Martinex1: John Buscema and Neal Adams - I think we can agree that they are both supreme comic artists. And I know some of you have an opinion about their beautiful Bronze Age work, so let's compare John Buscema's and Neal Adams' style, design, and technique. What differentiates the two?Who's art and output do you prefer and why? What do you remember most about their characters and layouts? And who has influenced the industry the most? Would these gents make it to the Mount Rushmore of comic art? (Who else would you put there)? A tough challenge today - have at it folks!
14 comments:
Neal Adams had much more detail and use of shadows, and cool angles and perspectives
John Buscema was more of a "traditional " artist with more heroic positioning of his characters and no doubt worked faster!
Neal did little Marvel compared to his D.C. Work and when I was a kid his books were looked on as Holy Grail.
Yoyo
And the end of the silver age, Neal Adams received a tremendous amount of publicity nationwide for his work on the very highly acclaimed green lantern – green arrow issues regarding drug use.
John never received that type of publicity.
Because of that event, Neil Adams will always be held in higher esteem, in my mind, independent of his artwork as compared to John's.
Putting that aside I have a slight personal preference for Neal Adams work but they are both superb artists.
Nope, Nope Nope..., the two should never cross companies. I'm probably one of the few that, other than a first few pages of Avengers 93, didn't much care for Adams drawing Marvel. His FF fighting scenes in ish 93 were terrible.
Adam's genius laid in his DC stalwart renditions, just glorious covers for B&B, Batman, Supes and even both Superboy and Lois Lane titles. I've collected Silver Age issues of the latter two quite a bit over the last few years, since they're fantastic art and for even NM/VF+ quality issues, they're still wonderfully underpriced.
I'd stick with classic brothers Buscema for nearly all my fav MU titles ('cept Spidey.., where I'm still a Kane/Romita diehard).
Hello, just for what it's worth, the Green Lantern issue I am referring to, which received nationwide acclaim for Adams,is number 85. The cover shows speedy shooting up with heroin.
I agree with David. I love Adam's covers (both Marvel & DC).
Buscema is the epitome of the "Marvel Method" and ,to my eyes, is the style that I connect most to the Bronze Age.
As for my Mt. Rushmore of comic artist, all time;
Washington- Richard Outcault (started it all)
Jefferson- Winsor McCay (a founding father)
Lincoln- Will Eisner (a great cartoonist and comic artist)
Roosevelt- Jack Kirby (small in stature but carried a big stick)
I love the work of both men. I understand the arguments against some of Adams's Marvel work (the aforementioned FF; I'd also add that I think his version of Thor is too slight), but his run on the X-Men is near the pinnacle of beautiful. Of course it's his DC work that I'm more drawn to, and specifically his Batman issues.
John Buscema is my favorite artist on so many titles. Late-Silver Age Buscema... that output can compete with the work of any artist. The Avengers, the Silver Surfer, and then shortly into the FF and of course Conan once the 70s dawned -- magnificent work. His latter career, when he did mostly layouts, pales in comparison to those years surrounding 1970.
As to a personal Mount Rushmore (because we could argue all day about history's Mount in regard to comics), I'd place the following four of my favorites:
John Buscema
Neal Adams
Jack Kirby
John Romita
Doug
Yeah, Adams' covers were great. I like both artists overall, though I probably lean towards Adams since I like that photo-realistic style. But Buscema's work on FF, Thor, and especially Conan is great too, so I can't choose.
I also can't choose a favourite artist, but these two would be in my top 30 for sure ... maybe even top 20.
I agree with david_b in the main, except I do love Adams on X-Men and prefer Buscema on Spidey.
And yeah, those Lois Lane titles are wonderfully under priced. Real gems.
Do you prefer chocolate cake or chocolate cake? Hmmm, I'll take a slice of each.
I am in the camp of preferring Neal Adams' DC work and John Buscema for Marvel.
I mean, Big John literally illustrated the book on "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way", so you would definitely have to call him a Marvel guy.
While Neal Adams created what is still considered to be the definitive version of Batman (by which all others are judged). Add to that his groundbreaking (and news making) stint on Green Lantern / Green Arrow, and you can't help but considered him to be one of DC's all-time most influential artists.
And Doug, my personal Comic Artist Mount Rushmore would include:
Jack Kirby
Steve Ditko
John Byrne
George Perez
I though Adams work on the X-Men was just stellar. The arc with the Sentinels is a favorite. And I really enjoy the way he drew Deadman -that may be his apex.
But I like Buscema also - I can see his Avengers panels, his Loki brooding on the throne, his Silver Surfer moaning in space - and the images just stay with me. I give Buscema a very slight edge and it may be because he drew more Marvel characters.
My historical appreciation Mt. Rushmore for adventure comics would include:
Kirby, Kubert, J. Buscema and Eisner
My fan favorite Mt Rushmore would be:
Sal Buscema, John Byrne, Gene Colan and Michael Golden
Why is that? Much to ponder and the lists would probably change daily but I think the first three on each list would be fairly permanent.
I give up; I can't choose between the two! I love them both, for different reasons. But I wouldn't argue with those who prefer Adams' DC work. That said, his Avengers and X-Men were beautiful. And he did a few gorgeous Conan stories. And Big John- Avengers, Surfer, Conan, it's all so good.
My all-time artistic (note writers not included) Mt Rushmore: Kirby, Eisner, Wood, Byrne.
For Marti's "fan favorite"- Byrne, Kubert, Perez, Romita Sr.
Both men deserve to be on the Mount Rushmore of comicbook artists - I love Adams's detailed realistic art style, while I also love Buscema's graceful yet powerful style. My personal favourite is Big John.
- Mike 'Buscema groupie' from Trinidad & Tobago.
Let's be clear -- "Big" John Buscema is my all-time favorite comic book artist. All others, the inventive Jack Kirby, the innovative Will Eisner, the exciting Joe Kubert and all others must give way before the greatness of Buscema. He put drama on the comic page like no other and his idealized heroes were the stuff of myth.
That said, Neal Adams was the most potent force in comics during the late Silver Age. He utterly changed DC and sought to do the same for Marvel with a run on X-Men which remains my all-time favorite sequence (sorry Cockrum, Byrne, Smith, Romita and such). But just recently read a big long interview with Adams and his ramshackle memory makes for some entertaining if at times addled reading. He doesn't seem to remember when things happened, no surprise among us oldsters, and he I think has a slight tendency to gather up a bit too much glory at times, but then so do we all when left to it. I always look at a Neal Adams bit of art and his work on Brave and Bold changed my attitude about Batman utterly. Deadman was a darn good run too, and of course the Greens are to be considered. But Adams sputtered out a lot, he was always around, an important influence but he didn't stay long.
Buscema was the rock, the guy to build around. Not as splashy at times, but always delivering. Adams never made that stand anywhere, though when he dropped you always looked.
Rip Off
I prefer Adams. Love his Batman and Green Lantern. There's a sharp intelligence at work, and those photographic skills combined with dynamic layouts.
For a while I liked Buscema best though. Great Conan and Submariner images here. He was consistently good for a longer period of time.
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