*In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man and the release of the new Spider-Man movie, this blog will intermittently feature a month-long series of Spider-Man articles. The author was an unabashed fan of the web-swinger from the early 1980s and although gave up on the Marvel character in the mid-1990s, follows his adventures to this day. Prepare for some hardcore fanboy opinions!
**To check out covers, story titles, and credits to comic books mentioned in this article, visit Spiderfan.org, one of the oldest and most reliable Spider-Man sites on the Internet.
With all due respect to the creative staff over at Marvel that have handled the Spider-Man titles in the last decade, the artists they've selected today are poorly chosen (just look at the upcoming previews for the 50th anniversary issues and you'll understand what I mean). The truth is that very few artists in the comic book business could draw Peter Parker and Spider-Man right (the old series Marvel Team-Up with its rotating staff was a good example of this). Peter's costume defined the character and unfortunately, Spidey has historically been seen as a clown next to other characters - he's not as strong as Thor, commanding as Captain America or Iron Man, or as cool as Logan (one of the most overrated characters in the industry). This misinterpretation of Peter's alter-ego made it hard for artists today (and in the last decade) to take him seriously. After all, he has one of the worst colorful costumes in the Marvel Universe. It takes a really good artist to draw the amazing wall-crawler.
I personally like Humberto Ramos' art, who penned the excellent DC comic book Impulse in the 90s, but his visuals aren't as impressive as way back when. Although John Romita Jr. is on my own definitive list of artists, his best work on Peter Parker is over and his recent work is mediocre at best (see "Coming Home" ASM#471-473 and his recent work in Avengers). Greg Capullo, a former artist of Spawn, would be perfect for Spidey if he wasn't so busy drawing almost perfect comic book artwork over in Batman. Other choices I would love to see on ASM as a regular artist would be J. Scott Campbell, Mike Mignola, Jim Lee, Jim Cheung, Chris Bachalo, Andy Kubert, or Joe Madureira, an impossible selection but all definitely worth hiring.
The revolving door of untalented and forgettable artists in the Spider-Man books today and the poor quality of writing and illustrations make me yearn for the good old days of the 80s when selecting a regular artist for the book mattered. These guys stayed on the book as long as they could, leaving their mark on Peter Parker's misadventures in history.
The list below, in no particular order, is my definitive list of Spider-Man pencillers. Like most artists, many of them eventually evolved or their artwork suffered as time passed, so included are their highlight years and examples of some of their best work. Long-time fans will notice that a few classic pencillers like Sal Buscema, Larry Lieber, and original ASM penciller Steve Ditko aren't included on this list. This is a matter of preference. I felt that the style of artists such as John Romita Sr. captured Peter, Spidey, and his cast better and provided a more definitive look at Spider-Man's universe.
***Although the author would have liked to post more scans from Spidey's best artists from the 80s to the 90s, he's currently overseas and has to make do with archived scans he made decades ago.
1. Rick Leonardi
Along with Ron Frenz (#8 on this list), Rick Leonardi drew Peter's adventures with the Black Costume (both the alien version and the version sewn by Felicia Hardy the Black Cat). His use of shadows made him well-suited for drawing the black costume, Peter's best and most realistic costume. Leonardi also penned the bulk of the excellent Spider-Man 2099 and didn't lose his touch when he returned to draw the graphic novel Spider-Man meets Spider-Man 2099. Leonardi's action scenes were characterized as a dynamic mess and his ability to pace the story and work with dialogue was exceptional (see the Saga of the Black Costume and Spider-Man 2099# 1-6). His background work in 2099 was Mike Mignola on Blade Runner; his ability to draw facial expressions matching Peter David's wit page for page.
Perhaps my favorite and most memorable issue of Rick Leonardi was his work on Spider-Man #17 which featured one of Ann Nocenti's best one-shot issues. In this filler issue, Peter experiences a brief after-life experience while trying to save a young girl's life from a freak accident. In the afterlife, an unmasked but costumed Peter comes face to face with the titan Thanos. Peter pleads (and fights) for the child's life, whose fate is in the hands of Death herself.
2. Todd McFarlane
Say what you will about McFarlane's familiarity with anatomy and the man himself, but Todd's legendary run on Amazing Spider-Man and his own title Spider-Man in the 1990s made everyone sit up and take notice. He took a goofy, spindly, and skinny guy in a silly costume and made him a bad ass (compared to the silly, whining sidekick in today's books). Although most remember Todd's crouching poses, spaghetti webbing, and big eyes, fans of Todd's ASM run know that he never forgot Peter's spider-strength (10 tons) and his extensive experience. When Spidey threw a train car, smacked Taskmaster and his sword with a flick of his wrist, bludgeoned a vat of opal and blood to stop Venom, and battered a ton of the Red Skull's men, you knew Spidey would hand you your head if he wasn't so darn nice.
Todd also knew how to push Spidey to the limit convincingly (unlike the garbage you read today in Avengers and Dan Slott's ASM). His vicious battle against a mindless Lizard in Torment (SM#1-5) and the climactic battle on the church in ASM#300 with Eddie Brock was exciting and brutal (this was the original Venom and not the ridiculous Venoms that have been running around in the last 10 years including that idiot Flash Thomson). McFarlane is also one of the few artists that could draw Spider-Man in the forest without him looking out of place (Perceptions – SM#8-12). His Peter Parker was mature, but hokey and funny; his Mary Jane Watson-Parker was a classy supermodel combination of Kate Upton and Christina Hendricks. He even made an obscure character like Prowler cool and drew some of the best Silver Sable appearances.
Although his final issues on SM was poorly done (SM#16 crossover with Rob Liefeld's X-Force), I will always remember McFarlane's earlier work on ASM, including the largely forgotten but highly recommended Assassination-Nation Plot where he teamed up with Captain America, Paladin, and Silver Sable against the Red Skull.
3. Mark Bagley
Today, Mark Bagley is revered for his long run on Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man. However, I remember Bagley for his equally lengthy and memorable run on ASM, following Erik Larsen's swansong in ASM#350. Bagley's work in Ultimate Spider-Man is soft compared to his much more detailed and defined artwork with Randy Emberlin and Al Milgrom from ASM#351 onwards. Bagley emphasized the "Man" in Spider-Man and avoided the more spidery poses of Todd McFarlane(#2) and Erik Larsen (#4). His anatomy was superior to both Todd McFarlane and Erik Larsen, while retaining an agile, sleek, and slim Spider-Man. Although his action panels were repetitive, predictable, and unimaginative, he was only limited by the writers behind him. Moreover, Bagley's clean lines evoked a real New York and a normal couple in Peter Parker and Mary Jane.
Mark Bagley's art was so good, only his parts in Maximum Carnage and the dreadful Clone Saga were worth reading. For me, Bagley truly excelled when he was paired with a heavy inker and drawing issues with plenty of guest stars (Hulk and Samson in ASM#381-382) or colorful villains like Shocker (#364). In a forgettable, but fun 6-part story called Round Robin: the Sidekick's Revenge (ASM#353-358), Bagley drew Nova, Darkhawk, the Punisher, Moon Knight, Night Thrasher, and even the Wrecking Crew. His Tri-Sentinel 2-parter (ASM#351-35) with Nova and Spider-Man was brilliant and who could forget the sold-out three-parter that introduced Carnage (ASM#361-363)? Another early multi-part storyline that I found fun to read was Invasion of the Spider-Slayers which featured Black Cat's sexy but short-lived new costume.
I have great respect for Mark Bagley, who stomached the whole vomit that was the Clone Saga and made the death of Aunt May (ASM#400) worth reading despite falling sales of the Spider-books and a disgruntled fan base.
Part 2: Ron Frenz, Erik Larsen, the Romita family, Alex Saviuk, Rick Buckler and Bob McLeod
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