2011 in Review: Best Artist

We’re down to the final three categories for 2011 in Review, with Best Artist today, Best Writer tomorrow, and Best Ongoing Series coming on Friday.

Today’s category found a lot of votes for a lot of different artists because, let’s face it, this year was a rather incredible one for fans of comic book art. All kinds of incredible artists didn’t make the cut, not because they weren’t great, but because this year was straight up lousy in terms of great comic art.

Check out after the jump for our top ten list of comic book artists in 2011 (lots of ties, by the way), and thanks to comic designer Tim Daniel for his superb 2011 in Review logo!

8 (tie). Jock

Why he made the list (Ryan Closs): I first saw Jock’s art when I was having a bit of a DC resurgence and was reading Green Arrow: Year One (which is fantastic by the way), I’d never really seen anyone quite like him, and I made a mental note to check out more stuff when I saw his name in the future. Since then I’ve read him in the Losers and on both Rucka and Snyder’s runs on Detective Comics, but it’s this year’s run on Detective Comics that put him firmly on my list of Top Artists for the year.

Jock is a master of the dynamic pose, in his Detective Comics run there is panel after panel of amazing Batman images that are better than 90% of the covers out there, often when someone is fantastic at poses their storytelling is lacking or the images are often stiff, that is absolutely not the case with Jock, every image seems to be capturing something in motion with billowing capes and shots in mid-movement. He’s also a brilliant storyteller, leading your eye around the page effortlessly and never leaving the reader even slightly confused. Snyder’s Detective Comics run was a dark and terrifying story and while Francavilla did a great job telling the Gordon side of the story Jock was the absolutely perfect man to tell this story.

8 (tie). Marcos Martin

Why he made the list (Matt Meylikhov): Every artist openly admits that they adore the artists who came before them, the pioneers who championed the Golden and Silver Ages of comics, but not every artist actively pays tribute to them with their work. Marcos Martin is one of those that do. Martin’s visuals are perfect blends of nostalgia-fueled tributaries and border-pushing updates of classical styles. You won’t find a dull moment in a comic that Martin illustrates, because he can take the mundane and make it extraordinary; his Spider-Man is pitch perfect to the characters motion, his Daredevil breathes life into a world inherently stooped in darkness. He disassembles stereotypical panel structure, he realizes onomatopoeia, he draws your eyes in fluid motion across the page — and he does all this in just a regular day’s work.

Ultimately it’s Martin’s work on Daredevil that ultimately keeps me purchasing the comic month after month, because there is no way I can call myself a comic book fan and not read a book with Martin on it. The same should go for everyone.

8 (tie). Stuart Immonen

Why he made the list (Gil Short): Stuart Immonen is an artist that can sell a book based solely on his interiors. Take his recent work on Fear Itself. The book was largely panned critically, but was still described as one of the best looking books in the industry. That was due to Marvel’s secret weapon: Stuart Immonen. Immonen’s name brings that x-factor (no, not X-Factor) to the book, and elevates it from mere comic book to event comics. Even though I did not care for Fear Itself as a whole, the art is the reason I came back month after month. His work even carried the $3.99 price tag, making it worth it. Every time he’s on a book, I shamelessly buy every issue, and I’m not ashamed of that.

Aside from his gorgeous models which aren’t in any way excessively muscled or exploitative, he’s a heck of a storyteller. His sense of action and movement is possibly one of the best too, if not THE best. Artists like Chris Bachalo and Humberto Ramos are close, but Immonen’s art blows theirs out of the water, with that clean style everyone loves. Perhaps the x-factor I spoke of is the fact his art bridges pictures with words in a way that few can. Now that Fear Itself has finished, I can’t wait to see what’s on the horizon for Mr. Immonen. There’s no way it won’t be incredible.

6 (tie). Sean Gordon Murphy

Why he made the list (Walt Richardson): We got to meet Sean Murphy at New York Comic Con this year, and when we mentioned that we were from Multiversity Comics, he said something along the lines of “You guys? I must have given you a blow job in a past life with the reviews you give me.” It’s not that, though – though it certainly doesn’t hurt – Murphy is just undoubtedly one of the greatest artists working in comics today. The last issue of Joe the Barbarian finally found its way to stands earlier this year, and Murphy’s work in issue #8 was just as great as in issues #s 1-7. Murphy has a style that is truly unlike anyone else in comics, and nobody does dynamism quite like him. Everything he draws seems so incredibly kinetic, and its this sense of movement that made the finale of Joe the Barbarian so excellent.

That final issue of Joe isn’t what won Murphy this spot, though. That would be the truly fantastic American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest. Either Scott Snyder has long been a fan of Murphy’s work, or he’s just the luckiest man in the world, because his writing played perfectly to Murphy’s strengths as an artist. I don’t mean to downplay the plot of the book at all, considering it was one of my favorite minis of the year, but Snyder was smart enough to let what needed to get done be done, and then stepped out of the way and let Murphy do what he does best: Jaw-dropping action sequences. That last issue in particular was an artistic tour de force on Murphy’s part, and I really can’t explain it better than saying it melted my face off. Blame the sun guns. Survival of the Fittest surpassed the American Vampire ongoing in quality – quite some praise, coming from me – and that is entirely because of how hard Murphy rocked it.

6 (tie). Craig Thompson

Why he made the list (David Harper): Craig Thompson’s Habibi was our #1 Graphic Novel for the year, and with good reason. It was a meditation on life, love, the power of the written word, religion and more, and a brilliant one at that.

However great Thompson is as a written storyteller, he exceeds that with his talents as an artist. And Habibi is his magnum opus, with each page in itself a work of art that treats the paper as a limitless canvas for imagination and innovation of the comic form. From intricate, glorious border designs to imaginative, thoughtful storytelling within those borders, Thompson was on a level entirely of his own in my book than other comic artists. Granted, this is a work he’s been putting together for the better part of a decade, but I have to give him credit for putting together one of the greatest examples I can think of as the true power of comic books as a storytelling medium. Say what you will about other aspects of the book because, to me, this is one of the greatest accomplishments in comic art history. And that’s saying something.

5. Jeff Lemire

Why he made the list (Josh Mocle): There isn’t a lot to say about Jeff Lemire’s art that I havent said a billion times already, but I’ll give it a shot. At first glance, one could look at Lemire’s work and dismiss it as rudimentary, lacking the hollywood style art of some other mainstream comics. There are no rippled abs to be found in Lemire’s work, no overly sexualized poses, no photo realism. However, for those willing to take his art outside of the realm of “comic book art”, what you find is true, “capital A” Art. Lemire’s approach to character design is nothing short of blindingly unique. Try as you might, I haven’t been able to find anyone that draws quite like he does. His approach to character design is simultaniously classically tinged and still entirely new and the attention to detail he gives every single aspect of every single panel is nothing short of fantastic.

However, I think the most impressive part of Lemire’s art is that it is constantly evolving. Last month I (or I should say we since you can do it too) was privileged to be able to read his first solid attempt at comics when his debut book Lost Dogs was re-released digitally. He goes to great lengths in the forward to that particular re-release to make clear his distaste for his work on that book, and indeed it is nowhere near as polished and detailed as his future work. However, what Lost Dogs will always be to me as a fan of Lemire’s work is a statement of purpose and the extent to which his work has evolved since is making good on the promises made by Lost Dogs. This year alone he has taken innumerable chances with Sweet Tooth that have paid off time and time again, either by playing with layouts and perspective or simply calling upon multiple artistic styles on one page to truly create a book that looks genuinely unique. Not many artists can pull that off, and very very few can do it to that extent.

4. Jerome Opena

Why he made the list (David Harper): It’s pretty easy to say why Jerome Opena earns the top spot on our list. After all, he’s the primary artist on a book that finished very high on our Best Ongoing rankings.

But he’s a major reason why it did, as his art has given the rough and tumble (and darkly funny) world of Uncanny X-Force a firm visual identity to perfectly match Rick Remender’s scripts. Whether it’s big moments (like Wolverine diving out to take on a veritable township of evil, giant Icemen) or small (like a haunted Fantomex appearing to leave his teammates behind at the close of issue #16), Opena has completely nailed everything to help make Uncanny X-Force one of the absolute best books month in and month out. His work is a career-best, and he was already one of the best in the business.

I have to give credit where credit is due though: Opena’s art is amazing on its own, but Dean White’s colors have helped make this one of the best books from a visual standpoint on the market. Opena and White are remarkably in sync every month on this book, and their ability to play to each other strengths should never be underrated.

3. Francis Manapul

Why he made the list (Brian Salvatore): Francis Manapul has been mainly limited to drawing The Flash in 2012, but by having a full year, more or less, to draw the adventures of Barry Allen has led to some amazing work. The past year has seen Manapul rise from being known as simply a great artist to make a strong case for himself as a writer as well — but that isn’t today’s list. Today is all about the art, so let’s get to it.

Manapul’s work on the Flash suggests perpetual movement; everything from his layouts (best in the business, hands down) to his character work places things in a constant state of motion. Manapul’s style has always been an unique one, but in the past year he has taken his work from having a particular feel to joining the class of those like JH Williams and, dare I say, Jack Kirby, of artists that are completely inimitable. With such a pronounced jump in quality from 2010 to 2011, one can only imagine where 2012 will take Manapul’s craft.

2. Francesco Francavilla

Why he made the list (Walt Richardson): This year was actually the first year I was exposed to Francesco Francavilla’s art, due to jumping onto his stint on Detective Comics with Scott Snyder and Jock a couple of issues late. Only a year later, and he’s my personal top pick for artist of the year. Yeah. He’s that good. Francavilla has this excellent pulpy style, and like the pulp fiction of old, it’s a style that can fit so many different kinds of stories. While Black Panther: The Man Without Fear and Detective Comics were both, without a doubt, street-level superhero books, both had very different dominating tones. Black Panther made you feel grimy, as the focus was more on the punches and the politics of the underworld, whereas ‘Tec… well, quite frankly, it terrified. While Snyder gets some of the credit for this, it is Francavilla who truly made me lose sleep. His James Junior seemed so haunted and empty – in a “good” way, as that was kind of the point of the story – but it wasn’t at the expense of his believability as a living, breathing character.

And let’s just talk about Francavilla’s workload. While he split his artistic duties with other artists on both series, you still have to remember that the man is a one-person art machine. When you get a comic illustrated by Francavilla, you don’t mix and match inkers and colorists who might not play to his strengths; every bit of art, lines and colors, is from his own hand. I don’t care that he wasn’t the sole artist of each run, or even that he wasn’t the primary artist of ‘Tec: To do that on a monthly title and still make deadlines is damn impressive. Add on the well over thirty covers of his that were published this year – again, with him handling all artistic duties – as well as the various pieces of arts he regularly puts online, and you have one of the busiest artists of this year, though you would never guess it. Seriously, even with my favorite artists, there is a panel or two a year where I think “eh, they must not have taken much time with this,” and yet Francavilla never lets a single panel show his fatigue. It’s the espresso, judging by his Twitter.

1. JH Williams III

Why he made the list (Matt Meylikhov): When it comes to comic books, many artists are often fairly comfortable with doing what we expect. It’s simple to just draw panels with characters posing, because if you draw a shapely enough figure your fans will cheer and beg for more. Why really fight it? It’s a tried and true method of storytelling in the comic book medium, and there’s no great reason to push the boundaries beyond that.

JH Williams III does it anyway, and does it with absolute tour de force performances per issue. If you look across the line of DCnU titles with all of the different artists they assembled for the task of reinventing their characters, there are none who truly bring anything new to the table in the way that Williams does, in tandem with Amy Reeder. Williams doesn’t just create comic book pages — Williams creates comic book art, and there is a stark difference. Composing the pages with a truly unique eye for visuals, Williams ups the ante over and over again — both for others and himself. He’s one of the few artists who repeatedly goes the extra mile to make reading a $2.99 comic book that much more worth it per book.

Without Williams, the DCnU would be that much more dark of a place, and we are all better for it.

David’s Picks
1. Craig Thompson
2. Jerome Opena
3. R.M. Guera
4. JH Williams III
5. Sean Gordon Murphy
6. Gabriel Rodriguez
7. Gabriel Ba
8. Francis Manapul
9. Francesco Francavilla
10. Chris Samnee

Matt’s Picks
1. JH Williams III
2. Craig Thompson
3. Marcos Martin
4. Francesco Francavilla
5. David Aja
6. Nick Dragotta
7. Nate Fox
8. Jeff Lemire
9. Francis Manapul
10. Joe Eisma

Gil’s Picks
1. Francis Manapul
2. Cameron Stewart
3. Stuart Immonen
4. Jim Lee
5. JH Williams III
6. Ivan Reis
7. Doug Mahnke
8. Dale Eaglesham
9. Andy Belanger
10. Joe Eisma

Brandon’s Picks
1. Jeff Lemire
2. Jerome Opena
3. Chris Bachalo
4. Chris Samnee
5. Sara Pichelli
6. Kenneth Rocafort
7. Francesco Francavilla
8. Marcos Martin
9. Greg Capullo
10. JH Williams III

Josh’s Picks
1. JH Williams III
2. Francesco Francavilla
3. Matt Kindt
4. Becky Cloonan
5. Nick Dragotta
6. Dale Eaglesham
7. Jeff Lemire
8. Tony Moore
9. Jock
10. Brian Hurtt

Walt’s Picks
1. Francesco Francavilla
2. Stuart Immonen
3. Sean Gordon Murphy
4. Chris Burnham
5. Sean Phillips
6. Marcos Martin
7. Alex Maleev
8. Nick Pitarra
9. Francis Manapul
10. Duncan Fegredo

Patrick’s Picks
1. Johnny Ryan
2. Sean Phillips
3. Alex Maleev
4. Humberto Ramos
5. Declan Shalvey
6. Kev Walker
7. Yanick Paquette
8. JH Williams III
9. Paolo Rivera
10. Greg Capullo

Brian’s Picks
1. Francis Manapul
2. Ben Oliver
3. JH Williams III
4. Jock
5. Francesco Francavilla
6. Yanick Paquette
7. Marcus To
8. Richard Corben
9. Jesus Saiz
10. Phillip Tan

Ryan’s Picks
1. Francis Manapul
2. Jerome Opena
3. Jock
4. Tom Fowler
5. Tony Moore
6. Sean Gordon Murphy
7. Ryan Stegman
8. Gabriel Hardman
9. Kev Walker
10. JH Williams III

Chad’s Picks
1. Marcos Martin

Mike’s Picks
1. Guy Davis
2. Armand Vilavert
3. Nick Pitarra
4. Khary Randolf
5. Shane Houghton
6. Jeff Lemire
7. Francesco Francavilla
8. Mike Huddleston
9. Filipe Andrade
10. Humberto Ramos