I finally decided that if I want this page to be something other than "coming eventually," it has to be less ambitious than the page I originally envisioned. So instead of doing comprehensive real recs of most of my favorite comics, I just selected a few artists (based on no system in particular), and for now settled on starting an artist list, and just name some of my favorite comics by some artists. It is much less informative than I want it to be, but I guess it's still better than nothing. The artists are sorted alphabetically (the comics the pictures are taken from are listed in the alt- and title-tags and should appear in most browsers when you hover with the mouse over the image).
Carl
Barks. He was a brilliant cartoonist, his version of the Ducks is the
best ever drawn and written, he created most of the Duck
universe we all know and love today. Uncle Scrooge, Gyro Gearloose, and
Gladstone Gander, are just a few of his many great characters. Through
his work Duckburgh became alive. His stories and plots are among the best
ever realized in any kind of comic, not just Disney ones; they have
great timing, suspense, humor, emotions...
Alberto Breccia. I especially like Mort Cinder and Perramus.
Daniel Clowes. I think my favorite is still Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, but I like Eightball in general.
André Franquin. I don't think I could choose a
favorite comic, I like most Gaston Lagaffe strips, I think my favorite
of Les Aventures des Spirou et Fantasio might be Z comme
Zorglub, and of course I love Idées Noires.
Marc-Antoine Mathieu. His work L'Origine and the other
comics in that series are meta-comics in a way, i.e. the fact that the
characters are in a comic is central to the story, and he creates
really amazing effects with the medium.
Lorenzo Mattotti. Also check out this (multi-lingual) bibliography. I especially like Feux and L'homme à la fenêtre.
Dave McKean. I like the sparser interior art of Cages better than his earlier comics, or his collages and covers, though some of those are great as well.
Ptiluc. It's no wonder I like his comics, dark humor and lots of rats, what more could you want?
Don Rosa. The Disney artist for the Ducks I
like second best, next to Carl Barks. I love especially The Life
and Times of Scrooge McDuck, a twelve part saga bringing all kinds
of details Carl Barks revealed about Uncle Scrooge's past into one
coherent history and timeline. Don Rosa's comics are like the best kind of
fanfic for the Carl Barks version, i.e. the definite version, of the
Ducks. Full of details and references, yet still great stories on their
own. But to truly enjoy his comics you have to be familiar with
Carl Barks' works.
François Schuiten. I really like Les Cités obscures universe he created with Benoît Peeters.
Jeff Smith. Obviously I enjoy Bone a lot. I mean, it's not the only
reason I chose "Rat Creature" as a screen name (after all I really like RL
rats too), but a huge contributing factor.
Art Spiegelman is of course best known for Maus, but you should really check out his other comics too, though some of his older works are hard to find.
Jacques Tardi. I especially like his Nestor Burma adaptions,
but his WWI and fin de siècle stories are also great. Here's a good overview of his work (in French), here a very brief introduction (in English).
Finally, in my blog I sometimes post comic reviews, which I'll conveniently also link here:
- Batman titles:
- Batgirl #42, #43, #44
- Batman #408-410, #416, #588-#590, #616, #617, #619
- Batman: Prodigal
- Batman: A Death in the Family
- Batman Year 3 (Batman #436-#439)
- Batman Chronicles #5
- Batman: Death and the Maidens #1, #2, #3
- Batman: Gotham Knights #24, #42, #43, #44, #45
- Batman: Tenses #1, #2
- Birds of Prey #56, #59
- Birds of Prey: Batgirl/Catwoman and Oracle/Catwoman
- Detective Comics #784, #785, #786, #787
- Gotham Central #1-#6, #11
- Gotham City Secret Files & Origins
- Legends of the DCU #6
- Nightwing #80-#82, #83, #84, #85
- Nightwing Secret Files & Origins
- Superman/Batman #1, #2
- The Batman of Arkham (Elseworlds)
- Batman: Golden Streets of Gotham (Elseworlds)
- Gotham Noir (Elseworlds)
- Other DC:
- Arrowsmith #3
- JLA/Avengers #1
- JLA/Titans: Technis Imperative
- Outsiders #1, #2, #3, #4
- Superman: Birthright #1, #2
- Transmetropolitan: Back on the Street
- Wonder Woman #196
- Marvel:
- 1602 #2
- Amazing Spider-Man #57 (#498)
- Daredevil #51, #52
- Spider-Man recs
- The Spectacular Spider-Man #4, #5
- Supreme Power: #1, #2
- Wolverine #5
