I draw a little myself, and there are tons of artists I can say were an influence on me , but I have to say, the artists that influenced me most were the Marvel guys from the early 90's -- Sam Keith, Marc Silvestri and especially Alan Davis on Excalibur.

Now that I've read more, I can see how limited someone like Davis is, as Erik Larson says about his work, "Every ass is turned just perfectly, he's not taking any chances." But still, I think there's a tremendous vibrance and vitality in his work, it really instills that superheroic sense of wonder.

Anyway, so Alan Davis is one guy, also Mark Silvestri's X-Men run was pretty phenomenal. He does dark, apocalyptic chaos better than anybody.

i'm from the Silver Age generation myself, and have to say these guys (among others, this is not a complete list by any means) have stood the test of time:

Bernie Wrightson
Michael Golden
Niel Adams
John Buscema
Barry Windsor-Smith

i like different things about each of them... Wrightson for example nailed 'creepy realism' in his comic work, even though some aspects were almost cartoony. his work with Swamp Thing is certainly classic, but even his more recent work holds up such as Frankenstien. Wrightson is perhaps my single all-time favorite comic book artist, and he's certainly the most personable i've ever met.

i discovered Golden as a kid reading the original Micronauts series and immediate fell in love with his style. i admit i am not very familiar with his portfolio as an artist overall, but there is something unique to his style and ability to convey expression that stands out above others. i've read other stuff he's done like some gohst-story comics for DC back in the day but i will forever associate Golden with the Micronauts (#1-12, plus a few ongoing covers).

Niel Adams is a bit lower on my favorites list, but he was the artist on board when i discovered my all-time greatest hero... the Batman. Adams gave Batman a gritty feel, and an sense of realism that was lacking for so long. overall i find Adams hit or miss in a way... not that he's inconsistent, on the contrary Adams' work is very consistent even over the years. what i mean is that there are times when it stands out and makes a mark, and other times it is simply 'genericly' good comic work.

Buscema made the list not because of any particular character or style convention, but the fact he is a solid and consistent artist, and is impossibly prolific. his look defined Marvel's comics through the 70's in the way that Kirby defined the 60's. i don't have any favorite story or character to associate with Buscema, but an incredible amount of respect for his talent. plus i own an original print of HTDCTMW and lived and breathed that book for over a decade.

Windsor-Smith has an almost Art Nouveau slant to his work, his style is definitely his own. his fantasy comics such as Conan are amazing... he has an ability to depict violence and savagery and yet there is a quality of beauty in everything he does. his work on the Machine Man mini-series was very much the same, very beautiful and yet not pretty, strong but not hard.

there are so many others to mention, but i'll leave off with this list as it is. great topic post!

There's no way I could ever pick a favorite; if I did, the answer would be obsolete within days.

That said, I'm really liking the spastic-yet-beautifully-painted work that IDW is giving out, such as Templesmith's Wormwood:

www.videosift.com/video/Wor...-Animation

Art Adams
John Romita Sr
John Romita Jr
Bill Sienkiewicz
Alex Ross
Mike Alred
Mike Mignola
Paolo Rivera
Moebius
Leinil Yu
Frank Quitely
Ben Templesmith
Simone Bianchi
Ashley Wood
Frazer Irving
Jim Cheung
Geof Darrow
Daniel Acuna
.....



I'm certain I could come up with more and agree to a few of yours.

Always been fond of Angel Medina-- Ethan Van Scriver, Frank Quietly, Mike Allred. The more I look at his stuff the more I'm liking Phil Jimenez

Brett Booth

His style is so dynamic he's perfect for action comics...

Walter Simonsen, "Elrich"

I know there is a good chance that I missed it but know one threw Jim Lee out there? Todd Todd McFarlane? Ya, it's kinda the stock answer from and kid who grew up on X-men and Spider-Man in the 90s but come man they where revolutionary. When I was 14 or 15 and I started to develop my style I imitated allot of the manga wonabes like Ramos (If you don't know why go pick up a copy of Crimson, the first 3 are sold but the last one was with less gusto...you can see panel by panel Ramos getting lazier and lazier.) If I had to choose I would have to go with the artist/writer of ether Vagabond or Blade of the Immortal or Berserk , they are all Manga but not the lazy crap you get on Saturday morning cartoons, these guys are gods in my eyes.