Five Comic Book Artists I DON'T Like

Over the last decades there have been many artists who have worked on Comic Books. Some are amazing, like Alex Ross, and transcend the medium with their art style. Then there are others…I just don’t like it. One of the great things about comic books and why I think they endure, is the disagreeing. Kids disagree on which superhero is better. Adults disagree on which company makes the better books. And in that vein, artwork can also be subjective. Here now are five famous artists that I simply DO NOT like. I am sure they are great people and have legions of fans for their work, I simply am not one of them.

Ranked in order of artists I admire even if I don’t like their style to artists I have no use for. Period.




Gil Kane



Yeah this is a big one. He was huge working on Superman, Atom, and Green Lantern just to name three. Not to mention his Marvel work. He was around for ages until he passed away in 2000. It’s his Superman that is best known to me. He was one of the definitive artists of the Silver Age and worked everywhere. And while I have happily read the stories he has drawn, I really have to admit I am just not crazy about his work. The way he draws characters they look more like cartoons than people. And there have been one or two stories where his style was even distracting for me. It’s hard explain but it’s kind of noisy artwork and it gives me a headache. Plus the characters look awful. I respect the guy he’s done amazing work, a lot of which I enjoy, but I am not a fan.






Alan Davis

More known for his Marvel work I think, he had a run at DC working on Detective Comics and Batman and the Outsiders. And this is probably the Batman artist I just can’t get behind. Again, he makes the characters more cartoonish than real people. It’s not a bad style at all the artwork is clean and all. And it doesn’t hurt the story for me like it tends to with Kane. It’s one case where I just do not enjoy it because it’s so different that I can’t help but be distracted by how different it is. Maybe it’s because I just prefer Jim Aparo’s smoother style, he as always the best Batman artist in my book.




Keith Giffen

Yeah, this one is another big one. I like Giffen as a writer, he really knows how to make his characters sound like people. As an artist….no. He has a very blocky style and then uses shades of black to make the mood so grim and dark. The only time I thought it worked was in the Dr.Fate mini series back in the 80’s. The artwork really matched the tone of the book. And it works when he draws Darkseid and Ambush Bug. But elsewhere, the style does not work for me. He was influenced by Jack Kirby which I totally see, but Kirby’s artwork worked for me while Giffen’s just never did. And from what I read his style has evolved and improved, but man his earlier stuff is just awful to me. I hated it long before I realized who he was.




Jim Balant

The three previous artists are on here because I have seen their work and just didn’t enjoy it. Here is one who is on here on the basis of reputation since I am not sure I have read much of his stuff. He mostly worked on Catwoman and if you watch AT4W you know where I am going with this guy. This guy eventually went to work in porn, and that’s no surprise the way he drew Catwoman. Let’s just say he tends to draw female’s as….well, go check it out. I am all for strong women as superheroes but to be sexualized the way Balant draws them is not acceptable to me. Massive, perfectly spherical breasts and ridiculous waists….no. Just NO. I have no respect for this guy and have said all I need to.




Rob Liefeld

How in the world could this guy not be on a list like this? What kind of artist makes it big in comics when they can’t even draw feet correctly? Rob Liefeld seems to take everything bad about the other four and combine them into pure awfulness. If you need to know more just check it out his run of Youngblood for Image comics. He is a horrible writer but the first crime is that he can’t draw to save his life. He can’t do eyes that look normal. He also can’t draw women. I mean give Balant some credit, at least they look normal people. Oh sure they are perfect but still, they have normal waists that don’t turn in 180 degree angles! Liefled has a blocky style and uses ink marks all over the place for no reason. And his character designs are all rehash! I mean how many Wolverine knock off’s has this guy made? The only work of his I think I read was a Hawk & Dove mini series in the 80’s, and honestly it was OK. But since then his reputation, and his artwork, has become infamous.




Of course there are plenty of artists I love like Perez, Ditko, Byrne, Swan, Lee, and so forth. And I tried to find one female to list, but for some reason there don’t seem to be many female artists which is a real shame. And you may think some are missing like Frank Miller, who I hate more as a writer than an artist though his art style is awful. So pls comment and let me know what you think.