capullo's work but it grew on me. His human characters seemed a bit cartoony but his angels and demons were realistic and dark, creating a nice contrast. His level of detail added to the grittiness of the title. Besides comic books, his art has adorned the covers of Korn's album Follow The Leader and Disturbed's Ten Thousand Fists. He has his own Facebook Page.

J. Scott Campbell
When Campbell said he wanted readers to experience the motion and thrill of a movie car chase on the printed page, he succeeded with Danger Girl. He is best known for Gen-13 and the unrealistic, oversexualized portrayals of female characters but his style was fun. He has the same detail and exciting energy of Brett Booth and Jim Lee but his art had a manga-esque whimsy to it. He has his own DeviantArt page

Brett Booth
Most of my favorite artists came from Image Comics, the company founded by six high profile artists  (Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Erik Larsen, and Jim Valentino) who left the Big Two (DC and Marvel) to found their own independent company. Brett Booth was an artist hired by Image and I was blown away by his level of detail and line work. His pieces were dynamic and rich. He also works as a paleoartist, drawing dinosaurs for various publications and websites. Check out his blog.

Rob Liefeld
Only recently have I gotten interested in Liefeld and I wish I had done so sooner. The creator of Deadpool and Cable, he is a love-him-or-hate-him guy. He has had rocky relationships with his Image partners and his self-taught art style is often ridiculed for its over-the-top anatomical proportions, large guns, and tiny misshapen feet. But he is fun. His stories and art are just like what a young kid wants to read and there is nothing wrong with that. He is the Michael Bay of the comic book world and he is entertaining, pure and simple. Rob Liefeld Creations is his website.

Jim Lee
If I had to pick one artist to admire, it would be Jim Lee. He penciled and co-wrote (with Chris Claremont) the series X-Men, whose first issue is the number one selling comic book of all time. He studied to be a doctor but became an artist and his art reflects his knowledge of human anatomy. His work is dynamic and detailed and he is a good storyteller as well. He created or co-created many of my favorite comic characters. The character in the picture is Fairchild. I managed to get this picture signed by him at DragonCon several years ago. One of my favorite characters signed by my favorite artist. Here is his fan page.

There you go everyone. I hope you enjoyed it. Who were some of your favorite characters and artists? As always, please comment below and thanks for reading.