Comics Todd McFarlane's artwork was AWFUL

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I've heard for years now about how wonderful Todd's artwork was and how revolutionary he was to the business and yesterday, I came across Todd McFarlane: Legends Vol 3 which is a TPB of his final issues on ASM. It was a cheap price so I got it. I read the whole thing and I gotta know, what on earth was so great about this guy. I thought his artwork stank. Yeah, his Spider Man was cool with the webbing and poses but that's it and that was by no means revolutionary. All of his human faces were so terrible. Peter and the rest of the cast all look really REALLY ugly with the freaky eyes, nose and mouths. Way too cartoony and bizarre. And after awhile, looking at his art became nauseating, it's got that effect. What do you guys think?

 

[Cyclops]

I never liked Todd's style. His people have potatoes for heads.

 

[matthooper]

I always loved McFarlane's style. It just seemed to really come to life.

For the complete opposite, there seems to be so much love for Alex Ross. I never liked his work. It had no life and no soul.

 

[Doc Destruction]

Well, he DID revolutionize the way people drew Spidey's webs, and the way he sits all creepy and spider-like. The poses were fresh and new. The over-sized eyes were him, too.

 

[Themanofbat]

The thing I always remember about Todd's work on ASM was while he was drawing cool Spidey poses, the backgrounds were empty many times.

The man could do fantastic poses, but he's a sh***tty storyteller with his artwork.

 

[The Lizard]

The man could do fantastic poses, but he's a sh***tty storyteller with his artwork.

Indeed.

I recently went back and looked at my copy of ASM #299, from when McFarlane first took over, and compared it to his work on his own Spider-Man title from two years later. He had some unique stylings that worked, but his backgrounds and anatomy just got too inconsistant in quality.

Plus, as writer he kinda sucked.

 

[Citizen_Kaine]

His human characters all looked weird, but his hero's and villians were awesome

 

[wolvie2020]

I always loved McFarlane's style. It just seemed to really come to life.

For the complete opposite, there seems to be so much love for Alex Ross. I never liked his work. It had no life and no soul.

Hey, exactly the same as me!!!

Don't get me wrong, I know that Ross has mad skills, I just hate his execution. And he makes everyone look fat, ESPECIALLY Batman

There's no need to talk about McFarlane again, we just had a mssive thread about this. Tons of us got majorly into comics, and became artists, because of Todd. That's a fact.

Some people who find him now, don't get it, others never did, and that's fine. I sometimes liken it to when people aren't impressed by some other classics... I sometimes hear people say funny things Romita Sr. Some people say it was good for it'stime, but art has changed now. You could say that about Todd, I mean, his Spider-Man classics etc. were 20 years ago now.

He did revolutionise the ENTIRE look, feel, everything about Spider-Man. And his style is SUPPOSED to be exagerrated at points. I get really irritated when people say that as it's a bad thing. IT'S THE STYLE. It's supposed to make impact... That's the beauty of comics. Look at Sam Keith, Bill Sienkiwicz, Gabrielle Dell 'Otto, amazing work! And the point it TO BE more exagerrated than others, and in some cases straight up abstract.

Has no one ever been to a contemporary art exhibition? Or a classic abstract exhibition? Or an art museum full stop?? If everyone drew the same, it'd be boring. I really appreciate people who push the fold and experiment, and try new things, it's brave. Rather than churn out the same ol' safe options.

Jack Kirby had many little anatomic little problems, but that didn't matter, the feeling you got when looking at it was amazing. I'm not sayong Todd is in the same league as Kirby, but they are both big time pioneers.

Todd McFarlane's style caused a massive choas when he first jumped on Spidey, and IMO, his art constantly improved until he stopped drawing. His art fit with the times... And to this day, I think he was a great storyteller, (visually, I don't think he became a really good writer until Spawn #12.)

But if you want to gage Todd's work, look at some of the latest stuff he has done. He still has mad talent that can compare to any of the big leagues now.

But at the end of the day, taste is like ********, everyone has one.

 

[Kevin]

Mcfarlane is my all time favorite Amazing Spider-man artist. Yeah, his human's looked different, but they were unique in my eyes. Spidey was Kool as hell, and the webs were over the top and fantastic. There was so much of it.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Hey, exactly the same as me!!!

Don't get me wrong, I know that Ross has mad skills, I just hate his execution. And he makes everyone look fat, ESPECIALLY Batman

There's no need to talk about McFarlane again, we just had a mssive thread about this. Tons of us got majorly into comics, and became artists, because of Todd. That's a fact.

Some people who find him now, don't get it, others never did, and that's fine. I sometimes liken it to when people aren't impressed by some other classics... I sometimes hear people say funny things Romita Sr. Some people say it was good for it'stime, but art has changed now. You could say that about Todd, I mean, his Spider-Man classics etc. were 20 years ago now.

He did revolutionise the ENTIRE look, feel, everything about Spider-Man. And his style is SUPPOSED to be exagerrated at points. I get really irritated when people say that as it's a bad thing. IT'S THE STYLE. It's supposed to make impact... That's the beauty of comics. Look at Sam Keith, Bill Sienkiwicz, Gabrielle Dell 'Otto, amazing work! And the point it TO BE more exagerrated than others, and in some cases straight up abstract.

Has no one ever been to a contemporary art exhibition? Or a classic abstract exhibition? Or an art museum full stop?? If everyone drew the same, it'd be boring. I really appreciate people who push the fold and experiment, and try new things, it's brave. Rather than churn out the same ol' safe options.

Jack Kirby had many little anatomic little problems, but that didn't matter, the feeling you got when looking at it was amazing. I'm not sayong Todd is in the same league as Kirby, but they are both big time pioneers.

Todd McFarlane's style caused a massive choas when he first jumped on Spidey, and IMO, his art constantly improved until he stopped drawing. His art fit with the times... And to this day, I think he was a great storyteller, (visually, I don't think he became a really good writer until Spawn #12.)

But if you want to gage Todd's work, look at some of the latest stuff he has done. He still has mad talent that can compare to any of the big leagues now.

But at the end of the day, taste is like ********, everyone has one.

Agreed, 100%...

 

[iloveclones]

Regardless of how you feel about the Toddster's art, he definately energized the title.

 

[Themanofbat]

Regardless of how you feel about the Toddster's art, he definately energized the title.

Yep... he sure did.

I liked his art style.... I just wish he put some more effort into backgrounds...

And, as I mentioned before, his storytelling was not as good as it should have been.

Just my two cents...

 

[USMC]

McFarlane's art is horrible, IMO. Never liked it, probably never will...

My all time favorite comic artists are Erik Larsen, Mark Bagley, Michael Turner, and Jim Lee...

 

[matthooper]

I just hate his execution. And he makes everyone look fat, ESPECIALLY Batman

So true. Have you seen some of Ross's Superman drawings? He once gave him man boobs and a gut.

To me Mcfarlane's work was just so electric. The pages were almost animated.

 

[KingOfDreams]

McFarlane really did bring the pages to life in my opinion.

 

[ragdus]

So true. Have you seen some of Ross's Superman drawings? He once gave him man boobs and a gut.

This?

 

[matthooper]

This?

That's one of them. I have seen other equally bad ones. I once saw one with man boobs and a gut. It was priceless. At least in the one you posted, he doesn't look too fat. I have seen him look just plain fat in some Ross stuff.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

I've heard for years now about how wonderful Todd's artwork was and how revolutionary he was to the business and yesterday, I came across Todd McFarlane: Legends Vol 3 which is a TPB of his final issues on ASM. It was a cheap price so I got it. I read the whole thing and I gotta know, what on earth was so great about this guy. I thought his artwork stank. Yeah, his Spider Man was cool with the webbing and poses but that's it and that was by no means revolutionary. All of his human faces were so terrible. Peter and the rest of the cast all look really REALLY ugly with the freaky eyes, nose and mouths. Way too cartoony and bizarre. And after awhile, looking at his art became nauseating, it's got that effect. What do you guys think?

i love todd macfarlanes artwork on amazing spiderman, his venom is the best venom there ever was, macfarlane created a spiderman villian that was amazing, aplause to you todd macfarlane.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

i love todd macfarlanes artwork on amazing spiderman, his venom is the best venom there ever was, macfarlane created a spiderman villian that was amazing, aplause to you todd macfarlane.

Agreed, but let's also give love to Venom's co-creator, David Michelinie.

 

[Dragon]

This?

Oh come now. You people don't get that Ross is emulating the movie/tv Supermen of the 40's & 50's with the padded muscle suits? You don't really think this is how he handles human anatomy, do you?

 

[Themanofbat]

i love todd macfarlanes artwork on amazing spiderman, his venom is the best venom there ever was, macfarlane created a spiderman villian that was amazing, aplause to you todd macfarlane.

Let's just say that McFarlane drew Venom very well, but had NOTHING to do with his creation.

Agreed, but let's also give love to Venom's co-creator, David Michelinie.

You mean Venom's SOLE creator.

Micheline wrote Web of Spider-Man #18, which shows Eddie Brock's hand pushing Peter in front of the subway undetected by his spider sense. He wrote this in late 1986. That book was drawn by Marc Silvestri. The other pre-McFarlane appearance of Venom/Eddie Brock was in Web of... #24, in early 1987 and drawn by Len Kaminski.

It would be another year when Michelinie and then Spider-Editor Jim Salicrup got together to discuss ASM #300. Michelinie brought up the idea of the symbiote character (there was some debate between the two over the gender of the villain) and Venom was born.

The description of the character & the plot for issues #298 to 300 were all done before McFarlane was assigned to draw the book.

David Michelinie... SOLE creator of Venom.

Todd McFarlane... great Venom artist.

 

[Themanofbat]

McFarlane's art is horrible, IMO. Never liked it, probably never will...

My all time favorite comic artists are Erik Larsen, Mark Bagley, Michael Turner, and Jim Lee...

It's funny that you say that because I thought of Larsen as a McFarlane wanna-be when he became the new ASM artist after Todd.

And Larsen's artwork on ASM is some of the WORST art this book has ever seen, imo.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Let's just say that McFarlane drew Venom very well, but had NOTHING to do with his creation.



You mean Venom's SOLE creator.

Micheline wrote Web of Spider-Man #18, which shows Eddie Brock's hand pushing Peter in front of the subway undetected by his spider sense. He wrote this in late 1986. That book was drawn by Marc Silvestri. The other pre-McFarlane appearance of Venom/Eddie Brock was in Web of... #24, in early 1987 and drawn by Len Kaminski.

It would be another year when Michelinie and then Spider-Editor Jim Salicrup got together to discuss ASM #300. Michelinie brought up the idea of the symbiote character (there was some debate between the two over the gender of the villain) and Venom was born.

The description of the character & the plot for issues #298 to 300 were all done before McFarlane was assigned to draw the book.

David Michelinie... SOLE creator of Venom.

Todd McFarlane... great Venom artist.

Actually, David based the idea of Venom on the alien costume, which first appeared in Secret Wars, and was a concept of Jim Shooter's to begin with, so that hardly qualifies David as Venom's "sole creator"...i tend to forget that as well..he also borrowed from PAD 's Sin Eater storyline...


David asked Todd for a "big guy in a black suit"...

Todd came back with the muscular, grinning, psycho we all know and love today...

Isn't visualization a big part of creativity?

 

[SpideyInATree]

I've heard for years now about how wonderful Todd's artwork was and how revolutionary he was to the business and yesterday, I came across Todd McFarlane: Legends Vol 3 which is a TPB of his final issues on ASM. It was a cheap price so I got it. I read the whole thing and I gotta know, what on earth was so great about this guy. I thought his artwork stank. Yeah, his Spider Man was cool with the webbing and poses but that's it and that was by no means revolutionary. All of his human faces were so terrible. Peter and the rest of the cast all look really REALLY ugly with the freaky eyes, nose and mouths. Way too cartoony and bizarre. And after awhile, looking at his art became nauseating, it's got that effect. What do you guys think?

People are pretty mixed on the guy when it comes to his artwork. Though whether you want to believe it or not the guy really did revoluationize the way people drew in the very late 80's and early 90's, especially the way Spider-Man was drawn. Without guys like Todd we probably wouldn't have a guy like Mark Bagley.

 

[Themanofbat]

Actually, David based the idea of Venom on the alien costume, which first appeared in Secret Wars, and was a concept of Jim Shooter's to begin with, so that hardly qualifies David as Venom's "sole creator"...i tend to forget that as well..he also borrowed from PAD 's Sin Eater storyline...


David asked Todd for a "big guy in a black suit"...

Todd came back with the muscular, grinning, psycho we all know and love today...

Isn't visualization a big part of creativity?

Sure... but I always thought that Venom's description was plotted out between Saliscrup and Michelinie, and Todd was simply told "how" to draw him.

Not really a creator credit....