Yeah I audibly yelled "WHAAATT?!" at Jim Lee's placement, but I get your reasoning. Jim Lee got me into wanting to draw though so he holds a special place. Anytime I think of X Men I think of that huge relaunch cover and still think the costumes at that time were the best due to his artwork. Saying his art is corporate I think disses his talent a bit...he was just so super crisp, super clean and super dynamic that you couldn't not pay attention.
I'm a Jim Lee fanboy,his time on X-Men sent the sells into the stratosphere !!! I can only imagine his page rates and royalties on his X-Men run.But,having your own studio,owning the characters you create,forming your comics company and getting 100% of the sales of your comics had to be-GREAT.
I get the reasoning, but 90s Jim Lee was amazing. You couldn't take your eyes off his work, it was beautiful, for most the definitive x-men drawings. No one could draw a panel like Jim Lee, however I do think Marc Silvestri was the better story teller though. More fluid and expressive than Jim Lee and he absorbed a lot of Jim Lee's style to make himself even better. If it's a single panel I'd take Jim Lee or Todd McFarlane as the best, if it's a whole story, Silversti.
Todd McFarlane blew my mind in the 80s. He has my vote hands down. I loved how he modernized Peter and MJ. It was like every issue of Amazing Spiderman by Todd was a work of art. Jim Lee #2.
Glad to see Silverstri ranked so highly. I'd say out of all these artists, he's the one who's managed to improve his already titanic skills the most throughout the years. For example, his work in the 2012 Incredible Hulk run and especially his recent Batman & Joker - Deadly Duo series is pure, artgasmic Heaven.
I agree, he has gotten better and better over the years, but is still distinctly himself stylistically. I really liked his return to X-Men with the Messiah Complex event.
Most of those names I remember, but all of them were behind Jim Lee. His lines, anatomy, clean, & as he said a good inker can make you look even better, as he praised his inker at Marvel, I believe. Jim Lee best hands down.
His art is/was prettyuch unassailable in my eyes. When I think of artists like Marc Silvestri, I think dirty and sloppy. But once Jim Lee started his super solid figure work in X-Men #1, I noticed Marc's style get cleaner and more solid toward the Cyber force ongoing.
Agreed. I always felt like Jim Lee was the best artist out of all of the Image Comics founders, too and I'm pretty sure that I've heard Todd McFarlane admit as much in interviews. There's no shame in admitting when someone is better than you! I admit all the time that there are so many different artists who are so much better than I am as an artist( but fortunately, I can still draw and I'm even teaching myself how to paint, too).
From a pure technical standpoint, Silvestri was the better artist of the bunch. He had the best combination of style, draftsmanship and panel to panel storytelling out of all the Image 7. McFarlane was the most visually striking out of all of them. Creatively I would say Portacio had the most creative page layouts out of all of them. And his style was equally as kinetic as Liefeld. Jim Lee was a more polished version of Portacio but also had the better fight choreography out of all the artists. Liefeld has unfocused energy. That's as best as I can describe his art. If he had applied himself better he could have been a way more better visual storyteller. Larsen and Valentino never appealed to me.
For me it’s 1. Jim lee 2. Mcfarlane 3. Portacio. 4. Silvestri 5. Rob liefeld 6. Erik Larsen 7. Jim Valentino. And for me Erik Larsen and jim Valentino aren’t very good at all.
For me: 1) Jim Lee 2)Todd McFarlane 3)Marc Silvestri You can give me any reason to interchange anyone in that list and I'd have a hard time disagreeing. But Rob Liefeld over Jim Lee...LOL
@maranidonny1823 I know! Isn’t it sad to see someone have an honest opinion that is just so wrong it’s insulting? Even as a child Liefeld’s absurd anatomy and insulting exaggerations in all the wrong ways just came off as insulting. You want to look at the best artists and here’s this guys somehow popular for drawing like a refined grade schooler.
Exactly. “Who’s they best artist? You can define comics art as before Jim Lee and after Jim Lee. He set the corporate standard for comics.” Clearly, Rob was better because he had *energy* where he lacked in anatomy, detail, and something called “backgrounds in the comics panels”. Meanwhile, shows awesome splash pages, character designs still used to this day 30 years later, and panels with energy from Lee.
Jim Lee. It's just Jim Lee hands down. Even as a kid, I always gravitated towards comics where he was the penciller. The others are also great (even Rob Liefeld... at times) but he's always been my favorite.
I'd say Silvestri is the flat out Best Arist. His Wolverine and Cyber Force is mind-blowingly good Comic Art. Valentino's "Shadowhawk" was always my favorite Image title though. Like you mentioned, it felt like you were reading a gritty, R-Rated early 90''s action movie. It's a fun group of unique Artists to rank as I'm sure everyone has their favorites!
Marc Silvestri had a grit and compositional style that was able to be adapted to the flashy “Image” style but it remained grounded and my favorite since his X-men run. Not as SleeK as Lee, Bombastic as Liefeld, or Flashy/Edgy as McFarlane but it was the best.
Man it's a close call, silvestri and Jim Lee are just god level art, I like them both. But if you ask me my favourite artist of all time, it would be BARRY WINDSOR SMITH, as a kid his art baffled me, it wasn't easy, it wasn't conventional but it was fluid and moved, as I grew older I just gravitated to his work, and today I think he is a true challenger for what defines movement on a page.
Excellent choice with Barry Windsor Smith. I Was actually just looking at some of his work over the last few days such as Conan, Rune and a lot of his Valiant work, and I would have to agree there's just something about his pencils the hasn't been duplicated.
Marc silvestri and Jim Lee are he 2 best comic book illustrators in he industry.👍🏻 Now the Best Artist, thats another thing. Probably out of a few 1 is alex Ross. 2 Bill Sienkiewicz. But this is all my opinion, I'm bias 😅 but the thing is the illustrators are just drawing what's on the script, so it's the writer (s) fault if a page is daft, or boring.
I was ready to be mad about your list, and while I would have switched your 1 & 2 spots, your reasonings and breakdown are undeniably well-drawn (yoink!). Good video!
Looking back on it all and where they have come since, I'd have to say: 3. McFarlene 2. Lee 1. Silvestri With all of that said, Lee is the one who's set the standard for all pencilers that have followed and really changed a generation of up and coming artist. The best pencilers that were basically bred from Image comics though: Finch, Silvestri and Travis Charest. I know Silvestri was popular before Image, but he came into Image as very good, he then became an icon with the style he defined there.
I can't judge solely on art styles. If I go strictly by the phrase "Who is the Best Image artist?" I would say unquestionably SAM KIETH! Every page of THE MAXX series was a BLISSFUL experience to behold! However, THE Image comic I would return to repeatedly is THE SAVAGE DRAGON! ERIK LARSEN loves the comic strip medium and it shows!
My two favorite artists, swapping depending on the day of the week, have to be Sam Kieth and Keith Giffen. I know they weren't founders, but very early grabs for Image. Kieth has an otherworldly style made famous by Sandman 1-5 that works beautifully for the world of The Maxx. Giffen's Trencher was one of my favorite books for it's bizarre and detailed style. Each image was almost like a Tetris puzzle of crazy shapes that made one ultimate picture.
1) Marc Silvestri (inner-circle all-time great), 2) Jim Lee (cleanest & most readable), 3) Todd McFarlane (incredibly dynamic without sacrificing too much anatomical coherence, the grittiness just doesn't play with me), 4) Whilce Portacio (pretty hit-or-miss, but with enough flashes of undeniable brilliance to juuuust edge out Larsen), 5) Erik Larsen (no real highs or lows, just extremely consistent & workmanlike), 6) Jim Valentino (his art being pretty clean but also indie af is just a weird uncanny valley for me), 7) Rob Liefeld (near McFarlane-level dynamism, but with the technical skill & attention to detail of small, ADHD-riddled child).
I'm gonna have to agree with alot of the commentors here, your presentation is so enjoyable to watch. It's equivalent to a Saturday Morning cartoon with all my fav shows and this being up there with the rest of them.
Incredible video, Josh. I love how whenever you talk about comics you focus a lot on the artists, which is something a lot of other comic book TH-camrs don't do as much imo. I can't get enough of this style of content. Keep it up!
I share your love of '90s comics and really enjoy these videos. My list would probably go something like: 1.) Jim Lee 2.) Mark Silvestri 3.) Rob Liefeld 4.) Todd McFarlane 5.) Jim Valentino 6.) Whilce Portacio 7.) Erik Larsen
I watched this video and really appreciated the showcases, breakdowns and reasons for why you liked or didn’t like certain artists. Great video All I could think about the whole time is “He really put Jim Lee at 5?! Jim gotta be 2 at least”
John Buscema>John Byrne>Arthur Adams>Jim Lee>Others. Arthur Adams and Jim Lee were heralds and avant-gardes of a new era. It's obvious you don't understand comics. Of course, there were many other worthy artists in between, but the groundbreaking these two opened were like two suns rising on the shoulders of their great predecessors, such as John Buscema and later John Byrne.
Silvestri is the MAN! I felt he was overlooked when he was at Marvel and Image because of Jim and Todd. The Darkness was amazing. And Hunter Killer was good too.
Another banging episode,Josh,like the way you state what you and how you like it.WELL SAID,I like how you-EXPRESS-yourself.Your video on Rob Liefeld is-GREAT-I go back and watch that video often. Keep'em coming hoss.
Great list. I like how you took into account the dynamic quality of Rob Liefeld's art to rank him, because his technical flaws in anatomy, perspective, etc. lead most artists to just trash his work. I got into reading comics just before Image Comics was created. In fact, the Uncanny X-Men run that introduced Bishop and was drawn by Whilce Portacio was one of the first stories I read. I was known from grade school through high school as the kid that drew superheroes, and even did some art for school t-shirt designs (my middle school mascot was the Gator, so our t-shirt had a hyper-muscular overly cross-hatched anthropomorphic alligator that I just ripped off of a Stephen Platt-drawn Prophet cover). By the end of high school it was the late 90s and I had transitioned my drawing style to more realism, highly influenced by Alex Ross. When I minored in Art Studio in college, I honed my realistic style on still lifes and nude models, but the Image artists were the ones who really got me into drawing. I still have a picture somewhere of myself with Jim Valentino, when he came to a small comic convention in my hometown in 1999.
Back in 1992, X-books were the rage, so it didn't get any bigger than Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The kids back then LOVED those two artists. The second tier was: McFarlane, Silvestri, Stephen Platt, Whilce Portacio (though, you could easily argue that Whilce was third tier), The third tier were artists like: Brett Booth, J. Scott Campbell, Mark Teixeira ... and so on
I don't love the story of Savage Dragon but Larsen is amazing that after this many years, he is still writing and illustrating his own book with consistent quality, I really can't think of many other artist besides Dave Sim or Stan Sakai who are that dedicated.
I'm gonna leave my comment in the spirit of your "saying one nice thing about...." Almost all their character designs, for Marvel and Image, were instant classics!! (This way I don't have to rank them, discuss actual rendering vs design, or sort out story quality from the episode's topic.) Thank you for everything, as always, Josh!
Iwas floored with your placement of Lee, but your explanation, followed immediately by Liefeld made it work. I disagree, but that's how opinions work! Hell yeah!
Really good video that sheds light on the people who formed Image Comics. Love that you went into great detail on each of their art. Such high quality stuff! Hope the algorithm blesses this one.
1. Jim Lee 2. Marc Silvestri 3. Whilce Portacio 4. Erik Larsen 5. Todd McFarlane 6. Jim Valentino ... 7. My 02 years old son ... Yeah, I guess this is it for me.
You lost me when you put Rob Liefeld above Jim Lee. I understand that it is just your opinion but I think when you rate an artist, you need to consider parameters related to art like anatomy, perspective, composition and overall storytelling. Jim excels in all of these. His fundamentals are strong and that is why he is still regarded among the best even today. His peers, barring Marc and probably Erik as well), lacked the fundamentals and no matter how much they tried to cover that up by adding details and lines and what not, it still shows. I think it is disrespectful towards Jim's talents to rank him lower just because every other artist tried to emulate his style.
Trying to be objective, my list would be: 1) Jim Lee 2) Todd McFarlane 3) Rob Liefeld 4) Marc Silvestri 5) Erik Larsen 6) Whilce Portacio 7) Jim Valentino I say this, given my favorites are 5 & 4
Of course Todd is number one, he was always a big fish in a small pond. Creating some of the most iconic characters that defined an entire decade of comic books, innovating in his industry. He's a great draftsman with an unmistakable art style and tone to his work. He's not my favorite comic artist but I respect him for different reasons than I would respect other legends like Jack Kirby but Todd is up there just because he's such a driven and inspiring human.
5:49 Beautiful work and he created BISHOP, the first Black X-Man right when I was home on break from going to an HBCU! I still remember seeing the Uncanny X-MEN cover with MALCOLM and RANDALL on the cover with him. I saw it THROUGH THE WINDOW of a "convenience store" in the mall! You want the teens and coeds to come into your store, put the comics rack at the front window and the naughty mags in the back. What are naughty mags? Nevermind. It was 1992.
Love this video! Could you make a video about the next wave of Image creators? Maybe the next top 7?(Kieth, Keown, Stroman, Grell, Giffen, Texiera, Scott Clark,...?).
Coming up on this video LATE but I enjoyed it. My list would be.. 1.) Jim Lee 2.) Mark Silvestri 3.) Todd McFarlane 4.) Erik Larsen 5.) Rob Liefeld 6.) Whilce Portacio 7.) Jim Valentino I think the only reason one could consider Jim's style "corporate" is because he created a style that literally EVERYONE tried to imitate. His anatomy, his action poses, the framing of his panels and layouts, his grasp of form and space, line weight control etc etc... SO many people wanted to be Jim Lee back in the day... and as it turns out, the best artist doing art like Jim Lee, was Jim Lee. He was a little like Pearl Jam in the 90s... and then you have Creed, Silverchair, Bush etc... countless other wanna-be grunge bands trying to sound the same at like half their quality.. but because of them, it somewhat dimishes the OG. Anyway.... Honestly I'd take Silvestri or Lee in the #1 spot... Silvestris art is among the best comic art of ALL time IMO... and his early runs on Xmen and Wolverine are some of the best... but Lees's are legendary as well. It wouldn't hurt my feelings with either in the #1 and #2. McFarlane did one of the best Spiderman comic runs ever... and he transformed how we saw him as a character.... BUT his human faces were always really super weird.. even as a kid I thought they looked pretty bad. McFarlane drawing a decently appealing human face was like Liefeld drawing a character without a thousand bags hanging off of them... it literally almost doesn't exsist. I love Larsen's stuff... his run on Spiderman with the Sinister Six is one of my favorite ever... but I don't feel his drawing chops were as elegant or refined as the big 3 above. Liefeld the man created a lot of energy with every panel.. and that was exciting for awhile, but even as a kid I felt like there was stuff he just didn't draw well... strange faces that would change panel to panel, everyone looking like they're yelling, tiny feet if shown, but usually out of frame.. I dunno... there's no denying his influence but given the MANY obvious short cuts he takes in his art, (hiding feet, hands, reusing panels, heavy use of silhouette, clear lack of any actual understanding of anatomy, etc) the fact you put him higher on the list than Jim Lee is absolutely BONKERS to me. Portacio.... he had some amazing stuff but unlike the other guys, I never got to see enough of his work to really become a fan.. Sorry Whilce. Valentino... Yeah, other than those covers.... I did not understand the guys appeal. Enjoyed the video, will watch more!
while McFarlane's contribution to the industry is undisputed, my personal favorites are Lee & Silvestri. Jim Lee's art had a god balance of art & dynamic storytelling, while I loved to just hold a page open and admire Silvestri's understanding of the Human Form.
Dale Keown’s run on Pitt was phenomenal, though not all of the 20-issue run was published by Image Comics (some were published by Full Bleed). I also vote for Marc Silvestri as at one of the best.
Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, these two guys were generational talents. Wilce Portacio was just behind them but he was borrowing a lot of Jim's style right from the very beginning. Erik larsen's Savage Dragon though was by far the best written, best scripted, best stories of all the Image books.
Larsen is so underrated. He has the longest running western comic from a single writer/artist (even Gerhard joined Sim on Cerebus with #65). Larsen is on #268/9 all on his lonesome.
Jim Lee's style is not the corporate style. The corporate style tries to emulate Jim Lee's style. There's a HUGE difference there, and if you can't see that well.. you're just not very intelligent then.
All were good. My favorite was Jim Lee, but Marc, Eric, and Rob are great as well. Todd is Todd, though nuff said. None of the early image artists were bad. Even Jae Lee was awesome.
I absolutely agree with this list but for a couple different reasons. I love Silvestri and his art is SO underrated and I love some of his writings too which is why I put him in that spot on the list. Rob Liefeld is on that part of the list because I love his explosive art style and cool proportions and movements and also he created the mercy with a mouth, but he also made that run of Captain America that I don't like, some of the body proportions are inconsistent but overall I love his work. Jim Lee is an AMAZING artist but I can see why you put him there and I would put him there too, His art feels cinematic and I love that, It just slightly follows the quote-en-quote "Marvel-Way" and it's a cool thing just a little overused. Todd McFarlane is definitely No.1, because The first of his work I read was "SPAWN" and I instantly fell in love with both the art and the story, still discovering new stuff to this day, when I found out he also did Spider-Man, I HAD TO READ IT and again I fell in love. I agree completely with this list. Keep up the awesome work (P.S. I managed to find the Rob Liefeld X-Force Omnibus today and it's coming and I am so stoked to read it)
You know, I totally agree with the take on Jim Lee. I just didn't find his work as interesting as most of the other Image guys. Liefeld is bad in an academic way, but his stuff was always interesting and exciting. Macfarlane was the best imo. The most idiosyncratic, weird, and the most fun. He had an amazing mix of high detail and cartooniness. And you just don't see that anymore.
Jim lee was always my fav . The 1st time I saw his work on The Uncanny Xmen and Punisher in the late 80s absolutley blew my mind . I also loved McFarlane with Hulk n Spidey .. In my opinion McFarlane improved drastically over a few years and by the time he got his own Spiderman series he was next level top form . I can see an argument for Jim or Todd being the best but for me it ends with either of those guys being in the top spot . Portacio would be my #3 , I absolutley loved his style . Mark Texeira was somehow left off this list but he would prob be my 4 , Sooo Dark and gritty . That dude put his own stamp on Ghost Rider and Punisher . In the 90s Silvestri would be 5 for me , At that time IN MY OPINION he hadnt carved out his style quite yet . He was obviously a good artist but the "Blending " of Lee / Portacio /McFarlane's styles looked a bit knock off to me in those days . That said , Once he hit his true stride he prooved himself in tremendous fashion . Sorry man , Rob Liefeld to me was always extremely overrated , Anatomy and Proportions were all over the place and his style just didnt work for me . He did some things really well , His panels always looked big and explosive as the content creator said and the overall layout looked great . Like he said tho it comes down to personal taste and what appeals to you . Personally , I'd love to try whatever you're smoking to place Jim Lee behind Rob Liefeld ! 😂 Can u tell me where to get it ? Just jokes .... Kinda 😏
It's wild to me that you've never even mentioned Sam Keith's work on the Maxx when you're talking about Image comics. Not even when you did the video about the Image Universe! He crossed over with multiple Image characters.
1) Jim Lee 2) Marc Silvestri 3) Erik Larsen 4) Todd McFarlane 5) Rob Liefeld 6) Whilce Portacio (fyi inked UXM #201, with the great Rick Leonardi on pencils, and first appearance of Cable as a baby.) 7) Jim Valentino
I would've swapped Larsen and Jim Lee. Imo, the artist's main job is to convey the story. I feel like Jim Lee has always provided a great vehicle for stories through his art. I feel like if there's any critique to be made against him, it's really that he falls down as a storyteller, whereas you could definitely make the case that McFarlane draws visceral art, and can tell visceral (if over-the-top) stories. Definitely a good call on Marc Silvestri at #3 though.. definitely an A-Tier artist for sure. Keep up the great work on the channel, btw. Glad to see 90's superhero comics get some love and critical attention!
Since I can respect your opinion, here is my own image comics founders list and that is… No.7-Jim Valentino No.6-Whilce Portacio No.5-Rob Liefeld No.4-Marc Silvestri No.3-Erik Larsen No.2-Jim Lee And last but not least my favorite artist and image founder of all time is… No.1-Todd McFarlane So that’s my list on who I would rate in my image founders list.
My order would be 1) Silvestri 2) Lee 3) McFarlane 4) Portacio 5) Valentino 6) Larsen 7) Liefeld note, it was very close between Silvestri and Lee, as it was between Portacio and Valentino.
Jim Lee’s work on Deathblow is incredible….my fav all time image artist tho is Sam Keith…Maxxxxx forverrrrr best image character and illustrations they’re so organic yet off the wall he had the most unique style
Stylistically I’ve always loved Todd McFarlane. His work was so dynamic and fluid. I love Jim Lee for his aesthetic physiques with nice proportions. You can see either one of these two on TH-cam doing live sketches and its amazing how naturally they are. Rob Liefield 🤮
Greatest Comicbook Artists to me, from greatest to just pretty good, were; Art Adams, J.Scott Campbell, Jim Lee, Marc Silverstri, Todd Mc Farlane, Rob Liefeld..
I was kind of wowed by the KISS reference- my favorite band - and right after you put Liefeld ahead of Lee. I think Jim Lee was the best of the original Image artists, Loved Rob when he came out and fell out of favor with him but watching videos of him he definitely made a mark- and not just sales wise. Great stories about his family life
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Yeah I audibly yelled "WHAAATT?!" at Jim Lee's placement, but I get your reasoning. Jim Lee got me into wanting to draw though so he holds a special place. Anytime I think of X Men I think of that huge relaunch cover and still think the costumes at that time were the best due to his artwork. Saying his art is corporate I think disses his talent a bit...he was just so super crisp, super clean and super dynamic that you couldn't not pay attention.
I'm a Jim Lee fanboy,his time on X-Men sent the sells into the stratosphere !!! I can only imagine his page rates and royalties on his X-Men run.But,having your own studio,owning the characters you create,forming your comics company and getting 100% of the sales of your comics had to be-GREAT.
I get the reasoning, but 90s Jim Lee was amazing. You couldn't take your eyes off his work, it was beautiful, for most the definitive x-men drawings. No one could draw a panel like Jim Lee, however I do think Marc Silvestri was the better story teller though. More fluid and expressive than Jim Lee and he absorbed a lot of Jim Lee's style to make himself even better. If it's a single panel I'd take Jim Lee or Todd McFarlane as the best, if it's a whole story, Silversti.
eXactly!
Jim Lee's X Men designs are still being used, 30 years later. Plus his Batman work....how many DC artist copied his Batman.
Jim's work is only 'corporate' because everyone else copied it. It's not his fault
Most absurd shit I’ve ever seen is putting rob before Jim Lee
And larsen
Dale keown was mines over him in image
@@PiESONEXTARiQSDale is a super underrated artist. Pitt blew me away back in the day.
Todd McFarlane blew my mind in the 80s. He has my vote hands down. I loved how he modernized Peter and MJ. It was like every issue of Amazing Spiderman by Todd was a work of art. Jim Lee #2.
Glad to see Silverstri ranked so highly. I'd say out of all these artists, he's the one who's managed to improve his already titanic skills the most throughout the years. For example, his work in the 2012 Incredible Hulk run and especially his recent Batman & Joker - Deadly Duo series is pure, artgasmic Heaven.
Silverstri did show stopping work. I started getting his marvel comics because of his art.
I agree, he has gotten better and better over the years, but is still distinctly himself stylistically. I really liked his return to X-Men with the Messiah Complex event.
Most of those names I remember, but all of them were behind Jim Lee. His lines, anatomy, clean, & as he said a good inker can make you look even better, as he praised his inker at Marvel, I believe. Jim Lee best hands down.
His art is/was prettyuch unassailable in my eyes. When I think of artists like Marc Silvestri, I think dirty and sloppy. But once Jim Lee started his super solid figure work in X-Men #1, I noticed Marc's style get cleaner and more solid toward the Cyber force ongoing.
Agreed. I always felt like Jim Lee was the best artist out of all of the Image Comics founders, too and I'm pretty sure that I've heard Todd McFarlane admit as much in interviews. There's no shame in admitting when someone is better than you! I admit all the time that there are so many different artists who are so much better than I am as an artist( but fortunately, I can still draw and I'm even teaching myself how to paint, too).
Jim Lee has always been my favorite artist when it came to drawing the X-Men and Batman.
From a pure technical standpoint, Silvestri was the better artist of the bunch. He had the best combination of style, draftsmanship and panel to panel storytelling out of all the Image 7.
McFarlane was the most visually striking out of all of them.
Creatively I would say Portacio had the most creative page layouts out of all of them. And his style was equally as kinetic as Liefeld.
Jim Lee was a more polished version of Portacio but also had the better fight choreography out of all the artists.
Liefeld has unfocused energy. That's as best as I can describe his art. If he had applied himself better he could have been a way more better visual storyteller.
Larsen and Valentino never appealed to me.
For me it’s 1. Jim lee 2. Mcfarlane 3. Portacio. 4. Silvestri 5. Rob liefeld 6. Erik Larsen 7. Jim Valentino. And for me Erik Larsen and jim Valentino aren’t very good at all.
Nothing came close too McFarland and Spawn at the time. It jump at you from accross the room and demanded your attention. The art was so captivating.
For me:
1) Jim Lee
2)Todd McFarlane
3)Marc Silvestri
You can give me any reason to interchange anyone in that list and I'd have a hard time disagreeing.
But Rob Liefeld over Jim Lee...LOL
The Todd Father undefeated once again.
There has to be some kind of criminal offense that applies here having Liefeld not only higher than last but higher than Lee. Absolutely absurd
Illegal 😅😅😅😅
@maranidonny1823 I know! Isn’t it sad to see someone have an honest opinion that is just so wrong it’s insulting? Even as a child Liefeld’s absurd anatomy and insulting exaggerations in all the wrong ways just came off as insulting. You want to look at the best artists and here’s this guys somehow popular for drawing like a refined grade schooler.
Exactly. “Who’s they best artist? You can define comics art as before Jim Lee and after Jim Lee. He set the corporate standard for comics.” Clearly, Rob was better because he had *energy* where he lacked in anatomy, detail, and something called “backgrounds in the comics panels”. Meanwhile, shows awesome splash pages, character designs still used to this day 30 years later, and panels with energy from Lee.
McFarlane was easily the greatest Spider-Man artist. And he drew the best Mary Jane. He influenced my drawing quite a bit.
same dude also Jim Lee and Silvestri had a great deal too with me
Facts he drew the best Mary Jane
Mark Bagley is a much better artist in all respects.
Nah, put some respect on Mark Bagley’s name😂(in terms of anatomy/technical line skills)
Agree to disagree but respect that this is your opinion.
Jim Lee is a personal favorite. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
not mad at this list. Todd is LITERALLY the reason I started collecting comics in 89.
Jim Lee. It's just Jim Lee hands down. Even as a kid, I always gravitated towards comics where he was the penciller. The others are also great (even Rob Liefeld... at times) but he's always been my favorite.
I'd say Silvestri is the flat out Best Arist. His Wolverine and Cyber Force is mind-blowingly good Comic Art. Valentino's "Shadowhawk" was always my favorite Image title though. Like you mentioned, it felt like you were reading a gritty, R-Rated early 90''s action movie. It's a fun group of unique Artists to rank as I'm sure everyone has their favorites!
I was always a Wilce Portacio fan. I loved the Wetwork series.
Marc Silvestri had a grit and compositional style that was able to be adapted to the flashy “Image” style but it remained grounded and my favorite since his X-men run. Not as SleeK as Lee, Bombastic as Liefeld, or Flashy/Edgy as McFarlane but it was the best.
Man it's a close call, silvestri and Jim Lee are just god level art, I like them both.
But if you ask me my favourite artist of all time, it would be BARRY WINDSOR SMITH, as a kid his art baffled me, it wasn't easy, it wasn't conventional but it was fluid and moved, as I grew older I just gravitated to his work, and today I think he is a true challenger for what defines movement on a page.
Excellent choice with Barry Windsor Smith. I Was actually just looking at some of his work over the last few days such as Conan, Rune and a lot of his Valiant work, and I would have to agree there's just something about his pencils the hasn't been duplicated.
1- Todd McFarlane
2- Jim Lee
3- Marc Silvestri
4- Whilce Portacio
5- Eric Larsen
6- Rob Liefeld
7- Jim Valentino
Marc silvestri and Jim Lee are he 2 best comic book illustrators in he industry.👍🏻 Now the Best Artist, thats another thing. Probably out of a few 1 is alex Ross. 2 Bill Sienkiewicz. But this is all my opinion, I'm bias 😅 but the thing is the illustrators are just drawing what's on the script, so it's the writer (s) fault if a page is daft, or boring.
I was ready to be mad about your list, and while I would have switched your 1 & 2 spots, your reasonings and breakdown are undeniably well-drawn (yoink!). Good video!
Looking back on it all and where they have come since, I'd have to say:
3. McFarlene
2. Lee
1. Silvestri
With all of that said, Lee is the one who's set the standard for all pencilers that have followed and really changed a generation of up and coming artist. The best pencilers that were basically bred from Image comics though: Finch, Silvestri and Travis Charest. I know Silvestri was popular before Image, but he came into Image as very good, he then became an icon with the style he defined there.
I can't judge solely on art styles. If I go strictly by the phrase "Who is the Best Image artist?" I would say unquestionably SAM KIETH! Every page of THE MAXX series was a BLISSFUL experience to behold! However, THE Image comic I would return to repeatedly is THE SAVAGE DRAGON! ERIK LARSEN loves the comic strip medium and it shows!
My two favorite artists, swapping depending on the day of the week, have to be Sam Kieth and Keith Giffen. I know they weren't founders, but very early grabs for Image. Kieth has an otherworldly style made famous by Sandman 1-5 that works beautifully for the world of The Maxx. Giffen's Trencher was one of my favorite books for it's bizarre and detailed style. Each image was almost like a Tetris puzzle of crazy shapes that made one ultimate picture.
1) Marc Silvestri (inner-circle all-time great), 2) Jim Lee (cleanest & most readable), 3) Todd McFarlane (incredibly dynamic without sacrificing too much anatomical coherence, the grittiness just doesn't play with me), 4) Whilce Portacio (pretty hit-or-miss, but with enough flashes of undeniable brilliance to juuuust edge out Larsen), 5) Erik Larsen (no real highs or lows, just extremely consistent & workmanlike), 6) Jim Valentino (his art being pretty clean but also indie af is just a weird uncanny valley for me), 7) Rob Liefeld (near McFarlane-level dynamism, but with the technical skill & attention to detail of small, ADHD-riddled child).
I'm gonna have to agree with alot of the commentors here, your presentation is so enjoyable to watch. It's equivalent to a Saturday Morning cartoon with all my fav shows and this being up there with the rest of them.
Incredible video, Josh. I love how whenever you talk about comics you focus a lot on the artists, which is something a lot of other comic book TH-camrs don't do as much imo. I can't get enough of this style of content. Keep it up!
I share your love of '90s comics and really enjoy these videos. My list would probably go something like:
1.) Jim Lee
2.) Mark Silvestri
3.) Rob Liefeld
4.) Todd McFarlane
5.) Jim Valentino
6.) Whilce Portacio
7.) Erik Larsen
Agree with your 1 and 2.
I watched this video and really appreciated the showcases, breakdowns and reasons for why you liked or didn’t like certain artists. Great video
All I could think about the whole time is “He really put Jim Lee at 5?! Jim gotta be 2 at least”
If Jim Lee or Marc Silvestri is not at the top of this list then it is simply wrong. Factually wrong.
@@RogerioPereiradaSilva77 Bro I’m saying?! Like that’s big Jim Lee we talking about here
John Buscema>John Byrne>Arthur Adams>Jim Lee>Others. Arthur Adams and Jim Lee were heralds and avant-gardes of a new era. It's obvious you don't understand comics. Of course, there were many other worthy artists in between, but the groundbreaking these two opened were like two suns rising on the shoulders of their great predecessors, such as John Buscema and later John Byrne.
I grabbed every first issue of many Image Comics title...these artists all bring something 2 the table. I love them all!
Easily Marc Silvestri was the best artist
True
Once he hit The Darkness, definitely. On Cyberforce, while it was certainly great work, he hadn't reached his full potential yet.
I loved his X Men run.
Silvestri is the MAN! I felt he was overlooked when he was at Marvel and Image because of Jim and Todd. The Darkness was amazing. And Hunter Killer was good too.
Leifeld deserves to be last.
I honestly think Josh might be the biggest Rob Liefeld fan in the world.
Statistically speaking, somebody has to
It’s crazy how you put him over Jim Lee. He must not like feet.
Another banging episode,Josh,like the way you state what you and how you like it.WELL SAID,I like how you-EXPRESS-yourself.Your video on Rob Liefeld is-GREAT-I go back and watch that video often. Keep'em coming hoss.
All 7 are fairly close but seeing the various artists on display reveals the importance of inking and colouring.
Great list. I like how you took into account the dynamic quality of Rob Liefeld's art to rank him, because his technical flaws in anatomy, perspective, etc. lead most artists to just trash his work. I got into reading comics just before Image Comics was created. In fact, the Uncanny X-Men run that introduced Bishop and was drawn by Whilce Portacio was one of the first stories I read. I was known from grade school through high school as the kid that drew superheroes, and even did some art for school t-shirt designs (my middle school mascot was the Gator, so our t-shirt had a hyper-muscular overly cross-hatched anthropomorphic alligator that I just ripped off of a Stephen Platt-drawn Prophet cover). By the end of high school it was the late 90s and I had transitioned my drawing style to more realism, highly influenced by Alex Ross. When I minored in Art Studio in college, I honed my realistic style on still lifes and nude models, but the Image artists were the ones who really got me into drawing. I still have a picture somewhere of myself with Jim Valentino, when he came to a small comic convention in my hometown in 1999.
To me, Liefeld is like a passionate karaoke singer. He doesn't hit every note, but he entertains the room.
✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿
Liefield's work to the early 90s was actually better than the latter stuff he did. By the time he returned to marvel his drowsing where lazier.
Back in 1992, X-books were the rage, so it didn't get any bigger than Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The kids back then LOVED those two artists. The second tier was: McFarlane, Silvestri, Stephen Platt, Whilce Portacio (though, you could easily argue that Whilce was third tier), The third tier were artists like: Brett Booth, J. Scott Campbell, Mark Teixeira ... and so on
Jim Lee and Mcfarlane were alway my favorite. But I loved all them. When I was younger I use to just stare at their art in awe
My fav is still Todd McFarlane, but I like them all, each one for a different reason. Even Rob Liefeld for better or worse.
Solid descriptive rundown of an influential set of artists that wholly changed the art game!
Yes,the rise of the super-star comicbook artists. I LOVED it.
Always glad to see Erik Larsen love.
I don't love the story of Savage Dragon but Larsen is amazing that after this many years, he is still writing and illustrating his own book with consistent quality, I really can't think of many other artist besides Dave Sim or Stan Sakai who are that dedicated.
I'm gonna leave my comment in the spirit of your "saying one nice thing about...." Almost all their character designs, for Marvel and Image, were instant classics!! (This way I don't have to rank them, discuss actual rendering vs design, or sort out story quality from the episode's topic.) Thank you for everything, as always, Josh!
Iwas floored with your placement of Lee, but your explanation, followed immediately by Liefeld made it work. I disagree, but that's how opinions work! Hell yeah!
Really good video that sheds light on the people who formed Image Comics. Love that you went into great detail on each of their art. Such high quality stuff! Hope the algorithm blesses this one.
1. Jim Lee
2. Marc Silvestri
3. Whilce Portacio
4. Erik Larsen
5. Todd McFarlane
6. Jim Valentino
...
7. My 02 years old son
...
Yeah, I guess this is it for me.
Lost me when with Liefield over Lee, but I get it, it’s your list. 1) Lee 2) Mcfarlane 3) Silverstri
I'll definitely take Leifeld's style over the overly toony-looking and anime-looking styles so common today.
Whoever was drawing wetworks was great
in terms of pure art, Jim Lee is the best artist, not only his 90's art was amazing, but his evolution in his art in 2000 for DC was perfection.
You lost me when you put Rob Liefeld above Jim Lee.
I understand that it is just your opinion but I think when you rate an artist, you need to consider parameters related to art like anatomy, perspective, composition and overall storytelling. Jim excels in all of these. His fundamentals are strong and that is why he is still regarded among the best even today. His peers, barring Marc and probably Erik as well), lacked the fundamentals and no matter how much they tried to cover that up by adding details and lines and what not, it still shows.
I think it is disrespectful towards Jim's talents to rank him lower just because every other artist tried to emulate his style.
Hey, it’s Josh talking about 90s Image. Tubular. To the max!
Tubular,to the max-very-FUNNY !!! LOL.Haven't heard those phrases since-the 90s. LOL.
I personally put Larsen at the number 1 for his consistency drawing and writing Savage Dragon for all these years.
Trying to be objective, my list would be:
1) Jim Lee
2) Todd McFarlane
3) Rob Liefeld
4) Marc Silvestri
5) Erik Larsen
6) Whilce Portacio
7) Jim Valentino
I say this, given my favorites are 5 & 4
Of course Todd is number one, he was always a big fish in a small pond. Creating some of the most iconic characters that defined an entire decade of comic books, innovating in his industry. He's a great draftsman with an unmistakable art style and tone to his work. He's not my favorite comic artist but I respect him for different reasons than I would respect other legends like Jack Kirby but Todd is up there just because he's such a driven and inspiring human.
It’s one thing to say I’m not a huge fan of Jim Lee. But anyone who claims Liefeld is a better artist than Jim Lee needs therapy
Took the words right out of my mouth
Valentino’s ShadowHAWK was my favorite book back in the day!
5:49 Beautiful work and he created BISHOP, the first Black X-Man right when I was home on break from going to an HBCU! I still remember seeing the Uncanny X-MEN cover with MALCOLM and RANDALL on the cover with him. I saw it THROUGH THE WINDOW of a "convenience store" in the mall! You want the teens and coeds to come into your store, put the comics rack at the front window and the naughty mags in the back. What are naughty mags? Nevermind. It was 1992.
Love this video! Could you make a video about the next wave of Image creators? Maybe the next top 7?(Kieth, Keown, Stroman, Grell, Giffen, Texiera, Scott Clark,...?).
Coming up on this video LATE but I enjoyed it. My list would be..
1.) Jim Lee
2.) Mark Silvestri
3.) Todd McFarlane
4.) Erik Larsen
5.) Rob Liefeld
6.) Whilce Portacio
7.) Jim Valentino
I think the only reason one could consider Jim's style "corporate" is because he created a style that literally EVERYONE tried to imitate. His anatomy, his action poses, the framing of his panels and layouts, his grasp of form and space, line weight control etc etc... SO many people wanted to be Jim Lee back in the day... and as it turns out, the best artist doing art like Jim Lee, was Jim Lee. He was a little like Pearl Jam in the 90s... and then you have Creed, Silverchair, Bush etc... countless other wanna-be grunge bands trying to sound the same at like half their quality.. but because of them, it somewhat dimishes the OG.
Anyway.... Honestly I'd take Silvestri or Lee in the #1 spot... Silvestris art is among the best comic art of ALL time IMO... and his early runs on Xmen and Wolverine are some of the best... but Lees's are legendary as well. It wouldn't hurt my feelings with either in the #1 and #2.
McFarlane did one of the best Spiderman comic runs ever... and he transformed how we saw him as a character.... BUT his human faces were always really super weird.. even as a kid I thought they looked pretty bad. McFarlane drawing a decently appealing human face was like Liefeld drawing a character without a thousand bags hanging off of them... it literally almost doesn't exsist.
I love Larsen's stuff... his run on Spiderman with the Sinister Six is one of my favorite ever... but I don't feel his drawing chops were as elegant or refined as the big 3 above.
Liefeld the man created a lot of energy with every panel.. and that was exciting for awhile, but even as a kid I felt like there was stuff he just didn't draw well... strange faces that would change panel to panel, everyone looking like they're yelling, tiny feet if shown, but usually out of frame.. I dunno... there's no denying his influence but given the MANY obvious short cuts he takes in his art, (hiding feet, hands, reusing panels, heavy use of silhouette, clear lack of any actual understanding of anatomy, etc) the fact you put him higher on the list than Jim Lee is absolutely BONKERS to me.
Portacio.... he had some amazing stuff but unlike the other guys, I never got to see enough of his work to really become a fan.. Sorry Whilce.
Valentino... Yeah, other than those covers.... I did not understand the guys appeal.
Enjoyed the video, will watch more!
Completely agree with you, Liefeld is probably one of the weakest on this list, Jim is #1
damn i havent watched one of your videos in a while, you lowkey had a glow up, big W
lol thanks, I think?
while McFarlane's contribution to the industry is undisputed, my personal favorites are Lee & Silvestri. Jim Lee's art had a god balance of art & dynamic storytelling, while I loved to just hold a page open and admire Silvestri's understanding of the Human Form.
Dale Keown’s run on Pitt was phenomenal, though not all of the 20-issue run was published by Image Comics (some were published by Full Bleed). I also vote for Marc Silvestri as at one of the best.
Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, these two guys were generational talents. Wilce Portacio was just behind them but he was borrowing a lot of Jim's style right from the very beginning. Erik larsen's Savage Dragon though was by far the best written, best scripted, best stories of all the Image books.
Whilce is so underrated. He may be my favroite of these guys. His Uncanny Xmen looked great, and kind of dark and weird
Larsen is so underrated. He has the longest running western comic from a single writer/artist (even Gerhard joined Sim on Cerebus with #65). Larsen is on #268/9 all on his lonesome.
Agree, but absolutely shocked Larsen ranked so high. Love the guy.
Jim Lee's style is not the corporate style. The corporate style tries to emulate Jim Lee's style. There's a HUGE difference there, and if you can't see that well.. you're just not very intelligent then.
All were good. My favorite was Jim Lee, but Marc, Eric, and Rob are great as well. Todd is Todd, though nuff said. None of the early image artists were bad. Even Jae Lee was awesome.
How did we never get a Shadowhawk/TMNT crossover? That would have been such a great fit.
1. Todd McFarlane
2. Erik Larsen
3. Jim Lee
I was outraged when hearing Jim Lee in 5th. Still gave the video a like. Thank you!
Always tried to figure out the words for why I’ve never been in love with Jim Lee’s art, but “cold” really does perfectly sum it up.
Jim Lee brought me in. I liked comics but his work with the stories made me love it. I think it was the combination.
Gary Frank and Dale Keown were my 2 favorites growing up.
I absolutely agree with this list but for a couple different reasons. I love Silvestri and his art is SO underrated and I love some of his writings too which is why I put him in that spot on the list. Rob Liefeld is on that part of the list because I love his explosive art style and cool proportions and movements and also he created the mercy with a mouth, but he also made that run of Captain America that I don't like, some of the body proportions are inconsistent but overall I love his work. Jim Lee is an AMAZING artist but I can see why you put him there and I would put him there too, His art feels cinematic and I love that, It just slightly follows the quote-en-quote "Marvel-Way" and it's a cool thing just a little overused. Todd McFarlane is definitely No.1, because The first of his work I read was "SPAWN" and I instantly fell in love with both the art and the story, still discovering new stuff to this day, when I found out he also did Spider-Man, I HAD TO READ IT and again I fell in love. I agree completely with this list. Keep up the awesome work
(P.S. I managed to find the Rob Liefeld X-Force Omnibus today and it's coming and I am so stoked to read it)
My list:
1) Todd McFarlane
2) Jim Lee
3) Marc Silvestri
4) Rob Liefeld
5) Erik Larsen
6) Whilce Portacio
7) Jim Valentino
You know, I totally agree with the take on Jim Lee. I just didn't find his work as interesting as most of the other Image guys. Liefeld is bad in an academic way, but his stuff was always interesting and exciting. Macfarlane was the best imo. The most idiosyncratic, weird, and the most fun. He had an amazing mix of high detail and cartooniness. And you just don't see that anymore.
1.Lee,2. Mcfarlane,3. Silvestre, 4.Liefeld ,5. Whilce, 6. Larson, 7. Jimmy V
Jim lee was always my fav . The 1st time I saw his work on The Uncanny Xmen and Punisher in the late 80s absolutley blew my mind . I also loved McFarlane with Hulk n Spidey .. In my opinion McFarlane improved drastically over a few years and by the time he got his own Spiderman series he was next level top form . I can see an argument for Jim or Todd being the best but for me it ends with either of those guys being in the top spot . Portacio would be my #3 , I absolutley loved his style . Mark Texeira was somehow left off this list but he would prob be my 4 , Sooo Dark and gritty . That dude put his own stamp on Ghost Rider and Punisher . In the 90s Silvestri would be 5 for me , At that time IN MY OPINION he hadnt carved out his style quite yet . He was obviously a good artist but the "Blending " of Lee / Portacio /McFarlane's styles looked a bit knock off to me in those days . That said , Once he hit his true stride he prooved himself in tremendous fashion . Sorry man , Rob Liefeld to me was always extremely overrated , Anatomy and Proportions were all over the place and his style just didnt work for me . He did some things really well , His panels always looked big and explosive as the content creator said and the overall layout looked great . Like he said tho it comes down to personal taste and what appeals to you . Personally , I'd love to try whatever you're smoking to place Jim Lee behind Rob Liefeld ! 😂 Can u tell me where to get it ? Just jokes .... Kinda 😏
Each of their styles displays great art in the comic industry. I want to be like them.😊
It's wild to me that you've never even mentioned Sam Keith's work on the Maxx when you're talking about Image comics.
Not even when you did the video about the Image Universe! He crossed over with multiple Image characters.
Yes!
He moved to Image, but he was not one of the founding members.
1) Jim Lee
2) Marc Silvestri
3) Erik Larsen
4) Todd McFarlane
5) Rob Liefeld
6) Whilce Portacio (fyi inked UXM #201, with the great Rick Leonardi on pencils, and first appearance of Cable as a baby.)
7) Jim Valentino
I would've swapped Larsen and Jim Lee. Imo, the artist's main job is to convey the story. I feel like Jim Lee has always provided a great vehicle for stories through his art. I feel like if there's any critique to be made against him, it's really that he falls down as a storyteller, whereas you could definitely make the case that McFarlane draws visceral art, and can tell visceral (if over-the-top) stories. Definitely a good call on Marc Silvestri at #3 though.. definitely an A-Tier artist for sure.
Keep up the great work on the channel, btw. Glad to see 90's superhero comics get some love and critical attention!
Since I can respect your opinion, here is my own image comics founders list and that is…
No.7-Jim Valentino
No.6-Whilce Portacio
No.5-Rob Liefeld
No.4-Marc Silvestri
No.3-Erik Larsen
No.2-Jim Lee
And last but not least my favorite artist and image founder of all time is…
No.1-Todd McFarlane
So that’s my list on who I would rate in my image founders list.
I dont share your order, but I respected. Mine is Silvestri first and second Larsen with Jim Lee. Respect to all Image founders anyway.
Great video, appreciate you sharing it!
Suddenly have a desire to read Shadow Hawk…
My order would be
1) Silvestri
2) Lee
3) McFarlane
4) Portacio
5) Valentino
6) Larsen
7) Liefeld
note, it was very close between Silvestri and Lee, as it was between Portacio and Valentino.
Perfect ranking bruv
Great show guys, thank you
yea id say you nailed the top 3 even though i would switch them into different orders depending what comics of theirs we were lookin at
Thanks a ton, this was super helpful!
👊Respect👊
I'm obsessed with early Leifeld energy and style. I love the awkwardness and grit
absolutly agree about Silvestri. I reread the first Cyberforce Miniseries and it is still (visual) amazing
For me it's:
1. Jim Lee
2. Marc Silvestri
3. Todd MacFarlane
4. Erik Larsen
5. Whilce Portacio
6. Rob Liefeld
7. Jim Valentino
Jim Lee’s work on Deathblow is incredible….my fav all time image artist tho is Sam Keith…Maxxxxx forverrrrr best image character and illustrations they’re so organic yet off the wall he had the most unique style
Stylistically I’ve always loved Todd McFarlane. His work was so dynamic and fluid. I love Jim Lee for his aesthetic physiques with nice proportions. You can see either one of these two on TH-cam doing live sketches and its amazing how naturally they are. Rob Liefield 🤮
Jim Lee's live sketch is still mind-blowing to me. Todd's live sketch is also great.
Greatest Comicbook Artists to me, from greatest to just pretty good, were; Art Adams, J.Scott Campbell, Jim Lee, Marc Silverstri, Todd Mc Farlane, Rob Liefeld..
Nobody draws Colossus and Archangel like Portacio !
I was kind of wowed by the KISS reference- my favorite band - and right after you put Liefeld ahead of Lee. I think Jim Lee was the best of the original Image artists, Loved Rob when he came out and fell out of favor with him but watching videos of him he definitely made a mark- and not just sales wise. Great stories about his family life