Posted 12 Jun 2013 Hey people, I've been wanting to start this for sometime. Here's where we can discuss about all the Archie Sonic artists who've drawn for the comic since the beginning till now. You can list who's your favorite, talk about their latest work and your opinions on each of them. Just talk anything about them. I'll start with who I can remember.. Art Mawhinney - I liked Mawhinney's artwork for the comic as he made everyone resemble their SATam designs. I always preferred him over Dave Manak when the two where the main artists for the series during the classic era. However I felt when the cast was updated to their Sonic Adventure designs he totally didn't fit the comic anymore, even mistakenly drawing Amy and a few others in their older designs at some points. Big blunder. He'll be remembered however for his classic work. Dave Manak - I wasn't really a fan of Dave's artwork but his artwork really had the "Archie" feel as he illustrated the Archie comics of Archie himself. But same as Mawhinney, I felt he didn't fit the book with the characters receiving their updated designs. His artwork got sloppy towards the end of his run. He was still a classic artist, won't forget him. Patrick 'Spaz' - WOW, simply that. Spaz was so awesome when he started out and his covers were so inspiring with all the details. I enjoyed his interior art too, his artwork for the Archives and Selects are like, whoa, he can really do many styles. But spaz fell out of favor when Sonic got his updated design, I think he still did the covers well until issue 89 where Sonic just looks off to me. Despite that I think his covers were fine until issue 100 (except 92 & 99), after that his covers weren't good anymore, he couldn't draw modern Sonic. Spaz didn't get better again until around Ian took over as head writer. His modern Sonic is now acceptable but it doesn't make me go "WOW!" anymore with his covers. I think he's up to do interior art again after seeing his Worlds Collide covers, he seems to have mastered it now but compared to his older artwork, it was much better then. I still mostly enjoy seeing his work however. Sam Maxwell - I actually enjoyed his artwork. He had style and was good with poses and hands but when he first started I found it odd that he drew the characters with blank faces and closed mouths when they were talking or having emotion. He improved to the end of his run and his artwork had more effort and detail. It's a shame he didn't come back after issue 87 as he got much better and I personally would like to see his direction. Maxwell is one of my average artists of Sonic to me. Manny Galan - I was didn't like Galan's work at first as he oddly drew Tails with a neck (LOL) among other awkward stuff. He started to do better after the End Game saga and I particularly enjoyed his work for Knuckles, he felt really suited for it. I suppose the flaw about his work is that he draws awkward mouths or poses. Not a favorite but likeable I would say. Steven Butler - I've enjoyed Butler's artwork all the way except a few issues. This guy's close to my top but not totally. He did a great job when he first started out and I can easily say that his artwork for issues 61 - 75 was his best for the series. After that he added more human proportions to the Sonic cast which I didn't mind but I can understand this is mostly why some people don't like his work. But I totally didn't mind as there was more details. I enjoyed his style until issue 233 where his artwork dropped in quality and I was disappointed. As I continued reading the passing issues I got so sick of his artwork I couldn't wait for Tracey to come back but to my surprise his artwork got good again with the Endangered Species arc. He deserves to stay and I continually enjoy seeing his work. The guy's also good with robots and machinery as one of the positive points. James Fry - I loved his anime style when he first started out. Seeing the Sonic cast in his style gave me a picture of what the archie characters would have looked like if they were in an anime. He does a good job doing interior work with the panel placements. At some points his artwork got real sloppy particularly with the Sonic Adventure Adaption and the Darkest Storm, the former is because the arc was rushed so it was understandable, the latter I felt it that there wasn't much effort but still decent. Overall I enjoyed his animeish work and I wished the guy was still around. Ron Lim - Oh man, the worst regular penciler. Hated this guy's artwork, no offense to anyone but really. Honestly speaking his artwork was actually good when he first started, just a little sloppy. His style was acceptable until issue 100 where it was the point I heavily disliked his artwork, it really got worst as the comic progressed. The only good thing I can say about his work is that he drew human characters well, Nate Morgan, Mecha Robotnik, etc. He just wasn't meant for Sonic but for human comics. If the guy had kept his pervious style I would have enjoyed it, now its just horrid for me to look at. Glad he's gone. Jay Axer - I really, really loved this guy's work for the series and he's one of my top. He really outshined Spaz during the bad period of the comics as Spaz's artwork deteriorated. His details were outstandingly fantastic in every way. I enjoyed all his frontis artwork he did during his run, it was something of the comics I miss and hope to see again. However he sometimes overdid his work with a little too much detail and he was more of an illustrator, that's why he doesn't do well in action poses. But in all honesty, he is the only artist that I felt who deserved to have stayed on. Its one big shame he didn't. A favorite of mine still.. Jonathan Gray - When I first saw Gray's artwork I was like "who is this terrible artist?" That's what I first thought, until I realized this guy really had style. I enjoy his artwork now, I have to admit it was hard for me to take the story seriously with his cartoony style. That's why he does awesome with off-panel! Way past funny guy and his style has improved now, I totally don't mind if he does a backstory once in awhile but I don't think he's suited for main stories. He has many funny panels and expressions in his drawings that make me wanna crack sometimes. He even draws the characters cute looking at times as well, and oh that Tails Doll.. Tracey Yardley - Who doesn't love this guy's art? He was the first inspiration for me when drawing Sonic as an artist. I was so heavily engrossed in his artwork when I got into the comics that I looked at everything he had for inspiration. He really is the artist who does best at expressions, some of the them are so unique I've never seen them before. However recently I feel Tracey's artwork has been real sloppy with issue 236, his covers are also like this. He still does Sonic Universe as awesome as ever and I love his writing. Although being one of my first inspirations in drawing Sonic he isn't my top actually, he used to be but I like Ben Bates' style better now despite similar art. Nonetheless, I still enjoy Tracey's work and he really deserves to stay until the end. He's the one artist whom I don't expect to leave the comic. Ben Bates - This dude is really a professional, I've fallen in love with his artwork when I first read issue 230 mistaking his artwork for Tracey until I realized so. Now I don't understand how I mixed them up. Anyway, checking the back issues he did I was impressed and he is currently one of my top and possibly favorite. I love how he draws everyone in Sega style, it looks so simple yet awesome. I even bought issue 224 after it was long released just for his artwork. He sadly hasn't been doing any interior art for Sonic recently and I'm looking forward to his future work for Worlds Collide and after. The cover of 253 has gotten me so hyped up about him again. I personally prefer him over Tracey but Tracey still does better in expressions. Yup, he's real good, inspiring and a favorite. Jamal Peppers - I didn't really notice Jamal's work for the series as it looked similar to Yardley's style and I thought he had a real problem drawing shapes for some reason. His drawing of heads just look weird. It wasn't until issue 242 with the Olympics that his artwork style changed and it looked real good, even inspiring. His Worlds Collide was amazing and I'm surprised he does Mega Man so well too. I realized his such a good artist and I look forward to him doing more issues, he really needs more spotlight. Evan Stanley - When I first saw her work I thought she had an interesting style, I'm starting to like her work but sometimes she does awkward gestures and her drawing of Sonic's and other's arms look too fat. I'm happy to see her work as the book hasn't had different artist styles in a long time. Tracey, Bates and Jamal's art look too consistent with not really much difference. Her style is unique and suiting for backstories and I'd like to see her do more. Lamar Wells - For me he's average but talented, his pencils always look better than the final inks to me for some reason but he can really draw Sonic and the cast good, although he mostly draws their hands looking too human like and not Sega like. He has a lot of good ideas for Sonic as seen on DA and I want to see him illustrate an issue as I can't really judge now. He's a rising artist and his work is looking good actually, looking forward to his direction. These are the artists who were memorable for me. I'm not even sure who to pick as a favorite, either J.Axer or Ben Bates, I can't even choose!!! Their both awesome! So yes feel free to discuss and agree or disagree but don't turn it into an argument please, you don't have to follow my post style also. Let's hear what everyone has to say on their favorite artists. ;) 1 person likes this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 12 Jun 2013 Good job on the thread, man. I can see you've putten some time in it and I appreciate it. I, in all honesty, don't really have a favorite artist. And I can't name them either, which I'm pretty much ashamed off. I really like the artstyle being used at comic 175 and so on. If I'm correct those comics are drawn by Tracey Yardley. It looks really great. Patrick Spaz is a really good artist too, I really enjoyed the comics he made. (and can draw pretty hilarious situations too at the same time). Hopefully I'm not confused with Jon Gray now but hey, you know who I mean right? :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 13 Jun 2013 Good job on the thread, man. I can see you've putten some time in it and I appreciate it. I, in all honesty, don't really have a favorite artist. And I can't name them either, which I'm pretty much ashamed off. I really like the artstyle being used at comic 175 and so on. If I'm correct those comics are drawn by Tracey Yardley. It looks really great. Patrick Spaz is a really good artist too, I really enjoyed the comics he made. (and can draw pretty hilarious situations too at the same time). Hopefully I'm not confused with Jon Gray now but hey, you know who I mean right? :D No problem, I look forward to more discussion and I'd like to hear what everyone's opinions are. ;) That post took me an hour or so, haha. Yes its Tracey Yardley, he started doing it since issue 160. Hmm.. I think you meant Jon Gray cause he's the only one who does funny and cartoony work while Patrick Spaz does realistic and detailed art. Cause Spaz's art was never funny you just go "WOW" cause it looks so awesomely detailed. Maybe I should post up sample work from each artist since I can understand most people are not familar with their names but I'll have to gather up alot of images with the best examples first. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 13 Jun 2013 No problem, I look forward to more discussion and I'd like to hear what everyone's opinions are. ;) That post took me an hour or so, haha. Yes its Tracey Yardley, he started doing it since issue 160. Hmm.. I think you meant Jon Gray cause he's the only one who does funny and cartoony work while Patrick Spaz does realistic and detailed art. Cause Spaz's art was never funny you just go "WOW" cause it looks so awesomely detailed. Maybe I should post up sample work from each artist since I can understand most people are not familar with their names but I'll have to gather up alot of images with the best examples first. If that would be possible, please go ahead. Unfortunately, the forum doesn't allow you to put that many media in one post so you might prefer using links, which is an easier way at the same time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 13 Jun 2013 If that would be possible, please go ahead. Unfortunately, the forum doesn't allow you to put that many media in one post so you might prefer using links, which is an easier way at the same time. Oh really? I didn't know that, thanks! I'll edit my post and place up links but I'll be overseas next week so I don't think I have enough time now. Busy with studies and work also. I'll update soon... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 17 Jun 2013 Yardey or Bates would have to be my favorites. Spaz is great but he never does much work in the comics which kind of sucks. Still Anybody is better than Rom Lim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 29 Nov 2014 Most of the artists are pretty good (notable examples being Tracy Yardley, of course, and more recently, Jennifer Hernandez), but when the artists were bad, they were really bad. Ron Lim's art made everybody's spines impossibly long, and proportions were completely out of whack. I really didn't care for Jon Gray's art. His anime-esque art style really didn't fit the series, and at it's worst characters seemed to be melting. James Fry's art had similar problems to Jon Gray's. Style doesn't fit the book and characters look very unnatural at times, with massive heads and eyes and comparatively tiny bodies. Most everyone else has been pretty good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 30 Nov 2014 I actually enjoy Gray's style. I really like the quirky, anime-esque look of it. As for Lim, I can wholeheartedly agree. Expressionless is just the start of what makes his work look bad. It's right up there with Many Hands and Penders for worst art of the comic. I can only imagine the true joy readers felt back in 2006 when they first saw Yardley's debut right after seeing the last Lim pencilled issue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 30 Nov 2014 I will give Gray some credit by saying his art now is pretty good, and he did have a few good panels in his time with the Sonic comics, but for the most part I feel his work on Sonic wasn't very good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 20 Jan 2015 I actually like all of the different styles. New and old. More manga..ish. and the "normal" Sonic style. Though my favorite's are probably: Patrick Spaz, Steven Butler, James Fry, Ben Bates and Tracey Yardley. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 20 Jan 2015 (edited) What about Ken Penders and his "fantastic" techniques? He did do some art before 160... Also, to talk about Jon Lim, he does humans well... but not so much anthropomorphic animals, which he makes square double eyes... Warning, large images... Edited 20 Jan 2015 by James Petitious Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 20 Jan 2015 What about Ken Penders and his "fantastic" techniques? He did do some art before 160... Also, to talk about Jon Lim, he does humans well... but not so much anthropomorphic animals, which he makes square double eyes... Warning, large images... Yeah, Penders also had some pretty poor art, though he usually did a good job on colors and inks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 21 Jan 2015 Also, to talk about Jon Lim, he does humans well... but not so much anthropomorphic animals, which he makes square double eyes... Warning, large images... But you see the differences on the dog: He is more painted in a "realistic form" not in the one we know from the Sonic the Hedgehog or Mega Man issues. I have a bad feeling when they try to start to draw animals from this realistic way to the Archie Comic-style. Btw: Nova FTW! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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