This month, we’re going to have an elaborate run of looks at the best of 2014 and what we’re excited about for 2015. To kick that all off, we’ll have a week of some of our favorite creators sharing their thoughts on the year to date as well as what they’re looking forward to in 2015.
Today, we asked a simple question: “What artist(s) continued to impress you above the rest?” Here are the creators’ thoughts, and look for more tomorrow.
Justin Jordan (Deep State, The Legend of Luther Strode)
It’s gonna sound bad to say Tradd (Moore), isn’t it? But man, he’s the first person who pops into my head. His work on All New Ghost Rider was something else again. He started off great and keeps getting better.
Frank Barbiere (Five Ghosts, Solar)
Wes Craig has shown the world he is a true craftsman this year. His composition, expression, layouts…everything is amazing. He’s really taken it to another level. I also have to shoutout some of my collaborators: Toby Cypress is a force of nature, and the work he did on THE WHITE SUITS was astounding. Also Victor Santos…we collaborated on Black Market for BOOM! and he just knocked it out of the park panel after panel. His work on Polar has been stunning, as well.
Joe Eisma (Morning Glories)
Adrian Alphona, Juan Ferreyra, Jamal Campbell.
Robert Wilson IV (Knuckleheads)
Emma Rios is basically a wizard. I’m also really into Jamie McKelvie’s work recently, his acting is pretty amazing and that’s something that I’m really trying to push myself in. This was also the year that I really got Sean Phillips, that guy is amazing. There are way too many to list.
Michael Walsh (Secret Avengers)
I really thought Goran Parlov showcased some of his versatility on Starlight, Most people were used to his Punisher and Fury Max stuff but this was a whole other side of his art. Bringing a lot of those European sensibilities to this sci-fi world really hit the sweet spot for me. He is a Modern Master. Declan Shalvey went crazy on Moon Knight and produced some career defining work. I feel like he was already a respected top tier artist but he has really jumped up to the next level now, he is a star. Wes Craig, I wasn’t familiar with Wes’ stuff before reading Deadly Class, he seemingly came out of nowhere to sweep the rug from under my feet. He has a perfect mix of really interesting character work and cartooning with super dynamic action packed layouts.
Jay Faerber (Copperhead)
I think Mahmud Asrar is having a fantastic year. I thought he was tremendous when we worked together on DYNAMO 5, but he’s gotten so much better. I didn’t even think there was that much room for improvement! Yildiray Cinar is another former collaborator who’s really stepped up his game this year on SUPERIOR IRON MAN.
Matthew Wilson (The Wicked + The Divine, Thor)
Nick Dragotta. Love, love, love his stuff and have loved it for a long time. I already thought he was great years ago, but his stuff gets consistently more impressive with each new issue he puts out. Also, Declan Shalvey and his work on Moon Knight. Again, someone that I’ve enjoyed for quite sometime, but his work this year has blown me away. I think these guys come to mind because I already enjoyed their work so much, and didn’t really think my enjoyment of their work could grow. But they both proved that idea wrong this year.
Joe Keatinge (Shutter)
I mean, really, Leila del Duca and Owen Gieni, but there’s an obvious bias there. Seeing both of them continue to grow and evolve as Shutter rolls on has been fascinating. Comparing their work in issue #1 and #7 is inspiring, continues to inspire me to work on upping my game.
But, yeah. That’s cheating, so let’s go with Ben Dewey from Tooth and Claw with Kurt Busiek and Rich Tommaso from his amazing slate of Recoil comics. Ben I’ll get back to in a second, but its been very inspiring to see Rich continue to produce a huge volume of work from varying genres through his own reprint. I want to see a lot more of this from a lot more creators.
Continued belowMatthew Rosenberg (12 Reasons to Die)
Everyone in comics should take the time to be blown away again by Los Bros Hernandez every so often. Fiona Staples, Marcos Martin, Frank Quitely, and David Aja all continue to change what mainstream comics can do. I love Michael Walsh’s work so much and he gets better every single thing he does. Amy Reeder’s work always makes me smile. Vanesa Del Rey will probably be a household name next year and she deserves it.
I would be disingenuous if I didn’t point out that the artists I am working with on my upcoming books are blowing me away on a daily basis. Josh Hood is doing work that will shock people on WE CAN NEVER GO HOME. If my book OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS is effective on any level a big part of that will be Yasmin Liang. And newcomer Tyler Boss on 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK may be one of the sharpest and most versatile artists I have ever worked with.
And I hate the fucking dude but Steve Seeley is an awesome painter and I wish he would do a monthly book.
Declan Shalvey (Injection)
Greg Smallwood, Tula Lotay, Evan Shaner, Jason Latour, Johnnie Christmas, Ben Dewey, Artyom Trakhanov. All doing amazing work on 2014.
Chris Ross (Top Shelf’s Director of Digital Publishing)
Jeff Lemire’s TRILLIUM kills me every time I read it, and I think it’s because Jeff has figured out how to draw people crying like how it feels as well as how it looks. Absolutely devastating. Also, watching Nate Powell do the Percy Jackson book at the same time he’s doing MARCH: BOOK TWO is like seeing Shakespeare in the original Klingon. Loving BURN THE ORPHANAGE and CARTOZIA TALES.
Natalie Nourigat (Home is Where the Internet Is)
I read a lot of Aude Picault and Bastien Vivès this year. I was new to their work, so there was this awesome archive of finished books from both of them to discover!
Sebastian Girner (Editor of Deadly Class, Drifter, Low, and many others)
Paolo Rivera always delivers, but the work he’s doing on The Valiant is just gorgeous. So sleek and smart and fun. Marguerite Sauvage also just came out of nowhere for me, really impressive talent there that I’m hoping we see much more of in the coming year.
Brenden Fletcher (Gotham Academy, Batgirl)
I’m sorry. I’m biased. I see everything that goes into making these Bat-books so I’ll have to say…
Karl Kerschl
Babs Tarr
Cameron Stewart
Becky Cloonan
Maris Wicks
Romain Gaschet
Michele Assarasakorn
Serge LaPointe
Also killing it in everything they do:
Andy Belanger
Amei Zhao
Jamie McKelvie
Paul Allor (GI Joe, TMNT)
I don’t know if I can say “above the rest,” because these are just going to be the first people who come to me at this exact second. But some people who really impressed me this year were Riley Rossmo, Gabe Hardman (Kinski was just so damned masterful), Michael Walsh, Tula Lotay, Rod Reis. Johnnie Christmas! I absolutely love getting to see his uncolored inks on Sheltered. Gorgeous stuff.
Tim Gibson (Moth City)
Chris Samnee is continuing to make me feel ashamed of the wastage in my own artwork with his ‘Daredevil’ work, and Inktober sketches.
He threads the perfect line with his art that creates a world that you can believe in (real looking people and settings etc), but is indisputably *drawn*. There aren’t many artists with his sense of the cartooning tradition that also create concrete, realistic worlds. What a dick.
Curt Pires (POP)
There were so many. Tula Lotay absolutely blew me away. I loved what David Rubin did on the Battling Boy spinoff, and hope we’ll see/hear more from him soon. Frank Quietly is a virtuoso. Jason Copland blew some goddamn doors down. Johnnie Christmas is brilliant. Ibrahim Moustafa is brilliant. I know I’ll forget someone….
Ales Kot (Zero)
Jamie McKelvie’s work on The Wicked and the Divine — and Matt Wilson’s colors — blow me away, especially in the nuanced character acting. Every time Julia Gfrörer draws something I have a deeply visceral reaction to it. Every artist I worked with on Zero this year, Jordie Bellaire’s coloring included. Mike Walsh doing Secret Avengers month in and month out without stopping at a high level of craft, inventing new ways of storytelling along the way. Marco Rudy’s experimentation with what’s possible on a page. Jason Latour’s work on Southern Bastards. Tula Lotay’s colorful headfuck on Supreme. Capullo and Plascencia on the Zero Year segment of Batman. Wes Craig. And a lot of other people who impress me year by year — Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Ed Piskor, Tradd Moore, Declan Shalvey, Frank Quitely, Jock, Jeff Lemire, Farel Dalrymple, Brandon Graham, Charles Burns, Michael DeForge…I’m probably forgetting a lot.
Continued belowJeremy Haun (Wolf Moon)
There are a lot of amazing folks working right now — Greg Tocchini, Fiona Staples, Jason Latour, Andrew MacLean, Duncan Fegredo, Farel Dalrymple, Sean Phillips. Chris Mitten, Riley Rossimo, Jock, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, James Harren. And of course Mignola…I think he’s going to be a trend here.
Josh Williamson (Birthright, Nailbiter)
Christopher Mooneyham on Five Ghosts and Juan Ferreyra on Colder and Prometheus. David Marquez on Miles Morales. Oh and again… Goran Parlov on Starlight. And Zdarsky on Sex Criminals… so damn good.
Joshua Hale Fialkov (The Bunker)
It’s probably a bit self-serving, but, the work that Gabo has done on THE LIFE AFTER, Kody Chamberlain does on PUNKS, and Joe Infurnari is doing on THE BUNKER continues to stagger me every single month. Working with the three of them has made me up my game considerably.
Ryan Browne (God Hates Astronauts)
I’m always completely blown away by what Tradd Moore does. His stuff is really on a level of supernatural goodness that I can’t begin to understand. Greg Tocchini on Low as well. Holy hell is that stuff gorgeous!
Ed Brisson (Sheltered)
I’ve really been digging Ben Sears work and would love tow work with him on something one day. Toni Infante has been doing the latest rounds of “Sons of Anarchy” covers and they’ve been amazing. Just stellar work. Wes Craig… man, Wes Craig. The layouts and storytelling on display in “Deadly Class” are top notch. Just… aggravatingly amazing. Jason Latour has been killing it on “Southern Bastards” as well.
There are a few that I’m working with in the new year that I feel like I’m cheating by mentioning, but would be cheating them by not — Brian Level, Adam Gorham, Alessandro Micelli, Damian Couceiro,
Ed’s note: Can’t believe I forgot to mention Declan! His work on MOON KNIGHT was incredible.
