Is it agreed that Lary Hama is THE GI Joe writer? It seems that way.

Is there ONE artist that you feel was the best for drawing GI Joe? For me it's kind of a toss up. In the 155 issues (plus whatever else DD did) I'd have to say my favorite Joe artists were,

Herb Trimpe-great classic Joe illustrations! I keep remembering that splash page from #7 with the Joe and October Guard shooting at eachother jumping over that canyon in their vehicles. Action packed!

Rod Whigham-GI Joe has LOTS of characters and lots of big vehicles and Whigaham does (did) a great job in working his comic pannels to get them all in without sacrificing detail. He's great.

M.D. Bright-IMO, he seemed to be the one to start giving a "modern" look to the comic. Great facial expressions, movement, and detail in his characters.

Thoughts?

Mick zeck...early joe marvel stuff

andrew wildman

Mike Zeck's covers were absolutley classic! Too bad he never had much of a chance to do interiors. My favorite, regular monthly pencillers are as follows:

1.Ron Wagner-I think his art was the most realistic that the title ever saw(other than Zeck's covers)

2.Rod Whigam-truly classic, and had a wonderful run illustrating many of the most memorable GiJoe stories

3.Mark Bright-also had a long run, with a more "modern" flare, but still fitting.

4.Herb Trimpe-the original GiJoe artist, who set the tone for things to come. Oddly enough, most of his GiJoe art is featured in GiJoe Special Missions, as opposed to the regular series, since Mike Vosburg mostly took over after the first several issues.

Almost forgot:
5. Larry Hama, he actually did the basic "breakdowns" sort of like storyboards for GiJoe #21, and #26, as well as some others I think, but he shows amazing talent as an artist, as well as writer. Too bad he didn't get to do more art for GiJoe.

My Marvels are indisposed at the moment so I can't give an actual name but it's the team that put together the covers of: Yearbook #1, Issue 26, the one with Cobra Commander handcuffed by Roadblock and Grunt or Clutch behind an orange background..oh he also did the one with the WHALE being attacked by an ASP. His signature looks like an encircled Arashikage marking.

I like Michael Turner's variant covers he did for the DD book. And one artist that i would have liked to see and who would have been the best in my opinion would have been Jim Lee!

Buckwheat, that was renowned comic artist Michael Golden who drew those covers.Great artist, and great covers. I didn't mention him in my post becuase he never did the interior art on a regular basis.

Interior Artwork -

1) Since Larry Hama did the breakdowns for #21 (and that's my quintissential favorite Joe story) and some of the Zarta stuff from the mid-20's, then Larry H. (I have some of his original DC war-book art and some Fury Force prototype pages, and he's an amazing war artist).
2) Herb Trimpe on ANYTHING from G.I. Joe Special Missions (not particularly the reg. series - they seemd rushed and not stylized at all). Special Missions, especially the Lifeline (Sarawak Sally) and Clutch (Holocaust) stories, are IMO the best Joe stories ever written and STILL can be read and re-read. Trimpe is perhaps the best "pacer" I've ever seen... SOOOOO dynamic. If you don't have these, you can find the whole run CHEAP!!! If you like reading WAR COMICS, and not watered down 24-minute cartoon advertisements, YOU MUST BUY THESE BOOKS!!!! THEY ARE UNREAL and GRITTY!!!
3) Rod Whigham. He was consistently the best storyteller on the 1st run. He made characters look "different" (unlike M.D. Bright - ugh), and really seemed to grasp the concepts of movement and drama.

COVER ARTISTS -

1) Mike Zeck kicks butt. I'm trying to get him to pencil and ink a piece for me right now... he's a fantastic inker!!! The sheer amount of covers he's done, and the many changes Hasbro FORCED him to make are pretty funny if you get a chance to meet him...
2) Michael Golden's Yearbook #1 front and back covers are the best pieces of Joe art ever crafted. I've actually photocopied the back cover and blown it up into a poster. He's UNREAL!!! His covers for #23 and #6 from the 1st series are pieces I'd love to own, if I just had $15,000 to spend... I would rank him higher if he did more stuff...

That was #23, #27 and #36 that Golden did. And they RULED.

-- MWB

i second the andrew wildman vote!

Whichever artist did the GOOD art in the Cobra Civil War arc. Whichever one got Hawk's outfit right. I remember one issue where for some reason Hawk is all of sudden wearing a green jumpsuit and a ball cap while fighting the Dreadnoks. Th art was terrible.

I also like the art for the Trucial Abyssmal storyline. Very comic booky but really good at getting the outfits to look realistic.

This following might make Mark cry. The back cover that Michael Golden did for Yearbook # 1 is in my personal collection. It was my favorite piece as a kid and I jumped at the chance when it came up for sale last year. I never thought I would ever get a chance to own such a piece but the gods of comic art shined down on me for a moment. I sent some photos of the different layers to Dan which he may or may not put into the archives at some point. The piece is similar to an animation cel. The inks are on one acetate, the colors on another, and the pencils on the board. If anyone wants to see some photos just PM me and I'll try and send some out. Does anyone else here own any original Marvel Joe art? I've asked before but have been mostly ignored. Hopefully someone will speak up!

I loved Andrew Wildman. He drew a lot of the ninja issues which a lot of people didn't care for. For me, he made it all believable. The wrapping of the katanas that the ninjas carried had frayed strands coming off of them, he drew spittle and teeth flying out of people's mouths after a punch, etc.

I followed him to X-men Adventures in the early nineties, but haven't seen ANYTHING by him in a decade. anyone know where he went?

Mike Golden as well... he did a few covers and the first story in the Yearbook #2.

Very detailed.

Larry Hama did some nice work too.

Then Zeck and Trimpe.

The worst... probably issue 20 of the old Marvel seroes... can't remember his name, but I think it was because that story was so out of place and featured a character that didn't do well on his own, Clutch.

I personally liked Mark/M. D. Bright. That art just jumped out at me and I still think of many of those featured characters (Snake Eyes, Stalker, Hawk, Scarlett, Storm Shadow, White Clown, etc...) as the way he drew them.
My personal vote for worst GI Joe artists are the string of guys who penciled for issues #140-#143 or somewhere around there. The art for the final
Millville/TF deal was horrendous.

Mick zeck...early joe marvel stuff


I gotta go with Zeck too. Helluva artist, and a nice guy to boot!! Talked to him online a few times, very personable.

K

Gotta go with Golden. Just awesome ; love all of his Marvel stuff, actually. Then I'd have to go with Hama.

And hey, I really liked Mike Vosberg's stuff - especially around #18, when Cobra first raided The Pitt.

I honestly can't say that I really know one Joe artist from another. Not to put them down, but I really didn't follow GI Joe comics. My all-time favorite comic artist would be Sergio Aragonés. (Yeah, I'm that kind of comic reader)

If you don't know him, he did the Groo comics, & quite a few differant things in MAD Magazine.

This following might make Mark cry. The back cover that Michael Golden did for Yearbook # 1 is in my personal collection.

Heck, I'm crying right now as I read this. :p


It was my favorite piece as a kid

Same here.


I sent some photos of the different layers to Dan which he may or may not put into the archives at some point.

Heh, HE'D BETTER!


If anyone wants to see some photos just PM me and I'll try and send some out.

Yespleaseyesthankyouyes!!!

-PJ

andrew wildman or andy kubert i also like mike zeck and dan jurgans

andrew wildman or andy kubert i also like mike zeck and dan jurgans


Good choices. If I had to pick a personal favorite...Wildman rocked.

The truth is I loved most all of the art...even during some of the rockier moments.

The early Marvel issues were absolutely classic. GI Joe Yearbook #1 cover and back artwork were great. The Trucial Abyssmia storyline pictures were downright elegant. The art by Wildman was utterly fantastic.

Were there down times in GI Joe art? Yes, but there were plenty more good ones.

I met Bright at a comic show when I was about 10, and he seemed pretty stoked that a kid was there with an underrated comic for him to sign! (I can't remember which one it was, so if it was a Snake-Eyes Trilogy issue, I can't say it was all that underrated.) Definitely one of the highlights of my childhood fascination with the Marvel Joe.

Geoff Senior: http://www.bloodforthebaron.com/Blood/Action%20Force/Cover%2005.html

My favorites are

MD Bright: He's got a particular style that I just think looks awesome. I also enjoy his work in the Green Lantern books, especially Emerald Dawn.

Russ Heath: He wasn't a regular, but issue 24 was the first Joe comic I got as a child and I thought the art was fantastic.

Ron Wagner: My favorite Joe cover, Special Mission #11, was done by Wagner. He had some of the best Joe covers. Really detail.
http://www.yojoe.com/comics/sm/sm11.shtml

Interior.
1. Larry Hama. I still find it odd that there are more Daredevil issues with his artwork in it while he was working both books. Ah. The team of Frank Miller, Denny O'neal, and Larry Hama on DD in the early 80's was the best!

2. Ron Wagner. Too bad the Nth Man didn't work out.

3. Rod Whigham. His first run was great but I wasn't too into his return for the Destro Seen and Destroy arc.

4. Herb Trimpe.

5. MD Bright. I loved his work during the Snake-Eyes Trilogy.

Covers.
1. Mick Zeck
2. Michael Golden.
3.Andy Kubert

1-Wagner ...Hands Down !!
2-Trimpe
3-Wigham
4-seeley (best the new books have seen for any extended time)

I loved the way Whigham displayed vehicles and weapons; I noticed his style, as well as Wagner's, change a lot depending on the inker, Whigham being the one that better stands changes, as Wagner draw too much lines for me (you know, I don't like that style of drawing where the artist fills gaps with small lines).

Andrew Wildman was my absoulte favourite, althougt seen now in retrospective, he was affected by the "Pose Syndrome", as I call it.
Also, Hama was a great artist, and it is a pitty that he did'nt work on G.i.Joe as full artist.






If you don't know him, he did the Groo comics, & quite a few differant things in MAD Magazine.


Groo is a highly recomended comic :D

Classic - Whigham

Modern - Seeley

Fanboy answer - John Byrne (only because he rules and he did a couple of covers)

I didn't really get into the Joe comic until really later issues, so Bright is who i really, really like. On the modern series, i have liked almost all the guys. i remember buying the DD Joe #1 because I loved Steve Kurth's art, it reminded me a lot of Bart Sears or Steve Skroce. His art really set the mood for Devil's Due joe for me as a whole. I think Tim Seeley is great too, he had some superb shining moments in his run. But I think my favorite ARTIST, whether or not he was doing Joe, is probably Casselli. The designs on AE aside (where everyone is wearing a track suit), I LOVE his kind of dark, moving style. The first Master and Apprentice series is one of my favorite joe comics ever. The cover with Snake Eyes on top of Firefly with his hand on FF's jaw is just fantastic. And I really love the way he draws Colton. It really brings something out of the character for me.

Were there down times in GI Joe art? .

**** yes - every issue done by Mike Vosburg who is possibly one of the worst comics artists of all time. And I'm only including guys who drew for the big guns such as Marvel and DC.

i'm my own favorite gi joe artist...

:P

seriously though, i'd go with Trimpe.
and i hated the art in the ninja force and transformers crossover in the 100's. i'm thinking it was Andrew Wildman... geh... far too much like image garbage of the 90's for my taste.

Widman,I never cared about who the artist was (except for Zeck's Punisher) until Wildman showed up and I went Who is that? Check out Wildman's work on the new TF titles.

1. Geoff Senior (ACTION FORCE)
2. Mike Zeck (GI JOE COVERS)
3. HERB TRIMPE (SPECIAL MISSIONS)
4. Lee Weekes (GI JOE RAH)
5. BRYAN HITCH (ACTION FORCE)

6. TODD MCFARLANE (ISSUE 61)

**** yes - every issue done by Mike Vosburg who is possibly one of the worst comics artists of all time. And I'm only including guys who drew for the big guns such as Marvel and DC.

I'll have to disagree with that one whole-heartedly. I don't know what other books he did, but when I think of Joe comics from back in the day, I think of the stuff he drew!

I'll have to disagree with that one whole-heartedly. I don't know what other books he did, but when I think of Joe comics from back in the day, I think of the stuff he drew!

That's cool. While I think his art is horrible, (a sentiment echoed by Lars Pearson in The Unauthorized Guide to G.I. Joe TV and Comics"), those are my favourite issues of all-time story-wise. But I'm still not going to let nostalgia coud my judgement, lol. That's some truly bad art in there.

actually, scratch my choice.

i'm not sure who did the art, but whoever did the artwork on the 1982 gi joe lunchbox was awesome.

anyone know who did this bit of art?

http://www.yojoe.com/archive/lunchboxes/