 |
| Cover art by Arthur Adams, Tad Ehrlich, and Todd Klein |
That's when I realized that deadlines were more important to big comics publishers than consistent art and that writers were thought of as more of a draw than the artists that attracted me to the books I liked. At that time I was seeking out something new as a comic book reader. I wasn't happy with what I saw happening at DC and Marvel and I was growing out of most of the material they published.
Initially the superhero comics I bought every month were replaced by Japanese comics and trade paperbacks collecting old North American comics. Manga satisfied my craving for consistent art over the course of long serialized stories but I struggled to find American adventure comics that satisfied the same desire. One of the handful of series that captivated me was Saga of the Swamp Thing. Those six paperbacks collected a long run of stories by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben, Rick Veitch, and Alfredo Alcala along with a number of other guest artists. I was confronted with the same situation, one writer and a revolving series of artists but it never bothered me.
There are a few reasons why those comics worked for me. Bissette, Totleben, Veitch, and Alcala may have had styles that could easily be distinguished from one another but there were qualities that unified them. All four artists employed similar storytelling devices and placed a lot of emphasis on texture. There were also plenty of issues where some combination of those creators collaborated on the art, resulting in a unified look for the series. Then there are the guest artists. Many of them were able to seamlessly blend in thanks to inks provided by Totleben or Alcala but even when they didn't blend in, like Shawn McManus, Moore played to these artist's strengths in the stories that were provided to them. I actually decided to revisit this series recently and there are a few of issues where a guest artist looks out of place but they are an infrequent enough occurrence that I'm still comfortable rating that whole run pretty highly, at least within it's niche.
Tom Strong features another smart solution to the problem of a large number of collaborators. Chris Sprouse continues to be the lead artist, rendering the present day adventures of our titular hero but starting with issue number 4, we start to see back-up features drawn by guest artists. These so-called Untold Tales of Tom Strong illuminate the history of the characters and settings of the main plot. The different art styles serve as a visual cue that we are seeing events from another time.
 |
| Chris Sprouse and Art Adams side by side with assistance from Al Gordon, Tad Ehrlich, and Todd Klein |
Tom Strong #4 (October 1999) was written by Alan Moore with art by Chris Sprouse, Al Gordon, and Tad Ehrlich as well as lettering by Todd Klein. The Untold Tale of Tom Strong contains additional art by Arthur Adams
Strongmen of America - Revisiting Tom Strong
The current Mighty Thor is getting around artist fatigue in a similar way. While, yes, there have been a couple of fill-in issues with art that did not measure up to Russell Dauterman's amazing regular work, more often different artists render different times and places. So for example, re-telling of old legends of Thor or Loki in vikings days (that serve as flashbacks) are in a rawer style by a guest artist.
ReplyDeleteAlso, sometimes (as you suggested) consistent inkers and colorists can create a greater sense of visual continuity even when the pencils are done by a fill-in person.