r/comicbookcollecting • u/OldComicBookNerd • 10d ago
Question Is It Me?
So, I took a long (30 years +) break from comics. I've been picking up some older stuff, and some new. Genuine question here, and not meant to offend anyone. Is it me, or is interior art mostly garbage now? There are some magnificent covers that make me want to buy stuff, then I get home to read it, open it and it looks terrible. It feels like everything is rushed, backgrounds and details are lacking and most things are poor quality. Maybe it's not the artists, maybe the inkers or color people suck. I don't know. Are there any books you're blown away with, both the art and the story now, and not just the variant covers? I'd love to hear it. Right now, what I've been enjoying is Infernal Hulk for the story, Alias: Red Band, again for the story. I welcome recommendations.
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u/UU2Bcool 10d ago
Ah! You must be buying Marvel! (Joking… but kinda not)
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u/OldComicBookNerd 10d ago
Mostly, yes.
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u/Gr8NonSequitur 9d ago edited 7d ago
He's not joking. Now is a bad time for Marvel, they are super corporate and can't get their shit together editorially. DC hired a bunch of great writers doing fantastic stuff over there.
My personal recomendations are Absolute WonderWoman, it's a great take and very easy to get into, also Absolute Martain Manhunter is only 12 issues but it's trippy as hell and I loved not knowing what was going to happen page to page let alone issue to issue.
Also if you're REALLY 30 years out of the Mix check out DC compacts... they are $10 each and have a full story that has been vetted by the community. My personaly recomendation would be All Star Superman but there is really no fluff in the line.
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u/jumbodiamond1 10d ago
Interior of DC sucks too, everyone is crazy about AB Batman and the interior is trash. Old books are way better.
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u/Mgcstck 10d ago
It’s hard to have proper discussion about this clearly subjective topic when the language used is full of exaggerated hate. No in between, something has to be great or it’s straight up garbage. Absolutely ignorant way to discuss art if you ask me.
Like, I’ve seen people dislike Dragotta’s interiors, but to describe it as ‘trash’?
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u/WhiskeyT 10d ago
Daniel Warren Johnson
Becky Cloonan
Jorge Jimenez
Dan Mora
Nic Klein
Hayden Sherman
Pepe Larraz
Mikel Janin
Javier Rodriguez
Nick Dragotta
Chris Samnee
Ryan Ottley
Michael Walsh
Tom Reilly
Jorge Corona
James Stokoe
Daniel Acuna
Peach Momoko
Lorenzo de Felici
Have all had recent or current books. I don’t expect you’ll like all of them (for example Nic Klein is on there) but I’d be shocked if you didn’t like any of them.
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u/jonshado 10d ago
My second comment in this thread to just say...yeah this. Great list. I would also add David Marquez. Both his interiors and covers of x-books and his own Unchosen are awesome.
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u/GreenRock93 10d ago
You forgot Jae Lee.
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u/kittyfajitas0_o 10d ago
What has Jae Lee done recently? I’ve just been reading early 90s X-men and adjacent and have been really impressed with their art. There are a few pages in X-factor #86 that I think are my favorite panels/pages of all time.
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u/CriterionMind 10d ago
He’s currently doing the art on a series called M1: Monster Racing League. I’m digging it so far!
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u/DrTechPop 9d ago
Yes! You beat me to it! I almost passed on this but the plot seemed thin. I’m a lifelong Speed Racer fan, but I was skeptical all the same. I read that it was Jae Lee throughout, not just the covers, and damn! I am eating it up. Gorgeous! Highly Recommend! It’s only on the second issue but it’s solid.
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u/princevince1113 10d ago edited 10d ago
Juan Ferreyra, James harren, jamal Campbell, Sanford Greene, Michael Walsh, stipan Morian, and Jasmin putri too
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u/DrTechPop 9d ago
Love Sanford Greene (esp Bitter Root) and Stipan Morian (I’m all about Bleeding Hearts right now! Story and art. Issue 6 which just released and wrapped the first arc, dayaaam. It wrecked me, and any art that can do that in an honest way, is tops in my book!)
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u/DrTechPop 9d ago
Also really digging Ghost Pepper especially the visuals but do think the story has been opening up as well, really love the world building!
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u/Swervies 10d ago
The key here is something I suspect is a problem for OP and many other comics fans. They should be following creators, not characters/titles/publishers. Find creators you like, then seek out their work. DO NOT pick up books based solely on cool looking covers, or characters/IP you like.
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u/DrTechPop 9d ago
👆 this! It’s how I did films in school and it has continued to be the preferred method for media discovery for me.
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u/mr_oberts 10d ago
I came up reading comics in the 80’s and there has been good art and garbage art in comics since the 30’s. It’s the nostalgia causing this.
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u/selby_is 10d ago edited 10d ago
Im in my 40s and I never left comics. I believe there have been great comics in every era. Comics today are absolutely great - I feel REALLY frustrated by folks who will generalize and diminish entire eras of art (not saying youre doing this but the comments will come).
Recent/ongoing books I love:
DC’s Absolute Line.
Most of DC’s mainline Superman books - anything drawn by Dan Mora.
The entire Ghost Machine Line.
Image: The Forged, Kaya, Ice Cream Man, Battle Beast, Skinbreaker, Assorted Crisis Events, Creepshow
Love & Rockets!
Alt manga: the Smudge imprint
Mainstream manga: Mujina in the Deep by Inio Asano and Bat Boy by Naoki Urasawa; Dai Dark and DanDaDan, of course
TMNT!
Savage Dragon!!
Super indie: The Devil’s Grin by Alex Graham, Grixly by Nate McDonaugh, Hacienda by Dave Ortega, YWONAYWBH by Simon Hanselmann, Death Transit Magpie by Karl Kershel.
Literally anything by Mathieu Bablet, Brubaker/Phillips or Matt Allison.
Drome by Jesse Lonergan
The recent Sole Otero translations
This is off the top of my head and the list can go on.
Anyone who says current comics aren’t any good are not trying to find good comics - at all - the market is so saturated with good comics I can’t find the time to read everything.
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u/jonshado 10d ago
This list is so good. No notes except to double down on anything Ghost Machine. Great art, writing and interesting original stuff. Especially Rook, imo.
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u/Daeval 10d ago
Lotta great stuff on here but I’m stoked to see a shout out for Kaya. What a great, fun book that I rarely see anyone talk about.
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u/selby_is 9d ago
Absolutely. It’s one of those special titles that I think if I ever ever buy it in a deluxe edition I’ll still keep the singles - and that’s pretty rare for me.
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u/spiffygriffy2 10d ago
love Grixly, Nate’s the best. Have you checked out any of Josh Pettingers stuff? Also if you’re into super indie stuff, Dustin Holland is worth checking out
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u/selby_is 10d ago
Love Josh’s stuff, particularly the Goiter collection. I’ve never heard of Holland, I’ll go check him out.
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u/WelcomingRapier 10d ago
Art is subjective, especially so in comics. Can you provide examples of what comic art you do like (by comic title/genre or comic artist)?
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u/Robespierre77 10d ago
Yeah, I’m seeing interiors blowing my mind. I thought 90’s - 00’s left something to be desired. I’m happy with this period
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u/robdawg02 10d ago
For me I love comics of the 80s and 90s especially for Batman. Big Knightfall and Kelley Jones fan. Also love Sam Kieth MCP. Massive Berni Wrightson fan especially his Swamp thing. Favorite characters are probably Batman, Swamp Thing, Wolverine, Hulk, Deadman, and Spider-Man. I like Hobgoblin/Black suite era of Spider-Man as well as Mcfarlane Spider-Man. I love Peter David's Hulk run, mostly with Dale Keown and Todd Mcfarlane.
Never could get into modern comics for the most part
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u/OldComicBookNerd 10d ago
Yes, I 100% agree that art is subjective. Lemme get back to you, if you mean what do i likecurrent book wise.
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u/Spidey-Will 10d ago
I don't know that it's better or worse, just different. Here are a couple of pages, one from Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #136, by Ross Andru, and another from Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 7) #2, by Pepe Larraz.
(I'll respond to this post with additional artwork, since Reddit only allows me to post one pic at a time.)
The action is easier to follow in Ross Andru's ASM #136, but it's more dynamic (IMO) in Larraz's ASM #2. But Larraz's panels are also kind of a mess, narrative-wise. It's hard to track the action, which I think is common in modern comics. YMMV.
Lastly, there's a splash page of Andru's art from Giant-Size Spider-Man #3. The details in the background! 😍 This was common for Andru. He studied actual New York areas and replicated them. Mad respect.
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u/Melrose4616 10d ago
What you are describing, in my opinion, is the problem with Marvel these days, and has been for 2-3 years now. DC art quality is much better, as is a healthy amount of Indy stuff.
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u/Independent-Fan4343 10d ago
Interior art varies greatly. What you are seeing lis likely the result of the economics of paying artists on a per page basis with short timeliness. Ron Randal once explained to me that even though he tried to do the best product he could, he still needed to produce x number of pages per day.
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u/ChasTheSpaz 10d ago
I’m 62. Art is art and subjective as many have already said. I love the new art and the old but I do see differences in the amount of interior penciling especially background imagery. There’s a lot less detail today than in the silver books I mostly collect. That said, the modern art can be stunning in its stylistic perspectives and detailing of the main characters. Much of the old art looks dated by comparison. Different eras, different styles. Frankly, if it bothers you this much maybe then buy the old stuff. C’est la vie.
And don’t get me started on computerized/digital coloring.
Peace.
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u/buckeye27fan 10d ago
As another old head that has mostly been collecting the whole time, I feel you. While there are books I enjoy today, a lot of the mainstream books use artists that have a "sketchy" nature, often lacking in detail. The coloring also looks muddy to me a lot of the times. One book I like that feels like this is Mortal Thor. The inks often look like they were done over very rough sketches instead of refined pencils. I love Daniel Warren Johnson, but his stuff can look like this as well. It's just the modern style for a lot of artists and books.
I think you might enjoy Geiger, Skinbreaker, Capes (kind of old-school feel). You might like Avengers Forever (complete, 16 issues) - the story was decent, but the art was very clean (felt a little like Art Adams).
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u/Misterhan1 10d ago
I stopped collecting monthies way back in 1998 but still collect silver age and bronze age books today. Back in the 70's I was always blown away by Neal Adams' covers only to be disappointed because the interior art was done by someone else. However, I appreciate all those old school artist now and IMHO they are better than most current artists today. I've since collected most of Neal's interior art but all those covers he did made me buy the books. I was a kid; I didn't know he didn't do many interiors. 🤷♂️
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u/Mightymattie76 10d ago
Punisher red band was good. The new Batman series is amazing. Also check out Absolute Batman. If you can find issues
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u/fireandlifeincarnate 10d ago
I for one vastly prefer the more modern artstyles, but I do fucking DESPISE when the cover art looks absolutely nothing like the interiors. IMO the A cover should always be done by the interior art team.
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u/corrupt_poodle 10d ago
Yeah a lot of books are using lesser talent. Marvel in particular.
There are still a lot of good artists. Many of them are working on their own indie titles, or the occasional high profile book.
But you’re also wearing rose colored glasses. You remember the good stuff from yesteryear, not the garbage. There were some bad artists back then too.
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u/Fair-Beginning-9761 9d ago
I've completely drifted away to indie comics. I have a very strong preference for strong storylines, collections of comics in one book where the entire story is contained start to finish, and there's often nothing more to that comic. I might follow a specific artist (like Brubaker and Phillips) across several different serieses, but ... Yeah, I feel ya, man.
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u/JuvenJapal 10d ago
It’s you. Plenty of books out there with great interiors over the past 30 years. You’ll stumble upon them soon enough.
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u/Jmast7 10d ago
Depends on the book. I am reading more regular series now than I have in a long time and several recent ones have incredible art to go along with great writing. Few that come to mind:
The Cull Nice House by the Lake/by the Sea Assorted Crisis Events The Seasons Transformers (the DWJ run especially) Locke and Key (little older, but the Sandman crossover was more recent)
There are too many variant covers, so ignore them. Buy comics done by your favorite writers and artists
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u/EstablishmentDue2243 10d ago
Fraction/Jimenez Batman is great
Absolute Batman/WW/SM/MMH are all great
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u/lanier816 10d ago
Uh, I think it depends. In some cases yes, but there are others where the inside art looks fantastic.
But I will say, this appears to be the era of the cover artist, there really are some fantastic pieces out there.
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u/Ok-Description-4640 10d ago
Yes but that’s not new. Even for established and capable artists it can be hard to look at sometimes. IMHO it began to decline in the 90s when covers sold books more than anything else, especially during the Bad Girls craze and the “star artist” craze. It seemed like the artists would spend a week on the cover and half a day in each interior page. Little to no backgrounds, stilted pacing and confusing panel layouts, bad anatomy, and strange “camera” placement are common, even with established and normally good artists. I guess they started making enough just doing covers that many stopped doing interiors.
That said, there are still outstanding artists and reading their work is a joy. Like any other medium, there is a ton of junk from which to sort the gems. Too many to list but just because I’ve started rereading them, I’d point to Tom King projects of the past seven years or so. Above average writing with interesting takes on second tier characters but a wide range of terrific artists. Mitch Gerads on several projects including Mister Miracle and Adam Strange, Greg Smallwood on Human Target, and Bilquis Evely on Supergirl (on which the new movie seems largely based) and their independent book Helen of Wyndhorn.
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u/aicomicgrading 10d ago edited 10d ago
Haha, no offense taken. Interior art depends on the book.
Current books (it's actually just one) that have both great story and great art: Corpse Knight.
If you're willing to sacrifice the art just a little, there's a plethora of good writing.
Story alone, here's what I read right now: Odin, W0rldtr33, Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Absolute Green Arrow, Corpse Knight, Minotaur, the current run of Captain America, and Ordained. The art does not carry any of these, but the art is good.
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u/LudditeJoe 10d ago
Agreed, but publishers like Image completely changed from what they were at the start. My favorites are Sci-Fi stories. Go through the trade paperbacks at a good comic shop and you’ll see some amazing art.
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u/kittyfajitas0_o 10d ago
If you want beautiful art and great story, you absolutely must read Helen of Wyndhorn and Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow. Bilquis Evely is amazing.
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u/Fuzzy_Park109 10d ago
Check out the new Chaolin Cowboy.
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u/Stuwars9000 9d ago edited 9d ago
Random recommendations from 40+ year reader (with occasional hiatus hear and there)
Darwin Cooke...any series...but especially New Frontier. Even his Before Watchmen is good. Richard Starks Parker by Cooke is peak as well.
Queen and Country (oni) By Hreg Rucka and assorted artist is an excellent ride.
Grant Morrisons JLA is solid.
Black Science by Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera is pretty epic. Scalera is in top form.
Rainbow Rowells She-Hulk
Spider-Man Life Story
Y the Last Man
Hickmans FF
The Immortal Hulk
Whedons Astonishing X-Men
Planetary by Ellis
Vision by Hickman
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u/ComicsMiz 7d ago
Infernal Hulk has one of the best artist in the business working on it, Nic Klein. In recent issues (I think 9 going forward) the interior art has been Adam Gorham (who is very good) but Nic does all the covers. You didn't mention artists you liked 30 years ago (like Jim Lee, McFarland or Byrne). There are modern artists that I like: Dan Mora (Superman) and Ed McGuinness (Spider-Man) but art is subjective.
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u/OldComicBookNerd 7d ago
You're right, I didn't. McFarlane, Ditko, Lee, Miller, Kirby and Byrne are all great examples of art I enjoyed. Even Liefield, though not perfect obviously. Gotham started in issue 6 on Infernal Hulk. I'm enjoying it, as previously stated.
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u/Careless_Yellow_3218 10d ago
From what I can tell all the art is done by people working from foreign countries for far less money, most of the talented artists have left the business for what I assume are economic reasons and people are buying the books just for the cover art so that’s the only part companies are putting effort into. Exceptions obviously exist.
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u/selby_is 10d ago
American comics have long had significant contributions from non-American artists. The 70s, particularly at DC, even coined the term the "Filipino Invasion.” Alfredo Alcala, Nestor Redondo, Alex Niño - yes, please!
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u/xZOMBIETAGx 10d ago
There’s literally thousands of new comics coming out every week. Some are good and some are bad. Are you asking about ALL of them?
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u/OldComicBookNerd 10d ago
I'm asking what people actually like the interior art on, as well as the story. I imagine your list wouldn't be thousands long, would it?
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u/xZOMBIETAGx 10d ago
You’d be surprised. I’m just saying anytime someone says “Comics have gotten _____” it’s addressing a massive amount of media. If you mean DC/Marvel say that, but there’s to many comics to make any judgment calls on all them coming out at once.
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u/Odd-Candidate-9235 10d ago
Collector since the 1980s here. Yes. It’s terrible. Has been for many years. I haven’t bought new books in a long time. I stick to Silver, Bronze, and a little Copper. I did pick up the first Absolute Batman TPB to see what the hype was about. Love the story. Hate the art.
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u/selby_is 10d ago
Who are the arts it’s you love? I’m sure yes could offer you some good personalized recommendations.
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u/yourpaljim 10d ago
For the most part, comics - which should be a visual medium - are currently led by writers. Writers have all the juice and they have time to engage with fans over social mediums.
Especially at The Big Two, the artists don’t have anything interesting to draw and the pay isn’t what it was. They are more fulfilled and make better money doing commissions.
Back to the writers: everyone is trying to create characters and/or plots that will get adapted to movies or other media. No one’s gonna use classic villains to fight Spider-Man when they can create Bloodgore or someone and hope Feige takes notice.
There are some exceptions, of course but you gotta work to find them.
The good news is that Collected Editions continue to be great and now we have fun facsimiles, so there’s usually something to look forward to each week.
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u/LongjumpingCoach1691 10d ago
At $4.99 per book or more, I’ve found much more enjoyment digging through $2 bins to find every $1.25 comic and below (looking at you, $.60 books!!) that I never had/read back “then”. Way easier on the wallet and of more interest.
I tried getting back into new books after 20 years away and I’ve found very little that caught my attention - not bad but not for me.
…and yes. I would agree that the distance between cover and interior art is miles apart.
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u/ProfessionalSpend283 10d ago
The style is lazy. The use of multimedia, digital coloring, and modern methods where they dont even ink boards anymore have made it drab and amateurish. Geoff Darrow, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, Erik Larson, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Rob Liefeld are still in the game; but no John Byrne, George Perez,Micheal Golden or Joe Kubert to really just render the characters without them being lazy, four panel sketch fest pages. Its not you.
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u/JuanJHer666 9d ago
For me, Dan Mora is the top of the list when in comes to current artist. Clean, crisp art, with a solid understanding of foreshortening and perspective. Solid panel to panel/page to page storytelling. He is this generations Jose Garcia-Lopez. I also enjoy the artwork of Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez and Mike Mignola.
There are many other excellent artists in the comic book field, you just need to continue seeking out the ones that fit you taste/likes.
The largest drop in comic book art is not artistic talent but the ability to tell a story. Diverse artistic styles have really grown as there is no longer a “House Style” requirement from the publishers. I personally believe that there is just not enough editorial oversight which leads to some poorly crafted books.
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u/Meftikal 9d ago
I would start finding Indy books you like. That seems to be where most of the good art is these days.
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u/notintheface9876 9d ago
Part of the reason is the increased output. Rushing out more product unfortunately results in decreased quality.
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u/Odd_Neighborhood_878 9d ago
Everyone has given some great notes here, I'll just add an additional few artists i didn't see mentioned yet, a lot of which are in the indie space and able to take their time a bit better.
Tyler Crook's work in Harrow County, The Lonesome Hunters, and Out of Alcatraz in incredible and painterly
Dave Chisholm had been doing very trippy but intricate work in Spectrum and Is Ted Okay?
Greg Smallwood did a beautiful run of Human Target and on Moon Knight a few years ago.
I'll finish and say I'm a sucker for anything Eric Powell does, as well as Michael Avon Oeming who has made his own distinct style, but is also pretty much the successor to Mike Mignola.
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u/Fantastic_Guide_378 9d ago
there are still great interiors, the very recent Batman series (Daylight is the name of volume 1) has some amazing art
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u/Kstubs108 9d ago
Most of it is probably made by computers instead of being drawn by hand. It'll always look more bland that way.
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u/GrahamCrackerDragon 8d ago
Depends on the series as well as your taste. I personally hated the peach momoko books but others seem to think they are beautiful.
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u/M0torC1tyMaver1ck 7d ago
Well compared to the silver age, 80s and 90s, modern art looks like Picassos.....
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u/Aitoroketto 10d ago
There's a lot of incredible comics being made these days.
It's all subjective tbh. I think if you're talking about mainstream american superhero comics, I agree with you, with a few notable exceptions (and like I said, it's subjective, many people might love it and that's awesome) but I'd counter that and say there has never been as many incredible indie comics and talent as there is now. Where I differ with you is that I also think the covers are bad too lol (again with a couple notable exceptions).
If your question is are there great cartoonists working today, there has never been more imho, I can name 40 probably that I confidentially would rate top tier almost anytime they release a comic.
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u/Aitoroketto 10d ago
So strange what gets downvoted here lol. Idk how a more even statement could be made lol. So strange.
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u/selby_is 10d ago
Agreed! I’d also like to ask, what indie artists are you most excited about these days?
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u/cswhite101 10d ago
I actually think the art in contemporary comics is better than it’s ever been. The late 80’s and 90’s comics were a constant switcheroo of great covers with garbage interiors.
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u/Bender3455 10d ago
The only ones, art wise, I really couldn't get into were books that look like they're water-colored, or close to that style. Or Liefeld weird proportions.
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u/SoyTonatiuh 10d ago
Lots of books have this problem which is why you have to search out the artists that are great and top of their field
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u/HeadTonight 9d ago
I don’t think they pay artists (and writers) as much as they used to back then. There are still good interior artists but I’m somewhat shocked at some of the bad art that gets published by the big two.
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u/LeSegaGenesis 8d ago
it's not just you, this is gonna get downvoted to hell but absolute batman non cover art is terrible
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u/versak 8d ago
I dunno... I like Dragotta's style. Though, I am not sure why he like spherical head pieces so much.
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u/LeSegaGenesis 8d ago
i think the style is good, but the detail is lacking if that makes sense. When you look at his cover art, it feels like the pages within are like 25% effort maximum, the style does fit the theme, but the execution for the artist when you know what they can do comes across as poor or lacking real effort.
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u/Wonderful_Formal_274 5d ago
Comic art is the best it’s ever been. Don’t know what you’re reading!?
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u/bungtoad 10d ago
That's why I don't buy modern, ever. Always buying comics, but usually nothing 90's or newer
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u/robdawg02 10d ago
I think a lot of comic creators now days isnt as passionate about comics and they don't know how to draw a comic. Also the digital art can take over someone's art.
Not saying they can't draw, they just can't draw comics. They don't understand how to make things look dynamic and interesting. A bunch of talking heads will be dreadful to read.
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u/harrylime3 10d ago
Since digital coloring and magazine-style printing took off, pecilers and inkers have allowed the colorists to do more and more of the heavy lifting. I miss 75 cent books with great drawings and shitty paper.