Modern Artists with a Retro style (aka Tom Scioli Appreciation Thread)

[Brian Gravity]

I had the pleasure of reading Tom Scioli's American Barbarian during a recent vacation to San Francisco, and was completely blown away by the damned thing. This has to be the best "new" comic I've read in ages, but it retains that special, classic feeling from the comics of old.



He draws in a style very similar to that of Jack "The King" Kirby, no question. But I love it. It almost feels like the guy has captured Kirby's spirit in a bottle, and channels it while he draws. While not even close to as good as an artist as Kirby was...it's still an amazingly fun ride, and one that won't be forgotten.



Responsible for other works such as Godland and Myth of 8-Opus, Scioli is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. His latest work is a webcomic called Final Frontier which you can check out here: http://www.ambarb.com/?p=553

Now that I have the whole Scioli-addiction thing out of the way, I want to know if there are other modern artists that carry a retro-art style to their craft. They don't have to draw like Kirby, but it needs to carry the essence of what classic comic books are all about. Something that pays homage to the Golden, Silver or even Bronze ages of comics. If it looks like Manga or was made on a Mac, I'm not interested.

And to those that are turned off by Scioli's "copy" of the classic Kirby style, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Tom has renewed the idea that you can go out there and make your own comic and not worrying if this is in tier with the big 2 or if this is big 2 material.

Check out Andy Suriano and Naoki Urasawa (who combines old-styled manga with a more modern feel to it and is one of the best modern cartoonists).

[benday-dot]

Steve Rude and Darwyn Cooke would also be welcome at Tom Scioli's retro-picnic.

(and I agree with you as to the glory of American Barbarian)

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Godland is just as good especially because Casey and Tom go Kirby crazy with it.

[pakehafulla]

This is a great place to be able to push my current faves, Daredevil by Waid/Riviera/Martin/and Samnee, the Boom Planet of the Apes stories by Gabriel Hardman, and Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja. They all have that old school feel to them, and as with the recent art of Francesco Frankavilla on Black Panther(apologies for any misspelling) the pictures are more "classic" than anything I've seen for years. I dont know if this fits with the OP's opinions but I just had to try and discuss these guys here in this forum.

The artist above reminds me very much of Jose Ladronn(as well as Kirby), and I am now going to have to try and acquire ANOTHER book...thanks Brian... :)

[Johnny P. Sartre]

This is a great place to be able to push my current faves, Daredevil by Waid/Riviera/Martin/and Samnee, the Boom Planet of the Apes stories by Gabriel Hardman, and Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja. They all have that old school feel to them, and as with the recent art of Francesco Frankavilla on Black Panther(apologies for any misspelling) the pictures are more "classic" than anything I've seen for years. I dont know if this fits with the OP's opinions but I just had to try and discuss these guys here in this forum.

The artist above reminds me very much of Jose Ladronn(as well as Kirby), and I am now going to have to try and acquire ANOTHER book...thanks Brian... :)

Those artists fit what op is looking for.

[CromagnonMan]

American Barbarian was OK, not every page is as glorious as pictured above, and the story isnt very good really. the best thing about it is the art (and only at times does it reach these heights).

[GavinR]

My favorite single issue of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol was the one where the team was redone as a Marvel styled Silver Age comic. Shaky Kane and Ken Steacy did the art in a very Kirby manner and it totally worked. I can't recommend this issue enough.

[FanboyStranger]

My favorite single issue of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol was the one where the team was redone as a Marvel styled Silver Age comic. Shaky Kane did the art in a very Kirby manner and it totally worked. I can't recommend this issue enough.

Speaking of Shaky Kane, Bulletproof Coffin is required reading. There is a tpb of the first series, and the second series is just finishing with a tpb the first week of September. Incredibly cool, trippy stuff.

[Brian Gravity]

I appreciate all the recommendations...looks like a lot of good stuff I need to find! Thank you!

The artist above reminds me very much of Jose Ladronn(as well as Kirby), and I am now going to have to try and acquire ANOTHER book...thanks Brian... :)

This is your lucky day pakehafulla! American Barbarian started out as a webcomic and can be read for free here: http://www.ambarb.com/?page_id=112

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Hmm, for me, Ladronn doesn't remind me of Tom at all. I think of Ladronn being in the Moebius and Juan Gimenez camp.

[FanboyStranger]

Hmm, for me, Ladronn doesn't remind me of Tom at all. I think of Ladronn being in the Moebius and Juan Gimenez camp.

Early Ladronn had a real retro-Kirby vibe, which kinda reached its peak with his Cable run written by Joe Casey. He came back after that with a very "Euro" style, and I think the Gimenenz comparison is spot on.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Ah, okay. I never checked Ladronn's early works...

The Gimenez influence definitely came out when he did Elephantmen with Starks and also remember in an interview how Ladronn was talking about how much he loves Gimenez (I mean who doesn't).

I do love the covers he's done for All-Star Western.

[FanboyStranger]

Ah, okay. I never checked Ladronn's early works...

The Gimenez influence definitely came out when he did Elephantmen with Starks and also remember in an interview how Ladronn was talking about how much he loves Gimenez (I mean who doesn't).

I do love the covers he's done for All-Star Western.

I think the turning point for Ladronn was an Inhumans mini he did shortly after the Jenkins/Lee Inhumans run. I greatly enjoyed Ladronn's work on Cable-- hell, it made me read Cable for, like, two years, which I only checked out because James Robinson took over the title at his peak-- but despite having a fairly blah story, Ladronn's art on Inhumans looked like next level stuff. Around the same time, Humanoids was publishing Metabarons as a monthly, and I started to see where Ladronn was getting it from.

Those Hip Flask stories are excellent.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

I completely forgot about that Imhumans mini... Need to reread that again.

Ah, Metabarons. One of the finest and most grandiose action adventure space-opera comics ever created... LOVE how it's an epic generational story that never let's down how big it is in what it is trying to tell.