Artist LinkBlogDumpingGround or… If You Date a Butcher Long Enough, You’ll End Up Eating Steak

I guess this pop culture hangover I gave myself all started when I set out to update some of the links over there, but invariably it took on a life of its own. Initially, I was just going to include some links (one or two!) to the artists I really like. No, the ones I really like. The ones who would make me buy whatever book they were working on with whatever character, with whatever writer, from whatever company. Like the ones who are so good that the story content doesn’t matter; they’re so good that their mere name on a project necessitates an instant purchase.

Me, I naturally tend to gravitate more toward strong writing being the primary hook for a book since I like to call myself a writer. But I felt like I had that covered. You know, you’ve got your Brian Wood, your Jason Aaron, your Warren Ellis, your Antony Johnston, and your Joe Casey. Those types. I think I have these guys covered with all of the ink I sling at them here. If they were “my” writers, then who were “my” artists? I started making a list.

Keep in mind, please, that I’m not trying to create some all encompassing definitive list of the “best” artists who ever dared to dream in the field of comic books, so relax if I didn’t include someone. Yes, I like Jack Kirby and Gil Kane too. Promise. These are just the guys that really do it for me, y’know? They have a body of work that I currently enjoy, the ones I feel have legs in the industry, something important to say or a particularly stylistic way of saying it. The ones I follow. The ones I consider myself a fan of. The list is likely to grow, but at the moment, these are the guys I keep my eye on and basically plunk down money for - no questions asked. Official site links included where possible:

JH Williams III
Paul Pope
Cliff Chiang
John Cassaday
Nathan Fox
Jim Rugg
Joe Sacco
Jason Shawn Alexander
Christopher Mitten
Dave Gibbons
Travis Charest
David Mack
Ashley Wood
Ryan Kelly
Rafael Grampa
Trevor Alixopulos
Josh Simmons
Farel Dalrymple
Ryan Sook
Frank Quitely
Juan Jose Ryp
Matt Kindt
Danijel Zezelj
Jessica Abel
Gianni Pacinotti (aka: Gipi)
Geoff Darrow
Gary Panter