With all due respect to the other Spider-Man artists...

[Norrin Radd]

I've always found John Romita to be the definitive Spider-Man penciller, whether it was his work in the newspaper strips or the comic book.

What say you?

[Core]

I've always found John Romita to be the definitive Spider-Man penciller, whether it was his work in the newspaper strips or the comic book.

What say you?

Your assertion garners no dissent from me, as I too find Romita Sr.'s stuff particularly dazzling.

Check this thread (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=45505) for some other posters' imput.

[Neolucifer]

I still think Mark Bagley is the best spidey ever :D

[Guts/Batman]

i liked McFarlane back in the day...especially Torment. a tad old lol

[AlanScott606]

As much as I like JR jr, Mark Bagley and Todd McFarlane I still think it's Steve Ditko who deserves the top spot.

It may not be as flashy as some of the newer styles but he was the one who gave Spidey his look so I hold him in very high regards.

[Artemis1]

The best are Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr., and John Romita Jr.

[onizuka]

i got A LOT of respect for Ditko, but i really think Romita is far superior. he might've come up with the look and everything but i really don't like his art all that much.

Romita is the king.

[Master Darque]

Ditko , Romita Sr , Frenz . Larsen , somewhat .

[cable guy]

The best are Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr., and John Romita Jr.

I agree with all of the above.

[Mister Mets]

You're probably right.

[Dennis K]

With all due respect to the other artists mentioned, I'd like to toss Ross Andru's name into the ring. That guy was magic, created the definitive Peter Parker for me. I'd also like to mention the work done by Tom Lyle. Seems like he's largely forgotten these days, but I thought his Spider-Man looked great.

[hangmanjury]

Istill think that JR Jr, while good, is definitely overrated. The attention he garners seems to be partly due to how long he's worked on Spider-Man, as well as how long his connection to JR Sr. I think there have been Spidey artists through the years that have really defined how Spidey looks, and JR Jr. is not one of them. If influence counts, one has to mention, love him or hate him, McFarlane. He popularized the big eyes and the spaghetti webbing, and also was the first one, for me, to really show him as Spider-like. So I think it goes: Ditko, Romita, McFarlane.

As far as my favorites? Mark Bagley, Steve Skroce, and Ross Andru.

Pretty different list.

[Nitmo]

I pretty much like them all the same. My personal artwork is more like Bagley and JRsr. While I would love to emulate Larsen, I just can't seem to get it right.

[olympichero62]

John Romita's old and newer stuff are all gold. But Mark Bagley's Amazing Spider-man is just the greatest.


Wish I could draw like that

[BuccaneerBruce]

I've got to go with Romita Sr. too.

JRJR does a good job of conveying action, but everyones face looks the same. It's a distinctive style, but not one I particularly like.

I dropped out of comics during most of McFarlanes run, so I don't know a lot about him.

While Ditko created the characters look, it never appealed to me.

[nubly]

bags
larsen
JRJR
JRsr
mcfarlane

[TonyS]

Your assertion garners no dissent from me, as I too find Romita Sr.'s stuff particularly dazzling.

Yep - I posted on another thread that I think he's responsible for the definitive Peter and cast. While his spidey is definitely iconic, I think others have done a better spidey in costume.

I will cross over the geek line to say that I agree with Tim Sale when he says that he prefers the thinner lines of Romita Sr's early Spidey work (ASM 39-50something) to his later (post Gil Kane) heavier lines.

[Alex Dragon]

Romita Sr. gets my vote for the best "classic" Spidey artist. Ditko's stuff has it's good qualities but overall it doesn't appeal to me that much.

Todd McFarlane gets props for making Spidey look exciting and updating the look but I like Larsen's Spidey better than Todd's. Larsen took the elements that made Todd's Spidey cool and did them better.

While I hope Bagley never leaves Ultimate Spider-man and give him props for never missing an issue and keeping things on time, sometimes the faces on Bagley's characters get all distorted. There are times when he'll do a totally cute MJ with just the right expression and in another panel on the same page she'll have a strangely shaped head and face. Same with his Peter Parker and other characters. There are certain angles he has trouble with and it ends up looking warped.

JR Jr's stuff I liked better years ago. Overall JR jr is a very good artist but during the end of his run on Spidey he was morphing Spider-man into a very strangely shaped character. It was getting very distracting for me. Also his MJ and Peter were looking worse and worse. I was glad when he left the book.
Like I said...Overall JR Jr is a good artist. Great layouts, good storytelling, good poses... but his style doesn't appeal to me all that much sometimes. I'm not a big fan of his faces either. I like his art from years ago much better.

[Doom Hammer]

JRjr is THE Spiderman artist...for me.

I think it's where his style fits best, as well. His art never looks as good as it does in his Spiderman issues, IMO.