Laputa and Nausicaa started as his manga. (These two I know for sure - I have read the translation of Nausicaa, and passed up the chance to get a copy (Untranslated of course) of Laputa in order to get a copy of You’re Under Arrest (also untranslated - oh, and I’d add Kosuke Fujishima to my list.) - A few of his other films might have too.)
No one’s mentioned Alex Toth yet. Yes, the designer of Space Ghost did comics, boys & girls, and he was a master. (Silver Age)
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Mike Zeck yet either. He did some Punisher stories and the last Kraven story for Marvel in the 1980’s. He’s done some nice stuff more recently, too.
And I love Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (various projects for DC Comics).
Andre LeBlanc is little-known, but widely read. He did the Bible in pictures, among other things. (Golden Age on, I guess)
For current self-published stuff, Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder is quite well done, both for layout and giving characters distinctive likenesses with an economy of line.
(Speaking of distinctive likenesses with an economy of line, the team which has drawn a lot of Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics have an amazing ability to render the actors’ likenesses in a few lines. I think it’s Cliff Richards & his inker Joe Pimentel.)
Jaime Hernandez is my favorite Hernandez brother. His early “Mechanics” stories in Love & Rockets are masterpieces.
And I, for one, like Adam Hughes–or I did, before he became a pin-up illustrator.
By the way, I’m reasonably certain Miyazaki didn’t draw the manga versions of his stories. I think they were fleshed out from his story outlines or something. The manga of Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind blows the movie away, IMHO.
But if we’re talking about Japanese artists, while I’m no expert, I would like to mention Takumi Nagayasu, artist on Katsuhiro Otomo’s Legend of Mother Sarah. Of course, Otomo’s no slouch himself (Akira). Then there’s the amazing Ryoichi Ikegami, artist of Sanctuary, Strain, et al.
For European artists, I like the way Milo Manara draws–not so much the way he writes (Indian Summer and The Gaucho with Hugo Pratt; Trip to Tulum with Federico Fellini; various smut comics).
The funniest comic book writer of all time (albeit in a rather perverse way) is Jack Chick. There are also lots of funny parodies of Chick tracts, but usually the originals are even funnier.
Gotta have Bill Sienkiewicz.
And Kyle Baker as well. I loved BOTH of their work on the “Shadow” series that brought him into the 80’s/90’s (God, which was it? early 90’s I think). Baker turned out to be verysympathetic to the Sienkiewicz style, was still remaining true to his own style.
And Baker’s graphic novel 'Why I Hate Saturn" was HILARIOUS! As was “The Cowboy Wally Show”. I just wish I could find a copy of ‘Wally’
The Cowboy Wally Show was reprinted a couple of years ago. Any reputable comics shop will have a copy on hand. If you can’t find it, email me privately and I’ll buy you a copy.
And, fully agreed about the late, lamented Shadow monthly series. Andy Helfer’s writing was brilliantly funny and macabre, and the art was a perfect complement to it.
I’ve just discovered another flaw in the format of Fenris’s list. By marking Will Eisner as a “Golden Age” artist, it shortchanges the work he’s done since then, which is easily equal to anything he did on The Spirit.
Go back to the drawing board (pun intended), Fenris, and we’ll all look forward to your next OP.
Glad to see that Barry (Windsor-)Smith and Phil Foglio were finally added to the list.
What about the other MAD artists?
Mort Drucker
Don Martin
Paul Coker
and the greatly underappreciated George Woodbridge. I saw his work in a museum recently, and it made me appreciate how much historical research GW did to get his drawings right. Take a look back at his stuff in Mad – this guy does his homework on historic costumes.
How about Frank Borth. He drew the infamous, Wertham-condemned Phantom Lady in the 1950s, then went on to the incredibly wholesome Treasure Chest in the 1960s and early 70s. I’d nominate other TC artists, too, if I knew their names.
I may have to take you up on that, fiver. But I’ll look around here first (of course, our ‘big’ comic book store here closed down recently, so…)
And here’s a relatively new site for all you hard core comics folk… even has a pretty good size message board, which is formatted almost exactly the same as the SDMB…
Well speaking of “unknown” artists, I always thought the artist responsibe for the “juvenile comic” Hot Stuff had a real flair. No idea who it was, but he or she had a distinctive style that (as with Barks) made the characters seem as fully-animated as the format permits.
CalMeacham:
Finally added? They were in the OP, **CalMeacham **.
lawoot, where do you live?
Washington State - well west of Seattle.
I see that there is a website for Kyle Baker (http://www.kylebaker.com) that sells his work as well… Too bad I quit using credit cards two years ago…
I missed Barry Smith because I looked in the wrong place. To me he was a 70s artist, since that’s when he was starting. I didn’t expect him among ther 80s artists. Didn’t see Foglio until later posts.