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

[berk]

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.

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.

That Doom Patrol cover looks great and reminds me how much I prefer the classic Marvel to the classic DC style. DP is one of several 80s/90s series I missed at the time and intend to go back and read, one of these days.

I wasn't favourably impressed by Tom Scioli's work the first time I saw it, around the time Godland first began, but after reading the first issue of that series for free online, I decided to give it a shot and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Scioli's modus operandi of riffing off certain elements of Kirby's style can be effective within its narrow limits once you get used to it. I'll definitely take a look at American Barbarian. Opus-8 back-issues I've found hard to track down.

I also read the first issue of Bulletproof Coffin online for free and liked it enough to go out and get the first trade, though I haven't read it yet. So these free online issues are a great way to attract potential new readers, IMO - at least, I most likely never would have become a follower of those two series without them.

[slcpropguy]

Hi Everyone. I hope I'm posting on the right thread.

I'm a prop guy, working on a tiny TV mini series we're filming in Utah. The period is set in 1962. One of the characters is an 11-year-old boy, who loves comics.

I had a local comic book artist that made a couple covers for me for our "hero" comic book, that the boy reads (Called Dr. Lazron)

In this upcoming episode, the boy shows his friends his comic book collection, and I'm trying to find some comics that have that vintage look, but of course I can't use DC or Marvel or anything that's gonna cost an arm and a leg, or get me into trouble with copyright infringement, and I'm hoping I can find a couple independent guys that will let me buy their comics, and sign a release letting me use them in the film. I really only need to see the covers.

Do any of you guys know of anything that would work for us? It's a family friendly TV show, and like I said, the period is 1962.

Do you know any other independent comic book guys that self publish? Or maybe there is a publisher who specialized in independent guys, and maybe they could turn me onto some artists?

Any help would be great. I really only need 4 or 5 covers for this episode.

Feel free to call, e-mail, facebook or send a telegraph.

Scott Arneman
Prop Master
Granite Flats
801-949-7240 cell.
slcpropguy at hot mail dot com

[Rob Allen]

Why not just use some old comics from defunct publishers? Some IW/Super Comics would seem to be ideal for your purpose.

[thwhtGuardian]

If you're into that classic pulpy feel I don't think you can get much better than Tonci Zonjic, he's been killing it on Lobster Johnson.

[LEADER DESSLOK]

I'm assuming this thread is primarily referring to comic book artists. Cause my current favorite "Retro" artist is JOSH "SHAG" AGLE whose style is patterned after Late 50s- Early 60s American animation. Just gorgeous!http://www.shag.com and http://shagwatch.blogspot.com/

[MDG]

I'm assuming this thread is primarily referring to comic book artists. Cause my current favorite "Retro" artist is JOSH "SHAG" AGLE whose style is patterned after Late 50s- Early 60s American animation. Just gorgeous!http://www.shag.com and http://shagwatch.blogspot.com/

Yeah, Shag's a favorite, but lately I've been getting into Derek Yaniger http://derekart.com/news/

[Polar Bear]

Brendan McCarthy imitates Ditko well in Spider-Man: Fever.

Long-time DeFalco collaborator Ron Frenz has made a career of imitating both Kirby and Ditko.

Riviera's work on Amazing Spider-Man is certainly Ditko-esque.

There was also a three-issue black and white comic called Dr. Wonder a few years ago (published by Old Town, art by Dick Ayers) that's hard to find but fits the bill nicely.

[benday-dot]

Yeah, Shag's a favorite, but lately I've been getting into Derek Yaniger http://derekart.com/news/

Wow... amazing design work. I had not heard of him until now. Thank you MDG.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

Issue 5 of Solo by Darwyn Cooke had a beautiful retro feel. Not just in the way Cooke inked it, but in the way he coloured it. It feels like a throwback to slick magazines from the 50s and 60s, with flat colours that sometimes appear off-register (deceptively so). Rightfully, you should have a cocktail in one hand while reading it.

[LEADER DESSLOK]

Yeah, Shag's a favorite, but lately I've been getting into Derek Yaniger http://derekart.com/news/

This Yaniger Guy is awesome, too! Very Picasso-esque served with that 60s groove! I prefer Shag's color palatte but Derek may not have explored that yet.

Question: who was the original animator they were both inspired by. Their styles remind me of stuff I used to see on BULLWINKLE and the FRACTURED FAIRY TALES but who were the leading animators of that era? So far, I'm coming up with "snake-eyes"...

[MDG]

Bullwinkle was Bill Ward and Jay Scott, but the big influence on the era was the UPA Studios style (Mr. Magoo). Other people using a similar style include Gene Deitch (father of Kim) and especially graphic artist Jim Flora.

https://www.google.com/search?q=jim+...w=1024&bih=672

[Global Honored]

Nick Dragotta uses classic styling in his FF run. The issue with Pete & Johnny called back to Ditko's original look for Parker.

[LEADER DESSLOK]

Bullwinkle was Bill Ward and Jay Scott, but the big influence on the era was the UPA Studios style (Mr. Magoo). Other people using a similar style include Gene Deitch (father of Kim) and especially graphic artist Jim Flora.

https://www.google.com/search?q=jim+...w=1024&bih=672

Thank you, very much! The miniscule amount of knowledge I have concerning American animation pretty much stops at 1955! I knew a little about Ward and Scott but that was entirely through a short film about Bullwinkle that PBS showed sometime in the 90s but I haven't seen it in a while. Thanks again!

[Venomous Mask]

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.

Reminds me more of Mike Mignola than Kirby.

[FanboyStranger]

Reminds me more of Mike Mignola than Kirby.

That cover, I'd agree. But the guy I see most when it comes to Shaky Kane is actually original Doom Patrol Bruno Premiani, who doesn't really get his due as far as I'm concerned. (The only artist I regularly see citing him is Mike Allred.)