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The best Batman artist ever?????

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 at 8:35 PM EST

Updated: Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 at 8:35 PM EST

My latest Comics You Should Own column features Detective Comics #583-594 and #601-614, Alan Grant and John Wagner writing (and Grant alone from #601 onward) with Norm Breyfogle on pencils. Breyfogle, as I’ve mentioned before, doesn’t get the credit he deserves, but he just might be the best Batman artist ever. He’s definitely in the top 5. Go read and dare to challenge that statement!

22 Comments

Nicholas Post

May 25, 2006 at 5:26 pm

I disagreed.

These artists listed below were/are the best Batman artists ever, period.

1) Neal Adams (1960-70’s) I heard he will be back drawing Batman again, right?

2) Alex Ross (2000’s)
3) Dick Sprang (1940-50’s)
4) Alan Davis (1980’s)
5) Frank Miller (1990’s)

Aaron Hazouri

May 26, 2006 at 5:45 am

Breyfogle was THE greatest Batman artist of the Modern Age. Dick Sprang of course was the other master. I got my Dad a piece of Breyfogle art for Christmas last year - a page that actually had Batman on it! It’s one of Dad’s prized possessions! I told him he better remember me in his will…

Norm would be in my top 5, but I would have to reserve # 1 for JIM APARO.

1. Jim Aparo
2. Marshall Rogers
3. Don Newton
4. Neal Adams
5. Norm Breyfogle
6. Alan Davis
7. Gene Colan

JIM LEE fools!

Umm this wasn’t put a big list of your favorites or restrict it to a certain time period. It was best Batman artist ever. I think it was Neal Adams. No one else has been as influential on the way the book has looked since.

Now if you want a big honking list of my favorites. Here it is.

1. Neal Adams
2. Marshall Rogers
3. Jim Aparo
4. Charles Burnley (a lot of people mention Sprang again and again but few people have read a lot of Sprang issues or own any. Yeah, he’s known for big props and panel spreads but frankly the art is a little safe and static. I much prefer the sense of action and motion in Burnley’s work and his realistic rendering of surroundings and use of zippo and duatone to provide depth to the art.) It’s hard to judge this stuff from recolored reprints– go look through the real deal and see what I mean. Basically,Sprang was the flashy Jim Lee of his day. He was not the best artist.
5.Graham Nolan This guy provided solid storytelling and did not get in the way of the story. That’s really hard to find after about 1980. This guy always reminded me of Dick Dillin.

I’m going to second the Breyfogle-on-Batman love, as I do think he’s one of the few highly underrated artists around.

Your article did leave out # 617 (I think it was) which, though it did tie into some of the continuity, I think stands on its own as a perfectly realized Joker story. It was one of the first ones of the run I read (for years I had # 602, the middle of the Tulpa arc, and the Joker one-shot I’m talking about; took some quarter-box dives to round it out, but I eventually got there), but I think the story–combining Grant’s prediliction for strange, occult symbolism with a done-in-one Batman-kicks-ass story, coupled with a very nice use of Bruce Wayne, as well as Breyfogle breaking the action down beautifully in the artwork–belongs on par with the others mentioned in the article.

Either way, dig the column, and can’t wait for the next installment. Particularly because, of the 17 so far, you’ve mentioned about a dozen or so runs that I already own. So, vindicated, I feel, yes, indeed.

how comes nobody’s mentioned Carmine Infantino? “the house the joker built” , “fright of the scarecrow” , “beware of poison ivy” , “the remarkable ruse of the riddler” , to name only a few - these were cracking good batman comics, some of the best. Carmine Infantino ( especially when inked by Joe Giella ) was, to me, at least, one of the finest artists of the silver age. just look at the cover of batman # 194, and tell me that isn’t one of THE BEST batman comic book covers EVER.

t
tim sale i

Oooooh, tricky one, Ssd. I like Tim Sale, I like Tim Sale a lot. Whether he’s the best Batman artist or not is up for a LOT of discussion. He’s good, yeah, but he’s only good for a type of Batman. A good Batman artist should be able to handle ALL aspects of the character, Tim Sale does good dark, but he ONLY does good dark.

Nicholas Post

June 8, 2006 at 1:33 pm

Re:
how comes nobody’s mentioned Carmine Infantino? “the house the joker built” , “fright of the scarecrow” , “beware of poison ivy” , “the remarkable ruse of the riddler” , to name only a few - these were cracking good batman comics, some of the best. Carmine Infantino ( especially when inked by Joe Giella ) was, to me, at least, one of the finest artists of the silver age. just look at the cover of batman # 194, and tell me that isn’t one of THE BEST batman comic book covers EVER.

Ah, how could I forgot The One and Only Carmine Infantino? I have all Batman and Detective Comics drawn by Carmine. Nothing compared his inking over his own pencilling, especially his famed Elonganted Man back-up stories.
Same thing with Adam Strange and The Flash, inked by Murphy Anderson.

I was normally a fan that had favorite artists till the past two years,I have gone back through all the past comics and come to find that all the artists brought a very special something to the table.Neal Adams was my irst fav,then Alex Ross knocked my socks off with such realistic art,Jim Lee’s version is great also there are so many,kudos to all artists they have given me a lifetime of artwork.

Alex Ross’s drawings all look like cardboard cutouts and lack motion. Jim Lee’s characters all look the same and stand in awkward poses that do nothing to carry the action. Neal Adams’s art lacks imagination in its yearning to be photographic, and winds up looking like badly-colored photographs of people in tights.

Re:
Alex Ross’s drawings all look like cardboard cutouts and lack motion. Jim Lee’s characters all look the same and stand in awkward poses that do nothing to carry the action. Neal Adams’s art lacks imagination in its yearning to be photographic, and winds up looking like badly-colored photographs of people in tights.

My reply:
You are wrong!

Neal Adams is the best. followed by a ton of greats…

frank miller, gene colan…

Re:
Neal Adams is the best. followed by a ton of greats…
frank miller, gene colan…

Who is the truly 2nd best next to Neal Adams?

Tim Sale and Jim Lee are the best Frank Miller draws like a five-year-old kid

#1 Alex Ross
#2 Neal Adams
#3 Brian Bolland
#4 Bruce Timm (so cute)
#5 Jim Lee

Hello,i just bought my first batman book.Its called Arkham Asylum and its written by Grant Morrison and painted by Dave Mckean.Now,i dont know any of them,and i’m a pretty much a retard if it comes to the comic world,but it seems like this is a pretty special book,and i liked it as well,but the thing i was wonder about is:are the artist’s u guys are talking about,the normal comic issues and is this book something totally different,more like a special piece on batman?And how does this book stands in quality toward other books?

Cause i really wanna start getting into this stuff and catch up with it.

Re: Comment #18 (Bianca said…),

I thought the same thing but Alex Ross and Neal Adams switched #1 and 2.

definitely Tim Sale

bom em quadrinhos sequencial COMO ELE É FEITO NO ESTILO é jim lee o melhor artista do título agora SE FOR NARRADA Á PARTIR DE pintura e referencia sem DUVIDA que é sim o ALEX ROSS que é o melhor

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