The other 3... (Marvel UK art question)

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 10:36 am

Senior was the man to watch at the time, but which of these other 3 artists (who noone ever talks about, perhaps with good reason) during the mid-period UK run did the best job?

Post by **snarl** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 12:11 pm

I actually really like Wil Simpson.

Sorry, but afaic Anderson was a bit pish, his TF's most closely resembled boxes, not very dynamic either.

Compare the first and second parts of Prey, imo Simpsons first issue is way better then Anderson's second. Simpson was good. It was gritty (Check Distant Thunder), and his characters struck a nice balance between toy resemblance and artistic licence. His characters were proportional and were dynamic. Simpson had quite a lot of the early Cybertronian based stories and I always liked the 'bombed out city' art involved.

IMO, he's only overlooked because his association with TFs finished way before the end of the comic.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 12:30 pm

Yeah, I loved the way Simpson's stuff could be so gritty (Christmas Breaker, Distant Thunder are good examples) but I'd say Anderson's Target 2006 work is better than Simpson's, and Dry Run is great. Also the Anderson/Baskerville team up often looked nice.

Legion · Post by **Legion** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 12:51 pm

hmmm... i think i'm going to have to go with Mr Anderson on this.
Will Simpson's art never did it for me, and although i do think his work was much more dynamic, Anderson's had a better quality to it i think...
Dan Reed, oh dear, his work, whilst generally very good and detailed and dynamic, didn't really suit TFs... far too bendy!! although i'm sure he would absolutely rock on Beast Wars/Machines!!!

Post by **snarl** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 1:27 pm

Heathens!

Well, I afaik, Simpson was nicked by 2000AD off the strength of his TF art work?

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 3:40 pm

i like reed in places

Blacksword · Post by **Blacksword** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:10 pm

I have to go with Simpson. His art has a powerful dynamic quality, as well as being gritty while still being easily decipherable. Anderson's work while nice is too antiseptic and rigid. Simpson's stuff on Dinobot Hunt is sublime at points especially the Snarl issue, which he was ideal for.

Post by **snarl** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:18 pm

spiderfrommars wrote:Yeah, I loved the way Simpson's stuff could be so gritty (Christmas Breaker, Distant Thunder are good examples) but I'd say Anderson's Target 2006 work is better than Simpson's, and Dry Run is great. Also the Anderson/Baskerville team up often looked nice.

I disagree about 2006, I thought Simpsons was better stuff to be honest. Agree about Dry Run, although imo tgat was where Anderson peaked and not really endemic to his general body of work. I think he was gifted a good inker and colourist as well, without these his pencils may have suffered. I'm sticking with my Prey example - compare issues my friend!

Simpson's stuff can be a bit busy at times, and the lines are generally not as precise as anderson's - I can appreciate that if this isn't your cup of tea then certain people aren't going to enjoy the art as much as I do.

Read was also good, but as mentioned not best suited to the characters. Still, gotta appreciate that he stuck to his guns re: using his own licence.

BlackZarak · Post by **BlackZarak** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:29 pm

I liked Anderson the best, though many times his figures seemed a bit too blocky or geometrically stiff in action scenes, he still had a good overall feel for TF bodies and depth.

Simpson was alright, but he had issues with depth. Sometime's Prime's head looks like it was smashed flat. I found nothing spectacular about his art.

Reed, though, is one of the TF artists that I dislike the most. His style looks alot like Texiera's from Ghost Rider, which is fine, in and of itself, but doesn't work well with TF. His robots looked way too organic (he made Wildman look like an architect, heh).

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The other 3... (Marvel UK art question)

Who was the best of Geoff Senior's contemporaries?