Comments on: Month of Art Stars: Artist’s Choice – Rick Leonardi

By: kalorama

kalorama — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:26:11 +0000

Leonardi has long been at the top of my list of artists work doesn’t appear nearly often enough. I’ve always loved his style and storytelling approach and felt like he never got his due as one of the top talents in the game.

By: Scumbo

Scumbo — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:04:37 +0000

“You will believe a man can die!”

Impossible!

Also, the guy writing that Spider-Man comic certainly was a fan of stu-stu-stuttering.

By: def

def — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:10:10 +0000

I loved him since I was a kid (X-Men 201 came out when I was 10 or so)… Another artist in his vein that I love is Bret Blevins, but he seems to have disappeared 15 years or so ago.

By: T.

T. — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:32:24 +0000

One thing I always loved about Leonardi was his panel-to-panel fight continuity. He was always a master at this. And all this work looks like his style to me, I don’t really see how people think the X-Factor pages look unrecognizable.

By: Bright-Raven

Bright-Raven — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:16:45 +0000

Phillip Ayres:

“The ASM pages look completely different – it’s as if Layton’s Inks have sucked the individuality out of the style.”

“As if”? LOL

By: Joe V.

Joe V. — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:39:22 +0000

As a kid in the 1980s, I loved Leonardi’s work. I wanted him to be the regular penciler on Amazing Spider-Man after John Romita Jr. left. His style at the time — a more expressionistic mix of Art Adams and Michael Golden — suited Spidey’s new black costume the way JR Jr.’s suited the original red-and-blue outfit. I never understood why he didn’t get a regular series. At the time, the only series he was a regular artist on was Cloak & Dagger (which I also loved). But that was only for a short time.

Also, he drew a great Wolverine. I had this poster on my wall as a kid (and probably still have it rolled up in the basement).

http://www.typingmonkeys.com/Images/wolverine-leonardi-poster.jpg

By: Navy Brat

Navy Brat — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:58:05 +0000

I have the entire “Rampaging Hulk” series just for his art. I love his rendition of Hulk. Keep these coming!

By: DanLarkin

DanLarkin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:57:23 +0000

In the spider-man issue, the scenes that don’t look like Leonardi’s work are all the ones with the X-Factor members. I wonder if Layton redrew the figures a bit to make them look more visually similar to how they looked in their own book.

By: Teebore

Teebore — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:49:37 +0000

I also remember really disliking his art when I was younger, though that was probably because he was often used a fill-in artist and I was naturally inclined to hate fill-in artists on principal back then (before I realized it really isn’t the fill-in artists fault they were doing a book).

As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate his art a lot more and these sample pages, as well as the covers, take me back to when I first read that stuff. Good times.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:19:42 +0000

Ah, Brian…I wish we’d seen more of Spider-Man 2099 in this posting! That’s where I got to know and love Leonardi best. Also of note is that he parodied his own cover to Spider-Man #17 with this cover:

http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/images/spiderman_2099/013.jpg

Which drove a number of us 2099 readers into years of speculation that Thanatos and Thanos were the same guy.

By: jose

jose — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:45:47 +0000

Leonardi’s work was always hit or miss with me but through no fault of his own. I think his work really shined with Austin inking him, whereas his sharp yet choppy, frenetic style clashed with Green’s sketchiness. Dan Green works really well with Jr jr.

By: C. Adams

C. Adams — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:43:21 +0000

His work grew on me. I couldn’t stand him at first, but now I appreciate his work. As an aside: I love the original X-Factor costumes. I love the whole “team” costume concept.

By: tk.

tk. — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:24:47 +0000

@Adam K: That fifth panel caught my eye, too.

I always liked his work on Uncanny, it was a good fit with both Silvestri and the occasional Art Adams covers. The Cloak & Dagger mini is pretty great, too.

By: Baldr

Baldr — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:17:25 +0000

You should show some pages from spiderman 17 with Thanos. It’s the best drawn Thanos I’ve ever seen, plus the panel work is very dynamic

By: Philip Ayres

Philip Ayres — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:59:33 +0000

Well ASM282 is late 86 and I think the uxm is late 87/early 88. It’s the UXM pages I more associate with Leonardi – you can see the style evolving through the Vision & Scarlet Witch, Cloak & Dagger and UXM 201 covers. The ASM pages look completely different – it’s as if Layton’s Inks have sucked the individuality out of the style.

By: Wraith

Wraith — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:30:39 +0000

I have to agree with Dieter. These pages hardly seem recognizable to me as Leonardi artwork. If I were unfamiliar with the guy, I would probably be wondering what’s so special about him.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:52:47 +0000

Bob Layton on the former, Terry Austin on the latter.

By: Philip Ayres

Philip Ayres — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:34:26 +0000

It’s interesting comparing the styles on the ASM & UXM pages – who were the respective inkers ?

By: dieter nagy

dieter nagy — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:31:04 +0000

I think the pages were not chosen that well, it seems less his own style than Marvel 90′s house style, perhaps some of his Nightwing work would have been better.
That said, I like his work even though the Vigilante issues seem a bit rushed and a little bit too edgy for my taste. Alas I’m still buying the book.
I’m of mixed opinion concerning the chosen Covers, some of them look great, there are interesting angles creating a unique impression but some Uncanny 201 and Daredevil 249 seem not refined enough for Cover art and too sketchy.

By: Philip Ayres

Philip Ayres — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:07:31 +0000

I was never a fan when he was filling in on UXM back in the 80s. But having recently reread the issues he drew in essentials his art comes over much better than Silvestri’s