My top five Batman artists

July 25th, 2008

At the end of the day this is an impossible list.

To cut the field down from the calibre of artists that have drawn the Batman over the years is just something I’m not up to. I don’t know if anyone could, certainly not pleasing everyone (if anyone!).

These are five artists that I just love, I love their interpretations of the Batman and some of them are indeed the best Batman artists ever, but I ain’t saying anything!

Tim Sale - his work has caught the attention of the world thanks to Heroes but before that Sale was and still is doing amazing work on Batman (as well as extraordinary stuff with some of the Marvel characters).

Norm Breyfogle - I grew up on Breyfogle’s work on Batman, he has the most brilliant control over kinetic energy in his depictions of Batman, especially in the cape.

Frank Miller - Apart from being a great writer I love his artwork too, it has this great raw power to it, his Batman is a warrior.

Mike Mignola - One of my favourite Batman series is the Black and White series and part of that series was Mignola’s Batman (he’s done covers before).

Jim Lee - I’m really loving his work on the All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder.

So who are your favourite artists?

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19 Comments

arkonbey July 25th, 2008
hard to have a favorite. Thought, I must admit to sometimes liking Paul Pope’s take on the Detective

http://comicrazys.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/robinteenage-sidekick-paul-pope/

arkonbeys last blog post..update

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Captain Incredible July 25th, 2008
As you say, Lee, there’ve been far too many excellent artists to pick an absolute best five, so it’s down to favourites.

In no particular order, then:

1. Neal Adams - he was the regular artist when my Dad bought me my first Batman comic, and I made a point of getting the 3-volume collection of his work when it was published.

2. Marshall Rogers - had a great run in the late ’70s, and his use of angles and non-standard frame size was (to me anyway) revolutionary.

3. Matt Wagner - did several Grendel/Batman crossovers that blew me away, and of course there was Trinity - pity the ongoing series isn’t living up to it…

4. David Mazzuchelli - Batman: Year One…

5. Jim Aparo - Brave and the Bold, Batman, Detective Comics, Batman and the Outsiders - excellent, dynamic work that made you believe a man could wear a cape and cowl.

If this was a top 10 I’d add the likes of Tim Sale, Frank Miller, Tom Mandrake, Darwyn Cooke and, indeed, Jim Lee.

I’d love to see Darwyn Cooke do an ongoing series - his work on Catwoman and especially “Selina’s Big Score” hooked me, big time.

But I’m a patient man…

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Bettina July 25th, 2008
Have nothing to add, just leaving a comment for the sake of it lol

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Lee July 25th, 2008
Cap - I considered Mr Aparo for so long because when I started reading comics he was doing Batman and Breyfogle was doing Detective, I was always a bigger Breyfogle fan but there are plenty of rock solid Aparo art out there.

Mazzuchelli’s Year One imagery is iconic especially the Bruce with his slain parents cover. Some of Wagner’s covers are just amazing and you can’t go past the quality of Adams work.

See what i mean, there are so many awesome artists who have worked on the Bat titles!

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Lee July 25th, 2008
Bettina it is always a pleasure to see your name in my comments list

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Ian July 25th, 2008
Out of those, Jim Lee’s depiction of the Dark Knight is my favourite.

My favourite comic book artists so far have to be Joe and Andy Kubert. Their short stint on Ghost Rider in the early 90’s was some of my absolute favourite art.

That being said, the artist so did the recent GR limited series’s is also pretty awesome, but I can’t remember his name right now, and that really bugs me.

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Brian July 25th, 2008
Definitely Norm Breyfogle. His new designs along with Alan Grant’s writing helped move me away from the Spider-man comics and onto Batman. Never had much interest in Batman (mostly because of the campy 60’s show). But their stuff changed that. Frank Miller draws a distant 2nd for me.

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Arjan July 25th, 2008
I don’t know any names so from your list I’ll pick #5. I like the dark grimey look of Batman. He looks like a fierce warrior.

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SamuraiFrog July 25th, 2008
It’s nice to see some Breyfogle love; I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone mention before that Norm Breyfogle was a great Batman artist. When I started reading the comic, he was the artist, and his work is always in my head somewhere.

I also have to say Bruce Timm does a real iconic Batman, even though it’s an easy choice. And Neal Adams, of course.

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Lee July 26th, 2008
Ian - Jim Lee is also doing a great job on the much better than Trinity series Superman/Batman.

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Lee July 26th, 2008
Breyfogle revitalised Detective Comics in my opinion and he was the best Robin artist. I would like to see Norm do some of the Marvel characters actually, his Iron Man would be interesting.

But Breyfogle Spider-Man would be awesome.

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Lee July 26th, 2008
Arjan on an unrelated topic I got your postcard today, looks awesome and thanks!

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Lee July 26th, 2008
SamuraiFrog it is such a shame that Breyfogle not get more recognition as his Batman is amazing, as I mention he also does a brilliant Robin (and Ace the BatDog).

I really love Timm’s work too (that Supergirl pic he does though is a signature piece!)

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Rol July 26th, 2008
I can go with most of those, those Sale wouldn’t make my list and I’ve never seen the appeal of Jim Lee.

My list would go Jim Aparo, Alan Davis, Mazzuchelli, Breyfogle and Adams. Probably in that order. Possibly not.

Though I loved Dark Knight, that’s all Miller really did with the character (as an artist) and if I included him, I’d have to make room for Brian Bolland too. And Todd McFarlane - whose art I grew to hate, but back when he was drawing Batman I really liked it.

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ComiCrazys July 28th, 2008
Paul Pope’s Batman to me is amazing. I love the thought he puts into the character. If you read the back of Batman 100, Pope doesn’t just design the look but the functionality of the costume as well.

Michael Golden is the my favorite Batman artist. I gotta dig out some of his sequential work on Batman to post on my blog.

Matt Wagner’s first Batman/Grendel was sweet, but the second series totally bit. His style changed so much, and for the worse, in my opinion.

Mazzuchelli did a great Year One.

Marshall Rogers, too, was great.

Miller’s Batman was awesome at the time, but I haven’t checked it out again in a long time.

ComiCrazyss last blog post..Dinky: The Amateur Dentist > Jim Tyer

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Becca July 28th, 2008
Not sure if he counts or not but I am such a sucker for the art of Bruce Timm. I think I like his Batman best not to mention all the other characters from the universe. Such a great artist!

Beccas last blog post..Some more recent drawings!

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Lee July 28th, 2008
Rol, I’m so surprised that Brian Bollard was not mentioned earlier, the Killing Joke being the masterpiece it is.

I’m not sure if there is a better Joker.

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Rol July 28th, 2008
They based a lot of Heath Ledger’s Joker on KJ, I reckon.

Oh, I forgot Kelly Jones. I used to love his Batman with impossibly large ears.

Rols last blog post..People Just AIN’T No Good

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Lee July 28th, 2008
ComiCrazys - I actually hadn’t seen that much of Paul Pope’s work, I have since rectified the situation and agree he has some great imagery!

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