can ugly art/ subpar art ruin comics for you?

Art has ruined it. I stopped readin marvel because it was so horrible after Marvel stopped using Stan Lee. And I was really little! I thought it looked like bad water colors.

Now what bothers me is "cop out" art, where it shows the characters, from a high angle with their eyes shut and mouth in a frowny line. It's just annoying. it happens too much these days. Let me see the eyes, what going on in them. A picture is worth a 1000 words still. I think the best art was Nomi Sunrider and that story. Her face and body language conveyed so much more than words could.

 

A certain former X-Men artist whose name I will not mention comes to mind...

 

Sometimes. It depends on how bad the art is and how good or bad the story is. Like if its a great story but so-so art, then I'd still call it a good comic. If the art is really horrible, like you have a big moment but its hard to tell what's going on, then the art can really ruin the moment. Although great art can also elevate a decent story to something memorable too. Fortunately Star Wars comics for the last five years (and probably longer) have usually had decent art (superhero comics... not so much). Consistent art also helps, like even if we're stuck with one artist for an arc, its even more annoying when they change artists for some reason. If the different artist is an improvement, you wish they had done the art for the entire arc, if they're worse then you wish they would go back to the original artist.

Most recently Legacy has been a great example of great story and great art (although Legacy was also somewhat of a unique example, being a whole new era), and that's partially due to having an "official" artist for all the big arcs. KotOR had a bit more variety which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't, although I never felt KotOR's art quality ever dipped too much (or rather the KotOR comic always had great moments and the art always managed to portray the important moments and expressions, etc.), and Ching was sorta the big one as he did the beginning, climax and end arcs of KotOR. Dark Empire's story is a bit odd, but I love the art and how epic a lot of it looks (the characters are debatable, but the warships and battles are epic). The first TOR comic didn't have good story or art so it was forgettable at best, the second had good art and story (though I don't like bad guy stories usually), and the third... well the story is still developing and the art is sadly somewhere between the first and second series' levels of quality. But for Dark Times and Invasion, having one constant artist helps a lot, not to mention that Wheatley's art is beautiful, and Invasion's style takes some getting used to, but I like having one artist. So art is important, but as long as the art isn't too horrible, it can't ruin a good story for me.

Although sometimes I glance at old comics (Star Wars and otherwise) from early 90s or earlier and... wow, the art is sometimes decent but the format of the comics is hard to tolerate (like say some old Marvel Star Wars, although I have no problem with TotJ). Though other comics from even older eras sometimes still hold up fine, but then they're usually of a different genre (say humor or a cartoon) whereas superhero comics (and space fantasy like Star Wars) has changed a lot over the decades.

 

Oh yeah. Good example. It didn't "ruin" the arc for me but it sure did diminish the impact.

 

This is exactly what I meant when I said "bad" art can add character to a story. Yavin Vassilika wouldn't have been half as amusing if someone like Jan Duursema or Doug Wheatly were behind the sketchboard. The goofiness of the art was perfect for the story.


Another example that miffed me to no end when it happened: Janek Sunber. Fabbri practically made the character when Sunber first appeared in To the Last Man. Then in the later Empire comics (specifically, My Brother, My Enemy), which arguably had more "realistic" and "detailed" art, Sunber looked completely different. And while there were a few jokes made about the beefed-up Sunber, a lot of people lauded it as better art. But to me, he wasn't even the same character anymore.

 

Lost Command is a prime-example of how the art didn't help the story.
Can't say it ruined anything, I bought the series...
But, I won't be buying any more like it.

 

Artwork definitely makes a significant difference to how much I enjoy a story.
I purchased the first to Darth Vadar and the Lost Command just due to the beautiful cover art. But what a disappointment inside. So much I didn?t buy 3-5. When Darkhorse went digital the other day, I splurged and bought 3-5 just to see what did happen. I was really pleasantly surprised. The story really progressed and the ending was great. It?s a shame that I may have never read anymore just because of the art.

Cover art that is so drastically different than the interior art is a real pet peeve for me too.
The example I can give is the Knight Errant series. The covers did not match any of the characters inside. Cover Daimon was ugly, Daimon?s first arc was hot looking and then turned ugly with the second arc and new artist. Keira looked young and sprite on first cover only to look homely and much older inside. And now Keira has a whole new look with yet another artist. But the covers still don?t look like how she looks on the story inside. Where is the continuity?

 

Very good example. It didn't ruin the arc for me, either, but it was very distracting, especially when compared to the arcs before and after.

 

I really enjoyed the artwork in the Knights of the Old Republic comic (the arc with Zayne, not Tales of the Jedi), for the most part. It was nice that it was pretty to look at, and that the characters were consistent even with artist changes.

 

How would you guys feel if a series like the original TOTJ were to be redrawn and reissued? We've all read it already, but would you buy it? Or how about, like the reciently released mammoth Walt Simmonson run of Thor hardcover, would you buy a rerelease that has been recolored? Like, say, the Marvel SW run recolored useing modern computer coloring?

 

I'd certainly buy - and most probably enjoy - it.

Although, whether I'd consider it an improvement or simply a "different" telling of the same story? Hard to say.

Sometimes remakes are better than the original; other times modern SFX detract from the original's overall "feel". Puppets and black-and-white are often better than all the money and CGI a film studio can call on today, so it ultimately would come down to the art retaining its core essence.

 

Nah. When reading comics, I like to use my imagination to make whatever is drawn into a mental "film". Bad art makes this harder, but as long as they're not stick figures, I can manage.

 

Some things just bug me, like the pink TIEs in the old Marvels.

 

I used to be the BIGGEST fan of the Knights of the Old Republic series but after the art slowly grew more and more cartoonish I just stopped buying.

And I wouldn't mind if they revamped some of the older series like Takes of the Jedi. Dark Empire wouldn't suffer from better artwork either.

 

You mean Rob Li-..NO! SILENCE! YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK HIS NAME!

(muffled struggling sounds)

Liefeld?

SILENCE!

(whacked with a chair)

 

Actually, no, not him. No, the one I refer to is for all intents and purposes a decent artist, but he has a tendency to draw people from a worm's-eye view, with their eyes half-closed and their lips pursed, with an expression that denoted that they smelled something bad and that something was whoever is at their feet.

 

You mean the guy who basically made the 90s antihero? I mean, antiheroes are fine, but seriously?

90s Man: Stabby-stab-stab-stab. And call me A-Bomb.

 

Liefeld is the guy who gave Captain America moobs, big moobs too.

Land is the present day offender.

 

Yeah, it definitely affects my opinion of the comic and whether I can enjoy the said comic. In my opinion the art has to either be near-realistic or uniquely stylized. There are simply certain art styles I don't like. Here are examples (in my opinion):

GOOD ART:

[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/0/0a/Mission_to_Ruhe.JPG]
[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/6/64/Farmer_dinner.jpg]
[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/0/07/EchoStation5-7.jpg]
[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/2/21/Obi-Wan_Visionaries.JPG]
[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/2/2d/MountDijandi-THB.jpg]
[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/6/62/Kalee.JPG]

BAD ART:

[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/1/1e/Subservient_Luke.jpg]
[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/6/6a/YVWFallofCoruscant.jpg]
[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/c/c5/Sintas_Armed.jpg]


Many, of course, fall somewhere in the middle ground.

 

I like all your examples of bad art, actually.

DE needs a good writer; the art is the highlight of the book. The colors are strange, sure, but there is just an INCREDIBLE amount of background detail and imagination in it.

 

Yeah, but see, I'd disagree with #1 on the good side and #3 on the bad.

It's all a matter of opinion.

 

Uh, perhaps beauty (and ugliness) is in the eye of the beholder?

Arguing something as subjective as whether or not a particular artist's style is "good" or "ugly" will get you nowhere. Virtually all of the artists mentioned in this thread as "bad" (and there certainly doesn't seem to be any consensus among posters as to who those artists are) are actually "good" artists?in the sense that they have developed the skills to draw accurately (correct proportions, workable perspectives, etc.). What really seems to be at issue here is the style in which the artists choose to draw.

Here's an example which, I think, will prove my "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" point: Many fans did not like the style in which the late Carlos Meglia (The Yavin Vasillika) drew. Fans considered it too cartoony, too stylized, or just "bad." But most artists (and writers, and editors) working in comics held Carlos in awe. They were amazed (and often jealous) of his ability to distill the subjects of his drawings into a minimum of lines and to create a new "reality" on the page. Was Carlos's work beautiful or ugly? It totally depended on who you asked.

 

Exactly. And irregardless of how you feel about the artist, they are recognized enough artists to be drawing for a major comics company.

 

I don't think the question should be whether art is good or bad but whether it suits the story or possibly the universe it is supposed to represent. I can't remember the artist's name from an arc of Dark Times around the Vector time period, but I didn't like it mainly because it seemed too wonky for Star Wars especially given the precedent set by Wheatly. Given another context, either series in Star Wars or totally different world, that style might work for me. Same with the artist on KOTOR's Vector arc. Cam Kennedy gets a lot of hate, but I think his work is fantastic and uniquely stylized. Especially his colors. DE and The Light and Darkness War(what got him and Veitch the job) are excellent. Cam did an arc on Batman that was excellent as well around 93 I think. It had Man-Bat in it. I never did read his Fetter story but I'm not interested in Fett. Colin Wilson's work wasn't to my taste the first time I saw it, but with Invasion it has grown on me.

 

I've got the one of Captain America with moobs. Seriously, disgusting. Then again, he's already the superhero with an asterisk, from that serum he got in the war.

90s had a lot of crazy ideas. I remember a Marvel swimsuit issue. Seriously. They should've given Storm nothing but clouds. Then she'd be wearing vaporware. *ba-dum-psh*