Illustrator Reacts to Comic Book Artists' Style Evolutions

[@Raging_Asura]

If you do another one of these, you should really look at how Hirohiko Araki's art style has evolved over the past 30+ years. Like... wow

[@PopCross]

I actually thought about it for this ep, but just talked about him in the last episde (or maybe 2 eps ago? I forget) but you're totally right!!!

[@janosd4nuke]

@@PopCross that, and generally style evolutions on longform manga. The whole theme, and especially Miller's blank white background for emphasis I just kept thinking on Kubo Tite (Bleach).

[@AaronMorel01]

PopCross Studios If you do talk about Araki again, you should probably bring up his drastic art style shift throughout Diamond is Unbreakable.

[@joeybutbaldy]

From buff dudes to thin beautiful men

[@lalboimanlun1230]

I second this.

[@aguy1272]

This video is kinda like when I flip through my sketchbook and see my art evolve, super satisfying

[@PopCross]

Yesss! I love doing that! I have my last 20 years of sketchbooks sitting in my closet and love flipping back to the old ones XP

[@artsybiblenerd7416]

So I'm not the only one.

[@robocop8569]

And hella cringey

[@thrillaart7395]

@ 6:15 she has YOUR haircut! I found that funny 😄

[@PopCross]

Hahahah I was totally thinking that in editing XP

[@genericbunnygirl1510]

I really needed to hear the professional artist and clients willingness to pay. Thank you :) i feel like a fake often for not drawing as well as my mates and still getting paid. You should consider videos talking about people who excel at different aspects of comics, like best panel layouts, best use of text bubbles, best use of color, ect ect. Id love to see that!

[@PopCross]

Ooooh I do like that idea! I'll have to do some more research. Admittedly panel layout isn't something I'm super knowledgable about which is why I haven't talked about it as much, but learning some stuff to broaden the topics for the vid eventually! Also I'm really glad that clients paying bit was helpful! It's so easy to look at artists like Jae Lee, Lim Lee, any of the bigs really and go 'Oh I'm not that good so I won't make it' when really you can make a living with pretty low quality art (like I was ding for most of my career XP) You just have to be better than the average person and apply to a LOT of jobs :P At least that's what worked for me!

[@Dragnfly_mynamewastaken]

As somebody who commissions a lot of art, I can say that many times style can speak stronger than skill in so far as if your style is what the client is looking for. In the case of big long-term projects (bigger than I deal with but hopefully someday...) it's beneficial that the client gets somebody who's still got a lot of room to grow affordably and isn't already a legendary-quality-but-charges-$2000-per-piece artist (so long as they're easy to work with and not some drama queen nutjob). This way, the artist grows while absorbing the mentality of what the client wants. They become the master of the project's style because they grew it themselves.

[@jamesdent9057]

If you’re gonna do a part 2, I’d recommend Humberto Ramos and Jrjr

[@carlb5558]

Good recommendation. I may be in the minority but hate JRjr's "evolved" style. He was better 25-30 yrs ago under the house style. His art now just looks like lazy breakdowns, imho.

[@fynnthefox9078]

I love Humberto Ramos's art. It's very cartoony and manga-esc

[@jamesdent9057]

Carl Bryson I feel like he peaked around the 90s. I don’t think his modern stuff has been awful, but it looks pretty rough compared to what came before

[@milocibelli5391]

@@carlb5558 I totally loved JRJR's older art like The Man Without Fear, but his recent stuff just looks so awkward and bad.

[@rustonfritcher8280]

Terry Dodson is another that changed a bit too.

[@PopCross]

Wanna watch (or re-watch :P) the Illustrator Reacts Series?! Playlist is right here: kzbin.info/aero/PLItBjti8LwWFWSh4YKVeXaM9550Ktkov6 Also Community Redraw for September comes out MONDAY!!!

[@anj2099]

In miller's case complete devolution. That includes his writing.

[@milocibelli5391]

It's a bit sad. His old stuff is some of my favorite comic writing and art, but TDKSA (and future stuff) is just incomparable.

[@aderemiporsche]

The law of diminishing returns. Simple as that.

[@mellowcorpsep6665]

i like the art in tdksa. it was refreshing to my eyes after a lot of superhero stuff that looked way too similar. but not even i can defend the story lol

[@unknownuser8967]

He is comic's own Benjamin Button. In the 80s he wrote some of the most adult comics ever. Now? THE GODDAMN BATMAN

[@Marchew1200]

I disagree with the writing part

[@frozone1669]

If you were to do a part 2, I highly recommend looking at Hirohiko arakis work on JoJo, his artstyle from part 1-8 is so drastic. And you can really see him finding his trademark style throughout the parts

[@PopCross]

I totally considered it, but because I talked about him in the last episode I didn't for this one. But if I do another evolution one I probably will because you're right, the style change is pretty crazy to see!!!

[@alfa01spotivo]

@@PopCross please do another man, i loved this video

[@redhood9432]

DO PART 2!!!I REALLY LIKE THIS!!!

[@allendrake6960]

Yessss! You looked at Jae Lee's stuff! :D It's a real treat to see you react to both his older and modern style. Looking forward to your next video!

[@caballerosalas]

I really liked this video. Seeing how an artist evolve is one of the most fascinating thing ever.

[@morodaye1417]

It' interesting in manga, where a single series can have long runs, to watch an artists style evolve. Bleach, for instance, started out with super rough character designs and ended with very sharp character designs.

[@zxr9291]

bleach's art gets worse through the manga though

[@randominternetweirdo5479]

I was hoping to hear you talk about Mike Dedato jr in this episode, his style changed between 90s and 2000s.

[@trueshy]

George Perez peaked in the 80s. I don't really care much for his art in 2020. He used to be my favorite artist.

[@randominternetweirdo5479]

@@trueshy I did not mention him, but he's one of those who stayed mostly consistent with their art style ever since their old work.

[@Pyro-Moloch]

I feel like Frank Miller has been really trying to distill superheroes to their very core attributes and possibly emulate the effect that ancient/medieval art has on us today. As you mentioned, his art often looked like silhouettes, but that's exactly how ancient and medieval art looks. And it's not an experiment, because he keeps drawing in this style to this day. Although now the inkers and colorists make his art look much more volumetric, so that effect is gone completely.

[@wyattberens3545]

This is a very cool idea for a video! I’m glad more people are starting to watch your videos. You deserve all the subscribers! Every single one of them

[@PopCross]

Thank you so much!! Feels really good that the work is paying! Glad you enjoy the vids!!! 😁😁

[@loohole81]

Interesting to see the influences of abstract, renaissance and pop art etc in these comic book artists work. To all comic book artists that experiment, explore and evolve, they deserve credit but more credit is due to the comic book artists that try and push these attributes harder.

[@imjtash]

love this channel. it's both honest and kind to the artist, which seems unusual on the internet these days. keep up the great work.

[@PopCross]

Thanks so much!! Will do 😁😁

[@extremeseanx]

I literally watch all your videos everyday now does that mean I want to be an artist!

[@PopCross]

extremeseanx Hahahah thanks so much! And maybe it does!! It’s a really fun way to make a living if you’re willing to put in the work 😁😁😁

[@extremeseanx]

PopCross Studios thank you I appreciate your response I’ll definitely try to get as good as you

[@TheCeltic1001]

I feel like these videos of yours inspire me most. They show you don’t have to be perfect in the beginning, and they make me think I can be the artist I want to be some day, thank you!

[@MeownimatorRed]

Really enjoyed this video format! I personally don't know too many Illustrators and seeing their styles change is super interesting 👌

[@PopCross]

Thanks so much! I enjoyed going through their history and hoped others would find it cool too! Crazy how much some of them will change!!!

[@christopherlee8989]

It's always enjoyable when artist switches up their style between projects In this case it earned you a new sub

[@MattHalpain]

I enjoyed this version of artists evolution or the artists changing up their style. You introduce me to a lot of comic artists I never knew of.

[@sanny8716]

Ok, but can we talk about how godawful Marvel's digital recoloring of their old comics is?

[@NTEDOG561]

Truue

[@antona.8659]

I bought plenty of Marvel Epic Collection books. The coloring is fine to me. Nice to look at.

[@sanny8716]

@@antona.8659 I mean... I guess if you don't know any better Try to compare it to high quality scans of the original, especially late 60's - 70's Kirby stuff

[@tremblingcolors]

They brighten things way way too much, it drives me crazy.

[@IdiotinGlans]

So is DC's, I'm sitll sick what they done with Killing Joke.

[@entonoa1842]

React to the evolution of Hirohiko Araki's art style, it's absolutely insane how much it changed

[@ditlevbjerregaard571]

hell yeah. part 1 jojo is so different from part 8

[@daikaijuzilla]

I really like this examination of comic professionals and how they improve/evolve over time just like any other artist! Keep em coming!

[@manavshah6831]

One thing is for sure, your style has changed, sososossoso much over only one year, your art has heavily imrpoved in 2021!

[@lachlanrussell18]

I love this so much! So positive, and very interesting. Love seeing a professional talk about what they’re passionate about, especially when I know nothing about it myself

[@pedromendes8021]

This is the best video I've seen in your channel so far! Please, do a part 2!

[@kikoeart3021]

This is great, keep introducing me to all the great comic book artists!

[@Topjaw3]

This was really good! If you do a part 2 I really recommend analyzing at how Kentaro Miura’s art evolved through Berserk!

[@WarriorSmurf]

Frank Miller actually entered the comic business in the late 1970's.

[@Goblingraphx]

This is a really interesting format. Can't wait for the next one.

[@matts3549]

I really liked this one! It was interesting to see the evolutions artists have had and it makes me excited to see where my style goes in the future.

[@altonstanford]

I would really love to see you review Sam Keith, from his days on Sandman to his absolute unit of a Wolverine his style is unmistakable He’s actually putting out some new BatMan stuff too after a long hiatus

[@TheFutureLooksGrimm]

Me too. That would be interesting. I’m currently rereading his 90’s stuff like the Max.

[@31leoceara]

Cool episode! I think you could do more of this with other artists. There are so many of them who changed their style over time.

[@rev8247]

I'm really surprised you didn't talk about Mitch Gerads. He is definitly an artist who would change his style based on the project he's working on. I also suggest looking at Craig Thompson's art and comparing his style on "Blankets" and "Habibi", he goes through major changes just for Habibi. Also I know that you talked about Greg Capullo already, but he went through an interesting style change with his Batman run with Scott Snyder, just compare it to Spawn I guess. Anyways really love your vids on these artist!!!

[@MilitaryRaiden]

On Daredevil Frank Miller was only 22 years old, probably younger than you are today. As you said he singlehandedly saved Daredevil. He could've just rested on his laurels and keep drawing like this on repeat forever. Instead though he drew sur le motif (mainly vistas of New York rooftops) while studying the ukiyo-ē masters of the 18th-19th centuries. This gave us his gradual change in style from the Electra standalone graphic novel to the Sin City series to 300 etc. In the Dark Knight 3 that you're deprecating he really wanted to return to the cartoonish roots of comics - and he succeeded in that. You might not like it but the man dared to subvert his own stellar work again and again, no matter the cost. This takes immense courage and you can actually learn from that: taking actual risks that might ruin you financially or alienate your fans but taking the plunge regardless. Ask yourself this: if you could've ever had the success of Frank Miller, would you dare risk that in any way?

[@robberydraws]

This vid was great. Please do more of the evolution styles.

[@PopCross]

Thanks so much! I'll look through some other artists evolution for some ideas to talk about in another. Trying to come up with a few different formats for this series. Next episode I'm thinking a horror episode because it'll be approaching Halloween :P

[@keithp7794]

I normally hate artist react to other artist's work videos, but yours are always respectful and constructive.

[@Clesterist]

Id really like to see Tim Sale if you end up doing a part 2! Awesome videos!

[@revlismorningstar825]

Your videos are so interesting and give me a lot of insight on artists

[@ME6ATURTLE]

I love your videos because it makes me wanna check out more comic stuff. I already love comics but damn, I need to listen to the Wolverine podcast. Had to pause the video to finalize my purchase of The Dark Night Rises. Lol

[@dantecrottogini529]

I love that you did Matteo Scalera, he is an amazing artist and so under rated.

[@BrianJian]

This video was phenomenal. Thank you!

[@artsybiblenerd7416]

This really opened my eyes to different styles of comic art. I have been of the mindset that Kirby and John Byrne were the gold standard.

[@alebanjo2384]

I LOVE THIS TYPE OF VIDEOS PLEASE JUST DONT STOP :D At least you get tired or something

[@owenmenning3878]

Love your content dude, pumped for the future!

[@malcomalexander9437]

You should do one of these on Mike Mignola with how his art went from a more traditional superhero look to his more abstract style.

[@trodat07]

Just revisit Jim Lee's X-Men run from his first book to the last, the evolution there is impressive. He started as a promising artist and ended up finding the iconic "Jim Lee style" throughout those pages.

[@MeloSomethin]

Funny that you showed Matteo Scalera (btw it's pronounced Mah-tteh-o), his style in Hyperkinetic was an example of his earlier style, the funny thing is that his style in his marvel books (deadpool team-up and a few others) is actually different from both his Hyperkinetic stuff and his Black Science/the Retrievers stuff.

[@dr.whocares8702]

Have you read Mause from Art Spiegelman? I love his artwork!

[@PopCross]

That's one I've meant to get to forever and just never had. I shall get to it eventually XP

[@icegrill73]

Enjoying the series. Very informative. Can you touch on some of the "Known Unknowns", such as Wrightson, Golden, Sears, Adams, BWS, etc. ( You can tell I'm an older comic art lover...lol )

[@robertearhart4316]

Good vid and subject matter. I have seen many artists' styles change over the past 25 years. In fact, I got to show Mark Brooks his very first published work and have him sign it at Rose City ComicCon in Portland this month. He was soooo embarrassed! But I love seeing the evolution of artists and what they can do now. I agree with others that Ramos, Deodato Jr, and Adam Kubert, and Oeming would be great subjects to analyze.

[@ralphhuerto3532]

I kinda like this comparison vid. There are a lot of artists nowadays that have had steady work for decades now. Also, just an idea, maybe you could do a comparison vid based on style of work. Like cartoony-anime style, realistic, classic, etc.

[@TheKevphil]

Hey, Chris! Good Episode! I'm an older viewer and many of these artists are unfamiliar to me so it's interesting to be exposed to the work at all. Keep up this and your other videos, too!

Marcio! I had the great pleasure of coloring a pitch he drew for a series that would have been set in Kirkman's corner of the Image universe about a decade ago. His stuff was even more streamlined and cartoony back then, so it's been amazing to watch his style evolve.

[@gergofusus5809]

I liked the eveloution part to! It was really helpful to know where these great artist were and were are they now. And I got to admit that it was a really motivating part when you talked about " You dont need to be a professionits to get to the indrusty"

[@darricktv9857]

I love his crazy experimental TDKSA artwork lol

[@georgegolston5417]

Both formats works for me...Love ‘em!

[@KillerTacos54]

Fantastic video! I love how you acknowledge and respect the others in your industry so much! What a great series of videos! Please do more. Also David Aja is definitely my favourite artist in this video for sure. I loved his art on Hawkeye but imo his Immortal Iron Fist was a lot better

[@gamingnoah9807]

Nice vid been here since ep.1

[@PopCross]

Thanks so much! And that's awesome!!!

[@mary-suemasson3127]

I love ur work dude can’t wait till Monday 4 the redraw just saying next redraw could be scary or Itcould be a medieval style redraw

[@regosaix]

Second part please, with: Romita Jr. Howard potter Greg Capullo Good video! Exelent! I love it!

[@Noyb.265]

Please consider doing a segment on Claudio Castellini's Silver Surfer comic book limited series art.

[@DarthMalaks_Missing_Lower_Jaw]

Yeah I haven’t been a fan of Frank Miller’s art in the last ... gosh a while. His work in the late 70s, early 80s Daredevil were great. Sin City was amazing and very influential. The Wolverine mini series was gorgeous. Dark Knight Returns was cool, different, and fit the tone of the story. 300 continued his permanent shift toward that scraggly line style that was so prominent in DKR. I hope he goes back to the DD/Wolverine styles-the figures were so dynamic and fight scenes were great.

[@rumblefish9]

Looking at his early DD work for example the iconic "No More Mister Nice Guy" cover and the cover of Dark Knight Universe Presents: The Atom #1... yikes

[@Nealrex101]

I’m not sure if you’ve talked about Declan Shalvey, you probably have, but I think his run with during Ellis’s run of Moon Knight is his best work and fit the storytelling incredibly well. also i love your vids, this one was a really fascinating take on the “expert reacts to their expert topic” format

[@glenngatlin8475]

I loved the DK2 artwork!!!! It was cool and different!

[@santiagobaquin2468]

Keep doing this ! i love your channel!

[@markfrancisco953]

Great idea to look at the evolution of artist's styles. I saw John Romita Jr. mentioned below. Travis Charest, bill sienkiewicz, and Tom Grindberg might also be interesting. Their styles each evolved dramatically.

[@BenMellingerArt]

you should look at mark crilley's comics!

[@DazzlingMrScratch]

These videos are so fucking awesome dude, keep it up

[@PopCross]

The Man The Man hahah thank you so much!!! Will do! 😁

[@DeadpoolAli]

Fantastic vid. You should really do one on the evolution of lee bermejo

[@arcburn6340]

I always loved Lee's Namor work. Bad lighting notwithstanding.

[@davialessandro7878]

You should talk about the evolution of Travis Charest's evolution. Awesome video, buddy

[@cheesus_the_grate]

1:53 Orange moon? I got soo so confused

[@skokartong8659]

It's an August moon. They sometimes appears bigger and orange.

[@cheesus_the_grate]

I know it just took me a while

[@cheesus_the_grate]

And I forgot that daredevil worked in the night and not the day

[@r.n.7731]

I haven't been a long time fan but I love your work and I'm happy to see you grow!

[@PopCross]

Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy this and my upcoming stuff! 😁😁

[@NickyAztec]

David aja is far and away my favorite artist

[@jnixa1010]

Looks like David had an “ Aja” moment

[@Andrew-fq7pu]

Aja was drawing like Jae Lee (Image vintage, not his Vess-like current style) when he did Iron Fist and drew like Mazzuchelli for Hawkeye. When I first opened Hawkeye, I thought Mazzuchelli was the artist.

[@mohammedhanif6780]

You are a connoisseur

[@mirotrevino9662]

Really awesome video, the new format is great. If you could please either review Keisuke Itagaki for your next good versus bad comic art video or for your next style evolution video. His style evolution from Baki the Grappler to Baki-Dou is amazing

[@mtaffer]

I really liked this, so yeah continue on...

[@PopCross]

Thanks so much!!! Will do! Felt like this series needed a shake up so glad people are enjoying the slight change in format!

[@bjpalm1994]

It always amazes me how much Miller changed his art style. That Wolverine limited series was one of my favorites. When it came out I wasn't that focused on who did what so when I first really started attaching artist & writers to their work Miller mainly stuck in my brain for his writing. After connecting that he drew the Wolvie series & DKR I was like "No way thats the same dude. The styles are completely different." I think thats what took me awhile to finally read DKR because I wasn't to keen on that style. Also a good midway point to Jae Lee's stuff is his Image work. you can really see the halfway point between his early Namor stuff and his current work.

[@pimpmasterjake7435]

I definitely recommend Hirohiko Araki if you do part 2 of this video. Araki-Sensei has such a drastic change in style from the 80s to now it's insane

[@natewatson6962]

lol the comparison between the iron fist and hawkeye dialogue was hilarious.

[@jamesbunt6846]

You've got to do Stuart Immonen, he is a master of changing things up for each project.

[@TheEmm4lpha]

Really liked this format, it's interesting to see some artists evolution and your thoughts on it. For next time, I would like to see Bill Sienkewicz, John Romita Jr, Alex Milne, Ken Akamatsu, Rumiko Takahashi and Kazuma Kaneko, if possible, I find they are interesting examples, for different reasons.

[@angelesoinsectos]

I was lucky enough to meet David Aja at a local comic con in 2016. Quite possibly the nicest most down to eart- laid back artist I've ever ran into. And he can draw crazy fast too! Got a couple of sketches (Iron fist and Pizza dog) from him and we talked for a while. It's a shame that he's not doing much interior art in these days.

[@poppinanimations4160]

Good work like always!

[@PopCross]

Thanks so much!!! 😁😁😁

[@MattAlexanderMe]

I'm a new subscriber and I'm really liking your videos. I don't need to be a die hard comic art fan to enjoy them.

[@PopCross]

That’s awesome! Thanks so much!! 😁😃

[@JPD257]

Loving ur vids...pls never stop

[@PopCross]

Thanks so much! It's now my job to make these (and I love ti) so I shall keep it up!!!

[@douglashirschman462]

Another great episode! Also, maybe try someone like Darwyn Cooke or Chris Samnee next time? Just my personal preference...

[@PopCross]

Awesome thanks! Not sure if I'm familiar with their work, but screen shot-ed this comment so I remember to check them out!!!

[@abdulermis555]

@@PopCross Dude youre gonna love Darwyne cooke's style

[@deadwho]

Continue until the series reaches 100 episodes. There's plenty of artists out there to choose from so I doubt itll get stale!

[@dave_robo5751]

Great vid once again😁😁😁

[@philswift1233]

You absolutely need to react to tsutomu nihei’s work, especially BLAME!, his art style is absolutely stunning, especially in his depiction of architecture

[@merlinkovendai2565]

Cool video! Btw, if you look at early, middle and current work of Nihei Tsutomu, Atsushi Ōkubo and Boichi (Mujik Park) you will be impressed. Please, show more manga stuff!

[@levi0394]

14:00 that panel looks like it’s from a flash adobe game

[@trucutru3]

That's because it's a homage to the captain america and the avengers arcade game kzbin.info/www/bejne/aF6Xma2rjtqfjZI

[@zerokura]

The dark knight 2 art style it reminded me of the comic book series of The Mask.

[@jakenap7184]

Part 2 with David Mazzucchelli! Do his work on Daredevil Born Again, Batman Year One (very obvious influence on Aja for Hawkeye) and his own graphic novel Asterios Polyp (completely different style from the first 2)

[@themanrexy5472]

I recommend the runaways run starting in 2017 by Rainbow Rowel.

[@wynnefox]

10:09 Something that strikes me is how so many artists push for sources for shadows and such. I read this image as a bit of abstraction. Namor has darkness over him that is more symbolic than actual.

[@PopCross]

Oooh interesting, hadn't thought about it that way!